Faithful Shadow By Kevin J. Howard

How often do you really notice a shadow?

When Lewis and Clark discovered Yellowstone National Park, with its bubbling lakes and steam spraying from the ground, they thought they'd wandered into hell.  Sometimes your first impression is the correct one.  Kevin J. Howard's novel, Faithful Shadow, takes you beyond the splendor of nature to the terror that lies beneath, one that should have never been discovered.

Yellowstone is suffering from the largest forest fire in the park's history.  Ranger Joe Rand, once passionate about nature and now drowning in alcohol after the recent death of his son, notices something is very wrong after a string of disappearances.  When a fireman is found dead in the Old Faithful Inn after falling into a hole earlier that day, his body mauled and deprived of all its fluids, Joe knows he has no choice but to set down his flask and investigate.  Joe and Lieutenant Dale Caffey of the Billings Fire Department go into the woods to search the hole the fireman had fallen into.  They discover a series of tunnels lined with bones, the air thick with smoke.  Joe and Dale conclude that the creature that had killed the fireman had left its subterranean dwelling to flee the overwhelming smoke from the fire above.  The creature takes shelter inside the Inn, concealing itself within the darkened crevices, emerging only to feast on passersby.  After staging an evacuation of the park, they lock themselves inside the Inn to hunt the creature.  After just a short while it becomes frighteningly clear that, in fact, the creature is hunting them.

~My thoughts~
I don't read very many books that are in the Horror genre because I am admittedly a wuss, and when I do read one I will not read it before I go to bed because I do not want to have nightmares.  This book would definitely have given me nightmares.  I was caught up in the story right from the beginning.  There were a few typos, but they did not take away from the story line. It is available in paperback and ebook editions.

http://youtu.be/GbDBOKgYzts

Watch Where You Step: Going to the Dogs By Jenepher Field

"You have to retire to something, not retire from something."

Jenepher had lost count of the number of times she'd heard this mantra from her energetic and ambitious husband, Louis.  But she didn't imagine that upon Louis's retirement from his orthopedic surgery practice, he would charm her into starting a business they knew nothing about, building a new house and a pet boarding kennel in the beautiful countryside of Washington State.  Swept along by the current of his drive and enthusiasm, as she has been many times before, Jenepher starts to learn about boarding and caring for dogs and cats.  Watch Where You Step is the story of their struggles and success, and of the ways in which they evolve and grow, finding both new points of friction and new appreciation for one another as they cope with issues they didn't plan for, including septic system logistics, flash floods, unreliable employees, irrational pet owners, and pets who could teach Harry Houdini a thing or two about the art of escape.  Rich threads of humor and love run through their lives as they come to realize they have invested in a business that is full of heart as well as full of mayhem.  Join Jenepher and Louis on the wonderful adventure of a lifetime!

~My thoughts~

I've often wondered what I might do in my retirement years.  I know I'm not the type to just sit around the house and be bored.  I love animals, and after reading this book, I may look into opening a pet boarding kennel somewhere.  The author shares with us some of the ups and downs that she and her husband experienced through the years.  I'm sure not every single one was mentioned, but it made for very interesting reading.

http://youtu.be//IHcnJLWhKHE



Altamont Augie by Richard Barager

With Vietnam looming like a scythe over an entire generation, University of Minnesota sophomore David Noble bolts from an anti-war teach-in his girlfriend coaxes him to and enlists in the marines. Her pride wounded by his rush to war, Jackie Lundquist ignores David's letters from Vietnam, where he serves out his enlistment burrowed into the blood-red clay of Khe Sanh, surviving a brutal siege before returning home to find Jackie immersed in a counterculture world of drugs and militancy.

To Jackie, the faltering war in Vietnam is a failure of national conscience; to David it is a failure of national honor. But neither her rise to fame as the growing anti-war movement's alluring Radical Queen nor David's defiant counter-protest activities in support of the war can extinguist their passion for one another. Both their tumultuous affair and the Age of Aquarius itself cartwheel into the decade's last great rock festival: Altamont, the death rattle of the Sixties, where shame and honor collide, and tragedy awaits redemption.

To me, this book got a little boring at times. It started off a little slow, but gradually hooked me into the love story between two of the characters. I feel that the author goes into too much detail about racial issues in the book and at times uses words that have to be looked up in a dictionary to understand what is being said. The chapters about the Vietnam War were interesting, but I was disappointed in the book as a whole.

Animal Stories Daddy Told Us By Innocent Emechete

Excerpts from Introduction: Many years ago a lot of African Countries did not have too many things written down because many of the people could not read or write. Consequently oral literature became a part of their life. Memorization was the most used instrument among the people to pass on knowledge, history, literature and all sorts of information from one person to another, and from one generation to the next. "Animal Stories Daddy Told Us" is a product of that oral tradition.

In these oral traditions, African children were given a sense of what it meant to be a village warrior and the honor and prestige that went with it. Character, discipline and integrity were built in the young generation through these oral, human and animal stories of courage and success. The mistakes of the past were also recounted for a precaution in the future.

Some of these stories were funny and some were scary; but they always taught some moral lesson to the next generation. What was handed over orally from one generation to the next is put down in writing now for generations to come...But more importantly it is written down for the benefit of other cultures that do not have such traditions and animal stories as part of their history and culture. Hopefully the little children in these cultures will benefit immensely from these stories from Africa at another time in history.

Some of the stories are humorous and entertaining. But there are some stories that exhibit acts of deceit and game playing. These are set to teach young people that there are some animals which do not play by the rules just as there are some people in our human society that do not play by the rules either. These stories prepare the children for the real world. From the mistakes and fall of such bad characters in animal stories, children are made to learn a good lesson about how to be good and fair to other people.

I was sent this book to review back in February, and have just now been able to finish reading it. It does teach lessons in each story, and the author has even given discussion questions at the end of each story so that it can be discussed in detail with children. The author was also kind enough to add to the back of the book an explanation of some of the foreign words used in the book. I don't believe young children could read this book on their own and get a full understanding of it, but it would possibly be a good tool in home schooling.

The Thirteenth Gift By Charlene Costanzo

While on assignment in Eastern Europe, Claire, a U.S. journalist, learns of a local legend. The deceptively simple story about "the thirteenth gift" has a profound effect on Claire, which soon transforms her marriage, her work, and the way she sees the world. The Thirteenth Gift is both a cautionary tale and an inspirational fable as it shows a way through the perilous consequences of greed, arrogance, and abuse of power to an uplifted state of consciousness and community. The Thirteenth Gift invites readers to renew their sense of wonderment, which can lead to freedom from fear and to a greater experience of hope, beauty, and joy in daily life. Like the message of the award-winning book, The Twelve Gifts of Birth, this novella from Charlene Costanzo reminds readers to see the dignity that is inherent in themselves and others. The habit of collecting smooth stones and shiny pebbles is an impulse that crosses generations, cultures, and traditions. But what instinct urges us to stop for them, hold them in our pockets, and save them in jars? This fourth work in Charlene Costanzo's Twelve Gift Series explains why so many people world-wide are fascinated with collecting stones. The Thirteenth Gift describes an obscure, Eastern European fable that explains why even the appeal of gem stones is rooted in something deeper than dazzle...something we are all trying to remember. Stones symbolize the marvelous oneness of all creation and keep us in touch with the gifts of life. The story's central character, Claire, is one any modern woman can relate to; torn between pursuing her ambitions and dedicating herself to her family. The author's fictional narrative reinforces the importance of consciousness, community, and most importantly, maintaining your sense of wonder. In a world where there are so many distractions, it is easy to forget our sense of wonderment. This book is a simple reminder to reconnect with the unique gifts we are each born with, urging readers to see the dignity that is inherent in themselves and others. Readers are invited to renew their sense of wonderment, to find a greater experience of hope, beauty, and joy in daily life.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, being only 66 pages. The book is written from the main characters point of view. She is dealing with stress from her job and being away from her family alot because of it. While out of the country on assignment, she finishes a story early and is trying to surprise her family by coming home early. She takes an unscheduled road trip out of town to kill time, and runs into some minor problems with her car. While trying to get some help, she meets up with an elderly woman who invites her into her home and tells her of a local legend that makes her realize how out of touch she is with her family and how unhappy she is with her job and her life as it is. The only down side to me was that I felt the book ended too soon, and had some unresolved issues. It could be that the author did this in order to be able to write a sequel; who knows? What interested me in this book to begin with is that even before I read it, I kept a smooth stone with the word "believe" etched on it with me all the time. Something that touched me was that a portion of the proceeds from each book in this series is donated to a foundation that prevents abuse and promotes the well-being of children, The Twelve Gifts of Birth Foundation.

Alice in Zombieland by Lewis Carroll and Nickolas Cook

Off with their heads! Zombies have made their way into wonderland. Lewis Carroll's classic novel becomes curiouser and curiouser with the undead...

Zombies. That's right - zombies. In Wonderland.

When Alice follows the Black Rat into the open grave, she falls and falls, and soon finds herself in an undead nightmare of rotting flesh and insanity. Following the Rat, she ventures further into this land of monsters, encountering madcap characters along the way. But there's something else troubling poor Alice: her skin is rotting and her hair is falling out. She's cold, and she has the haunting feeling that if she remains in Zombieland any longer, she might never leave. Can Alice escape Zombieland before the Dead Queen catches up to her?

Have a seat at the table for the wildest tea party of your life and explore the unforgettable adventure that is Alice in Zombieland. A fresh and hilarious new zombie mash-up, bringing the hottest format on the humor shelf to a beloved classic, complete with zombie-fied updates to the renowned illustrations by Sir John Teniel.


This was a quick read at only 240 pages. We follow Alice as her adventures begin from chasing a rat and falling into an open grave. After a very long fall, she lands in a world where almost every creature she comes in contact with is dead. Like the previous novel, she has issues with shrinking and growing taller than other characters. The longer she stays in this underground world, the hungrier she becomes and she begins to wonder if she will make it out alive. If you enjoyed the classic Alice in Wonderland and you like zombies, you will find this a refreshing take and amusing in many ways.

Dare To Die by Carolyn Hart

She came in the rain. Alone. On a bicycle.

Annie and Max Darling are completely unprepared when the arrival of a mysterious young woman shocks their sea island and stirs up more than just gossip.

It turns out that Iris, the beautiful stranger, is a former resident of Broward's Rock. Her arrival throws the normally happy town into a downward spiral that pits neighbor against neighbor.

Things take a turn for the worse when Annie befriends Iris and invites her to attend the Darlings' party at the pavilion where Death is the uninvited guest. Suddenly, Max and Annie find themselves in the middle of a fight they don't understand and at the mercy of an unknown assailant who's trying to kill them--and all they know is that it is one of their friends.

When I began reading this novel, I was not aware that it was part of a series of books. For me, it was slow reading and I had a very difficult time staying interested in it. Very rarely will I put a book down without finishing it, however, I came close to it on this one. I did manage, finally, to read the whole thing and am sad to say that I would not recommend it.

Port Mortuary by Patricia Cornwell

In Port Mortuary, Patricia Cornwell brings Scarpetta together with Marino, Benton, and Lucy in the intimate way her fans loved in the early novels, and we welcome a voice we haven't heard in years. The point of view is Scarpetta's, and this is her story.

Port Mortuary, the title of Patricia Cornwell's dazzling, fast-paced eighteenth Scarpetta novel, is literally a port for the dead -- and the deaths are mounting, as a treacherous path from Scarpetta's past merges with the high-tech highway on which she now finds herself. At the beginning of her professional career, when she accepted a scholarship from the Air Force to pay off her medical school debt, Scarpetta found herself ensnarled in a gruesome case of what seemed to be vicious, racially motivated hate crimes against two Americans in South Africa. Now, more than twenty years and many career successes later, her secret military ties have drawn her to Dover Air Force Base, where she has been immersed in a training fellowship to master the art of CT-assisted virtual autopsy -- a procedure the White House has mandated that she introduce into the private sector.

As the chief of the new Cambridge Forensic Center in Massachusetts, a joint venture of the state and federal governments and MIT, and Harvard, Scarpetta is confronted with a case that could shut down her new facility and ruin her personally and professionally. A young man drops dead, apparently from a cardiac arrhythmia, eerily close to Scarpetta's new Cambridge home, but when his body is examined the next morning, there are stunning indications that he may have been alive when he was zipped inside a pouch and locked inside the Center's cooler. When 3-D radiology scans reveal more shocking details about internal injuries unlike any Scarpetta has ever seen -- ones that suggest the possibility of a conspiracy to cause mass casualties -- she realizes that she is fighting a cunning, cruel, and invisible enemy. Now it is a race against time to discover who and why before more people die. But that time is running out...


It has been awhile since I've read one of Ms. Cornwell's Scarpetta books. I felt that this one didn't go into enough details about some things and too many details about things I felt were not important. However, my copy of the book (bought from a book membership website) had about one hundred less pages than a friends copy (checked out of the local library) had, so mine may have been a condensed version even though it didn't say it was and usually they do. All in all, it was a quick read and would not deter me from reading more of her novels.