Review: Not So Dead: A Sam Sunborn Novel

Not So Dead: A Sam Sunborn Novel by Charles Levin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon

I have both the audio version and the eBook version. The review is based on the eBook.

If the author is reading this I am sure he will get the pun I am about to make as he references it a few time in the book.

This book takes place 20 seconds into the future. Unlike the other dystopian books I have read, this is more of a normal future. We have our alphabet soup of government agencies. We have people who love each other, people who protect them, and people who are just people. But I get ahead of myself.

The idea of the book is that in the near future we will have one group of people who will be able to create digital copies of themselves so that after they are dead, they can interact with their love ones. This is close to a concept that many countries as well as a few terrorist organizations are working on. Sam Sunborn and partner Frank Einstein are attacked by terrorist leader the Leopard. Frank is killed in the process. He just happened to be wearing the device to digitize himself at the time so all of his information up to the point of death is available to him.

From this point they travel across the US trying to capture the Leopard with a local police detective and Rich Little from Homeland Security (no not the famous one). As they travel you get pulled into the story and start to like each one of the characters. You want to keep turning the page, or in my case, listen just a few minutes more. I listen to audiobooks while driving to and from work. When I would get to my destination many times I would sit there and at least finish the chapter I was in.

Age wise I would say older teen through adult. Killing is a big part of the story. If you are interested in suspense stories with a little science fiction, this would be a good choice for you. I would recommend it.

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Review: The Book of Mistakes: 9 Secrets to Creating a Successful Future

The Book of Mistakes: 9 Secrets to Creating a Successful Future by Skip Prichard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Available at Amazon

The Book of Mistakes was provided for me to review. What follows is an honest review.

Mr. Prichard has written a marvelous story around a list of mistakes that we commonly do that keep us from becoming a success. Why the story? Because it is easier to learn when you learn from a story. Even Jesus used parables to help teach a lesson. If it had been written as a bunch of dos and don'ts I am not sure I would have been able to keep still long enough to read it. By providing a story, we become engaged with the main character and want to see him succeed and by nature we know we can as well.

The mistakes, all 9 of them, are ones that everyone makes from time to time. To learn from them and advance is the important thing. Along with these Mistakes are rules to live by.

The main story (there is a smaller sub-story as to how the rules got to us) is of a young man who wants so much more our of life. He feels trapped in his job, cannot seem to please the boss, well you get the idea. He meets a young girl in the park by chance and accidently gets one of her papers. He wants to meet her again so he goes to the location on the flyer hoping to meet her again. He instead meets the Old Man, the first of the nine more that will come into his life at the appropriate time. The doctor, the conductor, the artist, the bookstore owner and more show up right at the time he needs to learn a new lesson in another mistake.

I used the mistakes recently with a group of men who have addiction problems. Most in the group were able to learn something from each one.

I would recommend this book for all. While I think young adults and teenagers would gain a lot from this book I am not sure that they would see the need to read it. Even at my advanced age of 64, I learned a lot from reading it. It is a book I recommend.

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Review: A Clerical Error

A Clerical Error by J. New
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Available at Amazon
I received a copy of this book from the author. What follows is an honest review of the book.

I always find it interesting to jump into a book series in the middle. It gives me a feel for how they can write because you tell to much of the other stories you bore the person with facts they do not need. On the other hand, you can not tell them anything and you leave them confused. That middle ground seems to be so hard for most authors to do.

Ms. New has no problem with that. As this is the third book in the series I was expecting that I would be a little lost. Like many good writers, she provided the information needed as it was needed, not adding much length to the story.

What was a little frustrating to me was the settings of various parts of the story that appeared to have no bearing on the story at hand. It is said, if you plan to murder someone in the third act, you better have the gun shown in the first. That is what was provided here. While it seems unrelated, much of what was written (not all) was necessary for the end story and patience paid off in the long run.

I personally had figured out the weapon, but I think that was expected. The killer though was a little more difficult.

While I would not call it a 'Cozy' mystery, I would say that it had the same type of elements. No sex/excessive violence/ etc. You have to have a death but this one was not violent by any means.
I would say that all readers could enjoy this. If you like a mystery, this is a good book to pick up and I would recommend it.

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