Freedomland by Anne Bean Submitted for Review

America is dead. It has been replaced by Freedomland, a more perfect nation run by a man named God. War and violence have become a thing of the past. Citizens of Freedomland enjoy freedom of choice, freedom of speech, and the freedom to buy whatever their hearts desire. To make all of this even easier, televisions, cell phones, and the Internet are all combined into a Device, which is surgically implanted in citizens' skulls. Devices plunge their users into a virtual reality more compelling than the real world.

But virtual reality isn't enough for Elijah and Lili, two estranged teenage friends who witness the bizarre murder of a woman who claims to be looking for them. They must be alert as they begin to unravel the mystery surrounding her death for potential danger that they might encounter. As they are drawn deeper into the mystery behind her death, they begin to wonder: Is Freedomland really free? Can God really be trusted?

Looks good.... lets see if it survives my shots!!!

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk (Book Review)

Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris
My rating: 3 of 5 stars




Review of Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris


An old metaphorical phase goes “Don’t judge a book by its cover.”


This is definitely one of those times when that phrase is correct. For you reader with kids, you might be familiar with the artwork right away (OLIVIA).


The artwork is from “Children’s” Book Illustrator Ian Falconer. However, do not let that fool you, THIS IS NOT A KIDS BOOK… It is barely a book for rational adults, but who is really sane nowadays.


Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary is not a set of stories, set up like a children’s book. Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk is full of colorful characters and disturbing scenes.


David Sedaris uses animals to depict human/animal lives and behavior by using animals to tell the tales. The stories deal with subjects like prejudice, stereotyping others, what love is, trust, religion, and even death. Dark but lightened up with humor. Some parts of the book will make you want stop reading and throw it in the trash, but other stories will pull you right in and kept you going.


The book will make you laugh a little and gross you out a lot. Expect it, just glance at the artwork, and read the cover, that should say it all. This is a first read of David Sedaris. Either you will love his art of storytelling or you will not. Either way, take some time, expand your reading genre, and try it out. What do you have to lose "except an eye" (Insider, read the book).


Character Development:


The funny creatures in this book are decently developed. The short stories do not allow much room to develop the characters well. However, after each story, you will know who the character really is.


Book Flow:


A very quick read. Read the book in a day. Great for a weekend read, or when on a trip home from the forest.


Stars/Shots:

3 out of 5 Shots

Liked it. Nevertheless, you will not be seeing this book on the living room table.




Jason "Book_Sniper" Martinez




View all my reviews

Walk With Me

Walk With Me

Coming Soon

Modesty (Book Review)

Modesty (Romantic Suspense) by Phillip Thomas Duck
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars






Review of Modesty (Romantic Suspense) by Phillip Thomas Duck


Every so often, a reviewer will run into a book that is hard to review, Modesty (Romantic Suspense) is one of them.


I give this book a 3.5 – Liked it, but wanted a little more clarity in certain areas of the book.


Modesty (Romantic Suspense) is a strong and emotional story of a rape survivor, “fidelity anthropologist,” and a sexy decoy. Terri Welker, a person who struggles to overcome many obstacles in her life, including her painful past and her current emotional present.


Goodreads Description:


Eight calls...


From an unfamiliar number...


For rape survivor and "infidelity photographer", Terri Welker, the question is far greater than should she answer. The question is: What should she do now that she has been found? Run again? Or stay and fight for the new life she has created photographing cheating spouses for James Boston Investigations?


Review:


Modesty is an emotional rollercoaster of a woman who has been hurt and who continues to hurt in so many ways. Modesty does a great job to pull you right into the story and connect with the main character. However, the end of the book closed with many questions left unanswered.


Character Development:


Modesty (Romantic Suspense) is full of main characters that are full of personality and characteristics. Each one is unique in his /her way. However, some of the minor characters are not. Questions like, “Why would he/she do that in this part of the story?” was often asked.   That usually happens when the reader does not know that character well enough, making it hard to predict his or her course of action during a conflict.


Prediction is not always a good thing in books; However, in some cases “reader predictions” help the reader  get  a feel that he or she understand the character well.


Modesty (Romantic Suspense) is also not overloaded with so many characters that it makes it hard to read. This helped the book flow tremendously. The reader will be able to grow and move along with the main character, a big plus.


Plot:


Modesty (Romantic Suspense) has a very well thought out plot. The book will pull you in right from the start. It will leave you wanting to know more after each chapter. However, the more I read the more questions I had. Sharing my questions here would cause me to add spoilers to this review, so I will not do that. By the last chapter, I noticed that my questions would never be answered. That is not always a bad thing. It is all part of the art of writing.


The protagonist faced some conflict but mostly the conflicts were out of her control. I would have like to see more conflicts and solutions brought on by the main character.


Setting:


The setting of the book revolves around the life of the protagonist Terri. The author did a great job setting up the scenes to revolve around a painful upbringing and painful circumstances that haunt Terri each day. The settings are full of emotion, not an easy task for any author; however, the author does a great job in Modest.


Book Flow:


Great Book Flow! Fast paced. Well balanced.


Definitely great for a light weekend read.


Shots:

point FIVE




3.5 out of 5 Shots

Liked It!!


YOU CAN PURCHASE THIS BOOK AT MODESTY (Smashwords.com) OR AT AMAZON (Modesty)  OR ON http://www.excusememissptd.blogspot.com/

View all my reviews

NaNoWriMo 2011

In 229 days writers from all over the wold will join together to participate in this years NanoWriMo...


What is NaNoWriMo?? Good Question! I didn't know what it was either until a friend recommended this site. http://www.nanowrimo.org/

National Novel Writing Month is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to novel writing. Participants begin writing on November 1. The goal is to write a 50,000 word, (approximately 175 page) novel by 11:59:59, November 30. (NanoWriMo)

Yeah, I know its a bit early. But this year will be my first year participating so I guess I can start planning early. 

Sounds like fun... lets see what happens.

Vessel (Book Review)

Vessel by Tominda Adkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Review of Vessel by Tominda Adkins.


Review:


Okay, I understand that many readers are getting tired of the whole zombies/monsters genre. I also understand that it is a little played out and nothing seems original anymore. Trust me, I really do understand. I feel the same way.




Then out of nowhere… “Jesse” shows up, and a book so unique that demands readers around the world to take notice. That book is Vessel. A unique story of five "gods” who are out to save the world from "death" and destruction, or at least try to.


Don’t stop here, keep reading trust me…


You might say to yourself, been there, read that, but do those books have a crazy singer and his one arm assistant....I think not :)


I could keep going on and on about why I personally like this book but I will just stop here and give you the facts on why I gave this book four stars.


Character Development:


Tominda Adkins does a great job developing the characters. Tominda Adkins spends enough time early on to give the reader a sense of who the character is. Each character has his/her own personality that is very distinctive. This is not an easy task for an author, especially when there are so many major characters. Tominda Adkins was able to accomplish this without losing the reader. Great job.


Plot:


This is where the fun begins. The plot is full of many turns and full of action. A plot that is unpredictable and guaranteed to keep the reader on edge. The unique story also helps with the plot, I will not give out any spoilers, but the origin of the "un-dead" in Vessel is a completely new story, a must read.


Setting:


The story does jump around quite a bit. However, the jumping is a part of the overall story. Therefore, do what I did … enjoy the ride.


Book Flow:


A very quick and easy read. The flow is good; However, the jumping of scenes might take some getting used to.


Rating: 

4 out of 5 shots!!!!

Really liked it!

TO ORDER THIS BOOK CHECK OUT 

http://www.readvessel.com/  OR VESSEL ON AMAZON

View all my reviews

Vessel by Tominda Adkins

VESSEL BOOK ONE: THE ADVENT




"Vessel" was submitted for review this week by a very talented author named Tominda Adkins. Her debut book is getting great reviews on www.goodreads.com/vessel. What's even more amazing is the amount of fans who are following Vessel in such a short amount of time since publication (February 2011).





So now Book_Sniper has his sights on it and is getting ready to take-it-out!!! 


Review and Interview Coming Soon!

My First Giveaway Win / With a Twist ~The Purse Snatcher Letters~

So I finally won my first giveaway from www.goodreads.com/pursesnatcherletters. 

I'm excited and ready to receive it. But I noticed this giveaway comes with a bit of a twist....

I decided to do some research on these letters and I ran into the publishers site...

http://pursesnatcherletter.wordpress.com

A hotel clerk after noticing that a hotel guest did not come down to check out one morning decides to check in on the guest. However, he didnt find the guest... instead he found a bunch of letters addressed to a "Bernard Cambridge".

After a number of days of waiting for the guest, the hotel worker decides to safeguard the letters. After a failed attempt to mail the letters he decides to open one and what he read inside suprized him more then the disapearence of the writer. 


"these letters were highly descriptive narratives of the time Hugo spent subsisting off of stealing women’s purses, straight up, graceless purse snatching, these narratives mixed with deeply personal assessments of self and almost poetically related asides to other events in the writer and his brother’s life" (Purse Snatcher Letter Site).






These letters were in the clerks possession for over 4 years when in a conference in Washington, DC  he ran face to face into the man he's been looking for for. (See the story here: Purse Snatcher Letters)

The last question the clerk asked the guy that night was, "Are the letters real? I mean, are they letters about stuff you actually did, or did you make it all up?” He just told me to publish them, scrunching his face and giving it an odd, indecipherable kind of shake" (PS Letters). 




Can this be real??? !!!! VERY INTERESTING, CANT WAIT TO READ THEM AND GIVE MY REVIEW... STAY TUNED!!

@book_sniper

First 24 Hour Read-a-Thon

My First Ever 24 Hour Read A Thon

If you want to join us visit:

http://24hourreadathon.com/

THIS LOOKS LIKE A FUN CHALLENGE

DATE: APRIL 9TH, 2011