Book Review: Billy Straight by Jonathan Kellerman

Billy Straight (Petra Connor #1) 
Author: Jonathan Kellerman
Released Date: 1999
Publisher: Warner Books

Kellerman isn't just an Edgar Award-winning thriller writer, he's a prominent child psychologist, and it shows in Billy Straight. The hero is a 12-year-old runaway whose sharp mind and straitlaced moral sense make him fit to survive the lurid jungles of Hollywood. One night hiding in Griffith Park, Billy witnesses the butchering of Lisa Ramsey, the cokehead ex-wife of Cart Ramsey, a crummy actor-golfer once busted for pummeling Lisa. Did Cart knife Lisa, or was it his pathetic old football sidekick Greg Balch?

When O.J. was on trial, Kellerman said, "This wouldn't make a good novel," but some of Kellerman's toughest critics say this funhouse-mirror version of an O.J.-like case is his best, better than his famous Alex Delaware series. Psychologist Dr. Delaware has a bit part here, but the heroine is Detective Petra Connor, his distaff equivalent. Kellerman's main strength is his vivid invention of secondary characters and his skill at juggling subplots. When Petra's media-whore boss puts Billy's police sketch in the paper with a $25,000 reward, two marvelously sub-simian bounty hunters join the chase: a vicious Russian ex-cop and the vile biker boyfriend of Billy's stoned-out, trailer-park mom.
*Goodreads Blurb*

MY REVIEW

My fifth Jonathan Kellerman read. As usual, I wasn’t disappointed.

When Billy Straight, a twelve-year-old runaway witnesses a gory murder at a park, he must do everything he can to protect himself from the unknown killer. The deceased is Lisa Boehlinger, a former model and ex-wife of Cart Ramsey, a TV star. Suspicion falls on Ramsey because Lisa had once publicly revealed how he beat her up. Detective Petra Connor and her partner Bishop Stu are called to investigate the case. When the case gets more complicated than they expect, and with Stu’s wife undergoing a mastectomy, Wil Fourrier joins them in the investigation.

A good mystery, fast-paced, and it pulls the emotional strings. Kellerman’s writing is superb. This book has a large cast of characters and the story is told from different point-of-views. The author does a good job of entering his characters’ head and telling the story the way they would tell it, using the kind of diction they’d use. Thus, you won’t encounter a twelve-year-old speaking like a detective, or a street hustler talking like a murderer. The whole California setting paints a solid image in the head. What’s more, Alex Delaware makes an appearance at the end of the book.

This is first book in the Petra Connor series, though I first encountered Petra in Twisted, my favorite Kellerman novel. I got to learn more about her background and her personality. I connected with her because she’s instinctive, caring, and she’s tough.  A good detective, but not a perfect one. Here, she tackles one of her major cases.

As a result of being tormented severally by his mother’s boyfriend, Billy Straight, the titular character leaves home. He moves to Hollywood and lives in the streets and parks for four months before he witnesses the murder. Jonathan Kellerman does well in capturing this kid’s voice. Billy steals book from the library to read, though he says it’s not stealing because he always returns the books he takes from the library.

Billy Straight is just one amazing book. A five Star read.

Check it out if you like mysteries. You won’t be disappointed.

Book Review: Necroscope by Brian Lumley

Necroscope
Author: Brian Lumley
Released Date: September 15th 1986
Publisher: Tor Books

Except to Harry Keogh, Necroscope. And what they tell him is horrifying.

In the Balkan mountains of Rumania, a terrible evil is growing. Long buried in hallowed ground, bound by earth and silver, the master vampire schemes and plots. Trapped in unlife, neither dead nor living, Thibor Ferenczy hungers for freedom and revenge.

The vampire's human tool is Boris Dragosani, part of a super-secret Soviet spy agency. Dragosani is an avid pupil, eager to plumb the depthless evil of the vampire's mind. Ferenczy teaches Dragosani the awful skills of the necromancer, gives him the ability to rip secrets from the mind and bodies of the dead. 

Dragosani works not for Ferenczy's freedom but world domination. he will rule the world with knowledge raped from the dead.

His only opponent: Harry Koegh, champion of the dead and the living.

To protect Harry, the dead will do anything--even rise from their graves!
*Goodreads Blurb*

MY REVIEW

I read Necroscope a long time ago (2003 or 2004, I think) I loved it. Recently, I stumbled across the novel and decided to read it again.

I still loved it.

Necroscope is one of the earliest paranormal/horror novels I read. It’s set during the Cold War era. It introduces a secret branch of a British espionage agency simply called E-branch. The Russians, too, have their own equivalent of the E-branch. These agencies, unlike other espionage agencies, use psychic investigators and spies to achieve their aims. And their agents are referred to as ESPers.

Harry Keogh is the Necroscope, a term he uses in describing his gift. He communicates with the dead; they freely tell him their secrets. They’re lonely, they need someone to talk to, so they enjoy talking with him. We follow Harry through his teenage years until he’s grown and learns of his mother’s death. Before then, his ambition had been to avenge her death but he soon discovers another bigger threat, a threat to the whole world.

Boris Dragosani.

Boris Dragosani is the Necromancer. He’s entirely different from Harry Keogh. Whereas the dead freely tell Harry their secret, Dragosani rips it from them, tears it from their guts and bones. The dead don’t feel pain, but when Dragosani works on them, they feel it. This gift had been passed to him from an undead vampire, Thibor Ferenzcy, also referred to as “The Thing in the ground” because for he’d for years been buried under the earth with his head intact.

Although Thibor Ferenzcy lies in the ground throughout most of the book, he remains a terrifying presence. He plans to use Dragosani to raise himself up. But unknown to him, Dragosani has different plans—world domination.

Can he dominate the world with Harry Keogh, champion of the dead, standing on his way?

You have to find out by reading this cool book.

I loved the book for its originality. It felt good seeing the vampires in a different light again. Here, the vampire is an evil creature. He’s not cool at all. He has no mercy on the humans. He doesn’t go to high school. He isn’t sexy, so you won’t even consider falling in love with him.

While I’ve read many books in which the story is told from the point of view of the protagonist only, Nescroscope is one of those few where we get the see the antagonist as much as we see the protagonist. And because I felt both characters had enough depth, I could connect with them.

In Nescrospe, there are other cool stuffs such as time travel. Using a technique called the Möbius Strip, Harry learns that he can use supernatural doors to move between time and space. He also learns how to summon a dead army. The last part of the book reminded me so much of Evil Dead and Army of Darkness, where we get to see the dead rise from their graves and march on to battle.

The book has a large cast of characters, but I didn’t get lost at all. Most of them were gifted people, and I was reminded of X-Men. I liked Harry Keogh and his cool gifts. I even liked some of the bad guys like Boris Dragosani, Gregor Borowitz. I liked “The Thing in the ground” because of his cunning nature, and I always enjoyed his conversation with Dragosani.

The first part of the book is slow-paced. It covers Harry’s early years and gives details about the Russian E-Branch. Thus making it different from the fast-paced books one reads nowadays. But it serves as a good background for the rest of the book, as well as the series. I hope to read the next book in the series soon.

You might enjoy this book if you don’t mind the wordiness. Just remember it was published during the late eighties; I think some readers didn’t mind wordiness or slow-pacing then, as much as they do now.

Necroscope is a five star read! (*****)

WARNING: Not for the light-hearted. There’s too much BLOOD, GORE and some GRAPHIC SEX here.

Book Review: The Associate by John Grisham

The Associate
Author: John Grisham 
Released Date:  January 1st 1999
Publisher: Century

It's a deadly game of blackmail. And they're making him play.

Kyle McAvoy is one of the outstanding legal students of his generation: he's good looking, has a brilliant mind and a glittering future ahead of him. But he has a secret from his past, a secret that threatens to destroy his entire life.

One night that secret catches up with him in the form of a deeply compromising video of the incident that haunts him. Kyle realises that he no longer owns his own future - that he must do as his blackmailers tell him, or the video will be made public, with all the unpleasant consequences.

What price do they demand for Kyle's secret? It is for Kyle to take a job in New York as an associate at the largest law firm in the world. Kyle won't be working for this company, but against it - passing on the secrets of it's biggest trial to date, a dispute worth billions of dollars to the victor.

Full of twists and turns and reminiscent of The Firm, The Associate is vintage John Grisham.
*Goodreads Blurb*

MY REVIEW

The Associate is my first John Grisham read, but I did not wholly enjoy it like I thought I would.

It tells the story of Kyle McAvoy, a twenty-five year old about to graduate from Law School and plans to work for a public-interest firm. One night a man appears with an incriminating video, secretly taken by a cell phone, which reveals the details of a drunken party few years earlier. The video contains evidence that some of Kyle’s friends may have slept with a girl who may have been unconscious at the time. There’s actually nothing to incriminate Kyle except that he was in the video, drunken and nude. And that’s embarrassing. Thus begins the blackmail: in order not to release the video to the public and to stop a potential rape allegation, Kyle has to work in one of the biggest law firms in the world and steal documents related to a lawsuit between two defence contractors.

Well, the blurb says the book is reminiscent of The Firm, but I haven’t read The Firm, so I can’t compare both books. The story spans a period of ten months. The beginning and middle of the books sets up the story in a fairly slow pace, showing what the life of a first year associate is like at a big Wall Street firm. Then the ending moves in a very fast, non-stop pace. I like John Grisham’s style of writing; there wasn’t too much legal jargon, but I was pleased to learn a few. The book is mainly set in New York, but we are transported back and forth to Pittsburg and York, Pennsylvania.

I liked the main character, Kyle McAvoy, felt some sympathy for him and the grave circumstance hanging over him. Although contemplative at times, I thought he was brave to match the blackmailer’s schemes. I think he’s the only character with enough depth in the story. I liked other characters like the beautiful Dale, who wears fine dresses; Joey Bernardo, Kyle’s friend from Yale University. But I didn’t connect with them. 

My put off with this book, however, was the ending. The last pages seemed rushed and there were lots of unanswered questions. It left me with a feeling like I’d eaten a good meal, but without any water to wash it down my throat. In other words, the meal got stuck in my throat and I couldn’t digest it.

Well, because I couldn’t digest this meal, I’m giving it 3 (***) Stars.

I’ll still check out other meals in the Grisham Restaurant. I think I’ll go for the ones prepared in the early nineties.

Ps: This is my 100th post! :) Thanks to everyone who's every stopped by this blog. You rock!

Feature and Follow #13 - Preferred Reading Format

Happy Friday, everyone!

Feature & Follow is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The purpose is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community. If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers. But you have to know, the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me. The general the rules are:

•  Follow the Feature and Follow Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
•  Follow the Featured Bloggers
•  Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
•  Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.
•  Follow Follow Follow as many as you can. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
•  If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers. Thanks!!

Q: What is your preferred reading format? Hardcover, eBooks, Paperback etc?

I prefer reading the good ol’ paperback. I love the feel of real pages in my hands. And I like the smell too. I’d say eighty-five percent of the books I’ve read in my lifetime are paperbacks, Hardcover five percent, and eBook taking the remaining ten. I love eBooks, though. I use an eReading app on my computer; I think they're are faster to finish, and you can easily highlight any passage that catches you interest.

What about you? What’s your preferred reading format?

If you are a new follower, I prefer Bloglovin or Email please.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by. And don't forget to leave your link in the comments section below so I can see your FF or follow back!

Book Review: The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden, #1)
Author: Julie Kagawa
Released Date: April 24th 2012
Publisher: Harlequin Teen

To survive in a ruined world, she must embrace the darkness.

Allison Sekemoto survives in the Fringe, the outermost circle of a walled-in city. By day, she and her crew scavenge for food. By night, any one of them could be eaten. Some days, all that drives Allie is her hatred of them—the vampires who keep humans as blood cattle. Until the night Allie herself dies and becomes one of the monsters.

Forced to flee her city, Allie must pass for human as she joins a ragged group of pilgrims seeking a legend—a place that might have a cure for the disease that killed off most of civilization and created the rabids, the bloodthirsty creatures who threaten human and vampire alike. And soon Allie will have to decide what and who is worth dying for again.

Enter Julie Kagawa's dark and twisted world as an unforgettable journey begins.
*Goodreads Blurb*

MY REVIEW

There is a saying that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. But I don’t always agree with it. I mean, I judge books (some of them) by their covers. And that’s what attracted me to this wonderful book, even more than its enticing blurb.

Did I say this book is wonderful? 

Sure, it is.

Sixty years ago, civilization was hit by a plague – Red Lung. This plague reduced the human population, thereby causing chaos everywhere. A good opportunity for the vampires, who came out from their hiding and began their rule over the humans left. As a human in this new dark world, you’re either a Registered or an Unregistered. Being a Registered has its privileges. You get to eat good food, you live in good conditions. But then every two weeks you have to submit a portion of your blood to the vampires. You fail to do that and you’ll be dead. As an Unregistered, you have no privileges. You don’t exist in the society, you’re on your own, and if you’re ever caught stealing from the vampires or a Registered, you would be hanged.

What a harsh world!

It isn’t harsh yet. Hear this: outside the vampire cities is a deserted world overrun by the rabids. These guys aren’t your regular zombies; these guys are faster and are more vicious. You’d definitely prefer becoming a vampire's dinner than running into them.

Allison Sekemoto is one of the Unregistereds. She survives in the fringe by scavenging with her crew of three scrawny boys. One night she and her friends leave the city of New Covington to scavenge in the ruins, and on their way back, they’re attacked by the rabids. The attack is brutal; it leaves her friends dead and her on the brink of death. Then a lone vampire appears and gives her a choice to either let him transform her or let the wounds of the rabids kill her off. Allie hates the vamps, everything about them, but when faced with such a grim choice, she decides on the transforming. It’s always been in her nature to survive, even if it meant becoming “something she loathed.”

And thus begins the story of Allison’s new life as a blood sucker, a demon, a monster, a VAMPIRE.

The Immortal Rules is quite voluminous and is divided into four parts, narrated by Allison:

1. Human: This part tells the story of Allison’s life in the fringe and stops where she is turned into a vampire.
2. Vampire: Allison’s new life begins. She learns more about her new self and trains with her master, Kanin, who teaches her how to survive.
3. Monster: An “incident” makes Allison to leave New Convington and she begins to find her way in the forests, the ruins, discovering a world she never knew existed. Here she must learn to control the demon inside her or it would overcome her, thereby causing havoc to her new friends.
4. Wanderer: An “incident” makes Allison to part with her friends.

The Immortal Rules is my first Julie Kagawa read, and I loved it. The vampire plus post-apocalyptic elements in the book made me enjoy it even more. I liked Ms. Kagawa’s writing style, and I liked Allison’s narrative voice, sometimes tough, sometimes soft, and wholly realistic. The book feels like a journey, and you can’t help but think along with Allison when she makes certain choices. Sometimes you feel pity for her, sometimes you’re mad at her, other times you just understand her. And then like all good books, sometimes you ask yourself, “What would I do if I was in that situation?”

The world building is awesome. I loved the ruins, the abandoned cities, the fallen skyscrapers, the waterlogged cities, the yards crawling with weed, the rooms overrun by rats, the cracked streets filled with abandoned vehicles. Imagine a head of deer running about in a city. Sometimes reading the book felt like watching a movie. You feel as if you’re right there beside Allison, taking in the view of a post-apocalyptic world.

On characters, The Immortal Rules has a wide, memorable cast. There’s Zeke aka Ezekiel Crosse, the kind-hearted boy, who sticks up for everyone, though I felt he was too good, and I hated that he always tried to impress Jeb aka Jebbadiah Crosse, Zeke’s father. Jeb felt more real than his adopted son, Zeke. He’s a tough, fanatical, no-nonsense character. Sometimes I hated him, sometimes I liked him. And if there’s one character I wish I could enter the book and yell at, it must be Ruth. Ruth is so annoying; she pries on people’s affair, and she’s jealous and sometimes pessimistic. But she felt very real to me. I think she’s even more memorable than Zeke. And then there’s Kanin, Allison’s master or “sire,” a mysterious character. I liked him because his mysteriousness, although you don’t get to see him again after the first half of the book.

Overall, I’d say The Immortal Rules is a good book. It doesn’t only entertain but also draws you in and makes you ask questions. The pacing is quite slow in some places, but it has plenty action. I mean a lot of action. Did I mention that Allison is a kick-ass protagonist, the girl with a katana, who slashes the rabids like she’s cutting vegetables? And the ending! Oh, man I loved the ending. I wish I could talk about it without leaving any spoilers. That ending left me feeling like I’d just seen a good movie.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a vampire/apocalyptic/dystopian YA novel. I’ve seen good reviews on the second book, The Eternity Cure, and I hope I’ll read it soon.

And so, here goes my five stars (*****) to The Immortal Rules.

Feature and Follow #11 - I Broke up with that Series

Happy Friday, everyone!

Feature & Follow is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The purpose is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community. If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers. But you have to know, the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me. The general the rules are:

•  Follow the Feature and Follow Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}

•  Follow the Featured Bloggers

•  Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.

•  Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.

•  Follow Follow Follow as many as you can. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"

•  If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers. Thanks!!

Here’s this week's question: Have you broken up with a series? If so which one and why

Honestly, I haven’t read so many series. I usually read single books, so I can’t think of any series I’ve broken up with. Currently, I’m in the middle of these series: Divergent by Veronica Roth, Legend by Marie Lu, and The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa. They’re awesome, and I don’t think I’m going to break up with them. Besides, I’m caught in a love triangle between Beatrice Prior and Allison Sekemoto. *winks*

So, that’s it. How about you? Which series have you broken up with? And why?

With GFC going away please follow via BlogLovin, RSS, or Email.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by. And don't forget to leave your link in the comments section below so I can follow back!

Feature and Follow #10 - Bloggers I Would Like to Meet

Happy Friday, everyone! :)

Feature & Follow is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The purpose is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community. If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers. But you have to know, the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me. The general the rules are:

•  Follow the Feature and Follow Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
•  Follow the Featured Bloggers
•  Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
•  Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.
•  Follow Follow Follow as many as you can. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
•  If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers. Thanks!!

Here’s this week's question: What blogger would you most like to meet in real life? Tell us about him or her.

Since I started blogging, I’ve met so many cool people online. I wish I could list them all, but I can’t, so here are some which I’d love to meet.

1. Robyn @ robgirlbooks. Apart from being a very good supporter of my blog, Robyn is such an awesome person. You only have to read her posts to know that. I love her posts, especially the Think out Loud meme, which comes up every Thursday. Did I also mention that she’s a wonderful writer? Well, I haven’t read any of her books, but I have on my ‘to read’ list. And if you want to read nice books, movies and even a zoo review with good concept, do stop by her blog.

2. Uzoma @ 85degrees. Uzoma is my brother from another mama. He’s a good writer; reading his works inspires me. In fact, his 100-Word stories inspired, my 400-word horror story, The Beach Man. He is such a cool artist and did I mention we beta read for each other? Well, the day I’d meet with him I’m going to buy him a lot of beer for all the good suggestions he’s been making in my WIP.

3. Florentine @ Readiculously peachy. I think it was the sweet title of her blog that got me curious about her. Apart from the title, her blog, in my opinion, has the most beautiful design I’ve ever come across. You can’t help but admire the beautiful layout. Sometimes you even want to lick it, because it looks so delicious. Okay, blog title and design apart, I love her reviews. They’re fun to read, and recently I enjoyed her review of The Eternity Cure by Julie Kagawa. That review made me get the first book, The Immortal Rules, which I started reading today. And Florentine is a good supporter of my blog.

4. Athina @ Between My Lines. I’d love to sit by the beach with her one day, discussing writing and publishing. Even though I haven’t met her, I can feel her passion about writing, especially in her blog posts about writing, editing, and criticism. Athina seems to me like a headstrong person who’ll never give up until they achieve their goal. And that’s what she’s been doing ever since, seriously working to better her debut novel, DAZED. I hope to read that book one day.

Okay, I think I’ll stop here. There are others I want to meet, like Alison and Parajunkee, so I can say ‘thank you’ for hosting such a wonderful meme.

And thanks to everyone who’s ever stopped by The Creative Forum!

I love you all! :)

Feature: Paradise Squandered by Alex Stefansson

Hello, everyone.

I hope you’re all having a good week! It’s Wednesday, and a good time for another feature. So, today I’m happy to present you Paradise Squandered by Alex Stefansson.

And now, time for a sneak peek. Enjoy!

Book Blurb

Insightful, provocative and bold, Paradise Squandered is Alex Stefansson's take-no-prisoners debut novel about a cynical teenager's naive artistic aspirations, and his pining love for a girl he is too afraid to actually talk to. It is a raw, powerful portrait of a disaffected generation in an empty, consumer-culture world. It is the story of Andrew Banks, a recent graduate of Puget Sound Prep and quite possibly the most directionless member of his graduating class.

This is a story of what it is like to aimlessly trudge along that strange and uncharted course that is life after high school. 

Andrew returns home from a long-promised graduation trip to Hawaii and re-enters a bland, suburban landscape of privilege and indifference feeling alone and empty. The house he grew up in doesn't feel like home anymore. His mother seems more interested in desperately clinging to youth than being a mother. His sister only cares about playing the role of dutiful daughter. His brother disappeared years ago. His dad died when he was ten.

Talented but uninspired, Andrew knows he wants to pursue his art, but he has no idea how. He resigns himself to going through the motions of his own life, until he overhears the disturbing truth of his father's death. He instantly decides he has to leave his childhood home forever, and a darkly hilarious odyssey ensues.

Excerpt

I shift into neutral, kill the engine and start coasting through the last few blocks of eerily-silent residential streets, running stop signs, not wanting to disturb anyone or alert anyone to my presence. The wharf is in sight, barely lit by the waning moon and my approaching headlights. It's all downhill from here. I switch off the headlights and stop the car behind an overflowing dumpster. The air coming through the heater-vents is already growing cold again, I notice as I set the emergency brake; I was just starting to warm up, too. I can see my breath every time I exhale. The windows begin to fog up again. I pull the key out of the ignition, open the door and step out into the cold night air.

I'm digging around in the trunk, using my cell-phone as a flashlight, hoping to find some extra clothes, or a blanket, or anything else that could possibly help keep me warm. But there is not all that much to look through. The trunk is unfortunately clean and uncluttered. All I see is an empty gas can and this enormous emergency kit my mother gave me for Christmas the year I started driving.

“That car is a death-trap,” she told me. She told me that on more than one occasion. “That's the biggest kit I could find,” she said, which, in her mind at least, undoubtedly meant it was the best. “You'll thank me one day.” It wasn't the merriest Christmas. I don't have many happy holiday memories. Too much awkward, forced mingling.

An emergency blanket rustles obnoxiously as I shake it out of its packaging. I'm still mentally debating whether or not to actually use anything from the kit as I pull the thin Mylar rectangle over my shoulders, tightening the blanket around my back—I'm concerned my mother will later somehow find out what I've done here and be proven correct about the usefulness of her very thoughtful Christmas gift. I shake off the doubt, grab a road flare, slam the trunk lid shut and walk the rest of the way down the steeply-declining, dead-end road. I cross the railroad tracks and stop for a moment, peering through the chain-link fence that cordons off the remains of the decaying wharf. I'm amazed at the fact that such disrepair exists only a few hundred yards from million-dollar refuges for undeserving, maladjusted social climbers. Inherited wealth is all around me, and it makes me feel a bit sick about my own lot in life.

I'm trying to calm myself by intently listening to the tranquil sounds of seawater softly lapping at the bottoms of boulders, above which railroad tracks run parallel to the Puget Sound coastline as far as I can see. The tide is high. I'm all alone. Alone in my head. My very cold head. I pull the Mylar blanket tighter as I examine the tall chain-link fence in front of the crumbling fishing-pier.

The construction gate and various sections of fencing are cobbled together by a haphazard assortment of chains and padlocks, bailing wire and zip-ties. No Trespassing and Watkins Construction, LLC signs threaten various punishments for intruders, but most of it is obscured by graffiti and weather-damage. A plastic shopping bag rustles in the breeze, caught on the coil of barbed wire which runs along the top of the length of the fence.

I walk along the towering barrier until I find a hole. I easily step through, but my blanket gets caught. Annoyed, I wrap it around myself even tighter, holding onto it with both hands, my arms crossing my chest. I can feel the material stretching until it finally breaks free, sending me stumbling forward across the trash-strewn gravel. My blanket has already become a tattered rag, I perceive with dismay, feeling cold air rushing in around my back. But at least it is still crinkly and reflective, I conclude sarcastically.

About the Author

Alex Stefansson's writing is often influenced by sleep deprivation and too much caffeine. He lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Links:

Squandering Paradise: the blog of writer, Alex Stefansson

Paradise Squandered on Smashwords

Paradise Squandered on Amazon

Paradise Squandered on Goodreads

Feature and Follow #9 - Favorite Summer Reading Book

Happy Friday, everyone! :)

Feature & Follow is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The purpose is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community. If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers. But you have to know, the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me. The general the rules are:

·  Follow the Feature and Follow Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
·  Follow the Featured Bloggers
·  Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
·  Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.
·  Follow Follow Follow as many as you can. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
·  If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers. Thanks!!

Here’s this week's question: School is out! What is your favorite Summer Reading book?

Well, I live in a tropical region where the weather could be hot even in January, so I'd say it’s “summer” all the year round for us here. I don’t change my reading habits based on holidays or seasons. But I have some cool books I look forward to reading next. Here they are:

Prodigy by Marie Lu

We Need New Names by Noviolet Bulawayo

The Immortal Rules by Julie Kagawa

How about you. What is your favorite Summer Reading book?

With GFC going away please follow via BlogLovin, RSS, or Email. And please check out my 400-Word Blog series, The Beach Man. I’ll appreciate it.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by. And don't forget to leave your link in the comments section below so I can follow back!

Feature and Follow #8 - Fun or Fail Scenes

Happy Friday, everyone! :)

Feature & Follow is a blog hop hosted by Parajunkee and Alison Can Read. The purpose is to meet new people and gain more followers in the book blogging community. If this is your first time here, welcome! You are about to make some new friends and gain new followers. But you have to know, the point of this hop is to follow other bloggers also. I follow you, you follow me. The general the rules are:

·  Follow the Feature and Follow Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}
·  Follow the Featured Bloggers
·  Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.
·  Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.
·  Follow Follow Follow as many as you can. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"
·  If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers. Thanks!!

Here’s this week’s question: Give us a sneak! What are you reading? Tell us about a fun or fail scene in your current read.

I just started PREY by Michael Crichton. I’m in page 4, so I’m not far enough into the story to have any fun scene to share. So I’m going to share a fun scene from the book I recently finished: TWO LITTLE GIRLS IN BLUE by Mary Higgins Clark. You can find my review HERE.

     “I always had an escape plan in mind, just in case Clint got caught on one of the jobs he did with Lucas,” she told Kathy with a chuckle. But then, seeing that Kathy was falling back asleep, she frowned and went over the bed and tapped the little girl’s shoulder. “Listen to me when I’m talking to you. You might learn something.”

     Kathy’s eyes remained closed.

     “Maybe I gave you too much of that cough medicine,” Angie speculated. “If it made Clint sleepy when he used it last year, I guess it could really knock you out.”

Actually, this isn’t supposed to be fun because the book deals with the kidnap of two three-year-old twins. But I so much loved Angie’s character. Though a psychopath, her character had enough depth to it, and she always make fun of everything.

How about you? What fun or fail scene from a book are you reading?

If you decided to follow me, you can do it through BlogLovin, RSS, or Email. I heard that GFC will disappear soon. And please check out my 400-Word Blog series The Beach Man. I’d appreciate it.

Thank you to everyone who stopped by. And don't forget to leave your link in the comments section below so I can follow back!