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“Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened”

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Exotic Music of the Belly Dancer by Brian Sweany

Exotic Music of the Belly Dancer by Brian Sweany

Published by and available from The Writer's Coffee Shop

Follow on Twitter using @briansweany and @TWCS_pubhouse

Summary

Hank Fitzpatrick’s life is what you might expect from a man-child stumbling his way through and beyond adolescence in the late 1980s in small town Indiana: hypersexual, drunk, stoned, prone to fits of spontaneous masturbation, occasionally Catholic, and accidentally well-intentioned. His life is in perpetual conflict as he confuses sex for love, heartache for passion, desperation for honesty, and abuse for affection.

Caught in the crossfire of raging hormones, bad decisions and family tragedy, Hank is just a boy not yet ready to be a man. And like many boys growing up, Hank is desperate to impress his father. The impossibly perfect patriarch of the family, John Fitzpatrick decides at age forty-two he wants to have a vasectomy reversal. Is Hank ready to be a brother again at age seventeen? What about his mother’s narcotics and gimlet-soaked uterus? A child will come of this, but not without consequences.

Laura is Hank’s first true love. From their stolen nights together as high-school sweethearts to their final encounter as twentysomething adults, they never figure out how to stop hurting one another. Beth, the girl who loves Hank unconditionally, can only wait for so long before longing turns to regret. But everything will be okay as long as Hank’s best friend Hatch is there to help him exorcise his demons with a half-gallon of bourbon and a bottle of cough syrup.

Exotic Music of the Belly Dancer is more than just a tribute to the last uninhibited pre-9/11, pre-Facebook generation. It’s a comedy. It’s a tragedy. It’s a love story. It’s a subversive yet empathetic, warts-and-all portrait rooted in real-life that kids will read behind their parents’ backs. And if somewhere along the way we can all share in the redemptive power of a belly dancer’s love…well, that’s okay, too.

Author Bio

Since 2000, Brian Sweany has been the Director of Acquisitions for Recorded Books, one of the world's largest audiobook publishers. Prior to that he edited cookbooks and computer manuals and claims to have saved a major pharmaceutical company from being crippled by the Y2K bug. Brian has a BS in English from Eastern Michigan University, from which he graduated magna cum laude in 1995. He's a retired semi-professional student, with stopovers at Wabash College—the all-male school that reputedly fired Ezra Pound from its faculty for having sex with a prostitute, Marian University—the former all-female school founded by Franciscan nuns that, if you don't count Brian's expulsion, has fired no one of consequence and is relatively prostitute-free, and Indiana University via a high school honors course he has no recollection of ever attending.

Brian has spent most of his life in the Midwest and now lives near Indianapolis with his wife, three children, and a neurotic Husky/Border mix named Hank. He’s currently working on his next project, Making Out with Blowfish, which is the sequel to Exotic Music of the Belly Dancer and the second book in a planned trilogy. For future details, check out the author’s website at: www.briansweany.com

Interview with Brian

First Up... I'd like to wish Brian a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! He turns 42 today, has a new book being released in a few days... exciting times really.

So, it's your birthday, how do you plan to celebrate?

For my birthday I'll probably end up at my favourite local microbrewery taproom, and close the night with homemade chocolate cake with whipped cream icing, although my wife Robin has been known to surprise me.

If you gave one of your characters an opportunity to speak for themselves, what would they say?

My protagonist, Hank, would bask in the adulation. If he was talking to a woman, he would say something inappropriate that much to your dismay you couldn't help but find endearing, and all the while he'd be wondering what your calves or feet looked like. If you happened to be a man, he probably wouldn't trust you enough to say anything or else talk too much just to prove how much smarter he was than you.

Do you have plans for a new book?   Is this book part of a series?

I'm almost finished with MAKING OUT WITH BLOWFISH, which is the sequel to EXOTIC MUSIC OF THE BELLY DANCER. My deadline to have a finished manuscript to my editor is June 1, so I better be almost finished. The plan is for this series to be a trilogy.

What books have influenced your writing?

Tough list to narrow down. The ones that come immediately to mind without having to think about it are Hunter S. Thompson's FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, J.D. Salinger's CATCHER IN THE RYE, Ken Kesey's ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, Kurt Vonnegut's SLAUGHTERHOUSE FIVE, John Irving's THE WORLD ACCORDING TO GARP,  Rob Thomas's RATS SAW GOD, Chuck Palahniuk's FIGHT CLUB, Dave Eggers' A HEARTBREAKING WORK OF STAGGERING GENIUS, and Stephen Chbosky's THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER.

Is there an Author that you would really like to meet?

I actually work in publishing and have met a lot of my favorite writers, including Alice Walker, James Lee Burke, Ian McEwan, Salman Rushdie, Jonathan Franzen and Chuck Palahniuk. Of those I haven't met, Dave Eggers easily tops the list. Of those who are no longer with us, I would have loved to sit at a round table with Vonnegut, Hunter and Hemingway and a bottle of expensive bourbon.

Do you prefer ebooks, paperbacks or hardcover?

I prefer reading paperbacks and smelling hardbacks, although I work on the acquisitions side of publishing and certainly prefer carrying around twenty e-galleys to twenty physical galleys. Then again, if the airlines just allowed me to use my e-reader during takeoff, landing and taxiing, I might never again buy a physical book.

What book would you like to read again?

Ernest Hemingway's THE SUN ALSO RISES. Read it in my early 20s. It's generally regarded as Papa's best book, but for some reason I don't remember it that way. 

I'd like to re-read Robert Pirsig's ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE and David Foster Wallace's INFINITE JEST, but that would require me getting through them for a first time, something I've failed to do on multiple occasions.

Is there a particular movie that you preferred over the book version?

Three-way tie between THE SHINING, THE GODFATHER and THE PRINCESS BRIDE. 

What book are you currently reading?

Michael Sullivan's THE THEFT OF SWORDS, book one of a new fantasy trilogy. After reading literary fiction almost exclusively for about ten years--Philip Roth, Michael Chabon, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jeffrey Eugenides, etc.--I've recently circled back to sci-fi/fantasy, which is really the genre that turned me into an avid reader back in my teens. When I was supposed to be learning Shakespeare, I was worshiping Isaac Asimov.

Are there any Authors that have grasped your interest recently and why?

Basically any male author who's still trying to do something ambitious, grand and muscular with the American novel: Philip Meyer, Brady Udall and Pete Dexter come to mind.

Who designed the cover of your book and what is the story behind the cover design?

The cover was pretty much my baby, although I credit designer Jennifer McGuire at The Writer's Coffee Shop Publishing House for taking my idea and running with it.

The title of my novel is taken from the title of an actual belly dancing album from the 1950s called Exotic Music of the Belly Dancer by Mohammed El Bakkar. I managed to track down the rights to the artwork for the original album. In fact, the first draft of my book described  that original art:

A voluptuous belly dancer shimmied up the left side of the album cover, her hands raised above her head and her right hip thrusting out. The album’s title bar cut off the belly dancer’s face at the chin and her raised arms just above the elbows, giving her an air of mystery. A shadow covered half of the belly dancer’s body like a question mark, bisecting her creamy-white skin at the navel, running up from her waist, around the bottom of her left breast and then across her underarms and chin. Below her navel she wore a multi-layered silk skirt fastened low on her hips with a pearl-encrusted belt, all of the ensemble in various shades of gold to match her pasties. The pasties themselves were pointed teacups. Shiny, metallic moons ending in gold tassels that crowned the smoothest, most perfectly rounded breasts I’d ever seen. They became the standard by which all breasts were compared for the rest of my life. 

While I was talking to the record company that owned this art, however,  I came across the work of Malaysian photographer Han Ghazi. She had taken this photograph of a belly dancer's shimmy skirt that immediately captivated me. I took a simple straw poll of family,  friends and my publishing peers, and Han's photograph won out.  And so, my "new" belly dancer was born:

The album’s title bar cut off the belly dancer’s face, giving her an air of mystery. She appeared in profile on the cover, her body in the near-perfect shape of a question mark. She was voluptuous and shirtless, silvery metallic cups crowning her smooth, bronzed breasts. Her abdomen muscles ran in a faint vertical line from her breasts to her navel. Below her navel she wore a small, red shimmy skirt fastened low on her hips and covered in dangling silver coins that matched her pasties. Finally, one solitary hand motioned behind her, fingers cupped and turned outward as if she was beckoning me to follow her.

I like that Han's photo is more subtle and mysterious than the original art. Building on this mystery, I tilted the image on its side so that at first glance you might not even recognize the belly dancer image. Given that my writing leaves little to the imagination, I wanted my cover to be purposely less suggestive. Although it's entirely a coincidence that my publisher is the same one that discovered and launched E.L. James, I would point out that FIFTY SHADES OF GREY has this same less-is-more approach with its ubiquitous neck tie cover. 

What do you have coming out next? 

MAKING OUT WITH BLOWFISH , the sequel to EMOTB, is slated for a March 2014 publication. It picks up where EMOTB leaves off, taking the protagonist Hank Fitzpatrick from his early 20s into his late 30s. It's less of a coming of age novel than EMOTB and more of a  "fear and loathing in the burbs" book like Tom Perrotta's LITTLE CHILDREN.

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Code Red by Amy Noelle

Published by and available from The Writer's Coffee ShopFollow on Twitter using @twcs_pubhouse

Summary

After getting hurt in college by a gorgeous man, Nicole Magette vowed never to risk losing her heart again. Now she lives a structured and satisfying life. Her work is easy, her friends are her family, and the only consistent men in her life are her two cats, Winchester and Huntington Peabody the Third. She doesn't date, and she hooks up only with losers—men she has absolutely no risk of falling for. But if she finds herself in danger, she has her old failsafe in place—the Code Red.

In college, she and her four best friends came up with the system as a way to keep away the good-looking bastards that might worm their way past their carefully constructed walls. Seven years later, three of her friends have succumbed to their last Code Reds and are happily married. Now it’s just Nicole and her closest friend, Jen, who are still on their own, and Nic is just fine with that.

That is, until Joshua Daniels is transferred to Nicole’s office from New York and assigned to work with her on a special project. He's everything she's avoided and everything she claims she doesn't want, so why can’t she get him out of her mind? He's persistent, dangerously handsome, and sexy as sin. In other words, he’s her worst nightmare. She turns to her friends to help her resist Josh’s considerable charms and the inescapable draw she feels every time she gets near him. Can the Code Red save her this time, or will Josh send her perfectly balanced life into chaos?

My Thoughts

Have you ever had a bad experience with a man and sworn to steer clear of the male species for good, much like you when you drink too much and swear off alcohol? Nicole Magette and her friends have, and they have devised a clever plan to help them steer clear of the wrong sort of guy. They’ve created their own kind of intervention in the form of “Code Red”, (a line from the movie A Few Good Men).

Enter Joshua Daniels and all bets are off.  Nic calls for her friends support, but they aren’t so sure a Code Red is what she needs. The ensuing dialog that occurs between Nic and her friends is the best part of the whole book.  Each woman has something different to bring to the argument as to why Nicole needs to branch out, and let go of the past.  

In famous Jack Nicholson language, Nic “can’t handle the truth!” 

Code Red by Amy Noelle is a well written romance with a hint of drama and a solid dose of humour. It was a light and quick read, and I would say that Amy Noelle is an author to watch. You will want to finish this one!

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Fixer by Gene Doucette

Fixer by Gene Doucette

Published and Available from The Writer's Coffee Shop

Follow on Twitter using @GeneDoucette  and @TWCS_Pubhouse

Summary

What would you do if you could see into the future?

As a child, he dreamed of being a superhero. Most people never get to realize their childhood dreams, but Corrigan Bain has come close. He is a fixer. His job is to prevent accidents—to see the future and “fix” things before people get hurt. But the ability to see into the future, however limited, isn’t always so simple. Sometimes not everyone can be saved.

“Don’t let them know you can see them.”

Graduate students from a local university are dying, and former lover and FBI agent Maggie Trent is the only person who believes their deaths aren’t as accidental as they appear. But the truth can only be found in something from Corrigan Bain’s past, and he’s not interested in sharing that past, not even with Maggie.

To stop the deaths, Corrigan will have to face up to some old horrors, confront the possibility that he may be going mad, and find a way to stop a killer no one can see.

Corrigan Bain is going insane . . . or is he?

Because there’s something in the future that doesn’t want to be seen. It isn’t human. It's got a taste for mayhem. And it is very, very angry.

By the author of Immortal and Hellenic Immortal.

My Thoughts

It's no secret that Gene Doucette is one of my favourite authors. I have a few favourite authors, I'm not remotely exclusive in this regard. Clive Cussler's work is awesome but I only like his Dirk Pitt novels, Patricia Cornwell's work is also fantastic, but I really only like her Scarpetta novels. Sooooo... when I first read Fixer, I was nervous. I loved, loved, loved, LOVED Immortal and Hellenic Immortal. I badger Gene quite frequently for Immortal 3. BUT this was a whole new character, would I even like Corrigan Bain? The short answer is yes, I do. Phew, hey? It's bad news for Gene though... I've now got something else to badger him about.

☕☕☕☕

Guest Post - Interview with the Author

What inspired you to write your first book?

That’s an interesting question but let’s talk about how we’re defining “first book”.  The first time I tried writing a novel I was in eighth grade and I was trying to write what was essentially a knock-off of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.  I didn’t finish it, and what existed of it was written in longhand on lined paper.  I don’t know where it ended up.  My first completed novel was an expansion of an idea I had for a comic book miniseries that I wrote through high school and part of college.  It ended up being a 150,000-word manuscript that should never be seen by anyone, ever.  But it was fun to write.

So if we’re talking about the first option, I was inspired to write by Doug Adams and the idea that I could do that too.  The second option came from trying to flesh out something that had originally been much smaller, and I wanted to see how much of a story I ended up with.

I think every novel I wrote after those two efforts came about because I either thought I could do something better than another writer had (the “Christ, I can write better than that” reaction) or because I wasn’t sure if I could do something and thus had to try.

If you could get any author to read your book, who would it be and why?

I’m funny about other authors.  Someone asked me the other day what authors I’ve met when they’ve gone on book signing tours, but I’ve never gone out to meet a famous author so I didn’t have an answer.  I can think of a lot of authors I would love to have read my books, but mostly because those authors seem really cool and I like it when cool people read my books.  So sure, I’d love it if Neil Gaiman read my stuff, or Stephen King, or John Green.  They all seem really cool and very outgoing and I can imagine having a conversation with one of them after they’d read something of mine.  But I can also think of a bunch of non-authors that I also think are really cool that it would also be great to have a conversation with afterwards.

Do you recall how your interest in writing originated?

Not really.  It was too long ago.  I basically decided I was going to be a writer as soon as I realized someone was responsible for assembling the words I was reading.  Probably first or second grade.  It just seemed like a neat thing to do, I guess.

How did you design your cover?

The cover design was suggested by me, but assembled by Megan Dooley for the publisher.  I made additional suggestions on drafts to get it tweaked and looking the way it looked in my head, but all the credit should go to Megan, who was the artist here.

Do you have any advice for new writers wanting to get a start in the publishing world?

There are so many ways to get a book out to people now.  I went with an indie publisher, but you might go the self-publishing route.  Either route is fine, but you will need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each path before deciding.  I could have self-published—all three of my currently published novels were finished between 6 and 8 years ago—but held out for a publisher I could work with and that wanted to work with me.  That was a sacrifice, but a good one in my mind.  

But okay: advice.  My advice is, be your own best editor.  Self-publishing, indie or big market, you’re going to benefit from having an editor (even if you hire your own), but the book should have already gotten its most thorough edit from you.  

Author Bio

In addition to ghost writing for an immortal man, Gene Doucette has been published as a humorist with Beating Up Daddy: A Year in the Life of an Amateur Father and The Other Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook: A Parody. He is also a screenwriter and a playwright. Gene lives in Cambridge, MA with his wife and two children.

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"The Oracle" by KB Hoyle

“The Oracle” by KB Hoyle

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Summary

A year ago Darcy Pennington had no real friends. A year ago she’d thought that magic only existed in fairy tales. A year ago she would have laughed at the idea of other worlds.

Then everything changed when she’d visited Cedar Cove Family Camp and stumbled into a magical gateway to a world called Alitheia.

It is the summer before freshman year and Darcy and her five friends have come back to Cedar Cove Family Camp and Alitheia. This return is bittersweet because her elusive purpose in the magical realm continues to evade her. Egged on by Tellius, the boy prince she is prophesied to marry, Darcy rebels and impulsively “petitions” an entity called the Oracle and requests it give her information as to her purpose. In order to receive her answer she must travel to the Oracle, and so she embarks on a journey along with her friends and Yahto Veli, the nark. Too late she realizes her selfish entreaty has thrown the entire outcome of the prophecy itself into question and endangered everyone. Uncertainties mount between Darcy and her companions as they fight their way through enemy territory to locate the Oracle, and an unwelcome visitor from Cedar Cove adds a layer of mystery that none of them are prepared for. 

But the perils of the quest are nothing when compared to what lies in wait for her in the lair of the Oracle. There is a cost associated with every question asked– a cost that may be far greater than Darcy is willing to pay. And someone may choose to make the ultimate sacrifice to free her from it.

My Thoughts

Camping in Australia is rather different to how it is portrayed in the novel “The Oracle” by KB Hoyle - well at least it is different as far as my limited experience is concerned. This fact however does not limit my enjoyment in “The Gateway Chronicles”, of which “The Oracle” is book 2. I grew up on the Narnia Chronicles and was always a sucker for an alternate universe and a fantasy world of mythical creatures. I’ve been lucky enough to read both of the first two books in the series; the first book was a great introduction to KB’s writing style, the setting of Alitheia and the many astounding characters and creatures that are found there. The second book is awesome... and tonight I’m going to share with you an excerpt from the novel.

Enjoy!

☕☕☕☕

“The Oracle” an excerpt chosen by KB Hoyle

They charged forward. The night was dark as pitch, but they dared not light a torch to give away their position. Terra and Lupidor led the way, and the narks brought up the rear, all of them needing less light by which to travel.

Darcy was tempted to curse every time she tripped and stumbled as she clawed her way through the forest growth, but she refrained, foolishly fearing Yahto might take up her mother’s promise to wash Darcy’s mouth out with soap. She was contemplating a more intelligent way of expressing herself when, without warning, her feet fell away beneath her. She cried out as she slipped down the side of a moss-covered embankment.

“Whoa, I’ve got ya!” Tokala said. He’d caught her arm just before she’d fallen all the way down. He made as if to set her on her feet, but a howl issued behind them, not far away at all. “On second thought,” he muttered, putting his shoulder into her middle and hoisting her up. “Come on, everybody, let’s move!” he called insistently, jarring her as he jumped down the embankment.

Lupidor! she called. How close are they?

Close, he answered. But . . . they have been distracted by something! I don’t know what it is, I—

His voice cut off as coldness descended around them like a fog, and Darcy felt a jolt of terror rip through her stomach. Something much worse than wolves, she feared, was upon them.

 The forest went silent, and then they heard it: hundreds of wolves crying out with painful, terrified howls that echoed around them like ghosts.

Darcy grunted as Tokala slung her roughly to the ground.

“I cannot fight an enemy I cannot see!” he cried, and he put steel to flint to light his torch.

Tokala’s torch sputtered to life, revealing darkness, utter and tangible, surrounding them like a cage. They could hear the wolves, but they still couldn’t see them. Black fog curled around their feet, lapping against their skin and chilling them like ice water. The fog above was held only momentarily at bay by the flickering of Tokala’s light.

“What—is—this?” Dean chattered. “It’s—so—cold!”

Darcy shivered, more from fright than from the cold. An unnatural terror had invaded her bones, and she wanted to simultaneously dig a hole to hide in and run for her life. It took all her willpower to stand up and cast out her link, seeking to touch the minds of the wolves, not to talk to them but to locate them.

“The wolves,” she breathed, balling her hands into fists to keep them from shaking. “They’ve stopped. They’re . . . terrified!”

“No kidding?” Perry sounded as though he was trying to joke with her, but the hollowness in his tone belied his true mental state. He was just as afraid as she was.

The torchlight wavered. Tokala’s hand was shaking, and he stared at it in horrified wonder, as if he had never seen himself react that way before. The darkness above them continued to descend.

“What is this?” Tokala echoed Perry. His handsome face was pale as a ghost’s in the wan light. “Is it tsellochim?”

“No,” Yahto’s voice sounded out of the darkness. “It is something worse. No tsellochim has an aura this strong.”

“Then . . . what? Tselloch himself?”

“I don’t know,” Yahto responded with a slight tremor in his voice.

With a hissing sputter, Tokala’s torch went out and darkness fell. The fog touched her head, and Darcy took a deep breath.

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"Legacy of a Dreamer" by Allie Jean

"Legacy of a Dreamer" by Allie Jean

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SUMMARY

Chantal Breelan is a ward of the state, living under the care of a woman who is cold and heartless. Her past is a mystery, and her future is even more uncertain. She can’t recall why she had been taken from her parents and so she’s left with nothing but an empty hole where her childhood should have been. When she awakens from her nightmares, she’s left with terrible, violent images, as well as a boy whose face is oddly familiar, yet can’t be placed.

Scared and alone, Chantal begins to confide in an imaginary friend – a shadow in the shape of a man who stands in the corner of her room. She is comforted when she believes he listens to her.

On her eighteenth birthday, Chantal is forced to leave her foster home. She moves to New York City, but the start of her new life doesn’t begin as smoothly as she’d hoped. In this environment, she faces a whole new set of challenges.

One night at a subway station, Chantal meets a young boy who runs away from her, and she’s compelled to follow him down into the tunnels. But this Rabbit Hole reveals a world where reality is a nightmare. Her dreams are clues to her future, and her life becomes twisted and dangerous when she learns that things that go bump in the night are not just in fairy tales and childhood stories.

MY THOUGHTS

Allie Jean’s “Dreamer Series” has a great deal of potential and it all starts with “Legacy of Dreamer” an intriguing mystery about a haunted young girl Chantal Breelan, whose past has been plagued by troubling events and whose future is uncertain. Chantal, a ward of the state, leaves the dubious security of her foster home after coming of age and begins to forge a future for herself; she secures herself a place to stay, starts a friendship with a neighbour and looks for employment... until the past intrudes and the real story is revealed. 

It is here that we are formally introduced to Nick / Mathias, a hero in this tale. I say “formally” because we had already been introduced to Nick (in the very early stages of the novel), but the legitimacy of his character was in doubt as he was woven into the shadowy dreamscape of Chantal’s imagination and ever present nightmares. Nick and Chantal form an alliance to fight against the force that oppose them and together they make a great combination. So it was no surprise when their romance unfolded quite naturally, despite the troubling circumstances they found themselves. 

Here’s what worked:

I enjoyed the way “Legacy of a Dreamer” started and the pace at which it developed.  Allie Jean created a semi spooky mystery and continued to build the plot and the suspense as the story continued. I liked that both the past and the future was mystery - this created a great deal of uncertainty in the present, which kept me turning the pages searching for answers.

The characters worked well together, they were flawed, earnest and touched by the hardship of others.

There were several supernatural action / battles scenes that I thought were well described and would possibly translate well into film sequences. The shadowy figures were a highlight - Nick / Mathias being the stand out character and the evolution of his relationship with Chantal.

There is a twist, rooted in Chantal’s past that changes the whole story line - I loved it, but I won’t say more or it will spoil the story for you

Here’s what didn’t work:

I am not convinced that all the characters mentioned in the opening chapters are necessary to the story, and some were mentioned with apparent unnecessary detail; though this is hard to confirm, especially with more books in the series still to be released... perhaps their inclusion is quite important. 

The ending felt a bit rushed to me and I would have liked a little more detail, but again, there is always the next installment for that.

MY RATING

☕☕☕+

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The Last Keeper by Michelle Birbeck

The Last Keeper by Michelle Birbeck

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Summary

Fifteen hundred years ago, Serenity Cardea took the life of the only vampire she ever regretted killing—Henry, her sister’s husband. With her sister brutally murdered, Serenity had little choice but to grant Henry the only request he had: death.  Centuries later, Serenity is no closer to discovering who betrayed them or instigated the massacre of her brothers and sisters.

The vampires want dominance—over their food, the other races . . . the world. To get it, they’ve systematically hunted down and slaughtered the only ones standing in their way. The Keepers.

As a Keeper, Serenity is tasked with protecting the delicate balance between the creatures of the world: Vampire, Witch, Were, and Human. Her kind exists to ensure that no single race sways the balance, dooming the world to destruction.  

They're on the brink of extinction, with no sign of return. Now only two remain, and Serenity’s last brother is facing death, leaving her standing alone against a never-ending tide of vampires, all wanting one thing: power.

Then she meets Ray Synclair, a history professor in training with a passion for centuries past, and the harsh reality of her limited time comes crashing down on her. He is her weakness. His mortality is the countdown on Serenity’s life, and with each passing second, it comes closer to the end, for both of them.

She must uncover the secrets of her people’s past and find out who betrayed them—and who is still doing so—before it’s too late.

Serenity’s days are numbered, and Ray will be drawn into a world of myth and legend, where just being alive is enough to get him hunted down.

Because the only way to kill a Keeper is to kill their partner . . .

My Thoughts

I enjoyed the novel "The Last Keeper" by Michelle Birbeck, it started well, introduced the characters, set the scene and alluded to the plots's directionality, successfully building upon and compounding my interest with the looming sense of disaster.

The characters were well rounded and described, with a solid mix of dialogue and action - both factors are huge prerequisites for me as it enables the reader to identify with the characters. Then came Ray, and with him came a budding romance, complete with all the angst and tension a fledgling relationship deserves... that sense of looming disaster continues to grow, and grow... until you realise it was never going to end well, and that's just the first half of the book!

Ha Ha, that's about all I can tell you without having to place a spoiler alert. What I can tell you though, is that there is a twist to this tale that left me in awe of the clever trickery of the author. Did she cheat? No, rules are made to broken, but what she did was cheeky - withholding some of the historical information of the characters that paved the way for a peculiar turn of events. I'm undecided how I feel about it, and I am almost sure that Annie Wilkes - of Stephen King's "Misery" would call Michelle Birbeck "a dirty bird".

So read the book, decide what you think and leave a comment below...

☕☕☕+

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