Intraterrestrial

Adam Helios is a bully magnet without many friends. When he starts hearing a voice that claims to come from the stars, he fears he’s losing his mind, so he withdraws even further. On the way home from a meeting at the school, he and his parents are involved in a horrible car crash. With his skull cracked open, Adam’s consciousness is abducted by the alien who has been speaking to him for months.

After surviving the wreck with only minor scratches, Camille Helios must deal with her guilt over the accident that left her husband badly injured and her son in a coma. When the doctor suggests letting Adam go, Camille refuses to stop fighting for her son’s life.

Lost among galaxies, Adam must use his imagination to forge a path home before his body dies on the operating table. But even if he does return to Earth, he may end up locked inside a damaged brain forever.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Nicholas Conley takes readers out of this world and into the imagination of a young boy who is dying from a massive brain injury in his novel, Intraterrestrial. After a car accident leaves Adam in a comatose state, an alien race contacts him in hopes that he'll be able to help them beat the Destroyer by traveling through space. 

Adam Helios is the adopted son of Camille and John Helios who has run into a little trouble with bullies at his school. Though Adam is intelligent, a good friend, mechanically inclined, and imaginative, this doesn't help him stay out of the bully's line of sight. However, Adam's intelligence, imagination, and desire to do good will help him face the battle of his life, or rather the battle for his life. Readers will instantly align with Adam's character as he is represented as the underdog who stands up for others. When he's put into a coma after a brain injuring car accident, readers will feel even more connected to him. Yet, it's during this time that readers really see Adam's inner strength, persistence, and determination as he must battle the Destroyer if he wants to save an alien race and return to his earthly body. 

The creativity of this novel is wonderful and fresh, even in the midst of tragedy. I have wondered what is happening to people who are in a comatose state and Conley uses that curiosity to spark interest throughout this book. As Adam battles the Destroyer in his mind, or in outer space (whichever way you choose to look at it), his mother and father are trying to make the right decisions for him in reality. This creates a suspenseful situation where both the reader and the characters are in a sort of limbo. I also think that Camille's evolution of character also adds to the connectivity that readers can feel with this novel. Though I was kind of annoyed with her attitude and personality early on, the events that transpire push her to change into the kind of person she wants to be, which is nice. 

The only downside of this novel was that it was a bit predictable. There was a kind of obvious set-up of events and the book follows them almost exactly. I would have liked a few more surprises, but I don't think this takes away from the overall enjoyment of the book. I would definitely recommend this to readers who enjoy science fiction. However, there was some adult language so I wouldn't recommend it for all ages. 

Rating: 3.5/5 Cups

Teaser Tuesday (311)

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Intraterrestrial (Kindle 23%)

   - Nicholas Conley

"I need some kind of info, doctor, or I'm going to go nuts."

Dr. Blake nodded, consulted his chart, then awkwardly crouched down to her eye level. "Mrs. Helios, I have news about your husband."

What's Next, Wednesday (99)

•  To play along share a book you've been looking forward to reading, whether it's new or has been on your reading list for a while.

I'm looking forward to... 

Reading more books that aren't on a Grad School reading list! :) (Not that those books have been bad.) 

And that starts with Intraterrestrial by Nicholas Conley. This book combines the medical world and the world of outer space with a young man in a coma and the alien who takes over his subconscious. I can't wait to get started on this book because it is such a unique and fresh story idea. 

Working Stiffs

At a time when civil liberties have been eroded and unemployment has exceeded Great Depression levels, nanotechnology provides the ability to reanimate the recently dead. Far from zombies, but nothing like their former selves, “Revivants” are a ready source of cheap labor able to perform simple, routine tasks. Great news for some sectors, but for many, the economic and social impact is devastating.

Enter Joe Warren—an unemployed college dropout, who is self-absorbed and disinterested in the world’s problems. All Joe wants is a job, food on his table, and a cure for his girlfriend’s lingering illness. What Joe gets is a stint in jail with a bunch of self-proclaimed freedom fighters, and coerced to become an informant by federal government agents.

Joe is forced to examine his me-first attitude, and in the process learns that some things just might be worth fighting—or dying—for.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Working Stiffs is a novel that is unapologetically blunt and dismal in regard to the possibility of a scientifically altered future. Scott Bell takes the idea of zombies to a whole new, creepy, and disturbing level as they become replacements for the working population, which leaves the living human race to contend with the dead. 

Though the writing style of this book wasn't one that I thoroughly enjoyed, Bell's sarcasm and inappropriate language added to the realness of this sci-fi book. Because the notion that zombies could take over the workforce in the future is such a strange concept, the main characters need to be believably realistic. Joe Warren, though the hero of this book, is much more realistic than a character usually is while playing the role of antihero. Warren is not nice. He doesn't care about much other than himself. He is selfish, rude, and is not incredibly intelligent either. In short, he isn't very likeable. But that didn't stop his character from growing on me. It's quite a feat to change the minds of readers over the course of only a couple hundred pages, but Bell successfully did that. Even now, I still don't like Joe Warren, but I respect his fictional decisions, even if it took him a long time to start making the right ones. Furthermore, I did find humor in most of the book, which is also a pretty respectable feat considering the novel is quite morbid. 

The plot of Working Stiffs is very interesting, which I think is why I initially kept reading after I determined that Warren was not my favorite main character and that I did not like the writing style. When Joe Warren's girlfriend is diagnosed with a terminal brain tumor, he accidentally gets dragged into a revolutionary movement. When the government turns that girlfriend into a zombie, er - Revivant, while he's in jail, Joe gets a little ticked off. But Detective Ramirez has a couple of strings he can pull to force Joe to do his dirty work. With those strings being heavily weighted, Joe is forced to go undercover into the revolutionary group who threatens to expose the decayed body of the U.S. government and all of its ugly truths. Though I wouldn't recommend this book to everyone, as I really think the writing style, language, and antihero characteristics of the main character will not appeal to everyone, I did enjoy it and would pass it along if I really knew and understood the person I was passing it along to. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups

Teaser Tuesday (304)

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Working Stiffs (Kindle 87%)

    -Scott Bell

"This is your chance to be the kind of man I think you can be. Are you with me, or not?"

My answer surprised me more than anyone.

"Let's go."

Teaser Tuesday (303)

Welcome to Teaser Tuesday, the weekly Meme that wants you to add books to your TBR, or just share what you are currently reading. It is very easy to play along:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! Everyone loves Teaser Tuesday.

Working Stiffs (Kindle 8%)

    - Scott Bell

The Revivant woman stumbled and would have fallen if the one called Sanjay hadn't grabbed her around the waist. Her dull expression never changed. She wobbled in place the way a drunk might, if you squinched your eyes and pretended she wasn't dead and reanimated with a gazillion tiny machines running along her arteries.

What's Next, Wednesday (92)

•  To play along share a book you've been looking forward to reading, whether it's new or has been on your reading list for a while.

I'm looking forward to...

Working Stiffs by Scott Bell. This book takes zombies to the next level! In this tale, living humans must compete with zombies for jobs and survival through societal means. This doesn't make life for Joe any easier. So, of course, he finds himself in league with a bunch of freedom fighters. This book sounds both creepy and humorous, not to mention suspenseful. We'll see if Joe has what it takes to destroy the working class of the dead. 

Aaru (The Aaru Cycle #1)

Rose is dying. Her body is wasted and skeletal. She is too sick and weak to move. Every day is an agony and her only hope is that death will find her swiftly before the pain grows too great to bear.

She is sixteen years old.

Rose has made peace with her fate, but her younger sister, Koren, certainly has not. Though all hope appears lost Koren convinces Rose to make one final attempt at saving her life after a mysterious man in a white lab coat approaches their family about an unorthodox and experimental procedure. A copy of Rose’s radiant mind is uploaded to a massive supercomputer called Aaru – a virtual paradise where the great and the righteous might live forever in an arcadian world free from pain, illness, and death. Elysian Industries is set to begin offering the service to those who can afford it and hires Koren to be their spokes-model.

Within a matter of weeks, the sisters’ faces are nationally ubiquitous, but they soon discover that neither celebrity nor immortality is as utopian as they think. Not everyone is pleased with the idea of life everlasting for sale.
What unfolds is a whirlwind of controversy, sabotage, obsession, and danger. Rose and Koren must struggle to find meaning in their chaotic new lives and at the same time hold true to each other as Aaru challenges all they ever knew about life, love, and death and everything they thought they really believed.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Aaru by David Meredith explores a possibility in the ever-expanding technological world that could eradicate the idea of death from the world. Yet, the way that people will view this advancement, good or evil, is up for debate. 

Koren and Rose Johnson are sisters and the main characters of this book. Rose is dying of leukemia, but she's been selected to participate as one of the first minds to be uploaded to Aaru, a new virtual world where the dead can go on living.  While Rose is still in the hospital, she's very weak and can hardly speak. Readers will form a sympathetic connection with her as her suffering continues. When she's relocated to Aaru, readers will come to see a new version of Rose: a strong and healthy young girl who lets her imagination run wild. After Rose's death, Koren falls into a deep depression. At thirteen years old, her older sister is the first family member she's lost to death. Koren goes through an appropriate and intense mourning period, but then when she learns that Rose is still 'alive' in the world of Aaru, her emotional turmoil ends. However, when Koren becomes a spokesperson for Elysian Industries, she becomes incredibly busy and famous as she works nonstop to promote Aaru.

Both Rose and Koren are relatively likeable characters. The fact that both of these main characters are teenagers brings out the caring nature of the reader. And when both of them are threatened by a tech-savvy stalker, readers start to worry if Rose and Koren are going to survive this book. 

The plot of the book revolves all around Aaru and the Johnson sisters. It gives the reader flashes of the world inside Aaru and Koren's job working as a spokesperson for the company. Though, to add a little controversy to the mix there is also a character (government official) who objects to the program of Aaru and the previously mentioned stalker. The Magic Man, as the stalker like to call himself, believes that Koren is meant to be his, as he becomes more and more obsessed with her. He even devises a plan that involves Rose to bring Koren closer to him. This really ups the ante of the novel and echoes the fear that many people have about computer privacy. 

I enjoyed reading this book as it was unlike anything I have ever read before. Though at times I struggled to really get into it. The last four chapters were definitely entertaining as everything came to a climax, but the discussion of Aaru and the tech jargon that appeared sometimes threw me off. I would recommend this novel to lovers of science fiction who enjoy a little danger. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups

Burning Through Their Eyes

When Toby decides to move to Chicago, it is because he wants to start a new life with his family and to get close to the place where his father was killed. But Toby is shocked with the things he learns, understanding that the University where he works runs a very dangerous program operated by the NSA.

But that isn’t enough; one of his sons is kidnapped and could be in grave danger; his son would be subject to a dangerous research which aims at harnessing the ability to manipulate the dreams of others and to pry into their thoughts through their eyes. Now Toby must rescue his son, and to do so, he must use his own set of exceptional skills. The only problem, apart from a deadly adversary, is when a gifted seer of the future reveals that he’s seen Toby killed in a vision.

*May Contain Spoilers*

The psychological terror continues from In Between Dreams with Eugene Knight's sequel, Burning Through Their Eyes. Toby returns as the main character but is now the father of twin boys who seem to be even stronger than he is in the realm of Mindflyers. At such a young age, Toby's sons could have great and dangerous potential and thus makes them a target for an ambitious and unscrupulous man.  

Readers see an older and more evolved Toby in this sequel. Whereas in the first book Toby only really had to care about himself and could act childish, now he's a father, with a seemingly good career, and has a family to support and protect. Therefore, readers will be able to witness Toby as a more grown up character who is dependable and responsible. His role as a parent will also help him be more relatable to readers as they see a father willing to do anything to save his son, after one of the twins is kidnapped. This will allow readers to connect with Toby on another level, a deeper one. No one ever wants to see, or read about, a child getting hurt. So while this helps readers feel a connection with Toby, it also ups the ante of the entire book. 

The plot of this sequel moves pretty fast as the list of suspects for who could have kidnapped Brice, Toby's son, grows exponentially. When we add the fact that the kidnappers have absolutely no qualms about killing anyone who gets in their way, the odds quickly stack against Toby's chance of surviving. One important thing to realize going in, is that all of this is being done to advance the research of killing people by using a Mindflyer to enter a person's conscious and basically push them into a daydream in which they die, causing a heart attack due to the level of stress their mind thinks their body is experiencing. Scary situation and horrifying idea. The explanations can get a little muddled, but I think Knight does a good job in explaining it, and demonstrating, how it would work so the audience gets the right idea. As a whole, I really enjoyed this book. It kept me entertained while I was simultaneously hoping for the survival of various characters. All the different doctors did become a little bit confusing as I struggled to keep them, and their specific work, straight, but I didn't feel like it detracted from the overall storyline. For readers who enjoy psychological thrillers and science fiction, I would recommend taking a chance on this one. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups

Read the review of Book One

What's Next, Wednesday (57)

•  To play along share a book you've been looking forward to reading, whether it's new or has been on your reading list for a while.

I'm looking forward to...

Burning Through Their Eyes by Eugene Knight. This novel is the sequel to In Between Dreams that I read a few weeks ago. After finding out he had a murderous twin brother, Toby moved to work with a scientific researcher at a university, studying powers that evolve between twins, while living with his pregnant girlfriend. In this installment, one of Toby's sons (also twins) is kidnapped for his abilities and Toby must do whatever he can to save him. 

Never Let Me Go

As children, Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy were students at Hailsham, an exclusive boarding school secluded in the English countryside. It was a place of mercurial cliques and mysterious rules where teachers were constantly reminding their charges of how special they were. Now, years later, Kathy is a young woman. Ruth and Tommy have reentered her life, and for the first time she is beginning to look back at their shared past and understand just what it is that makes them special—and how that gift will shape the rest of their time together.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Kazuo Ishiguro writes a novel of dystopian compliance with his novel, Never Let Me Go. Set in an alternate reality, this dystopian novel explores the life of clones who have been created for one purpose: to be organ donors. As the main character reflects on her life, she prepares to begin her donation process, which will end with her death. Readers reflect with her as Kathy tells her story of love, learning, and loss. 

Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy are the central characters in this book, though it's told from Kathy's point of view. Or rather, it's a story that Kathy is telling. She admits that all of the details might not be completely correct, but the story is nonetheless true. Kathy is a woman who is good at her job. All clones have to be 'carers' at some point, providing care for other clones who have already begun donating. This demonstrates just how caring, loving, and understanding Kathy is. As clones, Kathy and the other like her are all separate from society. They're raised together, taught together, and though they are never given the spelled out version, they'll all die, or 'complete,' by donating vital organs to those in need. 

As Kathy reflects on her life, she tells the story of her tumultuous relationship with her friend Ruth, as well as her dear friendship with Tommy. Kathy is presented as a normal woman with hopes to be a good carer and a good friend. Yet, she never questions her predetermined fate to die so that others can live. There isn't much to dislike about Kathy, although she seems to spend her time focusing on building other people up, putting herself and what she wants behind the needs of others. And though this is a respectable quality, it's also sad to witness the consequences. The ever changing status of Kathy and Ruth's relationship is emotional and evolutionary. Though readers will side with Kathy, they'll also understand Ruth's actions and motivations as another clone who will never see her dreams come to fruition. 

The plot of Never Let Me Go is all about Kathy telling the reader her history. It seems that she does this as a way to let the reader know why she accepts her fate. And though it's easy to say she should have fought the system, it's presented as an impossible feat. By hearing Kathy's story, the reader will come to understand Kathy's desire to be finished, to be complete, after the loss she's witnessed. Never Let Me Go is a heartbreaking exploration of a world where organs are harvested and the recipients try not to think about the sacrifice made so that they may live, evoking very emotional responses from its readers including anger, sadness, and understanding. 

Rating: 4/5 Cups

Hair Power

Terminal cancer patient, Quiti, walks into an abandoned building planning on taking her life.

Instead, she encounters a telepathic ball of hair that insists it is an alien seeking to facilitate diplomatic communication on Earth.

Quiti assumes it is all a hallucination conjured up by her brain tumor.

Because of this assumption, when she saves the alien’s life and it insists on doing Quiti a favor in return, she only asks for her hair back. She soon discovers, however, that the creature’s gift extends much further than her new locks that can change color with a thought. As her powers grow and her deadly illness goes into remission, Quiti quickly realizes that there are those that would want to use her for her abilities and is forced to leave behind everything that she knew.

Will this blessing curse her to a life on the run, or does the mysterious hairball have more in store for her?

*May Contain Spoilers*

Piers Anthony takes alien invasion to a whole new level with his humorous fantasy/science fiction novel, Hair Power. When a hairball appears and asks main character, Quiti, for help, it certainly creates a new image of what an alien could look like, while prompting a new investigation into why they would invade earth. 

Quiti has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. In the beginning of the novel, she doesn't have much time left to live and decides to end it all on her terms. Until a twenty-pound hairball intervenes and asks her for help. In return, she granted a request. Easy for Quiti, all she wants is her hair back. The hairball agrees, but in the end does so much more for her, including curing her cancer. Quiti is a nice, down to earth person, who was given a raw deal, like all cancer patients. She's smart and even keeled. However, readers will only really get to know her after she becomes the convoy for the alien species. After she starts growing a new alien hairball on her own head, Quiti becomes incredibly intelligent, brave, and courageous. She also becomes more and more robotic as the novel progresses. As a mix between human and alien, Quiti's formality increases as her knowledge of what the magical hair can do expands. Even though the dialogue becomes more formal, I think readers will like Quiti as she travels around experimenting with her developing powers, knowing that there are government officials following her. 

The plot generally revolves around the question: what do these aliens want and why are they choosing specific people to help them? With that lingering throughout the book, readers see Quiti develop her powers and grow with the hair. As she finds more like her, the truth of the matter is revealed and the possibility of a sequel presents itself. Hair Power is a silly (in a good way), expansive enjoyment of science fiction and fantasy that lovers of the genres will like. The evolution of Quiti into an alien convoy is interesting and engaging while the thrill of escaping the government officials also adds a bit of adventure to an otherwise exploratory novel. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups

Teaser Tuesday (245)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm/Books and a Beat. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers



Hair Power (71% Kindle)
   - Piers Anthony

"But why? I mean, the hairballs -- what do they want from you?"
"That is what we are waiting to find out. There has to be a price on this largess. Whatever it is, we'll gladly pay it." 






Synopsis

Terminal cancer patient, Quiti, walks into an abandoned building planning on taking her life. 
Instead, she encounters a telepathic ball of hair that insists it is an alien seeking to facilitate diplomatic communication on Earth. 
Quiti assumes it is all a hallucination conjured up by her brain tumor. 
Because of this assumption, when she saves the alien’s life and it insists on doing Quiti a favor in return, she only asks for her hair back. She soon discovers, however, that the creature’s gift extends much further than her new locks that can change color with a thought. As her powers grow and her deadly illness goes into remission, Quiti quickly realizes that there are those that would want to use her for her abilities and is forced to leave behind everything that she knew. 
Will this blessing curse her to a life on the run, or does the mysterious hairball have more in store for her?

InHuman Blog Tour - Guest Author: Kama Falzoi Post

Today, I have the pleasure of hosting Kama Falzoi Post for the release of her Young Adult sci-fi thriller, InHuman!
Keep reading for a chance to win $25 Amazon Gift Certificate!

Title: InHuman

Author: Kama Falzoi Post

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Release date: December 13, 2016

Publisher: BookFish Books
Cover Artist: Anita Carroll at Race-Point

About InHuman

Kama Falzoi Post on the Characters of InHuman

InHUMAN started out in a different body. A hastily thrown-together manuscript—50,000 words—written furiously during National November Writing Month, and titled The Dark Eternal.

The characters were there from the beginning: Mira, with her raging red hair and human/alien complex, and Adam, the alien-in-the-hot-body who captures her heart. Originally, the conflict centered around Adam’s desire to either remain in a human body, or go back to his original species. But I found, as I kept revising (for, like, years) that it was necessary to create a nemesis. Someone dark and salty, someone opposite Mira, who served to highlight her faults, threaten Adam, and push the narrative forward.

Enter Decklin.

Decklin was loads of fun to write because I could make her both confident and evil—a dangerous mix. She doesn’t think anything can stand in her way, certainly not a teenage girl. But Mira proves her wrong.

That was fun too, giving Mira the chops to stand up to a powerful enemy. She had to reach down inside herself to find the strength and courage, but it had been there all along. Kind of like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz. She always had the shoes, she just didn’t know how to use them.

Okay, maybe that’s a stretch, but the concept applies.

Something that has always fascinated me is pondering what defines us as human beings. Are we human because we’re in human bodies? What if you sawed off our legs, our arms, took us apart piece by piece? When do we stop being human? Maybe it comes down to something inside, something intangible. Our soul? If so, where is that located? Can it be displaced?

As you can see, I did way too much thinking.

But those kind of ruminations served as the inspiration for Adam’s character: an alien soul placed in a human body. Both he and Mira think of the body as a vessel at first, and Mira especially writes him off because of that:

I didn’t want to hear about his feelings. The body served only as a machine to him, a vessel.

But as the story progresses, she begins to see he is not much different than her. He has the same emotions, the same drive. Inside that body, he experiences all the human things we experience.

And of course, you know what happens at the end. The other phenomenon humans strive for: the happy ever after. At least, that’s what I lead you to believe…

-Kama Falzoi Post

BUY InHuman Now!

Add InHuman to your Goodreads TBR list

About Kama Falzoi Post

Kama Falzoi Post is a functioning member of society, a part-time introvert, a pinnacle of contradictions, the mother of a hurricane, a step-mother, and an author. She enjoys drinking red wine and then drinking more red wine, listening to music that moves her, and taking things too far.

She developed a love of books and writing at a very early age. Her stories have appeared in a handful of literary magazines including Inkwell and SmokeLong Quarterly, and most recently in the anthology Outliers of Speculative Fiction. She lives in a small town outside a small city with her husband, son, and too many cats.

Here is the link to entering the contest to win a $25 Amazon Gift Card, a Rafflecopter giveaway

Read The Coffee Pot's review of InHuman Here!

A Gift of Ghosts (Tassamara #1)

Akira Malone believes in the scientific method, evolution, and Einstein's theory of relativity. And ghosts.

All the logic and reason in the world can't protect her from the truth-she can see and communicate with spirits. But Akira is sure that her ability is just a genetic quirk and the ghosts she encounters simply leftover electromagnetic energy. Dangerous electromagnetic energy.

Zane Latimer believes in telepathy, precognition, auras, and that playing Halo with your employees is an excellent management technique. He also thinks that maybe, just maybe, Akira can help his family get in touch with their lost loved ones.

But will Akira ever be able to face her fears and accept her gift? Or will Zane's relatives be trapped between life and death forever?

*May Contain Spoilers*

Sarah Wynde gives a new perspective on the ability to communicate with ghosts in her novel, A Gift of Ghosts. The main character, Akira, only holds true the facts that she has learned from interacting with otherwordly beings through her experiences. And one things is certain: ghosts are more dangerous than people think. 

Akira Malone is a physicist that just happens to have the ability to see and speak with ghosts. Her father always told her that ghosts were a form of energy, following the scientific theory that energy can not be created or lost, only transferred. Akira is a cautious woman who tries to think before she acts. Especially when it comes to communicating with the dead. She's had a lifetime of trauma due to her gift and she tries to avoid ghostly contact when she can. However, Tassamara, Florida turns out to be a very haunted place when she moves there for work. This new opportunity in research puts her into contact with various ghosts and pushes Akira to the limits of her experience. Her character is fun and understanding with an intrigue for answers and scientific examination. Readers will like her abilities and feel more connected to her as they make new discoveries at the same time Akira does. 

The novel begins with Akira being hired for a new job, which causes her to relocate from California to Florida. The family she works for is revealed to be a family of psychics, in a town that attracts similarly gifted people. However, the reason the family hired her is so that they can communicate with a couple of ghosts they have been told reside with them. This set-up is uncomfortable with Akira but she tries to make the best of it, leading to a nearly disastrous result. 

A Gift of Ghosts is overall a fun and interesting read about discovering qualities and other information about ghosts. Though there is an edge of danger that lines the pages. Readers will understand Akira's hesitant nature about communicating with ghosts, as well as see first hand just how dangerous they can be. There are a few sympathetic moments that will draw readers in emotionally, building upon the spark of interest that paranormal abilities initiate. Though not a book I felt was un-put-down-able, A Gift of Ghosts was an easy and intriguing read. As a lover of science, that side of the story seemed to add a little believability. I don't think I've ever read a book before that tried to combine energy science with ghostly manifestations and I really enjoyed that Wynde included that aspect in her novel. 

Rating: 3/5 Cups

InHuman - Cover Reveal

Today, I have the distinct pleasure of revealing the cover for InHuman, a sci-fi thriller by Kama Falzoi Post! Without further ado, here's the amazing cover!

Title: InHuman

Author: Kama Falzoi Post

Genre: YA Sci-Fi

Release date: December 13, 2016

Publisher: BookFish Books
Cover Artist: Anita Carroll at Race-Point

About InHuman

Mira’s mother sizes up bodies at the morgue like she’s rifling through the sales rack: this one’s too big… this one’s too small… ah, here it is. Just Right. The perfect vessel for the one they'll call Adam.

Since Adam's survival is the key to drawing out the Conduit -- a slippery sort bent on evacuating souls from their human bodies -- Mira must help him pass for a typical teenage boy. That means showing him how to talk right, walk right, chew with his mouth open... blend in.

Ironic, because blending in has always been a challenge for Mira, especially with hair the color of a Dorito. But at their small, secluded prep school, blending in is a matter of life and death.

Because the Conduit is watching.

Pre-Order InHuman Now!

and

Add InHuman to your Goodreads TBR

Meet the Author: Kama Falzoi Post

Kama Falzoi Post is a functioning member of society, a part-time introvert, a pinnacle of contradictions, the mother of a hurricane, a step-mother, and an author. She enjoys drinking red wine and then drinking more red wine, listening to music that moves her, and taking things too far.

She developed a love of books and writing at a very early age. Her stories have appeared in a handful of literary magazines including Inkwell and SmokeLong Quarterly, and most recently in the anthology of Outliers of Speculative Fiction. She lives in a small town outside a small city with her husband, son, and too many cats.