I Need A Review!

Comment

Comment by Philip Nork on November 30, 2009 at 2:12pm

Here is a press release I did myself--is it professional enough to use? I would like any comments and am also open to having anyone review my book.

First-time author Philip Nork brings Sensitivity 101 for the Heterosexual Male to life!

Author: Philip Nork
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Distributors: Ingram Book Company
Baker & Taylor
Release date: August 2009
ISBN Paperback: 9781438967448
ISBN Hardcover: 9781438967455

Authors Website: www.philipnork.com


“The age-old “Battle of the Sexes” is still going just as strong as it ever was-and chances are it won’t lose any steam anytime soon. So rather than lament the fact that the game exists, men and women around the world are instead better off learning to play it to the best of their ability. Such is the premise behind Sensitivity 101 for the Heterosexual Male.” Tara Hopkins, Apex Reviews

“This is one of those books where the title does not adequately portray they content. Sensitivity 101 for the Heterosexual Male is not just for males, or even for just heterosexual individuals. This book can be enjoyed by anyone… If I had a son, I would want him to read this book.” G.A. Bixler, Book Readers Heaven

The journey we are on is a difficult one, even more so for those of a broken family. Follow the adventures of one such boy as he searches for the two desires we all share: the ability to be accepted by others and the right to be totally happy. Along the way he learns many life lessons that eventually lead him to discover both of these things.

“Straightforward and refreshingly candid…an impressive presentation of a life with a plethora of helpful lessons to share. Highly recommended for anyone seeking to cut through the typical façade of relationship ‘politics’ and learn the roots of true, lasting happiness.” Apex Reviews

“The stories that have emerged are ripe with feeling and diversity.” Authors Promoting Authors

Philip Nork lives in Henderson, Nevada and may be contacted at pnork2@yahoo.com.

Comment by Martha A. Cheves on November 8, 2009 at 7:08pm

Again, I have 5 more copies of my book Stir, Laugh, Repeat that I would like to send out for review. You can keep the copy for yourself or give it as a Christmas present. I'll autograph it any way you want. If you're interested, email me at marthacheves@bellsouth.net and I'll get you a copy out in this week's mail.
Thanks

Comment by D. Michael Olive on October 8, 2009 at 11:09pm

Dancing over Hell - Mike Olive, author. Here's the first chapter:
Saturday, June 20th; Chicago, IL; Scooter’s Frozen Custard
It was the perfect ending to a great day—until I heard the screams. Summer had returned to Chicago. My partner Dani Suskind and I had been pushed to the max lately. Between her running her biotech company, NeuroVir, and me running my art gallery and photographic studio, while simultaneously thwarting bioterrorist and nuclear attacks by a rogue organization, we were both running on empty. But today, we decided to put business aside and have some fun. That included wandering through the Art Institute, shopping for things that neither of us need, dinner at Giordano’s for the best pizza in the world, and dessert at Scooter’s, the best frozen custard place in town.
Fortunately, both of us are blessed with physiologies that never gain weight. So, neither of us felt any guilt as we walked down Paulina Street, pigging out on turtle sundaes. We make a striking couple and people definitely notice us. I’m six-feet-two, with medium length silvery hair and eyes. I’m not muscle bound, but rather on the wiry side, and I like to think I’m reasonably good looking.
Dani, on the other hand, is what is termed in the vernacular as a babe. She looks like the supermodel, Heidi Klum, only better. Six feet of ash blond beauty with a killer body and the deepest, blue eyes I’ve ever seen. When I first saw her sitting in a Starbucks, she looked like an angel. Of course, I later learned that she is one. Seriously. But then again, so am I.
Dani is an Angelic Throne. She’s one of the Big Guy’s enforcers placed here to take out people, demons, and fallen angels who do not deserve to live on this earth. I, on the other hand, am the Archangel Azrael, also known as the Angel of Death, but I’m really a nice guy. I was placed here over eight thousand years ago for the same reason as Dani, only on a grander scale. In this world, I go by the name of Liam Michaels.
I had just spooned a mouthful of vanilla custard and walnuts smothered in caramel and hot fudge into my mouth when I heard the girl scream. We stood in front of a dirty brown, east-facing, brick two-flat. Small windows on both floors faced the street. The second floor window was partially broken as if someone had thrown a baseball through it. That’s where the screams came from.
Dani’s head whipped toward the building as the screams crescendoed accompanied by the sounds of men laughing and talking in a foreign tongue. Romanian. I’m fluent in every human language.
“You heard it too?” I asked. Dani’s eyes flashed with fire as I hurried to finish my sundae.
“Someone needs a lesson in etiquette,” she said.
I licked the last of the ice cream from my spoon. “I’m ready when you are.”
I walked down an alley that ran along the side of the building and threw my empty dish in a trash can. Dani wasn’t finished, but threw out the rest of her sundae. She glared at the remains of her sundae lying in the trash.
“I’ll get you another when we’re done. Promise.” I stepped to the door and tried the handle. “It’s locked. How do you want to run this?” As I turned to her, Dani changed her appearance.
Angelic Thrones have the unique ability to shift between two human forms. Dani’s second looked like another supermodel, Almadena Fernandez, with long, jet black hair, pale skin and dark eyes. It’s convenient if you want to kick some ass and not be recognized later. One other rather disturbing characteristic is that her eyes glow white with fire when she’s torqued off. Judging by her current appearance, she was definitely torqued.
I shook my head. “How about I open the door quietly, then I let you take it from there?”
“Fine.” Her jaw clenched.
In my angelic form, I am a being of silvery light…very hot light, as in flames. I converted my hand into flame and melted the door handle then stepped aside and motioned to Dani.
“After you, my dear.”
She shot up the stairs without making a sound. I followed. Through the second floor apartment door, I could hear a young girl sobbing hysterically.
“Spread her legs. I’ll teach her to like it,” a husky male voice ordered.
I caught up to Dani. “I think the time for subtlety is over.” I kicked the door hard enough to take it off its hinges. It flew into the apartment and caught two guys in the back. They went down under the door.
Two men held a naked young girl by her arms while a third stood between her legs, his pants around his knees, an unfortunate position to be in when two enraged angels enter. The man with his pants down turned just as Dani leaped at him, grabbed him by his conveniently extended handle, and pulled him toward her.
“You like it rough, lover? Try this,” Dani hissed. She grabbed him by the throat, one-handed him over her head, and drove him into the wall. She pounded three, thunderous uppercuts to his groin and the breath exploded from the Romanian. Angels are superhumanly strong, so it was a good bet that this guy was now a eunuch.
I stomped on the two guys trapped under the door, knocking them unconscious, then stalked the other two. They released the girl and backed toward the kitchen. Both of them drew silver and black semi-automatic handguns—nine millimeter Bulgarian-made Arctus 94’s, very nice guns. They immediately immersed me in a shower of 9x19 parabellum bullets. Unfortunately for them, nine millimeter bullets have no effect on angels. A forty-five can shatter a life stone or, in my case, knock me unconscious, but these just stung like hell.
They emptied their clips and stared at me like I was some kind of a freak. Actually, I guess I am. Dani was still holding Mr. Castrado by the throat.
“Do we need these two?”
She glanced at the two unconscious men under the splintered door. “Nope. Those two and my date here will suffice.”
“Great!” My hand converted to silver flame and I pointed at the two men frozen in the hallway. Each man burst into white flames and incinerated in seconds. They didn’t even have time to scream. The flames that I create are sentient. They seek out living beings and incinerate them exclusively without touching the rest of the area. It’s very convenient for pest control.
“How about I take Mr. Castrado off your hands and you check out the girl?”
Dani nodded and handed the moaning man to me. His groin was pulped and he was shaking like a leaf.
Dani has an M.D. from Johns Hopkins and a Ph.D. from Harvard. She’s board certified in neurology so she was the logical one to do the examination. She converted to her blonde form and knelt next to the girl.
“For crying out loud, Liam, she’s just a child,” she whispered.
I let Mr. Castrado slump to the ground and moved next to Dani. “Did you get her name?” I asked.
Dani pointed to herself. “I’m Dani.” She pointed to the child. “You are?”
The girl clutched her hands across her chest trying to hide her nakedness. She was terrified and murmured something unintelligible.
“Let me try,” I asked. “Sintem prieteni. Nu ne vom mai lasa-i sa-ti faca rau. Numele meu este Liam. Cum te cheama?”
“What did you say?” Dani asked.
“I told her we’re friends and we won’t let them hurt her. I told her my name was Liam and asked what hers is.”
Dani reached out and smoothed the girl’s long, blonde hair. “It’s okay, sweetie. You’re gonna be fine.” She moved closer to the girl.
“Numele meu este Nadia,” the girl whispered.
“She says her name is Nadia,” I said. I looked over at Frick and Frack, the two guys under the door, who were slowly regaining consciousness. “While you examine her, I’m going to scout out the rest of the place.”
Before I left, I walked over to Frick and Frack. “Sorry guys, nap time’s not over yet.” I kicked each one in the head sending them back to La La land. “That’ll keep ‘em out for a while.”
The apartment was a rat hole. Ashtrays overflowing with cigarette butts, beer cans, and empty bottles of vodka littered the room. A threadbare couch was stained and foul-smelling. I headed for the kitchen. No improvement. The gas range was covered in burnt-on grit. It had great potential for a grease fire. Dirty dishes were fermenting in a clogged sink. I’m a gourmet cook and to someone as fastidious as I am about my kitchen, this was hell. I didn’t even want to know what might crawl out of the refrigerator, so I skipped it and wandered down a short hallway to where I assumed the bedrooms would be.
Two of the bedroom doors were padlocked. Odd for an apartment. The last bedroom was open, and my stomach lurched as I entered. A double bed covered with bloody, soiled sheets faced out from the back wall. Leather restraints, the kind you find in a psychiatric hospital, extended from each corner and attached to the metal bed frame. But the contents of a side table made the hair on my head stand up—drugs and dirty syringes. A really bad feeling was rising in my gut.
Whipping around to one of the padlocked bedrooms, I kicked open the door. Five partially-clad, semi-conscious girls were sprawled on cots, each tied down with flexicuffs. The smell of urine and vomit was overpowering. One of the girls turned her head toward me and tried to rise.
“Va rog, nu imi faca rau. Voi fi bine,” she cried. She fell back onto her cot and began sobbing hysterically.
“Son of a bisket! Dani, get in here!”
I turned and kicked in the other door. Same scene. Dani brought Nadia into the kitchen and sat her on a chair then came down the hall. I motioned toward the room. She turned and froze.
“Oh my Lord!” Her hand went to her mouth.
Again the girl frantically raised her head and upper body. “Va rog, nu imi faca rau. Voi fi bine. Voi fi bine.”
“What’s she saying?” Dani asked.
“She’s asking us not to hurt her. She says she’ll be good.”
“God damn these guys!”
“I have it on good authority that he will.” I moved into the room and knelt next to the sobbing girl. I converted my index finger to flame and melted through the cuffs. “Shhh, E in regula. Suntem aici ca sa te ajute.” I whispered.
“What did you say to her?”
“I told her it’s okay. We’re here to help her. There’re five more in the other room. Looks like they may have been drugged.”
“What kind?”
“In the other bedroom.” I stood up and led Dani into the back. Her eyes flared white with fire as she saw the bed.
“What the hell were these guys doing?”
“Not sure. Nadia and the other one are eastern European and the guys are Romanian. Maybe setting up a brothel?
“Ah, geez, Liam,” Dani whispered. “Nadia…”
I put my hand on Dani’s shoulder. “She’s safe now. What about the others? You want to examine them?”
She clutched her arms across her chest and nodded.
“I’ll go see how Frick, Frack, and Mr. Castrado are doing.” As I turned to go, I saw a pair of jeans, a blouse, and underwear lying in a corner of the room. I picked them up and carried them to Nadia. She huddled in the chair, her arms clutched to her chest. There was no way she was more that fifteen or sixteen. I offered her the clothes.
I asked her if these were hers. “Sint ai tai?”
“Da,”
I motioned for her to get dressed and left to get some answers. The eunuch had regained consciousness, but was curled up against the wall holding his groin. His gave me a murderous look.
“Esti un om mort,” he hissed, gritting his teeth.
“I’m a dead man? I think you’ve got that wrong, Mr. Castrado.” My face turned into silvery flame and I grinned down at him. “I know you speak fine English so let’s go with that language, shall we?”
“My God, what are you?”
I squatted in front of him. “Ya see, that’s what makes your death threat so funny. I’m the Angel of Death and you’re threatening me.” I slapped his shoulder. “Don’t you think that’s funny?”
“What do you want?”
“Oh, lots of things. World peace, great pizza, better ice cream, and later on tonight, an excellent cognac. But for now, I want everything you know about this operation starting with who’s in charge.”
Castrado just stared at me. I hate it when they’re uncooperative. It can get so messy. My right hand turned to silver flame and I reached toward his chest.
“No! No! I’m just a soldier.” Castrado pointed at one of the unconscious men. “Petru’s in charge. This is his operation. I just do what he tells me.”
I hate that excuse. It’s very convenient but it doesn’t cut it with me. The things I’ve seen in my time on this earth have convinced me that guys who do stuff like this are just below a slime mold on the evolutionary scale.
“Ah, so Petru tells you to rape fifteen year olds and you just blindly obey? Who tells him what to do?”
“I don’t know.”
“Bad answer, Castrado.” I pressed my flaming hand onto his forehead. He screamed louder than the girl.
“Oh God, they’ll kill me! You don’t know what they do to people who cross them.”
“Who?”
Castrado’s hands were shaking uncontrollably as if he wanted to grab his wound but was afraid.
“You know, I can heal that if you act fast and tell me what I want to know. You’re not going to be popular with the ladies as it is.” I motioned to his groin. “Of course, the guys might like you.”
“You can’t protect me. They’ll find me.”
“Don’t be too sure of that. I can take you where no one can find you.”
“Oh God, it hurts!”
“Not much time left.”
“All right, all right.” His breath was coming in a shallow pant. “The Ripaniis.”
No sooner did the name roll off his tongue than Castrado began choking. His eyes bulged from their sockets and blood started leaking from his nose, mouth and ears. I stood and moved away. His back arched, he gasped—and his head exploded. Rather messy way to die.
“So much for protecting you.”
Dani ran into the room. “For crying out loud, was that really necessary?” She glared at me.
“Hey, I didn’t do it. I simply asked him to tell me who was in charge of his glee club, but he was terrified of whoever it is. I told him I could protect him and he gave me a name. Then, his head exploded.”
“What the—? Who could do something like this?”
“The Ripaniis. Ring any bells?”
Dani shook her head.
“Me either. But the only time I’ve ever seen something like this is when something really bad is roaming around.”
“Like what?”
“A demon, maybe?”
Dani raised an eyebrow. “And they can do this?”
“They usually create some connection between themselves and their followers. The connection implants a command that activates something like this upon betrayal. Definitely effective for keeping people in line.” I flicked a bit of bone off my sleeve. “Looks like we’ve got some work to do, my dear.”
“Dang, and I was so looking forward to a little R&R before we took off on our next chase,” Dani said, shaking her head.
“How are the girls?”
“Two of them are dead. Drug overdoses. The remaining eight are in bad shape. Heavy bruising and a couple of broken bones from beatings. All of them have been repeatedly raped.
“Shall we take them to my medical facility?”
“Yeah. I have no idea how long they’ve been here, so I’ll need to run some tests for HIV and other STDs.”
Nadia appeared in the kitchen doorway. She was a petite little pixie, about five-two, neck-length blond hair, straight-cut bangs framing her heart-shaped face, and blue eyes. She could pass for Dani’s daughter. Dani followed my gaze and moved to block Nadia’s view of the living room carnage. The girl put her arms around Dani’s waist.
“You get the girls together in one room. Make sure they’re touching each other. I’ll send Frick and Frack someplace less comfortable.”
Dani and Nadia headed back down the hall. I pulled a small flipbook from my back pocket. It contains photos of especially gruesome, famous paintings such as Michelangelo’s scenes of hell from the Sistine chapel ceiling or Ruben’s portrait of Prometheus getting his liver ripped out by an eagle. It also contains several pictures of dark, bleak jail cells. I carry these because of another of my unique skills. I’m a Voidmaster, meaning I control the infinite dimensions of the Multiverse. I can move through these alternate dimensions going between various locations instantaneously. The entrances are called void points, which I place either in my paintings and photographs or on pieces of self-adhesive, exposed film.
I can also create Multiverse worlds within a photograph, a very useful skill when I want to put people like Frick and Frack on ice for later questioning. I turned to one that contained a prison cell and knelt next to Frick. I placed one hand on his head and the thumb of my other hand on the picture and as my eyes flared white, he faded like the snow on a bad television picture, reappearing in the pictured cell. I repeated the procedure for Frack then headed off to the bedrooms to join Dani.
“All set,” she said. The girls were laid out on the floor, their arms intertwined. Dani held one of the unconscious girl’s hands while Nadia clung to her. I put my hand on Dani’s shoulder. She was right. I had a feeling this was going to be a big job. My eyes flashed and we disappeared.

Comment by Donald Drake on October 1, 2009 at 6:54pm

Hi Elise,
I would be more than glad to do a swap with you.
It may take me a few days to get your book and read it, as I am in the finishing stages of my followup to "The Coming of the One". E-mail me at domnhnaill@hotmail.com, and give me the details there.

Comment by Elise Crawford on October 1, 2009 at 6:43pm

I am interested in doing a book review swap with another author. I've just finished one with Jeffrey Allen, GoneAway into the Land. He is currently reading my book. We're posting reviews of each others books everywhere we can. I've had so much fun that I would like to do it again. You can read about my book here and at these websites www.elisecrawford.com and www.apromisekept.org. and you can reach me at sales@elisecrawford.com. Thank you in advance.

Comment by jen burlock on August 29, 2009 at 10:26pm

I guess we all have our own problems that we are dealing with. I pray that all will be well and getting to write excellent work.

Comment by Ann B. Keller on August 28, 2009 at 5:25am

We're sorry you were under the weather, Donald. Glad to have you back!

Comment by Donald Drake on August 26, 2009 at 8:44pm

I must apologize to all the members an dfriends I have here at Book Masons. I have had health issues, and I have not been able to participate as I would like.
I have read some interesting stories during my time away and will be posting reviews soon, so be looking for them.
For those whom have been patiently awaiting the sequel to The Coming of the One, it should be available in late September, provided I don't interrupted by my wife and puppy.
It's good to be back.

Comment by Birdman 313 on August 16, 2009 at 2:29pm

If any one would like to do a review on my poetry book THOUGHTS from the MIND I would appreciate it a lot.

Comment by Debra Purdy Kong on August 2, 2009 at 11:18pm

Hi, Fran, if you're interested in reviewing a contemporary whodunit, I'd very much appreciate a review of my mystery, Fatal Encryption, and, adding to my post below, I never expect great reviews and prompt responses. I just hope for them. I don't give every book I review a glowing testament, but reviews are only my opinion, and I believe it should be tactful but honest.

• First
• Previous
• Next
• Last