Awesome Indies: Seal of Excellence

The Disenchanted Pet

The Disenchanted Pet
Title: The Disenchanted Pet
ASIN: B005OSZGW0
Published: September 18, 2011
Author's Twitter: @KatePolicani
Aliens called ShaZha rule future Earth and struggle with capricious humanity. Zarah wants to prove humans can be civilized, but discovers a hidden people and must acknowledge her true status. Far into the future, the Earth is ruled by the ShaZha, a hyper-intelligent race of alien beings who are plagued by the violence and volatility of the human race. Supposedly intending to repair the broken societies and polluted planet, they have found the Human problem to be much more complex than they ever imagined. Zarah is a Prodigy, an obedient human, with a caring ShaZha master. Zarah wants to prove all her master’s hopes that humans can be civilized and responsible. When she is lost by her master and exposed to the other side of humanity, she must confront the possibility she might be not a valued citizen, but a pet.

Assessed 

 

The Ribs and Thigh Bones of Desire

The Ribs and Thigh Bones of Desire
Title: The Ribs and Thigh Bones of Desire
ASIN: B00NZDOYP6
Published: December 9, 2014
Author's Twitter: @sheerhubris
Will they or won’t they? Should they or shouldn’t they? It’s the summer of 1977 in a small college town, and physics professor David Asken has just lost his young family in a plane crash he somehow survived. Sixteen-year-old neighbor Molly Carmichael used to be the babysitter, but now will be keeping house for him while he recuperates. David’s quietly planning to end his life just as soon as he can drive again. Molly’s trying to cope with being known as Tampon Girl, thanks to a sculpture by her notorious artist mother, but she will have to deal with much worse after a drunken teenage party. In this engrossing coming-of-age novel by the author of The Awful Mess, both man and girl must grow up the hard way, and it’s their unexpectedly tender connection, fraught with potential scandal, that may just help them do it. This provocative novel asks: Is there ever a time when doing the wrong thing might be exactly right? Warning: Offers adult themes, bad language, violence, and a blistering feminist critique of how men always leave that crap in the bottom of the sink. May also keep you reading way too late into the night.

Assessed for 

 

 

Daemon Seer

Daemon Seer
Title: Daemon Seer
ASIN: B00R3SF6SS
Publisher:
Published: February 24, 2015
Author:
Author's Twitter: @Dreambeast8
As a teenager, Lu Darlington attracted national attention when she and her friend Lisa escaped a sadistic killer known as the Professor of Death. She never told anyone about the daemon who saved her life that day. Ten years later, Lisa shows up at Lu’s door, fleeing another psychopath stalker. But Lisa’s not the only one seeking Lu after all this time. One by one, the daemons descend: Voracious Chama. Sinister Black Claw. Beautiful Talion. Chama wants Lu, but Talion claims her. The women of Lu’s family have always belonged to Talion—and they’ve suffered deeply for it. As the human threat draws closer, Talion demands that Lu bind herself to him in a harrowing ceremony that will destroy an innocent man and change her forever—but might save Lisa’s life. Can she navigate the violent intrigues of the daemon world without being consumed by its terrible, all-consuming demands?

Assessed for 

Breathing for Two

Breathing for Two
Title: Breathing for Two
ASIN: B00BFWYCGK
Publisher:
Published: November 30, 2013
Author:
Author's Twitter: @wolfpascoe
Ever wonder exactly why anesthesiologists describe their job as hours of boredom, moments of panic? With gentle precision, anesthesiologist Wolf Pascoe teases apart an overlooked world and unveils the eggshell dance that takes place at the head of an operating table. A personal odyssey that goes deep into the heart of anesthesia's most fearsome mystery—breathing—this short book offers a seat on the stage of humanity's original theatre. It will change the way you think about life, and breath.

Assessed 

Get on Board Little Children

Get on Board Little Children
Title: Get on Board Little Children
ASIN: B00DAP2TZQ
Published: January 13, 2014
Author's Twitter: @Entlover27
In a future marked by high-tech surveillance, an unlicensed pregnancy is a felony. It can lead to loss of the child as well as devastating fines and imprisonment. Targeted by the corrupt population-control police, Sophie must make a painful decision. She can submit to the state’s harsh demands. Or she can go on the run, relying on the conductors of the revived Underground Railway. Confronted with deception and violence, she must learn to trust her instincts. If she hesitates she risks the loss of everything she values most. Fast-paced dystopian thriller, GET ON BOARD LITTLE CHILDREN takes the heroine from the drone-watched streets of Seattle to the dangerous Tijuana border, while exploring a future that may be closer than we imagine.

Assessed 

The author has combined her three books, Get on Board Little Children, Come on Home Children, and City of Hidden Children
into a trilogy, The Children in Hiding Trilogy
A New book page has been created at http://j.mp/AwesIndBk484

 

Losing it All

Losing it All
Title: Losing it All
ASIN: B00BRKN25M
Published: March 8, 2013
Author's Twitter: @marshacornelius
Frank Barnes is content living on the streets of Atlanta. A soup kitchen and a makeshift shanty sure beat his days as a POW in Vietnam. But Chloe Roberts can’t handle the eviction that sends her into the hell of homelessness. With no family or friends to turn to, Chloe and her children are sucked into the traumatic world of night shelters, and dangerous predators. When they bump into each other at the soup kitchen, Frank offers Chloe a glimmer of hope that she can pull her life back together. She rekindles his lost sense of self-worth by taking his mind off his own problems. But they will not meet again until Frank is riding high as a working man, and Chloe has hit rock bottom. By helping Chloe rebuild her broken life, Frank banishes the demons from his own past. Unfortunately, the past comes strolling back into their lives, threatening to destroy the happiness they have finally found.

Assessed for 

Mystical Mountain Magic – Deceiver

Mystical Mountain Magic – Deceiver
Title: Mystical Mountain Magic – Deceiver
ASIN: B00QFK4JKG
Published: November 30, 2014
Author:
An infant girl is rescued and raised by giant eagles and is commissioned by a living volcano to restore Hope back into the world before the Deceiver can assassinate her. Set in early North America, evil fell from the stars and exploded against the mountain. Enticed by this three-legged master musician – the Deceiver – treasure seekers from all over the world come to this unspoiled country in search of their lust’s desire. As they create mayhem on this continent, an infant girl – Mariah – is rescued and raised by giant eagles that nest high on the cliffs of Elysium where she is commissioned by the mountain to restore Hope to a world without hope and save mankind from its disastrous effects before the Deceiver can assassinate her.

Assessed 

The Book of Barkley – Love and Life Through the Eyes of a Labrador Retriever

The Book of Barkley – Love and Life Through the Eyes of a Labrador Retriever
Title: The Book of Barkley – Love and Life Through the Eyes of a Labrador Retriever
ASIN: B00M7GCTZO
Publishers: ,
Published: July 27, 2014
Author:
Author's Twitter: @LBJohnson8
It is a story, not one of science, and one that may not be remembered past this one lifetime. It is the story of someone that did not know his destiny, but followed it with unfaltering step, bound to his human companion, not by vows or paper, but in the name of the trust that was the best part of his nature. It is a story of the one that taught her to love, even as he occasionally barfed on the carpet. It is simply the tale of a black Labrador retriever named Barkley. The Book of Barkley is a tribute and memoir that will resonate with everyone who has reached out unthinking to pet a beloved animal… only to remember that their beloved friend is no longer present. Honest, transcendent, and beautifully written The Book of Barkley is a love story that will enrich every animal lover’s library.

Assessed 

Fortunate

Fortunate
Title: Fortunate
ASIN: B00DGQ9DJO
Publisher:
Published: June 17, 2013
Author's Twitter: @AndrewJHSharp
Locked into a lonely future by a cruel twist of fate, Beth reaches breaking point, leaves her husband, and flees to faraway Zimbabwe. But there she finds herself at the centre of a deadly struggle for the ownership of a farm. From a guest of honour at the President’s table to a disastrous decision that betrays a good man, her fresh start threatens to end in catastrophe. Does the land and its painted rocks hold clues to atonement and re-found love?

Assessed