Fiction

XYZ

XYZ
Title: XYZ
ASIN: B07TTWHYL2
Category:
Published: July 31, 2019
Author's Twitter: @_william_knight
Jack Cooper blames the internet for everything bad that’s happened to him, and he badly needs an update. Once a king of computer coding and a Space Invaders champion to boot, he's now middle-aged, unemployed, cynical and sarcastic. He drinks too much and is addicted to online hook ups. His wife wants a divorce, his single daughter is expecting a baby and his shameful, twenty-something, species-confused son dresses as a bear. But when Jack’s daughter engineers a job for him at totally-lit tech firm Sweet, he’s confronted by a Generation Y and Z culture he detests. He loathes every detail – every Instant Message, gif and emoji, and the constant broadcasting of "success" on social media. Can Jack ever relate to the gender-neutral, app-wielding, digitally-connected snowflakes at his new politically-correct company, or will he remain a dinosaur stuck in the 1980s?And will Jack halt his slide into loneliness and repair things with his family?

Assessed for Awesome Indies Book Awards

Walking with Elephants

Walking with Elephants
Title: Walking with Elephants
ASIN: B006BG7G90
Publisher:
Published: November 17, 2011
Bridget Jones meet Erma Bombeck — Walking with Elephants, a lighthearted slice-of- life story, brings to the table the serious work/family issues facing women today.   Suze Hall is at a crossroads. Her nemesis at work, Wanda, has been promoted and now will be her boss. Her husband, Bob, is leaving her and the three kids for a six-month sabbatical down under. To top it off, her best friend, Marcia, is missing in action–playing footsie with some new boyfriend!   Adding to this disaster stew, David, the gorgeous hunk who broke her young-girl’s heart has coincidentally popped back into her life and has something she desperately needs to keep her job. Walking with Elephants, a lighthearted slice-of- life story, brings to the table the serious work/family issues facing women today. It explores the modern dichotomy of a workplace that is filled with homemakers who still must cook, clean, carpool on nights and weekends, shop for prom dresses, and “create” the holidays–such as Suze. But it also is filled with women who have the same drive as men, have no family responsibilities, and will do what ever it takes to get ahead. So step into the shoes of Suze Hall and commiserate over workplace politics, titillate your sexual fantasies, ride the wave of a working mother, and fall-down laughing.

Assessed for Awesome Indies

To Do the Deal, A Novel in Stories

To Do the Deal, A Novel in Stories
Title: To Do the Deal, A Novel in Stories
ASIN: B00NUAOTPY
Illustrator: GB Tran
Published: September 22, 2014
Author:
This humorous career and family drama will captivate anyone who has ever held a job, lived in a family, or been on either side of a sales transaction. To Do the Deal, A Novel in Stories is about the quotidian — the challenges, minute dramas, and endearing moments that make up the every day. Set in a suburb of Washington, DC, To Do the Deal sets its focus not on the power brokers that dominate the nation’s capital but rather, on one family that is muddling along. Through ten stories, one each set in the years 1991 through 2000, we follow Kenneth Bodine on his quest to make a decent living in commission sales. We also follow his wife, Jodi, who tries hard as wife, worker, and mother and who often gets it right but just as often overthinks. To Do the Deal will appeal to readers who like witty stories, well told; who appreciate carefully plotted narratives; and who want to be entertained by an ensemble cast of deftly drawn characters. The language is literary yet light: readers who put check marks in the margins next to lines that resonate will mark a lot of pages. Beyond the appeal of its writing, To Do the Deal will captivate anyone who has ever held a job, lived in a family, or been on either side of a sales transaction.

Assessed for 

The Glade

The Glade
Title: The Glade
ASIN: B00GNQVPOK
Publisher:
Published: 13 Nov. 2013
Author:
Author's Twitter: @harmony_kent
You are being arrested for the murder of your husband… You have a secret you can’t tell…The evil is gathering… The Wenstrops have it all: health, wealth and happiness. But then it all begins to fall apart. Helen is arrested for murder, yet is either unable or unwilling to give a defence. During her detention, vital evidence goes mysteriously missing and tensions are running high. Helen finds herself surrounded and yet alone: not knowing who she can trust or how she can tell her enemies from her friends. Helen has to work through her self-doubts and fears, in order to know whether her suspicions and misgivings are valid or simply products of an overwrought mind. There are those who would like to encourage her confusion, and those who would help her – but how to know one from the other? And then there are those who actively mean her harm. Meanwhile, malignant forces in the forest are gathering power, ready for a final assault. Helen finds herself in a battle of life and death, and faces having to lose everything in her attempts to thwart the evil that has insinuated itself into her very existence – but is she ready to make the ultimate sacrifice? This sensational second novel by acclaimed author Harmony Kent will have you alternately laughing, crying and gripping the edge of your seat as this roller coaster ride of a plot unfolds. It will keep you guessing through its many twists and turns, and hijack your attention right up until you turn the final page. This book has it all: murder, intrigue, the supernatural, a broken marriage, a love affair, courage against impossible odds, suspense, and high drama.

Assessed for Awesome Indies

The Clock Of Life

The Clock Of Life
Title: The Clock Of Life
ASIN: B00JX0YSVA
Publisher:
Published: April 23, 2014
Author's Twitter: @klanncy
To Kill a Mocking bird meets the Civil Rights Movement.  This southern tale is a coming-of-age story about doing right just because it's right. In the small town of Hadlee, Mississippi, during the 1980’s, Jason Lee Rainey struggles to find his way amongst the old, steadfast Southern attitudes about race, while his friendship with a black boy, Samson Johnson, deepens.    

Assessed for Awesome Indies

The Battle for Brisingamen

The Battle for Brisingamen
Title: The Battle for Brisingamen
ASIN: B00CNUQCXO
Category:
Publisher:
Published: 10 Jan. 2014
Author:
Author's Twitter: @harmony_kent
There is a World not too Far Away … Beneath the north sea a land of magic lies undetected. The lives of many are drawn inexorably closer together in a race against time, as both energy companies and evil beings attempt to destroy the magic which is protecting not just this land but all worlds. The unwitting protagonists have no idea of how suddenly and irrevocably their lives are about to change. It is a race against time to try and recover the lost necklace, Brisingamen, which holds the ancient power of the Goddess Freya, and to prevent the undersea drilling from taking place. Are Aart, Matthias, Gemma and Dirck up to the challenges they now must face?   Here there be Dragons, and all manner of Creatures …

Assessed