IE Reviews: The Backworlds

I came across this sci-fi novel by M. Pax while reading a friend's blog. It is geared toward adults.

I love a great sci-fi book and can't get enough of them lately so I was delighted when I downloaded this and the first page sucked me in. The world is well developed and interesting. That said, it fell short for me in a few areas. However, this is a very well written novel, superbly edited, and well executed, which I would recommend for sci-fi fans. What are short comings for me, another is likely to not even noticed.

The best part is, if you're hesitant to try it out, no need to be, it's free! So decide for yourself. You can't go wrong there. You can find it at the following links:

Amazon / B&N / Smashwords

IE Reviews: Delirium: Debt Collector 1

Lately it is incredibly rare for me to find a book that captivates me so much that I cannot put it down. I'm picky, I admit it. Which is why I don't do a lot of reviews. It takes something special. This is something very special. Susan Kaye Quinn's The Debt Collector just released. It is a new future-noir serial for adults (no not that kind of adult book). People, it is BEYOND amazing. The first episode, Delirium, launched  on 3/20.

My official review:

"Utterly captivating and completely amazing from the first word to the last. This is science fiction at its forward-thinking best. Delirium is the first in a serial about a man who collects people's life force when their time is up and they have ceased to be a productive member of society with a valuable future. It promises to be an outstanding series, one that I will be waiting on with bated breath. This is everything the movie 'In Time' should have been, and then some. It would not surprise me in the least if Hollywood comes calling Susan on this one."

Yes really, it was that good. I'm eagerly awaiting the next installment in the serial, which is coming out soon! Here is more about it:

What’s your life worth on the open market?

A debt collector can tell you precisely.

Lirium plays the part of the grim reaper well, with his dark trenchcoat, jackboots, and the black marks on his soul that every debt collector carries. He’s just in it for his cut, the ten percent of the life energy he collects before he transfers it on to the high potentials, the people who will make the world a better place with their brains, their work, and their lives. That hit of life energy, a bottle of vodka, and a visit from one of Madam Anastazja’s sex workers keep him alive, stable, and mostly sane… until he collects again. But when his recovery ritual is disrupted by a sex worker who isn’t what she seems, he has to choose between doing an illegal hit for a girl whose story has more holes than his soul or facing the bottle alone—a dark pit he’s not sure he’ll be able to climb out of again.

Contains mature content and themes. For YA-appropriate thrills, see Susan’s Mindjack series.

Delirium is approximately 12,000 words or 48 pages and is one of nine episodes in the first season of The Debt Collector serial (how cool is that?!). This dark and gritty future-noir is about a world where your life-worth is tabulated on the open market and going into debt risks a lot more than your credit rating. You can find out more about the series at the Debt Collector website and facebook page. The Debt Collector newsletter is a special list just for episode releases.

Early Praise

 “The street-smart science of LOOPER meets the cold, just-the-facts voice of DOUBLE INDEMNITY in this edgy, future-noir thriller that will have you holding your breath, looking over your shoulder, and begging for more.” —Leigh Talbert Moore, author of The Truth About Faking, The Truth About Letting Go, and Rouge

“Do you owe more than your life is worth? No worries. A more deserving person than you can benefit from that excess life—and someone else will get paid with it. Enter the Debt Collector.” —Dianne Salerni, author of We Hear the Dead, The Caged Graves, and The Eighth Day (HarperCollins 2014)

The first three episodes of Debt Collector will be released a week apart, starting Wednesday 3/20. The remaining episodes will release every two weeks. Delirium can be found on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, iTunes, Kobo. Or add it to your TBR on Goodreads.

Susan Kaye Quinn is the author of the bestselling YA SF Mindjack series. Debt Collector is her more grown-up SF. Her steampunk fantasy romance is temporarily on hold while she madly writes episodes to keep Lirium happy. Plus she needs to leave time to play on Facebook. Susan has a lot of degrees in engineering, which come in handy when dreaming up dangerous mind powers, future dystopias, and slightly plausible steampunk inventions. Mostly she sits around in her pajamas in awe that she gets make stuff up full-time. 

IE Reviews Winter Omens

You may recall me raving about Trisha Leigh's Whispers in Autumn, the YA dystopian novel with a very original twist. It was one of my favorite books that I read last year, one of my favorite ever really. It was so good that I immediately bought the second book when I finished reading it. Here is my review of the sequel, Winter Omens.

Not all sequels can stand up to the first book. Many fall flat and the author becomes a one hit wonder. Not so with Trisha Leigh and Winter Omens. It was everything I hoped it would be and then some, earning a full and enthusiastic five stars. So good, in fact, that tomorrow I'm buying the third book, and for me that's huge. I'm hard to impress to the point where I will keep reading an author's next books because there are so many authors that I want to read that I feel guilty spending all my time on one. Here is my official review:

This heart-pounding sequel to Whispers in Autumn raises the stakes and deepens the characters in a way that keeps you flipping the pages. I loved the glimpse of a post-apocalyptic world that we get to see in this one, and how Althea responds to it. I didn't think the author could top the first one, I loved it that much, but she did and then some.

Goodreads / Amazon / B&N

Here is a bit about it:

Althea and Lucas barely escaped the Others’ clutches in the autumn, and were separated in the process. Alone and on the run from the cruel alien race determined to exterminate her, Althea struggles to adapt and survive in a world she never imagined.

When a boy named Pax appears out of nowhere, he quickly recognizes Althea for what she is – a human/Other hybrid just like him. Althea begs him to help her find Lucas, but Pax refuses, intent on following his own mysterious agenda.

The Others’ presence continues to devour the planet’s resources, and if history is an indication, they won’t leave until Earth is destroyed beyond repair. Althea and Pax sense the only way to save themselves – and maybe their home – is to understand the powers simmering inside them.

Together they push the limits of their capabilities in the quiet Wilds, but are soon confronted with a terrifying fact: no place is safe from the relentless pursuit of the Others.

Least of all their own minds.

~Heather McCorkle

Author of the paranormal Earth-conscious channeler series: Born of Fire (FREE novella), The Secret of Spruce Knoll, Channeler's Choice, Rise of a Rector, and the historical fantasy, To Ride A Puca. Heather also has stories in the following anthologies: In His Eyes (FREE) and Winter Wonders. 

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