Nick Vasey
The Masada Solution by Jeffrey Fishman
I chose this book for review because I spent a couple of years of my life living in Israel, and consequently, have quite a history with and fondness for the country and its people, generally speaking. I once even got out of bed in Jerusalem at a most ungodly hour, in order to climb Masada under cover of darkness, to watch the sun come up!
Music Box Dancer by Marc Pietrzykowski
Marc Pietrzykowski knocked me for a loop with this book. What a debut novel! The man can really write. Music Box Dancer is by turns, sad, dark, moving, surreal, scary, dislocating, ironic, funny, hallucinogenic, and bleak.
GuestList by Jay Fingers
I decided to read and review Guestlist because I spent about fifteen years of my life working in hospitality (bar & club) environments all over the world. So, given my own experiences and inside-knowledge of this scene, I thought it would be interesting and fun to joyride through someone else’s version of that crazy world (as described in the book’s publicity).
Hungry by Daniel Parme
Well, let’s get the preliminaries out of the way. Daniel Parme can write, and he can write well. He should certainly keep writing. He has the gift, and he will get even better. ‘Hungry’ is his first novel. It is an accomplishment he can rightly feel very proud of.
The Shadow of the Rock by Eileen Haavik McIntire
Firstly I must say that The Shadow of the Rock is a very competently written novel. It looks professional. It has a fine premise. It reads well. There are no stylistic, grammatical or formatting errors which jar, and I am fairly anal when it comes to noticing that sort of thing.
Angela’s Coven by Bruce Jenvey
Angela’s Coven is an interesting novel. It successfully manages to combine magic, mystery, devilry and philosophy, with humour, romance, witchery and hope! Reggie Sinclair, the British protagonist, is an ageing and jaded ex-Rock-Star from yesteryear, who suffered profound heartbreak at the loss of his true love, early on in his career.
The Path Book I: Spirit and Mind by Eric A. Smith
What becomes obvious almost immediately with The Path (Book 1 – Spirit and Mind), is that the author, Eric A. Smith, has embarked on a monster project of generalist education … who are we, what came before us, how did we get here, what are we doing, what are we like, what does it all mean, and where are we going, etc?
The Dionysian Alliance by Jack Rinella
With ‘The Dionysian Alliance’ Jack Rinella has blended sex, magic, mystery, myth and death in a manner which is as educational as it is entertaining. As a committed proponent of the benefits of entheogenic spiritual enlightenment (and steadfast opponent of religious dogmatism), I must say I found many aspects of this novel especially interesting … I guess it would be fair to say Mr. Rinella was preaching to the converted with me.