I always wanted to go to a summer camp but that was not in the family finances at the time. I've been able to send my youngest almost every year since she was in fourth grade. I have to say it's been a positive experience in her life. I'm not so sure that Colt McAlister, protagonist of Jon S. Lewis's Invasion can say the same thing. His dad did say the camp is more like a prep school that only lasts one day. Colt doesn't know that he is being prepped to stand in the way of the invasion in the YA, Sci-Fi novel.

Colt only spends one day in the prep school, learning about UFOs and aliens from other planets that are trying to invade Earth. Then he's given an injection to make him forget the whole day. Back to the real world as he knows it, he continues his life with his parents until a drunk driver causes an accident that takes their lives. Now, with his big brothers all busy living their own lives, Colt finds himself moving to Arizona to live with his Grandpa McAlister. He can't get used to his parents being gone. After he finds a cell phone in his backpack that isn't his, he is determined to find out what happened to them. He gets a message saying he can find out the truth, but to do so, he must meet a man he doesn't know in a place he's never been.

At his new school, he meets a teen named Oz who seems familiar and who Colt isn't sure he completely trusts. Together with Oz and his long time friend, Danielle, Colt finds himself deep in the battle against aliens and the evil corporation that had his parents killed. He learns about the organization known as CHAOS and meets a super hero that he thought only lived in the pages of his favorite comic books.

Invasion is a super story for the tween ages but a lot of fun for us older folks as well. I found the characters to be well developed and completely believable, even those from other planets. The relationships between Colt and Lily, and between Oz and Danielle are just beginning but promising. The greatest fun for me is the history of Grandpa McAlister and what he actually did in WWII.

Invasion is great fun to read and I will be looking for the next installment of this series, whether I review it or not. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Reviewed by MargeAnna Conrad
© January 2012

My father was a projectionist. For those too young to know what that was, he was the man who actually ran the movies on the big screen at the walk-in or (yes, I'm old) the drive-in. He thought nothing of having me as a 4 or 5 year old kid watch scary movies. He said if he turned off the projector, it would go away. Not so, my dear Poppy. It stayed right here in my very overblown imagination. Because of this, I am not fond of any kind of scary movies or books. I have to admit that I was surprised when I read Skyfall, the first book in the Troll Hunters series by Michael Dahl. The story was a bit more than I expected. The illustrations only served to take me back to those days of young fear.

Pablo O'Ryan is supposed to meet his friends at the quarry on a night of fantastic meteor showers. The quarry is the best place to watch because the reflection of the sky in the lake at the bottom of the quarry doubles the spectacular show. Pablo has no idea of the adventure he's about to become a part of. When his father forbids him to go to the quarry, he decides to sneak out anyway. While running down the road, he witnesses a strange accident. An SUV seems to hit an invisible wall and the front end is totaled. A school friend, Zak, bails out and begs Pablo to get help for his parents that are in the SUV. After fetching his father from home, they return to the truck to find Zak's parents gone.

The eerie night gets worse when a crying little girl comes running from the woods screaming about the big bad wolf. Her rabbits hutch has been destroyed and her pets are missing. Her house is blazing in the background and her father is lost among the dense forest. What exactly is happening on this night that was meant to be fun and amazement? It seems to be turning into a night of scary monsters and strange happenings.

The best I can say about Skyfall is that it only took me about two hours to read it. I guess they make kids tougher than than used to. The battle with the Trolls gave me a few moments of flashbacks to my youth. The story will probably be nothing to the kids these days who spend hours blasting the fur off of Trolls and other mythical creatures. I won't be looking out for the next installment of the Troll Hunter series but that's only because I'm a confirmed coward! I do recommend Skyfall to those who are more stout of heart than I am.

Reviewed by MargeAnna Conrad
(c) January 2012

As a parent, I can tell you firsthand that kids don't do what you say. They do what you do. It may be an adage, but adages become adages because the truth can only be hammered so many times before the words like fossils are cast in stone. Our adolescent heroine in First Aid for Fairies is Helen; and although she's not sweating over adages, she personifies, this to a certain degree--Lets her mother know she is not going to be a vet, but then look what she does.

First, Helen is not your ordinary little girl (if there is such a thing as ordinary.) Helen is a violinist, a student, and the daughter of a veterinarian. We learn that Helen's mother would like Helen to follow in her footsteps; instead, Helen wants to follow her great talent and her first love, which is music. But life throws her a complication when she is approached by an injured centaur named Yann who was bitten by some creature whose teeth she finds.

Yann has a wound that must be treated, and Helen treats it. And then she is drawn in to his quest when he returns to collect the teeth which belong to an evil creature. Her new friends include Lavender the fairy, Rona the selkie, Sapphire the dragon and Yann's best friend, a phoenix named Catesby. Helen's path is not an easy one. She must prove herself at every step, not only to her friends but to herself. As the healer's child, she becomes the healer for the little entourage. Helen grows in confidence, and makes careful choices, often having to weigh options which are not always black and white. There's an interesting twist as well—because these magical kids are trying to straighten up a mess they made. Helen is not the only one who has to prove herself. To join the magical creatures' secret quest, she must take items from her mother's medical practice, sneak out, keep secrets from her family, and allow her parents to believe the worst of her baby sister.

First Aid for Fairies is appealing on a number of levels. It is a fantasy adventure but introduces young readers to traditional Scottish mythological characters, and explores some of the Scottish countryside as well. And while Helen is surrounded by creatures of magic, she herself is solidly grounded in science and reality, heals based on the advice from books, and is usually the voice of reason and good sense. She's a good character for her young readers to relate to, because the choices she makes are so well-considered, and every decision comes with a lesson/consequence that isn't so heavy-handed that it will be ignored.

On the publisher's website, the book is considered to be an 8-12 reader; but there is no reason to limit readership to an age-group. Consumers of good vs evil quest-style fairy tale and fantasy will find the unexpected on every page, and love this book regardless of age.

© January 2012 Allie Bates

I hate to date myself, but I am one of those baby boomers who grew up under the spell of Bewitched. There is just no denying the wholesome, charming, young newlywed appeal of Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York's Bewitched, chiefly on the sheer personal appeal of Montgomery, and some indefinable quality brought to the screen by Dick York (and never matched by Dick Sargent). In spite of the fantasy premise, a real sense of the times came through, which may be why Bewitched became a classic. Maybe that's why I'm always open to reading a certain type of witchcraft book—the kind that integrates "real" non-evil witches in a contemporary setting.

Wishcraft by Lanie Kincaid is just such a novel. Our heroine is Delilah Goodman (note the "good" in her name.) She is just a modern girl, who happens to be a witch, born into a family of witches. This is not television's "Bewitched" culture, but successfully establishes a credible real world that meshes with today, from the dating-bar scene, to the contemporary style of the family's Wiccan supply store as a gathering place for contemporary version of witches. How can you not relate to a fictional witch-chef who watches the food network and who, much to the dismay of her brother, buys stuff from infomercials? We meet our witch as she is looking for a guy to pick up, in the process of getting cosmic advice from an olive. Her scheme is to love 'em and lose 'em with a forgetting spell, and it has worked until now. Such a sad thing she is, carrying around a load of painful baggage. The men she finds function somewhere between anesthetics and therapy. The problem is that she finds Mr. Perfect, Brandon, and has a perfect one night stand; the only complication is that he won't forget.

Delilah is a pastry chef, and after she leaves Brandon bewildered on a sidewalk, he is haunted and tempted by his memory of her, leading to a little clumsy magicking of his own. It turns out that magic only works where it follows nature, and Brandon's nature has fixated on Lanie, even without his awareness or intent.

What follows is a thoroughly readable and engaging tale. Delilah has her share of baggage that darkens things up, twists the plot a bit, and keeps the story from becoming too sweet. At the risk of sounding like a breakfast cereal, I found the story to be magically delicious; and while reading it, I just had to make a pumpkin-spiced gingerbread cake with cream cheese icing, and even had my kindle read Wishcraft aloud to me as I mixed the batter. It was not exactly one of Delilah's enchanted recipes, but maybe my gingerbread-scented kitchen added a little smell-a-vision aspect to the story as poor Brandon wandered the streets with his inexplicable cravings. I trust that readers captivated by magical reality mixed with sweet romance will find this little story as beguiling as I do.

I love to read the Bible. I don't pretend to understand everything that is in the Bible but I read and get new insight each time I open the book. In Genesis 6:2, the Bible talks about the relationship between the "sons of God" and the "daughters of Man". In Halflings by Heather Burch, I found her interpretation of the outcome of this union. All I can say is... WOW!

Nikki Youngblood has no idea why she is being chased by a pack of rancid smelling wolf-dogs. She's only concerned with making it to the football field where, hopfully she can get help. Her karate training has kept her from total panic as she runs, her focus on the gates up ahead. A strange sound floats on the air and the wolf-dogs stop chasing her, giving her the chance to escape, but the song is causing her pain as well. If she loses her focus, she's sure she will lose her life. The song stops abruptly and at the last minute, when she is sure the vile creatures will take her life, she's surrounded by flashes of white and a calm voice speaks comfort to her. White turns to black and next thing she knows, she's waking up in her own bed, still clothed. She's sure it's more than a nightmare. There are no marks where the hound bit her calf, but there is blood on the inside of her pant leg where she knows she was bit. Nikki determines to find out what happened and why.

Mace, Raven and Vine are under the supervision of Will. Will is not happy with how the Lost Boys handled the situation with Nikki and the hell hounds that attacked her. Mace is captivated by the girl, knowing that nothing can ever come of their relationship. He and the others are only there to protect her. They don't know yet what the danger is in her life but they are there to make sure nothing happens to her. Their orders are directly from the Throne. When the hell hounds attacked, Mace couldn't help gathering her into his arms and telling her she is safe, while Raven and Vine made short work of destroying the evil beasts.

Nikki doesn't understand why every time she turns around one of the new guys is right there, watching her. She is determined to find out why she saw the Cerulean blue eyes and heard the soft voice of Mace in her nightmare. Are they stalking her, or could they have a higher purpose for knowing her?

Halflings is an exciting look at beings from the spiritual world. If Mace, Raven and Vine were around me, I don't think I'd mind much. They have the abilities of angels and their purpose is to protect against evil. They each have their own issues with what they are and how they veiw eternity. The boys come across as realistic, someone you could meet on the street. Ms. Burch has created a wonderful story including many biblical lessons. I'm only hoping that I don't have to wait too long for the next installment of the series. Halflings posed a few unanswered questions that left me pondering, "What happens next?"

Reviewed by MargeAnna Conrad
(c) January 2012

Out of all the genres of fiction I’ve had the pleasure of reading (and others not so much); I find that the most prominent form of escapism usually lies in military based fiction. Perhaps because I find it inherently more tangible than say, riding a mythical beast the size of sperm whale around a small town while people cower in fear armed with pitchforks. Perhaps because general forms of entertainment, film, TV, and the news, portray the military through a strange sort of aspirational filter.

I mean, who doesn’t want to be a one-man/woman army trawling through a war zone with an arsenal of weapons that would cause a small terrorist cell to turn green with envy?
Now that I’ve finished sharing, on to Paul Garrison’s take on Robert Ludlum’s The Janson Command, where we’re back with Paul ‘The Machine’ Janson, a protagonist from one of Ludlum’s earlier books, The Janson Directive.

Garrison has been effectively passed the ‘torch’ with the characters of Janson and his protégé Jesse Kincaid, two highly trained operatives skilled in finding effective ways to maim an individual with nothing more than a gnarled twig. After dealing with dead government officials in the previous installment, his private business endeavor is still thriving, setting up what is essentially a half-way house for various military outcasts and pariahs.

After Janson recruits a wheelchair bound former operative, Doug Case, who snags himself a job in a shady company that dabbles in oil exploration, Janson and Kincaid are hired to rescue a doctor who’s been captured by rebels after a ship ambush. Events take a turn for the worse and Janson and company are embroiled with West African freedom fighters, corporations and other private contractors.

From the setup we can see that Garrison’s extension of ‘The Machine’s’ escapades align with one of the tenants in Ludlum’s work, one man and his team battling against powerful forces who have political and governmental assets at their fingertips.

We also have the generally considered evil antagonists who are willing to execute their actions without thought to general populace. Before the book’s over we’re treated to several heated exchanges where various characters wax lyrical about the economy and government with so many acronyms it’s like someone took a shotgun to a can of alphabet soup.

For someone who has a tentative grasp of weapons and technology there’s a torrent of information down to the minutia that would cause your average Luddite to run back to their shack and cower in the corner. Others may find the kind of technological ‘word porn’ off putting but it’s expected in all military fiction and Garrison’s certainly done his homework when it comes to weapons, ship, vehicular and aviation specifications.

We’re treated to a story that takes us to myriad locales from the fictional Isle de Foree near the Gulf of Guinea to Britain and Singapore, no doubt accruing so many air miles in the process he could fly his team first class to the moon.

As this is the second outing for Janson, newcomers to him or Ludlum in general may find the protagonists’ back story and development somewhat lacking but any lengthy flashback or exposition would slow the frantic pace of the book. We also meet a few characters from the previous book who lend him a helping hand, whether it’s acquiring information or rocket propelled grenades. Both Janson and Kincaid get embroiled in a fair few scrapes; combat spanning from tense jungle warfare to frantic intercity brawls.

Garrison’s previous works lie with military/mystery fiction so this certainly isn’t uncharted territory. I’ve found with Ludlum’s work that the protagonists in his books act as more of a conduit to convey the motives, thinking, and reasoning of the antagonists, corporations’, and government, attempting to give insight to the ‘why’ of it all.

The Janson Command stays faithful to Ludlum’s earlier work, not only in the series but in its issues, concepts and literary execution. So, If you like your action fast paced, antagonists you wouldn’t want to baby-sit a loved one, married with shifty corporations then this book should keep you turning the page.

Reviewed by Pete Ingham?© January 2012 Pete Ingham

There may be other writers who are happy with their craft, who believe like Dorothy (movie version), one should look no farther then ones own back yard, but I am not one of them. Not that Dorothy was referring to reading, or even flying around in wooden houses--she was looking for happiness. I am looking for something much easier to find—the next good book. I am always reading in and out of genres, various forms of fiction and non-fiction, categories ranging across the board. Who knows where inspiration may next reveal its quirky head? Plus I have a stack of "how to" books on writing. Okay, not a stack, rooms of bookcases packed with of pre-kindle books on writing. I never know when the right word or phrase from one of them will send me to the keyboard with a new vision. What brought me to this particular book is that I've been working on a procedural, and my beats have been misbehaving. (I was years into writing my odd semi-pantser-method before I found out there's a name for what I do, which is to write a list of scenes that have to happen, and then churn through writing them, one by one. I call them "beats" but they may or may not be what others call beats. Because they are not cast in stone, it is a great way to keep track of changes and see the light farther down the tunnel, plus know what I'm writing tomorrow and the day after. If something crucial changes, I can change it in the text, then also in the beats. It helps me see how the change affects everything.) I could go on longer about this, but I didn't set out to write about writing. I set out to review a book about writing, Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction by Patricia HighSmith.

Patricia HighSmith is a well known author of suspense fiction. Before her death in 1995, she wrote some short stories, and more than twenty books, some of which were made into movies like The Talented Mr. Ripley and also, she wrote this book on writing suspense fiction. She clearly had a mode and a method of writing which attracted the interest of story authorities like Alfred Hitchcock. If you're looking for the flavor of Highsmith's voice, you will find it in this writing book—this is not the academic tome I was looking for, but more of a reverie, glancing over certain elements, but also meandering through her works and plucking examples here and there.

When thinking of good references on writing, I cannot help but refer back to William Zinsser, Dwight Swain and John Gardner as stellar examples of books which approach writing in a systematic way, which are easy to understand, adopt, and organized in a functional way, designed to easily return to when need comes up. Sure, the creativity and eloquence of the writer is there, but these books also show the bones of the writing, the structure, the skeleton, the logic behind story. That is what I was expecting between the covers of Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction, but that is not what I found. For example, the chapter on the first draft does not give a cut and dried recipe, or even a philosophy of writing. Instead, she talks about some of her own first drafts almost like a memoir or remembering an old friend. She pulls out examples from her own books much in the way we see writers here on Novelspot sneak hooks and synopses, and blurbs into their columns (guerilla marketing) and refers to other authors' books as well. She has a chapter on snags, where she mentions a couple of the problems writers wrestle with, like which point of view to take, and the question of what happens next. To me, her best advice is that the writer "should sense when something is wrong, as quickly as a mechanic hears a wrong noise in an engine, and he should correct it before it becomes worse," something I should recall the next time before I find myself with 60 single-spaced pages of backstory. But this example is like much of her advice--from a creative perspective, but metaphysical and conceptual rather than providing a practical solution. She also touches something which I put on my to do list— writing a sympathetic antagonist, which she calls the "likeable criminal."

Another factor that comes to light and which I read with horror is that she had to write with carbon paper and a typewriter. I am aghast at the obstacles and limitations of pre-computer drafting and editing. As a perspective on the writing life a mere fifteen years ago, there are tantalizing glimpses of how a writers life may have been in her heyday. But on the whole, Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction is framed more as a book written for fans of Highsmith with a casual interest in the genre than as a reference book for writers. While providing a glimpse into the mindset of this particular author and the way she approached the page, and handled the issues that crop up, one can see why she earned so many writing awards, but not how.