Jeffrey Hayzlett dares readers to own who they are as ...
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Jeffrey Hayzlett dares readers to own who they are as a leader or company, define where they want to go, and fearlessly do what it takes to get therecaring less about conventional wisdom, re-framing limitations, and steamrolling obstacles as they go. I have had the pleasure of working with Jeff who is not afraid to encourage, cajole or just poke you in the chest and challenge you to "Think Big and Act Big". His book does the same.
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This work  of high scholarly value documents secrets of an ideology that has to be resisted.
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When Anne Brady, a high school English teacher in a rural South Georgia town, answers the door to a strange woman who presents her with a framed copy of the Ten Commandments, which she wants Anne to post in her classroom, her life changes forever. Soon, Anne begins to receive anonymous, threatening letters accusing her of corrupting her students and afterwards, she is pressured to stop teaching Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn in her English class.
A Majority of One by Robert Lamb is a gripping tale of prejudice and insanity on a mass scale, and a condemnation of single-minded bigotry in all of its pernicious forms. In a narrative that is both compelling and instructive, he shows how zealots who are willing to go to any extreme to force their views on others can destroy a society.
Lamb paints a picture that is not pretty, because, even though this is a work of fiction, it could very well have been ripped from today's headlines. This is a book that religious zealots would prefer you not read, the very reason it should be recommended reading for any rational person.
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There are a number of states in which we find ourselves. Locked in the closet and hoping to find the key that will lead to a path of acceptance. Afraid when we do that instead we will find abuse, hatred and fear. Somewhere in the middle. Living a double life and hoping no one notices. Too ashamed or afraid to be who we are. Switching between facades and freely lying (mostly to ourselves). Hiding our real selves altogether. Living lives that do not match with who we really are. Doing more harm to others than good for ourselves. Having opened the door and begun the task of shedding our lies and deceptions in an effort to become our truest self while embracing the love and encouragement of the best people and enduring the scorn and ridicule of the worst humans. The freedoms of our group have come so far and this book explores where we have been through the vision of those who have walked the path when it was even more difficult to do so. This book tells the story of where we have been, where we are and where we could be going in well painted prose. It gives hope for the future and delivers a warning to those who would choose to deny themselves a chance to live to see the future that cannot soon be disregarded. A delightful and complicated message that is at once a heartening portrait of our potential and a gut wrenching reminder of our past.
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An anonymous author's tell-all manuscript about a powerful media mogul endangers a book editor and others with access to its explosive revelations. A satisfying thriller set in the publishing world, and a worthy follow-up to The Expats. New Yorkers in particular will appreciate the author's biting observations about life in Manhattan!
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Oliver Bowden does an excellent job of creating complex characters, and the development of them throughout the story is captivating. The book is about a young boy named Haytham; who's father is murdered, and sister kidnapped under mysterious circumstances. A friend of the family: Reginald Birch decides to help Haytham find his father's killers.

Throughout the story, you can "see" the change experienced by Haytham in his life. His story is told through a series of journal entries; dating from when he was a young boy, and eventually through almost his entire adult life. Taken over by his thirst for revenge, Haytham starts an epic quest for retribution, which eventually gets him involved with the centuries-old battle of Assasin's and Templar's. Two secret organizations dating back centuries of conflicts for Peace; but the nature of their work is often dangerous, and must be kept secret.

Significant thought was put into this book, as it gives a great overall detailed description of the setting, and characters. Haytham's change in character can be described as a more ruthless and dangerous personality. Although he is the protagonist of the story, and is a relatively good person, his induction to the Templar Order, and his quest for peace through control of the people, is presented as the book goes on. Being a huge devoter of his "black and white" perspective, he is often clouded by his personal vendetta for his father's murder. All in all, a great book detailing an important character from Assasin's Creed 3; greatly recommended.
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This is a literate book of a terrifying perversion of the need for connection.  So searing is the book, I hesitated to review the book.  This is a tale of the relationship of the writer to the critic gone terribly astray.  Lasdun's stalker had been in one of his consortium and as such had revealed her work to him.  As he points out, the early exchange of the vulnerable writer to the now powerful critic has all the fear and allure of self disclosure.  It made me look again in fact, at the whole process of reviews.

I do think Lasdun does lose his way at some points in his own self exploration and his extensive literary set of connections.  However he is at great pains to understand how the above board appropriate interchange of student and teacher later loses its way in the then adult stalker.  His vulnerability as a white, Jewish teacher interacting with a Persian, ex student in a digital age of the anonymous assault on personality is a lesson in point.  Even hyper aware as he is through his deep reading of literature and fable, he does miss the early signs.

This is an interesting book, if sometimes over torturous in allusions.
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The protagonist moves from naivete to self-confidence, from childhood to college man, from trailer park to inherited wealth.  He is guided by many mentors along his journey, and he learns what not to do from the negatives and how to model his own life by the positive mentors.  Misguided religion, actually religiosity, is shown in its hypocrisy.
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Who are you?

It is said that the trials of life reveal who you are. Tough times are like a refiner's fire which reveal impurities in the metal being heated. But while fire can reveal, it can also cause smoke and blacken the landscape, obscuring what is actually there.

In West of the Gospel, the protagonist is quite literally tried by fire--the "Big Burn" of 1910 which decimated much of the Idaho panhandle region--leaving towns burned to the ground and scores dead. The reader is left wondering if the `facts' presented have shown him for who he is or have merely further hidden the man behind the legend.

It is amazing how differently a person may be viewed by the various people acquainted with him, especially if that person is a public figure. Our tendency is to jump to judgment about a person, and further facts that come to light are filtered through our prejudices. We can (and usually do) even filter the truth about ourselves through a self-image (good or bad) that has been imprinted upon ourselves from an early age.

Born Tad* Montgomery, the principal of the story had some obstacles to avoid from the get-go. Tad preferred to go by the name Thaddeus Roe, but the old prospector who mentored him and supplied books for his education, was never able to legally adopt him, even after his parents were killed by the Fewkes brothers. In the eyes of the law, he would always be a Montgomery.

Our identity doesn't only come from our circumstances at birth and how we were raised. It also is formed by what others (fairly or unfairly) say about us. Tad also picks up the notorious alias "Three Card Monte" along the way, and is wanted by the authorities for murder. Is Tad really the hero who tries to save the town, as the newspaperman reports about Thaddeus Roe, or is he truly a desperado willing to do anything to gain an advantage?  It is left up to the reader to decide.

W. John MacGregor does a splendid job of weaving the story together using three different forms of writing.  The letter from Thaddeus piques the reader's interest as the first-hand account unfolds. The newspaper article shows how facts can be stretched to make a better-sounding story. The deposition that follows is a bit stereotypical of the illiterate country hick who has a limited concept of how the law works. However, the down-to-earth wisdom of the witness comes through, and some of the exchanges in this section are just plain hilarious.

I very highly recommend this book.
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Chris Lynch packs a whallop in Slot Machine.  Any young adult who has searched for his slot, his place to "fit in", will identify with Elvin Bishop. Readers will cry, moan, and eventually laugh with Elvin as he suffers through defeat, rejection, and then triumph.  Lynch manages to sum up many readers' entire adolescence in three weeks of an action-packed,  bully-infested, humiliation-filled summer camp. And yet our hero, Elvin Bishop, emerges stronger than he went in.  He is secure in his knowledge of who he is, even as he watches his two best friends lose a bit of their perfection.  Even though this tale is a bit tall, Lynch's writing contains realistic dialogue and character traits that young adults will identify with.  Slot Machine is the epitomy of "coming of age" books, leaving readers a little more secure in the knowledge of who they might become.
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This is a fiction, but the reader knows that it is the story of Ollie Norths treatment by the powers that be. Cover up, lies, and a disregard for human life.
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A truly delightful novel. Lewis takes obvious pleasure from poking fun at religion - and he takes on the various church denominations and destroys them with attacks from multiple positions. He exposes hypocrisy through Elmer Gantry - who supposedly is a protector of morality while enhancing his career by vapid publicity, name-calling and disdaining the women who fall in love with him. He also ignores his family while pursuing his goals.

This book exposes the lust for power behind the evangelical movements and more traditional churches. It is also about the cult of personality - in this case Elmer Gantry. This is even more abundantly clear with the Sharon Falconer episode. Actually the book looses some of the momentum, I feel, after the sudden death (dubious at that) of Sharon midway through the story. Nevertheless what follows is Elmer's continuing journey through the religion business. Elmer switches convictions whenever there is opportunity for his advancement. There are a host of colourful characters. Most of the religious ones are portrayed as extremely flawed. It is interesting that towards the end of the book Elmer's crusade has the look of an attack on liberalism - against the teaching of science in schools, for prohibition - the keeping of "moral values".
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Banville proves that Nabokov is not the only author who can envelope a reader in a plot of sensuality and obsession.  Each reader who has had a tragic love affair (real or imagined) will see themself in this story of  self deception.
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This is a thoroughly enjoyable book.  My greatest fear is that the average, heterosexual reader will shy away from it because of the gay theme.  They would be missing out.  The characters' feelings of fear, ambition, love, envy and betrayal are beautifully developed and representative of real people, regardless of sexual orientation.  All lovers of mystery and intrigue will appreciate this freshman work.
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There is much to capture the attention of the reader in J. Stigman's AWAKENING, the first of three books comprising what promises to be a mesmerizing debut novel, FROM DARKNESS.
  There is the introduction of our central character, who describes herself as "a monster girl, pieced together badly," but who proves to be good company along with her circle of intimates, Granny, Dr. Digger, Lorraine, and the magical inventions of the ghost and the golem/demon.
  I took great pleasure in the vivid 'you-are-there' section leading up to the creation of the demon, spent in the company of Mary Shelley and her sister Claire, Percy Shelley, and this sexy, charismatic Lord Byron.
  And then there is the compelling sub-plot spent in the company of Dr. Edward Henry who lures us into and holds us captive in his underground domain of repressed depravity.
  I am the writer's willing captive, waiting on pins-and-needles for book two, and so, I suspect, will you be.
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Revisiting a state she knows and loves, Nancy Stancill has pitted her heroine - the formidable investigative reporter Annie Price - against a seedy network of secessionists, strip club operators and human traffickers. The result: a captivating tale that you will have trouble putting down. Nancy worked for years as a newspaper journalist and as an investigative reporter. Her knowledge and love of the profession shine through in this remarkable book.
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I can control myself. Look, for Gods sake. Look at everyone. Everyone represses everything. Do you think any of these normal human beings really do exactly what they want to do all the time? Course not. Its just the same. Were middle-class and were British. Repression is in our veins.

The Radleys is the third adult novel by British author, Matt Haig. Another novel featuring abstaining teenaged vampires? Well, yes, but this is Matt Haigs creation, set in a North Yorkshire village: a world away from Twilight.

Seventeen years ago, Peter and Helen Radley became abstainers. They now eschew human blood, surviving on animal products, even if it means a reduced life expectancy, continual migraines, depression and low energy levels. With their two teenagers, Rowan and Clara, they try to live a normal, middle-class life in Bishopthorpe.

Despite their efforts to blend in, not everyone around them is convinced. Their next-door neighbours sense something, and Claras new friend, Eve Copeland, is recently arrived from Manchester with her ex-CID father who is casting a suspicious eye on the Radleys.

Rowan and Clara are themselves completely unaware, knowing only that something is not quite right: theyve no energy, get skin rashes from sun exposure, cant sleep, animals avoid them and the kids at school think they're weird. Recently, Clara has undertaken to become a vegan, exacerbating the chance of an attack of OBT (Overwhelming Blood Thirst), a condition to which she has no idea she might be prone.

Then circumstances place her in a field on a Friday night with an insistent and very drunk young thug, and the inevitable happens. And when Peters older brother Will, a charismatic, practising vampire with an insatiable and indiscriminate bloodlust, turns up to help deal with the familys crisis, things really get complicated.

In this tale, Haig gives the reader an original plot that showcases his talent for portraying everyday characters facing not-so-everyday situations. He describes the English village life to a T, even if Bishopthorpe only thinks it is: A place which fools itself into believing it is the epitome of a quaint English village but which, like most places, is really just one large fancy-dress shop, with more subtle costumes.

The narrative, taking place over four days in May, is from multiple perspectives and is supplemented by quotes from The Abstainers Handbook. Theres plenty of dark humour, including the irony of a vampire who would be most peoples nightmare, actually having nightmares himself. Haigs cops monitoring vampires (the Unnamed Predator Unit) though, are chillingly pragmatic when it comes to vampire kills.

Haigs characters develop and mature under the pressure of events, and he gives them some insightful observations: The kind of thrill people get when something devastating happens, a thrill they never admit to, but which dances in their eyes as they talk about how bad they feel. and It felt strangely grown-up too, as though thats what being an adult was  the ability to know which secrets needed keeping. And which lies will save the ones you love. are examples.

Certain Australian beer drinkers will be delighted to learn that VB (in this case, Vampire Blood) is a revered tipple in vampire society. Another brilliant offering from Matt Haig, this one is intelligent, clever and blackly funny.