Fun and interesting read with a few minor issues
580447
Well developed, good pacing and engaging main characters with plenty of room left to flush out your unique setting. I look forward to reading more! That said, the book suffers from two issues that are very common to e-books, and among indie authors especially.

First, find a good, professional editor! Nothing pulls an avid reader out of a good story like poor grammar and broken sentence structure; and the second half of this book suffers from both. Having to go back and piece together an author's meaning, or "ignoring" poorly reworked draft sections absolutely ruins immersion. Writing a well developed, coherent and engaging novel is a huge undertaking, and you succeeded with Delvers, LLC vol. 1, bravo! But please do yourself, your story and your readers justice by passing your work through the hands of a dispassionate, uninvested and knowledgeable third party.

Second, and last, as the author you have obviously spent an enormous amount of time with these characters, know them intimately, and are truly invested in them. First time readers of a new series, however, are none of these. The only section of this otherwise engaging story that I found tedious was the lengthy sections of introspection that I was forced to follow not one or two principle characters through, but at least FIVE main and secondary characters. Give us time to get to know them and to care about them, you don't have to flesh it all out in the first book (we will come back and read the rest!).
4096513
This book was a captivating read, with a plot full of well-formed and detailed characters. It was easy to get lost in and the idea of the book is very creative. However, I have some problems with it.
1. Word errors. There/their/they're and the like were misused sometimes.
2. Even though they are defended, this presents being gay as being a fool.
3. Swearing, if sporadic.
1816891
I was so excited to find this book and I often read the chapters on each episode just after seeing the episode on DVD. A lot of the sections are interesting, background summaries on the characters, favorite quotes and moments, topics covered in the particular episode, but there are a couple of things I'm not quite happy with. This mainly focuses on the mistake section cleverly entitled "Logic, Let Me Introduce You to This Window." The section is usually correct, but several times, "flaws" are called into question that aren't really flaws. I'll just give a couple of examples: the book might mention a country or something that is not real, such as the Reykjavik Sympony Orchestra in Episode 31. Well, this is a make-believe world and the book also mentions that fact. Not everything here matches the real world, so we can't say it is a "mistake". Another example is when the book notes that Toby (a Jew) has a Christmas card on his wall. Just because you are Jewish doesn't mean someone won't send you a Christmas or Holiday card (particularly if you work at the White House).
4650436
I loved this story.  The characters were vibrant and interesting and Sam and Corina's devotion to Hannah felt true and understandable.

A couple of editing errors really bugged me, though.  There was one major continuity error in the story regarding Harriet.  Early on her father is described as hating the sight of her and her mother, and dying in a car accident two days before her seventh birthday.  Later, he is described as dying of pancreatic cancer and her mother is described as being brain injured in a car accident after his death.  There is a similar more subtle error regarding the timing of the birth of Neva's baby and her marriage as she relates it to Truman versus when the situation is recounted earlier in the story.  Again, I loved the book, but I found the disparities-- --especially with Harriet to be distracting.  I felt like somehow such obvious errors had to be resolved, so they sort of sat in the back of my head until the end when I realized they must simply be errors.

PS I read the Kindle edition.
604733
I really enjoyed this book, but am giving it 4 stars because of the many inconsistencies in it. This story is exciting and original, and delves unexpectedly into the psychology behind people's actions. The author also weaves greek mythology into the story is a nice touch. Each chapter alternates between the main character, Jan in the present (who is chained in a cell, with no memory of how she got there,) and Jan a week ago in the past (who is recounting the events leading up to her present imprisonment.) We learn early on, that the past Jan lies extensively about anything and everything, but is fortunate to have 2 rich acquaintances (Simon & Melissa) who are paying for her trip to Greece to join them for a reunion party.  Joining the 3 for the reunion party, are Marcus, Jan's ex-boyfriend, another couple (Brad & Kristin), and Gretchen, a woman she has never met before. The book reads quite a bit as a "whodunit", in regards to who has chained up Jan. The author masterfully writes in a suspenseful way, that it is easy to believe that any of her 6 reunion mates could be guilty, along with the possibilities that Jan is lying about the whole episode, or that an outsider unrelated to their reunion party is the culprit. Most surprising was the reason behind Jan's captivity, which in retrospect, the author had dropped several clues about. Throughout most of the book, the different characters are intriguing and believable. However, the book was also full of inconsistencies that I found greatly annoying. Most prominent as it carried through the entire book, extremely near-sighted Jan loses her glasses very early on in the book, then the rest of the book has her alternating between describing things at a distance that she could not possibly see, or has her lamenting being unable to see things that are much closer to her than some of the previous things she had described. There were many other little inconsistencies. To list some of the more prominent ones: 1) Jan while chained to the wall, lamenting that her arm stretches a millimeter short to grab a nail, when it seems obvious that she should stretch out her leg and grab it with her toes, 2) Jan being immediately affected when walking into a room full of carbon monoxide, but the carbon monoxide having no effect on another character that walks into the room, not to mention the other characters who had been exposed to the carbon monoxide for hours not already being dead 3) Jan's escape from being chained in a way that does not seem at all physically possible short of a huge adrenaline rush which she did not have, 4) Jan not having any thoughts or concerns about water, despite being chained up for hours without any water (not to mention she had no thoughts of any other human concerns, such as food, going to the bathroom, or being cold.) 5) the trial scene where the guilty party inexplicably takes the stand, even though Greece does protect against self-incrimination, 6) admittedly I don't know Greek law, but it seems unlikely that "multiple life sentences" would be given to someone for manslaughter and attempted murder 7) and admittedly this is a minor part, but when Jan mentions that her bra is "soft and comfortable"...um just no, bras are never soft or comfortable for the woman wearing them. Overall, this is a book that is worth reading and thinking about, but it is unfortunate that there are so many inconsistencies distracting from the story.
3192861
This was a pretty fun book.  Sanderson does a good job setting up the universe very quickly and right at the beginning too.  He introduces characters and their POV almost right when you meet them too.  Sometimes this hurts a book, I don't think that's the case for this one.  The plot/story line is interesting and stays interesting.  Sanderson does a good job of keeping the flow progressing and injecting some good humor into the story.  The main character, David, has a lot of fun with some terrible metaphors that I enjoyed a lot.  Sanderson also has a few good twists and turns in there.  I thought I was on the right track with my theory but even after I found out how I was wrong, I was pleased he didn't take the "hero overcomes" approach but actually ends the book in a pretty neat way.  There is one female character that is pretty annoying and is needed for the plot but is too boring other than just being "hot".  Without trying to spoil too much of the plot, I will attempt to say that I was disappointed that epics tend to be evil by design than by choice.  I really thought Sanderson could have spoke more to the human condition that would have been way more interesting.  However, I am excited for future installments and the universe set up lends for some really storyline possibilities.  A very good, fun read.  Final Grade - A-
4238576
I picked this up as a free book of the day, and liked it enough to purchase the next book.  The world is fairly well-built, and interesting.  I liked the characters for the most part, though I'm hoping they will be better developed in subsequent books.

One of my only dislikes is a bit of what I view as author self-indulgence.  Male vampires have no interest in sex, but female vampires do, so they really like human men.  The scenes where the night assistant throws herself at the protagonist were a bit blechy.

Overall, it's a very interesting book with a solid mystery and good action.
2522068
I love the story, which deserves 5 stars, and I will DEFINITELY read the next book. The writing is good, the characters are funny, and even though I was able to guess who the "bad guys" were fairly early on, it was still an engaging read.

The reason I didn't give it 5 stars is due to several glaring and distracting transcription errors. They occur later in the book, but they definitely threw me out of the flow of the story. One of these is an issue with dialogue and there are a number of places where articles such as "a" and "the" are left out. Not the worst I've ever seen, but for a widely and professionally published book (rather than someone's self-published manuscript) I tend to find these kind of issues unacceptable.
2893106
A very fun and interesting read.

Dennis' writing style is pleasing to read, especially if you're into dry humor and sarcastic wit. I really like his ideas about Artificial Intelligence and uploaded consciousness, a subject I am very interested in. I'd give it a 4.5 star rating if the system would let me. I'd deduct half a point for leaving a cliffhanger at the end. If he had tied up a few more loose ends then the story could have stood on its own better. The second thing is the idea of America regressing into a theocracy. Not bloody likely, but then again it may be a reflection of the author's view of the world.

Overall, a very good read and I'll be reading the next two stories for sure!
4315622
I'm going to try to avoid any spoilers, so apologies if this is a little vague. I really enjoyed the story, and the first person diary style of most of it was cool. I liked following Watney through his problem solving process. It's got a lot of great indoor about the space program and Mars and at least to my non scientific mind it seems really accurate to known science.

But-- there were a lot of typos, sudden switches between first and third person and missing words here and there. There wasn't any indicator of the transitions between Watney's log to the narratives about the NASA teams, so out felt a little disjointed at points. The end was a little abrupt, it just felt thrown in after all the time to get there, but it didn't detract from the book significantly.

Overall, it's good, definitely well thought out and a great story. I'd love to see what it could be with a full edit treatment, because I think that would take a four star book totally over the top. I recommend checking this one out!
1740951
This was a fun and interesting read. It's not my usual genre, but I enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who likes fiction or fantasy of any sort. It flows well and I did not often find myself slipping out of the "reading zone." There are layers to the story and characters and it can be appreciated on more than one level. Each chapter/section covers a different smaller adventure within a larger continuous story, and these served a similar function as the short stories I usually read during my commute to work. Like the previous reviewer, I can also imagine sharing this book aloud with an older child and using the stories as a jumping-off point for some good discussions.
3727766
This book was a fun read and goes quick; I finished it in one sitting (fairly fast reader though). I thought it was an interesting and entertaining premise with the animal attacks, though the cause of it was a bit silly I felt, and the solution and end left me a bit wanting. I'm curious how the TV series will turn out. It's supposed to expand on the novel.
3916682
Overall, this is a very entertaining read, with interesting characters and an interesting and engaging plot. The prose is smooth, and the descriptions are just enough to convey the important aspects of people and scenes. The main plot, with the protagonists trying to figure out what's up the villain's sleeve, carried me along, and I had difficulty putting the book down, especially once I reached the mid-point.
Vinnie, the fledgling detective, whose main goals are to help his boss, Dan, and to catch Bill and Linda, who have clearly lied to obtain Linda's promotion at Dan's expense, is an engaging character. He has a host of failings, not the least of which is his naivete, which made me root for him from the beginning. Vinnie's side kick, Blanca is also a rich and wonderful character.
Less engaging and believable are Dan and Ginny, his wife. The subplot of their failing marriage, ruined partly by Dan's character weaknesses and partly by Ginny's fascination with muscle-bound men, somehow felt cartoonish, although it does bring a wonderful person, Ginny's trainer, Ben, into the novel.
Some of the business details seemed both unclear and yet too precise. I was never quite sure what this firm does, or how Bill and Linda were going to get rich off it.
Despite my caveats, I really loved this book. I can't wait to read another one about Vinnie!
968639
I really enjoyed this book.  I liked Kline's character, though he is no bad boy, and Georgia is a small feisty package.  Some scenes were particularly funny, e.g. Georgia's allergic reaction during their first date.  I do agree with others though, about it being somewhat unbelievable that Kline hadn't noticed Georgia at all even though they'd worked together for a couple years.  In addition, both Georgia's and Kline's responses to the conflict situation in their relationship seemed a bit unrealistic/over-dramatic.  Despite these minor issues, the writing style was fresh and I really liked the ending and the very interesting exchange of vows.
4840007
Past and Pending is a fun little novella full of a lot of things: humor, snarky narration, and a plot that sometimes feels a little contrived. Since there is a heavy 'whodunit' feel, I won't comment much on the general plot, but it is certainly fast paced and entertaining. I really only had two issues with Past and Pending. For one, I wanted more details. When the characters are by the ocean, I want to know how it sounds, how it smells, not just what the characters see and feel. Those kinds of sensory details were lacking throughout most of the story, and it really took away from the immersion. My second issue stems from the pacing of some of the events. In the beginning, the plot moved nicely with action intermingled with background in a great way. When the action really took off in the middle, I missed the exposition, which is a strange thing to say. The plot and characters were great, so I naturally wanted to know more about them, but I only got a few glimpses into the past here and there. I think Past and Pending could be fantastic with a few tweaks, but I still enjoyed it without a doubt.

~Stuart Thaman, [...]
1099030
Good read , a little unrealistic when it came to certain parts , but I liked it overall
475115
The second book in the series. I found it to still be a fun and interesting read. However, I wish it didn't dwell so much on just the happenings at Skykeep. It would have been nice to refer back to the ship and crew a little more, during the middle of the story. Altogether, the whole concept is unique and interesting. I hope the story continues. This is a nice break from a typical read.