Goon by Glenn Erick Miller; Oath by Kate Butler; The Wise Marie Paradise Edition by Natasha Brune

 

Goon by Glenn Erick Miller; Oath by Kate Butler; The Wise Marie: Paradise Edition by Natasha Brune 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Goon by Glenn Erick Miller 

This is a summary of the review. The complete review is on LitPick.

Goon is a tense, darkly comic, but captivating novel about incarceration, self-preservation, redemption, and the true nature of guilt and innocence.

 Goon is a troubled foster kid who stole a car, then injured his younger brother before being sent to a juvenile detention center. While there Goon has to deal with the various rules and regulations, violent fellow prisoners, a hurricane, his attraction for a girl who volunteers at the prison, and his guilt and anguished concern about his brother.

He is a fully developed protagonist who is practically made of attitude and regret. He recalls his dysfunctional upbringing, parentification towards his brother, and current incarceration with detached and wry humor. He is a self-deprecating sardonic kid who uses his humor to deflect from his own pain and tragedy.

The setting of the experimental detention center nicknamed J-Rot is fleshed out as a distinct society with its own culture and rituals. Everyone is given a nickname and bullying and favoritism are frequently shown. These dehumanization procedures remind the boys that who they were outside doesn't matter. Here they are who the prison, and by association the State of Florida, decides.

 Goon has to call up his talents and skills to aid someone who was once antagonistic but has shown potential to be a friend. Goon must surpass the institutional dehumanization and enter the contradictory chaos surrounding him to save him. 

Oath by Kate Butler 

This is a summary of my review. The long version is on Reader Views. (The links takes you to the site. You must insert the book's title in the search engine to read the review.)

Kate Butler’s Oath is a charming and enchanting queer fantasy romance about the love between a lord and his knight.

Lord Aerion Valemont is the spoiled Narcissistic son of the Archbishop. He is used to having his way so when Sir Clyde of Blackholt AKA “The Hound”, a war hardened, quiet, defiant warrior is assigned to be his protector, Aerion considers it a challenge. It appears these two completely opposite characters from different worlds are attracted to one another despite Clyde's sworn oath to protect the young Lord and the scheme to get Aerion married to avoid scandal.

Oath is the type of Fantasy Romance that technically does nothing new. The characters are known archetypes and the plot and setting have been seen many times. Even the fact that it's a Queer Romance has been done. 

This book should be a disposable cliche but there is something so delightful and endearing about this particular book that makes it work despite or actually because of the cliches.

Aerian is written as the ultimate spoiled rich kid with plenty of money and daring but not a lot of empathy or sense. Clyde is a solid stoic force. 

When the Lord and the knight become emotionally and physically closer together, Clyde's softer side and Aerion’s kinder side emerge. They become lovers who accept one another's flaws and all that comes with them.

Their relationship is tested by war, separation, sacrifice, and commitment. They move beyond a spoiled lord and stoic knight to become stronger, braver, more selfless, and more devoted characters and lovers.

The Wise Marie: Paradise Edition by Natasha Brune 

This is a summary of my review. The complete review is on Readers Views. (The links takes you to the site. You must insert the book's title in the search engine to read the review.)

Natasha Brune’s The Wise Marie: Paradise Edition is a traumatic and troubling autobiographical novel about a woman's involvement with crime and drugs.

Brune’s alter ego, Marie lived in a crowded home with a troubled and volatile family. Marie retreated into drugs, abusive relationships, and criminal activity to survive it.

Brune’s writing style is a straightforward matter of fact manner and surprising detachment for writing about her own experiences. It doesn't get overly sentimental or overdramatic. Terrible things like teen pregnancy, over doses, and abuse but it's informative not emotional. It makes the events and characters the main focus instead of presenting Brune's opinion about how she felt about it. It allows the Readers to connect with the events on their own. 

One could imagine it being written years later when Brune has had enough time to detach herself from the events. As an older woman, she has the years of experience and knowledge that the angry young woman didn't have. She also has empathy and understanding for the circumstances that led her down this path but recognizes the damage that she brought on herself.

The Wise Marie also makes use of its Hawaii setting by downplaying the paradise connotation (except in the subtitle) to focus on the local resident’s reality or at least the reality that Brune experienced. She reveals the poverty of people who live in a state with beautiful year-round weather but an expensive cost of living. A place where local reality is purposely kept from the tourists and issues like drugs, crime, and violence are ignored. While many states have high levels of crime and poverty, in Hawaii’s case the sometimes ugly reality clashes with the beautiful image, an image that no one and no place can fill forever.

Double Takedown (A Mike Stoneman Mystery) by Kevin G. Chapman; Double Double Your Murder, Double Double Your Excitement

 

Double Takedown (A Mike Stoneman Mystery) by Kevin G. Chapman; Double Double Your Murder, Double Double Your Excitement 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I apologize for the Doublemint ear worm. Believe me, I'm paying for it.

Anyway, things have changed considerably since this blog previously encountered Police Detectives Mike Stoneman and Jason Dickson deuteragonists of Righteous Assassin, the first of Kevin G. Chapman's Mike Stoneman Mystery Series. In that endeavor, the two were partnered to investigate a series of murders that corresponded to the Ten Plagues from the Book of Exodus in the Bible. During their investigation, they faced personal and professional hurdles as single men that acquired love interests during the course of the book. Not to mention they faced their own prejudices and biases as the wily experienced Caucasian veteran Mike clashed with the eager young African-American rookie Jason. They came together, made amends, and solved the murders.

Now in this volume, Double Takedown, things have looked up. The duo are thick as thieves, best friends. Mike is married to Michelle, a forensic pathologist. Jason is married to Rachel, a makeup artist, and is the father of three year old Jason Jr. AKA JJ, who refers to Mike as “Uncle Mike.” Their reputation as criminal investigators has acquired a wide network of friends, allies, informants, and acquaintances who give them the VIP treatment. They also acquire many enemies from the less law abiding crowd who recognize and fear them.

That network puts them right into the path of their latest cases. That's right cases, plural, as in more than one. 

During a night out at a Broadway Cares ballet production, Alex Bishop, Tony nominated star of Godfather: The Musical is murdered in public in the front row. Cause of death: poisoned by a fatal concoction of drugs. Director Nathan Matthews is subsequently investigated, charged, indicted and is now awaiting trial for Bishop’s murder but Mike and Jason think that the case is too easy and they have the wrong person. Their suspicions prove correct when TikTok influencer, Kayleigh Bronson is found murdered at a party after ingesting Montezuma's Delight, a drug concoction of the same drugs that killed Alex Bishop. The duo realize that the deaths might be connected when the same suspects and evidence turn up in both cases.

This is a solid double mystery in which two separate cases are connected by methods, suspects, and motives. It's not quite a serial murder because the circumstances are different but they do have similar patterns. They are also separated by a period of two years (Adam Bishop’s death occurred in 2022, Kayleigh Bronson’s in 2024). Also it's the death of an established nominated top billed theater actor combined with the death of a young flaky party girl social media influencer. That's definitely worlds apart. Many would not associate the murders with each other but Mike and Jason do. 

The investigation takes the detectives through interesting leads through Broadway productions, drag venues, and social media videos to interview a bevy of eccentric entertainers. There's a production of Sharknado: The Musical where they stake out a person of interest. Okay, I can buy The Godfather becoming a musical. It's operatic, Shakespearean, has a lot of raw emotion, and they can take advantage of the Italian folk style to write original songs. But Sharknado: The Musical? That's a line that no one should ever cross.

A drag performer gives Mike and Jason a lead which results in them comparing performances to see if a potential suspect was at a particular show. It's interesting as they compare things like vocal infections, makeup consistency, stance, and posture to see if they are watching the same person or a substitute in a costume, wig, and makeup. It's a test in observation skills for them.

By far the strangest person of interest is The Pharmacist, a mysterious character who peddles holistic remedies on his YouTube and TikTok videos. Many of his suggestions provide a bit more kick, much of it of the opioid and potentially illegal variety. The Pharmacist is an odd composite of Timothy Leary and a street drug dealer from an 80’s PSA. He is both charismatic and menacing, especially since he isn't above using a customer's interest in his endorsed products to his advantage. It's easy to see why he has a large Internet presence especially in a time where many reject traditional medicinal means.

Mike and Jason’s partnership is a highlight. Even though they have pretty happy home lives, their personal lives are still a focus. That family members like their wives, Rachel's brother, and Michelle's niece get involved in different ways show that criminal catching can be a family affair. There is a tense chapter where Michelle's niece, Star, is in the wrong place at the wrong time and finds herself in a potentially dangerous situation. What is fun and exciting for her is a job for Mike and Jason and she sees first hand what it's like to live a life of danger.

There is a constant theme of theater, putting on a performance, and pretending to be someone else. This climaxes in a sting operation where Mike, Jason, and their colleagues put on a performance of their own with acting, costumes, and disguises. Unfortunately, the suspects also know about performing too so the question isn't who's acting. It's who can put on the better performance and make the first and last move.

Double Takedown is double the excitement, thrills, suspense, and mystery fun.

Weekly Reader: The Cloud by Robert Rivenbark; Involving High Tech Science Fiction Excels at Presenting Microcosms of Futuristic Tech Heavy World

 Weekly Reader: The Cloud by Robert Rivenbark; Involving High Tech Science Fiction Excels at Presenting Microcosms of Futuristic Tech Heavy World 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: It's always a treat when I read one book, then I read its polar opposite. I read two books set in the 2040s, Mark Richardson's Malibu Burns and Robert Rivenbark's The Cloud. Both are set in California, both after times of political and environmental unrest and both have worlds in which technology and AI have taken over. However, in execution the two books go in opposite directions. Malibu Burns doesn't concentrate on the futuristic world so much as it does on the mindscape of its lead protagonist. The Cloud does involve interesting characters but it concentrates more on how this futuristic world affects them. Malibu Burns is strong on character and The Cloud is strong on setting and world building.

Blaise Pascal is a VR designer who works for The Cloud, the tech corporation that practically runs the world. He is currently working on Gilgamesh V, the latest game to appeal to The Slags, the lower classes who aren't connected to The Cloud (like Blaise once was). His director, Minsheng is impressed with Blaise's work but wants him to tweak the game to include an addictive drug which will control The Slags. As Blaise climbs higher in the corporation and spends time with the Slags, he begins to see the corruption, dehumanization, and mass murder that his superiors are planning. He is caught between the luxurious technology driven world that he wants and the honest connections of the human driven world that he needs.

Many of the characters are well written, Blaise in particular, but mostly they serve as microcosms of the society in which they live. They are shaped and changed by the universe around them and we see the strengths and weaknesses of the world because of how it affects them.

Blaise is the person in the middle. He came up from the low tech Slag world leaving behind a missing father, a mentally ill and deceased mother, and intense poverty to move to the high rise Cloud world. He hooked himself up to the devices that monitor his actions and created VR simulations for the people that he was once a part of.  

While Blaise is a huge part of how the Cloud works, he is not exactly enamored with his surroundings. He is a military vet who has seen his share of bloodshed in the name of the corporations and governments who pulled the strings. He also is mourning the deaths of his wife and daughter, the last people he felt connected to. Now he buries himself in work and a sardonic attitude. While his remarks are humorous (for example when his immediate supervisor, Mitsuko gives him an order, he remarks, "I ignored you the first time."), they reveal a cynical detachment for a lifestyle that provided him with creature comforts but little else.

Blaise's only relief is the downtime he gets when he goes to the Slags towns, perhaps his only means of any type of companionship and the only time that he can be himself without being spied upon. It is here that he meets Kristina, who is part of a resistance group against The Cloud. She tells Blaise some important information about his mother and what his role is to be in this revolution. As Blaise starts to see the Cloud for its true colors, as a dictatorship, he becomes an active participant in ending it by being the revolution's inside person and saboteur. 

Unfortunately, Blaise's new role as rebel coincides with his promotion through The Cloud and his involvement with his supervisors, Mitsuko and Minsheng and the shady directors behind them. The threats and underhanded deals that collapse the lower classes are made all too real. In one chapter, Blaise is nearly tortured by mantises, cybernetic insects which inject their victims with a painful venom. He then watches in horror as those mantises are then used on people including many of the rebels.

Blaise becomes involved in a love triangle between Kristina and Mitsuko. While normally, I don't like love triangles because I find them cliched and often unnecessary with The Cloud, I will make an exception because of what each character represents. 

Mitsuko represents The Cloud. She is a narcissistic ambitious person who uses many that come near her. In her world, relationships can only be made on a superficial shallow level. Because of this, terms like "friends, "family," and "lovers" are mere words. Because they are just words without feeling around them, those terms can be redefined however they see fit as Mitsuko reveals during one of the few times when she displays some reality beyond the materialistic driven persona that we have already seen. She is a woman who has been hurt in the past, knows what it's like to struggle to get to where she is, but doesn't care. She lost her humanity and compassion for others and sees the people around her as allies for or obstacles against the company that she reveres and even worships. She represents the worst that Blaise could be.

Kristina represents the resistance, the rebels that are still in touch with their humanity. They have technology in that they were able to build a functioning self-sustaining community, but all of their technology is used to benefit a larger society, rather than controlling it. They, particularly Kristina, haven't lost who they are or the love for those around them.

Kristina cares about her fellow rebels and family. Even though she is in love with Blaise, she isn't afraid to call him out on the actions and the people behind The Cloud's actions.

Kristina has a strange ability to read into other's souls. This ability opens up possibilities that when society heads further into progress and science, what was once considered magic could be rediscovered.

It also gives Kristina deeper insight into people. She sees beyond the surface that Mitsuko sees. She sees into Blaise's past and how he really feels. She makes a real connection with him, a connection that Blaise thought was lost.

The Cloud shows us a world that becomes so intertwined with its technology, that only the very few remember what it means to be human and it is them who will rebuild the world once that heavily technological superficial world is gone.

New Book Alert: Psychonautic by Darren Frey; Deep Psychological Vampire Dark Romance

 

New Book Alert: Psychonautic by Darren Frey; Deep Psychological Vampire Dark Romance

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Alright, I give. I surrender. I used to hate Vampire Romances. Since high school, the very names of Dracula, Lestat, Buffy Summers, and Angel made me roll my eyes long before Edward and Bella had their first sparkle. I thought the Dracula movie starring Gary Oldman, Anne Rice's The Vampire Chronicles and Buffy The Vampire Slayer were some of the most overrated pieces of entertainment ever. If I ever saw another romance starring a dark brooding Byronic vampire antihero, it would be too soon. I often joked that the only vampire that I ever liked was C.D. Bitesky from Mel Gilden's Fifth Grade Monsters.

Well, I am willing to admit when I am wrong. I found that there is room in the saturated vampire subgenre to intrigue and impress me. I found that out twice this year. First, with The Genius of Our Wiles by Blythe Gryphon. It was a historical fiction about a vampire falling in love with the woman that he transforms. The two spend the changing centuries studying the history of vampires, including looking for the original vampire.

 The second book that changed my perspective is Psychonautic by Darren Frey. In contrast to The Genius of Our Wiles, Psychonautic is a modern psychological drama about a damaged human who is accepted into a coven of vampires and feels the love of family, friendship, and romance that had long eluded him.

The human who becomes closely encountered with the undead is Julian Frost. He has a coffin full of problems. He was a child of abandonment and abuse having been left by his father and abused by his mother, her boyfriend, and his grandfather. The only family member that he felt close to was his loving grandmother and other relatives kept her death from him out of spite. He just ended a long term relationship when he caught his ex in bed with another man, and not just any man but her brother. Not only that but he has Retina Pigmentosa (RP) and is therefore legally blind. Many, including relatives and his ex have used his disability against him and mocked him.

Julian is trying to put his life together. He spent time with a shaman and took Ayahuasca, hallucinogenic drugs, to deal with his pain. He also got as far away from his Virginia home as possible to attend college courses in Las Vegas. Why, he even has a new potential love interest in classmate, Violet Trouton. 

Things are starting to look up.Okay, Violet panics and retreats into a bathroom when the sun rises. But she is gorgeous. Sure, she can read his mind and knows a lot about his dreams. But she's so sweet and understanding about Julian's past. And okay, she can float in the air and fly, but nobody's perfect.

 It takes a while, almost a comically long time, for Julian comes to terms with the truth that his new potential girlfriend is really a vampire. Oh yeah and Violet takes him to New York (flying on her back, instantly in less than an hour) to meet her vampire family. There they get involved in a civil war with other vampire clans and vengeance seeking humans who are out for blood, vampire blood.

A psychonaut is described as someone who explores an altered state of consciousness, especially through hallucinatory drugs and that is what Frey's book excels at. Yes, of course there are times where Julian takes hallucinogenic drugs to deal with his troubled past. But what really stands out is the exploration of Julian's mind. In some ways, vampirism becomes a metaphor for this exploration and how Julian emerges as a stronger person who challenges his past.

Julian suffered tremendously from the abuse, abandonment, and betrayal in his past. He became closed off and rejected close intimacy. He has been clearly scarred and is unable to move forward with such baggage behind him.

His taking of drugs allows him to open his mind and recognize those issues. It identified the problem, but his friendship with Violet and her family allows him to take action.

Naturally, when he discovers that Violet is a vampire, he is a little concerned and terrified. After all, can he be sure that she doesn't want a snack or will attack him? He even has nightmares about her mocking him, like his ex did, before attacking him. 

This is before he gets to know Violet and realizes what a sweet kind person she is. She also has many difficulties from her past including an abusive childhood and the betrayal from one human friend who turned on her and her family.She just happens to have a penchant for blood and sleeps during the day. 

Julian also develops a kinder more empathetic personality in his relationship with Violet and the vampire world. He meets Xavier, the vampire who transformed Violet and whom she calls "Dad," and various others in their clan. He develops a surrogate father-son relationship with Xavier as his love for Violet increases. He finds in them the family that had long eluded him. 

Because of this familial connection, Julian is able to confront his past. When vengeance seeking humans threaten the vampires in their club, Julian defends them then takes it upon himself to hide his new family in his aunt's house in Virginia. He is now in close proximity to members of his birth family, including his abusive grandfather and neglectful aunt and uncle. Strengthened by his new family's love and support, in one of the best passages, he confronts his relatives with all of the hurt that they caused him over the years. 

Many of Julian's experiences in seeing the world through the vampire's perspectives are some of the highlights. For example when they fly to New York from Las Vegas, it is a psychedelic experience as Julian feels his third eye open. He feels like they broke barriers in sound and his own self, his ego, is being melted away. It's clearly an exhilarating experience.

The transformation of becoming a vampire is described throughout the book. It begins with death, as though the old self were dying to make way for a newer higher plane of existence. Next is an intense thirst, a heightening of the senses, and an increased awareness of all that is around the newly made vampire. It's a beautiful description and shows that depth of the inner journey into the subconscious and the higher being that could emerge.

Frey excels at writing a psychological drama and exploration of the subconscious of an individual who sees a new higher perspective in the world around him. There are hints of a more action oriented tone if he continues this series. The vampire hating humans seem like many hate groups, formed because they fear what they don't understand. Also, the conflicts between various clans suggest that just because someone becomes a vampire doesn't mean that their problems are over. They will still be surrounded by hatred, prejudice, and some who would use these heightened gifts for revenge or to satisfy their sadistic pleasure.

For people like Julian however, vampirism allows him to explore deeper meaning, getting rid of the old frightened Julian to become a stronger person.

Psychonautic is a great book. That being said, I still find Gary Old man's Dracula, Buffy Summers, and Lestat intensely overrated.

New Book Alert: Orange City by Lee Matthew Goldberg; Terrifying Science Fiction Dystopia Will Scare The Colors Out Of You

 

New Book Alert: Orange City by Lee Matthew Goldberg; Terrifying Science Fiction Dystopia Will Scare The Colors Out Of You

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Lee Matthew Goldberg's previous novel, Slow Down was an ironic title of a book. It was a fast paced almost hallucinatory drug trip of a novel in which Noah, a young ambitious screenwriter gets involved with a creepy director's film project which involves several actresses becoming addicted to a drug called Fast which turns them homicidally violent.

So in this, his fifth novel, Orange City has Goldberg taken the predecessor title's advice and slowed down? Well, no. Instead he just has a wider more imaginative arena in which to explore these strange, bizarre, terrifying worlds.

Orange City is set in the future in a dystopian city called, original name, The City. The City is ruled by an omnipresent figure who is literally called The Man. (Thankfully, the common nouns used as proper names device ends there. So we don't run into other characters called The Woman, The Boy, The Girl, The Dog and don't encounter The Bar or The Restaurant.)

The Man is a creepy figure. He wears the same black suit and is fed a strange orange liquid intravenously, so he doesn't eat. His legs are distorted because of surgeries to make him taller. He has several arms connected to his body that are thin and branch-like giving him a spidery appearance. His red eyes are able to cyberoptically view the entire city. He has spies, technology, and a psychic seeming intuition that allows him to keep everyone and everything in the city under his watch and control. Anyone who disobeys can lose their appendages and end up in The Zone, the homeless district, or The Man's Scouts can send them to The Outside World, the area outside The City. The Man's appearance and demeanor are sort of like what would happen if 1984's Big Brother decided to retire and give control of Oceania over to Slenderman.

Underneath The Man's control are the Finances, districts with CEO's that control the banking, business, and advertising. In one way or another everybody works under The Man's ultimate direction, so yes they are in fact slaves to The Man. 

One of those workers is Graham Weathered, a meek little man who works for the advertising firm of Warton, Mind, and Donovan. Graham has been living in The City since he was 19, a scared abused former foster kid from The Outside World. He was given the option, as all convicted criminals are, to remain in the desolate war torn Outside World or start a new life with a job that promises benefits and constant surveillance in The City. Naturally, the naive Graham chooses Option B.

Years later, Graham is given his first real assignment. Warton, Mind, and Donovan are promoting a multi-flavored soda called Pow! His boss, E, wants him to test the various flavors and let them know what the results are. Graham needs some recognition from his employers,  would like to get ahead and does not want to be sent to the Zone. Plus, Graham has the spine of an amoeba and the nerves of a terrified toy dog, so he agrees. The only problem is that Pow! is addictive, really addictive, and it produces some strange side effects. It alters a person's emotions depending on the flavor.

Orange City is a brilliant novel that is a tribute to the Science Fiction Dystopia genre and a satire on advertising, greed, and corporate control. As Graham drinks the Pow! flavors, he takes on various facets of his personality. The orange flavor makes him passionate and sexual. Lime green makes him jealous and ambitious. Blueberry makes him depressed and thoughtful. Cherry Red makes him aggressive and homicidal. All of the emotions that a lifetime of abuse and constant surveillance and control have repressed have finally broken through and overwhelms him.

This book is a wonder to imagine and is one of the few that I would like to see become a movie or limited series because of how impressive it would look. One of the more visually captivating images are the constant changing colors around Graham. Each time he drinks a specific flavor, his eyes zero in and focus on that color on the walls, neon signs, and on people's clothing. Each time he is attracted to women wearing those specific colors or is invited to a club or a bar with that color name (The Citrus Club, Lime Lounge, Blue Moon, and Red Rum.) It would be neat to see any potential filmmaker engage in some interesting details like the walls in Graham's apartment changing color or the neon lights blazing in the background, unavoidable like stars. Goldberg clearly had a lot of fun writing the process of Graham and his mood swings and the shifting environment around him.

Besides setting, Goldberg also creates a memorable protagonist in Graham. Similar to characters like Winston Smith, Guy Montag, Offred/June, or Bernard Marx, Graham just accepts the System at first. He thinks that if he plays along and doesn't cause trouble, then he will live another day, without realizing that it doesn't matter how much he plays along. If that System sees those under them as less than human, they are expendable and completely disposable. They will be killed or exiled anyway, because they have no value as a human being or an individual. 

Graham follows the Man's orders, even temporarily accepts a higher position, more luxurious apartment, and larger stipend to be the Pow! spokesperson/product tester/guinea pig. When he becomes hopelessly addicted and characters appear and reappear to monitor him, even appearing in lucid dreams is when he starts to question what he got into. He also learns some revealing things about his past and what The Man's real goals are.  That's when he can no longer remain a passive participant and slave to The Man. He becomes an active rebel and fighter against those that have controlled him for most of his life.

Orange City is a book with a terrifying premise that questions how much advertising, corporations, and our own self interests control us. It could be as real as tomorrow. That thought is enough to scare the colors out of the Reader.