Friday, May 27, 2011

Interview with Tammy Snyder author of The Chimney Still Stands

The month of June at the B&N.com General Fiction book club we are pleased to be featuring the Pubit author Tammy Snyder. Those of you not familiar with Pubit it is a B&N exclusive way to self publish yourself. We will be featuring Tammy's novel The Chimney Still Stands so please join us in the discussion and conversation here.
Now for my interview


Interview with Tammy Snyder

This month at the General Fiction book club at B&N.com we are celebrating Pubit, a great no cost way for authors to publish and sell their works in digital format and what better way to do that than by featuring debut author Tammy Snyder and her Pubit novel The Chimney Still Stands.

Debbie - Tammy thank you for agreeing to participate as this month’s featured author.

Tammy -Thank you, Debbie, for inviting me. I'm very excited to be here!

D -First tell us a little about yourself.

T - Sure. I'm a 39 year young wife (of 17yrs) and mother of three teenage boys. I'm a Christian, reader, writer, movie fanatic, and I love photography. I've done everything from flipping burgers to being a nanny; from running my own businesses to volunteering in my community. Now, I feel the need to calm down and finally focus on my dream. Writing.
I moved in 1991 from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where I was born and raised, to where I now live in the beautiful Ozark Mountains just down the road from the Buffalo National River in northwest Arkansas that I write about in my book.

D -Did you always want to be a writer and tell us how you found Pubit and a little about that process.

T - Definitely! As far back as I can remember. I'd say the seed was planted long ago when I discovered my love for reading. You could say that, since spending most of my life holed up in one quiet corner or another with my nose in a book, that it'd be inevitable that I'd end up wanting to write one of my own. I can remember being in fifth or sixth grade and being assigned an idea for a story. If you wrote it well, you could sit on the teacher's stool in front of the class and read it. Well, I did great. And, despite my severe shyness and hatred of getting up on front of class, I went up and with, I can only imagine, a red face read my story with pride. I remember then feeling a jolt of excitement for the idea.
Finding Pubit was a happy coincidence. It was a 2010 Christmas commercial for the new NOOK that had me googling Barnes & Noble. That's when I found Pubit. I had already completed my novel in March of 2009 and, failing to find an agent, let it sit collecting dust on my dresser ( I write long hand). In typical “me” fashion I began researching this Pubit and it sounded ideal. Hey, how can you go wrong when someone offers to sell your book for free! So, I followed the directions, filled in this, listed that, download like so and voila! A ten year labor of love had finally made it's mark in the publishing world! I can, now, call myself an author!

D - Are you working on another novel and will you continue with Pubit or will you be looking for a mortar and brick publisher?

T - As a matter of fact, I'm researching right now for what will be my first series and I have to say I'm quite nervous about it. Excited too, of course! :) It takes place in a Michigan towns heyday from the late 1800's through the Depression and includes miners, lumberjacks and love stories (no book is complete without a love story!).
I'm not certain yet what I will do to publish them. I know I would love to work with a mortar and brick publisher and see my books in print and eBook form but I will just have to wait and see. One thing I've learned is you never know what's around the next corner. All I can do is pray and leave it in God's hands.

D - Tell us how this novel came to be. I know it takes place near where you live, are there any other similarities?

T - Well, my husband is to blame for this novel. Haha He has always loved to take me for drives and when I started noticing chimney's with square, rock foundations dotting the countryside I started asking questions. That's when he showed me a yellowing and slightly brittle sesquicentennial paper he had with the story of how it all came to be. Of course I said, “What a great idea for a novel!”
Yes, much of what is written is similar to facts such as scenic descriptions, the outside of the courthouse, comments during the courthouse meeting, the waterfall scene...ask me later about the river scene!! There are a great many similarities. All but the characters. They are all of my own creation even though, as with any writer, we tend to use a bit of what we know to build our characters personalities, none are based on any one specific person. 

D - Do you have a favorite author and or genre to read?

T - I always have to laugh at this question because my favorite author changes as the wind blows. :) If I read a book by an author I've never read before and love it, they become my new favorite author! Lol I can tell you I've enjoyed Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts, Susan Wiggs and of late, Kathleen Morgan's Brides of Culdee Creek series.
I grew up reading mostly Harlequin Romance and a mass of teenage girly books. I love fiction love stories...historical or modern, Christian or not. And though I don't really read anything but adult fiction, there was a teen series I just loved when I was a substitute teacher called The Shadow Children by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Terrific!!

D - The final question is just for fun – Do you have a bucket list and what’s the number one item on it that you want to accomplish?

T - Haha. Well, besides jumping out of a perfectly good airplane to sky dive, visiting Africa and Hawaii, doing more charity work and a whole host of other things, the #1 on my list is to be a successful novelist. I dream of spending the rest of my life whipping out one successful novel after another and sweeping readers away to other worlds the way I've been swept away. Hey! It's happened for some, right? Why not me. ;)

Thanks Tammy for taking the time to answer these questions and also in advance to agreeing to be with us during the month to contribute to the conversation.

 Visit the author on FaceBook here

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Review of The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly


The Fifth Witness
Michael Connelly
Little Brown and Company
ISBN 13:9780316069359

Mickey Haller is a defense attorney by trade but that doesn’t define him by any means, he’s served as a special prosecutor and now that the need for defense is way down in LA he’s decided to follow national trends of foreclosure law and play a modern day David keeping people in their homes against a Goliath bank or mortgage company. Business is brisk which is great for he and his associates and he even has some very deserving clients. One of his other kind of client the whiny, pain in the rump kind was just arrested for killing her Goliath banker so it’s back to Mickey Haller for the defense. The more he digs into this case the more murky the waters become and to get to the bottom of this he and his team will need to get their feet wet, and yet at every turn the prosecution seems to be one step ahead, but one thing Mickey never does is give up and he’ll go down swinging for his client. 

Michael Connelly is a master storyteller and a brilliant author. He can lead a reader to open a book and that reader will not put it down until the last page is finished. As with most of Mr. Connelly’s novels, this one is right up there in it’s timely and trendy content and is right off the headline newsreel. His narrative is also a stand out as he often discusses very meticulous legal issues and yet a layman will never feel the need to turn to a dictionary as he does an amazing job of explaining all technical and difficult terms in a language that is easily understood.  His characters are all rock star status as far as I’m concerned and in his Mickey Haller series that’s even more evident when Mickey’s two ex-wives are very much a part of his everyday life.

If you’ve never read Michael Connelly you can start with any novel, even within the series as they all make excellent stand a lones, but do yourself a favor and in the series go back and start from the beginning where you’ll learn all the history of the characters and their stories. No matter what you do, do read The Fifth Witness, not only for the fast paced action, not for the nail biting trial results, not even to find out what he and ex-wife number one are up to, read it for the explosive cliffhanger at the end of the book.

Mr. Connelly you have constantly surprised me, but this takes the cake. I can’t wait to see where Mickey goes from here.
Visit the author’s website here buy the book here

Friday, May 20, 2011

Review of Declaring Spinsterhood by debut author Jamie Lynn Braziel


Declaring Spinsterhood
Jamie Lynn Braziel
Amazon Encore
284 pages
ISBN 13: 9781935597544
Emma Bailey is a smart attractive woman, she owns her own children’s bookstore has great friends and a supportive if not wee bit overbearing family.  But when it comes to love, she’s a walking talking cliché, you know the one’s unlucky in love, always a bridesmaid etc., in fact if it weren’t for her interfering mother setting up a string of bad blind dates, she might not have a love life at all. After a painful breakup she’s entirely too dependent on her next door neighbor best friend Brian and now that he’s dating leaving her feeling old maid-ish she’s decided to “Declare Spinsterhood” and just put an end to dreaming about her very own Happily Ever After.

In her first novel Jamie Lynn Braziel gives us a lighthearted look at one woman’s fight for life liberty and the pursuit of happiness how she sees fit, she also adds some tense moments in the novel that come quite unexpectedly and really give the read more oomph. She uses down home Texas twang to give her characters the real deal feel of the Lonestar state and uses narrative that is easy to read, easy to follow and informative to her readers and even though the dialogue tends to drag in a few places it does not hurt the enjoyment of the novel and I’m sure that once this author feels more confident in her writer skin she’ll excel in this as well. Her characters are real stars of her show and they all are not only interesting but intricate pieces of this plot puzzle and as the pieces fall into place the characters get even better. Her heroine Emma is a bright light, a funny enigmatic girl who reminds me a little of The Unsinkable Molly Brown as she just keeps keeping on no matter what’s happening around her. Her other stand out characters in this novel are the best friend Brian, Emma’s workmate and friend Kathy and the mother from Hades. The romance will come up on you all of a sudden although by the time it gets here you won’t be surprised, but I won’t mention the hero because it’s the journey that stands out and I wouldn’t want to ruin that for any reader. The love scenes are G rated and would not offend any reader and yet it’s not because of prudishness or any Victorian ideals it’s just simple choice of the character and it’s really refreshing, and not to worry for those fans who like sensuality in their reads the kisses in here will heat up the pages.

Fans of Susan Mallery or Jennifer Crusie would like this author, fans of realistic life situation romance would like this read, contemporary romance lovers of simple genre romance too. So do yourself a favor and give Ms. Braziel a try, you won’t be sorry you did.
Visit the author’s website here – buy the book here

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Review of Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts


Chasing Fire
Nora Roberts
Penguin Group
472 pages
ISBN 13: 9780399157488


Rowan Tripp has literally followed in the larger than life footsteps of her famous Missoula Smoke Jumper firefighter father “Iron Man Tripp”, but that’s okay because it’s the only pair of fire retardant boots she wants to wear. She’s trained hard for her position and the last thing she needs is trouble, the kind that comes from rookie Gulliver Curry. Gulliver has idolized Iron Man Trip and is training to be a “Zullie” because of him, he’s no stranger to firefighting having been a hotshot firefighter before, what he didn’t count on was his instant and combustible attraction to Iron Man’s daughter. But Ro and Gull have more to worry about than the heat between them, there’s danger lurking and they have to depend on each other to find it before it burns them alive.

Nora Roberts puts out more books a year than any author I know, how does she keep them fresh without sounding like you could interject words from one novel to the next. Well however she does it, she does it like no one else. She starts with a tale that could be the headline news from any major network or the ticker on the bottom of the CNN screen. Then she goes us one better with descriptive narrative that lets her readers be right in the line of fire with the characters one minute and feeling the heat of lust in the next. Take her characters next as each one in this story could easily have their own novel they’re that good and that interesting. Her hero Gull and heroine Ro are two people who will light up the pages of the read like a fire lights up a virgin forest. The romance is combustible as these two stumble their way to their happy ever after. The love scenes will scorch so be sure to have your extinguisher handy. This novel would easily make a great first of a trilogy or a series and yet we learn enough about every character to quench us.

If you love Nora Roberts she won’t let you down with this read. If you’ve never read her you must be living under a rock, so come out and join the millions of her fans everywhere and be delighted, be thrilled and be entertained.
This is a definite must read as it combines romance, suspense and action adventure and will be a hit with all fans of those genres.
Visit the author’s website here – buy the book here

Monday, May 16, 2011

Review of Blackberry Summer by RaeAnne Thayne


Blackberry Summer Book One of the Hope’s Crossing series
RaeAnne Thayne
Harlequin – Publish date May 24, 2011
ISBN 13: 97780373775934
384 pages
Claire Bradford doesn’t expect her business, String Fever to be robbed, she doesn’t expect the vandals to have trashed the place but it happened now she needs the cops and another unexpected occurrence is that the new Chief would personally answer the call,  the new chief who just happens to be the younger brother of her best friend who growing up gave them no rest from his jokes and tricks.
Riley McKnight, Hope’s Crossing Colorado’s new police chief has come back home after spending years undercover and seeing the worst of the worst he’s ready for something a little more kinder and gentler, but as he starts his new career in his hometown it’s a season of burglaries and vandalism and not everyone is glad to see him home, some residents have long memories of the reckless boy he was. Thrown together by a terrible tragedy Claire and Riley reconnect as friends, when sparks start to fly the only thing obvious to each of them is why this can’t work. But what if it can, what if all it takes is one  “Blackberry Summer”.
This is my first experience with Ms. Thayne, but I assure you it won’t be my last and once you give her a try you’ll see where I’m coming from.
She starts with an excellent plot, one of suspense, of tragedy and of hope, then she sweetens the pot with great flowing dialogue that will give vision to the tale and ignite further the readers need to keep turning pages. Then we get the icing on the cake which is her characters and not just the hero and heroine who we’ll examine in a moment, but all of the characters are important and each deserve their own story and it’s nice to know they’ll get it. The hero Riley is portrayed perfectly and her readers will see the reckless youth turned responsible lawman. And the heroine Claire who’s had her dreams come true and fall apart more than once and the audience will empathize and sympathize with her. The romance has a price and it’s up to the players if they’re willing to pay it, the price of giving up some of their independence, the sharing of their souls. The love scenes are without actual physical intimacy but with the promise of it to come, so it would offend no reader and yet those of us who look forward to sheet tearing will not be disappointed either.
If this is your first taste of RaeAnne Thayne I know like me you’ll be a return customer. If you have read and loved her you will love her more.  I look forward to the rest of the series as well.
Thank you Ms. Thayne for a great experience.
visit the author’s website here
Buy the book here

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Review of Mind Games by Taylor Keating


Mind Games
Taylor Keating
Tor - Publish Date May 24, 2011
368 pages
ISBN 13: 978-0765365484
Mind Games is the second in Taylor Keating’s new exciting Guardian series. Taylor Keating is the pseudonym of the team of Catherine Verge and Paula Fox.

River escapes her video game nightmare against the Dark Lord and now she and Hawk (in Nick’s body) are on Terra Firma. She’s looking for answers, answers she needs for self preservation and who’s out to get her now. Hawk after being prisoner of the Dark Lord for how long he has no idea has “jumped” with River to her world and taken advantage of Nick’s death to take his body, a body that was once intimate with River and is giving Hawk a good amount of trouble both physically and mentally. They’re on the run for the murders of River’s tech gaming partners, always looking over their shoulders for the next catastrophe while racing the clock. Time is of the essence because they have no idea when Hawk will be pulled back to his world and they have only each other to trust.

In Mind Games the author(s) keep their multi-genre theme going with a mix of paranormal/ science fiction, urban fantasy and romantic suspense. The story line in this novel follows on the heel of Game Over, the characters continue their adventure on Earth and we get updated from time to time on the happenings on Hawk’s planet. The dialogue has a very urban feel as well as the author takes us to the underbelly of society on a post apocalyptic Earth and she does an excellent job describing to her audience the pallor of the world and it’s citizens. Her characters are once again bright lights in a dark setting and they continue to shine whether they be friend or foe. Her hero Hawk is fighting demons in his new and not improved body while fighting his intense feelings that continue to grow for River. River the heroine is a continuing lesson in self discovery as she continues the path of who and what she is and where she came from. As a team they are powerful together as they not only love but fight for each other. The romance is on a crash course and in which direction, the readers will just have to get on the ride and find out. The love scenes are sensual and rife with feelings that continue to deepen, they’re also filled with longing and love.

The author team of Taylor Keating has brought us another perfect example of two fertile imaginations along with amazing storytelling abilities to bring us  part two of this saga. The novel is best read after Game Over as it’s the continuing story of this couple and their worlds.
Ladies, I can’t wait for round three, thank you for another must read.
Check out the author(s) website here
Buy the book here

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Review of The Darkest Secret by Gena Showalter

The Darkest Secret
Gena Showalter
Harlequin
410 pages
ISBN 13: 9780373775491
Amun keeper of the demon secrets has always been tormented by knowing everyone’s deepest and darkest and has been kept silent because of it, but since rescuing Legion from Hell he’s picked up more demon souls that are literally torturing him to death from the inside. The need is so dire that the Lords have called in the Angels to help but the outlook is grim.
Haidee has lived many lives only to result in one thing, the destruction of the Lords, so to help in her quest she’s joined the hunters who’s job it is to rid the world of the Lords and their demons. She’s been captured, kept drugged and beaten by Strider who carries the demon defeat and is imprisoned in the Lords fortress in Budapest, she senses a familiar presence in need of her aid. What she discovers shocks and dismays her, but there’s no getting around the pull that this demon lord holds over her, the lust and deeper feelings he’s causing her to have, yes she’s dismayed because the pull she felt the presence she sought is none other than Amun keeper of secrets. No matter the feelings each evoke from the other they are sworn enemies and there’s nothing that could ever change that, or is there.

Gena Showalter’s Lord’s of the Underworld have entertained all her fans and brought in new ones for years and you’d think that after so many stories and characters that the lines would fade into each other and the tales would become stale, yet that has never happened with this series. She somehow keeps not only the plot lines fresh but the characters too and she’s always got an Ace up her sleeve to throw us off the mark and keep us guessing as to what she has planned next. Each Lord has his own distinctive character and they become more than just characters in a book after a few are behind you and they are more like friends. Amun has always been in the background, sort of on the sidelines as he watches silently all that goes on and we’re left to wonder what his story is. Well we won’t have to wait any longer, we delve deep in his psyche and find out what makes him tick. Haidee is an exceptional mate for him because she has just as many secrets and she needs just the right lord to pull them out. The love story is what you’d expect from immortal beings, fireworks that would impress all on Mount Olympus. The love scenes are hot, spicy, edgy and earthy and at the same time there’s innocence and uncertainty which makes it very sweet.

If you haven’t picked up one of Gena Showalter’s Lord of the Underworld series, you could easily start with this one, they all read well as stand a lones, but after you’re done get the backstories, find out the whys and hows by getting them all.
Visit the author’s website here
Buy the book here or here

Monday, May 9, 2011

Review of The Last of the Demon Slayers by Angie Fox

Last of the Demon Slayers

Angie Fox

Create Space

320 pages

ISBN 13:9781453888942

Last of the Demon Slayers is the 4th in Ms. Fox’s Demon Slayer series staring Lizzie Brown.

Vacations are great and Lizzie, the Red Skull Witches, her talking Jack Russell Pirate and their adopted dragon Flappy all lounged at the Greek Estate of her Griffin Shape Shifting boyfriend Dimitri, but now it’s life back in the fast lane so Harley’s to the highway, but when she gets a frantic call for help from her biological dad (who she’s never met), things go to Hades in a handbasket, literally.

Angie Fox first caught my attention because she’s a local author here in my home town of St. Louis Missouri and I always like to patronize locals so I bought her first book “The Accidental Demon Slayer” and I never stopped laughing unless I was holding my breath waiting for the next awful thing to happen to poor Lizzie and then when the dog starts to talk, well let’s just say it’s been a true love affair ever since. And in this her latest in the life and times of Lizzie Brown she won’t let you down either and although the plot is straight out of Grimm’s Fairy Tales for adults she leads us down the merry path believing every word, it’s like she puts a hex on us. Then there’s her dialogue, be prepared for full belly roll laughs when you get a load of what Pirate says, it’s almost like she can get inside the dog’s head and really listen to him, the rest of the narrative is easy to read everyday jargon. Her characters are the real stars of the show they each have their personalities and she spotlights each and every one. Her heroine Lizzie is a one of a kind character one you want to be like but knowing what she goes through everyday of her life don’t want anything to do with either. Yes this is a romance and it’s a doozie and the love scenes are hot and spicy when demon slayer meets griffin lip locked and raring to go and even though they’re enough to light your socks on fire I don’t think any true romance fan would find anything offensive.

If this is your first introduction to Lizzie, I know you’ll do yourself a favor and order the backlist and if you’re a true Lizzie fan well you’ll definitely get your money’s worth.
Visit the author’s website here
Buy the book here
Kudos Ms. Fox for one of the best paranormal series out there.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Review of Eternal Rider by Larissa Ione

Eternal Rider

Larissa Ione

Grand Central Publishing

ISBN 13: 9780446574495

432 pages

Eternal Rider is the first novel of Ms. Ione’s new series Lords of Deliverance The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, it’s also a spinoff of her highly popular and explosive Demonica series so as you meet these new unbelievable characters you’ll also get to catch up on your old friends from Underworld General, if you’re new to the series have no fear you will not be in the dark for long because this exquisite storyteller will fill you in with no problems.

The human and demon world is on a crash course to Armegeddon and with one of the four horsemen already turned evil it’s up to the other three to prevent total annihilation of the world as we know it.

Ares has lived for more than four thousand years knowing that if the seal he wears breaks he will turn into War and Apocalypse will soon follow, he’s already lost one brother and now it’s up to him and his remaining two siblings to prevent the ultimate big bang.

Cara Thornhart’s life has been in upheaval ever since “the event” two years earlier but when an injured animal shows up at her defunct vet clinic she can’t turn him away but he’s way more than she’s bargained for and he leads her on a crash course to Ares and life as she knows it will be a thing of the past. When Cara and Ares meet it’s fireworks of an epic proportion, the question is will they survive the explosion.

Ms. Ione is a master storyteller and it becomes obvious on the first page as she baits her audience and keeps them on the line until they’re well and truly reeled in by the end of the novel. She gives us a bigger than life plot the biggest good vs evil yet filled with dialogue that will keep her readers turning pages faster than you can say God of War and with characters straight out of our fondest dreams and worst nightmares. She presents to us characters that will make us gasp, make us gag and keep us up nights. Her hero Ares and heroine Cara are two of the most haunted lovers you will ever have the pleasure of reading about. They will tug at your heartstrings as they stumble through relationship potholes that we mere mortals could only ever imagine on their way to that all important Happy Ever After. Will they make it, read on my friends for that’s for you to find out. The love scenes are exactly what you’d expect with an immortal, edgy, sensual, gritty and powerful, so if it’s cold outside you might want to open a window and if it’s hot for heaven’s sake turn down the air.

Be prepared to nail bite your way through this one, if you have a heart problem you might want to consult your doctor before reading. For the rest of you healthy human beings get ready for one heck of a ride.

Ms. Ione thank you for another start of a great series, my only disappointment is that I will have to wait just like the other mere mortals for the next instillation.
Visit the author’s website here
Buy the book here


Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Review of Operation Spank Me by Christina James

Operation Spank Me

Christina James

Scarlet Rose

ISBN13: 978-1601549172

268 pages

Deep in the special ops of the military Finn Coleman has no time or desire for a committed relationship but naughty cybersex with e-pen pal Emma is just what the doctor ordered. Small town Emma Shields has no idea what she’s getting into when she lets friends talk her into e-pen palling with mystery military man Finn Coleman the chatting takes on a definite X rating. Keeping her identity a secret she refuses sending a picture so when he shows up on her doorstep unannounced how will she receive him.

Christina James gives us the first of a new erotic romance series with Operation Spank Me, her plot could be from any town any where USA where a lonely GI is paired with a pen pal only this author takes it two steps further into the e-rom universe where the pen pals exchange more than just the weather, and she adds a storyline climax that has nothing to do with sex but will certainly make her readers breathe a little harder because of. Her dialogue is everyday easy to read chit-chat mixed with the directness and politeness you’d expect from an Officer in the Forces added to this is very explicit sexual desires and commands. Her characters are very well developed and I enjoyed meeting and getting to know them from all the small town folks to her hero and heroine. Speaking of her hero Finn and her heroine Emma I also liked them and the author does a good job of promoting their lust at first sight, sex at every possible moment, turns into love everlasting very convincingly. The romance is fast paced and the readers will be able to see when lust turns to love for both Finn and Emma. The love scenes are scorching hot, smoking sexy and might be offensive for readers not into explorative and inventive sex scenes.

Fans of e-rom and also those who like a huge dose of hot sex with their genre romance would enjoy this read, also fans of the more traditional romance between one man and one woman would also like this. Not sure if your a fan of e-rom but want to dip your feet, this would be the perfect test. The next in the series will be Operation Tempt Me, check out the author's website here to find out more.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Review of Outlaw by Angus Donald

Outlaw

Angus Donald

St. Martin’s Press

ISBN 13: 9780312678364

352 pages

It’s long been debated whether Robin Hood actually existed, in a 14th Century poem he makes an appearance and in the 15th Century he’s been mentioned in ballads but whether he’s fact or fiction doesn’t seem to lessen his popularity as he’s been immortalized in print, song, poem and in present times on film. One of the reasons he stays alive for us is because of the astute storytelling ability of some of his tale-tellers like for example this one.

In this fictionalized tale of Robin Hood we may find the most truthful version yet in Outlaw, the first in a new series by Angus Donald first published in the UK.
Between the years 1188 and 1189 is the timeline in this novel, Robin is the still the ultimate outlaw, he’s still madly in love with lady Marie-Anne and is public enemy number 1 with the Sheriff of Nottingham, we’ll find all the usual cohorts too including Tuck and Little John in addition to a few new names to add to the lore.

Angus Donald brings us his vision of the ultimate noir hero in “Outlaw”, book number one in the Legend of Robin Hood series. He gives us the bigger than life hero/villain but shows him in a more realistic light, emphasizing the cruelty and barbarism of the 12th Century in the guise of authority, he shows us the leftover paganism melded with the Christian world and he shows us beauty the likes of which may no longer exist in this world and in fact showing a more factual Robin Hood who would have lived, loved and thieved in England in the late 1100’s. The novel is narrated by Alan Dale, Robin’s troubadour who was taken under wing as a young teen after being caught stealing in Nottingham and saved from certain death by the Sheriff. The dialogue is conversational, interesting and descriptive, readers will be able to picture Alan as an old man recounting his tumultuous youth, writing down the good, the bad and the ugly in excerpts as he also lets us know what’s going on in his present. The characters in this adventure go above and beyond in their portrayals as we get legend, myth and history in one piece of work.
This is far from the Robin Hood of our youths on TV or in the movies, this is truly an adult story with explicit scenes of violence and sex, so keep that in mind as you choose where to store it and who to share it with.

If you like your folklore with a huge slice of realism packed with danger, adventure, drama and action, Angus Donald is your man. If you love historical fiction with a bite this is for you. If you like your myths and legends on the wild side, here you go.
To learn more about the upcoming novels visit the author’s website here
Buy the book here or here