BOOK REVIEW | Always Watching by Lynette Eason

Always Watching by Lynette Eason
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Always Watching is the first novel I've read by Lynette Eason. I tend not to read a lot of Christian fiction, mainly because, in the few novels I've read in that genre, I found the dialogue unrealistic or the plot underdeveloped or ridiculous. So I'm thrilled to have discovered Lynette Eason.

I'm a sucker for female leads who kick butt in a non-cliche way. Always Watching represents the first in a new series, Elite Guardians, which is a bodyguard agency staffed entirely by females. Wade, the protagonist, is a psychologist who hosts a weekly radio call-in program. When he receives death threats from a stalker who is determined to develop a romantic relationship with him, a team of bodyguards is hired. The obsession turns deadly for those around Wade and his head bodyguard, Olivia. Think the 1992 film The Bodyguard, with the roles reversed. However, the story moves along in a quite different manner. When Olivia suggested they go away so she can better protect him, Eason had me worried her story would become a retread! But Wade declined the suggestion and things got on track.

Eason planted several red herrings along the way, which were effective as I read. She kept me guessing. Though it might be classified as romance, this is a suspense novel with romantic suggestions woven in here and there--which makes this a read a guy can enjoy.

Looking forward to the next book in the series! Great job, Lynette Eason!

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Never give up!

John Herrick
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Today's Playlist:  Cece Winans by Cece Winans

Review: Sing To Me - LA Reid

Sing To Me by L.A. Reid
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

LA Reid is a guy whose career I tracked ever since he and Babyface were a songwriter-producer team in the late 1980s. I studied their lyrics when I was a teenager trying to teach myself to write music, so part of the reason I seek to dig down into my soul as a writer--even as a novelist--is because of the influence of LA Reid and Babyface. I had to read this memoir ASAP after it hit the shelves, and I rarely buy hardcovers at near full price. This one was a dream come true.

This is the head guy of Epic Records, and the head guy in the past of Island Def Jam, Arista (Clive Davis's brief successor), and LaFace Records. He's the head guy today, so he would have every reason to project the stereotypical CEO persona, where he tries to display strength and minimize his weaknesses. But what I found most endearing about Reid's memoir is the honesty about those seasons of insecurity and sadness he faced along the way and still battles today. Through the years, he has maintained a balanced dose of humility that seeps through his words as he describes his successes--and those occasions in which he gives due credit for others who actually discovered a particular artist here and there.

I raced through this memoir, just like I raced through those of Clive Davis and Tommy Mottola these last few years. It's fascinating to hear the backstories behind the songs with which I grew up and also hear today, as well as how they evaluated songs and artists and audiences. Perhaps that's because I tend to evaluate my own creative projects that way, looking for those nuances that make them unique, picturing the individuals to whom I hope my work will speak. What I can say is that I'm a sucker for any memoir. And truth be told, I wasn't a viewer of The X-Factor, so had no idea he was a judge on it. Wish I had, I'd have tuned in to get to know how his mind works.

As an added bonus, not only does this book contain the color pictorial insert you expect to find, but it also includes a ton of B&W photos scattered throughout the book's body itself. When I saw that, I opted against the less expensive eb00k and invested in the hardcover to have that full experience in context.

5 stars. I'm biased, but shamelessly so!

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Never give up!

John Herrick
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@johnherrick

Today's Playlist:  The Social Network Motion Picture Score - Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Foreword Reviews Magazine - Between These Walls Review

So excited to let you know this! Between These Walls has received an excellent review in Foreword Reviews magazine, which is a national publication. While in Barnes and Noble the other day, I checked it out. The review begins on page 65 of the Summer 2015 issue. The issue just hit the shelves.

To check out the review online, here's a link:  https://www.forewordreviews.com/reviews/between-these-walls/

Thanks to all you readers and supporters out there! Love you much.

Never give up!

John Herrick
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Today's Playlist:  Astronaut by Kip Fox

The War for Late Night: When Leno Went Early and Television Went Crazy by Bill Carter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Great insight! I'd wondered for years why the Jay Leno/Conan O'Brien scenario unfolded the way it did, and why NBC announced five years in advance Leno's replacement date and successor. Five years is an eternity in television and so much can change. That said, I enjoy reading how these media people make decisions because we think a lot alike. A terrific read.

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Blog Reviewers Wanted!

Hey there, bloggers! My next novel, Between These Walls, is scheduled to hit shelves early 2015. The tone and storyline will be along the lines of my first book, From The Dead, but the subject matter will be different. I need to keep the book's premise under wraps until down the road. But here's some general info: The main character is a Christian who struggles in a way Christians generally don't like to talk about. So it has a heavy faith element. It's mainstream fiction with potential Christian reader crossover, but it is NOT Christian fiction or an attempt to proselytize. As a mainstream novel, it does contain some adult content and profanity. So some Christians will enjoy the book, others will be angry. Probably the same goes for non-Christians!


Currently, I'm doing preliminary marketing research to locate book review bloggers. Word of mouth among that crowd spreads like wildfire!


If you're a book blogger and think you might be interested in reading and reviewing Between These Walls (based on the little I've told you!), feel free to get in touch with me directly.


You can get in touch through my website Contact form, my Facebook account, a reply to this post, or however you feel comfortable. We'll figure it out. I just don't want to post my personal email address online for the spammers. :-) Thanks so much! Looking forward to hearing from you. You're appreciated for the time you take to read and review these books and are NOT taken for granted.


Never give up!


John Herrick
johnherrick.net
johnherricknet.blogspot.com


Today's Playlist:  Astronaut by Kip Fox

Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers: The Landing by John Herrick

Much thanks to the "chef" at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers blog for reviewing my novel The Landing! http://tinyurl.com/bcna533

Never give up!

John Herrick
www.johnherrick.net
johnherricknet.blogspot.com

Today's playlist:  Letting Go by Jennifer Knapp

Closet Book Freak: The Landing By: John Herrick

Closet Book Freak: The Landing By: John Herrick: If you choose to read this book you will experience personal growth that will either inspire you or remind yourself of what it was like when you were young lost and looking for a place to land... http://t.co/cq3RwLXG

REVIEW | The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Absolutely addictive! When it came to Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, I had to force myself to stop reading and missed reading it when I couldn’t.

Set in the future, the novel is the first in a trilogy and centers around two main characters, Katniss and Peeta, teenagers who live in the land mass that once constituted the continental United States. The new kingdom is Panem, a portrait of a society dominated by unfettered Socialism: Individuals become pawns and tools. Life is held without value, traded or ended at the will of a government authority. In Panem, we see a ruling class and an underclass, where the ruling class dominates by fear and oppression. Government controls the food supply, and thus controls the existence of its people.

The lack of hope in the citizens’ lives breaks your heart. It’s a dark existence, the type of Socialist society we knew about before the fall of Communism began in 1989, only much worse.

Once a year, to tamp down dreams of rebellion, the Panem government forces each of its districts to sacrifice two teenaged citizens to compete in The Hunger Games, where participants fight to the death, and the winner—the last man or woman standing—is rewarded with a year’s food supply for the district. And it is broadcast live on television, from participant selection to preparation to the competition itself.

Enter District 12. Enter Katniss and Peeta.

Picture Lord of the Flies meets reality TV. I’ve always loved the concept behind Lord of the Flies and have wanted to create something akin to it for today. Well, Suzanne Collins beat me to the punch and served up a TKO. The Hunger Games is one of those books I wish I’d written myself. Highly recommended. I’ve already started reading the second book.

Never give up!

John Herrick
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johnherricknet.blogspot.com

REVIEW | The Accidental Tourist by Anne Tyler

"And it seemed to him, as he sank back into his dreams, that she had as good as spoken aloud. About your son, she seemed to be saying: Just put your hand here [cesarean scar]. I'm scarred, too. We're all scarred. You are not the only one." (Tyler, Ann. The Accidental Tourist, Chapter 11)

Anne Tyler's The Accidental Tourist is a character study on how different people sort through painful experiences in life. After having my eye on the book for years, I decided to delve into it at long last!

Macon Leary, the main character, suffered the loss of his 12-year-old son. He and his wife, Sarah, have discovered they have little in common and have pursued a legal separation. Sarah has moved out of the house.

Macon writes travel guidebooks for travelers who don't want to leave home, such as businessmen. In his guides, Macon helps such travelers make their ways through unfamiliar cities while experiencing as little of those cities' unfamiliarity as possible. In other words, he helps them maintain a cocoon-like existence.

Macon himself has managed to maintain a cocoon-based life. He thrives on the predictable and possesses an unbalanced suspicion of the unpredictable--which probably explains Tyler's choice of the character's last name, Leary (a form of "leery". After attempts to branch out in life, Macon's siblings have managed to return to a sheltered, communal existence within the family home. As the story unfolds, Tyler weaves in a fascinating look at the background of Macon and his family. In doing so, she digs into Macon's psyche to produce a believable character. As you read about Macon's psychological issues as a child caused by instability in his family, you develop and understanding of why Macon and his siblings are, to put it bluntly, screwed up as adults. They are adults who lacked a proper opportunity to experience a normal childhood.

Tyler provides a subplot surrounding Macon's dog, which has grown unruly and has developed a habit of biting people that enter its own cocoon. To help train the dog, enter Muriel, a divorced mother of a young child. Despite her eccentricities, Muriel bears scars of her own. The dog, like Macon, resists and fights change in its life. As Muriel trains the dog to accept change, she also teaches Macon how to step beyond his own limited existence and to embrace change. She helps Macon face the loss of his son and determine his next step in life. Macon has his systems to avoid change; Muriel has her technique to make change palatable and achievable, albeit for dogs.

One word of warning: The story is quite sad as it takes the reader into the characters' pain. This is not an "upper" of a story, and even the ending, although fitting for the characters, felt disturbing and sad. So before entering their world, be prepared for a heavy story with solid insight into the struggles of those who might live just next door.

The novel's strongest suit is its well-drawn characters. The story isn't as much about plot as it is about the internal growth of the characters as they sort through hurt and confusion. In this, Tyler has proven successful.

REVIEW | Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson

I decided to branch out and try a YA novel for a change in my reading pattern.

In Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson peels away the layers of a broken heart and traces its step-by-step journey to find emotional healing. Anderson chose to work within a first-person narrative. The prose is blunt and contains minimal window dressing. Anderson made a wise choice: when someone endures the type of mental and emotional turmoil the main character endures, she wouldn't feel motivated to go into detail. In fact, narrative is external (words) and mimics the main character's struggle to gather the courage to vocalize the hurt and rage that boil within.

Anderson digs deep to expose complexity in the simple. She delves into the psychology of the victim. The novel seems to reveal little in its first half, but again, this mimics real life: the main character finds it difficult to trust, so she spends the first half of the book building trust with the character. As you listen to her daily observations on life, she begins to trust the reader a gives a glimpse of her inner pain. In fact, I believe a second read would reveal depths in the first half that seemed insignificant the first time around.

Effective, heartfelt. Speak is a winner.


Today's playlist: Icon (The Cranberries), My Christmas Wish (BeBe Winans).

Chrissie's Corner Review

Chrissie's Corner Review - From the Dead by John Herrick http://bit.ly/hg5J4G


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The Book Whisperer Review: From the Dead by John Herrick

From the Dead is a story filled with heart and soul. As an author Herrick has laid his soul bare in... http://bit.ly/8YACTS

NEWS | Good Choice Reading Review

Good Choice Reading review of From The Dead novel posted earlier today! Read it here.

Thanks Bloggers and Readers!

I just wanted to take a moment to give a big THANK YOU to all the readers who have spent time reading From The Dead so far. Thank you also to all the bloggers who have taken time to review the novel or welcome me to their blogs as part of the tour.

All of you are the primary reason authors have the privilege of seeing their books in print. It's a blast hearing from you. I appreciate you all.

John

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From The Dead - The Phantom Tollbooth's Review

New book review for From The Dead found on The Phantom Tollbooth. They looked at the book as fiction from a Christian perspective.

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NEWS | Akron Beacon Journal Book Review

Akron Beacon Journal book review calls From The Dead "a solid debut novel"!
Read the review

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NEWS | Blog Tour - August 25

Fall 2010 blog tour is now underway! Stops for Wednesday, August 25: By the Book Reviews and Geeky Blogger's Book Blog.

Find the full itinerary at www.johnherrick.net/fromthedead/blogtour_fall10.htm.

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NEWS | Another Review

Located another nice review for From The Dead at http://bit.ly/d3LAbM.