Dark Matter

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller8 Comments

Dark matterDark Matter, by Blake Crouch, is a mind-boggling foray into the world of Multi-Verses.  This novel is exciting and terrifying by turns,  and it gives rise to questions of our universe. Jason Dessen is a college professor of physics in Chicago, and  husband to the beautiful artist, Daniela and a father to their son, Charlie. His life is picture perfect and he’s happy, except there are the times when he wonders what turn his life would have taken if he’d stayed with his research instead of marrying and having a child.  One night he goes to meet a colleague who has won a great scientific prize, the one he should have won.  That’s when improbablity meets probability.

This novel is based on the idea that our lives are a matter of random choices with equally random outcomes, but with far reaching consquences. What if we’d taken another path, instead of the one we are on?  What if another version of Jason Dessen, the one who didn’t marry, who did the research that enabled him to change his destiny,decided he wanted the other Jason’s life?

This fictional account is well written and researched. It poses many questions about our universe. It’s a great read!

 

The Murder of the Groveland Boys

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller3 Comments

Devil in the GroveIn the deep south during the Civil Rights movement, Citrus Barons ruled Florida and got rich on the backs of cheap Negro labor instituted by the Jim Crow laws. The KKK was a powerful and deadly force.

This was a dire time for negroes in the south, many were held in peonage-forced labor-by the rich Citrus Barons. Local law enforcement fully supported this practice. In 1949 a young woman falsely cried rape and the hunt for four negro boys ensued by Sheriff Willis V McCall who ruled Lake County, Florida with an iron hand. McCall was a violent sheriff and a KKK member. Many negro homes were burnt to the ground and hundreds of negro men and boys fled to the swamps where they were chased down. The lynching of negroes was a common practice of the times. Thurgood Marshall, a  civil rights activist, a prominent lawyer and future Supreme Court Justice became involved. His life was threatened and one of his law clerks was murdered during the investigation.

This is book, based on factual evidence and court proceedings, is a stunning look at race relations and law enforcement of the deep south.

I highly recommend this Pulitzer Prize winning book. It is an in depth look at racism at its worse. These were not the good old days, these were very dark days for America. As we are held in thrall by current events, we are reminded of how deep seated prejudices scar our nation. We must never again allow political demagoguery and bigotry to worm its way into our public consciousness.

 

 

 

A Must Read

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller17 Comments

WildCherlyStrayedWild by Cheryl Strayed

From lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail  5 Stars!

This is a gut wrenching memoir of a young women’s search for meaning and self discovery.  It is without a doubt the best memoir I’ve ever read. Cheryl’s voice is so real; her honesty is profound. After reading it I was obsessed for days about hiking and I almost bought a pair of trail boots…  Every emotion known to humans comes through her words in exquisite detail…a wonder of a novel!

Suspenseful, Fast Paced

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller4 Comments

The Illuminate Files is a fast paced and exciting science fiction story told almost exclusively in interviews, texts and by a slightly deranged Artificial Intelligence. 51Kn2ohB8FL__SX329_BO1,204,203,200_

Kady Grant and Ezra Mason are to teens living off world in an isolated planet in the far future. When their mining planet gets blasted not only with devastating bombs, but a horrible virus that causes the infected to become killer zombies, these two must find a way to save everyone on the rescue star ships.

And so begins this convoluted story that just keeps you turning the pages with twist after twist. Kady Grant is one kick @** heroine with steel for nerves. All of the swear words are redacted, so anyone can read this novel. The schematics of the starships and battleships are fantastic.

Great dialogue and wonderful writing makes this novel a must read! The sequel is due out in September. :o)

 

The Power of Words

Published on by Kathy Lauren MillerLeave a comment

The Bird and the Sword, by Amy Harmon 4 Stars

This is a fantasy story about a young girl whose words can become real. In 41ifwVwC9fL__SX331_BO1,204,203,200_her world, those with gifts like healing or shifting or telling, are being hunted. It is against the law to have magical gifts. Lark sees her mother killed in front of her for something Lark did. So she doesn’t speak. Her words are only in her head, but still, they have magic. Tiras, the son of the King who killed Lark’s mother is secretly gifted as well.

There is evil about in the land. Strange flying creatures are killing people everywhere and Tiras, fully grown and now  king after is father’s death,  has come for Lark and he needs her and her words to combat the new evil.

So this is the story of their fight for good over evil and along the way they fall in love. But love has its dangers too.

The writing is excellent and is a nice read. I fully enjoyed it and recommend it. I think YA readers will really enjoy this novel.

 

 

 

 

Court of Mists and Fury

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller4 Comments

Four Stars for the Court of Mists and Fury514U7MT9OIL__SX327_BO1,204,203,200_

Eventually, I got into the story and it was surprisingly good. Though the first few chapters put me off and I think they could have been improved on. Having said that, the rest of the novel was  exceptional for a fantasy novel.  It was the initial graphic sex sequence that put me off more than anything and fortunately, there was only one more.

The characters of Rhys and Feyre are fully realized and totally believable. They are exceptional characters and I fell in love with both of them. Though I’m not generally a fan of fantasy, I was able to suspend my disbelief and I cheered for both of them.

Feyre is a woman who graves independence over love and protection. She is her own woman and consequences be damned. I love that about her! Rhys is a man for all seasons. His evolving love for Feyre is clear and concise, and he is ready to sacrifice himself to not only save her, but to save his people. He wants to protect her, but he also recognizes she cannot be owned. She is his equal partner in everyway.

The writing is terrific, filled with emotion and gut wrenching moments. The story moved forward in a logical progression with twists and turns that kept my interest. There were times when some of it fell a bit short, logically, but all in all it was a great read. The ending is a cliff hanger with a promise for more danger and excitement in the next book. I anxiously await her next installment in the series.

Curently Reading, A Court of Mists and Fury

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller5 Comments

Disappointed to say the least. I rarely give a bad review, just lucky I guess to find good reads, but…514U7MT9OIL__SX327_BO1,204,203,200_

This is the sequel to A Court of Thorns and Roses.

First off, the leading lady, Feyre has become a whiney version of her former self. Complaining about everything. The book goes on and on about trivial things and I put it down in exasperation. Picked it up again, thinking, well….

Secondly,  I gasped, and not in a good way, regarding the ubiquitous graphic sex scenes. Sara J. Maas?  I’m surprised. I wasn’t expecting all that stuff from you. Now, I don’t mind some sex scenes, if done in an artsy way, but…EW! It didn’t make sense and didn’t move the story forward in any way.

If someone else has read this, please tell me the story gets better, because I’ve about 500 pages to go and at this rate I’ve wasted $8.99 on my Kindle.

If I do manage to slug my way through, you can bet I’ll do an HONEST review.

These Broken Stars

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller2 Comments

I seldom read co-authored novels and I didn’t mean to this time, but I’m glad I did! 

Four Stars ****

Broken Stars is actually an excellent story, character driven over plot, and well written. The two protagonists, Lilac and Tarver have great chemistry and their dialogue, both verbal and inner, is authentic and interesting. It’s mostly a chic-lit novel. 61Wgw9CXQfL__SX326_BO1,204,203,200_

The two meet on board the galactic starship, the Icarus. Lilac’s father is a mega businessman and the richest man in the universe. He is the builder and owner of the starship.

Lilac is his privileged daughter, haughty to those beneath her like Tarver who is a war hero. She must behave this way to avoid entrapment by those who seek her fortune, and to keep her father from destroying anyone who he feels is beneath their status.

The Icarus goes down on a terra formed planet that is uninhabited, or so Lilac and Tarver , the only survivors of the thousands on board, think.

While they struggle to survive, the two become close, though it is only through many travails that they come to rely on each other.

No spoilers here, but there are surprising twists and turns before the inevitable conclusion. The ending is satisfying. The characters are so well drawn I hated to see them move on. I think another novel just about their lives in the future would be worth the read.

Strange, But Interesting

Published on by Kathy Lauren Miller6 Comments

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Four **** Stars,

Well, I finally got around to finishing, Sleeping Giants!

Sylvain Neuvel has written an off beat science fiction story that is well founded in science, the man knows his stuff, but having said that I must say this novel isn’t for everyone.

The novel is written in a series of interviews and exchanges between the main characters and an unknown and unnamed narrator who has the benefit of knowing exactly why they have been recruited for a research study that has enormous consequences for the human population. However, he keeps this crucial information to himself. (Spoiler: there is someone else who pulls the strings, an unknown entity)

An enormous (giant) hand was found years before by a young girl who later becomes a scientist. She heads up the team. One is a linguist and the other is an army pilot. Through this series of interviews, we find out how they go about locating all the missing parts  of this giant that are located beneath the earth all over the world.

The giant robot has the form of a woman, but with no eyes. This robot is 20 stories high by the time they connect all the parts. It has an energy source that is unknown to anyone on earth. It is also a weapon of mass destruction.

The team accidently engages the energy source and the result is that a whole lot of people in airplanes and part of the Denver Airport are instantly vaporized. Now comes the part, all through interview, where every nation on earth wants the robot, so the US decides its too dangerous for anyone nation and they drop it in a deep trench in the ocean.

However, one nation, Russia, finds a way to retrieve it and they are off and running again, except the controls and  two control helmets will not work on anyone other an the two American researchers who first were part of the research.

There is a surprise ending, with an epilog alluding to the next book in the series.

All in all, well written and interesting, but this novel is not for everyone, though I did enjoy it because I like science, but it did lag in places.  ***