May 2015 Reviews

May Book Reviews

1. The Breakers Series - Book 1- Breakers by Edward W Robertson

Unfortunately plague is a real possibility if community as we know it in the USA winks out. Society as it stands today could be scuffed out without mercy. What would it be like if it was so sudden there were not enough hours or people to think about the cure or find the antidote.

Breakers shows us the lives of characters, as our system in the USA begins to deal with a sudden virus that spreads faster than Ebola in Africa.

Some of the characters survive and some do not. If you like imaginary apocalyptic stories this will grab your attention. It starts with Raymond and Mia in California. Raymond looks for work half halfheartedly but he does seem to have some immature sense. "He did have an interview. Of sorts."

Chapter 2 introduces Walt. Walt lives in New York City. He is in a relationship with Vanessa. "Six stories below the window, cars and cabs raced and weaved," Walt is contemplating suicide. His character in this story builds and builds with each new action in his life.

Just when you think things might start to make sense and the people who are left might have a chance to recover and rebuild, Robertson throws in a twist you may not have expected. There is a lot of thought and energy in this story. The suspense doesn't let you down.

2. The Breakers Series -Book 2- Meltdown - by Edward W. Robertson

Book 1 is a stand alone story with an epilogue that brings you up to date on all the action. If you want more try book 2. Book 2 introduces new characters and more about the collapse of society. You will find out more about people you read about in book 1. Staying alive becomes essential to every character in this part of the series.

Shawn and Ness rebuild their brotherly bond as they work out how to live under the new conditions in the country. "That's one weird-ass plane," Shawn said. Shawn is the brother who relishes the outdoor life. Ness is the computer nerd who never built muscles except in his brain. Now they stand together learning to survive.

Tristan is "two months away from a double major at Berkeley," when fate steps up to the plate of life. Her family is prosperous and hard working. Now it's Tristan's turn to care for her younger brother, Alden."Tell you what. You ant to move back home, you have to be our maid." "And chauffeur," her mom said.

You learn more about the virus that tried to wipe out humanity in this story. Sci-if takes some radical twists in Meltdown. Even though the story is fiction you may end up believing some parts could happen, but of course always hoping they won't happen. There is an epilogue that winds up the story but actually dumps you at the end into the next book in the series.

3. The Breakers Series - Book 3 - Knife Point - by Edward W. Robertson

The character to watch in this story is Raina. If you've read the first 2 books in The Breakers Series you may be wondering how children could have survived without an adult to guide and protect them. Raina shows you how she managed.

This part of the series deals with survival, rebuilding society, and other necessary everyday matters concerning apocalypse. And, what happened to Disneyland?

Characters in books can be astonishing. Did you ever ask, "How did the writer think this up?"

"You still want us to be delivery boys," Raina said. Be prepared, rebuilding a nation takes a lot of violence. But, some of the characters look for ways to avoid the violence so there is balance if you look for it. The violence is especially outlined in the knife scenes, but, guns and other interesting ways to make people dead are also used.

The epilogue sums up the main characters. So you really are not left stranded. Life rolls forward in different ways. However, The Breakers series continues in at least 3 more stories so you can read on if you chose.

4.The Rise of the Islamic State by Patrick Cockburn

If you read this thoroughly you will get a good view of the difference in Irag, of the Sunni and Shea populations within the Muslim societies.

"It is since bin Laden's death that AL-Qaeda affiliates or clones have had their greatest successes," Another important quote from the book says, "as the Syrian civil war spills across borders, the capacity of battle-hardened extremist groups to come after us only increases." "arms supplied by US allies such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar to anti-Assad forces in Syria have been captured regularly in Iraq." Each of these quotes shows the importance of keeping in touch with the way the violence from jihadist groups may spill over into other nations.

There is a good mental outline in this book that shows the way jihadist groups are being funded, how they continue to capture cities and towns. It also explains their reasoning behind the slaughter of people who live outside of the Isis belief system.

The internet is a place where young people can be easily influenced without having experienced the reality of real death, that serious warfare brings. Cockburn shows the reader the internet influence and some part of solutions that may be all ready in place by some countries.

There are other books being written that help shed light on the growing Isis threat. This one is organized to give the reader a grasp of the real political and religious situation as it has been unfolding.

5. Dying for a Daiquiri (A Laurel McKay Mystery) by Cindy Sample

This is the first book in a boxed set of 8 eBooks called Killer confections sold by Amazon.

The story is set in Hawaii. intriguing descriptions of Hawaiian culture and tourist interests are found within the story. The story leads us into a light hearted, amusing look at laurel, who is the main character. Laurel is one of those people who always seem to bumble upon a murder. She has to follow the clues presented in odd ways, in order to protect loved ones and satisfy her curiosity. A lot of social interaction spins the readers interest.

Liz is Laurel's friend and is getting married. A quote says, "Liz had traveled to exotic locales,seduced by the glamor of foreign countries." Liz and Brian plan a wedding on Valentines Day and take the wedding party to Hawaii to complete their vows.

Certainly, Hawaii is a good setting for a lighthearted, romantic murder story. There is lots of action. The clues are all over the place. Time is running out to solve the murder, but, you need to read it to find out all about it.