Book Review: The Final Hour (Book 4 of The Homelanders Series)

Author: Andrew Klavan
Publisher: Thomas Nelson (July 19, 2011)
ISBN-10: 1595547150
ISBN-13: 978-1595547156

SYNOPSIS:

Charlie West's memory is finally returning---and he realizes that he somehow knows when the terrorists are going to strike next. Whatever it takes, he can't give in or give up until they're stopped. But the clock is ticking! Does he have enough time?

MY REVIEW:

The Final Hour is the last installment in the Homelanders Series. The story opens with young hero, Charlie West, in the slammer for a murder he didn’t commit. He only agreed to take momentary blame so he could infiltrate a terrorist ring, and the terrorists have mostly been rounded up, yet days, weeks, months go by, without a peep that tells him why he’s still locked up.

His cop contact Rose finally visits but delivers the bad news, that Washington wants to brush events under the rug, as the controversy could hurt their global interests, so getting him out isn't going to be as easy as Rose had thought. He promises to continue to fight for Charlie but doesn’t make any promises as to when he’ll be released, but says it will, at minimum, take weeks.

The missing year of Charlie’s life from taking a drug to erase his memory while captured by the anti-Americans is still trickling back in bits and pieces, and he begins to remember a terrorist plot that’s planned for New Year’s Eve. But with sketchy info to go on, no proof, no one to call, more than a million lives on the line, and the prison guards not only against him but abusing him too, he has no one to turn to and no way to out to stop it. Charlie doesn’t have weeks! Only days!

The Final Hour offers a gritty glimpse into prison life and contains some violence, but it never veers into the obscene. It’s in line with other thrillers of similar vein. This beginning unfolds more slowly than the previous because he's locked up, but Klavan does a good job of building suspense and keeping it taut throughout.

Even though there’s no hammering Christian message in this book, which I prefer in fiction, it still managed to feel, to me, a little preachy at times, even though it’s not talk but rather a string of moral dilemmas Charlie must wrestle through. And the current rhetoric that insists “terrorists hate America because we’re free” felt very heavy-handed as well and was clung to so mightily, it nearly topples the story. Terrorists have a blend of motivations and reasons for committing acts of terror, but with Klavan picking just this one and having the Homelanders be so blatant with their hate and anti-American speech, it made the recruitment of random, everyday Americans implausible. Even if this is the main drive of such radicals, one would think, to recruit, you'd exploit the susceptible where their hate can bloom into a desire to commit violence. You wouldn't really care if they believed the same as long as there was a willingness to act.

There were parts in the end, showing Charlie in action, which were almost laughable, but still, it does provide great escapism and this is the perfect series for teens, boys especially, who love thrillers. It’s hard to find good “boy books” and this is a wild, morally sound, action-packed ride. You don't need to be a Christian to enjoy this, just a YA thriller lover. If you enjoy books by Robinson Wells or Patrick Carman, you will love the Homelander Series.

* I received this book free through Booksneeze, but that in no way compromised or affected my review.

MY RATING

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

My Goals for 2012

Wow. I'm feeling so lackluster at the moment. Ya ever get that way when you sit down to write a post, or anything really, and end up struggling to string words together? Yeah, that'd be me right now. I'd love a nice cup of peppermint mocha, but it's after midnight. I don't object to drinking coffee at this time, it doesn't jack me up like that, unless it's like four cups, I just don't feel like walking down two floors to get it. So, in the moment, I'm lazy, kinda sorta blah and deliciousness free.

I had a little bit of crazy 2011 due to my writing getting destroyed by a tornado storm, but I had only minor inconveniences like that, so I'm very thankful to God for his graciousness. Really, I am so, so blessed and I know that. I have a great family with messy but extremely sweet kids that everyone adores to pieces, everyone's healthy and happy, my parents are doing well, my sons are now BOTH on IEPs so they're functioning better in school, God has kept us all safe, my husband has a steady job, we squeaked out of foreclosure, and my house is still standing--some of my friends lost theirs in the tornado, and my car avoided being smashed by a tree in the October blizzard by mere inches. Oh, and my dead laptop came back to life TODAY with some dry-out time after my daughter spilled soda on it! Yipee!!! So, overall, I've had it pretty good.

I'm ready to carry that energy and cheer into 2012. This year, I'd like to write faster and be more economical with my time overall, as well as diligent in my marketing efforts.

Here are my career goals:

* Finish editing Sapphire Reign, the sequel to Kings & Queens, and get that out
* Finish my WIP, Genie, and get that out. I'm not sure yet, which book I'll release first, but barring any setbacks, it'll be both and maybe a 3rd, either StarStruck or Dropping Like Flies.
* Read 100 YA books

* Visit 100 blogs and comment each month

* Make 100 forum posts in various places each month

* Connect with local writers for book fairs and other events

* Do some kind of marketing every day

* Post at least 3 times a week on this blog

* Participate in at least one blog hop per month

Do you have goals for 2012? If so, what are they?

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

Follow Friday Blog Hop

Hi. This is my first Follow Friday Blog Hop. Thanks for stopping by and joining the party. Hop along and discover some new blogs. Follow Friday is a meme hosted by Parajunkee and AllisonCanRead.



Question of the Week: When you've read a book, what do you do with it? (Keep it, give it away, donate it, sell it, swap it..?)

My answer: I love books, so I usually keep them, but I'm going to donate some of the cool YA books I've collected to the library for circulation because I like for readers to discover new books and authors. If I really loved a book, I want others to know about it too, and libraries don't always take the chance of stacking lesser-known books. But I don't chase after just what's popular. I'll pick up anything that catches my attention, especially if it's suspense.

The Rules:

1.(Required) Follow the Follow My Book Blog Friday Hosts {Parajunkee & Alison Can Read}

2. (Required) Follow our Featured Bloggers - Once Upon A Time & Books Are Vital.

3. Put your Blog name & URL in the Linky thing. You can also grab the code if you would like to insert it into your posts.

4. Grab the button up there and place it in a post, this post is for people to find a place to say "hi" in your comments and that they are now following you.

5.Follow Follow Follow as many as you can, as many as you want, or just follow a few. The whole point is to make new friends and find new blogs. Also, don't just follow, comment and say hi. Another blogger might not know you are a new follower if you don't say "HI"

6. If someone comments and says they are following you, be a dear and follow back. Spread the Love...and the followers

7. If you're new to the follow friday hop, comment and let me know, so I can stop by and check out your blog!

Weekend Blog Hop

Welcome to Weekend Blog Hop. Thank you for joining us and linking up. We are happy you are here and hope you will always come around. We have had a great week and now it's time for us to increase our followers by Blog Hopping all through the Weekend. Come and make new friends and find some interesting blogs to follow. Happy Hopping.

Please only family friendly blogs only!!!

The rules of the blog hop are:-

1.) Follow clairejustineoxox in number 1 spot on Google friends connect.

2.) Follow Reflexions in number 2 spot the co-host on Google friends connect.

3.) Visit and read some great blogs and follow ones you like.

If you are a new follower please leave a comment so we can follow you back....

Have a great weekend...

Thank you for joining in .....

How Do You Like My New Home???

Hi. Welcome to Gotta Have YA, my new and improved blog. How do you like my digs? Wicked cute, huh? I love my design!!! It was done by Freyja Silver at Silver Designs, so if you're looking for totally adorable designs, check out her site.

I know I don't have many followers yet, and that that looks really sad in the boxes, but I'm in the process of moving from Wordpress to Blogger. I still need to do my link lists, but just about everything else has come together sweetly. Please click the Follow button to keep it from remaining so pitiful.

Why did I move??? Well, WP makes you choose from stock designs, or you can pay, but why pay when Blogger's FREE? And it doesn't allow javascript, so there's only so much you can do with it to make it feel like your blogging home rather than a rental space. Like, you can't put little widgets in your sidebar, especially follower boxes, countdowns or to-be-read books. That's pretty much like not being able to hang pictures, put in surround sound or paint the walls.

I've been at Wordpress since 2008, and although it was nice for the time I was there, I felt it was time to part ways. Blogger offers fun, color and a more visitor-friendly platform. My blog posts may be old, but there are great nuggets in there for writers. Click on my labels if you are trying to figure out what people mean about different points of view, if you need a creative boost with a writing exercise or want to learn all about voice, hooks, the importance of story questions, etc. and how I really felt about Twilight.

For this blog, I intend to make it more YA-focused. Sure, I'll talk about writing and personal stuff too, but I mostly plan engulf myself in YA lit and blog about books and what's going on in the publishing industry regarding this way-awesome genre that sets trends, surprises always and bridges divides. Thanks for stopping in. If you follow, I'll follow back.

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

Shocker: I Designed a Cool Website

I'd created a writer website with CoffeeCup Visual Site Designer but had to do a system reinstall, losing the program. Plus, to add any little thing on it like videos or flash, you have to buy extra attachments, which is ridiculous. They have so many free builders online, there's no point in buying anything. So, I went on the hunt.

Most of the templates on various sites looked so generic and stock. I tried a few builders (Yahoo and some others I can't remember) but they weren't really what I was looking for.

Then, I landed on Wix.com, advertised as FREE. It's huge array of templates, backgrounds, flash options, animations, customizable features, etc. won me over. So, I tried it out for my Kings & Queens page and loved the whole process. I think I made an awesome site with it.

The site builder was wicked easy to use, and ironically, I didn't even use a template. I got inspired by two of their examples, combined ideas, and designed my own.

Wix is not a perfect hosting company at all. It barely hosts. You don't get an email account or access to your code, nor a stat counter (Google Analytics) unless you pay $8.25 per month (the locked-in price for a one-year commitment), but you can have a free site if you don't care about stats (or their tiny ad bars) (though, their two ads will be affixed to your site) or upgrade to one of their plans. Most hosting sites are in the $4-a-month range.

They do have a $4-and-change plan but their little ads stay on your page. The $8.25 plan no ads, Google Analytics, a free domain and the extra advertising candies that every other host gives out.

For now, I'm online free; stats are not really important to me at this point. But I really don't mind paying $8.25 a month later on if it gets me an awesome site and I don't have to pay for a designer. Plus, I honestly don't need another email account to check, so linking my contact form to my current address totally works for me.

Here's my URL: http://www.kingsandqueensnovel.com if you want to check it out, but please note, it's a work in progress and I haven't plugged in my trailer, picked my set copy and all that jazz. I'm just so excited to show it. Check it out and let me know what you think.

If you pop in, please sign my guestbook, so I know you stopped by and let me know if it's easy to navigate and if everything appears cool on your end (fonts especially). My body text type should look kind of like Courier and all the page headers should look like black punch tape. Thanks a bunch.

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

Almost There...Eeeeek!

Okay. I got my final proof yesterday. I'm super excited because I'm almost finished with this twisted YA book, Kings & Queens, and the paperback will be out very, very soon.

I got as many PDF conversion glitches as I could find in my eBook. There may still be a couple of missing words or whatever, but I'm done with it. It will have to be as-is. [My eBook has been updated at Smashwords, Amazon and B&N, so if your copy doesn't change, let me know and I'll give you a coupon for a free replacement. I used a different font for chapter headings, so you will know instantly if you open it.]

I really need to move on to my next projects. I was going to finish Dropping Like Flies, but changed my mind. I'm going to put out Sapphire Reign next, in February or March, to keep my series momentum going. And I'm also going to continue writing StarStruck, which I intend to give away for free.

It's been a challenge to get this book out with one delay after another, including a power surge during a tornado storm, but I figure there's a reason for everything and I have definitely learned a lot about perseverance. When you want a dream to come true, you just have to keep pressing on and dealing with the obstacles as they come your way.

I know my book is not for everyone, and that I write on the side of realism and a character's mindset rather than my own standard of morality, but I believe a work becomes comprised and its message diluted when an author gets in the way. So, I just can't write in a pristine way. It's inauthentic to me. I let my characters be however ugly they are, say bad things and make mistakes because that's how people are in real life. Even my Christian characters are not morally perfect because, really, who is? I'm sure not! So why would I draft up book people who only make tiny, minor mistakes and never fail big? That's boring to me and not a true depiction of or glimpse at the problems, temptations or issues people face.

I believe the fact that I SHOW God's grace in a very non-preachy way in Kings & Queens and have an authentic and raw character who finds that grace will make a huge impact with some readers. And a certain enemy is clearly opposed to that message getting out and finding those curious, broken, questioning, thirsty souls who don't even know they're in search of it. When the initial idea for the novel came to me, I specifically prayed for a way that I could show God's grace, and that came about through my parallel protagonist's depravity and deep hunger for a clean slate.

I am giving away a short eCollection called Death Calls. Most of these pieces are scattered throughout my blog and now they're in one place for your reading pleasure. The collection is free at Smashwords and available in .mobi, .epub, PDF and RTF, so you can download your copy today. I also have it up at Amazon but I'm not sure how long it will take to switch to FREE. It's currently .99 there. Each piece touches on life's journey, death or dying in my own freakish way and it also includes a 5-chapter excerpt from my novel Kings & Queens, which is why I want it to be free at Amazon too. Everyone likes presents and you can't beat FREE advertising!!

Well, I'm off in search of dinosaur tracks. For real!

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

Book Review: Songbird

Author: Angela Fristoe
Publisher: Little Prince Publishing (June 25, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0615470491
ISBN-13: 978-0615470498

Synopsis:

There are defining moments in life when everything changes. For Dani Mays, it was the day she witnessed her father kill her brother. Now seventeen years-old, she still hasn’t put it behind her. After Jace’s death, she bounced between her alcoholic mother and foster homes, until she found a permanent place. And a reason to want to stay: Reece Tyler. He’s her best friend, yet Dani wants more from Reece. Faced with losing Reece, Dani struggles to define his place in her life and escape the influence her memories of her brother’s death have over her choices. Even as she weaves the pieces of her heart back together, the past becomes more than a memory when a former foster brother reappears and Dani begins receiving threatening phone calls.

My Take:

Songbird is a sweet story that perfectly captures the quest for love, laced with moments of pain and suspense, and you end up being sucked in from the very first words. The first chapter is so horrific and gut-wrenching and helps readers instantly sympathize with poor Dani, as the then six-year-old witnesses her brother's murder by her father from a playground tube she's hiding in.

Now, at seventeen, Dani yearns to escape her past and find love in the eyes and arms of her best friend, Reece, but right when the bonds of her friendships with him are strained, her life gets chucked into further turmoil at the resurfacing of a former foster brother in her school and threatening phone calls she begins receiving. She must make peace with her past and self-reflect to discover if her heart's desire is really her true love or just a replacement for her brother. And by the time the haze clears and the caller mystery plays out, will it be too late to follow her heart?

Some YA authors use empty, bland first person narrators, but Fristoe's use of Dani's voice immediately strikes chords of confidence and surety. Aside from a couple of grammatical slip ups, there's no hesitance or clumsiness or amateurism anywhere in sight in this debut novel. It's rich in detail and characterization and is packed with plenty of showing actions.

Songbird is light on plot, but it's the perfect read if you're looking a story that will tug at your heart and stay with you long after you close the cover ... or turn off your eReader ... or whatever your word-addiction vice may be. :)

MY RATING

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

Slow Progress

Here's where I'm at: the galley. I'm just waiting for that to arrive so I can go through it several times with a fine-toothed comb, a hatchet, and a red pen.

Ya see, when I lost my book files from the tornado storm, I had to convert my novel from a PDF to a doc I could manipulate, and when I did that, it randomly stripped out words, punctuation marks, numbers, etc. Oh joy. Right. Insanely annoying, especially for a perfectionist like me.

I uploaded my eBooks at Amazon, B&N and Smashwords on July 5th, but I've done at least three updates since because I keep finding these weird, random errors. (Soooorrry if you've bought my YA novel Kings & Queens and it keeps changing on your Kindle. :( I'm not finished either. One more round should do it.)

So, once I have my paperback book file and eBook file ready, I'll re-upload and send the final to the publisher and get to organizing another blog tour. Because I keep having one unforeseen delay after another with this novel, I wanna wait until my book is up everywhere so perked people won't have to wait for its availability.

I just wrapped up a Giveaway at LibraryThing. Three more people have requested my eBook in exchange for a review, which is cool with me. If you didn't win a copy and would like one for FREE, just let me know. I'm giving out Smashword coupons and my eBook is available in all eBook formats expect plain text.

Publishing a book is exhausting and this is just the easy part. Then I'll have to kickoff my big marketing phase and simultaneously finish up my second novel, StarStruck, which I hope to have out before Christmas. My plan is to offer that eBook for free. When you have a FREE eBook, you end up listed on all these sites that list free Kindle books, and that's free exposure and might just generate sales for Kings & Queens.

For marketing, beyond the blog tour, I may do another giveaway at Goodreads. I'm creating flyers, bookmarks and a press kit with a press release. I'll send the kit out with copies of my book (that I'll get for free with ecards I've gotten through swagbucks) to major newspapers, I may try click advertising at Goodreads for a month and try to land as many eBook of the day spots as I can across the web, like on Kindle Daily Nation. That's just to start. If you have any other inexpensive or free marketing ideas, please share. Thanks.

So that's where I'm at.

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.

Win the Kings & Queens eBook

I'm giving away 50 eBooks of my YA suspense novel, Kings & Queens, all formats, in exchange for a review at LibraryThing. LibraryThing is not as pretty and or as easy to navigate as Goodreads and it seems far less social and popular, but there are some cool e-Books you can win. So sign up and click to win Kings & Queens. http://bit.ly/qcY7Pk

Here's the synopsis:

Seventeen-year-old Majesty Alistair wants police to look further into her father’s fatal car wreck, hopes the baseball team she manages can reclaim the state crown, aches for Derek…or, no…maybe Alec…maybe. And she mostly wishes to retract the hateful words she said to her dad right before slamming the door in his face, only to never see him again.

All her desires get sidelined, though, when she overhears two fellow students planning a church massacre. She doubts cops will follow up on her tip since they’re sick of her coming around with notions of possible crimes-in-the-works. And it’s not like she cries wolf. Not really. They’d be freaked too, but they’re not the ones suffering from bloody dreams that hint at disaster like some crazy, street guy forecasting the Apocalypse.

So, she does what any habitual winner with zero cred would do…try to I.D. the nutjobs before they act. But, when their agenda turns out to be far bigger than she ever assumed, and even friends start looking suspect, the truth and her actions threaten to haunt her forever, especially since she’s left with blood on her hands, the blood of someone she loves.

Here are some recent spots I landed on the web. Check 'em out.

An interview with me at Jeanne Bannon's blog, Beyond Words.
An interview with Derek, at Lost For Words, where you can find out how Derek and Majesty met.
An interview with Majesty at Hopelessly Devoted Bibliophile, where you can find out what she'd most like to change about herself.
Character Tweets will give you a sense of my main characters' personalities and how they'd communicate if on Twitter.

My paperback should be out next month. If you'd like to have me on your blog for a guest spot with an interview or anything to help me fill out my blog tour, just let me know in the comments. Thanks.

~ Signing off and sending out cyber hugs.