My fourth and final review for the month is Michael Balkind's second book, Dead Ball. 

If you read Sudden Death, then you know most of the characters.  Even the bad guys from Sudden Death make a cameo appearance.  Reid Clark, the main character in Sudden Death takes a step back so the light can shine on his organization, Allsport, and his unstoppable security team, led by Jay Scott.  This time it's his best friend and CFO of Allsport, Bob Thomas, who is the target, and he isn't as lucky as Reid was.

The story starts with The President of the United States and a dead body and ends with a firefight in an airport.  Along the way, money, gunrunning, gangs, wiseguys and revenge muddy the trail Jay and his men must follow to find the trigger finger and the person who paid for it. 

Michael Balkind loves sports, the descriptions of the various games are almost romantic in their detail.  He loves food and cars as well.  If you would enjoy a testosterone laden dash through sports, cigars, fast cars, beautiful women, rich food, richer men and murder, this is the book you should read.

Let's do this again in November.  Send me your first chapter, and I'll choose one or more titles to review in December. 

BG Pupps

I just took a Master's course in golf - pun intended.

Sudden Death is about a top PGA golfer who is trying to win that green jacket while in the cross hairs of someone who really doesn't like him.  The trouble is, there are a lot of people who don't like him so it's difficult to figure out who is sending the threats.  Reid's not a very sympathetic protagonist.  He's very good at golf, and very bad at interpersonal relations.  He has a temper.  He throws things.  Other golfers hate him.  Reporters hate him.  Ex girlfriends hate him.  Sometimes, even his agent hates him. 

The story is quick paced, and even if you know nothing about golf when you pick up the book, after reading it you're going to be ready to understand the game the next time it's on television. 

As the danger grows, as the threats seem to get closer and more personal, Reid does a strange thing - he starts to mature.  At the end of the book, you believe that, while he'll always be quick tempered and unbendable about the etiquette of the game, he's more appreciative of the people around him and more willing to give of himself rather than demand of others. 

If you like golf, if you want to know more about golf, if you want to understand why others like golf, this is a good textbook...which just happens to have a mystery tangled up in the rough. 

Next week, Michael Balkind's follow up book, Dead Ball

Also, Michael Balkind's doing a very important thing supporting someone in need.  He says:
I am donating 50% of all profits for 1 month from sales of my books to the Leukemia & Lymphoma society in honor of my friend's 8.5 yr old son, Jake. Jake was recently dignosed with leukemia and is going through round 5 of chemo then hopeful bone marrow transplant.
Anyway, i feel very strongly about this kid. He is a fighter who must win this battle.

The link to my sight if you wish to promote it is http://balkindbooks.com

Now, go buy the book.  Help a child.

BG Pupps

Cries in the Dark was a very difficult book to read.  And that's good.  Let me explain.

The book is about a topic most of us avoid thinking about because it's just easier not to know how our medications, cleaning products and make up get to us, and the cost in life - animal life.  I don't want to make this into a political discourse and neither does P.A. Woodburn.  The story is just about the fact that animal testing is done, and in this case, it goes too far. 

This book will make you wince and squirm.  It should.  It's about testing on animals, it's about vivisection, and it's about people who can justify cruelty to animals and humans if the payoff is big enough. 

It's also about people who believe in doing the right thing, if they can, and doing things they never knew they could.

Alex can talk to chimpanzees.  She can understand them.  Not just with sign language, but telepathically.  And when prostitutes start dying and chimpanzees start disappearing, it seems she is the only one who can help.  Instead of focusing on solely on her education to become a doctor, she turns into a sleuth, learns to hack into computers, learns to shoot a gun, and sets off in grim determination to save lives - human and ape. 

You should read it.  P.A. Woodburn doesn't pound the reader over the head with slogans and rhetoric, merely builds a story around the facts and leaves it to the reader to draw his own conclusions. 

Next week:  Sudden Death, Michael Balkind.

Ms Pupps

I read this book because I offered a contest to review a book, and Lighting Out was one of the winners. 

It started out with a quote from Huckleberry Finn.  Not a bad start, in my opinon.

It's the story of a bank theft and its two victims - the owner of the bank and the thief.  A quarter of a million dollars turns their lives upside down.  Baxter Evans is shaken out of his stiff, orderly routine and the life that seemed picture perfect from the outside and was anything but on the inside.  Eloise/Louise is a grifter, moving from town to town, from identity to identity, picking corporate pockets along the way.  Meticulously adjusting figures until she'd collected her goal, she was ready to pack up, slip out and move on.  She never expected anyone, especially the boring boss, to catch on before she was anything more than dust stirred up on the road. 

The narrative takes some adjustment.  The story is broken down into more than fifty short chapters, alternating between the perspectives of Baxter and Louise.  These short chapters move the story forward and back at the same time, allowing you to understand and develop compassion for the characters. 

Ultimately, as Baxter said, the theft did him a big favor.  He was no longer the rich, comfortable and unhappy banker, but found meaning, purpose, love and hope in his new life.  Louise's reinvention appears to be good, she appears to have gotten away with yet another scam, but at what cost?  Is she really happy? 

The version I read was the HTML file Ms. Murad sent and it had some formatting errors,  I'm not sure if the final copy corrected these errors, but they don't deter from the story telling. 

The story, ultimately, is a modern day take on the quote at the start of the book.  It's subtly woven into the actions, reactions and decisions of the characters.

It has romance, it has heartbreak, it has regret, it has hope.  If you like these things, or just want a little escape of your own, try Lighting Out. 

Next week:  Cries in the Dark, P.A. Woodburn

Most independent writers and small press get a lot of business from Amazon customers.  Amazon has this thing called tagging, where readers choose words that best describe the book, for example, Michael E. Benson's book, Openers, has tags like crime drama, forensics, serial killers, etc.  Readers can add additional tags they feel are appropriate and vote for the tags.  These tags enable Amazon to push a book toward Amazon members who have made similar purchases in the past.  It brings your book to the attention of Amazon members who might not have heard of it before.  The more tags you get, the more times a tag is selected, the better chance you have of being seen. 

Naturally, we'd like our books tagged by as many people as possible.  I'll bet you'd like that, too.  So, I'm going to play tag with you.  If you've got a book for sale at Amazon, send me a note at [email protected], or a comment here. amd I'll tag your book.  If enough people show interest, I'll start a second blog just to list book links available for tagging.  Of course, in the interest of fair play, if I tag your books, you've got to tag ours.  Right? 

While you're browsing around here, check out this month's What Writers Write and How They Write it.  We're featuring Barbara Silkstone and a lot of naked men.

And take a look at Steven L. Revare's trailer for his upcoming book, Raw. 

And I've saved the best news for last - although it really has nothing to do with Inknbeans...except making us all happy.  The Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back early this year!  That's right.  The Boss and I are going over this evening to have one.  Let Autumn commence!

BGP

I've been offering a little contest to give a fair and free review for anyone who gave me a chapter to review by today.

I suppose not a lot of people took me seriously because my inbox was not flooded with submission chapters.  However, a few did, and that means I received a few very interesting chapters to read, too interesting to choose one over all the others.  TherI've decided to review them all.

That's right, those of you who submitted chapters, you're all winners.  Please submit your entire book, via [email protected] and I'll review one a week throughout September.

Thank you for playing.  We must do this again sometime.

BGP

The weather's been unseasonably mild here for weeks.  No one's complaining, because normal here is triple digits, but it has been noticeable and remarked upon.  It reminds me of that old movie The Music Man, talking about the weather in Iowa.    Well, no one's talking now.  It's too hot to talk.  Summer came back with a vengeance this week.  Yesterday the Boss sent me to pick up some supplies at Staples.  The thermometer in the car said 112. 

Of course, this was an excellent excuse to get a nice, icy tea, and go for a swim after the errands.

There's something to be said for this miserably hot weather, though.  We've gotten a lot done around here.  Check out the new Menu Board the Boss designed.  Very cool. 

And Michael E. Benson's new book debuted this week.  A chilling story in the middle of the New Mexico desert.  It's called Alvarado's Woman. 

I've had a few entries to my Win-A-Review contest, but there's still time to enter your book.  Go ahead.  Send me the first chapter at [email protected], but don't wait.  I'm making my decision on Friday. 

The newest bean will be here next month.  TThe book is Raw, about a man who moves from Manhattan, NY to Manhattan KS to simplify his life, and complicates everyone else's.  And, the Boss says to add it's about cheese. 

It's seven fifteen am and we're already drinking ice water and turning on the fans.  So, I guess the weather's in season.

Stay cool out there.

BGP

After my last blog, the Boss said it was clear I don't have enough to do around here.  It was suggested that, since I always have an opinion on everything, perhaps I ought to be reviewing books. 

Okay.  I'm going to review a book.  How 'bout yours?  If you'd like an independent review of your book send a sample chapter to [email protected] by August 20th.  I'll pick the one I like best and have that person send me their whole book.  I'll review it in September.  You'll get a nice but honest review and I'll get to keep my job.  Win-win. 

We've got a new mystery coming out next week.  If you read Openers, you'll want to read Alvarado's Woman.  Frank Petrovic is back and, although he isn't the star of the show this time, trust him to save the day. 

Steve Revare's the new kid in town.  He wrote a book about Kansas.  There's more going on there than you think.  Watch for it in September. 

Are you on our mailing list?  If you are, then you know you get advance previews of new work, discounts and special offers.  If you aren't, well why not? 

The Boss wants me to go to work.  Send those chapters in. Hurry!

BGP

Publishing is a devilish business.  Naughtiness is everywhere.  For example:

The Devil Went Down To Georgia is a song the Boss always wanted to learn to play on the violin.  Everyone knows what happened in Georgia.  But what happened when...

The Devil went down to Nevada?

Kristie Leigh Maguire was inspired to write things like this.  No wonder it's so hot in Vegas. 

The Devil went down to Florida?

Men were exposed by Barbara Silkstone in her book.  A lot of men were exposed.  A lot.  So many that she had to rename the book and re-release it.  That's a hot title. 

The Devil went down to Reading?

Lisa C. Hinsley described the horror hiding in the woods.    Who knew Old Wily had an English accent? 

The Devil went back in time?

Baseball was never the same.  John Fitch V should know, because he's a Boston fan and we all know they'll do anything to win.

The Devil went down to Los Angeles?

No one noticed.  It was just another day in Los Angeles; murders, attempted murders, bad cops, good cops, hookers, tramps, truck drivers, music loving taxi drivers and out of town teachers who just want to go home and get off their feet, in Emjae Edwards' sixth book. 

The Devil went down to New Mexico?

Children disappeared and racism raised its ugly head in Michael E. Benson's upcoming release Alvarado's Woman - A Frank Petrovic Mystery.  If you read Openers, you'll want to read this.  Coming August 9th.

The Devil went down to Kansas? 

He died of boredom.  But you won't, if you read Raw, Steven L. Revare's ode to the Sunflower State, dairies, accounting, lactivism, bad marriages and following one's dream.  Coming in September.

These great writers don't all belong to Inknbeans, but they've contributed in one way or another to our growing success.  Drop in, take a look at their work, and have the Devil's own time with them.

On a Heavenly note, spend yesterday with the Boss and Manservant!Geeves.  Brunch at Red Robin, then a drive along Cajalco Expressway which was anything but express, meandering through rolling hillsides of gold and old trees, and literally stumbling onto the sapphire blueness of Lake Mathews.  Later, sitting in the mildness of the evening in their back garden, watching the sky turn aquamarine and pink, and then very, very black.  Thanks, Boss, I had a great time.

Hope all of you do, too.

BGP