Review of “Oil To Ashes Part 2 and Part 3” by Lee Brait
Oil To Ashes continues with part two of this three novella story about Linc Freemore, a man living in a shattered society where the United States is at war with the Middle East. It doesn’t matter if it is a single country or a coalition, all the reader needs to know is that Linc has worked tirelessly for a company providing supplies to the soldiers overseas while things have deteriorated back home. Biker gangs are plentiful and the police are scarce. There are terror attacks and bombings, while oil has diminished and everyone is desperate. Part 1 took Linc out on a road outside the city where he attempts to save a woman who has been attacked by a biker gang. He manages to escape, only to discover that the gang now knows who he is and wants to get revenge on him and his family. Part 1 ended abruptly and Linc’s efforts to save his family are spotlighted here in Part 2, Oil To Ashes: Truce. With a backdrop of a potential truce between the West and the Middle East, Linc is forced to do battle with more biker gang members who want to tear his family apart.
For such a short tale, there are ample twists and turns in this story, with a much larger backstory being revealed bit by bit, including how the biker gangs are associated with corrupt corporate officials who are interested in war profiteering more than anything. Unfortunately for Linc, wherever he turns, he ends up getting buried deeper in the trouble he kicked off in part one. A biker with a brother who wants revenge turns into a larger family looking for a way to either use or kill Linc. Linc gets himself and those he loves into nearly impossible situations and manages to find a way out of them. While it isn’t revealed what his background is, it is once again clear that he has some military experience dealing with life and death situations.
Part 2 ends as abruptly as Part 1 did, but fortunately Part 3 was immediately available for free on the kindle.
Oil To Ashes: Truce can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Oil-Ashes-Truce-ebook/dp/B00M5LSUMM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1431386149&sr=8-1&keywords=lee+brait
Oil To Ashes: Warehouse wraps up this trilogy of novellas about Linc Freemore, a man who, on the surface, appears to be a working class everyday Joe caught up in a very bad situation. It became pretty clear in Part 1 of the trilogy that he has to be ex-military with, as they say, ‘a very particular set of skills’. Up to this point, he has gotten in and out of more trouble than even James Bond, and the threat of danger to his family is far greater than it has been. The story has also come full circle, making much clearer who is behind the plot to destroy Linc and what forces are diametrically opposed to those who want him dead, though they have little interest in keeping Linc’s family safe, either. Instead, they choose to use him to advance their cause against the corrupt corporate leaders who continue to profit off the war with the Middle East that appears to be coming to an end.
Much of this novella takes place in and around the warehouse that Linc must gain access to so he can fulfill his part of a dangerous bargain he made with people holding his wife and son hostage. Yet again, he goes through perils that would kill most men, and yet does not reveal how he is capable of enduring such trials. A desperate urge to protect ones family can only take you so far if you have no training to deal with combat situations and torture. Still, this is an entertaining final chapter in this tale. While this story is complete, there is a promise of more from the author with hints on how a new story about Linc might unfold.
Oil To Ashes: Warehouse can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Oil-Ashes-Warehouse-Freemore-Apocalyptic-ebook/dp/B00UY66YOG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1431386149&sr=8-3&keywords=lee+brait
Review of Jack Icefloe Jackson’s “Romance For Men: Pandora’s Box”
Romance For Men: Pandora’s Box introduces the reader to the author and main character, Jack Icefloe Jackson, who is, without a doubt, one of the most vile, depraved, wretched human beings ever to exist on this planet. He is also irremediably raunchy, sleazy, and worse than the worse excrement to ever walk upright. With that said, this story of his exploits is satire at its most debase and hilarious. Not meant for the squeamish or anyone with taste, this book explores Jack’s adventures as a newly assigned agent for the United States Government responsible for saving the world. You see, Jack has a unique set of skills that no man has ever had in the history of the universe. Jack is short, fat, bald, and gross. He also has a penchant for throwing dynamite at anyone who annoys him. All this plus the fact that he treats every woman as nothing better than a resting place for one of his, uh, appendages, makes him scum. But his seemingly unnatural talents makes him the one person who can unlock the code to Pandora’s Box, which threatens to destroy the world if left unsatisfied.
Yep, I managed to avoid actually saying anything too offensive in the above paragraph that is even remotely on par with the graphic nature of this book. So let me be clear. This book is sick, disgusting, and with the right frame of mind, hilarious. Jack is a parody of a parody of the concept of men as pigs. This is satire mixed with sarcasm mushed together with huge dollops of parody. Read it with this in mind and you may survive the reading, though chances are you won’t make it out unscarred. You might go blind too, or at the very least suffer from a rash that even the strongest penicillin won’t be able to get rid of.
This is a quick read, laugh out loud funny, although you will probably be far too embarrassed to do so anywhere near anyone of the female persuasion. Letting a woman you love or even remotely care about know you are reading this book might get you banished from nooky-land for the rest of eternity. So my friends, tread carefully when you read this tome of wondrous knowledge. Oh, and make sure you wash your hands after you do so, because you are gonna feel dirty after touching this book…even if you get it on the kindle. You may have to sterilize the device to get it to work again properly.
Romance For Men: Pandora’s Box can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Romance-For-Men-Pandoras-Volume/dp/0990381315/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1407946592&sr=8-1
Review of Gerald Dean Rice’s “The Zombie Show”
The Zombie Show is Gerald Dean Rice’s newest novella swipe at the zombie genre, and as was the case with Fleshbags, he has crafted a zombie that is a diversion from the traditional.
In this tale, we are introduced to Cole Green, an undercover agent trying to find a Mexican Cartel baddy by the name of Mazatlan. The zombie apocalypse is over and humanity won, though there are still zombies out there. Naturally, criminal minds think of criminal ways of using them when the law is to shoot the undead on sight. And these zombies are, as I mentioned, a bit different. Not only do they regain a small amount of cognitive ability when they devour flesh, they also have another basic urge that goes along with their insatiable hunger. The urge for sex remains, at least in the male undead, and this serves the purpose of Mazatlan and other criminals who like to put on illegal sex shows south of the border for bored, jaded American college kids. While many of the shows put on end up being some guy in zombie makeup, Mazatlan, with a science background, has managed to concoct a drug that creates new zombies, though these hybrids are a bit different than the regular undead.
This story has a lot of elements to it. Uncover action, zombie horror, surprising twists and turns, plus a zombie name Jose that shares the spotlight with Mazatlan and Cole as a main character who was perhaps the most interesting character of them all. The author likes to give his zombies a bit of humanity despite their monstrous nature, and in both this tale and Fleshbags before it, and he delves just deep enough into their minds to give his audience an appreciation of what they’re going through and perhaps forces us to have some sympathy for them, even as they’re tearing into their latest victim. This story also had a Dusk Till Dawn flavor to it, with zombies replacing vampires in the club setting where the story takes place. Certainly, the place turns into carnage central before the story is resolved.
The author has a flare for taking traditional horror monsters and turning them into something new and intriguing, while also crafting some well done traditional scary tales as well. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve seen so far from Gerald Dean Rice, and The Zombie Show is no exception.
The Zombie Show can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Zombie-Show-Gerald-Dean-Rice/dp/0983854718/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340893572&sr=1-1&keywords=the+zombie+show
Review of Peter Cline’s “Ex-Patriots”
Those who have read Ex-Heroes know the scoop from that first book. Peter Clines has created a world with his own flavor of superheroes, led by The Dragon (St. George), Zzzap, Stealth, and Cerberus, who reside in “The Mount”, a barricaded movie studio in L.A. They live there protecting the bulk of survivors in the city from Ex’s, aka zombies that have taken over the world. I felt that the author created a wonderful and highly detailed group of heroes and villains, using the writing technique of going back and forth in time, from ‘now’ to ‘then’ and back again, revealing only what the reader needs to know about each character-their origins, what brought them to where they are now, their motivations, etc.-until absolutely necessary to the plot. I loved the twists in the first book, which gave us a surprise ending I thought was quite a zinger. The heroes are unique, complex, and entertaining-there are no cookie-cutter duplicates of other heroes we already know and love.
Ex-Patriots introduces the military to the equation here in the second book. But not just the regular military, a group of super-soldiers created by a government scientist named Dr. Sorenson, who has turned them into physical specimens capable of great feats strength and speed. They are led by Captain Freedom (his actual real last name), though he isn’t draped in the American flag throughout the book. He is a physically massive soldier who is the strongest of the super-soldiers and also the most moral of the military men the reader is introduced to here. The military, huddled at a secret base in Arizona, makes the trek to the Mount after discovering the barricaded safe haven. Despite an introduction filled with missteps, the heroes agree to make the trip back to Arizona to discuss mutual survival plans with Colonel Shelly, the top army officer still alive, and Agent Smith, the only representative on hand representing the U.S. Government. Naturally, more conflict between the military and heroes occurs, with the military wanting the large, robotic Cerberus machine and official control over the Mount, claiming that Marshall Law is still in play. This despite serious questions as to whether the U.S. government even still exists, given that the ex’s seem to control most of the world.
New villains are revealed here, as well as new heroes, and the author does not disappoint with his efforts to provide fresh twists and turns to the plot, both with new characters and old. He uses the same format of ‘now’ and ‘then’ to divulge choice details, which leaves the reader guessing on particular details until the moment is just right. The action is on par with the first book, and the relationships between the different superheroes and the soldiers are solid. I particularly like the slow burn that is going on between St. George and Stealth-the two hero leaders who can’t seem to figure out what type of relationship they’re supposed to have.
Like the preceding book, this was a well written tale and it leaves plenty of room for more twists and mysteries in the final book in the trilogy. Villains that are complex and despicable, heroes that may seem indestructible yet are very much human in how they react and respond to the people and challenges they face…Mr. Clines has created a compelling world filled with fascinating characters. I look forward to seeing where it all leads.
Ex-Patriots can be found here: http://www.amazon.com/Ex-Patriots-Peter-Clines/dp/1934861871/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321937132&sr=8-1
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