Book Review: Mind Over Magic by William Rabkin

Title: Mind Over Magic
Series: Psych #2
Author: William Rabkin
Publisher: Signet (July 1, 2009)
Genre: Mystery, TV tie-in

Format: Ebook
Length: Novel
Source: Purchased

Based on the hit USA network series. Shawn Spencer has convinced everyone he's psychic. Now, he's either going to clean up- or be found out.

Murder and Magic are all in the mind...

When a case takes Shawn and Gus into an exclusive club for professional magicians, they're treated to a private show by the hottest act on the Vegas Strip, "Martian Magician" P'tol P'kah. But when the wizard seemingly dissolves in a tank of water, he never rematerializes. And in his place there's a corpse in a three piece suit and a bowler hat.

Eager to keep his golden boy untarnished, the magician's manager hires Shawn and Gus to uncover the identity of the dead man and find out what happened to P'tol P'kah. But to do so, the pair will have to pose as a new mentalist act, and go undercover in a world populated by magicians, mystics, Martians-and one murderer...

Teaser: “Keep up, O’Hara. We’ve got to pull a drunken magician out of a whiskey bottle,” Lassiter snapped, not pausing on his way to the top. [25% Kindle Edition. I had to laugh. That’s so Lassiter!]

Review: Fans of Psych will enjoy the magic Mind Over Magic by William Rabkin creates between the characters.

Shawn and Gus are on another case involving a supposed Martian magician P’tol P’kah and murder. Told mainly from Gus’s point of view, the novel keeps the laughs coming. Like the TV show Psych, there are so many witty and funny lines. Rabkin has a spot-on grasp of these characters.

The novel is fast-paced, funny, and at times a tad absurd. The mystery kept me guessing until the very end.

If you can’t wait for the next season of Psych, then you might want to give William Rabkin’s Mind Over Magic a try.

Five Bookworms = I loved it!

Other Books in the Series:

Click here to read my review.

Hook Me: The Secret History by Stephanie Thornton and a Blogging Vacation

Title: The Secret History: A Novel of Empress Theodora
Author: Stephanie Thornton
Publisher: NAL Trade (July 2, 2013)
Genre: Historical Fiction

Book Description: Where Theodora went, trouble followed…

In sixth century Constantinople, one woman, Theodora, defied every convention and all the odds, and rose from being a common theater tart to become empress of a great kingdom, the most powerful woman the Roman Empire would ever know. But the woman whose image was later immortalized in glittering mosaic was, in fact, a scrappy, clever, conniving, flesh-and-blood woman full of sensuality and spirit whose real story is as surprising as any ever told…

When her father dies suddenly, Theodora and her sisters face starvation on the streets. Determined to survive, Theodora makes a living any way she can—first on her back with every man who will have her, then on the stage of the city’s infamous amphitheater in a scandalous dramatization of her own invention. When her daring performance grants her a back-door entry into the halls of power, she seizes the chance to win a wealthy protector—only to face heartbreak and betrayal.

Ever resilient, Theodora rises above such trials and by a twist of fate, meets her most passionate admirer yet: the Emperor’s nephew. She will thrive as his confidant and courtesan, but many challenges lie ahead. For one day, this man will hand her a crown. And all the empire will wonder—is she bold enough, shrewd enough, and strong enough to keep it?

First line: I am She whom one honors and disdains.
Last line read: We quickly drained the cup of wine she'd left behind, both making sure to avoid the thick smear of henna on the rim.

Overall Impressions: I must admit I have a soft spot for historicals, especially those around the Roman Empire. This one is a bit beyond my expertise about Rome (I know more about pre-Christian Rome), but I enjoyed it. Theodora is a character anyone could cheer for. She's smart and savvy. Her situation is heart-breaking too. Thornton's writing is exquisite and real. I felt dropped into the time period without it being overwhelming.

Would I keep reading?: Yes!

***By the way, since next week is Thanksgiving in the States, I'm taking a blogging week off. I'll be back December 2 with a new book review.***

Book Review: Memento Nora series by Angie Smibert

Title: Memento Nora
Series: Memento Nora #1
Author: Angie Smibert
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Children’s Books (April 1, 2011)
Genre: YA Dystopian

Format Read: Ebook
Length: Short Novel
Source: Purchased from Amazon

On an otherwise glossy day, a blast goes off and a body thuds to the ground at Nora's feet. There are terrorist attacks in the city all the time, but Nora can't forget.

In Nora's world you don't have to put up with nightmares. Nora goes with her mother to TFC--a Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic. There, she can describe her horrible memory and take a pill to erase it so she can go on like nothing ever happened. But at TFC a chance encounter with a mysterious guy changes Nora's life. She doesn't take the pill. And when Nora learns the memory her mother has chosen to forget, she realizes that someone needs to remember.

With newfound friends Micah and Winter, Nora makes a comic book of their memories called Memento. Memento is an instant hit, but it sets off a dangerous chain of events. Will Nora, Micah, and Winter be forced to take the Big Pill that will erase their memories forever?

Teaser: I watched him leave. He wasn’t glossy. He wasn’t dreary, either. He was something else.

He was all there. [5% Ebook. Loved these lines and the impact they have on Nora.]

Review: Memories are worth saving in Angie Smibert’s Memento Nora.

Nora is your typical glossy popular girl until she witnesses several events that turn her world upside down. I love how Nora changes throughout the book from popular to almost outcast, and yet it’s for the best. Micah is a great match for Nora as they work together to create their comic book Memento. Winter is unusual, unique, and quite the genius. Although some characters are more forgettable than others, Nora and her friends are all very glossy.

I loved the dystopian worldbuilding within this novel. The quest for shopping is taken to a whole other level. The idea you can go to a clinic and forget your worries and bad memories is both interesting and terrifying. Although this world is dark, it’s not without hope.

I enjoyed Memento Nora by Angie Smibert. It’s definitely a glossy novel.

 Five Bookworms = I loved it!

---

Title: The Forgetting Curve
Series: Momento Nora #2
Author: Angie Smibert
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish (April 1, 2012)
Genre YA Dystopian

Format Read: Ebook
Length: Short Novel
Source: Purchased from Amazon

Aiden Nomura likes to open doors especially using his skills as a hacker to see what's hidden inside. He just keeps pulling until one cracks open, exposing the flaws. It's like a game until it isn't. When a Therapeutic Forgetting Clinic opens in Bern, Switzerland, near Aiden's boarding school, he knows things are changing. Shortly after, bombs go off within quiet, safe Bern. Then Aiden learns that his cousin Winter has had a mental breakdown. He returns to the US immediately. But back home in Hamilton, Winter's mental state isn't the only thing that's different. The city is becoming even stricter, and an underground movement is growing. Aiden slowly cracks open doors in this new world. But behind those doors are things Aiden doesn't want to see, things about his society, his city, even his own family. Aiden may be the only one who can fix things before someone else gets hurt.

Teaser: Do not volunteer for something until you’re sure it doesn’t include manual labor. Book of Velvet. [84% Ebook. So, so true!]

Review: Forgetting isn’t an option in Angie Smibert’s The Forgetting Curve.

I loved the introduction of new characters, such as Aiden Nomura. Velvet’s Book of Velvet sayings were very glossy and had a way of breaking up the tension in this fast-paced novel. Winter, Nora, and Micah are back, although they’re not quite the same after Memento Nora.

The stakes keep getting higher in this novel. Their world is changing, but is it for the better—or worse? As the government tries to keep everyone in their place, a movement is rising to take back their memories—and their lives.

The Forgetting Curve by Angie Smibert won’t let this reader forget how it’s a fantastic book two in the Memento Nora series.

 Five Bookworms = I loved it!

---

Title: The Meme Plague
Series: Memento Nora #3
Author: Angie Smibert
Publisher: Amazon Children’s Publishing (August 13, 2013)

Format Read: Ebook
Length: Short Novel
Source: Purchased from Amazon

In this third and final installment in the Memento Nora series, Micah and Nora piece their memories together as Aiden, Velvet, and Winter continue the work of the MemeCast. The teens all band together to get the word out about the new ID chips - and how the government and TFC are using the chips to manipulate the public remotely.

Teaser: A real piece of the past, she’d called it. I’d always thought the past should stay dead and buried. Or, at a bare minimum, have bigger closets and a pool. [19% Ebook. Bigger closets and a pool is definitely called for.]

Review: TFC can take your cares away, but you’ll find it difficult to come back to who you are in Angie Smibert’s The Meme Plague.

Nora and Micah have a bigger role in this novel than book two. The characters face very difficult decisions as they go against TFC and the government. The upcoming elections don’t ease their problems either. As the group struggles to hold onto who they are, they are facing a world that they might not be able to change.

Although I enjoyed Memento Nora and The Forgetting Curve, I felt this novel had something missing. There was a lack of urgency and underlying pace. Yet the ending was perfect for the series.

Though not my favorite of the series, I recommend The Meme Plague by Angie Smibert as well as the entire Memento Nora series.

 Four Bookworms = I really liked it!

Hook Me: Mind: The Beginning by Jenn Nixon

Title: Mind: The Beginning
Author: Jenn Nixon
Publisher: Crescent Moon Press (September 1, 2013)
Genre: Science Fiction

Book Description: After Dina Ranger loses telepathic contact with her brother, she breaks into his apartment and stumbles onto a special government unit responsible for monitoring the psychic population. She's offered a job where she can use her psionic gifts to help people. Stranded on earth over a hundred years ago,

Liam of Shria is searching for a metal needed to repair his ship when he finds Dina, a telepathic investigator, and narrowly saves her from an exploding alien pod. Together, they uncover a plot to rebuild an ancient weapon and discover the truth behind Dina's abilities while unlocking dangerous secrets about the alien presence on earth.

Can they stop a powerful weapon meant to enslave the human race? Can their relationship survive the secrets of the past or will it tear them apart?

First line: The taxicab pulled up to the curb, squeaky breaks announcing its presence.
Last line read: He had to get out.

Overall Impressions: I love stories about psionics, so Nixon's novel grabbed my attention. Dina is a kick-butt heroine, and Liam is very mysterious. The abilities they have such as telepathy and the like are fascinating. The sample was well-paced and left me wanting more.

Would I keep reading?: Yes!

Book Review: Debt Collector Season One by Susan Kaye Quinn

Title: Debt Collector Season One
Series: Debt Collector #1-9
Author: Susan Kaye Quinn
Published: June 26, 2013

Format Read: Individual Ebooks
Length: 9 short novellas
Source: Purchased from Amazon

All NINE Episodes of Season One of Debt Collector in EBOOK and PRINT.

What’s your life worth on the open market?
A debt collector can tell you precisely.

EPISODE LIST - add them to your TBR!
Delirium - Debt Collector 1
Agony - Debt Collector 2
Ecstasy - Debt Collector 3
Broken - Debt Collector 4
Driven - Debt Collector 5
Fallen - Debt Collector 6
Promise - Debt Collector 7
Ruthless - Debt Collector 8
Passion - Debt Collector 9

or add the collections

Debt Collector (Vol 1-3) - Delirium, Agony, Ecstasy
Debt Collector (Vol 4-6) - Broken, Driven, Fallen
Debt Collector (Vol 7-9) - Promise, Ruthless, Passion
Debt Collector Season One - in EBOOK and Print

Teasers: I don’t pay attention to the payoffs—they’re all brilliant or famous or something. Making the world a better place with their brains and their lives. [21% from Delirium]

“You are adorable, just like Candy promised.” [49% from Agony]

Only ten percent of the population carries the genetic marker for collecting, and even with the marker, odds are still good you won’t express. [15% from Ecstasy]

Hit men. Of course, that’s what all debt collectors are. [34% from Broken]

Her hands are spread wide. They’re asking forgiveness. [12% from Driven]

His skin is unnaturally smooth, and he reminds me of the high potentials at the LifeLong medical complex: CEO-type, used to being in control, getting his life hits between high-powered meetings. [65% from Fallen]

She looks at me with a kind of disbelief, like she’s not sure if I’m lying or crazy or maybe have a concussion after all. [44% from Promise]

I give her a nod and hurry out of the room, scraping my dignity off the floor as I go. [44% from Ruthless]

The mercy hit burns brightest right before the darkness closes in. [65% from Passion]

Review: Lyrium is a debt collector a reader can root for in Susan Kaye Quinn’s Debt Collector Season One.

Quinn creates a gritty futuristic world where mobs terrorize people and debt collectors will take your life energies to pay off your monetary debt. The technological advances are spectacular and felt so realistic. I could believe we could have things like that in the future.

Although I read this as a nine-part serial, season one is complete. The use of present tense throws the reader into the urgency of the situation, and Quinn has a fantastic sense of pace. I enjoyed reading each story as a serial because it reminded me a lot of a TV drama.

Lyrium’s growth is so satisfying to read. He’s not had an easy life, but he rediscovers his soul throughout season one. Each character adds to Lyrium’s growth and the overall story. Quinn has a way of writing heart-breaking characters. You just wanted to find a way to protect so many of them against the evils in their world.

I absolutely loved Debt Collector Season One by Susan Kaye Quinn and look forward to Season Two.

Five Bookworms = I loved it!

Hook Me: The Last Hunter: Pursuit by Jeremy Robinson

Title: The Last Hunter: Pursuit
Series: Antarktos Saga #2
Author: Jeremy Robinson
Publisher: Breakneck Media (May 19, 2011)
Genre: YA Fantasy

Book Description: I was thirteen years old when I was kidnapped. They took me from my family, from my friends-from everything I knew, and stole my innocence. They brought me to a world beneath the surface of Antarctica, where I was broken and trained by a hunter named Ninnis. He served the ancient Nephilim: half-human, half-demon monsters. My personality was buried in my subconscious and replaced by that of Ull, a hunter and killer. For a time, I too served the Nephilim. As the first and only human born on Antarctica, they believed that I could contain the spirit of their fallen king, Nephil, and lead them to conquer humanity. But I was stronger than they knew and escaped deep into the underworld, where I have been hiding for the past two years. I live in a cavern, which is somehow lush with green vegetation, eking out a living and cowering from the confrontation that I know awaits me. But the nightmare has found me. I can smell them. The hunters. They have discovered my hideout. The pursuit of Solomon Ull Vincent-the last hunter-has begun. And if they catch me, this is where my story will end.

First line: Lieutenant Ninnis was once a proud man.
Last line read: None of that is on display here.

Overall Impressions: I had read The Last Hunter: Descent a long time ago. I didn't even know more books had been written until recently. Robinson gives some brief background on who people are and the like, which I found to be very helpful. The pacing and tension is great, and I was able to pick up on what was going on in this second book in the saga. Solomon is such a strong character, and the sample is adventurous and thrilling.

Would I keep reading?: Yes!

Book Review: Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn

Title: Open Minds
Series: Mindjack Trilogy, #1
Author: Susan Kaye Quinn
Genre: YA Science Fiction

Format Read: Ebook
Length: Novel
Source: Purchased from Amazon

When everyone reads minds, a secret is a dangerous thing to keep.

Sixteen-year-old Kira Moore is a zero, someone who can’t read thoughts or be read by others. Zeros are outcasts who can’t be trusted, leaving her no chance with Raf, a regular mindreader and the best friend she secretly loves. When she accidentally controls Raf’s mind and nearly kills him, Kira tries to hide her frightening new ability from her family and an increasingly suspicious Raf. But lies tangle around her, and she’s dragged deep into a hidden world of mindjackers, where having to mind control everyone she loves is just the beginning of the deadly choices before her.

Teaser: “I said I’d keep the Clan’s secret,” I said. [39% Ebook. Ooo, what is the secret? You’ll have to read to find out.]

Review: So what if you can read thoughts. It’s better to be a mindjacker in Susan Kaye Quinn’s Open Minds.

Kira Moore has a problem, since she can’t read minds like everyone else. She’s such a likeable character, and I enjoyed her growth from zero to hero. Raf is the smart and adorable boy-next-door type. It’s no wonder Kira has a crush on him. Each character has a place in this novel, but Kira and Raf are my favorite.

The dangers of Kira’s newfound abilities to mindjack people amp up the tension and increase the pace. I didn’t want to put this book down and purchased books two and three as well as the collection of novelettes as soon as I finished Open Minds. Quinn’s style is easy to fall into and be transported to a world of mindreaders, mindjackers, and zeros.

If you’re looking for fast-paced and edgy YA, you can’t go wrong with Open Minds by Susan Kaye Quinn. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series!

Five Bookworms = I loved it!