Grave Goods

Ariana Franklin

My View: I’m committed to finishing this series this year. It’s a good thing that Franklin is a master at her plots and writing, and there is never a dull moment.

Not to mention how much I love strong, feisty female characters who don’t let love decide the course of their lives but stand up for themselves and have an identity outside of being a lover/wife and a mother.

Once again. Adelia is put through risk and life-threatening situations but her commitment to her work shines through. Her intelligence and wit are incomparable. She has a knack to make friends out of enemies and win most people over.

So when she ventures on this journey to find out the truth behind the discovered bodies, we know she would not return empty-handed.

The mystery and thrill element keeps you on tenterhooks and the reveal is nothing I would have imagined!

A riveting tale of mystery, a little bit of romance, lots of drama and action, exactly what I want in a thriller of historical fiction. Time to pick up the next in the series.

Have you read this book/ series? What did you think of it?

3.5/5 stars – Between ‘I liked it’ and ‘I loved it’.

Buy it here – Amazon India | Amazon US | The Book Depository | Flipkart | Add on Goodreads | Audible

Genre: Historical Fiction

Date Published: January 1, 2009

Synopsis:

Combining the best of modern forensic thrillers with the drama of medieval fiction, New York Times – bestselling author Ariana Franklin returns with the third title in the Mistress of the Art of Death series.

England, 1176. Beautiful, tranquil Glastonbury Abbey — one of England’s holiest sites, and believed by some to be King Arthur’s sacred Isle of Avalon — has been burned almost to the ground. The arsonist remains at large, but the fire has uncovered something even more shocking: two hidden skeletons, a man and a woman.

Are the skeletons – height and age send rumors flying – the remains those of Arthur and Guinevere? King Henry II hopes so. Struggling to put down a rebellion in Wales, where the legend of Celtic savior Arthur is particularly strong, Henry wants definitive proof that the bones are Arthur’s. If the rebels are sure that the Once and Future King will not be coming to their aid, Henry can stamp out the insurgence for good. He calls on Adelia Aguilar, Mistress of the Art of Death, to examine the bones. Henry’s summons comes not a moment too soon, for Adelia has worn out her welcome in Cambridge.

As word of her healing powers has spread, so have rumors of witchcraft. So Adelia and her household ride to Glastonbury, where the investigation into the abbey fire will be overseen by the Church authorities – in this case, the Bishop of St. Albans, who happens also to be the father of Adelia’s daughter.

About the Author

Ariana Franklin was the pen name of British writer Diana Norman. A former journalist, Norman had written several critically acclaimed biographies and historical novels. She lived in Hertfordshire, England, with her husband, the film critic Barry Norman.

The Sound of Loneliness by Craig Wallwork & Giveaway (INT)

About the book: Manchester in 1991 is a town suffering under the weight of high unemployment and massive government budgetary deficits that is plunging the UK into a recession.

To Daniel Crabtree, a struggling writer, it is the backcloth to his first novel, one that will see him become a famous published author. Living off mostly water and flour, Daniel has embraced penury into his life under the mistaken belief that many young artists have: one needs to suffer for success in art. But Daniel is a terrible writer. In the three years since signing on the dole, of every morning chastising his Irish singing neighbour for waking him from his sleep, and scrounging food from his close friend Henry Soperton, Daniel Crabtree has produced one short story. His heart is bereft of words as much as his pockets are of money.

The Sound of Loneliness is a story of love, and how a poor starving man chasing a dream came to the understanding that amidst the clamour of life, the sound of loneliness is the most deafening of all.

Pick up your copy of this Literary/ Urban Life/ Black Comedy through Amazon US, Amazon UK, or Barnes & Noble.

My View: Did you take a good look at the cover? Isn’t it so creative? I really liked it. And the title is catchy too. Reason enough to pick this book? Maybe.

As usual having not read the blurb, I had no idea what I was getting myself into except for the title and the cover. So imagine my surprise at the raw and in-your-face tone of the book. It goes deep, much deeper than the words on the periphery.

If you give this book time (which is essential especially if you, like me, love a speedy read instead of one that barely moves), it evolves into something else entirely. There is this basic, raw feel to it which is kind of strange, even ‘eww’y at times but therein lies the reality, the crux of this book.

The feelings come through so stark naked – the desperation, the make-believe, even the chewing of food is felt. Did I just lost you there? Well, that’s how I felt while reading the book. I kind of got the insanity while at times wanting to slap the main character for his idiocy.

I’m not sure about the sound of loneliness but the book did make me feel so many things. It’s just unlike anything I have ever read. And even though I was tempted to give up a number of times because I am too ADD for slow-moving books, I held on and am glad I did. It was worth it.

The book is deep on so many levels that I hope to re-read it sometime in the near future to derive it all.

Overall, a raw-y, eww-y kind of deep, dark read that makes you fall off the wagon. :-p

Recommended for readers who aren’t looking for a nice, fluffy, happy-go-lucky book.

3.5/5 stars – Between ‘ I liked it’ and ‘I really liked it’. 

About the prizes: Who doesn’t love prizes? You could win either of two $25 Amazon gift cards, an autographed copy of The Sound of Loneliness, or an autographed copy of one of its tour mates, Stranger Will by Caleb J Ross or Angel Falls by Michael Paul Gonzalez. Here’s what you need to do…

1. Enter the Rafflecopter contest here.
2. Leave a comment on my blog.

That’s it! One random commenter during this tour will win a $25 gift card. Visit more blogs for more chances to win–the full list of participating bloggers can be found here. The other $25 gift card and the 3 autographed books will be given out via Rafflecopter. You can find the contest entry form linked below or on the official Perfect Edge Trifecta tour page via Novel Publicity. Good luck!

Perfect Edge Books was founded in late 2011 to unite authors whose books weren’t “obviously” commercial. Our books tend to sit in various genres all at once: literary fiction, satire, neo-noir, sci-fi, experimental prose. We believe that literary doesn’t have to mean difficult, and that difficult doesn’t just mean pointless. We prefer to cultivate a word-of-mouth approach to marketing, and keep production as simple as we can. Learn more at www.PerfectEdgeBooks.com.

Learn more about The Sound of Loneliness‘s tour mates HERE.

About the author: Craig Wallwork lives in West Yorkshire, England. He is an artist, filmmaker and writer. His short stories have appeared in many publications in the US and the UK. He is the author of the short story collection Quintessence of Dust, and the novels To Die Upon a Kiss and The Sound of Loneliness. Craig is also the fiction editor at Menacing Hedge Magazine. Connect with Craig on his website, Facebook, GoodReads, or Twitter.

Tagged drama, literature8 Comments

Cover Reveal: Shadowborn by Jocelyn Adams

Shadowborn: A Lila Gray Novel (#2) by Jocelyn Adams
Release Date: October 1, 2012

A Glimpse into the book

Why me?

That’s the question Lila Gray asks every time yet another bad guy tries to destroy the earth, and she learns she’s the only one who can stop it. Once again, something’s on the prowl, leaving hundreds of comatose, souless victims in its wake.

Couldn’t the deadliest assassins of the Otherworld go after someone else instead of the brand new Queen of the Seelie? One who still hasn’t adapted to her new role.

Lila would ask Liam Kane, King of the Unseelie, for advice, but something’s off with him, too. He’s holding back. In some way. About some thing. In fact, he refuses to tell her what’s going on.

The truth holds Lila back from the greatness of her role—the people she was born to lead—the man who she desperately loves—and the solution to the latest war raging around her.

To find the answers, she’ll need to fight through her own darkness and embark on a journey through her psyche.

If she doesn’t succeed, the Shadowborn will claim not only her world, but her soul.

Previous Books in this series: The Glass Man (Lila Gray #1)

So, what do you think of the cover?

The Land of the Wilted Rose by Anand Ranganathan

Goodreads Summary: It is the golden age of the Indian empire in the year well, the year is not important. The brown mans burden stretches from the temple of Angkor to the chapel of Kings. The fate of all mankind is in the hands of a seventeen-year-old maharaja whose ships rule the waves and armies occupy the four corners of the earth. But all is not well. In the small colony of England, an unassuming little white man decides to fight back. This is his story, the story of a man who, armed with only an umbrella and a newspaper-wrapped meal of fish and chips, led millions on the historic Dundee March, towards freedom, and himself into the pages of history as a Great Soul, the White Mahatma. The Land of the Wilted Rose, the first book in The White Mahatma Quartet, is an allegorical work, a black comedy, but it is also a book that seeks to understand the psychological scars empires inflict on the vanquished, scars that fester, that remain unhealed.

My Views: Well well well. Seriously, I have no idea how to start or even finish this review. It took me a week to get past 40 pages of this book. It not only didn’t pull me into itself but also lulled me to sleep. Finally when I crossed the 40 page mark, did I get a sense of what was happening. And I read and read and read. I finished the book, kept it aside and wondered for a good 10 minutes, ‘why?’ I wondered at the author’s reason for writing this book and not only this book but the three more in the series. I don’t understand the reason for reversing the identities of countries, why, I don’t know. This book was just beyond me. I, for one, could not comprehend the what and why’s of this book.

This book is touted as an allegorical work, a black comedy. Perhaps it is I who do not understand this genre but seriously black comedy? I just didn’t get that from the book. The book also offers to seek to understand the psychological scars, perhaps in a way it does but I could not get past the writing, the Hinglish, the immense difficulty in reading Hindi words written in English..

So, in every possible way, this book did not work for me. May be it would work for someone who likes allegorical work or appreciates black comedy as the book is supposed to adhere to.

1/5 stars – I didn’t like it.

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!