Book Review: Always Gray in Winter by Mark J. Engels

This is a fun action tale.

Always Gray In Winter
by Mark J. Engels

File Size: 723 KB
Print Length: 219 pages
Publisher: Thurston Howl Publications (October 1, 2017)
ASIN: B0763ZP2R7
Genre: Military Sci Fi
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0

A distant daughter. A peculiar device. A family lineage full of secrets. When werecat Pawlina Katczynski finally resurfaces, her location previously unknown to anyone close to her, the reunion is short of welcomed. Instead, she finds herself thrust tooth and nail—tooth and claw—into a feud between opposing werecat clans as her family and their enemies reignite a battle that has raged for years. Always Gray in Winter invites the reader to join the feud and see if blood is truly thicker than water...

Review:
Werecat Pawlina and friends had left the service after a disastrous ambush. Lenny, her romantic interest, was traumatized by the brutal, strange attack. He isn’t aware of Pawly’s secret. Pawly was sure that she would bring more trouble on family and friends so to protect them, she took off on her own and went under the radar. She resurfaces in a battle with another young woman whose speed and agility surprise even Pawly. Several friends and her brother show up and kidnap her to get her home.

Meanwhile, her opponent, Hana, returns to her handler/”Papa”, Mawro, on ship. They are out to capture a mysterious invention that has been designed to help others of their kind – humans who appear as werecats in their aliuran form.

Pawly and her family travel to Europe to rescue their inventor relative when they hear about the attack on him. Along the way they run into two government agents, one of whom is Lenny. He is shocked and dismayed to finally see Pawly again.

Pawly’s Polish clan and Mawro’s North Korean clan clash and face off on opposite sides while trying to keep their presence a secret from the humans. They do have a few friends who have become family or work allies who help to keep the secrets.

I enjoyed the characters and the fast-paced action with fights and near escapes. There are some political and strong military elements. The story moves along well although the differences are not made totally clear. The author uses flashbacks to show the history of the two families but I still had some confusion as to the motivations.

I often listen to ebooks on my 2nd generation Kindle. The difficulty I had in this read is that there is no noticeable break between scenes. I checked the sample available at Amazon and it shows a space between the scenes. This is only reflected as a paragraph symbol for the version I read.

This did remind me of an anime, which was the intent of the author. I recommend this as a fun read to readers who like anthromorphic action sci fi.

I received this from the publisher through NetGalley. It qualifies for my NetGalley Challenge. I read this during #hohohorat and also for #RRSciFiMonth.

Wrap Up Post for HoHoHo Readathon - Great Fun!

Hello Reading Friends! It's time to share fun with holiday and winter-themed books.
For the next past eight days, (1) I planned to read at least six holiday or winter-themed books;
most of my books are sci fi genre to keep with SciFi Month too!
I ended up reading 11 Christmas stories! 8 included SciFi elements!
(2) I hoped to participate in at least four of the other five challenges.
I did the Jigsaw puzzles, the word scramble, the bingo and the story prompt. 
I am not on instagram so that is the only one I didn't do.
(3) I planned to attend the Twitter Party.
I had the time wrong as Central Time instead of EST. 
I showed up for the last three minutes or so. :-(
(4) I planned to meet new friends who love reading as much as I do!
I did meet new friends and even got a Christmas story ARC (Mistletoe Kiss) from another participant!
Please visit my HoHoHo Readathon Challenge Post 
to see links to the other Five Challenges and 
the sentences of those who participated in my Sentence Challenge!
I will be posted the image montage by tomorrow.

The Participant Giveaway is available at Caffeinated Reader, our lovely host blog!

HERE ARE THE 11 BOOKS I FINISHED during 2017 HoHoHo Readathon. Titles in bold are linked to my Goodread review. The others are still to be reviewed.
1. The Snow Owl by Jon Hartling
2. Hey, Santa: SciFi Alien Holiday Romance (An Alien for the Holidays) by Jessica E. Subject
3. Chasing Christmas Past: An Airship Racing Chronicles Short Story Prequel (The Airship Racing Chronicles) by Melanie Karsak
4. A Ninja Dinosaur Christmas!!! by Sonya Saturday
5. Christmas, Corpses, and Clockwork Kittens by L. A. Nisula
6. Always Gray In Winter by Mark J. Engels

I started with the longest, Always Gray in Winter, as it is also a NetGalley review title and I need to get my NetGalley titles in.

I added:
7. Christmas Present (The Chronicles of St Mary's #4.5) by Jodi Taylor
8. A Literary Christmas Anthology


and
9. Mistletoe Kiss by Marie Landry
10. A Christmas Tale (Pepper and Longstreet) by J.T. Lewis
11. Hope Under Mistletoe (Seasons of Hope #1) by Jessica R. Patch

Audible Review: Fight like a Man: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller by L.L. Akers

This is an engaging, character intensive SHTF story; I enjoyed the characters and the premise.

Fight like a Man: A Post Apocalyptic Thriller

The SHTF Series, Book 1

By: L. L. Akers

Narrated by: Kevin Pierce

Length: 6 hrs and 19 mins

Unabridged

Release date: 10-16-17

Publisher: Scorched Earth Publishing, LLC

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic, Sci Fi

My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Publisher's Summary

As a prepper, Grayson Rowan was prepared for almost anything.

...anything other than being totally alone when the sh*t hits the fan.

While he sat back and watched the United States rattle swords with Korea, play chicken with Russia, and strong-arm China, he felt sure if the lights went out that he and his family would be ready and safe - whether it was due to a natural disaster or a man-made event. They had everything they needed at their homestead.

What he wasn't prepared for was his family not being home if it ever happened.

Olivia Rowan is with her sisters, Gabby and Emma, on a girls-only trip to Myrtle Beach. When chaos erupts and there's no gas, their journey home is a nightmare, filled with predators and danger - and apparently, Olivia hadn't learned a thing her husband tried to teach her.

When your neighbors run out of water and turn on each other, what will you do?

Jake, a country boy mechanic, never believed in TEOTWAWKI, but he'd heard his brother-in-law preach about it many times. He knew what to do, but he didn't prepare. He lazily left it all up to Grayson - he was the prepper after all. When catastrophe strikes, will he continue to keep his head stuck in the sand while his clueless neighbors destroy each other, and his wife is stuck out on the road, or will he stand up and fight like a man?

And if you're alone? Bug in or bug out?

Graysie Rowan, a freshman at university, just wants to go home. When no word comes from the government, and the state capital is overrun with looters, chaos, and mayhem, the college administration puts the students on lockdown. But her dad, Grayson, had prepared her for this. Now, if she can only remember what it was he said to do....

If they want to survive this post-apocalyptic event, they'll all have to learn to fight like a man.

©2017 Lisa L. Akers (P)2017 Lisa L. Akers

Review:
Grayson, a firm prepper, is the ‘patriarch’ of his family and has prepared the family farm so everyone will be taken care of. Although the rest of the family have agreed to prep and the rendezvous plans, they don’t take the threats as seriously as Grayson does. They are all startled … and unfortunately separated… when the grid goes down. Grayson is home alone since his wife and sisters-in-law are 200+ miles away for a girl’s weekend at the beach. His daughter is an hour away at college.

Jake, one of the brothers-in-law, a mechanic, has been experiencing some funky mood that he’s been trying to hide from everyone. He hasn’t had much motivation and it takes him a little time to accept that a SHTF event has occurred. He still doesn’t take the steps he knows need to be done and drags his feet getting on the road to the family farm. Plus he remembers that he got lax on some of the tasks he was supposed to take care of. When he finally gets ready to go he runs into one problem after another.

Grayson’s wife, Olivia, is enjoying the beach with sisters Gabby and Emma. Olivia loves her husband but never really bought into the prepper mode. As the beach resort descends into chaos, Olivia plays ostrich and hides her head in a book on the beach. Gabby is ready to move out and try to get home but is rightfully upset when she discovers she is the only one with her bug out bag. The girls are extremely vulnerable as they try to find a ride home and begin to run into some dregs of society.

Graysie is a freshman at college who is stuck with her clueless roommates. University authorities have told the students to stay put. But after several days, as conditions deteriorate, Graysie decides she is going to get past the security guard to her car and head home.

Everyone may have to "fight like a man" as Grayson has tried to teach them. The story follows all four threads with the fears and dangers the characters face as technology, normalcy and society break down around them. The characters evoked various emotions: curiosity, annoyance, anger, dread, fear, and relief. There are some political statements which didn't bother me but sadly there is unnecessary bad language. There are a few alarming scenes that are consistent with an EOTW scenario. I liked the prepper information, including what could go wrong with the best of plans. I am interested in continuing the series.

Audio Notes: Kevin Pierce has become a reliable sci fi narrator. He doesn’t always provide completely unique voices but he still manages to convey the distinct personalities. The narration enhanced my enjoyment of the story and I hope to continue listening to the series on Audible.

I received this from the narrator for an honest review. It qualifies for my Audiobook Challenge.
This was my first read/listen in November for 2017 #RRSciFiMonth.

Book Review: Trajectory Book 1 (New Providence) by Robert M. Campbell #RRSciFiMonth

This is a character driven, engaging space mystery.

Trajectory Book 1 (New Providence)
by Robert M. Campbell

File Size: 445 KB
Print Length: 236 pages
Publication Date: November 29, 2015
ASIN: B018R7TV5W
Genre: Sci Fi
My Rating: 4.25 of 5.0

Four mining ships are making the slow return to Mars from operations in the asteroid belt. Back on the planet, a group of students discover a mysterious object in space in an impossible orbit. The crew of the Lighthouse space station are shocked by a devastating accident that throws their routine into chaos as they strive to get their ships safely home.

Cut off from Earth, the sub-surface Martian Colony of New Providence suddenly finds itself in peril from something hostile and unknown. Is it alien? Is it an AI from Old Earth? After five generations enduring the harsh conditions on Mars, will the 50,000 citizens of New Providence survive this new and terrifying threat?

Review:
The last remaining humans from earth have colonized Mars. As best they have been able to determine humans were destroyed by AI computers or machines that took control of all facilities on earth. Although the colonists have tablets for information and communication, sharing through an open web or internet is banned. Resources, including water, are scarce on Mars. They use a limited number of space ships to mine outer asteroids to bring desperately needed supplies.

Emma has a father captaining one ship and a boyfriend on another. She and her best friends, Tamra and Greg have discovered movement in space that they believe is suspicious. They report it to one of their professors who passes it on to the Commander of the space station that heads security for the colonists. The discovery is confirmed by the sudden, explosive disappearance of the closest of the four space ships that are returning to Mars. Emma is sent to the space station to help the staff figure out what is happening.

The remaining ships are aware of the explosion and they are warned that the foreign object is matching the trajectory of the next ship in line. The other captains try different tacks hoping to return safely to Mars. The story follows the struggles of the three young people, the station staff and the remaining space crews.

This is an engaging space mystery. The story is character driven with a detailed development of the primary characters and their living circumstances. I was interested in what would happen to the people. I also enjoyed the detail in the world and society created by Mr. Campbell. My only disappointment was that the story ends with a cliffhanger. It does not resolve the current conflict and dilemma. Still, I recommend this to sci fi and mystery readers with the forewarning that you will need book two.

This kicks off my reading for Sci Fi Month #RRSciFiMonth - even though I am more than ½ way through the month! ARGH. I received this as a free download at SciFiExplorations.com.