Dillon and the Voice of Odin by Derrick Ferguson

Written in the fashion of the classic pulp novels made popular by characters such as Doc Savage and The Shadow, author Derrick Ferguson has created a new adventure hero whose toughness and bravado will be long remembered after you finish reading this book.

Dillon is hired to retrieve a ring. There wasn’t supposed to be any trouble. He was told by his client that it was an easy in, easy out retrieval. Dillon finds out rather quickly that nothing is as unproblematic as it first appears. With a huge bounty set on Dillon’s head, he and a reluctant maiden in distress are chased throughout the countryside of England by not only a group of ruthless mercenaries, but also by the British government.

Thing worsen as Odin, a criminal mastermind, uses a destructive weapon to cause havoc around the globe. The world’s governments must turn to one man to bring down Odin and his organization, but with assassins on his trail, you will wonder if Dillon can succeed.

Dillon and the Voice of Odin was simply a thrill ride from beginning to end.

Review of Chronicles of the Liberator by Ronald T. Jones

Thomas Jackson didn't think much of himself or the world around him. As far as Thomas was concern, he was an ordinary man simply living out a life that seems to never change. But on the day he should have died, his life had changed. Transported by alien technology to a space ship, Thomas was told he was to become Earth's savior, but to do this, he must assassinate a ruthless alien leader who wishes to end peace and reignite a war. Thomas has no choice but to agree.

After receiving training, Thomas is taken to a world called Harmony. The Erza who are the inhabitants of Harmony believe that Thomas is their prophesied hero called the Liberator, who would lead them to freedom from foreign invaders.There, Thomas learns first hand the art of war as he struggles to save theErza from ruthless alien leader, Supreme Commander Konif'on, who has aspirationsof rebuilding a grand galactic military.

Author Ronald T. Jones did an excellent job with description, characters and setting the mood throughout the entire story. He actually makes you feel as if you were standing in the middle of a heated conflict as he takes the readerthrough the battle on Harmony. The story's pacing was perfect as Thomas is takenfrom his meager existence on Earth to eventual hero on Harmony.

This is a book that is definitely worth the time to read. Bravo.

Meji Book One by Milton J. Davis

Cursed the day they were born because they were twins, both Obaseki and Ndoro should have been killed. Their father, who wished to have a son more than anything, ordered the death of one of the boys. At great risk to the twins’ mother, Shani, and her two servants, Ndoro and Obaseki were rescued and taken to the village of their grandfather. He faked the death of one son, Obaseki, and gave the other, Ndoro, to his father.

Though shun by his people, Ndoro grew to be a great warrior, while his brother Obaseki inherited an amazing ability that allowed him to interact with the spirits. Neither Ndoro nor Obaseki ever knew of the other's existence. And though their lives had taken different paths, somehow they would suffer the same fate, being feared and hated by their people.

Author Milton Davis has written a fantastic tale that should be required reading. The world and characters he crafted was brought to life with his vivid details and believable circumstances. I felt for the two brothers throughout the story. I'm looking forward to reading book two in the series. I highly recommend you read Meji Book One.

In the Night of the Heat by Blair Underwood, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes

Tennyson Hardwick has struggled to live a normal life, raising a teenager, living with his wheelchair bound father and trying to get a grasp of being romantically involved with one woman. That simple life is rudely interrupted when football legend T. D. Jackson who has received several threats after his acquittal for murder, asked Tennyson, an old college acquaintance, to look into these threats. Tennyson turns him down flat, but later regrets that decision when Jackson is found dead, presumably because he has committed suicide in his own home.

Hired by T. D’s father to investigate the death, Tennyson quickly discovers that things aren’t what they appear to be. The truth behind the football legend’s death surrounds an old football game that dates back to the late 1960’s. No one involved with the game wants to talk about the old days, not even T. D’s father. At the same time, Tennyson is trying to deal with his recent split with his girlfriend of the past year, April, who has taken a job in Africa.

Authors Blair Underwood, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes did an excellent job with this book. The story has everything you need for a great mystery, suspense, action and clues that truly make sense by the end of the novel. I had a hard time putting ‘In the Night of the Heat: A Tennyson Hardwick Novel’ down at times, especially at the end, where the excitement and tension had me glued to my chair. This is book two 2 in the series, but you don’t necessarily have to read the first one to enjoy this but, though I do recommend you do.

The Doomsday Key by James Rollins

In my opinion, The Doomsday Key, is one of the best of the series. Once again, the evil criminal network that has caused so much trouble for Sigma Force has hacked a new scheme--one that could wipe out a large number of the world's population. Sigma Force, struggling to redeem itself in the eyes of its own government, must take steps to stop the coming disaster.

As always with James Rollins Sigma Force novels, he has two stories involving different team members, which eventually converges. Grayson Pierce must trust an old enemy, who may or may not be an ally. Painter Crowe, who has been inches for field work through several books finally gets his chance. Investigating several murders across three continents, Crowe attempts to interview a corporation head, who has openly suggested he would like to institute methods of controlling the world’s population. Several attempts are made of Crowe’s life.

James Rollins did a fantastic job with The Doomsday Key. If you’re a fan of fast-pace action and history then this book is for you.

Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry

I was hesitant to buy Patient Zero at first because I’m not into zombie stories. I went so far that I didn’t even bother to pick the book up from the store shelves to read the back of the book blurb. But one day I was desperately looking for something different to read and nothing seemed to be appealing to me. Despite my reservations, I cracked open Patient Zero and read the opening paragraph:

When you have to kill the same terrorist twice in one week, then there’s either something wrong with your skills or something wrong with your world.
And there’s nothing wrong with my skills.

To my surprise, I liked what I read and immediately turned the book over to read the description. The author, Jonathan Maberry, introduces Baltimore police detective Joe Ledger, who is reluctantly recruited by an ultra-secret government organization called the Department of Military Science (DMS) just when a terrorist group is on the verge of releasing a bio-weapon so deadly that it could kill everyone on the planet. Worse yet, the bio-weapon didn’t simply kill someone; it radically altered human DNA and changed people into vicious zombies.

What won me over with Patient Zero was that the story focused on not the zombies themselves, but the minds behind the horrifying threat to the world and the organization out to stop the outbreak. Jonathan Maberry went to great lengths to give a realistic take on the story, to the point where you might wonder if such a thing could actually happen.

The Joe Ledger series has definitely made it to my list of books I look forward to reading. Look for the second book in this wonderful series called, The Dragon Factory.

Known to Evil by Walter Mosley

Mosley has another winner on his hand with Known to Evil, which continues the story of private investigator Leonid McGill. As a favor for a powerful man, Leonid agrees to check on the welfare of a young woman, but when he arrives to her apartment building, Leonid immediately becomes a person of interest in a police murder investigation. In the apartment where Leonid was headed, a woman and a man are found dead. To prove his innocence to the police, Leonid must find out everything he can about the young woman he was supposed to have checked on, despite the adamant instructions made by the powerful man for him not to.

Leonid is also dealing with problems in his personal life. He believes his wife is having another secret affair, his ex-girl friend is dating a man, who is trying to force Leonid out of the office building, and his two sons have disappeared with a young Russian prostitute.

Mosley’s ease of writing these two unconnected stories and having Leonid deal with them makes him a master at his craft. Known to Evil was a much stronger book than the first, mostly because the readers knows Leonid McGill and the sub-characters at this point, which didn’t require Mosley to go into any deep back story on the cast of characters.