Maria Savva's Blog - Posts Tagged "maisie"
New releases by talented independent authors
You probably hear about the new releases from the big publishing houses, but you may miss announcements from independent authors about their new books. I've heard about a few new releases from some of my favourite indie authors in the past few months, so I thought it would be nice to promote them here.
I haven't read any of them yet, but I know that these authors usually write stuff that I enjoy. I hope you'll find something in the list to add to your to-read lists.
Maisie - by Julie Elizabeth Powell
About the book:
Maisie is special. Yes, she is blind, yes she’s an orphan and yes, few know her roots. But inside, she sparkles, more than an angel, more than those majestic stars that layer the universe in glory. Some see this sparkle while others deny its existence and insist she is nothing more than a brat, one that even her own parents didn’t want.
Maisie also has a secret. One she’d never share because if she did, she knew they’d lock her away in one of those places the others talked about - where all the weird people go.
Even Maisie doesn’t understand it all, but knows that one day she’ll meet the woman and the boy...those that she believes are part of her dreams, in a land where she can see, where colours are vibrant and the moon shines as bright as the sun.
What is the truth, and will Maisie ever find it?
Buy the book:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B073...
*********************************
The Glass City, by Jen Knox
About the book:
WINNER of Prize Americana for Prose, Jen Knox’s The Glass City is a shrewd yet playful collection that explores the dangers of extremes with a subtle, skillful elegance. In these sixteen stories, weather becomes a mirror for the internal struggles of Knox’s indelible cast of characters. An aging acrobat looks for connectivity online as her city floods, two sisters are tasked to spread their mother's ashes on flowers that no longer exist, a man's scars become tattoos as he attempts to outrun truth, a reluctant host shares an island's secrets, and families survive natural disasters that shake out lies and bury inhibitions.
Buy the book:
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/099...
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0...
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0996...
******************************
Tipping Point, by Terry Tyler
About the book:
'I didn't know danger was floating behind us on the breeze as we walked along the beach, seeping in through the windows of our picture postcard life.'
The year is 2024. A new social networking site bursts onto the scene. Private Life promises total privacy, with freebies and financial incentives for all. Across the world, a record number of users sign up.
A deadly virus is discovered in a little known African province, and it's spreading—fast. The UK announces a countrywide vaccination programme. Members of underground group Unicorn believe the disease to be man-made, and that the people are being fed lies driven by a vast conspiracy.
Vicky Keating's boyfriend, Dex, is working for Unicorn over two hundred miles away when the first UK outbreak is detected in her home town of Shipden, on the Norfolk coast. The town is placed under military controlled quarantine and, despite official assurances that there is no need for panic, within days the virus is unstoppable.
In London, Travis begins to question the nature of the top secret data analysis project he is working on, while in Newcastle there are scores to be settled...
This is the first book in the Project Renova series; the second, Lindisfarne, is due to be published in September 2017, with the final instalment in the middle of 2018. A collection of outtake short stories, Patient Zero, is in progress, and should be available around December 2017.
Buy the book:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B074...
**********************************
CONDEMNED: An Overview of Execution Methods Throughout History, by Darcia Helle
About the book:
Non-fiction: From hangings to beheading to lethal injections, Condemned brilliantly outlines the shocking, often-cruel conduits connecting early execution methods with modern-day executioners.
Buy the book:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07562J92P
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07562J92P
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07562J92P
*********************************
The Book of a Thousand and One Destinies, by Gareth Lewis
About the book:
A paranoid Sultan, an Assassin found only in stories, and a Storyteller caught up in their battle.
Once upon a time, a great Sultan was plagued by an Assassin who struck at him with stories and lies. A young Storyteller is gathered with her colleagues, and forced to share her stories with the Sultan before their voices are stilled forever.
In a war of destinies, enslaved jinn, and comparative truths, the Storyteller must tread dangerous ground in what may be her final recital.
A fantasy novella.
Buy the book:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Thousand-...
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Thousan...
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Book-Thousand-O...
******************************
Incognito, by Khaled Talib
About the book:
Specialist Ayden Tanner is dispatched by a covert division of the global hacker group, Anonymous, to find the pope who is missing.
A frantic search begins in Italy and beyond its borders amid speculation that the Holy See may know more than they are telling.
Buy the book:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Incognito-Khal...
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Incognito-Kh...
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Incognito-Khale...
*************************************
Femme Fatale, by Dominic Piper
About the book:
When private investigator Daniel Beckett foils an assault on a young girl in London’s West End, it leads to an offer of work from a sinister and unlikely source in Soho’s Chinatown.
But what starts out as a straightforward missing persons’ case soon takes on a more ominous aspect as he discovers a trail of blackmail, sadistic violence, conspiracy and murder, plus an influential, privileged and poisonous presence that seems to permeate all spheres of society.
The perpetrators, however, are not expecting to encounter an individual like Beckett; an intelligent, amoral and fearless individual with a skill-set that points to a covert and violent past.
Acquiring an entrancing and mysterious female associate, his investigation leads him into London’s electrifying burlesque scene where it seems some of the answers may lie.
But no one is as they seem, and the truth is unexpected and disturbing.
Femme Fatale is the third novel by Dominic Piper featuring private investigator Daniel Beckett.
Buy the book:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B073...
******************************
I haven't read any of them yet, but I know that these authors usually write stuff that I enjoy. I hope you'll find something in the list to add to your to-read lists.
Maisie - by Julie Elizabeth Powell
About the book:
Maisie is special. Yes, she is blind, yes she’s an orphan and yes, few know her roots. But inside, she sparkles, more than an angel, more than those majestic stars that layer the universe in glory. Some see this sparkle while others deny its existence and insist she is nothing more than a brat, one that even her own parents didn’t want.
Maisie also has a secret. One she’d never share because if she did, she knew they’d lock her away in one of those places the others talked about - where all the weird people go.
Even Maisie doesn’t understand it all, but knows that one day she’ll meet the woman and the boy...those that she believes are part of her dreams, in a land where she can see, where colours are vibrant and the moon shines as bright as the sun.
What is the truth, and will Maisie ever find it?
Buy the book:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B073...
*********************************
The Glass City, by Jen Knox
About the book:
WINNER of Prize Americana for Prose, Jen Knox’s The Glass City is a shrewd yet playful collection that explores the dangers of extremes with a subtle, skillful elegance. In these sixteen stories, weather becomes a mirror for the internal struggles of Knox’s indelible cast of characters. An aging acrobat looks for connectivity online as her city floods, two sisters are tasked to spread their mother's ashes on flowers that no longer exist, a man's scars become tattoos as he attempts to outrun truth, a reluctant host shares an island's secrets, and families survive natural disasters that shake out lies and bury inhibitions.
Buy the book:
Amazon US https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/099...
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0...
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/0996...
******************************
Tipping Point, by Terry Tyler
About the book:
'I didn't know danger was floating behind us on the breeze as we walked along the beach, seeping in through the windows of our picture postcard life.'
The year is 2024. A new social networking site bursts onto the scene. Private Life promises total privacy, with freebies and financial incentives for all. Across the world, a record number of users sign up.
A deadly virus is discovered in a little known African province, and it's spreading—fast. The UK announces a countrywide vaccination programme. Members of underground group Unicorn believe the disease to be man-made, and that the people are being fed lies driven by a vast conspiracy.
Vicky Keating's boyfriend, Dex, is working for Unicorn over two hundred miles away when the first UK outbreak is detected in her home town of Shipden, on the Norfolk coast. The town is placed under military controlled quarantine and, despite official assurances that there is no need for panic, within days the virus is unstoppable.
In London, Travis begins to question the nature of the top secret data analysis project he is working on, while in Newcastle there are scores to be settled...
This is the first book in the Project Renova series; the second, Lindisfarne, is due to be published in September 2017, with the final instalment in the middle of 2018. A collection of outtake short stories, Patient Zero, is in progress, and should be available around December 2017.
Buy the book:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B074...
**********************************
CONDEMNED: An Overview of Execution Methods Throughout History, by Darcia Helle
About the book:
Non-fiction: From hangings to beheading to lethal injections, Condemned brilliantly outlines the shocking, often-cruel conduits connecting early execution methods with modern-day executioners.
Buy the book:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07562J92P
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07562J92P
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07562J92P
*********************************
The Book of a Thousand and One Destinies, by Gareth Lewis
About the book:
A paranoid Sultan, an Assassin found only in stories, and a Storyteller caught up in their battle.
Once upon a time, a great Sultan was plagued by an Assassin who struck at him with stories and lies. A young Storyteller is gathered with her colleagues, and forced to share her stories with the Sultan before their voices are stilled forever.
In a war of destinies, enslaved jinn, and comparative truths, the Storyteller must tread dangerous ground in what may be her final recital.
A fantasy novella.
Buy the book:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Book-Thousand-...
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Book-Thousan...
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Book-Thousand-O...
******************************
Incognito, by Khaled Talib
About the book:
Specialist Ayden Tanner is dispatched by a covert division of the global hacker group, Anonymous, to find the pope who is missing.
A frantic search begins in Italy and beyond its borders amid speculation that the Holy See may know more than they are telling.
Buy the book:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/Incognito-Khal...
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Incognito-Kh...
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/Incognito-Khale...
*************************************
Femme Fatale, by Dominic Piper
About the book:
When private investigator Daniel Beckett foils an assault on a young girl in London’s West End, it leads to an offer of work from a sinister and unlikely source in Soho’s Chinatown.
But what starts out as a straightforward missing persons’ case soon takes on a more ominous aspect as he discovers a trail of blackmail, sadistic violence, conspiracy and murder, plus an influential, privileged and poisonous presence that seems to permeate all spheres of society.
The perpetrators, however, are not expecting to encounter an individual like Beckett; an intelligent, amoral and fearless individual with a skill-set that points to a covert and violent past.
Acquiring an entrancing and mysterious female associate, his investigation leads him into London’s electrifying burlesque scene where it seems some of the answers may lie.
But no one is as they seem, and the truth is unexpected and disturbing.
Femme Fatale is the third novel by Dominic Piper featuring private investigator Daniel Beckett.
Buy the book:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B073...
******************************
Book Review: Maisie, by Julie Elizabeth Powell
Maisie by Julie Elizabeth PowellMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
"Maisie" is a story that would appeal to older children and young adults. It's a fantasy adventure that begins in the real world and takes the reader to another realm, Mageia. Julie Elizabeth Powell is one of the most imaginative writers I know, and in this book she has excelled herself with a fantastical story that challenges the way we view the world.
There are two characters in "Maisie" who will be familiar to fans of the author. Jorga originally appeared in the novel "Of Sound Mind" as did the world of Mageia. The other character, Adam, first appeared in "Lost Shadows". Adam plays a pivotal role in "Maisie".
Maisie is a seven-year-old blind girl, although while dreaming and while in the mystical land of Mageia she is able to see clearly. It's often hard to remember that Maisie is a child, when reading the story, due to the way she interacts with other characters but the reason behind this is cleverly revealed towards the end of the book. In this fantasy tale, the young girl soon starts to realise that she has many magical powers. For a seven year old all of the new discoveries are quite bewildering and confusing. The author portrays this brilliantly.
We follow Maisie in this adventure where she discovers that her destiny is to enter a strange new world and fight against the evil powers that threaten to destroy everything. She meets many colourful characters along the way, including fairies, elves, and giants. She is caught up in a win or lose situation and is helped along the way by a magical collection of characters that have a deeper connection to her than she knows.
One thing this author does well, and something that is a hallmark of her work, is introducing and developing multiple characters each with their own distinct quirks and foibles. It really is a skill and is not easy to master. There were a couple of times where I lost track of which character was speaking, but it didn't affect my enjoyment of this intricate tale.
The story moves at a fast and furious pace and is full of intrigue, danger, and magic. It's a wondrous adventure. The story flows well and introduces some interesting ideas about life and death, past lives and mortality.
Recommended for fantasy fans.
View all my reviews
