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Faulty Bones
Destined love thwarted by a supernatural con game.
Two bankrupt card players, lured by black magic and a casino-chip counterfeiting scam, get lost within the folds of a world no longer true.
Faulty Bones follows the journey of Mike and Amy--a couple of restless drifters who misdirect their anchors to the shifty part of town. Can they overcome her gambling addiction and his tenuous grasp of reality to find their way back on the grid? A pair of scheming mobsters, a demonic con man, and a series of ripples in the sands of time won't make the going easy.
Nothing proves to be as it seems in this novel, and that's the essence of a good scam. Are you a clever enough detective to guess the secrets before they're revealed?
Categories: contemporary, romance, time travel, fantasy, mystery, noir fiction, and suspense.
Two bankrupt card players, lured by black magic and a casino-chip counterfeiting scam, get lost within the folds of a world no longer true.
Faulty Bones follows the journey of Mike and Amy--a couple of restless drifters who misdirect their anchors to the shifty part of town. Can they overcome her gambling addiction and his tenuous grasp of reality to find their way back on the grid? A pair of scheming mobsters, a demonic con man, and a series of ripples in the sands of time won't make the going easy.
Nothing proves to be as it seems in this novel, and that's the essence of a good scam. Are you a clever enough detective to guess the secrets before they're revealed?
Categories: contemporary, romance, time travel, fantasy, mystery, noir fiction, and suspense.
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 16, 2016
3 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
J.M. Fraser
3 books7 followersI'm a businessman, family man, fitness nut (4,000 miles walked in '16 and '19) and a writer. Married many years with two wonderful daughters a grandson, and a small menagerie of pets.
My novels explore the collision of our everyday world with a secret dimension where time travel is commonplace and supernatural creatures abound. The heroes are befuddled. Heroines spunky. And my stories examine how these poor souls try to process the impossible events taking over their lives.
My novels explore the collision of our everyday world with a secret dimension where time travel is commonplace and supernatural creatures abound. The heroes are befuddled. Heroines spunky. And my stories examine how these poor souls try to process the impossible events taking over their lives.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
February 2, 2017
What happened in New Orleans at Snake Eyes Casino the day before Memorial Day? A local card player named Mike had been living on the edge, to the point he’d been sleeping in the backseat of his car. But now he’s clearly fallen off, tumbling backward through time, encountering a chain-smoking metaphysical tour guide at every turn when he isn’t bumping heads with luckless Amy.
As for Amy, she’s living in an ordinary world, one with no hint of the supernatural other than the demons fueling her gambling addiction and reckless lifestyle. She falls hard for Mike, oblivious to his predicament, and he falls for her, desperate to claw himself forward in time to help get her out of the jam she’s gotten into.
Amy is passing counterfeit chips at casinos for a couple of Russian mobsters. She’s one misstep away from either prison time or the wrong end of a meat cleaver.
Faulty Bones is a hoot. The author has a way with words and plenty of humor to go along with them. I read an article likening this novel to a shaggy dog story, and I can see the resemblance to such classics as Alice’s Restaurant or any one of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Woebegone tales. Those stories, like this one, are all about the voice. All about the ride. I found elements of Rounders in the interesting, well-explained, and easy to understand poker hands, a dash of Memento in Mike’s backward descent through time, and even a bit of old-time detective novels in the seediness of the card-playing locales.
Both Mike and Amy present their sometimes intersecting and often worlds-apart stories in engaging first person present narratives that have me lingering on various passages before turning the page. The experience is like drinking two beers, the first for thirst and the second for taste.
Loved this story from start to finish
As for Amy, she’s living in an ordinary world, one with no hint of the supernatural other than the demons fueling her gambling addiction and reckless lifestyle. She falls hard for Mike, oblivious to his predicament, and he falls for her, desperate to claw himself forward in time to help get her out of the jam she’s gotten into.
Amy is passing counterfeit chips at casinos for a couple of Russian mobsters. She’s one misstep away from either prison time or the wrong end of a meat cleaver.
Faulty Bones is a hoot. The author has a way with words and plenty of humor to go along with them. I read an article likening this novel to a shaggy dog story, and I can see the resemblance to such classics as Alice’s Restaurant or any one of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Woebegone tales. Those stories, like this one, are all about the voice. All about the ride. I found elements of Rounders in the interesting, well-explained, and easy to understand poker hands, a dash of Memento in Mike’s backward descent through time, and even a bit of old-time detective novels in the seediness of the card-playing locales.
Both Mike and Amy present their sometimes intersecting and often worlds-apart stories in engaging first person present narratives that have me lingering on various passages before turning the page. The experience is like drinking two beers, the first for thirst and the second for taste.
Loved this story from start to finish
August 18, 2017
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
This wasn't necessarily a bad book, it was well written and I can see how a lot of people would enjoy it but it just wasn't for me. I will say one thing for it, the time travel was pretty well done. I'm so nit-picky when it comes to time travel plots because usually the author doesn't even try to make it make sense and there's all kinds of plot holes and 'well if they changed this then that wouldn't have happened in the first place', but this book seems to have a pretty solid time travel loop set out, even if I did lose track of the days a couple of times.
The rest of it was kind of all over the place though and I feel like the author just tried to do too many things in one book. SPOILERS AHEAD. For the first half it's pretty solid, if a little bit slow, with the time travel thing + the whole sordid junkie romance angle. But then about half way through it's revealed that the guy the main character thought was a demon/the devil is actually a djinn that is for some reason working as a cupid and also is trying to turn the main character into a djin/cupid to take his place??? For me it kind of all just spiraled out of control from there. Add in the big reveal that the mob guy was actually the main girl's dad plus a few other weird things and it was just all too much for me.
It was definitely unique though, I just didn't enjoy it enough to bump it up to 3 stars. Yet another situation where half stars would really come in handy.
This wasn't necessarily a bad book, it was well written and I can see how a lot of people would enjoy it but it just wasn't for me. I will say one thing for it, the time travel was pretty well done. I'm so nit-picky when it comes to time travel plots because usually the author doesn't even try to make it make sense and there's all kinds of plot holes and 'well if they changed this then that wouldn't have happened in the first place', but this book seems to have a pretty solid time travel loop set out, even if I did lose track of the days a couple of times.
The rest of it was kind of all over the place though and I feel like the author just tried to do too many things in one book. SPOILERS AHEAD. For the first half it's pretty solid, if a little bit slow, with the time travel thing + the whole sordid junkie romance angle. But then about half way through it's revealed that the guy the main character thought was a demon/the devil is actually a djinn that is for some reason working as a cupid and also is trying to turn the main character into a djin/cupid to take his place??? For me it kind of all just spiraled out of control from there. Add in the big reveal that the mob guy was actually the main girl's dad plus a few other weird things and it was just all too much for me.
It was definitely unique though, I just didn't enjoy it enough to bump it up to 3 stars. Yet another situation where half stars would really come in handy.
April 21, 2017
Wow! I was captivated by the cover and intrigued by the title so I decided to give this book a try. I have to admit I wasn't sold on the present tense and narrator change at first. Not to mention that the subject of Poker is not something I know anything about or care about, but something kept me interested and would push me to keep reading. Something was telling me there was more to it and I should continue.
And I'm so glad I did! What a book! I absolutely loved it! I liked how twisted and tangled the story turned out to be but how it managed to remain clear and not confuse the reader. I also loved the mystery and uncertainty regarding if what I was reading was real or just the hallucinations of a mad man. And it managed to end in a very satisfactory way.
I highly recommend giving this one a try! At the very least you'll get a highly interesting glimpse into a different point of view.
And I'm so glad I did! What a book! I absolutely loved it! I liked how twisted and tangled the story turned out to be but how it managed to remain clear and not confuse the reader. I also loved the mystery and uncertainty regarding if what I was reading was real or just the hallucinations of a mad man. And it managed to end in a very satisfactory way.
I highly recommend giving this one a try! At the very least you'll get a highly interesting glimpse into a different point of view.
September 3, 2017
This is a difficult book to both rate and genre place. Faulty bones is about two professional gamblers/drifters (Amy and Mike) crashing through life without having much to show for it, who team up in this story to try and survive and get loads of cash. So far so good.
I'm going to do my best to not add a spoiler, as for me, what I enjoyed was trying to figure out what was going on. I didn't read any other reviews or blurbs, I jumped straight in. And this is a modern day story, with for me little hints or flavours of stories like Fight Club and the insomnia type film Memento starring Guy Pearce, where you know something is-a-miss but can't quite work out what it is. So was fun trying to guess what oddity we was seeing.
The initial story is of these two down on their luck poker players, that get roped into a mafia type scam, and find themselves getting deeper and deeper into trouble. So we have a caper type scam story, which later stumbles into fantasy territory. Enough said by me, as I said, I'm not adding spoilers.
But I'm giving this story three stars, which is still a 'Liked it' rating. Just a lot of character, relationship reveals towards the end I felt all got a bit much and disappointing for me at the end. Would of been better in my opinion with one or two less, kept it more realistic and grounded, twist us readers more in later books maybe if the author feels the need too.
But still an interesting, caper type modern day book worth a read.
I'm going to do my best to not add a spoiler, as for me, what I enjoyed was trying to figure out what was going on. I didn't read any other reviews or blurbs, I jumped straight in. And this is a modern day story, with for me little hints or flavours of stories like Fight Club and the insomnia type film Memento starring Guy Pearce, where you know something is-a-miss but can't quite work out what it is. So was fun trying to guess what oddity we was seeing.
The initial story is of these two down on their luck poker players, that get roped into a mafia type scam, and find themselves getting deeper and deeper into trouble. So we have a caper type scam story, which later stumbles into fantasy territory. Enough said by me, as I said, I'm not adding spoilers.
But I'm giving this story three stars, which is still a 'Liked it' rating. Just a lot of character, relationship reveals towards the end I felt all got a bit much and disappointing for me at the end. Would of been better in my opinion with one or two less, kept it more realistic and grounded, twist us readers more in later books maybe if the author feels the need too.
But still an interesting, caper type modern day book worth a read.
April 27, 2017
This was the first book I have read from this author . I was so intrigued by the premise of the book but when I started to read . I just couldn't get into the story line . For me I felt like it dragged at the beginning and a bit confusing . We have one person traveling back and another person going forward in time . I just felt like it was a bit confusing . I actually put it down and walked away for awhile .
The premise of the story is good and the characters are on the way to being developed characters and once you understand them . You really start to like them and they start to become favourites of yours .
The author has a style of writing that tows the line between fantasy and reality . By the second half of the book it really hits his stride . The author starts to really take the characters in the direction they need to be . There are some twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat .
And go omg I never saw that coming .
Over all this was a good book and I would like to see where it goes in the trilogy . I know the author would grow and bring his characters along with him . So if you want to take a chance on a supernatural book with a twist . Check it out
I was graciously given this book for my honest review . by the publisher
The premise of the story is good and the characters are on the way to being developed characters and once you understand them . You really start to like them and they start to become favourites of yours .
The author has a style of writing that tows the line between fantasy and reality . By the second half of the book it really hits his stride . The author starts to really take the characters in the direction they need to be . There are some twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat .
And go omg I never saw that coming .
Over all this was a good book and I would like to see where it goes in the trilogy . I know the author would grow and bring his characters along with him . So if you want to take a chance on a supernatural book with a twist . Check it out
I was graciously given this book for my honest review . by the publisher
February 7, 2017
So I'm on a plane and the guy reading a book across the aisle starts laughing. I glance at the cover, catch the title, and download it when we land. That's how I stumbled across one of the most entertaining novels I've read in a while.
Faulty Bones is so many things. I could go on and on about the steep character arcs and how Mike and Amy overcome their flaws to become more and more likable with each turn of the page. Or the unique storyline with its many interesting twists and turns. But style is what hooked me more than anything else. Faulty Bones is so YA for an adult novel, and I loved that.
J.M. Fraser's style has a fluidity I've seldom seen--from the snappy dialogue to the exquisitely timed delivery of occasional comedic lines (that guy on the plane was laughing out loud for good reason) to the way the characters often seamlessly move from one scene to the next without the annoying *** breaks most writers use. Not to mention first person narrative from Two points of view where you're never confused over who's doing the talking.
Were there any issues? Only a couple minor ones. Although an engaging character in his own right, Mike doesn't have the ability to light up a room just by being there the way Amy does. So when he introduces himself at the start of the novel with a couple pages of mostly inner thought, some potential readers might conclude the story won't be well paced. Believe me. It is.
Also, there's a timeline difference between Mike's point of view and Amy's. This does cause a smidgen of confusion for the first couple chapters. Westworld fans won't mind this at all, but others might wonder what's going on. Best bet here is to settle into each of the two stories. They'll intersect at times and they'll be worlds apart at other times, but each is fascinating, and the bond between Mike and Amy transcends the time differences, linking these two memorable characters in an amazing way.
I wouldn't be surprised to see a list of classics twenty years from now and find Faulty Bones on it. That's how good this novel is.
Faulty Bones is so many things. I could go on and on about the steep character arcs and how Mike and Amy overcome their flaws to become more and more likable with each turn of the page. Or the unique storyline with its many interesting twists and turns. But style is what hooked me more than anything else. Faulty Bones is so YA for an adult novel, and I loved that.
J.M. Fraser's style has a fluidity I've seldom seen--from the snappy dialogue to the exquisitely timed delivery of occasional comedic lines (that guy on the plane was laughing out loud for good reason) to the way the characters often seamlessly move from one scene to the next without the annoying *** breaks most writers use. Not to mention first person narrative from Two points of view where you're never confused over who's doing the talking.
Were there any issues? Only a couple minor ones. Although an engaging character in his own right, Mike doesn't have the ability to light up a room just by being there the way Amy does. So when he introduces himself at the start of the novel with a couple pages of mostly inner thought, some potential readers might conclude the story won't be well paced. Believe me. It is.
Also, there's a timeline difference between Mike's point of view and Amy's. This does cause a smidgen of confusion for the first couple chapters. Westworld fans won't mind this at all, but others might wonder what's going on. Best bet here is to settle into each of the two stories. They'll intersect at times and they'll be worlds apart at other times, but each is fascinating, and the bond between Mike and Amy transcends the time differences, linking these two memorable characters in an amazing way.
I wouldn't be surprised to see a list of classics twenty years from now and find Faulty Bones on it. That's how good this novel is.
May 4, 2017
Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in return for an honest review. I wavered between 2 & 3 stars but ultimately settled on the former because I had a difficult time remaining engaged through a big chunk of the story. I'm not much of a fantasy fan so perhaps this played a part in my lack of overall enjoyment.
I was eager to read Faulty Bones based on its intriguing description and I also just love a good time travel story. I guess I was hoping for more time travel and probably could have done with less poker. Where things fell short for me was the slow pace - it took almost half the book before any explanations or juicy details were revealed. Perhaps a stronger focus on character development rather than the ins and outs of poker might have drawn me in. I also found the first few chapters somewhat confusing, which prevented me from investing wholeheartedly into the plot right from the start. Although poker is not a topic I'm very interested in, the author clearly knew a lot about it. Unfortunately many of the references were lost on me.
The story improved a lot during the second half of the book. The plot became clearer and many twists and turns were thrown in - a couple that I wasn't expecting. Had the first half of the book had been more in line with second half, I would have enjoyed the story much more.
I was eager to read Faulty Bones based on its intriguing description and I also just love a good time travel story. I guess I was hoping for more time travel and probably could have done with less poker. Where things fell short for me was the slow pace - it took almost half the book before any explanations or juicy details were revealed. Perhaps a stronger focus on character development rather than the ins and outs of poker might have drawn me in. I also found the first few chapters somewhat confusing, which prevented me from investing wholeheartedly into the plot right from the start. Although poker is not a topic I'm very interested in, the author clearly knew a lot about it. Unfortunately many of the references were lost on me.
The story improved a lot during the second half of the book. The plot became clearer and many twists and turns were thrown in - a couple that I wasn't expecting. Had the first half of the book had been more in line with second half, I would have enjoyed the story much more.
September 27, 2017
I'm giving the book a Goodreads 2 star "It was okay". The book and I have had a very complicated few weeks. There were points where I loved it. Points where I hated it. And overall, I was furious at the author for not _trusting_ the reader instead of spilling the beans about a very major plot point in chapter 3. (I think it was chapter 3, when the girl first took over and explained what was so odd and weird about the main character.)
I think Fraser has a lot of talent. And I think "Faulty Bones" deserved about 3 or 4 more rewrites and a strong editorial hand that let the story play out better. I loved the writing but neither the story nor the execution did anything for me. I will be looking out for more works in the future to see if he/she has grown and matured in the storytelling.
Received courtesy of Netgalley for honest review
I think Fraser has a lot of talent. And I think "Faulty Bones" deserved about 3 or 4 more rewrites and a strong editorial hand that let the story play out better. I loved the writing but neither the story nor the execution did anything for me. I will be looking out for more works in the future to see if he/she has grown and matured in the storytelling.
Received courtesy of Netgalley for honest review
March 26, 2017
A true mind boggle. It took me a bit to figure out what was going on. The name changes threw me for a loop and the scene changes were a little confusing, but that was the point of it all. This was a crazy ride and I would read it all again. Thanks to the Author for this great read.
March 13, 2017
Not my usual line of reading but I was so happy to have got this one! It would of been my loss not to have read such a very different and very entertaining novel! From the first page to the last you have so many things happening you can only hang on for the ride of enjoyment. You laugh and then you wonder. This author really has a great way of telling a story that helps a person who has little or no experience in gambling understand what is happening. It is witty and has great characters and completely a great read! A way of writing that is young and fresh and just keeps you wanting more.
I was given this book in return for an honest review. Anna Swedenmom
I was given this book in return for an honest review. Anna Swedenmom
February 25, 2017
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review, written and posted on the San Francisco Book Review Site (http://sanfranciscobookreview.com/).
Mike’s a career poker player who’s reached the bottom of the deck. Moving from casino to casino, his goal is to win enough money to buy into the World Championship of Poker tournament in Las Vegas. Amy’s a desperate gambler who forms a reluctant partnership with a pair of Russian mobsters in an effort to break an eleven-month losing streak. Now, thanks to the machinations of an enigmatic character named Runbad, Mike and Amy find themselves thrown together into a circumstantial whirlwind of love and money. The catch? Amy’s moving forward in time, like a normal person, but thanks to Runbad’s supernatural jiggering, Mike’s going backwards. And if he ever wants to have a life with Amy, he’ll have to unravel Runbad’s compromised timeline without getting himself dead in the process.
Like any poker game, you have to keep your eyes on this story, otherwise you’ll be running to catch up. The complexities involved with one character moving forward in time while another simultaneously moves backwards, are handled with admirable skill by Fraser. Yet the mantel of undeserved heroism that he forces down the reader’s throat at the end of the story leaves you with a disappointed taste in your mouth.
Mike’s a career poker player who’s reached the bottom of the deck. Moving from casino to casino, his goal is to win enough money to buy into the World Championship of Poker tournament in Las Vegas. Amy’s a desperate gambler who forms a reluctant partnership with a pair of Russian mobsters in an effort to break an eleven-month losing streak. Now, thanks to the machinations of an enigmatic character named Runbad, Mike and Amy find themselves thrown together into a circumstantial whirlwind of love and money. The catch? Amy’s moving forward in time, like a normal person, but thanks to Runbad’s supernatural jiggering, Mike’s going backwards. And if he ever wants to have a life with Amy, he’ll have to unravel Runbad’s compromised timeline without getting himself dead in the process.
Like any poker game, you have to keep your eyes on this story, otherwise you’ll be running to catch up. The complexities involved with one character moving forward in time while another simultaneously moves backwards, are handled with admirable skill by Fraser. Yet the mantel of undeserved heroism that he forces down the reader’s throat at the end of the story leaves you with a disappointed taste in your mouth.
January 31, 2017
This wasn’t my typical read. What I know about gambling is close to nothing, yet I didn’t feel out of my depth. The author kept cluing me in, and the hero and heroine’s first and subsequent encounters compelled me to find out what would happen next. Mike is a down-and-out gambler living in his car and hoping he can set things right with his next poker game. He meets Amy in a New Orleans casino and she scams him out of $200. Then when he meets her again and she has no memory of him. Why? Because against his will or understanding, Mike is tumbling back and forth in time.
I love a good mystery, and if magic’s involved, it’s even better, but what pulled me into this story most was Amy. She’s spunky and certain no matter how bad her circumstances are that she can save others. When she looks at Mike, she sees a guy worth jumping into crazy-hot-water for. That said, Amy gets into trouble everywhere as she tries to understand and care for others: from a creepy Russian mobster, to a homeless panhandler, to a grieving wannabe-terrorist, to Mike himself. She’s a misunderstood and sometimes too-funny force of good, which from her point of view works. It worked for me, too. She’s the wild, off-the-wall friend many of us probably remember fondly. Her comments and world view inspired laughter and then reflection.
Mystery, romance and humor flowed together in this story like butter and salt on State Fair sweet corn. In my humble opinion, Faulty Bones is definitely worth reading.
I love a good mystery, and if magic’s involved, it’s even better, but what pulled me into this story most was Amy. She’s spunky and certain no matter how bad her circumstances are that she can save others. When she looks at Mike, she sees a guy worth jumping into crazy-hot-water for. That said, Amy gets into trouble everywhere as she tries to understand and care for others: from a creepy Russian mobster, to a homeless panhandler, to a grieving wannabe-terrorist, to Mike himself. She’s a misunderstood and sometimes too-funny force of good, which from her point of view works. It worked for me, too. She’s the wild, off-the-wall friend many of us probably remember fondly. Her comments and world view inspired laughter and then reflection.
Mystery, romance and humor flowed together in this story like butter and salt on State Fair sweet corn. In my humble opinion, Faulty Bones is definitely worth reading.
June 26, 2017
When I first started reading Faulty Bones, I was extremely confused and disappointed. Not being a poker player, I thought that there was way too much poker jargon; I didn't understand half of what was going on when Mike, one of the main characters, entered the casino. I had a very tough time getting through the first few chapters and almost chalked it up as a DNF several times. However, I am glad that I stuck with it. I went from confused and almost putting it down to intrigued and unable to put it down once I hit chapter 12. I never knew where the book was going to go next. It seemed as if the characters were experiencing the same events in different chronological orders. I was not expecting to like this as much as I did; I was expecting poker and the paranormal, but I didn't expect the romance, betrayal, the growth of the characters, and the deception among the players in this book. I would definitely recommend giving this one a try!
**Thanks to the publisher for providing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
**Thanks to the publisher for providing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews