Love Triangles – Dark Moon* by Maggie Tideswell

Dark Moon revolves around a love parallelogram – two love triangles mashed together with two of the characters in both triangles and the other two characters related to each other. The characters display the emotional and reasoning capacity of a herd of eighth-graders. From that perspective, the story would go something like this: Storm and Trevor have been dating since seventh grade, and Storm wanted Trevor to ask her to go steady, but he was just playing it cool. Then Storm and Jarred met and hooked up, and that same night Trevor asked Storm to go steady, but she was freaked out because of what she and Jarred had done, so she told Trevor she’d think about it. Then Jarred decided Storm had to go steady with him because they’d hooked up, and he really liked her a lot, but Storm didn’t want to have anything to do with him because she thought he took advantage of her. Storm’s BFF, Donna, just wanted to have fun and kept telling her she should have some fun too. Storm still wanted Trevor to like her, but she wasn’t sure about him because he started acting kind of weird. Turns out, Elle, Storm’s lab partner, had been friends with Jarred for a long time, and wanted to go steady with him, but he told her they were just friends, probably because he was so into Storm. Oh, and Elle just found out that Trevor’s really her brother and is actually such a bad boy. When Trevor found out about Storm and Jarred, he freaked out and treated Storm really bad. He even tried to hook up with Donna to get even with Storm. But he still wants Storm to go steady with him. He and Jarred got into a couple of fights over Storm, and Jarred’s been really protective of her, but in a creepy, stalky kind of way. When Storm decided to go steady with Trevor, he got really controlling of her, and then he and Jarred got into a really bad fight over her, and…well, you know…

Based on the synopses I’d read, I was expecting Dark Moon to be a paranormal/supernatural thriller. What I got was a fairly standard romance with some supernatural thrown in, almost as an afterthought. Each chapter had me throwing up my hands in frustration as the characters found more and more senseless ways to think and behave. The few attempts at developing the supernatural aspects of the plot appeared to be stuck into the story to fill holes and potentially explain the characters’ odd behavior.

Fans of romance may enjoy Dark Moon, but true paranormal/supernatural fans will be disappointed.    

2.5 of 5 Stars

242 Pages

Paranormal, Romance 

Published September 2011 by All Things That Matter Press

Maggie Tideswell's Website  

Waking the Sleeper – The Trojan Horse Conspiracy* by Dick Nelson

The Trojan Horse Conspiracy is part speculative-fiction history lesson and part political/techno thriller, ala Tom Clancy. The book begins with a rehash of U. S. history, from the assassination of JFK to the present, spun out against the fictional backdrop of a Sino/Soviet conspiracy and the career path of former Navy SEAL and current FBI counter-intelligence expert, Brad Tisdale. While trying to ferret out moles in America’s intelligence and security agencies, Tisdale snags threads of the conspiracy and weaves them into the pattern of a plot that could leave the U.S. on the losing end of a lethal confrontation with China and North Korea.

Based on recent experience, I’m of the opinion that, when lawyers write fiction, it still reads like a legal brief. Nelson is no exception. Once you get used to the style though, the story is compelling. The historical discourse is interesting and the fictional interaction of Soviet and Chinese leaders gives it an interesting spin. The characters have enough depth for the reader to care what happens to them – good or bad. The speculation Nelson presents, while unlikely, is plausible enough to engage the open mind and raise at least a few questions. When the narrative reaches the present, the story becomes completely speculative and much more Clancyesque. Tisdale is the standard hero of political thrillers; the flawed, but sincere, patriot who willingly risks life and limb for the preservation of his country.  

If you enjoy Tom Clancy, Robert Ludlum, or Alex Berenson, you’ll probably like The Trojan Horse Conspiracy, but be warned; the zealously liberal, will be more likely to fling the book across the room in anger than to finish it.  

3 of 5 Stars

364 Pages

Thriller  

Published July 2012 by Outskirts Press

Take a Break – Escape from Eternity* by Nate Scholze

Adrian, an alien, has occupied the body of an Englishman in order to find another human body that contains his leader, Menonan. He travels to Ephraim, Wisconsin to find a man he forced to help in a failed attempt to track down Menonan twenty years earlier. There he discovers that a young woman, Laura, is the key to his success this time. Thus begins Adrian’s stalker-like attempts to convince Laura that she has no choice but to help him. In addition to Adrian’s creepy behavior, Laura must deal with an overbearing father, a lecherous boss, the wife of the now-dead Englishman in whose body Adrian resides, the wife’s detective friend, the police, various townsfolk who know what’s going on but won’t divulge their secrets, and a younger sister who wants to help but is mostly just a pain in the ass.

The central premise of Escape from Eternity – Earth as a place created and used by a race of eternal beings to recover from the boredom of eternity – is an interesting concept with a lot of story potential. Unfortunately, Scholze falls short of delivering on that potential. The idea is presented in a piecemeal fashion that leaves more questions than answers. Some of those questions, when raised by Laura, are answered with a, “That’s just the way it is” kind of answer. That isn’t acceptable to Laura, nor should it be to the reader.

One problem I have with the story is the number of times Adrian has to try to explain to the same people the nature of earth and his mission here. This lengthens the book unnecessarily and becomes very tedious. I suppose this could be a device for demonstrating Adrian’s commitment to his mission. If so, that could be more effectively shown by better developing his alien personality.

All of the characters are inconsistent. I like well-written characters who are confused and troubled. I’m not a fan of characters who are confusing. Even when they’re confused or uncertain about something, there has to be a core value or trait that directs everything they do. Scholze’s characters don’t have that. They react and behave in whatever manner best fits the plot twist of the moment.

The story includes a fairly graphic description of a sexual assault. The outcome of the assault is important to the plot, but it could be accomplished by any of several other means that would be less invasive to the story.

Overall, Escape from Eternity feels like several lumps of clay that a sculptor has thrown onto a frame, but hasn’t yet begun molding into a pleasing form.     

2 of 5 Stars

380 Pages

Science Fiction  

Published May 2012 by Outskirts Press

Nate Scholze's Website  

It’s All in Your Head – Blood Echo* by Melissa Simonson

Iris and Estella are best friends whose relationship doesn’t end with Estella’s death. Iris’ feelings of shock, guilt, and repentance are exacerbated by Estella’s voice whispering in her head; chiding her every thought and action. Brutal murders, strange packages, and even stranger occurrences begin to accumulate around Iris like iron filings around a magnet. Estella’s voice evolves into full-blown arguments as Iris becomes convinced that first one person, then another is at the root of her problems.

Blood Echo has a dark feel throughout, because everything is filtered through Iris’ increasingly tenuous grasp on reality. Simonson is very good at subtly drawing the reader, step by step, down the blind alley to psychosis. It’s a little uncomfortable, but you just have to see what’s behind the next dumpster. There’s always a surprise there, but none of them compare to the wall at the end of the alley.

The cast of characters here is interesting. With a couple of exceptions, it’s almost impossible to be sure whether any of them is truly likeable. Being the ultimate unreliable narrator, even Iris is hard to pin down in this regard. For the most part, this is a group of people you might like…until you get to know them.

There’s a vampire element to the story that may be “real” or may be part of Iris’ psychosis. Either way, leaving it out wouldn’t have hurt the story and would likely have intensified the aspects that make it such a good psychological thriller.

Blood Echo may leave you uncertain of what’s real and with questions for which you don’t really want the answers.

      

3.5 of 5 Stars

208 Pages

Thriller 

Published March 2013 by Red Adept Publishing 
Melissa Simonson's Website