Narrated by Rudy Sanda, Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore is the first audiobook in the Eric Carter series featuring a necromancer. Dark and gritty, Blackmoore will pull you into this intriguing world.

Dead Things
by Stephen Blackmoore
Series: Eric Carter #1
Narrator: Rudy Sanda
Length: 8 hours and 45 minutes
Source: Publisher
Purchase*: Amazon | Audible *affiliate

Rating:
Narration: 5 cups Speed: 1.5x

Necromancer is such an ugly word, but it’s a title Eric Carter is stuck with.

He sees ghosts, talks to the dead. He’s turned it into a lucrative career putting troublesome spirits to rest, sometimes taking on even more dangerous things. For a fee, of course.

When he left L.A. fifteen years ago he thought he’d never go back. Too many bad memories. Too many people trying to kill him.

But now his sister’s been brutally murdered and Carter wants to find out why.

Was it the gangster looking to settle a score? The ghost of a mage he killed the night he left town? Maybe it’s the patron saint of violent death herself, Santa Muerte, who’s taken an unusually keen interest in him.

Carter’s going to find out who did it and he’s going to make them pay.

As long as they don’t kill him first.

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I have had this series on my wishlist forever, so when the opportunity presented itself to review the audiobooks, I dove in.

We meet Eric Carter, a foul-mouthed necromancer who doesn’t have the greatest opinion of humanity. Unlike other UF characters, Eric is a bit of a dark horse and finds himself an outcast of his own creation. He’s damned if he does and damned if he doesn’t. He reacts first, regrets later. I can’t say I liked him at first, but Blackmoore had me intrigued.

Eric left Los Angeles fifteen years ago after things went sideways with a magic user and gang leader. He has recently learned that his sister has been killed and is determined to find out who’s responsible and get revenge.

Eric returns to find that his best friend and girl are together. To him, it feels like everyone has grown up and that he is still facing down his own demons. We learn he isn’t tapping into his full potential, leaving room for growth both as a person and necromancer.

In this first book, we’ll encounter an Aztec Goddess of Death, ghosts, demons and zombies. It was an engaging tale that left me curious for more. The story starts and ends dark with enough of a hook to have me downloading the next in series.

Blackmoore brought the mythology to life in vivid detail. The story is dark, gory and disturbing. The twist Eric gets himself in and the ending has me excited to see what comes next. Fans of urban fantasy, noir and troubled protagonists will enjoy this one.

Rudy Sanda narrates and did a wonderful job of capturing the characters and tone of the story. The overall story was enhanced by the audio format.

Amazon | Audible

Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore, narrated by Rudy Sanda will hook the listener. #audiobook #urbanfantasy #audiobookreview
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

• 2022 Audiobook Challenge

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Original source: https://caffeinatedbookreviewer.com/2023/01/dead-things-by-stephen-blackmoore.html

Sisters of Castle Leod by Elizabeth Hutchison Bernard is a fantastic work of historical fiction that will inspire an interest into the true historical facts behind the characters. The intriguing characters drive this story forward and they are the main reason I kept pickup up this book over and over again. Set in the mysterious Castle Leod in Scotland and inspired by the lives of the real people, the novel follows Sibell Mackenzie, the third Countess of Cromartie, and her sister, Lady Constance Stewart-Richardson. This rich story is colored with the supernatural as the reader finds out more about Sibell’s belief in the “Unseen world”, her visions and premonitions as well as the castle’s very own ghost, the Night Watchman.

This riveting historical fiction novel follows the dramatic story of how the birth of Sibell’s daughter and a forgotten family tale set into motion a bitter feud between the two sisters. Sibell and Constance were close in their childhood but as they grew up, jealousy and superstition ripped them apart. Ever since their birth, the sisters had been juxtaposed and labeled as opposites. The conflict only grew worse when their father, the Earl of Cromartie, died and passed on the castle, titles, and land to his eldest daughter Sibell while Constance was left with a comparatively meager dowry. As time goes on, tragedy strikes and leads Sibell on a roller coaster journey in which different people get entangled in the sisters’ lives. Sibell’s grief and passionate belief in reincarnation lead her to different places around the world and events that change her life. All of this flows well because of the author’s superb writing. If the tension isn’t high, then the drama is, and because of this there is rarely a dull moment in this sensational historical fantasy.

On the surface, the story is about the fragile relationship between the two sisters but delving deeper, the questions raised by Sibell’s spiritualism and philosophy are intriguing and might even rearrange the way you think. I would recommend Sisters of Castle Leod to everyone who loves reading about gothic castles, spiritual quests, and complex relationships between family members. This stirring and well-crafted story will keep you entertained from beginning to end!

Pages: 314 | ASIN: B0BG36NZK5

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/01/13/sisters-of-castle-leod/

The 10 Elements of Transformational Healing: How to Rebuild Your Life After Trauma by Eugene Pizzolato is a book about generational trauma and human development, or rather a lack of providing for a child’s development in the early stages of life and how this affects the individual’s entire perspective on life, as well as taking a step towards healing yourself and breaking generational “curses.”

This thought-provoking book is almost completely biographical with Pizzolato starting his story way before he was born. His story starts almost a century ago in Italy in 1929 where his grandmother got pregnant out of wedlock for the second time and thus his father was born. His father had a difficult childhood and early life with an inattentive mother which later on led him to be a similar father. Eugene himself had a tough upbringing from the very second he was born, with his mother wishing that he had been a girl. Growing up in an abusive household with an alcoholic father and a mother who tried to commit suicide a couple of times, the death of a baby sister, and his pet lamb being killed in order to be eaten as dinner, are just a few stories he tells in the book. His stories continue into his adult life and him feeling all sorts of confused, unimportant, unlovable, and more, as well as the long road of his healing process and breaking generational trauma.

What I really appreciate about this emotionally stirring book, as a reader and as a psychology student, is that Pizzolato isn’t just sharing his experience and what he has learned from it, he is also mentioning and quoting important names in developmental psychology, most importantly Erik Erikson and his 8 stages in human development. In addition to that, the book is well written and filled with so much heart, pain, and growth that it will definitely leave you thinking about the author’s experience and even more so your own.

The 10 Elements of Transformational Healing is a wonderful read, I especially recommend it to psychology and psychiatry students. I find it to be really helpful in better understanding the developmental needs and what a lack thereof can do to a young child and the effects it carries throughout life.

Pages: 190 | ASIN: B0BDFP5YQ9

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/01/13/the-10-elements-of-transformational-healing/

A History of Silence (Book One of The Heartland Trilogy) is an evocative historical fiction novel that follows the intertwined lives of four women in the mid 1980’s. Professor Madeline Haystead teaches history at a university in southern Texas. Jenny Wharton, a student at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, is the daughter of one of Maddie’s colleagues, Professor Johnny Wharton. Liz is Jenny’s mother and Johnny’s wife. Jane Meyer is a grad student working as Johnny’s research assistant. But Johnny is a man with many secrets. When he is found murdered in his office, Maddie, Jenny, Liz, and Jane are all affected in different ways by his death. All have reason to have wanted him dead. Is one of these women his killer?

This is a riveting crime fiction novel that will hook readers from the opening line, “Professor Johnny Wharton the Fifth had finally found the ultimate way to keep us all talking about him. He’d gotten himself murdered…” I enjoyed the author’s poignant writing style.

This story is told from the first person perspective of several women. Some authors have an issue with making all their female characters feel too similar to each other, but in this book the characters are distinctly different despite having some similarities. I liked getting to know them as information was conveyed through their own thoughts and inner feelings, rather than just through the lens of other people’s perception of them. There were long passages of internal thoughts that went on for several pages that give you a clear understanding of the characters. This is broken up with flashbacks to convey a character’s backstory. I can tell the author spent a lot of time thinking about the characters because there are several chapters covering various characters’ pasts in the decades before the main part of the storyline.

At first it was hard to see how the various women’s lives tied to each other beyond their separate connections to one man and it felt like reading chapters from several different books about Maddie, Jane, and Jenny and Liz, instead of one cohesive story. But then all the threads started to weave together. There were several unexpected twists in this story that surprised me, including the killer’s motive.

A History of Silence is a fascinating historical fiction novel that will appeal to readers looking for well defined characters in a story with an intriguing mystery.

Pages: 422 | ISBN: 1639886338

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/01/13/a-history-of-silence/

Every Saturday, young Raina heads to her Grandmother’s house to spend the day. While there, they set up a lemonade stand, but not just any lemonade stand; this one is special. Raina has created rainbow lemonade to sell to her community. Each colored glass of lemonade is custom-made for each customer. Raina loves this time she gets to spend with her Grandmother and with her community doing something she enjoys.

Raina’s Rainbow Lemonade is a heartwarming picture book that teaches the value of community, family, and some color theory as well. Author Shawndrea Magee shares with children a story about serving one’s community and the importance of spending time with family. Mixed into these important messages is a recipe for homemade lemonade and the instruction on blending food coloring to make rainbow colors. Children will love following along and learning how to make the fun colors Raina serves her customers. The illustrations by Ayan Mansoori will entice kids to want to make their own rainbow lemonade as they follow along with the story.

At the end of the story, the author includes a list of discussion questions that children and their families or classmates can discuss. This is a great way to introduce the concept of business and money to young children. Teachers could use this picture book in preschool and kindergarten classes for an entire unit, covering social studies, math, science, and art. It is the perfect childrens book to engage children and have fun while learning.

Pages: 47 | ASIN : B0BHFCNHCP

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/01/13/rainas-rainbow-lemonade/

Like a Hero by Micheal J Bowler is an exciting story that follows the life of a superhero named Invictus, the brainchild of two young brothers who want to make the world a better place. However, only the older brother can wear the suit and fight the bad guys, the other must stay at home and man the police radio. Readers are first introduced to the hero of our story as he saves a group of classmates from a flaming helicopter. As tensions rise between the boys, the youngest brother struggles to resist the siren song of the criminal underworld. 

Offering a fun twist on the genre, Like A Hero incorporates classic superhero staples whilst maintaining a fresh and interesting take. The author draws upon his background working in the juvenile justice system to explore how societal expectations of class, race and sexuality can impact young people’s lives. Invictus himself possess no superpowers, he is simply fueled by the boy’s ambition to remedy the injustices they see happening to the vulnerable people in their community. Though tackling dark themes, it is an uplifting young adult novel about sensitive characters striving to leave the world better than how they found it. 

This action adventure novel would be an exciting read for teenage audiences, especially those who struggle with the themes described. Like a Hero has a lot of heart, exciting action, and a genuine message. It is clear that the author is passionate about the ideas he explores in his work because it is felt in the story.

Pages: 435 | ASIN: B0B9VBLH41

Original source: https://literarytitan.com/2023/01/13/like-a-hero/