Book Review: If Something Happens to Me, by Alex Finlay


Thriller 3+/5

When Ryan’s girlfriend is kidnapped, he is blamed, so he changes his name and builds a new life. But the mafia and the local police have other ideas. I loved the plot twists in this book that threw all sorts of balls up in the air and all of them land perfectly.

Edits done!


The retreat was super-productive, and I made it through my list of edits. Now I’m back to the manuscript review due at the end of the month.

Book Review: A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter Miller  


Classic 3-/5

Three short stories are combined to provide a dystopian novel of epic proportions, covering the two thousand years that follow a nuclear holocaust. This novel is primarily important to read for its place in the science fiction canon, and for its examination of how failing to understand history and science leads to repetition of humanity’s worst hubris-driven catastrophes.

Writers Retreat!


I’ve been doing a manuscript review this week, but upcoming I’ll be at a local writers’ retreat where I plan to do the revisions based on my Rio Hondo critiques.

Book Review: The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

YA Fantasy 4-/5

Young teen, Lyra, must travel to the far north to rescue her best friend, one of a growing number of children abducted by unknown forces experimenting with a mysterious substance known as “dust.” There are some super-cool ideas in this novel, including the idea of each person having their own magical animal-daemon-soul. However, I found the pacing slow and the plot wandering