Month: October 2023

book review, Books, Crime, Mystery, New Releases, novel, Spy Thriller, suspense, Technology, Thriller

Book Review: THE TOKYO DIVERSION by Tony Ollivier

Elgon Williams, Author

Description:

David Knight is still having a rough time…

Having survived the implanting of another man’s memories, ballet dancer David Knight is struggling to adjust. He has been hunted, attacked, and almost killed because a TV minister wanted the acquired memories destroyed; injuring his best friend. The memories are gone a year later, but his life will never be the same.

He’s fired because of anger issues while trying to find his new normal in Canada’s premier dance company and living a pauper’s life. But when friend and aging spymaster Asher Fitzsimmons offers him a three-day contract for some light surveillance of one of the world’s largest security software companies, he jumps at it. However, David is soon embroiled in a corporate conspiracy that drags him to Japan to save the life of a billionaire’s daughter and uncover the greatest sleight of hand in history.

Will David Knight survive The Tokyo Diversion?

My Take:

What if you combine the physique of a skilled ballet dancer with the muscle memory and experiences of a highly trained spy? With that premise, Tony Ollivier conceived The David Knight Series. The Tokyo Diversion is Book Two of the series and what starts out as a quick and seemingly easy way of earning some much-needed money leads to a complicated, globetrotting, genre-bending thriller chock full of the same level of adrenaline-pumping, non-stop action as its award-winning predecessor.

David becomes entangled in an intricate web of deceit and misdirection that spans the Pacific, taking him from Seattle to Japan. To save the autistic daughter of a billionaire while also unraveling the complicated, frustrating, life-threatening mystery. The wild adventure-laced puzzles to be solved depend on David integrating his acquired memories and skills and fusing them with his own experiences leading to a conclusion that is both satisfying and portends the direction of the series in the future.    

Tony Ollivier’s “day” job requires a lot of travel taking him to the exotic settings that his novels skillfully describe where his fertile creativity fabricates tense, life-threatening situations that perhaps only David Knight’s peculiarly blended skill set could resolve.

The result is an outstanding sequel that will leave you wanting to read the next. What new international setting and intrigue will next confront David? I hope it won’t take long to find out.         

About the Author:

Tony Ollivier is the author of the multiple award-winning David Knight Series of high-concept thrillers with THE AMSTERDAM DECEPTION launched in March 2020, and the sequel THE TOKYO DIVERSION launched in August 2023.

Born in Canada, Tony lives in Vancouver with his wife and two teenagers and works in Competitive Intelligence at a software company based in Portugal. His high-tech career included stints at Xerox, Apple, IBM, and Microsoft. Prior to joining the corporate and writing world, Tony worked as a bartender, a DJ, and a tobacco picker!

book review, Books, DNA, dystopian, Future, Genetics, Mystery, New Releases, novel, Publishing, Science Fiction, suspense, Technology, Thriller

Book Review: HUMANITY: DEVOLVED by Greyson Ferguson

Elgon Williams, Author

Description:

Nobody knows your DNA like your government.

Routine DNA scans flag individuals with genetic mutations. To systematically purge humanity of corrupt genetics, authorities pluck them from society, never to be seen or heard from again. This is done on a global scale.

Kyla Thomas, a nurse technician who already lost her husband to these removals, does everything in her power to protect Sam, her cancer-ridden son. Using illegal methods to scrub his DNA samples, she manages to hide him in plain sight until an accident at school reveals his secret. Although temporarily able to fight off capture, the government’s relentless pursuit of the fugitives rips Sam from Kyla’s grasp and jails her.

But few things can prevent a desperate mother’s search for her son, and in the process, Kyla begins to uncover government secrets only a select few were ever meant to know.

My Take:

This dystopian masterpiece has a disturbing quality given our recent shared human experience with battling the ravages of disease. It is significant that it was written well before any of that, though. And if that doesn’t give you an Orwellian chill, it may already be too late to warn you of the excesses to which an unbridled government may go in their desire to ensure public safety, even to the sacrifice of personal liberty and basic human rights. It is an important topic for thought and discussion, and this novel does a fantastic job of shining a light on the darker aspects of government control without being preachy or political.

What is most disturbing of all is that there is nothing far-fetched about this story. That’s the value of great science fiction, that it doesn’t get too caught up in the gee-whiz aspects of the future. Humanity: Devolved is told from a personal perspective, the human tragedy of someone caught up in the bureaucratic mess borne of good intentions. We struggle alongside the well-developed characters and feel for their situation because it is all so very plausible. And I promise you, when you reach the finale, you’ll be as surprised as I was.

About The Author:

Greyson Ferguson was born and raised in East Lansing, Michigan. A lover of all things creative, he eventually went on to attend the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Georgia. After graduating with a degree in film and television he worked as a video producer for the New York Times before moving to Tucson, Arizona, where he turned his sights to writing. Focusing on relationships and travel, Greyson often intertwines personal own experiences into his own work. When not writing, Greyson is often traveling with his two dogs, one of which has been to 48 states and four countries.

book review, Books, Historical Fiction, Mystery, New Releases, novel, Publishing, suspense, Thriller

Book Review: LAMA WITH A GUN by Seth Augenstein

Elgon Williams, Author

Description:

MONGOLIA: THE LAND OF GODS, MEN…AND BEASTS.

The legend lives: that a reincarnated Buddhist leader would once again drag the peoples of Mongolia to their feet, those once and future conquerors of the world.

Ja Lama is, for some, the answer and savior – a reincarnation from the revered lineage of Genghis Khan. Born into a group of exiled Mongols in southern Russia in the 19th century, his parents whisk him back toward the homeland for formal training as a Buddhist monk. His boyhood dreams are of a strong and united Mongolia… and reaching the promised land, the golden subterranean city of Agharti. But death dogs his every step, from the Tibetan monastery to battles with the hated Russians and the Chinese. He collects followers like the crusty sidekick Jimbe and thousands of other hardened nomadic peoples on the wide-open steppes. Ja Lama seizes the reins of power across the widest expanses of wildest western Mongolia, using his powers of will and a superhuman ability to survive the wounds of war. The strong and hopeful of Asia alike rally to the side of the monk with Colt revolvers under his robes.

The world closes in. There are too many enemies, and too many empires teetering close to collapse all around him as the evils of the 20th century marshal their forces. Can the feared and revered “Lama with a Gun” overcome the wounds of soul and body to unite his peoples for one last drive across Asia?

My Take:

LAMA WITH A GUN by Seth Augenstein is the story of Ja Lama, a man who would lead Mongolia in rebellion, but is he out of his time or out of his mind? What I can say is that you’ve never read anything like it.

Writing historical fiction is a unique challenge in many ways. The process requires the same level of meticulous research as non-fiction, but a good bit of creative storytelling is necessary to bridge the gaps in the official record. The title character lived from the late 19th thru early 20th Century in a region of the world that is as strange as it is exotic to most Westerners. The value of a human life is different in Mongolia where geographic coincidence as well as historical circumstance has embattled and oppressed the land for centuries. Life is harsh on the steppes, surrounded by the mountains at the top of the world.

From a young monk in a monastery to a prisoner in Russia, Ja Lama suffers from his belief that he is the reincarnation of a warrior prince with certain magical abilities that influence the will of humans. There are many surprises ahead on the journey of an unexpected holy man who seeks righteous vengeance against those who have imposed their will by force against his people. The result is a believable, violent, and distressing tale that if it isn’t entirely true, it probably should be.

LAMA WITH A GUN is available at AMAZON and directly from Pandamoon Publishing.

About The Author:

Seth Augenstein is a writer of fiction and non-fiction. His debut novel, Project 137, emerged in 2019 from Pandamoon Publishing and was what Kirkus Reviews called “an involving, tense and visceral near-future thriller.” His short stories have appeared in more than a dozen magazines and fiction podcasts. He spent a decade writing for New Jersey newspapers, most recently at The Star-Ledger. He picked up some state journalism awards, over the course of talking to people at crime scenes, hospital operating rooms, natural disasters, funerals, and quiet homes. He was also the editor of Forensic Magazine, a tour guide at the James Joyce Centre, and a student in Saul Bellow’s final class. Now he lives on a rocky ridge in New Jersey with his wife, daughters, dog named Mishima, and cats.

For more information, visit www.sethaugenstein.com