Curse The Moon First Look

Today it is my turn to host the blog tour for Lee Jackson's new espionage thriller Curse the Moon: Cold War Rising. So what's it all about? Read on to find out!

Curse The Moon Synopsis:

His code-name is Atcho. He leads guerrilla fighters through the US-supported insurgency that rages at the Bay of Pigs in the early days of Fidel Castro’s Cuba. Captured and cast into the island’s worst dungeons, Atcho learns that a phantom-like officer of the Soviet KGB shadows him. Inexplicably released from incarceration and still dedicated to his country, he battles through the bowels of the Kremlin in Moscow, into the granite halls at West Point, and finally to the highest levels in Washington, DC. Atcho’s rise opens doors into US National Defence even as the seemingly omniscient KGB officer holds unflinching sway over his actions. His public life clashes with secrets that only he and his tormentor share, isolating him in a world of intrigue among people whom he is determined not to betray – and then he finds that he is the trigger that could spark thermonuclear war. 

Excerpt: 

 In this chamber, Atcho reflected on the comparative merits of life and death. He decided that death had a greater advantage. Every hope he clung to now came with a price so high it seemed impossible to pay.  Death became a morbid fascination. He longed to welcome it, and imagined various ways he could achieve his demise. But there was no escape. In his torment, Isabel came often to his mind, and he obsessed over her well-being. But Govorov had been clear in what his suicide would mean for Isabel and her husband.

By the end of the first week, he was gaunt, his clothes hanging loosely on him. His body began to devour itself. Why not allow my darling daughter absence from suffering? He though. If I die, I will end her misery as well.

Since he felt a profound sense of having failed her, the thought comforted him. From the day she was kidnapped nearly twenty years ago, he had been excluded from her life. But now, he could expedite her passage to a state completely free of strife and pain. Through his delirium, he snickered at having upset Govorov’s plans while advancing Isabel’s welfare. He exulted over the Russian’s imagined rage, and an image of the Lubyanka fracturing at its base.

   
About the Author:

I write Historical Thriller Fiction - particularly surrounding the Cold War. Having lived in Morocco, Germany, Costa Rica, and of course in the United States; and, having been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan for a combined 38 months, I've been up-close-and personal with many different cultures. I graduated from West Point and Boston University, resulting in a front row seat on many pivotal events. I live in Texas with my wife. My first novel, Curse The Moon is out now. I publish under my own name, Lee Jackson.

Curse the Moon is available from Amazon and Barnes and Noble. 

Lee Jackson can also be found online at:

Website: AuthorLeeJackson.com

Facebook: facebook.com/AuthorLeeJackson

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+LeeJacksonAuthor/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7406574.Lee_Jackson

Twitter:@Stonewall_77

Amazon: http://Author.to/LeeJackson 

 

 

Ebook Review: A Different Alchemy

A Different Alchemy is author Chris Dietzel’s dabbling into the end-of-the-world dystopian drama. The book revisits an incident briefly mentioned in his previous work - The Man Who Watched the World End.

After Jeffrey learns that his son, who is completely paralysed, has died in a stadium fire along with Philadelphia’s other paraplegics, he steals a tank and heads north to come to terms with his death.

If you have not read the original book, the series revolves around the idea that mankind is going extinct because women can no longer produce healthy babies. All babies born into the world are fully paralysed and mentally unaware - dubbed Blocks. 

Jeffrey’s story alternates between the days he spends on the road heading north and past events of his life; from getting married, to having a Block son, to the day his son died. 

While A Different Alchemy kept my attention I did not find it as addictive or disturbing as The Man Who Watched the World End. I felt a lot of ideas from the first instalment were reiterated, which is ok if you’ve not read the previous book but if you have, it’s a bit repetitive. That said, there were some fresh ideas in here as well, like how badly some parts of society, like the disabled, are treated by certain people. While this book is fictional, it does make you wonder about the injustices in real life carried out against those in the past who are unable to defend themselves.

Also, I felt the theme of man’s decline was overused. I appreciate it is integral to the book’s plot but in the flashbacks of Jeffrey’s life, all TV programmes and news seem to centre around this and Blocks every hour of every day. It also seems to be the only thing anyone ever talks about. I know the end of the world will be a scary time but since it takes place over so many years, I found it very difficult to belief that it is the only thing people ever talked about. 

Some other things seemed a bit silly as well, like how fast certain cities rotted away. I’m not a civic engineer by any measure but this seemed to happen a little too fast. Also, I seriously doubt military installations would be left unlocked for anyone to wonder into - especially in the US. The same idea of houses going on fire and no fire crews attending and hospitals being closed, also sounded a bit ridiculous. I think there still would be emergency services, even on a smaller scale, operating at this point in the population decline. 

That aside, Jeffrey’s journey coming to terms with his son’s death was well captured through the narrative. You could really feel his hurt and heartache at such a tragedy and that is to be applauded.

Ebook Review: Tail of the Devil

This paranormal adventure about a 15-year-old homeless kid was an enjoyable read. Poor Mathias gets handed a shit lot in life after his parents die and he is adopted by his auntie - who unfortunately turns out to be crazy. After running away, the youngster ends up at death’s door before being saved by a vampire. The rest of the book focuses on Mathias coming to terms with what he now is, as well as his past. 

I really enjoyed this story. Mathias, the main character, was not perfect and had a lot issues which made him interesting on a lot of levels. The story does well portraying his journey from changing from a suspicious, foul-mouthed, pained youth into a respectable, fully-functional member of the vampire fraternity.

Most of the story is set in a school for vampires, where they study and learn magic - a bit like Harry Potter, expect without all of the bullshit. That’s the only similarity between the two and then they part company - which I will give a thumbs up to (God, I hate Harry Potter).

Moving swiftly on, I think teenagers would really enjoy this book. The character is relatable (purely on a non-vampiric level) and the story flows well from one part to the next. I wish this book was out ten years ago when I was that age - instead of f*cking Harry Potter. 

The book does get a little bogged down early on with its back story to Mathias’s previous life. For a while I got easily confused about what happened and what relevance it had to the characters in modern times. This could have been a bit tidier. I also felt the ending was little rushed but other than that, this was a very interesting story which kept my attention all the way though.