Contest Winner

Ray Bara of Utica, NY is the winner of the Enemies & Allies giveaway. Congrats to Ray and thanks to everyone who entered!

Video Friday and More

James Rollins has posted the video of his Doomsday Key book tour. Visit his site to view it.

In other news:

The Deadly Hours, the newest August Adams adventure by Matt Bronleewe, and Leviathan by David Lynn Golemon will be released August 4.

David Wood is hosting an author's roundtable at his blog. This week, guest authors Sean Ellis and Alan Baxter discuss how to write fight scenes.

Don't forget our Enemies & Allies book giveaway. Sunday is the last day to enter.

Rabbit in the Moon by Deborah and Joel Shlian

Rabbit in the Moon is a mystery-thriller that follows Lili Quan, an American doctor of Chinese descent, as she travels to China to search for her grandfather, Ni-Fu Cheng, whom she believed to be dead. But Lili is not the only person hot on Cheng's trail, because Cheng's research might hold the secret to a veritable modern-day fountain of youth. A variety of tensions add to the plot. The story is set at a time of great political dissension in China. Corporate interests play an important part, as does science, romance, and mystery.

One of the primary strengths of Rabbit in the Moon are the setting, including both place and time period, which draw the reader in and make the story that much more interesting. This is not the cookie-cutter dash from place-to-place adventure. Also, the premise itself is intriguing, and the medical angles are presented in a believable way (at least to the lay person). On the downside, I felt that there were far too many scene breaks, particularly early on in the book. Some were so short that it jolted me out of the narrative, and I was forced to remind myself where I was in terms of point-of-view. This skipping around made it difficult to identify with the characters. As the story progresses, the pacing slows. This might be a negative for some adventure/thriller lovers, but it allows the reader to delve into the characters and setting to a greater degree. The Shlians seem to find their pace in the final third of the book, and the conclusion is satisfying.

Rabbit in the Moon is a solid debut novel, and I look forward to the Shlian's next book.

Enemies & Allies- Book Giveaway!

Our latest giveaway is a signed copy of Enemies & Allies by Kevin J. Anderson. Many thanks to Mr. Anderson and the good folks at William Morrow.

To enter, send your name and snail mail address to megalithbooks [at] gmail.com. Be sure to replace the [at] with @ and to put "Contest" in the header. We will accept entries until Sunday and announce the winner Monday, July 27.

Enemies and Allies by Kevin J. Anderson

Review by Ed Homa


Enemies & Allies: A Novel by Kevin J. Anderson

The Dark Knight Meets the Man of Steel

Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! ("Look! Up in the sky!" "It's a bird!" "It's a plane!" "It's Superman!")... Yes, it's Superman ... strange visitor from another planet, who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men! Superman ... who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel in his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way!

So begins the 1950’s Adventures of Superman TV series. I grew up a fan of comics and I was first introduced to superheroes by reruns of that ‘50’s TV show. I haven’t read a comic in over a decade, but the “feel” of that ‘50’s TV show cemented my view of Superman.

Flash-forward to today when the biggest hits on the silver screen are superhero movies. I still don’t think that superheroes translate well to the movies or novels. They are made for the 4 color page. In my opinion they seem very silly in written novels and movies.

That brings us to Enemies & Allies by Kevin J. Anderson. All I can say is WOW! My view of superhero novels has changed!

Setting the book in the ‘50’s gives the book a yesteryear feeling, to a time and place long ago. And set during the Cold War with two titanic World Powers going at it just as two titanic super-heroes meet. The setting and the plot really worked for me. Setting the book back in a long ago era makes it “feel” right, if set in today’s world Anderson couldn’t compete against the visuals presented in the current Batman and Superman movies.

I found this book exciting and it carried me right through it. I was transported back to my youth, but it was the quality of the story and the dialog that kept me interested in the book. It wasn’t billed as a young adult novel but I wonder since it was a bit of an easy read, but that didn’t stop my enjoyment of the book. Kevin kept the book moving by using short chapters and direct prose. It reminded me of David Morrell, getting maximum detail out of a small amount of carefully chosen words.

Kevin did a wonderful job understand and presenting each hero, in and out of costume. Superman, Batman, Clark, Bruce, Perry White, Luthor, Jim Gordon, Lois and Jimmy they are all there. We are all familiar with these characters and they are spun in a wonderful tale in this adventure.

People tell me that to often I judge books by if it is a good beach read or not. This time of year I am all about reading at the beach or at the pool or in the backyard under a shade tree. Do yourself a favor and relax with this book in your favorite summer reading place!

Video Friday

A few Brad Thor videos for your viewing pleasure:

James Rollins Video

James Rollins has posted the video of his television interview with Glenn Beck on his website. Click here to view it.

Dan Brown Cover Art Unveiled

Doubleday has released the cover art for The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown's follow-up to The DaVinci Code, which will be released September 15. The cover doesn't give many hints beyond what is already known about the book. The United States Capitol Building is featured, along with a seal, and various symbols. My money is on a Founding Fathers/Masons plot. We'll soon see what Brown has in store.

Book Giveaway Winners!

And the lucky winners are...

Brad Thor's The Apostle: Michael Armbruster

David Bischoff's Judas Cross: Eric Winebarger

Congratulations to our winners, and thanks to the generous folks who provided the giveaways!

Rollins' Latest Debuts at #2 on NYT

From James Rollins' website:

I just learned that The Doomsday Key will debut at the #2 spot on the New York Times bestsellers list. I've never hit so high before, and I know it's all because of YOU out there. This just proves I have the coolest readers in the world! THANKS for spreading the word to friends and families, for being so vocal and supportive about the books.


Also, time is almost up to enter our latest book giveaways. We'll announce the winners on Monday.

Video Friday

Gayle Lynds holds a workshop on writing thrillers at ThrillerFest 2006.







See YouTube for the entire lecture.