The Chimera Sequence by Elliott Garber
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a fast moving, action packed thriller, full of believable incident and dialogue that, to me, was worthy of authors like Dan Brown or Tom Clancy. The reader follows many different characters through an intriguing and incredible story with the main character, Cole McBride, a Special Forces veterinarian, battling against time and terrorists. The realistic settings, such as the jungles of Central Africa, and numerous well drawn characters all serve to illustrate a talented new writer. I found the scientific details acceptable with the central theme of dead and dying mountain gorillas, from a new strain of monkey pox that may be infecting humans, very interesting and scary as a possibility.

From the exciting beginning it was obvious that Elliott Garber was writing from a background of real experience – both as a vet and as one who possesses military training. He has to be congratulated for his commendable first novel and I will look forward to seeing more similar literary gems from Mr Garber. I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest, non-reciprocal review.


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Showgirls and Aliens by Darrell B. Nelson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This is a fast-paced sci-fi thriller that, I assume, is meant to contain light-hearted humour throughout. Unfortunately, I found the majority of the “amusing” moments and puns un-funny and cliché-ridden. I got the impression that the whole novel was intended to be a film script, maybe aimed at the teen-aged or young adult market. The level of the drug-taking and erotic moments that occur in the novel tend to indicate the former.

I also found the novel’s many grammatical errors too tedious to keep count of after a while. There were commas and full stops liberally scattered in the wrong places or missing from appropriate phrases and the kindle version that I received for review had wrong formatting and line-spacing all the way through it, unless, maybe, it came from a script. Some of the fight scenes came across to this reader as too unbelievable and in some cases almost farcical. Though, when I thought about it, the flip comments exchanged between the attackers and assailants were so like the slick ones from James Bond just before he “disposed” of the villain, that I suppose they would probably fit in a movie for an audience much younger than this reader!

As a novel I found it lacking in almost every department. While Nomi, the main protagonist, was quite well drawn other characters lacked depth. As I stated previously, plenty of pace but there was such a lack of descriptive narrative about many scenes and settings the author must have been thinking about “the movie” to come, and forgetting that some (many?) readers require some exposition in a novel to add, even provide, some enjoyment to the overall story. I liked the central theme that Darrell Nelson provided of an alien race of reptiles controlling Earth and attempting to impregnate Nomi, but the book was so lacking in other areas (believable dialogue, use of language, correct English) that it only just scraped 2 stars from this reader.
I received a free copy of this novel in exchange for my honest, non-reciprocal review.


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Below the Water Line: Getting Out, Going Back, and Moving Forward in the Decade After Hurricane Katrina by Lisa Karlin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Like most others living in the UK I remembered that the southern states of the USA had suffered the devastating effects of three hurricanes “some time ago” and, also like most people, I remarked that I was surprised to hear on the radio that it was as long as ten years ago. When I started reading Lisa Karlin’s amazing account of how it had affected her and her family I noticed that the date was rather spookily the same as in the title of her first chapter: “Just an Ordinary Day”, August 27! It gave me cause to remember the date Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Monday August 29 2005, which the author describes as Day 2 of her account. And so it began and Lisa Karlin continues her narrative in a carefully considered and colourful way, sometimes humorous, often ironical, but on the whole never judgemental despite the many disappointment and tragedies her family experience and witness. The early very sobering privations that Lisa and her family suffer are well illustrated by their visits to motels and garage rest-rooms/toilets.

Neither Lisa nor her surgeon husband, Rich, could be considered to be poor and down-at-heel, as they seem to have sufficient wealth and capital resources to withstand some of the very expensive events and incidents that befall them and their two kids – not forgetting their two dogs. It was also gratifying to see how their friends and family offered help and support to them over and over again. But what struck me was how Lisa often demonstrated her deep understanding of the misery that others, much less fortunate than her, would be suffering by helping them with offers of money or practical support. And it was most heartening to read how she did this without any hint of a “lady bountiful” attitude, often helping to cover any sense of the recipient’s embarrassment by a forgiven and gentle “white lie”. An incident in a supermarket, when Lisa buys some items and deposits them in another, obviously more needy, mother’s shopping trolley illustrated this well. The author scatters plenty of humorous incidents throughout her account and often raised more than a smile for this reader. For example there was the time she had a problem with the heated driver’s seat of her Chevy car, that one day resulted in the author attending her daughter’s soccer practice with “Northern Bath Tissue”, from a protective piece of cardboard, imprinted on the seat of her trousers! The various anecdotes about their dogs, particularly the “Jack Russell Terror”, were hilarious but perhaps not to the family at the time.

The book is very well written and has some of the pace and characterisation that one would look for in a gripping novel. Karlin is to be congratulated on this and I hope that she is able, one day, to devote her literary skills to produce works of fiction. Despite the many unfortunate and distressing events Lisa Karlin still manages to look for a happy ending and a positive outcome where ever possible. I found the whole book most illuminating in many ways: in the frightening power of, and damage caused through, hurricanes and in the relentless never-say-die attitude of the human spirit when it looks as though all may be lost. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in reading about the stark day-by-day realities to be found in accounts of human frailty, inner strength, generosity and political ineptitude that can result from such disastrous and tragic phenomena.
I received a free copy of Below the Water Line in return for my honest and non-reciprocal review.


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