More Book Blog Giveaways: 5 mystery-thrillers and a fantasy novel

The Yard by Alex Grecian

Three other book blogs are having giveaways today.  The first is from Popcorn Reads, The Yard by Alex Grecian.  Set in late Victorian London, this is a book about, you guessed it, Scotland Yard, a serial killer, and the very earliest days of criminal forensics and murder detectives.

Popcorn Reads is a well-established book blog with a long list of reviews from just about any genre you can think of.  Their comments are insightful and full of information.  I really enjoy this blog.

Solitary by Travis Thrasher

Our next entry comes via Christian Bookshelf Review in the form of an interview with Travis Thrasher.  Solitary, the first installment of the Solitary Tales series is young adult thriller with Christian values.  However, from the reviews on the book's page, it doesn't appear nothing but pap—in the words of one reviewer "too pretty".

Here's the synopsis from GoodReads:

When Chris Buckley moves to Solitary, North Carolina, he faces the reality of his parents’ divorce, a school full of nameless faces—and Jocelyn Evans. Jocelyn is beautiful and mysterious enough to leave Chris speechless. But the more Jocelyn resists him, the more the two are drawn together. Chris soon learns that Jocelyn has secrets as deep as the town itself. Secrets more terrifying than the bullies he faces in the locker room or his mother’s unexplained nightmares. He slowly begins to understand the horrific answers. The question is whether he can save Jocelyn in time. This first book in the Solitary Tales series will take you from the cold halls of high school to the dark rooms of an abandoned cabin—and remind you what it means to believe in what you cannot see.

Solitary looks interesting to me, and I think I like Travis Thrasher already.

The Next Target by Nikki Arana

Next up from Christian Bookshelf Review is The Next Target by Nikki Arana, about a young Christian widow who finds herself deeply embroiled in the Muslim community and a plot by terrorists who resent the English classes she provides.

From GoodReads:

It only took one bullet. Austia's friend and student fell dead. And with a glimpse of a newspaper headline, the young and recently widowed Austia knows more about what happened than the police. From that fatal night, Austia’s secret outreach to the U.S. Muslim community—in the guise of English language classes—becomes a target. Local Muslim extremists set their sights on ending her ministry and even her life. And the women she ministers to will be next.A thick web of deceit closes in around Austia, and her circle of friends becomes smaller by the day, even as she finally opens herself to the idea of falling in love again. But who can she trust? Facing a spiritual battle that proves more treacherous than it at first seemed, Austia’s convictions are tested to their limits and her heart becomes primed for breaking. She must ask herself: how much she will risk to stay true to her herself, her faith, and to the lives of the women she serves?

This is another book that looks interesting to me, and, yes, my taste is all over the place. . . but then, that's what makes life interesting, neh?

Le Grande Codex

Finally, a triple offering from the people at Le Grande Codex, a book blog with an Indian URL that specializes in young adult fiction, sci-fi and fantasy.

Justice by Jade Varden is the first installment of the Deck of Lies series.   It and its sequel, The Tower, are offered as a single prize in this drawing. Here's the synopsis for Justice on GoodReads:

A House of Cards...When you build an entire life on a foundation of lies, it only takes one truth for the whole thing to come crashing down. I never invited the truth in. I never went searching for it. I never had any reason to suspect that the two people I loved most were dishonest with me every second of every day. I made one bad decision, and in a single day my entire world changed. If I'm ever going to discover the truth about myself and my parents, I have to trace all the lies back to their source. I have to try to find the truth that they're hiding. The more I discover about myself, and my past, the more I realize that lies really are better than the truth. But now that I know the lies are all around me, I can't stop until I've discovered them all. I'll pull each lie away, one by one, and examine it to see what's underneath…until this house of cards crumbles into dust at my feet. I just hope I can survive the crash.

Jade serves up The Tower as her second offering.  Here's what GoodReads has to say:

Death brings some families closer, but it’s ripped mine apart. I wanted to convince the police that they had the wrong suspect...but I never expected them to start suspecting me. Now, I have no choice but to keep searching for the truth, even if all my relationships fall to pieces around me.  Someone is trying to make me look guilty. I never thought my mission to prove my own innocence would lead me to more family secrets. I thought I had already discovered the truth about myself. But every answer raises more questions, and everything I think I know is about to change...again.  I have to find the truth, no matter how much it hurts -- before I get charged with murder.

 Finally, Le Grande Codex is offering a copy of Red Leaves and the Living Token, a young adult fantasy.  Benjamin David Burrell "lives in South Jordan, Utah, with his beautiful wife and three perfectly behaved children", so one cannot help but speculate as to his religious affiliations.  Perhaps this book may fall into list of well-written novels to emerge from that state.  Here's the synopsis from GoodReads:

Doctors tell Raj that his son Emret won't survive his illness. As Raj struggles to prepare himself and Emret for the inevitable, he's confronted by Moslin, his son's nurse, who’s been filling Emret’s head with fairytales about heroic quests and powerful disease curing miracles. Emret now thinks that all he has to do is find the mythical Red Tree from the nurse's stories, and he'll live.  In an attempt to protect his son from further emotional damage, Raj asks Moslin to stay away from Emret. He returns hours later to find them both missing.  He searches the fairytales for clues to where they may have gone and stumbles upon stories that, strangely, he already knows. He saw them in a vision just before his son disappeared.

Drop on by these four sites and tell me what you think of these offerings.  Would you like to learn about more book giveaways here?  Leave a comment! 

—A Chaotic Mind