A Review of The Thing Is by Kathleen Gerard

Once again we are pleased to host a stop in the Tribute Books Blog Tour to review Katherine Gerard's The Thing Is.

Book Summary and Buy Links

Can a woman mired deep in the throes of grief have her heart and soul rallied by a therapy dog

named Prozac who possesses supernatural wisdom and a canine Mensa IQ?

Meredith Mancuso is depressed. Ever since the death of her fiancé, she has shrunk from the world. Even with her successful writing career, she's not motivated to work. When her sister, Monica, begs for a favor, Meredith wants nothing more than to say no. But she’s ultimately roped into pet-sitting an orphaned Yorkshire terrier named Prozac.

Blessed with spiritual wisdom and a high IQ, Prozac is an active pet therapy dog. To heal broken-hearted Meredith, he rallies his fan club at Evergreen Gardens, an independent living facility, where he visits each week.

Prozac and the community of resilient older folks challenged by losses of their own propel Meredith, often against her will, back into the land of the living. Meredith learns that most people carry some sort of burden, but it's still possible to find meaning, purpose, and joy—and even love—along the way.

THE THING IS—a perfect read for fans of General Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Romantic Comedy, and Dog and Pet Lovers!

Prices/Formats: $5.99 ebook, $14.99 paperback
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Pages: 299
Release: February 9, 2016
Publisher: Red Adept
ISBN: 9781940215587

Amazon buy link
http://www.amazon.com/Thing-Kathleen-Gerard-ebook/dp/B01B55MZY2?tag=tributebooks-20

Barnes and Noble buy link
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-thing-is-kathleen-gerard/1123327681?ean=2940152772616

iTunes buy link
https://geo.itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-thing-is/id1079207409?mt=11


Author Bio

Kathleen Gerard writes across genres. Her work has been awarded many literary prizes and has been

published in magazines, journals, widely anthologized and broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR). Kathleen writes and reviews books for Shelf Awareness. Kathleen's woman-in-jeopardy novel, IN TRANSIT, won "Best Romantic Fiction" at the New York Book Festival.


Our Review of The Thing Is

This is a charming and innovative novel that alternates between the points of view of Meredith, a reluctant dog-sitter who is struggling with grief and loss, and Prozac, a little dog that in his present incarnation serves as a spirit guide to humans trying to cope with the personal tragedies in their lives. There is also a supporting cast of well-developed characters.

Prozac (the dog rather than the chemical) is a natural remedy to the unexpected turns that life throws each of us. He's not only instinctively wise, but also very funny.

The Thing Is will appeal to a wide audience: not only animal lovers, but also readers of supernatural fiction, romantic comedy, and inspirational works.


 Related Sites

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Kathleen Gerard's Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/kathleengerard.writer

Kathleen Gerard's Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/kathleengerard

Kathleen Gerard's Blog:
http://www.kathleengerard.blogspot.com/

Kathleen Gerard's Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2865523.Kathleen_Gerard

The Thing Is Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/26014424-the-thing-is

The Thing Is Website:
http://www.thethingis-thenovel.blogspot.com/

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
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The Thing Is blog tour site:
http://thethingisblogtour.blogspot.com

Book Review of The Terminals by Michael F. Stewart

Behind the Walls of Nightmare is pleased to participate in another Tribute Books blog tour as we welcome Michael F. Stewart, author of The Terminals (Episode 1: Spark).


             The Terminals: Book Summary 

Sometimes the dead don’t want to talk.

You need Terminals to make them.

Terminals solve crimes in this realm by investigating them in the next.

Lt. Col. Christine Kurzow, fresh from a failed suicide attempt after she cost 11 of her soldiers their lives, is recruited into the covert unit of Terminals as a handler. It's an easy sell. If she's really determined to die, it’s a chance to give her death meaning.

But her first case—convincing a monk to chase Hillar the Killer into the afterlife to find the location of a missing bus and the children it carried—has her wondering how to make a dead psychopath talk.

Christine must follow the clues sent back by the shotgun-toting monk, who tracks Hillar through the seven deeps of hell, so she can find eleven kids before it’s too late.

Maybe this time killing a man will give Christine a reason to live.

Format: ebook
Pages: 229
 Amazon buy link:
http://www.amazon.com/Michael-F.-Stewart/e/B003GUK4X4/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_1
 
Barnes and Noble buy link:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/michael-f-stewart



 Michael F. Stewart's Biography: 

Michael F. Stewart is the author of the Assured Destruction series, which sprawls across three books, two websites, one blog, seven Twitter accounts, Tumblr, Facebook, and six graphic origin stories. He likes to combine storytelling with technology and pioneered interactive storytelling with Scholastic Canada, Australia and New Zealand’s anti-cyberbullying program Bully For You. He has authored four graphic novels with Oxford University Press Canada’s award-winning Boldprint series. Publications of nonfiction titles on corruption and children’s rights by Rubicon Publishing, as well as early readers with Pearson, are all forthcoming in 2014 and 2015.

For adults, Michael has written The Sand Dragon, a horror about a revenant, prehistoric vampire set in the tar sands; Hurakan, a Mayan-themed thriller which pits the Maya against the MS-13 with a New York family stuck in the middle; 24 Bones, an urban fantasy which draws from Egyptian myth; and The Terminals—a covert government unit which solves crimes in this realm by investigating them in the next. This series has already been optioned for film and television with production rights having been sold to Jim Donovan (Best Director 2013, Canadian Screen Awards) and on to his partners of Sudden Storm Entertainment.

Herder of four daughters, Michael lives to write in Ottawa where he runs free writing workshops for teens and adults.

 Our Review of The Terminals

Michael F.Stewart has chosen an intriguing theme for his new series of adult novels entitled The Terminals.  The premise is that those who are dying can be enlisted to solve crimes in this world by connecting with previously departed individuals in the next. (Imagine, for example, being able to communicate with a suicide bomber to learn the targets of future attacks.) The link between the two worlds is the psychic Atilla, who is able to receive information sent back by the terminal. Terminals are carefully chosen based on their religious and spiritual beliefs in order to enter into the realm that the criminal or terrorist inhabits in the next world. In the first episode of The Terminals, the criminal is a vicious killer named Hillar who has been killed in a police shootout after kidnapping a busload of children. The job of the Terminals Unit is to track down the location of the missing children, who are facing death without food and water to sustain them. Chosen as the terminal is Charlie, a monk who is well-versed in Gnosticism, to which the killer adheres, and who must undergo an epic battle with the forces of evil to find out the children's location.

Michael F. Stewart has written a dark thriller that explores the themes of guilt, suicide, illness and suffering, spirituality, and the underlying need for human beings to believe that their lives (and deaths) serve a greater purpose. At the same time he has woven the quest motif and the universal struggle between good and evil into the novel.

The Terminals will appeal to adult readers of speculative fiction.

Best of luck with this imaginative series, Michael!


Related Sites

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Michael F. Stewart's Web Site:
http://www.michaelfstewart.com/

Michael F. Stewart's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Story.Extension

Michael F. Stewart's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/MichaelFstewart

Michael F. Stewart's Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/2969126.Michael_F_Stewart

The Terminals Goodreads:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20743049-the-terminals

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
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The Terminals blog tour site:
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Book Review of Ghostly Summons by John A. Karr

Behind the Walls of Nightmare is pleased to host a Tribute Books blog tour. Please welcome John A. Karr as we take an inside look at his novel Ghostly Summons.


Ghostly Summons: Book Summary

Lars Kelsen doesn’t believe in psychic phenomenon. To him, visions of murder victims are a form of mental illness. Once they begin, options are limited; he can try to ignore them or deal with them by exposing a killer. Only the latter provides any semblance of peace. Temporarily, anyway. Five years into his new life as a programmer, Kelsen—ex-crime beat reporter with a penance he can never fully satisfy—sees a victim.

In person. Upright. Staring.

Typical of such past "Visits" as he calls them, he doesn’t welcome this one. The nude form of a beautiful millionairess in his cubicle means murder has come to the vacation haven known as North Carolina’s Outer Banks. It means he’ll have to go places he'd rather avoid. See things he'll wish he hadn’t. Do things that don't come naturally, like in-your-face confrontation and bending the law. Actually, breaking the law ... but with good intent. It also means dealing with one very attractive county coroner, who pushes his buttons in a not entirely unwelcome way.

So begins Kelsen's return to investigative reporting—complete with attempts on his life, fights, deception, and all the technological tricks, such as GPS and computer hacking, at his disposal. And maybe even finding a new love interest.

Format: ebook and paperback
eBook Price: $3.99
Pages: 312
Publisher: Dark Continents Publishing
Release: March 14, 2013

Kindle buy link ($3.99):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BUT38VS?tag=tributebooks-20

Nook buy link ($3.99):
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ghostly-summons-john-a-karr/1114842051?ean=2940016384696

Kobo buy link ($3.99):
http://www.kobobooks.com/ebook/Ghostly-Summons/book-bpmT46S2dkKBvBsnJjtGE

John A. Karr: Biography

  John A. Karr believes fiction writing each day helps keep the demons at bay. Ghostly Summons is his first full-length novel for Dark Continents Publishing. DCP has also published his Weird West novella, Ujahwek. He is the author of a handful of other novels: Death Clause, Hippocrates Shattered (scheduled for reprint by World Castle Publications as Shattered), Rhone, and Van Gogh, Encore. His short stories have appeared on webzines Allegory, The Absent Willow Review, and Danse Macabre. More works are in progress and in the marketing queue.

Karr is an ardent believer in the quote by Carl Van Doren (1885-1950), U.S. man of letters: "Yes, it's hard to write, but it's harder not to."


Our Review of Ghostly Summons

John A. Karr has written in a number of genres with Ghostly Summons being described as a paranormal mystery. The protagonist Lars Kelsen is haunted not only by the remembrance of his son's death, which he was powerless to prevent, but also by ghostly Visitors seeking amends for their violent deaths. He can never right the wrong of his own son's murder, but he is able to gain some relief by helping other victims of violence. In Ghostly Summons, Kelsen encounters the ghost of a woman who is slain and whose body is dumped in the wilderness. He becomes her voice in the novel by exploring the past and telling her story in the local newspaper, as well as undertaking a trek to discover her murderer. In doing so, Kelsen confronts various dangers and is presented with a number of credible suspects, and we are left guessing to the end of the novel as to the actual killer.

The novel is built on an intriguing premise and will potentially appeal to readers of both the supernatural and mystery genres. Ghostly Summons could also lead to other ghostly adventures if the author decides in the future that there are more “Visits” in store for Lars Kelsen.

Related Sites

Rafflecopter GIVEAWAY:

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John A. Karr's Web Site:
http://www.johnakarr.com/

John A. Karr's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/JohnAKarr

John A. Karr's Facebook:
http://facebook.com/johnakarr

John A. Karr's Blog:
http://johnakarr.blogspot.com/

John A. Karr's Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/Karr

Ghostly Summons' Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17733941-ghostly-summons

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
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Ghostly Summons' blog tour site:
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