Lightning

Fans of such films and books like Hunger Games and Divergent will love the Stone Braide Chronicles series, now into its second novel Lightning. This is definitely NOT a series you can just pick up any of the books and hope to gain an understanding as to what is happening, but once you begin, you will find yourself on a very different adrenaline rush adventure you will not want to see come to an end. With each novel in this series, author Bonnie Calhoun has only excelled at pulling out all the stops in her ability to transport the reader into a vastly different world than the one we are living in, in this case a post apocalyptic America, now named TicCity, the remainder of what used to be Atlantic City. It's the only thing remaining, a billboard baring the partial name.

The citizens refer to the nuclear war as the Time of Sorrows and now they have taken to rebuilding what remains of the world now that survivors have begun populating the earth again. The people that arrive from the sea are referred to as Landers, and Selah Rishon, has just be transformed from a Lander to what is called a novarium. With this recent change in her body, she is having what is referred to as "Lightnings" or burst of power that her fellow mind reading recipients can feel but no one can explain what is happening. All Selah knows is that if her father, Glade and his team can not locate what is referred to as the Third Protocol of Landers, Selah will fracture and she will cease to exist.

Meantime there are those who believe that within Selah's blood lies the answer to immortality and they will stop at nothing to harness that power. The search will lead them to the Mountain, where her family and friends have ventured in search for any answers that might help her, but first she has to figure out who she can trust, and who she can't. The only problem is the Mountain is where her and her father were held captive against her will and it is the last place where she had ever hoped to venture back. What is she willing to risk to discover the answers about her future and her past?

I received Lightning by Bonnie Calhoun compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance and Revell Publishing Group for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation aside from a free copy of this novel to review, and the opinions contained here are my honest and personal ones. This is such a great novel because if you have been following the series up to this point, it has been a true nail biter all the way, just getting tidbits each time Bonnie publishes a full length novel of the prequels that go in between each of them. This is definitely something that hasn't been done before and for me this is what makes it work so well. It's combining a bit of science fiction along with a post apocalyptic dystopian element that catapults you on to each new addition. For me this one is an easy 4.5 out of 5 stars, but trust me start at the beginning. I have listed the series below for you to ensure you are reading them in order. (1) Tremors - Prequel, (2) Thunder - First novel in the series, (3) Aftershock, prequel to Lightning, and (4) Lightning, the Second Novel in the Series.

For more information about Lightning, Bonnie Calhoun or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Lightning by Bonnie Calhoun

You can find Bonnie Calhoun on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Lightning, please visit Christian Fiction Blog Alliance's book tour page. 

The Choosing

"Truth Six: Not to be chosen would yield a cruel fate of my own making."

You are nothing.

The statements stuck  on repeat and Carrington couldn't turn them off - because they were true, because she was nothing. This was of her own making. As her mother reminded her before she left, she was not chosen. She is nothing.

Carrington Hale, thought despite all her efforts and that of her mother, that she would be chosen. That even right now, she would be with a man who would choose her as his future wife and the mother of their children, instead of where she is right now. Stripped of everything she was before arriving at the Stacks, her new home and wearing the new label of Lint. One who now serves the rest of the city doing whatever trade she would be assigned. She couldn't go back. She would have to accept her new fate. She must remember "As God set forth the law, so the law must be obeyed." This is her new life.

In the debut novel from author Rachelle Dekker, The Choosing is a Christian dystopian novel that combines what I would call a cross between The Divergent Series and The Hunger Games, but with a definite Christian twist. This is one series you won't want to miss and you are immediately hooked from page one.

Girls that are 17 find themselves preparing for what is called the Choosing Ceremony. They have planned for this moment their entire lives. Hoping to catch one man's eye since women were seen as having to submit to man's authority and thus to serve in the capacity of starting a home and family by being chosen! For Carrington Hale, she was at the top of her class and never for one minute did her family ever dream that she wouldn't. Now faced with no longer being able to see or visit with her family, she has been relegated to dwell as a Lint in one of many assigned trades that serve the Capital. It is the last place any one would want to live. Lints are the lowest form of citizen in the city and no one was allowed to interact with them.

Issac Knight is known as the Authority, the ruling class that sets the example of law and order for those that live in the city. Since the Ruining, he has been able to create a way of life that everyone in the city deems is appropriated following the examples laid out in the book of Veritas. His word is law and anyone who conflicts with the laws are punished. No one dares question the Authority as that is how they have all managed to survive. Now with his wife passing away, he hopes to convince the Council that he should take another wife, since he has no son to pass along his position as heir. Will Carrington get another chance at redemption or will this be a fate worse than death?

I received The Choosing by Rachelle Dekker as a self purchase from Tyndale House Publishers and received no monetary compensation for a favorable review. All I know after reading this one, is Ted Dekker has competition in his daughter's amazing ability to pull on the heart strings of what every woman faces, the need for affirmation of our self worth. I absolutely LOVE the science fiction flair that she incorporates this theme that Carrington struggles with in resolving who she really is outside from what others believe she is. The twist to this one is one you won't want to miss as someone is killing Lints in hopes of redeeming them to holiness from the level that have fallen as societies lowest form of life, while another named Aaron is convincing them that there is another way outside of what the Authority deems is righteous and true. I literally inhaled this novel in one sitting because it is that engaging and one that provides such interaction with the reader, you have to keep going to see how it will all play out. The only downside is the sequel to this isn't available until spring of 2016. This is the first novel in the Seer series and one this reader will definitely be waiting for. 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion!!!

For more information about The Choosing, Rachelle Dekker or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

The Choosing by Rachelle Dekker

You can find Rachelle Dekker on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on The Choosing, please visit Tyndale House Publishers. 

Thunder

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

Thunder (Stone Braide Chronicles)

Revell (October 7, 2014)
by

Bonnie S. Calhoun

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Bonnie S. Calhoun is Owner/Director of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance, owner/publisher of Christian Fiction Online Magazine, Northeast Zone Director for American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW), and the ACFW ‘2011 Mentor of the Year.”

She loves to write, but it doesn't make her happy unless there are the three B's...body count, blood, and blowing things up. She also has mad skills at coding HTML, and website design. And she lives in a log cabin in the woods with fifteen acres and a pond full of bass, though she'd rather buy fish at the grocery store. Bonnie shares her domain with a husband, a dog, and two cats, all of whom think she’s waitstaff!

Her sites are:

http://bonniescalhoun.com

https://www.facebook.com/bscalhoun

https://www.facebook.com/bonniescalhoun

https://www.goodreads.com/BonnieSCalhoun

http://www.pinterest.com/bonniecalhoun/

https://www.youtube.com/user/BonnieCalhoun



ABOUT THE BOOK



In post-apocalyptic America, Selah Chavez is crouched in long grass on a shore littered with the rusted metal remnants of a once-great city. It is the day before her eighteenth Born Remembrance, and she is hunting, though many people refuse to eat animal flesh, tainted by radiation during the Time of Sorrows. What Selah's really after are Landers, mysterious people from a land across the big water who survive the delirium-inducing passage in small boats that occasionally crash against the shoreline. She knows she should leave the capture to the men, but Landers bring a good price from the Company and are especially prized if they keep the markings they arrive with.

Everything falls to pieces when the Lander Selah catches is stolen by her brothers--and Selah wakes up the next morning to find the Lander's distinctive mark has suddenly appeared on her own flesh. Once the hunter, Selah is now one of the hunted, and she knows only one person who can help her--Bohdi Locke, the Lander her brothers hope to sell.

With evocative descriptions of a strange new world that combines elements of scientific advances, political intrigue, and wilderness survival, Bonnie S. Calhoun weaves a captivating tale of a world more like our own than we may want to admit.


You can read Tremors, the prequel to the series for FREE on Amazon HERE.



If you'd like to read the first chapter of Thunder (Stone Braide Chronicles), go HERE

Tremors

If you are a fan of movies like Hunger Games, Divergent or The Giver, you just might want to pick up the prequel Tremors  to what seems like will be a great new series from author Bonnie Calhoun. In this short 48 page introduction to the Stone Braide Chronicles, it does what it is supposed to do, draw you in and make you want more, much like chocolate does for me. I would classify this one as a Christian Science Fiction Fantasy and truly fans of that genre will absolutely want to begin this journey with Tremors before Thunder, the first book in the series begins early this fall.

The teaser opens with three teens who find the beach deserted at night, which provides the perfect setting for a night of surfing without the hassle of others stealing the prime waves that are slated to begin tonight. Only they truly get more than what they bargain for, when a sudden, unexpected current begins to drag them away from the shore. As the waves begin building, they don't panic at first, expecting to catch the next wave and head for shore. However when a sudden fifty-foot rogue waves appears, it will be the last thing they ever see.

Selah Rishon Charez is simply tired of being cast aside as her father and brothers scourge the coastal waters looking for "Landers." Her father has reminded her that she is to keep to the house for the next two days to keep her safe until her 18th Birth Remembrance. Her older brother warns her that it is for her safety since there have been rumors of her possibly being kidnapped before that happens. Just had hoped for some free time to work side by side with her father and brothers before being given away in a per-arranged marriage slated for 90 days after her 18 Birth Remembrance to a man she truly doesn't love, Jericho Kingston. She doesn't understand such a rush for that to happen and when she attempts to talk to her mother about it, she isn't much help. Is there a reason her father wants to keep her locked away until the wedding? Just what secrets is her father keeping from her that she has a right to know? What true purpose does her life as a girl serve in the society is which she is living? When she finds out the price her father is willing to pay for her life, she will truly be surprised at just the reasons behind him wanting to keep her safe at all costs and one she won't be happy with at all?

I received an electronic copy of Tremors by Bonnie Calhoun compliments of Revell Publishing and Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions are strictly my own. The best part is that for a limited time, you can get a copy of Tremors for your eBook reader free which also includes the first chapter of Thunder, the first novel in the Stone Braide chronicles due out early this fall. This truly does sound like a great series, and this has already peaked my interest to know just what is the purpose of the rush to get Selah married and the high cost her father is willing to pay, unlimited petrol, in a world where that would be like unlimited money? And just what has been happening with the dreams Selah has only when she is near the beach? Does that preclude the reason why her father is being so secretive all of a sudden? I can't wait for the answers I hope to get when I pick up Thunder as soon as it is released. In my opinion, this one was a 4.5 out of 5 stars and truly offered what I believe prequel purpose is and that is to get people interested and wanting to read the series. It did just that.

For more information about Tremors, Bonnie Calhoun or where you can pick up a copy of this prequel, please click on the links below:

Tremors by Bonnie Calhoun

You can also find Bonnie Calhoun on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Tremors and to download the prequel today, please visit Amazon.com.