#Blogtour Atom Inc by O.C. Heaton

It's been a whirlwind of tours featuring LEAP, Green Ray of The Race is On trilogy. Today it's book three - Atom Inc by O.C. Heaton.

About the Author

'I write what I love to read - big issue thrillers that are super well researched inside a complex plot full of twists and turns.

The result of the above is The Race Is On Series, an idea I had on a trip to Iceland. The first in the series is called LEAP, which tells the tale of a device which has the power to halt global warming. The ensuing race to control the power of this machine will continue throughout the sequel to LEAP which I’m well on my way to completing. It's called Green Ray and will be published in May 2023.

Just like LEAP, the 2nd book weaves fact with fiction and encompasses events such as the 2009 global financial meltdown, Al Qaeda, a new US President and a cornered CIA; another delightful concoction around which I have constructed another tall, but hopefully credible, tale. Watch this space!'

I live in Leeds, UK with the love of my life and our two daughters. It rains a lot in Leeds but that works out well for me - loads of time for research and of course writing! Follow @OCHeaton on X, @ocheaton on Instagram, Visit Website : ocheaton.com

About the book

No one is above the Laws...

Seven years after its conception, LEAP is finally about to spell the end of global warming. For Uma and Ethan, this means personal and professional triumph – but quantum teleportation is an unwieldy beast, held back by those fighting to dominate the new world order.

As LEAP's roll out slows to a trickle, a greater threat emerges when a stealth attack on US troops leaves thousands dead. With the finger of suspicion pointing to a LEAP copycat, Ethan and Uma are forced to condone a breach of the Laws to reverse the massacre.

As LEAP’s new rival continues to show their hand, Ethan is dragged back into a nightmare he thought he had escaped. One that may finally claim his sanity, and that pushes Uma to the limits of hers, to defeat an evil that no longer plays by the rules.

Review

Is it just me or are the ethics getting more murky the further we get into the series, which of course is exactly what happens when an invention, a weapon or advancement opens up a world of opportunities. Somewhere along the path the excitement burns into greed, into hunger to explore elements that have been closed to mankind. The question is where does it stop, and indeed has Uma lost sight of what the research was born from and intended for?

As most inventions there will always be someone ready to use the blueprint and make a power play - with cold hard cash at the heart of it. What happens when you lose control completely, when LEAP becomes the outdated version and potential copies do real harm?

There is a little bit of a twist that might shake up how Uma moves forward, and it will certainly make for an interesting controversy if she does what I think she will do. Is there a personal line she will never cross or does the need to take one step further into research and the unknown always override every ethical barrier in the end?

I note there is also a prequel novella in the series, which captures the beginning of LEAP and the man who brought us the core concept in the first place. I wonder whether the above applies to Jakob also, despite the best intentions. Science, technology and advancement eh - not always the gift it appears to be. Why, well because humans will always be the unknown and unpredictable variable you can never quite calculate with complete accuracy.

Looking forward to reading more!

Buy Atom Inc at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Rookwood Publishing, pub date 29 Feb. 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Meet Me When My Heart Stops by Becky Hunter

It's an absolute pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Meet Me When My Heart Stops by Becky Hunter.

About the Author

Becky Hunter lived and worked in London for several years before moving to Mozambique to volunteer with horses and try her hand at writing. A few years, a few destinations, and a few jobs later she had the idea that would become One Moment. Alongside writing, she now works as a freelance editor and publicist, splitting her time between Bristol and London, and constantly trying to plan the next adventure. Follow @Bookish_Becky on X

About the book

What if your soulmate could only ever be the love of your afterlife? 

The first time Emery dies, she is only five years old...  Emery is born with a heart condition that means her heart could quite literally stop at any moment. The people around her know what to do - if they act quickly enough there will be no lasting damage, and Emery's heart can be restarted. But when this happens, she is briefly technically dead. 

Each time Emery's heart stops, she meets Nick. His purpose is to help people adjust to the fact that they are dead, to help them say goodbye, before they move on entirely. He does not usually meet people more than once - but with Emery, he is able to make a connection, and he finds himself drawn to her. 

As Emery's life progresses, and she goes through ups and downs, she finds that a part of her is longing for those moments when her heart will stop - so that she can see Nick again. 

This is the story of two fated lovers who long for each other, but are destined never to share more than a few fleeting moments - because if they were to be together, it would mean the end of Emery's life. 

Review

I love it when a book or story takes you on more of a ride than you were expecting. It has all the ingredients of memorable romance, but it is far more than that. The balancing of the relationship threads around Emery's travel between life, and not quite in the land of the dead, is subtle and yet incredibly nuanced.

The threads create a web of connections with Emery sitting in the middle, and her actions and relationship with life itself create ripples of movement that impact everyone on said web. Her family is divided in their reactions to her condition, which means cracks begin to form. The need to protect and keep her safe from harm equals constant monitoring and restrictions.

Emery has a defiant reaction to her condition, which at first isn't connected to wanting to see the man on the other side. Eventually the defiance becomes self-destructive and becomes intertwined with the desire to see Nick again. Somewhere along the line the dance with death becomes an almost deliberate act, although I am sure Emery would disagree - she'd be deceiving herself of course. The willingness to take that risk is indicative of how she treats those around her and how she disregards the impact her risky behaviour has on those around her.

I really enjoyed the concept and would love to see this developed into a screen version - it has all the makings of the kind of idea that captures hearts indefinitely.

Buy Meet Me When My Heart Stops at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Corvus | pub date 21 March 2024 - Hardback £14.99. Also available in e-book. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Seven Summers by Paige Toon

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Seven Summers by Paige Toon. - Two epic love stories. One impossible choice. 

About the Author

Paige Toon is the Sunday Times bestselling author of eighteen books that have sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide.

Paige writes sweeping, emotional love stories - filled with characters you'll never forget and incredible settings - that take you on a unique journey. She tells nuanced stories with big, thought-provoking themes at their heart which leave you uplifted and believing in the power of love. She writes her novel from a converted camper van in the garden of her Cambridgeshire home.

You will laugh, cry and feel like you've become part of a new family. Get ready to feel it all with Paige Toon! Follow @PaigeToonAuthor on X,

About the book

Six summers ago - Liv and Finn meet working in a bar on the rugged Cornish coastline, their futures full of promise. When a night of passion ends in devastating tragedy they are bound together inextricably. But Finn's life is in LA with his band, and Liv's is in Cornwall with her family - so they make a promise. Finn will return every year, and if they are single they will spend the summer together.

This summer - Liv crosses paths with Tom - a mysterious new arrival in her hometown. As the wildflowers and heather come into bloom, they find themselves falling for one another. For the first time Liv can imagine a world where her heart isn't broken every year.

Review

Such perfect pulling of the heartstrings, a tug here or a sharp pull - it's a constant whirlwind of place, time and people. At the very core lies the conundrum of one heart wants and loves two, the question is whether it can. Can Liv make a choice, is there even a right choice?

Snuggled deftly underneath is subtle smorgasbord of what family means and how the constellation can differ from the status quo. Equally how each relationship we water and feed can sustain us when the going gets tough. Liv's story is one connected with beauty, with the scenery and deeply embedded in the lives of the local community.

A part of her wishes Finn would accept that he is part of that, perhaps she underestimates the trauma he carries around with him. In a way their connection has a superficial element to it, despite the way they connect on a physical level. With Tom she explores the more spiritual level, especially the way her art is part of her soul and expression. It's what the two of them share. How can she choose between the man who has held her heart in a grip for over half a decade or the man who understands what she is made of.

It's a beautiful story, one which has the flow of a slow river, but the temperament of an ocean. The tide is the coming and going of the love Finn and Liv carry for each other, and yet when the waters calm the space between them makes the vulnerabilities more obvious. I would definitely recommend this, especially to readers who love to have their hearts teased.

Buy Seven Summers at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Century PRH UK, pub date 28th March | Paperback Original |  £8.99. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Doctor of Hiroshima by Dr. Michihiko Hachiya

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Doctor of Hiroshima by Dr. Michihiko Hachiya.

About the Author

Dr. Michihiko Hachiya was Director of the Hiroshima Communications Hospital when the world's first atomic bomb was dropped on the city. After the bomb, he continued as Director there for several years before taking on a teaching role at Okayama University Medical School. He retired in Okayama and passed away in the 1980s.

About the book

With what this poor woman had been through the sight of her crying tore at my heartstrings. What if something should happen to her; who would care for her little baby? To conceal the fear and terror in my heart I left her, trying to put up a cheerful front. But no one could conceal from her the ominous import of the dark spots that had appeared on her chest.

The Doctor of Hiroshima is the extraordinary true story of Dr Michihiko Hachiya, whose hospital was less than a mile from the centre of the atomic bomb that hit on that warm August day. Somehow, in immense shock and pain and extremely weak, the doctor and his wife manage to drag themselves to the hospital, where their horrific wounds are treated, and they slowly begin to recover. Tentatively, the doctor starts to reckon with the utter devastation of the bomb, and to investigate the strange symptoms afflicting his patients.

Told simply and poignantly through Dr Hachiya's daily diary entries, The Doctor of Hiroshima is the inspiring story of how a doctor and his patients fought to survive and rebuild their lives in the face of unimaginable loss.

Review

This translated diary of Dr Hachiya is a testament to why historical events must be underpinned by eyewitness accounts, they serve as testimony to events and tragedies that are otherwise skewed by the narration or third parties or people who write history - the victors. Ethically there are no winners in this scenario. 

The victors argue that the Japanese were so persistent, driven and strategic that this intervention was a necessity. Was it, or was it merely a power play that also gave a realistic measurement of true impact, devastation and potential? Guinea pigs, real data, the possibility of knowing how and when to use, and perhaps most importantly to ensure the world is aware of their cutthroat attitude and willingness to destroy humanity without any hesitation at all.

I'm not sure how anyone could read this and not have an ounce of compassion towards the victims. Were the Japanese guilty of heinous crimes, yes. Does that warrant the deaths of innocents, the impact of such a weapon leaving its mark on people for many decades - I think not.

Having such a remarkable in the moment transcript of the death toll, the injuries and being able to experience first-hand the importance of putting science above emotions in order to study the physical effects of radiation and exposure.

It's a book that delivers the truth on the ground, the shock and lack of comprehension at being at the core of such an atrocity, whilst simultaneously learning bit by bit what the true extent of the damage to persons, place and spirit would be and was.

Buy The Doctor of Hiroshima at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Monoray, pub date 29 Feb. 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune.

'Inspired by Carlo Collodi’s The Adventures of Pinocchio, In the Lives of Puppets is a masterful standalone fantasy adventure from the author who brought you The House in the Cerulean Sea and Under the Whispering Door.'

About the Author

TJ Klune is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling, Lambda Literary Award winning author of Under the Whispering Door, The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Extraordinaries, Wolfsong and more. Being queer himself, TJ believes it’s important now more than ever – to have accurate, positive, queer representation in stories. Follow @tjklunebooks on Instagram

About the book

In a small home, built into the branches of a tree, live a human named Victor and three robots. These are a pleasantly sadistic nurse machine, a small vacuum desperate for love and attention, and a fatherly inventor-android named Giovanni Lawson. Together they’re a family, hidden and safe.

Then Vic salvages an unfamiliar android labelled ‘HAP’. He learns that Hap and Gio share a dark past, where they hunted humans. And Hap unwittingly gives away Gio’s location. Before they know it, robots from Gio’s former life arrive – to capture and return the android to his old laboratory in the City of Electric Dreams.

The rest of the unconventional family must travel across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to rescue Gio from decommissioning. Or worse, reprogramming. Along the way, Vic must decide if he can handle his feelings for Hap – even if they come with strings attached.

Review

Without downplaying the aspects of the great classic Pinocchio or rather the retelling under the umbrella of a dystopian lens, I do think the concept is much more and pulls from a variety of ethical, futuristic and emotionally charged ideas. If I'm being entirely honest I think the umbrella of the aforementioned classic doesn't do this tentacled exploration of humanity, love, friendship, parenthood and the cold hard truth of the cost of technological advancement, true justice.

Nurse Ratched, an interesting one to say the least. Developed with what can only be described as the traits of a bloodthirsty serial killer with the odd tendency to care and nurse. Favourite occupation: trying to harm, dismember and/or torture Rambo. Rambo is the complete opposite, a people-pleasing vacuum droid who reacts with fear and compassion. The two of them are complete opposite sides of the spectrum. In fact when you take all five, they appear to reflect the variety of human characteristics, whilst some do so in combination with their actual lack of true human response.

Circling round the beginning and the end one could ask the question of chicken and egg, the development, invention and programming just makes them variation of the same core, right? In the midst of it all the tender strands of a blossoming love become entangled in the truth about where HAP came from and who they are, the question is whether there is a way forward beyond the Frankensteinesque past of Gio.

It's a riveting nuanced piece of work, which plays with the idea of coming-of-age within the boundaries of a non-human world. The discovery of self, which includes a tempered version of intimacy. The overriding theme is one of destruction, and the solitude of the remains of society.

Buy In The Lives of Puppets at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Tor; pub date 14 Mar. 2024. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder by C.L. Miller.

About the Author

Cara Miller started working Life in publishing as an editorial assistant for her mother, Judith Miller, on the Miller’s Antique Price Guide to Europe before she went into hospitality and events. After she had children, she decided to follow her long-held dream of becoming an author and began writing full-time. She was an Undiscovered Voices winner in 2022 and was showcased in the UV 2022 anthology. She lives in a medieval cottage in Suffolk with her family. Follow @CLMillerAuthor on X

'This book was written in consultation with international antiques expert Judith Miller (1951–2023), a regular specialist on the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow. Judith was also the co-founder of the bestselling annual Miller’s Antiques Price Guide, which started in 1979. She went on to write more than 120 books on antiques and interiors.'

About the book

What Antique would you kill for? 

Freya, it’s down to you to finish what I started . . . - Freya Lockwood has avoided the quaint English village in which she grew up for the last twenty years. That is until news arrives that Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and Freya’s estranged mentor, has died . . . and the circumstances seem suspicious.

You will uncover a reservation, I implore you to attend . . . - But when a letter from Arthur is delivered, sent just days before his death, and an ordinary pine chest concealing Arthur’s journals, including reservations in her name, are revealed, Freya finds herself sucked back into a life she’d sworn to leave behind.

But beware, trust no one. Your life depends on it . . . - Joining forces with her eccentric Aunt Carole, Arthur’s staunch best friend, Freya follows both clues and her instincts to an old manor house for an ‘antiques enthusiasts’ weekend’. But not is all as it seems; the antiques are bad reproductions, and the other guests are menacing and secretive.

Can Freya and Carole solve the mystery surrounding the weekend before a killer strikes again?

Review

What antique would you kill for? Seems like such a simple question and premise, but when I started to think about it - about what kind of antique could create the kind of obsession and need to posses that could result in killing someone for it. The first step was determining what kind of item would have such a pull on me. I agree that provenance would be a major factor, but I am equally invested in great things of beauty, creation with an elusive quality. 

The past few decades have been quiet in comparison to the life Freya Lockwood once led, but she finds it difficult to put the past and antiques dealer Arthur Crockleford's offences behind her. His death doesn't bother her, but being thrust back into the past is a trigger. What is even more annoying is the way Arthur has left a mystery to solve - for her to solve, which is a direct path back into a life she once lived.

It's the kind of concept I would love to see on the small screen with the sleuthing duo of Frey and Aunt Carole on the hunt for a different antique every season. Whilst we wait for that there is more to come from this enigmatic and determined pair in Death on the Red Sea.

I would start a treasure hunt for certain items, okay perhaps quite a few items - would I kill for one of them though? It's probably one of those questions best left unanswered, just in case I preemptively incriminate myself. Just saying.

Buy The Antique Hunter's Guide to Murder at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Published by Pan MacMillan, pub date 29th February £16.99 Hardback. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour Green Ray by O.C. Heaton

It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour Green Ray by O.C. Heaton - this is the second book in The Race is On series (the first is Leap). And the tour for Atom Inc, the third book in the trilogy is in just over a week.

About the Author

'I write what I love to read - big issue thrillers that are super well researched inside a complex plot full of twists and turns.

The result of the above is The Race Is On Series, an idea I had on a trip to Iceland. The first in the series is called LEAP, which tells the tale of a device which has the power to halt global warming. The ensuing race to control the power of this machine will continue throughout the sequel to LEAP which I’m well on my way to completing. It's called Green Ray and will be published in May 2023.

Just like LEAP, the 2nd book weaves fact with fiction and encompasses events such as the 2009 global financial meltdown, Al Qaeda, a new US President and a cornered CIA; another delightful concoction around which I have constructed another tall, but hopefully credible, tale. Watch this space!'

I live in Leeds, UK with the love of my life and our two daughters. It rains a lot in Leeds but that works out well for me - loads of time for research and of course writing!  Follow @OCHeaton on X, @ocheaton on Instagram, Visit Website : ocheaton.com

About the book

No good deed goes unpunished... - Six years after the near-catastrophic hijacking of LEAP, Uma Jakobsdóttir is determined to find a safer path to environmental salvation. So, with her father’s invention back under wraps, Uma turns her attention to the $85 billion-dollar Green Ray fund with the intention of renewing the planet — minus any teleportation.

But when the capabilities of LEAP are discovered by the U.S. government, it sets its sights on using the device to protect the country against economic collapse. When the White House proposes a new set of rules for LEAP — ones which would only allow the teleportation of goods, not people — Uma's objections are steamrolled by powerful forces.

Then the President’s life is endangered, and the rules of the game suddenly shift again — leaving Uma in ethical turmoil as she races to stop the full power of LEAP from being unleashed on an unsuspecting world…

Review

With the events of the prior disaster involving LEAP far behind her, Uma is surprised, but not concerned when the US government demands her presence. Their idea of how to use her technology however is something she isn't on board with. They don't leave her with much choice - the word blackmail comes to mind. And all bets are off when the President's life comes under threat, that complicates matters a little.

In the first book of the Race is On trilogy I think the reader gets introduced to the power of ideas in combination with futuristic advancements, perhaps equally to the greed and power struggles it evokes in people. Also, perhaps the realisation that with great ideas often come consequences, that positive and negative often walk hand-in-hand. The question is what are we, or in this case Uma, willing to risk as collateral - if indeed any at all.

In this second book the author wanders quite succinctly between the corridors of political power, the sway such people have, and that at the end of the day greed, corruption, and even making cutthroat decisions in the name of humanity or keeping a country or the world safe - is often no different than when criminals are making the same choices. The double-edged sword of Uma's technology is there is no guarantee whomever wields it will do so with the best intention.

I really enjoy the way the author melds in current issues into this concept that has such a vast reach, but simultaneously creates realistic scenarios within the futuristic scope. There is a clear understanding of day-to-day issues for the common person and how the decisions of the upper echelon have an impact on those lives, whilst clearly not comprehending or wanting to understand the impact.

I'm looking forward to the third part in the trilogy - will LEAP end up being part of a bigger better solution or is the risk of misuse just too great?

Buy Green Ray at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher ‏: ‎Rookwood Publishing pub date 25 July 2023. Buy at Amazon com.

#Blogtour A Bookshop of One's Own by Jane Cholmeley

 It's a pleasure to take part in the Blogtour A Bookshop of One's Own by Jane Cholmeley - How a group of women set out to change the world.

About the Author

Jane Cholmeley is a key figure in the history of British feminism. Sandi Toksvig nominated Jane as a Gay Icon in the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition of that name in 2009 and Jacqueline Wilson named Jane her feminist icon in Stylist, 2018.

About the book

Silver Moon was the dream of three women – a bookshop with the mission to promote the work of female writers and create a much-needed safe space for any woman. Founded in 1980s London against a backdrop of homophobia and misogyny, it was a testament to the power of community, growing into Europe’s biggest women’s bookshop and hosting a constellation of literary stars from Margaret Atwood and Maya Angelou to Angela Carter. 

While contending with day-to-day struggles common to other booksellers, plus the additional burdens of misogyny and the occasional hate crime, Jane Cholmeley and her booksellers created a thriving business. But they also played a crucial and relatively unsung part in one the biggest social movements of our time.

 A Bookshop of One’s Own is a fascinating slice of social history from a true feminist and lesbian icon. Written with heart and humour, it reveals the struggle and joy that comes with starting an underdog business, while being a celebration of the power women have to change the narrative when they are the ones holding the pen.

Review

For me the true testament of the impact Silver Moon has had, and of course the women within it, are the Legacy statements. The beautiful, emotional, heart-wrenchingly honest paragraphs from people who have connected with the bookshop, the place of safety, the mirror of self, and of course the championing of women.

It's a bit like its own microcosm of resistance, trying to ensure voices are heard and opening up a space where you can feel seen, heard and accepted. I love the fact it's is also called a sanctuary. A place of exploration, openness, and learning. It certainly is a legacy.

It's a lovely book. Inspirational and poignant, especially from an historical point of view. The magic of a bookshop is an element that is a driver, however the feminist movement built within those walls makes it a powerhouse, and the open-armed culture for the LGBT community makes it a haven.

It's a remarkable story, hopefully this book (which has a beautiful hardcover) will allow a larger audience to partake from the strength, solidarity and sisterhood within the walls of this very special place.

Buy A Bookshop of One's Own at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer. Publisher: Mudlark, pub date 29th February 2024 - Hardback - £16.99.