Review: Dawn of Illumination Closes Mind-Boggling Trilogy by R. B. Holbrook!

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Oracle's Legacy: Dawn of Illumination


By R. B. Holbrook




Yes, there is no doubt about it - this Trilogy is Mind-Boggling!




If you want your scifi imagination teased to the limit, you should be reading Oracle's Legacy! There was just no way that I didn't want to read the Dawn of Illumination which, as the back cover says, you need to "brace yourself" for the conclusion of this fascinating trilogy of books.

Ok, here's my thought on this last book...If you haven't read the first two, don't bother--you will be totally lost in the storyline, even if you can enjoy the drama and "fireworks." This trilogy is not light reading...it is not a trilogy that you are going to sit and read in a weekend, even if you've read three books in one weekend, which I have! Check out my reviews of the first two!

Children of Sun
Shadow of Fate

The complexity and breadth of the world created by Holbrook surpasses anything else I've read. I don't profess to be a super scifi fan, but comparing this trilogy in my opinion will be impossible--it is uniquely a "one of a kind."

Fortunately, an extensive glossary from "Fundamentals of Structure History & Modern Ideology" is provided in the back of each book. If you wanted to read this last book immediately, I'd recommend you read that first to at least acquaint yourself with the world now that the Structure has been uncovered. After all, you may one day become enlightened as well and will want to know about each House!

The one issue that hit me the most in this last book is the significance of child abuse in the Structure. Undoubtedly the pain experienced has somehow prepared the children for their later roles, at least those that were born for specific jobs in the Illumination. Indeed pain is a part of the lives of these humans, so be prepared...

But love is also there, even for Chaos...

Chaos is a one-of-a-kind female and was created to potentially be the end of the world. But along the way in her life, along with all the hurt and pain, she has also been greatly loved. In fact, she is loved by the man who will be the salvation of the world. Yes, she loves him in return!

All of the previous planning has been done and the major players are ready. And, if they are not, Chaos uses her power to share/make them ready! For what she had to do, she needed help and she went to the House of Blade to get it. Of course that was not an easy thing to do--she had previously had to kill some from that House and revenge was what they wanted.

But Chaos has a way about her...she's waaaaay scary to look at. Her eyes, though she is now blind, swirl in circles of multiple colors, so it is difficult to interact with her. But little by little she gains acceptance for a small team of body guards. Their job will be to keep her safe; her job is to find and eliminate those Pillars that have banded together for their own desires...

The only problem is that Chaos is now almost completely "energy." So, if she is to become ill, for instance, and faint, she might cause tornados and other storms that greatly damage the earth. On the other hand, the Pillars are doing it just to gain more power!

You see, the Structure has been on earth since before we were. Or at least they came at the same time; however, they have acted in the background, helping to save the planet, but now it is getting too dangerous and the Structure is allowing what is called the "Foundation" (normal humans) to learn about their existence.

So, simply, the Dawn of Illumination is "out with the bad" and "in with the good." To become enlightened, strong emotions of hate, envy, etc. becomes extremely dangerous... Enlightened is a slow process where we strip away our own limited perspective and allow ourselves to begin understanding the balance among all things and how everything is connected. Key components include an open-minded approach and wide-eyed wonder. At that point, humans can begin to harness energy...

What say you? Are you game? Will you seek enlightenment now that we are at the Dawn of that ability? For me, I've always enjoyed that statement at the beginning of Star Trek: I want to go where no man has gone before...Read and learn...  Read and be enlightened... Read and get Excitedly Enlightened!

Book Received Via
Bostick Communications

G.A. Bixler

Review: Consider if you will...The First book from Daniel Palmer Out This Month! Free Copy - Check it Out!

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Consider if you will a professional man named Charlie. He's a successful man who now works in a major company since his new program, InVision, proved to be so successful. He now heads the Magellan Team with five senior managers, with whom he does his morning meeting during a brisk walk. He is determined to move up the ladder at SoluCent by knowing when and how to make the important decisions to keep his group functioning at top performance. Of course, it is his managers who really does the dirty jobs like firing anybody who causes the least problem. But everybody knows that it is always the top guy who is responsible...

Delirious


By Daniel Palmer


One thing Charlie kept to himself. There was mental illness in his family--his father and his brother. His mother cared for his brother and essentially their lives were separated and Charlie liked it that way. He had been hurt many times in his early years and still was somewhat afraid of his brother.

But then his mother was hospitalized and Charlie and his brother were both called there...

That was also about the same time that Ann Pedersen called him...

After explaining who she was and why she had called him, Ann told Charlie that one of the VPs at SoluCent was going to make a presentation at an upcoming meeting to oppose moving forward with InVision. Later she sent him the time, place and agenda. Charlie realized that he had to act fast if he was going to continued to be employed. He did what he thought he had to do--he crashed the meeting between the President and his VPs!

Unfortunately for Charlie, the agenda for that meeting proved to be false... And when he and others tried to find Ann Pedersen, it was discovered that she not only did not work there, but they couldn't find her at all.

He also started finding notes written in his handwriting that were written as if to himself; e.g., "If not yourself, then who can you believe?" (p. 21). Other notes would tell him to look for something at a certain place and when Charlie went to the place, he would find something about which he knew nothing. And then he was led to the body of the SoluCent Security Chief who had been present when he was fired; he was just the first on the murder list he had written, which also included his direct supervisor, the VP that he had been told was not supporting him, and the President!

On the job, an audit of his performance was made. They found he had been visiting porn sites, all showing the access had been made using his badge, network and email. And then an email to a major competitor from Charlie was found!

At first Charlie believed that the corporation itself was trying to set it up to fire him, so that the major money from InVision would not have to be paid to him. But after being closer to his brother because of his mother, he had to remember what his brother had done to him while growing up and wonder. He realized that it was very possible that his being around his brother was causing him just as much stress as it was Charlie!

In desperation, Charlie contacted the only psychiatrist with whom he had ever had contact--his brother's. Of course she would never be able to treat him, but both realized a mutual attraction, and she made the mistake of at least spending time to listen to what was happening. She then tried to refer him to another...

Charlie could not accept that he, too, might have become mentally ill, even with his family relationships. But as he tried to investigate on his own, he finds himself continuing to question if he had experienced job burnout, had become like his father and brother--had become a murderer!

I love psychological suspense, but this book is almost horror, it is scary! For those of us who value control in our lives, we watch this successful man lose his job, be thrust into close contact with an abusive brother and slowly be hunted by, seemingly, another part of himself who is out to kill anybody who has harmed him while taunting him with the results. There is only one way readers can keep up with all of the possibilities, and even then, if you are right (I was), it doesn't matter because each twist makes you reconsider, wonder...and shudder at the possibilities...

If it's not the best I've read, I sure can't think of another as exciting and suspenseful! I promise you--if you like psychological suspense, this is a MUST-READ...and yes, Daniel is Michael Palmer's son, but you'll soon remember Daniel without thinking of his father!

Book Received Via
Bostick Communications

G. A. Bixler

Extra Bonus - Check out Review and Interview by Ruby Moon-Houldson, writer for Roddenberry.Com, and scifi author:

Earth Realm Reviews!  Note that the review/interview covers four entries due to space limitations:
     http://bbs.roddenberry.com/showthread.php?t=4057

     http://bbs.roddenberry.com/showthread.php?t=4058

     http://bbs.roddenberry.com/showthread.php?t=4059

Available January 25; Pre-Order Now...








And that's not all! A Free Copy of Delirious will be won by a random commenter to my review! It must be submitted here at Book Reader's Heaven so I'll be sure to find the comment!

Review: Twisted Webs Brings Web Series to New Level of Drama!

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Twisted Webs

By Darlene Quinn







Darlene Quinn is not only an excellent writer, she has created a special niche that she easily explores and fills to the fullest. She combines the life of professionals in the elite department store conglomerates with the individual lives of strong women who are part of the high-fashion, marketing and powerful, finance deals!

I admit that I love the female characters that Quinn creates. If you haven't met them yet, check out my review of her first book, Webs of Power. Each book easily stands alone; however, having read the first book when it came out, I was ready to move into the personal lives of the family when crisis hits...

As it did to the Taylor  family...

Ashleigh Taylor, wife of one of the high-powered men in the financial world has given birth to two beautiful identical girls. They are named Callie and Cassie, but Cassie is never to be called by her real name!

She is taken from the cradle in the hospital while Ashleigh sleeps and spirited away with absolutely no clues as to how and who took the little girl. Of course we see the drama of the family working through the investigation but months turn into years and there is no trace of Cassie.

Ashleigh prays that her daughter was taken by somebody who would love and care for her and is able to slowly begin to move forward.

The emphasis is on the family members caught in the terrible guilt of knowing where the child is, but having to choose whether to hurt their own family. Especially when the kidnapper is killed in an accident and the woman who becomes Cassie's mother does not know the truth of how the baby came to be hers. She had been told that a young girl who had gotten pregnant had given her up.

Most of the arrangements that had been made before the kidnapper was killed had proceeded. Erica had named the little girl Marnie and Mike, her husband's gay brother, was to live with them and help with the baby. In fact they had moved to New York and Erica had begun to be recognized as a designer as she worked for Viviana De Mornay. I'll just say that Viviana was the woman you loved to hate in the first book! You'll enjoy her just as much in this one!

Twisted Indeed!

I loved what happened! It takes a wonderful woman to create the strong, spirited and admirable women that appear in Darlene Quinn's books. Ashleigh Taylor is a woman each of us wishes we were--and sometimes are. Would we face tragedy and loss as she did?

And what about Erica? What would you do if you found out your daughter had been taken from her real mother?

This web is so intertwined that if you tear one part, you may destroy the entire structure of that beautiful Web! Drama at its finest!

Book Received Via
Bostick Communications

G. A. Bixler

Review: Quinn's First Drama Provides Great Kick-Off for Web Series!

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Webs of Power

Darlene Quinn







Webs of Power is a work of fiction; however, if you happen to fill a high-level position in some corporate hierarchy, you may think you're reading a story about your own company! Darlene Quinn has done an excellent job in taking readers into the fast-paced and sometimes terror-filled world of high finance and corporate takeovers. This time, for department stores, in the late 1980s.

Quinn's note at the end of the book provides a short, helpful historical view of the rise and, to some extent, fall of the great department stores. Most of us at least recognize the name of Macy's, which sponsors the annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. Many have watched as other stores have closed and the downtowns of our cities board up the large windows that formerly provided samples of what these stores offered.

There is no doubt that Power...and the desire for ever, more Money were the main factors that drove the creation of large conglomerates. By the time of this story, there were billions involved in mergers, hostile takeovers, and the resale of smaller stores.

Webs of Power focuses on three women and those around them. Into the webs of deceit in business, they brought the only thing stronger than power and money. They brought Love.

Page Toddman, together with her husband Mark, were major players at Consolidated. They both had personal histories with the company and had contributed greatly to its growth. However, at the first sign of financial weakness, an Australian land developer, Philip Sloan made a hostile offer of $4.2 billion for the retail empire. Mark was immediately caught up in trying to prevent the takeover, but Page had something much more important that she faced--a late-life pregnancy that forced a re-evaluation of what was most important to her.

Ashleigh McDowell, engaged to be married to Conrad Taylor, one of Mark's primary executives, had unexpectedly been asked to take over the reigns of his father's business, commercial investments, and had to relocate across the country. Ashleigh's career was at Bentley's, a prestigious division of Consolidated, and was forced to stay there as everyone worked to prevent the takeover. Could love survive postponement of their wedding indefinitely?

Viviane De Mornay is the glamorous woman you want to hate, but cannot. She, too, was affected by the potential upheaval of the takeover--but potentially in a much-different way. For she is having an affair with Philip Sloan! Her tangled life could be the most affected and she dreams of standing beside Sloan as he takes over Consolidated. Besides she loves him. What she can't quite be sure of is that she loves him for himself--or for the power and money he can provide her.

Quinn has effectively used her experience and expertise in department store management to create a thoroughly intriguing, believable, and twisted drama of deceit, love, greed--and, yes, webs of power! Once you get caught in the tangle of the lives of these three women, you will be turning each page until you know what happens to them.

One small sub-plot of a former corporate raider, who gave everything up to take care of his much-loved son when he became ill, was one of my favorite surprises. What does the power of love do to the lives of those affected by corporate power struggles? This book reveals it all! Enjoy!

G. A. Bixler

Related articles

• A glance at Macy's history (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
• A Glance at Macy's History (abcnews.go.com)
• How Dillard's did it (money.cnn.com)
• Media Decoder: Macy's Wants to 'Wake Up' Black Friday (mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Von Maur department store chain to enter Atlanta market (ajc.com)

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Please note: Because of bad weather with my dialup service, I was unable to do much for my spotlighted site, so, am continuing and will be covering the Winter Quarter! BRH

Check out the Winter Issue!

Winter's Majesty...

Happy New Year From Aaron Paul Lazar!

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2011


While we celebrate and ring in the new year, I'd like to thank each and every one of you for your support.
I often tell folks that my favorite part of being an author is connecting with my readers. It's the truth. I love you guys. And I'm humbled that my stories seem to inspire, comfort, thrill, or entertain. Armchair traveling can be a great escape, and let's face it, we all need a break sometimes, right?

I take great pleasure in the fact that you relate to Gus LeGarde, to Siegfried Marggrander, to Camille, and now to Sam and Rachel Moore. And for the first time in a long time, I might actually have one book of each series to give you in 2011, plus a few more books in my NEW series.

Yep. Another one. I know it's nuts, but I couldn't help myself. Having that laid-off year between "day jobs" gave me the chance to get reacquainted with the Adirondacks, and to fall in love all over again with the majesty and beauty of the region. It was just natural that a new series based on the Sacandaga River, in Hope, NY, would be born. There are already two books under contract and scheduled for release in 2011/2012 in the new series featuring Marcella and Quinn Hollister, antique dealers from Honeoye, NY, whose lives spin out of control when secrets from the past catch up with them.

Up Next:

The next book on the docket is FIRESONG, the novel that brings Gus LeGarde back to East Goodland to face some of the most tangled and baffling mysteries of his life. The cover is done and I'm working on the final polish. Fingers crossed that we'll have it out in print soon.

Honors for HEALEY'S CAVE

"To Aaron Paul Lazar for Healey’s Cave. A mystery has never made my Nobel list before but this one deserves the description “literary mystery.” It’s been called “lush,” “lyrical,” and “absorbing.” It is a fine example of how genre fiction can cross the line from entertaining to fine art." - Carolyn Howard Johnson
I don't enter many writing contests. I know, I know. I probably should. But all these extranneous things I do for promotion or awards take away from writing time, and it kills me. I need to write. I need time with the characters in my parallel universe(s). So I avoid the stuff other than pure writing more than I should.

This year, though, at some prodding from my publisher, I sent out HEALEY'S CAVE to a few places. It seems they liked it. ;o) The book made it to the top two finalists for the Allbooks Editor's Choice Awards Mystery category. The winner will be announced in January.

I'm pleased to say award-winning Carolyn Howard Johnson also seemed to like the book, and picked it for one of her top choices for her Back to Literature column 2010 on the Myshelf.com site.

Thanks to Allbooks and Carolyn Howard Johnson for these honors.

Coming Soon - the second Moore Mystery

The next Moore Mystery has been titled. It's called TERROR COMES KNOCKING and was named by a great friend and supporter of my books. Thanks to Don Harman, from Charlotte, North Carolina, for suggesting the title. TERROR COMES KNOCKING puts Sam and Rachel Moore through more heartstopping trials. The green marble is back, Billy hasn't gone off to visit the angels yet, and daughter Beth goes missing. It should be out in 2011, as long as I continue to make good progress on the final polish. You can read an excerpt from it soon. Stay tuned to the website devoted to Sam and Rachel, at http://www.mooremysteries.com/.

Introducing Tall Pines Mysteries
Two new mysteries are due in print in 2011/2012 - FOR THE BIRDS and ESSENTIALLY YOURS. These mysteries are set in the gorgeous Adirondack Mountains, and have just a touch of the paranormal entwined in the plots. They're full of humor, nature, terror, and I've been told they're a little bit sexy. For the first time in my life, I'm telling a story from a woman's POV! Hey, I figured it would make me a better writer. And it's good to get inside a woman's mind once in a while. Or so my wife tells me. Stay tuned for more about this new contemporary series. I think you'll like it!

Call for Beta Readers

Got time? Like to read? Have an eagle eye?

Does it drive you nuts when you spot an error in a finished book?  Me, too. But it's nearly impossible for me to catch all my own errors without the help of my Beta Readers. My brain just integrates the words into what they're supposed to say, and I miss mistakes all the time. Plus there are those little inconsistencies that drive me insane. Like when I left the duct tape on Billy Moore's mouth in one scene, and he started talking in the next. Or like the time I called Sam "Gus" in Healey's Cave. Gheesh.

I could use some help. I'm looking for the average reader who can breeze through my books in efile format, find the occasional typo or inconsistency, and get the manuscript back to me within a month or so. In return, you'll get your name in the acknowledgements and a free copy when it comes out.

Interested? Email me so we can see if you fit the profile!

We're finally "Kindling!"

Who ever thought this old dog could learn new tricks? Me, who was always a little leery about eBooks and who pontificated about the joys of holding a print book in my hands. Okay, so I still love that feeling, BUT, I bought my wife a Kindle for her birthday, and she has told me it's the best present she ever received. She's downloaded and read a dozen books in the past month, and is now helping me proofread my manuscripts on her Kindle, too.

Since I figured out how to do all this without even trying hard, I'm now reading books on my iPhone, and they also appear on the Kindle and my Mac laptop, totally synced together. It's actually a blast, and I'm liking being able to travel places without a million pound suitcase filled with books.

What they are saying...about Healey's Cave...

"Sometimes it's reading what folks say about your work that makes you glow the brightest. Here are a few wonderful remarks from reviewers and readers alike for Healey's Cave, the debut book in the Moore Mystery series. "

"Lazar sketches the relationship of man and wife in soft strokes, like a lovely pen and ink drawing on fine paper. A grandparent taking delight in the love of his grandchildren, is a pastel portrait framed in gold. Childhood friendships drenched in sepia tones are like old photographs in a long forgotten album taken from the shelf. Flowers in a garden, horses long gone from their stalls in a barn, the feel of leaf mold in the hands of a man who loves the earth—are sense memories so strong, that individuals spontaneously manifest themselves in complete fullness upon the page..."

"Aaron Lazar is a master storyteller. The sense of intrigue never dims in this book. As we look over Sam Moore’s shoulder into the fire of the green marble, we are drawn with him into an experience of the paranormal, seeing into the unseen worlds he unearths, never to rest until we know the whole truth about what happened to his brother Billy—and to the others."

-Natalie Neal Whitefield

"Opening the pages of Healey’s Cave releases a delightfully diabolical mystery with a chilling paranormal plot. Exceptionally written, this book will capture readers with a unique chase for a murderer that transcends time and space."

-Joyce Handzo, In The Library Reviews

Since it's the season of giving...

I meant to make a special offer on books before the holiday season flew by. But I guess I had a pretty good excuse for not getting to it sooner - my eldest daughter just tied the knot with our new son-in-law, Geoffrey Hall on the night before Thanksgiving. That weekend, daughter Melanie accepted a proposal from new fiance' Jay Carbonneau, and shortly thereafter, Allison said yes to her honey, Jason Wolfanger. Life has been hopping!

So, in celebration of my three daughters finding their soulmates and agreeing to a lifetime together, I'd like to offer a book deal I've never done before.
BUY ONE BOOK, get the next FREE.
 That goes for DOUBLE FORTE', UPSTAGED, TREMOLO, MAZURKA, AND HEALEY'S CAVE. This is a one time deal that I don't intend to repeat any time soon. So if you have Christmas money that's burning a hole in your pockets, or want to get started collected birthday gifts for family while the price is hot, email me and we'll get this done! Email: aaron.lazar@yahoo.com