Florida Gothic...May Not Be What You Think... Mitzi Szereto Does...Unique...

(Turn the sound down low for background mood...)

Got to tell you right away, that Florida Gothic was not what I expected... As a long-time gothic fan, I was expecting something like Heathcliff, or other similar novels where people live in castles and there is romance, suspense and more...NOT! So, if that is what you're looking for, don't buy this...

On the other hand, Mitzi Szereto has written in a range of genres and I've always liked her writing, so I was willing to read on...Be prepared, this Gothic is from the Horror side of Gothic--and horror is what you're going to get! Starting with how the main character is...killed...

On a muggy Sunday evening, Ernesto Calixto Martinez is run over by an expensive black Hummer with the vanity license plate kngpdro. There are no calls to 9-1-1, no attempts to keep him from going into shock, no offers of comfort. There’s nothing but the SUV driver speeding away, leaving a broken old man to die in his own pee and shit on a dark Miami road by a smelly canal. 

Ernesto’s not yet fully dead when the alligator finds him. After making quick work of his left arm, it takes some chunks out of his already scrawny right leg. As he listens to the sound of sharp prehistoric teeth crunching tired old bone, he drifts in and out of consciousness, convinced he must be dreaming—hoping he must be dreaming. His brain feels like a waterlogged ball of cotton, but it’s not water but blood that’s misting his thoughts. Only after he dies does Ernesto appreciate the extent of the damage done to his body. His left arm has been torn off at the shoulder, leaving behind a bleeding gash festooned with ribbons of raw flesh and tendon, the alligator having slithered back into the murky canal to savor its tasty prize. As for his leg, its meat and muscle have been pulverized to a lumpy pulp by a primitive creature as efficient in killing as it is lying in wait for victims. Ernesto nearly vomits when he sees it. 

Except the dead can’t vomit...

~~~

Ernesto is not only a victim of a hit-and-run... a nearby alligator sees him and waddles over for an unexpected meal!

Gory death...gory afterlife... You know, something like the infamous scene everybody thinks of when they say "Thanks for the ride, lady..."

A dead man’s rage is like no other. Ernesto can feel it bubbling like boiled tar inside the dead shell of him until it spills from his lips in gluey strings of blood-blackened bile. He rages at the man who hit him; he rages at the drivers who ignored him; he rages at the people responsible for the creature that took what remained of his life away. That’s what happens when baby alligators are dumped in lakes and canals after their owners discover their “pets” won’t stay small forever. Usually you hear about it when the adult versions show up on a golf course and interrupt someone’s game. Then it’s reported as a funny news story—something to be chuckled over after the reports of drug busts, government corruption and murder are presented. An old Cubano’s gator-mangled body probably wouldn’t qualify as a funny news story.

~~~

I try not to enjoy revenge...but I've got to admit, this guy deserved to take it! So be prepared for a hunt like no other, as Ernesto finds hate, anger and a need for revenge keeps burning even after death...

He had plenty of time to think and, first, realized that he had died just as his daughter had...by a hit-and-run... and the one who killed her had just got out of jail... He would be the first... He knew unfairness in this world was wide and sometimes it seemed to come from God. He was willing to take it from Him... But, not from his peers, those humans who chose to act in evil, drinking and driving, without taking responsibility for what they did! Indeed, was God allowing him to stay here for exactly what he had in mind? How would he know? But he continues on his search...

He lives alone as he finds his way through the world that holds evil, his only friends the bugs and maggots that now occupy his home and even his body... But he sits remembering his beloved Esperanza.

Ernesto decided to go outside. He wanted to see the moon, possibly for the last time. Its brightness lit up the closed Venetian blinds like the screen in a movie theater, reminding him of happier times. He and Esperanza enjoyed looking at the moon together. They would hold hands and he’d sing to her “Moon Over Miami” from the film, though he was no Don Ameche. Back when they were dating, they went to see the musical at a movie house in Matanzas, though by then it had been out for more than a decade. Ernesto wanted to relive those joyful moments, but the stark aloneness of his dead self staring up at the sky with his dead eyes couldn’t bring them back...

~~~

I admit that I am not a fan of this type of horror, but there is an underlying story that is intriguing even while horribly graphic... Just as the terrible horror is happening in Florida right now, and other catastrophes across the world, including Texas, we are pulled into the individual story that arises out of the world we live in. Ernesto lived after death for a length of time... and when the door knocked, he was ready...

Soooo, "thanks for the ride..." Mitzi! Your writing saved this book for me... I don't know how you do it...But, those who enjoy graphic horror, do check it out!

GABixlerReviews

Mitzi Szereto (mitziszereto.com) is an author and anthology editor of multi-genre fiction and non-fiction. She has her own blog Errant Ramblings: Mitzi Szereto's Weblog, and a web TV channel Mitzi TV, which covers the "quirky" side of London. Her books include Oysters and Pearls: Collected Stories; Rotten Peaches (The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles) and Normal for Norfolk (The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles) - the cozy mystery/satire series co-written with celebrity author bear Teddy Tedaloo; Phantom: The Immortal (co-written with Ashley Lister); Love, Lust and Zombies; Darker Edge of Desire: Gothic Tales of Romance; The Wilde Passions of Dorian Gray; Thrones of Desire: Erotic Tales of Swords, Mist and Fire; Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts; Red Velvet and Absinthe: Paranormal Erotic Romance;  Getting Even: Revenge Stories; Dying For It: Tales of Sex and Death; In Sleeping Beauty's Bed: Erotic Fairy Tales; and Wicked: Sexy Tales of Legendary Lovers.

The Chair - His Chair

His first assessment was wrong. As he studied it longer, he realized its minimalism masked a complex beauty.

Interesting.

And its finish was...he didn't know. He'd never seen one like it before. Almost a translucent gold.

He stepped forward and rubbed his finger along its back. Again a tingling sensation ran through his fingers, lighter this time as if he'd stuck his fingers in an electrical socket with a minimal current flowing through it. But the feeling wasn't painful. It was almost warm and tinged with energy. An instant later he felt...refreshed. As if he'd just taken a twenty minute power nap.

He pulled his hand back and rubbed his thumb and fingers together, "Strange."

~~~

On Tuesday afternoon at five thirty, an elderly lady strode into Corin's antiques store as if she owned it and said, "The next two months of your life will be either heaven or hell."

...She looked at Corm as if observing a small child, "You've misunderstood. I am not asking you to buy the chair. I am giving it to you."

"Why would you do that?"

"You are to have it." She motioned again toward the door.

"I am?" Corin slid his hands into his jeans and eased toward the woman. "Who made that decision?"

She stared at him and gave a faint smile but she didn't answer...

"Where did it come from? Who made it?"

She stood. "I told you. A craftsman."

"His name?"

She kept speaking as if she hadn't heard him. "Who lived long ago."

"What was his name?"

~~~

Check out my Review of First Rubart Book Read!

After I had finished reading Rooms, my first book by James L. Rubart, I wrote that it was one of the best books I ever read. Although I can't remember the exact story now, since it was in 2009, I still remember the feelings, the emotions, the impressions from that book. Soon after I finished reading Rooms, I ordered The Chair...
It had sat on my bookshelf until this month, when I pulled it out, unbelievably exactly 8 years after I bought it...
God sends me the right books to read at the right time...Perhaps this is your time to read one or both of these books or others by this outstanding Christian fiction writer!

As I think of this book, I find myself picturing Jesus as he grew older, knowing what was coming in His life, realizing that, with His carpenter skills, He could leave a part of Him to actually live on after the Crucifixion. He would be leaving his Holy Spirit, but something tangible might be actually used to perform miracles in His absence... He built The Chair...

And when the chair was discovered, it was secretly taken into a woman's hands who would guard and protect it and allow it to be used by those in need, as guided by our Lord...The Chair was then handed down from mother to daughter through hundreds and thousands of years until it was brought into an antique store, owned by Corin Roscoe.

Corin...and readers...will wonder why The Chair was given to Corin. He was not a devoted believer nor, even after he'd begun to guess who built the chair, was he anxious to keep it...except, he did have one major issue as well as his own needs that could certainly benefit from healing. It is not my intent to share much about the story; readers need to experience it as it evolves and I don't want to take that away...  I will say that Corin had a unique and unusual story in his life that won't match many of what we may have experienced...

The key issue, for me, was to learn about events in his life and consider how I would have responded to a similar situation... Then, too, there are principles of trust, judging others, and being forced to deal with the actions of others when they do not support our own will or desires, Rubart brilliantly turns a flip-flop on our own emotional responses and forces us to realize facts that are surprisingly different when faced with the reality of what actually happens...

In today's world, The Chair, perhaps is even more important for us to read. We are being tossed and turned, not able to believe or trust was is being said even from our leaders. Certainly it is a time when we must realize that emotional responses from within us can be found to be wrong...and that, we must move away from our emotions, old friendships even, or from whom we may think are men of God (or not) and open our eyes to consider how each may really be... 

As a straight fictional story, it is a wonderful story with several surprise endings that keep you in suspense until the very end... I enjoyed more, for myself, the lessons to be learned--the realization that over and over, what we each may want is not in sync with God's guidance for our life. Rubart forces us to face reality and learn to trust, first, in Jesus... Even in the presence of The Chair...

GABixlerReviews

James L. Rubart is 28 years old, but lives trapped inside an older man's body. He thinks he's still young enough to water ski like a madman and dirt bike with his two grown sons, and loves to send readers on journeys they'll remember months after they finish one of his stories. 

He's the best-selling, Christy, Carol, INSPY, and RT Book Reviews award winning author of eight novels as well as a professional speaker. During the day he runs his marketing company which helps businesses, authors, and publishers make more coin of the realm. He lives with his amazing wife on a small lake in eastern Washington. More at www.jameslrubart.com More at http://jameslrubart.com/ and on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JamesLRubart

Lalibela's Wise Man by Matshona Dhliwayo Uses Story Set in Historical Site to Present Wise Advice to All!

Discovering wisdom in a book is quite exhilarating when you discover it unexpectedly... Sure, the title gives a hint but this short book turned out to be so much more!

We meet the main character, Christian, just after his father has died and final arrangements made are announced for the estate... Christian received a small box and nothing else...

Now some of us may not expect an inheritance, given family circumstances, but Christian's father had been very rich...

And he knew that he was his father's favorite son, although he was the youngest. Not only did his brothers get the full inheritance, but they immediately kicked Christian out of their, now, home, and of the family business.

Christian had a little money saved, but not enough to go on without working... But where? And how should he continue in light of the seemingly hostile actions by his father. Finally, he was calm enough and opened the box...In it was just a note to go see the Old Monk in Lalibela...

For those of us who have never been there, I wanted a little more information... Note that there is no information about Lalibela in the book being reviewed...

Said to be the location of The Garden of Eden...

Christian really had no other choice, the last wish of his father to his favorite son was to go find an old monk in Lalibela, Ethiopia... There, he was able to find a taxi to take him to the foot of the mountain where the monastery was located but he was to walk to the top, which took about two hours...

When he arrived, a monk who he guessed to be about 60 welcomed him and he allowed him to read the note from his father... Christian was directed to proceed forward...

He would stay at the monastery for seven days... Though many might think that it was to be an intense spiritual retreat, instead, one day they went out hunting; another day he carried a spear, but when a lion came toward him, he dropped his weapon and ran away. Christian was an intelligent businessman but what was he to learn from these daily activities? Another day he felt embarrassed to stay behind and visit with the children. Although he enjoyed very much meeting Daniel, especially who spoke English, he was afraid to ask the Monk what it was he was to be learning... Actually, as it turned out, much of what was taught was related to not only personal, but also business success.

It was only on the day he was to leave that he spent time learning the old Monk's wisdom...and so much more. The method by which the author has placed Christian into situations without understanding brilliantly allowed both Christian and readers to discover the wisdom to be learned... And the conclusion was unbelievably exhilarating! 

This was a very satisfying book. Not only did I learn something new about a place, frankly, I had amazingly never heard of, Lalibela, but the wisdom of the monk was a welcome time of restoration much needed by many people... I was impressed enough to go out and pick up another, similar book by the author about the wisdom of Solomon... I highly recommend you consider this book for many reasons...

Ledet (Christmas) falls on December 29 Ethiopian calendar (January 7 Gregorian calendar). Ethiopian Christmas is celebrated after 43 days fasting known as Tsome Gahad (Advent), with a spectacular procession, which begins at 6 AM and lasts until 9 AM. After the mass service, people go home to break the fast with the meat of chicken or lamb or beef accompanied with injera and the traditional drinks (i.e. tella or tej). Ethiopian Christmas is colorfully celebrated in Lalibela at the rock hewn church of Bete Mariam (The House of St. Mary) by an overnight chanting and the early morning ecclesiastical dance and chanting by the deacons, priests and the cantors who all wear typical traditional cloth and climb on to the surrounding courtyard rock hill known as Mame Gara that encircle the church of St. Mary. The day marks both the birth of Jesus Christ and King Lalibela and it is why thousands of pilgrims make their pilgrimage to the site for this particular festival.

GABixlerReviews

Matshona Dhliwayo is a Canadian based Philosopher, Entrepreneur, and author of books such as The Little Book of Inspiration, Creativity, The Book, 50 Lessons Every Wise Mother Teaches Her Son, 100 Lessons Every Great Man Wants You to Know, and Lalibela's Wise Man. He is also a regular contributor for the African Leadership Magazine.

Doug Anderson Shares Cool Poem - Now With Music...

Doug Anderson

Thanks so much to a Facebook friend and freelance writer for giving permission to share this fascinating poem...

ROMANTIC

I'm one of maybe

the final generation

of them.

I see this woman

sitting outside

that cafe

with the

New York Times

and, well,

something as simple

as the curve

of her neck

sets me off.

By the time

I've walked

a block

I've already

made love to her

in my head,

and

by the end

of the next block

I've married her.

Don't know

a thing about her.

Who knows,

she could be

poisoning

her husband

with anti-freeze,

sewing

Nazi armbands.

But I've got this

little piece of radium

or something

down near

my amygdala

that flares up

in the slightest

breeze.

Maybe

I'm being

selected out

of our

not too successful

species,

I mean,

still thinking

about her

I could step off

the curb

in front of that truck

now gearing up

to get out of town.

Former President Jimmy Carter Speaks Out on Power, Religion, Violence and Women!

Jimmy Carter was born in Plains, Georgia, and served as thirty-ninth President of the United States. He and his wife, Rosalynn, founded The Carter Center, a nonprofit organization that prevents and resolves conflicts, enhances freedom and democracy, and improves health around the world. He is the author of numerous books, including Palestine Peace Not Apartheid, An Hour Before Daylight and Our Endangered Values. He received a "Best Spoken Word" Grammy Award for his recording of Our Endangered Values. 



In the highly acclaimed bestselling A Call to Action, President Jimmy Carter addresses the world’s most serious, pervasive, and ignored violation of basic human rights: the ongoing discrimination and violence against women and girls.
President Carter was encouraged to write this book by a wide coalition of leaders of all faiths. His urgent report covers a system of discrimination that extends to every nation. Women are deprived of equal opportunity in wealthier nations and “owned” by men in others, forced to suffer servitude, child marriage, and genital cutting. The most vulnerable and their children are trapped in war and violence.

A Call to Action addresses the suffering inflicted upon women by a false interpretation of carefully selected religious texts and a growing tolerance of violence and warfare. Key verses are often omitted or quoted out of context by male religious leaders to exalt the status of men and exclude women. And in nations that accept or even glorify violence, this perceived inequality becomes the basis for abuse. 

Carter draws upon his own experiences and the testimony of courageous women from all regions and all major religions to demonstrate that women around the world, more than half of all human beings, are being denied equal rights. This is an informed and passionate charge about a devastating effect on economic prosperity and unconscionable human suffering. It affects us all.

~~~

I bought this book for one primary reason... To verify that the United States had at least one president who tried to serve our country to the best of his ability...and to continue a life of service for people around the World that he had grown to care about...

We do not now have such a president as a majority of our country has noted again and again... The danger of this dramatic increase to incite violence, hatred, bigotry and prejudice, again, drew me to this book as Carter in his book shares not only his concern but actual statistics and factual information about how Women are now being seen/treated across the world.

Of particular interest was his personal story about religion and his ultimate decision, along with his wife, to leave the church he had been attending for years...

In his Introduction he began:

All the elements in this book concerning prejudice, discrimination, war, violence, distorted interpretations of religious texts, physical and mental abuse, poverty, and disease fall disproportionately on women and girls. 

I saw the ravages of racial prejudice as I grew up in the Deep South, when for a century the U.S. Supreme Court and all other political and social authorities accepted the premise that black people were, in some basic ways, inferior to white people. Even those in the dominant class who disagreed with this presumption remained relatively quiet and enjoyed the benefits of the prevailing system. Carefully selected Holy Scriptures were quoted to justify this discrimination in the 

name of God. 

There is a similar system of discrimination, extending far beyond a small geographical region to the entire globe; it touches every nation, perpetuating and expanding the trafficking in human slaves, body mutilation, and even legitimized murder on a massive scale. This system is based on the presumption that men and boys are superior to women and girls, and it is supported by some male religious leaders who distort the Holy Bible, the Koran, and other sacred texts to perpetuate their claim that females are, in some basic ways, inferior to them, unqualified to serve God on equal terms. Many men disagree but remain quiet in order to enjoy the benefits of their dominant status. This false premise provides a justification for sexual discrimination in almost every realm of secular and religious life. Some men even cite this premise to justify physical punishment of women and girls. Another factor contributing to the abuse of women and girls is an acceptance of violence, from unwarranted armed combat to excessive and biased punishment for those who violate the law. In too many cases, we use violence as a first rather than a last resort, so 

that even deadly violence has become commonplace. 

My own experiences and the testimony of courageous women from all regions and all major religions have made it clear to me that as a result of these two factors there is a pervasive denial of equal rights to women, more than half of all human beings, and this discrimination results in tangible harm to all of us, male and female. My wife, Rosalynn, and I have visited about 145 countries, and the nonprofit organization we founded, The Carter Center, has had active projects in more than half of them. We have had opportunities in recent years to interact directly among the people, often in remote villages in the jungles and deserts. We have learned a lot about their personal affairs, particularly that financial inequality has been growing more rapidly with each passing decade. This is true both between rich and poor countries and among citizens within them. In fact, the disparity in net worth and income in the United States has greatly increased since my time in the White House. 

By 2007 the income of the middle 60 percent of Americans had increased at a rate twice as high as that of the bottom 20 percent. And the rate of increase for the top 1 percent was over fifteen times higher, primarily because of the undue influence of wealthy people who invest in elections and later buy greater benefits for themselves in Washington and in state capitals. As the conservative columnist George Will writes, “Big government inevitably drives an upward distribution of wealth to those whose wealth, confidence and sophistication enable them to manipulate government.” Yet although economic disparity is a great and growing problem, I have become convinced that the most serious and unaddressed worldwide challenge is the deprivation and abuse of women and girls, largely caused by a false interpretation of carefully selected religious texts and a growing tolerance of violence and warfare, unfortunately following the example set during my lifetime by the United States. In addition to the unconscionable human suffering, almost embarrassing to acknowledge, there is a devastating effect on economic prosperity caused by the loss of contributions of at least half the human beings on earth. This is not just a women’s issue. It is not confined to the poorest countries. It affects us all. 

After focusing for a few years on the problem of gender discrimination through our human rights program at The Carter Center, I began to speak out more forcefully about it. Because of this, I was asked to address the Parliament of the World’s Religions, an audience of several thousand assembled in Australia in December 2009, about the vital role of religion in providing a foundation for countering the global scourge of gender abuse. My remarks represented the personal views of a Christian layman, a Bible teacher for more than seventy years, a former political leader. I reminded the audience that in dealing with each other, we are guided by international agreements as well as our own moral values, most often derived from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Bible, the Koran, and other cherished texts that proclaim a commitment to justice and mercy, equality of treatment between men and women, and a duty to alleviate suffering. 

However, some selected scriptures are interpreted, almost exclusively by powerful male leaders within the Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, and other faiths, to proclaim the lower status of women and girls. This claim that women are inferior before God spreads to the secular world to justify gross and sustained acts of discrimination and violence against them. This includes unpunished rape and other sexual abuse, infanticide of newborn girls and abortion of female fetuses, a worldwide trafficking in women and girls, and so-called honor killings of innocent women who are raped, as well as the less violent but harmful practices of lower pay and fewer promotions for women and greater political advantages for men. 

I mentioned some notable achievements of women despite these handicaps and described struggles within my own religious faith. I called on believers, whether Protestant, Catholic, Coptic, Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, or tribal, to study these violations of our basic moral values and to take corrective action... 

~~~

Interestingly, one woman, Angelina Jolie, took the route of creating a movie showing the sexual abuse of women during wars. I wanted to at least share the trailer for the movie, but found that most information has been taken off due to content... Isn't that the reality of it all...a movie that shows the reality of war is not allowed to be showed because of how horrendous the activities "in the movie" was...but we've done nothing much to speak out to stop these atrocities actually happening within any war zone...

~~~

Carter shares his personal experiences as he became aware of what was happening in the world. For instance, during the 1963 speech of Martin Luther King, he was struck by his son being in Vietnam, as King condemned the government for being the biggest purveyor of violence, noting that he had to condemn that before he could condemn the spreading violence in the ghetto... King went on to say that we could not look at freedom without the concurrent commitment to peace and non-violence.

Carter went on to tell of his realization that women, who were disproportionately affected, could not have equal rights without the recognition of how violence has placed women in that unequal position. Quoting Pope Francis in 2013: "Faith and violence are incompatible," Carter points out that violence may not be more than there was in the past, but the key thing is that we know better and globally, we have sought to improve human rights in every possible way.

Moving forward into the book, Carter covers Spousal Abuse, for instance, by noting that many men use Matthew 5:39 about turning the other cheek, by stating that Christian women are required to just take it... That is quickly turned into the third choice (taking it or returning the violence) by going to a women's shelter...

Why are we still failing? That's what I wanted to know...

This is not an easy book to read, especially for women. Men? Some will agree but will they have the strength of characters to speak out when misinformation about some religious practice is used to commit violence? There are many people and groups speaking out more and more, with specifics, such as those by Ritu Sharma, Cofounder and President, Women Thrive Worldwide, who openly states "There is no religion that despises women. Hatred cannot come from the Heart of God..."

There is no religion that despises women. Hatred cannot come from the heart of God. If there is hatred, its source is not the Creator. Only humans have the capacity to see and treat others as less than they truly are. It is our minds and hearts that must change to release women, girls, men, and boys from the bondage of gender-based limitations or violence. That change is happening, right now in this very moment, in thousands of homes, schools, synagogues, chapels, mosques, and centers of power around the world. That change is coming. Have faith. It will be here soon. 

~~~

There is much to learn in this book. The primary confirmation for me was that God, in no way, wants women or men to be objects of violence... and that anybody who uses religion to justify violence is doing it based upon his own will not God's!

Frankly that was worth reading the book for me; however, there is much more powerful material that needs to be read, some of it perhaps new to those men who are willing to listen and, then, be strong enough to speak out against what has and is happening to women, children, and men across the world.

Note that the United States is only 23rd in the world as a country who absolutely treats women and men with equal status... and that, further, they had improved and then dropped again. Violence has indeed increased and it's coming from all sectors of the United States as well as across the world... It is especially reprehensible to know that many use the Bible and other religious texts to justify the treatment of women, rather than to strive to understand what is actually being said...

In one way or another I have fought for betterment of the way women have been treated for all of my adult life...Admittedly it was my own personal battle in the professional arena mostly. Now, I can see what is happening across the nation and the world on a much broader scale. Reading this book has expanded greatly my base of knowledge and awareness...An important contribution of the book. This is highly recommended to women and men...Stop what has and is happening to women, children, and men around the world!

GABixlerReviews

NOTE: I have included the book description and more than normal excerpts because of the diversity and complexity...and importance...of the material.

Social Commentary, Historical Mythology Merges into Extraordinary Vampire Novel...

I saw little difference between my human classmates and myself. I was a little faster, a little stronger, but that seemed pretty normal to me. I was a fifteen-year-old Black girl, and I didn't have my vampire abilities yet. I live with my father in Beverly Hills, California. I was insulated from the outside world, from the breezes, the scents, the sounds. My father was a hard man with few regrets, and I adored him.
In less civilized times, he would be in charge of our coven, the alpha vampire. In those days, vampires allowed what was known as The Thirst to rule them. It was simple arrogance that prevented the vampire from living longer than forty years. In that time, vampires had no desire to fit in; they wanted to run things. The word 'Integration' for the vampire, for my father, had the same meaning as suppression. He didn't believe in killing humans, only because that could start a war.
I was born in deep vampire country, Savannah, Georgia to be exact. I was born in a simple house that my parents shared. They separated five years before we all moved west to Southern California. I had no reaction to the shake-up; I guess I was too young to even notice. My father and I moved into a plush Beverly Hills condominium. My mother moved to a modest three-room, one-story home in Angel Beach, California. I hadn't spoken to my mother in years because it was agreed that my father would provide all of my needs. Big cities and vampires didn't mix, so my father spent half a decade hovering over me...
The repeated clicking of the turn signal pulled me from the isolated region of my mind. Here I am in the passenger seat of a chrome black-walled Porsche Panamera. It sped along at seventy miles per hour; its soft leather seats swallowed my small body.
As I eyed my father from the corner for my eye; the corners of my mind neatly hid the bad dream. It was my nightly screams that alerted him. The only thing I was sure of was that something had gone wrong,
"You're going to love your new school," the volume of my dad's voice slowly increased. I was lost in thought the whole time he had been talking. We slowed as the traffic congested the freeway. I could tell that the weight of the occasion unnerved him.
The plan was for me to stay with dad until a certain age. As I stared out the window into the deep blackness, I realize that certain age was about three nights ago. "Dad, you sound just like a TV commercial," I retorted.
"What's wrong with a father wanting his daughter to love her new school?"
"How do you know I am going to love it? I just don't understand why I have to move, and here of all places. I mean, why can't I just stay in Beverly Hills with you, like I've been doing? Why can't I just keep going to the same school?" "Because... it's just that your mother is more..." "More what?" I interrupted. "She's more stable than I am. Look, I have my own issues, and now you're having these nightmares... so your mom and I..." "...decided that I should move without asking for my opinion. Well, it's my life. Isn't it? I'm fifteen years old. I'm practically an adult. I already know what's best for me." I could tell that my father read my thoughts and had saw remnants of what I had hidden.
"And what, may I ask, is best for you?" he looked over at me through his jet-black sunglasses.
I paused as I looked away from my father to gaze out the window. We passed thousands of lighted billboards and dozens of car dealerships as we speed south on the 405 freeway. My father effortlessly moved the steering wheel, gently coaxing the vehicle from lane to lane. My dad's familiar scent of red grapefruit, saffron, and wood filled the vehicle. We were insulated from the night. Angel Beach was a large city along the California coastline. Its port was the accompaniment to Los Angeles.
By accompaniment, Angel Beach was one of the busiest port centers in the world. Angel Beach High School had five thousand students, and there would be fifteen hundred students in my sophomore class. That's a lot of humans. The thought of it was nauseating. If I were hardly noticed before, I really wouldn't be noticed there.
"I just wish you and Mom had talked to me before making a life altering decision that will ruin my social life," I let that linger for a minute. I didn't remember much about my mother. My father said when they met she needed him; she made him want to be a better vampire. "How can living with your mother ruin your social life? You're not being reasonable. There are more things in life, more things to your life, than being social..." he said, looking at his diamond-encrusted watch.
It was exactly 11 p.m.

~~~

Amber had been living with her father in California for most of her life and had a good life. But at 15, she was informed that she would be now moving to live with her mother--that it was time for her to begin to learn new things and be taught how to handle what would be happening to her.  It all ways, Amber looked like a typical African-American teen, but she was more than that. She was only half human and her body would be accommodating to changes brought forth as her non-human side blossomed...

"Ambrosia Wharton!" he said. He quickly pulled the car over to the freeway's shoulder. "How dare you raise your voice to me?" His fangs bared, a faint yellow glow circled his pupils as the sound of his voice rattled the rear view mirror. "You may be a young woman, but I am still your father. You won't be just another girl on the beach. You must always remember your legacy. You were born where you were born, and you face the future that you face because you are what you are and for no other reason. "

"The limits of your ambition are set. You were born into a world that has spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, what you are. You are not expected to aspire, to excel. You are expected to make peace with being invisible. Never forget who you are and what we are. We are the Uhura coven. We are the elite. We are vampires!" 

"I know." 

"Then, act like it! As a female vampire, it's crucial for you to be around..." "Another female vampire," I interrupted my father's lecture. "You've told me this a half a dozen times. I get it; I don't have to like it." I sat uncomfortably silent in my seat. The car's chassis subtlety vibrated from the still running engine. "Dad...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice."

~~~

Amber didn't care and she was upset nobody had discussed with her the need to move away from her home and friends... Besides, she hadn't seen her mother for years, would have to go to a new school and would again have no friends...

Still, she knew why the change had to be made and she really was happy to be with her mother again... And, once she saw...him...at her new school, she was quite willing to wait and see how things would go... But there was already a problem... He was human; he was a Christian. Both were trouble.

She didn't care... He was a star basketball player and she was going to try out for the team and was soon accepted and leading the team with her skill. Adrian and Amber soon became friends and Amber also developed a small group of additional friends...Things at the school seemed to be doing well...only disrupted when Adrian had pulled Amber close in a hug and Amber sharply pulled away--Adrian's cross around his neck had burned her... Quickly making an excuse to leave, she left him standing, confused...

The school activities are somewhat typical for the most part, except that Amber spends most nights out on the roofs of buildings in town... preparing her body for the future...

I talked to the author about the number of small typographical errors and discovered that he'd paid three different editors to work on his book. You, the potential buyer will have to decide about this issue. Given what I learned, I decided to point the problem out via a downgrade of ranking, but am quite willing to also recommend it highly for many of you who have the desire to read it based upon the cover and book description. 

There are also a couple of other issues to be spotlighted...The book contains a number of picture collages of the events happening in the book. They were exceptionally well done, but needed to be bigger for me to totally enjoy them and would have made perfect whole-page additions to the novel. Nevertheless the idea is very cool and the author should be commended... Also the author has used another method for helping to teach reading and color identification...Great idea... I read the book in a non-color application and didn't see the effect until I checked it out online... Nice...

Throughout the book, Hardie has presented considerable social commentary about the life of Blacks interacting in today's world, and with other races. It is definitely a learning experience, including the use of historical mythology to explain the heritage of the vampire. I was impressed... with the continuity and integration of this broader scope of the book beyond the typical vampire life...

And yet, the ending felt like it could also be the beginning...perhaps a sequel or a series? I've been reading Hardie since his first book and have seen continued improvement in his writing... In this book, which I would place in the literary drama genre rather than horror, which is normally expected for vampires, there is a element of  life participation that pulls individuals into what the author wishes to share with his readers. In fact, I was so involved that with the ending, I was totally shocked... Do Check it out!

GABixlerReviews

An average guy making his way in the world. Speaking and writing are my contribution to make the world a better place.
What are the names of your titles?
My works include Every Day Life, It Ain't Just The Size, Midnight: Rise of the Black Vampires and the science fiction THEM title.
Each time I am told not to do something...it motivates me to break the rules and to push limits...