Jupiter’s Ghost
Jupiter’s Ghost is a spacefaring whaling adventure that blends old maritime ritual with big, dangerous science fiction. Author David Gwinn builds the story around Jóre, a Fralie pilot who joins the crew of the whaling ship Jupiter’s Ghost just as fear of the legendary Great Blue is spreading through the fleet. Captain Rowan sums up the danger plainly: “We hunt the deadliest beasts in the galaxy.”
The book’s strongest pull is its setting. Avalon Station, the Orion Nebula, the harpoon ships, the crew taverns, and the whale-bone-decorated vessel all give the story a lived-in frontier feel. The whalers have codes, grudges, superstitions, drinking rituals, and ranks, and Jóre’s outsider perspective makes those customs easy to step into without slowing the story down.
Jóre’s bond with Zaxxen gives the novel its emotional center. Their friendship starts with cautious curiosity and grows into real loyalty, which helps balance the harsher parts of the voyage. Gipson is another standout, a capable officer whose reasons for hunting add heart to the larger conflict. Her belief that “Every whale we catch saves lives” gives the book a moral weight beyond survival and profit.
The action is large-scale and cinematic, especially once the Great Blue becomes more than a rumor. The hunts feel dangerous because the book treats space itself as part of the threat: nebula turbulence, failing engines, damaged hulls, gravity, distance, and silence all matter. Gwinn keeps the crew under pressure, and the final stretch brings together fear, sacrifice, and the cost of obsession in a way that gives the ending some real bite.
Jupiter’s Ghost is an adventurous sci-fi tale about proving yourself, finding a crew, and carrying the dead with honor. It has the bones of a classic sea hunt, but its heart is in the stars, where ancient rituals and futuristic danger sit side by side. It’s a story about people chasing monsters for money, medicine, pride, and redemption, and it’s at its best when it lets those motives collide aboard one battered ship. I recommend Gwinn’s tale to anyone seeking a riveting character-driven science fiction adventure.
Pages: 254 | ASIN : B0F9TMLXQ9
Money, Loyalty, and Fear
Symphony of Lies follows an investigative journalist who is unexpectedly named in the will of a wealthy Monaco socialite tied to her past, pulling her into a glittering world of elite corruption, buried deaths, and dangerous truths. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The idea began with a question: what if an inheritance was not a gift, but an invitation into danger?
I was interested in the kind of power that does not announce itself loudly. Monaco, Switzerland, and the closed world of international wealth offered the right atmosphere for that: polished surfaces, beautiful rooms, discreet conversations, and secrets protected by money, loyalty, and fear. An investigative journalist seemed like the ideal character to enter that world because she understands how corruption works, but she is not outside it.
Emma Bally is drawn into the mystery because the past has selected her. The will becomes less a reward than a trap. That setup allowed me to explore how old debts, hidden deaths, and carefully managed reputations can shape lives long after the original events have been buried.
Emma is compelling because she isn’t morally pure. She’s exposed corruption, but she’s also benefited from the systems she critiques. Why was it important to make her ethically complicated?
Because a morally pure investigator would have made the story less honest.
Emma has exposed corruption, but she has also accepted the price of silence. That contradiction is central to who she is. She understands guilt not as an abstract idea, but as something practical and personal. She knows what it means to look away, to rationalize, and to survive within systems that reward discretion.
I wanted Emma to be capable, intelligent, and courageous, but also compromised. Her flaws make her more vulnerable to the truth because she cannot investigate others without confronting herself. In a world where almost everyone has something to hide, Emma’s own moral ambiguity makes the investigation more dangerous — and more intimate.
The novel repeatedly questions whether truth can remain pure once money and power begin shaping it. What drew you to that tension?
Truth is often treated as something simple: either hidden or revealed. But in powerful circles, truth is managed. It is delayed, softened, bought, reframed, or buried under more acceptable stories.
That tension interested me because money does not always need to destroy the truth openly. Sometimes it changes the conditions under which truth can survive. It decides who is believed, who is protected, who is dismissed, and what price must be paid for speaking.
In Symphony of Lies, truth is not only a moral question. It is also a currency, a weapon, and sometimes a liability. I wanted to explore what happens when a person who once compromised with silence is forced to decide whether the truth is still worth the cost.
What is the next book that you are working on, and when can your fans expect it to be out?
I am currently working on the next Emma Bally novel, which continues the world introduced in Symphony of Lies. This time, Angela’s life is under threat, and Emma is forced to confront not only the danger surrounding her friend but also Nicole’s increasingly destructive influence on her own life.
The new book deepens the psychological and emotional stakes of the series while staying close to the atmosphere readers will recognize from Symphony of Lies: wealth, secrecy, moral compromise, and danger moving quietly beneath polished surfaces.
The book is planned for release by the end of the year.
Author Links: GoodReads | Website | Amazon
Swiss investigative journalist Emma Bally has walked away from her career, seeking refuge in the quiet, snowy isolation of Gstaad. She is done exposing corruption, and she is done compromising her own ethics. But her carefully guarded exile shatters when she receives a registered letter from Monaco: An old acquaintance is dead.
Summoned to a highly orchestrated will reading, Emma discovers she has inherited a substantial amount of money from the Marianne Foundation. At first glance, it is a charitable organization. In reality, it is a philanthropic shell hiding a lethal, underground economy of surveillance, extreme discretion, and perfectly timed “accidents.”
To uncover the truth, Emma must leave her sanctuary and plunge into the glamorous, treacherous world of Europe’s elite. Alongside her psychologist friend Angela and her loyal dog Max, she begins to unravel a braided trail of doctored police files, convenient disappearances, and polite, professional violence.
As she navigates this lethal new world, Emma is forced to question shifting alliances, her mysterious benefactor, and the truth behind her own parents’ deaths. But as the list of missing witnesses grows, Emma must confront a terrifying question: to tear down a polished empire of evil, how far is she willing to compromise her own soul?
No more secrets. No more lies.
Symphony of Lies is a cerebral, slow-burn psychological thriller perfect for fans of Tana French, Lucy Foley, and stories of high-society suspense.
The Psychology Behind the “Hero”
Adrenaline Rush follows a former Army Military Police officer turned government investigator who battles violent crimes while confronting the trauma, grief, and rage that have made adrenaline feel safer than peace. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
This question has a layered answer. I actually started writing the blueprint for Adrenaline Rush when I was in middle school. Armed with an old clickity-clack keyboard and a box computer running Windows 97, I was unknowingly building the foundation for what would eventually become an entire series.
As a young girl who loved Sin City and Nancy Drew books, I noticed there were countless stories about male veterans saving the world. And while I loved those stories, I kept wondering what one of those scenarios would look like with a female lead. That’s where Adrenaline Rush was born.
After joining the military at 18, I started molding the story into what it is today—a series that explores the perspectives of both male and female veterans, while placing a stronger focus on how women process combat, trauma, and PTSD. We don’t always process those experiences the same way. I wanted to write something that could both educate and entertain while still feeling raw, human, and real.
Kate is brave and cruel in the same scene, insightful one moment and reckless the next. How do you write a protagonist who is genuinely hard to be with while keeping readers invested in her?
Kate is a real person—and what I mean by that is that’s what I strive to write: characters who feel real. I’m always thinking about how someone would honestly react. Not just anyone, either—but how a veteran who’s been through what Kate has been through would react.
Once again, there are a lot of layers to a person like that. A lot of switches she controls. That’s what she’s been trained to do. Kate has the ability to change her tone immediately based on what she’s assessing. It’s not a gradual emotional shift where she slowly works her way from one mindset to another. She just does it.
That’s what military members are trained to do: assess the situation and adjust fire accordingly. You don’t sit there overthinking it. You react, adapt, and move. For someone like Kate, that instinct never really turns off.
The investigations matter, but the emotional core feels deeply personal. Did you always see the novel more as a survival story than a procedural thriller?
No, I initially saw the series as a thriller, not a survival story. After enlisting in the military and going on my own adventures and deployments, though, my mindset shifted. At first, I was interested in the action—the gunfights, the chaos, the cool explosions. But what interested me even more was what the character was thinking in those moments. How were they making decisions? What was happening underneath all of that?
To most readers, the military side of things already looks awesome on the surface. But I kept asking myself: what if we looked beneath that? What made this person become who they are? What did they lose, suppress, or survive to function the way they do?
That’s where the story became more interesting to me. When you start exploring the psychology behind the “hero,” you create a very different experience for the reader. The action still matters, but now every decision, reaction, and relationship carries weight behind it.
Adrenaline Rush handles heavy subject matter — abuse, violence, grief, PTSD — without softening it. What is your responsibility to the reader in a book this dark, and how do you think about that while writing?
I think about all the women and men I served with who never got the chance to tell their stories. These things happen, and I don’t think people always realize that military members had lives before the military, just like they have lives after it. Service changes people, but it doesn’t erase who they were before they put on the uniform.
Part of my responsibility to the reader is writing these issues in a way that doesn’t sugarcoat them while still remaining respectful. I don’t write trauma for shock value, and I don’t glamorize the darker parts of military or veteran life. I write about real issues that happen every single day within the veteran community—PTSD, addiction, survivor’s guilt, broken relationships, identity struggles, and the mental shift that comes with living in survival mode for too long.
Whenever someone asks about my books, I’m honest with them. If they’re looking for a clean-cut military thriller that avoids those realities, then the series probably isn’t for them.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook | Website | Amazon
An Anti-Hero
UNITARIUM: Chronicles Volume One follows outlaw Captain Dakota Maverick and her crew as they navigate corrupt authorities, dangerous rescues, and second chances in a lively space-western universe. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The basic concept for the story came to me after seeing the art for the Star Wars Outlaws game and my fondness for the Firefly television show. I liked the idea of creating a genre mashup with sci-fi, western, and pirates within a bigger established universe, and I liked the idea of using a Robin Hood-style approach to the Dakota. It’s funny, because I saw the name Dakota Maverick on the trailer of a semi-truck driving to work one morning.
Dakota Maverick has a strong personal moral code despite being an outlaw. How did you develop her sense of justice?
I liked the idea of an anti-hero doing sometimes bad things for the right reason. A character like that allows for a lot of backstory and personal development. She’s an underdog fighting a system so much bigger than herself with some success, and that gives the story a sense of hope. I think the fact that she was done so wrong by that government really puts skin in the game for her, but she’s not really out for revenge.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I wanted to tackle a lot of things with this book, like corruption in the government, the advancements of AI, and the unknowns of that future. Some of the real events happening today feel like the way Skynet could have started in the Terminator movies, but I wanted to show both possibilities and that the sway to good or evil is made by the person at the wheel, not the technology.
Raven and Axel bring a lot of humor and personality to the story. Which supporting character was the most fun to write?
I had the most fun with Axel. The idea of a sarcastic sentient android that wants to be human sounded like a lot of fun, and it played into the plot point of Dakota not wanting a human crew. She programmed him, but left him with the means to grow and become his own person. I wanted to incorporate the idea of Axel having a heart, and sometimes one bigger than his human counterparts.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website
A Boy and His Lion
A Boy and His Lion follows Kadence, a young boy from Indonesia, as he invites readers on a jungle adventure with his best friend, Jay the Lion. Together, they meet a lively cast of animals, including an orangutan, a sea turtle, an elephant, a chimpanzee, a tiger, and a Komodo dragon, while taking time to rest, share jackfruit, and dream about a future safari in Africa. It’s a simple, friendly journey built around curiosity, companionship, and the joy of noticing the natural world.
I liked the book’s open-hearted sense of wonder. The story doesn’t rush toward a dramatic conflict, and I actually found that gentle pace comforting. It reads like a child telling you about the best day ever, where every creature is a discovery and every stop matters. The writing is direct and easy for young readers to follow, with a conversational rhythm that makes the book feel like an invitation rather than a lesson. Some of the animal facts are tucked in lightly, which gives the story an educational spark without weighing it down.
The artwork gives the picture book much of its warmth. The bright jungle greens, soft blue rivers, and cheerful animal expressions create a safe, welcoming version of adventure, one that feels imaginative. I liked the sweetness in Kadence’s friendship with Jay the Lion, especially in the quieter picnic scenes, where sharing jackfruit becomes a small but meaningful moment of closeness.
A Boy and His Lion is a tender and colorful children’s book with a sincere love of travel, animals, and friendship at its center. It has the feel of a bedtime adventure, calm enough to soothe but bright enough to stir a child’s imagination. I’d recommend it for preschool and early elementary readers, especially children who love animals, jungle settings, and gentle stories about exploring the world with a trusted friend.
Pages: 25 | ASIN : B0GHZ7GTG4
A Heart That’s True
A Heart That’s True is a heartfelt historical adventure about two Lakota cousins, Joseph Cross and White Cloud, who are taken from Montana and sent to the Carlisle Indian School, where survival means holding onto memory, family, and spirit. The book opens with the weight of forced removal, but it also gives the reader a clear emotional anchor in Joseph’s bond with Big Black, a wolf-dog whose own journey mirrors Joseph’s need to remain wild in the truest sense. The line “The human spirit will never die in a heart that’s true” becomes the book’s steady pulse.
Mark Guillerman builds the story like a wide Western trail, moving between railroad depots, school grounds, snowy wilderness, and open prairie. The historical setting gives the book its shape, but the emotional story comes from the characters’ loyalties. Joseph and White Cloud aren’t just trying to get through Carlisle. They’re trying to remember who they are, and that gives even the quieter scenes a lot of feeling.
Big Black is one of the book’s strongest creations. He’s part animal, part legend, and part spiritual companion, and the novel treats him with real reverence. His battles with Clyde Baxter and Moondog Burrows bring danger and momentum, while his connection to Joseph gives the story a more mystical edge. When Joseph finally says, “I was with Big Black,” it feels simple, but it carries the weight of everything the book has been building toward.
The book also has a warm sense of found kindness. Sergeant McKenna, the Johannsen family, Charley, Jedidiah, and others help soften a world that often treats Joseph and White Cloud cruelly. Those moments matter because they don’t erase the pain of the story. Instead, they show how small acts of decency can become part of a person’s way home.
A Heart That’s True is a sincere and sweeping novel about endurance, identity, and the pull of home. It blends frontier adventure, boarding school history, animal legend, and coming-of-age drama into a story that’s easy to care about. What stays with you most is its belief that memory can protect a person, love can travel across great distances, and a true heart can find its way back. I recommend this book to readers who enjoy historical fiction that comes with palpable emotions and true heart.
Pages: 266 | ASIN : B0H17CFBW2
Debt
Wade Parrish’s Debt is a bleak and funny literary novel about Bill and Kaelyn, two overworked New York lawyers whose love is being slowly crushed by student loans, corporate law, family damage, class panic, and the constant arithmetic of survival. The story begins after one of Bill’s colleagues dies by suicide, a death that becomes less an isolated tragedy than a warning flare from the life Bill and K are already living. From there, the novel follows their engagement, their work in the machinery of private equity, their fraying tenderness, and the increasingly grotesque bargains they make to escape the Debt that has come to define them.
I really enjoyed the voice. It’s frantic, hilarious, disgusted, and weirdly exact. Parrish writes corporate language as if it were a parasitic fungus growing over the soul, turning ordinary grief into defined terms and moral collapse into cleanly formatted clauses. I found the book exhausting in all the right ways. It does not merely describe burnout; it reproduces the claustrophobia of it, the way every email, subway platform, family call, and wedding expense becomes another small creditor tapping on the glass.
I also admired how the novel refuses to let Bill and K become simple victims. They are trapped, but they are also vain, cruel, evasive, funny, loving, cowardly, and sometimes monstrous. That complexity gives the book its serrated power. The satire is brutal, but the romance underneath it is not fake. Their love feels like two people clinging to each other in a flooding basement, aware that they may be holding one another under as much as keeping one another alive.
I recommend Debt to readers of dark comedy, corporate and class satire, legal fiction, and psychological drama, especially those drawn to books about ambition, money, burnout, and moral compromise. Readers who enjoy the corrosive social intelligence of Bret Easton Ellis or the workplace despair of Joshua Ferris may find a harsher, more legally intoxicated cousin here. Debt is a love story written in red ink, and every page knows exactly what survival costs.
Pages: 166
The Extraterrestrial
The Extraterrestrial by Peter Van Oossanen is a science fiction adventure built around Sam Stanton, a boy left on a California farm by visitors from another world and raised by John and Mary as their own. The book’s hook lands early, when Sam is told, “Sam, you were born on another planet,” but the story is just as interested in what that truth does to him emotionally as it is in the powers and technology that come with it.
Sam grows into a gifted, compassionate man whose mission is to use extraterrestrial tools, including invisibility and a remarkable aircraft, to fight crime and rescue people in danger. The novel spends real time on the mechanics of that mission: his education, his training, his aircraft, his medical knowledge, and the practical problems of working in secret. That gives the book the feel of a grounded superhero origin story with a strong technical streak.
The heart of the book, though, is Sam’s need for connection. His bond with John and Mary gives the story warmth from the beginning, and his later relationships with Safrourblo, Eeflon, Michelle, Suzanne, Tommy, and Beth deepen the sense that Sam’s life is about more than stopping criminals. His romance with Michelle brings out the conflict between secrecy and intimacy, especially when she tells him, “But it is real.” That line captures one of the novel’s strongest emotional threads: Sam keeps trying to protect people by holding himself back, while the people who love him keep pulling him toward a fuller life.
The crime plot gives the book its momentum, with the Scorpion Cartel becoming the central threat that pushes Sam into increasingly dangerous choices. The story moves through rescues, hospital attacks, kidnappings, cartel investigations, betrayals, and eventually Sam’s brutal captivity and recovery. Those sections show the cost of his mission and keep the book from feeling like a simple fantasy of invincibility. Sam may be stronger than humans, but he’s not untouchable, and that vulnerability matters.
The Extraterrestrial is a sincere and expansive novel about a man with extraordinary abilities trying to live a meaningful life without losing the people who make that life worth living. It blends alien technology, vigilante justice, family drama, romance, and rescue adventure into a story that’s earnest in its emotions and generous with its details. Readers who enjoy science fiction with a strong moral center, a capable hero, and plenty of attention to how things work will find a lot to settle into here.
Pages: 408 | ASIN: B0DSL597Y2
