Blog Archives
BLOOD OF YARUMAYA
Blood of Yarumaya by Kevin D. Miller follows Isabella Delgado. She’s a wealthy botany student from Malibu who travels to the Amazon rainforest for an internship. Her mentor is Dr. Dominic Quinn. He’s a brilliant but secretive scientist who appears much younger than he is. They discover a complex biological secret to anti-aging that involves rare tree resin and special bees. A corrupt politician named Julio Ortega wants this secret for his own gain. He hires mercenaries to attack the indigenous Kawirén tribe to get it. Izzy must use her newfound survival skills to save Quinn and protect the forest from destruction.
I found the character arc of Isabella surprisingly engaging. She starts the story as a somewhat entitled gymnast. She quickly transforms into a capable survivor. Her growth felt earned rather than just given to her. The romance between her and Quinn is sweet. It also carries a unique tension due to his actual age versus his appearance. I felt genuine anxiety during the raid on the village. Miller does a wonderful job of making you care about the Kawirén people. You desperately want them to survive the encroaching threats of the modern world.
The book tackles heavy themes like deforestation and corporate greed head-on. I appreciated this direct approach because it did not feel overly preachy. The science behind the longevity serum was fascinating to me. I loved the twist with the “rapid aging” weapon used against Ortega near the end. It was a satisfying bit of poetic justice.
I enjoyed this thrilling adventure. It carries a real emotional punch that stuck with me. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy fast-paced eco-thrillers. Fans of adventure stories with a strong romantic subplot will also like it. It is a perfect read for anyone who has ever dreamed of escaping civilization to find something deeper in the wild.
Pages: 310 | ASIN : B0FTMC4WGN
The Voice of Reason
Taquoma follows a volcanologist on a perilous mission to prevent a catastrophic eruption in Yellowstone, racing against time to save humanity. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
The inspiration for the setup of Taquoma is my fascination with volcanoes and the hazardous job of volcanologists. When Mount St. Helens exploded I was in awe of the sheer power of Mother Earth. While watching a documentary on volcanoes a terrifying thought crossed my mind: what if every major volcano on Earth starting with Yellowstone erupted at once? What would that look like? I set out to explore this intriguing idea. I also explored the idea of how the government might counter Yellowstone by fracking and pumping cold water into the caldera to cool it. I developed a complex plan to engineer that idea, then during my research, I coincidently stumbled across an actual plan by NASA to do almost exactly what I envisioned. It was a wonderful find and helped me fill in the blanks of my original plan.
Yara Del Rey is a woman with strength. What do you think makes her a valuable and worthy heroine?
Yara’s inner strength derives from her unconditional love of her daughter, Kalani, and the parents who raised her. She’s traditional and loyal and seeks to do what is right even though she fails miserably at times. What makes her most valuable is her fiery nature and determination to speak the truth, no matter the cost to her personally or professionally. She is the voice of reason in the story that the NASA scientists choose to ignore. She treats people with respect and respects the Earth, holding those values dear to her heart.
How did you balance the action scenes with the story elements and still keep a fast pace in the story?
Mainly by integrating character development and plot progression directly into the action sequences. I used the intensity of the moment to reveal key details about the characters and advance the narrative while keeping the writing focused on descriptions to maintain momentum. I set out to make every action scene a critical turning point in the story and ramp up the tension.
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 my first book series called, THE TIMEPIECE SERIES. The first three books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble Nook and I am currently writing the fourth book. Book One, THE TIMEPIECE LEGACY, was recently reviewed by Literary Titan and it earned a Silver Book Award. Book Two is titled THE TIMEPIECE PARADOX, and Book Three is titled THE TEMPUS GLASS. Book Four will be out in early 2025 titled THE TIME TRINITY. You can find all my books and links to purchase on my website AuthorKevinMiller.com.
Author Links: GoodReads | X (Twitter) | Facebook | Website | Amazon
At the base of Mount Rainier, twenty-six-year-old Yara Del Rey gathers data for her dissertation in geology. A talented and promising young volcanologist, Yara is alarmed by the recent rumblings of the legendary volcano.
When a team of NASA and USGS scientists kidnaps Yara off the side of Mount Rainier, she is whisked to Wyoming, where a greater threat stirs within the bowels of an ancient caldera. Yara is plunged into the politics and the greed of a multi-billion-dollar NASA plan to pump chilled water into the magma chambers of the Yellowstone volcano—something Yara warns could lead to an apocalyptic catastrophe.
Yara’s warnings go ignored and after she separates from the team of scientists, she hires ex-Navy pilot Clayton Red Sky, to fly her over Yellowstone in a hot-air balloon to assess the condition of the caldera. Before they can depart, disaster strikes and sends Yara and Clay on a desperate journey to escape the oncoming shock wave and billowing clouds of fiery ash.
A scorched earth and a race against time stand in the way of Yara and her six-year-old daughter Kalani, thousands of miles away in Tacoma, Washington.
“Taquoma” is international award-winning author Kevin D. Miller at his finest. His ability to bring a story to life in a cinematic fashion and create characters the reader immediately falls in love with is a hallmark of his writing. “Taquoma” is loaded with tension, thrills, and unexpected twists and turns. It is a unique disaster thriller and a love story that grabs the reader by the throat and sends them on a wild adventure and to the depths of human emotion.
TAQUOMA
Kevin D. Miller’s Taquoma is an electrifying journey through a world on the brink of volcanic catastrophe. It follows Yara Del Rey, a committed volcanologist who finds herself entangled in a perilous mission to prevent a cataclysmic Yellowstone eruption. As the planet’s molten fury threatens to erupt, Yara fights against the clock to protect her daughter—and humanity—from certain devastation.
Miller excels at blending scientific realism with heart-pounding fiction. He paints a scenario so convincing it feels like a genuine threat, making you wonder just how fragile our world is. The characters are rich and relatable, each with their own emotional weight, drawing you deeper into the story. And the suspense? It’s relentless. Miller’s descriptions of volcanic chaos are breathtaking and terrifying, leaving you in awe of nature’s raw power.
The novel isn’t just about action and thrills, though. Beneath the explosive narrative, Miller explores crucial themes like environmental responsibility, the dangers of unchecked human ambition, and the unbreakable bonds of love and perseverance. It’s a fast-paced adventure, but it makes you think, too—about the world we live in and how precariously we treat it.
Taquoma is perfect for anyone who loves a high-stakes disaster thriller or simply enjoys a wild adventure with depth and meaning. It’s intense, thought-provoking, and will leave you on the edge of your seat, rooting for Yara until the very last page. If you’re in the mood for a gripping, explosive read that keeps you invested from start to finish, this one delivers in every way.
Pages: 266 | ASIN : B0BKTSN32S
Courage
The Timepiece Legacy is a genre-crossing novel with elements of fantasy, Science Fiction, and romance as well. Did you start writing with this in mind, or did this happen organically as you were writing?
When writing this novel I planned to have the three elements of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Romance as elements to the story. I felt it would make an exciting story and welcomed the challenge of marrying all three into the themes, which ended up a fun adventure as a writer. Many of the directions the story went developed organically. I’m more a panzer than an outliner and sometimes I don’t know where the story is going until I can visualize it on my internal movie screen, so to speak.
Bodhi realizes all his Gram’s wild stories are actually real once he is thrust into the world of time travel and has to rethink reality and his future. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
The ideals that drove Bodhi’s development were his unconditional love for his daughter, Cassie. He’d do anything for her, even sacrifice his own life as any good father would. Bodhi was also devoted to Gram, the only mother he knew, and her welfare and he strived to be a good son. Bodhi believed in being a good and loyal friend. He’s loyal to a fault as we see in his relationship with his ex-wife and his devotion to the new love he discovers in the past. He isn’t perfect but he strives to right a wrong and reconcile his differences with the people in his life and he is fiercely protective of them. Everything is a competition to him, stemming from his background as a former athlete and this causes him to be a bit too reactive at times, straining his personal relationships.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
The themes most important to me were family and the complexities of those relationships. Love, and the many forms love takes that lead to sacrifice, forgiveness, and redemption. Courage, to make difficult decisions and to face one’s deepest fears, and the courage to let go and start over.
Can you tell us what the second book will be about and when it will be available for fans to purchase?
The second book titled, “The Timepiece Paradox” is currently available on Amazon in eBook, paperback, and audiobook, and on Barnes and Noble in eBook.
SYNOPSIS: Cassie McMullin arrives at Gram’s beach house in northern California nine years after her accidental travels through time with her father, Bodhi McMullin. Still traumatized by the experience and going through a painful divorce, she seeks the solace and peace of Gram’s beach house. A place she loved as a child. A visit to her dad and his wife, Elena, is just the break she needs.
When Cassie searches through Gram’s diary and old love letters, she discovers a disturbing letter from the distant past. When she attempts to use the timepiece to find the answers, it suddenly propels her to terrifying and unknown destinations.
Lost in time, with no way home, she is at the mercy of the ancient relic. But is the timepiece the cursed object Gram describes in her diary, or does it possess divine powers to guide the possessor to discover profound mysteries and hidden truths of the universe and themselves?
Cassie will find the answers soon enough. But the answers may be darker and more dangerous that she could have ever imagined. If Cassie fails to overcome the obstacles that destiny has set before her or solve the paradox of her journey, she will be lost in time forever.
Will Cassie discover the answers she so desperately seeks? Will she find the love her heart has yearned for all of her life? Her fate lies in her own hands and her ability to unravel the enigma of the timepiece and the mysteries of the universe.
The third book in the series title, “The Tempus Glass” will be available in the fall and will tell the story of Elena Lozano, Bodhi’s new love at the end of book one. It will explore her backstory as a spy for the Union army during the Civil War and how she winds up in the early 1920s in Nogales, Arizona, where Bodhi eventually finds her and falls in love with her. Stay tuned.
Author Links: GoodReads | X | Facebook | Website
Gram gifts Bodhi a mysterious and enigmatic timepiece after she drops a bombshell that his grandfather isn’t his biological grandfather. She claims that Bodhi is the grandson of a captain in the Revolutionary War and the timepiece is a mystical device that allows her to traverse through time. As a physician, he questions her mental faculties. But unforeseen events push Bodhi to the brink of his sanity and the possibility that Gram wasn’t crazy after all.
Bodhi finds himself thrust into a whirlwind of uncertainty, where he encounters a rare love that transcends the bounds of time. Yet, in this unfamiliar realm, he’s forced to make heart-wrenching choices that could shatter the lives of those he holds dear. However, a new, unthinkable crisis looms on the horizon: He and Cassie are swallowed and separated in time by the terrifying jaws of a spiraling wormhole. With the clock ticking, Bodhi must embark on a desperate journey to rescue his only child, risking everything in a race against the unforgiving hands of destiny.
The Timepiece Legacy is the first book of a trilogy that sets the stage for a wild and thrilling adventure charged with emotion, romance, and edge-of-your-seat action that will keep the pages turning. It’s the kind of novel fans of Kevin D. Miller have come to expect and thoroughly enjoy.
The Timepiece Legacy: Book One of the Timepiece Series
Dr. Bodhi McMullin has had a challenging year. Coming to terms with the divorce from his high school sweetheart, he struggles to connect with his teenage daughter. To make matters worse, his beloved Gran is now in hospice care. Having lived with her for most of his childhood, Bodhi knows better than to believe her eccentric stories—especially those involving a small pocket watch and time travel. However, even her stories couldn’t prepare him for the journey ahead, one that might help him piece together his crumbling life.
The Timepiece Legacy by Kevin D. Miller is a time-traveling, emotion-filled adventure. The story follows Bodhi as he attempts to save his family and himself from the dangers of both past and present. It’s a thrilling novel that skillfully balances emotion, romance, and adventure. Nearly all the characters are compelling, each with their own motivations and drives, making it hard not to become attached to them as their stories unfold. The narrative is filled with numerous twists and turns, keeping readers thoroughly engaged and often pleasantly surprised.
The story maintains a steady pace, ensuring readers’ interest, while the characters are richly developed and full of heart. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in fantasy. Even those not overly familiar with the genre will likely find this book easy to follow and engaging. The focus on character and story, rather than an overuse of fantasy elements, magic, and time travel, makes for a refreshing read. I look forward to seeing what adventures await Bodhi and what Kevin D. Miller will create next.
Pages: 267 | ASIN : B0CHX1W26P
LITERARY TITAN 