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Another Cog of the System
David Berardelli Author Interview
In The Wagon Driver, Earth is overcrowded and Kyle’s job is to collect bodies for government disposal, but soon learns of a more nefarious reason why he’s employed. What was the initial idea behind this story and how did that transform as you were writing the novel?
I initially wrote this story in the mid-nineties, when I was working at AT&T in Lake Mary, Florida. Computers had already begun taking over, and the Y2K phenomenon was being considered globally. My imagination, as usual, went into overload, and I began having dreams about the Government using technology to move into the home, take over completely and systemically select who would be permitted to exist and who would not.
Kyle grows up an in orphanage and I instantly felt the isolation and loneliness that he felt. What were the driving ideals behind the characters development throughout the story?
Being an orphan as well as a loner, Kyle has never felt the bond of friendship before and frequently uses humor and sarcasm to disguise his shyness. When he meets Allie, he thinks he has developed his first true friendship, but when he realizes she has let herself become just another cog of the System, he feels betrayed. And when both Allie and the System turn against someone who could have truly become his one and only friend, he knows he can no longer stick around because he will eventually cease to exist as well.
Do you think over population is a serious concern today? What do you think are the causes and solutions?
I think it is a major concern, especially in many other countries. I don’t want to get political here, but in this country we could eliminate much of it ourselves, without Government intervention. However, I really can’t see it happening.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I am currently working on a Christmas novel entitled, Yesterday’s Journey. It is a fantasy, and should be ready to be published on Amazon and Kindle in early or mid November.
Author Links: GoodReads | Facebook
In the not-so-distant future, population control becomes a necessity. Turning eighteen, Kyle Sonnet leaves the State Orphanage and becomes an employee of the Department of Population Control. As a wagon driver, he follows the ambulance to emergency calls and collects bodies for Government disposal. However, it isn’t long before Kyle understands that, due to the collapse of the healthcare system and contrary to what he has seen on the news, euthanasia has become the universal solution. But when he suddenly witnesses a horror he cannot accept, Kyle is forced to decide whether to become another pawn of Society or risk escape, which will result in certain death.
Literary Titan Book Awards September 2017
The Literary Titan Book Awards are awarded to books that have astounded and amazed us with unique writing styles, vivid worlds, complex characters, and original ideas. These books deserve extraordinary praise and we are proud to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, and imagination of these talented authors.
Gold Award Winner
![East of Mecca by [Flaherty, Sheila]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41rAMWN2akL.jpg)
![Lockless Doors in the Land of Harsh Angels by [Matthes, Dave]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61ty3oADrZL.jpg)
![The Ghost in the Mini Skirt by [Griffeth, Kwen]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/41S%2Bz1BNT9L.jpg)
!["Dear Emma" by [Griffeth, Kwen]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51xpM1ykuOL.jpg)
![Captive Threat (The Wade Hanna Series Book 5) by [D'Antoni, Joseph]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51FOWAf9yPL._SY346_.jpg)
![Sentinels of the Night: A Trackers Novel by [Dickason, Anita]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51TOjV71GxL.jpg)
![Black Sky: On Addiction and Awakening of the Human Being by [Y, Doctor]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/31n86vJ4-sL.jpg)
![Henry and the Hidden Treasure by [Fegan, B.C.R.]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/515-jhft0qL.jpg)
Silver Book Award
![Bitter Awakenings (The Keeper Chronicles, Book 1) by [Finley, Kester James]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51rAbVP1z0L.jpg)
![Underlord of the Netherworld by [Jinsei, Juna ]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51FvhkLMcWL.jpg)
![Days Gone By by [Veit, Jerry]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61rG9ZcX2kL.jpg)
![The Wagon Driver by [Berardelli, David]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51DIxh9nJ0L.jpg)
![Day Moon (Tomorrow's Edge Book 1) by [Armstrong, Brett]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51AawfNYdxL.jpg)
![Lockheed Elite by [Wandschneider, Tyler]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51XBEZB1t5L.jpg)
![The One Eyed Pug by [Hunt, Deborah ]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51BZoXp0QZL.jpg)
![Steel, Blood & Fire (Immortal Treachery Book 1) by [Batchelder, Allan]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61yePxmmb%2BL.jpg)
![Black Overalls by [Donaldson, Tom]](https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51NKTfLl4hL.jpg)
Visit the Literary Titan Book Awards page to see award information and see all award winners.
Mademoiselle Alice: A Novel
A deeply evocative story inspired by real events: the love affair between two unforgettable people—Gustave Eiffel, the builder of the Eiffel Tower, and Alice Guy Blaché, a pioneer in the art of cinema. Mademoiselle Alice steps out of the shadows into the reader’s mind as an endlessly intriguing and entirely relatable young woman.
Told through Alice’s eyes, we get to know her, her family, and Monsieur Eiffel. Eiffel is not looking to fall in love—he is a widower who has everything—wit, wealth, fame, and brilliance. He was a friend of Alice’s father who died when she was seventeen, and the story she tells of falling in love with him is funny and emotionally intimate.
Alice and Eiffel forge an enduring romantic and intellectual bond. But while she wants to marry him, he refuses because he is so much older than she is. Out of her desire to have a family, she marries a handsome Englishman and travels to the United States, where she works with D. W. Griffith and then opens her own film studio. Some of her emotional experiences find expression in the scenarios she writes for film. Her relationship with Monsieur Eiffel continues on in her mind and leads to some surprising developments. Mademoiselle Alice tells us much about women’s lives during the silent film era in France and the United States. Combining a biographer’s knowledge of her subject with the novelist’s gift for narrative, Janelle Dietrick has crafted a novel that will capture the interest of every reader.
Going Gone!: A Trackers Novel
An intricate scheme to abduct the children of the most powerful politicians on Capitol Hill gets disrupted when Kerry Branson, ex-homicide detective turned private investigator, inadvertently rescues one of the victims on a fog-laden backroad in the Piney Woods of East Texas.
When Kerry discovers the six-year-old boy is the son of a U.S. Senator kidnapped from his Austin home, her call to the FBI is just the beginning of her problems. Pursued by a ruthless band of mercenaries who seem to know her every move, Kerry is forced into an uneasy alliance with the agent assigned to the case, FBI Tracker Ryan Barr.
As the abductions continue, their search for the children will pit Kerry and Ryan against a formidable adversary who uses his wealth and political power to cloak a psychopathic obsession. His manipulation extends deep into the government even to the Office of the President.
A horrific plan slowly emerges—one that has drug cartels and terrorist groups lined up to cash in.
Sentinels of the Night
Sentinels of the Night is an action packed novel based on a tracker Cat Morgan. Dubbed the “witchy woman” by others, Cat Morgan is a mysterious and alluring character that is helped by forces beyond her understanding when finding murder victims. A chance encounter with a body in a dumpster leaves her meeting a handsome and rugged police officer, Kevin Hunter. Kevin is wary of her flimsy excuses for how she finds her victims and pushes aside his attractions in order to get her out of town. But life has other plans as Cat is drawn into a killer mystery where she finds herself a potential target for a crazed murderer. Will Cat and Kevin be able to work together to catch a killer or will Cat be another victim?
Sentinels of the Night, written by Anita Dickason, is a fast-paced mystery novel that involves the FBI, rituals and killers that make your skin crawl. Mysterious owls, fragmented dreams and sexy police officers join together to form a murderous jigsaw puzzle.
The new tracking team Cat joins is a group of fast thinking, switched on agents who each have their own unique attributes that they bring to the table. Their abilities reminded me a little of “Criminal Minds” and I loved seeing how their inexplicable skills join together to fight crime. They work hard and Scott, the boss, respects their unique perspectives and theories on the killer. Cat fits right in with the team however some begin to suspect how she comes up with pieces of evidence that become crucial to the case.
The story flicks between the perspective of Cat, Kevin and the killer, giving us an insight into how the killer thinks and acts. This only serves to build tension throughout the story and helps create the creepy and sadistic image of a murderer. The switch between characters also provides a small relief when the story line begins to ramp up in the eyes of a killer as he begins to hunt for his next victim. Anita Dickason’s description of the killer is one that will play on your mind for some time!
Anita Dickason is able to mix together a plot that is sexy with a dash of action, supernatural and mystery. I found the combination made the novel easy to read and hard to put down! I thoroughly enjoyed the tension that builds between Cat and Kevin and was eager to learn how their interactions would proceed further than a professional working relationship. The dynamics between the two mean that they often think on a similar wave length, which helps when Cat is trying to slide in clues that she has discovered through alternative means.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a whodunnit style novel with a dash of romance and mystery! Sentinels of the Night is the perfect novel that will be sure to tick all of the boxes for any fan of crime.
Pages: 296 | ASIN: B06XK9PS3B
Fracture Point
Imagine everything you know about reality. Now, throw it all out the window. That is the predicament Jack Griffin is in: trapped in a universe that isn’t his own, brought there against his will by some force of nature unheard of in his world and not understood in the world where he ended up. Here’s the good news: Jack discovers he has magical talent. Now he must use all the resources at his disposal – magic, wit, tenacity, and the little coin that he has – to find a way back to his beloved in his own world. But will he survive this new world? Gods exist, and so does magic. He is an outsider in a country that values nobility above all else. If you’re not from the right family and don’t have the right magical bloodline, you may as well be dirt on the boot heels of the nobles. It’s a different world, but some things just never change. Welcome to the new world.
Kindred Spirit: A Paranormal Teen Romance Thriller
Do you believe in ghosts? Kyle Black had never really considered the issue, although he had already been confronted with death. As a child, he was the sole survivor of a tragic car accident that claimed his mother, and the drunk driver and passenger who hit them. Now in high school, Kyle has put the past behind him, winning popularity, gaining confidence and attention from girls. When beautiful new student Rebecca shows up, he is transfixed. But as he gets to know his mysterious new girlfriend, he starts to wonder if she’s keeping secrets. When a classmate of Kyle’s suddenly dies in mysterious circumstances, Kyle starts to wonder if his past will haunt his future.
The Biggest Little Crime in the World
The Biggest Little Crime in the World is the third book in the popular Ham McAllister Series and follows the lives of two LA Homicide detectives turned private eyes.
Once Ham walks his partner down the aisle to her famous love of her life, shots ring out and Russ Porter is shot. It’s rumoured that Porter has been shot and killed by an assassin with another unknown casualty at the scene. The duo go on the hunt to uncover the monster that did this and end up with a lot more than they bargained for. The duo uncover a crime that is quickly dubbed ‘the biggest little crime in the world’.
I enjoyed this book. It was fast paced, immediately threw you into the action and kept the suspense building from the first shot to the last chapter. This book kept me on the edge of my seat right until the very end.
I really enjoyed Drew Thorton as a character. I am a fan of strong female leads and that’s exactly what Thorton is within this book. She is multifaceted but also vulnerable and her character gets more dynamic as the duo go on a quest for revenge. When the revenge finally happens, I got chills.
However, the banter is a bit much to deal with at times between the duo. While reading this book, it felt like there was too much dialogue between characters that could’ve been explained in a sentence or two of descriptive writing.
The descriptive language in this book is something I truly enjoyed. The author has a varied vocabulary and this comes across in a few choice sentences, such as ‘lights and siren its fateful companion’ when describing an ambulance speeding away. I’ve never heard it be explained like that before and it was refreshing to read fresh prose.
The relationship between Ham and his son Dylan is very sweet as well. Although it’s not at the forefront of the book, it’s a nice reminder every now and again and the dialogue between the pair is nice to read. It was a welcome break from the fast paced nature of the book.
As I am not very informed about the lives of private detectives, this was a very interesting read. I keep forgetting that the world isn’t as black and white as I think it is so when Ham bribes a hotel manager in order to get access to some video tapes, I was shocked and yet reminded that this is what happens in the real world. Therefore, it is clear that Kroetch does a good job of immersing the reader while informing them of a world they might not know about.
Pages: 241 | ASIN: B0741PZ8SB
LITERARY TITAN 