You'll Die Up There Alone by Jake Carter-Thomas (Glitch Tree Press) (2 Reviews)    Price verified 10 hours ago

Mads Michaels is a former technology news anchor hounded out of her job following the disastrous moment she attempted to interview the first human-level AI. You'll still find the picture of her holding a microphone up to a beige box trending from time to time, albeit appropriated to mock the blooper of the day. Mads is living in a trailer park when Project Red track her down and convince her to revive her career by becoming one of the first group of humans sent to Mars. But what Mads isn't aware of is that the planning behind this mission has attracted suspicion, with a jilted man she had a brief relationship with desperate to reveal the identity of a shadowy backer, who's never even heard of the project. When the life craft veers from its planned trajectory on day 40 and heads for the mineral rich asteroid belt, it's clear to mission control that something is going wrong. Can Mads work out that her presence on the mission is not such a coincidence in time to save all the viewers back home?

Genre: Literary Fiction

The Day He Went Away by Jennifer Millikin (JNM LLC) (646 Reviews)    Price verified 12 minutes ago

"This story is far more than a romance. It's a story of healing and hope... of friendship and empathy. A story like this will sear you." - Angie & Jessica's Dreamy Reads Life was roses. I was happy. I had my dream job. I'd finally fallen in love with the man who'd been waiting for me since he was a boy. Soon his four years in the Army would be over, and we'd be together forever. My perfect life was squarely in my palm. And then it was snatched from me. The harshest, cruelest truth became my reality. And I turned into a shell of my former self. Then a stranger arrived, wearing Army fatigues and closely cropped dark hair. Fulfilling a promise to his comrade-in-arms brought him to my front door. And the focus of his promise, it turned out, was me. His mission was simple: Care for me. Heal me. Bring me back to life. But what started out as an uncomplicated mission is quickly turning personal. He came here to take care of me. But neither of us expected how much he'd need me, too. And we definitely didn't expect these feelings. My broken heart knows how wrong it is. We'll fight it, harder than we've ever fought anything. I'm afraid to win, and I'm even more terrified to lose. Of all his missions, I may be his most dangerous.

Genre: Literary Fiction

Stories Untold: An enthralling psychological novel by Leslie Wolfe (Italics Publishing) (2,258 Reviews)    Price verified 10 hours ago

He's a decorated war veteran and he wants to die. She's a prominent psychologist and she won't give up on him. Neither knows how to lose. When a suicidal client seeks her help, Dr. Angela Blackwell cannot turn him away, despite the fact that he isn't seeking the kind of help she normally provides her clients. The man, who won't fully identify himself, wants the distinguished psychologist to stand witness after his planned death in six months' time, ensuring his wife will not be charged as an accessory or be hindered from collecting the death benefit he carefully provisioned for her. He calls himself DJ and won't willingly share anything about his past. As Dr. Blackwell is struggling to reconstruct her own life after the loss of her husband, she recognizes his unusual request as a subconscious cry for help and embarks on a relentless effort to guide the reluctant stranger in uncovering the trauma that has permanently altered the course of his existence. Playing a deck of cards stacked high against her and rushing against time, she has no other option but to intervene, searching for the truth herself, refusing to give up. A suspenseful thriller and an astonishing, vibrant story of human strength and frailty, of love lost and love found, Stories Untold will captivate as few stories ever do, with unexpected twists and turns, leaving a lasting memory ingrained into the essence of the reader's being. BOOKS BY LESLIE WOLFE All the books are standalone, regardless of series; think Costco, not IKEA. This is a ride you won't want to miss! Baxter and Holt Series -- Las Vegas Girl -- Casino Girl -- Las Vegas Crime Tess Winnett Series -- Dawn Girl -- The Watson Girl -- Glimpse of Death -- Taker of Lives Self-Standing Novels -- Stories Untold Alex Hoffmann Series -- Executive -- Devil's Move -- The Backup Asset -- The Ghost Pattern -- Operation Sunset

Genre: Literary Fiction

The Second Sun: Volumes I & II by Kristof Morrow (30 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

The plot of The Second Sun is an allegory for the financial inequality between the older and younger generations. There's an island paradise where there's elders living a second life after retiring from their human forms, and live amongst their chosen few, who also live for thousands of years in relative peace. However, only those welcome can actually approach the island and survive. Everyone else on earth is made to endure a game of thrones type world, except I omitted much of the overt cruelty you find in that series. I also forgo the notions of racism and sexism. l wanted to adopt the spirit of Tolkien, but expand that virtue of "anyone, no matter how small, can achieve great things," to every kind of human so it feels to be an adventure for everyone! I was diagnosed with Tourette's when I was 27, and so it's developed my understanding of the theft of agency and being marginalized for something I cannot control. It's also structured similarly to game of thrones, in that the first three chapters are different parts of the world with different characters, and you learn how they are related as the story progresses. The Second Sun is, above all things, an adventure made animate by hundreds of distinct characters across half a world, written to confess through prose and tale our tendencies poisoned by Dickensian bleakness, and to wholly ameliorate that cynicism by the light and courage of those who live and labor for a just peace.

Genre: Literary Fiction

Bloodstained Skies: The Vanquisher of Kings I (Bloodstained Skies: The Vanquisher Trilogy Book 1) by Dagmar Rokita (6 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

After a bloody revolution, a royal warrior named Erilaz and his companions are exiled from their kingdom. They subsequently choose to hide on a distant planet, where they risk their lives every day. There are only three things that give him hope to carry on: his loyal friends, love for his land and the legend of a mysterious warrior and a clever strategist: The Chromed Emperor. One day he will return. Meanwhile, the king of his planet makes a single mistake that calls into question all his plans and hopes, leading him to become increasingly paranoid. His concerns are justified; however, there is a much worse danger than a band of local rebels. The Vanquisher Trilogy: • The Vanquisher of Kings I • The Vanquisher of Kings II (planned) • part 3 (planned) The SynthBreed Trilogy: • The Core of Rage • Apex Predator • Battle Wraith

Genre: Literary Fiction

The Trouble with Girls by Kirk Adams (Kirk Adams Books) (4 Reviews)    Price verified 6 hours ago

Eric Eules is in trouble -- always. The sixth-grade graduate has a big problem -- and it isn't just that Woodland Hills neighborhood guru Burnout pushes him down a hippie path he can't possibly travel. Eric's problem is that he's at war with nearly every woman in his life at the very moment he has grown to desire nothing more than the love of one girl. That is, his mother assigns him never-ending chores, his aunt taunts him as a male chauvinist piglet, and his sisters protest his frequent tinkling on the toilet seat. Most of all, he must face down classmate and nemesis Skinnydip -- who stands between Eric and the new girl to the neighborhood, the beautiful Lori Bloom. The Trouble with Girls in an exciting coming of age story in which a growing boy first perceives how the true desire of his heart is something -- someone -- greater than playing baseball and riding bikes with his boyhood friends. Set in an Indiana suburb during the summer of 1972 -- a year of tumult and change in how men and women saw each other -- the clumsy and awkward twelve-year-old boy must navigate the perils of his own home and neighborhood. Maddened by first love, he must complete a series of Herculean labors to win the heart of she who now matters most to him. Return to a lazy Midwest summer when noisy boys played in ball fields and wooded lots, bicycled across town without supervision, and checked out books from the county bookmobile. Remember a quieter world without mobile phones and video games, a world where boys learned how to get along without the nagging oversight of their parents as they fought through problems themselves -- learning life-changing lessons even in their foolish and short-sighted solutions to thorny and complex concerns. See how boys scrounged for spending cash in old-fashioned families quick to provide love and discipline to their children, but slower yet to indulge mere boys anything more than food, clothing, and shelter. Still, The Trouble with Girls is far more ...

Genre: Literary Fiction

LOOSE ENDS IN YOKOHAMA: A STORY OF A MAN ON A MISSION TO MAKE PEACE WITH HIS PAST by ALEX LUND (27 Reviews)    Price verified 12 minutes ago

"... an emotional powerhouse of a story." (Readers' Favorite review by K.C. Finn)Abandoned as a child. Half-Japanese, half-American. Ron Jackson is a self-made man of few words who has been through decades of hardship building up a successful bar business in Yokohama. As he finally gets ready to enjoy life in retirement, an unexpected meeting jolts his entire world. Ron decides to set out on a mission to make peace with his past, marked by ruthlessness, bitterness, and suppressed love. "Ron's journey of re-examining his life was an eye-opener. Even as the story delves into deep introspection, the narrative flowed like a serene stream of water. Every character evoked a sense of warmth in me.""At the end of the story, I was left with a deep sense of gratitude for my life's blessings."(Review by Soumya Sreehari for Readers' Favorite)

Genre: Literary Fiction