Book Giveaway: True Detective by James A. Huebner

I've come to the realization that my books to be passed on box is getting very full, so in order to help along some cleaning and organizing of said box (as it houses my bookcrossing available books as well), I am going to do a drawing for my trade paperback copy of True Detective by James A. Huebner. The review was posted yesterday, and can be read here.

This copy is a trade paperback, the corners did get a tiny bit dinged up in mailing and then when riding in my bag for reading oppurtunities on the bus and in waiting rooms. It is autographed by the author. It has also been registered at bookcrossing (as I do to all the review books I pass along). The winner is not expected to use the bookcrossing info, though I would love to see a response to the book after it gets read. Mostly because I'm nosy, and like hearing what others think of the books I share.

There are a couple rules for this drawing as I had an interesting amount of anonymouse entries on the last one.

1. Leave a comment on this post, with contact info. Either a blog link, or an email. I need a way to contact the winner.
2. To get an extra entry for the drawing, post about the contest in your blog, and send me a link to the post (either here or via e-mail is fine)
3. I will contact the winner, and if I do not hear back in 5 days I will pick a second name.
4. This contest is open worldwide.

I will accept entries for the drawing until 10 pm. on September 10, 2008 and will post the winner on September 11, 2008 (fitting given the subject matter and setting of the book).

I've got a few more give aways coming up in the next few months so come back and visit the blog again :)

Book Review: True Detective by James A. Huebner

Read and revieved for Front Street Reviews
New York City cop, Sergeant Detective Marlowe finds himself in a new place. Coming back to work after an extended leave of absence, sitting through sessions with a therapist that he believes he doesn’t really need, and starting work in a new precinct with a new partner. On their first night together, they discover an odd crime in Battery park. Someone has left a carefully stuffed cadaver skin, hanging above the water that formed one of the park’s boundaries, holding a sign that says SS New York on it.

In the days and weeks that follow Marlowe learns more about his partner. Both he and his partner Detective Captain Cross both had been touched by the events of 9-11 in ways besides helping with the rescue, and eventual body removal from the tower’s rubble. Both had been involved in investigations and arrests concerning the attacks on the World Trade Center. Marlowe finds that his partner cross believes that the “body” they found in the park was connected with the terrorists, and is adamant about discovering who did it and why before New York is attacked for a third time. The cadaver, along with a very prominent suicide/homicide and a sting on a well known local drug dealer all start to seem like they could be intertwined. Along with the stresses of work, Marlowe is starting to doubt the sanity of his partner.

I found the story a bit slow at first, but it built up to a nice pace. Author James Huebner has built a strong story based in mystery. As a reader I enjoyed following narrator Detective Marlowe on his journey to find the source of the “darkness” that is threatening his city. It becomes a tumultuous journey as he strives to figure out where the many cases they are investigating might connect, and which, is the true crime. We see Marlowe grow as a person with the discoveries about his self that he makes with the help of his psychiatrist, and his own personal reflection while on and off duty. I found True Detective to be a wonderful look into the police procedures of the daily work life of a modern day New York City Police detective. This was a great story, full of twists and turns, with a surprising twist of an ending.

Book Review: Escape the Mask by David Ward

Coriko and his partner Pippa are slaves to the Spears. The children are Twosies, children who have lived in the grasslands and worked at finding the shards that the Spears want mined from the sands for many years. Coriko – who doesn’t remember a life outside of captivity relies on Pippa for friendship and support as they struggle through each day trying to meet the gather quotas and keep from angering the Spear guards and the punishment that comes afterwards.

However, they find their life changing slowly when two newcomers are captured and brought to the grasslands who speak the same language as Pippa and Coriko. They bring news of unrest in the outside world, and the possibility of war. When the Spears suddenly start changing their gathering totals for the day, and are attacked by enemy archers inside the grasslands, the four friends team together with two other slave children to try and survive. The violence towards the Spears increases and the children find themselves looking for ways to free the other slaves, escape from the cave complex that they are kept in, and get past both the Spears and the attacking soldiers.

Escape the mask is the first book in The Grasslands Trilogy. The story explores the idea of freedom. Coriko and his friends find themselves free from the torture and cruelty of their captors, and faced with freedom from the slavery that was the life they were accustomed to. After they find freedom, each child has the opportunity to discover more about themselves, and who they are. They grow from slaves with no identity to individuals with very distinct strengths and weaknesses. I found the story engaging. I enjoyed watching the six children grow as they found strength together to break free from imprisonment and discover who each person is.

This is a great introduction to a new series, and I am looking forward to reading the next book when it is published.

Author's web site: http://www.davidward.ca/home.htm

a Neil Gaiman Extravaganza

Fashonista Pirahna is having a Neil Gaiman extravaganza of a give away. I thought y'all might like to know about it. go find out how to enter here

Prizes being offered are: an ARC of Neil's newest book The Graveyard Book (to be released on September 30, 2008), a Graphic novel version of Coraline, Gaiman's Bath Surprise: one Stardust bath bomb and one Comforter bubble bath, which Gaiman has written about in his blog, A hardcover copy of American Gods, $25 to a charity of choice, and more?

50 books in 50 days give away

Joy Nash’s Immortals: The Crossing--sixth book in Dorchester’s USA Today Bestselling series Immortals--hits the bookshelves on September 30. But 50 lucky readers will win autographed copies on or before that date!

Yes, that’s right – 50 copies of The Crossing will be given away on 50 participating websites and blogs, which means readers have 50 online chances to win this hot new paranormal romance during the 50 days between August 12 and September 30.

Find out where you can win a copy at by checking out the list

I will be offering a copy here on Confesions of a Literary Persuasion in September, so be sure to check in and enter when the time comes

(I'll also be doing a few other give aways in the next month or so as well so check back for those as well)