A BLOG BY CALVIN DEAN:

A BLOG BY CALVIN DEAN: AUTHOR | TROPHY HUSBAND

Thursday, December 22, 2016

4 Stars for Gumshoe

Ellis York is a private eye hired to find a missing person. Every character he meets has a past that keeps catching up with them -- and with Ellis. The book reads like a 1940s noir movie--something you'd expect on Turner Classic Movies. Author Michael Compton, an English professor at the University of Memphis, does a good job of capturing the mood and language of the era. An enjoyable read. 4-Stars.

Friday, December 16, 2016

Free & Discounted Books




Looking for great deals on free or deeply discounted books? In all genres? Look no farther than Read Freely. Go to http://www.readfree.ly/ You can thank me later.

Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Shopping & More Shopping

I've almost finished my Christmas shopping for 2016. However, there's always one or two more things to consider. I'm sure you feel my pain. Speaking of shopping, I'm currently shopping my next book to publishers. Book number four is Geriatric Delinquents. Here's the elevator pitch: 

Geriatric Delinquents is a rollicking, character-driven spoof about two sisters who oppose a local marijuana proposition. To their chagrin, their aging rock star brother brings his gravitas to town in support of the measure. The sisters counter with sabotage and sanctimonious resistance. (Imagine someone like Dolly Parton as the older sister, Goldie Hawn as the younger sister, and Mick Jagger as the brother.) Geriatric Delinquents is a southern contemporary with a timely plot.

Sunday, December 4, 2016

Book Review: Last Train from Perdition

REVIEW -- Last Train from Perdition is the sequel to I Travel by Night where we're introduced to Trevor Lawson, a vampire who happens to be a hired gun. Lawson is in the process of "turning", but he's fighting the urge for blood and trying to remain human. This sets him on a trail for LaRouge, the lady who bit him. By drinking every last bit of her blood, the vampire gunslinger can revert to human form. But Lawson has been hired by a rich family to track others. In Last Train, he and Ann are bound for Perdition in the great Northwest to bring home a wayward son.

Honestly, a vampire gunslinger would never have appealed to me -- except that the story is told my Robert McCammon. Enough said, in my book. McCammon has a way with words -- a way of storytelling that most of us can only hope to achieve. Last Train is no different. I must say, the ending was a bit over the top, to me anyway. But the atmospheric descriptions along the way make the book very enjoyable. If given the option, I'd render 3.5 stars only because of the ending. But that's just me.

Saturday, December 3, 2016

Book Review - Spirits of the Bayou

REVIEW -- Luc has a gift--he sees spirits of the dead. One in particular. She's begging for help, not so much for herself, but for the others. And so for Luc, this gift feels more like a plague. Yet our protagonist can't sit idol and let children keep disappearing into the bayou. Or can he? Let's be clear, Luc isn't one of New Orleans finest. He runs with bad people. But once he discovers that he's not the only person with "the gift", he is taken in by someone who cares, and things begin to make sense. But how many children die before Luc figures out how to help them?

If you like Louisiana mystique, stories of voodoo, with a few ghosts thrown in for good measure, you'll like Spirits of the Bayou. Author Morgan Hannah McDonald will make you smell the backwater as you run with a few of Luc's unwholesome friends and weave your way through the Garden District looking for the next home to break and enter. And that Haitian cook...her strange dialect gives the book special creole flavor. Of course, you know what they say about New Orleans ladies... Good book. Grab a copy.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Goodreads Winners

Congratulations to Michelle in Houma, LA; Maria in Miami, FL; Tracee in Waxford, PA; Kristi in Virginia Beach, VA; and Catherine in Warren, ME -- all winners in the CURSES giveaway at Goodreads.com. And thanks to all 404 people who entered the random drawing.




CURSES @ AMAZON.COM