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 Being an actor is hard work, especially when the actor doesn't live in an area with a thriving film or stage community. Our main protagonist in Black Bag , by Luke Kennard, is such an actor. He's a big fish in a small pond, generally getting roles in local productions. But that's not enough to sustain the actor - especially when a job falls through. Our unnamed protagonist in question responds to an ad from a university professor, looking for an actor. The job: to wear a giant black bag and attend his lectures, making no sounds. It's a test, of course, to see how the students react. The test is on-going through the semester, and the actor begins to wear the black bag to and from the school, riding the bus and going to tea shops in his black bag. The actor takes his work quite seriously and reflects, himself, on how others react to him as black bag. He even connects with a woman who is turned on by his anonymity in the bag. The bag becomes more than just a job - it is a...

 A small town, deep in the Andes Mountains, has some dark secrets. There is an unexplained death of a woman, Nita, who was well loved by everyone in the community, including a poor, misfit youth named Alberto. Alberto stumbles upon a dead body that resembles Nita. The woman is covered in feathers and Alberto is convinced she is Nita, an angel who has fallen to earth. With no other identity to ascribe to the woman, the small, rural community tends to accept the superstitions and hints of magic and supernatural. Years later and some Americans arrive to town in order to experience the local festival. One of the visitors bears an uncanny resemblance to the still beloved Nita. But the American has a less than positive opinion of the pagan rituals she's observed, which creates a rift between the cultures and sets up a clash between reason and belief. This book was one of my earliest Amazon First Reads selections. The supernatural and mysticism aspects appealed to me and I figured the who...

Escape Rooms ... Reality TV ... Game Shows ... well of COURSE they're going to be combined in an exciting made-for-TV-audiences fashion. The Escape Game is the hottest 'reality' show on television. Create teams of smart teens, each with different abilities and have them compete in getting out of escape rooms, and you have a recipe for thrills and excitement and ... murder. Just six months ago, during season four, contestant Alicia Angelos was discovered murdered on the set.  Of course that's not enough to derail a show. Now season five is just getting underway with a new group of contestants, including Sierra Angelos - Alicia's sister whom everyone believes got away with her sister's murder.  Sierra isn't here to compete for a game show prize - she's here seeking a different set of clues. Sierra wants to see justice for her sister and to uncover the real killer.  Of course her team needs to stay in the contest if Sierra wants to stay on set and look for ...

I believe that Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is one of the most creative, endearing fantasies for children ever written. Since the book came into the public domain (and perhaps even before that) there have been other authors adding to the Wonderland collection of stories, many of them with Alice. There have also been adaptations and other books using Carroll's world, characters, and stories as a reference for their own stories. Some, like Christina Henry's The Chronicles of Alice series are fabulous while more than a few that I've read are simply not worth reading. Alice With a Why by Anna James is one of the best I've ever read. 1919 and Alyce's father has died in the war and she now lives with her grandmother, Alice. Yes ... the original Alice who journeyed to Wonderland. One afternoon, and invitation to a tea party hits Alyce in the face. While it's addressed to an Alice with an 'I' she's certain that since it came to ...

It is so far into the future that humanity is extinct. Evidence of humanity, however, still exists - primarily through the machines that continue to operate and have developed a complex form of intelligence. The machines have been able to create - or rather 're'create - civilizations based on information it/they have managed to gather. It is the surprising discovery of the works of William Shakespeare that has shed new light on ancient humanity.  In an effort to learn more about humans, the machines understand that the best way to make sense of Shakespeare's works is to stage the plays through a simulation that is indistinguishable from reality. Entering into the plays is J-9 - a machine construct that is human-like. J-9 prefers to be identified by the more human-like name: Janine. Along with a mechanical owl, Janine observes the play from inside the performances, commenting on the events and the behavior of the different characters. Based on Janine's experiences and im...

This book collects two von Bek novels. The first is The Warhound and the World's Pain .  Ulrich von Bek, one incarnation of the Eternal Champion, is operating as a mercenary, selling his soldiering skills in the wars in 17th century Europe. He decides to take a break after one extremely ugly city destruction and wanders alone to reflect. Choosing to take refuge in a castle he encounters on his wandering, von Bek falls in love with the beautiful Sabrina, keeper of the castle. It also in the castle, however, that von Bek meets Lucifer. Yes, THAT Lucifer. Von Bek, it turns out, is already destined to spend his eternity in Hell (Was he really surprised by this?) Lucifer is willing to cut him a deal.  Lucifer is, let's remember, an angel.  A fallen angel, but an angel nonetheless. Lucifer can get in God's good graces if he, or someone he selects, can cure for the world's pain (by finding the Holy Grail). Von Bek travels through both earthly and magical lands, following up on...