Two Mysteries, Could Be Better Integrated

Mystery Time By Jane Hannah tries to be two mysteries in one. The first mystery has to do with murder, and that one catches your attention right off the bat, and does a fairly good job of hanging on until the very end.

The second mystery has to do with a watch currently owned by the female protagonist. The watch is an heirloom left to her by her deceased husband.

As the story progresses, it swings back and forth between the murder chapters and the watch chapters, but most of the transitions aren't as well done as one could expect, hence the loss of one star from my rating. At times, I even questioned the relevance of some parts of the story of this antique watch, until I remembered that it had been stolen early in the novel. Better connection of the chapters that concern the watch to the chapters about the murder investigation could make this novel more interesting.

Recommended to those who like murder mysteries. This review has also been posted on LibraryThing and on Amazon.com.

FTC regulations mandate that I disclose that I received a copy of the novel free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

A Dystopian World That Seems All Too Possible

The Digital Sea is an intriguing dystopian novel with sufficient plot and character development to hook the reader within a few pages. Those who like science fiction, mystery and/or techno-thrillers will enjoy this novel. The Digital Sea is also the first novel of a trilogy; this becomes very apparent at the end of the novel when the story arc concludes but subtly suggests that soon there will be other events to disrupt the normal life of Zel Aurora and her daughter.

The characters are not all introduced together, but each is featured in his/her own chapter at the beginning which also includes some backstory for each member of the vast cast of this novel. This type of construction makes the story difficult to follow in the beginning, but perseverance is worthwhile. Readers having difficulty with the number and mission(s) of the characters may wish to make a cheat sheet.

While reading this novel, I noted that some of the transitions from one chapter to the next were not as smoothly accomplished as I could have wished. This is particularly true in the beginning, but I also noted a similar effect between the last few chapters. It is less apparent in the middle of the book. The rough transitions did not detract from my over-all enjoyment of the book.

Note for those intending to read the next two novels in this series: Start with The Digial Sea, so that you will have sufficient indoctrination into this world to enjoy the followups.

This review also appears on LibraryThing, and on Amazon.com as well as any other appropriate place I may find to post it.

FTC regulations require the following disclosure: This novel was received free from the author in exchange for this review. Despite the above statement, I want the reader to know the following as well: I chose to read The Digital Sea because I wanted to read it. I was not obligated in any way to accept the author's offer of the free copy. The above review (excluding this paragraph) is worded exactly the same as it would have been worded had I chosen to purchase my copy of this book. Receiving a free copy of the novel has not altered my opinion of the author's work. This review contains my honest opinion of the book, for which I have received no financial compensation.

Social Media - A Word from your Blogger - Lady D.

Nearly every week, I find another invitation to join one or another of the social media sites out there has found its way into my inbox.  Let's settle this here and now.  I have no intention whatsoever of belonging to any of those social media sites. Facebook, Linkedin, Google Plus, and now Twitter... seem to have attracted most everyone involved with writing and/or publishing. Except me. Instead of being attracted to these types of sites, I am repelled by them to the point where I've just about stopped doing anything on the internet in order to avoid having to decline such invitations. 

At least Linkedin allows me to contact the person sending the invitation via email so that I can tactfully decline such invitations. Facebook and Twitter have no such option, that I know of.  I'm not certain of Google Plus, but also not interested enough to find out how that works.

My reasons for declining to join social media sites:

1. Facebook and Google Plus require the use of my real name, which I consider to be a violation of my privacy.  Not sure about Linkedin or Twitter, but suspect the same is true of those sites as well.

2. Facebook won't allow me to have a verified account without my supplying a cell phone number. I tried this in late 2011; with no way to verify my account unless I revealed my cell phone number,  I deleted the Facebook account. I'm not about to reveal that number to ANY website. My cell phone is for communication with friends and family, and for emergencies, it is not for frivolous things such as joining a website. Besides, I trust social media sites (especially Facebook) like I trust my worst enemy - not one bit.


3. My other objection to Twitter is the brevity of the posts.  I couldn't possibly post anything useful within such a short limitation. That limitation makes Twitter even more useless to me than the other sites mentioned in this post.

A Request: 
If you know me, please do NOT invite me to join any social media site. This goes double for you if you do not know me, and triple if I don't even know who you are.  Either way, the answer is unequivocally NO.  I won't change my mind, or even give that type of site a fair trial.  I already belong to enough different sites and blogs that I've no time for or interest in joining another site.