My Blog

Retirement. Publishers, thank you for the many years of reading pleasure you gave me, but all good things must come to an end. Due to failing eyesight I am forced to retire. I can no longer review your books, and any that you send will be donated to the local library, unread. Do not send any more. I can only read for a couple hours every day, and this does not allow me to finish a book in reasonable time. I will be devoting time to my own books from now on, and reading on a personal level. Books that interest me. I prefer paperbacks and hardbacks, not eBooks. My eyesight has been failing the last few years, and I cannot handle hundreds of review books any more. My books are still available for review. Anyone interested in reviewing any of them, they are found in the Link to Tom’s Books On Amazon. Contact me for pdf copies at fadingshadows40@gmail.com

Sunday, August 30, 2015

Run: Hold On! Season 3

Run!
_______________________________________

Hold On! – Season 3

Blurb

Belinda Reese finds herself running for her life—from Brandon.

This time, Drake must face his most dangerous enemy yet—HIMSELF!

Book Three in the Hold On! Trilogy.

The world believes Brandon Drake is dead, but he awakens in a secret government complex believing it to be 2012. The last four years of his life have been erased from his conscious mind. Only his true, malevolent self, The Scorpion, remains.
He soon finds himself dispatched on an assassination mission, but the mission fails as he is struck down by a debilitating pain in his head.
Before long, he discovers he’s been duped, and that four years have passed since his last memory. A bloodbath ensues as he escapes from the complex and sets out to find the truth about his missing years. He learns of a woman named Belinda Reese and associates her with his terrible pain. To be strong enough to destroy those who betrayed him, he sets out to kill Belinda, leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake.
However, a mysterious figure wearing a black helmet appears to him in the darkness. He is the true cause of Drake’s pain: an adversary who identifies himself onlyas The Interceptor.
         Past, present, and future collide as the Hold On! Trilogy reaches its jaw-dropping conclusion.
CAUTION: This entry contains violent and adult themes.

View the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmvcyqLurMg

Run: Hold On! Season 3 (Action/Thriller)
By Peter Darley
Amazon Digital Service, Inc.
ASIN #BO11YZ9KLO
Price $2.99
362 Pages
Rating 5-Stars

“Final Season of This Fast-Paced Thrill Ride.”

At the end of Season 2, Brandon Drake, The Interceptor, crashes in the air car, and is presumed dead. However, he awakes in a lab where Dr. Frederick DeSouza has wiped out his memory of the last four years, returning his personality of The Scorpion, a deadly killer without conscious. SDT Director Andrew Wilmot and Agent Cynthia Garrett lead him to believe it’s 2012, and Drake is assigned to them in Operation Nemesis.

Things don’t go as planned, as Belinda, Tyler, and Emma come back on the scene. But will The Scorpion kill them before they can return him to his personality of The Interceptor, a hero, not a killer? This third episode – or season – concludes the initial cliffhanger series, but to reveal any more would give away the ending. Needless to say, there is an ending of sorts, but the adventure doesn’t have to cease at this point, and that’s all I’ll say. If you like your action fast, the villains mean, and the heroes tough, you’ll like the “Hold On!” series, but be prepared to read all three seasons for the final battle between The Scorpion and The Interceptor. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of CARNIVAL OF DEATH

Friday, August 28, 2015

Finding The Sky

Twelve-year old Jo Harper thought 1910 would be another boring year in the Wyoming range town of Willowby, Wyoming. Then tough-talkin' pistol-shootin' Abby Drake came to town and made Jo a deputy law and order woman... Collecting four exciting Jo Harper novellas, Finding the Sky pits Jo and her friends against cattle rustlers, outlaws, a bank robber and a tinhorn gambler. With explosions of fire, flaming arrows, and a wild ride in a Model-T, Jo's introspective, early 20th Century life will never again be the same.

Finding The Sky (Juvenile Western Fiction)
By Richard Prosch
Painted Pony Books www.paintedponybooks.com
ISBN #978-1503105164
Price $9.99
172 Pages
Rating 5-Stars

“Great Fun at the Start of the 20th Century.”

This book contains the first four novelettes featuring Jo Harper. WAITING FOR A COMET, RACING A DOG STAR, ROPING A PLANET, and SHOOTING THE MOON.
WAITING FOR A COMET: During the long, hot spring of 1910 it seemed all 12-year-old Jo Harper could do was wait. Wait for her father, wait for her friends, wait for the comet that might appear in the sky and wipe out the whole town of Willowby, Wyoming once and for all. But when wild west legend Abby Drake arrives in town lugging an orphaned baby calf, an old-fashioned revolver, and a mystery shrouded with superstition, it’s up to Jo to take action. Why is Abby in town? Who is she after? And what secrets can Jo coax out of her own archenemy, Emily Bly?
Action, humor, and real life history combine for an exciting mystery about one girl’s summertime quest for family, friendship, and justice on the wind-burnt Wyoming range at the dawn of a new century.
RACING A DOG STAR: Title is a bit misleading, but the story continues the Jo Harper series just fine. It’s the first day of school, and a new schoolmaster is in town. However, Jo’s pal, 10-year-old Frog Carpenter tells her about a new-fangled automobile in town, she follows him into trouble. Taking Mr. Beemer’s Model-T for a ride, they end up locked in a barn for snooping. Escaping, they run into Constable Abby Drake who is investigating a crime.
Everything works out fine, but for a while we wonder if Jo and Frog haven’t gotten in too deep this time.
ROPING A PLANET: Jupiter, the giant show horse is in danger. It appears someone is trying to kill the horse. The owners want to put him in movies, and display him around the country, but with his life in danger they must first discover the culprit and make sure the horse is safe. That’s where Abby and Jo come in. But they must dodge bullets and flaming arrows if they are to succeed.
SHOOTING THE MOON: The final story finds Willowby preparing to celebrate Fall Festival, when the bank is robbed. Abby, Jo and Frog capture the bandit, but it turns out the outlaw is an old friend of Abby’s from the Wild West show. She resigns her position as constable, but Jo decides to keep her Deputy Constable status, and deputizes Frog to assist her. They see Abby and the bank robber escaping from an alley where their friend must have broke him out of jail. Then discover another crook in their midst. Now they need Abby back to help stop this one.
The author has fun creating neat little mysteries for Jo Harper and her friends to solve in these novelettes. Well written, and highly entertaining, they are a throwback to the old juvenile series of a previous time, and well worth reading. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of CARNIVAL OF DEATH

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Carnival of Death


Tom Johnson’s latest Kindle, CARNIVAL OF DEATH. Special thanks to Bill Thinnes for supplying the cover photograph. When a new menace rears its ugly head in his Great City, The Black Ghost finds that he may be up against an old enemy. One that refuses to stay dead! But why is Spider back, and who – or what – is Cipher, the team of ex soldiers that accompany her? And why is an agent of British Intelligence on the case? Plus, it seems the British government may know the identity of the intrepid fighter in black! Sequel to THE SPIDER’S WEB. Buy it here on Amazon for just $2.99 http://www.amazon.com/dp/B014GBBH3W

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Dragon Creed

Dragon Creed (Fantasy)
By Susie Hawes
Recondite Publications
ASIN # Pre-publication
Price $ NKY
143 Pages
Rating 5-Stars

“Dragons, Elves, and Shape-shifters, and loads of Fun.”

When city officials hang his master, Mordo the Magician, his apprentice 15-year-old Farquarte the Orphan, is unable to find work. With nowhere else to turn, he heads for Fechum the Dragon’s mountain lair, where he hopes to learn magic from the old dragon. Fechum isn’t too keen on the idea at first, threatening to eat him instead. But with more problems arising from the government authorities of Krugerville, the dragon decides to keep the young boy; he can clean out the cave, at least.

The old dragon diligently guards his treasure of gold, and keeps his eye on his new apprentice, while the city authorities keep trying to tax them or turn the dragon’s cave into a tourist attraction. Farquarte gets into all kinds of mischief while trying to scheme against the town’s people and the old dragon. Will the human boy end up with the gold, or will the old dragon cook him with his fiery breath, or will the town folks have the final say? This fantasy yarn was not only a fun read it kept me wondering what would happen next. So much is going on that it’s impossible to describe any of it without giving everything away. I will say that the ending was completely unexpected. This book is definitely for the fantasy reader, and fans of dragons, witches, and shape-shifters.  I highly recommend it for a fun read.

Tom Johnson

Author of WORLDS OF TOMORROW

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Waiting For A Comet

During the long, hot spring of 1910 it seemed all 12-year-old Jo Harper could do was wait. Wait for her father, wait for her friends, wait for the comet that might appear in the sky and wipe out the whole town of Willowby, Wyoming once and for all. But when wild west legend Abby Drake arrives in town lugging an orphaned baby calf, an old-fashioned revolver, and a mystery shrouded with superstition, it’s up to Jo to take action. Why is Abby in town? Who is she after? And what secrets can Jo coax out of her own archenemy, Emily Bly?
Action, humor, and real life history combine for an exciting mystery about one girl’s summertime quest for family, friendship, and justice on the wind-burnt Wyoming range at the dawn of a new century.

Waiting For A Comet (Juvenile Fiction)
By Richard Prosch
Painted Pony Books
ASIN #B00KK895TO
Price $0.99
56 Pages
Rating 5-Stars

“Well Written, and Loads of Fun.”

Set in 1910, the town of Willowby, Wyoming, is awaiting the arrival of Halley’s comet, and worrying if it’s bringing cyanide gas in its wake to kill them all. In the meantime, elderly Abigail Drake has arrived in town to become their local Constable. With her is a calf branded with a C. 12-year old Jo Harper, daughter of the WILLIOWBY MONITOR weekly newspaper, becomes friend with Abby, showing her around town with her 10-year-old pal, Frog Carpenter. They learn that the new constable is looking for cattle rustlers, and want to help. But what kind of danger will they be thrown into when a gunslinger threatens them?

This was a wonderful read, a throwback to those fun juvenile novels we read as children. The author captures our imagination with the descriptive narrative of the Old West, before the West grew up, when cowboys still wore six-shooters. Anyone that likes westerns, old juvenile fiction, or just plain good writing, will enjoy this short novel. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of THE PULP DETECTIVES