Posts Tagged ‘Isolation’

Partners In Crime Tours

I do love a good mystery. And it’s even better when there’s a mystery inside a mystery. Lots to keep you guessing and on your toes in Isolation!

Enjoy my review.

And don’t forget to enter the giveaway.

Isolation

A Faye Longchamp Mystery

by Mary Anna Evans

25575967

Genre: Mystery, Women Sleuths
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: August 4, 2015
Number of Pages: 284
Series: A Faye Longchamp Mystery, 9
ISBN: 9781464204029

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My Review

This has all the makings for a good mystery.

A family torn apart by tragedy, isolation on a private island, toxic spills, murder, stalkers, and all of this might possibly be connected to a mysterious history. I was hooked already!

Being a fan of character driven stories, this didn’t disappoint.

There’s Faye Longchamp – Mantooth. She’s coping the only way she knows how after a terrible loss. She spends every waking minute and most nights prowling the island and doing random digs. Not herself at all. Being a professional archaeologist, she knows better. You need to investigate, do the math, before digging. I think she’s just trying to stay numb.

Her husband, Joe Wolf Mantooth, is such a gentle soul. He loves his wife and patiently waits for her to come around, knowing she needs time to grieve and heal. In the meantime, he takes care of their young son, Michael, making sure he’s happy and loved.  When things go wiggy and bodies start adding up, he goes into alpha mode. I loved the gentle bear and the warrior spirit of Joe.

Joe’s father, Sly Mantooth, out after serving time in prison, shows up on their doorstep and they invite him to stay awhile. Faye hopes the two will stay out of her hair, and Joe’s looking to get reconnected with his father. I like Sly. He’s a diamond in the rough. He keeps his thoughts to himself, unless a pretty gal is around. Then the charmer, the ladies man, comes out to play. There was one particular lady I wanted him to get better acquainted with. I hoped the author would grant my wish.

Not just a murder mystery, there’s also the mystery of Faye’s ancestor. Some people want to prove her great-great-grandmother Cally was a murderer. Faye’s having none of it and launches her own investigation, keeping their relationship secret while she works to clear Cally’s name. Not so easy when you’re going back 150 years.

A strange toxic find on the island, chemical dumps in the gulf, murder and violent attacks. Could all of this be random events or do they all tie together? I couldn’t wait to find out.

Though this is the ninth book in the Faye Longchamp Mystery Series, it can easily be read as a stand alone. I’ve not the read the other books and with some short mentions of past events, had no trouble reading this first.

Good clean fun, with no sex scenes or foul language.

4 Stars

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Synopsis

Archaeologist Faye Longchamp-Mantooth has dug herself a deep hole and she can’t make her way out of it. As she struggles to recover from a shattering personal loss, she sees that everyone she loves is trying to reach out to her. If only she could reach back. Instead she’s out digging holes all over her home, the Florida island of Joyeuse.

In their old plantation home, Joe Wolf Mantooth is surrounded by family—Faye, the wife he loves; their toddler son he adores; and his father, who hasn’t gotten around to telling him how long he’s been out of prison or how he got there—yet Joe has never felt so helpless or alone.

Then a close friend at the local marina is brutally murdered, the first in a string of crimes against women that rocks Micco County. Joe, desperate to help Faye, realizes she is in danger from both her inner demons and someone who has breached the island’s isolation. Local law and environmental officials say they want to help, but to Faye and Joe they feel more like invaders. A struggling Faye reaches back over a century into her family’s history for clues. And all the while, danger snakes further into their lives, threatening the people they love, their cherished home, even the very ground—some of it poisoned—beneath their feet.

Purchase Links

Amazon / B&N / Goodreads

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Author Mary Anna Evans

Mary Anna Evans

Mary Anna Evans is the author of the award-winning Faye Longchamp archaeological mysteries–Artifacts, Relics, Effigies, Findings, Floodgates, Strangers, and Plunder. She has degrees in physics and chemical engineering. Her background includes stints in environmental consulting and university administration, as well as a summer spent working offshore in the oil fields. Writing lets her spend weeks indulging her passion for history, archeology, and architecture, and months making up stories. Mary Anna is preparing to move to Oklahoma since accepting an Associate Professor position with the University of Oklahoma.

Website / Twitter / Facebook

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

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Yesterday I shared my thoughts about Isolation by Denise R. Stephenson.

Today, I’m thrilled to turn over my blog to the author for a guest post.

Be sure to check out the rest of the post for more about the book and how to enter the giveaways. There’s two.

So Denise, tell us.

What drove you to write this book?

 

I was driven to write this book by a little boy who found a pornographic image in his mother’s garage. Before that all I had were ideas from contemporary events suggesting I had something to write. The germs of my novel Isolation came from the fear of a swine flu epidemic in the fall of 2009, the CDC changing our behavior by teaching us to sleeve the sneeze, and my concerns about the overuse of 99% bacterial killing soaps and sanitizers. But it was hearing this line in my head: “and laying a finger aside of his nose” that told me I had something worth pursuing. In that line, I suddenly imagined a world in which face-touching had been outlawed—an outrageous idea, one worthy of a dystopia.

 

The gift of a sabbatical in the Spring of 2012 gave me the time to create this particular world torn apart, not by a virus, but by a variety of bacteria no longer within medical control. I did a great deal of research, some over the two years of gestation and lots during the first month of the actual writing. I probably spent at least a couple of hours every day researching food-borne bacterial contaminants, produce recalls, genetically modified foods, and the practices of agri-business. I watched many documentaries and a few fictional movies like Contagion. I also read many, many dystopias, discovering intuitively how to build a world falling apart.

 

I consider myself an organic writer, meaning I don’t outline, but rather, allow a story to grow organically from the seed of an idea or the voice of a character. Typically I have no idea where a story is going and find ways to push myself to just keep writing until plot develops, usually through characters’ interactions more than through exterior devices like chase scenes or explosions.

 

My characters reveal their lives to me. Sometimes they do so in excruciating detail that I have to sift through, discovering which aspects are important to a particular story. Other times characters show me only a swipe of the canvas and I need to imagine what fills the rest of it. Either way, I don’t plan or outline. I find myself sitting in a coffee shop, walking along a beach, or reading for pleasure and suddenly needing to take notes or capture a line of dialog. Once I have an opening, I’m at the computer drawing the characters actions in words, making sure to capture the emotional tone of the details.

 

In the case of Isolation, though Gary was a tweener who found The Night Before Christmas children’s book in his mother’s old belongings and recognized that Santa Claus touching his own nose was an illicit image, it was taking Gary into adulthood which became a driving force that kept me working toward a novel. Isolation is epic in scope, spanning three generations. Figuring out that I could use Gary both in his adolescent years and then as an adult really helped me develop that timeline.

 

In the end, Gary was only one of a cast of six characters who form the central story of the novel. He was the first I imagined, but not the first I wrote. In fact, the first character I developed ended up being cut from the novel altogether. And in the end, Gary’s was one of the story-lines that took the longest for me to close. I think I wanted something for Gary that a dystopia couldn’t give him, so it took me awhile to be willing to end his story as it had to end.

 

No spoilers, so I’ll stop there. The drive to write Isolation was a combination of world events and a line from a children’s book which brought with it a concept I’d never imagined and wouldn’t want to live with—a world without touch.

 

Thanks so much Denise. I just wanted to add that the ending was special. I’m glad you stayed with it.

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isolation cover

Publisher: Mill City Press (April 15, 2014)
Category: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic, Political Thriller, Medical Thriller
ISBN: 13: 978-1-62652-760-7
Tour Dates: June 15-July 30, 2014
Available in: Print and ebook, 383 Pages

Isolation depicts a bleak but recognizable future in which the fear of contagion reaches a fever pitch as a bacterial epidemic catapults the US into an apocalyptic crisis.

Touch is outlawed. Mothers like Maggie bind their infants’ hands, terrified they might slip fingers into mouths. Gary, a Sterilizer, uses robots to scour the infected, avoiding all contact with human flesh. Trevor, the Chief Enforcer, watches, eager to report any and all infractions.

One inadvertent touch will change all of their lives.

For those of you who missed my post yesterday, click HERE to read my review and enter the giveaways.

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About Denise R. Stephenson:

DENISE R. STEPHENSON resides in Oceanside, CA, but she has lived in all the isolated locales of this novel at one time or another. Her publishing history is primarily academic, though as a member of Attention Deficit Drama, she has written and produced monologs and short plays. This is her first novel.

Website: http://denisestephenson.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeniseStephensonIsolation
T
witter:
https://twitter.com/BookArts_Denise

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Buy Isolation:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Book Depository

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I have two giveaways!

You can enter both!

The first one is for an eBook copy of Isolation (Open Internationally)

Now for the second giveaway!

5 Print copies of Isolation

Go HERE to enter.

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Follow the Tour:

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus June 16 Excerpt & Giveaway
Library Educated June 17 Review
Creating Serenity June 18 Review
Room With Books June 18 Interview & Giveaway
Reviews From The Heart June 19 Review & Giveaway
Paranormal Romance & Authors June 24 Review
Always a Book Lover June 25 Guest Post
Lightning Chronicles June 27 Review
Elizabeth McKenna Romance Author July 1 Interview
Deal Sharing Aunt July 2 Review
Deal Sharing Aunt July 3 Interview & Giveaway
Books & Quilts July 9 Review
Mary’s Cup of Tea July 10 Review & Giveaway
Manic Mama of 2 July 10 Review
TreeHouseJuly 12 Giveaway
Book Talk With Alana July 14 Review
Book Talk With Alana July 14 Interview
Nerdophiles July 15 Review
Nerdophiles July 16 Interview & Giveaway
She Treads Softly July 17 Review
Kritters Ramblings July 18 Review
fuonlyknew July 21 Review, Guest Post, & Giveaway
Open Book Society July 23 Review & Giveaway
Cassandra M’s Place July 24 Review & Giveaway
Giveaways and Glitter July 25 Review
Two Children & a Migraine July 28 Review, Guest Post & Giveaway
JeanzBookReadNReview July 30 Interview & Giveaway
Heart of a Philanthropist July 31 Review, Interview & Giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

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I’ll admit it. The cover art caught my attention first.

Then I read the blurb and had to read Isolation. I love reading about a scenario that could happen, that may be happening as we speak.

Check out Isolation, enjoy my review, and don’t forget to enter the giveaways. Yep, there’s two!

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isolation cover

Publisher: Mill City Press (April 15, 2014)
Category: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Apocalyptic & Post-Apocalyptic, Political Thriller, Medical Thriller
ISBN: 13: 978-1-62652-760-7
Tour Dates: June 15-July 30, 2014
Available in: Print and ebook, 383 Pages

MY REVIEW

Imagine not being able to touch yourself or others for fear of punishment. Imagine a world where so many have died from bacterial infection that it’s now a law, strongly enforced, of no touching of any kind.

We already see signs of this in some countries. People going out in public wearing face masks and gloves. Sanitizer stations in business entryways.

The author approaches this clinically and emotionally.

I couldn’t imagine not being able to kiss my babies face, hug a friend, or even wipe the tears from my own face.

For those born before the outbreaks, old habits die hard. It’s a slip of the mind to reach up and scratch your nose if it itches, and if you are spotted, you’re reported and punished.

Enforcers and Sterilizers are recruited and put in place supposedly for your own protection. This is where big brother thinks they know what’s best for everyone. And putting fear into the equation makes most people go along with their mandate.

But there are some who feel differently. Who secretly break the rules. Who dare to want more.

I don’t read reviews for a book until after mine has been published, but I’m betting a lot of people have said the same thing. This could happen and it might not be too far off. How often do you turn on the news and hear about this or that food product being pulled from the shelves because it’s contaminated? How people have sickened from it and even died?

The author approached this scenario with a dystopian and science fiction genre. At least that’s how it felt to me.

While I didn’t have a favorite character, there was one I wish had chosen a different employment, and three I wish could have prevailed together.

The ending is deeply moving. Profound.

I enjoyed this glimpse into a possible future and highly recommend it.

4 STARS

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Isolation depicts a bleak but recognizable future in which the fear of contagion reaches a fever pitch as a bacterial epidemic catapults the US into an apocalyptic crisis.

Touch is outlawed. Mothers like Maggie bind their infants’ hands, terrified they might slip fingers into mouths. Gary, a Sterilizer, uses robots to scour the infected, avoiding all contact with human flesh. Trevor, the Chief Enforcer, watches, eager to report any and all infractions.

One inadvertent touch will change all of their lives.

Read or Listen to An Excerpt

Praise for Isolation:

“I was fortunate enough to read a preview copy of Isolation and I have to say it is a timely and thought provoking, if not haunting, look into the future. I can’t imagine simple day-to-day tasks like getting food at the market being either impossible or dangerous. Written from a variety of perspectives and far-reaching communities, it kept the reader wondering, “Could this really happen to me? Could this be part of my world?” This book made me look into the foods I eat, the lifestyle I live and the value of my friends and family. To what extent would I go to keep those I love safe? Looking for answers kept me turning the pages.”– Michelle Keeton

“Denise Stephenson’s novel Isolation is situated in a not-too-distant future, one we can all imagine, in which bacterial diseases decimate human populations world-wide. Though other novelists and filmmakers have relied on viruses to frighten us with tales of pandemic diseases, Stephenson makes bacteria seem much, much more dangerous—in part, because the vast majority of bacteria we come in contact with are necessary for our survival. For one thing, we can’t digest food without the help of bacteria in our stomachs.

In Isolation, government agencies struggle with the question of how to isolate the dangerous bacteria from the life-saving sort. Eventually, hospitals are turned into Anti-Bacterial Centers, robots are used to cleanse individuals who are exposed, touching one’s face is banned, then touching others is banned, and finally everyone is quarantined inside their own homes in a final, desperate attempt to stop the spread of the lethal bacteria. It’s a frightening vision, but each step, each decision, makes perfect sense in light of the threat of contagion.

It’s a gripping tale, at once outrageous and yet plausible. Through news articles, a scientific report and a press release inserted throughout the novel, Stephenson reveals how woefully unprepared American society is for this sort of calamity.

In spite of the doomsday vision the book presents, it remains hopeful and optimistic by focusing on the lives of individuals. In the direst of circumstances, their humanity, their compassion, and their hope shines through.”– Bob Mayberry

“Isolation” paints a bleak picture. In order to keep humankind safe, the government imposes increasingly stricter bans on touching. From Do-not-touch one’s own nose and eyes to, in the end, the Total-Touch-Ban. People live in ever more isolation; at times, confined to their homes like prisoners.

While the prospect of living in, or even reading, about such a world may not sound appealing to everyone, Stephenson’s lovingly created characters, who accompany the reader from the present to a future two to three generations away, confirm that our species can adapt and survive.

Stephenson’s care to give each of her main characters a distinctive voice makes, in turn, the reader care about them; and that is what makes “Isolation” a pleasure to read.”– Irene Gerold

“Isolation gripped me. It’s a mesmerizing dystopia about the quiet and deadly menaces in our lives. These dangers may be hidden in the jargon of the latest government health report, lurking under the frilly curl of a romaine lettuce leaf, or triggered by a minor cut to a finger while using an ordinary kitchen knife. The characters in Isolation are people I know. It was easy to imagine myself as a sister, friend, or neighbor to any of them – or most of them.

I was in the story wondering, “What would I crave? What would I do for my family and my friends? Isolated, what could I do to fight back?” These questions linger.

The story is well paced, well written, and scary. Stephenson’s research is excellent. It provides a persuasive foundation for explaining why the home-bound isolation of the population becomes the awful solution for stopping the spread of disease. The story compelled me to mull my complacency about the safety of our food, drugs, and government promises to always protect our freedom.“- Karen Baum

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About Denise R. Stephenson:

DENISE R. STEPHENSON resides in Oceanside, CA, but she has lived in all the isolated locales of this novel at one time or another. Her publishing history is primarily academic, though as a member of Attention Deficit Drama, she has written and produced monologs and short plays. This is her first novel.

Website: http://denisestephenson.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DeniseStephensonIsolation
T
witter:
https://twitter.com/BookArts_Denise

.

Buy Isolation:

Amazon ~ Barnes & Noble ~ Book Depository

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I have two giveaways today!

You can enter both!

The first one is for an eBook copy of Isolation (Open Internationally)

To enter, please leave your email address so I can contact you if you win and answer this question:

“Would you break the rules of no touching if you were in the privacy of your own home, if no one could see you?”

Now for the second giveaway!

 5 Print copies of Isolation

Click on the rafflecopter below to enter.

Raffle button

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Follow the Tour:

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus June 16 Excerpt & Giveaway
Library Educated June 17 Review
Creating Serenity June 18 Review
Room With Books June 18 Interview & Giveaway
Reviews From The Heart June 19 Review & Giveaway
Paranormal Romance & Authors June 24 Review
Always a Book Lover June 25 Guest Post
Lightning Chronicles June 27 Review
Elizabeth McKenna Romance Author July 1 Interview
Deal Sharing Aunt July 2 Review
Deal Sharing Aunt July 3 Interview & Giveaway
Books & Quilts July 9 Review
Mary’s Cup of Tea July 10 Review & Giveaway
Manic Mama of 2 July 10 Review
TreeHouseJuly 12 Giveaway
Book Talk With Alana July 14 Review
Book Talk With Alana July 14 Interview
Nerdophiles July 15 Review
Nerdophiles July 16 Interview & Giveaway
She Treads Softly July 17 Review
Kritters Ramblings July 18 Review
fuonlyknew July 21 Review, Guest Post, & Giveaway
Open Book Society July 23 Review & Giveaway
Cassandra M’s Place July 24 Review & Giveaway
Giveaways and Glitter July 25 Review
Two Children & a Migraine July 28 Review, Guest Post & Giveaway
JeanzBookReadNReview July 30 Interview & Giveaway
Heart of a Philanthropist July 31 Review, Interview & Giveaway

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Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew and Good Luck!

To see all of my giveaways click on the lucky horseshoe below!

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The Friday 56 hosted by Freda’s Voice.

The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader and find any sentence, or a few (no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

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When they walked into the restaurant, the techie reached for the AB wash. Before he could squirt it into his hands, the professor began his rant. “Don’t do it. Don’t use their antibacterials. They’re all broad spectrum.”

“Yeah,” the young technician said, “that’s good, right? They’ll kill everything.”

“That’s bad – they kill everything. There are many good bacteria.”

“I don’t have any friends among em.”

“Oh, but you do,” the professor said.

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Isolation

By Denise R. Stephenson

21930041 

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IMAGINE: You can’t touch your face. You can’t leave your home. You don’t dare get sick, that would lead to removal and -likely-death.

Isolation” depicts a bleak but recognizable future in which the fear of contagion reaches a fever pitch as a bacterial epidemic catapults the US into an apocalyptic crisis. Touch is outlawed. Mothers like Maggie bind their infants’ hands, terrified they might slip fingers into mouths.

Gary, a Sterilizer, uses robots to scour the infected, avoiding all contact with human flesh. Trevor, the Chief Enforcer, watches, eager to report any and all infractions.

One inadvertent touch will change all of their lives.

~~~~

Thanks so much for visiting fuonlyknew!