Friday 25 November 2016

No Safe Place - Steven M. Roth



                No Safe Place is a thriller from the Trace Austin series written by Steven M. Roth. It opens with the President of the United States making the decision to infect vacation hot-spot Fort Lauderdale, Florida with a virus that quickly infects and often kills the citizens, thus imposing a quarantine on the area. This is all done as an experiment to see what would happen and how people would react should it happen for real in a terrorist attack. Blaming the sickness on terrorists, the United States government imposes martial law on Fort Lauderdale and life for the citizens quickly turns into a situation of eat or be eaten. Trace, his wife, son and Nanna happen to be visiting the area and end up in the Quarantine Zone. Trace previously worked for the government as a computer hacker and an elite soldier so he starts trying to find out what is really going on while trying to also get his family out of the area.
                This is a very fast paced story and one that was almost scary due to the fact it could very well happen, considering how things are in our world today. The author’s viewpoint of how people would react seems very accurate and the situation of martial law at a resort town was very realistic. The author seems to have put a lot of thought into how life would be under restrictions of this type and the fear that people would feel, making them act irrationally. There are quite a few characters but Mr. Roth does an excellent job of introducing each one and giving them back stories that differentiate them from each other. They are all multi-dimensional and realistic and there are a variety of personalities, each acting differently under the circumstances. It is quite interesting how different types of people deal with the stress of such a situation.
                I loved this book and the action and thrill factors made it hard to put down. It is a fast and easy read. I read this book in digital format and it formatted well. Editing is also done well. The cover is typical of the thriller novels out today so it didn’t really sway my decision to read the book one way or the other.

A Ghost Hunter's Guide to the Most Haunted Historic Sites in America - Terrance Zepke



                If you’re someone who is interested in the supernatural and also enjoys traveling, then you may want to check out this book written by journalist/parapsychologist, Terrance Zepke. This book is just one in a series of travel books called Most Haunted. I’ve previously read and enjoyed A Ghost Hunter’s Guide to the Most Haunted Places in America so I knew that I would enjoy this book as well. Ms. Zepke takes the reader on a trip across America and visits some of the most well-known haunted historic sites. It is a quick and easy read with lots of fun and entertaining facts that won’t end up boring the reader. Sometimes travel guides can be monotonous, often filled with useless information, but the author keeps things short and to the point for each site while still providing enough information about ghost sightings to keep the reader’s interest piqued. Pictures and maps are provided for each site as well as any pertinent information, such as the cost to visit the site as well as the distance and travel time to the site. At the end of the book there are some fun quizzes about the information in the book to see what the reader can remember. If I ever have the chance to visit America, I hope to see some of the sites mentioned in the book and hopefully see a ghost or two. The site’s history I was most surprised with was the Hollywood sign. I had no idea it was haunted by a young lady who committed suicide there. Of course the areas where many people were killed are full of ghosts and I’d love to visit these sites as well, as they are written about so well in the book. This book is perfect for the budding ghost hunter and I hope sometime in the future the author will write about haunted sites outside of the United States. 
                I read this in the digital format on my ereader and it formatted well. The pictures were clear and distinct. The editing in the book was also well done. The cover was quite eye catching as well. I look forward to reading more books from this series and maybe, one day in the future, I will get to experience a ghost siting at one of these places.