Serial Killers in Space

A review of Star Watch Book 5: Space Chase by Mark Wayne McGinnis. 5/5 ★s.

A creepy psychological murder mystery wrapped in, you guessed it, a high speed race through outer space. While there's, of course, a greater plot to upset the balance of the universe, the main event is the serial killer hillbilly Orloff Picket, who's out for the blood of Nan Reynolds' nephew, Ryan Chase. A skilled hunter, Orloff's killer instincts kick in when Ryan accidently crashes into his multi-million dollar tanker conversion. From there it's all Ryan can do to survive long enough for help from Star Watch — and he's on his own in his Consignment Freight Delivery Van, with nothing but his wits and a smartalec AI to help him. A gripping read, and just when you think Jason, undercover as a mining broker, has it covered — watch out for the twist. Not your usual from the SW series, but lovers of horror and serial murderers will get their fix along with a dose of intergalactic action.

Mark's science fiction site here includes plans of Scrapyard Ship and Star Watch spacecraft and new 3D models of some of the ships.

We Three Kings by Don Callaway

"Frank, you were born, you grew up, you went to the Academy, you became a pilot, and you brought us in for a beautiful landing. You did all that, and you weren’t a god."

We Three Kings by Don Callaway

This is the kind of classic exploration sci-fi that has a special place in my heart. Captain Adam Pons has an unexpected, sort of crash landing on an uncharted planet with his small survey ship and a crew of only himself, his pilot Frank and his science officer Lonnie "Coop" Cooper. Each of the crew have varying levels of hope for rescue, and what they each want to do on this new planet comes into opposition. While it's an old-school first contact story, the characters are front and center and even as their relationships fray with each disagreement, Adam, Frank and Coop each compete for lovability. We Three Kings is a page turner you won't be able to put down until you find out how it all turns out for the crew of the Swallow.

Check out the debut science fiction novel by Don Callaway on Amazon.

Alchemy of the Afterlife by Linda Kinnamon

"It wouldn’t be heaven if we had to leave the people we love."

Alchemy of the Afterlife by Linda Kinnamon

Those we love never truly leave us. It's a truth we all accept, but it can be so easy to forget. Alchemy of the Afterlife is a reminder of that, and there's some healing magic between these pages. It's also a collection of stories about the end of life, the final moments that bring families together and heal old wounds, and about what brings peace to someone about to cross over. All it takes is knowing that the family they're leaving behind will be okay. It's also about the lengths hospice nurses, or as Linda puts it, "medically educated friends," go to to bring comfort and dignity to their patients. It's a tearjerker, and there are some parts that are hard to read. But peace can always be made with the past, especially when you have the love of someone rooting for you from the other side.

Here is the plot synopsis of Alchemy of the Afterlife:

"'As the body gets weaker, the spirit gets stronger,' Linda Kinnamon repeatedly tells her patients. Being a hospice nurse she spends her days caring for and visiting the terminally ill. But in the pre-dawn hours, as her patients near death, they occasionally pay her a visit instead. 
Whether it’s perfume drifting through a room or a touch on the shoulder, the strength of spirit displayed at the end of life is as unique as the individual. Alchemy of the Afterlife is a memoir of life AFTER death based on Linda’s childhood as an orphan combined with her adult experiences as a hospice nurse."

Check out the debut memoir from Linda Kinnamon on Amazon.

How To Survive A Minor Alien Invasion by C. A. Watson

"In one day those two women lost their jobs, discovered a dead body, got grilled by the police and heard about the most incompetent alien invasion ever"

Part sci-fi, part murder mystery, How To Survive A Minor Alien Invasion is full immersion into a who-done-it and a first contact novel with a complex, detailed intergalactic world. Lenore Graston is a smart, likable and relatable would-be sleuth who finds the body of coworker Margaret Whipply and has to get to the bottom of why it happened — more than that, when she deduces that aliens are involved, she literally won't sleep until she can be sure justice — intergalactic justice — will be served. The story behind Margaret's untimely death goes way beyond the murder of one woman, even beyond all of humanity and Earth; it's a big conspiracy that echoes throughout the entire galaxy.

Check out the debut science fiction novel by C. A. Watson on Amazon.

Call To Battle: The Final Scrapyard Ship Book is Here

"Welcome to the final, heart-pounding episode of the Scrapyard Ship series books. It’s all about to end in one climactic crescendo.

The story continues, with Captain Jason Reynolds, and his team: Billy, Rizzo, and the rhino-warrior, Traveler. They must attempt to rescue Ricket and Gaddy, still held captive aboard the impregnable Dreathlor prison barge. Only then, can Jason return to The Lilly, his highly advanced Caldurian vessel … where it all began.

With the approach of an enormous fighting force on the horizon, it’s the last call to battle. Will the decimated Allied worlds reunite one more time? Will Ot-Mul get his vengeance, by taking those most dear to Jason — Mollie, Boomer, Nan and Dira — and using them to rip Jason’s world, his very existence, apart?"

With Call to Battle, it's win or lose for Captain Jason Reynolds and the Allied Forces defending Earth and the galaxy from Ot-Mul's Drac-Vin forces. The Craing on Halimar may have revolutionized and turned away from their previous path of conquest, but Ot-Mul still controls hundreds of thousands of warships in space, and he's not done waging war and seeking to annihilate all other planetary systems in the galaxy. The Great Space initiative is on hold while he deals with the small problem of Captain Reynolds and The Lillly, but they're just flies on his backside. You're going to have to read and find out if Jason can hatch a plan genius enough to take on a warlord with a fleet exponentially greater than his own.

Check out Call To Battle and the rest of the Scrapyard Ship series on Amazon.