First off, shout out to all the book bloggers/book reviewers/book lovers out there who give up their time and website space to help us authors out. YOU GUYS ROCK!

I've been fortunate to have several let me blabber on in interviews and I try (really, I do!) to repay them by being entertaining. Of course, my success in that arena partly depends on the questions I get asked, and in this latest one from Dab of Darkness, I got asked some doozies! Seriously, these were real thinkers that had me pondering my answers for quite some time.

So, if you you want to know a little more about me and my books, head on over to Dab of Darkness and check out my interview.

You've read Serengeti, you've read Dark and Stars, and now you're wondering: Will there be another? Do I get to spend more time with these characters? Well, I'm happy to say the answer is...

I recently signed another book in the Serengeti series with Severed Press. A prequel this time, set before the original ​Serengeti, so I guess it'll be Serengeti 0.5 not Serengeti Book 3. Release is scheduled for late June/early July--I hope to have cover art and a firm publication date to share soon. In the meantime, how about a little back cover copy to whet your appetite? Yeah? Sound good? Okay....GO!

Black Ops—the intelligence arm of the Meridian Alliance Fleet. Black Ops came calling with an offer Henricksen couldn’t refuse: a ship—an entire squadron of ships, actually—and crew to command. A chance to get back to the stars.

Too bad he didn’t ask more questions before accepting the assignment. Too bad no one told him just how hinky this particular skunkworks project was.

​They call the ship the RV-N: Reconnaissance Vessel - Non-combat, Raven for short. A stealth ship—fast, and maneuverable, and brutal as hell. On the surface, Henricksen's assignment seems simple: train his crew, run the RV-Ns through their paces, get the ships certified for mission operations and job done. But an accident in training reveals a fatal design flaw in the Raven, and when an undercover operative steals classified information from a Black Ops facility, the Fleet Brass cancels the tests completely, rushing the faulty ships and their half-trained crew into live operations. On a mission to recover the Fleet’s lost secrets.

Out of time and out of options, Henricksen has no choice but to launch his squadron. But a ghost from his past makes him question everything—the ships, their AI, the entirety of this mission, right down to the secrets he and his crew are supposed to recover.

​Now, about that story arc...

The plot itself is multi-faceted and twisting with revelations--YOU SEE WHAT I DID THERE?!--galore. And yet, there were places where hugely important and interesting events were skipped over and just summarized after the fact--like the whole Spindrift event. I found myself wanting to 'see' these, not just be told about them in a few paragraphs. I also wanted more of Captain Brannigan--to me, the most interesting sub-plot and character of the book--and who and what he was prior to this book. How he came to be what his. If there isn't already a book on this, there should be. I'd read the hell out of it.

Other impressions:

I liked this take on AI, with limited machine AI in favor of large-scale investment in human physiology manipulation. Human brain AI, if there's such a thing, and data recordings--human reproductions of mental capacity, experience, personality. Basically, build a better human instead of a better machine, though that does tend to blur on the lines on what is truly human...

Oh, and the twelve-year-old in me kept giggling at references to 'Stoner society' and 'reefersleep'. Made me think of Cheech and Chong meets Bill and Ted or something.

So, do I recommend it? Yes. But only if you like a heavy, sciency read that's light-ish on action. This is not an easy read (at least, it wasn't for me) and therefore not for the faint of heart but it's well researched, well thought out and impeccably executed. Also well-written. I gave it three stars more because of personal taste--I would have liked more character development and action, and some leaning down of events and chapters that didn't really move the main plot forward--than because there is anything fundamentally wrong about the book or it's writing. So, if you like a heavy science read, perish the 4 and 5 star reviews--they won't lead you wrong. 

Recently I managed to con...err, I mean work my way into a side gig writing movie reviews for Sci-Fi And Scary, with an emphasis on bad movies. As in, movies so bad they're actually good... in a Mystery Science Theater kind of way. For my first installment, I focused on Lake Placid , but this last round, I went for a classic: Flash Gordon. Haven't seen it? You're missing out. This movie is so 1980s. So glitzy and over the top--a tour de force of daring do and cheese.

​I love it. I honestly do. And once you read this review, I hope you will to. So, head on over to Sci-Fi And Scary and check it out. Just click on the little picture below and it'll take you right to the post. Oh! And if you have suggestions for my next bad movie review, drop them in the comments. I've got a few ideas, but I'm always open to reader requests.