The movie adaptation of ‘Wonder’ by R.J. Palacio is now in theaters.
R.J. Palacio is an American author, art director and book jacket designer. Her previous works include “Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories” and “365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Book of Precepts.” She is best known for “Wonder,” her first novel and The New York Times best-seller about Auggie Pullman, an ordinary boy with an extraordinary face. The feature film adaptation is now in theaters everywhere and stars Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson and Jacob Tremblay.
According to Amazon, “Wonder” tells the story of August Pullman who was born with a facial difference that has always prevented him from going to a mainstream school. Now he is starting the fifth grade at Beecher Prep and he wants nothing more than to be treated like an ordinary kid, but his classmates can not get past his looks. The narration begins from Auggie’s point of view and then switches to his classmates, his sister, her boyfriend and others. This serves to highlight one community’s struggle with empathy, compassion and acceptance. Friendship is the central theme with Auggie as the hero many will root for as he proves that people can not blend in when they were born to stand out. This book inspired the Choose Kind movement.
The movie adaption of ‘The Snowman’ by Jo Nesbo will be out in theaters on Friday October 20.
Jo Nesbø is a Norwegian writer, musician, former economist and reporter. His books have sold more than 3 million copies in Norway and his work has been translated into over 40 languages and have sold 30 million copies worldwide. He has written several stand-alone novels and the Doctor Proctor series of children’s books but he is best known for his crime novels about Inspector Harry Hole. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Glass Key for best Nordic crime novel. “The Snowman” is the seventh book in the Harry Hole series and the movie adaptation will be released in theaters on Friday October 20, 2017. It stars J.K. Simmons, Val Kilmer, Rebecca Ferguson and Michael Fassbender as Detective Harry Hole.
According to Amazon, in “The Snowman,” Inspector Harry Hole tracks a Norwegian serial killer in a case that will test him to the very limits of his sanity. Harry is a brilliant and driven detective with the Oslo Crime Squad. His methods are unorthodox methods and that has made him a loose cannon in the police force. This case involves the murder of a woman whose son wakes up one day and discovers that she has disappeared. The only thing left behind is the pink scarf that he gave her as a Christmas present and the snowman that mysteriously appeared in their front yard is now wearing it. As Harry investigates, he uncovers a pattern over the past decade where eleven women have vanished all on the day of the first snow. All killed by someone who makes his own rules and is willing to break his pattern just to keep things interesting.
‘Into a Dark Frontier’ is the exciting new novel by John Mangan.
Lt. Col. John Mangan is a decorated combat rescue pilot, novelist and coffeehouse poet. He has deployed to the Middle East eight times and has commanded the 33rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron in Kandahar, Afghanistan. His actions in combat have been documented in the books “Not a Good Day to Die,” “None Braver” and “Zero Six Bravo.” He has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor twice, The Air Medal twelve times, and the 2009 Cheney Award. Now retired from the military, he has written his first novel “Into a Dark Frontier” about an ex-Navy SEAL named Slade Crawford.
The story takes place in the near future as Africa has collapsed into a failed state that is lawless and severely depopulated. It is now the playground for the outcast, the desperate, the criminal and the insane. The protagonist is Slade Crawford, who was falsely accused of terrorism, imprisoned and tortured. His personal life also took a beating when his son died in an accident and his marriage fell apart. At break neck speed, the action begins as he is fleeing for his life hoping to start a new life. He has been hired by the Judeans, a fundamentalist Christian community fleeing America to resettle in Africa to live and worship as they please. He is to ride with them to Africa, train them and escort them to their new settlement. Things do not go as planned when he crosses paths with an American colonel, Gary Kraven, who blackmails him into tracking down a blood cult that is ravaging its way across the sub-Sahara. The closer he gets to the cult, he more he learns about a global struggle that will change history forever.
“Into a Dark Frontier” by John Mangan is an action-packed page turner that pulls the reader in from the first chapter to the last. The characters are multi-dimensional with their own backstories and goals. Even the Judean community has its heroes and villains. Slade is the typical anti-hero who is deeply flawed and haunted by his past. Even though he seldom does the right thing he always does what he must do to get the job done. The action is fast paced, typically seen in the Dan Brown novels, and the details in the action sequences and military descriptions are believable and authentic without getting too technical. There are some darks and grisly scenes when the Judeans get captured and killed but it goes with the territory. With the introduction of Slade Crawford, readers now have a new action hero and hopefully there will be more adventures in the future. It is a must-read and recommended for fans of the black-ops genre and international spy novels.
*A copy of this book was given for an honest review. The opinions expressed in this article are solely the author’s.
‘Sleeping Beauties: A Novel’ is the new release from the father and son collaboration team of Stephen King and Owen King.
Now on sale is the new Stephen King book co-written with his son author Owen King. Owen King is the author of the novel “Double Feature” and “We’re All in This Together: A Novella and Stories.” He is the coauthor of “Intro to Alien Invasion” and the coeditor of “Who Can Save Us Now? Brand-New Superheroes and Their Amazing (Short) Stories.” In “Sleeping Beauties: A Novel,” they tell the highest of high stakes stories of what might happen if women disappeared from the world of men.
According to Wikipedia, “Sleeping Beauties” revolves around Clint and Lila Norcross, a husband and wife who live in Dooling, West Virginia. It is a small Appalachian town where Clint works as a psychiatrist at the local women’s prison and Lila is the town sheriff. There is a strange epidemic going around town that causes women to fall into a deep sleep and become shrouded in a cocoon-like gauze. While asleep, they go to another place, a better place, where harmony prevails and conflict is rare. If anyone tries to awaken them or open the cocoon, the women become violent and homicidal. One woman called “Eve Black” is immune to this sleeping disease. Some call her a medical anomaly to be studied while others consider her a demon to be slain. With the men suddenly on their own, they divide into warring factors and turn to violence in an all-male society.
Stephen King is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, science fiction and fantasy. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and many of them have been adapted into feature films, miniseries, television shows and comic books. He is best known for “Carrie,” “It,” “The Green Mile” and the Dark Tower series.
‘Crime Scene’ is the new release by father and son writing team Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman
Jonathan Kellerman is a clinical psychologist and the best-selling author of psychological suspense novels. He has written more than thirty best-selling novels but he is best known for the Alex Delaware detective series. Since has worked extensively in the psychology field, his nonfiction writings include “Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children” as well as medical texts, essays and scientific articles. His newest novel “Crime Scene” was co-written with his son Jesse Kellerman. Jesse Kellerman is an American novelist and playwright whose past novels include “Sunstroke,” “Trouble” and “The Golem of Hollywood,” co-written with his father.
According to Amazon, in “Crime Scene,” a former star athlete turned deputy coroner is drawn into a brutal and complicated murder. Clay Edison’s job is to determine whether someone’s death was natural causes or homicide. He does not get involved in investigations until one case proves more than meets the eye. When Walter Rennert is found dead at home everyone thinks it was an accident but wen his daughter Tatiana insists that he was murdered, Clay takes a closer look at his death. What he finds is a history of scandal and violence and an experiment gone horribly wrong. The closer he gets to the truth, the closer he gets to Tatiana and it all leads him into the darkest corners of the human soul.
‘The Late Show’ by Michael Connelly holds the top stop on The New York Times best seller list. Photo: amazon
New to the best seller list on The New York Times is “The Late Show” by Michael Connelly. It was released this month and it holds the number one spot on the list. Michael Connelly is the author of detective novels and other crime fiction, the most popular being the ones featuring LAPD Detective Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch and criminal defense attorney Mickey Haller. With “The Late Show” he introduces Renee Ballard, a young detective fighting to prove herself on the LAPD’s toughest beat.
According to Amazon, in “The Late Show,” Renee Ballard works the night shift in Hollywood, also known as the Late Show. She was once an up-and-coming detective but she was given this shift as punishment for filing a sexual harassment complaint against a supervisor. Now, she begins many investigations but does not finish them because each morning she turns everything over to the day shift. One night she gets two assignments that she does not want to hand off: the brutal beating of a prostitute left for dead in a parking lot and the killing of a young woman in a nightclub shooting. Determined not to let go of the cases, she works both by day while maintaining her shift by night. The deeper she delves into the investigation, the closer they pull her to her own demons.
Michael Connelly is the best-selling author of twenty-eight novels and one work of fiction. He has sold over sixty million copies of his books worldwide and they have been translated into thirty-nine foreign languages. Before turning to writing, he was a newspaper reporter who worked the crime beat at the Los Angeles Times and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. His first book, “The Black Echo” won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. Movie adaptations of his novels include “Blood Work” starring Clint Eastwood and “The Lincoln Lawyer” starring Matthew McConaughey. The series of books featuring Harry Bosch is now an Amazon Studios drama series starring Titus Wellliver and is streaming on Amazon Prime.
‘Camino Island’ is the new release by best-selling author John Grisham. Photo: Barnes & Noble
John Grisham is an American author, attorney, politician and activist best known for his best-selling legal thrillers. He has written short stories, non-fiction books and stand-alone novels that have been published worldwide in more than 42 languages. His past works include “The Firm,” “A Time to Kill” and “The Client” which have been adapted into popular feature films. “Camino Island,” his most recent novel, was released this month and tells the story of a young woman who goes undercover in the literary world.
According to Amazon, in “Camino Island,” a gang of thieves break into a secure vault below Princeton University’s Firestone Library. They manage to escape with an extensive loot that has been insured for twenty-five million dollars. Bruce Cable lives in the sleepy resort town of Santa Rosa on Camino Island in Florida. He owns the local bookstore but makes most of his money in the black market dealing in stolen books and manuscripts. Mercer Mann, a young novelist, is hired by an elegant, mysterious woman to go undercover and infiltrate Bruce Cable’s circle of literary friends to get close to him and learn his secrets. Everything goes according to plan until Mercer gets too close and learns too much.
The movie adaptation of ‘Everything, Everything’ by Nicola Yoon opens in theaters on Friday May 19. Photo: Barnes & Noble
Nicola Yoon is The New York Times best-selling author of “Everything, Everything” and “The Sun is Also a Star,” a Michael L Printz Honor book and a National Book Award finalist. “Everything, Everything” is her debut novel for young adults and the movie adaptation will open in theaters on Friday May 19, 2017. It stars Amanda Stenberg as Maddy and Nick Robinson as Olly and is the story of 17-year-old Madeline Whittier, who has “bubble baby disease.”
According to Wikipedia, in “Everything, Everything,” Madeline is a girl who suffers from severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and cannot leave her house or interact with anyone who has not been “sanitized.” The only people she interacts with are her mother and Carla, the nurse who takes care of her. After a new family moves in next door, she meets and befriends their son Olly. They decide to go to Hawaii together because Maddy claims it was the last place she believes she had a ‘normal’ family. Once there she ends up getting sick and is taken to the hospital after which her mother shows up and takes her back home. Eventually, the truth comes out that her mother lied about her being sick because after her father and brother died, Maddy became seriously ill and she was afraid of losing her too. Olly, his mother and sister move out but he and Maddy reunite in New York.
This Friday May 19 Hotel Emma is hosting a book signing with Chef Ben Ford at Curio. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
This Friday May 19 Hotel Emma at the Pearl is hosting a book signing with Chef Ben Ford. The community is invited to join Chef Ben Ford for a special book signing at Curio, the gift shop at Hotel Emma from 5:30p.m. to 6:30p.m. This event is free and open to the public and there is no need to RSVP. He will be there to sign copies of his first cookbook: “Taming the Feast: Ben Ford’s Field Guide to Adventurous Cooking” and guests will be able to enjoy some bites, a glass of wine and get to meet the chef and author. Guests may bring their own copy of the book or purchase one on site. (Hotel Emma, 2017)
Chef Ben Ford is known for wowing crowds with his over the top handcrafted feasts and now with “Taming the Feast” he presents a field guide to adventurous cooking. He gives step by step instructions with photos and illustrations so anyone can grill, smoke or roast outdoors or a smaller version of the feast in their own kitchens. Along with recipes, artisanal techniques and gorgeous photography, Chef Ford shares stories of growing up with his father Harrison Ford, then a carpenter, and his life as a chef at some of California’s best restaurants.
Hotel Emma
136 E Grayson
San Antonio, TX 78215
(210) 448-8300
‘Golden Prey’ is the new Davenport novel by John Sandford. Photo: Barnes & Noble
John Sandford is the pseudonym for John Roswell Camp, a former journalist turned best-selling author of thriller novels, short stories and non-fiction books. His first two novels of the Kidd series were written under his real name but when he started the Prey series he published under John Sandford. He has written the Prey series, the Kidd series, the Virgil Flowers series and the Singular Menace series but the Prey series has proved the most popular. It features Lucas Davenport, a former detective with the Minneapolis Police Department who is known for his unorthodox and manipulative behavior as a detective. Throughout the series, he has also worked as a Deputy Chief, an investigator for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and later as a United States Marshall. The twenty-seventh Prey novel, “Golden Prey,” was released this month and Lucas Davenport is back in his first case as a U.S. Marshall which sends him into uncharted territory.
According to Amazon, in “Golden Prey” Davenport ends up in Biloxi, Mississippi where a drug cartel counting house has been robbed and suitcases full of cash have disappeared. Five bodies are left behind including one of a six-year-old girl and the case quickly spirals out of control. Things go from bad to worse as cartel assassins, including a torturer known as the “Queen of home-improvement tools” and Davenport get caught up in a race to find the Dixie Hicks shooters who hit the counting house. They do not care who Davenport is so he must solve the case before he ends up another victim of the cartel and the men who held up the counting house.
SA Examiner 