Thank you to everyone that stopped by to enter the giveaways last few weeks. Using random.org, the winner of Judith Fertig’s two book giveaway has been selected.
The Cake Therapist and Bake Happy
by Judith Fertig
Winner: Elisabeth
——————————–
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
——————————–
More Wordless Wednesday. © 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Today I have a special feature to celebrate the release of John A. Connell’s debut novel, Ruins of War. This is a historical fiction thriller, a chilling novel of murder and madness in post-World War II Germany.
This week, July 6-10, you have an opportunity to enter to win a signed copy of the audiobook plus a $25.00 Amazon gift card.
About the Book
Ruins of War
by John A. Connell
Genre: Historical Fiction / Thriller
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Publish Date: May 2015
Format: Audiobook | 13½ Hours
Winter 1945. Seven months after the Nazi defeat, Munich is in ruins. Mason Collins—a former Chicago homicide detective, U.S. soldier, and prisoner of war—is now a U.S. Army criminal investigator in the American Zone of Occupation. It’s his job to enforce the law in a place where order has been obliterated. And his job just became much more dangerous.
A killer is stalking the devastated city—one who has knowledge of human anatomy, enacts mysterious rituals with his prey, and seems to pick victims at random. Relying on his wits and instincts, Mason must venture places where his own life is put at risk: from interrogation rooms with unrepentant Nazi war criminals to penetrating the U.S. Army’s own black market.
What Mason doesn’t know is that the killer he’s chasing is stalking him, too . . .
About the Author
John was born in Atlanta, where he earned a BA in Anthropology, and has been a jazz pianist, a stock boy in a brassiere factory, a machinist, repairer of newspaper racks, and a printing-press operator. He is currently a motion picture camera operator by trade and a writer by passion. He lives and writes in Paris, France, where he is currently working on the second book in the Mason Collins series.
Connect with John
Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads | Webpage
Win a signed audiobook and a $25.00 Amazon gift card
Help spread the word about John’s debut book by tweeting this post.
Click on the link below to go to the entry page . . .
Audio Sample on Soundcloud . . .
——————————–
Promotion by JKS Communications
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Welcome to Mailbox Monday, created by Marcia of To Be Continued, a place where readers share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week.
After several years of being on tour with different blogs as the monthly host, the Mailbox Monday Blog is now the permanent home for the meme.
Here’s what arrived last week…
New Arrivals
Trust No One by Paul Cleave from Atria Books.
In the exciting new psychological thriller by the Edgar-nominated author of Joe Victim, a famous crime writer struggles to differentiate between his own reality and the frightening plot lines he’s created for the page.
Audio Downloads
From Simon & Schuster Audio
Finders Keepers by Stephen King
Book 2 in the Bill Hodges Trilogy: A masterful, intensely suspenseful novel about a reader whose obsession with a reclusive writer goes far too far—a book about the power of storytelling, starring the same trio of unlikely and winning heroes King introduced in Mr. Mercedes.
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman
A charming, warmhearted novel about a young girl whose grandmother dies and leaves behind a series of letters, sending her on a journey that brings to life the world of her grandmother’s fairy tales.
——————————–
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
A Rapid Review
The Girl on the Train Paula Hawkins
Publisher: Penguin Audio | January 2015
Format: Audio Download | 11 hours | Rating: 4 stars
Audio Listening Level: Intermediate
Rachel takes the same commuter train every morning. Every day she rattles down the track, flashes past a stretch of cozy suburban homes, and stops at the signal that allows her to daily watch the same couple breakfasting on their deck. She’s even started to feel like she knows them. “Jess and Jason,” she calls them. Their life—as she sees it—is perfect. Not unlike the life she recently lost.
And then she sees something shocking . . .
The story is told primarily from the point of view of Rachel, but we also get alternating points of view from Anna and Megan, the two women whose lives intersect with Rachel’s. All three are unreliable narrators and often unlikable—not the kind of group I’d pick for friends, but interesting to watch from the distance.
Rachel is the most troubled and flawed with a broken marriage and alcoholism resulting in frequent blackouts and boughts of bad behavior. And while some of what she thinks may really be happening, we are never sure when her point of view is fantasy or reality. Pieces of the puzzle slowly come together while at the same time the plot zips along with each new piece of information.
I’m a big fan of psychological thrillers and found this to be a worthy addition to the genre. While at times predictable, there were enough plot spins to make this a compelling read.
Audio production
The narration was performed by Clare Corbett, Louise Brealey, and India Fisher, each providing a distinct voice and personality to one of the three women making it easy for the listener to stay focused.
Audio Sample
[Audio Sample on SoundCloud.]
——————————–
Source: Review copy provided by the publisher.
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Thank you to everyone that stopped by to enter the giveaways last few weeks.
Winners have been selected and have been notified by email.
The Bones of You
by Debbie Howells
Winner: Kay @ Kay’s Reading Life
——————————–
Summer Secrets Beach Bag Giveaway
by Jane Green
Winner: Pat @ Posting For Now
——————————–
© 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Almost wordless: Yesterday morning I looked out the window and saw a juvenile cardinal hopping across the driveway. Before I could get a good look at him, he hopped into the shrubs, his daddy following close behind. Last year their spring nests were parasitized by brown-headed cowbirds, a species that reproduces by laying eggs in other birds’ nests, so I was thrilled to see this little guy so early in the breeding season.
——————————–
More Wordless Wednesday. © 2015 Under My Apple Tree. All rights reserved.
Advertisements appearing on this site are placed by WordPress and are not endorsed or approved by me.
Under My Apple Tree 