Between the Pages Book Chats: Jeff Bacon

 In the coming weeks, I'll be posting selected interviews from my podcast here on the blog. Enjoy.

Here's a chat with fantasy author Jeff Bacon about his series, The Darkside of Good.

Book Spotlight: Death is for the Living

Today I bring you all a new book spotlight on the vampire fantasy novel, Death is for the Living by J C Steel. Enjoy.

Death is for the Living by J C Steel

...when ‘here be monsters’ doesn’t only mark the unknown.

By day, Cristina Batista is a deck girl on a Caribbean charter yacht, with all the sun, smiles, and steel drum music that entails. By night, she and her crew hunt the monsters that prey in the dark: the powerful vampire clans of the New World.
Unfortunately, Cristina’s past is hunting her in turn - and it’s catching up. Without her partner, sometime pirate, sometime lordling, and ex-vampire, Jean Vignaud, Cristina wouldn’t simply be dead. She’d be something she fears far more.
Cristina and Jean are experienced, motivated, and resourceful. One faction wants them despite it. The other wants them because of it.

Death is for the Living is available at:

Amazon

Smashwords

iBooks

Barnes and Noble

Kobo

Author Bio

J C Steel was born in Gibraltar and raised on a yacht around the coasts of the Atlantic, and is an author, intermittent martial artist, and introvert. In between the necessary making of money to allow the writing of more books, J C  can usually be found stowing away on a spaceship, halfway to the next galaxy.

J C writes sci-fi and UF adventure set on planets and in places parked just a little off-parallel to this one. Most of the characters have been broken at least once and got back up to eviscerate someone with the broken edges. The books aren't written to Grade 6 level, none of the characters could find PC with a GPS, and reviews divide evenly between "but it was so complicated!" and "Awesome!"

Book Review: Shields in Shadow

Today I have a book review of the new military fantasy, Shields in Shadow (The Silent Champions #1) by Andy Peloquin. Enjoy.

A Review of Shields in Shadow (The Silent Champions #1)

Shields in Shadow is a well-crafted military fantasy that does not disappoint.

The book begins with a big action-packed battle scene which sets up the Roman-style legion army, their enemies and the tone of the book. One of the battle survivors, Aravon, is recruited into a covert ops company and the story evolves from there.

I loved this novel. The pacing is more deliberate and slower than some of the author’s previous novels, but it works well for this book as it builds layers onto itself which pay off in the later chapters.

The characters are top notch with their development happening with a nice subtle touch which I appreciated. Their interaction is believable, and the trust of their team gradual and solidly written.

I was also impressed with the battle scenes as they are well crafted as to strategy and accuracy in regard to their real-world counterparts. You still have some fantasy elements, but nothing distracting or eye-rolling and grounded in realism. I especially liked the special armour colours and the nod to the different types of metals and weaponry. The superior quality of some of the blades reminded me of the legendary Damascus steel.

Overall, I give the book first rate marks and highly recommend it.

You can find the book on:

Amazon

Amazon Canada

Goodreads

Shields in Shadow (The Silent Champions #1)

Burdened with legend. Hardened by battle scars. Hellbent on bloody revenge. As the son of a famous general, Aravon is proud to captain his own company against his people's enemy. But the experienced veteran’s march toward glory dissolves into pain as ruthless barbarians massacre every last one of his soldiers. Burning for vengeance, he leaps at the chance to spearhead a specially-trained company and pay back his tragic defeat with blood. Desperate to not repeat his tragic past, Aravon trains his new warriors relentlessly. But the captain fears that all the tactical drills in the world may not matter when they’re forced to defend a helpless village against overwhelming odds. As his quick raids sow chaos amongst the enemy, the bloodthirsty savages threaten to make Aravon's nightmarish history repeat itself… Can the captain take command of his fighting spirit before the kingdom falls to barbarous invaders?