Coming Soon: Ghosts of Rosewood Asylum, by Stephen Prosapio

Last year, I reviewed a far-from-soporific pre-Inception tale of somnambulant adventures, Stephen Prosapio’s novel Dream War.  I’ve recently been notified that science fiction writer Prosapio is coming out with a new book in mid-June.  Here’s what he says about the soon-to-be published novel:

 It’s more along the lines of a Paranormal Suspense. My one sentence pitch is:  Forced to work with a rival TV ghost hunting show, a paranormal researcher—who is himself possessed—investigates a 19th century asylum and uncovers as many dangerous secrets as he does spirits.

In what seems to be a continuing pattern of copycatting my work, Hollywood is coming out with a slew of paranormal movies this summer…including one of a TV ghost hunter who’s investigating a closed insane asylum.

In what seems to be another continuing pattern of book publishing trends, here’s the book trailer for Rosewood:

Review forthcoming.

Verdict? SEAMS 16: A New Home, by Eric B. Thomasma

Author Eric B. Thomasma wrote his debut novel in and out of waiting rooms.  He writes as a preface to the Kindle version of the book:

My father was battling cancer at the time and I took him to all of his appointments.  Writing became a means of escaping the depressing circumstances and helped me maintain a positive attitude toward the treatments.  Sadly, my Dad lost his battle before I finished the story, so he was never able to read it, but I like to think he would approve.

With that said, SEAMS16: A New Home is a SF mystery strong enough to stand on its own without preface–Thomasma writes with clear, clean prose and solid storytelling.  His protagonists undergo realistic changes as the novel’s stream of events begins to flow (Charlie from a hopelessly innocent student to a leader in the face of… well, corporate and extraterrestrial danger).

And while Charlie Samplin’s our hero, Thomasma crafts an equally compelling heroine in Susan Samplin, the space station technician’s sharp-witted wife.  If the cover art gives the perception that Susan’s a fragile little woman clinging for safety to her brawny husband, you’re being misled.  One of my greatest pet peeves about science fiction and fantasy is how poorly authors fashion leading ladies: so often they’re either non-existent, or implausibly two-dimensional.  But Susan Samplin can hold her own.

Reading Time: From a college student at the start of a busy new semester, two weeks.

Recommendation: Science fiction has gone mainstream–at least on television.  In the recent past and present we’ve had LOST, Fringe, The Cape, FlashForward, The Event, and V, just to name shows on the major networks.  The best way I can think to describe SEAMS16 is just that: mainstream.  Readers need not fear complicated jargon or subgenre in-jokes (as fun as those can be sometimes).  With stories of space travel, aliens, and creepy corporate entities so popular these days, any one who can read can read this book.

SEAMS16: A New Home is available as an ebook from Amazon for $0.99

Now Reading: The Lancaster Rule, by T.K. Toppin

Meanwhile, back on the blog…

As I finish up reviewing SEAMS16: A New Home, I’ll be starting T.K. Toppin’s SF suspense novel The Lancaster Rule.  I am preparing, quite naturally, by reading Richard III.  By the book description, after all, we can easily tell that Toppin is a Yorkist:

Lady Anne Neville?

The world loathes Josie Bettencourt’s kind– pod-survivors from the past. When death is certain, an ex-military and friend to the pod-hunters, saves her life. Unfortunately, she is soon arrested and taken straight to the Citadel, the heart of the Lancaster regime where they have ruled tyrannically for over fifty years. Now, young John is in power, hoping to make a change, to erase the wars, famines and unimaginable terror.

When Josie meets the frighteningly powerful John Lancaster, she has to ask, is he really the so-called tyrants’ spawn? She soon discovers who the true tyrants are by unraveling a deadly plot to take over the world.  And she realizes that her life in this new future are indelibly linked to the one she left behind.

Okay, so maybe that doesn’t sound like 15th-century England… at all.  And at $6.00 on Amazon, the price seems a little hefty for most indie SF.  But I’ll let you know if it’s worth it, right here, on the Scattering.