Jordanna East

Book Review: Blood In The Paint by Jordanna East

Peter Germany Book Review, Books, Reading , , ,

At the end of last week I received an Advanced Review Copy of Blood In The Paint by Jordanna East.

The story centres around three characters, Dr. Gillian Atford, who is a successful psychologist who has had a few issues in her past. Lyla Kyle, an artist who moonlights as a punisher of men who cheat on their wives and Jason Brighthouse, a police officer who is desperate to become a detective just like his late father.

All three of them have traumatic pasts and all three of them find that their lives spiral together by their actions.

 

I’ve been waiting for this novel since I read it’s prequel, Blood In The Past (https://petergermany.com/2013/07/24/book-review-blood-in-the-past-by-jordanna-east/)

Now you don’t have to read the prequel novella before reading Blood In The Paint but I would recommend it, As I read Blood In The Paint I did have some moments when I said ‘Oh Sh*T!’ because I recognised something from the prequel.

Blood In The Paint is a thoroughly enjoyable read. I knocked this novel out in five days or so, I would have read it quicker but I’m a slow reader and I needed sleep. As I read through the pages I was getting more and more sucked into it, each page demanded that I turn it and when I got to the end of a chapter I couldn’t scroll the screen down quick enough to continue with the story.

The characters have a strong depth to them which is clear from the start of the novel but as you progress through it that depth is revelled and fleshed out even more. Jordanna East is not afraid to push her characters and she was able to pull me into it to the point where, despite my manliness (LMAO!), I got chocked up near the end of the novel. It takes a lot to get that sort of reaction out of me when I’m reading a book so that did impress me.

The whole book did that though, impress me. The  characters were good, as I’ve said. the storyline was very interesting and fascinated me the more that I read of it. The detail that was included did not feel like it was being rammed down my throat or was out of my ability to comprehend it. It was written in a way that made it very easy to understand.

I liked the fact there’s no fat in it at all. Sometimes a novel will have a lot of fluff to pad them out but this one didn’t, I can’t recall any parts where I was bored by or found the content useless.

In full disclosure I will say that I’ve gotten to know Jordanna a little through blogging and social media, but I don’t want anyone thinking that I’m not giving an honest review here. I’m not someone who will just say its great for the sake of it, because if it isn’t then I look stupid. So when I say that this is an incredible good novel, it is, in my opinion, an incredible good novel. In my review for Blood In The Past I said that it was better written then some bestsellers that I have read, and I found Blood In The Paint to match the quality of it prequel novella. Jordanna East is a very talented writer and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

 

Blood In The Paint is available from Monday the 31st of March 2014 and despite having already read it, I will be buying myself a copy come Monday.

Her prequel novella, Blood In The Past, is already available for purchase, here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Past-Prelude-Novella-Series/dp/0989581012/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395867990&sr=8-1&keywords=jordanna+east

And Jordanna’s website is: http://jordannaeast.com/

Please feel free to pop over and say Hi and please check out her fiction, because it is really good 🙂

The Reading List

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Although I am not setting myself targets or making any grand plans for this year one thing I am aiming a little more attention to is reading. I felt last year I didn’t make enough time to read and this is something that I need to change. one piece of advice that I’ve heard successful writers give is that to write we need to read.

I have just finished Shadows of the Realm by Dionne Lister and I have just started Embedded by Dan Abnett. Shadows of the Realm has been on my Kindle App for a couple of months and I really enjoyed it. I’ll admit that I was not sure how I would do with it as I’m not a huge fan of fantasy but if I’m honest I’ve never really tried to read a fantasy novel. I’m glad I did read Shadows of the Realm as it is not only very well written but it is also one of those stories that gets more and ore addictive as you read it. After I finished it I went straight over to Amazon and downloaded the second book in the series. I’m holding off reading it though until the third is out and I’ll read them back-to-back when the time comes.

Tracie got me Embedded for Christmas but it’s been one that I’ve wanted to read for some time. I’m only thirty or so pages into it but already I’m at the point of eagerly turning the pages to see what happens.

This year there are a lot of books I want to read. Scott Sigler has Pandemic and The Champion out, as well as a number of novellas and short stories in various anthologies. Christopher Stocking has The Rotten Apple out and Jordanna East has Blood in the Paint out soon as well. Justin Macumber will also hopefully be releasing a couple more novels this year.

Then there are the novels on my iPad and book shelve I want to read this year. Doing a quick count I can see twenty three on my shelf and twenty eight on my Kindle App. Damn that’s a lot of books, and I know I’ll buy more during the year. Of course I’m not expecting to read all of these this year, my Goodreads goal is thirty five books. That is the same as last year but I didn’t hit it… hopefully I will this year.

Here are the website links to the authors I mentioned:

http://danabnett.com/

http://scottsigler.com/

http://jordannaeast.com/

http://dionnelisterwriter.com/

http://mentalsweatshop.wordpress.com/

Get Sh*t Done Month

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August is my get sh*t done month. I’m aiming to get the 1st draft of Project Apollo done and off to Owen and I want to have a short story, that’s all but done, ready to be sent off to the sci-fi magazines.

How easy is this going to be to achieve? That depends on a couple of things. The day job is a big one. This time of year my day job (valeter at a car sales) is quite demanding on the body. This glorious summer we are having here in the U.K. is awesome but it does sap ones energy when working a physically demanding job and at the moment we are busy. Which is absolutely great but it takes more of the body’s strength. Yesterday was a prime example, although not to warm I had a lot to do so come the evening when I got home I just could not get going with the words. So I got an early night and despite a few non-work related hiccups today I’ve got home and knocked out over 1100 words tonight *does a little dance* That’s the most words I have written in one day for a long time, and it feels good 😀

I’d also like to get back into a bit of reading this month as well. The last two books I have read have been amazing (Redshirts by John Scalzi & Blood In The Past by Jordanna East) so I was more then a little anxious at the prospect of starting a new novel. So I read more of Judge Dredd Vol. 1 but now its time to dive into a novel again and I’ve chosen The Drawing Of The Three (The Dark Tower Book 2) by Stephen King.

So that’s the plan, lets see how much of it I actually get done!

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Book Review: Blood In The Past by Jordanna East

Peter Germany Art, Book Review, Books, Reading, Writing , , ,

I’m just posting a quick book review here tonight as I want to get stuck into a bit more writing tonight.

 

Blood In The Past by Jordanna East  is a prelude novella which tells the story of three people who’s lives cross over during times of personal suffering. Jillian falls for a married man. Lyla finds her mother dead and a young man has to deal with the loss of his father.

I couldn’t put this novella down. The story sucked me into it to the point where I was staying up late to read more of it. The characters have a lot of layers to them and I found that I could understand their pain and why they were doing what they were.

The story is well tied together and never feels rushed which I liked because each character had a good amount of time for me to get to know them. Sometimes in shorter pieces I’ve found that characters or the story do not get the attention that they deserve. Here that is not the case. The level of detail is very good as well. Jordanna East must have done a lot of research for this novella and she lays it onto the page in a way that comes through as very convincing. I learnt a fair bit from it.

As for the actual writing it is incredibly well written. If I had not of known I would never have guessed this is Jordanna East’s debut. I’ll go as far to say its better written then some bestsellers I have read. Her way with words is pure beauty.

I cannot wait for more of Ms. East’s work to be released.

 

Please consider clicking on the link to Jordanna East’s blog below. There she writes some interesting posts and she also has a link to purchase the novella if you like the look of it (in the U.K. it’s less then £2)

 

http://jordannaeast.com/

Book Covers

Peter Germany Art, Books, Sci-Fi, Writing , , , , , ,

I was having a conversation with Jordanna East the other day about book covers, Here’s the link to her post: http://jordannaeast.com/2013/03/18/jerks-irks-xxxiv-why-i-wont-read-your-book/

In the post Jordanna ran through a few of the reasons that would stop her buying a book and one of them was various covers. I commented that I find it very off-putting when I see a photograph of a person on a book cover. Photographs in general can put me off a little but a picture of a person in particular can put me off (Although I am tempted to use a photo for mine, but that will be a last resort)

Why do I not like photographs on book covers? I think it’s because a book is a world of words which the reader makes come alive and having a photograph of a real person can take away some of that pleasure for the reader. It does also feel like a cheat (this is the reason why I don’t think I will ever put a photo on a cover). If a book cover looks cheap and nasty then does that mean the book is as well? And what can we tell from a picture? I brought Joe Haldeman’s Peace and War (This is three of Mr.Haldeman’s books in one volume, The Forever War, Forever Free and Forever Peace) on the strength of the cover (okay the cover did not actually reflect much of the content but it was a good hook and at the core of it did match the glum feel in parts of the book) But the cover showed a barren wasteland with futuristic assault rifle with its muzzle buried in the ground with a space helmet on top of it, almost like a grave marker. It intrigued me though, enough that I picked the book off the shelf and loved the look of the blurb.

A book is an escape, a world that is either not real or one that we do not know.  For me seeing a photograph on a book makes it too real. Also there is an art form here. The L.Ron Hubbard Writers And Illustrators Of The Future is a contest aimed at both writers and illustrators. (http://www.writersofthefuture.com/) This is a place where skilful new writers and illustrators are brought together to work towards bringing their skills to the world.

I know other people feel the same about photos as covers for books, and I’m not hating on photographs here, a friend of mine is a model and the stuff she does is amazing, but I like to see artwork on a cover. Something that is created on paper, or digitally.

 

Okay I have rambled enough for one night. Dont be shy, feel free to comment and let’s have a discussion 🙂