Mr. 100% by Lance Morcan – book review and giveaway

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book Mr. 100% by Lance Morcan to review. You may find out more about the author on his website.

Here is the book blurb.

New York defense lawyer Madison Harley only takes on clients he believes innocent. He’s known as ‘Mr. 100%’ because he has never lost a case, and consequently he is Public Enemy No. 1 in the eyes of the NYPD, the District Attorney’s Office and the media.

The bad press has taken a toll on his personal life. His wife has moved out, taking their two young sons with her and instigating divorce proceedings. When his latest client confides that he is guilty of the horrific rape-murder he’s accused of, a depressed and guilt-wracked Harley hires a contract killer to terminate him after the jury delivers a Not Guilty verdict.

It’s 1987 and groundbreaking developments in the field of forensic science sees DNA profiling used for the first time in criminal investigations in America. The release of DNA test results causes Harley to rescind his order to carry out the hit on his client. Unfortunately for him, the killer doesn’t change direction once a ‘kill’ order has been placed.

The nightmare scenario that follows sees Mr. 100% negotiating with the Mafia for his client’s life, his own life and the lives of his estranged family, stalking a contract killer and acting as a minder for a client who it appears really is innocent and who is oblivious to the mayhem unfolding around him.

Throughout it all, Harley is sustained by the affections of a new woman in his life – a prosecutor with the DA’s Office no less.

This is a short story of just 85 pages, so I read it very quickly. I am surprised at how much of the story has been revealed in the blurb, so there is not too much more that I can add.

The story set in 1987 begins 2 days after Harley, a defence lawyer successfully achieved a ‘Not Guilty’ verdict for the rape and murder charges against his client Hughes. Harley currently only represents clients that he believes innocent so was shocked when Hughes then thanked him for helping him get away with the perfect crime. So devastated that he was contemplating suicide.

But then he comes up with a better idea. Why not right a wrong by hiring a contract killer to take out Hughes. The blurb already reveals some of what follows and I’m certainly not going to give away more.

A good short story. Mr. 100% is available on Amazon, currently priced at £1.99 in Kindle format and the story also features in Lance’s 5 Short Story Gems compendium which I mentioned in my review of Once Were Brothers.

I’ve now read 8 of Lance’s titles, but my favourite remains Silent Fear which he wrote jointly with his son James.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a kindle copy of Mr 100% to one lucky winner. Open worldwide.
Plus you don’t even need to own a kindle to read this, as you can download the kindle app free to your phone or tablet.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear about your favourite read.

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Shared to The Monthly Book Blogger Link-Up with Lovely Audiobooks

Once Were Brothers by Lance Morcan – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book Once Were Brothers by Lance Morcan to review. You may find out more about the author on his website.

Here is the book blurb.

The Thomas family’s lives will never be the same again when seven-year-old Daniel Thomas is abducted from the family farm in New Zealand’s Far North by Maoris opposed to the presence of white settlers. Daniel’s father devotes his remaining years to searching for his missing blue-eyed, blond-haired son. Until his death a decade later, he’s assisted in his search by Daniel’s identical twin brother Benjamin. Like his late father, Benjamin believes Daniel is still alive. Twenty years later and now a family man himself with children of his own, Benjamin receives a tip-off that could confirm one way or another whether his brother is alive or dead.

This is a short story of just 60 pages, so ideal during lockdown whilst I’m struggling to concentrate on full-length novels.

This story is set in New Zealand, and starts in 1880. Nathaniel and Ingrid Thomas and their 8 year old identical twin sons Daniel and Benjamin live in the Far North of New Zealand. Whilst the twins are playing in the woods near the cottage, Maoris abduct Daniel, but Benjamin evades them and raises the alarm. Nathaniel rushes to search but although he finds tracks, he fails to find his missing son. He visits the Maori chief of one tribe to try to enlist help and also ropes in other settlers. But they search in vain, and as months pass, help dwindles and Nathaniel’s health deteriorates.

In part 2, the story fast forwards to 1910. What will ensue?

Once Were Brothers is available on Amazon, currently priced at £1.99 in Kindle format. An enjoyable short story, although I did feel the ending was rather abrupt. Also I can’t decide whether I like the cover or not.

Lance is a very versatile author as this is quite a different genre to the brilliant Silent Fear full-length novel that I absolutely loved, which he wrote with his son James, plus they write non-fiction and novellas too.

This is the third of Lance’s short stories that I have reviewed and last time, I mentioned how I thought they would be better in an anthology. Well guess what, that is exactly what has happened. Lance has re-released five of his short stories in a compendium.

5 Short Story Gems: Once Were Brothers / Mr. 100% / A Gladiator’s Love / The Last Tasmanian Tiger / Brooklyn Bankster

I’ll certainly be reading the other two titles. And I’d love to hear about your favourite books.

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A Gladiator’s Love by Lance Morcan – book review and giveaway

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book A Gladiator’s Love by Lance Morcan to review. You may find out more about the author on his website.

Here is the book blurb.

In this action-romance short story, dashing Greek gladiator Leonidas promises his true love he’ll buy her freedom if he wins his own in the Colosseum of Ancient Rome. First he must defeat an opponent he knows he cannot kill.

The year is 83AD and it’s nine years since Roman soldiers killed a young Leonidas’s family in their farmhouse outside Athens and consigned him to the life of a gladiator at Ludus Magnus, one of the biggest and best ludi gladiatori, or gladiator schools, in Rome. Since then, he remains undefeated after twenty-five fights and has risen to the top of the gladiator rankings.

The Greek gladiator craves freedom. The one good thing in his life is Fatuma, an Ethiopian beauty who is a gladiatrix, or female gladiator, and who has stolen his heart. They share fleeting but precious hours together after dark in Leonidas’s cell – a concession occasionally granted to the gladiators by their Roman masters.

The outcome of Leonidas’s next fight will decide both their futures for he’ll be fighting Gaius, another undefeated gladiator who held the Greek to a bloody draw when they met in the arena previously. At stake will be the rudis, the small wooden sword given to gladiators who are granted their freedom.

This is a short story of just 43 pages, so I read it very quickly.

The story begins with a flashback nightmare to when Greek Leonidas was enslaved and the rest of his family killed 9 years previously. He was kept alive to be sold as a gladiator and he has been climbing the rankings ever since due to his great fighting skill. In 2 months time, he will be pitted in a fight to the death against Gaius, where the winner will be granted freedom, so long as he wins tomorrow’s fight against Philo.

Meanwhile as tradition dictates on the night before a fight, he has been allowed to sleep with someone. Of course, as always, he has chosen Ethiopian Fatuma, a female gladiatrix, whom he is in love with. If he wins his freedom, he plans to earn lots of money, to buy Fatuma’s freedom too.

But how will it all play out? As the story unfolded I did guess one of the twists, but not the ending.

This is the second short story of Lance’s that I have read, the first being The Last Tasmanian Tiger and in my opinion they would both be better suited to being part of an anthology rather than a book on its own. Still a good read though.

A Gladiator’s Love is available on Amazon, currently priced at £1.99 in Kindle format. An enjoyable short story. Lance is a very versatile author as this is quite a different genre to the brilliant Silent Fear full-length novel that I absolutely loved, which Lance wrote with his son James, plus they write non-fiction and novellas too.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a kindle copy of A Gladiator’s Love to one lucky winner. Open worldwide.
Plus you don’t even need to own a kindle to read this, as you can download the kindle app free to your phone or tablet.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear about your favourite read.

Visit Yet Another Blogging Mummy on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Shared to The Monthly Book Blogger Link-Up with Lovely Audiobooks

The Last Tasmanian Tiger by Lance Morcan – book review

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book The Last Tasmanian Tiger by Lance Morcan to review. You may find out more about the author on his website.

Here is the book blurb.

Charlie Truganini can’t believe his eyes when on a trip into Tasmania’s wilderness he sees a Tasmanian tiger – a carnivorous marsupial considered by most Australians to be extinct.

Charlie has a number of claims to fame – one of those being he’s a direct descendant of one Truganini, the woman considered to be the last full-blooded Aboriginal Tasmanian and whose name he inherited. A close second to that is he’s the great-grandson of one Dingo Truganini, the tracker who helped capture the last known Thylacine cynocephalus – an animal better known as the Tasmanian tiger.

It’s his admiration for his great-grandfather’s exploits that explains why Charlie has devoted his life to searching for the Tassie tiger, as he refers to it, or the thylacine, as scientific types insist on calling it, to determine one way or the other whether it still exists. He has always suspected it does despite having never sighted it nor even stumbled across its spoor in all his travels.

When Charlie sees a Tasmanian tiger with his own eyes, he realises he doesn’t want his tiger meeting the same fate as the last one. And so he makes a decision. A decision that will have life-and-death consequences.

This is a short story of just 36 pages, so I read it very quickly.

Charlie Truganini, aged 48, a Tasmanian Aborigine tracker is trekking through the bush on behalf of the Southwest Wilderness Native Animal Protection Society (SWNAPS) to check and resite their cameras. It is a role he loves, as he hopes one day to discover a Tasmanian Tiger, an animal believed to be extinct for many decades.

But today is different. He actually discovers and photographs a Tasmanian Tiger. Now what should he do? Tell everyone or keep quiet? Zoos, scientists, conservationists, hunters, media? Does he make the right decision?

I enjoyed this story. It brought back memories of when I did a project on marsupials in junior school and made me think about the ongoing situation with the koalas and bush fires. But for such a short story, it did feel as if it should be part of an anthology rather than a book on its own. Although under current circumstances, one short story was probably all my attention span could cope with, so it was the ideal read for me just now.

The Last Tasmanian Tiger is available on Amazon, currently priced at £1.99 in Kindle format. An enjoyable short story. Lance is a very versatile author as this is quite a different genre to the brilliant Silent Fear novel that I absolutely loved, which Lance wrote with his son James, plus they write non-fiction and novellas too.

I’d love to hear about your favourite read.

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The Me Too Girl by Lance & James Morcan plus giveaway

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book The Me Too Girl by Lance & James Morcan to review. You may find out more about the authors on their website.

Here is the book blurb.

Young Los Angeles public relations exec Suzie Fox is being blackmailed for sex by a bad cop, a senior officer of the LAPD no less. Suzie fights back the only way she knows how, and, in the process, unwittingly becomes a beacon, a shining light, for America’s Me Too movement and for abused women everywhere. But will justice be served?

The story starts by introducing Suzie who has recently turned her life around, reflecting back over the past week from hell. We then flashback over the course of that week to discover that a face from her past has caught up with. This is Heck Williams, Deputy Chief of Police in LA, but he was and still is a bad cop.

In the past, he had sexually abused Suzie and now having found where she lives, he is trying to blackmail her for sex again. He threatens to pull her in for heroin possession, using a packet of heroin from his own pocket and to tell lies to her employer, accusing her of being a hooker and a junkie.

When a junior officer appears with a message for Heck, she uses the interruption to negotiate a week’s grace to give him an answer. But what can she do in a week to avoid her world being turned upside down?

This clever short story then follows the course of that week and beyond.

The Me Too Girl is available on Amazon. Another nice short story from father and son duo, and certainly a switch from their previous book The Heathrow Affair. Very versatile authors as quite a different genre to their brilliant full-length Silent Fear novel that I absolutely loved, plus they also write non-fiction.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a kindle copy of The Me Too Girl to one lucky winner. Open worldwide.
Plus you don’t even need to own a kindle to read this, as you can download the kindle app free to your phone or tablet.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear about your favourite book.

Visit Yet Another Blogging Mummy on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

 

The Heathrow Affair by Lance & James Morcan

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

I have received a free e-copy of the book The Heathrow Affair by Lance & James Morcan to review. You may find out more about the authors on their website.

Here is the book blurb.

Young Heathrow Airport employee John Woods seems to have it all – a career he loves and the girl of his dreams. But all is not what it seems in this aviation love triangle…

John’s life is turned upside down when his beloved Sandra announces she’s leaving him for a dashing pilot employed by the same international airline John works for.

When John is blamed for a mid-air incident that has catastrophic consequences for one of the airline’s aircraft, he and Sandra are reunited in a way neither could ever have imagined.

This story is told from the point of view of John Woods, a young aviation engineering apprentice working at Heathrow. It starts with John’s wife Sandra leaving him, telling him that she is pregnant but that the baby may not be his and that she is filing for divorce. What a bombshell for John.

Sandra doesn’t tell him who the other guy is, but it turns out to be Richard King, one of the pilots. Although John’s life has been turned upside-down, he maintains normality at work.

But then there is a serious incident with one of the planes over the Atlantic due to windscreen failure. John is one of the personnel blamed in the investigation. Can things get worse?

A short story but with intriguing twists and turns. It has been very cleverly worded so you don’t guess.

The Heathrow Affair is available on Amazon, currently priced at £1.99 in Kindle format. A nice romantic aviation mystery. Very versatile authors as quite a different genre to their brilliant Silent Fear novel that I absolutely loved, plus they write non-fiction too.

I’d love to hear about your favourite book.

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Vaccine Science Revisited by James and Lance Morcan

I have received a free e-copy of the book Vaccine Science Revisited: Are Childhood Immunisations As Safe As Claimed? by James & Lance Morcan to review. You may find out more about the authors on their website.

Here is the book blurb.

An unbiased, neutral, fact-based investigation that simply allows the science to do the talking on childhood vaccinations. Written by father and son investigative journalism/research team Lance & James Morcan, with a foreword by medical laboratory scientist Elísabet Norris, VACCINE SCIENCE REVISITED is possibly the most well-referenced work yet to explore this contentious healthcare subject.

This exhaustively-researched book avoids all rumor, conjecture and anecdotal evidence, and steadfastly focuses on what the latest medical studies actually reveal about vaccines listed on the immunization schedule. One by one the ingredients of the vaccines being manufactured today are put under the microscope by comparing peer-reviewed, published studies.

By collaborating with a professional medical advisory team and utilizing investigative journalism methods, the Morcans have painstakingly sifted through the world’s best scientific research papers. They analyze the most reliable and untainted studies in order to uncover true and accurate data on vaccine safety.

No matter your level of education or experience – whether you are a doctor, layman, scientist, nurse, med student or new parent – be prepared to be surprised by many of the medical research findings in VACCINE SCIENCE REVISITED: Are Childhood Immunizations As Safe As Claimed?

I was surprised to receive this book, as I hadn’t requested it. However I set to reading it with high expectations as I had previously really enjoyed Silent Fear, a fictional thriller by father and son duo, Lance and James Morcan.

I’ve always been aware that childhood vaccination is a contentious topic, particularly with regards to the MMR vaccine. Every so often it hits the news headlines with possible links to autism and other health issues. We decided to vaccinate both our sons as per UK guidelines. I think I thought at that time, they would then be immune to these illnesses forever, having had mumps three times myself as a child. Of course I subsequently found out this was not the case for son1, so we repeated all his vaccinations back to those from babyhood, starting about 6 months after he finished chemotherapy.

Chicken pox is one illness that is not routinely vaccinated against here in the UK and son1 caught this when he was age 3. Luckily his immunity prevailed every time there was an outbreak at school whilst he was on chemotherapy. But it meant yet another needle to check his immunity, every time he was exposed. When I found out that chicken pox is routinely vaccinated against in some other countries, it did cause me to question why not in the UK, each time he had to undergo this test.

So with all my personal experiences, I thought that this would prove to be a very interesting topic to gain some insight from this book. However the book is divided into parts with what I was hoping to read about towards the second half of the book. The start of the book after an interesting forward seemed to focus on smallpox in the 1700s and Dr Jenner whom I remember learning about at school. I was just about coping with this section but when the book moved on to focus on cells, I began to switch off. It was getting too technical and not holding my interest. I was not even 15% through the book yet.

Unfortunately there were no hyperlinks for the chapters, so I couldn’t attempt to fast forward to see if part 2 would prove more interesting. In the end, I’m sorry to say I just gave up on this book. A shame as I could tell that the authors had invested a huge amount of research into this topic. I’m sure it is probably a must-read for those in the medical profession.

Vaccine Science Revisited is available on Amazon, currently priced at £1.99 in  in Kindle format. Unfortunately too complicated for me.

Update – The e-version of the book I received was a PDF copy. I have since been assured that the kindle version contains chapter hyperlinks in the index.

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Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

Silent Fear by Lance & James Morcan – book review and giveaway

I have received a free e-copy of the book Silent Fear by Lance & James Morcan to review. You may find out more about the authors on their website.

Here is the book blurb.

When you can’t hear…death comes silently.

Scotland Yard detective Valerie Crowther is assigned to investigate the murder of a student at a university for the Deaf in London, England. The murder investigation coincides with a deadly flu virus outbreak, resulting in the university being quarantined from the outside world.

When more Deaf students are murdered, it becomes clear there is a serial killer operating within the sealed-off university. A chilling cat-and-mouse game evolves as the unknown killer targets Valerie and the virus claims more lives.

A stunning, claustrophobic, “whodunit” murder mystery, Silent Fear (A novel inspired by true crimes) is the eighth novel by father-and-son writing team Lance & James Morcan. Included is a commentary by Deaf filmmaker Brent Macpherson on the unique aspects of Deaf culture the story covers. Together, the Morcans and Macpherson are currently developing a feature film adaptation of Silent Fear.

This book is set during a summer heatwave in Wandsworth University for the deaf, at the same time as the deadly monkey flu epidemic is spreading worldwide. Britain has closed its borders and so far has no cases of monkey flu. A cure has not yet been found.

The murderer sneaks into deaf student Jamie’s room, knocks him unconscious before disabling the smoke alarm and burning him to death. Detective Superintendent Valerie Crowther is sent to investigate as she knows BSL (British Sign Language). Meanwhile the first case of Monkey Flu is confirmed at the lab from a swab belonging to student Carol, who is currently in the university sick bay. The PM quarantines the university with Valerie, 2 reporters and other non-university personnel trapped inside.

The police are also following up other leads outside, but when the murders continue, they realise that the serial killer is still inside. Valerie is thwarted by lack of clues. And lives are also being claimed by Monkey Flu as the deadly virus spreads. One claustrophobic student tries to escape, but is shot dead.

Are they all going to die either from the virus or at the hand of the unknown serial killer?

Silent Fear is available on Amazon, currently priced at £17.99 in paperback and is also available in Kindle format. This is a really gripping story which I think will be amazing as a film.

And I’m hosting a rafflecopter competition to giveaway a paperback copy of Silent Fear to one lucky winner. Open worldwide.

a Rafflecopter giveaway – Please click on the link to enter.

And you may see my other giveaways here.

I’d love to hear about your favourite book.

Visit Yet Another Blogging Mummy on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram

Disclosure.  This post is a review of an e-book I was sent for free.  All opinions are my own.

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