Switching Tracks

Out of the Trash (Train Hoppers: 1)

by Lena Gibson

P-Date: 2024

Genre: Dystopian

Review: Quite the rave reviews from published authors. I did not check to see if they were in the same publishing house to check and ultimately compare their claims to the work. This novel in no way reaches the heights of their lauding.

Elsa, from Frozen (lol) is our mainy heapster. She climbs through 20th century dumps in the far future to eake out a meager living under the Green Corporation. She can leave at any time but chooses to stay. She could take Mee-Maw with her, but that gets glossed over in the narrative.

Ever been on a train? It is more boring than a comprehensive essay on why Boris Pasternak trivialized history and rendererd opaque the pivotal junctions of Russian WWI involvement in Dr. Shivago. This novel does exactly that. The characters mope around the weasliy to hunky scale, generating insta-love connections through “Feelings that him/her/this is important”. Huh? Elsa is hotter than a Baptist church on a Texas summer Sunday with topaz eyes like her mee-maw. I guess topaz is a sexy way of saying yellow. How they have yellow eyes is a head scratcher.

So hunky Walker Texas Ranger, whom can side-kick a fart back in your butt, takes an immediate interest in a starved, yellow-eyed waif because of a weird instinctual FEELING that she is important. Barf. Despite her starved body and angular boney features, Walker becomes infatuated while letting his brother lie, cheat and steal from her and Mee-Maw. Make sense? Nope.

Wrapping up dog shjt from the side walk is a bit more satisfying than this novel as there is some investment in the outcome (clean sidewalks, less disease etc.). Although not real bad, the characters just failed to resolve into anything interesting. It was like all these pre-set personas with no development. You do not get to see them evolve with the movement and grow into something that is either unexpected, repulsive or endearing.

Hitching breaths, fumbling touches, flushed faces, biting and licking of lips (40x) and winky winks is just more trash in the heap of YA garbage being cranked out. The idea that, once again, YAs have all the Solution Keys to everyones woes is just plain pedantic crap used to sell novels to hormonal idiots.

Rating: 1.1/5

Escape Velocity

by Victor Manibo

Genre: SciFi Crap

Review: I did not finish this novel for a few reasons.

1. Amateurish writing: when characters meet, they explain their whole back story in conversation. Who talks like that? “Oh, when we were in Bogota, three years ago, I remember this girl..” blah, blah.
2. Wokey: The author prattles on about how speshul he is in his bio. “A queer immigrant and a person of color”. How are you “elevated” because of life choices and happenstance? Are we now supposed to thank our lucky stars that you blessed us with your writing? Should I tell everyone I am gay for prefered treatment? This belief system is transported/infused into the novel.
3. The science that supports this station is contrived and rendered in simplistic terms.

Wading through someone else’s ideas about sexuality and our given acceptance of those ideals is insufferably arrogant. .

Rating: DNF

Bounty Hunter #4

Rake and Scrape

Rachel Aukes

Publishing Date: 2020

Genre: Dystopian

Review: The last is finally upon us, and it finishes with no resolution to keep that door open for future novels.

This was much better than Nothing to Nobody. Val does become a love addled twit, which was a shame and a huge departure from her normal hard-ass persona.

There were some huge continuity errors that plagued this series. In this instance, Joe jumps in a swamp and dumps his exoshield and a few chapters later has his exoshield. Really?

This author needs to write for the reader and reflect the genre she has chosen to write about. This is good when believable and total shjt when not.

Rating: 3.3/5

Bounty Hunter #3

Nothing to Nobody

Rachel Aukes

Publishing Date: 2020

Genre: Dystopian

Review: I love this series. Well, loved might be a better descriptor. What was at once gritty and oh so dystopia, morphed into Leave it to Beaver with the fecking Swintons.

So giving and loving in a violent dystopia, Sara “Hot Tits” Swinton invades the story line with her purity. Can you say barf? The richest guy in Fartown gets a boner and takes in Sara and her lovable precocious scamps….and their little dog too!!! So back and forthing we go throughout this novel, spending way too much time on nothing other than her swooning over someone that never did jack shjt for her while idly tossing Joe aside. Oh, but she so loves Joe and respects him…blah, blah. Actions speak louder, Lady. The little brats also toss Joe out with the trash in favor of a gang.”Fuk you Joe, we found a better home”.

The best thing that happened to this novel was Sara and Senior Douche getting bombed. It lit a fire under everyones ass. Too bad the brats were not with them as we get dragged along till the end. You are still going to suffer through the relentless backstory that each novel has infused into it but it fails to dominate.

Nick and company are great as ever. Let us hope that Val does not turn into a dopey love addled tramp.

Rating: 2.7/5

Dead Tomorrow

by Tony McFadden

P-Date: 2024

Genre: Mystery?

Review: I do not know which genre this goes in. General fiction? Thriller? Mystery? Nopety nope. Just a long walk around the city in the same general area with the addition of a few characters here and there.

This was great initially, then the love wore off quickly as the scenes never developed past the confines of the inner city. There are quite a few instances of belief suspension in order to make this movie “SPEED – The Long Walkabout”

1. Nick is kidnapped and stays that way in a high-end condo with all the trimmings while galavanting around the city with a minder. Because the NickNappers know the cops and will ruin his professional reputation. “OH MY, LAWDY NO…ARGGGGHHHHH!!”.
2. Everyone is looking for Terri Oshea, Miss Hot Pants money launderer. She suddenly has Nick and crew on her side against the EVIL RUSSIANS!. How this happens is anyones guess. She should have been nabbed early on and tortured with a cheese grater. She is that annoying and one-dimensional.
3. Nicky must have a huge shlong, because with one brief date with Juicy Lucy i.e. Master Karate Poo, and he has her undying loyalty and support with the promise of sexy sex down the road. MEOW!!!
4. Reggie the Minder quickly morphs from thuggie to Nicky cohort whom provides ample levity while crushing those pesky/evilly/nasty Rooskies.
5. No one has a gun, then everyone has a gun because well fuk it, as we gotta make this mo’dangerous with .22 rimfire plinking rounds.
6. With all the chasing and finding and near misses it seems both sides have easy access to real time close circuit tv monitors throughout the city. Not only can they track Terri MickyO’Sheamus anywhere but with facial recognition software. Really?
7. This novel is continually smug with the insta-love and Lucy Lawless’ 4 black belts in blah blah blah. Everyone is either super smart or super sexy or both. Except those fukin Russians. Burned faces and psychotic weasily mannerisms round out that camp.
8. It is fecking hot. We get it. We do not need to be reminded that it is hot in Austrailia on every frickin’ page.

This was more boring than a bag of hammmers. There is no mystery. There is no thriller. It is fiction on demerol.

Rating: 1.6/5

Bounty Hunter #2

Dig Two Graves

Rachel Aukes

P-Date: 2020

Genre: Dystopian

Review: Another entertaining installment that follows the life of Joe in the irradiated wastelands. There seems to be a nod to Harlan Ellison’s “Vic Blood” albeit with a more anthropomorphic angle.

All of the supporting characters are well built due to the POV shifts throughout the story. Too short a novel for a five star rating.

Rating: 4.4/5

The Merciless King of Moore High

by Lily Sparks

P-Date: 2023

Genre: YA/SciFi/Dystopian

Review: This was an interesting dystopian/YA/SciFi (lol) read despite the failed character development. What kept me tuned in was the writing. Flow was really nice with regard to scene development and the movement therein. The author lost a great opportunity to imbue the novel with bold characterization coupled with the pace. Other reviewers echoed the same disappointment with the characters. Most stated that they were flat. Although I agree in presentation, I think the author kept the characters consistent with the event that occurred. With YAs you most likely would get a Lord of the Flies situation where the constant threat of death keeps you in a survival state without room for developing behaviors. But, this is entertainment so allowances are made for changes outside the box of reality.

I do not think the author overlooked anything, just kept it as real as possible while adding unrealistic YA hormonal output. In an unrestricted juvenile society you would find more rape etc. Not, glowing skin, twinkling eyes and sniffing body scents.

Quite the novel of mixed messages and rampant polarity. If the author gets her shjt together and picks one path, watch out.

Rating: 3.6/5

Misfit’s Magic #2

Misfit’s Magic: Shades of Winter

Fred Gracely

Publishing Date: 2023

Genre: Fantasy/YA

Review: This is a good series. Well balanced characters, interesting quests and unexpected turns make for a fun read. The world is inventive in a genre loaded with Potter wannabes. It still follows the same formula and characterization yet with a grounded approach.

I will continue.

Rating: 4.1/5

The Completionist Chronicles #11

Thunderplump

Dakota Krout

Publishing Date: 2023

Genre: LitPrg

Review: These novels grow in the myopic development of Joe, without the character assets that made him such an interesting dude. Gone are the days of quests with buddies and the interactions therein. Now, we just hang out by ourselves, slowly advance in levels and work on becoming a city. That’s ok for a novel or two, yet any more than that and it becomes repetitive and boring.

We are going to a new world in the next installment but I wonder if this is going to be a remix of the of the same shjt in a different setting.

Rating: 2.5/5

Bounty Hunter #1

Bounty Hunter

Rachel Aukes

P-Date: 2020

Genre: Dystopian

Review: This was a fun fast read with great characters. The situations are varied as pushed by constant movement. This world is a bad place within a constant struggle. Survival is eaked out through natural selection i.e. if your weak you die….quicker.

I plan on buying all in this series as each is dependent on the next. Get this you will not be let down.

Rating: 4.1/5