Halloween is rapidly approaching and I’ve got a wonderful book for you to read: Poe, by J. Lincoln Fenn (Amazon Link) is great fun from start to finish. It’s a romantic-comedy-horror novel all wrapped up in one near perfect roller coaster of a read. It has a truly likable cast of characters (well, most of them) caught-up in a series of mysteries, gruesome murders, and marvelously laugh-out-loud-funny dialogue.

Curiosity Quills Press has a hit on their hands, as far as I’m concerned, with Operation Chimera, by Tony Healey and Matthew S. Cox. (Amazon link.)  This entry into the science-fiction field offers likable characters, a good plot, and non-stop action including one of the best (and longest) space-battle scenes I’ve read in quite some time.

The first of a trilogy of novellas, The Whispers, by Lisa Unger (Amazon link) confronts us with the question of, “Why do bad things happen to good people,” and is there a purpose behind such events? Eloise Montgomery suffers the unthinkable, losing her husband and oldest daughter in a terrible automobile accident. She herself suffers injuries and awakens from a 6-week coma. Her youngest daughter suffered no physical effects but has withdrawn into herself by not speaking or responding to outside stimulus.

I always enjoy stepping into one of David Weber’s stories. I know it will be interesting and well written. A Call to Duty, by David Weber and Timothy Zahn (Amazon link) doesn’t disappoint. Set in the Honor Harrington universe, but many years before she arrives on the scene, the people of Manticore are rebuilding, following a devastating plague. With no wars being fought, some of the politicians would like to dismantle the Royal Navy and dedicate additional resources to other endeavors. The process begins. Fortunately, it doesn’t get too far.

I’ve read and enjoyed two of James Wesley, Rawles’ other books in this series. Thus I looked forward to the latest, Liberators (Amazon link) It’s the story of two groups of protagonists trying to survive through the occupation of the United States and Canada following “the Crunch,” when most of the worlds’ economies have collapsed, with ensuing civil disorder, scarcity of food and fuel, and governments in disarray. There are several books in the series, all taking place during the same years, but with different characters in different parts of the world. Liberators is certainly engaging.

The full title of this layman’s guide to understanding the theory of relativity is What is Relativity?: An Intuitive Introduction to Einstein’s Ideas, and Why They Matter. Published by Columbia University Press, author Jeffrey Bennett uses his young adult, classroom lectures to aid in understanding the profound equations and theories that revolutionized our picture of how the Universe works. I’d like to write that this is a welcome addition to the field. I can’t.

When I was much younger, I read We Are Not Alone, by Walter Sullivan. In the forty or so years since then, the search for life outside our own planet has become far more sophisticated, and yet we’re still at the point where we haven’t found any. Are we searching correctly? Do we need to expand our ideas of how and what forms of life might develop on other worlds?  Where should we look?

Dr. Athena Coustenis and Dr. Thérèse Encrenaz, both renowned astrophysicists, answer those questions in Life Beyond Earth: The Search for Habitable Worlds in the Universe. (Amazon link.)

So, let’s say that the universe we live in had a place where all the space-emergent species, from all the scattered worlds in it, belonged to a structure run by an organization that was a cross between the United Nations and Las Vegas. And, Earth’s humans are the newbies. Welcome to the second novel in the Grand Central Arena series. Spheres of Influence, by Ryk E. Spoor (Amazon link) is a joyous romp in an unusually clever sci-fi fantasy story that you and your kids can enjoy.

Just released by Smithcraft Press, The Cleansing (Earth Haven) Book One, by Sam Kates tells a familiar story of a deadly virus killing off nearly all of the 7-billion people on Earth. What distinguishes this story is that the disease was intentionally spread by a group of 5,000 aliens who look just like us and are living amongst us. They’ve been on Earth for 5,000 years, waiting for a sign from their home planet that the rest of their species would soon be arriving.  Hence, the need to cleanse the Earth of humans so it can become the haven for the soon-to-arrive aliens.

The first of the Inspector Ian Drake series, Brass in Pocket, by Stephen Puleston (Amazon link) is superb. If you like your police procedurals to also feature high-tension, urgency, and action, this is the book for you.

You’re just a teenage boy, doing the things boys love to do. Then, someone tries to poison you. You’re framed for a fire that injures your friend, and further attempts are made on your life. The killer? It’s you!  Copied, by S.M. Anderson, from Curiosity Quills Press (Amazon link) is a first-rate thriller with science fiction overtones that explores several ethical questions including the issue of genetic engineering, human cloning, and the prospect that a corporation can “own” a clone because they own the DNA of that person.

This series has become a staple purchase for me. The Eighth Science-Fiction Megapack is a terrific bargain for just 99-cents. Hours — and I do mean hours — of enjoyable reading. I wasn’t crazy about the very first one, but following that, these books have presented a very nice, representative mix of the genre. Some stories are older, but most are of recent vintage, culled from various sci-fi magazines and collections of originals.