Tag: Dominic Schunker

Amy’s Square by Dominic Schunker

~ Jolie ~ 1 Comment
Amy's Square by [Schunker, Dominic]

4 Stars

Publisher: Off World Publishing

Date of publication: October 1st, 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Where you can find Amy’s Square: Amazon | BookBub

Book Synopsis:

The world continues to let children die every day from thirst and starvation, poisoned water and disease, and the world continues to let the Earth die.

A man, destroyed by the desertion of his wife, comes out the other side and finds a mission. It’s bold. It’s crazy. He’s not totally sure what’s at the end of it but he has to follow it. It’s a terrifying leap away from his world but it ends up being a mission to rescue the very substance of life.

From the ancient Aztecs to the Moroccan desert, Spanish highways to the remote fields of Russia, clues appear, people die and someone gets ever closer to him.

The children, the generation who must eventually find the answer, silently guide him to the truth.

And it’s a truth that will change everything.

First Line:

It’s only when a mosquito lands on your balls do you learn to resolve your conflict without violence

Amy’s Square by Dominic Schunker

My Review:

When I read the blurb for Amy’s Square, my initial first impression was that this book was going to be a book like The DaVinci Code. Since I liked The DaVinci Code, I decided that I would read Amy’s Square.

Amy’s Square’s plotline took a while to get going. It crept, which I didn’t enjoy. I understood that the author was world and character building, but I wanted it to go faster. When the book finally did get moving, about halfway through the book, it flew along.

Another issue that I had with Amy’s Square is that it was filled with British slang. At first, it confused me (and my phone got a workout from Googling it), but I got used to it.

I pitied Abe for the first half of the book. I couldn’t imagine being dumped the way he was. No wonder he was a mess!! I would have been too. Then the second half of the book came around, and I loved him. When he got his diagnosis, he decided to live. That included spying on a company called xLight and refinding love.

The author didn’t get into xLight. What was explained as it was a huge corporation that had its hand in some bad things that were happening. On the one hand, I wished that he told it, but on the other hand, I loved the mystery.

The end of Amy’s Square had a couple of twists that I didn’t see coming. The first one left me with my mouth open, but the second one made me put my book down and say, “NO!!!!”.

I would give Amy’s Square an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Amy’s Square. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Letters from Angels by Dominic Schunker

~ Jolie ~ 2 Comments
Letters from Angels by [Schunker, Dominic]

3 Stars

Publisher: Offworld Publishing

Date of publication: July 7th, 2019

Genre: Science Fiction

Where you can find Letters from Angels: Amazon | BookBub

Book synopsis:

There’s something very wrong with the world. A strange mist settles everywhere. It seems to be causing more than the usual horrors humans like to inflict on themselves, like an organising of those horrors into a plan to end them.

A Preacher with a past challenging his faith and a renowned Ufologist learn something evil is controlling it. They’re being shown signs to discover who it is but what is it?

Is it an alien hybrid, installed for a long-overdue alien takeover and terraforming of Planet Earth?

Or is it the Biblical antichrist, fulfilling its apocryphal destiny?

If they can figure out what it is, maybe they can learn how to defeat it.

Thing is, it’s not easy. The signs of abduction and demonic possession are the same. Descriptions of aliens and biblical demons are the same. 

There’s nothing obvious presenting itself but there’s something about the number 37 that seems to have an answer. There is hope.

Meanwhile, the rest of humanity appears to be falling right into its trap. 

One way or another, the end of the world is indeed nigh and humans are not required. 

Eventually, the only solution is the most unlikely solution.

But it’s all they’ve got.

First Line:

It really was a stupidly hot 11am in the little wooden church of St. John the Baptist, in the scrubs outside Booker.

Letters from Angels by Dominic Schunker

My Review:

When I started reading Letters from Angels, I was expecting a cut and dry book about four people thwarting the end of the world. I was looking forward to reading it. The blurb sparked my interest. But, having read the book, I can say that it wasn’t something that I would have read on my own.

The plot for Letters from Angels was interesting. A preacher and a Ufologist are brought together by a time-traveling couple to help them defeat the Antichrist. The only problem is that they need to find out how to defeat him and save the world.

The main characters were wonderfully written, and I enjoyed reading about their escapes. But I couldn’t connect with them. I didn’t feel that connection with any of the main characters. Which saddened me because I thought that they were well written and had interesting backstories.

The plotline was also well written. It did take some time to get going, but once it got up to speed, it didn’t stop. There were a few lags in the plotline, but the plot got back on track. I also liked how the foursome went about defeating the Antichrist.

The end of Letters from Angels was confusing. I ended up rereading the last few chapters because I wasn’t sure what was going on or what happened.

I would give Letters From Angels an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I am on the fence if I would reread Letters From Angels.  I am on the fence if I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

An Unfortunate Dimension by Dominic Schunker

~ Jolie ~ Leave a comment
An Unfortunate Dimension by [Schunker, Dominic]

4 Stars

Publisher: Offworld Publishing

Date of publication: December 7th, 2018

Genre: Science Fiction, Dystopia

Where you can find An Unfortunate Dimension: Amazon | Barnes and Noble | BookBub

Synopsis:

An Unfortunate Dimension is a psychological thriller with a twist you’ll never see coming. 

Salvador is thrown into battle and intense laser fire. He doesn’t know how he got here or why, and that’s just one of his problems. He’s been experiencing a sort of dimensional schizophrenia, jumping into bizarre scenes past, present and future. Is the universe messing with him, interfering with his only goal, to bring his wife Jemma out of her coma? 

He grows sure Jemma is trying to communicate a solution from her dimension, trying to tell him how to save her, to bring her back round. She tells him to look for signs, find a pattern, and soon he does. His dad’s old car, a song, a demon, and Camille, his lost best friend from school. 

He learns Jemma was the teacher on going-home-duty when a little girl, Ashlen, vanished a few months ago. Why didn’t she tell him about Ashlen? He becomes convinced it’s a clue. The school is quizzed, the police are quizzed but still no answers. His mission races on when he learns they’ll turn off Jemma’s life support in seven days. 

What if Jemma’s goal is not to save herself, but something else? Eventually, he realizes it’s to save Ashlen, to ease her guilt, allow her to recover. That’s the link, here is the reason for the pattern: save Ashen and that will bring Jemma round. 

Between dimensions and interactions with Jemma and Camille, from a VR game, space travel and a distant planet awaiting its foretold enlightenment, Salvador knows what he must do. Nothing is as it seems, and the invasive truth is coming.

My review:

I like science fiction but I haven’t been reading a lot of it. To be honest, I got burned out by it. When I saw the blurb for An Unfortunate Dimension, I decided to read it. I am glad that I did because this book was good.

An Unfortunate Dimension is the story of Salvador. Salvador has been having a rough time lately. His wife, Jemma, is in a coma, on life support. Salvador has been experiencing weird occurrences. Like being dropped into an intense laser fight, naked. Or seeing his best friend who disappeared when he was 13 year old. Or seeing a young kidnapping victim alive. Salvador makes the connection between Jemma and the kidnapping victim the same day he is told that he has 7 days before they shut off life support. Convinced that saving Ashlen will save Jemma, Salvador does everything in his power to find her. But things aren’t what they seem. Can Salvador lead the police to Ashlen and save Jemma? Or will he fail?

I had a hard time getting into An Unfortunate Dimension. The beginning was confusing. There was so much going on that I had an issue keeping everything straight. There was a point during the first couple of chapters where I almost DNF’d. But I decided to keep on plugging along. By the 4th chapter, the book smoothed itself out. It turned into the book that I enjoyed reading.

Salvador: I liked Salvador. His grief over losing Jemma came off the pages. Once he realized who Ashlen was to Jemma, he was determined to find her. He was determined to help Jemma so she could be restored to him. He did have his faults. He drank way too much. His choice in friends made me question him on more than one occasion in the book. But what I liked the most about him was that he didn’t question anything that was happening to him. Even when he saw the demon (which would have freaked me out).

The kidnapping storyline was heartbreaking. I liked how the author foreshadowed what was going to happen. I also liked the connection to Camille. I thought it was interesting and I didn’t put two and two together.

The author did a fantastic job with the science fiction storyline. I liked how he included VR in this book. The whole scene with the shaman was creepy but informative. The revelation of the alien planet was creepy too. Knowing what I know now, I understand what that planet was too Salvador.

The plot twist in An Unfortunate Dimension was one that I didn’t see coming. I was taken aback by it. I did a no way. I can’t say too much more about it because I will be giving away spoilers. This is the second book in as many weeks with a plot twist that took my by surprise.

The end of An Unfortunate Dimension is tied into the plot twist. So, I am not going to say anything about it. Only that I was shaking my head and saying “No way” up until the last sentence.

I would give An Unfortunate Dimension an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no on under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread An Unfortunate Dimension. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank the author for allowing me to read and review An Unfortunate Dimension.

All opinions stated in this review of An Unfortunate Dimension are mine.

Have you read An Unfortunate Dimension?

What are your thoughts on it?

Do you like it when there is a huge plot twist right at the end of the book?

Why or why not?

Let me know!!