Journey of Tara

Tara Vanderpool, specialist in acquiring rare items usually of historic importance. Spy, cat burgular, or problem solver. She lives a pretty good life until she encounters the gruffy, independant and sour Dirk Bran, the Captain of the Marcel. Once their paths cross they begin a journey neither can come back from the same.

Available at Smashwords. And Barnes & Noble.

Brian Hutchinson blogs at Writing in the Dark.

He's also published The Set'la, also available from Smashwords. Barnes & Noble.

The Journey of Tara is a wonderful treat. So imaginative and creative, Brian kept surprising me from inventive tech to plot twists to sci-fi references.

The novel starts with a bang when Tara makes a heist for a client using some of that inventive tech. When she boards Dirk's ship, The Marcel, for an unauthorized trip to Earth things get even more interesting. Then the plot ups again once on the former homeworld. There was a lot of unexpected in this story, which is something I enjoy. And Brian didn't take a bunch of left turns or conveniently all of a sudden place things to create the interesting twists. They make sense. It's a very satisfying ending, too.

I enjoyed this journey a lot. Brian caught my attention from the intriguing prologue and held it. He's a very talented storyteller with original ideas.

I'm glad I bumped into him on the Twitter.

Thanks for the fantastic entertainment, Brian.

The Wistful Bookclub has its next read up. In June, I will discuss The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. This novel won the Hugo and Nebula awards.

In a future Thailand, calories are the greatest commodity. Anderson is a calorie-man whose true objective is to discover new food sources that his company can exploit. His secretary, Hock Seng, is a refugee from China seeking to ensure his future. Jaidee is an officer of the Environmental Ministry known for upholding regulations rather than accepting bribes. His partner, Kanya, is torn between respect for Jaidee and hatred for the agency that destroyed her childhood home. Emiko is a windup, an engineered and despised creation, discarded by her master and now subject to brutality by her patron. The actions of these characters set in motion events that could destroy the country.

I'm really looking forward to reading this. For more on the bookclub, go HERE

Any great reads you've bumped into lately?