Guest Post & Giveaway | THE CALYPSO DIRECTIVE by Brian Andrews

I'm happy to welcome Brian Andrews to Book Den today! Be sure to check out the great giveaway, too!

WHO OWNS YOUR GENES?

If you answered this question "I DO" then you'd be wrong. According to US Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, your genes are owned by whichever corporation or research entity is the first to patent them. For example, a company called Myriad Genetics presently owns patents on the BRCA1 and BRCA2 breast cancer marker genes? This means if a woman wants to test if she carries the BRCA1/2 genes, she must pay whatever price Myriad Genetics demands for the gene verification test because Myriad has a monopoly on these genes.

Presently, about 25% of your person is patented. Does this bother you? It bothers me, so I wrote a novel about it.

The topic of my debut thriller, THE CALYPSO DIRECTIVE, is genetic piracy. Genetic piracy is a new phenomenon—a byproduct of our rapid technological advancement over the past two decades in both bioscience and computers. In a nutshell, genetic piracy is obtaining information encoded in another person’s DNA and profiting from this information without that person’s consent. When I first started writing the story in 2003, it required a supercomputer and millions of dollars to sequence a person’s genome. Now, it can be done for thousands of dollars and the price is falling every month. When it costs $50 to sequence a human genome and $5 to upload and store the information in “the cloud” don’t be surprised if your genome is sequenced without your permission. Now, add into the mix that unmodified genes can be patented, and the financial incentive for genetic piracy is born.

THE CALYPSO DIRECTIVE is a thriller about identity loss—except we’re not talking about a stolen credit card or a lost driver’s license. The hero of the novel, Will Foster, has had his genome hijacked and embarks on an adventure to find out why. As he struggles to recover from the ultimate form of human exploitation, he reconnects with the woman he loves, and must find the courage to defend that which he holds most dear.

Available in Hardcover or eBook at your favorite place to buy books:  Amazon, iBookstore, B&N

GIVEAWAY

Win an autographed hardcover copy of THE CALYPSO DIRECTIVE!

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Review: The Rain Dancers by Greg F. Gifune

The Rain Dancers is the latest novella from Greg Gifune.

Book Description

He arrives in darkness, in the middle of a violent downpour...an affable old man with tales to tell...

When Will and Betty Colby return to Betty's hometown to settle her late father's affairs and prepare his house for sale, they assume they'll be faced with some cleaning, basic repairs and making runs to the local dump. Will also hopes it will afford Betty a chance to reflect on the difficult relationship she had with her father. But something more is happening in this quiet little town, in this dark old house at the end of this seemingly deserted dirt road.

In the middle of a rainstorm, a man calling himself Bob Laurent appears in the night on their doorstep, claiming to be an old family friend. He seems harmless enough, only Betty has no memory of him. Yet he knows everything about her, her father and their lives. He even knows intimate details about Will and his life. While the storm rages on, a cauldron of tension, suspicion and fear builds between the couple and the stranger, dragging Will and Betty to the very brink of madness.

A vile and unrelenting evil has returned to claim what was taken from it long ago, and all the demons of the past, present and probable future have come home to roost. Before the storm clears and the sun rises, Will and Betty Colby will come to know the horrifying truth.

People live and die...but the evil they do is eternal.

The Rain Dancers was really fun to read. I love books that hook me right away and keep me in suspense until the end.

The basic premise is a stranger shows up in the middle of a rain storm claiming to be an old friend of Betty's family. This stranger is a sweet old man with wonderful stories about the family's past. He's seemingly harmless, but Betty doesn't remember him. At all.

The build up of tension and suspense in The Rain Dancers was awesome. I was glued to the story. In a horrible twist of fate, my Kindle battery died just before I got to the end. I woke up in the middle of the night and could not go back to sleep knowing my Kindle was now charged. I had to get up and finish reading it! The Rain Dancers was pretty impossible to put down.

If you've read Gifune, you know he is a master of atmosphere. If you haven't read Gifune, you should. He is taking up residence on my 'must read' list.

8/10: Great Read

Review copy provided by publisher

Robert McCammon | Updates and Free Stories

I'm really excited about the month of May. Mostly because it's the month in my The Great McCammon Read that I get to read Boy's Life again. Speaking of Boy's Life, I have a few related bits of news I'd love to share with you guys. First, though, I'm going to point out where you can score some free McCammon.

Free Short Stories

Did you know May is National Short Story Month? As luck would have it, Robert McCammon's website has just been updated with a ton of new (to the site) short stories. You can check those out here.

Robert McCammon Group on Goodreads

Lou Pendergrast, a Goodreads friend of mine and fellow blogger at More 2 Read, started a Robert McCammon group over at Goodreads. If my McCammon worship here at Book Den isn't enough for you, you will find plenty there as well. I'd love for you to join us. We will be reading a McCammon book each month, and guess which book was chosen for May...? Boy's Life. I get to read it for my The Great McCammon Read and the group read!

Cover Love

Earlier this week I was perusing McCammon's website, and I got caught up on the cover gallery page for Boy's Life. There are 58 images depicting covers from all over the world! I love the idea that people all over the world cherish this book as much as I do.



Then the folks at Open Road Media who are so awesome they can read minds (I can't make this up) sent me a graphic they created featuring the foreign covers of Swan Song throughout the years.

If you read my review of Swan Song in March, you know how much I love this epic book. If you haven't read my review, well... go read it! And then read Swan Song.

The Providence Rider

The latest book in McCammon's Matthew Corbett series will be released later this month, but I just found out the ebook was released early and is available now! I have a review copy the awesome folks at Subterranean Press sent me so expect a review on that coming soon.

Jealousy, Death, and More Jealousy 

Pam over at Midnyte Reader rode in a car with Robert McCammon last week. I died when I heard the story. Just died. But all of the jealously coursing through my veins brought me back to life. She has all of the details of the World Horror Convention including lots of great pics of her and McCammon posted on her blog.

Let Me Hear From You
 
Are you new to McCammon's works? If you are a fan, do you have a favorite? If you check out any of his free stories, be sure to let me know.

Overkill Blog Tour Giveaway | Steven Shrewsbury

Today I'm participating in Steven Shrewsbury's Overkill tour. I'm really excited because I get to offer a huge giveaway package to three lucky Book Den readers!

OVERKILL BY STEVEN SHREWSBURY

Deliverance will come... A great flood once wiped clean the earth, destroying everything upon it. Before the deluge, in a time now forgotten, the world was a place of warriors and witches, conflicts between kingdoms, and, until their extermination, dragons. In this world, men may live centuries, fallen angels have begotten terrifying spawn, and sometimes, the best hope can be found in a brothel.

In the land of Transalpina, a new religion spreads, and important men are dying mysteriously, slain by what can only be the fire of dragon breath. Summoned by the Queen Garnet, the legendary warrior Gorias La Gaul returns to the place where he once saved the queen's young granddaughter from treachery and enslavement. The Princess Nykia is gone, and soon others may try to claim the throne. The queen has little choice but to turn to the only man who ever told her no.

With the aid of one of the queen's elite guard, the battle maiden Alena, and the young palace servant Orsen, the old mercenary will face pirates and traitors, monsters and foul magic in the quest to find the missing heir and learn the truth behind the disconcerting murders. Deliverance will come for Gorias La Gaul, but for now there are women to love, secrets to discover, and killing that needs doing. 


Amazon | Kindle | BN | Goodreads


From Seventh Star Press: "Overkill is the second novel featuring the iconic sword and scorcery figure Gorias La Gaul, following the debut of the character in the novel Thrall, released in late 2010 from Seventh Star Press.  Gorias La Gaul is also featured in two short stories, Author and Finisher of Our Flesh, and Insurmountable, both available in eBook format in the Blood and Steel: Legends of La Gaul collection in the Seventh Star Singles catalog."

GIVEAWAY

There are two prize packages available in this giveaway.

Print Edition Prize Pack (1 available US/Canada only) - Print editions of both Gorias La Gaul novels:

• Thrall
• Overkill

Digital Edition Prize Pack 2 (2 available) - Digital editions of all four Gorias La Gaul ebooks:

• Thrall
• Overkill
• Author and Finisher of Our Flesh
• Insurmountable

First place winner gets first choice of which prize pack they would like to receive. If he/she chooses the digital prize pack, the first runner up will get his/her choice of prize pack and so on. There will be a total of three winners.

The digital editions will be your choice of Kindle gift or epub.

I will leave the giveaway open through Friday, May 4. There are no requirements to enter. Just fill out the form below with your contact information and prize pack preference.

Update: The contest is now closed. Congratulations Mary, Angela, and Sheila!!

For more giveaways, guest posts, interviews, and reviews check out the full Overkill tour here.

Book Review | Poseidon's Children by Michael West

Poseidon's Children is the first book in the The Legacy of the Gods series by Michael West.

Book Description

Man no longer worships the old gods; forgotten and forsaken, they have become nothing more than myth and legend. But all that is about to change. After the ruins of a vast, ancient civilization are discovered on the ocean floor, Coast Guard officers find a series of derelict ships drifting in the current--high-priced yachts and leaking fishing boats, all ransacked, splattered in blood, their crews missing and presumed dead.

And that's just the beginning.

Vacationing artist Larry Neuhaus has just witnessed a gruesome shark attack, a young couple torn apart right before his eyes ... at least, he thinks it was a shark. And when one of these victims turns out to be the only son of Roger Hays, the most powerful man in the country, things go from bad to worse. Now, to stop the carnage,Larry and his new-found friends must work together to unravel a mystery as old as time, and face an enemy as dark as the ocean depths.

How would you classify the 1998 movie The Faculty? I would classify it as horror, yet I've seen it on urban fantasy lists. I find the same blurring of lines with Michael West's Poseidon's Children. It is classified as an urban fantasy novel, but it is very much a horror story.

Poseidon's Children starts out a lot like Jaws except the sharks in Poseidon's Children have hands. These sea monsters are descendents of Poseidon, and they have taken up residence in Colonial Bay.

"What kind of mythological creature would you like to be?" is a common question among paranormal book discussion forums and the book blog hops. I've never had an answer to that question until now. I want to be one of Poseidon's children. It would be awesome to be able to transform between a sea creature and a human. If I had a set of gills, my life would be complete.

Moving on.

There are a lot of characters in Poseidon's Children. It seemed like every chapter in the first half introduced someone new. I worried about being able to keep them all straight, but even with West switching between first and last names, I was able to keep track of such a large cast. I'm looking forward to further development of some of the characters in the next book.

Poseidon's Children is a great start to the The Legacy of the Gods series. The ending provides a lot of setup for the next installment, but we are given a complete story prior to the sizable epilogue. I greatly appreciate when a series book can be read as a stand alone.

If you enjoyed the 1998 movie The Faculty (I did), you should check out this series. I've been trying to ease into the urban fantasy genre and being that Poseidon's Children was dark and scary for an urban fantasy, it was a great selection for me. I'm looking forward to seeing where the series goes in the next book. I hope to vicariously spend some time out at sea as a sea monster.

7/10: Recommended Read

Review copy provided by the publisher