Indie Book Club discussion

Bad Radio was the winner of this month's thriller poll. Lets get started on the discussions! I just checked and it is free on Amazon Kindle right now so hurry up and pick up your copy.

Nuts. I missed that promo. I'm not a member of Amazon Prime, so I can't get it for free. :( No worries. It looks really good!

Big J

Okay, I'm losing sleep reading this book because I don't want to put it down!

That's good to hear. I am trying to get the books I am currently reading so I can focus in on this one.

Same here. It's primed, loaded, ready to read on my iPad. Just gotta catch up on a few reviews and finish two other books. :)

Baitbags...

Dude, that's funny,

Just finished it and tossed my review up on Goodreads, Amazon, and my blog. Horror's not really my thing, but it's a solid book.

Sky - just read your review on Amazon. Nice! I'm better Han half-way through. Horror isn't my thing, either, and I think that wasn't what the author is trying to focus on. That being said... :)

There's definitely a strong streak of horror in there. I don't mind it, though. I think I might know a few baitbags...

Honestly, what I liked best was the use of the Observer Effect to explain why there are supernatural things in the world and how they avoid notice. Since I casually threw the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle into my explanation of wormhole travel in Wind-Scarred, I give the author two big thumbs up for that. That one paragraph pretty much guaranteed this book a good review from me.

I've read a lot of sci-fi and fantasy, so when I read of (view spoiler)[people with black worm things living in them, it wasn't difficult to suspend my beliefs. However, the one thing I keep seeing that I'm having a bigger problem with (and I'm not quite finished so maybe this gets explained) is how easily people are hurt (sometimes badly) and I only hear of it being "patched up". Now I know Abe heals very well, but the scene where he bets the ever-loving snot out of that goon, Dominic? And his two thugs? Yet the same day Dominic ends up cooking a pleasant dinner for the three of them. (hide spoiler)]

So far I'm loving the story. That's the only real issue I have with it. :)

Big J

Finished up and posted the review here on Goodreads & Amazon.

It was a really good action/thriller that kept you hooked until the very end. At least it did with me. :)

I was hoping for some more insight on (view spoiler)[the pit and how a pool of blood was able to genetically change Abe into having eternal youth.

And Valerie? What happened to her at the end was particularly nasty. Gives me the creeps. :) (hide spoiler)]

Finished it. Very good, quite a page turner. I'm not as adept as some at writing reviews, but I'll get one up soon.

Yeah, it really was. It was one of those books that once I picked it up, I was very reluctant to put it down. Almost to the point I scowled at my wife if she asked me a question. Thankfully, I caught myself in the nick of time and didn't have to sleep in the doghouse. :)

Of course, the doghouse would have given you plenty of time to read. ;-D

Yeah, that's true. No electrical outlets out there to recharge my iPad, though. :)

I am really going to have to get started on this book soon. I don't like being the last person to be reading the book lol. I'm used to having already read them so I'm going to accuse you all of cheating.

I'm not sure how but you should all be ashamed! Lol. I need to stop slacking and kick it into high gear my 150 reviews won't write themselves.

I really only have one big question about this book. Maybe I missed something, or my lack of horror left me unprepared, but... why was it called "Bad Radio"?

Lol!! I was wondering about that myself! I kept wondering what a radio had to do with the story and why it was bad... :)

LMAO, Scott! Come on, come on!! Hurry it up! You're not finished yet???

What, do you have a young daughter to care for or something? :)

I'm determined not to fall behind this time. Once I get my review for Nephilim up, I'll be completely caught up. Woohoo!!!

Big J

I still think the author did a great job painting a realistic picture of the comraderie that military soldiers share with one another. I've never been in the military so I don't really have any basis to compare it to.

I just thought that one line Henry said was really cool, where he (view spoiler)[was telling Anne, I think, that he didn't even think twice about lunging into that nasty-a$$ pit of blood to get his sarge out of harm's way. (hide spoiler)]

You know, Michael has a rather unique name, so you'd think he'd be easy to find. I went through three of them on Twitter before I found him!

Although, now that I look, I suppose it would have been easier to go to his website and clicked the "Follow" button. *sigh*

Lol!!

I was thinking of messaging him on Goodreads and letting him know we were discussing his book. I'm not sure how busy he is though and don't want to be a bother.

As an author, I know I'd be thrilled to be informed that a group of people were discussing my book. Drop him a line!

I went ahead and sent a message inviting him to join us if he wanted to. I just finished up one of my other reads so I'll be starting this one soon.

Hi Scott, I got your message :)

First of all, wow, I'm thrilled to have been nominated, and stunned to have won.

Thanks to everyone in the thread for the kind words. I'm happy to answer any questions, and to receive any criticisms you have. I'm going to put out a second edition in a few weeks to correct a few persistent errors, so if you have any input I would welcome it.

Thanks for inviting me to the thread!

Scott wrote: "I went ahead and sent a message inviting him to join us if he wanted to. I just finished up one of my other reads so I'll be starting this one soon."

Hello Michael! Welcome to the club!

I really enjoyed your book! First and foremost, how did you come up with your book title?

Big J

Did you know that the very first question I ever got about the book was about the title, and that it came from a reader in Belgium? He assumed it was his grasp of idiom that caused the confusion, rather than the actual case of me being obtuse :)

The reason is (view spoiler)[ that the artifacts that Piotr collects throughout the book form a transmitter that he uses to summon the entity at the end. (hide spoiler)]

When the updated edition comes out, I'll make sure that this is properly explained and not so cryptic.


Sky wrote: "I really only have one big question about this book. Maybe I missed something, or my lack of horror left me unprepared, but... why was it called "Bad Radio"?"

**smacks foreheads**

Man, I'm feeling really foolish. Makes sense now! :)

Do you have any idea how long I looked to see if it was some kind of military jargon from one of the WW????
lol

I posted a quick note on what the title means, but as for creating it, I had two criteria:

1) It needed to be unusual, so as not to be lost in a sea of 'night/creature name/blood/mayhem/evil/dark' titles in the genre.

2) It should evoke the feeling of something mundane gone strange.

Ideally it would also have meaning to the reader after the book was done, but I didn't do very well on that bit :)



Jeffrey wrote: "Hello Michael! Welcome to the club!

I really enjoyed your book! First and foremost, how did you come up with your book title?

Big J"

It totally *is* WW2 military jargon! It's code for, "oops, I owe you a beer for sending you on a goose chase!"

G. David wrote: "Do you have any idea how long I looked to see if it was some kind of military jargon from one of the WW????
lol"

That was kind of what I was figuring, I just didn't notice any references to transmitters or receivers. (view spoiler)[ So if the pieces were transmitters, and they were transmitting from the Devourer's plane of existence... I imagine the human brain was some sort of elder receiver, since the pieces seemed to transmit to people around them and only work to full capacity when lodged in the human brain? (hide spoiler)] Sounds like something Henry should explain =P

I didn't read the spoiler on the title so when I read the book tomorrow I will be paying close attention to see if I figure it out lol.

Welcome to the group Michael, good to have you here.

Michael wrote: "It totally *is* WW2 military jargon! It's code for, "oops, I owe you a beer for sending you on a goose chase!"

G. David wrote: "Do you have any idea how long I looked to see if it was some kind o..."

I obviously didn't dig deep enough, but I am very grateful that you set me straight. (I'll be watching my mailbox...)

G. David wrote: "Michael wrote: "It totally *is* WW2 military jargon! It's code for, "oops, I owe you a beer for sending you on a goose chase!"

G. David wrote: "Do you have any idea how long I looked to see if ..."

Caution: Do not drink until dead - http://tinyurl.com/6mpshcm

Michael wrote: "G. David wrote: "Michael wrote: "It totally *is* WW2 military jargon! It's code for, "oops, I owe you a beer for sending you on a goose chase!"

G. David wrote: "Do you have any idea how long I lo..."

That site must contain more military secrets. It tells me it's forbidden.

G. David wrote: "Michael wrote: "G. David wrote: "Michael wrote: "It totally *is* WW2 military jargon! It's code for, "oops, I owe you a beer for sending you on a goose chase!"

G. David wrote: "Do you have any ..."

DOH: http://tinyurl.com/7qxprc3

Does that come in Lite?

G. David wrote: "Does that come in Lite?"

No, and worse, it's guaranteed to give you a bad case of the munchies...

LMAO!!

It doesn't make you unreasonable, though, right? I mean, I like my eyes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQYjZc...

Ah, a fellow JoCo enthusiast! Superb!

Off to bed, I'll check in again tomorrow!

LOL! I totally love that song! I know the following statement will peg me as a total geek & nerd, but I'm ok with it... :) We have that song on Rock Band 3 and it's a lot of fun to play!

Boy, talk about your tangents... LOL!

I enjoy the fact that Cake hit him with a jeep to keep him from getting shot. I chuckled at that one.

I love to hear when people found parts funny, as I thought there several amusing bits in there, but I usually just get feedback on the horror elements.

So, thanks!

I would like to read this book but I have a Nook, and couldn't find a nook version. Is it available for Nook?

Finished up today. Very enjoyable read and a good choice for this month's book for sure. I'll have to put some thought into it and get my reviews posted.

Yeah, I really liked it. Had a little more of a horror aspect to it that I wasn't planning on, but all is forgiven. :)

Michael, how long did it take you to write?