Hatchette Book Giveaway by Dewey

Ok, seriously, this is one of my favorite blogs. For those of you who don't know, this is the blogs that is responsible for bring us Weekly Geeks. This is my favorite giveaway of the year, a collection of spooky books by Hatchette. For your chance to win, head over to The Hidden Side of the Leaf but hurry, this one ends soon!

Rue de la Pompe by James Earle McCracken

James Earle McCracken was born in 1960 in Takoma Park, Maryland. He received a B.A. in English from the University of Pennsylvania in 1982. After a brief but nonetheless tedious stint as a technical writer, McCracken moved to London in 1984 with the intention of becoming a writer of short stories and novels. He failed. Returning to the U.S. at the end of 1986, McCracken resumed real life. Twenty-two years later, he published his first novel - Rue de la Pompe: A Satiric Urban Fantasy. He is married to the former Mirella Abdel Sater, a prominent attorney and human rights activist from Beirut, Lebanon, and has a daughter, Jamie, who is a junior at Foxcroft School in Middleburg, Virginia.
You an visit his website at http://www.jamesearlemccracken.com/.

About the book:

Celebrating his thirtieth birthday alone in Paris, American businessman Michael Whyte realizes that it’s entirely possible to live an unglamorous life in the most glamorous city in the world. But an unexpected gift of formal wear followed by a party invitation from his eccentric neighbors lands him in a curious search for the first French franc—a coin said to be incredibly valuable and wickedly dangerous.

Guided by a deaf-mute and mentored by an epistemologist, Michael careens across the city in his quest for the coin. From the Chateau de Vincennes and the Musée d’Orsay to the sewers of Paris and the base of the Eiffel Tower, he braves the city for an answer to the perplexing question of the franc’s true nature.

Assisting, thwarting, or simply confusing him along the way is a bizarre collection of lunatic personalities, including a Castilian hit man, a Zen Buddhist Swiss jeweler, a flatulent statue of Benjamin Franklin, a foul-mouthed rhinoceros, the Concierge from Hell, and an enigmatic beauty named Chione.

Unforgettable characters and vivacious details make James Earle McCracken’s debut novel sizzle with expectation. Both hilarious and introspective, Rue de la Pompe is a fast-paced ride through the City of Lights with a hapless American who is caught in an exhilarating journey of discovery.

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RUE DE LA POMPE VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on October 1 and ends on October 30. You can visit James' tour stops at http://www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com/ in October to find out more about her latest book!As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at http://www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com/ on October 30!

Unholy Domain by Dan Ronco

Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Kunati Inc. (April 1, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1601640218
ISBN-13: 978-1601640215



About the book:



A decade after a lethal computer virus called PeaceMaker roared across the internet leaving hundreds of thousands of people dead, a war is raging between science and religion, the world wallows in a global depression, and the United States government is paralyzed, unable to intervene. The secretive and powerful Domain is poised to take humankind to the next level of evolution through artificial intelligence, and the fanatical Church of Natural Humans has marshaled their forces to stop them. David Brown, the son of PeaceMaker's creator, believes that his father was set up to take the fall for the catastrophe, and was murdered to keep him quiet. Determined to clear his father's name and avenge his killers, David stumbles into the war between the rival factions. Hunted by both sides, he unravels his father's secrets and discovers a genetic capability within himself that may change the path of human evolution. This fast-paced, techno thriller depicts a world of violent extremes, where religious terrorists and visionaries of technology fight for supreme power.



"Unholy Domain" is the second book of a science fiction series that starts with "PeaceMaker." I felt it was easy to follow even though I hadn't read the first book - but I also believe that all series books should be read from start to finish.



That said, I really enjoyed this book. It is set in the near future after a computer virus was unleashed on the world. As you can imagine, because the world so heavily relies on technology, this causes complete and utter chaos. Over one million people die as a result, and 10 years later the United States has not come close to recovering - as a matter of fact they are in a depression. The government has had to enforce strict regulations on all technology to try and prevent another such tragedy.



There are two groups that are ready to go to war over this, and what a war it will be. The first group is The Church of Natural Humans. As you can see by their name they believe that technology has no place integrating with humans, and they are ready to fight to the death for that belief. Then there are The Technos. They believe that integration of humans and artificial intelligence would be completely beneficial to the world. They are also ready to fight for what they believe. There are many other complex characters and they are well developed and really keep you intrigued.



I thought the writing was fast paced and very interesting, even to a non-techy like myself. What I think I found most intriguing is the fact that a lot of this is very believable. I think under the right circumstances events in this book aren't too far off.



I am going to make sure to read the first book in the series, and am really looking forward to the third one. Thanks Dan, for the opportunity!



For more information on this book or author, please visit http://www.danronco.com/

Perfect on Paper by Maria Murnane

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: WINK'S INK (February 29, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 098004250X
ISBN-13: 978-0980042504

About the book:

Anything can look perfect…on paper. When her fiancé calls off their wedding at the last minute, Waverly Bryson wonders if her life will ever turn out the way she thought it would…or should. Her high-powered job in sports PR? Not so perfect. Her relationship with her dad? Far from it. Her perfect marriage? Enough said. Perfect...on Paper is a humorous tale of Waverly’s efforts to cobble the pieces of a broken yesterday into a brand new tomorrow. What does the future have in store for her? Will she finally find what she’s looking for? *Her dates? Cringe-inducing at times, definitely entertaining *Her friends? Often amused, definitely supportive *Her new crush? Possibly intrigued, definitely a catch *The results? Hardly perfect, definitely just right.

Waverly Bryson seems to have the perfect life. She is about to marry the man of her dreams, and when he walks in on her dress fitting she warns him that it is bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. Little does she know that bad luck is already here, as he is there to call off the wedding, and their relationship.

Like anyone who has gone through a bad relationship she gets a serious case of the blues. But, with the help of her fantastic friends she learns that life is too short to sit there and mope - time to pick up the pieces and start living again.

She knows in order to start moving on she must get back to work...and back to dating. She begins to write down quirkly sayings from all the daily mishaps she has in hopes of using them in a greeting card line.

Waverly is the type of character I love to enjoy! She is so real - not some perfect Barbie but a real woman with real problems. I actually laughed out loud a few times because of the situations she gets herself in. And the dates she goes on...wow! I think we can all identify with at least one of the situations she finds herself in. And, even if you can't you will enjoy reading about it:)

A truly unforgettable read and one of the best books of the year. It is truly hard to believe that this is her first novel, but I for one am looking forward to many more!

About the author:

Maria is currently an independent business writer and works mostly with technology and financial services companies, but she did spend a few years in sports PR. One day she quit her job and ended up in Argentina for a year, where she played semi-pro soccer and also wrote the first draft of what would eventually become Perfect on Paper. She has dedicated the book to any woman who has ever been on a really bad date or realized halfway through the workday that her skirt is on backwards.

Maria graduated with high honors in English and Spanish from UC Berkeley and received a master’s degree in integrated marketing communications from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She lives in San Francisco and can be reached at maria@mariamurnane.com. To learn more about her business writing services, click here.