The Chameleon: A Jake Palmer Novel

The Chameleon: A Jake Palmer Novel by Ron McManus
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Had me turning the pages from beginning to end...

The Chameleon by Ron McManus is a superbly written terrorist thriller with brilliantly drawn characters and settings. The threads of storytelling are so expertly woven in this action-packed and suspenseful novel that it had me hooked from the opening chapter.

In summarizing the synopsis we find Jake Palmer, investigative consultant, and former US Navy SEAL has signed on as a contractor with a top-secret US Joint Special Operations Command team in Islamabad, Pakistan. Palmer and his JSOC partner work to uncover a suspected mole and gather intelligence regarding the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapon arsenal. Fears regarding the security of the weapons escalate when Pakistan decides to deploy its arsenal and rumors surface that a shadowy figure, the Chameleon, will divert a nuclear warhead during the deployment…

The plot, the way the characters were developed, and the dialogue all entertained me. The fact that there were several twists and turns in the plot that I did not see coming contributed to the air of suspenseful mystery that surrounded the novel. The Chameleon is a rich tapestry of suspense, action, and drama that held my attention from the beginning to the very last page. Highly recommended and a well-deserved five stars from me.

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Ocean's Edge

Ocean's Edge by Jay Michael Night
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Y/A Fantasy love story with a creative plot twist...

Jay Michael Night’s “Ocean's Edge” is book 1 in the “Alius and Love series” series. In this Y/A supernatural romance, we find Alexander, a Viking vampire who has been tasked with maintaining peace in the supernatural world of Alius. While on a mission he frees a mermaid who was being held as a prisoner. He is faced with a challenging choice that must be made in order to save the mermaid's life. He develops a new species of monster from her, one that has never existed before, and turns her into a vampire. She is now his responsibility, but what he does not anticipate is the powerful love that will inevitably bond them together…

A return to the science-fiction-infused fantasy subgenre is brought about by the novel "Ocean's Edge," which is very much welcomed. The action is consistently fascinating, and any predictable happenings are deftly concealed by wonderfully realized fantasy imagery. It may have a simple template for a supernatural adventure, but it exploits its magical quirks and a broad quest to supplement all the right points for a well-rounded, very enjoyable supernatural romance. Highly recommended.

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Contrarium (The Book Glasses Series 2)

Contrarium by Arthur Bozikas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another well-written mystery and suspense fantasy thriller...

Contrarium by Arthur Bozikas is the second installment in The Book Glasses series. The author crafts a curiously engaging plot that makes this novel as captivating as the first!

As the cleverly plotted sequel informs us: Sam was unable to conceive of a second pair of glasses that possessed even more impressive abilities since the personal expense of keeping even one set of glasses was too great. If she wanted to protect the rest of her family, taking on a position of power for her country was not an option. But after uncovering the forbidden powers of the second pair of glasses, Sam understood immediately that this was all she required to put an end to everyone else who attempted to utilize the glasses' powers for the wrong reasons. As Sam discovers she is in imminent danger, will she be able to find a way to defeat her adversaries while also safeguarding her family?

If you are looking for a well-written mystery and suspense fantasy thriller with amazing characters and a gripping plot then “Contrarium” will not leave you disappointed. Highly recommended.

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Overcoming Perfectionism Anxiety and Indecision: A Brilliant but Imperfect Guide to Releasing Your Inner Achiever

Overcoming Perfectionism Anxiety and Indecision: A Brilliant but Imperfect Guide to Releasing Your Inner Achiever by CROSS BORDER BOOKS
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well worth the read...

Perfectionism is a quality that should be admired, but it can also cause unnecessary stress and have negative effects on those around you. When you strive for perfection to an unhealthy degree, the end result is that you feel exhausted and burned out all the time, and you become ineffective to everyone. “Overcoming Perfectionism Anxiety and Indecision” by Cross Border Books shows the reader that failure, or more specifically the ability to learn from it, is essential to achieving your goals. It’s a comprehensive, easy-to-understand guide that shows you how to learn from your mistakes and use them to propel you forward toward your ultimate goals. Well worth the read. Recommended.


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Elevating Your Origins to Love: A Guided Journey of Transformation, Healing, and Power

Elevating Your Origins to Love: A Guided Journey of Transformation, Healing, and Power by Susan Drury
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An interesting and enlightening read...

When we're caught up in the chaos of day-to-day life, it's easy to feel like our dreams, our personal values, our talents, and even our personality traits don't matter all that much. However, being conscious of these traits can provide us with a wealth of information regarding our internal self. Managing one's day-to-day responsibilities is certainly a priority. But living a life that is nothing more than a series of going through the same motions day in and day out doesn't typically result in a lot of enjoyment. If you've reached a point in your life where you're questioning what it's all about or feeling burdened down by past traumatic experiences, engaging in some self-discovery can help you get to know yourself a little bit better. Examining one's life, determining what aspects of it are lacking, and working to fill those voids are the steps involved in the process of self-discovery, which, despite its lofty and daunting reputation, is really quite simple. Elevating Your Origins to Love by Susan Drury is a ‘guided journey of transformation, healing, and power’ that may have the potential to make a significant influence on your thoughts and life. Recommended.

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Disruptable: Break Away from Ordinary

Disruptable: Break Away From Ordinary by Allan Young
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

If you want to continue to mature, develop, and maintain your health as you get older, you have no choice but to force yourself out of the confines of your comfort zone. The feeling of being alive and full of new energy is the reward you get for stepping outside of your comfort zone. You will learn things about yourself that you never really knew before after overcoming a challenge. The more you challenge yourself, the more confident and capable you will feel in new situations.

The old adage "Use it or lose it" used to be sufficient, but recent studies have shown that in order to delay or prevent the onset of age-related diseases, we need to keep our brains and bodies active and learn new things on a consistent basis. When you push yourself outside of your comfort zone, you give yourself the opportunity to live a longer, healthier, and more fulfilling life overall.

However, there are a lot of people who will do anything in order to keep living in the same familiar environment. In point of fact, it is estimated that many people never travel more than fifty miles from the location where they were born, and fewer than twenty-five percent of people in the United States possess a passport. Traveling is just one of many activities that can help you step outside of your comfort zone. It is not so much what you do to better yourself as it is the fact that you actually do something to improve yourself. Disruptable: Break Away from Ordinary by Allan Young is a fantastic book that will help you become a better version of yourself by providing you with real-world examples and actionable insights. Highly recommended and a well-deserved five stars from me.

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Leading to Solve Problems and Achieve Ethical Results: A Competency-Based Approach that Integrates Problem Solving and Conceptual Thinking Skills with ... for Structured Learning Book 3309) by Wesley Donahue

Leading to Solve Problems and Achieve Ethical Results : A Competency-Based Approach that Integrates Problem Solving and Conceptual Thinking Skills with ... for Structured Learning Book 3309) by Wesley Donahue
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Achieving ethical outcomes and finding practical solutions to workplace problems...

Of course, we meet issues on a daily basis. Some issues hardly ruffle our emotional feathers, while others cause significant distress. However, we tend to see all problems in the same light. We take the same strategy for dealing with them regardless of size. People have adopted this as a norm, a way of thinking, and something irrefutable as a result of being regimentally taught that an issue has just one and only one answer. When we are trained in this manner, we become rigid thinkers who apply this belief to all aspects of our lives. When we start using choice and look at a problem from a different angle, we discover that all problems can be reconstituted and reorganized to develop a new way of thinking that gives you more options and better outcomes.

Dr. Wesley Donahue's "Leading to Solve Problems and Achieve Ethical Results" explores key terms and ideas used in structured problem-solving while simultaneously emphasizing the significance of making moral choices and promoting an environment that supports continual improvement. As the author states, “By integrating problem-solving and conceptual thinking skills with self-responsibility and management, individuals and teams can work towards achieving ethical results and finding effective solutions to workplace challenges.”

Very highly recommended reading and a well-deserved five stars.

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