Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Captain America, The First Avenger

Captain America, The First Avenger

    I love superhero movies. Anyone who's read this blog for long knows that and also knows that when I see one I think is exceptional I write about it here, in this eBook review blog. So far this year I've seen Green Hornet, Thor, and Green Lantern. But the best superhero movie I've seen this year has to be Captain America.
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Why? I thought about that. And to me it's the human factor.
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Green Hornet was done as a comedy, and although I liked it, still it was a comedy typical of the humor of Seth Rogen, so it really can't even be classified in the superhero category.
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Thor - well, what can I say about Thor? He's a god. Nothing actually human about him. Sure, that was a movie with lots of special effects and costuming that was superb, but Thor doesn't relate well in the humanity category.
Green Lantern has always been my favorite superhero of all time. Basically I covet his ring. The movie, like Thor, was filled with great action, superb special effects, a great storyline - and Green lantern. At the time I saw GL it was the best superhero movie I had seen all year.
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But then I went to the theater and saw Captain America, The First Avenger.
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I've always liked Cap. He's a real guy and he was conceived and created back at the onset of World War II with the idea of having a hero who specifically fought against the Nazis. He brought the war home to millions of Americans in the pages of the comic book he starred in and then, like Batman before him, Cap was given a side-kick - Bucky. The two of them went on to beat the hell out of the Nazis for the duration of WWII, but when the war ended there no longer was a place for the ever-fighting captain.
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He vanished into Limbo until resurfacing in the fifties to fight the Communists during the "red scare" era. This was a lackluster Captain America, however, possibly because not everyone in America believed in the red scare and felt the tactics being used by those in Government to "fight the Commies" was unconstitutional. They were right.
Then our ever-returning Cap was resurrected once more in the early sixties, being found frozen and subsequently placed in suspended animation. All traces of the fifties-red-scare-Captain were scrubbed from the pages of comics with the return of the real Captain America.
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This is the Cap we pick up on in the movie: Captain America, The First Avenger.
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A crashed plane is located in the arctic and once it is uncovered the frozen body of the erstwhile Captain is discovered - suspended in ice by the process that turned him into America's answer to Hitler's "super soldier". That's when we turn back to the early forties and get our first glimpse of...
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Steve Rogers - the man before the Captain. Steve is a little man. He's short. He's weak. He can't possibly weigh more than ninety pounds soaking wet with a towel wrapped around him. Bullies single him out to be their target, because he's such an easy mark. He obviously can't fight, but he refuses to back down. That makes for a lot of bruises and busted up ego. Steve doesn't care. He hates bullies.
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But the worst thing about Steve Rogers is that America has just gotten involved in WWII and enlistment is at an all-time high across this nation. Men are signing up in droves to head over to Europe and fight the Nazis. Steve Rogers? He's classified as 4F. That means he's rejected as unfit for combat duty. He's a sickly, underdeveloped wimp in the eyes of the doctors examining him and they know if he ever gets even close to a battle line he'd get his ass kicked in seconds. No sense in sending an American boy overseas when you know beforehand he doesn't stand a gnat's chance in hell of coming back alive.
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But there's nothing Steve Rogers wants more than to fight Nazis, not because he wants to kill them, but because he sees them as the consummate bullies and Steve hates bullies - with a passion. So much so that he ventures around to five separate enlistment centers hoping beyond hope that he can bluff his way through one of them. He doesn't. What he does accomplish is to come to the attention of one Doctor Abraham Erskine, late of "der Fuhrer's" own super soldier program where he barely escaped with his life and fled to America.
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Dr. Erskine is recreating his super soldier program in America for the US government in the hopes of building an entire army of such soldiers that will be able to demolish the troops of Nazis trying to overrun the world. What he gets is Steve Rogers, because the serum used magnifies whatever is intrinsic within a person. If he's a bully, he will be truly evil. If he's an idealist who loves his fellow man, he will be a champion for truth, justice, and the American way.
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That's what I liked most about this movie, Captain America, The First Avenger. Not the superhero exploits, although they were excellent. Not the buffed image of Chris Evans as he charges across Europe beating the hell out of Nazis and rescuing captured American soldiers. Not the fact that he fights against true evil in the form of one Nazi who is the sole recipient of Dr. Erskine's prior experimentation and renaming himself the Red Skull (Take note of the fact that this same actor - Hugo Weaving - played "Mr. Smith" in the original Matrix movie and in this one his name is "Herr Schmidt". Ya gotta love Hollywood's sense of humor). Not even that iconic red, white and blue costume with the singular white star emblazoned upon the chest and the stripes running vertically down his abdomen. What I like best about this movie is the fact that Steve Rogers epitomizes everything those of us who were raised on comic books and subsequently internalized every bit of what the heroes within their pages had to offer - his love for humanity and his desire to protect it from itself.
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If you don't go to another movie at the theater all year, definitely be sure to see Captain America, The First Avenger. No need to see it in 3D - regular is just as exciting. And be certain you stay until after the credits for the "first look" at the Avengers movie being released next year. It's well worth the wait.
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Captain America The First Avenger - the BEST superhero movie this year and of all time in my humble estimation. See it.

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Other eBooks from Smashwords you might enjoy reading:

Bug, Naked & Horny by Jackson Williams. $0.99 from Smashwords.com
What would you do if you suddenly sprouted dragonfly wings and found you could spit acid out your ass? Those problems are bad enough for Paula Sterlington, but she's also now only four inches tall, homeless and buck naked. Then she meets Mike Henderson who shows her size really doesn't matter, as long as the sex is great. And Paula has developed an insatiable lust for seriously hot horn-dog sex.


Sexposing SupraBabe by Jackson Williams. $0.99 from Smashwords.com
Maureen Donnigal has found herself endowed with super powers unlike any Super before her. Her only restriction is she can never have sex with men, only women. So what is she supposed to do when the Irish mob in Chicago kidnaps her parents and holds them hostage until she agrees to have brutal, wild sex, all recorded on DVD in order to discredit her to the world and ruin her reputaion?

Blue Rose by Andrew Burke. $4.99 from Smashwords.com
Blue Rose is a gritty and confronting novel set in Western Australia’s conservative late Fifties and early Sixties. It follows the turbulent life of Rose, a young teenage runaway with resilience, innate intelligence - and a good singing voice.


Isadora DayStar by P.I. Barrington. $1.99 from Smashwords.com
When drug addled assassin Isadora DayStar finally snags a major interplanetary killing job, she thinks it will both support her habit and revise her status as the laughingstock of her profession. Instead, she embarks on a journey that brings her face to face with her tortured past.



Tracer's Blues by N.C. Hyzy. $2.99 from Smashwords.com
Three short stories introducing Bets Tracer who wants to be a PI in the worst way. If only she had a clue... by the author of the bestselling White House Chef Mystery and Manor House Mystery series, writing under her N.C. (not cozy) pseudonym.


Judgment Day by Patricia Shannon. $2.99 from Smashwords.com
Janine Day is devastated when her fourteen-year-old daughter commits suicide after being sexually assaulted by a man she first met in a chat room on the Internet. Jan decides that the law and the courts aren’t doing enough to stop these vicious criminals from preying on gullible teenagers, so she seeks her own justice. In her own way.


* * * * *
From Jacob M. Drake
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Cover for 'F. U. L. L.  M. O. O. N.  -  W. E. R. E. W. O. L. F.'   
F.U.L.L. M.O.O.N. W.E.R.E.W.O.L.F.
A Novel of the B.A.B.E.S. Megaverse
Ebook Price: $3.99 USD. 84919 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on June 3, 2011
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Hector Silva had been recruited by S.T.U.D.S., the counter-part organization to B.A.B.E.S., both covert agencies that took qualified humans, although one utilized only males while the other only females, and transformed them into super-powered operatives who utilized their abilities toward locating, stopping and imprisoning criminals throughout the city of Chicago. During the process that endowed him with his new super-abilities, however, something went horribly wrong and Hector Silva, rather than becoming a hero, was tansformed into a large, slavering, drooling, ravenous werewolf. Comprised of a human-lupine hybrid body, his mind completely devoid of the human intellect, Hector Silva escaped the S.T.U.D.S. labs and took to the streets of Chicago. ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
.
Cover for 'Forever the Dark Grave' 
Forever the Dark Grave
Ebook Price: $3.99 USD. 76460 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on December 23, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Free from his enslavement, the vampire known as Phoenix searches for the way to stop his former master from enslaving all mankind. He discovers powers within him not common to other vampires and meets the most ancient of all his Kind. But werewolves try to keep him from success. Then he is once more trapped by those he once served and placed in a tomb that will be for him forever the dark grave.
.
Cover for 'Darkness in the Light' 
Darkness in the Light
Ebook Price: $4.99 USD. 140520 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on November 29, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Nic Draca wakes in a puddle in an alley, a tattoo etched on his face. Worst of all he finds he now has a taste for blood - human blood. As he discovers what happened to make him this way he finds himself becoming entrenched in a world of darkness he never knew existed. Both vampires and werewolves are real in the world he thought he knew. Where does he fit in? Second in the Forever Darkness Series.
.
Cover for 'Dark Angel: Fallen' 
Dark Angel: Fallen
Ebook Price: $3.99 USD. 110800 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on June 1, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
What if your greatest wishes could be fulfilled? What if granting those wishes meant fighting for your life against the greatest obstacles? With one homeless orphan having his wishes granted meant saving his life and fulfilling his greatest dreams - until he learned at what cost they were granted. Now he has to use everything he has to survive. Everything comes with a price - especially happiness.
.
Cover for 'Superion' 
Superion
Ebook Price: ONLY $0.99 USD. 62900 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on March 21, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.

On a world where many beings have great power Solarian is the greatest of them all - until the day an unknown super-hero fell from the sky - someone who was almost Solarian's identical twin called Superion. Who is he really and why has he come just when the greatest danger to Earth surfaces and a trio of villains runs rampant? In a new series of The Many Worlds of the Solarian challenges await.
.
Cover for 'Forever Undead' 
Forever Undead
Ebook Price: $4.99 USD. 101610 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on March 14, 2010
 Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
When a family man finds his less-than-perfect life turned completely upside down by his becoming a vampire everything he knows and values is called into question, especially when other vampires expect him to assist them in staging a coup that will result in the ravaging and enslavement of all humans. He must then decide what it means for him to live forever. First of the Forever Darkness series.
.
Cover for 'Rebirth of the Gods' 
Rebirth of the Gods
Ebook Price: $4.99 USD. 164250 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on March 12, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
In ancient times there were beings who were worshipped as gods. Some have wondered if these were actually divine beings or merely those with special power? On one Earth exist beings with such Power who are seen as heroes or villains. One of these villains flees to another Earth and assumes the guise of a god...and demands to be worshipped in his own way. ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
.
.Cover for 'B. A. B. E. S.' 
B. A. B. E. S.
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 75320 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 28, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
There's a new breed of hero in town: B.A.B.E.S. The Bioenergized Alpha Beta Electrolyte Stimulation process turns willing female participants into superheroes, but not everything is at it seems. Il Divavolo lurks in the background to turn these heroines into her minions. Villains just want them for their bodies. Isn't sex what moves this society? A collection of erotic stories not in comic books. ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
.
Cover for 'S. T. U. D. S.' 
S. T. U. D. S.
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 80710 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on March 7, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
The B.A.B.E.S. operatives aren't the only super-powered beings operating out of Chicago any longer. Now they have male counterparts to contend with as well as all the others out there looking to capture them and use them for sexual purposes. Are the men of S.T.U.D.S. a force for good or evil? That's what the B.A.B.E.S. have to find out for themselves. Can they take what S.T.U.D.S. dishes out? ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
.
Cover for 'The Complete Book of B.A.B.E.S..' 
The Complete Book of B.A.B.E.S.
Ebook Price: $5.95 USD. 153030 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on May 12, 2011
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
If you enjoyed reading B.A.B.E.S. or the sequel S.T.U.D.S., but wanted to read stories from each book alternately without changing books, now you can. Both B.A.B.E.S. and S.T.U.D.S. have been joined together into one HUGE volume containing all the stories from each at one low price. Start reading and enjoy. ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
.
Cover for 'Pumpkin Jack Skull and Other Tales of Terror' 
Pumpkin Jack Skull and Other Tales of Terror
Ebook Price: FREE! 63710 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 27, 2010
Available FREE at both Smashwords and Amazon.
A teenage boy discovers more on Halloween than he bargained for. A child realizes his mother is a powerful witch. A hero comes to understand the truth of what lies within him. Seven tales of terror fill the pages of this collection of short stories of the supernatural. Be prepared to have your spine chilled and your stomach churned. Not for the squeamish.
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Cover for 'Xkalibur'   
Xkalibur
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 68730 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 25, 2010
 Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Patrick Riley, college student, suddenly finds himself holding two ancient swords - and his body transformed into that of a metallic warrior. Is it possible his old friend Cameron Kensington can help or have Cameron's own changes made him the enemy? The second book of The Many Worlds of the Solarian. There are too many changes coming to miss a single installment.
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Cover for 'Parallels' 
Parallels
Ebook Price: Now ONLY $0.99 USD. 87350 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 20, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Marshall Montgomery is a young man with extraordinary powers who is completely alone with no one to share his powers with - until he discovers a parallel universe where others with meta-human abilities exist. Marshall implements a method for traversing the dimensional barrier and begins a new life. But is it all he expected it to be? Book One of a new series "The Many Worlds of the Solarian".
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From Jackson Williams
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Cover for 'New Life' 
New Life
Ebook Price: $3.99 USD. 85140 words. by Jackson Williams and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 4, 2011
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
This is a biographical account based upon the true life story of Brooke McKellogg, a young woman who was born male and realized at an early age she was intended to be a girl. This stirring drama reveals the heartaches and joys of Brooke's life as she grew through her teen years and underwent the gender reassignment surgery necessary in order to become the real girl she was meant to be.
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The Ladyboy Killer
Ebook Price: $0.99 USD. 28469 words. by Jackson Williams and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on July 14, 2011
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon
Not everyone enjoys lives filled with great or even interesting events. Some lives are so boring they would make turtles yawn. For one low-level office worker named Geoff that's certainly the case, until one night while working late when he receives an unknown visitor who turns his entire world upside down. Prepare to laugh, weep, and use a lot of tissues. Hope you're reading this in private.
Cover for 'NecroTales' 
NecroTales
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 29240 words. by Jackson Williams and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on December 31, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Necrillia, the Mistress of Death gives a humorous take on those within the grave and other tales of death and dying, including re-animated corpses, morgues after hours, the not-yet-dead, and those about to be dead. These all give us a humorous look at life and what might lie beyond it. Must be 18 years of age or older to read this book. All characters used within are 18 or older.
.

Cover for 'Meri XXXMas Cherry' 
Meri XXXMas Cherry
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 31210 words. by Jackson Williams and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on December 27, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Meri Garner was raised cherishing her virginity. Until she found out how much more fun she could have being promiscuous. With the help of her best friend Meri auctions her virginity off on the internet. This and other erotic stories will titillate you for hours. All characters in this book are 18 years of age or older. Must be 18 years or older to read this book.
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# # # #

Saturday, July 16, 2011

A Boring Life - No Longer

Cover for 'The Ladyboy Killer'     Most often I don't read biographies. Maybe if they're about someone famous or special, like when I was a kid and read the biography of Harry Houdini, another time of Bob Hope and once even of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, but normally, if they're about the "average Joe", like me, why bother? But I've learned when it comes to certain indie authors, such as Jackson Williams, who previously published a heart-stopping, tear-jerking, rah-rah-shouting novel titled New Life: The Inspiring Story of Brooke McKellogg, it pays to pay attention when he comes out with another biography.
This new biography, The Ladyboy Killer, though nowhere near as long as New Life, the former being only slightly over 28,000 words while the latter is 85,000, is still a unique blend of heart-wrenching travesty, humorous deprication and rugged eroticsm. Yes, that's the key to anything written by Jackson Williams, the fact that he chooses people to write about whose interesting facets are generally sexual in nature.
New Life was about a boy who always knew he was supposed to be a girl and after approaching his parents on the matter at the age of twelve, began living exclusively as a girl until reaching the age of eighteen, when "the Big Op" changed Bobby into Brooke for the remainder of her life. The Ladyboy Killer is somewhat similar in the subject matter dealt with, yet so different in approach and results that I won't say anything more about it for fear of spoiling the storyline for all who read this well-crafted novella. All I will say is that as I read The Ladyboy Killer I created certain thoughts and conceptions in my mind as I "met the players" and figured out what was going to happen next. I was definitely wrong - on many counts, though in retrospect I suppose it should have been obvious. But that's almost a spoiler in and of itself, so I'll stray away from that and urge you to get a copy of The Ladyboy Killer, by the outbreak indie author of the year, Jackson Williams. This novella, which gives a taste of the first few chapters of New Life at the end as well, is only 99 cents at both Smashwords and Amazon. You won't be sorry you spent that buck or whatever it translates into in the United Kingdom and Germany.
****Be warned, as stated above, The Ladyboy Killer has plenty of graphic sex and is NOT for anyone under the age of 18 or with immature sensibilities about sexual situations.****

* * * * *

Other Smashwords eBooks you might enjoy reading:

Hell's Gate by Scott Winfield. $5.99 from Smashwords.com
IT WAS A COLD SPRING night on the outskirts of Pineville, New York. The trees blew back and forth from the strain of a brink wind. Instead of finding a hotel, I decided to find me a place to sleep for the night.


Beach Slapped by Barton Howe. $4.99 from Smashwords.com
It begins with an over-exed sea lion and ends with the spirit of Steve McQueen dispensing justice on the streets of Surfland,Oregon. In between, a nudist mascot, a pissed off young woman and a lottery ticket gone horribly right team up to make the streets safe for little old ladies. A thriller in the South Florida tradition,Howe presents a hilarious rain of weirdness on America’s wettest edge.


Time Well Spent - Name's Edition by Bella Marie . $2.99 from Smashwords.com
How about some sexy quick read adult erotica to get you in motivated to experiment with all kinds of ideas? This is the second edition of this book that I modified for readers! This almost 32,000 word, 15 total short stories are sure to warm you up even if you don’t have a fireplace!


Mango and Sticky Rice by William Peskett. $6.49 from Smashwords.com
A lascivious executive who prefers lady-boys to ladies, a colour-blind sperm donor, a ghost in a bar, a Canadian who says he’s from Latvia and a widow finding her husband’s roots in Crete—these are just some of the characters with roles in this collection of poignant short stories. Amusing, sometimes comical and occasionally sad, these tales set in Thailand are always touching.

* * * * *
From Jacob M. Drake
.
Cover for 'F. U. L. L.  M. O. O. N.  -  W. E. R. E. W. O. L. F.'   
F.U.L.L. M.O.O.N. W.E.R.E.W.O.L.F.
A Novel of the B.A.B.E.S. Megaverse
Ebook Price: $3.99 USD. 84919 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on June 3, 2011
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Hector Silva had been recruited by S.T.U.D.S., the counter-part organization to B.A.B.E.S., both covert agencies that took qualified humans, although one utilized only males while the other only females, and transformed them into super-powered operatives who utilized their abilities toward locating, stopping and imprisoning criminals throughout the city of Chicago. During the process that endowed him with his new super-abilities, however, something went horribly wrong and Hector Silva, rather than becoming a hero, was tansformed into a large, slavering, drooling, ravenous werewolf. Comprised of a human-lupine hybrid body, his mind completely devoid of the human intellect, Hector Silva escaped the S.T.U.D.S. labs and took to the streets of Chicago. ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
.
Cover for 'Forever the Dark Grave' 
Forever the Dark Grave
Ebook Price: $3.99 USD. 76460 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on December 23, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Free from his enslavement, the vampire known as Phoenix searches for the way to stop his former master from enslaving all mankind. He discovers powers within him not common to other vampires and meets the most ancient of all his Kind. But werewolves try to keep him from success. Then he is once more trapped by those he once served and placed in a tomb that will be for him forever the dark grave.
.
Cover for 'Darkness in the Light' 
Darkness in the Light
Ebook Price: $4.99 USD. 140520 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on November 29, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Nic Draca wakes in a puddle in an alley, a tattoo etched on his face. Worst of all he finds he now has a taste for blood - human blood. As he discovers what happened to make him this way he finds himself becoming entrenched in a world of darkness he never knew existed. Both vampires and werewolves are real in the world he thought he knew. Where does he fit in? Second in the Forever Darkness Series.
.
Cover for 'Dark Angel: Fallen' 
Dark Angel: Fallen
Ebook Price: $3.99 USD. 110800 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on June 1, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
What if your greatest wishes could be fulfilled? What if granting those wishes meant fighting for your life against the greatest obstacles? With one homeless orphan having his wishes granted meant saving his life and fulfilling his greatest dreams - until he learned at what cost they were granted. Now he has to use everything he has to survive. Everything comes with a price - especially happiness.
.
Cover for 'Superion' 
Superion
Ebook Price: ONLY $0.99 USD. 62900 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on March 21, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.

On a world where many beings have great power Solarian is the greatest of them all - until the day an unknown super-hero fell from the sky - someone who was almost Solarian's identical twin called Superion. Who is he really and why has he come just when the greatest danger to Earth surfaces and a trio of villains runs rampant? In a new series of The Many Worlds of the Solarian challenges await.
.
Cover for 'Forever Undead' 
Forever Undead
Ebook Price: $4.99 USD. 101610 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on March 14, 2010
 Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
When a family man finds his less-than-perfect life turned completely upside down by his becoming a vampire everything he knows and values is called into question, especially when other vampires expect him to assist them in staging a coup that will result in the ravaging and enslavement of all humans. He must then decide what it means for him to live forever. First of the Forever Darkness series.
.
Cover for 'Rebirth of the Gods' 
Rebirth of the Gods
Ebook Price: $4.99 USD. 164250 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on March 12, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
In ancient times there were beings who were worshipped as gods. Some have wondered if these were actually divine beings or merely those with special power? On one Earth exist beings with such Power who are seen as heroes or villains. One of these villains flees to another Earth and assumes the guise of a god...and demands to be worshipped in his own way. ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
.
.Cover for 'B. A. B. E. S.' 
B. A. B. E. S.
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 75320 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 28, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
There's a new breed of hero in town: B.A.B.E.S. The Bioenergized Alpha Beta Electrolyte Stimulation process turns willing female participants into superheroes, but not everything is at it seems. Il Divavolo lurks in the background to turn these heroines into her minions. Villains just want them for their bodies. Isn't sex what moves this society? A collection of erotic stories not in comic books. ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
.
Cover for 'S. T. U. D. S.' 
S. T. U. D. S.
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 80710 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on March 7, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
The B.A.B.E.S. operatives aren't the only super-powered beings operating out of Chicago any longer. Now they have male counterparts to contend with as well as all the others out there looking to capture them and use them for sexual purposes. Are the men of S.T.U.D.S. a force for good or evil? That's what the B.A.B.E.S. have to find out for themselves. Can they take what S.T.U.D.S. dishes out? ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
.
Cover for 'The Complete Book of B.A.B.E.S..' 
The Complete Book of B.A.B.E.S.
Ebook Price: $5.95 USD. 153030 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on May 12, 2011
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
If you enjoyed reading B.A.B.E.S. or the sequel S.T.U.D.S., but wanted to read stories from each book alternately without changing books, now you can. Both B.A.B.E.S. and S.T.U.D.S. have been joined together into one HUGE volume containing all the stories from each at one low price. Start reading and enjoy. ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
.
Cover for 'Pumpkin Jack Skull and Other Tales of Terror' 
Pumpkin Jack Skull and Other Tales of Terror
Ebook Price: FREE! 63710 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 27, 2010
Available FREE at both Smashwords and Amazon.
A teenage boy discovers more on Halloween than he bargained for. A child realizes his mother is a powerful witch. A hero comes to understand the truth of what lies within him. Seven tales of terror fill the pages of this collection of short stories of the supernatural. Be prepared to have your spine chilled and your stomach churned. Not for the squeamish.
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Cover for 'Xkalibur'  
Xkalibur
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 68730 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 25, 2010
 Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Patrick Riley, college student, suddenly finds himself holding two ancient swords - and his body transformed into that of a metallic warrior. Is it possible his old friend Cameron Kensington can help or have Cameron's own changes made him the enemy? The second book of The Many Worlds of the Solarian. There are too many changes coming to miss a single installment.
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Cover for 'Parallels' 
Parallels
Ebook Price: Now ONLY $0.99 USD. 87350 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 20, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Marshall Montgomery is a young man with extraordinary powers who is completely alone with no one to share his powers with - until he discovers a parallel universe where others with meta-human abilities exist. Marshall implements a method for traversing the dimensional barrier and begins a new life. But is it all he expected it to be? Book One of a new series "The Many Worlds of the Solarian".
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From Jackson Williams
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Cover for 'New Life' 
New Life
Ebook Price: $3.99 USD. 85140 words. by Jackson Williams and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 4, 2011
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
This is a biographical account based upon the true life story of Brooke McKellogg, a young woman who was born male and realized at an early age she was intended to be a girl. This stirring drama reveals the heartaches and joys of Brooke's life as she grew through her teen years and underwent the gender reassignment surgery necessary in order to become the real girl she was meant to be.
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Cover for 'NecroTales' 
NecroTales
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 29240 words. by Jackson Williams and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on December 31, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Necrillia, the Mistress of Death gives a humorous take on those within the grave and other tales of death and dying, including re-animated corpses, morgues after hours, the not-yet-dead, and those about to be dead. These all give us a humorous look at life and what might lie beyond it. Must be 18 years of age or older to read this book. All characters used within are 18 or older.
.

Cover for 'Meri XXXMas Cherry' 
Meri XXXMas Cherry
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 31210 words. by Jackson Williams and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on December 27, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Meri Garner was raised cherishing her virginity. Until she found out how much more fun she could have being promiscuous. With the help of her best friend Meri auctions her virginity off on the internet. This and other erotic stories will titillate you for hours. All characters in this book are 18 years of age or older. Must be 18 years or older to read this book.
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Friday, July 15, 2011

Citizen Zero

Cover for 'Citizen Zero'    Ever wonder how the Matrix got started? I'm talking about that computerized program of artificial intelligence that eventually ended up enslaving all of mankind and keeping everyone trapped within bio-chambers while the computers utilized the energy the humans produced to run their world, which was actually the human's world, Earth, but the AI had taken it over, so effectively, it had become the AI's world. Phew. Confusing, I know.
In Citizen Zero, written by Smashwords indie author Mark Cantrell, we find a world where the Social Security Administration, as well as other governmental agencies, has devised an AI, or I suppose I should say an AR, since it is the artificial reality program that was used in this story, to enslave mankind. Naturally, Social Security has the "highest motives" in mind for the betterment of mankind (as if anyone would believe anything evil in the intentions of SS), that being that by taking all those who have not been able to secure viable work in a set time period and electively wiring them into the AR, named JobNet (hmmm, now we have a possible link to The Terminator as well? Similar names breed similar circumstsances I see...) thus placing these masses of the unemployed into a dream world where they are able to network with others and continue their job search while utilizing far less in sustainable resources while in their induced coma-like states than they would were they still walking about in society seeking employment and using the real resources. There's only one problem, which is summarized in the age old maxim - "power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." JobNet proves this maxim as absolutely true.
We find in this society that the Powers That Be are utilizing the energy drawn from these "sleeping job seekers" and eventually decide it is to the "benefit of mankind", meaning of course TPTB, to retain as many unemployed citizens within the AR as possible. Problem is, someone figures it out and decides to utilize the psyche of one of these unemployables as a sleeper agent within the AR to bring about its eventual destruction.

In Mark Cantrell's novel, ah, novel we find a society bent upon achieving exactly what the movie industry began in the middle of when The Matrix (the first of the trilogy, not the second or third, which were both travesties of a horrible kind) was produced. This author has some weak points in his story in the area of typos and grammar, but not enough to ruin an enjoyable read. If you ever wondered how the Matrix began, this may give you at the very least a plausible reason.

Citizen Zero, by Mark Cantrell, is available at both Smashwords and Amazon.

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Other eBooks from Smashwords you might enjoy reading:
Towards Yesterday by Paul Jones. $0.99 from Smashwords.com
What would you do if you suddenly found yourself twenty-five years in the past? For the nine-billion people of the year 2042 it's no longer a question ... it is a reality. When a seemingly simple experiment goes disastrously wrong, James Baston finds himself stranded alongside the rest of mankind, twenty-five years in the past.


Wilhite's Weird Fiction Volume One by George Wilhite. $0.99 from Smashwords.com
George Wilhite has been named “a talented author in a genre that seemed to be dying out...giving us weird fiction fans something to sink our teeth into." (Bitten By Books--The Blood Bank). This first volume of Wilhite’s Weird Fiction offers sixteen tales that showcase a wide range of horror, from everyday madness to monsters in distant realms.


The Rock 'n' Roll Detective's Greatest Hits by Raymond Benson. $2.99 from Smashwords.com
An anthology containing the complete "Spike Berenger Rock 'n' Roll Hits": the two novels A HARD DAY'S DEATH and Shamus Award nominee DARK SIDE OF THE MORGUE, plus the rare short story ON THE THRESHOLD OF A DREAM. Join P.I. Spike Berenger on three thrilling rides through a web of mystery and mayhem, and the usual sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll!


The Phoenix Group Rising by Colin Andrews. $2.99 from Smashwords.com
Some secrets should remain undiscovered. Now a new fight has begun, to stop our existance from coming to an end. You can't outrun it and you can't hide from it. For Dr Gillan and his friends, if they lose this deadly fight...so will you.
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The eBooks below all 50% off throughout July 2011 at Smashwords.com

From Jacob M. Drake
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Cover for 'F. U. L. L.  M. O. O. N.  -  W. E. R. E. W. O. L. F.'   
F.U.L.L. M.O.O.N. W.E.R.E.W.O.L.F.
A Novel of the B.A.B.E.S. Megaverse
Ebook Price: $3.99 USD. 84919 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on June 3, 2011
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Hector Silva had been recruited by S.T.U.D.S., the counter-part organization to B.A.B.E.S., both covert agencies that took qualified humans, although one utilized only males while the other only females, and transformed them into super-powered operatives who utilized their abilities toward locating, stopping and imprisoning criminals throughout the city of Chicago. During the process that endowed him with his new super-abilities, however, something went horribly wrong and Hector Silva, rather than becoming a hero, was tansformed into a large, slavering, drooling, ravenous werewolf. Comprised of a human-lupine hybrid body, his mind completely devoid of the human intellect, Hector Silva escaped the S.T.U.D.S. labs and took to the streets of Chicago. ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
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Cover for 'Forever the Dark Grave' 
Forever the Dark Grave
Ebook Price: $3.99 USD. 76460 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on December 23, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Free from his enslavement, the vampire known as Phoenix searches for the way to stop his former master from enslaving all mankind. He discovers powers within him not common to other vampires and meets the most ancient of all his Kind. But werewolves try to keep him from success. Then he is once more trapped by those he once served and placed in a tomb that will be for him forever the dark grave.
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Cover for 'Darkness in the Light' 
Darkness in the Light
Ebook Price: $4.99 USD. 140520 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on November 29, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Nic Draca wakes in a puddle in an alley, a tattoo etched on his face. Worst of all he finds he now has a taste for blood - human blood. As he discovers what happened to make him this way he finds himself becoming entrenched in a world of darkness he never knew existed. Both vampires and werewolves are real in the world he thought he knew. Where does he fit in? Second in the Forever Darkness Series.
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Cover for 'Dark Angel: Fallen' 
Dark Angel: Fallen
Ebook Price: $3.99 USD. 110800 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on June 1, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
What if your greatest wishes could be fulfilled? What if granting those wishes meant fighting for your life against the greatest obstacles? With one homeless orphan having his wishes granted meant saving his life and fulfilling his greatest dreams - until he learned at what cost they were granted. Now he has to use everything he has to survive. Everything comes with a price - especially happiness.
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Cover for 'Superion' 
Superion
Ebook Price: ONLY $0.99 USD. 62900 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on March 21, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.

On a world where many beings have great power Solarian is the greatest of them all - until the day an unknown super-hero fell from the sky - someone who was almost Solarian's identical twin called Superion. Who is he really and why has he come just when the greatest danger to Earth surfaces and a trio of villains runs rampant? In a new series of The Many Worlds of the Solarian challenges await.
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Cover for 'Forever Undead' 
Forever Undead
Ebook Price: $4.99 USD. 101610 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on March 14, 2010
 Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
When a family man finds his less-than-perfect life turned completely upside down by his becoming a vampire everything he knows and values is called into question, especially when other vampires expect him to assist them in staging a coup that will result in the ravaging and enslavement of all humans. He must then decide what it means for him to live forever. First of the Forever Darkness series.
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Cover for 'Rebirth of the Gods' 
Rebirth of the Gods
Ebook Price: $4.99 USD. 164250 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on March 12, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
In ancient times there were beings who were worshipped as gods. Some have wondered if these were actually divine beings or merely those with special power? On one Earth exist beings with such Power who are seen as heroes or villains. One of these villains flees to another Earth and assumes the guise of a god...and demands to be worshipped in his own way. ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
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.Cover for 'B. A. B. E. S.' 
B. A. B. E. S.
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 75320 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 28, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
There's a new breed of hero in town: B.A.B.E.S. The Bioenergized Alpha Beta Electrolyte Stimulation process turns willing female participants into superheroes, but not everything is at it seems. Il Divavolo lurks in the background to turn these heroines into her minions. Villains just want them for their bodies. Isn't sex what moves this society? A collection of erotic stories not in comic books. ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
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Cover for 'S. T. U. D. S.' 
S. T. U. D. S.
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 80710 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on March 7, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
The B.A.B.E.S. operatives aren't the only super-powered beings operating out of Chicago any longer. Now they have male counterparts to contend with as well as all the others out there looking to capture them and use them for sexual purposes. Are the men of S.T.U.D.S. a force for good or evil? That's what the B.A.B.E.S. have to find out for themselves. Can they take what S.T.U.D.S. dishes out? ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
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Cover for 'The Complete Book of B.A.B.E.S..' 
The Complete Book of B.A.B.E.S.
Ebook Price: $5.95 USD. 153030 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on May 12, 2011
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
If you enjoyed reading B.A.B.E.S. or the sequel S.T.U.D.S., but wanted to read stories from each book alternately without changing books, now you can. Both B.A.B.E.S. and S.T.U.D.S. have been joined together into one HUGE volume containing all the stories from each at one low price. Start reading and enjoy. ****Adult theme - Not for immature readers.
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Cover for 'Pumpkin Jack Skull and Other Tales of Terror' 
Pumpkin Jack Skull and Other Tales of Terror
Ebook Price: FREE! 63710 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 27, 2010
Available FREE at both Smashwords and Amazon.
A teenage boy discovers more on Halloween than he bargained for. A child realizes his mother is a powerful witch. A hero comes to understand the truth of what lies within him. Seven tales of terror fill the pages of this collection of short stories of the supernatural. Be prepared to have your spine chilled and your stomach churned. Not for the squeamish.
.
Cover for 'Xkalibur'  
Xkalibur
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 68730 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 25, 2010
 Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Patrick Riley, college student, suddenly finds himself holding two ancient swords - and his body transformed into that of a metallic warrior. Is it possible his old friend Cameron Kensington can help or have Cameron's own changes made him the enemy? The second book of The Many Worlds of the Solarian. There are too many changes coming to miss a single installment.
.
Cover for 'Parallels' 
Parallels
Ebook Price: Now ONLY $0.99 USD. 87350 words. by Jacob M. Drake and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 20, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Marshall Montgomery is a young man with extraordinary powers who is completely alone with no one to share his powers with - until he discovers a parallel universe where others with meta-human abilities exist. Marshall implements a method for traversing the dimensional barrier and begins a new life. But is it all he expected it to be? Book One of a new series "The Many Worlds of the Solarian".
.
From Jackson Williams
.
Cover for 'New Life' 
New Life
Ebook Price: $3.99 USD. 85140 words. by Jackson Williams and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on February 4, 2011
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
This is a biographical account based upon the true life story of Brooke McKellogg, a young woman who was born male and realized at an early age she was intended to be a girl. This stirring drama reveals the heartaches and joys of Brooke's life as she grew through her teen years and underwent the gender reassignment surgery necessary in order to become the real girl she was meant to be.
.
Cover for 'NecroTales' 
NecroTales
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 29240 words. by Jackson Williams and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on December 31, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Necrillia, the Mistress of Death gives a humorous take on those within the grave and other tales of death and dying, including re-animated corpses, morgues after hours, the not-yet-dead, and those about to be dead. These all give us a humorous look at life and what might lie beyond it. Must be 18 years of age or older to read this book. All characters used within are 18 or older.
.

Cover for 'Meri XXXMas Cherry' 
Meri XXXMas Cherry
Ebook Price: $2.99 USD. 31210 words. by Jackson Williams and published by Crescent Suns e-Books  on December 27, 2010
Available at both Smashwords and Amazon.
Meri Garner was raised cherishing her virginity. Until she found out how much more fun she could have being promiscuous. With the help of her best friend Meri auctions her virginity off on the internet. This and other erotic stories will titillate you for hours. All characters in this book are 18 years of age or older. Must be 18 years or older to read this book.
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