The Next Thing I Knew (Heavenly) by John Corwin

When Lucy Morgan drops dead along with everyone else on Earth she refuses to take death lying down even if, technically, her corpse is.
She drags her ghostly social life back from the grave and enlists her friends to figure out the rules of the afterlife. More importantly, they want to discover who or what killed everyone and why the heck anyone would do such a mean thing.
But what they discover changes everything. And if they can't figure out how to put their new found ghostly powers to work, humanity will be extinct for good. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

The Next Thing I Knew is an interesting YA science fiction/fantasy novel.  Seventeen year old, protagonist Lucy Morgan wakes up to discover she and everyone else on the planet are dead; ghosts. 

Lucy is a well rounded character who comes into her own as the story progresses.  She is funny and sees the good in others.  She ultimately becomes the leader of a small group of teens.  They set out to discover what happened and save Earth.  The plot is a unique, post-apocalyptic story.  Typical of most YA books, the story developed at a fast pace keeping the reader on a roller coaster ride.  There is some romance and implied sex, but the story line revolves around saving the earth.

Corwin’s imagination and writing style is well thought out and enjoyable.  While it isn't completely believable, it fits into the realm of fantasy.  Fantasy fans will enjoy the aliens and ghosts.  Fans of science fiction will love the technology scattered throughout the tale.  The Next Thing I Knew touched on good versus evil along with religious and moral issues.  Overall, this is a good read and I recommend it to those who enjoy fantasy and science fiction in a young adult genre. 

I want to thank John Corwin for sharing this novel with me in exchange for my unbiased review. 

I gave this book 3 coffee cups out of 5. 

buy here: B&N or here: Amazon

author's website: John Corwin

The Black Prism (Lightbringer #1) by Brent Weeks

Gavin Guile is the Prism, the most powerful man in the world. He is high priest and emperor, a man whose power, wit, and charm are all that preserves a tenuous peace.  But Prisms never last, and Guile knows exactly how long he has left to live: Five years to achieve five impossible goals.
But when Guile discovers he has a son, born in a far kingdom.  After the war that put him in power, he must decide how much he's willing to pay to protect a secret that could tear his world apart. (from Goodreads)

I absolutely love the world Weeks has created in Black Prism.  This book is pure fantasy and the saga (part of a trilogy) looks to be exquisite.  The magic used in this realm is based on light and color. It is quite unique and different.  I was a little confused at first, but quickly figured out how this power was used.  I like the way Weeks was a little vague leaving plenty of room for surprises and tweaks.  The plot is brilliant and the battles are epic.  The book is over 600 pages long, but don’t let that scare you.  It is seamlessly written and captivating; a gripping story that will leave you begging for more.

Weeks characters were complex and I felt engaged and connected with them.  Our young protagonist Kip is fifteen and the bastard child of Gavin Guile, the Prism.  He is a chubby, quick to temper, loyal, winey, courageous and loveable hero.  I was entranced by so many of the characters in this book especially, Gavin, Dazen, Liv, Kallis, Corvan, Ironfist and the White.

 The political games and the way Weeks describes this world and its history brought the pages to life.  Just when I thought I knew the direction the story was going and who was who, Weeks turned everything inside out.  It made me crazy, it made me mad and I want more.  There were a few sub-plots which made the story more fascinating.  While this is the first in a trilogy, I wasn’t able to find even the hint of a release date.  Mr. Weeks…I do not like waiting!

I give this book 5 coffee cups out of 5.

Purchase:B&N

Author website:Brent Weeks

The Passage by Justin Cronin

“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.  As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun. With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

The Passage has to be one of the most beautiful, horrifying, page turning, heart stopping books I have ever had the pleasure to read.  It brings to mind Stephen King’s The Stand. Cronin’s writing is exquisite. I found myself unable to put this post-apocalyptic book down.  It is an epic novel of human endurance, when faced with a catastrophe that will forever change mankind.

A security breach on a secret U.S. government project called NOAH goes terribly wrong.  Overnight a virus takes over the world, turning those affected into hunters and those who survive into prey. FBI agent Brad Wolgast sets out to help and protect, six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte who is a refugee from the project that has triggered the apocalypse. The dangers and struggles these two face, with the friends they meet along the way, will have you sitting up until the wee hours of night, just to read a few pages more. I found myself asking could something like this happen, what kind of post-apocalyptic person I would be and is this really how the government would handle this. The fast paced ending had me screaming for more and rushing to my computer for details on book 2.


I highly recommend this to lovers of horror, post-apocalyptic and science fiction. 

 I gave this book 5  coffee cups out of 5.

Buy here: B&N or here: Amazon
Author's website: Justin Cronin