Book Review - Curse of the Ancients by Hawk MacKinney + Giveaway

Craige Ingram and Grayson MacGerald are a part of special elite SpecOps SEAL team. The duo is used to the sight and smells of a dead body. However, when Grayson and Craige are called into a police investigation with a victim found dead, something doesn't quite smell right. When Mihály Keaulescu invites Craige to once in a life search for ancient artifact, things might end up deadly. Will Craige be able to escape?

The book had an interesting premise but I found it very hard to get into. I felt like it had too much military lingo to be enjoyable. I also felt like I didn't understand how some of the scenes changed. The book is about an interesting topic but the writing style made it hard for me.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**

Book Details:

Book Title: Curse of the Ancients by Hawk MacKinney
Series: The Moccasin Hollow Series Book 3
Category: Adult Fiction, 278 pages
Genre: Mystery/Suspense
Publisher: Sage Words Publishing
Release date: April 2018

Content Rating: R (This book is rated R for explicit murder scenes.)

Book Description:

As Craige Ingram climbed the stairs of the derelict building, that peculiar stench of a dead body hit him. It was the same smell no matter where—SpecOps SEAL encounter gone sour, or in a vacant, roach-infested apartment. Inside, his SEAL buddy-turned head of Buckingham Parish Homicide’s Investigative Support Division, Grayson MacGerald, was huddled with the coroner next to a swollen decaying corpse that was days old and hardly more than oozing dead meat.

The PI inside Craige had a gut feeling that there was more to this than a dead body, and Craige’s Grannie always told him, “Trust your feelin’s.” But that was before Mihály Keaulescu set down two of his Black Falcon choppers on Craige’s Moccasin Hollow private airstrip in an uninvited stopover. It got worse. From his airstrip to Israel, to Turkey and a nightmare-dream of one-of-a-kind ancient artifacts that not only threatened the serene life Craige knew and loved at Moccasin Hollow, it would destroy the world.

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Meet the Author:

With postgraduate degrees and faculty positions at several medical universities, Hawk MacKinney has taught graduate courses in both the United States and Jerusalem. In addition to his work in classrooms and laboratories, he has written numerous professional articles on chordate neuroembryology and authored several novels that reflect his southwest upbringing in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma. Moccasin Trace, a historical novel nominated for both the prestigious Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction and the Writers Notes Book Award, details the family bloodlines of his protagonist in the Moccasin Hollow Mystery Series. Hidden Vault of Secrets and Westobou Gold, Books 1 and 2 in the series, have received national and international attention. Hawk is also writing a science fiction series, The Cairns of Sainctuarie.

Connect with the author: Website

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Book Review - Last Stop in Brooklyn (A Mary Handley Mystery, #3) by Lawrence H. Levy

Photo Credit - Amazon

It was the summer of 1894, and private investigator Mary Handley is bought at the far corner of Coney Island for what seemingly seems like an open and close infidelity case. While on the case, Mary is contacted by a convicted man's brother to reopen a murder case. A prostitute was killed in the same style as "the Jack the Ripper" in her hotel room with shoddy evidence pointing to the convicted man.

Thomas Byrnes, the head of detectives in NYC is sure he has the correct man. After all, he made proclamation of finding the killer in 36 hours and Detective Byrnes always gets the culprit. The deeper Mary digs the deeper she realizes the web of deception is. Will Mary be able to find the true killer before it is too late?

I was drawn to this book because I live fairly close to Coney Island. I actually have a lot of fun childhood memories of eating cotton candy and greasy pizza while being embraced by the salty air. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't much interesting facts about Coney Island as there was about the people who were in this book. The author did focus a lot of the racial tension and discrimination that took place during that time period, but if felt like that was more common knowledge and didn't have to keep being repeated. I found Mary and Harper enjoyably at times, but sometimes their barbs and conversations got annoying increasingly faster. However, it was an enjoyable read and I do look forward to reading other novels by the author.

**Disclosure - I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion**

Book Review - Insight: Immortal Soul Mates (Insight series Book 1) by Jamie Magee

Photo Credit - Amazon

** May Contain Spoilers **

Willow has been haunted by her dreams for as long as she can remember.  With every harrowing nightmare, she is also shares her dreams with a blue-eye boy. In their dreams together, Willow and her dream boy is always surrounded by complete silence.  Unfortunately, there is a dark shadow lurking in Willow's dreams.Willow has the power to feel and sense emotions of both the living and the dead. Her family believes the dark figure is after Willow's power.

The book was a bit underwhelming. The story has potential but it is sadly never realized. There is a lot of times when main characters face the evil characters but instead of action; the story kind of fizzles. It was littered with spelling and grammar issues which took away from setting the mood. On a side note, this is the first book in a part of a series but it could be read separately. However, after this disappointing first novel, I am not sure I will continue reading the rest of the series.