No Room For Regret by Janeen Ann O’Connell
No Room for RegretNo Room for Regret by Janeen Ann O’Connell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is difficult for me to rate. I definitely enjoyed it at times, but then I found that I was exasperated by it at others. It’s listed as a historical fiction and it definitely qualifies, but it is most certainly a romance novel as well.

I had no idea that I was reading a romance until toward the end, although the clues were there. Not that this is a huge issue, as I’ve read some romances before and they were perfectly fine reads. Just not my cup of tea.

But the real issue for me was this: When introduced to the protagonists, Blay and Tedder, I was struck by their incredibly unfortunate story of being sentenced and then sent to Van Diemen’s Land to serve the rest of their lives, or so it seems. They’re in chains, they’re starving, they’re struggling, they’re being whipped, and they’re just generally miserable. How will they escape this misery? I wondered excitedly.

In the most boring way ever. That’s how. Shortly after they get off the ship, the story turned south for me. Don’t get me wrong. I still enjoyed it. I kept reading. I wanted to know more. O’Connell did an excellent job. But! But a normalcy set in that rankled me.

Keep in mind that I don’t want to give away spoilers. Throughout the latter half of the book, the characters would experience a conflict within their normal, boring lives, and it would be resolved within a few pages. No cliff hangers. Each chapter ended on a happy, “everything is going to be all right, and I’m sure glad I was arrested and sent here” note. It certainly became tedious.

UNTIL THE END! The book ends on a cliffhanger of sorts, just enough to drag you into the next book in the series. Will I read it? Maybe. A big maybe.

The character I’m most interested is William Blay, one of the children of the Blay who heads the story. I’m not going to say why, but he has a little adventure that intrigues me a lot.

Next, I want to say that Tedder’s story of how he got arrested really resounded with me, and I was incredibly disappointed with the way the author handled him. The poor man got the short end of the stick.

All in all, it was an excellent read. It kept my attention despite the normalcy near the end, and I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of Australia and/or romance stories.

I’m giving it 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. I was given this book for an honest review.

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Assassin Marked book cover floating in space

The last two weeks, I have been super busy writing. Not anything new. I’ve mostly been improving The Unfettered Child, preparing it for publication. Yup, that means my Camp NaNoWriMo project has been put on the back burner. Sorry, Camp NaNoWriMo!

This upcoming novel is entirely unrelated to Assassin Marked, but don’t give up hope, folks. I’m certain you will enjoy The Unfettered Child, and it won’t be too long before you see Lavender Rose’s release (the full-length sequel to Assassin Marked). Sorry, people waiting for the sequel.

Assassin Marked Ad
Free on April 30th

Speaking of Assassin Marked! As the title to this blog post states, I am running an Amazon promotion, so you can download a digital copy of Assassin Marked for free. Yeah, that’s right! Starting right now and continuing throughout today, April 30th, you can get Assassin Marked for free. What are you waiting for? Click here to order.

In other related news, something that’s been milling around in my head is turning Assassin Marked into a graphic novel. Turns out I’m not the only one thinking along these lines. Earlier this month, I received the following review on Goodreads:

Goodreads Review.

The main reason I’m bringing this up is that I would love an artist to step up and turn it into a comic book. What do you say, artists? Want to earn some royalties?

That’s all I’ve got for now. Thank you for your time.

~Michael C. Sahd

Lavender-colored rose against a technology background

Lavender Rose

“Daaammmmian,” a honeyed voice rang out from his apartment. “Please refrain from killing my men. I have no intentions of harming you.” The Syndicate obviously wanted him alive. Ignoring the voice, Damian used his free hand to quietly open the window at the end of the hall. “Really, Damian, I just have a job for you. There’s no need for this violence,” said the man.

Instead of entering through the open window, Damian moved to the closest apartment door. “I don’t work for the Syndicate anymore!” Damian shouted and shot down the hall, masking the sound of his boot kicking the door open. The door bounced, eliciting a scream from behind the door.

Slipping in quickly and quietly, gun first, Damian noted an obese naked and tattooed man stumbling back from the door swearing about a broken nose. The man’s belly bounced as he landed heavily on his rear. Damian pointed his gun at the man. “Shut up,” he said, his voice cold and deadly. He quickly shut the door behind him. The apartment’s layout looked like a mirror image of his own. The likeness ended there. This man’s slovenly messes littered every room. A terrible stench wafted out of the kitchen, and in the bedroom, a woman hid her nakedness behind some cheap blankets. Damian pointed the gun at the woman and repeated, “Shut up, now!”

The man nodded enthusiastically, encouraging her to capitulate. His eyes were wide with shock and fear, and blood stained his unruly beard. Damian returned his aim to the man.

After determining that the man and woman had acquiesced, Damian turned his body to the side, enabling him to peek out of the spy hole in the door while still keeping the pistol trained on the obedient man behind him. He heard the group out in the hall talking amongst themselves in Japanese. “He must have gone out of the window,” one said. Then the honeyed voice spoke again. “Follow him; don’t lose him.”

 

If you enjoyed this excerpt, stay tuned for more in Michael C. Sahd’s upcoming full-length novel, Lavender Rose (The DuFonte Chronicles, Book 2).

Lavender Rose
Lavender Rose Working Cover

Jeremy Bentham Portrait

I have been beating my head against a wall trying to come up with a reasonable goal for my antagonist in the sequel to “Assassin Marked.” So much so that I’ve taken to Google and started researching lawyers, the mafia, etc.

 

Jeremy-Bentham
“The power of the lawyer is in the uncertainty of the law.”
Jeremy Bentham

 

Back during the prime of my adolescence in New Mexico, I spent a lot of time climbing the cliffs and hills. For me, navigating the dangerous rocky cliffs up high offered the most fun during these excursions. Consequently, shuffling up the slopes of scree that hemmed the base of the cliffs deceptively seemed like they would be the easiest part of the excursion; however, the climb, although more frightening, proved much easier once I gained the courage to ascend. The scree, like the walls of an antlion’s den, would send you sliding back down as far, or further than where you had started, until you got a handle on how to step up it. For the more cowardly, it was great fun to just struggle up scree and then go sliding down to the bottom, ignoring the great unreachable cliffs above.

Image result for scree
Scree


These adventures in the mountains of New Mexico are much like a lawyer’s career. A good lawyer reaches the top of the mountain of integrity and justice, but they all start at the bottom, attached to a stereotype reserved to the most slimy and scuzzy of their ilk. We all think of lawyers as nasty, lying, cheating, money-grabbing individuals ready to make a buck by taking advantage of some poor schmuck, and the lawyers starting out in the career have a responsibility to break out of that mold, or to reach a peak, so to speak.

Some do not. Rather, they spend their entire career at the bottom, and I’m not saying they aren’t successful, but perhaps they are scared. Those who make it further up the mountain have further to fall, so rather than risk their livelihood on the constraints of morality, the majority stay at the bottom, enjoying the slide of deception and reaping all the benefits of a necessary profession.

But how can you tell the difference? Well, you can’t. Just like I can’t prove that I’ve climbed to the summit of most of those mountains.

Image result for Kirin Ichiban
Kirin Ichiban

 *Spoiler* Kirin Ichiban fits right in with these deceivers, and perhaps may be the best of his kind. He has one of the most successful law firms on Penelope. As we all know (or should know, if you’ve read Assassin Marked), he also has strong ties to the crime syndicate. It’s clear that he is motivated to amass power, but what is his ultimate goal?
If you were a power-hungry lawyer with the ability to read minds, what would your goal be in the United States? Any thoughts?

~ Michael C. Sahd

Not all of you may know this, but I have a manager. My wife not only edits my work, but she has also been marketing for me like a beast. Hence, we have scheduled a book signing at our public library — the Brownwood Public Library, located at 600 Carnegie St. in Brownwood, TX to be precise. I plan to be there from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the 18th of November, and you can bring a book to be signed. If you don’t have a book yet, there will be plenty there for sale that I will also sign.

When I first discussed the book signing with the library, we had planned for the 11th of November; but alas, today we received an email stating that the library director had just learned that the library will be closed that day due to Veteran’s Day. Of course, my wife had already advertised for the 11th on several websites. Rather humorous.

Amazon Hot New Releases
Amazon Hot New Releases

At this time,  Assassin Marked is #10 on the Amazon Hot New Releases list in the 45-Minute Mystery, Thriller & Suspense Short Reads category.

Future book signing events are planned, and, if you are unable to make it to these book signing, you can also purchase a signed book from the Signed Bookstore on Authors Den.

If you haven’t read Assassin Marked yet, you’re missing out. Check it out on Amazon. There, you can buy the paperback or ebook version. If you have Kindle Unlimited, you can read it for free.

~ Michael C. Sahd