Best eBook Reviews

'Chupacabra' is a Free Science Fiction eBook That Reads Like A Script For A Made-For-TV B Horror Movie

2012-03-02T12:40:00.003-06:00

Review by KEN KORCZAK

You know the way sometimes you’re flipping channels and you get to the Science Fiction station and notice they’re running some obviously super low-budget made-for-TV movie with some ludicrous premise – and you settle in to enjoy watching an extremely bad movie?

It’s that well-known “it’s-so-bad-it’s-good” phenomenon. A couple of years ago I happened upon a Sci-Fi Channel offering about a guy who turned into a giant mosquito! Ha, ha! Did you see that one? Boy, it was so screamingly dumb! But it’s fun to watch goofy crap like that occasionally because – well, I’ll just leave it to some psychologist to score a government grant to explain to all of us the why-we-like-bad-entertainment phenomenon.

But I mention this because I have just finished reading the short novel, CHUPACABRA, by DALLAS TANNER. I’ll come right out with a theory I have about this offering: I’m thinking that Mr. Tanner may have first attempted to write a script for a made-for-TV B movie, shopped it around, got no bites, and so decided to turn his script into a short novel.

As the title suggests, this is a yarn with the legendary CHUPACABRA– the goatsucker – of mostly Latin American legend, at the center of the premise. Chupacabra is a crypto-zoological beast with vampire-like tendencies that preys on farm animals. It sucks its victim dry of blood – but leaves the meat.

Unfortunately, reading a bad science fiction novel does not deliver the same pleasure as watching a bad movie. I think it’s because you have to work harder – you know, with the reading, and all. When you watch a terrible TV movie, you just sit back with a beer and a bag of Cheetos and let the dreck come to you. When you read a B-novel, there’s all that effort with the squinting at words and turning of pages, and such.

As fiction, Chupacabra makes every conceivable literary mistake a writer can make to ensure that this will be a truly terrible piece of writing – cliché-cardboard characters, blocks of exposition without action, absolutely no original concepts, and supremely poor editing.

Consider: One of the characters is a lovely Caribbean-born scientist who is something of an expert on the Chupacabra. She is alternately identified as: “an astronomer,” “an astrologer,” “an astronomist,” and “a technician.” I take pains to point this out to show you that I am not merely being purposefully mean and snarky in my review, but that I am only applying the unfortunate credit to where the unfortunate credit it due.

You might be surprised that I am going to say now that this author is almost certainly a far, far better writer than this novella suggests. I’ve been making my sole living as a freelance writer and editor for almost 30 years, and one develops an instinct for those who have “got it” and those who never will. Dallas Tanner has what it takes to be a genuinely fine writer, believe me -- I can just tell – but no one will be able to tell from reading this book.

Note: You can get Chupacabra free ebook here: FREE SCIENCE FICTION EBOOK

Join Ken Korczak in: THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF DR. 58

"Resurrection" Is An Expertly-Crafted Novel That Breaks No New Ground, But Delivers Light Years of Terrific Science Fiction Entertainment

2012-03-01T09:37:00.001-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

I am so pleased to announce that science fiction is not dead. With RESURRECTION, ARWEN ELYS DAYTON proves that it’s still possible to cobble together a modern-day space opera yarn that is fresh and entertaining -- and does not insult one’s intelligence -- despite not reaching too hard to deliver cutting-edge breakthroughs within the genre.

Look, let’s face it, this is a book that plays it safe. Here we will find absolutely nothing new in terms of science fiction innovation. All the long-ago-developed, standard “furniture pieces” of the Golden Age of science fiction are here:

* Faster-than-light spaceships

* Sub-light speed spaceships

* Sleep/stasis tanks for star travelers to hibernate within during long space journeys

* Domed cities on a planet destroyed by an all-out nuclear war

* Ray guns and stun weapons!

* Aliens who are decidedly humanoid

* Artificially intelligent computers that run space ships and talk casually to humans

* Genetic engineering

* Psychic powers

* Rival planets at war with each other …

This is all stuff the long-time science fiction reader has been living with for decades. An unkind reviewer (or maybe one who is in a foul mood) may proclaim that all of the above have become hackneyed cliché’s of the genre, and that the author did little creative work – but rather -- plucked all the standard “sci-fi modules” off the dusty shelves and assembled them together in a new way to create an original book.

But, I’m not in a foul mood today, so rather, I am going to praise Resurrection as a well-crafted, well-paced, well-plotted science fiction offering with interesting characters whom the reader will care about as the heroes struggle to triumph over the mind-boggling challenges the Fates of the Science Fiction Universe have delivered to them.

I enjoyed Resurrection from first page to last. The problems presented are extreme, the conflicts bitter, the fighting/action scenes are skillfully handled, the futuristic background is well-conceived, the landscape of ancient Egypt is reincarnated believably -- there is no part of this book that is not expertly executed and well-paced. Dayton must work extremely hard because she makes writing look easy – this is a book that flows along so smoothly it almost appears to have written itself.

Resurrection is precisely the kind of science fiction novel that needs to be regularly infused into the market to keep the genre alive and viable, and to keep those of us with an unlimited appetite for great science fiction reading, buying books and happy.

Join Ken Korczak in: THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF DR. 58

Out of the Night by German-Born Writer Jan Valtin Is An Amazing Book With A Well-Earned Cult Following

2012-02-29T15:37:00.007-06:00

Review by KEN KORCZAK

One of my favorite things to do when I visit a new city is to find a local used bookstore, go in, prowl the shelves and hunt for treasure. I’m intrigued by big dusty books resting anonymously among the rows, seemingly forgotten.

Recently in such a hallowed venue I spotted a large midnight blue hardcover titled OUT OF THE NIGHT by JAN VALTIN. I flipped to the copyright page and saw it was published in 1941. It was 749 pages. Without looking closer to see what it might be about, I laid down three or four bucks, took it home and started to read.

I quickly discovered I had stumbled upon an extraordinary book!

Out of The Night is the autobiography of a German-born man who became communist spy for the Soviet Union.

At the end of World War I, Valtin was a boy of 14 just trying to get by in a country shattered by war. To say that times were tough after the ruination inflicted upon the land would be a vast understatement. All the basics of life were scarce – food, shelter, jobs, security. Valtin writes:

“I would awake hungry, and was still hungry when I went to sleep. Hunger wiped out the lines between adolescents and full-grown men. A sack of flower was worth more than a human life. When a fruit cart of a peasant from Vierlanden was turned over in the street and a middle-aged man tried to shoulder me aside in the scramble for winter apples, what else could I do but stand up and hit him in the face. I was in my fifteenth year.”

Germany was on its knees and the communists saw great opportunity to inculcate the defeated masses with Marxist philosophy.

Valtin found that working as a gopher and bicycle messenger boy for communist operators was a way to get along in the chaotic environment. His father, a torpedo man in the German navy, never returned home. His mother was unable to provide for him. The only future Valtin saw for himself was to -- somehow, some way -- ship out to sea. His goal was to hire on as a deck hand for a merchant ship or freighter, starting as the lowest grunt, and work his way up to captain.

But Valtin never broke loose from his connections made with the communists of his youth – and so he injects himself into a hair-raising career of ever-increasing party activity, scheming, manipulations and intrigues. He took on ever-more dangerous assignments, acting as a courier and spying on other German political factions, including the budding fascist movements.

What ensues for Valtine is a life of sizzling danger, international plotting and spy games. He was often in the dark about who he was actually working for. He eventually becomes a double agent, spying also for the brutal German Gestapo, playing both sides off the other. He trucks with supremely dangerous characters and inhabits a shadowy world of mind-blowing complexity and perpetual uncertainty.

It reads like a thrilling John le Carré spy novel, except it’s all true – but wait a minute! – is it really all true?

Well: It eventually came to light that Jan Valtin was the pen name for a man by the name of Richard Krebs. Of course, there’s nothing unusual about a writer publishing under a nom de plume, and considering that he made many enemies along the way, one might expect him to publish under a different name.

However, this autobiography was so incredible it attracted the attention of a lot of smart and resourceful people, including the German writer ERNST VON WALDENFELS. He was able to show – by gaining access to documents released after the fall of Community East Germany in 1990-- that a lot of what Krebs claimed to have been doing as a Soviet-Gestapo double agent was greatly embellished or exaggerated. Krebs was also a skilled fiction writer, having published several novels.

On the other hand, large portions of his life story are true – and by any measure – Richard Krebs led an astonishing life of danger and adventure. Incredibly, he later served with the U.S. military in the Philippines during World War II! So he worked for the communists, Nazis and the Americans all at some point in his career! I haven’t even mentioned the times he spent as a sailor, captain of a Soviet ship, a copper miner in South America, and a stint as a prisoner in San Quentin! (He was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon while in the United States).

So, Out of the Night may be an obscure book, but it retains a well-earned cult following today. Readers will receive a vivid inside look of what life was like in Post-World War I Germany, and a greater understanding of how Germany veered off onto the horrifying path leading to the even greater tragedy of World War II. You will also vicariously experience the frightening life of a spy. It’s an amazing book.

Join Ken Korczak in: THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF DR. 58

The Hangman's Daughter: Part Historical Fiction, Part Horrer, Part Mystery Thriller, All Good

2012-02-26T16:31:00.004-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

THE HANGMAN'S DAUGHTER is an English translation of a German novel that achieved best seller status in Europe and began doing well in the U.S. market after being offered as a Kindle selection on Amazon.com. The translation is well-handled by LEE CHADEAYNE, a member of the American Literary Translators Association. Its original title is Die Henkerstochter.

Author OLIVER PÖTZSCH creates a vibrant fictional world set in 1659 Bavaria. The action takes place in the tiny village of Schongau, which is a real location in Germany near the Alps and the Lech River. In fact, Pötzsch was inspired to write this novel after an intensive study of his family’s genealogy, which led him to discover that he is actually descended from a long line of professional executioners, or hangmen.

The title is something of a misnomer because the hangman’s daughter herself plays only a supporting role. The hangman, Jakob Kuisl, is our main protagonist, and he’s a wonderful character indeed – that’s because he is complicated mixture of stunning contradictions. When ordered to, he will hack off the head a convicted man, no matter how flimsy the evidence, or torture women before he burns them at the stake based on ridiculously trumped-up charges of witchcraft.

On the other hand, Kuisl is highly intelligent and in his chest beats the heart of a humanitarian. He is smarter than just about everybody else in town, and he’s even a far superior healer and physician than the two local “quacks.” In short, he is a Hangman with a Heart. (Hey, maybe that would be a better title)?

Anyway, the plot centers on an accusation of witchcraft against a kindly midwife – who just so happened to have delivered the Hangman’s kids – and who is also known for her kindness toward orphaned children. The charges are prompted by the brutal murders of several local children, whose lifeless bodies are discovered to have “witch signs” tattooed on their backs.

The plot quickly thickens, however, as the Hangman suspects the midwife is innocent, is certainly no witch, and he begins snooping around for the truth. With the aid of a young doctor, Simon Fronwieser, the pair proceed like a post-Medieval version of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson. They began to uncover a tangled conspiracy that reaches to the very center of the Schongau’s wealthy burgomaster and aldermen elites.

For me the novel works on almost every level. Superior character creation, good enough plotting, excellent description of scene, setting and background – although I will say there are stretches of tedium with too much detail inserted as the author does his best to keep us turning pages while dangling mysteries just in front of our noses, but always out of reach – until the end. There was a tad too much of this unnecessary teasing for my likes, but others might disagree.

The sensitive reader should be warned that there’s plenty of violence and bloodshed, gruesome scenes of torture and killings – including the violent deaths of sweet children – and other descriptions of sundry bloody human processes – not to mention and unflinching look at the all of the basic feces, urine and filth (human and animal) that the people of this time period lived in close proximity to before the advent of modern plumbing and sewer systems.

The Hangman’s Daughter is ultimately entertaining, loaded with dark humor, and the author has a natural sense of irony, which is generated by showing us the stark differences is the societal norms of 1649 Germany as compared to what we think of as rational and sensible today.

Looking back from the vantage point of our lofty perch of 2012, the people of the mid-17th Century seem a bunch of hopelessly violent, greedy, superstitious lunatics – but we have to remember – their world was “normal" and “rational” from their point of view. Before we judge them too harshly, imagine what the people of 400 years into our future will think of our “rational” society of today.

Ken Korczak is the author of: THE FAIRY REDEMPTION OF JUBAL CRANCH

The Kybalion: Free Ancient Wisdom Is Now a Free eBook: But Is It Truly Wisdom, Or Just Warmed Over New Age Puffery?

2012-02-21T16:48:00.007-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

If you’re wondering what the word “Kybalion” really means, it’s likely a term cobbled together by the writer, or writers, of this book. It’s probably an amalgamation of the word Kabbalah, the ancient school of Hebrew mysticism, and Cybele, the Greek mother goddess.

So this is suggestive that the information is a mixture of wisdom that has come down through the centuries from more than one tradition. That’s fitting, as the authors say this information is timeless and universal, and remains fundamentally unchanged no matter what culture or historical period it is filtered through.

The authors also claim that this knowledge was given to the rest of humanity by one man,the ancient Egyptian, HERMES TRISMEGISTUS. Was he a real person? No one really knows, but it’s doubtful. At best, most scholars will say he is a “legendary” figure,or perhaps a name which represents a composite of real people who may have existed. The name Hermes Trismegistus is probably derived by combining the name of the Greek god Hermes with the Egyptian god Thoth. Trismegistus itself means "Thrice Knowledgeable." For millennia, Hermes Trismegistus has been associated with what is known as “hermetic knowledge” or the tradition of HERMETICISM.

But now let’s get back to who wrote THE KYBALION. We know it was published in 1912. The authors are only identified as "The Three Initiates." No one knows for absolute sure who the author or authors were, but I would hazard that there is some 95% certainty that it was mostly the work of one man: WILLIAM ATKINSON. He may have had help from a couple of other guys, Paul Case and Elias Gurwurz. (Thus the Three Initiates).

But the primary thrust behind The Kybalion is almost certainly Atkinson -- a shadowy, mercurial man who is known to have authored at least 100 books similar to this one. He was also an attorney and businessman who seemed to have an unending supply of ambition and energy, not only to produce a huge body of esoteric literature, but also worked robustly at a successful legal career. He was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1862 and died in 1932.

Atkinson and his fellows were the New Agers of their day. They were at the vanguard of something called NEW THOUGHT – which is comparable to what New Age folks are talking about today – and mostly it’s a lot of the same stuff. This is the kind of information that has been around for centuries, and probably thousands of years, and it keeps re-emerging and getting recycled time again in a new package in every century and culture.

So does this mean that the information in The Kybalion represents genuine ancient wisdom that is universal, undying and something which we should take seriously? Can it have real application in our daily lives? Is it something we should pay attention to and strive to adopt as part of our own philosophies today? Or is is merely a cheapy pulp document -- one of dozens churned out by by an early 20th Century rascal who had a reputation as an "occultist?"

There’s no easy answer to these questions. In a general, my own view is that the information presented in The Kybalion is not necessarily false or useless – or even mere superstition – but at the same time, it does not hurt to approach it all with a certain level of healthy pragmatism, and to ask ourselves: “Okay, so what can I really do with this information, if anything?”

For example, one of the primary tenets of the wisdom of Hermes Trismegistus is that the universe we exist within is a “thought form,” or as they put it, “The Principle of Mentalism … The All Is Mind… The Universe Is Mental.”

That would be counter to the most common, scientific mainstream belief today which holds that the universe should be considered fundamentally material, made up of solid matter, and that “mental thoughts” are something less definite. Our mental thoughts are only ideas about or are a reflection that results from confronting all that solid material stuff out there.

True, even some of today’s most hardened scientists might come down somewhere in between pure materialism and a pure "Thought Universe" conception -- especially since the advent of quantum mechanics, which has shown that Isaac Newton’s world of classical physics – the billiard ball universe – is not quite as solid, hard or “dead” as we once may have thought it was.

But, anyway, what can we do with this principle today – the idea that we live in a universe that is fundamentally a “mental construct” of some kind?

Well, the implications are many. This idea of mental constructs has generated thousands of New Age books, or greater or lesser quality. Take the recent mega-bestseller “The Secret,” for example. This book suggests that anyone can have anything he or she wants – including fabulous wealth – if they only realize that everything is ultimately mental, and that we can shape our own reality with our thoughts.

No doubt, tens of thousands of people who read The Secret gave it their best shot – they tried to visualize and conjure up stacks of cash for themselves, maybe a Cadillac or a new Porsche, or a nice new home – only to find out that these material objects don’t seem to materialize quite as readily as the theory suggests they should.

The point is, even if we accept the idea that the universe is “mental” or just one big thought form – it clearly is not as easy as it seems to act on that knowledge in a way that will improve our lives, or change our lives, at least in terms of material wealth.

This doesn’t mean that the idea of purely Mental Universe is worthless – it might even be true! – it's just that, what can do we do with that knowledge, and how can it help us, or can it help us change our world for the better? These are tricky questions.

So the bottom line is, you can look upon the information in The Kybalion in a variety of different ways. The case can easily be made that this document is yet another clever New Age hack job put together by a shadowy figure like William Atkinson as a great way to make money in publishing – or you can make the case that this is truly timeless, universal wisdom that certainly has been reiterated for thousands of years.

The very fact that this kind of information has stood the test of time should not be taken lightly -- it suggests something about the universal mythologies human beings cling to, century after century. (And I use the term mythology loosely). That makes it important.

However: The actual application of this ancient wisdom in a way that can make a real difference in your life is not something that is easily done, even if you understand it intellectually.

Join Ken Korczak in: THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF DR. 58

Living off The Grid Will Orient You In The World Of Solar Power, Wind Power And Other Green Power Techniques

2012-02-16T16:04:00.001-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

Pssst! Hey! What’s the difference between a volt and a watt? Or let me ask you this: If you build a solar panel out of 36 individual solar cells, and each cell produces ½ volt of electricity, what would be the total wattage capacity of that solar panel? What would be the total voltage output of this solar panel? How many watts! How many volts!!

I’ll answer those “simple” questions in a minute, but I bring it up because these are the details of just how electricity works, and writer DAVID S. BLACK thinks you should have a good understanding of the basics of electronics if you are ever going to “Go Green” and get off the carbon-belching grid.

In his book, LIVING OFF THE GRID, Black takes great pains to cover many of the minute details of how energy and electricity works, from fundamental theory, up to how today’s basic household electrical systems function.

If you are one of those people who has a burning interest in generating your own electricity with solar panels, wind turbines or both, this is an excellent book for getting a broad overview. David Black shows us that getting off the grid is definitely not easy, but far from impossible. He provides case studies of people who have done it. It takes time, some money, accepting a certain learning curve, and just having the grit and determination to start chipping away at your goal – maybe one solar panel at a time.

If you are looking for a detailed instruction manual that shows you step-by-step how to fit your home with solar panels, wire it, and free yourself from the grid – this book is not that. It’s more general, paints the overall picture of what you need, and the many different options available to you. But as I said, there are a lot of basic details about the fundamentals of generating power, which is stuff that's worth knowing.

My view is that this is an excellent books for those need a baseline of understanding about the broad spectrum of options available for getting off the grid. When and if you decide to do the actual work, you’ll need to find more specific, detailed information.

Now: A watt and a volt are basically two different animals. Wattage speaks to the total electrical capacity a particular implement can hold, such as a battery or a solar panel. A 36-cell solar panel in which each cell generates ½ volt, it will obviously have an 18-volt generating capacity. But what is the wattage of that panel?

Well, most sellers of such panels will say a 36-cell, 18-bolt panel has a 60-watt capacity – but they probably would be wrong, according to my research into this. It seems that 60 watts is only the theoretical capacity. In reality, most 36-cell solar panels will hold 30 to 40 watts, for a variety of technical reasons. But it will still easily be able to charge a 12-volt battery.

And so this tells us something about the difference between a volt and a watt. A lot of people think that a volt is basically a sub-unit of a watt, as in: "How many volts in a watt?" but that's the wrong question. A volt is not a sub-unit of a watt. In general, the wattage of an implement is the total amount of energy it can hold. The voltage is the amount that can be drained away from it, so to speak. Look at it this way:

Say you have a tank that can hold 1,000 gallons of water. Now say you attach a pipe to it that can drain the water out at a rate of 5 gallons per minute. Well the 1,000 gallons is like the wattage and the capacity of the drain pipe is like the voltage. See? I’d explain further, but I’m only a journalist and I don’t want to get into too much trouble.

But I’m thankful to David S. Black because reading his book made me discover that the details of electricity are fun and interesting, and he also makes the idea of freeing oneself from our slave-master, bloated utility companies seem a real possibility -- even for mechanically challenged dorks like me.

Need a government grant for solar panels? Learn more about getting free government cash in Ken Korczak's: SECRETS OF A GRANT WRITER

The Obsever Is A Good Enough First Novel, But A Diamond In The Rough

2012-02-15T06:58:00.007-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

With his first venture into writing an “indie” novel, JONATHAN DAVISON demonstrates that he is a writer with a bright future. I found the majority of THE OBSERVER to be well paced, often compelling, and well-crafted. He ends chapters in a way that really makes the reader want to plunge ahead to the next chapter to find out what happens next.

Yes, certainly, this is a diamond in the rough. I’ll discuss some of those rough edges in a minute, but first, a very brief synopsis:

The story is set in the Ardennes Forest in the winter after the D-Day invasion in which the Allied Forces launched their final offensive against Nazi Germany. The fight was long, bitter and bloody. The story focuses on four British soldiers who become detached from their main unit in the snowy Ardennes. One of their band gets shot in the stomach, and his fellows make a heroic attempt to carry him out of their fox hole and back to where he can get medical attention.

As they trudge through the deep snow, they get lost, and nearly give themselves up for dead from exhaustion and hypothermia – but then they stumble upon an odd cabin in the middle of nowhere, inhabited by one exceedingly strange old man. The soldiers approach the cabin, which looks inviting with a cheery flickering fire -- and let’s just say that’s when things get fantastically weird!

There’s much to admire about The Observer: Vivid, believable characters, excellent plotting, and compelling mysteries. The author ingeniously creates confounding situations that make us scratch our head and think (in a good way): “Just what the hell is going on here?” For me, the sign of a truly top-notch piece of science fiction is when I can’t predict what is going to happen next. This book scores well in this regard.

However: As others here have already pointed out, the editing is dicey (to say the least). I appreciate that indie authors cannot afford professional editors, but many of the typos in this book are of the very obvious kind that just about anyone should be able to catch.

But there is a greater deficiency that is more serious. The critical weakness is the ending – at that point when the curtain is pulled aside and we are allowed to have a direct look at why everything that happened to these characters did happen.

In mystery novels, there is often scene at the end where the clever sleuth or detective gathers everyone in a room, explains all the clues and particulars of the case, and then in an astounding crescendo – he names the murderer! All is revealed! Mystery solved!

In a sense, the author takes a similar tact, albeit with a lofty, science fictiony spin of the “Big Reveal” at the end. This tactic might work for some, but it doesn’t work for me. Instead, the author should have “forced" his character to use his own intelligence, his cleverness, and his undaunted, gritty drive to find clues as he overcame obstacles, battled dark forces – and solved the mystery himself – THROUGH HIS ACTIONS!

It’s one of the oldest rules of great writing: Show, don’t tell.

In short: The author should have SHOWED us solution of the mystery through ACTION – rather than sitting us all down in the end for an explanatory lecture. (The main characters literally sit down on a log as they to reveal all to the reader!)

The saving grace of the “Big Reveal” scene is that is has a certain emotional impact because Davison has made us fall in love with his heroic main character, the scrappy Brit, Albert Fox.

Over all, I give this novel high marks because, for the most part, it’s a compelling, entertaining read.

Join Ken Korczak for his adventures in: THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF DR. 58

For My Money, 'Searchers' Is The Most Frightening Book Of Alien Abduction

2012-02-13T15:42:00.009-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

Over the years just a handful of UFO books have been able to creep forth and poke their icy, boney fingers into the soft underbelly of the deepest subconscious fears of the public, scaring the bejeepers out of millions of readers.

Whitely Strieber’s COMMUNION, for example, seemed honest and authentic, and therefore exceedingly unsettling and creepy. John Mack’s ABDUCTION was more scholarly and clinical, but because it was the work of a respected Harvard psychiatrist, it probably made even hardened skeptics think: “Gulp! I wonder if something like this could really be happening?”

But there is one book of UFO alien abduction I have read over the years which delivered that feeling of quesy fright like none other. This is a much more obscure book -- it’s SEARCHERS: A TRUE STORY OF ALIEN ABDUCTION by RON FELBER.

An interesting aspects of this book is that Felber is an outsider to Ufology. Unlike Strieber, Bud Hopkins, David Jacobs and others who made careers and reputations by focusing on alien abduction topics, Felber is a mainstream writer and businessman. He has produced several books of fiction and nonfiction. But “Searchers” is his only work in the UFO genre. He appears to have written it only because a tip from an associate pointed his way to an extraordinary story that Felber found so compelling he had to write about it.

The book describes a sizzling night of terror as experienced by an ordinary middle class California couple, Steve and Dawn Hess. It was 1989 when the Hesses decided to head out to the Mojave Desert for a camping trip. Upon arriving and setting up camp in the middle of nowhere, the isolated couple began to see strange globes of light in the sky. They were unnerved but tried to explain them away in all the common ways. But then, events rapidly escalated to an profoundly frightening degree.

The “lights” moved toward their camp. Steve and Dawn Hess retreat to hide in their camper, only to be accosted by an array of eerie alien beings who surround them, look into their camper window, and seem intensely bent upon getting at them and probing every aspect of their beings. They perform devastating psychological invasions of their minds – at times, the couple is surrounded by dozens of bizarre alien manifestations of wide variety.

Dawn Hess described it this way:

“They (the aliens) wanted everything we had … everything …our minds, our bodies, even our souls, I think. It was like they drew it out of us with a syringe … every molecule. And it was painful and I thought we were going to die, or already had died and were being tortured in hell.”

After enduring a night of this hell, the Hesses returned to their normal lives and jobs, but all was not well with them. Nightmares, fears, anxieties, post-traumatic stress – everything that had happened to them had shattered their sense of what it means to be a normal human being.

It’s a remarkable story, and in the hands of an extremely skilled writer – Felber holds a Ph.D. in Arts and Letters – the result is one of the most terrifying books on alien abduction ever written.

A Mind Expanding Vision of Life And The Universe From An Islamic Intellectual

2012-02-12T07:29:00.000-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

This is a fascinating book which I am going to recommend, but I start out with a warning: This is a translation to English, and the job of translating, although adequate, is far from perfect, and often very clumsy. It reads well enough to be understandable, but some readers may find the dicey English phrases and improper grammar distracting while trying to absorb the challenging concepts presented by the original author. (Note: I understand there may have been an update of the editing recently in a new edition of the book, but I have not viewed that edition, if such exists).

Despite this flaw, UNIVERSAL MYSTERIES is a book I hope a lot of people will read. This is exactly the kind of "expanded" perspective on the nature of religion and God concept that millions of people would do well to consider.

AHMED HULUSI is described as an "Islamic Intellectual" in his bio. Born in Istanbul in 1945, he has worked most of his life as a journalist, but has spent many years in the study of Islam and religion, and delving deeply into the mystical element of Islam, Sufism.

Certainly, there isn't anything in this book that has not been revealed or proposed elsewhere -- by other philosophers, Zen masters, Christian monks, New Agers, even secular scientists -- but it's extremely helpful to get yet another take on how to think of, or envision the Universe as one giant "Intelligence Singularity" (my term, not the author's) that, at its most fundamental level, is the base of all reality, and is something that can never be divided from the "oneness" of itself.

I felt I got a fresh look at a subject I have been long familiar with -- I only wish I could recommend this book more strongly, but native speakers of English will be in for an unpleasant surprise if they are not made aware of the awkwardness of the translation. (Although it may have been updated in a new edition).

Ken Korczak is the author of:THE FAIRY REDEMPTION OF JUBAL CRANCH

Free Kindle Science Fiction, Free Nook Science Fiction: Clifford Simak, Hellhounds of the Cosmos

2012-02-11T10:13:00.005-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

I’ve always had a soft spot for CLIFFORD SIMAK, and not just because he is one of the greats of the Golden Era of Science Fiction, and because he was the third person to achieve “Grand Master” status from the SFWA (Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America).

He’s special to me because he spent much of his life working as a hard-core, nose-to-the-grindstone newspaper reporter in Minnesota – and I also spent several years doing the same.

I also went to college at Winona State University, which is just across the Mississippi River from Wisconsin and fairly near Simak’s birthplace of Millville, Wisconsin. Many of his works are set in this rural, pastoral Wisconsin environment, which is a land of graceful bluffs, rolling hills, deciduous greenery and granite outcroppings.

What’s astounding about this free ebook selection, HELLHOUNDS OF THE COSMOS, is that it was published in 1932. Once you read it you’ll see why I select the word astounding. It’s the story of an inter-dimensional invasion by an alien species – but the “hellhounds” turn out not to be extraterrestrials – but rather, earth creatures from an unimaginably distant past -- and another plain of existence!

I mean, how many other writers from small towns in Wisconsin were envisioning scenarios like that, much less finding the talent and moxie to pull off a story that was accessible to a mass audience? At the time Simak published this piece, he was working at at the Brainerd Dispatch, a newspaper in central Minnesota lakes country.

Reading this story gives one that fun feeling of watching an old black-and-white science fiction movie of the 1950s, except it’s more intelligent and demands that the reader expand his or her mind to grasp the concept —and the entertainment – of the plot and premise.

One of the things I really like about this piece is the vividly accurate picture Simak creates of a hustling-bustling olf-fashioned newsroom environment with editors and reporters working in a state sleep-deprived frenzy to deliver that big stop-the-presses! story to their readers.

Hellhounds of the Cosmos is a free ebook download from a variety of location, such as Amazon.com and here: HELLHOUNDS

For More Inter-Dimensional Adventures Of The Real-Life And True Kind, Go To: THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF DR. 58

This Short eBook Provides Helpful Tips On How To Sell More Books On Amazon

2012-02-10T17:28:00.000-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

There is a saying in the publishing business: "It takes a certain intelligence to write a book, but it takes a genius to sell that book!"

Believe me, it's true. So those of us selling ebooks need all the help we can get, and this short book provides that. If the self-starter book marketer takes the time to follow-up on, and perform the steps suggested here, he or she will take positive steps on that path to selling more books. If you're going to take the time, pain and effort to write a book, you might as well invest the time, pain and effort it takes to get that book into the hands of as many readers as possible.

However, this book got me into a bit of a jam with Amazon. For example, the author suggests writing book reviews for other books listed on Amazon. She then suggests you work in a plug for your own book. Maybe it was just me, but I was led to believe that this meant I could put in a link for my own book in my Amazon reviews: Not so, Amazon warned me in an email. After writing more than 20 reviews, and linking my own books in each review, Amazon sent me an email telling me this violated its policy. I'm not sure Smith makes this crystal clear -- at least it was not clear to me.

So this is an okay book, will help you sell more books, but be careful. You might get in trouble. UPDATE: Since I first published this review, Smith may have updated this short book (it's about 26 pages) to correct some of the problems I mention, although I'm 100% sure about that.

Ken Korczak is a former professional and successful government grant writer. You can find some of his best "insider" secrets and tips for getting free government money here: SECRETS OF A GRANT WRITER

The Ghosts Of Varner Creek Is An Above Average Spooky Yarn, Maybe Even Way Above Average

2012-02-10T16:31:00.003-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

Solomon Mayfield is 87 years old and running out the time clock on his life in a Texas small-town nursing home. Maybe it's not surprising for a man so near the end of his life to see the occasional ghost come drifting through his room to float eerily over his bed. But for old Mr. Mayfield, seeing ghosts has been a regular occurrence since he was 12 years old.
The circumstances surrounding what triggered this special ability are at the heart of the plot of THE GHOSTS OF VARNER CREEK

This is a first novel for MICHAEL WEEMS, but he writes like a novelist with far more experience. His writing demonstrates the understanding that the best fiction is based on character. Yes, a truly great book needs more – plot, background, premise, conflict – all that stuff. But if you are able to create vivid characters and make the reader care about them, you’re more than halfway home to a great read.

Mr. Weems manages that and more. He wrangles all the elements of long-form fiction together sufficiently here to make for a fine novel.

So as the title implies, The Ghosts of Varner Creek has the restless undead as a central premise, but this is a very different kind of ghost story. It involves events that happened in a turn-of-the-century southern Texas, cotton-farming village that is still a few years off from getting electricity or them new-fangled “horseless carriages.”

Young Solomon’s father, Abram Mayfield, is a no good, violent drunk who only married Solomon’s mother, Annie, after he practically raped and impregnated her. Their subsequent life, as you can imagine, is not exactly one of marital bliss. To add heartache and pain to the whole situation, Abram and Annie’s first child is afflicted with Down Syndrome. Against this background, Solomon, a year younger than his mentally challenged sister, is doing the best he can to get along in a family that is isolated and dysfunctional, to say the least.

But how did all this ghost business get started? That’s what you have to read the book to find out -- and few will be disappointed at the skillful way Weems cobbles, crafts and weaves together a story that is dark and gut-wrenching, but ultimately uplifting and hopeful.

This book has been recently available free as a Kindle selection, but as of this review, it is being offered for 99 cents – more than a fair price for a terrific read.

Join Ken For His Adventures In:THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF DR. 58

The Ultimate Secret For Losing Weight Will Be Revealed In This Review

2012-02-07T14:09:00.000-06:00

Review by KEN KORCZAK

Over the decades, many forests have been clear cut and the wood pressed into pulp to make paper for the sole purpose of publishing books that tell you how to lose weight. How many weight loss books do you really have to read to get it through your head to eat less and exercise more, and eat healthy stuff? Well, apparently one more.

So here we have a short, very short Kindle book that is using electricity, probably generated by dirty coal, contributing to global warming, so that people can read yet another book that explains how to lose weight, which of course, is to not eat so much and get some regular exercise.

This book suggests basically a lot of exercises directed at the stomach, and so on.It has some eating tips, but suggests no specific belly-fat buring foods, although warns against some. For example, the author, Tony Donato, admonishes importantly: "Sugar is bad news!" And he says, "sugar turns directly into fat!" Holy moly! This will certainly come as a revelation to millions!

Here is another stunning revelation in this book: "All the energy in your body is provided by the protein, fat and carbohydrates that you eat." Wow! You mean human beings cannot absorb energy directly by taking in cosmic rays, or use sunlight and chlorophyll to manufacture nourishment?

But, weight loss books sell and sell. Publishers know that. Weight loss gurus know that. So they keep churning them out, and people keep buying them, seeking that ever elusive Holy Grail: Losing weight. The way to do that, of course, it to eat less and exercise more. But maybe what Albert Einstein once said applies here: "The best theories are simple, but not too simple."

NOTE: THIS BOOK IS A FREE KINDLE DOWNLOAD: BELLY FLAT BLASTER

Join Ken at: THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF DR. 58

The Night Sky: Denver Writer Maria Sutton Pens A Masterful True Story Of Love, War, Lives Devastated And Put Back Together

2012-02-06T13:39:00.003-06:00

Review by KEN KORCZAK

I’m tempted to say that writing a compelling, fascinating book is easy when it just so happens you have a great story to tell. That’s the case with author MARIA SUTTON, a Denver woman who was born in war-torn post World War II Germany in a Displaced Person’s camp to a Polish father and Ukrainian mother, both of whose lives had been shattered by war.

But even a terrific story still must be skillful rendering to make it a great read. I was delighted to find that all the necessary elements come together for an absorbing read in THE NIGHT SKY: A JOURNEY FROM DACHAU TO DENVER AND BACK

Maria Sutton came to America with her parents as refugees in 1951. Her parents were Paul and Julia Venckus. Maria had always assumed that Paul was her father. Then at age 13, Maria overheard a hushed conversation between her mother and a friend that tipped her off to an astounding revelation: Here real father had been a mysterious Polish military officer who had disappeared from their lives in Germany!

Young Maria was stunned!

What happened? If it was not electrifying enough to discover that your real father was another man entirely, the mystery was deepened by the oddly cyrptic behavior of her mother, who spoke in clipped but reverential tones of her lost father – when she could be coerced to mention him at all. It also became increasingly obvious that she had never stopped loving the man she was forced to abandon -- for mysterious reasons -- in favor of marrying another man, and fleeing her homeland forever.

And so begins an incredible 43-year quest for Maria Sutton to find her lost father, a man left behind somewhere in the shambles of a broken European continent. Without spoiling it, I will tell you that this is more than just a detective story involving one woman’s search for a lost father – what Maria eventually discovers penetrates emotionally to the bone. Since learning about the existence of her biological father, the author develops an idealized, personal mythology about what kind of man her father might have been, or maybe still is. Could he still be alive? What she eventually does find is – well, you have to read the book to find out!

Also at the heart of this story are some of the most fundamental elements of existence that we all wrestle with every day. You know, it's the big questions: What is love? What does it mean to love another person? Why do some people deserve or receive unconditional love, whether they have earned it or not?

And:

Who am I? What does my life mean? Why am I here? How did I get here?

Finally, I give the author high marks for her sharp eye for detail, and that she never slips into overt sentimentality. She writes with an unrelenting honesty, not allowing herself to avert her eyes from unpleasant realities -- and all this while showing us the heroic side of humanity as well, of how ordinary folks can become extraordinary people when the world thrusts incredible events upon them.

See Ken Korczak at: MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

Leslie Peltier's Starlight Nights Is A Work Of Quiet Genius

2012-02-05T14:48:00.001-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

Let's just call this book what it is: A rare masterpiece. STARLIGHT NIGHTS was never destined to be a best seller, but it will enjoy permanent cult status among a small audience of sensative people who love the stars, love nature -- and perhaps a certain segment of society who will pine forever for a slice of American rural life that is permanently lost.

I hope it is not over-the-top to say that people may find reading LESLIE PELTIER'S ode to the stars a religious experience. This book will have a profound effect on those lucky few attuned to a more sensative mode of existence, those who are able to see the incredible beauty is something as small as a wildflower or insect, or as grand as a night sky paved with glittering stars.

This is the story of a guy born in 1900 near the small town of Delphos, Ohio, and his life growing up on the farm, where early on he developed a love affair with stars and telescopes. Peltier gets zapped at an early age with the spectacular appearance of a stunnning comet, known only as 1910a because it was the first comet discovered that year. It had to play second fiddle, however, because 1910a was also the year of Halley's Comet famous return.

Peltier also describes being transfixed by the Pleiades which he spotted through the window of their rural farm house as a small boy -- this was in the day before every farm had a yardlight, and before the light pollution of surrounding cities began to blot out the beauty of the night sky. It begans a life long journey of amateur astronomy, during which Peltier discovered 12 comets, made thousands of variable star observations, built observatories, and eventually came to be known as "the world's greatest amateur astronomer."

I purchased Starlight Nights some 40 years ago when I was 12 years old. I found it in a large box of used books that were being sold off in a clothing store. While I waited for my mother to shop, I mined through the book bin and grabbed Starlight Nights -- it was 50 cents. Wow! I still marvel to think about it! I didn't know it yet, but 50 cents and a secondhand book was about to change my life forever!

Over the past four decades, I have read Starlight Nights perhaps 20 times. Of the thousands of books I have read across the years, I can't think of one that has affected me more profoundly than has this rare jewel in the starry pantheon of astronomical literature.

Join Ken Korczak in: THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF DR. 58

Double Murder In A Small Minnesota Town: A Devastating True Story

2012-02-04T09:49:00.002-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

It would be difficult to imagine the emotional pain of a proud mother whose beloved first-born son committed a horrible act -- killing his wife with a shotgun, and then turning the gun on himself in a small-town double murder-suicide. These events took place near the tiny town of Kennedy in the far northwest corner of Minnesota.

The author, EUNICE RICH, opens up her heart with almost unbelievable candor, letting everyone in to share the story of her shock and mind-numbing anguish over an event so terrible, it would have to be ranked as one of the worst possible nightmares any mother might have to live through.

JUDGE ME NOT is truly a remarkable book, and has many surprising elements that take it well beyond the story of how a normal, hard-working, loving family in the American Midwest was forced to confront a reality that's too brutal for most people to even contemplate.

The author not only outlines the gruesome details of the deaths of her son and daughter-in-law, but takes the reader on a journey of spiritual healing that is quite unlike any other I have ever read before. It's really a special book. It gets my highest recommendation.

Join Ken Korczak in: THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF DR. 58

Ken Wilber's "Up From Eden" -- A Classic "Must Read" Book

2012-02-02T14:55:00.004-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

If you think about it, there must have been a time when human beings did not have the same kind of minds or “brand” of consciousness that we have today.

For example, imagine what it would be like to have no personal ego identification. Can you? Imagine being a human creature that was more akin to one of the “lower” animals, such as being a member of a herd. Rather than framing your reality in terms of “I” or “me” – you only identify yourself as a member of a group – but not even “a” member. You are the group.

This is just one theoretical past element of the human condition KEN WILBER explores in this amazing book, UP FROM EDEN: A TRANSPERSONAL VIEW OF EVOLUTION. Most people are comfortable with the idea that we have evolved biologically as a species, but what fewer people contemplate is that the physical body is not the only element of humanity that must have evolved.

Throughout the uncounted millennia – the human mind must have undergone enormous transformation as well.

At its earliest stage, Wilber calls the psychological make-up of the human mind the pleromatic-uroboric -- an era when “people" were primates gathering and scavenging to survive with all the other animals. This is a state in which the individual hominid cannot distinguish the difference between his or her inner experience from outer reality. In a sense, “people” are embedded in a kind of unconsciousness. They function like animals, concerned with finding something to eat, staying warm, having sex – just getting along and surviving.

Somehow, Wilber suggests that the mind advanced out of this stage over eons of time – the mind transcends– to the next stage of development, which he calls the typhonic. This is an amazing advancement, since the individual now is able to see himself or herself as a separate from the rest of nature. The individual is able to think: “This is me, that is not me.”

But this is still a long way from people having the sharp distinction of being a “special” individual with a unique identity. It’s more like a blurred stage that might be dreamlike. The individual is moving along in an exterior world, distinct from it, yet partially absorbed in it as well. There is still no true language.

And so the march of human evolution continues: The next stage is the “mythic membership,” which is eventually transcended to achieve the ego stage. Finally, a man or woman can stand up and say: “I am me!”

Note that Wilber suggests there might have been variations within each stage, such as a ‘lower ego’ stage in which a sense of individuality has emerged, but is still heavily tied to the group. Other scholars, such as Julian Jaynes, have offered similar scenarios. Jaynes, for example, suggested that even the ancient Greeks still had not achieved the full state of ego consciousness we have today. He famously pointed out that even the characters of the Iliad seem to act more like “pawns being pushed around a chestboard” than men acting with individual initiative. The proposition is that these Greeks were at a lower stage of ego development, acting more like members of a hive or herd than people with a sense of sharp self-identity -- but almost there.

Wilber makes the case that humanity has been on a hundreds-of-thousands-of-years journey of evolving “upward” from a lowly unconsciousness state to higher forms of self-knowledge and awareness– and naturally we can’t conclude that we are at the journey’s end.

Just as we transcended – and absorbed and incorporated all the lower stages – we are now struggling to get beyond our ego-based consciousness toward further transcendence.

Up From Eden will be one of the most remarkable and challenging books you have ever read, if you dare to tackle it and are open enough to accept what it implies about the nature of humanity – which is both painful and hopeful in the extreme.

Come along with Ken Korczak to THE STRANGE UNIVERSE OF DR. 58

The Bedbug Who Wouldn't Bite Will Delight Children

2012-02-01T13:04:00.006-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

Some of the best books are those that take commonly held beliefs, or an idea that’s generally agreed upon, and turn it all upside down. By doing this in a positive way you can often create a delightful situation that tweaks the imagination and tickles our inner impish, creative side.

That's what accomplished Canadian writer MELODY RHODES has done in producing the charming, and just oh-so-super-sweet “THE BEDBUG WHO WOULDN'T BITE” series of children’s books. The main character, yes, is a bedbug. But before you conjure up an image of those creepy crawly little critters that have made a huge comeback in recent years – think instead of a fuzzy-wuzzy cute little guy who chooses to swim against the stream – he may be a bedbug, but he simply will not bite! He only has one goal: “Not to bite, but to sleep tight!” But wait! Maybe he has an additional goal – to be friends with your kids! (Everyone in unison now: “Awwwwwww.”)

Certainly this is bedtime book that will delight tots and even older children. Not only is it fun, sweet and cute, but also offers a chance to build child character and creativity And after all, the bedbug who won’t bite is making a choice to be nicer and friendlier – and that’s sets a great example.

Better yet, “THE BEDBUG WHO WOULDN'T BITE” literally jumps right off the page to play with your tykes because it comes with a cute, furry little bedbug toy that will be glad to snuggle into bed with your child. Lest I forget, bedbug has a friend – "Mouse" – another delightful character that adds dimension and form to the bedbug universe.

When you think about it, if a ghost can be friendly, as in Casper the Friendly Ghost, and a mouse can be a super hero, as in Mighty Mouse – why can’t a bedbug be averse to biting? Well, it can, and so the time for The Bedbug Who Wouldn’t Bite has arrived. (See also: BEDBUGS ON AMAZON

Ken Korczak is the author of: THE FAIRY REDEMPTION OF JUBAL CRANCH

Bottom Line: This Book Will Help You Sell A Lot More On eBay

2012-01-30T15:33:00.014-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

As someone who was deeply involved in direct marketing long before the Internet came along (as a copy writer), I’ve observed with amazement at how swiftly the Web swept away everything that was known – or seemed to be known -- about how to sell using what used to be called “direct mail marketing.”

Thousands of people once dreamed and lusted over the idea of starting a “mail order empire!” What you needed was a hot product and a really killer sales letter to “sell, sell sell!” In fact, you didn’t necessary even need a hot product! If you had sizzling sales copy that could grab attention, create interest, instill desire, persuade -- and persuade with a vengeance – you could even sell those proverbial refrigerators to those proverbial Eskimos.

We used to call this the AIDA formula: Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.

If you could create those four things in your sales copy, you had it made. You could sell anything, baby!

But when Internet sites such as eBay came along (and other platforms) millions of people thought we were in an all-new world. You could throw all that “old stuff” out the window. It no longer applied! As for eBay, for example, most people assume that all you have to do is throw you item out there, sit back and let the magic of the eBay system do the rest. The eBay search engine attracts and audience of buyers, it tells about and displays your product, and so on. The joy! You no longer need to hire an expensive copy writer! You no longer had to work on icky stuff like target marketing or buying lists of “hot prospects.” You no longer had to sweat to dream up “attention grabbing headlines.” With eBay, the product practically sells itself!

Well, GREG PERRY is here with your wake up call. He has some exciting news for you. Guess what: All of that “old stuff” should not only be made new again, but the fact is, the “old way” of selling never really went away! Selling in the Internet environment does not mean you don’t have to do just that – work at selling!

In this book, eXtreme eBay,Greg Perry walks you through some of the most tried and true selling methods of all time. He explains to you why they are still relevant, and if you employ them on sites like eBay, you can supercharge your ability to not only sell, sell a lot more -- but also at higher prices and profits for each item you want to move.

Perry expertly covers the fundamentals of direct marketing selling technique: Writing sizzling sales copy, writing killer, attention-grabbing headlines, using keywords effectively to attract more buyers – and he also covers some of the other best-of-all-time money-making strategies – such as the “up-sell” (do you want fries with that?), the “cross-sell” and the extremely important: “repeat sales.”

Those of us who have been around direct marketing for a long time, and who have paid our dues in the trenches of the pre-Internet realm, know that selling is selling – and that the fundamentals of the art of moving products did not disappear with the invention of the Internet.

I will say this, however: As a person who took years to learn to write persuasive, convincing, motivating sales copy, I can tell you that this is not a skill that just anyone can pick up easily. It is one thing, as Perry recommends, to write killer sales descriptions – it is another thing to do it well. To write truly marvelous eBay sales copy descriptions, you need to be a skilled writer. You have to know how to choose words, write tightly, lead the reader along, entice the reader, create desire in the reader – and that is a skill few people have, or will ever have – because it is high level of expertise -- believe me.

But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least try – or maybe even hire a professional copy writer to write your eBay descriptions for you if you are truly serious about selling, and selling a lot. The bottom line is, Greg Perry’s book, eXtreme eBay, reveals to you what you need to do to jazz up your eBay sales -- anyone who reads this book will sell more on eBay and make more money on eBay -- period.

Ken Korczak is the author of: SECRETS OF A GRANT WRITER

NOTE: FOR MORE EXCITING IDEAS ON HOW TO MAKE MONEY ON eBAY, GET THIS eBAY SPECIAL REPORT. JUST CLICK THE "BUY NOW" BUTTON BELOW:

The Last Stage: Can A Man Find Meaning By Channeling The Soul Of Jim Morrison?

2012-01-28T14:12:00.008-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

One of the unforeseen nightmares of economic prosperity is a dreadful existentialism or ennui that can develop in society, especially among young people.

When you live in a poor country, you have little time for fancy higher thoughts. Your daily struggle is to find something to eat, stay warm, maybe keep the mosquitoes and rats away at night, and hope some foreign invader does not muscle through to kill or rape you. Your focus and purpose is crystal clear: Eat and stay alive, and hope for something better.

But if you grow up in a well-to-do family from, say, a Chicago suburb, and your parents pay your way through college, and effortlessly provide for your meals and housing – then the minimum you have to do is hang out, listen to rock music, smoke dope while pulling a C+ average, watch TV and score some sex when you can.

Sooner or later, however, this lifestyle of relative ease can creep up on you and bite you in the ass – and hard!

Suddenly, you’re 28, 29, maybe 30 years old and you ask yourself: “What does it all mean? Who am I? What am I doing here? What’s my purpose? Certainly, there must be something more to life? Something deeper?”

Those are the kind of questions that began to torment Michael Gray, the not-so-easy-to-like antihero of Jim Cherry’s marvelous novel, THE LAST STAGE. Like many barely-thirty-somethings raised comfortably upper-middle class, Gray finds himself agonizingly adrift. Naturally, his mind seizes upon his only passion – his love for the 60s rock band, The Doors, and its dark, mercurial icon, The Lizard King himself, Jim Morrison.

From the platform of his desperate existential drift, Gray hatches a plan to form a Doors cover band. By a thrust of fate, it just so happens that Gray bears a considerable resemblance to his idol. Also, like Morrison, Gray has no singing talent – but he takes that as a positive sign – because it is well-known that, in the beginning, Morrison had no singing talent either. If Morrison could reimagine himself from unpublished poet and film student to rock ‘n’ roll front man, then why not Michael Gray?

Gray uses his Morrisonesque anti-charisma to hijack a promising young start-up band. He convinces them to sidetrack their own career to create “The Unknown Soldiers,” a Doors cover band. It will feature a certain non-singer Michael Gray as the front man, a leather-clad faux Mr. Mojo Risin. Among his hopes is to “create reality through fiction.”

The nation-wide tour of seedy bars and crummy, crusty clubs results in something like a Jack Kerouac kind of journey of what should be a quest for meaning -- but what Gray ultimately discovers is – well, something different. Life is complicated that way.

And that’s just one of the elements I like about this Indie novel by Chicago-based writer Jim Cherry. The Last Stage is evidence that deeply talented writers exist out there, they’re fertile with unique premises for great books – and they’re writing and publishing them!

While mainstream publishers are obsessed with the easy cash of utter trash -- teen vampire crapola, thriller lawyer novels or international spy romances – genuine authors, on the streets and in the trenches – are observing, watching, feeling, thinking – discovering the extraordinary in “ordinary” people struggling with down-to-earth problems – such as finding meaning in a country where the American Dream long-ago stopped making sense.

Cherry’s main character thinks he wants fame and adulation, but he seems also to understand that what his quest gets down to is a search for Reality itself – Reality with a capital R. He’s just crazy enough and desperate enough to believe that touring with a Doors cover band might actually make the discovery of "true meaning" happen.

Ken Korczak is the facilitator of: THE DR. 58 MATERIAL

The Hunt Is On For The Bones Of A Biblical Prophet: Hoesel Delivers An Entertaining Read

2012-01-27T16:55:00.006-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

This is one of those books difficult for me to recommend too strongly because it's not "great literature" equal to the ranks of, say, Hemingway, Joyce Carol Oates or Vonnegut. But it is a very good "B Novel," if you know what I mean. Sometimes you're in the mood for a good yarn with an interesting premise. And so in this case the author, DON HOESEL, delivers an enjoyable read.

ELISHA'S BONES might also be considered to be Christian literature, although I'm not sure. If it is Christ-lit, it's very light-handed. It does not beat you over the head with "The Message" -- so that makes it tolerable to those of us who don't like to be preached at.

The plot involves an archaeologist whose exciting career of getting his hands dirty in the field and making new discoveries is well behind him. Now he's just running out the time clock on his life working as a professor at some small college. But then a mysterious billionaire taps him to undertake an amazing mission -- to find the ancient bones of the Biblical prophet Elisha. Apparently, someone squirreled them away somewhere centuries ago, and for a very good reason: Touching the bones of Elisha can bring the dead back to life!

And so our hero is thrust into a world of international intrigue, conspiracies, ancient wonders, and all the while he is pursued by the thugs and henchmen of other powerful interests who also want to get their hands on the magic skeleton.

There are some moments, well, more than a few, that really made me cry out "Oh come on!" because certain elements bordered on the ridiculous, even for science fiction where one is required to willingly suspend disbelief.

I will also say, however, that I thought this book was better than "The da Vince Code" by Dan Brown, (but I thought that was an awful book) -- and Elisha's Bones bears a very strong comparison (almost too strong) to a another book, "The Skeleton in God's Closet," by Paul Maier.

But, anyway, it's an okay read, and I would buy another of Mr. Hoesel's books.

PLEASE SEE: MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

Inner Paths To Outer Space: A Scientist's Study of DMT on Human Subjects

2012-01-27T16:06:00.003-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

Readers who are already familiar with the work of RICK STRASSMAN, MD, might be disappointed in this book because they will probably find a lot of material they had already read before concerning his studies involving the powerfully hallucinogenic synthetic compound, DMT.

However, anyone confronting this kind of information for the first time should find this book nothing less than astounding. Strassman is one of the few clinical researchers ever to receive permission to study DMT on human subjects, which he did in the early to mid-1990s. What's interesting are the experiences reported by his subjects -- whom were "ordinary people" and volunteers. Under the influence of DMT, they seemed to enter other worlds or alternate dimensions of reality, where they confronted bizarre "alien beings" including elf-like creatures, repitilian humanoids, UFO-type aliens and more. And that's just for starters.

For those who are already familiar with Strassman's findings, it's important to point out that this book also includes considerable contributions from other researchers in this or similar fields, including Slawek Wojtowicz, M.D., Ede Frecksa, M.D. and Luis Eduardo Luna, Ph.D.

I was familiar with the work of Strassman, and I did find some of his material here "nothing new" for the most part; however, the essays of the other writers, especially Frecksa, was for me a new look at the nature of consciousness, and especially the possible quantum structure of the brain on the nano-scale. Extremely interesting.

For people who have never before heard about or read about the deeper implications of hallucinogenic compounds, synthetic or natural, on the nature of reality and consciousness, this book will be nothing less than an amazing revelation.

Most of the material has a high scientific and academic standard, though it sometimes does get a little "New Agey" here and there -- but that's okay. All in all, a fascinating collection of the writings of distinguished researchers which I am happy to recommend.

Ken Korczak is the facilitator of: THE DR. 58 MATERIAL

This Brain Surgeon Can Write A Mean Science Fiction Novel

2012-01-27T15:22:00.001-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

Wow, BRIAN O'GRADY was soaring along, flying high on eagle wings of science fiction excellence, cruising to an easy stellar recommendation from me with this gripping book HYBRID - unfortunately, the eagle makes a couple of unscheduled landings to act like a turkey, tarnishing the luster from what might have been a contender for the Hugo or Nebula Award.

The most important impression I want to leave with the reader is that this is a terrific book; get it, read it and enjoy it - because I certainly did. O'Grady is simply an excellent writer. His strength in creating believable, complex characters and placing them in extraordinary circumstances is considerable. Science fiction legend Ben Bova said that all great SF begins and ends with character. If you create vivid characters and then give them incredibly tough problems to solve - and nearly kill them in the process of an unfolding plot - what you have is a thrilling book, making it a joy to turn each page.

O'Grady does all that. So what's the problem? Well, for me, and inexplicably, O'Grady takes a couple of pointless detours - one is throwing in a bit about a conventional military action against Iran - which does absolutely nothing to advance his primary plot of biological terrorism.

But even that is not so bad as when it becomes obvious that O'Grady can't resist grinding a certain political ax here and there. He seems to create scenes specifically just to show that "enhanced interrogation techniques" (the euphemism for torture, in this case, chemical torture) is more effective in getting tough nuts to crack than non-torture techniques. He takes a considerable dig at Vietnam-era war protestors -- (you know, those deluded people who thought Vietnam was a horrific mistake) - but at one point, O'Grady can't help but take a petty, below-the-belt shot at a liberal icon, the filmmaker Michael Moore. Why spoil a great work of SF just to throw a sucker punch?

It's all forgivable, however! O'Grady has a bright future. I understand his day job is that of neurosurgeon, but if that doesn't pan out for him, I think he can make it as a writer. I hope he develops a huge audience, and I eagerly await anything else this talented guy has to offer.

Please visit Ken Korczak's FAN PAGE: MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

If You Need A Book To Remind You To Be Happy, Is It Already Too Late?

2012-01-27T12:14:00.007-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

Do you really need an ancient Roman philosopher who has been dead for centuries tell you how to be happy? Well how about Oprah Winfrey then? Because she has this 100% earth-shattering advice for you: “Be happy with what you have; you’ll end up having more.” Wow! Is that really the case? That's deep, yet so simple! Why didn’t I think of that!

Before some lunatic put a bullet in Abraham Lincoln’s head, the President is purported to have said: “People are as happy as they make up their minds to be.”

Hmmmm.

If it had been Joe Schlobotnik, the guy who owns the tire shop on a corner in my small town, who said, “People are as happy as they make up their minds to be” -- it might sound like a vapid platitude. But since President Lincoln said it … well …

Perhaps Lincoln was channeling the long dead Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius who said: “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” Hmmmm again. Well, maybe I’m starting to see a pattern here – I don’t know.

Whatever the case, you can read quotes by all kinds of historic greats about how to jazz up your mind with super happy thoughts in SHADONNA RICHARDS' new book, “Think & Be Happy” an obvious play on the title of the mega-best selling book, “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. There are 365 “happy thoughts” – one for each day of the year so you can charge your mind with a ray of light every day.

If you want to buy this book as a traditional book, it’s only $19.95! But as of this writing, I see it’s available as a Kindle selection for $2.99. (I downloaded my Kindle version while it was being offered for free!)

That $19.95 price is eye-popping for a guy like me, a person who ekes out a living as a writer. Why eye-popping? Because I could go to Google right now, search on “famous quotes about happiness” and instantly get a few thousand, or so, and start whipping them into shape for a full-length book. I bet I could get the whole book done in just day or two – wait a minute, I don’t “bet I could” – I know I could. Believe me, I’ve been in the writing biz for 25 years.

So a book like this by Ms. Richards, selling for $19.95, makes me want to hum once again: “Hmmmm.”

But I digress. The thing is, does it work? Does feeding your mind a happy thought from a book by a nice person like Ms. Richards – who after all is a nurse, which is a very sweet thing to be -- really make you happy?

I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe it works for some people. Of course, you can find all your own happy thoughts for free on the Internet any time – and anyone who frequents Facebook is bombarded with similar messages all the time from well-meaning Facebook friends(at least I am). But if you want to pay $19.95 or $2.99 for this book well: “It’s all a matter of the way you think about it.” (And you can quote me).

Ken Korczak is the facilitator of: THE DR. 58 MATERIAL

Writing A Best Seller Is Easy When You Shop At The Cliché Store

2012-01-26T12:46:00.003-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

You know, this is a fast-paced science fiction yarn that will keep you turning the pages, and you may even enjoy yourself. However, anyone writing an honest review should point out a number of aspects of this book that must be recognized for what they are: a lot of standard cliché characters, cliché subplots, cliché backgrounds, etc.

First let's talk about the amazingly pervasive phenomenon of "dead wife syndrome" in literature and art today. I recently reviewed on this site "A WORLD I NEVER MADE" by James LePore. Main character: Has a dead wife. I also reviewed here THE GIFT OF ILLUSION by Richard Brown. Main character: Tough cop with a dead wife. Consider all the other dead wife heroes in recent movies and books: Mel Gibson's character in Lethal Weapon? A tough Vietnam Vet haunted by the memory of his dead wife. Leonardo DiCaprio's character in Inception? A tough investigator haunted by the memory of his dead wife. Bobby Simone in NYPD Blue? A Tough cop haunted by memory of his dead wife. How about good old 007, James Bond? Yep, he's got a wife in the freezer, too!

The hero of Season of the Harvest? Why, by golly, he's a tough FBI agent, a former Afghan war vet who has -- yes -- a dead wife! Wow! He's also devilishly handsome, square-jawed and a silent loner. I mean, why create a new, unique interesting character when you can just go grab one off the shelf from the Cliché Store?

How about the female lead character in this book? Well, she can be found in Aisle 9 of the Cliché Store next to the baked beans. She's a brilliant, genius scientist, who happens to be unbelievable gorgeous, totally pure of heart -- and just so plain hot, hot, hot!

Don't believe me? Try: Tara Reid as Aline Cedrac in Alone in the Dark (2005), Robin Riker as Marisa Kendall in Alligator (1980) and Saffron Burrows as Dr. Susan McCallister in Deep Blue Sea (1999). (I could go on at length).

What do they all have in common? That's right. They're all the same woman, except some are sexy blondes and some are sexy brunettes! They're all brilliant single scientists with a hankerin' for a tough cop with a dead wife!

You can bet your bippy that our super sexy science kitten will have an INSTANT ATTRACTION to the hard-as-nails, grieving ex-Special Ops military tough guy who could never love again ... TILL NOW!

As for some of the backdrop, there's a mega-high-tech underground fortified lab complete with concrete doors and scads of big screen computer equipment -- and there's even a few other major clichés thrown in for good measure.

(SPOILER ALERT)

How about this one: An important character is tragically shot in the chest by a nefarious traitor among the band of plucky heroes fighting to save humanity -- only to turn up ALIVE! later because she was conveniently wearing a BULLET PROOF VEST! HA! HA! Didn't see that coming!

I think in the last 3 or 4 Dean Koontz books I have read, Koontz dragged out the old bullet proof vest thingy 3 or 4 times. Perhaps Hicks and Koontz both have frequent buyer's cards at the same Cliché Store.

(SPOILER ALERT ENDS)

But, whatever. I know that many people will enjoy this potboiler -- and yes, even I will say I found this book a pleasant enough read. Go ahead and plunk down your mad money for a book. I did. I enjoyed it well enough.

Ken Korczak is the facilitator of: THE DR. 58 MATERIAL

Mainstream Evolutionists Are Wrong Say These "Vedic Creationists"

2012-01-26T07:41:00.001-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

A central theme of this book is bias, in this case, the deeply entrenched biases of the mainstream scientific community. So let me put my own bias on the table right away: To me, the word "creationism" is a dirty word and "Christian creationism" makes me gag.

It doesn't help that the authors, Michael Cremo and Richard Thompson are "Vedic creationists." Rather than using a Biblical perspective the challenge the prevailing scientific view on the evolution of humans, the authors proclaim to be adherents of "Lord Krishna" and subscribe to the Vedic view that modern human beings have inhabited planet earth not for some 100,000 years, but millions or even billions of years.

But putting this aside, and keeping an open mind, there is much to like and ponder in the information presented by this book, and the way it is presented - for the most part.

"The Hidden History of the Human Race" does not read like another sensational `ancient astronaut' screed ala Erich Von Daniken. It's more like an almost too sober text book. These guys are at least attempting a genuine, reasoned argument to debunk those who are usually the debunkers. Cremo and Thompson have scoured the academic records of paleontologists going back about 200 years, and they attempt to show just how incredibly imperfect, biased and downright delusional the work of "real" scientists can be

And they do a credible job of presenting a convincing portrait of stumbling, bumbling bone diggers, hungry for fame and pier prestige, making whopping assumptions, altering evidence, cherry-picking data, ignoring glaring evidence that does not support their own "religion" of evolution - and much more.

I'm not with those who criticize Cremo and Thompson on the basis of not being degreed paleontologists or archaeologists, which they are not - or even that everything in this book as been "thoroughly debunked." I'm not so sure about that. The authors put forward troubling evidence showing that the modern scientific view of evolution has problems, sometimes propped up by shaky and or even nonexistent evidence.

On the other hand, the authors are clearly, at times, if not biased in their own approach, are not presenting all the evidence they could in a balanced way. A prime example is their offering of the Klerpsdorf spheres found in South Africa in a strata known to be at least 2 billion years old. Cremo and Thompson suggest these objects are of intelligent design (meaning humans made them) - yet the alternate view of scientists on Klerpsdorf objects is well-known. A convincing and thorough case has been made that the objects are natural formations of nature, not man made.

The point is, if Cremo and Thompson were willing to foist off Klerpsdorf spheres onto their readers as part of their evidence - and did not feel the need to include an additional page to give the obvious alternate view of what they are - then this suggests they are self deluded (at least in this one example) or are deliberately deluding their readers.

Still, mainstream scientists are guilty of the same practices all the time in their quest for fame, research grants, promotions and prestige. So the bottom line for me is: This is a book well worth reading, the authors make some strong cases on enough points of evidence to make this book worthy of serious consideration, and not to be simply scoffed at by "skeptics" who cannnot or are unwilling to think outside the box.

Ken Korczak is the author of: BIRD BRAIN GENIUS

Free Science Fiction Nook, Kindle Gems: Planet of the Damned

2012-01-25T09:20:00.000-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

The prolific SF writer Gordon Dickson was called the "Book Doctor" because he was so good at advising other writers on how to make their books riveting page turners. His advice was that a great SF book should have the sound of a metaphoric ticking bomb that could go off at any time, and that the reader should start hearing that ticking on the first page.

In HARRY HARRISON'S pulp offering "Planet of the Damned" the bombs are not metaphors, but literally part of the plot -- in this case, a cache of nuclear cobalt bombs in the hands of a planet occupied by the worst kind of violent, savage "cave men" you can imagine. How did such a bunch of primitive grunts get their hands on nuclear weapons, and how do they have the ability to drop them on the neighboring planet in their solar system? Well, like all clever SF writers -- and Harrison is among the most clever -- he finds a way to make this scenario at least plausible

The savages on the planet Dis want to drop their bombs on the planet Nyjord, populated by a gentle race of passivist philosophers. Only one man stands in the way of this nefarious plot -- the incredible Brion Brandd -- a super Olympian-style athlete -- who finds himself an unlikely draftee to lead the effort to avert the nuclear annihilation of Nyjord. Brandd is not just a jock -- he's incredibly smart, and an empath to boot.

Anyone judging this short novel today must do so keeping in mind that it does not pretend to be anything which it is not -- it's a classic pulp fiction offering, first appearing in Analog SF magazine in 1962. Fast books with a hot premise like this were the bread and butter of pulp-era writers such as Harrison, and he was among the best in delivering genre fiction of this sort, and doing a credible job.

So it's not great literature, it may not even be stellar science fiction, but it is what it is: A fast-paced, intelligent thrill-novel set in the far future and outer space. Harrison knows his science well, and gives the reader a lesson in exobiology that is interesting and educating, without stalling the plot. That's no easy task!

Download this free science fiction ebook here: PLANET OF THE DAMNED

Ken Korczak is the author of: MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

Free Science Fiction Kindle Book: No Turning Back

2012-01-24T09:52:00.000-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

After I read the prologue to this science fiction novel by SHARON T. ROSE, I was sufficiently impressed by the writing skill of the author to want to continue reading, and the first chapter did not disappoint either. I was treated to skillfully handled action scenes, enough strangeness to make me want to know more, and interesting characters - in short, this promised to be an above-average science fiction yarn. And for the most part it is, but perhaps only for a younger audience.

The story involves a titanic interplanetary war that has been raging for centuries. The good guys and the bad guys have basically reached a stalemate. Since neither side can defeat the other, what we are left with is a low-grade state of war that flares up occasionally, or settles back into cold-war tension. The central heroes are the "Descendants" who are seemingly ordinary people, but who have the ability to transform themselves into giant "suited" warriors with extraordinary powers and weaponry. They are fighting an ancient evil enemy called the Sukkers.

To be honest, the "Descendants" remind me a lot of the "Power Rangers" of kid television fame. The similarities are many. Both are young people who say or think of some kind of "magic word" which causes them to transform into powerful, suited fighting warriors. One might also compare the Descendants to a half a dozen other super hero groups, such as the X-Men who, again, are seemingly ordinary people but who have extraordinary powers, and who wear "suits" when they fight bad guys. So on this score, the author does not get high points for originality.

My view is that "No Turning Back" will appeal to a younger audience than a guy like me. I'm a jaded 52-year-old crank who has been reading science fiction for more than 40 years. I've read it all, the good, the bad and the ugly - and so I'm hard to impress. For me, this novel for me was "right in there" - not a ground-breaking work destined to be a classic, but an entertaining enough read for a teenage or young adult audience.

I also expect great things in the future from this writer, who has marvelous skill with words.

This book is a free Kindle downland:CLICK HERE

Ken Korczak is the author of MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

Free Kindle, Nook eBook Gems: Science Fiction's Master Of Wit

2012-01-23T18:00:00.000-06:00

Review by KEN KORCZAK

So here is a short story by one of the all-time masters of science fiction, ROBERT SHECKLEY. Warrior Race is about a 15-20 minute read, but the impact of the story will stay with you a lot longer. Don't be surprised if you're driving in your car some day, or maybe walking your dog, and suddenly you find yourself thinking about this clever gem, and having yourself a private chuckle.

In brief: The story involves two unlucky space travelers who find themselves "way out there" and running short on fuel. They identify a remote planet where a cache of starship fuel has been squirreled away - it's an isolated world that has not had other visitors from space for many years.

When our two space men land, they encounter a primitive, but fierce population whose lives revolve around their identities as "warriors." The problem is, the place where the fuel is kept has long since come to be viewed as a sacred shrine, and the astronauts must find some way to get around, beyond or through tens of thousands of heavily armed natives to get the fuel they need.

At the heart of the story is an extremely clever twist - the highly peculiar fighting tactics of the Warrior Race. I can say no more, or I would spoil it. But take it from me, this is typical Sheckley cleverness at its best! It's no accident that Sheckley is often called "the Voltaire" of science fiction. His wit is sharp, still fresh today, and very much on display in this little masterpiece of the genre.

Click WARRIOR RACE to get your free Nook or Kindle copy!

Ken Korczak is the author of: MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

Free eBook Gems: William the Conqueror by Jacob Abbott

2012-01-21T13:09:00.000-06:00

Review by KEN KORCZAK

Enter a courtroom in the United States today, especially New England states, and you will hear the balif proclaim: "Oyez! Oyez! Oyez!" That's Norman French for: "Hearken! Hearken! Hearken!"

And so the titanic influence of one man, William the Conqueror, ripples across the centuries and an ocean to display its effect today. In the year 1066, William, the Duke of Normandy, set sail across the English channel with a mighty force, marched ashore and throttled the army of King Harold, thus taking the English crown and changing western world forever.

Originally published in 1877, educator Jacob Abbott writes like a kindly history teacher speaking to class of high school seniors. His style is lucid and no nonsense. He gives you the facts, but manages to flesh out enough anecdotal and incidental information to make this a bright and interesting read -- still fresh more than 125 years after it was written.

This book, and all of Abbott's MAKERS OF HISTORY series, are short treatments of famous historical figures. They are must reads for those who want a deeper understanding of the incredible people who changed the world in their day, and colored all of history. About the length of short novels, I love Abbott's short history treatments because they inform an educate, and give you a rich perspective on history, without having to wade through a lot of dry, acedemic textbook-like tomes.

Do youself a favor. Brush up on your history, maybe starting with this fine little book, WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR by Jacob Abbott. It's a 100% free ebook download for any format, be it Kindle, Nook, PDF of whatever you prefer.

Ken Korczak is the author of: BIRD BRAIN GENIUS

Historical Fiction From A Modern-Day Christian Perspective

2012-01-20T12:41:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

LYNN AUSTIN is a skilled and polished writer with a well-developed knack for grabbing a reader in the first two pages and pulling them in by presenting a dire situation for characters we have only just met, yet somehow, we already care about. In this case, the book opens with gentle children being threatened by a band of tough soldiers who storm into their bedrooms and take them captive.

The horrible plans for those children quickly become apparent - they are to be burned alive as an offering to a pagan god. And the author does not flinch from the brutality, or let her readers look away. She dutifully has the young boys tossed into the brass maw of a bestial idol, where they scream horribly as they are engulfed by flames.

If this sounds like raw, edgy, cutting edge fiction, well, maybe it is, but this is Christian literature. I almost never read this genre because I am not a Christian, but I am willing to read anything with an open mind as long as a compelling story is being told. And this book delivers that - for the most part.

For me, again, not a Christian, I found many of the scenes rather preachy and repetitive of the basic Christian themes that the "True God" is one of "endless love and compassion" and that those who turn away from Him to worship false gods will face calamity in their lives, and so on. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with this - it's what Christian readers enjoy reading and what they want to read. They like reading a compelling story, while also having their belief system reinforced for themselves.

However, as an objective reviewer, I have to make other readers aware of what they are getting when they purchase this book. Yes, it's a historical novel, a take on the ancient Kings of Judah in and around the years 700 B.C. to 800 B.C. - but one needs to know that this is historical fiction, but more accurately, fiction as seen through the lens of and colored by a modern day interpretation of a rather fundamentalist Christian belief system.

So if you are a believing, practicing Christian, this is almost certainly a top-flight read. For the rest of us, well ....

Ken Korczak is the author of: THE FAIRY REDEMPTION OF JUBAL CRANCH

A Mind Bending Historical Thriller In The Colonial Americas

2012-01-19T14:35:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

This work of historical fiction by Elliot Pattison is one of considerable complexity. It builds a plot by first introducing the reader to a dizzying array of names and characters, situations, subplots and situations. But it expertly couches it all in a highly realistic, gritty late 1700s world where the average person experiences immense hardships and cruelty on a daily basis - something those of us today would find hard to imagine.

The protagonist is a hard-luck Scot made a criminal and prisoner on flimsy evidence by the evil, greedy British of the colonial era - he is imprisoned aboard a convict ship heading for the New World where he faces a life of indentured slavery in a plantation, except by luck of his background - training as a physician - and a mysterious murder aboard the ship - thrusts him into the role of a Sherlock Holmes kind of guy.

Our hero Duncan McCallum faces hardships aplenty. He is confronted with mind-bending mysteries to solve as the plot plays out against a background of life aboard a miserable ship, and then in the wild, harsh and dangerous American colonies.

The complexity of the plot makes it obvious that Mr. Pattison is an extremely skilled writer capable of creating vivid characters we care about. He makes the reader feel what it might actually have been like to live and struggle in this dangerous, but exciting era, when the desperate and adventurous alike strove to carve out a new life in a New World.

For me, the flow of the story is too often slowed down by some rather tedious and mind-numbing dialog, and a sort of overly rigorous attention to minute detail which I found frustrating - and at times - the characters act in ways that seem purely illogical -- yet I would eagerly recommend this high quality piece of literature to anyone, especially those with an interest in the British colonial era of the Americas.

Ken Korczak is the author of: THE FAIRY REDEMPTION OF JUBAL CRANCH

Cliché Characters and Absurd Plot Elements Sink This One

2012-01-19T10:37:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

So let me tell you why this book immediately earned a demerit from me - the main character is a tough cop with a dead wife. Why is that so bad? Because I recently read Season of the Harvest by Michael R. Hicks whose protagonist is a tough cop with a dead wife. I also just finished A World I Never Made by James Lepore whose male viewpoint character is a sad doofus with a dead wife. I also recently viewed the movie Inception featuring a Leonardo DiCaprio who is a tough agent with a (sort of) dead wife. How about Mel Gibson in both Lethal Weapon and Braveheart? Dead wife. Dead wife. The private eye Charlie Parker in John Connolly's gothic thrillers? Poor Charlie is haunted by the memory of his dead wife. Russell Crowe in Gladiator? Dead wife. Even the great fictional secret agent James Bond, 007 himself -- that's right, he has a dead wife. Remember that great TV show NYPD Blue? Bobby Simone was a tough cop with a dead wife.

It's just that - you know - I can't stand this cliché any more. Hey, if you want to be a writer, then be a writer, dag gum it, and do a bit of work and thinking to create complex, fictional characters that have deeper motivations based on some kind of imagined life experience - rather than taking a cliché off the shelf, or borrowing a character from another book, and using him like some kind of "plug and play" module to generate shallow sympathy points.

But there are other literary sins here - one is a number of stretches were absolutely nothing happens to move along the plot. The most irritating bit is at least a full page of Kindle text featuring a scene where a waitress takes the character's dinner order in a restaurant! In an earlier scene, the protagonist spends a chapter shooting pool in a bar with a buddy - he moans a bit about his dead wife - but the plot moves not one centimeter forward in this wasted stream of filler words.

I also spank the writer for a certain amount of absurdity. I realize this is a book featuring bizarre paranormal activity and that it is supposed to be fantastical and unreal, so to speak, but even events that are strange in horror books should create a sense of plausibility. For example, the bad guy of the book was once a traveling illusionist in 19th Century America and his "show" featured hypnotized members of the audience being forced to perform bloody orgies on stage, often ending in the brutal mutiliation and deaths of those audience members!

You know, even in the Wild West of 1800s America, there was rule of law, not to mention a more puritanical society, which would not have tolerated even the slightest public pornographic demonstration, much less bloody, sexual orgies with people killing each other in some kind of traveling fun show! Where was the town sheriff!? Who cleaned up the bodies after the "show"?

Come on! That's absurd! It's not plausible, even for a book of paranormal fiction!

Despite all the crimes against fiction, I give this author at least an "A for Effort" for doing some things right - including creating supporting characters that are vivid and believable - such as a sad little girl being bullied at school, and a three-time divorced grease monkey promoted to car salesman who has recently found wife No.4!. Now that's what I'm talking about! This author has great ability to create unique characters when he wants to!

I realize this book was meant to be a fast, enjoyable summer read on the beach, and not great literature, ala Joyce Carol Oates or Gore Vidal, but even for light fiction the trangressions are too many to earn a positive review from me. I will say, however, with honesty, that I think Richard Brown shows great promise, he knows how to write, and I think we can all expect better books from him in the future.

Ken Korczak is a former professional grant writer. Find his advise on how to get free government money here: GRANT WRITING SECRETS

Free Science Fiction eBook Gems: The Status Civilization, Robert Sheckley

2012-01-18T09:29:00.000-06:00

EDITOR'S NOTE: Free eBook gems is part of an ongoing series that reviews great "eBooks you should read" and which are free to anyone to download and enjoy anytime, anywhere.

Review By Ken Korczak

Science fiction is often called the "literature of ideas" and this short novel exemplifies that concept. The idea in "The Status Civilization" is to strand an innocent man convicted of murder on a prison planet where all is topsy-turvy. The only rule of law is that all must break the law. If you don't break the law, you get into trouble. Murder is the highest ideal of the citizen. Drug addiction is mandatory. They have a church on this planet, but it worships "Evil", and yes, attendance is required.

The planet Omega is like a space-age Australia back when the British used that contintent to dump off their criminals and social malcontents. New arrivals are criminals joining fellow criminals who must now form their own society. But in this case, all have their memories erased before being stranded on Omega. They are given only one bit of self-knowledge: The crime they committed on Earth.

The hero is Will Barrent, convicted of murder -- a murder he no longer remembers, of course. The problem is, he has the nagging feeling he is innocent, and seems to only want to be good and do good. But now he must try to fit in with an entire planet consisting of and run by other criminals.

It's a terrific premise, and in the hands of Robert Sheckley, one of the true masters of science fiction, this short novel becomes a marvelously entertaining read. Expect nonstop action, and little in the way of description or anything that does not move along the plot. For example, Sheckley wastes no time with describing scenary or filling out the details of the environment of an alien planet -- it's just bare bones movement of the protagonist doing this, and doing that, as he works his way through his terrible situation.

In my personal pantheon of favorite science fiction gods, Robert Sheckley is among the top three. The primary reason is this: He is a master of a certain kind of cynical, dry and wry irony that is nothing less than hilarious. It's Sheckley's extremely unique STYLE that separates him from the run-of-the-mill sf writer.

What really pushes this seemingly pulp yarn over the top to a solid 5-star book is the brilliant way it ends, revealing an unexpected depth of meaning and message. It's a sizzling commentary on post-modern society that cuts to the bone. Extraordinary.

DOWNLOAD THIS eBOOK FREE: The Status Civilization

Please see: KEN KORCZAK IN THE KINDLE STORE

How To Make Money With LinkedIn: A Short eBook With Some Advice

2012-01-17T13:19:00.003-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

I’m an avid user of social media networks, both because I like to waste time noodling around with my friends, but also because this is where all the oxygen is today in the online world. I’m not a super-robust user of social networks, but I do have a A Facebook Page, a Facebook Fan Page a Twitter account – and I’m on LinkedIn.

For what it’s worth, my experience has been that LinkedIn is far superior in getting the results I want in terms of purely doing business. For me that means marketing and selling my ghostwriting services, and selling the ebooks I have written, which are available in the Amazon Kindle Store store. LinkedIn easily outperforms Facebook and Twitter for me.

So I was eager to see what Jamie Turner had to say in this offering, “How To make Money Marketing Your Business On LinkedIn.”

This is a short piece that would not have been referred to as any kind of “book” in the “old world,” but today an ebook is and ebook. This is actually more akin to a Special Report. Most people can get through it in about 30 to 45 minutes.

Does it deliver? I think it does, especially if you have worked very little with LinkedIn, or if you are one of those people like I used to be: I signed up for a LinkedIn account, and then ignored it for months on end. Turner points out that to get the most out of LinkedIn, you have to put some effort into it, and massage your presence and activity there. That means, he says, getting and staying active, joining groups, making more than just connections by developing deeper relationships – that kind of thing.

He also has some other decent tidbits of advice, such as taking advantage of LinkedIn’s “Answer” section.(I’ll say no more because I don’t want to give his entire ebook away!)

So, this is a fine piece of information about LinkedIn that, while being very general, will nonetheless give newbies a better idea about how to get more out of this business-oriented social media network. LinkedIn veterans who know their away around this network will find little information that’s new to them.

AND NOW A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT eBAY: JUST CLICK THE "BUY NOW" BUTTON BELOW TO GET SPECIAL E-REPORT (pdf format) TELLS HOW TO MAKE $50 PER HOUR -- YES, $50 PER HOUR -- USING EBAY, BUT NOT BUYING OR SELLING ON EBAY. THAT'S RIGHT NO BUYING OR SELLING ON EBAY, RATHER LEVERAGING IT TO MAKE $50 PER HOUR:
YOU WILL RECEIVE YOUR EBAY REPORT VIA EMAIL WITHIN 1-HOUR OF YOUR PURCHASE! (IF NOT SOONER). YOUR EMAIL WILL BE NOT SAVED OR PUT ON A LIST, BUT WILL BE DELETED AFTER YOU PURCHASE THIS E-REPORT!

See also: Ken Korczak's Special Report: SECRETS OF A GRANT WRITER: TIPS ON GETTING GOVERNMENT GRANTS

The Strong Witch Society: Din Parson's Vision For A Coming New Age

2012-01-17T08:08:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

Readers interested in the subject of witchcraft, perhaps from a historical perspective, or maybe as Wiccans, or even those who have a taste for the occult, will be attracted to this book by its title and skillfully designed cover. And you'll get a bit of all of the above.

Also, the primary subject of the book, Mary Bliss Parsons, is a real historical figure, a woman who was accused and prosecuted for witchcraft in the late 1600s, according to court records filed in Boston. The author, Din Parsons, is her actual great grandson.

And so many readers who are familiar with books on witchcraft will be expecting to read more of the same, but the author rather quickly launches into all new and unexpected territory, and this will challenge the reader, to say the least.

Many will have their credibility challenged confronting the grand vision Parsons outlines. Some may even scoff, while those with wide-open minds might ... just might ... believe that Parsons is onto something significant here. The author himself even offers the caveat that many people will consider this is a work of fiction, which he says it is not.

But that's what's good about this book, and why I give it high marks. Those interested in contemplating the "ultimate issues" of life, the universe and reality, will find much fodder for discussion upon reading this book. Parsons writes well in an easy lucid style, not boorishly dry and intellectual, but accessable to all.

PLEASE SEE: KEN KORCZAK ON AMAZON.COM

Sticky Sweet Teen Narcissism In Full New Age Bloom

2012-01-16T15:50:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

So the main character of this book Amelia is a teenager upset with her super-rich mummy because she blew $85,000 on a gown she wanted her to wear to a ball.

Why upset? Because she wished mom would have spent $85,000 helping children dying of AIDS in Africa? Or rebuilding homes for the earthquake devastated people of Haiti? No! She’s upset because her parents “don’t understand her.” Wearing an $85,000 frock to a fancy ball is “just not me,” Amelia moans.

Her real passion is dancing!

Her love interest, Matthew, also has the terrible burden of parents he describes as “extremely wealthy.” The misery!

This is a problem because his cash-bloated parents expect him to excel in academics and sports. But poor Matthew also “feels misunderstood.” He could care less about sports – what he really wants to do is take tap dancing lessons – but he fears his controlling parents will force feed him Ritalin and crush his offbeat, wacky desires.

So right out of the gate I think we have established that Amelia is not exactly Mother Teresa and Matthew sure ain’t Gandhi.

But the real fun starts when Amelia and Matthew get lost on a school hiking trip and they both croak from hypothermia.

Upon their deaths from exposure, they don’t really die but are launched into a parallel-worlds kind of afterlife – where Amelia finds super incredible amounts of love, love, LOVE!!!!

She learns that she and Matthew have loved each other through countless lifetimes, and not just any love – they are “radiantly in love!” “shining with golden love!” their souls are “shattered with exploding love!” and, and … well, they were just SO DARNED IN LOVE ALL THE TIME AND FOR ALL ETERNITY!

To give credit where it's due, this is actually a well written book, even beautifully written, when isolating the prose itself from the overall shallowness of the content. This author has flat-out talent with words. She paints gorgeous imagery of achingly lovely worlds glittering with golden sunshine and green grass strewn with multicolored wildflowers – you know, like the Teletubby planet, but even more glorious.

The bottom line is that Parallel Worlds is massive teenage narcissism in full saccharine bloom, replete with every conceivable cliché of the New Age and simplistic quantum ka-ka trotted out to form an idealistic vision of naïve love that can save us all, save the world – love that is powerful, eternal and lasting forever.

I eagerly look forward to the day when the author matures, and lives some of the genuine grit, dirt and heartache of life so that she can turn her extraordinary talent with words to the task of writing something that is real, deep, edgy and meaningful.

This book is FREE on Amazon.com as a Kindle selection here: PARALLEL WORLDS BY HEATHER MACAULEY NOELL

SEE: KEN KORCZAK ON AMAZON.COM

"Life" by Keith Richards: Destined To Be A Classic of Rock Literature

2012-01-15T10:41:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

Keith Richards’ biography “Life” is one of the best books ever written from the inside world of big rock-n-roll. It rivals other great rock-n-roll tomes, such as "Hammer of the Gods" the story of Led Zeppelin. It’s destined to be an important historical document that will show future generations what was happening inside and down in the trenches, especially in the early days of emergent British-brand rock.

It's also just an incredibly entertaining read through all 600 pages. Paired with journalist James Fox, the writing is somewhat "gonzo" style reminiscent of Hunter S. Thompson.

Richards comes off as frank, and yes, even humble. At times, though, evidence of a bloated rock star ego cannot be denied. As for the latter, how can you blame the guy? I'd like to see anyone else endure the onslaught of 50 years of adulation from the poor and powerful alike and not let some of it go to one's head. (Former Prime Minister Tony Blair praises Keith as "one of my biggest heroes" in a get-well letter he sent to Richards after his fall from a tree, resulting in brain damage).

I've read a couple of negative opinions of this book by other reviewers with amazement. I was astonished anyone could take a dim view. Most seemed disgusted by Richards' days as a junkie, and others found this book "rambling" and "unfocused." Some actually complained that he mentions "inconsequential" things like his near-death-experiences in several car crashes.

Well, I mean, the fact that Richards struggled monumentally with addiction to the hard stuff is a central aspect of his life story. He can’t gloss over it or deny it. He has to tell it, and he does. He doesn’t sugar coat his saytrism, nor does he justify it –- he just tells what happened. I can find no fault in his frank admission to this aspect of his life, nor do I see why other holier-than-thou types should.

I was touched by the way Richards handled his dreary childhood -- he never lapses into "poor me" sentimentality, yet gives the readers a vivid feeling of what it might have been like to grow up in a shabby post World War II London suburb, still gaping here and there with the holes of Nazi V2 rockets. Richards has also been accused in some circles of being a “momma’s boy.” And so, yes, his great love and close connection to his mother comes across in these pages – I mean, gee, the evil guy! He loved his mum!

The most admirable aspect of Richards’ attitude, for me, is this: He never claims to be anything other than “just a bloke who plays guitar in a band” – nothing more, nothing less – not a revolutionary, not a social engineer, not a man trying to change or enlighten society with his art, not an out-of-control anarchist bent on the destruction of “the establishment.” He just wants to play his gig, entertain the crowd, and then kick back with a smoke, a drink, fun with his mates and “the company” of beautiful women. That’s it.

Richards comes off as a screamingly funny guy. For example, his insistence on including his personal recipe and technique for cooking "bangers and mash" is nothing less than Vonnegut-esque! Truly hilarious!

"Life" delivers loads of Satisfaction.

SEE: KEN KORCZAK AT AMAZON.COM

When Isaac Newton Becomes Sherlock Holmes

2012-01-14T11:06:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

Newton and the Counterfeiter by Thomas Levenson is one of the most fascinating reads I have enjoyed in some time. It helps that I have hero-worshiped Isaac Newton since I became an amateur astronomy zealot as a child way back in the 1960s. But anyone will find this an absorbing read because it is more than an historical rendering. It's like a Sherlock Holmes mystery novel meets the biography of perhaps the single most intelligent human being ever to live.

Many know Isaac Newton as the natural philosopher, the founder of modern science, the man who gave us the inverse square law of gravity, the author of the stunning Principia Mathematica and much more --but fewer people know that in his later years, Newton was a government bureaucrat, but not just any bureaucrat. He was the Warden and later Master of the British Mint, a powerful position because it put him at the center of very financial heart of the British Empire.

Part of his duties as warden of the mint was to be the top cop investigating crimes against the mint -- that meant mostly counterfeiting -- which was rife in London. This is what led the mighty Isaac Newton into a titanic struggle against one of London's most clever criminals, the coin counterfeiting genius William Chaloner.

This is such an incredible story that it almost seems a plot cooked up for a Hollywood thriller, except it happens to be 100% true. Isaac Newton takes on the role of a crime detective as he tracks a relentless, desperate criminal, who despite being a peasant with no formal education, was smart enough to match wits with London's finest, and even the mighty Newton himself.

Levenson takes on what is naturally an extremely complex story with a lot of necessary background and presents it an effortless, lucid and seamless way, making for a book of history that sometimes reads like a thriller novel.

Newton and the Counterfeiter gets my highest possible recommendation.

CLICK HERE: KEN KORCZAK ON AMAZON.COM

A Quest For Non-Human Sentient Intelligence: Magic, Mysticism & Molecule

2012-01-13T11:58:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

In a strange, perhaps slightly counterintuitive sense, Micah Hanks is like the Carl Sagan of paranormal investigation. With this book, Magic, Mysticism and the Molecule, Hanks emerges as a keen observer and explainer of science on the edge, the occult, esoteric thought – everything that mainstream researchers consider to be “the fringe” of scientific investigation and philosophy.

Sagan was an accomplished astronomer in his own right, but by far his biggest contribution to science was in bringing the wonders of the universe to the masses in a way that was erudite, yet entertaining and awe inspiring. Likewise, Hanks has been in the trenches, so to speak, personally conducting paranormal investigations, but with this book, he shows the potential to be the “go to guy” to bring a broader understanding of paranormal phenomenon to the greater public.

In Magic, Mysticism and the Molecule, Hanks takes us from ancient times, through the Middle Ages and right on up to the present day, showing how paranormal experiences and phenomenon have been consistent and confounding across the centuries. It’s all in here -- ghosts, demons, hauntings, angels, aliens, UFOs, mystical experience, meditation, psychedelic drug induced shamanism, studies of weird brain effects by drugs and EM (electromagnetism) – and we are shown clear and intriguing connections between all of it.

Certainly, Hanks flirts with writing a book that is highly derivative because he relies heavily on the works of some of the biggest names of the cutting edge – Terrence McKenna, Rick Strassman, John Keel and many others. Too many books on paranormal topics these days are basically rehashing all the ideas which have already long been out there. But in this case, it's more like the author has chosen to stand on the shoulders of giants to that he can see further. Also, to be fair, this book is not entirely derivative because Hanks does include information from personal interviews he conducted, and he also relates some of his own real life experiences if when they help illuminate his topics.

I also like the way the book is conceived as referenced by its title. It welds together -- “magic,” (rituals and archaic practices) “mysticism” (transcendent religious thought and practice) and “molecules” (hard science of transcendent brain perceptions and function) -- in a way that delivers a fresh, overall perspective, enabling us to see a grander “whole” or process at work behind it all.

Also, on every page there is a vital “Just what the hell is really happening here!” kind of feeling. There’s a dogged almost urgent drive at getting to the bottom of the most confounding mysteries that keep popping up in all cultures across all times -- no matter what the hardened, accepted official dogma of the day is telling us about what is supposed to be true and not true.

So this book scores a high recommendation from me … and I’ll be expecting great things from Mr. Hanks in the future.

See also: THE GRALIEN REPORT

Ken Korczak is the author of: THE MAN IN THE NOTHING CHAMBER

A Voyage To Arcturus Is An Epic Masterpiece

2012-01-10T10:19:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

Scottish novelist David Lindsay died a desperately unhappy man on the edge of poverty. He wrote perhaps the greatest underground novel of the 20th Century. He was the biggest literary influence of J.R.R. Tolkien. He was vastly admired by the literary intelligencia of Britain and Europe, including C.S. Lewis.

But Lindsay’s uncanny masterpiece– A Voyage to Arcturus – sold less than 500 copies, marking him as a bad-risk pariah among publishers, and sentencing him to a life of obscurity and frustration.

Today A Voyage to Arcturus still doesn’t generate a dime because anyone can download it for free from the Internet. Yet, this book has been named to any number of the “The 100 Novels You Must Read” lists. It’s a work of singular genius. Imagine “Lord of the Rings” meets “Ulysses” or perhaps the “Odyssey” meets “Autobiography of a Yogi.” Reading it is like taking peyote while sitting in Zen meditation.

The book involves the journey of a man by the name of Maskull (mask-shell?) who attends a typical early 20th Century-style séance which turns out to be not so typical. At the séance he meets two mysterious men, Krag and Nightspore, who invite him on a journey to another planet in a far-away star system. The planet is Tormance which orbits the star Arcturus. On Tormance, Maskull embarks on a dream-like journey through the deep reaches and layers his own psyche, but also through the fundamental nature of reality and consciousness.

Sounds pretty deep, doesn’t it? And so it is. This is not an easy read; it’s never predictable, but unlike, say, Finnegan’s Wake, it’s not just a mish-mash of super avante garde literary esoterica. A Voyage to Arcturus has a logical structure leveraging a transcendental narrative that both makes sense and keeps you rocked off base at the same time. This is not a book designed to make you comfortable while it transports you through a sense of wonderment. It’s not airy-fairy, New Agey feel good fair – it’s better than that!

This is a masterpiece that will jolt you off your comfort zone. It will force you to look inside yourself for a frank inspection of what you might not want to see, but maybe what you should see.

No wonder it sold less than 500 copies – yet amazingly has been read by tens of thousands since.

Download A Voyage to Arcturus free here: ARCTURUS

Ken Korczak is the author of: THE FAIRY REDEMPTION OF JUBAL CRANCH

David Wilcock is a Cracked Clock: Source Field Investigations Is a Feast of False Facts

2012-01-08T09:46:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

I love books which espouse alternative views. As the great science fiction writer Philip K Dick said: "Sometimes the best place the look for the truth is in the trash." But that doesn't mean everything in the dumpster is good to eat. The discriminating reader must separate a still fresh, half-eaten ham sandwich from a rotted apple.

I'll say I admire David Wilcock's obvious childlike enthusiasm. I don't think he's a blatant charlatan spinning bizarre theories for fun and profit. I think he genuinely believes this stuff.

But this book is jam-packed with obviously false facts. At the very least, Wilcock could not be bothered - or did not want to be bothered - to take just a few minutes to find alternative explanations for his many amazing claims. Let's me just take a random selection from the enormous load of "evidence" Wilcock's serves up in THE SOURCE FIELD INVESTIGATIONS to bolster his theory of a coming "Golden Age of 2012":

FALSE: The Boskop skull is evidence of a former advanced race in South Africa

Wilcock goes on page after page extolling the evidence that a large skull that could hold 25% more brain capacity than modern humans was found in South Africa. He bases his claim on a book co-authored by a psychiatrist and cognitive scientists Gary Lynch and Richard Granger. And they do make the claim that a possible large-brain skull was found, and they also speculate that the face of the skull would have had a small, child-like face with small nose and mouth - in short, alien like.

However, Wilcock could have taken 10 minutes to Google the truth behind Lynch and Granger's claims, he would have found they are patently off-base and speculative at best, and no other scientists agree with them. Lynch nor Granger are not paleontologists or archaeologists, and they badly erred when assuming the Boskop skull was in any way unusual. In fact, they only had a few small fragments of a skull, and extrapolated a large brain from them. But even if they were correct about the brain size, it means nothing.

To get the full story of why Wilcock is wrong about the Boskop skulls read the views of anthropologists and paleontologist John Hawks here:John Hawks

But what's even more bizarre here about Wilcock's claim is that earlier in the book, he made a lot of hay about how brain size does not matter! He gives several examples of people with damaged or surgically removed parts of their brains who maintain normal intelligence. So when it suits Wilcock to extoll the wonders of large brain size, he does so. And when it suits him to extoll the wonders of small brain size - he goes ahead and does that too.

FALSE: Wilcock says Astronomers were shocked and "embarrassed" to discover a gigantic loss of heavy elements, including oxygen, on Jupiter between 1979 and 1995.

This is absolutely ridiculous.

To make this claim, Wilcock sites information by French astronomer Tristan Guillot, but what Wilcock decides to leave out is extraordinary. First, Jupiter is 99% composed of the light gases hydrogen and helium. When you combine all of the heavier elements together, you get less than 1% of the total mass of Jupiter. The amount of oxygen on Jupiter is extremely tiny, and plays no significant role in the structure of Jupiter. Source

But what's worse, Wilcock does not seem to know this: The exact composition of Jupiter was poorly understood between 1979 and 1995 - and the reason is simple. That was before actual space probes reached Jupiter and physically sampled its atmosphere! Before the Galileo mission reached the Jupiter system in 1995, the fine details of what was inside Jupiter were not well known. For Wilcock to quote data from 1979 to 1995 - and then conveniently leave out all the best, later information gathered by actual probes - is sensationally ridiculous.

In fact, the Galileo probe data (which Wilcock ignores) "forever changed the ways scientists saw Jupiter": Jupiter Data

FALSE: Wilcock claims earthquakes events are increasing dramatically in recent years.

Anyone who wants to spend five minutes on Google can easily see this claim is 100% untrue. I mean, just go right to the experts, the USGS, the United States Geological Survey. They say: "Although it may seem that we are having more earthquakes, earthquakes of magnitude 7.0 or greater have remained fairly constant." Earthquake facts

What about that, David Wilcock? Well, he says they are not counting the 7.0 or above and only count the minor earthquakes. I invite anyone to check out the link and decide who they choose to believe.

Even where I find some of Wilcock's information fairly intriguing and compelling, one can easily find alternative explanations. Take the example of the persistent motif of the pinecone throughout religious symbolism, from the ancient Babylonians, to the Vatican to the present day. Wilcock says the pinecone is a symbol of the pineal gland in the brain, and the ancients understood that this was the "Third Eye" the cosmic doorway to higher consciousness.

That's possible, I suppose, but if one is intent on writing an honest book that is also thorough, one must at least offer alternative explanations for all the pinecone art if they are available - and they are.

Wilcock points out, for example, that the ancient Roman god Bacchus of wine and drunkenness carries a staff with a pinecone at the tip. My friends, I'll give you one guess as to what one of the primary components of wine making was back then. You guessed it: pine resin! Is that why Bacchus wields the pincone staff? What do you think?

What about the ancient Mesopotamians? Why did they favor the pinecone so much in their depictions of kings and gods? Well, fertility rites and fertility goddesses were a really big deal back then, and a pinecone is certainly an excellent symbol of regrowth and regeneration. But there's more: Pine and cedar tree were an extremely important economic commodity back then. For example, the ancient Phoenicians grew rich on their trade of timber - cedar and other pines- so naturally a pinecone might be grasped as an important symbol of wealth and fertility. Go take a look at the flag of modern-day Lebanon. It depicts a cedar tree because of the deep importance and history of this kind of pine tree in the ancient Mideast. The cedar is referenced many times in the Bible as a symbol of growth and strength. Could that be the true meaning behind all the pinecones?

At the very least, it's a valid alternative explanation - but Wilcock is not interested in anything that does not support his pet theories.

I could go on - but I think you get the picture. This book, and the many false claims of Wilcock over the years (remember his statement that world governments would disclose secret UFO information in November of 2009?) remind me of that old saying: "Even a broken clock is right twice a day."

Well, Wilcock is not just a broken clock - he is seriously cracked.

Ken Korczak is the author of MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

A "UFO Book" That Reads Like a Spiritual Classic

2012-01-07T10:53:00.001-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

Harvard educated psychiatrist John E. Mack was at the peak of a distinguished career as a doctor, Harvard professor, writer and researcher. He even won the Pulitzer Prize for literature and enjoyed universal respect. Then in 1994 he astonished everyone by daring to publish a UFO book.

It was as if every accomplishment of his entire life was now called into question. A Harvard "kangaroo committee" began to investigate him. High-level academic peers condemned him. Public ridicule followed.

Ironically, Mack's 1994 book "Abduction" was a bestseller and probably made him a ton of money - opening him up to that old skeptic's attack over anything to do with UFOs - 'he did it to cash in.' I remember other quotes in the media from egg-head academics that went something like this: "John Mack is a really brilliant guy, but for some reason, he just lost it."

But Mack was only going where the science was leading him. As a therapist, he was intrigued that he was getting an increasing number of patients who claimed to have been abducted by UFO aliens. They were distressed over their experiences, but Mack was perplexed that, outside their bizarre tales of abductions, these people seemed altogether normal and mentally healthy in all other respects. They wanted to stay anonymous; in fact, they were desperate to keep their experiences a secret. It was clear they were not just a bunch of nutty attention seekers, or deeply neurotic or psychotic lunatics. They were ordinary people who needed to deal with a traumatic event.

And so what really got Mack into hot water, especially among the academic and scientific community, is that he had the audacity to suggest that maybe these people really had been abducted by aliens! That maybe they were telling the truth! It was blasphemy!

In my view, Mack, who died in 2004, was treated in much the same way the Catholic Church treated Galileo when he dared support the idea that the sun did not revolve around the earth. In the end, Mack faced no disciplinary action from Harvard, and he didn't lose his license to practice psychiatry, but he endured a scathing wind of condemnation from the "established elite" and sacrificed his standing in the medical and academic community.

Just as I found Mack's "Abductions" a riveting read, I give stellar marks to this book, "Passport to the Cosmos." It's an amazing book in many ways - it's not even really so much a book about alien abduction as it is about spiritual transformation. "Passport to the Cosmos" bears greater relationship to such spiritual classics as "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Paramahansa Yogananda than to other books about UFO-related phenomenon - although there is plenty of "alien and UFO" discussion underpinning all of the content.

In addition to the experiences or ordinary Americans, Mack also highlights the UFO-like experiences of three modern day shamans - Sequoyah Trueblood, Bernardo Peixoto and Credo Mutwa. This is significant because Mack rather brilliantly shows us the UFO phenomenon through the eyes of a different culture - perspectives that are not as entangled in the highly rational, secular, materialistic, scientific mindset of Western society. It gives us another way to look at and consider just what might be going on with this whole UFO thing. It forces us to look at it in a new light.

For many readers who have read Mack's "Abductions," this book may seem like "more of the same" but my view is that Mack's thoughts and ideas about what is going on with abduction patients ("experiencers") and the UFO phenomenon have advanced and solidified, and are stated more firmly around a more coherent theory in this book.

This is an important book. I wish millions of people would read it, and give it serious thought.

Ken Korczak is the author of The Fairy Redemption of Jubal Cranch JUBAL CRANCH

Vivid Characters, Superior Plotting, Impressive First Book

2012-01-06T11:32:00.001-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

Art Spevak is an anonymous nobody, alienated from society, alienated from himself, alienated from his culture. He's a man with no ambitions, no interests, and no enthusiasm. He's a loser with women, haunted about being abandoned by his birth parents, and sees no clear future for himself.

His best friend Telly Brensen is tall and handsome as a Nordic god. His spirit is fiery and bold. Women would sell a kidney for a single night with him. He's intelligent, fearless and there's no challenge in the world he can't grapple with, conquer and wrestle to the ground.

Art and Telly endure a lackluster, if not dreary middle class upbringing in the American northwest, and then get flung out into the world. They confront the brutality of war, tragedy, beautiful women, boredom, sleazy criminals, greedy and incompetent bosses, snarky coworkers, strange lands, exotic cultures and confounding philosophical dilemmas.

Does it sound like the making of the proverbial Great American Novel? It does. And this novel, HONOR AND ENTROPY comes close to just that - a Great American Novel. For me it is a no brainer to give this my top recommendation. But now let me make a few points:

The great writer and poet Randall Jarrell said: "A novel is a long piece of writing that has something wrong with it." HONOR AND ENTROPY is a superb novel, but it carries Jarrell's stigma.

Could this novel have been made better by editing out at least 200 words? That's beyond a reasonable doubt. I'd take out 300. I know, I know, it hurts! Taking a razor to prose someone sweated blood over is agony! But in the battlefield of literature, you have to accept the harsh reality that sometimes a leg must be sawed off to save the patient.

Also, this novel challenges with tricky-to-follow flash-backs, and abrupt changes in perspective of who is thinking what, when and where. Plus there are more than a dozen characters to keep track of, and this will keep even astute readers on their toes.

But look -- the best literature requires those confronting it to give something in order to receive. A book that challenges the reader is a book that delivers the most impact.

When I got into the rhythm of the flow of the narrative, the shifts and flashbacks started to feel like a finely woven pattern; I felt absorbed in the vivid world the storyline creates; I was treated to vibrant, real, believable and tragic characters I found myself caring about.

Please note that this book is not as difficult as, say, "Ulysses" by James Joyce, or maybe "Gravity's Rainbow" by Thomas Pynchon. It's even less "gonzo" than "Catch-22." All of these 1,000 pages flow along well enough, but expect a certain learning curve for the first 100 pages, or so.

What's interesting about HONOR AND ENTROPY is that it's a work of vivid American realism - yet at the same time - manages to incorporate deeper levels of allegory, while also shadowing timeless classics, especially Homer's Odyssey and Shakespeare's Hamlet. More than anything, the characters are on a hero's journey, or in the case of Art Spevak, a vision quest.

If I could grant three wishes to this book, they would be: 1. A second more aggressively edited edition is released, 2. That Hollywood comes calling to make it into a movie, and 3. It finds a gigantic audience.

Ken Korczak is the author of Bird Brain Genius BIRD BRAIN GENIUS

A Sexy International Thriller That's Boring

2012-01-05T12:24:00.001-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

An incredibly lovely young American woman, oozing with allure and sexuality, jets off to Europe. She parlays her irresistible sensual powers into a small fortune by sleeping with as many super-rich, handsome men she can lure into her 5-star luxury hotel mattresses - sound good?

I suppose if you are an average woman living in, say, Iowa, and you have a boring, soul-killing job working as a stock clerk at, say, Wal-Mart, it would be very pleasant indeed to enter the world of Megan Nolan, whose serial whoring has enabled her to pack away $600,000 of sex money in a Swiss bank account. Sweet! But her adventures are only beginning!

Ms. Nolan manages to get herself involved with a devilishly handsome Saudi millionaire, who is not only a soul-shattering sex partner, but also gets her entangled in the world of international politics and the war on terror!

The jam she gets herself into is so severe, her sublimely handsome, muscular father with amazing Robert-Redford-caliber hair must also flit off to France, where police detectives have some awful news for him about his bed-hopping daughter.

Fortunately, the detective assigned to his daughter's case is no snotty French gumshoe in a wrinkled trench coat, but a sizzling hot, sexy female bombshell cop who instantly volunteers to get a DNA sample from the troubled dad by getting her, er ... hands ... on some of his sperm! (I'm not making this up!)

Yes, author James LePore knows that you don't want to be bored when you read an international thriller novel. He knows you crave stories about beautiful people having a lot of sex, punctuated by violent encounters with brutal killers, thugs, low-lifes and spies!

All this, and LePore manages to write a fairly flaccid book that has about as much tension as a game of Scrabble. On the other hand, this is an okay enough read for a lazy day on a summer beach, or if you need something to read on a long plane ride, or maybe on the bus as you travel to your crummy job at Wal-Mart.

It's typical genre fiction that does not rise to the heights of the best Ludlum or Forsyth, perhaps, but it manages to eek out maybe a C-Plus from a jaded, obscure book reviewer like me.

Ken Korczak is the author of MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

Ghost In The Mirror: Bland, Run-of-the-Mill Spook Stories

2012-01-04T12:55:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

People who are hardcore fans of paranormal investigation and who have read widely on the topic will find little to whet their interest in this collection of true ghost encounter stories.

Just about every case discussed reads like a worn cliché of the genre - there are little girls who had an "imaginary friend" - but could it really have been a ghost? There's the standard, "She felt a creepy cold hand touch her foot under the bed covers!" and the hackneyed: "The area where they lived was once inhabited by Indians before white settlers drove them out, the Indians tragically died, and so now ...lah, la, lah, la, lah ..."

And let's not forget the hospital that was converted into a hotel, and thousands of people probably died in the hospital, and so now maybe the hotel rooms are infested by the confused dead. An especially egregious sin (in my mind) occurs after the hospital-to-hotel story -- there appears (by golly!)the name of the hotel, the number you can call to make a reservation, and for a kicker, the web site where travelers can get more information!

That's right! Nothing helps establish credibility like a little advertising pitch along with your chilling ghost tale.

Sure, the author interviews real people, names real names and places them in real locations, but this hardly helps because there is no real meta-analysis of each encounter, just incredibly bland speculation, as in, "is it possible a little girl died in the house and is now seeking attention ...?"

For me, every page reads like a very general paranormal fluff piece the editors of Woman's World or Parade magazines might place in between recipes and house cleaning tips in their October Halloween issues.

If you have only a casual interest in paranormal subject matter, and have not read widely in the field, this book may intrigue you. Those looking for some juicy paranormal "red meat" won't find it here.

Ken Korczak is the author of: MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

"Red Coat" Is a Delightful Read

2012-01-03T13:08:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

What do you get when you take a taste of Thomas Hardy, mix it with some Zane Grey or maybe James Fenimore Cooper, and add just a tiny dollop of Charles Dickens - you get this fine novel, Red Coat, by DAVID CROOKES

This is a page-turning romp across four continents beginning in year 1873. Our hero is Jeffrey Guest, a pure-hearted young Lieutenant who leads a British cavalry troop. He is assigned to help police a lawless diamond mind in South Africa, and finds himself under the command of a sadistic, gleefully vicious superior officer, Major Spencer Shackerly.

Of course, when pure good meets pure evil, problems are bound to develop, and so they do. To make a long story short, Lieutenant Guest interferes with an attempt by Shackerly to gun down and innocent man - Lt. Guest ends up a fugitive facing military court martial, and later a trumped up charge of murder. He flees and the chase is on. The relentlessly evil Major Shackerly is determined to hunt down Guest and have him hanged.

This is a well-crafted novel most people will find an enjoyable read - however, I withhold a full five-star rating because I think the author commits a couple of literary misdemeanors that have become all too common in too many novels these days.

The first is that Crookes relies on some mind-boggling coincidences to prop up his plot and keep the action moving. The second is a more grievous problem: Most of the time when the hero gets into a serious jam, he does nothing to save his own hide. Instead, happy circumstances always seem to conveniently swoop in to extricate him from certain doom.

One of the hallmarks of great writing is that the protagonist should rely on his own resources, his own cleverness, his own desperation to figure out a way to defeat the forces tormenting him, and do it himself - but if he is constantly having his bacon saved by pure luck, or by the metaphorical cavalry thundering over the horizon just when convenient - it takes the punch out of the story.

Basically, Lieutenant Guest's primary contribution to his own success is that he constantly runs for it. When he gets into real trouble, someone else saves him. It's just a weaker form of writing.

However, I don't want to leave anyone with any doubt about the sheer entertainment value of this novel. Red Coat is a top-notch read, even a joy to read. It's compelling and easily a cut above the average novel on the market today. One of the better novels I have read in recent months.

Ken Korczak is the author of: MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

Fring*ology: A Truly Marvelous, Sober Look At The Paranormal World

2012-01-02T17:26:00.001-06:00

Review by KEN KORCZAK

Imagine a baseball player who gets four or five at-bats in an important game, and every time he steps up to the plate, he blasts a home run into the seats. Author Steve Volk pulls off the literary equivalent of such a feat, with this marvelous book, Fringe*ology.

Volk weilds his pen like a meaty baseball bat, or better yet, like a sword of illuminating light. Chapter after chapter, he hits his subject matter out of the park. Amazingly, he does so while handling some of the most controversial, contentious and thorny issues of our day involving science and philosophy, belief versus nonbelief, religion versus atheism, life and death.

Volk is one of those rare writers who can levitate his words across the page, rising above all of the often vicious rancor and back biting that characterizes the ongoing battle between hard-line atheists and the most gullible New Age airy-fairy folks.

The primary proposition of Fringe*ology is this: There is a vast middle ground that must be considered when confronting subjects that carry what the author calls a "Paranormal Taint." Ghosts, UFOs, religious experience, an afterlife, dreaming - Volk contends that our modern debate has descended into a deplorably unconstructive situation in which each side has retreated to their respective corners, where all they do is lob stink bombs at each other, deriding and criticizing each other - when the fact is that, almost certainly, neither side has a monopoly on the truth.

That old cliché, "less Heat and more light" virtually is reborn to become fresh again is this book as the author leads us through a well-researched, varied, detailed and sensible approach to paranormal subject matter.

Easily a 5-Star read, and perhaps one of the most important books for the mainstream reader written on this topic in at least 10 years.

Ken Korczak is the author of: MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

Just Cosmic and Crazy Enough to be Possibly True ... But Then Again ....

2012-01-02T13:26:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

Well! How much fun is The Cosmic War by Dr. Joseph Farrell? A lot! How fatally flawed is the ultimate premise of the book? Let me put it this way -- this guy's theory is on life support. But wait! Let's not pull the plug just yet!

I'll be honest. After reading every page, I am almost ready to consider that some kind of cosmic war involving super advanced extraterrestrials took place in our solar system a long, long time ago.

A lot of things in this book made me sit up -- such as the picture of the ancient Babylonian god Ninurta wielding a "thunderbolt" that is a dead-solid ringer for a plasma discharge produced in modern labs by physicists. Take that, Carl Sagan!

And there's also lot of other stuff in Dr. Farrell's book that's uber-tough to explain away in terms of mainstream science -- but any thorough review would have to be half as long as this lengthy, wordy tome to cover it all, so let me get to where Farrell stumbles so badly, it makes it impossible -- beyond a reasonable doubt -- for anyone to even so much as consider his total premise to be an accurate one.

It's the time frame, my friends. Farrell suggests that two cosmic wars took place, one 65 million years ago, and another 3.2 million years ago. He then asserts that the echoes of this cosmic war are reflected in the ancient texts of the Sumerians, Babylonians, Egyptians, Biblical texts, Vedic tradition and also New World mythology, from the Maya and Aztecs, to the myths of some North American tribes.

But think about it: The oldest texts from the ancient Mideast are perhaps 4,000 to 5,000 years. Vedic texts may go back as far as 5,000 or 6,000 years. And sure, purely oral traditions may push it back a few thousand more years. That's a long time, certainly-- but it's nothing compared to 3.2 million years, and ridiculous beyond belief to consider a connection between a 6,000-year-old text with events that happened 65 million years ago!

There is just no chance -- none -- that there could be an unbroken continuity of human story tradition over those millions of years. Think about all of the civilizations, high and low, that have come and gone in just the past few thousand years. The Egyptians, the Mongols, the various Chinese dynasties, the Roman Empire, the Inca, the Aztecs. The Soviet Union lasted only 75 years! Yes, traces of traditions and mythology have survived thousands of years -- but again, that's nothing!

My friends, a million years is a long, long, long time, and 3.2 million years is even longer, and 65 million years only has meaning in terms of astronomical and geological reckoning. To say that oral or written mythologies could have survived in any coherent form 3.2 million years, passed down from one human generation to another with never a break in the chain is, quite simply, impossible by any conceivable standard whatsoever. Period.

The ancient mythologies of Mesopotamia, Egypt, India or any other high civilization simply could not be a record -- even metaphorical or allegorical renderings -- of events 3.2 million years ago! Accept it, people! It's impossible! (I won't even address the egregious problem of the age of the human species itself, alternative archaeology authors such as Michael Cremo and Richard Thompson not withstanding).

What's tragic is that (and I can't believe I'm saying this) Farrell may be onto something in this book. But what the author needs to do is jettison the dubious fringe theories of the (admittedly brilliant) astronomer Tom Van Flandern who posits the explosion of two former planets in our solar system 65 million and 3.2 million years ago -- and find some way to frame his cosmic war scenario in a time frame of perhaps 10,000 to 15,000 years ago.

If Farrell would only do this, so much about his overall theory would start to make a lot more sense and fall into place-- as outrageously astounding as it already is.

Despite all, I am easily comfortable granting this book a high rating, if nothing else, for the pure entertainment value delivered by Farrell's wild and audacious ideas, and the obvious zeal in which he lays out his thesis. Hey, brother, you don't have to believe to be intrigued! At the very least, this is like reading an exciting science fiction scenario with an added edge that it may contain the seed of real world plausibility -- the teeny-tiny possibility that, by gum it, there really may have been a cosmic war fought by super-advanced aliens in our solar system a long time ago in a galaxy not so far, far away -- in fact, the Milky Way galaxy we call our home.

Ken Korczak is the author of: MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

Forgotten Books Rediscovered: Here's a Gem For you -- "Captive Universe"

2012-01-01T17:50:00.001-06:00

Review By KEN KORCZAK

A used book store was having a sale, offering all the paperbacks you could stuff into a plastic grocery bag for 25 cents. I loaded up my bag, plunked down a quarter, and went home to sift through my haul.

Among the musty paperbacks was this book, "Captive Universe," by HARRY HARRISON. Previously the only other Harrison book I had read was his "Make Room! Make Room!" which became the movie "Soylent Green." Anyway, I was expecting that, you know, pulp fiction "B Novel" experience, but as the pages turned, I realized that here was book of more depth and intelligence, and masterfully crafted.

I can't give away a primary element of the book and thus spoil the premise, but it involves a troubled young Aztec boy, Chimal, who is aliented from his society. He has the terrible feeling something is wrong with life in the ancient Aztec world. Yes, it's ruled be despotic rulers, there are monsters and superstition, but something more insidious is amiss. Our hero attempts an escape from his valley to find answers and a better life -- and what he finds is mind boggling.

When Chimal uncovers the truth, well, what we have is just amazing science fiction fun.

I wish more of today's books were tightly written like this compact novel. My old paperback is 160 pages of tiny print. It's a 1969 copyright edition issued by Berkley Publishing. It seems that today's publishers are trying to sell books by the pound. They think that if a person is going to cough up $9 for a paperback, they want something with 700 pages, with some heft to it. But the result is a lot of egregiously overwritten books filled with dead weight print, pages that one can skim and still pick up enough of the flow to get through the book. But the penalty is flabby books that are bulky, without punch and over written.

Do youself a favor and get a copy of "Captive Universe" for a short, punchy science fiction experience like it was meant to be -- a gift from the Golden Age of science fiction. "Captive Universe" is an obscure diamond waiting for you to enjoy its sparkle.

Ken Korczak is the author of: MINNESOTA PARANORMALA

Despite A Few Misteps, a Credible Analysis of UFOology

2011-12-31T10:28:00.000-06:00

Review By Ken Korczak

It's natural that any book tackling subjects as deeply controversial as UFOs, alien abduction and the interaction of humans with extraterrestrials and beings from other dimensions (ultraterrestrials) be subject to great skepticism - both fair an unfair.

But if you can't take the heat, stay out of the kitchen, as they say.

The author of Ultraterrestrial Contact is a fine writer with terrific credentials as a long-time UFO investigator. He has proven over time that he can uncover and present credible stories of alien-human contact. In this latest book, Philip Imbrogno lays out case after fascinating case which provides credible evidence that something real is happening, and that people should take the subject of UFO and alien contact seriously.

Unfortunately -- very unfortunately -- the author stumbles badly in just a couple of the stories he includes here, which leaves him open to the charge that he is being too open minded -- open minded to a fault about what "contactees" are telling him.

The case in point I have the most problem with is the story of a young man who claims to be in contact with alien beings from a planet that is located in the Orion constellation. In his story, the young man claims to have visited the alien planet, and while on the planet, notices that there are "three suns" which he says are the stars in Orion's belt.

Anyone can take five minutes to Google the actual position of the stars in Orion's belt and see that while they look close together from our perspective on earth, they are not actually close together at all in space. They are:

Alnitak, 800 light years away
Alnilam, 1300 light years away
Mintaka, 900 light years away

So there is no way this "contactee" could have been to a planet with three suns that were the stars in Orion's belt. Also, the details of the young man's other experiences are patently ridiculous and riddled with cliché aspects of UFO lore. He even gives his alien friends goofy, wacky B-Movie names, like "Zintron." Yet, Imbrogno thinks his story is important.

My point is: While I think most of the stories presented in this book are fascinating and credible, all it takes is for one weak link in the chain to place the entire body of work into question -- and that's unfortunate. Imbrogno should have taken greater care to be more selective in the cases he chose to include here.

Still, I highly recommend this book. There are plenty of case studies that should be given serious consideration and anyone with an interest in ufology and the paranormal will find much to excite the mind.

Ken Korczak is the author of: THE FAIRY REDEMPTION OF JUBAL CRANCH

Free Kindle, Nook eBooks: Maybe the Only Jack Vance You Will Find Free Online

2011-12-29T06:09:00.003-06:00

Ken Korczak:

This is the only free Jack Vance work I have found online as a free ebook download. Maybe it's not great literature, but on the other hand, one must keep in mind that there simply is no bad Jack Vance. This short story, Sjambak, is a run-of-the-mill sf short story of the kind that appeared in pulp magazines through the 40s, 50s and 60s. Writer's like Vance cranked out slightly interesting and amusing yarns like this by the dozen to put coin in their pocket.

But Vance is most likely the greatest sf writer of them all, though far less known than the "big guns" such as Asimov, Heinlein and Bradbury. But Vance is a far, far superior writer to all of the above, (yes, even Bradbury) and the primary reason for that is his extremely unique and elegant style.

Sjambak merely hints at the brilliant potential of Vance. Readers who have read only this story should not make a judgment on Vance until they have read his novels, such as "The Demon Princes" or the sublime "The Planet of Adventure" series. Some of Vance's shorter novels, such as The Dragon Masters and The Last Castle (the latter actually a long short story) are nothing less than literary work of art. There is no true joy like reading a Jack Vance book.

Downloand this short story free for Kindle, Nook and other formats here: SJAMBAK

THE MAN IN THE NOTHING CHAMBER: CLICK HERE

SPECIAL REPORT: The Honest To Goodness Make Money With eBay Plan

2011-12-25T10:02:00.001-06:00

Can you leverage the power of eBay to make $50 per hour – keep in mind, I'm not talking about $50 a day, or $50 per auction sale – but $50 per hour?

Yes you can. You can make $50 an hour with eBay. I’ve done it and proved it.

I see no reason why anyone else can’t do the same.

What I’m talking about here is actually something very simple. If you have a basic knowledge of how to use eBay, you can leverage that knowledge to make $50 an hour.

I’ve put together a Special Report that explains my plan in detail – although this is not very complicated. To be honest with you, I’m not exactly a genius with computers, although I have enough basic knowledge of how to buy and sell on eBay, which I have done a lot of.

However – and this happened by accident – there was one amazing day when I discovered a way to use eBay to make $50 per hour. After this idea dropped into my lap, I thought to myself: "Why didn't I think of this before!"

I was delighted with my system, have used it extensively, and I see no reason why I should not share it with everyone.

By giving my eBay “secret” away, I am not creating competition for myself, or anything like that. This $50-per-hour eBay method can work for anyone, anywhere, and there’s plenty of room for thousands of people everywhere to start doing the same.

Note: This is nothing tricky, scammy, or anything that will get you in the least bit of trouble with eBay. In fact, eBay execs like my method because it helps more people use eBay better.

I decided to call my report “The Honest To Goodness Way To Make $50 Per Hour With eBay” because it is just that – honest and good – as you will see when you purchase my Special Report.

Just click on the button below. You will be prompted to go to Paypal where you can buy my eBay report. I check my email every hour, most often several times per hour, so once I see your payment has been submitted, I will email my eBay report to you immediately.

All the best,

Kenny Ching

P.S. I hope you will try this. This Special Report will pay for itself in 10 minutes if you apply the eBay method I describe in my Special Report. Just click the "Buy Now" button below: