Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut

Synopsis:  The narrator John (or Jonah) sets out to write a book about what happened on the day America dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima.  He starts by looking into the life of one of the inventors of the atomic bomb, Dr. Felix Hoenikker.  He begins by writing letters to his family and begins communicating with Hoenikker's youngest son, Newt.  While he is investigating this family he discovers that the doctor also invented a substance he called ice-nine.  Hoenikker's goal was to figure out a way to solidify mud so US Marines would not have to wade through it in battle.  Ice-nine instantly turns all water to ice with a melting temperature of 140 degrees.  Each of Hoenikker's three children are now in possession of a small piece of ice-nine.  He runs into Newt on a plane while traveling to the island of San Lorenzo and is eventually introduced to the eldest son, Frank.  It is though Frank that Jonah assume the roll of President of the island since the current President, "Papa" Monzano, is dying of cancer.  In order to save himself the suffering of dying a slow and painful death "Papa" eats a small amount of the ice-nine, instantly turning himself to ice.  As they are moving his body to a funeral pyre, part of him falls into the water and turns the oceans and all water in the world to ice, essentially destroying the world and almost all life with it.

My review:  I read this book because one of my favorite authors, Michael Bunker, is releasing a fan fiction book based in this "world".  This book to me was just okay, better than some of the Kurt Vonnegut I have read but I can see why someone would decide to write a fan fiction story based off this book.  The possibilities are endless.  Only the last few pages actually touch on the world in a post-apocalyptic state after the world has frozen over and all plant and wildlife has been killed off.  There are an infinite number of stories that can spread from this point on.  I wonder if Kurt wrote a sequel to this story, I would be interested to see his idea of the world after the book ends and his expansion or ideas of the end of the world from this point on.  While I have not been a huge fan of Kurt Vonnegut's work, I do feel better that I have experienced his stories for myself and not just from the spoken or written word of others.

My rating:  6
Pages: 287
Author website: http://www.vonnegut.com/

Futurity by Michael Bunker

Synopsis:  Malcolm is investigating/interviewing two different doctors that both have theories on time travel.  As he learns more and more about one of the doctor's in particular, Dr. Paulsen, he learns that not only has he been trying to find out information about the doctor and his work, but the doctor has selected him out of many others to be the one person who meets all the requirements for time travel.  As the technology progresses he finds out the he can travel to anywhere he wants at any time in the future, only the future though, time travel to the past is impossible.  As he travels into the future we see the world in many different states of being and what Malcolm does or does not do with that knowledge of the future weighs on him heavily.  It is one of these particular time stamps of the world that weighs on him the most, possibly thousands of year in the future.  You will have to travel with him to see how it all turns out.

My review:  I find that time travel books are often very confusing and difficult to read with all the back and forth, with the changes that traveling to the past can do to the future.  I often spend most of the time reading the book, actually thinking to myself "what the hell is going on now".  Well that was not this case with this book.  All the time travel is into the future, so there is no buttery effect to deal with, and there is no change the time line because of some changed event.  Michael does a great job of keeping the reader involved in the story, and keeps things in the realm of understanding.  I very much felt that everything he wrote about was possible at some point in time, and it all made sense to me.  I think Michael Bunker just kind of amazes me, I am fascinated by him.  He is an off grid farmer, living an almost Amish lifestyle, and its just strange for me to picture him sitting at his desk writing a book about futuristic time travel or zombies or pre-apocalyptic EMP attacks.  But he just does it so well, all of his books are amazing.  I will read anything this man puts in print.  Thank you very much Michael.

My rating:  7
Pages:  240
Author website:  http://journal.michaelbunker.com/

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

Synopsis:  Two terminally ill cancer patients fall in love.  Both young and intelligent and both fighting to find balance in a world that is anything but balanced.  Hazel knows she is going to die and does not want to put the pain of her death on her new friend, Augustus.  Augustus has already had one girlfriend die of cancer and she does not want to be the second.  As they work through these issues, they find a connection that will help them both through the impossibly tough times ahead.

My review:  This book was fantastic.  I love how John Green writes, each of the characters in the book are so different, its almost like I hear each person's words differently in my head.  He does a great job of giving each character his/her own personality and emotions.  Happy, sad, funny, he writes each of these emotions perfectly.  Even though this book is written for Young Adults, there is meaning here for all of us.  I just finished reading this today but I think I will like the book even more as time goes on, as I have more time to think about how this story ended, as I am able to talk about it with others.  This feels like one of the stories that gets even better with time.  One line that has stuck with me and will continue with me forever is "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."  I mean that is just perfect writing.

My rating: 8
Pages: 313
Author website: http://johngreenbooks.com/

The Contortionist's Handbook by Craig Clevenger

Synopsis:  Daniel Fletcher, Christopher Thorne, Steven Edwards, all identities forged by a master contortionist, a contortionist of identities.  Real name, John Dolan Vincent.  Johnny suffers from chronic headaches, godsplitters as he calls them.  So much pain that all he can think of is stopping the pain with any means necessary, even if that relief could kill him.  Because of these headaches and the pain involved with such, he has mastered forging documents, scouting cemeteries and local junkies to acquire an identity which he can use in the future.  Birth certificates, school ID's, driver licenses, in 55 minutes, just like that perfect replicas.  All used so each time he overdoses while trying to stop a godsplitter he can change identities and stay off the radar of the medical doctors, the police and related public authorities.  During questioning after one of his OD's we learn all about his childhood, his parents and how he came to be who he is today, while also seeing how he has mastered the art of trickery, slight of hand so to speak.  Who will he be next or will the authorities finally catch on to his deceiving ways?

My review:  Definitely a page turner.  I wanted to see where this story was going from the first words.  A probable genius, drug addicted, master forger constantly changing identities, how can you not be drawn in?  The author really knows his medical terms when it comes to pain, substance and personality disorders and he does a fantastic job describing how Johnny learns and masters forging all different types of documents.  My only issue with this book is how it ends.  While I can see how the ending is supposed to leave you in thought and wondering exactly what the next move may be, I just don't think it flowed the way is could have.  It was kind of abrupt, without a great deal of explanation.  Might be a good story to discuss with a bunch of buddies sitting around drinking one night but for me it just didn't end as well as it could have.  I would give the first 95% of this book an A and the last 5% a C-.

My rating: 6
Pages: 199
Author website: http://www.craigclevenger.com/#1c5/flickr

Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick (Ashes Trilogy Book # 1)

Synopsis:  After what we assume is an EMP attack of some kind, Alex while out camping in the woods needs to try and figure out what the hell happened and how to get back to safety.  After the EMP it seems that most people have dropped dead and the younger ones seem to have "Changed" into some kind of strange flesh eating creatures.  She meets up with Tom while trying to take care of eight year old Ellie, both of whom she has run into in the woods.  She must protect them while finding protection from Tom, an army Vet on home on leave from Afghanistan.  Alex, recently diagnosed with a brain tumor seems to be okay along with some others after the EMP, she has not turned yet.  She is separated from both Tom and Ellie but taken in by a group of survivors in a town called Rule.  While she is not quite sure of who to trust she is also battling with feelings for Tom and now for one of the survivors in camp named Chris.  She is not sure why she has been Spared and others have been Changed but the story continues into book two and we shall see where the story takes us from there.

My review: This book is hard to rate at this point because it is only one third of the story.  By the end of the trilogy I might raise the rating simply because I know the full story.  The word zombie is not used in the book at all but these Changed people are clearly some kind of zombie.  I am very interested to see why some people have changed and others not.  Because this book is YA, it a very quick and easy read even if it is close to 500 pages.  This book was recommended to me by a coworker and I am glad she did.  This was great read, I mean who doesn't like a post apocalyptic, woodland survival story with friggin zombies.  I will absolutely be reading the other two books in the trilogy as well.

My rating: 7
Pages: 496
Author website: http://www.ilsajbick.com/

Replay by Ken Grimwood

Synopsis:  Imagine you die at age 43 only to awake in your college dorm room at 18 years old and getting to live your entire life over again.  Change any mistakes you may have made, right any wrongs, maybe bet on a horse race where you already know the winner.  Take your knowledge of the winning sports teams, profitable stocks, successful upcoming companies to increase your income into the hundreds of millions.  Become one of the most successful businessmen of all time only to die again of a heart attack at age 43.  Replay life, yet again.  This is exactly how Jeff Winston has lived his life, except it doesn't end there, his keeps replaying his life over and over and over again and always dying at age 43.  In each of his lives he meets previous girlfriends, wives and even another replayer.  In one life he shares his secret with the world only to have the world turn on him, thinking he is a psychic and not believing the fact that he actually already lived through these events.  The government demanding to know the future and not willing to help him figure out why this is happening to him.  Throughout each of his lives he struggles to find balance between the woman he loves and the woman he may be with when we wakes up.  How will all these lives end?  What will happen when his replays run out?  Is it really aliens altering the space time continuum for their own entertainment?  One day will the replays stop?  Will he be able to live his life in peace with Linda, Judy, Pamela?  Or will he keep replaying again and again and again...

My review:  I have never read another book quite like this in my life.  It was fantastic.  Such an amazing concept, such a unique story.  Seeing Jeff struggle to make sense of this life and the next life and the previous life, always longing to see where the story is going to take him next, it's pure entertainment.  Wow, is all I can say, what a page turner.  I literally shut myself off in the basement so I would have time to myself to make sure I could read this book without anyone bothering me.  The story is quite similar to the movie Groundhog Day, except Jeff can alter so much more with his knowledge over years and years then Bill Murray's character can do in a day.  Each one of his lives are so different and so amazing that I was drawn into this book from the very first sentence.  The author has already passed away so there will be no sequel written but I will definitely being checking out some of his other books.  Until then you need to read this book today.

My rating:  9
Pages:  312
Author website (unofficial):  http://www.kengrimwoodlibrary.com/

Wick by Michael Bunker

Amazon synopsis:  
In WICK 1... a man walked out of New York City after Hurricane Sandy and fell off the edge of the earth...
In WICK 2: Charm School... a mysterious town explodes in violence and America is dealt a deadly blow...
In WICK 3: Exodus... the world is without power. You are on foot and have no home. Any stranger you meet may kill you... and normal is never coming back...
In WICK 4: One Word of Truth... Weeks after the world has been crippled by massive EMP attacks, nuclear weapons are used on major cities, and survivors grapple with a changed world that will never be the same again.

My review:  I have been sitting here for more then an hour and written four different synopsis's about this book and have finally decided to copy the synopsis from Amazon, just so we are clear the words written above are not my own.  This book is huge close to 600 pages with very small font type.  There is so much going on in each of these books that I literally cannot find a way to describe this book in one small paragraph.  I liked this book, I have loved every Michael Bunker book I have read so far and this one does not disappoint.  I did struggle through book two but read books three and four in just a few days.  Book one was phenomenal and the kindle version is free right here on Amazon.  If you want to get a taste read this first and the decide if you want to read the entire book.  It all started because I wanted to read Michael's book The Last Pilgrims which is the sequel to Wick even though Wick was written afterwards.  So I decided to start chronologically instead of in the order the books were written, which I never do.  But I felt in this scenario I needed to know pre-story beforehand.  I don't think I can convince my wife and her book club to read this book but if you want a great story about the end of the world, buckle in and prepare yourself for a story that will take to the end of the world (literally) and back.  I tip my hat to you Michael, well done and thank you.

My rating: 7
Pages: 572
Author website: http://journal.michaelbunker.com/