Ed MorawskiBesprekingen

Really interesting and enjoyable speculative fiction about a new technology invention and its impact on the world. Well thought out and presented documentary style but still an exciting read.

When a story begins with a page marked "Warning" and "Secret", followed by the first chapter titled "It Begins", you suspect you're in for quite a ride. View fully delivers on that promise. A young amnesiac woman is found alone in the desert, and Air Force Sergeant Max Leszek makes a life-altering mistake. What's the connection? And where will it take all the people involved? Seemingly disparate pieces combine to create a compelling paranormal thriller that also contains elements of intrigue, mystery, and romance.

The characters are strong, both the main characters and the supporting ones. The story is told in first person, mostly from Max's perspective, but a few chapters tell events from the perspectives of the other characters. Those chapters were well placed, with smooth transitions from Max's tale, and really enhanced the story. The characters in those chapters have their own distinct voices - some great, skillful writing! And the story's ending... wow! I didn't see that coming.

From brief histories of locations Max visits to technical fine points about a military plane, many such details are incorporated into the story, adding depth and reality to the tale. They were skillfully included and deftly avoided a common problem of turning into "info dumps".

While the story contains some violence and the aftermath of violence, and instances of rape, abuse/torture, and addiction, these elements were important to the plot and weren't gratuitous or dwelt on overlong.

A few typos that popped up throughout the book had me rereading some sentences. They were somewhat annoying but their impact on the strength of the story was minor.

Overall, this is an engaging story that grabs the reader right from the beginning and takes them along on a fantastic ride. A wonderful read with plenty of twists and turns, it entertains as well as provides some thought-provoking pieces that linger well after the end of the book.

(Read November 2022)

This unique romance / mystery / thriller, told in first person, had me hooked right from the beginning. And it didn’t hurt that the author quoted the lyrics to “Starry, Starry Night”, a favorite song of mine. The blurb perfectly describes the story premise, so I won’t try to paraphrase here, but will say that it’s all that and more.

Elements I liked:
The author has a talent for making the extraordinary seem not only plausible but probable. The plot is creative and intriguing and has so many pieces to it that it kept me reading wondering how, and if, it all connected.

I loved how Mike, the main character, worked through the mysteries surrounding Chloe, intelligently considering many possible scenarios and explanations, and exploring the plausibility of each. And he even questioned himself and his assumptions during the process, something that helped make the character so real.

There’s so much in the story… considerations of mental health, security, morality, religion, and more. It includes facts that enhance the story: details such as statistics around suicides, the story of relevant scientific advances, and cultural/societal happenings, even right down to a recent news story. Full of twists, turns, and surprises, this mystery presents multiple plausible answers as it develops, keeping the reader wondering at the truth behind the situation and reading to find out.

Elements I struggled with:
I found the abrupt tense changes and some typos distracting, making for some rough reading, especially early in the book. But the story was so compelling that these issues did not impact my enjoyment.

Overall:
At one point in the story, it says, “It was an absolutely incredible and unbelievable situation.” That’s this book: an absolutely incredible and unbelievable tale that’s yet very believable and well worth reading!

(Read August 2022)

This imaginative story with its mix of science and philosophy is a diverting read. The tale is told in first person from the viewpoint of a man who identifies himself only as the Documenter. He tells of his friendship from youth to adulthood with “probably the smartest human being that ever lived” and their alternate-reality discoveries and adventures.

Elements I liked:
I liked the conversational tone of the writing. It served well to highlight the strangeness the characters encountered and helped make the book a fast, easy read. There are some intriguing twists and turns and mysteries surrounding the events in the story.

Elements I struggled with:
Explicit sex scenes.
Unresolved events.
Blasé attitudes toward the drugs.

The explicit sex scenes in the first ~15% of the book were jarring and intrusive and did not fit the enjoyable conversational tone. The little they added to the story could have been easily expressed without the graphic descriptions. And they took the book too far into erotica territory – something that was not at all indicated in the blurb or genre labels.

A number of events that concerned and even alarmed the characters were introduced and then just dropped shortly afterward – left unresolved and unexplained, which contributed to making the ending unsatisfying.

The characters’ blasé attitudes toward the drugs, and the fact that no one really had any bad side effects from them, did not seem realistic. It stretched my suspension of disbelief just a little too far and interfered with my enjoyment of the story.

Overall:
There’s a lot happening in this story to keep a reader involved. An intriguing premise with some interesting twists combined with an easy tone makes the book a nice, light read. I found it an untaxing entertainment that unfortunately was, at the end, a not completely satisfying read.

(Read August 2021)

This tough and gritty crime thriller is definitely a book for adults only, full of violence and savagery it will keep the reader turning its pages until the end.

The main protagonist is a man who appears to have no heart, no morals and is entirely comfortable with doing whatever it takes to get a job done. These would seem to be great traits in certain circumstances, but when the reader discovers the occupation of the main character it actually leaves a feeling of discomfort with them, that follows them throughout the book; but this is not a discomfort born out of wanting to know how this man is allowed to do what he does, but out of knowing that, at times, we need people just like him to keep things under control. I actually liked the main character immensely, and found it a refreshing change to read of someone in this type of novel that was not bound by the ‘normal’ constraints and truly believed that the ends definitely justified the means. Some readers may find this too much to handle, and set the book aside purely because of their dislike of him; just keep reading to the end I promise you won’t be disappointed.

As much as I enjoyed this fast paced read, the reason for my three thumbs rating is the constant shifting between the first and third person narratives, as well as the tense shifts from past to present. When these occurred it seemed not only unnecessary but also injected a definite distraction from the rest of the novel which is either narrated or described from the point of view of the main character. I had a feeling, in one of these particular instances, that the Author had done this as it was expected when writing this particular genre of novel; I say they should have stuck with the break in convention they had already started with the main character, and done their own thing which, aside from these departures from the plot worked really well. This novel is not hard boiled crime and gruesome detail, the Author takes the time to inject a small portion of romance and humour into the book towards the end; an end which is not tied up in a neat and pretty bow, but left wide open and heralding a possible sequel to the ‘Wolinski’ story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to all who enjoy and gritty crime thriller, however, those with a weak stomach may need to either give it a miss or have a bowl on hand.

Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2014/06/11/review-wolinski-ed-morawski/





This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

I LOVE a good post-apocalyptic novel. This one had so many fascinating pieces. Humanity being all but wiped out in the space of 24 hours. Strange things happening to animal, bird and other life on earth. The main character slowly uncovering clues that could spell an attack from foreign powers, or even something extraterrestrial. More questions than answers. “Aloner” is an apt title as we follow the title character for more than a third of the novel without another character in sight as Mac desperately searches for some sign he is not the last person left in existence.

Morawski’s work really shines in the details when it comes to the world-building. Everything is there, from the nitty gritty of how solar panels work, to descriptions of military installations to flying drones, knowledge of commandeering various machines, large and small (I’m going to try not to spoil everything in the entire novel), but this book took us through a vast range of settings and my very favorite parts occurred when our characters were working to discover the mystery of what had happened and how to find other pockets of humanity.

The story had lots of thrilling twists and turns that I didn’t see coming, things I didn’t pick up as foreshadowing until looking back at the conclusion of the novel, and the pacing had me on the edge of my seat as we neared the end. There were moments that showed the best of humanity, and moments that showed the worst, as one might expect in any post-apocalyptic thriller. The slow reveal of information was well meted out. There were one or two story elements that surprised me (that the electrical grid didn’t experience any issues and how easy it seemed to find unspoiled food, for one), and while Ann ended up having an interesting story line, I must admit I didn’t care for her relationship with Mac as presented. However, these are small nitpicks. Morawski is overall a fine storyteller and I thoroughly ate up this post-apocalyptic tale from start to finish.

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.

This tough and gritty crime thriller is definitely a book for adults only, full of violence and savagery it will keep the reader turning its pages until the end.

The main protagonist is a man who appears to have no heart, no morals and is entirely comfortable with doing whatever it takes to get a job done. These would seem to be great traits in certain circumstances, but when the reader discovers the occupation of the main character it actually leaves a feeling of discomfort with them, that follows them throughout the book; but this is not a discomfort born out of wanting to know how this man is allowed to do what he does, but out of knowing that, at times, we need people just like him to keep things under control. I actually liked the main character immensely, and found it a refreshing change to read of someone in this type of novel that was not bound by the ‘normal’ constraints and truly believed that the ends definitely justified the means. Some readers may find this too much to handle, and set the book aside purely because of their dislike of him; just keep reading to the end I promise you won’t be disappointed.

As much as I enjoyed this fast paced read, the reason for my three thumbs rating is the constant shifting between the first and third person narratives, as well as the tense shifts from past to present. When these occurred it seemed not only unnecessary but also injected a definite distraction from the rest of the novel which is either narrated or described from the point of view of the main character. I had a feeling, in one of these particular instances, that the Author had done this as it was expected when writing this particular genre of novel; I say they should have stuck with the break in convention they had already started with the main character, and done their own thing which, aside from these departures from the plot worked really well. This novel is not hard boiled crime and gruesome detail, the Author takes the time to inject a small portion of romance and humour into the book towards the end; an end which is not tied up in a neat and pretty bow, but left wide open and heralding a possible sequel to the ‘Wolinski’ story.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to all who enjoy and gritty crime thriller, however, those with a weak stomach may need to either give it a miss or have a bowl on hand.

Originally reviewed on: http://catesbooknuthut.com/2014/06/11/review-wolinski-ed-morawski/





This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

A Creepy Story…that Could Have Been Very Scary

By about mid-way through the book, I had one of those creepy feelings. You know, the kind you get where you check the doors twice before you go to bed and you are thankful your significant other is not visiting relatives or on business travel. Molelith definitely got some of my ‘flight-or-fight’ response kicking in, as I read about a series of vampire-like deaths in the Hollywood Hills. The violence is not graphic, but it is effectively described. For me, however, the story could have been more.

The politically correct term for someone like me is probably ‘implausibility-challenged’, because while I understand that you often need to accept something that is unlikely as part of a good tale, I have limits that may be lower than most. In this case, sure, there are beings like vampires. OK, I’m good to go; bring on the nightmares. Oh, I have to accept that a large city, professional police force would form a squad of detectives who are young, smart, and extremely handsome, but who have virtually no experience, several of whom have very unusual traits or worldviews, and then leave them as the only unit investigating a crime of the century for most of the story. OK, maybe. Then, put an attractive, but only slightly more seasoned female sergeant in charge, whose claim to fame is being the “bait” for a killer in a previous case (who, by the way, escaped) and who seems to lack any control over her impulses to bed just about anyone in her squad. Really? Then, you need to ignore several obvious clues, e.g., it took a specialist and two hours of investigating to realize a third person was involved when two murdered women are found securely bound, hand and foot. The depiction of the characters, especially in the first part of the book, and the storyline throughout required that I accept too much implausibility for me to become fully invested in this plot.

It was a quick and easy read. The ending has a couple of twists, although overall, the solution seems somewhat ‘convenient’. So, if you like supernatural horror/crime stories and you want to get carried along with a general feeling of dread and suspense from a rapid series of unusual murders and the resulting public panic in Tinseltown, it can be a fun read.

“Great – yet another vampire novel.” Such was my thought when I encountered this book. To my surprise, though, this novel turned overdone material into something fresh and exciting – and very sexy.

The novel centers on Janice Falk, a sergeant in the LAPD. Falk is in a charge of a new “diversity unit” the powers-that-be have cobbled together to make it appear they're a progressive police department. Many are dubious of the rationale behind the unit, as well as the quality of the officers, but as the novel progresses and Falk gets to know her comrades, the characters become three-dimensional instead of faceless diversity hires.

The unit is tasked with solving multiple vampire-esque homicides. The victims – usually female – are drained of their blood and their skin is bleached, which perplexes the officers and forensics experts. We get the perspectives of the victims, so we know something supernatural – or at least extremely weird – is going on. The killer(s) seem unstoppable, and are able to seduce their victims into pliancy before offing them. When the bodies keep piling up, the bigwigs in the city's government get antsy, and the press of course goes on a frenzy.

Sounds fairly cut-and-paste, but several things make Morawski's story unique. One is his commentary on the sexual politics of Los Angeles. He delves into the fantasies, lies, and fetishes of the characters in an unsparing manner. Some of the scenes are graphic, and his commentary isn't politically correct, so if you're squeamish or easily triggered, avoid the novel. Myself, I loved this aspect of the novel; it's great to read something so honest and topical.

Another unique aspect is Morawski's omniscient narrative style. This is usually frowned upon in the writing community, but he's able to pull it off; by the end of the novel, I was used to it, and couldn't imagine him writing it any other way. Some of his transitions could be improved, but Morawski uses the flexibility this style has to his advantage.

Finally, this novel appears to be thoroughly researched. I'm not a police procedural expert, but all the details here seem authentic. Even though supernatural events are occurring, the world feels very real.

Now, onto the stuff I didn't like.

First, this novel veers off into an entirely new direction towards the end. I'm not going to reveal too much, but the police procedural part is basically abandoned, and we jump into a new genre. I was thrown off kilter; the novel was sprinting along just fine, but this change knocked it off its stride.

And the method the humans use to defeat their "vampire" enemies is absurd. It should never work, unless these “vampires” are complete weaklings or fools – which they aren't, judging by the havoc they've been able to cause. Again, this soured some of the goodwill the novel had built up.

Moving on, I need to talk about spelling, grammar, and formatting. Morawski gets too tricky with his dialogue tags; most of them aren't needed, or aren't formatted properly. I didn't notice many spelling errors, but there are a ton of missed quote marks, and just various things that another thorough edit would detect. Also, I encountered a section in the novel where the alignment of the paragraphs was off. More care is needed in this case, so the end product doesn't look poor.

I would've given this novel four stars if not for the directional change and the ending, but those things combined with formatting/grammar/etc. mean I have to chop off a star. Morawski has good ideas and a style that's far from commonplace, but the fundamentals need work.

Janice is the new sergeant in the freshly formed diversity division in LA. She's just getting to know the attractive young detectives when a string of unexplained murders start ripping through Hollywood Hills. The killer leaves victims fully drained of blood, and white as sheets. Janice is determined to solve this mystery, but with what looks like a vampire on the loose, can she really win?

**Due to the sexual nature of the content, I don't believe this book is intended for audiences under 18.**

The story is certainly interesting, as the author gives readers a glimpse into the unusual killings for the first half of the book. I was curious how it would unfold, given the unusual circumstances and killer, and I found it to be fairly engaging and believable throughout.

I have a few gripes, however. First, when we're introduced to the diversity division, I found it to be a bit offensive. The portrayal of the detectives was dismal, each being incredibly flawed and likely undesirable for the division if not for their race. It was a frustrating overview, to say the least (seriously, they couldn't find a few good men in the potential pool of candidates?), especially given today's cultural climate.

Second, I found the sexuality of the female characters to be rather overstated, and the perceived attractiveness of the entire division of detectives to be a bit odd (and it seemed rather unprofessional the way Janice mentally evaluated all the men in her crew). The whole sexual dynamic felt a little put on, and I would have categorized this book as an erotic novel (somehow Amazon has it listed as young adult?).

About the halfway point, the author begins skipping over the details of the killings, which nearly eliminates the sexual aspect of the book, but moves the story along. We start getting closer to the truth and answers, which I found satisfying and intriguing.

But my final gripe was in the ending. Although I have no problem with the way the final battle went down, the book ends abruptly with nothing but a one sentence summary of that battle. There's no time to tie up loose ends (what happened to the volunteer and her family? How was the enemy impacted?), and we never explore how everyone feels about things afterward - although feelings aren't very thoroughly explored as characters form relationships and are lost with no real impact to the mood of those they leave behind. It felt like the book was missing a scene or two, which was frustrating considering all that I'd been through with those characters.

So while I think the author had an excellent idea, and executed it fairly well, there were just a few things that eroded the overall story. I'd rate it at a 3.5 stars, but just couldn't justify a fourth, considering the story errors.

Avenue of the gods should have been a novella. What took the author 350 pages to accomplish could have been handled – with better results and more punch, in my opinion – in 90. The pulp sci-fi opus is replete with short books (or extended short stories, as the case may be) and this alien invasion, conquest, and rebellion tale might have been a worthy addition to the genre. It still might, if the author, Ed Morawski, finds someone to professionally edit his work.

That is the perennial challenge with self-published POD projects – no editing. Most noticeable were the typographical and punctuation errors (on almost every page), grammar and vocabulary mistakes (e.g. it's for its), and the unprofessional formatting of the text (nonjustified right margins, no paragraph indenting, etc.). Why authors let their manuscripts go to press before the basics are covered is a mystery to me.

That being said, the first person narrative and overall plot of this novel were intriguing enough to at least keep me skimming toward the conclusion. And while the ultimate conflict and resolution was a bit predictable, the story did deliver the requisite love, fight, and expose-the-evil-mastermind scenes to make the book entertaining. Also, since aliens-as-gods is a central motif, Morawski handled the religious hysteria and breakdown of society fairly well. However, the story gets bogged down with unnecessary details (the protagonist describes practically every meal he eats) and is full of superfluous rabbit trails as well.

The writing quality and style can be quickly ascertained from the blurb on the back cover. "Aliens have arrived supposedly to save humankind. They are perceived as gods and a new religion is borne. So it falls to Edward Lektor and a beautiful but mysterious Asian woman to discover what they are up to and how to stop them." Too bad this is all most prospective buyers will ever know about the book. The writing isn't really as bad as the blurb indicates, but there are enough silly stock phrases (mysterious Asian woman!) scattered throughout the first few chapters that I was tempted to shelve it.

Still, Morawski has a way of keeping the reader hooked with an urgent writing style and constant movement (almost too much movement as I had trouble keeping up with all the locations the narrator traveled to). Plus, some interesting commentary along the way served to remind the reader that the narration is taken from the diary of Edward Lektor after all the events described had taken place. It's a device that is employed regularly, often ineffectively by many authors, but in this case it's quite workable. Overall, a somewhat enjoyable – but too lengthy – a read.

I give it a 4 out of 10.

He shouldn't have taken the picture. He knew that. Did it anyway. Max Leszek had a good career going in the Air Force; he was working on a top-secret project doing maintenance when he just "Had" to have a photo of the Craft. This is a Federal Offense and you know you always get caught. After the scare of a court martial, Max becomes a Monitor in the Remote Viewing program.

This program was built around one of the most powerful psychics ever found, a girl named Alicia. Alicia can "View" events as they happen, giving the government a boost on terrorism, drug deals, murders, etc. Max becomes her Monitor, the person assisting the Viewer by writing down her observations. They become a team, then lovers. Alicia disappears and the FBI, along with many others, is on the hunt to find her.

This is one of the most interesting books I have ever come across. The plot was believable and the back story was fantastic! Well-written characters and each chapter beginning with a quote of some sort really kept my attention.