Alex Austin's Blog
November 17, 2024
Make My Day: Upvote.
I have a new novel posted on Reedsy Discovery. I’d appreciate your clicking the link below and giving it an upvote.
https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/the...
Thanks,
Alex
https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/the...
Thanks,
Alex
July 22, 2024
Book Nerdection calls it a "Must Read"
My new novel The Girl from Jersey City, romantic suspense, 229 pages, dropped on Amazon (which hurts, of course) this month and it's getting some excellent reviews. Book Nerdection called it a "Must Read."
https://booknerdection.com/the-girl-f...
The ebook is $2.99, the print $9.95.
https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Jersey-Ci...
I used my family name Zan (Alex-zan-der) in the byline.
If you have any interest in reviewing it, contact me here or at alaust70@aol.com and I'll send you a copy.
https://booknerdection.com/the-girl-f...
The ebook is $2.99, the print $9.95.
https://www.amazon.com/Girl-Jersey-Ci...
I used my family name Zan (Alex-zan-der) in the byline.
If you have any interest in reviewing it, contact me here or at alaust70@aol.com and I'll send you a copy.
April 22, 2023
Tears in a dream
When former Californian Terry Weaver returns to the Golden State for a visit, he finds that someone has tampered with his memories. An insightful, even-handed, and alarming story. https://terryweaver.substack.com/p/on...
March 11, 2023
End Man in tight contest for Goodreads group read
My new novel End Man (Opening sentence: Death was a good place to hide.) is one of the choices in the Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group Poll for its April read.
The other six I'm going up against are from major publishing houses with thousands if not hundreds of thousands of reviews.
If the novel is of interest, I'd appreciate your vote. Here's the link to the poll.
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...
Actually, I'm in last place, but for an hour I was in sixth. We can do this!
Best,
Alex
The other six I'm going up against are from major publishing houses with thousands if not hundreds of thousands of reviews.
If the novel is of interest, I'd appreciate your vote. Here's the link to the poll.
https://www.goodreads.com/poll/list/1...
Actually, I'm in last place, but for an hour I was in sixth. We can do this!
Best,
Alex
January 29, 2023
Deep Dive Into End Man
Please check out this review of my new novel End Man on Bookish Beyond, a well-respected British blog.
https://bookishbeyond.com/index.php/2...
Thanks,
Alex
https://bookishbeyond.com/index.php/2...
Thanks,
Alex
November 1, 2022
Can he get more intimate?
Probably, but this terrific interview (with excerpts from my new novel End Man) reveals a lot. Check it out at https://twitter.com/_armedwithabook/s...
October 21, 2022
Is there anyone out there?
I have no idea if my posts die on the vine. Well, if this gets through to anyone, I'd like you to know that my new novel End Man has just been released. Please check out the novel and the reviews. https://www.amazon.com/End-Man-Alex-A...
September 8, 2022
Sci-Fi writer's review of End Man
Please check out this review by SciFi writer L. S. Popovich
The first thing I appreciated about End Man was the Vaporware/ Outrun aesthetic of its cover, followed by its intriguing premise. Wherever corporate corruption is brought upon the chopping block I am game for a foray into speculation. Then you get oodles of commentary on mortality and how the virtual world contains online remnants of the dead. Elements of this book are not fiction, but our true reality. It got me thinking about the records we leave when we die, online, in print, etc. And how that is all that is left of us. In this fictitious world, that concept gets taken to the extreme.
The slick prose style keeps the action pulse-racing throughout and the realistic futuristic setting is beset with crucial and relevant subtexts without compromising the plot. What value does a human life have after death? How much of our identity can be stored? Corporations have been quantifying human worth since their inception, and their practices are no different in the author’s world.
Blanks are people without online personas, which, one might argue, makes them harder to control. But what do we give up when we go off-grid? These ideas are morbid and upsetting to me because I seem them playing out in reality. It is no shock to come across them in fiction. The author certainly utilizes them in a thought-provoking way, incorporating tons of world-building details onto every page, and rarely slowing down to dwell in quiet moments. There are plenty of character quirks that solidify over time into memorable personalities both flawed and relatable. Solid dialogue chops play out against the heavy undertones.
Sleuthing fans will be right at home in the investigative environment of the book. Among its many considerations, it will have you pondering the ripple effects of contemporaneous tragedies like mass shootings and humanity’s potentially bleak future in a world rife with evolving cybercrimes and terrorists more creative and elusive and effective than law enforcement. Online activity monitoring and personal surveillance is not only disturbing but dehumanizing. Cryptocurrencies are also irritating, prevalent, and suspicious. All the same, the up to date engagement with social concerns is right up front here. By implementing razor’s edge technological innovations the author is able to depict a riveting interplay of conflicts. Many of us will recognize the signs of corporate grind, burn out, ennui, addiction to social media, and dependence on tech and gadgets to run our lives for us. Add to this discussion of quantum computing, debt culture, and the typical people gaming the system leaves the playing field ripe for scandals. Reading about scary futures close enough to our present can disturb but also awaken us to the realities before our eyes. Still, the book is entertaining and intellectually stimulating. I have always considered the Internet to be a rabbit hole, but it can become a black hole — one that consumes and proliferates until its virtual landscape seems more vast and alluring than our physical world. How is it that our sophisticated civilization can be as deadly as the Viking-era villages, where survival is no guarantee, or even a likelihood, due to our destructive impulses?
Recommended for a cyber-aware audience
The first thing I appreciated about End Man was the Vaporware/ Outrun aesthetic of its cover, followed by its intriguing premise. Wherever corporate corruption is brought upon the chopping block I am game for a foray into speculation. Then you get oodles of commentary on mortality and how the virtual world contains online remnants of the dead. Elements of this book are not fiction, but our true reality. It got me thinking about the records we leave when we die, online, in print, etc. And how that is all that is left of us. In this fictitious world, that concept gets taken to the extreme.
The slick prose style keeps the action pulse-racing throughout and the realistic futuristic setting is beset with crucial and relevant subtexts without compromising the plot. What value does a human life have after death? How much of our identity can be stored? Corporations have been quantifying human worth since their inception, and their practices are no different in the author’s world.
Blanks are people without online personas, which, one might argue, makes them harder to control. But what do we give up when we go off-grid? These ideas are morbid and upsetting to me because I seem them playing out in reality. It is no shock to come across them in fiction. The author certainly utilizes them in a thought-provoking way, incorporating tons of world-building details onto every page, and rarely slowing down to dwell in quiet moments. There are plenty of character quirks that solidify over time into memorable personalities both flawed and relatable. Solid dialogue chops play out against the heavy undertones.
Sleuthing fans will be right at home in the investigative environment of the book. Among its many considerations, it will have you pondering the ripple effects of contemporaneous tragedies like mass shootings and humanity’s potentially bleak future in a world rife with evolving cybercrimes and terrorists more creative and elusive and effective than law enforcement. Online activity monitoring and personal surveillance is not only disturbing but dehumanizing. Cryptocurrencies are also irritating, prevalent, and suspicious. All the same, the up to date engagement with social concerns is right up front here. By implementing razor’s edge technological innovations the author is able to depict a riveting interplay of conflicts. Many of us will recognize the signs of corporate grind, burn out, ennui, addiction to social media, and dependence on tech and gadgets to run our lives for us. Add to this discussion of quantum computing, debt culture, and the typical people gaming the system leaves the playing field ripe for scandals. Reading about scary futures close enough to our present can disturb but also awaken us to the realities before our eyes. Still, the book is entertaining and intellectually stimulating. I have always considered the Internet to be a rabbit hole, but it can become a black hole — one that consumes and proliferates until its virtual landscape seems more vast and alluring than our physical world. How is it that our sophisticated civilization can be as deadly as the Viking-era villages, where survival is no guarantee, or even a likelihood, due to our destructive impulses?
Recommended for a cyber-aware audience
August 10, 2022
Midwest Book Review
The widely distributed Midwest Book Review will post the following review of my novel End Man in its September 22 issue.
Dromophobia is the fear of crossing streets. In an urban environment, this condition dictates that work and daily life take place in a carefully-manipulated and close environment where no streets need to be navigated.
Fortunately, 26-year-old dromophobic Raphael Lennon has carved out just such a niche for his life. Unfortunately, this is about to change.
End Man is a study of not just fear, but in self-imposed prisons and attempts to hide from death. Ironically, Raphael's job is to ferret out those hiders who "play possum" and fake their deaths. Death may be a good place to hide, for nefarious reasons. But it's not a good place to conduct business.
Readers who pursue End Man will find its special blend of mystery and sci-fi create compelling scenarios and opportunities for higher-level thinking as moral and ethical quandaries mix with philosophical life inspections: "They’re dead, but not less valuable. That’s our business."
Raphael may have carved out a life for himself, in control of his world, but as events force him out of his comfort zone, readers follow his progression into chaos: "Why is this happening, he thought to himself ... Because of the limitations of his world (and his apartment was the center of his world), he knew its mechanisms well."
If End Man were simply a story of dromophobia, this rare exploration would be enough of a draw to gain an audience. But its real value lies in the pursuit of Raphael's expanding world and the dilemmas it introduces as his carefully organized existence undergoes a sea change.
Alex Austin is a master at building tension, psychological inquiry, and intrigue that tests his protagonist in unexpected ways.
The sci-fi elements introduce a futuristic setting with revised moral and ethical boundaries that offer particularly notable, compelling dilemmas throughout its action-packed scenes.
Austin takes the time to build character, setting, and personal and corporate thinking processes. This lends both a sense of realistic fatalism to the story and creates fine tension replete with unpredictable twists and turns.
The result is a tale of not just a mystery that engulfs the unwitting Raphael, but one that shifts from personal to corporate responsibility and values as events unfold.
Readers and libraries seeking exceptional sci-fi mystery settings and quandaries worthy of book club discussion will find all this and more in droves in a story packed with intrigue, growth, and a wry dash of humor for added impact. –Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer
https://www.amazon.com/End-Man-Alex-A... risahsbookreviews@gmail.com x=end+man+alex+austin%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-1
Dromophobia is the fear of crossing streets. In an urban environment, this condition dictates that work and daily life take place in a carefully-manipulated and close environment where no streets need to be navigated.
Fortunately, 26-year-old dromophobic Raphael Lennon has carved out just such a niche for his life. Unfortunately, this is about to change.
End Man is a study of not just fear, but in self-imposed prisons and attempts to hide from death. Ironically, Raphael's job is to ferret out those hiders who "play possum" and fake their deaths. Death may be a good place to hide, for nefarious reasons. But it's not a good place to conduct business.
Readers who pursue End Man will find its special blend of mystery and sci-fi create compelling scenarios and opportunities for higher-level thinking as moral and ethical quandaries mix with philosophical life inspections: "They’re dead, but not less valuable. That’s our business."
Raphael may have carved out a life for himself, in control of his world, but as events force him out of his comfort zone, readers follow his progression into chaos: "Why is this happening, he thought to himself ... Because of the limitations of his world (and his apartment was the center of his world), he knew its mechanisms well."
If End Man were simply a story of dromophobia, this rare exploration would be enough of a draw to gain an audience. But its real value lies in the pursuit of Raphael's expanding world and the dilemmas it introduces as his carefully organized existence undergoes a sea change.
Alex Austin is a master at building tension, psychological inquiry, and intrigue that tests his protagonist in unexpected ways.
The sci-fi elements introduce a futuristic setting with revised moral and ethical boundaries that offer particularly notable, compelling dilemmas throughout its action-packed scenes.
Austin takes the time to build character, setting, and personal and corporate thinking processes. This lends both a sense of realistic fatalism to the story and creates fine tension replete with unpredictable twists and turns.
The result is a tale of not just a mystery that engulfs the unwitting Raphael, but one that shifts from personal to corporate responsibility and values as events unfold.
Readers and libraries seeking exceptional sci-fi mystery settings and quandaries worthy of book club discussion will find all this and more in droves in a story packed with intrigue, growth, and a wry dash of humor for added impact. –Diane Donovan, Senior Reviewer
https://www.amazon.com/End-Man-Alex-A... risahsbookreviews@gmail.com x=end+man+alex+austin%2Caps%2C139&sr=8-1
July 8, 2022
End Man Release
Once your life is diluted to ones and zeroes on the End Man’s desk, it’s over. Or isn’t it?
My new novel End Man, a speculative mystery set against the backdrop of social media will be released on Amazon as an ebook on July 11.
On July 10 at 3:00 p.m. Central Time, the cover will be revealed on HTTPS://TWITCH.TV/CURSEDDRAGONSHIP
My new novel End Man, a speculative mystery set against the backdrop of social media will be released on Amazon as an ebook on July 11.
On July 10 at 3:00 p.m. Central Time, the cover will be revealed on HTTPS://TWITCH.TV/CURSEDDRAGONSHIP
