The Black Tea Experiments- Ray Atkinson

Ever heard of an “airplane novel”? I hadn’t either until I was approached about this unique concept. Author Ray Atkinson has written the novel “The Black Tea Experiments” to read like a movie- short compact and to the point, yet highly entertaining. It logs in at just 150 pages- long enough to flesh out a plot and create engaging characters, but not too long where you couldn’t finish it on a few-hour flight.

Logan Bauer is an intelligent college student with a beautiful girlfriend, Tia, who suddenly finds himself in the middle of a 25 year old mystery because Tia is accused of murdering fellow student Brett Johnson. Tia tells Logan about her involvement in “the Black Tea Experiments” and tells him that Brett was her brother. Logan believes her innocence and sets out to discover the truth- a journey which leads him to the former USSR and back again to uncover the truth. The book is laced with bits of science fiction, though not so much that it would turn off the non sci-fi reader. If you love to read, but don’t have a ton of time to read something good, I highly recommend getting a copy of “The Black Tea Experiments”. I’d rated it PG-13 for some language and minor adult situations, but all in all a good book for most ages 13 + up.


Books BookTeens Reading

"Anti-Christ: A Satirical End of Days"

“Anti-Christ: A Satirical End of Days” is one of those novels that you think is going to go one way, and ends up completely surprising you in a good way. Slightly reminiscent of Piers Anthony’s “Intimations of Immortality” series, “Anti-Christ” centers around one Matthew Ford, a college student who is having the worst luck ever and can’t seem to catch a break. Now, to top it all off, after evicting a ghost from his home, ticks off Jesus (who has taken control of Heaven after God had a stroke), and then in his refusal to comply with Jesus’ command that he take the ghost back (apparently it’s the “rule” that only a priest can exorcise a ghost) finds himself the subject of curse after curse. First, it’s horrible acne, then his philosophy professor fails him, he finds himself impotent…and it only gets worse from there. Matthew doesn't take it lying down though, he instead launches an all out personal war, committing crime after crime in Jesus' name.

Matthew then finds himself approached by Satan himself, who paints a very different picture of what we know happened according to the bible, and Matthew starts to listen. Satan wants to help Matthew become someone important, and through Satan’s machinations, Matthew becomes the next big guru, encouraging humanity to turn away from religion and to follow him. But of course, Satan is the Master of Lies, and has his own plans for Matthew and humanity that just won’t end well for most of us.

Matthew’s journey though, really starts after his “death” and that’s really where the book kicks into high gear. Matthew travels through purgatory with a couple of smugglers (seems Jesus’ idea of Heaven is to segregate it and keep the peace through brainwashing of sorts), meets Buddha and discovers his real destiny.

Author Matthew Moses has created a world not much different from our own, and does so with much thought and philosophy. At first, there seems to be much anger, but the ending give humanity hope despite tragedy, and faith in its purest form. Even though the philosophy of the book is smart and thought provoking, I have to admit that one of my favorite parts of the books comes through an exchange with US President “Lucas” and his VP and Chief of Staff:

“Mr. President, things have taken a turn for the worse in Kashmir.”
Lucas looked up to his Vice. “There is a problem in the sweater industry?” He looked back at his Chief. “Will this have major economic impact?”
“Mr. President, I’m talking about India and Pakistan.”
“Oh, Africa,” Lucas nodded. “Go ahead.”
The Chief almost corrected him but instead thought is was a waste of time. “There have been instances of attacks by Indians on Pakistanis in response to the Parliamentary attacks of a few days ago.”
“How in the hell did Indians get to Africa?”

And the exchange continues. I actually laughed out loud and then read it to my husband…all it needed was a strategically placed “strategory”.

I’d definitely recommend this book as a great read- it’ll make you think, laugh and maybe even get angry. My only negative- I wish that the lead had a different name from the author, but that's just me :). It’s available for purchase at amazon.com, or you can check out www.anti-christ.biz for more information. I do not recommend it for kids and would give it an ages 17 + up rating for language and some “adult” situations.



Books BookTeens Reading

The Great Snape Debate

Okay, so we're officially under a month- practically only three weeks, until "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" comes out. It feels like it's been 10 years since I finished "Half-Blood Prince", so I'm starting to froth at the mouth. So I was psyched when my husband came home with "The Great Snape Debate"- a series of essays dedicated to Snape's guilt and then FLIP! even more essay's dedicated to proving his innocence.

One of the biggest questions the book asks is "Why do we care about Snape? Why do we insist that he's good?" And then it attempts to answer them. I read it pretty quickly, finding small parts of the "Innocent" side to be repetitive, but thoroughly enjoyed Orson Scott Card's essay. It seems that JK Rowling is the rare author (who's still living anyway) whose writing and characters have captured the hearts of other writers. Card has nothing but nice to say about her writing ability and growth he's seen in it over the past few books. He even talks about Stephen King calling Dolores Umbridge the "best make-believe villain since Hannibal Lector." That's right- not Voldemort, not Snape, but Umbridge (who is really the only character we've seen do despicable things, Snape's "murder" of Dumbledore aside). King has made it no secret that he loves the "Harry Potter" series. He's even got some cool homages to it in the "Dark Tower" series.

Having read both sides, I still can't say for sure which I believe. A bigger part of me wants to believe that Snape is good, and that he killed Dumbledore at the wizard's request (for after all, Harry never would be ready to face Voldemort alone if he thought someone was coming to save him). Who doesn't like a seemingly bad guy turn out to be the good guy- after all, that's really why women fell for Han Solo. Not because he was an ass, but because he was an ass with a heart of gold. But the argument is just as convincing for Snape's guilt. I mean, it's obvious isn't it? The man KILLED DUMBLEDORE...or did he?

You'll just have to read it for yourself to see which you believe.


Books BookTeens Reading

Careful What You Wish For: Lucy Finn

"Careful What You Wish For" is a first novel by Lucy Finn. It is the story of Ravine (pronounced Rah-Vine), a smart lawyer who finds herself a single parent to Brady. Unable to keep her previous, semi-lucrative career, she moves back home and takes up residence in the house her grandfather left her. Life is an interesting challenge, and becomes even more so when she receives the gift of a "diaper genie" with an amber bottle inside. When she uncorks it, Gene appears in a puff of smoke and declares himself to be a genie, her genie to be exact, and that she's been given the gift of three wishes. Once she's made them, he'll be free to go home- 1949, where he was cursed by a Caliph after crashing in WWII.

Ravine doesn't know what to make of it, but Gene is obviously real and so is his magic. It doesn't help that he's handsome, young (29), and obviously crushing on his new master. So what's a girl to do?

I really enjoyed "Careful What You Wish For". Ravine is an instantly likeable character whose story is told from the first person point of view (always slightly awkward for "adult" scenes, but Finn handled them well). She makes real world references and paints a terrific picture of the little town of Noxen. It's a terrific example of magical realism. A great read!
Books BookTeens Reading