Tuesday, May 28, 2013

"Demon Inhibitions" - Gary Starta (Virtual Book Tour Cafe Blog Tour)

BLURB
"Most people don't travel to another universe to get a new job, house and boyfriend but psychic investigator Caitlin Diggs did. Now she's living the life of her alternate self, working for the FBI's Preternatural Division where her first case just happens to include chasing a genetically engineered man hell bent on stealing souls. Well, there had to be consequences."



ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Gary Starta is a former journalist who began writing multi-genre fiction in 2004. He likes to include science theory in his stories as well as elements of paranormal, fantasy, mystery and romance. 
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REVIEW
Detective stories are always intriguing to me...trying to figure our whodunit or how to capture the bad guy once they've been identified.  Paranormal stories also intrigue me on a number of levels.  Both together?

The Good
Heroine is plucked from a reality in which she is comfortable and understands the rules and plunked into a reality where everything is different, everyone is treating her like her Doppleganger, and...oh yeah...she's kind of on the tail of a super baddy who likes to snack on souls.  I like the plot of this book!  The story is super intriguing and kept my pages turning.  I really liked the premise and was excited to see how it would turn out.  There are some awesome snarky one-liners that made me snort, and some of the "you dork" interactions between characters was super neat!

The Bugly (bad/ugly)
Two things: 1) this work is riddled with punctuation errors that made the editor portion of me itch.  2)  the actions gets really confusing in places, about who is doing what when, where, and why.  It is unclear how people get across rooms in some cases, why certain things happen, who is talking, etc.

Overall
Overall, this is an intriguing read that deserves attention!  The book itself, premise and such, is quite good.  It just needs to be gone over with an fine-toothed editing comb.

Overall, I give this work a 6 out of 10.

NOTE: My portion of this post is so short because I want you to focus on the guest post below from Starta - a day in the life of Agent Diggs (a.k.a. Caitlin Diggs in an alternate universe where demons fight for civil liberties and the right to live....intrigued yet?)




"A day in the life of Caitlin Diggs…(before the parallel universe).
I always start the day squinting into my bathroom mirror. It’s been a ritual of my 30’s and each day I don’t uncover a new wrinkle or line is equivalent to the delicious sensation of biting into a chocolate chip cookie. Well, almost. I discover and uncover things, mostly people, for a living. My career path is rocky and winding, including a long stint as a Special Agent for the FBI. Now I’ve shifted careers into the private sector as a PI. I’ve also traded homes, leaving Manassas, Virginia for Salem, Massachusetts – a bewitching town if there ever was one.
I hope that sensation, the thrill of stopping a killer, will return in my new line of work. So far, the clients aren’t exactly pounding down the door but I’ve had one strange man solicit my services. It involves a case the local PD can’t crack.
As I continue standing in front of my mirror, the beginning of all my days lately, I look really hard into my sapphire eyes and try to decode the change I recently experienced. It happened after encountering an artifact. It gave me telepathy and telekinesis. The kind of gifts you don’t give as stocking stuffers at the FBI Christmas parties. It was the very thing that made me quit the Bureau because I can’t expect their protocols to fit my new and unexpected, alternate life style.
You would think a person who recently acquired abilities would be less concerned about crow’s feet or gaining a pound or two. In truth, I still consider the more simple things of life as most precious. I love my adorable Tonkinese cat, Celeste. She has the prettiest blue eyes and sweetest disposition until her Alpha senses kick in. In a way, she’s kind of like me because we both have soft underbellies beneath our hard veneers, the two sides usually competing for dominance. I actually used to practice leering so I could intimidate suspects. It comes automatically now so it’s one more thing I can check off my ‘to do’ list.
So is it weird I see some of myself in my cat? I guess I rely on Celeste as a crutch because I’ve left my sister behind in DC. I miss her although she can drive me crazy. I am career-oriented where she is couch-oriented. She is lucky she doesn’t live for the precarious types of thrills I seek.
Avoiding sugar for breakfast is another major plus. Celeste usually mewls at this point either in sympathy, adulation or just plain hunger. She loves salmon and I’m happy to provide for her.
After her feeding, I usually experience a knock on my door from the next door Wiccan, Briana McFadden. She talks shop about the locals and I listen because I am an inquisitive investigator, not some nosy, gossiper. I hope I’ve made myself clear.
Well, time to get down to work. Celeste is fed and Briana is off to the shops to buy herbs and all things holistic. I start surfing the Internet, looking for job leads. I ignore my sister Tara’s email urging me to improve my fashion sense. I am quite certain dressing in Earth tones is a fashion sense somewhere on this planet.
I answer my phone and it’s a call from my old friend Det. Stanford Carter. He needs my help to chase something he believes might be paranormal. He is the one of the few people I’ve taken into confidence. He is aware of my abilities and he thinks they might aid in the man hunt – or should I say demon hunt. I am yet to learn - despite my psychic ability - that this chase will literally change my universe and my usual routine will rarely involve staring into a mirror because in an altered reality I will meet my doppelganger and she will act as a living reflection of who I am."


12 comments:

  1. Thanks for having me!
    Come by to ask a question and enter giveaway...

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  2. No, I am pretty new to reading so I haven't read any of Gary Starta's work. Looking forward to it! Thanks for the chance to win one of them!

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  3. Is the above text a prologue or first chapter or jacket blurb? Certainly a different premise. If the editor type person who left a comment is correct, then for yourself and the other self publishers of our universe/industry, I hope you do improve your editing or hire someone to do it. It is the biggest reason folks I have talked to don't/won't buy books that are SP. Lack of professionalism. Good luck!

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  4. Great post:)

    Thank you for hosting :-)

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  5. I really think this story would be down my alley and it is on my wish list to read, good luck on tour!:O) Pit Crew

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  6. I'm looking forward to reading this. Thanks for stopping in everyone :)

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  7. That cover just really grabs a person

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