Book with a View December 2011

Title: Millennium Slave: Part I
Author: Sijuan King
ISBN: 978-0-984-65790-2
Published: W.E. Smith Co., 2011
Available on Amazon.com
Reviewer: Dana Micheli

Sijuan King has always dreamed big, and she never shies away from the hard work necessary to make those dreams a reality.  As a child, she performed for her family and friends, and even sang with a female singing group at local nightclubs. As an adult, inspired by the success of her uncle, boxing icon Don King, she received her MBA, ran several successful businesses, and still found time to raise a family of her own.  She also remained active in the arts, and even wrote, produced and performed in her own music video. Now she has attained yet another lifelong goal with the release of her first novel, Millennium Slave, Part I.  

 Millennium Slave is the two-part story of a man who—like Si—will stop at nothing to reach his goals.  When the novel opens, Charles Allen Hart has reached the pinnacle of success. Armed with brains, charm and an MBA, he is appointed CFO of one of the world’s largest corporations while still in his thirties.  When he purchases his dream home-- a penthouse apartment near Central Park-- he knows his hard work has finally paid off.

He also has wonderful family and friends, as well as the love of Trudy Henderson, a brilliant and beautiful civil rights attorney. When, as part of his promotion, he is offered a cruise on board the corporate yacht, Charles accepts and asks Trudy to go with him. Their first night at sea, he asks her to be his wife, and her acceptance is the final piece of his perfect and well-deserved life, falling into place.

But there are evil forces at work that Charles cannot even conceive of, and he is about to get caught up in their centuries-old plan to preserve their way of life. These forces are powerful enough to make a two-hundred-foot yacht disappear into the Atlantic, and its passengers and crew declared legally dead.

Now locked in bondage thousands of miles from home, Charles works tirelessly to formulate an escape. He will need every ounce if his physical, mental, and spiritual strength in order to defeat the secret society of powerful men who have enslaved himself, his beloved Trudy, and so many others he has grown to care about; some of whom have never known the taste of freedom.    

Throughout the course of the novel, Charles learns that control is an illusion, for everything he had was ripped away. He also learns that freedom is more important than materialism, and that wisdom can be found in the most unlikely places, and from the most unlikely people.  Millennium Slave is an epic story of both heartbreaking tragedy and triumph of the human spirit.

While this novel is a “what if” story, it is also representative of injustice—including human trafficking and enslavement—that is still happening throughout the world. This issue is close to Si’s heart, and she plans to use it as a platform to advocate for social justice, both in the United State and around the world.  

“The storyline came to me fully-formed,” Ms. King says, “Its characters were inspired by people I’ve known and who have inspired me. The subject matter is representative of injustices going on in the world, injustices that I would like to work toward eradicating.” 

Millennium Slave, Part I ends with a painful cliffhanger, but readers won’t have to wait for long to find out what happens to Charles. Si is already working on Part II, which is due out in early 2012.
You can purchase your copy of Millennium Slave: Part I at www.sijuanking.com  It is also available at Amazon.comand www.barnesandnoble.com

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Title: Be Still: And Let God Be God
Author: Robert Paul Baeyens
Publisher: Deep River Books
ISBN: 1935265121
Reviewer: Dana Micheli of WITS
Available on Amazon.com

Robert Paul Baeyens’ book, Be Still, is a Life Changer

“Be Still, for I am God”. . . these words changed Robert Paul Baeyens’ life, as they will everyone fortunate enough to read his book. It stands alone among the thousands of books on spirituality, religion, and the path to eternal life, and is simply a must—read for anyone seeking a closer relationship with God.

Be Still and Let God be God chronicles Baeyens’ journey from depression to triumph. With the raw—and sometimes painful—honesty of a private diary, it takes us through the tragic loss of his father, the loving, inspirational support of his sister, and his battle with the inner demons that caused him to keep God at a distance for so many years.

The book explores nearly every facet of the human condition—from our relationships with family and friends to our habits, beliefs and temptations—and their connection to God’s role in our lives. It also delves into the beliefs of several different religions, as well as prominent individuals throughout history. In this way he shares the wisdom of great people—from Ralph Waldo Emerson to Pastor Joel Osteen—and reinforces the point that God has truly placed teachers in our paths, at every turn.

But Be Still is not armchair theology; Baeyens courageous “experiments”—from walking in the shoes of an atheist to see life from the “other side”, to living as a homeless person to better realize the blessings in his own life—make this book incredibly moving and like no other I have read.

Perhaps the biggest reason this book is so special is that Baeyens shows us—not how to follow his path, but to find our own.
Be Still is available at Amazon.comand www.barnesandnoble.com

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Title: The Disturbing Effect on Moonlight
Author: Mia Zabriskie
Publisher: Mia Zabriskie Books
ASIN: B005FXHOE2
Reviewer: Dana Micheli of WITS
Available on Amazon.com

Mia Zabriskie, author of The Disturbing Effect of Moonlight, Returns with Another Nail—Biting Thriller.

Her new thriller, Fraidy, captures not only the timeless suspense of the murder mystery, but the appetite of today’s reality—obsessed TV viewer.

Twenty-two-year-old Deanna Lovelock is striking, brilliant, and haunted. As the story opens, she is leaving the dorm of her Boston university and heading home. While there, she plans to solve the vicious murder of her beautiful but troubled mother. Ten years ago, Deanna found Gracie Lovelock’s bloody body on the floor of that house, and it has shaped every moment of her life since. As an attempt to pay tribute to—and surpass—the work of the filmmaker father she adores, she decides to chronicle her investigation with a video camera.

But not everyone is happy that Deanna is back in town. For the Lovelocks were not the only family destroyed by Gracie’s murder; their neighbors, Zack and Harlan Booth, still live under the shadow of suspicion cast upon their father, who had been Gracie’s lover.

As Deanna, Zack and Harlan try to piece together the events of that horrible night, each has a different theory as to who had the most to gain from Gracie’s death. Was it a stranger, a serial killer presumed dead, or even Deanna herself? Should they believe the ravings of the feeble—minded yet psychically gifted man who predicts the actions of a monster named Fraidy?

Zabriskie’s writing is so vivid, you can smell the rot of death in the old Victorian house, hear the sound of a brutal killer creeping up the stairs, and feel the impotent rage of Harlan Booth as he speaks of his broken, suicidal father. One’s only regret in reading this book is the knowledge that “all good things must come to an end”; one’s only solace is that Zabriskie will undoubtedly outdo herself the next time around. Fraidy, along with her other books, are available on Amazon.comand www.barnesandnoble.com


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