Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Oct 13

10

Giveaway: RASPUTIN’S SHADOW by Raymond Khoury

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on October 10, 2013
Posted in My Past Giveaways  | 12 Comments

Thanks to Alissa Letkowski of Meryl L. Moss Media Relations, Inc., I am giving away one copy of  RASPUTIN’S SHADOW.


 Book Description:

Rasputin was a monk blessed by God, a malicious killer, a mastermind, a renegade, a fraud. Even the most lauded historians haven’t decided which of these descriptors best fit the illusive figure from Russia’s past. And no one can understand his incredible rise from a starving, degenerate peasant to the Tsar’s most trusted advisor. No one, that is, except Leo Sokolov. And so begins RASPUTIN’S SHADOW. Khoury’s novel is filled with modern-day action as FBI Agent Sean Reilly and his unexpected partner Russian FSB Agent Larisa Sokolova search to uncover a mysterious device that has led to the suicide of a Russian embassy attaché and the disappearance of a Russian physics teacher, Leo Sokolov. Their adventure leads them into an unexpected rendezvous with the lost journals of Rasputin’s confidant, and to the frightening realization that the device wreaking havoc on modern-day Manhattan may have been used for even greater destruction a century earlier in Russia.
RASPUTIN’S SHADOW delivers in the way a thriller should. It melds historical disaster with modern retribution. The novel is heart-racing and smart, full of twists and turns and action scenes that seem as real as the pages that you’re reading.

Praise for Raymond Khoury


“History, mystery, suspense, and action—Khoury knows the recipe for a good read.”― Library Journal


“Khoury carries the story off nicely…this is a fast-paced, enjoyable tale.”― Kirkus Reviews


“Unrelenting action.”―Publisher’s Weekly


“…filled with action, chases and mind-blowing historical perspective that will engage fans of this genre and once again place Raymond Khoury back at the forefront of modern historical fiction adventures.”―Bookreporter


About Raymond Khoury:


RAYMOND KHOURY is a New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including The Last Templar, The Templar Salvation and The Sanctuary. Born in Beirut, Khoury and his family fled to Rye, New York when he was 14 to escape Lebanon’s civil war. Khoury worked as an architect and investment banker before becoming a successful screenwriter and producer for networks such as BBC. Today, he focuses on his writing career. Rasputin’s Shadow is his sixth book.

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and ends on October 24, 2013.  Please use Rafflcopter to enter.

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Oct 13

9

Giveaway: THE MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT by Indu Sundaresan

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on October 9, 2013
Posted in My Past Giveaways  | 12 Comments

Thanks to the author, Indu Sundaresan and the publicist, Diana Franco of Washington Square Press/ Simon and Schuster, I am giving away two copies of The Mountain of Light.

 Back in 2010, I reviewed The Twentieth Wife by Indu Sundaresan and gave it a 5/5 stars.  The author is now coming out with a new book, The Mountain of Light.  If you are a historical fiction lover, you are going to want to get your hand on this book.  

Book Description:

 In January, 1850, Lord Dalhousie, the Governor-General of India, travels down the Indus River to Karachi, a precious package looped around his belt.  Dalhousie has just left the newly annexed Punjab Empire and its heir, the eleven-year-old Maharajah Dalip Singh—on departing, he takes with him one item from the empire’s enormous treasury.

Arriving at Bombay, Lord Dalhousie deposits this in the treasury at Fort George.  There the parcel tarries until April, when it is carried on a Royal Navy ship to England in the charge of two men, who are the only ones on board who know of its contents.

A few days later, the Queen of England, Victoria, opens the seals on the package and holds in her hand a mammoth 186 carat diamond set in a gold armlet, flanked by two smaller diamonds.  The Kohinoor diamond has safely arrived in England, in the greatest of secrecy, and only then is the news blazoned forth.


The Kohinoor—translated from Persian as ‘a mountain of light’—is one of the world’s most magnificent diamonds, originating in India, owned over centuries, by various rulers in India, Persia and Afghanistan.

The Mountain of Light begins in 1817, with the ruler of Afghanistan promising, and giving, the diamond to Dalip’s father, Maharajah Ranjit Singh.  A prior Governor-General and his sisters travel to Ranjit Singh’s court, to ask for his help in a war, and to admire his diamond.  When Ranjit dies, two Anglo-Sikh wars intervene, leading to the Punjab Empire being dissolved and added to British lands in India.

The young heir to the empire, Dalip Singh, is escorted out of his lands, put under the guardianship of British officials, brought up to become an English gentleman.  He follows the Kohinoor to England, meets the queen, is feted and petted there for a long while…until he realizes—as he grows into manhood—that nothing can replace the loss of his empire, his treasury, and his Kohinoor.

Indu Sundaresan’s sixth work of fiction, The Mountain of Light, is a brilliant tale of love, adventure, loss and betrayal, wrapped around the glowing heart of one of the world’s most famous diamonds.


Early Praise for The Mountain of Light:

“Sundaresan…tells the fascinating story of how the diamond travels from the hands of the king of Afghanistan to the arm of Queen Victoria during the early years of India’s colonization by the British…With a strong eye for detail and a great talent for dramatization, Sundaresan has composed an epic tale of a coveted jewel and its place in India’s rich history.”- Booklist

“On one level, Indu Sundaresan’s novel The Mountain of Light is a fascinating tale about a mythical jewel, filled with adventure and romance that draws the reader in. But on a deeper level, it is a keen and heart-rending examination of the costs of colonialism.”-—Chitra Divakaruni, author of Oleander Girl

“Once again Indu Sundaresan has brought history to life in this well-researched novel…Whether you read The Mountain of Light for its dramatic story, its lush setting, or its vivid characters, this novel will give you insights into history that will change you.”-Janet Lee Carey, Award-winning author of medieval fantasy


About Indu Sundaresan:

Indu Sundaresan is the author of the Taj trilogy (The Twentieth Wife; The Feast of Roses; Shadow Princess) set in 17th Century Mughal India; The Splendor of Silence, set in India in May of 1942; and a collection of contemporary Indian short stories, In the Convent of Little Flowers.  Her sixth work of fiction is The Mountain of Light.  Her work has been translated into 22 languages to date.

This giveaway is open to resisidents of Canada and the U.S. and ends on October 23, 2013.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.


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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Oct 13

8

Giveaway: Once We Were Brothers by Ronald Balson

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on October 8, 2013
Posted in My Past Giveaways  | 9 Comments

Thanks to Staci Burt of Wunderkind PR, I am giving away one copy of Once We Were Brothers.

Book Description:

The gripping tale about two boys, once as close as brothers, who find themselves on opposite sides of the Holocaust.

Elliot Rosenzweig, a respected civic leader and wealthy philanthropist, is attending a fundraiser when he is suddenly accosted and accused of being a former Nazi SS officer named Otto Piatek, “the butcher of Zamosc.” Although the charges are denounced as preposterous, his accuser, Ben Solomon, is convinced he is right. Solomon persuades attorney Catherine Lockhart to take his case, revealing that the true Piatek was abandoned as a child and raised by Solomon’s family only to betray them during the Nazi occupation. But has he accused the right man?

Once We Were Brothers is Ronald H. Balson’s compelling tale of two boys and a family who struggle to survive in war-torn Poland and a young love that incredibly endures through the unspeakable cruelty of the Holocaust. Two lives, two worlds, and sixty years converge in an explosive race to redemption that makes for an enthralling tale of love, survival, and ultimately the triumph of the human spirit.


 About Ronald Balson:

Ronald H. Balson is an attorney practicing with the firm of Stone, Pogrund and Korey in Chicago. An adjunct professor of business law at the University of Chicago for twenty-five years, Balson now lectures on trial advocacy in federal trial bar courses.

A few years ago, Balson was hired by his Chicago law firm to represent it in a case centered in southern Poland, the location of his book. For the next four years, he made multiple trips back and forth, and while there, he interviewed witnesses, studied documents and came to know more about the town of Zamosc. He learned that, during the World War II years, the Polish culture and country were destroyed and “sadness still pervades” there.

Balson started his own publishing company, Berwick Court, in order to self-publish his book, and as word of mouth spread, Once We Were Brothers became a runaway bestseller. St. Martin’s Press Griffin will now be publishing the trade paperback edition this October 2013.

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only and ends on October 22, 2013.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

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