W.A. Stanley

W.A. Stanley
Book Reviews

Cuckoo Cuckoo

The darkest secrets never stay buried forever.
Charles Abernathy Vanderough has been dead for nineteen years. But when his clone shows up on the doorstep of the old Vanderough estate, a family is forced to confront their troubled past and face their darkest secrets.
Cuckoo Cuckoo is the story of Charlie B, a penniless clone and conman, who goes in search of the family fortune, only to find deception and tragedy at every turn. Set against the backdrop of the 2016 presidential primary, the proliferation of gun violence in America, and the apotheosis of selfie culture, Cuckoo Cuckoo reminds us that nobody can outrun their demons in an increasingly technological world.

Book Reviews

Sweet Baby Mine

Why can’t the bad things we’ve done in the past, stay in the past?
Ana will do anything to hold on to her husband. Tony is the love of her life–the Heathcliff to her Catherine, the Rivera to her Kahlo, the Sid to her Nancy. Without him, she’s nothing.
Tony is smart, driven, and accomplished. He takes pleasure in being Ana’s champion. He knows he is the one man who can save her from herself.
But their marriage is put to the test when their estranged daughter, Chloe, texts Ana to say she wants to come home–mother and daughter share a secret so dark that if Chloe ever revealed it, it would destroy Ana’s marriage.
Readers who enjoy Gillian Flynn’s antiheroines and Colleen Hoover’s heart-wrenching romantic thrillers will love Sweet Baby Mine. Rife with intergenerational patterns of mental illness, addiction, and trauma, Sweet Baby Mine is the powerful tale of the impact secrets, lies, and betrayals can have on a marriage. While the plot is devoted to both Ana and Tony, American expats living in Paris, the inner journey belongs to Ana as her daughter’s return sets off a painful chain of events that forces her to confront her demons, find her voice, and realize sometimes love can be found in the unlikeliest of places.

Book Reviews

Spectacular Silver Earthling

Hubcap used to be a rescue bot, getting humans out of every boneheaded scrape imaginable. His new career as a TV star suits him better: he can poke fun at the humans instead, while harvesting jetpods and tackling alien predators faster than any of them. It doesn’t hurt that he’s also immune to the mysterious “space frenzy” that keeps sending his coworkers into a froth. The robot worries for his human friends, though he would never admit it. Not when it’s much more fun to deploy weapons-grade sass.
The pressure ratchets up when a rival show aims to steal their sponsor. Hubcap has to film his most spectacular footage yet, while avoiding dangerous wildlife, plantlife, and emotions. But if anyone is up to the task, it’s the robot with skills second to none, and an ego to match.

Book Reviews

Behind Blue Eyes

They are the perfect hybrid of human and machine.
They are the next step in the evolution of mankind.
And when they come after you, nothing in the world will save you.
Welcome to the year 2095. Society has overcome everything that made life miserable. It has become a utopia—so perfect that it needs killer cyborgs to hunt down anyone who disagrees with it.
Nephilim isn’t just any elite death squad member, she is the best. Genetically and cybernetically enhanced, she and others like her strike terror wherever they go. Knowing nothing besides this lifestyle, Nephilim believes she is part of a righteous cause. But everything changes for her after a hostile EMP attack. She suffers a severe system glitch. Disconnected from the grid, for the first time in her life, she begins doubting the system.
Shortly after the attack, she meets Jake. He is a 100% biological human, and she falls in love with him. Jake helps her believe that everything she had believed in was a lie. But there is no walking away from the system. And soon, Nephilim finds herself hunted by members of her own death squad.
In an era of deception, who can she trust? And in this brave new world, is there a place for love between a human and a cyborg?
Behind Blue Eyes is a fast-paced, cinematic action story in a dystopian setting. It’s a modern-day version of 1984—on steroids.

Book Reviews

Meara: Legacy of Love

A whisper of someone like her being born has been discussed for aeons by the gods. The question is, who is she, and where is she?
Meara lives an ordinary life with her eccentric grandmother and three siblings in a small Georgian house in Dublin. On her eighteenth birthday, her little sister is kidnapped by an incredibly powerful man, and her entire world turns upside down.
Long hidden family secrets tumble out, and supernatural beings suddenly surround her. However, she thinks she is a side character, the hero’s friend, and the heroine’s sister. After all, her nature is more girl-next-door than a tortured soul with ninja fighting skills.
Her only desire is to get her sister back and keep her safe but to do so; she must battle dangerous beings and reign in her treacherous heart which has begun to beat for her family’s sworn enemy, a gorgeous demigod.