Trigger is the first complete novel by Todd Durrant, owner of A Different Drum record label. While A Different Drum is known for great modern Synthpop, Todd Durrant will quickly be known for great and philosophically thought provoking science-fiction. I was extremely impressed with this as a first work by him and anxiously look forward to more. The story was riveting and I couldn’t put it down! It is the type of story with many interesting layers of plot revelation that keeps the reader on edge waiting to see what will happen next. I loved that it was not overly predictable as I find many stories both written and filmed to often be. Instead, this just seemed to get more curious with every page turned.

The most difficult thing about writing this review is that I really don’t want to include too many, if any, spoilers as the greatest fun about reading it was the interesting turns the plot took as more information was revealed. Basically, the story takes place in two different timelines. In one, you have a group of human exiles from Earth who are trying to make their way in space after forcefully leaving the planet due to a an invasion by mechanical "lifeforms". In this timeline, there are divergent political perspectives revolving around either going back to retake Earth by force or expanding further into space and pioneering further development and growth. In the other timeline, which is pre-invasion, the focus revolves around a major corporation, scientific development, and a secret project to help prevent human annihilation by creating a device which is only activated after the calamity has occurred by using a trigger backwards in time to activate it.

The only criticism I have at all about this work is that I think more development could have been done on the desperation that humans faced in the future on these remote space colonies. However, in many ways the author did make it obvious and other readers may likely disagree with me on this one as much of the first part of the book does have quite a bit relating to this in it. However, I have to admit, character development is probably the most difficult aspect of writing a fiction novel and a marked improvement was shown as the story developed. Overall, I think Todd did a great job and I really liked the characters he created. They are all unique and interesting, no carbon copies, archetypical or stereotypes here except maybe where The Admiral is concerned but that is at it should be in my opinion. I also like that he has strong female characters and sensitive male characters. He also shows many situations where their actions are very human indeed, sometimes logical and sometimes purely emotional, but most often a combination of both as their plight is very unique and unusual. I also like the tech in this book and how he stuck to realistic descriptions regarding the physical dynamics of space, unlike the hollywood movies where you see and hear great explosions and flames in space.

Overall, the book has great technological ideas, interesting philosphical questions, multiple timelines, fairly well developed characters, mostly unpredictable plot lines and a very compelling story!

Samuel Morningstar (rocker, mystic, author), has finally released a novel that has been highly anticipated by those who knew this was coming and what it might be about. Shadow Kingdom combines elements of a psychological thriller, crime investigation, horror, esoteric mysticism, and "sci-fi" to create the world which contains the events which unfold in his tale. The characters are humans, rock stars, soldiers, martial artists, cops, angels & demons, monsters, and extraterrestrials to name a few. The story begins with a private investigator hired to research the brutal ritual murder of an exotic dancer and takes us into a realm of wonders and nightmares beyond the realm of sanity and into conspiracies involving ancient immortals. Buth this sort of thing could never happen in "reality" as this is just a creative work of fiction right, or could it? Samuel created his dark fiction from the real life research of minds like David Icke, Whitley Strieber, and William Henry. I've never in my life read a fiction novel with so much truth and so many questions. I say truth because the esoteric principles conveyed within are the same as those taught in mystery schools the world over and throughout history. Samuel Morningstar is an intellect of unusual talent that makes great story tellers like Clive Barker look like child's play! He's also a talent in the music industry and member of the band Eternal Twilight and knows the rock scene well. This book will appeal to anyone interested in Ancient History, Mythology, Esoteric Mysticism, UFOlogy, Conspiracy Theories, Rock-n-Roll (including the Goth subcultrure), Martial Arts, Meditation, "Energy" Work, Dark Fiction, and Horror - a thinking person's fiction.

Scandals abound with this current offering from Myke Hideous who has penned a memoir that pulls no punches. He takes on the pretentious scene phonies, hypocritical vegetarians who wear leather, and the show business con artists with equal fervor. Hideous is known for his front man position of bands such as The Empire Hideous, SpySociety99, The Bronx Casket Co. as well as his brief tenure with The Misfits, Hideous recounts upon his youthful dreams of rock stardom, his battles with cancer, incompetent band members, unscrupulous promoters, infidelity, depression, poverty, missed opportunities and a lengthy dialogue of the lies, deceit and abuse he endured while being a part of The Misfits. These memoirs are an insiders view that demonstrates how sometimes a dream can end up a nightmare and reads as though one is sitting and having a long conversation with the author. Each chapter gets more in depth and the guilty are sometimes named while other chapters force the reader to read between the descriptive lines, clearly making this a page turner from beginning to end. King of an Empire is not a mere finger pointing book as Hideous penned this to look at his own limitations and errors as well as those around him. It is delivered objectively with personal comments added in, which round out the perspective he has had thus far. For anyone considering making the music business their career, this book is highly recommended. It takes the rose colored glasses off the dreams of glitz and glamor, confronting the ugly underbelly of the music industry that few ever get to know about. Review by Mike Ventarola