Spotlight & Giveaway - The Monster Catchers by George Brewington

The Monster Catchers

by 

George Brewington

The Monster Catchers: A Bailey Buckleby Story

By George Brewington

A Father-Son Monster Hunter Duo Must Save California From An Evil Villain…

THE FRESH, DYNAMIC, NOT-TO-BE-MISSED MG FANTASY DEBUT

"A fast-paced, action-packed adventure with an interesting premise" ―Booklist on The Monster Catchers

"The monsters are appealing, the parallels between monster and human history are discussable, and the end is wildly unsubtle but still gratifying, allowing Bailey to look forward to a more tolerant and altruistic exploration of the world of monsters." ―The Bulletin on The Monster Catchers

            If there’s something strange in the neighborhood, who you gonna call? Buckleby and Son!

When we think of monster catchers or even ghost busters, we don’t often think of a father-son duo saving California from goblins, seas monsters, fairies and trolls.

Behind a purple curtain in the back of a little store of eccentricities, trinkets and souvenirs lies a series of adventures. In this middle-grade fantasy debut, The Monster Catchers: A Bailey Buckleby Story by George Brewington [MacMillan, 2019], Bailey Buckleby and his dad Dougie can rid your home of whatever monster is troubling you—for the right price. Dougie offers Bailey a unique education in the lessons of monster catching and the importance of these creatures to their history. But when Bailey discovers that his dad has been lying—their pet troll Henry is actually a kidnapped baby sea giant—he begins to question the family business. Then, when a criminal mastermind puts everyone and everything Bailey loves in peril, it’s up to him to save his family and set things right.

            In The Monster Catchers, Brewington weaves in lessons of friendship and morality with fun and quirky storylines to keep readers on their toes with cliffhangers at the end of each fast-paced chapter. Although a story about a boy who fights monsters with a Frisbee, Brewington dives into Bailey’s journey discovering who and what he believes in to ultimately find his true identity.

“I want my readers to love the characters and find them funny, but also discover that every monster and human has their own perspective,” says Brewington. “Monsters - or humans - shouldn’t immediately be assumed to be evil because they are different than us.”

The Monster Catchers is the best kind of middle-grade faery tale — it encourages readers to enjoy the story, and yet think beyond its pages. Fans of Dianna Wynne Jones, Douglas Adams and Lemony Snicket will gravitate toward this series, and will be so glad that they discovered George Brewington, a debut author we’ll certainly be hearing more from. 

 

About the author

George Brewington writes fantasy stories for both children and adults four days a week. The other three days a week he is a respiratory therapist at a hospital in Charleston, South Carolina. His short stories have been included in anthologies like Dark Magic: Witches, Hackers & Robots and Pick Your Poison. His first novel for young readers – The Monster Catchers - debuted on March 9th, 2019. The sequel – The Revenge of the Whiffles - arrives on July 14th, 2020. He is also working on a mysterious third novel, which is so secret and so strange and so scary, details cannot be revealed at this time. He lives in the marshes of Folly Beach, South Carolina with his family, surrounded on all sides by egrets, owls, alligators, and boo hags.

 

Giveaway:

I have one eCopy of The Monster Catchers to giveaway courtesy of Smith Publicity (open internationally)

This giveaway is now closed and the winner was - Renee

Mailbox Monday - June 17th

Mailbox Monday is a meme started by Marcia of To Be Continued. Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog. Head over and check out other books received during the last week.


Happy Monday!

It's been a few weeks since I've had time to post a mailbox update and it's also been a busy time personally.
We celebrated my youngest daughter's 21st birthday with a family celebration and my sister visiting from Queensland. It also happened to be a long weekend in New South Wales and also Sydney's annual vivid light show event. So of course we had to do it all. With the 21st party on Saturday and Sunday we ventured into the city to visit the wonderful Grounds of Alexandria cafe which was decorated as Aladdin theme. Returning to the city again to see the vivid lights on Sunday night.

 

 

Lastly the Aussie Readers Goodreads group had the pleasure of the company of author Jack Heath at their Sydney meet-up. It was wonderful to chat with Jack about the writing of Hangman & Hunter (Just One Bite in the US). Jack has a marvelous sense of humour and was so easy to chat with.

Books  received during the past three weeks:

Click on the book covers to view on Goodreads.

Received from the author for review:


Received from the publisher for review:
 







Received from Beauty & Lace book club:





Received from Aussie Readers book swap:

What Books did your postman deliver, or you downloaded, this week?

Post a link to your Mailbox Monday or simply list your books in the comments below.

Book Review: The Brief (Legal Thriller)

The Brief

by 

Simon Michael

Publisher: Sapere Books
Publication date: 10th June 2019
Series: Charles Holborne #1
Pages: 369
Format Read: Kindle edition
Source: Courtesy of the publisher

London, 1960

Barrister Charles Holborne is not popular. A Jewish East Ender with a rough past, he is ostracised by his anti-Semitic and class-conscious colleagues who don’t want him in their prestigious Establishment profession.

And the bitterness Charles feels at work is spilling over into his personal life, putting his marriage under strain.

When a high-profile murder case lands on his desk, Charles is hopeful his fortunes will turn around.

But after a shocking crime is committed, he finds himself on the other side of law…

Can he outwit those trying to frame him? Will he manage to unmask the real criminal?

Or will he find himself on trial for murder…? 

 

Charles Holborne has done well in life despite his background of being a Jew from the East End. He became a barrister, the only barrister in Chambers to have been state-educated, he got into Cambridge by virtue of a scholarship. Turning his back on his past and his family Charles marries well and tries to hide his Jewish heritage. However he always feels like an outsider with the British elite and feels he will never be one of them.

Charles’ desire to bring in criminal cases to a Chambers that prefers to handle civil cases only causes him to obtain a few enemies in the office.

While he is making a name for himself in the courts Charles’ private life is slowly falling apart, as he works long hours his wife moves her attentions elsewhere.

The Brief is an engrossing legal thriller. The character development was well executed with plenty of back story on Charles so the reader received a good overall feel of how Charles thinks.

The first half of the story focussed on the legal system and a court case Charles was involved in. It wasn’t until the second half that the pace picked up and we follow Charles, whilst on the run from police, as he pieces together his own evidence to prove his innocence when he is framed for a murder.

There was a sexual harassment scene that I thought didn’t really play out well and I couldn’t see why it was included in the story.

The setting of 1960’s London was atmospheric with the dimly lit, deserted streets and the dingy pubs. Set in a time when there were no mobile phones or credit cards it made for some clever plotting when Charles was on the run.

I am eagerly looking forward to seeing what is next for Charles Holborne.

                               🌟🌟🌟🌟 

My rating  4/5

 

Simon Michael is the author of the best-selling London 1960s noir gangster series featuring his antihero barrister, Charles Holborne. Simon writes from personal experience: a barrister for 37 years, he worked in the Old Bailey and other criminal courts defending and prosecuting a wide selection of murderers, armed robbers, con artists and other assorted villainy.

The 1960s was the Wild West of British justice, a time when the Krays, Richardsons and other violent gangs fought for control of London’s organised crime, and the corrupt Metropolitan Police beat up suspects, twisted evidence and took a share of the criminal proceeds. Simon weaves into his thrillers real events of the time and genuine court documents from cases on which he worked.
Simon was published here and in America in the 1980s and returned to writing when he retired from the law in 2016

You can connect with the author at the following sites:
Webbsite  ||  Facebook  ||  Twitter

 

Book Bingo - Round 12 #BookBingo

Book Bingo is a reading challenge hosted by Theresa Smith Writes , Mrs B’s Book Reviews and The Book Muse. Every second Saturday, book bingo participants reveal which bingo category they have read and what book they chose. 

This week I have chosen the category 'Historical'

'Historical Fiction'

Historical Fiction would be one of my favourite genres. I have read a lot of Historical fiction set in Australia and England, particularly London. However I have rarely read any set in America.

I think that is why I found The Glovemaker so refreshing and intriguing. 

Set in a small Mormon community in Junction, Utah. It was a fictional tale about a real breakaway community of  seven Mormon families. Set in the winter of 1888 the land was harsh and rugged.

You can read my full review of The Glovemaker here

#BookBingo2019