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Best February Reviews from Readers!

What Do Readers Think

Best February Reviews from Readers! What’s going on in the book world this February? Who has reviewed what? Which books stand out from the rest? Let me share with you the best reviews of some great books.

Best February Reviews: Here is Your First Review

A Pub In the Underworld cover
Best February Reviews

Andy Zach

Author 10 books, 94 followers

February 17, 2024

I’ve read a lot of Harmon Cooper and this is the coziest book he’s ever written. Here we have a hardened soldier, Sylus Runewolf, dying as he fought his country’s enemies in a battle. After his death he wakes up in the underworld. What’s more, he has a deed to a pub.

Some of Sylus’ favorite memories are from his boyhood where he helped in his father’s pub, so he’s eager to get the pub up and going. It’s quite the fixer-upper. But he gets a pub cat, Patches, who’s magical and helps him protect the pub from rats–and demons.

The pub is in Ember Hollow which is hard by the Chasm, the hell that is below the underworld. Sometimes demons slip in. Overhead are are Celestial Plains, or heaven, glowing in the sky.

This book is a delight for brewers, fantasy lovers, and RPG lit readers!

Best February Reviews: Your Second Review

Secret Supers audiobook cover
Best February Reviews
Secret Supers audiobook

Kat M

3,211 reviews

19 followers

February 25, 2024

This was a fun concept in the super-hero genre, it had everything that I was looking for in this type of book. The characters were interesting and had a great overall feel to this world. I enjoyed what I read and can’t wait for the sequel. Andy Zach has a great writing style and I’m glad I got to read this.

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Best February Reviews: Your Third Review

Best February Reviews

Andy Zach

Author 10 books, 94 followers

February 27, 2024

I just re-read this novel after 20 years from my first read. I loved my initial read and I kept remembering inspirational sections of the book, so I had to re-read it.

Ben Fielding, a successful VP with a keen interest in China, leads his company investments there in the 1990s. To promote their Chinese division, Ben decides to spend a couple weeks living with a Chinese family. He decides to contact his old Harvard roommate, Li Quan, who went back to China after graduating with honors.

Ben has mixed emotions about his old friend. They were very close at Harvard, but fell out of touch while Ben got married, had kids, and got divorced. There’s also the awkward fact Ben introduced Quan to Christianity, which Ben no longer practices.

So with mixed emotions Ben drives to meet his old friend, three hours away from Shanghai.

That’s when the novel really begins. Li Quan is the backup pastor for an illegal Chinese house church and is under suspicion by the government. Ben is clueless about Christianity in China. It’s a major threat to the Communist government which persecutes it severely. Ben is forceed to decide between his old friend and his company, which needs the favor of the Chinese government.

The novel holds up well 20 years later. China has become more repressive toward Christianity and Christianity has grown beyond a hundred million people.

Best February Reviews: Your Last Review

What is Villain’s Vacation All About?

Four disabled seventh-graders with superpowers take a vacation at Coaster World. They need a break from fighting criminals. Ever since the beginning of the school year when they acquired their unusual abilities, they’ve been training and using those powers to fight crime in their town.

Little do they know the arch-villain they recently defeated also loves coasters and is vacationing at Coaster World. Worse, the villain wants revenge. Nothing less than turning these teens to a life of crime will satisfy.

Can Jeremy, Dan, Kayla, and Aubrey withstand the villain’s attacks? Or will they become Super Villains?

Click for your Villain’s Vacation autographed copy

Get your free audiobook here!

What Do YOU Think? But First, Your Free Book

I wasn’t kidding. You can really get this book for free. I give it to all my newsletter subscribers right here: click to get your audiobook.

What’s the catch? I only have limited supplies of free codes. When they’re gone, they’re gone.

So, tell me what you think! Leave a review of my books and I’ll publish it on my blog. On Amazon, post them starting here.

On Goodreads, post your review starting here.

Pop hit from American Idol by Maddie Poppe: Going, Going, Gone.

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You’ll Love These Superheroes from my second series

Jeremy Gentle

You’ll Love These Superheroes – who are they? In order of their appearance:

Jeremy Gentle

Jeremy Gentle
Jeremy, seventh grade superhero

Jeremy’s a 12-year-old genius in 7th grade. Too bad he’s stuck in a disabled class with cerebral palsy and no girl would ever look at his skinny, twisted body. But he has a cool lab in his basement where he experiments with 25,000 volt surge of electricity–leading to his superpower.

His shares his story with his best friend, Dan Elanga.

Love These Superheroes – Dan Elanga

Love These Superheroes
Dan Elanga, the second Secret Super

Dan’s parents sold their business in Cameroon to come to America to give their blind son a better chance. Dan pestered Jeremy until he told him about his experiment–and Dan tried it. And got a different superpower.

Of course, the boys tried to hide their superpowers. But they failed to consider their fellow student–

Kayla Verdera – the smallest superhero

Kayla Verdera - Love These Superheroes
Kayla Verdera

Kayla’s a genius like Jeremy, but she’s not even five feet tall. She used to be on the cheerleading squad as the topmost girl–until she got spinal meningitis. Now she has to use a walker, and a voice app to talk. Plus she drools. In one swoop she fell from one of the in crowd to the out crowd, the disabled kids.

But she notices Jeremy and Dan hiding something and talking together, so she gets her friend Aubrey to ask them. They invite her over to Jeremy’s house. And she gets a completely different superpower.

Now her best friend has to go to Jeremy’s next. she’s–

Aubrey Wilcosky – The Talkingest Superhero

Love These Superheroes - Aubrey Wilcosky
Aubrey, super powered heroine.

With Aubrey, she talks first and thinks later. She’s as big as Dan and was a star on the softball team–until she lost her legs in a car accident. Undaunted, she plowed on in borrowed prosthetics, while struggling in school. Kayla helped her study and they became best friends. Now she gets Jeremy’s experimental ‘treatment’ and receives a unique superpowered gift.

So the four friends become superheroes. What next? Find out in:

Also available in print, and ebook. But wait to buy the ebook–it goes on sale for .99 on May 10th!

Love These Superheroes – in Their Next Book

I said this was a series. I also said Secret Supers goes on sale on Monday May 10th. So does the Villain’s Vacation ebook. Get it here, on May 10th, for .99.

What happens in Villain’s Vacation? The Secret Supers go to a coaster park for summer vacation. Too bad their worst enemy is also there–and out for revenge.

Got questions? Ask me, Andy Zach by clicking here.

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Zombie Apocalypse Recommendations v. Zombie Turkeys

Zombie Apocalypse Recommendations

The CDC has issued Zombie Apocalypse Recommendations. Zombie apocalypse is a common fictional and video game trope. Read their recommendations right here:

Andy Zach told me he'll evaulate this guide against the zombie turkey apocalypse.

Posted by Zombie Turkeys on Friday, March 12, 2021

Naturally, as the author of Zombie Turkeys, I wondered how well their recommendations would with my zombie turkey apocalypse. Let’s take a look.

Zombie Turkeys versus the CDC Zombie Apocalypse Recommendations

For those who aren’t familiar with Zombie Turkeys, here’s the blurb:

Sam Melvin, an underachieving e-reporter from a small town, changes forever when he meets turkeys that won’t stay dead. You can shoot ’em, chop ’em, burn ’em—they come back stronger. The undead plague of poultry spreads uncontrollably, rocking the whole country.

Zombie Turkeys Blurb

So these zombies are a lot worse than regular zombies. They regenerate, they don’t decay. Good luck trying to kill them. Let’s see what the CDC says.

Here is the CDC's Zombie Apocalypse guide. I'll be publishing a commentary on it soon.

Posted by Zombie Turkeys on Sunday, March 14, 2021

Their first recommendation? Be prepared. Have these supplies:

CDC Emergency page.

Water (1 gallon per person per day)

Food (stock up on non-perishable items that you eat regularly)

Medications (this includes prescription and non-prescription meds)

Tools and Supplies (utility knife, duct tape, battery powered radio, etc.)

Sanitation and Hygiene (household bleach, soap, towels, etc.)

Clothing and Bedding (a change of clothes for each family member and blankets)

Important documents (copies of your driver’s license, passport, and birth certificate to name a few)

First Aid supplies (although you’re a goner if a zombie bites you, you can use these supplies to treat basic cuts and lacerations that you might get during a tornado or hurricane)

CDC’s Recommendations

So, how does this stack up to zombie turkeys? Pretty well. One of the recommendations is to stay inside your house or bomb shelter until they go away. All these supplies will help as you hunker down.

Let me know if you have any further ideas. I’ll give you a free Zombie Turkeys book!

Your Next Zombie Apocalypse Recommendation

After your emergency kit you need to have an evacuation plan.

Picture of Family by mailbox
Family members meeting by their mailbox. You should pick two meeting places, one close to your home and farther away
  1. Identify the types of emergencies that are possible in your area. Besides a zombie apocalypse, this may include floods, tornadoes, or earthquakes. If you are unsure contact your local Red Cross chapter for more information.
  2. Pick a meeting place for your family to regroup in case zombies invade your home…or your town evacuates because of a hurricane. Pick one place right outside your home for sudden emergencies and one place outside of your neighborhood in case you are unable to return home right away.
  3. Identify your emergency contacts. Make a list of local contacts like the police, fire department, and your local zombie response team. Also identify an out-of-state contact that you can call during an emergency to let the rest of your family know you are ok.
  4. Plan your evacuation route. When zombies are hungry they won’t stop until they get food (i.e., brains), which means you need to get out of town fast! Plan where you would go and multiple routes you would take ahead of time so that the flesh eaters don’t have a chance! This is also helpful when natural disasters strike and you have to take shelter fast.

How well does this plan handle zombie turkeys? Pretty well, but you need a secure building or location where zombie turkeys can’t reach you. Remember, they can fly and peck through glass. Cinder blocks and bunkers are your friends!

Plan evacuation by car, since they only fly about twenty miles per hour. Try to avoid driving into large flocks, since they can stall your car. That would be very bad.

Your Third Step to Surviving Zombie Turkeys

The CDC’s final recommendation?

If zombies did start roaming the streets, CDC would conduct an investigation much like any other disease outbreak. CDC would provide technical assistance to cities, states, or international partners dealing with a zombie infestation. This assistance might include consultation, lab testing and analysis, patient management and care, tracking of contacts, and infection control (including isolation and quarantine).

It’s likely that an investigation of this scenario would seek to accomplish several goals: determine the cause of the illness, the source of the infection/virus/toxin, learn how it is transmitted and how readily it is spread, how to break the cycle of transmission and thus prevent further cases, and how patients can best be treated. Not only would scientists be working to identify the cause and cure of the zombie outbreak, but CDC and other federal agencies would send medical teams and first responders to help those in affected areas (I will be volunteering the young nameless disease detectives for the field work).

Zombie Apocalypse Recommendations

Get The Final Authority On Zombie Turkeys Here

Getting more information is always good. Read all about it in my book Zombie Turkeys, now on sale for .99.

Finally, don’t miss further zombie apocalypse advice. Subscribe now to my newsletter and get five free audiobooks!