Wednesday, April 28, 2021

OPERATION: JADE HELMET by Ashley Fontainne

 


When the game begins, everything changes…


By Ashley Fontainne

Title: OPERATION: JADE HELMET
Author: Ashley Fontainne
Publisher: RMSW PRESS
Pages: #314
Genre: Christian Fiction/Suspense/Futuristic

BOOK BLURB:

Eager fans around the world played Operation Red Helmet for years, making it the highest-grossing virtual reality game ever sold, and the designers, The Talladav Group, are the richest company on earth.

After an oppressive, unrelenting worldwide heatwave hits, daily life grinds to a halt around the globe. People retreat to their homes, afraid to go out as violence and chaos erupt in the streets. The game temporarily shuts down as the world grapples with the fallout of civil unrest and critical infrastructure breakdowns, forever altering society.

When governments take over control and infrastructures are replaced and back online, the top players of the previous version receive a mysterious box marked, Operation Jade Helmet. The new version is the first-ever total immersion VR experience and inside each box is a free headset and personal code to play a week before release to the general public. The lucky winners don their newest obsession and impatiently wait for the game to begin. Unfortunately, they are about to discover Operation Jade Helmet is unlike any other game, and when the game begins, everything changes.


“Ashley Fontainne takes the genre of Christian Paranormal Thriller to the next level in Operation Jade Helmet. Signs of the end-times are upon us in a not-so-distant future as the world is experiencing a cataclysmic heatwave and society as a whole is addicted to social media and gaming like never before. Bringing in some of her well-known characters from her Legion Novella Series,  Fontainne weaves together multiple and terrifying plot-lines as this story comes to a nail-biting head in a vivid spiritual and physical battle that will hit close to home for many readers.

Fans of Fontainne’s Legion Novella Series will recall the boy, Tyler Tidwell, and his battle demons. Well, those demons are at it again, and Tidwell, while he doesn’t take center stage in this story, does play a crucial role as a retired and faithful pastor who stands against the darkness that even resides in his church, while threatening his family. Less I give the impression that’s all there is, there are many other memorable characters whose storylines weave and arc together in this complex and intricate story.

From page one, Fontainne immediately thrusts the reader into the action of this story, adding dark intrigue with a mysterious figure that even the supposed “bad guys” seem to fear. Truly, I remained on the edge of my seat to the very end of this story, even enjoying the didactic aspects of this story. Much like Frank Perretti’s This Present Darkness, Piercing the Darkness and Prophet, Fontainne’s Operation Jade Helmet is a cautionary tale that feels far too real to be read as mere allegory. Indeed, it is written as a prophetic glimpse of a future five years hence – one that is far too vividly captured to be passed up as mere speculation. “

– Readers’ Favorite, 5 stars

 







Check out my book at Goodreads!








Award-winning and International bestselling author, Ashley Fontainne, is an avid reader, becoming a fan of the written word in her youth, starting with the Nancy Drew mystery series. Stories that immerse the reader deep into the human psyche and the monsters lurking within us are her favorite reads.

Her muse for penning the Eviscerating the Snake series was The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Ashley’s love for this book is what sparked her desire to write her debut novel, Accountable to None, the first book in the trilogy. With a modern setting to the tale, Ashley delves into just what lengths a person is willing to go to when seeking personal justice for heinous acts perpetrated against them. The second novel in the series, Zero Balance, focuses on the cost and reciprocal cycle that obtaining revenge has on the seeker. Once the cycle starts, where does it end? How far will the tendrils of revenge expand? Adjusting Journal Entries answers that question—far and wide.

The short thriller entitled Number Seventy-Five touches upon the dangerous world of online dating. Number Seventy-Five took home the BRONZE medal in fiction/suspense at the 2013 Readers’ Favorite International Book Awards.

The paranormal thriller entitled The Lie won the GOLD medal in the 2013 Illumination Book Awards for fiction/suspense. A movie based on this book, entitled Foreseen, is currently a feature film available on video-on-demand from Amazon.

Ashley delved into the paranormal with a Southern Gothic horror/suspense novel, Growl, which released in January of 2015. The suspenseful mystery Empty Shell released in September of 2014. Ashley teamed up with Lillian Hansen (Ashley calls her Mom!) and penned a three-part murder mystery/suspense series entitled The Magnolia Series. The first book, Blood Ties, released in 2015 and was voted one of the Top 50 Self-Published Books You Should Be Reading in 2015 at www.readfree.ly.

Whispered Pain released in October of 2015, and Night Court released December 13, 2015.

Tainted Cure, Tainted Reality, Tainted Future, and Tainted World are the four books in the post-apocalyptic/zombie genre, The Rememdium Series, all released to rave reviews for a fresh take on the zombie genre.

Ruined Wings is about a young woman’s descent into drug addiction and is currently a short film. The movie is free to watch and share with others in hopes of starting a positive dialogue regarding addiction. https://ruinedwings.com/

Fatal Agreements won the 2019 Independent Audio Awards for best female narrator, Andrea Emmes.

The Legion Series ~ Many ~ Madness ~ Mayhem released in 2019-2020 and delves with the struggles people face with demonic entities.

Sign up below for Ashley’s newsletter and receive a free ebook!

https://ashleyfontainne.net

Website: http://www.ashleyfontainne.net

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ashley.fontainne

Movie site: http://www.foreseenmovie.com

 








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Monday, April 19, 2021

FLYNN AND MIRANDA: YOUR RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT by Joseph B. Wallenstein

 


Two men from opposite ends of the human social spectrum who came together in one blazing moment of legal history and how that moment changed their lives and the lives of all Americans… 




By Joseph B. Wallenstein

Title: FLYNN AND MIRANDA: YOUR RIGHT TO REMAIN SILENT
Author: Joseph B. Wallenstein
Publisher: Trine Day Publishing
Pages: 180
Genre: Historical Fiction

BOOK BLURB:

“Mirandize” is now a common verb, it will soon be an uncommon book.  “Flynn and Miranda: Your Right to Remain Silent,” an historical novel written by Joseph B. Wallenstein debuts on Amazon and other outlets on March 13. Published by TrineDay Publishing, the book is a fictional account of a true story. The release date coincides with the 58th anniversary of Ernesto Miranda’s arrest in 1963 for kidnapping and rape. The criminal case, Miranda v. Arizona (1966), would make his name a household word.

This case arose following the arrest of Ernest Miranda, who was accused of kidnapping and raping a young woman near Phoenix.  The victim identified Miranda in a lineup, and law enforcement questioned him. No one told him he could refuse to answer questions or seek assistance from a lawyer. Under police questioning, Miranda confessed to the crime of which he had been accused.

In his instruction to the jury at trial, the judge said he had allowed Miranda’s confession as evidence despite the objections of the defendant’s court-appointed attorney, who claimed that his client had been forced to admit guilt. The judge emphasized that the jury was free to decide whether Miranda’s confession had been voluntary or coerced. Significantly, the judge ‘s final words of instruction raised the constitutional issue that eventually brought Miranda’s case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Constitutional issues inevitably arise when government efforts to prevent crime clash with the need to protect those accused of the crime. Convicted of kidnapping and rape and sentenced to twenty to thirty years, Miranda petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court from his prison cell. Although an earlier court had upheld the conviction, the U.S. Supreme Court accepted his case in 1966 because it realized unresolved issues existed about the constitutional rights of an accused person that the Court wanted to clarify and settle. Resulting from the legal community’s confusion over a previous decision, there was disagreement among law enforcement officers and trial judges across the country on how to apply the decision.

In this historical saga, “Flynn” is John Flynn, the constitutional attorney who was enlisted to take up Ernesto Miranda’s conviction for kidnapping and rape in Phoenix. A highly regarded defense lawyer, who was recruited for his case by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Flynn argued that the Arizona police had behaved unconstitutionally because they did not inform the suspect, Miranda, of his right to remain silent – rather than assume the risk of providing incriminating evidence to his police questioners.

The Supreme Court agreed with John Flynn’s arguments for Miranda and struck down the lower court’s decision. Writing of the Court’s decision, Chief Justice Earl Warren said that the Miranda case raised issues that “go to the roots of our concepts of American criminal jurisprudence,” and the restraint society must observe to be consistent with the true U.S. Constitution in criminal prosecution. The Warren Court’s ruling was a reaffirmation of the Fifth and Sixth Amendments.

In his novel, writer Joseph B. Wallenstein invigorates and amplifies the legal interpretation of Miranda; he puts it in the context of a human story. Thus, with his insightful human dimension, Wallenstein’s book makes it accessible to intelligent mainstream readers. In that fuller dimension, “Flynn and Miranda” illuminates the decision beyond the legal-ese explanation. “It is the telling of the last, great, true story of the 20th century,” Wallenstein says.  When I interviewed Mr. Flynn, he said to me, ‘I have been asked about the cause a thousand times. You are the only one who ever asked me about the price I paid for my involvement.’”

Wallenstein crystallizes the magnitude and breath of the decision: “Everyone has heard of the right but not one in a thousand, even lawyers, knows how those rights came to be or who paid the price to achieve them. Two men from opposite ends of the human social spectrum who came together in one blazing moment of legal history and how that moment changed their lives and the lives of all Americans. At its core, Flynn and Miranda is about fairness and how much that matters in America.”

Author Wallenstein was interested from the beginning — the night Miranda was killed. The author has a track record in storytelling, having produced two highly-successful TV series, Knots Landing and 7th Heaven. He has also written two previous books about film production and safety in professional filming:  Practical Filmmaking: A Handbook few the Real World and Nothing Dies for Film and currently serves as Director of Physical Production in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California.

“Research only made me more determined to tell the story. To be frank, in the wake of Miranda, some patently guilty individuals did go free. The great effects of the decision forced police work into the scientific era and resulted in the creation of the Criminal Code, now in place in all fifty states,” Wallenstein says.

The Supreme Court’s ruling has been controversial and criticized in law-enforcement quarters and has inevitably entered the mainstream: “You have the right to remain silent” has become embedded in the English language because it has been stated in all 456 episodes of ‘Law and Order’ and every other show or movie involving police action,” Wallenstein notes.

In “Flynn and Miranda,” author Wallenstein unveils the persona side of the momentous precedent, strips away the legal jargon and fleshes out the decision in understandable human terms.  John Flynn and Ernesto Miranda, we find, possess commonalities: Flynn had been married five times, Miranda was a convicted sexual predator.  Wallenstein’s book presents the profound personal tolls it took on Flynn, delving deeper into the fiber of what went into the ultimate ruling and the legal precedent it set. Accordingly, “Flynn and Miranda” is approachable for mainstream readers; it can reach and enrich the layman’s view.

“’Flynn and Miranda’ was born to be a movie. All my books are designed to translate to either a film or TV series,” Wallenstein says, acknowledging his NYU background where he earned a Bachelor of Business Science degree in Motion Pictures, Television and Radio Production and Direction. “With so much political turmoil currently in our country and the notion of the 5th Amendment tossed around so casually, I felt this might be the time to tell the story…at no time is your liberty more precious than when it is unpopular,” Wallenstein quotes from a page in his book, his personal favorite: “It cries out to the public to take their liberty seriously, embrace it, and protect it.”

Wallenstein envisions a readership that goes beyond lawyers, or constitutional scholars. “I believe my readers will be aspiring law students, people generally curious about the origin of the phrase they have heard their whole lives, police officers and women who can rise above their distaste for Miranda and appreciate the magnitude of the Supreme Court decision.”




Check out my book at Goodreads!






Prior to his role as start-up producer of the hit CW series, 7th HeavenJoe Wallenstein was the first producer, as well a writer and director of multiple episodes of the long-running hit series, Knots Landing (1979-1983). He was supervising producer of Jake and the Fat Man, in Hawaii (1987-1988.) In addition, he produced The Clinic, shot in New York City. Wallenstein has produced numerous television movies, pilots, and mini-series. Throughout his more than 40 years in the industry, Wallenstein has been an assistant director, associate producer, and producer. He is a Director member of the Directors Guild of America as well as a member of the Writers Guild of America West. Joe is expert in all aspects of physical production, scheduling, budgeting, location filming, stage work, union, and non-union shows. He has worked in Europe, Mexico, Canada, and most of the major cities of the United States. Joe has worked in production capacities on such feature films as the Godfather, The Paper Chase, A new Leaf, Paper Lion, For Love of Ivy, and American Hot Wax. Currently, Wallenstein oversees and administers all aspects of filming by the more than 700 students making over 1500 films each year at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts. His tri-annual safety seminars are a unique and highly sought after facet of Cinematic Arts education. Joe is known for consulting, lectures, seminars, and personal appearances.

Find out more about Joe at IMDb.






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Sunday, April 18, 2021

BOOK TOUR: HIS KILT DROPPED HERE BY KATHLEEN SHAPUTIS

 

 Rogue Bruce enjoys running a Scottish bed-and-breakfast with her Aunt Baillie from America. They specialize in hosting romantic Elizabethan-themed weddings, complete with resident ghost, Lord Kai. But love is something Rogue is not the least bit interested in…


By Kathleen Shaputis

Title: HIS KILT DROPPED HERE: A MAGICAL REALISM SCOTTISH ROMANCE
Author: Kathleen Shaputis
Publisher: Clutter Fairy Publishing
Pages: 170
Genre: Magic Realism Scottish Romance


Rogue Bruce enjoys running a Scottish castle turned bed-and-breakfast with her Aunt Baillie from America. They specialize in hosting romantic Elizabethan-themed weddings, complete with resident ghost, Lord Kai. But love is something Rogue is not the least bit interested in. Content with her work, she requires no male accompaniment for happiness.

A new delivery service brings Bruce MacKenzie, a Thor look-alike in plaid and denim, fetching more than the usual number of groceries from town, while Jonathan Olson, a snobbish, dark, Rhett Butler type, arrives at the castle to administer a writing seminar for aspiring authors. With two men after the heart she’d thought safely locked away, Rogue is flattered and confused. But when things start to take a sinister turn, danger befalls Rogue and those dear to her. The musical soundtrack of Rogue’s life flares from complacent, to dizzyingly romantic, to heart-thumping scary in this sizzling triangle.



Tucking her feet under her skirts, Rogue noticed a delicious waft of sugar and cinnamon in the air before a stuttered clink of china announced someone bringing a tea tray toward her. Good lord. It was Bruce. She straightened herself suddenly, undecided on where to put her hands. Of all the sneaky tricks Putney could pull, sending the hot delivery guy in with tea was a bit much. Hiding a smile behind her hand, she watched the young man strain to keep everything balanced. A twinge of pain in her side from masking the laughter sobered her. She took a deep breath.

“A wee different from carrying a box of groceries?” Rogue patted the carved wooden table in front of her. “I’m sure a lady would have no trouble handling a tea tray herself now, would she?”

Stray blond strands hung down over his emerald eyes as he focused on getting the tray to the table without spilling, but Rogue noticed a tension in his lips. Served him right, being all chauvinist before.

“I see Putney has been playing matchmaker again.” Her voice clipped sharply on the last word. “Thank you for coddling the old woman’s visions.”

His face flushed; he squinted his eyes and had difficulty swallowing. 
















Kathleen Shaputis, author/ghostwriter, lives in the glorious Pacific Northwest with her husband, Bob, a clowder of cats, two pompously protective Pomeranians with little social aptitude, Brugh and Miss Jazzy, and an overgrown adolescent blue tick coon hound, Juno.

If not writing during her lifestyle in an acre of forest, she keeps busy reading from her never-ending, to-be-read pile and watching romantic comedies. Her hygge in the woods.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA

Website:  http://www.kathleenshaputis.com

Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/NWAuthor

Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/KathleenShaputisAuthor






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