The following books are available only as e-books as near as I can tell.
The Chronicles of Mark Johnson by Alan Place (2014) – Mark Johnson was a sought after fashion photographer who turned his back on the shallowness of that world. Now with the help of his friends Mark chases ghosts and fights demons (sometimes his own).
The concept here is pretty good and occasionally the writing matches the ideas. Mostly the writing is awkward and clumsy. Just about the time that I would ready to give up Place would turn a nice phrase or carry the story forward adroitly.
In the end if you just need something short to carry you through to the next big book, you could do worse.
Rating – ** Not Impressed
Selected Short Stories Featuring Analog Memory by Nicolas Wilson (2013) – A collection of 15 short stories that are just stacked end to end. A few pieces of nice story telling hiding among a mass of mediocrity. A week after I finished the book I went back and looked at the Table of Contents. Couldn’t call up the story for any of the titles.
The title of the book should be a give away – overly complex and a little cutesy. Really has the look of something that was thrown together just to have something else to sell.
Rating – ** Not Impressed
No Return by George Applegate (2013) – This is actually a short story but it’s far and away the best writing of the bunch. Set at an Earth colony on Mars that has been abandoned to its own devices after a Martian fungus invades Earth and is destroying the ecosystem. Originally founded by a group of Muslim investors the infidel Safety Officer finds himself in a closed environment now under sharia law. He must investigate a strange death that leads to a possible conspiracy that may reach beyond the boundaries of Mars.
Nice combination of detective and science fiction stories. Applegate does a nice job of weaving together some very interesting threads into something that carries you right along.
Rating – *** Worth A Look
Stories Are My Life 
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