I enjoyed this suspense romance about two romance writers getting together to write a book together. I received this book for free and I voluntarily chose to review it. I've given it a 4.5* rating. This is not for the under 18 readers. This book had a lot of heart in it, plus a lot of other things going on through it. There were a lot of good and bad guys, both male and female, with a couple in between. And this story made me hungry for Chocolate, chocolate chip waffles.

The first part of a two part book series, The Abyss Above Us represents an effort to bring elements of Lovecraftian horror into the technological age as a computer system expert uncovers something evil manipulating a powerful telescope for unknown purposes.

Ryan Notch certainly seems to have pinned down the tech side of what is presented in this novella. It most definitely read authentically, insofar as his main character seems to know what he is talking about. However, the structure of The Abyss Above Us is all over the place. Most of the horror takes place off page and is only referred to by one character telling another about it; a small group of characters is established in the first half of the book, and then suddenly, a whole new group of characters are introduced half way through, who, at the end point of this book, have only barely begun to circle the major thread peripherally; and, worse, those characters seem to drone on about their love life for a full third of the page count.

Quite simply, if I wanted to read about good looking twenty-somethings gushing over one another and pining about "the one they can't have", I'd tune in to Melrose Place re-runs. I certainly wouldn't be picking up a horror novella that seemed to have a good angle on a classic horror concept.

And the ending was painful. Truly painful. Like end of Season 6 The Walking Dead painful. I enjoy a cliffhanger as much as the next person when it is handled appropriately. But when a book fails to close or satisfy any single narrative arc within its page count - so it seems like an original manuscript was simply ripped approximately in two - that comes across less like a cliffhanger and more like someone wanting to make double the money for the same amount of work.

2 Mysteriously Hidden Offices for The Abyss Above Us.

Our hero Nate travels a tangled path and has to face his complicated past. It ain't pretty! I really love this series and Nate Garrett. I can't wait for the next installment, although I'm willing to wait as long as it takes for Steve McHugh to write it!

Reviewed for Bitten by Books. http://bittenbybooks.com.

I am trying to get through all of the books my now-7th-grader read for school last year. I am hoping to finish before school starts next week! This was his free choice book for the 6th grade biography unit. He really enjoyed it, so he wanted me to read it too.

This biography looks at the life of Markus Persson—the creator of Minecraft, for those who don't have anyone under the age of 25 at home. From his childhood to his hobby of coding, to his first jobs and his struggle to fit into corporate culture.

Though many elementary kids could read this book, I definitely recommend it for middle grade and up. The author discusses Markus' father's and sister's addiction issues; Markus' struggles with fitting in to a corporate environment; and his dreams of making his own games. Markus successfully walked a fine line of successfully supporting himself while making his dream happen--not an easy thing to do, but this book also somewhat glosses over how difficult it must have been. And how tempting to just quit and go his own way. I feel that many younger kids would simply not understand these parts (and might find them boring)--or they would misinterpret how much of his success is due to a combination of talent and luck. Prudence and care are just as important in Persson's case.