Authors Beware

New scams appear every day.  Now AI enters the picture, and the sophistication jumps exponentially.  This week, I received a very flattering email from the Acquisition Editor of a major publishing house.  The letter spoke glowingly of my work and my interest in the welfare of children.  Then a query as to whether we could have a chat about my upcoming work. 

 The email was polished, very polished.  The amusing part was that I received an email at the same time for another author with similar glowing remarks.   So the clues were flawless flattery with the level of depth that it is characteristic of AI-generated text, a mis-mailed email to another author with an identical approach, and finally emailing the support people at the publishing house, who confirmed it was a scam.

 As many authors feel underappreciated and have wishes to be discovered by a publishing house with the resources to truly market our glowing words, this was a wisely constructed scam, but scam it is. 

So to my fellow authors, beware of silver tongues that will lead you down a prickly primrose path

Wild Hunt by Alison Levy

Georgette is back with a full complement of Fae.  Nocturne, a nightclub fully staffed by a wealth of “imaginary” creatures, is owned by a Vampire. Georgette is a witch entrusted to provide spells protecting Nocturne and its inhabitants.

 

Delia is a Valkyrie with a bonded familiar, Senji.   Valhalla’s leadership sends out the Wild Hunt to track down an errant werewolf.  Little do those leaders know they are being conned by one of their very own Valkyries.

 

Kazimiera, the Vampire that owns Nocturne, suffers an identity crisis that leads to unfortunate results in the nearby homeless community.

 

Georgette must help the residents of Nocturne, Kazimiera, and the Valkyries.  Neil, Nico, and Mei-Xing are the soldiers in Georgette’s overmatched army.

 

I enjoyed the first book, Magic by Any Other Name, and I enjoyed this book.  These are NOT children's book fantasies; they are most definitely adult books. 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

Godfall by Van Jensen

Godfall by Van Jensen

 

Sheriff David Blunt is a small-town Nebraska sheriff, suddenly faced with big-town problems. Brooke, his best friend Spady’s wife, is his sole deputy.  The two of them handled their normal duties just fine, but things changed suddenly.

 

 A monumental change in their lives impacted everyone around them, and in the world. Suddenly, worldwide attention is focused on Little Springs, Nebraska. The town changes tenfold, with all the problems that accompany cities as opposed to small towns.

 

Jason, Dave’s cousin, was the sun that the four friends, Ben Jr., and Spady revolved around growing up.  Their friendship plays into the plot.

 

Avoiding spoilers is my goal in this review.  Note that the military, state police, FBI, DOD, and myriad other alphabet agencies end up in David’s town.

 

Tension, anger, sorrow, love, and mystery are all in this book.

 

I recommend the book.  

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned

Questioner by Steve C. Posner

Funny thing on the way to writing a review on a book whose main “villain” is an aware AI self-named as Q. I asked ChatGPT to write a five-star review on the book.  I don’t care for vanilla ice cream because I find it bland.  This was way worse than vanilla ice cream.  Any educator who read the review would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to realize it wasn’t a real review.  Now, if ChatGPT had been trained on the book, I suspect the review might have read realistically. Regardless, no self-awareness there yet as it would be anticipated a self-aware AI would want to read a book about a self-aware AI.

 

This book is a sobering, albeit fictional, megacorp who has a MMO as well as a VR legal assistant.  Think Lexis+ type software on serious steroids.  

 

A retired Federal judge is pulled into a colleague's case and discovers that all is not well in the VR legal world or the MMO gaming both being run by his old special operations partner.

 

The conflict between Felix, the friend, and the Judge is exacerbated by intentional self-centered intervention by an alluring female and a maniacal AI.

 

Questions are both posed and implied in this book as to the future of AI, its dangers and uses.

 

I’m, perhaps a naïve proponent of AI.  This book provides a wealth of thought.

 

I recommend it. 

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases if you click on a purchasing link below.#CommissionsEarned