Book picks similar to
In the Shadow of Ruin by Tony Debajo


contemporary
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Mystical Trash


Mary Ramsey - 2019
    Her eighteen years had been nothing but pain and heartache, from the mysterious disappearance of her father to the fact that her first boyfriend left her for a world of drugs and addiction. And her mother, a high-school teacher, was in legal trouble for dating a nineteen-year old student. Out of the wreckage of Sunny's life comes a way of hope in the form of Jahil, a Mexican immigrant, with a tragic past. Jahil has seen more of the world then Sunny could ever dream of, but there's a reason for that. When Sunny's mother goes missing the week of Christmas, the sheltered Midwestern girl must team with a modern-day rogue's gallery of punks, freaks, angels, demons and one Aztec demi-god, in a sexy, erotic, adventure down the rabbit hole of the Midwest.

The Place That Gave


Emem Uko - 2020
    She thought her ‘rags to riches’ story would stay on “riches” for a long time. But the discovery of illegal additives in the snacks she promoted kicked her back to the bottom of the pit. The once-beloved doll was now a disliked troll. Even an escape to a distant village in Nigeria couldn’t hide her from mistrust and scheming of the villagers. Her plan to reinvent herself wasn’t working…and a sexy crooner with a face that could melt even the strongest of icebergs refuses to leave her alone!Heartthrob and talented musician, Ramsey Edet makes women lose their cool. Despite his success and fame, his bad reputation kept catching up with him. One sight of Theana looking like a chocolate beauty that walked out of an Afremov painting was all it took to get him interested in what life had to offer after all.

Confucius and Opium: China Book Reviews


Isham Cook - 2020
    Have foreigners shaped China’s history to a greater extent than has previously been acknowledged, reaching back possibly millennia? Was Confucius’ most famous book, the Analects, inspired by entheogenic medicines imported from abroad, possession of which in the 1930s brought one before the firing squad in the name of Confucius? In these book review essays by Isham Cook, foreign devils, old China Hands, eccentric expatriates, and a few Chinese tell an offbeat history of China’s last two centuries, with a backward glance at ancient China as told by Western mummies.

Full Moon Saturday Night


Mark Barkawitz - 2019
    millennial post-grad, who dreams of making it big in the TV & film industry. He auditions by day and tends bar at night to satiate his massive student debt, credit card payments, and rent. Until one knuckle-busting, full moon Saturday night launches his life into complete upheaval, suddenly placing him in the middle of an international drug smuggling operation and an undercover police sting, consequently ruining his reputation in Hollywood. Can Mike survive his unsolicited undercover work and cleanse his sullied reputation? Or will he end up as shark bait for double-crossing the wrong people?

The Key to Skandos: A tale of adventure, love and magic


William A. Prater - 2014
    A mysterious wall appears where none previously existed and something other than mere curiosity prompts a close-up examination, accidentally setting off a violent explosion which ruptures the barrier and sends all three hurtling into an alien, highly-dangerous world where skies are purple and vermilion forests endemic; home to a dreadful flying predator - not unlike the dragon of mythology - besides other, equally fearsome carnivores.Two of their number return leaving one behind, prisoner of an enormously strong but beautiful woman possessed of extraordinary powers. The escapees vow to re-enter, sworn to rescue their companion regardless of danger, but are eventually to discover another, preordained and vitally important reason for their presence. How will they survive and will they somehow manage to fulfil their destiny and ultimately return home...?

The Arbitrator


Max Nowaz - 2019
    Max Nowaz’s science fiction novel, The Arbitrator, follows the story of 153 year-old Jim Brown, a former highly successful administrator who is now rotting in jail, for tax fraud. However, in reality, he is there for taking revenge and killing several people on the planet Levita, after meeting the beautiful Narissa... In prison, he has acquired a drug habit, which is killing him slowly and his only chance of survival is a very expensive renewal process, which will make him young again and cure his drug habit. After ten years in jail, he is suddenly given a reprieve and offered a chance to redeem himself. He is sent as the ‘Arbitrator’ to ‘Pirrus’ in another solar system, to try and stop a rebellion and bring matters under control. Will he complete the mission successfully to earn enough funds for his regeneration? Only time will tell. Just when he thinks he has accomplished his task, he meets Gina, the daughter of a rebel, and finds out that there is a plot by foreign powers to invade the planet... The plot thickens when Brown also discovers that there is a mole in his organisation who is undermining his efforts to succeed. How will Brown react to the devastating news? This book will appeal to fans of innovative science fiction and people who enjoyed the stories in The Avatar and The Blade Runner.

Falsely Accused of the Unthinkable


Glenis Kellet - 2019
    An escaped prisoner encounters horrendous struggles - a traumatised woman over turns his life completely - will he ever prove his innocence or is he in fact guilty? Astonishing revelations are unveiled about who he is! Ironically, the injustices the pair suffer conclude in the same dramatic final twist!

The Shadow Girl


Misty Mount - 2017
    Most teenagers feel unnoticed and unseen, but for Zylia, it's something much worse. She's disappearing from this world and doesn't know how to stop it. At times, she's not sure she wants to. Until she stumbles across a family mystery surrounding the disappearance of her great-aunt Angelica years earlier. During her quest to unravel the mystery, Zylia discovers she's able to cross the boundary and enter the "in between" world. Now, it's up to Zylia to save herself before she's trapped "in between" forever.

Of the Flame, Poems - Volume 15


Wendy E. Slater - 2016
    Slater is the second in the series of her spiritual poetry or “vision quest poetry” to be published. The poetry continues to chronicle the inner journey of self-discovery and the Divine, awakening us to our own Truth as we travel the path, the personal journey, and awaken from the illusory separation of self and Divinity. Subsequently, self-forgiveness allows us to surrender to our wholeness without false perfection. When we cast blame and self-judgment aside, we transform, heal, and reawaken from “the mythos” of separation and become One.

It's a Storm Without God... It's the Perfect Journey When You Know the Name of Jesus Is Guaranteed!!!: My Life Testimony: There's No Excuse to Not Be Who You Want to Be... God's So Great!!!


Larry Taylor - 2018
    i just asked the lord to help me... GODS' SO GREAT!!! I just said in the name of JESUS... GODS' SO GREAT!!! GOD used my health problems to pull me out of the real storm, the storm/battle against myself; I was fighting and drowning myself... BUT GOD!!! THANK YOU JESUS!!! my health problems was nothing compared to what i was doing to myself. God allowed me to see why i went through everything i did as a kid, teen, and a younger adult! Just know NO matter what you go through, GOD IS GUARANTEED!!!

Pleasant Day


Vera Jane Cook - 2015
    As Pleasant struggles with her mother's distance, her father's infidelity and the death of her best friend, she draws closer to Clarissa, an older woman with an uncanny, almost psychic, ability to 'read people.'As Clarissa uncovers the stories behind the murders, both Pleasant and Clarissa's worlds are transformed by the truths they’re forced to accept, and both find solace and strength in the shared histories that have shaped them.

Crossroads and the Himalayan Crystals


C. Toni Graham - 2012
    A modern-day saga of four young teens who find themselves trapped in another realm-"The Otherworld"-where they must abide by an evil druid's bidding or risk endangering the lives of their loved ones and the magical beings they have befriended.

The Ways of Autumn


William Graney - 2017
    Her ten-year journey will include a new relationship, a trek to the highest summit in the contiguous United States, and a poignant hospice experience that will challenge her to rise from the ashes of despair. Catherine decides to leave Boston when a company from the Silicon Valley presents an offer for her very successful website design company. After accepting the buyout, she signs a contract with a Los Angeles based health care corporation to work as a consultant and thus begins her decade-long stay on the west coast. As time passes in her sunny new environment, Catherine grows increasingly homesick despite the thrill of falling in love and her passion for hiking the Southern California trails. Conflicts arise when the desire to return to her native New England dominates her thoughts and she meets Kenny, a young man who is facing his final days. As Catherine sits at Kenny's bedside, she helps him work through his struggles to understand love and devotion while facing the fear of a completed life's journey. Their conversations inspire her to reflect deeply upon her own life, the decisions she has made, and the path she must follow.

The Fall of the Phoenix


Daniel Kelly - 2018
    Seldom, however, will they have been narrated with such close attention to the minute particulars of battle, to its reek and terror and pain, as in this startling account by Daniel Kelly. Kelly looks minutely at every detail of archaic combat, as well as at the lives and feelings shaped by it. His Troy is not only a scene of shining glory, but also a grimy struggle for survival and mastery. And he introduces surprising questions: what if not everything in the Trojan war came to pass just as Homer tells us? What if the future of the Roman empire were hidden in the burning ashes of Troy's - and not in the way we might expect?

Annabel Horton, Lost Witch of Salem


Olivia Hardy Ray
    She must take the bodies of those that the devil favors to protect her family. She must uncover the motive behind the illusive Ursula/Louis Bossidan, the scandalous cross-dresser who is pursuing her beautiful granddaughter, and she must learn, being one of God’s most powerful witches, how to use her power. But will it be enough to save her husband from Urbain’s fiery inferno? Will it be enough to save her children from demons greater than themselves? Read on, you will learn more…