Sakuri by Jacob Henzel

Today we are dipping into the sci-fi that I love!  Sakuri by Jacob Henzel is a roller coaster ride!  It is filled with non-stop action and great characters. I love the anime-style art on the cover. 

Twenty-three year old Sakuri is a courier who relies on roller blades to make deliveries. She still lives at home with her mother. The only social life Sakuri has is her very large dog, Oni, and her very strange boss.  Sometimes the courier business involves dealing with some very shady characters, and Sakuri is very wise to the ways of the world.

But Sakuri has a very big secret, one that she shares with no one, not even her dog.

One day she comes to work and is sent out on a job for a reformed mobster named Jacqueline. Of course it goes horribly awry.  This is the beginning of the most amazing, heart-stopping series of incidents that I have read in a long time.

She makes the delivery in a parking garage, and is the witness to a mob-style hit. In the flurry of hiding, Luke, the man she is to deliver brief case to, tells her to take the case and get out of there.  As she is hiding, it opens and a strange metallic glove-like thing falls out.  She puts the strange glove on for safekeeping.


Unfortunately, the assassins see her, and come after her. She narrowly escapes with her life when a sword wielding girl pulls up and dispatches the assassins.  Sakuri can’t remove the strange glove that she put on, and it sort of becomes a part of her.  The unidentified girl gives Sakuri a keycard that allows Sakuri to escape through a private building. She makes it back to work, only to find it closed.

When she arrives home, she finds the strange sword-wielding girl there.  Her name is Shannon, and she is the daughter of the infamous Jacqueline.  No longer a mobster, Jacqueline is now funding scientific research. Who knew that scientific research was so competitive?

Sakuri can’t remove the glove. Shannon tells her to go to work as normal the next day, and that Jacqueline will send someone to pick her up to get it removed.

The next day Sakuri finds her boss murdered.  The assassins are waiting for her, and her glove helps to save her life.

But now the people for whom she was delivering the package take control of her life.  Nothing is what it seems, and enemies become allies as Sakuri is drawn into a secret underworld that exists to save the planet from a terrible threat from beyond.

The story is told from Sakuri's point of view.  There is a deep personal story that unfolds along with the action. The relationship with Shannon begins rather antagonistically but evolves to a deeper friendship. Her relationship with Luke deepens as the story progresses. As it unfolds Sakuri learns to trust enough to have a friend and to possibly love someone, despite the very big secret that Sakuri does not share with anyone.


  This is a top notch first book by an indie author. I definitely recommend Sakuri to the sci-fi lover, and the lover of flat out adventure!

Stephen King, The Dark Tower Series

This week I bring you a guest post by my friend, Jesse Lee Schleich.  I first met Jesse last year during NaNoWriMo.  He was so passionate about the Dark Tower Series, that I invited him to do a guest-post while I am on my November hiatus from blogging.  I hope you enjoy reading his post as much as I have!

The Dark Tower by Stephen King is a book series which I consider truly epic. It spans seven books, and several worlds. We follow Roland Deschain on his quest to reach the Dark Tower. We go through a lot with Roland. At first we know him only as the gunslinger, but then we get to know him a bit more. He slowly opens up to us and the others, much like a rose.

The adventure from start to finish had a bit of everything, and I am pleased to admit I found myself on more than one occasion worrying about what was to come for the characters. Stephen King managed to weave together an easily believable scifi fantasy fiction which included elements from other popular works of fiction such as the Fantastic Four and the Wizard of Oz. Not quite copying them but bringing them into his work as surreal places, and offering moments for the characters to not quite trust their surroundings.

The story manages to have a good variety in the cast of characters while keeping it believable. There was only one time when I didn’t get what was going on, but I digress. The story focuses around Roland, Eddie Dean, Jake Chambers and Susannah.  Also their animal friend Oy, who you will have to learn about for yourself. I’ll have you know the saddest parts of the story revolve around that damn billy bumbler. But again, I digress. They meet pretty interesting people, like the mysterious man in black, as well as Blaine the Mono.

I read the first two books in the series during a pleasant period of unemployment. By the time I got to the third one, I was working at a local golf course, from the early morning, to the early afternoon. A lot of what I did involved riding machinery, so I was able to listen to these books while outside and in the sunshine. After five books these characters were close to me. Their adventures were what I looked forward to all summer. They went through destroyed metropolitan cities and on super-sonic kamikaze train rides. And I believed every minute of it.

By the time the end-game came around, I was as ready as they all were to make it to the Dark Tower. It, from the start, was known to be the end of the line. The final period on the final page. So much tension preceded it. After a last confrontation, Roland makes it to the final door, and calls out the name of all those who helped him along on his quest to the dark tower. Then he enters. I won’t tell you what happens after that.

I will tell you though, that I re-listened to the ending over and over. You’ll have to tell me what you think of it. They’ve recently announced that The Dark Tower is going to be an HBO series. Be sure to read the book before the show comes out. You’ll be able to appreciate it more. If you like a great story, it is right up your alley. You’ll get to know some fascinating things about the King’s world.

Post written by Jesse Lee Schleich.  He can frequently be found blogging on birdwatching at http://gohawkyourself.blogspot.com/?mid=5310209