Fabulous and Brunette: BULB by Bradley Wind - Book Tour - Book Review - Giveaway

Hello, lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Bradley Wind and his new book, “BULB”! For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.

Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $15 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!! Also, come back daily to interact with Bradley and to increase your chances of winning!

Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!

BULB

by Bradley Wind

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GENRE: Sci-Fi/Speculative Fiction

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BLURB:

If light records everything we do, can even shadows hide our secrets?

Imagine your entire life is available for review.

Imagine each day any event can be watched over and over again - your birth, your first kiss, your recent shower, that private itch - all replayable from any angle. Now imagine these can be viewed by anyone at any time.

Is a world where there is far less ego, little crime, and even the smallest moments are recorded and available publicly through the ‘Grand Archive’ a Utopia or a Dystopia? Traumatized by memories he does not want to recall, artist Ben Tinthawin is recruited by the enigmatic, Grand Archive creator Dr. Mamon, who seeks help for his nextgen designs to enhance the world. Ben stumbles across a secret revealing the doctor’s true scheme in all its surreal splendor and questions whether the doctor really is the benevolent soul he claims to be.As the paths of a broken man and a brilliant revolutionary cross, the world shifts and cracks start to appear. Even our most fundamental codes can be encrypted – or corrupted. If the wrong information is discovered, more than Ben’s life will be in danger of total shut down.

Prepare yourself for full exposure.

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EXCERPT ONE:

Someone put the wrong teeth in my mouth last night. The canines poked at the back of my lips as if they didn’t fit. I wanted them either buried deep in the gums or all removed. I hate teeth.

Trash trucks moan like suburban whales while they back down my cul-de-sac. The truck eeping irritated me more than the sharp light. Wallpaper images of two windows beamed sunlight onto my head. BUD programmed the walls and sounds from archives of the room I had growing up for today’s alarm. I needed extra help waking most mornings but especially ones like this.

“Shall I turn the alarm off?”

“Yes. Thanks, BUD.”

My prominent sense of teeth in my mouth dragged me back to the memory of my disturbing dream—another in the monster series.

“Would you care to dictate your dream, or will you be typing today?”

“In a minute.”

Lying among the pillows for the rest of the afternoon would’ve been nice, but morning bladder ousted me. A glass-horn urinal emerged from the wall when the bathroom slid to a greater diameter. A glimpse of myself as the mirror flipped revealed the monster – although I guess there’s nothing new about my dark circles and bedhead hair. The sight prompted me to dictate last night’s werewolf dream while the concern for my mental well-being drained away with yesterday’s juice.

Damn teeth! I could use a drink. The canines still felt glued to the inside of my mouth. In the mirror inspection, my little porcelain cleavers appeared normal. Gross, but normal. Most of the time, it only took the image of lips separating a fraction to think of an opened wound. Beyond the teeth, disgust stemmed from dripping saliva, hordes of bacteria, and raw flesh waves of the palate. It all made me question the stability of dentists.

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MY BOOK REVIEW:

This book was intriguing, captivating, compelling, and thought-provoking!

I really enjoyed the complex and creative story line filled with lucrative and well-developed plot points!

I liked the main characters, Ben, Susan, Laurel, Lenny, and Ben’s twin brother’s Ed and Francis. Ben is 29 years-old and is raising his 7-year-old twin conjoined brothers on his own. Ben is clearly still damaged and distraught over the car accident and rape that severely injured him emotionally, physically, and mentally and took the life of his father. He continues to struggle to get his life back on track and move forward. He begins a volunteer position at the Saint Center by painting images from the Saint’s journals to help make their coma sleep happier, comfortable, and peaceful. Ben is tormented, guarded, insecure, brave, curious, stubborn, and determined. I really liked how down to earth Laurel was and how much she wanted to help Ben overcome his troubles. Laurel even had Ben stay with her on the farm after the accident when she saw he had become significantly depressed. She wants Ben to watch the Archive video of the accident as she believes this will help him work through the tragedy, but Ben is resistant. She is also very good with the twins! I enjoyed Lenny as he was very silly and entertaining! He provided some quick laughs through a more dark and serious reading. And of course, the twins! They sure were an interesting pair! It’s hard not to feel for them and their situation, but they were extremely needy, and it was understandable why Ben occasionally tended to resent them. I feel like all the characters were important, but I wasn’t able to connect with any of them or find them relatable or engaging. Perhaps that’s because of the genre and theme of this book? Or because their character arcs didn’t really seem to develop as far as I’d hope these characters would have gone?

I really liked the original story line and the stimulating scenarios.

Being able to go back and watch past memories sounds very intriguing. Although, I’m not sure how often I would actually watch as I would have lived those moments already, I wouldn’t need to watch them. I guess I’d go back and watch old memories with my great-grandparents that have since passed on as I miss them dearly. But the premise that ANYONE can pull these files ANYTIME is eerie and disturbing. Private moments should be private. If I want someone to know about a certain memory, I'd tell them. However, after the Archive is implemented there is very little crime. That right there is HUGE!!! I guess I might be willing to give up complete privacy if the crime rates were extremely, extremely low. Knowing that giving up my privacy could save lives would be worth it. Is there anything you wouldn't give up if it meant no murder, no gangs, no war?

As a millennial having privacy isn’t something I really grew up with or have ever been concerned with. There are cameras in the mall and stores to prevent shoplifting. Sometimes those cameras even help find a lost child or provide valuable clues to a child abduction. Cameras on the streets help deter theft, burglary, vandal, drug sales, etc. Those cameras can provide useful information in the event a crime is committed. Cameras are there for people’s protection and the people who are usually afraid of them are the criminals that don’t want their crimes to be recorded. I know to expect that when I leave the house and I go to 7-Eleven or the bank or Safeway or Macy’s, I will be on camera, it will be recorded, and most likely a security guard is watching me. Those are just the realities of today’s world. Does it bother me? Not really, it’s what I grew up with. But I honestly feel like those cameras are there for my safety. Those same cameras can catch the bad guy, prove I didn’t steal anything, and provide evidence if someone was hurt in the store. How can that be bad?

Then there’s all the cameras that people willingly brought into their homes. These days your TV, smart phone, laptop, tablet, personal home assistant, home security system, etc. all have cameras and/or listening devices. In today’s world we are obsessed with making our homes Smart – or at least I am lol. I stopped counting after I got to over 20 devices in my home that are all Smart products!!! Between the multiple cat security camera’s, smart phones, laptop, tablets, smart plugs, smart bulbs, multiple echos, multiple fires with voice, multiple roku’s with voice, smart pods, nest, smart TV, smart blu-ray, etc. – my home is always watching and listening!!! But I don’t do anything wrong or illegal, so it doesn’t worry me. However, yes, I’m not going to lie if someone I didn’t know was secretly watching those videos I would be creeped out and it would concern me. But I also think if anything where to happen to me like if I was murdered it would be captured and the police would have a better chance of catching the killer because there would most likely be significant digital evidence.

This story line is something everyone will be able to connect to and is at the forefront in today’s society – the fight for privacy.

This story had incredible world-building which is very important in science fiction books. I was very pleased with the significant detail that Mr. Wind provided. It was very easy to picture.

Furthermore, I’d also like to point out that I think the author did an impressive job defining his structure specifics as it all sounded credible and cohesive. Technology is constantly on the rise and fancy new gadgets are being released on the daily. It’s only a matter of time until perhaps these creations are developed. So, at no point did I feel like what I was reading was questionable regardless that this book genre is sci-fi.

Although the story line worked and there were definitely quite a few plot points to keep the story going – this book seemed on the longer end even though it was technically only 160 eBook pages. This book felt a bit complicated and confusing at times as there was so much going on in the story. There were several passages I had to re-read to figure out what was happening and get back into the story. This is not a book that you can read lightly while doing other things. This book needs your full attention to comprehend the full picture otherwise you get lost in the words and it’s just a jumble of letters.

There are some predictable scenes. However, there are still a few very unexpected twists and turns that you won’t see coming!

This book is not part of a book series at this time and therefore, can be read as a standalone.

All in all, I enjoyed reading this book and would absolutely recommend it! I think all science fiction and speculative fiction readers will like this book too! So, add it to your TBR List and get to reading - you won't be disappointed!

**Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book and have voluntarily provided an honest, and unbiased review in accordance with FTC regulations.**

Did you find this review helpful?

If so, please, please, please mark it as helpful on Amazon here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/review/R1K0NL08AHGREN

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AUTHOR BIO:

Bradley Wind was born and raised in Pennsylvania. He is a prolific visual artist whose work has exhibited in the 20th-century wing of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

He worked as a toy designer for K'nex Industries, a manager of IT for Pearl S. Buck International and is currently a director of IT for a child-focused non-profit. He raises chickens and two lovely girls with his wife in Chester County, Pennsylvania.

BULB is his latest novel.

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CONNECT WITH BRADLEY:

Website:

http://www.bradleywind.com

Email:

bwind3@gmail.com

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/authorbradleywind

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/BradleyWind

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/bwind3

BookBub Author Page:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/bradley-wind

BookBub Book Page:

https://www.bookbub.com/books/bulb-by-bradley-wind

Goodreads Author Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4115723.Bradley_Wind

Goodreads Book Page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/48394221-bulb

Amazon Author Page:

https://amzn.to/2R7E47Y

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BOOK BUY LINKS:

Amazon Kindle eBook:

https://amzn.to/2G3COMM

Amazon Paperback:

https://amzn.to/3651MG8

Barnes and Noble Paperback:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bulb-bradley-wind/1134896212

The Book Depository Paperback:

https://www.bookdepository.com/Bulb-Bradley-Wind/9780997280579

BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:

https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Bulb/Bradley-Wind/9780997280579

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GIVEAWAY INFO:

Bradley will be awarding a $15 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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This contest is sponsored by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish Promotions. Prizes are given away by the sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.