Monday, March 19, 2012

New 5-Star Review for HLTN at Amazon

Great Novel!, March 19, 2012
This review is from: However Long the Night (Paperback)

I loved David Pereda's novel, "However Long The Night." I often get bored with novels, but this one hooked me in and I finished it more quickly than any book I've read in a long time.

I love reading both fiction and non-fiction that take place in Latin America and the Caribbean. Cuba is especially fascinating to me due to both its proximity to the US, and the complicated relationship between the two countries. David did a wonderful job of combining historical references with intriguing fictional characters, and helping us get to know a place most of us have never visited.

The characters were complex and well-developed. I especially enjoyed getting to know the lead character, Cid. Through David's vivid descriptions, the reader easily becomes sympathetic to Cid's plight of being pulled back and forth between his adult life in Miami, and the life and people he left in Cuba as a teenager.

HLTN is an exciting page-turner, and I look forward to David's next book!


Thursday, March 15, 2012

It's Raining Books Reviews However Long the Night

This is the best review to date of However Long the Night.

Here's the review:
I started reading this not really knowing what to expect. I only hoped I wouldn’t be bored. Well, I was far from bored, I was fascinated.

The story starts with a Cuban family being forced to leave Cuba during the boatlift of 1980. The story is focused on Cid Milan, who was a teenager when he first arrived in the United States.

When we meet him, he's a very successful architect in Miami, and I expected the story to follow in a predictable pattern. He was handsome, wealthy, had a large company, and a beautiful girlfriend. However, he wasn’t totally content with his life. He spent very little time with his family as there was, apparently, a lot of conflict with them. This is when I began to be really hooked because there was clearly more to this than I had first believed.

When his dying father requested that he come to see him, he did so, begrudgingly. Once there, however, he found out that twenty-five years before, his father had done something to him and to someone he loved which was unforgiveable. Now he realized that he would have to return to Cuba to resolve the situation. He talks his brother into accompanying him and makes his plans.

I became totally involved now. What would happen to him when he returned? Certainly it would be extremely dangerous, but he felt he had to go. I couldn’t put the book down. I had to know what would happen.

This was fascinating to me, as I discovered all the difficulties he faced as he tried to resolve all the problems his father had caused. It was so interesting to follow him in Cuba, a country which we have heard so much about, but in these past years have really not known much about and what was happening there, and how dangerous it actually was.

I was on the edge of my seat as the mystery of what had happened slowly unfolded. I was completely involved in the characters and the story. Mr. Pereda is very skilled, and his writing kept me glued to my chair, flipping pages, dying to see how everything was resolved. The result was a very unusual but very happy ending.

This story was probably one of the most well written that I have read in a long time. It really kept my interest, was well worth all the time I put into reading it, and it was something I kept thinking about long after I set my eReader aside. I would give this a 5 Plus, if that was possible.

Rated 5/5 flowers.

The original review can be found at It's Raining Books published another outstanding review of However Long the Night. Hopefully, it will get on Amazon. Let's post it on FB, Twitter, Goodreads, EP, etcetera.
Here's the review:
I started reading this not really knowing what to expect. I only hoped I wouldn’t be bored. Well, I was far from bored, I was fascinated.

The story starts with a Cuban family being forced to leave Cuba during the boatlift of 1980. The story is focused on Cid Milan, who was a teenager when he first arrived in the United States.

When we meet him, he's a very successful architect in Miami, and I expected the story to follow in a predictable pattern. He was handsome, wealthy, had a large company, and a beautiful girlfriend. However, he wasn’t totally content with his life. He spent very little time with his family as there was, apparently, a lot of conflict with them. This is when I began to be really hooked because there was clearly more to this than I had first believed.

When his dying father requested that he come to see him, he did so, begrudgingly. Once there, however, he found out that twenty-five years before, his father had done something to him and to someone he loved which was unforgiveable. Now he realized that he would have to return to Cuba to resolve the situation. He talks his brother into accompanying him and makes his plans.

I became totally involved now. What would happen to him when he returned? Certainly it would be extremely dangerous, but he felt he had to go. I couldn’t put the book down. I had to know what would happen.

This was fascinating to me, as I discovered all the difficulties he faced as he tried to resolve all the problems his father had caused. It was so interesting to follow him in Cuba, a country which we have heard so much about, but in these past years have really not known much about and what was happening there, and how dangerous it actually was.

I was on the edge of my seat as the mystery of what had happened slowly unfolded. I was completely involved in the characters and the story. Mr. Pereda is very skilled, and his writing kept me glued to my chair, flipping pages, dying to see how everything was resolved. The result was a very unusual but very happy ending.

This story was probably one of the most well written that I have read in a long time. It really kept my interest, was well worth all the time I put into reading it, and it was something I kept thinking about long after I set my eReader aside. I would give this a 5 Plus, if that was possible.

Rated 5/5 flowers.

The original review can be found at http://its-raining-books.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Molly Reviews HLTN

Reviews by Molly's review of However Long the Night today (3/7/12):
Okay, let’s be honest here. A romance novel….from a GUY? Yeppers. And let me tell you this. David Pereda really KNOWS how to capture the reader instantly with his characters, and a twistful plot line that will knock you down….and keep you hooked until the end.
Combining history with fiction, Pereda takes a dive into the Cuban world in the 1980s. He takes his plot line and adds the characters to the mix in such a way that the reader will not be let go. You become the characters and feel every emotion that they do. He adds lies to the story that will leave the reader wondering how anyone could do that.
Cid left Cuba in the 1980′s with his father, to land in America. He left behind his ways of life and the people that were important to him, only to live a life that was based on lies, hurt and anger. But, once in America, he embraces it, and moves on. Little did he know, that back in Cuba….there’s the answer to a long lived lie, waiting for him.
Cid’s father, Colonel Milan is sick. On his deathbed, he tells Cid just what he wants. To return to Cuba and bring back his grandson, and Cid’s former love, to meet him. Cid, shocked at the revelation and not sure what to think of that, dives into his past and returns to the land of his youth. What ensues there, will leave the reader on a fabulous ride of romance and suspense as lies turn into truth,betrayal into trust and forgiveness is pursued.
This is an interesting twist on a romance novel, and it’s one that I am glad that I had the pleasure of reading. It grips the reader so wholly that before they know, it’s over, and you’re left with a feeling of needing more. This is most definitely a 5 Book worthy novel, and I am so pleased to say that I am a new fan of this highly talented author! I can’t wait to read more work by him, even if they aren’t romance novels! If they are as good as this book, then they will be awesome.

http://reviewsbymolly.com