Books with author J. Downing

Winner of the Best Science Fiction Novel for 2014 in the USA Best Book Awards.The wall began to ripple. She felt a jolt, like a low voltage electric current pass through her body then it was over. She shook her head. It was, Shaina decided, time to begin her adventure. She grabbed the handle and pulled hard on the heavy, wooden door. It opened with a groan. Outside, it was overcast. But, it didn't smell all that bad after all.At least not at first.This is how Shaina Brewer arrives at what she thinks is her destination, and is one of the stories in Traveler's HOT L. The remaining seven stories are accounts of time travel by means of one of Earth's two Harmonic Overlapping Time Locations. The stories reveal a unique use of the HOT L by a former mental patient, a pair of counterfeiters, a detective, and four other individuals. As the travelers move through time, they try to repair the damage to the time fabric, attempting to use time as the ultimate hiding place, choosing the "other fork in the road," and righting wrongs.What happens to ex Army sniper, Roselyn Reynolds, while she plays the video game "Battle for a Far Planet" will leave you in doubt about the wisdom of immersing yourself in an electronic fantasy world. She is just one of eight characters who journey across time in adventures that will forever change them.

An entertaining and educational introduction to Jewish Bible stories. In this beautifully illustrated picture book, seven stories from the bible are retold for the very young. Children can follow the stories in pictures while an adult reads aloud, and each page provides opportunities for shared discussion. A First Book of Jewish Bible Stories is an entertaining and delightful introduction to the teachings of the Bible.

Andrew Walker, a 17-year-old serial killer, is haunted by his horrific childhood and controlled by two things: the burning coal of anger inside him, and his psychotic best friend Tyler Richards, who thrives on other people’s screams. When Andrew grows restless with his lifestyle, Tyler sets him a challenge: ‘pick a victim and make them fall in love with you’. Felix Grant is a 19-year-old student with the face of a model and the mind of a writer. He too is haunted, by his homophobic father, and abusive ex-boyfriends who still subject him to violence. He is determined to never let himself be hurt or trapped again - but when he meets Andrew he decides to give this odd, intense boy a chance. The boys date and, as Andrew unravels Felix’s past and personality, he is terrified to find himself falling in love with him. Instead of killing him, he resolves to take him away from this world where people hate him and hurt him, and lock him in his house where he'll be safe.What Andrew didn't count on was Felix not loving him back.

When Mia Bryn escapes her underground compound, she never imagines her world will explode. Separated from her father and attacked by lethal creatures she never knew existed, Mia tries to survive in a dangerous land she's only dreamed about. As she battles for her life, Mia finds an abandoned girl, discovers a link to her mother, and is captured by Archer, a cunning, golden-eyed guard. Together, Mia and Archer unravel an evil plot to overthrow the Provinces and Mia realizes she must find a way to save herself and those she loves...or die trying.2017 National Indie Excellence Award Finalist – Young Adult.

Mia and Archer return to the Academy determined to find Mehgo and seek revenge. But when their lives are torn apart, Mia must rely on the power and strength within herself to move forward. As threats of war reverberate across the Provinces, Mia has to decide who to trust, finding allies in unexpected places. In this thrilling second book of The Air Series, the Provinces must unite as Mehgo prepares for a war that could destroy them all.

Is death the only way off McGraw Island? Bret Carver has been through a lot lately. First, his big sister died. Then his parents began fighting non-stop. His life couldn’t get any worse. At least, that’s what he thought before his mother won a vacation to a private island resort. McGraw Island isn’t Bret’s idea of a dream destination. The hotel owners are freaks. Their niece is a snob. And the island’s rightful heir, a boy who drowned in 1968, haunts the place, searching for the mother who abandoned him. When a hidden portrait reveals that Bret’s mother is a dead ringer for the ghost’s mother, Bret realizes all the “accidents” haven’t been accidental. The ghost has mistaken Bret’s mom for his own—and he’ll kill to be reunited. Reading Level -- Middle Grades: Grade 4+ (Students, parents and siblings)

Over uncounted millennia, telepathic Glieseians have assumed the roles of observers, investigators, and interventionists, helping determine the developmental pathways taken by inhabitants of other planets in the Milky Way. With mollusk-like bodies and frail arms that move on lubricated, muscular feet, their brains account for nearly sixty percent of their body weight, As Observers, Mxpan and Zerpall are expected to perform only that role―contact with natives of planets to which they are assigned is unacceptable. However, since M and Z are the Frick and Frack of the Glieseian Ministry of Observation, Investigation, and Intervention (MOII), they are imprisoned twice, banished from two solar systems, threatened with selective destruction by targeting their DNA, trapped in android bodies after a faulty brain essence transfer, and forced into an ethically convoluted situation after uncovering a secret about their distant predecessors. The Observers is a comic sci-fi trip across the solar system that will keep you thinking and laughing. (Chuck Downing)

Samara's summer is full of things (and animals) she doesn't understand. For starters, why is her older brother Sunny mad at her all the time? Why doesn't she have a family like the other animals in her tree? Perhaps most importantly, why oh why won't Rachel, the world's most rotten robin, stop pecking at her?With help from Ryan, Rachel's very smart (and very nice) brother, who helps explain the ways of the world to Samara, her unusual friendship with Casey the Cat, a relationship that Samara's mom says makes her special, and some very eventful happenings, Samara finds answers.One curious day changes everything. Samara suddenly finds herself questioning what she thought she knew about those in her life, including her own abilities. She gains an unlikely supporter who vows to help get rid of her Rachel problems for good. But first, she must earn it. And only a dangerous game will do...

It is 2014 and Seth Jackson is a British gay teenager who, frustrated by the prejudices he feels are still present around him, creates a queer protest group out of a desire to change the world. However, at the same time, he meets a boy called Patrick, who feels that Seth’s anger is at least in part misplaced and who wants to help him find peace.As he and Patrick get closer and the protesting begins to spiral out of control, Seth feels that there is something Patrick is not telling him. Seth has enough of his own secrets to contend with, but he can’t help wishing he could know more about this boy, who seems to be so worldly but at the same time so innocent.

Art Castillo disappears on his morning run two days after his honeymoon. His wife, Kaz, contacts the police who find nothing out of the ordinary and suspect Art has a case of cold feet. Kaz begins her hunt for Art, visits the Traveler’s HOT L, and ends up trapped with Art and a Time Synchronizer in an antiparallel dimension. Directions are reversed in the antiparallel dimension, and the passing of time is impossible to measure. Even wrong seems right.Find out what happens during almost two months inside the timeless singularity called the rabbit hole! For Middle Grade through adult readers.

From C. R. Downing, Winner of the Best Science Fiction Novel for 2014 in the USA Best Book Awards with Traveler's HOT L.Over uncounted millennia, telepathic Glieseians have assumed the roles of observers, investigators, and interventionists, helping determine the developmental pathways taken by inhabitants of other planets in the Milky Way. With mollusk-like bodies and frail arms that move on lubricated, muscular feet, their brains account for nearly sixty percent of their body weight, As Observers, Mxpan and Zerpall are expected to perform only that role--contact with natives of planets to which they are assigned is unacceptable. However, since M and Z are the Frick and Frack of the Glieseian Ministry of Observation, Investigation, and Intervention (MOII), they are imprisoned twice, banished from two solar systems, threatened with selective destruction by targeting their DNA, trapped in android bodies after a faulty brain essence transfer, and forced into an ethically convoluted situation after uncovering a secret about their distant predecessors. The Observers is a comic sci-fi trip across the solar system that will keep you thinking and laughing.