{"id":467,"date":"2011-09-10T13:28:03","date_gmt":"2011-09-10T13:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/index.php\/2011\/09\/10\/supost01\/"},"modified":"2011-09-10T13:28:03","modified_gmt":"2011-09-10T13:28:03","slug":"supost01","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rbwood.com\/dir\/supost01\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to STEVE UMSTEAD Week!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"UMSTEAD\"Welcome to STEVE UMSTEAD Week! I\u2019m your host, R. B. Wood\u2014let\u2019s play our game!<\/span><\/p>\n

We are going to be celebrating the release of Gabriel\u2019s Return<\/i> \u2013 Book Two of the Evan Gabriel Trilogy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Schedule for the week:<\/span><\/p>\n

12 September \u2013 My Review of Book Two goes live (see below)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

14 September \u2013 \u201cTen Questions with Steve Umstead\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

16 September \u2013 Episode 18 of The Word Count Podcast \u2013 A Chat with Steve Umstead and a Reading from Gabriel\u2019s Return<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

All this being said, who IS<\/i> <\/b>Steve Umstead? I\u2019m glad you asked. From his bio page:<\/span><\/p>\n

Steve Umstead has been the owner of a Caribbean & Mexico travel company for the past ten years, but never forgot his lifelong dream of becoming an author. After a successful stab at National Novel Writing Month, he decided to pursue his dream more vigorously\u2026but hasn\u2019t given up the traveling.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Steve lives in scenic (tongue-in-cheek) New Jersey with his wife, two kids, and several bookshelves full of other authors\u2019 science fiction novels. Gabriel\u2019s Redemption was his debut novel, published in February of 2011, and Gabriel\u2019s Return, the second in the trilogy, launched in August. If his life allows it, Gabriel\u2019s Revenge, book 3, will arrive before the holiday season.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been interacting with Steve on line for a while now. We met for the first time at ReaderCON this past July. Not only is Steve a talented writer, but he is genuinely a good guy.<\/span><\/p>\n

Follow Steve on twitter: @SteveUmstead<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Steve\u2019s Website: http:\/\/steveumstead.com\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, onto the review: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"gabrielsreturncover\"GABRIEL\u2019S RETURN<\/b> (Book 2 of the Evan Gabriel Trilogy) by Steve Umstead  FOUR out of FIVE STARS<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Read my review of book one (GABRIEL\u2019S REDEMPTION<\/a><\/b>)<\/span><\/p>\n

Six months after the events in book one, Commander Evan Gabriel of the North American Federation and the remainder of his team are on Mars when the son of a high-ranking politician is kidnapped on the distant world of Eden.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gabriel and his team are asked mount a rescue, but bitter politics and memories of a failed mission 5 years previously complicate the mission.<\/span><\/p>\n

Umstead continues his world-building and futuristic vision in GABRIEL\u2019S RETURN, intertwining stories and sub-plots in the masterful thriller.<\/span><\/p>\n

Where as Book One was a non-stop adventure story, Book Two is a complex thriller with deeper character development, fantastic settings and non-stop action. The writing is tight and fluid and the story is fully immersive.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is Umstead\u2019s \u201cThe Empire Strikes Back, \u201d cliffhanger included. As long as he doesn\u2019t introduce Ewoks in the final book, all should be well.<\/span><\/p>\n

I highly recommend both GABRIEL\u2019S REDEMPTION and GABRIEL\u2019S RETURN and I look forward to GABRIEL\u2019S REVENGE due out this winter.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pick up Gabriel’s Return<\/em> at:<\/span><\/p>\n