This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Clarke Nixon is author duo Shelley Clarke and Terri Nixon.
Shelley Clarke was born into a naval family in Kent in 1958, and consequently moved house a lot as a child. She had ambitions to follow in her father's footsteps and join the Royal Navy, and to become a carpenter, but these were not female occupations at that time. So she learned to type... which has come in jolly handy for putting her stories first onto paper, and now onto screen.
Shelley is a keen painter, poet, and karaoke enthusiast; she loves mad family get-togethers, hates olives, ironing and gardening, and currently lives in Devon with her husband Kev, and their two Tibetan Terriers Nena and Pepi, who make them smile every day.
Shelley often forgets she is a grown-up.
Terri Nixon was born in Devon, but grew up on the edge of Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, where she discovered a love of writing that has stayed with her ever since.
She also discovered apple-scrumping, and how to jump out of a hayloft without breaking any bones, but no-one's ever offered to pay her for doing those.
Terri writes family sagas for Piatkus (Little, Brown,) and crime thrillers for Hobeck Books, as R.D. Nixon. She has also written horror, as T Nixon, and contributed to several multi-author anthologies using a number of variations on her name/s. She might be forgiven for not knowing who she is on any given day.
Reviewed by Lex Allen for Readers' Favorite
Children of Sinai by Shelley Clarke is an exception to the large number of apocalyptic novels in that it can’t be allocated to a specific genre. There are elements of fantasy, science fiction, and conspiracy, but it stands head and shoulders over the majority with doses of ancient history, archeology, religion, and above all the impact of verisimilitude throughout. I’ll not go deeper into a synopsis of the story as to do so would reduce the wonderful sense of discovery that I believe every reader yearns to find in a book. A lengthier synopsis could also act as a “spoiler” that invariably takes away from that sense of discovery.
I will, however, review and praise the talent of first-time author Shelley Clarke. The age-old cliché that authors should write what they know has long been overcome by a handful of authors who write what they discover through exhaustive research and work hard to insert the facts or conspiratorial theories of that research into an exciting piece of fiction. I often quote Stephen King who said, “Fiction is a lie. Good fiction is the truth within the lie.” Children of Sinai is good fiction and Shelley Clarke has done her homework exceptionally well. No facet of fiction writing technique falls short. From true to life characters to a factual background that serves as firmament for the fictional events and scenes, a sense of reality reigns supreme. Shelley Clarke has written a novel that transcends simple genre classification in that the cliche “fans of...” comment holds no sway. Every lover of a wonderful story, well written, will enjoy this book. I’ll close with this parting statement—any book, any story that creates a welling of tears in my eyes is a story far above the norm.
