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Mystery

New Audiobook Alert: The Thermopylae Protocol (Gordian Division #6) is Here! 🎧🚀

May 8, 2025 by hpholo Leave a Comment

Hey, y’all! 😄 H.P. here!

The multiverse just got a little louder, because The Thermopylae Protocol is now available in audiobook form, once again narrated by Gabriel Vaughan and released by Recorded Books!

If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if the cast of The Gordian Protocol got tossed into the same mission as the heroes from The Janus File … well, this is the moment you’ve been waiting for.

It’s got 🚀💥 exploding spaceships, 🕰️🌌 time travel, 🧨🕵️‍♂️ sabotage, 🧨🕰️⛔ sabotage of time travel, 🤖🔮🧠 philosophical debates about AI personalities, and … Flunky Underling. (You’ll know him when you meet him.)

What’s this one about?

Welp, as usual, someone has been very naughty with time.

When an industrial ship explodes en route to Mercury, it’s initially written off as a malfunction. But things don’t quite add up. The black box claims the ship is 40 years older than it should be. Chronometric dissonance suggests it’s been to another universe. And somebody faked the logs so well only a hardware timestamp gave them away.

Which is bad.

Then there’s the part where someone may have used the ship to bootstrap an entire timeline.

Which is worse.

And now Raibert Kaminski and his team are back in action, teaming up with Isaac Cho and Susan Cantrell, trying to find a newly branched universe, stop whatever’s been built there, and (hopefully) not destroy reality in the process.

Again.

🚀 Ready to listen? Grab your copy now!

LISTEN TO THE THERMOPYLAE PROTOCOL HERE

Have you read The Thermopylae Protocol already? Excited to experience it in audio form? Let us know in the comments! 👇

Filed Under: Holo Books Tagged With: David Weber, gordian division, Jacob Holo, Mystery, Sci Fi Mystery, Sci-Fi, The Thermopylae Protocol

New Audiobook Alert: The Dyson File (Gordian Division #5) is Here! 🎧🚀

March 11, 2025 by hpholo Leave a Comment

Hey, y’all! 😄 H.P. here!

It’s a good day to be an audiobook listener, especially if you’re a fan of the Gordian Division!

The audiobook for The Dyson File (Gordian Division #5) has officially landed, and it’s ready to infiltrate your eardrums with high-stakes intrigue, futuristic detective work, and corporate espionage on a MEGA-megastructure scale.

Once again narrated by Gabriel Vaughan and released by Recorded Books, this thing brings The Dyson File to life with gripping tension, sharp dialogue, and an immersive sci-fi atmosphere that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat.

What’s in store?
  • A macabre techno-mystery. It starts with a supposed suicide, but nothing is what it seems. 😮
  • Detectives in space! Themis Division’s Isaac Cho and his Admin partner Susan Cantrell take the case, uncovering a deadly conspiracy that could reshape humanity’s future. 🔍
  • Self-replicating swarms gone rogue. Because what’s a good sci-fi thriller without a few out-of-control AI-driven machines? 🤖
  • A race against the clock. Lies, backstabbing, and political maneuvering are just another day at the office when entire planets are at stake. ⏰

(Also, beware the fuzzle menace. That is all.)

🚀 Ready to listen? Grab your copy now!

LISTEN TO THE DYSON FILE HERE

Have you read The Dyson File already? Excited to experience it in audio form? Let us know in the comments! 👇

Filed Under: Holo Books Tagged With: David Weber, gordian division, Jacob Holo, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Sci-Fi Mystery, The Dyson File

Jacob & H.P. Just Talk About … Xenoblade, Xenosaga, and Xenogears!

August 24, 2024 by hpholo Leave a Comment

Jacob & H.P. Just Talk About … Xenoblade, Xenosaga, and Xenogears!

Sunday, August 25th @ 8pm EST

Hey, y’all! Welcome to our monthly(ish) series, wherein we just talk about stuff – the topic of the day, but also whatever we’re up to in writing and life.

This Sunday, we’ll be talking about some of our favorite JRPG video games: Xenoblade Chronicles, Xenogears, and Xenosaga!

(Also there will probably be Dazzle.)

WATCH ON YOUTUBE
WATCH ON FACEBOOK
WATCH ON TWITTER/X

***

Support the podcast (and/or buy Dazzle treats) at …

Buy Me A Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/holowriting
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/holowriting

Filed Under: Interviews and Podcasts, Q&A Tagged With: Author Q&A, Mystery, Q&A, Shami Stovall, Time-Marked Warlock, Urban Fantasy

Q and A (and PRIZES!) with SHAMI STOVALL, author of TIME-MARKED WARLOCK

August 19, 2024 by hpholo Leave a Comment

Q and A (and PRIZES!) with SHAMI STOVALL, author of TIME-MARKED WARLOCK

Saturday, August 24th @ 8pm EST

H.P. Holo/Edie Skye chats with author Shami Stovall about the urban fantasy murder mystery TIME-MARKED WARLOCK … and gives away a signed copy and metal bookmark!

Read TIME-MARKED WARLOCK Here: https://amzn.to/4duYPSW

Visit Shami’s Website Here: https://sastovallauthor.com/

***

READ TIME-MARKED WARLOCK HERE

***

“What spirit do I have to make a pact with to become Finch’s murder mystery assistant? ‘CAUSE I WILL DO IT.” – H.P. Holo (Author of Monster Punk Horizon and podcaster at Author Q&A)

***

Adair Finch is the most powerful warlock in the world, and one of the best private investigators for hire.

He has dealt with corporate vampires, murderous werewolves, and even fae royalty. Everything was perfect until he lost one case—the case where he also lost his brother.

So Finch retired. From magic. From PI work. From everything.

Bree Blackstone, a twelve-year-old witch, doesn’t know or care about any of that except Finch’s reputation. In the middle of the night, she bangs on Finch’s door. Her mother has been murdered, and now the assassin is after Bree as well.

Reluctantly, Finch agrees to help, only to discover something sinister has been brewing in town while he ignored the world… He’ll need to dust off all his old skills and magic before it’s too late.

“Fans of the Dresden Files and the Iron Druid Chronicles will definitely enjoy Stovall’s creation.” – Jason Cordova, national bestselling author

***

Support the podcast (and/or buy Dazzle treats) at …

Buy Me A Coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/holowriting
Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/holowriting

WATCH ON YOUTUBE
WATCH ON FACEBOOK
WATCH ON TWITTER/X

Filed Under: Interviews and Podcasts, Q&A Tagged With: Author Q&A, Mystery, Q&A, Shami Stovall, Time-Marked Warlock, Urban Fantasy

Book Blast: Time-Marked Warlock (The Chronos Chronicles #1) by Shami Stovall

August 17, 2024 by hpholo Leave a Comment

Hey, y’all! 😄 I have lots of cool author friends who write lots of cool books, and occasionally they ask me to blurb those books. That said, it’s blurbin’ time! 🎉

“What spirit do I have to make a pact with to become Finch’s murder mystery assistant? ‘CAUSE I WILL DO IT.”

– H.P. Holo (Author of Monster Punk Horizon and podcaster at Author Q&A)

Seriously, y’all, Shami Stovall‘s Time-Marked Warlock cured my OCD for the duration of its reading, and y’all know how bad my OCD-related focus issues are.

If you’re into urban fantasy murder mysteries with grumpy time-looping PIs and lil’ sunshine almost-witches who just want to help everybody, ya better pre-order the heck out of this thing.

(Also, the audiobook version has JEFF FRICKIN’ HAYS voicing Finch, so get on that, too.)

Time-Marked Warlock

The Chronos Chronicles #1

by Shami Stovall

***

Adair Finch is the most powerful warlock in the world, and one of the best private investigators for hire.

He has dealt with corporate vampires, murderous werewolves, and even fae royalty. Everything was perfect until he lost one case—the case where he also lost his brother.

So Finch retired. From magic. From PI work. From everything.

Bree Blackstone, a twelve-year-old witch, doesn’t know or care about any of that except Finch’s reputation. In the middle of the night, she bangs on Finch’s door. Her mother has been murdered, and now the assassin is after Bree as well.

Reluctantly, Finch agrees to help, only to discover something sinister has been brewing in town while he ignored the world… He’ll need to dust off all his old skills and magic before it’s too late.

“Fans of the Dresden Files and the Iron Druid Chronicles will definitely enjoy Stovall’s creation.” – Jason Cordova, national bestselling author

pre-order Time-marked warlock here!

Filed Under: Book Blasts Tagged With: Magic, Mystery, Shami Stovall, Time-Marked Warlock, Urban Fantasy, Warlock, Witch

The Janus File is out today! (Also, join us for a Virtual Launch Party!)

October 4, 2022 by holojacob

Hello, everyone! It’s been two years since my last Gordian Division book with David Weber released, so I’m very excited to say that the Book 3, The Janus File, is here – and shows an entirely different part of the Gordian multiverse.

BUY NOW

THE JANUS FILE

(Gordian Division #3)

by David Weber and Jacob Holo

• • •

NOTHING IS SIMPLE—NOT EVEN TIME ITSELF

The fates of universes aren’t the only things time travel can impact. Sometimes the effect is a lot more mundane and closer to home. And when that happens, it’s up to the cops of Themis Division to make time turn out right.

It was supposed to be a routine trip for the members of the Gordian Division, both human and AI: fly out to Saturn, inspect the construction of their latest time machines, then fly back.

But when the division’s top scientist and chief engineer are killed in the same freak accident, suspicions of foul play run deep. Detective Isaac Cho is sent in to investigate, but he has more on his mind than just a new case. His superiors have saddled him with an exchange officer from the neighboring Admin—Special Agent Susan Cantrell—whose notion of proper “law enforcement” involves blowing up criminals first and skipping questions entirely.

Despite his objections, Cho is stuck with an untested partner on a case that increasingly reeks of murder and conspiracy. The unlikely pair must work together to unravel this mystery, and soon they discover their unique combination of skills might just provide the edge they need.

But nothing is ever simple where the Gordian Division is involved.

Not even time itself.

BUY NOW

Why the jump from time travel alternate history to sci-fi police procedural?

Well, that’s something David and I will be covering in more depth at The Janus File‘s Virtual Launch Party this Saturday @ 8pm EST! Join us on YouTube and Facebook to hear about what went into the writing of our newest book … and maybe win some signed copies of The Janus File along the way! 😄

The Janus File Virtual Launch Party
Join us on YouTube!
Join us on Facebook!

Filed Under: Holo Books Tagged With: David Weber, gordian division, Jacob Holo, multiverse, Mystery, Police Procedural, Sci Fi, Sci Fi Mystery, Science Fiction, The Janus File

Adventures in Mystery Pikachus

November 9, 2020 by hpholo Leave a Comment

Y’ALL. There’s been a mystery brewing in our yard today. 😳

When I went to see Jacob off to work at The Real World Job, we spotted a weird item in our neighbor’s yard. We thought it was just a leaf bag, but checked it out anyway to find that it was a random Pikachu beanbag. Because of its placement, we figured it wasn’t intended as a decoration, but left it and didn’t think any more of it.

Anyway, Jacob goes to work. I go to the porch to write. When I get up for my break walk, THE PIKACHU HAS MOVED. 😳 And it’s right next to my water hose, right around the corner of my house, perfectly positioned where I can see it. 😳😳 Which is SUPER CREEPY. 😳😳😳

(But, like, still a Pikachu, so I’m not as creeped out as I should be. 🤣)

So I go to investigate this thing. Turns out that it’s not a beanbag, but a giant costume mask…that is light enough to be blown about by the wind. Which proceeds to blow it across my driveway. And is a lot less creepy than anything I was imagining. Thus, by the Rules of Yard Wind, I now have a new writing buddy! #mysterysolved ❤️

Actually I’m going to walk the neighborhood later to see if it blew out of anyone’s yard, ‘cause it’s a really well-crafted mask, and I’d hate for someone to put all that work into it only to lose it. If it doesn’t get claimed, though, IT MINE. 😁

UPDATE: Mystery solved again! It belonged to our neighbors across the street! 😃 Turns out they’d bought it for their son’s birthday party and had been looking for it all day.

Also, it’s not handmade, but rather purchased online for what they claimed was an embarrassing amount of money – which is a super cool thing to learn about my neighbors. As I return their Pikachu mask in my favorite Pikachu shirt. 😄

***

Originally posted on H.P.’s Instagram.

Filed Under: Adventures Tagged With: Cosplay, costume, Halloween, halloween costume, mask, Mystery, Pikachu, pikachu costume, pikachu mask, pocket monsters, Pokemon

Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Beginnings – Book Review

October 11, 2020 by hpholo Leave a Comment

Um, bookish library wizards, snarky witch dudes, and talking cats? Sign me up!

Actually, the talking cat doesn’t show up until Book 2, but that’s all the more reason to read Book 1 – to get to Book 2 faster. Of course, there are plenty of other reasons, too. 😉

In Lydia Sherrer’s Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Beginnings (The Lily Singer Adventures #1), Lily Singer is a no-nonsense wizard—yes, wizard—who would rather spend time in the secret magical library archives under Agnes Scott College than getting up to any actual adventures. Unfortunately for her, her friend Sebastian Blackwell is a witch—yes, witch—who is, if not all nonsense, at least nonsense enough to elicit frequent eye-rolls from Lily while still roping her into his latest magical misadventure.

Beginnings chronicles three such adventures which, though written like a collection of novellas more so than a singular novel, thread together to provide fun, fascinating looks at these two characters and their world. The plots are eclectic and often unpredictable—one an emotionally complicated ghost story, another a dangerous gang-related conflict (but still mostly clean enough to stay within the realm of a cozy read), and the last a heart-wrenching tale of mysterious time loops and dangerous family heirlooms.

Lily and Sebastian’s interactions, however, are the essential glue that holds the plots together. The two are polar opposite character types—Lily serious and pedantic to a fault, Sebastian the carefree, infuriating charmer—but their strengths and flaws balance each other out in such a way that they read like an inseparable pair that will probably end up married through the paradoxical unifying power of amused exasperation. Each character hides their own secrets and struggles, too, though. Lily is perpetually bothered by how much of her family’s wizard history was—and still is—hidden from her, and despite his relaxed, appealing demeanor, Sebastian is estranged from his magical family for reasons that aren’t immediately clear to Lily. The mysteries surrounding these characters alone are enough to make me curious to read more of the series.

The magic systems involved are equally intriguing, as Lily and Sebastian use two distinct forms of magic, and they complement each other in unexpected ways.

The magic that defines Lily’s wizardry is derived from a source known, pragmatically, as the Source, and isn’t cast so much as carefully wrangled through clever combinations of runes, artifacts, the user’s will, and a magical ancient language known as Enkinem. Wizard magic itself is likely one of the reasons why Lily is so strict and scholarly; it’s not magic that can be flung about carelessly. It’s magic that has to be studied and meticulously implemented, lest its effects go horribly wrong.

Sebastian’s witchery, meanwhile, derives from the fact that he can see and interact with fey and, more specifically, knows how to trade with them to earn their magical favor. It’s magic that requires charisma, which in turn is one of the reasons why he’s such a mischievous, charismatic character himself. His magical survival requires it. Additionally, when he comes to Lily for help, it’s not only to pester her (though that’s one reason); it’s because her particular type of magic is better suited to certain challenges than his, simply because of the structural differences between the two.

(The magic systems aren’t gendered, by the way, as the book emphasizes early on. Wizards study; witches make deals with the fey; and those are the only relevant separations.)

In short, the complexities of these magic systems are one of the coolest parts of the book, but ultimately it’s a book that hinges on the amusing interplay between its two leads and the surprising complexities of even its minor characters. If you’re looking for a for a cozy, sassy fantasy that puts the smart in smart aleck, Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus: Beginnings is a good place to start. 😄

***

Note: Holo Writing is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and, as such, may earn a small commission from any product purchased through an affiliate link on this blog.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: cozy fantasy, Fantasy, fantasy mystery, librarian, librarians, Love Lies and Hocus Pocus, lydia sherrer, Magic, Mystery, Talking Animals, talking cats, the lily singer adventures, Witches, wizards

Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries, Volume 1 – Book Review

February 16, 2014 by hpholo Leave a Comment

Lizzie Newton is equal parts Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes, a budding mystery writer who does more than write mysteries—She solves them, too. No one wants to believe this of her, though, because this is the Victorian era, after all, and women don’t do that sort of thing. This is why Lizzie must hide her talents behind a masculine pen name and send her deductions through her lawyer-in-training fiancé, Edwin. But this doesn’t stop her from traipsing onto crime scenes as she sees fit, prodding corpses, and showing up everyone who thinks she’s wrong with a cute grin and the power of logic and science.
Lizzie Newton Victorian Mysteries Volume 1 CoverI didn’t expect much of Hey-jin Jeon’s Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries Volume 1 simply because I’d never heard of it before. Now that I’ve finished it, I can’t help but wonder why. It’s a true gem of a comic.
What’s most impressive about Lizzie Newton is the number of things that could have gone wrong in the comic compared to the number of things that it did very well. The illustration on the cover—wide-eyed Lizzie, smiling sweetly in a frilly dress—led me to expect the adventures of a vapid girly-girl who stumbles clumsily but adorably into her solutions because that’s what happens in manga where the protagonist is a cute girl. Lizzie is anything but. While she is absent-minded, it’s in an intellectual way—She’s so distracted by the thrill of solving a mystery that it never occurs to her that it is NOT OK to poke her finger into the bullet hole in a corpse’s head before the police even arrive to investigate the scene. And though she is, for all appearances, a cute Victorian lady with limited practical sense, there’s a real brain behind that bonnet, and a personal collection of books and scientific equipment to back it up. She’s a perfect combination of “feminine” cuteness and “masculine” logic, without being an exaggeration of either. Her relationship with Edwin is also refreshingly positive. Edwin himself is a capable (as opposed to amusingly bumbling) companion. Though he does, of course, become exasperated with Lizzie’s absent-mindedness, he’s ultimately supportive of her investigative hobbies and does what he can to make Lizzie’s discoveries known—in her name. In fact, in addition to portraying a female protagonist who is productively interested in science (as opposed to using science for comedic, explosive effect), the comic makes a notable effort to say, “You know that famous male scientist who discovered that thing? Yeah, half of that work was done by an un-credited woman” (in this face, Ada Lovelace, who wrote the language for the Analytical Engine that preceded Charles Babbage’s unfinished Difference Engine). Yet none of these feministic elements are ever preachy. Lizzie Newton is definitely a Girl Power/Girl-Who-is-GASP-Interested-In-Science book, but it’s more interested in its amusing characters and the details of its plot to dwell on the social concerns that it brings up.
Plot-wise, it’s an interesting whodunit, though the process Lizzie follows to solve the mystery is more interesting than the mystery itself. I never really cared about who may or may not have killed whom in the story, but that was mostly because 1) they were background characters anyway, and 2) the rest of the comic is more interesting.
The art in the book is also worth a mention. The detail that artist Ki-ha Lee puts into costumes and settings is reminiscent of Yana Toboso’s Black Butler, as is the occasional tonal shift between dark, dramatic illustration and funny chibis. In fact, I’d go as far to say that this manga is what Black Butler would be if it involved a detective and an actual point. Tonally, the two are almost identical (even if their stories are ABSOLUTELY dissimilar). The care put into the artwork also recalls Kaoru Mori’s Emma, which was noted for its artist’s obsessive interest in Victorian details, even if her character designs were a bit blah. Lee’s designs lean more toward Toboso’s distinct, expressive characters. Either way, the artwork is lovely and enough reason, on its own, to read the book.
Lizzie Newton: Victorian Mysteries, then, is an excellent manga for readers who enjoy a good mystery with wonderful art, a dash of scientific investigation, and a sneaky lot of girl power spunk. (Note: The back of the book claims that it also contains “a spot of Jane Austen,” which it doesn’t, unless you count the fact that Lizzie shares a name with one of Austen’s protagonists. Also Jane Austen was Regency, not Victorian, so GET YOUR LITERARY PERIODS STRAIGHT, MARKETERS. Anyway, regardless, Austenites are likely to enjoy it because frilly dresses and pride-and-prejudice-smackdowns and stuff.)

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Graphic Novel, Hey-jin Jeon, Ki-Ha Lee, Lizzie Newton, Manga, Manga Review, Mystery, Review, Strongly Recommended, Victorian, Young Adult

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