Tag Archives: review

a small somewhat ephemeral thing

A sincere Thank You to everyone who picked up a copy of The Tall Priest or took advantage of the recent promotion and snagged a free copy of The Wounded King.

Because of your support, The Tall Priest climbed higher on the Amazon charts than any of the previous Martuk Series books. And, especially in light of the minimal marketing I’d done, that’s a small, somewhat ephemeral thing worth celebrating.

Here’s hoping enough of you will like it enough to share your thoughts with a brief review. (crosses fingers)

The Tall Priest 2.1-FINAL-COVER

 

The Wounded King Final - cover

 

mother mary had fallen

From Martuk…the Holy: Proseuche

proseuche-mother-mary

“Not only will this push the envelope, it will guild that envelope in gold, hone it to a razors edge and use it in a beautiful & brutal ceremony. It so heavy and beautiful and I loved every moment of it, Martuk is going to strike nerves.”

— Zakk @ The Eyes of Madness

“Horrifying, grotesque, stomach turning”

“A horror like no other. Cringed the entire time I was reading it. The way Winn paints a scene is amazingly graphic and riveting. You will find your self rubbing shadow pain from your limbs and brushing away unseen creepy crawlers as you read this.

Horrifying, grotesque, stomach turning. Another great book from Winn.”

From a new five star Amazon review for Eidolon Avenue: The First Feast.

Eidolon-Xuo-crop

amazing … breathtaking … creepy

A small snippet from a new review of Martuk … the Holy: Proseuche:

 

“… on a purely horror-fan level, the evil scenes in particular are amazing. Lush descriptions, beautiful detail. Not only was I reminded of illuminated manuscripts, I was reminded of oil paintings, those old and classic manuscripts that, even in their depiction of terrible things, are as breathtaking as they are creepy.”

 

demons, angels, and another 5 star review

The Martuk … the Holy Blog Tour rolls on with an amazing 5 Star Review.

If you enjoy books with a new twist on a familiar plot similar to Dan Brown’s “The DaVinci Code”, then you will most certainly love “Martuk . . . the Holy” by Jonathan Winn.  This intense, gripping tale will keep you turning pages, biting fingernails, and re-evaluating your beliefs until the final sentence.

I’m not sure if Winn’s book can be classified into a single genre . . . or even a sub-genre. It’s multi-faceted and that’s part of the appeal. The fact Martuk . . . the Holy is a debut novel is impressive beyond words.

Martuk is a tormented immortal with roots in ancient history. Before you start thinking Adrian Paul and the TV series, “Highlander”, let me assure the differences are vast. Martuk . . . the Holy is a dark story filled with demons, angels, beastly abominations, …

And that’s just the beginning!  You can read the rest over here.  Plus there’s also a very generous Excerpt.  One of my favorites, actually.

Seriously, guys, this review brought tears to my eyes.  Not that praise should matter, but … hell, sometimes it just does.

This was one of those times.  🙂

Disturbing and intensely gripping, …

I got some love on Amazon. Check it out:

Disturbing and intensely gripping, this is a novel that seeps into your very soul not to be removed

The Wounded King has to be one of the most intensely gripping novels that I have read in such a long time, with its words seeping into my very soul never to be forgotten. From the moment you read the first sentence you find yourself becoming lost within such an engrossing story that is truly original, idiosyncratic and unique. Jonathan Winn is an author with obdurate creative ideas that blow you away, leaving you sat breathless as you try to take it all in. The electric tension, drama and suspense had me sat on the very edge of my seat throughout as I read the entire novel in only a few hours, lost within the compelling and dramatic story.

And there’s more!!! Read the rest here.

Oh, happy day.

new review!

The Elder got a new review on Amazon!!!!!

As with all Jonathan Winn’s works I am impressed with the sheer beauty of the writing, the very literate and literary use of language to convey the nuance of the protagonists and characters he envisions. He writes with finesse and style. The editing is top-notch and not a word is wasted. A joy to read.

See the rest here. (^~^)

Lunch is on me

An Open Letter to the NY Times:

In a recent article — The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy by David Streitfeld –, you insinuate quite strongly that the 4- and 5-star reviews one finds for self-published authors on sites like Amazon cannot be trusted to accurately represent the work or the writer’s talent because there are companies out there that sell favorable reviews and, due to the possibility of a potential relationship between the Reviewer and the “Reviewee”, these reviews should be ignored or mistrusted.

Are there writers, like John Locke, who admit to purchasing reviews? Yes.

Do they perhaps help lift sales? Some would say yeah, they could.

Is this a well-known aspect of Marketing 101 that those at the Times are well aware of? Of course.

Does the fact that a company like this could exist and do business negate every single review a self-published author has ever gotten? It damn well shouldn’t.

Let me ask you this, NY Times:

How many times have your Reviewers had lunch with someone from a Big 6 Publisher right before receiving the free review copy of Star Author’s next book? Or even after a favorable review ran? How many times have your Reviewers received Thank You notes from Legacy Publishers for good reviews? Or birthday cards? Holiday cards? Phone calls? Gift baskets stuffed with expensive trinkets as a gesture of their appreciation?

How many times have those at the NY Times found themselves mingling at parties with those from Traditional Publishing? And how many NY Times Reviewers found their reviews edited by Higher Ups in order to cast a kinder, more ecstatic light on Star Author’s new opus?

More importantly, how many self-published books has the NY Times officially reviewed?

If none, why not?

If you’re going to write an article all but suggesting the reviews a self-published book receives should be discounted because of the potential for some kind of nefarious collusion between the Reviewer and the Reviewed, please be aware this may — and should — bring into question the veracity of your own Reviewers and the often cozy relationship you hold and have held for years with those obviously feeling most threatened by self-published authors: the Big 6.

So remember that the next time Mr. Publisher gulps down the last of his chardonnay, whips out his Black Amex, smiles, and says “Lunch is on me”.