I'm proud to announce that I'm hosting my first book review and giveaway. A Circle of Souls by Dr. Preetham Grandhi is an excellent book, and he's offered a signed advanced reader's copy for one lucky HeatherSphere winner.
A Circle of Souls
By Dr. Preetham Grandhi
Sweetwater Books Publisher
Reviewed by: Heather Goldsmith
In a small, quiet town ten-year-old Janet Troy is abducted by a mysterious and disturbed man. When her backpack is found on a Senator’s property, FBI Agent Leia Bines is called in to quickly and quietly solve the crime before the Senator’s bid for the Presidency is jeopardized.
Naya is a young girl brought to an emergency room after a vivid sleepwalking episode leads her to the edge of a second story balcony. On call child psychiatrist, Dr. Gram, consults on her case. He admits her to an inpatient child psych ward for observation and her own safety. Through her dreams and drawings, Naya reaches out to Dr. Gram in an effort to still her sleep and save other potential victims of the mad man. Can these four strangers come together in time to solve the ever deepening mystery surrounding them?
In A Circle of Souls, Dr. Preetham Grandhi deftly weaves seemingly unrelated sub plots into an intricate story. Personally, this book grabbed me from the very first page and held me to the last. The suspense builds in this fiction thriller as the characters develop personal insight and involvement by necessity or professional dedication. Particularly appealing and of note is Dr. Preetham Grandhi’s integration of his cultural background and his professional experience as a child psychiatrist into this intelligent thriller. I’ve read all the greats, and A Circle of Souls holds its own. This is a definite must-read.
By Dr. Preetham Grandhi
Sweetwater Books Publisher
Reviewed by: Heather Goldsmith
In a small, quiet town ten-year-old Janet Troy is abducted by a mysterious and disturbed man. When her backpack is found on a Senator’s property, FBI Agent Leia Bines is called in to quickly and quietly solve the crime before the Senator’s bid for the Presidency is jeopardized.
Naya is a young girl brought to an emergency room after a vivid sleepwalking episode leads her to the edge of a second story balcony. On call child psychiatrist, Dr. Gram, consults on her case. He admits her to an inpatient child psych ward for observation and her own safety. Through her dreams and drawings, Naya reaches out to Dr. Gram in an effort to still her sleep and save other potential victims of the mad man. Can these four strangers come together in time to solve the ever deepening mystery surrounding them?
In A Circle of Souls, Dr. Preetham Grandhi deftly weaves seemingly unrelated sub plots into an intricate story. Personally, this book grabbed me from the very first page and held me to the last. The suspense builds in this fiction thriller as the characters develop personal insight and involvement by necessity or professional dedication. Particularly appealing and of note is Dr. Preetham Grandhi’s integration of his cultural background and his professional experience as a child psychiatrist into this intelligent thriller. I’ve read all the greats, and A Circle of Souls holds its own. This is a definite must-read.
I recently interviewed author Dr. Preetham Grandhi to discuss his book and, hopefully, plans for more. Some of you already know that I loved this book and I'm sure you will enjoy reading this interview. Others who haven't checked out his book will surely get a craving for it after reading this interview.
Heather - Welcome to HeatherSphere! It is great to have you as a guest here and I hope you will enjoy your time here. Maybe you can start things off for us by telling my readers a bit about your book, A Circle of Souls?
Preetham – A Circle of Souls is my debut novel that is a murder, mystery, psychological thriller with a paranormal twist. This kind of work is what is called fictional realism, but only I know what is fiction and what is real. It was a few months post 9/11, and I was looking at the biographies of the people who had lost their lives. I began to wonder if there was a larger meaning to their lives. All of a sudden, a story flashed into my mind, and I quickly wrote it on a piece of paper. I knew then that I needed to write a story that was larger than life. It needed to communicate the essence that there is a bigger purpose and meaning to our passage on earth.I knew that in order to capture and convey such a message, the bookneeded to be captivating, interesting, and thrilling. I realized thata story based on the work I do would be the right place to begin. I ama child psychiatrist and had just started a new job. During myfellowship, I worked with children with numerous psychosocial issuesand had many life stories to tell. It was at that moment that Idecided I could write a book that would capture all these thoughts.That was how A Circle of Souls was born.
Heather - What is your process for writing a book? Do you get an idea and expand on it? Or do you brainstorm?
Preetham - I would get the ideas while driving to and fro from work and then would quickly write it once I got home. I revised the book over 15 times expanding and refining it every time.
Heather - Are you anything like your characters? Are any of them based on people you know?
Preetham – There may be a little of me in Peter. There are some charecters that I have created after the people I know. For e.g the young doctor Sheetal fits the description of my sister who lives in India.
Heather - What projects are you working on at the moment? Any releases your fans can expect in the near future? (Am I subtle, or what?)
Preetham - I have more books in my head, but no time to write between the hospital, private practice and promoting this one. I hope to finish my next one in a year or two.
Heather - How did you end up being a writer? Was it something you always wanted to do?
Preetham - I always wanted to make movies. It so happened that the idea for this book was like a movie in my head that I decided to put on paper. I might look into converting it into a screenplay if I have the time.
Heather - What books do you like to read when you have time? Do you have any must read authors/series?
Preetham – I do enjoy reading Dan Brown and Robin Cook, but I did a lot of reading growing up. I used to read a lot of Enid Blyton books as a kid. She has over 800 published children's books.
Heather - What do you like to do to relax?
Preetham – Watch movies and go to the beach.
Heather – If you could have any super power, what would it be?
Preetham – To predict how another person feels before they feel it so in that way I don't accidentally offend anyone.
I’d like to thank Dr. Preetham for providing me an advanced readers copy to review.
Can't wait for the drawing? You can order A Circle of Souls by Dr. Preetham Grandhi at Amazon by following this link: http://www.amazon.com/Circle-Souls-Preetham-Grandhi/dp/1599552353/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1242385279&sr=1-1
Oh look! A Giveaway!
What you can win:
One lucky reader will win a signed Advanced Readers Copy of A Circle of Souls.
Limitations:
This giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only. You must be at least 18 years old with a valid e-mail address. You do not need to be a blogger to enter. If you do not have a blogger I.D., please enter your email address in each comment. No anonymous entries allowed.
Enter:
Answer this question: What is your favorite genre? You MUST do this to be eligible to enter the contest.
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All entries will be verified prior to awarding the prize.
Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on August 28, 2009. Winners are drawn using a Random Integer Generator and will be announced here and by e-mail. The winner will have 72 hours to respond to the e-mail notification. If the winner does not reply within the set time limit, a new winner will be chosen.
All entries will be verified prior to awarding the prize.
Contest ends at 11:59pm CST on August 28, 2009. Winners are drawn using a Random Integer Generator and will be announced here and by e-mail. The winner will have 72 hours to respond to the e-mail notification. If the winner does not reply within the set time limit, a new winner will be chosen.
