Showing results by author "Michael MacBride" in All Categories

Maude and Vern have been a duck couple for a long time. They've had ducklings and dealt with the trauma and grief of losing them. On the surface, now they're struggling with fertility, but those issues cover up past trauma and grief. Maude and Vern offer a humorous look at the complications of relationships and the struggles with deciding to become a parent, parenting, and what happens if you can't become a parent. Written in children's book style, Who Gives a Duck? is anything but.

On Earth, Grover Baines (a NASA scientist) is murdered in 1979 when he stumbles upon a secret third Voyager flight. Unlike the two other probes, Voyager 3 was a small manned craft loaded with reproductive material in hopes of finding a suitable planet for habitation on Alpha Centauri. Years later, in 2001, a fourth Voyager is sent on the same mission. Though technology has advanced dramatically in the 24 years since the first three Voyagers were launched, this mission manages to remain secret amid the attacks on the Twin Towers.

Jenny is an orphan caught in the middle of a bidding war between two clerks with ties to wealthy philanthropists, who find ways to manipulate the system through insider trading. The Market allows shares of children to be traded, where more investment provides a better opportunity for the child's future. However, you can also short a child's stock and bet on him or her failing. Because orphans are unknown commodities, they offer great risk and potential reward for savvy investors, but leave the orphans to the whims of the Market.

Merton Clivette once dominated the 1920s and 1930s art world. He ruled the Orpheum Circuit as a magician, shadowgraphist, mindreader, and acrobat. He performed in the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. Clivette worked with Houdini and PT Barnum, and he inspired Mark Twain. He taught Sir Arthur Conan Doyle how to be a medium. He went by names such as Clivette the Great, The Man in Black, The Mysterious Stranger, and many others. Clivette led a remarkable life then, like the magician he was, he disappeared from the history books after his death in 1931.

Unsolicited Book Reviews is a weekly podcast, hosted by author Michael David MacBride. Books are selected from things he's recently read and enjoyed. Each review is typically 3-5 minutes, and there are usually 3-5 reviews per episode. If and/or when you read the books, let him know what you think of them. Michael's webpage: https://www.michaelmacbride.com/