Book "The Canker Death" by James Bottino

About the Book: When the reclusive, cynical systems administrator, Petor Fidelistro, discovers that one of his own servers has been cracked late one night, he makes it his personal business to track down the perpetrator. What his search uncovers thrusts him, unaware, into a mad shifting between worlds, time and alien minds.
Fighting to keep his grip on reality, and forcing him to cope with his past, Petor finds himself uncontrollably transitioning between sentient minds that range from semi-conscious to dominant, from beings whose bodies and identities he can control, to those who control him so fully as to be unaware of his presence. As the story unfolds, Petor gathers clues in a twisting mystery that sends him shifting between the mourning child Nanzicwital; the golem giant Faskin; the lascivious, female ambassador Desidia; and Nokinis, an insane prisoner with whom Petor battles for mastery of his own memories. As he struggles to make sense of what is happening to him, Petor finds himself embroiled in the tumultuous upheaval of a ubiquitous society that transcends life, itself.

About the Author: James R. Bottino is a self-admitted computer geek and a creative writing teacher rolled into one. He earned a BS in English Education from Illinois State University and taught high school English in a suburb of Chicago for several years. After teaching all day, he studied creative writing in graduate school at Northern Illinois University. All the while, though, in the deep corners of the night, when no one was looking, he led a double life hacking and building computers and networks. Eventually, unbeknownst to him, word of his activities leaked out, and employment offers started coming in. In the end, he switched his hobby with his profession and became a senior computer / networking administrator for a scientific research laboratory. Just six months into this position, however, tragedy struck when, at the age of 31, James was diagnosed with cancer. Given ten to one odds of living out the year and knowing that his infant daughter would never remember him if he died, he began the fight of his life, enduring massive doses of chemotherapy that killed the cancer but nearly killed him as well. After years of struggle, he survived, but only after enduring systemic nerve damage from the treatments that left him permanently photophobic, phonophobic and with frequent difficulty in using his hands. These events focused his efforts and helped him to prevail in his dual goals: being a father to his daughter and completing his first novel, The Canker Death. James currently lives in a suburb of Chicago, with his wife, daughter, two Australian cattle dogs and far, far too many books and abstruse computers.
James R. Bottino can be contacted at: "nokinis(at)thecankerdeath(dot)com"
http://www.thecankerdeath.com
http://www.twitter.com/greyhame
http://www.facebook.com/jim.bottino

My Review: This is a very interesting and well written book that will keep your attention to the end. The initial chapters are so intense that if this book ever turns into a movie, it will be like the old Alfred Hitchcock's suspense movies.
The author was very creative with his characters, which are so richly described that we learn to love them.
The plot is simple to follow. A system administrator (Petor Fidelistro) finds out that someone hacked into his computer. When trying to figure out who is responsible for that, he ends up on a journey  into aliens minds and other worlds. First he goes into the mind of a child alien named Nanzicwital (Al). Then to a giant named Faskin. Third to Desidia, a female ambassador, and finally to Petor, a prisoner. Sometimes he is under control, sometimes he is controlled. He senses through his alien body and mind. During his journey, he interacts with some interesting characters, like Faith, Arrs and Pencha. After discussions about politics, religion and control of life, you just wonder if everything was not just a delusion from Pestor's mind... or perhaps his perception of reality on Petor's body was just another visit of his mind in an "alien"  body... It is up to your imagination. Read the book and enjoy!

I recommend this book to the permanent library of all readers that love science-fiction with a good plot, with mystery, suspense and very "rich" characters.

This book was written by James R.Bottino and it was published in August 2011 by Septimus Press. The author was kind enough to provide me an electronic copy for reviewing in .pdf format, through Pump Up Your Book.

If you read this review, feel free to leave a comment!

The Canker Death Tour Schedule

Monday, February 6
Interview at Book Marketing Buzz


Tuesday, February 7
 Guest Post at As the Pages Turn


Wednesday, February 8
Interview at Pump Up Your Book


Thursday, February 9
Guest Post at The Book Connection


Friday, February 10
Interview at Paperback Writer


Monday, February 13
Guest Post at Literarily SpeakingPublish Post


Tuesday, February 14
Guest Post at The Story Behind the Book


Thursday, February 16
Spotlight at The Plot


Friday, February 17
Character Interview at The Plot


Monday, February 20
Interview at Beyond the Books


Tuesday, February 21
Interview at The Writer’s Life


Wednesday, February 22
Spotlight at Celtic Lady’s Book Reviews


Thursday, February 23
Review at Martha’s Bookshelf


Friday, February 24
Guest Post at Everyday Adventure


Monday, February 27
Spotlight at Blurbs N’ Bytes


Wednesday, February 29
Guest Post at InkyBlots


Monday, March 5
Interview at The Examiner


Tuesday, March 6
Interview at The Hot Author Report


Wednesday, March 7
Guest Post at The Hot Author Report


Thursday, March 8
5 Things Guest Post at The Hot Author Report


Friday, March 9
Guest Post at KellyMcClymer.com


Monday, March 12
Guest Post at Review From Here


Tuesday, March 13
Interview at BlogCritics


Wednesday, March 14
Guest Post at Alchemy of Scrawl


Thursday, March 15
Review at The Hot Author Report


Friday, March 16
Guest Post at Coffee and a Keyboard


Monday, March 19
Spotlight at Books, Products and More!


Tuesday, March 20
Interview at Broowaha


Wednesday, March 21
Interview at American Chronicle


Thursday, March 22
Guest Post at Words I Write Crazy


Friday, March 23
Review at Words I Write Crazy
Review at Working for the Mandroid


Wednesday, April 4
Guest Post at Celtic Lady’s Book Reviews


Saturday, April 7
Live Chat at A Book and a Chat


Monday, April 9
Guest Post at The Book Vortex
Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway at Writing Daze


Tuesday, April 10
Guest Post at Writing Daze


Monday, April 16
Guest Post at Between the Covers


Tuesday, April 17
Excerpt at Between the Covers


Tuesday, April 18
Review at Books and Movies Reviews


Thursday, April 19
Guest Post and Giveaway at Darlene’s Book Nook