Echo McCool - Kindle Book Review

I've been watching Roger K. Driscoll's, Echo McCool at Goodreads for a very specific reason. The cover caught my attention when I found it on Goodreads.com's Best Books of 2011. Since then I kept my eye on it, because it rose so quickly up the charts. He is now #8 in Goodreads Best books of 2011 and has all 5-star ratings and there are 98 of them. Did you hear that? Roger has ninety-eight (98)  5-star ratings and not one single 4, 3, 2 or 1. Other readers questioned this, but then after reading it they admitted that it certainly was a great book. Those ratings grabbed my interest and so I am posting Echo McCool: Outlaw Through Time as The Kindle Book Review's second book that we recommend. This book was written for the 12-15 year old in mind and is a time traveling, adventure story that not only seems to grip the imaginations of young teens, it has also "WOW'ed" adult readers as well. What's best...and honestly, quite amazing is that this book, with higher ratings than most bestsellers is only 99¢...for now. Better hurry and get yours before the price goes up. Echo's Amazon rating is low because this book has obviously been overlooked or under marketed, but with ratings like that, Roger deserves some recognition. You can give him the recognition he deserves by purchasing and reviewing Echo McCool in the Kindle store. After you've read Echo McCool, be sure to report back here and tell us if it lived up to the hype. And Roger, who btw, is on facebook and Goodreads, you are welcome to guest blog here anytime and tell us how you captivated 104 readers (Amazon included). Best of Luck Roger. Now go get Echo McCool by Roger K. Driscoll! You can check out the Goodreads ratings and reviews HERE. http://thekindlebookreview.blogspot.com/2011/06/echo-mccool-has-cool-98-5-star-ratings.html?spref=tw

School and Other Cruelties

I met this author recently, while he was visiting the Inner Hebrides researching his next book. As a former owner of a children's bookstore in Scotland I was asked to read and review Echo McCool, Outlaw Through Time.


Echo, the girl of the title is half-human half-dryad which, among other things, means she has stripy limbs, she can see into the past and she is adept at a kind of medieval Kung Fu.


After a long sleep she travels from her own time to the twenty-first century and meets Jason Fleeting, a modern-day boy her own age who has been living in a children's home following the murder of his mother. Jason and Echo set out on an adventure that involves the reader in several action scenes, including an escape from a collapsing tunnel and a grand punch-up of a finale. Echo and Jason even help out a few other people along the way, Lone Ranger-style.


This story combines a number of popular fiction genres to produce an interesting mix of present-day goodies-v-baddies adventure, a mystical element introducing dryad magic and links with times long-past, plus the all-action razzmatazz of Kung-Fu (with more than a little humour thrown in). Echo and Jason are both brave and likeable characters.


Will it be the next big thing? Who knows? Personally I think once established this book will prove to be quite popular.

Echo McCool, Outlaw Through Time - "Debbie" Review

I bought this book for my 12 year old son. He loved it!


I would recommend this book for children of this age, there was no bad language, extreme violence or anything which could offend - Yet at the same time the story is fast paced, the writing excellent and (according to my son) the book brilliant.


Already awaiting the sequel. 

Echo McCool - Diane Cornwall Review

I read this book, to see what all the fuss was about, but I have to say I was NOT disappointed. The story begins in a Robin Hood type era and in the first chapter we meet Echo, the 12-year-old half-dryad girl of Wicca Forest. She is chased by a forester called Wulfric because there is a bounty on her head. Wulfric fires an arrow that has lethal poison on the tip of its blade. It nicks Echo's arm but because of her dryad heritage she can heal herself of even the most deadly of diseases, by touching living wood. She escapes from the forester and hides inside a hollow oak tree. There she hibernates for centuries though her soul never leaves her body.


The story then cuts to the present day when a 12-year-old boy called Jason Fleeting is in hospital, in a coma after falling out of a tree. He has a near death experience and finds himself in a kind of heaven known as the Edge of Time. He meets the spirit of Fenella, Echo's mother, who tells Jason that he too is part dryad. Fenella tells him that the tree containing Echo is soon to be cut down. She gives him a task, to rescue Echo from the fallen tree. Fenella returns Jason to life and a few days later, he rescues Echo as planned. Once Echo has fully recovered, she and Jason set off on an incredible adventure to solve the mystery of Jason's mother's murder, and to rescue his abducted sister.


Unlike some children's stories, this one builds up to a truly exciting climax and I would recommend Echo McCool Outlaw Through Time to all able readers in the 9 to 12 age group. Fantastic book!

Press Release February 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1^st FEBRUARY 2011

Exciting children’s fantasy novel is published entitled:

ECHO McCOOL, OUTLAW THROUGH TIME

By Roger K Driscoll

ISBN 978-1-908105-26-4

About the book:

Echo McCool is a magical, medieval girl with attitude. Don’t get on the wrong end of her jump kicks, flick-flaks and open-palm strikes. In her own time, Echo escapes death from a poisoned arrow and hides inside a hollow oak tree. She lies dormant for hundreds of years but in the present day she is awakened by Jason Fleeting, a twelve-year-old runaway from a children’s home. Together they set out to solve the murder of Jason’s mother and to rescue his kidnapped sister Lauren.

About the author

After being made redundant by a large law firm, Roger Driscoll dusted down some half-finished manuscripts stored under his spare bed. He got to work, and ECHO McCOOL, OUTLAW THROUGH TIME was the result. Roger lives in East Yorkshire, England, in a little house near the old oak tree and disused railway line where he used to play as a boy in the 1970s. He believes that the most important part of any book is its reader. Without a reader, a book can never come alive.

Excerpt from the book:

“The bit where Echo attacks the policewoman.”

Jason had no time to run. Everything seemed to happen in a split-second. PC Knaggs lunged forward, taking hold of him, spinning him around. Now her arm was around his throat, her other hand securing him in a powerful arm-lock. They both faced Echo who took up a fighting stance.

“Let the boy go, thou meddlesome hussy.”

The policewoman twisted harder. Jason cried out. Any more and his arm would break.

“I will give thee one final chance, thou sow-faced drab.”

“Cheeky little brat,” said PC Knaggs. “Think you can fight me, eh? No chance. We do self-defence in the police.”

Echo ignored the warning, taking two careful steps backwards before sinking into a low crouch. With a sudden shriek she sprang up in a high-speed, flying kick. Jason ducked his head as Echo’s boot shot above him, the heel slamming into the policewoman’s forehead, sending her cap flying. PC Knaggs yelped, letting go of Jason as she slammed back-first into the nearest pillar. Jason crashed to the ground and began to crawl away. PC Knaggs recovered, her hair dishevelled, and she dusted down her uniform. Swearing and cursing she charged at Echo, fists flying.

Echo avoided the first punch before countering with a quick left to the policewoman’s stomach. The force knocked PC Knaggs to the ground, but she wasn’t finished. Her right leg whipped out in a wide arc to take Echo’s feet from under her. Both combatants were up and facing one other an instant later. The policewoman aimed a snap-kick at Echo who blocked it with a kick of her own. The girl-dryad then attacked in a blur of motion, landing more rapid-fire punches before her open palm struck the policewoman’s chin with a dull crunch. PC Knaggs reeled backwards into the pillar again, her knees sagging before she collapsed to the ground half-dazed. Jason scrambled to his feet and could only stare in horror.

“We’re in big trouble now!” he gasped.

Further information:

Copies of the book can be purchased via Amazon.co.uk: http://tinyurl.com/6ksysab

Email the author: echo.mccool@googlemail.co.uk

Publisher: Grosvenor House Publishing Ltd

Follow the adventures of Echo, the magical, half-dryad, high-kicking stripy heroine of Wicca Forest and beyond.

Print Version

The print (soft cover) version of Echo McCool, Outlaw Through Time is now available on Amazon:


http://tinyurl.com/683yy2j

http://tinyurl.com/6ksysab