Location: United States
Member Since: Feb. 02, 2011
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Steve Umstead


Biography

Steve Umstead has been the owner of a Caribbean & Mexico travel company for the past ten years, but never forgot his lifelong dream of becoming an author. After a successful stab at National Novel Writing Month, he decided to pursue his dream more vigorously...but hasn't given up the traveling.

Steve lives in scenic (tongue-in-cheek) New Jersey with his wife, two kids, and several bookshelves full of other authors' science fiction novels. More information is at SteveUmstead.com, and you can always find him on Twitter (@SteveUmstead).

Where to find Steve Umstead online

Website: http://www.SteveUmstead.com
Twitter: SteveUmstead
Facebook: Facebook profile
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenumstead
Wattpad: SteveUmstead
Blog: http://steveumstead.com

Books

Gabriel's Journey    by Steve Umstead
Price: $7.99 USD. 228560 words. Published on January 29, 2012. Fiction.
GABRIEL’S JOURNEY: THE COMPLETE EVAN GABRIEL TRILOGY Follow North American Federation Navy Commander Evan Gabriel as he crosses the galaxy searching for Redemption, Returns to where it all began, then finally seeks Revenge on those responsible. Military science-fiction adventure at its best!
Gabriel's Revenge    by Steve Umstead
Price: $4.99 USD. 79160 words. Published on December 28, 2011. Fiction.
North American Federation Navy Commander Evan Gabriel thought it was over. Returning from a mission on the far-off world of Eden, he finds that Mars is in a state of political upheaval. Two major dome cities are now under the control of ambitious and ruthless men backed by the scheming South American Republic. Friends are in trouble, Renay Gesselli is missing, and the future of a world is in flux.
Gabriel's Return    by Steve Umstead
Price: $4.99 USD. 83930 words. Published on August 29, 2011. Fiction.
On the far-off icebound planet of Poliahu, Commander Evan Gabriel suffered the loss of team members in order to free a native species and save his brother. Now he is being called away on a new mission by a friend in trouble, and by a name from his distant past. He and his surviving team must again travel across the galaxy to the planet where he lost his naval command, and his original team: Eden
Gabriel's Redemption    by Steve Umstead
Price: $3.49 USD. 68410 words. Published on February 2, 2011. Fiction.
0.75 star(4.75 from 8 reviews)
North American Federation Navy Commander Evan Gabriel was dishonorably discharged after losing his covert team on a far off world called Eden. Now, he’s being offered an opportunity to command a new team, on a new world, with a new mission, but the true motives behind the mission are unclear. Book One of the Evan Gabriel Trilogy

Steve Umstead’s tag cloud

alien    aliens    fiction action adventure    gabriels redemption    military    military action    mission    planets    science fiction    scifi    scifi action    scifi action adventure    scifi adventure    soldier    space    starship    trilogy    wormhole   

Smashwords book reviews by Steve Umstead

  • Chasing Filthy Lucre on April 13, 2011
    star star star star
    When a greedy corporate power threatens the status quo in Weber Rexall’s town and he’s tasked to do something about it, nothing will stand in his way. Tough guy Rexall, his underground fighting ring cohort Berger, and a synthetic Serve-O named Simmer are just three of the incredibly interesting characters Rush writes into Chasing Filthy Lucre, the first part in a novella series, one that entertains right from the first page. Rush seamlessly blends cyberpunk technology and post-apocalyptic settings with deep characters the reader can truly feel for. The tech itself is fascinating; without giving anything away, when Rush describes the hothouse and its patrons, the remarkable imagery he puts together could easily have been pulled from a scene in today’s world. The scene descriptions, such as the underground fighting and the ‘package delivery’ scene (again without giving too much away) are rich, and really paint a detailed picture in the reader’s head. The story is fast-paced and progresses logically, with a couple of twists, and an exciting climax, then easily feeds into the next novella in the series. Definitely a page-turner, and very well edited for a self-published work. Absolutely worth the download, I’m looking forward to the next in the series! -Steve Umstead
  • Loose Ends on April 17, 2011
    star star star star
    Cleaning up loose ends may have unintended consequences... A hired hit man who previously worked for the mafia. An innocent friend by his side. A corrupt corporation with leak. A gruff CEO with a mysterious and beautiful security agent. A target with questionable morals and a shady lifestyle. This is the cast of characters put together in Loose Ends, a thriller novella from debut author AJ Powers. It's a short novella, borderline long short story (sorry for the oxymoron), but a very entertaining read. A hitman is sent to clean up a loose end, but finds he gets closer to the job than he expected. Good story flow, page-turning, and realistic dialogue and settings. Powers has extensive knowledge of weapons, but doesn't overwhelm the reader with technical details. Good character development, getting inside the main character's head in first person point of view, something I've seen many debut authors fail miserably at (first person isn't as easy as one might think). And of course, a nice twist at the end, leaving the reader wanting more of the story (sequel, perhaps?) This is an absolute no-brainer priced at $.99; I'd certainly recommend Loose Ends for a quick, entertaining thriller. Oh, and Powers designed and created the cover art from scratch - an enviable talent to have.
  • Unspoken Stories on Sep. 28, 2011
    star star star star
    I’m not normally a short story reader; I prefer my time to be spent with full length, involved works, but the concept of Unspoken Stories (according to the author’s blog, named because without some friendly motivation and a new outlook on writing itself, he may never have written them) sounded fascinating. Five separate, unrelated, stories, all based in a different science fiction niche (some more scifi than others), all in one volume. I’m very glad I took the chance. Unspoken Stories consists of Copy Bird, Going Home, Josie Dorri and the Coffee Ban, The Present, and Running to Keep Her. The author explained he wrote each one in a fairly short time frame; as such there are some minor editing issues, but nothing that would pull the reader from the story. One by one, my thoughts on each: Copy Bird: A very unique present tense telling of a post-apocalyptic world. A man awakens in a burned out future society, thinking he’s alone, only to hear the call of a bird, speaking to him, pulling him along to an unknown destination. This was probably my favorite of the five. Great emotion and feelings of the protagonist, and a heartwarming ending. Going Home: A young man has leave from military service against an alien invasion sweeping the human populated worlds, and takes time to visit his family and tries to keep his promise to them. This story started and ran slow for me, but when I completed it, my thoughts on it completely turned around. Looking at it as a whole, knowing the way it ends, made it an excellent tale. Josie Dorri and the Coffee Ban: A different way of looking at the future Big Brother type society, one where cofee is banned, both for drinking and possessing. Easy to relate to, as well as easy to compare to some of today’s odd rules and regulations. The Present: A view on time travel from a personal perspective, and a twist on “what would you do if you could” with the added facet of how it affects others. Good flow, and relatively (no pun intended) easy to follow the timeline. Running to Keep Her: A touching story about loss and what a man does to remember, and how that affects his life going forward. Overall I enjoyed the volume. B. C. Young has a knack for storytelling and keeps the reader interested from start to finish. Even though each story was completely unrelated and stands on its own, they all have similarities and common threads that show Young can write. Looking forward to a few more short stories from him (never thought I’d say that…)