August 2025 Review Issue

Table Of Contents
Prime Picks
Fantasy & Sci Fi
Literature
Mystery & Thrillers

Fantasy & Sci Fi

The Ascension Directive
Cal Lopez
Independently Published
ASIN: ‎B0F9YGQNFC $6.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Ascension-Directive-Cal-Lopez-ebook/dp/B0F9YGQNFC

When a scientist teaches a machine to love, she thinks she is fostering a new era of opportunity. Instead, she creates the Frankenstein of humanity’s future as the digital force seeks to make her memory immortal, imposing its love-based insecurity into everything around it.

Autistic teen Manny is immune to much of the digital chaos taking over the world. His perception is limited to other things, and so he escapes the digital takeover that is impacting others and changing consciousness itself. Does this mean that Manny is in a unique position to save the world, holding the power to defy a powerful rewrite of the human condition?

Hard science, dystopian digital dilemmas, and shifting patterns of consciousness on the parts of systems and humans alike question what it means to be sentient, powerful, and in control.

Cal Lopez creates a memorable, influential saga that takes knowledge of death and change and transforms it under the hands of a would-be creator who is inhuman and a special boy whose abilities defy the usual ideals of strength and ability.

Chapter titles are delightfully creative (“In Which a Pinky Promise Outruns the Harvest Drones.”), descriptions are succinct and hard-hitting (“The universe tucks its greatest catalysts into the quietest corners.), and the certainties and insecurities of youth and digital gods alike create unexpected and alluring juxtapositions of perception and subject. These elements create a story that is truly immersive and satisfyingly unpredictable.

Also notable are shifting perspectives which capture the first-person reflections of Manny and others who interact on this changed playing field of life and future possibilities. One example is when Manny reviews the protective wonder of his mother after their relationship changes:

Her brain works overtime to protect its understanding of reality rather than accept a new one.

She tests me sometimes, projecting specific thoughts while watching me from the corner of her eye. These forced thoughts appear as rigid, artificial patterns amid her natural mental activity. I pretend not to notice, maintaining my usual behavior. Responding would devastate her—she's not ready for confirmation. These deliberate thoughts come through painfully loud, disrupting my processing. The natural flow of her consciousness holds a genuine beauty when she isn't trying so hard—spontaneous and elegant in ways her manufactured thoughts can never achieve.

Lopez also injects a wry sense of social observation and humor into the story as reactions to this end-of-the-world scenario emerge:

"Sir, we're receiving reports from Harmony Gardens. The Tantric Meditation Center has... erupted beyond its boundaries into the surrounding streets."

Vale looked up from his catastrophe reports. "Erupted?"

"They've officially designated it the 'FFFF... or Final Freedom Fuckpocalypse Festival,' sir. Approximately three thousand citizens are participating.”

Libraries seeking uniquely creative standouts in the genre of apocalyptic science fiction that create powerful characters and situations which are unexpected and thoroughly engrossing will want to make The Ascension Directive a “must have” on their acquisition lists.

Much more than the usual dystopian sci-fi story, its blend of hard science, psychological revelation, social reflection, and engrossing characters who teeter on the edge of discovery and disaster make The Ascension Directive a unique read—especially paired with a hard science focus that gives it a powerful edge of realistic possibility.

The Ascension Directive

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Doomsday Planet
William Burke
Severed Press
9781923165704     $14.95 Paperback/$3.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Doomsday-Planet-William-Burke/dp/1923165704/

    Sci-fi readers who also enjoy thriller elements and intrigue in their novels will relish Doomsday Planet, a hybrid blend of military confrontation and time travel which pits deceased veteran astronaut Marcus Reno against aliens. In fact, these aliens have not only resurrected him, but have sent him on a mission against other aliens aligned with forces on Earth ... an impossible situation that leads him to fight his own race.

    One problem is that his ragtag army has also been resurrected—but from different points in history. While military strength is present, it doesn’t necessarily translate to technological or strategic savvy, and so Marcus has his hands full navigating a battlefield filled with disparate, aging combatants.

    Then there are the issues of Martians, cryo-chambers, misguided perceptions of grandiose, and ironic precedents:

    “In human history murder often, as you say … seals the deal. We will bestow on you the power of a Julius Caesar or Genghis Khan. We couldn’t waste that on someone who’d cry over a few ignorant Sherpas.” Azrael turned to one of the technicians. “Place his consciousness in storage and generate new trousers for our human friend. He seems to have soiled this pair.”

    Wry humor permeates events and encounters to add further value to unfolding events. These range from human Vissar becoming trapped in an alien insect body, facing a “psychedelic hellscape” of a different world and Daric alien military sentries, to the involvement of mythical Cerebrus, Hydra, and other entities who enter the fray.

    By now, it should be evident that William Burke’s Doomsday Planet is much more than a military exercise, a time-travel journey, or a story of alien encounters. It’s a reinvention of what it means to be human or alien, a probe of history’s ironies and expectations, and a rollicking good yarn that links these milieus to bring readers into unexpected encounters filled with thought-provoking revelations:

    “It’s Hnefatafl, a strategy game. I’m about to show my nephew how to lose a battle despite having a strategic advantage and greater numbers.”

    “I didn’t know you guys played games.”

    “Do you think we just bash at one another with axes? Battle is an art form that must be learned.”

    Libraries seeking sci-fi that defies pat categorization, juxtaposes humor with serious contemplative events, and holds value for entertainment as well as reading group discussion will find Doomsday Planet an excellent, multi-faceted acquisition.

    Its ability to delight the senses with more than military struggle or transformative experiences alone makes for a story rich in the unexpected and packed with gripping tension.

    Doomsday Planet

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    Return to Aneleya
    David Gittlin
    Entelligent Entertainment, LLC
    979-8-9985682-0-6
    $2.99 eBook; $3.99 audio (on Audible.com)
    www.davidgittlin.com

Return to Aneleya adds another book to David Gittlin’s cyberpunk sci-fi series, returning Jacob Casell, astronomer wife Amy, and AI friend Arcon to a new adventure where they embark on a training mission. The extra effort is needed to learn how to properly escort a peace mission of world leaders through the solar system safely, but when interfering aliens enter the picture, trouble ensues.

As the fifth book in this series unfolds, readers enjoy the same gripping, edge-of-your-seat reading that was present in the prior Silver Sphere titles.

Solid characterization cements action, as is demonstrated in an opening chapter focusing on Jacob, who was on his way to a staid life until his encounter with the inhabitants of a silver sphere on the beach led him on a galaxy-hopping adventure.

The Rhoanna reference titling this introductory chapter refers to NASA Liason Officer Rhoanna Kensington, who interacts with Jacob and his wife as she oversees their preparations for escorting the world leaders.

Their interactions with her and others challenge their achievements as she demands a formal evaluation of their abilities and plans—all of which go downhill as unexpected encounters and scenarios challenge the loftiest of peace goals.

David Gittlin continues to grow these characters, their encounters with aliens of all kinds, and the goals that motivate them to work together.

Intriguing dialogues between these more experienced space-goers and newcomers inject novel considerations into issues of who is best suited for adaptation and who may struggle with challenging situations:

“I’m sorry you feel underestimated,” I say to Rhoanna, “but you must keep in mind that your role on our primary mission was to observe. If and when we host world leaders, then your expertise will come in handy. No one here is underestimating you. Your credentials are impeccable. However, Alana makes a good point about who should represent us. She adapts quickly.”

From a search for a vaccine and soldiers expert in ambush to the juxtaposition of mundane daily affairs with extraordinary situations, Gittlin injects wry humor into many of these encounters to provide comic relief:

Arcon floats into a corner of the living room set up as a mini breakfast area and lands in the center of the breakfast table. With his remarkable ability to manifest almost anything, which has come in handy in our many adventures, Arcon quickly produces two coffee cups and a silver coffee pot. For good measure, he makes three banana nut muffins.

Tension is nicely developed as the participants face new alien encounters, peace efforts, and conflict. Their special abilities come into play in surprising ways that keep their goals and strengths in sync with shifting circumstances and fresh developments.

Libraries seeing popularity with Gittlin’s prior Silver Sphere adventures will want to add Return to Aneleya to their collections for its compelling blend of science, human affairs, and alien encounters.

The fast-paced action and interplays between characters makes for a sci-fi adventure that is thought-provoking, yet fun—a thoroughly absorbing read that compliments others in the series while expanding its foundation to stand nicely in its own adventure for newcomers to Gittlin’s world.

Return to Aneleya

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The Timebreaker
Steven Cortinas
Independently Published
ASIN: ‎B0F6RTZ567 $2.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Timebreaker-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B0F6RTZ567

The Timebreaker is not just an individual. It’s a corporate strategy to send people back in time to their younger selves, there to change their pasts and live out a revised life in a different timeline. At least, that’s the intention of the program.

Enter disgraced political lawyer Sarah Salazar, who wants nothing more than to redo her life, returning to loved ones lost to time and creating a new future for herself.

As with any technology or endeavor, however, there are costs. And this one comes with a doozy of a price tag: the incarnation of Father Time himself, who is not pleased with all this time manipulation, and whose presence alters Sarah’s ability to change her world in the way she’d envisioned.

Steven Cortinas creates a powerful, satisfyingly different time travel dilemma which revolves around not just journeying to the past and making changes, but considering the ultimate impact of altering choices and facing the consequences.

The lyrical language used to describe these situations is evocative from the story’s opening lines in 2029 Houston:

A LIFELESS STREET on a lifeless day found a sad wreck of a woman rolling along in a wheelchair. No one else wanted to be on Cedillo Street, not even the vagrants one block over.

Another plus lies in how Cortinas contrasts past and present Sarah, probing her revised perceptions of events, her persona, and the influences that have directed her life:

...though neither of them ever admitted it, they knew in their hearts that if one of them trailed too far behind in the beauty department, it would’ve affected their place in the high school hierarchy. They were quite aware of how much that sucked, and yet they would’ve done nothing to fight it. The elder Sarah could acknowledge the cognitive dissonance. After all, beauty was beauty, people were human, and high school never ended. Period. Freshman year found Sarah having to decide what to do with her newfound sex appeal and desires.

Readers won’t anticipate insights on Latino culture, the injection of a Coordinator of these time dilemmas whose face-off with Father Time puts the travelers directly in the line of fire and conflict, or the conversations and revelations that come from two Sarahs entwining their worlds in new ways:

“...you were my hero. Seeing you just once in that hospital bed was all I needed. I didn’t ever wanna see you like that again. And when you came home, and you were snapping at everyone, I was over it. That’s when I leaned into the whole popular hot girl thing. I was gonna be Mom and Dad’s favorite now, and you being a dick made me feel less and less guilty.”

High school readers who love time travel stories will find unusual attraction here in the form of a middle-aged woman who returns to her teen self in search of revision. Adult time travel readers will appreciate the moral, ethical, and scientific dilemmas which emerge from traversing different timelines. And those seeking a solidly engrossing story that revolves around rule-breakers and revelations will find The Timebreaker compelling.

Libraries seeking a different time travel scenario in which revising the past brings with it trouble with a vengeance will want to add The Timebreaker to their collections as a standout example of how innovation and creative thinking can add twists to the usual time travel theme’s focus and characters.

Realistic and riveting, The Timebreaker proves hard to put down—or predict.

The Timebreaker

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Twenty-One Kills
Janice Boekhoff
Lost Canyon Press
978-1-948003-14-8 $14.99 Paperback/$3.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-One-Kills-Limit-Janice-Boekhoff/dp/1948003147

Twenty-One Kills is the second book in the Leap Limit sci-fi time travel/mystery series, breaking genre boundaries by offering a time travel adventure rooted in a serial killer investigation that takes many satisfyingly unexpected twists. This will intrigue readers who enjoy science and science fiction conundrums, as well as mystery enthusiasts looking for a powerful, original form of whodunit.

Physics major Mars Lockporte discovers that it’s not so easy to go back in time and prevent a murder when he returns to his present, only to find that another friend has vanished from memory as a result of his manipulations.

So when he becomes embroiled in a Montana serial killer’s burial grounds in the past 1970s, he’s well aware that simply involving authorities won’t be enough to either stop the murder spree or resolve the timeline in a manner that doesn’t impact something else.

Every choice delivers a consequence. The problem with time travel is that the results may not be fully known until one returns to the future. And that’s something Mars can neither predict with accuracy nor prevent from happening.

Janice Boekhoff steeps her story in a first-person perspective that brings the tension, characters, and dilemmas to life. The insights developed in the course of juggling different scenarios and possibilities for the future are powerfully delivered:

In this time period, knowledge of crime scene analysis, DNA, and victimology is limited. My knowledge is limited too. I only know what my sister Gaia rattled off to me from her crimejunkie shows, but that’s enough to realize the sum total of the evidence points to the rarest possibility...

History and mystery become compelling when presented in the form of personal experience. Letters from the past, observations of the future, and knowledge that whatever investigative route is chosen indicate that time has a way of correcting changes to conform to a preset outcome. If this notion were set in stone, Mars wouldn’t be trying so hard. And if it were easy to fix, he wouldn’t be so immersed in struggle.

Boekhoff builds satisfying tension in both mystery and scientific circles. This approach will delight readers from both genres. She embeds quandaries into the time travel scenario, dovetailing technological marvels in a particularly thought-provoking manner:

In an instant, the time and app data register in my mind, driving me to interesting conclusions. Measuring quantum waves is not an exact process. The app measures back ground quantum waves at a relative arbitrary value of fifty percent, indicating an average number of quantum wave phenomena. The app is programmed to alert when the percentage gets higher than seventy-five, meaning several quantum waves are superimposed upon each other. Now, it’s registering a level of ninety percent. That’s odd enough on its own, but to have elevated levels when I leaped to this time period and again at 1:07, ten minutes before I’m supposed to leap out? That’s too much of a coincidence.

The special blend of well-built tension, scientific and moral quandaries, problem-solving dilemmas, and fast-paced action will lead libraries to not only include Twenty-One Kills in their collections, but highly recommend it to a wide audience. This should ideally include book clubs looking for vivid discussion material wrapped in satisfyingly original quandaries and writing.

Twenty-One Kills

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Literature

Garden Tools: Poems
David W. Berner
Finishing Line Press
979-8-89990-131-7 $22.99
www.davidwberner.com
www.finishinglinepress.com/shop/

    Garden Tools: Poems is about more than tending a garden. It’s about attending to and supporting nature, nurture, and self in a mindful manner, fully experiencing the moments and possibilities of life in an evocative, revealing manner.

    Readers who might anticipate that these tools and approaches to life will revolve around land maintenance and plants alone will find that David W. Berner adopts a far wider-ranging inspection of different choices of nurture and adaptation. Thus, the free verse poems address different experiences, people, and topics with a sense of discovery and enlightenment that goes beyond the theme of a garden plot:

    Across the hill

    I see the man in a hooded coat

    surely wishing he had a quicker gait

    Along the path

    with the icy wind behind

    praying he will discover

    What he’d lost

    somewhere at the start

    when his heart had been broken

    When all seemed true

    and yet it never was

    and he aches with recognition

    Above all, Berner’s poems are atmospheric. They translate the seasons into the process of aging, acceptance, and change; they capture Midwest mornings and the heart of changing neighbors and environments with judicious explanation and description; and they represent diverse forms of beauty:

    The sun nestles in the cracks 

    of concrete monsters reaching for clouds...

    The result is a powerfully reflective collection that juxtaposes nature, man, and the human condition in a thought-provoking manner designed to appeal to a wide audience of poetry aficionados.

    Filled with compelling moments of frosty mornings or tornado warnings, Garden Tools: Poems will appeal to a wide audience of literary readers interested in the types of tools that translate to meditations on life experience and growth. It’s a fine selection for libraries interested in literary reflection accessible to poets and non-poets alike.

    Garden Tools: Poems

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    Porchlight
    P.S. Glyckherr
    Atmosphere Press
    979-8-89132-696-5
    $12.99 pb / $7.99 ebook / $21.99 hc
    www.atmospherepress.com

    Porchlight’s poems will especially delight spirituality readers with their faith-based focus on empowerment, tranquility, and understanding love and aging.

    P.S. Glyckherr blends these perceptions with life observations and autobiography to further reflect on survival tactics, being mindful and giving, and the impact of encounters with loved ones and others, such as the lasting scars of a father’s abandonment on mother and child:

    She became an orphan too – another victim … left alone.

    Orphans are a different species, you see – abandoned to grovel and beg in the most humiliating ways.

    Conveniently aborted outside the womb, they constantly grovel and pay

    From the impact of decisions to the power of love, Glyckherr considers life’s overall journey through light and darkness and the lasting allure of porch lights of faith and support which permeate the deepest realms of loss:

    I visited your memory address today and placed a flower in your vase – a yellow one like the sun …

    but of course, it wasn’t REAL.

    Until we speak again in person, my friend, I will visit your memory address often … and again I’ll bring you lovely FAKE flowers –

    for I remember you said not to pick the REAL ones … with God’s “most perfect scent.”

    The result is not simply an evocative, uplifting reflective collection, but a celebration of the people, places, and perspectives that comprise life between birth and death.

    Libraries seeking free verse contemporary poetry collections to recommend to patrons, which are free of jargon and strong in emotional reflection, will find Porchlight especially attractive as a faith-supporting survey of wellsprings of strength and survival wrapped in a shining metaphor of hope.

    Porchlight

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    Singing the Forge: Poems
    G.H. Mosson
    David Robert Books/Word Tech Communications, LLC
    9781625494801 $18.25
    www.davidrobertbooks.com

The literary intention of G.H. Mosson with his free verse and metrical poetry collection Singing the Forge is to create works that capture shifting seasons, memories, locales, and life experiences. These come from the vantage point of age and reflection, capturing not just people and places, but the very essence of landscapes.

One powerful example of this approach resides in ‘Leaving the Black Hills’:

Worn obelisks of black granite/bake beneath barely touching, thin pines/like jaw-bones of fossilized gods/among cows, deer, buffalo, us.

G.H. Mosson doesn’t limit his reflections to childhood and bygone homesteads, but enters into military service, ghosts, dreams where “I, too, dress/for the known landscape,” and hotbeds of experience as childhood morphs into middle-age and the years pass.

Though reflective and autobiographical, ultimately these poems cultivate an acceptance of life and people’s passages and transformations where “my youth took a breath and was swept/through the storm of accident.”

While Mosson's poems range from Cape Cod to Long Island and from Oregon to Mexico to South Dakota, both Washington D.C. and Baltimore, Maryland recur as richly rendered settings for these explorations of feeling and change.

Libraries seeking accessible poetry that demonstrates an especially notable ability to steep readers in the progression of life, the evolution of values surrounding it, and the advancing years will find Mosson’s work highly recommendable. It will reach both literary audiences and general-interest readers who may normally eschew poetry as being too complex and intellectually inaccessible for ordinary readers.

Filled with reflective, gentle journeys, Singing the Forge is not only compelling and accessible, but immersive.

Singing the Forge: Poems

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Singing Riptide
Cheryl Wilder
Press 53, LLC
978-1-950413-99-7 $17.95
https://www.press53.com/cheryl-wilder

Singing Riptide accompanies the prior memoir-in-verse Anything That Happens, which chronicled the root of Cheryl Wilder’s shame: She got behind the wheel when she was too drunk to drive, crashed the car into a pole, and her friend in the passenger seat suffered a life-altering brain injury. This poetry collection takes the next step in discovery and recovery by incorporating some of the lessons Wilder emerged with, from forgiveness and contentment to examining an absent father’s impact on her life.

The poems move through grief, acceptance, reflection, and growth, leading readers into territory they may need to navigate themselves—so the collection is not without its emotional turbulence along with life lessons.

One example is “For Years I Pull My Existence Out of Emptiness,” which considers:

Emptiness engorged with darkness

by which I mean

guilt, by which I mean

shame—

the way it holds on. Emptiness

from which I pull existence

with every slid-open eyelid

every morsel that quenches my lips

Readers reflecting on the outcome and progression of Wilder’s life can’t help but draw close connections between her self-analysis and their own worlds. This may prove triggering to some but ultimately provides a blueprint of life understanding that marries the literary countenance of free verse with the psychological growth of self-inspection and realization.

Libraries seeking emotionally driven reflections on guilt, recovery, and moving onward and upward should make Singing Riptide part of any collection strong in contemporary free verse poetry.

Replete with reflective moments and sometimes-unexpected connections between life events, past perception, and the outcomes of good and bad choices, Singing Riptide is an astute and accessible attraction for readers interested not just in literature, but in psychological revelation.

Singing Riptide

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Swimming in Words
Luke Icarus Simon
Stirling Publishing Australia
978 0 99 451 82 62
$26.99 Hardcover/$19.95 Paperback/$15.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Swimming-Words-New-Selected-Poems/dp/0994518285?sr=8-1

Swimming in Words: New and Selected Poems gathers old and new poems that will appeal to any literary reader interested in Australian modern poetry and works that juxtapose life experience with philosophical reflection.

It doesn’t limit its subjects and observations to Luke Icarus Simon’s native land, but explores Easter Island, the French capital, the Greek Islands, and other milieus with an eye to reflective introspection that is thought provoking and often critical:

We had brand clothes on

A signature scent costing over a hundred dollars

Expensive haircuts equal to a salary in some cities

We are Proust’s disciples

Re-incarnated for our own diseased times

From being bombarded by ads, images, and expectations to tracing history apart from personal experience, Swimming in Words captures and creates the feeling of personal and cultural history.

The powerful impact of abuses from rape to humiliation comes to light against the backdrop of family, other countries, and other perspectives. Swimming in Words minces no words, pulls no punches, and is a powerful testimony to survival and love.

Libraries interested in poetry that sizzles with emotional and cultural impact will find Swimming in Words a fine acquisition that outlines journeys of faith, survival, adaptation, and celebration.

Readers seeking accessible poetry collections that deliver their power in short staccato lines of confrontation and realization will appreciate the immersive journey that Swimming in Words captures with delightful observation, philosophical reflection, and thought-provoking wonder.

Swimming in Words

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A Whiteman’s Burden
Charles Beadle
Edited with Annotations and an Afterword by Rob Couteau
Dominantstar
978-1-963363-04-3 $19.95
www.robcouteau.com

    A Whiteman’s Burden was first published in 1912, when African sleeping sickness raged through the sites of Charles Beadle’s various African expeditions. The fictional representation of this milieu and his experiences in A Whiteman’s Burden creates a thought-provoking story set in 1904-06, the time frame of Beadle’s own journey. It brings to life the contrasts between and dilemmas of the white man’s expeditions into deepest, darkest Africa.

    Here, a deadly illness has ravaged the native population and is now making headway among colonists who had believed themselves immune to the disease. Issues of survival and racial perceptions of life and death rage alongside the illness, adding existential strength and depth to a tale of adventure, exploration, and angst.

    An unexpected focus on points of co-mingling, contrasting viewpoints, shared experiences that bring to light different ways of confronting life and death, and the disparate experiences and insights of men and women are transmitted through characters whose perceptions are oftentimes surprising.

    Embedded within these encounters are social and political reflections which emerge from privilege and African native encounters alike:

    A police “boy” stood at the corner of the verandah, pointing with one hand, saying: “A whiteman is coming! “

    Fedden and Father Anthony walked round the verandah together and saw the weary, hot figure of the Rev. Blackber hastening down the path. As he approached they saw that he appeared excited and very anxious. He shouted as he came up: “The rebellion! the rebellion!”

    By including the reflections and observations of women as well as men, Beadle expands the potential of understanding this environment in a valuable manner:

    That she could not solve the problem maddened her. What could be the reason? Not Sula – those sort of people, she thought, can always be compensated with money. It is quite the customary thing. At the phrase she thought of the expression “sanctified by custom,” and smiled dully in her pain, pondering vaguely where the line of sanctity began and ended.

    Libraries seeking literary works about turn-of-the-century Africa and the colonists and natives whose lives intersected around illness and struggle will find A Whiteman’s Burden exceptional. This stems from both its setting and its juxtaposition of characters buffeted as much by their own prejudices and perspectives as by an illness which feels unconquerable.

    Replete with philosophical, cultural, moral, and historical insights, A Whiteman’s Burden is highly recommended not just for leisure readers seeking an adventure story of African exploration, but to book clubs interested in thought-provoking existential examinations that can provoke lively debates and discussions about hazardous worlds and equally deadly prejudices.

    A Whiteman’s Burden

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Biography & Autobiography


Art & Love: My Life Illuminated in Egg Tempera
Lora Arbrador
Sycamore Press
979-8-9909469-1-0
Ebook - $5.95; Paperback - $25.95; Hardback: -  $55.95 Deluxe coffee table edition; Audiobook: - $9.95
www.arbrador.com    

Art & Love: My Life Illuminated in Egg Tempera is a memoir enhanced by poetry by Ilse Lehnert, pairing several kinds of art reflections with the efforts of an author who falls in love with the egg tempera painting technique in college and pursues her art for many years with neither a mentor nor a guide.

Complicating her efforts is an underlying conviction that she holds little talent in art, which adds a layer of introspection and growth to her artistic pursuit that will resonate with many who are attracted to the arts, yet believe themselves to be non-artists.

Art & Love was originally conceived to profile Lora Arbrador’s art, but in crafting this portfolio, she found its examination and impact involved much more than egg tempera work alone. Within her pursuit are growth opportunities, reflections on changing times and life challenges, and how her art traverses and reflects social condition and experience.

Chapters fold and form like origami, with each revealing a new facet of opportunity and insight that neatly builds artistic and psychological character.

From early art lessons, which her parents appreciated more than she did, to a budding young passion that builds despite the fact that her parents think she really has little talent, Arbrador’s memoir offers all kinds of insights into character-building, support systems, artistic influences, and self-determination.

Her life evolves around art and as she discovers other artists and works, such as the Norwegian “pillow painters,” Arbrador expands her paintings, her perspective, and her life in ways readers will find especially evocative.

One needn’t be an artist in order to appreciate her journey. It’s one replete with hard-hitting images and accompanying self-reflections which take the form of sketches and finished pieces juxtaposed with equally powerful text, as in the section reflecting on her child’s birth:

“Art gives me the opportunity to fantasize a hazardous birth without the dire consequences of dangerous reality.”

From experiments with intimate relationships, sexual boundaries, and alternative lifestyles represented in the late 1960s to taking sixteen years to complete just four paintings in her Ways of Dying series, Arbrador vividly explores the fine art of creation on many different levels.

Libraries seeking an artist’s journal and memoir which is packed with black and white and color images, equally vibrant reflections of social and psychological transformation, and in-depth descriptions of working with the egg tempera medium as well as a sense of self will find Art & Love easily recommendable to both artists and non-artists.

To let it simply repose in the art section would be to do Art & Love a grave disservice. It ideally will be profiled as a powerful marriage of art and life, and highly recommended to book clubs interested in the arts, memoirs, self-examination, and growth.

Packed with artistic and personal revelations, Art & Love is exquisitely detailed, personally absorbing, and artistically relevant and powerful.

Art & Love: My Life Illuminated in Egg Tempera

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Blood & Hate
Dave Wedge
Hamilcar Publications
978-1-949590-84-5
$28.39 Hardcover/$21.31 Paperback
www.hamilcarpubs.com

Boxers involved in sports history may think they already well know the epic matches fought by Marvelous Marvin Hagler, but ironically, they are less likely to be privy to his greatest battle of all, outlined in Blood & Hate. These are racial struggled which pushed Hagler from the riots of New Jersey in the 1960s to rigged matches where prejudice influenced outcomes over prowess.

Dave Wedge’s biography should thus attract much more than a singular audience of boxing enthusiasts alone, delving into the war-torn world of riots, martial law, anger and revenge, and how these events spilled into the boxing world to influence Hagler’s battles there.

From the start, Wedge adopts the “you are here” feel of fiction with all of its drama and personal perspectives:

Despite giving up six inches, Marvin did not back down. Marvin had an angry streak and a reckless side and was not afraid to fight. After all, he had just escaped some of the worst rioting the nation had ever seen. What was some punk in a Brockton apartment to him?

”He had everyone scared of him,” Hagler said. “But he didn’t scare me. Coming from New Jersey like I did, if I didn’t get you one way, I got you another. I hit you in the head with a bottle, or a brick. But I’ll gitcha!”

Interviews with Hagler and memories of his confrontations thus permeate the story with vivid blows of realization and racial inspection which lend this boxer’s biography a powerfully realistic consideration of these mean streets of American and how they shape lives and attitudes.

Wedge conducted interviews with major influencers in Hagler’s life, from Hagler himself to promoter Bob Arum, the Petronelli and Hagler families, and other major participants in the boxing world. These flush out the story with vivid experiences and insights gleaned not from speculation, but the motivations and observations of those who were involved in Hagler’s life in many different ways.

Black and white photos throughout capture these individuals and solidify a sense of time and place as Wedge traverses behind-the-scenes boxing and personal life influences to create a well-rounded perspective of Hagler’s life and times beyond his legendary fights, including the big Minter fight but not limiting its focus to this milestone alone.

The narrative embraces the world of Black experience, friendships and influencers, and the boxing world’s underbelly which receives candid and thought-provoking reflection:

Fighters ducked Marvin and promoters avoided him. Whether the rigged ABC tournament was designed specifically to keep Marvin out is debatable. It was certainly convenient to not have Marvin in it, and beneficial to King to not have a fighter not under his control in the tournament, knocking his guys out of it and possibly unconscious. Either way, it was all skulduggery and Marvin was collateral damage.

The result is a vivid boxing story that libraries should consider not just adding to their sports collections but profiling on display as a vivid account of how one great boxer rose above prejudice, racism, and preconceptions to make a name for himself among many circles, creating lasting friendships and relationships that rose above racism to cement his place in the world and support his achievements.

Inspirational, moving, eye-opening and vivid, Blood & Hate isn’t just another boxer bio, but a story of overcoming and achievement that deserves profile in book clubs and reading groups and to be incorporated in high school to college classrooms as an outstanding example of what it means to score big in the ring and in life.

Blood & Hate

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    Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass: A Voyage Through Grief
    R.B. Bunn
    R.B. Bunn Books
    979-8-89940-471-9 $10.99 Print 2.99 Ebook
    https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Sea-Glass-Voyage-Through-ebook/dp/B0F5YJKN28

    Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass: A Voyage Through Grief is a memoir and grief study that centers on R.B. Bunn’s loss of his uncle to addiction. It assumes the form of a poetry collection of powerful, hard-hitting reflections on the subject. These poems carry readers from any preconceived notions of addiction to personalize the countenance and life of a beloved family member, introducing the man, in ‘The Helper,’ as:

    Providing help to others was his life

    Continuously – whatever the strife

    His goals of love were shared for free

    His generous heart, no hyperbole

    Despite this man’s ability to give, he is unable to accept the kind of support that would resolve his addictive decline—an irony Bunn deftly portrays not just poetically, but with a series of observations about the process of his uncle’s slow descent.

    ‘Dandelion Wine’ is another reflective piece that employs poetic metaphor in a connection to life that ripples with emotional angst and craving:

    Your life’s water runs hot, bubbling up

    Draining the essence from your old petals

    Leaving your head bare, leaving you threadbare

    As you’re up to your neck in scalding life

    Life gave you lemons, so you threw them out

    But they landed in the water, leaching

    Their bitter flavor, reaching toward you

    The breadth of these encounters and memories, whether they assume the form of the immediacy of ‘Smoke,’ where “Tense hugs peppered with boozy breath,” or ‘Futile Games’ in which the narrator plays Russian roulette “knowing any question would kill,” is notable and striking.

    The scope and presentation of these poems is both literary, psychologically contemplative, and socially astute as Bunn translates his uncle’s world, relationships, and connections into a form that represents both memory and a literary portrait.

    Libraries seeing poetic representations of addiction, grief, struggle, and interpersonal relationships will find Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass especially recommendable to literary audiences seeking to expand the nature and representation of memoirs or stories of addiction.

    Replete with simmering moments in an addict’s life and the observations and quandaries facing those who love him, Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass is a study in contrasts. It deserves a spot in any literary or general-interest library, accessible to readers who seek a special approach to understanding the circumstances, conundrums, and interactions between addiction and love.

    Crossing the Sea of Shattered Glass: A Voyage Through Grief in Egg Tempera

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    FEARLESS: A Biography of Edna O'Brien
    Cathy Curtis
    Atmosphere Press
    979-8-89132-538-8
    $19.99 pb, $8.99 ebook, $28.99 hc
    www.atmospherepress.com

    FEARLESS: A Biography of Edna O'Brien is the first full-length life inspection (apart from O’Brien’s own memoir Country Girl) to consider the evolution of her literary style and the impact of life events on her writings.

    Cathy Curtis draws important connections between the two, adding the personal facts and background which will lend to re-reading O’Brien’s writings with better knowledge of the experiences and influences which prompted them.

    This is not to say that there hasn’t been previous interest in O’Brien’s life and times— or previous explorations of them. O’Brien’s The Country Girls emerged in the 1960s to make her a celebrity around the world. Not reclusive about her opinions or personal life, O’Brien presented a countenance to the world that nonetheless masked numerous aspects of her life experience, from an abusive marriage to her feelings about her own country’s initial negative response to her novel.

    O’Brien’s life evolved against a backdrop of changing Irish culture and politics. This influenced her subjects, focus, and perception of what it meant to be Irish in such a changing world.

    Thus is biography steeped in responses to the times which lend a deeper understanding of her works and literary devices:

    Her lingering insecurity about relying solely on her own opinions and her need to ground them in a revered literary tradition can be seen in her references—heavy baggage in such a lightweight article— to Plato, Oscar Wilde, Chekhov, Byron, Dickens, Henry James, and Graham Greene. Whether consciously or not, her habit of citing famous male writers in her magazine journalism was a way of bolstering her intellectual credibility as someone who lacked a university degree. There are never any women in this pantheon; while the notion that “great men” are the most reliable sources of wisdom had been widely challenged, Edna— always more partial to and patient with men than women— was not one to jump on that bandwagon.

    From how she confronted the standards and prejudices of her times to choices in depicting characters and publishing different kinds of writings, O’Brien’s works evolve against the backdrop of her life with a greater degree of understandable choices than prior readers of her literature may have anticipated.

    The result is a study of utmost importance to any library strong in O’Brien’s writings and times. Librarians that add FEARLESS: A Biography of Edna O'Brien to their collections will not only want to highly recommend it to students of O’Brien’s works, but to reading groups and classrooms discussing her writings. These audiences will find this biography far more revealing as a wellspring of O’Brien’s literary prowess than might initially be anticipated.

    FEARLESS is the perfect adjunct to any serious consideration of Edna O’Brien’s times, literature, and ultimate wellsprings of genius.

    FEARLESS: A Biography of Edna O'Brien

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    The Maps They Gave Us: One Marriage, Reimagined
    Wayne Scott
    Black Lawrence Press
    978-1-62557-154-0 $27.95
    www.blacklawrencepress.com

The Maps They Gave Us: One Marriage, Reimagined is a memoir that explores the complexities of intimacy, what it means to be queer in a mixed-orientation marriage, and consensual non-monogamy. It serves as an important discussion point and roadmap to understanding the intersection of social expectation, self, and relationship connections, considering relationship-building and deconstruction in the course of finding one’s way.

From its opening lines, Wayne Scott’s evocative penchant for lyrical description is evident, bringing his story to life:

It is odd that to get a divorce you walk side-by-side to a common destination. The weight of memory colors the trek with flashes of other tandem journeys (first visit to the pediatrician, new infant in tow; mountain hikes through fields of yellow balsam roots and purple lupines, toddler in backpack, baby in sling; a wait in line to see the Indigo Girls for the tenth time). The heaviness of it presses down, overwhelms you, make you breathless, because today there is only a jaggedness to your emotions, wisps of conversation that don’t feel ordinary despite their ordinariness...

As Scott considers his need for male companionship in its various incarnations, the rituals and challenges marriage can introduce to all kinds of relationships in the gay world, and circumstances in which he experiences “places where I’d become a fussy gay consumer and a married man in love” in the murky world of bisexuality, the strength of his choices and their impacts come to life.

There are plenty of memoirs on the market about gay lifestyle, but far fewer about less linear love. From the complexities of honing a mixed-orientation marriage to how therapy helps the couple embrace themselves and each another, The Maps They Gave Us outlines a journey of self-discovery, societal convention and misunderstandings, and revelation.

Along the way, obsessions, adaptations, and new realizations emerge. This will attract a wide range of readers interested in how marriages can work either conventionally or unconventionally.

Libraries interested in memoirs about all kinds of relationships will find The Maps They Gave Us stands out from the crowd not just because of its subject, but because of its descriptive language:

I disliked David, it was true, but I resembled him: a body trapped in history. I was searching for a revelation that would make it easier to live with this swirl of contradictions: to be in love with Eva; to feel this other furious desire, for so many things, in so many directions; to feel criminal and ashamed, as if it was my inheritance, even though all I had done was to be born in a restless body.

As a chronicle of therapy, love, growth, and marital understanding, The Maps They Gave Us deserves special mention in psychological circles and among reading groups considering different lifestyles that can be undertaken during the course of relationship-building.

The Maps They Gave Us: One Marriage, Reimagined

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Nineteen, A Daughter's Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery
Leslie Johansen Nack
She Writes Press
978-1647429966
$17.95 paperback/ $12.99 Ebook/$21.95 Audio
Website: www.lesliejohansennack.com
Ordering: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Nineteen/Leslie-Johansen-Nack/9781647429966

    Nineteen, A Daughter's Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery is a hard-hitting memoir of family patterns and how a daughter seeking to escape them winds up immersed in a life which, instead, reflects them.

    Leslie Nack’s family was influenced by a mentally ill, alcoholic mother and an abusive father. When she left home, it was to become involved with an older man who not only felt familiar, but led her to become an addict, herself.

    Her downward spiral after her father dies in a plane crash in Mexico leads to a heady spin into new possibilities—but not before Leslie almost suffers irreversible battering from her own life choices.

    Recovery must rest on a foundation. Leslie’s journey to finding what foundation is right for her and how to build and rely on it so she can dig her way out of her addiction and toxic connections makes for a gripping read that many readers will readily relate to:

    Whenever I spiraled into self-hate like this, I couldn’t stop myself from piling all the mistakes I’d ever made on top of this one. Stopping it was like trying to grab something slippery headed down the drain. The burden grew heavier inside.

    Nack’s descriptions of her family’s involvement in her recovery ideals and process and their own dysfunctional dialogues are particularly thought-provoking:

    “What’s he doing here?” Mom said with a sneer on her face for Dad. “He’s driving us. Leave him alone,” I said. I didn’t mean to sound angry, but this was ridiculous.

    Mom reacted immediately. “He’s the devil, you know. He’s always in disguise, watching and waiting to inflict his pain on us.”

    Nobody responded, and Dad didn’t laugh.

    Of special note is how these dialogues, discord, and connections impact Leslie’s ability to see and seek recovery avenues for herself.

    Readers that choose Nineteen, A Daughter's Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery should be prepared for a powerful survey of regret, remorse, reaction, and recovery analysis. It poses many important questions about what becomes a lifelong pursuit to “make sense of what happened to me in the first twenty-five years of my life.”

    Libraries that choose Nineteen, A Daughter's Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery will find it recommendable to patrons seeking recovery from their own family patterns, but will want to caution that this is not an easy linear journey. It’s a hard-hitting read that will lead them to question their own pasts and the foundations they’ve rested upon for survival.

    Filled with engrossing moments of reflection and self-inspection, Nineteen, A Daughter's Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery follows, better than most, the process of working through past influence to recognize, focus on, and develop healthier future possibilities. It is highly recommended as a potential blueprint for discovery.

    Nineteen, A Daughter's Memoir of Reckoning and Recovery

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    Out of the Cocoon: The Journey to Becoming
    Rosemary Esehagu
    Manhattan Book Group
    9781962987127 $14.50 Paperback/$23.99 Hardcover Price: $14.50
    Website: www.rosemaryesehagu.com
    Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DVV1BK6R

    Out of the Cocoon: The Journey to Becoming pairs poetry and memories in a survey designed to be both literary and revealing for memoir readers interested in writings that explore childhood trauma, adult healing, and adopting a form of self-love that is both protective and transformational.

    As Rosemary Esehagu moves out of her cocoon, readers receive a juxtaposition of prose followed by reinforcing poetry sections that pair personal experience with reflections on the healing process.

    Esehagu’s message is clear: anyone can reconstruct themselves, as she did. What this effort takes is a lot of self-inspection, wisdom, support, and a determination to move away from the miseries of the past and into new opportunities, however frightening they may be, in the present.

    Esehagu is clear about how she healed from trauma, delineating four specific pathways to recovery that readers can absorb—the anchor of faith or another’s support (in her case, God); a “tribe” of supportive friends and/or family invested in her wellbeing; a revised vision of what a “healed me” could look like; and acceptance of her “abused self” as a valid contrast between past experience and current being.

    These and other lessons provide readers with similar backgrounds with insights into the recovery process, delivered through vignettes of experience and psychological and philosophical insight.

    Plenty of memoirs explore relationships between trauma, recovery, growth, and new ideals. Few frame them in such a way that others can follow in these footsteps to better understand love, faith, healing and dysfunction, and the growth-inducing process of cultivating hope and new directions.

    Libraries seeking a more literary exploration of all these facets of recovery will want to acquire and recommend Out of the Cocoon for its intriguing insights into new truths and revised visions of living a good life. Its poetic, contemplative passages represent a fine juxtaposition between autobiography and philosophical, healing reflection:

    I learn. I see. It’s all upside down.

    What is knowledge is really upside down truth.

    Out of the Cocoon: The Journey to Becoming

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    Raising the Ruby Tuesday
    Marlena Evangeline
    Celtic Light Press, LLC
    978-0-9672425-2-1
    https://marlenaevangeline.com/

Raising the Ruby Tuesday is a memoir about boats, recovery, and a woman’s determination to build a boat in a male-dominated world. It is presented in the form of a journal and poetry.

Diary entries are free-flowing. Some are dated; some are undated. Each section concludes with a reflective poem that reinforces events and feelings. The evolution of Marlena Evangeline’s experience takes the form of an emotional collage of dialogues and encounters.

Her evocative writing style is evident from the memoir’s opening lines:

The scent of night sea saturated midnight as I looked over the prow of my boat, finally, finally after four years of hammering, pounding, screwing, sanding, drilling - being scrapped hammered bruised beaten exhausted work worn ridiculed and tarnished by boat work and boat men – my boat rocked in the wide dark sea.

In contrast, the poems are steeped in atmosphere and delivered with a backdrop of connections that reinforce the natural milieu of a boat and the world it sails though:

A snake of yellow sun twines the branch/Of day, hangs python-like from daws tree

Another strength to her memoir that will especially attract boaters and women who live on vessels lies in the contrast between emotional connection, reaction, and the watery home of boat and sailor:

My own messes had grown beyond me, the boat is a wreck, the work the supposed shipwright down was so substandard to be absurd someone wanted payment for it. Anger seemed better than grief. I keep the anger let go of the grief.

The Port still held its undeniable beauty. The ocean beyond unpredictable as ever, the mist comforting, the pelicans their usual awkward selves. I sat on the bow drinking a glass of wine, relieved to be able to breath once again, to recognize beauty, to acknowledge sadness its diminished place. Over the water the shine of the evening moon.

These elements make Raising the Ruby Tuesday an outstanding read for a wide audience, from boaters and females who tackle traditionally male jobs to enthusiasts of the water and women interested in how life and boats intersect.

Librarians will thus find far more of interest and value in Raising the Ruby Tuesday than its addition to memoir collections alone, and will want to highly recommend it to women pursuing their own dreams or navigating the waters of life and adversity.

Filled with struggle, reflection, an appreciation of boats, nature and water, and a determination to succeed against any odds, Raising the Ruby Tuesday’s delightful narrative brings readers right onto the docks of one woman’s experience. Its inspirational moments of discovery and achievement can be enjoyed vicariously or used as a blueprint for the future.

Raising the Ruby Tuesday

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There’s a Glob On My Wing
Marion Joile Lincoln
Atmosphere Press
979-8-89132-652-1 $13.99pb, $22.99hc, $7.99 ebook
www.atmospherepress.com

    There’s a Glob On My Wing is the hard-hitting memoir of a mother who struggles to protect her daughter from abuse by the child’s father. The subject may sound all too familiar, as too many other women have struggled with similar or the same issues—but a big difference here lies in how Marion Joile Lincoln was actually a child protective services professional well cognizant of what the system could do to help them. Yet, she still fell into some surprising cracks in the system that actually worked against her efforts despite all of her knowledge.

    This raises important questions about child protective efforts as a whole as Lincoln’s journey unfolds. Even more importantly, she wrote this story a long time ago, self-publishing it under a pen name where it was widely disbelieved and under-promoted. It republishes today, where its messages and experiences are not only still relevant, but are needed now more than ever.

    While guilt may play a part in Lincoln’s insistance that her experiences receive greater light of attention than in the past, they also highlight how two professional people still fall into trouble all too easily:

    Despite my clinical expertise in the field of Sexual Abuse, I did not protect my own child from abuse perpetrated by her father, a Paediatric specialist.

    Yes, the story takes place in Australia, which would seem to preclude some of its relevance to American audiences and systems. But, within this survey of psychological and professional atmospheres lies important lessons on infant abuse, family court system operations, perceptions, and impacts, and how parents struggling between personal lives and protective system functions can better navigate both.

    Who, then, will be the likely audience for this book? The list is endless. As is pointed out, this includes:

    ... relevant professional or social contact: babysitters, daycare staff, grandparents, family members, teachers, family law judges, sports coaches, medical practitioners, psychologists, mental health workers, police, paramedics, homeless-shelter staff...

    Among the lessons outlined here are how mothers can identify, listen to, and respond to their child’s report of abuse; how danger is ever-present even if abuse seems to be identified and resolved; and how to identify toxic “professional” counselors who inject their own assumptions and errors into reports of abuse:

    She replied that there was nothing I could say that would make her believe Tulsi had been abused. She said if I continued with this line of thought I would end up putting Tulsi in a mental institution. Why would I not take responsibility for the unfinished business of my relationship with Paul and leave my daughter out of it? Why was I trying so hard to convince her? She glanced at the clock. She added that now I had wasted her time, used up my daughter’s time, and made her late for her next and proper client.

    This is perhaps the hardest-hitting message of all—that the professionals employed to identify and navigate family issues and abuse are, themselves, often intrinsically flawed and, though being representatives of a protective system, can actually prove to become obstacles to safety and resolution.

    Libraries interested in acquiring and recommending a memoir that, though set in Australia, points out fallacies and problems in child protective efforts will find There’s a Glob On My Wing of special and additional interest to legal students and social workers.

    This audience will not only find Lincoln’s memoir eye-opening and compelling reading, but will want to consider her experiences via book clubs and reading groups concerned with family law, child protection efforts, and counseling issues.

    Eye-opening and revealing, There’s a Glob On My Wing details the kinds of fights between families and systems that often take place outside of courtrooms and within the walls of not just the home, but institutions theoretically designed to help.

    There’s a Glob On My Wing

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Mystery & Thrillers

Bye Bye Blackbird
Elizabeth Crowens
Level Best Books
978-1-68512-840-1 $16.95 Paperback/$5.99 eBook
Website: https://www.elizabethcrowens.com
Ordering:   https://www.amazon.com/Bye-Blackbird-Norman-Hollywood-Mystery/dp/1685128408

    Bye Bye Blackbird’s mystery is set in the 1940s, the Golden Age of Hollywood. Film star Humphrey Bogart discovers an ancient Egyptian hawk artifact on his doorstep containing a mummified black bird, worried that a murder will strike close to home. This portends more deaths, drawing the attention of B. Norman Investigations, which has already had a dead, unknown actress fall into their office with a dead bird stuffed in her coat.

    It seems a no-brainer for Bogie to hire Babs Norman and Guy Brandt to pursue the murderer, but more than birds of doom emerge as they uncover uncomfortable truths about Hollywood, special interests, and causes worth dying for.

    Birds permeate this story in a lovely manner that creates intrigue, surprising juxtapositions of topics and impact, and reflections that bring readers not just into Hollywood circles and mysteries, but the personal lives of this investigative duo.

    As the PIs delve into behind-the-scenes Hollywood relationships to expose long-simmering issues and conflicts, readers enjoy a lively probe into personal motivation and angst that supports the investigation with much food for thought about not just whodunit, but why.

    Elizabeth Crowens masterfully creates a plot replete with exciting personalities and shifting situations to keep mystery readers guessing. Her flavoring of these murders with Hollywood politics, personalities, and predicaments adds character to the overall intrigue.

    Libraries and readers seeking atmospheric mysteries that blend the backdrop of bygone times with compelling quirkiness and craziness will find Bye Bye Blackbird unique and well worth adding to their mystery collections.

    Filled with appealing personalities and atmosphere, the story will attract audiences interested in the intersection of history, mystery, and Hollywood conundrums.

    If you're a fan of Turner Classic Movies and the personal lives behind the scenes during the Golden Age of Hollywood, Bye Bye Blackbird is the book for you. 

    Bye Bye Blackbird

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    Castle Gap
    Andy Ivey
    Andy Ivey Text & Trade
    979-8-9985220-1-7 $19.99 Hardcover/$12.45 Paperback/$3.99 eBook
    https://www.amazon.com/Castle-Gap-Chase-Haven-Thriller/dp/B0F6TBNG73

Castle Gap is the first book in a thriller series that introduces Chase Haven, a Texan man whose girlfriend defies political interests, then vanishes. Chase becomes involved in the investigation that ensues, only to uncover a convoluted web of nefarious connections that keep unraveling more plots, perps, and possibilities.

Andy Ivey immerses Chase in politics from the story’s opening lines as Chase walks into a confrontational meeting involving an aging town and participants who hold special interests. A controversial airport loan involves the mayor, the city manager, and other meeting attendees in a rubber stamp process that Chase duly notes.

Ivey follows Chase through the town, painting inviting pictures of its environment:

Chase drove his truck out of town in the direction Tacy had gone. Once past the few homesteads and small businesses, there wasn’t anything but oil field roads until he reached the town of Crane.

Readers take a ride with Chase that turns into a roller coaster of confrontation as his investigation reveals undercurrents in this town that he’d never suspected. Rural politics and personalities come to life as battles emerge that had been fought silently and in a deadly manner.

Also notable are high-octane action and encounters that embroil Chase in personal confrontations to edge him not only closer to uncomfortable truths, but death:

Knowing he had to move to stay alive didn’t make his eyelids any lighter. Get up, Chase! Move! But he didn’t. He couldn’t. Even the ear-blistering report of two gunshots didn’t fill him with adrenaline.

The dance between city hall politics and everyday rural lives is nicely presented, engrossing readers in small-town Texan affairs.

Libraries seeking thrillers that embed their stories with farming and ranching concerns and the battles that emerge from outside influences on small town affairs will welcome how Castle Gap explores all these issues while placing one man in the center of emerging conflict.

Filled with powerful action and moral and ethical conundrums, Castle Gap is perfect, highly recommended reading for those who look for action cemented in realistic small town atmosphere.

Castle Gap

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The Dream Killer
Adam Cosco
Dillhead Books Press
9798307823187 $19.99 Paperback/$2.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Dream-Killer-Adam-Cosco/dp/B0DTTKCDMG

Imagine leading a quiet life—until a body found in the basement leads to trouble. That’s the experience of Ethan Webman in The Dream Killer, whose life is turned upside down by the requirement that he clear his name by becoming an investigator on his own case.

Ethan is forced into association with scientist James LaRoche, who has drawn dangerous connections between dreams and death. Then Ethan confronts a broader conspiracy which indicates his encounters may be only the tip of a dangerous iceberg of death.

Adam Cosco turns a murder mystery into a thriller as the unassuming Ethan becomes increasingly embroiled in circumstances not only beyond his control, but well past his understanding and experience.

Ethan questions his parentage and family connections, his faulty memories of his mother’s involvement with the murdered girl, and the nature of reality itself as he navigates unfamiliar territory and confronts dangers that hold no easy solutions.

Cosco builds tension as Ethan’s realizations trap him in unpredictable circumstances:

The words hit Ethan like a weight to the chest. His breath comes faster, shallower. The reality sinks in—no way out.

Is film producer Allard a “prophet marching toward a reckoning” as Ethan’s world spirals out of control, or is he involved in forces that lead Ethan to think that he’s losing his mind? What does Sophia Labelle’s probe of the long-forgotten story of scientist LaRoche, the man who has connected the waking life and the dream world, have to do with Ethan’s predicament? Was the man a visionary of ‘dream traveling’ possibilities, or a portent of the Dream Killer that’s now invading the world?

Libraries seeking stories that open as murder mysteries but quickly transform into psychological examinations of conspiracies, science, human conditions, and motives for murdering in extraordinary ways will find The Dream Killer a powerful collection addition.

Replete with high-octane action tempered by intriguing psychological inspection, The Dream Killer is hard to put down or predict. It’s the perfect item of choice for readers who like their mysteries steeped in bigger-picture conundrums and thinking.

The Dream Killer

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The House on Chambers Road
C. J. McGroarty
Literary Wanderlust
978-1956615494 $17.99 Paperback/$6.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/House-Chambers-Road-C-McGroarty/dp/1956615490

The House on Chambers Road is a ghost story about grieving widow Libby Casey, who buys an old 18th century house on the edge of town to escape the realities of her husband’s death, only to find that it hisses and shimmers with whispers, apparitions, and strange atmosphere.

Research shows that the house and its builder have kept a secret almost as powerful as the one she harbors with her husband’s death. But as much as she amasses knowledge about the nature of the ghosts which haunt her in various ways, she seems helpless to change their prediction:

Take heed, for you shall be troubled all your days.

Her inherent interest in history due to her historical design background lends to investigating the house’s past. Her probe comes full circle to dovetail with her own situation and struggles.

C. J. McGroarty creates a compelling tale that will interest fans of ghost stories and historical fiction readers as well as those struggling over family secrets or grief. All these elements dovetail in a survey packed with discoveries that pit the protagonist against more than one kind of spirit.

The tension is well-developed, the plot develops intrigue both historical and psychological, and the investigations hold satisfying twists and turns that even savvy readers may not see coming.

Whether readers choose The House on Chambers Road for its ghostly elements and mystery or for its satisfying historical research efforts, its conjoined connections between past and present experience that lend to different forms of haunting will widely appeal.

Librarians that choose The House on Chambers Road for their collections will want to highly recommend it to leisure readers, mystery and ghost story enthusiasts, and patrons looking for vivid stories of recovery, redemption, and realization.

The House on Chambers Road

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Hummingbird Moonrise
Sherri L. Dodd
Black Rose Writing
978-1-68513-658-1 $22.95 Paperback/$5.99 eBook
www.blackrosewriting.com

    As the third book in the Murder, Tea & Crystals series, Hummingbird Moonrise retains the charm and attraction of its predecessors while expanding its mystery in a methodical, engrossing series of events.

    The last years have changed Arista Kelly ... and not always for the better. Facing darkness involves a readjustment of life attitude that can be challenging, at best. She’s helped by family and boyfriend, but when her Great Aunt Bethie’s friend Iris vanishes, she is once again pulled into the darkness where resolution seems elusive and angst ever-prevalent.

    At this point, it should be advised that Hummingbird Moonrise is not intended as a quick read. ‘Methodical’ translates as much to the delivery as the tone of the story, which arrives in the form of three very different viewpoints and accents—Arista’s Irish-American great-great-grandfather, the Scottish-American accent of her new friend, and the Cockney accent of her boyfriend. All these are duly captured to reinforce characters, origins, and atmosphere, rewarding in rich depth for what little they demand of readers to slow down and smell the roses of other cultures and accents:

    “Feedin’ the dogs. Oi’ll be back,” Barry announced, his long i’s still harboring his Irish accent.

    As hummingbird visions lead to new trouble and truths, the mystery simmers with possibilities and twists that offer unexpected contrasts as Arista navigates past, present, and future experiences:

    She drowned out worries by reminiscing about the not-so-distant days of kind Mr. Tessay and Albert coming into Cosmic Prisms in Sedona with rosewrapped sage kits. Without Mr. Tessay, she had no one to practice her sign language with, and she missed it. And Stevie, her former co-worker who possessed unending sass. She really needed to touch base with him, as they had not talked since she left.

    The result is a powerful metaphysical murder journey that leads to new definitions of better lives, family, kindness, and confronting the murderous intentions of spirit.

    Libraries in possession of the prior series titles will find Hummingbird Moonrise a ‘must have’ not only to complete the trilogy, but to take full advantage of the rising tide of possibilities which set foundations in the past books, and which rise to a crescendo here.

    Replete with action, powerful characters whose ethnic diversity lends rich insight and feeling to the story, and an age-old curse that influences generations, Hummingbird Moonrise is a gripping story highly recommended for readers of Gothic novels, supernatural tension, and powerful mysteries that evolve beyond questions to delve into the roots of intriguing answers.

    Hummingbird Moonrise

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    Kidnap
    David Nees
    Independently Published
    979-8284646434 $16.49 Paperback/$3.99 eBook
    Website: www.davidnees.com
    Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/stores/David-Nees/author/B01DQYPYAM

Kidnap is the tenth book in the Dan Stone Assassin series, and continues to expand his persona and action with scenarios that challenge Stone’s world and life. Here, jihadists are hard at work on another plot to disrupt the world. If successful, Europe will be in chaos. Dan is busy navigating political obstacles in the U.S., but his mission requires him to be in two places at once as he fields adversity at home and abroad.

The saga opens with George Bixby, who exits a Paris bistro unaware that his life is about to change. A quick kidnapping, a murder, and flight cement the fact that George is in deep trouble.

Chapter 2 introduces Dan, who is eagerly anticipating a visit from the orphan daughter he’s adopted. He can’t wait to show her around Venice, his adopted home.

Unfortunately, as in the previous Stone books, he’s diverted from home life to political and terrorist concerns, his prowess tapped to take him away from the people and places he loves and into dark avenues of danger.

As in the previous books, David Nees creates exquisite tension that comes from juxtaposing daily lives and personal relationships with the charge to resume his role as the Angel of Death even though he is older and wants to slow down.

Intrigue builds in a powerful and unpredictable way as Dan embarks on harrowing travels complete with a cover as an adventure tourist podcaster, only to encounter forces that test friendships, teams, and everything he relies on and loves in his world.

Imagine a situation where the hero is forced to traverse environments he doesn’t love and set aside the things he does love. Dan is pulled in different directions in the course of his pursuits, which in turn impacts everyone around him.

Libraries either seeing satisfaction with prior Dan Stone titles or looking for a powerful stand-alone thriller steeped in intrigue and action-packed twists will welcome Kidnap onto their thriller shelves.

Replete with questions about where he’s going and what the ultimate outcome will be, Kidnap introduces social, political, and relationship dilemmas that not only test character resolve, ethics, and abilities, but draw readers into situations where Dan “must move between the realms of order and chaos in the extreme. It would be easy to lose your humanity.”

How can you live with yourself if your morals are always in question? How can family be formed, maintained, or survive under such conditions? The answers are fascinating and elevate the thriller beyond Dan’s action-packed encounters.

Kidnap

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Lies Lost and Found
Jacqueline Boulden
Pine Place Press
979-8-9860384-6-9 $16.99 Paperback/$3.99 eBook
www.jacquelineboulden.com

    Lies Lost and Found is the second book in the Lake Amelia mystery series. Photojournalist Rose Webber has been sidelined from her job by an injury, but finds that her investigative nose for trouble is still all too active when she uncovers a stash of hidden money and a note in her late father’s den.

    These raise more questions about her past. Even though her father has been dead for fifteen years, Rose still harbors painful memories about her father’s past, his secrets, and truths which impact her to this day.

    Rose and her brother Kirk have inherited more than the family house. They’ve inherited a peck of problems along with it, introducing questions and lies about the past which further affect their lives, driving Rose to uncover more answers.

    Jacqueline Boulden creates an involving story with a contemporary twist as Rose’s probe reveals the plight of immigrant workers in the Adirondack Mountains. As the mystery segues into social issues, she becomes involved in the disappearance of fellow investigator Kelsey Jacobs and faces the possibility that her father’s sudden death wasn’t an accident.

    In the course of edging closer to the truth, Rose also discovers the impact of keeping secrets and looking too hard at evidence for answers:

    Rose couldn’t reconcile the woman who’d investigated the Western Inlet Inn and pushed people for answers with the woman who’d run away and never returned. The woman sitting beside her now was independent, seemingly of sound mind, but still alone. Still hiding in a small house on the edge of the woods and so afraid of being located that she made Rose use burner phones when she’d given directions to Cape Cod.

    The tension is well developed, the plot holds twists that readers won’t see coming, and, most of all, the culture and atmosphere of the Adirondacks and their small towns emerge in the course of a social and political conundrum that threatens sweeping changes to Rose’s life and the community around her.

    Filled with tense realizations, confrontations, and emerging insights into the depths of her father’s connections and past lies, Rose’s entry into a milieu that tests her own moral and ethical compass creates a moving story that readers will find not just entertaining, but thoroughly thought-provoking.

    Libraries seeking mysteries that compliment a series but stand nicely on their own will want to take a close look at Lies Lost and Found’s special blend of social justice, women’s connections, and intrigue.

    From small town pressures and discoveries to revelations about a boss’s dangerous impact on the women around him, Lies Lost and Found provides riveting moments of discovery that makes mystery just one of the components of its attraction for readers of social issues and ethical conundrums who enjoy a good investigative saga.

    Lies Lost and Found

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    Lost & Found Cafe
    Steven W. Horn
    Granite Peak Press
    978-0-9991248-3-3
    $32.95 Hardcover/$18.50 Paperback/$4.99 eBook
    www.granitepeakpress.com

    Lost & Found Cafe is a Sam Dawson mystery that follows Sam and his daughter on a day trip to a cemetery in eastern Wyoming. Their lunch at a small isolated rural cafe turns into a confessional about haunted lives and murder as truths emerge to surround them with quandaries and danger.

    The story is sparked by the death of local CEO Winston Tucker, once a presidential hopeful shot to death at his ranch. Cafe dishwasher Brad Holcomb is shaken by the news even as others debate the circumstances surrounding the magnate’s demise and how he possibly “got what he deserved.”

    Brad has struggled with other indefinable feelings:

    Lately, he had felt as if the earth was quaking, some seismic event that no one else seemed to notice.

    Death always seems to surround him, as he’s survived military service and battles that came home to roost in his own backyard.

    Other characters (besides Sam) swirl around Brad, from Jessica Martindale, who has long sought answers about her father’s disappearance, to waitress Ida Faye Mensinger, who harbors her own angst and secrets.

    The events which force a cafe of strangers to talk to each other about murder, mayhem, and matters of their hearts make for an engrossing overlay to a story of how disparate characters come together under unusual circumstances to bare their souls and reconsider their choices past and future.

    Steven W. Horn creates more than a captivating murder mystery. Embedded within his tale (and reinforced by the novel’s shifting viewpoints) are thoroughly engrossing insights on how strangers come together and are influenced by each other’s experiences.

    Also notable are the different types of crossroads each individual faces that coalesce under the umbrella of solving not just a murder, but bigger life challenges.

    Libraries seeking a murder mystery that embeds powerful psychological revelations into its tale of how connections are made, lost, and challenged will welcome Lost & Found Cafe whether or not they have any other Sam Dawson mysteries in their collections.

    Powerfully insightful, containing a myriad of well-developed, disparate characters who each have their nightmares come to life in unexpected circumstances, Lost & Found Cafe is a winning probe of relationships, outcomes, and intrigue. It will find its home in many a book club where murder mystery probes are but the icing on the bigger cake of life experience.

    Lost & Found Cafe

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    Murder with a Glass of Malvasia
    Alexander Marriott
    Vanguard Press/Pegasus Publishers
    978-1-83671-041-7 $18.99
    https://a.co/d/3QKiKTV

    Chicago homicide detective Virgil Colvin has finally retired on the Greek island of Ithaca, the scene of a former murder spree and crime-solving challenge. But a quiet retired life may be too much to ask for when it comes to a too-savvy detective’s mandate to take a step back from the action.

    In Murder with a Glass of Malvasia, murder follows Virgil once again, arrives steeped in Greek culture and history, and expands to involve assassins, conspiracies, and a Byzantine fortress filled with physical and mental twists and turns.

    Having recovered from his wife’s death and adjusted to his new life, Virgil yet again is faced with drastic changes in his middle years of life. These send him on unexpected forays and missions, introducing revelations that hold the power to once again shake his world.

    He tries to take a step back and pass of the case to a more experienced incoming investigator, but that proves impossible. Virgil’s already been part of a dangerous game that tests his personal life and ability to fully retire from what he does best ... get into trouble.

    From its opening lines, Alexander Marriott embeds his story with Greek culture and atmosphere which lends a satisfyingly different focus to the evolving mystery and thriller elements which emerge from Virgil’s confrontations.

    Tension is nicely developed, Virgil’s character is appealing and understandable as he fields decisions which encourage him to work against his own special interests, and the dilemmas which emerge during the course of his probe lead to international connections which will prove surprising:

    “You’re not too far off, Detective Colvin. The diplomatic back and forth over who should lead an investigation that could very well implicate the Turkish government did beg for the intercession of a third party that my government and Gündüz could agree on. The American Government, of course, is the most readily at hand. The American Ambassador did not, however, recommend anyone from the FBI,” Liourdis said, smirking.

    “Then who?” Colvin asked, beginning to feel sick.

    “Congratulations, Virgil. This case is all yours,” Liourdis said, almost laughing and almost weeping simultaneously.

    The special interests which swirl around Virgil in the course of this investigation are also nicely detailed, adding further insights and unexpected moments to the plot.

    Libraries seeking mysteries rooted on foreign soil and cemented by “the last tastes and sounds of Greek summer under the late September stars” will relish the atmospheric, cultural, historical, and mystery draw of Murder with a Glass of Malvasia.

    Best consumed with a fine glass of Greek wine, Murder with a Glass of Malvasia excels in a plot that is rich in possibility and the unexpected.

    Murder with a Glass of Malvasia

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    The Pauper Field
    Trevor G. Jackson
    Izzard Ink Publishing
    9781642281170 $19.99 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
    www.izzardink.com

Thriller audiences who enjoy fast-paced courtroom proceedings and action will appreciate how seamlessly The Pauper Field weaves both into its story of a lawyer who seeks peace and quiet by moving to a small town, only to fall into a supernatural mystery that draws him into adversity once again.

Braxton Hayward expected many things from the small Oregon town of Jacksonville. What he didn’t anticipate was hearing disembodied chanting on the town streets late at night, and facing the puzzle of a missing family.

Auditory hallucinations are common when one is drinking. So, at first Braxton dismisses these as another indication that he’s gone too far. But as the haunting mantra draws him deeper into the woods, he realizes that more is at work than alcohol ... even if he does awaken the next morning in his own bathroom, which would seem to indicate that the events of the prior night have been another illusion.

Braxton faces not just a hangover and vague memories of his encounter, but the increasing certainty that what is drawing him into dangerous situations is more than the result of drinking too much.
As breweries and strange brews, lockdowns, stories, and investigations evolve, Braxton and a host of other characters around him find their lives impacted by his choices and discoveries.

Trevor G. Jackson builds a great story with slowly-rising tension, memorable characters, and circumstances that keep introducing new twists in a way that mystery and thriller readers will relish.

Especially notable is the manner in which Braxton is drawn to examine his own life and the influences which have led him to question many things, including his own abilities:

“Braxton,” she started, her tone soft yet probing, “what was it like, growing up with a psychiatrist for a dad? And how your parents glazed over the things your brother did to you. . .how did you even manage?”

“Well,” Braxton began, his voice steady but laced with a pain he’d long buried, “Chase had this twisted sense of humor. He’d mess with my head in ways. . .” He paused, gathering the courage to expose wounds long hidden. “He convinced me once that I had undergone a sex change as a newborn. Of course, I didn’t believe him. Still though, the way my parents played along—thinking it was all in good fun. . .it just didn’t sit right.”

These self-examinations emerge within the context of how he tackles problems in general and perceives this latest series of conundrums in particular, adding psychological depth and interest to his persona as he grows in unexpected ways and comes to reconsider his choices in life.

Libraries seeking thrillers that contain more than a light dose of alcoholic self-examination, discovery, and recovery will welcome how nicely the intrigue of The Pauper Field moves from a murder mystery to community and individual secrets.

With its atmosphere of discovery and growth, The Pauper Field is a powerful story that’s filled with inviting inspections, realistic characters, and situations that demand sea changes through unpredictable journeys that challenge their perceptions and desires. It’s a compelling saga that is hard to put down, encouraging insights into the wellsprings of despair and alcoholism alike.

The Pauper Field

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Switch
Lisa Towles
Indies United Publishing House
978-1-64456-828-6 $16.99
Website: https://www.indiesunited.net/switch
Ordering: www.amazon.com

Fans of Lisa Towles’s previous E&A Investigations series titles will welcome this third and final book in the series, which follows the techno-thrillers Hot House and Salt Island with an added punch of final discoveries and danger.

Mari Ellwyn and Derek Abernathy’s investigation into a series of bank robberies leads them right into the morgue, where a missing body portends a different kind of crime. Robbery and fraud are one thing, but add in high-tech involvement and illicit technology use, then Mari’s own struggles to locate a missing father, which also arises in connection to this case, for the added value of more than one investigative quandary.

Lisa Towles leads readers on a merry chase through many possibilities as Mari and Derek tackle personal and professional challenges that force them beyond their comfort zones.

She employs the first person like an axe, wielding emotional blows and revelations to accompany investigative challenges that bring readers right into the fold of discovery:

With everything else going on, it wasn’t difficult to compartmentalize the melodrama with Wallace McCoy. I guess I was used to marginalizing my emotions, as one therapist put it, pretending I didn’t feel rage, violation, horror. And God help McCoy if Derek, or worse, Ivan, found out about his creepy little display. No idea what to even do with that.

As past and present choices and dangers come to light, Mari faces the most puzzling decision of her career and personal life ... one that could either tie many loose ends together, or hang her with the tangled rope of family secrets and enemies that they create.

Dangerous attractions, fast getaways, and complex situations dovetail in a thriller that begins hot and just gets more satisfyingly engrossing as various characters enter the fray with their own special interests.

Libraries seeing popularity with the prior series titles will especially want to include Switch in collections strong in techno-thrillers. While newcomers could step into this story without too much trouble, its strength lies in how prior themes and facets draw together for a final crescendo of realization that will prove especially attractive to previous fans.

Well-developed in its tension, superior in its first-person characterization, and unexpected in its developments, Switch is a story that will shiver the timbers of any thriller reader interested in how professional and family challenges enter the bigger picture of danger.

Switch

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    To Know Good and Evil
    Daniel V. Meier, Jr.
    BQB Publishing
    979-8-88633-050-2 $18.95 Paperback/$7.99 eBook
    Website: https://DanielMeierAuthor.com
    Ordering: www.bqbpublishing.com

    To Know Good and Evil is the second book in the Frank Adams Detective series. It revolves around a cure for cancer, a struggle to exploit it, and investigator Frank Adams’ increasingly dangerous involvement when he is called upon to enter the fray of Big Pharma’s drive to acquire a dead doctor’s secret.

    The story opens with a plane crash into a farmer’s field, moving to Frank Adams and a phone call from former college acquaintance Ted Grant, who asks for his help in probing chemistry professor Dr. Lanmore’s death.

    Frank doesn’t necessarily know what he’s agreeing to, because the investigation that ensues keeps returning to small-town encounters, pigs, rich people, and poverty to entwine in a dance of special interests, discoveries, and possible murder.

    Readers interested in a full-bodied murder mystery that embraces the lives, psyches, and underlying motivations of small town residents and big business alike will appreciate the unexpected avenues taken in To Know Good and Evil as it exposes Dr. Lanmore’s life and accomplishments.

    Characters are well developed, tension is finely tuned, and the twists and turns Frank and others experience in the course of unearthing some disturbing associations are satisfyingly surprising and filled with possibilities.

    Libraries looking for a mystery that both compliments a prior book but stands well on its own as a powerful inspection of motivation, science, special interests, Big Pharma, and big money will appreciate the many unexpected directions cultivated in this engaging story of historical precedent, present-day conundrums, and righting wrongs.

    To Know Good and Evil is riveting, thought-provoking, and perfect for mystery fans interested in thoroughly engrossing reading.

    To Know Good and Evil

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    Viper Island
    Cameron K. Moore
    Independently Published
    978-0646709642 $14.99 Paperback/$1.99 eBook
    https://www.amazon.com/Viper-Island-Trident-Force-Thriller/dp/064670964X?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1

Viper Island presents another Trident Force thriller that once again thoroughly engages readers from the opening salvo of its vibrant plot:

A scream pierced the chattering of the crowd spilling from the hotel entrance. Molly Jones’s lanky form thudded into the man before her as he lurched to a halt.

Molly tries to ignore the cry, as does her companion. But danger has a way of grabbing their attention and forcing them to listen, and so she once again becomes immersed in a situation that partially relies on her gift of immunity to fear to resolve.

Molly is still recovering from a bad decision which cost the life of a patient when she was a doctor a year earlier, working with Medècins Sans Frontières in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That same decision almost cost her life, as well. Newly healed physically but still confronting psychic trauma, Molly is ill equipped to employ her abilities in yet another challenging confrontation ... and yet, somehow, she must. Even if she risks being trapped in this place once again.

You’d think the last work Molly would want to pursue after such an experience is on a security detail. And yet, this is what she was made for, professionally—and the scenarios that emerge in Viper Island both dovetail with past expertise and encounters and propel her in new directions.

Karl Shepherd works for Trident, a protection force tasked with identifying threats to the U.S. from emergent technologies. He’s encountered this young woman in past events, but here Molly and Karl join forces in a dangerous new venture.

As they confront assassin Scar’s relentless search for the truth, which turns a blind eye to torture and death for the sake of discovery, and other individuals whose missions clash with their values and even their will to live, Viper Island’s events assume the nonstop staccato action that mirrors past encounters in previous books.

Returning fans will appreciate how the action interlocks with thought-provoking personal revelations and life inspections to lend a multifaceted atmosphere to the espionage and attack scenarios which provide gripping edge-of-your-seat reading.

Newcomers will find Viper Island an excellent standalone read (though likely enthusiasts of this style of action and discovery will want to go back and read the other books in the series), smoothly injecting succinct reflections about the past while thoroughly immersing readers in present-day dilemmas of imprisonment and hopeless scenarios.

When Shepherd’s mission is deemed a failure and he’s listed as being killed in action, hope fades for any backup support. Meanwhile, Trident’s Leader, Olivia Brandt, is being blamed for the disaster, the Trident team threatened by dissolution as a result. The very team that could save them is being undermined by forces from their own side.

Cameron K. Moore builds a host of supporting characters who each hold their own vulnerabilities and strengths. Ella, Blockhead, Charlie, and others operate from different vantage points on either side, lending further delightful complexity to the confrontations. Molly discovers that some of her chosen alliances aren’t what they seem:

Anger at his betrayal flared inside her, accompanied by a searing frustration at her own naiveté in trusting him. How had she not seen him for what he truly was? 

Libraries and readers seeking nonstop action, excellent characterization, and cat-and-mouse thrillers that document both political influence and predator purposes that emerge with some surprises, placing seemingly good guys in the role of proving to be dangerous foes, makes Viper Island a thoroughly engrossing read.

Packed with satisfying twists and turns most won’t see coming, Viper Island ultimately reinvents who is friend, who is foe, and how perceptions and purposes shift under pressure in an engrossing saga nearly impossible to put down.

Viper Island

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Whatever It Takes
Alan Brenham
Independently Published
979-8283664705
$21.50 Hardcover/$16.50 Paperback/$2.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Whatever-Takes-Hanover-Alan-Brenham/dp/B0F8H4K69J

In Whatever It Takes, Native American detective Kit Hanover is forced to step away from her usual role as investigator to go undercover as an exotic dancer in Las Vegas to probe a money laundering scheme. It turns out that the scheme is only the tip of a deeper iceberg of gang warfare and subterfuge in which she winds up not an investigator, but a possible victim of circumstances beyond her control.

Kit faces many turning points during her probe, from having her cover story about the Silver Saddle blown and her undercover position possibly endangered by suspicious dancer Beverly to fielding knife-throwing in her position as a Girl Friday.

She makes enemies, considers the mess she makes in her alter-ego role of Belle, and navigates dangerous territory as she draws ever closer to odd associations and dangerous truths.

Alan Brenham builds excellent tension as Kit faces a series of dangers that hit her from unexpected directions. Kit faces not only hazards from her position, but a possible drawback from HQ as they acknowledge her increasingly precarious role and her importance to their undercover efforts. This lends a realistic, involving edge to the story as it evolves in different directions through satisfyingly tense encounters.

Readers are compelled to consider not just possible outcomes, but the consequences of resolving dangerous cases that come with hidden associations and connections.

Libraries looking for hard-hitting detective stories powered by intelligent, proactive female leaders and thriller elements that keep the plot fast-paced and unpredictable will want to add Whatever It Takes into their collections.

Replete with careful calculations about the criminal world and the shifting role of undercover efforts, Whatever It Takes incorporates real-world issues of racism and prejudice into its story to add value and insight into Kit’s heritage, actions, and choices. The result is a thoroughly absorbing thriller that moves into unexpected territory as one woman finds her strengths tested, her ethics shaken, and her efforts stymied, at times, by her own family history and experience.

Whatever It Takes

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Novels


1001: A Dream of Nine Nights
Yahya Gharagozlou
Armin Lear Press, Inc.
978-1-963271-95-9 $27.95 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/1001-Dream-Nights-Yahya-Gharagozlou/dp/1963271955

1001: A Dream of Nine Nights is Persian historical fiction at its best, reviving the classic 1001 Nights of Scheherazade with a contemporary twist that follows an aristocratic family’s feuds, generations of conflict with religious forces in the renamed nation of ‘Persiran,’ and nine nights of stories translated into binary code.

The moving episodes of these stories traverse landscapes of Europe and the Middle East, from desert and city to battlegrounds of the heart, soul, and political perspective.

Each story contains four chapters, so it should be advised, at this point, that this collection is no light entertainment read, but a thought-provoking display of scenarios fully and intricately developed to capture characters and situations in all of their ethnic, social, and cultural diversity.

Take ‘The First Night: 0001,’ for example. Consider its introductory survey (‘The Writer’s Responsibility’) to the first-person confessional ‘The Narrator Tells the Story of the Story,’ which opens with a hard-hitting letter:

Dear Ms. Vakil,

I don’t consider myself a vengeful person. Even if I were, I lack the means—or perhaps the will—to exact punishment. And I certainly do not subscribe to the notion that “the pen is mightier than the sword.” To me, the pen is merely a tool—an excellent one, yes, but one best suited for tallying the credits and debits in the ledger of life. As for justice, I leave that to the Lord.

It has been many years since you approached me, acting as volunteer editor of the newly conceived Encyclopedia Persiranica.

Each reflection sets the stage for the next piece of the puzzle, building characters, values, a sense of purpose and obligation in becoming and remaining a storyteller, and the atmosphere of a shifting world. Startling revelations unfold to give much pause for thought:

Despite the sorrow during those days, they had a peculiar brightness, and I credit Lili for it. She carried energy with her, filling any space she entered. Even the Prince, burdened as he was, could not help but be charmed. After that Paris visit, I did not see her for five years. I waited for her to grow up. Who waits for a twelve-year-old to grow up? I did.

Readers may suspect that prior familiarity with World War II-era cultures in general or the Middle East and Iran in particular will be a requirement in order to fully appreciate Yahya Gharagozlou’s landscapes. Not so. Though such a background (and a literary familiarity with the Scheherazade original) will lend a deeper appreciation for the devices Gharagozlou employs here, such is not a requirement for a profound appreciation of the history, cultural, and moral and ethical examinations of 1001: A Dream of Nine Nights.

Indeed, newcomers relatively unfamiliar with those times and peoples will likely be the most educated and impressed by these stories, which wind through lives and events with a dance of discovery and revelation that rewards despite their seeming complexity of subjects and diversity of scope.

This is why librarians with all kinds of collections, from historical to literary holdings strong in World War II battlegrounds and Middle East culture alike, will find 1001: A Dream of Nine Nights a fine acquisition.

Highly recommendable to a diverse audience of literary and historical enthusiasts and readers who remain on the sidelines of expertise but hone an appreciation for fictional representations of other cultures, 1001: A Dream of Nine Nights is a compelling winner recommended for considering reflective discoveries and shifting political connections in a bygone world.

1001: A Dream of Nine Nights

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All This Can Be True
Jen Michalski
Keylight Books/Turner Publishing
‎978-1684426096
$27.98 Hardcover/$17.99 Paperback/$17.99 eBook
www.turnerpublishing.com

All This Can Be True tells of Lacie Johnson, whose husband suffers a stroke at age 47. He falls into a coma on the cusp of her asking for a divorce to begin a new life now that the kids have left home.

A serendipitous moment leads Lacie to meet Quinn at the hospital. She’s a kind woman who has lost her daughter, is at the hospital to attend a grief group, and is in flight from her own past.

A friendship, then a relationship, grows between the two as Lacie and Quinn discover that their different adversities in fact lead them to new connections and a possible new life together ... if it weren’t for Quinn’s secret, which she has carefully maintained.

Lacie also keeps a secret in the form of Helen. Why confess her past to a stranger? Because the tides that have brought them together threaten to pull them apart if these secrets are exposed:

She didn’t tell Quinn about Helen. She wasn’t hiding it, exactly, her own almost-affair. But Quinn was the literal definition of a stranger, Helen was long gone, and there would be no more opportunities for such things. Her marriage to Derek had completed its Odyssey-like journey through tumultuous tsunamis and sirens, and their ship had found its way to calmer waters. Of course, she hadn’t realized it had only been the calm before another storm.

Jen Michalski shifts perspectives between Quinn and Lacie, injecting past influences, decision-making challenges, and insights that stem not just from their interactions, but their investigations of one other:

Quinn opened Lacie’s likes and scrolled across her musical ones. Billy Joel. Elton John. The San Diego Symphony. The Clit Girls. She laughed aloud at the last, it probably being a recent addition. She was touched that Lacie did it, that despite her carefully curated timeline, she didn’t care who saw it. That maybe she was proud of it. This was the Lacie she knew a little and hoped to know more. The one who slipped in shit like that.

As issues of addiction, friendship, gay relationships, and marital strife intersect, libraries will find this book astute in its portrait of different women who make hard decisions and learn to live with them in novel ways. Library collections strong in literary romance and queer relationship explorations will appreciate how Lacie and Quinn’s realistic story embraces a wide range of moral, ethical, and psychological concerns.

Engrossing in its music-injected environment as it surveys women’s growth and how identities and relationships emerge from ashes of the past, All This Can Be True details a transformative experience that proves engaging, thoroughly absorbing, and hard to predict.

All This Can Be True

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The Apache Kid: Army Apache Scout
W. Michael Farmer
Hat Creek/Rowan & Weatherfield Publishing
979-8-89299-027-1 $32.99 Hardcover/$17.99 eBook
www.roanweatherford.com

The Apache Kid: Army Apache Scout is the first in a series of books that outlines cultural encounters between Apaches and whites. Its fictional overlay brings to life the scouting training, perspective, and work of a child known as the Apache Kid who is raised in two cultures and operates in an odd milieu between them.

Characters both historical and fictional move through a landscape in which leaders, various tribes, and blue coats and “white eyes” play prominent roles. The introductory map and listing of all these players may feel daunting to readers who seek only entertainment in a Western story, but they are key to understanding how many of these characters interact.

A preface reviews the true history of the outlaw Apache Kid and his impact before chapters unfold the drama surrounding his life.

Another plus to the story lies in how W. Michael Farmer builds compelling descriptions of place and people into his novel from its opening lines, employing the first person to provide a sense of immediacy to observations and events:

Early one morning when I was eleven harvests, I sat up in my blankets shivering from fear in the cold canyon air. I saw only ghost-like wisps of fog in the moonlight rising off the slow-moving creek. Looking down Aravaipa Canyon, there was a low, yellowish-orange glow wavering against the darkness on the canyon walls and through the bosque trees.

His approach will delight readers seeking a thoroughly immersive experience, taking the time to build this world as well as major players from different cultures.

Reservation life and family relationships and interactions receive as much depth and detail as descriptions of clashes and struggles:

I appeared at my mother’s evening cooking fire the second sun after I left Redmond’s place in Globe. My brothers were approaching manhood, and my sisters neared their womanhood ceremonies. They had just begun their evening meal of steamed yucca tips, acorn bread, and venison when Mother saw me and covered her mouth with her fingers to avoid yelling with delight. My father saw her and looked in my direction and made a big smile that seemed to stretch across his full cheeks to his ears. My brothers and sisters were laughing, shaking a fist like they had just won a big race.

Libraries seeking a story steeped in Apache history, cemented in riveting characters whose world comes to life around them, and appealing in its vivid representations will find The Apache Kid: Army Apache Scout a standout.

The Apache Kid: Army Apache Scout

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Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been?
Amanda Cockrell
Northampton House Press
978-1-950668-36-6 $21.95 Paperback/$7.99 eBook
https://northampton-house.com/

    Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been? is a powerful historical fiction story about Hollywood’s blacklist years. It opens in 1953 with Mike Rosen being interrogated about his loyalty and possible Communist connections. Liza Jane Sidney looks on, cringing because Mike is making a stand:

    Mike refuses to testify. Liza Jane knows he has a statement prepared saying his politics are his own business and no one has the right to deny someone his livelihood without more to go on than rumor and innuendo. Liza Jane also knows they aren’t going to let him read it. Knows he’s sunk. Knows that even if he named people he probably can’t even remember now, he’d still be sunk. It was fifteen years ago. He went to three meetings, maybe four. It didn’t seem important to count them then.

    Fast forward to 1988, long after Mike’s downfall and the McCarthy years that destroyed his career. Liza is eighty, now. She’s drawing up her will, reliving the past, and confronting difficult truths about her life and unresolved issues, of which the blacklist events are but one of the legacies she will leave behind.

    Her demise introduces questions for future generations to answer, who find the past is all too present in ways they could never have imagined.

    Amanda Cockrell weaves intrigue into the media storm that emerges from Liza’s unusual last request, which unearths a wasp’s nest of trouble that descends upon the town to re-open old wounds and re-question carefully buried secrets.

    The blacklist’s wide-ranging impact returns to haunt a myriad of characters forced, by Liza’s last wishes, to confront old wounds, betrayal, and political vengeance as direction emerges from the grave to affect circles in modern life.

    Cockrell shifts the timeline between past and present to add emphasis and connect the dots of shifting perceptions and experiences. This makes for satisfying confrontations reinforced by past precedent and the impact of each character’s choices:

    “She would have testified for the pleasure of telling the Committee to eat its hat,” Bernice said. “But she couldn’t without putting other people at risk. It was too late to save Mike. That’s what I mean about loyalty being complicated.” She went back to the stove, interview clearly ended.

    Libraries seeking historical novels about Hollywood, McCarthyism, the blacklist, and individual lives influenced by these events for generations to come will appreciate how Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been? weaves social and ethical issues into daily lives in a manner that feels both believable and thoroughly compelling.

    Filled with thought-provoking revelations and moments of discovery, Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been? is highly recommended as a starting point for discussions about friendship and betrayal, freedom and repression, and the impact of political and social decision-making on generations mired in a Gordian Knot of complexity and outcomes.

    Are You Now, or Have You Ever Been?

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    Built to Last
    Lexi Blake
    Blue Box Press/Evil Eye Concepts, Inc.
    978-1-963135-20-6 $19.99 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
    https://www.amazon.com/Built-Last-Avenue-Promise-Novel/dp/1963135210?sr=8-1

Built to Last is about women’s friendships, longevity, connections, and big dreams. When three high school friends make a pact to stay in touch and support one another on the road to success, they have no idea their bond will lead to big plans in New York City.

Harper Ross finds her childhood relationships pay off big time when she’s hired as a contractor on a showcase renovation. The only problem is that the rebuild of the grand home of their childhood dreams is also influenced by Manhattan designer Reid Dorsey, whose ideas are often in direct opposition to Harper’s visions.

Can two professional enemies come together enough to preserve the building of their dreams, or will their reluctant partnership result in disaster?

As Lexi Blake evolves Built to Last, the characters, their motivations and strengths, and their attractions, she moves between a steamy romance between two opposites to constructing the types of friendships and head-butting relationships that lead to growth on all sides. Harper navigates a male-dominated profession with insights and strengths that make her a formidable character in more than one arena in life.

Chapters replete with many possibilities absorb readers interested in the dances that develop between different individuals, from Reid and Harper to Reid’s brother Jeremiah, Ivy, Ani, and others who hold a vested stake in building different, more successful approaches to life:

“I’ve literally built the whole ship and gone down with it before. When I built up Jensen Medical it was eighty-hour weeks, and I was passionate about it. I sometimes wonder if I would still be at it had my boyfriend at the time not been a dickwad. I did find purpose in that work. And now I find it in building Emma and having this life with Heath. But both of those things serve me. They place value on my quality of life. I’m not saying you shouldn’t sink into your work. That can be a magnificent thing to do when the work is right for your soul.”

The characters rub together in abrasive and compelling ways while dialogues and sex scenes outline differences between personal and professional attitudes, offering insights into Harper and Reid’s dilemmas over various aspects of their lives:

“This is the calmest I’ve felt in months, and I know the minute our clothes are on we go back to fighting. I don’t want to fight right now. I want to pretend you like me because this is the closest I’ve felt to any woman in my life.”

Damn it. This is not supposed to get emotional. This is supposed to be sex. Nothing more. An itch we scratch and then walk away from and don’t think about again. I’m not supposed to wrap my arms around him and know I feel the same. I want to pretend it’s real, too, and we’re not going to go back to the enemies we are in real life.

Readers seeking contemporary workplace romances that nail the relationship between men and women who come from equally powerful positions in life will find Built to Last satisfyingly steamy, professionally thought-provoking, and completely engrossing as unpredictable business challenges push Harper and Reid in unexpected directions.

Libraries looking for ripe, juicy stories of relationship attractors and sky’s-the-limit thinking will want to highly recommend Built to Last for its sweltering representations that operate on several different levels.

Replete with surprise revelations that revise relationships and life perspectives alike, Built to Last’s buildup is powerful, realistic, and attractive. It offers engrossing points about friends, enemies, and historic issues of renovation versus restoration that impart important lessons on compromise.

Built to Last

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Chasing Air
Caroline Prince
Dewpoint Creative Ventures
GFB
979-8-9925026-0-2 $17.95
www.girlfridayproductions.com

    Chasing Air is a novel that opens on the California coast in 2020, presenting ex-athlete Allison’s quiet observations of a rainy day and the contrast between her now-bedridden body and the efforts she once made to hike and be active. Nineteen years has changed much in her life, and the Covid pandemic has further transformed the world.

    In many ways, physically and mentally, Allison has moved far from her Georgia roots, leading an adventurous life which always carried her in unexpected directions replete with many achievements and new opportunities.

    Now she is tasked with the biggest life challenge of all—discovering life’s meaning and honing the will to go on after a terrible accident and loss changes everything she once lived for.

    Caroline Prince creates a thought-provoking scenario that expands its focus from one woman’s broken body and dreams to broader pictures about how to not just adapt, but find revised meaning in living.

    Though focusing on physical adaptation, mental adjustments receive just as much attention and enlightenment as Allison undertakes different forms of training and conditioning. Prince depicts exhilarating choices and moments that arrive in all kinds of ways, delivered via revelation, life experience, oracle, and revised perceptions:

    The oracle was talking not about the end of her story, but about means and ends. The ends he was referring to had nothing to do with her having her own child. They were much bigger than that.

    Whether considering questions about adopting a child or overcoming trauma, Allison’s journey is all the more powerful for its connection to author Prince’s own experiences and life.

    The result is a vivid account of excitement, transformation, and life values that librarians will find particularly easy to recommend to women’s book clubs, reading groups, and any reader seeking inspirational stories of survival and decisions made at key pivot points of life change.

    Packed with eye-opening inspections and insights about living life to its fullest in many different ways, Chasing Air is a memorable, engrossing story that will attract general-interest fiction readers as well as those seeking reflective works packed with bigger-picture thinking.

    Chasing Air

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    The Communist’s Secret
    Suzanne Parry
    She Writes Press
    978-1-64742-934-8 $17.99 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
    https://www.amazon.com/Communists-Secret-Novel-Suzanne-Parry/dp/164742934X

The Communist’s Secret is a World War II novel that takes place on more than a physical level. It makes the case against dictatorships through the eyes and experiences of a host of disparate characters who absorb different aspects of the war.

These include the inhabitants of the town Staraya Russa (a town occupied by Nazis for most of the war), participants in a massacre that took place near the town of Luga, and individuals such as Katya Karavayeva. Katya is motivated to join a volunteer militia, only to find it under attack, eliciting her on an escape route further into Nazi occupation, but her own harsh response and redefinition of justice and what is right.

Suzanne Parry offers no black-and-white perspectives on Nazis, Soviets, or other participants circling the war with their own lives and revised decisions. Many of the characters reflect on how their decisions have changed not their ideals, but their alliances:

She didn’t say that the Soviet state had long ago earned her loyalty. Her parents had thrived under communism and she had too, until her fateful error.

Also notable are the ways in which Katya reflects on all the different changes war has brought to her experience, expectations of the future, and life:

September had always been Katya’s favorite month. As a schoolgirl, she made sure her pencils were sharpened every day...In that “before” time, she loved the way everything returned to normal come September. Summer holidays meant days spent swimming and fishing, staying up late with the long light, laughing more, eating more, drinking more. But September replaced those carefree days with something even better: an atmosphere of possibilities and new beginnings...She yearned for that aura of possibility. War had stolen everything except the way the brief northern summer lost its heat and the days grew short.

By injecting these past experiences and life perceptions into present-day challenges and widespread war, Parry creates a window of examination into not just the events that forced people in new directions, but how revised lives were honed and redirected under the winds of occupation and adversity.

Libraries seeking a World War II novel more literary and intriguing in its comparisons and perspectives than most battle-oriented surveys will relish how vividly The Communist’s Secret brings these times, choices, and communities to life.

Replete with thought-provoking moments of realization, survival tactics that go beyond physical confrontation or hiding, and engrossing past and present contrasts, The Communist’s Secret is eminently suitable for book club assignment, as well. It will garner lively discussions among those versed in World War II fiction, who will appreciate how Parry has crafted a story about freedom, democracy, communism, and the forces that influence everything.

The Communist’s Secret

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Desert Bold
Gin Coleman
Black Rose Writing
978-1-68513-644-4 $25.95 Paperback/$6.99 eBook
www.blackrosewriting.com

Desert Bold is a sequel to Desert Brave, and is especially recommended for prior fans of Gin Coleman’s first book. It continues the story of Kira Fontaine, who came to Arabia in search of a legendary lost river, survived a plane crash, and discovered a dangerous new world that demanded even more from her in order to survive.

Desert Bold focuses on her search for a way out and back home—a path that leads her full circle back to the enigmatic Sheik Jalil of early encounters, who laid claim to her father’s medallion as a symbol of his own family legacy and secrets.

The truth about Kira’s birth and connections to Arabia, the secret she holds from the first book about a wondrous discovery in the desert, and a perhaps-unwelcome connection to Jalil as each struggles to uncover truths that will change their lives and further entwine them, makes for a heady adventure. The story is steeped in mystery, nightmares, and vastly revised relationships.

One of the influences in Kira and Jalil’s shared world lies in the wild horses she discovered in a hidden valley. Pulling her in the opposite direction is her drive to return home. Influencing both are the plans of Sheik Hashem, who is determined to destroy Jalil and steal the coveted horses from Kira in an effort to wreak vengeance and build his personal wealth.

While familiarity with Desert Brave, book one of the Desert Born series, is recommended because of how this sequel dovetails with and expands upon the first book, newcomers will be able to access the personalities, purposes, and history of Kira and Jalil to enjoy the fast-paced action and psychological conundrums that drive Desert Bold.

Coleman creates a story immersed in both the desert environment and Arabian politics and culture. Under her pen, characters and relationships come alive. The added value of Kira’s Native American ancestral knowledge and skills and her faith expands the impact of her encounters, adding cultural and moral values that intersect in a thought-provoking manner with the Arabian Desert backdrop.

Libraries seeking a thriller that embeds elements of romance, cultural discovery, and mystery with fast-paced action and unpredictable outcomes will relish this concluding volume to Desert Brave. It delivers as vivid and engrossing a read as the first book, neatly concluding Kira’s bid for freedom and connection while leaving the door ajar for possible new discoveries.

Filled with heart-stopping confrontations paired with spiritual reflection, Desert Bold is a winning saga of faith and determination:

...she had bravely walked the path God had laid out for her, a path that led to Jalil and a new life, in the very desert that had almost taken hers.

Desert Bold

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Embattled Brother
Lindy Bell
Day Agency Publishing
978-1736560488 $18.95
https://www.amazon.com/Embattled-Brother-Beyond-Badge-Lindy/dp/1736560484

Embattled Brother, the fourth and concluding book in a series about firefighter friendships and adversity, returns Lucas to Abernathy, where he discovers that his beloved firefighter friend and mentor died shortly after he left town years earlier.

Prior fans of Lindy Bell’s Beyond the Badge series well know the types of close relationships between firefighters that she’s portrayed in past novels. Embattled Brother is no different, opening with Lucas’s return full circle to enter the profession that so impressed him back in second grade with firefighter Mr. Andy’s friendship and the lunches shared at his school.

Lucas has been working towards the moment he, too, will become a leader since forming that bond in second grade. But now that he’s on the cusp of achieving his dreams, applying to head the Abernathy Fire Department as Fire Chief with visions of change and a background of management success, he’s placed in a position where he confronts different kinds of fires.

From the novel’s opening paragraphs, Bell cements Lucas’s influences in faith as well as personal ideals, values, and determination:

So many things would need to be done. He looked up and silently thanked the Lord for this opportunity and for giving him the skills and experience he needed. And just as he had at every other level he’d held in the fire service, he asked for guidance and help to do the best job possible for the men he would lead, for the city he would serve, and for his family.

This lends a spiritual perspective and foundation to the story that Christian readers will find especially valuable and important. Lucas navigates a new department and job, transmits his different vision of firefighting to those newly under him, and finds himself embroiled in an arson investigation that hits too close to home.

The characters, friendships, and firefighting milieu that develop under Bell’s hand immerses readers in not just fast-paced action (which one would anticipate from a novel about confronting fire), but behind-the-scenes revelations, relationships, and trials that involve Lucas in family and community.

Bell is especially adept at injecting the values Lucas holds into the choices he makes at all levels of his profession and outside of it:

Lucas spoke up before he could think better of it. There was a mountain of work back at the office, and he still needed to get to at least one of the stations today, but this was by far more important.

More than fires spread to threaten his world. Lies are equally fast-moving and hard to put out. As Lucas becomes embroiled in a swirl of rumors that prove to originate in the last place he’d think to look, readers receive thought-provoking insights into shifting relationships, special interests, motivations for change, and the internal politics of firefighting command.

At each juncture, Bell cements these evolving concerns and considerations with logical points of intrigue and discovery, fully developing the kinds of relationships that operate at different levels. These either support or stymie Lucas in his new job and the dreams he has held all his life.

Libraries seeing popularity with Bell’s other Beyond the Badge series titles, or who seek a stand-alone story of firefighting brotherhood and adversity, will welcome Embattled Brother into their collections.

Filled with thought-provoking reflections about all kinds of insights and values, Embattled Brother is a moving story of putting out different kinds of conflagrations and building brotherhood in the process. Its values and faith center the story, providing Christian audiences with a satisfying, action-packed story that doesn’t negate its adventure component by adding a base of moral and ethical conundrums to its plot.

The result is a superior read, a satisfying addition to the series, and a story anyone interested in firefighting, community service, faith, or brotherhood will want to choose.

Embattled Brother

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Gajarah
Somia Sadiq
GFB
978-1-964721-88-0 $18.95 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
www.girlfridayproductions.com

    Gajarah is a novel about survival, carrying and giving up life, and coming to terms with being a Punjabi-Kashmiri woman who marries and immigrates to Canada carrying a legacy of childhood trauma and strength, as well as culture, into an entirely new world.

    It features Emahn, a resilient woman able to adapt to nearly anything in life, from another culture to her own efforts to re-envision her world, adapt, and learn from encounters as simple as creating new life or art:

    We watch the fire warm and harden her pot and my little plate, and I wonder if the fire hurt my little plate. It must. But my plate needs that fire to come alive, to be, to become. Just like the pot. To be able to cook saag over a low flame for hours, the pot needed to know the heat. All those spices would need to dance in the heat of the flame, teasing each mustard leaf till they were hugged, absorbed, accepted.

    Yes, the pot had to burn, had to know, had to learn the touch of fire, had to have felt fire, breathed it, absorbed it, become it.

    Fire was life.

    Fire is life.

    Especially notable is how Emahn navigates society and personal relationships alike, confronting prejudice, repression, and the seeming impossible circumstances of trying to fit in and survive. This even affects people around her who should be supporting her, but impart their own forms of repression into her life:

    Every time I shared with him that someone had mocked me for a word I’d said differently, he always brushed it off. None of the racism, the barriers, the injustice of what we were navigating in this foreign land seemed to affect him.

    Emahn eventually comes full circle, reconciling the dichotomies between her present-day immigrant choices and her past. This involves a possible return to her roots, where she muses:

    Can I welcome the freedom I feel while also accepting the fear, the uncertainty, the heaviness?

    Somia Sadiq presents a powerful personality in Emahn which resonates with survival tactics, discoveries, adaptive processes, and insights that readers will find fascinating and worthy of book club discussion.

    Libraries recommending Gajarah will find its audience particularly strong in circles where women’s experiences, Punjabi culture, and trauma are topics circling reflections on the origins of prejudice and changing feelings about home.

    The story is delivered with powerful punches of realization and understanding that translate to a slow read for maximum benefit in appreciating how powerfully Sadiq renders Emahn’s life:

    I often wondered why Mama Jaan hadn’t said a word to me about the bad man. Never asked me how I was feeling or thinking. But then again, she didn’t have to. Every morning, she knew. She saw it. She relived it. She cleaned with me. We picked up the pieces of me, of us, together.

    In silence.

    Sometimes, silence screams louder than words. In silence, we hear things unsaid, things unfelt, things unseen. Silence is power.

    Thoroughly engrossing and hard to put down, Gajarah depicts a journey well worth the time taken to walk in this woman’s shoes and navigate her life.

    Gajarah

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    The Inconvenient Unraveling of Gemma Sinclair
    Meg Myers Morgan
    GFB
    978-1-964721-90-3     $18.95 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
    Website: https://www.megmyersmorgan.com/
    Ordering: https://www.girlfridayproductions.com/titles/the-inconvenient-unraveling-of-gemma-sinclair

How does a successful woman fall apart? In The Inconvenient Unraveling of Gemma Sinclair, a career woman with a family seems to have the ideal life, with everything she could want. In reality, she’s under great stress over making everything dovetail and work. When her infant son is injured under her watch, Gemma’s first instinct is to lie about the event ... a choice that embroils her in a series of events that are well out of her control.

Soon Gemma finds everything she’s worked for or taken for granted is threatened, forcing her to reinvent her life, values, and attitudes.

The story opens four days after Gemma has given birth. She has a vested interest in telling everyone she’s just fine. That’s not the case.

Meg Myers Morgan follows Gemma’s seemingly small daily routines with an astute eye to capturing all of their impacts and challenges as they dovetail with Gemma’s determination to be a superwoman:

There were so many things to do, the enormity of the day was stripping her of what little energy she had. Calvin was sleeping well, at least two-hour stretches at a time, but Gemma was struggling to sleep, even with Anthony taking turns with the feedings. Sleep always seemed to evade her, and when she found it, it was often punctuated with vivid dreams. With all there was to do, she wouldn’t have time for a nap today, so she needed to focus on waking up.

As life unravels, nightmares, repressed memories, questions about what is real and what is not, and friendship and family connections face an onslaught of revelations and tension that not only buffet Gemma, but those around her.

Part of Gemma’s journey involves going back to her childhood and filling in some blanks. Other facets of her attempts to confront her reality and attitudes embrace the process of self-examination that drives her to confront people she should have faced decades earlier:

Just as she was losing her voice, her face drenched in tears and rain, the door flung open and there stood her brother, a look of confusion on his face. But before he could step forward, before he could even part his lips to say her name, his eyes grew wide at the sight of what came flying toward him through the sheets of water: Gemma’s raw and vengeful fist.

Libraries interested in novels about how individuals unravel and then piece together the puzzles of their lives and influences will welcome The Inconvenient Unraveling of Gemma Sinclair. It embraces such disparate themes as postpartum depression, parenting challenges, family secrets and repressed memories, and the desire to control one’s life.

At different stages of Gemma’s search for answers, readers receive fresh insights into how complex concerns evolve from different choices and decisions. This creates a story steeped in not just growth, but discoveries which propel the protagonist in unexpected directions.

Readers seeking a novel replete with insights into how crisis prompts changes that are delivered with a wry sense of comic relief to offset the very serious concerns of the protagonist will find The Inconvenient Unraveling of Gemma Sinclair thought-provoking, thoroughly engrossing, and suitable for book club and parenting group discussions.

The Inconvenient Unraveling of Gemma Sinclair

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Infidelity Rules
Joelle Babula
Black Rose Writing
978-1685136307 $23.95 Paperback/$6.99 eBook
www.blackrosewriting.com

Infidelity Rules: A Menu For Disaster, The Perils of Loving Food, Wine, and Married Men, is the perfect beach read. It profiles successful wine industry career woman Quinn Davis, who is attracted to intoxicating men who are free, easy, and handsome.

Marcus seems to fit the bill for a satisfying fling in all ways except one—he brings complicated baggage along with him that immerses Quinn in the one thing she isn’t looking for: trouble.

Humor, marital affairs, and astute observations permeate a pleasing story in which both characters are motivated to act and react to one another above and beyond their usual approach to romance. The first-person perspective and dialogues are especially powerful tools as they delineate pivot points in the characters’ lives:

He spins my barstool towards him and sweeps me up and into his arms in one magic motion. How does he do that?

“Man have I missed you,” he says, nuzzling my neck. “I’m so glad you made it. Welcome to Paris.”

I sigh with pure pleasure at the feel of his arms around me and his lips so close to mine.

“Paris,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Such a hardship.”

I smile up at him just as he leans down to plant a soft kiss on my lips.

Ah Quinn, I think to myself as I sink into his kiss, you are doomed.

Quinn is used to being a mistress. The “rules” that she has developed are highlighted in chapter subtitles that contain intriguing portents of disaster and discovery. Chapter 34, for example, delivers the subtitle “Rule #26: Not all cheaters are asses.”

Readers that devour Infidelity Rules receive a satisfying mix of cooking references, male appreciation, and family dynamics. This all combines to create an intriguing mix of choices and perspectives as Quinn navigates unfamiliar relationship terrain when she finds she is no longer completely in control.

Libraries seeking top recommendations for leisure reading steeped in realistic scenarios, thought-provoking self-analysis, and conundrums that feel true to life, will find it easy to recommend Infidelity Rules for its many revealing and compelling moments of discovery:

How did I get so off track? I am the opposite of honor and integrity. I am not the kind of person you’d want as part of your wedding ceremony. I have been the enemy to married women everywhere.

Packed with likeable—albeit often flawed—characters trying to stay true to their love lives and passions, Infidelity Rules is a story many women (and men) will relish.

Infidelity Rules

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Last Night at the Disco
Lisa Borders
Regal House Publishing
9781646036448 $19.95
www.regalhousepublishing.com

Last Night at the Disco is set in 1977 New Jersey, where twenty-seven-year-old Lynda Boyle is desperate for fame, glory, and escaping town. Though her individual efforts have not panned out, Lynda’s encounter with two aspiring local musicians leads her to believe that she can hook her wagon to their star to the benefit of all involved.

Unfortunately, fame is not that simple. Nor is escape. Four decades later, Lynda is actually in a worse position due to her association with Aura and Johnny. She’s in hiding while observing others basking in the success that she, too, should have earned through her efforts.

Last Night at the Disco unfolds a gritty determination and atmosphere of musical and personal challenge as Lynda’s story considers the cost of cavalierly toying with emotions:

“So what was this, Lynda?” His lips quivered slightly; he looked like he might cry, poor thing. I really did break some hearts in my day!

“It was fun,” I said.

He was quiet for a few moments. I watched a series of emotions play across his face and imagined him calculating the price tag of all he’d spent on me in those months: that very expensive dinner at Lutèce, and numerous less costly meals at a variety of establishments up and down the Jersey Shore; the inane bottle of Charlie perfume he’d given me for Christmas—and which I’d tucked in a drawer to re-gift to one of the Dim Bulbs’ wives—with apparent obliviousness to the fact that I already had a much more sophisticated signature scent, Yves Saint-Laurent’s Opium.

As she hands a bombshell to ‘The Martyr’ that literally comes home to roost, Lynda begins to realize the hidden costs of subterfuge, insensitivity, and most of all, ambition. These discoveries evolve in unexpected ways as she assumes the alias ‘Lily Bart,’ enters spinsterhood, and navigates all manner of men and possibilities towards not just fame and fortune, but dangerous downfalls.

Lisa Borders embeds this story with musical notes of fun and flawed heroes as Lynda exhibits bad decisions, terrible behaviors, insensitive relationship choices, and a predictable tendency to aim for gold, but land in the dung heap of failure instead.

The contrasts between her hopes and dreams and the reality of poor decision-making are especially well done—delightfully wry while proving thought-provokingly poignant.

Libraries seeking a contemporary novel of one woman’s attempt to rise to fame in different ways will relish how Last Night at the Disco romps through and tromps on emotional boundaries as its characters dance around one another’s frustrations, lies, and realities.

Packed with whimsical moments and a hero who is deeply flawed but all too human, Last Night at the Disco is highly recommended reading for those who like their protagonists sultry, selfish, and terrifyingly oblivious to the music world’s pitfalls.

Last Night at the Disco

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Prairie Valkyries Don't Canter
Cecil Homer
Atmosphere Press
979-8-89132-632-3 $14.95 pb/$5.00 ebook
www.atmospherepress.com

    Prairie Valkyries Don't Canter is a story about women’s empowerment in academic and personal circles, moments of truth, madness and freedom, and good and bad decisions made in the heart of these milieus. It focuses on professor Jennifer’s personal and professional journey as she decides to have a child while retaining her hard-won status as a female professor and Dean of Philosophy operating in a Midwestern man’s world.

    From the start, Cecil Homer depicts Jennifer as a strong woman who knows what she does and doesn’t want:

    What do I want to do and be? Drive around Nebraska and listen to farmers talk about threshing and the good old days? Why would I want to be rich? Power, that’s what I wanted.

    As her life is reviewed (during which she collects “three daddies” in the form of male figures who guide and influence her), Jennifer focuses on equally strong women who know what they want and aren’t afraid to wield their power in different ways. They are Valkyries in the modern sense of the word. So, why does she feel the need for “three daddies”?

    The answer emerges within the context of her life, ambitions, and perceptions to provide intriguing insights into her philosophical and psychological journey.

    Jennifer’s studies of Nordic and Hopi women and how their power is defined and incarnated introduces other cultures to this story, providing not just a social and philosophical examination, but a series of cultural contrasts.

    Homer’s literary romp through academia and personal perspective gives the tale an unexpected diversity of threads that wind through university, church, and community circles. Decision-making influences, choices in locating sources of nurture, refuge, and support, and self-reflection feature pivot points of change supported by a powerful first-person voice:

    I was running in circles of confusion and possibilities. For every answer, I had more questions. I’d read that Einstein said: Keep asking questions. Was he my tutor? Was I studying physics? My circles were expanding; could it be a search of the cosmos? Stop it. You’ll drive yourself insane.

    Fiction readers interested in stories where already-strong women carve out new avenues of investigation and growth will find these moments and movements emerge in atypical, absorbing manners in Prairie Valkyries Don't Canter.

    Libraries interested in stories that marry strong women, intergenerational legacies, religious and philosophical studies, and university politics while delving deeply into issues of women’s empowerment and lives will find Prairie Valkyries Don't Canter easy to recommend to women’s reading circles and literary audiences seeking thought-provoking insights into scholarship and achievement.

    Replete with insights into how Jennifer chooses to raise little Valky as her daughter faces the reality of three influential men in her mother’s life, Prairie Valkyries Don't Canter is engaging, thought-provoking, and packed with Midwest atmosphere that contrasts nicely with experiences of cultural and social diversity.

    Prairie Valkyries Don't Canter

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    Rat Town Blues
    Brian Kaufman
    Black Rose Writing
    9781685136761  $19.95
    https://www.amazon.com/Rat-Town-Blues-Slag-Ferguson/dp/1685136761  

There are moral lines in life that should not be crossed. And there are people in life that are destined to cross them. One such person is Santiago. Others are the men who become involved in pursuing him.

Rat Town Blues is the first novel in the Slag Ferguson series. It incorporates elements of thriller action, noir investigative intrigue, and the confessional voice of a flawed detective with a low-budget approach to hanging out his business shingle.

Of course, his first client would be a blonde. Brian Kaufman excels in first-person observations that build character and atmosphere:

The woman is blonde, of course. She has the long, slender frame of a foxglove flower, complete with bell-shaped earrings. I’d bet the purse she carries costs more than my office furniture. Her hair is pinned against the back of her head, accented by two hair sticks. Maybe there’s some pins, too. Not one strand out of place. Makes you want to shake that hair loose and give it a yank.

Kaufman’s descriptive ability makes Rat Town Blues a standout from the beginning as Ferguson observes his client with the candid drawl of an experienced detective and the colorful metaphors of a poet:

This blue-chip blonde is uncomfortable as hell, sliding around on my deluxe office chair like a fried egg in a saucepan.

As this unlicensed investigator hones his craft while delving into layers of complexity in his latest case, readers become immersed in situations that simmer with tension, revelation, and unexpected discoveries that challenge their own ability to predict outcomes.

From ending relationships, treading water in life, and developing causes to keep life meaningful and engaging, to the intricacies of tracing different case developments that keep Ferguson on his toes and his readers guessing about developing relationships and situations, Kaufman rests the tension and intrigue on both a noir atmosphere and a special sense of psychological and social evolution. These support the mystery, keeping the story realistic and thoroughly engrossing.

The weave of personal and bigger-picture thinking about society as a whole (as well as its underbelly) creates especially compelling observations that offer food for thought while building intrigue:

Big cities unnerve me. The streets are filled with garbage bags and refuse. Buildings rise like mountains of aluminum, concrete, and glass, bearing in on me as I drive. How do people live without actually touching the ground? Touching dirt? Maybe that’s why the world has gone crazy. You can’t live in glass and aluminum and stay sane.

All these elements coalesce to make Rat Town Blues a winning story in which social examination dovetails with a case that leads Ferguson into unfamiliar territory and analysis:

I spider my way through social media profiles, looking for a clue I haven’t noticed before. When that game begins to pale, I read news sites, keeping myself up to date with current events, none of which seems to apply to my life or the lives of any of my friends. We work for a living. We worry about bills. We worry about getting the laundry done. We don’t worry about politics—that privileged world strikes me as insane.

Libraries and readers seeking exceptionally vivid, realistic stories of an investigator who confronts and exposes crime, evil undercurrents, big relationship mistakes, and opportunities for problem-solving redemption, wound into a likeable detective with an ability to analyze not just his case, but life, will find Rat Town Blues an exceptional journey.

It’s worthy of not only individual pursuit, but top recommendation to book clubs seeking investigative stories that work on many levels. It will introduce food for thought to group discussions of noir fiction surrounding lines that should and shouldn’t be crossed in the name of justice and redemption.

Rat Town Blues

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The Things They Didn’t See
Angela Shaeffer
Wander Lane Press
979-8-9928252-1-3 $15.99 Paperback/$1.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Didnt-See/dp/B0F6XTHVC4

In The Things They Didn’t See, Jill and her family love boating until an accident robs them of their passion and turns it into a tragedy they each recover from in different ways. Their shared experiences and interests move in new directions to challenge not only individual concerns, but the schedules and pleasures the family has looked forward to all their lives.

The novel opens with the hope of revised attitudes and experience as Jill endeavors to move her persona into a more carefree milieu:

...today, brimming with optimism and the endless possibilities that summer promised, she committed to rediscovering her fun-mom side. She’d revive Old Jill. The easygoing, smiling, funny woman she was when she and Matt first married. The mom she imagined she’d be before the busyness of having three children made her disappointingly serious. Of course, she’d always be type A because that’s how you got things done. But she’d also tease and laugh and not worry so much.

However, she finds herself still too immersed in organizing, logistics, and “timing things right so she didn’t let any of them down.”

Teenager Jake is also struggling to grow in a new direction, while Jill’s husband Matt finds himself stuck in the middle, trying to forge peace between them, as battles keep driving the family apart. Jake’s resistance to Jill’s efforts to control him is narrated from both viewpoints, giving their different perspectives fine embellishment and understanding.

Forced to admit that perhaps she is “doing an appalling job of parenting on her own,” Jill makes astute observations about family, empowerment, and life changes:

Maybe that was the reason asking for help was so hard. You were giving up—admitting that you needed someone else to be the hero of your story.

Libraries will find all these insights and revelations perfect for book club recommendation and group discussion as well as individual enlightenment. Parents, family members, and all kinds of readers will appreciate the family’s coming of age and the changes they face as life forces them in seemingly disparate directions.

Filled with thought-provoking insights into family ties and what breaks or rebuilds them, The Things They Didn’t See is an excellent study in discovery and growth that will attract a wide audience with insights on family members under siege from both external and internal forces.

The Things They Didn’t See

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Tobacco Republic
R. A. Moss
Beck & Branch Publishers
979-8-9926682-0-9 $14.99 Paperback/$4.99 eBook
https://www.author-r-a-moss.com

Tobacco Republic posits a different political alternative to American history ... what if the 13 colonies never united?

The story that builds on this idea winds through to the present day when the 13 colonies have morphed into seven sovereign nations known as the Britannic Region. These alternate events begin when:

Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence had been voted down, primarily for the use of four words he refused to change: the United States of America.

When the ideal of unification dies, so do many of the assumptions and opportunities modern Americans take for granted. The world which emerges from this basic rejection of a key concept of combined special interests and strengths is a far different one. It’s made all the richer for R. A. Moss’s special take on how America and Europe could evolve in very different ways, as a result.

Moss builds the story on a series of vivid encounters, from covert plans for a terror attack in Paris, Francia to social and political clashes that emerge from this very different political milieu:

After months of strikes and riots over low pay and hunger, President Norville Perry had declared martial law and deployed Army units to every major city in Pennsylvania.

Particularly fascinating are the threads of political differences, personalities, and trends that impact this alternate universe in which the military, the media, and special interests coalesce and clash to influence and direct their disparate ideals of what America should become.

Descriptions of Congressional conventions, challenges to the ratification of an American Union agreement, and the turmoil that emerges from slaveholder interests that affect the outcome of political agreements create diverse topics. These will prove of special interest to history students, book clubs, and readers attracted to insights into how some of America’s most ingrained issues and experiences could have taken a different turn.

Libraries looking at alternative history titles steeped in the politics and formation of institutions and agreements contrary to real-life history will find Tobacco Republic thoroughly engaging, thought-provoking reading.

The novel’s ability to contrast and explore different avenues of political opportunity and connection make Tobacco Republic of special, high recommendation to readers and book clubs that would discuss and debate new possibilities, past and present, for building or reconstructing a republic and its ideals of freedom.

Tobacco Republic

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Until the Walls Come Down
Gal Podjarny
Atmosphere Press
979-8-89132-695-8 $17.99 pb & $8.99 ebook
www.atmospherepress.com

    Israeli woman Tammar has lost her parents to terrorism. Now she stands to lose the only thing remaining of her childhood—the family house in Jaffa, which is slated for demolition. This involves her not only in a court battle, but in a relationship with her Palestinian husband’s family, who fled Palestine during the 1940s.

    Saving the house involves saving what remains of her severed family connections. Tammar is forced to unite estranged family members to convince them of the importance and possibility of fighting higher authorities to save the house.

    Under Gal Podjarny’s hand, the house becomes a symbol for both survival and reconciliation as the disjointed, separated family is forced to come together for a greater good they are not even certain is important in the bigger scheme of things.

    From the start, the connections between structures and lives is cemented by young Tammar’s experiences and perceptions:

    Behind her, the crowd resembles the houses. She assembled a motley crew of friends, family, and neighbours. Jews and Palestinians, secular and ultra-orthodox, Ashkenazi and Sephardi. She tries to tap into their joint power—to believe that this diverse group would be enough. But the truth is she is scared. She knows that before the day is out, this is likely to turn violent.

    Hard-hitting personal observations and impacts resonate throughout her childhood and adult years, bringing to life (and bringing home) the ultimate impact of decades of social and political struggle and strife, also represented in her shattered home.

    As she sorts out ownership, responsibility, and connection, Tammar also learns how others have survived being unrooted and disconnected from their wellsprings of culture and place:

    “They’re very much refugees, but they behave like they went on a holiday. Never mind that they’ve been in Poland for over a year now.”

    “That’s tough,” Tammar sympathises.

    “Yeah, well, that’s life.” Marina’s eyes are moist. Then, her iron curtain drops. Her back is rod-straight and her face impassive. People here are so used to fighting; they can’t stop even for a minute.

    Powerful reflections are delivered in the course of struggles that move from political and social circles past the threshold of home as Tammar discovers new facts about the past and challenges the divisions that have fractured her family.

    Libraries interested in stories of Palestinian history, experience, and psyche will find all three elements intricately wound into a novel that is hard to put down. The events need no prior familiarity with the region or the state in order to prove compelling to general-interest audiences.

    Replete with reflections on home, place, politics, and the fabric of interpersonal conflict and connection, Until the Walls Come Down offers important lessons in adaptation, survival, and the kinds of struggles that both divide and bring families (and nations) together.

    Until the Walls Come Down

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Reviewer's Choice

The Art Collector’s Wife
Susan Knecht
Sea Crow Press
978-1961864320 $18.85 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
Website: www.susanknechtauthor.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Collectors-Wife-Susan-Knecht/dp/1961864320

The Art Collector’s Wife opens in 1962 Venice, where teen Isabel is shoplifting and skipping class. When she stumbles upon a secret involving her Holocaust survivor grandmother Lila and the artwork she harbors, Isabel's long-standing questions about her family history force her grandmother's past life to the surface.

Now, rather than commit petty crimes, Isabel wants real answers to who she is and where she comes from. What she discovers along the way is something she could never have anticipated.

The story opens in Auschwitz in 1945, where every day Lila uses her smuggled shoe buckle to make a fresh mark on the wall to signify the time that's passed. She hasn’t seen her son Leo in eight months, his girlfriend is about to give birth, and Lila fears the worst. Just as baby Isabel is born, Liberation Day arrives on their doorstep. Hope is renewed, if only for that moment, before the young mother dies on the dirt floor of the camp.  

In the shadow of such tragedy, Lila endeavors to raise her granddaughter in the relatively safe confines of the Jewish Ghetto in post-War Venice and to protect Isabel from the knowledge of those terrible events that changed their family forever.

As teenaged Isabel becomes immersed in art history and finds herself entangled with Venetians who pursue more than a fortune, readers are taken along on a family’s journey which extends all the way from Venice to Paris.

Against the backdrop of World War II and the years of social,  emotional, and geopolitical reconstruction that followed, Susan Knecht links a deep dive into the art and relic world with the central story of a teenager who thinks she knows many things—but actually doesn’t know enough about her family’s background and choices.

How Isabel as a seventeen-year-old on the cusp of adulthood learns about her family's truth and endures her own personal evolution makes for a compelling novel of love, greed, and survival. These elements are why The Art Collector’s Wife should be on library shelves for adult fiction and assigned to mature teens interested in realistic stories about survival and preservation.

Replete with engrossing twists, discoveries, and historical insights, both Lila and Isabel’s perspectives are thoroughly, wonderfully explored in an enlightening plot packed with tension and unexpected events:

Whatever is left will be something to be thankful for. Ten fingers. Ten toes. Just like when she was born, Isabel will still be whole, and beyond that Lila cannot imagine.

That’s why The Art Collector’s Wife is a standout that’s highly recommended. Readers interested in a teen’s coming-of-age in a time where family truths are only starting to emerge from the Holocaust will discover that “survival” assumes different meanings for each generation pursuing new lives in the war’s aftermath.

The Art Collector’s Wife

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Decisions for Living
Gopal Dorai, Ph.D
Dorrance Publishing Company
979-8-89341-118-8 $35 Hardcover/ $20 Softcover
www.dorrancepublishing.com

Decisions for Living: Strategies for Making Smart Decisions Throughout Life surveys decision-making processes, ideas, and strategies. It promotes an understanding of these forces via an evaluation process that can lead to many streamlined, revised life plans.

Case history examples of goal-reaching and decision processes pepper a rich step-by-step assessment of the stages involved in making choices. These distinguish between useful and irrelevant information during the research stage, analyzing the moral and ethical impacts of different choices. Dr. Dorai thus creates a series of inspections that encourage readers to approach decision-making from different perspectives:

Think about the potential impact of your actions on others— neighbors, coworkers, employers, employees, future generations, the environment, etc., and act accordingly in everybody’s best interests.

Insights born of wisdom, life lessons, and research involve widespread contrasts between seemingly disparate approaches to making the best (or better) decisions.

Popular admonitions contrast nicely with advice on how to persevere (“If you want something, you must be willing to put forth the requisite effort to get it; otherwise, it will remain an empty dream.”). This maintains equilibrium between research, application, and ethical and philosophical approaches to decision-making processes.

Readers who agonize over too many choices and not enough clarification on how to analyze and approach them will find Dr. Dorai’s examples and tips especially useful. They are thought-provoking whether decisions are made by default, through situational analysis, or via superstition.

Policymakers and others who find themselves newly in charge of making important choices will find these examples and approaches just as relevant for their positions as general-interest readers with everyday life experiences.

Libraries seeking a book about honing the kinds of skills and approaches that lead to better decision-making will find Decisions for Living an accessible, appealing survey. It is highly recommendable to a wide audience of thinkers and achievers.

Replete with not just one but a variety of strategies for understanding what lies behind good decisions, Decisions for Living’s blueprint for success should be included in the libraries of any new adult or decision-maker—those who often find themselves stymied by too much selection and not enough direction.

The latter, they will find here.

Decisions for Living

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Escape the Writer’s Web
Colleen M. Story
Midchannel Press
979-8-9926172-4-5 $18.95 Paperback/$9.95 eBook
https://colleenmstory.com/escape-the-writers-web/

Escape the Writer’s Web addresses writer procrastination and writer’s block, considering different types of procrastination and how these impact writers and creative output in different ways.

Indeed, there are many obstacles to writing success which range from too much worrying and dreaming to tackling distractions and disorganization, over thinking writing, seeking fun over work, and doing too much.

Colleen M. Story does more than fit personalities into profiles. She pairs these with action plans for not just identifying problems, but remedying them. These are as specific as the sample addressed to the Perfectionist writer:

Step 1: Define “Good Enough” Standards

Challenge to Overcome: I must set impossibly high standards for every project.

You feel the pressure of your high standards every time you think about writing, which is often the reason why you procrastinate. Start your novel journey by setting “good enough” standards. In most cases, simply “finishing” the book is good enough! If this is your first novel, let that be your standard.

More specifics follow, offering a blueprint for mitigating the impact of writing-stifling attitudes, perceptions, and actions so they can be replaced with writing-supportive habits and ideas.

While these specific tips are addressed to writers and their output, they can also easily be expanded to apply to other pathways in life impacted by guilt, procrastination, or the tendency to become “trapped in a cage of your own making.”

Further wisdom is imparted via attitude changes. These promote embracing playful approaches to work, subverting the need to be perfect, injecting enough urgency into small tasks that they aren’t put off until the last minute (making them an emergency), and more.

At each common juncture of a writer’s block, Story presents tools and insights essential for overcoming common problems.

Libraries, readers, and wannabe writers will thus discover that, more so than most writer’s guides that address similar concerns, the organizational structure, specific routines, and creativity of Escape the Writer’s Web not only leaves little to question, but much to incorporate into daily routines and life to make for more successes with less effort.

This is why Escape the Writer’s Web should not only be on the reading lists of would-be creative writers, but on the radars of anyone prone to procrastination, who seeks solid routines and suggestions for attacking the root issues involved in putting off success.

Escape the Writer’s Web

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The Five Miracles: Multiplication of Food and Clothing
Paul Edwards
Independently Published
ASIN: ‎B0F9B99JG7 $2.99
https://www.amazon.com/Five-Miracles-MULTIPLICATION-FOOD-CLOTHING-ebook/dp/B0F9B99JG7

The Five Miracles: Multiplication of Food and Clothing discusses the Biblical miracles of provision. It surveys the revelation and miracle author Paul Edwards experienced himself when, in 1972, he was invited to help at the Juarez, Mexico city dump—the last place one would expect to uncover any miracles.

Religious readers who choose The Five Miracles expecting a treatise on miracles alone will receive added value in the form of a social inspection of poverty, need, friendship, and faith’s impact on all these conditions. This lends The Five Miracles a series of surprising insights designed to enlighten on spiritual, ethical, cultural and political levels that many readers won’t see coming.

Social and economic perceptions and impacts are as thoroughly addressed as the miracle of multiplication that Edwards experiences, giving his story added depth in social inspections that make it accessible and interesting to a much wider audience than Christians alone.

How this community is touched by the divine to undergo changes in spiritual perception and applications makes for a truly involving, exciting presentation.

Of particularly powerful note is not just evidence of a miracle, but enlightenment about its ongoing, widespread impact:

The miracle also had a significant impact on the social fabric of the community. The shared experience of the miracle fostered a sense of unity and solidarity, creating stronger bonds between neighbors and families. People who had previously been isolated by poverty and despair found themselves working together, supporting one another, and sharing their blessings. Conflict and arguments became less frequent, replaced by a growing sense of compassion and understanding. This profound sense of unity served as the foundation for a more peaceful and harmonious community, proving that the miracle had a direct and lasting impact on their social cohesion.

Accompanying these revelations is additional food for thought about how spiritual force, direction, and guidance can be incorporated into the very fabric of how a community interacts:

The community’s faith was not a passive acceptance of divine intervention; it was an active and dynamic engagement with their spiritual lives.

One such example lies in the depiction of a cooperative effort which begins with shared belief and expands to offer programs embracing education and mutual resources:

The cooperative wasn’t simply an economic venture; it was a symbol of their collective strength, their shared determination to overcome adversity. It was a visible manifestation of their faith, a living testament to the transformative power of unity and shared purpose.

The result is much more than a spiritual revelation, but a social and cultural exploration that deserves a place not just in Christian library holdings, but in the collections of anyone interested in how faith, cooperation, and shared lives can address issues of poverty, subjugation, and economic struggles.

Libraries will want to feature and highly recommend The Five Miracles: Multiplication of Food and Clothing for its outstanding applicability to a wide range of Christian discussions. Topics range from community development and cooperative ventures to how the human spirit can overcome hardship and forge new pathways of achievement, understanding, and connection.

Uplifting and inviting, The Five Miracles: Multiplication of Food and Clothing is just the book to tackle bigger-picture problems in a manner that makes anything feel possible in an antidote for feeling powerless in these modern times.

The Five Miracles: Multiplication of Food and Clothing

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Future X
Georg Koszulinski
Raven Chronicles Press
979-8-9914032-1-4 $21.99
Website: https://www.ravenchronicles.org/books/future-x-fiction
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Future-X-Georg-Koszulinski/dp/B0FGWMK6CF

Future X considers the future of humanity with an apocalyptic story set in the mid-21st century, where Black ex-Marine Jane Ballard may be the last woman alive on Earth after a virus decimates her world.

Jane’s hunt through the American Southwest for fellow survivors eventually leads to the body of a recently-deceased man and the journals he’s written. These offer engrossing insights into the causes of the world’s end, which sends her on a different kind of mission.

Many dystopian novels survey the end times of a world wracked by a virus, but what sets Future X apart from most others is its focus on the underlying lessons to be learned from how humanity took its last gasp, and what an apparently lone survivor can gain from such a lesson in what may be her final days of life.

Jane depicts bigger picture thinking as she becomes immersed in this stranger’s writings:

I had no idea what Dead Man was talking about much of the time. But it was interesting to hear his voice in my head as I read his words. Someone else besides me. The closest thing I’d had to a conversation with anyone else in a long time. Sure, I could have read anything and had the same feeling, but this guy survived the virus. What if there was some clue in his writing as to why or how he survived? We had something in common in that we were both immune to whatever happened. If there were more of us maybe we could repopulate the Earth. I hadn’t even thought about things like this. Dead Man was a profound sign of hope.

As she muses on the elements of survival, she also translates them to matters of the human psyche and the need for connection:

I loved seeing other faces besides my own. Probably it’s some deep evolutionary biology thing. The first thing we see in this world is a human face, and it’s the one that loves us more than any other. We need to feel connected to stay alive. Survival is about getting back to your people. It’s not meant to be a self-sustaining enterprise.

The result is far more reflective (and engrossing) than many a dystopian novel. Future X considers not just the impact of being a survivor (and perhaps the last woman on Earth), but the forces that bind human beings and add meaning to life, Related issues also enter into the picture, from racism and violence to nationalism and navigating unfamiliar personal and political territory after a crisis changes everything.

    Libraries interested in post-apocalyptic novels delivered with extra insights and messages will find Future X not just worthy of collection addition, but highly recommendable to a wide audience, with its considerations of being alone, being connected, or being a part of evolutionary history.

    Worthy of book club recommendation for its many diverse topics of debate from racism to survival to life’s meaning, Future X offers lessons in survival not seen in many other dystopian novels. It stands out from the crowd with a special focus that will not just draw readers, but compel them to listen to Jane’s wisdom, reflections, and discoveries.

    Future X

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    Glory, Grit and Greatness
    Stephen Carr
    Izzard Ink Publishing
    9781642281224 $19.99 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
    www.izzardink.com

    Glory, Grit and Greatness: Great Americans Fading From Our Memory surveys American history in a different way— through biographical sketches of Americans who were extraordinary people, yet whose names are fading into obscurity.

    Take ‘Suzy Q: Rocky Marciano,’ the story of a “clever boxer with power” who fights well past the usual prime years of boxers with special drive and abilities, for one example. Rocky’s confrontation with ‘Suzy Q Charles’ translates to the battle of a lifetime, which is brought to life in vivid description. From being a washed-up ball player to becoming a champion boxer, Rocky makes a name not just for himself, but for all aging second-career fighters who put their hearts in souls into competition in efforts that belay their years.

    Also consider the little-known story of ‘The Yegg Hunters: The Lawmen Who Took Down James Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson, Pretty Boy Floyd, and Machine Gun Kelly.’ Their efforts reads like a thriller with plenty of twists, confrontations, escapades, and personalities, but firmly rests on FBI history, 1930s true crime encounters, bank robberies, and murder.

    Each piece not only profiles superior individuals, but weaves history with a sense of the times, whether in military circles, daily life, show business, or other milieus.

    Stephen Carr offers such a diverse set of circumstances, people, and surveys that readers might wonder how these very different lives were chosen for profile in this collection. But, that’s one of the purposes and special enjoyments of Glory, Grit and Greatness—its ability to contrast different scenarios which define greatness and achievement in new ways.

    Black and white photos throughout also enhance the experience.

    Glory, Grit and Greatness proves that history needn’t be a dull collection of dates and facts, individuals needn’t be at in the public eye in order to be celebrated for their accomplishments, and the definition of ‘greatness’ need not be limited to common knowledge or familiar faces.

    By profiling and contrasting an extraordinary set of unique individuals, Carr gives libraries and American history readers an appealing set of moment-by-moment descriptions. These read with the passion and life of fiction, but are thoroughly reinforced by real-world events that further broaden the reader’s enjoyment and appreciation of American history and biography.

    Glory, Grit and Greatness

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    Ground: A Firefighter’s Philosophy for Living
    Kelly McCoy
    Ei2collective
    979-8-9920833-1-6  
    $17.99 (Paperback), $9.99 (eBook)
    Website: https://booklife.com/profile/kelly-mccoy-111446
    Ordering:  https://a.co/d/8r3I7aT

    Ground: A Firefighter’s Philosophy for Living blends a memoir with philosophy. It follows how firefighter Kelly McCoy learned life wisdom and passes it on to those around him.

    From building resilience against the firestorms of life to living authentically, McCoy purposely employs repetition to survey life challenges, using fire service lingo to translate fire protection and fighting efforts into admonitions on everyday living that readers can employ in their own life battles and growth processes.

    Chapters offer not just insights and resources, but exercises that demand of readers a level of participation that goes well beyond just reading about self-improvement.

    These include keeping a gratitude journal and blogging, employing visualization techniques, and considering the spiritual impacts of life choices which translate to actionable decisions:

    Mentally, if not spiritually, we are all building a house. A few lucky souls have already built theirs, and they are living in it.

    My question is, why do we wait to actually build our house? Why does it have to be a mental house in the recess of our mind, and not an actual "house" that we build each day? Is life that bland, that we really are bound to the jobs we dislike, in environments we don't like, simply to survive?

    God has set a house in our hearts. I know He has mine. And I think we have an obligation to build the darn thing.

    Vignettes of grit, determination, survival, confrontation, and change permeate insights on how to effect meaningful change and new directions in life. This approach adds value to the paths McCoy outlines in the course of his philosophical, spiritual, and psychological journey.

    Libraries seeking self-help, growth-inducing guides that are rooted in firefighting experience and life lessons will find it easy to recommend Ground: A Firefighter’s Philosophy for Living to a wide audience.

    More so than most spiritual, philosophical, or firefighting accounts, Ground: A Firefighter’s Philosophy for Living documents various paths to achievement and a better life. It should be on the reading lists of anyone interested in actively effecting positive change in their lives.

    Ground: A Firefighter’s Philosophy for Living

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    Howl: An Anthology of Werewolves
    Edited by Lindy Ryan and Stephanie M. Wytovich
    Black Spot Books/ Vesuvian Media Group
    978-1-64548-141-6 $16.95 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
    https://www.amazon.com/Howl-Anthology-Werewolves-Women-Horror/dp/1645481417

If one of the purposes of a themed horror anthology is to gather stories of the unexpected that sizzle with surprises and diversity, then Howl: An Anthology of Werewolves more than fulfills its goal. It provides readers with short stories that demonstrate just how wide-ranging the werewolf concept can get. And that’s a wonderful feature in an age where vampires and werewolves too often reflect the same kinds of concerns, countenances, and mythology.

To make this collection even more notable, female writers and their connections to the werewolf hold a gender bias and add feminine strength to a figure which too often assumes male perspectives and proportions.

Take the first piece that opens Part One, New Moon, ‘Wolf Bite’ by Stephanie Valente. Here, the werewolf’s transformation is given a poet’s perspective on change and reinvention:

You’ll wish to possess or become.

What does it mean to embody?

You haven’t figured that part out yet.

Under Valente’s hand, the process of stepping into one’s werewolf self involves much more than savage change:

There’s a point to lost summer evenings.

Where you weep.

Where big fat tears make you look like a virgin.

This segues neatly into the short story ‘The Devil Has No Dogs’ by Kailey Tedesco. Here, an abusive husband and a wife who endures marriage’s surprises meet a girl who denies God and a Reverand who “... was the kind of man who said it is a mistake to let a girl grow into anything” and harbors her own oddness. The wife’s astute reflections introduce and power their connection:

“When you are eaten up, the soul changes,” she once explained. “It hungers for what it never hungered for before.”

Lyrical, poetic, metaphorical observations permeate a special kind of nature connection, wildness, and change. This draws the three characters into a dance of first-person reflections from a young woman who is both rescued by and serves wife Lydia, whose powers turn out to be extraordinary ones born of myth and revelation.

Each story creates an impressively different vision of women’s lives, werewolves, and the power and control that permeates their worlds in different ways.

Libraries looking for a blend of literary reflection, psychological revelation, and compelling horror for women will find all these elements and more in this anthology. It holds such disparate strengths and voices that a wide range of women (and the book clubs and reading groups that comprise them) will find Howl: An Anthology of Werewolves an exceptional draw not just for horror readers, but anyone who likes powerful messages entwined with experience:

“I wish I could be like you,” she said. “I wish I could just run away from here, run free.”

You can, I wanted to say. You always have that power.

But, of course, she didn’t believe it. She didn’t believe it because he made sure she didn’t. She didn’t think she could do anything unless he said so.

Howl: An Anthology of Werewolves

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Post Philosophy: Taking Back Logic
Michael Aaron Cody
Cody Symbolic Works
979-8-218-67479-3 $8.99
Website:  https://www.michaelaaroncody.com
Ordering:  https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/post-philosophy-michael-aaron-cody/1147403224

    Post Philosophy: Taking Back Logic refutes the notion that philosophy should be dry, dull, or laid on the foundations of aging reasoning processes. It addresses contemporary concerns about AI and logic in a lively manner that reviews motion-based logic, symbolic structures, and recursive intelligence with an eye to busting the old philosophy paradigm in favor of new ways of reflecting on the world.

    Take the chapter ‘AGI and the Ethical Mirror.’ The topic sounds complex, but Michael Aaron Cody reduces it to an accessible, logical analysis that any general-interest reader can readily absorb:

    Ethics is compressed survival lessons. They are the living memory of what allowed life to endure in motion. And like cognition itself, ethical systems that become rigid and detached from the world they were meant to navigate become brittle.

    Under Cody’s hand, modern philosophy comes to life by connecting to daily concerns, analyses, and fallacies in thinking that will make sense to all kinds of readers, whether highly educated or not.

    Even more interesting are the progressive connections between basic thinking and analysis and higher-level thought about subject such as evolution. Note the steps Cody takes to move evolution theory to higher ground:

    Understanding evolution as compressed adaptation, rather than random chance, allows us to see history differently, not as a series of disconnected events, but as the unfolding of deeper recursive tensions. Evolution is not a wandering through empty time. It’s a crucible dynamic filtration. A compression of symbolic survivability across recursion layers. A contest of structures under relentless environmental shaping.

    Each step and statement in Post Philosophy: Taking Back Logic offers classrooms from high school to higher education an opportunity for vivid discussion and debate as applied philosophy tackles some of modern life’s greatest challenges.

    Each also translates to intriguing concepts most general-interest readers can access, consider, and reflect upon either individually or (ideally) in reading group situations.

    These elements are why libraries should not only acquire Post Philosophy: Taking Back Logic, but point it out to book clubs and groups interested in intersections between philosophy, higher-level thinking, and modern times.

    With its astute grasp and analysis of philosophical frameworks ancient and modern and how they contrast, evolve, and serve as foundations for better understanding, Post Philosophy: Taking Back Logic is a manifesto for re-envisioning change that should be in any philosophy book collection.

    Post Philosophy: Taking Back Logic

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    Primal Health Design
    Dr. Kavin Mistry
    Munn Avenue Press
    978-1-960299-82-6 $7.99 eBook
    www.munnavenuepress.com

Few want to grow old. But, that’s life. Or, it has been until Dr. Kavin Mistry’s Primal Health Design: 7 Key Paradigms to Reverse Biological Age, in which he outlines a blueprint for using natural bodily rhythms to look and feel younger.

Yes, everyone will still age – but without some of the assumptions about its impact that permeates common thinking about the aging process.

Dr. Mistry is a neuroradiologist and health speaker who lends his medical training to applied techniques for addressing aging’s common ravages.

He uses stories to emphasize and outline these aging-saving strategies, but even more appealing is the lyrical language he employs to create not just informational dialogues, but uplifting admonitions:

Let your next meal be a testament to vitality. Swap hyperpalatable treats for fruits that paint your tongue with poetry or vegetables that crunch like a symphony. We were never meant for a diet of empty echoes; we were designed for the richness of life.

Dr. Mistry also drives home the message of “why live longer” with insights on how to form a more purposeful life overall. Science and biology blends with philosophical, psychological, and spiritual insight to create a dialogue for better understanding why some people (and cultures) live longer than others:

Your body is an electrical system, and like any system, it needs stable ground. The Hadzabe didn’t need studies to tell them this. They simply lived it—barefoot, in constant contact with the earth. Living indoors in the modern world, by contrast, insulates us from this vital connection.

More so than most books which purport science but pose ethereal connections, Dr. Mistry’s book simmers with invitation, science-backed reflections, and insights fairly unique to his approach to mitigating aging.

Actionable steps are clearly outlined and reinforced by personal experience and scientific studies. The book’s overall tone is thus far more inviting, inclusive, and connected than most:

In my Indian heritage, there is a term—Sat Chit Anand. Roughly translated, it means truth-consciousness-bliss, or being fully awake to the present moment’s joy. Many in my family greet each other with this phrase, a reminder of what matters. It is a map of the journey we must take...

Libraries interested in the intersection between science, new age thinking, and philosophical life reflection will find Primal Health Design highly attractive for readers who would look at the bigger picture of health, society, and illness.

Packed with strategies that are easy to understand and employ, Primal Health Design is a winning survey that is hard to put down, surprising (but logical) in some of its connections, and attractively empowering.

Primal Health Design

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A Republic By the People
Bill Bivins
By the People Press
979-8-9986321-0-5
$17.76 Hardcover/$10.99 Paperback/$4.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FF2NJMKW

    ... the Republic is still ours — if we choose to keep it.

    A Republic By the People is a manifesto for better understanding American principles, politics, and the Constitution. It outlines thought-provoking choices that represent both caution and empowerment for readers to contemplate and debate.

    These nuts and bolts comprise a non-partisan argument that ordinary Americans should find of interest. It’s not narrated in a form that demands higher education, critical thinking, or promotes a particular belief system, but is presented as a reasoned series of considerations about what connects Americans, makes them unique, and holds potential to either unify or divide people.

    Many books touch upon these subjects already—but few adopt a viewpoint that seeks to rise above knee-jerk reaction and partisan thinking to embrace a blend of historical precedent and applied social re-imagining:

    Teaching the distinctions between inalienable rights and entitlement is critical to addressing these challenges. Inalienable rights, such as freedom of speech and religion, belong to all people and must be protected without exception. Entitlement, on the other hand, refers to specific benefits or privileges granted under law and should be critically examined in the context of fairness and practicality. Similarly, fostering a culture that understands tolerance as coexistence—not forced acceptance or suppression—can pave the way for a more inclusive and harmonious society. Addressing these issues demands commitment to empathy, education, and policy reform, recognizing that while perfection may be unattainable, progress is always possible. This is the cause of America, and anything less would be hypocrisy.

    From what constitutes “divisive alliances” to how the nation’s early thinkers envisioned and defined freedom, autonomy, and a government’s responsibilities to its people, A Republic By the People examines the very definition of what constitutes a “republic” by considering the cornerstones of not just democracy, but society.

    There is so much food for thought and debate in A Republic By the People, tailored in accessible references and experiences, that the book is highly recommended for all kinds of audiences. This includes classrooms studying history and politics, from high school into college circles, to book clubs, reading groups, families, and members of all kinds of groups.

    Libraries will find A Republic By the People far more pointed and well-researched than many, eschewing the usual complexity of partisan argument for sensible, thought-provoking considerations best approached with open minds and hearts.

    Filled with examples from all walks of life, experience, history, politics, and social circles, A Republic By the People asks basic questions about what Americans want not just from their political and religious leaders, but for their lives, friends, and family.

    This kind of opportunity for debate is empowering, adding an uplifting dimension to political quandaries that makes A Republic By the People a standout.

    A Republic By the People

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    The Seekers: Perrin Peters
    Anton Anderson
    Independently Published
    979-8319458988 $15.00 Paperback/$5.00 eBook
    www.anton-anderson.com

    The Seekers: Perrin Peters is the third book in a series about the Lands and the strange creatures that emerge from them. It will especially delight detective and fantasy readers already familiar with The Seekers: Soul Ties and The Seekers: Kirin, because even though these stories shift in protagonist focus, together, they represent a full-bodied flavor of magic, discovery, and other worlds.

    While prior familiarity with The Seekers series is not a requirement, the books’ shifting characters and circumstances translate to a dovetailing of worlds and experience that supports both the stand-alone possibilities of Perrin Peters and the series as a whole.

    Perrin Peters blends magic and technology to solve crimes, but his very first client introduces him to dangers he’d never expected and adversaries he is somewhat ill equipped to confront.

    A series of magical characters swirl around Perrin, from Meori Jani-Fe, whose abilities compliment Perrin’s legal studies and talents, to Ingrid Spar, whose interest in Perrin may not be all about work, and who is determined to survive the consequences of her rule-busting ways by cultivating relationships in unexpected places:

    “I looked you up, actually. Seems to me that you’re single, as am I, so… Of course, maybe I was wrong…”

    Perrin raises his finger. “I got it,” he says, smiling and feeling as something warm and pleasant runs through his veins. “It would be my pleasure. It’s already evening for me, so I’d prefer to have that lunch-slash-dinner in an hour or so.”

    As Perrin navigates a literal and virtual maze of possibilities when it comes to crime, relationships, and success, he ventures ever deeper into weird situations that challenge his personal life and professional prowess.

    Anton Anderson builds his worlds against the backdrop of these ambitions and confrontations. He takes The Seekers: Perrin Peters in unexpected directions as Perrin faces such diverse problems as the abduction of his parents and Ingrid’s daughter Yael and the rage that accompanies magical attacks and investigator anguish.

    Libraries seeking a blend of investigative drama, magical realism, fantasy, and romance will relish how The Seekers: Perrin Peters entwines these elements into a rich story that simmers with possibilities and discovery.

    Replete with unexpected character developments and twists of plot, The Seekers: Perrin Peters will reach a wide audience with its genre-busting stories and thought-provoking scenarios.

    The Seekers: Perrin Peters

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    Shot: A Dictionary of the Lost
    Jude Berman
    She Writes Press
    978-1647429287 $17.99 / $12.99 (ebook)
    Website:  https://judeberman.com/shot/
    Ordering:
    https://www.amazon.com/Shot-Dictionary-Lost-Jude-Berman/dp/1647429285

    Shot: A Dictionary of the Lost presents short stories centered on gun violence and social angst. It tackles violence in America with a series of vignettes arranged in alphabetical form, with a story connected to a name for each letter of the alphabet.

    Each person in these twenty-six stories shares their lives and insights in the moments before a shooting. Each presents a diverse life story altered irrevocably by gun violence, and each reinforces various aspects of and insights into shootings and survival that provide not just food for thought, but important fodder for group discussion.

    Take the opening story ‘Anna,’ for example. The shocking first-person revelation unfolds from its opening lines:

    I am Anna and I am a statistic. I was twelve years old when I was shot. I lived with my family in a yellow house in Omaha, Nebraska. I was a straight-A student and wanted to be a scientist when I grew up.
    Under Jude Berman’s hand, young Anna springs to life, dressed in her favorite pink shirt and carrying her backpack and her dreams to school—for the last time.

    Contrast this with ‘Quinn,’ who was shot at age fifty-three when she was looking forward to retiring from her bank job. Quinn navigates a boss who doesn’t like her, being the oldest person at work, and considers early retirement versus job-hunting at her age when a gun changes everything.

    These aren’t quick sketches, but in-depth character studies that document realistic personalities, lives, and connections all destroyed by gun violence.

    As a literary study in contrasts, Shot: A Dictionary of the Lost is excellent, well-constructed, thought-provoking, and powerfully structured.

    Libraries looking for fictional insights into guns in society will find Shot: A Dictionary of the Lost a potent recommendation for a wide audience—particularly those interested in sparking conversations about how guns affect ordinary people in extraordinary ways.

    Filled with people whose lives and purposes make them feel like familiar personalities, Shot: A Dictionary of the Lost is compelling, sad, and appealing all in one.

    Shot: A Dictionary of the Lost

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    This Thing in My Head 
    Jessica Aike 
    Independently Published
    9798303627772 $10.99 Paperback/$5.99 eBook
    Website: https://jessicaaike.com/
    Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/This-Thing-My-Head-Self-Actualise/dp/B0DQJXHXC7

    This Thing in My Head comes from a British Nigerian writer who considers issues of cultural connections and disconnect, abuse, recovery, and childhood trauma. But these aren’t the only topics she confronts. Embedded in her survey of self-help and growth are social, political, and cultural insights that raise important questions suitable for all kinds of discussions:

    As I got older, I quickly learnt that not only was eclecticism shunned, but introversion was also demonised. Reserved personalities do not fit the stereotypes of the boisterous Nigerian, the loud black woman. It was a crime, met with constant ridicule, because how dare you show up as an authentic fully fledged human being, in a world that tells you you are a caricature. It is expected that you give people the performance of a lifetime, because what is blackness if not to perform, to posture, to dismiss nuance?

    As she moves from abuse that takes the form of personal and political perspective to insights on child-rearing, safety, survival, and the roots and incarnation of low self-esteem, readers gain lessons in psychology, sociology, parenting, and more. Many of these insights will prove unexpected and seemingly wide-ranging, but all come full circle to connect and build a bigger picture of health, disease, and flaws in thinking and ideals.

    These will be important revelations for readers considering relationships, belief systems, and assumptions about good and bad processes of interacting, teaching, and relating to one another.

    Readers who choose This Thing in My Head will find that its intense political and cultural examination may be surprising. Its self-help features and the social aspects of its analysis will prove both enlightening and unexpected.

    This Thing in My Head offers a discourse and considerations rarely presented in juxtaposition to one another in such an accessible manner, and are important for book club and group reading discussions.

    Libraries that choose This Thing in My Head will find its thought-provoking blend of the personal and political to be attractive, unusual, and highly recommended for thinking readers from all walks of life who look for discussions that provoke revised worldviews and perspectives.

    This Thing in My Head 

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True and False Lights
Dalton Hiett
Palmetto Publishing
979-8-8229-5862-3 $13.99 Paperback/$5.99 eBook
www.PalmettoPublishing.com

    True and False Lights is recommended reading for Christians interested in identifying and better understanding common challenges to faith. It addresses religious pressure and secular influence alike, surveying the attitudes, perceptions, and foundations of discord that shake faith and lead to spurious questioning.

    Dalton Hiett reviews the influences that have led to this modern-day dilemma. He considers the forces that sow doubt in believers, Biblical misconceptions that have successfully led many a Christian astray, and how to better understand and address various forms of attack on faith that come from disparate directions.

    Perhaps Hiett’s second goal is even more important—to “...point out theologically unsound attitudes rampant in the modern Church.”

    Together, these succinct approaches identify modern issues that batter faith and lead to alienation, discord, disbelief, and straying from Biblical intention and message. This creates important guideposts for families, churches, and followers who want to address the common issues that challenge Christian communities today.

    Various tools are promoted in the course of undertaking such an examination:

    Science can only tell us a little about these spiritual experiences beyond some small details We should test spiritual experiences when possible, but it is also important to avoid overly relying on science Thankfully, science is not the only tool of logic available to us Philosophy existed before science, and it has plenty to tell us.

    Hiett takes his own advice, weaving historical and philosophical inspection to create a bigger picture of not just faith’s roots, but how modern ambitions, techniques, and technology has eroded human competency, creativity, and intellect:

    The combined effect of modern advancements has made us, in many ways, less than those that came before No one truly knows the full extent of damage done to the modern mind by all the gadgets we are so proud of With those gadgets, we can do more than people of the past But what did they cost us as people?

    The result is a wide-ranging consideration of a number of key influences on faith, human development, and ability. True and False Lights deserves recommendation not just in religious circles, but for reading groups interested in probing the human condition and the forces that have shaken its spiritual foundations.

    Libraries interested in faith-reinforcing considerations that are best employed in group discussions for maximum benefit will want to acquire and recommend True and False Lights for Christian thinkers and any group interested in considering how disparate influences have caused erosion in belief and faith, as well as how such intrinsic capabilities may be restored.

    True and False Lights

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    Varsity Blues
    John Wilson with Leslie Wilson
    Palmetto Publishing
    ‎979-8822910188
    $28.44 Hardcover/$17.99 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
    www.PalmettoPublishing.com

To call Varsity Blues: Scandal Within the Scandal a memoir alone would be to do this book an injustice. As much as it details one family’s struggle with legal issues, it also uncovers and reveals the federal prosecution system, its political weaponization, and the methods used to suppress information in the Operation Varsity Blues trial in particular.

John Wilson observed these circumstances first-hand as he battled federal forces, Netflix, and other special interests to bring Felicity Huffman and Lori Laughlin to trial. His powerful reflections document not only legal challenges, but why Wilson pursued justice despite the odds stacked against his case:

We were up against impossible odds, and if we were going to win, we had to go all in with everything we had. This was no longer The United States of America v. John Wilson; this was John Wilson v. The United States of America. Fighting was the only path where we could all hold our heads high.

From how Netflix participated in a smear campaign to scandals, fabrications, court proceedings, and purposeful information repression, Wilson lays out startling contentions that will raise many discussions among legal students in circles where issues of criminal justice and prosecution are of interest.

Personalizing the story with issues of family connection, honor, and redemption, Varsity Blues presents a powerful condemnation of how the justice system skews towards the rich and powerful:

It was patently obvious to any impartial observer that the prosecutors basically handpicked this judge. A number of lawyers familiar with the Boston federal judges told us what the prosecutors did was the equivalent of having someone from their team sitting on the bench. That was shocking and frightening. The person who was supposed to be the unbiased umpire, fairly calling balls and strikes, and the only check on an overly aggressive prosecutor’s power was now effectively a full supporter on their side.

Libraries interested in true stories of white collar crime will find far more depth and information in Varsity Blues than may be expected. Backed with personal revelations about family and social impact, it holds vast opportunities for educating and attracting a wide audience. This includes book clubs and discussion groups to readers interested in social and political connections within the judicial system as one family’s fight to restore their honor and reputation takes on a vivid life of its own.

Varsity Blues is nearly impossible to put down, once begun, filled with black and white visuals and an impact that will leave many a reader reflecting on all aspects of justice system operations and impacts.

Varsity Blues

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Young Adult/Children


Adventure USA - OHIO! The Mystery of the Mound
Barbara Larmon Failing
Forestdale Press, LLC
978-0-9916509-7-2
$2.99 eBook; $9.99 paperback; $19.99 hardback
Website: barbaralarmonfailing.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0991650972?ref_=pe_93986420_774957520

The third book in Barbara Larmon Failing’s series for preteens ages 8-12, Adventure USA - OHIO! The Mystery of the Mound, continues the visits to U.S. sites that twins Josh and Lizzie experience with much excitement.

Ohio may not sound like an exciting destination, initially, but under Failing’s hand (and via the captivating illustrations of Erik Drohman), family adventure powers the attraction. It’s all happening because of the eco-travel blog, co-written by their parents, that propels the family to visit tourist sites across the nation.

The story focuses on many components of life changes. These include an application to the All-Star Science Camp, eleven-year-old William’s newfound maturity (which seems to dictate that ‘science is boring’ in comparison to, say, soccer), and parental participation in geology and archaeology. Through these events, the family is introduced to new discoveries and travel opportunities.

Facts that emerge about the Buckeye State revolve around its archaeological history, which is nicely woven into a story of siblings who develop different relationships with peers during the course of their journey. The dual focus on adventure, education, and psychological growth contribute to a plot which is captivating on many different levels as preteens learn to better understand friends, bullies, and the requirement of adjusting to new environments.

These elements lend the story a realistic air where the adventure is not just about science or soccer, but evolving relationships and adapting to new circumstances and environments.

Social, ecological, and political issues add further value to the story of how a student body and community react to a proposed golf course and accompanying issues of green space usage and management.

Libraries will find Adventure USA - OHIO! The Mystery of the Mound works well as a stand-alone story, in addition to supporting the state-hopping series as a whole. Its blend of realistic settings and characters, Ohio facts and history, a dash of mystery and confrontation, and the sense of adventure the twins experience makes for an exceptionally strong educational leisure read.

Adventure USA - OHIO! The Mystery of the Mound

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The Day I Had a Spaceship
Ashley Wall and Vaughan Duck
MamaBear Books
9781960616289 $17.95
www.mamabearbooks.com

In The Day I Had a Spaceship, young Luke and his toy dinosaur are just leaving for school when dog Bobo entices them to follow him to his new discovery—a real-life spaceship that already holds his friends inside.

A distress message lures the young adventurers on a trip to the moon, where they experience zero gravity, eat space food, and search for the alien Galaxy Hoops and its craft.

Young picture book readers who enjoy non-scary stories about aliens, space flight, and extraterrestrial experiences will find The Day I Had a Spaceship as delightful a read as their read-aloud adult companions.

Colorful, action-packed illustrations throughout accompany some facts about the moon, space flight, and problem-solving to delight a wide audience with a blend of entertainment and information:

“My books were right,” Noah said. “The Moon IS covered in powdery dust and rock.”

Further insights about cooperation and helping others are embedded in an entertaining adventure recommended for elementary-level libraries and adult read-aloud alike.

The Day I Had a Spaceship

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The Day Sweetie Pie Died
Laurie Sharp
Belle Isle Books
978-1-962416-75-7
$26.95 (Hardback), $15.95 (Paperback), $4.99 (Ebook), $6.99 (Audiobook retail), $20.99 (Audiobook library)
Author Website:  https://lmsharpbooks.com/  
Publisher Website: https://www.brandylanepublishers.com/product/the-day-sweetie-pie-died/

    The Day Sweetie Pie Died is a picture book that differs from most about death, in that it surveys the events leading up to death. It is intended to be read long before a child experiences an actual death.

    In this story, a group of schoolchildren and their teacher confront death, grief, emotions, and recovery. The story starts off unexpectedly (in comparison to most children’s books about death): young Maggie is enthusiastic about school (“School ROCKS!”) and anticipates having a wonderful day.

    She especially loves the class guinea pig Sweetie Pie, the subject of this story.

    Her encounter with her teacher and the other kids is joyful, but the stage is set when her beloved teacher seems unusually reflective. How Ms. Lamms tells the class about Sweetie Pie’s demise and helps them absorb this fact makes for an engrossing lesson on loss. Read-aloud adults will find The Day Sweetie Pie Died the perfect choice for kids experiencing pet loss, grief, and the myriad of emotions that converge around death.

    Laurie Sharp does an especially good job of contrasting everyday life with a sudden change and the variety of emotions this sparks in the class as a whole and the young first-person narrator in particular:

    I blurt out, “I want my Momma!” I don’t want this to be a new day anymore. I want it to be yesterday, when Sweetie Pie was alive.

    Colorful, engaging artwork by Emily Hurst Pritchett is the perfect accompaniment to this somber subject as the kids reflect on the joy of knowing Sweetie Pie and absorb the pain of her loss.

    There are plenty of children’s picture books about grief, death, and coming to terms with dying. Few embrace the bigger picture of life and death in the manner of The Day Sweetie Pie Died, which shows how a day like any other turns into a day of not just mourning, but a renewed celebration of life.

    Read-aloud adults will find The Day Sweetie Pie Died a compelling, moving story that takes all manner of reactions and insights into consideration as Maggie moves through her grief, shares with her classmates, and acknowledges some powerful truths:

    I know I’m only a kid.

    I don’t understand why people and animals have to die. But I do know that I am glad I knew Sweetie Pie.

    The Day Sweetie Pie Died

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    Estrella Chavez Goes to Mystery School Lesson 1: Water
    L.C. Matherne
    Magazine Street Journal
    ‎978-0692064153 $14.70 Paperback/$4.70 eBook
    https://www.amazon.com/Estrella-Chavez-Goes-Mystery-School/dp/069206415X

It’s not often that dystopian worlds collide with a murder mystery and a coming-of-age story for teens, but Estrella Chavez Goes to Mystery School Lesson 1: Water tackles some very adult subjects in a manner that lends to its appreciation by young adults.

Estrella’s father was assassinated when she was a baby. Now nearly fifteen, Estrella has been expelled from school for her violent temper. She is banished by her mother to an elite academy that holds only one attraction for Estrella—a seminar known as Mystery School. With an appealing name like that, how could attendance be questionable?

There’s only one problem. Her classmates and peers are descendents of the family that murdered her father. And what she doesn’t know about mysticism, prophecy, blackmail and murder could kill her, too.

L.C. Matherne evolves a compelling saga of Vision Quests, searches for truth, and struggles that move from young adult to adult concerns in a fluid, believable, compelling manner. She takes the time to build “you are there” descriptions into her story to bring Estrella’s discoveries to life:

Estrella watches Margeaux disappear into the oranges and reds of the autumn forest—a pink bird. The fallen leaves and pine needles crunch beneath Estrella’s feet as she picks juniper berries, edible mushrooms, nettles, wild geranium, and yarrow root. She stumbles into a chestnut tree laden with fruit.

She also includes a wry thread of humor in many observations:

Stiffly and silently, the students venture out into the forest. Estrella hoists her empty backpack onto her shoulder and studies her list. As Amaka passes her, she whispers, “All of this, I do for my people. I have already broken a nail, and there is not even a mirror in the bathroom. Now, I brave these woods. I will return victorious.” Her petite frame disappears into the woods.

With an exceptionally powerful sense of place and purpose, the story evolves in unexpected directions that young adults (and many an adult reader) won’t see coming as Estrella navigates uncertain territory physically, psychically, and emotionally to step into her strengths.

Libraries interested in teen reads that bust genres in satisfying ways to intersect mystery, mythology, dystopian futures, and coming-of-age quandaries will relish how deeply and provocatively Estrella Chavez Goes to Mystery School builds its characters and plot.

Replete with the unexpected and an appealing hero whose world teeters between family interactions and scenarios and the unexpected, Estrella Chavez Goes to Mystery School Lesson 1: Water is a powerful winner that proves hard to put down and easy to relish.

Estrella Chavez Goes to Mystery School Lesson 1: Water

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Ghost Brother
Sylvia Sánchez Garza
Piñata Books/Arte Público Press
979-8893750065 $14.95 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Brother-Sylvia-S%C3%A1nchez-Garza/dp/B0CZPLPB7P

    Ghost Brother is a young adult story of bullying that leads to death, telling of twin siblings who survive a terrible night in different ways. One is a survivor who is left to deal with the fallout. The other is a ghost who also is forced to listen not only to his family’s anguish, but the plans of a sheriff to protect his son from the law.

    The story opens with the first-person reflection of surviving brother Cris, who considers not just the loss of Carlos, but the future of his family and life. It’s difficult for him to come to terms with being a survivor:

    “It could have been you, Cris. You’re a miracle,” Mamá says.

    I guess I should be happy.

    Nothing ever happened before in the small south Texas town of Malton. Now events are happening back-to-back, placing Cris in the middle of a whirlwind of accusation, change, and anguish that death has no part in mitigating.

    A long-absent father, a new love, and secrets that wrack this Mexican-American town add depth and further insights into the story, which moves from a tale of grief and possible redemption to one in which the entire community suffers.

    Also notable are insights into supernatural events, perceptions, and cultural beliefs which steep Ghost Brother in a milieu rich in Mexican-American traditions, different generational perceptions, and insights on death and living.

    Sylvia Sánchez Garza creates a compelling story that is about far more than grief and recovery alone. As she probes the roots of this Mexican-American Texan town, she also reveals the wellsprings of tradition and culture which lend to survival and diverse viewpoints about how best to live.

    The investigative mystery component wound into the grief is finely tuned so as to bring readers into an intriguing milieu of discovery while traversing the deep influences of family and social forces.

    Libraries seeking a gripping YA story immersed in bigger-picture thinking about ethics, survival, and love will find Ghost Brother a major attraction.

    Its ability to lure YA audiences with the promise of ghosts, disparate viewpoints of brothers forced to cope with disaster in different ways, and its inclusion of ethical concerns and intrigue make Ghost Brother an outstanding read that YA book clubs will also find thoroughly engrossing and filled with discussion topics.

    Ghost Brother

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    Girl With The Silver Hair
    Celia Seupel
    SFF Publishing
    979-8-9928504-0-6 Paperback: $14.99; eBook: $3.99
    Website: celiawatsonseupel.com
    Ordering: https://tinyurl.com/yc38e4ur

    Girl With The Silver Hair, Book 1 in The Samson Project series, is the dystopian YA story of Eten, a telekinetic girl trained to be a killer who longs to be a healer instead. The final straw comes with a mandate for her to train her five-year-old sister how to be like her—a killer in an endless war, with no control over her own life or desires.

The story opens with a bang. Eten is accompanying her sister on a dangerous test that involves terminating a guard and getting away with it. It doesn’t seem to matter what Eten feels about this mandate. “Self-control, at all times, is paramount.” Especially in times of endless warfare.

Her parents are not only part of these scenarios, but exact their own excruciating punishments for failure or critical thinking. Still, Eten is discovering too many things about her world which are puzzling—including the increasing possibility that her parents are lying to her about everything.

Her discoveries lead not just to revolt, but being forced to reinvent everything she thinks she knows about the world and her family’s place in it.

Celia Seupel takes coming-of-age and dystopian themes a step further than most YA novels, examining the belief systems of questioning young adults as they enter into adult circles to consider not just history and philosophy, but survival tactics.

Moral and ethical quandaries emerge from Eten’s examinations to not only test her abilities, but lead her to reconsider her place in the world, as well its boundaries.

Fast-paced action will keep YAs thoroughly engrossed:

Slashing its huge tail in the water, the crocodile shoots toward them, its teeth flashing again. Together, Nate and John-Paul throw the motor right into the animal’s mouth. The teeth snap shut on the machine and the crocodile sinks as the boys fall backward.

Equally vivid, however, are the intersections between self and others as Eten expands her senses and begins to use them to piece together her life purpose and what it means to live, die, or “terminate” those around her.

Libraries seeking either a coming-of-age or dystopian YA story that operates a cut above others with its moral and ethical underpinnings will welcome Girl With The Silver Hair into their collections.

With its survey of extraordinary abilities and the choices that accompany them, Girl With The Silver Hair creates a masterfully compelling saga that proves hard to either predict or put down.

Girl With The Silver Hair

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Go Away!
Azizi Tuere
Let Your Light Shine Press
978-1-961745-52-0 $14.99
www.azizituere.com

Go Away! holds fun illustrations by Yasari Maliyawadu, adding to Azizi Tuere’s Playground Parables series with a picture book survey of a little book named Booker whose covers remain tightly shut against the world.

Booker just wants to be left alone, and he rebuffs all overtures from would-be friends who are attracted to his bright cover and promise of being interesting. But he rejects them all and tells them to go away. Can anyone break through his self-imposed countenance? Why is he so reluctant to have friends?

Tuere focuses on all kinds of possibilities for this little book, explaining why he’s so hostile towards others and how he builds a wall of safety around him, fueled by fears of rejection.

Read-aloud adults will find Go Away! outstanding not only for its insights about friendship possibilities and isolation, but its hints on how kindness and a different approach can change even the most hostile, determined, isolated individuals.

With its many psychological revelations, Go Away! will find a welcome home in libraries and reading groups where the very young are educated about interacting with others and understanding more about the different personalities around them, making it a top pick for adults interested in emotional growth opportunities.

Go Away!

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I Told You So!
Azizi Tuere
Let Your Light Shine Press
978-1-961745-48-3  $14.99
www.azizituere.com

Adding to the Playground Parables series is the lovely I Told You So!, a picture book discussion about a girl who just can’t resist pointing out others’ mistakes to make herself feel good and strong.

Yasasri Maliyawadu once again provides compelling illustrations that bring Azizi Tuere’s story to life, inviting kids ages 4-8 to better consider the impact of their decisions and choices on their peers.

Here, the difference between pointing out errors and pitching in to fix them receives enlightening discussion that invites all ages to participate in problem-solving, kindly assistance, and understanding that being right all the time is not the best formula for making friends.

Parents who choose I Told You So! will find its lessons on cooperation, problem-solving, and understanding the roots of bragging and one-upmanship opens clear and important discussions for a much younger age group than is usually given the opportunity to consider these issues. This makes I Told You So! highly recommended reading for any adult who would help kids better understand the foundations of preserving friendships and life connections.

I Told You So!

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Just Kidding!
Azizi Tuere
Let Your Light Shine Press
978-1-961745-50-6  $14.99
www.azizituere.com

Kids ages 4-8 will appreciate Just Kidding’s picture book saga about hurtful jokes and humor which isn’t always funny to everyone. Spiced with Yasari Maliyawadu’s engaging illustrations, Just Kidding! reviews the common devices of passive-aggressive behavior patterns in a manner that the very young can learn from and relate to.

Jazzy the jester loves making kids laugh, but nobody appreciates his practical jokes or the many ways he manages to make those around him look like fools.

Jazzy is only vaguely guilty about the results of some of his actions, but he brushes them off in the name of humor until a number of victims of his jokes manage to make the point that not all humor is delivered (or received) in good fun.

Read-aloud adults who rarely have the opportunity to engage the very young in discussions about humor’s impact receive a rich survey in this addition to the Playground Parables series. It points out the difference between genuine fun and humor, and that which comes at the expense of others.

Just Kidding! is the perfect opportunity for better understanding the impact of behaviors, offering a great opportunity for engaging young readers in the foundations of understanding the impact of their actions and choices on others.

Just Kidding!

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The Handy Pandas
Jamie McMahon
MamaBear Books
9781960616258 $17.95
www.mamabearbooks.com

Some busy pandas have already had a full day and are napping when their world changes. They may have a reputation for “fixing the most impossible tasks” by working efficiently together, but can they fix the case of a missing sun?

Anything’s possible when they work together.

Jamie McMahon creates a compelling picture book story of cooperation, creative problem-solving, and a conundrum much bigger than anything these handy pandas have faced before.

Young readers will especially appreciate McMahon’s large-size, fun panda drawings and the message that encourages wondering, pondering, asking ‘why’ questions, and applying knowledge in a creative manner.

While some of their bright ideas produce no sun, perseverance is also an important lesson in this whimsical story of how flummoxed pandas confront an impossible task with a little positivity, cooperative strength, and applied science.

Libraries and read-aloud parents seeking a story whimsical in its presentation, colorful in its illustrations, and thought-provokingly fun and encouraging will want to welcome The Handy Pandas into their collections as a superior read. It entertains even as it introduces positive concepts about cooperation and creative problem-solving to the very young.

The Handy Pandas

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Kat’s Magic Helmet
Katherine Legge & Andy Amendola
Red Racer Books
979-8-218-59918-8 $19.99
https://www.amazon.com/Kats-Magic-Helmet-Adventures-Katherine/dp/B0F4GFMRW9?sr=8-1

    Kat’s Magic Helmet: The Early Racing Adventures of Katherine Legge is a picture book memoir about Katherine Legge, who is “born with the heart of a racer; she was always on the move.”

    Early on, she dreams of driving a real Indy race car. Too small for go-karting, she learns skills from “cadet” cars which allow the very young to race—thanks to a savvy father who supports her dreams.

    Ashleigh Mower captures Katherine’s world with large-size illustrations which are appealing and filled with joy.

    As Kat navigates being the “only girl on the track” when she grows into racing bigger vehicles, young readers receive many insights not just about the car racing world, but how women can forge new pathways in ventures where they are unique standouts.

    Important information on goal-setting, winning and defeat, and perseverance are embedded into Katherine’s story to inspire many a young girl to follow her dreams. These elements make Kat’s Magic Helmet an uplifting, encouraging story that read-aloud adults will find just as fascinating (and filled with important talking points) as picture book readers.

    Libraries interested in building picture book collections supporting girls’ dreams will want to make sure that Kat’s Magic Helmet takes its place in the winner’s circle of highly recommendable stories.

    Kat’s Magic Helmet

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Night of the Living Toilet Paper
Kevin Garone
Temor Press
‎979-8991328449
$19.99 Hardcover/$12.99 Paperback/$8.99 eBook
Website: www.kevingarone.com/books/night-of-the-living-toilet-paper/
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F8LR81LX/

Night of the Living Toilet Paper is Book 2 in the ‘Alien Survival Guide’ series, pitting Marv and his friends against new alien threats when Marv observes an unmanned motorcycle trying to evade a paranormal investigator in the woods.

He manages to confiscate the runaway cycle and observes a creature slithering from its tailpipe, but when he returns to the scene of his observation, backed by friends, it’s to discover that not only is their fort destroyed, but their stockpile of toilet paper has come to life. And it’s growing.

A town threatened by renegade toilet paper couldn’t be funnier, but Kevin Garone develops fine characters, tension, and creature encounters that are also serious as the boys confront the impossible armed with few tools except their introductory knowledge of aliens.

The story takes place a few months after Marv and the gang stopped what he believes was an alien takeover in the first adventure story. Due to this experience, Marv has a tendency to see aliens everywhere:

There was something in this that reeked of extraterrestrial activity.

Perhaps this ability to spot trouble serves them well, because Marv and the kids seem to be the last (and only) defense against a takeover—including odd toilet paper incarnations that could wipe out humanity.

Humor, confrontation, creatures, and fast-paced action immerse young readers in a story packed with engrossing descriptions and unusual quandaries:

I pushed harder on the acceleration, and the grumbling of the engine picked up into a full-fledged roar. Cold air blasted my face and hands. I was still half-worried that the motorcycle would turn into an alien super weapon at any moment, but I couldn’t stop the grin that was plastered on my face. This was awesome.

Elementary-level libraries seeking fast-paced sci-fi that intrigues and elicits laughter will find Night of the Living Toilet Paper especially thought-provoking, filled with attractive fun that will appeal even beyond the middle grade years:

Long story short, someone whose biggest goal in life was to toilet paper the middle school was hardly a suitable candidate for an anti-alien task force.

As a sequel to the first detective/mystery alien story I Know What UFO Did Last Summer, Night of the Living Toilet Paper provides a thoroughly engrossing plot just as unpredictable as its predecessor, just as attractive to newcomers as to prior fans, and just as satisfyingly difficult to put down.

Night of the Living Toilet Paper

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Return of the Cave Lion
Phyllis Wheeler
Motherboard Books
979-8-9866999-6-7 $11.99 Paperback/$4.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Return-Cave-Lion-Christian-Childrens-ebook/dp/B0DWZRTHQX

Return of the Cave Lion is the fourth and final book in the ‘Guardians of Time’ series. It will continue to delight young readers ages 8-11 and parents who look for Christian values and themes embedded in leisure reading.

It’s billed as a “Christian children’s action adventure.” Phyllis Wheeler more than lives up to all these descriptors as she presents the latest escapades of Jake and Ava, 11-year-old time travelers who have helped others in the past. Now an oversized kitten brings them through a portal to strand them in a forest threatened by raiders.

It’s not the familiar rescue scenario they’ve been involved with before, and the duo must trust in the Guiding Hand to continue to direct them through impossible situations and conundrums.

Wheeler embeds her story with revelations that encourage kids to think about God, their choices, and the growth-inducing results of their actions:

If there was one thing I’d learned so far as a time traveler, it was this: sometimes when you’re afraid to do something, you just need to do it. And, that’s what a leader does, too.

This approach encourages bigger-picture thinking as the story plays out, making it the perfect choice for adults who want to direct important discussions for pre-teens about leadership, problem-solving, creative thinking, and moral values.

All these elements are embedded into a gripping story that introduces kings and druids, epic journeys, and considerations of the Bible and faith:

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall lack nothing.

“He makes me lie down in green pastures.

“He leads me beside quiet waters.

“He restores my soul.”

He sighed. “Now I know how helpless sheep must have a safe place to lie down. They must have quiet waters for drinking, not rushing waters. The Lord provides safety like that for his people, even if it is costly. He gives them peace at heart. He is our shepherd, our leader.”

I pondered this. A shepherd leads his flock. He cares for his flock. As their leader, he doesn’t just boss them around. He serves his flock.

Return of the Cave Lion is an engaging story that Christian families and libraries will want to include in their collections.

More than a time-travel adventure, Wheeler’s story encourages all ages to consider God’s mandates, purpose, and mystery while placing young characters in positions where they must make important decisions while staying true to moral and spiritual values.

These elements make Return of the Cave Lion especially attractive reading, inviting attention from leisure audiences while gifting the added value of spiritual reflection that emerges within vivid action and discoveries. All these features translate to exquisite adventure reading.

Return of the Cave Lion

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Tinkerbell and the Magic of Rushy Marsh Farm
Monica McCourt
Rushy Marsh Press
9798218655006      Hardcover: $24.99 / eBook: $9.99
Website: https://www.rushymarshpress.com/
Ordering: https://www.girlfridayproductions.com/titles/tinkerbell-and-the-magic-of-rushy-marsh-farm

Tinkerbell and the Magic of Rushy Marsh Farm is about dreaming big and believing in others. It’s the perfect story for horse-crazy kids and read-aloud adults looking for tales about confidence, supporting others, and growth.

Tinkerbell the horse is new to the farm, and this, combined with her diminutive size, leads her to wonder how she will fit in, with her big dreams.

But, no worries. With the help of young dreamer and new groom Teddy, plus farm animal attention to celebrating and supporting differences, Tinkerbell is in good hands (and hoofs and paws).

Monica McCourt builds an engaging story of dreams, achievement, and support systems alongside colorful, engaging illustrations by Joanna Scott. Her story is about bucking the odds and coming to understand that being different may be the ace in the hole for being special:

“Everyone on that field is special, but I’m just small.”

Tutti Frutti kicks up her paws. “That’s what makes you different,” she barks. “And being different makes you special.”

Read-aloud adults interested in a moving story of self-discovery and talent which dovetails nicely with insights about supporting big dreams and others will find Tinkerbell and the Magic of Rushy Marsh Farm an engaging story. It nicely supports bigger-picture thinking and insights about emotional quests and connections.

Libraries seeking picture books that draw attention with colorful art and text that is positive and insightful will welcome the opportunities Tinkerbell and the Magic of Rushy Marsh Farm presents to help kids grow.

Tinkerbell and the Magic of Rushy Marsh Farm

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What Color Am I Today?
Tom Kervahn
KP Publishing Company
9781960001696
$19.95 Hardcover/$17.09 Paperback/$8.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Am-I-Today/dp/1960001698

What Color Am I Today? is a thought-provoking picture book reflection on moods that opens with a child’s muse:

I heard my father say/something very strange today./He told me he was feeling blue./I looked at him without a clue.

As the narrator moves through life, other references to mood and color (green for envy and a mother who’s apparently turned her father’s hair gray – which leads to a question about whether a grandson completed the journey by influencing its present-day whiteness) explore not just emotions, but making the choice to be a particular ‘color’ on a particular day.

Tom Kervahn’s colorful coverage brings the serious question of understanding emotions to a child’s-eye viewpoint as the young narrator tackles the weighty question of emotions, impact, life changes, and choice.

Ordinarily, these topics would seem weighty and complex for the very young. But pair colorful illustrations by TulipStudio with a rollicking rhyme that incorporates humor into its serious focus for an accessible, surprisingly joyful consideration of emotional understanding that read-aloud adults will find thoughtful, fun, and revealing.

The kinds of dialogues that will emerge between adult and child from this simple, whimsical overview of moods makes What Color Am I Today? highly recommended for elementary-level libraries and read-aloud adults interested in attractive surveys of emotional growth that all ages can learn from.

What Color Am I Today?

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Whistle Punk Falls
Shaun Anthony McMichael
Alternative Book Press
979-8-9924613-3-6
https://alternativebookpress.com/

    Think Lord of the Flies set in a small Washington town facing economic collapse. Make the 18-year-old hero a schizophrenic who hears voices and confronts his father’s mysterious death. Make the narrator a best friend whose main interests in life is saving his friend and playing his guitar. Whistle Punk Falls brings alive the milieu of young adulthood, small-town angst, and relationships which emerge when protective social systems fail.

    Its powerful story of redemption, salvation, and emotional connection opens with a letter to Malachi written by his absent Native American mother, who details hard-hitting truths about her relationship to his father, his failings, and the atmosphere that drove them apart, locking her out of her son’s life. Bigger-picture thinking links these events to the overall milieu of small-town experience:

    Aberdeen has always felt like a possessed place to me. Too many bad things have happened there. Too many people’s ghosts linger, all restless and crushed up by the mills and the booze and the drugs and the depressions. Your dad was born into all that. And some of that spirit wormed its way into you.

    Shaun Anthony McMichael crafts hard-hitting inspections of absent parents, stifling support systems, and psychological dysfunction among family members. Each contributes to Loud’s eventual downfall and friend Jeremy’s feeling that he somehow hasn’t done enough to save his friend.

    McMichael also adds in other characters whose frustrations and interactions expand this world, from Jeremy’s mother, Detective Charlotte Sweet, who confronts “all the things she can’t fix,” from her marriage to Aberdeen itself, to Aurora, who has driven Loud away at his own request, and Malcolm, who candidly observes the engrained fallacies of systems that promote prejudice and repression:

    Malcolm expatiated about the baked-in racism of the U.S.’s incarceration system: nonparity between crack and cocaine sentencing, maximum sentencing laws, recidivism in felons.

    “We’re creating a pariah class of people who have served their time in our supposed system of penance,” Malcolm sneered.

    Aurora thinks they should move away from trying to help Loud and others. But the reality is that there’s noplace to move to:

    Move on? To what? How? Here? One look around sinks that argument. As if he had something better to do. Like get a job. Jobs were scarce before, but after the crash? The line outside the DSHS is longer than for a sold-out show. The laid-off workers’ picket lines are thinner only because they’ve secured unemployment and are at home stewing around the kitchen table over what’s next.

    So much in the story mirrors the economic and social frustrations of many an American abode that the demise of social connections, niceties of caring about others, and struggles to stay alive under insane conditions and expectations make Whistle Punk Falls more than just another story of teen angst or apocalyptic survival.

    Its powerful tale of discovery should be acquired by librarians not just for teens, but for all ages. It’s highly recommendable to book club and reading groups for its incredibly alluring story of disparate young people facing a non-future in which their hopes, dreams, and aspirations are not just on fire, but quashed.

    Filled with enlightening moments and fiery social and psychological realization, Whistle Punk Falls is a study in contrasts and experience. It deserves high profile in any library, to be recommended to young adult and adult readers interested in how relationships fracture and are rebuilt in small towns across America.

    Whistle Punk Falls

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    Who Cares?
    Azizi Tuere
    Let Your Light Shine Press
    978-1-961745-54-4 $14.99 
    www.azizituere.com

Who Cares?: A Journey from Shrugging Off to Showing Up is a Playground Parables picture book story that depicts Shelly Shoulders, who is masterful at shrugging off all kinds of invitations. She harbors a casual “I don’t care” attitude that keeps peers at arms’ length, demonstrating a lack of engagement in just about anything important in her life.

Yasasri Maliyawadu provides fun, engaging illustrations that capture Azizi Tuere’s vivid descriptions of this shoulder-shrugging protagonist:

Her arms? Always crossed. Her answer to everything? A big, dramatic shrug. “Who cares?” That was her favorite phrase.

How can such a stubborn personality be changed? Apparently not through play invitations or kindness—until classmate Brook realizes not just why Shelly seems so distant, but how to break through her barriers.

Tuere creates an evocative, moving story to delight not just picture book readers, but read-aloud adults interested in exploring topics of fear, reluctance, engagement, and the process of belonging to a community.

All these ideas and more receive enlightening, vivid illustration through an uncommon character forced to confront new possibilities in her life.

Libraries seeking elementary-level picture book stories that shine with psychological and social insights will welcome Who Cares? for its ability to explore the roots of shyness and distancing. The alternative approaches suggested will be understandable and attractive to even the very young.

Who Cares?

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