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Donovan's Bookshelf

June 2018 Review Issue


Table Of Contents

Prime Picks
Fantasy & Sci Fi
 Mystery & Thrillers
Novels
Reviewer's Choice
Young Adult/Childrens


Fantasy & Sci Fi

Chipless
Kfir Luzzatto
Pine Ten
Kindle: 978-1-938212-72-7           $4.99
EPUB: 978-1-938212-73-4            $4.99
Paperback: 978-1-938212-71-0    Price TBA
Website: https://www.kfirluzzatto.com
Ordering links:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BRB84MX

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1128306551?ean=2940155189688

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/chipless

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/808184 

Chipless presents an uncertain and strange utopian/dystopian future world in which chips are placed in the brains of each infant to prevent disease. Perhaps predictably, those with chip implants can ultimately be manipulated and ruled. When a young physicist discovers the truth behind the 'health chips,' he also finds his life is threatened. 

Amber is a chipless girl who is determined to help Kal escape from the forces threatening them both, and they embark on a journey to escape the city, armed with a weapon that could change everything. This makes them of special interest to those with a vested interest in subjugating humanity. 

Unfortunately, to reach a place where they will be safe, they must journey through even more dangerous territories; and their high adventure, which involves leaving the dubious civilization of a protective but controlled city in an effort to find safety elsewhere, may be an even more questionable venture than fighting the forces that would control mankind. 

From scientists' rights to struggles over technology's use, Chipless provides a host of scenarios that offer thought-provoking moments throughout: "What you want to do will turn everyone with a chip into a marionette, even more than they are today. When we started this work, following that of our mentor, the first High Professor, we wanted to do good. We aimed to shelter our people from the plagues of the world outside, to give them a healthy, good life. And look what you’ve done with that—you have taken their freedom away by feeding their brains with lies! If I were to tell you how to change their memories as well, I would become a criminal just like you. I won’t do it.” 

The seeming utopia that represents the bastion of civilization in The City vies with the price of eliminating diseases and creating hope about the future survival of humanity, and these elements are carefully wound into a gripping story of moral, ethical, and social conundrums experienced by all the characters. 

Readers gain an interesting perspective on a dying utopian community that attempts to influence a very different realm, Freeland, with a choice of aggression or cooperation serving as a model for change. They also receive an intriguing adventure as Kal and Amber journey through the countryside via rickshaw, take gambles, and hone their abilities to achieve the unimaginable in order to survive and ultimately regain control of their memories and lives. 

Chipless offers an engaging story line that excels in unexpected twists and turns; and while the tale doesn't end in a cliffhanger per se, it does conclude with an open-ended feel promising more. 

Fans of dystopian fantasy who enjoy stories of societal and personal challenges to values as threats to survival emerge will appreciate the especially vivid characters and action of Chipless, which is ultimately designed to make readers think about the roots of tyrannical impulses and freedom. Chipless is very highly recommended both for its strong characterization and a deeper action that revolves as much around ethical questions as it does upon individual choice. 

Chipless

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Elthea's Gambit  
John Murzycki
CreateSpace
978-1718753266            $12.99
http://a.co/7fRSU9T 

Elthea’s Gambit is a tale which opens with the Earth threatened by cyber attacks, while sentient malware beings, the Bots, wage their battle on Elthea's Realm, involving members of the Utopia Project in a struggle for power and control.  

What occurs in the land of Elthea mirrors and holds dangerous implications for the future of Earth, and so Philip Matherson and his team become involved in a life-or-death struggle to save more than one world in a vivid quest that will especially please readers of the 2017 saga begun in Elthea's Realm. 

There's no better device for immersing new and former fans than use of the first person to draw in all readers as the protagonist reflects on past, present, and future conflicts, providing the personal angle that brings the story to life: "I often thought about her during quiet moments like this, remembering all we had lost. A year ago our lives were full of promise, a chance for a new beginning. But that had been shattered in one terrible moment. Was I the cause, a fatal flaw in my soul, or could there be another explanation for the darkness in my heart? Did our foe return, and unbeknownst to me, plant the seeds of destruction in my thoughts?" 

What with being ripped from his familiar world, transported to another realm to undertake a special mission, and facing circumstances beyond his control and comprehension, Philip's relationship with Cassie has been assaulted. They can no longer pick up the pieces, assimilate their experiences, and remain a couple. This is just one of the potential tragedies explored in events that bring Philip to the brink of disaster in more than one way. 

His first-person reflections and encounters impart a "you are there" feel to the story line, giving it a robust and familiar feel that allows outside viewers to become immersed in events that would otherwise feel complicated. 

Between Philip's personal revelations, fast-paced action, world-changing Bots, and ancient races; sci-fi and fantasy readers receive a story line that flows smoothly for both new arrivals and prior readers. Attention to detailed descriptions of the conflicts between protagonist and the Bots create vivid moments throughout the story line that intersect nicely with discussions of trust, love, and fate. 

The result is a compellingly absorbing saga that is full-faceted, hard to put down, and packed with a nice juxtaposition of action and psychological insight. 

Sci-fi and fantasy readers seeking the kind of world-building chronicle that easily blends a complex setting with personal transformation and achievement will relish Philip's return to action in this second book of a growing Elthea's Realm series which concludes in a satisfyingly fashion, but leaves the door open for more. 

Elthea's Gambit

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Fates Awoken
P. Anastasia
Fluorescence Books
9780997448559             $16.95 Paper/$3.99 Kindle
www.FatesAflame.com 

https://www.amazon.com/Fates-Awoken-Aflame-Book/dp/0997448555  

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/fates-awoken-p-anastasia/1127818470 

Fates Awoken is a young adult fantasy adventure that picks up where Fates Aflame stopped; so it's especially recommended for prior young fans who want a continuation of the tale. Despite this note, it's important to point out that Fates Awoken is designed to be a stand-alone novel, so while author Anastasia's enthusiasts will welcome this continuation, familiarity is not a requirement for newcomers. 

War has been declared on Rayvenstar Castle and Admiral Hawksford's team is sent to address the threats. Soon she discovers that the facts as presented to her don't support reality as she faces the clash of disparate personalities, the test of her powers as Elemental Guardian, and circumstances which lead her to realize her affinity for magic is more powerful than she'd realized. 

P. Anastasia employs the first person to bring Valhara's world and impressions to life; and this is the first strength to mention in a vivid fantasy saga that combines a traditional quest with the story of a woman evolving into the powers of her world. 

Another important note; this is clean, epic reading. No heads will graphically roll; nor are there steamy scenes, contributing to the enjoyment of a story that rests as much upon psychological self-inspection as on epic adventure. 

Widely respected as a powerful Elemental Guardian, Valhara finds not only her powers but her beliefs tested in events to come, facing ice dragons, bloodmanes, and even more important tests of truth and lies in the process of confronting everything she believes. 

If all this sounds like heady reading for young adults, it should be noted that mature teens already reading epic fantasy stories will find nothing overly challenging about the language or concepts, here. They merely invite YA readers to think about deeper issues without proving overly complex. 

Having an epic adventure tempered by strong characters, vivid fantasy threads, and personality clashes is always a good and rare occasion, and Fates Awoken doesn't disappoint in its ability to gain sympathy for an already-strong woman who finds her powers sorely tested. 

Book 2 in the series crafts a rollicking ride through political and physical threats compounded by the volatile temperament of a king who demands that he be defended, yet too often threatens his own life. YA readers and many an adult fantasy fan alike will find Fates Awoken a potent saga that proves hard to put down, firmly rooted in Valhara's changing perceptions about her place in the world. 

Fates Awoken

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Moon Beam
Steven Burgauer
Battleground Press
Print: 978-0692105351          $12.95
Kindle: B07C756G8S           $  2.99
https://www.amazon.com/Moon-Beam-Steven-Burgauer/dp/0692105352 

It used to be that hard sci-fi enthusiasts and detective mystery readers were seldom on the same page when it came to leisure reads; but Steven Burgaur's Moon Beam combines both fields and easily crosses genres with its powerful story of intrigue and space discovery, proving that this division of genres has become mercurial in nature. 

Imagine a killer loose on a lunar station, who lives for the fear she generates and whose latest prey is the engineering team assigned to build the first lunar space elevator. Add additional threat from a solar flare. Living and working in space is dangerous: that's why there are rules...all of which are about to be challenged in a most dangerous fashion. 

From its opening salvo of circumstances, Moon Beam promises tension, whether it be the psychological challenge of managing men and women in a restricted environment; the physical test of surviving in space for long periods of time; or the purpose of triaging risks for the greater good. 

Topics of surveillance, terrorism, and a deadly killer's modus operandi blend with greater questions of high technology's ability to thwart the greater effects of solar threats to mankind's greatest creation. Moon Beam's trajectory is thus consistently vivid, filled with a satisfying blend of physics and psychological tension, and includes the kind of technological and emotional descriptions that hard science and detective readers alike will relish. 

The reason why Moon Beam succeeds so well at crafting this atmosphere where others might fail is perhaps because Steven Burgauer has a diverse set of interests and a background in writing both sci-fi and historical fiction. 

Of necessity, this blend of genres requires attention to different kinds of detail which are employed to exceptional advantage in Moon Beam. By creating a story line that juxtaposes technical description and psychological tension, Burgauer excels in marrying the complex worlds of hard science and soft psychology in a way that keeps the story line informative, engrossing, and satisfying. 

Many elements are added to the mix which might be confusing under another hand; but another strength of Moon Beam lies in its ability to add a dose of unexpected humor which turns dark at times, but adds a different flavor to the story: "Any reports of someone missing a hand?” Santini asked. “Don’t you mean, where is the rest of the body?”  “We both know the answer to that question.” “We do?”  “Further down the drain somewhere,” Santini said. “The hand didn’t clog the drains; the rest of the carcass did.”  Chief Flynn threw up violently, dropping the severed hand in the process. “Great! Now you have gone and soiled the crime scene,” Santini mocked." 

It should also be cautioned that readers anticipating a milder leisure investigative piece will be additionally challenged by scenes of torture as well as in-depth, detailed descriptions of space science. Both are presented in good taste in keeping with the story line as the personality and objectives of the dangerous Ouida are described and clarified. 

Moon Beam is a powerful saga that takes the foundations of human nature and discovery and gives them a twist that will keep sci-fi and thriller readers thinking long past the final, unexpected conclusion to this very highly recommended, hard-to-put-down tale. 

Moon Beam

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Primary Anomaly
Peter Sonntag
Izzard Ink Publishing
Softback: 978-1-64228-000-5               $18.95
Hardback: 978-1-64228-001-2             $27.95
eBook: 978-1-64228-002-9           $  7.99
https://izzardink.com/product/primary-anomaly/  

Primary Anomaly takes place in the decades following 2033, after an experiment in human genomes has gone awry and destroyed much of humanity. 

A corporation has proved key to mankind's survival, establishing Habitats that save the last bastions of the world after the illusion of good intentions has long died. But humanity's kick start must of necessity be selective; and so only those who are proven to be unaffected by mutation are allowed to enter this brave new world. 

A clear introduction sets the background and stage for what is to come, using a recap from 'S.V.'s Logs' to follow the progress of a super virus, doomsday machines, and the social, political, and physical disintegration of a society. Mutants and survivors clash in this changed world, whose fable taking place against the backdrop of the controlled Habitats which both lock out humans and lock in new possibilities. 

But a new beginning for mankind isn't the only theme in Primary Anomaly. A new augmented soldier program experiment results in one surviving drone evolving new powers in this confused world. Unregulated and unsupervised for the first time in his life, the young man embarks on a journey through and past the world he's always known as a drone, facing vicious encounters between Three, the Taskmaster, Enforcers, abominations, and more. 

As Peter Sonntag walks through this world of struggle, readers receive a powerful view of its too-few promises and numerous obstacles to survival. And yet, humanity in general and the characters in particular seem to find purposes, new meaning, and revised vision within the chaos and violent encounters which lead them through an army of the animated and slaughter of innocents and into confrontations over a new weapon. 

As Three and his companions face a corporate cloaking device, military strategies and confrontations, and their own responsibilities in setting in motion a new wave of events that will change the world, readers find themselves in a gripping position as the observers of the world's final evolutionary process. 

It should be cautioned that a cliffhanger conclusion may stymie those who like at least the basics of the story tied up in the introductory book in a projected series. 

The result is a sci-fi blend of military and social commentary wound into the form of a fable that holds messages and meaning not only for mankind which possibly teeters on its last legs, but for readers interested in the price of survival and the ultimate meaning of remaining human in the aftermath of a catastrophically changed society. 

Primary Anomaly

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Stories from the Witch Store
Olga Gutsol
Independently Published
978-1975614133            $1.99 Kindle, $5.95 paperback
Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Stories-Witch-Store-Olga-Gutsol/dp/1975614135

Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36149857-stories-from-the-witch-store

Nook link: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stories-from-the-witch-store-olga-gutsol/1126996998?ean=9781389289002 

Stories from the Witch Store presents a young witch whose ambition to open a magic store in a small town turns into trouble when her charming idea results in an unexpectedly boring business environment. It seems that Arelia, though she's an adept witch, wasn't cut out to be a small business owner; and so she begins a diary about her real passion in life: teaching non-witches the ins and outs of magic. 

The diary format is used to explore her evolution as Arelia moves from a dull beginning ("How did I end up here, in the quintessence of boredom? When I first came to Burnaville to open my magic potions store, I fell in love with the town, with its decorated balconies, stone pavements, and brightly painted wooden buildings...Yet only two years later I am in a constant fight with this impenetrable monotony.") to a promising new venture in life. 

Though Stories from the Witch Store features a young witch on its cover and would initially seem to be a fantasy story for teen readers, the presence of big words and larger ideas will also lend to its enjoyment by adults looking for something refreshingly different. 

The diary entries are at once poignant and whimsical ("Morning was unpleasant. Rain was unpleasant. Lack of clients was unpleasant. I played cards with Cat and Puck, lost five times in a row, and called Puck a swindler, with which Cat agreed wholeheartedly. Puck called Cat a traitor and locked himself in a chimney") and offer a few puzzles (how does one lock oneself in a chimney?) and many amusing observations about village life ("I met Madame Rouge in the market today. It is fascinating how makeup can transform women. From merely fearsome, she became explicitly dreadful."). 

The cute black and white cartoon-like drawings introducing each chapter contrast with a tone of serious inspection throughout. This keeps teens and adults on their toes as they absorb the unpredictably whimsical tales surrounding an aspiring shopkeeper's observations of townspeople who both learn from and protest her offerings: "Draculus sent an owl message reporting that the blocking illusions had worked. The girls spent another day running around in complete confusion and then by pure coincidence discovered…Victor. Now they are running around Victor and arguing whether werewolves are better than vampires. Typical girls’ dilemma." 

The plethora of big words inject a learning experience into these fun tales ("We did not interfere, just sat on the windowsill admiring the strength of Burnaville women and listening to musical and fruity opprobrious language slowly dying down in the romantic mist of a looming night."). 

While it may prove a challenge to easily peg the age group of a potential audience for Stories from the Witch Store, this should reach and delight readers who enjoy humorous fantasy, the opportunity to increase their vocabulary in the course of a lively read, and those who appreciate the ability of the diary format to lend a tone of personal observation that a first- or third-person approach couldn't match. 

Zany, fun, and unexpectedly original and unpredictable, Stories from the Witch Store shouldn't be limited to young readers alone, but will find an appreciative audience among any who relish stories of magic, witches, and entrepreneurial endeavors gone awry. 

Stories from the Witch Store

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Transmission  
Morgan Rice
Morgan Rice Books
ASIN:
 B07D4PMZ42             $2.99
http://a.co/dFDZiqY 

Book 1 of the Invasion Chronicles represents a departure for fantasy series writer Morgan Rice, who here places her affinity for fantasy in the adjacent realm of science fiction. 

The story opens with teen Kevin's growing struggles with visions and paralyzing headaches: a condition that's been diagnosed as a degenerative brain disorder, but which actually proves to be something quite different. 

Kevin's visions initially involve a strange string of numbers; but as he begins to also see planets, a burning sun, and a kind of countdown, he eventually comes to realize that his condition and hallucinations are much more than a physical death sentence. They're actually a transmission from an unknown extraterrestrial entity and they portend a danger only Kevin may be able to address. 

Kevin knows about sci-fi and realizes that in the movies, important people would quickly recognize the value of his experiences. But, he's only thirteen. How can he convince the adults around him—including his mother—that he is experiencing something more than a brain malfunction's final hallucinations? 

As a psychiatrist helps him think differently about his visions and disease ("Kevin had already been thinking that his visions were linked to the disease in some way. That maybe it had changed his brain enough to be receptive to the visions. He didn’t think that was what the psychiatrist meant, though.") and various options for coping with both, Kevin is provided with the kinds of tools that lead him to a number of well-kept secrets right on his home planet; from hidden bunkers and military projects to scientists, government concerns, and a conundrum for the world which arises when Kevin dares to talk about aliens on TV. 

Suddenly the secret's out, and Kevin finds himself in the middle of a series of dilemmas that will affect Earth's future and humanity's choices. 

One strength in Transmission lies in a plot which at first seems familiar (boy discovers alien invasion, child becomes a key to events as they unfold), but takes some unexpected diversions into areas of international intrigue, adding thriller elements that are surprising in a sci-fi story that will reach adults as much as young adult audiences. 

These journeys into other countries and other concerns add depth and surprising dimensions into a story that many readers will anticipate as a standard alien invasion plot, offering an approach that juxtaposes a boy's deadly illness with his equally challenging new abilities. 

In presenting the key character as an unusually savvy 13-year-old, Morgan Rice is in danger of having this survey regulated to teen audiences alone; and that would be a shame. Although Kevin's age is one of the facets that enters into his ability to perceive what others cannot and his flexibility to accept the impossible, his unusual wisdom and involvements with adult affairs from NASA to confrontations in Columbia hint of a maturity level far beyond a thirteen-year-old's abilities. This makes the story quite accessible to adult sci-fi thriller readers who might not ordinarily pick up a read featuring a teen protagonist. 

The deeper issues of honor, faith, and questionable alien intentions are neatly woven into a young boy's quickly-evolving personality as readers find themselves engrossed in an unexpected series of events once the initial platform of an incurable illness and impossible visions is presented in the opening chapters. The pleasure here is that an aura of predictability is crafted; then turned upside down, which creates an atmosphere of surprise not typical in most sci-fi alien invasion tales. 

Morgan Rice is a series writer. This means that, like her other productions, Transmission is not only the first in a series; but ends in a cliffhanger that leaves outcomes questionable and begs for continuation. 

Riveting, unexpected, and firmly rooted in strong psychological profiles backed with thriller and sci-fi elements: what more could readers wish for? (Just the quick publication of Book Two, Arrival.) 

Transmission

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Mystery & Thrillers

The Austin Paradox  
William R. Leibowitz
Manifesto Media Group Ltd.
978-0-9898662-9-3     $15.98 paperback, $5.99 e-book
www.miraclemanbook.com

Enthusiasts of William R. Leibowitz's thriller Miracle Man will delight in the return of Dr. Robert James Austin, who lost his genius-level intellect in a lab explosion and now struggles to regain his abilities. 

Embarking on a journey of self-discovery, he battles private demons, otherworldly forces, and a government obsessed with controlling him. Add the presence of corrupt business and special interests that would manipulate and threaten the good doctor. Then toss in the influence of ruthless political powers, to create a gripping thriller that revolves as much on healing and self-discovery as it does on outside influences and elements. 

On many levels, The Austin Paradox reaches for the goal of a medical thriller on the level of a Robin Cook production; but readers can anticipate a much more emotionally charged, personal scenario as Dr. Austin confronts everything he holds of value in his life. 

Newcomers needn't have read Miracle Man (although, they will want to) in order to quickly get up to speed here because a well-written prologue reveals the background of Dr. Austin, once deemed the greatest genius in human history and the winner of no less than eleven Nobel prizes, who is now living under the alias of Sean Whiten. His protective status and new identity began when he recovered from serious injuries caused by the lab explosion, but emerged from a coma with a hobbled intellect. 

His entire family hopes for normalcy under the Witness Protection Program; but that goal will go unmet if Dr. Austin can’t regain his extraordinary intellectual abilities fast enough to save mankind from a terrifying pandemic that threatens humanity with extinction. 

As if this weren't enough reason to applaud Leibowitz's latest, readers will find the thriller elements tempered with family interactions, introspective and spiritual insights, and flashes of scientific brilliance. 

Connections between small events and larger consequences make for vivid, engrossing reading that doesn't sacrifice personal relationships for the higher cause of escalating a thriller's tense atmosphere. This is an added plus to a story that grabs from the start and is just as hard to put down as a Robin Cook saga; perhaps more so, because the family atmosphere and characters in The Austin Paradox are exceptionally well-done. 

It's hard to capture the full impact on the reader of the combination of a medical thriller paired with government and terrorist forces, and interwoven with international intrigue; all wound into one genius' life and times. The Austin Paradox invites readers into a believable, tense world in which one man can make a difference. The result engages readers on many levels, from political to psychological to spiritual arenas, and is highly recommended for fans of medical and international espionage thrillers. 

The Austin Paradox

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Confound It
Maggie Toussaint
Camel Press
978-1-60381-596-3         $16.95
www.camelpress.com  

www.maggietoussaint.com 

Confound It is the fifth book in the Dreamwalker mystery series and returns psychic sleuth (she prefers the term 'Dreamwalker') Baxley to a new mystery that both compliments others in this ongoing series and stands well on its own for newcomers. 

Here Baxley Powell faces a home meth lab fire that is much more than it initially seems, and finds her talents and inquisitive nature challenged not just by crime, but by the complex twists and turns of family relationships and interactions. 

Mystery fans will anticipate a probe into a drug ring's operations; but should be advised that there are satisfying surprises woven into the story line which create a bigger picture than either a drug ring investigation or family involvements. 

As the story progresses, Baxley finds her special abilities tested in the search for an especially clever killer as she interacts with a Cherokee leader (who shows her respect as not just a psychic detective, but a powerful spiritwalker equal to his prowess), assesses healing possibilities, considers how a palm reader may be connected to the case, and works with the police and her own investigative senses to solve what turns out to be a truly confounding crime. 

Mystery readers who enjoy detective pieces based on both supernatural touches and interpersonal relationships will relish the combination of whodunit and a vivid threat to a boy's body and soul that connects children to secret meth lab operations and goals. 

The result is a complex, multifaceted read that holds many satisfying twists and turns even for the staid detective story reader. Confound It will prove hard to put down and surprising right up to its final revelations. 

Confound It

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The Dark Cabin Murders
Frank L. Gertcher
Wind Grass Hill Books
Hardcover: 978-0-9835754-2-9       $29.95
Softcover: 978-0-9835754-1-2        $16.95
https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Cabin-Murders-Frank-Gertcher/dp/0983575428/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1525693513&sr=8-2&keywords=dark+cabin+murders 

The Dark Cabin Murders opens in the year 1840 in Indiana, where successful swindlers John Edwin and Maude Worthington and their eleven-year-old-son Thomas have gained title to an isolated cabin where they set their sights on another victim: wealthy newcomer John Murrow, who harbors his own dark secrets of murder and thievery. Predictably, Murrow vanishes; but not before these events gain the attention of those already suspicious of the Worthingtons. 

As the years pass, son Thomas pays the price of his family's decisions, even though he's grown up to be a wealthy architect and seemingly is a successful man. His childhood friends James and Samantha notice that success does not seem to have given Thomas lasting satisfaction; but when his parents are murdered, the trio of friends returns home from the Civil War to find a new battle has evolved on the home front: one involving past injustices and present-day vengeance. 

The Dark Cabin Murders is not your typical murder mystery. It's steeped in Indiana historical background and the challenges presented to a good-hearted boy faced with dark cruelty and lasting guilt. 

There's also a healthy dose of mystical encounters as Samantha's soul delves into otherworldly encounters with puzzling visions of the past that lend both clarity and clues to her friend's life and struggles. These insights into interconnected lives of Thomas, James, and Samantha and the consequences of their choices lend a multidimensional facet to the story line and move it from a murder mystery to a deeper examination of life purpose: "Like James before her, she saw that each path had different people, events and outcomes. Every person was free to make choices. Some choices made by others would affect her, some would not. She also saw that some of her choices would affect others." 

It's difficult to easily peg the audience for this original story. The initial youth of the characters would seem to indicate a young adult readership; but the subjects of murder, Civil War encounters, the deeper spiritual impact of character choices, and the passage of time involving interconnected lives of Samantha and her friends would suggest appropriateness for an adult audience. 

Suffice it to say that as the story line evolves, readers from mature teens to adults will both find the murder mystery strong in characterization, dialogue, and psychological and spiritual revelations. The Dark Cabin Murders opens the door to a new kind of murder probe that relies not so much on the 'whodunnit', but upon explanations of life choices and their lasting impacts on all. 

Readers of murder mysteries looking for a range of insights into motivations cemented by strong descriptions of place and time will relish the many facets of The Dark Cabin Murders, which is anything but singular, involving readers in probes of inner being as well as mysteries and events that ultimately examine wider issues of the impact of life choices. 

The Dark Cabin Murders

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Gate 76
Andrew Diamond
Stolen Time Press
9780996350761             $12.99 Paper/$4.99 Kindle
http://a.co/4IAQQOw 

It's mysterious enough when a fleeing woman boards the wrong plane and vanishes; but as troubled detective Freddy Ferguson discovers early on in Gate 76, matters are even more frustrating because the woman seems to be the only witness to a crime that's making headlines in the nation's newspapers. 

Freddy's method involves not just tracking her movements, but backtracking through clues about her life. What he uncovers holds dangerous implications for not only his missing witness, but the world. 

Gate 76 is a complex mystery not only because the perp at large and the threatened witness are in the crosshairs of investigation; but because of threats to the investigator's life and the processes of airline security, among other things. 

What's Freddy's special interest in this case? He simply wants to make sure the woman is ok. It doesn't make sense that a call girl would commit such a heinous act of violence and then vanish: motive and method are both far from plausible. 

As Freddy examines his own relationships with women, his life choices, his ongoing struggles, and his sometimes-poor decisions (such as promising his four-year-old son that a menagerie of animals will appear at his birthday party when in actuality his ex is holding it at Chuck E. Cheese with quite a different atmosphere in mind), he sidles ever closer to a truth that leads readers to think about not just choices in life, but differing perceptions of how they should be made and applied. 

As Freddy and his readers edge closer to the truth, the question becomes what he will do about it—and what they will think about this particular choice, which is perhaps one of the bigger ones in his life. 

Diamond's sharp inspection offers a different psychological approach to the typical whodunit mystery, taking a terrorist dilemma and adding personal touches that almost force self-inspection on a reader's part as they wade through Freddy's dilemmas and almost-predictable self-destructive ways. 

The result is a vivid story not just of terrorism and missing perps and witnesses (that would actually be a simpler scenario to paint); but one of interpersonal relationships, motivations that spill from personal to professional circles, and how one flawed hero might get it right (or not). 

Readers of mysteries and terrorism plots are in for a different kind of adventure and a real treat with Gate 76. 

Gate 76

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Mountain of the Dead
Jeremy Bates
Ghillinnein Books
978-1988091228            $13.99
https://www.amazon.com/Mountain-Dead-Worlds-Scariest-Places/dp/1988091225/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1522857701&sr=8-1&keywords=9781988091228 

Mountain of the Dead combines the genres of mystery, thriller, and horror, and follows an American true-crime writer who is determined to uncover the truth behind a mysterious 1950s Siberian event where nine Russian hikers flee into the night during a blizzard, there to suffer violent, unexplained deaths. 

The Dyatlov Pass Incident has long been steeped in mystery, which is just the kind of thing that attracts and spices the life of a substitute teacher with a penchant for Indiana Jones-style action and an interest in the unsolved mysteries of the world. 

Indeed, Mountain of the Dead is the fifth book in Jeremy Bates' 'World's Scariest Places' series, and charms the imagination with a series of tense encounters based on true experiences and a story line that reads like a combination of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and Clive Barker (who happen to be among Bates' favorite authors). 

Introducing a story which, to this day, remains one of the most chilling unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century, Bates takes the essence of the puzzle and moves it into the realm of supernatural terror and mystery. 

The first thing to note is that nothing is staid or predictable either about the characters or their pursuit. The presence of a white substitute high school teacher with a nose for trouble and shoulder-length hair and a black man named 'Disco' are anything but normal tourists to Russia; while their special interests place them at odds not only with each other, but with the rugged mountain environment that imparted such terror to a group of skiers. 

Observations of the Russian environment and the puzzle at hand create a compelling atmosphere that lends realistic background to character encounters: "As I watched the mélange of old and new buildings flash past—classical churches and chapels, trendy-looking restaurants and shops, and shabby Soviet apartment blocks—I couldn’t help but think about Igor Dyatlov and his friends, all of whom had set out from here on their ill-fated expedition in 1959, blissfully un-aware that they would never reach the summit of Mount Ortoten, that they would die sad, and for some, very gruesome deaths, which would spawn more than a half century of lurid conspiracy theories." 

Even more notable are the details from the hikers' perspectives as they make their way into a type of danger that usually doesn't come from mountain challenges. As Mr. Smith encounters something he never would have believed in under ordinary conditions, he's forced to confront the presence of a deadly force that authenticates an impossible being. But, is it really the source of the fatal events? 

Jeremy Bates keeps readers involved and guessing, providing twists and turns that lead the story line towards the seeming inevitable before taking a big turn in another direction. The result is a powerful thriller that is thoroughly engrossing, packed with surprises, and steeped in the culture and atmosphere of both Russia and a remote mountain world filled with intrigue. 

Readers need have no prior familiarity with the previous books in the series: the action and surprises stand well alone and create a compelling, highly recommended tale that's hard to put down. 

Mountain of the Dead

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Not Without Risk
Pete Trewin
AIA Publishing
978-0-9876272-1-6         Paper: $13.00; Kindle: $2.99
www.petetrewin.com 

Martin Bennett isn't a detective or an investigator by trade. He's a man who has narrowly escaped a health issue and seems to have a new lease on life. When, by chance, he sees an ex-friend (who'd destroyed his marriage) murdered on an elevator and finds that the body has been hastily disposed of and the case seemingly covered up, he has no idea that his job of restoring Merseyside to prosperity has somehow become entangled with a murder mystery. 

Forced by circumstance to become an amateur sleuth, Martin finds himself navigating murky political and social waters in Merseyside that he'd never considered in the past, moving from the cardiac clinic to an unlikely association with a woman who rejects the corruption in her own profession, as the town mayor's key assistant.

Not Without Risk is no casual murder mystery, but a complex and well-detailed story that embraces British politics, culture, and the experiences of an urban planner who faces corruption and special interests in the course of his job of redesigning communities. 

Being an amateur to detective work, Martin often operates outside his comfort zone and his inquisitive nature actually can work against him; but the real meat in the story lies in well-detailed, absorbing descriptions of community and personalities which draw readers into the story and keep them on their toes and immersed. 

Political ambitions and hard bargains, the process of laying a deadly trap that precludes possible witnesses and Martin's increasing involvement in complex matters involving computer hacking, key contracts, and political enemies turned deadly makes for an involving tale that's hard to predict, with many special forces at work in the background. 

The result is a classic British investigative piece that juxtaposes Martin's medical condition with some special sacrifices that may or may not lead his job through murky influences and into a better light for all. Riveting and engrossing, Not Without Risk is especially recommended for prior fans of British murder investigations who like their reads steeped in social and political insights. 

Not Without Risk

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Political Dirty Trick
James R. Callan
Pennant Publishing
Digital:   978-1-7321227-1-0         $4.99
Paperback:  978-1-7321227-0-3    $14.95
Hardback:    978-1-7321227-2-7   $25.95
Website:  http://www.jamesrcallan.com
Ordering Link:    https://amzn.to/2pIHMqs

Political Dirty Trick is a suspense thriller that revolves around candidate Ron Drake's run for governor of Texas, the fake news campaign that evolves to smear his good name, and his friend Crystal's increasingly dangerous attempts to get to the bottom of the dirty politics being played, which evolves from a smear campaign into murder. 

Ron has been gracious about his opponent, whom he describes as a 'nice guy' (when he has to refer to him at all); but the methods and content of the dirty tricks being played thrust Crystal and Ron into a political campaign replete with threats, innuendos, and nasty, life-threatening approaches. 

That's the surface story of Political Dirty Trick, but it should be cautioned that this is no easy entertainment read; but a thriller designed to challenge opinion, imagination, and perceptions of the political process. Chapters create a stealthy overlay of moral, ethical, and social considerations as the characters grow into roles beyond familiar political and personal objectives. 

The story opens with a burglar attempting to snatch a painting from a home when Ron's property manager returns, forcing her to hide. What's a politician doing with a valuable Mondrian piece; and why is it so important that a thief would target it? As the story line winds back and forth between thief Ginnie Loverett's efforts and Drake's political encounters, readers receive a powerful, riveting drama centered around the concept of the Political Dirty Trick or Podirt ("...Something that drags your opponent's numbers down like they had a cement anchor attached."). 

Any skeleton from a politician's past is fair game for such a trick. And if there are no such specters available, one can be readily construed with just a little thievery and an artful deception. 

One particular pleasure of Political Dirty Trick is that its readers will think they know exactly what is happening and where the plot is going. After all: terms are defined, personalities crafted, and viewpoints move between victim and perp. What could be left to wonder about? 

Plenty: and therein lies the strength in Political Dirty Trick's story line: it is anything but linear. As a host of characters interact on different levels and in different ways, readers are treated to a gripping saga that winds its way through various lives, motivations, and issues of fairness, justice, and double-crossings. 

An added strength actually lies outside the plot itself and in the timing of this book's release: at a period in American history when political dirty tricks appear to be at their height of usage and public awareness. If timing is everything, then Political Dirty Trick has not only hit that nail on the head, but creates a compellingly different political thriller that will satisfy readers who enjoy not just murder stories; but savvy explorations of the underlying motivations and personalities surrounding such events. 

Powerful in its characterization, plot, and narrative interactions, Political Dirty Trick is the item of choice for thriller readers who like their stories steeped in realistic scenarios and possibilities. 

Political Dirty Trick

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Secret Agenda: Who's Castrating the Wolves of Wall Street?
Barbara Brett
Homecrest Press
Paperback: 978-0-9979710-02             $15.99
e-book: 978-0-9979710-19                   $  5.99
http://www.homecrestpress.com
ORDERING LINKS: 
Kindle:
https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Agenda-Castrating-Wolves-Street-ebook/dp/B078MWY9WD/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1516233751&sr=8-1-fkmr0 

Amazon PB:
https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Agenda-Castrating-Wolves-Street/dp/0997971002/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1516233751&sr=8-1-fkmr0 

B&N PB:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secret-agenda-barbara-brett/1127742158?ean=9780997971002 

Nook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/secret-agenda-barbara-brett/1127742158?ean=2940155065456 

Apple iBooks:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/secret-agenda-whos-castrating-the-wolves-of-wall-street/id1330041599?mt=11 

Kobo:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/secret-agenda-who-s-castrating-the-wolves-of-wall-street  

Given a title like Secret Agenda: Who's Castrating the Wolves of Wall Street?, a reader might envision a nonfiction indictment of Wall Street shenanigans; but in actuality this is fiction; and a solid political mystery, at that. 

Billionaires set for a takeover of the presidency of the United States have been so successful at their financial heists that they think nothing can stop them. But somebody is stopping them in a big way, and as the story evolves, a host of secret agendas and wronged women emerge. 

Secret Agenda could easily have focused on the mystery portion alone, but Barbara Brett includes a healthy dose of psychology surrounding predators in high places, and conversations and insights highlight the plight of women who are often at the mercy of these wealthy thugs, early on: “I doubt it. You have more to fear if word got out about our little rendezvous. I can either deny it and say you’re lying in order to get publicity to save your career from going in the toilet. Or, a simple businessman who is unacquainted with women and their wiles, I can tell the world that you seduced me—and turned out to be a lousy lay. Either way, you lose big.” 

Between its exposé of elite male privilege and its abuse to the ex-detective who owns a bookstore and a cat but can't quite shake the lure of investigations when a case lands right on his doorstep, Brett crafts a compelling narrative that moves between political and monied forces and cat-and-mouse moves. 

As these special forces collide on various levels, readers will find this mystery gripping and hard to put down, flavored with a sense of urgency as a host of characters discover they've been emasculated by a savvy attacker bent on serving up revenge in the most intimate of ways. 

Brett is a master at developing characters, tension, and personal and political scenarios designed to grip readers with a relentless attention to twists and turns and realistic scenarios. As detective Tom finds himself involved with a woman he shouldn't be considering in the midst of a case which draws upon an expertise he'd thought he left behind, readers will relish a story that rests firmly on personal attractions and psychological insights. 

Fast-paced and beautifully written, Secret Agenda is a highly recommended pick for readers who like their political thrillers steamy, passionate, and thoroughly involving. 

Secret Agenda: Who's Castrating the Wolves of Wall Street?

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Cross x Wired: A Psycho-Sexual Investigation of The Thrill Detective
Robert Rubenstein
CreateSpace
978-1986204491            $10.75 Paper/$2.99 Kindle
http://a.co/2g2eGvn 

Cross x Wired: A Psycho-Sexual Investigation of The Thrill Detective combines a dark noir detective piece with a psychological drama replete with elements of literary and political satire; and while the effort sometimes proves a challenge to neatly categorize for genre-specific marketing purposes, it cultivates a dark sense of entertainment and angst.

On the surface, this is the story of a detective recovering from electro-shock therapy who is on a mission to find the girl who landed him in trouble. However, this is no light pursuit. 

Cross x Wired  presents graphic metaphorical sexual scenes, violence, a talented female photographer's penchant for depicting realistic terror in her 'galleries of the gruesome', and evolving relationships between men, women, and those who would obtain power over one another. 

All this is woven into a complex backdrop of social inspection and accusation, the creation of masterpieces of depravity, terror and horror, and sizzling scenes designed to agitate reader sensibilities as they follow a murky, complex world and characters who can barely navigate their lives; much less each other. 

Hidden within the overlay of a detective piece are a series of literary and social reflections that force readers to wade through scenarios of depravity and dark characters in survival mode to navigate the trajectories of love and its high price. 

There are characters willing to die for love and possession as well as moments of passion intertwined with graphic displays of depravity, juxtaposed with sweet scenes that each demonstrate Robert Rubenstein's prowess at crafting metaphor and analysis: "As a detective, he searched for clues. As a man, he was searching, too. There were hidden intimacies. Shared moments when love had come briefly. A blush, a kiss. An unrushed moment when two hearts touched. The eyes adrift in the morning dew. The smell of earth, of grass and green fields. The dizzying sea, angling to cover him inside an endless summer wave."

The language is as much a draw in the story line as its characters and their special purposes, immersing readers in a mercurial adventure story that moves from political jest and social inspection to the dilemma of the personal with an 'everyman' lost in illusions surrounding the pursuit of love and connections. 

From the two-sided nature of modern culture to the setting of post-apocalyptic America and its fractured society, Cross x Wired continually challenges its readers with thought-provoking clashes of reason, psyche, and social and political structure. It is especially recommended for literary audiences who like their stories steeped in metaphorical yet explicit sexual encounters tempered with satiric and pointed observations of social and individual condition. Thrilling times, indeed! 
 

Cross x Wired: A Psycho-Sexual Investigation of The Thrill Detective

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Novels

The Artist and the Soldier
Angelle Petta
Warren Publishing
978-1-943258-72-7         $15.95
www.warrenpublishing.net 

The Artist and the Soldier opens in 1938 on Long Island, where two young men meet at a Nazi-American summer camp and develop feelings for one another in an era when gay love was barely acknowledged, much less understood. 

Torn apart by circumstance and war, under normal circumstances Bastian Fisher and Max Amsel would never meet again; but fate and brings them back together five years later in the most unlikely of places, on the battlefields of Europe during World War II. Now they find their friendship both evolving and tested against the backdrop of the rise of Italian fascism. 

Coming of age stories with historical backgrounds like this hold vast opportunity for understanding both of social milieu and personal struggle. Under the right hand, the historic events almost take second stage to character development, but entwine into the story in such a manner as to reinforce the overlay of familiar history with a powerful undercurrent of psychological insight. 

The Artist and the Soldier's delicate progression through war, peace, an evolving gay relationship, and the forces of love and hate at work on everything creates a commanding story that builds from the roots of friendship. These facets evolve into commitment, different social and political growth, and choices that blend military encounters with personal obligations and fears. 

How does the making of a film lead to the saving of lives? Max's dangerous plan, which unfolds in Nazi-occupied Rome and involves hiring Jews as 'extras' in a movie in an elaborate ruse to help them escape the Nazis, brings a lesser-publicized piece of World War II history to life. 

When shown against the backdrop of a different kind of dangerous relationship, The Artist and the Soldier succeeds on several fronts. It deftly pairs a historical novel background with many social insights and uses the experiences of two very different young men to bring their personal relationship to life. 

Readers of historical novels and gay fiction will applaud the depth and diversity of this story, which stands out from the crowd in both historical novel and gay fiction genres. 

The Artist and the Soldier

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Beneath the Same Heaven: A Novel
Anne Marie Ruff
Open Books
978-1948598019            $19.95
http://www.open-bks.com/library/moderns/beneath-the-same-heaven/about-book.html 

The initial story of American woman Kathryn (who marries Pakistani Muslim man Rashid) and their two children at first seems to mirror the nonfiction story of Not Without My Daughter, an account of an American woman's involvement with an Iranian man which leads to her entrapment in the Middle East. But Beneath the Same Heaven: A Novel takes a different turn when Rashid's father is killed by an American drone near the Afghanistan border, prompting cross-cultural family connections to fray and shatter. 

Suddenly questions of grief, loyalty, and revenge are mixed into issues of terrorism, political alliances, and family relationships and duties, bringing the international arena solidly into their homes to wreak anguish and havoc on their love for one another. 

It quickly becomes evident that Beneath the Same Heaven is about many things in the course of describing personal and political events; not the least of which is how love survives the greatest of family battles and clashes of cultural perception. 

One doesn't anticipate the sense of mystery that also hovers over evolving events, but it's present from the very first lines which introduce Kathryn and Rashid's dilemmas: "So you don’t know where he is?” the man asks, with some urgency. “What do you mean?” Kathryn answers into the phone, soap bubbles dripping off her hand into the kitchen sink. “You scheduled his off shore job. He told me he’d be gone for a week or so.” “You better call him, and find out where he’s at,” the man abruptly hangs up. 

Moving back and forth in time and between countries, Beneath the Same Heaven deftly draws connections, builds (and sometimes destroys) interpersonal relationships, and crafts poignant, unexpected insights during moments of crisis: “How do you do that? Show me the world I think I knew, but upside down. Making me understand that maybe what I had thought was right and wrong isn’t so black and white.” 

At many points in the story, cultural conflict leads to greater understanding and much-revised perceptions of the world; and this is one of the strengths in Beneath the Same Heaven's approach to the process of a family's coping with the personal impact of terrorism. 

From Kathryn's emotional transitions between love, hate, and reconciliation to a divided family and how they come to terms with life-threatening and life-changing new paradigms, Beneath the Same Heaven winds a sticky web of complex interactions through the first-person perceptions of both Rashid and Kathryn. 

Twenty years later, their lives are still in flux, and readers are swept into a time-traveling ride that follows consequences and aftermaths like ripples in a lake. This sense of adaptation, change, and even surprising transformations lend Beneath the Same Heaven a delicate sense of balance and insight that will delight readers seeking strong cross-cultural connections in the course of their reading. 

A powerful literary piece that excels in cultural understanding, Beneath the Same Heaven should not be missed by any reader who enjoys not just a love story, but a close inspection of evolving connections against political and social devastation. 

Beneath the Same Heaven: A Novel

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A Child Went Forth
Boston Teran
High Top Publishing
9781567030579             $22.00
www.hightoppublishing.com 

A Child Went Forth tells of a thirteen-year-old con artist, Charlie Griffin, who journeys from Brooklyn to Missouri to give secret cash to abolitionist leaders in 1851. While the age of the protagonist might lead some to think this is a young adult novel, it should be advised that A Child Went Forth is actually fodder for adult readers as much as mature teens, offering a different look at slavery and racism through the eyes and experiences of a young character in a novel replete with heroes, heroines, romance, and danger. 

It's immediately evident that Boston Teran writes with a hand nicely dipped in metaphor and description: "Every artist dips his brush in his own soul and paints his own nature in his pictures. I learned this from you, Mister Beecher. And what is the great canvas of our age? It is America, sir. And the country we paint together will determine the future of this great nation." 

The words of evangelist Henry Ward Beecher and father Zacharia Griffin's utter disrespect of the abolitionist efforts leads Charlie to question growing perceptions of the political and social injustices of his time and his father's impact and choices in that world: "His father had that way of making Charlie disbelieve there was a heart beating under all that duplicity." 

From confidence schemes and slave catchers to encounters with assassins, millionaire gunfighters, church involvements, and thieves and liars, A Child Went Forth blossoms into a social examination as Charlie learns how to make his own decisions about doing the right thing in a world riddled with deception. 

The historical roots of abolitionist America are reflected throughout A Child Went Forth as a host of fictional and historical figures interact and special interests unfold. Many characters enter and exit Charlie's story; but under Teran's hand, psychological and social developments are nicely done and well-detailed. Action moves the story along in a spirited manner that allows time for reflection. 

The result is an involving novel with the unique ability to entertain and educate all at once: a story of resolution, adventure, and America's emerging values as seen through the eyes and experiences of a young man coming of age along with his country. 

Historical novel readers will find A Child Went Forth to be astute, penetrating, and quite involving. 

A Child Went Forth

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The Freedom Game
R.A. Blumenthal
Loose Leaves Publishing, LLC
Softcover: 978-1-62432-030-9
eBook: 978-1-62432-031-6
www.LooseLeavesPublishing.com 

In 1842, a teenager grows up as a slave on Vanner's place, affects a daring escape that leads not only him but over twenty fellow slaves on a journey for freedom, and eventually returns to Webb's Bend, a small town in the corner of Cherokee territory, as a free man. 

While readers might anticipate the usual focus on abolitionists, slavery, and struggles for freedom from this introduction, it's important to note that The Freedom Game has its roots in a lesser-known historical fact. Native Americans themselves owned thousands of slaves before the American Civil War; and this book is based on the true story of events of the Slave Revolt of 1842, when twenty-five slaves successfully escaped from a Cherokee plantation.

This story of not only one teen's successful and unprecedented efforts but the lives of the twenty-four other slaves changed by their sojourn to freedom thus examines not only slavery's issues but the cultural clashes between races and ideals of the times. It's especially powerful in offering many insights into Native American involvements in slavery that will be lesser-known facts to most readers. 

Young adults receive a vivid, engrossing examination that includes solid psychological depth because the characters don't just operate under conflicted and challenging social and political circumstances, but confront the progress of their own lives and interrelationships: "I hesitated to share everything with Rose. I was getting used to my thoughts and actions being kept secret, not trusting anyone with the whole truth. It was hard for me to do because I didn't like dishonesty. Some people like to keep secrets, they enjoy pretending, making a lie look real. I'm not one of them. If I'm not telling the truth, it makes me feel like there's a hard rock in my stomach. Lately, that's all I seemed to be doing, though, keeping secrets, hiding the truth, telling lies." 

The true strength of historical fiction (particularly when it's directed to younger adults who require action, adventure, and solid characterization to maintain interest in the background issues being presented) lies in its ability to immerse the reader in the atmosphere of the times and character concerns as they make choices and live their lives. 

The Freedom Game personalizes political and cultural clashes and makes them vivid and engrossing, winding them into local atmosphere for good measure and addressing the kinds of changes that lead individuals to become transformed with new options and the promise of new lives: "In a leather holster at his side, where he once carried tools to build, he kept the long, sharp knife he had used to cut the rope. Caleb the mechanic, the carpenter, had become Caleb the rustler and warrior. Could I become such a warrior? I had read stories of ancient knights who fought with honor for a worthy cause. They were willing to sacrifice, face danger, perhaps death, not for sport, not to impress. They believed that their fight was more important than themselves. Could I be such a knight? I wasn't sure, but I was determined to try. As we felt our way through the darkness, I looked up at the wide night sky. I didn't know what the sky looked like in other places, but here, in Webb's Bend, the clear fall air allowed every star to sparkle its best sparkle, and the moon to shine its brightest bright. We were like those stars and that moon, shining our brightest bright, daring to cast away everything we had been taught about who we were and what our lives were for..." 

Young adults who want different visions of Cherokee and Native American society and their relationships to slavery will find The Freedom Game a vibrant, revealing odyssey that cements history exactly where it becomes most relevant: through the eyes, hearts, and minds of individuals in general and a young protagonist who faces romance, adversity, and struggle in his world. 

Very highly recommended! 

The Freedom Game

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Squatter's Gold
Timothy A. Brown
NFB Publishing

9780999620861                $14.95
https://www.nfbpublishing.com/

Squatter's Gold is Book 1 of the 'Sam White Homeless Mysteries' series, introducing a historical novel based on the experiences of successful 1850 California Gold Rush prospectors, Sacramento’s historic Squatter’s Riots, and the legend of lost gold hidden in a tree. With such diverse roots in reality, it seems a no-brainer that a story based upon these events would be engrossing, and Squatter's Gold lives up to this expectation with a fast-paced, multifaceted plot that keeps readers enthralled and involved right up to the end. 

The first thing to note about Squatter's Gold is that its timeline moves unexpectedly between 1850s California history and events to modern-day 2002, where homelessness in the state's capital city is rampant. 

It's unusual to see a historical background paired with an modern urban mystery, but Timothy A. Brown deftly pulls off this marriage of timelines in a production that will attract the very difference audiences of history buffs and readers interested in the social issues of poverty and homelessness. The central character is a social worker who is anything but an investigator, but who finds himself drawn to past and present in an unusual manner. 

As the story evolves, readers receive solid descriptions that range from murder in a homeless encampment to political and social advocacy efforts and Sam's efforts to address the homeless issue: "Sam knew Police and Park Rangers who would shake their heads at the notion of ending homeless camping simply by enforcement. When campers took their cases to court the City often lost and keeping homeless people in jail for non-violent offenses was a huge waste of money the city couldn’t afford. Of course the constant camping citations did criminalize homeless people, many of whom suffered from addictions and mental illness." 

At this point it should be pointed out that readers who pick up Squatter's Gold anticipating either a Gold Rush adventure or a hardboiled mystery will find that this mercurial story is neither; yet embraces some of the drama and trappings of both. While readers of formula and genre productions who seek entertainment value alone might chafe at the additional depth and social perspectives offered in a leisure read, the result elevates the entire production beyond the usual confines of a singular genre choice to create an engrossing series of encounters that send Sam on a treasure hunt beyond his wildest dreams as a social worker. 

As threatening notes, homeless community interrelationships, and violence emerge, Sam finds his job moves into street encounters and efforts to save a legendary treasure and vindicate a man's death over its discovery. 

Readers who like their stories firmly rooted in a sense of place (in this case, California's Sacramento) and a sense of purpose (Sam's newfound efforts to make a difference in the lives of the homeless) will find Squatter's Gold a compelling, vivid read whose underlying consideration of social issues will linger in the mind as much as its story of a struggle for gold and new opportunities. 

Squatter's Gold

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Stumbling Stoned
André van Wyck
Self-published through Amazon
9781980669210             $4.99 ebook/$10.99 Paper
www.andrevanwyck.com 

Stumbling Stoned sets the tone for 'The Patchwork Prince' series. While the cartoonish cover could lead some to think this effort is directed to younger readers, adults will be the best audience to appreciate André van Wyck's astute synthesis of cultural observation, wry humor and a sense of irony in this: a series of events that center around a state-sponsored culture of drugs and the life of a non-Frenchman who is ensconced in a French 'nuthouse'. 

Stuck with a life that is anything but what he could have imagined, the protagonist is not only ignorant of his past and the French language, but carries readers into a world akin to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest—but with more astute observations and language that is drolly ironic: "Men don't get un-masculine tattoos like that unless there's a really good story that goes with it. I'm stuck with just the stupid tattoo. Like my extremely limited repertoire Francais it is a milestone on the road to nowhere. It's the kind of thing that could drive you insane except, you know: nuthouse. A name would be nice. A home address. Next of kin. Occupation prior to 'shuffling zombie', et cetera. Some bits I've managed to piece together. A difficult enough task when one doesn't speak the language and complicated further by my staple diet of drugs. I once spent the better part of a day, in a narcotic haze, trying to tie the shoelaces on a pair of shoes I wasn't wearing. (Say what you will about the French, their national health care does not suck.)"

As this demonstrates, Stumbling Stoned is a special, insightful examination of life from the viewpoint of a man who moves from one chaotic, confusing scenario to another; confronting death, making impulsive decisions, facing the consequences of bad choices, and retrieving his lost identity in the process. 

Readers move from institution to battlefield during a series of mishaps and encounters that receive a combination of engrossingly descriptive language ("And then the sky is racing away from me and the wind applauds loudly in my ears.") and unexpected encounters with drugs, cats, and a host of supporting characters including surprising monsters. 

Stumbling Stoned is a whirlwind ride through insanity to a drug-induced, unlikely reality ... ours. 

Those who seek literary psychological and social reflective pieces spiced with the astute and astonishing observations of a narrator who struggles to piece together his non-existent life's meaning will relish the lively tone, lovely metaphorical descriptions, and many unexpected encounters in Stumbling Stoned: a vivid story of recovery, defeat, transformation, and monsters both real and imagined. 

Stumbling Stoned

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A Well-Respected Man
David W. Berner
Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Co.
978-1-948260-00-8    
$7.99 Kindle/$13.50 Paper/$26.00 Hardcover
http://a.co/d1w27aH 

A Well-Respected Man documents a successful college professor and novelist whose acclaimed romance and celebrated career splinter around him when an affair with a student crosses lines and shatters his well-respected life. 

Emotionally compromised, with a career in ruins, Martin Gregory retreats to a quiet English village to lick his wounds; but his life is not destined to become that of a recluse. When Emily brings him a message that sends him on an unexpected journey, this once-respected man finds he's not only re-examining his past, but reconsidering his future. 

Love, loss, and transformation are common themes in novels but they assume more literary proportions under David W. Berner's approach, which winds messages about choice, consequences, and wider-ranging life changes into a saga of male and female interactions and perceptions. 

Is Martin worthy of such a message and mission? Even before the life-changing communiqué is delivered, Martin doubts his importance: "In a few minutes, a woman would be at his door with a message that could alter his life, a woman who would look him in the eye, survey his world, and in minutes decide whether Martin was worthy of the message she had promised to deliver. Certainly the outcome of this night would have little to do with whether Martin’s flat was messy or spotless, but it seemed at that moment to be the only thing Martin could control. He didn’t know what he wanted, what this all meant, or exactly how he fit in, but he was certain he had to show his best side, for whatever reason, for whatever it might mean." 

Can Martin pay tribute to a woman he once loved and the situation she's in, which demands support and a response he may be ill-prepared to give? 

It should be warned that philosophical reflection is as much a part of Martin's journey as the psychological factors revolving around ethics, responsibility, and a call to action upon a man who has just destroyed his life. The impossible situation leads him to not only confront himself, but Amelia, Bobby, and the fate of a child. 

Readers interested in reflective drama pieces that swirl around the obstacles and rewards of a past relationship's lasting impact on the future and one man's destiny will find

A Well-Respected Man somber, absorbing, and the beautifully-penned story of a man's process of coming out of his shell and re-embracing the world in a new way. 

A Well-Respected Man

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The Winter of '79
Atwood Cutting
Echo Hill Arts Press
Print: 97809995061-9-6           $14.99
eBook: 97809995061-8-9      $  2.99
www.atwoodcutting.com
Available to public libraries through the Self-eBook free distribution program. 

The Winter of '79 finds Kate alone on an Alaskan mountain in the dead of winter while husband Tim commutes to work on an old snow machine. Kate had come from Hawaii, determined to experience a winter. Tim had migrated from Boston in response to Jack London's Call of the Wild.  After eloping, the pair settled on a remote parcel of wilderness and prepared to live out their dreams. This second volume of the "Sleeping Moose Saga" trilogy describes five particularly severe seasons in a row that the newlyweds experienced together. 

It's important to note that this story is autobiographical in nature and documents isolation, primitive living conditions, and a life made without benefit of communication or even everyday basic amenities such as running water. 

Kate's journal of being a wilderness wife captures the heart of a wild Alaskan experience using a fictional overlay which lends her memoir a dash of dramatic embellishment. The mountain abode's location is fictional, but their bush adventures are not. 

The story of Kate and her small family's private paradise receives added adornment with black and white photos that beautifully illustrate the events she depicts as Alaska's heart and soul reflects their daily lives. 

One exceptional attribute of her story is its depiction. Alaska's wilderness beauty is captured in descriptions that impart a "you are there" feel of her surroundings: "'When we’re finished here,' Kate said to her little companion, 'we’ll go out for few rays of sunshine, and maybe collect a bouquet of spring wildflowers. It’s such a beautiful day. I want you to get a gander at all the grandness that surrounds us.' When the dishes were done, the young mother saddled her little one in a pack tied across her front, and they headed out for an Alpine denizen’s delight." 

Usually a new reader presented with Book 2 in any given series is at a serious disadvantage as far as setting and plot are concerned; but The Winter of '79 holds the rare ability to stand alone even as it compliments its predecessor. This means that newcomers can dive right in without feeling lost, while those already familiar with Kate's story will relish its ongoing encounters. 

There's an undercurrent of humor that runs through her observations and adventures: "Kate doubted his whole story. If he’d been raised by the Sioux, then she’d married Prince Rainier . . .", as well as a style of candidness in communications which reflects a spunky, forthright personality. "'If you’ll wait outside, I’ll bring you a drink,' Kate finally offered. 'But I’m not comfortable with you coming into my house uninvited.'" 

There's also a mighty dose of philosophical reflection as the nature of change and its pros and cons is contemplated: "On the other hand, what would it be like to have people parked right there on the other side of those trees? How would having other people living close by change things, exactly? Would life really get better, or would it simply get more complicated?" 

Warm family interactions and relationship-building moments as young Attie contemplates her first walk (which Daddy eagerly awaits) operate against the backdrop of nonstop blizzards and innovations conceived in the struggle for survival as The Winter of '79 offers a bracing, invigorating portrait of a young family's encounters with Alaska's wilderness. 

The result is a saga that is hard to put down, reaching out on several different levels to illustrate a frontier lifestyle punctuated by journal entries capturing the sights, sounds, flavors, and peoples of the Alaskan bush. This story is especially highly recommended for memoir readers who like their accounts spiced with the passion of a pioneering spirit of adventure and appreciation of life. 

The Winter of '79

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Reviewer's Choice

Billions Lost: The American Tech Crisis and The Road Map to Change 
Hilarie Gamm 
Evatopia
978-1985690356     $15.95 (print); $2.99 (kindle)
Website = www.billionslostbook.com
Ordering links = https://www.amazon.com/Billions-Lost-American-Crisis-Change/dp/1985690357/ref=sr_1_1_twi_pap_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1524608622&sr=8-1&keywords=Billions+Lost 

Billions Lost: The American Tech Crisis and The Road Map to Change documents the progression and results of the massive move of tech industry jobs to other countries; but that isn't to say that the subject is treated to a political survey condemning one party's approach or ideals over another's efforts. 

Hilarie Gamm's intention is to assess the overall state of the U.S. technology industry today and provide a history of how it got here; and her eye-opening book attends not to the usual political finger-pointing, but to identifying the economic, social, and global influences that led to the mass exodus of U.S. technology and jobs to more lucrative sites overseas. 

The second thing to note about this survey is that this isn't just Gamm's solo effort. She states: "I amassed a team of researchers and professionals and spent countless hours, writing, editing, researching, and formulating my theories.” 

This collaborative approach between professionals and industry experts creates an atmosphere of authority and well-researched facts which have been checked, cross-referenced, and balanced with various viewpoints and theories; all with an eye to encouraging dialogue, insight, and foresight among Billions Lost's readers. 

As chapters provide a history of an exodus more devastating than the loss of manufacturing, the third strength of this account evolves as it documents the process's social impact: "As the research has confirmed, billions of dollars have been, in essence, given away to foreign economies through the offshoring of technology jobs. The significant and negative effects on our country’s education, workers’ rights, and national security have been obvious to me." 

The question of why every American should care about this history and Gamm's projections of future issues stemming from the problem is neatly answered as she maintains that the general public's ignorance of the impact of these events is part of what endangers us all. 

While potential readers might think that experience with the tech industry is a prerequisite, it should be noted that no such background is required. Gamm provides a foundation of knowledge from the start, building a history that provides deeper insights into how tech visas work, the use and problems of employing foreign technology labor, how STEM education for foreign students in the U.S. actually contributes to the deficit in domestic technology labor, and trade policy impacts on U.S. technology and economics. 

Concluding with research-backed suggestions for changes that can trickle down from policy adjustments to American pockets, there's no better book for the average non-tech, non-economics reader than Billions Lost, which successfully weaves an overview of the topic with a call to action in a well-researched, in-depth and accessible package for all. 

Billions Lost: The American Tech Crisis and The Road Map to Change is thus a top recommendation that should be on the reading list of anyone concerned about the future of this nation's technology industry and its lasting impact on every American. 

Billions Lost: The American Tech Crisis and The Road Map to Change 

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Earth Healing
Dr. Mahdi Mason
MoshPit Publishing
978-1-925666-61-8 (paperback)           $19.95
978-1-925666-62-5 (ebook – epub)      $  9.99
https://www.amazon.com/Earth-Healing-Heal-Ourselves/dp/1925666611 

Earth Healing: Healing the Earth to Heal Ourselves is for any activist (or would-be activist) reader interested in taking personal responsibility for healing the Earth, and evolved from the experiences of a doctor whose work in environmental management and indigenous culture adds an extra dimension to the usual insights on connections between environmental concerns and human affairs. 

Chapters help readers understand how environmental influences enter into their daily affairs, using receive a "you can do it" sentiment throughout that takes individual perceptions of powerless when facing bigger issues and turns them into a focus on things that can be done on an individual level to make an impact. 

It expands the usual focus on reducing one's personal environmental footprint to consider the next step, which involves reversing damage already done. The effort embraces committing to and becoming an 'Earth Healer' and the methods for achieving this are as diverse as fostering new connections to nature and Mother Earth, generating less waste by avoiding single-use items and packaging, growing, using, and choosing natural products, and embarking on a metaphysical effort to 'Dream the World Into Being' ("In other words, focus on what you want to happen so that the Universe can make it happen for you. In terms of Earth healing, it’s imperative we keep dreaming a better world into being."). 

After locating one's individual voice, renewed purpose, and commitment to life-sustaining choices in everything from consumer products to food and making the kinds of changes that can blossom into circles of like-minded individual education, Earth Healing proceeds to promote revised ways of living life with gratitude, positivity, sensitivity, and a newfound awareness of one's personal impact and power. 

The result is a set of guidelines that move from ethereal, spiritual, and psychological adjustments to a focus on 'giving back' to the planet as a whole. It represents a call to action on many different levels. While new age readers will be the major audience for this kind of message, any reader interested in personal empowerment and environmental issues will find its diverse tips for change to be astute and achievable.

Earth Healing is especially recommended for those already on the path of environmental concern who want concrete physical, mental, and spiritual approaches to making a real difference in the planet's future and humanity's place and role in Mother Earth's evolution. 

Earth Healing

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Heaven vs. Reincarnation
The Dharma
Clink Street Publishing
978-1911525172            $2.98 Paper/$4.99 Kindle
http://a.co/0rinVGv 

Are there rational explanations for spiritual concepts like karma, heaven and hell, and reincarnation? Heaven vs. Reincarnation is not for the reader who would delve into the definition and proof of reincarnation; but rather for those who would more closely examine the intersection between the basic Biblical narrative of God and human interpretations of spirituality as it relates to their personal goals in life. 

Hinduism offers no easy explanations or rationales, the author points out. Its foundations are contrasted with 'king religious' approaches to faith, contrasting this with the welcoming nature of 'teacher faith' and its very different, open classroom-style approach to sharing belief. Essential teachings in karma and reincarnation from this and other religions are contrasted for their different styles, approaches, and impacts in a survey that discusses dreams, goals, and fallacies in expectations and interpretations of God. 

The Dharma's language is both reasoned and chatty, in tone: "God is not sugar daddy. You will get what you asked for—Heaven is real, but you might yet be disappointed—for you are asking for something that is unnatural—just joy and happiness to be given to you without any pain or suffering—only the lower forms of life can enjoy that—to be reborn as a tree or a rock—to throw away human life for the life of a tree! But that is what you chose." 

As discussions move from the difference between faith and religion to considerations of processes of revenge, justice, vengeance, why Hinduism has never taught 'fear of God' and other facets of its approach, readers receive not the anticipated review of reincarnation's relationship to Christian belief systems; but a deeper inspection of its incorporation into Hindu beliefs as well as a consideration of what Heaven truly promises or means to many believers. 

It's unusual to see psychological insights and interpretations in what is basically a spiritual survey; but Heaven vs. Reincarnation's wide-ranging and often free-flowing style doesn't leave out psychology, philosophy, politics, world affairs, or social issues in its consideration of the larger meaning of life on earth and human connections to and perceptions of heaven and reincarnation. 

Examples of ordinary people who contribute to life on Earth in different ways consider whether they would likely choose to return to continue their processes, offering a much broader perspective than a historical or religious survey alone could have accomplished. 

The result is not a series of definitions nor even a cross-comparison of religions and their teachings; but a detailed discussion of choices, rewards, and perceptions of heavenly attributes and benefits in a revealing probe of values, ethics, and life purposes that takes a broader view and invites readers to consider their own life process and how they fit into the definitions of heaven, reincarnation, and a life well lived. 

Heaven vs. Reincarnation

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The Way of the Warrior Mama
Sally Clark
Morgan James
9781683509974             $14.95
www.morganjamespublishing.com 

Mothers (and fathers) watching their daughters grow up who are protective of their bodies and minds as they enter into adulthood will relish The Way of the Warrior Mama: The Guide to Protecting and Raising Strong Daughters. It's a virtual roadmap to adolescence which focuses on young adults in the teen years and offers parents a different way of viewing events as their daughters move into adulthood, but it goes beyond theory and ideals to tackle the nuts and bolts of the last years of raising a daughter. 

This focus on sexuality goes beyond the usual birds and bees to tackle serious issues of preventing sexual assault, reconsidering the "body temple" and its boundaries and possibilities, and parental mind games that often place women in eternal 'warrior' modes without respite. Metta practices are reviewed to help mothers overcome common obstacles to communication and empathy, hard questions tackle common stereotypes about mothers and daughters and how women can work to identify and mitigate their impacts, and interviews with leading experts in adolescent psychology and new age practices provide 'meat' to a discussion designed to reduce the stresses of parenting. 

It should also be noted that Sally Clark includes many cross-cultural references to how girls and women are treated, linking these to Western concepts and belief systems for contrast and added insights. 

From moving from "a scarcity mindset to an abundance mindset" in relating to other women and cultivating more generous, accepting approaches to friendships and acquaintances to blending several different kinds of therapies in the pursuit of faster healing processes, The Way of the Warrior Mama clearly outlines paths women can choose to help not only their adolescent daughters; but themselves.

The effort becomes cooperative in nature, rather than authoritative, as mothers reading this book receive keys on how to engage daughters in processes which lead both to new insights and approaches to life. 

Too many books about mothering, parenting, and adolescent girls serve as admonitions for change. The Way of the Warrior Mama is a healing discussion that doesn't impart wisdom from lofty realms, but on a level designed to promote equality, respect, better self-understanding, and processes which bring all women closer through shared goals, perceptions, and acceptance. 

Women who acknowledge that helping their daughters may coincide with self-healing processes for both will relish the path of this discussion, which considers obstacles to growth and how they can be overcome. The Way of the Warrior Mama is very highly recommended reading, especially for mothers and daughters who are, after all, on this journey together. 

The Way of the Warrior Mama

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Young Adult/Childrens

Trazer: Kids of Stolen Tomorrow
Joseph O. Adegboyega-Edun
Yoruba Boy Books
978-0692995037            $13.00 Paper; $3.99 Kindle
www.TrazerSeries.com 

Trazer: Kids of Stolen Tomorrow is the first book in a series that provides a fresh, new look at the fantasy genre billed as 'Afrofuturist' as it follows Dara Adeleye, a student in the year 93 O.O. whose world was changed decades before her birth by the Miracle of Elegua, which stabilized collapsing humanity on Earth. Her future as an artist blends with a determination to help her loved ones rise above poverty in a world that seems, once again, on the brink of collapse. 

Kristano Arvelo is a trazer: a graffiti artist whose words can ignite revolution and change. The mystic trazer community is just one of the forces that influence whether the world survives this latest challenge, or whether the carefully-built social stratas separating humanity fall into chaos once again. 

Although Trazer: Kids of Stolen Tomorrow holds teen characters and therefore can be readily marketed as a teen fantasy novel, it should be mentioned that its level of complexity, social issues, and Yoruba-based spiritual elements injected into a futuristic setting make it a top recommendation for adult readers of dystopian novels, as well. 

From medical experiments on those with extranormal abilities to Dara’s determination to challenge processes of indoctrination in her school and her attempts to rise above both her station in life and the propaganda teachings that would keep her there, Trazer: Kids of Stolen Tomorrow creates a complex and delicately balanced society of kids who aspire to be something more than their backgrounds and training. 

Creative terminology unique to this story ("phrinways" and slang language) will challenge teens as they navigate this very different world, but dialogue and actions cements character relationships and interactions nicely and never stray too far from the norm: "The little pudgy boy in my dreams was protective and fiery. There was destiny in his waddle. He spoke of the gods in a tone of true belief. Even then you gave off the air of purpose." (There's also a Glossary at the back of the book which defines and clarifies any lingo that may remain a puzzle during the course of this adventure; though confusion is minimal because context is nicely woven into any slang references.) 

Perhaps the strongest feature of Trazer: Kids of Stolen Tomorrow lies in its ability to move its young characters from self-centered actions and perspectives to bigger-picture thinking. As the kids take risks and murder becomes part of the equation, readers are led into a world that asks many questions about morals and ethics, the consequences of individual pursuits, and belief systems that involve faithful followers and purposeful political pundits alike in a struggle for survival.

Mature teens to adults will relish the evolving spiritual and cultural message of legacy and inheritance which runs through this saga, as well as the thought-provoking considerations of evil, monsters, and the truth behind these creations. 

Readers looking for a complex, multi-faceted futuristic story firmly rooted in both Yoruba culture and broader world issues will relish this fast-paced, very different story which stands out from all others in the genres of dystopian reads or teen fantasy to create a powerful adventure and message during the course of unpredictable action and satisfyingly intricate subplots.

Trazer: Kids of Stolen Tomorrow

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