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Donovan's Bookshelf

March 2018 Review Issue


Table Of Contents

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


Fantasy & Sci Fi

 Denver Moon: The Minds of Mars
Warren Hammond and Joshua Viola
Hex Publishers
978-0-9986667-2-3 (print)     $9.48 Paper/16.62 Hardcover
978-0-9986667-3-0 (ebook)   $4.99
www.hexpublishers.com 

Denver Moon: The Minds of Mars is noir sci-fi at its best, set on Mars in a future where artificial intelligence and human aspirations clash in a surprising manner. What is 'sci-fi noir'? Take the hardboiled detective and place her in a futuristic setting and you have the basic elements of a combination of gumshoe investigation and high-tech futuristic challenges that make up an especially spicy, engrossing mystery. 

Denver Moon's opening prologue sets the fast pace and riveting mystery by portraying a mysterious trapped man who can't remember how he came to Mars and awakened to a stark stone room with a desolate landscape above him. 

As he survives on freeze-dried rations and faces isolation and possible death, he comes to accept the fact that he's been marooned and will die when his food runs out. 

The problem is: death doesn't offer a way out of his dilemma. Instead, air drops of food keep him supplied and isolated. 

The third-person opener changes characters in chapter one to a first-person observational as Denver, a female PI, faces a crime scene "Vivid enough to provide for several lifetimes worth of nightmares." 

A big puzzle emerges from these foundations, and Denver just keeps sticking her nose further into trouble and into a simmering war between bots and humans, a fluid situations that began when her grandfather was stranded on Mars, and a series of messages that pushes Denver to probe why her grandfather archived her memory for her to find, and why this mystery still holds vast implications for human and AI futures. 

Vivid descriptions, powerful sci-fi settings and mysteries, social issues and the implications for AI and human intelligence, and murder involving bots and human plots make for a fast-paced, riveting story filled with tense twists and turns that will keep readers guessing up to the end. 

Pair a multifaceted noir mystery with a Martian setting and add the complex politics and social issues surrounding bots and their evolution and connections to humans for a powerful story that is hard to put down and highly recommended for mystery and sci-fi fans alike. 

Denver Moon: The Minds of Mars

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Spirituality


His True and "Unveiled" Face! A Personal Search and Perspective
Charles Anemelu (Rev. Fr.)
Lumen Educational Publications

978-1-941065-43-3( Paperback)           $27.73
978-1-941065-44-0 (ebook)                  $  9.99

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079HTDW51 

His True and "Unveiled" Face! A Personal Search and Perspective represents a spiritual and personal search for the literal and religious 'face' of Christ and its meaning in human lives, and is a strong recommendation for Christian thinkers who would more closely examine the ideals and images of Christ in their lives. 

Social media is only the latest way images of Christ are depicted and translated into everyday lives. Such media expanded traditional portraits into artistic realms, resulting in revitalized and different renditions; many of which posed much food for thought. 

Given the extent of artistic license, beauty and especially accuracy are not necessarily the end goals of such imagery. Neither are they necessarily measurably accurate. When Father Charles Anemelu closely examined even the most disturbing alternative depictions of Christ, considering how these images influenced and affected his faith and his personal vision of Christ both as an image and spiritually, he evolved a response to such reflections: that the "...conviction that a diligent, systematic, transparent, and analytical scan of relevant pages of the Holy Scripture, as well as the use of available information on related subjects, might provide a deep insight into what, perhaps, was previously “unknown” as much as bring up what deserves further attention and comprehension." 

His True and "Unveiled" Face! A Personal Search and Perspective represents that reflective journey and takes religious readers under its wing for a studied, Scripture-based examination of the fundamentals of the human nature of Christ and his portrayal on different levels, providing in-depth research on what the living Word of God actually looked like. 

Chapters closely examine assumptions about Christ's identity, from genealogical influences on personal appearance to pre- and post-Baptismal clues from the Bible, images of Christ as both ever-suffering and content (even cheerful), and the results of forensic anthropology as the extent of Christ's different portraits are considered. 

In the process of examining physical possibilities, artistic license, spiritual perceptions, Biblical and scientific depictions, and a history of the changing depictions of Jesus through the ages, Anemelu provides a studied, scholarly, yet accessible discourse that invites reflection on far more than Christ's physical incarnation. 

A key thread to understanding this analytical process is actually presented not in the conclusion, but as a guideline right from the start: "All that we have in images, pictures, icons, portraits, and sculptures are only imperfect representations of Christ. The Lord, probably — and this speculation is my own — hid what he truly looked like in the flesh from this generation and earlier generations, at least from the time of his glorious ascension till this day, so that we all could continue searching for his “true face” as a personal, theological, and, above all, spiritual experience." 

Ultimately, the real search for what Jesus might have looked like should not be limited to historical, genealogical, or scientific approaches; but should embrace the wider content of spiritual influence, uniquely personal appearances (and, thus, their widely differing artistic perceptions); and the quest for Christ's authentic, unique face as it relates to deeper religious understanding. 

Too few religious inspections that begin with a personal quest ever succeed in branching out into well-studied, research-supported arenas; but Father Charles Anemelu's treatise achieves just that, and is especially recommended for Bible students who would ponder just one of the ironies and inconsistencies involved in a deeper search for God and Christ in everyday human affairs. 

His True and "Unveiled" Face! A Personal Search and Perspective

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Mystery & Thrillers

August Murder
T. Miranda
T. Miranda, Publisher
978-1973414384            $11.47
http://a.co/9QDquPd 

August Murder creates a fast-paced thriller about terrorism, murder, politics, and one man who doesn't believe the report of events surrounding his son's death in Puerto Rico, and who assembles a posse of lawyers and investigators to uncover the truth. 

The story is actually based on real life - there was such an event in Puerto Rico. Two young men were murdered by police agents on one of the country’s mountains, and said agents were later detained at the insistence of the Puerto Rico Legislature, investigated, tried, and found guilty of police wrongdoing (despite other probes that exonerated them, conducted by the FBI and police agencies). 

Although August Murder is loosely based on these events, it adds drama, thriller elements, and suspense to wind Puerto Rico's real-world culture and history into the true story. 

The underlying focus on political investigations and a web of intrigue and conspiracy, combined with a heavy dose of Puerto Rican politics and cultural insights, lends to a creation which serves to both entertain and enlighten. 

It takes a talented hand to wind nonfiction facts into a fictional mystery, grapple with a myriad of characters which prove compelling and recognizable in their own rights through the story line, and maintain a flow of action and drama that easily holds reader attention. 

August Murder succeeds in all these aspects, and is a compelling saga of conflicting evidence and motivations for murder, crafting an especially astute eye to capturing Puerto Rican daily lives and experiences: "Mr. Miller, policemen in Puerto Rico don’t make a lot of money. The average salary for a police officer is around $30,000, about the same as the average salary for a teacher. For that kind of money, they risk their lives in dangerous places. They have to deal with young delinquents in the projects who may make $30,000 in one week, and who are much better armed than any policeman. It’s amazing that more of them are not taking money to look the other way or do worse." 

T. Miranda's ability to take a real-world scandal and use its details to enlighten readers about the underlying culture, social issues, and political pressures in Puerto Rico contributes to an outstanding thriller especially recommended for modern readers who would gain a sense of the island's processes and peoples. 

August Murder

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The Blasphemy Law
Salman Shami
Shami Books
978-0648230205
Paperback: $24.33 (discounted to 16.73 on Amazon)
ebook: $5.99 (discounted to $4.07)
Website: http://salmanshami.com

Ordering link: https://www.amazon.com/Blasphemy-Law-Salman-Shami/dp/0648230201/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1515464689&sr=8-2&keywords=the+blasphemy+law 

The Blasphemy Law is set in Pakistan, a country posed on the brink of political and social transformation (or danger, depending on perspective), and tells of an Australian solar engineer who runs into trouble when a ruthless landowner involves a terrorist group in framing her for blasphemy. But it's not enough for Jane to face imprisonment and death: her family, too, is targeted; and this embroils them in a life and death struggle between good and evil. 

One of the special features of the story lies in Salman Shami's ability to bring Pakistan's environment and culture to life. From daily village activities ("Jane breathed in the earthy smells of freshly tilled fields, cow dung fires and boiling chai. The chirping of birds mixed with the gentle hubbub of early risers, people conversing in quiet, polite tones. Women were making flatbread and churning lassi for workers heading out into the fields. The village was gently waking from its peaceful slumber.") to terrorist movements and actions, those who would help Jane are pitted against professionals who would exact revenge. 

Whether it's obsessive assassins, ambushes and confrontations, or a series of close encounters with tenacious military intelligence agents, The Blasphemy Law is replete with political and social strife and terrorist cat-and-mouse games that keep thriller readers involved and immersed in the conundrums of all involved. The well-written plot, strong characterization, and logical progression of events keeps action fast-paced and readers on the edges of their seats.

Shami's ability to get inside the hearts and minds of all his characters keeps the story fast-paced and filled with insights that lend authenticity to motivations and special interests: "Fazal yawned. What did the major think he was going to learn by letting these foreigners run free. It was obvious they were going to Karachi. He could think of only one reason why that was the case. Karachi was the favourite route for people-smugglers. If he wanted a publicly known figure to leave the country that is the way he would have chosen as well. He was no longer following the spy movie on TV. It had become needlessly complicated. Life was rarely ever like that." 

The result is a thriller that brings its readers right onto the soil and perceptions of the Pakistani people of all walks. It pairs high-octane action with gripping suspense to keep readers on edge until the final, unpredictable conclusion, which cunningly leaves the door open for more while deftly finishing the adventure at hand. 

The Blasphemy Law

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Blind Eye
Meg Lelvis
Black Rose Writing
978-1-68433-009-6         $18.95
www.meglelvis.com 

Blind Eye opens with a beloved nun's murder, but when another body turns up holding a similar Bible verse, Jack Bailey realizes he has a serial killer on his hands - and the timing couldn't be worse for investigating the case. Jack's abrasive female sergeant poses an unrelenting challenge to his expertise and authority, and his work life is complicated by family matters. 

Jack's track record with women is 'dismal' and he's not looking for a relationship; but somehow one enters the picture. Will he ever find a woman after the love of his life was lost twelve years ago?  After three murders, the killer’s motive assumes a personal form, and with this knowledge comes the certainty that he's missing something big. 

Meg Lelvis's ability to weave recovery attempts into a bigger picture—embracing a detective's job and his perceptions of the greater world and his place in it—makes for a compelling investigative piece that pulls no punches.

Besides Jack, other quirky characters round out the story: his partner, Sherk, quotes Shakespeare; his mother, Maureen, fancies herself as Maureen O’Hara; the office computer geek; and many more relatable folks who appear as the story progresses. Readers familiar with Chicago will appreciate the references to both Mayor Daleys and the city's iconic scenes. 

Mystery readers who look for more depth and personal involvement from their detective protagonists will find Jack's ongoing relationship issues with his mother and family, his PTSD, his dreams and nightmares, and his professional challenges to be equally compelling. At first these threads assume the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle; but as seemingly disparate elements draw together, readers receive a powerful and magnetic result that proves hard to put down, replete in themes of betrayal and, ultimately, redemption on many unexpected levels. 

Blind Eye is highly recommended for mystery enthusiasts who also like their stories well grounded in a sense of place and personal struggle as characters confront their blind eyes and uncover new ways of seeing. 

Blind Eye

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Defiant Souls
Kathleen Chadwick
Black Rose Writing
9781612969411     
$18.95 Paper, $4.99 Kindle; $23.95 Hardcover
www.blackrosewriting.com 

Defiant Souls tells of young aspiring archaeologist Kyle, who eagerly accepts his aunt's invitation to spend the summer with her with its opportunity to go caving and search for relics. 

He didn't expect to face a madman, evil, and a cache of imprisoned people struggling for their lives; but Kyle finds he's walked into another world far beyond that of tracking down relics - one which portends a deadly future if he can't stop an evil force's rise. 

It's difficult to easily identify the audience for Defiant Souls. While the protagonist is a young adult, those around him are adults who are caught up in a web of horror. His Aunt Cindy treats him as an equal early on, inviting him to drop the 'Aunt' and just call her by her first name, and as soon as they hit the desert they encounter evil men who imprison them. All this places Defiant Souls in the arena of mature teen to adult audiences who will appreciate the creeping terror and tone of a supernatural horror thriller that jumps right into the occult after sketching a setting that explains Kyle's purpose and life up to that point.

Graphic (yet appropriate) descriptions of this evil force and those who are killed under its influence also place the audience of this occult read well beyond the young adult and into the circles of adults who enjoyed Indiana Jones-style intrigue paired with fast-paced action.  These readers will find Kyle's youth does not indicate a teen read. 

Can one inexperienced young man stand between Satan and the rise of a powerful force in the world? As Kyle unearths more clues, from a diary to relics that indicate evil's long history, he finds he must prevent a transformation that joins two disparate entities into one powerful force. His youth is on his side: he's treated like a kid, when in actuality he's growing into being a formidable opposition, himself. 

With its fast-paced action, cast of characters ranging from the youthful, impulsive Kyle to his aunt, Jack, Damon, and others caught in the growing web of evil and its explosive confrontations, Defiant Souls will be thoroughly enjoyed by horror fans who will appreciate its progressive evolution, twists of plot, and the journey of a young adult to manhood against impossible odds. 

Defiant Souls

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Foreign Threat
Mitch Goldstein
Elevation Book Publishing
978-1-943904-13-6 (hc)         $24.95
978-1-943904-15-0 (pb)         $16.95

http://a.co/fK1KNfn 

Foreign Threat is a medical espionage thriller with a touch of something different, winding a romance into the bigger picture of a young medical intern caught up in circumstances far greater than the professional circles he's training for. It's a winning pick for thriller readers looking for more personal touches than the typical Robin Cook-style read. 

Steve always knew he'd be a doctor, just like his father. His experience as an intern leads him in the direction of becoming a surgeon, but a blossoming romance in his personal life may become his greatest accomplishment yet. 

However, a clever foreign operative is at work behind the scenes, locating interns who badly need money and are less likely to ask questions about dubious ethics. Combine the egotistical residents Jake and Sally with the aspiring Steve and there are more than enough reasons why a would-be physician finds his career and morals going astray. 

Unlike Cook's thrillers, Mitch Goldstein's Foreign Threat centers as much upon rookie interns and their learning processes and relationships to one another as the evolving plot that targets them as possible partners in a wide-ranging collusion scheme. 

As Steve's relationship with Erica evolves, so do his talents in the medical field and a conundrum that involves Middle Eastern operatives on a deadly mission in the U.S. 

Readers might not anticipate the broader implication of Steve's growth process, but within the guise of an international spy story and a situation that immerses the medical community is the vivid tale of a young man's interactions with the CIA and a chance encounter with a foreigner that changes everything. The ordeal he faces involves payoffs, promises of a life in paradise, and ill-construed decisions that hold dark consequences for all. 

Replete with romance, individual and professional choices, and dark intrigue, Foreign Threat's deeper attention to evolving personal and professional relationships and moral and ethical challenges will delight readers who enjoy medical thrillers and international intrigue with more of focus on interpersonal relationships and romance than most; all centered around Steve Carmichael's challenging internship and a blossoming career that leads him on an unexpected journey alien to everything he's aspired to in his life.

Foreign Threat

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The Greatest Good
Craig N. Hooper
Endeavour Press
ASIN: B078WYDBV1                    $3.99
www.amazon.com 

The Greatest Good is a powerful suspense thriller that opens with Agent Garrison Chase's lie and the reasons behind his questionable actions, quickly revealing that he's on suspension from his job. His specialty was cybercrimes, but what happens when he lies about an intruder's break-in involves far more personal than professional challenges when he faces the possibility of losing a new job he is slated to begin that day, and thus losing custody of his son. 

One first-rate feature of The Greatest Good lies how it builds its story while leaving readers guessing at various points. This approach begins as early as the end of the first chapter, when a police station interrogation session leads Chase to see something in his own house that he hadn't expected. 

As cliffhangers are explained in evolving scenes, they succeed in creating a jigsaw puzzle effect in which a myriad of seemingly disparate pieces are created and then begin to fall into place. 

Chase's puzzles become the reader's scenarios of intrigue and keep interest levels high and attention riveted to details as the story unfolds, revealing that Chase has a lot to lose no matter what his investigations uncover or how good (or bad) his choices become. 

As The Greatest Good develops, a perp with a penchant for explosives and a kid Agent Chase is charged with protecting, who is scheduled to die, become the centerpieces in a powerful cat-and-mouse game in which Agent Chase struggles to keep everyone safe around him, against all odds. 

Can a man who made his former living as a spy adequately pinpoint the motivations and purposes of the governor's son, Stanley Tuchek? Can one liar see through the lies of another? And how can he make the best choices for himself, his son Stanley, and national security interests alike? 

Something has to be sacrificed for the greater good, and as readers are treated to a breathtaking hop through close encounters with death and special interest forces, Agent Chase lives up to his name and the rigors of his duty in a vivid thriller that will keep readers guessing right up to a conclusion, which embraces an ethical conundrum. 

The Greatest Good represents everything a suspense reader could desire from the thriller format: strong characterization, swift action, and an approach that takes time to build its setting, motive, and personalities as it tiptoes through murders, terrorist interests, corruption, and a good agent's desperate attempts to do the right thing. Genre readers will find The Greatest Good a powerful read that stands out from the crowd. 

The Greatest Good

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Gypsy Blood
Jeff Gunhus
Seven Guns Press
978-0998217772
     $12.95
www.JeffGunhus.com 

Gypsy Blood represents horror writing at its most chilling and begins when Corbin, a struggling writer living in Paris, witnesses a brutal attack on an old gypsy man by three knife-wielding thugs. The old man dies in his arms, but his legacy lives on when Corbin discovers that the gypsy's soul has entered his body and is intent in punishing his killers, using Corbin's body as its vehicle. 

Before this encounter, Corbin was in limbo, producing a notebook filled with anything but the writing his publisher has been pressuring him to produce for his next novel.  He never thought he'd become mired in the French justice system's pursuit of a lunatic killer, and never imagined he would be challenged with newfound self-awareness, self loathing, and possible death influenced by Margot, the mysterious woman who somehow is involved in everything that swirls around him. 

As he becomes immersed in ancient rituals and a tortured dead man who has become a living entity, the mysterious Tacho R'asa and their capacity for bringing back the dead, and a relentless new voice in his head that drives him to kill, Corbin finds that everything he's taken for granted in the world, including its reality, is changing. 

Readers are swept into the rising horror of a writer who finds that Paris harbors some deadly secrets, and who inadvertently finds himself swept into the heart of these affairs through chance encounters with a woman, assassins, and an old gypsy's powers. 

Those seeking a gripping thriller/horror blend which excels in scenes of terror and transformation, and who like their horror stories steeped in blood and long-buried physical and psychological skeletons, will relish the fast-paced progression and twists of Gypsy Blood and a character whose innocuous life becomes an exercise in surviving supernatural forces well outside his experience and comfort zone. 

Gypsy Blood

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Murder at Venegoni’s
Chris M. Rutledge
CreateSpace
978-1537377957       $13.99 Paper; $9.99 Kindle
Available:  
Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble

 www.chrismrutledge.com 

Giuseppe Joseph Venegoni never wanted to be Don of his family dynasty. He's perfectly happy living a plush lifestyle, and doesn't really harbor a desire for revenge when tragedy seems to require such an impulse. 

Unfortunately, his family loyalties and ties seem to demand it, and exact a price from him that may be at odds with what he truly values in the lifestyle he's both inherited and built. 

While murder lies at the heart of matters, Murder at Venegoni's is also about the price to be paid for loyalty when a seemingly simple matter of armed robbery at the Venegoni Wine & Spirits liquor store results in a convoluted and changed set of relationships in the Venegoni family. 

Also central to unfolding events is a probe of differing purposes, motivations, and the yin/yang of family operations and connections that subtly embrace even the lowest of workers in the complex structures fostered by the Venegonis: "Although they are highly trained culinary experts, they are also highly trained killers and criminals." 

Small references to changed lives and multiple skill sets create a story where nothing is a simple matter, whether it be exacting vengeance for murder, taking one's place as head of a powerful Italian family, dealing with loyal assassins and the process of severing connections and stopping ongoing wars, and encounters that involve even the Pope. 

There is nothing circumspect or small about this murder: its impact just keeps expanding, embracing conflict and confrontation at the highest levels of Italian society. Overseeing matters is an uncertain warrior and reluctant hero who directs the Graziano War and struggles to keep personal secrets separate from the evolving conflict. 

Readers should anticipate graphic descriptions of murders, foul language realistically sprinkled throughout the encounters (not overdone; but present), and an attention to political and psychological detail that makes for a satisfyingly complex and realistic story line. 

The story line takes a Godfather theme and elevates it a step further, carefully inspecting underlying motives, family relationships that entwine with political factors, and issues of succession and personal conflict. These psychological nuances are deeply explored, probing the boundaries between personal and political associations - and this is just one strength of Murder at Venegoni's: its ability to move beyond events surrounding conspiracy and murder to link deeply held beliefs with family ties and the clash of motivations. While this may surprise those who thought they were entering a murder mystery alone (or a mafia story of action-packed conflict), the psychological depth is an added and unexpected bonus. 

Fans of The Godfather and similar titles who enjoy stories of high-level, powerful Italian families and personalities will relish this fast-paced, involving thriller that ultimately centers as much upon one powerful man's choices as a murder that involves everyone in an endless war that may prove unstoppable. 

Murder at Venegoni’s

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Ninety Million and Change
Stan Freeman
Hampshire House Publishing Co.
978-0-9893333-7-5        $15.95 paperback, $3.99 ebook
www.hampshirehousepub.com 

Many may imagine themselves the winner of a lotto jackpot; but when one struggling young couple finds they hold the winning ticket to a fortune, their lives change - and not necessarily for the better, because money doesn't always solve everything. 

Readers may anticipate the unfolding of this life-changing game, but what they won't anticipate is a powerful story of mystery, love, and a process that takes Karen and Ron LaFrancis far from their difficult yet familiar blue-collar financial struggles and into a world of the affluent that they are ill prepared to handle. 

From questions of who are friends and who are enemies in the face of newly acquired wealth beyond imagination to underlying distain for the privileged class, reflected in messages as subtle as clothing choice, and a newfound realization that they are wealthy, readers grow along with the couple and come to understand other players in the social game they've entered. 

In some ways, Ninety Million and Change is fairly straightforward and unsurprising; but one doesn't anticipate the underlying mystery that takes center stage, and events that transpire certainly don't offer a degree of predictability that would lead a reader to ennui. From the underlying messages involved in how the couple chooses to handle such a fortune and the changed relationships that stem from it to bigger pictures about the impact of these choices ("America, it’s …Look, when people have big houses, it gives everyone else something to shoot for. Everyone tries to find a way to make money to live in places like this, to take vacations in Europe, to own a big car, so they work hard. Wealth is what makes America run."), readers are given plenty to think about as they follow Ron and Karen's growth. 

Even more importantly, Ninety Million and Change is about a future with and without things as basic as children, and it's these underlying social messages that place the story on a much deeper level than a get-rich-quick saga: "You've been a one percenter since the day you were born,” Shelley said. “And how’s that? We were poor teachers,” Karen said. “One percenters in the world. Just about everyone in America with a job is.” “That can’t be true,” said Ron. Challenged, Shelley whipped out her iPhone. A few taps on Google and the answer was on her screen. She held up the proof for everyone to see. “There. Thirty-four thousand a year and you’re a global one percenter,” Shelley said. “So whatever terrible shame you feel now, you should have been feeling it back when you were a teacher – but you weren’t, were you? You shouldn’t be feeling it now either. It’s how life is. Rich people, poor people. It’s the reality. It always has been.” 

Sometimes it's hard to see how educated teachers Ron and Karen could have been oblivious to some of the economic and social realities of the world which are revealed to them only after wealth changes their lives. As Carl and Shelley point out what should be somewhat obvious and attempt to negate Karen's guilt trips and tendency to be self-righteous about her charity work, the story takes a darker turn, leading readers down a dangerous road that holds no pat or easy solutions. 

Thought-provoking, intriguing, and revealing, Ninety Million and Change isn't just a story of newly acquired fortune: it's a probe into how one struggling couple reassesses their values and purpose in life after it arrives; and what happens when everything goes horribly wrong during that process. 

Mystery and general novel readers alike will find the story compelling.

Ninety Million and Change

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Plea for Justice
Liz Lazarus
Mitchell Cove Publishing
978-0-9909374-3-2        $12.95
www.pleaforjustice.com 

www.lizlazarus.com
Amazon Paperback:
https://www.amazon.com/Plea-Justice-Liz-Lazarus/dp/0990937437/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1517510864&sr=8-3&keywords=plea+for+justice
Amazon Kindle:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079MFWSYP/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1517958095&sr=1-2&keywords=plea+for+justice+by+liz+lazarus
B&N Nook:
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/plea-for-justice-liz-lazarus/1127621387?ean=2940154648346 

Plea for Justice presents two viewpoints that narrate story of paralegal Jackie Siegel and convicted felon Aaron Slater, who have evolved from childhood friendship to find themselves on opposite sides of the legal system, as adults. In high school, it was Aaron who abandoned their relationship, discarding Jackie without any explanation after graduation. 

When Jackie sees Aaron (who wouldn't hurt a fly) on television accepting a plea bargain in a murder case, she feels compelled to help; even if Aaron may be relying on their personal history and her professional status. Jackie finds herself confronting not only what was, but what is. Is Aaron just toying with her emotions in his time of need to use her skills to gain freedom; or is something more going on that requires all her professional capability to solve?

Although she's drawn to help Aaron on many levels, Jackie uncovers a series of bizarre circumstances that seem to refute not only what he says, but everything she believes about justice and the legal system's effectiveness as she embarks on the oddest personal and professional journey of her life and career. 

Plea for Justice features several unusual approaches that elevate its action and premises beyond the usual courtroom drama. One is the point of view, which alternates from Jackie's observations and experiences to the first-person experiences of "Me," the killer. These two viewpoints, clearly delineated by chapter headings, deftly probe into the emotions of each character and neatly juxtapose the perceptions of each. 

Jackie feels her way through an emotional jungle ("A surge of conflicting emotions swelled up in me—overwhelming pity at his physical diminishment collided with buried anger from his decade-long betrayal. But the flash of resentment quickly dissipated and I felt myself back in high school, reunited with my long-lost friend...This was no joking matter and I’m sure reminiscing about high school brought him no joy. I imagine it was crushing to think about the life he had before and the future life that would never be."), while "Me" plays a dangerous game that revolves around IT savvy and disdain of women. 

Has Aaron been set up? Or is he a secret psychopath determined to bring down Jackie's best efforts? As Jackie's probe reveals strange truths and a dangerous possibility, both find that their lives and perceptions of justice and the law creates a cat-and-mouse game that focuses on their relationship, throwing out new challenges and deadly ramifications. Is taking a life just a game? 

Readers may expect more courtroom drama from this approach, yet Plea for Justice is more about a paralegal's private investigation of a case that seems cut-and-dry to the courts, but holds many unexplored avenues than it is about courtroom proceedings. 

Readers who like stories of investigations that hold many unexpected twists and turns will relish Plea for Justice, which tackles entangled emotions past and present, long-hidden secrets, and the specter of a perp who has the perfect alibi to excuse his actions. 

The blend of psychological inspection, legal process, and complex, revolving relationships is just right in a mystery that percolates with a satisfying blend of investigative action and thought-provoking revelations from start to finish. 

Plea for Justice

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The Rabbit Skinners
John Eidswick 
Independently Published
978-1976755149          $12.99 Print/$4.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Rabbit-Skinners-John-Eidswick/dp/197675514X/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1516583110&sr=8-1 

FBI agent James Strait was once deemed a hero for uncovering and stopping a terrorist attack. Sidelined by a rare disease and facing a life of disability, the heyday of his accomplishments seems to be over - or, is it? 

When a nine-year-old vanishes on a lonely country road and her best friend entreats him to find her, James can't turn his back on her pleading, even if his spirit and body are broken. And so he undertakes a task that initially seems far less demanding than his higher-profile terrorist encounters of the past; but which soon proves that he's neither lost his skills nor faces a dilemma with any easy resolution. 

His investigation places him at odds with racists in his own hometown. It tears apart everything he knows and values in his life, and it ultimately involves a battle with his past, authorities in charge, and his own disability. 

Having a mystery powered by a former career investigator sidelined by his physical demise adds an extra dimension to proceedings which gives the story line an added dose of personality and compelling attraction. James isn't just fighting a criminal element; he's battling his own restrictions and past - and these facets meld with an overall compelling saga filled with satisfying twists and turns of plot throughout. 

James thought that having this diversion would be therapeutic for him, after so many medical challenges. He's being forced out of the FBI, so his efforts in this arena could bring him renewed self-worth and confirm that his ability hasn't paled. But as events unfold and he begins to believe the wrong man has been fingered for kidnapping the girl, he finds himself on a deadly road to face a bigger perp than he'd initially envisioned. 

Part of what makes The Rabbit Skinners more than a one-dimensional mystery surrounding a kidnapped child is that John Eidswick takes the time to explore small town relationships, from infidelity and dubious friendships to the social and political connections that make or break a small town's people. 

James doesn't operate in a vacuum, and the atmosphere and special interests of a wide range of characters contribute to a compelling and intriguing story of why several children become mired in adult affairs. Even more compelling is the story of how he deals with his disability and changed status with the FBI and how life events dovetail neatly with his ability or inability to recognize the clues that could solve both the mystery and his own dilemmas. 

Tense, revealing, and replete with different characters' special interests and evolution, The Rabbit Skinners embraces themes of good and evil, courage and fear, prejudice and love, and an unexpected touch of romance. Mystery readers will find it a compelling read from beginning to end. 

The Rabbit Skinners

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Touch of Rain
Teyla Branton
White Star Press
978-1-939203-89-2                $17.95 Paper/$3.99 Kindle
www.whitestarpress.com 

A young woman is gone, and there are no clues as to her disappearance. Only one avenue holds any hope at all: consulting psychic Autumn Rain, who can read the imprints of emotions from objects, and whose skills aid police investigators and conclude impossible cases. 

Autumn's special skill has always been a challenge to her because it's not always under her control. She can read imprints and events from the most ordinary of circumstances and objects, so her psyche is always being flooded with impressions, emotions, and usually unwanted insights from the world around her. 

Wounded by fears and intense discoveries, Autumn has "...learned the hard way that some emotions left imprinted on random objects were better off undiscovered." But in the case of grieving parents and a P.I. investigator who harbors her own mourning for the missing, Autumn is drawn into a probe that reveals something much greater than personal loss or her own challenging ability, and finds her past and present worlds coalescing as she draws closer to a dangerous truth. 

Part of what makes this paranormal investigation account so invigorating is Teyla Branton's attention to strong characterization throughout. Not only Autumn but those around her are given three-dimensional quality and depth, and this attention to detail and emotion builds sympathetic characters readers will empathize with and, in some case, even fall in love with. 

More than just suspense drives the story line: there are flavors of intrigue designed to keep readers guessing up to the end; but there are also many personal revelations, struggles, changing perceptions, and twists around Autumn's life that introduces a plethora of individuals and their own special interests. 

Cruelty and domestic violence, an evolving romance where Autumn moves beyond her original premises to truly understand another's perceptions, a refuge that might be a prison for some, and a home people can't leave entwine in an unexpected story that certainly doesn't move in predictable directions. 

Fueled by characters who are realistic and a story that is compellingly different, Touch of Rain's debut of a paranormal suspense series is not to be missed by any reader who looks for a vivid, solid opening act. 

Touch of Rain

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The Wingman
David Pepper
St. Helena Press
9781619848719      $15.99/$8.99 Kindle
www.davidpepper.com 

The Wingman presents a Jack Sharpe political thriller as vibrant and gripping as Sharpe's prior appearance in The People's House, and opens with a debate in New Hampshire, where Jack is moderating a heated discussion between four candidates for President. 

In a game-changing moment during the debate, Jack creates the kinds of questions and conditions which save the day;  but his ability to gain an emotional reaction from his audience and a clear viewpoint beyond political posturing from his candidates also introduces a conundrum. As skilled at reading body language as he is at being a political reporter, he finds that the eyes of a ex-military hero who reluctantly tells his war story indicates that something is wrong. 

Jack never expected this subliminal hint of discomfort to lead to a powerful political investigation into not just one candidate's war experience; but a series of encounters. They stem from a civil war within the pentagon and politicians who are kidnapped, coerced, threatened, and manipulated in a scenario where the forces lean towards resolving conflict through drones and robots. 

The changing nature of how war is conducted portends a slippery slope to a state of permanent, covert warfare; and as Jack Sharpe and fellow reporter Alex Fischer dig into the secrets closely held by DroneTech and their brutal scheme, time is running out for everyone. 

When due diligence combines with a nose for troubling truths and a determination to expose deeply-held corruption, anything can happen - and, it does. 

One of the powerful facets of The Wingman is that nothing is cut-and-dried. Jack believes his investigative skills and his near-genius Pentagon insider expert Alex create an outstanding investigative approach - but is Jack actually being manipulated and carefully led in predetermined routes that veer from the actual truth? 

As the story unfolds, it becomes less obvious and more uncertain as to what Jack's real discoveries are, and how they influence the election process. Mirroring today's political puzzle, readers receive clues that keep digressing and moving deeper and deeper into a closely-held Pentagon secret. 

Adding just the right dose of personal perspective, political savvy, tension, and intrigue, The Wingman provides another powerful Jack Sharpe thriller that stands nicely on its own and supplements and supports Pepper's prior Sharpe book. It will engage and absorb readers who look for political scenarios that are frighteningly realistic and compellingly nonstop in their relentless drive to reveal truths and consequences. 

The Wingman

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You Only Live Once
Haris Orkin
Imajin Books
Kindle eBook:  978-1-77223-359-9          $4.99 USD
Trade paperback:  978-1-77223-360-5  $15.99 USD

http://www.imajinbooks.com/home/ 

You Only Live Once's opening scene presents what looks like a burglar scenario as Flynn breaks into a facility and crawls through ductwork to reach his objective: a room where a sleeping young woman awakens to greet him not with terror, but delight. They are then discovered - but the hulking nurse on duty isn't a threat, either. 

In the next instant, readers realize that the seemingly straightforward opening scene isn't really what's actually happening; but by then, they are hooked. You Only Live Once is a thriller set in Los Angeles; but to call it a 'thriller' alone would be a misnomer, because a healthy dose of humor and irony is added to the action to create a story about a misfit in search of a mission. 

Much like Don Quixote, Flynn finds himself flailing about rather than being effective, and the story romps through his womanizing, his proclivity for getting into trouble (whether it be bars, beds, or social circumstances), and his sad and painful efforts to rescue women, among other things. 

Elements of James Bond - only with an added dose of incompetence and irony - permeate a story line where James Flynn cultivates a kind of fear that makes him "sharp and dangerous" as events carry him far from Los Angeles to a Moorish castle, whose atmosphere he remarks on with a wry sense of humor: "The lair of our nemesis I imagine,” said Flynn. “Now we’re finally getting somewhere.”  

From a secret technology and threats of torture to Flynn's unwilling sidekick Dulcie, who finds herself in way over her head, You Only Live Once's unique brand of a bumbling but determined Bond-like figure who has his own way of living makes for an engrossing read offering many satisfying twists and turns. 

Fans of thrillers who expect a staid, formula production will be delighted by the various nuances Haris Orkin brings to the table as he introduces a quasi-hero who ultimately faces success despite himself. 

You Only Live Once

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Novels

Awakening
Billy McCoy
Amazon Digital Services
ASIN:
 B079KV9HX9                     $7.99
https://www.amazon.com/Awakening-Billy-McCoy-ebook/dp/B079KV9HX9/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1518019713&sr=8-7&keywords=billy+mccoy

Many wish to believe they can change the world. Few can actually achieve this goal. But much of the applause lies in the effort as much as the results; and in this, the protagonist in Awakening excels. But is the act of attempting such change in itself an indicator of some underlying idea that human nature is inherently asleep or tainted; and that those who awaken and strive should be considered rarities or reflections of a disturbance in the force? 

Awakening might thwart readers who anticipate and seek a linear progression from their novels. There is no real 'heroine', no true salvation, and no easy summation or an ending where everything wrong is made right and what is obscure becomes clear. Like the most intriguing of philosophical reflections, it's mercurial in its approach to the traditional trappings of fiction - and that is one of its delights. 

Readers enter a world where Holly's altruistic determination to save others is not always a good thing. But, how could that be? Does not one of the higher-level pursuits of man involve an effort to better not only one's own life; but those of others? And what happens when an individual who is persuaded that she can make a big difference falls short of her goals? 

The story opens with Holly's early years in a tumultuous family with a warring mother and father who are consumed by possessions. Holly hasn't yet had the years or experience to absorb just one of the lessons she'll gain from life: "I hadn’t the slightest idea that those much-vaulted possessions were not worth a passing thought, it was all a stinking lie; it was all an illusion of happiness and peace. I hadn’t the eyes to see that they were doomed to decay. Moreover, my long arduous path to enlightenment would require me to learn from others and from the natural world, with a dose of stubborn disobedience and experiencing the world for myself." 

From the start, Holly has many astute observations of her world's parameters: "Dad, the realist saw the world primarily in patterns while Mom, the dreamer saw the world in terms of immediate appearances." But as time inexorably moves forward to bring with it many new ideas not originally part of Holly's thought processes, she is persuaded to consider a bigger purpose for her life, and pursues this with the same determination she once tapped to survive her childhood angst. 

As the microcosm of Holly's life evolves to address and influence the macrocosm of social injustice and the "all lives matter" movement, readers are swept into a journey that holds no boundaries, limitations, or even a logical progression of right and wrong or a promise of personal redemption. 

Holly's choices move from awakening and loftier visions to a disturbing series of choices that seem to subconsciously mirror her parents' choices and experiences, and readers begin to realize that nothing about Awakening is cut and dried, or easy.  Holly's world is satisfyingly complex, ever-changing, and not always upward-bound; and this mirror of life's actual routes and conundrums is one of the strengths that gives Awakening an edge that shallower reads can't match. 

Awakening was viewed as a work-in-progress: better editing will undoubtedly smooth grammatical errors and create a clearer read, correcting the flaws that pepper an otherwise-engrossing novel of philosophical and psychological evolution and social inspection. 

Readers who are interested in characters who search for the fundamentals of serenity and peace in their lives will find Awakening is a circumspect and intriguing read that challenges perceptions and set paths of conflict resolution, holds no clear bottom line or easy result, and provides a blend of philosophical read and social justice inspection that lingers in the mind long after its conclusion. 

Awakening

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Deep Blue
Kristy McCaffrey
K. McCaffrey LLC
E-book ISBN-13:  978-0-9980907-4-0          $4.99
Print ISBN-13:  978-0-9980907-5-7                     $11.99
Amazon US: http://amzn.to/2EvkoFC

Amazon UK: http://bit.ly/2sb667W

Amazon CA: http://bit.ly/2nLGJ8a

Amazon AU: http://amzn.to/2ENIvwV

Amazon IN: http://bit.ly/2BirM5l

iBooks: https://apple.co/2EcI8L4

Nook: http://bit.ly/2nUyndQ

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2GZcW40

Google Play: http://bit.ly/2EbV2cr

Print: http://a.co/f8H5qqB  

Book 1 in the Pathway series, Deep Blue, introduces a scenario in which Dr. Grace Mann's long-time close relationships with great white sharks attracts the interest of documentary filmmaker Alec, who finds himself at first a fan of her beauty and expertise; then a potential suitor. 

Grace isn't so certain he belongs on her scientific expedition; nor does she necessarily think his documentary is a great idea. Her focus is on the great whites which are her life's work; not on relationships, publicity, or romance.

On Alec's part, his attraction is a blend of fascination for her endeavors, respect, and the sense that, unlike his former lovers, Grace is something different ("The picture of her with a great white shark may have flooded him with bone deep terror, but it also had intrigued the hell out of him."). If he can capture her work, it will be a professional coup. If he can capture her heart, his life will change. 

And so the two begin their dance ... but actually, it's a triad, with the great white shark forming the complicated third player in their encounters. 

One thing to note is that Deep Blue is not a 'G' rated read: strong language and sexual descriptions are part of the story; so circumspect romance readers seeking emotional ties alone should look elsewhere. 

This is not to say that the novel is overly racy. It's just realistic in its portrayal of two disparate individuals who reach beyond their professions to find connections and different lifestyle and purpose in each other's work. The very environment they operate in is nicely described ("The briny smell of saltwater greeted her, triggering all the happy places in her head and heart. It was such a relief to be out of the office and in the bosom of Mother Nature once again."), as are insights about why the ocean's ancient inhabitants feel so compelling to Grace: "Truly, they had entered another time and place, a Jurassic Park filled with ancient great white dinosaurs swimming around them." 

In addition to these vivid sensory experiences of land and sea, Kristy McCaffrey creates a compelling dance between two very likeable characters who face trouble when a tourist boat ride goes awry and Grace's deep kinship with the shark, including her extraordinary dream encounters with them, is revealed to Alec: one of the few times in her life that she's confided her deepest secret to another. Dr. Gracie Mann has a reputation for being all business. That reputation changes when she faces new challenges both in romance and in her professional career. 

Swept along for a challenging adventure, readers of Deep Blue who like romances that are three-dimensional in shape and form, holding characters who care about more than just each other, will find this a powerful story filled with compelling examinations of more than one kind of bond and more than one problem. 

Deep Blue

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Gables Court
Alan S. Kessler
Black Rose Writing
9781612969886             $19.95
www.blackrosewriting.com 

Gables Court presents the character of twenty-four-year-old Samuel, a romantic and a traditional thinker who is saving sex for marriage, and who falls in love with a feisty college girl. He dreams of marriage, but her personal agenda doesn't include the title 'wife', and her ideas of sexuality and commitment are in direct conflict with his own values and ideals. 

Don't expect your usual romance with Gables Court, despite the fact that this is one of its themes. It's far more complex, because besides being a young man harboring traditional hopes and dreams, he's also a lawyer who represents an accused Nazi war criminal, the son of the head of a crime family, and a new adult still coming of age in a turbulent world whose social norms seem far from his own. 

Romance is just a piece of his journey, which takes place over a ten-year period of time and which explores how Sam reconciles his ideals with his background and life's realities, and how he makes and loses connections, faces loneliness after hopes are crushed, develops confidence and independence, and ultimately revises of his black-and-white perceptions of what the world should be. 

In many ways, Gables Court is a slice of life wavering from its uncertain course. Samuel is not a one-dimensional figure in this arena of change: he helps others, tests and is tested by life, and finds he's not always able to begin when he left off when people return. 

Clues to his evolution are subtly wound into revealing dialogues, language that succinctly captures the uncertainty of his connections and minute moments where changes surge to the forefront: "Sometimes when I'm working on a painting I know no matter how hard I try the colors will never be right. That's a form of fate too. Some things aren't meant to be. I hope you make lots of money. Goodbye." 

Against a backdrop of descriptions filled with different references to color and creation, Samuel navigates women, puzzling relationships, faith and perspective, choices and consequences, and in all of it, his changing place in the world. 

Gables Court provides a powerfully insightful saga of a young man adrift in a changing world. As color flows through his life and brings with it psychological and social insights, Samuel slowly finds the impetus to be himself. Readers who seek a combination of psychological self-discovery and social awareness will find Samuel's journey ethereal, engrossing, and all too familiar. Highly recommended for thinking readers seeking more from their fiction than light entertainment.

Gables Court

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House Without Lies
Rachel Branton
White Star Press
978-1-939203-69-4         $14.95 Paper/$3.99 Kindle
www.whitestarpress.com 

House Without Lies is Book 1 introducing the Lily's House series about a girl who has grown up unloved, and who opens her home and apartment to runaway girls in trouble, as an adult. Her life is full, between providing them with a safe haven and struggling to have everyone live well in a small space. 

Jameson works as a teen counselor and wants Lily to become certified and legal as a foster parent so she can be more effective by working through the system; but Lily is worried that committing to that system's regulations will result in her inability to help those runaways who most need her. 

As a romance blossoms between them, the consequences of Lily's refusal to work within the system become apparent when several of her teens are endangered by vengeful fathers and unprotective mothers. Lily is an instinctive nurturer whose roots lie in privileges: can she make the kinds of choices on how to help that result in real change? 

To call House Without Lies a romance will lead to disappointment in readers looking for heavy passion and an overriding focus on budding relationships. There's a lot going on here, between Lily's passion to help others and her struggles with a system that could both help and harm her special cause. The issues of abuse, on many levels, are stronger than the evolving relationship conundrums Lily faces. 

Readers seeking inspirational women's stories with a broader focus than relationship-building moments will find House Without Lies just the ticket. It's filled with many different characters and diverse circumstances, but the overall plot holds true to its intentions and presents a vivid story made all the more immediate by Rachel Branton's choice of using the first person to capture Lily's daily life and feelings. 

Lily's accustomed to fighting for others: can she fight for herself, as well? An engrossing read, it's also a pleasure to add a note that while House Without Lies is part of a series, it's actually a fine stand-alone story that neatly concludes its plot. Readers will want more, but won't be required to hang off a cliff waiting for resolution - and that's a huge bonus to the first book in this series. 

House Without Lies

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Leaves of the Linden Tree
Marydale Stewart
Black Rose Writing
www.blackrosewriting.com 

Leaves of the Linden Tree provides a sequel to The Wanderers as it follows Corrie Holden, who embarks on a new life when she opens her bookstore in the small town of Linden Grove and embraces a budding romance with Jimmy, who is also starting over in many ways. 

An Illinois small town seems the perfect place to build a fresh life based on old dreams and new relationships; but when emerging racism results in a hate crime from a completely unexpected direction, Corrie and Jimmy must reconsider many things; including their definitions of social justice and small-town attractions. 

Clues are provided early on, from the lack of diversity in the town to how it is divided by income status rather than nationality, that all may not be as idyllic as they wish; but as the story progresses, readers will be surprised by some unexpected revelations. 

One might expect that familiarity with The Wanderers would be a prerequisite for enjoying its sequel, but the main characters in the prior book, Kurt and Sarah, take second place to the evolving structure and purpose of Corrie and Jimmy's lives. This means that newcomers will equally appreciate the story line's progression and will gain insights from a tale that neatly winds through affairs as diverse as Muslim perceptions, gun rights, the motives for an ordinary woman's involvement in arson, and what happens when a fire is lit under the town's hidden prejudices. 

Natural disasters bring everyone together and supplant the human disaster in the making in Leaves of the Linden Tree, which places Corrie and Jimmy's evolving relationship in the context of bigger social issues and questions. 

Readers looking for a revealing, involving chronicle will find Leaves of the Linden Tree moves through ordinary lives and bigger concerns like a train: sometimes smooth and modern and at other times noisy and replete with thundering wheels of change, nicely revealing of the mechanisms surrounding restorative justice and the roots of resistance. 

Leaves of the Linden Tree

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Love's Hidden Promise
M. Jean Pike
L. Cooper Press
ASIN:
 B078XMC3GQ            $4.27
http://a.co/cghUHzm 

Love’s Hidden Promise: An Enchanting Tale of Love, Loss, and the Magic of Believing takes fantasy and paranormal elements and winds them into an overall romance that revolves around Willow, whose life is turned upside down when she receives a medical diagnosis just as her support partner, Tom, leaves her for someone else. 

She's out of her comfort zone in more ways than one when she jettisons her familiar big city for the wilderness, longing to photograph an eagle, and instead finds love in the most improbable of places under the most improbable of circumstances.

Reclusive hermit Darby is also an unlikely candidate for love. He harbors his own secrets and reason for eschewing civilization; but somehow, when they meet, Willow knows she is meant to spend her final days in his presence. 

Love's Hidden Promise is about endings and beginnings. Even more importantly, it's about life's challenges and who stays and who leaves. Themes of abandonment, pain, and friendship lead to greater stories of survival, commitment, and love; each holding key lessons that challenge Willy's psyche: "She had tried to love spontaneously, to loosen the chains she kept carefully locked around her heart. But fear was a way of life for girls like Willy and Sid. They'd grown up knowing the sting of rejection, of never being quite good enough. As a result, Willy had never taken a chance on anything that mattered, never known how to really love. And now it was too late to learn." 

Retreat in the face of impossible odds is the best thing - but both characters instead defy what seems to be a logical course of action. Fantasy elements and a subliminal Christian tone wind into the tale while the paranormal elements contain somewhat of a surprise as they enhance the underlying theme of the story. 

As clues are presented and acts of heroism emerge, readers enjoy a delightful story that keeps its powerful moments in tune with emotional and psychic revelations. 

The result is as much a story of evolution as it is a romance, offering a few surprises and much food for thought to delight readers who like their drama psychological and their insights connected to affairs of the heart and deeper concerns about adversity, choice, and life's deeper meaning even in an isolated Garden of Eden carefully crafted by two hurting individuals. Genre readers who appreciate passion entwined with these wider-ranging philosophical and spiritual elements will love the winding story of Willow, Darby, Patrick, and life's surprising opportunities for transformation.

Love's Hidden Promise

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The Pas de Deux: A Classical Ballet Romance
Erin Bomboy
Curtain Call Press
Print ISBN: 978-0-9984830-2-3            $14.95
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-9984830-5-4         $3.99
http://a.co/gIkc6Jl 

Can an aging ballerina and dying ballet company enjoy new energy from young blood and romance? Sure they can, as The Pas de Deux: A Classical Ballet Romance demonstrates with a compelling ballet saga that blends the romance of a couple with eleven years' difference between them with a revitalization process that affects everyone around them. 

Chapter headings infused with ballet terminology set the stage for each event that unfolds, imbibing the story with ballet culture as it uses the structure of a classical ballet grand pas de deux to trace the evolution of a fiery onstage love affair which leads the ballet director, Mr. D., to separate his head ballerina from her romantic partner. 

Separation not only makes their hearts and determination grow stronger; but is woven into the overlay of change as Peri faces the slow death of her own dancing skills as she ages ("Peri herself was dying, but it was a different death—the death of a dancer. What once was easy was now hard, and what once was hard was now impossible. Maintaining the illusion of brilliance was chewing at her."). 

Themes of intolerance, acceptance, and professional and personal challenge permeate the demands of dance, which requires supreme sacrifice from all involved, creating an engrossing story that will prove particularly compelling to anyone who has a background in or affinity for the dance world. 

Invigorated by her newfound passion, Peri dances like never before. But how long can she maintain her new ability before everything comes crashing down around her? As young Mark faces his own demons, from a drunken father who thinks his ballet dancing equates to him being a homosexual to a possessive ballet company director, he faces the ultimate heartbreak from the very one he trusts, who has an ulterior motive for letting him go: "I broke your heart, so I wouldn’t break your spirit, she telegraphed to Mark, wherever he was now. I said I didn’t love you because I did love you, and loving you meant letting you go." 

As dancing challenges, raw emotions, separations and reunifications, and transformations ensue, everything changes. Erin Bomboy's uncanny ability to capture all the subtle nuances of everyone involved in a ballet company production creates a powerful story that captures not only love's trials and errors, but a fading ballet company's road to a comeback. 

Romance readers with a special affinity for the world of dance will relish this powerful saga that blends insights on history, love, choreography, and the climatic buildup of the grand pas de deux as it plays out on stage and in hearts against a wider backdrop of social and political change. 

The Pas de Deux: A Classical Ballet Romance

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Playing the Pauses
Michelle Hazen
Michelle Hazen, Publisher
9781386099758             $2.99
Author website: http://michellehazenbooks.com/ 

Amazon: http://amzn.to/2CAceLb

Barnes and Noble: http://bit.ly/2qrxY7g

Kobo: http://bit.ly/2CCqy5J

iBooks/iTunes: https://apple.co/2lXyLrC 

Playing the Pauses is Book 2 of the 'Sex, Love, and Rock & Roll' series, and will reach female readers of romance whether or not they have read the prior book, A Cruel Kind of Beautiful. 

Romance would seem inevitable when two powerful personalities collide during a rock music tour. New manager Kate is jazzed about her first big international band tour assignment, while 'bad boy' musician and tattoo artist Danny seems to be her opposite. 

Kate, having been many things and played many parts in her life, is now operating far outside of her usual comfort zone and is exploring "what kind of person I’m about to become." Part of her process involves a deliberate intention to seek change; but part of it, she acknowledges, comes from chance encounters with life where different roles are assumed: “Tours started out as my consolation prize when I turned out to suck as a musician. Because sometimes the most beautiful things happen by accident.” 

Sleeping with one's employer is a challenge, particularly when you're business and travel colleagues; but exploring new sexual avenues with S&M adds an extra dimension to the journey. 

By now it should be evident that sex is a big part of Kate and Danny's discoveries about each other and the possibilities of their expanding worlds. Readers who are circumspect about the nature and frequency of a romance story's sexual component should look elsewhere; because this erotic story is firmly based in sexual discovery as it presents a woman's growth both as a professional and in her sexual identity. 

There are two major loves that Kate and Danny share: a love for music and the road, and a growing love for each other. This creates a collision course even as it opens up new opportunities for play and self-awareness. 

Readers receive graphic sexual descriptions, strong language, and an approach that nicely mixes sex scenes with an overall attention to a solid story development. 

While their sexual encounter is a central theme of the story, to call Playing the Pauses an erotic novel alone would be to belie its equally strong explorations of the boundaries between personal, career, and sexual growth. 

Readers who are not adverse to alternative sleeping arrangements and sexual encounters will find this saga of lives and careers on the road which are challenged by a developing relationship that careens into forbidden territory to be an engrossing, revealing tale of sex, drugs, rock music, and evolutionary processes that reveal many surprises along the way. 

Playing the Pauses

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Stone Circle
Kate Murdoch
Fireship Press, LLC
978-1-61179-386-4, 978-1-61179-387-1
$17.95 paperback, $5.95 e-Book
www.fireshippress.com 

When Antonius' father dies, he has no economic option but to go to work as a servant in a rich man's home. In 16th century Italy, there are not a lot of choices: the population is either rich or poor, with few in between. His only escape route from a life of servitude lies in a competition to become a seer's apprentice; but his adversary is not only his current employer's son, but is bent on gaining both the apprenticeship and the beautiful daughter it involves. 

Antonius has already walked away from everything he's known to build a new life, facing his father's death and separating from his family at the age of seventeen. His mentor's daughter has her eye on a more interesting life, even though her father has provided nicely for her and even though a more exciting suitor might not hold her father's financial savvy. 

The blend of Renaissance history and romance would, in and of themselves, be an attraction to many; but add a fantasy element to the story and it successfully moves in unexpected directions that sweep Antonius, Giulia, Nichola, and everyone around them into a vivid world of spirits, initiations, unusual dreams, and struggles with social status and special talents. 

While a simmering rivalry fuels both boys to become men and recognize their own inherent abilities, it also drives a story line that revolves around a seer's vision, a church's growing concern over magic realism and threats to its visions and control, and young boy's coming of age in a rapidly changing society. 

The delicate balance of history, magic, romance and growth is nicely done and moves deftly through the streets and culture of Italy. Readers seeking a historical fantasy romance story will find Stone Circle a powerful exploration of sad endings, new beginnings, and change as its characters search for new homes and a sense of place in a world that's shifting under their feet. 

Stone Circle

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Take Me Home
Rachel Branton
White Star Press

978-1-939203-83-0         $15.95 paper/$4.99 Kindle
www.whitestarpress.com


Take Me Home is the first book in the Finding Home series and tells of an adult who faces being an adopted child plagued by vague, haunting memories of her birth parents and early life. 

Liana has always felt conflicted about her uncertain past and being adopted after her parents' plane accident in India left her an orphan; but the questions have only increased as she enters into adulthood with baggage that interferes with her ability to form meaningful relationships. 

Successful businessman Austin Walker has faced his own demons of the past and seemingly overcome them; but he's still similarly affected by unresolved issues and emotional conundrums. 

Clarissa willingly adopted her sister's child after the accident, but feels her own conflicts over her forever-unresolved estrangement with her sibling. Someday she will have to tell Liana the truth - and that day comes all too soon, despite the passage of time. 

From early on in the story, Rachel Branton presents a candid view of adoptee Liana's conflicted feelings about her family: "As the meal progressed, Liana watched them interact, almost a stranger amidst her own family, her feelings confused and varied. She loved Christian, she trusted Bret, and she was grateful to her aunt and uncle, the couple who had adopted her and raised her as their own. Gratitude was something she could freely give them—much better than love, she’d told herself throughout the years. She still believed that. Gratitude didn’t make you shrivel up inside when someone died. Only love did that." 

When Liana begins to dig deeper into her past, what she finds sends her on an unexpected journey for the real truth about her heritage and her parents' deaths - a journey that involves her adoptive and birth mothers alike and brings them full circle, while calling into question everything they've known about her past. 

Take Me Home is about healing, redemption, and self-discovery. This powerful women's fiction piece will resonate strongly with any reader interested in stories of personal heritage and Ukrainian orphanages, adoption, and connections with those who would be accepted as family. 

Take Me Home

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Reviewer's Choice

Feasible Planet
Ken Kroes
1779671 Alberta Inc.
ISBN (electronic): 978-0995847057            $7.99
ISBN (paperback): 978-0995847040    $15.99
Purchase through: www.books2read.com/feasibleplanet
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36430861 

Feasible Planet: A Guide to More Sustainable Living joins a host of other books on the topic, but several features and approaches set this discussion apart from similar-sounding books on the market. 

Where similar books propose individual actions that involve lifestyle changes based on ideological principles, Feasible Planet considers feasibility's monetary benefits and incorporates a rational approach that ties many different kinds of beneficial economic results to more sustainable choices. 

Thus, chapters clearly explain the impact of less environmentally conscious choices, which can be as simple as choosing one type of fabric over another. For example: "A single wash of a fleece (polyester) jacket can release as much as 1 ½ grams of micro fiber plastic. Half of this will probably not be picked up by water treatment and will end up in rivers." A chart contrasts the impact of different fabrics, with hemp, linen and cotton winning heavily over nylon, acrylics, and polyester. (Many influences are profiled in this chart; from chemical usage to the ancillary effects of cashmere, produced from goats "that can cause significant land damage," or silk, which requires a fair bit of land to produce.) 

The notion of 'environmental compromises' enters the picture in a discussion of the issue of hard water, which increases one's environmental footprint, costs money, yet can only be resolved by method which hold their own environmental impact. Knowing exactly what these consequences are or mean can translate neatly to undertaking the balancing act that results in the least damaging and most financially appropriate decisions, which Feasible Planet excels in profiling. 

One wouldn't expect discussions of random acts of kindness, humility, and child-rearing to enter this bigger picture, but Feasible Planet promotes a holistic approach that moves from individual choice to family cooperation and community impact, and no real discussion would be complete without such a focus - again, something too often missed in similar-sounding books. 

Feasible Planet is in many ways a wake-up call: but it doesn't bat its readers over the head: it gently taps them on the shoulder with facts that directly relate to personal choices. 

Real facts, motivations, and consequences for actions all form a solid foundation from which Feasible Planet advocates changes that support economic growth, lifestyle improvement, and both social and environmental consciousness. It's difficult to impart all this without sounding 'preachy' or dogmatic, but another big difference between Ken Kroes and his contemporaries is that his book is invitational and contemplative; not a lecture that makes harsh judgment calls or promotes hard-line approaches. 

Sustainability is a big subject that's often overwhelming in scope. Readers newly embarking on the journey towards better choices that begin with the microcosm of daily living and move into broader social, political and economic realms would do well to begin here. Feasible Planet not only provides a road map, but embraces those new to these ideas and processes by providing an easy discussion clearly applied to daily life. 

Feasible Planet

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Happiness is Chosen Wisely: 3300 Axioms of Self-Evident Truths
Byer
Byer Publishing
978-0692051146            $14.99
https://tinyurl.com/y85mmuhv   https://tinyurl.com/y955z5fe 

Happiness is Chosen Wisely began as a cathartic search for truth and happiness and evolved into what it is today: a consideration of how happiness and pleasure are really two different states of mind, and how they dovetail: "The cause of happiness is peace, calm, tranquility, bliss and harmony, but the effects are the same as the cause. This is our absence of desire from our higher thinking, wisdom, and enlightenment without any stress, anxiety or despair at all." 

While the book contains over 3,000 axioms, it actually represents an abridged version of the original. If this still sounds like too much reading, be advised that Happiness is Chosen Wisely also chooses its words wisely, making the most of each axiom by numbering them so they clearly stand out, creating simple one-liners with a punch, and organizing the results to lend to smooth reading even for busy readers on the go. 

As far as content, sample a few: "It is more pleasurable to have fun with others than to be peaceful and calm," or "Our life becomes a love or hate relationship without thinking about it," and "When one realizes that all we may have sought was meaningless, we are reborn free." 

Life isn't a race, and neither is reading this book. Readers who choose just a few axioms a day and take the time to reflect on them will find the many words of wisdom not only resonate but offer direction that embraces spirituality, psychology, and social considerations. 

It's taken Byer half a life to identify and rid that life of what is meaningless. Readers on the road to true happiness now have a map offering clues of what those distractions may be and how to stay true to a journey that might take a few less years, thanks to this collection. 

New age and inspirational readers will be the best audiences for Byer's works; particularly those who decide to take the time to absorb so much wisdom - the work of a lifetime - without haste, cognizant of the idea that a new way of thinking, viewing, and living life could be the reward for a careful pursuit of Happiness is Chosen Wisely. 

Happiness is Chosen Wisely: 3300 Axioms of Self-Evident Truths

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Helene-​True Story of a German Girl's Resilience Growing Up During World War II
Helga Long and Helene Witzmann
Warren Publishing
978-1-943258-56-7                $14.95
www.warrenpublishing.net 

Helene presents the powerful true story of a girl who grew up in Europe during World War II, and follows her growth and observations during a changing social and political landscape that eventually dominates her young life. 

Helga Long grew up hearing her mother's stories about the old country and life during the war, and in the 1990s she got together with her mother and made some twenty tapes of her tales, then set them aside as life coaxed her in other directions. When she finally sat down to transcribe them, the journal format she'd envisioned for them turned into a biographical story filled with family and historical references that promises attraction to a wider audience than her own family's circle. 

Helene was "...a typical German girl who felt the effects of the war and the Nazi regime; who grew into womanhood with the dangers of a war surrounding her; and who, through her positive nature, continued to live a challenging, yet happy life." 

All events in this book stem from Helga's mother's memories; the facts checked against history to provide a supportive foundation, but not inflated by details her mother didn't share in the course of her narration. This lends a realistic tone to the entire account that eschews fictional drama and embellishment to probe a real life's experiences. 

What sets Helene apart from many World War II accounts is this realistic and candid collection of encounters from an everyday young German girl's perspective. From the fun of parades and competitions, local celebrations and events, and the lure of the Hitler Youth groups to how ordinary Germans became embroiled in conflict, Helene provides a clear explanation of how life slowly changes and how the organizations and rituals of childhood take ominous turns that feel innocent at the time: "When I was ten, I was able to join the Hitler Youth. You had to be ten years old to join, and I was excited because it was a fairly new organization in our town. At this time, it was not mandatory to be in the Hitler Youth, but I couldn’t wait to join....I enjoyed the companionship of my friends and thought the meetings were a lot of fun." 

Also notable are the daily lives of a wide range of average Germans, described against an atmosphere of political and social change. Descriptions of everyday people's changing daily lives are far more detailed than the usual World War II Germany story that focuses on broader political forces and their social impact, and offers a satisfyingly well-detailed flavor of German culture and affairs. 

The result is a remarkably involved survey that is vivid, memorable, and hard to put down: a revealing documentary of ordinary German lives and perspectives changed by Hitler's rise.

Helene- ​True Story of a German Girl's Resilience Growing Up During World War II

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Science and Lust
Rebecca Coffey
Beck and Branch
Paperback: 978-0-9972644-3-2    $6.95
Kindle and ePub: ISBN: 978-0-9972644-4-9    $2.99
www.beckandbranch.com 

Science and Lust gathers essays for Volume 1 in a series; but lest readers anticipate a racy fictional exploration of sex; be advised that this is nonfiction, and falls in the area of biological fact rather than lusty fiction. The title, however, evokes an intriguing prospect of sexual exploration that many a fiction reader won't be able to put down despite its obvious lack of plot and story line. 

The reason why this read is so compelling to general-interest audiences (and even those who may have little prior interest in science, in general) is because the essay form, combined with Rebecca Coffey's background in journalism and general-interest science writing, makes for a winning combination when it comes to crafting a nonfiction thriller. 

What constitutes nonfiction thriller short works? Consider 'Some Like it Too Hot'. The opening gambit to this piece makes it intriguing, absorbing, and hard to quit reading - all the elements of a fictional thriller approach nicely applied to science fact: "Imagine a medical advisory discreetly mailed to unfaithful men everywhere. “Warning,” it says.  “Extramarital sex can kill.” The medical staff of the Andrology Clinic at the University of Florence has never distributed any such advisory. But maybe someone should." 

Readers who pursue this piece beyond its compelling opener will discover "...intriguing evidence that sudden coital death in men is largely the problem of adulterers." The cold analytical realm of science just got a lot more upfront and personal - and this is just one example of an article that reflects the latest research, yet adds a profoundly revealing twist to science, linking it to modern human habits and conundrums. 

Or, take 'Was It Good for You, Too?' Apparently males are the primary askers of this question. And the answer too often can't be trusted. But why would women understate or misjudge the extent of their own arousal? Despite extensive research and testing, perhaps science itself is not yet in a place where women's sexuality can be accurately measured. 

These and other essays push the boundaries of sexual understanding and perceptions of differences and desires between men and women, analyzing the sources of much confusion between the sexes. 

Any reader interested in human sexuality who eschews the normally dry scientific study on the matter will relish this absorbing read which puts the 'lively' back into matters and draws direct connections between modern sexual activities, dilemmas and questions, and the latest scientific findings. 

Science and Lust

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The Writer’s Crucible: Meditations on Emotion, Being and Creativity
Philip Kenney
Inkwater Press
978-1-62901-524-8         $15.95
www.amazon.com 

The Writer’s Crucible: Meditations on Emotion, Being and Creativity offers a psychological examination of typical obstacles that thwart the creative processes, and is directed to writers who struggle with the process of tapping their wellsprings while facing such barriers. 

Other creative writing books have addressed these issues; but The Writer’s Crucible's approach is different. It tackles self-reproach and the emotional challenges of putting pen to paper by discussing vulnerabilities from a psychotherapist's clinical viewpoint, providing assessments and insights that crack perfectionist tendencies and creativity-thwarting negativity. 

It's unusual to find a trained psychotherapist who believes in the practice and approaches of meditation and spirituality. Writers looking for inspiration will find all three facets influence an approach that considers the motivations of human behavior and writers' efforts, considering the process of being psychologically and spiritually lost and the impulses that stem from both that and the attempt to find one's path in life. 

Creation and destruction are close companions: this, too, is discussed on a psychological, social, and spiritual level, giving writers further insights on the 'rhythms of creation' and how they operate on different levels. 

Most writers will anticipate some sort of how-to title: perhaps a series of guided meditations, or an analysis that takes the process of producing a written gem and links it to psychological understanding or exercises designed to stimulate that process. The Writer’s Crucible digs deeper and promises no quick insights or exercise-based guarantees of success. 

Its insights stem from self-awareness and healing processes and add a personal tone to make it more of a personal reflection than a dispassionate professional assessment: "Maybe you are one of these talented people who can’t get going. Maybe you get going but can’t follow through and finish, or you have a dozen projects going and never move deeply into any of them. Maybe you discredit the work so completely that it ends up on the shelf. It’s okay. You aren’t alone, and you aren’t hopeless. You are constricted and might possibly be shackled by the trauma response. Find someone to help you undo the knots, and I think you’ll find the work will flow." 

Of course, this means that there are no easy answers or solutions. Writers anticipating a course of miraculous exercises that can magically unlock creative impulses will discover instead that The Writer’s Crucible is actually a call to action on many levels, advocating taking charge of  one's spiritual, psychological and social self-discovery process. 

Within the paradoxes of psychotherapy lie routines and ideas that can stimulate and broaden the writer's efforts. Those who are willing to do the work to get to this place will find that Philip Kenney advocates making a greater effort for better writing results: "A life of writing is like that river finding its way to the ocean. It moves from its source, bending with the layout of the land, changing directions again and again, searching for the low ground in a relentless journey to the sea. The adventure of exploration and discovery is one of the great thrills of a creative life and a great liberator of the inner world. Developing a relationship of curiosity with yourself is one way to disempower the menacing negating voices within." 

The fact that The Writer’s Crucible holds much more than exercises or mediations and addresses the heart of what keeps a writer from being effective and meaningful makes it a top recommendation for writers who struggle to achieve their best against the barriers of anxiety, self-deprecation, and fear. 

The Writer’s Crucible: Meditations on Emotion, Being and Creativity

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Young Adult/Childrens

The Story of Evil - Volume I: Heroes of the Siege
Tony Johnson
Amazon Digital Services
ASIN:
 B00BAUTQW2      $0.99 Kindle; $6.42 Paper
http://a.co/gEujPEK 

Three teens, Stephen, Tyrus and Kari, are participating in a joust meet when the event is overrun by monsters during an attack on their city, changing everything they've taken for granted in their lives. 

Facing the demise of their family and friends and the ruin of their city, they make choices to battle the evil that has invaded; and this move involves the evolution of heroism in different forms, for each of them. 

Stephen was already a hero in competition and a hero in the eyes of his faithful squires; but now he's engaged in the bigger, more dangerous game of life or death, and the grueling matches he's won only prove tests for the real struggle ahead. Steve and his friend Ty are orphans who grew up together as foster brothers, so they are more than comrades in arms. And Kari is a simple half-human, half-elf hunter who's grown up in a shadow of mystery surrounding her father's murder and her heartbroken mother's subsequent death, who is drawn into a world she never asked to be part of and a battle she's reluctant to participate in. Her observations stand in stark contrast to those of the warrior brothers whose perspectives on survival and fighting are quite different. 

When the battles begin, there's an odd element of discussion between the brothers that seems to mock the seriousness of the situation. As monsters fall under their skilled hands, Steve and Ty banter about earning points and winning the 'game'; but it's explained that Ty jokes when he's nervous or challenged, and Steve clearly is used to this and interacts in Ty's way of handling stress. This joking banter between the boys continues as events unfold, providing both comic relief and a sometimes jarring sense of odd reactions to life-challenging confrontations ("Cutting it close that time, huh?" Steve yelled over the sounds of destruction."). 

But this isn't another jousting match: it's a life or death situation that extends far beyond the realms of championship jousters and comebacks, and involves a struggle for the control and existence of Celestial City itself. 

Pre-teens and teens around the ages of 12 and a few years older will especially appreciate a fantasy that is steeped in adventure, castles, the evolution of young warriors, the struggles of humans, semi-humans and monsters such as dragons, minotaurs, and more. 

From Stephen's perseverance, which earns him the title of Brightflame early in his life and is sorely tested during this struggle, to the ruthless Hooded Phantom and his skilled and deadly army, Heroes of the Siege makes some pointed observations about heroism's realities and costs. 

In some ways, this is quite a complex read for pre-teen and early teen audiences. While the battle between good and evil is fairly cut and dried, the trappings of what constitutes each is mercurial and provides much food for thought as the story line evolves. As time shifts between past and present occur seemingly randomly (and sometimes without easy staging), younger readers can become confused at some points, which are designed to inject history into the progress of events. 

Each hero is tested, the villains are clever enemies who employ all manner of skills in the pursuit of their goals, and readers are swept into a world that holds many similarities to medieval Earth, but with twists and differences to support the fantasy theme and keep readers guessing.

This singular focus on one invasion and the struggles surrounding it is an appropriate and lively read especially recommended for younger teens who enjoy tales of courage, swordplay, confrontation, and dungeons and dragons. 

The Story of Evil - Volume I: Heroes of the Siege

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The Stronghold
Sebastian Bendix
Fire and Ice Young Adult Books (an imprint of Melange Books, LLC)

9781680465907     
$4.99 (eBook) $15.95 (print)
Website
: http://sebastianbendix.com/the-stronghold 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Stronghold-Sebastian-Bendix-ebook/dp/B077SRJSCV 

Nook: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-stronghold-sebbastian-bendix/1127552636

Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-stronghold-8 

iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-stronghold/id1321245867 

Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/762115 

Lulu: http://www.lulu.com/shop/sebastian-bendix/the-stronghold/paperback/product-23389419.html 

18-year-old Bowie is on the cusp of being an adult at the height of his abilities. Trained in deadly combat, this head of his militia unit is slated to marry a pretty girl and is well on track to inherent the leadership of the Pacific North stronghold when a plane crashes into their island sanctuary, bringing with it a stranger who turns his world upside down. 

Now Bowie is fighting for everything he once took for granted, faces an uncertain future, and finds himself entering a world he never trained for in this dystopian survival story. 

Bowie is used to testing his abilities - but under controlled conditions. As everything in his life spirals out of control, he discovers that the home he would fight and die for is rejecting him despite his history as a good soldier and his potential to be a potential stronghold leader. Conditions are no longer in his control - and with this revelation, his life's set course changes drastically. 

Many young adult dystopian stories center upon individual and group survival, but The Stronghold differs in posing questions about underlying freedom, choice, and what's worth living and dying for: "...I want you to fight for whatever it is that you believe. But don’t die for Fort Thunder, Bowie. That was never what I wanted for you.” I can’t believe he is saying this. Of course I would die for our home! “What better thing is there to die for?” I ask. “A family of your own,” he answers. “A life you make for yourself when you truly know what your options are. Not just the options we give you.” “I’m fine with those options,” I say. But for the first time ever, I’m not quite sure I believe it." 

Pandemics and martial law forced the stronghold's existence. Now it's time for Bowie to consider whether that structure continues to be viable for him and everyone else. And once he leaves everything he's loved and called home, can he ever return? 

The best dystopian fiction doesn't just focus on a protagonist's challenges and changes; it creates a believable society and world, places its foundations at risk, and follows characters as they face paradigm-changing events and continue to not just survive, but thrive and change. 

The Stronghold creates such scenarios for its mature teen to new adult audience, crafts an action-packed series of challenges that include confrontation, downfall, escape, survival and even a touch of romance, and comes full circle to provide a satisfying, unexpected conclusion. 

Young adult and adult fans of dystopian stories will find Bowie's military background, convictions, and special determination powers a volatile and compelling series of encounters that will keep readers immersed and involved as an underlying story of special purposes and hidden intentions emerges.

The Stronghold

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