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Donovan's Bookshelf

May 2021 Review Issue


Table Of Contents

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


Fantasy & Sci Fi

Alien Ti and the Earthling Inventor
John P. Boyle
Independently Published
9798612240686             $5.99 Paper/$2.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Ti-Earthling-Inventor-Science/dp/B0851MJH73 

Imagine stumbling onto the power source for an alien spacecraft. In Alien Ti and the Earthling Inventor: Where Science and Space Collide, inventor Philip finds an amazing alien device that, less fortunately, places him in the crosshairs of aliens who want to not only retrieve it, but kill the man who would use it. 

Alien Ti is a mercenary sent to Earth to perform this dastardly deed. But Philip is no lowly nerd and proves himself fully capable of defending himself and his discovery...even against superior alien technology. Even if his aim is a bit off. 

John P. Boyle injects a wry sense of humor into the situation as Philip's larger-than-life dreams and initial attempts to profit from his discovery keeps bombing. His frustrated schemes and remarks on their failures provide tongue-in-cheek fun: Philip gets into his car and begins to drive away, just as the owner shouts after him: "If this junk doesn't hold up, you'll be hearing from me." Philip smiles and waves to him...then grimaces. Now why did he have to call it junk?" 

From arduous treks up snow-covered trails to mishaps which plague the ambitious but often-bumbling Philip, Ti is diverted from his mission, and even comes to emphasize with the human as he observes this savvy inventor building his first UFO and somewhat successfully testing it. 

Not only the world is set to change. So is Ti's mission and loyalty to his people. 

Boyle's ability to pack fun and high drama into a story a little over a hundred pages in length creates a blend of struggle and humor that is refreshing. There's more going on than self-realization, shifting alliances, questionable discoveries, or the outcomes of a clash between alien and human, here. 

Sci-fi readers who appreciate both humor and the intersection of science and special interests will relish the tale that unfolds, which holds many satisfying twists and turns as Philip and Ti embark on a journey that will change both of their lives. 

Delightfully entertaining and whimsical as well as filled with battles and confrontations on many levels, Alien Ti and the Earthling Inventor: Where Science and Space Collide is an excellent leisure choice for sci-fi readers looking for something a bit out of the box and creatively portrayed, over the usual alien/human confrontation. 

Alien Ti and the Earthling Inventor

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Archibald Lox Volume 1: The Missing Princess
Darren Shan
Home of the Damned Ltd.
9781910009109      
$22.00 Paper/$32.00 hardcover; $4.99 ebook
Website: www.darrenshan.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LCC2SW8/

Archibald Lox Volume 1: The Missing Princess was originally released as three ebooks: Archibald Lox and the Bridge Between Worlds; Archibald Lox and the Empress of Suanpan; and Archibald Lox and the Vote of Alignment. This edition brings all three under one cover for the first time and will delight young adults who choose this fantasy for uninterrupted adventure reading. 

The story opens in a "house of death" still stunned by loss where the young London narrator, a foster child, struggles to deal with an accident that has resulted in a great grief. How easy it would have been for him to save Dave through a few simple words of warning. How easy it is to regret what is left unsaid, and the consequences that stem from inaction. 

Archibald's encounter with a girl who is running away from a threat changes everything, thrusting him into a parallel universe filled with evil characters, new friends, and a newfound mission that takes him away from everything he's known...and from his sadness. 

Prompted by his experiences to reconsider what is real and visible and what is unknown to most people around him, Archibald moves from witnessing something impossible to being a part of that unlikely world and mission. 

The magic lies not just around him but within him as his innate skills for handling locks prove to be a saving ability that leads him to realize that only he holds the key to fighting repressive forces that would change and control everything. 

Darren Shan does a masterful job of capturing young Archibald's conundrums and choices: "I’m different. If I fled, I could pretend it never happened, convince myself that I dreamt the whole thing, carry on with life as before. Except…I’d know. Deep in my heart, I’d know, and I’d always hate myself for accepting the limits that everyone else in the world accepts, when I now know that there’s so much more for me to explore. Adults often tell us kids that we act without thinking. They say we don’t consider the consequences of the choices we make. That’s always made me roll my eyes, but maybe they’re right. If I was older, I think I’d hesitate, analyse things to death, probably decide that the risks are too great. But I’m not a grown-up." 

Powered by strong evolving interpersonal connections between the protagonist and peers, kings, and adversaries alike, Archibald Lox Volume 1: The Missing Princess is fantasy, mystery, and a coming of age story all in one. Think The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, but with an even stronger focus on the process by which a grieving young boy falls into his powers to change the world. 

It's a gripping saga that will be appreciated not just by the young adult audiences who likely will choose it, but by adults who enjoy Philip Pullman and other strong YA authors who create fantasy worlds appealing to young and old alike. 

Archibald Lox Volume 1: The Missing Princess

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The Darkness That Slept
Keegan and Tristen Kozinski
Kozinski Books
978-0998244020            $18.00 Paper/$4.99 Kindle
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Darkness-That-Slept-Chronicles-Dawn/dp/0998244023
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-darkness-that-slept-keegan-kozinski/1124801358?ean=2940165192401
Kobo: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-darkness-that-slept-1
Apple: https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-darkness-that-slept/id1179895465 

The Darkness That Slept is the first book in the Chronicles of the Far Dawn series, and tells of the reawakening of an ancient terror that emerges from deep within The North. The New Order has invaded The North, bringing demons with them. The High-Warden of Winsyria guards against the supernatural threats that reside in the Mortal Kingdoms. The Lord of Antiark stands against those who would profit from war, and the North is gathering its strength for the struggle ahead. 

A host of characters interact during this epic fantasy struggle. Each region holds its leader's special interests, affecting the outcome of changing interactions with neighboring kingdoms as they cultivate schemes that support their own disparate objectives. As old nightmares emerge to shatter long-held pacts, alliances, and long-trusted havens and routines, The Darkness That Slept presents many characters who are each challenged to confront their own abilities, values, and ambitions. 

The sweeping epic feel of this story is supercharged by opposing forces who exchange the lead throughout the story. Time is taken to explore each of these major players. This attention to detail may prove challenging to those who seek less description and more action; but will delight readers who enjoy complex stories that make the effort to deeply explore all the overt and hidden motivations for choices. 

Many features of this fantasy bring to mind The Lord of the Rings. There's a Dread Lord, a ring, and a quest. Disparate forces clash on both physical and supernatural arenas. The epic fight between darkness and light is captured through different experiences of different sides. From imminent invasions to power plays between Wardens, Lords, and gladiators, this world is filled with forces that seem to fall more on the side of darkness than light. 

Just when the power plays and battles are at their darkest, the character of teen genius Slade Lammerock enters the picture to introduce a wry sense of humor into the mix: "Slade let his head drop backward, grinning at his stunned audience before wrenching free and walking up the invisible wall to stand upon the ceiling. There he reproduced his six colored balls and tossed them at the ground only to watch as they fell back toward him. Unperturbed, he started juggling upside down. Murmurs spread through the crowd. Questions about whether his tricks weren’t magic after all." 

Descriptions of not just these characters but the milieu they navigate are particularly well-detailed, creating strong atmospheric backdrops that compliment the action: "Despite the Dread Lord's urgency, he progressed slowly, impeded by a morass of latent power, so thick it became a physical burden, and coughing fits provoked by the centuries of accumulated dust. Nondescript black doors looked on from either side of the ancient, mostly forgotten passageways, offering no solace and denying the world entrance. As he ventured deeper into the palace, the labyrinth grew darker and the magic denser until his skin vibrated with it. His blood flashed from chillingly cold to boiling hot ceaselessly, his clothing fluttered despite the lack of wind, and his braid writhed on his back. Even the stone had grown pliant over the years and now yielded beneath his steps." 

Tristen and Keegan Kozinski are especially adept at capturing the energy behind commanding positions, the interplay between characters that hold different objectives for power and control, and the threats of chaos which test even the most powerful warriors. 

As the great Northern wall becomes poised to fail, so are those who believe in its invulnerability and their own abilities to thwart forces beyond their ken, which include soul-destroying threats: "In their zenith, the Dragon Lords warded three evils. The first they buried in stone, lies, and veils; the second they imprisoned with silver, ice, and twelve keys; the last they broke and scattered. These represented their greatest burden. Yet these evils constantly stirred, and whether through happenstance or lust, men, children, and beasts always found them. Time and again the Dragon Lords suppressed these evils, but never before they wrought fathomless grief upon the world. The Dragon Lords were mortal, forbidden the omnipresence of gods, and thus lost perception of the evils when they appeared, excluding only the second evil, which never stirred." 

The Darkness That Slept sets the stage for more stories, crafting a firm foundation of interest with explorations of fear, hope, and a quest involving a door, a ring, and a renewed purpose in life. 

Readers who enjoy Lord of the Rings and similar epic quest adventures that embrace an emerging new land that challenges the psyches of its peoples will find The Darkness That Slept a gripping read. It's filled with action, insights, and confrontations between disparate forces in a world gone amok—a fitting read for a new generation of dark fantasy and sword and sorcery followers. 

The Darkness That Slept

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The Last Crucible of Humanity
Daniel R Scott
Clipper Implants Press
978-1734050738            $16.99 Paper/$7.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Last-Crucible-Humanity-Daniel-Scott/dp/173405073X 

The Last Crucible of Humanity is the third volume in the Humanity Transformed series, and is highly recommended reading for prior series fans because this pinnacle of action concludes the events set forth in prior books. 

Flooding has driven the Chinese over the Russian border to invade the Morizov family's land and their country, in 2068. As if this wasn't danger enough, the West's nuclear attack has devastated other parts of Russia. 

The Morizov family hatches a plan that could help survivors begin a new life—not in Russia or lands nearby, but first from Antarctica and then away from Earth. It's a plan that relies on high technology, the goodwill gained from other peoples and nations, and allies who grow in leadership skills and survival tactics alike. 

The story opens in 2068, but moves into 2073 and beyond as the technologically savvy Yasmeen and Vik face prejudice, confront class systems, and move through much-changed countries. 

The story doesn't remain rooted in China, Russia, or the Middle East. Characters and special interests embrace the world, from Couderay, Wisconsin (where a Middle West Confederation is home to enhancement clinics for the general population, performing bioengineering miracles) to Borlänge, Sweden (where the Scandinavian Commonwealth faces oligarchs, attacks, and reconstituted forces that have changed and are changing the face of Europe). 

Daniel R. Scott's story is a sweeping sci-fi epic of humanity changed by social, political, and technological struggles. Without prior familiarity with the other books, the large cast of characters, special interests, and interactions might initially stymie newcomers. 

Those who have enjoyed the evolutionary process of Scott's prior books will find a satisfyingly complex crescendo of action and crisis in a conclusion where humanity faces its final search for meaning beyond the foundations of its physical origins. 

The Russian family Morizov stands at the crossroads of humanity. Their choices reflect a transformation in social and military processes and human interaction that will truly change the world. 

Hard sci-fi readers of apocalyptic and dystopian worlds will find the intense focus on these community and political structures to be especially pleasing. Scott juxtaposes technological and social challenges, cementing all with a host of strong characters who each contribute their own vision and purpose of this revised humanity to the story's surprising outcome. 

It's highly recommended reading for sci-fi fans of post-apocalyptic epic sagas, in particular. 

The Last Crucible of Humanity

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Oh the Humanity
Daniel R Scott
Clipper Implants Press
978-1734050745            $5.50 Paper/$.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Oh-Humanity-Daniel-R-Scott/dp/1734050748 

Readers who want to begin Daniel R. Scott's Humanity Transformed series with a fitting introduction will find the prequel novella Oh the Humanity an excellent starting point, even though it's the fourth book in the series. 

It fills in details about the three main characters and smoothes out any confusion over events sparked by the Days of Trouble and the Great Dieback, surveying how humanity recovered from and was influenced by events which sent them on a course documented in the three Humanity Transformed books in this sci-fi series. 

This story follows how the genius Cameron twins featured in Scott's other books first fostered the bioengineering promise that transformed humanity, tracing the birth of Singularity and intelligent AIs that interact with key human players to change the course of the world. 

As these artificial intelligences and human purposes evolve, readers are treated to a succinct overview of the world in the 2060s that provides a closer inspection of this transformative process. 

As with the other books, a host of characters are presented, as well as changing world locales from Illinois to Australia. Young people such as Darby and Daiyu are involved in the latest cutting-edge research, and stand poised to make changes to daily life that humanity has never seen before. 

But, is society ready for such a move? 

This near-future history of survival and change should ideally be read first. It's a fitting stage-setting introduction to the series and its characters, which is especially important given the worldwide scope and the wide-ranging personalities that develop from these roots. 

It should be advised that this is no light series read. It entertains, but involves a level of complexity with a wide cast of characters, changing international settings, and political and technological conundrums that keep readers on their toes. Those who enjoy well-detailed reads will be especially delighted by the level of inspection offered in this story and its companions. 

Readers interested in post-apocalyptic singularity stories will find this sweeping series and its introductory title to be absolutely riveting. 

Oh the Humanity

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Qwyrk
Tim Rayborn
Thousand Acres Press
978-1-7362988-1-7         $14.99 Paper/$9.49 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Qwyrk-Tim-Rayborn-ebook/dp/B08T4C3CQB 

Qwyrk's blend of magical realism, urban fantasy, and wry humor will appeal to fantasy readers who look for more elements in their reading than action and adventure alone. It will prove just the ticket for fans of British satire and social inspection. 

Qwyrk opens in Jimmy Eckleson's bedroom, where the stuff of nightmares has come alive, resulting in his sleepless inspection of a room filled with threat. An avid fan of video games, Jimmy chalks up these visions to too much screen time fantasy, but as the third night unfolds much the some despite his self-limit on video watching, Jimmy faces the fact that he may be observing something both otherworldly and all too real. 

His initial reaction is to call for help. Even as he runs from his visions, the humor of a frustrated apparition comes forth: "Throwing the door open, he rushed into the safety of the hallway, yelling at the top of his lungs: “Mum! Dad! HELP!” He didn’t dare look back. If he had, he might have noticed one of the shadows turning to the others, flinging its spectral arms up in the air in… exasperation?" 

The dialogue, too, is filled with irony and fun: “Oh, nice one, Qwyrk!” snapped one of the other shadows. “Bring us all the way up here, and as soon as we arrive, we’ve got a flippin’ screamin’ kid to greet us. That’s just spot on, that is!” “Look, it’s not my fault he’s got insomnia, or dyspepsia, or Black Death, or whatever, is it? His parents’ll be back in here any second, so we need to hide, all right?” 

As Qwyrk, Blip, Star Tao, and others confront murderers, gods, and each other, it becomes evident that, despite the youth of the initial character, Qwyrk should not be a read confined to young adult audiences alone. 

It's a quest; it's a lark that romps through human and magical worlds alike; and it's a whimsical, delightful saga set in Northern England. The story is steeped in not just folklore, but the connections between a rosebush, evil magic, and Jimmy's house, which serves as a focal point for unfolding events. 

From castles and intersecting time periods to abductions via Croakbeak and knights who let a murdering psychopath get away, Qwyrk is engaging, endearing, and unpredictable in its human and magical relationships and conundrums. 

Fans of fantasy who enjoy magical realism injected into the everyday milieu of British life will relish the nature of Qwyrk, first in a projected series of stories about misfits and the sometimes-hilarious mishaps that evolve from seemingly good intentions. 

Qwyrk

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Shotgun Finish
Greg Rode
Warren Publishing
978-1-7350915-4-9         $14.95 Paper/$4.99 ebook
www.warrenpublishing.net 

Shotgun Finish reaches fantasy and horror readers alike with an engrossing post-apocalyptic world where unexpected humorous observations give the story an atmosphere like few others. 

Zombies are no laughing matter...especially to a dedicated golfer who won't forego the sport just because the world has turned into a mass of zombies, changing even the familiar atmosphere of the fairway: "The constant hum of golf carts, the clink-thwack from the driving range, and the mutter of men enjoying the outdoors is all gone." 

It's a world in which the narrator can suddenly afford the finest club, because there's nobody manning the pro shop. And he must golf with gun at ready in case of zombies. 

He's been alone for months, golfing and shooting zombies. A woman's arrival seems to portend that his isolation might end, though his caution leads him to question her arrival and bloody countenance (“ 'What are you doing out here?' she asks. 'Just playing golf, shooting zombies. You know, typical Wednesday afternoon at the office.' You slick devil, whispers my brain buddy."). 

It evolves that the zombies aren't brainless, but are actually clever, organized, and purposeful. The narrator finds himself not just stuck in pause on the course, but involved with a zombie leader, a dreadful deadline, and the possibility that only he can save the world...if he can give up the club and the fairway long enough to do so. 

Greg Rode's special blend of witty observation, unexpected twists and turns, and a post-apocalyptic world filled with irony and surprises will especially attract readers of zombie literature looking for a fresh, original take on the subject. 

Black and white illustrations pepper a story that is at once gory, engrossing, and filled with flawed heroes and threats. 

This isn't your usual zombie scenario. The narrator isn't your typical world-saving hero. And readers will find this special blend of horror and dystopian bloodbath a satisfying illustration of how satire and irony can alter even the most predictable of genres and worlds to change everything. 

Shotgun Finish presents a world not to be missed. It is a refreshingly original read especially recommended for zombie apocalypse fans who think they've seen everything. 

It should be warned that this is Book 1 of the Sanctuary Chronicles. Be prepared for more. 

Shotgun Finish

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T is for Time Travel
Stanlei Bellan
Imagilore Publishing
978-1-954109-00-1
$9.95 Paper/$19.95 Hardcover/$4.99 Kindle/$14.95 Large print
https://www.stanlei.com 

T Is for Time Travel: A Collection of Timely Short Stories offers ten sci-fi tales that revolve around time travel, but move beyond the usual scenario of time travel journeys that involve searching for the key to either change history or return home.

Stanlei Bellan eschews these staid trappings in favor of a series of surprising revelations that take the time travel notion one step beyond the usual expectation, and this is what makes this collection an outstanding presentation, in addition to its literary prowess. 

'Another Time' opens the collection with its reflection on a traveler trapped in a wall clock lying on a table, forced to jump every time the hand moves. How did Ollie become trapped inside a clock? And what is the price of freedom? 

It's a tongue-in-cheek dilemma that leads him to do more than jump through time (literally). First, he must break it. Then, he must face the Clockmaker. 

This is just one example of the many time travel surprises, dashes of humor, and fun explorations that Bellan offers. 

For a completely different example of this collection's diversity, take 'Behind the Timestream'. Here, B'litk has an unorthodox plan to reach the other side of a timestream which holds an unknown entity. His attempts to communicate with creatures he has no knowledge about is intriguing: "I am, right now, in a very precarious position in the timestream side of the rectangle, having a conversation with you, in whatever dimension you inhabit, on the other side of the rectangle. From your point of view, what is happening with me has actually already happened on your side, which is why you are seeing it already written on your side of the rectangle. Got it?” 

B'litk has broken time. It's his duty to restore it. And he needs help. 

Each story in this collection is unique unto itself, from the tale of a Djinn who grants time travel journeys to that of a spaceship ensign faced with impossible choices. Each holds a power and surprising twist even the most avid time travel enthusiast won't see coming. Each is well-done, compelling, and thoroughly absorbing. 

Time travel sci-fi readers are in for a real treat with T Is for Time Travel, a literary collection filled with delightful twists and turns. 

T is for Time Travel

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The Triskelion
Victoria Lehrer
Evolved Publishing
978-1-62253-371-8         $16.95 Paper/$4.95 Kindle
www.EvolvedPub.com 

The Triskelion represents the second book in the New Earth Chronicles and continues a journey through a post-apocalyptic world introduced in The Augur's View. 

The story opens in 2037, setting the tone for events with an 'Arrivals and Departures' chapter that takes place on an airfield where the royal Dora d’Arc is about to enter married life. 

Hopefully, the world will change. She's seen her share of controversy. But married bliss is not to be her lot as aliens conspire to inject the population with docility-inducing nanites; Caellum plots a coup and escapes from jail; and forest dweller Adair creates a sanctuary of replenishment and earth-based approaches to life that city people rarely see, as an alternative to Techno City's familiar approaches to life. 

These contrasts in lifestyles and approaches run the gamut from pagan earth mothers to aliens and high-tech. They  make The Triskelion especially intriguing as Dora and her objectives and changing environment come to life: “But Mom’s not of royal descent. She’s actually descended from countless generations of druids.” This piqued Dora’s interest. “Weren’t they pagans?” He shrugged. “They’re basically Celtic nature lovers.” The elevator reached Dora’s floor first. As the door opened, she sighed wistfully. “Nature. We city people enjoy only tame tidbits of it. I miss my little garden in Techno City.” 

Relationships are as fluid as the world and introduce complexity beyond the usual cut-and-dried love/hate scenarios, as in the mercurial connection between Dora and Caellum: "The accusation mode he had switched to and remained in since his capture bound his tongue, and his recalcitrance wrote anguish on Dora’s features. Her tone chided him. “I can’t believe you doubt me again. You think I conspired against you? Is this the knowledge I’m to be left with for the rest of my life? That you never, ever came to trust me?” 

This brings a delightful complexity to the story, in which shades of gray create ever-changing, absorbing interplays between characters, politics, social evolution, and the world's uncertain progression. 

Unlike many series titles, no prior familiarity with its predecessor is required in order for newcomers to neatly and quickly absorb the setting, characters, and themes of The Triskelion. 

Readers who enjoy series titles that operate as both strong stand-alone reads and supportive parts of the series as a whole will especially appreciate the engaging blend of sci-fi, suspense, mystery, romance, in the story of this changing society's reconnections to the earth. 

The Triskelion

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Literature

Ambuscade
Brian Ascalon Roley
Finishing Line Press
978-1646624126            $14.99
Ordering: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/ambuscade-by-brian-ascalon-roley-winner-of-the-2020-open-chapbook-comp/ 
Author website: ww.brianroley.com  

Ambuscade is a poetic journey through a father's struggles with his son's disability. The second poem adopts a "how could you let this happen?" lament that defines the nature of the book's title, emerging from a 1901 setting in the jungles of Luzon during the violent American occupation of the Philippines to depict the feeling of being hunted and attacked in an unfamiliar intersection between dreams and reality. 

As Brian Ascalon Roley moves from the initial diagnosis of his son's disease to adjusting his role to become parent and caregiver, Philippine horror mythology is injected into the lives of a California family to create a series of poems firmly rooted in past, present, and Asian and Western cultures and mythos. 

Don't expect this collection to be replete in sadness alone. There is rage and anger, there are transformative moments, and there are words and visions steeped in Filipino legends and realities: "Even in Santa Monica/my lola would tell my sister and I/to watch out for the aswang/and we would say “But/we are in California”/to which she replied “That does not/matter. They follow the Filipina wherever she/may live in great numbers." 

The aswang and boyhood memories brought about in nightmares and dreams contrast with his much-changed world and a future he'd never imagined. The poems reflect his interactions with the medical community, well-meaning platitudes, the helpful (and sometimes unhelpful) efforts of others as they enter and leave this family's life and struggles, and a father's ability to come to terms with his present and future: "They say there is no point in asking why/god decays the bodies/he gave us, a waste of time to try/we need to get on with it./We are not to decide for them, or try to change/them, as if they need fixing." 

Caregivers will find familiar these chronicles of love and pain, the struggle of reconciling daily care with life's challenges, and the efforts to understand cause and effect (which, in the case of disability, may be impossible to discern): "You didn’t do anything wrong, he said./We must have done something, she said,/something I ate, or maybe I shouldn’t have worked/so late/or stressed out so much/I knew I shouldn’t have taken a flu shot/(she looked into the mirror: mouthed: you bitch)." 

Filled with literary excellence, cultural and social reflection, philosophical inspection, and many ghosts, Ambuscade is a powerful poetic journey through one man's heart. Perhaps the words in one poem best capture the feel of this entire collection: "...she says every word counts more in poetry/he says, every word burns." 

Ambuscade

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Anything That Happens
Cheryl Wilder
Press 53
978-1-950413-33-1         $17.95
Ordering: www.press53.com/cheryl-wilder
Author website: www.bornwilder.com

Anything That Happens is a memoir in verse about a life changed forever by one bad decision made at the age of 20: to drink and drive. The accident that came from this action left her friend in a coma, landed author Cheryl Wilder in jail, and redirected her onto a path where she would become a wife, mother, and eventually, a caregiver. 

Readers who embark on this poetic re-examination of her life trajectory begin their journey with Cheryl at 20 years of age: "Until I was twenty, I believed anything/wouldn’t happen to me." 

As readers move through the experience of jail and beyond, the poems provide both a sense of changing atmosphere and an inspection of concurrent changing purpose and perspective: "I don’t know how I brought a child/into the world when I can’t reconcile/if crashing a car and a friend’s skull/is karmic debt created/or payment for a past immoral act./I open doors and say thank you and do not try/to behave in a way I cannot afford." 

Even when she makes mistakes, Wilder moves through them with a revised sense of life: "Years later, I got pregnant by a man/who gloried in reminding me/that I could never be loved./Neither of us knew/our baby would carry my heart/in his tiny clenched fist, learning/to open and close his fingers/to the beat of my blood." 

Readers interested in literary, personal stories of transformation and change will find the beat of these poems in their hearts provides inspection not into just one life changed by a bad choice and its lasting consequences, but newfound connections to home, family, and a revised purpose in life. 

It's a potent collection that invites readers to walk in Cheryl's shoes. And, it provides traction for assessing and moving beyond these poignant and powerful moments of quiet desperation. 

Anything That Happens

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The Butterfly Bruises
Palmer Smith
Press Dionysus LTD
978-1-913961-42-8
https://pressdionysus.com/shop/ 

What does life now mean during challenging modern times? Palmer Smith provides 80 poem and prose pieces that consider the transformation of modern man in The Butterfly Bruises, a compilation of works that blend original new pieces with those which have seen prior publication. 

The piece 'Migraines, Please' opens the collection with an acknowledgment that "There were such good times and there will be more. I know." Although this short reflection is not entirely about Covid, the alienation and contrast between what was and what is provides a moving introduction to the poetry pieces that follow. 

These are general meditations on states of mind and connections between humans and nature, travel and experience. Palmer Smith does a fine job of structuring free verse and prose in a manner designed to capture the literary and non-poetry reader alike, crafting compelling images of journeys of transformation and interpersonal experience. One example is the poem 'Asheville', a travelogue of love, alienation, and departure: "I’ll pick up the stones that resemble/your sour lonesome lime eyes./Digging is the action of how you love me." 

Each piece captures a sense of place and interpersonal connection and disconnection. Sections are introduced by contemplations such as 'Shedding', which introduces the pieces on 'Pain and Relief' with a powerful eye on the snakeskin-shedding pain and promise of transformation: "After each session you ponder if your doctor sheds her skin and turns into another person or perhaps the snake she is, likely a rattle with fake eyelashes. what if Confucius were your therapist instead?" 

What does it mean to be alive under such circumstances and conditions? 

The Butterfly Bruises sleepwalks through a world replete with pain, change, and opportunities for transformation. 

Its reflections are at once disturbing, thought-provoking, and powerfully important interplays between dreams and the realities driving them. 

Literary readers seeking writings replete with wake-up calls for change will find The Butterfly Bruises to be reflective, visionary, and hard to put down. 

The Butterfly Bruises

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Ékleipsis
Tamel Wino
Independently Published
9781777408824             $0.99
Amazon Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LR1PCJH
Website: https://ekleipsis.ca/ 

Ékleipsis provides short horror stories of inhumanity and transformation, and is a recommended choice for literary, sci-fi, and horror audiences alike. 

These suspense pieces are steeped in psychological darkness, and are especially recommended for readers who like a Hitchcock-style element of horror injected into the lives of everyday characters. 

Take 'The Other Son', the opening story, for example. First-person narrator Dougie has been doing the same job for nearly thirty years. He's fifty, on this day, working for a noxious boss in a nondescript job where he has a set routine and no different prospects for the future.  

His gift to himself is Charlie. Who is Charlie? 'Shiny and new', Charlie is "A radiant flower rising from the dirt, a new life for me to care for." Charlie represents Dougie's ability to remain a giving person, but as the story unfolds, an unexpected darkness joins good intensions, causing them to go awry. 

Another example is 'The Has-Been' which explores the intersection and encounters between Ben Taylor, who is set to inherit an endowment, and those who challenge him to think about the roots of altruism, selflessness, and greed. 

As his protégée comes up for recognition, Ben finds himself torn in different directions between different people in his life; including his father, who barely acknowledges Ben as his son. 

Each story examines a dark facet of life's challenges and social issues ranging from alcoholism to PTSD and family relationships. Each demands from its reader a level of contemplation and inspection of the dark elements of the psyche, and each delves into the minds (and, more importantly, the motivations) of characters who choose their particular careers and lifestyles. 

The result won't be for the reader seeking action-packed high drama, but for the literary-minded horror fan who finds value in psychologically astute suspense approaches. 

This audience will relish the slow buildups of tension that permeate each story in Ékleipsis, and will welcome its ability to traverse the boundaries of bizarre reflection and daily life. 

Ékleipsis

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Glass Souvenir
Michael Tuberdyke
Shoplifters Publishing
978-0-578-76290-6         $10.00
www.shoplifters.store 

The short stories in Glass Souvenir center on an unusual focal point: a vacant store front in a changing town, where everyone who comes in contact with the place is changed or leaves their imprint on its future. 

There is a wistful certainty about the meaning and future of these disparate lives which are joined by a sense of place more than a sense of purpose. As the characters' psyches weave into the fate of the shop, their fates coalesce to bring life to empty spaces both physical and psychological. 

Take 'The Jacket', the opening piece in this collection. A mother forced to take her child along on a date with Frank, her latest love interest, when the babysitter cancels turns into a struggle over a jacket from the past which brings with it memories of a vanished father and what has been outgrown, discarded, or perhaps never fit in the first place. 

Each chapter opens with a reference to the shop and its history ("The old man left the keys along with the deed to the tenant next door. This tenant once acted as the old man’s protégé for he assisted in the daily operations of the deceased’s woodshop."). Each circumstance weaves into the story that follows, both setting the scene and creating an unusual juxtaposition of worlds that, at times, feels at once surreal and yet achingly familiar. 

'The Party' portrays Robert Morgan, an attendee who works the room but "has nothing to say to anyone." It's a familiar scenario that questions what such a loner is doing at a social event as he probes his one interaction for clues about its failure: "Drowning in a pool of reflection he carefully went over the night’s only human interaction. He felt he said the wrong thing. That was probably it. He just could not figure out the correct way to act and said the wrong thing to a friend who did all the right things." 

Dejection and isolation lead to anger and the one choice he had avoided making: a scene. 

Each story seems to head towards a particular goal, than changes with a satisfying twist, at the end. Each is a snapshot of life in which characters examine their psyches and choices, taking actions that at times seem out of character but, upon contemplation, are actually logical outcomes to their circumstances. 

From a fifty-seven-year-old boxer who "believed he could distinguish the difference between the ones who were for him, from the ones who were against him," who finds his life a study in indifference with no ultimate meaning, to a diner conversation that connects loners who live their lives "Heaving away when the world is getting ready to fall asleep and sleeping when the rest of the world is going," Glass Souvenir offers studies of lives of quiet desperation, thwarted and realized purposes, and the gentrification of the soul. 

Literary readers seeking vignettes that offer slice-of-life inspections of aging and change will find no striking transformations here—just a quiet interweaving of youth and old age which joins together worlds, changing rhythms, and emptying storefronts of the mind. 

It's an evocative read that will leave readers thinking. 

Glass Souvenir

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Graffiti on the Window
Alexej Savreux
Illogical Conceits Publishing & Multimedia 
978-1521985021            $15.95
Website: www.alexejsavreux.com 
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Graffiti-Window-Alexej-Savreux/dp/1521985022
Barnes & Noble: Barnes and Noble - Graffiti on the Window NOOK 

Graffiti on the Window begins with a cautionary note by the author: "This book is a mutt. It's a whacked out amalgamation of weird, scary and beautiful things." Perhaps this is because of Alexej Savreux's schizophrenia and the fact that this book was largely written in segments, with one section produced after a manic episode. This approach embraces streetwise, artistic, passionate sentiments with a candid fervor over the emotional pursuit of art and science. 

The places where these objectives intersect with life forms the foundations of a poetry collection that is anything but your staid collection of iambic pentameter verse. 

As self-described, Alexej Savreux is a "tormented kid with a vision," and this comes to life in an artistic foray into desperation that turns observational niceties on their sides. 

He uses many literary devices unexpected for the poetic form. Take 'Sophocles's Unfound Friend Tragedy About Scarlet Haired Darcy', for example. Here is a play/poem presented in ancient lingo, but with an emotionally charged literary angle that is unexpected, compelling, and autobiographical as it describes interplays between police, psychologist, parent, and kid. 

The story opens in a therapist's office, with a chorus laying the foundation for this tragedy: "The Kid had spent his days in mournful solititudes./He had been rejected by the Worlds and the Peoples/and the Tribes/His CBT therapist consoled him,/his woman had left him./His life in shambles. His head,/a head case for all psychologists./He had remembered meeting a girl named Darcy,/a sensitive chick./She was the only one who had said "goodbye"/upon the afternoons of his lost days, and last days." 

As the point of view of this enlightening play poem shifts between points of view of the chorus, the Kid, the CBT Therapist, and others, the classic structure of the tragedy form intersects with the modern dilemma being presented: "Yea, Kid, my sovereign patient and consumer,/Thou seest how both extremes of despair enthrall/Your cerebral altars--falling hardly winged,/And stocking hat bowed with 24 years,/case managers, as am I/Of clinical training, and thus the flower of all advice." 

As Savreux deftly employs literary avenues to capture the "beautiful suffering" of his life, the bittersweet possibilities of Death, and "the confines of rhapsodic mathematics, and the wrapping sands of rustling time," it's evident that this work of art is no light psychological exploration. Instead, it's a venture into the meaning and experience of life that delves into Savreux's desires to both explain and represent its flavors. 

Much like graffiti on the window, these pieces tantalize, are thought-provoking, and colorfully depict the irony, pathos, and logic and illogic of 'feasting and foraging" through life's "unending supper." 

A background in ancient, classical poetry and literary devices will lend special appreciation to how deftly and creatively Savreux employs both in a modern interpretation and representation of an art too often set aside for the winding, disjointed effects of free verse structures. 

Modern literature and ancient poetry classes and students, in particular, will find Graffiti on the Window a wonderfully intriguing, evocative presentation that both redefines and breaks poetic and drama rules. 

Graffiti on the Window

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The Grave I Call My Garden
Victoria Cosmo
Barnes and Noble Press
9781666236323             $20.00
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-grave-i-call-my-garden-victoria-cosmo/1138722076 

The Grave I Call My Garden blends autobiography with literature, using poetry to trace the memories and changing aspects of Victoria Cosmo's personal life. It will appeal to readers of literature and autobiography who appreciate the intersection of these devices and the opportunity it brings to expand the boundaries of both. 

Time moves differently for writer Cosmo and her readers, in this collection. The poems are presented in a chronological order that begins with a section on childhood captioned 'The Waves of Oceans and Withdrawls', starting with 'The Oceans'. Here, readers receive the ebb and flow of the young mind's observation of the world and changing waves of "Earth calling my young body back to rest," reflecting on how "Florida rebuilds/Here on this swamp/We make things new from rot." It describes a place where "Preparation looks a lot like skepticism." 

From ocean waves to swamp to tub, the sensations of water, childhood, and the experience of learning to swim in the deep end of life intersect with the Florida experience to provide not just a sense of evolving self, but place. 

Each time Cosmo touches the world, it gives way and springs back with descriptive words that draw connections between past, present, and future, and the evolution of worldviews: "Children don’t expect anything more than bare minimum/That maybe extraordinary could bring about more of you/Like love is merely a late shipment." 

By now, it should be apparent that this book is rich in experiential descriptions and close connections between encounters with life and the inner interpretation that forms personality, hopes, fears, and values. 

As the narrator ages, so do her lessons and reflections, which move from wonder to feeling stuck to moving into adjusting expectations of what it means to fully live: "I think the best advice I could ever pass on would be/Never hold onto a single afternoon/That it will not make up for the rest of it.../That you can't go your whole life expecting magic can make the same thing twice." 

Punctuation (commas, periods, and the like) might have added an emphasis to these free verse pieces that would have further solidified their intentions. But by keeping the sentence structures fluid, Cosmo allows for a freer-ranging interpretative poetic license on the reader's part. 

As the progression moves from cradle to grave, the vast world opens like a flower, using Cosmo's perspective to chart the ebb and flow of growth in different directions, from grief and parting to love and hope. 

More so than most poetry collections, this moves from each flowering impression, passion, emotion, and lesson to another, building a progressive stage of events that brings readers not just into her life, but into her world. 

Poetry readers looking for strong autobiographical development in a free verse presentation will find The Grave I Call My Garden aesthetically compelling, with each poem interpreting life's delights, challenges, and growth opportunities in a thought-provoking manner. 

The Grave I Call My Garden

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Not Your Happy Dance
Ryan Scariano
Finishing Line Press
978-1-64662-436-2         $14.99
Publisher:https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/not-your-happy-dance-by-ryan-scariano/
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Your-Happy-Dance-Ryan-Scariano/dp/164662436X 

Not Your Happy Dance offers uplifting prose poems and poetry designed to celebrate the small things in life, whether they be pickling in the kitchen; connections to nature observed through the rituals and interactions of man, beast, and insect; or the emergence of sugar ants "after every time you leave/never suspecting your blazing return." 

These are celebrations of life, adversity, and everything in between that use nature-bound imagery and associations to illustrate love, life's connections, and the hope and positivity that lie within the undercurrent of angst: "She turned on the light in her heart, then sent me back/into the dark. I drove in circles, corkscrewing into winter." 

Love, in many of these cases, assumes a powerful daily presence, promising changing opportunities and experiences. These are reflected in such delicate, whimsical and thought-provoking pieces as 'Vernal', in which the observer's choice of praise influences the directions a transformative experience might take. 

There are many unexpected delights, here, as in an ode 'To Vinegar at Summer's End' and 'Still the Wave', which reflect passages of "black time" and a special appreciation of the here and now which rests firmly in descriptions of the moments, breath, and incarnation of people, places, and events. 

Ryan Scariano's words capture shards of experience that are bright, sharp, and dark. These poems reflect an ethereal world's smallest inhabitants and seconds, bringing them, full-bodied, into wider-ranging life experiences and issues. 

The result is a powerful gathering of words which, like the dust in lazy sunrays in the heat of summer, are suspended in the mind for an instant, as flavorful and lingering as a fine wine. 

Not Your Happy Dance

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Presence, The Play
William Jefferson
Port Estillyen Productions, Inc.
978-1-7364967-0-1         $17.95 Paper; $.99 Kindle
www.estillyen.com 

"To sleep, perchance to dream." Only, in Presence, The Play, the dream stems not from ordinary sleep but a coma, and consists of a mission through hell and beyond that changes a writer on the cusp of success. 

Monk and playwright Brother Script lives on the island of Estillyen and has finally, after six years, produced a play, Presence, whose production has packed the local Theatre Portesque. Plot thinks this an exciting local development for his friend, and both are looking forward to opening night—until Script falls from the balcony and enters into a coma. The event supersedes opening night as the main attraction: "Plot looked at the cast standing there and thought, At this point, the only script at play is Script, oblivious of the scene around him." 

This novel enters his comatose state and plays out largely in that world in which Script now resides, leaving his real-world friends behind. Or, is it the real world? 

The first thing to note is that all the characters have literary names. Writer, Epic, and Story are part of Script's monastery. His best friend Plot "knows he's somewhere" and that "God's presence is with him." 

The literary allusions and satire begin in The Path, where Script has journeyed to a different level of being. Philosophical, allegorical, and literary references (footnoted) pepper his journey, creating a lively interplay and exploration. Think Dante's Divine Comedy blended with Tolkein's Middle Earth: “Gotta go now,” the figure said. “Go? No,” Script said, “you can’t! Miserere: ‘Save me, whatever—shadow or truly man—you be.’ I need help, please! I’m a playwright.” “So, Miserere: ‘Save me, whatever,’—is that line from a work of yours?” asked the tall man. “No, no, not mine,” said Script. “But, as a playwright, I know many lines from poets and plays. I know them, they know me, they speak to me, and therefore I speak of them. What I mean is that they are a part of me.” “I see you’re honest,” said the man. “I, too, know that line.” “Okay, you see, I’ve become lost somehow,” said Script. “I don’t know where I’m at or where I’m going." 

At this point, it's clear that Presence, The Play has a lot more going on than a simple fantasy or novel adventure. Literature readers who enjoy philosophical and spiritual reflection added into the mix will find it a revealing, fantastic tale of mortality, otherworldly composition, a mission filled with twists and turns, adding more than a dash of wry humor: “We need to move the mission along without killing off the one we’ve been sent to aid. Time is of the essence. What do you think? Should we send him back tonight, or wait till the morning? I know Melchizedek will turn up to show Script the Seven Valleys of Sin.” “In that case,” said Simon, “I think it should be bouillabaisse tonight, and off to hell in the morning." 

It's the literary and philosophical reader who will best appreciate all the delightful plays on words, literary allusions, and tongue-in-cheek references which permeate Script's delightful new world. 

The blends of comedy and observation are astute and nicely done: "A fine morning mist drifted across the Meadow of Gates and Doors, adding a mysterious quality to the tranquil scene. No chatter, no screams, no ripping of scripts and pages, as Script slept soundly in Writer’s Cottage, not knowing he had arrived...What Melchizedek, Mock, and Script encountered in hell, words could not convey, no matter how adroitly they might be assigned and assembled on the page. Yet without words, Script would not have had “The Raven” to recite on the ridge across from the Reservoirs of Bewilderment." 

"To sleep, perchance to dream." Script's nightmares and dreams power a journey that leads to new revelations about life's meaning, the Devil, and his place in both worlds, which leads him to new forms of struggle and literary expression: “Satan extolled the promise of platform building and the efficacy of technopoly. He said, ‘This is the new discarnate age, our kind of age. Today the Race reels in confusion, and delusion. They know not what to believe.’ “Then he said something about the Race being like vipers; I didn’t get that. But I do recall him pontificating about a new narrative, the dominant narrative called Bewilderment." 

Script is on a journey. All he needs to do is stay on the path. But, is this possible? 

William Jefferson's story is delightful, whimsical, thought-provoking, and philosophically and spiritually enlightening. Its romp through literary allusion comes with footnoted references that will delight readers with not only the foundation for their origins, but an assurance that no reference will be missed or misinterpreted. 

Eventually, Script's journey comes full circle. 

The theater is packed. There's not an empty seat in the house. They should all be filled by readers of a story designed to change the relationship between observer and adventure narrator, immersing both in a divine comedy that pushes against the forces of darkness that would engulf lives on the island of Estillyen and the everyday world alike. 

Presence, The Play

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Tempest in a Teacup
D.R. Bell
Independently Published
ASIN: 
B08WF79YWJ      $3.99
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08WF79YWJ 

Tempest in a Teacup: My Homage to Milan Kundera and Leonard Cohen pays tribute to author Milan Kundera and musician Leonard Cohen, crafting a series of character vignettes and weaving in a romance theme to produce philosophical and psychological reflections on life. 

It's a literary work that belongs in any collection serious about exploring the foundations of how characters are built and contrasted. D.R. Bell uses six disparate individuals as metaphorical examples of differing approaches to life. 

Each holds different ways of perceiving and understanding the world and its choices, and each has a different experience with dating, romance, and life goals: "The woman was attractive, intelligent, good in bed. He was sad to lose her. By then, he was drained by too much dating: worrying about performance, dealing with the expectations afterwards. He no longer had a coherent view of how to live and ached for some simplicity. Morris rebelled against his previous life of duty, only to become a slave to this new life of excess; he was ready to rebel against the rebellion." 

Readers of Tempest in a Teacup (especially those already familiar with Milan Kundera's approach to writing and literature and Cohen's substantial musical contributions) will find these vignettes absorbing as they traverse ordinary lives and the mechanics of navigating them to embrace different dreams, values, and approaches to interpersonal relationships: “It’s your dream.” Veda laughed. “You saw in it what you wanted to see.” 

While the changing viewpoints and lives do take some time to absorb, the manner in which they entwine and are both similar and different is intriguing and creatively portrayed. 

Literature students interested in the mercurial foundations of philosophical and psychological influences on choice and consequence will find these to be stimulating studies of character which don't always come across as three-dimensional figures, but which do successfully represent the ebb, flow, and convergences of life. 

The disparate explorations of how love and life purpose evolve are well done. They will prove especially appealing and enlightening for students considering how characters are created and evolve by coming together, drifting apart, and growing. 

Tempest in a Teacup

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The Topography of Hidden Stories
Julia MacDonnell
Fomite
978-1-953236-06-7         $14.95 Paper/$4.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Topography-Hidden-Stories-Julia-MacDonnell/dp/1953236065 

A number of the stories in this collection have been published elsewhere—but that doesn't mean that even those with prior familiarity with Julia MacDonnell's literary prowess should anticipate nothing but a repeat performance here. 

Although the stories here have been published elsewhere, sometimes with slightly different titles or forms, The Topography of Hidden Stories holds many hidden gems for prior fans; not the least of which is the opportunity to have all the works under one cover. This lends a uniformity and theme to the various characters who each struggle and search for emotional connections in their lives. 

When placed side by side, these stories move beyond individual creations to represent a collaborative impact that is far greater than their original, singular presentations. 

Take the introductory piece 'River of Grace', for example. Under the guise of an unexpected road trip, a mother and child leave in the middle of the night. The mother hadn't intended on bringing her daughter, who stumbled upon her secret exit in the darkness. But the journey embraces them both, even as the child observes: "My mother did not like me with wind in my sails. Now, by accident, I’d taken the wind out of hers, and right away I knew that I did not like her without it. Ma wasn’t Ma without wind in her sails. We looked at one another in the dark, the space between us deeper than a river, but neither of us sailing." 

As the child reviews her experiences with her mother, cousins, and her short life, the story keeps winding between past and present: "I was trapped now in the Pontiac, speeding forward, moving, moving, moving and it didn’t matter one bit how scared I was. It was going to keep on going, my mother with her foot on the pedal, her hands around the steering wheel, her eyes on the black snake of road ahead." 

Bound for the River of Grace locale that her mother covets, her reflections of her short life come full circle with new beginnings and endings, as well. 

Contrast this with 'Witness' (which actually is a theme that pops up in numerous places and ways throughout the stories in this collection). Here, a New York mother's preparations for Thanksgiving with her baby leads to quite a different scenario as she becomes an unwitting witness to a shooting. Other 'watchers' from windows safer distances away also bear witness in a way that they (but not she) can deny. 

In a flash, the mother understands her danger: "The shooter stood in plain sight, a few steps beyond my arm’s reach, not yet knowing we were there. He was about to turn around; he would have to turn toward us. I knew this as I stood there. Knew exactly what the shooter would do next. He’d turn around and see us. He’d realize we were there, that we’d borne witness. A queer aura, shimmering but transparent, surrounded him, and I watched him transfixed, as though all of us had fallen out of time." 

The only route that can possibly save her and her daughter is a determined pretending that she did not witness anything at all—against all moral and ethical feelings. 

The flashbulb 'aha' moment and decision reverberates as her friends try to console her and she goes to the police, only to realize that she's the only one willing to stand and bear witness to what she saw. 

The fear and scars that she carries from this inadvertent and unexpected connection to strangers and their actions and demise create in her a newfound knowledge about the fleeting threats of the world around her: "Somebody got away with murder. Some people’s lives don’t matter. Evil exists. In the aftermath of the killing, those thoughts made their way through my life, my heart and mind, leaving an unhealed contusion." 

And yet, at the end of innocence, there is her daughter to think of. And life goes on. 

Dissimilar, evocative, and compelling, these snapshots freeze pivotal moments in time. They will captivate readers looking for literary examples of women trapped by circumstance and fate, their choices, their commitments to family, and their illusions and realities about the world and their place in it. 

Readers seeking stories of growth and change and women's evolving lives will find The Topography of Hidden Stories hard-hitting and thought-provokingly unexpected in its diversity and impact. 

The Topography of Hidden Stories

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A Twilight Reel: Stories
Michael Amos Cody
Pisgah Press, LLC
978-1-942-01-666-3              
www.pisgahpress.com 

A Twilight Reel: Stories provides a collection of literary works that take place in the small North Carolina town of Runion. These capture the surreal intersection of night and day and periods of time and life in which the characters experience sea changes both in their Appalachian mountain seasons and in themselves. 

While the community portrayed is imaginary, it's not too big a leap of faith to presume that one knows or has known some of the character types that inhabit its environs. These stories are diverse not only in their character dilemmas, but in their sense of time, place, and shifting relationships. 

For example, 'The Loves of Misty Sprinkle' presents the dilemma faced by a hairdresser and mother of two who faces February's seasonal vengeance and the reappearance of a man who "kept charging into and retreating from their lives." Is Jimmy back for romance, or something more? And what kind of a love brings beer, over chocolates, for Valentine's Day? 

Jimmy's return brings to mind other lovers she's had, other opportunities and options that went awry, and leads her, at her preacher's suggestion in his oration at church that week, to rethink love, loss, and what makes her life feel rich. 

Quite different is the equally quiet dilemma in 'A Poster of Marilyn Monroe', in which Troy Pate has arranged to go to Greenville, where nobody has a chance of knowing him, to get a coveted Marilyn Monroe poster. 

Unfortunately, Marilyn manages to make her escape on the ride home, leaving him once again home alone with his obsession, old fantasies, and unrealized ambitions. 

As the old man finds his heart's desire mirrored in an unexpected place and legacy, readers receive a fine story of love, family, and change. 

These literary works each hold a punch, are firmly rooted in the sights, smells, and sounds of Runion life. They explore a wide range of characters' diverse lives and pivot points that lead them to validate, re-examine, or achieve long-held goals and perceptions about what enriches them. 

Its survey of twilight times operates on more than one level and will engross and delight literature readers seeking small-town backdrops and stories of quiet desperation and change. 

A Twilight Reel: Stories

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Writ in Water: A Novel of John Keats
James Sulzer
Fuze Publishing
978-1-7330344-2-5         $17.99 print/$5.99 ebook
www.fuzepublishing.com

Fans of poet John Keats who like literary fiction works will relish Writ in Water: A Novel of John Keats. Keats died at just 25 years old, but here, his soul lives on as he communicates with spirits, observes the world and his place in it, and considers the impact of his writing. 

The story opens from the perspective of a simple bird who observes the "wingless creatures" known as humans and, in particular, the woebegone figure of poet Keats, who "is in peril." Somehow, the bird knows that his mission is to stay close to this suffering young poet who, after listening to his special song, "began to fill up some white squares with long trails of those things they call words." 

As the bird's spirit blends with the poet's reflection on his unrealized life goals, a poetic series of descriptions and fictional and biographic insights emerges, using literary devices to bind together the spirit of Keats and the worlds he encounters. His angst is nicely captured: "Nothing ever becomes real till it is experienced. All my life and death remain a mystery but for one certainty. In every dream that I cherished, I failed." 

So are his encounters with the bird spirit, and the opportunity to review the world from a different perspective: "The little spirit flutters out of my hands and hovers at a distance from me. We are almost as close to the earth now as we were at our first meeting—I can espy the grey procession of the Spanish Steps and the distant dark hollow of the Colosseum—and we resume our slow, upward drift while, below us, my life continues to unfold in excruciating detail." 

Literary readers with prior affection for and familiarity with Keats, his works, and his life will especially appreciate the allusions and connections James Sulzer cultivates in this fictional fantasy review. 

From the promise of his love for Fanny Brawne and his secret engagement to an illness which takes a turn for the worse, dashing his dreams and future, the life of Keats assumes the form of a quiet three-dimensional drama that gives a compellingly realistic feel to his world and art. 

Readers who enjoy literary works with a spiritual overlay that rests as firmly on biographical representation as fictional magical realism will find Writ in Water: A Novel of John Keats a thought-provoking celebration of Keats' world. It liberally paraphrases from and quotes his works, including his letters, throughout; and is strongly backed by Sulzer's extensive research into the critical biographical literature surrounding Keats. 

Writ in Water: A Novel of John Keats

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Biography & Autobiography


Both Sides of the Glass Ceiling
Stephanie Battaglino
L'Oste Vineyard Press
978-1-7353896-2-2         $16.99 Paper/$7.99 Kindle
www.lostevineyardpress.com 

Both Sides of the Glass Ceiling: Finding My True Self in Corporate America is a businesswoman's memoir about how she transitioned while working as a senior executive at New York Life. Her experience provides a unique perspective on the glass ceiling in business from the viewpoint of a male who became female and unexpectedly confronted the disparity in not just income, but respect between the genders. 

Many books are now on the market covering the social impact of transitioning. However, more so than most, Stephanie Battaglino's candid discussion of the business world is striking from the start, and will open many eyes to the issues: "I have lived a life on both sides of the glass ceiling. On one side, I came into the world identified by an anatomy that said to society I was male, even though inside I knew I was really female. On the other side of the glass, I lived with the privilege afforded to most white males, and did not understand what that privilege really meant until I lost it. When I stepped into my office as Stephanie, a trans woman and a person that most of my colleagues saw as female, I suddenly found myself looking at the glass ceiling from a very uncomfortable perspective—with my nose firmly pressed up against it, thinking, “How far I have fallen!” But that’s not even the half of it. What happened at that moment was just the first of many challenges I faced in finding my true self in corporate America." 

Stephanie's candid honesty in charting these revelations is part of what sets this memoir apart from others, creating a solid inspection of status quo, class, and gender issues that traces experiences from both sides of the table she sat at. 

Readers uncomfortable with issues of gender equality and underlying attitudes and prejudices might find Both Sides of the Glass Ceiling a difficult read because it forces the viewer to confront these in their own approaches to life and business. Battaglino's focus on creating human connections that lead to understanding over confrontation, her contrast between the trans and non-binary community and the traditional business world, and her stance on cultivating honesty and a complete life pulls no punches; yet delivers its hard-hitting message with a gentle insistence on understanding. 

Her words are passionate, clear, and inviting even as they acknowledge the inherent privilege of being white: "...in the grand scheme of things, I have it easy—really I do. To many who see me, I’m just another white woman of privilege, and with that comes a free pass, a “Get Out of Jail Free” card of sorts that society allows me to carry with me every day. The daily reality for many of my trans brothers and sisters, especially those of color, is nothing at all like mine. But I have a responsibility to raise up into your consciousness a different daily reality. The one that the vast majority of trans  people live with; the one that involves pain, hardship, and for some, violence." 

Between her divorce, handling her son, and her business pursuits, Battaglino's memoir embraces the building blocks of constructing a completely different life. 

Few memoirs embrace the mission of fostering ideals of transgender workplace inclusion. Few juxtapose the personal and business impact of these actions in such a candid, revealing manner. 

This book's discussions of power, attitude, prejudice, and redemption makes for a powerful read highly recommended not just for trans people navigating a new glass ceiling in the workplace, but for business and workplace readers seeking a better understanding of what inclusion really means. 

Its hard-hitting discussions will leave everyone thinking long after the story is finished. 

Both Sides of the Glass Ceiling

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Braving the World
Pam Saylor
Independently Published
978-1-7360731-0-0         $15.99 Paper/$4.99 ebook
Ordering: Braving the World: Adventures in Travel and Retirement  

Braving the World: Adventures in Travel and Retirement offers a familiar dream to adventure-oriented retirees that perhaps now belongs to a bygone world: traveling the world slowly, living amongst the locals long enough to experience changing seasons and the full flavors of each locale visited. 

This is quite a different kind of travel than those conducted during one's work years, when schedules and due dates dictate the destinations viewed and the allotted time spent in them, often precluding any depth of experience. 

2017 began this retirement dream for Pam Saylor and her husband with a one-way ticket to Italy and a plan to spend quality time in Europe after an early retirement. 

But life holds surprises; not the least of which is the fact of the opportunity to sit back and reflect. Travel is not all about relaxation and contemplation. It brings with it challenges, obstacles, revised plans and worldviews, and the need for flexibility and cooperative thinking that can add to the problems if a couple traveling together are not in sync with many things. 

And so Braving the World represents an inner journey of growth as much as a travelogue of places visited and discoveries made in the world at large. It considers the nuts and bolts of how Saylor and Dave made decisions, budgeted for the trip, and acknowledged the possibilities, limitations, and demands of their planned travel: "Dave and I lived like most working couples—alongside each other, but busy in our separate ways. Of course, we were together evenings and weekends, but we spent our work-days with co-workers. At home, there was room to spread out and we each had our own way of doing things. We had our separate routines, schedules, and hobbies. Spending every day, all day crammed on top of each other in a small studio apartment did not sound appealing. Even though we could have saved money with a studio apartment, it wasn’t going to happen." 

Saylor not only charts their journeys, but advises armchair and destination-oriented travelers on the best ways to make the most of whatever time they have allotted for their trip: "Just seeing the everyday sights in the city of London would be a month’s long job, and what do you do if you, like most people, don’t have months? I’ve listed dozens of things to do, and I’m sure there were many more I missed, wonderful places I walked right by and didn’t notice. What to do with only a week in London? I say, go with the things you love and care about, your passions, and skip the rest." 

From dealing with diabetes and insulin laws in different countries while on the road to navigating puzzling foreign systems and falling in love with places that might never be visited again, Saylor brings readers into a 'you are there' journey of a lifetime: "How can I hang onto this trip? If only I could somehow dig my fingers into time itself and hold it still. I wish I could snap my fingers and be standing in Greenwich Market eating oysters, or click my heels and be in Rome walking on Palatine Hill and looking down at the Colosseum. Finally, the tears came, and I rubbed them away—feeling angry, lost, sad, tired. It was ending. We had lived our crazy dream—from country to country, city to city, to Europe and Africa and back again. There wasn’t one thing I would change. When will we ever come back?" 

They returned different people, earmarking 2020 for a return to France. Then everything changed. While it would be enlightening to have an addendum about the post-Covid world of non-travel, this is a story still in the making. Revel, instead, in this adventure through bygone times in advancing years. If you can't hit the road yourself, Braving the World is the next best thing, and offers a vivid blend of travel advice and adventure that teaches much about how to live differently. 

Braving the World

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Dangle Him Purposely
T.B. O'Neill
Independently Published
978-1-500-33413-0        
http://tboneill.com/books/ 

Dangle Him Purposely continues the story of author Tim O'Neill's family and his coming of the age in the 1960s, a time when things change for the better, but bring new challenges. Ideally, readers will have already absorbed this story's prequel, Timmy, which will make these changes and insights even more notable and important. 

Events swirl around a boy who comes of age in a turbulent era—ironically, one in which his family is finally settling down. His alcoholic father has gained sobriety, his mother and stepfather have found work, and he's finally growing up in small-town America in the manner so many of his peers in more stable family settings have enjoyed. 

His new home holds all the ingredients for a fresh beginning, but different challenges emerge from the social whirl of confusion around him. Thus, life assumes the feeling of a vortex of misinformation, danger, violence, introducing a war which consumes the hearts and minds of Timmy and everyone around him. 

The child is not a child anymore, as this book says in the beginning—but neither is he yet a man. The pathos of his growth process is captured in accounts that excel in recreating these haunting moments of uncertainty in a young man's life: "Mary and a group of friends were coming Tim’s way down the outside junior high corridor, their shoulders bumping as they all laughed at some secret joke. Tim turned the collar up on his jacket, leaned against the iron support post, crossed his ankles, and dipped a shoulder in a casual don’t give a damn fashion. She’d be passing by soon. He hadn’t quite mastered James Dean’s smirk—his head tilted down and to the side with that rebellious curl of the lip, looking up over his brows. But he came close. It was, after all, who he was. He needed no one, was afraid of no one, and had the answers. That’s how he felt . . . at least among his friends." 

There are two notable facets about this memoir: it reads with the third-person description and embellishments of fiction; and it presents vignettes which assume no linear, logical progression, but move through time in a fluid manner, immersing readers in the moment. 

T.B. O'Neill's cautionary introduction about the fluid story structure correctly identifies its mercurial process, but almost does it an injustice by forewarning its readers. Those who seek novels with plots may find these vignettes less structured than fiction, but will still find their emotional punch effective and nicely construed. 

As this story follows Tim into the Army and encounters with more bullies, leaders, and ideological angst, readers view his life through the lens of an outsider who becomes intimately acquainted with the nuances of Tim's thoughts, memories, emotions, and experiences. 

Deployed to Europe and slated only see combat during the last year of his enlistment, Tim finds a new world opening up to him beyond the boundaries of his family and small-town America. His experiences provide a study in contrasts about the cultures and peoples he encounters. 

From developing trust in a different system to survival tactics that operate on many levels, Tim turns twenty-three in Nam and moves from small-town American thoughts to embrace bigger ideas about the world at large. 

Readers seeking a memoir of coming of age in the 1960s, the Vietnam War experience from the eyes of a young man, and a continuation to the prior memoir Timmy will find this exploration engrossing, revealing, and worthy of the read. 

Dangle Him Purposely

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A Different Kind of War
J. Malcolm Garcia
Fomite
978-1-953236-18-0         $15.00
https://www.fomitepress.com/ 

A Different Kind of War: Uneasy Encounters in Mexico and Central America comes from the unusual vantage point of a social worker turned journalist who worked in Afghanistan and reported on South American countries, as well. His unique perspective and background combines a people-focused social worker's approach with a reporter's eye for detail. His title documents peoples' lives, interactions, disappearances and threats, and the changing atmospheres of their worlds. 

More than a dispassionate listing of political influence (as one might expect from the title), this hard-hitting social exposé delineates the worlds of different peoples in Mexico and Central America who operate and intersect at different levels of their societies: "She felt bad for the women living as they did. Some of them, she saw, were indigenous Mayas like herself. Sister Magdalena grew up in the province of Santa Cruz Chinautla. Her family identified as Mam, one of many Maya nations that make up rural Guatemala. The people of Santa Cruz Chinautla molded clay pots and farmed. It was a town almost insignificant in size. A river ran through it, and the black water carried waste from Guatemala City. Still, Sister Magdalena recalls a happy, cheerful childhood, the dirty river just part of life’s struggle." 

These stories often read with the quiet drama of fiction, as in the story of a Sister operating an orphanage: "Kissing her niece on her forehead, Sister Sandau sighs. Hours from now, the sun will rise, and with it the possibility of new orphans. She receives very little notice. The police or a family just show up with a child." 

Contrast this scene with that of a reporter's newsroom shortly before an execution in 2009 and an interview which captures the violent effects of active drug trade on the streets of Mexico: "...the two-year-long drug war raging in this desert city of 1.5 million kills an average of nine people a day. The Mexican government sent in the army to help quell the violence. For two months, the number of violent deaths dropped dramatically. But in June, it spiked back up. “Before, there were gunfights in the street with automatic weapons,” said Juárez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz. “Now they kill with 9-millimeter handguns. Before, they drove around the city with AK-47s. They can’t now. But they are still fighting. They fight all the way down to small-time distributors killing one another.” 

It's evident, through this contrast of social ills, that the war being fought isn't a singular event or experience. J. Malcolm Garcia's 'uneasy encounters' capture and contrast a revised state of 'normal' throughout the region. This approach will prove eye-opening for Americans who envision beaches and tourist destinations when they think of Mexico and its neighbors. 

A Different Kind of War holds the rare ability to make its readers feel uneasy. It should. It's not an easy world, but one which is too rarely portrayed in all its contrasts and nuances, making this book essential reading for anyone who would truly understand the region's social, economic, and political struggles. 

A Different Kind of War

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The Necktie and the Jaguar
Carl Greer, PhD, PsyD
Chiron Publications
9781630519032             $19.95
www.ChironPublications.com 

The Necktie and the Jaguar is a spiritual memoir for readers who would better understand the intersection between spiritual practice and perception and everyday living, and takes some unusual routes in the course of its discoveries. 

Greer holds a background in shamanistic training as well as traditional Jungian analysis and martial arts. His memoir about his self-exploration and transformation from a traditional style of success (as president of an independent oil and gas company that built him wealth) to that of a spiritual pilgrim is gripping. 

Some readers might experience discomfort if the book hits too close to home with its close examination of finding value beyond monetary wealth and career. This is because The Necktie and the Jaguar embraces redefining ideas of success and achievement, moving into realms beyond that of the status quo or monetary gain. 

This is where Greer's background in psychology stands out, reaching ordinary readers with a story of how despite being a husband, homeowner, and successful businessman, he still lacked satisfaction. His restlessness eventually shook him out of his comfort zone and traditional definitions of value and wealth. 

Ironically, these psychological and business lessons also permeate this exploration of inner worlds and spiritual paths, giving them a concrete foundation that is lacking in too many other memoirs of spiritual enlightenment. 

This is the very factor that makes The Necktie and the Jaguar so accessible to audiences that might not ordinarily pick up a memoir about fulfillment and enlightenment. Greer began his life in familiar circles, but expanded his goals and perceptions in ways that produced riches beyond his imagination. 

These riches could not have been perceived without a redefinition of value. Readers of The Necktie and the Jaguar will find positive encouragement in many of his words: "At last, I was consciously making different choices and beginning to establish new habits that were making me feel happier, freer, and more authentic." 

Writing about how his engrained competitiveness has begun to fade, Greer is quite honest about his struggles with patterns and traits which remain to this day. He's also honest about his newfound abilities and satisfaction. The Necktie and the Jaguar will reach New Age, spirituality, and traditional business book readers alike with a story that holds a blueprint for achieving a different, ultimately more satisfying, life. 

The Necktie and the Jaguar

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Six Car Lengths Behind an Elephant
Lillian McCloy
Bordertown Publishing 
978-0997596304            $13.95 Paper; $6.99 ebook
Website: https://www.bordertownpublishing.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0997596309/ 

Six Car Lengths Behind an Elephant: Undercover & Overwhelmed as a CIA Wife and Mother is an espionage memoir that comes from quite a different perspective than the usual CIA behind-the-scenes probe. Lillian McCloy is a wife and mother, and writes of her family life as the spouse of an undercover CIA officer. 

Descriptions of how job and life intersect on a daily basis are revealing, providing many details about how political and employment requirements change the family's choices: "Despite my protests, Frank insisted that we take this opportunity, because she was an invaluable contact. After a year at Berlitz and daily tutoring, Frank could get along well in Spanish and was looking forward to meeting more rich people. I should have said, “Take the children and go. I’ll stay home.” The contacts for Frank’s career had taken top billing in his life...I again realized that I was not number one on his priority list." 

As a travelogue about living in different countries, the stories are diverse and intriguing, offering insights on health and social challenges. As a memoir by a CIA wife who built her own resiliency and adaptation techniques, it often contains humorous observations about the inconsistencies in even official information: "This is really incidental stuff, but it becomes horrendously important when this seems to be your constant business. Moving, buying, packing. It was very hard, no matter where we were going, and I was always astonished at how wrong the information was when I asked for it. Particularly when the U.S. Embassy grandly offered to send me a printout from their State Department catalog, or whatever it was called. One fact that enriched my life was that the average temperature in New Delhi, India, was 74 degrees. After that gem of information, I did not ask for their advice again." 

Where other espionage stories take the form of an exposé of the politics and processes of the job, McCloy's focus on her nomadic life, her husband Frank's assignments, and the impact this had on her family provides a riveting alternative to male-centric views of CIA lifestyles and adventures. 

It's hard to imagine a memoir that is at once candid, fun, and troubling; but McCloy captures all these facets and more as she supports her husband's undercover job and her family's disparate interests at the same time. 

The blend of humor, practical information, and country-hopping adventure maintains a fast pace, bringing many thought-provoking moments. Six Car Lengths Behind an Elephant should be welcomed by readers interested in overseas adventures, the realities of a spy's family, and how families adapt to living in foreign countries. 

Six Car Lengths Behind an Elephant

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Special Needs Children
Jody Sharpe
Independently Published
9780988562011             $12.00 Paper/$2.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Special-Needs-Children-Angels-Shoulder/dp/0988562014 

Special Needs Children: The Angels On My Shoulder is a memoir about Jody Sharpe's twenty-five years teaching special needs kids. It provides an unexpected focus on not just special needs circumstances, but the bullying which evolved from them, by other children. 

Sharpe's spiritual reflections on God and angels is a constant referral in this book, which speaks of 'angel teachers', the 'hearts of angels' which reside in many of these children, and their fleeting and long-term influences as they move through her life and classroom. 

Sharpe's ability to see the good in circumstances and people identifies the 'special' in 'special needs' as she delineates her journey through the education system and those teaching and social encounters which changed her perspective and life. 

Teachers (especially those working with special needs kids) will find this spiritual and social reflection easily accessible. It's presented in vignettes which offer small, digestible bites of insight into a world where angels and kindness are present in more than one form. 

Education and spirituality collections alike will find Special Needs Children details a unique viewpoint and is an uplifting read. 

Special Needs Children

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Walking Away from Hate
Jeanette and Lauren Manning
Tidewater Press
978-1-990160-00-4         $23.95
www.tidewaterpress.com 

Walking Away from Hate: Our Journey through Extremism tells of how, as a teen, author Lauren Manning was recruited through the internet by a white extremist group. They were adept at feeding into her middle-class family's values and her simmering teen anger to foster within her a hatred and prejudice that led her to denounce her family and enter into a violent life on the streets of Toronto. 

The process of Lauren's recruitment into extremist beliefs, her rejection of her family's upbringing and values, and her participation in this dangerous world is documented in her personal story of changing beliefs and visions of justice and truth. Her account also closely considers how her family fought to forge a new relationship with their daughter. 

Walking Away from Hate's contrasts between mainstream belief systems and extremist thinking processes, the methods by which young adults are convinced to embark on life-changing paths of destruction and hate, and an insider's thoughts about the experience are told from both sides to create an especially evocative read: "My life was already fucked up so who cared if I didn’t show up? It was just one more thing—in addition to living on the streets, having no place to call home and no family to belong to—that I couldn’t bring myself to care about. My thought process had always been more or less “ignore it and it’ll go away." 

Of particular note are the feelings of the participant as she examines the differences between what she has been taught, her newfound friends' beliefs, and what she observes in the world around her: “White kids aren’t going to be safe if we allow these Blacks to walk all over us. We’re defending our people.” His answer was the one I’d heard many times before but this time it got me thinking about parenting a child of hate. If a child saw evidence of their parent’s fight, what impact would that have? Was it fair to raise a child in this culture? What about parents who forced their opinions on their kids?" 

While the juxtaposition of two worlds is a central theme of this mother/daughter story, equally powerful are the insights into how white extremist thinking is fostered in the young. 

Walking Away from Hate serves as a contrast between ideals of justice, truth, and social issues. It ideally will be used for classroom study and parent/child discussions of ideology gone awry, and its powerful lure and message for those who grow into adulthood angry about society's failures and parental teachings. 

Walking Away from Hate

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Mystery & Thrillers

The Cornmarket Conspiracy
Sharon Hoisager
Moonshine Cove Publishing, LLC
9781952439087             $15.00 Paper/$6.00 Kindle
www.SharonHoisager.com 

The Cornmarket Conspiracy is a novel that opens in the French countryside, where farmers in the small town of Coquelles are started by an explosion that lights up the sky at 10PM. 

In the UK, Jeffrey Hunter, Chief of Staff to Britain’s Prime Minister Trevor Wellington, is awakened at midnight by the world-changing phone call he's long been dreading—the news of an explosion and fire in the English Channel Tunnel which has trapped and killed hundreds on the train. 

The shocking news portends a conspiracy that involves British Intelligence, the CIA, and those who aim to profit from global tragedy for their own special interests. 

As the story takes off, thriller readers receive an engrossing probe of motivations and everyday people. Annie Craig, a staffer in the P.M.’s office has been carrying on an affair with colleague Andrew Bolling, whom she is shocked to find out has died in the attack. She journeys to France to find answers. Surprisingly, one of her questions was whether or not Andrew was involved in the heinous disaster; for her discovery of some notes indicates he was somehow connected to other world-changing scenarios: "She couldn’t help but wonder, was he involved in this somehow, even unintentionally? She knew Andrew. There was simply no way he was overtly involved in anything immoral, unethical, and certainly not anything criminal. But how did his private notes, outlining the terrorist strikes of the past few years, seemingly predict a train bombing? Had he somehow been working to thwart the attack?" Is he a hero or a villain? 

As low-grade Muslim criminal Akeem trails Annie in his role as a part-time errand boy to one of the largest criminal networks in France, sharing a taxi with her to get in her good graces, Annie and Jeffrey Hunter find themselves not only attempting to solve many questions, but in the crosshairs of danger themselves. 

Rasul also operates on the fringes of society: "He is not fully Yemeni, nor is he fully French. Raised by Yemeni parents in the French Capital, and educated at the finest University in England, Rasul can never shake the feeling that he is a man with no real home and no real nationality." 

As Annie becomes Jeffrey's reason for pursuing the truth about Rasul and Jorge, three old college friends begin to realize that their past knowledge of one another is contrary to their present-day passions and personas. 

Sharon Hoisager creates an outstanding interplay between Western interests, political and social strife between immigrants and mainstream society, and a plot that thickens as the story progresses. 

Readers interested in a thriller's fast-paced progression also receive the added benefit of social inspection in an equally quick-changing world that changes individuals and leads determined ordinary people to become heroes as they continue to fight for the good of their friends and communities. 

The result is a powerful saga that provides more than a conspiracy story, but a social examination that will keep readers engaged and thinking long past the tale's conclusion. 

The Cornmarket Conspiracy

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Dead Tree Tales
Rush Leaming
Bridgewood
978-0-9997456-5-6                $19.99 Paper/$3.99 Kindle
https://leamingrush.wixsite.com/nightfall 

Dead Tree Tales opens with the poisoning of a 1,000-year-old tree and efforts to uncover the perp, but soon becomes a crime thriller as a dead body is uncovered and detectives find that much more is involved than an ancient tree's demise. 

Set on Johns Island, South Carolina, the story assumes a twisted path of intrigue over a threat that evolves, literally piece by piece, beyond arborcide. 

Widowed Mayor Jim is looking forward to retirement. Mired in grief, his second son, Len Rawlings, manages to nonetheless shake up his world. The revolution continues as a myriad of challenges, special interests, and world-changing events ripple from the ancient tree's imminent demise to threats that portend the community will never be the same. 

From the painful, violent death of a young woman found in the water to explosions which also literally shake the town to its roots, Dead Tree Tales charts the opening up of a sheltered world to a myriad of social, political, and cultural threats. These immerse the mayor, detectives, and potential perps in a struggle that leads to unspeakable tragedy and rebirth as a world-changing virus dawns. 

Dead Tree Tales represents a slow, steady evolution from a singular puzzle to a paradigm-altering series of events that rocks both individual lives and an entire community. Its powerful characters, multifaceted special interests, and blend of murder mystery, intrigue, and social inspection will particularly delight thriller readers looking for something different. 

Its firm roots in all these elements which connect a tree's demise to wider-ranging issues makes for a riveting story that's hard to put down and highly recommended for readers who enjoy thought-provoking surprises throughout. 

Dead Tree Tales

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Decoy 17
Robert Vallier
www.robertvallier.com 

Decoy 17 is a sequel to the thriller Spider 2-3 and returns hero Jim (JP) Peregrine to the spotlight of the spy story community with another adventure. 

Here, JP faces the prospect of a month's respite on the Caribbean island of St. Lucia in a mansion provided by his uncle. Stephanie Raughton and Anna Kepling join him in this idyllic journey, which is a far cry from the tense events that challenged his heart and soul during the events of Spider 2-3. 

Predictably, JP's long-overdue respite is not to be. Satisfyingly unpredictable is a sequence of events that involve a murder, a plot, and a new brand of terrorism that makes the Spider 2-3 scenario look like a walk in the park. 

Ironically, Spider 2-3 has prepared him for Decoy 17's undercover efforts; for having fostered the persona of the mysterious hero The Falcon (who operated surprisingly efficiently in thwarting a worldwide disaster in the previous confrontation) he is armed, efficient, and just waiting for what evolves next. 

Readers who enjoy international intrigue, espionage, and a catchy blend of James Bond-like action and confrontation will find these devices appear in droves in Decoy 17 as JP foregoes his vacation for a new task and challenge. 

With operative Dave Tilson's murder comes JP's realization that Spider 2-3 is not the only game in town. It served as a preface for what is about to transpire during this second scheme, a sequel to the first. 

Readers who liked Spider 2-3 (and, there should be many) will find the saga continues in much the same spirit. Same approach, but different characters, purposes, and challenges that continue to expand JP's identity both as The Falcon and in his own staid world as an ordinary citizen. 

JP needs to come back to work, and as a target, he might prove even more invaluable to his superiors for drawing out the plot and perps involved in Decoy 17. As he heads a team and tries to assume control of a virtually uncontrollable scenario, JP moves from the Caribbean to Europe to South America, seemingly a step behind, too much of the time. He tries to catch up fast. 

Readers who know aviation or technical engineering details will relish the real facts built into this story of disasters, as well as the interplay of romance between JP and Stephanie, the future Mrs. Peregrine. 

Newcomers will find Decoy 17 surprisingly easy to access, requiring no prior familiarity with JP's character, motivations, or abilities in order to prove immediately understandable. Prior fans receive a puzzler just as adept at surprising twists and turns as its predecessor. Both audiences will find the action concludes neatly, but in a manner that more than leaves the door open for more books to follow in The Falcon series. 

With its powerful central character, a host of special interests which swirl around him, and JP's struggle to maintain his grasp on his personal life while immersed in a political and international spy conundrum, Decoy 17 proves a powerful story. It's highly recommended for thriller readers who enjoy stories of espionage, terrorism, disaster, and one man who stands between the life and death of millions. 

Decoy 17 is a riveting read that is hard to put down, packed with satisfying twists and turns that keep readers engaged and wondering to the end. 

Decoy 17

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Faux Friends
A.J. McCarthy
Black Rose Writing
978-1-68433-725-5         $19.95
www.blackrosewriting.com 

Make one mistake and you can pay for it for a very long time. That's what Quebec policewoman Chantal Pouliot discovers when her investigation goes awry, relegating her to desk duty. In Faux Friends, she is just beginning to probe a cyber-crime case that might restore her reputation and ability to work as an undercover cop; especially when the case becomes a murder investigation. 

The problem? Within this assignment lies a too-knowing set of circumstances that draw her into someone else's dangerous game, with her as the target. 

A.J. McCarthy creates a mystery thriller that engrossingly moves between Chantal's moves and efforts and the thoughts and motivations of dangerous adversaries: "The man smiled. Sometimes life took an unexpected turn, and it worked out for the best. Was it possible a higher power had decided it wasn’t their time and stepped in to change his plan? He laughed out loud at the thought. Call it a higher power, fate, or plain luck. He took it as a sign that the game wasn’t over. Like hockey, they were in the second of three periods. With any luck, it would play out in overtime." 

Chantel re-enters an all too familiar (and coveted) investigative world with Jeff Lafond, but the moves she is forced to make once again send her on a road that is frustrating, portending disaster: "Chantal squared her shoulders. She needed to pull herself together. It wasn’t the first time she was disillusioned, and it wouldn’t be the last. She was a cop with a job to do. If she repeated that statement often enough, it might take away the pain." 

As she and Jeff face a host of challenges in their latest case, Chantel is forced to face her fears. 

A.J. McCarthy crafts a fine interplay between thriller and murder mystery story, intersecting Chantal's evolution as a policewoman and a potential victim with a case which seems to hold no ready solutions for anyone. 

As fear, doubt, and even love enter into the picture, McCarthy creates a fast-paced story that rests as much upon Chantal's ability to change her focus and sense of duty as it does on the undertones of a treachery and tragedy that changes her relationships. 

This psychological-based story of intrigue will delight readers who like murder mysteries, strong female protagonists, and a puzzle which offers many satisfying twists and turns. Most of all, Faux Friends excels in a juxtaposition of professional and emotional growth that leads Chantal to reconsider friends, enemies, and all that lies in-between as police force relationships are pulled apart. 

Readers who like their thrillers embedded with emotional growth will find Chantal a memorable and strong protagonist who questions the roots of her decisions, assumptions, and their ultimate impact on her life. 

Faux Friends

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Foulshot
Susan Fleet
Music and Mayhem Press
ASIN: B08XKJY5ZQ             $2.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XKJY5ZQ

Foulshot provides prior fans with another Frank Renzi crime thriller that introduces a special puzzler to the NOPD homicide detective. 

This comes in the form of three different murders, a jailed suspect who is not talking, and leads that indicate that an intricate web of lies may lie at the heart of a threat that is not cut-and-dried, defying his problem-solving prowess. 

As Frank and equally talented detective and lover Kelly share theories and investigate, a host of characters and potential perps come to light that all intersect on the larger playing field of NBA gamblers involved in a big-stakes game. 

From enemy ambushes to a dangerous game which threatens children and adults alike, Foulshot takes many intriguing twists and turns as Frank and Kelly embark on their most challenging investigation yet. 

Kidnappings, vanished bodies, journeys between New Orleans, Chicago, and Memphis, and a personal threat to Frank, who finds the tables turned as the investigator threatens to become another victim, create a fast-paced story. It's accessible to newcomers to Frank Renzi's special brand of intriguing cases, but will especially delight prior fans more than familiar with his approaches to solving crime. 

Book 10 in the series proves every bit as complex and compelling as its predecessors. It achieves the goal of expanding Frank's world as he encounters Russian interests, powerful men, and the complex underworld of sports betting and its connections to violence and criminal special interests. 

Foulshot

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From the Mind of a Witch
Bruce M. Perrin
Mind Sleuth Publications
ASIN: B08YZB8N65              $.99
https://www.amazon.com/Mind-Witch-Sleuth-Book-ebook/dp/B08YZB8N65 

Once an FBI agent, Rebecca Marte has now become a PI. Her first job is the unusual case of a witch charged with killing a man during a coven ritual...seemingly cut-and-dried, because a group of people witnessed the murder. Or, did they? 

In From the Mind of a Witch, Rebecca's client wants her to clear the name of the High Priestess, Della Bergeron. It sounds like an impossible task, given the circumstances. But as Rebecca delves deeper into the coven, its politics, and special interests, she comes to realize that her client's unusual defense of being possessed may be only one piece of an evolving puzzle. Rebecca finds herself increasingly drawn into a deadly supernatural game. 

Is Della an untouchable pagan leader, a shrewd businesswoman, or something more? As Mateo Sanchez, a company CFO, becomes involved in the probe, facts emerge that pit Rebecca against many forces; not the least of which is the power of psychological suggestion and spiritual possibilities that may contribute to supporting her client's wild contention. But, will it hold up in court against a murder charge? 

Bruce M. Perrin weaves a murder investigation into a story replete with supernatural forces, special business interests, and the progressive foray into danger as a savvy PI finds herself operating in a milieu where she is over her head. These devices contribute to a thoroughly engrossing story. 

To add to the already considerable suspense, Perrin adds a life-and-death struggle as an extended side-story. Faced with her nearly impossible task, Rebecca turns to an old friend, psychologist Sam “Doc” Price to help her bridge the gap between the supernatural and a reality she can embrace. He, however, has become fixated, perhaps dangerously so, with the hunt for his kidnapped fiancée as she fights for her life. Can he break free of his obsession even for a moment to help? Should he? 

The blend of PI investigation, supernatural influences, and psychological probe is especially inviting because the characters are so solidly represented and nicely drawn, with the mystery ever-changing. Perrin's probe into memory's fallacies and possibilities is particularly intriguing as the story evolves. 

As lies and murderous hatred escalate into confrontations, Rebecca walks a fine line between psychological understanding and supernatural revelations. Her story is filled with satisfying twists and turns, and is certain to delight those who like supernatural influences cemented with murder mystery intrigue. 

From the Mind of a Witch

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Invasion of the Undead
Dan Coglan
L’Oste Vineyard Press
978-1-7353896-7-7         $14.99 Paper/$7.99 Kindle
www.LosteVineyardPress.com 

Horror fans and thriller readers alike will find Invasion of the Undead cultivates a special brand of tension designed to raise the hackles and intrigue the mind. It centers on the domestic dilemma faced by ex-Marine commander Chase Brooks when he returns home from a stint in Afghanistan only to find that the enemy (the undead) is unalive and well, operating on American soil. 

The difference between this scenario and other zombie novels is that nobody else is acknowledging their existence in America. It's difficult to effectively fight a war that nobody will admit to. 

Chase has experienced enough traumas overseas, from fighting enemies who will not die. Now he has to take his work to the streets. And not every living person will appreciate either his efforts or his unusual contentions. 

Invasion of the Undead employs Chase's gritty first-person observations to bring to life (pardon the pun) the confrontations and dilemmas that surround his missions. 

His initial choice (to blow up himself and the zombies he faces in a stone temple in Afghanistan) would seem to end the story before it begins. Actually, it introduces a scenario in which Chase is an unlikely sole survivor, returned to his home injured, but in one piece—which is more than can be said about his entire unit. 

His brain injury would seem to explain the fantasy surrounding the zombie apocalypse which is his last memory. The trouble is that events keep happening which indicate not just a zombie issue, but a supernatural cover-up. 

And so the mystery portion solidifies as Chase struggles to recover and reconcile his memories and the certainty of his experience with the altered reality unfolding around him. 

Dan Coglan is adept at tracing the roots of these convictions and their effect on Chase and those who believe in him: “Brooks,” the Colonel started, shaking his head. “You do realize how this sounds, right? There’s a priest that died overseas, here in Chesapeake, raising the dead and sending them after you, and then someone is covering it up afterwards. Does that sound rational to you, son?” he asked me, finally looking me in the face. “I didn’t say it was rational, sir. I said it was true,” I said quietly." 

As he delves ever deeper into a scenario that moves beyond the battlefield and PTSD and into a very real threats, the thriller elements simmer with puzzles and dilemmas to draw readers in like quicksand. 

Once immersed, it's hard to stop reading. It's equally difficult for Chase to reconcile his experience and reality with a probe into who (or what) lies at the heart of this uprising and his involvement in it. 

Readers looking for a very different blend of military confrontation, thriller, and supernatural intrigue will relish the original, sometimes quirky perspective of a story that is as grippingly unrelenting as a zombie's grasp. 

Invasion of the Undead

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The Last of the Swindlers
Peter Loewer
Pisgah Press, LLC
978-1-942016557           $17.95
www.pisgahpress.com 

The Last of the Swindlers sets its murder mystery scene in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina in Fernglade in 1978, where politics and a double murder rock a small town unused to threat and the specter of big-stakes struggles. 

Here, The Leader is on a mission that has arrived at a success-or-fail pivot point. Portents and signs may signal success, but there are small-town forces at work to thwart The Leader's path to growth. A crisis brings with it slaughter, and tragic circumstances bring disparate individuals together in a struggle that reflects the underlying transformation of this once-bucolic (on the surface, anyway) town as its course clashes with modern times and special interests. 

“There’s a sense of responsibility that’s part of living in a small town." As a host of characters absorb their revised roles and edge away from comfort and familiarity into new territory, the story reflects the intersection of small-town perspectives with the forces that emerge when big-city interests seek to find a place within it. 

Rich folk are seeking refuge, but bring the ills of their world with them. Ordinary folk just want a familiar place that stays the same.  Fernglade native Oliver Swindler, unhappy with life in the big city, just wants a quiet place to call home and a garden to cultivate, but is charged with solving a mystery in a process that will change all the things he's come to value in his community. 

Peter Loewer excels at bringing this small town to life. Yes, this is a murder mystery; but beyond that, it's an excellent inspection of the social and political currents that affect the town's citizen's lives and Oliver's choices, placing the backdrop of the murder in as important a position as the social conflict itself. 

Readers who enjoy full-bodied reads about small town characters, big city interests in rural environments and opportunities, and lives out of control will relish Peter Loewer's ability to produce a story that rests on the choices of many memorable characters. 

The Last of the Swindlers is a vivid story of not just investigations, but shifting interpersonal relationships. It will prove thoroughly absorbing and satisfyingly complex to the end. 

The Last of the Swindlers

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The Last Review
Lucas Pogrzebny
Azure Midnight Press
978-987-47543-3-2                $3.99
Author Website: www.lucaspogrzebny.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HH4P3RN 

Detective story enthusiasts are in for a treat with The Last Review, because it takes the P.I. approach beyond traditional routes while including all the trappings of a solid investigative piece. 

Meet Polo Levington, a film critic genius who finds himself in the role of an unwitting investigator when he witnesses a murder. The story opens with a bang ("The camera was still rolling when she was shot."), but the real story takes place twenty years later, when the bodies begin piling up, leading a strange actress and a tired detective to become involved in Levin's production and its deadly backdrop. 

Interactions between director and actors, investigators and novices with no investigative savvy, and those who find themselves out of their comfort zones whether on shoots or probing criminal activities make for a fine juxtaposition of backgrounds, differing approaches to events, and changing perspectives. 

Drawn back to a country he'd resisted entering, Polo Levington finds his approaches to life and even his genius challenged on many different levels: "Now I understand why I didn't want to come back here. This is one of those places where truth cannot be reached. I hate Buenos Aires..." 

There are many places where truth remains elusive; not the least of which is Levin's own barriers to getting to the truth of many different matters. 

As events unfold, he finds his past, his fears, and his focus on an amazing production all working against him in the search for answers, leading different characters into worlds they are ill-equipped to handle. 

The blend of stage backdrop and intrigue is very well presented. Lucas Pogrzebny excels in precise descriptions of the theater milieu that draws readers in: "To understand this, you have to think about the lighting of the set. When the studio lights are turned off and only the scene ones are left on, the contrast is absolute. Inside the circle of the Fresnel lights and the camera, everything can be seen; on the contrary, outside that area, everything else is darkness." 

Much like a stage production, this mystery develops slowly, weaving intrigue, motivation, and the blinders of background experience into a murder story that is hard to put down and difficult to predict. 

Readers who enjoy stories of savants drawn into worlds beyond their comfort zones will find The Last Review exceptionally well done and hard to put down. 

The Last Review

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Meadowlarks
Thomas Holladay
Cinema Enterprises 
9781736914007    $12.99 Paper/$.99 ebook
Website: http://www.thomasholladay.com
Ordering: https://books2read.com/u/bPXY0R

"The white man never listens to the Indian." even when he is trying to warn them, and even when his message is meant to save their lives and their world. This is the opening warning of Meadowlarks, which introduces a savvy old Native American, a dark spirit which protects a sacred valley, and a simmering legacy that explores events that took place ten years prior and its threat to a new generation. 

Supernatural forces menace a family, which has fled the city for a more peaceful rural lifestyle, when a long-standing blood sacrifice designed to keep a beast at bay is set aside, resulting in a rash of murders that make the family's urban challenges look tame in comparison. 

Carolyn and her eight-year-old son Jason seek a safe haven and a new life. Instead, they unwittingly step into a maelstrom of horror partially brought about by their unwillingness to allow a long-standing ritual to continue. As family relationships, heritage, neighbors, and deadly forces intersect, evil becomes apparent in not only an unleashed supernatural beast, but in the hearts of men. 

Christmas is coming as events from the past threaten to spill into the present.  Readers drawn by stories with rural roots, supernatural horror, Native rituals, and family relationships will find each of these facets well explored.  These multiple components blend seamlessly to build a nicely-paced drama that comes full circle for elderly Native John Crow, whose new neighbors have now become part of this sacred valley and its long-standing ritual practices, changing their lives forever. 

Meadowlarks is especially recommended for fans of Tony Hillerman-style intrigue who seek a vigorous dose of the supernatural added into a mix of mystery and interpersonal struggle. 

Meadowlarks

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Nerve Attack
S. Lee Manning
Independently Published
978-1-64599-195-3 
$18.99 Paper/$28.99 Hardcover/$4.99 epub and Kindle
www.sleemanning.com

In Trojan Horse, S. Lee Manning outlined the efforts of American operative Kolya Petrov to track a deadly terrorist involved in planning nuclear plant meltdowns around the globe. A key to playing this game involved planting a 'Trojan horse' virus in a computer. But a necessary sacrifice in the plan was Kolya Petrov, a loner and Russian Jewish immigrant.   

Nerve Attack outlines Kolya Petrov's revised life of intrigue and deception, which continues here with reverberations from an undercover project in Moscow. Petrov has long believed the Russian message about being prepared for anything, and has absorbed its motto: "Moscow rules.  Trust no one. Trust nothing." 

This doesn't help him in his new life. In fact, it combines with PTSD to create different dilemmas that affect his role as a former undercover intelligence operative facing a different challenge. 

As his fate becomes entwined with the actions of former Mossad agent Tehila Melaku, Petrov gambles on his fiancée Alex's life in a new confrontation with high-stakes forces. Readers receive an engrossing story of intrigue filled not just with suspense, but psychological insights into how a loner ex-agent is drawn back into past habits. His inability to adjust to his new life is very nicely presented: "There were lines he tried not to cross, in drinking and in his relationship. But he didn’t fit in – and the family party in Aaron’s upscale home underscored that fact. They were nice people, who talked about their jobs and their families and Judaism. He had no living family except for Alex; he disliked his new job but couldn’t talk about his former job; and he was agnostic. Politics was risky." 

Petrov finds himself meeting with a smuggler, and embarks on another clandestine operation that pits his personal life against his professional abilities. Readers receive moving moments not just from his changing perspective, but those of people whose lives intersect with his: "Russians. Jews. He didn’t trust either of them. Russians were indoctrinated at an early age. And Jews – well, Jews were loyal to each other and to Israel, not to America. And Petrov was both a Russian and a Jew. Who the fuck knew what his real loyalties might be?" 

As Alex, Tehila, and CIA operative Stephen Kowolsky barrel towards a confrontation, nightmares and love coalesce with violence and threats. These forces change and challenge all that Petrov has built from the ruins of his career. 

The result is a heady rush of intrigue and psychological inspection that weaves a cat-and-mouse game into an evolving new life. It's a story designed to attract prior readers and newcomers alike, placing Petrov, once again, in a position far from his familiar routines or the coping mechanisms that worked for him in the past. 

Readers of Trojan Horse, in particular, will find this sequel thoroughly engrossing. 

Nerve Attack

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Project Renaissance: White Wings
Brian Gates
Independently Published

978-0578845111            $12.99 Paper/$4.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Project-Renaissance-White-Brian-Gates/dp/0578845113 

One day, Detective Booker Vaux arrives home from work to find his entire family has vanished without a trace. It turns out that a large corporation set on altering reality has something to do with matters, and so Booker and his partner Sam head out to do what they do best: investigate. 

Project Renaissance: White Wings follows that investigation into realms dangerous even in a futuristic world where androids abound and humanity is increasingly threatened by its own technological advancements. 

In a world where "the hustle of police work is never tamed," Booker has carved a unique place for himself that can never be replaced or augmented by artificial means. Or, can it? 

As he and Sam venture into unknown territory, they become increasingly ensnared in a plot that ranges from hacking into police feeds to making the Solis Corporation a powerful entity impossible to control or harness. 

The goal is to artificially induce the next phase of Mankind, injecting him into a utopian world...for a price. It's a price Booker and Sam deem too expensive to pay as their probe results in a dangerous cat-and-mouse game in a thriller setting that blends AI functions, dystopian themes, and intrigue. 

Brian Gates does an outstanding job of making this milieu come to life through the eyes of a policeman who just wants to live his life with purpose and family support, but finds his ideals and role at odds with this new reality. 

The story progresses with a form of Robin Cook-style intrigue that keeps readers on the edge of their seats with satisfyingly unpredictable twists and turns throughout. 

As the real personas, intentions, and challenges of both Booker and Solis emerge, readers are treated to a gripping series of clues and keys that Booker must unlock if he ever has hopes of seeing his family again. These keys lead him straight into a dangerously altered world. 

How inconsiderate the world is, to go on in the face of such a threat! And how savvy Booker must be, to thwart a force he'd never imagined as being a part of his present life and possible future. 

Gripping, involving, and powered by fierce characters who don't quit, Project Renaissance: White Wings will simply delight readers of dystopian worlds and intrigue who will find the thriller and sci-fi components to be powerfully compelling. 

Project Renaissance: White Wings

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A Restaurant in Jaffa
Mark E Sorenson
DartFrog Books
978-1-953910-04-2         $16.99 Paper/$8.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Restaurant-Jaffa-Mark-Sorenson-ebook/dp/B08XY65N96 

Readers of cyberthrillers and international espionage will relish the fast-paced tension and action in A Restaurant in Jaffa. 

The story opens with Ryan Thompson's attendance at a BlackHat Convention of computer hackers and geeks, whose hobbies are locating and exploiting computer system vulnerabilities. Ryan may be a computer prodigy, but he's not a hacker. He's founded a computer company, and is there to meet with a potential reseller to save his failing business. 

A group of Palestinian revolutionaries have hacked into and are using his brilliant system for their nefarious purposes, leaving Ryan's reputation sullied, and so he embarks on an effort to clear his name. 

Arab and Israeli forces and interactions are represented in the quirky little restaurant of Al Hadyag, where disparate groups of individuals gather to blow off steam and socialize. The Palestinian/Israeli conflict comes to life in both a personal and a political manner through the restaurant, which also sets this story apart from general thrillers that too often don't take the time to focus on social and cultural interactions. 

The descriptions that emerge from the kitchen and surrounding environment of Al Hadyag are particularly well done: "The cool sea breeze was a welcome respite from the steaming hot kitchen of Al Hadyag. Hanging on the slopes of old Jaffa, the HaPisgah Gardens faced the Mediterranean, its surface interrupted only by waves crashing over Andromeda’s rock, a singular stone edifice just offshore. Other than the occasional call of a seagull and the sounds of the waves, it was quiet. Hassan waited for Fariq in their usual spot, the very same spot Hassan’s father used to bring him to when he was young." These bring to life the atmosphere of the Middle East, adding personal touches that imbibe the story's suspense components with a solid sense of place and peoples: "The large round table in the corner of Al Hadyag was strewn with the remains of the meal Hassan had served his friends and Jamal and Ahmad’s Uncle Kasim. The restaurant’s mountainous dishes of couscous, lamb, fish and potatoes were far superior than anything Kasim could find in his home in Gaza." 

The notes on how this restaurant fields local political struggles and discretely offers special dishes to special guests helps solidify its role in the community and its appeal to a diverse clientele. 

Mark E Sorenson does an excellent job of crafting a creative, globe-trotting yarn that sweeps the main characters and readers off their feet. Its political interactions, terrorist threats, technological challenges, and interactions are intriguing and unpredictable. 

Fans of cyberthrillers won't be disappointed in the world-changing arena of A Restaurant in Jaffa, which is gripping and hard to put down. 

A Restaurant in Jaffa

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Ruby Falls
Deborah Goodrich Royce
Post Hill Press
978-1642937091            $27.00 Hardcover
https://www.amazon.com/Ruby-Falls-Deborah-Goodrich-Royce/dp/1642937096 

Ruby Falls is a psychological thriller that revolves around a young actress. Much like in the classic Rebecca, Eleanor finds that her new husband isn't the man she had thought, and the clues that begin to add horror into her life form the foundation of a story that is compellingly intriguing as two individuals with hidden aspects to their pasts come to terms with an uncertain result from their union. 

In addition to the building mystery, Ruby Falls is adept at chronicling the dysfunctional relationship between a husband and wife: Eleanor. “Orlando cuts me off sharply and then laughs a little as he continues, ’I said I have it covered. You might try listening.’ I study his face, trying to connect the look in his eyes with his laughter. ‘I’m sorry, darling,’ he says. ‘You were just prattling on and not really paying attention. I told you I have it covered. You don’t need to worry.’ I suppose he means to telegraph to me that the conversation is over.” 

As Eleanor begins to uncover the foundations of Orlando’s attitude, approach to life, and the effect of  his presence and absence alike, she draws ever closer to a life that assumes a spooky similarity to that of Rebecca’s. She is cast in a Hollywood production of the classic story and finds her life becoming an eerie mirror to the protagonist's discoveries and trials...albeit in a storybook cottage setting in the Hollywood Hills. 

Los Angeles's atmosphere is drawn as realistically and engrossingly as that of Rebecca's Manderley as Eleanor finds herself not only in legal trouble, but investigating what happened to her cat-crazy neighbor Dottie Robinson, who was born in the house in 1907, and whose presence is both a compelling and a threatening force in her life. 

Orlando's personality is changing. So is Eleanor's. And the juxtaposition of the two forces is on a trajectory for a clash that will expose long-held secrets and threaten a discovery like none other. 

Deborah Goodrich Royce does an outstanding job of creating a contemporary parallel story that connects Rebecca and Ruby Falls. Fans of DuMaurier's classic will find in Royce's story an intriguing blend of mystery and revelation as strongly steeped in psychological undertones as the original classic. 

This contemporary literary thriller is highly recommended reading for those who like gothic stories infused with psychological tension and introspection. It is especially recommended for classes studying Rebecca, who will find its contemporary contrast and current-day doppelganger in Ruby Falls.  

The tale exposes the fine paradox between magic, family ties, and the boundaries of what is real and what is not: "Once I started filming—you don’t know what is real or fake right now, but the movie was real, I assure you." So is the outstanding tension and surprise conclusion. 

Ruby Falls

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Shades of Silence
Liz Lazarus

Mitchell Cove Publishing LLC
978-0990937456     $14.95 Paper/$5.95 ebook
Author website: www.lizlazarus.com
Paperback:  www.bit.ly/sosbyliz
Kindle:  www.bit.ly/sosbylizkindle
Nook:  www.bit.ly/sosbyliznook 

Readers will find Shades of Silence a sober, involving story that grips the heart and mind with its tense tale. 

The story opens with a news report about a missing Ormond Beach pilot and restaurateur's plane. This segues into the first-person observation of Julianna Sandoval, who has just closed her restaurant for the night, only to receive a mysterious visitor who is killed before her eyes...and before she can transmit a message of warning. 

In the homicide investigation that ensues, Julianna finds herself drawn into a world she'd previously been unaware of. Detective Grant, too, finds his latest homicide case much more complex than he'd realized, one that leads him in unexpected directions. 

As the story unfolds between their two perspectives and moves from the missing Michael, Julianna's husband, to a murder investigation that turns up secrets about the restaurant's chef, bartender, and others on the periphery of the case and business, an engrossing set of circumstances keeps readers guessing and involved. 

As Julianna learns about conversations between Michael and his son that challenge everything she thinks she knows, Detective Grant becomes even more involved in the unfolding secrets that lead them all into a world of danger. 

Another strong point to this story are the graphic descriptions of victim experiences and how sex trafficking changes their lives: "I shut my eyes and resigned myself to the fact that this was my life now. In some way, I felt that I deserved it because I’d run away. I became complacent, and my will to fight back was gone. I believed the only value I had as a human being was the use of my body for sex." 

Readers who have prior familiarity with such scenarios may find these candid discussions difficult, but their realistic contents add elements of truth to the tale that makes it all the more absorbing for its roots in real circumstances that often affect different members in a community. 

The result is a murder mystery with a social message that will keep readers engaged, engrossed, and involved to the end. It's a story of one woman's dangerous involvement in the consequences of a homicide investigation. The plot grows to embrace questions of how grief and loss are absorbed and reflected into daily life, and how communities and individuals can draw together to identify and change evil forces in their lives. 

All these subplots and facets make Shades of Silence a hard-hitting tale, indeed. 

Shades of Silence

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Stand Up for Bastards
Caleb Mason
Amika Press
978-1-937484-98-9                $17.95   
www.amikapress.com 

Stand Up for Bastards is a new novel by Caleb Mason, a Los Angeles defense attorney and former prosecutor.  The narrator is a private investigator and former police officer named Marcus Heaton.  The story opens with Marcus playing the clarinet in Central Park, while remembering  a fight from his days as a cop.  Marcus’s own history of violence and corruption are mirrored in the complicated case he gets drawn into.   Marcus finds himself moving from New York to L.A. in search of elusive answers and witnesses as he draws the attention of both state and federal prosecutors. 

Marcus is a savvy investigator, and tells the story with a gritty sense of realism about law firms, clients, and street-level detective work.  The story is steeped in astute observations seen through Marcus's eyes: "The ex-cops get the legwork. Walking a neighborhood canvassing for witnesses. Surveillance on workers’ comp scams. Domestic stuff, regular snooping. And security. There’s always work standing around looking tough. Lord knows I had done enough of it. We all did. It was just free, beautiful money. My theory of private security is that it’s mostly just another version of the suit or car or Rolex. Just another way to shout that you can pay for something shiny and expensive and useless. And there were plenty of celebrities who picked their security staff for sex. Which was fine, too, if you were into that sort of stuff." 

Caleb Mason captures the milieu of a complicated case and an investigator who is tested not just by the perps, but also by the political intrigues of his employer and client. 

Readers will find the tense action and cat-and-mouse games to be thoroughly engrossing and unpredictable to the end, as the intersection of crime and politics pushes the investigator to his limits. 

Stand Up For Bastards is a detective novel that embraces the atmosphere and streets of West and East coasts alike and tells a powerful story about the “informal side of law enforcement" with a compelling swagger.  Highly recommended for fans of detective fiction. 

Stand Up for Bastards

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Whispers: An American Legend
Bonné Bartron
Independently Published
979-8693420434           
$24.99 Hardcover; $12.99 Paper; $7.99 Kindle
Website: www.whispersbooks.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Whispers-American-Legend-Bonne%60-Bartron/dp/B08KH2KDGR 

Whispers: An American Legend opens with five-year-old Lucy Ann Talbet, a "fairy of a human being" who is playing hide and seek in the old Talbot colonial mansion with her brother Jeffrey when disaster strikes. Mister Tasty Treats has lured her into the woods beyond the family home. The disaster reverberates until it comes to rest in another time, when three sisters find their dream vacation turned into a nightmare. 

Whispers is a unique story of social and family danger that reaches into disparate lives with a powerful threat by Mister Tasty Treats. The kidnapper has struck again, taking Stacey's eight-year-old niece. Only this time, he has to contend with Stacey's prowess and determination, as well as her savvy about modern approaches to problem-solving and devices such as the internet. 

Stacey encounters a group that has been hunting this perp for four years, but she's not impressed by the kind of help it offers her: "I just blurted out, “Hunting an abductor of children long after the missing kid is grown-up and still not solving the thing? That doesn’t inspire much confidence. You ever find anyone?” I couldn’t believe how direct I was being. It wasn’t like me to provoke instead of coax. I think I was just over the bullshit at that point." 

Does it help if the victims are found alive, many years later? Does it help if women's' experiences aren't believed or publicized? As Stacey delves deeper into the mystery, a strange truth emerges that challenges her ideals of justice and the reality and myth of Mister Tasty Treats, who turns out to have long roots reaching back to 1910. 

Readers who like stories of investigation, horror, and a family challenged by history and present-day events and attitudes will find Whispers a surprising blend of not just horror, but satirical social inspection and political commentary. 

Those who choose Whispers expecting the usual staid supernatural thriller will find that it evolves from a typical kidnapping scenario into a brand of special inspection that may stymie those who expected a one-dimensional entertainment piece. It's not. 

It's a treatise on women's changing roles and strengths in the world, it cultivates an uncanny ability to pose uncomfortable truths in the guise of a thriller, and its engaging examination of different social truths and realities, both political and personal, create a dynamic story that is anything but a ghost tale or thriller alone. 

The mystery powers the explorations of women in distress who are strong and savvy enough to take charge of their own destinies in unexpectedly astute, original ways. 

Whispers is highly recommended reading for women (and men) who like unexpected twists and turns, sometimes-uncomfortable social insights, and a mystery that creates the backdrop for social inspection at an unexpected level. 

Whispers won't be for everyone; especially those who anticipated a thriller or supernatural tale alone. Those who enjoy plots that begin with seemingly predictable genre elements, only to evolve into inspections of corruption, racial inequality, and social issues, will find this story wide-ranging, unexpected, and delightfully thought-provoking. 

Whispers: An American Legend

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Novels

The Apple King
Barbara Anne King
Cypress Point Press
978-1733536950            $16.99 Paper/$4.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Apple-King-Barbara-Anne/dp/1733536957 

Readers of historical fiction centered around World War I will find The Apple King a powerful story that winds 1881  immigrant Nikola Markovich’s secret and a journey to a new life in America with events that bring him full circle back to Croatia, where he confronts the past and his future.

From Nikola's poverty-stricken European heritage and his success in the apple industry in the new country to a legacy that draws him back into a world stuck in a bygone era, there to confront his failures, successes, and opportunities for redemption, Barbara Anne King paints a gripping portrait of Europe, America, and one man's pivot points. 

As generations of patriotic pride in the Croatian city of Ragusa influence Nikola's choices and lend to his decisions to reclaim his heritage, the milieu of a world teetering on the edge of war comes alive through his perceptions and experiences. 

What Nikola finds when he returns is an uneducated country that has made little headway out of poverty under the Austrian Regime. The next generation who would have fought for it has left for bigger promises. Nikola's return portends many big changes not just for him, but for the countries he loves, which share the common value of freedom. 

To many in his new home, Nikola is "...just another Croat seeking his fortune in California." As readers move through Nikola's experiences with fellow immigrants from different countries, his connections to his homeland and his newfound successes in America, and the ties which draw him back to his roots, they receive a powerful saga steeped in European and American history and culture at the turn of the century. 

Barbara Anne King's ability to intersect the personal ideals, secrets, dreams, and struggles of Nikola's life with bigger-picture thinking about liberty and the choices of individuals and nations alike provides historical novel readers with the opportunity to understand many influences on World War I's prewar milieu. 

Those who seek insights on Croatian culture, in particular, will relish all the details of a world which too rarely receives much in-depth exploration. 

From Serbia's dream of a Slav empire (shared by other Slav countries, including Croatia) and the end result of its victory in the Balkan Wars to the struggle to "seize the moment before it flees," King crafts a satisfying juxtaposition between political events and personal struggle as the story evolves. 

There are no singular or simple perspectives here. From the complicated relationships between immigrants from different countries to the evolution of California's lucrative apple industry, King gives examples of all kinds of growth on many different levels. 

The Apple King is a compelling saga of struggle between generations, countries, political objectives, and social transformation. It brings readers into a compelling situation and the life of a young man challenged economically, morally, and ethically by many hard decisions in a fast-changing world. 

The Apple King

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Bedside Matters
Richard Alther
Rare Bird Books
9781644281635             $26.00 Hardcover/$11.49 Kindle
www.rarebirdlit.com 

In the novel Bedside Matters, Walter is literally at the end of the line. He's not only reviewing his life's trajectory up to this concluding act, but he's considering his family ties, his ambitions, and the process of letting go. This forms the heart of a story that is firmly based in how a man used to being in charge lets loose of the things he cannot control...death being at the top of his current list. 

Readers interested in stories of family intrigue, connections, and literary influences and lessons on how to take the next steps beyond life itself will find Bedside Matters a special blend of ethereal and spiritual reflection. It reviews the conundrums of a man who finds his life cinching ever tighter as it draws to a close. 

It asks a powerful question ("...what else is there, with no future?") and probes how his relationships change as his body deteriorates—even that with his ex, Polly, who is by his side even now: "Their boundary lines from each other have been well established and long respected. But she is absorbing this like surrendering one’s aching body to a hot bath." 

Readers may not expect the humor, or the additional of LBGTQ, sexuality, and gender issues, that are present in the story of a gruff curmudgeon in his last days of life; but Richard Alther considers family ties and bonds in more than one way. This approach creates a delightful interplay between various pieces of the end-of-life puzzle that increasingly lead Walter to turn over the reins of his life to those who attend him. 

Part of getting ready to move on involves an attitude change about his life and his role in it: "...he is becoming increasingly alone even with faithful Rufe plus various people poking about, Irma included. This is good, he is thinking. I’m getting ready. It’s getting close. Soon I’ll have had all the rehearsal one could hope for. And then the show must go on. You say you are about ready; he addresses himself, but meanwhile you manage to concoct one amusement after another." 

Fiction readers interested in an ethereal story that includes increasing disability, the loss of independence and self-reliance, and the challenge of saying goodbye in a meaningful way will find Bedside Matters an unexpected journey merging mind, body and soul towards a new perspective on life and those left behind. 

It's an evocative tale that takes one man's evolution a step further into the unknown, and will delight readers with its story of the legacy of a man who moves from participant to observer in his life. 

Bedside Matters

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The Bethlehem Boy
Linda Long Radosevich
Independently Published
979-8607920456            $19.99 Paper/$7.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Bethlehem-Boy-Linda-Long-Radosevich/dp/B084DG7LN6 

The Bethlehem Boy is a historical fiction piece about Jesus, but Linda Long Radosevich provides a cautionary note at the start: it "...intentionally expresses my personal faith in who and what Jesus of Nazareth was." As such, this tale involves personal interpretation and poetic license not designed to be authoritative, but embracing, warm, and revealing. 

Readers of Christian fiction will relish a fictional focus on the young Jesus and how he grew up, what his influences in the world were, and how he stepped into his role as a spiritual leader in a world fraught with political and social unrest. 

Even before Jesus appears on the scene, Radosevich demonstrates a prowess in bringing the times and its peoples to life through strong dialogue that weaves social and political observations into daily lives operating at different levels of society: "Simon changed the subject and asked the two Pharisees, “What do you know about the brilliant star?” “Ah, the star.” Nicodemus cleared his throat. “I’ve searched the Scriptures as you asked. The Prophet Daniel spoke of leaders of justice being like the stars forever. Therefore, so new and so bright a star may well indicate the birth of a future leader of justice or perhaps a great prophet.” Nicodemus hesitated. “Or perhaps a king.” A loud groan issued from Simon’s chest. “For everyone’s sake, don’t tell Herod about any future king. He’ll assume a challenger to his dynasty is being born. Thank you, though, for that information. God be with you.” 

Also astute are the representations of a young boy's life as he survives terrible onslaughts and is accused by peers of being a teacher's pet, among other things: “What did you call him?” an older classmate asked. “Bethlehem Boy,” shot out Baruch with disdain, “because he thinks God let him alone escape Herod’s slaughter.” Jesus looked confused. “I never said or even thought that,” he told the small group gathering around. Moshe immediately looked to Sam and realized the secret he’d shared hadn’t been kept. Sam’s guilty expression confirmed so. “I heard otherwise,” Baruch contradicted. “You think you’re so special, and you act special, too. That’s why you’re the rabbi’s favorite.” 

The general sentiment among the boys is that nothing good has ever come from Bethlehem. Though Jesus represents something different, being different isn't necessarily embraced; especially in hard times where ritual and familiarity supersede new ideas, people, and events. 

As Radosevich unfolds Jesus's life, readers are treated to a powerful story that also embraces the changing lives of his parents, who never thought they'd be part of a Son of God's upbringing and world, and who face losing him in more than one way: She wondered, though, what such a powerful influence might portend, and if it might take Jesus away from her again. “He did say it was his Father’s business,” Joseph reminded her. “Perhaps he senses—” “No, he couldn’t possibly,” responded Mary, knowing perfectly well what Joseph had been about to say. “So let’s not speak of this again, please. Not to my parents either. It’ll encourage them to promote Jesus as a rabbi, and he may not want to become one.” Or maybe you don’t want him to become one, thought Joseph. Maybe you prefer a carpenter son who’ll always stay near you in Nazareth. Joseph turned over and closed his eyes. He wasn’t about to disagree with Mary, who, he realized, had probably been traumatized over losing Jesus a second time. To his thinking, any mother would panic over a missing son, but no mother but Mary would have to panic about losing God’s son. Therefore, he easily forgave her for wanting Jesus close." 

Christian readers interested in a different, more personal take on Jesus's childhood, upbringing, and evolution (both spiritually and politically) will find The Bethlehem Boy rich in interpretative details that probe the perceptions and evolution not just of Jesus, but his family and friends. 

The discussions possible from this approach and warm review should be welcomed by any Christian looking for a broader inspection of Jesus's life than most fictional works adopt. 

The Bethlehem Boy

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Bright
Christine Melchior
Christine Melchior, Publisher
978-0578863832     $12.99 paperback; $4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Bright-Christine-Melchior/dp/0578863839/

Readers of women's fiction will receive a treat with Christine Melchior's Bright, a story that opens in 1983 in Massachusetts, where twelve-year-old Leeann Bright observes a fire and her father running from it.   

Fast forward to 1998. Leeann works in a Boston high-rise and faces the lingering aftereffects of her father's involvement in the blaze when new information breaks open the arson case. 

As the timeline fluctuates between the 80s and Leeann's coming of age and new adult challenges, readers receive an engrossing story of the impact of adult decisions on a child's psyche and its reemergence in adulthood. 

Christine Melchior is at her best when describing the aftereffects of this choice: "Leeann woke in the middle of the night on a sweat-soaked sheet.  Panic tightened her chest.  She sat up, trying to catch her breath.  She had lied to the police and that was a crime.  She broke the law.  People get arrested for lying to the police.  They get prosecuted.  She could end up in jail or juvenile hall for a long time.  She took deep breaths trying to relax and clear her mind.  Her eye caught a patch of blue and yellow paisley patterned wallpaper, dimly lit by her night-light.  When she squinted, she saw sea urchins with monster heads floating across the wall." 

She also excels at crafting a long-ranging story that follows Leeann's confrontation with her mother, her father's journey, and the long-term consequences of a choice that changes a family's trajectory and life. 

From an anonymous note years later that reopens old wounds to the progression of years from age 12 and upwards which contrast with the now-adult Leeann's struggles, Melchior's story is poignant, realistic, engrossing, and follows the newly challenged connections between a child and her parents through the years as everything changes: "Under normal circumstances the day would have left Leeann feeling pumped.  She was heading to Boston University with a four-year scholarship a few days before Labor Day to live in a high-rise dorm with its view of the Boston skyline.  She walked onto the stage to the cheers of her softball teammates.  She should have had a glow on her face.  The principal handed her a diploma, that piece of parchment releasing her from childhood, launching her into adulthood, but all she thought of was her mother, who had wanted to live long enough to witness this day." 

Can Leeann rebuild her own life against the forces that moved her from childhood too early? Bright is a compelling study of this process. It is highly recommended as a coming-of-age story of moral and ethical struggle and growth, and is a riveting inspection of intention and consequences. 

Women's fiction readers will find Bright thoroughly engrossing. 

Bright

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Decanted
Linda Sheehan
Black Rose Publishing
9781684337033             $19.95 paper/$6.95 ebook
Decanted: Sheehan, Linda: 9781684337033: Amazon.com: Books 

Decanted's story opens in Paris in 1936, where middle-aged artist Marciel struggles to capture the woman's form in a modeling session, but lacks inspiration. The story then moves to modern-day New York. Here, discussion during a wine tasting at Spence’s Fines Wines & Spirits turns to first-person protagonist Samantha Goodyear's great-aunt, who was a model, rebel, and wine appreciator in Paris right before the war, eventually moving to the U.S. to continue exploring her passion for fine wine and culture. 

Samantha has inherited much from her spunky aunt's attitude towards life, working long hours as an accountant in the online sales world of Weatherhouse towards goals that suddenly feel elusive. 

Admonished to "enjoy her ride" though life as her aunt did, Samantha embarks on a sea change when Paris reaches out to her in a different way, fueled by the dual lure of wine and romance. 

As Samantha embarks on a journey that reveals her aunt's hidden history and her own connections to wine and modeling, she learns much about aging beautifully. Her journey from Manhattan to Paris and then to a job working with a winery in California leads to a new role and discoveries that change everything. 

Fans of romance and wine will find plenty of both steeped in Samantha's evolutionary process as she moves from past to present and rubs elbows with major players in California's wine industry. The lap of luxury and culture is explored as she makes a new life for herself and realizes new ambitions and goals far from the type of success she'd already built in New York. 

Fans of women's fiction will find the flavor of this read more full-bodied than a romance, embracing career and growth as much as it embraces the wine industry and Samantha's mercurial explorations of life. 

Decanted is highly recommended reading for those interested in the intersection of traditional women's roles and newfound passion that lies beyond marriage, presenting an amazing journey that links them both. Fueled by wine, grapes, and personal growth, its lively, realistic tone engagingly juxtaposes the cultures of France, New York, and California in satisfyingly realistic detail. 

Decanted

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Eddie's Boy
Robert Schwab
Warren Publishing
978-1-7358600-1-5         $18.95 paper, $4.95 ebook
www.warrenpublishing.net 

Eddie's Boy is a literary survey of family ties and healing. It opens in 2007, when "Dr. Landon Ratliff’s fortieth birthday had been lost, thwarting everyone’s expectations, including his own." An accident has changed the course of his life, resulting in a head injury and a shattered thumb. On the surface, this appears to be a recoverable incident. 

However, like ripples in a pond, his healing sends undercurrents of change through his life, from his relationship with Luna Quinn to changes in his ability to help and teach others. 

As Landon's healing moves beyond immediate trauma to embrace issues of a past he'd never successfully confronted, his journey becomes one of reestablishing connections on more than one level—and in more than one life. 

His medical leave from his former passions, including teaching, begins to offer him new opportunities, and Landon discovers himself on a trajectory in which nothing of value is protected, certain, or, oftentimes, even appealing. 

Robert Schwab does a fine job of exploring a healing process that changes everything. As Luna joins his journey into his past and family relationships, readers are treated to a story of reconciliation and transformation that offers an enlightening, thought-provoking story.

His attempts to confront his own mortality, his choices and their consequences, and his connections to self and the wider world at large are particularly strongly portrayed as Landon learns difficult lessons on how to solidify and handle his responses to life: “I don’t know what to tell you, Landon. I don’t understand the battles you fight inside your head, but I wish you could get past them. They aren’t doing you any good." 

The focus on how long-held family relationships and patterns are revised on all sides is particularly nicely done, and will especially attract psychology students and readers interested in how a commitment to doing the right thing goes awry in Eddie's life, Landon's, and others. 

Eddie's real legacy turns out to give readers pause for thought as they absorb the lasting impact of life and death decisions on a son's ability to love and embrace life. Perhaps more than anything, this is the shining light in a story that moves through Landon and Luna's world and what it means to be part of a family. 

Literary readers who enjoy novels about pivot points in life that lead characters in new directions will appreciate Eddie's Boy, which comes full circle to lead an esteemed doctor to heal himself, opening up his life to new possibilities and the warm embrace of a different depth of love. 

Eddie's Boy

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Falling Forward, a Woman's Journey West
Pat Benedict Jurgens
Purple Pine Publishing
978-0-578-70157-8       $15.95 paper; $6.99 Kindle eBook
Website: www.patjurgens.com
Ordering link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/057870157X/ 

Falling Forward, a Woman's Journey West is coming-of-age literary fiction at its best and follows the saga of seventeen-year-old Louisa, a Mennonite farm girl living in 1890s Ohio. 

Her dreams of travel and adventure seem impossible when her mother dies in childbirth, leaving her to care for her younger siblings as her father struggles to keep the farm running. 

When he hires Thomas, an outsider to the Faith, to help on the farm, Louisa finds everything changed not just by her attraction to him, but the differences between her strict Mennonite upbringing and the challenges he poses to them as an outsider with very different beliefs and perspectives on life and God. 

When her loving father agrees to their union, Louisa and Thomas thus begin their own journey, making many discoveries about themselves and each other along the way. They are challenged to create a life together in a community that has shunned them.  

Pat Benedict Jurgens brings the times to life, as well as introducing the foundations of a Mennonite household and its Germanic heritage. Her attention to detail includes dialogue between father and daughter which captures these foreign flavors while keeping the story understandable: “I haf lost face in de church, but still haf my daughter. Vith a strong-headed girl like you, dat is victory.” She looked up with an uncertain smile, but didn’t say anything. “Nineteen years you are, a voman grown, and one who knows her own mind.” Louisa’s fingers stopped sewing to take in his words: “I hope it nein vill land you in too much trouble.” 

When yet another tragedy strikes, the headstrong and determined Louisa is challenged to continue her foray into the world alone: "...outdoors in the natural world, grass along the walk greened, crocuses and then daffodils pushed their way up from the earth. The scent of earth and early blossoms permeated the air. Looking at the buds on the big cottonwood tree in the yard, Louisa saw the world awakening. Gradually she began to feel that life was for living." 

Jurgens adds many observations about women's roles during this era, in these wild places and times: "A woman’s livelihood hinged on either having a husband or enough money to be independent." But Louisa is not the kind of woman to remain quietly true to her assigned role even as a bank president stymies her proposal: “I don’t doubt your capability, Miss. And I admire your enthusiasm, but starting a business is a man’s job. If your husband were alive, I doubt that he’d agree to your ambitions. I understand you need to make a living, but perhaps something you could do at home would be more seemly. A store run by a woman? Pardon me, but a man’s head for commerce is needed for an endeavor of this magnitude.” 

Readers who anticipate the journey of another pioneer girl will find this coming-of-age story offers so much more as Louisa's ventures in the West evolve from travel to business to enter another forbidden circle, politics, which brings with it a blossoming women's suffrage movement. 

All these elements are presented in a warm, involving story that is a delight to read. The personal growth of a homebody and feisty girl into a determined woman who falls into a role of advocating for social change is well done and compelling. 

Women's fiction readers who seek more than adventure alone will welcome Louisa's story of social, political, and personal transformation. 

Falling Forward, a Woman's Journey West

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Incentives
George Franklin
FPA Books
9781733444422             $14.95
www.GeorgeFranklinAuthor.com 

Incentives: The Holy Water of Free Enterprise may sound like a business book or a motivational self-help piece, but it's a humorous novel that spoofs and looks at the motivators for economic development and the intersection between politics and rogue actions. It offers a tongue-in-cheek survey of public policy, business special interests, and considers the often-questionable incentives that drive both. 

One of George Franklin's objectives was for his readers to "...have a good laugh and be completely entertained from page to page through each character's storyline." This goal is met through the stories of two rednecks who insert themselves into a multi-billion-dollar industry thanks to government aid, with ribald results. But the story holds more than comedic observation alone. 

Also embedded in this saga is a set of cultural mishaps and investigations, tongue-in-cheek commentary on male and female relationships and roles both within and outside the business world, legal entities and political entanglements, and more. 

The rogues aren't just the rednecks who find themselves in new and unpredictable circumstances, but the social structures and politics which surround their rise to power and their newfound objectives. 

Carl Hiaasen fans, especially, should take note; because the approaches, characters, and ironic situations that swirl throughout the story are reminiscent of his works, as well as a good Christopher Moore spoof. 

Readers warned about the novel's humor might find unexpected the business, political, and social food for thought embedded in the ruckus—but it's there, and is a nice contrast to the inherently fun nature of the read. 

Readers looking for something original, sassy, and intriguing will find Incentives: The Holy Water of Free Enterprise defies easy or pat categorization as its characters embark on paradigm-changing romps through business and social milieus alike. 

Incentives

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The Limits of Limelight
Margaret Porter
Gallica Press

9780990742012       $14.95 (print) $5.99 (ebook)
Author website: www.margaretporter.com
Ordering: www.amazon.com 

The Limits of Limelight is a Hollywood novel about the cousin of Ginger Rogers, Helen Nichols, who finds a different kind of opportunity in the town when her cousin invites her to become successful in the new motion picture business that is rapidly evolving.

The Oklahoma teen comes to "talkie town" set for success, between her famous cousin's invitation, the possibility of a contract, and her new name (Phyllis Fraser). What she doesn't bring with her is an understanding of the undercurrents of 'tinsel town' and its ability to crush the dreams and aspirations of the inexperienced. 

Her chaperon and aunt, Lela Rogers, also has stars in her eyes and her own agenda for personal success. This affects her relationships with her daughter Ginger and her niece. 

As the females face a male-dominated film industry that is ruthless its money-driven approach to life, each changes and faces challenges to her dreams that forces a revised picture of Hollywood's allure and opportunities for women. 

Their relationships grow (as does the sense of family connection) from these experiences: "Was Ginger going to ask her to move in? She’d grown so attached to Anne and Mimi Shirley. What’s more, she was reluctant to return to that place she’d previously occupied, deep within the shadow cast by the outrageously talented and enormously popular movie star." 

As each is transformed by hobnobbing with other stars, handling new wealth and its promise of more, and dealing with Hollywood's social and political environment, The Limits of Limelight does a fine job of capturing family relationships affected by the backdrop of opportunity (either real or illusionary). 

Based on the true journey of Helen Maurine Brown Nichols (best remembered as Phyllis Fraser Cerf Wagner), this story's progressive examination of the price of success and a young girl's entry into an industry notorious for prosperity and romance provides an engrossing glimpse into a bygone era and the forces affecting a young woman's evolution into her own abilities and adulthood. 

Women who like stories of Hollywood and family ties will find The Limits of Limelight adds just the right blend of action to keep it vigorous and involving to the end. It's a story especially recommended for anyone interested in Hollywood history and affairs. 

The Limits of Limelight

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The Magician
Kathleen Shoop
Independently Published
ASIN : B08WFG2CCW         $4.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Magician-Donora-Story-Collection-Book-ebook/dp/B08WFG2CCW 

The Magician is a sweeping historical family saga that moves between 1920 and 2019, tracing the heritage, birth, and growth of a baseball legend whose achievements change the Donora household. Before Stanisław Franciszek Musiał steps into his destiny, however, a series of mishaps (both personal and social) pose seemingly insurmountable barriers to his goals. 

His story is told by 92-year-old Patryk Rusek who, having been thwarted in his escape from a retirement community, decides to capture the magic of his family history for a young boy, which eventually expands to embrace other listeners. Rusek hoped that, by gathering these recollections, he would be deemed sane enough to return to his Donora, Pennyslvania home. 

Donora is a real town, affected by the mills that became its lifeblood and by the peoples whose lives were changed and challenged by factory work. Kathleen Shoop consulted members of the Donora Historical Society to build authentic color into her story, which represents a fine blend of fictionalized lives and nonfiction realities and social issues. She also reviewed source materials about the legend and life of baseball player Stan Musial, injecting a background of solid history and biographical facts into the story. 

Stan Musial is a baseball player deemed a "magician" by Rusek and everyone who knew him. His magic stemmed as much from his attitude towards his abilities, an equally extraordinary way of overcoming seemingly insurmountable obstacles to achieve the impossible, and his kindness towards others as his skillful playing. 

As Shoop delves into his childhood, Donora history, and the events and elements that shaped Musail's life, readers receive a powerful story of the Depression, the concurrent battle Patryk faces over cancer, and the choices it brings to both his present world and connections with his family. 

Perhaps the greatest strength to Shoop's story lies in its evocative descriptions of not just Stan's life and relationships, but the inner logic of his thoughts. Her ability to bring these to life to explore Stan's progression through hard work, family crises, love, and baseball dreams alike lends a powerful flavor to the book that even non-sports readers will find absolutely compelling: "...when I bat and I’m looking at the pitcher and everything just fades away, all the voices, the fielders, my doubts, and I feel the pitcher’s movement like it’s mine, and in the back of my mind I register the grip and see the ball come off his fingertips—but that’s not even what’s important; it’s what comes after all that stuff that I concentrate on, and before the ball gets halfway to the plate I know where it’s gonna break or curve or drop, and I know whether to swing for short left field or smack one through the center right gap. And then I do. It’s not like the kind of thinking in algebra or making sure I don’t stammer or deciding to try college. It’s like nothing else I’ve ever  experienced. It’s like magic. It’s when I’m the most happy I could ever be.” 

These moments of fulfillment, happiness, and walking in the shoes of destiny drive this story and makes all its characters and their choices and trials realistic and gripping. 

Readers who believe that a prior interest in baseball or Donora history is a requirement for enjoying The Magician will be in for a surprise. All that's required is an open mind and heart. The magic embedded in the tale will do the rest. 

The Magician

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Paris Secrets
Sean Vogel
MB Publishing
978-0-9850814-3-0         $9.95
www.mbpublishing.com 

Paris Secrets, the third novel in the Jake McGreevy series, combines a pun-filled culinary adventure in Paris, France, with a historical family mystery from World War II. This is a fast-paced tale of intrigue that will appeal to middle grade readers ages 10 and up. 

The stage is set by a prologue that opens in German-occupied Paris in 1942. A  courageous woman, forced to make difficult decisions and employ survival tactics during the war, must part from her 11-year-old daughter, Esther. Two fellow underground members will escort her south to the Free Zone in France. The woman packs a family photo with a cryptic note written on the back into her daughter's belongings and jots down important information about Esther into an already jam-packed journal, next to the details about her two other daughters, who had been smuggled out of Paris earlier.  

Fast forward 71 years. It's spring break in 2013, and fifteen-year-old Jake and his best friend Ben Meyers have just arrived in Paris to participate in a televised baking contest, run by the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. When not being judged on their baklava and brioche, they will be digging into Jake's late mother's family's past. A photo from the 1940s with a mysterious note, which once belonged to Jake's late grandmother, is their only clue, but it's enough to get them started.  

With the photo as their guide, Jake and Ben begin their journey. After knocking on a few apartment doors, they meet Jake's cousin Sophie and her grandmother, Esther (Jake's great-aunt), who tells them about her mother's special mission in the 1940s and two journals. The four of them marvel at the identical photos. If the note on the back can be deciphered, it will lead them to answers about Jake's family history—and so much more. 

Soon, Heather (a new friend from the baking contest) and Sophie's friend Claire (a Parisian Catacombs expert) join their quest. Along the way, contemporary dangers emerge: Whom can the teens trust? And who is that shadowy person following them on a moped?  

Readers will find Paris Secrets an outstanding read that requires no prior familiarity with Jake McGreevy's first two adventures, and they will be riveted by this impactful story about friendship and valor, past and present.   

Paris Secrets

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Saints and Martyrs
Aaron Roe
Atmosphere Press
978-1636495644            $18.99 Paper/$7.99 Kindle
https://atmospherepress.com/books/saints-and-martyrs-novel-by-aaron-roe/ 

Saints and Martyrs follows protagonist Damian Kurt's determination to write his father's story, proving that he was a saint and that, therefore, Damian is in line to become a saint in heaven himself. This involves confessing his sins, handling his overly-Catholic mother, and recovering from an accident that leads him away from home and the prospect of becoming a religious figurehead, thanks to his mounting list of sinful ways. 

The pursuit leads him to a remote seminary which at first seems ideal for following his goal of sainthood. However, it just goes to show that ideals of godliness are rarely achieved by those who aspire to purity. As Damian faces new challenges, the real challenge to his objectives emerges in a place of healing, wonder, and revelation. 

Aaron Roe injects a wry sense of humor into his descriptions. Readers will find delight in the most common of experiences, such as Damian's ill-sought experiences during confession: "Dizzy, he suddenly found himself leaning to the left. He swung his torso in the opposite direction and almost fell through the confessional curtain and into the body of Canadian Martyrs. To steady himself he gripped the sides of the small, square window facing him. Through its diamond-pattern grating, Father Dennis slouched in a black cassock and purple stole. With his thick thumb and index finger, the priest pinched the ridge of his nose, raising his glasses to his forehead. Then he rubbed his eyes before resting his cheek on his fist. He seemed oblivious to Damian’s flailing." 

The sense of place, purpose, and people are cemented throughout by such descriptions, which tap realistic scenarios but present them with a chuckle—perhaps because of their astute commentary on the realities of Catholic thinking: "He wanted to confess his masturbation along with looking at the underwear model in the catalogue, but it was his practice, when confessing acts of lust, to sandwich them between other, less embarrassing sins." 

Damian's ability to transcend earthly challenges seems doomed as Roe outlines his failures in even the most mundane of tasks: "Damian was fully awake now and recalled Thoreau’s injunction to keep awake “by an infinite expectation of the dawn.” This infinite expectation was, to Damian’s understanding, a perpetual readiness to re-approach life, adjust one’s worldview, and to daringly alter how you spent your days. Also, to ever hope afresh, to never dampen one’s outlook by adopting dull, outmoded, and conventional beliefs. Ultimately, to retain, as Christ had enjoined his followers, a childlike awe for nature’s beauty, for life’s flowing spring of surprises. And since today was just about to fully dawn, he waded to shore where, chilly and dripping, he realized he’d forgotten a towel and fresh underwear. If he dried himself with his old clothes, his stale, smelly past would cling to him just when he was about to sail forth into a fresh future!" 

The result is a tongue-in-cheek romp into the ideals of sainthood and godly behavior that will have readers both reflecting on and laughing at Damian's convoluted journey. Religious readers who think they are choosing a story about achieving a spiritual goal will find this story of a flawed character who strives for perfection to be funny, thought-provoking, and poignant as Damian tries to rid himself of his fears and the seminary's increasingly crumbling façade of corruption, only to stumble into unexpected truths and a new vision of life.  

It's a vocation story of another order, entirely! 

Saints and Martyrs

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Standees
Robert Rubenstein
Independently Published
979-8579977748            $4.99 Paper; $2.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/STANDEES-robert-Rubenstein/dp/B08T872QV8 

The 2021 world depicted in Standees holds the rare attribute of simultaneously feeling both familiar and alien. This will delight readers of social satire and literary allusion, offering a close inspections of ironic and dark settings that provide a twist on perspectives of modern society's oddities. 

Take a walk into Lovee's world, where an elderly best friend has been reborn as a 'standee'—a cardboard cutout of himself who represents a wave of undead new observers in a strange half-dead/half-alive milieu. 

It's a pandemic setting which puts all kinds of relationships to the test. In this world, "love has run amuck," and has washed everything away. Lovee still finds plenty to fear, despite his changed condition: "Now, the lights in our apartment flickered. I best not move forward. She held another unborn hostage in her womb. She had the power of life and death. The stillborn still breathed in our memories amidst the gloom." 

Standees is no straightforward progression through the usual pandemic scenario, but a surreal romp that juxtaposes inner and outer worlds of imagination and change: "At that instant, my phone rang. The question posed had awakened a memory. I was brought again to that cold storage bin. A nurse was pulling me out of my confines, as if I were born again. “Hi honey.” It was Miraj. She sounded breathless. “I thought we could get together,” she said. Miraj, the nurse with her bubble butt, who extricated me. Her error put me in a body bag for the whole world to see. Her and her cohort, palpating my lip. How much more pain did I need, in the midst of a world pandemic? It was obscene." 

Readers familiar with the usual logical progression of such a scenario may chafe at the twisting, turning, winding story line that ebbs and flows like the tide. Standees assumes not a linear progression but the mercurial staccato images of a dream, intoxicating in its romp through images, underworlds, and the dark, stark reality of newly-formed standees who are corrugated coroplasts of their former selves. 

Dip into a stream of consciousness style of narration in which Lovee is buffeted, abused, changed; the observer of a society transformed by pandemic and its own implosion of values: "Ruì’ān was being brain-washed. How else to explain the rage? He was being programmed to kill, or to suicide by over-ingesting milk chocolatey frosted donuts. There were many ways to kill Americans those days." 

It brings to mind One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; but Lovee is too often the participant as well as the observer of revised survival tactics and choices in this dreadfully altered world. 

Prepare to be amazed and confused and delighted, all in one. Standees is no light read, but carries its readers into the dissolution of society and self which seems both all too familiar and hauntingly surrealistic. Literature readers well used to the devices of satire and dark humor are in for a treat, as well as sci-fi or pandemic fiction audiences looking for a far more thought-provoking twist on the subject. 

Standees

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Tatar Storm
Tibor Gergely
Independently Published
979-8649768399            $12.99 Paper/$7.40 Kindle
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Tatar-Storm-Mr-Tibor-Gergely/dp/B089M2CY4D
Website: www.heroesfromthepast.com 

Historical fiction fans with a special interest in the Mongol era and medieval European backdrops will find a special treat in Tatar Storm—it's the only fictional work to include all the significant events of the invasion. 

The focus is on the grandson of Genghis Khan, Batu Khan, who has his sights set on ruling the entire European continent. He only made it to Hungary, where his rule changed the lives of its people and led to a firm rebellion that prevented him from achieving his broader goals. 

One would expect such a story to open in this bygone era, but it begins in modern times, when a female archaeologist arrives on site to investigate an unexpected discovery during a construction project. An ornately carved, hidden door sporting the double seal of Béla IV leads to an ancient sealed box that holds a historical treasure: the words of Detre, son of Máté, who records in extraordinary detail the events which led he and his fellow men to hole up in an old castle for nine months; starving, cold, and dreading the Tatar invaders who have decimated Hungary. 

This introduction injects a compelling desperation into the story from the start that draws readers while assuring that no prior familiarity with the era or Hungarian history is needed in order to thoroughly access and enjoy this vivid account: "I shall write down all that I witnessed during this last year, when our beautiful flourishing country became filled with corpse-stinking air and littered with rotting ruins hither and yon, until the time is upon us, until Our Lord's judgment is fulfilled. My story started here, in this small castle by river Danube exactly a year ago, and how, as the king’s vassal I came to be here, and not, rather sharing the bitter bread of exile with my master, is all explained in the history of events recounted below…" 

This preface leads into a story that attracts in two ways: though strong characters, and a 'you are there' series of atmospheric descriptions that capture the sights, sounds, smells, and times: "The mounted regiments, the heavy cavalry of the Knights Templar and Hospitaller along with the king`s own heavy cavalry and also the county`s light cavalry brigades camped on the left of the road leading to the city. The private soldiers of the aristocrats erected their tents to the right. There was an empty square, tram-pled flat and fenced in with barriers constructed by the squires, where their lords were passing the time jousting and practising dragoon duelling. The metallic clattering was constant, blade on blade, on shield, on armour." 

From the invaders' underestimation of the power of the king and the determination of the Hungarians to choose their own leader and destiny to the close attention to historical detail unparalleled in other stories of the times (according to author Tibor Gergely: "About two-thirds of the events described in the novel actually happened. About 70% of the characters in the novel were real people. The novel also features details from original, contemporary documents that fit perfectly into the story."), this story is powerfully rendered. It will simply delight both newcomers and seasoned readers familiar with the times, who well know of the gap in literature surrounding this important, little-covered era (again, per Gergely: "So far no novels or films have been made about the events of the Mongol invasion in Hungary.").

The close attention to historical detail alone would have made this historical novel exceptional; but its ability to draw in those less familiar with the history blends accessibility with flair for drama that exquisitely captures the pathos, conflict, and tortuous social and political changes that were the legacies of an invasion that almost resulted in genocide. 

It's rare to find such a blend of scholarly detail spiced with compelling fictional proficiency. Tatar Storm is a standout in many ways, and deserves a place as a foundation piece in any historical fiction library, and on the shelves of readers who may or may not have a prior background or interest in medieval European history.

Tatar Storm

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To Every Page a Turning
Carl Buccellato
Mascot Books
978-1-64543-522-8         $16.95
www.mascotbooks.com 

To Every Page a Turning: One Life's Journey presents the transformative fictional journey of a seventy-seven-year-old narrator who reflects back on his life and its conflicts as he cleans out the memories of his past. 

It is Florida, 2019. He is prompted to undertake a sentimental journey through the decades when he stumbles upon scribbled pages in a file. These bring him back to Vietnam, to a world of steamy jungles, an eighteen-year-old boy thrust into the work of military men, and a survival process which results in a long-term emotional cost: "...the tears were buried deep within him, so deep he wondered if he could ever really feel again, or just go on pretending." 

Religious beliefs and sentiments aside, this young man has developed coping mechanisms for war that continue to influence his life choices and attitudes during peacetime: "He wondered, “Does anyone really know me? Can anyone see me below the surface? Am I alone in a world full of  strangers?” Somehow, he had always been a stranger, on the edge, waiting, judging, watching, appearing to be on the inside smiling, joking, but that was always the mask for show. And once again he asked, “Is this the day, Lord?” 

As the story moves from war-torn jungles to his marriage to Mary and his involvement in a twelve-step group, he learns new ways of engaging with a world he'd purposely disengaged from in order to survive. This process is engrossingly described, and readers receive inspections of the various means by which he confronts his past and present: "Sunday evening, he sat in the silence of his room, pen in hand, writing a letter to his late father and mother, finally able to speak his heart to them without condemnation and with acceptance." 

To Every Page a Turning is a captivating novel of recovery and reflection that will especially reach readers who have their own wartime and military experiences to consider. Its journey of growth also reflects America's changing ideals and experiences as seen through the eyes of a young man who moves beyond survival tactics to adopt a new vision of the world and his place in it as an adult. These evolving social issues change his life completely, bringing him full circle to share his strengths, his weaknesses, and his joys in a new way that comes full circle. 

Its different take on the long-term aftermath of the Vietnam War will involve and interest readers with a special interest in a lifetime of coming to terms with the past. 

To Every Page a Turning

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Town of Angels
Jody Sharpe
Independently Published
978-0988562004            $12.00 Paper/$2.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Town-Angels-Mystic-Jody-Sharpe/dp/0988562006 

Those who believe in the presence and influence of angels in everyday life will find the third book in the Mystic Bay series, Town of Angels, an uplifting study in positivity. It blends a mystery with the story of an angel who takes on a bully in a small town where angels live as humans. 

The town is replete with psychics and ordinary people. All live a bucolic life until bully Klaus Waxman comes to town and tries to change its psyche. 

It's difficult to ignore his negativity and typecasting; especially when he opens a store that mocks the angel sightings the town knows to be true. 

It's up to Angel Ken to lead the charge to thwart Klaus's influence. 

As much as this is a story of angels and psychics, it's also a story of small-town life affected by an outsider bully's influence and approach, providing lessons not just of a spiritual nature, but on how to confront bullying and prejudice with a gentler perspective on life. 

As faith meets fear, different points of view present dilemmas from a number of angles, engaging readers in more than a cursory examination of clashing belief systems. 

The only prerequisite for enjoyment of this story is the ability to read about the presence of angels and their guidance of human affairs. 

Those who welcome the thought, appearance, and approaches of angels in everyday life will relish the positive notes, mystery, and problem-solving attitudes of angel and human alike in this gentle story of kindness, hope, belief, and resolving differences.

Town of Angels

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Two Boys at Breakwater
Boston Teran
High-Top Publishing
978-1-567030176           $22.00
www.bostonteran.com 

Two Boys at Breakwater is set in the late 1950s to mid-1960s and follows the lives and connections between two New York inner city youths: Guy Prince, the son of a racketeer, and Dean Teranova, the son of a conman. 

The story opens with a ten-year-old who is arrested for murder. In the next chapter, father Peter Prince is walking away from his son not knowing if he will be murdered. 

This world's motto is “The crime…is life itself.” It's an adage that drives fathers, sons, and relationships as the Bronx and its culture and crime come alive for readers. 

From this opening, one might expect the usual story of two boys who come together to create a life of crime, but Two Boys at Breakwater offers much more, delving into a search for a gangster who has been missing for ten years, punished for the one good deed he's done in his life. 

As the world of mafia associations, friendships, politics, and 1960s street culture comes to life, the account becomes a gripping coming-of-age story which employs more vivid language and description than the usual mafia tale to bring the streets, culture, and times to life: "Dean knew this was the full dose of no good. It was like every nothing argument in Spofford where guys stumblefucked over their own dicks in the race to prove they were fools." 

Boston Teran's ability to guide the English language in a unique manner that both surprises and captures the New York community milieu creates an atmosphere that is compelling and often unexpected as the boys struggle with themselves, their heritage, and each other. Teran's language is crisp, original, and exceptional throughout: "They might have gotten into it. Dean knew Guy was suffering and it was a dirty wound because there was the son, fighting for a father he had not seen in a decade and now knew he wasn’t dead. Here was the son playing the paladin, waiting on word would he see him again." 

As issues of ruthlessness, protection, love, and redemption come into play, the two boys develop disparate yet connected lives and concerns that provide glimpses of probabilities, futures, and alternatives. 

Two Boys at Breakwater is no West Side Story. In its exploration of a different kind of love between two young men on the cusp of change, it creates a compelling search and saga that is cemented by strong characterization, a sense of place, and an evolving purpose that changes both boys. 

Readers of crime fiction or coming of age stories who anticipate the usual progression of transformative events will find Two Boys at Breakwater is a horse of another color...vivid, surprising, gritty, and filled with accounts of crime and lessons about life...and death. 

It's highly recommended reading for anyone seeking a story of two souls who navigate the uncertainties of a dangerous urban world and their own hearts. 

Two Boys at Breakwater

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The Weary God of Ancient Travelers
Jessica Stilling
D. X. Varos, Ltd.
978-1-941072-950          $18.95 Paper/$4.99 ebook
www.dxvaros.com 

The Weary God of Ancient Travelers presents the dilemma of amnesiac Lydia Warren, who struggles to regain her identity and life, then moves through a different scenario as she experiences life in Greece with a man she can't quite recall and tries to reconcile this world with a past which is shrouded in questions. 

Jessica Stilling brings Greece alive from the start in an introductory paragraph that is compelling, evocative, and filled with the promise of a good mystery: "I remember how it tasted. It was pasta that reminded me of past lives, where I wore a different face, slipped into another skin. It was the taste of white wine and garlic, the slight hint of salt coming off the Aegean. It’s the sea itself, how blue it is. Then again wasn’t it Proust who said that taste and smell are directly connected to memory? He ate a cookie once that he hadn’t had since his childhood, the story goes, and memories of being a little boy came flooding back. Then he wrote Remembrance of Things Past. They call it the madeline memory. But it’s not just this life, one past, that we’re connected to. Sitting at a restaurant looking out at the sea, I could taste it in the pasta, the white wine and garlic, a past life." 

Lydia knows that her current life is overlaid by a past she can't quite recall. The questions are not only what that life was and what happened to it, but at what points the two personas intersect, and how to rebuild it from a blend of new and old foundations. 

When an agent from the UN arrives at her door, Lydia begins to discover that her connections to this world may not be as straightforward as the accident that caused memory loss and thwarts her recovery. She may be involved in something that involves not just present-day experiences, but past lives: "I see spies and enemy planes, secret agents, trench coats and fedora hats. Was I a spy in my life as Olivia? Did I perish undercover decades after World War II? Is this what she’s hiding, the secret in Europe she cannot reveal not to me or to herself?" 

This added facet of intrigue powers a story spiced with psychological inspection and mystery. As she finds out about threats to people who were her family and her role in these events through a third party agent, Lydia and Agent Rynsburger uncover evidence that much more is going on than a simple memory loss. Are her past life memories real? If not, why do they fill in so many blanks about the present? 

The reports surrounding her identity don't make sense. The facts surrounding a death do not add up. And Lydia's commitment to uncovering the truth about her past and possible other lives leads her to place trust in another's ability to investigate, even though he might not prove to be acting on her best interests. The motive for her choices is especially well portrayed:  "There is a comfort in his expertise and I want to push him to know the truth even if I cannot remember it. I want him to piece this together ever so carefully." 

The blend of romance, mystery, the compelling-almost visceral-descriptions of Greece, and the psychological self-inspection all work together to create an absolutely compelling piece worthy of high recommendation. 

Who is Lydia Warren, in all this? The answer will rock not only her world, but many readers. 

The Weary God of Ancient Travelers

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Where Madness Lies
Sylvia True
Top Hat Books/John Hunt Publishing
9781789044607             $18.95 Paper/$7.19 Kindle
www.tophat-books.com 

Where Madness Lies moves between 1934 Germany and the USA in 1984 as it weaves connections between the Holocaust and its lingering impact on the world. It is especially recommended for readers who might wonder at the need for reinforcing Holocaust history in modern times, and considers the lasting legacy of repression and genocide on surviving generations. 

It should be noted that this is the fictionalized story of Sylvia True's grandmother's world. True has embellished somewhat for the sake of crafting a captivating fictional read, admitting that while some details are how she imagines them, "the bones of the story are true." This realistic feel is part of what makes Where Madness Lies so compelling; but another satisfying reason for its strength is that no singular point of view is the lone capturer of these events. 

The story opens with a Q&A session in 1947 Germany with Dr. Paul Viktor Bohm—Medical Director of Sonnenstein Psychiatric Hospital and Deputy Director of Action T4. The discussion of 'mercy murders' and why a professional physician would willingly become involved in gas chamber executions of his fellow ordinary countrymen makes for a powerful introduction, injecting moral and ethical examinations from the start: "Q: And you agreed to this because of orders from Bouhler? A: I agreed to it because we were releasing patients from lives of misery." 

As events move back and forth in time and between different characters, True is careful to include these changing dates in each chapter heading so readers experience no confusion about past and present settings. 

From the well-known methods of oppression which overtake Germany to the specter of mental illness and how it is handled over the decades, True crafts an involving story of the changing world and how mentally ill patients and people become especially threatened: “I am only thinking that because of the times we live in, I find some of the methods used at the hospital, to be blunt—barbaric.” 

As these different eras fall under True's close inspection, readers receive a discussion that examines concepts of freedom, civil rights, repression, and the lasting impact of social and political changes on generations to come. 

It was more than a time of genocidal efforts...it embraced the effort to use women's mental health against them as one of the many means of controlling the population and altering their perceptions of right and wrong. 

This detailed examination of how a horrifying concept became part of the mainstream acceptance of Nazi contentions forms the backbone of a story firmly rooted in family experience and struggle. 

Any reader of Holocaust history who thinks they already have likely received enough of the typically familiar focus on events should think again—and choose Where Madness Lies. It represents a powerful survey of control, transformative social experiments, and the real struggles the Nazi paradigm brought to ordinary Germans; and it traces these repercussions into today's world, with chilling food for thought. 

Where Madness Lies

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You Might Feel a Little Prick
Reuben Leder
FriesenPress
978-1-5255-7309-5         $22.99
www.friesenpress.com 

You Might Feel a Little Prick injects satirical examination into a medical thriller format to provide readers with an unusual blend of intrigue and humor. 

From its introductory sentence, it's evident that the story is filled with startling descriptions that are compellingly original in their representation: "The keening wind blowing off Lake Erie weaponized the snow, turned it horizontal—a Christmas Eve more appropriate for balaclavas or burkas than reindeer sweaters. Or better yet, to stay inside. Unless inside meant Cleveland Mercy Hospital; then all bets were off." 

Nick and Julie were high school sweethearts who both worked for the same medical company, EZ Care. They find themselves unexpectedly in trouble in different ways, threatened by the health system they once believed in. Nick has an accident that results in a series of botched procedures that he comes to believe are benefiting his employer, while Julie is framed by her sexist supervisor for the loss of a patient and is fired. 

The couple joins forces to seek justice—and that's where You Might Feel a Little Prick becomes complicated and especially intriguing. Questions of moral and ethical judgment—and actions on all sides -- including a too-savvy police detective who connects the dots of their actions and is rapidly closing in—combined with a range of obstacles, from dangerous doctors to corporate shenanigans and threats, to complete a romp through the pages of an engrossing saga. 

Even arrest processes are hilariously depicted: "...according to the AMA, you’re not licensed to practice anywhere in the United States.” “You lie!” said Demidova. “Dr. Trout arrange all my licenses! Everything is in order!” “Then I’d say killing him was a helluva of a way to say thanks.” Oohs and aahs from the crowd as Demidova wailed, “Akhineya! How could I kill the man I love?” Demidova’s white-hot glare would have made the sun cower, had it been out. “Save it for the jury, Doc,” said Sikorski. “Along with the reason your fingerprints were all over his French doors to oblivion.” “He ask me to open!” That begat woofing from the bystanders, who’d taken on the singularity of a reality show audience." 

Expect the unexpected, whether it's in interpersonal interactions, special interests, changing points of view, or images of perps and police alike: "Detective Debs, with flaming red hair and freckles that scrunched up like a colony of fire ants when she was thinking real hard, was alright." 

The descriptions, language, and progression of You Might Feel a Little Prick are simply outstanding. The story will especially appeal, as a spoof, to medical thriller readers who will recognize many tongue-in-cheek comments on more serious medical thriller components. 

From remarkable personal transformations as Julie turns away from the person Nick loved and manages to find her way back on the path home to issues of medical system special interests, along with a serving of revenge and redemption, You Might Feel a Little Prick is delightful in its dilemmas. It will intrigue a wide audience, from medical thriller fans (who receive something very different with the added value of satirical inspection) to those who enjoy black humor, corporate shenanigans, and stories of idealistic worldviews gone awry. 

You Might Feel a Little Prick

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Reviewer's Choice

#ImpactMyLife: Being the Change
Eric Godwin
Mascot Books
978-1-64543-252-4         $24.95
www.mascotbooks.com 

#ImpactMyLife: Being the Change charges readers to spread kindness around the world by making a difference in small ways. It is especially recommended reading (and a call to action) for those who feel they can't really impact the world in a positive way. 

Its choice of using memoir rather than admonition creates a concrete link between desire, action, and impact, setting the stage for the intersection of all three right from the start: "The purpose behind this book is to create a transformation in the way each person impacts another’s life, which in turn positively impacts your life. This book is for anyone who has contemplated the thought, I want to make a difference, or, I wish I could do something more. I am one of those people." 

By publishing this treatise, Eric Godwin actually lives up to the letter of change in his own words by reinforcing that negativity can be offset by constructive and purposeful efforts to engage with the world, causing it to adopt a different course. 

His is a blend of memoir, blank page journal, and action-encouraging admonition that provides a game plan for healing and empowerment. Weekly tasks are quite simple to achieve: "Your task this week: go to any grocery store and purchase five dollars’ worth of non-perishable goods and donate them to the local food bank, school, church, et cetera. You can do more than five dollars, if you wish. Food is an essential item for life, so the bigger the impact, the better!" 

#ImpactMyLife doesn't just focus on individual action and effects, however, but broadens its scope and approach to embrace community-changing efforts: "After this week, you will have made an impact on yours and others’ lives for a month! There is an old saying, “When you are green, you are growing.” This week, let’s impact the environment in a positive way." 

As the weeks unfold, tasks and notes lead to bigger and bigger jobs, such as mentoring another, adopting a highway or community road to care for, or baking a cake to donate to a worthy community-supporting office. For example: "Bake a cake for your local soil and water conservation office. The soil and water conservation service provides numerous resources for your business, home, or community to help you understand soil conservation techniques, water quality management, and youth education programs." 

The result is highly recommended for readers who want to help, but are stuck in routines and approaches that thwart meaningful efforts. 

Anyone prepared to not just lip sync the idea but do the service work will welcome this firmly-grounded approach to changing lives for the better through small efforts and volunteer work that can be easily done. Kindness starts with home and heart, and with a blueprint for action. The kind of actions specifically outlined here. 

#ImpactMyLife: Being the Change

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The 48 Laws of Happiness
RMC Lit
Dr. Rob Carpenter
978-1-7366155-0-8                $16.99
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08XVRQ8SP/ 

The 48 Laws of Happiness: Secrets Revealed for Becoming the Happiest You teaches the rudiments of self-actualization and positivity through a survey that identifies the common thought processes of happy people, showing how these can be adopted by anyone. 

It's all well and good to propose positive thinking, but quite another thing to understand the routines and processes which prompt and support such reactions to daily living. 

Dr. Rob Carpenter's focus on these nuts and bolts covers the process of loving oneself, then moving that self-love into the world at large. Chapters cover common pitfalls along the way, consider statistics that indicate that too many people are failing to adopt lifestyles and attitudes that support life-enriching choices, and share the stories of others who have tapped negativity to create transformative experiences. This book thus goes far in not just illustrating the 'why', but the 'how'. 

One such example is Myles, whose devastating grief over the loss of his mother seemed insurmountable. His discussion of how he moved through the grief period to better times is specific: "This acceptance of my mother’s death and adaptation into inner strength which I created from it has been a key element of my being for my entire adult life. I am grateful for my mom’s foresight that allowed me to turn a tragic event into a transcendent one with the careful choice of words and values which she instilled in me." 

This is just one small example of the many avenues Dr. Carpenter illustrates as concrete courses leading into a better attitude and life. 

Tips run the gamut from emotional reflection to choosing clothing that radiates positivity (oh, you think clothing shouldn't matter? Consider this reflection: "The colors of our clothing carry symbolic and psychological meaning. In fact, our clothing can trigger chemicals in our brains so we can dress ourselves happier."). 

The result is a wide-ranging consideration of psychological influence, social issues, and the impact of choice and attitude on the concept and realization of happiness. 

Anyone in pursuit of happiness who has felt at odds with the effort will find footnote-supported research, case histories, and plenty of solid advice in The 48 Laws of Happiness. Together, these elements set this book apart from most similar-sounding discussions. 

The 48 Laws of Happiness

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The Algorithm of Consciousness
Kenneth A Macfarlane
Independently Published
978-0-578-71689-3         $9.95 Paper/$1.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Algorithm-Consciousness-Kenneth-Macfarlane/dp/1098336135 

The Algorithm of Consciousness presents essays that link mathematics to questions of spirituality, consciousness, and philosophy. It is recommended reading for those who seek reasoned inspections of the process of becoming self-aware. 

Readers who consider inspections of the Divine to be part of this process will embrace the tenants of these essays and the underlying purpose of this book: "If you commit to considering this book's contents with an open mind, I can assure you that you will emerge with a new inner feeling of self-worth. You will begin to embrace patience and a sense of peace—the peace arises from knowing that you/we are not alone." 

Its inspections will particularly be welcomed by those who like mixes of spirituality, philosophy, and autobiography as Kenneth A Macfarlane considers how family dynamics and dysfunction contributed to building a set of values and approach to life that then shifted over the years. 

His personal inspection ties in well with the lessons he learned from life experience. This blend of candid self-assessment and spiritual evolution will help readers face their own transitions and pivot points in life: "My storyline says I am always accurate and speak from a truthful place! Not true! So, when faced with the accusation, my suppressed denial had been called out, despite the fact, in this example, I was in a “cry wolf” situation." 

It should be mentioned that these essays provide a progressive journey into spiritual realms some readers will find unexpected: "The role the planets, as sentient beings, have in the development of matter and consciousness is breathtaking. I concede there is truth buried in the lore of Astrology. Until now, I never imagined that planets within a given system worked as a community to achieve the desires of the Divine." 

Its progressive logic and discussions will especially delight those who look for a blend of ethereal reflection cemented by concrete experience and influence. 

An open mind and heart is thus required, as well as an affinity for expansive spiritual concepts. This examination of the Divine, its plan and incarnations, and its purpose is especially recommended for those already embarking on a path of self-awareness and spiritual reflection. The Algorithm of Consciousness offers a fine synthesis of memoir and life examination, adding a spiritual overlay that provides much food for thought. 

The Algorithm of Consciousness

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Dear Parents
Christina Singh, Ed.D
Warren Publishing
978-1-7361714-0-0         $14.95
www.warrenpublishing.net 

Dear Parents...Lessons from Your Child's Teacher: The Parent and Teacher Guide to Creating a Better Bond comes from a parent and teacher who was motivated to write this discourse due to recent challenges to parent/teacher interactions and experiences inside and outside the classroom. 

This relationship, once supported by both sides, has become dysfunctional and broken in modern times. Parents and teachers are often seen as being on opposite sides of the fence, when their real objectives should be shared and supported. 

Author Christina Singh taught in both Brooklyn, New York and in North Carolina. The diversity of her classrooms and experiences with parents created a unique opportunity to address the modern disconnect between parents and teachers. 

Singh seeks to re-establish these connections by reminding readers what parents and teachers have in common. One might think this is self-explanatory, but Singh points out the forces at work in creating modern disconnections between parents and teachers, while placing blame on neither. "The problem is not the teachers; the problem is not the students; and the problem is not the parents. The problem is that everyone is living on their own island without access to the others’ perspectives. This is where I come in. I’ve been a parent, and I’ve been a teacher. In today’s society, both parenting and the education system are under attack. Every day, the news and social media of all kinds is filled with negative stories of teachers, bus drivers, or schools and, sometimes, all of the above in one news segment." 

Her consideration of the psyches, teaching methods, and social environments of schools and homes and how they intersect offers astute analysis of many different scenarios and issues arising from them: "Some of the most outstanding teachers are structured, well-organized, and no-nonsense. There is a fine line between this individual—insert teacher name who comes to mind here—and the grumpy teacher who sits behind the desk, never budging an inch even in the most dire of circumstances. I will interject these thoughts: The purpose of school is to learn, and it is challenging to be a student, parent, or teacher in this world. Please do not mix a structured teacher who pushes your child to the fullest potential with a teacher overdue on retirement." 

From methodologies that foster positive bonds between teachers and parents to her own experiences as a teacher that taught her, in turn, how to best tap the strength of parental connections to reinforce both her approach and the student's learning opportunities, Dear Parents aims to rebuild these broken ties for a stronger educational and parent-supported result. 

Parents who have felt frustration over their local school systems and individual teachers, as well as teachers who have felt the same toward parents, would do well to consult the examples, routines, and advice of Dear Parents. It won't disappoint. 

Dear Parents

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The Divine Language of Coincidence
Sophia Demas
Mascot Books
978-1-64543-211-1         $18.95
www.mascotbooks.com 

The Divine Language of Coincidence: How Miracles Transformed My Life After I Began Paying Attention charts the course of a spiritual evolutionary process that began at age 19. 

Seemingly blessed with good fortune, Sophia Demas learned to trust her instincts to find that, in so doing, more good things fell into her lap. As she absorbed the choices and perceptions that built on this success, she became more aware of their spiritual roots: "The graces I received through apparent synchronicities and serendipities began to seem more intentional. I began calling them “miracles.” Along with love, faith was a word I had heard my mother use forever, and I wondered what it meant. When I finally entered that realm, I knew. I had become a believer and attributed these mysteries to God." 

More so than most books about faith, Demas has the ability to get to the nitty-gritty of different perceptions and how to make the most of them: "If you operate from the perspective of wishful thinking, you would most likely find yourself befuddled by these seemingly disconnected chance events and, chalking them up to coincidence, proceed to buckle your seatbelt in silence as you continue to wish for help in making the right decision. At the second level, operating from the perspective of hope, you become aware of the triple whammy coincidence as “something meant to be” and wonder if you should give in to the “gut feeling” telling you to strike up a conversation, hoping that you might glean some helpful information. Operating from the perspective of faith, the third level, you wouldn’t hesitate for a second knowing that this man was put next to you for a reason, and you would find the first opportunity to engage in conversation that will yield the clarity you need to resolve your dilemma." 

Chapters incorporate research into prayer, meditation, and attitude as they explore the foundations of each and how they intersect to create a divine approach to life. 

More than a spiritual reflection or philosophical contemplation alone, Demas includes a memoir about her own life's course and the miracles, coincidences, and attitudes that continue to drive its progression. Her personal experiences, reflections on changing social and economic climates around her, and choices in expressing gratitude and using the Course in Miracles program to change fear to love makes for engrossing reading not just for its ideas, but for the insights into how they are enacted in everyday life situations. 

Spirituality readers looking for a road map to making some of these transitions and realizations themselves will find that The Divine Language of Coincidence charts the results of a simple determination to pay better attention to life. 

It's a powerful series of revelations that enlighten, educate, and inspire, and should be on the shelves of any new age or spirituality collection. 

The Divine Language of Coincidence

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Find Your Carrot
Jacquelyn H. Berry, Ph.D.
FYC Enterprises
978-1-7364792-0-9                $12.00

www.jacquelynhberry.com 

Find Your Carrot comes from a Fulbright scholar and cognitive scientist who studies human/computer interaction and authenticity. In it, she asks a succinct and hard-hitting question: are those motivated to succeed chasing the carrot, or running from the stick? Do the foundations of success hold their roots in fear, or positivity? 

These and other questions drive a self-help psychology examination that excels in understanding goal-oriented behavior sources and how to not just gain heart's desires, but identify and separate them from influences that deviate from the heart's true path. 

This process involves refining and honing goals ("The price for taking up space on this planet is doing something only you were meant to do and helping others in the process."), identifying struggles and their deeper meaning ("Struggling with how to do something is normal. But make sure it’s the how you’re struggling with and not the why."), and finding a better level of focus, surrounding oneself with those who share that same objective ("The people you surround yourself with should reflect who you want to be.").

While many of these messages aren't new concepts, what is new is their appearance under one cover under the uniform goal of creating a transformative experience that develops new support systems, replacing old patterns and expectations of self with revised, more purposeful visions of the future. 

More than just a formula for success, Find Your Carrot gets down to the nitty gritty of identifying unique personal goals and cognitive avenues that free individuals to strike while the iron is hot, tapping into one's personal power to create and recreate an authentic self. 

All the nuts and bolts of that process are here. Motivated self-help readers will find many insights to guide them on the path to authenticity, helping them visualize and achieve ideal outcomes with an ultimate "carrot" or goal in mind. 

Self-help collections and readers already on that path will want to make Find Your Carrot a foundation read. It covers a process author Jacquelyn H. Berry has successfully employed herself, to get to where she is today. 

Find Your Carrot

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The Great Weight Debate
Amy Newman Shapiro, RDN, CDN, CPT
Snewman Media
978-0-9886071-2-5         $14.95 Paper/$9.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Great-Weight-Debate-Facts-Choose-ebook/dp/B08SZ4N37F 

The Great Weight Debate: Get the Facts and Choose the Diet That’s Right For You explores the rationales behind the myriad of popular weight loss plans and premises on the market today. 

Unlike weight loss books designed to promote a particular avenue towards success, Amy Newman Shapiro's guide contrasts the latest research, theories, and perceptions of what kind of diet promotes weight loss. Her approach offers a foundation of knowledge of contrasting scientific and health approaches to managing weight, giving readers the opportunity to debate and contrast all the facts. 

The diets range from popular, well-known ones to those equally effective but less familiar. Individual health and genomic profiles are as great an influence on a diet's success as the science behind each method. This explains why various diets work for some and not others, and also supports the importance of understanding what's involved in a diet's ultimate success, which goes beyond willpower alone to delve into individual bodily makeup. 

As Shapiro expands her discussion, readers receive important facts about weight control which probe overall gut health (how to maintain, preserve, or restore it), connections between diet and exercise, how to handle plateaus, and how to understand the difference between a fad diet and a lifestyle change. 

The Great Weight Debate is the perfect book for readers interested in weight loss who question the approaches and need for different diets. Its survey of the principles and research behind each diet allows for a reasoned contrast unavailable in books that focus on the process itself. Its assessments of the latest trends and research assures that weight loss enthusiasts have all the facts at hand to make reasoned decisions about how they can best lose weight. 

No weight loss or health collection should be without this simple discussion of weight loss risks, benefits, and options. 

The Great Weight Debate

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Healing Ourselves Whole
Emily A. Francis
Health Communications, Inc.
978-0-7573-2377-5         $15.95 Paper/$11.99 ebook
www.hcibooks.com 

Healing Ourselves Whole: An Interactive Guide to Release Pain and Trauma by Utilizing the Wisdom of the Body comes from a motivational body worker who provides self-help and new age readers with a powerful survey of how to use the body's inherent healing systems to release pain and trauma. 

Emily A. Francis is a wellness expert with much educational prowess to her name. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science and Wellness as well as a Master’s of Science in Physical Education, graduated from the Atlanta School of Massage in clinical and neuromuscular massage therapy, and went on to specialize (through the Dr. Vodder School North America) in manual lymphatic drainage and combined decongestive therapy. New age health readers will be particularly interested in the fact that she also is a Usui and Karuna Ki Reiki master-level practitioner. 

This extensive background, combined with her expertise as a speaker who hosts a regular internet radio show (All About Healing, on Healthy Life Radio), contributes to an authoritative guide on healing that few other authors can match. 

Her book teaches how to pair affirmations with exercises, deep meditation techniques, and various therapeutic approaches to supporting positivity and healing-promoting measures. 

Audio and written meditations link to her exercise instructions to provide dialogues designed to regain connections with and communication between mental and physical bodily systems. 

Between journaling, audio meditations, and supporting science, Healing Ourselves Whole offers a fine opportunity for identifying poisons to body and soul and how to heal from them. It's a self-help workbook recommended for new age and health-oriented readers who would use the power of meditation and healing to foster their own revised, positive paths to complete body and mental health. 

Healing Ourselves Whole

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It's Not the Trauma, It's the Drama
Marjorie Leigh Bomben
Independently Published
979-8706984625            $14.98 paper/$11.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Its-Not-Trauma-Drama-Department/dp/B08W7JH43P 

Chicago has one of the busiest ambulance services in the country. Its murder rate is high, its population dense, and its paramedics are used to facing extraordinary situations. It's Not the Trauma, It's the Drama: More Stories by a Chicago Fire Department Paramedic captures Marjorie Leigh Bomben's experiences in vivid detail for lay readers and fellow medical professionals alike. 

Each Chicago neighborhood has its own story, its own cultural milieu, and its own predictable problems. Take Ambulance 39, known as the "geriatric ambulance," located in a quiet neighborhood of rest homes and assisted living establishments. Here, the average patient is over eighty years old, there are few surprises, and often the EMT is called upon to service the Slipper Ladies...elderly 911 callers whose complaints tend to be less true emergencies as the result of loneliness and isolation. 

These ladies insist on going to the hospital even when nothing is apparently wrong...but before they get there, they'll have ordered the paramedics to bring them the right coat from the closet, sort through articles of clothing for just the right ensemble for leaving home, and—horror of horrors—choose just the right slippers from a plethora of possibilities. 

How do you make the most serene, unshakeable paramedic in history experience a momentary flash of anger? Assign him to a Slipper Lady. 

This hilarious story is a surprise opener to a collection that juxtaposes life-threatening, dangerous scenarios with those that are just plain ironic, unbelievable, or taxing for all involved. 

Readers who anticipated high drama and edge-of-your-seat reading won't be disappointed, but that's not all that goes on in the life of a typical fire department paramedic, as Marjorie Leigh Bomben reveals in these diverse tales. 

From a dangerous confrontation with a schizophrenic family member who refuses to take her meds to interactions between field chiefs, medics, police, and other officials as calls are handled, readers gain not just a series of lively stories and surprising situations, but insights into how this public service is handled politically, socially, and professionally at all levels of the chain of command. 

Readers who may know little about what a fire department paramedic actually does will want to hold onto their hats for a wild ride through diverse challenges, while fellow professionals who well know many of these routines will find much to relish as the creativity and response talents of teams are put to the test. 

The unexpected lighthearted dash added into a sobering subject will delight general-interest readers in a collection of real stories of lifesavers who face a myriad of scenarios that demand they respond not just with professional expertise, but psychological flexibility, creativity, and restraint. 

These stories make perfect reading for those who want a blend of action and reflection on interpersonal relationships and handling difficult people and situations with finesse. 

It's Not the Trauma, It's the Drama

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Le Deal
J. Byrne Murphy
Lyons Press
978-1-4930-6068-9                $19.95 Paper/$7.59 ebook   
www.rowman.com 

Author Bryne Murphy was a successful entrepreneur at a young age, cultivating the finer art of the deal long before the term became a business buzzword. Le Deal: How a Young American, in Business, In Love, and in Over His Head, Kick-Started a Multibillion-Dollar Industry in Europe follows his sojourn into the European retail clothing trade in a business book that reads with all the drama and action of a novel. Because of Murphy's approach to the written word, readers who normally eschew business lesson nonfiction memoirs will relish this tale. 

If this title sounds familiar, it should be noted that this is a republication of an earlier book, retailored for new millennial business readers and for future generations who have moved beyond the original book's Baby Boomer paradigm. 

Le Deal is about the fine art of identifying and making the next step in a series of building blocks of business acuity. This reformatted exploration emphasizes this process and the pattern recognition associated with it as Murphy explores the cognitive approaches that lead to new, successful outcomes and approaches. 

Unlike traditional models about building business success, every venture is different. Murphy found this out when he entered the foreign world of European business circles, explored the start-and-stop social and political underpinnings of entering a strange new world with something valid to build upon and share, and honed a success story during the process of restructuring his vision. 

The intersection of human connections and interactions and commerce makes for an engrossing read that contrasts American and European retailing approaches as a whole, as well as the paths Murphy traveled to realize his success in both milieus. 

From product life cycles to basic concepts involved in moving from and between American and European export and import markets, business readers receive a lively survey based not just on facts and figures, but the course of Murphy's life and decision-making processes. 

As high adventure, high risk, and high hopes lead Murphy and his cohorts continually into new arenas and revised observations of the branding processes, the British buying public, and new markets, readers will be fascinated by the recreation of dialogue between all levels of business folk. The rise of hopes and new expectations, the realities of roadblocks, and unexpected disasters sometimes hold their roots in cultural differences: "Byrne," Marie-France responded calmly and with confidence, "this is normal. In France, it is always this way before an opening." "Well, not in America," I barked. I had never been harsh with Marie-France, and she didn't deserve it even then. But all I could think of was the train wreck that was about to happen the next day as hoards of shoppers (we hoped) descended upon twenty-nine stores that would be nowhere ready for them." 

Educational, enlightening, and lively enough to be chosen for leisure pursuit by business readers, Le Deal defies the usually-staid process-oriented approach of the typical business book. It holds the potential to reach beyond its genre borders into general-interest audiences who simply relish a good read, strong characters, and engrossing stories that lead to better insights about the process of crafting success. 

Le Deal

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Mindfulness Without the Bells and Beads
Clif Smith
John Wiley
9781119750765             $25.00 Hardcover
www.wiley.com 

Sometimes (too rarely, these days) a book title strikes the reader with such promise that it becomes a compelling attraction without even turning the first page. This is an ideal most authors strive for; but very few achieve. 

Clif Smith has accomplished this with the title of his book, Mindfulness Without the Bells and Beads, which promises a more pragmatic approach to the new age concept of mindfulness and its applications to daily life. He then reinforces his excellent book's appeal to professionals with a clarifying subtitle: Unlocking Exceptional Performance, Leadership, and Well-being for Working Professionals. 

With the subject firmly rooted in both new age and business worlds, Smith's next task is to live up to his title's potential. This is more than achieved in a survey that adopts a reasoned series of applications of mindfulness to business theory and routines, grounding it in a manner that most new age and psychology titles don't begin to touch. 

Take the meditation process which is one of the foundations of mindfulness training, for example. Smith points out that "Although many mindfulness teachers and practitioners are attached to the things on the following list and other things you probably associate with meditation, you do not need any of them to authentically practice and reap the benefits of mindfulness. Furthermore, none of these will make you “better” at cultivating mindfulness." The list includes bells, beads, special meditation equipment, a trip to India, tiny statues of Hindu deities, and other approaches which assume a tongue-in-cheek humor about the typical things some will identify as requirements for successful meditation and mindfulness development. 

He does note that, for some, these rituals or objects can be useful; but points out that they are not the requirements many claim are essential to the practice: "These things are like pearls, quite beautiful in some respects and wearing them helps people project a certain image to others, which is extremely important to many. However, that outer sparkle distracts from the true core without which there would be no pearl. With mindfulness, far too many get ensnared by and attached to the outer shell, the pretty accessories that project they are mindful people, and completely miss the true essence...The bottom line is that you don’t need to add any of these things to your life to practice mindfulness effectively, and in fact getting attached to them can be a real hindrance to your practice."

Mindfulness Without the Bells and Beads' down-to-earth approach will prove particularly inviting to the audience who may need this practice the most: business professionals who typically eschew any mention of mindfulness or new age concepts as being relevant to better approaches to both business and life. 

Mindfulness and meditation typically involve an especially big shift for nose-to-the-grindstone personalities. Smith makes his book accessible to this audience by addressing common criticisms and barriers to achieving mindfulness. In many ways, the practice might seem to counter common business sense. Smith acknowledges these in sections such as that on 'Shifting from Doing to Non-Doing, aka Being', pulling no punches as he confronts perception, reality, and the challenge of making such shifts: "It may seem strange to talk about shifting from a doing mode to a non-doing or being mode in a book that purports to unlock exceptional performance, leadership, and well-being. You’ve gotten to where you are in your career and life by getting things done and solving problems! Why would you stop now? It’s not about stopping; it’s about balance." 

Perhaps Smith is ideally suited to write such a book because his own career has been firmly grounded in pragmatic approaches. He's a US Army veteran, a former diplomat, a  CIA-trained former intelligence officer, serves as EY's Americas Mindfulness Leader and Global Mindfulness Network Leader, and teaches mindfulness to tens of thousands of corporate and government leaders across the globe.  

His insights are an intrinsic part of what sets Mindfulness Without the Bells and Beads apart from any other book on the subject. The promise in the title is to reach into business minds and hearts not normally attracted to such a practice. This audience holds the best potential for taking mindful practice to a new level and applying it to business pursuits for maximum impact while preserving its positive impact on personal well-being and interpersonal connection. 

Now these readers have a book that speaks their language...one especially highly recommended for business readers and library collections catering to them. 

Mindfulness Without the Bells and Beads

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Nursing Home 101
Ruthie Rosauer
Warren Publishing
978-1-7361714-9-3         $16.95
www.warrenpublishing.net 

Nursing Home 101: A Daughter's Perspective deserves a place in self-help, health, and family living collections. It documents a family's uncertain journey through the world of nursing homes when a social worker gave two daughters less than 24 hours to locate a nursing home facility for their elderly mother. 

Thrust into the challenges of a long-term care world they were ill prepared to handle, Ruthie and her sister learned the hard way about a myriad of issues, from dental care and dealing with staff to insurance, paperwork, and rules and regulations. 

If she's done nothing else by providing this journal record of the journey, Ruthie Rosauer successfully documents a path of pitfalls and possibilities that offer a blueprint for other families facing similar challenges. 

Choosing a good nursing home is just the tip of the decision-making iceberg. Even when an elderly person is properly placed, there are a myriad of care issues that family members need to address and consider, from the daily routines of care to dealing with staff members and rules, visiting, and considering little things, such as the challenge of finding glasses that work when the patient can't properly handle a vision test. 

Journal entries provide both an easy way of understanding these issues and document the daily frustrations and challenges, as well as solutions found by employing creative problem-solving methods. The format will prove more accessible to readers than most books about nursing home experiences. 

Heartfelt insights help readers understand their revised role in a loved one's life when they enter a nursing home: "I reflected on that day, thinking how being present to ask her these questions was a luxury probably enjoyed by no one else in her nursing home. I was acting as an amateur therapist, asking her to consider her hopes and dreams. I was willing to listen to what went on in her mind. The nursing home tried to keep residents clean, out of bed, dressed each day, fed, quiet, and protected from falls. Staff would say a few words, but no one reached out to the residents’ hearts. I was, and still am, so grateful I was there for my mom to do that." 

Anyone facing the challenges of not just locating but dealing with a nursing home needs Nursing Home 101! 

Nursing Home 101

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The Top Five Things to Consider Before Filing
An Employee Relations Complaint
Patrice Miller
Page Publishing
9781642984804             $11.95 Paper/$9.95 ebook
Website: www.dreamgoalscoaching.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Things-Consider-Employee-Relations-Complaint/dp/B08R95KD97 

The Top Five Things to Consider before Filing an Employee Relations Complaint: And How to File an Effective Complaint is as important a reference as one's employee manual, providing insights for employees at all levels of business. Its review of company policies, the complaint process, how to assess the pros and cons of a dilemma for best resolution, and cautionary notes about investigators who look into a complaint should be foundation knowledge for any American worker. 

Ideally, The Top Five Things to Consider before Filing an Employee Relations Complaint will be taught in business courses for new adults just entering the workplace. It provides concrete insights that more general books directed to this audience fail to mention and it assesses strategies, typical courses of action (and inaction), and includes psychological insights into common causes for complaints. 

From bullying in the workplace and tips on conflict resolution to things to consider before an employee complaint is filed, this slim but accessible manual helps employees avoid many common pitfalls and lends to understanding how the complaint system works on both sides. 

Succinct and packed with details, The Top Five Things to Consider before Filing an Employee Relations Complaint is an essential worker's guide that should be a staple in any business book collection and worker's reference library. 

The Top Five Things to Consider Before Filing
An Employee Relations Complaint


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You Can't Write City Hall
Jeremy Nunes
Clovercroft Publishing
978-1-950892-97-6         $14.99
https://www.amazon.com/You-Cant-Write-City-Hall/dp/1950892972 

You Can't Write City Hall: What Happened When A Stand-Up Comedian Got Elected Mayor is based on the true story of a stand-up comedian who was elected to public office. It comes from an author who was an active participate in the comedy community when he decided to help that same community by running for office. 

The Introduction comes with a caveat warning of a slow buildup in the comedy arena as Nunes sets his stage for readers: "Like my mayoral career and any good comedic story, this book first takes a little time to lay the foundation. As the story builds, so does the humor. In my biased opinion, once you un­derstand the basic details of the story, you’ll really settle into the laughter it brings as you continue through the pages. 

What follows can be best described as a romp through political and social conundrums as Nunes offers the first revelation: although he ran for office, he never intended on taking up the reins. Indeed, his comedy persona dominated his ticket: "I ran for office as a joke. I registered my name on the ballot as “Comedian Jeremy Nunes.” Then, I distributed fliers with my campaign slogan: “Put a Real Joker in Office.” 

You'd think the community would get a general laugh out of such a campaign, and then turn over the keys to the city to a seasoned politician. The fact that they went for the punch line hook, line, and sinker only goes to show that a breath of fresh air is preferable over staid approaches to holding public office, these days, at all levels. 

Nunes first won a seat on the council, virtually uncontested. His bid for Mayor resulted in a win...and then began his political surprises as he settled into the job of running a town where questionable characters can be observed egging a house in the night, yet still can't be confronted: "Sure enough, they had egged the house. We called the police, yet again, and filed a report. And yet again, the police said that just because we say we saw the Greens do this, didn’t mean they could do anything about it. We had to prove it, or all the police could do was talk to them. Yet again, I was reminded that somehow we had to get them out of this town." 

The combination of real political conundrums, backroom discussions, dog-and-pony shows between politicians, and wheeling and dealing to get things done blends well with the elements of irony, satire, and a comedian's perspective on the job. 

The latter lends a tongue-in-cheek observation of the political process which readers will find accessible even as they are enlightened about what a town mayor does and how he does it. 

Passages delving into this process are delightful: "The annual argument over what night to hold the bonfire and wiener roast then commenced. Rhonda chimed in, saying, “I am sick and tired of Buffalo doing their event the same night as ours. We did it first in our community, so there’s no reason to change it!” 

The result may sound incongruous, at first, but it's a fine mix of real-world processes and a comedian's very different take on how to react to complainers and small-town drama queens. 

Readers who like their comedic encounters firmly cemented in serious real-world confrontations will find You Can't Write City Hall cultivates a delightful blend of insights on political processes, memoir, and a comedian's unique perspective on how to react to an audience which embraces an entire community. It gives chuckles; sure...but within the arena of political inspection that succeeds in offering rare enlightenment while it spices the story with fun encounters of the comedic kind. 

You Can't Write City Hall

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A Shau: Crucible of the Vietnam War
Jay Phillips
Izzard Ink Publishing
9781642280432
https://izzardink.com/a-shau/  

Readers of Vietnam War accounts will find that A Shau holds a different approach and message than most, documenting events during the war that centered on the A Shau Valley, a 40-kilometer hub central to Communist activities. 

This region experienced some of the most intense battles of the war as Americans tried and failed to achieve their goals. It served as a microcosm of the struggles of the Vietnam War as a whole, so its analysis and position are central to understanding what went awry in U.S. efforts in that country. 

Jay Phillips creates a military history that embraces events, people, and struggles at a pivotal point and place in time. As he points out: "The United States and its South Vietnamese ally were never able to wrest control of one strategically critical location on the enemy line of communications, the A Shau Valley, away from the Communists after they overran the Special Forces camp in March 1966, and how that failure contributed, in a major way, to the final outcome of the war." 

Thus, his narrowed focus and study holds vast implications for scholars seeking better knowledge of the events and influences upon the Vietnam War's outcome as a whole, and is a key acquisition for any collection interested in more than the usual wartime memoir. 

As Phillips surveys this history, he charts ambushes, military strategy, company movements, and the choices and consequences which led to outcomes. 

Citations from those who experienced these battles add "you are there" accounts to the history, capturing accounts of courage and extraordinary efforts such as that of 1LT James M. Sprayberry, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for action on the night of 25–26 April 1968: "This rescue operation, which lasted approximately 7½ hours, saved the lives of many of his fellow soldiers. Capt. Sprayberry personally killed 12 enemy soldiers, eliminated 2 machineguns, and destroyed numerous enemy bunkers." 

So many Vietnam War histories, analyses, and personal accounts exist that, at this point, readers might wonder at the need for yet another. 

A Shau: Crucible of the Vietnam War's ability to outline the struggles that both defined and led to the ultimate outcome of the war lends to a study rich in strategic analysis: "Whether the Vietnam War was, at any point in time, “winnable” is beyond the scope of this work. What is clear is that by its failure to retain or regain occupancy of the A Shau Valley, the United States enabled the enemy to develop and use it as the key logistical base in the northern half of the country, if not all of South Vietnam. This wasn’t so much a lost opportunity as one that was forgone. For whatever reasons, and for whatever purposes, troops that might have altered the course of the war by permanently occupying the A Shau were used elsewhere, for pacification or for pursuing the enemy’s “big battalions” in the hinterlands." 

Heavily footnoted and cross-referenced and filled with battle-by-battle analysis, A Shau: Crucible of the Vietnam War is no casual coverage, but a scholar's delight. It focuses on the central role of a Vietnam valley that saw battles beginning in 1961 and lasting through the end of the war in 1975. 

Perhaps nowhere else in the war-torn country has one locale so represented the successes and failures of opposing forces as graphically and consistently throughout the war as in A Shau. A narrowed focus on this region is essential to understanding all the military and political facets involved in the war's ultimate outcome. A Shau: Crucible of the Vietnam War is a scholarly history highly recommended as a foundation acquisition for any collection serious about Vietnam War analysis.

A Shau: Crucible of the Vietnam War
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Young Adult/Childrens

Balloons for Tiger
Lori Orlinsky
Mascot Books
9781645435235             $14.95
www.loriorlinskyauthor.com 

Balloons for Tiger talks about balloons that take center stage after a beloved pet's death, discussing concepts of grief, the 'rainbow bridge', and how adults can help children identify and cope with their feelings about loss. 

The rhyming exploration opens with: "It was a cold winter day. When the balloons for Tiger floated away." 

The balloon's journey is compared to the journey Tiger will take after death, serving as a gentle form of instruction as read-aloud adults use Balloons for Tiger to show how Tiger will live on in the memories of those who loved her. 

The in-depth survey and approach of this tender story ideally will work best with adults who choose it as a starting point for discussions with children about pets and death. 

Youngsters drawn to the unexpectedly cheerful approach of a story about pet death will find Balloons for Tiger inviting. It pairs Common Core discussion points (presented at the story's conclusion) with five selected coping strategies parents can employ with the very young. 

Vanessa Alexandre employs bright and appealing color illustrations throughout. 

It's the perfect primer for a young child facing the loss of a beloved pet. 

Balloons for Tiger

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A Dog Named Trouble...Goes to a Forever Home
Anthony Gonzalez
Mascot Books
978-1-64543-600-3         $16.95
www.mascotbooks.com 

A Dog Named Trouble...Goes to a Forever Home tells the story of a large Saint Bernard dog rescued from a shelter that proves a handful for his new owners. 

Picture book readers will enjoy, both, the dog story and the engaging, fun drawings by Walter Policelli, who brings to life the story of a dog anxious to fit into his new family, and enthusiastic about the outside world after his life in a shelter. 

Trouble the dog likes exploring, guarding his new home, playing with children and going for rides in the family truck. He also lives up to his name as Mommy and Daddy face a series of adventures getting him acclimated to their home and setting boundaries that work for them all. 

Trouble may be his name, but as the dog becomes a part of the family, it would be more trouble to live without him. 

A Dog Named Trouble...Goes to a Forever Home celebrates the pros and cons of integrating a shelter dog into a new family. It's a realistic portrait of the process that helps young kids understand how their new pet will settle into their family and come to display unique personality traits, needs, and desires of their own. 

Parents who wish a young child to better understand their new pet will find A Dog Named Trouble...Goes to a Forever Home just the ticket for following the process of pet adoption in a whimsical, revealing manner. 

Photos of the real-life Trouble conclude this delightfully warm dog adoption story. 

A Dog Named Trouble...Goes to a Forever Home

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How to Break an Evil Curse
Laura Morrison
Black Spot Books
978-1-7335994-8-1         $18.95 Paper/$7.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Break-Evil-Curse-Chronicles-Fritillary/dp/1733599487 

Enter a world in which a princess lives in darkness, but defies the usual princess edict to remain a damsel in distress until rescued. Season it with the young woman's determination to take charge of her own freedom, only to find eight years of digging her way to freedom leads her, ironically, straight into the arms of the man who holds a cure to the curse she is under. 

Then add more than a dash of humor for a rollicking adventure in How to Break an Evil Curse, which follows the two through a world filled with telling names and trials, past the Brook of Dashed Hopes and the Dwelling Place of Mirabella the Traitor into a place where secrets are revealed and even the honest and honorable aren't above taking the money and running. 

At first Julianna is focused on saving her father's throne and legacy from evil wizard Farland Phelps and his determination to seize control.  But as her forays lead her to question the value of that throne, Julianna finds herself aligned with the commoners who are in the process of affecting an overthrow, themselves. 

Irony, satire, and fun permeate this story—unusual devices in a tale many teens will pick up for its fantasy elements and promise of supernatural confrontations. YA readers in grades 7 and up will appreciate the complexity of this tale as well as its introduction to a special blend of humor. The female protagonist's self-determination and feisty approach to her heritage, her life, and possibilities lead her beyond anything she's been raised to believe in. 

Laura Morrison's writing captures ribald circumstances and zany encounters that also turn the notion of good and evil upside down, as when Julianna and Warren encounter a thug who harbors his own different dreams: “A life of peace does appeal, you know. I’ve been in the thug business for so long I hardly know anything else, but there was a time I dreamed of being a writer…” he said dreamily. “Ooh!” Julianna said. “What kind of stuff would you write?” “True crime. The experts say to write what you know, after all, and I come from a long line of criminals. I’ve always dreamed of something more, but it’s the cycle of poverty, you know. Parents poor and uneducated, kids don’t know anything different, it takes an awful lot of luck and resourcefulness to—” “I hate to interrupt,” Warren said. “But we are in a big hurry. We need to get out of the city before the King and Queen realize we’re gone.” 

The result is at once hilarious and thought-provoking. Kids already steeped in the usual trappings of fantasy and fairytales will delight the unexpected descriptions presented here: "Without further ado, Julianna and Copernicus dragged Warren out of the Forest of Looming Death and into safety." 

While this story is created for teen readers, many an adult interested in re-envisioned fairytales will find How to Break an Evil Curse original, action-packed, and worthy of the read. 

How to Break an Evil Curse

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Isn't It Scary?
Vernon Hamilton
Archway Publishing
9781480889163             $25.95
https://www.hamiltonauthor.com/

Isn't It Scary? is a children's picture book story that opens with a baby rabbit who disappears into a dark hole. Young Travis observes that the darkness is scary...but Mother points out that it's not scary to the rabbit family that considers the darkness their home. 

And so begins a nature-centered exploration of elements which initially seem scary, but prove to just be part of the ordinary, to other creatures. These scenarios include squirrels unafraid of climbing tall trees; swamps that hold bugs and worms; the hidden, unknown, dark woods the deer call home; and more. 

Each potentially frightening place is presented as a welcoming home to other creatures as Mother guides her two children through a world of nature that isn't actually scary after all, upon closer inspection. 

Vernon Hamilton's book is a study in contrasts between initial perception and learning more about what seems frightening. As the children's knowledge of nature expands, the world seems less scary. 

Children who enjoy this book as a read-aloud with parental support in place will also find it a welcoming introduction not just to the different environments of nature, but confronting one's fears with an added dash of knowledge and a wise mother's support. 

It's a lovely story of family, home, and different comfort zones, and is especially recommended as bedtime reading to reinforce the notion that the world is filled with differences that don't have to translate to being scary at all. 

Isn't It Scary?

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The Legend of Jet the Gerbil
Michael Keller
Wise Ink Creative Publishing
978-1-63489-418-0                        $19.95
www.jetthegerbil.com 

The Legend of Jet the Gerbil's subtitle is hilarious ('Could Be the Greatest Gerbil Story Ever Told') and portends an exceptional read as young picture book animal enthusiasts absorb the story of Jet, who is more than just another in the many pet gerbils Michael has enjoyed in his young lifetime. 

Jet "Did amazing things and had unbelievable adventures" and this story reviews his extraordinary life, spiced by lovely, detailed drawings by Patrizia Donaera. 

As Michael reviews all the ways Jet is bigger, stronger, faster and braver, and even challenges invading cats, readers will delight in the tale of a spunky little gerbil who defies gravity and the odds to stand out from the gerbil crowd. 

Owner Michael thinks Jet can do anything...but can he confront an appliance monster, and death? 

This uplifting, fun celebration of a very special gerbil is truly delightful. Kids who have an affinity for pets or gerbils will find Michael's celebration of his beloved pet is moving and appealing, concluding in a section of natural history facts about gerbils. 

Parents and teachers will find the story lends to read aloud, while kids ages 3-8 with good basic reading skills will want to pursue Jet's adventures for themselves. It's an all-around positive story of a boy and his pet that delights with both its action and Donaera's accompanying, beautiful illustrations that support science-based lesson plans, as well. 

The Legend of Jet the Gerbil is very, very highly recommended for its excellent combination of both word and art. 

The Legend of Jet the Gerbil

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Listen Mama
M.S.P. Williams
Souls Take Flight
978-0-578-73017-2         $7.50 Paper/$2.99 Kindle
Website: https://mspwilliams.com/ 
Purchasing Link:  https://linktr.ee/msp_williams 

Listen Mama is powerful reading for the teen and young adult audience it's directed towards—but then, many other genre reads also embrace themes of abuse, depression, and struggles with a parent's mental illness. What sets this story apart from others is its attention to bringing these situations alive through diary entries, letters to a mother (that come from a fourteen-year-old recovering from his abusive parent's physical attacks), and the devastating and healing effects these had on a loving family and his long-term relationships 

The first thing to note about Listen Mama is its candid assessment of how these choices were not cut-and-dried (as they too often appear in other stories of family mental illness). Williams acknowledges, from the beginning, the clash between belief systems, values, and realities which require hard decisions that often go against all perceptions and ideals: "...although you screamed to the heavens that everyone was against you, that’s just not the case Mama. The vote to have you com­mitted was a lot closer than you would have ever imagined...But the concerns of the rest of the family had me pretty worried. They said they did not know what might hap­pen to you, that this was wrong, and nobody’s freedom should be taken away from them. And I’ll be honest, I was really scared due to the portrayal of mental institutions in films and television. For all I knew they would have you locked up on the same wing as some psychopath or deranged killer . . . I was mainly terrified at the potential for abuse and mistreatment at the hands of the clinic’s staff. For one, I thought it was more like a jail scenario, with all degrees of the mentally ill lumped together."  

As the narrator reviews the ideas and realities of not just mental health and illness but institutionalization, the healing process of all involved, and young Manny's search for answers about his own place in life and his role in his mother's illness, readers receive a compelling saga. It moves into adult choices when he finds himself in a caretaker role while struggling with his own legacy of mental illness. 

Many other issues are woven into the story, from racism and poverty to struggles to identify and separate mental illness concerns from daily life obstacles. 

One reason why Manny's story is so accessible to teen readers, especially, is its candid, heartfelt acknowledgments of searching for a mother's love and accepting both the good and bad moments that stem from that search and the alienating facts of mental illness's effects on love, parents, and children alike: "Whenever I am away and don’t visit her for a while, I find myself missing Mama for all the wrong reasons. How she made me feel about myself is high on the list. How she gave me tremendous love as a child when no one else could/would—not even you. How she made this sad little boy think a withered old lady would slay a dragon if it meant keeping him from harm. On those days I ran home crying, I was not aware of anything off­hand that I had done wrong to deserve a treatment of this caliber from society. And Mama Dear would often cry silently too. She would then try to get me to understand that I was normal, like any other child. The only difference I had was actually on the inside. That’s what made me special. That’s what made me different—not the burns on my head. But I was usually not appeased, and I would beg her to tell me when it would get better. When would people see my inside instead of my outside—just like she could? And her reply was always the same, “Sooner than you think, honey. Sooner than you think.” 

Manny speaks of the "soft bigotry of low expectations" and social interactions that also intersect with family strife. He also adds humor and close inspections of family circumstances which ultimately gave him the strength to rise out of poverty, prejudice, and abuse to live a good life. 

All these make for compelling reading that injects a positive note into a situation seemingly fraught with inevitable disaster: "Did I have a tough life? Yes. Did I grow up in pov­erty and face things during the day and night that I would never wish upon my worst enemy? Yeah. Do I wish he had shown just the slight­est interest, or at least talked/met me once? You bet. And while I am not a saint or martyr, I am also not vindictive. I am not spiteful and I am not a bad person. 

Young adult (and many an adult) readers will find Listen Mama a thoroughly absorbing story about not just a mother's love and a family's mental illness, but the dysfunction of society as a whole. 

Listen Mama

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Look at Me!
Niyka Hicken
Mascot Books
978-1-64543-310-1         $14.95
www.mascotbooks.com 

Look at Me! follows a child's active imagination as he goes exploring with his mother and uncovers a world of possibilities. It is recommended for read-aloud to the very young. 

As the young child views the world as his oyster and contemplates flying and exploring, vivid language pairs with equally lovely color illustrations by Vanessa Alexandre to bring his playful, hopeful enthusiasm to life: "Do you think I can reach? Do you think I can be everything I hope and see?" 

His mother has taught him how to soar. Now he wants to fly. And he brings her along to witness his achievements in a fun, positive story that reminds the young of all the possibilities of life, and how parental encouragement and participation is part of the magic. 

As the young narrator dreams of the unbelievable, the impossible, and the possible; children receive an excellent, enthusiastic survey of a child's life where his mother runs beside him and people of color face all the magic of the world with big dreams and hope. 

Collections looking for positive reinforcement of all possibilities, both real and imagined, for the very young reader will find that Look at Me! captures the combined themes of opportunity and imagination, winding them into an exuberant story that's just perfect for read-aloud fun. 

Look at Me!

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Maya Loop
Lis Anna-Langston
Mapleton Press
9781087943060             $16.99 Print/$9.99 ebook

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/108794306X 

Middle-grade readers who look for first-person narratives strong in contemporary perspectives will find Maya Loop attractive. Eleven-year-old Maya Loop's world is falling apart as she begins her story. Everything is about to change, but she just wishes she could turn back time and keep everything the same in her beloved Baltimore, which has also changed around her. 

It all began with her father's death years ago, which leads to her mother's desire to move into a bigger place and get away from her dead-end job as a Baltimore cop to accept a position which offers much higher hazard pay. 

Moving to the country to live with relatives wasn't in Maya Loop's game plan, but she is told she has to "find a way to love this place." The process by which she sets aside old connections, including the internet, and adjusts to a very different world makes for a compelling read. 

Middle graders will find Maya thoughtful and intriguing. As her adventure traverses otherworldly realms, the fantasy component of her encounters lends to a powerful exploration of her evolving strengths and ability to not just adjust, but break free of the dead-end loop her former life became. 

As she discovers the truths surrounding her family heritage and her abilities ("only the Loops can restart the clock"), she faces new choices that lead her to question what she really wants from her life. 

Especially powerful passages explore her psyche and the difficult choices involved in saving not just herself, but others: "An old anger swells in my gut. The kind I feel when kids push other kids around in the halls or take their lunch or steal their backpacks. The anger and fear that arises when I'm not sure I can make the situation right. The anger of helplessness. Bullies feed off of it. I try to swallow it back, but it stays. I don’t know what to do. My sketchpad is in my hand, but it's not an option. Not now. Drawing a door will get me out of this mess but it leaves everyone else behind. Drawing a door doesn’t prevent the Landions from finding that one final piece and erasing us all." 

The result is a story driven by Maya's changing emotions, life, and abilities. It will attract readers also challenged to accept new circumstances, relationships, and perceptions about life and its purposes. 

Readers interested in a passionate journey of determination and evolving wisdom will find Maya Loop unpredictable, driven by understandable emotions and extraordinary events that lead Maya to a new form of determination and courage. 

Maya Loop

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"Meeting" Anne Frank: An Anthology
Tim Whittome, Editor
Xlibris
978-1-6641-4556-6         $19.99 Paper/$35.99 Hardcover
https://www.amazon.com/Meeting-Anne-Frank-Anthology/dp/1664145567 

"Meeting" Anne Frank: An Anthology belongs in any Holocaust or children's history collection where Anne Frank's diary is of interest. It is comprised of twenty essays by those who never actually met the girl, but found her influence on their lives to be unusually compelling and lasting. 

Although over seventy years have passed since Anne and her sister died in a concentration camp, the authors of these pieces have all felt her lasting impact on their lives. They explore many striking facets of this impact, which will prove engrossing and sometimes compellingly controversial. 

One such example of the latter lies in this thought by Tim Whittome: "If the life of Jesus Christ for Christians across the world derives much of its unique power and meaning from his miraculous transcendence of death and subsequent appearance to his disciples, Anne Frank’s life derives almost all of its transcendent power and meaning from the fact that she died in the state-sponsored grip of one of the cruelest of all ideological and genocidal dreams—namely, that the world would be infinitely better off without there being any Jews left to envy or despise. Did Anne have to die at Bergen-Belsen and—as far as we know—not rise again and did Jesus have to die on a cross and then rise again in accordance with Christian faith for their current martyred reputations to exist today? On one level, it might seem presumptuous to link these two historical figures and fellow Jews, but on another, we need to bear in mind that Anne’s diary has become one of the most well-read and translated books in the world after the Bible." 

Each writer formed a personal relationship with the deceased Anne through her writings. Some knew her father or others connected with her, as well. The impact of Anne's vivid influence is striking, as in Anne Talvaz's reflection: "Anne did indeed tell of sad events. Perhaps my previous Holocaust reading had hardened me to the cruel facts she related—I do not know. But what stood out was the wit, the needle-sharp portraits, the flawless dialogue, and the sense of comic timing. The description of the potato peelers’ thoughts, the cat peeing in the attic, the strawberry preserving, the German soldier shooting his officer for treason all had me laughing out loud. And then there was the sheer wizardry of her use of words." 

Why does Anne's story continue to resonate with future generations where so many similar accounts have been consigned to the annals of history? By capturing twenty lives changed by her words and their legacy, this anthology succeeds in showing how a writer's experiences and eye for detail can translate to life-changing impacts generations later. 

Readers of Anne Frank and Holocaust history will of course be the likely major audience for this book, but let it also serve as an inspiration for writers of all ages who question the lasting power of words to reach out and transform others, as well as teenagers learning about Anne and the Holocaust. 

It's a potent lesson, indeed. 

"Meeting" Anne Frank: An Anthology

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Merin And Her Very Bright Star: A Story of Resiliency
Lori Mier
Independently Published/New Beginnings Publishing 
ISBN:  978-1-7366569-0-7                     Price: $14.95
https://www.bluemountainpathcoaching.com/about-1

Young Merin lives on the outskirts of town, where the sky is dark enough to see a very bright star that she equates with her missing parents. Merin And Her Very Bright Star: A Story of Resiliency is about loss and grief six years later. It is a very simple reader that follows a young girl's ongoing life and adjustments. 

This joins a relatively small number of books that cover the long-term effects of grieving. Merin struggles as much with the notion that her parents' absence is somehow her fault as she does with the vacancy this has left in her young life. 

As a grief counselor helps her and Merin discovers her imagination is an acceptable approach, young readers receive an evocative, compelling story that follows Merin's ongoing resiliency as a process rather than a singular revelation, unlike so many books about grief. 

The transformative opportunities of this process are especially nicely explained: "...here is what became true: all the bright and beautiful things were filling her life. And she was brighter. And she was not the only person with an unknown space wanting to be filled. The star taught her that she could turn something lost into something found, and if everyone did this, the world would be brighter." 

The result is an outstanding story that will bring healing and better understanding to all ages, whether they are read-aloud adults or children able to absorb this short work for its enlightening, uplifting, supportive message. 

Very highly recommended, Merin And Her Very Bright Star: A Story of Resiliency takes an important extra step in outlining the long-term approaches and effects of grieving and its opportunities for growth and developing a positive resiliency that transforms despair into something brighter. 

Merin And Her Very Bright Star: A Story of Resiliency

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Mystery of the Khar Chuluu
Wilson Whitlow
Independently Published
978-1-7349098-0-7         $7.99 paper; $2.99 Kindle
Website:  www.wilsonwhitlow.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1734909803/ref=olp_aod_redir#aod 

Mystery of the Khar Chuluu will reach middle grade to adult readers and holds a surprise: it's a full-length book designed to be read aloud. Those who believed their read-aloud days ended with growing away from picture books will find this a delightful prospect because this gentle fantasy, narrated by the "Djinn of All Deserts, who piles himself like a pillar of smoke and rolls across the ages," reveals this sweeping tale using metaphor and mystery to grab attention. 

It's the perfect milieu for read-aloud attention by all ages, and so lends well to those who want an ongoing bedtime read filled with action and adventure. 

Chul Sun has been hired to steal the khar chuluu, a powerful black stone. But, he's decided not to follow through on turning it over to an even deadlier force, and is on the run. So is Anita Aminou, who is on her own quest to unlock dark powers to save her magical family. 

The convergence of the two and their seemingly disparate purposes form a saga that reveals the khar chuluu is not a key, as Chul has believed, but a "wicked thing, full of dark magic" (as the reluctant Djinn is forced to reveal to the children). 

Those who command its force will face decisions and dilemmas beyond the ken of most humans. And Chul and Anita may be pushed to make the hardest decision of all in its deployment and protection, tapping into a power that defies even the narrator Djinn's abilities. 

Wilson Whitlow's enchanting, fast-paced journey is replete with a special form of magic. It's unusual to find a story featuring young protagonists that holds the ability to thoroughly immerse adult audiences, as well. 

As the mystery evolves, powered by the Djinn's savvy and sometimes sarcastic observations of human behaviors, it becomes a riveting read impossible to put down, filled with gripping moments that transform not just the characters, but the readers and read-aloud listeners. 

Mystery of the Khar Chuluu is very highly recommended for its astute definitions of wickedness, goodness, power, and wisdom. 

If any book deserved a family's read-aloud participation, it should be Mystery of the Khar Chuluu. 

Mystery of the Khar Chuluu

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Mystery School: Islid
L.C. Matherne
DartFrog Books
978-1-951490-65-2         $16.99
www.DartFrogBooks.com 

Mystery School: Islid is a story set in a world embroiled by turmoil, and is recommended for mature teens. Estrella Chavez is a teenager when the story opens. Her father, part of an eco-labor movement, was murdered when she was a baby, but the impact of his work and absence still resonates in her life. Even though twelve years have passed, she still doesn't know all the details about his death. 

Sent to boarding school Glouton, where she initially loves her roommates and its atmosphere, Estrella remains blissfully unaware of another world and danger lurking under the surface of her mother's actions. 

As she begins to learn about the Spirit War, the Angelai, and disparate groups that feed her simmering anger, Estrella finds herself embroiled in a conflict that not only challenges her abilities, but her perception of the world, her family history, and her place in it. 

Mystery School: Islid contains moral and ethical quandaries that arise in the course of Estrella's education: "Estrella looks at the self-satisfied expression on his face. It’s a look that says he thinks he’s perfectly ethical, and that money has no influence on him, unlike his corruptible childhood friend and her thieving, murdering family. “But don’t people do the bad things they do because they don’t have money?” Zaharia asks. “It’s much easier to behave ethically when there is a roof over your head and food on the table. When we see others who have so much, and yet we have so little that our children cry out from hunger, is it not understandable that we might resort even to violence for the money that will give us relief? Money, for many, is not a question of ethics, but of desperation.” 

Can there really be a world in which none of these issues exist? 

As Estrella learns new lessons about friendship, romance, ethics, and new possibilities, she not only revises what she knows about her past, but tackles newfound quandaries that stem from a blend of self-discovery and rising consciousness about her own choices and their consequences: "Estrella smiles, giddy at her own memory of dancing with Mark, but then sees a pair of blue eyes in her mind. John. She has a boyfriend. Right? A really good boyfriend, who didn’t abandon her when times got tough, who texts her almost every day." 

The result is more than a mystery, more than a coming of age story, and more than the usual story of a boarding school experience that changes everything. 

Supercharged with introspection and thought-provoking growth, Mystery School: Islid imbeds the overlay of mystery and discovery with deeper lessons about good guys, bad guys, and Estrella's real role as a brand new Angelai rises. 

Mature teens who enjoy stories that embrace more than adventure will appreciate the solid inspections of Estrella's cultural roots, her foray into previously-unknown worlds and purposes, and the progression of her growth as she incorporates these discoveries into her own evolving psyche. 

Grippingly powered by a host of strong characters, Mystery School: Islid deserves its status as a powerful series opener promising appeal to a wide audience. 

Mystery School: Islid

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Mystic Invisible
Ryder Hunte Clancy
Winter Goose Publishing
978-1-952909-05-4                $14.99 Paper/$5.99 Kindle
www.ryderhunteclancy.com

Mystic Invisible provides teen fantasy readers with the compelling story of Monte Darrow, a young wizard who moves to the mystically jeopardized Scottish Highlands to find that magic is forbidden in a place where legends run awry. 

Monte's world is regulated by the International Mystic Bureau's limitations and oversight, but it's still a threatened world in which magic is becoming unstable and dangerous. 

The introductory milieu of teens in high school fades into supernatural and fantasy realms involving missing Mystics, vanishing creatures, deadly possessed seashells, and mysterious figures cloaked in rainbow lights. Monte and his friends Cameron, Finn, and others find themselves both evolving their abilities and confronting something no adult Mystic dares to face.  

From efforts to discover the intrigue behind a mysterious seashell to the dilemma involved in trying to identify valor from vice, Ryder Hunte Clancy creates a fast-paced story which builds its foundations on interpersonal relationships as much as mystical and magical encounters. 

These cement this story of teens coming of age and coming into their powers, embracing all the transformative choices these processes involve. 

Teens who enjoy fast-paced action and adventure tempered by intrigue, mystery, and the efforts to keep magical disasters from the prying eyes of the non-magical world will find Mystic Invisible satisfyingly unpredictable and involving. 

Its ability to blend mystery, fantasy elements, and coming of age themes as its young protagonists learn which rules to break and which to abide by makes for an excellent story. 

Mystic Invisible

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Rhythm Rescue
Vicky Weber
Trunk Up Books
978-1734212990           
$18.99 Hardcover/ $12.99 Paper/$3.19 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Rhythm-Rescue-Vicky-Weber/dp/1734212993 

Rhythm Rescue introduces readers to Music Metropolis, where "there's always a song to sing and instruments playing everywhere." 

Filled with light and music as the city is, Tala is a talented young musician who appears to be in just the right place as she puts her abilities to work. Vicky Weber's artistic co-creator Geneviève Viel-Taschereau captures Tala's spirit in large-size pictures that insert a sense of power and self-strength into the story. 

More than just a story about music, Vicky Weber teaches the very basic introductory rudiments of reading music and accompanying it with rhythm, injecting simple bass and cleft notes into the story and inviting young readers and their musical adult accompanists to clap along at various intervals. 

Tala is superpowered by music. The rhythms she (and the reader) cultivate over the course of the story help her overcome obstacles and find her way, whether it be past downed traffic signals, over flooded roads, or beating a storm. 

Adults with even the simplest music-reading ability can help youngsters navigate Tala's world and employ the clapping beats which teach diverse rhythms, resilience, and participation in the read-aloud experience. Those who struggle with vague memories of music receive further written instruction in the back of the book on how to interpret the rhythmic beats of each section. 

Much more than the usual passive read-aloud picture book, Rhythm Rescue goes beyond encouraging a collaborative experience, but teaches youngsters how they may empower themselves to overcome life's obstacles through encouraging creative artistic abilities. 

Once again, Vicky Walker has achieved a dual goal in a story that both encourages resilience, individuality, and community interaction and imparts a basic awareness of an aspect of music's power to uplift, support, and contribute to a sense of adventure and positive connections in the world. 

Any adult interested in psychological support and musical education will appreciate having this dual opportunity under one cover. 

Rhythm Rescue

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The Song Garden
Vicky Weber
Trunk Up Books
978-1734212976            $12.99 Paper/$2.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Song-Garden-Vicky-Weber/dp/1734212977 

The Song Garden is a lovely, lively story of music, creativity, and a child's determination to contribute to the musical community by crafting her own original song, and creates an uplifting celebration highly recommended for picture book readers and parents interested in musical celebrations. 

Zoe Mellors provides large-sized, appealing illustrations that capture the personalities involved in a community gala celebration, bringing to life the enthusiasm of collaborative work and independent creative effort alike. 

There is an element of fantasy involved, as each participant in the town event is tasked with creating a song that "magical flowers" in different gardens will sing. 

Calla's family has always participated in this event as a group, but this year she's determined to work separate to make her mark as an independent creative force in her own right. 

Her decision to visit others' song gardens to see what else is in the world has an unexpected result: she is overwhelmed by all the choices already taken and becomes worried that she will "get it wrong" with her own creation. 

A wise mother, a bit of encouragement, and an epiphany about creativity leads Calla back on the path of positivity, which is transmitted to young readers, along with a concluding project reinforcing their own creative force with an opportunity to participate in a song garden project, themselves. 

Once again, Vicky Weber accepts the challenge of encouraging a child's creativity and positive perspective about opportunities. Her song garden story is more than a whimsical tale or a gentle reminder of supporting a creative spirit—it simply and successfully teaches the basics of self-awareness, collaborative and individual effort, and how to develop autonomy and strength by realizing a goal. Through her story, kids will be encouraged to consider their own path to musical and artistic composition. 

The message and its translation through bright, large-size drawings by Zoe Mellors will delight adults seeking stories that go beyond entertainment value to reinforce a child's inner spirit. 

The Song Garden

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Unwritten
Alicia J. Novo
INtense Publications
9781947796652             $16.99 Paper/$28.99 Hardcover
Website: www.alicianovo.com
Ordering: Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Unwritten-Zweeshen-Chronicles-Alicia-Novo/dp/194779664X 

Unwritten will reach teens interested in magical realism and stories about bullying, and introduces the Zweeshen Chronicles series. 

Beatrix Alba is a book nerd and is ripe fodder for bullying, which takes place not just in school, but at home. Like most nerds, she harbors dreams of being powerful enough to overcome these forces of darkness. Unlike the rest, she actually holds the secret capability to do so...a power that brings her into the book world she so loves when a spell to keep her hidden breaks. 

In Zweeshen, all the tales she so loves are alive. It's a world where wishes come true, there to live alongside horrors the ordinary world keeps buried out of sight, with only books of legends remaining to document this alternate reality. 

Unlike her former world, in this one, Beatrix's ability to change everything proves not just an asset, but the starting point for a world-changing battle. Amidst confrontations between good and evil, Beatrix finds herself joining forces with a cursed conjurer to face an adversary intent on taking over. 

Only she holds the puzzle key to his ability to do so. And only Beatrix can tap the help of her friends to use darkness to succeed, even if it means destroying the world she's lived in all her life. 

Alicia J. Novo creates a powerful story which relies on a set of literary clues and puzzles that drive the main character and her friends to make difficult decisions. Beatrix is motivated by her need to see her mother, but there's a deeper purpose to her actions. She also needs to uncover truths about herself. 

Teens receive a coming-of-age (or, perhaps more correctly, a coming-into-power) tale that is delightfully hinged on literary figures and devices from not just fantasy realms, but romance and other genres. 

As she questions "How much bad is tolerable?" Beatrix begins to find answers to questions that include many philosophical moments: "I'm convinced the best we can do is live our way. It denies everyone else power over us." 

While its moral and ethical queries are one of its strengths, Unwritten will be relished by teens who have experienced bullying and who will especially delight in the unexpected convergence of literary figures on the stage of a world that brings them all to life, fighting side by side: "Elizabeth has arranged for a ship captained by one of Peter Pan's defected pirates." 

Its surprising confluence of fantasy and its unexpected twists and turns, supported by strong characters, draws readers into a story that is satisfyingly unpredictable and hard to put down. 

Unwritten

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When the Angel Sent Butterflies
Jody Sharpe
Independently Published
978-0988562080            $9.00 Paper; $2.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/When-Angel-Sent-Butterflies-Sharpe/dp/0988562081 

When the Angel Sent Butterflies provides read-aloud parents with an uplifting primer about little Kate, who is frightened when a bee buzzes around her. 

Jones reminds his sister that their mother says angels watch over them daily. Angel Ken has a different approach: he sends butterflies to delight the kids and take away their fear of nature and the outdoors. 

Dog Billie sees angels all the time. She knows that Angel Ken's purpose is not just to distract with lovely butterflies, but to teach the kids that bees and butterflies alike are their friends, and a positive part of the world around them. 

Illustrator Susan Clare Anderson's drawings are simple and inviting. They could have been drawn by a child, but provide colorful embellishments that will interest a young age range. 

The story concludes on an upbeat note with an invitation to have kids draw a butterfly and a bee, providing an activity to reinforce the spiritual and nature message of a read-aloud that religious parents will find inviting.

When the Angel Sent Butterflies

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The Tale of the Tooth Mouse
George H. Bentz, DDS, MS
Schornsteinfeger Press, LLC
9781734776911
$19.95 Hardcover/$14.95 Paper/$4.99 Kindle
https://izzardink.com/the-tale-of-the-tooth-mouse 

The Tale of the Tooth Mouse is a delightful picture book story reaching ages 7-9 with a whimsical message about lost teeth, tooth fairies, and twins who live in a friendly small town in "a time of kings and queens and castles and knights." 

They live with and enjoy their clever mouse friend Timothy J, who is always entertaining and fun, and who is quite a fan of his young friends and cheese. 

When young Jon's first tooth comes out, it precipitates a crisis because Jon likes his teeth, doesn't want to throw away a tooth just because it exited his mouth, and is traumatized not just about the loss, but about the specter it brings about growing up and change. 

How can caring Timothy J help his young friend overcome this trauma and cheer him on his path to maturity? 

Timothy J thinks and thinks...and the idea stems from a combination of his caring relationship with the children, their appreciation of surprises, and an innovative idea that blossoms into a myth all children embrace today. 

George H. Bentz's story goes far beyond the usual approach to tooth fairies and loss. It embraces far wider themes of growing up, being responsible and caring towards others, arriving at innovative solutions for problems, and how to adjust to the trauma of losing one's first tooth. 

As Jon adjusts to the idea of change and growing up, young children will appreciate the lessons embedded in the whimsical story of a creative mouse and the human he loves. While reading skills are required to absorb the story, parents of younger kids will also find The Tale of the Tooth Mouse lends to read-aloud, with its fun drawings and important message. It's a delightfully refreshing, original change from the usual tooth fairy story.

The Tale of the Tooth Mouse

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