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Donovan's Bookshelf

October 2022 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

After the Fall
Luke Romyn
Independently Published
979-8838302281            $16.99 Paper/$5.99 Kindle
Website: www.lukeromyn.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/After-Fall-Tale-Wes-Olympian/dp/B0B6LJLPXM 

Adult readers of fantasy and mythology-based stories will welcome After the Fall: A Tale of Wes the Olympian, a tale of discovery and adventure. It incorporates intrigue and mystery into its account of an amnesiac who discovers he's actually a world-saving hero facing immortal foes. 

The fact that Wes has somehow materialized in President Elizabeth Clarke's Oval Office is daunting in and of itself; but even more deadly is the knowledge that he's actually Ares, the God of War, reincarnated in human form. 

As he joins with sorceress and child of gods Hecate and Special Agent Suzanna Morrison, he comes to realize the purpose of his appearance on Earth in a war which involves stolen souls and deadly forces, from god-driven warriors to the Pentagon. 

A wry sense of humor is apparent amid the serious confrontations and interactions. It is evident in the dialogue between Suzanna and Wes and in the types of relationships that evolve throughout the story: "Suzanna frowned at him before shaking her head. “You must know we’re heading into a trap. Erebus would never leave the path open unless he had a plan to capture us. He missed his chance at the airport, and now he has routed us here with almost no resistance. Think about it; that tank could have easily shot us. If Erebus didn’t want us dead, it means he wants something else.” Her nostrils flared as she stared down the road. “We might run into anything down there.”
“Agreed,” Wes said, beaming. “It should be a blast. Let’s go.”
 

This balances a serious blend of suspense and fantasy that leads readers through fantasy tinged with real-world flavors with an invigorating, action-packed story in which Wes discovers his real powers and the purpose behind his amnesia. 

Luke Romyn has crafted an unusual narrative that is especially potent for its ability to walk a fine line between familiar, real-world settings and mythology-influenced characters. The clashing special interests of each world and the revelations others hold about Wes's role in them create a satisfying mystery that holds many enlightening moments that readers won't see coming. 

After the Fall is a compelling work steeped in folklore and thriller components alike. It's highly recommended for readers seeking well-done characters, a fast pace, and a story that assumes no prior familiarity with folk legends in order to prove accessible and engrossing. 

Libraries catering to fantasy and thriller readers will find After the Fall an outstanding choice. 

After the Fall

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Assassination of Hope
Justin Doyle
Independently Published            $5.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Assassination-Hope-Justin-Doyle/dp/B0B6L76PX9 

On the planet Yiptae lie the final pieces of a puzzle introduced in Embargo on Hope, requiring Darynn and Fyra to travel to the frozen planet in search of answers. What they find is a series of deadly situations stemming from the throes of a violent revolution which leads from an assassination to the mysterious Kaylaa. 

The story blends sci-fi with murder mystery investigation and social and political commentary as Darynn and Frya navigate not only a dangerous planet's simmering, volatile conflicts, but challenges to their own hearts. 

The opening lines of Chapter One portend a tension and attention to detail that maintains a riveting atmosphere from the start: "A disembodied head floated in front of me, surrounded by endless black. It screamed through purple lips, “Butcher! War criminal!” before the sound devolved into ghastly shrieks. Blood droplets the size of my fist swirled like crimson oil mixed in onyx water as my paralyzed body drifted in empty space." 

This is a prime example of Justin Doyle's ability to mix compelling description with staccato action that keeps readers on their toes and wanting to learn more. 

As the story evolves, a secret involving the fate of not just two individuals, but two worlds and many forces powers a plot that maintains a fast pace and strong characterization.

Insights grow not only via action and dialogue, but the interjection of transcripts and other observer influences that keep readers engaged in this chronicle of war and love. 

Darynn would do anything to assure the freedom and safety of Kaylaa and Frya. Even give his life for the cause. 

As missiles tear through churches and lives, the fast-paced story proves hard to put down. 

The mix of fantasy, interpersonal relationship developments, and social and political evolution makes for an engrossing struggle that invites attention on different levels. 

As a leisure read, Assassination of Hope is a captivating adventure; but under its surface of entertainment value beats the heart of social, psychological, and political inspections that will have readers thinking about all three topics and a variety of issues. 

It should be noted that the tale concludes by leaving the door wide open for more to come. The Fourth Erodian Conflict promises additional changes. 

Libraries and readers looking for powerful sci-fi tales of revolution and change will find Assassination of Hope a compelling saga that adds elements of intrigue and mystery into the mix of changing relationships. 

Assassination of Hope

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Cael's Shadow (Book 2, The Sky Seekers)
Larissa N.N. Davila
Stone Raven Press
979-8-9851260-2-0                $23.95 paper/$9.95 ebook
www.stoneravenpress.com 

Cael's Shadow, Book 2 of four-part The Sky Seekers series, continues the epic fantasy story of Jhared, a soldier shorn of his wings, and Nemiah, a priestess whose inclinations go against the grain of her teachings and society. 

Ideally, readers will already be familiar with Shorn, which introduced these characters and setting. The continuing story adds depth and background that leads to further attraction to and appreciation of the events that unfold in Cael's Shadow. 

A (somewhat long) list identifying principal characters is provided to help newcomers transition into this ongoing saga, but prior background familiarity will enhance appreciation of the social madness and personal angst faced by many of the characters. 

A previous interest in the confluence of political and magical worlds will also enhance reader attraction to this vivid story, which injects wider-ranging social and political reflections into disparate personal lives and perceptions. 

At the heart of these conflicts are the demon Cael, a soldier's efforts to remain effective in changing the destructive course of his world, and a priestess who has a vested interest in helping her people survive, but loses her own identity in the pursuit. 

Once again, Larissa N. N. Davila crafts a complex story whose premises and progression are enhanced by two powerful central figures whose personal challenges entwine with social and political issues. 

Powering these scenarios is a close attention to psychological development and discoveries that involve readers on a deeper level of inspection than most epic fantasies offer: "It shamed him that the mere thought of going over the edge set his heart racing and a cold sweat running between his scarred shoulders. He had faced much worse than mountain heights in the past weeks: his body still bore the marks of the Legacy’s hatred and Alende’s fury. It shamed him that even now, after twelve years of the Teaching and more than half that many years under the training of General Nadel, a part of him still longed to fling himself off the cliff just to experience the precious seconds of ecstasy the sky would offer before the rocks at the bottom crushed him." 

The ironies of unprecedented alliances are not lost on either characters or readers: “A Forest Guard and the bane of Avelos fighting together,” she said with a weak laugh. “Irony exists in that I’ve not the wit to express just now.” 

These uncommon and surprising unions, which juxtapose quite different experiences and inclinations, make Cael's Shadow thoroughly engrossing on many different levels. 

As Davila unwinds yet another series of escalating personal and political challenges affecting the survival of individuals and societies in this world, fantasy readers who look for swift action tempered by an attention to strong characterization and a solid sense of place and purpose will find Cael's Shadow hard to put down.

While Cael's Shadow can be chosen as a stand-alone read, ideally it will join its predecessor in libraries looking for well-written epic fantasies that stand out from the crowd. 

Cael's Shadow (Book 2, The Sky Seekers)

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Crew of Exiles
Neal Holtschulte
Haste Publishing
979-8-9858948-0-6         $13.99
Website: Neal Holtschulte 

Crew of Exiles is set in 2500 A.D., when an Immortal's life ends via suicide and his assistant in the endeavor, fellow transcendent being Beryl, is sentenced to 1,000 years in corporeal form on an abandoned Earth. 

The last thing Beryl expected was to become part of a ragtag band of Earth's remaining people. This includes a frustrated virtual reality gamer who just wants to explore the world and the lone survivor of a crashed starship who, ironically, turns out to represent the collateral damage of Beryl's flawed decision. 

As an immortal being not of Earth, he's never had to interact with humanity in this way. But humanity's problems have just become personal as Beryl discovers a greater mission than survival, friendships, serving a sentence, or personal growth. 

As Fife explains her survival of the zombie hordes who drew her away from virtual reality gaming and into a real world eerily akin to her fantasy life, Beryl experiences levels of emotion he'd never expected to witness or understand. 

Nesh is a different kind of survivor, serving as a reminder to Beryl of how he'd once treated ones like him when he was a Transcendent overseer of life. 

As the experiences and perspectives of all three characters grow, readers will find Crew of Exiles a powerful examination of what elements make humanity a formidable force that survives not only destroyers, but creators of life. 

Will they turn against each other, or will this motley crew find common ground for changing themselves and supporting one another no matter how great their differences? 

As Crew of Exiles progresses, readers are drawn to explore this intersection of very different beings, each of whom is charged with evolving beyond their origins and upbringing. 

While Neal Holtschulte crafts a fast-paced story that moves through a series of revelations and confrontations, it's the moral and ethical and transformative processes that grasp and hold reader attention. These elements provide a consideration of how humanity lingers on long after its world has ceased to be. 

The emotional entanglements and inspections are particularly well done, drawing readers not just into this futuristic and alien world, but into the hearts and minds of characters who each struggle to find the remnants of humanity in their choices and actions. 

Combine a fast-paced story with an emotional draw for a read that moves beyond the usual adventure-oriented sci-fi and into a thought-provoking (perhaps even disturbing) world where quests for restoration and survival lead to an afterlife that simmers with new possibilities. 

All these facets make Crew of Exiles especially recommended as a cut above the ordinary sci-fi tale. 

Libraries seeking extraordinary sci-fi scenarios that evolve on philosophical and psychological levels will appreciate the depth and detail Holtschulte offers in this story of exiles that meet against all odds and come together to transcend their lives in unpredictable ways. 

Crew of Exiles

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Denver Moon: The Thirteen of Mars
Warren Hammond and Joshua Viola
Hex Publishers, LLC
978-1-7365964-6-3         $32.99 Hardcover/$19.99 Paper
www.HexPublishers.com 

Mars is alive. Although this was established in Denver Moon's prior adventure, here, it assumes a new degree of threat that demands a different response from her. 

Denver Moon: The Thirteen of Mars is the third book in the Denver Moon series, and opens with an attack on Mars that places the red planet on new alert two years after Denver Moon discovered that alien shape shifters had invaded Mars Colony. Now the aliens' purposes come to life in a discovery which leads Denver to realize that Mars holds more surprises than once imagined. 

As the story progresses, it moves through repeated conundrums as the concept of 'home' becomes mercurial, as well as the question of who the aliens really are, in the story. 

Denver Moon faces firefights, returns to Earth's orbit, and receives lessons in loyalty and beings that connect via a hive mind and harbor a type of devotion that operates on a biological level. 

From a bounty hunter hired to track down a doctor to aspects of the shape shifter community which result in revised perspectives and objectives, Denver's discoveries impact humans and aliens alike. 

Once again, Warren Hammond and Joshua Viola have crafted an action-packed sci-fi story that profiles a pro-active female hero able to think outside the box of her training and experiences, placing her a setting that charges her with pulling off a miracle to save Mars. 

The strong character of Denver Moon, which was outlined previously, comes to life here for old fans and newcomers alike, resulting in an adventure that works as either a stand-alone read or (best) in conjunction with Denver Moon's other exploits. 

The focus on individual versus collective decision-making processes that embrace when to follow and when to break the rules, whether in alien or human circles, is particularly well-done and thought-provoking, dovetailing nicely with the action-packed events that move from Mars to space and Earth. 

The result is cyberpunk sci-fi action at its best, making Denver Moon: The Thirteen of Mars especially recommended for libraries and readers who found the prior Denver Moon adventures compelling, and who won't be disappointed by the continuing strength of her persona and actions in her latest story. 

Denver Moon: The Thirteen of Mars

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Doom's Daze
Eva Sandor

Huszar Books
ASIN: ‎B0B6W87C4W           $3.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Dooms-Daze-dangerously-unforgettable-characters-ebook/dp/B0B6W87C4W 

Readers of madcap fantasy (particularly those who have absorbed the atmosphere and mayhem of the previous Heart of Stone Adventures books) will find this third and latest book, Doom's Daze, to be just as engrossing and unpredictable as its predecessors. 

Against all odds, Agent Malfred ("Fred") Murd is still alive. And he's facing an enemy that tests his ability to remain so as he rejoins his magpie advisor and the woman who is an expert at breaking his heart for a foray into the uncharted waters of a new enemy from a hidden world, and the weapon that could change everything. 

A host of characters enter the fray, from Agent Corvinalias (a Count in his other life) to Ambassador Nuy B. Luwa and a zany series of adventurers and figureheads. 

Eva Sandor packs such lively description into her story that some of the sentences are deliberately labyrinthine in their length and disparate observations: "Agent Corvinalias, who outside The Bureau was the dashing young Count of a blueneedle tree known as Upper Cloudyblue, had been born— or perhaps born is not the right word; magpies recognize two phases of emergence, one in which a chick hatches from its egg and a second, whereby a fledgling gains functional plumage—at any rate he, like the rest of his moderately large and mildly intellectual family, was from the Isle of Gold, as were the royalty of the Umans." 

That noted, the wry sense of humor and minute examination of language, perceptions, and choices that is woven into the story will offer a high degree of delight to literature readers looking for something different and well steeped in literary allusion and tongue-in-cheek observation: "And now, thought Marshal Fo, it’s time for me. He liked the sound of that and thought about it some more, but after coming up with “it’s time for me now”, he ran out of ideas. So he simply aligned his medals, smoothed the fringe of his epaulettes, and polished the toe of one boot on the back of his opposite leg. In a moment he would enter the Sumptuous Dining Salon of the Citizens of Abode, Sali would watch him eat his meal as usual, and then when he rang for dessert, in would come his generals, carrying hand-bombards instead of honey-bons— a hardship, as he loved foreign delicacies and honey-bons were among the best. But there would be time for those later; time now, he thought, for me. Oh! That was a third way to put it!" 

The result is another rollicking wild ride through a vivid fantasy universe that nicely represents absurdist forms and an imaginative fictional universe that is remarkably whimsical in its presentation. 

Fred's ability to persevere against all odds to turn his role as an outcast Royal Fool into something more meaningful will especially delight prior fans, who will find his latest exploits and the new adventure setting to be just as enthralling as in previous books. 

Libraries looking for strong examples of humorous fantasy need look no further than Doom's Daze for high entertainment value. 

Doom's Daze

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Ensnared
Janet McNulty
MMP Publishing
978-1-941488-92-8
$38.99 Hardcover/$19.99 Paper/$7.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Ensnared-Enchained-Trilogy-Janet-McNulty/dp/1941488927 

Ensnared presents the second book in the Enchained trilogy. It depicts Arel, a city on the edge of unrest and rebellion. 

Noni has been trained to resolve conflicts, but the ones in her heart prove the most difficult to control as she faces an exploding city and conflicts that pull her in two different directions. 

Janet McNulty excels in descriptions that capture not just the outward battle affecting this world, but the inner compulsions that drive its characters to make difficult, divergent decisions. 

The story opens with the aftermath of the prior book's adventure. This makes Ensnared especially recommended for previous fans, who will find that the sequel charts a seamless progression of events that further expands and tests its characters. 

Vivid descriptions and action drive a story with tension that keeps the first-person narrator and her readers on their toes: "Smoke spews from the vents as an ominous rumble builds, intensifying with each passing second, causing my chest to vibrate in tune to its thunder. A wall of fire erupts behind me just as I slide into the second safe zone." 

However, the story's real strength lies in its ability to explore the courage and convictions of narrator Noni, who thoroughly explores her rationales for trying to be a hero who acts alone: “You’re not alone, Noni. You don’t need to do any of this alone.”
“I have to,” I say. “I don’t want to endanger any of you.”
 

Her revelation (that she does need others, and must allow them to act as their convictions dictate) is nicely presented and integrated into the fast-paced story: “This is my choice, and I choose to be here for you. If this is what you want to do, if you are going to continue helping people leave the city, then I am going to be with you, by your side.” I manage a weak smile, unsure of what to say. I have never had anyone willing to risk their life just for me, or willing to help me break the law, knowing full well what the punishment is if we are caught, but Chase is; and the resolve in his voice gives me strength." 

As she struggles with questions about why people are being manipulated to destroy themselves and what her influence brings to the table of political and psychological rebellion, readers will appreciate a thought-provoking story that attracts on many different levels. 

Leisure readers of dystopian fiction who enjoyed Noni's first adventures will find this continuation of her saga just as engrossing as the first book, while newcomers (or those looking for thriller and suspense components) will welcome the opportunity to enter this world and understand its forces and the web of lies which have created its characters' perceptions. 

What happens when a leader incites a mob, and can a woman charged with protecting her city and enforcing the laws become someone who saves not just others, but herself? 

Fine tension, character development, and moral and ethical questions mark a nicely-paced story in Ensnared that is recommended for suspense and dystopian sci-fi readers and libraries catering to them. 

Ensnared

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The Hotchkiss
Pierre Lawrence
Independently Published
ASIN: ‎B09WN5MHJ2            $2.99 Kindle
www.amazon.com/dp/B09WN5MHJ2 

The Hotchkiss is not human, in this sci-fi novella. It's a GPS unit designed to be helpful ... even if that help involves advising berated husband Charles Crenshaw on how to handle his nagging wife Alice. 

It's rare to find contemporary satirical sci-fi that works well, much less offers a quick read of less than two hours, yet still builds a memorable plot and a compelling, thought-provoking set of circumstances in a short amount of time. 

Friend Ed Grimsby was just hoping to defuse another husband/wife spat in a restaurant when he suggested they purchase a GPS. Wife Alice is entirely on board, especially since a planned trip to Lake Placid is being threatened by the specter of them getting lost en route. 

Charles is not convinced that this technological wonder will be helpful, until the "godsend" arrives and proves to sport more abilities than simply navigating the roadways. It is equally adept at navigating a long-term marriage gone awry; and with this knowledge in hand, readers embark on a road trip like none other. 

Pierre Lawrence excels in depicting the next generation of technology, the Hotchkiss, which is "as easy to use as a microwave" and hard to find in a store. 

A furtive note given by an employee who directs Pierre to the competition is accompanied by the mention "you can't miss it." But if it can be missed, Charles will miss it. Three wrong turns later, he's in sight of his dream and goal. But, will it turn out to be a nightmare? 

Pierre Lawrence captures the dilemma, whimsy, and issues of aging adults who face new technology in a story that also introduces the specter of a nightmare embedded into the promises, chips, and choices that it represents. 

The Hotchkiss is everything Charles wanted—and more. With it, he may never be lost again. And that includes navigating his aging relationship with his wife. 

The novella is compelling, fun, and somewhat unpredictable as Charles finds both new opportunity and new problems in high technology. As for his wife Alice, she goes from encouraging this new venture to realizing that her husband is being "aided and abetted by the Hotchkiss." 

Sci-fi readers who want a sense of just how wrong technology can be will relish the lively dilemmas and serious inspection of ethical values gone awry in The Hotchkiss. 

It's not just the perfect entertainment for those who exist on the edge of technological wonders, but the perfect warning for others who would embrace them. 

Readers looking for short sci-fi novellas embedded with fun and a witty message of caution will find The Hotchkiss an attractive choice that packs a lot of tongue-in-cheek humor. 

The Hotchkiss

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Ndalla’s World
Beth Franz
Atmosphere Press
9781639884674             $19.99
www.atmospherepress.com 

Speculative fiction readers that look for standouts in the genre will find Ndalla’s World one of them. It's literally an out-of-this-world love story in which Julia finds herself traveling through time and space to Ndalla's world. Ndalla is a woman she's just starting to know, but this extraordinary event brings her into a milieu that is at once alien and welcoming. 

35-year-old Julia is living in Iowa when everything changes in her life. On that pivotal day of change, she is feeling stuck, merely existing more than moving forward in her life. 

The solitude she has cultivated now translates to feeling lonely, and the goals she'd once envisioned have either been met or have fallen by the wayside of routine. 

On the cusp of change, Julia never imagined the kind of adventure she finds herself embarking on—nor the kind of vibrant relationship that redefines her vision of reality and herself. 

The next morning, she awakens to discover a naked man lying in her bedroom. Closing the door and blinking doesn't help—and now a naked woman is on the other side of her bed. Two intruders ... can she take them on, or should she call the police? 

Most people would head for the phone. But Julia is not most people, and the house phone resides on the other side of these strangers. 

And so she opens the door into discovery, love, a new relationship, and a new world. 

Beth Franz weaves the speculative fiction element into a love story quite seamlessly—so much so, that readers won't find they are actually in the midst of a world-changing paradigm until they've followed Julia into unknown, unpredictable realms. 

Ndalla introduces Julia to her world by teaching her to listen to trees, environment, and her own heart: “I feel a sense of ... possibilities,” I said at last. It was the closest I could come. And then I surprised myself by finding more words available to me. “I feel a sense of movement and gracefulness and acceptance and ....” My voice trailed off.
“Yes,” she said. “That is the message of the trees that you feel.”
Then I opened my eyes. “But I feel the same kinds of things when I am with you.” And I was serious. It was not an empty compliment, and she seemed to understand me.
“Perhaps because I try to live my life as the trees teach me to live it.”
 

As Julia comes to terms with many unexpected aspects of a seemingly staid life up to this transformational point, readers receive thought-provoking moments of reflection, inspection, and philosophical analysis that contribute an added layer of intellectual value to Ndalla's World. 

Can Ndalla birth a new being forged in violence and sadness, and can Julia aid her on her journey through sacrifice and realization? 

Readers anticipating an adventure or a work of fantasy will find that Beth Franz creates so much more in Ndalla's World. Herein lays the opportunity for revelations of the heart that probe avenues of not just love and adventure, but forgiveness and higher-level spiritual and social thinking. 

These elements coalesce into a moving story that involves readers on many different levels, creating a speculative work that revolves around political, social, and personal transformation. 

Readers and libraries that look for works embracing these elements will find them in droves in a contest between Ndalla, the Forces that challenge them all, and Julia's growth, which make this story richly contemplative and hard to put down. 

Ndalla’s World

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Shadowsphere
Kevin Cox

Silvettica
979-8-9866368-1-8         $13.99 Paper/$3.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BDN15CKX

Shadowsphere is the second book in the Bewilderness series, and tells of a suicide mission to the surface world of Rootcore to find lightning-filled stones that power the city of Rethia on the planet Isodonia. Rootcore is a mystery to Rethians. 

The stones can only be found on the toxic planet's surface, which is why nobody returns alive from this important mission of sacrifice. 

Tavarian has long been an outsider among students, is considered weird, and is avoided. Lirah is his only friend, but even she cautions him to try to fit in better. 

Tav thinks that things can't get any more difficult when his favorite classes are cut due to shortages, but he's about to be tapped for a mission he never anticipated, his personal goals negated for sake of the greater good: “What’s most important is your contribution to the community. None is any more valuable than another." 

As Tav is injected into a new student group and charged with a mission that could either end in his demise or change the world, he begins to make the kinds of friendships and connections that he never could in the familiar milieu he grew up in. 

With his travels come new understandings, relationships, and challenges that transform not only his vision of reality, but change the world around him. 

Kevin Cox's world is engrossing, fueled not just by action and adventure, but the psychological twists and turns of changed relationships and self which explore the world and connections within it with equal depth and skill. 

The action is evenly paced, the characters work together to address a variety of survival and enlightenment dilemmas, and the main character, Tav, serves as a focal point for observing and contending with a range of threats, from tentacled monsters and swamp shadows to situations that test his skills and ability to survive. 

Teen to adult sci-fi readers will relish a story that moves from a mountaintop community to a quest that leads Tav to constantly question his perception of the world and his place in it. They will find Tav's ongoing dilemmas absorbing and hard to put down, and will also find that no prior familiarity with the first book is required in order to quickly and completely become immersed in the scenario and challenges of this world. 

Libraries looking for books that bridge the gap between teen and adult sci-fi reading will find Shadowsphere one of the standouts. 

Shadowsphere

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The Singing Shore II: Sky & Stone
E.P. Clark
Helia Press
978-1-952723-25-4         $4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Singing-Shore-II-Stone-Zemnian-ebook/dp/B09WLXVF6Q 

The Singing Shore II: Sky & Stone is the second book in the trilogy about Darya (a.k.a. Dasha) Krasnoslavovna, Tsarinovna of Zem’, and her peacekeeping mission to the Rutsi, her country’s war-like neighbors. 

E.P. Clark provides a satisfying introduction that summarizes the setting, characters, and action of the first Singing Shore book, Sea & Song, so both newcomers and those who read the first saga can enter into the action more easily. Ideally, though, its readers will be the prior fans of Sea & Stone because the complexity of events, characters, and atmosphere were so richly drawn there. Sky & Stone also picks up neatly where Sea & Song left off, forming a seamless continuation for those who look to continue Dasha's journey without interruption. 

Dasha has used forbidden blood magic to preserve the soul of the man she had an affair with when he was killed protecting her. She now carries that soul within her body, which becomes even more complicated a matter because she is now betrothed to a Rutsi prince. 

However, Dasha is not lucky in love, because that, too, falls apart in an epic manner that leaves her on the run from two different forces, struggling to both harness and avoid tapping the forbidden blood magic once again. 

With Alik talking in her head and helping her walk through places of the dead, Dasha embarks on a dangerous journey both through her own abilities and the choices of wielding them, and on routes that attract danger to her path. 

E.P. Clark's engaging story incorporates Nordic myth and metaphysical flavors as it follows Dasha's struggles to tap her strengths without draining those around her. 

Just the right touches of drama and thought-provoking inspections, as well as tangled relationships of love and adversity, are injected to keep the fantasy fast-paced and unpredictable. 

Clark draws inspiration from Finland's national epic story. This will be of special interest to those studying Finnish mythology and legends. Dasha's journey is loosely based on The Kalevala, while her encounters with the animals and environment around her are inspired by the actual flora and fauna of Finland and Russia. 

Steeped in mythology, Finnish traditional legends, and a sense of place heightened by Clark's personal familiarity with and travels in the region, fantasy enthusiasts seeking an evocative, literary, involving tale will find Sky & Stone a rollicking good fantasy worthy of both leisure reading and study. 

It should also be noted that Sky & Stone ends with a cliffhanger, to be continued in a third concluding volume. Readers and libraries seeking epic, Nordic-based fantasy will find the literary and cultural roots of this trilogy to be appealing on many levels. 

The Singing Shore II: Sky & Stone

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Time Terminus
David Gittlin

‎Entelligent Entertainment, LLC
979-8-9858605-0-4         $2.79 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Time-Terminus-Unexpected-David-Gittlin-ebook/dp/B0BBSFHRYZ 

Blend a crime story with time travel elements, mystery, and sci-fi for a sense of the genre-busting backdrop of the novella Time Terminus, which lives up to its subtitle and promise, Expect the Unexpected. 

The first unexpected note of the story sounds when a pregnant ewe is hit and killed by a meteor. Luckily, the farmer who discovered it and the rock is a retired college physics professor who recognizes its value, but not its evolving threat. 

Can a rock spark the impetus to build a time machine? It can if you're a savvy professor with a science-based mindset and the ability to see future potential. But, this project can't happen without investors; and who else will believe in a rock that can instigate time travel? 

The second note of difference arrives with the introduction of successful Florida attorney Issac Templeton, who finds his nightmares edging into real life. A bold business proposition lands in his office and lap to potentially change his future, which syncs perfectly with his life perspective: "He had read that a person makes their future with their every thought and action. It appeared that Peter Alastair subscribed to the philosophy, and so did Issac." 

As events swing between seemingly disparate special interests and concerns, the foundations of Time Terminus at first feel mercurial and shaky; as though too many subplots are injected into the story. But wait, there's more. 

Each thread results in an interconnected opportunity to appreciate the conundrums involved in developing time travel for profit. 

The characters defy their own special interests, ethics, and life experiences as they move outside of comfort zones and into a venture that would defy any horror nightmare. 

David Gittlin's novella is the perfect example of how, under the right pen, the short form can prove hard-hitting and well-developed. 

The twists and turns will please mystery and crime story readers with its probe into special interests; the sci-fi element reaches hard science enthusiasts with an attention to detail and science that embeds reality with new possibilities; and business novel readers will appreciate a surprising story of a profitable venture gone awry when it trickles from the roots of achievement into the horror of misuse. 

These elements, solidified by strong, disparate characters whose special interests get in the way of their new ambitions, create an absorbing story that is a standout in many ways. 

Sci-fi readers who enjoy explorations of time travel's potential profits and pitfalls, mystery readers who appreciate evolving conundrums, and business readers interested in cooperative ventures gone awry will all appreciate Time Terminus. 

Libraries should consider Time Terminus the perfect example of efficient use of the novella form to create a multifaceted read with the ability to appeal to a diverse audience. 

Time Terminus

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Literature

Daisy
Libby Sternberg
Bancroft Press
978-1610885874            $26.95 Hardcover/$9.49 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Daisy-Novel-Libby-Sternberg/dp/1610885872 

There's a reason why many readers who absorbed F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby as assigned reading in high school should take another look at that classic decades later, in adulthood. Daisy is that reason. 

Based on the classic Fitzgerald characters, but assuming a life of its own, Daisy is an exceptional example of a sequel to a classic story. It should be profiled alongside Gatsby as a fitting and memorable adjunct to the tale. 

Those far from having read the classic may recall that the character of Daisy Buchanan appeared in The Great Gatsby to capture millionaire Gatsby's heart, creating in him an obsession which broke when she chose to marry another. 

Her story comes to life under Libby Sternberg's hand, which brings Daisy into the world as a three-dimensional character worthy of her own probe into matters of life and love. 

Sternberg uses the first person to capture Daisy's version of her relationship with Gatsby and others, starting with her cousin Nick, who was the narrator in the original story: "Nick made a lot of money off my story. I penned the first words, and we exchanged more through letters after it was all over—a sort of game we played that helped us massage away the hurt of that wild summer and its consequences. We compared memories, filling in what each of us didn’t know or had forgotten. So if you’ve read his version of this tale, you’ll find differences in mine, some small and some significant." 

When read alongside Fitzgerald's classic, the importance, character, and underlying influences of Gatsby come to life from Daisy's perspective in a manner that continues to define and expand Gatsby's role, while placing this female central to the unfolding of his (and her) dilemmas and choices. 

Daisy grows and changes, flitting from love to love with a savvy perspective on her opportunities in life and how best to grasp them: "I did love Tom. Not in the same open-hearted way I’d loved Jay, but more than I’d felt for Rupert or Andrew, and by then I’d heard that Rupert, too, was dead. He, of the poor eyesight and cartography skills, had been in a headquarters building in France when a German mortar hit it." 

As an adjunct expanding The Great Gatsby's era and atmosphere, Daisy plays a fitting role. Read for its own independent strengths as the story of a woman who forges a life for herself based on realizations about love and loss, Daisy is even more compelling. 

While it deserves its own limelight in libraries profiling women's fiction, literature, and experiences, Daisy is at its best when read along with The Great Gatsby. Its complimentary and alternative views of those lives and times make it recommended for classroom assignment and book club reading where Gatsby is of special interest, and women of the times, the focus. 

Daisy

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Darkness: A Collection of Stories: Volume 2
Dubhghlas Kraus
Graymalkin Publishing
‎
979-8807067807            $12.99 Paper/$3.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09YHP6VJ5/ 

The second volume of Darkness: A Collection of Stories continues the focus of Book 1 in probing different kinds of darknesses of heart and soul. It will be of special interest to readers of psychological horror and revelation who look for literary stories of murder, justice, revenge, and redemption that feature a special blend of angst and understanding. 

Unlike the first collection, the stories here take another step into the definition and realms of darkness, creating works that represent a deeper probe into psychology, with the supernatural forces often taking a back seat to the emotional revelations. 

This approach emphasizes that the roots of horror lie in the mind and heart as much as in outside events that influence the course of beliefs, choices, and actions. 

Take the opening short story "Vanity," for example. Here, struggling writer Josh Brannon faces the onslaught of editorial rejections that assault his initial optimism and confidence about the power of his words. His stories "aren't cookie-cutter enough." And neither is his life. 

As events unfold, Dubhghlas Kraus crafts a portrait of horror that rests not on this one life's vision, but the dovetailed experiences of frustrated writer and blue-collar worker Josh, the early influences shaping serial killer Billy Baumgardner, and a savvy, enthusiastic cop who pursues justice with a vengeance. 

The days unfold with an eye to showing exactly how this coalescence of disparate lives happened, and how each individual was crafted by his life experiences and influences. 

The psychological inspections are particularly astute: "He sometimes wished he had the powers to cause fires just by willing it. Just by thinking about it. With his mind. Like that girl in the movie. Carrie. She’d had her first woman’s time in the shower. She was scared and the other girls laughed at her. Her schoolmates humiliated her. Called her names. And she paid them back. Yes, indeed, she paid them back big time! His mother had watched the movie on television with him years ago, when he was 13. She said Carrie’s mother was right: God made women bleed to punish them because Eve deceived Adam and all mankind was cursed with eternal sin." 

The day-by-day exploration is intricate and unhurried, giving readers time to absorb these characters and their motivations for skirting, navigating, or immersing themselves in the darkness. 

Compare this delicate dance with "Cara," about a lonely man whose rescue of a dog from a violent abuser leads him onto roads of both redemption and revenge. 

His former dog Bear was his best friend for thirteen years, so after the beloved dog's demise, months pass without canine companionship augmenting this loner's life. Searching ads for dogs for sale results in Jeff rescuing an abused canine, but matters don't end there, because abuser Stephenson lives in the same town and they keep running into one another. 

When a dilemma arises, Jeff must think hard about what kind of man he will be: one who pursues revenge or one able to affect a rescue even if it means sacrificing the thing he loves most in his life. 

Each story presents thought-provoking moments where characters need to self-assess and change. Some do, some don't. Some simmer, and some forgive. 

"Funny thing about forgiveness. No matter how well justified a grudge is, holdin’ it is like pulling a wagon full of heavy stones. And for every slight forgiven, the cargo is lightened, and your journey that much easier." 

The unifying theme connecting these disparate lives, experiences, and choices is a progressive one of darkness, revelation, change, and eventual realization. 

Readers receive a fine set of thought-provoking literary and psychological inspections that display both the power of the mind and the power of the short story format. 

Libraries looking for fine examples of psychological suspense and growth in this genre will find Darkness: A Collection of Stories: Volume 2 a fine choice, while book clubs looking for powerful psychological pieces that invite discussion will find more than enough fodder for debate and insights in these succinct, powerful works. 

Darkness: A Collection of Stories: Volume 2

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Death Throes of the Broken Clockwork Universe
Wayne David Hubbard
Atmosphere Press
9781639884759             $14.99
www.atmospherepress.com 

Death Throes of the Broken Clockwork Universe is a debut collection of poetry by Wayne David Hubbard that represents his observations of time, change, and love. 

The passion and creativity reflected in this poetry collection's unusual title continues to shine in the works within, which are separated into two themed sections: "The Time Studies," and "The Love Studies." 

Each section is filled with explorations that define and support its chapter's title. 

"Nightwatch" opens the first section with a juxtaposition of personal and political revolution as the first-person narrator reflects on how "the capitols of the world are burning" even as he awaits one who never comes and considers the special blindness introduced by love, revolution, and change: "...yet in and in/we were perpetual/the blindness of dawn/the road at our feet/now that our assassins/have fallen asleep." 

This introduction contrasts nicely with such evocative bigger-picture-thinking works as "The Rebellion of Sisyphus," which examines death and perseverance against all odds: "at first/the stones/would not/speak to me/on my last push/they wept/that i would stay." 

Each poem is a microcosm of self that expands outward to connect with the universe. Each is like a nova that becomes a black hole, reaching out with explosive force and then collapsing into a quieter form of contemplation from which all emotion (and the sense of self) cannot escape. 

Readers drawn into such event horizons will find that each piece dovetails nicely with those surrounding it and the collection as a whole, introducing a life inspection unique in its quiet force and powerful voice. 

Poetry libraries that seek exceptional contemporary works for their collections will find Death Throes of the Broken Clockwork Universe a fitting acquisition, while creative writing classes and book clubs analyzing methods of injecting the most force into a few words will want to use these examples as keys to understanding the power and possibilities of the poetic form. 

Death Throes of the Broken Clockwork Universe

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Halfway From Home
Sarah Fawn Montgomery
Split/Lip Press
978-1-952897-25-52              $16.00

https://www.splitlippress.com/halfway-from-home 

Halfway From Home is an essay collection that imparts grief over the past and the hope for a better future. Capturing nostalgia and the lingering lessons of life events, it considers a diverse array of topics related to the richness of discovery, offering readers their own special brand of enlightenment and hope for the future in these pandemic times. 

The first thing to note about Sarah Fawn Montgomery's collection is that it comes firmly rooted in the kind of imagery that brings these moments to life irregardless of their place in the timeline of experience: "Graduation is coming. Soon we’ll scatter, moving to places where we can’t park—or at least not for free. Where we won’t be able to look up and see moss drip from the trees, where we won’t be able to drive out to the eucalyptus grove in winter and see ten thousand monarchs nestling for warmth, the whole forest rustling and alive." 

No matter where you are, in reading through these works—you are here, in the moments and pivot points that represent transition and change. 

The second thing to highlight is Montgomery's special brand of autobiographical inspection that juxtaposes these timelines with wisdom gained from experience and living through them: "There is magic here, I know. I am full of missing what is right in front of me. But I am already wanting something that isn’t there. This is only home because it will be gone one day. Because I will go somewhere else, in search of nostalgia, a lifelong habit of saying goodbye." 

The third note? The poetic, lyrical lilt of these essays is like the kiss of love, deeply connected and involving: "Whale tooth the size of a palm held open for offerings, for help. Surface blade-slick, oiled with fat flayed and boiled. How your tooth shines when you are stripped of your flesh, rubbed down with your own disappearance. Taste sea, salt and regret, seep of sex. A ship is carved on your whale tooth, a dozen billowing masts, taut lines wrestling with the wind. You know those ropes, the ways they choke, capturing the body and holding it like an embrace." 

This is how language sings. This is the song of place, time, connection, hope, and life. Ideally, this is why the essay form can be so expressive and haunting—under the right hand. 

Sarah Fawn Montgomery's hands are such: tools of insights, discovery, longing and revelation that is rooted in archaeology, geology, and the world of nature, connecting the observational to personal experience: "We crack the geode with a hammer to split it open. It reminds me of the book on my mother’s shelf, the one about babies sliding from the wide legs of women, wonders that require pain." 

It is hoped that, from these quoted passages, the sense of strength and superior literary reflection that comprises Halfway From Home will invite readers of all ilk to partake. It deserves not just a place in literature libraries, but prominent feature in creative writing classes as an example of the powerful possibilities of intersecting essay and lyrical description. 

Certainly, Halfway From Home is one of the most compelling collections this reviewer has seen this year, with 2022 more than halfway over. 

Halfway From Home

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Iphigenia In Aulis
Euripides (
Adapted by Edward Einhorn)
Image Comics, Inc.
978-1534322158            $16.99 Paper/$13.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Iphigenia-Aulis-Euripides/dp/1534322159 

Iphigenia In Aulis is an Age of Bronze graphic novel joining a series. The "play on paper" has been adapted for this format by Edward Einhorn, but those who would translate this effort to the stage or public performance in any media are forewarned that royalties may apply. 

The original Euripides effort is steeped in historical accuracy. While one might argue whether it is an actual translation versus an adaptation, that point is moot. What is more important is that Iphigenia In Aulis receives the kind of interpretation that lends to its accessibility for modern audiences of all ages. This makes it a standout both in the world of drama and in classic literature, recommended for young adult study and understanding. 

As the ancient Greek play evolves, covering the dilemma King Agamemnon faces over either killing his beloved daughter or allowing his kingdom to fall into chaos during the Trojan War, readers receive an interpretation that employs literary license in revising certain key segments of the original to improve dramatic results. 

Thus, the prologue, epilogue, and dialogue have all been streamlined and adjusted for dramatic flair and better modern audience understanding of the history and interpersonal relationships of the times. 

Eric Shanower provides the graphic illustrations that accompany this translation, adding to his Age of Bronze works of art that create key interpretive moments in the story. 

Will daughter Iphigenia be sacrificed to the god Artemis to bless the King's side of the war? 

As Agamemmnon, Klytemnestra, and others of the times come to life, all ages will appreciate this interpretation's ability to wind a history of the times into a dilemma worthy of Shakespearian drama reader attention. 

Einhorn's ability to smooth the way to understanding the influences, events, and choices of these classic characters combines well with the black and white illustrations of Shanower, creating a powerful story of gods, men, conflict, and sacrifice. 

The result is especially recommended for assignment to aspiring young actors who would better understand either the works of Euripides or the process of creating historical interpretations accessible to modern audiences. 

Students of drama, literature, and history will find Einhorn's study rich in description and action, belaying any thought that these ancient events require intense scholarship in history and culture in order to prove captivating and understandable. 

Libraries looking for graphic novels that are powerful literary representations in and of themselves will find Einhorn's adaptation of Iphigenia In Aulis a fine addition. 

Iphigenia In Aulis

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Biography & Autobiography

Alfred B. DelBello: His Life and Times
John A. Lipman
Atmosphere Press
978-1-63988-480-3         $18.95
www.atmospherepress.com 

Alfred B. DelBello: His Life and Times is not only a portrait of an effective politician, but an examination of the underlying concept of a style of bipartisan politics that creates a cooperative rather than a contentious atmosphere. 

While this examination is both a tribute and a throwback to past values and processes, it also holds an important message for America's future. This is why Alfred B. DelBello: His Life and Times deserves a prominent place not only in library biography collections, but as discussion material for political debate groups and government worker circles. 

Forty years ago, DelBello's accomplishments were driven not by special interests and the ebbs and flows of political influence, but a personal conviction of right, wrong, and the individuals who supported these beliefs no matter their political party of choice. 

DelBello's concerns embraced modern-day issues. He was ahead of his time in tackling climate change, affordable housing, race relations, and prison reform—all headlines in today's news. But, of particular interest here is his methodology and the underlying convictions which contributed to his accomplishments. 

No effective leader operates without a guiding light; but in modern times, that light too often appears fleeting and mercurial. Not so for DelBello, whose convictions made him a standout Democrat able to work with members of both parties and their diverse ideals. 

John A. Lipman discusses not only the (many) milestones of DelBello's life, but the reasons why he was able to attract and work with political members from different walks of life. He "had the ability to attract Republican voters. He was a principled fighter. He had stood up against conventional thinking in his own party. As a Democratic mayor in Republican-leaning Yonkers, he had always worked across the aisle, especially during the tumultu-ous confidence vote for City Manager Scher. But Yonkers was merely a training ring. The county executive seat was the middleweight battle. The position controlled a 6,200-person bureaucracy with a budget of $245 million. His victory would place him in the national limelight." 

Many a modern politician today should take note of this, because DelBello's special brand of politics fostered many achievements, from new medical centers and infrastructure improvements to efforts to reduce jail overcrowding and improve government effectiveness. 

Of particular note is the way Lipman dovetails the personal perspective and life of DelBello with strategies that sent politics in different directions, often defying the set perceptions and courses of DelBello's own party: "Some Democratic Party regulars were annoyed by DelBello’s out-of-region picks, but Luddy and Berking had accepted that non-negotiable condition when they asked Del-Bello to run. Matrone established an “encumbrance system” that removed all expected future expenditures from the budget and placed them in an interest-bearing account. When the bill was paid months later, the interest would be returned to the general fund. It replaced the county’s antiquated cash-disbursement system with strategic investments. In a period of runaway inflation, this kind of fiscal juggling was revolutionary, especially for government." 

Al DelBello was an amazing person. Even more commendable is the way in which his achievements are both celebrated here, reviewed for their contributions to more effective democratic political processes.       

It doesn't matter what party the reader identifies with—or even if they've heard of DelBello before. What is most important about Alfred B. DelBello: His Life and Times isn't just his life, but his example of a methodology that sparked the kinds of changes all Americans benefitted from. 

These qualities make Alfred B. DelBello: His Life and Times a top recommendation that ideally won't just repose in a library's biography section, but will assume just as active a role in discussions about political and social change as it takes in this biography of DelBello's life and times. 

Alfred B. DelBello: His Life and Times

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Along Came a Stroke
Eileen Haas
Bold Story Press
978-1-954805-18-7                $9.99 Kindle
www.boldstorypress.com 

Along Came a Stroke: My Story of Survival and Recovery is a memoir about healing that comes with a message: there is life after stroke. This message serves as a beacon to others as Eileen Haas recounts her stroke and the recovery process that changed her life. 

Where other stories of recovery chart singular processes and events, Haas maintains that healing is actually a lifetime endeavor. As she recounts this experience through the years before and during COVID, an added flavor of extraordinary times overlays the personal memoir of recovery. This documents the special challenges of having a life-threatening experience and recovering from it during a worldwide pandemic. 

Unlike many, Haas was already well-read about strokes when she experienced hers. This allowed her a speedy response many wouldn't have thought of: "Even now, I’m amazed at my presence of mind. I could have just fallen apart. I could have just died. But I sprang into action instead." 

The life-or-death decision she made occurred in nearly an instant, but its results helped her return from the brink of death to a changed life: "They say your life flashes before your eyes when you’re dying. Mine didn’t flash before me, but I did contemplate death. And I decided not to die (obviously, or I wouldn’t be writing this). Eventually I would die, of course, but I wasn’t ready. I wasn’t done having adventures, that was for sure. That was right, because I’m having quite an adventure re­covering. 

Anyone who wants to know what it feels like to experience a stroke and a life-altering condition must consult Along Came a Stroke. It's as much a memoir of the recovery and rebuilding process as it is about the stroke experience, charting the course of a woman who would never be the same. 

From stages of grief revolving around her stroke's experience and its aftermath to lessons she learned about recovery and choices in facing disability, readers gain much wisdom on subjects ranging from wheelchairs and non-limb use to adaptations that can create Catch-22s and hinder the full recovery process. 

These honest revelations also set Along Came a Stroke apart from other stories of strokes and recovery. They need to be heard and absorbed by readers, ideally well before a stroke or life-altering medical condition is experienced. 

This book also excels in exploring the falsehoods and illusions that permeate and affect recovery choices, making it a standout of wise advice that readers from all walks of life would do well to consider, because "In life, you can get away with this. I’m sorry to say, when you’ve had a stroke, you often can’t. There’s that moment when nobody is around and you have to climb that ladder. Some people just wait until someone is available. I’m too impatient for that. Normally, that’s not such a good trait. But when it comes to getting over a stroke, it is." 

This candor sets the book head and shoulders above most stories of strokes, recovery, disability, and survival: "I don’t know about you, but my goal has been to be normal. A therapist (not a good one) told me, several years ago, that “normality is overrated”; she will be forever remem­bered for that remark. By normal, I mean that no one can tell I’ve had a stroke. Until I tell them, which is at my discretion. This has been my goal. But now I’m beginning to wonder, do I really want that? Do I want to give up the privileges (yes, privileges!) that come with being somewhat disabled?" 

Any library strong in health and healing guides, as well as a wide range of readers (to include not just stroke survivors, but anyone interested in the nuts and bolts of returning to normalcy after a life-altering experience), must place Along Came a Stroke at the top of their reading list. 

Ideally it won't just repose on a library lending shelf, but will become an active part of book clubs and reading groups devoted to recovery, healing, and better understanding the processes and options of survival. 

Along Came a Stroke

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America’s Early Women Celebrities
Angela Firkus
McFarland Publishers
9781476680231             $39.95
https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/americas-early-women-celebrities/ 

America’s Early Women Celebrities: The Famous and Scorned from Martha Washington to Silent Film Star Mary Fuller began as an effort to define the presence and actions of female heroes in American history. Ironically, that definition evolved to include a consideration of the element of selfishness that prompted these women to live up to their full potentials, whether this led them to fame or scorn. The original concept envisioned by Angela Firkus for this book, that "celebrity is a status negotiated between someone famous and her fans," proved to be more complicated and wider-reaching than she'd envisioned. 

As Firkus began the process of selecting biographical sketches for inclusion, it became evident that the general definition of "fame" also needed to include the notorious as well as the favorably acclaimed. 

Therein lies the attraction and unusual direction of this book, which focuses on women who took big risks in order to not just live their lives, but thrive within their abilities and circles of interest. 

Readers receive a host of symbols of perseverance, with the book's structure designed to contrast the different approaches of women who often moved in separate but familiar circles. 

One such example is in the third chapter juxtaposing Lydia Maria Child and Frances Wright who, in the 1820s and 30s, promoted messages of equality and social justice for all. The choice to contrast these seemingly disparate lives offers a rare opportunity for readers to absorb not only these individuals, but their pursuit of celebrity to achieve similar goals in different ways: "The two crusaders pursued celebrity to break through and be heard. They believed in many of the same causes but presented their ideas and tried to persuade their audiences very differently. Wright cared little for subtlety and prompted intense reaction. Child tread lightly until she was compelled by her conscience to speak more plainly. The two women won admirers but possibly an equal number of Americans denounced them. Child and Wright did not back down and promoted equality as long as they were in the public eye." 

More so than any singular coverage of women's history and biography could have achieved, contrast of these lives to identify their influences, drives, and different methodologies in achieving their goals creates a rare opportunity to better understand how celebrity status fosters goals and beliefs. 

The women tackle a range of social issues, from censorship to social improvement. Whether driven by a sense of justice, the pursuit of adventure, or an attraction to fame, they made a difference not only in their lives, but in the lives of those around them. 

Firkus also adds insights into their personal objectives and reactions to fame, presenting important details about the public pursuit of entertainment: "Women and men wanted their celebrities to be even more active than they were. Lecturers and writers continued to attract attention, but Americans admired more those who performed feats of courage or skill like they read about in the extremely popular dime novels. Calamity Jane became one of the most famous daring women in America but she probably led a much less outrageous (though maybe equally dangerous) life than the one attributed to her in books and articles." 

Scholars who look for footnoted references will find plenty of supportive material here, which also points the way for additional reading about each woman and her times. 

The result is more than a highlight of early female celebrities.

America’s Early Women Celebrities adds the underlying social and political analysis of their eras to provide readers with an in-depth analysis of the act of becoming a celebrity and its impact on the world: "Without a doubt, celebrity is a phenomenon that cannot be avoided in the twenty-first century but it had its origins long ago." 

Libraries strong in women's history and biography will find America’s Early Women Celebrities a powerful choice supported by extensive notes and references. But it's also a top recommendation for book club and discussion groups who would better understand the changing roles of women in the world, and the individuals who fostered these changes via achieving and employing their celebrity status. 

America’s Early Women Celebrities

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Cowboy from Prague
Charles Ota Heller
Atmosphere Press
978-1639883547            $18.00
www.atmospherepress.com 

"Goddamn immigrant!" 

Charles Ota Heller heard these words of hate in high school ... in the land of the free, after he and his parents narrowly escaped the brutal Communist regime in Czechoslovakia. It was an endeavor that moved them from living a life of wealth to arriving in a strange new land nearly penniless.  They were words that would plague his life and seem to thwart any ideal of success. And yet, he persisted. 

Charged by his father with adapting to his new home by speaking English without an accent and becoming "100% American," Heller struggled with his past and present prejudice to achieve success against all odds and under any definition of the word. 

Cowboy from Prague: An Immigrant’s Pursuit of the American Dream records that process. It adds to the literature about immigrant experience and contributions to American history and culture by offering both familiar examples of struggle and prejudice and extraordinary efforts that link perseverance to the ultimate American dream of achievement and success for all. 

In many ways, Cowboy from Prague documents concepts, ideals, and processes similar to the wealth of immigrant experience already in print. In others, it represents a departure, in its focus on different types of prejudice and how they affected the narrator's perceptions of life in the land of opportunity. 

These passages are marked by specific examples and memories: "The football coach looked at me, turned back to Smith and launched a wad of saliva onto the green grass. “This is pure bullshit!” he snarled. “Only goddamn immigrant freaks kick the ball from the side. This is America, and that’s not football.” With that, he walked off in the direction of his office. I felt as if the squat little man had kicked me in the groin as hard as I had kicked the football. I stared at Smith quizzically in search of an explanation. Cap was watching the football coach wobble up the hill toward the school building. Finally, he turned to me, and I could see that his eyes were moist. “I’m sorry, Charlie. Apparently, Coach Flynn is not very fond of immigrants. I’m afraid you’re going to meet a few people like him in your life.” 

The strength of such examples (and in this narrative) lies in "what happened next," because Heller is the perfect example of gaining wisdom, strength, and positive pathways from adversity. 

Cowboy from Prague is full of such examples as it documents how this immigrant changes not only his history, but those around him, by his attitudes and drive. 

Unexpected humor is one thread that keeps Heller's story engrossing. It appears at points where one would least expect it, demonstrating the versatility of thought and approaches to life that would serve him well in America. 

As readers pursue Heller's story, they will come to realize that his book represents more than a singular life or experience. It's the voice of a nation with a history of taking in those less fortunate and providing avenues of success unavailable in any other country, and it follows the successes and failures of America's own dreams and promises. 

In the end, it reinforces those very American principles that draw immigrants in the first place: "I wrote Cowboy from Prague in support of enlightened Americans—those who not only understand the economic benefits of immigration, but who believe that taking in human beings in distress is what this country has always done—whose voices will drown out the insults and bravado of the haters. That is the America about which I dreamed as a 12-year-old in a refugee camp. That is the nation which allowed me to pursue, and realize, the American Dream. That is the America about which I decided to write." 

While libraries strong in immigrant stories will want to consider Cowboy from Prague, it's also a powerful analysis of the qualities that make America accessible, the ideals of it being the land of opportunity for all, and the types of people that either represent or belay this ideal by their attitudes and actions towards immigrants. 

Heller's story will ideally be pursued in discussion groups not just devoted to memoirs of immigrant experiences, but surveys of the American dream and how it is translated in real life. 

Cowboy from Prague

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Dad Died, Then Mom
Malia Arries
Trilogy Christian Publishers
978-1-68556-685            $17.99 Paper/$8.49 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Dad-Died-Then-Mom-Inspirational/dp/1685566855 

Dad Died, Then Mom: Siblings' Spiritual & Inspirational Memoir as Caregivers is a memoir about love, spirituality, and caregiving that chronicles the adversity, struggles, and rewards of children raised to believe in loyalty to the family above all. 

Over six years had passed since her parents died, but Malia Arries felt compelled to take pen in hand and chronicle her family's experiences. Caregivers who are in the position of helping their loved ones will be glad she did, because this is as much a chronicle of love in service and assistance as it is a story of aiding parents in their final passage from life. 

As the story opens, Dad is about to die. This process receives in-depth coverage that brings not just events but emotions and atmosphere to life: "A lingering smell of rhubarb custard pies Mom had made over the years now competed with odors of medicines, cleaning supplies, and body wipes. Fresh lilacs I had picked earlier that day and placed by Dad’s hospital bed offered a glimpse and scent of spring." 

The minutiae of the moment is captured with an immediacy that creates a "you are here" feeling in the reader: "I had always loved hearing their grandfather clock, musically announcing the quarter hours and then banging out the full hours. But on that night, I was consciously and unconsciously focused only on the sound of Dad’s breathing." 

As uncharted territory is experienced in different ways and navigated with the uncertainty of familiarity combined with the certainty of spiritual reflections and love, readers receive important guideposts to connecting the end-of-life experience with their own ability to laugh and create memorable moments right up to the end. 

Each parent has different end-of-life experiences which both challenge and embrace the life left. As the siblings learn how to navigate these changes and maintain the sense of love and loyalty that lets them help each parent in different ways, readers receive thought-provoking, moving insights into the caregiver's mercurial role and adjustments needed to make them work. 

Arries acknowledges the difficulties but tempers them with insight and affection: "There were some challenging times caring for Mom which became endearing and amusing as we thought back." 

The result is a moving memoir. Readers usually receive poignant, angst-driven caregiver experiences, but it's refreshing to note and experience the underlying love, faith, and joy that permeate this account of caring for two parents on their different end-of-life journeys. 

This makes Dad Died, Then Mom a standout in caregiving literature, especially recommended for Christian libraries and discussion groups interested in books that document shifting family experiences and relationships and the honor that comes with celebrating the life that Malia's parents shared. 

Dad Died, Then Mom

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Find a Place for Me
Deirdre Fagan
Pact Press/Regal House Publishing LLC
9781646032839      $17.95 Paper/$8.99 Kindle  
https://pactpress.com 

Find a Place for Me: Embracing Love and Life in the Face of Death is a memoir about life, a spouse's death, and the impact of an ALS diagnosis on marriage and a family determined to live life to its fullest. 

Readers won't expect humor and laughter to permeate this couple's end-of-life story, but these are integral components of their marriage and their approach to death as well as life, and lend a special flavor to their story. 

Deirdre Fagan pulls no punches as she discusses their initial denial and misunderstandings about the nature of Lou Gehrig's disease and the meaning of her forty-three-year-old husband's devastating diagnosis: "I was in the deepest denial I’ve ever experienced in my life, and raw and painful energy was simmering just beneath the surface. If there are parts of our brains responsible for certain things, I locked away the part that could learn anything about this disease, and I went on with the part that thought what we were talking about was something that is really not a fun diagnosis but isn’t something that will kill you." 

There are many emotional revelations about the course of their marriage after diagnosis that reveals the crux of their relationship and how this foundation was affected by ALS: "I subscribe to the idea that truth and knowing are always better than ignorance. Bob and I both did. It’s part of why we both gravitated toward philosophy. Bob and I agreed we couldn’t deal with or grow from what we didn’t know. Relationships of all kinds are built on trust. I firmly believe that it is by not outing such information, even in relationships we are committed to maintaining, that we grow more and more distant from our partners. Not telling Bob would have made—in the case of my fortieth-year crush—a mountain out of a molehill. Keeping that crush to myself would have helped those feelings to snowball, instead of Bob and me melting them together. Hiding and not telling never seems to do much good in any situation." 

Whether it's attractions to others, rejecting the ultimate results of an ALS diagnosis and its impact on daily living before that point, or the influence of family and friends (and their lack of proximity), Fagan creates a dialogue that gives insights into the caregiver relationship that evolves, in addition to a couple's challenges. 

Perhaps most eye-opening of all is the growing isolation the disease and Bob's increasing limitations have on their lives and choices: "While the update letters make it sound as if we were surrounded by love, which clearly we were in so many ways, so much of that love was far, far away. There were many people who did not inhabit our daily lives." 

Raw, candid moments of marital change affected by the disease's progression come to life under Fagan's hand: "Words had meant everything to me and to Bob for so much of our marriage. Talking and writing side by side kept us strong and united, which is why we often opted to go to a hotel on a date rather than into the public sphere. Slowly, however, as Bob had predicted, I increasingly took my words elsewhere. As painful as it was for me to tear myself from Bob, like two strips of Velcro adhered to each other, he was too tired, and I needed to say things I didn’t want to say to him." 

More so than most memoirs about ALS, Find a Place for Me hits home, hits hard, and addresses the special heartache of losing a beloved partner "one degree at a time." 

It provides a blueprint for any others who may find themselves in this position, whether from ALS or other degenerative health conditions. It's both a celebration of life and a walk through the progressive changes caused by debilitative disease, providing insights about daily physical and emotional challenges that readers can apply to their own situations. 

Libraries strong in memoirs about marriage, love, and ALS will find that Find a Place for Me stands out from the literature with its inspections of life, love, and a husband's ability to still make his wife laugh despite the anguish of their shared, vastly revised lives. 

Find a Place for Me

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Fragile Minds: An Advocate's Story
Diane Lane Chambers
Ellexa Press LLC
978-0-9760967-8-8         $17.99 Paper/$8.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Fragile-Minds-Diane-Lane-Chambers/dp/0976096781 

Fragile Minds: An Advocate's Story is a memoir that journeys through bipolar disorder and mental illness. It tells of a family history of mental illness that affects Diane Lane Chambers in her fifties. 

She'd been diagnosed with breast cancer, finished treatment, and become involved with fellow survivors, only to experience repeated deaths as her new friends lose their battles with cancer. 

The road from repeated grief and loss creates a downward slide into mental instability: "They say there’s a link between stressful events and susceptibility to illness. The death of a loved one is one of the top 10 stressors. I hadn’t realized it, but the death of my father shortly after my cancer diagnosis, coupled with the loss of two friends from breast cancer, and then my beloved Bert, had taken a huge toll on me. I began spiraling downhill, aware that something was very wrong with me, but I had no idea what it was." 

Her condition belayed her perceptions of what depression was and how it presented in life, and so Chambers missed many of the early signs that something was very wrong, until her illness could no longer be denied. 

As she became more aware and knowledgeable about not only her own condition, but medical and government responses within the mental health system, Chambers came to realize the need to write about her experiences and revelations. And so Fragile Minds was born to tackle the issues not just from a patient's perspective, but from an advocate's mindset. 

This approach sets Fragile Minds apart from many memoirs about mental illness. From her work on psych wards and the encounters with staff and patients that led to a startling revelation that many with severe mental illnesses were not being helped, but harmed, to her evolving fight for reforms and change, Fragile Minds juxtaposes personal and community thinking in a thought-provoking manner. 

Readers who anticipate another memoir steeped in self-analysis will find that Fragile Minds differs from most. It juxtaposes discussions of mental illness, self-revelation and analysis, and greater involvement in community-building efforts. 

Chambers takes the needed next step in moving beyond her experiences to address mental health system failures and how to address and correct them. Portraits of other sufferers contrast different experiences with the types of changes Chambers seeks to make through her own efforts and those of advocacy programs. 

The result is a wide-ranging memoir that deserves not only placement in any library strong in mental health memoirs, but those interested in community issues and health community challenges. 

Ideally, it will not repose on such shelves, but will become a flash point of conversation for book clubs, advocacy groups, and mental illness treatment professionals who will see in its stories and examples the roots of positive change. 

Fragile Minds: An Advocate's Story

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Involuntary Reroute!!!
Robert Laney
Independently Published
978-1-73-352490-2         $5.99
https://www.amazon.com/Involuntary-Reroute-Initial-Book-ebook/dp/B0B6QD8GCC 

Involuntary Reroute!!! is a business biography that follows Robert Laney's realizations about the airline industry and how it really works. 

It takes early lessons learned about fares, first class seating, and the logic of flying and moves from flying the friendly skies to moving through business logic: "An involuntary reroute took place, teaching me the basics of airline deception, and inventing new fare-savings tools. Most travelers have no idea that airfares are a game or even how to play. Overvalued fares are only real if you pay them. In the twenty-first century, most won’t overpay, and neither should you." 

Readers who expect to receive a plethora of tips about saving money and flying better won't be disappointed, but to consider Involuntary Reroute!!! a how-to guide about flights and fares alone would be to do it a disservice. 

Laney's book is as much about business decision-making, processes and the finer art of creating a bargain mentality as it is about the airline industry and his experiences with it. 

From a rogue affiliate's plan to steal a business to how industry discounts really work and legal cases that evolved over trademark infringement, sabotage, and competitive branding processes, Laney's story is replete with the cat-and-mouse games of a thriller, yet cultivates an inspection of real-life business processes and events. 

These circumstances provide a far deeper probe into the business practices of the airline industry as a whole and the actions of Laney and others who operated within its circles. It  offers business readers many historical references and insider insights about everything from promotion and sales to ethical and moral decision-making within and outside a business structure. 

Controversy and litigation stories abound in a lively blend of expose and business processes that reads like fiction, but is thoroughly steeped in real-world experiences within the airline business. 

The result is a fun and enlightening inspection of airline follies and business practices that will appeal on many levels. It works as both an entertainment piece and a story of subterfuges and deception, illustrating business processes that have largely taken place under the radar. Until now. 

Libraries looking for a lively exposé in the form of a business professional's memoir will find that Involuntary Reroute!!! is the perfect blend of drama and probe into airline tricks and traps, designed to attract a wide audience beyond business professionals alone. 

Involuntary Reroute!!!

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It's About Time
Mickey Bridges
Independently Published
978-1-66783-752-9         $14.99 Paperback/$9.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Its-About-Time-Mickey-Bridges/dp/1667837524 

It's About Time is a memoir about a boy coming of age in Compton, California in the 1950s and 60s. Readers who expect the usual blend of family experiences and social integration will find that Mickey Bridges provides an unusually harrowing and detailed story. It follows a boy who finds himself on the wrong side of the tracks, heading for disaster as he impregnates a girl, drops out of school, moves in and out of prison, and eventually lands in a federal penitentiary. 

For most, this would be the end of the story (and the end of the line). Mickey doesn't know how to forge a better life for himself, and every choice he makes just lands him deeper into crime and trouble. 

Readers will find that the meat of this memoir lies not in how this life goes off-rails, but in the process through which he grows into a better life for himself, against all odds. 

He wants to do his time and gain freedom, but this goal is fraught with setbacks, even in prison. As he finds a way out, Bridges documents his character's progress based on real-world events, his own background, and his own work with disadvantaged students.   

Bridges found more than a way out. He found God and a meaningful life work that allowed him to help others in similar situations. This occurred even in a prison environment because Bridges took advantage of a program and approach that created a foundation for achievement both within and beyond the prison's walls: "After my mother passed away, I knew it was time for me to get down to business. I wanted to get out of prison in the shortest amount of time possible. I needed to prepare myself to be able to deal with the rest of my life without my mother’s help, guidance, or support. I vowed to do the best program I could. I worked every day on the trade line and when I was off, I would read the Bible or practice on my saxophone or study. I didn’t spend a great deal of time associating with the other inmates, as I was preoccupied with doing my own program." 

The result is an inspiring memoir that shows how even a life in dire straits can recover and blossom into a giving, meaningful experience. 

Libraries seeking memoirs of personal and spiritual transformation will find It's About Time an excellent selection. But its real value lies in insights that lend to book club discussions both within and outside the prison system. A classroom assignment of this memoir at the high school level would also provide much food for thought and debate. 

It's About Time

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The Long Surrender
Brian Rush McDonald
Wisdom Editions, Minneapolis
978-1-950743-80-3         $16.99
Author website:  www.brianrushmcdonald.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1950743802 

The Long Surrender: A Memoir of Losing My Religion will appeal to those interested in faith and wisdom. It is the story of a "Jesus freak" who lived most of his life immersed in the dogmatism of Christian fundamentalism. 

Brian Rush McDonald became a minister, a father, and a missionary, bringing his faith and his family to Taiwan, where they all broadened their faith and its definition. 

It was only after 30 years of preaching that McDonald walked away from some of his engrained concepts of spirituality and Christianity to discover a new brand of wisdom and faith that taught him yet another new language. 

The Long Surrender is a memoir that explores faith within the larger contexts of life experiences, encounters, and blossoming interests, such as being a musician. 

As McDonald came to embrace a more flexible and supportive view of Christianity in his work with Chinese communities, he translated his prior dogmatic viewpoints into work that could better resonate not only within himself, but his followers: "The stories of Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Gideon, Joshua and others offer accounts of the journey of a people of faith. Indeed, some say these were myths created to give people a sense of identity and to carry on the lessons of their faith. I began to take this approach to preaching and felt a certain freedom. I emphasized the lessons we could learn in our modern times. I did not say that I did not accept the Bible as literally true. I just did not emphasize the teachings that such a view necessitated." 

The special challenges of faith, cultural precedent and transformation, and maintaining a revised presence (and message) within the Chinese community are outlined in passages that offer much food for not only thought, but discussion: "The challenge came from members of my congregation whose families had observed the Christian faith for generations and did not accept this metaphorical approach. When they embraced Christianity, they rejected the cultural perspectives of their families and countries of origin. In some cases, they had been rejected by their family for their decision. By and large, the Chinese preachers they heard at conferences and other churches emphasized that the Bible is to be understood in a straightforward, literal manner, not symbolically or metaphorically." 

The result is much more than a memoir of spiritual realizations alone, as readers might expect. The Long Surrender is a probe of Christianity in action in changing communities that explores a life in the ministry and the newfound connections created by McDonald's quest to solidify his own beliefs. 

Spiritual libraries and readers looking for multifaceted stories of transformation and discovery will find McDonald's journey intriguing, as he no longer identifies himself as a Christian, but states: "I consider myself a follower of the teachings of Jesus, whose teachings did impact my life greatly. Jesus’s teaching of the value of each human has defined my life outlook." 

Ideally, The Long Surrender will become central to readers of all faiths, discussed in groups of thinkers and spiritual followers who want to reconsider the impact and underlying beliefs of the Bible and its translation in modern times. 

The Long Surrender

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My Friend Richard: A True Ghost Story
William Hart
Verdugo Mountain Press
ASIN: ‎B0B6S7FXMW           $2.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6S7FXMW

It's unusual to see a ghost story presented as a memoir, but My Friend Richard: A True Ghost Story is such a study in friendship and reality. A teen who dies in a fire returns to haunt author William Hart with a special request—the result of which is this book, which is recommended for those who hold the belief that ghosts do exist. 

Audiences consisting of quasi-believers and ghost story scholars will find the premise and circumstances of this particular ghost story unique, in that the ghostly encounter occurred years after death and involved an initial friendship between ghost and hauntee. 

The story is further enhanced by other encounters with ghost believers, skeptics, and those who provided insights into the overall nature of the spirit world. 

As William Hart traverses unfamiliar territory and comes to find that Richard displays the same young personality as he held at the point of his death, while William has evolved on many levels, the contrasts are well done and intriguing. 

Equally absorbing are the reflections on a lifelong friendship that may have ended prematurely, but lingered on in both minds: "I was probably Richard Johnson’s closest male friend during the last eight or nine years of his life. I’ve never had another friend anything like him. He was the most intellectually sharp of my friends and also the most artistically gifted. In the years we were closest he was my most adventurous friend and least wise. Nobody has ever challenged my thinking more than he did. Often, with a cutting comment followed by loud sarcastic laughter, he slapped the Pollyanna out of my dreamy head." 

Also intriguing is the malevolence described by Hart as he tries to help his deceased friend, only to experience pain and revised visions of Richard's impact on his life. 

Can Richard see the future? Is his shape shifting form in William's life a portent of disaster, or promise? 

Readers who expect a series of "I saw a ghost" discussions will be surprised (and delighted) to find there's much more going on here than an exploration of ghosts and reality. Equally forceful are the descriptions of an evolving friendship that moves from life to death and back again, creating new connections, influences, and revelations that will prove as thought-provoking to readers as they did to the author. 

The prerequisite for thoroughly appreciating this title's unique features is at least a quasi-openness to ghosts. Audiences who hold such a belief will find the added value of friendship and interpersonal inspection elevates My Friend Richard: A True Ghost Story to levels not present in the majority of ghost story experiences and descriptions. 

Libraries seeking to augment their ghostly collections with something different will find much food for thought in My Friend Richard: A True Ghost Story, while discussion groups of paranormal and friendship themes will want to include it as an engrossing, unique presentation. It captures not just one man's ghostly encounters, but the essence of a complete relationship that changes the nature of belief in the afterlife and the meaning and presence of ghosts in everyday living. 

My Friend Richard: A True Ghost Story

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One Last Song For My Father
Edwin Fontánez
Exit Studio Publishing
978-0-9831891-4-5                $22.99
https://exitstudio.com/ 

One Last Song For My Father: A Son's Memoir represents a son's effort to present a "fair portrait of the man" to both honor and explain his father's life. 

As his regular yearly visits to his family in Puerto Rico evolves into witnessing his father's decline into dementia, Edwin Fontánez captures not just these observations, but their impact on his family: "The ripple effect of his turn of health dramatically impacted the family dynamic, leading me into unknown territory as my father’s affliction followed a devastating cycle that lasted over sixteen years." 

The copious notes he took during this period of time results in this tribute and exposé, which contemplates the unfinished relationship between his father and himself and the impact of how matters began and ended between them. 

Sixteen years ago, Fontánez mourned the loss of a man who while, still technically living, had moved into a realm that denied his family his personality, memories, and connections: "Heartbroken, I had to accept that I had lost the opportunity to strengthen our emotional bond. His disease had robbed me of all those years I had looked forward to spending with him." 

This memoir celebrates these elements posthumously, documenting a process many readers follow as they pursue their own loved ones into the shadowy realms of dementia. 

Black and white family photos and artwork throughout supplement these personal reflections of father and son, providing visual reinforcement about who these people were and how they once lived their lives. 

Perhaps the strongest aspect of this memoir, which sets it apart from other celebrations of parents' lives, is the author's attention to documenting the ripples of change that affected family connections, as when his father temporarily rescued a little girl cousin from a bad situation, only to find his new family member had to be returned to her home: "Though it was only for a few weeks, at least my mother, sisters, and I had witnessed this renewed side of my father which had come to life with the presence of this little girl. As great as his enthusiasm was for giving our cousin a better life, so was his grief at losing her. Suddenly, the house seemed emptier. I realized how we had underestimated the light and energy she had brought into our lives. Perhaps to conceal his heartache, Papa never mentioned her again. Understanding his deep hurt and disappointment, neither did we." 

These insights create the foundation of who the man was and his intense connections with family before everything changed. The progress of his dementia is made all the more poignant by the time taken to fully capture this life, while the moments of loss are highlighted by intimate glimpses into how a son reacts to these vast relationship changes: "So it happened that on my arrival on that afternoon back in July 2014, hoping for a pleasant revelation I asked him, “Papa, do you recognize me?” He looked at me smiling but his simple “No” broke my heart. Yet as disheartening as his answer was, I insisted on asking him the same question in every exchange we had, knowing quite well what his answer would be. It was a harsh awakening into a surreal reality." 

Many memoirs discuss the ravages of dementia, but too few take the time to probe deeply into the nature of family relationships and interactions which took place before the downhill slide. 

Edwin Fontánez's intention is to provide a full-faceted reflection of his father's life and times. He achieves his goal with love and insights gleaned from his ability to self-analyze, observe, and document the highs and lows of his father's life and his own relationship with him. 

The result is a memoir that embraces essays, poetry, and journal writing to capture the extent of not only Puerto Rican roots and heritage, but the nature and impact of a father who often proved a challenge to connect with, given the inherent machismo of the Hispanic culture and the fact that his son is gay. 

One Last Song For My Father is more than a celebration of one man's life. It's a cultural and psychological exposé that represents an aria of understanding, love, and cultural identity that traverses two very different, yet strongly interconnected, worlds. 

It deserves a prominent place in any library strong in LGBTQ literature, father/son relationships, and intimate inspections of Puerto Rican heritage. 

One Last Song For My Father

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Playing Mantis
D'Ann Katsu Davis
Atmosphere Press
978-1-639884179           $17.77
www.atmospherepress.com 

Playing Mantis: A Workbook For Inner Peace And A Playbook For The Revolution is an allegorical autobiography of a mantis that comes with an added bonus: embedded original music by D'Ann Katsu Davis, specifically designed to augment the story. 

Asked to write a music bio, Davis quickly realized an even greater interest in writing a bio of the music, as well. 

Nobody can synthesize the feel and special perspective of this book than the author, who easily defines its mercurial form: "Playing Mantis is a story within a story within a story within a story. It is the spiritual autobiography of a praying mantis, and an allegorical memoir, while at the same time answering the question of “what the hell” am I doing with my music and sounds? Which was a central goal. But it also came to embody larger social and even cosmological themes." 

Its main characters are an amalgamation of various spiritual teachers and influences that also incorporate an unusual countenance as events are related from the points of view of a male Buddhist and female indigenous praying mantis. 

The first strength to note in this story is a powerful sense of people and places. These are vividly captured in first-person observations: "Terri Lyn has a full goddess body, full of lusty laughter, sparkles and life. Her long hair is brown, and her flashing loving eyes are green. Like many of the folks here at Kalani, Terri practices yoga and meditation. But I don’t. I just clean up the place. Which I mean to do as a meditation, but I’m too young and my head is too full. Sometimes I try too hard to meditate, and that doesn’t work either. But I do walk a lot, and that clears the head. And I walk a lot here. These long jungle walks among the wild fragrance of huge tropical flowers are one of the reasons I like where I work." 

These power a transformation work that adopts a different perspective about the world, the healers and spiritual forces that move through it, and those that educate and carry the narrator through life. 

Readers may not expect the full-bodied flavor of this experience, which contrasts diverse concerns such as Eastern and Western philosophy, presents succinct round-up words of wisdom by various 'mantis' incarnations (Medicine Mantis Says 'When people and nature are in perfect harmony magic and beauty are everywhere'), and blends musical notes of enlightenment and creative spirit into its experiences and observations: "She inhales air, and exhales music. She is a Native Ameri-can flute—mystic and enchanting—haunting and hollow. She is full of heart, peace, and gratitude as she plays her offerings of praise to all who reside in the Seven Sacred Directions of her Sound Medicine Wheel." 

The result is a lyrical work that begins and ends with music, infusing this into high notes of spiritual revelation and life inspection that will prove particularly attractive to readers interested in more than just memoirs of personal enlightenment. 

Playful, thought-provoking, and spiritually revealing, Playing Mantis lives up to the weighty promise of its subtitle (A Workbook For Inner Peace And A Playbook For The Revolution) with a format that is at once easy to access and hard to define within the usual genre boundaries. 

Libraries and readers interested in spiritual, philosophical, and artistic explorations will find the language and focus of Playing Mantis exceptional, representing a free fall into healing and growth that is unusually lively in both perspective and presentation. 

Playing Mantis

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Robert Preston: Forever the Music Man
Debra Warren
Independently Published
979-8-9863110-0-5
$28.00 Hardcover/$19.99 Paper/$19.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Robert-Preston-Forever-Music-Man/dp/B0B8RP7QR1 

Robert Preston: Forever the Music Man follows the private and public life of an actor who achieved fame, but kept his life tightly under wraps. Debra Warren interviewed family members as well as fellow actors and conducted extensive research to bring Preston's life to light, resulting in a biographical sketch that offers not just enlightenment about his personality and career, but a sense of the times that influenced his vocational trajectory. 

Preston's acting career was affected by his rejection of the typical Hollywood culture of the era and the interactions between special interests that directed much of the film culture's choices both on and off stage. 

Always striving for perfection, he eschewed ventures that assumed political influences on actor choices in favor of preserving a very private life against the pressures of fame and Hollywood community influences. 

Warren creates the kind of in-depth inspection that lends to a thorough understanding, including footnoted references that lead back to interviews and sources that support her portrait of Preston's outlook and experiences: "Preston was eager to be featured in a comedy film and had honed his comedic skills by watching old Carol Lombard movies. He acknowledged that the secret to an actor’s success in a comedy role “is to play every situation with tremendous seriousness, no matter how funny the circumstances;” noting an actor must be able to “lose his own sense of humor to make a scene play hilariously.” 

Of particular interest to fellow aspiring actors are the ways in which Preston continually challenged himself to seek out, accept, and participate in roles that would expand and further his acting career. 

His successes in performing in a wider variety of genres than most actors and his pursuit of perfection that led him to fame outside the usual social connections of Hollywood create a biography that is as firmly rooted in the history and methods of the film industry as it is in Preston's life and movements within it. 

The result is a powerful survey recommended not just for prior fans of Robert Preston's films, but for would-be actors who can use his proven routes to success to hone their own paths forward in the competitive industry. 

Readers outside of acting who choose Robert Preston: Forever the Music Man for its scholarly probe into Preston's life and achievements will find the close attention to the variety of productions to be enlightening and absorbing. 

Libraries strong in film and stage biographies must have this delightful, in-depth profile of Robert Preston's world and how he approached and furthered his career within it. 

Robert Preston: Forever the Music Man

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Through New York's Golden Door
H. Claude Shostal
Mascot Books
978-1-63755-167-7         $21.95
www.mascotbooks.com 

Through New York's Golden Door: An American Journey is a biography of a Jewish family's escape from Europe in 1941, their survival as penniless immigrants in America, and the journey that led H. Claude Shostal to become a civil leader and world traveler. 

If any book were to define and represent the American immigrant experience and the fulfillment of the promise of opportunity, it would be Through New York's Golden Door. Through Shostal's eyes, readers become immersed in a story of one Jewish family's history and struggle that follows them through their escape from Europe and their experiences in America. 

References to his father's memoir and the influential people that affected the family's lives are accompanied by black and white photos peppered throughout, which bring these people to visual life. 

As Shostal develops an early craving to visit far-away lands, attends Harvard, and forms close bonds and friendships that carry him into adulthood, readers receive an engrossing inspection of a life that unfolds under many political and social changes in America. 

Returning to Europe, Shostal discovers new attractions and connections between family experience and the revised atmosphere of the place his family once escaped from, entering into new ventures in America that solidify his own success. 

Shostal brings his family, his times, and his trajectory to life, examining many facets of social, psychological, and political change that affected his choices and movements in the world. 

Of particular note are the changing social and business milieus that help those who would better understand the influences that change the world and communities alike: "Our unrestricted giving had been shrinking slowly but inexorably for some time. We were caught up in a broader trend: corporate philanthropy was undergoing a seismic change. In the years following World War II, local business leaders—the heads of the banks, utilities, insurance companies, newspapers, etc.—tended to have a direct stake in the health and well-being of their communities. In those days it was part of a CEO’s basic job to serve on the boards of nonprofit organizations such as RPA. Now most of those companies were becoming global enterprises, and global competition was relentless. It was partly for that reason that boards of directors increasingly looked to CEOs to focus exclusively on stock price, which meant concentrating on next-quarter earnings projections rather than on long-term commitments to stakeholders including workers and their communities." 

The result is a biography that certainly belongs in libraries strong in Jewish memoirs. It also which will reach out to any who would better understand an immigrant family's experiences, the process of building life connections, and the mercurial flow of success and achievement that forges strong relationships. 

Readers looking for memoirs that are steeped in a review of American values and opportunities will especially value the intention and heart of Through New York's Golden Door, which serves as both a memoir and a reminder of America's promise: "I hope that my experience as an immigrant to this country makes me better able to appreciate the extraordinary importance—and fragility—of America’s institutions devoted to equal opportunity, and our historic—though imperfect—commitment to the value of the individual. As I wrote in the preface, my story could only have happened in the United States, and for that I am profoundly grateful to this country." 

Through New York's Golden Door

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A Time of Innocence
Quirina Vasquez de Bond & Robert J Bond Jr.
Palmetto Publishing
979-8-9862797-2-5         $14.99
www.PalmettoPublishing.com 

A Time of Innocence: Memoir of a Childhood in the High Sierra Madre provides a focus on childhood innocence that captures the nature and effects of this milieu both past and present. It represents a foray into the innocence of the child that holds important ramifications for adult perspective and life outlook, and draws readers with experiences that, ironically, left the author both well prepared for life and struggling to find her place in the world. 

The memoir opens with the family's roots in Mexico, exploring a father's move to Arizona to work in the mines at a time when there were no borders to navigate. He would become a rancher in San Antonio and he and his wife would raise fifteen children at the San Antonio Ranch that would both shelter them from the world and provide them with a powerful sense of self suitable for navigating any alien terrain. 

As Quirina seeks to define the term and impact of innocence, she reflects on the experiences and values her family upbringing gave to her which affected her choices and perspectives about life: "She would fill the shawl with dry coffee leaves and straw and wrap herself with goat and deer hides to ward off the cold. It was not pretty to look at, but back then, no one knew any better. We were blessed and innocent, protected from the pressures of the outside world. Now, people worry about what they’re wearing and are afraid of being judged anywhere they go. Some won’t go out in public unless they are wearing the latest fashion. Some spend a fortune to buy a fur coat that they only wear once a year, and that’s only to show it off to their so-called friends." 

Her transition from growing up with much freedom to realizing that other families and communities operated much differently is captured in candid passages of self-examination that reflect both her upbringing and her encounters with the world: "I was used to having so much freedom growing up and was having a very difficult time abiding by all the rules laid out before me." 

As Quirina defines innocence and a form of poverty that may be physical, but does not dampen the spirit, readers receive a forward thrust into adulthood realizations that stems from the foundations of her upbringing: "I was told later in life that love is a choice. I have learned to disagree with this statement because I can reflect to the point I felt my father’s love. After eighty-two years, I believe people choose to accept another person, choose to forgive him or her, and choose to move forward out of necessity or for a common mutual benefit. I believe you either feel love for someone, or you don’t. Love is a gift from God. Some are lucky to have enough softness in their heart to experience love. Some hearts are just too hard to feel it. They justify their lack of love and call it choice. This makes them feel normal. Love is joy, excitement, compassion, trust, explosive energy, selflessness, and a deep sense of affection rolled up into one big package. This is my belief." 

From outward adventure and experience to inner contemplation, Bond's memoir, more than most, builds a foundation for its values and life perspective that create a powerful survey of the evolution of both. 

Libraries strong in memoirs of childhood, Mexican heritage, and families poor in goods but rich in connections will find A Time of Innocence a compelling story that promises book clubs much fodder for discussion, from immigrant experiences and cross-cultural connections to family ties, values, and the evolution of child to woman. 

A Time of Innocence

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Mystery & Thrillers

After the Blue, Blue Rain
A.D. Price
Glore House Books

979-8-9868930-1-3                $12.99 Paper/$4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/After-Blue-Rain-D-Price-ebook/dp/B0BDPCGDB1 

Mystery readers who look for evocative stories that work next to but more than slightly outside of the 'cozy mystery' genre will find After the Blue, Blue Rain a study in contrasts that opens with a first-person confession by an escapee who writes of his last days in America. 

As events unfold, readers come to realize that the narrator's introductory story is but one journal entry in a series of observations that embrace different perspectives, including soldier Private Stanley Comfort. What does his military life have to do with Comfort and Company, Private Investigators or his sister Kit's venture? 

As different threads are developed, the roots of this story in historical facts come to light to attract readers of historical mysteries interested in the backdrop of the 1940s and events that reach overseas to involve a soldier in his sister's actions. 

Amnesia is a funny thing. As Stanley rebuilds his life with his sister's help, his vague memories come flooding back—and, with them, a dilemma that the formerly-MIA soldier must face, along with the past. 

A.D. Price builds an absorbing story of intrigue, recovery, discovery, and family ties as Kit employs her investigative prowess in a new direction that tests her loyalties and connections. 

As cases involving missing veterans multiply, Kit finds her family involvements growing to become more than any investigation she's ever tackled before—more personal; more challenging; more dangerous. 

Fine tension is developed between the opening letters that capture the desperate efforts of disparate individuals and the events which grow to explain their actions. 

Characters are finely developed, finely tuned to their environments and expectations, and inject many surprises into the story as it winds through veteran and civilian affairs with an overlay of investigative mystery and history that readers will find realistic and satisfying. 

Time is taken to follow both Stanley and Kit's evolution under these revised circumstances, and it's time well spent by readers who receive an evocative, thought-provoking story that embraces many issues as it explores family relationships changed by war and adversity both within and outside of its circles. 

Libraries strong in historical mysteries that incorporate veteran issues will find After the Blue, Blue Rain attractive to readers of both genres; but ideally it also will attract book clubs seeking edgy novels that operate both within and outside the confines of genre reads. This audience will find After the Blue, Blue Rain presents underlying issues of interest to readers of veteran experiences, offering food for thought and discussion that augment the mystery and history components with powerful reflective insights about survival, adaptation, and change. 

"Going home would be the easy course. It takes courage to know when you’re not quite there yet." 

After the Blue, Blue Rain

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The Beijing Blunder
Jay Perrin

East River Books
978-1-7364680-6-7                $4.99 ebook
www.eastriverbooks.com 

Book 4 of the One Hundred Years of War series represents another powerful display of historical mystery, suspense, and Middle East intrigue that pulls readers into the story of former president Temple, who has built an oil empire and a network of companies which fall under threat from a criminal. 

Temple has manipulated his daughter to build this empire. Now Lilah is on the run, Steven Kingsley has assumed her role and cultivated a subterfuge that threatens more than a singular interest or operation, and the elderly Temple finds himself mired in a situation that threatens all the work he's done to assure success for himself and his family. 

International politics, pressures, and espionage mark a heady group of characters and mercurial situations that keep readers on their toes as the story progresses. 

Ripe with the threat of assassination, power plays, and world-hopping action that moves the story from domestic to international playing fields, readers should cultivate an ability to absorb a myriad of satisfyingly complex scenarios as the cat-and-mouse game constantly evolves unexpected twists. 

The old-money families from New York are still contending for control, but injected into this mix are social and political changes that buffet all the families who vye for control and power. 

While newcomers can easily delve into the story, it's the prior readers of the One Hundred Years of War series who will best appreciate the way this story so neatly dovetails with and expands the special interests and focus of many of the characters in the prior books. 

The Beijing Blunder creates yet another chapter in a family saga that expands and ripples changes through disparate lives. Its strength lies in the process of changing these interconnected relationships, which is why prior readers will find the new events particularly enlightening and compelling, and why newcomers will want to turn to the other series titles for a fuller flavor of the impact of these suspenseful twists and turns. 

New gambits, power plays, and obstacles are presented here which build on characters and intentions, creating conundrums that are steeped in political, legal, and social transformation: “It’s not what Brad did or didn’t do at this point. He has become the symbol of corporate greed in the eyes of the public, and no politician fond of his career will dare express support. Without Temple in our corner, the Kingsley family has enough clout to make sure of it. Unless we find a way around it. As for going to the courts... Noah says trial in absentia would not work in this case, and even if it did, the outcome might not be to our liking. Right now, Brad has only been accused of treason. If the legal system agrees Brad betrayed the nation, no president would agree to issue a pardon no matter how much time passes.” 

Thriller enthusiasts who like their stories firmly rooted in history, mystery, and suspense will relish the solid development of all three facets in The Beijing Blunder. 

Ripe with connections between interpersonal relationships, individual decision-making, and political intrigue, The Beijing Blunder is highly recommended for historical fiction and thriller readers who look for espionage and power struggles tempered by strong psychological developments and characters that represent different forces in life and political choices. 

The Beijing Blunder

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Better Gnomes & Gardens
Casey Cardel
Mentha Press LLC
978-1-937629-62-5         $12.99

Website: www.caseycardel.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Better-Gnomes-Gardens-Casey-Cardel-ebook/dp/B0B7C4HM7Q 

Better Gnomes & Gardens introduces a genre which will be new to some: the paranormal cozy mystery. Here, this translates to a setting which is familiar to cozy mystery readers (typically a small town atmosphere) which is a safe haven to paranormal beings (such as garden gnomes). Well, it was a safe haven, until journalist Bob McLarney moved to town in search of the mythical Bigfoot, only to unearth a peck of trouble in the process of confirming a legend. 

Objecting to the first article he's produced on the subject, the Mysty Haven Weekender lets him go. Unemployment proves to be the least of his worries, as Bob then becomes immersed in a dilemma that goes beyond identifying fake news reporting and into supernatural realms. 

Casey Cardel injects a healthy dose of humor into the story from the start. This blends with a lively attention to dialogues, interpersonal interactions, and a first-person observation of oddities and small town life in Mysty Haven that continue to challenge Bob on different levels: "Barksdale’s hard pretentious stare and flexed jaw muscles almost intimidated me. “Maybe the thief is right under my nose. Maybe it’s you, Mr. McLarney.” I chuckled, not in a nervous way—no. I wasn’t a person who liked to be threatened. I met his cold stare without blinking. “Maybe you’re barking up the wrong tree, Sheriff.” 

As the mystery unfolds, readers will be drawn both by the small town's atmosphere and odd residents and an outsider's struggles to understand, arrive at the truth, and publicize it for all to read. 

A missing gnome introduces Bob to all kinds of dilemmas and examples of good intentions gone awry as a series of escapades and encounters keeps him on his toes—and readers guessing about the outcome. 

Above all, there's a delightful, sparkling originality to the story's setting and plot development that should especially appeal to seasoned cozy mystery readers looking for something refreshingly new, as well as paranormal readers who want a greater element of suspense. 

The dialogues and discoveries between Bob and the magical town's intriguing residents keep revelations at the forefront: "You were drawn to this place because we are a part of you, just as you are a part of us. This is your home, Bob. The answers you seek, you will find here in Mysty Haven." 

Replete with wry humor and its winning combination of paranormal influence and intrigue, Better Gnomes & Gardens is highly recommended reading for fans of either genre and anyone who looks for compelling reading. 

Libraries can acquire and recommend it for a wider audience than the normal mystery, while book clubs focusing on magic, intrigue, and mayhem will find the combination wonderfully flavorful and revealing here, with just the right elements of all contributing to an unpredictable, warmly enlightening read. 

Better Gnomes & Gardens

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Bloody Soil
S. Lee Manning
Encircle Publications, LLC
9781645994046             $19.99
www.sleemanning.com 

Bloody Soil is thriller set in Germany that tells of American Michael Hall, who arrives in the country on a mission to join the far-right political group Germany Now. 

The requirement for joining is stiff: he must kill a prominent Jewish anti-Nazi activist. 

Less evident (but equally formidable) is the leader's girlfriend Lisette, who opens the story and demonstrates capabilities and deadly intentions beyond her seemingly-innocent countenance. For Lisette is on a mission of revenge for her father's death years ago, has infiltrated the group intent on completing her mission, and has Michael in her sights as the next murder victim. 

S. Lee Manning's special brand of political and criminal prowess creates a murder-within-a-murder scenario, set in Germany where an alt-right world is rocked by violence within its own ranks. 

Her portrait of Lisette incorporates many insights that lead readers to understand her motivations for continued killing and subterfuge: "Could she walk away when she was this close to finding her father’s killer? Could she stop avenging the people murdered by neo-Nazis? ... The man who had shot her father had taken more than a beloved parent. He’d taken away hobbits and Santa Claus. He’d taken away her past with her father, but also her possibility of a normal life—a job, a family." 

As she, Russian Jew Nikolai Ivanovich Petrov (a.k.a. Kolya),  and elaborate schemes powered by hatred on all sides evolve against a political and social examination of European sentiment, readers are treated to an engrossing story that embraces some of the major themes of modern movements and the peoples and forces behind them. 

The psyches of various groups, from the Mossad to rich American boys playing spy, are examined, contrasted, and play out against an international backdrop of special forces and underlying influences. 

Backed by strong characterization, the action proves gripping as readers receive a cat-and-mouse game in a playing field where individual special interests collide with forces that aim to take advantage of and redirect them. 

The result is a spy thriller that represents the third book in the Kolya Petrov series, but requires no prior familiarity in order to prove an intensely compelling stand-alone powerhouse of a read. 

Libraries and readers looking for thrillers that probe the motivations and influences of realistic characters will find Bloody Soil's ability to incorporate the political milieus and groups of modern times lends a special flavor to the evolving dilemmas. 

Bloody Soil

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Bomb Cyclone
J.A. Adams
Atmosphere Press
9781639885022             $17.99
www.atmospherepress.com 

It's not often that a Soviet spy purposely fails her mission because she's fallen in love with her target, but in Bomb Cyclone, such is the case. Ukrainian spy Oksana is forced to defect to the U.S. to escape retribution for her choices. 

She is not safe even there, because Russian operatives pursue her, and her heart also remains connected to Ukrainian issues and the nation's plight. Both serve to add conflict and life-threatening scenarios to Oksana's torment. 

J.A. Adams opens the story with a briefing that reviews real-world political relationships between Russia, Ukraine, and its satellite states, as well as the U.S. This neatly sets the stage in reality, paving the way for Chapter One, which opens with the question of how anyone could lose a nuke. 

Ukraine has done so, and this in turn invites a special form of corruption that affects generals, leaders, and operatives at different levels. 

The history of Ukraine's changing relationship with Russia and the world is one thread that flows through a story firmly rooted in real-world events, yet is enhanced by fictional extrapolations that keep thriller readers involved and on their toes. 

Between Mykola, a Ukrainian-American immigrant who traveled to Crimea to locate the bomb, and Oksana, who finds herself a traitor to her own heart, ideals of political connections and personal involvements change to the point that the intersection between mission and reality become obscured: "She realized she had a mission to fulfill, but at the same time, she couldn’t help this attraction she was feeling. After all, her mission was to seduce him." 

Even when she has a new life and name, prior connections (and the old threats) remain. 

Adams roots his story firmly in the history of Ukraine, creating a powerful story of transformation within the greater story of shifting political and social alliances. 

This touch of realism gives the tale a powerful "you are here" feel that sets the premise, scenarios, and characters on a higher level than most thriller reads rooted in espionage and Russian encounters. 

The result will prove especially relevant to today's reader, who receives cultural and political insights while entering the playing field of political forces that struggle for control, and individuals who find that the elusive prize actually resides in their own backyards and hearts. 

Bomb Cyclone

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The Book of Jobs
M.L. Grider
Thursday Night Press (an imprint of DX Varos Publishing)
978-1-955065-54-2
$18.95 (paperback) $4.99 (ebook)
www.dxvaros.com 

The Book of Jobs is a prequel to Bitter Vintage that requires no prior introduction to prove inviting to newcomers and prior fans alike. It gathers stories about Helen Wu and Amy Dresden before their appearance in Bitter Vintage, building a series of formative events in their lives designed to enhance their backgrounds and believability. All nine stories take place before they met, cementing a foundation of their lives and careers before they became a crime-busting team in 1995. 

Readers who look for stand-alone crime stories of lives interconnected by circumstance and experience will find The Book of Jobs a compelling read. It opens in 1982, where fourteen-year-old Helen is being babysat by her older sister Lynn. 

There is something different about their dark house, that evening—something that portends change to the quiet October night. Helen moves from being the younger, protected sister to a potential crime-buster in charge of figuring out the moves of a potential predator as the story introduces her early proclivity to solve problems and take charge of situations. 

As each short story builds new insights into the evolving psyches of Helen and Amy, the stage is set for better understanding the nature of their future relationship and the strengths each bring to the table of crime-fighting. 

As the chronological stories move from 1982 to 1990 and beyond, readers receive a series of interrelated events that feature strong characters, unusual situations that challenge them, and dose many of the explorations with an unexpected sense of humorous description: "Amy Dresden slammed the door of her baby-shit-green ’72 Vista Cruiser so hard that the sun visor fell open. The jolt was too much for the brittle old rubber band holding all the business cards, receipts, snapshots and other miscellaneous junk. They fluttered down on her like confetti. She pounded her fists against the steering wheel and made a sound not unlike a cat stuck in a washing machine. How could she have been so stupid?" 

The result is an evolutionary series of life-changing events that draw together to connect two powerful young women who find their skills, natures, and abilities tested in different ways. 

While fans of Bitter Vintage will be a good audience for this prequel, it's also highly recommended for newcomers interested in short stories that explore how crime fighters learn, evolve, and employ their special and newfound strengths to further both their careers and their prospects for personal growth. 

M.L. Grider's ability to connect the dots of these seemingly disparate life experiences in unusual ways makes The Book of Jobs a fine recommendation for libraries strong in crime stories that take the time to craft intriguing, impossible circumstances. 

The Book of Jobs

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Countdown to a Killing
Tom Vaughan MacAulay
RedDoor Press
9781915194084             $10.66
https://www.amazon.com/Countdown-Killing-Tom-Vaughan-MacAulay/dp/1915194083 

Wen Li worries that, under her OCD impulses, she may be a killer. Co-worker Lomax Clipper has different challenges in unrequited love and career ambitions. Both share a hatred of their boss, Julian. The two together are dynamite waiting to go off. 

Countdown to a Killing: The Selected Correspondence Of Several Key Characters charts the process of an explosion that changes both their lives. Unlike most murder stories, its main events predate the demise, starting in August 2016 and ending on the night of the murder. This is the first indicator that this murder story departs from the usual formula approach for a refreshing taste of something different. 

The second indicator lies in its subtitle, which presents the story via the correspondence of mixed characters that each hold a key to the events that lead up to the murder. 

Another special flavor comes with the experiences, perceptions, and approaches of millennial works familiar with such social applications as WhatsApp, and interjections of explanations into these correspondences by a third-party narrator: "A brief editorial intervention. This is a reminder to the reader that the Selected Correspondence does not end lightly. Things will begin to take shape soon enough. The characters do not yet know it, but an accident will lead to a good part of the action shifting to Palermo." 

These shifting viewpoints and objective informational injections give the story an especially pleasing, diverse feel to successfully create a smooth story that's presented through unique voices, eyes, and experiences. 

As the countdown events continue, readers will find themselves much more engaged with these disparate characters' lives and perceptions than the usual murder mystery format offers. 

The result is an original, compelling story that transcends the usual methods of murder mystery writing with its interconnected correspondence, WhatsApp messaging, and the looming specter of disaster. 

Libraries looking for a refreshingly different, contemporary voice will find it in Tom Vaughan MacAulay and in Countdown to a Killing, which holds attraction even to those readers who usually eschew the genre's formula approach. 

The juxtaposition of humor, heartache, and mercurial motivations creates a gripping narrative that's hard to put down and delightful in both its changing perspectives and in its characters' evolutionary growth. 

Countdown to a Killing

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Daughter of Belial
Jennifer Juvenelle
By the Pure Sea Books
979-8-9867231-1-2               
$9.99 Kindle ebook/$16.99 Paperback/$27.99 Hardcover
Website:
www.jenniferjuvenelle.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Daughter-Belial-Uncovering-truth-dangerous-ebook/dp/B0B85WN3SG 

Daughter of Belial is a thriller that revolves around a family legacy and the secret Order of Belial, which involves Sophie Greer in betrayal, kidnapping, and the realization of a heritage that tests her vision of herself, her family, and her future. 

Its graphic and thought-provoking scenarios also earn it a note of caution for sensitive readers who eschew trigger subjects such as sexual abuse or graphic portraits of death. However, these descriptions are well in keeping with the plot, adding a realistic tone to the story rather than the flavor of over-the-top drama. 

The first-person story opens with a bang of description that presents a compelling dilemma to draw reader attention: "I’m running as fast as I can, but my legs feel like marble—weighty, cumbersome, and laden with grief. Each stride is an agony of locomotion. Every attempt forward is met with a shove in the opposite direction. He is behind me. Chasing me. Hunting me." 

As Jennifer Juvenelle follows this gripping opener with further descriptions via the character's first-person viewpoint of herself and her world, she injects an atmosphere that is revealing: "I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror and do a double take. Who is that train wreck? Hot mess would be an accurate description—if I looked hot. The girl staring back at me is just a mess." 

Sophie's growing understanding of the Order and its impact and history twines her life and purposes with bigger-picture thinking: "Secretive to the death, if the Sons of Belial are known at all, it is for protecting their own. There is no such thing as incriminating evidence when the full might of The Order is behind you. For them, people, places, and things are mere pieces in The Great Game. A life-sized game of chess. A Shakespearean psychodrama. A Machiavellian masterpiece. The ordained Masters move their pieces on the board with clear, unified, and decisive action. Bishops, kings, queens, knights, rooks, pawns—none are free." 

These vivid impressions and experiences keep the plot fast-paced and thoroughly engrossing as Sophie moves through many revised revelations about the world and her place in it. 

As Greer finds her purposes and perspectives shaken, readers will also find their ideas receive constant revision of how this story will evolve, which is satisfyingly unexpected: "With every gift I accept from these people, I feel myself growing more entrenched in their world. The only way out is through, I suppose. Or some such nonsense. I’m beginning to lose the thread of what I’m actually doing." 

Secrets, curiosity, and Sophie's own role in evolving mysteries will keep readers on edge and engaged as she moves to a place of judgment and redemption, herself. 

Juvenelle's ability to stay on track with a deep psychological inspection of one woman's move from victim to living an empowered life makes for a thriller that operates on different levels of attraction. 

Libraries and readers who seek to be engaged by the suspense of a thriller, enlightened by one woman's revelations and the choices surrounding them, and entranced by her ability to survive, adapt, and influence her future will find Daughter of Belial the perfect ticket for a blend of entertainment that comes with added thought-provoking value. 

It should also be noted that this is the first book in a projected series. Sophie's story of survival is just beginning, so readers should be prepared for more—and a cliffhanger ending. 

Daughter of Belial

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A Deadly Covenant
Michael Stanley
White Sun Books
978-0-9979689-8-9                $8.99 Kindle
Website:
www.michaelstanleybooks.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Deadly-Covenant-Michael-Stanley/dp/0997968982 

A Deadly Covenant is the eighth Detective Kubu investigative mystery set in Africa. It opens when a pipeline project near the Okavango Delta unearths a number of skeletons that then lead to more local murders. 

Detective Kubu, Assistant Superintendent Balopi, and a cast of characters find their lives and investigations entwine with the history of Bushmen in Africa, local forces, and a Bushman massacre whose impact resonates through numerous communities. 

As charges of corruption assail political and investigative figures alike and the body count clocks upward, Detective Kubu has his hands full, both quelling community response and getting to the heart of who (or what entity) is to blame for all the deaths. 

Michael Stanley's mystery is rooted in African peoples, special interests, and local flavor. This will draw readers who look for strong investigative procedurals that reveal community and political special interests as they unfold. 

The water project that has revealed so much before it's even begun, and which lies at the heart of many of these local controversies, is one central influence on events that keep Detective Kubu, Assistant Superintendent Mabaku, and others guessing about not just perps and outcomes, but the complicated interrelationships of local special interests. 

As mythology, cultural forces, police work, and personal perspectives entwine, the mystery deepens—as does the attention to detail that reveals underlying motives and relationships between the Bushman and other tribes. 

The result is a mystery which also comes steeped in the culture and history of Africa. Its force relies as much on understanding these complicated social relationships as on identifying perps and murderers. 

Libraries looking for police procedurals which go the extra mile in creating powerful scenarios based on political and social insights will find A Deadly Covenant a compelling story of Botswana, Southern Africa, and a surprising romance that evolves in the midst of conflict. 

A Deadly Covenant

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Death in a Time of Spanish Flu
Frances McNamara
Rudiyat Press

978-1-956978-18-6                $14.99 Paper/$4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Spanish-Emily-Cabot-Mysteries/dp/1956978186 

Historical mystery readers who enjoy female sleuths and action firmly centered in realistic portraits of the past will find Death in a Time of Spanish Flu a compelling story. It's set in 1918 and opens with a premonition of disaster and madness. 

Husband Stephen's worries about the emergent Spanish flu are only the beginning of the story. His wife Emily finds her world in turmoil as Stephen fights the virus in a hospital while the world falls apart in war, and her family follows. 

The already-complex scenario is further complicated by a murder that motivates Emily to become involved when her children are implicated in the death. 

With so many facets and conflicts emerging from the start, it takes a deft writer to draw readers into a scenario which juxtaposes social issues, political strife, home life, and solving murders.  Frances McNamara is such a writer, capturing the personal observations, lives, and approaches of believable (and likeable) characters who find themselves caught up in situations beyond their ken or control. 

Emily's first-person observations of her world and those around her feature her astute eye for trouble as she probes a murder which proves to be deeply routed in community and chaos. All this is set against the backdrop of a plague and war that represent ongoing explosions in her life. 

The action is nicely paced, the premise and mystery are unpredictable, and the historical backdrop of the times is so realistically integrated into the plot that readers will find it a snap to absorb its atmosphere, principles, and the sense of changing times. 

There is also the added value of familiarity that has been provided by current pandemic years, which makes the publication of Death in a Time of Spanish Flu especially timely and attractive. 

Although it's the 9th book in the Emily Cabot series, newcomers to Emily and her times will find Death in a Time of Spanish Flu stands nicely alone as a solid introduction to her life, world, and approach to problem-solving. 

Libraries looking for powerful blends of history and mystery which present a sense of place that feels familiar and is engrossing to modern readers (even those who normally don't read books from either genre) will relish the realistic and personal portrait that makes Death in a Time of Spanish Flu hard to put down. 

Death in a Time of Spanish Flu

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DoGoodR
W. A. Pepper
Hustle Valley Press, LLC

978-1958011041                           $6.99
https://www.amazon.com/DoGoodR-Tanto-Thriller-W-Pepper/dp/1958011045 

Readers of the thriller genre who like a taste of eroticism added into the action will find DoGoodR nicely seasoned with a combination of suspense and sexual fire. It should be cautioned that the story also embraces a number of potential reader triggers, from physical and mental violence and assault to social issues ranging from drug abuse to neglect. 

Those of faint heart will want to look elsewhere for their thrillers; but audiences who relish vivid tales that bring social issues, psychological challenges, and terrible choices to vibrant life will find DoGoodR the item of choice for a thoroughly engrossing, thought-provokingly realistic saga. 

The story opens with Tanto, the hacker who was the subject of a prior book. It covers the dilemma which evolves when he and his group try to protect a determined young computer genius who hacks into NASA, only to find themselves on the wrong side of the law, and in trouble. 

Tanto may have been introduced in You Will Know Vengeance, but this story serves as its prequel, setting forth his origins, motivations, personality and influences in far more detail that leads readers to a better understanding of Tanto's world and psyche. 

From the start, it is evident that W. A. Pepper writes to involve, from the unusual chapter titles (Chapter 1 is 'My Damn Life', for example) to the candid, first-person revelations from the start that go beyond creating a 'you are here' feel for readers, virtually compelling them to move into this world and its major players. 

The story evolves a sharp social, political, and crime inspections that have the ability to draw all kinds of readers into Tanto's choices and dilemmas. 

From the unusual nature of characters whose names run from Mane-Eac to Squirrel_Lord to smuggling, hostage situations, and clients who move dangerously close to babysitting roles that are resented, Pepper keeps the action fast-paced, high-tech, and thoroughly unpredictable.

The desire for revenge, redemption, and renewal underlies many character choices and actions, but embeds the thriller in a realistic milieu that keeps readers on edge and guessing. 

The result is an especially compelling example of just how diverse and involving a solid contemporary thriller can be. Based in a familiar world replete with violence and social dilemmas that cross boundaries to challenge very different worlds, DoGoodR will ideally be read before and in tandem with Tanto's previous exploits in the first You Will Know Vengeance. It is a top recommendation for libraries seeking exceptional thriller writings that operate on the cutting edge of urban reality. 

DoGoodR

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The Easy Way Out
Robert Lane
Mason Alley Publishing
978-1-7322945-5-4        
$23.99 Hardcover/$14.99 Paper/$4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Easy-Way-Jake-Travis-Book-ebook/dp/B0B72F6NXL 

The Easy Way Out is a Jake Travis thriller that needs no prior introduction to prove captivating to newcomers who choose this story for its engrossing Florida-based intrigue. 

Trigger alert: the story opens with a child's unexpected death in a playground. From a watching mother's sudden anguish and confusion, it then moves to Nicky Riggins's encounter with Manuel Castillo, who is looking forward to escaping the dangerous milieu that threatens his life and his family. 

The story then takes another quick turn and changes into the first-person reflections of Jake Travis, who muses that "We want to believe life is that monorail. A suspended journey to an enchanted theme park of dizzy happiness, a land of milk and honey. Goofy. Minnie. Mickey. Donald. The gang’s waiting for us amid piped-in music, sparkling fountains, postcard palm trees, and flawless green grass laced with walkways cleaner than your kitchen counter. Never mind that a cast member is suffocating inside the costume for union wages to create your glorious illusion. We see and believe what we want to. And in the Sunshine State, we expect to be in a sunshine state of mind." 

A family member, his niece, young Brittany, has gone missing. This event opens a long story with a surprisingly happy ending, detailing the transformations that take place when families and children are placed at risk or changed by circumstances beyond their control. 

Jake's opportunity to step up and make things right for another embraces many important reflections that come to light in the process of change and struggle: "Brittany needed my help, and I saw an opening. An opportunity to make amends. For as I’d come to build my own family, to author my own life, my anger toward my parents morphed to forgiveness. Empathy. Even compassion. The Latin root of compassion is pati—to suffer. Com means with. Compassion is not empathy. It is not understanding. Compassion is to feel another’s pain as your own. Now that I have my own daughter, I feel my parents’ hurt. I’ve come to see their downfall as inspiration to create joy from their sorrow. Joy. That’s my daughter’s name." 

The "opening" he perceives works not just for his own redemption and altruism with his parents, but in an unexpected manner as his probe uncovers deeper undercurrents of moods, truths, and lies which reach out to affect his own family relationships. 

From missing DEA agents and the notion that money plays second fiddle to family connections to financial affairs that may be worth a daughter's life, readers move through Jake's dilemmas and the underbelly of Florida's seedier connections and operations with a familiarity reinforced both by Jake's reflective first-person observations and his choices in interacting with perps and police alike. 

Action builds slowly as Robert Lane cultivates a fine tension that walks the line between social and psychological inspections, but soon becomes gripping as the cat-and-mouse game between Jake and adversaries grows into something unexpectedly complex. 

Lane's move to keep Manuel Castillo and Nicky Riggins as part of the evolving scenario makes for an especially satisfying conundrum as Jake finds his family and choices unexpectedly connected to these disparate individuals and the forces they represent. His increasing involvement with young China, “Who writes like a winter storm,” also represents both an opportunity and a departure as Jake finds his life pulled and challenged on different levels. 

The Easy Way Out is an engrossing suspense story that joins disparate forces and lives in what proves to be both a deadly and enlightening scenario. It will prove especially attractive to libraries interested in engrossing tales of wonder and revelation, wrapped firmly in the cloak of a powerful thriller. 

The Easy Way Out

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Echo - The Curse of the Blackwood Witches
Yasmine Maher
Fables and Facts
979-8-9859946-3-6         $16.50 Paper/$4.99 ebook
Echo: The Curse of the Blackwood Witches – Fables & Facts (fablesandfacts.com)

"I grew up a skeptic. I never believed in what I couldn’t see nor imagined what dwelled beyond the clouds. Little did I know one day, the glass would shatter, revealing a blood bath behind it, one that traced back a thousand years." 

Echo Blackwood has no idea she is a witch. Her hidden magic only comes to light at her sister's wedding, sparked by a confrontation with supernatural beasts. She's got a lot to learn—not the least of which is the fact that tapping her powers also unlocks an equally-well-hidden dark undercurrent that could cost her soul. 

There is a price for growing up a skeptic, and that extends into challenging a belief system that creates and influences allies and enemies alike. 

Yasmine Maher's story rests firmly on the shoulders of a believable character whose first-person reflections about her vastly changed self-perception drive a story of magic and the responsibilities it introduces to Echo's life. 

Her discovery of a family legacy that she has been tasked with continuing embraces engrossing descriptions that are thought-provoking illustrations of choices and consequences, past and present: "The conflict ended, but the bloodshed never stopped. 'There was a young witch, who chased sin and forgot she was a wife and a mother," Maradis continued. "She fell in love with the evil one and helped him fight nature. She gave him eternity.'" 

From massive sacrifices and evil spells to the dilemma of evil chosen with the power good intentions, Echo confronts not just a transformed world and her revised place in it, but broader consequences for the moves she makes to embrace what may be a dark magical power. 

Is it a curse, or a blessing? 

Readers get to decide as they absorb a thoroughly fascinating tale of good, evil, and the mercurial forces that lay between them. 

Echo - The Curse of the Blackwood Witches is highly recommended for young adult to adult audiences looking for a story replete in action and reflection. Its vivid portrait of love and adversity brings Echo's dilemma to life: "I shouldn’t be feeling this way." But, she does. 

Readers who join Echo on her journey will also come to feel the special pull of a plot that conjures the best and worst reactions from its characters. Echo - The Curse of the Blackwood Witches will attract a wide audience, from thriller readers to those who like supernatural tales of action, self-discovery, and adventure. 

Echo - The Curse of the Blackwood Witches

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Gallery of Gangsters
William J. Cook
Independently Published
9798841126331             $13.99 Paper/$5.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Gallery-Gangsters-Driftwood-William-Cook-ebook/dp/B0B83Y1NHS 

Gallery of Gangsters is the final Driftwood Mystery in the series, expanding its five predecessor titles with a new and final battle between Native American detective Charley Whitehorse and Russian crime czar Vasily Volkov. It's a confrontation that will rock prior readers, and is introduced by an Author's Note about currency security and counterfeiting that features some key facts to lend better understanding to this mystery's subject and progression. 

This information in hand, readers embark on a vivid romp that opens in the art auction world of 2019. Here, a meteoric bidding war is taking place, with prices hitting the millions for a work of art that two contenders have no intention of losing. 

As the bloodless combat between the contenders evolves a chess-like game of strategy and countermoves, readers will be thoroughly engrossed in the story's mystery and outcome by the time the purchase of Hurricane is complete. 

This is just the first chapter of a complex story that moves into the mysterious death of an art gallery owner in Driftwood, who specialized in high-end paintings. It reveals not just the game being played by Whitehorse and Volkov, but a strong woman caught in the middle (Michelle Garrison), whose auction house work has placed her in the crosshairs of a powerful female assassin. 

As Michelle asks hard questions about who killed McKinley Striker and Dashiel Owen and becomes immersed in the identity and subterfuge of Odesa (nee Kseniya, whose job is murder), all characters dance into an arena of threat that reaches out to embrace the innocent and guilty alike. 

Mystery readers who enjoy stories centered on the art world will find Gallery of Gangsters satisfying for its insights into that community's activities and the works of art that drive passions and pocketbooks alike. These motivate characters to move outside their comfort zones and into the unfamiliar territory of murder, investigations, and nefarious connections. 

Powered by strong personalities whose special interests create different perspectives and representations of moral and ethical behavior, William J. Cook's story assumes a provocative tone of surprises that embrace unexpected romance and adversity alike. 

As events unfold, this final Driftwood mystery comes to life in ways even seasoned genre readers won't see coming. 

As a stand-alone mystery, it will also nicely attract newcomers who have and need no prior experience with the exploits of Charley Whitehorse and Vasily Volkov to prove understandable and engrossing; especially since Michelle's character powers many of the scenes and insights. 

In the end, love wins. But, via a circuitous route that keeps readers guessing right up to the mystery's satisfying conclusion. 

Libraries and readers who look for outstanding characters, an art world backdrop, and intrigue and subterfuge that moves from a small town into international waters will find Gallery of Gangsters the perfect crescendo of a conclusion that explores what is unique and fragile not just in the art world, but in matters of love, power, and the pursuit of profit. 

Gallery of Gangsters

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The Handler
Jeffrey S. Stephens
Post Hill Press
978-1-63758-582-5         $26.09 Hardcover/$9.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Handler-Nick-Reagan-Thriller/dp/1637585829 

The Handler follows CIA operatives Nicholas Reagan and his partner, Carol Gellos, across the country and into strange new worlds as they struggle to thwart a plot to ignite a series of deadly assaults across the U.S. 

The story doesn't open with their involvement, however, but the undercover actions of two terrorists, Mustafa and Roshan, who each believe they are operating independently in New York City. 

What do these disparate forces have to do with Russian operatives, a rumored Ghost Chip that makes cell phones completely untraceable, and secret business innovations? 

Plenty, because these forces coalesce in such a way that the hunter becomes the hunted and the prey proves to harbor deadly connections above and beyond singular interests or purposes. 

As the plot thickens and events move into political circles, embracing missing scientists and frightening new ways to commit mass murder, readers become engrossed in a quicksand of revelations and realizations that challenge conventional thinking about threats and attacks. 

As Jeffrey S. Stephens leads his story into unexpected areas of cross-connections and cross-purposes, he creates characters that have honed special strengths in response to careers made by facing adversity: "After all the time he spent in the field, all the battles he fought, all the life and death moments he endured, Reagan had an intuition that could neither be learned nor taught, it could only be earned." 

Thought-provoking passages invite readers to examine their own concepts of right and wrong, belief systems, and the injection of conviction into the bigger picture of grasping opportunities for enlightenment and change: “My parents are Muslims, born and raised in Lebanon, moved to the United States soon after they were married. I was born there, and they raised me as a Muslim-American. As I think you’ll recall, I’m married to a Lebanese man, who is also Muslim. I think it’s fair to say I’m very familiar with the Koran.” Before Reagan could reply, she sat forward and added, “I’m also familiar with your views about my faith. I know you believe that there is no such thing as a moderate Muslim.”
Reagan was surprised at the challenge. “The Koran teaches that the Muslim faith is the only way to heaven. It also encourages hate, violence, and death to anyone not practicing your religion. So yes, I have doubts about anyone claiming they have a moderate view of those teachings.”
 

The intrigue and suspense are well-developed and grab reader interest and attention; but also noteworthy is the contrasting belief systems and motivations that keep both sides convinced that their actions support a higher purpose. 

“Organized hate is a powerful adversary,” Reagan said. “All that’s left for us is to keep fighting it.” 

Just as deadly are forms of belief that keep opponents on different sides fighting for, ironically, the same things. 

The Handler uses three attacks as pivot points for a social, religious, and political examination suitable for thriller libraries and discussion groups interested in examining the foundations of societal violence. It's especially recommended as a 'wolf in sheep's clothing' read for those who anticipate a well-delivered entertainment value in a thriller, but who will find that the issues raised between characters and ideals provide satisfying bigger-picture thinking about the origins and enactment of division. 

The Handler

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The Hawk Enigma
J.L. Hancock
Class Five Press
9781737150114      $19.99 Paperback
https://jlhancock.com

Rarely does a recurring nightmare come to real life as sharply as in military technician Voodoo's experiences in The Hawk Enigma, an action-packed techno-thriller that steeps its reader in compelling scenarios from its opening lines: "Bam! Bam! Bam! A fist pounded on the door, punctuated by the repeating jingle of the apartment doorbell. The cacophony ripped Dr. “Taka” Hawkins from her computer game–induced trance. She yanked her gaming headset off her head and rubbed her eyes as they readjusted to reality. Her mind, however, had no desire to readjust." 

Tom Clancy fans, move over. Tom faces a formidable contender for the title of a top thriller writer in J.L. Hancock, whose special brand of nonstop action and adventure is based on satisfying twists and turns that keep readers involved and guessing on many levels. 

The early morning (1AM) knock on the door is just the opening salvo in a series of confrontations that involves vivid bad dreams, hard realities, and good intentions gone awry. 

From cryptic prophecies that warn of disaster to the possibility that scientists working in Japan have uncovered a "God algorithm" that could transform the world, research blends with an arms race, AI involvement, and individual tests of resolve and moral and ethical behaviors as a host of characters find their work and perspectives clashing on a dangerous playing field of science and international special interests. 

The science-based drama will especially intrigue readers who enjoy more 'techno' in their thriller formats, while the focus on nonstop action keeps the pace heady and high for suspense-oriented readers who look for high-octane action. 

The character development is well done, cementing the intersection of science, military, political, and social inspection with a special brand of psychological draw that only comes from characters whose own special interests are logical and realistic. 

Scenes are precisely depicted, melding action with a sense of culture and place in Asia and other environs: "Large armored vehicles are rare in Japan. Tight streets and heavy traffic make motorcycles and light trucks the transportation of choice for police trying to move with agility through the city. None of this applies at nearly 3 a.m. With the streets cleared, the heavily armored SAT vehicle rumbled down the narrow streets of Tokyo toward the target location. A tip regarding human trafficking potentially associated with North Korean operatives piqued Captain Tanaka’s interest. The superintendent general placed anything regarding kidnapping as his highest priority, and the Special Assault Team led the charge." 

The result is a powerful, action-packed story that is mercurial in its development. Like a shape-shifter, its form and insights are always changing, incorporating military, political, and financial influences into its broad spectrum. The story keeps thriller readers on board for the ride through changing hearts and minds with a dexterity that probably stems from author J.L. Hancock's background as a tactical cryptologist working in the military for special operations. 

Libraries looking for standout thrillers that are powerfully written and backed with the authenticity of a writer whose experiences undoubtedly dovetail with many of the techno elements in this story will find The Hawk Enigma an inviting acquisition. 

The Hawk Enigma

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The Immortal Target
Jonas Saul
Vesuvian Books
ASIN: ‎B0B7NBQH37            $5.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Immortal-Target-Jonas-Saul-ebook/dp/B0B7NBQH37 

The Immortal Target is a sci-fi thriller reviewed in this category because its thriller components are so strong that genre readers won't want to miss it. 

As Book 2 of a series, it can be read alone by newcomers, who will find that Jake Wood's special dilemmas are a draw from the opening lines: "Jake Wood should have killed the man when he had the chance. That man, Adam, claimed to be immortal, but once his head was removed, Jake would be able to test that theory. But because he hadn’t killed Adam, people he cared about were in grave danger." 

Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Because Jake didn't murder this man, he has now condemned those he loves. It's an untenable position to be in, and Jake responds by fleeing both the authorities and the pharmaceutical company, Fortech Industries, who are both after him. 

How can he preserve his freedom while simultaneously working to expose and bring down the dangerous intentions of a company committed to genetic manipulation? 

Jake has to kill Adam and dismantle his company—that seems to be the only solution. As he becomes more deeply mired in a conundrum which tests not only his morals and ethics, but his personal survival and those he loves, his problems continue to multiply. 

Jonas Saul crafts a heart-pounding read from the start. While it requires no prior familiarity with its predecessor The Immortal Gene, it successfully augments and expands the motives, personality, and challenges to Jake on different levels that will fill in gaps for prior readers while attracting newcomers into this dangerous game. 

The tension is nicely crafted, the high-tech components of the story add a realistic sci-fi backdrop to the futuristic tale, and many of the usual detective/intrigue devices are turned on end, such as when Jake finds himself capturing a detective via the neurotoxins in his teeth, which make his bite lethal. 

Jake is immortal. But immortality doesn't guarantee a peaceful, long life. 

As readers absorb Jake's latest dilemma, they will find the thriller and sci-fi components finely tuned and so thoroughly bound to one another that fans of either genre will find much to enjoy in The Immortal Target. 

It's rare to find a thriller that incorporates sci-fi atmosphere, yet remains true to the buildup of suspense, tension, and conflict that the thriller genre embraces. 

The Immortal Target is such a rare mix, and deserves a prominent place in any library strong in either sci-fi or thrillers. 

The Immortal Target

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In the Vanishing Hour
Sarah Beth Martin
Encircle Publications
9781645993926
$28.99 Hardcover/$18.99 Paper/$4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Vanishing-Hour-Sarah-Beth-Martin-ebook/dp/B0B3TT1Z7S/ 

In the Vanishing Hour opens in 1951, where a child's drowning changes both a family and a small town shaken by the tragedy. 

Eight years later, sister Frances is still buffeted by this event when model Gwen, whom she seeks to emulate, also vanishes into that same river and is presumed dead. 

The investigation that follows rocks the town as Frances involves herself in the case to find answers not just to Gwen's disappearance, but her own brother's fate. 

Sarah Beth Martin's evocative descriptions are compelling accents building the atmosphere and sense of place surrounding the mystery: "As late summer turned to a sudden, brittle autumn, a ghostly cloud moved in over the town, and all were haunted by Mac Adams." 

As Frances, suspect Harris (who has also been enchanted by Gwen), and other lives on various sides coalesce, readers receive an involving story that highlights its mystery with the sense of place, purpose, and people to bring the community and its residents to life. 

As Frances pursues a truth which is unearthed decades later and draws connections between her dead brother, Gwen, and Harris, unexpected twists and turns keep her heart and mind challenged, as well as the reader's ability to predict where the story will wind up. 

These elements make for an especially compelling read that proves hard to put down, emotionally turbulent on many levels, and filled with revelations that come together in a dark story of unexpected connections. 

Libraries looking for literary suspense stories that take the time to probe psyches and underlying motives and experiences will find In the Vanishing Hour an excellent example of a genre read that rises above formula approaches to represent a powerfully chilling saga of redemption and healing. 

Are there ghosts in the darkness? If so, what is their purpose? 

Readers who appreciate thought-provoking scenarios and encounters will relish the ability of In the Vanishing Hour to immerse its readers not just in a deadly mystery, but in altered states of consciousness and realization. 

In the Vanishing Hour

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Killer Flip
M.E. Bakos
M. E. Books

979-8985077094            $14.95 Paper/$3.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/KILLER-FLIP-Home-Renovator-Mystery/dp/B0B92L7VQS 

Meet Katelyn Baxter, a home rehab specialist whose work lies not in solving mysteries, but fixing and selling distressed houses. Katelyn is a master at restoring homes to their former elegance and reputation ... even if her latest challenge, a Tudor mansion, comes tinged with the history of a murder. 

Fans of amateur sleuths and powerful female investigators will find Killer Flip, Book 4 in a Home Renovator mystery series, to be just the ticket for a different, more compelling first-person mystery read. 

As Katelyn finds her renovation complicated by the discovery of a cache of valuables and a twenty-year-old mystery that involves the local sheriff and undercurrents of romance and treachery, she finds her fourth mystery evolving to embrace all kinds of small town personalities and undercurrents. It's another adventure that expands the Home Renovator series and solidifies Katelyn's personality and charm. 

Cozy mystery readers are in for a treat as Katelyn faces newlyweds, romance, historical threats, and present-day opportunities and angst. From nightmares about intruders to insights that spark more creative juices in both renovation and crime-busting worlds, Katelyn is again in the thick of mystery and threat as events unfold. Cozy mystery readers can expect more than a few surprises as these relationships are probed and reveal unexpected gems of connection and intrigue. 

M.E. Bakos is especially skilled at juxtaposing small-town atmosphere with intrigue: the hallmarks of the cozy mystery genre. The characterization is especially well done, with the first-person narrator cementing reader interest not just in events, but the people in the story: "It was late, but not too late for friends and food. While I puttered around, getting ready for her visit, there was a knock. Checking the peephole, I sighed. It was Eddy. Trust Eddy to show up when there’s food on the way."

The result is a compelling read that holds just the right ingredients of intrigue and attractive characters, married to a mystery that will turn many heads with revelations even dedicated cozy mystery fans won't see coming. 

Cozy mystery library collections need to place Killer Flip at the top of their acquisition list. It deserves a prominent place and recommendation in such circles whether or not readers have familiarity with Katelyn's prior house renovation and murder-solving adventures. 

Killer Flip

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Killing the Butterfly
Dale Ward
Black Rose Writing
978-1-68433-951-8                $18.95 Paper/$4.95 Kindle
www.blackrosewriting.com 

Subtitles are usually mere definitions of genre to avoid reader confusion and help library shelvers; but finally, here is a book subtitle that lives up to its potential of capturing reader attention from the start: Killing the Butterfly: A Thriller So Abusive, It's Criminal.       

The story's opening paragraphs are equally alluring as nineteen-year-old Patty relives the nightmares/visions of her youth and struggles to escape them—by involving herself and her boyfriend in a crime spree that lands her in trouble. 

On the run from her past and on the lam from authorities and her own psyche, Patty can't escape her boyfriend Roy, or the consequences of her choices and actions, which keep haunting her every step. 

When the two stumble upon a lone man at a lake cabin who seems to offer a way out of their dilemma, even more trouble looms as evil enters the picture to warp any possibility of safety or redemption. 

Dale Ward cultivates a fast-paced novel that swings back and forth between Patty's past and present, infusing the plot with rationales for her perceptions, behaviors, and the patterns which continue to hold her in thrall. 

Just as captivating as the plot's unexpected twists and turns is the presence of angst that permeates a lonely life, buffeted by her stormy relationship with Roy and a road trip gone awry. 

Although the positive influence of her Aunt Meredith offers some respite and a refuge, Patty can't help but long for different possibilities for her future: "She rested, her eyes wide, in a different bed. This one in Aunt Meredith’s place. The house was quiet. She was at work. Patty was alone again. There had to be a better life out there for her. She wanted a normal life. She really did. Whatever that was. Patty had never known one. Will I ever know one? Her one escape was her poetry." 

Ward steeps this suspense thriller in elements of coming-of-age that increases its appeal to mature teen and new adult readers, but its adult themes and the nature of Patty's evolution really places it in the adult crime novel genre. 

This audience will appreciate Ward's attention to captivating descriptions and unexpected events that help grow Patty's psyche and realizations about her options and future. 

As unhappy lives evolve, dovetail with, and feed one another, leading to new possibilities, readers receive a powerful saga that journeys through disparate lives touched by evil, angst, and determination.

Killing the Butterfly is a thriller that holds the potential to reach beyond the usual crime story readership and into the hearts of those interested in how bad results come from well-intentioned efforts. Book clubs and therapy groups focused on this process will find plenty of food for thought and discussion here, while libraries looking for thrillers that embrace a healthy degree of growth and psychological insights will relish the special nature and descriptive prowess of Killing the Butterfly. 

Killing the Butterfly

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Old Sins
Lynne Handy
Independently Published
979-8-83900-390-3         $12.00 Kindle/$4.99 ebook
Author website: lynnehandy.com 

Old Sins is the third book in the Maria Pell mystery series, opening with a prologue set in 1988, when the 10-year-old narrator found a dead baby in the stream on her parents' property. 

This early discovery sets the stage for a story that then moves to Chapter One in 2016 Ireland, where little Bridget Vale has been selected May Queen for her small village's celebration. Her mother's employer, Maria Pell, senses trouble and loss, from reading Bridget's aura. 

Auras? Maria holds a power she never asked for, but which aids in her problem-solving ability: "The ability to visualize auras was both a blessing and a curse; it was invasive: perhaps people minded having someone privy to the secrets of their well-being. I had not worked to develop the skill; it had come to me early, perhaps, a result of my self-imposed isolation as a child. Most of the time, my mind was focused on the routines that comprised my life, and especially, my work. I could go days without consciously seeing haloes around people’s heads—either that or I did see them as a natural occurrence and did not notice, as one becomes used to floaters in the eye." 

As her premonition of trouble leads herself and the village into danger, Old Sins presents a remarkably inviting, complex story connecting Maria's childhood trauma with present-day events. 

The story adds background history, which means that no prior familiarity with poet Maria Pell's prior life is necessary in order to read her latest adventure as a stand-alone mystery. 

Maria is drawn into not just two events, past and present, but a plethora of tragedy that immerses her in the watery graves of young people in a town that may be a target for sex traffickers ... or something else. 

Lynne Handy creates a tale replete with satisfyingly complex twists and turns, peppering Maria's adventure with finely-wrought tension and description that brings her world and its threats to life: "I wrote a note to Elizabeth and went outside to get into the garda car, which had just pulled to the curb. As I hurried down the steps, my muscles tensed. Birds stopped chirping, moisture hung heavy in the air. From the corner of my eye, I saw a black car crawling down the street, a glint of metal—" 

As kidnappings, too many close calls, and Maria's own motivation for resolving not just these cases, but events from her own past, coalesce, readers receive a powerful mystery steeped in Irish culture and psychological challenges. 

Maria finds her life and perceptions on the line in new ways as she struggles to reconcile the facts with their underlying meaning. 

The result is a fine mystery that's exceptional in its sense of place. It builds the foundations of a fine foray into writer's blocks, murder, and high drama surrounding characters whose sense of "wild justice" threatens their lives. 

Libraries looking for mysteries strongly rooted in a sense of place and culture will find Old Sins an excellent contrast of angst and forgiveness. 

Old Sins

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The Ridders
Lisa Towles
Indies United Publishing House, LLC
978-1-64456-438-7         $16.99
www.indiesunited.net 

The Ridders represents political action thriller writing at its finest, following PI Brock "BJ" Janoff into a dilemma that begins when he is offered a million dollars to bring an envelope to the front desk of a luxury hotel. 

Sounds like simple money. Feels like a simple mission. But it turns out to be anything but easy as BJ is drawn into a time-sensitive job that prepays the million dollars, but places him in jeopardy no matter what he does. 

It's a social experiment that seems designed to test BJ's mettle and ethics; but once a PI, always an investigator. BJ's curiosity, combined with an increasing conviction that his seemingly innocuous job is involving him in a high-level scam, leads him straight into danger. 

Curiosity killed the cat, and it more than threatens BJ's life, ethics, and career as he pursues intangible trails of deceit, only to see his friends and family come under the gun of his decision-making processes. 

Lisa Towles brings this story to life, employing the first-person to bring home reflections that BJ makes as he feels increasingly lost by the twists and turns his case makes, challenging his professional abilities and his life: "I felt as though I was out in that water again during a life-threatening storm, struggling against rogue waves and currents too strong for me, the threat of death for myself and others imminent, not even able to see shore anymore." 

From decoys and Russian operatives to unregulated international freeports, a group of Ridders involved in environmental conservation at all costs, and a family sword that's been stolen, readers receive a romp through political and personal worlds that carry them on an international investigation with no clear outcomes or perps. 

As BJ finds himself confronting not just the Bilderberg Group, but his own missing father's role in unfolding affairs, he comes full circle to realize that his family is, after all, at the heart of some nefarious events. 

Towles cultivates an action-packed plot that is offset by thought-provoking revelations both political and personal. 

The result is a captivating tale that engrosses on many levels, offers satisfyingly unpredictable twists and turns, and creates a political thriller that's hard to put down. 

Libraries seeking superior works strongly rooted in political, psychological, and social dilemmas will find The Ridders a PI investigation a la mode. It's a powerful tale of father/son relationships and good intentions gone awry that considers the heart of deception and how well-meaning objectives become corrupted by dangerous choices. 

The Ridders

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Russian Assault
John Ruane
Roswell Press
979-8-9866378-0-8    Paper: $12.99/Kindle eBook: $4.99
https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Assault-John-Ruane/dp/B0BCS7DFK5 

Fans of the Dylan Reilly debut thriller novel, A Dangerous Freedom, have the opportunity to further delve into Reilly's world and the threats to it in the sequel, Russian Assault, which opens with the power of an incoming missile at the White House, resulting in an Oval Office in flames and under fire. 

Marine Corps sniper and Secret Service Director, Ken Hack, has earned a medal for his courage. But nothing could have prepared him for this type of action as he stands atop the White House defending the President and represents the opening salvo of an assault that commands the reader’s attention in the unfolding political and military suspense that is Russian Assault. 

After seeing the news of the devastating attack, Dylan Reilly feels compelled and called to action, joining authorities in a search for justice that leads him into danger from unexpected sources. 

His suspicion that the assault is far deeper and broader than is being depicted is correct, but the real truth will challenge even his own capacity to address the perps and get to the bottom of their actions and organization. 

Are activist groups destroying the country, or does their command center go above and beyond citizen protests to delve into international waters? 

Once again, John Ruane has crafted a compelling story that edges between familiar-sounding real-world possibilities and events and extrapolations that move the intrigue into unexpected realms. 

Dylan's character again takes center stage. This will prove compelling for both his prior fans and newcomers, who will find Russian Assault stands nicely on its own, as well as being a powerful expanded feature of Dylan's efforts. 

From comments on hope-driven leadership and historical precedent to peaceful and violent demonstrations and their effects on democratic process and American issues, Ruane provides a probe that incorporates present-day, familiar-feeling scenarios with a futuristic examination of a disaster that simmers under the surface of current events. 

The tension is well crafted, the story's twists and turns are unexpected, and the overall attention to juxtaposing historical precedent with issues involved in defending freedom is thought-provoking, as well as action-packed. 

Libraries looking for powerful political suspense thrillers that inject insights about democratic processes and the forces that struggle for and against them will find that Russian Assault goes beyond the story of an attack to examine the foundations of how a democracy (and its individuals and defenders) respond to adversity. 

Russian Assault

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Supernatural P.I.
Courtney Davis
DX Varos Publishing
978-1-955065-62-7         $18.95 Paper/$4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Supernatual-P-I-Fawn-Malero-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0B4MFMLK5 

Supernatural P.I. welcomes mystery and paranormal action readers with a Fawn Malero story of the P.I.'s alliance with a werewolf. Its P.I. components are just as strong as its portrait supernatural events, and opens with Fawn's newfound success as a self-appointed Supernatural P.I. for the Seattle area. 

She's on her way to interview a serial-killer-in-training (who was also her bad first date), on a mission to extract information from the perp she'd personally brought to justice. 

Courtney Davis adds a touch of ironic humor into the situation from the start, which is one of protagonist Fawn's trademark responses: "Hopefully, he didn’t hold his arrest and incarceration against me." 

Fawn's secondary mission is to prove her career value to her family, validating her dubious choice of partners-in-solving-crimes with an effective first mission. 

She has all the trappings of success—with one tiny problem: "...soon I would have a belt with handcuffs, stun gun and whatever else a P.I. might need, like maybe a notepad or some mints? A camera would be good, something small and very spy like. What else did a supernatural private investigator need? Probably a client..." 

Her quest for personal validation from her family of Magicians evolves into a case that proves a worthy challenge to her abilities and even her supernatural connections and influences. Fawn soon finds herself in over her head, vying with a powerful force that is both tapping the power of the ocean and trapping an equally formidable vampire within its depths. 

Supernatural P.I. employs the first person to get into the mind, logic, and heart of Fawn's world, exploring volatile family relationships and connections as well as the underlying mystery that she's motivated to solve: "I didn’t really want to involve my father, I would rather just tell him after it was over that I had solved it." The forces that give her an edge in the P.I. world also cast a critical eye on these efforts and their results. This involves readers in a series of encounters that test Fawn's problem-solving as well as her emotional stability and connections. 

Davis winds the supernatural creatures and humor into a story that is surprising and compelling on many levels, replete with comic relief at unexpected junctions of discovery, and even romance: “What the hell is wrong with me?”
“Where should I start?” Evie said popping in. I threw a pillow at her, and she disappeared."
 

Supernatural P.I. is a P.I. story that is just as strong in its investigative components as it is in describing the evolution of a professional problem-solver who hones her own unique abilities. 

Readers of mysteries that are thoroughly embedded in crime and supernatural worlds alike will find Supernatural P.I. an outstanding read, from its strong character development and nicely paced action to the surprising twists of mystery that keeps readers involved to the end. 

Supernatural P.I.

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Terror's Sword
Kevin Kuhens
Kuhens Publishing

979-8985447309            $17.99 Paper/$4.99 Kindle
Website: www.kevinkuhens.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Terrors-Sword-Kyle-McEwan-Novel-ebook/dp/B09RGNNKCR 

"There is no paradise for cowards." Perhaps that is one motivation for destroying the world: to prove courage and thus gain entry into heaven. Ali bin al-Dosari, (aka Terror's Sword) does everything for Allah. 

Thriller readers who look for blends of high-octane action tempered by attention to psychological interplays and acts of political desperation will be attracted to the terrorist encounter that plays out in Terror's Sword. 

Here, the sword of death and destruction is wielded by an attacker who sports a deadly bioweapon and is headed for the U.S. to wreak havoc. 

A desperate president taps the only resource that might be able to match this clever and elusive opponent: Kyle McEwan, a counterterrorism mastermind whose weapons prove as formidable as his deadly enemy. 

Once unleashed, Kyle is a force to be reckoned with, as murder and kidnappings surround his efforts to eliminate the danger. He's not alone, because all facets of science and government are united in not just locating Terror's Sword, but finding a cure for the deadly force he is set to unleash. 

When all fail, Kyle is the last left standing. 

Unlike many thrillers about terrorist threats, Kevin Kuhens injects added value into his plot: the inner workings of bureaucratic and political processes which serve to work against themselves and each other as desperate men and entities struggle against an impossible weapon and timeline. 

This allows readers to more closely inspect not just a bioterror threat, but the mechanisms on both sides which unwittingly create an environment in which it can flourish independent of original intentions or the best efforts of terrorists and anti-terrorists to affect the outcome. 

As the terrorist sends messages to the world that circumvent the best efforts of authorities to stifle them, readers receive engrossing, realistic scenarios that provide thought-provoking glimpses into the logic and nature of terrorists who believe their actions are firmly rooted in faith ... and desperation. 

Time is taken to fully develop the characters on both sides of events, which gives readers satisfying opportunities to better understand the underlying motivations of actions. This adds to the story's depth and gives it more of a social and psychological perspective than action alone, creating a standout that tempers tension with understanding. 

As McEwan tracks his killer across three continents and awaits an enemy's final error that will give him the upper hand, events are not set in stone, but hold some surprising twists. These keep the reader not only on edge, but thinking about various possible outcomes. 

The result is a powerful saga that probes Presidential actions, traps, moves and countermoves, and special ops processes that embrace various government departments, different methods of handling adversity, and ultimately places the onus for American security squarely on the heads and shoulders of the men and women who serve in the armed forces, law enforcement, and intelligence agencies. 

The juxtaposition of all these agencies and elements affects the final outcome, tailors Kyle McEwan's responses, and ultimately outlines a bigger political struggle that goes beyond clashing special interests to examine the religious and political machines that create them. 

Libraries and thriller readers looking for the chess-like moves of worthy opponents who are each backed by a conviction and belief that their actions are of paramount importance to the world will find Terror's Sword replete in satisfying confrontations both idealistic and political. 

Given its contemporary and thought-provoking moments, Terror's Sword is also recommended for book clubs and groups interested in social and political probes who will find much fodder for discussion in a fictional story that could, on many levels and under the right conditions, come true. 

Terror's Sword

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The Uniform
G. Gruen

Writers Bureau
978-1-7373334-2-5
$17.99 Hardcover/$8.99 Paper/$2.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Uniform-G-Gruen/dp/1737333414 

The Uniform represents a military historical thriller at its finest. Perhaps this is because it's based on true events, and that tone of real drama is captured from the start. 

The story opens in 1944, when a young doctor on his way to a Nazi death camp stumbles on the body of a murdered Gestapo officer and takes his uniform in an effort to survive.

Initially trained as a medic in Prague, David Korda has spent his confinement trying to ingratiate himself to his captors. 

Now he can be one of them. Or, can he? 

The dead man’s uniform is gashed and bloodied.  Before the tunic can be any use to David, he has to repair it and drain the blood stains, all the time facing discovery by SS officer Liebig, Hausler’s ‘wife', Petra, and Oberführer Hausler’s family as well as his fellow Gestapo members—and the attendant risks to his life. These and a growing relationship with a horse all affect his choices and decisions surrounding not just the uniform, but the world it represents. 

The uniform changes everything, but it also places him in a position of added danger from unexpected events that involve him in different and deeper mysteries than those of survival and adaptation alone. 

From preserving the fabric of his disguise (literally and figuratively) to navigating the strange new world the uniform has introduced him to, David finds himself at different odds with his world and draws, once again, on his latent medical skills to save himself and those around him. 

G. Gruen provides an exacting, step-by-step drama that follows David through concentration camps and beyond. 

A host of characters interact with him as he attempts to repair more than the uniform, only to find he's become mired in new dilemmas that test his abilities, courage, and determination to survive. 

The thriller components are just as deeply steeped into the story as its historical and mystery-laced encounters, creating a captivating tale replete with treachery and danger. 

Readers looking for a World War II scenario of a very different ilk than most, and libraries seeking thriller-style novels embedded with unpredictable drama and action, will find The Uniform defies pat categorization, but assumes a life of its own that makes it hard to put down. Its outcome is satisfyingly difficult to predict as David navigates the two choices of being a prisoner or a representative of the oppressor he fights against. 

The Uniform

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Novels

Always Yours
AJ Ranney
Rudy House Publishing 
979-8-9859485-1-6                $4.99 ebook/$16.00 Paperback
Website: www.ajranney.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X9KGQD7 

"If we could get through what was bound to be one of the worst days of my life, surely we could handle anything…right?" 

Always Yours is a romance story that opens not with love, but loss. Narrator Bella Buchanan has just lost her mother. Her best friend Rhett is trying to help her. They live in the small town of Half Moon Lake in the North Carolina mountains and have shared many things, but this is the first summer that Bella has thought of Rhett as anything more but a good friend. 

Fast forward twelve years. Young mother Bella has a child of her own (Brendan). She and Rhett broke up three years earlier. Rhett is still in her life, but everything has changed. And yet, some things never change. 

Emotions run high as the duo continues to struggle with their feelings about one another: "He glanced away and wouldn’t meet my gaze. What the hell was wrong with him? We weren’t super close anymore, not since he’d moved out of his parents’ guest house last fall and into his own small place, but we’d learned to coexist and be friendly with each other. And yet, tonight, for whatever reason, he seemed almost annoyed with me. I had half a mind to ask him what I did to piss him off." 

The conflicted love/hate of their relationship continually gets in the way, clouding what each of them really want. 

Another difference between this romance's progression and others is that the points of view shift between Rhett and Bella. This is clearly identified in chapter headings, making it easy for readers to understand these changing voices and perspectives that lead to a better understanding of events and emotional responses. 

Always Yours thus builds its own vortex of swirling feelings as the confusion and love between these two star-crossed lovers continues to resonate over the years. Heartfelt passages abound as each explains and explores their emotions: "I didn’t want to fight with him, not tonight. But this was something I had to do for myself. Frankly, if he couldn’t understand that, then maybe this wasn’t meant to work out. But I prayed he would understand once I explained it." 

The psychological insights are astute and revealing, driving a story replete with life changes and interpersonal conflicts. 

The result is a solid romance firmly centered in small-town life and ambitions. Always Yours will prove an attractive and compelling read for romance followers who look for emotional growth amid contentious love/hate relationships and changing friendships. 

Libraries strong in romance stories will welcome Always Yours, while romance book reader groups will find the contrasting male/female perspectives offers excellent food for thought and discussion. 

Always Yours

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Banks of the River
Melvin Litton

Gordian Knot Books/Crossroads Press
978-1637897812            $17.99 Paper/$4.99 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/Banks-River-Kansas-Murder-Trilogy/dp/1637897812 

Banks of the River, the second book adding to the Kansas Murder Trilogy, is as much about a small Kansas town in the 1960s as it is about the murder that changes it. 

In the opening scene, protagonist Jack Marshal is no saint. In fact, he's incarcerated in an old jail to cool off for 48 hours. 

Even the town priest finds Jack a cut above the ordinary: "In the proverbial phrase he was “Full of it!” Possessed of a joyous hunger to grasp each pleasure offered and take it in. Full of it—the devil. He simply loved too deeply for faith to cure, loved too deeply the marrow of life." 

Invited to confess his sins, Jack imparts a ribald story that involves Jack's implication in a murder surrounding his teen daughter's pregnancy by Jack's old buddy. 

His trial immerses the town in many conundrums because more is at stake than Jack standing trial. Also on the line and under examination are the beliefs, actions, and undercurrents of the town's secrets, which stand trial alongside him and become exposed one by one. 

The heart of these follies lies in deception, decisions, and perceptions that shake the town to its roots, both individually and as a community. 

As a host of characters swirl around Jack's mistakes and life, readers receive a powerful story of redemption and town complexities, tempered with a wry, ironic underlying stream of humor that keeps readers involved and walking a fine line between criminals and citizens. Immersed in murky legal and social waters, the good citizens of this small town find their parties and lives in full swing as they cope with the changing tides of legal, political, and social connections. 

Powered by exceptional characters with the ability to represent both the ironic, zany facets of life and everyday milestones of achievement, Melvin Litton creates another winning story (begun in King Harvest) that captures the characters and sentiments of this small Kansas town. 

Readers of historical fiction who look for a satisfying blend of mystery and a broader sense of place and purpose than most murder novels embrace will find that Banks of the River appeals beyond the murder mystery genre to attract readers interested in communities and the crimes that rock them. 

Libraries looking for books that operate either as an integral addition to a trilogy or on their own as solid examinations of guilt, innocence, and mercurial legal waters will find Banks of the River a fine novel. It's recommended for anyone who enjoys tales of small-town residents and their rage, redemption, and resolve. 

Banks of the River

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The Dawning: 31,000 BC
Richard W. Wise
Brunswick House Press
979-8-9864208-1-3         $17.99 Paper/$9.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Dawning-31-000-BC/dp/B0B69V313L 

Fans of Jean Auel's fictional stories set in prehistoric Europe will be just one of the audiences interested in The Dawning: 31,000 BC, which is set in the Ice Age world of Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals. 

Young adult Cro-Magnons Ejil and Lada are just beginning to explore their feelings for one another when an attack by the pale-skinned Neanderthals tears their tribe apart. Lada is missing, and Ejil finds himself on an unexpected journey to regain tribal connections and love. 

Richard W. Wise captures the vivid setting, confrontations between very different peoples, and the ancient world of Southwest France in an adventure that immediately grasps reader attention, introducing the atmosphere and adversity of these times. 

He takes the time to build a "you are here" feel with a sense of place that embraces the characters' observations and world: "As the sun climbed the sky ladder and the day warmed, the two girls made their way deeper into the thick forest and, probing with their digging sticks, searched for edible roots and tubers. The forest was quiet. Cave Bears still slept, and lions, cave lions and other big scary animals avoided the thick woods. Lada paused and sniffed the air. She loved the sharp smell of pine." 

He also features the painted caves and the spiritual nature of these early beings as they interact and venture into lands and places that challenge both their survival and perceptions of their world and what lies beyond it: "Pico stays by himself. He has a hut below the mouth of the sacred cave. It is high up in the cliffs, almost a half day’s walk. There is a large chamber—paintings by Pico line its walls. That is where the tribal council meets. There are some, deeper in the cave that have been there for as long as anyone can remember.”
“A sacred cave,” Ejil said, his excitement rising. “Is it very deep, then?”
“It is the womb of the earth, sacred to The Mother. No one has ever found its end. None have gone so far in as Pico, but even he had to turn back when he grew faint and his torch refused to burn.
“His torch wouldn’t burn? How strange.”
“Yes, perhaps it is the fetid breath of the spirits that dwell deep in the earth. Pico believes the doorway to the Shadowlands lies in its depths. Powerful spirits protect it.”

This attention to the physical world and its interpretation by various peoples and tribes gives a realistic tone to the story, which is driven by emotional connections, trials and tribulations, and two young lovers who find their world changed and in jeopardy. 

The Dawning: 31,000 BC is as much a story of war and peace as it is of individual lovers and changed destinies. 

Wise's attention to capturing the physical and emotional components of land and peoples makes for a realistic, involving drama that unfolds new possibilities and opportunities between disparate tribes and peoples. 

Readers of Jean Auel and libraries seeing interest in this genre of prehistoric fictional settings are in for a treat. 

The Dawning: 31,000 BC

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Destiny of Determination
Cathy Burnham Martin
Quiet Thunder Publishing
978-1-939220-60-8                $15.99 Paper/$5.99 ebook
www.QTPublishing.com 

Historical fiction readers who like tales of coming of age, survival, and revised destinies will find Destiny of Determination: Faith and Family a fine second book, enhancing a trilogy about World War II and the Armenian genocide survivors who come to the U.S. in search of new possibilities. 

While it's recommended that the first book, Destiny of Dreams, be consulted before this continuing story, this is not absolutely required in order for newcomers to become immersed in the events that carry Hrant Gulumian and his family to a new life in America. 

Despite their dreams of respite and safety, the realities of being an immigrant in a strange land where language, culture, and prejudice affect their safety and choices become central to their story and adaptation. 

Cathy Burnham Martin's focus on faith and family are the guiding themes of a literary history survey that holds its roots in mother Glenna Burnham's immigrant experiences. 

Martin's mother's influence lends historical integrity to her efforts, bringing the past to life with rich descriptions that both continue her family's true story and introduce fictional embellishments to capture the action and feelings of her characters. 

The introductory review of primary characters from Book 1 gives newcomers an easy opportunity to slide right into the lives and people in Book 2, while modern experiences contrast with family interactions and past memories through inviting dialogue and interpersonal relationships: “Oh, how Grampa would have enjoyed this... and YOU,” Cassie uttered.
“I know I’ve told you this before, but my grandfather, Hrant Gulumian, crosses my mind so often when it comes to little things you do. Just like Grampa, your lawn has to be perfect, as if rivaling some country club’s golf course greens. Just like Grampa, you love flowers, birds, and boats. Just like Grampa, you have extraordinary intelligence, an uncanny mathematical ability, and a seemingly natural knack for engineering and constructing things. I wish he had lived long enough to meet you.”
 

Set in the 20th century, the events trace the impact and roots of bigotry and prejudice on multiple generations as their lives grow to embrace both family precedent and modern-day challenges. 

Of particular interest and note is the ways in which Martin interjects and contrasts these stories, experiences, and lives. As "Days of Love and Tears" unfolds, complete with family recipes and reviews of better days and strong reactions to life's adversity and promise, readers receive an immigrant experience that captures and contrasts the nature of immigrant family worlds. 

While the result is highly recommended for historical novel readers, Destiny of Determination should also serve, along with its predecessor, as a starting point for book club and family discussions about Armenian history, family relationships, faith, and perseverance against the changing backdrop of American lives, prejudices, and ideals. 

Destiny of Determination

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Divine Vintage
Sandra L. Young
The Wild Rose Press
978-1-5092-3823-1         $16.99 paperback; $4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Divine-Vintage-Sandra-L-Young/dp/1509238239 

Divine Vintage blends romance and suspense in a novel designed to attract historical fiction readers looking for strong female protagonists and a sense of adventure. 

The story opens with Tess's puzzling confession to another: “My husband didn’t kill me!” 

As this gripping opening scene moves to more revelations and mystery, readers will find this story of a 1913 puzzle that draws a contemporary woman into the past to be thoroughly absorbing and hard to put down. 

A sea change happens between the story's powerful introductory scenario, the peppering of quotes in between from other fans of Divine Vintage, and Chapter One, which appears to open in May 2013 with Tess Burton's new adventure, attending auctions for her new business. 

She's used to taking massive risks—but not with her inheritance. Divine Vintage represents a business risk, but promises many rewards and much adventure; both of which attract her and lure her into a situation far from the traditional world of navigating estate sales and reselling goods. 

Past and present flow into one another as Tess's venture into 1913 (ala the clothing of the era) contrast with her contemporary shop in the modern world. 

As a murder draws Tess into a scenario of romance, sordid mystery, and danger, readers move into a story steeped in historical references and modern dilemmas alike. These contrasts in time and place enhance both the romantic components and the intrigue as readers come to appreciate Tess's ability to navigate both worlds. 

As Tess handles her visions of a murdered bride and joins with Trey Dunmore in exploring his family history and secrets, the couple finds their own potential romance at risk—along with the business and their own lives. 

Sandra L. Young crafts a divine story of contrasts in time, place, and purposes. Readers who enjoy engaging mystery spiced with sultry romantic overtones will especially appreciate the powerful presence of both in a story designed to simultaneously titillate and intrigue. 

Libraries strong in either romance or mystery that look for strong characters whose lives are changed by their abilities and revelations will find Divine Vintage an attractive acquisition. It acquires its heat not just from kisses, but from high drama and unexpected twists and turns as Tess finds herself caught between two determined men. 

Divine Vintage

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Fearless
Paula Dáil
Warren Publishing
978-1-957723-40-2
$32.00 Hardcover/$19.95 Paper/$4.99 Kindle
www.warrenpublishing.net 

Fearless is a novel based on true facts. It comes from a "cradle Catholic" who spent several years in a Catholic girls' boarding school, and who holds a personal, in-depth familiarity with the Catholic Church's schools, convents, and processes. Viewing with horror the Church’s moral failings and persistent subjugation of women and other disenfranchised groups, she is no longer Catholic. 

Nevertheless, she highly respects the heroic work of countless nuns who work tirelessly on the front lines of social justice for women and other marginalized groups. 

This powers the fictional story of seventeen-year-old Maggie Corrigan, who has experienced a tough life as the oldest child of seven, growing up motherless (her mother died in childbirth) and impoverished in a Southside Chicago Irish-Catholic family. 

Her choices seem clear: either follow her mother's path into marriage and too many children, or enter the convent to dedicate her life to God and chastity. The option feels like a no-brainer as Maggie chooses the latter, but finds her devotion to God anything but a singular, predictable path. 

These sentiments play a key role in a story in which Maggie comes to represent not just piety, but a special brand of woman whose purpose seems clear: to both support and rebel against the Church she so loves. 

Maggie became tough and devious as she survived her family situation and remained true to her spiritual calling. These traits continue to serve her well as she hones a challenge to the Church that includes a fight for women's reproductive rights. 

Tensions evident in charity work, in clashes between personalities, and in moral and ethical conundrums evolve in a story replete with many thought-provoking experiences and passages: “She wants to establish a relationship with the archdiocese to open up a funding stream. Says she will assure the cardinal and head of Catholic Charities that the shelter’s goal is to help women come to their senses and return to their husbands—keep the family together. This is exactly what we don’t want to be doing, for Christ’s sake. If we accept money from the archdiocese, we’ll have to accept the strings that are attached, and we won’t like them. You have to help me figure out how to stop this reign of terror.”  

The result is a powerhouse of a story especially recommended for readers steeped in and supportive of Catholic faith, but critical of some of its social interactions. This audience will find much food for thought in Maggie's struggles to reconcile her beliefs with her moral and ethical values. 

While libraries strong in fiction that represents strong female characters and interests will want to include Fearless in their holdings, ideally it will reach beyond library shelves to assume a major and interactive role in book clubs and reading groups interested in representations of women's dilemmas with the Catholic Church. 

This audience will find many discussion points in Maggie's experiences and changing world, which will fuel debates and provide opportunities for deeper-level thinking. 

Fearless

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A Home for the Stars
Laura Kemp

Ramirez & Clark Publishers LLC
978-1955171168           
$21.95 Hardcover/$14.99 Paper/$5.99 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/Home-Stars-Lantern-Creek-Book/dp/1955171165 

A Home for the Stars is the third, concluding volume in the Lantern Creek trilogy, and ideally will be chosen by prior fans, who will find this concluding story of a magical experience picks up where the last book left off. 

The story opens with a mysterious Ojibwa petroglyph which has carried Justine Cook back in time to the moment her unseen enemy is born, separating her from what is familiar and introducing her to a world that she's only dreamed of. 

Justine's encounter with magic and danger is countered by her determination to find Dylan, who has apparently left her alone in this strange place where a "great wind" has deposited her. Her top mission is to stop Henry Younts before he harms those she loves. The only way to save them is to find what she came to this world to uncover. 

The introductory setting marking Justine's awakening and sense of purpose leads nicely into the first chapter, where Calvert Cook is tending to a girl that was discovered lying in his field. 

Laura Kemp weaves a fine story of the shaman, Butler, and the characters that surrounding Justine, as well as capturing their confusion over Justine's strange clothing and ways. 

As Adam, Henry, Cal, Butler and Odessa find their lives entwined, the action unfolds on different levels, moving between a magical odyssey and a mission to save very different worlds. 

Kemp creates a host of fine characters who each hold special interests in the outcome of Justine's efforts. 

She spices her story with the flavor of magical realism, creates action-packed scenes of rescue and confrontation, and reveals "Injun magic" and forces of religious fervor that don't always follow logical paths of good and evil's progression. 

The result is a powerful novel that nicely completes the prior books in the Lantern Creek trilogy. 

While newcomers would find the tale involving, ideally readers of A Home for the Stars will be prior fans, This audience will gain the most from its continuing revelations of this world and its people. 

Libraries seeing popularity with the other books in the series will find A Home for the Stars a satisfying conclusion that includes reflections on when a search should end and peace be accepted. 

A Home for the Stars

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Joint Venture
Carol Rhees
Independently Published
979-8-9865206-0-5         $14.99 Paper/$5.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Joint-Venture-Carol-Rhees/dp/B0B76239RJ 

Readers of contemporary women's fiction will enjoy Joint Venture's foray into the wild, wild world of a business venture that brings together two disparate "frenemies" who traditionally are at odds with one another, but find their lives entwined in expected ways. 

Cemented by the business pursuit that surprisingly serves each of their newfound interests particularly well, Alice and Helen both find themselves in the advancing years of their 60s, cast adrift after their partners exit stage left. Whether from betrayal or demise, each flounders and grasps the other in a lifesaving move that will prove much more to each, opening new doors of opportunity that rest atop past adversity. 

Carol Rhees incorporates a wry sense of humor about the personalities and events that dovetail in an unexpectedly odd journey, starting with childhood encounters between the two which set the stage for future interactions steeped in controversy and competition. 

Fifty years is a long time to maintain even a tenuous connection, however bittersweet. Helen Newbold had fled the small town of Poplar Point right after graduation with her beau. Alice thought this was the end of the story (and their tumultuous relationship) until she comes upon Helen in a state of disarray, drunk on the sidewalk. It's an event that tests even her newfound meditative peace: "As Alice helped Helen to her feet, she felt a small vindictive flare of pleasure. She tried to suppress it, remembering the silent commitment to kindness and compassion she had made at the meditation meeting just moments earlier. Well, this was definitely a test of her commitment." 

As the active dislike between these women rekindles into a shared purpose in later life, readers receive an engrossing exploration of how opposites not only attract, but can combine forces to achieve formidable goals. 

Carol Rhees takes the time to portray these disparate personalities, the reasons why they clash, and the values that drive their lives: "She couldn’t resist a closer examination of Alice, whom she had not spent any real time with in years. Yup, not much had changed except for the 20 or 30 extra pounds. Same hippie–dippy clothes. Same dangling earrings and jangling bracelets. Same long thick braid down her back—only now it was gray instead of brown. Unconsciously, Helen brushed her palm over her own recently colored hair." 

As perspectives shift from Helen to Alice, these character-driven experiences come to life to provide thought-provoking and often funny passages driven by these different perspectives about life and values. Other characters, such as Helen's daughter Kim, also add perspective from other vantage points to round out the interactions between the two women. 

Kim's viewpoint also incorporates wry humor as her opinions of her mother are revised, challenging her to adopt a new story of family connections to her young charges and her husband: "Where was she going? Home to tell Kevin what had happened? To tell her children that the grandmother they had come to love was now the town champion of marijuana?" 

As the two women evolve, so does a town struggling with the latest social issue affecting its laws and outlook; and so does Kim, who finds her mother's presence not just embarrassing, but socially and psychological challenging: "Why was her mother, of all people, speaking up for the Safe Access side? Was this what her mother had been secretly working on up in her room all this time? She knew about Kim’s position as chair of the Board and principal of the high school; she knew about the public stance Kim and the rest of the Board had taken. Didn’t she care that Kim now looked like a fool?" 

The result is a tale replete in transformations that operate on different levels, from familial to interpersonal and community-wide. The ripples of controversy threaten to tear the new relationship apart, leading it back to old foundations of contention even as it holds out the promise of something different. 

Readers will find this dual focus on community and interpersonal change to be thoroughly involving. 

The wry humor and satirical inspections create a nice interplay between characters and social issues, while the family relationships affected by the duo's new joint venture are strongly depicted. 

Joint Venture evolves to be more than about business or a friendship revitalized. Its astute probe of social issues that affect community ties makes for a small-town portrait of personalities and purposes that is highly recommended for libraries and book clubs seeking novels about women's relationships, growth, and family changes alike. 

Joint Venture

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The Killer Half
JB Blake
Atmosphere Press
978-1-63988-504-6         $18.99
www.atmospherepress.com 

The Killer Half: The Legend of Blackhawk 6-Deuce is a novel about combat at home and abroad. It follows Hawk, who has become disillusioned with the war in the Middle East and has walked away from one battle, only to find himself in unexpected combat territory at home. 

He feels sadness and remorse, and as though he's been used. But he's not used up, because he returns to full-on combat mode when he uncovers a scheme for an armed invasion of America and makes a stand on his own country's soil. 

Readers who look for action-packed stories that also retain a good degree of reflective insights about the nature of military combat and civilian efforts to sustain democracy will find The Killer Half replete with thought-provoking passages as Hawk considers the political influences affecting his task of protecting his country. 

JB Blake is a student of military history and behavioral science (among other research interests), and these lend a fine foundation of reality to a story steeped in unexpected encounters and a relatively unique form of dialogue between characters which eschews the usual quotation-mark usage. 

At times, the story feels more like a film script or play because of this, but the format supports the action and interactions, highlighting the plot's impact. 

The tension is well done and the changing settings and clashes are particularly compelling and realistic in their portrayal. A cast of supplemental characters bring Hawk's actions to life, as well. 

The "you are here" descriptive moments are especially well detailed: "The pilots flew back and forth once over the valley where nothing was moving. If anyone had moved, they would have shot them. These helicopters were violent, deadly weapons, and the men flying them knew exactly how to use them to maximize death on the ground. They were made for assault and for close air support of infantry, and they had done their job with destructive efficiency. Snakes flew over the volcanic tube and fired into it, but they couldn’t get an angle to be effective. They hovered for a time away from the wash to see if anyone would come out. No one did. The enemy could still hear the helicopters because of the distinct sound their rotors made." 

Libraries seeking thrillers that take a character's military service history to evolve it beyond the usual formula writing approach will appreciate the evocative originality of The Killer Half  which brings to life not only battles, but unexpected romance and characters whose hearts shine with love and conflict alike. 

The Killer Half

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Lyrical Bliss in Tuscany
Cindy Irish
Enoch Publications, LLC
978–1-942627–04–3              $14.99 Print/$2.99 ebook
Website: http://www.cindyirish.com/the-stories/lyrical-bliss-in-tuscany/
Ordering: https://amzn.to/3RBK6dr 

Lyrical Bliss in Tuscany is Book 3 in the Bel Homme Quartet. It will best be enjoyed by prior enthusiasts of the series, who will find the story of Italian opera singer Nico Biviano to be compelling as he pursues the classical crossover group Bel Homme in a new venture that introduces unexpected romance along with its different notes. 

Italian culture, romance, and music weave a solid story of achievement, pursuit, and new journeys as Nico's world tour turns into a relationship with the very different Gina, who also didn't anticipate falling in love. 

Both pursue success in different ways. Each has dealt with the distractions of previous relationships in manners that eschewed lasting connections. And they discover, within one another, a mirror of their expectations and ambitions that promise to produce results greater than the sum of their individual efforts. 

Cindy Irish does an exceptional job of following Nico and Gina as they step out of their comfort zones, both with each other and in their individual ambitions and pursuits. 

Nico is constantly surprising Gina (and she often surprises herself) as they contemplate an attachment that could require an exorcist to untangle. 

Irish adds family interactions on both sides to introduce more surprises requiring flexibility on both characters' parts. This, in turn, creates a fine tension that moves beyond romantic and sexual encounters to embrace the growing affair's potential for changing family interactions and relationships, as well. 

The music-driven, Italian-backed culture of love and growth emphasized in Lyrical Bliss in Tuscany forms the backdrop for a powerful story that ends with a surprising revelation. 

Readers who look for multifaceted romances touched as much by evolutionary processes as by a couple's growing attraction will find Lyrical Bliss in Tuscany a haunting story that's nicely steeped in musical culture and romantic surprises. It also follows several characters who circle around Nico and Gina with their own changing involvements. 

Lyrical Bliss in Tuscany deserves a place on the shelves of libraries strong in novels that spin a fine yarn of the psychological transformations love can bring. 

Lyrical Bliss in Tuscany

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Marooned
Louise Jane Watson
Foundations Book Publishing Company
ASIN: ‎B0B7CSWFM9           $3.99 Kindle

Website: https://www.louisejanewatson.com/copy-of-home
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7CSWFM9 

Marooned is a shipwreck story of a different ilk, surrounding a couple and a cat. 

The family in the classic Swiss Family Robinson banded together to create a new home and life while awaiting rescue. In Louise Jane Watson's contemporary take on becoming marooned, there is no supportive nuclear family. Just a cat. And, as Book 1 of the Lost and Found series explores, the process of being marooned demands more than survival tactics and physical innovations. 

The day began with the promise of sunshine, relaxation, and new connections. So, why is Pinky out of bounds and beyond her control, now? She finds her past strengths stymied, under these conditions: "There had never been a situation she couldn't run, jump, or fight her way out of. But out here, her modus operandi was useless." And this is just the cat's experience as she rides a human survivor on the waves into the aftermath of shipwreck. 

Sunny also shares these qualities, and a vacation in Fiji seems like just the opportunity to profile the beauty and danger not just of the island, but in life in general. Especially since the first stranger she encounters is drop-dead gorgeous. 

But, unlike Pinky, Sunny is not vacationing. She's there to work as an illustrator on a research station, and duty calls. Sunny, too, cultivates "a resourceful mind that saw a problem, then found a solution." She excels in embracing and working with adversity. 

Nothing in life could have prepared her for her Fijian adventure, however, as she embarks on a journey of survival and exploration that ultimately tests not just her physical skills, but her mental acuity. 

Watson creates an emotional roller coaster of a ride in Marooned which carries readers beyond the usual shores of romance as Kit and Sunny struggle with one another and themselves. 

Independent and proactive at age twenty-five, Sunny has never had the opportunity to cultivate such a relationship, so Kit thinks she's naïve and much younger. It's simply that Sunny has not been made bitter and jaded by life experience, unlike so many of her contemporaries. And that lends to her attraction which, in isolation, has the opportunity to blossom. 

Readers who pick up Marooned anticipating a survival story alone may be surprised at the depths the novel plumbs. 

Unlikely as a relationship between a sexy, world-wise Hollywood star and a nature artist might be, the shipwreck throws them (and the ship's cat) together in an endeavor that changes them both. 

Readers receive a story of evolutionary growth both between and within the characters as perspectives shift between Kit and Sunny. This allows for psychological growth and revelations to be brought to the forefront as their situation forces new efforts and realizations neither has ever attempted in their lives. Watson's psychological probe is nicely done, juxtaposing the simmering romantic potential of an island made for two (three, counting the cat) with the explorations and secrets each individual makes to move forward with their lives. 

As new perspectives blossom under adverse conditions, romance readers will especially appreciate that a precarious situation evolves, both mentally and physically, between all three characters. 

The result is a love story, a survival piece, and a fictional revelation of growth and connection. Marooned is highly recommended for romance libraries and readers, but also should attract women who seek strong female role models (and cats) who tackle their pasts and futures with equal ability. 

Marooned

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The Mother I Never Had
Gary Goldstein
Hadleigh House Publishing
979-8-9850576-1-4         $16.99 Paper/$7.99 Kindle
www.hadleighhouse.com  

The Mother I Never Had opens with an ordinary morning in protagonist Nate's life. It's one that is destined to change in the blink of an eye when an old skeleton from 30 years ago comes rattling out of his closet to change his world. 

Nate was unexpectedly made an orphan when his father died, but even more surprising is the appearance of Amy in his life soon after, who brings with her information and a mystery that involves him in a journey to find the truth about his heritage. 

On the line is his relationship with girlfriend Jennifer, his sense of self, and a family secret that challenges everything he's known about his past. 

Gary Goldstein creates an outstanding story of family flaws and connections that ripples new revelations into a staid life. 

His attention to strong characters, motivations, and believable events that lead to astonishing situations makes for a tale replete with considerations of what changes make individuals human, influence their lives and psyches, and why betrayal evolves and how it can be justified. 

These underlying psychological currents contribute to a story that poses unexpected twists and turns as Nate reconsiders every belief he's fostered about his heritage and his life's trajectory. His dual choice to be angry with Amy and sad about his father's own duplicity and decisions sets off a chain reaction which resonates in his own life options. 

As Nate goes through therapy and considers the pros and cons of such an intense probe of his life, readers will find much to like about the man and his dilemmas. His experiences change not only his love liaison, but his business relationship with friend and partner Danny and virtually every facet of his life. 

At the heart of this story is an evolving affiliation to and realizations about the mother Nate never knew, and the effects of family secrets on future generations. 

Those who look for novels replete in revelations and change, with a character who reconsiders his own motivations for pursuing marriage and family ties, will find that The Mother I Never Had opens new doors of insight that leads them to think about their own choices and the consequences of their decisions and beliefs about the world. 

Book clubs reviewing family ties and impacts receive a fine list of discussion points at the book's end which will encourage lively debates, both in reading groups and in psychological group circles. 

The Mother I Never Had

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Penelope's Passion
Maggie Sims
The Wild Rose Press
9781509245956      $17.99 paperback/$5.99 ebook
www.maggiesims.com 

The School of Enlightenment series expands with the addition of Penelope's Passion, a study in love and legacy that follows eighteen-year-old Penelope Wood's first journey to London and the new adventure and job she faces there. 

The School of Enlightenment has prepared her for this big step, but it couldn't predict or tackle matters of the heart as Penelope finds her new position brings her challenges that lie far outside the school's instructions. 

Beyond sending money back to the family, Penelope has a career aspiration—to start a bakery. Her job as a courtesan is the first step towards realizing a dream that threatens to be waylaid by unpredictable events beyond her goals and experiences. 

The world of the early 1800s and London society are nicely captured as Penelope pursues her ambition and finds her concepts of the world rocked by what she encounters in London. 

It should be noted that explicit sexual descriptions accompany the story of Penelope's blossoming, which will attract readers who look for more real-world descriptions and scenarios that embrace sexual explorations, but may preclude enjoyment by readers seeking more staid romances. 

Penelope's strategic approach to her life embraces all possibilities as she moves forward in different ways, and the detailed sexual experiences are part of the many ways she grows as she fosters a relationship with Lord Michael Slade, who is set to be married to another and faces the need to gain distance and perspective despite being thoroughly enchanted. 

As Penelope's childhood and lifelong friend Sophia, subject of Book 1 in this series, enters the picture after a hiatus, Michael's close-knit family faces changes not only from the patriach's health issues, but from a son's choices.  

Maggie Sims takes the time to explore these connections and relationships: "My parents allowed my sister and I free rein out of the limelight of London Society so we could enjoy our childhoods. Even learning my responsibilities as heir was fun with my father." Her characters thus are steeped not just in the trappings of privilege, but in a changing world where past legacy and present-day inclinations are tested in new ways. 

Her careful crafting of the social, sexual, and psychological connections between kin and potential loves creates a thoroughly realistic, engrossing story that Regency romance readers, in particular, will find familiar and exciting. 

At stake are not only Michael and Penelope's growing connections, but Penelope's own dreams about family and career. 

Sims creates a satisfyingly intricate dance between all the characters against the backdrop of 1800s England, creating a compelling interplay of emotional and physical attraction that will draw not only prior fans of Sophia's Schooling, but newcomers who will be enticed by the promise of blossoming relationships and goals. 

Libraries looking for Regency romances with sultry descriptions and characters that individually come into their powers and grow both separately and with one another will find Penelope's Passion rich and attractive reading. 

Penelope's Passion

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Rawhide Jake: Lone Star Fame
JD Arnold
Five Star Publishing

978-1432895877            $25.95 Hardcover
https://www.amazon.com/Rawhide-Jake-Times-Detective-Brighton/dp/1432895877 

Fans of Western novels, historical fiction, and prior readers of Rawhide Jake in Learning the Ropes will each find a compelling new saga to appreciate in Rawhide Jake: Lone Star Fame, which centers on Jake's ongoing encounters that take place after he splits from Wes Wilson in the first book. 

Jake is now working undercover, arresting cattle rustlers and gaining a reputation for frontier justice. But riding the range looking for criminals isn't his only pursuit. 

Also a part of his life is a romance he's cultivated with a married woman, whom he marries after her husband dies. There are also unresolved issues with Wes, who returns, in this book, to join Jake in a dangerous undertaking that almost kills Jake and changes his life. Now the owner of a new company that places him and his Chinese workers in different jeopardy, Jake's battles are only beginning. 

JD Arnold crafts a powerful saga set in the late 1800s, which incorporates the political, social, and psychological challenges of these times. 

Jake Brighton represents not only a force of strength and change in a world beset upon by those who would skirt justice systems, but a business figure, as he ventures into unusual investments and absorbs financial interests and matters that belay his work in other areas. His actions are detailed with logical analysis and realistic insight: "His original intent was to ride out to the crew and deliver the payroll. But now his intent changed because money-in is always more important to develop than money-out. Both were needed of course in business, but there were priorities." 

As Jake, his wife Mary Jane, and Wes come to terms with new opportunities that test their lives, readers receive a powerful Western backdrop that both educates and entertains. 

There are disparities in the historical record concerning the real Rawhide Jake. Jonas V. Brighton was not ever known as Rawhide Jake; however, many western historians believe he was. Same goes for his role as a stock detective. The author came to realize these disparities after the publication of Learning the Ropes, and segued the part fiction/part fact contents of its predecessor into a full fictional format in Lone Star Fame.  

Libraries and readers looking for Westerns that incorporate historical backdrops with a realistic attention to descriptive detail and the lives of those faced with numerous changing choices will find Rawhide Jake: Lone Star Fame a fine survey of life challenges in 1800s Texas. It concludes with the promise of another Jake adventure in another Western territory. 

The blend of history and adventure works seamlessly to create a vivid account that is enlightening and hard to put down. 

Rawhide Jake: Lone Star Fame

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Saigon Spring
Phillip Derrick
Sunnyslope Press
978099912024               $14.99 Paper/$2.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Saigon-Spring-Philip-M-Derrick/dp/0999120220 

Saigon Spring spices war fiction with mystery and thriller components to expand the story's potential audience, making it a recommendation not just for the usual historical Vietnam experience readers, but for those seeking a solid novel of intrigue. 

It opens in 1971 at the San Francisco Airport, where the first-person narrator is set to embark on a journey dressed in full green army uniform and paratrooper boots. Post-Vietnam, returning vets were not treated with respect, but distain. Despite this atmosphere, the narrator retains pride in his military service and accomplishments. It's a pride that will be tested both at home and abroad as events unfold. 

Phillip Derrick captures the sentiments of the times as well as the unfolding mystery surrounding Sergeant Travis Nickels as he returns home convinced his tour of duty is finished forever, only to find himself re-enlisting, drawn back to a Vietnam which is now in complete chaos after the war. 

The secrets he keeps about his service, Vietnamese relationships, and choices made during this time have come full circle to haunt any semblance of him moving on, forcing him back into the past to confront not just the consequences of his decisions, but a lingering mystery that infuses his life with angst and uncertainty. 

It's a process that mirrors the wider issues of America's involvements in that region. 

Even his name has been changed, because he's assumed a dead soldier's identity to get back to Vietnam to find his family's killer. 

So opens a creative thriller that includes many of the trappings of a traditional Vietnam novel and then departs from the norm to bring its readers on an unexpected journey through a war-torn region of anguished hearts and minds. 

Much of the story focuses on his new civilian status at home—how Travis reluctantly learns to hide the fact that he's a vet and how he deals with those who think that military service only attracted suckers while others (more intelligent) found ways to reject the call to go fight in Vietnam. 

As he gets married, experiences life at Ranger school, and seemingly moves forward even while constrained by events from his past, he finds his trajectory moves full circle as the secrets he's kept even from his wife draw him back into the military. 

Derrick also explores the social and political experiences and divides that keep changing the bigger picture, employing powerful "you are here' imagery to capture Travis's observations and conclusions: "That means only one thing," said Tam. "Victory or death. There's not going to be a peaceful negotiation to this offensive despite what your Ambassador or my government hopes. It's all or nothing this time." 

What makes for a good man, what constitutes bravery in environments replete with atrocities, and how can Travis make better decisions? 

Military history blends with mystery, intrigue, and psychological self-inspection to give Saigon Spring a full-bodied flavor of discovery and revelation that is rare in either mysteries or thrillers. 

Its story comes to life in different ways, and is especially recommended for readers of military fiction, who will find in this story far more depth, linking personal with cultural and political experience, than most. 

Like Vietnam, the events that drive Travis are mercurial and unpredictable. How he finds love against all odds and reconciles past with future opportunities makes for a story that is not only recommended for libraries looking for powerful Vietnam-based accounts, but book club discussion groups interested in military novels and growth-inducing stories about personal transformation. 

Saigon Spring

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Sasquatch Love Call
A.M. Jordan
Thursday Night Press (an imprint of DX Varos Publishing)
978-1-955065-64-1         $19.95 Paper/$4.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Sasquatch-Love-Call-Weird-Canyon-ebook/dp/B0B36M1987 

Supernatural novel readers typically don't receive humor mixed into dark descriptions, but Sasquatch Love Call represents a satisfying foray into the unexpected, both in its romance component and in its array of supernatural forces, from sasquatch interference with weddings to a little fire problem. 

The story opens with a bang that captures this juxtaposition of action and fun: "The explosion shook the entire house throwing me out of my bed. Paperbacks were knocked off shelves. My heavy, carved, oak wardrobe moved a full foot along the wall. I was lucky it was bottom heavy since it didn’t fall over on top of me. My bookshelf, desk, and bed, had joined it in a short dance across the floor. I was not amused. Before being blown up, I had been in the midst of a delightful dream involving Anna. The music had stopped, she was about to kiss me, and boom." 

The contrast between monster hunts, supernatural encounters, and everyday life keeps the story intriguing on more than one level: “Tell you what, we’ll go monster hunting tonight and then you guys can go ghost hunting tomorrow night.” She sighed.
“All right, I guess that’ll do.”
“Good,” Mike said. “Let me get the cornbread.”
The cornbread was fantastic.
 

As events unfold, a circus of characters in colorful garb enter the picture to build a fun portrait of a strange summer in Weir Canyon, Colorado, as Danny Jael's mountain resort job becomes tainted by acts of heroism and murder. 

There is no easy way to define the rollicking romp that is Sasquatch Love Call. Suffice to call it a mystery, a foray into the supernatural, and a love story with a decidedly different tone and characters. 

Readers and libraries seeking humor with a satisfyingly fun supernatural backdrop will find Sasquatch Love Call impossible to either categorize or put down. 

Sasquatch Love Call

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Son of a Basque
Mark B. Arrieta and Deborah Driggs
Crystal Woods Publishing
9781955862042             $16.95
www.crystalwoodspublishing.com 

Son of a Basque is introduced by Mark B. Arrieta's daughter, Dorothy Stangle, who explains that this posthumous novel reflects a family legacy, as it is loosely based on her father's experiences and explores his life, prejudices and honors. 

Mark B. Arrieta passed in 1998, but his story lives on, both in this book and in its impact on his family's memories and knowledge of family history. It now holds an additional opportunity for readers to absorb the life of a young man who was ten years old in 1928, and whose world evolved to embrace the war that would lead him into the military and uncharted territory. 

From an unexpected romance which develops in the midst of his enlistment to a Basque family's determination, love, and special brand of perseverance, family connections are profiled in a story that is outstanding in its exploration of culture, heritage, and connections. 

Readers who anticipate a coming-of-age or wartime saga alone will find that while Son of a Basque embraces both of these facets, it's real strength lies in family relationship probes that explore Basque culture and its lasting impact on future generations. 

Via the narrator's separation from wife and children as he performs his military duties to the lingering aftermath of threat when the war ends ("Later, a Japanese soldier gave himself up to the American patrol group, telling the intelligence officer during an interview that he and some other surviving Japanese soldiers had been instructed never to surrender. He was unaware that the war had ended and had been living in the jungle and going to the beaches late at night to catch fish to survive. If I’d known that any Japanese soldiers were still alive and living in the jungles, I would never have taken my boys and left them on the deserted beaches at night."), readers learn of a life well lived, centered on family and embracing the impact of a military career on all family members. 

Deborah Driggs is the granddaughter of Mark B. Arrieta, who wrote this book in tribute to his father, a famous Basque bullfighter. 

Its wide-ranging scope, from World War II to the Vietnam War, explores how families evolve and handle the rigors of life changes. 

Son of a Basque is a legacy to his family, but to their credit and publishing efforts, it's now also a legacy for fiction readers who enjoy stories based on true life, accounts of military and civilian experiences, and the efforts of a man who proved a hero to his family in so many different ways. 

Libraries seeking novels that explore all these facets, from family ties to Basque heritage and the generations that receive this gift of cultural identity, will find Son of a Basque a solid work of compelling explorations. 

Son of a Basque

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South of Heaven
Patti Frye Meredith
Mint Hill Books/Main Street Rag Publishing Company
978-1-59948-905-6         $17.95 Paper/$6.99 Kindle
www.mainstreetrag.com 

South of Heaven is set in 1998 in North Carolina. It tells of two middle-aged, estranged sisters who find their lives unexpectedly entwined when they are forced to live together and reveal the lies of the past to not just one another, but the world. 

This changes everything, from the source of their love and estrangement to their relationships with their families and others in their separate lives. 

The atmosphere, culture, and relationships of the town of Carthage, North Carolina come to life to form an evocative backdrop as the drama plays out. 

Patti Frye Meredith is especially adept at introducing characters from Fern's past and her process of recalling this past and contrasting it with present-day incarnations and experiences: "Fern searched Doyle’s features for the boy she’d known. The sharp angles of his jaw had softened. She recognized the flush of spider veins that too much alcohol wrote across a face, but overall, time had been kind. She doubted he thought the same about her." 

Fern's encounters awaken newfound feelings in her which embrace revelation, forgiveness, and different emotions that influence the winds of change, both external and internal: "For a moment she remembered the girl she used to be, one worthy of kindness." 

Does Fern "have a life she doesn't deserve"? As she and sister Leona's lives become entangled and their personal affairs turn into headline news for all to read and judge, Meredith weaves a compelling story of human nature and faith. The story ultimately reveals the nature of second changes, new opportunities, and revised viewpoints in life. 

Readers interested in novels about estrangement, reconciliation, and stormy redemption will find South of Heaven a little piece of heaven in itself: a story that pulls at the heart and presents two strong sisters whose shared experiences take on different meaning and impact in their lives. 

Book clubs seeking discussion points about changing family connections in mid-life will find much to talk about in a novel that captures the life lessons of siblings who become caught up in bigger-picture events and thinking. 

South of Heaven

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Sun City: A Hilariously Addictive Story of Rebellion 
Matthew Minson
 
TLOEDpress
 
9798985471748             $14.95 Paper/$5.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Sun-City-Hilariously-Addictive-Rebellion/dp/B09SBMHXV3 

Sun City: A Hilariously Addictive Story of Rebellion is a humorous coming-of-age novel that incorporates many elements in its romp through Irving Mills' life, from a mother who likes to set his alarm clock for an ungodly hour to clog-dancer Wiccans, genetically engineered government pot seeds, and genius baker Betty Crocker. 

Matthew Minson whips up a formula for disaster, irony, and fun as teen involvements segue into various disparate elements both nefarious and innocent. 

As the lives of sixty-year-old farmer Cal (whose beloved farm has been sold out from under him by well-meaning adult children intent on seeing him safe in a Sun City enclave for the elderly), Irving, and Betty (a "genius with a spice rack") coalesce, readers receive a hilarious story that charts the process of rebellion in disparate lives. 

Minson's ability to create not just one or two, but a cast of characters who each harbor a zany sense of rebellion contributes to a multifaceted story that attracts on many different levels. 

At the same time, it's a tale that lives up to its subtitle and defies pat categorization. Coming-of-age readers will find far more involved than a boy and a girl's shenanigans. Readers of stories about elderly rebellion will find much to appreciate in Cal Yarbough's madcap encounters with Betty Crocker, Wild Bill, and other unexpectedly lively characters in his new home. 

Looking for intrigue? It's here, in the form of a mob boss in the witness protection program and a former CIA operative who sports a new passion for counterculture ideals. 

Any semblance of familiar traits, routines, and progression are turned on end because the lively tale excels in unexpected routes. Its characters could, under another hand, have represented staid stereotypes, but here they assume whimsical and engaging countenances that defy the norm. 

The result is a novel that is compellingly, unexpectedly vivid in its contrasts between youth, old age, and disparate choices that have unexpected results. 

Libraries looking for novels that successfully work outside the formulas of suspense, humor, coming-of-age, or end-of-life scenarios will relish the fresh, original countenance ofs Sun City's special, creatively powerful form of rebellion against convention. 

Sun City: A Hilariously Addictive Story of Rebellion

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Waiting ‘Round To Die
Chris Grant
Atmosphere Press
978-1-63988-451-3         $17.99
www.atmospherepress.com 

Waiting ‘Round To Die tells of a nameless man who takes to the road in an effort to uncover answers about his past. The story opens with the first-person narrator reflecting on this escape: "I had not felt this disconnected from my myriad responsibilities in years. No one, save the person who checked me into the hotel, knew where I was. I kind of wondered if my wife cared. I suspected she didn’t. She told me to leave. I was just taking her advice." 

He has a vague idea of where he is going, but no real concept of where he will wind up. At once a middle-age crisis point and a discussion of existential life inspection, Waiting ‘Round To Die contains a sense of irony because its character is making the choice to do anything but wait for the end of his story. 

Readers who look for stories of middle-agers in crisis about their lives and choices, who embark on a road trip of self-discovery that results in odd answers to questions that drive meetingups with disparate individuals along the way, will find Waiting ‘Round To Die a fine study in opposites. 

Chris Grant does an excellent job of juxtaposing social, political, historical, and literary references during the course of this novel. The journey details a road trip of the heart and mind, as much as it covers the physical encounters with disparate individuals that each lend a sense of revelation to the narrator's world. 

Astute dialogue often synthesizes this process and its meaning:

“Tell me this then,” Morty continued. “What are you doing? Why are you driving around the country with your degenerate uncle?”
“I am trying to find myself.”
“You’re almost fifty years old. You should have found yourself thirty years ago.”
“Maybe that’s the problem. Maybe I never knew who I was.”
 

As events unfold, readers will be prompted to consider their own life-changing moments and meanings, and will find the narrator's journey thought-provoking and moving on different levels. 

Blend a travelogue, a disparate set of personalities, and contrasting life visions with philosophical reflection to receive a novel that proves enlightening and entertaining on more than one level: "I did not need to spend another twenty or thirty years just waiting around to die. This was not what I’d signed up for. This was, in no way, what I wanted. No muse, no point, nobody needs me . . . what the hell was I going to do next?" 

Libraries seeking novels about middle-age journeys will find Waiting ‘Round To Die one of the best, while book clubs reviewing this topic will find the story holds plenty of fodder for discussion. 

Waiting ‘Round To Die

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When Stars Align
E.K. McCoy
Atmosphere Press
9781639885084             $17.99
www.atmospherepress.com 

Dr. Augustus Owens is used to the challenging world of a trauma ER environment, but he isn't used to finding out that one of his critically ill new patients is a former lover. 

Armed with such a summary of events, readers might anticipate that this story will be told through Dr. Owens's eyes, but it's Elsie McCormick who opens the tale with her growing awareness that she's fighting for her life. 

How did she end up in this condition, and will she survive? 

When Stars Align considers love, destiny, and fate as Elsie reviews her life and the only man she's ever loved, Auggie ("Gus"). 

Her third-person reflection is complimented by the first-person observations of Dr. Augustus Owens as he treats her and, against all odds, falls back in love, despite having dedicated his life to medicine. 

Most doctors would have quit trying to bring the dead to life. Not Gus. As soon as he realizes who he is treating, he fights against all odds—and seemingly wins. 

However, this is just the first step in a battle not only to save her life, but to return to what they once had: "In an earlier chapter of my life—during a time when I was happy and actually liked myself—this Jane Doe had been my other half, the only girl I’d ever loved, my everything." 

It's more than evident from the start that Gus remains fond of this woman, which lends to his determination to save her: "No one in the trauma bay knew this woman as I once had. No one knew that her heart was pure and kind in spite of having experienced way too much sadness in her life. Her life could not end this soon and this tragically. She didn’t deserve to be a lifeless Jane Doe dying before my eyes. No! She deserved a long, happy life that was as beautiful as she was." 

Readers might think, from this beginning, that the story will revolve around recovery processes. These are incorporated into a bigger picture of a blossoming relationship that receives an unusual supplemental experience: E.K. McCoy has compiled a When Stars Align soundtrack, available on Spotify, which is linked to events in specific chapters. 

Readers can use this to set the mood and relive the music that inspired McCoy, helping her to bring her characters to life. It's as close to a movie as you can get within the written word, and brings alive the story of aligning stars between past and present which allow the star-crossed lovers to carry onward towards the future. 

Readers of romance stories will find much to like about the evolving relationship described here. Those who believe in destiny, especially, will find When Stars Align a riveting tale of new connections and opportunities for transformation. 

Romance libraries looking for stories about second chances will find When Stars Align a compelling tale. 

When Stars Align

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Reviewer's Choice

All Votes Matter
Jerry Spriggs
The Ewings Publishing
979-8-88640-037-3
$20.99 Hardcover/$15.55 Paper/$2.99 Kindle
www.equalvoicevoting.com 

All Votes Matter pinpoints issues inherent in the setup of the American republic and the Electoral College in particular, making a powerful argument against the College's participation in the voter process. It's a discussion that ideally will become an active part of any high school, college, or adult group debating voter rights and politics in modern America, and is highly recommended for this purpose. 

Author Jerry Spriggs is neither a politician nor a political scientist. His background is in instructional design, and his interest lay in gaming before he became intrigued by the electoral process and presidential elections. 

His research, studies, and debates grew to become this book, published at a key time in American history, where voters and citizens have come to question nearly every facet of the democratic process. 

With these questions, ideally, should come a thorough knowledge of historical and political precedents, and that's where All Votes Matter enters the picture. It offers readers a foundation for understanding the Electoral College's premise, operations, and involvement in the voting process. 

More importantly, it analyzes the concept and operations of checks and balances built into a system designed to be fair and reflective of voter rights. 

Finally, not content with criticism alone, All Votes Matter then tackles the subject of how to do better, making a case for EVV action: "If we want our Electoral College results to be similar to the popular vote, EVV (Equal Voice Voting) provides a much better result. Remember, too, that these results can be achieved without the need for a U.S. Constitutional amendment." 

As with any democratic process, debate is the first order of business. All Votes Matter offers plenty of fodder for discussions, using charts, graphs, history, and data to back its analysis. 

Students of political science as well as citizens more engaged in voter rights and change will find this alternate voting approach, with its state-by-state enactment potential and its ability to prove flexible yet strong, an intriguing component of a solution-based approach to resolving present-day political problems. 

Any library strong in democratic rights and social and political issues needs this discussion. Ideally, All Votes Matter won't just repose on a bookshelf, but will assume a more active role in the search for solutions to build a better democracy. 

Voter rights and processes are key to preserving liberty itself because, as Spriggs maintains: "How citizens decide poses a tremendous challenge, especially in our federalist republic, a nation as large as the United States is, inclusive of its diverse ethnicities, religions, cultures, values, or priorities. The process must be transparent as it adheres to the principles put forth in the U.S. Constitution. The voting steps we take must be fair, equal, inclusive, and engaging. We must do the best we can to meet these expectations." 

All Votes Matter

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Artfulness: Formula-Free Creative Writing Explorations for Secondary ELA Classes
Andrea Yarbough
Alexandrite Publishing, LLC
979-8-9860146-0-9                $32.50
Website: Alexandrite Publishing
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Artfulness-Formula-Free-Creative-Explorations-Secondary/dp/B09ZD2VQW2 

Artfulness: Formula-Free Creative Writing Explorations for Secondary ELA Classes is a study in the finer art of writing which returns 'creative' into the writing mix for secondary ELA teachers who are tired of using the usual formula approaches to writing. 

It promotes the concept of 'Writing Wednesdays', providing teachers with lesson plans that target key ELA skills while building student attraction to the writing process itself. 

ELA teachers are already too aware of the formula-driven focus on writing and ELA achievements which challenges not only students, but instructors. Those leaders who would approach writing and reading in a different way receive 20 lesson plans which are flexible and can be adapted to a range of classrooms and student interests. 

Chapters are broken down into quarters, with each quarter reflecting a writing goal. Exercises supporting these efforts are clearly explained: "This activity highlights to students the clear connection between visual and written art through a common concept—color. Color Your World challenges students to develop their abstract thinking skills by requiring them to consider how best to convey a sense of color without literally employing that color in their narrative. What mood is created by a particular color or color combination? How can mood evolve through the pairing and progression of the (metaphoric) incorporation of various colors into a narrative?" 

Extension activities are designed to build upon the initial foundations of success, featuring routines for helping students build and expand vocabulary lists and anticipatory activities that build impetus for expression through student Writer's Notebooks and different approaches to adding to them. 

Artfulness creates a series of lessons so inspiring and lively that instructors may wonder why formula approaches ever became the standard for teaching the fundamentals of effective writing and reading. 

The focus on activities that lend to both group and individual pursuit, which return 'lively' and 'compelling' into the task of teaching writing and reading, makes for a top recommendation for secondary ELA teachers who want to achieve their goals in a different, more effective manner. 

Libraries catering to educators who would take a step in a different direction to enhance the learning experience for their students and the teaching process for themselves will find Artfulness: Formula-Free Creative Writing Explorations for Secondary ELA Classes packed with strategies for success. Each has been tested in the real world and found to be a concrete route to engagement and learning. 

Artfulness: Formula-Free Creative Writing Explorations for Secondary ELA Classes

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Beating Insomnia
Stephen Altschuler
Sacajawea Press
9780578299082             $9.99 Paper/$4.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Beating-Insomnia-No-Nonsense-Natural-Sleep/dp/0578299089 

Insomnia is a widespread problem, and shelves of books about the subject have already been written. What sets Stephen Altschuler's Beating Insomnia: A No-Nonsense Way to Natural Sleep apart from most is its review of why most sleep advice doesn't work, and the methods which have been proven successful. 

Altschuler experienced powerful chemotherapy, which saved his life but exacted many tolls—among them, the inability to sleep. The cookie-cutter approach of many doctors towards fostering elusive sleep didn't help. In fact, they made matters worse. 

Timing is everything; but nowhere is that adage more effective than in sleep patterns. Body clocks vary, body chemistry differs, and this is why 'one size fits all' approaches to insomnia are more likely to expand the problem than solve it. And that's the ticket to success in Beating Insomnia, which presents a self-help program of identifying and working with one's natural rhythms instead of a singular approach. 

There are many avenues towards reaching the goal of better sleep that are involved in this process. Some may be surprising to readers that anticipate nighttime mantras or wind-down routines alone. 

One example involves the move to improve overall life quality: "To shift attention away from sleep difficulties, you must find something in your life to look forward to waking up to—a purpose that is enjoyable, that fires your creative juices, that literally consumes you with interest and thought—something you find so interesting that it can distract you from obsessing upon insomnia." 

It seems counterproductive to get all fired up about an effort to sleep, but Altschuler maintains that this and other life-changing approaches all contribute to better sleep by improving the quality of not just nighttime, but daytime routines. 

He defines "natural sleep" as "sleep without prescription medications or over the counter sleep aids," and he attends to routines and measures which also are not too addictive or rigid in their deployment. 

As self-help readers and insomniacs pursue the many tips to creating a more restful, sleep-inducing environment, from outfitting a room with blackout curtains and making sure it's cool to adopting a regular schedule that encourages sleep, they will find it easy to adjust these tips to suit their own lifestyles and approaches. And yet, the basics of these admonitions allow for understanding the fundamental influences on reaching the goal of natural sleep patterns. 

Reading Beating Insomnia is like pressing the "reset" button. It allows readers to better understand the roots of their individual problem and pattern disruptions, and to adopt the routines and processes which mitigate sleep-reducing influences and patterns. It also helps identify and address anticipatory fears and many other underlying psychological factors that interfere with sleep patterns. It is best used by the self-help insomniac who would consider and revise perceptions not just of sleep, but their lives. 

Libraries looking for new approaches to self-health and beating insomnia will find Beating Insomnia filled with examples gleaned from Altschuler's own experiences as well as a host of practical solutions any insomniac can readily employ to address their own sleep-elusive issues. 

The book will help its readers fall and stay asleep. Its author's experiences offer invaluable keys to identifying common pitfalls and overcoming them, making Beating Insomnia a highly recommended choice above many competing sleep aids. 

Beating Insomnia

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The Cannibal's Guide to Fasting
Dana Hammer
Cinnabar Moth Publishing LLC
978-1-953971-50-0         $31.99 Hardcover/$4.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Cannibals-Guide-Fasting-Dana-Hammer/dp/1953971512 

The Cannibal's Guide to Fasting is a literary horror/humor work that titillates the mind with a juxtaposition of serious (potentially triggering) topics such as murder, addiction, and violence, then turns these subjects on end for a refreshingly original inspection. 

Igor is a huge, ugly, scary-looking man who breaks rules because nobody has the courage to confront him. These can be as simple as not picking flowers in a park: "He carries an old-fashioned woven basket, which is filled with bluebells, daisies, and a few shy violets he managed to find hiding behind a rotten stump. He picks wildflowers regularly. It is zen as fuck." 

As if his countenance weren't enough to warn people away, he's also been infected with Pestis Manducans (viral cannibalism), and just can't help a human nibble once in a while, even if it is already dead. 

He's not all bad. In fact, he eschews mosquitoes not because of their bite and pain, but because he dreads the possibility he can spread his condition: "Infecting another person is his worst nightmare." 

His life in a government Containment Center nullifies his threat on many levels, but the same is not true for also-contaminated brother Karl, who resides outside the Center and fosters rebellion to the government's 'solution' via a cannibal rights group that stirs up trouble. 

Those infected apparently have other possibilities, as Esteban Zappa reveals through his experiments. 

As botany, social issues, eccentric science, and Igor's innate tendency to do good despite his physical urge to eat humans evolves, readers receive a delightful inspection that considers the nature of good and evil and the circumstances which encourage one or the other choice. 

Sometimes it's not a choice. Sometimes it's an urge that cannot be resisted. 

Readers who choose The Cannibal's Guide to Fasting will find it difficult to define or put down. 

From its romp through good intentions gone awry, puzzling codes and the unexpected characters who can (or can't) solve them, and the specter of vengeance only Igor can wreak, this rollicking good story is packed with both action and thought-provoking moments tempered by ironic inspection. 

The result is a story that should attract literature readers, fans of horror and satire, and novel readers looking for a fast-paced saga of flesh eaters gone awry and on a rampage. 

Libraries that choose The Cannibal's Guide to Fasting will find it can appeal to a wide circle of readers looking for something different. Book club discussion groups receive plenty of fodder for lively discussion about cannibalism, good intentions gone awry, and eerie atmospheres that take problem-solving to a new level by mixing horror with social inspection. 

The Cannibal's Guide to Fasting

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Faded Glimpses of Time
Nyah Nichol
Common Deer Press
9781988761718             $15.95 Paper/$9.95 Kindle
www.commondeerpress.com 

Faded Glimpses of Time focuses on the aftermath of a time-travel adventure with something different than most timeslip novels offer. 

The story opens in 2059, where Wren Derecho has succeeded in burying a dangerous orb in time. Or, has she? The threatening orb actually still looms, making her perception of success an illusion and forcing her to reconsider her actions, choices, and approach to saving her world. 

Matters are further complicated by the fact that things have been altered in her own timeline, requiring Wren to acknowledge that time is not back on the right course, but has taken a wrong turn for the worst. 

It's a special challenge for her to face a world that is not in flux and changing, but which has changed in many ways while she was away. 

Wren uncovers plots, a dangerous enemy who wields high-tech threats (in the form of Cyril Elton-Blackwood), and circumstances which indicate that far more may be involved than the single orb's powers. 

Wren is the only one who can enter time and make alterations, but as this second volume of The Tempus Trilogy shows, time machines, orbs, and altered reality indicate that fixing the future is a complex endeavor, indeed. 

The orb's last words haunt her: "You can’t fight me. . .I won’t leave you. . .you’ll regret this moment for eternity. . .you are nothing without me!" 

Even more haunting to her and her friends is the idea that she may never return to her familiar reality. And it's all her fault: “I messed things up, and you can’t fix it this time. You can’t fix me.” 

Besides Wren's realizations of her role in her altered future, Nyah Nichol provides additional, unusual plot developments which range from Wren's robotically enhanced form after an accident to her guardian Rob's inability to help her, this time. Rob is also the security director at a top-secret government organization named DAIR (Department of Advanced Innovation and Research). 

As a countdown to 'Terminus Terra' begins, it seems that the one person who could again make a difference is stymied by forces beyond her control or ken. 

Nichol creates a fast-paced story by injecting thriller elements into the usual time-travel tale. This provides a compelling additional flavor that will attract young adult to adult fans of timeslip fiction with elements of discovery and confrontation that take many satisfying twists and turns. 

Resolution is not guaranteed or predictable in this story, which gives it even more attraction. 

As secrets and special interests become the focus of a bigger picture, prior fans and newcomers alike will find the story thoroughly absorbing, powered by a futuristic scenario and characters that grow in different directions even as their familiar worlds change. 

Libraries looking for suspense stories for young adult to adult audiences which go beyond the usual timeslip focus of getting back home will find Faded Glimpses of Time a winner. 

Faded Glimpses of Time

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Following Your North Star
Michelle Donice
Atmosphere Press
978-1-63988-376-9         $16.99 Paper/$9.99 ebook
www.atmospherepress.com 

Readers of self-help books that incorporate a spiritual flavor into their mix will find Following Your North Star a fine synthesis of both. It teaches self-improvement routines on a bigger backdrop than most competing titles attempt in either the self-help or spiritual genres. 

Michelle Donice envisioned herself a novelist, but each time she sat down to write, this book would emerge. The motivation and purpose of her writing talents soon crystallized: "It soon became apparent that I wasn’t being called to write a book that helped people escape their lives, but to write one that helped them transform their lives into something abundantly extraordinary! God had a message to download to me if I would only get still long enough to receive it. I soon began to realize that the message was not just for me but for others, too, who have allowed the busyness of life to overwhelm them. It was a message for such a time as this when the world seems to be a scary place, and people have forgotten how to interact with one another...How do we find our way to lives of peace and joy in the midst of all the negativity and learn to hear from God when life is too noisy?  Most importantly, how can we begin to live authentically if we don’t have clarity about what that even looks like?" 

The answers Donice uncovered in her heart during the process of writing this guide will also resonate with readers who feel buffeted with the winds of change, negativity, and adversity, yet feel powerless to change or address them. 

Perhaps the most valuable purpose of this book is to add 'empowerment' back into the picture of better understanding and making more powerful choices. 

Her analysis provides striking moments of revelation throughout as she considers other lives and their impacts: "...every spiritual leader from Jesus to Mohammed was never too busy to attend to the needs of others, and they took time for themselves and their own spiritual growth. The miracles happened in the margins, in those spaces in between where they were and where they were trying to be. Consider that when we write, type, or frame a picture, we leave space along the edges of the page or the picture. This margin, in contrast to the rest of the page or canvas, serves as a contrast and makes it more beautiful. This concept applies to our lives as well. When we refuse to live right up to the edge of our lives—when we learn not to over-commit ourselves—we are free to respond to the possibilities that arise. We’re better able to pivot should the need arise, and our lives become richer, fuller, and more abundant because of it." 

Each chapter focuses on a way out of negativity, depression, inaction, and powerlessness, and each is embedded with Biblical references that Christian readers will find particularly thought-provoking. 

Donice is no angel. Her voice comes from experiences with others from all walks of life and candidly reviews both successes and failures, remarking on the revelations that come with them to provide additional upward-bound understanding: "This man would often tell me that he didn’t want to have a relationship with me. He saw me only as something to use for his pleasure, and he couldn’t understand why that arrangement wasn’t good enough for me. It surprised me that there were women who were willing to allow him to use and discard them. It soon became obvious to me that some of them had very little self-worth. They seemed to be willing to settle for a piece of a man without understanding that they deserved a committed partner who was completely present. Even in the midst of the pain this man caused me, I knew that I had value, even if he couldn’t see it." 

The result is a life guide firmly rooted in Christian beliefs and self improvement options alike. 

Libraries looking for a synthesis that promises enlightenment and new realizations will want to include Following Your North Star on their bookshelves, but ideally it won't be limited to individual readers alone. 

Christian study groups and women's faith-based self-help book clubs will find Following Your North Star worthy of group review because it cultivates a lively, involving tone while revealing strategies women can easily adopt into their own spiritual and psychological growth processes. 

Following Your North Star

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Funnel Theory: How to Build an Online Sales Machine
Jonathon Kendell
Fables and Facts
979-8-9859946-0-5       $19.99 Paper/$9.99 ebook
www.amazon.com 

Funnel Theory: How to Build an Online Sales Machine comes from the CEO of Sonic Funnels who maintains that traditional sales websites are dead, while promoting the better idea of funnels as online vehicles driving profits and people. 

New ideas require not just new methods of delivery, but new mindsets. That's where Funnel Theory shines, with its contrast between past and present approaches and how to enter and make the most of a new sales paradigm. 

A sales funnel automates not just the ordering and delivering, but the marketing approach itself. The book opens with a practical, yet startling assessment: "The money spent on website development rarely translates into actual revenue and real customers buying your product." It then identifies common obstacles to sales which, ironically, tend to lie in the website form and presentation itself ("We all have a short attention span, especially online. Your customers have become accustomed to scrolling down and clicking away. They’ve also become less patient. If they don’t see what they want at a glance, they’ll look elsewhere. A complicated website structure puts a giant cognitive load on visitors because it gives them too many choices.") 

Jonathon Kendell then moves into identifying the alternative (a sales funnel), demonstrating how it can promote rather than thwart online sales activity, providing potential customers an easy way to buy that embraces both impulse and accessibility. 

There are many new buzzwords here that are worth memorizing, from "tripwires" to "referral marketing." Each receives in-depth coverage as Kendell moves through the sales funnel concepts that can drive better customer experience, motivating them to not just buy, but refer others to a sales channel. 

"...the real key to getting your customers’ support is to give them a great product and a greater customer experience. Unless your product is worthy, all your marketing efforts won't matter." 

Kendell's approach is designed to cover all the usually-untapped potentials of an online business. Real-world examples and an attention to detail come with discussions of better audience targeting for improved results from social media and other interconnected sites; choosing, assessing, and cultivating promotional partners and professional affiliates; and understanding what is involved in creating a sales funnel. 

These discussions of what it takes to build a better brand and promotion and delivery services make for a book that should be on the shelf of any business library—and in the hands of discussion group leaders interested in building better online business presences. 

Funnel Theory: How to Build an Online Sales Machine

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The Gray Bird of Baghdad
Stephen Phillip Monteiro
SparkPress
978-1684631513   $17.95 paperback/$8.99 ebook
Author Website: stephenphillipmonteiro.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Gray-Bird-Baghdad-Ex-Secret-Desperate/dp/1684631513

The Gray Bird of Baghdad: An Ex-Secret Service Agent‘s Desperate Mission to Save an Iraqi Scientist offers a true story that reads with the drama of fiction, but represents a powerful memoir whose experiences are gained from real-world encounters. 

The events described here took place over an eight-year period, from 2001-2008, in Iraq, Syria, New York City, Virginia, Florida, and Washington, DC.  The dialogue recreates these events to enhance the story, creating a powerful "you are here" feel as the opening salvo of the Iraq War is brought to life in the first few paragraphs: "For a moment Thamer Imran cursed himself—he could have sent his family north to Erbil where it was safer. But no, he really couldn’t have. Splitting up the family wasn’t an option. If death was coming, they would die together. Earlier that day, in the wee hours of March 20, 2003, Thamer Abdul Rahman Imran woke to the undeniable blasting sounds of his country, his city, his home under attack. It was the first day of the Iraq War." 

Ex–Secret Service agent Steve Monteiro and his team were on a mission to locate missing Iraqi Microbiologist Thamer Abdul Rahman Imran, who may have important information about a planned biological attack on the U.S. 

Surprisingly, they find themselves also battling Washington bureaucracy, which seems to throw up barriers to success and has an interest in the mission's failure. 

As Monteiro and his team fight to locate Thamer and understand his role in the affairs and future of two nations, readers embark on a gripping journey that brings the sights, smells, and politics of the times to life. 

The points of view and observations shift between third-person descriptions of Thamer and the first-person reflections of Monteiro, together bringing the story and major players to life. 

Readers interested in memoirs, personal interest stories and stories of overcoming great odds as well as those interested in Iraq and chemical and biological warfare histories and possibilities will find this true story reads like a thriller, but is made all the more compelling for its solid roots in real events and intrigue. 

Those who would better understand the politics and processes of the times and libraries strong in Middle East and Iraqi history and culture will find The Gray Bird of Baghdad a powerful story that's hard to put down. It holds significant revelations that correct historical presumption and presents equally important reflections on the future of Iraq and its position in the world. 

The insights on chemical and biological warfare also will interest military readers who look for historical analysis and contemporary inspections of the social and political forces at work in events of the past. 

The Gray Bird of Baghdad

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How the West Brought War to Ukraine
Benjamin Abelow
Siland Press

‎978-0991076703            $10.00
https://www.amazon.com/How-West-Brought-Ukraine-Understanding/dp/0991076702 

To say that How the West Brought War to Ukraine provides a controversial, thought-provoking study is to identify only part of its attraction and scholarship. The meat of its revelations and realizations lies in an astute probe of the roots of the Ukraine crisis which places the onus on Western actions and political forces as much as Putin's moves from Moscow. 

Readers may not want to consider uncomfortable points that vie with popular Western media representations of Ukrainian political strife—but these are points that need to be debated, understood, and considered by anyone interested in more than a cursory examination of the history that has led to the current conflict.

Western policies, choices, and perspectives play as much a part in Moscow's instigation of war as Putin's military decision-making circles. 

Benjamin Abelow doesn't just make this point: he proves it through assessments of U.S. and NATO strategic decisions and actions that repeatedly placed Russia in an increasingly untenable position. 

The challenge posed by Abelow's effort is that it will require the reader to keep an open mind to reconsider a war that has to date been pinned entirely on actions said to be Hitler-like and intent on world domination. There's more to this story; and that added layer of value is provided here, in a survey that picks apart the façades and the lies to expose uncomfortable truths. 

Abelow does what few others have done: he gets into the mind of strategic military thinking to analyze the concerns of Moscow in response to a series of chess-like moves that placed Russia at a perceived disadvantage. 

He writes: "Russia had been deeply concerned that new U.S. missiles, placed close to its borders, could increase the chance that, in a crisis, the United States might believe it could carry out a preemptive first strike, decapitating Russian command and control systems and degrading Russia’s ability to retaliate. When coordinated with even a partially effective ABM network, intermediate-range weapons thus stimulate Russian concerns that the United States would no longer be deterred. These fears are not merely Russian paranoia. As two members of the German Council on Foreign Relations quoted by Deveraux explained, these missiles 'could threaten Moscow’s command facilities and limit Russia’s military ability to act.' Russia thus had much to gain by saving the intermediate-range missile treaty. But the United States stood firm and withdrew." 

These examples serve to demonstrate how noose-tightening measures also narrowed the perceived responses Russia could make to assure its own survival and military effectiveness. 

Abelow tapers the history from world-wide events to Ukraine in particular as he strives for an analysis of why Putin felt the time was ripe to act: "Although it is impossible to know the specific motivations that led Mr. Putin to invade Ukraine, a combination of factors was likely at play: (1) the ongoing arming, training to NATO standards, and integration of the military structures of Ukraine, the United States, and other Western powers through non-NATO arrangements; (2) the ongoing threat that Ukraine would be admitted to NATO; and (3) concern about possible new intermediate-range missile deployments, exacerbated by a concern that the U.S. might deploy Aegis, offensive-capable ABM launchers in Ukraine regardless whether Ukraine was yet a member of NATO." 

Abelow is particularly adept at clearly identifying and separating speculation from historical fact: 

"Regarding this last point, it is possible, given ongoing and progressive military coordination between the United States and Ukraine, that Mr. Putin felt the window to prevent the deployment of offensive-capable Aegis launchers in Ukraine was closing and that, if he were to obviate that threat, he would have to act now. This is all speculative, but it is plausible and consistent with previously stated Russian concerns. But regardless of what specifically led to the invasion, it is clear that the threat of new Aegis deployments added another cup of sand to a sand castle that was already near the point of collapse." 

Uncomfortable truths rarely make for acclaimed reading; but in this case, any thinking reader who would better understand the myriad of influences on the Ukraine situation needs to read this book. To avoid these truths is to buy into a simplistic view that makes accusations and media images more important than actual influences and results set in reality. 

Ideally, How the West Brought War to Ukraine will serve as debate material, sparking discussions not just about Ukraine, but about Western special interests and actions in the world, and how unexpected results arise from strategic decision-making that backs individuals and nations into corners. 

How the West Brought War to Ukraine

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Mexican Rhapsody
Shogo Onoe
Independently Published

979-8842241873           
$20.00 Hardcover/$13.25 Paper/$3.50 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6XSNTHK

Mexican Rhapsody: Having a Second Chance is at once a travelogue and a biography, and deserves a place on either shelf as it follows Shogo Onoe's move from native Japan to Mexico. 

Faith, growth, and spiritual revelations flow in this story as Onoe reveals what he loves about Mexico, what he hates about his country of origin, and the revelations that marked his journey between them. 

Its autobiographical novel approach injects drama into the adventure, which incorporates cross-cultural observations in a manner few travelogues, memoirs, or novels can match: "You know, we’re very open. We don’t care where you hail from, for we know in our hearts that we’re all brothers. We welcome everyone who wants to enjoy what our fatherland can offer. But alas, goddamn Japanese have discriminated against us in the right our faces. I still don’t fathom and will never be okay with such a godawful assailment!” 

From the evolving realization that Onoe has always loved writing, feeling that it is his passion, to his foray into being a prankster, his obsession with self-improvement, and his ribald enjoyment of life, Mexican Rhapsody's adventures translate to a thirst for not just the written world, but new experiences and growth. 

This, in turn, provides readers with a hearty blend of entertainment and revelation as philosophy, adventure, travel, cross-cultural experiences, and religious beliefs dovetail and evolve into the odyssey of the author's lifetime. 

Mexican Rhapsody turns the traditional travelogue on end as it incorporates all these facets into a lively survey of relationships and experiences. 

While some would be surprised at its description as a 'novel' despite its reality-driven basis, this serves to reflect Onoe's ability to represent the drama and changes inherent in everyday experiences and interconnected lives. 

The result takes pieces of different genres to incorporate their strongest qualities into a story of discovery, change, and faith. 

It's a winning biographical novel of exploration and enlightenment that lingers in the mind long after reading, and deserves a place in libraries strong in cross-cultural and faith-based revelations alike. 

Mexican Rhapsody

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Moon Dragon Falling
GS Carline
Dancing Corgi Press
978-1943654239            $19.95 Paper/$6.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Moon-Dragon-Falling-Shadows-Book/dp/1943654239 

Moon Dragon Falling is the genre-busting Book 2 of the Dragon Shadows series and picks up the story of Lisette de Lille, who is now pregnant and looking forward to marriage in the aftermath of a battle. 

Readers of the first book will recall that she is now a moon dragon, but she faces ongoing challenges from this transformation and her uncertainty about how to use her new abilities. The learning curve isn't easy, especially when she's with child and recovering from the events in Blood Dragon Rising. 

To make matters worse, her love Tristan has fallen victim to a potion that has made him forget Lisette and her child. She must win him all over again—and apparently re-fight a too-familiar battle—to win back control over her life, future, and the life of her unborn child, the result of two blood dragons' union. 

Many elements of fantasy would seem to make Moon Dragon Falling appropriate for the fantasy genre reader. But, wait: is that a pirate injected into the story? And, how can Lisette embark on an effort to save her love and herself if she can turn from dragon back to a vulnerable human being at any given moment? 

As the romance, confrontations, and unusual milieu coalesce, readers will find Moon Dragon Falling a powerful saga whose characterization and setting continually place it outside any pat definition. 

Replete with the action of a thriller, the fantasy elements of a dragon dilemma, and the romantic concerns of a new mother-to-be who must battle herself and the world around her bereft of her life's love, the story is designed to attract novel readers as well as fantasy genre followers and fans of a rollicking good read. 

From dukes and kidnapping plans to firebrand Lisette's determination to once again quell the forces that threaten her happiness and world, GS Carline has created another compelling story that could stand alone, but more readily adds another chapter to the tale that prior fans will relish. 

Libraries looking for strong examples of action-centered books that feature powerful female protagonists on the cusp of many changes will find Moon Dragon Falling recommendable to patrons who look for non-formula writing that steps out of its own definition as a 'fantasy' to reach out to and immerse other audiences. 

Moon Dragon Falling

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New Testament Readings & Devotionals, Volume 3
C.M.H. Koenig (compiler)
C.M.H. Koenig Books (through IngramSpark)
978-1-956475-30-2                $14.99
Website
: www.cmhkoenigbooks.net
Ordering:
New Testament Readings & Devotionals: Volume 3 by C.M.H. Koenig, Paperback | Barnes & Noble® 

Like its predecessors, the third volume of New Testament Readings & Devotionals represents an opportunity to better absorb, understand, and study the New Testament with an eye to contemplating and discussing God and Christianity. 

It profiles the works of thinkers Robert Hawker, Charles H. Spurgeon, and Octavius Winslow, juxtaposing their reflective writings with Biblical passages and insights designed to both enlighten readers and lead them to think deeper about Biblical passages and their contemporary meaning. 

Readings from Acts, Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1& 2 Timothy, and other books from the New Testament offer reflections from AD 50/60 up to Revelation's end times warnings, creating insights which range from historical settings and background information to analytical and critical explorations that lend particularly well to group discussion and Bible study. 

Footnotes (some extensive) provide further cross-references to relevant Biblical sections which expand and augment the three writers' insights, allowing Biblical study groups the food for thought and cross-referenced passages necessary to better understand the Bible's wording, concepts, and presentation. 

As in the other books in compiler C.M.H. Koenig's growing reference library, this offers Biblical students a unique opportunity to pair the reflections of three Christian thinkers to the basic tenants of the Bible. 

The focus on these works in this manner translates to an effective method of applying traditional Biblical events and concepts to contemporary life and thinking, making New Testament Readings & Devotionals another rich tool in the Christian thinker's arsenal of spiritual understanding and reflection. 

New Testament Readings & Devotionals, Volume 3

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NO BOSS!
Steven Cristol
Strategic Harmony Books
979-8-9859290-0-3         $14.95
www.noboss.me 

NO BOSS! The Real Truth about Working Independently: 12 Lessons from 30 Years of Bossing Myself Around should be on the reading lists of any entrepreneur and those of any age who are contemplating self-employment. It focuses on the creation, demands, and potential successes and failures of the one-person business venture, addressing these from the vantage point of one who has learned from three decades of experience. 

There is perhaps no better time for this book to appear. With the advent of the COVID pandemic and the business changes it's created, more people than ever are contemplating or venturing into self-employment circles. If only one book on the subject were to be consulted, it should be NO BOSS!, because it goes where few others venture as Steven Cristol considers the pros, cons, and special challenges involved in becoming one's own boss. 

While the planning of this book began shortly before COVID, its many relevant lessons expanded and will reach beyond the pandemic years. Key among them are considerations of what it really means to work from home, handle the isolation and loneliness that comes from independent ventures, and the nature of working independently rather than in a group environment. 

With these considerations, Cristol really shines, because his approach goes beyond the usual self-employment account to examine the psychological challenges that come with independence and self-driven action. 

What does it really mean to be your own boss? Self-employment may not be the type of freedom anticipated by those who initially view such a venture as being replete with flexibility and make-your-own-hours opportunities. 

Essential to such self-examination is the willingness to self-analyze expectations and needs. Cristol helps readers understand what their basic psychological inclinations translate to in the business world: "...control-freak fear can often also be related to both perceived and real cost. In Lesson 1 I warned that your new boss (you) might be even stingier than your old boss. Let’s take a closer look at how this dynamic plays out in failure to delegate when  appropriate." 

Equally astute are discussions of objectivity, the author's own Strategic Harmony intellectual property, and the effects of business ideals, serial rejections, and fundamental flaws in pursuing independent ventures. 

NO BOSS! takes the mystique and glory away from the idea of self-employment. It tackles real-world issues, psychological self-barriers to success, and the types of business dilemmas which commonly arise to change or quash dreams. 

The result is a solid survey of expectations for success or failure which gathers the stories of others on the same road, creating the value of real-world insights that can help would-be entrepreneurs better understand not just their dreams, but their hearts. 

Serious business or economics libraries should consider NO BOSS! The Real Truth about Working Independently: 12 Lessons from 30 Years of Bossing Myself Around an attractive acquisition. It deserves not just recommendation, but to be an active part of business and entrepreneur book clubs and discussion groups. 

NO BOSS!

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Rock Gods & Messy Monsters
Diane Hatz
Whole Healthy Group LLC
979-8-9862823-2-9                $14.95 Paper/$4.99 ebook
www.rockgodsandmessymonsters.com 

Rock Gods & Messy Monsters is both a gory experimental piece and a powerful illustration of dreams that move into the arena of nightmares. 

It also, surprisingly, is a story of empowerment, placing the onus on creating these dreams on their maker's perceptions of the world. 

Set in the 1990s and revolving around the entertainment industry, Rock Gods & Messy Monsters opens with a messy job description: "The blood didn't bother Alex but cleaning it up made her angry." 

Alex longs for escape, but rampant unemployment makes her one of the lucky ones. Maybe. Because certain aspects of this alternate world belay any thoughts of fortune: "Alex put her backpack on the floor and unzipped the side of her head. She reached in and pulled out her brain, placing the throbbing gray matter in the customized, faux crystal cerebrum urn Acht Records had supplied her with her first day at the company. She had fought the procedure at first, refused to sign the Cerebrum Extraction Release form, but with times being as hard as they were, and with the knowledge that she had spent over six months unemployed before being offered this job, Alex knew she had no choice." 

One prerequisite for successfully appreciating this story is the reader's ability to move deftly through gory descriptions and scenarios. Another is an appreciation of the satire and parody which is embedded in descriptions of Alex's working world: "The shock brought her to her feet. Langley had embedded neurological electric shock chips in Alex's body when she first started working for him, so with the push of a button, he could get her attention anywhere in the building. The second jolt ripped through Alex's ankles and nearly toppled her. If she didn't carry out her duty quickly, he would start shocking her all over." 

This wry sense of dark humor permeates the story as its characters evolve: "I was just admiring your gold and platinum record collection," said Bret Horowitz, e.l., as he pointed to the wall. "Nice to see so many of them are my clients." With lightning speed, Horowitz reached into his inside pocket and pulled out his box of smiles, rapidly throwing on his proud, fatherly smile. He held out his hairy hand." 

The well-done literary devices of humor, ironic social inspections, and atmospheric psychological descriptions also lend to Rock Gods & Messy Monsters's consideration as a sterling example of modern absurdist observation and writing. A host of rollicking, crazy characters permeate a story replete with cultural observations of the entertainment industry's follies. 

The result is a literary work that holds the ability to reach into many reader circles with its powerful tale of mutant sea creatures, alternative music, and the injection of money and power interests into a profitable milieu which changes art and economics equally powerfully. 

Modern creative writing classes looking for discussion points in experimental literary styles will find Rock Gods & Messy Monsters promises many lively debates about the elements of social examination and the impact of truly creative writing. 

Rock Gods & Messy Monsters

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The Sparkzgott Anthology
T.D. Holt
Independently Published
979-8840745304            $12.99 Paper/$5.99 ebook
www.tdholt.com 

The Sparkzgott Anthology is a metaphysical, philosophical, and social inspection that comes from an unusual point of view: a yet-to-be-conceived child that considers, in slices of "zime time," the facets of what makes us human. 

This examination takes the form of short vignettes of couples around the world who are in the process of creating life via their couplings, perspectives, and impulses. Sparkzgott is defined as "the spark at the instant of ignition—of union." What precedes this spark and the recognitions that accompany it are the subject of a wide-ranging set of examinations designed to titillate, educate, and spark reflections beyond the usual literary format. 

Intellectual readers who look for stories that are not quite religious, not quite philosophical, and not entirely cultural examinations, but which embrace elements of all these and more, will find The Sparkzgott Anthology a journey that is thought-provoking, while book clubs, especially, will want to debate many of its presentations. 

Unlike the usual anthology which features writings from various contributors, the sole contributor to this is author T.D. Holt and the narrator he creates to examine the foundations of humanity itself. 

The anthology itself can be said to reflect the essence of Sparkzgott under consideration here: "What takes place during this combination—exactly at the time of fusion—is the substance of this story: that void of time within which I become “I am.” Spark and zygote? Sparkzgott: the briefest burst of time, yet infinite in significance." 

As the time slice countdowns evolve, readers can expect works steeped in diverse human and cultural experiences and perspectives. While each couple is united by the very spark they cultivate in their relationship, they also are affected by the cultural milieu which births them and that impulse to embrace "risk, adventure, and reward." 

These themes blossom a series of touchstones which both explain and explore Sparkzgott, the ironies and inconsistencies of human thought and action, and the motivating forces which lead up to the creation of another thinking human. 

If these descriptions sound intellectual and thought-provoking, they only reflect the special context of The Sparkzgott Anthology. It's one of those collections which holds as great a potential as the ethereal being who narrates these inspections of life and creation, but also challenges readers in religious and philosophical ways that belay most traditional thoughts about entertainment value. 

Each slice of "Zime time" in these series of countdowns offers another potential for discussion, revelation, and realization. Each takes on a different perspective and challenge while uniting with the other "slices" in the anthology to contribute to an overall perspective about what makes us human. 

In the end, The Sparkzgott Anthology proves mercurial, thoroughly absorbing, and nearly impossible to put down. 

Its unique brand of social, spiritual, and philosophical reflections are especially recommended for readers who harbor a special interest in literary works of social inspection who would use The Sparkzgott Anthology as a touch point for lively debate and discussion about all the qualities that make humanity distinctive. 

The Sparkzgott Anthology

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Strategic Creativity
Robin Landa
Routledge
978-1032137797           
$39.99 print/$29.99 ebook/$160.00 library binding
Website: https://www.robinlanda.com/
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Strategic-Creativity-Business-Advertising-Branding/dp/1032137797 

Business professionals and entrepreneurs who look for ways to stand out in the crowd will find Strategic Creativity: A Business Field Guide to Advertising, Branding, and Design the key to creating ad and design concepts and campaigns that work. 

Readers might think that business school training would have embraced these paths, but as Robin Landa points out, creativity is often lost in the nuts and bolts of facts and figures. This lends not just to dull, repetitive marketing strategies, but a mercurial vision of what makes one's product or service unique. 

Without the guiding vision of 'why' and a creative approach to representing and imparting this message, businesses blend in and too often fall short, mired in a failure to effectively communicate what makes their endeavor unique and desirable. 

Landa focuses on realizing, embracing, and cultivating the uniqueness of each business endeavor. 

Chapters in Strategic Creativity are steeped in marketing, design, and communication processes designed to promote and support not just the special selling points of a business operation, but how to creatively and compellingly represent them. 

Take the section on "Building a Culture for Results," for one example. The nuts and bolts of what compels people to share, cross-promote, and embrace a given business and its message offers particularly relevant opportunities for business managers who seek to design and promote a brand's story. It all begins with listening to feedback and potential customer needs, desires, and underlying interests. 

Sidebars of highlighted messages synthesize the examples and lessons gleaned from real-world experiences: "If the core purpose and strategic rationale is authentic, collaboration can be a powerful tool." 

Strategic creativity is built into every admonition in this book, whether it is graphic design or copywriting. The pros, cons, and tips for avoiding common problems are also outlined: "Co-opting pop culture is often one of the best ways for a brand to experience a real earned media moment that can get more attention than traditional media or a whole original creative concept. But if it comes across as borrowed interest or opportunistic, it can backfire." 

The result synthesizes real-world experiences and examples with admonitions on how to integrate creative problem-solving with strategic positioning methods that embrace and represent a brand's uniqueness. 

Business managers, entrepreneurs in different professions, and anyone who would better understand the link between business success and creative strategic positioning must add Strategic Creativity: A Business Field Guide to Advertising, Branding, and Design to their reading lists. 

Libraries will find it a key addition, but ideally Strategic Creativity's message will gain wider attention in classrooms and reading groups, where budding entrepreneurs and seasoned professionals alike can absorb the book's specific, important focus. 

Strategic Creativity

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Women Are Superior to Men
Ricky Arenson, MD
New Insights Press
979-8-9860163-1-3         $14.95 Paper/$9.99 ebook
Website: www.newinsightspress.com
Ordering: https://www.amazon.com/Women-Are-Superior-Men-Fantastic/dp/B0B6XVBPYY 

The title doesn't include the question 'why', but it makes a statement that holds a promise in its subtitle: Women Are Superior to Men: The REAL Secret to a Fantastic Marriage, Joyful Parenting & Better Sex! 

This promise is fulfilled in a lively, delightfully surprising manner that advises self-help readers to survive their relationships, marital distress, and the "World War III" scenario caused by introducing children into the mix. 

The tongue-in-cheek humor supplements solid tips and advice on building better relationships. This means that the self-help reader who resists outright admonitions will find the concepts of Women Are Superior to Men infinitely more digestible thanks to their humorous overtones, which eschew the typical chiding tone of a self-help treatise in favor of a more whimsical approach. 

Readers receive candid advice based on the author's studies and personal experience, which led him to a basic premise: "Writing this book became my chance to explore this captivating debate about who really is superior — men or women. And after about a year of thinking and researching, my conclusion is that, hands down, women are superior to men. I am proclaiming this based on various pieces of scientific evidence I’ve collected, my personal experiences at work, and as a man married to a woman far superior to me." 

As he explores this concept as it enacts in the bedroom, in society, and in the home, readers will enjoy a romp through male/female approaches to life that juxtapose whimsical wit with truly thought-provoking insights about the nature and incarnation of relationships. 

The advice outlines the differences between men and women in many different circumstances: "Experiment with something new. When your partner arrives home from work, ambush them in the bedroom — but remember, timing is everything! If my wife came home from a long evening shift in the Emergency Department and found me lying naked in bed waiting for her, the only “rolling pin” in action would be the one my wife fetched from the kitchen to smack me on the head with. On the other hand, if I arrived home late after a long shift and found my wife waiting in bed naked . . . well, let’s just say that naked women don’t grow on trees (or all men would take up gardening)." 

As he highlights gender differences in a manner that is enlightening and humorous, Dr. Arenson makes accessible and understandable the actions and reactions of both sexes. 

The result may have begun as an emphasis of women's superiority, but it ultimately demonstrates how both sexes can interact more positively and effectively. 

Readers will find Women Are Superior to Menan absorbing, revealing, and downright fun to read. 

Women Are Superior to Men

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You Are Your Healer
Yol Swan
Sri Devi Press
978-0-9863654-5-4        
$18.95 Paper/$7.99 ebook/$24.95 Hardcover

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0986365459

You Are Your Healer: The Ultimate Guide to Heal Your Past, Transform Your Life & Awaken to Your True Self points out that one key to changing one's experience of the present is letting go of the past. This is a goal easy to contemplate and much harder to achieve. 

Yol Swan's book focuses on this process, providing insights on healing emotional and spiritual wounds to experience a better present and future life. It draws important connections between one's divine nature and self-knowledge, making a case for spiritual seekers to realize the former through self-awareness, while dissolving codependent patterns that limit or block one's access to spiritual enlightenment. 

It's unusual to see discussions of codependent patterns and the power dynamics of ego in a book that essentially is spiritual in its nature and goals. Swan's approach synthesizes the best of self-help psychology and spiritual objectives to strengthen both aspects, showing how this particular process is key to achieving the goal of spiritual freedom. 

As Swan explores this process and presents The Swan Method to heal the past, readers can move through the exercises and meditations confident that the end result will be an ultimate, lasting embrace of life as a reflection of one's true Self or 'Pure Awareness.' 

It is equally rare to see a self-help spiritual lesson plan embrace such broader concepts as the pitfalls of enlightenment, which include falling into the trap of becoming a self-serving guru or falling prey to one and identifying the power dynamics which dominate relationships as a result of the egoism and spiritual ignorance inherent in the ego-mind. 

Swan's dance between psychological and spiritual inspection entwines both into a richer, more understandable, goal-oriented reflection that offers much food for not only thought, but, ideally, discussion: "Owing to the egoism and spiritual ignorance of the ego-mind, however, you expect people to behave according to your needs, while everyone else is trying to figure out their own life-movie and expecting you to behave according to their needs as well. This sets the typical power dynamics that dominate most relationships, in overt and subtle ways. If you perceive yourself and engage with the world through your sense of otherness, you will seek love and validation through other people rather than recognizing that you are the love you have been looking for." 

From various meditation exercises and how to assure their success to deliberations of individuality and self-perception, Swan at times delves into philosophical as well as spiritual and psychological realms. No matter the topic, Swan provides insights geared towards a better understanding of onesself and one's place in physical and spiritual realms alike: "You identify with your mind, which is a collection of mental impressions and memories, and with your body, the vehicle through which those memories are experienced and expressed. Since your life emerges when the light of Consciousness is projected onto your mind, and your experience is filtered through the sensory perception of your subtle and causal bodies, it is clear that your experience of reality is a mental projection of the past. But it is also a portal into your subconscious offering ongoing opportunities for awareness and healing, so that you may leave the past behind, where it belongs, and be fully present, anchored in the moment." 

The result is much more than a game plan for healing. It's an in-depth journey through life's meaning, intention, and impact that moves beyond drawing connections between these facets to encourage and guide readers on the concepts of self-healing growth, self-awareness, and, ultimately, nonduality or Oneness. 

Libraries strong in spiritual guides will be the logical target audience for You Are Your Healer, but it ideally will reach psychology self-help collections to become a bigger part of reading and discussion by book groups, spiritual classes, and seekers that look for concrete examples of how to choose more enlightened paths. 

You Are Your Healer

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Young Adult/Childrens

Asha and Baz Meet Mary Sherman Morgan
Caroline Fernandez
Common Deer Press
9781988761671             $7.99 Paper/$5.99 Kindle
www.commondeerpress.com 

Asha and Baz Meet Mary Sherman Morgan will reach kindergarten to Grade 3 readers with a biography that can be read aloud for lower grades and independently consulted by youngsters able to absorb a 97-page chapter book. 

Asha and Baz are best friends tasked with a science project: to launch a paper rocket. The Great Rocket Challenge is also a competition, with the prize for the winner being a meetup with Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield. 

How can two friends who know little about the science of rockets combine forces to win? 

As the partner enter the competition and bounce ideas off one another, black and white drawings by Dharmali Patel illustrate the process of tackling a project that requires cooperation, savvy, and research from its young participants. 

Caroline Fernandez creates a multifaceted problem-solving adventure where the kids learn more than physics. 

Lessons on competition range from space race insights (“Why does it have to be a race?” Asha asked. “Because the winner of a race is the best. And we want to be the best,” said Roger.") to the dilemma faced by Mary Sherman Morgan when her Hydyne design is not credited to her efforts, giving the fame for her achievement to someone else. 

As the kids explore this 1957 world and its politics and women's issues, readers receive a broad inspection of scientific and social issues that will help adults enter into discussions based on the time-traveling adventure presented here. 

Asha and Baz Meet Mary Sherman Morgan's engaging, engrossing story is rooted in science, but explores far more than theory alone. Its action-packed scenes and encounters are highly recommended for leisure readers as well as students of women's biography and science, introducing auxiliary topics of teamwork, achievement, and women's rights that will lend to discussions and debates. 

Asha and Baz Meet Mary Sherman Morgan

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Becky Chalmers Beautified
Diane Campbell Green
DCG Books
979-8-9865899-0-9                $12.99

Website: www.dcgbooks.com
Ordering: www.amazon.com 

What would you give to be beautiful? Ten-year-old Becky has her perceptions of beauty—and they don't include her looks. 

That's why she wishes for something different on her birthday: the type of beauty that turns heads. Including her own. 

As advanced elementary-grade readers absorb these eight short stories about Becky Chalmers, they will be called upon to think about their own definitions of beauty and how these can change over time. 

Diane Campbell Green introduces a discussion of the subject for readers of a much younger age than the usual beauty-oriented audience. But, Becky Chalmers Beautified isn't about physical, outward beauty alone. 

As Becky investigates cosmetics and other approaches to enhancing her outward beauty, she receives lessons in beauty that help her understand what the real goal is: to appeal to herself rather than just to others. 

Becky does more than contemplate. As she interacts with psychiatrist Mr. O-Angel, her family, and her friends, Becky receives gentle lessons about the elements which make her royalty in her own mind as well as in the eyes of others. 

Green cultivates a soft, appealing atmosphere in these lessons, using interpersonal interactions and revelations to introduce these life-changing moments of realization. 

Life revolves around more than beauty. Becky learns about adaptation, as well; from a challenging new move to Massachusetts to a return to Yardley and being able to perceive when others around her are unhappy. 

As lessons about faith, kindness, and friendship unfold, young readers receive a compelling story about growth that ideally will be discussed in reading groups and with adult assistance to be sure the book's valuable messages are completely understood. 

The result is an excitingly original probe into everyday life, growth, and perception of self and others that opens with the story of Becky's desires to change and takes transformation and self-improvement to new levels of understanding for elementary grade readers. 

Libraries and parents seeking materials that lend to young reader enlightenment about emotional and physical beauty will find Becky Chalmers Beautified provides the rare opportunity to better understand the world and one's place in it. 

Becky Chalmers Beautified

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The Beyond the Hostile Sky Cycle Part 0: After the Breaking
Karen J. Laakko
Atmosphere Press
978-1639882755            $13.99
www.atmospherepress.com 

The Beyond the Hostile Sky Cycle Part 0: After the Breaking will delight young adult and teen readers with its especially creative blend of sci-fi, puzzle, and cyclic organization, which is deftly identified and explained in the author's opening notes: "...it will start with some very important events (Part 0), reset itself (Part 1), and then slowly make its way back." 

This prepares readers for the recurring turn of events that keeps them on their toes and prepared for interlinks, making it especially important to attend to close inspection of the unfolding events, lest they come full circle with further expansion. 

The fallen realm of Vilse resides in the desolate far reaches of this world, which portends a similar fate to three explorers who stumble upon it and seek to learn the truth about what happened. 

The 'Part 0' which this cycle opens with actually takes place after the reset button on life has been hit, in a new dark age that divided the world and those who looked over it, both moral and gods. 

From the very start, Karen J. Laakko creates an evocative blend of observation and connection that draws readers into the new observers, participants, and adventurers in this realm: "This must have been a wondrous realm once, but now it looked like some immense creature had chewed it up, spat it out, and then set fire to it. And yet, as Brinna stood near the top of the mountain trail and gazed on the dimly lit devastation, she could not help but feel a sense of relief, even of fond nostalgia: the wave of emotions experienced by one who has finally returned home after a long time. Those, she knew, were extremely dangerous feelings—especially here." 

The emotion-driven responses to these discoveries are embedded in the story, lending it a power gained from strong characterization and events that range from discoveries and realizations about the world to personal challenges, such as Keraunia's failure to take a place among the warriors, and the tragedy that befell her parents. 

At this point, it should be noted that a wide cast of characters, special interests, history and discovery demands of its young adult readers an attention not just to detail, but to names and phrases that have Greek roots. This adds a level of complexity that will satisfy older YA audiences, but may belay some of the attraction for younger readers. However, it also serves to extend the interest level of this YA-oriented fantasy into adult circles. 

As Laakko weaves her story of magic and growth, readers absorb the dilemmas of immense power, clashing worlds, and different forms of magic which not just command the involvement in, but challenge the belief systems of different characters. 

As new and old earth mages face misfortune and the impact of poor decisions based on flawed realities, readers become immersed in the fast-paced and well-drawn tension of a wide range of special interests. 

The result is a complex YA read that is recommended for mature teens, adults, and those who look for multifaceted stories spread across different worlds and (likely) future books in the series. 

As a study defining cyclic plots and their evolutionary process, ideally The Beyond the Hostile Sky Cycle Part 0: After the Breaking will also attract and be utilized in creative writing circles and sci-fi reader groups as an especially strong example of how genre boundaries can be broken to expand their potential audience reach beyond the usual formula genre reader. 

The Beyond the Hostile Sky Cycle Part 0: After the Breaking

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The Brooch: A Magic Within
Sandeep Kumar Mishra
Bookemon
Independently Published
‎979-8842684960            $9.99 Paper/$1.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Brooch-Within-Sandeep-Kumar-Mishra/dp/B0B7QGTMXN 

Read-aloud parents and picture book readers alike will find The Brooch: A Magic Within the perfect item of choice for an adventure that pairs well with lessons about good deeds and helping others. 

Adults can use this story to open discussions about concepts such as paying it forward and helping those in need, while kids will appreciate the touch of magic involved in this feel-good story about cultivating kindness and compassion in the world. 

Inspired by author Sandeep Kumar Mishra's daughter's request for such a tale, The Brooch tells of a child's generosity and a stranger's unexpected reward. 

The story is simple but powerful. At times, its language creates some confusion. A final polish could help smooth these passages which inject some degree of grammatical confusion, but the strength of this story lies in its illustrations of how to foster good in the world. 

Paired with very colorful illustrations that bring the tale home, The Brooch provides concrete examples of the ripple of generosity that begins with a boy and a brooch and moves into the world as the magic changes hands. 

Read-aloud adults who use this picture book story as a starting point for illustrating the personal power of individual choice and action will find the diverse examples of all ages involved in the brooch's magic to be thought-provoking. 

Its fine lesson of positivity in the world will best be employed via interactions between adults and the young, via discussions which will augment the story's important messages and examples. 

The Brooch: A Magic Within

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The Christmas Curse of Krampus: Secrets in the Ice
Devin Arloski
EurOwnAmerica Publishing
979-8-218-04430-5                 $9.99
www.thechristmascurseofkrampus.com 

Curses and mystery aren't typical holiday reading, but Devin Arloski's The Christmas Curse of Krampus: Secrets in the Ice continues his tradition of providing a holiday story with a twist for children who look for more than the usual Christmas themes. 

A year has passed since Max's original involvement in a Christmas curse, and the holidays are once again fast approaching as December 4th opens the story. 

A mysterious letter that warns "I found them" could be from Santa, portending another adventure that draws Max and his father even as they are still settling down from last year's Christmas explosion. 

Things are now better between Max and his father, and he hates to rock that boat. He's also managed to keep these past events secret from even his best friend Mina. It's unlikely she'll be open to the possibility that Santa is real, much less the magic that surrounds him. 

Forced to make adjustments in his relationships for the sake of undertaking a new mission, Max finds himself once again immersed in a Christmas mystery that sends him into an icy world where Krampusnacht is threatened by his involvements. Greenland's Inuit mythology and a host of creepy creatures coalesce to make this story a far different experience than the usual holiday read. 

Forced to tell his dad and Mina, the truth, Max finds himself on a new adventure with his best friend that even threatens the wise leader Santa. 

While The Christmas Curse of Krampus: Secrets in the Ice needs no prior familiarity with its predecessor in order to prove thoroughly engrossing to newcomers, those who have read the first book will be in a better position to appreciate the protagonist and plot's evolutionary process. 

Advanced elementary through middle grade readers will find the adventure satisfying, the interpersonal relationships and conundrums realistic and involving, and the holiday overlay a cut above the traditional seasonal read. 

The action is fast-paced as the important adults in Max's life join in to rescue him from an impossible situation. 

The result is another winning story that turns the usual holiday theme on end with an exciting adventure backed by Santa and, this time, reaching out to involve Max's parents and friends in unusual ways. 

The Christmas Curse of Krampus: Secrets in the Ice

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Enzo Isn't There
Thomas M. Ellis with Lily Coyle
Beaver's Pond Press
978-1-64343-807-8         $16.95
www.BeaversPondPress.com

Enzo Isn't There is a children's picture book about death and dying, presenting the aftermath of a lonely child who wants to talk with Enzo about all kinds of life experiences, but feels lost and alone. 

The first-person revelations offer candid discussion points that read-aloud parents will want to pursue with their kids ("I wish I was where Enzo is and Enzo could be here."). 

The explorations of all who grieve the loss of Enzo is another facet that sets this picture book story of death apart from others on the subject: "I hate it the most when Dad cries. Dad hates it the most when I cry. I hate this. Dad hates this. We hate this." 

Enzo's wisdom and reflections about life and what he's observed are threads that augment the grief experienced and expressed by the young narrator. 

A storm of emotions is revealed as the youngster processes his sibling's demise: "I got so mad today I ripped up all of Enzo’s cards because Enzo wasn’t there. Then I felt bad and taped them together because Enzo isn’t here." 

Paired with evocative and beautiful, colorful landscapes by illustrator Brian Schmidt, Thomas M. Ellis and Lily Coyle's Enzo Isn't There is simply gorgeous. It's a fitting adjunct to other stories about death for the very young, created in a format and presented in a manner that encourages discussion of different reactions to death. 

Read-aloud parents will find it stands head and shoulders above similar books, while libraries will find Enzo Isn't There deserves not just a prominent place, but display and discussion in any collection catering to the young. 

Psychological groups for all ages tackling the subject of death, loss and dying will find Enzo Isn't There simple, yet especially effective for pinpointing feelings surrounding loss and dying, offering excellent fodder for discussion. 

Enzo Isn't There

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FastFight 540: Bump in the Night
M. M. Mesldorf 
Star Toaster, LLC & SBA Books
978-1-956408-19-5         $11.99
www.FastFlight540.com 

FastFight 540: Bump in the Night is Book 1 of the FastFlight 540 fantasy adventure series for middle grade readers and older. It features an especially fast pace and compelling atmosphere designed to bring even the most reluctant reader into the world of leisure reading for pleasure. 

Tucker Sullivan is a miserable orphan. Anslie Dawn switches places with him to give him a break and finds herself protecting her secret identity as an orphan boy when she is sent to an ancient orphanage, Nocturnan. There, she finds herself involved in some dangerous games. 

M.M. Mesldorf opens the story with compelling intrigue and action that draws attention immediately: “I’ll find him! And when I do, I’ll wring his scrawny little neck like a chicken for Sunday dinner!” Headmaster Grimsly muttered as he passed the closet door. Anslie, who had never tasted chicken for Sunday dinner or any other meal, edged backward deeper into the corner of the dark closet. She stepped on Tucker’s foot. Hard. She clapped her hand over his mouth to keep him quiet." 

As Anslie faces the formidable Mr. Strickman at Nocturnam and receives a lecture about the looseness of Whippoorwill Home in comparison to her new quasi-prison, she is drawn into the mystery of the Ninth Garden, makes a new friend in Xander, and finds herself feeling oddly at home and connected to life, at last. 

Armed with a new purpose, new friendships, and a new perspective, Anslie's journey, which includes a meeting with Bump in the night, is replete with humor and growth. 

Mesldorf creates a vivid tale that excels in nonstop action and twists of plot to keep events unpredictable and character-based.  It cultivates the mystery and feel of the classic children's book Tom's Midnight Garden, but adds a contemporary flavor of adventure that will attract modern readers looking for a fantasy replete with action. 

The secret identity Anslie assumes forces her into some unusual situations, such as cheering for herself as a heroine who escaped her prior circumstances when her new posse of friends reviews the situation and admires the escapee's spunk. 

The ironies added to the intrigue make for many humor-driven moments as Anslie becomes privy to information about the Shadow Wars and those who fight them. 

Black and white illustrations by Rebecca Lemoine are peppered throughout and add further attraction and insight into the story. Armed with these visuals, young readers will find the tale fairly leaps to life in a manner that creates a 'can't-put-it-down' read. 

The result is an uplifting, inviting story of evolving friendships, loss, and battles, both within and in the world. 

The character-driven nature of this fantasy allows young readers to become thoroughly immersed in Anslie's secrets and revelations, creating a story that is especially powerful and highly recommended for advanced elementary grades and older. 

Libraries and adults who look for vigorous fantasies firmly rooted in not just action, but strong protagonists whose insights form magnetic attractions to a wide age range will find FastFight 540: Bump in the Night a unique and commendable choice. 

FastFight 540: Bump in the Night

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A Feast for Pleasant Beasts
J.T. Bird
Independently Published
9781838047986     
$17.99 Hardcover/$8.99 paper/$3.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Feast-Pleasant-Beasts-Childrens-friendship/dp/1838047999 

Picture book readers ages 4-8 will find A Feast for Pleasant Beasts a delight. It assembles a winning cast of characters who gather for a July picnic, from a cook in a cave to Ingrid the troll, who is often the first to get an invitation for the annual woods event. 

J.T. Bird presents the story in a series of chatty descriptions of characters and fantasy settings that even read-aloud adults will find whimsical and fun: "So, do be on the lookout next time you take a stroll. She’s often to be found down by the riverside catching fish to share with her chums. Cuthbert always gobbles the pufferfish pizza, but there’s banana and piranha pie if that’s more to your liking?" 

These characters receive engaging, full-color, large illustrations by Andy Catling, who captures the nuances and delightful creations J.T. Bird fosters in the lively tale. 

It's a "recipe for something quite marvelous" as Cuthbert's culinary delights contribute to a day peppered with pleasant beasts and action. The boy is a "magical master of picnics" and everyone has fun (even though they are all quite different from each another). 

Silliness, catchy original ballads, and a glorious feast spice a read that promises not one, but many nights of exploration by young and older readers alike. 

Adults looking for a fun bedtime read filled with delight will find A Feast for Pleasant Beasts whimsically entertaining and a cut above most bedtime picture book choices. It features an underlying message: that creatures diverse in age and appearance can join together to create an exceptional experience and friendships. 

A Feast for Pleasant Beasts

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Footprints Across the Planet
Jennifer Swanson
Reycraft Books

978-1478876045            $17.95 Hardcover/$8.95 Paper
https://www.amazon.com/Footprints-Across-Planet-Jennifer-Swanson/dp/1478876042 

Every footprint in the world leaves its mark. What kind of footprint will you make? Young readers who choose Footprints Across the Planet for its ecological message and bright, attractive cover receive a story filled with vivid color photos and answers to the question of one's personal impact on the world. 

These answers take the form of close-up examples of all kinds of animal feet, paired with lovely close-up shots of the creatures (including humans) making them. 

Jennifer Swanson's simple, enlightening words are just as vivid as the photos: "Footprints come in all shapes and sizes, colors and species. Some are large and deep, strong and purposeful. Others are small and shallow, barely leaving any imprint at all ... Footprints are also as diverse as the people on the planet." 

The lovely visuals, including slices and cutaways of mountains, people, and animals, reinforce the observations with a particularly powerful hand to representing the interconnectivity of world environments and creatures.

The result begins small, with the notion of a single footprint's impact, but expands into a blossoming story showing how each individual can make a big difference.

The picture book concludes with biographical sketches of humans who successfully changed the world through their actions and choices. 

More so than most books about intention, personal impact, choice, and consequences, Footprints Across the Planet presents a powerful display that will reach a wide age group (including adults) with a strong message of empowerment and positivity. 

If only one children's book were to be chosen on these topics, Footprints Across the Planet should be at the very top of such a list. Its opportunities for not only personal enlightenment but discussion between youths and adults who read along are boundless, as is the enthusiasm with which it is written and the obvious care taken to choose only the most powerful striking imagery to highlight its important message. 

Libraries and individuals who choose Footprints Across the Planet will find it rich in thought-provoking opportunities and rich rewards for the effort of imbibing. 

Footprints Across the Planet

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Forces
Mona R. Semerau
Atmosphere Press
978-1-63988-427-8         $18.99
www.atmospherepress.com 

Young adult fiction readers who seek evocative stories of life and death quests will find Forces is just the ticket for thoroughly engrossing reading. 

Thorn is a scribe who translates oral puzzles into written revelations. Drawn to problem-solving and questions which give insights into the nature of the universe, Thorn is more likely to see logic and opportunity in magic than mysticism and mysterious forces. 

Forces assumes an unusual countenance because the adventures within flow from Thorn's pen, adopting an unusual flowing font to represent the writings Thorn creates as she moves through her world. 

The language is evocative and captures a sense of place as much as a sense of purpose in this wintery world: "A great blast separated the trees and drove the snow sweeping wet upon them, nothing could be seen, and night’s obscurity had returned. They could only guess, and try to listen. Perhaps this one had turned aside, then suddenly was sweeping past them --- a bare shadow, a muffled sound, a single rider whose mount had been given his head to take the road as he would, the rider bent low peering desperately into the storm." 

As Mistress Thorn conveys news to those around her, describing the changing world and her new realizations about it, young adult readers will be drawn into the language and descriptions Thorn chooses to illustrate and interpret her adventures and revelations: "Very far from here, way west of here, --- Thorn began, but before you come to the empires of the Western Sea, as you know there are many smaller kingdoms and provincial powers who are constantly at war. Nonetheless, one must maintain relations, and so i was with a party that was caught in the aftermath of some skirmish and all was lost, save my life alone. hoo! do not ask me the details of that awful afternoon, for the thought of it fills me with dismay and makes me tremble. No no no! do not ask ---
Were there bears?
Rose!
Were there --- oh, bears? yes! bears! many bears!
lots of bears. bears, bears, and bears! so many bears!"
 

The unusually vibrant written and verbal dialogues spark an especially evocative sense of place, capturing the realizations Thorn encounters in the course of her journey. This creates an exploration of differences, surprises, magic, and other peoples that blossom under Thorn's pen and eyes. 

From dreams that "emerged drunken seeming from a tarry blackness" to events that shift Thorn in her sense of place and interpretations of the world, readers receive a lively, vivid, and thought-provoking novel that takes an unusual approach to dragons, dialogue, and dilemmas. 

The result is more demanding in its intellectual and worldview inspections than most adventure fantasies for young adults, but rewards the reading effort with a far livelier sense of magic than the usual genre production. 

Libraries and teachers seeking something compellingly and satisfyingly different that illustrates the diverse ways in which a magical quest can come to life will find Forces a powerful example of original literary writing and the power of the pen in altering worldviews and political milieus alike.

Forces

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Iora and the Quest of Five
Arefa Tehsin
Crimson Dragon Publishing
978-1-944644-29-1
$22.99 Hardcover/$14.99 Paper/$4.99 ebook
https://crimsondragonpublishing.com 

Iora and the Quest of Five reaches middle grade to high school readers of fantasy with its story of Iora, who is attacked by a strange creature in a well and comes to realize that her missing father is in a danger only she can perceive. 

She sets out on a personal quest to the enchanted Wacky Wilderness to search for him, encountering strange denizens which at times aid her and, at other moments, hinder her goals. 

As if the search for a missing father weren't enough, Iora finds herself drawn into a bigger picture and a mission to save not just her father, but the jungle world itself. 

The real enchantment of this story lies not just in its action and adventure (which abound), but in its underlying ecological message about the importance of environmental preservation and the environment's connections to human health and well-being. 

Arefa Tehsin employs the fantasy quest story to its greatest advantage to bring these elements to life, exploring the animals and humans of the rainforest. Mystic premonitions and forces blend with special interests on both sides, expanding Iora's initial focus on her personal dilemma into world-saving issues. 

In this world, angels and animals appear, speak, and demonstrate equal abilities and concerns as Iora is buffeted by the winds of adversity and a desire to preserve what she knows of her world. 

Young readers able to absorb not just a powerful fantasy adventure story but its underlying concepts of relationships and bigger-picture thinking will find Iora and the Quest of Five a compelling story, while libraries and teachers will want to choose and feature it for its exploration of real issues that exist under its fantasy overlay. 

Iora and the Quest of Five

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Koala Ballerina's Superhero Bowling Rescue
Sheri Poe-Pape
Sheri Poe-Pape, Publisher
9798402873964              $11.95 Paper/$17.99 Hardcover
www.sheripoe-pape.com 

To play a game of bowling is Koala Ballerina's "happiest dream." She is a "frisky, strong joey" able to leave other bowlers "in total awe" of her strengths and abilities despite the fact that she wears a dancer's tutu and a tiara to her bowling game. 

As Sheri Poe-Pape's rollicking rhyme covering Koala Ballerina's latest exploit is accompanied by whimsical and colorful illustrations by Nejla Shojaie, the story unfolds to become more than about ballet, bowling, or sports abilities. 

Poe-Pape's story is also about pride, "acting childlike" with enthusiasm over personal achievements, and stepping up to help friends like poor Wilfrid Wombat who, in contrast to the powerful achiever Koala, is inept and has problems coordinating and concentrating. 

When Wilfrid attracts the attention of a bully in the neighboring lane, it's up to Koala to employ her spunk, courage, and determination in more than just achieving personal success. 

Poe-Pape's story explores the complex subjects of ADHD and life interactions in a way that young picture book readers can readily understand. 

In building a foundation first with Koala's successful strengths and abilities, then contrasting these with Wilfrid's experiences in and view of his world, understanding is promoted through a story that adult participants can use to explain not just ADHD, but bullying and different ways of approaching life. 

As Super Koala Ballerina assumes her alter-ego after perceiving Wilfrid is in trouble, readers gain insights into what they, too, could do when they see bullying and observe peers who act differently. 

Koala's solution goes beyond rescue, delving into creating bridges of understanding that adults can use to show the young how to foster cooperation in their own young worlds. 

By using the image of a proactive, strong female who figures out how to not just be a superhero, but help educate those around her, the story moves beyond an action figure's rescue attempts to delve into the bigger picture of emotional barriers to acceptance, and understanding how to address them. 

Libraries and adults looking for picture books that feature strong female characters, attract attention with vivid color drawings and the familiar superhero concept, then take the next step into linking these attractors to better life choices and true heroism will find Koala Ballerina's Superhero Bowling Rescue a winner. 

Koala Ballerina's Superhero Bowling Rescue

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The Legend of Black Jack
A. R. Witham
Independently Published
‎978-0578354361            $16.99 Paper/$4.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Legend-Black-Jack-R-Witham/dp/0578354365 

Young adult horror story readers who enjoy tales steeped in Nordic mythology will find The Legend of Black Jack a compelling tale that operates as a fantasy, a horror story, and a wry work of ironic satire. 

Jack Swift never expected he'd be kidnapped into another realm and charged with saving a life. He's anything but adventurous and holds neither medical ability nor, seemingly, the courage to step out of his world to become a legend in someone else's mythology. 

Life has a way of exacting changes and a toll for them, because Jack finds himself in a situation filled with action and the unexpected. A fantasy twist leads him to be kidnapped on his 14th birthday and transported by a monstrous rhino into another realm, Keymark. 

As he steps into the shoes of the legend of Black Jack (a being that walks between worlds, kills gods, beats the devil, and heals a thousand people in a day), Jack finds himself tasked with not just believing in the impossible, but believing in himself. 

Color illustrations pepper the story as Jack walks through this world and fulfills his destiny in ways he never could have imagined. 

As teens follow his epic encounters with monsters in a world he quickly grows to love, they will find much to like about the growth process and realizations that Jack faces. These may mirror many underlying questions about their own lives. 

From friendly trolls and a sense of growing belief in Jack's own powers to epic battles with samurais and dark forces, teens receive plenty of action couched with self-discovery as Jack moves through Keymark and its traitors, kingdoms, and combatants. 

His rite of passage is not without violent confrontations. Their descriptive prowess is tempered by revelations that spring from sword and mind alike. 

The Legend of Black Jack's fast-paced action and encounters will keep teens reading, while its higher-level thinking encourages young adults to consider the facets that make for legendary examples of courage and achievement. 

The result is a fast-paced leisure fantasy as steeped in myths and legends as it is in the coming-of-age saga of a boy just beginning to understand his strengths. 

Libraries looking for compelling, epic fantasy will find The Legend of Black Jack's action and adventure particularly potent and engrossing. 

The Legend of Black Jack

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The Mango Family: Thinking Differently
Anthony Cherubin
Fineness World Inc.
979-8-9859292-0-1         $24.99 Hardcover/$18.99 ebook
https://www.amazon.com/Mango-Family-Thinking-Differently-ebook/dp/B09W1PWQGM 

Picture book readers and adults who choose The Mango Family: Thinking Differently for read-aloud will find these short stories provide plenty of food for thought and fodder for discussion about positivity and how to foster it in different ways. 

This adventure takes place in Fruitiville, located within the country of Nourish on the virtual Achievements Island. It focuses on cultivating gratitude, acknowledging achievement, and developing positive solutions to problems. 

Exceptionally bright cartoon panels of the fruit family will prove both accessible and highly attractive to adults and their young listeners, incorporating such insights as "we can become whatever we like" and "we must celebrate all our victories." 

The Mango Family bows to past precedent by showing how these opportunities evolved for the current generation, but also presents short stories that embrace contemporary issues such as dealing with a tattletale, understanding lessons in responsibility that underlie adult approaches to teaching children, and empowering children who need money by showing how they can earn it in various ways. 

Each lesson incorporates strategies for life that offer opportunities for bigger picture thinking, all couched in the interactions and entertainment value of the Mango Family's interactions. 

Adults won't anticipate the contemporary issues such as school shootings which are incorporated into the mix of lessons, but another fine strength of The Mango Family: Thinking Differently lies in its focus on examples that kids are likely to encounter in their everyday lives (which unfortunately include violence). 

Sometimes the character expressions on the lovely illustrations don't seem to match the situations under discussion.  Character facial expressions aside, The Mango Family: Thinking Differently excels in its emotional lessons on not just coping with life, but viewing it from a more positive perspective of empowerment, change, and emotional connection. 

Read-aloud adults looking for inviting discussion material that promotes attitude changes and revised views of life will find The Mango Family: Thinking Differently a fine tool for introducing these concepts to the very young, fostering the overall feel of positivity about the world. 

The Mango Family: Thinking Differently

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The Math Kids: A Knotty Problem
David Cole
Common Deer Press
978-1988761732            $12.95 Paper/$7.99 Kindle
www.commondeerpress.com 

The Math Kids: A Knotty Problem is the seventh book in the Math Kids series, offering young readers ages 9-12 a new dilemma that juxtaposes math problem-solving with other kinds of relationship and life issues. 

This time, Stephanie finds that her favorite interests are on a collision course as her soccer tournament falls on the same date as the district math competition. Should she leave Math Kids? 

But that isn't the only change in the Math Kids' lives, as other members of the club face forces that divide them and threaten their friendships and club connections. 

From forces that led to near-war between the former friends to dilemmas that invite each kid to step up with new problem-solving and social skills, The Math Kids: A Knotty Problem reviews evolving relationships and dilemmas that threaten team efforts. 

Young readers receive insights on these changing friendships and the conflict which begins with a scheduling issue and then blossoms to other problems. 

Kids familiar with the other books in this series will find this focus on life changes and events that test friendships to be engrossing and realistic, while newcomers will appreciate the connections between math and real-world problem-solving: “It’s important to really understand what it is we’re trying to solve. The question didn’t ask what the odd numbers or the even numbers added up to, just which one was bigger and by how much.”
“And that’s what we figured out,” Stephanie said.
“We got there, but did we do it the easiest way?” Justin asked.
 

The result is an enlightening connection between math and daily living which educates and entertains on different levels, from solving relationship problems to thinking outside the box of a singular math problem to consider the process of understanding life changes and challenges. 

Libraries seeing popularity with the prior Math Kids adventures, as well as newcomers looking for vivid fictional stories embedded with math problem-solving concepts, will find The Math Kids: A Knotty Problem a fine tale that educates as it entertains. 

The Math Kids: A Knotty Problem

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Miracle Times Two
Mazzy Moore
Independently Published
9781667838724      $9.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Times-Two-Mazzy-Moore-ebook/dp/B0B64RG8NM 

Miracle Times Two is a lovely rhyming picture book story that follows a mother's reflections about her twin boys. Designed for read-aloud and sharing, it tells of a young woman and her pop who wander the world and have adventures. 

Despite their vibrant lives, there is a gap in her heart: two places that await love's incarnation. 

One day, those gaps are filled by twins, and the mother finds her world and adventurous spirit changed by a different experience that portends just as much wonder and enjoyment. 

The story of a mother's love for her children and her satisfaction in building a home filled with that love makes for an engaging read that parents will want to choose for its celebratory tone. 

The contrast between the young mother's prior life and her new family circle is very nicely done, portraying the rich values of both in a manner that young picture book readers and read-aloud adults will both relish. 

Miracle Times Two

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Queen of Babylon: Book 2 in Babylon Twins Series
Michael Ferris Gibson and Imani Josey

Girl Friday Books
978-1954854710            $16.95 Paper/$9.99 Kindle

https://www.amazon.com/Queen-Babylon-Book-Twins/dp/1954854714 

Book 2 of the Babylon Twins series, set in a post-apocalyptic world ruled by machines, presents thirteen-year-old Josephine, who guards the old city of San Francisco and has survived thanks to both a psychic connection with her deceased twin and to being a member of Project Chimera, which made her into a biomechanical robot able to survive the end times. 

The story opens with her birth into a strange new condition, which happened after she met a scientist. As Josephine and her readers piece together the events which have made her into a more-than-human 'unit', the story is steeped in personality and purpose which lends it riveting life. 

Even more complex is the fact that there is more than one Josephine in this strange new world, and the task of protecting her city is not a single-handed venture. The seventh incarnation of Josephine has lost her way, in this story. In order to preserve her sense of self and purpose, she needs to re-access her secret language in order to fight a language virus that threatens what remains of the world. 

Young adult and adult readers who choose Queen of Babylon will find its powerful, character-based experiences drive a futuristic story which also is embedded in mystery, discovery, and confrontations. 

Readers will be surprised to learn that the urban culture of Oakland, California is alive and well in this futuristic scenario. Michael Ferris Gibson and Imani Josey steep their story in a solid sense of place that will especially delight and attract readers familiar with the San Francisco Bay Area. 

From transitional spiritual ceremonies that allow Josephine to pass between worlds to the gritty remains of the world she once knew (which is inhabited by Aunt Connie, a host of 'frenemies', and others who both aid and impede her journey), readers will find Queen of Babylon refreshingly original, unpredictable, and unique in its dystopian portrait of a bleak future in which machine minds meld with the human psyche. 

Gibson and Josey inject just the right blend of intrigue, hard-science, and social and ethical examinations into their story of an unusual band of survivors whose interrelated selves are tasked with a mission beyond their combined experience. 

Is Josephine truly alone? Will she fail her mission to protect the world? 

Young adults who choose Queen of Babylon as either a stand-alone read or an expansion of the first book will find the layers of psychological insights, intrigue, and futuristic spiritual and social conundrums to be completely enthralling. 

Libraries looking for sci-fi that is a cut above most, and which demands a level of intellect from its young adult readers, but draws them with emotional connections, will find Queen of Babylon a fine acquisition. 

Queen of Babylon: Book 2 in Babylon Twins Series

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Taking Flight With Captain Mama
Graciela Tiscareño-Sato
Gracefully Global Group
9780997309096            
$26.99 Hardcover/$16.99 Paper/$9.99 ebook
www.captainmama.com 

Picture book readers interested in aviation and bilingual Spanish/English books featuring women involved in the industry will find Taking Flight With Captain Mama an inviting look at the job of captaining an aircraft. 

The story incorporates many aviation terms which are defined in a glossary in the back of the book, from boom operator and flight deck to crew chiefs. Other terms, such as egress and navigation, are included to assure young readers and listeners to the read-aloud story thoroughly understand the routines involved in flying an Air Force aircraft. 

Linda Lens provides inviting mixed-media color drawings that capture this experience, recreating the feel of being on a jet and the excitement of a class field trip that moves from the anticipated observation to a surprise experience. 

Graciela Tiscareño-Sato provides an engaging aviation story of military operations and basic flight that covers aerial refueling, Nighthawk jets, flying in turbulent weather, and more. It's a tale inspired by her decade of active-duty service on this unusual aircraft. 

The "you are there" feel is heightened by action-packed experiences, aircraft communications and explanations, and discussions of military deployment that help the young narrator better understand his mother's service, duties, and the special role she holds as a Captain on a military aircrew. 

Details about the stealth fighter jet educate kids about different types of military planes, while the adventure component keeps children both involved and educated. 

The result is an important and unique survey of women, including Latinas, in aviation and military service that showcases several womens' important work, reflective of other women who have earned command and aeronautical positions in our armed forces. 

These facets, and the bilingual approach of the story, make for an outstanding opportunity to learn more about women in service and in active military roles, making Taking Flight With Captain Mama the perfect picture book of choice for assignments during Hispanic Heritage Month, Veterans Day, Women's History Month, and general-interest reading year-round. 

Its information, delivery, and action-oriented story are compellingly presented and unequalled in the picture book world. 

Taking Flight With Captain Mama

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Tell, or the Adventures in Themiddle
L.N. Mayer
Oslo & Bangs Publishing
978-2-9569463-3-5         $12.99 Paper/$2.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Tell-Adventures-Themiddle-L-N-Mayer/dp/2956946307 

Tell, or the Adventures in Themiddle presents kids ages 8-12 with the first book in a trilogy about William Teller ("Tell"), who is expelled from Theffects School for Troubled Boys and returns home to an empty house and a goodbye letter from his father. 

Tell thinks this is another of his father's jokes, until representatives from the local orphanage show up, forcing him to flee his home to preserve his freedom. He runs straight into a changing world of trouble, instead, where imaginative figures from his mind become too real and threaten the world. 

This is not just a figment of Tell's imagination. Others, too, encounter the strange figures that spill from his mind: "...by the time he entered the house and followed her up the stairs, there was no need to ask for there was no way of explaining what he then saw: a monster in the middle of the room. Now some people swear it was a black bear and others say it resembled an elephant, so huge the beast was, but all who’ve heard this nonsense know that the creature had no business being in that little boy’s room." 

Lively adventure blends with whimsical encounters with creatures and equally compelling dialogue that draws readers with an action-driven flavor: "Tell opened his mouth to reply, when suddenly Thebackspacer lunged at Stu, who dropped his mallet and dove out of the way. The creature crushed the cart he was pushing with its stocky footless leg as Herman and the others ran for cover. Taking their cue, Tell ran after them. As he reached the tunnel, he keeled over, trying to catch his breath. His heart beat in his throat." 

As Tell navigates an alien world created in part by his own mind, he encounters a host of strange characters. Kids will find their names unusual and delightfully quirky ("Weekday," "Thepeacekeeper," "Weekend"), while humor permeates many of the encounters to keep young readers laughing and thinking as the adventure unfolds. 

As Tell faces the aftereffects of a place where belief isn't tolerated and powerful forces not only change the world, but send its king on the run, he also confronts his own legacy and the truth about his missing father. 

Combine a coming-of-age adventure story with fantasy and philosophical roots, spice it with humor and action, then add a host of zany character names for the feel of Tell, or the Adventures in Themiddle, which is particularly adept at cementing the absurd with the compelling. 

Children's libraries looking for fantasies and action stories that operate outside of the usual genre definitions will find Tell, or the Adventures in Themiddle a winner.

Tell, or the Adventures in Themiddle

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