September 2016 Review Issue
The
Blood on My Hands: An Autobiography
Shannon O'Leary
CreateSpace
978-1519695871
$10.00
https://amzn.com/151969587X
Plenty of true crime stories come from authors who have lived nightmares; but few come across as compelling or immediate as Shannon O'Leary's autobiography The Blood on My Hands, which opens with a bang: "I have felt the cold steel of a gun in my mouth and against my temple. I have tasted warm blood on my lips and witnessed horrific scenes of mutilation, where nameless people took their last breaths. In my life, I have experienced poverty, met people who had plenty, and lived through fire, floods, and drought."
O'Leary childhood years in 1960s and 70s Australia comes to life in a vivid memoir that seeks not to just entertain or inform with the usual distance of a reporter, but to draw readers into the daily immediacy of her life.
With this spirited approach in mind, The Blood on My Hands moves far beyond the usual accounts of childhood trauma and disturbing violence; so readers should be forewarned: there's a depth and description here that is not recommended for readers sensitive to violence, charting a rocky road that remarks that the author "First contemplated suicide at the age of four."
A patient, kind, abused mother and a terrifying father, laws that prevented police from interfering in domestic situations unless someone was killed, and specific, ongoing descriptions of cruelty and confrontation reveal O'Leary's exceptionally challenging life with a father who didn't just threaten, but destroyed bodies, minds, and lives.
Horrifying details accompany insights on just how O'Leary and her mother survived, juxtaposing these moments hope and family faith with frightening revelations: "You have to have faith in something,” she said. I asked her what she believed in, and she told me, “Hell is here on earth.” I asked about penance and martyrs. “It’s courageous to die for a belief, but it’s hard to tell if it’s just an easier way out of living."
Intense, gripping, and psychologically demanding of its readers, The Blood on My Hands is like no other and pulls no punches in its accounts, making for an unusually vivid recommendation for those interested in especially candid and often shocking memoirs of childhood abuse and survival under the nearly-impossible circumstance of living with a father who was a serial killer.
The Blood on My Hands: An Autobiography
Return to Index
Cincinnati's 4th Best in the Nation: It's More Than a
Game
Mike D. Peek
Amazon
9781519692177
$15.98
https://amzn.com/151969217X
For every athlete or winner in life who seems to be at the top of his game, there's a story of struggle and effort along the way: obstacles overcome, challenges met, and lessons learned. Few other athletes can provide the details into such a journey as Mike D. Peek who, in 1994, was rated the 4th best freshman high school basketball player in the nation.
As much as Cincinnati's 4th Best in the Nation documents his blazing rise to the top, so it documents a catastrophic downfall that led him away from the game and everything he'd loved and strived for in life.
Mike Peek was not just determined; he was lucky. Raised in an urban community in Cincinnati by a very young, uneducated mother with a father who was seldom present and an series of father figures - some good; others poor examples - Peek experienced a turbulent childhood where frequent moves, drugs, violence, and adult and peer influences shaped his world. All these are portrayed in clear passages that, early on, juxtapose a child's-eye view of his world with its underlying messages: "He really showed me something that summer by having me deliver phone books in that rich neighborhood, and it made me see that there was more to life than what I was seeing in the ’hood."
Readers might anticipate a linear course leading from poverty and failure to success; but one of the strengths of Cincinnati's 4th Best in the Nation is the unpredictability in its autobiographical directions: Peek's path is anything but straight up and is laden with obstacles that take him in both directions as the possibilities of achieving the pinnacle of success morph into failure.
From home and school influences to the problems and pressures accompanying success, Peek is at his finest when describing the waves of good and bad influences that affect him even at the height of his achievements: "Being ranked fourth-best high school freshman player in the nation put a really big target on my back…all of the media attention I was getting made it hard for me to trust people. A lot of people were gunning for me in my small circle of people I thought were my friends."
Despite those who rooted for him, special assist programs, and many opportunities, Peek also faced failure in a big way: "I didn’t realize it, but my trip to Schoolcraft College was the beginning of the end of my basketball career."
One of the surprises of Cincinnati's 4th Best in the Nation is that even though its focus is on a basketball player's rise and fall, readers don't have to love the game or even have much prior familiarity with it to appreciate Peek's story. Perhaps that's because it's more than a "basketball memoir" emphasizing sports plays: it's a survival story emphasizing plays in life, choices both good and bad, and how they were made and influenced.
As Peek reflects on this process, readers follow his maturity process, his descent into drugs, his life in the 'hood, and receive many candid revelations that pinpoint different turning points in his life: "I am glad I went through that learning experience with Sheree even though that relationship almost killed me. It reminds me of that saying by Bob Marley You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice. Walking away from Sheree made me realize just how strong I could be because leaving her was the only choice I had from self-destruction."
It's this process of evolution, imparted with no holds barred and a gritty urban feel, that succeeds in documenting not just changing behaviors and choices, but how Peek dealt with different traumas and how they ultimately were re-incorporated into a new form of upward momentum.
From childhood to parental influences, love, second chances and opportunities to start over, and what ultimately matters in life (for Peek, it's faith and family), Cincinnati's 4th Best in the Nation isn't about a basketball career so much as a life player's best and worst moves, how he survived to thrive, and the ultimate game of life that would bring him people from all walks of life who would support his best: "God brought us together. She needed me as much as I needed her in my life. God sent someone to help me and put me in her life to give her the confidence to believe in herself as much as she believed in me."
Readers looking for a saga that is inspirational, uplifting, and precise about how behavioral obstacles are perceived and eventually overcome will find Cincinnati's 4th Best in the Nation follows a life that moves one step forward and two steps back, but ultimately becomes not just purposeful, but successful.
Cincinnati's 4th Best in the Nation: It's More Than a Game
Return to Index
Composing
Temple
Sunrise
Hassan El-Tayyab
Poetic Matrix Press
9780986060069 $18.25
www.poeticmatrix.com
Composing Temple Sunrise: Overcoming Writer's Block at Burning Man is a memoir by a singer-songwriter whose world-changing personal losses sent him on a mission that ultimately brought him to Nevada, where the Burning Man Festival took place. If the name Hassan El-Tayyab sounds familiar, it may be because of his band, American Nomad - or it may be because of his work in the San Francisco Bay Area as a cultural activist.
But even newcomers with no prior familiarity with either will find Composing Temple Sunrise a vivid read, documenting the author's quest for a new purpose and perspective in life and many psychological and spiritual facets of the Burning Man festival. Under his hand, descriptions of the event and these moments come alive: "In my research I had learned that this temple was the spiritual epicenter of Burning Man. On the walls people left shrines to loved ones lost, poems, memories, and watched them all engulfed in cathartic flames on the last day of Burning Man. What would I write on the temple? I wondered. What would I let go?"
In a way, Composing Temple Sunrise is about the process of letting go as much as it's about the process of renewal and coming to terms with a cultural identity (being Arab) that El-Tayyab was always mocked for: "How do you learn to have pride in your race when you were ever taught how?"
As these and other themes emerge, it becomes apparent that Composing Temple Sunrise is about more than one man's quest for identity, creative inspiration or rejuvenation. The passages about his examination of his Arab identity and its place in his past, present and future hold powerful messages for today's audiences as they reveal the power and enlightenment process of a musician whose drive to reconnect with the music within him results in newfound friendships and connections in the wider world.
Any reader - especially musicians and writers - who would absorb this process of self-discovery and creative rejuvenation with an added dose of cultural insight will find Composing Temple Sunrise a compelling memoir, hard to put down and filled with revelations.
Composing Temple Sunrise
Return to Index
My
Million-Dollar Donkey: The Price I Paid for Wanting to
Live Simply
Ginny East
Heartwood Press
ASIN: B01HHEXS82 $2.99
Kindle/$18.95 Paper
https://amzn.com/0997146001
Author Ginny East and her husband packed up kids and home and left a secure business to move back to the land in Georgia, choosing a simpler lifestyle over high-priced success. Their move mirrors many, and My Million-Dollar Donkey joins others in following this journey; but unlike any other stories, the sojourn isn't without its emotional, spiritual, and lasting values impacts.
"When some people go through a midlife crisis, they buy a Porsche. Me? I bought a donkey. That probably says something about my personality, but I'd be afraid to find out exactly what. I suppose a girl should expect a touch of disillusionment if she's foolish enough to choose an ass as her life mascot."
Not everyone has a million dollars in the bank from 'cashing out' yet chooses an austere lifestyle; and while the theme of a midlife crisis prompting vast changes and previously-undisclosed dreams is a common one; the compelling piece of any story lies in how it's carried out, presented, and spun - and My Million-Dollar Donkey is truly a donkey of another color.
Chapters are often hilarious and fun to read. They present the emotional seriousness of leaving a consumer-centric American middle class dream for the sake of realigning values with a tongue-in-cheek sense of joie de vivre that is punctuated by Donkey's observations: "Donkey let out a loud bellow as if to add his pro-horse vote to the conversation."
What at first feels like luck and inevitability as a series of efforts falls into place quickly comes to feel like something more darkly fateful as mistakes are made and the entire family struggles to fit into their new lifestyle and changing relationships.
The more one reads, the more one finds to relate to as Ginny and her kin face challenge after challenge and achieve their dream the hard way: through struggles that alter perceptions and reactions to life and question hard-won values systems. As ideals are examined and mirth punctuates the story line, readers might find themselves reconsidering their own ultimate dreams in life and the road to achieving them - and that's the particularly wonderful aspect of My Million-Dollar Donkey.
It doesn't just entertain or enlighten, but weaves both into a side-splitting and heart-sighing memoir that moves far beyond most "back to the land" sagas to closely examine the heart of what changes make a difference in lives and how they are instigated and absorbed in unexpected ways. If these ways ultimately lead to separation, they also open the door to new beginnings. So be forewarned: My Million-Dollar Donkey holds the potential to make readers cry, at different points, as much as laugh.
Happy endings aren't always alike, and thus the story line becomes bittersweet, because dreams changed in a partnership or family structure don't always result in unity and light. Readers who enjoy memoirs, stories of lifestyle changes and strife, and a healthy dose of humor to bind all together won't just relish My Million-Dollar Donkey - they'll see it as a standout in its genre and one which offers a simple message: "There are no limits in life, if you just believe."
My Million-Dollar Donkey: The Price I Paid for Wanting to Live Simply
Return to Index
No
Fairy Tale
D.L. Finn
ISBN Print:
9780996258272
$9.99
ISBN eBook: 9780996258265
$2.99
www.dlfinnauthor.com
No Fairy Tale: The Reality Of A Girl Who Wasn’t A Princess And Her Poetry is a blend of autobiography, poetry, and photographs in a story where "the princess" is the author, and is recommended as a companion read for any who have previously enjoyed D.L. Finn's other writings.
In order for an autobiography to be effective, it ideally should grab the reader with a compelling story that is easy to relate to and clear about its intentions. In this case, the introduction begins with a young "princess" and her deteriorating home life with increasingly violent interactions with her stepfather and stepbrother, an absent father, and a school life where she's an isolated social outcast.
Nonetheless, she retains her dreams of being a writer and a marine biologist until a catastrophic event leads to drugs, drinking, and a descent far from those dreams, at the age of fourteen.
From her growing concept of God and the good people who enter her life to help her heal and grow to how she discovers peace and recovery through faith, "the princess" overcomes much. No Fairy Tale charts this process and the poetry and writing pursuits that thwart vampires, helplessness, and alienation.
Having a blend of introductory autobiography that considers the life of "the princess" against a backdrop of change and challenge which evolves into black and white photos and poems that also display these events and their impact may challenge some who anticipate the traditional autobiographical structure of one or the other device. But that's actually one of the strengths in No Fairy Tale: its ability to use prose, poetry, and art to capture and portray all the impacts of growth and healing using several different mediums.
While readers who prefer linear approaches may balk at the story's movement between prose and poetry, ultimately this creates better opportunities to understand both bigger picture and smaller, intimate moments of observation and changes in perspective, making No Fairy Tale a recommended pick for autobiography readers who appreciate inspirational, poetry-infused sagas.
No Fairy Tale
Return to Index
The
Painting and The Piano
John Lipscomb and Adrianne Lugo
ALJ Marketing LLC
978-0-9980031-0-8 (hardcover) $20.00
978-0-9980031-1-5
(softcover) $16.95
https://amzn.com/0998003107
It's rare that a story line which reads like a romance proves to be a nonfiction memoir; but such is the case with The Painting and The Piano, which provides a dual focus on the authors' backgrounds and different family struggles and the love that finally brought them together. One might anticipate that their family struggles were similar; but in fact Johnny and Adrianne were polar opposites in many ways, as Johnny's Missouri upbringing of wealth and privilege contrasted sharply with Adrianne's middle-class Long Island Jewish upbringing.
This
contrast in perspectives is reinforced with a tandem
dual narrative style which brings out the different insights and worlds
of each
author and does a terrific job of contrasting their experiences.
Another plus:
chapter headings clearly say "Johnny" and "Adrianne", so
there's no possibility of confusing their voices, which move adeptly
and
smoothly between
chapters.
One main theme to these parallel autobiographies is presented early on in a discussion that highlights the importance and lasting impact of family: "…one of the core elements to our humanity is the mother-child bond. If that bond is removed or damaged it’s like taking gravity away. All of a sudden that child’s left spinning."
Johnny and Adrianne were lost for a long time, before finding each other and healing through their shared experiences. The nature of their dance, both individually and together, is explored in a powerful testimony to survival efforts and the capacity of humans to build new, better, nurturing lives from tough beginnings. Addiction, sobriety, and AA's influence on building these lives all come together in a memoir that is at once captivating, painful, and revealing.
There are many aspects to Adrienne and Johnny's journey: so many that some threads are left unexplored. To follow them all would have meant creating a weightier production that might have lost many a reader; but the beauty of this story lies its ability to stay on track and true to the heart of its message: that even spinning lives out of control can be made whole with a combination of luck, work, and new, positive life-affirming connections.
The Painting and The Piano's attention to detail and drama could have made it a powerful fictional romance; but the fact that this story of recovery reflects the true and purposeful paths of two very different lives makes for an even more important read contrasting angst and hope, and providing insights highly recommended for any family or individual struggling with addiction, recovery, and love: "We lived in such darkness and were so lost that we believe that if we can find our way to the light, then anyone can. We are blessed, but it’s a blessing available to anyone willing to reach out for help and take the journey."
The Painting and The Piano
Return to Index
Bloom
Within My Heart Bloom
Within My Heart
is about a young adult growing into her life and into her
beliefs, and crafts the autobiography of a shy young woman's evolution
from her
Nashville roots to a search for a life more fully lived for the glory
of God. Plenty
of autobiographies provide details on coming of age
and evolving relationships with God; but what makes Bloom Within My Heart different
is its focus on how this
process intersects with life experiences and how tragedy and adversity
interconnect with belief to allow an even closer relationship with
God. In
Nadine Hapaz's case, the difficulties and triumphs of her
life and the people that help transmit God's messages and intentions
shape her
beliefs, responses, choices. They ultimately direct her desire to move
in
avenues beyond Biblical teachings and into more solid connections
between life
experience and the transformative power of God. From
living in a Bible college considering choices set forth
by God to bring Hapaz full circle back to paths she had moved away from
to
entangled romances, Billy Graham meetings, abandonment, and dramatic
shifts in
relationships with family, friends, and loved ones, readers are
steadily
immersed in a life that is always guided by Hapaz's evolving
relationship with
God. Readers
who are interested in how spiritual belief is changed
with the passage of time and life's slings and arrows will relish Bloom Within My Heart for
its candid
portrait of a faith tested and recreated, and a young woman's budding
relationship with God in the face of these trials. Building
Faith Through A Carpenter’s Hands Christian
readers, take note: there's something different
being offered in Building
Faith Through A
Carpenter’s Hands: a blend of memoir, a story of
personal
enlightenment, and a realization of how God's gifts and purpose are
uniquely
reflected in each individual. Southern-raised
Brandon Russell always wanted to change the
world - he just didn't know how. It took his father's death from cancer
and a
series of revelations and other experiences to move him from a vague
and
unrealized goal to achieving true purpose in his life through a kind of
"applied faith" toolbox that he could only explore one at a time. Building Faith
follows his footsteps to
enlightenment. As
each chapter evolves, another 'gift' is taken out of the
box, examined, and revealed in all its facets. The personal foundation
of a
belief in God proved only the beginning of the journey that Russell
describes
as he sifts through life lessons, opportunities realized or lost, and
their
ultimate trajectories. Because
Building Faith
is based on a memoir, readers should anticipate a healthy juxtaposition
between
the author's life experiences and their concurrent lessons. This
approach
serves as just the ticket for understanding how new roles are assumed
when
things shift, how each life lesson adds another tool to the toolbox of
faith,
and how each tool can be more deeply explored, used, and applied to
life. From
"Know Your Place" to the unlikely (but
powerful) places where belief can be nurtured in self and others, Building Faith
is packed with a satisfying
blend of personal saga and powerful insights: "This revelation was bigger than
any revelation we had to offer. These
couples were able to talk the matter through. It’s funny what unsaid
words do. One couple thought the problem was the relationship at work.
One
couple ached for their life. When everyone came to the table, a
relationship
had been given the tools and answers to be healed. You just never know
when God
will call you to serve. It’s in these moments I am so thankful God
placed
me where he did. In the most unlikely space, a basement of someone’s
home, we were able to help another believer." The
result is a lively, involving, readable memoir of
uncovering faith and purpose in even the direst moments and unlikeliest
of
places, and how to apply these tools to life's encounters. Christian
readers
will find it a purposeful yet accessible account that makes the most of
the
memoir format to explain and explore the paths of faith that begin with
a
foundation of belief and move outward from there.
Nadine Hapaz
Wasteland Press
978-1-68111-113-1
$13.95
http://www.wastelandpress.net/
Bloom
Within My Heart
Return
to Index
Brandon Russell with Danielle A. Vann
Waldorf Publishing
978-1-943848-58-4
$24.95
http://amzn.com/1943848580
Building
Faith Through A Carpenter’s Hands
Return
to Index
Bullet
in the Blue Sky Kira
Boyd is on a mission in Sacramento in the early hours of
morning: she's blazed her way to work, beat the highway patrol, and
senses that
everything in her world is about to change. In the new world that's
coming, her
actions could make her a heroine. In
the next scene, Investigator Kevin Schmidt is on his own
mission, following a potential perp in the early hours of dawn. His
actions may
not make him a hero; but in the world of law enforcement, he's a
scrappy
character operating on a team tasked with protecting critical
infrastructures
against terrorist attacks. When
worlds collide, they often do so in blindingly
unpredictable manners. In this case, a major earthquake tosses
disparate
interests into the same arena, mixing them up until readers aren't sure
who is
hero, who is heroine, and who is possibly planning the end of the
world. Dodger
Stadium has broken apart, there are homicides and
chaos in the streets, and power and communications are down. Under
these
conditions, Schmitty must make life-or-death decisions, help survivors,
and
tackle an evolving plot that leads six detectives on a wild chase
through a
damaged, changed world. Even
as Los Angeles burns, there's something higher-priority
in the police docket which involves locating fellow detective Shaw at
all
costs, ignoring the riots and chaos that are decimating the city.
Why? As
an unusual search-and-rescue mission is conducted and
Schmitty gets closer to the truth, learning that others are also
competing to
locate said Detective Shaw, he begins to question the nature and
associations
between his top superiors and his own role in the effort. The
juxtaposition of an end-of-the-world event with an
investigative detective story will satisfy genre readers who look for
action-packed backdrops and adventures that question authority and
motives on
all sides. Bill
Larkin excels at creating a plot steeped in disaster and
competing special interests tempered by waves of loss as leaders die
and
chilling encounters with terrorists evolve. Perhaps
the best feature of Bullet
in the Sky lies in a crime story line that is
also centered around
moral and ethical conundrums which encourage readers to think deeply
about
forces of good and evil in society, and what defines them. Crime
fiction readers looking for a powerful plot centered on
special interests and information blackouts surrounding a horrible
truth will
find Bullet in
the Sky a
compelling saga that's hard to put down. Code
Name: Papa Code
Name: Papa: My Extraordinary Life
while Hiding in Plain Sight
is part of a trilogy, it presents one man's dual life as a
family man and spy, and, most extraordinary of all, it's true. Readers
who are captivated by thrillers, mysteries, and crime
stories will become fans of Code Name Papa,
alongside those already familiar with true crime and international
espionage
accounts, and will find it an absolutely fascinating saga. Part
of what lends to the particular delight of this story is
its lively narrative style, which takes readers on a round-the-world
journey
that opens with a lovely, typical New England
autumn day; but with a twist. Author John Murray is meeting with an
ex-operative at a house that used to hold their group's secret
meetings. What
was his job and purpose? John Murray "Worked my way up to the head of
the American arm of
an international covert ring whose sole intent was to rid the US and
other
countries of eminent danger or political damage. The job often meant
taking
“the bad guys” out, as there were seldom easy fixes." Readers
quickly learn that this seemingly-ordinary middle
class American family man with the usual family ties and progress in
life has
somehow risen to the top of a secretive group that often sacrifices
their lives
and relationships for the sake of a higher goal: keeping America (and
the
world) a safer place. As
an undercover agent, Murray's
employers have included the US
and various governments overseas. "Papa" has traveled the world on
various tasks with his team, facing terrorists, security risks, and
taking out
those who would threaten governments and lives. From
how he was first recruited to his evolving duties, their
devastating efforts on his marriages, and his eventual retirement from
the
world of undercover dangers, gunfights, and moles, Code Name: Papa
is especially notable for presenting a
careful balance between his role as a covert operator and his alter ego
as an
ordinary family man; and for exposing an underworld of secret,
dangerous,
government-sponsored missions and how they've helped the
world. This
isn't a world most ordinary individuals know about.
Readers may hold mixed feelings at discovering its existence; but one
thing is
certain: the blend of different cases and assignments, tense action,
and fine
reflection on not just heart-stopping moments but how they affect
everything in
Papa's life makes for fascinating reading that's hard to put
down. Readers
of thrillers, mysteries, and crime and espionage
stories will find few can compete with the real-world encounters of
Papa as he
walks a delicate line between disaster and success in all facets of his
life,
making Code
Name: Papa a top
recommendation and a standout across many genres. It's quite simply a
compelling, riveting page-turner from beginning to end. The
Death of Distant Stars The
Death of Distant Stars
is a powerful legal thriller holding something different
than the usual courtroom proceedings as it presents the vivid story of
an
attorney caught up in a wrongful death suit against the pharmaceutical
company
that made the drug that caused her husband's death. Embedded in that
event is
the couple's inability to have children and the likelihood that he has
formed
an attachment with another woman despite his deep love for
her. That's
a lot to wind into one novel, and under another
writer's hand, the interplay between personal and legal worlds might
have
proved too much; but Deborah Hawkins holds the ability to inject just
the right
degree of personal insight into an overlay of legal complexity and so The Death of Distant Stars
becomes a
clear, accessible, and engrossing story that will appeal beyond the
usual legal
thriller reader circles. Audiences
who usually eschew this genre for its predictable
formula approach will find nothing staid about The
Death of Distant Stars, from beautiful Kathryn
Andrews (who is
determined to confront the big drug company whose dangerous product
caused her
beloved Tom's death) to attorneys who are attracted to her cause and
her beauty
and intelligence, to the possible detriment of her case, creating a
engrossing
drama that pairs legal proceedings with personal struggles. The
result is a gripping saga that winds through private
lives, and political and legal confrontations alike in a story that's
hard to
put down and satisfyingly unpredictable in its fine
conclusion. He
Counts Their Tears Sometimes
things which look good and seem perfect are
actually too good to be true. Such is the case with handsome,
successful, rich
Aaron Stein, who is a monster in disguise. Aaron is a master at
presenting an
outward appearance that belays his real persona, which centers on a
quest for
power that successfully manipulates everyone around him and leaves
shattered
lives in its wake. All
this is about to change, because Aaron has finally met
his match - or, has he? He
Counts Their Tears
is a compelling thriller about a man's secret life revealed.
Its psychological twists and turns are well-done and involving, showing
how
Aaron masterfully locates and assesses the women who are his prey,
makes moves
to gain their trust, and takes sick pleasure in the fun of destroying
their
lives. Aaron's
thought processes are clear at each step of the way
as he uses love to lure in and control his victims in a process he
calls
"The Method". It's insidious, and its tentacles of horror envelope
readers in a series of cat-and-mouse games in which the cat (Aaron)
plays with
his food (women), flexing his control over their lives. Chapters probe
Aaron's
past and the roots of his perdition, and readers receive many insights
into his
evolutionary process. The
problem begins when a clever predator becomes the prey
and realizes his own game is being used against him. Jealousy, love,
victims
and the sense of fun Aaron derives from buying the feelings of those
around him
come to the forefront in a gripping saga of the inner workings and
evolution of
a particularly calculating form of madness. It's
intriguing to find enjoyment in a novel featuring a
protagonist who is not just unlikeable, but despicable. Readers who
seek happy
endings and uplifting books will find He
Counts Their Tears is more of an examination of
how psyches go bad,
and may find the repeated emphasis on this process and its patterns to
be
challenging. However, given the state of the current world,
understanding how
these situations can develop can be key to safety and sanity. (Victims,
take
note: the reading is tense and compelling - and at times could prove
emotionally overwhelming to those in recovery or those who have been at
the mercy
of such predators.) Readers
seeking a precise, cutting examination of the mind
and motivations of a narcissistic psychopath will find He Counts Their Tears
offers many chilling
moments and compelling revelations of how such a man can operate
despite social
safety measures and awareness. Impala Mystery
and thriller readers are in for a treat with Impala, a
story in which a man trying to
change his world battles forces which draw him back into the seedier
side of
life. Everyone
knows Charlie, it seems. At his memorial, it also
feels like everyone knew a different Charlie - including his friend
Russell.
It's been four years, and all Russell's achieved has been a boring job,
the
wrong woman, and an overall dissatisfaction with life. So when a
strange
message arrives from his deceased old buddy, Russell finds himself
facing a
stalker, a threat from authorities, and a mystery that pulls him back
into his
old life, kicking and screaming (but not quite fully resisting the
lure). Impala
is a tale of drugs, weapons, thieves and digital threats,
spiced with the savvy and concerns of a former hacker trying to change
his
life, only to find himself the focal point of a controversy that makes
him the
focal point of conflict from different factions. Experiencing
an "ambush of emotions" in his love
life, efforts to connect with people that only result in failure, and
the prospect
of what might become real love just as he's on the cusp of losing
everything,
Russell dodges many bullets and embarks on a race through a crazy
world, fueled
by his perseverance and tenacity. Russell
can't back down and can't let go of anything completely.
Neither can the reader let go of the winding, compelling story that is Impala as
they follow Russell through the
inconsistencies of relationships and danger. Ideally,
mysteries and thrillers should be emotionally
charged so that readers care enough about the protagonist to follow
what
happens to him. Impala
does a
terrific job of crafting a gritty, savvy and devious protagonist who
moves
through his world with precision and personal angst. The
result fine-tunes a personal story and thriller, bringing
Russell's purposes and decisions to life in a series of events that
make for a
compelling, unexpected mystery that's hard to put down and satisfyingly
complex
to the end. Limboland Eight-year-old
Chelsa Moran's life changes when she's forced
to walk to school along a dangerous road and is involved in an accident
that
leaves her in a coma. But what does this event have to do with her
five-year-old half sister Sienna, six years later? Everything;
as psychiatrist Rand Morrissey comes to find out
when he is called in to consult on the puzzling case of a
five-year-old's
fainting spells, only to uncover a darker danger involving an
irresponsible
mother's secret, hypnosis, and a deadly connection between two sisters
and
their different circumstances. Limboland
is the kind of medical thriller on par with Robin Cook and
the best of genre writers, holding an ability to grip readers with a
variety of
compelling personalities and emotions, right from the start. From
a career woman who is on a trajectory to the top (even
if it means flirting and sleeping with her boss) to Rand's work on the
pediatric ward of St. Augustus Hospital and his increasing involvement
in one
of his most puzzling cases yet, readers are pulled into a mesh of
special
interests, a whirlwind of events that increasingly point to some
bizarre
connections, and, ultimately, a race against time. Rand finds himself
embroiled
in assault charges, accusations and arrests, subconscious motivations,
and
lifestyle choices, while a young child's life lies in the
balance. Some
things never change; and sometimes a single case can
rock a doctor's world. In Rand's situation, Sienna and her family
provide such
a scenario, and Rand's choices and struggles may lead him directly back
to his
own family ties. Gripping,
packed with powerful characters and motives, and
steeped in conundrums, Limboland
is a highly recommended medical thriller that provides
seat-of-your-pants
reading that's hard to put down. The
People's House When
one door closes, another opens. Sometimes death closes
that door. Sometimes what opens in its wake is a repurposed life. Such
an event
is described in The
People's House,
when reporter Jack Shape's assignment as an obituary writer becomes a
cathartic
impetus for change: "The
worst obituary
I ever had to write was about a local congressman. In many ways, I
wrote two.
First, Lee Kelly was voted out of office, fired by his community as the
nation
watched. And then three months to the day of that termination, Kelly
died on
the side of a Pennsylvania
highway in a high-speed, fiery crash." Although
it holds the trappings of a thriller, The People's House isn't
just a fictional
drama; it's a political expose of a corrupted democratic process. The
obituary
designed to be Kelly's last write-up isn't his first; nor will it end
with his
death: "Once I
filled in the final
numbers and a few quotes, it would read like all my other Kelly
stories:
“Landslide Lee Does It Again.” Until Landslide Lee lost." As
the political insights evolve, readers receive an insider's
eye to emotions and interactions which reveal nuances of political
process that
typically don't leak out into public awareness: "Kelly’s loss surprised me, along
with the
national results. There had been so much talk before Election Day.
Buckets of
ink wasted on column after column of commentary. And they all got it
wrong. I
sure did. I’m supposed to be an expert, but I had no idea. How were we
all so off base? But what kept me stewing came from deeper within. The
sudden
silence of the party, the look in Lee Kelly’s wide eyes, the pained
tone
of his voice, even Gibbs’ hollow rhetoric. They all brought me back
decades. To a similar moment. A similar look. An equally long silence.
And even
greater heartbreak. Not for others, but for me and those I loved." Because
Kelly's ultimate loss is only the beginning of the
story, readers of The
People's House
should expect a tense story that escalates as the number of deaths
rises. Fiery
car accidents, heart attacks, and violent muggings are part of the
urban milieu
(and certainly a part of any reporter's work, much less an obit
writer's
focus); but as certain political circles experience more than their
share of
deaths, a reporter's move to get to the heart of matters leads him on a
journey
with too many suspects, too much suspicion, and newfound insights into
how
candidates campaign and the broken lives that can be left along the
political
trail. Jack
Sharpe embarks on a venture that leads to a heart-stopping
series of events as he uncovers the truth behind the death of a man who
tried
to expose a badly broken system and its blow against election and
democratic
processes. Campaigns
are about more than single candidates: they're
about power struggles, the course and future of democratic process, and
the
choices that candidates and their supporters make. From issues of
vote-rigging
and systems susceptible to guaranteeing the outcome of district
elections to
the actions of lobbyists and political figures involved in murder, The People's House is
much more than just
a thriller or murder mystery. In
the process of exposing a plot, it reveals far-reaching
insights on real-world political processes which will delight readers
looking
for more than just an action-packed saga, backed by real-world events
gleaned
from political activist David Pepper's own intimate associations with
Ohio and federal
political processes. Set
Free A
novel's opening lines can make all the difference between
capturing attention and wanting to read further and setting the book
aside. In
the case of Set
Free, a single
line sets a gripping introductory scenario: "I would have packed less if I
knew I was going to die." Jasper
Wills is at the Marrakesh
airport, waiting for a ride that never shows. Giving up, he decides to
find a
hotel on his own when he's approached by a neatly-attired cab driver -
and
that's where the second point of intrigue is deftly placed: "Nothing about the man, a boy
really, hinted that
something wasn’t quite right." The
protagonist is taken for a ride in more ways than one,
and as a series of complex scenes evolve, the jet-setting American
traveler
quickly comes to find himself immersed in a plot that embraces his
anonymity
and the mystery of another culture. The
author of a New York Times best-seller, Jasper Wills is
now in the position of being a captive, brutalized by a man who's
apparently
being forced to act like a monster. From kidnappers to romance and from
an
elusive truth to plans to gain freedom against all odds, Set Free makes
intriguing twists and turns
as it focuses on a struggle to stay alive. Its
dual focus on the long-term effects of challenging and
life-threatening experience is exceptionally well done as characters
discuss
their uncertain and special connections in the face of adversity: "You and me, Jenn,” I tentatively
began,
“we’re in a unique position. Only we know what we’ve been
through since Mikki was taken. I know people sympathize with us;
parents,
friends, complete strangers too. But they don’t really know how this
feels. Only you do. And I do.” As
the lives of Jasper, Jenn, Katie, and others entwine in a
desperate struggle, readers are drawn into a story that is compellingly
gripping and hard to put down. Events move from overseas to home as a
father's
mission, fueled by his daughter's ghost, changes everything. Recommended
for any reader who wants heart-stopping moments
and thought-provoking scenes from their thrillers, Set Free is
ultimately a discussion of the costs of freedom
and the threat of bondage. Trolling
Heaven The
fourth book in Alex Siegel's 'First Circle Club' series has arrived;
and like its predecessors, it's a winning story. Here Heaven and Hell
is
crumbling because of the efforts of two dangerous forces intent on
destroying
the long-standing Celestial Contract that has kept worlds intact. If
these
forces succeed, it will mean the end of many things - including human
souls. One
might anticipate that, given such circumstances, all
angels and devils would be involved in the fight; but in Heaven angels
are
abandoning their posts while demons running amok on Earth are busy
challenging
Virgil and his First Circle
Club. Trouble is brewing; but Virgil has his hands full not only with
all these
forces, but the unwelcome attentions of a lusty succubus. What more can
go
wrong - and can it be fixed? Can
angels die? Can forces entrap and destroy them? How can
Virgil better prepare the talented members of his First Circle Club to
deal with all these
threats? As
the case of a missing angel opens a virtual Pandora's Box
of problems, Virgil and his partners face more woes than ever before.
They are
the ones who can walk between heaven and hell and Earthly concerns; the
ones
charged with keeping an uncertain peace while facing impossible
adversaries.
Ultimately, they may be the only gatekeepers between utter chaos and
some
semblance of order. The
addition of computer-centered intrigue, social media
conundrums, and the special motivations of a unicorn who cheats at the
most
importance race of the year adds a touch of light-heartedness to a
winding
story line based on the cathedral of technology in a world where angels
can
walk forth from computers. Trolling
Heaven
is especially recommended for prior fans of the First Circle Club,
who will easily absorb the setting, characters, and concerns of this
latest
supernatural thriller. Newcomers
interested in something different in the world of
supernatural/sci-fi/thriller reading will find much to like, here:
there are
angels and demons, unicorns and detective processes, crooks who like
gold, and
motivations that move into otherworldly realms. Cryptic computer code
written
by a man possessed of forces from Hell challenge the most adept First
Circle talents,
while police entanglements, trapped children, and an archangel who
kills two
demons on Earth portend dilemmas that neatly illustrate the
intersections of
special interests in Heaven, Hell, and among men. It's
impossible to document all the subplots and threads that
make Trolling
Heaven an even more
engrossing read than its predecessors. Suffice it to say that prior
fans of the
series will be especially thrilled by its unexpected twists and turns,
while
newcomers will be delighted with a saga that offers a complex story
line and
many seemingly-loose ends that come together full circle in the
end. This
alone will drive these new readers to the other three
books in the series; but be forewarned: Trolling
Heaven is hard to beat - and offers a
cliffhanger, as Virgil faces
the biggest challenge and change of all. Unassimilated It’s
relatively easy to tell when a thriller will be a
winner: Unassimilated
wins hands
down in the ‘captivate’ category with an opener that’s
instantly compelling: "Thup!
Crimson splashed
against the penthouse window. Zoe Mousa had never seen a sound
suppressor, let
alone heard one. The handgun coughed like a sick kitten, cat lung
cancer, a
firebreathing baby cat. It didn’t mask the mechanical action of the
killer’s gun, nor did it hide the crack of a bullet breaking bone. But
he
delivered murder in a feline hiss." Resourceful,
determined, and in over her head, Zoe often
finds herself puzzled by Western humor and cultural norms far from her
experience. What does she need from the world, at what cost, and will
she get
it? American
society serves as the backdrop for Zoe’s
special challenges, with the microcosm of Zoe’s peculiar form of
insanity, contrasting well with the macrocosm of international politics
and
intrigue. Zoe's
fled the Middle East to escape scenes such as this one;
but now she finds herself struggling with kidnappers, guns,
international
subterfuge, and even a dash of romance as she falls into a Chinese
cyber war
plot that produces new enemies, an uncertain future, and too many
bodies. Resourceful,
determined, and in over her head, Zoe often
finds herself puzzled by Western humor and cultural norms far from her
experience, facing down powerful leaders and building a newfound sense
of power
and ability in a growth process that challenges everything she's ever
known.
What does she need from the world, and at what cost will she get
it? Michael
Benzehabe does an outstanding job of tempering his
story with a solid focus on protagonist Zoe's cultural roots and its
intersections with Western attitudes, beliefs, and approaches to life.
Under
his hand, Zoe becomes a powerful and well-rounded character whose
ability to
come out on top in the most impossible situations is softened by her
growing
knowledge of the differences between her familiar Middle Eastern roots
and
American choices: "I
can’t
explain your dream,” Zoe said, “but things are different
here.” This was mostly wishful thinking, and she found herself
parroting
the dean’s exact words. “America’s
fighting and the fighting in the Middle East
aren’t quite the same. No bombs or bullets here. From now on, my fights
will be civilized, like a friendly debate over a cup of coffee.” Along
the way, Zoe stops talking about bringing her fellow
orphan girlfriends to the U.S. Some of her support systems fail ("America’s better off without Zoe
. . . because
I had to culturally commute to understand what she meant. She
was a
strange sort of a friend--if friend she was. People who come to America
to be
loved are wasting their time. Come with the expectation of being dealt
in--that’s it. The best skill in cards is knowing when to discard."),
and so does her goal of assimilating the American dream. She's
dangerous, she's painful, and the love match between
Saul and Zoe may just turn into another haunting nightmare. Swirling
around
Zoe's matches, challenges, and intrigue is the juxtaposed atmospheres
of Middle
East and American lives which permeate a rich story that incorporates
issues of
prejudice, cultural changes, and social issues alike. Much
of what is wrong or tested in American society serves as
a backdrop for Zoe's special challenges, with the microcosm of Zoe's
peculiar
form of insanity and change contrasting well with the macrocosm of
international politics and intrigue. Binding all are relationships on
different
levels which draw readers into wide-ranging questions of friends,
enemies,
special purposes and growth processes that can either embrace the past
or
reject it. It's
relatively easy to tell when a thriller is a winner:
bind personal with political growth, create a backdrop of compelling
cultural
insights and differences, and mix in evolving changes that hold the
power to
either kill or transform for a gripping read which thriller readers
will find
difficult to put down. The
White Devil It's
sometimes hard to say at what point a thriller grips the
reader and exerts a pull that can't be resisted, but no such question
emerges
with The White
Devil, where the
very first paragraph introduces a compelling scene that's nearly
irresistible:
"THERE’S BEEN
ANOTHER MURDER,
this one in Los Angeles, in the sand under the Palisades. Both of my
husbands
are dead. I am young to have been married twice, let alone widowed." It's
quickly established that the narrator is female,
surrounded by unexplained murders, and has taken refuge in anonymity
and in
Rome: no mean fete given that she's an actress and her image is easily
recognizable by those who follow the gossip magazines. Some
can lead a secret life. Some can effectively hide from
the world. Not so the narrator, who finds anonymity as difficult as it
is
comforting with a trail of murders that plagues her footsteps following
ever-close behind her. What
evolves from this opener is more than a murder mystery:
it's a story of Italy, obsessions, candid cultural observations, and a
sense of
place and confused purpose that keep readers guessing, entertained, and
thoroughly immersed in the narrator's evolving world: "The streets were dirty and hot.
Flies swarmed the
Colosseum. The spring was so short that year, nonexistent. Everything
stank of
itself. The Italians in their bright synthetics. The Pakistani vendors.
The
streets, too, the old stones, the restaurants, the English women with
their toy
dogs drenched in cologne." From
first husbands and games played by a brother to a plan
that immerses the narrator in a deadly plot, The
White Devil's compelling twists and turns will
keep readers guessing
about what will transpire, on many levels. Links
between criminal, religious and political elements in
Rome, loyalties frayed and bonds tested, and the backdrop of a pope's
death and
the winding ties of Italian political processes all draw readers into
another
world that often belies romantic portraits presented of Rome and Italy,
and
cross purposes with a protagonist who opens the saga with an intention
of
remaining hidden. Readers
who appreciate complex plots, strong characters
firmly rooted in a sense of purpose and place, and mystery stories that
embrace
facets of foreign cultures and politics will relish The White Devil's
ability to draw in both thriller and
mystery audiences with a production that's anything but staid or
predictable.
Bill Larkin
Spyglass Press
978-0989400213 $12.99
https://amzn.com/0989400212
Bullet
in the Blue Sky
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to Index
John Murray as told to Sharron Murray, With Abby Jones
Archway Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-4808-1945-0 (sc)
$20.99
ISBN: 978-1-4808-1946-7 (hc)
$37.95
ISBN: 978-1-4808-1947-4
(e) $ 7.99
https://amzn.com/148081945X
Code
Name: Papa
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to Index
Deborah Hawkins
Deborah Hawkins, Publisher
ISBN 978-0-9889347-7-1 (ebook) $3.99
ISBN 978-0-9889347-8-8 (print)
www.dhawkins.net
The
Death of Distant Stars
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to Index
Mary Ann D'Alto
Dog Ear Publishing
978-1-4575-3744-8-51595
ebook $4.95; paperback $15.95; hardcover $24.00
http://www.amazon.com/author/
He
Counts Their Tears
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to Index
Andrew Diamond
Stolen Time Press
9780996350730
$14.99
www.stolentimepress.com
https://adiamond.me
Impala
Return
to Index
Leigh Goodison
Sheffield Publications
978-0692746004 $13.99
www.leighgoodison.com
http://tinyurl.com/zykvbhh
Limboland
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to Index
David Pepper
St. Helena Press
ISBN: 9781619845121 $11.99
eISBN: 9781619845138 $ 4.99
www.davidpepper.com
The
People's House
Return
to Index
Anthony Bidulka
Bon Vivant Books
ISBN: 978-0-9952292-1-1
(Paperback)
$14.99 USD
ISBN: 978-0-9952292-0-4 (eBook)
$5.99 USD
www.anthonybidulka.com
www.amazon
Set
Free
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to Index
Alex Siegel
Amazon Digital Services LLC
ASIN: B01HJ3L35G
$2.99
https://amzn.com/B01HJ3L35G
Trolling
Heaven
Return
to Index
Michael Benzehabe
Shema Publishing
ISBN-13: 978-1535350310
ISBN-10: 1535350318
Price: $9.99
Website/Ordering Link:
amazon.com/author/benzehabe
Unassimilated
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to Index
Domenic Stansberry
Molotov Editions
Hard Cover: 978-0-9967659-0-9 $30.00
Trade Paper 978-0-9967659-1-6 $15.95
www.molotoveditions.com
www.domenicstansberry.com
The
White Devil
Return
to Index
Brought
to Our Senses
Kathleen H. Wheeler
Attunement Publishing
978-0-9965555-3-1
Paperback
$16.00
978-0-9965555-1-7 EPUB
978-0-9965555-2-4 Kindle
www.BroughtToOurSenses.com
Amazon
link:
https://www.amazon.com/Brought-Our-Senses-Family-Novel/dp/0996555536
Barnes &
Noble link:
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/brought-to-our-senses-kathleen-h-wheeler/1124450695
Local Bookseller:
http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780996555531
Elizabeth and her family knew, long before it happened, that death was on its way for mother Janice. Everybody knew: arrangements had long been made. What she couldn't have predicted was how her mother's ordeal would change the whole family; and that is the focus of Brought to Our Senses, a novel about life, death, care giving, and Alzheimer's.
Funerals should offer fresh starts as well as endings; but in this case, the start stems from the volatility of an Alzheimer's patient during the last part of her life, and with a caregiver daughter forced to come to terms with siblings over her efforts.
While numerous novels have been written about Alzheimer's from different perspectives (patient, caregiver, and family), hardly any stories so deftly capture the raging changes in personality that can affect every decision and bond, making Brought to Our Senses a tense, gripping, and eye-opening addition to existing fiction on families facing dementia.
An aging parent's ongoing and irresolvable health crisis strains already-damaged sibling relationships, and as their personalities, belief systems, choices, and values clash over the stressful situation, so each family member is tasked with finding a way to heal and adapt.
Few other books hold such powerful messages that embrace the struggles of an entire family. Many offer singular viewpoints and experiences. The power of Brought to Our Senses lies in its ability to depict both the full progression of Alzheimer's and the choices of loved ones who have to adjust to each new stage.
From handling other health issues (including how dental work can be performed on a confused, frightened patient) to fears that the family legacy of dementia will continue to permeate the family tree, Brought to Our Senses is one of the most true-to-life, gripping accounts on the complexities of interconnected family relationships that has appeared in recent years, and should be on the reading lists of any who would forego the dispassionate approaches of nonfiction for an all-embracing emotional look at Alzheimer’s. Very highly recommended as a striking jewel that is a glowing standout from the growing stack of dementia fiction sagas.
Brought to Our Senses
Return to Index
Carnie's
Child
Lois Rafferty
Okoboji Press
9780990827801 $15.00
www.okobojipress.com
Carnie's Child is a story of trauma, grief, and recovery that begins suddenly one dark night when a woman's accident kills a child. In one second, everything about Carnie's life changes - and so does her family.
Loss embraces more than the death of a child, but spreads like ripples into Carnie's life and the community around her. How does one go on after causing a devastating accident? What is the process of picking up the pieces, and how does this process incorporate dreams and decisions made long ago, about a different child? At one time Carnie was involved and connected with life, emotionally, politically, and in different ways. Her growing distance evolved not just from this juncture in life, but from a series of decisions made long ago. Now everything has changed.
In many ways, Carnie's Child is the quintessential story of survival and post-traumatic stress syndrome. It's also a blossoming story of evolution, change, and revisiting past decisions with new choices in mind.
One of the pleasures and draws of Carnie's Child is its ability to present "everywoman" in the persona of Carnie. Lois Rafferty's exquisite attention to psychological underpinnings in a carefully-constructed life that actually teeters precariously on a tightrope of circumstance provides readers with a believable protagonist who feels like a family member or the "woman next door", then takes her through a situation which deftly illustrates the adage "that which doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
At each step of the way, Carnie's choices are clear - and their impact solidly portrayed. Children, families, and the life situations which hold them together or challenge the most intimate of bonds are all incorporated into the widening circle of Carnie's psyche until it's impossible not to read on to find out what will ultimately transpire.
Readers seeking a multi-faceted novel that takes a seemingly-ordinary, successful woman's life and unravels it until the final thread is closely examined will relish the evocative and compelling persona of Carnie to the last page.
Carnie's Child
Return to Index
Chakana
W.E. Lawrence
CreateSpace
978-1519518057
$14.99
https://amzn.com/1519518056
The best historical novels have one thing in common: an ability to weave their stories firmly within the roots of events and settings past; to make their characters come to life against a backdrop of history that can largely feel dispassionate and staid were it not for the added life that fiction can offer. The very best offer surprises that challenge the genre's inclination to focus on historical events over adventure and action.
Such a story is Chakana, set in the 1940s, before the start of World War II: its historical era may hint at a focus on political events and its introduction (in 1934 Ohio) may portend a plot about "country boy/farmer goes to war"; but in fact James Fleming represents the persona of an Indiana Jones adventurer long before the modern hero's appearance, and finds himself on a desperate race to chase down the ancient lost treasure of King Huascar of the Incas before the Nazis get there first.
War may be looming, but James is mired in a quest that has become an obsession for him, filled with different ramifications whether he succeeds or fails. The political and historical side of the picture revolves around a British spy's efforts to infiltrate a art smuggling ring near Peru to uncover how the Nazis are gaining treasure to fund their cause.
When Scotsman James Fleming meets American Kate Rhodes after an accident parts him from his horse in the countryside, neither is prepared for the turn of events destined to bring them together and send them far afield; nor did they know much about the Incas or their legacy.
A discovery leads to the legend of a machine whose pieces are hidden in various Inca temples that are now in ruins throughout the empire; and leads Kate and James into the world of international smuggling, special interests, the wise Doctor Charlie (whose insights on glyph writings and keys open doors to wisdom and danger), and a high-stakes journey that could change the course of history.
Historical fiction often suffers from a bad reputation. Too often a focus on history overcomes the action and characters created; but such is not the case in Chakana, which thoroughly develops (and thus immerses) readers in a spirited adventure that is part quest and part romance with more than a dash of reality (the Nazis had many ways of obtaining art and treasure around the world, for their cause) - and always exciting.
With its ability to keep readers' hearts in their throats from the first chapter to the last, adding political and social insights as a backdrop to character struggles, there's much to like about Chakana's powerful approach - and, hopefully, a movie, down the line.
Chakana
Return to Index
Courageous
Footsteps: A WWII Novel
Diane Dettmann
Outskirts Press
978-1478755586 Retail: $24.95
Amazon: $5.99 Kindle; $17.32 Paper
https://amzn.com/147875558X
www.outskirtspress.com/
The majority of novels about World War II are directed to adult audiences, but Courageous Footsteps is a story for teens and presents the experiences of Yasu and Haro Sakamoto, who are removed (along with their family) from their Glenville, California home and interred in a concentration camp.
All ages will find Courageous Footsteps a gripping, eye-opening approach, for several reasons. One is its ability to provide a stark contrast between the comfortable, middle-class American lifestyle experienced by the family at the novel's opening with life behind barbed wire fences after they are removed from their home.
Few other novels, adult or teen, so adequately portray the emotions, daily experiences, and struggles of the Japanese during this period of time. From the moment Pearl Harbor is bombed and war is declared with the Japanese to the President's orders to take away their lives, Courageous Footsteps progresses swiftly and documents the quick rise of fear and its accompanying prejudice, which place the family in constant danger and flux.
Nearly overnight, the Sakamotos become enemies of the people and are attacked, beaten, and maligned by strangers who only see their Japanese faces and not their American identities. Their personal possessions (radios, guns, cameras, binoculars) are confiscated by the Army in the name of national security, the family is forced to do the best it can under prison conditions, and camp regulations take over their formerly-free lives.
How does a family stay together and preserve their shattered dreams under such conditions? Courageous Footsteps is as much a story of this survival process as it is a documentation of one girl's evolving determination to escape this impossible life and resume her dreams.
Teens and new adult audiences alike will find Courageous Footsteps evocative, compelling, and hard to put down.
Courageous Footsteps: A WWII Novel
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Firinne
Elli Swift
Amazon Digital Services
ASIN:
B01IQ3WJFQ
$2.99
https://www.amazon.com/dp/
Mia has lived on the edge of society for twenty years in London, mired in prostitution and addiction after she was raped as a teen; but now she's achieving the impossible: returning home to Ireland to change her life and face the man who sent her on her downward spiral.
Firinne is the baby girl that Mia gave up in her past; but is a baby no longer, and re-emerges seeking answers about what had happened long ago and what cannot be forgotten.
As Mia faces new tests and ghosts that will not be laid to rest, she comes to realize that her choices and decisions don't always involve the past, but continue to hold powerful implications for her future. Those around her (who have been affected by her experiences and decisions) also face their own unique challenges, and the results of a too-quick marriage and life-changing impulses hold their own potential for repeating themes of abandonment and thwarted romance.
Romance novel readers may not anticipate all the directions that Mia's life takes; but they will receive a warm, winding story of struggle, change, and determination wrapped in the cloak of both London's and Ireland's cultures and people.
Mia is a realistic protagonist who struggles heavily with both pain and kindness, past injustices, and future promises and choices. As love evolves and past wrongs are addressed, Mia holds the courage to truly change her world; but not without much soul-searching and consideration of what is truly valued in the world: "…how could she ignore her heart and live a life of regret."
As Mia blossoms and changes, readers will enjoy a fine tale of fear, decisions and their consequences, and an ultimate burst of love that could either make everything worthwhile or destroy everything Mia's strived for in life. How Firinne fits into this bigger picture and Mia's future adds to an absorbing saga with plenty of twists and turns and unpredictable moments, especially recommended for romance readers who will appreciate the solid backdrop of UK/Irish atmospheres and personalities that sets Firinne apart from many other genre reads.
Firinne
Return to Index
Guardian
of Paradise
W.E. Lawrence
CreateSpace
9781500602970
$14.99
https://amzn.com/1500602973
Setting is as big a part of a gripping novel as characterization; and the best place to create the 'gripping' feel is right in the beginning: ideally, in the first paragraph. That's where readers are either hooked or inclined to set a book aside for something more exciting. No need to set Guardian of Paradise aside; for its first paragraph sets the hook and the reader is immediately caught: "Kira’s heart leapt to her throat as the blare of the lookout’s conch horn shattered the tranquil morning. Startled blue and red lories sprang, squawking from the palm trees, their wings thrumming the air as they fled. Macaque monkeys jumped limb to limb, screeching and chattering from their jungle perches. Another blast of the trumpet sent even the fiddler crabs on the beach scurrying for the safety of their holes."
As events unfold, it's revealed that not only is Kira on an island leading a primitive life; but that it's the late 1800s, she's a white woman and survivor of a tsunami that swept away her missionary parents, and her life is about to change when an Australian merchant ship arrives to the isolated South Pacific abode.
Predictably, there's a tall, handsome man on board who holds the capacity to capture Kira's lonely heart. There's also a complication: Kira doesn't trust the boat's captain or its mission - so how can she trust the alluring stranger Trevor?
It's a pleasure to read a historical romance filled with adventure and intrigue. Kira is a headstrong, take-charge kind of woman tailored by both her circumstances and her determination to survive all kinds of obstacles in life. A love affair with a scientist introduces yet another challenge to Kira's world.
Once again, W.E. Lawrence refutes the notion that a historical fiction piece should translate to a serious and complex work. As Guardian of Paradise evolves, readers become involved in plot powered by romances, headstrong individuals, and potent motivations and forces active on all sides of a bigger question.
Especially recommended for romance readers, Guardian of Paradise offer something different to this genre audience: more action and historical background than most. These facets drive a story line that may hold a somewhat predictable conclusion, but adds many satisfying, absorbing insights along the way.
Guardian of Paradise
Return to Index
Kings
of This World
Peter Bailey
Double Dragon Publishing
ISBN:
TBA
Price: $5.99
https://www.facebook.com/
www.double-dragon-ebooks.com
Kings of This World opens with critic Matthew's attendance at a play that proves disappointing, until a complete stranger sitting next to him does something that attracts an audience - something usually limited to private quarters. And when she's done, she punches him in the face.
Enter the police, who are understandably dubious about Matthew's encounter; certain that somehow he's involved in more than just reviewing a play for a newspaper. If it all sounds mercurial, that's because it is - and the questions Matthew faces are just beginning.
Seeking to recover from this shocking conclusion to an otherwise-boring play, Matthew tries to drown his experience at the local pub - only to find the beer uncommonly nasty, the crowded pub especially raucous, and his choices one step above disaster as he leaves what apparently is an evolving riot.
Readers move from London, where Matthew then faces more than one unexpected experience, to Australia, where Lucas is losing his mind in a supermarket; then to New York, where David explodes during a company meeting.
By this time, connections have been made in readers' minds, and changes bring an end-of-the-world scenario crashing down upon Matthew, who discovers that everything he's known is rapidly becoming unfamiliar. The human world is dying, cities will become uninhabitable for years, and Matthew and Jeremy are among the few survivors who escape into the country in hopes of refuge.
As Kings of This World moves from shocking scenarios of chaos and madness to Matthew's evolving choices and efforts to survive, it becomes a gripping tale of challenge, change, assessments of the 'Stupids' (gullible people who have been turned into virtual zombies), Cones (who use them), those who would inherit the Earth, and those few humans who would survive their new kingdom.
Software glitches, nanomachines, an immortal life in Hell, and struggles to create new meaning in this strange new world make for a gripping sci-fi thriller that's hard to put down, impossible to predict, and the perfect blend of survival novel and horror piece.
Readers who enjoy a careful crafting of both genres under one cover will relish the very different approaches and revelations in Kings of This World, which introduces not a few ethical issues into its themes of adaptation, loss, and world-rebuilding.
Kings of This World
Return to Index
Lazlo’s
Revenge
Glen Thomas Hierlmeier
Xlibris
Hardcover 978-1-5144-8932-1
$29.99
Softcover
978-1-5144-8931-4
$19.99
eBook
978-1-5144-8930-7
$ 3.99
https://amzn.com/1514489317
Stories revolving around one of the World Wars typically choose a war and narrow the focus to events that use battle as a backdrop; but one of the strengths of Lazlo’s Revenge is that it embraces both wars and presents a powerful female protagonist in the form of Maxine (“Max”) Fischer, a Swiss correspondent and writer who traces the effects of the past on her parents' lives and choices. The course of her quest not only reveals social and political ramifications of World Wars I and II, but directs Max's future.
Anyone who would question the effects of past upon present and future and the importance of fostering knowledge of and appreciation for past events will find Lazlo’s Revenge is a powerful testimony to the strengths revealed by those who embark upon such an examination. As Maxine traces her parents' footsteps across Europe and becomes immersed in the story of Lazlo Floznik, the man who saved her parents and helped them escape disaster in the face of rising evil, she uncovers a love story that crosses generations to impact lives around the world, including her own.
Glen Thomas Hierlmeier employs a variety of rich techniques to bring these people and eras to life; from handwritten letters between Lazlo and his mother expressing growing fears at what is happening in Europe to political insights that pinpoint not only Hitler's rise, but why it could happen: "Adolph Hitler may have been the world’s most evil man, but he was no fool. He calculated his moves to control Europe, taking advantage of the sleeping Allied giants who wished so intently for the peace they expected, that they naively overlooked Germany’s many violations of the Treaty of Versailles and the growing military and political strength of Hitler’s Third Reich. No other world leader was bold enough to challenge Hitler’s growing audacity."
Readers become immersed (along with Max) in the survival stories and choices of Lazlo, Gertrude, and their friends and family; and thus political struggles, plots, and plans highlighting sacrifice, danger, and personal choice come to life.
While the genre application of 'historical romance' would be entirely accurate to categorize Lazlo’s Revenge, in many ways Max's journey through her turbulent family history is so much more: The demands and course of processing new insights and truths about her past leads to Max's changed perspective on the bigger pictures of war and human endeavors as a whole.
Readers who choose to make this journey with her in Lazlo's Revenge will appreciate a striking saga of hope and love in the face of near-total destruction of everything familiar.
Lazlo’s Revenge
Return to Index
Oblique
T.D. Holt
Amazon, Publisher
eBook ISBN:
978-0-89718-337-6
$3.99
Print ISBN: 978-1-53693-388-8
$12.99
www.tdholt.com
Readers of political fiction and conspiracy will find Oblique thoroughly engrossing and darkly indicative of the state of affairs in America today.
Ex-veteran Mac (Lincoln MacMahan) is a professor at a university who teaches students about psychology and sociology by intersecting the two; but his classroom spills over into real life when they uncover a government conspiracy that reaches all the way to the highest office, just before a presidential election.
It's a race against time as a course described as "Principles of Communication and Marketing" derails its students and leader, catapulting them into the real world of dubious associations, media frenzy, and a growing danger that places everyone involved at risk.
From a classroom session that sets off a student's emotions about war, conflict, and political process to the unexpected results of an effort to learn how politicians and the military communicate to make decisions, Oblique embraces the points of view of various individuals as events unfold.
One of the novel's many strengths lies in this ability to not only contrast different perspectives, but examine their roots and affect in individual lives. Attitudes towards veterans, women who seem to hold boundless faith, dangerous distances between the populace and its leaders, and cornerstone American values sacrificed for greed and personal gain are all at the forefront of a novel which just so happens to mirror many of the emotions and events taking place in today's modern American political arena.
From the subterfuge in clever messaging to how belief systems are crafted from a series of communications, Oblique is as powerful when deconstructing rap as it is when tackling personal letters and political communiqués.
There's nothing new about a novel covering national polarization; but Oblique adds a healthy dose of psychological analysis, solidly-built, different character perspectives and efforts, and notes of intrigue and danger for a social and political examination of how attitudes are built, breached, and reconstructed.
Oblique
Return to Index
The
Pilot: Fighter Planes and Paris
Ed Cobleigh
Check Six Books
978-0692392065
$13.99 Print/$3.99 Kindle
https://amzn.com/0692392068
The Pilot is a simple man who loves beautiful planes, beautiful cities, and beautiful women. In an ideal world, he would never have to choose between them; but the Pilot doesn't operate on ideals, and when the three loves in his life collide, he is forced to make some difficult decisions.
Readers of military fiction might expect this story's fine aviation missions and descriptions; but may be surprised by the added romance revolving around a female character who could be a spy. Readers used to romance may find themselves unexpectedly falling in love with Paris itself. And those who enjoy blends of different facets in a story that engages in battle on more than one level will find The Pilot: Fighter Planes and Paris embraces more than a singular approach.
What pilot wouldn't want to chance to fly the world's hottest fighter plane, even if its prowess remains to be tested? Important crossroads in life are usually a meal served up with a healthy dose of complexity, and so the Pilot hesitates in making his choice because there's more going on in his life than the urge to fly.
Military fiction readers typically receive plenty of action scenes and battle descriptions and The Pilot doesn't disappoint in delivering these staccato action scenes; but the adventure doesn't stop there. Scenes of fighter plane engagement are juxtaposed with alluring descriptions of the City of Light, with its spirit, tones, and French glamour: "The Pilot selected his long-awaited cassoulet, a regional specialty from southern France. Drawing its name from the ceramic crock in which it is often cooked, good cassoulet should include pork belly, Tarbais beans, sausage, roast duck, and duck fat."
With many such descriptions of Parisian food and atmosphere come equally-sultry revelations about a beautiful woman who distracts the Pilot in a series of vignettes that change time and place, and which weave together pieces in a delicate fabric of life to create a story of purposeful, often quick decisions, changing convictions in life, and the forces that push him in different directions.
Readers anticipating a linear story line and predictable plot may feel challenged until they realize that the give and take between present and past, different places from Laos and Thailand to Paris, and the changes introduced by different encounters ("It's a hell of a note when your model of stability is a woman who may or may not be a CIA agent.") all contribute to a multifaceted set of personas that the Pilot embraces throughout the course of his life.
Perhaps the strongest piece of the story lies in its ability to not just present these different peoples and places; but immerse readers in their sights, sounds, and cultures: "The java, steaming in the cool morning air, filled the screened-in porch with the aroma of dark beans and roasted chicory. Here he waited on the tardy dawn while sitting on the porch swing's wide bench seat. Shadows of the Great Smoky Mountains to the east shade the Little Pigeon until late morning, when the sun clears their forested peaks, their rounded contours lost in the gray mists giving the mountains their name."
Too often such descriptions of place and people are set aside in the name of swift action and cursory characters. Not so in The Pilot, whose story is an evolutionary process on more than one level.
From military engagements and strategies to tackling loneliness and the dearth of a permanent relationship with any of the women who pass through his life and his memories, The Pilot ultimately struggles with his career, his choices, and whether he should give up some passions in favor of others - including the planes he so loves to fly. Perhaps one of these female protagonists says it best: "My love, this is a battle you cannot win. You are not fighting another pilot in another aircraft; you are trying to shoot down the future."
Emotionally gripping and filled with possibilities both explored and unrealized, The Pilot will prove a compelling read not just for fans of aviation or military stories; but for anyone who enjoys romances, Paris, and the kinds of decisions that come not once in a lifetime, but at different junctions of many roads in life.
The Pilot: Fighter Planes and Paris
Return to Index
Slave
Queen
H.B. Moore
Thomas & Mercer
978-1503938830 Paper: $10.99
Kindle: $3.99
https://amzn.com/B01CQF27MU
There's nothing more exciting than the promise of an Indiana Jones-style espionage title that takes a proactive, powerful protagonist (Omar Zagouri), weaves in a historical and personal connection to his latest case, and adds high drama. In this case, it's the discovery of a set of antique letters coveted by many, which hold the power to change both Omar's family and the world.
Slave Queen's introduction insinuates a complex read, presenting a map, a lineage chart for the 1500s Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent, and a Turkish setting where an antiquities dealer who has become director of the Turkish Royalists reveals his involvement in a personal passion ("Baris spent his days seeking evidence of the true royal lineage of the Ottoman Empire.") that will ultimately uncover a deadly secret.
No light action read, Slave Queen's thriller components are satisfyingly complex and cross international turf as they present chilling scenes of Turkish invasion, Omar's confrontation with hired thugs and deadly adversaries, and a journey through time and history that swings between the 1500s and modern Morocco.
Part of the satisfaction of Slave Queen lies in its realistic representation of the sights, smells, and atmosphere of ancient and modern times in chapters that contrast different worlds, characters, and perspectives. Attention is given to building personalities that come alive in each world, involving readers in these disparate lives and their purposes.
Intrigue permeates the plot and makes for an action-packed series of events that may twist and turn, but which never lose its reader, who follows closely in the footsteps of Omar, Aleksandra, Mia, and others.
From sultans and hierarchies that separate men and women from Poland to Constantinople and beyond to new lives in great cities where mosques and sultans rule, these vivid past and present scenarios contribute to a story fueled by cultural revelations and the long-standing threat a series of letters reveals.
The result is a fast-paced, complex, and absorbing adventure saga that crosses time and place to give Omar, Mia (and readers) a run for their money.
Warning: once begun, it's nearly impossible to put down the full-flavored, multi-faceted Slave Queen, which reveals many insights about the Ottoman Empire, Süleyman the Magnificent, and the slave girl foreigner who turned out to be his favorite wife.
Slave Queen
Return to Index
The
Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver
Shawn Inmon
Pertime Publishing
1535239492
$14.99
http://shawninmon.com
Plenty of fictional stories of afterlives are on the market; but the real question to living a second life is: what would you do differently? What outcomes would you change? What would be the consequences of living one's life over and over, with a foreknowledge of events and the opportunity to make different decisions?
All this forms the nexus of The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver, a tale that begins with an American teen's ordinary life and moves into a story of tragedy and a serial killer in the making. Can these events be undone if a life is relived with prior knowledge of what will happen?
One of the pleasures of Shawn Inmon's approach to his subject lies in his focus on creating an ordinary-sounding protagonist, Tommy, who leads the typical life of a middle-class American teen until events take a dark turn over the decades.
As much at issue as how these events stem from different life choices and junctures is what is involved in crafting new pathways or letting others in on predictions about their futures. As Thomas and his big brother Zack face high school, girls, and life-changing experiences, it becomes evident that Thomas views his world from a perspective different than most: "I know who he was looking for. My teenage brain wouldn't have taken it in, but somewhere in Zack's heart, it kills him that Dad isn't here."
But nobody appreciates his revelations ("What was your one chance, Jimmy? A basketball scholarship? Sure. You’re dreaming of an NBA career, aren’t you? That was probably not gonna happen anyway, but what you don’t know is that you’ll blow out your knee at the beginning of your senior year. You’ll never get that speed back, and the best you’re ever going to do is to barely make the team at the local community college.”), and aside from karma, the background of having lived many times isn't earning him any friends, even among those who believe ("So. How many lives is this for you?”)
As Thomas moves from behind the shadow of his older brother, he begins to understand what life's all about, especially when he connects with others who have tried to relived and tried change their lives, but always wound up repeating tragedies ("I’ve been thinking about what I was doing to my parents in those other lives, each time they found me dead. I won’t do that again. I’m trying to live as long as I can this time. I’m tired of living the same years over and over. I want to see what’s on the horizon after 1980….I’ve finally realized everyone has their own fate. Most of my lives, she’s died. Is that my fault, or is it just what’s destined to happen with her?”)
Can patterns truly be broken? Kate Atkinson implied so in her best-selling Life After Life, and Shawn Inmon tackles these questions and more from a young adult's perspective documenting a sweeping journey that embraces concepts of lives lived multiple times and what changes them.
Watchers, angels, middle-aged men re-living life in a teen's body, and second changes all permeate a story that is heartfelt, well-written, and which approaches reincarnation experiences in a different manner than most novels. Thomas, fully aware of his nature, faces dilemmas that revolve around embracing changes.
His story is a universal tale of trying to forge a better life (or lives) against all obstacles. It's one which is hard to put down, and is highly recommended not just for young adults, but for adult audiences who will find many of Thomas's experiences thought-provoking and intriguing.
The Unusual Second Life of Thomas Weaver
Return to Index
Yasu's
Quest: A Tale of Triumph
Diane Dettmann
Outskirts Press
978-1-4787-5579-1 Retail Price: $19.95
Amazon: $5.99 Kindle; $19.95 Paper
www.outskirtspress.com/yasu
How can an eighteen-year-old girl escape from a U.S. internment camp for the Japanese that has been heavily and successfully guarded for three years? The opening of Yasu's Quest, continues the saga begun in Courageous Footsteps, which observed the pre-camp life and early internment of the Sakamoto family. Familiarity with this prior novel will lend a special appreciation for this powerful sequel, which goes in a different direction as it outlines Yasu's choices.
The Sakamotos have been devastated by the war as much or more so than any other American family ("How can this be happening? First my son dies in combat, then my daughter disappears and now my husband’s in jail.”). Yasu's escape is just one more trial they have to bear in an impossibly changed world; and as for Yasu herself - how can she hide when her Japanese heritage gives her away?
Her journey to Minneapolis results in a chance encounter and an unexpectedly friendly face, and her life changes. Yasu and Martha each confront their changing world with innovative survival techniques that provide insights into both the larger issues of domestic World War II and its daily challenges ("With sugar rationing still on, women often use beer for setting their hair. So I gave it a try. Seems to work and I just put it in the refrigerator and use it over and over until it’s gone. Sometimes even spit works.”).
Diane Dettmann's careful attention to focusing on both aspects of this world and both bigger and smaller pictures of changed lives makes for a far more thoughtful, detailed inspection than most World War II accounts provide, creating a series of insights based on Yasu's evolving experiences in college and the family's life as the war draws to a close.
The contrast between a young woman making her way in this changed world and a family on the edge of return to a world both familiar and alien makes for a riveting story line that clearly reveals the difficulties of the times: "Even the letters to the editor were filled with vicious comments about preventing the Japanese Americans from returning to their homes. Mr. Sakamoto folded up the paper and tucked it in his suitcase. His joyful thoughts of returning home were replaced with fear and anxiety."
Will the family reunite, and how will they pick up the pieces of shattered lives and rebuild, along with the rest of America? One woman's act of kindness could change all their lives. Yasu's Quest neatly covers issues of loss, grief, recovery, and acts of kindness as it presents a journey that ultimately transcends the forces of division and injustice pummeling the Japanese family.
While teens will be the likely readers of this novel, many an adult will find that Yasu's Quest holds perspectives and details that are as enlightening as they are involving. It, along with its companion, are thus highly recommended picks for any reader interested in a powerful, ultimately hopeful, view of World War II's lasting effects on the Japanese in America.
Yasu's Quest: A Tale of Triumph
Return to Index
The
Infinity Bloom People
change, and the world changes: it's certainly not the
one Anna grew up in; nor is it familiar, any longer. It's truly a
strange world
when an innocuous-looking photograph of a field can not only appear in
a
close-held purse, but can evoke a sense of something sinister. It's a
world
affected by the "infinity plant" where children's personalities are
altered on a global scale. And it's a world where the country is living
under
martial law and even the adults around Anna are changing, to the point
that she
isn't sure who she can trust or what is happening to everything she
loves. The
Infinity Plant
documents not only the rise of something sinister that
infects and threatens all levels of society, but focuses on the efforts
of one
young woman to save her family and world at all costs. What
can one middle school teacher do to alter the course of
world changes that don't seem to disturb even her own mother ("As her mother segued into
telling funny little
stories about her day, Anna wondered if her mother believed her own
optimism.
It was as if she had not accepted the nature of the changing world, or
had
momentarily forgotten it. This was not like her.")?
Why do
friends and neighbors seem oddly unruffled by adult disappearances and
very
changed children? As
Anna struggles to understand what's happening, readers
follow her desperate ride to make sense of and change her life. In her
dreams,
Anna's heart is exploding. In reality, so is her world. And even the
romance
which leads to a forthcoming union with Jake isn't enough to stop the
tide of
fears and the surge of violence that leads her to envision an
impossible escape
(…impossible for those not changed, that is). As
Anna and Jake flee their world, they bring with them new
challenges and possible keys to transformation: "Everything is simpler for a
child, but maybe she's
closer to the heart of things. Maybe it's not about the logic. We take
a leap
of faith. Because if we don't, we're not the kind of people we want to
be. And
if it's my time to die, I want to die knowing that I tried to do what's
right." The
Infinity Bloom
takes social change on a macro level and reduces it to the
microcosm of a single individual's life and the ripple effects of her
choices.
Action is swift, intrigue builds as the truth comes out in bits and
pieces, and
readers are immersed in a complex story that examines how adult
identity is
shaped, how children are changed, and how a strange new world is born
via
social, scientific, and political manipulation. This
chilling message for modern man appears in a powerful
thriller that's hard to put down, filled with many thought-provoking
twists and
turns as it examines the limits of power and the wisdom in striving for
a
longer lifespan. Of
Dust and Tides Of
Dust and Tides
is a short story collection about new adults just entering
the adult world, and provides a range of characters and visions about
how this
world changes and challenges its new arrivals. Take
eighteen-year-old Dorrie, who sets off on a mission to
find a long-absent father, Ollie, and discovers the meaning of rock
gods,
accidents of birth, and blood ties as she confronts a man whose world
doesn't
include 'nice girls', even if they are kin. Dorrie's uncertain
connection with
him leads her full-circle to discover what is really of value in her
world in
'Ollie's Daughter'. For
a different perspective, turn to 'Portrait of Jori', in
which an art student's life is changed by the man he becomes involved
with. Art
community scandals and politics, high-class living and patrons with
unusual
tastes, and issues of trust amid the trappings of wealth all emerge as
themes
in a thought-provoking tale of talent and the real cost of benefactors
who take
over lives. Another
powerful winner is 'Impure Earth', where the world is
unprepared for a challenge to the status quo of the Pures and
Assorteds, and
survival tactics become steeped in rage and love alike. In
such a future,
war is forbidden and a thing of books and legend - and in such a world,
it must
be faced and fought again, introducing many new tests to a
society
carefully reconstructed to include cyborgs and strict rules. In
such a world, whoever has control is not necessarily the
same as he who wields wisdom, as Tarquin and Immurra come to discover
when they
head a new kind of force and influence on the future of a
broken society
unfamiliar with the word 'revolution', among others. Each
carefully-crafted story provides a different perspective
on evolving connections, adult lives, and new ventures. Each very
different
tale presents stories of survival, confrontation and change; and each
follows
characters that grow from their encounters. Of
Dust and Tides
is replete with new beginnings and how they happen, and is
an outstanding gathering especially recommended for new adult readers
venturing
into the world, offering lessons on its challenges and growth
opportunities
using succinct language and close encounters that pair disparate
individuals
and cross-purposes with paths that ultimately lead to connections and
hope.
The
Equine Legacy: How Horses, Mules, and Donkeys Shaped
America The
Equine Legacy: How Horses, Mules, and
Donkeys Shaped America
pairs a historical timeline with specific discussions of
equine participation in all facets of American history and culture;
from
building communities in the East and Midwest to exploring and opening
new
territories on the Western frontier, and is a top recommendation for
any
American history collection and many an agricultural library. One
might anticipate that this would be a dry read packed
with dates and data; but under C.S. Purdy's hand, this information
springs to
life. One is invited to imagine the life of an animal brought to
America via
ship - a journey many of his peers won't survive - then follow the
progress of
horses, mules, or donkeys as they assist loggers, miners, explorers,
settlers,
soldiers and entertainers. Passages
from source materials (diaries, journals and other
accounts of these early times) document animal experiences and human
viewpoints
about steeds and work creatures alike, considering how reliance on the
horse
actually grew in the face of popular technology and transport systems
such as
the steamboat, and how the discoveries and settlement of the West could
not
have occurred without equine support. Discussions
of changing concepts of humane animal treatment round
out a history which moves from past to present, illustrating how horses
remain
an integral part of society today, in many ways; from urban police
steeds to
pack animals in the military, border patrol and public forest work and
horses
that serve as therapy animals. The
well-rounded, research-supported discussion with its
extensive footnoted references provides a thorough and in-depth review
that
places equine and human history in perspective and is highly
recommended not
just for rural collections, but for anyone interested in equine and
American
connections. Tutankhamun's
Curse SOLVED I.L.
Cohen was educated as an engineer, but became fascinated
by archaeology in the 1970s. His earlier fieldwork at Stonehenge
resulted in a
theory about the monument that could apply to other ancient structures,
as
well, and thirty years of investigation into Egyptian archaeology from
an
engineer's viewpoint uses this hypothesis to address these
questions. Tutankhamun's
Curse SOLVED
therefore adopts a different approach than most in applying
the tools of archaeology and engineering to the discipline of
Egyptology,
answering a few old questions and providing an entirely new perspective
on
other unsolved problems. From
early discoverer Howard Carter's mysterious ailment that
killed him to facets of the tomb's excavation which can be explained by
other
than a curse, Cohen provides a methodical step-by-step examination of
each
mystery and how it can be viewed from a more logical, scientific
perspective. Lay
readers of archaeology and ancient mysteries will find Tutankhamun's Curse SOLVED
requires only a
prior interest in Egypt's mysteries to prove accessible. Cohen presents
his
findings in layman's terms that any reader can understand, and he
provides
rational, reasoned analysis to refute the notion of a timeless 'curse'
affecting archaeologists who handled Tutankhamun's remains. Such
analysis rests upon the contention that Egypt's peoples
were more technologically evolved than they're given credit for today,
and
Cohen includes considerations that support this contention as he
embarks on a
case-by-case study of different excavations. There
are a few unanswered questions about this process which
a critical reader will catch; but Tutankhamun's
Curse SOLVED will fascinate readers who have
read other accounts,
both new age and scientific, of Tutankhamun's excavation and its
impact. It
provides a scientific perspective that reveals new possibilities
surrounding
four different enigmas which have received many (and oftentimes
unbelievable)
theories and inspections over the years. Such an audience will find
I.L.
Cohen's book to be lively, studious, and well-presented. Whither
Science? Three Essays Modern
science is all around us: it's what humans do to help
understand and define the world's boundaries and properties. Danko
Antolovic's
three essays embrace the pursuit of science and its place in modern
society
through analyses that consider connections between scientific pursuits,
discoveries, and social change. Science's
past and present impacts are first considered in an
introductory, sweeping overview that pairs scientific reasoning and
studies
with such issues as scientific funding and special interests, science's
traditional connections with market-driven forces and influences, and
how
today's global economy influences not just the methods of science and
its
strive for an objective focus, but how its results are measured and
applied. The
basic principles of scientific investigation bring with
them different choices for the future, and these choices are given
broad
inspection in a title that is non-technical in nature, but weighty in
its
survey of historical scientific precedent and its meaning for the
future of
mankind. By
drawing connections between science's objectives and its
resulting impact on societies, Danko Antolovic provides important,
reasoned
arguments that will attract scholarly audiences and thinking lay
readers alike:
"We have
discussed at some length the
inherent limits of empirical reason: its reliance on the stability of
the world
of senses, and its reluctance to speculate beyond its borders. However,
we should also ask about the
breadth of the scope of empirical reason: how complete is its world
view, and
how much of the whole of human experience is it able to account for?
This is
perhaps first of all a question of reason’s relationship to ethics, or
somewhat more broadly, to desiderata, to values. What can scientific
reason say
about how we should conduct ourselves? How ought things be in this world?" Whither
Science?
is not recommended for the entertainment-oriented lay reader
who enjoys lively but casual scientific inquiry; but is a serious
consideration
of scientific pursuits and their impacts on society which will be
embraced by
any reader with a special affection for science, philosophy, and
sociological
analysis.
Katherine Espano
Whimbrel Press
ASIN: B01HOP2PNI
$2.99
https://amzn.com/B01HOP2PNI
The
Infinity Bloom
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A.G. Russo
Red Skye Press
ASIN: B01G0SCIVE
$2.99
https://amzn.com/B01G0SCIVE
Of
Dust and Tides
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C.S. Purdy
Mozaic Press
ISBN:
978-0-9975159-0-9
$14.95 print/ $6.95
ebook
www.theequinelegacy.blogspot.
The
Equine Legacy: How Horses, Mules, and Donkeys Shaped
America
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I.L. Cohen
New Research LLC
978-0692020203
Paperback: $24.75
Kindle: $9.99
http://newresearchllc.wix.com/
Amazon page: www.amazon.com/
Tutankhamun's
Curse SOLVED
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Danko Antolovic
Smashwords
2940046592580
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/
Whither
Science? Three Essays
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The
Day the Principal Got the Chicken Pox
Elizabeth Ketter
Tate Publishing
978-1-63367-985-6
www.tatepublishing.com
Picture book readers with good reading skills will find The Day the Principal Got the Chicken Pox a fun story of students in grades K-6 who experience a different kind of Monday when school gossip reveals something out of the ordinary: nobody has seen Ms. Hart - and she never misses school.
When a cafeteria lunch is interrupted by the revelation that the principal has something called "chicken pox", confusion reigns. What is a "chicken box"? Or, maybe it's "chicken socks"? Either way, why would this keep her from school?
Health information about chicken pox is imparted in a lively, different format as the truth emerges about the pox plague and its health impact.
Fun drawings showing chickens in boxes and on socks, students moving through an atypical school day, and variations on the chicken pox word (including the possibility that it's a video game or a clock) provide solid information about what happens when someone has chicken pox.
The lively illustrations power a dialogue which centers on initial confusion and growing understanding, and creates an excellent forum for youngsters who need to learn the fats about common diseases.
Teachers using The Day the Principal Got the Chicken Pox for educational purposes will find its topics create many opportunities for group or individual learning, including rumors and their effects, leadership qualities, rhyming words
(pox, socks, locks, etc.) sequencing (K, 1, 2, etc.), letter writing, how to write dialogue, and the use of homophones.
Good reading skills for younger picture book readers will enhance their enjoyment of this 36-page story, while readers in upper elementary school grades will find it accessible, fun, and an excellent way of absorbing the facts about chicken pox through a fresh, accessible manner.
The Day the Principal Got the Chicken Pox
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Eddie
and Bingo: Destination Christmas
Kathleen Taylor and Katherine L. Taylor
Publisher
Inkwater Press (May 7, 2018)
48 pages
full-color
Retail
$21.95
Available:
inkwaterbooks.com
Amazon.com
Powell's
Barnes
and Noble
ISBN-10
1629015385
ISBN-13
978-1629015385
Kathy Taylor, katandkat7@aol.com
Eddie and Bingo: Destination Christmas continues the story in the first Eddie and Bingo book and opens with a "Dear Reader" letter that introduces new picture book readers to the scenario, which revolves around a young Naval combat photographer and a tiny puppy discovered on board the ship, which was adopted by the crew and named Bingo.
Kids ages 4-9 who have good reading skills (or parental assistance) and affection for animals will appreciate this 42-page picture book story which features fun, full-color illustrations and the heart-warming story of how Bingo remains in the thoughts and hearts of the naval photographer even after he's been adopted.
More than being the story of a man and a dog, however, Eddie and Bingo: Destination Christmas covers naval deployment and tours of duty, offering many specifics to a younger audience than usual about the experience of serving in the military.
Seldom is this information accessible to this age range, but through the eyes of sailor/photographer Eddie and the appeal of a little dog called Bingo, kids receive a fine story of true events based on a U.S. Navy Photographer's Mate during the Korean War.
Eddie and Bingo: Destination Christmas is highly recommended as a light-hearted yet realistic picture book examination of the world of a deployed naval man.
Eddie and Bingo: Destination Christmas
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Once
Upon a Poodle
Chrysa Smith
Wellbred Books
ISBN:
Price:
www.wellbredbook.net
Once Upon a Poodle is a doggie picture book story illustrated by Pat Achilles, whose drawings enhance the tale of a little poodle named Woody who watches the outside world through his window. His human mother tries to play games with him and make him happy, but he longs for doggie companionship and dreams of a sibling to play with. Perhaps, instead of being indoors, he needs to be on the other side of the window where everyone else seems to be having fun?
Woody's access to a doggie door introduces him to this world, and to some potential siblings who each seem to have something wrong. The "fellow with a long neck and feathers" can't play right, either - and obviously doesn't belong indoors, even near a tub.
The "furry gray fellow with a bushy tail" seems like a good candidate for a solid game of 'fetch', but apparently has a nut fetish.
As Woody considers candidates that don't work out in the role of "new brother", he wonders if he will ever enjoy a new member of the family. His mother, Mrs. Flout, is no help at all - or does she have a master plan?
Once Upon a Poodle will lend particularly well to parental read-aloud. Colorful illustrations capture the fun personalities and events as Woody experiences a wide range of potential brother candidates, and kids will relish the lively, positive story of a little dog who holds on to hope and never gives up.
Once Upon a Poodle
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The
Spectacular World of Waldorf: Mr. Waldorf Travels to the Great State
of Texas
Beth Ann Stifflemire and Barbara Terry
Waldorf Publishing
9781943276356
$9.95
www.WaldorfPublishing.com
Mr. Waldorf is a canine who loves to travel. Gussied up in cowboy boots, checkered shirt, and jeans, he's dressed for success in Texas in this children's picture book story of a sight-impaired dog who can't read the huge sign that points the way to Dallas.
Mr. Waldorf invites young readers to help him find his reading glasses in the course of this journey, but his sight doesn't prevent him from making new friends and meeting real cowboys who herd cattle down the big city's streets.
A fun, chatty, zany series of encounters juxtaposes a search for missing spectacles with a series of lively yet impossible encounters as Mr. Waldorf makes the most of Texas cultural legends, from sports to country western dancing, and travels to Austin and beyond.
Gorgeous color drawings and a fun, whimsical blend of Texas culture and a search for what should be obvious makes for a picture book story that's an engaging and fun read, highly recommended for kids with good reading skills and parents who may task themselves with read-aloud just to enjoy the fun antics of Mr. Waldorf as he explores Texas.
The Spectacular World of Waldorf: Mr. Waldorf Travels to the Great State of Texas
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