 |
Book
Reviews, Book Lover Resources, Advice for Writers and Publishers |
| Home / California Bookwatch |
California Bookwatch
Table of Contents
Reviewer's Choice
Sleep: A User's Guide
H. Kenneth Fisher, MD
Torchflame Books
www.torchflamebooks.com
9781611535808, $18.99 Paperback/$6.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Users-Guide-Kenneth-Fisher/dp/1611535808
Sleep: A User's Guide is a primer of sleep disorders, getting better rest, and understanding the different kinds of sleep problems that arise in the course of life. Plenty of sleep books on the market cover many of these points, but what differentiates Sleep: A User's Guide from most is that it's a comprehensive coverage of the medical and scientific causes behind sleep issues, as well as a self-help guide on how to achieve a better night's rest. By connecting a sleep medicine specialist's knowledge base with anecdotes on how better sleep may be achieved through better understanding, Dr. Fisher creates a thought-provoking, accessible book that will appeal to anyone suffering from a sleep disorder. Chapters incorporate the latest new research and discoveries about sleep, contrasting different sleep patterns with how they impact daily living.
The book opens with the important point that as modern humans live longer lives, so they experience sleep issues our ancestors never had to cope with. Fisher's step-by-step approach to his subject considers the many factors that can affect sleep, the full-body impact of its fluctuations or alteration, and, finally, how readers can address their own sleep "symphonies" by better understanding the medicine and tested solutions addressing different sleep issues. Many of these insights won't appear in the usual treatise on sleep: "When the timing of our sleep is out of phase with our internal rhythms, there are changes in the daily fluctuations of hundreds of the RNA molecules that are normally in our blood after being copied from the DNA templates within the nucleus of every cell."
He also adds the value of understanding the successes and fallacies of routines and perceptions about sleep: "I first encountered the problem of sleep stage misperception at the Cedars Sinai Sleep Clinic some years ago...My patient was an architect in his fifties who claimed that he had hardly slept at all for the preceding few months. During our interview on the morning following his overnight polysomnogram, I asked how well he had slept the previous night, during the sleep study. "You know, last night was much better than usual. I think I slept about thirty minutes." I pointed out that his brain waves showed more than five and a half hours of sleep, to which he responded with some expletives about the reliability of our sleep study. Ultimately, though, he was reassured. (Incidentally, it is common for people with chronic insomnia to sleep better when they sleep away from home.)" This blend of research, observations, personal insights, and patient experience provides a much deeper inspection of sleep itself than most solution-oriented approaches offer.
Libraries that already have books about sleep in their collections, but who seek updated approaches and insights based on not just the latest research, but a physician's personal involvement, will find Sleep: A User's Guide more than a cut above similar-sounding titles. They'll want to update their collections to replace aged books with Fisher's modern assessments, highly recommending it to readers seeking a basic modern introduction to sleep issues and the latest science. Packed with "aha" moments of discovery and medical and personal insight, Sleep: A User's Guide will attract anyone who has struggled with sleep issues and would better understand the origins, impact, and solutions of these challenges.
The Parenting Shelf
Hope for Moms
Anna McArthur
www.hopeformomsbook.com
Beaver's Pond Press
https://www.beaverspondpress.com
9781643435602, $16.95
https://www.amazon.com/Hope-Moms-Its-Tough-There/dp/1643435604
Hope for Moms: It's Tough Out There But So Are You is an encouraging review of the trials of parenting. It explores parenting challenges through three sections of insights that revolve around things to remember (in "Yes, These Things Stay"), things to let go of (in "No, These Things Go"), and new beginnings and habits (in "Maybe: We'll Do Our Best Going Forward"). Each segment features chapters that address expectations both reasonable and unreasonable, approaches to making the most out of family relationship-building, and keys to integrating acceptance into kinships and encounters with the outside world. Anna McArthur well knows these routines. She adopted children of mixed races, daily confronting the fact that: "...As a family, we're too interesting for some places and people. It's okay because we know we're awesome, as individuals and as a family. If places aren't welcoming, I've learned that we can just walk away. We don't have to burn anything down on our way out."
Readers who open this book expecting the usual litany of parenting processes will thus find added layers of joy and revelations about family makeup, racism, and practical insights about how to accept, perceive, and tailor life differently as a mixed race family of kids grow up: "There's a weird vibe in our house that I've struggled to identify. Is it like a psych ward? Or maybe the Upside Down from Stranger Things?
Finally, I've put my finger on it: toddlers. My teenagers remind me of toddlers - but with raging hormones and mood swings. It reminds me of the time when one of my toddlers was prescribed a steroid. I called a girlfriend who is a nurse for advice. "Oh boy - get ready," she said. "A toddler on steroids is like living with a squirrel on crack. A hormonal teenager is kind of the same. Good times."
The difference between this book and other parenting guides is that McArthur doesn't just discuss hope. She embeds it into every chapter that relates her experiences and shifting approach to building a family whose interactions prove uplifting, whether at home or in the outside world. While acknowledging the challenge of steep learning curves, Hope for Moms is all about addressing these challenges by adopting approaches that represent the best support systems possible for all kids. Her uplifting examples of the biracial makeup of her family and parenting choices can be applied to all kinds of mixed and blended families, as well as those who roots are more singular: "There are plenty of days when I worry that we're botching this transracial adoption thing, including the days when the color of my skin makes my kids' days harder. Maybe I bought KD those shoes as a kind of reparation. Maybe it was motivated by white guilt. Maybe I just decided it was a battle I didn't need to fight. Most likely, I bought her the shoes because I finally realized it was a small thing I could do to help her feel more confident at her new school."
The result is so encouraging and specific that Hope for Moms is a top standout, highly recommended above others for libraries looking to add exceptional parenting books to their collections. Hope for Moms embraces difference and celebrates support systems. Perhaps these qualities are why its messages are so highly impactful and thought-provoking - and so essential for any mother looking to raise children who will make a difference in the world - hopefully, by example: "The twins need people outside our white family to tell them that they are beloved and cherished. The world will try to tell them in a hundred different ways who they are and who they aren't allowed to be, but if they know their intrinsic worth, those destructive voices can't do as much harm."
The Biography Shelf
Becoming JFK
Scott Badler
www.scottbadler.net
Bancroft Press
https://bancroftpress.com
9781610886796, $32.99 Hardcover/$9.99 eBook/$29.95 Audiobook
Readers who think that Becoming JFK: John F. Kennedy's Early Path to Leadership is yet another focus on the president's life and untimely death will find that Scott Badler's exploration of young JFK's formative years goes above and beyond most biographies of his life. Adopting a political focus that closely considers JFK's evolution and ideals, Badler's story outlines the wellsprings of his family influence. This includes the development of his competitive spirit, the decisions and influences on his leadership skills that moved from family circles to military service and relationship challenges, and the social and political times that led JFK to different paths to becoming the nation's leader.
Historical photographs and illustrations add colorful and personal embellishments, reinforcing the author's intention to make this biography not your usual dry presentation of facts and people, but a lively, personal exploration of the relationships and pivot points that built JFK's personality and determination. Badler bases these changes on the cultural and historical trends and events that evolved in the course of JFK's life. These added social and ethical dilemmas that also shaped JFK's personality and values. Unlike some JFK biographies, Badler attends to presenting these situations in an honest light that includes criticism along side commendation. Another surprising note is that Becoming JFK reads with the drama and "you are here" feel of a novel: "One of ours, Jack thought. Another PT drifting like the rest of us. "Lennie, take a look at this," Jack said matter-of-factly.
Lennie scrambled to his feet.
It was coming.
The massive hull of a warship barreled toward them, and now was less than a thousand yards away. It's turning into us, going like hell, Jack thought. He had seconds to escape catastrophe." This approach allows non-historians to easily access the events, people, and choices that directed the course of JFK's life. Replete with engrossing dilemmas, a rich narrative juxtaposed with historic images, and psychological, social, and political insights about the times, Becoming JFK is a top recommendation for libraries and readers who may already harbor JFK biographies, but seek something more lively, revealing, and thought-provoking than most.
In presenting the evolution of a leader whose flaws and visions contributed to a powerful presence, Becoming JFK succeeds in crafting a lively, invigorating story as notable for its high drama as its well-researched insights into how leadership is developed in general and, specifically, during the course of JFK's evolution: "...here is JFK exploring the world despite severe health problems, putting his ideas into print, finding (and losing) the love of his life, escaping death and becoming a war hero, and finally throwing his hat into the political ring." Leisure readers will find this story as highly accessible as scholarly audiences, with its collection personal anecdotes and lesser-known stories contributing to a rich portrait of JFK's early life unparalleled in its focus and allure.
In the Shadow of Fort McHenry
Thomas E. Sawyer
Pitbull Literary and Publishing Services
9798992191806, $18.88 Paperback/$8.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/SHADOW-FORT-McHENRY-REMEMBRANCES-CHILDHOOD/dp/B0DY1QVDCC
In the Shadow of Fort McHenry: Remembrances of a Childhood Past captures Thomas E. Sawyer's childhood in a manner intended to not only review early influences on his life, but to illustrate how the scars, traumas, and positive influencers of childhood build values and personalities that form the foundations of adult attitudes and actions. As such, In the Shadow of Fort McHenry extends the format of a memoir/autobiography by referencing American history and experience, bringing it to life via a personal touch that proves immersive and thoroughly engrossing: "Because of the widespread lack of indoor plumbing, the institution of the "bath house" flourished in most American metropolitan areas. The bath house in Baltimore was located in the inner harbor area, near the city's central fish market. For a nickel, you got a small bar of brown soap and a small towel. There were separate bathing facilities for the two sexes. Ernest Mielke would frequent the bath house once every month for a "good soak." But neither Mildred nor Mrs. Mielke ever would go. In Mildred's case, she did not wish to mingle with the "great unwashed".
Mrs. Mielke, on the other hand, thought it "immodest" to undress in front of other women. Not only were individuals of that era lacking in habits of personal hygiene, they were also economical in changing clothes. For example, many male citizens of the day wore the same underwear for a week at a time without changing. (Men and boys alike wore so-called 'long-johns' in the winter and jockey shorts in the hot summer.)" This bygone era's most intimate details, from bathing to belief systems, are thus captured through the unusual employment of the third person. This approach helps the story read like a novel, with drama and observational embellishments that really reach out to readers.
Another plus to In the Shadow of Fort McHenry are accompanying insights about individuals and interactions in Tommy's South Baltimore neighborhood. There's intrigue, secrets, revelations, and a thorough immersion in bygone values which flavor the memoir, bringing crimes and people to life: "It's difficult to describe the barbershop's everyday working conditions. Most days, the barbers would be cutting hair nonstop from the time they arrived in the morning till well after the appointed closing time of six-thirty at night. On many occasions, they would still be cutting hair dose to midnight if the soldiers had an early morning inspection the following day, or if men were shipping out. Mr. Miller always took time to eat lunch at the mess hall, but Norman often had Tommy bring him back a sandwich to eat while still cutting hair. Moreover, the barbershop was cold in the winter (for some reason, the building's boiler could not generate much heat) and unbearably hot in the summer. There was no air conditioning, and electric fans were useless as they blew up too much hair. The barbers really earned their money!"
The influence of Fort McHenry impacts community lives as Sawyer covers his childhood and his coming of age from 1945 to 1949, revealing a wealth of encounters that illustrate how his values were built upon these experiences. The result is a memoir that libraries will find especially riveting for its probe of time, place, and the results of living in the shadow of a changing America, the military's influence, and family entanglements. Whether readers enjoy autobiography, historical probes, or tales of shifting family dynamics, In the Shadow of Ft. McHenry will reach a wide audience with thought-provoking, atmospheric reflections and experiences. The accounts of military experiences on domestic soil that culminate in a choice Sawyer finds both logical and unexpected provides both a rationale for moving into adulthood and fuel for uplifting reflection: "...whatever lay ahead had to be better than what lay behind." Libraries and book clubs will thoroughly appreciate its vivid, "you are here" moments and the opportunity to discuss American history and culture in a deeper manner than most memoirs offer.
The General Fiction Shelf
Bittersweet Rendezvous in New England
Diane Green
DCG Books
www.DCGBooks.com
9798335924382, $12.99 Paperback/$5.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Bittersweet-Rendezvous-England-Diane-Green/dp/B0DDGRDCJ8
Readers of Christian fiction and love stories who seek blends of faith and growth from their romances will welcome Bittersweet Rendezvous in New England, which takes the traditional love triangle idea in a different direction. A preface sets the stage with an unexpected foray into kidnapping, identity change, family inheritance and conspiracy, and a man who goes into hiding in an effort to escape his past. At the heart of the tale is Becky Chalmers, who is attracted to two very different men who share her interest. But the story opens with Juan (nee John), a novice to the snowy winter environment before him who meets Sadie, a young woman who admires his warm heart. Reference is made to the fact that she is "almost like Becky." The reader's interest only grows as new truths emerge about past, present, and possible futures.
Becky and her brother Jimmy have traveled to New England, where distance from everything familiar will theoretically help their decision-making processes; especially since Becky's potential beaus are so very different (Mike is a reliable public servant while Juan Carlos is more exciting, but is a transient fleeing his murderous family). New England's weather introduces new challenges and pleasures, as well, as Becky, Sadie, and Jimmy each grow from their departure from everything they know. Becky's tragedy in losing Juan Carlos on the cusp of their wedding leads to her new mandate to not only recover from her loss, but get answers. Tragedy is never far behind, however, and threatens to divide, destroy, and further alter the course of Becky's life.
Libraries that choose Bittersweet Rendezvous in New England will especially appreciate its clean romance, its thought-provoking insights on decision-making and love, a New England winter atmosphere which outlines both shared pleasures and trials of the snowy season, and its ability to draw a wide audience of romance readers interested in multifaceted attractions. Packed with absorbing, unpredictable twists and a conclusion many won't see coming, Bittersweet Rendezvous in New England is quite simply a warm, cozy read to counter the bitter coldness of winter, unrequited love, and life challenges.
Rebels & Saints: Catching Freedom
Lena Gibson
https://lenagibsonauthor.ca
Black Rose Writing
https://www.blackrosewriting.com
9781685135874, $24.95
https://www.amazon.com/Rebels-Saints-Catching-Freedom-Hoppers/dp/1685135870
Rebels & Saints: Catching Freedom concludes the Train Hopper series with a final battle between the evil Greencorps and the rebels, which will delight prior series readers interested in the final outcome of this conflict. Train-hopping experiences are again a prominent feature of this adventure, even though it's set in 2195, where a very different American West flavor plays out. Elsa and Walker continue their journey, and the struggle for democracy assumes renewed vigor and unpredictable outcomes as they navigate landscapes that will seem at once familiar and alien to modern-day readers.
Although a recap of events isn't provided, Lena Gibson excels at injecting notes about the political conflict early in her story, giving newcomers immediate involvement via background details (although, really, they should read the prior books for a more full-bodied experience and appreciation of this final battle): "Portland seemed like something from the future, instead of stuck in the crumbling past. That's what came from being a modern city and out from under GreenCorps' rule. Perhaps some other time Elsa could enjoy the benefits of the Canadian city, but right now so many lives depended on breaking the corporation's monopoly on food and water. She couldn't stay and didn't want to become too attached."
From the increasing, ruthless clamp-downs of GreenCorps on trains which are the lifeblood of connection to increasing problems hopping on and off them, that has given Elsa and Walker their edge, Gibson evolves a plot steeped in train culture, social fluctuation, and political chaos. Given the many uncertainties and issues of control in modern times, readers will find especially thought-provoking the point/counterpoint confrontations the characters experience as they attempt to retake occupied territory such as Salt Lake City. Points of view that shift between rebels offer especially intriguing insights on the motivations, perceptions, and interests of the vying forces. This gives Rebels & Saints: Catching Freedom a well-balanced duality that illustrates not just one side's ideals, but both objectives - which may not be as dissimilar as one might think.
As Mason, Caitlyn, Janna, Clark, and other participants consider their revised options, readers are brought into an emotionally and politically charged milieu which is captivating in its vivid atmosphere and juxtaposition of nonstop action and psychological inspections. The theme of hope that underlies seemingly impossible situations and confrontations is one that feels especially relevant to modern times, embedding the action with a sense of optimism that grows as each character struggles.
Between growing subterfuge and campaigns that change their participants, the story poses an outstanding mix of intrigue and effort that proves hard to put down as train-hopping adventures blend with growth, conflict, and shifting ideals: "The fear of missing the train dissipated as they clambered over the top of the ladder and swung onto the covered porch to ride. Once seated, she stuffed in her earplugs, muffling the unpleasant roar of the train. Walker covered their legs and fronts with a tarp, and she leaned into him, sharing his warmth as they headed back toward GreenCorps and the life they wanted to change."
Libraries seeing popularity with Gibson's prior Train Hoppers titles will find the final series addition to be just as thoroughly compelling as its predecessors. Patrons and readers will welcome Rebels & Saints: Catching Freedom's expanded considerations and revised definitions of safety, a place that can be called home, and a mandate to step up to change the world before hopefully (and ultimately) returning to a place of peace.
The Illinois Caper: The Route 66 Steal
Liz Hartley
https://www.lizhartleyauthor.com
Rainy Valley Press
9781955720007, $15.99 Paperback/$4.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Illinois-Caper-Liz-Hartley/dp/1955720002
When two middle-aged female friends become embroiled in a heist that holds unexpected consequences, the lid of respectability is blown off in The Illinois Caper, The Route 66 Steal, the first book in a series. The story opens with a literal bang that shows how powerful a good book can be from its very first lines: "The door hit the frame so hard it bounced back, slamming into the wall. The glass in their wedding photo shattered as it crashed to the floor."
Via this hard-hitting opener, readers are compelled to pursue the story of Tish O'Donnell's challenged marriage. She and fellow cohort Kat Merevec's decision to change their lives and quit living on dreams and possibilities, and the circumstances which erupt over their efforts to seek financial justice from philandering husband Fitz, results in a discovery that embroils them in a crime. The fast pace delivered in the story's opening lines continues throughout.
Liz Hartley builds believable, likeable female characters whose efforts towards revenge, freedom, and independence result in the wild ride of their lives. As the women go on the lam after discovering that their pursuers are far more dangerous than a conniving husband, action moves from the women to husband Fritz, who is motivated to continue his pursuit of women, money, and what he considers to be his lot in life. This may neatly justify his choices and actions - but it doesn't result in a smooth life, as he discovers. As Tish's family is dragged into the melee and old resentments surface, years of dreams set aside and resentments tamped down completely engross readers in unexpected moments of discovery and challenge.
Libraries that choose The Illinois Caper, The Route 66 Steal could best describe it to interested patrons as a romp of a road trip that journeys through disparate special interests, extramarital affairs, family complexities, and the perspectives of women searching for empowerment, answers, and better lives. From religious to social issues, these women find their perspectives and possibilities continually challenged and altered, adding zip to a thoroughly engrossing story. Leisure readers will find plenty of thought-provoking moments wound into layers of action and revelation that provokes "you are here" experiences via vivid encounters that are nearly nonstop in their presentation.
Packed with zany moments that also embrace a whimsical sense of humor, The Illinois Caper, The Route 66 Steal is nearly impossible to put down, packed with attractive, reflective moments of connection and insight: "Tish took a deep breath. "When I signed up to audition, the teacher said... He said..." Tish's face flushed pink. "He said I wasn't right for the stage. I told him I hadn't even auditioned, so how could he know?"
Now she looked at Kat, her dark brown eyes smoldering almost black. "He said 'zaftig' women couldn't act. He meant fat. He said if I could sing, I could try opera, where they were more tolerant of 'zaftig' women. He assigned me to the stage crew."
"What. A. Turd," said Kat. She shook her head. "All I can say is he should have been there today." She looked straight at Tish. "Because you would have shown him you are one hell of an actress."
Tish's smile was sunshine. "I am, aren't I?" she said.
She started to laugh, and they both laughed until they cried."
The Historical Fiction Shelf
What We Say in the Dark
Gary Baysinger
https://garybaysingerauthor.com
See Square Press
9798218594947, $15.99 Paperback/$5.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/What-Say-Dark-Gary-Baysinger-ebook/dp/B0DWLZDYBQ
What We Say in the Dark opens in 1939, where Parisian boy Anton is reflecting on his involvement in freeing his wife Isabelle's family from the grip of the Nazis in Vienna. From the story's opening lines Gary Baysinger demonstrates an astute ability to capture the atmosphere of the looming Nazi incursion in a realistic manner that allows modern-day readers to step right into social and political milieus of the past: "Although he'd never been here before, the contrasts were jarring - the incongruity of Nazi banners layered over cafes with cultured people wearing the latest Parisian fashions. It had the sophistication of Paris but had been overtaken by angry young men who were aggressive and edgy. Something was in the air - a mood, a feeling of being watched by something evil waiting to strike, waiting for someone to make a mistake."
From the irony of crimes being committed by Nazis who purport to be stopping them to how Anton's subterfuge is discovered and a strange job arrangement is proposed as his only way out of danger, Baysinger builds a compelling story. It evolves complexity and drama as it continues to grow in unexpected directions with the introduction of American spy Don Gibson, who is injected into European affairs. Another notable facet of Baysinger's story lies in its explorations of lives that adjust to and transcend political hazards. Baysinger's juxtaposition of history, Jewish affairs, family ties, and Nazi threat come together with a satisfyingly original light of discovery and revelation rarely found in other fictional accounts of these times.
The tale's shift to a milieu in which Isabelle and U.S Army Intelligence Officer Don Gibson meet under unexpected circumstances in Lisbon, where Isabelle's shadowy past emerges to impact her future, adds a full flavor of development. This approach benefits from the time Baysinger has taken to build social and psychological insights from the Nazis' rise in 1940s Europe. From Don's connections to the spy business in 1944 to his participation in a dangerous game in which Isabelle is a major player, the story is heartily fueled with past and present observations from all characters. These capture vibrant and especially thought-provoking moments of revelation as Isabelle observes her beloved world changing for the worse and works to revise her place in it: "Her fellow Viennese citizens sat in outdoor cafes, chatting and drinking coffee as people's lives were being destroyed. She wanted to scream at them. She was full of despair - her Vienna was gone."
The timelines move back and forth. This may stymie readers who look for a progressive timetable of action, but the story's shifting pathways draw important connections this way, giving the saga added value with a flavor of understanding and connection reinforced by this fluid movement. Libraries seeking a spy story that embraces individual and social conundrums, weaves romantic interests and family involvements into bigger-picture thinking, and creates a vivid, thoroughly engrossing story in the process will find What We Say in the Dark an important recommendation for a wide audience. From book clubs interested in fostering debates about how political repression impacts personal relationships and choices to readers seeking outstanding characterization that makes the story's spy component more realistic and believable than most, What We Say in the Dark is a compelling, thought-provoking page-turner.
Port City
Eliot Sefrin
Pisgah Press
www.pisgahpress.com
9781942016953, $19.95 Paperback/$27.95 Hardcover/$7.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Port-City-Eliot-Sefrin/dp/B0DXBWDYG1
Historical novel readers will find Port City a study in contrasts. The story opens with Henry McFarland's involvement in a mountain of paperwork as he works on a controversial tugboat operators' contract negotiations. Steeped in the privileged life of the elite, Henry is relatively oblivious to the plight of the worker in the crowded garment district of New York City. Under a seemingly uncaring countenance, Henry even holds little compassion for the Nazi horrors that exterminated the Jews in Germany:
"To me," he said, "there's an invaluable lesson to be learned from what happened to the Jews in Hitler's Europe."
"A lesson, sir?"
"Yup." Henry nodded. "I've seen it time and again - in business, politics, warfare... even the contract negotiations I'm up to my eyeballs in now." He unleashed a croupy smoker's cough into the hollow of his fist.
"Weakness," he croaked derisively. "All it ever leads to is certain demise."
Henry gets a taste of his own perspective's impact when events shift his world enough to challenge his curmudgeonly view of wealth and social have-nots. Eliot Sefrin does a particularly good job of capturing New York City's social and political changes in a bygone era, the "science of the harbor" and those who interact with its processes and businesses, and, especially, the insights of those who navigate its murky waters: "While most New Yorkers were familiar with the city through their interactions with landmarks such as streets and shops, Dutch Hendrik knew New York's labyrinth of waterways like the back of his hand. He knew the harbor's diverse topography, its underwater shape and depth, and the contours of land that bounded it. He knew the location of navigational buoys, islands, and coves that served as steering points; knew where shoreline bends created calm water, how bridges and tunnels could render radio transmissions indecipherable, and where potential hazards like reefs, shoals, and decaying wharves lay hidden beneath the surface."
Vivid descriptions explore what goes on beneath the surface of many local issues and events, bringing New York City and its interests to life in a way that will prove absolutely compelling, even to readers with little prior familiarity with New York's history. Discussions of labor disputes and opposing sides assume a compelling countenance. This will power book club discussions, whether among general-interest audiences or those with a particular interest in New York dock history or labor issues: "An even greater obstacle, Quinn soon discovered, was that negotiating positions were so entrenched, and bitterness so ingrained, that representatives of the opposing sides could barely be coaxed into the same room for a civil discourse." Port City sifts through layers of legal, social, and political history, resting its findings on strong characters whose disparate viewpoints drive home a series of points about change, adaptation, and growth.
Libraries seeking historical fiction that sizzles with interpersonal and group encounters and perspectives will welcome Port City into their collections. Quite simply, it's a supercharged saga of transformation that will entertain while immersing readers in situations that reflect how people grow - sometimes, against all odds: "For his entire life, Benny had clung to the notion that toughness and bravado were the qualities that best defined a leader, and that his unyielding stance in contract negotiations would produce the best of all outcomes for the union. But Jack, by virtue of his unflappable demeanor and innate wisdom, had persuaded his brother to view the labor conflict through a very different lens, while shining a light on a more enlightened approach."
The LGBTQ Fiction Shelf
The Gift
Scott Terry
Torchflame Books
www.torchflamebooks.com
9781611535914, $18.99 Paperback/$6.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Scott-Terry/dp/1611535913
The Gift is a novel that follows a boy raised as a Jehovah's Witness. It represents Scott Terry's personal familiarity with the faith and his own difficult choices as he attempted to reconcile belief with the reality of his sexuality and life outside of JW restrictions. Libraries maintaining LGBTQ+ collections will find The Gift about the strongest piece of writing about belief, conversion, and personal growth that they could obtain. Reminiscent of the movie Brokeback Mountain and yet infused with a depth that explores religious mandate and personal growth, the story is set in rural 20th century America, a time when religious extremism and the drive for connection were not as widely considered as today. That said, many elements of Butch's struggle for creating a life true to both God and self are reflected in too many modern events and lifestyles. Has the world really changed this much? In some ways, yes; in other ways, no. This observation is reinforced in a vivid story of a boy who prays for self-change as the world around him shifts.
Scott Terry's narrative voice is almost poetic in its hard-hitting atmospheric descriptions, which jump out from the first lines: "A man could be White in Five Points. Few were. At the slow corner where Broadway comes out of its narrow bend from the other side of the railroad tracks and crosses over Blake Street, a person could sit alone in the dim light of any room in a certain red-brick apartment building, on any floor, maybe in hopes for a cease-fire of solitude, minding one's own business over the outdoor clamor of other people's struggles - which could tell you much, or tell you nothing."
Mother Loretta involves daughter Pansy in the faith she was raised in, creating a legacy of events and connections as family tradition mingles with church affairs and undergoes a sea change. Terry carefully builds this history and these relationships with an eye to not just focusing on Butch's dilemmas, but the roots of where he came from. The time taken to explore these environments in full lends to a better understanding of faith, family, and purpose than many LGBTQ+ stories provide. There are many graphic explorations of sexuality that some readers might find unexpected and surprising, but these are presented as realities within the context of the story's bigger picture, and are not folded in for shock value alone.
Terry is especially masterful at exploring the Jehovah's Witness faith and its constrictions: "What Les wanted was a simple divorce from an unfaithful wife, but his simple request could not be granted without lengthy debate because the rules for dealing with such matters in a congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses aren't simple. They are rigid and complex."
Libraries seeking a candid, clear story of homosexuality and faith which grows compelling characters whose beliefs and concerns collide will find The Gift a wide-ranging, thoroughly engrossing recommendation for patrons unafraid of frank, honest discussion. Readers who choose The Gift because of any similar-sounding feel to Brokeback Mountain will find its focus on self-growth and belief to be far more engaging and thought-provoking than a singular love story: "The older I get, the more it seems that the most terrible thing a man can go through is to die alone." Pryor spat. "Well, of course he died alone! Wouldn't expect anything else. That's why he kept it a big damn secret. People around here wouldn't stand for that kind of trouble in this community."
The Gift is also very highly recommended to book club discussion groups interested in LGBTQ+ lives, history, and conflicts with faith. Its captivating exploration of how a gay boy finds a path towards acceptance, family, and a form of faith that allows him freedom as he reconsiders the Witnesses and forms different relationships over the course of his life proves hard to put down.
The Literary Fiction Shelf
Unrequited Loss
Elizabeth Engstrom
IFD Publishing
9798985282795, $14.95
Unrequited Loss gathers short stories written by Elizabeth Engstrom over a period of different times in her life. It features fiction that has been contributed to writing contests, reader's groups, anthologies, and more. In presenting the top picks of her creative efforts, Engstrom demonstrates diversity and clarity where her pen and exploratory results shine.
Readers seeking literary, engrossing short pieces will find immediate satisfaction in the opening story "Deep Into the Darkness Peering," in which frustrated writer Edgar is facing writer's block and the horror of spending time with his beautiful, loving wife Virginia in a social situation he eschews. All he wants is to be left alone. Be careful what you wish for. Solitude comes in an unusual form, fueled by brandy, a journal requirement, and a choice that propels him towards his heart's darkest desire. Engstrom writes with a writer's passionate attention to metaphor, description, and unexpected detail: "The brandy was his muse as well as his reason to live. How he hated it. How he loved it. He was imprisoned within that brown glass, and the resulting vision of his world was warped and dark. He was inside the bottle. He was within the beacon. He was in his solitude, inside the light-house. Alone. Total solitude. No dinner parties, no meddling, well-meaning wife, no spousal expectations. Heaven. A dark heaven, to be sure."
As her subject expands from a writer's block to new possibilities, the story takes unexpected turns as it fields Edgar's dreams, nightmares, and the dead calm and storms of one who is an isolated lighthouse dweller in his own mind. Turns out Edgar is living an alternate reality that dovetails neatly with a truth which is only proffered via the story's surprising conclusion and the reader's realization about Edgar's true identity and motivations.
Contrast this introspective literary reflection with "Persistence Pays," in which three women fill in the blanks to an uncanny truth that takes the notion of coincidence and shakes it to its roots. As readers follow the threads that connect these three strangers and the ironies that follow their choices, the core of their linkage comes to light with further twists that, once again, most won't see coming. Equally powerful is Engstrom's ability to portray life's ironies and oddities in such a manner that magical realism and new possibilities are explored in strange new ways: "It was strange, Lois thought, how they were all available to fly all the way across the country, arrive at approximately the same time, meet at the rental car desk without a hitch, and drove all the way north together without a squabble. Well hell, there were a lot of strange things going on. And now here were four women who didn't know each other, sitting in front of an old house, each of them a former resident of this exact same house, and nobody wanted to go inside."
Next, embark on the journey that is "Playing Powerball." Again, dwellings both physical and of the heart and soul come to light - in this tale, as something different as Davison Tollifer considers the impact of wealth, "the family overindulgence of a house," and the lure of returning home to an estate that lays just outside the realm of possibility and logic. A funeral may have drawn disparate siblings back together, but the nuggets of discovery that stem from loss point out that "In this family, nothing was ever that easy." Whether it's coming together or laying the past to rest, Davison confronts ghosts in a place that "was never his home" as he considers, perhaps for the final time, the impact of wealth and generosity on the different paths children choose for their lives. A father's ultimate disappointment in his family turns into a peculiar form of revenge as loss, guilt, and collusion play out.
Each story is a microcosm of experience and insight that will delight the psyche; whether literary readers seek the macabre, psychological shifts that render the underpinnings of foundations fluid, or the types of loss that expand notions of adaptation, change, and tragedy into unfamiliar territory. Libraries seeking disparate short pieces that explore the boundaries of loss, adaptation, and transformation will find plenty to recommend in Unrequited Loss - especially for book clubs and reading groups interested in literary explorations of shifting relationships with self and society. Packed with food for thought powered by engaging and often novel situations and characters, Unrequited Loss is especially notable for its powerful, reflective voice: "It was an adventure they were on, he told himself, but those were just words. The truth was, he was scared, so afraid and so homesick he wanted to die. Adventure was just a term, because they had no choice; they could never go home again. Home had been poisoned, ruined, completely destroyed. To go off on an adventure was the only possible life left."
The Western Fiction Shelf
The Divide
Bruce Hartman
Swallow Tail Press
9780999756485, $13.95 Paperback/$2.99 eBook/$5.99 audiobook
https://www.amazon.com/Divide-Lost-West-Trilogy/dp/0999756486
Readers of Western and literary fiction and fans of the first book in Bruce Hartman's Lost West trilogy, The Legend of Lost Basin (recently announced as 2025 Spur Award Finalist for best Traditional Western Novel of the year) will find The Divide a compelling sojourn into death, love, and challenge. It represents not just a compelling Western adventure set in the late 1800s, but a review of thought-provoking perceptions and issues of the times:
"What can I do for you, sheriff?" she asked him.
"I don't want to see no trouble out here."
"What makes you think we've got trouble?"
"Ain't no place for single women in these parts."
"I'm not single."
"Unless they're whores or something close to it."
"I'm not a whore."
"Then you got to be somebody's wife, or they'll be men coming around and treating you like a whore. That's trouble."
Close attention is given to the role and precarious positions of frontier women. This creates a backdrop of insights and confrontations that embroil a cast of characters in a dangerous, shifting new world. Elena finds herself crossing the divide in search of Rory Slater, certain that she, Rory, and her adopted son Haze will find safety far from nefarious interests and past influences: "She came from a place where her family ruled like royalty until pride and folly overthrew them, a high desert basin - a lost basin, men called it, because it wasn't shown on any map - rimmed with mesas and badlands where men fought to the death over dreams of domination. Rory had saved her from all that and she knew she'd never stop loving him." After all - she's made such an escape once. Why not again?
Circumstances are different this time as Elena and Rory hone their escape plans and find themselves on unexpected, separate journeys. Bruce Hartman's sequel dovetails nicely with prior events, yet contains enough background that newcomers will be able to quickly enter the Western milieu and special interests of these characters. Attention is given to vivid confrontations, gang activities, issues of frontier justice and redemption, and the evolution of bounty hunter Yeager, who harbors a sometimes-flawed perception of his duty: "...the law Yeager served was not a mere human contrivance, it was the law of the world, himself but an instrument of its execution." Events that embrace Rory's increasing feeling of powerlessness, convicted murderer Bledsoe's adopted daughter Lily's future, and unexpected truths about strange family ties provide readers with nonstop action, unexpected, heart-stopping moments of discovery, and thought-provoking insights about justice and the evolution of values in the wild West.
Librarians and readers seeing either continuity from the first book in the trilogy or a standalone tale of frontier struggles and survival tactics will welcome the rich, multifaceted story of The Divide, which reaches into men's souls and motivations. Driven by survival tactics, love, and confrontations with death and family concepts, The Divide is a rich Western that refutes any notion of formula writing as it delves into the psyches and morals of frontiersmen and women seeking a safe place and people to call home.
The Mystery/Suspense Shelf
Burn It All Down
W.A. Pepper
Hustle Valley Press
B0CZ178RS1, $4.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Burn-All-Down-Tanto-Thriller-ebook/dp/B0CZ178RS1
"At least I am following Bushido Code: even in the midst of possible death/incarceration, use every weapon at your disposal and leave no arrow unfired." Burn It All Down adds another Tanto thriller to W.A. Pepper's collection, exploring what happens when Tanto and his crack cyber-team of investigators find the tables turned to where they are considered to be the enemy. That's because Tanto chose a dangerous adversary when he pushed to expose a prison program that translates to enslavement practices. W.A. Pepper builds a gripping nonstop action story from its opening lines, which also incorporate a flavor of wry humor: "Unlike my first abduction, this time there is no ringing of stun grenades in my ears when someone slips the bag over my head. Also, I'm fully dressed and not in my underwear."
As events unfold, Tanto discovers that his team and teachings are fully capable of evolving without him at the helm: "Everyone has moved on, even improved what I helped set up, without me." Is he even meaningful any longer? As Tanto absorbs the blame for things he didn't do, confronts emotional backlashes that place him at odds with a wide range of characters, and tackles more than one betrayal when life-threatening events emerge, readers will appreciate the edge-of-your-seat action that keeps the story mercurial and thoroughly engrossing. Miracles, cyberaction, and powerful evil forces that threaten to take Tanto down with them create a thriller that excels in swift pace, strong characters, and unpredictable atmospheres.
Libraries either seeing popularity with Pepper's prior books or looking for a commanding stand-alone thriller will want to add Burn It All Down to their collections. Packed with accounts of government infiltrations, encounters that are "as scary as ... brilliant," and intriguing contrasts between technology and ideals, the story is quite simply a simmering, event-driven saga that is thoroughly engrossing and very highly recommended: "On the one hand, technology brought me closer to people ... On the other hand, my belief in the Bushido Code did the same."
Shake-speared in the Park
Joy Ann Ribar
www.joyribar.com
Wine Glass Press
9781959078272, $17.95 Paperback/$4.95 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Shake-speared-Park-Browning-Mystery-Book/dp/B0DVDV5V8C
Professor Bay Browning first made her appearance in The Medusa Murders, solving a crime steeped in literature and mythology. Shake-speared in the Park continues the literary theme with a foray into Shakespearian territory, where a murder is linked to a Shakespeare costume party gone awry. Bay Browning and her newly reunited sister Cassandra find themselves embroiled in a puzzler which involves the aristocratic Posey, head of the Twenty-first Century Club and Literary Society. Posey's parties are renowned - but this garden party proves to be the most memorable of them all. Viewpoints shift between Cass, sister Bay, and sometimes the combination of the two as they are tapped to become involved in a dangerous cat-and-mouse investigation because of their prior investigative success: "Leaning forward, hands clasped on the desk blotter, she stared from Bay to Jen. "I would appreciate it if the two of you would quietly investigate this matter."
When the women blinked without responding, Stasia added, "As you did during the winter when that Medusa killer was stalking about." As they uncover truths about lead actor Talon Hunt's associations and death, the sisters draw ever closer as they navigate student actors, fellow investigators, and truths that unexpectedly link back to not just Shakespeare, but another "accident" involving Cher Devane (who plays Juliet), Jackson, and other actors.
Joy Ann Ribar is masterful at creating her characters' connections to one another, highlighting Shakespearian drama, and evolving deadly events which reach out to embroil Cass and Bay in another mystery. The dance between the sisters and those who influence their relationship and personal lives adeptly turns into a compelling series of steps taken to delve into motivations, consequences, and the sisters' own developing relationship. Ribar cements her characters in not only mystery and unexpected events, but an investigative process that challenges each player's concepts of justice and retribution. Added value stems from the interaction between possible bullies and actors who might harbor secret lives or nefarious objectives. These developments lend a full-bodied feel to a story steeped in and supported by relationship developments that play out both onstage and in the wings.
Libraries seeking a mystery that embraces a literary bent will appreciate the Shakespearian allusions of Shake-speared in the Park, while readers seeking an involving interplay between characters and unexpected twists and turns will find it the perfect read. Filled with a cast of characters that each grow and develop while contributing their personalities to the mystery's development and outcome, Shake-speared in the Park is quite simply thoroughly engrossing, hard to predict, and impossible to put down.
No Hill to Die On
Martin Roy Hill
www.martinroyhill.com
M. R. Hill Publishing
9798218575700, $8.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Hill-Die-Peter-Brandt-Mysteries/dp/B0DVV7GWDK
No Hill to Die On is the fourth book in the Peter Brandt mystery series, stirring up old Vietnam ghosts in Peter's past that he'd thought were long laid to rest surrounding the death of his older brother Keith. Keith's former fiancee Rhonda White stirs up this specter with a shocking claim that his brother is, in fact, alive. This creates the momentum for an investigation when Rhonda is murdered and his probe opens cans of worms about the real truth surrounding his brother's involvements and life or death.
Martin Roy Hill builds captivating characters and suspense that need no prior introduction in order to prove immediately accessible and compelling to newcomers to Peter's world: "SHAKESPEARE BELIEVED THE PAST is prologue. But most times we hope the past is just the past, something that happened, perhaps inevitably, and then is gone and forgotten. Unfortunately, the past has a nasty habit of rearing up again when you least expect it - or want it. Take ghosts, for instance. Not the kind that haunt buildings, but the kind that haunt your dreams. I know all about those ghosts. But the past I slammed up against that day wasn't my own. It was my older brother Keith's. My dead brother Keith."
Peter's probe of reporting oversights that may be deliberate and calculated omissions of fact uncovers connections that draw him into dangerous territory. He delves into Marine and Navy cover-ups that expose new possibilities and truths about his brother's involvements, actions, and the intentions of those around him, both enemies and friends. As Peter draws closer to the truth of what really happened in Saigon, his own life becomes precarious: "I was following a scared animal into his lair, and scared animals are always the most dangerous."
Dialogues, a host of possible perps and purposes, and history that turns out to be finely-tuned deception poses revelations to investigator and reader alike as the story unfolds. Exquisite tension and well-developed twists and turns keep Peter and his readers guessing as murder, treachery, and discovery permeate a saga that's all too personal for Peter. Libraries that seek mysteries edging into thriller territory, sculpted with attraction and tension that keep readers guessing, will welcome No Hill to Die On into their collections. Packed with "aha" moments of the unexpected, a focus on Vietnam events that take dark personal turns, and murders most foul, No Hill to Die On represents riveting reading at its best.
Unsolved
Susan Fleet
https://susanfleet.com
Music & Mayhem Press
9781732130142, $15.00 Print/$2.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DQDZ68M6
"He never intended to kill her. He just wanted to take Lily out for her birthday." In Unsolved, Detective Frank Renzi pursues an ex-cop-turned-murderer who has been on the lam for eight years. It takes a clever cop (or one with lots of knowledge) to stay hidden that long, but Zack is a formidable opponent. Zack grabs Frank's crime-busting attention because his daughter Lily, is now a teen living in a home for wayward girls. Unsolved is the 12th book in the Frank Renzi crime thriller series. Prior fans will be delighted, and newcomers will find Frank and his exploits immediately accessible, requiring no prior familiarity in order to dive right into his latest dilemma. A hard-hitting prologue sets the stage for the events to come. Readers should expect the unexpected. Even given the twists and turns of the thriller/crime-solving genre, Unsolved stands in a class of its own as Frank ramps up his search and becomes embroiled in a series of interconnected dilemmas.
Susan Fleet takes the time to develop the character of Lily, who struggles with addiction, her school milieu of drug trafficking, bad influences, and the choices she has made in her young life. Fleet includes Lily's consideration of what life might have been for her, if her family had been different: "Sometimes she wondered how life would have been if she had someone to love her after Mom got murdered and Dad left. None of the girls who lived here had anyone that cared about them."
This augments the crime-solving with a satisfying blend of social and psychological issues that involve readers in not just a cat-and-mouse game, as so many thrillers rely on, but ideals of development, love, adversity, and family ties. Thus Frank's investigative prowess expands to embrace all manner of influence and concerns, thoroughly involving readers in family dynamics and personal dilemmas, including the various escape methods father, daughter, and others employ as they attempt to build new lives. This adds intriguing developments to the story as Lily and her father imagine their escape will bring new possibilities to counter former negative personality patterns and adaptive methods that have led to terrible choices in the past.
Libraries that consider Unsolved will find it stands nicely alone in the expanding Frank Renzi thriller series - no need to view the prior 11 books as necessary acquisitions in order to choose this addition. Patrons will appreciate how thoroughly Frank's probe intersects with the lives he's uncovering. Its compelling character developments and thought-provoking uncertainties and twists are perfect for both individual pursuit and book club discussions. Unsolved hits another ball out of the thriller park for a perfect home run of satisfaction and intrigue.
Watching: Portrait of an Innocent Girl
Jeffrey Jay Levin
Black Rose Writing
www.blackrosewriting.com
9781685135935, $21.95 Paperback/$5.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Watching-Portrait-Innocent-Different-Travel/dp/1685135935
Watching: Portrait of an Innocent Girl is the second book in a series with a subtitle labeling it "A Different Type of Time Travel" - so, why shouldn't this be featured as science fiction? Of course it could - but that would mean thriller audiences would likely miss Jeffrey Jay Levin's powerful foray into intrigue and time-hopping dilemmas which rely on problem-solving series of unexpected circumstances to keep readers and characters on their toes. This second book in the series returns the time-traveling Josh Lowenstein and his fellow investigative collaborators to new endeavors as they travel through space and time to consider the impact of a painting stolen by the Nazis during World War II.
As the story unfolds, it reveals yet another facet that will appeal to a different type of genre reader - those who enjoy the intersection of paranormal influences with ethical dilemmas involving war crimes and the long-term impacts of historical events. Fueled by a haunting painting which propels Josh to push for answers, Watching: Portrait of an Innocent Girl features talking bowling pins, life threatening otherworldly encounters, the pursuit of logic in the Watching experience, and more as the gripping saga unfolds.
Constant new discoveries demand revised perceptions of purpose, confrontation, and discovery as each of the characters delve into unfamiliar times and territory while considering the bigger picture of their place in the universe: "This is going to sound weird, but do you get the feeling that something is guiding these last Watchings?" She looked at me, but I had no response, so she continued. "You never had what you called impromptu Watchings. Now you've had, what, three? And these last two seem to have had a specific purpose, as if something were telling you 'Hey, do I have to hit you over the head? Pay attention to the notebook'."
The story's investigative component will delight thriller readers who enjoy cat-and-mouse games; the supernatural influences add atmospheric and engrossing twists that readers won't see coming; and the sci-fi time-travel will intrigue timeslip readers with many insights and events even seasoned genre fans won't see coming. These highlights are why libraries will want to consider Watching: Portrait of an Innocent Girl a special acquisition of wide-ranging interest, and why book clubs and reading groups will find its action and involvements so exciting. A final plus is that, while Watching: Portrait of an Innocent Girl is the second book in a series (complimenting the previous The Garden Museum Heist), newcomers need no prior introduction to immediately become absorbed in its characters and contentions. With its sterling historical and mystery elements, thought-provoking encounters, and action-packed scenarios, Watching: Portrait of an Innocent Girl is a page-turner that's hard to put down.
The Organ Broker
Deven Greene
https://www.devengreene.com
Panthera Publishing
B0DSKRWKWD, $5.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Organ-Broker-Deven-Greene-ebook/dp/B0DSKRWKWD
Some books - quite often, the best - defy pat categorization.
The Organ Broker is an example of such a book. It teeters between thriller, novel, a story of medical and social challenge, and more. It stands out from others about organ harvesting simply because it evolves a complex plot that engages characters and readers in a moral and ethical dance spiced with intrigue and the unexpected.
The story opens on a hot East Texas day. Protestor Crystal Rigler has spearheaded a community-wide effort to save prisoner Kwami from the death penalty. Issues of immorality give Crystal and handsome husband Derek visibility as they protest Texas's death penalty laws on the grounds of: " ...the uneven death penalty sentencing, the ugliness of exacting revenge, and the irreversibility of the punishment once meted out."
The organization STOP ('Stop Transplants of Organs from Prisoners') that Crystal and Derek have created specifically addresses the practice of using executed prisoners as organ donors. It's a new government policy that turns out not to support the national transplant list, but is, in actuality, for those who are rich enough to pay big sums for life-saving organs. Their effort seems morally correct and cut-and-dry. But when secrets emerge that implicate STOP in a dilemma that forces Crystal and Derek to consider their own inadvertent involvement in unethical practices, readers will appreciate a taut, gripping story that sets the couple at odds with each other and their cause. Deven Greene captures their interpersonal relationship and the forces that test it with a deft attention to psychological discovery: "What if I talk to him? We need that money."
"Don't you dare call that prick. He'll think I'm not man enough to speak up for myself. That motherfucker's been jealous of me ever since I started working there. He's always been gunning for me. I forbid you to call him."
"You forbid me? You don't own me. I can do what I want." It had been a long time since Crystal had confronted Derek. She was usually the one to give in when they argued. She either wanted to maintain the peace or his smile eased her into submission."
As organ donor issues impact family life, readers will find the contentions and circumstances both unexpected and riveting as Crystal and Derek find their ideals tested and challenged in novel ways. From protest and organization-building to what happens when uncomfortable truths hit too close to home, Greene creates a story packed with personal reflections and self-examination. These evolve under the bigger picture of organ donor profit and purpose: "Britt had to go. If he had any suspicions, he hoped he hadn't shared them with Crystal. He needed her in his corner. Is there no end to what I have to do just to get on with my life? I try to do the right thing, but It seems there's always someone in my way."
The Organ Broker is a tense story of discovery and struggle that libraries will find appropriate to highly recommend to thriller readers seeking more depth and food for thought from their reading than conflict resolution alone. Book clubs will find The Organ Broker to be fast-paced, riveting, and packed with fodder for group discussion. Its potential topics for debate range from interpersonal relationship to organizational changes; how worthy programs can be corrupted by predators that ignore ethics for the sake of profit; and how organ donor and prisoner management issues intersect (in this case) to create dangerous outcomes. Filled with tension, twists, and poignant moments of choice and consequences, The Organ Broker is a page-turner that proves hard to put down - and is difficult to peg as an action-packed social analysis alone. And that's what makes it a standout.
The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf
Perpetuonics
Jeffrey Melvin Hutchins
Pisgah Press
www.pisgahpress.com
9781942016915, $22.48 Paperback/$3.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Perpetuonics-Jeffrey-Hutchins-ebook/dp/B0DML4JHQH
Perpetuonics is a futuristic novel about a technology that holds the promise of digitizing an individual's personality so they can be brought back to "life" after death. But, what kind of life? That question drives a vibrant story which embraces the idea that the soul can exist and move on from corporeal form. Such a move is not for everyone... but those that opt to become a "Ding" find unexpected possibilities in their new incarnations.
The middle-aged narrator that opens this tale wants to be extra-human. He believes this choice will free him from a limiting body which, intriguingly, holds him back from being his true self: "Think about it... Look how we socialize, most of us, anyway. We join groups of people who look like us, are about our age, go to the same school or church or job, and who will vote like us. Our thoughts are not our thoughts, because we probably heard them from someone else first, or read them in the same journals our friends are reading."
Readers interested in thought-provoking points about the origins and incarnation of individuality will find plenty of reflective moments as events play out. The story's philosophical, social, and psychological insights are not present in similar-sounding stories of human virtual "uploads," such as Dennis Danvers's Circuit of Heaven, but add an extra dimension of broader perspective and thinking to the sci-fi scenario.
Another reason why Perpetuonics is a standout is that it builds unexpected intrigue into its evolutionary story of technological transformation: "I could not know then that I would end up as a spy for a man who wouldn't be born for fifty years." This creates yet another layer of entertainment and inspection that will draw readers from a wide circle, from sci-fi and technology fans to those who enjoy suspense, ethical conundrums, questions about what is involved in becoming "more than human" (or, perhaps, less?), and newfound connections that stem from transformative processes.
Book clubs seeking discussion material that proves a rollicking good read while considering these deeper issues will find Perpetuonics to be engrossing, out-of-the-box reading that will provoke superior discussions about all manner of choices and new community-building efforts. Blending sci-fi, fantasy, dystopian community-building, and philosophical and psychological reflections into a richly compelling story, Jeffrey Melvin Hutchins has crafted a winner in Perpetuonics. Its exploration of the next step in extended humanity's potential for crisis and creative undertakings... even those that embrace reinventing the nature of humanity itself... is simply riveting reading.
Welcome to Far Point, Rookie!
Fio
Pumpjack Press
www.pumpjackpress.com
9798988297437, $12.99 paperback/$4.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Far-Point-Rookie-Fio/dp/B0DV3RHB6K
Welcome to Far Point, Rookie! pushes and blends the boundaries of sci-fi and horror in a novel that introduces Agent David Johnson, charged with training rookies new to the cursed city of Far Point. The tale opens with hard-hitting imagery. Severed skulls, forgotten idols, underworld gods, and demons confront weaver Fate, representing the betrayal of a destiny that, to one demon, "...speak of truths that I have declared lies."
This vivid, charged conversation with demon Has'munda, who is determined to change the tapestry of destiny that Fate has created, provides a hard-hitting prologue that leads to chapters of human concerns, where: "The world woke to a day free from total annihilation. For some, this was a guarantee. They go to bed expecting daybreak, believing that it will come easily and without incident, and so they brush their teeth proactively, set their alarms confidently, and sleep peacefully through the dark and deep of night. They are the ignorant ones."
The Agency is a stop gate against disaster in the city of Far Point, where: "...a weakened temporal membrane lies just beneath the metaphysical surface of the Earth like a rusted and weathered gate hanging on its last hinge." One Agent faces the likely end of the world on a certain day, under his watch. Can the new rookie make a difference when a seasoned Agent cannot?
Fio crafts vivid scenes, interactions, interplays between reality and the fantastic, and the mandate of a mission that faces daily challenges (but none as great as this one day's events). Threads of humor winding into these experiences also add a delightful tone of irony and wry wit as Agent and novice learn from one another: "Huh? Looks like a minor wormhole."
Johnson reached over and tapped open the box. He glanced at its contents then quickly swiped it off the window.
"Sent it over to Portals and Abnormalities in Reality," he said, relieved. "Definitely their department."
"Could we have handled it, sir?"
"Maybe. But it's our lunch hour." Readers will find the "torrent of magical assault" that emerges from clashes between various forces to be completely engaging, often unexpected, and delightfully gripping. Libraries seeking novel blends of magical fantasy and events which coalesce on a new recruit's checklist of impossible goals will want to highly recommend Welcome to Far Point, Rookie! to readers seeking original, engrossing writing. Packed with metaphysical, magical, and mercurial characters whose special interests entwine with unexpected results, Welcome to Far Point, Rookie! is a unique, well-written story that pits a host of characters against one another in situations that both portend and defy the end of the world.
Renegade
Michael J. Farlow
https://www.michaeljfarlow.com
Wolf Press, LLC
9798987433508, $12.95 Paperback/$3.50 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Renegade-Thrilling-Espionage-Strategy-Fast-paced/dp/B0DZ2QFD32
Renegade is the fourth book in the Records of the Argos series, returning Captain Nick Hall and the ship and crew of the intelligence-gathering spacecraft Argos to Earth - there to face new dilemmas and challenges. It's been years since Nick's father, Van Childs, left Earth to establish Guardian Force. His series of technological upgrades have changed Earth's society and humanity as a whole. The change may not be all good as Nick and his crew discover. Newly returned from an escapade in which a damaged AI from another world kidnapped the ship to force it into a rebellion, neither Nick nor his crew could imagine that Earth could present so many new puzzles. With his crew on leave or temporarily reassigned, only the ship's AI, Wizzy, is available to help Nick through his personal challenges. These escalate to embrace covert and overt military actions that propel Nick into uncharted political, technological, and military territory.
Michael J. Farlow's continuation of his series will be best enjoyed by prior enthusiasts of his Records of Argos explorations, which set the stage for a perfect segue into this return to situations at once familiar and unexpected. This audience will relish Nick's ongoing challenges as he simultaneously confronts family, self, and the state of the planet. Yes, newcomers can readily delve into this space opera's adventure and personalities; but it's the prior reader who will appreciate the ongoing intricacy and threads of continuation created in the prior books. Libraries will appreciate the vivid clashes that take place on different levels of technological and psychological discovery, while sci-fi patrons looking for action-packed adventure will find Renegade a page-turner that's difficult to put down.
Packed with moments of enlightenment and discovery, the push and pull of shifting situations, and clashes with militant forces, Renegade's multifaceted adventure will thoroughly appeal to readers seeking unexpected twists of plot. The tale simmers with social and political transformation, leaving the door more than ajar (without creating a cliffhanger) for more series additions.
Vaka Sevah, Book One: The Great Ice
Lawrence Brown
Independently Published
www.vakasevah.com
9798344126203, $11.98 Paperback/$7.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Vaka-Sevah-Book-Great-Ice/dp/B0DLWZW464
Book One in the Vaka Sevah series opens a three-part story narrated over four books with an introduction by a first-person narrator who tells of a Detroit boy he encountered at a high school track who turns out to be anything but what he initially seems. As he discloses a strange story that plays out over nights of running and ends with the simple contention "It's true," the experiences of this boy and Ana Redhawk, who opens her door to trouble that changes her world, comes to life.
Readers won't expect aliens that literally come stomping at a front door. In short time, they will also be surprised by the strange love that produces a different life for Ana. Visited by strangers, changed by an act of kindness that saves a leader and leaves behind several strange gifts, and spiced with vivid descriptions, Vaka Sevah, Book One embraces a uniquely compelling kind of alien encounter that no reader will be able to predict: "Tree lights flickered and sparked, and when the cylinder flared yelloworange, Ana felt every hope shatter like glass."
A host of characters both alien and human, earthbound and rooted in the stars, interact with further engrossing descriptions as Garth Miller, Uhreg, and others push the boundaries of their perceptions to embrace startling truths and realities. Lawrence Brown incorporates a wry sense of humor that serves as comic relief to the very serious world-changing paradigms that pepper the story: "Forgot to read the words? Were you too busy last night? Too much mindless TV? Fine, then tell us about that. Do you have a favorite show?"
He did have a favorite, but suspecting a Sudanese priest wouldn't understand a sponge in pants, Garth mumbled his standard reply. "Whatever."
"A response, Mr. Miller, that perfectly mirrors the apathy of many in seventeen seventy-six. Those sunshine patriots who slept in their beds while others crossed the Delaware and marched without boots. And maybe that's why two of them died, why two young men froze where they fell in their bare, bloody feet. But since you hold no interest in the birth of this nation, you may take your 'whatever' back to your seat." This is supported by the mystery of Garth's origins, the purpose of his life on Earth, and the influence of other worlds that feature very different purposes and creatures as battles, quests, and devils emerge.
This series features young adult and adult characters. This translates to a special recommendation for space opera fans of all ages, from teens through adults, who receive a juxtaposition of characters and purposes that proves thoroughly engrossing. Libraries that choose Vaka Sevah, Book One: The Great Ice for their collections will want to consider the three others in the series to be mandatory acquisitions, because the first book takes the time to sketch the outlines of what promises to be an epic, world-changing encounter. Space opera fans seeking stories that take the time to build big scenarios from small beginnings, such as an encounter at a high school track, will welcome the introductory salvo of a story exceptionally vivid in its gripping descriptions: "Atta Ra walked on air. And just behind him, his gunship followed like a rumbling steel wolf."
Vaka Sevah, Book Two: The Greater Sand
Lawrence Brown
Independently Published
www.vakasevah.com
9798345555507, $9.99 Paperback/$7.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Vaka-Sevah-Book-Greater-Sand/dp/B0DN34GFBK
Book Two of the Vaka Sevah series continues the journey begun in the first title, following Garth across the galaxy to the icy/hot world of Corrahg, where creatures vie for control of their own planet's destiny and confront the plots of aliens who would use it as a gateway for their invasion. What hope can clans and primitives have over a technology that is so superior, they barely understand the threat it poses to their world? Garth has passed one test, but there are more to come as he contemplates the probable end of this world and his role as its savior (as the Vaka Sevah), facing a vivid dual challenge of duty and death in the Sea of Bones. Nightmares both sleeping and waking permeate his clashes with expectations and his own psyche as Garth confronts "too much mystery, not enough air" in many different ways.
Familiarity with Book One in the series is a requirement in order to appreciate the blossoming characters, aliens, survival challenges, and importance of a strange boy to this evolution of events. Prior readers will thoroughly appreciate how Lawrence Brown develops and intersects fate, old promises and new challenges, and characters that discover their intrinsic strengths must adapt and change in order to continue as formidable forces in this world. The boy introduced in the first book becomes both a target and an attraction as choices and discoveries continue to expand Brown's adventure.
Libraries will relish how fate, loss, and rebirth intersect in unexpected ways to add thought-provoking pauses to the nonstop action. The story's mercurial conclusion, where Garth embraces "the madness of an unsettled end", sets the stage for more while neatly concluding this segment of an interplanetary journey of revelation. Gripping, unexpected in its twists, and filled with insights about technology, superiority, strange attractions, and military clashes, Vaka Sevah, Book Two: The Greater Sand creates an expanding scenario just as satisfyingly tense and unpredictable as the first book.
Vaka Sevah, Book Three: The Mystical Heights
Lawrence Brown
Independently Published
www.vakasevah.com
9798346690696, $12.98 Paperback/$7.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Vaka-Sevah-Book-Mystical-Heights/dp/B0DN1SCHQB
By now, enthusiasts of Lawence Brown's prior Vaka Sevah books will anticipate a story replete with vivid adventure, a quest that spans different worlds and belief systems, and the shifting realm of Atta Ra, whose successful quest has led to expanding his rule. Once again, Garth faces challenges to his life purpose and perception that also raises astute questions for his readers: "Unable to climb or let go, he weighed the lives of everyone on Corrahg against an innocent man rotting in jail. An awful choice - but he had he learned nothing in the Cave of the Beast? Was every dilemma just a two-sided coin?"
Perceived as an invader and deceiver when Garth's true intentions couldn't be more different, he pursues not only an elusive goal, but the understanding healing of enlightenment. Garth confronts the impact of good and bad choices, ultimate death, and too many unanswered questions about his place and role in the universe's bigger picture. Lawrence Brown peppers his characters with conflict, struggle, and bigger-picture thinking as Garth muses on cause and effect, magic, and the roots of how hatred is formed and fueled. Men and women, aliens and human confront prophecy, magic, monsters, and demons both within and in the greater world as the new adventures pour fuel on the fire of old revelations and discoveries. What sets Brown's epic space opera apart from many others is its injections of philosophical and spiritual thinking. This supplements impossible missions and circumstances with reflections that will engage and especially delight sci-fi readers looking for depth from their action-packed alien encounter stories.
Libraries that see popularity with the opening books of the quartet will find that The Mystical Heights's observation of war, healing, relationships, and quandaries adds an extra dimension of confrontation between Garth and Atta Ra. It concludes in an unexpected cliffhanger more vivid with potential than the other series titles. Powered by nonstop action, realizations both personal and metaphysical, and lies and gambles that hold dangerous implications for the future, this third book is like a supernova, expanding its grip into further scenarios of uncharted territory and the unexpected. Consider Book Four a 'must' to resolve the many threads of discovery embedded in the first books of this wide-ranging series, as well as a promise of more to come.
Vaka Sevah, Book Four: Illik Toh
Lawrence Brown
Independently Published
www.vakasevah.com
9798300716301, $15.99 Paperback/$8.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Vaka-Sevah-Book-Illik-Toh/dp/B0DNR49QZ6
Vaka Sevah, Book Four: Illik Toh contains an additional level of violence and revelation that continues the threads developed in the prior three books in the world-building-and-destroying Vaka Sevah series. Its focus on the continuing incarnation of the elusive Promise, women who love and betray, and men who would destroy hope and deliver torture instead makes for thoroughly gripping reading. Lawrence Brown vividly portrays the latter as Garth, Son of the King, encounters Cedec, Hunter of the Well, in a lab where thoughts and secrets are hunted and extracted. The clashes between G'mach, warrior Atta Ra (destroyer of twelve worlds), and legends that emerge from the smoking ruins of tragedy and death make for vivid reading.
Book Four is as engrossing as the prior three series titles, building upon the legends, characters, and communities of the prior books to reach for a final crescendo of struggle and discovery. Brown's strength lies in depicting not just a series of concurrent journeys that engage different sides in an effort to control, contain, or manipulate the future, but in crafting an ultimate destiny that forces them all to walk into new possibilities in very different ways. The power of the pen comes alive through descriptions and clashes that sizzle, powerful men and women who represent forces of change and new opportunity (or ultimate destruction), and relationships that portend new potential from death and chaos.
Libraries seeking a world-changing sci-fi series that builds its adventures on interlocked characters that evolve in novel directions in each book will welcome the entire Vaka Sevah series. It's comparable to Game of Thrones, but is much more accessible to a wider audience. With complexity couched in alluring relationship- and world-building efforts, replete with "fantastical cities and alien worlds," Vaka Sevah's fourth and final book juxtaposes sweet delights, rousing action, and progressive discoveries that lean towards destroying a world, yet rebuilding a community in its wake. Filled with "aha" moments that lend especially well to book club discussions, Vaka Sevah's entire four-book production is a winner.
The Photography Shelf
Whatta You Lookin' At?
Annie Mack
Cresting Wave Publishing, LLC
https://gocwpub.com
9781956048995, $24.95
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whatta-you-lookin-at-annie-mack/1147063842
Whatta You Lookin' At? proves that books about photography, perception, and the arts needn't be dry, analytical, methodical affairs, but free-flowing dialogues about exciting new concepts. This approach is illustrated in the book's opening lines, which are delivered with a bang:
"I am not a photographer. Let's settle that right now.
I don't do weddings or events, make studio appointments, or sell wallet prints.
I am an artist, and I make art with photographic equipment.
I create images that don't look or act like photos, and I am denied admittance to many competitions, galleries, and photo shows all the time.
Why?
Because many judges/spectators don't appreciate 'What They're Looking At.'"
And, we're off into a venture that toes the line between art, politics, and the elements of abstraction. Of necessity, this involves a relative minimum of verbiage and maximum if visual examples - which is one reason why Whatta You Lookin' At? is a standout. Mack's survey focuses on how to understand abstract art, pairing one-liner description with a wide range of illustrations. One example is 'Walkin' in the Hood,' an image which proves much harder-hitting and more insightful with Mack's accompanying reflection, "An inverse of an originally warm-toned pic."
Literary allusions abound as much as social and artistic reflection, as in the powerful image 'How the Light Gets In,' accompanied by the associative description "A near-ancient pickup truck (1950s or so) pays homage to... Leonard Cohen." The scope and wealth of these images and their analytical value makes Whatta You Lookin' At? a powerful piece especially highly recommended for classes and book clubs on art appreciation, perspective, and the presence and interpretation of art under all kinds of conditions. Expect the unexpected - as with 'Fledgling,' a bird representation with no descriptors, which is delivered on the form of a trivet. As in her images and sparse words, Whatta You Lookin' At? may itself best be described as Mack observes for one of these images: "Modern interpretive, with a touch of wild."
Readers interested in captivating, out-of-the-box description and thinking about abstracts, photography, and a range of multimedia representations will relish the creativity, vibrancy, and unusual countenance of Whatta You Lookin' At? It's a powerful study in abstract appreciation and looking at (or creating) imagery and life connections that is especially highly recommended for any arts library and discussion group interested in interactive interpretive opportunities.
The Self-Help Shelf
Jose Silva's Guide to Effective Decision Making and Goal Setting, 2nd Edition
Reported by Ed Bernd Jr.
Silva Books (print editions)
www.SilvaMethodUltraMind.com
9781965725078, $10.95 Paperback/$15.95 Hardcover/$12.95 Paperback Large Print
G&D Media (digital editions)
9781722528485, $9.98 epub/$14.95 eAudio
https://www.amazon.com/Silvas-Effective-DECISION-MAKING-SETTING/dp/1965725074
Jose Silva's Guide to Effective Decision Making and Goal Setting offers a special approach to setting and meeting goals which defines what goals are, covers various strategies to identifying and meeting mileposts during the process, and outlines the Silva Method's techniques for more effective identification and attainment of life dreams. Rather than encouraging a "one size fits all" approach, Silva encourages readers to consider and then "apply the steps that are appropriate to you." This allows for a blueprint that incorporates flexibility and individuality in its methodology, which will prove inviting to readers who balk at set procedures for meeting goals.
The first thing to note about Jose Silva's Guide to Effective Decision Making and Goal Setting is that begins with dreaming - a dream that may yet be unrealized or defined, but is the focal point of any endeavor. Methodology is outlined for readers who may have the nuggets of possibility in their minds, but no clear vision of how to take the next step to make them real. Chapters evolve a progressive series of insights that outline steps to success, from writing down possibilities to give them more concrete status to assembling pictures of the goal. Visuals are thus related to imagination in a way that adds solidity to the possibilities of realizing the goal.
A workbook-style format that encourages dreamers to become achievers invites this conversion with fill-in-the-blank opportunities that may not lend to the rigors of library circulation, but creates many pivot points of understanding designed to push the process from thinking to achievement. At each step of the process, real-world examples reinforce the process in action, showing learners how the method appears at different stages in its incarnation and translation into reality.
It may be obvious by now that, of necessity, the ideal reader of Jose Silva's Guide to Effective Decision Making and Goal Setting will be interested in applied self-help action rather than sitting back and reading about possibilities. This type of audience will more than appreciate the clarity and actionable advice Silva cultivates, presented in "baby steps" to make the process unambiguous. From discussions of life purpose to expanding the Silva techniques to address issues in personal interaction choices and considering the consequences of supporting friends and others, bigger-picture thinking moves outward from personal goal-setting in a revealing, unexpected manner.
Audiences seeking guided routines for expanding their understanding of the world, their visions, and their choices in realizing these dreams will find Jose Silva's Guide to Effective Decision Making and Goal Setting unexpectedly outstanding as it moves from individual to community processes, expanding its own guidance by reinforcing "effective" to apply to all manner of goals, achievements, and interpersonal interactions. Those desiring to modify their beliefs and behaviors to achieve better success in life will find Jose Silva's Guide to Effective Decision Making and Goal Setting thought-provoking and outstanding.
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive, Oregon, WI 53575-1129
phone: 1-608-835-7937
e-mail: mbr@execpc.com
e-mail: mwbookrevw@aol.com
www.midwestbookreview.com
Diane C. Donovan, Editor & Senior Reviewer
12424 Mill Street, Petaluma, CA 94952
phone: 1-707-795-4629
e-mail: donovan@sonic.net
Copyright ©2001
Site design by Williams Writing, Editing &
Design