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California Bookwatch
Table of Contents
Reviewer's Choice
Recipes From My Garden
Nadja Maril
Old Scratch Press
www.oldscratchpress.com
9781957224343, $8.99 Paperback/$3.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Recipes-My-Garden-Nadja-Maril/dp/1957224347
Recipes From My Garden: Herbs and Memoir Short Prose and Poetry presents writings made during the heart of COVID shutdown from 2020 to 2023. It's a celebration of life and plants that weaves reflections and life experience into its reflections. Nadja Maril's writing will especially appeal to gardeners and plant aficionados, as observations typically begin with celebrations of a given plant (such as cilantro) and end with bigger-picture thinking about that plant's use and connections to life: "I heap a bouquet on top of grilled fish and imagine sitting in a brightly tiled courtyard, sun on my back as I dip corn chips into salsa and guacamole seasoned with vibrant cilantro. In this place, this moment, I taste the universe."
Some, such as 'Parsley' and 'Cucumbers,' are presented in poetic free verse. Others, such as the aforementioned 'Cilantro,' arrive in the form of prose. Subjects move from the garden deeper into life inspection with such works as 'Freedom,' where a young explorer who has worried her parents by embarking on an adventure outside their control considers the costs and delights of moving far from familiar territory.
Each piece brings with it a soft, reflective moment that results in a culmination of worldviews and life experiences, lending a "you are here" feel to the tale. Each also embraces a literary fortitude that gives power and meaning to the blossoming of small observations which move into realms of bigger-picture thinking. These elements, combined with Recipes From My Garden's unusual ability to appeal beyond the usual literary or poetry reader and well into gardening circles, makes this collection a top recommendation for libraries seeking wider-ranging works that will appeal to women's literary readers, general-interest patrons, gardeners, and book clubs alike.
The Science Shelf
Death Valley Rocks!
Marli B. Miller
Mountain Press
www.mountain-press.com
9780878427185, $24.00, PB, 144pp
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Valley-Rocks-Amazing-Geologic/dp/087842718X
Death Valley Rocks!: A Guide to Forty Amazing Geologic Sites is a top recommendation for all kinds of audiences, from budding geologists to California travelers who would do more than just drive through the state's attractions. From an overview of how Death Valley was formed to sites that serve as important examples of geologic history and wonder, destination-oriented readers interested in a take-along tote that pairs gorgeous photography with visitor directions and science insights will find Death Valley Rocks! a take-along 'must.' Libraries seeking California books to add to either their geology or travel sections will find the combination of both to be appealing even to readers who may have curiosity and interest, but hold little prior experience with either Death Valley or geology.
The Biography Shelf
Abyss of Tyranny
Justin Cook
MindStir Media
www.mindstirmedia.com
9781963844214, $16.99 Paperback, $2.99 Kindle, 340pp
https://www.amazon.com/Abyss-Tyranny-When-System-Strikes/dp/1963844211
Abyss of Tyranny: When the System Strikes Back documents the true story of Justin Cook's battle with a justice system designed to repress rather than rehabilitate. It follows his life after leaving San Quentin, in which a few corrupt officials with their own agendas and vested interest in seeing him fail thwarted his efforts to regain his footing in society.
His story offers a stirring examination of how that system is prone to failure. Students of justice system management and political corruption will find Abyss of Tyranny absolutely compelling.
More than a memoir (but spiced by personal experiences and descriptions of justice, injustice, and battles for freedom), it's a story designed to push the boundaries of conventional assumption from the start: ...today's lesson: A jail cell, regardless of what city, county, or state you are in still smells like piss, fear, and bologna. And now I'm back in one... again. After twenty-one months in jail and San Quentin State Prison in California, how did this happen again? And over a technicality? I despise the people who run this profiteering system: the self-gratifying blue wall of silence. The ones who break people to make themselves feel less broken. This life seems to be a spectacle of fearful acts.
Cook's passionate voice resonates with anger and outrage as he chronicles his ongoing confrontations with a system designed to disempower him. In the course of discussing the ins and outs of America's justice system, Cook also defines (and often redefines) the processes of probation, linking it to psychological and social manipulation by those who would manipulate the system for their own ends.
In the course of absorbing such descriptions, readers learn much about not only different processes, but the differences between ideals and real-world challenges: It's vital to note that there are two types of probation: Standard and Intensive. I was on Standard. But Cerberus and Lamia treated me like I was on EXTRA INTENSE. They had a vendetta out for me and would have openly murdered me if given the chance. Their message from day one was unequivocal:
You aren't allowed to have a life.
You aren't allowed to be a person anymore.
You don't deserve a normal job.
You don't deserve a family.
You are below us.
You are below society.
You will be reminded of the above every day with our rules.
Hence, the rules and restrictions they imposed on me were not only nearly impossible to adhere to but also sadistic. Don't expect a dispassionate survey. The outrage and injury experienced and expressed from Cook's viewpoint are important keys to understanding the psychological and social impact of systems which operate not just ineffectually, but dangerously when in the wrong hands.
Readers who adhere to common myths about the administration of justice might be tempted to dismiss Cook's contentions out of hand -- but they shouldn't do so without thoroughly reading and considering his many experiences and struggles.
Abyss of Tyranny presents gripping insights about prisons, justice, redemption, and failure. These insights are especially highly recommended for book clubs and reading groups, as well as any library or individual interested in justice system processes and impact.
The General Fiction Shelf
Snowflakes in the South
Rose Patrice and Jenn Kacmar
Current Words Publishing, LLC
9781957224374, $4.99
https://www.amazon.com/Snowflakes-South-Rose-Patrice-ebook/dp/B0D8Z21NK6
Snowflakes in the South is a timely novel about political corruption, women's power, and the efforts of a circle of female friends to fight a local politician who seems a shoe-in for re-election. Readers won't expect this saga to begin with the pages from young Jackie Hudson's third-grade handwritten science journal, but one of the delights of Snowflakes in the South is that it takes the time to follow and build early relationships which then blossom into adult concerns and connections.
The second piece of fictional incongruity lies in the form of a memo which follows the journey, outlining a North Carolina public health advisory before moving into the story of "the irritant," which appears in a diary-like chronology of unfolding events. Rose Patrice and Jenn Kacmar's attention to building tension through a blend of strong characters, political insights, social revelations, and various forms of presentation adds high drama and interest to the story. Readers will discover that the shifting status quo operates against a backdrop of emotions and motivations spiced with wry observational humor. This further creates characters that will delight readers, as in the descriptors in the chapter 'Don't Rain On My Fish Fry": The rain-drenched gravel crunches under Terry's lucky alligator cowboy boots.
Issues of racism and prejudice mingle with those of political aspiration, social misfits, and behind-the-scenes special deals stuck in Weaver County. This brings readers into a satisfyingly realistic story of insider activities and outsider observations and responses. Community events and relationships come to life in a realistic, engaging manner, lending authenticity to the progressive confrontations and actions women take to preserve their power:
The Squirrel Park children drop, crisscross applesauce, in a semicircle around her, and Lucille faces her audience. "Thank you so much for comin' out to today to enjoy the music. I'd like to thank my little campaign helpers gathered by my feet. These kids have helped me prepare and plan for many of our fundraising events. They inspire me every day. And now to my grown-up friends: Birdie, Babs, Deepa, Nina, and Avery, I wouldn't be up here without y'all. You believed in me before I believed in myself."
The result is a powerful story of women's relationships, empowerment, and shaking the status quo tree, however firmly it's rooted in a community facing its deepest convictions and fears during an upcoming election. Libraries seeking novels about women's relationships and power which adds in the challenges and struggles between leftists and right-leaning influencers will find Snowflakes in the South easy to highly recommend to patrons looking for stories with any of these themes, set in the vivid culture of the South.
Christmas in Eagle Bend
Kathleen Shoop
www.kshoop.com
Independently Published
9798359294171, $12.24 Paperback/$2.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Eagle-Bend-Tis-Season/dp/B0BLR6ZLVS
Christmas in Eagle Bend opens the week before Christmas. Levi McFarland desperately needs a drink... or two or more. The holiday season is upon him, bringing home four adult children and their families, who each struggle with different aspects of life. Christmas aside, Levi, Ivy, Avi and Oliver each harbor feelings of failure and turmoil that, under one roof, threatens to spill into and mar the Christmas spirit their father tries to cultivate against all odds.
Shoop paints a compelling portrait not just of these life forces, but the underlying motivations and emotions each character holds that affects their lives, interactions with each another, and their goals. These portraits come to light early on in the story as the adult children interact: He'd been determined to hold tight to the anger and resentment that had crusted inside him. Why? It felt good to feel something, a sensation deep and solid, something to divert his attention from the details of the mess he'd made. These individual observations, as well as broader inspections of family choices and the glue that binds them together, create a psychological profile revealing why the holiday season so often unhinges families with a long history of using distancing to keep conflicts at bay:
"Though Ivy loved these changes in her mother, there was something weirdly too much about her and the bread. But, like a good McFarland, Ivy turned her thoughts away from that and back to the precious moment at hand and asked again what the most wonderful secret of all was. Life is always changing. That's a lesson Mum tries to impart to her children, despite the fact that they hold a vested interest in keeping the peace and status quo."
This Christmas seems different, however, as Mum's new bread-baking hobby and centuries-old starters begins to infuse the household with new possibilities and perceptions. At every step of this transformative process of not just one, but numerous adults, Shoop creates satisfying interplays and dances between the holiday, family dynamics, and changes that portend good as well as perhaps-unwelcome new possibilities and pathways of change. Themes of reconnection, rejuvenation, and renewal permeate a story that holds all the usual holiday trappings of snow, Christmas, and a family gathering. However, the plot moves well beyond these walls to explore how set psyches and interactions between family members can still change for the better. This enhances the holiday overlay with an attention to how families not only join, but change together.
Libraries and readers seeking a spirited holiday novel that serves up a healthy dose of revised acceptance, newfound understanding, and lively family discourses will find Christmas in Eagle Bend perfect for group and family discussions about how foundations of connection and love can re-emerge even under the best and worst of circumstances.
Easter at the Three Coins Inn
Kimberly Sullivan
www.kimberlysullivanauthor.com
Independently Published
9798986884462, $4.99 eBook
Easter at the Three Coins Inn explores friendship, hotel ownership, and a European experience that cements three women's lives. It entwines their choices with family dilemmas and healing attempts which emerge from unexpected wellsprings of connection. From the start, Kimberly Sullivan excels at crafting a story of transformation steeped in the culture and atmosphere of Europe. This permeates not just individual encounters and concerns, but the community that serves as a backdrop for Tiffany, Emma, and Annarita's lives. At the heart of it all is an inn that promises revitalization and transformation: Many a tourist have spent a happy week - or two - residing in The Three Coins Inn. Many of them return for repeat visits, hoping to recapture the sense of peace and happiness that envelops them in this little slice of Umbria.
A host of characters, from Kathryn and Heike to Grace, Chris, and Madison, add their own perspectives, special interests, and dilemmas into the mix. This makes for an expansive story of evolving, shifting friendships and connections. One might think that so many characters could prove confusing, but not only do chapter headings define shifting viewpoints, but each character adds something to the bigger picture. This evolves as the inn hosts a disparate group, fostering new objectives as a diverse set of individuals marry their singular concerns into shared goal. These emotional interactions and divergent special interests are another powerful backdrop to a story that exposes unexpected new revelations:
"Grace tilted her face up to catch the sun glowing down. She closed her eyes. For a moment, Heike feared she had fallen asleep. Once again, she bit her tongue. A tear slipped out through one closed eye. Heike realized how difficult this revelation was on her friend. She was determined to hear her out. She remained in silence until Grace opened her eyes again."
The result is a cozy novel that invites readers of women's fiction to imbibe a tale of entwining lives that offers different forms of healing to each individual. Libraries seeking acquisitions which can serve as beach reads, women's group literature, and book club discussion material will find it easy to recommend the ultimately uplifting atmosphere that comprises and permeates Easter at the Three Coins Inn.
The End of the Playboy
Harlin Hailey
www.harlinhailey.com
Independently Published
9798218391232, $17.99
https://www.amazon.com/End-Playboy-Novel-Harlin-Hailey/dp/B0DJWHDN7Q
The End of the Playboy is a novel about Funk, a venerable gentleman who navigates a dying/changing world fully cognizant that the music and literature he has valued in the past are on their way out... as he may be, himself. Relevance is cast to the winds at this stage of his life, where even writing a successful memoir might gain him only a dubious audience.
Funk exits the bookstore and heads for a favorite newsstand ("another dying venue"). The die is cast and Funk proves ripe for revelation and discovery, building upon the foundations of his introductory angst and fading importance to the world: In these trying times of acrimony and division, he is hunting for something more meaningful, purposeful. What that is, he doesn't have a clue. He just hopes that when he sees it, he'll grab it. Isn't that why he is here in this soon-to-be-extinct, dusty newsstand in Westwood Village, sandwiched between two empty storefronts? Filling in the holes of emptiness?
How he 'fills these holes' becomes the subject of an unexpected rollicking ride through life as Funk rises above his own condition to discover new opportunities, a new persona, and a revised version of himself just waiting to break free from his 'self-imposed exile.' Harlin Hailey's masterful employment of the psychology of aging and the sociology of cultural change lends to a story in which Funk proves the pivot point for transformation because "He doesn't miss the old days; he just dislikes the new ones." His journey to reinvent old into new days leads readers through a mindful, thought-provoking experience that will compel book club discussion groups to consider the ways in which people "find their rhythm" in the changing world.
Hailey's ability to build and focus on characters that interact to elevate their own perceptions, experiences, and choices allows readers to get into the heart of Funk's experiences and the events which led him to this transition point in life. The new directions outlined here are culturally revealing and socially pointed as Funk navigates both family and unfamiliar territory, allowing his readers to similarly consider their own changing psyches and aging processes.
Dreamers who keep on course for the light receive especially insightful explorations in The End of the Playboy as Funk confronts this 'brave new world' with a renewed sense of creativity and purpose. Libraries and book clubs looking for thought-provoking, inspirational, transformative thinking in their novel choices will find The End of the Playboy astute and reflective, packed with the music, art, and culture of Western society. It's a story of change and discovery well worth acquisition, and especially highly recommended for book club discussion groups.
July and Everything After
Allie Nava
DartFrog Books
www.dartfrogbooks.com
9781965253069, $15.99
https://www.amazon.com/July-Everything-After-Allie-Nava/dp/1965253067
One reason why July and Everything After proves so compelling a novel is because its events build off of real-world events that took place in North America and Sri Lanka. Black July was one of them. The story's opening passages in July of 1983 in Sri Lanka alludes to a savage confrontation that threatens Maya's life and notion of safety which the family had achieved when in America, after grappling with temporary poverty and their status as immigrants. Even in a land of promise, Maya faces prejudice and problems ("You people... Why don't you go back where you came from.").
Books proved Maya's defense and refuge, but they don't help in Sri Lanka, where her father's background rises up to change their future. As Maya and her father flee their attackers, a small internal voice cautions that the worst is yet to come... but that she can ultimately survive it: People are being attacked. People are being killed. There will be more cruelty, and you are going to experience an extraordinary amount of pain now. But know that you can move beyond this...
July and Everything After recounts that process of survival, adaptation, and growth that moves Maya from impossible circumstances and confrontations to forging ahead with new relationships and possibilities that are still tainted by the events of that summer. Here is where Allie Nava's words shine - in documenting a healing and discovery process where Maya learns not just how to survive, but how to absorb what has happened to her and better understand its impact on her choices and future. The minute details of this process receive intense investigation... so much so that readers triggered by extreme violence in their own lives may be prompted to digest the story in bits and pieces as Maya's timeline moves away from the event to embrace further challenges in her life.
That caution aside, July and Everything After creates a riveting story of survival and growth made all the more powerful for its roots in the real world. It embraces the rationale and motivations behind immigrant choices and experiences, unfolds the process of assimilation on many different levels, and reveals issues of citizenship and adaptation. Its special blend of emotional-driven experience embraces how people become "stuck" in sadness and frustration - and how Maya digests, comes to understand, and avoids similar traps in her own evolutionary process. Her own evolutionary process will give readers and book club discussion groups much food for thought.
Libraries and readers seeking a story of immigrant experience, a dovetailing of American and Sri Lankan experience, and most of all, a delicately woven tale of healing will welcome July and Everything After for its hard-hitting inspections of one young woman's life before, during, and after a cataclysmic event that changed her life trajectory.
The Historical Fiction Shelf
Children of Saturn
John Neeleman
Open Books
https://open-bks.com
9781948598781, $23.95
https://open-bks.com/library/moderns/children-of-saturn/about-book.html
https://www.amazon.com/Children-Saturn-Novel-John-Neeleman/dp/1948598787
Children of Saturn is a historical novel replete with elements of unusual insights about the French Revolution. It will delight readers with a special interest in this era and its conflicts. Three divergent political figures of the times - English-American political activist Thomas Paine; radical journalist Camille Desmoulins; and Machiavellian politician Joseph Fouche - view and chronicle social unrest from very different perspectives. This lends a satisfying contrast to the experiences, beliefs, and a vision of French society of the times, creating insights about how the Revolution was birthed, grew, and was influenced by the coup d'etat and shifting relationships between monarchy and the populace.
While much research has obviously gone into recreating the facts and experiences of the times, John Neeleman's style also embraces a realistic "you are here" dramatic touch. He portrays shifting relationships in political and social circles in a manner that lends a sense of immediacy and intimacy about unfolding events. Neeleman is particularly adept at capturing nuances of relationships changed by the political power, influences, and choices of these times:
"You will have to resign your office, if we are to leave for America." He understands. The point is not to leave tomorrow. There may not be an available ship bound for America for a while. She wants to know if he is more devoted to her than to his calling, than to France, even than to the king or republicanism.
As violence, votes, and vicious attacks arise among different layers of French society, readers will appreciate the attention given to not just unfolding events, but allegories of the past that give rise to revised insights and connections: Camille enjoys drawing allegory from ancient Greek or Roman history to reinforce a current political argument. But it is distasteful to him that in this second issue, Robespierre has interfered and aggressively deployed his pen to ardently condemn Anarcharsis Clootz, himself a Jacobin, as a counter-revolutionary. Camille disapproved, but said nothing. Clootz, a German, is his own man, and Camille likes him for this, and his intelligence. Nevertheless, the first priority is to enmesh Robespierre in this scheme. So the second number goes to press with the marks of Robespierre's heavy pen. Like the first, it is a hit and sells out quickly.
Historical fiction readers (especially followers of French Revolution history who like their details complex and explicit) will relish the research-based story that's filled with complex political and interpersonal revelations - as well as the depth, style, and contrasts - that Children of Saturn presents. Libraries that choose Children of Saturn for their collections will want to highly recommend it to anyone studying France, the French Revolution, and the ways in which rebels, leaders, and followers are influenced.
Sor Juana, My Beloved
MaryAnn Shank
Dippity Press
9781733581943, $7.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Sor-Juana-My-Beloved-Passion-ebook/dp/B0D7V18D9Z
Historical fiction comes to life in Sor Juana, My Beloved: The Poetry, The Passion That Is Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, a novel steeped in Mexican history and events that swirl around the life and achievements of 17th century poet and nun Sor Juana, whose vivid and unique life changed the world. Much like its legendary subject, MaryAnn Shank's novel opens with the flash-bang of descriptive excitement that belays any anticipation of a staid historical overview:
"THIS WAS HER LAND, Juana's land, 17th century Mexico, Nueva Espana, where relentless passions merged with raw brutality to create a chaotic beauty. The peoples of Nueva Espana reflected this dichotomy in every sensual swing of their hips, in every syllable of prayer to la Virgen Maria."
The immersive atmosphere and promise begun here expands to include a keen eye for detail and dialogue as Sor Juana takes her vows, then takes her life in unexpected directions that seem far from her commitment as a nun. As she develops friendships and enters into a lesbian relationship during a time when such connections are relatively unknown, readers receive an ongoing portrait of her life, achievements, and social influences that come alive under Shank's pen:
"Maria Luisa welcomed this brilliant woman, this woman who was more than her equal. All the others - the wealthy landowners, the politicians, the businessmen - they were all her subordinates. This poet, this philosopher, this proud nun, this was no subordinate. Juana was in all respects her equal and, she hoped, a great deal more."
Her literary prowess, her search for truth about family and her world, and her uncommon relationships and achievements all come to life in a story that will prove hard to put down - even for readers who normally eschew historical fiction as being either too dry or filled with unfamiliar scenarios and backdrops that make them challenging to understand or absorb.
Sor Juana, My Beloved's passionate exploration of Sor Juana's life brings it to vibrant levels of drama paired with facts to attract fiction readers interested in a story packed with psychological, social, and spiritual reflections. Her various incarnations as nun, intellectual, poet and writer, and lover all come to life, rounding out the facts and progression of her world. All these elements are why libraries strong in either Mexican history or historical novels in general will find Sor Juana, My Beloved such a standout. It's also strongly recommended for literary reading groups interested in discussing Sor Juana's life, times, and trials.
Cinder Bella
Kathleen Shoop
www.kshoop.com
Independently Published
9798498619446, $11.24 Paperback/$2.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Cinder-Bella-Season-kathleen-shoop/dp/B09KN657P7
The third book in the 'Tis the Season holiday series is set in a small Pennsylvania town in 1893. Bella lives in a converted barn on an estate run by a wealthy businessman. When he and his wife are stranded overseas, she's one of the few employees to remain, fostering her talent of encouraging the farm's hens to lay amazing eggs. Lonely for a companion, she hatches a plot to get an egg into the hands of an appreciative man who might then express his love for her. Such a man could be now-broke philanthropist Bartholomew Baines, whose banking empire has collapsed, leaving him penniless and lonely. Seems like a match made in heaven, right?
Wrong, because Bella and Bart's first encounter is anything but romantically destined. It takes a while for any semblance of attraction to emerge between them. In the meantime, Bart and other now-homeless people arrive at Bella's estate as refugees. Of course, the holiday season is upon them. With it comes a different kind of attraction, kindness, and redemption as Belle and Bart face changing situations that force each to respond and grow in different ways.
As in the two prior series titles, Kathleen Shoop excels at weaving themes of poverty, generosity, and revised economic circumstances into the broader scope of a developing romance. This gives the story added value and ties in nicely with the holiday season, providing readers with just the right blend of love and achievement that gives the characters a full-bodied feel. As disparate lives coalesce, the story's major themes also come together, illustrated by different impulses, experiences, and the unified desire to not just survive, but live well and find love in the process. Shoop outlines these perspectives using succinct language, exploring experiences that flavor love with issues of achievement and growth: "Persistence, patience, boredom, hope, impossibility. They all go together. I'm with Bartholomew. Not sure this will work."
The result is a thought-provoking holiday read which will especially delight seasonal readers looking for more than a love story alone. Libraries will want to recommend it to patrons who like feel-good romances backed by more than attraction alone.
Always Noel
Kathleen Shoop
www.kshoop.com
Independently Published
9798771944081, $9.24 Paperback/$2.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Always-Noel-Season-kathleen-shoop/dp/B09M4YFH27
Always Noel, the fourth addition to Kathleen Shoop's 'Tis the Season series, continues to expand her focus on holiday backdrops, diverse characters, and varied settings which blend historical insights with romance. This tale is set in 1937 Oregon. The town of Albany is emerging from the Great Depression determined to celebrate the season with renewed hope and vigor... except for Jane Scott, who has been accepted at the school of her dreams, but is denied the scholarship funding that would allow her to attend. So near, and yet so far!
Adding to her misery is trouble from her boyfriend, who doesn't support her when she needs it the most. It will take the reemergence of family holiday traditions and new possibilities to remind her of how good a life she really has - and how many options she has to enact positive changes. Kathleen Shoop's special blend of holiday and history brings the times and characters to life, infusing them with not just joy, but struggles based on shifting perspectives about what is possible, what should change, and what should remain the same. The notes about self-growth that are induced by the holiday season are particularly attractive:
"With her arms loaded with all the root vegetables in the world for Christmas dinner, she was back en route for home, passing the final set of stores on her way out of town. She again noted the cheerful windows and smiling clerks. Though she knew unemployment was high in Albany - everywhere in the United States - the storefronts were lively and welcoming, sending a positive message when times were so bad. Perhaps she needed to embrace such an approach for herself."
From the gift of giving that Jane and her mother cultivate during this special time to the reward of receiving from unexpected places and in different ways, Shoop highlights a life buffeted by social and political changes. This profiles strong foundations in family and tradition that help Jane not just survive these times, but thrive. Despite questions about Jack's loyalty and her ability to achieve her goals, Jane finds that the holiday propels her forward.
Readers receive a powerful tale of evolving proactive behavior, creative problem-solving, and love. This will help them understand some of the season's underlying messages and impact. Libraries seeking historical fiction with holiday and romance themes which present strong characters at odds with their desires and future will find Always Noel a choice pick. It's highly recommendable to patrons seeking something different in uplifting holiday reads. 'Tis the season - and this book in particular (and the series as a whole) supports underlying messages of giving, positivity, and hope.
The Literary Fiction Shelf
Rediscovering Ramona
Gwen Banta
Independently Published
9798338831243, $10.99 Paperback/$3.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGLWCNHV
Once an extrovert with an engaged life, Ramona 'Ro' Walters finds her personality vastly challenged and changed by the COVID lockdown in Los Angeles, a situation which forces her to retreat and regroup. Re-emergence is not without its own pain, as Ramona discovers that in order to enter the world again, it must be in a different way... a way she has not yet fully envisioned. Thus is a travelogue and journey of self-discovery born, in which Ramona comes to find and feel that the gateway to growth foregoes the familiar, driving her into choices, lands, and consequences which are foreign to her current nature and past experience.
Gwen Banta follows Ro's story with a healthy dose of wry humor. This extends to Ro's examination of herself as well as those around her, who also have been affected by the COVID shutdown: "Ro's sister Lisa always told her she was like a baguette because she was crusty on the outside but soft on the inside. Perhaps Lisa was right, but Ro thought it only sensible to lead with the tough part--somewhat akin to a preventative strike. After all, the world was full of so many idiotic turd-sacks that she wished someone would invent a leaf blower for humans."
From a milieu in which Ro actually welcomes the respite isolation brings comes the bigger question of how to re-engage with that life (when the time comes), albeit in a different direction. Ro is halfway into her novel-writing before she decides to choose a course that her dear friend and literary advocate Geoffrey battles. He suspects her decision even before she hits him with the news during a hilarious (and pointed) lunch conversation. The dialogue between them is particularly well presented: "I'm here to tell you some news to which I believe you will react negatively at first; but if you pause to take a few breaths and think about what I'm about to tell you, I'm quite sure you will see this as a positive step forward."
"Oh, n-o-o," he groaned. "I should've known you wouldn't come out of your cocoon just to be social."
"I am being social, Godfrey. Why are you looking at me like that?"
"This is the look I always have on my face when I think someone is about to drop a nuke in my lap. Hold on. Let me order a drink before you Nagasaki me."
Indeed, dialogue and interactions are part of the flair that makes Rediscovering Ramona's journal so appealingly personal and realistic. Whether Ro is confronting her agent or her sister, these lively discourses identify and cement emerging emotions with the precision of a surgeon's knife as Ro tackles the remnants of her past and considers its ongoing impact on her future choices. Her involvement with noisy neighbor Fred Dunston's will, the undercurrents of the lovely Southern California community of Laurel Canyon, and her sojourn to Morocco (where she finds herself saved in an unexpected manner) lends to this saga of personal transformation that evolves interesting supporting characters. Each contribute to Ramona's sense of self-discovery.
Libraries who see patron interest in women's literature, novels about growth and new ventures, and stories that evolve with psychological depth endeavors (where travel is but a part of the adventure of novel) will find much to like and recommend in Rediscovering Ramona. It will appeal to women's reading groups as a fine point of group discussion on many issues - especially the lasting impact of COVID isolation and its ability to force isolated women to re-examine their lives.
Legend of Lost Basin
Bruce Hartman
Swallow Tail Press
9780999756478, $13.95
https://www.amazon.com/Legend-Lost-Basin-Bruce-Hartman/dp/0999756478
Although its setting is in the West, to categorize Legend of Lost Basin as a Western would be to do it a grave disservice. Despite its setting, its progression, characterization, and literary acuity place it far above and beyond the Western genre's tendency towards formula writing, making it a literary novel of the West which stands apart from most.
The story opens with the mysterious Slater, a stranger who arrives in town with a "ramshackle herd" of cattle and the intention of staking a claim on Seven Mile Ridge alongside a sandwash notorious for being dry. Not that anyone in town will tell him that. Bruce Hartman's exceptional literary style builds characters, intrigue, and atmosphere from the start, injecting the politics of the times with a sense of law and lawlessness which influences the choices of strangers and residents alike:
"The cattlemen paid Slater no mind as long as he kept his gaunted stock off their land. It wasn't their land, of course. It was open range, owned by the Indians or the government or God Almighty, but they'd made it their own and they weren't about to let some ragged cowpuncher out of nowhere crowd them off it."
Everything that followed - the deadly rivalry, the raids, the killings - traced back to Slater's determination to stay in the basin. Slater is not the only strong character in this story. Another part of its beating heart lies in the love that grows between Rory and the captain's daughter Elena. Against the backdrop of Elena's romantic and personal journey (The mustang was wild and frantic to escape. Behind her mask of death, she blazed with life and spirit and freedom and defiance, like the wild horses in Elena's dreams. Elena wanted to take that freedom and defiance into herself to keep it away from Luke and his leaden stupidity), these other characters enter Rory's milieu with their own special interests and rationale for leading their lives on the frontier:
"Rory drew a long sip of devil spit and shuffled out into the breaking dawn. In town, the day they were confronted by the Captain, he'd seen the girl, the Captain's daughter, and for that reason alone (which he kept secret from Slater, almost secret from himself) he wanted to stay in the basin, not only to avoid the disgrace of running away but because he wanted that girl, and he imagined, from the way she'd looked back at him and jerked her eyes away, the way you'd twitch your line to snag a trout, that she wanted him."
The dialogues, confrontations, expectations, and clashes that emerge from these characters thus evolve an intriguingly realistic and insightful set of events that unfold not with predictability, but with twists many readers won't see coming. Hartman builds lives and legends on gunshots and frontier justice, spiced with the wilderness of animal and man and the evolutionary process of love. His approach gives these events a special brand of action and insight, helping the story stand out in many different ways and lending a 'you are here' feel to the mystery, romance, and intrigue. From seasonal changes to Slater's focus on building a house suitable for a new bride, he grapples with hidden demons, the shifting interests of man and relationships with nature, and his fellow man.
All these facets create a gripping saga of discovery, growth, and efforts to "hold back the forces of nature." Hartman explores the nature of romantic and growth connections in a way that makes the story gripping, psychologically astute, and packed with "aha" moments of realization about Rory and Elena's lives, as well as the reader's assumptions about their relationship. The injection of concluding action that reflects redemption as well as love allows the novel to sizzle with new possibilities and understanding.
Libraries interested in literary frontier stories that hold little connection to the usual Western formula approach will find Legend of Lost Basin of special interest, highly recommendable to patrons who like their Western frontiers served up with the added value of legends from the trappings of real history. It's a gripping saga of discovery, growth and love that keeps readers thoroughly engaged. As a note about added value, Legend of Lost Basin opens a trilogy which promises further adventure and thought-provoking frontier insights.
Feisty Deeds
Kimberly Sullivan, et.al., editors
Independently Published
979898684455, $9.99 Paperback/$2.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Feisty-Deeds-Historical-Fictions-Daring/dp/B0D6G27LXR
Feisty Deeds: Historical Fictions of Daring Women gathers twenty-three short stories by women who contribute accounts of females who defied gender norms to confront limitations in their lives. Their experiences range from abusive relationships to a midwife who tries to protect women from charges of witchcraft. Spanning times from 1400s to the 1970s, each story represents a contrast in time and experience that lends a bigger picture of women's struggles, oppressors, and the mindsets designed to repress their powers.
Take Ashley E. Sweeney's 'Double Whammy'. Here, a 27-year-old 1970s woman confronts a diagnosis of breast cancer. She's trying to convince herself she can beat it when she sees a boy who reminds her of the death of her brother Henry, when she was only 11. Prompted by her encouragement to her brother to 'touch the sky,' he instead fell to his death. Her atmospheric descriptions of the event and its lasting impact deliver emotional punches of recognition and affinity to readers. This may prove triggering to some, but is absolutely captivating:
"I tell myself that a broken heart forces itself to work, even overtime, until the heart beats almost as well as before, that is, until it shatters again and the process repeats itself, over and over, until there isn't much left at all but the broken parts, and all that is left is to breathe, in, out, in, out, but with every breath it becomes more difficult, the breathing, and the living of it. Is life nothing more than a crapshoot?"
Eva finds answers in unusual places. In contrast is Patty W. Warren's 'Junebug.' It's set in 1943 North Carolina, where June Thompson helps out in the family business while dreaming bigger dreams. She longs to become a WASP, fulfilling her fierce desire to fly planes against the cautions of her wise mother, who notes that achievement will always be temporary for ambitious women: "What do you think's going to happen when this war is over? Those young women will be right back to where a female belongs and men will fly those planes."
As June chafes against home rules after the relative freedoms and promises of college, she faces a disaster that leads her to insist on fulfilling her dreams rather than remaining in a safe (but limiting) stasis at home. Each story explores a woman's growth in light of social constraints and psychological repression. Each presents an optimistic feeling of discovery, challenge, and change which will resonate with women who enjoy stories of growth and proactive living.
Feisty Deeds thus earns top recommendation for libraries seeking powerful anthologies celebrating women's writing and achievement. It's especially appropriate for book clubs and reading groups discussing women's values, dreams, and the different forms of mindset and social wealth which tend to repress, but not quash, inclinations to fly in different ways.
The Mystery/Suspense Shelf
The Grays of Truth
Sharon Virts
https://sharonvirts.com
Flashpoint Books
www.flashpointbooks.com
9781959411727, $28.95 Hardcover/$18.95 Paperback/$9.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Grays-Truth-Sharon-Virts/dp/1959411721
The Grays of Truth deftly marries true crime with history and fiction in a saga loosely based on real facts. Set in Reconstruction-era Baltimore, it follows circumstances which swirl around the deaths of various members of high society - including Jane Gray Wharton's husband Ned. At first, these deaths don't seem mysterious at all. Soon, however, Jane finds herself caught up in a net of deception and danger when she and her daughter suddenly fall ill. Jane suspects poison, which leads her to not only confront a macabre truth, but question her own sanity as circumstances provide answers that are too troubling and impossible to contemplate.
The saga opens in 1867 Washington D.C., where Jane Gray's background as a nurse during the Rebellion gives her a reputation for helping out in medical emergencies. Such is the case when she attends to Mrs. General Ketchum, who is in sudden distress. As she comes to question mean-spirited relative Ellen (cruel she may be, but is she really capable of murder?) and the circumstances that seem to point in one direction while an emerging reality leads Jane on an entirely different path, readers become thoroughly engrossed. The mystery component dovetails nicely with explorations of power plays, politics, and matters of the heart.
Sharon Virts's seamless merging of real history with fictional drama results in a compelling story. The protagonist finds herself buffeted not just by external forces, but her own cognition and perceptions. Tension is nicely developed, the plot embraces legal proceedings (which also contribute to Jane's teetering mental state as she is confronted with realities that defy her problem-solving abilities, medical prowess, and social standing), and characters and their motives, alliances, and relationships are especially powerfully rendered.
Virts deftly wields a heady blend of historical fact, forensic science, and research. This includes autobiographical writings and records of proceedings initially published in 1866 by William K. Boyle, which cement the atmosphere and authenticity of her story. Libraries will thus find The Grays of Truth of special interest and recommendation to two major audiences: those interested in true crime stories, and genre mystery fans who like their intrigue couched in a history and atmosphere that evolves in as much a pragmatic, realistic manner as the puzzle itself.
Murder on the Rocks
R.F. Wilson
Pisgah Press, LLC
www.pisgahpress.com
9781942016878, $19.95 Paperback/$2.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Rocks-Rick-Ryder-Mysteries/dp/B0DBL6VBH2
Murder on the Rocks adds to R.F. Wilson's Rick Ryder mystery series, following Rick to the North Carolina coast into a fictional community. Rick's intention is to recover from his wife's death and visit his friend, Deputy Hammond Oakley, but when he discovers Hammond has suddenly died, his investigative hackles rise. He's then drawn into an unexpected murder mystery that challenges both his personal psyche and his professional abilities. Hammond's sister Rebecca suspects sinister influences on her brother's death, because she's also a detective with a savvy nose for trouble. She provokes Rick into opening a dangerous inquiry that uncovers much more simmering beneath its surface than murder alone.
R.F. Wilson builds a plot that requires no prior familiarity with Rick's background and talents in order to prove attractive to newcomers. A thread of wry humor runs through interactions to pique a reader's sense of irony:
"Detective Hammond. What're you doing down here at this hour?"
"Detectivizing."
"I'm sorry. What?"
"Being a detective. Looking for clues. That kind of thing."
Conjoined with this humor are psychological revelations that connect the two characters, revealing serious influences on healing, recovery, and life choices and progression:
"Think there'll be a World War III, Rick?"
"What the hell kind of question is that, Becky? You just lost your brother. I just lost my wife. Is this how you deal with grief? 'Let's imagine something worse than what's going on in our lives right now.'?"
From activity that is hidden to the public to Rick's attempt to preserve his undercover investigator status against the glaring identifier of a missing arm, cat-and-mouse struggles inject the story with a satisfying blend of high-octane action, intrigue, and psychological insights and revelations. These elements translate to competing concerns about solving the case, revealing its bigger-picture impact, and recovering from loss.
Libraries that choose Murder on the Rocks for their collections will want to highly recommend it to readers seeking more than a whodunit mystery. The emotional threads running strongly through the characters' lives create a draw that is impossible to ignore and a read that is equally hard to put down.
Rain
H.N. Hirsch
Pisgah Press, LLC
www.pisgahpress.com
9781942016847, $22.95
https://www.amazon.com/Rain-Bob-Marcus-Mystery-Hirsch/dp/1942016840
Fans of H.N. Hirsch's prior Bob and Marcus mysteries will find much to relish in the third series addition, Rain. Here, Professor Marcus George is confronted by grad student Kenny Glick, who thinks he's about to be implicated in and arrested for a murder after he's questioned by the police. Of course, he maintains that he is innocent. But his very admonition involves Marcus in a matter that taps both his educational expertise as an ethics professor and his savvy investigator's nose for trouble. From the outset, Hirsch paints these associations and relationships from prior books in such a manner that old fans won't be bored by lengthy recaps, while newcomers will be able to seamlessly walk into a tale that builds on these associations to create a powerful legal thriller.
Private defense attorney Bob Abramson takes on Kenny's case, but is hampered by evidence which points to his client's guilt, and by the impact his investigation has on partner Marcus when evidence increasingly implicates his employer, the University of California at San Diego. Ethical dilemmas abound as Bob faces difficult choices about where his loyalties lie and comes to realize that the impact of his drive for justice will also result in a terrible blow to his partner's career. Marcus and Bob became an official married couple ten years earlier. Can their relationship withstand an investigative process which compels both to re-examine their morals as well as their commitments?
As they journey to Palm Springs and other locales, interviewing interested parties and formulating their own ideas of whodunit, gay culture seamlessly woven into the backdrop adds further realistic atmosphere to unfolding legal and interpersonal dilemmas. Hirsch explores both the back-and-forth of court proceedings and the couple's efforts. This focus dovetails nicely with the expanding forces buffeting Marcus and Bob's relationship, with university politics and gay culture adding a broader dimension to the plot.
Readers who enjoy action that takes place both in the courtroom and outside of it thus will be especially pleased with the focus Hirsch expands upon in Rain. They will also appreciate its accompanying insights on how legal and ethical quandaries permeate home environments to impact relationships as much as trial outcomes. Libraries seeking either another addition to Hirsch's series or a standalone legal mystery that revolves around motivation, ethics, and gay relationships will welcome Rain into their collections as a powerful depiction not just of justice and murder, but of shifting social and psychological milieus. Rain proves a wonderfully powerful story that rests on well-developed relationships, characters, and quandaries replete with satisfying twists and turns, making it nearly impossible to put down.
Too Close for Comfort
Mike Martin
Ottawa Press and Publishing
https://www.ottawapressandpublishing.com
9781990896224, $4.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Too-Close-Comfort-Windflower-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0DGVN6LBL
Too Close for Comfort delivers another Sergeant Winston Windflower mystery to both new audiences and prior fans, who will find this Newfoundland detective's life intrinsically wound into another dilemma that occupies his mind and impacts his life. Windflower has returned to his primary job as a RCMP officer, and despite the fact that he and his wife own a local B&B, he is more immersed in his expanded role as inspector for a much wider region than before. Another vacant property fire leads him to suspect a firebug is at work, but it turns out that the conflagrations portend more complexity than an arsonist's hand.
As in previous books, Windflower's home life and family are as much an attraction as the mystery he investigates. The descriptions of shootings, lying, and fires juxtapose scenes of his off-duty interests in a satisfying manner that lends a realistic, believable atmosphere to the story:
"I'm so glad you're okay," she said, hugging him closely. She knew better than to ask for details. He almost never talked about the difficult parts of his police work. He said that he didn't want to bring that home with him. "The girls were really worried about you. They wanted to stay up until you got home, but I told them they had skating and dance in the morning. I can take them if you need me to."
As complexity evolves unexpected directions in the plot, from European involvements to gold, and spiritual responses, it's evident that Too Close for Comfort's interplay of interests, mystery, and personal response sets it head and shoulder above many detective investigate pieces. Disparate elements are drawn together to create intriguing, compelling moments:
"He mixed his sacred medicines and smudged. Afterward, he sat there for a moment to allow the smoke to come into his body and spirit. This one act connected him, even if briefly, to himself and to what he believed was the spirit world. In that space he offered thanks to those who had come before him and asked for help in this world, not just for himself but for anyone who might be struggling this morning."
The expanded diversity of Windflower's character and his small community will especially be enjoyed by mystery fans who look for more than intrigue in their choices. It's the sense of not just purpose, but place, that makes Too Close for Comfort an exceptional read. Mike Martin is especially strong in weaving in references to past experiences and connections to make Too Close for Comfort highly accessible to newcomers who hold no prior familiarity with Newfoundland, Windflower, or any of the background presented in previous stories. The result is another full-faceted Windflower mystery which brings community, causes, and protective instincts to life in a swirl of dilemmas and responses that will especially attract libraries seeking superior Canadian-based intrigue and characters whose persona lives shine as much as the mystery.
The Kingdom of Hatch
J.B. Manning
Encircle Publications
https://encirclepub.com
9781645995654, $19.99 Paperback/$6.99 eBook
https://encirclepub.com/product/the-kingdom-of-hatch
https://www.amazon.com/Kingdom-Hatch-J-B-Manning/dp/1645995658
The Kingdom of Hatch is a novel that is difficult to peg. Some might identify it as a thriller because it holds elements of international intrigue; or a study in identity crisis, as young attorney Arlo Hutch struggles with wanting more out of life and career than a partnership with a successful law firm. He looks for even more than a romance with Stella, an attractive philanthropist who just so happens to be the daughter of his client, Tucker Barnett. These are just two themes that open a story which quickly moves into realms of corporate greed, political and business manipulation, and a plot to run Arlo off his Vermont land, which he's turned to in hopes of healing and refuge.
Readers will appreciate the nonstop action which ensues as Arlo's experiences move from his perspective to the insights of various supporting characters: Stella frowned at her phone - once again, Arlo failed to pick up. She didn't understand it. First he ghosts her; then he says "Miss you! Call?"; then he doesn't respond to her repeated efforts to do just that. Expect the worst, she thought. You'll never be disappointed. These include Tucker's new wife Maggie, his threatening former client Konstantin "Kostya" Kozlov (who wields a mean butcher knife), and mystery woman Kristen, whose own special interests introduce tension and further discoveries and dilemmas.
Some could say that J.B. Manning weaves a convoluted plot, but the success in any such project lies in how neatly the threads come together. In this case, a seemingly disparate and wide array of influencers, special interests, and political and business plots that lure Arlo out of his gardening goals and refuge transform into an absorbing, satisfyingly unpredictable romp. When survivalists kidnap a progressive gubernatorial candidate, the plot thickens - as does the playing field of special influencers whose diverse interests land on Arlo's shoulders.
Libraries and readers seeking a story replete with satisfying twists and turns that's hard to easily categorize and easy to love will find The Kingdom of Hatch spins an attractive yarn of discovery, changes, and threats that's difficult to set aside, once begun. It's especially highly recommended for readers seeking nonstop action, strong characterization, and multifaceted stories that specialize in going in new directions. Its outcomes neatly draw all characters into symbiotic relationships that simmer with intrigue and transformation.
The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf
Aftermath: Into the Unknown
Lena Gibson
Black Rose Writing
www.blackrosewriting.com
9781685135294, $23.95 PB, $6.99 Kindle, 338pp
https://www.amazon.com/Aftermath-Into-Survival-Lena-Gibson/dp/1685135293
Readers of Lena Gibson's apocalyptic novel The Edge of Life are in for a treat with its sequel, Aftermath: Into the Unknown. It delves into a vastly changed world after a planet-killing asteroid fractures Earth. Prior fans may recall that part of what that set The Edge of Life apart from similar-sounding asteroid apocalyptic stories lay in the book's main characters, alcoholic Kat and workaholic Ryan. Each faced life-changing circumstances in a new environment, and each harbored personality and pluck that made them survivors rather than victims.
Aftermath carries interpersonal connection further into romance and self-discovery territory, expanding interpersonal connections, presenting new characters, and revealing human issues that emerge from the bigger picture of physical obstacles to ongoing life on Earth.
Aftermath focuses on Robin and Kory, who have found novel ways to survive the impossible. Robin's youth ended when the asteroid smashed Earth. Now she cares for her grandfather and scavenges food. When Kory and his biker club, the Wings, arrive in town, Robin finds her world again transformed -- this time, by opportunities that threaten the careful world she's built, which already exists on the thin edge of survival. When she leaves Boise to embark on a journey with Kory, new encounters, tension, and unexpected developments challenge them both on many different levels. Each is forced to adopt new strategies and accept fresh possibilities as their quest for security, food, and the basics of life also becomes one of cementing a different kind of human connection.
Pursued by those who would either confiscate or destroy all they value, Kory and Robin face many unexpected threats -- including cannibals who kidnap travelers for meat. From the kindness of strangers to imprisonment, Kory and Robin's travels introduce a heady mix of interpersonal growth and survival tactics that constantly shift under the uncertain ground of post-cataclysmic changes.
As a sequel to The Edge of Life, Aftermath proves satisfyingly powerful. Well able to operate as a stand-alone story, it shines with action as the characters attempt to construct a real home and create possible family from the ashes of devastation and inhumanity.
Libraries and readers seeking dystopian fiction that rests on powerful characterization, romance, and revised intentions to achieve more than simply survival will find Aftermath: Into the Unknown a soul-satisfying journey. It moves readers beyond the fact of the asteroid's impact into the deeper questions of how disaster and survival requirements alter and impact the heart.
The Condemned Mage
A.S. Norris
https://www.asnauthor.com
Independently Published
9798985459388, $24.99 hc / $16.99 pbk / $3.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Condemned-Mage-Adventures-Jack-Wartnose/dp/1965626017
Fans of the previous three chronicles in the Jack Wartnose series well know that A.S. Norris injects a special blend of humor and adventure into his series titles. These take place in a kingdom ruled by mages, oppressors, magic, and the follies and efforts of flawed protagonist Jack.
The Condemned Mage, the fourth book of the series, continues to expand Jack's adversaries and obstacles to his goals, opening with a prologue which neatly ties in with the concluding epilogue of The Hunted Mage before segueing into Jack's ongoing struggles and revelations.
Skully, Wartnose, and other characters traverse Downriver Ferry facing ongoing danger and assumptions about their journey's impact on the world. Each holds an adventurer's penchant for finding trouble in unexpected places and situations.
Once again, A.S. Norris expands the fantasy mage-driven world and Jack's impact on it, building a new tale of town heroes who keep secrets and exploring the pursuits of sorcerers. Each encounter reveals more issues of loyalty, confrontations, and questions of survival and salvation. Each poses new challenges to not just Jack, but blind daughter Eustace and a host of others whose special interests diverge and swirl around Jack's decisions.
The adventure and action components of this ongoing saga are as vividly unpredictable as in Norris's prior books... as is the humor. Dialogues cementing local lingo and characters continue as strongly as in the prior stories, reinforcing the atmosphere of a fantasy world replete with organic alchemy and a dark lord's control over revenants. Some are convinced that Jack Wartnose is in danger from assassins. Others believe differently. Assaults of mind and soul accompany the struggles, augmenting the action-packed scenes with reflective insights into political, social, and moral and ethical conundrums.
These emerge as Jack pursues his goals against all odds. Fun appendixes again add an extra dimension of wit and insight to readers, as in the poem/song "Oh! Why Did I Ever Get Married?" Once again, the story concludes neatly, but portends more to come. Satisfyingly rich world-building complexity is not limited to George R.R. Martin with such strong competition as is provided by Jack Wartnose and his gang.
Libraries and readers who have enjoyed the prior Wartnose mage adventures will find The Condemned Mage just as worthy of acquisition, recommendation, and engrossing reading as its predecessors.
The Forbearing Mage
A.S. Norris
https://www.asnauthor.com
Independently Published
9781965626900, $24.99 HC, 391pp
9798985459333, $16.99 PB, $1.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Forbearing-Mage-Adventures-Jack-Wartnose/dp/B0C2SMKKS2
The Forbearing Mage is the second book in the fantasy adventures of new mage Jack Wartnose. It raises yet another quandary surrounding Jack's quest for the Tome of Time -- the appearance of his estranged daughter Margaret Stormgale, who is bent on both physical and mental revenge.
With the Inquisition hot on his heels and his speed fueled by a desire to escape both forces and achieve his goal, Jack's journey is fraught with compelling action and scenes of confrontation and realization. Of special note is the psychological quandary Jack faces from his daughter as he confronts his failings and dreams for their future: Look at you. At this moment, I could reach out and hug you close. Though it would probably draw your murderous ire. I don't want you to despise me forever. I know I've wounded you deeply. But if I asked for you to come with me, would you? Would you bother coming along with a man you barely know and despise? Or am I deluding myself?
With two major obstacles standing in his way on an already-difficult quest, can Jack overcome such challenges to reach an increasingly elusive goal? The problem is that Jack has made too many enemies, from family to strangers - and none of these pursuers have any intention of either reconciling or ceasing and desisting.
One again, A.S. Norris has created a compelling scenario and winning characters via Jack Wartnose's dilemmas and confrontations. From arch-villains to ordinary people impacted by Jack's poor choices of the past, the nature of these personalities expand in Book 2. This introduces satisfaction and further layers of depth to prior readers, while appealing to newcomers to Jack's world. The politics of the court, the involvement of thieves such as Skully, a wide array of supplemental characters (such as Brien the ranger), and a healthy injection of humor and ironic wit drives the characters, influencing their connections and outcomes as they contribute depth to a sword-and-sorcery drama which is compelling and hard to put down.
Libraries seeing patron interest in Jack Wartnose's world and prior escapades will want to include The Forbearing Mage in their collections, highly recommending it to fantasy followers seeking a powerful blend of fast action, well-thought-out characters, and humor that permeates their efforts and achievements.
The Hunted Mage
A.S. Norris
https://www.asnauthor.com
Independently Published
9781965626009, $24.99, HC, 423pp
9798985459357, $19.99 PB, $2.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/Hunted-Mage-Adventures-Jack-Wartnose/dp/B0CL9FNHW6
The Hunted Mage is the third book in a fantasy series revolving around the quest and adventures of flawed hero Jack Wartnose. Here, he moves from the frying pan into the fire -- Jack has been freed from the Mage Inquisition, but confronts the Murder of Crows assassins. The group harbors yet another vengeful personality from his past (how many are there?), sending Jack and his family on further journeys and struggles.
Fantasy fans of the series that have absorbed Jack's prior confrontations with his past well know that a sense of humor is embedded into these encounters. They add ironic inspection to his purposes, motivations, and the follies of the past which continue to haunt his present world.
The tale opens in the magedom capital of Marcialos, where a cloaked figure (Sloth Bear) is assigned the task of stopping Jack Wartnose from reaching the hidden tome. This introduction details only one of Jack's opposing forces, drawing readers into a series of dilemmas that includes ongoing plots by his vengeful daughter and new opposing forces that have placed Jack on their radars.
Once again, A.S. Norris creates a vivid, action-packed, engrossing fantasy filled with twists, turns, and unexpected wit. Jack's ability to field friends, enemies, and family dovetails with new revelations about his choices, their consequences, and his impact on the world around him. He also affects the quiet town of Downriver Ferry. This creates satisfying interplays of special interests and adventure that will engage and excite readers of sword-and-sorcery fantasy.
The added value of a stream of humor that runs throughout these encounters also lends an extra dimension of attraction: Eustace wagged his head and mused, "So all I have to do is become friends with your wife to be instantly accepted? Well, she sounds like an easy woman to please." Although not intending to insult Muriel, Eustace instantly knew he screwed up and regretted it. Phocas knew the lad screwed up and buried his face in his palm, grunting, "Oh, Eustace!" The ladies knew he screwed up, with Precia looking in horror as a clearly agitated Wartnose ignored every sore joint and muscle in his body to jump to his feet. Wide-eyed, Eustace placed a hand up to calm Wartnose. "Oh, crap! I... I only meant she's an easy woman to become friends with!"
Even the appendixes (carefully designed to extrapolate further on the story's background and environment without interfering with its progression by appearing within the plot) are both informative and wryly humorous. While the main story neatly concludes with joyful new possibilities, the epilogue introduces more characters and portends the subject of the next series addition.
Libraries seeking vivid sword-and-sorcery tales of adventure and woe will want to add The Hunted Mage to any collection seeing popularity with the prior Jack Wartnose sagas. It expands settings, adds new obstacles and characters, and engages fantasy-reading audiences with shifts of action and political involvements which are unexpected and satisfyingly engrossing.
Parallels
Kfir Luzzatto
Pine Ten
https://books2read.com/parallels
9781953864215, $5.99 eBook
https://www.amazon.com/Parallels-Kfir-Luzzatto/dp/195386421X
What if UFOs are not aliens from outer space, but residents of a parallel universe? Parallels poses this and other ideas as it unfolds the certainty of physics professor Thomas Williams that not only are the visitors from a parallel universe, but their increased activity portends a dangerous dissolution of the boundaries separating these worlds. In order to prove his theory, Thomas must develop a means of accessing them.
When he and his son Dan find themselves on the wrong side of the law, and on the lam, they journey through these parallel places in search of answers to more than just UFO identity. Each trip creates trials and discoveries that introduce new challenges, impossible ventures, and circumstances affecting not just their travels, but the future of their home world.
Kfir Luzzatto crafts an intriguing premise that departs from the usual sci-fi account of parallel universes and aliens to inject novel dilemmas and quandaries into these overlapping parallel worlds. The special interests that emerge on various levels threaten the fabric of time, space, and social institutions alike: "...all our institutions are in danger. If this continues, complete chaos will ensue." Intriguing alternative social constructs are just one of the facets that elevate Parallels above and beyond similar-sounding explorations: "You know that we must spend at least twenty percent of our income at the mall. If we can't produce receipts for at least that sum at the end of the month, we will be fined heavily and imprisoned if that repeats itself. Of course, all the money goes into the pockets of the tyrant who owns all the malls. They like to call it 'popular dedication to the economy.'"
Dan's ability to uncover the facts about these contrasting universes, and his struggles with "doubles" that exist in these parallel places, makes for heady reading packed with social, philosophical, and sci-fi investigative intrigue. Between double agents and double crosses, Luzzatto builds his story on rich characters, unexpected events, and the progression of confrontations and realizations that lend a fast pace of inquiry and discovery to the story's sci-fi foundations.
Libraries seeking hard-hitting, compelling tales of alternative lives and parallel possibilities in sci-fi literature will welcome the power of Parallels to draw readers with intrigue and mystery, as well as delightfully unexpected twists and turns of plot and place.
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
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