By Julie Sara Porter
Bookworm Reviews
Horror
Carola Schmidt’s short work, French Turquoise Echoes could be seen as a modern day adaptation of Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Like its predecessor, it explores the fine line between sanity and insanity. It also asks some really tough uncomfortable questions about the real reasons behind this psychotic break, the person experiencing it, and the world surrounding them before and during this episode.
Janet Danvers, a retired psychologist/youth volunteer, spends her days staring at her French turquoise wallpaper which is decorated with a floral pattern. Throughout her days, she interacts with a variety of characters who could be either products of an overactive imagination, repressed memories of people in her life, or visual and auditory hallucinations. As her conversations with them become more intense, Janet is forced to come to terms with various past traumas that may have manifested themselves into the forms of her companions.
French Turquoise Echoes is reminiscent of those classic Gothic short stories which take place in a small enclosure and where every object is filled with meaning and metaphor. The wallpaper for example could stand for Janet’s fractured mindset. Flowers normally symbolize life, youth, peace, and growth but in this case they mean something different. The flowers on the wallpaper seem to be metaphors of death and hidden truths. Instead of reminding her of good pleasant times, they are covered in her blood as she strips away the paper. They force her to peer into her subconscious and come to terms with things that she mentally concealed.
Her companions are deceptively written to be engaging and a welcome presence. Such characters as the curious Margaret, the calm Antonio, the sardonic Robert, the elegant Lilac comment on and become almost as multifaceted as Janet herself. Even some characters like Gwen, Janet’s daughter, and Otto, a young boy put in Janet’s care, have an air of mystery to them. It is purposely left ambiguous whether they are actually real or are part of this gang.
As I mentioned before, French Turquoise Echoes is a post-modern adaptation of “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Both are commentaries on the line between sanity and madness and how society treats the people involved.
French Turquoise Echoes is a meditation on loneliness and the plight of the elderly. Janet once felt useful as a large part of a thriving community. She had a successful career to look back on with pride,loyal friends, and a loving family. Now, she lives a solitary life detached from the world around her. She is forgotten by the society around her, so she retreats within herself inside her own head. Is it any wonder that she has such an active fantasy life when her reality is so disappointing?
Unfortunately. Janet used her fantasy life as a deflection and a shield from her traumas. However, the more she tried to hide from them the more they appeared until she couldn’t hide any longer. Her fantasy and reality, once separate worlds, are forced to become one.
The Girl Who Didn't Get Married by Mark Ross is a psychological thriller about a bibliophile who is put into a destructive situation and copes by using her very active literary fantasy life.
Emma is engaged but her fiance, Christian calls it off the day before their wedding. Apparently he had something on the side with Dana Martin. Police officer Jared Evans interrogates her on the day of the wedding that never was to inform her that Dana was found dead inside a hotel room. Witnesses saw someone who looked like Emma leaving the hotel. She had the opportunity, means and certainly a motive so it doesn't look good. As Jared investigates Emma, Emma does her own investigation to clear her own name and confront Christian. She is also caught up in her favorite mystery novels and psychological thrillers identifying with characters like Amanda Chapman and Claire Rosen so much that she not only interacts with them but actually becomes the characters.
The Girl Who Didn't Get Married is a strong insightful psychological thriller about a woman who is on the cusp of losing her sanity right when her entire world is falling apart around her.
Emma is someone whose delusions are getting in the way of living her life. There are chapters where she talks to her favorite literary characters and they offer advice on her current predicaments. Whole chapters are told from those characters’ points of view not Emma's so the Reader is required to pay attention to whether Emma, Amanda, Claire, or one of the other characters is on the scene.
It can get very confusing to follow especially when chapters jump from one point of view to another and where they purposely contradict each other. For example Amanda does things that Emma doesn't remember doing or has no control over.
There are strong suggestions that Emma identifies with these characters because they act in ways that she wants to. They are brave, confident, self-assured, seductive, alluring, strong-willed, and are able to manipulate situations in their favor. Reading about, talking to, and becoming these characters becomes a wish fulfillment for a woman who feels like she has no sense of self-worth or identity and feels like a cypher in her own real world. Someone who things happen to rather than making them happen for herself.
Emma's transformations from character to character are the highlights of the book more so than the plot. The plot is suspenseful and mind twisting. There are some interesting detours and revelations that require the Reader to read closely and even go back to review them again just to be sure. However, some plot points can be discombobulating. One in particular will have the character scratching their heads in confusion and torn between whether they loved or hated it. It requires some deep thinking and a potential suspension of belief but it also resonates with what we know about the characters and the information in which we are given and can infer.
The Girl Who Didn't Get Married is a compelling look at a troubled bookworm’s fractured mind. It's a bit dramatic but is also intriguing and sometimes scary to imagine how quickly that could become us.
Hell's Beginning is a graphic, bloody, paranoiac Supernatural Horror about a hunt for a creature that even the Reader isn't told who or what they are.
In the beginning of the book, we receive a first person narration from a very creepy character who is planning to rape and abduct Sharon, a woman whom they see in a bar. What begins as a routine Psychological Thriller with a human serial killer turns into something else. When The Abductor is murdered in retaliation a blue mist emerges and enters his killer. What was once human now is something demonic. It was someone with a form, a shape, and a body. Now, a psychopathic killer is replaced by a demonic force that enters a body and forces it to commit violence. The human host has completely mentally disappeared leaving the parasitic demon in its place.
The Demon exits and enters other bodies throughout the book, hopping from body to body and controlling one mind after another.This Demon can't be killed because it goes from the victim to the murderer. It takes a different form and voice and is smart enough to access its new host’s memories and experiences to imitate them flawlessly and gain access to their stuff. Its pursuers don't know who it is inside now.
It could be in anyone and anywhere. A bystander, a witness, a family member, even their own spouse or partner. The paranoia is justifiably thick as characters have to face an enemy that is potentially all around them.
There is an interesting subtext concerning the Demon. It slips between human forms when the human kills the previous body. Perhaps The Demon is a metaphor for violence itself. Jumping from body to body suggests that we all have the capacity to commit violence.
That urge lays dormant inside us and is just waiting for an outlet to bring it forward. Whether because of hatred, vengeance, self-defense, or commitment to patriotism and justice, sometimes we want to hurt others. This demon is just a manifestation of our worst desires to do so.
It's easy to defeat a monster that exists outside of oneself. It's a Hell of a lot harder to fight the one within.
E. Denise Billups’ third Simone Doucet Supernatural Mystery, Echoes of Ballard House. It effectively combines a real life murder mystery with Simone's dark interior world of ghosts, visions, and demonic forces that trap the unwary and angry.
Simone is house sitting in a spooky manor called Ballard House, for her friends while researching information on her ancestors. While looking after the place, she experiences psychic visions of a bloody murder and an angry spirit. Simone studies the history of the house and the previous owner. These circumstances are tied to disturbing family secrets and a bloody murder that took place during the reign of terror of the Axeman, a real life serial killer who haunted the streets of New Orleans and was never caught or identified.
The opening reveals that ominous dark psychic energy right away. As the Axeman is attacking people outside, someone has their own evil murderous intentions. The Axeman kills indiscriminately, but this other person is going after someone that they know, presumably once loved. One, the Axeman is inhuman, someone that most people can’t imagine what that feels like. Another, the Narrator, is all too human, someone that some might be afraid of becoming. One argument too many, one lost temper, one careless display of weaponry, or buried resentment that boils over. That person could be just as, if not far more, dangerous than any serial killer.
Suspense carries over into the present. Whispers come through the house about the owners and the crimes that occurred. There is also a startling revelation that caused a former owner to withdraw his ownership of Ballard House. It is a genuinely unexpected twist that provides a disturbing mental image for the Reader to mull over for a few days.
By the time Simone house sits, Ballard House is completely festered with spirits that affect her physical and psychological well being. She suffers from vivid nightmares, chronic fatigue, migraines, and dizzy spells.
In one harrowing chapter, she passes out and has a visualization in which she witnesses the murders in the prologue first hand. The mindset of a psychic can be a troubling one and this chapter is an example of that. Simone is on high alert for any dark presences almost to the point of paranoia. Her visions and fears affect her perceptions so much that she can’t tell friend from enemy.
The supernatural world is a terrifying one as dark almost demonic presences are driven by rage, desire, insanity, and sins past. But what the Simone Doucet Series excels at is showing us that the real terror are the human beings that we encounter every day. The racist who dehumanizes those around them so they can justify their attacks.The misogynist who longs to own and use women for his sexual pleasure. The killer who murders without conscience. The family member whose anger towards their relatives turns into homicide. Those are the true terrors. Their actions cause the supernatural disruption proving that humans are more monstrous than any ghostly apparition can ever be.
Debunked is an engaging Supernatural Thriller/Occult Mystery about possessing intuitive abilities and using them as well as releasing long buried guilt. It is a fascinating conflict between skeptics and intuitives that has a lot of parallels with real life.
Craig Herbert is the executive field producer of The Debunkers Challenge, a top rated reality program in which a panel of experts led by host Gerald Agee exposes fraudulent psychics. The twist is the show will offer money if they can prove their abilities in front of the skeptics. So far they have yet to pay up. Craig visits Tennessee upon the advice of a colleague’s relative to visit Betty Ann Crawford, a clairvoyant with an uncanny success rate. The more Craig interviews the woman, the more bemused and mystified he is. Either she is an excellent con artist or she really is psychic. Her abilities become far more explosive when a missing person’s case unfolds just before Betty Anne’s episode of The Debunkers Challenge is about to shoot.
The premise behind The Debunker's Challenge is clearly based on the challenge created by James Randi. Betty Ann is probably not based on one specific person but probably an amalgam of different famous psychics and mediums like Dorothy Allison, Sylvia Browne, and Tyler Henry.
Her conflict with The Debunker's Challenge is reminiscent of the real life one between Randi and his most infamous target telekinetic, Uri Geller. Readers who are familiar with similar real life stories will love the inside references and those who are not will love the themes of science vs. superstition, skepticism vs. belief, and the physical world vs. the supernatural world.
This is also a very tight efficient Occult Mystery which plays all of the right notes within the subgenre. Craig has a tragic past with his own brush with death and unsolved crimes. His encounters with Betty Ann build on those memories and he receives horrific visions and flashbacks connected with his past. Many of Betty Ann’s proclamations have the balance between coincidence and truth that suggests that maybe she is simply gifted in cold reading or really is who she claims to be.
The final chapters taking place during the episode’s filming covers the spine tingling climax. Betty Ann makes some chilling revelations that are genuine plot twists that were properly built up but enough of a surprise once they were finally told. It is one of those twists that invites the reader to go back a few pages to see if they could spot the clues and sure enough, they were there.
Debunked is a brilliant chilling occult mystery that challenges the readers with what they believe in and what it would take to question those beliefs. I predict that the readers will have a great time.
Demons Also Dream is an effective sharp witty satirical Fantasy that also offers advice on how a Dark Fantasy novel should or shouldn’t be written by having the protagonists talk and argue about it during the action.
Our Literary Deadpools are Jocelyn B. “Joss” Wild, best selling Horror and Fantasy author, and Azazel, AKA Fury, a demonic genie, former lover of Lucifer, and Joss’s muse. Joss shares a psychic connection with Fury and Hell’s denizens so she can see what’s going on down there and this in turn gives her inspiration for her works. Joss however wants to write her final Fury novel and move onto other works. This does not sit well with her favorite subject as Fury questions Joss’ novel and what this untimely end would mean. While this is going on, Fury bids to collect a bounty on Roger Ford Garrison, the escaped soul of a news anchor who in life kidnapped, tortured, and murdered members of the LGBT+ community. Joss encounters April S. Showers, a fan and aspiring author who is not exactly the picture of perfect sanity.
Demons Also Dream is a Hell of a fun time, particularly because of its two leads. Joss is a cerebral sardonic character who probably would have preferred to experience Hell, demons, psychopaths, and psychic energy through the pages of the books that she writes. She would rather be an author of best selling novels and go to the bar to cruise for an attractive woman to sleep with. What she gets instead is Fury, an aggressive sexually charged denizen of Hell who lives up to her name. She reacts with passion and fury inspiring Joss with her experiences and her energy. It's a difficult life one of demonic encounters, kidnappings, torture, and frightening psychic visions but Joss endures it, reports on it, and even makes money off of it. The two bounce off each other really well in these insane situations in which they find themselves.
The book is ripe with deliciously juicy bits that add to the overall tone of the story. Lucifer is described as looking and sounding like George Clooney. Roger works for, what else, Fox News. Hell is less a place of torture than a place of ineffective bureaucracy. When April holds Joss captive she submits her to the worst torture imagined: she makes her read her unfinished sappy Princess Fantasy novel! This book is a hilarious and savage delight.
The best parts are the meta commentary which reveals that this is a smart novel about how to write a Dark Fantasy novel. Characters call attention to various plot points that happen particularly Fury. It's one thing to kill off a lead character as Joss was planning to do in her novel. But when said lead character sits up and argues with you about it is something else entirely.
The most brilliant and savage commentary is when Joss reads April's manuscript. Rather than outright attack the banal work, Joss gives her captor smart advice. She tells her to make her Mary Sue protagonist more real by giving her flaws. Put her into a conflict that raises the stakes and changes her outlook. Happy endings are fine but make them well earned by having her struggle. This is all good advice that any author needs to hear and the fact that it is written inside a novel that plays with and illustrates these conversations is really telling
Demons Also Dream: Summoned is an amazing and effective Master Class on writing a novel that is Trojan Horse disguised as a fun and exciting novel.
B.F. Hess’ American Odyssey: The Devil's Hand is a postmodern Faust story with some twists in the narrative. It has many of the usual tropes found in the adaptations: cocky ambitious protagonist, creepy and charming demonic figure, deal with the devil, naive troubled love interest, many good times of untold wealth and fame, terrifying supernatural moments, and the climax when it all goes horribly wrong and the devil comes to collect. What makes American Odyssey different is the blurred lines between fantasy and reality, sanity and madness, delusion and truth.
Uriel Jacob Sullinger, the latest patient at the Clay County Home for the Mentally Ill, has an interesting story to tell his psychiatrist, Dr. Kessler. Jacob was once a rich, powerful, influential lawyer. During a case, Jacob receives an unusual offer from a friend to strike a deal with a M. Diabolus. When Jacob meets Diabolus, he can't help but notice that there is something mesmerizing but sinister about him. Dare we even say potentially demonic?
American Odyssey is an interesting send up to the Faustian Legend. The modernized touches make the legend relevant and relatable to Readers. Instead of a demonic figure magically popping in and out from nowhere, Diabolus is dressed in fine tailored suits and has clandestine meetings in penthouses and limos. Instead of signing contracts written in blood, Diabolus like most businessmen rely on third parties and legal loopholes to get his souls.
There is another subtle more subversive element to this book that makes it more than a postmodern “Deal with the Devil.” There's an ongoing theme of mental health and the decline of it. The novel begins in a psychiatric hospital and Jacob recounts his story to his psychiatrist. Jacob spends the first few chapters detailing his upbringing by his great uncle and there are definite signs of inherited mental illness. Kessler even admits that he considers Jacob's great uncle a friend because of their time as philanthropist and beneficiary but also as doctor and patient. There are also revelations towards the end that Jacob is the latest in a long line of family members that have had psychological disorders and let's just say did not express them in the healthiest of ways.
This background information casts the Reader in the role of a dubious skeptic wondering how much of the book is true in a literal sense, a figurative sense, or just a series of visual and auditory hallucinations. This question is never answered and leaves room for alternative possibilities and theories. Looking at his story from a more detached analytical perspective, it's possible that this is not the adventures of a man making a deal with the devil but the story of a man who is fighting a losing battle against his own sanity. His nightmares may not be supernatural but hallucinations. Seeing religious significance in real people like Diabolus could be symptoms of paranoid delusions and they are neither diabolical nor divine messengers. His biggest battle might not be good vs. evil but instead madness vs. sanity.
If he's not damned by Satan, then Jacob is damned by his own mind. One can confront the Prince of Darkness, but can they ever really confront the darkness within themselves if they don't recognize it?
Marie Wood’s Horror Anthology, The Unholy Trinity: A Collection of 99 Stories contain easy digestible stories of fears brought to life with spine tingling plots, graphic images, and engaging twists.
These stories combine Wood's three previous horror anthologies, Caliginy, Phantasma, and Anathema. They are written to raise that slight chill in the back of the mind, the one that tells you that despite knowing that you are alone in the house, you might want to check the silent empty rooms just in case.
There are many ominous scenarios that become even more terrifying and imprint quite a few graphic images inside the Reader’s mind. A roller coaster becomes the literal ride from Hell. A couple are haunted by the ghost of a beautiful woman. A seductress awakens repressed longings in the women who encounter her. A group of African-American men face a game of life and death against some racists. Two former friends face each other one last fatal time. Killers contemplate their actions. An author has terrifying conversations with his fictional protagonist. A zombie apocalypse survivor looks for his missing brother. An abused woman takes vengeance on her hateful husband. An obsessed fan goes to extremes to capture the object of her affection. A painting stirs uncomfortable morbid feelings in its observers. Characters face Death in various forms.
These stories remind us that watching horror is a fun and interesting pastime but reading horror lets your imagination fly off into dark and forbidden dimensions that turns your sleep into an unpleasant one.
Megaera C. Lorenz’s The Shabti is an engaging historical setting, an inside look at the Spiritualists movement and the tricks that frauds pulled, a genuinely creepy supernatural threat, and a charming romantic gay couple that encounters these problems.
In the 1930’s, Dashiel Quicke exposes the hucksters and grifters of the Spiritualist Movement, revealing how they actually accomplished their tricks. During one of his lectures, he captures the interest of Professor Herman Goschalk, an Egyptologist and museum curator. Herman tells Dashiel that his museum is the center of some strange activity: footsteps, whispers, missing items, stuff being thrown around, bleeding walls, the usual. At first the situation seems easily explained by science or an overactive imagination but as Dashiel gets to know Herman and experiences more of these strange events, it becomes clear that they are being haunted by a real ghostly apparition, a ghost from Ancient Egypt who inflicts great pain, curses, and suffering against all it comes near. All of the flimflam tricks aren't going to save them when they are faced with the real thing.
From beginning to end, this is a book brilliantly charged with a sense of Historical Horror. Instead of going for big shocks and scares, The Shabti leisurely builds its pace by taking a straight line from events that are odd but could be explained to the cosmic horror in which the barriers between time and space and life and death must fade before that horror can be encountered and possibly defeated. One of the ways that it accomplishes this fear is by giving us a protagonist who has seen the supernatural world from the inside and knows how people bend and use it to their advantage.
The most interesting moments early on in the book occur when Dashiel tells how Spiritualists operate because he himself was once a Spiritualist but now speaks out against his former allies. That life weighs on Dashiel as he admits to Herman that many former clients came to bad ends because of their trust in Dashiel and his former colleagues. His past also figuratively comes back to haunt him when a former partner and lover wants to reignite their relationship both on and off stage. It doesn't take much for the former Spiritualist to see the guilt and danger that a life of deceiving others would bring, and it is understandable why he would expose it.
The fraudulent style of Spiritualism puts Dashiel in a false sense of confidence when he is faced with the Egyptian Ghost. The scientific rationale and previous charlatan history becomes moot when those small signs become large unrecognizable monsters and the whispers become shouts of the undead. It's enough to make one doubt their beliefs and particularly their minds.
Dashiel and Herman's relationship is a bright spot in this Horror Show of Ancient Terror. It is one of those relationships that begin organically with the two beginning to understand and relate to one another. Herman is confused and fascinated by Dashiel’s career as a Spiritualist and is on the fence between skepticism and belief. Dashiel gets arcane knowledge from Herman’s studies and while he explains Spiritualism and gives possibilities to Herman's encounters, he never ridicules him and likes talking with him. Their love strengthens each other as Herman’s knowledge of Egyptology and Dashiel’s Spiritualism experience counter the Ghost's wrath.
This book doesn't go into the legal and prejudicial ramifications and potential hardship that could occur if a romance between two men is made public. On the one hand, it does a mighty historical disservice in showing how courageous the two characters are just by being together. But on the other hand, it also proves to be a source of light and brightness in this dark disturbing supernatural world. When the two men work together to fight the Egyptian Ghost alongside friends and Dashiel’s former colleagues, their love is the truest and most honest thing that counters the terror of the otherworldly darkness but also the deception and mind games that Dashiel was once proud to be a part of.
What Was Left of Her is very reminiscent of the old Gothic novels like Jane Eyre and Rebecca . It explores the outer atmosphere built on suspenseful austerity and the inner psychology of the troubled people within.
Two sisters, Cassie and Alex, reunite after the death of their Aunt Lucie. While going through her house, the two recount their troubled and disturbed childhood with the loving but haunted aunt who raised them and their developmentally disabled and potentially sociopathic cousin, Bella. While they remain in Lucie’s coastal home, strange things start happening. Cassie sees someone out of the corner of her eye, hears whispers, and things are mislaid. She is beginning to wonder if maybe Bella who was believed to have disappeared might still be alive.
Lucie’s house seems like it’s on the edge of the world where if you slip off, you might disappear forever. It is cold, unpleasant, and surrounded by cliffs and water. Many people know of Lucie and her nieces, but not many are friends with them. The few that do have issues of their own that puts them under suspicion as well. For Cassie and Alex, this is not a welcome home so much as it is an unwelcome return to a past that they would rather have left behind.
As troubling as the world outside, the characters inside are just as miserable, notably Cassie and Bella. Cassie is a recovering alcoholic trying to piece together parts of her past that have continued to haunt her present and make her uncertain about her future. The more the book explores her mind, the more the reader sees what a damaged soul she is. It’s hard to tell whether the ghosts are real and surround her or whether they are in her mind. She is very suspicious of those around her including her aunt, cousin, and sister so her thought patterns often jump to the worst potential scenario. This makes her an unreliable viewpoint character who may be driven insane by grief, memories, and her own personality than anything those around her have done.
Even though Bella is absent through most of the book, she is still very much in the family’s mind and consciousness. She was a seriously troubled woman who may not have been physically capable of controlling herself but also may have been and did not care. The description of her could go either way and is only provided by third person accounts from Cassie and Alex. Bella is not here to defend herself or to give her testimony one way or another. The sister’s memories of their cousin are purposely contradictory, confusing, and unreliable so even they don’t know or understand their cousin and how she still haunts their presence long after she is gone.
The cousins' personalities and actions merge until it’s hard to tell how much of Cassie’s memories are accurate, whether they were things that Bella did or whether Cassie was projecting. It’s hard to tell who was the more troubled and violent cousin, Cassie or Bella and who is really haunting who.
Mystery/Thrillers
The Crystalline Crucible is a treasure hunt adventure that goes for laughs instead of thrills. Instead of the prize being an ancient and valuable object or buried wisdom, it's a few minutes of Internet fame.
Max Jacobs is an amateur treasure hunter who belongs to various social media groups where members look for hidden prizes. Max’s latest hunt is for The Crystalline Crucible, a prize offered by a mysterious organization that is rumored to be the Illuminati. To help him, Max recruits two acquaintances: Rosie Shaw, his would be girlfriend and Khalil Ahmed, Max’s coworker and rival.
Everything about this book is both odd and strangely adorable in its oddness. The treasure hunt itself has some intriguing clues that require knowledge and accessibility to various English locations. Max and Co. find themselves in some pretty uproarious situations to achieve the clues. The book begins as Max breaks into a local museum to receive a clue, only to be arrested and interrogated, and to later learn that the actual clue was on the museum’s website all along.
The hunt is made even stranger by the hunters themselves. The emphasis on most hunts is wealth and knowledge. There is some potential wealth that could help them. Max wants to provide funding so the local library won’t be shut down. Khalil wants to support his family and get some dangerous gangsters off his back. Rosie wants to travel the world and fulfill a lifelong dream by having her children’s book published. But equally important than the money that they hope to gain is the fame. If they find The Crystalline Crucible the trio will achieve the pinnacle of niche success: the achievement of looking cool among their army of social media treasure hunting nerds. You have to take the victories where you can find them.
Naturally a strange hobby would feature strange people pursuing it and we are given some weird ones. Max is probably the strangest of the trio. He is obsessed with Medieval history, carries a sword, and speaks in faux Middle English. The treasure hunt gives him a chance to fill out his quixotic fantasies of being a hero on a noble quest. His obsession with certain things like trivia and the Miss Marple series add to his overall quirkiness.
His treasure seeking cohorts are quite colorful themselves. Rosis is a Math teacher and is called to lend her expertise when the clues become numerical and analytical. Her children’s book consumes her thoughts so much that she sometimes visualizes her friends as anthropomorphic animals. Khalil is somewhat of the normal one of the group but he also has his eccentricities. He is a photographer and first encounters Max during a nightly photo session of the local area. Partly because of his history with criminal activity and partly because of his suspicious personality, he is on the lookout for any sort of rivalry, competition, or troubling activity. Even something as innocuous as working in a co-op market causes him to sense conspiracy when he is forced to work with Max and then when Max recruits him to join the hunt.
Much of the humor of The Crystalline Crucible lies in the meta commentary. This book knows what genre it is in and what tropes are at play and they acknowledge them even by adhering to and playing with them. When Max and Khalil agree to join forces, Max scoffs that this doesn’t mean that they will become friends bound together by their journey. Of course not even a few chapters later, they admit to becoming friends. When Max receives some disappointing news at the end, he lampshades the “it’s the journey not the destination” cliche right before he gains some enlightenment from his search to show him that yes it was the journey. The meta commentary is both parody in pointing out the tropes and respectful by paying them a touching tribute.
The Crystalline Crucible is a fun delightful read in which Readers might find that treasure can be found in a good laugh just as well as in a hidden bejeweled objet d’art.
9. Double Takedown (A Mike Stoneman Mystery) by Kevin G. Chapman
Double Takedown is double the murder, double the trouble, and double the excitement.
Detectives Mike Stoneman and Jason Dixon are doing well in their personal and professional lives.
During a night out at a Broadway Cares ballet production, Alex Bishop, Tony nominated star of Godfather: The Musical is murdered in public in the front row. Cause of death: poisoned by a fatal concoction of drugs. Director Nathan Matthews is subsequently investigated, charged, indicted and is now awaiting trial for Bishop’s murder but Mike and Jason think that the case is too easy and they have the wrong person. Their suspicions prove correct when TikTok influencer, Kayleigh Bronson is found murdered at a party after ingesting Montezuma's Delight, a drug concoction of the same drugs that killed Alex Bishop. The duo realize that the deaths might be connected when the same suspects and evidence turn up in both cases.
This is a solid double mystery in which two separate cases are connected by methods, suspects, and motives. The investigation takes the detectives through interesting leads through Broadway productions, drag venues, and social media videos to interview a bevy of eccentric entertainers. Most humorously a production of Sharknado: The Musical becomes an important plot point.
A drag performer gives Mike and Jason a lead which results in them comparing performances to see if a potential suspect was at a particular show. It's interesting as they compare things like vocal infections, makeup consistency, stance, and posture to see if they are watching the same person or a substitute in a costume, wig, and makeup. It's a test in observation skills for them.
By far the strangest person of interest is The Pharmacist, a mysterious character who peddles holistic remedies on his YouTube and TikTok videos. He is an odd composite of Timothy Leary and a street drug dealer from an 80’s PSA. He is both charismatic and menacing, especially since he isn't above using a customer's interest in his endorsed products to his advantage. It's easy to see why he has a large Internet presence especially in a time where many reject traditional medicinal means.
Mike and Jason’s partnership is a highlight. Even though they have pretty happy home lives, their personal lives are still a focus. That family members like their wives and other relatives get involved in different ways show that criminal catching can be a family affair. There is a tense chapter where Mike's niece, Star, is in the wrong place at the wrong time and finds herself in a potentially dangerous situation. What is fun and exciting for her is a job for Mike and Jason and she sees first hand what it's like to live a life of danger.
There is a constant theme of theater, putting on a performance, and pretending to be someone else. This climaxes in a sting operation where Mike, Jason, and their colleagues put on a performance of their own with acting, costumes, and disguises. Unfortunately, the suspects also know about performing too so the question isn't who's acting. It's who can put on the better performance and make the first and last move.
Even though G. Russell Gaynor’s The Blind Smith is 112 pages, it is a tightly wound and taut thriller about betrayal, revenge, and using one's own abilities and power to get that revenge.
An assassin blinds teen tech billionaire John J.J. Moore and kills members of his security team. He is taken in by Bob, a mysterious figure who teaches the young man how to be an assassin. Within a few years, J.J. excels in his training and recruits some new assassins to help him plan his revenge on the people who attacked him and killed his friends.
The emphasis in this book is on gathering intelligence and planning strategies. Fighting harder takes a backseat to fighting smarter. J.J. is particularly skilled in the whole “fighting smarter” mindset. He fits the description of someone who “plays 3D chess while his opponents play checkers.” In the beginning of the book, he is taught to use his other senses to become a formidable fighter ala Daredevil.
This style not only sharpens his physical strength but his mental strength too. He almost obtains a second sight and awareness into his allies and opponents's thoughts and actions.With J.J.’s physical strength and analytical prowess, he is more than formidable against his enemies. Half way through the book only a few years into his training, he is already recruiting and leading his own groups. He picks into his protegee’s desires for revenge and anger at being wronged.
He helps his new recruits channel their anger into being a fighting team that makes up for the deficiencies that he lacks. They will be his force for revenge over the enemies who attacked him and the traitors that allowed it.
The Blind Smith is a brilliant game between a genius who is conditioned to fight and those who he is conditioned to fight against.
Rosalind Barden’s YA Historical Mystery, The Cold Kid Case, is what happens when you give Little Orphan Annie Nancy Drew’s detective skills. You get a charming scrappy kid protagonist and a fun engaging mystery.
Sparky is an 11 year old street smart orphan living in Depression Era Bunker Hill, California who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a young girl since Sparky was the one who found the body. Sparky hides out in Creepy House, a mansion owned by Tootsie, an eccentric but kind silent movie actress. Sparky, Tootsie, Tootsie's loyal butler Gilbert, and Sparky’s protective friend Bobby are on the case to investigate the girl’s death and clear Sparky’s name.
The Cold Kid Case is reminiscent of one of those old Kid Adventure films. Sparky is that type of sassy rebellious kid who would star in them and Barden has fun with her character.
Her first person narration is a delight to read with its 1930s slang and tough kid attitude. Her savviness in sneaking into and hiding in various spots around Bunker Hill come in handy when she has to run from police officers, violent gangsters, or potential murderers. Even small touches like how we barely learn about Sparky's past, don’t even know her real name or if she even has a real name add to her characterization as a kid who had to survive on her own and harbors no illusions about how the world works.
It’s hard to avoid the reality of the Great Depression when it’s all around her. She isn’t the only orphaned or abandoned kid and she sees adults unable to survive and fighting for last scraps of a meal or employment at a demeaning dead end job that can only admit five people. If her elders have a hard time surviving in these circumstances, then what chances do kids like her have? In fact, the dead girl’s backstory is such an example. The identity of the murderer and the motive are pretty appalling and become more terrifying the longer one thinks about it. This might be a YA Novel, a Kid’s Adventure, even some form of a Kid’s Wish Fulfillment but it plunges headlong into the real world.
Some of the bite of reality gets lost once Tootsie enters the scene but in her own way, she also plays into the Adventure subgenre. Supporting characters in these types of stories, particularly adults, are often broad and larger than life with very little subtlety and Tootsie definitely plays that trope to the hilt. Of course her being a former actress definitely adds to that. If this was a movie instead of a book, the actress playing Tootsie would reject the catered lunch and craft services and prefer instead to gnaw on the scenery.
She is very melodramatic, vain about her appearance, and often waxes nostalgic about her former roles and stardom days. There is an almost youthful playful innocence like she has the childlike nature that Sparky lacks. Sparky directly faces the reality of the Great Depression while Tootsie prefers instead to get away from it and live in an idyllic fantasy.
Despite its name, Creepy House is anything but. It is a study in the fantastic imagination of what a movie star’s home would look like. Tootsie indulges Sparky’s investigations even furnishing disguises and at one time appearing incognito to assist her. Tootsie is a maternal figure who is loving but acts like a big kid herself. She offers enough of a safe harbor for Sparky to find shelter and freedom for the girl to be herself and learn from her mistakes.
The Cold Kid Case is a fun, bright, sassy mystery that plays into the genre with a lot of wit, bite, and heart.
6. The Serpent's Bridge (The Serpent Series Book 1) by S.Z. Estavillo
The Serpent's Bridge, Book 1 of The Serpent Series is a tightly woven solid Murder Mystery that personalizes the immigration debates by giving us three people who stand on opposite sides.
Defect Anaya Nazario just finished a case in which a long time family enemy is finally stopped. A new case comes her way when single mother, Esperanza Flores and her son, Alex witness the nighttime murder of a man by an unidentified assailant. Esperanza's employer, Millie Goodwin, a pastor’s wife, also becomes involved in the investigation when she starts to develop feelings for ICE Agent Eric Myers after his adopted son, Nicky is seriously injured by an unidentified party.
The three lead characters intersect with the investigation and the larger controversies surrounding it. They represent different facets of the immigration experience and pursuit of the American Dream. That makes the book surprisingly relevant for 2024 Readers.
Nazario represents the children of immigrants, those whose antecedents came from another country, made good, and whose children are citizens. Nazario’s late father was the highest ranking Puerto Rican narcotics officer and considered the best narc agent on the force. That's a lot to live up to and even though Nazario loved him, she still feels the pressure of filling that void to represent herself, her gender, and her ethnicity in a tough mostly white mostly male dominated field.
Nazario’s flawed behavior like her alcoholism and self-doubt are just as present as her dedication to her job. She is brave and protective of her suspects. She is able to make the connections in the murder investigation to arrive at potential suspects and motives but she is also packed with vulnerabilities and insecurities that this case tests.
Esperanza represents the recent immigrants and their experiences moving to a new country trying to fit in and be accepted. While she has all of her documentation in order, she understands how easy it is to be thought of as “an illegal.” She understands because she has been there and knows the struggle to leave one politically and economically unsafe country, move to a potentially hostile and judgemental one, and live there with very little.
It is Esperanza's place in society as a recent immigrant that puts herself and Alex in the situation that they find themselves in. They witness the murder but can't tell anyone about what they saw. It's a conspiracy of silence brought on by fear, mistrust, and suspicion towards the authorities. This conspiracy is the effects of the racism and xenophobia towards newly arrived immigrants and the American society that often protects and even at times rewards that behavior.
The third side in this triangle is Millie. She represents the white American activists who either help or hinder the immigrant cause. They help provide services for local immigrants so often that they weigh the consequences whether Eric, an ICE agent who attends their church presents trouble for them and their parishioners.
Millie has problems in her own life with an unhappy marriage and a troubled son with whom she is estranged. However, she has to hide it all under a veneer of respectability within the community. She denied a lot of her own anguished personal trauma and now she has someone whom she can confide in and fall in love with. Her affair with and empathy for Eric and involvement in the case cause her to question everything that she originally thought and believed.
The investigation causes Nazario, Esperanza, and Millie to examine themselves and their feelings towards justice, personal happiness, identity, racial profiling, and what it means to live in America. The issues raised in the book move far beyond a simple fictional murder and resonate in real life.
Carly Rheilan’s A Cat's Cradle is a disturbing Psychological Thriller that explores the relationship between a pedophile and his victim in a way that is meant to be captivating and also uncomfortable.
After a fight with her bullying brothers, 7 year old Mary Crouch follows a cat to the home of eccentric recluse, Ralph Sneddon. Ralph seems like a helpful friendly sort and the two begin to bond as they put together a secret hideaway. But what Mary doesn't know is that Ralph has a history of violence and sexual abuse towards a minor. As the two become closer, Mary gets nervous, suspicious, and ultimately frightened of her new friend.
Since we are seeing sex crimes on a minor from the points of view of the assailant and his victim, we get up close to some terrified and terrifying mindsets. Ralph’s thought process is that of a sociopath. Even before his relationship with Mary becomes physical, it crosses several boundaries. He wants her to keep their meetings secret from her family and gives her small gifts. His dark humor goes from gallows humor to completely disturbing. The red flags are definitely waving for this guy. What is even more chilling is when we get into his head through his narration. He never believes that there is anything wrong with his behavior. He blames his family for rejecting him during a previous trial, his victims for enticing him, and society for giving him this reputation of a murdering pedophile. He blames everyone but himself.
Ralph is unable to examine himself or recognize that there is something wrong with wanting to be alone with a little girl that is not a relative and forcing her to keep secrets from her family. He treats his encounters with Mary almost like a suitor planning his romantic dates with a love interest culminating in a marriage proposal except that his intended partner is 7 years old, does not consent or even understand what he is doing, and is unprepared when he molests her. Ralph is mentally stunted and emotionally immature. He has no control over his impulses or his libido. He wants complete control over his victims to the point when Mary is unable to meet him, he sulks and rages over being “stood up.” He is a truly sick and disturbed man.
Mary is just as interesting and worrying in her own way. She has a terrible home life where she is frequently abused, bullied, and neglected. She feels helpless and powerless so these moments when she can display violent tendencies, maintain a dark Gothic humor, and play at being a bit naughty and wicked practically liberates her and gives her a way to express herself. Unfortunately, with Ralph she meets someone who isn't just playing at being wicked.
Because Mary is so young and so inexperienced, the suspense works on a subconscious level. She doesn't know what Ralph has planned but we do. We recognize the signs though she doesn't. It's when Ralph starts touching Mary that her alarm goes off and she feels uncomfortable. By the time their meetings go from quick touches to full on assault, Mary is completely besotted, traumatized, and damaged.
A Cat's Cradle is a book that reminds us that there are at least two sides to every crime: the person who commits it and the one who is victimized and suffers because of it.
Brian O'Hare’s latest Belfast Murder Mysteries, Conduit to Murder and The Fourth Victim are thrilling murder mysteries in which Inspector Thomas Sheehan and Co. have to find a conduit to a large criminal network and solve a current murder that is linked to a cold case.
In Conduit to Murder, Sheehan and his team investigates the murder of an antiques dealer/politician found bludgeoned to death and who is part of a sinister criminal network. They discover someone has been leaking information about the case to the press. They receive alarming death threats that escalate into violent attacks and kidnapping. There appears to be a spy on the police force but who? How large is this network anyway and who are they? Above all, who is the conduit who is conveying information and payments to the various members and bringing all of these people together?
In The Fourth Victim, Sheehan and his partner, Detective Sergeant Denise Stewart are called into investigate the murder of Seamus Higgins, MLA who was beaten to death in his apartment. He has a very colorful past, as part of the New IRA and may have been targeted by them or members of other terrorist or paramilitary groups. Besides that, the team discovers that 14 years ago, he was involved with an unsolved murder concerning four wayward law students, a little girl, a grieving mother/attorney, and an errant vehicle.
These are solid mysteries. Many of the frequent tropes found in O’Hare's series like corrupt rich people, conflicts within the team, suspenseful moments when one or several of Sheehan's team are in danger, are dialed up in these volumes. They also highlight different aspects. Conduit to Murder focuses on the relationship between the investigation team when they are threatened. The Fourth Victim’s strongest focus is on the family that was victimized during this and the previous crime.
Many of the best moments in Conduit to Murder are those that concern Sheehan's team and their close proximity towards danger. In one chapter, Sheehan and his wife, Margaret, are almost run off the road by a violent driver who is not only expressing road rage but is tied to their investigation. The incident causes Sheehan to put Margaret into hiding and their separation is heartfelt. In another chapter, Sheehan's partner Denise Stewart and her boyfriend, Sergeant Tom Allen go undercover as a vacationing couple while chasing a lead to the South of France. Unfortunately, their targets are aware of their presence and people are killed. It's a very violent graphic trap and shows the long reaches that their antagonists possess.
The mole in the police force subplot is well played and dips into suspicion almost to the point of paranoia. It's tense reading about every word that the team says even in confidence, every lead that they investigate even if they are red herrings, and their homes and loved ones are used as collateral. It really brings home the thought of constant surveillance and what happens when you can't even trust those you see every day.
The Fourth Victim covers two specific murder cases, the current one and the one from 14 years ago. In fact the strongest characterization occurs during the murder from 14 years ago. It's very reminiscent of movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer in which an early murder occurred, was never solved, and a grief stricken loved one takes it upon themselves to do what the law couldn't and execute vigilante justice even if it takes years to get it done.
The flashbacks contain a fascinating story that is the highlight of this volume. From the callous wayward self-serving youths who caused this tragedy to the family who found their motivation to fight against it either by latching onto a cause, trying to move forward with their lives, or seeking blood for blood, it is a strong look on the effect that murder has on the people involved.
An ongoing theme in The Belfast Murder Mystery is the division of rich and poor, those who are in power and those who are not. The power and influence of the wealthy surrounds everyone and everything. In fact, there are many crime ring conspiracy groups in the entire series. These groups are made of rich influential people who believe that they are above the law and feel entitled to do anything that they want including theft, rape, assault, forced prostitution, human trafficking, and murder without repercussion. They are insulated in their own worlds and think that those under them are theirs to play with, ethics, laws, or basic human decency be damned.
It seriously makes one wonder if these various groups in each volume are connected as one large supergroup and there is some mysterious head pulling all of the strings that has yet to be revealed.
Conduit to Murder and The Fourth Victim remind us that for every rich greedy person there is someone willing to challenge them by bringing their illegal activities forward, speak for the victims, and bring justice and accountability to those who have avoided them. They are truly brilliant mysteries.
A.B. Michaels’ Barrister Perris Mystery, The Twisted Road, is one of those Historical Mysteries that knows how to bring the past to life: warts and all. Set in 1907 San Francisco, it takes shots at labor struggles, gender roles, class division, artistic expression, political unrest, immigration conflicts, all of the things that made the Progressive Era a fascinating and difficult time in history.
Jonathan Perris, a barrister who emigrated from London, finds himself in a bind when his girlfriend, Lena Mendelssohn is found murdered and Jonathan was the last one to be seen with her. While trying to prove his innocence, Jonathan and his team peer into Lena’s life and discover more layers and deception into the late Austrian socialite than Jonathan initially thought.
This book is a great combination of a detailed historical mystery and has a memorable team to explore it. The effective team begins with their leader. Jonathan Perris is a protagonist with many mysteries of his own to unravel and fits in well with this year’s theme of “Troubled Historical Detectives.” An aristocrat, he is in possession of some second sight abilities that are written as deep intuition and deductive reasoning, traits that make Jonathan good at his job. He has ongoing questions of his own in wondering where his mother disappeared to and is possibly just as afraid of learning the answer. He is a troubled man who helps others so he doesn’t have to look at the conflicts in his own life.
One of Jonathan’s more progressive attributes is recognizing talent in those who society would have otherwise overlooked, such as Cordelia Hammersmith. Cordelia is a sharp tongued strong willed attorney who is ready to prove herself in the legal field. She is someone who takes excellent notes and is ready for a saucy comeback when others call attention to her gender. She fits the archetype of the New Woman that was so present in the time period in which she lives.
Cordelia is hired to defend Emmett Barnes who has been accused of murder during a labor union protest and has to use her sharp wits and observational skills to not only investigate this case but Lena’s when she learns that the two are linked.
Dove Davydov is an investigator who also offers his own unique stamp to the firm. A sketch artist, he doodles his information as much as Cordelia writes and Jonathan senses. He grew up on the rough side of San Francisco and is unafraid to visit the bars, brothels, fights, and violent rallies that his higher class more sophisticated colleagues would be uncomfortable visiting. He has many contacts within the underworld and a shady past which suggests that he is familiar with the opposite side of the law. His investigations into a brothel, an art class, and a Socialist organization give him the opportunities to bond with and glean information from people who might be put off by Jonathan’s class and sophistication or Cordelia’s gender and abrasiveness.
The group is rounded out by Oliver Bean, a naive new partner and Althea, the motherly office manager. They don’t get as much mention in this book as the others but they have some memorable moments. Althea has a running gag that while her colleagues run around chasing leads, she remains in the office to “obfuscate.” Oliver has a delightful bit at the brothel where Dove uses his familiarity with the ladies to ease through interrogation sessions and Oliver is overwhelmed by the attention from the plethora of beautiful women.
The mystery leads Jonathan and his team through various facets of early 20th Century San Francisco. Like many Historical Mysteries, The Twisted Road is a time capsule of the period in which it is set. In investigating Lena’s death, Jonathan and the others chase different leads that show what the Progressive Era was all about and what it represented within that history.
Mostly, the Progressive Era was a time when the status quo of wealthy white American men was being challenged. Immigrants, unions, women, and many others looked for great change and sometimes change involved violence and deaths. Sometimes people were so enamored with their causes that human life became secondary and they were willing to put lives on the line just for their dream society to be realized.
The Twisted Road shows that transition in American history when people called for change and that change started to be made.
What Happened at the Abbey is a loving tribute to the Gothic Mystery with an innocent female protagonist hired to work at a creepy wealthy estate for an eccentric family and unearths a secret that the family or their antecedents are trying to hide. Blackthorn's attention to tone and character make this a great addition to the genre and a stellar work in its own right.
Ingrid Barker is escaping an abusive marriage with her daughter, Susan. She had to leave her upper middle class lifestyle behind and travel North to Scotland to accept the position of housekeeper at Straithbairn Abbey. As she adjusts to her new surroundings and life as a single mother, Ingrid gets to know her employers, the McLeod Family particularly the argumentative daughter, Gertrude and the feckless secretive son, Miles. Miles in particular arouses suspicion with his cryptic words, his habit of sneaking around outside at night, and family's apparent dislike of him. It becomes clear that something is creepy in the estate of Straithbairn. Meanwhile, Ingrid is receiving threats of her own as she learns that her abusive ex husband is hot on her trail.
The atmosphere is one of stern judgment and deep ominous potentially demonic energy. Ingrid personifies Straithbairn is described with rugged countryside, omnipresent sharp craggy stones, a dour facade, and no softness. It is cold, imposing, and already unloving. The people who dwell inside Straithbairn are just as dysfunctional as the location that surrounds them. The McLeods are people who share a last name but harbor no illusions that they love each other or consider themselves family. Charles, their father, has a tight psychological grip on his children. Gertrude cares more about the estate than she does for the people who live inside it. Blake loses himself in alcohol and defeatism.
Then there's Miles whose arrival instantly brings derision and anger from the rest of his family. He is the Mcleod Family Outsider. He appears at Straithbairn to collect moss for an academic study. But his first person narrative (which he alternates with Ingrid’s point of view) reveals more about him than he tells others. Miles is haunted by his family history and is searching for some answers to questions that have dogged him for years. His narration suggests him as someone who is teetering on the edge of sanity. He alternates between trying to retain rational thought and drifting towards paranoid delusions and fantasies. With the potentially supernatural atmosphere that charges the air, there are moments where it is uncertain if Miles is going insane or actually possessed by demons. What is apparent is that Miles is a man who is inwardly suffering and has no support from the people around him leading to further suffering.
The tension is also experienced by Ingrid. For someone who survived a physically and emotionally abusive marriage, Ingrid no doubt personifies her own experience with the setting around her. Her Anxiety and PTSD is paramount as well as her desire to get away from her previous situation. Straithbairn reminds her of her marriage: intimidating, isolated, domineering, confining, and loveless.
Ingrid is also someone whose own nerves are naturally at an all-time high. She shows a tremendous amount of strength of character by pulling herself and Susan out of a bad situation and starting over in another country by telling people that she is a widow. However, she shows obvious signs of PTSD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. She is suspicious of the bond that develops between Susan and Ethel, the cook. She finds a newcomer, Hamish, to be alternatively attractive and mysterious. Then there is the news of Edward's return which causes her to fear the world inside and outside the estate.
The tension in the air consumes Ingrid and it becomes clear that something terrifying is hiding in the fringes or under the surface and is about to happen. It breaks when Ingrid and Miles come face to face with their own fears, anxieties, insecurities, and paranoia and those that cause them.
Note: This book certainly carries a lot of relevance these days for reasons that I won't get into. It was selected before they happened.
Ian Conner is an eclectic versatile writer, writing books in various genres. His latest, Retribution, is a Political Thriller similar to his The Long Game in that it involves a wide ranging conspiracy involving several key American politicians including the President. It is also a Psychological Crime Thriller about hatred, revenge, and the lengths people will go to satisfy their desire for vengeance.
Alex Conway is a broken man. His wife and daughter died and his insurance has been denied. A lottery win does little to raise his spirits but gives him the resources that he needs for a long term plan of vengeance. He locates information on corrupt politicians that voted against health insurance and lobbied for causes like the NRA. He provides information to expose these politicians. He isn't just satisfied with killing their political careers but he wants to end their lives as well. Meanwhile various FBI agents, government officials, and tenacious reporters investigate the seemingly random deaths of various politicians. This discovery reveals that these murder victims weren't exactly clean and this puts them at odds with powerful people, particularly the obnoxious President Glass.
Conner bases his novel on real world events and people to present an even worse case scenario than what we are faced with, as if it could get any worse. Conner's writing suggests that maybe it can. The most obvious comparison is the fictional President Frederick Glass whose abrasive unlikable nature and felonious past are certainly based on a former and soon to be current President. The book even uses some of the real-life model’s familiar sound bites. The opening set during a pandemic with overcrowded hospitals, desperate sick people, deaths of millions, and political inaction is definitely reminiscent of the Coronavirus pandemic. Various characters are caught up in scandals that reflect real world cases of murder, sexual assault, grand larceny, and racketeering.
The plot of Retribution is particularly intricate with Conway’s revenge against the politicians that he blames for his daughter’s death. He decides on several means for murder. A fatal auto collision here, poison meant to induce heart attacks there, maybe an anthrax laced envelope or two. Those that don't end up dead suffer massive career hits.
Conway gets the Reader's understanding and empathy up to a point. Who wouldn't become angry at the system after their spouse and child die? It is completely believable when one has nothing to strike back at those who have everything. His means, while questionable, are fascinating from a storytelling standpoint. However, Conway's vengeance becomes an addiction as he puts many in his path without realizing the long term consequences that could result.
By killing the politicians, Conway is only creating martyrs for their supporters and killing the bodies. He is not destroying the regulations, bills, corruption, or the hypocrisy that caused such issues. In fact if anything, it's continuing even worse despite or because of the deaths.
Other characters definitely stand out.
Glass is the worst character of them all. He is a completely immoral sociopath whose reaction to accusations is to throw other people under the bus, rivals, allies, staff, Cabinet and Administration members. His restrictive policies, hiring of sycophants, and making strict rules for others but allowing himself and his followers leniency creates many of the issues. Besides not being a good President, Glass barely functions as a decent human being.
There are however people in the book who are able to see through Glass's corruption and Conway's violence and bring the truth forward.
The most prominent are Rebecca Gerber and Chloe Sachs, reporters from rival news networks who are able to put ratings and professional rivalries aside and work together to cover the stories of the murders and corruption. Their investigation into the Glass Administration is particularly compelling as they face death threats, assault, and in one chilling chapter arrest to expose not only Conway but the political corruption and machinations that created him.
Retribution is another of Conner's brilliant works. It is a superb look at corruption, politics, money, hatred, revenge, and murder.
Non-Fiction
10. The Republic of Plato: Book 1 Views on Justice by G. McLaughlin
G. McLaughlin’s short work, The Republic of Plato, offers a condensed and simple way of remembering the Ancient Greek philosopher’s teachings: through verse.
The first volume, Views on Justice, interprets the teachings of Plato’s mentor, Socrates into rhyming couplets. In four chapters, the philosopher offers lessons on “Justice as Honesty in Word and Deed,” “Justice as Helping Friends and Harming Enemies,” “Justice as the Interest of the Stronger,” and “Justice is More Profitable than Injustice.”
The rhyme scheme is simple with couplets at the end of each line. Readers who are unfamiliar with philosophy may find this approach helpful as it condenses the philosophies in a way that is engaging and easily understood.
While the rhyme scheme is simple, the discussions are complex. Socrates talks to a friend or student about a specific question and gives his answer based on examples. This allows Readers to pay attention to the questions that are posed and the answers that are given.
Socrates expands the other men’s thinking by offering situational challenges like whether people from different occupations that do not earn the same should be treated differently or whether there are different standards between friends and enemies. Just like many philosophical questions, there are no right or wrong answers. They are often designed to challenge superficial perspectives and think critically and deeply about what we have previously believed.
The Republic of Plato is a fun and engaging way to learn about Socrates, Plato and their philosophies. These questions on justice are ones that are still thought about today and this book presents interesting perspectives on them.
Christopher White's 4-part series, The Daily Stoicism Bible, is a fascinating look on how Readers can practice the ancient Greek philosophy of Stoicism and implement it into their daily lives.
While many believe that Stoicism involves denying one’s emotions and behaving almost robotically, White challenges those assumptions. Instead it is defined as knowing and accepting things can change for better or for worse, that terrible things can happen, understanding and accepting when they do, and making steps to learn from and find solutions to those problems. It's about understanding hardship, loss, and suffering from a distance and feeling but not being overwhelmed by them or allowing them to control one's life.
One of the most interesting aspects to the book are the various practices that one could do to achieve a Stoic outlook on life. Procedures like journaling, meditating, and visualization help to clear the mind and prepare one to view difficulties and hardships with a focused and reasonable mind.
Some of the chapters emphasize visualizing the worst and asking questions about it. Much of the fear and anxiety stem from the unknown, the possibilities of what could happen. Questioning and visualizing bring those fears to life and breaks them down into parts that can be recognized and either dealt with and cannot. For example, one can't change the entire economy but can achieve the positive mindset to send their resume to potential employers, perform well at an interview, and become an ideal employee.
This series helps Readers practice Stoicism so they can face what they can't change, work on what they can, and recognize the difference.
Antonieta Contreras’ book Traumatization and Its Aftermath: The Systemic Approach to Understanding and Treating Traumatic Disorders is an in depth look at trauma, how it affects our lives, and what can be done to treat it.
It's good to separate what trauma is and what it isn't. The means of understanding what trauma actually is helps define, identify, and ultimately recognize and treat it. Contreras identifies the various stages of traumatization by using a lightning strike as an example. Traumatization starts when the person becomes shocked and scared. Survival circuits are activated by reacting in fear, perhaps filled with anxiety and fear of loud noises. The reaction dissipates into defeat as the survival mode is depleted. When this final stage is met, the mind and body react with long term lasting injuries and complications which reignite the traumatization long afterwards. The stages help Readers recognize the patterns in their own lives and where they may lie within that cycle.
The book uses medical and psychological terms to analyze and systematize trauma. Contreras like many authors uses case studies to prove her point but unlike many authors who name several specific examples, Contreras uses one study of one specific individual spreading their story across several chapters to give an in depth look at how trauma can continue for years even decades after the first traumatic event.
Contreras tells the story of Michaela who was drugged and raped by an acquaintance. This traumatic event grew as Michaela tried to seek counseling but received a lack of empathy and a lot of insulting questions towards her ethnicity. The rape and the questions led her to feel fear, shame, and an inability to articulate or share her trauma. Michaela then developed PTSD from the ordeal.
After therapy and self reflection, Michaela realized the rape wasn't her only bad experience. She realized that she was abused and neglected in other ways though was unaware of it at the time.
Michaela recognized these earlier events and patterns contributed to the post trauma from her rape. Understanding and naming the trauma gave her the awareness and courage to work through it. Michaela’s story is an example for us all.
Traumatization and Its Aftermath brings trauma to the forefront so it can be seen, analyzed, understood, treated, and maybe someday ended.
Dustin Ogle’s Self-Help book, We Aren't Who We Are: How to Become, is an interesting guide on how Readers can use their skills, increase their knowledge and learning, and activate those abilities to their fullest.
Ogle describes these abilities as “super powers.” They seem natural and normal to the person who has them but makes them stand out and be recognized and honored by others. The metaphor of comparing these abilities to super powers or magic gives Readers the understanding that they can use those abilities to help and assist others.
One of the ways that Readers can use those abilities to their fullest advantage is by changing thought patterns to become more empathetic and understanding. Sometimes we are too fixated on our own perspectives and points of view that we don't think of others whose experiences may be entirely different from our own. We fall into echo chambers and listen only to those in our specific groups. Ogle suggests that a way to combat that echo chamber is to gain fresh perspectives through learning. If you come across something that you don't understand, make an effort to learn about it. Obtain new information and experiences to add onto what you already know.
Even acknowledging that one can never really know everything and are willing to add to one's store of knowledge gives them a chance to increase their own gifts and use them to benefit others. Knowledge about a situation also increases empathy and allows people to connect on an emotional level. Those talents can be used to benefit not just the person who has them or the specific person that they are trying to help, but in some small part these powers can contribute to the community and society that surrounds them.
We Aren't Who We Are is not just a passive book offering suggestions and personal anecdotes. It also encourages active participation. There are many writing exercises and opportunities for journaling thoughts and experiences relevant to the topics in discussion.
Among the most important topics that encourage interaction is that of mindfulness. This book is filled with suggestions on meditation and visualization exercises to help clear the head and live in the present. These activities allow the brain to make a clear path between those talents and how to use them.
One of the most important activities is creating a vision. Once those special gifts are recognized and acknowledged, it is important to plan on how to use them. With their special powers, a person can be a leader, a performer, an educator, anything. Imagine what the ultimate goal that those gifts could deliver for oneself and others and the benefits that such a success could bring. Once that vision is made, then the Reader can take the concrete steps to develop, use, and promote those talents.
We all have the potential to be the heroes of our own stories. Ogle’s book gives us the tools to become that hero.
Nabraj Lama’s book Echoes of Resilience: Stories to Inspire, is an inspirational book filled with stories to encourage Readers to work hard, prepare, be innovative, help others, and use their gifts wisely to achieve not only outward success but personal happiness.
Each story follows the same pattern: One page gives us the moral or main lesson. The next page features a short five paragraph story about someone faced with some sort of conflict, how they dealt with that problem by displaying or not displaying certain virtues, and then what the results were.
A wise man is challenged to use his wisdom to fix the problems around him. A drafter enhances his daily work and improves his skills so he could ascend in his career. An art master neglects his talent and passion for educating others to take on administration duties. Lama himself sought advice from other authors, colleagues, and Readers to polish his book.
Echoes of Resilience is a lovely and compassionate book that reminds us that everyone has a story in which they struggled. They may have succeeded and they might not have. But they always learned something.
B. Johny’s The Candid Odyssey: Exploring India and The Philosophy of Life is a detailed and descriptive trip through India and we're all invited. Well sort of. That's because Johny writes the book in first person plural using “we” instead of “I.” While people often travel in groups and Johnny could very well be referring to his actual traveling companions, the pronoun may have been chosen for stylistic reasons. It's a way to draw the Reader in so they can vicariously enjoy the trip alongside Johny.
From August 20 to October 22, 2022, Johny travelled to India to recover from a bout of depression and for a journey of self-discovery. During that time, Johny visited many places, encountered many people, and reflected on many things. Johny describes his experiences rather well in a way that invites Readers to picture them in their heads. His descriptions are detailed to the point where they can be easily visualized.
Johny finds meaning in various experiences on his trip. Whether it's traveling through a tunnel, taking an unplanned detour, or falling ill, it leads to some realization of a hidden wisdom. Even hardships on the trip lead to valuable life lessons. When Johnny came down with a fever, he recognized the importance of being sedentary even while traveling and scheduling an extra week for just such an occasion.
Since this is a journey of self-discovery, spirituality is often discussed. Johny found a deeper connection to spirit in various people, places, and things. He describes a train ride as one of the best meditation techniques. Travel can be used to see beautiful unknown things and embrace and learn something new. It can turn meditation and visualization into reality.
SOS Podcasts is a lighthearted witty memoir about author Rosamaria Mancini’s life in Italy and Germany with a military husband, two young children, and a growing interest in listening to podcasts.
Mancini moved to a NATO Base in Germany with Marco, her electronics specialist husband and two small children. In Germany, Mancini felt a tremendous culture shock. She worried about the language, the cold weather, and the rumored preciseness and efficiency. In her loneliness, Mancini made a new friend, one that became, as she described it “a new savior": Podcast.
There seemed to be a podcast for every occasion to help with Mancini’s various conflicts and questions. For example, she had trouble getting along with the other military wives. The podcast, Life Kits proved to be such a valuable source of comfort so much that Mancini considered its host, Julia Furlan, to be a friend.
Podcasts like The Pregnancy Podcast and The Birth Hour soothed any fears and answered any questions that Mancini had about her pregnancies. Podcasts like The Longest Shortest Time and Care and Feeding provided advice on parenting when she had difficulties raising two small children. Skimm This gave her a youthful perspective on popular culture and social trends. Dear Sugars helped her process her guilt and grief about her father's death. It seemed that any life change had a podcast to go with it.
Mancini also found podcasts that reflected or created various interests in her life. A beautiful chapter on Mancini and her family observing Christmas markets and traditions adds to her recommendation of Rick Steves' Germany and Austria. Listening to cooking podcasts like La Scossapizza gave her a chance to get in touch with her Italian roots by preparing the cultural food. Mancini became fascinated by storytelling podcasts like Serial because of their ongoing serialized format.
Mancini has some recommendations for advice on spiritual and emotional well-being. Journeys of Faith with Paul Faris helped center her into her Catholic faith. While NPR’s Up First, BBC’s Global News, and New York Times’ The Daily are useful for the current news, The Good News Podcast is an antidote for lighter, hopeful, and more humanitarian stories.
SOS Podcasts is a love letter from a woman to her favorite media source. It lets the Reader know that there is a podcast and a story for just about every feeling, activity, interest, and experience.
Gingered is a hilarious side splitting memoir about something that I am quite familiar with: having red hair.
Ryan G. Murphy's red hair was an asset in his young years when he modeled for stock photos and acted in commercials and bit parts. Unfortunately when he began school, his hair became less of an advantage and was a means for other kids to bully him. This chapter reminds Readers that schoolchildren will find any reason, any excuse to pick at something different to ostracize and bully others.
Even as an adult Murphy still felt scrutinized because of his hair. Many strangers remarked on it. Girls refused to date him because of it. He is often asked if he is one of several red haired people such as Damien Lewis, Prince Harry, Ed Sheeran, or Kevin-”not a famous Kevin or anything. Just Kevin.”
Murphy had a colorful childhood with two doting parents and particularly his charming and conniving grandfather who created and sold bootlegged VHS. Much of Murphy's stories depict his loving relationship with his outrageous, impudent but devoted grandpa.
Murphy goes through many of the milestones in a young person's life with a light comic touch. Things like first kiss, getting punished, getting into fights with other kids, receiving sex education in a Catholic school, attending high school, his first girlfriend, and his difficulties with anger management. These universal milestones are individualized by Murphy's deft writing and witty observations.
With red hair and a sharp wit, Murphy knows how to stand out in a crowd.
Tina Soctoy’s Memoir, In the House of a Demon is probably the closest that many Readers will ever get to experiencing Stockholm Syndrome. It tells of a kidnapping through a survivor’s point of view with all of the tension and trauma that situation would provide.
When Soctoy was six years old, she was recruited to join a secret Soviet program to create child soldiers and spies. The book is set primarily within the first few months when she was held captive by a soldier named Sasha who molested and isolated her. Despite arguing and trying to escape, Soctoy eventually capitulated to her captors and became their willing pawn.
Throughout the book there is a sense of immediacy that puts us on the same level with Soctoy, the child. We are not given the particulars of her predicament within the text of the book itself, only in the "About the Author" section. In reading the book and not knowing the situation beforehand, the Reader is left uncertain who has Soctoy, for what purpose, what they are going to do to her, and when, if ever she will be free. We only see this situation through her terrified and confused six year old mind.
She doesn’t know her captor’s names except one is called Sasha. The others are just the Men. We don’t know where she is being held except a few context clues suggest that it’s an isolated and wooded area. This adds to the overall suspense that we are kept in the same ignorance as Soctoy and can almost visualize ourselves looking upward at these larger men who overpower her and us.
Her captors are master manipulators. They appear nice one minute by giving her food or speaking in an almost tender tone of voice. Then the next minute they threaten her and her mother. This puts her in a false sense of security so she becomes obedient rather than do something that will change their moods. She is raped and then made to feel like she was willing to do it, so she will consider herself fallen and damaged beyond all repair. The sex is humiliating and a sign of dominance that says that Soctoy can’t even feel alone in the comfort of a bed.
The captors also deceive her by promising that she will be reunited with her mother then put suspicion on her towards her parents. Since we aren’t given much background information, we are put in the same situation as Soctoy where we question her family’s loyalty as well. We wonder if Soctoy returns home, whether she will be put in a similar or worse situation than the one in which she is in.
Many times the dialogue and action between Soctoy and her captors get repetitive but it adds to Soctoy’s mental state. The more her captors repeat the same scenario over to her, the more Soctoy starts to believe it. Time and space are altered so she doesn’t know what day it is or how long that she has been there. Even basic facts like whether it is day or night are unknown to her. She becomes dependent on her captors to tell her anything.
A few times Soctoy manages to fight her captivity by arguing and escaping but these become hollow victories. They always catch up to her and they use physical and psychological torture to silence her objections. The more that she remains with them, the less likely she is to run away. By the end, she is completely broken and is theirs to do whatever they want to her.
Soctoy wrote two more books about her young life. Maybe we will get more concrete answers to what happened to her, what the ultimate goal was, and what resulted from it. For now, we just received her six year old perspective and that was scary enough. The rest of the memoirs are bound to be even more horrifying.
Susan Cork’s Nonfiction book, The Soul of a Shoemaker tells the stirring story of her father, Frank Katana and his journey from former Yugoslavia to Canada. It is a fascinating story of tyranny, romance, independence, economics, sacrifice and finding one's niche, success, and personal happiness.
The book largely emphasizes three specific points in Katana’s life: His life in rural Mali Bukovec and training as a cobbler, his growing discontent with the Communist system in Yugoslavia and attempts to escape it, and emigration to Canada and building a life, career, and family in this new country.
Katana's time in Yugoslavia focuses on daily life. When he couldn't find training as a cobbler in his village, he had to commute to a nearby town for training. His shoe making skills came in handy when he and his friend's shoes broke and he repaired them. There are fascinating details about the community in which Katana lived. He was part of the volunteer firefighting crew and was called in to help neighbors whose homes were on fire and needed rescuing. At a village gathering, he fell in love with Ljubica, a local woman. Even though they spent very little time together, Katana was in love enough to imagine a life with her and write to her after he left the country, certain that she would move to be with him.
The focus on the mundanity of daily life in Katana's village contrasts with the oppressive authoritarian Yugoslavian government surrounding it. Katana wasn't a rebel looking to fight against the system. He was just someone who wanted to survive within it. He said one thing, disagreed with them one time, and was brought in for interrogation. Katana’s escape attempts are particularly suspenseful and are almost reminiscent of a thriller. One chapter focused on Katana hopping on a train fabricating a story about visiting a lover. Unfortunately, his lie was discovered by an officer and he had to make a jump for it off of the train. He then had to flee on foot to the countryside until he practically staggered into Austria.
Katana eventually settled in Canada where he went through many steps and missteps before he could earn a decent living and send for Ljubica. One of his first employers refused to pay him the full amount of his salary. His first shoe repair business folded. His second got off to a rough start because of his indolent partners who cared more about cutting corners and getting rich than providing quality footwear. Finally, he managed to get them in line and built enough money to be comfortable and secure.
Because of their long distant relationship, Katana's romance with Ljubica is underwritten. However, it does show their commitment to each other to maintain that closeness even while living in different countries and Ljubica still living in oppressive Yugoslavia. Many times Katana received word that she was on her way only to be detained. He went through a peculiar wedding ceremony where he and Ljubica were married en absentia, with a female relative standing in place for her so they would technically be married. Their reunion and official wedding was a moment of triumph and love.
The Soul of a Shoemaker is rich with detail and emotion. It's the type of story that can make Readers laugh, cry, sigh, tense, fume, and clap sometimes within a few chapters. It has a lot of soul and technically a lot of sole. Katana wasn't a famous or notable man but his daughter knew how to bring him to life so that anyone who reads his story will know all about him.
Honorable Mention: Discover Your Natural Gifts: Connect With Your Natural Genius, Discover Your Niche, and Transform Your Life Using Gifts From Your Ancestors by Barry D. McCullough, The Country Living Bible by Jake L. Bryan, Motivated Mastermind by Johnny Saheed Miller, The Lebanese Cuisine Cookbook: An Authentic Mediterranean and Middle Eastern Culinary Journey with Delicious Modern and Traditional Easy-to-Make Homemade Recipes Directly from the Heart of Lebanon by Maysa M. Rehman, Affirmations for Glowing Skin by Rhys Blanco, The Ayurveda Cookbook for Women 2024: Regain Emotional Balance and Take Control of Your Life Through the Ayurvedic Culinary Remedies 100+ Recipes to Support Your Holistic Wellness by Sameera B. Joyce
Hey, Julie. This is brilliant. Two of my books at No. 4 in Mystery Thrillers!! Many thanks for your faith in me and your constant support. Really grateful. Keep up the good work.
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