Julie Sara Porter, Bookworm Reviews: 2025

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Ismene and The Voice by Juniper Calle; Fanciful and Profound Fantasy About A Mysterious Library and The Woman Who Loves It

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: It's been awhile since I completely identified with a book character and now, I have found one. She is Ismene, the protagonist of Ismene and The Voice by Juniper Calle, an Epic Fantasy novel about a fracturing kingdom, a wide and sentient library, and a woman whose power comes from reading and sharing knowledge and wisdom with others.

Ismene is one of three characters who explore The Castle, a mysterious building which houses The Library, a collection that contains most of their world's knowledge. The other two characters are Lady Harmonia, Ismene's wealthy, spoiled employer and the daughter of the most powerful man in their lands and Eryx, a scholar whom Harmonia’s family sponsors and is a secret activist. Each woman has her own reasons for going on this journey. Harmonia wants to find and research texts and statistics that portray her lineage in a good light. Eryx wants to find forbidden knowledge and share it with fellow rebels that challenge Harmonia's family’s rule. Ismene wants to collect and share information with others. In other words, Ismene wants to be a part of The Library.

Calle superbly balances the setting and characters by giving us a fanciful and profound location and engaging and brilliant characters who are affected by it. Of course the most important setting is The Castle and Calle is not sparse with the details.

The Castle is described as remote and intimidating. It must be crossed by climbing a very steep mountain. If it takes a struggle to reach it, then you know it must have something greatly valuable within. The remoteness is the point as The Castle is a mere observer to the political struggles, familial conflicts, and wars underneath, neither good nor evil. It is merely a neutral force that records and keeps information, leaving the people down below to decide what to do with the information that they are given.

One of the most intriguing aspects of The Castle is that it's alive. It is often personified as a living creature that breathes, listens, and thinks. Books immediately appear at request and words light up on the pages so the Reader can locate the right information and sources.Many characters like Ismene speak to it like penitents to a divine being, something powerful and worthy of respect even worship.

There are also servants called The Hands that attend to visitors' needs like giving them books, fixing their beds, and delivering food and messages. They appear in and out of the walls and shadows as though they are automatons that are physically attached to the Castle and operate only when needed.

By far the most intriguing aspect of The Castle is The Voice, the Castle’s spokesfigure. They are completely covered by androgynous clothing and veils. No one knows who they are, their real name, appearance, gender, age, even whether or not they are human. All that is known is that they live at The Castle and are its Head Librarian. They control who enters the library and who has access to the Library’s knowledge. They seem to be mentally and emotionally connected to the Castle even to the point of feeling its illness and pain.

One can say if The Castle is a computer the hardware of monitor, screen, keyboard, and endless indecipherable streams of data, then The Voice is The Central Processing Unit (CPU) that runs the software, directs and interprets the flow and transfer of data, and coordinates the information process. They are connected to The Castle and retain all of the Library’s knowledge in their head. They have no identity except they are The Library.

The Library and its surrounding Castle is a curious and imposing setting but it retains probably the largest and most valuable treasure in the land. Nothing is more important than information and knowledge and an educated and knowledgeable population is not an easy one to control.

Harmonia and her family understand this. She borrows and presents books that offer positive opinions about her family. She doesn't want to keep the people ignorant. In fact, she makes a big show of encouraging education and patronizing scholars and academics. But she does want to control what they read and how they interpret what they read.

If books are negative, critical, or question her family’s authority they are banned and the people are denied access. Since information can only be obtained by going to The Castle, this leaves out critical thought and independent research. If they are not told about any problems, then they won't be aware that they exist and will obey Harmonia's family without question.

Harmonia is similar to political, government, and religious authority figures. They want to restrict certain types of books under the guise of “age appropriateness” and control what people read rather than interfere with the act of reading itself. People can learn to read but these censors will tell them what they can read and learn. They can't question the norm if they are never told what the alternatives to the norm are. For Harmonia The Library is a means of control.

Harmonia is an authority figure that represents the system that Eryx and Ismene fight against in their own way. Eryx is the fiery rebel. She is grateful for the scholarship gift that Harmonia has given her but she is not blind to the limitations, flaws, illegal actions, and misdeeds that people like her and her power thirsty father do.

Eryx is idealistic and passionate about her causes and wants to educate the people to act. She borrows forbidden books and shares them with peasants, servants, and resistance cells. She is a member of a Scholars Guild and organizes resistance movements through that.

Eryx is reminiscent of activists, warriors, protestors, and revolutionaries. They are people who use that information to support their causes. They check and research laws and statistics to support their claims so they can make crucial arguments and presentations. It's not a matter of just acting by committing random acts of violence or quoting generalities. It's finding solutions to the problem of an autocratic society and possibly the means of creating a more egalitarian society in its place. For Eryx, The Library is a means for change.

While Eryx uses The Castle’s knowledge to spread revolutionary ideals that Harmonia wants to suppress, Ismene believes that the very actions of giving information is revolutionary in and of itself. She isn't as outwardly rebellious as Eryx but she fights in her own way by keeping information and spreading it herself. When Eryx shows her that she borrowed forbidden books, Ismene shows her stacks of several books that she kept over the years.

That's why I find her so relatable and consequently she is my favorite character. Knowledge is what's most important to her, not the results of power. She lives in a world of books and reading. She, like the Castle, is an outsider and observer of all around her. But unlike The Castle and The Voice who are neutral, Ismene has her opinions about the world around her. She just prefers to fight smarter and quieter than people like Eryx and Harmonia.

While Ismene considers Eryx a friend and at one time respected Harmonia, she has no romantic interest and is possibly Asexual. She loves The Library and books the way other people love their families, lovers, friends, their country, or power. It holds her strongest emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual connection.

Ismene reads, keeps the knowledge in her head, and shares it with others. As she learns more, the information is stored in her mind and brings her closer to becoming a part of the Library. She is practically a Priestess and The Library is her deity.

Ismene is like many people whose loyalties lie in her chosen form of expression and wisdom. The educators, the creatives, the artists, the thinkers, the philosophers, the journalists, the writers, the researchers, the academics, and intellectuals. Those who autocrats often go after and arrest first because they know the truth.

These deep thinkers can find the pertinent knowledge in that endless stream of information and empower people around them to act on that knowledge. In doing so, they become empowered by the wisdom and truth that they hold, learn, and share. For Harmonia and Eryx The Castle is a means to achieve their goals. For Ismene The Castle is the goal. For her, The Castle is.

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Silver Echoes: A Gold Digger Novel by Rebecca Rosenberg; The Adventures of Baby Doe Tabor’s Wild Thrill Seeking Daughter

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: When I read about Rose Mary Echo Silver Dollar Tabor (1889-1925) on Wikipedia and in the epilogue in Rebecca Rosenberg’s Historical Fiction novel, Gold Digger: The Remarkable Baby Doe Tabor, I knew that she would be an interesting person to read about. I was not wrong.

Of course that is to be expected. Rosenberg's Historical Fiction novels are about remarkable outstanding and highly interesting women and her latest, Silver Echoes: A Gold Digger Novel is no exception. Two novels, Champagne Widows and Madame Pommery, were about Barbe-Nicole Clicquot Ponsardin and Jeanne Alexandrine Louise Melin Pommery respectively entrepreneurs and vintners who made the French wine industry what it is today. Her previous book, Gold Digger was about Elizabeth McCourt “Baby Doe” Tabor and her rise from mine owner and worker to Denver socialite and her fall after Horace Tabor, her politician husband, died and the Panic of 1893 wiped out her family fortune.

This time Baby Doe’s younger daughter, Silver Dollar takes the lead and she is every bit her mother's daughter in her desire to stand out and her ability to draw controversy and scandal like a magnet.

The novel covers about twenty years and alternates between Silver Dollar and Baby Doe’s points of view. Silver Dollar's perspective is set in the 1910’s-20’s as she embarks on an entertainment career, unpredictable romances with dangerous men, and potentially undiagnosed mental illness. Baby Doe's is set in 1932 after Silver Dollar’s death is reported. Baby Doe is trying to get her Matchless Mine running again while giving background information on a biopic about her and her late husband.

As with many Historical Fiction novels, we get not only the main story of the protagonist’s life but the impact that their lives had on those who outlived and learned from them. In this case, both mother and daughter are well written formidable presences with captivating stories that draw in the Readers.

If Baby Doe embodies the spirit of the Gilded Age with her self-made entrepreneurship, sudden glamorous affluence, and the ability to talk tough while dressing classy, then Silver Dollar embodies the Roaring 20’s with her effervescent joie de vivre, her constant mobility, and modern independent spirit.

Silver Dollar begins her journey as a bit player for a photoplay company to support herself and her mother after Horace dies, they are left destitute by the Economic Panic, and their older daughter and sister, Lily abandons them. While her work is for survival and she sends money to her mother, Silver Dollar is not unaware what it could mean for her so she creates lavish stunts like the Slide of Life, to be noticed and recognized. This is where she slides, rather than walks, across a high wire over a large lake.

This opening gives us a taste of the setting and Silver Dollar’s character. This is when movies were in their infancy, not every home had a radio so people found entertainment wherever they could. That often included people going to great extremes to get the audience’s attention. Remember this was the time when Harry Houdini wowed audiences with his escape attempts. When vaudeville houses dotted even small towns so people could pay a few cents to see singers, dancers, jugglers, acrobats, comedians, animal trainers. Many of the vaudevillians would move on to long and successful careers on film, radio, and television. It's the right time for someone bold, daring, and thirsting for adventure and recognition like Silver Dollar.

While Slide of Life gives her the much needed praise and notoriety, it doesn't last. An envious colleague frames her for theft and she is sexually assaulted by a long time family friend so she goes on the run. This happens a lot in the book. She finds some semblance of fame, excitement, and wealth. A place and position that can give her prominence and stability. Then, something happens that causes her to end that and leave for her next adventure.

She becomes an actress, dancer, singer, animal tamer among others and meets an array of film stars, mobsters, and other celebrities of the early 20th century. It's a dizzying colorful ride, but it can't be accused of being boring.

Eventually Silver Dollar finds fame as a tiger tamer. Her interactions with the tigers consist of patience, trust, strength, courage, and determination. It makes sense that someone who is wild and reckless would tame animals as wild and reckless as she is. She sees kindred spirits in her tigers and they see a human that loves and understands them while being a dominant and authority figure.

There is a darker edge to this novel that is found within Silver Dollar herself. While she gives off a fearless personality, inwardly she is insecure, uncertain, and is always questioning herself. She has moments of doubt, reason, and conscience that put a stop to more dangerous and violent actions. However there is a darker side to her personality, literally.

In the Afterward, Rosenberg stated that there is some evidence, albeit circumstantial and never outright acknowledged, that Silver Dollar had Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). Rosenberg took that theory to its fullest fruition by giving Silver Dollar an alter, Echo LaVode, which was a name that the real Silver Dollar sometimes used during her professional career.

Echo is the darker aspect of Silver Dollar’s extroverted nature. She has no fail safes, reservations, or blockers that impair her actions. She acts without thinking and when she is in charge she puts herself and Silver into dangerous situations like drinking, taking drugs, visiting speakeasies, and flirting with dangerous men who are violent and unpredictable. Since Echo parties at night and Silver Dollar works during the day, Silver Dollar herself gets little sleep. Therefore, her body goes through physical changes that weaken her host and leaves the alter to be in control more times than she should. This control leaves Silver Dollar helpless and vulnerable, a victim of Echo’s unpredictable tendencies.

However, Echo occasionally shows a softer side. She emerges when Silver Dollar needs physical protection. She is horrified when she witnesses African-Americans being lynched by KKK members suggesting that there are actions that are abhorrent even to her. She is also clever enough that if Silver Dollar can't think of an escape plan, she can. Even though Echo is an alternate personality, she is every bit as multifaceted as her host.

Silver Dollar’s story is one of instability, going from place to place, and living fast and hard. It's about using life to take as much as you can. By contrast, Baby Doe's story is about being sedentary, restoring home and professions to their former glory, and becoming the holder of wonderful and painful memories.

In 1932, Baby Doe is trying her damnedest to honor Horace's final wish to hold onto the Matchless Mine and living in denial that her daughter has died (She believes that Silver Dollar was sent to a convent). She tells her memories of her Leadville home and family to filmmaker, Carl Erickson who was involved with Silver Dollar and tried to be a steady solid presence in her life.

As with her portrayal in Gold Digger, Baby Doe hovers between a tough talking frontierswoman and a society matron. She is ready with a shotgun if she feels threatened and when Carl wants to understand her, she takes him to the Matchless Mine. She is ready with a sharp comment and matter of fact nature so Carl knows who's really in charge and he does not dream of making the script too sentimental or frilly. Even in old age and after she has lost nearly everything and everyone important to her, she still is a force to be reckoned with.

The movie's Denver premiere gives Baby Doe some of the glamor that she once had. Gone is the tough gal with a dilapidated mine and a shotgun and instead she is once again a lady in an elegant gown and a central figure in Denver’s social set. Her good carefree days are back at least briefly.

The ending is a bit of wish fulfillment that veers towards speculation and alternate universes. It gives a finality to the mother and daughter's stories and reminds us that these were two strong fascinating women with a bond that was never broken but changed. Mother and daughter learned from and loved each other.

Monday, June 2, 2025

Bomber Jackets by Rob Santana; An Insightful, Witty, and Sincere Queer Romance in 1970’s New York

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: I suppose that it's fitting that I would review Rob Santana’s latest novel during Pride Month. As many long time Readers of this blog know that Rob Santana is a long time favorite of mine because Readers don't know what to expect when reading his novels except that it will be unexpected. What you read at the beginning of the book is not the same book when the final page is read.

The Oscar Goes To deals with the glamor and gossip of Hollywood and becomes a tragic story about the mental breakdown of an abused starlet who commits suicide live on air. Little Blue Eyes starts as a heartwarming family drama about a single woman finding an abandoned baby and transforms into a heady custody battle and savage indictment of racism, class struggles, and addiction. Freeze Frame evolves from a quirky romance between two eccentric characters into an emotional crime drama as a murder is accidentally captured on film and various characters are destroyed by it. Not to mention the short works in which Jane Austen and Adolf Hitler are written in different ways.

Santana's latest and very timely book, Bomber Jackets also creates various tones into one text. It starts out as a desolate Crime Mystery as Patrick Madden, a landlord/building super, is interrogated by a police officer about a murder in which he was either a witness or a participant with his fellow gang members cousin Junior and friends, Frank Rapallo and Bambi. It then turns into a witty Queer Romance between Patrick and Erica Velez, a saucy and delightful transvestite tenant. Finally, it becomes an insightful and sincere Bildungsroman as Patrick finds his life irrevocably changed by the tug of war between his gang and his love interest, his loyalties between who he was to who he could be.

The darker aspects of the book’s Crime Mystery beginning are augmented by its setting and tone. It's probably no coincidence that Santana chose this particular time and place. As many know, New York City was in a severe economic crisis in the 1970’s. Well the whole country was but NYC’s situation was so bad that it faced near bankruptcy in 1975. This led to the infamous New York Times headline “Ford to City: Drop Dead” when the President refused to bail out the city though he later relented. There was massive unemployment, cuts in municipal services, declines in the subway system, and the so-called “white flight” when middle class families fled to the suburbs creating a larger racial and class divide. A city wide blackout in 1977, increased crime in places like the South Bronx, Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, and Times Square, and the Son of Sam killing spree only increased the anxiety and uncertainty.

On the positive side there was an explosive rise in arts and culture much of which is still recognized today. Graffiti art and hip hop were created specifically because of this economic crisis. (Hip hop actually benefited from it by performers hosting street parties and using used technology, second hand clothing, scratched records, and inexpensive items to create the sound and aesthetic). Disco offered escapist entertainment as many danced their troubles away, did drugs, and traded partners. Along with disco was a rise in Queer culture as many LGBT+ people came out and wrote, sang, performed, painted, and possibly for the first time felt free to live their truths.

The New Hollywood filmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Walter Hill, and Sidney Lumet, and television shows like All In the Family, Kojak, Taxi, Rhoda, and Barney Miller addressed the times head on. Authors, poets, and musicians like Lawrence Block, Judy Blume, Peter Maas, Don DeLillo, Donald Westlake, Alice Childless, Frank O'Hara, Audre Lorde, Patti Smith, Lou Reed, John Kander, and Billy Joel captured that gritty time with their words and music. This is the milieu in which Patrick lives.

Patrick lives in a dilapidated apartment building with his stepmother, Yanna as his mother drifts from parental responsibilities and his father is in a coma. He collects rent and makes repairs or contacts other people to make those repairs. He has to face many complaining and threatening financially struggling tenants who need roofs over their heads but aren't looking forward to paying for them. Outside is pure kill or be killed Social Darwinism. If one doesn't get mugged, held up, raped, shot, or stabbed, there is always the fear that they will run into Son of Sam lurking in the shadows waiting for another victim. It's a desperate, bitter, and anxious existence.

Patrick is part of a mini-gang called the Bomber Jackets with Rapallo, Junior, and Bambi. His pals are also on the lower rungs of the economic ladder and work in dead end jobs, have unhappy marriages, and boast of criminal reputations. They endlessly mock each other with sarcastic quips and playful threats towards one another and those outside their circle. It's a means to vent out their frustrations, cover up their emotions, face their own insecurities by needling others for their weaknesses. Their antics start out mostly harmless but with a sardonic sharp edge that hints at darker intentions.

Those edges become larger and the intentions become more pronounced when a minority moves in and around Patrick's apartment, LGBT+ people. A presumed gay couple moves into the neighborhood. When Erica moves into Patrick's apartment, they are uncertain whether a man or a woman has moved in. (To answer the question, Erica identifies as female but sometimes wears her previous men’s clothing to avoid being harassed or when meeting her estranged family.)

As often happens (and we can certainly see now), when people are struggling, they will take their frustrations out on someone different, an other. So Patrick’s gang attacks the LGBT+ around them. They catcall them, insult them, stalk them, and play childish but harmful pranks like throwing bugs and roaches into their apartments. Those interactions become more volatile as the book goes on, particularly as Rapallo becomes more violent and unpredictable.

With the dark setting comes the Queer Romance between Patrick and Erica. Once Patrick gets over his confusion about Erica's gender identity, he becomes a close friend, which he admits to the police officers interrogating him. While Patrick questioned his friend's attacks on the LGBT+ community, he mostly remains neutral and inactive. He thinks that Rapallo and the others are idiots, but can't quite break away from them partly out of fear of what they will do, confusion about his own identity and sexuality, and misplaced loyalty to people he knew for most of his life.

It takes Erica to make Patrick look at himself and take some action. Erica is flashy, charming, flirtatious, witty, saucy, independent, and fearless, someone who draws Patrick in with her vitality and effervescence. Her clothing, wigs, and style show us a woman who could be a skilled performer and that life is her stage. She quips at Patrick with lines like “Look at me. This Uptown Girl aims to hit fast ‘cause I'm there to assassinate.”

Erica has flashes of being a Manic Pixy Dream Girl but she also has layers that keeps her from being just a stereotype or a tool that brings out Patrick’s better qualities with no story of her own. Even though she wants to go to Drag Balls, she suffers from insecurity and panic attacks when she's there. She longed to be with people like herself, but once she is, she is intimidated partly because she spent so much time in the closet that it has become her comfort zone. She is more comfortable being outrageous and standing out from people who are seemingly normal than she is with people who are like her. It's a struggle but she is willing to adapt and refocus herself, playing on those hidden character traits as well as her more public persona.

In fact the few times when Erica is in male clothing, and reverts back to her assigned gender identity at birth, Eric, is when she shows the most vulnerability. She is quiet, uncertain, shy, self-conscious, and clearly miserable. As Eric, she hides and stays invisible drifting into the crowd that she would have made them pay attention and look at her as Erica. She reverts to make her family happy and to stay safe but it takes a toll on her. As Patrick bonds with and falls in love with Erica, he sees that her female identity is her real identity and the male identity that she is forced to wear is the disguise.

As Patrick and Erica grow closer and accept each other, he begins to see his former friend's darker side and is less apathetic towards their actions. He has to make a choice between his old loyalties and new love. In doing so, like Erica he accepts and lives his own truth.

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Visage of Moros by Tamel Wino; Intense and Harrowing Contemporary Fiction Novel About Loss, Grief, and Vengeance

Visage of Moros by Tamel Wino; Intense and Harrowing Contemporary Fiction Novel About Loss, Grief, and Vengeance

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: On the surface Tamel Wino’s Visage of Moros couldn't be more different from his previous book, Dusk Upon Elysium if it tried. The former is a modern Contemporary Fiction novel about a father grieving the death of his daughter. The latter is a Science Fiction novel about a sentient AI that traps users in a paradise of their own design but where their former guilty secrets come back to haunt them. In style and genre they are different, but they have a lot in common thematically.

Both deal with memories of a pleasant paradise, almost a fantasy that is disrupted by a violent, bloody reality. What results is a destroyed protagonist forced to recognize his broken emotions, shattered dreams, and the darkness surrounding them. However, in Dusk Upon Elysium the idyllic fantasy is non-existent, a creation from AI to keep users complacent and lethargic. In Visage of Moros, the idyllic fantasy happened but it was in the past and haunts the protagonist as he deals with the intense grief that envelops his current present reality.

Drystan Caine, a prestigious artist once had a beautiful halcyon family life with his wife, Sophie and their daughter, Alba. It was a life of serious and supportive conversations, family jokes, comfortable money and home, and memorable vacations. That life comes crashing down when Alba disappears one day. Her parent's anxiety turns into grief when the girl's body is found and it becomes clear that she has been murdered. Drystan and Sophie are devastated and their marriage implodes. Sophia takes small steps to move forward with her life, still hurting but willing to live. Drystan however retreats into himself as he becomes a recluse. The only emotions that Drystan feels are crippling depression and simmering rage ready to seek revenge on Alba’s killer if he can find them.

It's also worth noting that there is also a great deal in common between Visage of Moros and Michael J Bowler’s Losing Austin which I just reviewed in that both deal with a family suffering when a child goes missing. However, Austin provides a fanciful Science Fiction based path and resolution whereas Visage of Moros is all too real with Alba’s disappearance and her parent's, particularly Drystan's despair, depression, and rage.

The contrast between Drystan’s life before and after Alba’s death is extensive and deep. The more pleasant that Drystan describes his past, the more the anguish comes through as that past is cruelly ripped away. Wino is able to write those memories not as cloying and mawkish but as clear, matter of fact, and painful. His words are those of someone who has seen those days slip away. They are precious to him because his present life is so empty. It's hateful that Alba's murderers took not only Alba's life physically but Drystan's life which essentially ended when his daughter died.

Since the book is mostly told from Drystan's first person point of view, we are made to share his conflicting emotions and his transition between sadness and anger. He is completely isolated from everyone. He retreats to a cabin and becomes a recluse only leaving to shop for bare essentials. He can't stop thinking and talking about Alba or remembering that awful day.

He makes some effort to bond with Alba's former boyfriend and a female friend but these moments are brief. Even as he tries to find some semblance of life around him, something to assuage his grief, he always comes back to his sadness. It can be exhausting and draining to read about his grief especially if one has an empathetic response towards another's pain. This book does not keep the Reader at an emotional distance but instead pulls them in daring us to see the world through the eyes of someone whose world has essentially come to an end.

There are elements of Mystery or Thriller as Drystan investigates Alba's killer. It doesn't dwell much on the search so the mechanics of the plot aren't as important as how Drystan feels about it and how he pushes others away in his single-minded pursuit to find a resolution, a denouement to his pain.

Most of the action consists of Drystan getting lucky in finding a potential lead and stalking them in the pursuit of murdering them in retaliation. Frozen despair gives way to active aggression and it isn't any better for him. He wants to take this person's life since they took Alba's. Like before with his despair, there is no room left in his life for anything but vengeance.

Drystan's rage is understandable but it is also severe and uncompromising. In a strange way, while he drew us, the Readers in with his grief, he pushed us away with his rage. He's become someone else that even the Reader isn't sure that they recognize. He breaks his last tie and isolates himself, even from us.

Probably this self-imposed isolation is what is at play in one of the more questionable and puzzling aspects of the book. The final pages reveal a strange plot twist that came from nowhere and is not followed with any sort of resolution. It's possible that Wino wanted to throw in a final twist but there may be another reason.

It’s possible that Drystan missing the twist is the point. He is so consumed by grief and hatred, that he can't see what's literally in front of him. He is single minded that the person that he chose killed Alba is the one that he won't believe any different. That isolation drove him insane and he would rather continue down this trajectory than sooth it by admitting that he was wrong and moving on with his life.

The twist is the final note of isolation between protagonist and Reader. It's telling that it is one of the few times where Drystan's first person point of view is no longer present. The twist becomes omniscient, almost intrusive, and is in third person. Drystan is unaware of it. The Reader is and they can't say anything. Drystan wouldn't listen anyway. It's almost a tragic irony that the answer is right in front of him but not acknowledged by him but by us. He's lost his final link to the outside world and is left alone.

Visage of Moros is a heartfelt meditation on loss, grief, Depression, anger, and vengeance. It's harrowing, intense, and ultimately cathartic.

Friday, May 30, 2025

Cease to Exist (The Richard O'Brien Series Book 2) by Ian Rodney Lazarus; Brilliant Treacherous Duo and Transition Theme Steal Complex Plot About Genetic Engineering and Warring Countries

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: I'm beginning to sense a pattern in the Richard O'Brien books so far. While O’Brien is himself a compelling protagonist with his shaky love life, his brilliance combined with physical toughness, and his morally gray philosophical look at life, it's the antagonists who are some of the more captivating and stimulating parts of the books.

In the previous book, Con and Consequence, the genius con artist turned terrorist, Jelani captured Reader's interests with Jelani's arrogance at pulling a con job with many victims and his panic when he learned about his new organization's true goals and motives. His inscrutable handler, The Professor, also fascinated with their deceptive plays on all sides and the mystery of their real identity and loyalties.

The next book in Ian Rodney Lazarus’s stirring Political Thriller series, Cease to Exist gives us another pair of intriguing antagonists. The first is Emma Lee, a Chinese emigre who steals CRISPR samples from her work lab and also spies for various governments particularly China, North Korea, and the United States.

The other is Dennis Spence, secretive founder of the nonprofit Center for New Beginnings, a rehab center/mental hospital with a dubious reputation. He is also a trans male and recipient of the CRISPR samples that his partner, Emma stole.

Meanwhile, Richard O'Brien became an FBI special agent after he was removed from his former position as a linguist and translator. Reports of missing people with connections to The Center of New Beginnings puts Richard on the case and right in Emma and Dennis's path. The stolen CRISPR samples, missing people, and Emma, Dennis, and Richard’s exploits are revealed to be parts of larger stakes from bigger governments who have wider motives and uses for genetic engineering technology.

Similar to Con and Consequence, Cease to Exist shows the threads beginning with the sample theft and the missing persons cases. Then these threads grow larger and become more tangled with international plots in which the wealthy and powerful world leaders cause long term complications for their own personal gain.

The strongest theme in this volume is transition. Everyone is transitioning from one life to another. Their lives, jobs, roles, personalities, ideologies, and gender identities are in flux and require great thought, skill, patience, persistence, and acceptance. Once the book ends, it becomes clear that nobody is the same person that they were in the early chapters or the previous volume.

Richard goes from being a bright academic and translator to an active field agent. His first few chapters focus on his training and the lessons, such as memorizing code words while in captivity, become useful during his assignment. He becomes less cerebral and an outsider and more active and aggressive while on the inside.

His love life also goes through a change. In the previous volume, he was written as a callous womanizer with a long term girlfriend who took her own life. He ended the last book in a relationship with Special Agent Sarah Goodman. In this volume, he is involved with Sarah and while he strays or thinks of other women, he feels guilt for it and does everything that he can to patch things up with Sarah. While there are still problems in his personal life, Richard is veering towards taking things to another level and maturing.

He also has to play many parts while undercover. Once he impersonates a kidnap victim during an international prison exchange. One of the darkest creepiest sections occurs when he is institutionalized for a time after investigating a lead at The Center for New Beginnings. The gaslighting from Dennis and his staff is so effective that Richard doubts whether he really is an FBI agent or it was just a delusion.

Emma is another character who goes through many changes. One of the most interesting aspects to her character is her chameleon like way of adapting and changing herself to fit how others see her. While working in the genetic engineering, she takes on the role of an amusing geeky girl who watches Science Fiction films like Jurassic Park with her colleagues. She becomes a loyal and devoted friend and lover to Dennis even willing to break the law for him. In front of her handlers, she is cold blooded and methodical.

One of her most intriguing changes occurs later in the book when she acts as a honey trap in a game of seduction. She is dressed in a sexy gown, speaks in double entendre, and draws her target in with her allure and charisma. It's hard to believe that she is the same nerd applauding Jeff Goldblum’s speeches in Jurassic Park before stealing CRISPR samples but it shows her versatility and transformation in becoming the person others want to see in her.

Emma has a lot of layers that Lazarus expertly writes so it's hard to tell who the real Emma Lee is. After all, if she plays so many roles, how do we know where the real Emma begins and ends or if a real Emma exists at all.

Naturally, the biggest change occurs within Dennis Spence. Lazarus goes to great lengths to show us Dennis's background of abuse that he endured during his early years of his assigned female gender at birth when he lived under the name of Denise. It was a violent abusive past that Dennis had to run from. Despite being an antagonist, Lazarus writes Dennis with a lot of care so we can see a multifaceted person with a backstory that created the person that he became.

It's clear that Dennis has been hurt and chose to return that hurt to others. He sees the world as shallow and empty and people as mere playthings that can do whatever he wants. Similar to The Professor, he hides his true intentions and alliances. But unlike his predecessor who has the luxury of anonymity, Dennis hides his real nature and past behind a public philanthropic famous persona. He keeps up appearances while hiding a knife that will stab anyone who interferes.

There are other transformations which play into the plot and these changes affect the wider goals of government officials who want to perform their own transitions. They want to change the world around them so only they can benefit and others are destroyed. That's a transition which benefits no one. There are no winners, only dictators and those that they crush until they themselves are crushed by those who have had enough.

Wednesday, May 28, 2025

Losing Austin by Michael J. Bowler; Affecting, Poignant, and Transcendent Missing Child Novel

Losing Austin by Michael J. Bowler; Affecting, Poignant, and Transcendent Missing Child Novel

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Sherlock Holmes said it best, “Whenever you eliminate the improbable then all that remains no matter how impossible must be the truth.” Such is the case in Losing Austin. Michael J. Bowler’s novel about a missing child t is affecting, poignant, riveting, and ultimately otherworldly and transcendent.

Colton's nonverbal Autistic older brother Austin goes missing after Colton insults him. Colton and their parents go through an agonizing search. When they find no evidence that Austin either wandered off, got lost, or had been kidnapped, Colton looks for other possibilities. He remembers a brighter than usual rainbow and a strange unusual presence in the woods at the time and suspects that his brother was abducted by aliens. Other witnesses with similar stories corroborate this theory, a theory that looks more realistic when Austin reappears five years later completely unaged.

Losing Austin is a novel that veers between Crime Thriller and Science Fiction. Bowler produces a novel that is a mixture of the two subgenres and styles.

The book reveals the anguish when a child goes missing. Colton and his parents’ bond bends and threatens to break from the strain and there are hints that this fracture is permanent even after Austin returns. Colton and Austin’s father is so busy trying to be the stoic rock for the family that instead he becomes remote to them. Their depressed mother basically withdraws from everyone else and lives in her own private world of grief and despair. She barely acknowledges Colton’s presence except with occasional disdain and hovers in and out of life without any real involvement.

As for Colton, his emotions go from determination, to rage, to guilt. He searches the woods every day long after rescue teams have stopped looking for Austin. Once he admits his theory about alien abduction, he connects with people on social media who have similar experiences. He feels helpless that he couldn’t control what happened to Austin and despite his efforts can’t find him. To respond to that, he takes action so at least he can say that he did everything that he could.

With that helplessness comes rage and fury. He gets into fights with bullying classmates that make fun of Austin or spread rumors about him. While some want to help Colton, particularly a former bully turned friend, others use the opportunity to isolate him even further. Since Colton and his family have become public figures because of this tragedy, he is constantly aware that he is being watched and monitored by everyone else at school. The scrutiny is so intense that he is temporarily home schooled. This contributes to his loneliness and insecurity.

Above all, Colton feels tense guilty and remorse. He obsessively goes over Austin’s last day especially the harsh words that he said knowing that Austin would never retaliate. He acted on impulse, spoke without thinking, and was immediately remorseful afterwards. But what was said was said and it seared into him for a long time.

Colton reveals his pain and inner torment in an interview with Anderson Cooper (in one of the book’s lighter moments, Colton refers to Cooper as “CNN Dude,” a nickname that the news anchor graciously accepts). Colton bares all partly out of confession but also so people who are going through such grief, pain, and inner frustration can learn from his story.

The realistic situation that the family goes through weaves with the fantastic theories espoused by Colton and his new friends. One of Colton’s friends shares a similar story of a missing brother and believes that “the rain took him.”

After rational outcomes produce no results, it makes sense to look for the unusual. At first that seems to be what is at play here. The Reader doubts Colton’s narration but can’t deny that there are some strange things but it’s all understated. The nature around him like the bright rainbow, the rain occurring during disappearances, or the mysterious presence watching him are eerie but not unusual. The other witnesses could be just as confused or worse appealing to a grief stricken boy's anxieties. They could be straws that Colton is trying to grasp to find answers, calm his rage, and assuage his guilt.

However, when Austin returns unaged, the impossibility becomes almost confirmed. It puts the book into a different place than what was presented before where anything reasonable and logical turns into anything supernatural or otherworldly.

The final chapters open up another solution that wasn’t addressed before. It becomes jarring but it also transcends reality and expands the book’s insights about other worlds into a new direction. The ending is also explained in a way that makes sense despite the abruptness. It makes one curious if Bowler is planning on exploring this scenario in future installments.

Losing Austin captures the emotions of a Thriller, the themes of a Science Fiction, and the passage of a Coming of Age novel. It is a book that is worth finding.

Sunday, May 11, 2025

May-June Reading List

Silver Echoes by Rebecca Rosenberg

Bomber Jackets by Rob Santana

Losing Austin by Michael L Bowler

Visage to Moros by Tamel Wino

Ismene and The Voice by Juniper Calle

The Assassin's Heart by Chuck Morgan

Cease to Exist (A Richard O'Brien Thriller Book 2) by Ian Rodney Lazarus

Altered Parallel by C.T. Malachite

The Lindens by Barney Jeffries

Life Into Death by E.S. Sibbald

Survive The Cursed by Ashton Abbott

Dead People Anonymous by Loraine Haye

Elegance and Evil by DK Coutant

The Mantis Corruption (Book 3 in The Mantis Gland Series) by Adam Andrews Johnson

If you have a book that you would like me to review, beta read, edit, proofread, or write, please contact me at the following:

Email: juliesaraporter@gmail.com

Prices are as follows (subjected to change depending on size and scope of the project):

Beta Read: $50.00-75.00

Review: $50-100.00**

Copy/Content Edit: $100-300.00

Proofread: $100-300.00

Research & Citation: $100-400.00

Ghostwrite/Co-Write:$200-400.00

*These are books reviewed for LitPick and will only feature a summary and a few paragraphs. The full review is on LitPick's site.

Payments can be made to my PayPal, Payoneer, or Google Wallet accounts at juliesaraporter@gmail.com

Well that's it. Thanks and as always, Happy Reading.

Justified Anger by Jennifer Colne; Sobering Account of the Effects of Molestation and Incest on a Family

Justified Anger by Jennifer Colne; Sobering Account of the Effects of Molestation and Incest on a Family

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: It can be difficult for a family when one of their members is the victim of a crime. Sometimes the crime affects more than just the one who was hurt. It can affect everyone around them and fill them with feelings of anxiety, depression, anger, trauma, denial, and activism. Worse than that would be if the perpetrator was a family member as well. The actions and consequences can split a family apart as they take sides.

That is the situation faced by Jennifer Colne in her memoir, Justified Anger. This is a sobering, and unnerving book about the effects of child molestation and incest on her family.

Colne begins her book describing the troubles facing her daughters in 2001 when her eldest Katherine had been hospitalized for mental health problems and her younger daughter, Emma, lost custody of her children in a draining court battle with her abusive ex. This custody fight would lead to Emma being hospitalized as well after a suicide attempt and severe flashbacks. During one of these flashbacks Emma revealed that she was raped by her Uncle David. Later Katherine confessed that the same thing happened to her. David was arrested and charged with counts of rape, attempted rape, and sexual assault. Unfortunately that's not the end of the story. Emma was convinced that she was blocking something from her mind. After a few years and a second marriage, Emma remembered what it was. She was not only raped and molested by her Uncle but by her father, Steve as well.

Colne’s intense descriptions of her daughters' abuse and the aftermath including their fractured mental states reach into the Reader’s souls and understand the pain that this family went through and in many ways are still going through. The abusers left their marks leaving their victims in fragile states unable to cope with many of the stresses in their lives.

It wasn't just the initial crime of sexual assault that made David and Steve monsters. It was the continuous after effects that created a lifetime of trauma from two innocent girls who were hurt by men that they should have trusted to protect and love them. Katherine and Emma suffered physical, mental, and emotional scars that never fully healed as they got older. They were in tears, raged, and engaged in self harm and addictive behaviors.

One of the most painful chapters occurs years later when Emma, surrounded by her mother, children, and husband, regresses to a childlike state. Her memories of her childhood were muddled with those of her children. She couldn't separate the past from the present, referred to people in her children's lives by names of people that she knew as a child, could not recall recent memories, or recognize her children in their photos. Skills that she was adept in like cooking became unknown to her. She regressed to a mental child in an adult body. Steve not only robbed his daughter of her childhood by molesting her. He and his brother in law robbed her of her adulthood by replacing a fulfilled life of a good career, happy marriage, secure home, loving children with one of terror, fractured mental states, impulsive dangerous behavior, and internal misery.

David and especially Steve did more long term damage. They didn't just destroy Katherine and Emma. They broke apart their whole family. Even though the sisters were on the same side in accusing and charging David, they stood on opposite sides when it came to Steve. Colne supported Emma's account recalling earlier moments of sexual, verbal, and physical abuse that her former husband inflicted on her. That was more than Katherine did.

Katherine refused to accept that her own father raped her sister. She claimed that Emma was a liar and was trying to get attention. It is bizarre that a woman who had been sexually assaulted by one family member and developed emotional and psychological problems would not be more empathetic towards her sister who had been going through the same thing. Emma’s state clearly showed that she had been abused if not by their father then by somebody. But unlike her mother who recognized the signs and confirmed Emma's account, Katherine blatantly ignored them and defiantly venerated her father.

Katherine's denial might have been a means to protect herself psychologically and might have been understandable. But the volatile extremes that she went through to discredit Emma are less defensible. She not only purposely sided with her father but influenced other family members to do the same such as her and Emma's younger brother Colne's son, Liam and Emma's own estranged children. They cut not only Emma out of their lives but Colne as well removing themselves of a sister, niece, and mother but also a mother, aunt, and grandmother.

We don't get any understanding of Katherine's transition from defender and fellow victim to antagonist because it is told by Colne and she clearly doesn't know either. There might be speculation from the Reader but nothing known or said. Instead, Katherine and the rest of Steve's defenders having so much vehement animosity towards his accusers can be seen as yet another crime that can be laid at Steve's feet.

Justified Anger is a realistic book about trauma. People don't always recover after one hospitalization or breakthrough. It sometimes takes many stays and they can exhibit the same behaviors for years and even decades afterwards. Sometimes perpetrators don't get the punishment that they deserve. Sometimes the story doesn't end with hugs and reconciliation. Sometimes it ends with making peace with oneself and that's how Colne ends her book. Her family is still broken. Emma may still have psychological problems. Katherine is still estranged from the rest of the family. But Colne and Emma have made peace with themselves and have strengthened their connections as mother and daughter.

For now, that's enough.

Con and Consequence by Ian Rodney Lazarus; A Simple Cybercrime Leads To Bigger Terrorism

Con and Consequence by Ian Rodney Lazarus; A Simple Cybercrime Leads To Bigger Terrorism

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Who would have thought that a simple cybercrime/con job would lead to a terrorist attack that will create generations of hardship and war between Palestine and Israel?

That is the premise that faces various characters in several countries and two continents in Ian Rodney Lazarus’s Con and Consequence, a suspenseful, tightly plotted, but wide spread Thriller.

The eponymous con artist is Jelani, a Somali genius who is using his vast intellect to create fake crowdfunding sites to draw in potential investors while operating as a ghost on the Web. Not exactly legit but cunning, non violent, and gives him and his family some much needed money. However, this scheme reaches Muhammad Amir Abbas who recruits Jelani to join his organization which has a plan for much deadlier consequences and to stick it to various enemies notably the United States and Israel.

Meanwhile, Richard O'Brien, a linguist for the FBI intercepts a message that hints at a major terrorist attack in three days time. This investigation soon involves various terrorist organizations, the FBI, CIA, Mossad, the US, Palestinian, and Israeli governments, the Muslim population of Dearborn, Michigan, and O’Brien’s college age brother and girlfriend.

Lazarus does an excellent job of taking all of these various characters, settings, and plot points and tying them neatly together to make a comprehensible and perspicuous plot. The action starts small but leads to widespread complications that can lead to long term consequences for years and even decades afterwards.

This book focuses on various characters but the most interesting are three: O’Brien, Jelani, and an enigmatic character named The Professor who will be mentioned later. They form a triangle that takes the Reader through the various angles in the narrative and personalizes them.

O’Brien is an anti-hero made for this type of story. Though he works with the FBI, he is himself not an agent so his pursuits are a more scholarly and communicative nature. This particular case puts him up front and center doing the leg work that his colleagues do.

O’Brien has a very close Irish Catholic family with whom he loves but comes to disagree with, particularly about his job which causes his parents to worry. He is also tight with his brother, Myles who is a well meaning but immature goofball who accidentally stumbles upon the case himself. What starts out to be a funny and contrived coincidence becomes darker as Myles gets closer to his brother's career than he more than likely intended.

O’Brien’s romantic history is held under scrutiny. He ignores the calls of a former girlfriend until realizing too heartbreakingly late why she called. This subplot and another in which he has a flirtation with a female agent show him as the type of man who is inept in his personal life but adept at his work. His personal life is one of failed relationships and few close connections outside of his immediate family so he devotes his time to his job. He embraces the adrenaline thrills and larger picture of preserving democracy because that's all that he has.

It's a chaotic existence but it's one that O’Brien can use his linguistic skills and intellect to play an important part to the world at large. It's hard to focus on a personal life with romance, relationships, and daily tasks when one is constantly aware that terrorist organizations are plotting to commit major fatalities half a world away.

Jelani represents those who join such organizations and live lives of crime. For Jelani, it's a matter of having a lot of brain, feeling like an outsider and not having much money or opportunity. We learn that Jelani has a high IQ and was recently diagnosed with being on the Autism spectrum. Since his diagnosis was as an adult and he doesn't have access to many resources that help him, he has many of the disorder’s symptoms such as memorization, intense fixations on his favorite subjects, discomfort in public places, and sensitivity to sensory triggers.

Jelani has difficulties functioning, is arrogant about his abilities, lives in abject poverty, and is susceptible to suggestion. Of course he's the perfect target for those who are looking for angry, arrogant, young people with axes to grind, simmering hatred for their situation, and are ready to commit desperate acts for it.

However, Jelani seriously underestimates the situation that he is in. His fatal flaw is arrogance. He thinks that because he has this online scheme and a genius level IQ, he is ahead of everyone else but he fails to realize that when his superiors are fighting a war in which fatalities, terror, carnage, assault, and violence are to be expected, no one cares about his money making scheme. In fact, compared to their activities, his con job is the equivalent of a Yorkie puppy nipping at the heels of a wolf pack trying to prove that he can be the alpha head.

To Jelani’s credit, once he becomes aware of the full implication of his new organization’s crimes, he does what he can to separate himself from them. Hey, he may rob people of their money but he still has a conscience. He might be a genius in academics but an idiot in common sense but he has some standards. One of them is not countless violence towards random citizens to make a point that will only get worse because of the escalation of said violence.

By far the most interesting enigmatic character is someone called The Professor. Not too much can be revealed in the review because of spoilers. Let's just say they are a cypher, someone who excels in hiding in the shadows.

They have a variety of pseudonyms and identities that are used periodically throughout the book, so characters and Readers are uncertain where The Professor’s real standards and allegiances lie. In one chapter, The Professor guides Jelani. In another, they work as a Mossad spy. You go through the book thinking one thing about them, then turn around and think something else. Then the final pages reveal a final twist that could either clarify or further muddy The Professor's personal truth.

In fact the final reveal causes the Reader to look at the character and their actions differently. It also causes one to question the extremity of their motives and the means to achieve them. It makes one wonder if they were really sincere in committing their actions for their country or people or just for themselves. When a person manipulates that many people on various sides, and intentionally causes more destruction, do their real motives matter?

Con and Consequence may start as a simple con job but ultimately that job like any other action eventually has consequences.

Saturday, May 10, 2025

Reaping By Numbers: A Dead-End Job by Nicole Givens Kurtz; Fun and Interesting Take on The Grim Reaper

Reaping By Numbers: A Dead-End Job by Nicole Givens Kurtz; Fun and Interesting Take on The Grim Reaper

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Nicole Givens Kurtz knows how to write mysteries set in unique settings or populated with unique characters. Her novel, Glitches and Stitches is set in the future where AI is so omnipresent that people have a hard time separating the orga from the mecha which complicates a murder investigation. Kill Three Birds is a murder mystery set in a world of anthropomorphic birds. Her latest Reaping By Numbers also has an interesting premise in which a murder is investigated by none other than the Grim Reaper, well a Grim Reaper anyway.

Note, I said a Grim Reaper, as in plural more than one. Kurtz’s take on Reapers is that it is a job like any other. They are mostly human but are led by demons who work for the original Grim Reaper, also known as G. They don't kill people or cause them to die so much as they are there at the point of death and escort them in the transition between life and lifelessness.

Patrice Williams is one such Reaper. Her reaping skills come naturally because they are inherited from her father who was an excellent Reaper in his day. Her latest assignment puts her right in the middle of a murder investigation, a turf war between various demonic factions, a meddlesome angel, and demonic possession. Patrice has to use all of her skills particularly when her own family is involved, especially her niece, Brianna, whose body inadvertently becomes the vessel of a very angry and violent demon.

In a strange way, Reaping By Numbers is the complete opposite of my previous book, Secrets at The Aviary Inn by Maryann Clarke. Secrets explores an ordinary conflict of a woman researching her family history but gives it some enchanting touches in setting and character that almost makes it seem like a Contemporary Fantasy. Reaping By Numbers takes an otherworldly fantastic situation of reapers guiding people after death and finds a dark humor by exploring the ordinary mundanity of the situation.

Patrice clocks in and out like everyone else, does her shift, takes her breaks, deals with co-workers and supervisors, some encouraging and others obnoxious, collects her earnings, and goes home. Okay she's dealing with the recently deceased but so do morgue attendants and funeral home workers. What's so strange about that? Alright, her bosses are demons that emerged from the darkest pits of Hell but aren't all of our bosses? Yes, she has to face some very unpleasant encounters with dark magic, soul sucking spirits, wrathful ghosts, and avenging angels but no job is perfect. The benefits are great, particularly when you are alive to enjoy them.

The way that her family is portrayed is that of a loving supportive foundation but are divided on various issues. Patrice's father is proud that his daughter is following in his footsteps. He is very encouraging as they talk shop though he also sternly warns her about some of the more dangerous aspects of the job.

Not all of her family is supportive, particularly her religious mother and intrusive sister. Her mother is concerned that her daughter is consorting with demons. Her sister is trying to live a normal life with her pastor husband and children and feels that Patrice's profession could bring unwanted trouble within their family circle. Her worst fears come true when her daughter is possessed by demons.

Brianna's possession is a central plot point in this book. Kurtz conveys the anguish and fear that her family has, particularly Patrice who has to actively remove the demon while dealing with her own guilt and uncertainty about her chosen path. Patrice's dialogue with Brianna is the strongest emotional core especially when the young girl shows some potential to be a Reaper herself.

Reaping By Numbers conveys a lot of dark humor but a lot of emotions in this book about a woman who considers hanging out with the dead as just another day at work.

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Secrets At The Aviary Inn by MaryAnn Clarke; Lovely Fantasy-Like Women's Fiction About Reclaiming The Past

Secrets At The Aviary Inn by MaryAnn Clarke; Lovely Fantasy-Like Women's Fiction About Reclaiming The Past

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery

Spoilers: There's bad luck during vacations and there's what happened to Sophie Groenvald, protagonist of MaryAnn Clarke's lovely Contemporary Women's Fiction novel, Secrets at The Aviary Inn. She toured Europe with her boyfriend, Marc-Antoine, to get away from a troubled and smothering home life in Canada. Unfortunately, Marc-Antoine abandoned her to travel with other strangers including a very attractive one. As if being an unfaithful narcissist wasn't enough, Marc-Antoine also took Sophie's money, passport, and other documentation so she is left in York without money, papers, or any way to get home.

Her sad story and toxic relationship reaches sympathetic ears and she is directed to Aviary Inn, a beautiful out of the way inn run by Mrs. Ava Roxtoby. Ava hires Sophie to work at the front desk and reception center. The desperate situation becomes more tolerable as Sophie earns money, finds friends, gets involved in a couple of serious romances, and gains a benevolent employer in Ava. She also finds some long awaited answers to questions that she has asked that cause her to rethink her family and where she belongs.

Even though Secrets at The Aviary Inn is not a Fantasy by any stretch of the imagination, there is something idyllic, charming, otherworldly, and even enchanting about this book most notably by the presence of Ava and the Aviary Inn.

Sophie’s first description of the Inn is as follows: “A large gray stone house with pointed gables and white fancy bags and rows of chimney pots stands three stories tall with sloped peacock blue awning that read The Aviary Inn on the Mount. It looks like two terrace houses joined, and the house on the left is wrapped in green ivy, with thick, creamy white window frames and mullions with leaded glass plants peeking through. It looks like a fairy tale castle, and I have to remind myself that old houses in England are like really old.”

The description gives an air of a fantasy castle that is beautiful but remote. Even the way that Sophie finds it, through word of mouth gives the overall impression of a space that activates the senses but is very hard to find. It can't be discovered or traveled to through conventional means. It has to be found.

Since the inn is called The Aviary Inn, there is a bird motif throughout the book. Sophie describes the lobby with enough bird decor that would keep The Audubon Society interested. There are pheasants, owls, finches, sparrows, ducks, and gulls represented either wooden, stuffed, seen, painted, or polished. Ava can often be seen feeding and caring for domestic doves and pigeons outside the inn. Sophie’s co-worker, Zoe, uses “duck” as a term of endearment for friends. This is a place that is definitely for the birds as well as the humans.

The bird motif is not only a reveal of Ava's interests and personality, but it also adds to the off putting but enchanting fairy tale quality of the setting. It is light, airy, a home to humans, birds, and animals. It's practically another world where the terms predator and prey do not exist. Instead it's a community that welcomes all who enter with good intent.

Ava herself gives off the impression of a threshold guardian, almost a sorceress, White Witch, or nature priestess who lives in her own private world. She is an eccentric but kind figure who can be distant and warm at the same time. She approaches with kindness but keeps others at an emotional arm's length by not sharing much about her private life. She seems like the type of person to retreat to her birds and nature because she prefers them to people.

Once Sophie learns Ava’s story, she sees the hurt vulnerable woman who was separated from the people that she loved the most. It's easy to see why Ava created this private personal kingdom, one where she has control over who enters and exits and so she can never be hurt.

In discovering Aviary Inn, Sophie learns important things about her family line. While it might stretch credibility that the strange place that she never before heard of would hold the answers that she so desperately sought, there are some indications that her journey is not as random as previously thought. She had ulterior motives for this trip and came specifically to York to discover her family history.

There are some contrived coincidences and possibilities of fate lurking in the background. Sophie didn't plan on being abandoned nor did she know the exact location where she needed to go in advance. However, she had a good head start and the events in the book helped guide her to that path.

Once the truth is revealed, Sophie and Ava have to see each other as they really are not remote, otherworldly, or fantastic. Instead they see each other as full real complex women with a connection that had been severed by broken feelings, wrong words, understandable intentions but hurtful deeds, and time. Through their words and actions, they are able to repair that connection and create new meaningful ones.

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Charming Tomorrow by Conor Jest; Brilliant But At Times Confusing Sequel Adds Time Travel and Modern Times

Charming Tomorrow by Conor Jest; Brilliant But At Times Confusing Sequel Adds Time Travel and Modern Times

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

This review is also on Reedsy Discovery

Spoilers: Charming Tomorrow, the sequel to Where The Witches Dwell in The Everlan Trilogy, takes its characters and Readers to where few Epic Fantasies dare to tread. It takes us into the mysterious, magical, wild, and weird world of…. California 1999.

Okay not exactly the most unique or original setting, but still it's interesting to add time travel to a subgenre which is all too often tightly bound to its various tropes. It adds a splash of cleverness, humor, and sharper stakes as ancient practically immortal characters duke it out in the past and present.

When last we left, our hero and villain, Roulic and Mayhem respectively they fought in a place called The Edge and because there were no guardrails or safety signs (and personal safety is not first in your list when you are battling each other with the known world at stake), the tumbled over The Edge into darkness. When they came to, they found themselves far away from the land of Doth in 1699 to as I mentioned before California 1999. Cast adrift but needing magic users to help him return to the past, Mayem solicits a local fortune teller by using mental manipulation and verbal threats to obtain her assistance. Meanwhile, Roulic reunites with some familiar faces: The Witches of Doth, seven sisters and one brother, all gifted with magical abilities and the siblings of Ravenna, Roulic’s intended lover who is stranded in the 1600’s. (They are all long lived. It's not as weird and unlikely as it sounds). The Witches have a proposition for Roulic, go back in time to the 1640’s and fight Mayem before he becomes too powerful then rescue Ravenna before she is cursed by merging with a bridge before Roulic met her in the first volume.

The book starts out in a satiric, even light hearted vein with some funny moments as Roulic and Mayhem navigate themselves through modern society. One of the cleverest moments occurs as Roulic and Mayhem are walking through Laguna Beach. They are naturally confused and out of their element when metal machines roll by on paved roads, people, particularly women, dress casually and wear revealing clothing, and come up to them to say “hey” and act approachable.

Funnier still are the people of 1999 who have little to no reaction at all. Aside from some admiring their period style clothing and weaponry (one even asks Roulic who made his authentic boots), but no mass confusion or suspicion. They take the weirdness in stride. Guy wearing a full Medieval-style tunic and leggings? Boring. Carrying ready made polished and clearly been used? See it every Tuesday. Babbling about Destiny, dragons, magical keys, witches, and the end of the world? Look, I got things to do but we can meet later for coffee, kay?

Fortune tellers and psychics are widely available so all they have to do is find or control the right ones. Not only that but of course someone knows a family of witches, seven sisters and one brother! Who doesn't? They can lead Roulic right to them!

The other thing that Jest excels at in this volume is giving more diverse dimensions and personalities to the Witches. In the previous book, most of the distinction was given largely to Aurora because she guided Roulic on his journey and Ravenna because she was the enchanted love interest. In this volume all of the siblings stand out as individuals and family. From the maternal leader Aurora, to the serene High Priestess Marlee, the sardonic serious Raine, the quiet dreamy Alison, the bookish intellectual Jillian, the mischievous tricksters Maddy and Agnes, and the affectionate enthusiastic, Jax, they are an interesting family unit that works together even if they don't always agree.

Much of their individuality has a lot to do with the move to modern day. Many of the siblings adjusted, some more than others. Jax in particular thrives in this new environment bring trendy, dressing in modern clothing, talking in modern slang and being indistinguishable from any Xer or Millennial growing up in the late ‘90’s. Of course, it is not surprising that he and his sisters would adjust so well. Unlike Roulic who just got there, they lived for centuries in this environment so they had plenty of time to adapt to modern styles, professions, societies, and structures. They fit right in inconspicuous though clearly some are in the know.

The modern setting is so fun and interesting. It even fits well into Roulic and Mayem’s larger journey that reveals what their legacy is and how their actions create ripple effects that change their worlds for centuries. Sometimes those actions have long term consequences that even they can't always see in their lifetime. The modern setting is so odd and yet unique that it's a shame that it doesn't last and Roulic and Mayem reenter the 1640’s Doth and the magical Medieval-like Fantasy world that they left behind in volume one.

The transition isn't bad. There are some suspenseful twists particularly as Roulic has to avoid running into his young self and rescue Ravenna but make sure that they actually get together romantically anyway. Otherwise, Ravenna and her family won't be able to ally with Roulic against Mayem. But they already did and aided him. He wouldn't have been thrown over The Edge with Mayem and visit the present and return to the past-Time Travel is so confusing!

Confusion is one of the bigger issues concerning the rest of Charming Tomorrow. The time travel aspects while well written take out much of the suspense within. Of course, Roulic and Mayem will act the way that they do because they already did. Much of Roulic's tasks are somewhat arbitrary and difficult to keep track of particularly when he encounters the dragons that he once protected and the Pearlytook, the magical key that he once possessed in the previous book.

Also there is an uncertainty within the book which involves retconning many of the events from the previous book. It's less like an adventure that takes the characters into a new setting, presents challenges that raise the stakes, and transforms them in various ways. It seems more like there were things that Jest didn't like in the previous book so used the second to fix them so they would no longer exist in this universe.

Despite these concerns, the Time Travel angle is an interesting layer that contrasts greatly with the usual plot points in Epic Fantasy. Roulic thrives well in both times and travels back and forth between them. Mayem also thrives and his conversations with his new allies are both charismatic and chilling. He wins them over but he also makes them aware that failure is not an option.

The Witches also are actively involved in Roulic and Mayem’s travel between time periods. They observe their movements from 1999 and are able to provide magical assistance like creating storms and sending telepathic messages. One of the funniest running bits is that, many of the siblings, Maddy and Agnes particularly, watch and discuss these adventures, what Roulic should do or shouldn't have done, and offer predictions about what will happen next like they are binge watching a favorite series on Netflix. So the 1640’s and 1990’s settings aren't bad, they just need work to catch up to each other and be more original.

Since the 1999 portion contains most of the book’s highlights, perhaps Jest could have set most of the book here then returned to Doth in the next book. This would give more story than just reiterating what happened in the first book and look more like an actual well thought storyline instead of a desperate retcon. But still Charming Tomorrow is a good book and The Witches are the best characters and are definitely worth remembering and rooting for.

Monday, April 28, 2025

Blunt Force Rising (An Angela Hardwicke Science Fiction Mystery Novel) by Russ Colchamiro; Angela's Darkest and Most Violent Mystery Yet.

Blunt Force Rising (An Angela Hardwicke Science Fiction Mystery Novel) by Russ Colchamiro; Angela's Darkest and Most Violent Mystery Yet.

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Before we begin, I ask you to please read my previous reviews for Crackle and Fire, Fractured Lives, Hot Ash, and Trigger Point as it will enhance your understanding of and might reveal some important plot points that are mentioned in this review.

So now we come to the fourth volume of the Angela Hardwicke Science Fiction Mystery Thriller Series and my last one to date, Blunt Force Rising. And boy did its author, Russ Colchamiro know how to end, or rather penultimately end (since book five, Trigger Point, was the actual last book) the series on a high, or rather gruesome, bloody, violent, dark but very memorable point.

Blunt Force Rising is probably the darkest Angela Hardwicke novel yet and that's honestly saying a lot. It starts out very subtle. Angela and her partner, Eric Whistler are invited on a galaxy cruiser by their client, Ther’eda Ranadyne, CEO of Ranadyne Cybernetics, a leader in the development of AI intelligence and manufacturing androids. She is hiring the duo to look for a technician who is responsible for tampering with the Death Code, a code that creates premature aging and death within androids after a certain time.

At first, the book seems like a Science Fiction equivalent of Death on the Nile, Murder on the Orient Express or other Agatha Christie novels. A locked room or closed circle murder mystery set in the future where the main characters travel in luxury while bodies are hitting the floor. Indeed, Angela and Whistler are on a luxury cruiser that voyages across the galaxy.

It's all plush rooms, crystal decor, and pleasant service crew members. Angela touches base with some old friends, Nini and Dolores, and Whistler gets some alone time with his android girlfriend, Selene. Okay, there may be a dead body found inside a cabin but that's nothing that a seasoned pro like Angela can't handle. Yes, this Mystery seems pretty light and airy. Dare I say it, it might even be considered Science Fiction Cozy. At first.

The book takes a definite shift in tone halfway through. There were signs here and there that things might get darker. For all of the luxurious splendor in front of the characters, there is a lot of tension going on particularly between androids and humans. Androids want to be seen as people with all of the rights and privileges of their organic counterparts and quite a few aren't above using violence and resistance to get them. Some humans like Ther’eda are empathetic towards these struggles and want those rights granted while others like Dolores, are unrepentant bigots towards them.

This conflict inserts larger political issues into the book as Science Fiction often does, reminding us that what is seen in the far off future is actually happening right now. The presence of AI Intelligence becoming more prominent not to mention DEI conflicts and controversies are still huge parts of our daily lives.

However, the light quasi-Cozy Mystery and potentially darker political metaphorical tones eventually give way to something darker, bloody, aggressive, animalistic, primal, and fatal. During an onboard celebration something strange happens and everyone on board, crew and guests alike, behave unexpectedly, violently, and start attacking each other for seemingly no reason at all. The book is no longer just a Closed Circle Murder Mystery. It's a "Closed Circle Inside of a Zombie or rather Psychopathic Apocalypse and a Quest for Survival along with a Murder Mystery."

It is a pretty graphic scene that lasts several chapters and carries over through the remainder of the book. These aren't just verbal arguments with a few slaps, threats to murder, and aiming guns before they come to and realize that they can't pull the trigger. Colchamiro did not skimp on the gory details.

There are descriptions of eyes being gouged out, intestines ripped out from bodies, and pieces of the dead all over the place. People didn't just attack one another. They literally and brutally destroy each other, friends, lovers, family members, colleagues. There is a mock trial where any sort of fairness, justice, or civility disappear and instead is an excuse to murder without repercussions. It didn't matter who anyone was. They were violently and horrifically slaughtered often by people that they knew and loved.

One thing is for sure, those who murdered would probably prefer to be dead as well because once this mysterious circumstance passes and they return to normal, they may never forgive themselves for the horror that they inflicted on a loved one. This suggests that the psychological and emotional repercussions will last for a long time and lead to mental and psychotic breakdowns, suicide, addiction, and more violent acts to cope with the memories, anguish, and remorse. (For the record, we do see some of the fallout in Trigger Point, as Angela, Whistler, Nini and others are coping with these events, some in painful troubling or self-destructive ways.)

What is most disturbing is that this transformation even affects Angela and Whistler. It is heartbreaking to watch these two companions: partners, friends, mentor/student, surrogate big sister/kid brother attack each other with words referring to four books of past deeds and drawing blood.

During the attacks we get Angela's first person perspective as always and for storytelling purposes, it is a strong choice particularly here. We see Angela's internal struggles between what this transformation is making her do and her own nature that is appalled. Her thoughts not only turn to her experience with Whistler but her love for her son, Owen. She is fighting to hold onto the woman that she is: tough, hardened, cynical, but fiercely protective and loving, devoted to her home in Eternity by keeping the peace and catching thieves and murderers, but well aware of the corruption and imperfections within the system.

She knows that her actions are wrong but her body lives for itself and the dark aggressive emotions threaten to annihilate her mind. It's very easy to assume that this mental debate is happening to everyone making the violence even more anguishing.

It's also hard to read about Whistler going through this turmoil, particularly since he's become my favorite character in the series. He goes through great changes in the series from a flippant, idealistic sidekick and sometimes comic relief to a jaded world weary professional who willingly breaks laws and many of his previous standards, even killing. The events of the previous book, Hot Ash, traumatized Whistler and destroyed his idealistic naive character.

In the beginning of Blunt Force Rising, he is finally in a place where he can be looked on as a legitimate investigator in his own right and stand equal to Angela. He also can find comfort and stability with Selene. All of that is taken away from him because of this change. It's not surprising that two cases that throw him in physical and emotional turmoil would cause him to rethink his path in the next book and wonder if private investigation really is for him.

Of course there is a reason behind this transformation and of course the Dynamic Duo discover it but the mental and physical damage is ever present and spills into the next volume. This makes it understandable why Angela and Whistler will be in those dark places and are easily put into situations that imprison and bind them and are forced to face their previous errors, fears, and insecurities.