New Book Alert: The Book of Uriel by Elyse Hoffman; WWII Novel Mixes Reality, Fantasy, and Love Between Surrogate Father and Son

 

New Book Alert: The Book of Uriel by Elyse Hoffman; WWII Novel Mixes Reality, Fantasy, and Love Between Surrogate Father and Son

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: When it comes to books about the Holocaust and World War II, Elyse Hoffman's The Book of Uriel is more reminiscent of Markus Zusak's The Book Thief or Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay than many of the other World War II books that I have recently read like Dana Levy Elgrod's The Resistance Lily, Kit Sargent's Women Spies of World War II, Malve Von Hassel's Tapestry of My Mother's Life: Stories, Fragments, and Silences, Warren Court's The Aubrey Endeavors Spy Novels, Suzanne Hayes and Loretta Nyhan's Home Front Girls, Barbara Davis' The Keeper of Happy Endings, Melissa Muldoon's Waking Isabella and Eternally Artemisia, Nikki Broadwell's Rosemary for Remembrance, Ronald H. Balson's Eli's Promise, Mae Adams' Precious Silver Chopsticks: A True Story About a Korean Noble Family, John Hersey's Hiroshima, Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, Samuel Marquis' Soldiers of Freedom: The World War II Story of Patton's Panthers and The Edelweiss Pirates, Martha Hall Kelly's Lilac Girls, Jeanne Mackin's The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel, and Caroline Moorhead's A Train in Winter: A True Story of Women, Friendship and Resistance in Occupied France.

Unlike most of these books, the darkness and brutal reality of this deadly time is present but in The Book of Uriel, it is mixed with an engaging fantasy that carries a sense of darkness as well. Between the strange dualities of reality and fantasy lies a stirring moving story of a surrogate father and son on opposite sides but drawn to each other by bonds of love.

Uwe Litten is a linguist and translator for the German army. He's not a soldier but his fluency in Polish, Yiddish, Russian, Hebrew, and other languages comes in handy for Major Gunter Brandt as he sends his troops destroying one village after another (assuring Uwe that they are just "capturing enemies of the Reich" of course. Never mind that those enemies seem to be from specific religions, countries, or just about anyone at all). Uwe questions Brandt's tactics but is too concerned about his own safety and his place in the chain of command, which is none at all, to outright object. 

While marching through the Polish forests, Uwe, Brandt, and the German soldiers come upon Zingdorf, a Jewish village completely devastated by Polish forces. Brandt simply looks at the scene as a typical scene of war. Uwe looks on with despair especially when he sees the corpse of a young boy holding a golden notebook. Uwe gently picks up the notebook, reads the boy's name "Uriel", and accompanies the other soldiers on their way while reading Uriel's fantasy and religious stories and sketches of his home life.

After the soldiers leave, something unusual happens. Uriel is brought back to life by the angels, Gabriel and Raphael who have an assignment for him. God's second, the Archangel Michael has been held prisoner by his rival, Samael the Angel of Death. Samael and Michael's rivalry has been ongoing since Biblical days when the two took competing sides with twins, Esau and Jacob. (Samael was Team Esau and Michael was Team Jacob.) However, Michael, protector of the Jews, is missing and the angels don't know where he is. They need Uriel to locate him. Uriel is not the likeliest choice for a hero. He was born mute and can only communicate through writing but he has a second sight that can see angels and otherworldly creatures. Using a stone which grants invisibility, Uriel follows the soldiers. No one can see him but Uwe with whom he begins to bond.

Both Uwe and Uriel are tested in their own ways. Uwe encounters Jewish rebels and Polish partisans who are without food and weapons. He has to decide whose side he is really on. Meanwhile, Uriel meets up with Samael who is not an unreasonable sort of Angel of Death. He will tell the boy where Michael is if he accomplishes five tasks for him. Much of Uwe and Uriel's stories are connected by the various passages that Uwe reads to the young boy from his notebook.

There is so much going on in this book and so much of it done well. The fantasy combined with realism works because the fantasy isn't a light hearted distraction from the starkness of the rest of the book. Neither the fantastic nor the realistic hide the death and hatred that surrounds the characters. Uwe has to deal with the prejudices between the Polish and Jewish groups and their unwillingness to cooperate with each other or Uwe to fight the army that seeks to exterminate them. He has to gain their trust by providing food and finding and sharing a hidden cache of weapons.

Meanwhile Uriel has to deal with some very disturbing images during his tasks. When he is told to get a Book of Blood, he has to pick up the most hateful book that he knows, Mein Kampf, a copy which sheds actual blood on the pages. Another assignment involves him getting the waters from Sheol, while demons of the underworld and his own sins haunt him. Neither Uwe or Uriel's adventures are easy and require great strength and courage. 

The story between Uwe and Uriel anchors these two separate and compelling plots. In some ways, they remind me a great deal of Din Djarin and Grogu from The Mandalorian. (Uriel is especially reminiscent of the nonverbal, courageous, mischievous, but destined for greatness Baby Yoda.) They are a father and son who found each other and filled that aching lonely need in the middle of great political conflict and strife. 

Many of their moments together are heartwarming particularly when Uwe reads from Uriel's book and learns about the boy's former life with his parents, sister, and brother in law. The pages describing Uriel's time in Zingdorf and his stories of God, angels, and folklore characters show the bright, imaginative, curious kid that he is and how he views the world with a maturity that sees more than most kids would. 

Uriel and Uwe's bond as well as their separate journeys are brought together in a suspenseful and tear jerking conclusion. The Book of Uriel is the type of book that brings fantasy and reality together to frighten and disturb Readers. Then they make them cry and warm their hearts.

New Book Alert:. The Resistance Lily by Dana Levy Elgrod; Action Packed and Tear Jerking Novel of Courage and Sacrifice During The French Resistance

 New Book Alert:. The Resistance Lily by Dana Levy Elgrod; Action Packed and Tear Jerking Novel of Courage and Sacrifice During The French Resistance

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: If there is one thing that reading World War II literature teaches its Readers is the amount of courage and sacrifice that it took to defeat the Nazis. That is especially true during the French Resistance when Nazis were breathing down the necks of the French populace. The French had three choices: pack up and leave the country, do nothing and work with the new conquerors and become a collaborator, or fight against them in the Resistance.

Dana Levy Elgrod's novel, The Resistance Lily,  explores a woman who is left with those options, how she showed courage and dedication to fight against her enemies, and became a hero.

French born American raised, Josephine Portier, is living with family friends and studying fashion design in France right when the Nazis come marching in and occupy the country. Her adopted family, to keep themselves safe, decided to cooperate with the Nazis. They became derided as collaborators.

 Josephine herself is furious with their actions and is often forced to bite her tongue when Nazi soldiers and dignitaries come to their house for dinner and dancing. She refuses to dance or talk to any German and her disgust is well known. She can't hide her real feelings like her friend, Odette, who doesn't mind being courted by a German man as long as he is handsome and rich. 

While on a disastrous double date, a diamond dealer named Gabriel Augustine, orders Josephine and Odette to return home quickly. When they are unable to, Gabriel proposes to Josephine even though they have not previously met. Josephine is confused but also is able to read between the lines that Gabriel is trying to save her life. She accepts and in good timing too, because her entire adopted family is arrested for taking part in the Resistance. 

Alone and in a country that she no longer recognizes, Josephine reluctantly moves into her new "husband's" apartment where she learns that things aren't always as they seem. It turns out Gabriel may act like a diamond dealer working with the Nazis, but is actually an undercover Allied agent. Incensed at the people who destroyed her beloved country, worried about her friends, and having an adventurous spirit, Josephine decides to become involved too. She volunteers at the local branch of the French Resistance and soon  becomes a courier and opens her home as a temporary refuge for escapees fleeing the Nazis.

 Each assignment comes with its risks and Josephine is constantly in fear of getting caught and arrested. During one task, she has to shelter two future escapees while the Nazis are invited to a social gathering in the same apartment. Josephine poses the two girls as her cousins and keeps them close to her until they are handed off to the next person who will hopefully transport them out of Occupied France.

Another time she has to warn her fellow Resistors, including some who she has befriended, of an upcoming attack. It is a tense moment as she has to hide from the Nazis and pass the information with the vague hope that her friends received it.

Besides a book of courage, this also deals with Josephine's maturity and how the war forces her to see things differently in an older, more aware light.

On a courier assignment, she is sexually assaulted by male Resistance members. She has to learn a hard lesson that just because people are on the same side, doesn't mean that they are always good people.

Similarly, she befriends Gabriel's former girlfriend who was supposed to spy on her for the Nazis. Understanding the woman's plight and loneliness, Josephine transforms a former antagonist into a friend and ally.

While both she and Gabriel are both in the business of stopping Nazis, Gabriel keeps warning her to stop taking foolish risks within the Resistance. It's a bit of misogynism on his part, thinking that she is a vulnerable woman who is just looking for adventure and acting on emotion. But he is also acting on real concern for the brave woman that he has grown to love as she has for him. He is able to use his double agent contacts to get her out of trouble at times but many times she has to rely on her own wits and allegiances within the Resistance.

This is especially prevalent when Josephine is held up "for questioning" and is tortured. Without Gabriel to aid her, she has to rely on herself. Even though she succeeds, the physical and emotional impact is quite costly and affects her for the rest of the book.

The lily in the title refers to the fleur de lis, the national flower of France and was a symbol of the Resistance, even used as a code phrase. People like Josephine were those lilies. They reminded the people around them of what is good, beautiful, courageous, and noble. Despite tyranny, their spirits remain long after the tyrants are gone.

Weekly Reader: Cooper's Ridge by Ian Conner; Fascinating Science Fiction Novel About The Discovery, Exploration, and Colonization of a Newly Discovered Planet Amid Earth's Chaotic and Inevitable End

 

Weekly Reader: Cooper's Ridge by Ian Conner; Fascinating Science Fiction Novel About The Discovery, Exploration, and Colonization of a Newly Discovered Planet Amid Earth's Chaotic and Inevitable End

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: If there is one thing that Science Fiction has told us, it's that if Earthlings ever do obtain the ability to travel to the stars and live on other planets, it's that we inevitably take our problems, our prejudices, violent tendencies, conspiracies, and mistrust with us. After all, a change of location, atmosphere, and landscape may not necessarily change the person within. 

Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles is an example. Bradbury's anthology showed a series of expeditions from Earth to explore, colonize, and ultimately settle on the Fourth Planet from the Sun. In reality, it was an allegory of the European's colonization of the Americas, acting with carelessness and cruelty towards the land and the natives that inhabited the countries first.

Last year, I reviewed Tobin Marks' Ark of the Apocalypse: The Magellan II Chronicles in which the exploration and resettlement of a few Earthlings on a new planet was tempered by the hopeless situation on Earth with the emphasis on the environmental destruction, catastrophic wars, and the suffering of the people left behind. The outlook in Marks' book was so bleak that I turned myself away from dystopian Science Fiction novels for awhile. (It didn't help that it was one of several books in the subgenre that I read for two years straight.)

Another book that explores the dichotomy of interstellar travel with human frailty and error is Ian Conner's Cooper's Ridge. It's definitely a much better book than Ark of the Apocalypse. It explores many of the similar themes of space exploration, Earth's vulnerability, and greedy and opportunistic humans but it does so in a more well rounded way. Yes there are problems on both worlds, but there are people willing to fight against and change those circumstances. 

The book starts at the beginning, well not as far as the Big Bang Theory or the creation of the Universe, but a bit more recent than that. It starts with the discovery of a new planet surrounded by four moons. Being the typical egocentric scientists that they are, astronomers, Barnaby Ridge and Lorraine Cooper name the new planet Cooper's Ridge after themselves. As for the satellites, they are named for Lorraine's favorite flowers: Gardenia, Ginger, Hibiscus, and Heliconia. Even better, Cooper's Ridge looks like it's capable of sustaining human life! A great find indeed.

Fast forward 200 years later and Earth is ready to launch its first expedition to Cooper's Ridge on the large self sustaining vessel, Far Constellation. Because it's a thirty year journey and they don't yet have access to cryogenic freezing, many of the explorers are young- in their teens to early forties so when they arrive on the planet, they can assume leadership positions. Children and pregnant people are also on board so a new generation can be born and raised in the new world. All goes well until meteors from Heliconia collide with the first ship the Endeavor, killing the crew and thousands of civilians and cutting the first expedition to Cooper's Ridge in half. 

Despite the early deaths, humans begin to settle in Cooper's Ridge. Generations go by and some of the younger generations weren't even born on Earth either only knowing Far Constellation or Cooper's Ridge as their birthplace. (They're not Earthlings. Are they Cooperians? Ridgites? Cooper's Ridglings?) 

One of those young people is Cassie Wells who is following in her father's footsteps as an astrophysicist. Cassie is curious about some suspicious activity on the moon Heliconia, references to something called the Hive, and a technology that allows one to travel through worlds via gateways. The more Cassie, her father, and their friends and colleagues dig into the mystery of the Hive, the more they learn that something dangerous is approaching the new home of Cooper's Ridge and that there are some who are willing to kill to keep people from finding out.

Meanwhile, on Earth, people are trying to get to Cooper's Ridge as fast as they can while the planet is being overrun by a group called the Preservationists. The Preservationists' leader, Adolf Hale seems to take a cue from another man from the past whose first name was Adolf and last name started with an "H." He enforces draconian laws to keep Earth's population under control like forced sterilization, genocide of the elderly and those deemed "undesirable" (which could be anyone), and even approves of intentionally spreading a contagious virus to kill. Hale is so sadistic and despotic that he is willing to make some otherworldly alliances to see that his goals are met.

What often makes a Space Travel Science Fiction Novel is the intergalactic setting and in this case with Cooper's Ridge, it works. Instead of a blue planet, Cooper's Ridge is mostly green because it is surrounded by forest with rain pouring down. The four moons are various shades of red from light pink Gardenia to blood red Heliconia. Picture going for a walk some night on a neverending field of green and looking up to see four red moons shining down on you. A planet that is still new, fresh, and untainted by human greed for now. The description of the planet alone is enough to make one want to buy a one way ticket to Cooper's Ridge, at least while it's still beautiful.

Unfortunately, despite a lovely setting, human greed and opportunism is never far behind. A constant theme throughout this book is conspiracy and the cost of maintaining secrets. Conspiracies develop along both worlds: Earth and Cooper's Ridge and threaten to destroy the people in them, the new world that is found, and the world left behind.

Even after Cooper's Ridge is first discovered, Barnaby and Lorraine are ordered not to make it public. However, Lorraine can't resist. She knows that Earth's days are numbered and a breathable liveable planet could be a way out. She bravely makes the discovery known and has to go into exile for the rest of her life. The destruction of the first expedition is kept under wraps as well as the real cause for the crash, because no one wants to admit that there could be fatalities in exploring this new world or about the lethal alien race that caused it.

The biggest conspiracy of all lies in Cassie's discovery of the Hive and the new technology. She and various people around her are chased, threatened, and nearly killed by many who don't want them to reveal what they learned. Some such as Hale want to take advantage of this new information as a means of control and dominance. Unfortunately, this shows that whether on Earth or on Cooper's Ridge, there are people who are willing to destroy others and even the world around them to uphold the status quo and remain in power.

Fortunately, this book also shows that there are people that are willing to make new discoveries, help others, and speak out against tyranny for the betterment of humanity. As long as people continue to do that, there is always hope. Here or on any planet.

New Book Alert: Prey No More (The Desire Card Book 2) by Lee Matthew Goldberg; More of the Good, Creepy, and Sinister Same

 

New Book Alert: Prey No More (The Desire Card Book 2) by Lee Matthew Goldberg; More of the Good, Creepy, and Sinister Same

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Just when you thought it was safe to use your credit card, the Desire Card team is back to severely cut your throats-uh interest rates. Well before they cut your throat, your organs, and the organs of your closest friends and family members.

Set approximately 40 years after the first book Immoral Origins, the antagonists of Lee Matthew Goldberg's creepy and sinister crime thriller series have grown their operation exponentially. Once in a hideout near Hell's Kitchen New York, the main office is in a swank penthouse. Instead of wearing human-like masks of Old Hollywood stars, the do badders can now opt to get surgery to look like the stars of yesteryear. Some don't even don the Hollywood identities, so a Desire Card employee could be anyone: your lover, your mother, the hotel desk clerk, that nice old lady across the street, anybody.

Once with two offices in New York and London (with the London office only having two employees), Desire now has offices and operators all over the world and have their fingers in just about every corrupt activity going on. What hasn't changed are the Old Hollywood identities that many who work for the card live under, though now not everyone, and that the entire outfit is still overseen by the amoral enigmatic Clark Gable.

The protagonist in this one couldn't be more different from the predecessor's Jake Barnum AKA Erroll Flynn, if he tried. Instead we get J.D. Storm, Iraqi War vet and former sniper, now operating under the name and guise of James Dean. Instead of the wide eyed petty crook that Jake was, J.D. has been in the Desire Card game for some time. He has acquired a reputation for good marksmanship and ruthless efficiency. He and his partner, Humphrey Bogart are not to be trifled with.

Unfortunately, J.D. has a handicap that prevents him from being 100% good at his job. He is afflicted with a terminal case of conscience. He hesitates to go after a young woman and then when he and Bogart are to kill a man in front of his young son, J.D. refuses and goes into hiding. The Desire Card do not take resignation lightly. I mean he didn't even give two week's notice-rude! So, J.D. is on the run and never knowing when the Desire Card will catch up to him or who is affiliated with them.

Besides this, we also go into the background of J.D's life before he joined the card and how he got involved. He grew up in a small town in Washington state and had a girlfriend, Annie, who worked as a mark for a gang of thieves. She used her body to distract cashiers and clerks while her colleagues robbed them. J.D. suggested that she could go legit. In response to that suggestion, Annie left to join her gang and J.D. left to join the Army.

While on the battlefield, J.D. was trained as a sniper, only to be shot in the eye which could be detrimental for a sniper (no depth perception). So upon returning home, J.D. gets an eye patch and an overwhelming feeling of PTSD. He joins a support group which includes a woman named Rita, who looks a great deal like Rita Hayworth. Guess who she works for?

This beginning and the chapters where J.D. returns to his small town and reunites with Annie reveal the type of character that J.D. was and might still have been if the Desire Card hadn't gotten hold of him. He was once a good guy who couldn't stand to see innocents suffer. He was protective of abused women and children. During his time with the Card and even during his exile from them, his once idealistic protective nature is crushed. By the end he becomes the very monster that he once feared, one who will willingly kill the innocent without conscience, to get even with someone else.

What is revealed throughout this volume is how much The Desire Card has grown in size, prominence, and means. One way this is evident is in the recruitment process of new agents. In Immoral Origins, Jake and other newbies wore faceless masks and did petty crimes like delivering drugs and other suspicious packages before moving up to big crimes and Hollywood names. J.D. did not go through that. He was handed the James Dean mask right away and given murderous assignments instantly.

From a storytelling standpoint, it makes sense that Goldberg wanted to skip this part since he didn't want to repeat himself but it also reveals something more sinister about Desire's current practices. They don't test the recruits because they don't have to. They already know what they have done and are capable of doing. All they have to do is look up records, research names, find their weaknesses and strengths, and voila another star is added to their heavens or rather hells.

 Once a frightening organization hiding in the shadows, the Desire Card is now upfront and somehow more dangerous. Who knows how many CEO's, politicians, tyrants, celebrities, and people both famous and infamous have made deals with the Card? How many world events can be laid at the feet of Gable and Co.? How many innocent lives have been killed and operators rubbed out when they, like Jake and J.D., have seen the light? There is no telling and with an organization as large and as powerful as Desire Card, little chance of bringing them down.

After all, since we the Readers and the characters know very little about how the Desire Card operates, it could go on forever. There is a strong possibility, even suggested in the text, that the identities behind the mask change. There are a couple of Old Hollywood identities that I know for sure cannot be the same characters in the previous book. Also who's to say that this Gable is the same person as before? 

In the 70's, Gable was more than likely middle aged and had been around for some time to create and organize the card and learn what he knew about the people behind him. That he is still alive and active is possible, but not likely. Though if he is the same man as before, it does bring some interesting possibilities as we learn more about him (and definitely crosses out one of my previous theories about him). 

We learn that this Gable has a family including an adorable granddaughter and Chip, a flamboyantly gay son, whom he gives out of the way jobs to get rid of him. Chip especially bears an intriguing speculation. He's about late 30's to early 40's which meant that he might have been born around the same time or right after Immoral Origins. So if Gable is the same man as before, Chip's mother may also be a familiar figure from Book 1 as well. 

As the Desire Card becomes larger, their stranglehold on their agents and clients become that much greater. They are practically unstoppable. Who knows how much larger they can grow and how many are destroyed by Book 3? One thing is for certain, it will be as sinister, suspenseful, and as hard to put down as the rest.

Augusts's List

 August's List

Monthly lists are ever growing. Keep it up! 

Cooper's Ridge by Ian Conner

Lexington: Anatomy of a Novel by D-L Nelson

Prey No More (The Desire Card Book 2) by Lee Matthew Goldberg

The Resistance Lily by Dana Levy Elgrod

The SexyQuad Chronicles: The Life and Times of a Salacious Quadriplegic by Luke Stewart

The Book of Uriel by Elyse Hoffman

Theodora by Rob Bauer

The Prophecy Has Begun: Donum by Alexandra Lane

The Fairy Tale Code (An Anne Anderson Mystery) by Cameron Jace

Toward That Which Is Beautiful by Marian O'Shea Warnicke

Crackle and Fire (An Angela Hardwicke Mystery) by Russ Colchamiro

Hot Ash (An Angela Hardwicke Mystery) by Russ Colchamiro

Hell Spring by Isaac Thorne

Griffin's Perch by Ian Conner

All Sins Fulfilled (The Desire Card Book 3) by Lee Matthew Goldberg

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

Lit List Wolf at the Door by Joel McKay; The Devil Took Her: Tales of Horror by Michael Botur

 

Lit List Wolf at the Door by Joel McKay; The Devil Took Her: Tales of Horror by Michael Botur

Wolf at the Door by Joel McKay

Joel McKay's short novel, Wolf at the Door is like one of those horror movies where a small group of characters, each with their own personal problems have to band together to fight some creepy monster. It's so formulaic that there isn't anything that we haven't seen a hundred times. It's predictable but the kind of predictable that is almost comforting in a strange odd sort of way. Like a favorite horror film that you might watch to have a good scare and a fun time.

Married couple Doug and Char Deerborn are hosting a Thanksgiving dinner party. The attendees include their troubled teen Charlotte Jr., Tommy their young son who is afraid of monsters outside their window, Mike and Marleen, their friends who are soon to be divorced, Dan, Doug's ex con brother, Randy, Doug's friend and a nervous bachelor, Craig and Amy, a couple with health problems, and both sets of their parents: Doug's conservative parents, Fred and Mable who do not approve of Doug taking his wife's last name and Judy and Owen, Char's parents who just don't like Doug.

All of these personality conflicts become inconsequential when the party is rudely interrupted by the presence of a werewolf who wants to have its own Thanksgiving feast.

Wolf at the Door plays with all of the horror conventions to a T or I guess to a W for werewolf. There is the couple tha ext hooks up before one gets brutally attacked. There's the sassy teen blossoming into young womanhood and her bratty kid brother who knows about the monster thanks to his interest in manga and horror movies. The disapproving in laws that tote guns proudly. All there and all soon to be a wolf's buffet.

I will say that it is a good change for the monster to be a werewolf. Werewolves haven't been as overused as their horror cousins, vampires. So it's nice to see the furry antagonists grab the spotlight. In fact, the werewolf is the highlight of this book. Many of the other characters are so painted by numbers, self centered, and obnoxious, that the moment when the werewolf regrets their actions is the one bit of humanity in the book. 

Wolf at the Door isn't a great book but it's good for a scare and a howling good time.

Spoilers: With few exceptions, the short stories of Michael Botur's The Devil Took Her: Tales of Horror, do not involve the supernatural. Instead they involve human monsters with all of their perversions, lusts, paranoia, and obsessions. And by the gods, they are graphic. 

Even the few that do involve the supernatural, hint that what the protagonist encounters may not be real but could be instead the product of an unhinged mind who is suffering from a terrifying hallucination that forever changes them.

These stories come with the obligatory twist ending. However with the graphic horror that precedes them, they are not the Twilight Zone or Outer Limits endings that provide a sense of wonder and need to learn a lesson. Instead, they are more like Tales from the Crypt type of gut punch endings that leaves the Reader fainting or vomiting with the realization of how monstrous real life and real people can be. 

The best stories in this anthology are: 

"The Writing on the Rat"-Joyce Koh is an urban explorer who explores abandoned places and posts her findings on her social media account. Her latest interest is to examine St. James Church. Unfortunately, she falls into the cellar door and is locked inside.

Joyce's story turns from one of a foolish adventure into a fight for survival. Joyce remains for days inside the cellar reduced to the most savage acts to remain alive. She succumbs to insanity and self- mutilation until she is reduced to a bloody shell of her former daring self.

"The Devil Took Her" -This is one of the few short stories in this anthology that may involve the supernatural and despite or because of that, it's the best of the bunch.

Melanie, an investigative journalist, is missing and her husband, Patrick, hired a private investigator. In typical hard boiled detective noir narration, the detective cynically tells  Patrick to put his money away and that he found Melanie's journal. Oh and he's not going to like what he's going to read.

The majority of the story involves Melanie's narration and her obsession with catching who she dubs the Golden State Dementor who potentially murdered eight people. 

The book is an eerie cat and mouse chase as Melanie sneaks near dumpsters and dark alleys around fast food restaurants to catch her elusive prey. She goes through dangerous lengths and watches the most violent acts against humanity before she makes the fateful decision to set herself as bait and follow the Dementor into his lair. 

The killer and Melanie's pursuit are terrifying as she puts her sanity and life on the line to capture something that behaves inhuman and might just be demonic. 

"Fake ID"-There are a couple of stories in this anthology that take full advantage of the first person narration by having the narrator start as a sardonic worldly troublemaker that transforms into a barely functioning captive. This one is the better story.

Oliver, a student, buys a fake ID from rich kid Matt McAnulty to get some booze and coke. Unfortunately, he gets more than just Matt's ID. He gets all that comes with it including Matt's very eccentric neurosurgeon parents.

This story is sort of like Get Out Meets the Stepford Wives as Oliver struggles to leave a very terrifying situation before it transforms him forever. It's a scary prospect that if a child disappoints their parents, then they can make a new one as though they were buying a new toy or pet.

"The Strange Paper"-Think of this as QAnon Times Ten if such a thing is possible. While in high school, the narrator becomes obsessed with The Strange Paper, a periodical with stories of UFO's, Big Foot, Loch Ness Monster, Fairies, Secret Societies, and the like. He becomes so fascinated that as an adult, he goes to meet the editor, Maxwell Winckle, to work for him as a writer.

The Narrator's dream job turns into a nightmare as Max's articles go from harmless speculation to paranoiac fantasies. He is convinced that vaccines turn people into reptilian shapeshifters. By the time, the Narrator realizes that he is in the employ of a deranged lunatic and not the hero he thought, it's too late. Maxwell has millions of followers ready to do his bidding thanks to his protegee's articles that portray him in a leader like and cultist manner.

This story shows the gruesome danger of hero worship and cult of personality when one admires someone so much that they let them do the thinking for them. Sometimes when they surrender their free will, they can do the most unthinkable things that they would not have even dreamt of on their own.

"Mengistu"-Violence is the same the world over and anyone can get caught in it, whether they have lived in a country all their lives or are just visiting. While in Ethiopia, Kevin is court ordered to teach ESL to some young students. Through his students, Kevin becomes involved with the political struggles between various tribes and the remnants of leaders like Haile Selassie, the founder of the Rastafarian movement and Haile Mengistu Mariam, AKA The Butcher of Addis Ababa. 

Kevin acts like the worst kind of visitor, acting like he knows everything from Wikipedia and lecturing the locals about their own history. He pays for his ignorance when he says the wrong things to the wrong people and gets swept up in historic violence that has been going on for decades.

"Itching"-This story features a prank war gone horribly horribly wrong.

Jasmine, a coding student, puts itching powder on Warwick, an obnoxious rival's seat. This immature stunt sets off a chain reaction of one upping that gets progressively weirder and more serious thanks to the pranksters' knowledge of hacking and coding.

Things finally come to a violent, gruesome, and considering the previous stories inevitable ,conclusion as Warwick's attitude changes from jocularity to sociopathic as Jasmine's daughter, Saffire gets caught in the middle.

Lit List: The Aging Games: How to Come Out a Winner Over 100 Anti-Aging Tips by Lynn Hardy, ND, CNC; Mirror Meditation: The Power of Neuroscience and Self-Reflection to Overcome Self-Criticism, Gain Confidence, and See Yourself with Compassion by Tara Well,phD

Lit List: The Aging Games: How to Come Out a Winner Over 100 Anti-Aging Tips by Lynn Hardy, ND, CNC; Mirror Meditation: The Power of Neuroscience and Self-Reflection to Overcome Self-Criticism, Gain Confidence, and See Yourself with Compassion by Tara Well,phD

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

The Aging Games: How to Come Out a Winner, Over 100 Anti-Aging Tips by Lynn Hardy, ND, CNC

Lynn Hardy's The Aging Games: How to Come Out a Winner, Over 100 Anti-Aging Tips, is a book that gives good advice for Readers from their 40's to their 70's or who are approaching those milestone years and want to face them with confidence.

Many of the tips that Hardy offers are affordable and can be easily done. Anything can help from using or making one's own non-toxic cleaning products to reducing WiFi usage (or at least not wearing their device and turning it off before bed). 

Some of the tips such as improving sleep schedules, stopping smoking and drinking alcohol, and practicing stretching exercises such as Yoga and Tai Chi are frequently repeated in these kinds of books. Technically, Hardy isn't telling her Readers anything new. But sometimes, it's a good reminder to engage in such activities to improve one's health and well being. 

The more provocative sections involve diet and certain spa treatments. Some may question Hardy's stance about drinking too much water and that a vegetable only diet may not be for everyone. But Hardy (and this Reviewer) cautions to please consult a doctor or medical professional before dieting, fasting, and eliminating important nutritional aspects from one's regular eating habits. By the same token, do not engage in such treatments such as microneedling that may be harmful if not done by a professional.

One of the best sections involves the ways that Readers can keep their brains sharp. Such hobbies like reading, crosswords, sudoku, and various brain games help preserve memory and keep the mind working. 

The Aging Games will help Readers win in their struggle against time itself. Maybe instead time and age can be friends.

 

Mirror Meditation: The Power of Neuroscience and Self-Reflection to Overcome Self-Criticism, Gain Confidence, and See Yourself with Compassion by Tara Well,phD 

Tara Well's Mirror Meditation: The Power of Neuroscience and Self-Reflection to Overcome Self-Criticism, Gain Confidence, and See Yourself with Compassion helps Readers for those days when they don't feel good about themselves and don't want to look in the mirror.

While people with Narcissism gaze into the mirror to notice their more attractive features or to confirm their ideas of perfection, Well insists that her technique isn't like that. Instead, she encourages her Readers to look at their reflections to find their imperfections. What makes them sad, angry, fearful, anxious, and fills them with self -doubt.

Well asks her Readers to look at their reflections and take private video diaries. These methods encourage self talk and why people feel negative and self-critical feelings. Sometimes they may come from abuse and bullying. A person with verbally abusive parents may find it easier to believe all of the bad things about themselves than the good. Finding the roots of their Self-Criticism allow the Readers to understand, accept, and maybe even love their imperfections.

One of the changes that Readers can make is to alter the critical voice. For example, if a person makes a mistake during a speech,  the inner voice reminds the speaker about all the laughter during the mistake. To counter the criticism, the speaker can remind themselves that they spoke in a loud clear voice, point out all the things that they got right, and to remember the applause that followed the speech.

One of the best sections involves Anxiety. Many of us who suffer from Anxiety often have unexplainable fears and worries that could be triggered by anything: a past due notice, the lack of response from an email, watching the news, anything. Well's Mirror Meditation process advises anxious Readers to practice breathing and mindfulness exercises. They can use body and mind awareness by focusing on the moment and slowing their reaction. This relaxes the mind and body and calms the flight-fight-freeze response that comes with Anxiety. It also allows the person with Anxiety to relax and wait until they are calmer to face whatever issue might be troubling them.

The mirror is more than a tool for looking on the outside. It can be one to look at the inside as well.