July -August Book List

 

July-August Reading List List 

Well not bad, could have been better towards the end.

The good news for my pocketbook anyway is that I have more regular clients resulting in more requests. The majority will be short nonfiction reviews so expect a few pages of those in the next couple of months. But there are some new full book clubs in which I am a member DP Books, Mocking Owl Roost Magazine, and Hidden Gems Books so I have some brand new assignments. Because of that the work on some of my other clients notably Voracious Readers Only will be greatly reduced to one review per month.

The Belgian Girls by Kathryn Atwood*

Mission Red Scythe by C.W. James*

Sense of Home: The Land of The Great Lakes 

by N.Z. Kaminksy

The War on Love and My Ex-Mother God Who Became a Mummified Corpse by Andrew -Ryan Profaci

The Last Ritual by Dragons Gazpar

Cerberus: The Sheriff, The Gimp, and The Queen of the Underworld by Chad Miller 

The Bellfontaine Haunting by Marie Wilkins*

The Bangkok Girl( A Lee Jensen Novel) by Sean O’Leary

The Hat Man by Greg Marchand

Hope in Paris (The Teddy Bear Chronicles Book 1) by Donnalyn Vjota

Icy Heart, Empty Chest by Holly Lee

House of Grace by Patricia M. Osborne 

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

The Lindens by Barney Jeffries

I am also editing and proofreading Elyria's Journey by Rina Hodson

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

Bluesky

Facebook

Goodreads 

Instagram

LinkedIn

LitPick

Reedsy Discovery

Threads

Upwork

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 or Mocking Owl Roost and will only feature a summary and a few paragraphs with links to the full reviews on their sites. 

**Exceptions are books provided by Henry Roi PR, LitPick, Reedsy Discovery, Hidden Gems, Mocking Owl Roost, Voracious Readers, and DP Books. Payments of short Nonfiction reviews are already facilitated through Real Book Review, Amazon Book Groups, Michael Cheng, Five Stars Books, and Book Square Publishing. 

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.

The Art of Agony (The Nihilist Duet Book #1) by Amy Felix; Uncomfortable, Confusing and Thought Provoking Books About Being Mentally Ill in a World of Nothingness

 

The Art of Agony (The Nihilist Duet Book #1) by Amy Felix; Uncomfortable, Confusing and Thought Provoking Books About Being Mentally Ill in a World of Nothingness

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: There are two things that instantly help the Reader understand the type of book they are reading when coming across Amy Felix’s The Art of Agony. One of them is the name of the series, The Nihilist Duet. The second is the opening content warning which states in bold lettering that this novel is not a romance. You are instantly told this is going to be a strange, dark, uncomfortable, troubling, disturbing, critical, skeptical and pessimistic ride. Those early assumptions are certainly warranted. This is deconstruction of various genres such as Romance and Conspiracy Thrillers by focusing on the troubled souls that reside within them.

The Sinnenberg Mental Institution in Germany has two new patients, twins Eva and Isak Jager. They have been institutionalized under suspicious circumstances that suggest guilt more from those around them than their own. One of their fellow patients is Sebastien Guzman who has his own violent history and background of questionable guardians. Along with the story of their institutionalization, rebellion against authority, and desires of escape, we are treated to flashbacks of their lives before their institutionalization and what led them to this placement. Along with the three protagonists, we are also treated to chapters of dialogue that suggest that Eva, Isak, and Sebastian are being observed by some authority for some unknown and possibly nefarious purpose. 

There's something down right confusing and uncomfortable about The Art of Agony. Something that provokes the Reader by purposely getting under their skin. Something that stays within the dark recesses of their mind and subconscious like a bad memory that is suppressed but should be acknowledged.  

This book is one of the best but also one of the most disturbing books that I read so far this year. 

The backstories of the characters are where a lot of the darkness lies. Eva recalls being molested by a religious family friend. She responds with verbal hostility and affects an arrogant demonstrative attitude. Her retaliation in the matter results in institutionalization. Instead of taking her side, her superficial mother has her committed as a means to silence her and get her out of her life. 

Eva strikes back at her captors and challenges them in various sessions by not participating and glowering in disdain. There are moments where she uses her sexuality as a weapon, as if inflicting her pain on others will somehow make her pain go away. She is a creature of understandable hurt and rage. She suspects ulterior motives from everyone so often strikes back at those around her before they strike her. 

While Eva lives in a dark cloud of suspicion, Isak’s hurts are less visible. It takes awhile for him to follow his sister’s path and when it does, the results are just as traumatic as Eva’s. Part of the trauma is because he spends so much time trying to be Eva’s polar opposite, much to his sister’s early chagrin, who derides him as the “family favorite” without realizing that he is no more loved or respected than she is. He acts like the perfect son and student but has hidden imperfections.

Isak is quiet, remote, and lives inside his own head. Eva’s hostility is known but his negative emotions are buried underneath a cold introverted surface. This surface analyzes his thoughts towards others before he acts. He has a troubled sexual history of his own, but it is one in which he thought that his logic and calculated thought could protect him. The pain that sends Isak to Sinnenberg is self-inflicted as though his head could no more protect him than Eva’s body could protect her. 

Sebastien, the third member to their triangle, comes from a different place than the Jager Twins. He has been at Sinnenberg for a long time, long enough to take active part in and lead group sessions. He gets to know and bond with the twins and becomes a facilitator in helping them face their own unhappiness while coming to terms with his. 

If Eva uses her body and Isak uses his mind, Sebastien uses his heart and emotions. Despite trying to be a welcoming presence to new patients, he has emotional violent tendencies. Before his institutionalization, he committed a violent act, one that came from fury, anger, and impulse. There are verbal and accusatory parts of his mind that tries to resonate his acts of violence with his current responsibilities. They remind him that his warm empathy towards his fellow patients can also burn and blaze with unfelt passion and potential homicide. 

Eva, Isak, and Sebastien are damaged individuals who have one way or another been hurt and respond by hurting others or themselves. Felix is very realistic with how her protagonists are depicted and that can be found in the lack of romance among them. They are capable of feeling. There are moments of familial love between Eva and Isak and companionship between them and Sebastien but that’s as far as it goes.

 Much of their issues are sexually related, Eva’s especially. They have naturally skewered outlooks at lust, love, togetherness, and partnership so they are not going to find a quick fix relationship that will heal all wounds. Instead, it is enough to find someone who might understand the insanity that surrounds them every day because they see it too. Sometimes it’s enough to have someone say, “No you’re not crazy. They really are after you because they are after me too!”

What makes this book so disturbing and unpleasant is the undercurrent of Nihilism, nothingness. Through their own individual experiences on the outside, Isak, Eva, and Sebastian are betrayed by those around them: friends, family, lovers, school, work, religion, home. The institutions that surround them become a mockery as they can't find comfort or protection in them.They are left unable to trust anyone, even themselves.

These characters are cold, barren, alone, numb, used, abused, and cast adrift.They used their body, mind, and emotions to gain back some feeling or control in their lives and ended up with more pain and less control than they had before. Sinnenberg becomes a microcosm of that world around them, the world in which they have no control.They were surrounded by nothingness before and nothingness afterwards but now only on a smaller scale.

There are hints throughout the book that there are larger conspiracies and plans involving the patients, particularly The Jager Twins. Once again like with the romantic aspects, it is dealt with realistically.

 In other books, the protagonists would get to the heart of the conspiracy, try to escape, and either burst it wide open or die trying. Here however, it just becomes yet another thing that traps the characters. Another link in the chains of captivity since their youth, possibly since birth. They may try to escape (and to their credit make a great attempt at escaping), but will in one way or another will always be captives.

Life inside and outside the institution is the same. They just have different ways of capturing, detaining, and holding a person. Sometimes the only meaning that can be found is to find understanding in others who have been through that experience and through oneself in surviving it.

The Assassin's Heart by Chuck Morgan; Dead People Anonymous by Loraine Hayes

The Assassin's Heart by Chuck Morgan; Dead People Anonymous by Loraine Hayes 

 The Assassin's Heart by Chuck Morgan 

This is a short review. The full review is on LitPick 

The Assassin's Heart is an enthralling character driven Thriller about an assassin who begins to question her allegiances when her own heart and emotions are on the line.

 Delia Cahill seems to live a perfect enviable life. She's happily married to Mark, a government employee and has a great career as a high powered attorney with a noted list of rich and famous clients. She is actually a high priced assassin with a tremendous kill list and an excellent reputation as someone who gets the job done. Her latest assignment is Alexander Thorne, a tech genius who created an app that can penetrate any system, network, and defense. However, her heart gets in the way as Delia finds herself falling in love with her target.

Delia straddles the line between consummate professional and romantic heroine and plays both extremes rather well. She's like a praying mantis or a black widow spider, attracting her captive before destroying him. In fact she is so effective at her job that it would be nice to see more of this side of her as a remorseless killer.

Mostly we see her when she realizes that her job isn't what she thought. Her relationship with Alexander becomes a deal breaker between her and the Organization. After she falls in love, they go through extreme measures to break her, treating her just like she used to treat her targets. 

Delia lived a life of violence that overpowered her enemies and tried to live without a conscience. It worked until her conscience overpowered her. 

Dead People Anonymous by Loraine Hayes 

It turns out the dead need just as much emotional and psychological help as the living. Just like the living, the dead sometimes meet in groups to talk about them. Dead People Anonymous by Loraine Hayes is an entertaining, hilarious, and heartfelt look at life after death and the support groups that they form. 

Lexi died at age 28. She wakes up surrounded by other ghosts that have their own stories to tell. There's Billy, a soldier who died during the Vietnam War and finds Lexi very attractive. Vivian is the group leader and Team Mom who suffered loss and rejection in life. Malik appears to be the youngest as he died at 11 but since he's the first who died, he is the wisest and most experienced when it comes to rules of the dead. Dominic is a surly argumentative sort on the surface but has a hidden heart of gold. Maria is quiet but retains the insecurities and neurosis that she had in life. Finally, Chester is the oldest, dying at age 98 and has a lifetime of regrets and memories. The Dead People Anonymous group is there for each other.

The living impaired talk about their problems, discuss the circumstances of their deaths, and what they need to do to cross over to the next plane of existence wherever that may be.

The world of the dead is very detailed with all of the rules and standards that the dead follow. Like all good Fantasies, Hayes took great care in creating and planning her imaginary world and it shows in her writing. 

The ghosts are restricted to various rules. They feel emotions strongly and those emotions can be quite contagious among them. They can relive moments in their pasts as observers and maybe learn things about those moments that they suppressed on Earth. Yes Heaven and Hell exist and the choices that they made in life and after death could serve as gateways to either location.

The ghosts can touch each other but not humans.

They can leave and observe humans, but during times of stress or enlightenment, they find themselves transported back to the building where the group meets. It's also not a good idea to visit friends or family. It's not forbidden but it brings out the worst emotions and could lead to permanent relocation in one direction or another.

These rules are intriguing as Lexi navigates her way through being dead, making mistakes, and adjusting to her ghostly afterlife.

The book also has a strong sense of character development as we get to know each group member, what they were like in life, who they left behind, and what unfinished business holds them back. 

Each character's past is explored and we touch on various human experiences through the eyes of those who had to leave humanity behind. These are stories of lost loves, missing family members, unfaithfulness, anger, jealousy, age, grudges, unspoken words, regrets, and wanting to know if their lives had any meaningful impact and if there was some part of themselves that lived on in some way. 

In the end that's all anyone wants to know, dead or alive. If they actually mattered.

Altered Parallel by CT Malachite; Romance Turns Tragic in Magic Powers Fantasy

 

Altered Parallel by CT Malachite; Romance Turns Tragic in Magic Powers Fantasy 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: CT Malachite’s Altered Parallel is a powerful Romance Fantasy with some questionable attributes and flaws to keep from being perfect. However, it does tell an interesting story of two souls with magical powers whose love is passionate, emotional, empathetic, all consuming, troubling, and ultimately tragic. 

Skyler Aymon is a teacher who is concerned about the frequent absences, failing grades, and sudden bad attitude of her once promising student, Tate Morrow. After a confrontation, she sees a strange aura and feels a powerful surge of energy around him. Curious, Skylar follows Tate to a group whose members have the same presence. They are able to practice The Magic and live in a parallel universe similar to our own but whose residents can use those abilities. In fact, Skyler is revealed to also come from this universe and can access The Magic but needs to learn how to use it. Since she already has a connection with Tate, he decides to train her so the student becomes the teacher. She learns fast and proves to be quite adept and powerful as they become closer.

The book has an extremely slow and at times awkward start. The initial meeting between Skyler and Tate and the introduction of The Magic works well but it falters a bit. At least three times, the book follows the same scenario: Tate introduces Skyler to The Magic and the parallel universe. She is enchanted and practices some aspects like teleportation, mental telepathy, or clairvoyance. Then after a fun time, she returns to her apartment and wakes up with no memories of her adventures. Amnesia is given to her so she doesn't unintentionally blab The Magic’s secret. Finally, she and Tate get through that hurdle and she retains her memories as she embraces and excels in learning to use The Magic.

It's understandable that they wouldn't want everyone to know about The Magic and the introductions are secret tests of character to evaluate Skyler’s honesty and trust but it gets old. We only needed one trip and amnesia before returning to get the point. Three just stretches the concept too far before the narration really begins. 

There is also the discomfort in the age difference between Skyler and Tate and that they were initially a teacher and her student. It's obviously very uncomfortable when this shared experience creates a bond that veers towards romance. Thoughts of statutory rape and pedophilia might uncomfortably pound into Reader's heads. 

Thankfully, Malachite creates a time portal in which one can enter and emerge years older as Tate does and returns seven years older to Skyler after only one year passes in her world. That however creates another problem in the text. This incident happens so early that it's easy to forget that they started out as different ages. 

In fact their backstory becomes superfluous and unnecessary not to mention creepy which is made less so by a plot device. They not only didn't need the plot device, they didn't need that awkward introduction. They could have started at the same age, perhaps as work colleagues or neighbors and it would have had the same effect. It would also have made the rest of the book more comfortable when it comes to discussing how well written the rest of the Romance is and it is an excellent romance.

Once that hurdle is crossed and the plot fully takes hold, Altered Parallel excels at both Fantasy and Romance. Malachite captures The Magic and all of the strengths, weaknesses, and rules that those who have it would follow.

An intriguing concept is how different locations around the world are connected to sources of power. One place could carry an aura of positive Magic that helps practitioners feel welcome and rejuvenated. Another feels cold, negative, and drains Magic users. 

The locations retain the residual energy, actions, and motives left by the users. There are those who use The Magic to help others and those who use it for darker purposes. Magic itself is neither good nor bad. It just exists as a neutral force. The good and evil lie in the user.

In fact, this tug between the various motives becomes a barrier between Skyler and Tate. At first, they are magically in sync with each other. Their powers increase the closer they become. They can fly to different locations, create objects, and share a telepathic link. Their romance strengthens their magical connections and vice versa.

In The Magic universe, emotions are heightened so what they felt in the previous world increases, particularly the darker negative ones. This is especially true for Skyler. The Magic opens her mind but also opens stronger emotions like rage, insecurity, longing, envy, fear, pride, and terror. She tries to resist and bury them but they only become stronger. In some of the strongest chapters, Skyler and Tate give their separate alternate versions of various key moments that show increased uncontrollable power but a decreased personal relationship. This relationship becomes darker, confrontational, and more tragic as they come to terms with different views.

In some ways Altered Parallel is very similar to another book that I recently reviewed, The Fallen Dreamer The Seers: Storyteller Edition by Kevin G. Broas. They both are novels about people discovering inner powers and some characters explore the darker aspects of what having those powers can bring. The difference is in tone. 

The Fallen Dreamer is more introspective and philosophical. It shows the larger picture of how those abilities impact society around us. It makes Readers think about the process, the results, and consequences and how they affect reality, imagination, free will, and human connection.

Altered Parallel is more evocative and poignant. While there is an awareness of the larger picture, it's more interested in the details of how these powers affect the characters. It makes Readers feel the loss within trusting someone with a deep secret and then using that secret to betray all they once believed in and how that betrayal affected their personal connection. Both books tell the same story and do it well. They just use different words and meanings to describe it. 

Elegance and Evil: A Cleo Cooper Mystery Thriller Book 2 by DK Coutant; Average Cleo Cooper Mystery Lacks The Sparkle of The First Volume

 Elegance and Evil: A Cleo Cooper Mystery Thriller Book 2 by DK Coutant; Average Cleo Cooper Mystery Lacks The Sparkle of The First Volume 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I suppose it's ironic that my previous review in DK Coutant’s first Cleo Cooper Mystery novel, Evil Alice and The Borzoi began with the importance of setting and how it is intrinsic to literature but especially a murder mystery. Because setting is one of the issues that impair its sequel, Elegance and Evil.

The book moves Cleo from her Hilo, Hawaii home to a new life in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A psychology professor, she is on sabbatical researching information at a domestic violence center. She also broke up with her former boyfriend, Ben and is now involved with Luc, who recommended her for this new position. At a dinner party, Cleo meets the locals including domestic violence center directors, Ginger and Samia who have disagreements over how the center should be run, Matias, Samia’s frequently absent husband, Kyle, Ginger’s freeloading boyfriend, and Jon, Luc and Ginger's unlikable outspoken friend. Cleo's new life becomes complicated when Ginger is found in the desert dead from heatstroke. Someone tampered with Ginger’s car and sent her out of her way so she could get lost in the desert and die from the heat. The question is who?

This book has some interesting characters particularly Cleo, Ginger, and some of the suspects but the setting is something of a letdown and the plot is predictable. It amounts to an average Murder Mystery which could be so much better. 

The characters are as well written as in the first volume. Cleo is not as positive and self assured as she was in the previous volume. She is out of her depth and element embarking on a new relationship but unsure about what she wants and how to express her feelings. She is more cautious and preoccupied but is still holding onto a good nature that instantly befriends Ginger and admires her for her work. Even though she just met her, she still feels grief at her death.

The other characters are rich in their usual roles of victim, suspects, leads, and so on. Ginger is a woman who is instantly likeable. She is dedicated to helping women at the domestic violence center and practices generosity towards friends and strangers. She puts on a show of kindness and empathy which makes discovering her murderer difficult because who would murder such a benevolent woman?

Other characters have their moments that show depth behind their initial assessment. In comparison to Ginger’s warmth, Samia is more business like and seems colder. Her backstory of being an immigrant from male dominated Saudi Arabia reveals her vulnerability. Jon is mostly a narcissistic thoughtless misogynistic creep but there are hints of a softer side. Luc has some tender moments where he introduces Cleo to his family and provides her with necessary knowledge about the suspects. He also is a worthy aid to Cleo while standing back and making sure that she is the main character. 

However, with her attention to character, Coutant falters in some aspects. One of the things that is really missing from this volume is setting. The original book was set in Hawaii and Coutant described it so beautifully. She knew the sights, sounds, and other senses of the place. She knew the culture, the terms, and colloquialisms, and how people referred to each other. She saw the beauty of Hilo but also the ugliness. 

She did not just describe the scenic spots and charming locals, she was well aware of the crime, domestic violence, poverty, and murder that can simmer in such a place that tries to maintain a positive facade to hide the negative aspects within. The type of setting where a body is not expected but is sure to be found. This loss is greatly felt with the news that a volcano has erupted in Hilo and many of Cleo's friends are displaced or traumatized. Cleo sends as much assistance as she can but is anxious for those that are caught in this situation. 

That is what is missing in the Santa Fe setting. It's not a bad place. The desert gives off a very tense atmosphere especially knowing the dry desert heat was purposely used to kill someone. But here isn't enough of Santa Fe. It could be replaced with any city and wouldn't impact the plot. There isn't really much about the character of the city or its locals. We are looking at it not as insiders just as visitors. The series went from someplace specific to anyplace anywhere making it more generic. 

The missed opportunities are also found in the plot. There are some genuinely suspenseful moments but some leads are very obvious. The resolution is all too easy to figure out and its execution is extraordinarily rushed. It isn't the type of conclusion that leaves you thinking about how it all came together so much as it leaves you wishing that another conclusion could have been met.

Elegance and Evil has some good qualities but not enough to make it outstanding. With this series, the first volume is the best. 

Britannia Rises by Russell Dumper; Involved Relevant AU Science Fiction Where Britain Still Rules The Waves

 Britannia Rises by Russell Dumper; Involved and Relevant AU Science Fiction Where Britain Still Rules The Waves

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I did not plan this but I suppose that it is most appropriate to review Britannia Rises by Russell Dumper for Independence Day weekend. This Alternate Universe Science Fiction novel has an involved and sweeping plot that is surprisingly relevant in modern United States where this once Democratic Republic is transforming into something else entirely.

In this timeline, The British Empire never ended. The United States lost the Revolutionary War and many other countries like India, Hong Kong, and South Africa are still under their leadership. In fact, they are interested in expanding by seizing more countries such as Venezuela and Nepal. They are faced with challenges from other superpowers like China, USSR (yes they are still around and intact), and The European Union, but are also feeling the pangs of rebellion from within. There are rebellious factions like the Dayak, a resistance group with which the Nepalese branch is highly active in this volume.

With a plot this wide reaching and complex, there are going to be various characters who are affected and this book covers such diverse characters and perspectives. Jamie Bayston is a university student who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time and is forced to go into hiding. Edward McLaughlin is an American operative who crosses paths with young Bayston and ends up becoming his protector. Trevor Layttle is a German K6 agent whose security investigation takes him to higher and more conspiratorial levels. King Alfred is showing signs of mental decline and is preoccupied with potential foreign invasions, so his avaricious manipulative older son, Prince Leopold and his weak willed apathetic younger son, Prince Christian acquire the regency for the good of the kingdom and their father, so they say. Letitia Pearl leaves her native Canada for Nepal to enlist in the Dayak and is involved in key battles. Bob Royce is a career soldier whose assignment in Nepal allegiances with more violent soldiers cause him to question his own loyalty and humanity.

This is one of those books that scarily lines up with real life. I don’t know if Dumper was intentionally thinking of the current situation in the United States but it’s definitely suggestive of these times. Ironically as I am reading a book about a fictional British Empire strengthening their hold so other countries don’t gain their freedom, the United States may be in the process of losing theirs but not by outside forces but from our own government taking on a more Authoritarian Fascistic rule. 

This book shows what happens when the people surrender their will to a dictatorial society. It’s in the grand tradition of many Science Fiction works like 1984, Handmaid’s Tale, Idiocracy, CSA: Confederate States of America, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451 and the various books that I reviewed in the past eight years. They take a far off future or alternate history to comment on the situations that are happening now. 

The parallels can be seen. King Alfred, an Authoritarian despot who is clearly showing signs of mental instability has a lot in common with Donald Trump (with a lot of King Charles thrown in). The actions by his inner circle notably Prince Leopold are similar to oligarchs like Elon Musk and the Heritage Foundation who use the current Administration, narcissistic President, and his gullible followers to feed their own ambition. 

The experiences from Jamie Bayston, Letitia Pearl, Bob Royce and Trevor Layttle can be clearly seen today by people who are suffering from these actions in one way or another. All anyone has to do is read or watch the news and find out what’s happening to various groups like immigrants. LGBT+ people, Liberals, academics, investigative reporters, and voters, even those who once followed the current regime and have grown to regret it. Of course the organized protests such as No Kings certainly causes one to think along certain terms. 

We can all see the similarities especially when we are living inside them. The actions of the characters might be how we would act in some ways. We might be Bayston just a naive part of things until it hits us personally. We might be people like MacLaughlin or Pearl, people whose grief transformed into anger and then action against the system that caused it. We might be Layttle who learn too much and become targets because we shared that knowledge with others. We might be Royce those who followed the system until our conscience got in the way. 

We might be many of the unnamed unknown characters on the outside, average ordinary people, immigrants and citizens that find our lives irrevocably changed by people who take sadistic unconscionable delight in the suffering of others. Even those who once voted for it and actively campaigned for this regime will soon suffer under it. We all will just some of us will realize it quicker than others. 

While this is a relevant novel, it’s not a political tract. It is filled with depth in characters and situations that tell a suspenseful thrilling story. There are plenty of moments that will make the Reader nod in sympathy, rage in anger, or applaud wildly. Royce’s transition from loyal soldier to potential rebel is very real as he mentally shows unease during other soldiers’s boastful dark humor over what they will do to their victims. It then multiplies as those words and jokes become depraved actions and he has to rationalize what they did with what he allowed to happen. 

MacLaughlin and Bayston’s relationship is also a highlight. MacLaughlin gives the younger man pointers on how to survive on the run so this naive sheltered middle class kid shows the potential to become a street smart gun toting fighter. The moment where Bayston learns that he lost everything that he once held dear is predicted but no less heart wrenching as the boy realizes that he is unable to go home. It will be a tough road with plenty of sacrifices, more violence, and may only result in mere pin pricks against those in charge. Bayston has to decide if he is ready for it. 

Britannia Rises is not only a great example of Alternate Universe Science Fiction. It is very relatable to this universe’s current events. 

Miles in Time: A YA Time Travel Mystery (Miles in Time Series Book 1) by Lee Matthew Goldberg; Time Travel YA Series Has Suspenseful Engaging First Volume

 Miles in Time: A YA Time Travel Mystery (Miles in Time Series Book 1) by Lee Matthew Goldberg; Time Travel YA Series Has Suspenseful Engaging First Volume 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Lee Matthew Goldberg has a tendency to give his Readers a wild ride. Slow Down was a drug trip about a Hollywood hopeful who gets involved with an experimental film that gets too experimental and deadly. Orange City is about a copywriter in a futuristic society who samples a drink that is used to drug and ultimately control the people. The Mentor features an editor who is stalked by an author who turns to violence and murder for inspiration. The Desire Card is a five volume series about several people who become involved with a nefarious organization that promises their deepest desires but with strict payments and penalties that are literally real killers. His latest, Miles in Time, is more conventional as it is written for a YA readership, but it still retains much of the suspense, tension, unpredictable chaos, and plot twists of its predecessors. 

Miles Hardy is a teen with a fascination for mysteries so he opens up a private investigation service. Unfortunately, serious mysteries and crimes are hard to come by in small town Frontier, Iowa and he can search for missing cats for so long. However, he is hit with a very serious crime when his secretive older brother, Simon, dies in what was originally believed to be suicide but evidence points to murder. Devastated but determined, Miles receives coded messages that SImon sent him in advance that leads him to a mysterious lab which holds Simon’s secret project: a time machine. Miles must use the time machine to travel to a week before his brother's death to save his life and find out who wants him dead.

Because Miles in Time crosses genres with Science Fiction and Mystery, it combines tropes from both to create an interesting amalgam of two separate tones and styles. In some ways both genres rely on curiosity. Science Fiction asks “What if?” and involves imagining possibilities and procedures to lead to the answer to that initial question. Mysteries often ask “What happened and who did it” and involve seeking clues and leads to come to a credible conclusion. Mysteries asks that you look around you while Science Fiction asks that you imagine what lies ahead but both are genres which involve discovery. 

That is what is at play here. Both Hardy Brothers go through their own individual quests of discovery to come to their conclusions. Simon spends his time in his lab, testing his theories about time travel, experimenting by sending his guinea pig Stinkers into the past, writing messages in code, and transcribing his notes into book form so Miles can understand and follow it. His goal is to prove that time travel is possible and that the past can be changed. His quest requires thought, intellect, and analysis of data.

Miles however is more physically than mentally active. He spends his time observing his surroundings for any changes in normal patterns, asking open ended questions that lead to potential leads, sneaking into forbidden places, and gathering clues in a way that ties all of the evidence together to draw conclusions. His goal is to find his brother’s murderer and to defeat potential enemies. His quest requires strength, courage and attention to detail. 

There are many suspenseful moments that occur during Miles’s trip to the past. No one is above suspicion. Miles investigates the school bully, Simon’s clique, his detached father, his mentally ill mother, a teacher who appears to have encouraged Simon’s pursuits, and a curious and attentive girl that Miles is attracted to. There is also a mysterious organization that hampers Miles’s investigation, seem to know a great deal about Simon’s experiment, and aren't afraid to get violent if need be even towards kids. It’s a tight plot with plenty of dangerous situations that Miles has to use his wits to escape from. It’s the kind of book that keeps the Reader fascinated with the various questions and Miles’ pursuit in answering them. 

There is also plenty of emotional depth in the book that thankfully doesn’t get in the way of the overall suspenseful and inquisitive tone. There are a lot of soft emotions in Miles’ relationship with his mother for example. She is a haunting presence as someone who lives in a semi-catatonic state in which she is awake and is able to move but is mentally separated from her family. She says very little except the occasional non sequitur rages and moves so seldomly that she has to be fed and given medicine by hand. She is like a dependent frightened child but occasionally she seems to know or understand more than she can admit. The brothers and their father clearly love her but are overwhelmed and anxious about her slipping away from her family. 

Miles and Simon's fraternal relationship is the real soul of the book. The chapter where Miles discovers Simon’s body is heartbreaking as is his anguish and remorse over the distance between the two brothers. During his time travel adventure, Miles stays by his brother’s side pretending that he is interviewing him for a school assignment and is able to see the world through Simon’s perspective. The time travel and the investigation gives Miles and Simon an opportunity to understand, empathize, and bond with one another. 

Ironically, Miles’ time in the past is the longest most pleasant experience that the two brothers shared in years. They are able to repair a relationship that was once close when they created imaginary worlds and secret codes but has become distant when maturity, puberty, and different interests and perspectives got in the way. Miles may have traveled through time to save Simon, but it was clear that the brothers needed to save each other. 

As with many ongoing series, Miles in Time leaves some questions unanswered and some plot points unresolved for the next volume. This first volume is a strong sharp start and hopefully the next volume will continue to be that way. 

The Fallen Dreamer: The Seers Storyteller Edition by Kevin G. Broas; Philosophical and Metaphysical Themes Are Highlights of Magical Kids Novel

 The Fallen Dreamer: The Seers Storyteller Edition by Kevin G. Broas; Philosophical and Metaphysical Themes Are Highlights of Magical Kids Novel

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Okay yes, Kevin G. Broas’ The Fallen Dreamer: The Seers Storyteller Edition, is another book in which teenagers obtain supernatural powers and explore the consequences and responsibilities that are tied to them. But there are some deep philosophical and metaphysical questions, details, and themes that are intrinsic to the book and keep it from being a hoary superhero/magic user plot.

Johnny is a teen who emerged from a cave collapse possessing extraordinary abilities such as flight, precognition, and clairvoyance. They are activated by Johnny manipulating clusters of invisible blue energy strands around his body. Excited by this discovery, Johnny shares the news with his best friend, Jake and girlfriend, Brooke who also gain those abilities. As the trio become more powerful, they discover darker purposes for these powers. Not only that but others become involved. Other people also possess these gifts. Supernatural creatures, called Spooks and another creature called The Taker absorb their powers by destroying the human body. Then there's Johnny who is acting stranger and more unpredictable the longer he has these powers.

This is a Contemporary Fantasy about kids discovering magical powers that isn't afraid to get deep and touch on various themes such as the ego, human nature, dreaming, the subconscious, the notions of good and evil, and what it means to truly have godlike powers inside a human body with its vulnerabilities, frailties, and best and worst personality attributes.

Johnny explains that they have to shift the blue energy strands that surround their clusters to harness these abilities. The key he says is in learning control and not letting worries, distractions, and anxieties or other thoughts and emotions drain their energy. Most importantly, it involves killing the ego and foregoing material and physical trappings. That includes relationships which feed the ego and binds the soul to the illusion of the physical world. 

Once the ego falls, so does the energy that holds them to the physical world. They are able to then access a higher metaphysical existence and manipulate forces outside their limited experiences. It requires a lot of self-examination and reflection before the strands can be accessed and those powers can be used.

Once Johnny, Brooke, and Jake become acquainted with the idea of seeing and using clusters, they see them everywhere and in everything (though because of their practices, theirs are stronger and brighter). Seeing the clusters surrounding other people gives the trio a rare opportunity to control others. In one chilling chapter, Jake tests his powers by moving a bully’s strands so he is severely injured with headaches, nose bleeds, and temporary loss of breath. This causes a slippery slope as they discover that they can use these powers for nefarious purposes like creating hallucinations or telekinetically fight someone. 

Johnny, Jake, Brooke and the other characters are teenagers. Teenagers by nature are argumentative, surly, emotional, unpredictable, immature, and intolerant. Now give someone with that attitude the powers of a god or goddess and it makes sense why they do what they do with their strands. 

Many people like to think that if they had any type of magical superpowers they might do good things with it like stopping crime or helping people. They might but more than likely they would use it to their advantage the way these kids do to defend themselves against bullies, receive a passing grade, or to win a football championship. In a meritocratic society where we are told to use our talents and win at all costs, many would use whatever advantage that they have to succeed even if it is an otherworldly advantage. 

As they control their strands, they gain higher perspectives. The usual teen talk, high school social hierarchy, dates, and material possessions that once identified their placement in society become mere distractions. It’s practically an ascension into a higher plane of existence. 

Part of this elevated ascension involves altering time and space. One of the most interesting aspects of the book is the continuous references to dreams and astral travel. The characters explore The Dreamer's World which is exactly what it says in the title. It is a vast endless land of silver sand dunes and aurora borealis filling the night sky. This land exists out of time and space and looks like a world before awareness and consciousness. It appears to be barren as though waiting to be filled with memories, fears, moments, the things that dreams store and decode.

The land in the Dreamer’s World shifts as they are faced with challenges like climbing cliffs, fields of grass, and seemingly endless seas. The world is connected to their subconscious and alters itself accordingly. 

The Dreamer’s World is also where The Spooks and The Taker emerge from. They represent their fears, insecurities, all of the ego trappings that had been removed from them. They haunt the protagonists so they can torture them psychologically before they ruin them physically. The fact that they strive to drain Johnny and the others of their powers before destroying their bodies is highly significant. They weigh them down with the egos that they once held so they descend into their human states before they are faced with their mortality. 

In one terrifying chapter, The Taker becomes so powerful that it becomes a natural storm that obliterates Johnny, Jake, and Brooke’s school. This happens during a very key moment as the characters are questioning their own loyalties, allegiances, and self worth. The Taker is fueled by their worst emotions and this threat spills out into the world around them. It changes the physical as well as metaphysical world and creates schisms within both.

Besides the supernatural creatures that threaten the protagonists, they also face threats from within. Some characters take frightening turns with their strands and become intoxicated with power. They use different means from violence to mental manipulation to sway events in their favor. Because of their detached ascended nature, they no longer respond to emotions like empathy, trust, understanding, friendship, or love. They may have removed their egos but they also stripped themselves of their humanity. 

The Fallen Dreamer may be a Fantasy about kids embracing the magic around them, but it also reveals a lot about the constant struggle to achieve awareness and enlightenment while also retaining one’s humanity and the reason that they began this ascension in the first place.

Dance of Demons (Poison and Opium Book 1)by Alyssa Lauseng; Japanese Inspired Setting, Labyrinthine Plot, and Diametrical Duo Accentuate Dark Fantasy

 

Dance of Demons (Poison and Opium Book 1)by Alyssa Lauseng; Japanese Inspired Setting, Labyrinthine Plot, and Diametrical Duo Accentuate Dark Fantasy 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

 Spoilers: Alyssa Lauseng’s Fantasy novel, Dance of Demons has a lot of positive attributes that keep it fresh and unique in a subgenre that can get repetitive with its tropes. It has a magnificent detailed setting inspired by Japanese culture, an engaging labyrinthine plot that engages the Reader with its multiple perspectives and points of view, and it has deutragonists that are diverse in background and worldviews but make a convincing team and are on their way to becoming a charming gay couple. 

In the land of Okara during the time of the Ghiatian Empire, Daisuke, a young slave boy, seizes an opportunity to escape to freedom.  When a military recruiter arrives, Daisuke enlists and heads to Perena where he tries to adjust to a foot soldier’s life. Meanwhile Obito, a member of the Omnito, Imperial Intelligence, is stricken by a devastating loss when Itsuki, his partner in work and life, dies after they uncover a potential conspiracy involving members of Obito’s wealthy and influential family. Obito is partnerless and wouldn’t you know there is a young ex-slave and soldier who rose through the ranks to become an Omnito and is looking for a partner himself. Meanwhile, Lady Shadow, an enigmatic cult leader bonds with Kanashimi, a ruthless demon, to search for magical talismans which will empower her to defeat the Emperor.

One of the most outstanding attributes is Lauseng’s attention to the Japanese inspired setting. Many Epic Fantasies still have their toes in a Eurocentric old world and use European, largely Celtic and Norse, inspired Medieval settings and characters. After a while it gets old, cliched, repetitive, and even slightly xenophobic when authors rely on these tropes. Within the past 40 or so years thanks to the rise of diversity, there are finally Science Fiction and Fantasy novels that aren’t solely bound to European history and literature. Afrofuturism for example is inspired by lore, history, and aesthetics from African countries. There are many otaku fans of manga and anime all over the world that produce Asian inspired speculative fiction, one of the most prominent being Avatar: the Last Airbender. 

Dance of Demons is set in a fictional world but it is greatly inspired by Japanese culture. The social hierarchy is based on the Feudal era with its imperial court and divine influence of the Emperor. There is a rigid structure which is practically impossible to break from but not unheard of. The Empeor’s rule is total and somewhat suffocating. The imperial court lives an opulent existence that is far away from the people down below so it’s very easy for corrupt officials and abusive slavers to gain prominence and power.

Their deities have names like Hikari (light) and Kuro (black) though have a remote standoffish approach to the mortals underneath, not unlike the human rulers. Characters like Daisuke even question their existence. Then you have those like Lady Shadow that are fanatic in their devotion.

Everything from costuming, art, culture, food, ceremonies, names, and mythology adheres to this certain time and place. While there is no known connection to Earth like in most Epic Fantasy novels, one could be led to believe that a team of Japanese astronauts may have found their way to Perena and took their history and culture with them so their descendents followed that progression. Lauseng is able to simultaneously capture a specific Earth culture and build a fictional world around it.  

The plot is wound by various characters and their motivations. Chief among them are the motives of Lady Shadow. She is an intriguing character driven to near insanity and obsession by power and a desire to rid her world of the Emperor. Her drive to destroy the Emperor comes from a specific place of abuse, degradation, and powerlessness. We get hints of the ruined girl that became the unhinged woman.

Lady Shadow is controlled by Kanashimi but still has enough foresight and manipulation to sway human forces in her favor. This isn’t a case where the demon has more power and is in complete control. It’s more like he has a worthy partner that is his match in cunning and ruthless efficiency plus the ability to gain allies and conspirators in a variety of places. 

There are conspiracies within conspiracies and sometimes it’s hard to find out who is allied with who and how wide these forces are. It becomes clear that Daisuke and Obito are being swayed by forces outside themselves. No matter where they turn, they may end up as pawns in someone else’s design. 

Daisuke and Obito are commendable protagonists as individuals and as a duo. Because of his slave background, Daisuke gains an angry negative view of the world. This view is channeled by his fighting skills that he learned from the military and he brings a street tough don’t mess with me attitude to the Ominto as a spy and assassin. One that suspects everyone but is able to excel in self defense and defense of his colleagues. He is able to discern ulterior motives and has the discipline to know when to fight and when not to. 

Obito is his diametric counterpart in background and experience but similar in goals and motives in making himself an independent mark. Through his family, he had the material goods that Daisuke did not but he is no stranger to being abused and dominated by others. Various family members connive and conspire against one another so Obito doesn’t feel safe around them. 

Unlike Daisuke, Obito keeps his emotions inward and shows an air of quiet indifference. His real emotions for Itsuki are only felt when alone. He is aware of the higher political games that Daisuke is not. He has those airs of suspicion but is strategic and analytical about when he addresses and uses them. 

Like many partnerships, Obito and Daisuke bring out each other’s better qualities. Obito is able to do his part to educate Daisuke in poison making and also in political structure to make him a consummate spy and assassin, while Daisuke frees the emotions that boil up inside Obito so he can actually act on them and become a protective fighting force. The two emerge as partners, best friends, and dance towards an intimate closer relationship.

Dance of Demons is a perfect dance of detail, intrigue, and richness that will please any Fantasy fan. 

June-July Reading List

 June-July Reading List

The Fallen Dreamers: The Seers by K.G. Broas

Altered Parallel by C.T. Malachite

The Lindens by Barney Jeffries

Britannia Rises by Russell Dumper

Survive The Cursed by Ashton Abbott

Miles in Time: A YA Time Travel Mystery Book by Lee Matthew Goldberg 

Dead People Anonymous by Loraine Hayes

The Inside Out World:  Visions of Strange by Sophie Jubilat Posey

Life Into Death by E.S. Sibbald 

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

The Promise of Love by Emmeline Lovel

Elegance and Evil by D.K. Coutant

Dance of Demons by Alyssa Lauseng

Art of Agony by Amy Felix

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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

 

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.

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

 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.

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

 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.