Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: chanti

The 2022 CLUE Book Awards for Suspense/Thrillers – CIBAs Long List
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking the best books featuring suspense, thrilling adventure, detective work, private eye, police procedural, and crime-solving, we will put them to the test to discover the best! (For lighter-hearted Mystery and Classic Cozy Mysteries please check out our Mystery & Mayhem Awards, and for High Stakes Suspense Novels please check out our Global Thriller Awards).

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2022 Clue Suspense/Thriller Fiction entries to the 2022 Clue Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2022 Clue Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalist positions. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC23).

The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 25 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 29th, 2023 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2023 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2022 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Thriller/Suspense Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2022 CIBAs.
- Marie Sutro – Dark Obsessions
- Leah Angstman – Falcon in the Dive
- Kenneth Arbogast – Coast Guard Blues
- D.V. Chernov – Severed Echoes
- Craig H. Bowlsby – Requiem for a Lotus
- Chris Norbury – Dangerous Straits
- Steve Mullaney – Twisted
- Steve Mullaney – Randomization
- J.J. Clarke – Dared to Dream
- Theresa Griffin Kennedy – Talionic Night in Portland
- Jon Kaledin – Dissonance
- Martin Roy Hill – Upriver
- Kevin Kuhens – Terror’s Sword – A Kyle McEwan Novel
- Elizabeth Crowens – Hollywood Holmes, a Babs Norman Mystery
- J. Luke Bennecke – Waterborne
- Lo Monaco – Suddenly Deadly
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Spree, A Buck Taylor Novel
- Gerard Shirar – The China Paradox
- Jim Gish – Hell Game
- Kevin G. Chapman – Dead Winner
- Jule Selbo – 9 Days, A Dee Rommel Mystery
- Michael Stockham – Confessions of an Accidental Lawyer
- Matt Andrus – T’HUG
- Robert Buschel – God$ Ponzi
- McKinley Aspen – Praesidium
- Merit Clark – Killing Innocence
- Michael Pronko – Azabu Getaway
- Saralyn Richard – Bad Blood Sisters
- Bryan Cassiday – Knot of Fear
- Craig W. Fisher – Baker Street Irregular
- Danielle M. Wong – Last Liar Standing
- Kim Hays – Pesticide
- Miriam Verbeek – The Website
- Michelle Cox – A Spying Eye
- Arthur Herbert – The Bones of Amoret
- Brooke Maddaleni – Next Door
- Britt Lind – Malevolence – A Hollywood Mystery
- Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke – Major Jake Fortina and the Tier One Threat
- D.V. Chernov – Severed Echoes
- AG Flitcher – Boone and Jacque: Cytrus Moonlight
- Kenneth Arbogast – Coast Guard Blues
- Paul Attaway – Eli’s Redemption
- Paul Attaway – Blood in the Low Country
- Justin M. Kiska – Vice & Virtue
- Paul Alexander Sangillo – The Golden Prison
- Susan Wingate – When You Leave Me
- Jodé Millman – Hooker Avenue
- Charlie Robinson – Hybrid Hysteria – A Novel of Corporate Intrigue Both Holy and Diabolical
- R.U. Randy – Astraphobia
- Carolyn M. Bowen – The Death of Me
- Cathi Stoler – Straight Up A Murder On The Rocks Mystery
- Brian Cuban – The Ambulance Chaser
- Lisa Towles – Ninety-Five
- Alexandrea Weis – Have You Seen Me?
- John J. Valentino, Chief John J. Mandeville – Old Dark and Dangerous
- Carl and Jane Bock – Day of the Jaguar
- Chuck Morgan – Crime Exploded, A Buck Taylor Novel
Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

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Good luck to all as your works move on to the next rounds of judging.

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 CLUE Awards was:

The Vines

by Shelley Nolden

The 2022 CLUE Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 11-year Conference Anniversary!

Submissions for the 2023 CLUE Book Awards are open until the end of July. Enter here!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

IN-Person – April 27-30, 2023! Register Today!

Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.

Join us for our 11th annual conference and discover why!
November 29, 2022
SHE HAD BEEN A TOMBOY: Raising a Transgender Child, a Mother’s Journey by Sandra Bowman – Family Memoirs, Parenting, LGBTQ+

She Had Been a Tomboy: Raising a Transgender Child, a Mother’s Journey by Sandra Bowman is a deeply revealing memoir about a protective mother who watches her sensitive child grow into someone who is familiar, yet new.

This moving narrative tells the story of her two children: how they were born and how they grew. She Had Been a Tomboy hops from one period of the children’s lives to another, showing how the elder child matures and how the female within slowly blooms into being, little by little revealing herself.

But the long journey to realization and understanding of self was not easy, nor was it gentle.

There were numerous hurdles to be crossed, not only for the transgender girl, then young woman, but the rest of her family.

Author Bowman writes about the challenges for the younger child as well, who feels overlooked so often as his older sibling takes precedence. He overachieves in order to make up for the pains suffered by his parents, such as his father’s frequent work-driven absences that leave his mother, the narrator, isolated and struggling.

“Robert flies here, he travels there. He works hard. I am alone.”

Once they learn to work together, the family struggles to understand how they can help both children.

They wrestle with emotional highs and lows, including those of the mother-narrator herself.

“I hurt profoundly. Again I cry. I sit and I stare. At absolutely nothing.”

Despite going through so many trials, the daughter slowly grows to understand herself and her role in the world.

“Because again, she must raise herself up. … She will raise herself, by herself … she will get herself to a state of autonomy.”

As her daughter matures and eventually flourishes, the mother-narrator slowly adjusts to her new reality, as do the father and the younger child, learning about themselves, the world, and their family.

Author Bowman’s highly stylized writing flows, serving the story she tells of her daughter’s coming-of-age. The reader empathizes with the family’s effort to grow.

Overall, Bowman’s memoir about her transgender daughter is an emotional, forceful tale about discovery, illumination, and eventual understanding.

November 28, 2022
WIN A VOCASTER from Hindenburg Systems & Focusrite- Get Incredible Sound for Your Podcast

This CONTEST RUNS from NOVEMBER 21 – DECEMBER 5!

It is offered by Hindenburg Systems and Focusrite.

We want to pass this contest opportunity to WIN FREE Podcast Equipment of Your Choice from FOCUSRITE on to our Chanticleerian subscribers! – Brought to you by Hindenburg Systems and Focusrite!

Win a Focusrite Vocaster for the holidays!

Vocaster is the latest audio interface from Focusrite; it is the easiest way to bring studio-quality sound to your podcast.

VOCASTER equipment is the easiest way to bring studio quality sound to your podcast!

Vocaster features Auto Gain, to set levels quickly and easily; Enhance, to get your voice sounding its best in one click; and connections for your phone, camera and so much more.

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To Enter for a chance at Winning, CLICK BELOW to go Hindenburg Systems and FOCUSRITE to ENTER to WIN!

CLICK HERE
Fill out the entry form after the jump.
They will contact you after the contest closes to let you know if you have won.

Good luck and Happy Holidays!
This contest runs from November 21 through December 5.
Best always from Team Hindenburg,
Chuck Wang

Hindenburg Systems, Knabrostraede 20, 1st Floor, 1210 Copenhagen – K, Denmark

November 26, 2022
CYBER MONDAY 2022! Only 2 Days Left of Chanticleer’s Annual Cyber Sale!
This Cyber Monday — Don’t Miss Out on these Once-A-Year Deals!

ONLY CYBER SALE of the YEAR

CHANTICLEER says

“THANK GOODNESS, I am a ROOSTER!”

CYBER SALE

We can’t save the turkey,

but we can save you $$$

Check out these T.G.I.A.N.A.T. SPECIALS

(Thank Goodness I am Not a Turkey)

Time’s running out!

SALE PRICES ARE VALID until midnight PST Wednesday, Nov 30th, 2022

CYBER SALE – LIMITED TIME

Check out these awesome sales!

Chanticleer Editorial Book Review Package for $370

Purchase the book review package now and you can redeem it anytime in the future.

Use this code upon checkout to receive the discount the unprecedented discount of $100: BKRVWTGZANAT

***** There are only a few left of these Editorial Book Review Packages available at this extremely discounted rate. *****

Applies to:
Our Book Review Package (Regularly $470) includes SEO, Meta-Data, Tagging, Social Media Promotion, and Publication in the Chanticleer Reviews Magazine. Don’t delay! Be one of the lucky few to get in on this incredible rate.

Click here to purchase a Chanticleer Book Review Package for only $370.

Receive a $100 discount off CAC23 registration, The Chanticleer Authors Conference package that will take place LIVE and IN-PERSON from the Hotel Bellwether (April 27-30, 2023).

Note: This is our 11th Anniversary Conference and you do not want to miss out!
Seating is limited, so Register Today!

Receive a $100 discount off EARLY BIRD CAC23 registration, The Chanticleer Authors Conference package that will take place LIVE and IN-PERSON from the Hotel Bellwether (April 27-30, 2023). USE THIS CODE CACTGZANAT23

Learn from the Best at CAC23

Past Presenters include: Cathy Ace, Robert Dugoni, Chris Humphreys, Scott Steindorff, and other insightful and exciting presenters.

Sessions on Fundraising for Authors, Audio Book Creation, Multi-Selling Platforms, Digital Marketing, Expanding Readership, Advanced Writing Craft and Content Creation, Social Media Efficacy, Increasing Sales on Amazon, SEO and Why Authors need Alphabet Soup, BISAC Codes, and much more.

Multichannel Marketing

and the Business of Being a Writer

The New Era of Content Creation in All Its Forms

Take Your Writing Craft to the Next Level

Register here!

Gift Cards? You betcha!

Holiday Gift Cards for ANY AMOUNT 10% OFF

Valid for any Chanticleer Product or Service

Use this code upon checkout to receive the 15% discount: GCTGIANAT

We will ship the gift card out in a wrapped gift box to anywhere in the USA or APO addresses — compliments of Chanticleer!

Click here for more info and to checkout.

And REMEMBER, PAYPAL Offers 6 Months Same as Cash!

Don’t Delay! Take advantage of this Once A Year CYBER SALE!

This sale ends firmly at midnight PST Wednesday, November 30, 2021.

As always, please contact us at info@ChantiReviews.com for any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

We wish you and yours a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

We are thankful for you, Dear Chanticleerians!

Be well. Stay safe. Keep on Writing Because We Need Good Books More Than Ever!

Kiffer, Sharon, David, Argus, Scott, and the Entire Chanticleer Team!
November 26, 2022
BLACK FRIDAY 2022! Chanticleer T.G. I. A. N. A.T. CYBER SALE! It only comes once a year!
This Black Friday — Don’t Miss Out on these Once-A-Year Deals!

ONLY CYBER SALE of the YEAR

CHANTICLEER says

“THANK GOODNESS, I am a ROOSTER!”

CYBER SALE

We can’t save the turkey,

but we can save you $$$

Check out these T.G.I.A.N.A.T. SPECIALS

(Thank Goodness I am Not a Turkey)

SALE PRICES ARE VALID Wednesday, November 23rd until midnight PST Wednesday, Nov 30th, 2022

CYBER SALE – LIMITED TIME

Check out these awesome sales!

Chanticleer Editorial Book Review Package for $370

Purchase the book review package now and you can redeem it anytime in the future.

Use this code upon checkout to receive the discount the unprecedented discount of $100: BKRVWTGZANAT

***** There are only a few left of these Editorial Book Review Packages available at this extremely discounted rate. *****

Applies to:
- Standard Editorial Book Review Package
- Audiobook Reviews
- Expedited Reviews
Our Book Review Package (Regularly $470) includes SEO, Meta-Data, Tagging, Social Media Promotion, and Publication in the Chanticleer Reviews Magazine. Don’t delay! Be one of the lucky few to get in on this incredible rate.

Click here to purchase a Chanticleer Book Review Package for only $370.

Receive a $100 discount off CAC23 registration, The Chanticleer Authors Conference package that will take place LIVE and IN-PERSON from the Hotel Bellwether (April 27-30, 2023).

Note: This is our 11th Anniversary Conference and you do not want to miss out!
Seating is limited, so Register Today!

Receive a $100 discount off EARLY BIRD CAC23 registration, The Chanticleer Authors Conference package that will take place LIVE and IN-PERSON from the Hotel Bellwether (April 27-30, 2023). USE THIS CODE CACTGZANAT23

Learn from the Best at CAC23

Past Presenters include: Cathy Ace, Robert Dugoni, Chris Humphreys, Scott Steindorff, and other insightful and exciting presenters.

Sessions on Fundraising for Authors, Audio Book Creation, Multi-Selling Platforms, Digital Marketing, Expanding Readership, Advanced Writing Craft and Content Creation, Social Media Efficacy, Increasing Sales on Amazon, SEO and Why Authors need Alphabet SOUP, BISAC Codes, and much more.

Multichannel Marketing

and the Business of Being a Writer

The New Era of Content Creation in All Its Forms

Take Your Writing Craft to the Next Level

Use this code upon checkout to receive this $100 discount – our deepest discount for the conference. CACTGZANAT23

Gift Cards? You betcha!

Click here for more info and checkout.

Holiday Gift Cards for ANY AMOUNT 10% OFF

Valid for any Chanticleer Product or Service

Use this code upon checkout to receive the 10% discount: GCTGIANAT

We will ship the gift card out in a wrapped gift box to anywhere in the USA or APO addresses — compliments of Chanticleer!

Click here for more info and to checkout.

And REMEMBER, PAYPAL Offers 6 Months Same as Cash!

Don’t Delay! Take advantage of this Once A Year CYBER SALE!

This sale ends firmly at midnight PST Wednesday, November 30, 2021.

As always, please contact us at info@ChantiReviews.com for any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

We wish you and yours a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

We are thankful for you, Dear Chanticleerians!

Be well. Stay safe. Keep on Writing Because We Need Good Books More Than Ever!

Kiffer, Sharon, David, Argus, Scott, and the Entire Chanticleer Team!
November 25, 2022
CYBER SALE 2022 – The Annual Chanticleer Thank Goodness I’m a Rooster Sale!

Time is Running Out — Don’t Miss Out on these Once-A-Year Deals!

ONLY CYBER SALE of the YEAR

CHANTICLEER says

“THANK GOODNESS, I am a ROOSTER!”

CYBER SALE

We can’t save the turkey,

but we can save you $$$

Check out these T.G.I.A.N.A.T. SPECIALS

(Thank Goodness I am Not a Turkey)

SALE PRICES ARE VALID Wednesday, November 23rd until midnight PST Wednesday, Nov 30th, 2022

CYBER SALE – LIMITED TIME

Check out these awesome sales!

Chanticleer Editorial Book Review Package for $370

Purchase the book review package now and you can redeem it anytime in the future.

Use this code upon checkout to receive the discount the unprecedented discount of $100: BKRVWTGZANAT

Audio Book Reviews are also eligible for Chanticleer’s only CYBER SALE of the YEAR!

Our Book Review Package (Regularly $470) includes SEO, Meta-Data, Tagging, Social Media Promotion, and Publication in the Chanticleer Reviews Magazine. Don’t delay! Be one of the lucky few to get in on this incredible rate.

Click here to purchase a Chanticleer Book Review Package for only $370.

Receive a $100 discount off CAC23 registration, The Chanticleer Authors Conference package that will take place LIVE and IN-PERSON from the Hotel Bellwether (April 27-30, 2023). USE THIS CODE CACTGZANAT23

Note: This is our 11th Anniversary Conference and you do not want to miss out!
Seating is limited, so Register Today!

Learn from the Best at CAC23

Past Presenters include: Cathy Ace, Robert Dugoni, Chris Humphreys, Scott Steindorff, and other insightful and exciting presenters.

Sessions on Fundraising for Authors, Audio Book Creation, Multi-Selling Platforms, Digital Marketing, Expanding Readership, Advanced Writing Craft and Content Creation, Social Media Efficacy, Increasing Sales on Amazon, SEO and Why Authors need Alphabet SOUP, BISAC Codes, and much more.

Multichannel Marketing

and the Business of Being a Writer

The New Era of Content Creation in All Its Forms

Take Your Writing Craft to the Next Level

Use this code upon checkout to receive this $100 discount – our deepest discount for the conference. CACTGZANAT23

Gift Cards? You betcha!

Click here for more info and checkout.

Holiday Gift Cards for ANY AMOUNT 10% OFF

Valid for any Chanticleer Product or Service

Use this code upon checkout to receive the 10% discount: GCTGIANAT

We will ship the gift card out in a wrapped gift box to anywhere in the USA or APO addresses — compliments of Chanticleer!

Click here for more info and to checkout.

And REMEMBER, PAYPAL Offers 6 Months Same as Cash!

Don’t Delay! Take advantage of this Once A Year CYBER SALE!

This sale ends firmly at midnight PST Wednesday, November 30, 2021.

As always, please contact us at info@ChantiReviews.com for any questions, concerns, or suggestions.

We wish you and yours a happy and safe Thanksgiving!

We are thankful for you, Dear Chanticleerians!

Be well. Stay safe. Keep on Writing Because We Need Good Books More Than Ever!

Kiffer, Sharon, David, Argus, Scott, and the Entire Chanticleer Team!

November 23, 2022
The Road So Far | November Deadline for Humor & Satire

Don’t let the joke be on you!

There’s still time to submit for the Humor and Satire Book Awards!

You can have the last laugh by submitting to the Humor and Satire Book Awards.

The Humor and Satire Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Humor and Satire. The Humor and Satire Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring satire, humor, political ideology, parody, fantasy, and allegory or fable. The Deadline for the 2022 Humor and Satire Book Awards is the end of November.

Looking to learn more about the Humor and Satire Awards? Click here!

A Newer Division of the CIBAs, the Humor and Satire is quickly establishing itself as a book award program for humor, satire, lampoons, and allegory.

Let’s take a look at some of the 2021 winners from the 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Author’s Conference!

Binge

By Anne Pfeffer

Twenty-seven-year-old Sabrina “Bree” Hunter has the chance to grasp her dream of being a published author, but will her binge eating spell the end of that dream?

After years of working for a demanding B-list talent agent in Los Angeles, Bree earned a publishing deal with Fast Track Books. She should celebrate, thrilled that her life will finally go down the right path since her graduation from Dartmouth. However, Bree has a problem that isn’t easily fixed. Her publisher expects the skinny beauty on her webpage, a picture taken many years previously.

Since the days of the photo, Bree has become a compulsive eater. She spends every moment of her day obsessing over junk food. Bree turns to food to comfort her, console her, and to bring her joy. This addiction has caused her to gain forty pounds since college. Finding dieting on her own harder than she expected, Bree agrees to attend a support group meeting. Her sister, Lena’s, boyfriend has recently found success in breaking his addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Hot Air

By Charlie Suisman

Arnold Falls bristles with zany events, quirky locals, and colorful newbies. Above all, this memorable enclave buoys its people through heart, soul, wit, and a true sense of collective spirit.

Jeebie Walker returns as the story’s central narrator.

The successful voice-over artist stands as a solid fixture in the town, now in a loving relationship with his partner Will. A volunteer fireman, illustrator, and candidate for an MA in Conservation Biology, Will jokingly claims that Jeebie makes “bossing others around” a superpower.

The Kissing Rabbi: Lust, Betrayal, and a Community Turned Inside Out

By Andy Becker

Based on a true story, Andy Becker’s tale The Kissing Rabbi is a smart, witty, and engaging novel that takes readers into the heart of a Jewish community in the Pacific Northwest.

Here a young, self-serving rabbi sets a town on edge when his salacious desires and personal financial agenda are brought to light by the people he was brought there to serve.

Rabbi Mishegas Dreidel, a young orthodox leader, arrives in the quiet town of Destiny, Oregon. His intentions seem noble as he opens up a synagogue in his basement and establishes a flock of dedicated followers.

Babs and Basil, and the Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles

By Elizabeth Crowens

This book is still a manuscript, but we’re excited for it to come out!

A cute premise and a light-hearted beginning. Babs and Basil, and the Hounds of the Hollywood Baskervilles features humor, mystery, and action throughout that’s easy to read and follow.

An excellent book for older readers and Hollywood movie buffs that can catch the myriad of references. The lightheartedness storyline buoys the reader along naturally. A kindly read to escape into and keep your spirits afloat.

My Only Sunshine: Getting Straight with the Bomb

By Lou Dischler

Lou Dischler delivers an intricately woven story about one well-meaning boy who tries to make sense of the crazy he’s been born into. Get ready for one belly laugh of an adventure in My Only Sunshine.

Welcome to the Louisiana low country, home of 9-year-old Charlie Boone, a kid growing up in 1962. Charlie, a most unreliable narrator, concerns himself with giant wingless wasps and biting red velvet ants. Combine his critter-concerns with the legend of the giant slugs, the story of his mother taken up by a hurricane, and the episode of the puddle he and his brother dug that grew into a pond, then turned into a lake, and we have one wildly imaginative ride well-worth taking.

Dischler delivers an epic tale that shifts from Charlie’s first-person point-of-view with his youthful ignorance coloring his observations to his Uncle Dan’s and “Aunt” Lola’s in third-person point-of-view. While Charlie ages and grows in wisdom as the story progresses, his uncle never seems to gain a lick of sense. Dischler skillfully applies the laws of magic realism to Charlie’s wonderful way of viewing his world. Uncle Dan’s story, on the other hand, derives from an inept conman’s rap-sheet – from failed grifts to bank robbery bungles that succeed only by accident. Dischler guides us, normalizing the ridiculous to the point that the characters jump off the page and set up camp in your living room.

The Grand Prize Winner!

Certified

By Roger Wilson-Crane

Certified by Roger Wilson-Crane is a multi-award-winning comedy-drama, following one man down three sharp turns in his life trajectory.

Based on real-life events, Certified shows the narrator’s birth, marriage, and death, three of the most significant milestones in human life. The book is divided into three sections.

“One Unexpected Birth” explores his flawed string of relationships until he meets Dawn, the love of his life. However, a woman from the past makes a comeback, threatening to shatter his newly found happiness.

“One Hapless Wedding” careens about his well-planned wedding in Puglia, Italy, which is trampled by Justin Timberlake who wants the same venue. “One Bizarre Death”, on the other hand, follows the loss of the narrator’s loved one and the pain and confusion that surrounds an unexpected death. Certified is full of humor, heart, and unexpected gems that one might find in a trunk of well-lived memories.

Need more Humor in your life? Check out these books that won the 2020 Humor and Satire Awards!

The sky is the limit when it comes to Humor

Even Data from Star Trek likes Mark Twain

HOW DO YOU HAVE YOUR BOOKS RECOGNIZED? Submit them to the Chanticleer International Book Awards – Click here for more information about The CIBAs!

The last day to submit your work is November 30, 2022. We invite you to join us, to tell us your stories, and to find out who will take home the prize ribbons at CAC23 in April.

As our deadline draws near, don’t miss this opportunity to earn the distinction your novel deserves! Enter today!

The Humor and Satire Book Awards for Satirical and Allegorical fiction is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards – the CIBAs.

ENTER NOW!

Don’t delay! Enter today!

November 23, 2022
FRUIT Of The POISONOUS TREE: Spider Green Mystery Thriller Series Book 1 by Norm Harris – Global Thriller, International Mystery, Action Adventure

A string of riddles awaits Military heroes in Fruit of the Poisonous Tree – a mystery that unravels into an adventurous and jarring epic of divergent national issues by Norm Harris.

JAG officer Faydra “Fay” Green opens a new investigation when Marine war hero Simon Lee is charged with the murder of Navy SEAL Paul Charma. Fay tries to demonstrate her worth as an investigator and prove that she is more than just the daughter of a former United States President. As she works her way through this challenging case, she will reveal a shady picture of government and military intrigue.

Despite Fay’s duty restricting her investigation, she can’t leave any inscrutable stone unturned.

Fay, believing Linn to be a victim of circumstance, turns to a clandestine mission to discover the true murderer. Constant roadblocks prove that forces are pushing back against her questioning Simon’s guilt. Among other mysteries, Fay couldn’t get her hands on Charma’s autopsy records and his remains are released by a Navy personnel who does not appear in any records.

On another canvas of the thriller, the sinking of the frigate USS Jonathan Carr in North Korean sea territory shakes the peace between the two countries; one sailor died under questionable circumstances.

In the midst of unraveling the Charma case, Fay becomes embroiled in this other investigation. Several questions loom as she departs for Seoul to examine the “accidental” death of the sailor: what was that ship doing in North Korean waters? And how is this incident related to the escalation of biological warfare between multiple nations? As Fay struggles to make sense of two mind-boggling cases, the question arises: Are these cases somehow connected?

Across the sea, Egan Fetcher, Navy sailor and commander of Nalon Vet, the Navy’s ghost ship, is on sea trials for 28 days, unaware of the storm that awaits him. As Fetcher’s journey intersects with Fay’s, the hazy fate of the ghost ship becomes obvious. They embark on a voyage that will decide the peace of nations on the verge of war, among intrigue, shady politics, and death threats.

Fay is a modern-day heroine.

In her bearing, she displays strength and determination with a powerful independent streak that adds to her knowledge and confidence. Clever, charming, and lovable as well as professional, Fay strikes a personal balance. In advancing the book’s theme, she faces the dystopian elements of today’s world, where power triumphs over truth, and the daunting struggle against it.

Author Norm Harris offers a detailed picture of military personnel’s style and demeanor, reflecting his experience in military service.

This thriller’s tone is as exciting as it is serious. Its plot comprises a casual sequence of behind-the-scenes dark deals under an outwardly tranquil civilization, with complex politics, rackets, and black ops agreements. However, this mixture of mystery, political intrigue, and crime thriller does not obscure the plot’s humorous and romantic undertones. Fruit of the Poisonous Tree features the delicate romance between Petty Officer Pearce and Navy Captain Fletcher, as well as Fay’s delightful and hilarious relationship with her sister, offering refreshing and cheerful moments.

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree is a nail-biting military thriller that will captivate enthusiasts of national conflicts and military operations. Its intricate plot resembles George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four in its themes of control of information and diabolic misuse of technology.

November 21, 2022
THE EXCURSION by T.O. Paine – Horror, Thriller, Suspense Action

The Excursion by T.O. Paine is a horror thriller with enough twists and turns to satisfy even the most jaded reader.

Two people tell this story. Charly, a woman in her 30s, faces her emotionally damaged family. Randall, meanwhile, works as an agent of Zaroff Excursions, a hunting club for the uber-wealthy with an interest in an extreme form of hunting where the prey is much more intelligent than a deer or bear.

On a cold Thanksgiving weekend, Charly and a few other members of her family travel to an isolated cabin in the mountains above Denver. Her car gets stuck in a snowdrift, leaving her stranded, but that’s only the start of her trouble. She finds that the cabin has been rented by Randall’s company for that same weekend, forcing her family to share the lodge with strangers.

Charly is there for a complicated family reunion.

Along with her autistic brother Jacob, whom Charly has taken care of all her life, she deals with two cousins: Amanda, who must win everything in her life at any cost, and Cal, who Charly fears might be a psychopath.

Randall has come for his “excursion,” well paid for his work, and confident that this weekend will prove his superiority to his boss. A self-styled alpha male, a hunter-cum-master-of-the-universe, he is in control of every detail of what happens in this ultimate form of hunting. Joining Randall in the cabin are Barry, the wealthy hunter who has signed on for this excursion, and Barry’s gaggle-headed girlfriend Kennedy.

But Randall brought one more person. Tyler sits caged in the boathouse near the cabin, kidnapped to serve as the designated prey. Randall didn’t expect his perfectly planned hunt would include Charly and her family, or Barry’s girlfriend, but he sees an opportunity in them. He has delicious, final plans for everyone at the cabin.

What can go wrong for the hunter who has everything perfectly under control?

A hidden pleasure here is the literary “Easter eggs” the writer has planted. For example, Charly’s last name is Highsmith, certainly a reference to celebrated mystery writer Patricia Highsmith. And Randall may well be related to Steven King’s protagonist in his best-selling The Stand. Does the unusual spelling of “Charly” have its roots in the science-fiction novel, Flowers for Algernon?

The Excursion grips you from the first page. Its march through dense snowdrifts and mountains will leave you yearning for waterproof boots, or, better, a blanket to hide under as you dig further into this twisty, unrelenting story. If you’re a fan of satisfying horror novels, this is one not to miss.

November 18, 2022
Navigating Narrative Non-Fiction | November Deadlines for the CIBAs
Demystify Your Non-Fiction with Chanticleer

In Fiction, genre boundaries can sometimes seem so clear, scifi has aliens and mysteries have a murder, but how do we organize Non-Fiction?

Chanticleer offers a wide variety of Non-Fiction Book Awards, and here we’ll focus on the Narrative Non-Fiction Divisions.

These Divisions are:
The Original*

The Journey Awards came first. These awards shine bright as the lodestar of quality for the others. As more Non-Fiction submissions came in, the number of Non-Fiction Divisions expanded to fill the need. Right now, the Journey Awards focuses primarily on stories Overcoming Adversity. Often tear-jerkers, these stories highlight the resiliency of being human.

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Journey Awards was Better off Bald by Andrea Wilson Woods.

There exists a bond between sisters, and often that bond becomes a connection so strong that time cannot erase the love and the longing for the other. Andrea Wilson Woods defines such a bond in Better Off Bald: A Life in 147 Days.

Woods details the choreographed life she lives with her sister Adrienne, who has been diagnosed with cancer. Together they begin their dance, pirouetting around IV ports and long lists of medications. Sisters in life, love, and an all-out war against liver cancer.

Woods retells her story with compassion and a rational eye for detail while embracing all the deep emotions that ravage her as she records every one of the 147 days after the initial diagnosis.
Their confusion about how this could have happened and their hope that they can beat this “thing” growing inside Adrienne are present on each page. Woods makes note of the doctors by name, the nurses by nicknames, and the hospital visits by hours spent waiting, waiting, waiting for help to come and rescue them from the nightmare that cancer has made of their lives.

Read more here.

*Note: The Journey Awards deadline has already passed, but the 2023 Journey Awards are open now!

Putting in the Research

Following the Journey Awards, it became clear we needed Awards focused on Journalism and Reporting. Enter the Nellie Bly Awards, named for reporter Nellie Bly whose journey around the Earth inspired the story Around the World in 80 Days. These books can back up all their facts with hard dates and maybe even an appendix at the end. They tell the stories that call out for their place in history.

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Nellie Bly Awards was America’s Forgotten Suffragists: Virginia and Francis Minor by Nicole Evelina.

After being forgotten for nearly 130 years, the “Mother of Suffrage in Missouri” and her husband are finally taking their rightful place in history.

St. Louisans Virginia and Francis Minor forever changed the direction of women’s rights by taking the issue to the Supreme Court for the first and only time in 1875, a feat never eclipsed even by their better-known peers Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Yet despite a myriad of accomplishments and gaining notoriety in their own time, the Minors’ names have largely faded from memory. In 1867, Virginia founded the nation’s first organization solely dedicated to women’s suffrage—two years before Anthony formed the National Woman’s Suffrage Association (NWSA). Virginia and Francis were also the brains behind the groundbreaking idea that women were given the right to vote under the Fourteenth Amendment, a philosophy the NWSA adopted for nearly a decade.

Read more here.

Opening up Personal Narratives

As the Journey Awards began filling up, it became difficult to recognize both the uplifting and inspirational work as well as the work that looked at the darker side of what people overcome in their life. To try and highlight this warmer tone of writing, the Hearten Awards were introduced, so this “chicken soup for the soul” style of book could be brought to the forefront.

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Hearten Awards was DAWGS: A True Story of Lost Animals and the Kids Who Rescued Them by Diane Trull & Meredith Wargo

We can all make a difference. Elementary-school teacher Diane Trull’s life-defining moment happened when her fourth-grade reading class saw a photo of a cardboard box overflowing with homeless puppies. Trull was no stranger to rescuing abandoned animals. She and her husband, Mark, had made it their mission to find permanent homes for stray dogs and cats. Now her young students were determined to save these lost pups and others like them. And in that moment, the Dalhart Animal Wellness Group and Sanctuary-known as DAWGS-was born. How Trull and her fourth graders started their own animal shelter is a story of dedication, commitment, and perseverance. In this eye-opening, deeply personal book, Trull describes the challenges they faced, from rescuing and caring for the animals to teaching children about compassion and responsibility, to facing local interests opposed to having a shelter in their town. She shares inspiring stories about animals and animal lovers of all ages in this moving story of hope and compassion. DAWGS is a testament to how love and a strong measure of determination can offer second chances-one animal, one child, and one day at a time.

Read more here!

The Newest Division from Chanticleer

The Military and Front Line Awards are close to our heart at Chanticleer. We’ve often wanted enough submissions for this to be its own Division as we all have family who has served in the military. However, we wanted these Awards to represent all walks of life that provide Service to Others like firefighters, teachers, medical workers, and the family of those who work to make our world a better place.

The 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Military and Front Line Awards was Dear Bob by Martha Bolton with Linda Hope

For five decades, comedian, actor, singer, dancer, and entertainer Bob Hope (1903-2003) traveled the world performing before American and Allied troops and putting on morale-boosting USO shows. Dear Bob . . . : Bob Hope’s Wartime Correspondence with the G.I.s of World War II tells the story of Hope’s remarkable service to the fighting men and women of World War II, collecting personal letters, postcards, packages, and more sent back and forth among Hope and the troops and their loved ones back home.

Soldiers, nurses, wives, and parents shared their innermost thoughts, swapped jokes, and commiserated with the “G.I.s’ best friend” about war, sacrifice, lonely days, and worrisome, silent nights. The Entertainer of the Century performed for millions of soldiers in person, in films, and over the radio. He visited them in the hospitals and became not just a pal but their link to home. This unforgettable collection of letters and images, many of which remained in Hope’s personal files throughout his life and now reside at the Library of Congress, capture a personal side of both writer and recipient in a very special and often-emotional way. This volume heralds the voices of those servicemen and women whom Hope entertained and who, it is clear, delighted and inspired him.

Read more here.

A huge thank you to these incredible authors.

Keep Writing. Truth matters now more than ever.

Have an excellent Non-Fiction Narrative that deserves recognition? Submit now to our Non-Fiction Book Awards by the end of November!*

Note: The Journey Awards Deadline has already passed

Your book could be next!

Looking to up your game? Check out the traditional publishing tool that indie authors can use to propel their writing careers to new levels.
November 17, 2022