Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: chanti

The 2023 Book Series First Place Winners Roundup

The Series Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Genre Fiction (and now Non-Fiction). The Grand Prize Winner, David Fitz-Gerald’s Series, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Series contest page year ’round!

The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!

While these Award Winning Series are all Multi-book sagas, we are going to showcase the most important part of a Series. The beginning. Having a good start makes it memorable. The first book is the foundation, laying the first stitches into what later becomes a whole tapestry, telling their story.

Join us in celebrating the 2023 First Place Series Winners!

John J. Spearman – FitzDuncan

Introducing Casimir “Caz” FitzDuncan, a resident of the medieval kingdom of Aquileia. He makes his living retrieving things when the law will not help.

A woman has come to him, seeking his assistance in escaping a contract to marry a nobleman with a foul reputation. After their meeting, she is kidnapped not far from his residence.

Caz is accused of abducting her and forced to investigate her disappearance. Aided by his friend Freddy, Lord Rawlinsford, and Freddy’s mysterious cousin Lucy, Caz works to find the kidnapper.

Be careful Caz, the closer you get to finding the truth, the more tangled you are in a web designed specifically to trap you.

In this fantasy adventure book series you will be whisked away in a medieval time of magical realism, masters of sword fighting, and action & adventure that won’t allow you to put the book down.

Will Caz be able to rescue an innocent victim and save himself when skill with a sword is not enough?

Find it Locally and on Amazon

James Hutson-Wiley – The Sugar Merchant

When Thomas’s family is annihilated in a raid, his life changes forever. Wandering for days, starving and hopeless, he is rescued by a monk and is taken to live at the abbey of Eynsham. There he receives a curious education, training to be a scholar, a merchant and a spy. His mission: to develop commerce in Muslim lands and dispatch vital information to the Holy See.

His perilous adventures during the 11th century’s commercial revolution will take him far from his cloistered life to the great trading cities of Almeria, Amalfi, Alexandria and Cairo.

But the world in which he lives is chaotic. Struggling with love and loss, faith and fortune, can Thomas carry out his secret mission before conflict overtakes him?

Spanning the tumultuous medieval worlds of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, The Sugar Merchant is a tale of clashing cultures, massive economic change and one man’s determination to fulfil his destiny.

From Chanticleer: 2019 Chaucer 1st Place Winner

Narrated by a boy who grows up in a monastery and is trained to be a spy, The Sugar Merchant is set in the late 11th Century when the Great Crusades were on the verge of erupting in Europe and the Middle East.

When Thomas is forced to flee after rebels attack his family, he is finally discovered, ragged and starving, by a giant of a man named Leofric. Taken under the wing of the monks at Eynsham Abbey, Thomas is educated while accepting the strict discipline of the Benedictine order. In his late teens, he is surprised and disappointed to learn he will not join the Order but will be employed as an agent and spy. His task will be to find, secretly copy and send back manuscripts written by Islamic scholars. These documents contain knowledge that the Catholic Church needs to maintain its control.

Accompanied by Leofric, who taught him the arts of war based on his own checkered past as a mercenary, Thomas travels to Spain, to the city of Granada (called Gharnatah at the time). His travels will take him through the known Catholic realms and beyond, and, paradoxically, afford him the chance to meet, befriend and be aided in the abbey’s mission by good men of other faiths, both Muslim and Jew. As a cover for his work for Eynsham, he adopts a persona as a merchant of sukkar, or sugar, a commodity that will soon have excellent trading value. When a beautiful Muslim girl crosses his path, all that he has been taught will come into question as he strives to do what he believes to be right.

Read More Here

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Alice McVeigh – Susan: A Jane Austen Prequel

Sixteen-year-old Susan Smithson – pretty but poor, clever but capricious – has just been expelled from a school for young ladies in London.

At the mansion of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, she attracts a raffish young nobleman. But, at the first hint of scandal, her guardian dispatches her to her uncle Collins’ rectory in Kent, where her sensible cousin Alicia lives and “where nothing ever happens.”

Here Susan mischievously inspires the local squire to put on a play, with consequences no one could possibly have foreseen. What with the unexpected arrival of Frank Churchill, Alicia’s falling in love and a tumultuous elopement, rural Kent will surely never seem safe again…

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Tom Burkhalter – Everything We Had

November 1941: War is coming to the Pacific.

In Europe, the Nazis are triumphant. England is under siege by air and sea. France has fallen to the Nazi Wehrmacht, which in turn fell on Soviet Russia. The Red Army is reeling in full retreat, with the Nazis at the gates of Moscow itself.

In the Pacific, Japan has been at war with China since 1937. Her war industries depend upon imports of scrap metal and oil from what are now the Allied nations. When an embargo is placed on imports to Japan, they are left with a year’s supply of oil to supply their armed forces.

Japan surrounds American possessions in the Philippines on three sides. The US Army is making a desperate, last-minute attempt to reinforce the Philippines garrison, but the clock is ticking for the Japanese, with their oil running out. The armed forces of Imperial Japan may attack the Philippines at any moment.

Two brothers, Jack and Charlie Davis, are pilots in the US Army Air Forces. They are part of the reinforcements sent to the Far Eastern Air Force, charged with air defense of the Philippines.

For Jack and Charlie, in a time when the US is on the brink of world war, a simple question must soon be answered: what will I do when the Japanese come?

From Chanticleer:

Everything We Had, book one of Tom Burkhalter’s No Merciful War series is an inexorable thrill that will grip readers tight. It starts with a poker game, through which a main character’s luck soon becomes evident. But will that luck hold out?

Jack—the poker player—and Charlie—Jack’s older brother—have been separated by war, even though that war has yet to be declared. Everything We Had focuses more on the machinations leading up to US involvement in World War II than on actual combat. The gears of war that have so many young men caught in them move with gradual but inevitable force, and so Everything We Had takes a more thoughtful approach to a historic moment in time.

Connecting with the characters is a gradual process as you get to know the intricacies that make up their individual personalities. This sets the reader up to feel the emotions of the characters as they face an uncertain fate, and throughout the book the author’s clear and methodical research shines with details such as specific views, locations, and—most notably—comprehensive descriptions of the airplanes Jack and Charlie pilot. This allows the reader to become deeply familiar with the motivations of the characters and the capabilities of the airplanes they fly.

The importance of their family gradually emerges, too, through their mother’s letters and their memories of their father who flew racing planes. The more readers learn, the more attachment they feel to these characters, giving weight to the growing danger they face.

Read More Here

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Dave Lager – Ro’s Handle

An overzealous rookie cop. A biased old-boys club. Will she have to shoot her way in? Ro Delahanty never let her dream of becoming a cop out of her sights. Between years of black-belt judo lessons and sharpshooting championships, she thought she could handle anything the academy threw her way. But as the only female rookie on the force, she soon discovers it’ll take a warrior’s determination to get out from behind the desk and into the action.

Knowing she’ll have to work twice as hard for half the respect, she refuses to let distractions like a new boyfriend block her target. And her sacrifices will be well worth it if she can secure a “handle” that brands her as an equal instead of the butt of a joke. When a simple field assignment spirals into a heavily-armed hostage standoff, will Ro and her trusty Sig Sauer P229 .357 aim true or will she miss the shot she’s trained her whole life to take?

Ro’s Handle is the first book in the gritty Ro Delahanty police procedural series. If you like tenacious heroines, crime scene drama, and high-octane shootouts, then you’ll love David Lager’s torn-from-the-headlines tale. Buy Ro’s Handle and test your aim on a straight-shooting criminal case today!

Find it on Amazon

Jode Millman – Hooker Avenue

2022 Clue 1st Place Winner

Being a Good Samaritan is hazardous.

Amid a violent Hudson Valley thunderstorm, Jessie Martin discovers a woman lying unconscious in a roadside ditch. The badly beaten victim, Lissie Sexton, a local prostitute, claims she’s escaped the attack of a killer.

Jessie’s more than a casual driver who passes by; she’s a criminal-defense attorney. And Lissie is more than an ordinary hooker. She’s the key witness in a cold case under investigation by Jessie’s estranged longtime friend, Detective Ebony Jones.

And now Ebony can’t find her witness. Jessie’s new boss has sent Lissie into hiding. If Jessie reveals Lissie’s location she compromises her client, her firm and her professional ethics. If she doesn’t, she risks alienating not just Ebony but the entire police department backing her.

A simple act of compassion forces Jessie to choose between her duty and her friend.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Mark A. Gibson – A Song that Never Ends

Home.

For over three hundred years, that’s what the Hamilton family has called a shrinking swath of farmland in the Appalachian foothills of South Carolina.

Home.

That’s the failing tobacco farm where Walter and Maggie Hamilton choose to raise their three children. Walter has big plans to make the farm more profitable, but his plans are interrupted by World War II and family heartbreak. Walter returns from the war a changed man and finds Maggie, too, has changed, neither of them for the better. But at least their family is together again at…

Home.

More than anything, that’s where their eight-year-old son, Jimmy Hamilton, wants to be. However, after an unspeakable tragedy, he’s sent away from the only life he’s ever known to live with a kindly uncle in North Carolina.

Home.

That’s where Jimmy is finally going to be, unless fate has plans of its own…

A Song that Never Ends is the first installment of the Hamilton Place series, an epic family saga extending from the Great Depression to present day. Through war and peace, love and loss, triumph and tragedy, follow the Hamilton family on their journey from a run-down farm in South Carolina, through the jungles of Vietnam, to the top of the world in New York City, and beyond the gardens of stone at Arlington.

From Chanticleer:

A Song That Never Ends, the first volume of a two part series by Mark A. Gibson, opens a dramatic fictional saga of the Hamilton family from the late 1930s Depression era, to 1967 and the Vietnam conflict. Here against the backdrop of a South Carolina tobacco farm, we come to witness a family in turmoil.

The calm and reserved Walter Hamilton and his rebellious, impulsive wife Maggie strive to build a life and raise a family. But the couple is tested by a series of misfortunes—miscarriages and stillbirths, and Walter’s enlistment during WWII leaving him with guilt-induced PTSD as he deals with the memory of fallen comrades.

At the center of this heartfelt story is James, the middle child, who at the tender age of eight is forced from his home due to a horrific accident and sent to live with a widower uncle.

James proves to be an extremely intelligent and talented youngster who longs for a connection to his family. In the meantime, he learns from his gracious uncle to deal with dire situations and unexpected circumstances in life, as well as the importance of having a charitable heart. Under the tutelage of this kind, caring, and nurturing man, the story begins to evolve into a coming-of-age tale.

Read More Here

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2023 Series First Place Winners!

Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

Got a great Fiction Book? The 2024 Series Book Awards are open through the end of October!

Submit to the Series Awards Today!

October 27, 2024
The 2023 Somerset First Place Winner Roundup for Literary and Contemporary Fiction!

The Somerset Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Contemporary and Literary Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, Judy Keeslar Santamaria’s book, You Can’t Fool a Mermaid, will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Somerset contest page year ’round!

The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!

The 2023 Somerset Winners were announced at the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2023 First Place Somerset Winners!

David Fitz-Gerald – If Its the Last Thing I Do

It’s 1975, and Misty Menard unexpectedly inherits her father’s business in Lake Placid, New York. It never occurred to her that she could wind up as the CEO of a good old-fashioned manufacturing company.

After years of working for lawyers, Misty knows a few things about the law. Her favorite young attorney is making a name for himself, helping traditionally owned companies become employee owned, using a little-known, newly-passed law. When he offers to help Misty convert Adirondack Dowel into an ESOP, pro bono, Misty jumps at the chance.

The employees are stunned, the management team becomes hostile, and the Board of Directors is concerned. Misfortune quickly follows the business transformation. A big customer files for bankruptcy. A catastrophic ice jam floods the business. Stagflation freezes the economy. A mysterious shrouded foe plots revenge. Misty’s family faces a crisis. The Trustee is convinced something fishy is going on, the appraiser keeps lowering the company’s value, and the banker demands additional capital infusions. Misty thought she had left her smoking addiction and alcoholism in the past, but when a worker’s finger is severed in an industrial accident, Misty relapses.

Disasters threaten to doom the troubled company. After surviving two world wars and the Great Depression, it breaks Misty’s heart to think that she has destroyed her father’s company. All she wants is to cement her father’s legacy and take care of the people who built the iconic local business. Can a quirky CEO and her loyal band of dedicated employee owners save an heirloom company from foreclosure, repossession, and bankruptcy?

From Chanticleer:

If It’s The Last Thing I Do by David Fitz-Gerald tells the story of Misty Menard, a 69-year-old woman who in 1975 returns to her upstate New York hometown to attend the funeral of her beloved father. She is dumbfounded to find she has inherited his business, making wooden dowels and buttons.

A receptionist for most of her adult life, with no business experience, she is at best ill-suited to the job. Personal problems hang over her as well, as a divorcee determined to keep sober and cigarette-free while in weekly therapy. But to keep her father’s memory alive, she is determined to keep the business afloat while she decides what to do with it in the long term. The last thing she imagined she would be doing on the cusp of 70 was running a business.

She turns the business into an employee-owned enterprise, an ESOP (employee stock ownership plan.) This gives her employees a shot at owning part or all of the business. The skill with which If It’s the Last Thing I Do integrates ESOP into its story, making it digestible, is among its many pleasures.

Read More Here

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J.A. Wright – Eat and Get Gas

Thirteen-year-old Evan Hanson is always the last in her family to know what’s going on—at least, that’s how it feels. Her father, Gene, who’s been meaner since he began serving in Vietnam, isn’t around much, and she likes it better that way. But then her brother, Adam, gets drafted and her anti-war mother, Endura, takes him across the border to Canada, leaving Evan alone with Gene and her younger, special needs brother, Teddy.

When he realizes Endura isn’t returning, Gene takes Evan and Teddy to Eat and Get Gas, his mother’s café and gas station in Hoquiam, Washington. There, as well as her no-nonsense but loving grandma, Evan encounters Aunt Vivian, a teasing but caring know-it-all; Uncle Frankie, injured in Vietnam and suffering from PTSD; Paco, the draft dodger Frankie is hiding; Hal and Hubert, the strange but gentle next-door neighbors who play the piano like virtuosos and help out when they’re needed; and Louanne, Frankie’s reserved, sensitive sister. She is drawn in particular to Louanne, who was disfigured by a car accident that killed the rest of her and Frankie’s family.

At Eat and Get Gas, Evan finds a new freedom, and she starts to carve out a place for herself by helping in the café and sorting mail for Uncle Frankie, who runs a postal route in addition to running the gas station. She eventually, too, learns some of the family secrets she’s been kept in the dark about—and comes to understand that her mother isn’t coming back any time soon.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

B. Lynn Carter – Jus Breathe

It started the day she heard Daddy slur, “She ain’t mine. You had the nerve to name her Dawn. Look at her! You shudda named her Midnight!” Then Daddy left… for good. And the loving music that had filled Dawn’s life went silent.

That was the day that a “Midnight” Duckling appeared in the mirror, took up residence in her chest, and controlled her ability to breathe. That was the day she learned to recognize “leaving time” . . . her superpower.

Couched in speculation, Jus Breathe is the tale of a young Black woman’s struggle to defy her inner “Duckling” and embrace her true self. Set in New York City during the turbulent sixties, it’s an improbable love story with precarious impulses, secret pasts, and inner demons.

Dawn, a survivor, flees her stepfather’s violent home. While struggling to go to college, she perfects sofa-surfing and hones her ability to leave situations in an instant. But in the mist of the chaotic uprising that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, serendipity spins Dawn into Danny’s world.

Toxically in love, no longer a “leaver,” Dawn realizes that in order to survive, she must break free of Danny’s dominance. But that Duckling, who’s allied with Danny, threatens to squeeze the life-breath from her if she dares to leave . . . that ugly, midnight-black Duckling, she has to kill.

From Chanticleer:

A young woman strives to survive without a home, even as she must fight herself and her instincts, in Jus Breathe by B. Lynn Carter.

“It’s more like I walked away,” I said, fractured memories of the day I left surging into my mind. “My mother married herself a husband. It’s like the tale of the evil stepfather, I guess.” The words were spilling out. “On the first day that we moved in with him, he almost broke my jaw. So I left. She had to let me; you know – the survival thing. She knew. We both knew.”

In New York City during the tempestuous 1960s, Dawn flees an abusive family situation after her father leaves the family and her mother remarries. Determined to stay in education, she couch-surfs with friends and explores her contacts through school. Dawn manages to live and even graduate. With the help of sympathetic teachers and a social worker who believes in her, she goes to college. Dawn finds friends and boyfriends and makes her own way toward adulthood.

And then her life goes awry again, though this time, she has a harder time choosing whether to run.

Read More Here

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Leslie Liautaud – Black Bear Lake

Adam Craig still has nightmares about the last summer he spent on the shores of northern Wisconsin’s Black Bear Lake.

The Chicago stock trader thinks he has it under control – until fallout from an explosive August in 1983 threatens his marriage. So Adam returns to remember that month-long family reunion, where he was busy wrestling with developing adolescence, a parent’s failing health, and watching his cousin Dannie’s desperate cries for help. At 14, Adam’s fear and anger were constantly threatening to pull him under while the current running through his family flowed, inevitably, toward tragedy.

It was too much to bear back then. But will reliving those painful memories hurt or help Adam as his adult life teeters on the edge of collapse?

Find it Locally and on Amazon

James Gish Jr. – When Blackbirds Dream

Jennifer Gold – Halfway to You

An ambitious podcaster and her reclusive interviewee embark on a life-altering journey to uncover long-lost truths in this immersive story about love, travel, and family secrets.

Forty years ago, aspiring writer Ann Fawkes left the United States for a Mediterranean adventure that opened her heart to travel and love. After a chance encounter propelled her into the publishing world, she released her first novel, an instant bestseller―and the last book she ever wrote.

Now, Ann lives a reclusive life in the San Juan Islands, hiding from the public and its probing questions. But when podcaster Maggie Whitaker convinces Ann to sit for an interview, Ann agrees on one condition: Maggie must keep her story off the record.

Determined to change Ann’s mind before she loses her job, Maggie agrees. But as she learns about Ann’s life―particularly the love affair that inspired her novel and the decisions she made in its wake―Maggie realizes Ann’s story intersects with her own in shocking, life-changing ways.

A sweeping, heart-wrenching novel that spans decades and continents, Halfway to You explores the distances we create between ourselves and the ones we love most and what it takes to finally bridge them.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Donna Norman-Carbone – All That Is Sacred

When Lynn and her husband set out for a weekend retreat to repair their rocky marriage, icy roads lead to a fatal collision that ends Lynn’s life. Stranded between the physical world and the afterlife, Lynn experiences the grief of her loved ones as they process her death.

Lynn’s life-long friends are tortured by not only loss but also unspoken wounds in their friendship. With clever influences from above, Lynn coaxes them to reunite at a beachside cottage on the one-year anniversary of her death. Determined to prompt their healing so they can help her family move on, Lynn reminds them of a sacred promise, hoping it will lead to truths they can’t face on their own. Will it be enough to remind them of the power of their bond?

As Lynn struggles to repair the relationships she left behind, she soon realizes the greatest challenge will be letting them go.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Nova Garcia – Not That Kind of Call Girl

Julia Navarro, a plucky newspaper call center manager, juggles like a pro—not tennis balls but quirky employees, cranky customers, and a sleazy boss. Pregnant and short on time to complete her “get ready for baby checklist,” Julia rushes to fill a job vacancy by hiring Carmen Cooper, a shy, inexperienced college student.

When Julia finds out Carmen never made it to work, she and a newsroom pal go undercover to find out why. Their shocking discovery leads them to cook up a half-baked plan to save Carmen from a Hollywood legend turned hermit, a man she calls “Papa.”

Will the gamble pay off or pave a path of twists, turns, and tragedy?

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2023 Somerset First Place Winners!

You can see our Spotlight on the Somerset Awards here!

Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

Got a great Fiction Book? The 2024 Somerset Book Awards are open through the end of October!

Submit to the Somerset Awards Today!

October 27, 2024
The 2024 M&M Mystery and Mayhem Long List for Cozy and Not-so-Cozy Mysteries!
The Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Light-Hearted and Cozy Mysteries. The M&M Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (The CIBAs).

Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring “mystery and mayhem,” amateur sleuthing, light suspense, travel mystery, classic mystery, British cozy, hobby sleuths, senior sleuths, or historical mystery, perhaps with a touch of romance or humor. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them. (For suspense, thriller, detective, crime fiction see our Clue Awards.)

These titles have moved forward in the first look rounds from all 2024 M&M entries to the 2024 M&M Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2024 M&M Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC25.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Bellingham Yacht Club sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2024 Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards novel competition for Cozy Mysteries!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- Tawn Skousen – Seashells and Scoundrels
- Anna St. John – Clocked Out
- A.J. McCarthy – Smoke and Secrets
- Brooke Maddaleni – Next Door
- Valerie Taylor – A Whale of a Murder
- David T. Isaak – Things Unseen
- Bob Kelly – Chicago Detective Jack Fallon in the Mystery of the Exotic Escort Murders
- ML Barrs – Parallel Secrets
- Claire Dowley – Mud
- S.A. Reeves – The Bookshop Mysteries: A Bitter Pill: A Small Town Cozy Mystery
- C.B. Wilson – Labradored to Death
- Marlene M. Bell – A Hush at Midnight
- E. W. Finke – The Sweet Bounty
- Brooke Maddaleni – Let Me Go
- MJ Mac – A Shiver on the River: A Kennedy Reeves Mystery
- Sallie Barr Palmer – A Dinner to Die For
- Andrea Barton – The Godfather of Dance
- Charlotte Stuart – In$urance to Die For (A John Smith Mystery Book 2)
- Don Stuart – Censure and Repeal: A Washington Statehouse Mystery
- Patrick E. Craig – The Boy In Blue Denim
- TK Sheffield – Model Ghost
- Nancy Raven Smith – Bushwhacked in the Outback – A Land Sharks Cozy Mystery Adventure
- Lori Roberts Herbst – Graven Images
- Jennifer S. Alderson – Collecting Can Be Murder
- Jordan Garde – Final Rest: A Windmerle Falls Mystery
- Ann Philipp – The Zucchini Fairy Murder
- Kris Courtney – Florida Retirement Is Murder
- Gail Noble-Sanderson – A Cup of Revenge – A Drew Davies Railway Mystery – Book 2
- Elizabeth Crowens – Bye, Bye Blackbird
- Roxanne Dunn – Murder Richly Deserved
- Jeanne Matthews – If Two Are Dead
- M. K. Graff – Death in the Orchard: A Trudy Genova Mystery
- Aaron Woolsey – The Butler Did It
- Brandon Lawniczak – Lake Level
- Timothy Stecker – The Moth
- Joy Ann Ribar – The Medusa Murders
- Shannon Bennett Riester – Heists and Horoscopes
- Christine Knapp – Murder on the Books
- Lorenzo Petruzziello – The Taste of Datura
- Margaret A. Blenkush – Welcome to Bellechester
- Mary Seifert – Creeps, Cache & Corpses
- Robert Sells – An Affair with Murder
- Kathleen Donnelly – Hunting The Truth
- TK Sheffield – Model Wave
- Tracy Carter – Lawyers, Dogs, and Money
- Colette Tajemna – The Corpse in the Trash Room
- D.R. Ransdell – Dervla Alarms the Nanas
- Lyndsay Constable – The Puzzled Heiress
- M. S. Spencer – In the Crosshairs: The Body on Leffis Key
- Chris Chan – Nessie’s Nemesis
- Steve Lindahl – Ginger’s Shoes
- Rolynn Anderson – When Winds Howl
- Karen Gilleland – Diamond and the French Blue
- E. Alan Fleischauer – Sherlock and The Tiger: Book 2, The Egg and More
- Michelle Bennington – Dumpster Dying
- Jonny Thompson – The Limestone Manor
- Miriam Verbeek – The Forest
- Zaida Alfaro – In the Key of Dead: A Miami Music Mystery
- Kari Bovee – The Pryce of Conceit
- L. J. Aldon – Riddle of the Haunted Hoard
- Lori Robbins – Murder in Fourth Position
- Luke Swanson – Curtains on A Christmas Carol
- Sharon Lynn – Death Takes a Fall: A Cotswold Crimes Mystery
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

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Congratulations once more to the 2023 M&M Grand Prize Winner

A Haunting at Linley

By Michelle Cox

Click here to see the full list of 2023 M&M Book Award Winners for Cozy Mysteries.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 M&M Book Awards for Suspense and Thriller Mysteries.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 3 – 6, 2025! Save the Date for Registration!

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 annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!
October 25, 2024
Seven Days Remain to Submit to the 2024 Book Series Awards!
The final Divisions of this years Award cycle close in 7 days!

One Week left to submit!

Don’t let your book miss out!

The Series Award for Genre Fiction and Non-Fiction

Only 7 days left to submit your books to these prestigious CIBA Divisions and embark on an extraordinary journey to success. With over $30,000 in prizes awarded annually, now is the time to make your mark!

The Series Award for Genre Fiction and Non-Fiction are still open!

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 Series Awards for Genre Fiction!
- John J. Spearman – FitzDuncan
- James Hutson-Wiley – The Sugar Merchant
- Alice McVeigh – Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen Series
- Tom Burkhalter – No Merciful War
- Dave Lager – The Ro Delahanty Novels
- Jode Millman – The Queen City Crimes Series
- Mark A. Gibson – Hamilton Place
And a huge round of applause for the 2023 Series Awards Grand Prize Winner:

Ghosts Along The Oregon Trail

by David Fitz-Gerald

Your book deserves to be discovered

Don’t Delay! Enter Today!

The Series Awards
October 24, 2024
Alexandrea Weis 10 Question Interview with Chanticleer – Mystery, Thriller, Animal Conservation, and New Orleans

Thriller and Horror Author Alexandrea Weis sat down for a 10-Question Interview with Chanticleer!

We had the pleasure of speaking with Alexandrea Weis recently. The author of more than a dozen books, her YA Thriller Have You Seen Me? took home the 2022 Clue Grand Prize for Thriller/Suspense. Weis is an award-winning author, screenwriter, advanced practice register nurse, and historian born and raised in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Here’s what we talked about:

Chanticleer: Thank you so much for making the time for this interview. To start, when did you realize you that you were an author?

Weis: Probably after I published my third book. It wasn’t a fluke anymore, and I had readers interested in my stories. I began to believe I could do this professionally. Being an author is really a mindset, but it doesn’t happen overnight. You put your first book on the market and doubt you can do it again. By the third book, you’re looking forward to writing your next story.

Chanticleer: I love the idea of embracing the author mindset and the way in which you slowly build up confidence. What sort of stories do you write? What genre do you write and what led you there?

Weis: Thriller/Horror. It was a progression for me to this genre, but I love the challenge of tying all the elements together and keeping the reader guessing about the outcome. It also allows me to utilize my nursing experience by incorporating forensic aspects that are so important when writing thrillers. In addition, I write about the area where I live, Southeast Louisiana, as often as I can. We have such a rich history that lends itself beautifully to this genre.

You can get a visceral sense of Weis’ genre from the books on her site.

Chanticleer: Thriller and Horror could definitely interact with nursing experience in some fascinating ways. When you’re writing how do you interact with the conventional rules of writing?

Weis: I believe that when you break the rules, you create an exciting and unpredictable story. That doesn’t mean breaking away from the expectations of specific genres—readers expect certain things—but I try to push those boundaries.

Chanticleer: We owe so much innovation to people who push boundaries. What about outside of writing? Tell us a little about your life outside of being an author.

Weis: I’m a permitted and certified wildlife rehabber with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, so when I’m not writing, I’m working with orphaned and injured wildlife. With Hurricane Francine passing through our area recently, I’ve been busy with displaced babies after the storm. You haven’t lived until you’re surrounded by hungry baby squirrels. I love working with wildlife and rescuing domestics as well.

Chanticleer: That sounds both adorable and also quite difficult. The number of hurricanes and “once in a lifetime storms” we experience these days is terrible. Sorry for the tangent. How do you come up with your ideas for a story?

Weis: I am constantly coming up with ideas. I can drive to the grocery store and have a new idea for a book series. I love working history into my stories and often find ideas when reviewing Louisiana folklore. I was raised in the French Quarter, so the history of the area has always become ingrained. We lived in an old Creole Cottage with a rich past representing the French and Spanish influences on the city. I was also raised around Cajuns and learned a great deal about tales associated with the swamps, including fanciful legends blended with historical facts. It’s a colorful place to live, and everywhere you turn, there is a terrifying account about a haunted stretch of marshland or the ghostly encounters inside a Creole cottage in the French Quarter. It is fodder for the imagination and has always inspired me to weave the magic of where I live into my books.

Chanticleer: That’s so cool! We just had a post celebrating Anne Rice’s birthday, and I know she grew up in the same area. So, moving from how you come up with your ideas, how structured would you say you are in your writing?

Weis: I usually have a pretty detailed outline, especially when working on a thriller. So many elements need to be addressed and fed into the ending; you need a well-thought-out progression of the storyline. When writing outside of that genre, such as when I’m tackling a romance or paranormal story, I’m not as strict in sticking with my outline.

Chanticleer: I love outlines as suggestions for the path rather than hard and fast. What about craft – how do you grow as an author?

Weis: Take risks. For me that was writing in genres I wasn’t comfortable with. I started romance and had reservations about moving into thrillers, but once I wrote my first one, I found the challenge addictive. I’m always looking to move into an area I’m not familiar with to learn and grow. I’ve also stretched my creative chops into writing screenplays and television shows. It’s a different form of writing, but it also teaches you to put as much into a scene while using the least words possible. It also helps hone dialogue skills.

Chanticleer: That courage to try new things is an inspiration. What new things are coming up as you continue to grow and challenge yourself?

Weis: I have two series I’m working on. The St. Benedict Series, with Lucas Astor is set around my hometown of Covington, Louisiana, along the Bogue Falaya River. It’s a thriller/horror series about a powerful family and their fall from grace. I love this series and its characters. I’m also working on The Basin Series. The first book, Cypress Hill, will be out next year. This is a spooky thriller set in the creepy Atchafalaya Basin and filled with local legends. The cast of characters are close to my heart and unforgettable.

The Bogue Falaya River

Chanticleer: Those both sound amazing! We’ll definitely keep an eye out for them. As we prepare to wrap up, I’m curious: What is the most important thing a reader can do for an author?

Weis: Let us know what you think! Either by review, email, posting on social media, or whatever a reader feels comfortable with, but please reach out. Every writer loves to hear from readers, especially if you loved the book. You so often work in a bubble, and to get words of encouragement, or even criticism, from a reader is valuable feedback. Writers always listen to what readers have to say. So don’t be shy.

Chanticleer: Writing truly happens with a community with reviews and outreach being one of the best ways for readers to participate with writers. Thank you for that advice. Finally, at the end of the day, what excites you most about writing?

Weis: There’s nothing better than finishing a book, bringing all the elements together, and realizing you’ve created a, hopefully, compelling story. It’s an incredibly satisfying experience. That’s what keeps me going.

Alexandrea Weis won the Clue 2022 Grand Prize for her YA Thriller Have You Seen Me?

Weis is a member of the International Thriller Writers (ITW) and Horror Writers Association (HWA). She lives with her husband outside of New Orleans where she is a permitted/certified wildlife rehabber with the Louisiana Wildlife & Fisheries and rescues orphaned and injured animals.

You can connect via her website, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

October 24, 2024
The 2024 Clue Long List for Suspense/Thriller Fiction
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Awards is a genre division of Chanticleer International Book Awards and Novel Competitions (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 first look rounds from all 2024 CLUE entries to the 2024 Clue Book Awards LONG LIST. These entries are now in competition for the 2024 Clue Short List. The Short Listers will compete for the Semi-Finalists positions. FINALISTS will be chosen from the Semi-Finalists and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference, CAC25.

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 5th, 2025 in beautiful Bellingham, WA at the Bellingham Yacht Club sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2024 Clue Book Awards novel competition for Suspense and Thriller!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works!
- Christopher Mele – Goodwill’s Secrets
- Pamela Beason – If Only
- Jeff Nania – Musky Run
- John DeDakis – Enemies Domestic
- George St. Georges – AI: Opening
- Charlotte Stuart & Don Stuart – Midnight for Justice
- Hannah D Sharpe – Between Lies and Revenge
- Susan Rogers and John Roosen – Tree Pose
- Meredith Forde – The Protectee
- M.K. Tod – That Was Then
- Cathi Stoler – Out of Time: A Nick Donahue Adventure
- Tony Ollivier – The Tokyo Diversion
- D.W. Layton – Otello’s Oil: A Saga of Blood and Oil
- Lisa Towles – Codex
- T.O. Paine – The Delusion
- M.M. Cochran – The Button Collector
- Peter Berk – First Line of Defense
- Allison McKenzie – The Unexpected Hostage
- Sandra J. Jackson – Letting Go of September
- Charlotte Stuart – Raven’s Legacy
- Lisa Malice – Lest She Forget
- Corey Lynn Fayman – The Esmeralda Goodbye
- Marie Still – My Darlings
- Ralph R. “Rick” Steinke – Change of Mission: A Jake Fortina Series Novel
- Jeannee Sacken – The Rule of Thirds
- Steven Walker – Gunny Mac Private Detective Trouble in Chinatown
- Patrick Greenwood – Shores of Okinawa
- Chad Boudreaux – Homecoming Queen: A Small Town Political Thriller
- Betsy Hartmann – Last Place Called Home
- J T Owens – The Fisherman Returns
- Ron Singerton – Ruptured
- Michael Grigsby – Forecasting Error
- Jeffrey Jay Levin – Deep Cover, The Unknowing Agent
- Dr. Sandra Tanner – Spirited Unraveling
- Saralyn Richard – Murder Outside the Box
- Sean Hagerty – Jones Point
- Kathryn Caraway – Unfollow Me
- Nannette Potter – Pierce the Darkness
- TJ Stecker – The Moth
- Mike Van Horn – The Fireteam
- Amy Morris-Young – Doolittle 2
- Dana J. Summers – Hell’s Heart
- AG Flitcher – Black Rose Cocoon
- Dave Lager – Revelations
- Carl Vonderau – Saving Myles
- Robert Allen Stowe – The Fires of Rubicon
- Chris Chan – She Ruined Our Lives
- Ray Collins – The General’s Briefcase
- Ray Collins – Motive for Murder
- Lo Monaco – Fallen In A Dark Uneven Way
- Lisa Towles – Terror Bay
- Sharon Michalove – Dead in the Alley
- Colleen Coyne – Bewept
- Shanessa Gluhm – A River of Crows
- Miriam Verbeek – The Forest
- Michael Pronko – Shitamachi Scam
- Wendy Bayne – Dark Entity
- Steve Lazarus – Call Me Sonny
- Sharon Lynn – IoT Gaslight
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, it is easier for us to tag authors when they have Liked and Followed us on Facebook.

Please click here to visit our page to LIKE, COMMENT, and SHARE on Facebook.

We will also be promoting this list in our Newsletter, which you can sign up for here!

Congratulations once more to the 2023 Clue Grand Prize Winner

The Other Murder

By Kevin G. Chapman

Click here to see the full list of 2023 Clue Book Award Winners for Suspense and Thriller Mysteries.

We are now accepting submissions into the 2025 Clue Book Awards for Suspense and Thriller Mysteries.

Please click here for more information.

Winners will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Awards Ceremony that is sponsored by the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

April 3 – 6, 2025! Save the Date for Registration!

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 annual conference as we enter our second decade and discover why!
October 23, 2024
THE LAST MAN: A Novel of the 1927 Santa Claus Bank Robbery by Thomas Goodman – Historical Thrillers, Criminal History, Great Depression

In The Last Man: A Novel of the 1927 Santa Claus Bank Robbery by Thomas Goodman, four men in a small, depression-era Texas town lay in wait to carry out their unique plan for a holiday heist.

It’s December 23 and a man in a Santa Claus suit walks into a bank. But rather than his bag full of Christmas surprises, he’s brought a gun. With the element of surprise on their side, the robber and his two partners would collect the cash, while another partner waited in the getaway car. It all seemed so simple.

At the time, Texas bankers—in order to deter crimes such as this—promised a $5,000 reward for any dead bandits, “and not one cent” for the capture of a live one. Should anything go wrong, the possibilities for disaster were clear as a Greek tragedy, but what could go wrong?

Guns blaze within minutes of entering the bank.

Robbers are shot. Two lawmen—including a popular sheriff—die. In swift order, the criminals are captured, and Texas-style justice insures the death penalty is on the table for all four men.

But that’s just the beginning of this 20^thcentury western crime novel.

Based on a true story, we learn the sad tales of the four men who came together, mostly as strangers, to commit the robbery. We follow each of them through their individual court trials, as the prosecutors howl for bloody vengeance and the defense battles to keep each of them from the electric chair.

In the end, they all are found guilty and put on the court’s—and the public’s—“naughty” list. Two face the harshest possible punishment, and one dies at the hands of a violent mob who drags him from his jail cell and hangs him after an attempted prison escape goes terribly wrong.

However, one of the four does survive his sentence.

Despite multiple escape attempts and clashes with the law, the last of the four men avoids the harsh sentences handed down to the other robbers and instead gets a shot at a real life even with his criminal past.

This book intrigues readers with each robber’s individual odyssey, their prison lives, escape attempts, and the unrelenting searches to bring them back.

Particularly gut-wrenching are the descriptions of life for at least one of the men on Death Row. He awaits execution behind what the prisoners refer to as “the little green door,” an iron door that closes behind each condemned man as he faces the grim fate that looms just a few steps away.

One of these condemned men watches as 13 of his fellow prisoners are executed. Man after man, they take that long walk to the little green door as gospel music from an old needle-drop phonograph announces the electric chair. We feel his anxiety as he wonders how many days are left until he will walk the same path. And as he watches the others take their final steps, he is propelled to a horribly rash and dark act.

The Last Man brings readers into the center of these men’s lives through a poignant selection of details.

Goodman not only presents the facts of their lives—he delivers the quality of those lives. These are no heroes. There’s not much to sympathize with. But they all deserve better than what they got under the harsh hand of Texas justice.

Fans of true crime should put this book at the top of their list.

The Last Man by Thomas Goodman won Grand Prize in the 2023 CIBA Laramie Awards for Americana fiction.

Thomas Goodman’s The Last Man is on sale as a Kindle ebook for 99¢ until Saturday, Oct 26th, 2024.

October 23, 2024
The 2023 First Place Global Thriller Roundup for High Stakes Suspense!

The Global Thriller Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of High Stakes Thrillers. The Grand Prize Winner, Ralph R. ‘Rick’ Steinke’s book, Jake Fortina and the Roman Conspiracy, will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Global Thriller contest page year ’round!

The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the continued love and promotion for your book!

The 2023 Global Thriller Winners were announced at the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2023 First Place Global Thriller Winners!

D.L. Wilburn Jr. – The God Protocol: Dragon

In the simmering summer of 2023, as the United States and China silently battle for supremacy in Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence, the world teeters on the brink of a technological singularity. Amidst this high-stakes arena, George Isaacson, a seemingly inconsequential social media conspiracy theorist, stumbles upon a trail of secrets. He spins a tale weaving together NASA’s clandestine findings, whispers of First Contact with extraterrestrial beings, and a shadowy global cover-up. Skepticism meets his claims, yet as the veil of deception lifts, George’s narrative reveals startling truths, thrusting him into the spotlight as an unlikely hero.

‘The God Protocol’ is not just a novel; it’s a technothriller odyssey that interlaces the enigmatic lore of the Anunnaki with the cutting-edge realms of AI Sentience and Nanotechnology. It’s a story of international conspiracy and cover-ups, set in a near future where advanced technology blurs the lines between myth and reality. Prepare for a journey that escalates into an awe-inspiring finale, challenging the very fabric of existence and leaving readers gasping for air.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Glenn Dyer – Trust No One

Algiers. Winter 1943. Conor Thorn is devastated. He’s been fired from the OSS. His wife, Emily, has been fired from MI6. They allowed their morals to bend certain truths concerning the outcome of their last mission. Forever dedicated to defeating Axis powers, these skilled operatives jump at the chance to secretly help General Eisenhower deal with a political time bomb threatening Allied harmony and to redeem their honorable standing. To recover a rumored archive holding the truth about an assassination plot, they must travel deep into perilous Axis territory.

In the crosshairs of those determined to keep the information out of Allied hands, Conor and Emily fall victim to a violent assault. Though the resulting injuries leave him severely concussed and confused, Conor refuses to stand down while his beloved ventures deeper into danger.

Can Conor and Emily piece together a political puzzle in time to keep Allied unity from fracturing?

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Mark James – Friendship Games

An American aircraft carrier blows up and sinks in the Persian Gulf. Was it an accident? A terrorist attack? Does it matter?

Maybe not.

Not after decades of hostility and brinkmanship between the United States and Iran. And certainly not after a known Iranian-funded and supported terrorist organization launches an attack on an American naval facility in the middle of rescue operations.
Iran is convinced that the United States is about to embark on a full-scale war and seek nothing short of regime change. They aren’t wrong. Iran strikes first. And they have some tricks up their sleeve. But nothing ever goes to plan.

This book is a warning.

The next war may be like no other in American history.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Randall Krzak – Ultimate Escalation

Punjabi militants seek to distance themselves from Indian and Pakistani dominance and interference. With the dissolution of British India in 1947, families were ripped apart as the Punjabi region was split between the two countries. Limited attacks within each country caused further persecution and heartache. The militants have no idea how to achieve their desires–until the appearance of Vladimir Aleksandrovich Nikolaev, a disgraced Spetsnaz colonel. He offers the militants a means to spark a conflict between the two nuclear powers. Russian subs sold on the black market and manned by Iranian and Russian sailors will surface off the coasts of the two countries and destroy Karachi and Mumbai. Propaganda machines will levy accusations against each country, leading to escalation of hostilities, pushing the countries to the brink of nuclear war. The Bedlam organization fields their three teams to counter the violence and seek to restore calm before it’s too late. Will they be successful, or will South Asia become a smoking ruin?

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Susan Rogers and John Roosen – Cobra Pose

Australia is a surfers’ paradise … but this nefarious surfing on the ‘net’ … will destroy the global financial system. It’s not just a rippling ‘scam’ job. Has Australia been infiltrated at levels they’ve never known?

Elaina Williams uses a Cobra Pose in her Yoga studio to boost her energy – she will need it! Elaina’s father, Edward, is in trouble. He’s disappeared.

As a solicitor and now yoga instructor, Elaina drags Ric, a man she’s fallen for, into the bursting web of techno-thrilling intrigue.

Ric Peters has just returned from a disastrous trip to Indonesia. Ric bills himself as a photojournalist. Elaina suspects he shoots more than just photographs. Ric has insight into the journey he and Elaina must take. He knows Elaina isn’t ready for what’s going to happen. There are too many moving parts for him to control.

Time is running out before The Cobra and The Wolf strike with their heist. They are extending their fangs towards Australia’s ‘golden coastline’ to bite into and destabilise financial institutions worldwide.

Find it on Amazon

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2023 Global Thrillers First Place Winners!

You can see our Spotlight on the Global Thriller Grand Prize Winners, including Ralph R ‘Rick’ Steinke’s incredible book Jake Fortina and the Roman Conspiracy here.

Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

Got a great High Stakes Suspense Thriller? The 2024 Global Thriller Book Awards are open through the end of October!

Submit to the Global Thriller Awards Today!

October 22, 2024
Introducing the COVER DESIGN AWARDS – a new Division of the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards Program
As far as book sales go, what could be almost or maybe more important than the content of a book?

THE COVER!

And that is why TEAM CHANTICLEER is offering the newest division of the CIBA’s

Chanticleer Cover Design Awards

Powerful and captivating book cover designs compel potential readers to click on the buy link, pick up the book displayed at bookstores, attract readers at book fairs and events. (Blue Ribbons also do a great job attracting potential readers at book fairs!)

How do you make your book stand out in a sea of books?

Kiffer’s photo of one of her many bookstore visits.

Village Books, Bellingham, WA

FIRST, the COVER!

And, secondly, did you notice the little tags called Shelf Talkers that are located under some books but not all books? Chanticleer Shelf Talkers are available to everyone who has had a book reviewed by Chanticleer or has placed in the advance Levels of Achievement of the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards. We send a set of four physical Shelf Talkers as well as a digital version that authors can easily print. Bookstores love these personal touches, and we’re always happy to update the design if they ask for something a little different. Most places even welcome using gentle adhesive tape to hang your Shelf Talker below where your books are shelved.

Chanticleer Shelf Talkers

Studies have shown that book buyers make their decision to look at a book with more interest by looking at the cover for three seconds or less.

Your book cover has three seconds to attract its reader. Three Seconds!

How do do you make your book standout in a sea of books?
- Click here for link to an article on the FIVE ESSENTIAL BOOK COVER ELEMENTS.
- And here is a second article: What is the Single Most Important Publishing Tool for Authors?
- Bookseller Confidential (This is what Paul Hanson, owner of Village Books said about the article: ““Kiffer, your Bookseller Confidential article is SPOT ON. Thank you for spreading good and accurate information!” Best, Paul Hanson, Village Books
Whether the work is fiction or non-fiction, book covers should convey emotion first. The cover should have a visual impact that grabs the potential reader and makes him/her want to know more about what is inside. The cover must be enticing!

Your book’s cover design will (or should) influence your marketing materials and promotion strategies.

Perhaps you have attended one of Chanticleer’s annual authors conferences or have attended one of my presentations (c’est moi, Kiffer Brown) presentations on cover design. If you have, you will note how strongly I promote the advantages of effective book cover design.

That is why we decided to offer the Chanticleer Book Cover Design Awards in Fiction and Non-Fiction.

The first awards will be announced at the 2024 CIBA Ceremony and Banquet that will hosted on Saturday, April 5th, at the 2025 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

Click here for more information on the COVER DESIGN AWARDS for NON-FICTION works.

Click here for more information on the COVER DESIGN AWARDS for FICTION works.

Click here for more information about the Chanticleer International Book Awards program.

As always, please email info@ChantiReviews.com with any questions or suggestions!
October 22, 2024
The 2023 Shelley Book Awards First Place Roundup for Paranormal Fiction!

The Shelley Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Supernatural Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, Lydia M Hawke’s book, Becoming Crone will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Shelley contest page year ’round!

The best part about being a Chanticleer Int’l Book Award Winner is the love and attention you get all year ‘round!

The 2023 Shelley/Paranormal Winners were announced at the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference in April, and you can see the official winners post here!

Join us in celebrating the 2023 Shelley (formerly Paranormal) First Place Paranormal Winners!

Joe Lyon – The Molossus of Old Man Moyer

Former convict Jimmy Myer finds himself in a precarious situation, transporting the corpse of a well-known psychic, when an unexpected detour brings him face-to-face with the Molossus. This mythical creature is rumored to grant its keeper immense wealth, albeit at a harrowing price—the inevitable violent demise of its host. Currently, the beast is in the possession of Old Man Moyer, a billionaire with a sinister reputation, who is hell-bent on escaping this fatal fate.

As Jimmy becomes entangled in this eerie narrative, he navigates a world filled with mysterious mediums, determined detectives, and ghostly onlookers. The journey is fraught with danger and intrigue, leading to a gripping climax that forces readers to ponder a disturbing question: Can any treasure justify the cost of one’s life?
The Molossus of Old Man Moyer unfolds as a mesmerizing tale of greed, destiny, and the supernatural, challenging the boundaries between the material and the mystical.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Jo Deniau – Hologram

Ever since holographer David Leone turned forty, he’s feasted on spicy memories of his lost love, “Lu,” who’s now a famous movie star. When the ghost image of a child appears in a holographic portrait of a bride and groom, David’s determined to capture clues to Lu’s traumatic childhood. But he must first invent a device to pre-screen space for holographic traces. Funded by the bride’s millionaire father, David goes back to Lu’s old home. But he’s ill-prepared to survive the hazards of this staging ground, including the home’s mercenary owners, a lapse in his tree-climbing prowess, and Lu’s return to Circleville.

A threat less obvious to David is that his discoveries might make him famous-for all the wrong reasons.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Nola Nash – House of Mirrors

Sometimes the only ones who see us for who we truly are, are the mirrors.

The small historic town of Franklin, Tennessee, hides a grisly past behind its pristine Hallmark movie façade. While the glories of the town’s history and its architecture are meticulously preserved, the hauntings left behind by the darker side of that history are kept tucked away in the local ghost tours. When a new couple moves into the Bennett House, the town is brought face-to-face with the spirits of their past that have been trapped for a century and a half in mirror prisons that now reside on the Bennett House walls. Can Ruby Baxter, local tour guide, historian, and reluctant medium help the lost souls find the homes they belong in and peace with their own pasts so they can finally rest? Or will town prejudices against the spirits hold them hostage? Will the mirrors help Ruby find her purpose and finally see herself as others do?

Woven through the modern quest for helping the souls of the past find their voices and peace, are the Five Bloodiest Hours of the American Civil War – The Battle of Franklin. Mirroring events in the modern tale, the story of humanity, fear, and sacrifice of the soldiers and citizens whose experiences and names were left out of the history books is finally told so that they, too, can be seen for who they truly were.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Claire Fraise – They Stay

There’s no way she’s going to believe in ghosts. But when her sibling is kidnapped, the only clues she has come from the other side…

Shiloh Oleson loves her six-year-old brother more than life. So the headstrong teen’s world shatters when he goes missing after tee-ball practice and her abusive father gives up the search. But the devastated girl doesn’t know what to think when a weirdo classmate claims a dead spirit told her his location.

Outright rejecting any paranormal garbage, Shiloh and her friends frantically investigate a similar disappearance in the hope of uncovering the truth. But all the desperate teenager unearths are disturbing secrets about her family, the school… and a sinister force on her tail.

Can the determined young woman bring the little boy home before all hell breaks loose?

They Stay is the first book in the bone-chilling They Stay YA supernatural thriller series. If you like relatable characters, unearthly mayhem, and endings that leave you wanting more, then you’ll love Claire Fraise’s spine-tingling story.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Fionn Mac Meldrum – The Shadow of Banshee Hill

In 1818, Cillian Valour, an Irish rebel’s son with limited prospects, is determined to marry his longtime love, Martha Ashworth, daughter of a local landlord. When her father forbids their engagement, Cillian turns to the heavens for help in an act of desperation-but it is a mysterious stranger that answers his call. After accepting an offer too good to refuse, Cillian and Martha are forever changed. Together, the star-crossed lovers turn away from the light and cut a swath of horror and misery across the land-until one night in Rome, the unthinkable happens.

Emily Corvo’s life in modern-day Boston is upended by the murder of her mother and the disappearance of her father. Learning that her mother was callously slaughtered by something not of this world, Emily vows to rescue her father and avenge her mother by hunting down those responsible. But she may find that only by trusting the enemy can she quench her thirst for vengeance.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

James McKenna- An October’s Journey: Poe’s Final Gift

In this elegant work of literary fantasy, a young, 19th century attorney receives a strange birthday gift from his friend, Edgar Allan Poe, who convinces him to defend a woman and her two grown children who have been arrested for practicing witchcraft. The trial is to be held in an old Puritan town that has somehow “fallen out of time,” and the verdict of the case will determine the fate of many more than just the three souls on trial. Navigating as a stranger in an even stranger land, he must piece together the truth of the most bizarre case of his career.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Thank you for joining us to celebrate the 2023 Paranormal First Place Winners!

Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

Got a great Fiction Book? The 2024 Shelley Book Awards are open through the end of October!

Submit to the Shelley Awards Today!

October 22, 2024