Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: Mark Souza

CONFESSIONS FROM the CONSORTIUM of ROGUE GENE SCIENTISTS by Charles and Cassandra Doe – Metaphysical Science Fiction, Medical Fiction, One-Hour Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Reads

Confessions from the Consortium of Rogue Gene Scientists is presented as a letter to guide the surviving children of a pair of married scientists who have died as a result of a mysterious genetic illness. The letter is an attempt to prepare the children, explain who and what they are, and what they will likely encounter and why.

I would be remiss if I didn’t start with what Confessions from the Consortium of Rogue Gene Scientists isn’t before I try to describe what it is. It isn’t a novel or novella. It is around 6,200 words. In literary terms, that’s about 25 pages. It is a mixture of poetry and rational reasoning that borders on brilliant.

The children’s parents are genetic engineers and researchers. The children are the products of their parents’ work. They are genetically engineered, even though the practice is against the law. Despite the intense societal backlash against the genetic engineering of people, it was the only way to assure the children would not be afflicted with the diseases that killed their parents.

Confessions from the Consortium of Rogue Gene Scientists is written in the first-person, past tense in the voice of the children’s last surviving parent, their father. The observations within it are revealing; observations on the nature of man, the nature of life, and the root of why things are the way they are. This short story will open your eyes and make you think, and maybe make you a little sad.

In a sense, this remarkable, thought-provoking treatise serves as a chilling warning to what the children can expect in the future—a warning, perhaps, not only for the scientists’ children but for us all. In a very real way, the letter feels like the start of something bigger, a strong foundation for a groundbreaking work. We can only wait and see. What is certain, the work may be short, but it will stay with you for a very long time.

March 20, 2020
VANOPS: The LOST POWER by Avanti Centrae – Crime Mystery, High-Stakes Thriller, International Thriller & Suspense

Avanti Centrae takes readers on an action-packed gallop around the globe in her debut award-winning novel, VanOps: The Lost Power.

Maddy Marshall, 31-year-old app designer and aikido instructor, and her twin brother, Will, have been summoned to their father’s Napa Valley winery. He has something important he needs to tell them.

The estranged twins haven’t seen each other in a while. Will, now in Brazil and newly married, has brought his wife Maria with him. As Will and Maddy catch up in the driveway, a shot rings out. They rush into the house to find their father and Maria have been shot. Maria is dead. Their father clings to life long enough to pass along a family secret. They witness a blond man racing away from the winery in a black BMW.

Will and Maddy are descendants of the Argones bloodline and related to the current king of Spain, and now they must seek out a woman, a lawyer whom their father trusted, to receive the first clue in a quest to fulfill their birthright.

On their way to the lawyer’s office, Will and Maddy are ambushed by the same blond man they’re sure murdered their father and Maria. After a short chase, they evade him when his car crashes through a guardrail, plummets to the bottom of a ravine and bursts into flame. Will and Maddy waste no time hightailing it to the lawyer’s office, relieved to have the killer off their trail.

The lawyer has a package for each of them, filled with gold, diamonds, cash, and a letter. The letter tells them they are to use the money to fund their quest, which begins in Spain, where their great uncle, the king, will give them their first clue. They are to find an ancient relic of great power that has been safeguarded by their family for centuries. They must not only unravel the clues as to its location but must also pass a series of tests along the way designed to show they are worthy of possessing so much power.

As Maddy glances out the window, she is shocked to see the blond sniper charging the stairs of the lawyer’s office. They hastily escape out the back door. How did he get a car? How did he track them? Is his interest in them somehow linked to the relic? And how would he even know of its existence?

Will and Maddy need a place to hide out, someplace safe where they can rest and think. They destroy their cell phones just in case that’s how they’ve been tracked and decide to head to Lake Tahoe and their old childhood home. While in Tahoe, they bump into an old friend from high school, Bear Thorenson. Bear used to have a crush on Maddy back in the day, though she never encouraged his affection. He is now a Marine and filled out quite a bit. They soon find out he’s also a history buff. Will and Maddy confide in him about the mysterious man on their tail. Bear agrees to accompany them to offer protection. And the trio is soon off for Spain.

Avanti Centrae has a knack for keeping the action moving and keeping her characters in peril. The stakes are high, and there’s no telling what’s around the next corner. If you fall in love with the characters, this is the first in a series so you will be able to get your next fix in the near future.

Van Ops: The Lost Power won Grand Prize in the 2017 CIBAs for Paranormal novels.

November 17, 2019
THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN by Hallie Ephron – Literary Mystery, Family Saga, Aging Parents

Evie Ferrante is busy assembling her first exhibit as Senior Curator of the Five Burroughs Historical Society. It’s a big deal and she’s up for the challenge. She’s overseeing the placement of a B-25 airplane engine which had been found at the bottom of an elevator shaft in the Empire State Building. It happened to land there after a crash in the ’40s. The theme of the exhibit is how fire and disaster shaped New York City.

As Fate would have it, that’s when disaster pays Evie a call in the form of a text message from her sister Ginger, It’s Mom. Call me.

And what a disaster it is.

Evie must drop everything to fly out and help her sister sort through their dysfunctional alcoholic mother’s life. As Ginger deals with Mom at the hospital, Evie deals with her mother’s house, which is much worse than she feared. Outside, it’s tagged with graffiti and the stairs have almost rotted through. Inside, it’s like a homeless encampment, filled with garbage, dead food containers, empty liquor bottles, cockroaches, moths, spiders, and reeking of decay. Evie digs in. As she cleans, she searches her mother’s records trying to assess her financial and insurance situations and stumbles upon envelopes stuffed with cash, thousands of dollars just lying around.

Where did the money come from, and why is it just sitting there?

Ephron is a talented writer and does a splendid job of creating a sense of place with richly drawn characters embroiled in realistic predicaments. At its heart, the story is a mystery wrapped around an issue so many now face, caretaking for parents in physical and mental decline, and the burden and stress it puts on families. We feel it, we recognize it, we understand it. Ephron is writing fiction with a gravitas rooted in reality and that’s why her books are so good.

The story unfolds naturally and isn’t force. One mystery seems to lead to another linking the lives of the two main characters and none of their problems are trivial or easily solved. And as in most good stories, things only seem to get worse the deeper you dig, until it seems there’s no way out.

There was an Old Woman is a contemplation of where we are in a society, our relationships within our families, and the struggle we all face.

April 8, 2019
STRAIN of RESISTANCE, Book 1 in the Bixby Series by Michelle Bryan – Alien Invasion, Dark Fantasy/Horror, Parasitology

The apocalypse comes to the world one cloudy day in the form of a mist. But it’s no ordinary mist. There are tiny crystals in it, sentient crystals that once inside a victim, practically turn them inside out to birth a large worm which then takes control of the victim like a jockey riding a zombie.

On that day, twelve-year-old Emma Bixby is in the park taking refuge from the toxic home environment created by her alcoholic father. For some reason, the crystals, after entering Emma’s lungs and dropping her to her knees, reject her as a host. After surviving the initial attack, Emma rushes home to find her parents dead. And her world, imperfect as it was, gone.

Eight years later, Bix (Emma) is a hunter for a colony of fellow survivors holed up in a dilapidated hotel, The Grand. The world order has come down to three castes: colonists who live in fortified buildings behind barbed wire, guards who send out hunters to forage for food and supplies, and the ravagers. The last are roving gangs who survive through cannibalism and leeches, and in fact, are the alien invaders who ride their human hosts seeking out survivors to feast upon.

Eight years after the apocalypse, Bix is capable and strong, unwilling to back down from a fight, and fiercely loyal. But she is also impulsive, defensive, a loose cannon almost as dangerous to her friends as she is to her enemies. And though her heart is in the right place, her reactions and brash decisions frequently put her life and the lives of those around her at risk.

While resting up after a hunt, word comes down that the colony nearest them squatting in St. Joseph’s hospital has gone radio silent after what sounded like an attack of some sort. At the same time, one of The Grand’s hunting parties hasn’t returned. Bix and her group are sent out to discover what’s happened. The action is compelling and nonstop. Readers will find it difficult to put the book down.

Bryan defines and fleshes out her characters reasonably well. The opening sequence is one of the best we’ve ever read in a dystopian novel, which we’re betting will hook readers immediately. We like Emma right away, feel her pain and worry for her. Eight years later, we find a flawed and almost-impossible-to-recognize-as-the-same-girl Emma, now Bix. Here’s a character that is, at times, hard to sympathize with. Readers will find themselves rooting for her one minute and flummoxed by her brash behavior the next. The juxtaposition is that jarring.

The writing is crisp and compelling and contains elements of horror, action, as well as science fiction, skillfully mixed together reminiscent of the film, Aliens. Though present, the violence and gore of the horror elements are not over the top. And to add a bit of distraction, there are some steamy romantic scenes contained within. The pacing is fast, at times a little too fast. All in all, Michelle Bryan delivers on a first-in-series romp through a dystopian world with plenty of action and a lot of material for the following novels.

Strain of Resistance won First Place in the 2017 CIBAs, the Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction.

March 7, 2019
Dracul by J.D. Barker, Dacre Stoker – Vampires, Gothic, Occult, #Dracul

The brilliant gothic horror story, Dracul, awaits those who crave novels that quicken hearts and cause sleepless nights. One would swear it is from the horror master himself, Bram Stoker, who penned the legendary Dracula.

Dracul is ripped from the pages of Bram Stoker’s diary, along with those of his sister Matilda’s, and brother Thornley’s. Much like Dracula, multiple narrators push the story forward with their individual perspectives and points of view. Inch by inch the reader is pulled in until it is impossible to go back. Such is the lure of Dracul by J. D. Barker, and Dacre Stoker

The story opens with a sickly, seven-year-old Bram, who has been chronically ill since birth and frequently near death. He is confined to an attic room under the care of his nanny, Ellen Crone. His nanny dotes on Bram, but she has a disturbing habit of disappearing frequently, sometimes for days on end without explanation or apologies upon return.

During one of her absences, Bram’s health takes a downward turn. Near death, his desperate parents summon the family doctor who bleeds a barely conscious Bram with leeches. When Nanny Ellen returns and sees Bram pale and fading fast, she shoos everyone from the room and shuts the door. In the morning, the leeches are gone, the illness has passed, and Bram feels a vigor and strength he has never known.

Afterward, a conversation between Bram and his sister turns to Nanny Ellen and her odd absences, how her appearance seems to change dramatically from day to day, and how neither one of them have seen her eat or drink⸺anything. Soon their curiosity overtakes them, and they begin to snoop. The next day, Nanny Ellen is gone along with all of her possessions.

To discover what happened to their beloved nanny, and who she really is, sets the Stokers on a path to encounter the sanguinary Dracula. Their lives are forever changed.

This harrowing pursuit of the truth is beautifully rendered horror with palpable tension and suspense, drawing the reader ever closer to the edge of terrifying darkness.

Deftly written in a classic 19th-century gothic style, Dracul resonates with power-rich prose that adds to the atmosphere and the construct of the story. A modern masterpiece, Dracul is everything horror can and should be. It doesn’t rely on gore, but rather captivating storytelling. And yet, the terror and intrigue are unrelenting.

This novel belongs in the lexicon of all things vampire.

Dracul is the inception of the iconic dark love story that compels and terrifies us. Our advice? Close your windows. Lock your doors. Turn the lights on. Place a silver crucifix around your neck, and make sure to have a few sharp wooden stakes nearby. In other words, prepare yourself for a transfixing journey into the diabolically delicious world of Dracul ⸺ if you dare.

Dracul is also available in hardcover and audiobook.

#Dracul

October 2, 2018
DO NOT ASSUME by Elaine Williams Crockett – Spy Thriller, Political, Mystery Suspense

While attending a swanky Washington DC party for the District’s movers and shakers, Federal Judge Warren Alexander notices a Jaguar approaching the mansion amid the darkness with the barrel of a rifle protruding from the driver’s window. Up the hill, Senator Tom Marriner has just arrived surrounded by a Secret Service detail as he exits an armored van. Seconds later, a bomb is discovered in the van’s gas tank, the timer counting down, 13, 12 …

The senator, shielded from behind by Secret Service agents, scurries down the hill away from the mansion, toward the gunman. It’s a trap. Alexander sprints for the Jaguar to intercede. The van explodes. The senator and his protection detail are thrown to the lawn. The Jaguar races off. Alexander finds the senator dead, a single gunshot to his chest.

Alexander, a former profiler with fifteen years of FBI experience insinuates himself into the case. Why was the senator shot, and by whom? He soon learns the assassinated senator, as head of the Judiciary Committee, had put Alexander’s name forward to replace a retiring Supreme Court justice. He eventually realizes the motivation for the senator’s assassination may have its roots in an unsolved rape and murder of a teenage girl forty years before in the small town of Grey Lake, Maine, and involved some of the most powerful names in Washington.

When it is uncovered that the murder weapon used to kill Senator Marriner was a rifle owned by Judge Alexander and that Alexander’s wife had recently threatened the senator’s life, the judge realizes the aftermath of the assassination, and the plot behind it may have the power to destroy both his family and career.

Elaine Williams Crockett is a talented author with an engaging style. The story has more twists than an angry rattlesnake, which will make it hard for mystery lovers and those who favor political intrigue to put it down or get a decent night’s sleep. Crockett’s characters are well fleshed out, interesting, and believable. The novel contains mild violence, though nothing overly graphic.

As mentioned earlier, Elaine Williams Crockett is a talented author who has the ability to be a rising star in this genre dominated by Lee Child, Vince Flynn, and Michael Connelly. She’s on my watch-list and I look forward to reading her work in the future.

Do Not Assume won 1^st Place for Crockett in the 2016 CLUE Awards.

September 22, 2018
The VOID: Book 3 in the TANNER SEQUENCE by Timothy Johnston – Sci-fi Thriller, Galactic Empire, Space Exploration Mystery

Homicide detective, Lieutenant Kyle Tanner, successfully captures the brutally sadistic serial killer known as The Reaper, whose modus operandi is to systematically dismember his victims while keeping them alive to suffer as long as possible. Tanner receives orders to transport The Reaper from Pluto, where he and his soul-mate Shaheen are stationed, to the CCF Home System where the killer will stand trial. Tanner, more dissatisfied than ever about the CCF contemplates a way out, a way to fall off the grid to start life anew on some distant outpost free from oppression and the totalitarian military regime of the CCF. At least, that’s the plan as soon as he and Shaheen complete their mission to deliver The Reaper to authorities in The Home System.

Along the way, their small transport ship loses power as some unseen force shuts down the systems aboard the ship. Tanner, Shaheen, and his prisoner are left to drift aimlessly in space with a disabled drive and a damaged communications system whose crippled range won’t allow them to call Pluto or any other station for help.

As the number of failing systems grows, their fortunes change. A research ship in the vicinity, the Phoenix, passes within range to receive their distress call and rescues them. But all is not well aboard the Phoenix, either. They have hit the same anomaly and are battling systems shutdowns of their own, albeit with more success.

As the story progresses, Tanner is sure of three things, none of them good: The crew is hiding a secret. No help is on the way. And he a Shaheen will be dead within three days.

Johnston is a master at blending science fiction, mystery, and thriller genres into a captivating read. The Void is well written in the first person, past tense, from the protagonist Tanner’s point of view. The characters are well fleshed out, engaging, and believable. The does contain mild sexual content, though nothing overly graphic. And there is violence, more than this reviewer expected in light of his previous experience with the Kyle Tanner series. This occurs at the very beginning of the novel and almost crossed the line. Then the story takes over and picks up speed leaving the graphic violence behind. (See Chanticleer Reviews of Book 1, The Furnace and Book 2, The Freezer.)

In deep trouble on an unfamiliar ship with the odds stacked against him, Tanner must determine who is enemy, who can be trusted, and what secrets lurk aboard the Phoenix.

The Tanner Sequence by Timothy Johnston won first place in the 2015 Clue Awards in the Chanticleer Int’l Writing Competitions.

July 24, 2018
The FREEZER: The Tanner Sequence, Book 2 by Timothy S. Johnston – Mystery/Thriller, Sci-Fi, Space Colonization

There are mysteries to solve and ticking time bombs to defuse in Timothy Johnston’s second book in The Tanner Sequence. Readers, grab onto your seats for richly crafted, multi-genre novel in a world set 400 years into the future.

Homicide Detective Lieutenant Kyle Tanner has been diverted from a trip to Pluto with his soul mate (Shaheen) to investigate a murder at Ceres, a base on the largest asteroid in The Belt. A doctor is dead, one of three that had recently transferred from a research station called The Freezer on Europa, a moon of Jupiter. An autopsy reveals the doctor died of an aneurysm of his aorta – natural causes. The case is solved almost before it starts, and Tanner can catch the next shuttle to Pluto to join his love. Then word comes that Shaheen is dead, having just suffered a catastrophic aneurysm of her aorta.

One death by a rare medical condition is unlucky. Two within days is more than suspicious.

Tanner orders a new autopsy on the doctor. Remnants of an exploded nano-bot are discovered. The death was not natural; it was murder. And the murderer has also taken his love, Shaheen. (Or was she collateral damage from an attempt on his life?) He orders a medical scan on himself. Inside his aorta, next to his heart, a nano-bot slowly saws at the walls of his largest artery. Doctors tell him he has four days left. Four days to find a killer. Four days to find a way to disable the bot systematically killing him (ticking time bomb.)

He suspects the two colleagues of the slain doctor from The Freezer. And he suspects the answers he seeks are linked to their time at the research facility on Europa. Once at Europa, with his two suspects in tow, Tanner finds resistance, hostility, and secrets no one wants to be revealed.

All the while his time is running out.

The Freezer is well written, and the characters are fleshed out in a world where claustrophobia and a constant chill from living on a frozen, hostile world dependent on airlocks and environmental suits for survival, are routine. For science fiction lovers, the new world of the future is masterfully crafted, and the reader is there, in Tanner’s shoes half a solar system away. For mystery lovers, there are plot twists, lies, misdirection to wade through, and secrets to be revealed in pursuit of the truth. So many secrets. For thriller lovers, the clock is ticking. Tanner has four days to unravel the truth hidden in The Freezer to solve the crime and save his own life.

Just when you think you have everything figured out, Johnston piles on more, and more, and more.

January 11, 2018