Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: Sandy McDow

The EMPEROR STRIKES BACK: Frederick II’s War Against His Vassals by Helena P. Schrader – Medieval Historical Fiction, 13th Century Politics, Early Historical Fiction

Welcome to the 13th century Beirut, Kingdom of Jerusalem, where chivalry is alive and well—along with treachery, greed, and the lust for power and control.

The Emperor Strikes Back has a cast that would put Cecile B. DeMille to shame. Helena P. Schrader has successfully fleshed out historical characters and events, bringing them to life in the reader’s mind. She depicts a conflict that occurred in the Outremer during the first third of the 13th century when Frederic II, the ambitious Holy Roman Emperor, sought to usurp John d’Ibelin, the Lord of Beirut, and lay claim to his fiefdom.

Schrader breathes life into the resulting, historically documented events, using the multiple voices of the Ibelin family, cohorts, and supporters, each of which reflects his or her own social status, belief system, and loyalties. As these characters share their experiences, the reader can almost smell the offal and blood, feel the pain of wounds, the effects of hunger, hardship, and fear, the taste of stale bread and sullied water, and the bittersweet taste of victory. Schrader’s detailed rendering of the ill-fated first marriage of Balian, Ibelin’s eldest son, and heir, to Eschiva de Montbéliard, a cousin by marriage, will capture readers hearts.

In order to marry, Balian and Eschiva must receive a papal dispensation, which their family friend, Gerold of Lausanne, Patriarch of Jerusalem and Papal Legate, provides. The trouble comes when Pope Gregory learns of this from an Ibelin political rival whose support he seeks, and the pope excommunicates the young couple. The effects create emotional and social rents in the fabric of their lives and the lives and fortunes of their family and supporters in unimaginable ways.

The Emperor Strikes Back gifts readers with a careful account of actual recorded events as told by the players involved, and at times utilizing their very own words. The wealth of details, characters, and situations, while true to life, can be confusing to those who have not read the foreword, research notes, and familiarized themselves with the glossary. In other words, we recommend familiarizing yourself with these fascinating additions to the novel before you dive right in. You will be greatly rewarded!

A good book for a long winter weekend—put the teapot on, stoke the fire, and plan on spending some time in the 13th century. Odds are, you will find yourself searching for Schrader’s previous works to read in this series while impatiently waiting for the next installment. Here are just a few that we adore: Envoy of Jerusalem, Defender of Jerusalem, Knight of Jerusalem, and The Last Crusader Kingdom.

September 4, 2019
HIGH FLYING by Kaylin McFarren – Time Travel, Action/Adventure, Psychological Fiction

Stunt-pilot, 21-year-old Skylar Haines, honed by a childhood of adversity and trauma, is ambivalent about flying eight new maneuvers for which she’s had little preparation and no in-air practice. A lot could go wrong.

Her father, a pilot, was killed in a plane crash before she was born, triggering her mother’s downward spiral into a life of booze, drugs, and prostitution. When Skylar was seven, her mother died. As an orphan, Skylar fell into the system until her grandfather stepped in — no bed of roses there. Although she emerged an independent, savvy, and street-smart survivor who’d learned to fly along the way, those painful memories of her youth are always fresh in her mind.

Why had she agreed to fly in tandem with her mentor, Jake Brennen, for this performance? She might have said it was a lifelong dream. Or, that she did it out of love. Both would be true, but, of course, there is more…

Before she realizes it, she’s flown into the bowels of a storm, loses radio contact with Jake, and struggles to keep her plane aloft. After a near miss with another aircraft, she regains radio contact. A stranger talks her down into a world before her time.

Skylar uses everything she knows, and everything she’s learned to survive. Dylan Haines, who’s not yet her father, saves her, and she becomes entangled in his life in ways that stretch the imagination. He is caught in a web of danger and deceit destined to kill him. Skylar is tempted to intervene, but she knows his fate is set. Her father has to die, in order for her to live.

Like a modern-day H.G. Wells, Kaylin McFarren’s High Flying, ventures boldly into the fourth dimension, where history is reimagined, and epiphanies come in three-dimensional, real time. This gritty, emotionally penetrating story, set in Nevada, that not only touches upon social concerns with roots in the past but reaches into the future. The characters have depth, and the dialogue is sparkling authenticity. Here’s a story where everyone has an agenda, there are more crooks than cops, and bullets fly with abandon. In other words, a deliciously twisted sci-fi mystery with plenty of danger and romance!

May 10, 2019
The SERPENT and the EAGLE, Tenochtitlan Trilogy (Book 1) by Edward Rickford – Native American Literature, Pre-Colonial Mexico, Cultural Historical Literature

In The Serpent and the Eagle, Edward Rickford details Hernan Cortes’ 1519 expedition to explore and secure the interior of Mexico for colonization, fleshing out known facts with the human factor—it is, to the typical depiction of Cortes’ exploration of the Yucatán peninsula, what a chorus is to a solo or a tulip to a bulb. Primarily narrated by individuals who were actual members, or may have been members, of this expedition, Rickford has crafted a fascinating tale of intrigue, love, lust, greed—essentially all seven of the deadly sins—within two diametrically opposed political and cultural systems.

The story follows the fates and fortunes of these individuals as they explore the Yucatán Peninsula before Cortes’ march on Tenochtitlán, the capital of the expanding Aztec empire in the 16th century. It has five major narrators and several minor narrators:

Captain Hernán Cortés was a Spanish adventurer, who left Cuba with a small fleet of ships manned by soldiers and slaves for the mainland of the New World, purportedly to “…find gold and serve God and King.” He rescues Father Aguilar, a Catholic priest, on Cozumel Island where the priest had suffered years of enslavement by an indigenous tribe. Vitale, a New Christian of Jewish descent, is a crewmember on the Santa María de la Concepción. He befriends Solomon, a Moorish slave, who grew up in the Emirate of Granada Al-Andalus when Muslims, Jews, and Christians all lived there in peace. Doña Marina is a slave girl who rose from obscurity to power and ultimately became Cortes’ confidante and consort.

Through the eyes of various tribal leaders, including, in particular, Motecuhzoma, the Aztec Huey Tlatoani, and several of his trusted counselors, the story takes the reader into the complex socio-political-religious system of the Aztec, and other indigenous tribes of pre-Colonial Mexico.

The Serpent and the Eagle is rich with historical and cultural detail and faithfully follows the events as recorded at that time. The multitude of narrators and situations can be challenging to follow. We suggest reading this novel with a pen and paper handy for inevitable note taking.

Rickford has written a book that forces the reader to reflect on the influence of history on the present, the possibilities when two cultures collide, and the impact of conflicting belief and ethical systems on human behavior.

Not a fast read, but well worth the time it takes. Prepare to be entertained, educated, and challenged to think.

March 29, 2019
CORONADO’S TRAIL by Carl and Jane Bock – Mystery, Thriller/Suspense, Literary

An ill-fated Spanish expedition in 1541 plays into present-day concerns about preserving Santa Cruz County’s (Arizona) heritage and environment. Along with an engaging yarn, Jane and Carl Bock offer the reader food for thought by presenting a microcosmic picture of the mindless destruction of time-honored customs, traditions, and mores in the pursuit of money and power.

When deputy sheriff Calvin Creede of the Sonoita substation in Santa Cruz County receives a call from Maria Obregon, the widow of Calvin’s best friend, neither suspect where the call will lead.

Maria has discovered the partially exposed remains of an old pickup in the San Carlos Wash, an arroyo near her goat farm on the 40,000 acres, Rocking M cattle ranch. The vehicle had not been visible before. Nothing new there, as frequent flooding reveals items previously buried in the sand. But this seems different because Maria’s dog, Boomer, is behaving as if there’s something still hidden inside the cab.

Calvin’s investigation of the find, from running its license plate, unearthing it, and solving a 1995 missing person case, to determining that the driver had been murdered, has a domino effect. In winnowing facts from legend and gossip, he also unearths lifelong grudges, rivalries, and broken hearts that continue to impact families in the community.

Concurrent with the murder investigation, Calvin must address the lawless behaviors of radical environmentalists, drug and human traffickers, and unethical antiquities hunters, which all, in varying ways, relate to the decades’ old murder. If this weren’t enough to sift through, he also must deal with his feelings for Maria, to whom he’s pretty sure he’s just become engaged.

Coronado’s Trail contains multiple levels of storytelling and subplots, and in the Bock’s skillfully crafted narrative where everything fits like an intricate puzzle. In addition to a complex and compelling plot, the authors’ use of imagery adds a visceral dimension to the mood and tone that is sure to transport readers to experience the mountains shimmering in the heat, the rumble of thunder in the distance, the cooling monsoon rains… you get the picture. By the time the last page is turned and the novel complete, a kinship to Arizona’s high desert will be in your bones. All this to say, after vicariously traveling Coronado’s Trail, you may wish to walk it for yourselves.

Coronado’s Trail took home the M&M Grand Prize for Mysteries in the 2017 CIBAs.

February 13, 2019
FEDERAL PRISON HANDBOOK – The Definitive Guide to Surviving the Federal Bureau of Prisons by Christopher Zoukis – Survival Guide, Non-Fiction, Federal Prison

In the Federal Prison Handbook-The Definitive Guide to Surviving the Federal Bureau of Prison, Christopher Zoukis has meticulously identified, collected, and organized a compendium of information regarding life in federal prison. Zoukis’ straightforward writing, free of personal bias or opinion, is neither mysterious nor titillating—reality is not sensationalized—it’s not fiction, it’s the facts.

However, if through some twist of fate, you or a loved one finds yourself in the unthinkable situation of going to prison, it may become the best book you’ve ever read.

Consider. You’ve been sentenced to serve time in one of the Federal Bureau of Prisons’ 125 stand-alone facilities, a private contract facility, or a satellite prison camp scattered throughout the United States. You, who need directions to find your way through Costco to the deli, must now enter an unfamiliar world with its own lexicon, rules, and consequences. How will you survive?

As a thirty-year-old federal prisoner, incarcerated since he was a high school senior, Zoukis speaks authoritatively to that question—and other issues you haven’t even considered—and, why would you, with no previous experience or points of reference.

Zoukis has created a comprehensive guide to seemingly all aspects of prison life—from entering the front doors to the time you leave. He provides annotated, specific information regarding life in this mandated setting, a community which exists within both real and figurative walls. Its written and unwritten rules allow little latitude for divergent behavior or personal desires. And, perhaps equally important, Zoukis delineates the unique customs and unwritten social mores of prison culture.

Each handbook section cites and explains rules and regulations in detail, as well as providing practical tips, based upon the author’s experiences, observations, and information garnered from extensive interviews of fellow prisoners. The Federal Prison Handbook disabuses some of the sensationalism created by fiction, tell-alls, and media in general, regarding sexual abuse, gang violence, power hierarchies, and such. The topics are objectively elucidated within the context of the prison rules, consequences, and the overall prison culture.

Unlike many popular “survival” books, the Federal Prison Handbook will probably not give the reader an emotional rush or provide an epiphany regarding the meaning of life. However, it could prove invaluable to counselors, lawyers, families, and individuals who find themselves facing incarceration in the federal prison system.

Federal Prison Handbook-The Definitive Guide to Surviving the Federal Bureau of Prison won First Place in the Instruction & Insight Awards in 2017.

January 14, 2019
To DREAM the BLACKBANE: A Novel of the Anomaly by Richard J. O’Brien – Paranormal, Mystery/Caper, Fantasy

If you liked Alice in Wonderland as a child, To Dream the Blackbane: A Novel of the Anomaly may captivate you now. While not suitable for children, this dark fantasy engages the reader with strange and unique characters, gritty, Sam Spade-like dialogue, and fanciful imagery.

In 2063, sixty years after The Anomaly, during which everything changed, in a world now populated by pedigreed humans, hybrids, and a whole gamut of imagined and legendary creatures from other planes of existence, the canis sapien, Wolfgang Rex, operates as a private eye in Chicago’s hybrid ghetto. He is assisted by his secretary, Sally Sandweb, a fun-loving faerie with blue and black wings, and green-tinged skin.

One evening, two locally venerated vampires barge into Wolfgang’s office to enlist his services. Like the Templar’s treasure was stolen from Jerusalem, a sacred vampire scroll was taken from their lair atop the Sears Tower whilst they slept. After they make him an offer he can’t refuse, Wolfgang agrees to recover the scroll, and a disapproving Sally draws up the contract.

Shortly after, he has another visitor, Charlotte Sweeney-Jarhadill, from Beggar Creek, Louisiana, who wishes to hire Wolfgang to exorcize the ghost of a Confederate soldier who’s been hanging around her home and bothering her. After another offer he can’t refuse, and deciding he has some leeway on time with the vampires, Wolfgang agrees to do the exorcism.

Little does he know that these two cases would involve life-threatening danger, and ultimately change the course of his life forever—whatever and wherever forever may be.

The ensuing story takes Wolfgang to stygian places in Chicago, and to rural Louisiana where Wolfie learns that reality is elusive, whom you can trust isn’t always clear, and there’s no safe place.

Like the 2063 reality imagined in this story, its tone and mood fluctuate. At times, Richard J. O’Brien’s story seems merely a dark fantasy—a kind of 21st century American gothic with unique settings and characters that keep the reader engaged. At other time, it feels more like a tongue-in-cheek, “gotcha” kind of yarn where the author uses satirical humor, exaggerated characters, and intriguing situations, to entertain fantasy fans. The story’s ambiguous ending contributes to this perception. We hope this means there is more to come!

One thing is certain, though, when you close the book a haunting suspicion may just well remain: has O’Brien used this genre as a vehicle for a symbolic allegory, addressing certain long-held religious beliefs and currently trending social and political events? In short, To Dream the Blackbane: A Novel of the Anomaly is a curious, provocative read that lingers on. One that we recommended.

December 17, 2018
The MONROE DECISION by Patrick Clark – Spies & Politics, Terrorism, Thriller

As a treaty expert for the Department of State, Aaron Monroe travels the world extensively, unquestioned and unsuspected. This allows him to efficiently fulfill his orders. You see, in reality, Monroe is an undercover operative for the covert arm of the US Council for Homeland Defense. He is the best at what he does—taking out targets, sanitizing scenes, and scooting away undetected.

On holiday in Italy with Sarah, his wealthy, beautiful, Eurasian girlfriend, he abandons her in Venice for one day to keep an appointment in Trieste. A final “go” from his handler in Washington D.C. and Aaron tracks his targets, an al Qaeda and ISIS financier and a senior ISIS commander, to a decrepit villa in one of the city’s oldest areas.

While clearing the building, after gaining entry and eliminating these men, Aaron finds an office equipped with multiple closed-circuit TV screens monitoring four locked, basement rooms. Three are crowded with young teenaged girls and one with pre-teen boys.

Now what? A quick call to his handler, a decision—leave the captives for the police to find— sanitize the scene and get out undiscovered. During the cleaning process, Aaron finds a ledger written in what appears to be Arabic in the deceased financier’s satchel. As the ledger may contain valuable information, he slings the satchel over his shoulder and poof! He’s out of there.

At Sarah’s insistence, Aaron relents and allows her into his shadow world. They trek around Europe and the United States, seeking to expose the international human trafficking ring that kidnapped those children to sell as unsullied brides for ISIS fighters and suicide bomber trainees.

This dangerous quest takes them into the highest echelons of government and industry, where the lust for power and wealth supersedes human decency and democratic ideals. Ultimately, Monroe is forced to question whom he can truly trust and, perhaps more importantly, if anyone really has his back.

The Monroe Decision explores relatively uncharted territory within the thriller genre. Clark uses socio-political facts and incidents from today’s headlines and accurate, detailed descriptions of familiar and exotic locations to create a mesmerizing yarn, replete with assassination, romance, betrayal and the triumph of good over evil.

Clark offers no downtime for his readers: plot, characters, atmosphere, setting, and pacing coalesce into a smooth, captivating read that’s hard to put down. Our advice? Clear your calendar, turn off the phone, lock the door, and enjoy.

September 25, 2018
FROM the SHADOWS by KB Shaw – YA, Science Fiction, Action/Adventure

In the tradition of H. G. Wells and Isaac Asimov, K.B. Shaw’s From the Shadows piques the reader’s imagination. In the world where Cameron Rush, a shy, geeky boy from Wisconsin, and Rosa Costas, the bright, sassy daughter of a New Mexico ranch foreman, live, twenty-first-century technology makes a quantum leap and changes the nature of human experience.

Sounds amazing, right? This new technology could take tailgating to a new level. Seriously, what could possibly go wrong?

Only, Robert K. Merton’s law of unintended consequences still prevail. So, there is that…

Fifteen-year-old Cameron and Rosa have never met in person. However, they know each other well, as they met in a chat room, and talk daily on their multiComs. The couple takes GundTech’s multiCom technology — computers, without cameras, that capture images and display them in a way that allows virtual eye contact among users—for granted. It’s been around forever, well, at least ten years. They also take for granted their personal AIs.

A multiCom computer’s artificial intelligence (known as its AI) allows it to think, have personalities, experience emotions, and develop self-images. Each computer’s AI is unique and requires that the user demonstrate respect and courtesy to get a requested response. Cameron and Rosa understand this — as the rules of operation were clearly explained in the operating instructions. Therefore, they are never surprised when Sam and Vee, their respective multiCom AIs, sometimes add their two bits worth during conversations.

But they never expect to meet the AIs in person.

Unbeknownst to them, Cameron and Rosa were preordained centuries ago to play an integral part in the technological evolution triggered when GundTech’s mysterious creator introduces the Interactive Holographic Transmitter. With the IHT, time and space can be manipulated enabling humans, alone or collectively, to touch, see, hear, and ultimately, smell, and taste events as they happen.

Throughout this complex, fascinating tale, Shaw manages to keep the teen protagonists real and likable. They are “in touch” with their families, community, and school; they tease, flirt, grumble and complain, and impress the reader with their spirit and ingenuity.

In this well-crafted book, the amalgam of speculative fiction with a hint of Gothic eeriness works very well. What happens, to whom, how, and why is the stuff of possibility thinking. Fast-paced and engaging, with no loose ends, From the Shadows provides readers no opportunities to rest or close the book. Here’s a YA novel that’s a good read for any age.

March 2, 2018
The SPIRIT SHIELD SAGA: SEER of SOULS by Susan Faw – Epic Fantasy, Mythology & Folklore, Coming of Age Y/A

Be ready for Susan Faw’s grand adventure, where she serves up a world in which humans and the not-quite-human Primordials must make peace and work in harmony against a common foe. This young adult novel, liberally seasoned with mysticism and magic, incorporates themes from mythology, folk/fairytale, and legend, with an Adonis-like hero, a battle between good and evil, and the restoration of a monarchy to its rightful ruler.

Seventeen-year-old Cayden Tiernan, a seemingly simple shepherd boy, lives on a farm with his twin sister and father in far reaches of the kingdom of Cathair near the Land of the Primordials, somewhere between the sea and the capital city. These demi-god twins are blissfully unaware of their true identities and their pre-ordained destiny. They take their supernatural gifts and abilities for granted, never questioning their purpose or station in life – or the prophesy proclaiming a savior will appear to free the kingdom from the unholy grasp of Queen Alcina. They only know they have a special bond, a psychic connection, and perceive their differences from other people in their world – although, the perception is small at this point, and not clearly defined.

The spurious Queen Alcina seeks to circumvent the prophesied appearance of the savior destined to free the Cathairians from her onerous rule by drafting all young men from seventeen to twenty-five to serve in her legions. Her edict loosens the winds of change. Unrest and rumors of treason begin to blow across the land.

The story takes off when Cayden volunteers for the army to deflect being arrested for the justified murder of an evil soldier. By doing this, he triggers events that take him on a hero’s journey into a dangerous world where mystical beings and abounding magic rub shoulders with the familiar world of his youth.

Faw’s alternate world echoes the medieval period in human history and utilizes a coming-of-age plot structure with an engaging and adept storytelling sensibility. Fans will be thrilled to learn that Seer of Souls is the first book in The Spirit Shield Saga. Faw shines brightly as a keen, larger-than-life storyteller and deserves the praise and accolades she is receiving for this series. Seer of Souls contains epic villains and courageous heroes, hints of burgeoning young love, graphic violence, and mind-stretching magic, a promising read that will draw a strong audience from Y/A readers.

December 26, 2017
ENGAGED in DANGER: A JAMIE QUINN MYSTERY by Barbara-Venkataraman – Cozy Mystery/Thriller & Suspense, Amateur Sleuth

Did I really lose my guy to a Hairy-Nosed Wombat … a Northern Hairy-Nosed wombat? That’s the question that plagues attorney Jamie Quinn while she lays awake and stares at the ceiling every night. But it’s not too long after her boyfriend, Kip, drops his Save the Wombat bomb and flies off to Australia, that she has more immediate issues to keep her awake—secret business machinations, a hint of Russian collusion, blackmail, and murder, for starters.

In Engaged in Danger – A Jamie Quinn Mystery by Barbara Venkataraman anything is possible. And even though Hollywood, Florida where Jamie lives and practices family law is a small, quiet town surprising things happen there.

Three days after Kip announced his temp job and is packing for a three-month stint in Australia, an elegant, older woman walks into Jamie’s office seeking a divorce. Someone is trying to kill her spouse, but she doesn’t care—she just wants a divorce, and money is no problem. Interest piqued, Jamie soon learns the husband in question is the most “famous/infamous” (translated, rich, powerful, and politically connected) attorney in town. He also proves to be a crafty, dangerous opponent with fingers in many pies. On the home front, Jamie’s neighbors who are caring for their orphaned niece, ask Jamie to look into the details surrounding the recent plane crash that killed the child’s parents.

Enlisting the assistance of her BFF, corporate attorney Grace Anderson, along with that of the charming PI, Duke Broussard, a good old Louisiana boy who has one foot on either side of the law, Jamie simultaneously takes on the high-profile divorce case and the suspicious airplane crash. What ensues is an intriguing mix of characters and events interwoven into a mystery that satisfies even the pickiest fan.

While written as a stand-alone, this book is like a gift of Babushka dolls. Allusions to backstories and Jamie’s history with Kip, with her dad in Nicaragua whom she’s never met, with Grace, and with Duke can at times be distracting, at other times, tantalizing.

Engaged in Danger is a fast-paced, well-written cozy with its complex, quirky characters, and unique plot brings unexpected twists and turns and has more than a bit of romance tucked between its pages. Venkataraman tempers the story with wry, self-deprecating humor that entertains and engages the mind, tickles the funny-bone, warms the heart, and leaves the reader ready for more.

October 23, 2017