Chanticleer Book Reviews

Author: robert-w-smith

The 2025 Hemingway Hall of Fame for 20th and 21st c. Wartime Fiction

The Past Always Impacts the Present

Enter by August 31st to be considered for the 2025 Hemingway Book Awards for Wartime Fiction!

Wartime Fiction set in the twentieth century asks us to reflect most keenly on the most difficult times in our recent history. At Chanticleer, we are here to face war time history with the Hemingway Awards in Historical Fiction; Romance and Romantic Fiction; Mysteries, Thrillers, and Suspense Fiction of the time; Literary works and Satire and anything else that author imaginations can dream up.

To read more about Ernest Hemingway, please click here.

Please note that fictional accounts of the United States Civil War should be submitted to the Laramie Book Awards for Americana Fiction. It is sobering to note that more human life was lost in the Civil War than in ALL of the wars, battles, and skirmishes that the U.S. has participated in added together. Civil wars are considered to be the deadliest of all wars.

Historical Book Awards here at Chanticleer Reviews and the CIBAS.

The CIBAs started with one historical fiction division, The Chaucer Book Awards, which split off the Goethe Book Awards for post-1750s historical fiction. Then the Goethe Book Awards split off a new division, the Hemingway Book Awards for Wartime Fiction.

The Hemingway Awards might be young, but we already have Five Amazing Grand Prize Winners to share with you!

Of White Ashes
By Constance Hays Matsumoto and Kent Matsumoto

Our review for the newest Grand Prize Winner is forthcoming. In the meantime, here is what GoodReads readers have been saying:

“In “Of White Ashes,” Constance Hays Matsumoto and Kent Matsumoto tell the tales of two individuals and how their lives intertwine during one of the most horrific times in history: World War II. Based on the true stories of Mr. Matsumoto’s parents, this utterly captivating novel represents historical fiction at its finest, and most heartbreaking.” -Amy

“Constance and Kent have written an insightful story about the experience of Japanese Americans during WWII. The weaving of a love story with history is so well done and it draws the reader into the story and inspires you to turn page after page. Ultimately, it is about the human story to survive, grow and find love amidst the circumstances life brings to us. Artfully done, many lessons from the past but lessons we can use for the future.” -Michael

“I found my favorite novel of the year, in this tragic but beautiful story of two families, each experiencing WWII in different countries and in different ways, who meet and are able to blend their experiences and suffering into rich and satisfying lives.”

-Leanna

Find the book here!

The Silver Waterfall: A Novel of the Battle of Midway
By Kevin Miller

In The Silver Waterfall, author retired U.S. Navy Captain Kevin Miller reveals the intricate and deadly turns of the Battle of Midway, a combat shaped by transforming warfare, and one that would in turn shape the rest of WWII’s Pacific Theater.

After their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Navy seeks to draw American aircraft carriers into an ambush, to secure Japanese power over the Pacific. In a time of great upheaval for warfare technology, aircraft carriers dominated both sea and sky. So, to destroy the USS Enterprise, Yorktown, and Hornet, Chūichi Nagumo— commander of the Japanese First Air Fleet— brings to bear his own four carriers, HIJMS Akagi, Hiryū, Kaga, and Soryu.

But the Americans had cracked the Japanese communication codes, so as the First Air Fleet launches their provoking attack against the Midway Islands, the American carriers are already steaming into position. From June 4^th to June 6^th of 1942, planes filled the skies above the remote Pacific waters, both American and Japanese pilots dashing back and forth, knowing that either they sink the enemy’s carriers, or they’ll have none of their own to return to.

Read More Here

RUNNING WITH CANNIBALS
By Robert W. Smith

Robert W. Smith tells the story of a forgotten war and the fractured peace that follows in his powerful historical fiction novel, Running with Cannibals.

It has been said that “War is hell.” It has also been opined that “It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.” Running with Cannibals is a no-holds-barred, candid portrayal of a war that is glossed over in U.S. history, the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902. It was the first war fought overseas by the U.S.

Running with Cannibals begins with an unnamed man on the run from an unjust accusation bought with blood and money.

Read more here!

EO-N
By Dave Mason

A young boy in Norway makes a discovery while playing with his dog, opening the mystery of EO-N by Dave Mason, a detective story spanning multiple decades and both sides of the Atlantic, a deep dive into the horrors of Nazi Germany, and a heartfelt love story.

A small metal fragment leads to the discovery of a downed WWII twin-engine Mosquito fighter-bomber hidden in snow and glacial ice for nearly 75 years. The crash site yields an initial set of clues, one of which finds its way across the world to Alison Wiley, a biotech CEO in Seattle. Having recently lost her mother, and, a few years earlier, her brother in Afghanistan, she finds her days full of despair, but the discovery makes a distant connection to her long-lost grandfather, and she flies to Norway. There, she meets Scott Wilcox, a Canadian researcher assigned to investigate the discovery after his government learned that the crashed aircraft belonged to the Royal Canadian Air Force. Their attraction is both intellectual and emotional, but the quest to uncover the plane’s mysteries and the fate of Alison’s grandfather place any romance to the side.

At first, the crash doesn’t appear exceptional, until certain contradictory and confusing clues emerge that make it clear that the circumstances that led to the plane’s fate were anything but simple.

Read more here!

THE QUISLING FACTOR
By J. L. Oakley

During World War II “quisling” became a byword for a particular type of traitor, one who not only betrays their own country but also actively collaborates with the invaders. The origin of the term was taken from an actual person, a Norwegian named Vidkun Quisling, who didn’t merely cooperate with the Nazis but actually headed a collaborationist regime in his own country.

The Quisling Factor takes place in the immediate post-war period, as the Nuremberg Trials are gearing up in Germany. Norway is conducting its own post-war legal purge of collaborators at all levels of government.

The story is a direct follow-up to the author’s award-winning World War II novel, The Jøssing Affair. This second novel focuses on the physical and emotional toll of war, and its precarious weight of peace on the survivors.

Read more here!

Now that you’re set on your next reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Hemingway Winners is to submit today!

Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!

You know you want it…

Are you a Chanticleer Author who has some good news to share? Let us know! We’re always looking for a reason to crow about Chanticleerians! Reach out with your news to info@ChantiReviews.com

August 8, 2025
The 2024 Hemingway Hall of Fame for 20th and 21st Century Wartime Fiction

The Past Always Impacts the Present

Enter by October 31 to be considered for the 2024 Hemingway Book Awards for Wartime Fiction!

Wartime Fiction set in the twentieth century asks us to reflect most keenly on the most difficult times in our recent history. At Chanticleer, we are here to face war time history with the Hemingway Awards in Historical Fiction; Romance and Romantic Fiction; Mysteries, Thrillers, and Suspense Fiction of the time; Literary works and Satire and anything else that author imaginations can dream up.

To read more about Ernest Hemingway, please click here.

Please note that fictional accounts of the United States Civil War should be submitted to the Laramie Book Awards for Americana Fiction. It is sobering to note that more human life was lost in the Civil War than in ALL of the wars, battles, and skirmishes that the U.S. has participated in added together. Civil wars are considered to be the most deadly of all wars.

Historical Book Awards here at Chanticleer Reviews and the CIBAS.

The CIBAs started with one historical fiction division, The Chaucer Book Awards, which split off the Goethe Book Awards for post-1750s historical fiction. Then the Goethe Book Awards split off a new division, the Hemingway Book Awards for Wartime Fiction.

The Hemingway Awards might be young, but we already have Four Amazing Grand Prize Winners to share with you!

The Silver Waterfall: A Novel of the Battle of Midway
By Kevin Miller

In The Silver Waterfall, author retired U.S. Navy Captain Kevin Miller reveals the intricate and deadly turns of the Battle of Midway, a combat shaped by transforming warfare, and one that would in turn shape the rest of WWII’s Pacific Theater.

After their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Navy seeks to draw American aircraft carriers into an ambush, to secure Japanese power over the Pacific. In a time of great upheaval for warfare technology, aircraft carriers dominated both sea and sky. So, to destroy the USS Enterprise, Yorktown, and Hornet, Chūichi Nagumo— commander of the Japanese First Air Fleet— brings to bear his own four carriers, HIJMS Akagi, Hiryū, Kaga, and Soryu.

But the Americans had cracked the Japanese communication codes, so as the First Air Fleet launches their provoking attack against the Midway Islands, the American carriers are already steaming into position. From June 4^th to June 6^th of 1942, planes filled the skies above the remote Pacific waters, both American and Japanese pilots dashing back and forth, knowing that either they sink the enemy’s carriers, or they’ll have none of their own to return to.

Read More Here

RUNNING WITH CANNIBALS
By Robert W. Smith

Robert W. Smith tells the story of a forgotten war and the fractured peace that follows in his powerful historical fiction novel, Running with Cannibals.

It has been said that “War is hell.” It has also been opined that “It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.” Running with Cannibals is a no-holds-barred, candid portrayal of a war that is glossed over in U.S. history, the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902. It was the first war fought overseas by the U.S.

Running with Cannibals begins with an unnamed man on the run from an unjust accusation bought with blood and money.

Read more here!

EO-N
By Dave Mason

A young boy in Norway makes a discovery while playing with his dog, opening the mystery of EO-N by Dave Mason, a detective story spanning multiple decades and both sides of the Atlantic, a deep dive into the horrors of Nazi Germany, and a heartfelt love story.

A small metal fragment leads to the discovery of a downed WWII twin-engine Mosquito fighter-bomber hidden in snow and glacial ice for nearly 75 years. The crash site yields an initial set of clues, one of which finds its way across the world to Alison Wiley, a biotech CEO in Seattle. Having recently lost her mother, and, a few years earlier, her brother in Afghanistan, she finds her days full of despair, but the discovery makes a distant connection to her long-lost grandfather, and she flies to Norway. There, she meets Scott Wilcox, a Canadian researcher assigned to investigate the discovery after his government learned that the crashed aircraft belonged to the Royal Canadian Air Force. Their attraction is both intellectual and emotional, but the quest to uncover the plane’s mysteries and the fate of Alison’s grandfather place any romance to the side.

At first, the crash doesn’t appear exceptional, until certain contradictory and confusing clues emerge that make it clear that the circumstances that led to the plane’s fate were anything but simple.

Read more here!

THE QUISLING FACTOR
By J. L. Oakley

During World War II “quisling” became a byword for a particular type of traitor, one who not only betrays their own country but also actively collaborates with the invaders. The origin of the term was taken from an actual person, a Norwegian named Vidkun Quisling, who didn’t merely cooperate with the Nazis but actually headed a collaborationist regime in his own country.

The Quisling Factor takes place in the immediate post-war period, as the Nuremberg Trials are gearing up in Germany. Norway is conducting its own post-war legal purge of collaborators at all levels of government.

The story is a direct follow-up to the author’s award-winning World War II novel, The Jøssing Affair. This second novel focuses on the physical and emotional toll of war, and its precarious weight of peace on the survivors.

Read more here!

Now that you’re set on your next reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Hemingway Winners is to submit today!

Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!

You know you want it…

Are you a Chanticleer Author who has some good news to share? Let us know! We’re always looking for a reason to crow about Chanticleerians! Reach out with your news to info@ChantiReviews.com

October 29, 2024
The Goethe Late Historical Awards Fiction Round Up for the 2023 First Place Winners!

The Goethe Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Late Historical (Post 1750s) Fiction. The Grand Prize Winner, David Calloway’s book, If Someday Comes will be promoted for years to come in our annual Hall of Fame article, as well as be featured on the Goethe 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 Goethe 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 Goethe Winners!

Lisa Voelker – The Spoon

The Spoon is historical fiction based on the personal anecdotes of survivors of what we now know as the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. At the heart of The Spoon is the true story of two people incongruously brought together during the maelstrom of this historic event; a story that is embodied in one small heirloom and remembered and shared through the generations when the family gathers each year for Christmas.

From Chanticleer:

Lisa Voelker’s historical fiction novel, The Spoon, takes us back to the 1950s in Hungary during the daring student uprising, and attempted revolution,. The author weaves historical facts with fiction in the form of family lore that has been handed down for generations.

We follow scores of people whose lives intersected during this uprising of 1956. The revolution was, at its inception, a time of joyous upheaval, but in less than two weeks became one of devastating dissolution. People fled Hungary by the thousands, but not before giving the Soviet Union a taste of their discontent.

Voelker introduces Rebeka, a member of the Varga family with old ties to the bourgeoisie, who lived a life of privilege on a farm. She is contrasted by Peter, a member of the Turea family who attends Budapest Technical University, where students began demonstrating against the Hungarian Government that was under Soviet control.

Read more here!

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Robert W Smith – A Long Way From Clare

Conor Dolan, a young Irishman, travels to Chicago in 1903 to visit his older brother; instead, he finds a mystery. His journey sparks a quest to peel away secrets and rediscover a dead sibling he idolized but never really knew as he strives to learn the true meaning of brotherhood.

His search reveals an Irish Republican plot to assassinate a visiting British royal. In the process, he is drawn into an alliance with two women: a mesmerizing Jewish widow and a struggling young Irishwoman. Each teaches Conor existential truths of life and love in her own way.

But the brother he finds may not be the brother he remembers. A Long Way from Clare is a story of Chicago’s early twentieth century immigrants and one man’s struggle with both bigotry and justice in an unforgiving city where no good deed goes unpunished.

From Chanticleer:

Twenty-four-year-old Conor Dolan had intended to surprise his older brother and catch up after years apart. However, what he finds when he arrives in Chicago will spark a harrowing mystery, in A Long Way from Clare by Robert W. Smith.

Kevin, a beat cop in twentieth-century Chicago’s worst neighborhood, was found six weeks before Conor’s visit, in what the police have dubbed a suicide. However, Conor has his doubts. Each time he asks people about Kevin, he is met with resistance and denial. When Conor speaks with Detective Flynn, the man assigned to Kevin’s case, his suspicions become certainties. Flynn’s bizarre behavior, the minimal effort on the police’s part to investigate, and the men following Conor at every turn convince him to stay in Chicago rather than return to his home in Springfield.

Conor’s determination to find answers to Kevin’s death lead him in a dangerous dance with darkness amidst the shadows of Chicago’s underworld.

Read more here!

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Mitzi Zilka – Water Fire Steam

The year is 1884. Rolla Alan Jones, an ambitious dreamer fresh out of an East Coast engineering school, is commissioned to design and build the first water system in Spokane Falls, Washington, a booming town of twenty-thousand. He is everyone’s golden boy for five years until the city burns down on August 4, 1889. The once-celebrated engineer is scapegoated for the catastrophe alleging his system yielded inadequate water pressure. Asked to resign, betrayed by his friends, shunned by the community, and abandoned by his pregnant wife and three-year-old son, Rolla must find the strength to reinvent himself or return to New York as an abject failure. Based on a true story, Water Fire Steam is a story of forgiveness and redemption for anyone who has ever had to claw their way back from an unwarranted accusation.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Susanne Dunlap – The Adored One

Lillian Lorraine was a naive 15-year-old chorine on Broadway when she attracted the notice of the notorious 41-year-old Florenz Ziegfeld. Accustomed to getting what he wanted, Ziegfeld took Lillian under his wing and into his arms, giving her coveted numbers in the Ziegfeld Follies and taking control of her career. But Lillian’s rebellious spirit chafed against him, refusing to play according to his rules, and nearly destroying her own career in the process. The Adored One follows her through rise and fall after rise and fall as she comes of age in a world where her youthful beauty was an asset-and a liability.

From Chanticleer:

Step into the glittering world of fame and betrayal in Susanne Dunlap’s The Adored One. At just four years old, Leleanne de Jacques, aka Lillian Lorraine, began her acting career. After fleeing an abusive husband in San Francisco, Mary Anne, Lillian’s mother, moves to Philadelphia, seeing her daughter’s talent as their potential meal ticket.

Soon after arriving in Philadelphia and changing her daughter’s name, Mary Anne relocates them both again to New York, where she puts Lillian in front of artists who see her potential for print ads. Lillian soon meets Fred McKay, her first talent agent, and she begins performing in Lee Shubert productions.

When Florenz Ziegfeld sees Lillian onstage, he knows he must have her, both in his productions and his bed. At only sixteen, Lillian signs with Broadway’s biggest producer. She begins to spiral soon after. Drinking and partying become a staple in Lillian’s life, and she is soon keeping more secrets than her young heart can handle. Florenz’s obsession, Mary Anne’s domineering, and Lillian’s own need for approval lead her down a dangerous and lonely path. Losing every friend she ever makes as well as a part of herself, Lillian wonders if the prize of fame is really worth the cost.

Read more here!

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Linda Ulleseit – The River Remembers

Samantha Lockwood, Day Sets, and Harriet Robinson come to Fort Snelling from very different backgrounds. It’s 1835 and the world is changing, fast, and they are all struggling to keep up. After she refuses another suitor he’s chosen for her, Samantha’s father banishes her to live in the territory with her brother. He, too, tries to take over her marriage plans—but she is determined to find her own husband, even when her choices go awry.

Day Sets demands that her white husband create a school to educate their daughter, supporting her father’s belief that his people must learn the ways of the white man in order to ensure the tribe’s future. Until events prove her father wrong. Harriet’s life in the territory is more like that of a free person than anywhere she’s lived. She even falls in love with Dred Scott and dreams of a life with him. But they are both enslaved, and she keeps being reminded of how little control she has over her own fate. As their cultures collide, each of these three women must find a way to direct her own future and leave a legacy for her children.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

Nicole Evelina – Catherine’s Mercy

Based on a true story, Catherine’s Mercy brings to life Irish reformer and Sisters of Mercy founder Catherine McAuley.

In 1824, Catherine, a Catholic spinster of 44, unexpectantly inherits millions. However, she doesn’t use it to climb the social ladder or snare a husband; she uses it to fulfill a lifelong dream of building a refuge for the poor and sick of Dublin, Ireland. That an unmarried woman would dare propose such a thing is so scandalous, even her own brother calls it “Kitty’s Folly.” Society turns against her. The Church tries to take over. Catherine must defend her choices or lose not only her inheritance, but her reputation and life’s calling.

One of the first women who seeks Catherine’s help is Margaret, a maid in the house of Lord Montague, the loudest of Catherine’s detractors. Daring to protect herself from his advances and rebel against his maxim of total obedience, Margaret is forced to flee for her life. She desperately approaches Catherine for help, setting off a series of events that haunt Catherine all her days and prompt a rule that holds today, in the real-life Sisters of Mercy.

Find it Locally and on Amazon

William Maz – The Bucharest Legacy: The Rise of the Oligarchs

The CIA is rocked to its core when a KGB defector divulges that there is a KGB mole inside the Agency. They learn that the mole’s handler is a KGB agent known as Boris. CIA analyst Bill Hefflin recognizes that name—Boris is the code name of Hefflin’s longtime KGB asset. If the defector is correct, Hefflin realizes Boris must be a triple agent, and his supposed mole has been passing false intel to Hefflin and the CIA. What’s more, this makes Hefflin the prime suspect as the KGB mole inside the Agency.

Hefflin is given a chance to prove his innocence by returning to his city of birth, Bucharest, Romania, to find Boris and track down the identity of the mole. It’s been three years since the bloody revolution, and what he finds is a cauldron of spies, crooked politicians, and a country controlled by the underground and the new oligarchs, all of whom want to find Boris. But Hefflin has a secret that no one else knows—Boris has been dead for over a year.

Find it Locally or on Amazon

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

You can see our Hall of Fame on the Goethe Grand Prize Winners, including David Calloway’s incredible book If Someday Comes here.

Your book can join the Tiers of Achievement, but only if you submit to the Goethe Awards!

Got a great Historical Fiction Story?

The 2024 Goethe Book Awards are open through the end of June!

Submit to the Goethe Awards Today!

July 23, 2024
10 Days Left! The 2024 Ozma and Goethe Awards Close at the End of July!
The Fantasy is soon to be History!

The Ozma and Goethe Awards both close at the end of July! Don’t let your History become a Fantasy!

The Ozma Award for Fantasy Fiction and The Goethe Award for Post-1750 Historical Fiction close submissions on JULY 31st.

You can’t win if you don’t submit!

Submit to the CIBAs Today!

Only 10 days left to submit your books to the prestigious CIBAs 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 Ozma Awards for Fantasy and The Goethe Awards for Late Historical Fiction are still open until JULY 31st!

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 Ozma Awards!
- Lilla Glass – The Unseen
- Charles Allen – The Order of the Red God
- Jaime Castle & Andy Peloquin – Black Talon
- Jonathan Uffelman – Book of Leprechauns: The Lore Gatherers
- PJ Devlin – The Chamber
And a huge round of applause to this years Overall Grand Prize, and Division Grand Prize for OZMA

A Vengeful Realm by Tim Facciola!

Congratulations to the Winners of the 2023 Goethe Awards!
- Lisa Voelker – The Spoon
- Robert W Smith – A Long Way from Clare
- Mitzi Zilka – Water Fire Steam
- Susanne Dunlap – The Adored One
- Linda Ulleseit – The River Remembers
- Nicole Evelina – Catherine’s Mercy
- William Maz – Bucharest Legacy: The Rise of the Oligarchs
And a huge round of applause to this years 2023 Goethe Grand Prize Winner- If Someday Comes by David Calloway

The CIBAs offer more than just recognition — they provide a ladder to success with a range of achievement tiers and expert long tail marketing strategies. From the highly anticipated Long List to the prestigious Overall Grand Prize Winner, the CIBA lists energize both authors and readers, maximizing your digital footprint and expanding your fan base.

We are always eager to support the Best Books through the CIBAs. Join the ranks of celebrated authors who have already taken this critical step in their publishing.

Your book deserves to be discovered, celebrated, and shared with the world. Don’t miss the chance to showcase your talent and gain valuable exposure at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (April 3-6, 2025) where Winners from all 25 Book Award Divisions will be announced and honored.

In a world hungry for good books, your story deserves to be heard. Submit now and leave a lasting impression.

Let’s celebrate exceptional storytelling together!

Don’t Delay! Enter Today!
July 21, 2024
TO PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE: A WW1 Windy City Novel by Robert W. Smith – Historical Fiction, WWI, Chicago History

In To Pledge Allegiance: A WWI Windy City Novel by Robert W. Smith, Conor Dolon, a defense lawyer, investigates the suspicious death of his friend, and ends up unearthing horrifying family secrets as well as deeply ingrained espionage activities.

Conor, Irish-American living in Chicago, receives shocking news. His wife Maureen has been abducted by a bunch of vigilantes walking the streets of the city and sporting flag armbands. The previous evening, Maureen had agreed that her outspoken support of the IRB (Irish Republican Brotherhood) in Ireland and her neutrality actions were becoming risky given the unpredictability of the current political climate.

Even when she eventually returns unharmed, the police officer who found her did not detain the kidnappers despite their evident presence. As Conor subsequently discovers, his wife’s captors questioned her attitude toward the Kaiser, involvement in Irish groups, and allegiance in the case of war.

When a friend is shot during a warehouse burglary, Conor is once more taken aback. He later finds out from a nurse that, despite the hospital saving his life, he unexpectedly passed away from an infection.

This friend had not previously suffered fever symptoms, so the nurse finds that stated cause strange. Conor goes out to look into his friend’s death, and bumps into a woman he’d saved earlier from hooligans pestering her during a peaceful demonstration. She turns out to be the daughter of one of his primary suspects, a ruthless and vindictive man who leads a prominent gang. But her elegant sense of style rapidly wins Conor over, almost shattering his marriage to his wife.

And as information about the affair surfaces, Conor’s wife reveals a fifteen year old secret about her involvement with one of Conor’s close friends from his early years in Chicago—the man who had helped him navigate the quagmire of the city’s politics.

The events of World War I in Europe in 1917 serve as the backdrop, instilling this story with real historical elements such as the Department of Justice approving a group of criminals and even giving them badges to carry out their violence.

An immigrant family of well-known Irish Republicans—the Clan-na-Gael—has also been well depicted. The author carefully shows the role that many organizations played in Chicago, a city which has been at the epicenter of powerful movements opposing the nation’s war policy. Readers fascinated with history and World War politics will appreciate the richness of material in this book, including details on the largest-ever patriotic group’s endeavor, fully backed by the US government, to suppress opposition and foster nationalism.

Robert W. Smith’s book To Pledge Allegiance: A WWI Windy City Novel is a story propelled by likable characters who remain true to their era.

It weaves action, romance, mistrust, familial insecurities, and war-related themes into a narrative that will hold the reader’s attention from beginning to end. An engaging, judicious and well-written work!

May 15, 2024
The 2023 Goethe Book Awards WINNERS for Late Historical Fiction
The Goethe Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in post-1750s Historical Fiction. The Goethe Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

The Goethe Book Awards competition is named for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe who was born at the dawn of the new era of enlightenment on August 28, 1749.

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring Late Period Historical Fiction. Regency, Victorian, 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, World and other wars before the 20th century, history of non-western cultures, set after the 1750s, we will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

The other three Historical Fiction Genres are the Laramie Awards for Americana Fiction, the Chaucer Awards for Early Historical Fiction, and the Hemingway Awards for 20th c. Wartime Fiction.

1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners were announced at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony by Hemingway on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Seasons By Sheraton in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

This is the OFFICIAL 2023 LIST of the GOETHE BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the GOETHE Grand Prize Winner.

Join us in celebrating the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Lisa Voelker – The Spoon
- Robert W Smith – A Long Way from Clare
- David Calloway – If Someday Comes
- Mitzi Zilka – Water Fire Steam
- Susanne Dunlap – The Adored One
- Linda Ulleseit – The River Remembers
- Nicole Evelina – Catherine’s Mercy
- William Maz – Bucharest Legacy: The Rise of the Oligarchs
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2023 GOETHE Awards is:

If Someday Comes

By

David Calloway

You can see all of our amazing 2023 Goethe Finalists! Congratulations to all and thank you for submitting!

Well done climbing the CIBA Levels of Achievement!

PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!

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

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A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in June. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. You will receive an OFFICIAL EMAIL NOTIFICATION with Digital Badges and more information.

NOTE: We will post at least two 2023 CIBA Divisions’ OFFICIAL Winners per business day starting April 24, 2024. We do a final sweep and reconciliation prior to making the Official CIBA Posts for the 2023 First Place and Grand Prize Winners. We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. There are many moving parts involved with the Chanticleer International Book Awards Program.

Thank you for participating in the 2023 CIBAs! We are looking forward to reading your future entries.

The Chanticleer Team
May 3, 2024
The 2023 HEMINGWAY Book Awards Finalists for 20th Century Wartime Fiction
The Hemingway Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works for 20th Century Wartime Fiction. The Hemingway Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

The Hemingway Book Awards competition is named for Ernest Hemingway who was born July 21, 1899.

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring 20th Century Wartime Fiction in Historical Fiction; Romance and Romantic Fiction; Mysteries, Thrillers, and Suspense Fiction of the time; Literary works and Satire and anything else that author imaginations can dream up for the HEMINGWAY Book Awards division. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

For Post-1750s Historical Fiction, see our Goethe Awards here. For other Historical Fiction categories, please see more details here.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 Semi-Finalists to the Hemingway FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

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

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are the FINALISTS of the 2023 Hemingway Book Awards novel competition for 20th Century Wartime Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Linda Joy Myers – The Forger of Marseille
- Elaine Aucoin Schroller – Dare Not Tell
- William McClain – Alice’s War
- J.L. Oakley – The Brisling Code
- Gary Baysinger – Margaret’s Last Prayer
- Kathryn Gauci – In the Shadow of the Pyrenees
- Michael J Cooper – Crossroads of Empire
- Kathryn Brown Ramsperger – A Thousand Flying Things
- Lou Dischler – The Last Newsreel
- J.A. Wright – Eat and Get Gas
- Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee – The Long March Home
- Linda Stewart Henley – Kate’s War
- Jodi Lea Stewart – The Gold Rose
- Richard LaMotte – Follow His Lead
- Ivan Luiz Hernandez – Isla Vulnerable
- Jerena Tobiasen – Tsarina’s Crown
- Suzanne Trauth – What Remains of Love
- Robert L. Decker – Not to Reason Why
- Kevin Miller – The Silver Waterfall: A Novel of the Battle of Midway
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

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

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

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

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 Hemingway Book Awards is:

Running with Cannibals

by Robert W. Smith

See the full list of 2022 Hemingway Winners here!

We are now accepting submissions into the 2024 Hemingway Book Awards for 20th c. Wartime Fiction. The 2024 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2025.

Please click here for more information.

For our other Historical Fiction Awards, please see the following:
Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, Kim Hornsby, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

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 12th annual conference and discover why!
March 12, 2024
The 2023 HEMINGWAY Book Awards Semi-Finalists for 20th Century Wartime Fiction
The Hemingway Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works for 20th Century Wartime Fiction. The Hemingway Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).

The Hemingway Book Awards competition is named for Ernest Hemingway who was born July 21, 1899.

Chanticleer International Book Awards is looking for the best books featuring 20th Century Wartime Fiction in Historical Fiction; Romance and Romantic Fiction; Mysteries, Thrillers, and Suspense Fiction of the time; Literary works and Satire and anything else that author imaginations can dream up for the HEMINGWAY Book Awards division. We will put them to the test and choose the best among them.

For Post-1750s Historical Fiction, see our Goethe Awards here. For other Historical Fiction categories, please see more details here.

These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2023 Short List to the Hemingway SEMI-FINALISTS. Finalists will be selected from the Semi-Finalists. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC24).

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

We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, April 20th, 2024 at the Four Points by Sheraton in beautiful Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference.

These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2023 Hemingway Book Awards novel competition for 20th Century Wartime Fiction!

Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2023 CIBAs.
- Linda Joy Myers – The Forger of Marseille
- Elaine Aucoin Schroller – Dare Not Tell
- Elaine Aucoin Schroller – The Bravest Soldiers
- William McClain – Alice’s War
- J.L. Oakley – The Brisling Code
- Gary Baysinger – Margaret’s Last Prayer
- Patricia Wilson – An Island Promise
- Kathryn Gauci – In the Shadow of the Pyrenees
- Michael J Cooper – Crossroads of Empire
- Kathryn Brown Ramsperger – A Thousand Flying Things
- Lou Dischler – The Last Newsreel
- Martin Roy Hill – Codename: Parsifal
- Trish MacEnulty – Secrets and Spies
- Donald Willerton – Teddy’s War
- J.A. Wright – Eat and Get Gas
- Marcus Brotherton and Tosca Lee – The Long March Home
- Linda Stewart Henley – Kate’s War
- Jodi Lea Stewart – The Gold Rose
- Richard LaMotte – Follow His Lead
- Ivan Luiz Hernandez – Isla Vulnerable
- Jeff Schnader – The Serpent Papers
- Jerena Tobiasen – Tsarina’s Crown
- John Winn Miller – The Hunt for the Peggy C
- Suzanne Trauth – What Remains of Love
- Robert L. Decker – Not to Reason Why
- Kevin Miller – The Silver Waterfall: A Novel of the Battle of Midway
- Shirley Miller Kamada – No Quiet Water
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!

This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.

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

Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews

Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.

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

The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2022 Hemingway Book Awards is:

Running with Cannibals

by Robert W. Smith

See the full list of 2022 Hemingway Winners here!

We are now accepting submissions into the 2024 Hemingway Book Awards for 20th c. Wartime Fiction. The 2023 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2024.

Please click here for more information.

For our other Historical Fiction Awards, please see the following:
Winners will be announced at the 2023 CIBA Awards Ceremony, sponsored by the 2024 Chanticleer Authors Conference April 18-21, 2024! Register Today!

The Chanticleer Authors Conference

Featuring authors like D.D. Black, Kim Hornsby, book doctor Christine Fairchild, and Mark Berridge, our twelfth annual conference is shaping up to be excellent! You won’t want to miss out on the best tips around the business of being an author!

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 12th annual conference and discover why!
February 27, 2024
The 2023 Hemingway Hall of Fame! One of the newest CIBAs open for submissions!

“All you have to do is write one true sentence.
Write the truest sentence that you know.”

— Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway hard at work over his typewriter

The Hemingway Awards still feels new to us at Chanticleer, but it’s quickly become one of our most popular divisions.

Since the 1900s, there have been international wars: World War I and World War II. Proxy wars of the Cold War such as the Korean War and the Vietnam War. As of late, the Gulf Wars and now the Ukraine fight against the Russian Invasion are the current ongoing embattlements.

Given the dates of these actual wars, fictionalized accounts and novels were submitted to the Gothe Book Awards for post-1750s historical fiction. However, with the 2020 CIBAs (Chanticleer International Book Awards) we received so many Goethe entries that were war-time fiction that the judges deemed that a new division was needed to recognize the many qualified submissions. We chose the Hemingway Book Awards as the name of the new division for wartime fiction.

No American writer is more associated with writing about war in the early 20th century than Ernest Hemingway. He experienced it firsthand, wrote dispatches from innumerable frontlines, and used war as a backdrop for many of his most memorable works.- The National Archives, Prologue | Spring 2006

EH 2532P September 1918 Milan, Italy
Ernest Hemingway, American Red Cross volunteer, recuperates from wounds at ARC Hospital. Milan, Italy.
Please credit “Ernest Hemingway Photograph Collection/John Fitzgerald Kennedy Library, Boston” for the image.

“Courage is grace under pressure.” — Hemingway

According to Seán Hemingway, his grandfather’s war dispatches “were written in a new style of reporting that told the public about every facet of the war, especially, and most important, its effects on the common man, woman, and child.” This narrative style brought to life the stories of individual lives in warfare and earned a wide readership. Before the advent of television and cable news, Hemingway brought world conflicts to life for his North American audience. [Editor’s Annotation: Perhaps the Europe and the Western World] The National Archives, Prologue | Spring 2006

Take the plunge and submit to us by October 31 to enter the Hemingway Book Awards for Wartime Fiction 2023 CIBAs!

https://test.chantireviews.com/services/20c-Wartime-Historical-Fiction-Chanticleer-Book-Reviews-p366628805

Wartime Fiction set in the twentieth century asks us to reflect most keenly on the most difficult times in our recent history. At Chanticleer, we are here to face war time history with the Hemingway Awards in Historical Fiction; Romance and Romantic Fiction; Mysteries, Thrillers, and Suspense Fiction of the time; Literary works and Satire and anything else that author imaginations can dream up.

To read more about Ernest Hemingway, please click here.

Please note that fictional accounts of the United States Civil War should be submitted to the Laramie Book Awards for Americana Fiction. It is sobering to note that more human life was lost in the Civil War than in ALL of the wars, battles, and skirmishes that the U.S. has participated in added together. Civil wars are considered to be the most deadly of all wars. [Editor’s Note: The recorded 620,000 killed in the USA Civil War were white men. The actual inclusive number is considered to be more than 800,000.]

Historical Book Awards here at Chanticleer Reviews and the CIBAS.

The CIBAs started with one historical fiction division, The Chaucer Book Awards, which split off the Goethe Book Awards for post-1750s historical fiction. Then the Goethe Book Awards split off a new division, the Hemingway Book Awards for Wartime Fiction.

The Hemingway Awards might be young, but we already have three amazing Grand Prize Winners to share with you!

RUNNING WITH CANNIBALS
By Robert W. Smith

Robert W. Smith tells the story of a forgotten war and the fractured peace that follows in his powerful historical fiction novel, Running with Cannibals.

It has been said that “War is hell.” It has also been opined that “It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.” Running with Cannibals is a no-holds-barred, candid portrayal of a war that is glossed over in U.S. history, the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902. It was the first war fought overseas by the U.S.

Running with Cannibals begins with an unnamed man on the run from an unjust accusation bought with blood and money.

Read more here!

EO-N
By Dave Mason

A young boy in Norway makes a discovery while playing with his dog, opening the mystery of EO-N by Dave Mason, a detective story spanning multiple decades and both sides of the Atlantic, a deep dive into the horrors of Nazi Germany, and a heartfelt love story.

A small metal fragment leads to the discovery of a downed WWII twin-engine Mosquito fighter-bomber hidden in snow and glacial ice for nearly 75 years. The crash site yields an initial set of clues, one of which finds its way across the world to Alison Wiley, a biotech CEO in Seattle. Having recently lost her mother, and, a few years earlier, her brother in Afghanistan, she finds her days full of despair, but the discovery makes a distant connection to her long-lost grandfather, and she flies to Norway. There, she meets Scott Wilcox, a Canadian researcher assigned to investigate the discovery after his government learned that the crashed aircraft belonged to the Royal Canadian Air Force. Their attraction is both intellectual and emotional, but the quest to uncover the plane’s mysteries and the fate of Alison’s grandfather place any romance to the side.

At first, the crash doesn’t appear exceptional, until certain contradictory and confusing clues emerge that make it clear that the circumstances that led to the plane’s fate were anything but simple.

Read more here!

THE QUISLING FACTOR
By J. L. Oakley

During World War II “quisling” became a byword for a particular type of traitor, one who not only betrays their own country but also actively collaborates with the invaders. The origin of the term was taken from an actual person, a Norwegian named Vidkun Quisling, who didn’t merely cooperate with the Nazis but actually headed a collaborationist regime in his own country.

The Quisling Factor takes place in the immediate post-war period, as the Nuremberg Trials are gearing up in Germany. Norway is conducting its own post-war legal purge of collaborators at all levels of government.

The story is a direct follow-up to the author’s award-winning World War II novel, The Jøssing Affair. This second novel focuses on the physical and emotional toll of war, and its precarious weight of peace on the survivors.

Read more here!

Now that you’re set on your next reads, what are you waiting for? The only way to join this amazing list of Hemingway Winners is to submit today!

Those who submit and advance will have the chance to win the Overall Grand Prize of the CIBAs and $1000!

You know you want it…

Are you a Chanticleer Author who has some good news to share? Let us know! We’re always looking for a reason to crow about Chanticleerians! Reach out with your news to info@ChantiReviews.com

July 11, 2023
A LONG WAY From CLARE by Robert W. Smith – Historical Fiction, Conspiracy Mystery, Irish-American History

Twenty-four-year-old Conor Dolan had intended to surprise his older brother and catch up after years apart. However, what he finds when he arrives in Chicago will spark a harrowing mystery, in A Long Way from Clare by Robert W. Smith.

Kevin, a beat cop in twentieth-century Chicago’s worst neighborhood, was found six weeks before Conor’s visit, in what the police have dubbed a suicide. However, Conor has his doubts. Each time he asks people about Kevin, he is met with resistance and denial. When Conor speaks with Detective Flynn, the man assigned to Kevin’s case, his suspicions become certainties. Flynn’s bizarre behavior, the minimal effort on the police’s part to investigate, and the men following Conor at every turn convince him to stay in Chicago rather than return to his home in Springfield.

Conor’s determination to find answers to Kevin’s death lead him in a dangerous dance with darkness amidst the shadows of Chicago’s underworld.

He finds an ally in undercover Pinkerton agent Rebecca Fletcher, who has been assigned to find information on a secret Irish society, Clan na Gael. Clan na Gael, a militant organization bent on establishing a united, independent Ireland, is planning the assassination of a visiting British dignitary. And Rebecca has uncovered evidence linking Kevin with them. Now Conor finds himself in the middle of a corrupt city, fighting for justice for poor immigrants and searching for the truth about Kevin’s life. The more he learns about his brother, the less sure he is that he actually wants that truth. At great risk to himself, Conor faces the corruption, where his own destruction is just one misstep away.

A Long Way from Clare revolves around the brotherly love between Kevin and Conor.

The reader sees their relationship through Conor’s memories. Kevin gave up so much to make sure his brother became more than himself. A seven-year-old Conor was once protected from the reality of eviction by Kevin, who strives to make the whole thing seem like a grand adventure even as their mother sends them across the ocean to their uncle. He does this again on the horrifying journey from Ireland to America aboard a cramped, filthy ship. Conor is never fearful because Kevin has given him strength and assurance that all will be well as long as they are together.

As a young adult, Kevin joins the army and later the police force to provide Conor with an education. He made certain Conor became a lawyer while Kevin himself walked the beat of the worst section of Chicago. Conor truly begins to understand Kevin’s sacrifice as he investigates Kevin’s death. However, he also finds a duality in the brother he loved and respected. He’s uncertain and confused when he learns of Kevin’s secretive life, struggling to reconcile this with his kind and caring brother.

Chicago itself becomes an integral part of the novel. The massive government corruption in the early twentieth century defines Conor’s story just as much as the other characters.

Conor’s fledgling law office cannot survive without the consent of precinct bosses, their “heelers,” and the coppers patrolling the ward. Everyone from the local priest to the court clerk has their hands in the coffers. Stuck in the capital of debauchery, Conor cannot fathom how his caring brother has spent most of his adult life working in the ward. The smog, the filth, and the human depravity overwhelm Conor’s upright values. Though he feels the pressure to break laws to benefit his “protectors,” Conor refuses.

The plight of immigrants, especially the Irish, becomes foremost in Conor’s mind since the city itself seems to devour these poor masses.

In his search for answers, he encounters so many people – women in particular – who’ve been abused and used, crushed beneath the feet of men seeking their own freedom from those at the top. They hurt those beneath them because they themselves are being hurt, going so far as to kill their own children rather than allow the city to consume them piece by piece. This dark and horrifying picture of the Windy City is the one that Conor must face.

A Long Way from Clare skillfully entwines the bonds of family, the underbelly of a corrupt city, and the resilience of those who struggle for justice. Robert W. Smith’s storytelling plunges readers into early twentieth-century Chicago to deliver a riveting narrative where the truth is irresistible.

June 5, 2023