Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

Gateways by Jessica Schaub – Y/A Fantasy

Mind bending is one thing, but when teenager Victoria Nike paints her landscapes – and then falls through them into another dimension – you know you’re in for a treat in this charming and intelligent fantasy, Gateways.

There are many similarities between Victoria’s story and that of Dorothy Gale: the emerging of special powers, real or imagined; companions both human and beast; an ultimate confrontation with a wicked witch.

That said, in Gateways, Jessica Schaub has created a wonderful fantasy that takes readers on a journey into parallel worlds, where mages – beings who can invoke the elements and use their energy – coexist with sphinxes and other fantastic beasts. It’s also a tale of self-discovery, of innocence lost and wisdom gained. Schaub succeeds in placing teenagers into a story of mystic powers and magical without her characters losing their modern savvy and their wisecracker-y. This refined skill in storytelling keeps the elements of this story believable.

When Victoria sees her mother’s growing distress, she notices her world changing in subtle ways as well. She retreats into the art room at school, where she paints. When she abruptly finds herself inside of her painting, she has no idea of how to climb out. Her art teacher, Anna Witherspoon, comes to her rescue. Anna is a Painter of gateways, and so, apparently, is Victoria.

When she returns home, Victoria and her twin best friends, Tucker and Bobby Martin, are told by their parents to flee. “No matter what,” Mr. Martin tells his boys, “keep her safe.” Victoria takes Tucker to hide with her inside a painting of a forest.

But that particular painting holds a prisoner, Lucian – a fallen mage accused of murder. Lucian wastes no time in escaping with the painting – the portal leading back to Victoria’s world – and so she, Tucker, Bobby, and Anna have no choice but to set off to recapture him in order to stop him from perpetrating further harm.

This is a coming-of-age novel, and much like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, Victoria learns that things aren’t always as they seem. Bad people turn good, and good turn bad. Family history enlightens and relationships shift. But that is life and Victoria realizes that though her world has suddenly opened into ever-expanding opportunities, there truly is no place like home.

A great read with a magical – air-bending quality that will draw the reader in and not allow them to leave until the very last page.

February 8, 2017
Tupelo Honey by Lis Anna Langston – Y/A

A stick-to-the-ribs portrait of an extraordinary girl who overcomes the deck stacked against her in the deep South. Tupelo Honey is one of our favorites.

When you read more than a hundred books per year, it’s exciting to find one that surprises you. Tupelo Honey by Lis Anna Langston is one of those, sneaking up quietly to bust expectations and leaves you thinking about the story long after closing the book.

Part of the surprise comes from being able to read on multiple levels. On the surface, it’s a sardonic YA adventure through tough modern times. Underneath, a unique and subtle paranormal story grounded in today’s world. At the deep level, a poignant coming-of-age tale about what it’s like to be a neglected child in a twisted family, and how spirit and smarts let one avoid a doom that seems inevitable.

Tupelo Honey is a preteen girl in Mississippi whose mother is an abusive junkie. Her father is unknown but his place is filled by a compassionate drug dealer; her grandmother can offer only love and shelter; her uncles are both crazy; her best friend is suppressed by severely religious parents. Then there’s Mooshi, her invisible pal—half human, half dog—who comforts and helps through his silent presence. Only Tupelo Honey can see him.

She accepts his existence (and others’ disbelief) without question, just as she accepts the poverty, insecurity, and frequent illegality of her life. While she’s wise beyond her years, she’s also still a child who craves loving parents and safe routine. There are so many abnormal people in her world that she takes them as normal, so her emotional reactions are low key where more privileged and conventional people would be freaked out.

This gives the book a sort of creepy, quiet tone from the opening page that seduces the reader onward. Tupelo Honey simply tells her story as she grows through the year that turns her life around.

The author has mastered the art of showing versus telling, giving just enough information so the reader can figure out what’s going on without having to back up or skip forward. Nothing about Tupelo Honey’s story is familiar enough to guess what’s going to happen next, making it an understated page-turner for youth and adults.

February 4, 2017
Beauty and the Bridesmaid by Lisa Souza – Chick-lit

Beauty takes a different a form in Lisa Souza’s page-turning debut novel, Beauty and the Bridesmaid.

Dorothy (Dot) Lindell tags herself as a “relationship black hole.” An overweight software geek with a loser love life whose only wish is to not die a virgin.

At her cousin’s wedding, displayed in a tightly molded purple-ish taffeta gown, Dot feels she wins the award for the ugliest bridesmaid. To add injury to insult, Dot has lost hope of an amorous hookup since her escort, Kennedy J Kennedy is gay – and the life of the party. But when he offers to trade his image consulting services for her software know-how, Dot checks the box for a complete image overhaul.

What she doesn’t realize is that her extensive overhaul is bigger, financially and physically and emotionally, than she could ever have imagined. If facial acid applications through a dermatologist aren’t enough, Dot’s personal trainer works her to death. Although it only takes her three and a half months to lose the weight through rigorous exercise program and her spanking-new meal plan, it all pales in comparison to the painful aftermath of plastic surgery.

As a result of her hard work and her surgeon’s skill, Dot is NOT the same person, anatomically speaking, than before. Changing her moniker to her middle name, Alana (Dot) enters a new world of attraction. Among her many admirers, the first person to ask her on a date is none other than her heart-throb who didn’t know she existed – even though they worked in the same office.

As told through Dot, Souza’s first person narrative describes a young woman whose involvement as a bridesmaid is less than stellar for several reasons, hideously unflattering dresses near the top of the list. Beauty and the Bridesmaid is a fascinating story that will hit the nerve of women who have ever felt or been told that their physical appearance just isn’t enough.

Souza’s distinct cast encompasses a wide range of personalities. From the down-and-outers and geeks to the haughty, and those that are purely villainous, Souza has designed much of her figures to function as foils for the main purpose of shaping Dot’s persona. Scenes continually alternate between Dot’s work, home life, friendships, and attendance at weddings as she transforms from an unattractive heavyset woman to a slim drop-dead gorgeous diva. An appealing feature of Dot’s character is her snarky comebacks, which as comedic as they are, function as her defense mechanism. Underneath her callous demeanor is actually a very humble and compassionate side that remains consistent even though she changes outwardly.

Souza slowly but steadily builds her plot with various elements to keep the story fluid. Aside from cliffhanging chapter endings and scenes replete with copious amounts of unexpected everything, Souza eliminates monotony by sprinkling the storyline with Dot’s therapy appointments, her Barbara Cartland romance reads, and bridal excerpts from Sarah Stein and Lucy Talbot’s The Bridesmaid’s Manual.

Beauty and the Bridesmaid is a perfect read with broad audience appeal for both Chick Lit and Romance aficionados.

February 1, 2017
Ghostly Paws (Mystic Notch #1) by Leighann Dobbs – Cozy Mystery

When murder comes to the sleepy hamlet of Mystic Notch, recently relocated crime journalist Wilhelmina Chance and her grandma’s crime-solving cat jump into the case with two feet and four paws.

Mainly, Willa wants to start over. After her car accident left her with a temperamental leg and a strange ability to see ghosts, she hopes taking over her grandmother’s bookstore in Mystic Notch will offer her needed peace. That is, until, with the help of her grandmother’s cat, Pandora, Willa discovers Lavinia Babbage’s body in the library basement.

When Lavinia’s ghost appears to her, Willa not only finds out that Lavinia’s death was no accident, but that someone in Mystic Notch is to blame. And Lavinia only leaves her with a few clues to determine who might have a motive to kill the local librarian.

What Willa doesn’t know is that her cat, Pandora, is part of an elite species sworn to help humans—and that Pandora is just as intent on finding Lavinia’s killer as she is. With Pandora’s help, Willa starts putting the pieces of the puzzle together. She just has to hope that her investigations don’t get in the way of those actually getting paid to solve the crime—namely, her sheriff sister, Augusta, and the handsome but slightly intimidating sheriff, Eddie Striker (and his steely gray glances).

This is the first in Leighann Dobbs’ “Mystic Notch: series, and the atmosphere Dobbs creates is exquisitely cozy. While there are a few hiccups in this debut novel, they can be forgiven as the series promises to deliver more enjoyable and affably cozy hours of reading–especially with a few of Dobbs’ few magical flourishes thrown in. Mystic Notch is a town that any cozy mystery fan can look forward to hanging out in. The story is enjoyable overall, especially in the last third. The reveals are delightfully unpredictable, and the ending offers a satisfying conclusion.

The role of the cats also adds an intriguing element to the overall story and reveals important parts of the mystery in a way that not only fits with the plot but provides some surprises along the way. The cats also offer a significant source of humor, which is a winning element throughout the story.

This debut novel of the Mystic Notch mystery series is perfect for cozy mystery lovers and looking for a humorous and feel-good escape.

January 30, 2017
The Horse Lover: A Cowboy’s Quest to Save the Wild Mustangs by H. Alan Day with Lynn Wiese Sneyd – Non-Fiction/Memoir

Thousands of wild mustangs now have a sanctuary to call home thanks to one man: H. Alan Day. This is his story.

Perhaps you’ve heard of a horse whisperer: a person who gently and patiently communicates with an animal. Multiply that by 1,500 and you have H. Alan Day, a cattle rancher from the southwest turned horse herder who takes on what would seem to be an unimaginably huge project.

The Horse Lover: A Cowboy’s Quest to Save the Wild Mustangs, is Day’s story of Mustang Meadows Ranch in the Sand Hills of South Dakota, the first government-sponsored wild horse sanctuary established in the United States.

In beautifully vivid prose, Day transports us to the prairie, as in this passage: “The sun highlighted the horses, now twelve hundred strong, creating a canvas of golds, bronzes, beiges, blacks, and deep browns that stretched out before me.”

Day’s youth played a critical role in his success and interest with horses as he grew up on a 200,000-acre cattle ranch straddling the high deserts of southern Arizona and New Mexico. After college, he returned to manage Lazy B, the family ranch, for the next 40 years. Later, he (hesitantly) purchased 35,000 acres in South Dakota and dedicated it as a horse preserve for 1,500 wild mustangs. Relying on a herd medication program he used at Lazy B, he trained the group of mustangs, those considered unadoptable, to follow a lead horse from the wild through the gates and into the horse meadow.

However, it wasn’t always easy. Initially, Day scoffed at the idea. “Come on, wild horses? I was a cattle rancher…”

Thanks to a heartfelt and informative introduction by his sister, Sandra Day O’Connor (the first female US Supreme Court Justice who retired in 2008 after 25 years on the bench), we learn that wild mustangs, formerly running free, breeding and multiplying, were being captured, sold, or destroyed. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) took care of many of them; however, the remainder was considered unadoptable.

Day remained stalwart facing dangers, frustrations, and heartbreak and had to deal with government red tape. Through his eloquent and moving story, he shows us the resolve and passion required for undertaking South Dakota ranching.

It’s no surprise Horse Lover is well written and poignant; in 2002, Day partnered with his sister to co-author the family memoir, “Lazy B: Growing Up on a Cattle Ranch in the American Southwest,” which went on to become a New York Times bestseller.

Horse lovers will not want to miss this book – and witness the magic of thousands of horses running wild. The rest of us will marvel at what Day was able to accomplish in this story of loyalty and hope.

January 25, 2017
Between Heaven and Hell by Jacqui Nelson – Western Romance Drama

The year is 1841 when nine-year old Hannah watches the murder of her family by drunk white renegade men. She was found by native Americans and taken in. Thrust into a new and unfamiliar life that will challenge and change her forever. But over a decade later, a tragic event has left her on the run from the tribe she grew accustomed to and now she must find a way to make a living on her own.

She and her trusted horse travel to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas – in other words, Hell – where she hopes to find a job. With the skills she learned from living with the tribe and her dead eye skills with a gun, she’s hoping to land a scouting job. There, she meets Paden Callahan, a seasoned traveler and military man who is looking for a replacement for his current scout, Dawson.

After being taken at such a young age, Hannah finds it better to be strong and live independently than take up a typical woman’s profession. Hannah has honed her shooting skills and has an aim better than most men, which astonishes everyone and angers those she bests. But, despite her skill and strength, Callahan still isn’t too sure a woman can handle the tough trail life and also isn’t too sure he can control himself around a woman this beautiful.

With little options to choose from, Callahan reluctantly allows her to come, but they both discover there are more dangers following Hannah than anyone realized.

Between Heaven and Hell is an alluring romance that captivates readers in a time period where Pioneers fought for land and Native Americans retaliated in order to keep what was their home. Jacqui Nelson’s characters are multi-dimensional and drift between bridging the gap between the two groups.

Hannah is an inspiring strong woman whose path represents the bridge between Natives and Settlers, and who spends most of the novel struggling to reconcile her two very different identities. Her life with the tribe has helped make her the woman she is, yet many of the settlers she must find a life with are those who do not understand, nor wish to understand, where she came from. Despite her personal battle and the difficulties she faces as a woman on her own, Hannah proves herself to be tough and resilient.

Callahan is also haunted by his past, though it differs greatly from Hannah’s and he fights to understand her and how to help her. The connection that develops between them despite their differences makes their relationship worth rooting for.

Nelson delivers a perfect, steady-paced book with poetic descriptions of romance and easy-to-follow fluidity of Callahan and Hannah’s journeys. Those who love romance and hot sensual scenes, along with the Western historical fiction, will find themselves enamored with this novel.

January 25, 2017
Robbing the Pillars by Kalen Vaughan Johnson – Historical Fiction

When James MacLaren flees his native Scotland, he leaves a body behind – but not his hatred of the upper class. In England, he meets and weds Emma, but will the skeletons in their shared past remain silent?

Robbing the Pillars crosses the Atlantic and lands in Nevada City, California at the beginning of the Gold Rush, amidst the discovery of seemingly endless supplies of the precious mineral. James and Emma, now with their young daughter Charlotte, come out to California by wagon train accompanied by Emma’s best friend, Althea and her son Justin.

Along the way and upon arrival in the region, they meet friends and ruffians including an entrepreneurial chancer with a conscience, an inveterate loser with a taste for alcohol and his eye fixed on Althea, and a Mexican who finds that MacLaren is the first white man he can trust.

MacLaren involves himself in mining, engineering, and homesteading while Emma and Althea get a taste of town life and community activism. Their children meanwhile are growing up with a sense of true freedom that their European-born parents could never have known. In pursuit of his personal quest, Justin will come up against Althea’s past; and the beautiful, willful Charlotte and her father must learn to live with the pangs of lost love.

Meanwhile, the territory is changing rapidly. Big men with big ideas are taking an interest in the fate of the new state and move to monopolize its resources. Into this mix, author Vaughan Johnson has expertly interwoven both fictional characters and real “empire barons” such as Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, and Mark Hopkins into her epic tale.

This first part of a planned series ends with the rumbling of war that splits the nation and brings about a sad parting that begs for a reunion in a later volume.

Author Kalen Vaughan Johnson has created a large canvas; her knowledge of the region – its history, the mix of cultures, the lilt of varied accents, even the cuisine – highlights her obvious talent for creating richly detailed historical fiction. The title, for example, references an arcane aspect of mining in which, as the miners retreat from a played out vein, they risk dislodging the roof pillars as they go, endangering their lives by ferreting out every last flake of gold. Johnson depicts with equal verve and realism the lives of the rich, the wannabes, and those at the bottom struggling upward.

A sweeping look at personal idealism and autonomy pitted against the forces of greed and manipulation, Robbing the Pillars is an emotive family saga solidly rooted in the American dream.

January 24, 2017
Five Guns Blazing: A Pirate Novel by Emma Rose Millar and Kevin Allen – Historical Romance

Containing exquisite historical imagery and diction in addition to brutal sensory detail of what life was like in 1700’s London and the Caribbean, particularly regarding the slave trade are portrayed in Emma Rose Millar’s and Kevin Allen’s Five Guns Blazing. The word choices, spelling, and dialogue are not only authentic to the time period, they contain a palpable amount of emotional heft.

Laetitia Beedham, the daughter of a criminal, ends up on the ‘Revenge,’ piloted by known pirate John ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham. When Rackham and his two lady friends, Anne Bonny and Mary Read, are captured by pirate hunter Jonathan Barnet, Beedham must save her friends while a price hangs over her own head.

Laetitia Beedham’s story begins at age 11 as she watches her chronically reprehensible mother sentenced to a workhouse. Since no provisions are made for the motherless at the time, Laetitia joins her mother in the workhouse disguised as a boy and referred to as “Nathaniel.” Her time in there is short and tragic, but she makes a few friends who introduce her to a life with a slightly better potential for a girl in her circumstances.

After her mother offends the law again, both mother and daughter are tossed onto the brutal steer of a ship on its way to the Caribbean to work off the transportation sentence. As a temporary slave, Laetitia learns a few hard lessons about what existence is like for those poor people chained to a life of permanent servitude and unforgiving masters.

Halfway through the book, the pirate ship arrives and Beedham’s mother, true to her nature, sells Laetitia for five guineas to the infamous pirate, ‘Calico Jack’ Rackham, in exchange for her daughter’s maidenhead. Known on the ship only as “Beedham,” Laetitia is constantly unsure of her place, looking for anyone to give her the nurturing that she didn’t get from her birth mother – especially from Pierre Bouspeut, who (like Jack, Mary, and Anne,) is a true-to-life character. In pirates, Laetitia finds unexpected allies, people who care for her and help her along the way. Much to the delight of the reader, these characters aren’t carbon-copy stereotypes of pirates we’ve come to know and expect.

There are many elements of story that work to tie the character, Laetitia, firmly in place. We get to know her and grow to love her as the thread of her tale is woven into historical characters’ narrative. In Laetitia, we see a bit of Cinderella as well as many of the Caribbean folk tales, which only lends flavor and familiarity to her plight. Sometimes she has trouble reflecting and learning not to trust those who betray her, yet the authors’ purposeful use of significant poetic symbolism adds much-needed justice to Laetitia’s tragic tale.

Though this book is advertised as a pirate novel, the pirates don’t show up until almost halfway through. When they do, though, the story picks up a significant pace. Knowing that Calico Jack, Pierre Bouspeut, Anne Bonny, and Mary Reed were real people adds to the overall historical appeal.

Five Guns Blazing is a dark, rich, historical 18th-century tale that weaves real pirates into a fictional story with many unexpected twists and turns. A must read for those interested in immersing themselves in 18th-century life, textures, and shadows.

January 14, 2017
Lost Secrets of Master Musicians: A Window Into Genius by David Jacobson – Non-Fiction

Told with assurance and passion, a tale of one man’s lifelong journey to connect with his own musical and artistic aesthetic unwinds across decades and touches upon the techniques of some of the best known musicians of modern times. Classically trained musicians and amateurs alike will find the techniques discussed in Lost Secrets of Master Musicians thought-provoking.

In a chronological and easy-to-follow fashion, Mr. Jacobson begins by providing background for his insight into the existence of these lost secrets, describing his own introduction into musical study and detailing his experiences with various well-known mentors, eventually culminating with his study at the prestigious Curtis Institute while still a young teen.

While not every classically trained musician or music educator will agree with his conclusions, Mr. Jacobson has the undeniable pedigree and real life experience to discuss the techniques of fine playing, specifically of the violin, and successful music pedagogy within his genre.

Lost Secrets of Master Musicians attempts to answer the promise of its title. Any musician who has spent time studying the twentieth century masters: Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, and David Oistrakh, Vladimir Horowitz, and Glenn Gould will find their interest piqued by the re-discovery of playing techniques that Mr. Jacobson puts forth in his insightful and revealing, and yet, what some musicians may consider controversial, treatise.

As a performer, Mr. Jacobson begs the musician and the reader to recognize what has been lost and how it can be recovered. The included photographs of proper position when playing the violin aid in the many points covering body symmetry, tone in playing, and what is referred to as “mind/body flow.”

Individual chapters are devoted to an instrument’s intrinsic value apart from the player, the role of authority in the face of the conductor or mentor, and the composer’s role in the modern repertoire. Each are examined through the lens of Mr. Jacobson’s new approach before the approach itself is compared to that of the well-known and controversial Suzuki Method, as well as Galamian instruction, a method of violin pedagogy found at both Juilliard and the Curtis Institute.

Mr. Jacobson’s unique idea, what he has termed the “bel canto instrumental technique,” eschews the idea of individual musical talent in favor of exploring – and challenging – how music itself is approached and taught from the most basic level of instruction to the pinnacle of performance.

A Curtis Institute graduate, Mr. Jacobson also holds a Master of Music Performance degree from Boston University and is the founder and director of the San Francisco Institute of Music.

January 14, 2017
Uzumati: The Tale of the Yosemite by Edmond G. Addeo – Historical Fiction

Three thousand years of epic historical reach, Edmond G. Addeo presents Uzumati: A Tale of the Yosemite, an exceptionally well-crafted novel. The author’s enthusiasm and deep love for his subject matter pay off in a big way.

Edmund G. Addeo is a master storyteller, talented in weaving historical figures with fictional and displaying the vast stage of the Yosemite Valley for all to enjoy. Readers will be both captivated and entertained by this fascinating story brimming with memorable characters.

Uzumati is the name given by the Indians 1,200 years ago to the area commonly known as the Yosemite Valley. The book details how the valley was discovered by the Native Americans and then re-discovered by white settlers in the 19^th century. This valley, striking in its beauty, proved to be a safe and plentiful site for those fortunate enough to find it and settle there.

Although Addeo’s story focuses on a time period spanning 3,000 years, his skill as a storyteller is evident. Uzumati is both engaging and easy to read, especially when one considers the amount of time and work invested into bringing this story to print. Addeo spent 50 years researching animals, plants, Native American oral history, and news reports from the later years of the era to ensure the story’s accuracy.

The book focuses on Choluk, “the discoverer” and his family tree which includes Chief Tenaya who plays an important role. Another memorable player is Major Jim Savage, of the US Army. As the story reaches its climactic conclusion, both Tenaya and Savage are well aware that tensions between the Native American inhabitants and the settlers will likely end in conflict. Readers will find it a struggle to choose a side, and in the end, witness a breathtaking conclusion of betrayal and political treachery.

Heartbreaking and beautiful, Uzumati: The Tale of the Yosemite is a novel any reader will find hard to put down.

January 12, 2017