Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

  • SHADOW OF THE LAST MEN by J. M. Salyards, a dystopian sci-fi fantasy series

    SHADOW OF THE LAST MEN by J. M. Salyards, a dystopian sci-fi fantasy series

    A futuristic Earth turns into a dystonia. Its inhabitants are a blend of the best and the worst, the good and the evil. Survival is all that matters. Readers of sci-fi and fantasy will will love this apocalyptic, fictional universe.

    A societal hierarchy born out of greed and gluttony created a rift in the world’s population. Two factions emerged: the Outlanders and Order of the Last Men. The Outlanders make up the population’s majority, but they’re oppressed by the wealthy and elite group known as the Order of the Last Men.

    The Outlanders face a constant struggle for survival, while the Order enjoys the privileges of life with little regard for those beneath them. Sitting in the middle of the two factions are the Mystics. The Mystics seek unilateral reconciliation between the two groups in the hopes of a more peaceful world.

    Compelling characters are introduced that embody the tensions of a bitter dichotomous society. Harrow represents the Outlanders. He is a futuristic Robin Hood with little compassion for any particular group of people and a low threshold of tolerance for the Order. Alouine Morningstar is the daughter of the dead Chairman of the Highest Circle; she is nobility within the Order.

    Quintain, the mystic, is fully aware of the struggle between the Order and the Outlanders. He strives to help Harrow and Alouine find common ground against a common enemy, rather than the heritage of one another. Each character creates a connection to readers; seducing them into exploring the dystopian world further.

    As the plot progresses, the narrative dives deeper; transcending beyond a philosophical story about two groups on opposite ends of a societal spectrum. The story surpasses fiction and may be a reflection on modern-day society. We endure class-ism daily, but could the gap become wider? Where is the Quintain in our world to bring people together to eliminate hardship?

    J.M. Salyards writes a thrilling and profound novel that will keep readers hooked until the end. The ensemble of characters build up the tension until you are hanging off a cliff, anxious to read the second volume. Salyards crafts a balanced backdrop that portrays a world as futuristic, yet realistic.

    Shadow of the Last Men is a worthwhile read that holds its own in the sci-fi fantasy genre.

  • NEWORLD PAPERS: THE WARRIORS’ TALE by KB Shaw, sequel to the Neworld Papers series

    NEWORLD PAPERS: THE WARRIORS’ TALE by KB Shaw, sequel to the Neworld Papers series

    The highly-anticipated sequel to Neworld Papers: The Historian’s Tale brings readers back into the mysterious Neworld, a world founded by former inhabitants of Earth who fled after the planet fell to chaos and war. Deemed genetically superior and above violence, these founders created a utopia that appears to be free of war, greed, lust, and the worst of human nature.

    When Fallon, a teenager with a photographic memory and an unusual drawing talent, was thrust into the middle of an underground movement, he discovered that his world has deep, dark secrets. He ventured into the depths of the world, documenting the planet’s true history, the motives behind the world’s leaders’ acttions, and the heinous crimes they had committed. Fallon became Neworld’s very first truthful historian.

    Now, in Neworld Papers: The Warrior’s Tale, Fallon is revered as a hero in the Solarist movement as his written records of truth make their way around the world. As everyone in the movement looks to him for leadership, he must choose the direction of the rebellion: reverting to ancestral violence or embracing a path of peace.

    Once Fallon rallies the Solarists, he finds himself once again exploring Neworld to uncover ancient secrets as his underground companions discover how their enemies have been controlling their forces and are working to regain manipulation of the truth ad history.

    Shaw has expertly built a world that draws readers into its rich and complex past. Neworld was founded with the purpose of eliminating everything that is wrong with human nature and to create a utopia that dictates the lives of its inhabitants through contracts and emotionless interactions to maintain peace. But, as we know, human nature doesn’t like to be controlled.

    Beyond the fascinations of Neworld, readers are coaxed into the lives of complicated and endearing characters. Fallon and his companions cope with the scars of violence and loss, while coming to terms with fiery emotions in a world that tries to suppress them. Fallon and his companion, Addie,  to navigate a tumultuous relationship while they come to terms with how they came to this world and what they must do to take it back.

    The Neworld Papers series by KB Shaw is a beautifully sculpted work of science fiction that delves into the complexities of human emotion through characters who battle grief, explore romantic ties, and defy global suppression.

  • HOW the MIGHTY FALL by E. J. Chadwell, an enthralling murder mystery

    HOW the MIGHTY FALL by E. J. Chadwell, an enthralling murder mystery

    A great mystery has readers so immersed in the action that the book’s pages fly by as readers look to determine the murderer. However, readers can only be captivated by such a narrative if it contains a clever plot, dynamic characters, the right dose of clues together with red herrings, subplots that enhance the story, and a logical, yet unexpected ending which readers try to attain as they read.

    How the Mighty Fall is a story with a plot and denouement that qualifies as a top-drawer mystery.

    The story starts engulfed in action. Connie Ross is hosting a party onboard her yacht that readers immediately learn is her sanctuary.

    “Inexplicably drowsy, Ross had been forced to leave her party. She now held tightly onto the rail as she bobbed and weaved in time with the churning waters.”

    “She relaxed her grip, however, when a familiar voice offered help by massaging her back and getting her to relax. Ross drifts as she relaxes, releases her hold on the rail, when ‘one forceful push against her back sent Ross over the rail.’ ”

    Home on maternity leave, Officer Gigi Mirabelli gets a middle of the night call from Jimmy Frail, Chief of Detectives, who cancels the rest of her two months leave to put her back on duty for the high-profile missing person’s case of Connie Ross, the media mogul. She will collaborate with Harry Burns, a homicide detective.

    Although not yet confirmed, authorities suspect murder. Connie’s celebrity status makes the case one which authorities want to be resolved quickly. The press will keep the case front and center, making its resolution a high priority.

    Mirabelli and Burns do not fit into any stereotype of detectives on a missing person or a murder case. Their physical description, dialogue, and actions highlight their differences as they seek to solve the mystery. Readers will subtly learn more about them in the course of the action, with bits of their personal lives that explain their unique approach to the case, and just enough humor that makes the discovery pleasurable.

    Who is Connie Ross?  As the story develops, the author shows readers the many sides of this powerful woman. Who would want to kill her? Readers discover along with Mirabelli and Burns that the list of her enemies is a very long one.

    The author executes the mystery with excellent characterization of all the characters, with superb dialogue, and with a strong clever plot that never fails to hold reader interest. The intriguing clues have readers working with Mirabelli and Burns to solve the mystery; Chadwell adds just the right amount of captivating twists and turns to keep her readers pondering the solution. The not easily determined ending is powerful.

    An enthralling murder mystery that is set in the city that never sleeps.

  • MADAME PRESIDENTESS by Nicole Evelina – an amazing story about a leader of the Women’s Suffrage movement

    MADAME PRESIDENTESS by Nicole Evelina – an amazing story about a leader of the Women’s Suffrage movement

     

    The mysterious, mystical Victoria Woodhull, a free-thinking woman well ahead of her time, is the narrator in this fictional treatment of her intriguing, at times incredible adventures.

    Woodhull was the first woman to run for president of the United States, at a time when, with the full support of the law, most American men did not even regard their mothers, wives and daughters as citizens.

    Born to a rag-tag band of “healers” whose medicines included dope and alcohol, and whose methods included blackmail and theft, Victoria was married off at the age of fifteen to a so-called doctor who beat her almost as badly as had her parents, and regularly consorted with prostitutes.

    She and her sister Tennessee, or Tennie, went from their father’s business in spiritualist scamming (though both women would later claim genuine psychic powers), to promoting supernatural healing in the brothels of New York City, to getting into the parlors and pockets of such Wall Street magnates as Cornelius Vanderbilt.

    Vanderbilt at one point had Victoria telling him what stocks to buy and sell, profiting mightily from her seemingly prescient advice, and Tennie acting as his mistress. Woodhull’s second husband, Col. James Blood, treated her far better than her first, and together they forged her rise to radical suffragette prominence.

    She touted the rights of women to vote and also to step outside the bounds of marriage as freely as men. In 1872 she mounted her famous run for the presidency, named former slave Frederick Douglass as her veep, fell afoul of the powerful preaching Beecher clan, and saw one of her most disturbing personal prophecies come true.

    Award-winning author Nicole velina has created Madame Presidentess following her earlier examination of another controversial female leader, Queen Guinevere. Victoria Woodhull’s life is a goldmine of material for any author; Evelina’s fascination with the psychic-turned-politician does not waver as she weaves together the stranger-than-fiction history of her heroine with threads of imaginative speculation.

    The extent of her research is obvious throughout, but never burdens the plot. She details this process in her Author’s Notes, and offers a short bibliography. Evelina has done an admirable juggling act, presenting Woodhull as highly intelligent and strong-minded but also capable of self-examination and self-blame.

    Madame Presidentess successfully brings a lesser-known early radical feminist vividly to life, revealing her meteoric move from rags to riches, from subservience and humiliation to personal power and admirable achievement. A highly entertaining and informative read.

     

  • A THEORY OF EXPANDED LOVE by Caitlin Hicks, a bold, coming-of-age novel

    A THEORY OF EXPANDED LOVE by Caitlin Hicks, a bold, coming-of-age novel

    Confused by conflicting messages from family and church, a young girl takes big issues of life, love, and trust into her own hands.

    It is 1963, and American Catholics are stirred. First, by the death of the pope, and later, the assassination of the first Catholic president. Preteen Annie Shea, one of eleven children in a devout Catholic family, is the narrator. Because her father, a soon-to-retire Naval officer, once had a chance encounter with a priest who is now a cardinal, Annie sees her parents shamelessly promoting themselves in the community and church as friends of the possible next pope.

    As we begin to live among the Sheas, we see a passive, harried mother who suffers in secret from the early loss of a baby and a well-meaning father who is tyrannical in pursuit of prestige, trying to control his unruly brood with strict moral injunctions backed up by a belt. But his rules can’t stop Annie from wondering: why is it a sin to lie, except about the family’s supposed connection to the papacy? Why can’t she talk to someone about a family member creeping into her bedroom and feeling her up?

    Worst of all, in a religious culture where babies are so wanted and life so precious, why is her older sister consigned to a convent to “repent” and, Annie learns, have a baby that will be taken away for adoption before anyone in the family even looks at it? Annie’s sudden bold rebellion may tear the family apart—or bring it together in ways never envisioned.

    Canadian author Caitlin Hicks is a playwright and actress who has crafted this coming-of-age novel like a series of episodes in a fast-developing family television drama. Annie is a likable, gutsy girl stuck in the contrast between what she knows in her heart to be right and what she is being told by various patriarchs—dad, priest, and pope.

    Authentic, amusing, wise beyond her years, Hicks’ heroine marches forth like a modern Maid of Orleans to remind others of their true moral duty. Hicks composes with confidence and competence, deftly manipulating the modalities of the fateful events of 1963 to reveal the Sheas as a sort of “every family,” with strong bonds of caring and some notable fault lines.

    A Theory of Expanded Love is a teen’s-eye view of what happens when doctrine threatens to outweigh compassion, and how balance can be restored with a few bold moves.

  • REMEMBRANCE OF BLUE ROSES by Yorker Keith, a passionate literary novel

    REMEMBRANCE OF BLUE ROSES by Yorker Keith, a passionate literary novel

    U.N. Human Resources Officer Mark Graham Sanders find his life turned inside out when a chance encounter reunites him with his friend, fellow U.N. colleague, Hans, and Hans’ beautiful, enigmatic wife, Yukari. Mark enters into this triangular friendship convinced that, although attracted to Yukari, he can maintain an appropriate emotional distance and still enjoy the deepening bonds of the trio’s relationship.

    As the three friends grow closer, they discover their bond goes back several generations through their descendants, prompting Yukari to claim that destiny has brought them together. In tribute to this almost magical connection, the two men steal out to plant a rare variety of blue roses in the U.N. garden in Yukari’s honor.

    In the meantime without warning, Yukari’s world is shattered when she learns of her husband’s infidelity. With a calm resolve, she takes Mark into her confidence, revealing her plan to divorce Hans. Mark’s loyalty to Hans pushes him to help the couple reconcile, and when Yukari becomes pregnant with Hans’ child, peace seems to return. But the quiet grace and gossamer vulnerability surrounding Yukari draws Mark in, like a moth to a bonfire. And when Hans’ quest for “meaning” in his life takes him to another continent, leaving Mark to care for Yukari during her pregnancy, tragedy beckons.

    Set in the rich cultural backdrop of New York City, author Yorker Keith uses precise language and an insightful first-person narrative to explore the myriad facets of complex emotional relationships. A struggle of personal integrity allows his main character, Mark, to develop deeper levels of human understanding, to accept his own imperfections and rediscover himself while Han’s crisis of conscience forces him into a position of atonement. Yukari, like Madame Butterfly, spans the entire range of tragic, elegant love.

    Yorker Keith’s Remembrance of Blue Roses is a slow-burning, passionate literary novel that speaks to the romantic in all of us.

  • TERMS OF SURRENDER by Lorrie Farrelly, a historical romance emerging from war

    TERMS OF SURRENDER by Lorrie Farrelly, a historical romance emerging from war

    Readers will experience a strong onslaught of emotions as they come to grips with the horrific battles that were fought in Gettysburg, PA during the Civil War. Lorrie Farrelly’s historical romance Terms of Surrender carries the spirit of a post-war nation expertly throughout its pages; a superb read for fans of love stories set on the rugged background of the Western Frontier.

    The plot follows the very real struggle of former Confederate Captain Michael Cantrell. As with many post-Civil War veterans, he’s unsure what to do with himself in a nation ripped apart by a war that left behind broken homes.

    Michael ends up in Wind River Basin, Wyoming, where he suffers a severe gunshot wound while coming to the aid of a young woman, Annie Devlin, and her younger brother, Robbie. The siblings are running their small horse farm on their own while trying to keep their land from people with less than kind intentions. What plays out in the remaining pages of the book is a love story over the course of a year and a half. As he is nursed to health, Michael and Annie fall in love.

    From the first page, Farrelly draws on the genuine emotions experienced during the era. The authentic dialogue spoken in choked whispers from the characters tug at your heartstrings and hooks you for the rest of the story.

    Farrelly devises a narrative that illustrates the heartbreak of a man who pledges his life to a cause that was lost; he was a soul who had witnessed a lifetime of war and death. However, despite the tragedy, the story provides the hope that most veterans lose in trying to re-acclimate a peaceful life; the hope of finding your soulmate. Love becomes the anecdote to heal Michael’s battered heart. No matter how wild the West may be, love will lasso it again and again.

    This author brings back to life an era that is long gone. Terms of Surrender is a brilliant historical romance with a healing love that is much needed in the aftermath of  destructive Civil War.

  • CROWNING GLORY by Stacy Harshman, an adventure memoir about self-image and anxiety

    CROWNING GLORY by Stacy Harshman, an adventure memoir about self-image and anxiety

    Hairstyles can speak volumes about your personality, or at least, that’s the idea Stacy Harshman explores in Crowning Glory: An Experiment in Self-Discovery through Disguise. A heartfelt portrayal of Harshman overcoming anxiety, her memoir is for anyone looking to read an uplifting story that’s also a sheer delight.

    Harshman spends weeks in New York City running an outrageous experiment: she records people’s reactions to the different colored wigs she wears. Her hairstyles range from a fiery redhead to a raven-haired goth. Her obsession with hair goes back to her adolescence:  “…my hair has been my archenemy since seventh grade. There was never enough of it, and what I had was wimpy.”

    In addition to the unusual experiment, readers are drawn to the author’s motivation to continue and complete her venture. Readers connect to not only the book’s premise, but to Harshman herself; readers advocate for her to succeed.

    However, beneath the hilarity of the experiment, readers see the author’s vulnerability:

    “I didn’t have a job to give me some sense of being a productive human being… I wanted to get one, but just the idea freaked me out…Before the depression, I had rehearsed and performed music…not being able to play out with my band killed me…just being around people was tough to impossible…I spent the rest of the day fighting panic attacks.”

    Readers also cheer for Harshman’s bravery to face and conquer her anxiety through finding her true self.  Her courage elevates the writing of this memoir, definitively distinguishing it from a self-absorbed story. The narrative reduces the stigma of mental illness that plagues so many people. The story offers hope and encouragement to those who have a mental illness, while bringing awareness and understanding to those who do not.

    The memoir demonstrates that appearance does play a role in social interactions to varying degrees. People’s feelings about their looks can become a determining factor in how others perceive them; a better understanding of self goes a long way in relationships.

    Some may find that the impact of the story is too diluted due to Harshman’s retelling of the experiment as she explores different looks. However, the book still resonates with emotion throughout, while still providing readers with a candid and fun experience.

    Readers get to embrace the past and present life of Harshman, sharing in her laughs, fears, and tears as she plays out her social experiment. An adventurous journey from start to finish, Crowning Glory provides fresh perspectives and insights about anxiety and self-image that might just inspire readers to conduct their own experiments with image in today’s society.

  • ICED TEE by Cherie O’Boyle, second installment of the Estela Nogales Mystery Series

    ICED TEE by Cherie O’Boyle, second installment of the Estela Nogales Mystery Series

    A freezer with blood trickling down the side. An inquisitive border collie. Cherie O’ Boyle stirs these intriguing images to bring readers another engaging mystery with Iced Tee: An Estela Nogales Mystery, the second book in her popular series. Boyle doesn’t fail to bring another fantastic narrative for cozy mystery fans.

    Readers are introduced to the quirky little community of Arroyo Loco located in the coastal mountains of California. A diverse community complete with its own obligatory Home Owners Association, filled with people you probably recognize from your own neighborhood: you have busybodies, town gossips, the obligatory community grouch, and the person who leads the association but no one really cares for them leading. Definitely a slice of California pie in this book!

    Our ensemble of quirky characters is topped off by one Estela Nogales who with her border collies Shiner and Scout, “live here happily in our weathered house under a big blue oak.” Estela is an amateur sleuth and psychologist by trade. At times self-deprecating, yet charming with a wry sense of humor, Estela really drives the story forward. Cherie O’Boyle crafts a character that makes the reader want to do two things: never put the book down until it is finished and pick it back up once completed.

    Estela’s perspective of the community is priceless and epitomizes the author’s desire to create a community that appears like any other real-life counterpart. Her descriptions are intimate and cozy, making readers feel right at home in the community in a feel-good type of way.

    The mystery unfolds rather quickly and humorously. Community member Tee is found dead, but this is certainly not your run of the mill death. Tee is discovered in a chest freezer. What ensues is a frankly hilarious exchange of community members on what resulted in poor Tee’s demise.

    The wild running theory is that Tee was killed over stolen ice cream; perhaps she was the ice cream thief. Did she fall backwards into the freezer, bumping her head, during this act of thievery? Was she startled by a fellow community member who caught her in the middle of this horrendous crime? After all, a broken camera was found in pieces on the floor near the chest freezer!

    You will have to pick up Iced Tee to find out what happens next. The narrative abounds with smaller challenges popping up in the background of the freezer mystery. If you enjoy puzzles presented in the form of a laugh out loud whodunnit, than this is this book for you. Cherie O’Boyle crafts another good old cozy mystery that will certainly appeal to a wide variety of readers and keep them guessing until the final page.
    Reviewer’s Note: This mystery was awarded the 2015 Chanticleer Book Reviews “Small Town Cozy” for Mystery and Mayhem Awards.

  • EVEN THE SMALLEST BIRD CASTS A SHADOW by Valerie Marie Leslie, a collection of youthful poetry

    EVEN THE SMALLEST BIRD CASTS A SHADOW by Valerie Marie Leslie, a collection of youthful poetry

    Spanning adolescence to the murky adulthood of the early thirties in each thematic chapter, Even the Smallest Bird Casts a Shadow also casts a light on the familiar struggles of maturity, romance, independence, doubt, depression, and further into the experiences of growing at the end of the last century. Altered little from their original creation, preserving the “dysfunctional integrity” of the youthful poems, Leslie varies the breathless experience with free form, rhyme, and lyrical verse.

    While plainly written for privacy and self-revelation, Leslie’s poems in nearly every form capture experience that might be known to any reader. Although each chapter covers roughly the decade and a half, there is a progression through the chapters that resembles the evolution of the narrative persona of Leslie. Back-to-school senses are evoked in the ramble of “During Science,” and there’s an affection to the poem “Hey Teacher,” which surely every high school writer has rendered some way. Heartbreak and romantic hope extend cover to cover but the early poems preserve the innocence of first attempts, culminating in the proud assurance of “The Ave Maria.”

    As the collection advances, the reoccurrence of life’s distresses, financial struggles, social pressures, miscommunication, failed expectations, and romantic disappointments, couple with resilience, ambition, and determination to reveal turmoil that’s as close as scented memory. The fallibility of human intention is confronted in Leslie’s poems at the same time as the loss of certainty in what she, we, seek from a life of surviving.

    The final chapters of supposedly reached adulthood still question the definition of that idea, and are laced with the aspirations and confusion of high school and college. The bitterness appears with simple sharp lines, “I didn’t get my degree for nothing,” and a young adult struggling to settle their purpose in life can find their frustration spoken from beginning to end in Leslie’s collection.

    Many of Leslie’s poems are untitled, and several throughout question, explore, or verify a sense of spirituality, connection, and security in God. These chapters plunge into the despair of doubt, guilt, and depression. In a life seeking love, Leslie expresses from an emotional pain felt in ages beyond the experience of her poems.
    Reading Leslie’s collection invited me to look back at memories and experiences of exactly the same time frame depicted, to question how I would define what I witnessed and learned then. The purpose of Even the Smallest Bird Casts a Shadow is to end a silence of self-doubt and shame, but it may easily motivate readers to delve into their past and youth for strength and inspiration.