Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

  • NO GOOD LIKE IT IS, Book One by McKendree Long, a post-Civil War Western

    NO GOOD LIKE IT IS, Book One by McKendree Long, a post-Civil War Western

    In his meticulously researched, debut historical Western, McKendree Long takes the reader on a journey to the Civil War era, as experienced by homesteaders and soldiers in the far-flung outposts of the Old West. A must-read for fans of the genre!

    Second Lieutenant Thomas “Dobey” Walls, a West Point Graduate, and Corporal Jimmy Melton, a non-commissioned soldier, meet at the military outpost of Fort Gibson, just off the Arkansas River, in 1859. As they work side-by-side to protect wagon trains traveling through their territory, fighting off roaming bands of raiders and Kansas “Jayhawkers,” the two men become fast friends.

    No Good Like It Is  follows the daily lives of these men as they work at the Old West outposts, journey to Texas to join up with the famous Texas Terry’s Rangers during the Civil War, and ultimately search for the remaining members of a Wall’s homesteading family in the wilds of Texas Panhandle country.

    Long’s gifted ear for the true vernacular of the time and his detailed descriptions of the Old West place the reader right in the middle of the action along with these two men and the colorful characters they encounter during their adventures.

    Walls and Melton embody the best of human values, exemplified through the valor of their actions, their honesty, and their determination to fight for what they believe to be just and right. These men leap off the page, remaining memorable long after the reader finishes the book.

    But above all, this is the story of men who meet and become friends, and whose characters are shaped by a series of dramatic historical events that defined our country.

    This novel goes beyond the typically simplistic view of the Civil War, delving into the divided loyalties of the homesteaders in the American West who found their families and friends fighting on opposite sides of the war. Long accurately portrays the dangers and shifting alliances of the Old West during the war, exposing the reader to a very different view of the war’s effects on the western states.

    No Good Like It Is, the first of three gritty action-packed novels that follow the adventures of Dobey Walls and Jimmy Melton, well written with historical accuracy and authentic dialog.  Readers will be eager for the sequels.

  • HAWKINS LANE, by Judith Kirscht, a literary romantic mystery

    HAWKINS LANE, by Judith Kirscht, a literary romantic mystery

    Judith Kirscht has penned a poignant story of two good people who struggle to escape their past and carve out a fulfilling life together. At its very core, this novel asks the compelling question of whether you can overcome the influences of family, and also, whether you can survive the consequences of your own actions.

    As far as the people of the small town of McKenzie Crossing are concerned, Ned Hawkins is from the wrong side of the tracks. And that’s putting it mildly—his father is a convicted murderer, his brother an alcoholic with a violent streak. Ned has spent his entire life feeling trapped and attempting to outrun his family’s legacy.

    As Hawkins Lane opens, Ned has escaped on his daily trek into his beloved Cascade Mountains to find peace and solace.  By chance, he comes upon a young woman, Erica Romano, fishing in a creek far from town. Erica is also escaping from the demands of her family, though their circumstances are very different: Erica is the daughter of the town’s new physician and related to the rich and powerful McDonald family, owners of the local mill.

    For both, it is love at first sight. Ned has grave reservations about exposing Erica to his family and wants to protect her by keeping his distance. Erica persists, convincing him that she needs him as much as he needs her.

    Unfortunately, family almost always finds a way to impact one’s life, and depending on the family, that impact can lead to tragedy. Ned’s brother, who has been spiraling out of control ever since their father was sent to prison, ends up in trouble with the law. Erica, who is by nature a risk-taker, places herself in danger far too often, and the mountains are not always a forgiving place. However, when Ned’s father is released from jail he spreads his own brand of poison, driving deep wedges and creating divided loyalties. Erica and Ned are challenged in ways that even they could not predict nor expect.

    Hawkins Lane is an excellent and, ultimately, a redemptive story about the heart-wrenching tragedies a family can survive, and about the healing powers of nature and friendship. The characters and the story will linger long after the last page is read and you will be captivated from the first page.

  • FIRE at WILL’S by Cherie O’Boyle, a West Coast Cozy

    FIRE at WILL’S by Cherie O’Boyle, a West Coast Cozy

    When a psychologist calls on her powers of observation to solve a murder, she uncovers a secret that some in her small eclectic Californian community would rather keep buried. Fire at Will’s by Cherie O’Boyle  introduces Estela Nogales as an amateur sleuth with a wry sense of humor,  a keen sense of observation, and two border collies  as sidekicks in this engaging new cozy mystery series.

    Estela prides herself on doing a good job of navigating the petty grievances and animosities of her Arroyo Loco neighbors. And if it weren’t for a few rule ­enforcing cranks she and her beloved dogs could enjoy all of the open space and clean air that her picturesque, coastal mountain community has to offer.

    Will Rosenblum, the neighborhood’s biggest grouch, has made it a habit to stick his nose where it’s not wanted, going out of his way to ignite the ire of every one of his Arroyo Loco neighbors, so when his house goes up in flames suspicion lands in all directions, including at Estela’s feet.

    As the ashes settle, a body—thought to be Will’s—is found at the back of the house. Also, Will’s memory impaired wife is missing. A round of finger pointing brings everyone’s actions into question causing Estela to realize that the only way to clear her name is to launch her own investigation.

    With so many suspects Estela starts to wonder if Will’s demise could have been an orchestrated community effort. Armed with her knowledge of human behavior and sharp powers of observation Estela examines the motives and actions of each person in Arroyo Loco and discovers an ugly secret.

    In this first installment of the Estela Nogales series the author uses a small, isolated location with a captive, vocal population to skillfully address the question of how well we really know our neighbors or, for that matter, our friends. Although some are locked into mistrust and others prefer denial, Estela’s unwillingness to allow wrong to prevail compels her to reveal the inconvenient details buried beneath the public facade.

    With humor and keen insight into human nature, author Cherie O’Boyle offers up a clever cozy mystery filled with a varied and quirky cast of characters. From the strudel-­baking Freda von Liesing to Arroyo Loco’s resident metaphysical hippie Sunshine Rainbow, each character is a classic slice of the diverse California lifestyle. O’Boyle’s inventive homage to the HOA rules-­gone-­crazy communities springing up all over the country makes Fire at Will’s laugh-­out-­loud fun!

  • The Man With the Overcoat by David Finkle; a contemporary NYC novel

    The Man With the Overcoat by David Finkle; a contemporary NYC novel

    Arts writer David Finkle’s anti-hero, Skip Gerber, has many obligations—lukewarm devotion to his sort-of fiancé, obedience to his smother-mother, loans to his ne’er-do-well brother, and a tedious job at a New York City law firm founded by his father. But in the space of twenty-four hours, all that could change.

    It starts with an overcoat, handed to Skip as he’s leaving work one ordinary late afternoon, shoved into his hands by an anonymous man with these words: “Here you go, and be very careful with it.” Minutes later, Skip realizes he’s stuck with the coat and starts trying to figure out how to get rid of it on his way to a supper date with his fiancé. He begins to examine the coat, tries it on, and finds it to be of unusually good quality and, also remarkably, a perfect fit. Inventorying various items he finds in the pockets, he embarks on a mission to return the coat to its rightful owner.

    He roams the city on foot and by taxi, being tailed in traffic by a mysterious black limo and, on the sidewalk, by two young thugs in hoodies, constantly checking his cell phone for calls from the increasingly peeved fiancé, his nagging mother, and his brother trying to cadge a loan. But Skip gradually gets too wrapped up in the enigma of the coat to care about these distractions.

    Everyone he encounters tells him what a great garment he has acquired. Voice mails remind him to take care of it. Hustling uptown, downtown, and all around the park, following clues seemingly emanating from the coat, he goes from a once grand building that might have offered a hint about the coat’s owner, to the statue of a man holding what looks to be the selfsame coat, to an abandoned tailor’s shop where perhaps the coat was created.

    As the hours pass—compulsively checked on his fake Rolex—his fiancé dumps him by voice mail, his brother divests him of some cash, and he drops his childhood nickname. The coat yields more intriguing clues: a weird stone that might be a Mayan artifact and a shiny Indian-head penny.

    David Finkle is a New York based writer (The New York Times, The New Yorker, The Village Voice) who knows his setting well, describing the city and its denizens vividly. He strews bon mots through the narrative like a man feeding pigeons in the park, and deftly guides the reader through the increasingly complex thought processes of an erudite Everyman with an overcoat that gradually becomes a symbol of quality—quality of cloth and tailoring, quality of life.

    Twenty-four hours after he was the coat was thrust in hands, Edward has followed his instructions to care for it, has chased down his clues, and knows what to do next. The Man With the Overcoat by David Finkle is an entertaining top-shelf work of contemporary fiction that blends mystery, fantasy, and comedy. This is a tightly written story with rich and complex subtext that makes reading it a sublime pleasure.

     

  • DEAD in DUBAI by Marilynn Larew; an international spy thriller

    DEAD in DUBAI by Marilynn Larew; an international spy thriller

    Larew has found a comfort zone in describing exotic settings, and her perspicacity for honing in on minute details gives her work a sense of authenticity. Through the eyes of her intrepid, intelligent heroine, we are treated to an insider’s view of locales like Dubai and Istanbul.

    In this second Lee Carruthers offering (The Spider Catchers provided the opening salvo), author Marilynn Larew again displays her prodigious knowledge of the international dealings in diamonds, deception and death that are hidden from the headlines.

    Employing her wry wit (“I disapprove of assassination, particularly my own”), Carruthers, a woman of a certain age (“my long brown hair had a few strands of silver”) is looking for a dead man. After quitting the CIA and vowing she wouldn’t go to Dubai to look for CIA operative George Branson, she is inveigled into doing just that by the appeals of Branson’s wife Cynthia, and possibly equally, by the little brass key that Cynthia gives her. Figuring out what that key unlocks will consume Carruthers; finding out why Cynthia plunges off a balcony to her death, and others will die while the hunt is on, will provoke far more troubling questions.

    Carruthers, a sort of female Bond, can identify a person’s borough of origin by his accent, and tell whether a man is an American or English by the way he takes his whiskey—with or without ice.  She knows where to get the best pastry, what wine to order, and in which Islamic enclave she can walk around without a head covering. She bribes passport control agents and befriends charming crooks. And she’s tough, always carrying a Glock, with a knife in a sheath on her leg.  She goes through several weapons in the course of this story, and uses a particular firearm to good effect occasioning one of the book’s better zingers: “Tears came to my eyes but they didn’t spoil my aim.”

    Carruthers is a person of principle, so when she gets caught up in a spy vs. spy morass, she keeps her own counsel and tries to do the right thing, though with the CIA and the Russian mafiya trying to outfox each other, she knows she may be seen as expendable. In the end, she has her ethics intact, a small bag of rough diamonds as compensation for her troubles, and some disturbing conclusions about who George Branson was, or is?—and who’s playing footsy with whom under the big table.

    In an age when national, ethnic and political identities and loyalties have blurred the lens of spy-craft, Larew’s heroine is right up to speed. And if the story line seems at times to move too fast and somewhat jerkily, it’s also true that there are few if any lulls in the action. Still, some readers may find the wrap-up final chapter rather mechanical, and may wonder why Carruthers, who keeps protesting that she quit the CIA in order not to be sent on dangerous assignments, hops on board for another missing-person case on the last page. But lucky for Larew’s readers that Carruthers accepts the assignments despite her better judgement.

    A sequel seems to be brewing that may perhaps reveal a softer side of Lee Carruthers. In this story there is a hint, but just: someone named Kemel, and a bloodstained pearl.

    Larew has built up steam with her fascinating femme-sometimes-fatale protagonist and her writer’s grip on the subtleties of international intrigue and double crossings that ratchets up the race against time in this spy vs. spy thriller.

     

  • CATHERINE’S CROSS by Millie West, a Southern Mystery

    CATHERINE’S CROSS by Millie West, a Southern Mystery

    Mystery, romance, and the hunt for a long-lost artifact make Millie West’s second novel that is set in the South Carolina Low Country, an engrossing read.

    Writing in a leisurely pace echoing that of the novel’s southern setting, West begins her story with Jenks Ellington who, while watering ferns at her house in North Carolina one afternoon, experiences the moment of her twin sister’s drowning miles away in South Carolina. Gigi, a strong swimmer and experienced diver, disappeared while diving with her partner Frank Hillier in an area the two had been salvaging for artifacts.

    Jenks, who has always had a deep connection with her twin sister, can’t believe that Gigi’s death was accidental.

    The detective on the case, the handsome Seth Mason, is equally suspicious. The initial investigation finds nothing wrong with Gigi’s diving equipment, and the autopsy reveals that she had no drugs or alcohol in her blood stream. Mason also finds it suspicious that Frank Hillier, an experienced ex-Navy diver, has no explanation for why he lost track of Gigi during the dive.

    Almost immediately following the funeral, Jenks begins to have disturbing and inexplicable dreams about a woman wearing a golden cross.  As Jenks begins to follow clues left behind by her twin, she finds herself drawn ever deeper into the history of the area and its inhabitants.

    She discovers that Gigi had been in touch with Miss Meta, a local spiritual advisor, and that Gigi had been reading the old spiritualist’s family diaries. Those diaries mention a gold cross exactly like the one in Jenks’ dreams. Is her sister trying to communicate with her from the afterlife?

    Each page of this romantic thriller is imbued with the natural beauty of the Carolina Low Country, its people, and its culture. Ms. West weaves its rich and intriguing history, along with the region’s distinctive manners and idiosyncrasies into her work.  Readers (non-Southerners will need to remind themselves that they are immersed into the pacing of a good Southern tale) will find themselves unable to put down this intriguing southern mystery.

  • SECRETS, LIES, and CHAMPAGNE HIGHS by Jeanette Hubbard, a cozy mystery

    SECRETS, LIES, and CHAMPAGNE HIGHS by Jeanette Hubbard, a cozy mystery

    Jeanette Hubbard’s Secrets, Lies, and Champagne Highs is a chick-lit quirky drama set in Oregon with crazy characters galore, an abundance of twists, and non-stop hi-jinks.

    Claudie O’Brien is interrupted while attempting to commit suicide with champagne and pills by the side of a river. Peter, who has taken to driving a tow-truck after being laid off from his job as a vice principal, finds her while camping with his friends. Meanwhile, Peter’s wife Chrystal yearns for a more elegant life. A floundering real estate agent, she now works as a hostess at a restaurant, resents her stepdaughter’s lack of interest in fashion, and has embarked on an affair with a quack doctor.

    Peter and Chrystal have just finished converting their garage apartment for his aunt when she dies suddenly. In order to receive the appropriate rezoning permits, they must find someone to establish residency there. Chrystal finds Claudie in the hospital and convinces her to pose as the aunt and live in the apartment for a year. Claudie, who figures she has nothing better to do and could use a distraction, agrees.

    Add in a deadbeat son cooking meth in a barn, a woman coming out of a month-long coma, an out of work English professor fired for seducing a teenager, secret identities, and an accidental death, and you have a recipe for nonstop hi-jinks.

    Claudie rediscovers a reason for living as she helps Peter’s children learn to cook and discover the truth about their stepmother. A subplot involving the proposed building of a spiritual retreat and miracle cures is amusing and timely.

    A polished writer, Hubbard weaves the multiple plot threads together deftly. This reviewer would like to see a more central focus on one or two of the characters instead of an ever-revolving cast of protagonists, which makes it hard for the reader to root for a favorite. The novel’s ending quickly ties up the threads of the many ongoing dramas and mysteries, but feels abrupt after so much build up. Overall, Secrets, Lies, and Champagne Highs is a fast-paced small town mystery with interesting characters that ends before it has really begun to explore the complex web of crimes and connections Hubbard sets up, which may be a prelude for a series. Nevertheless, fans of the chick-lit genre along with those who enjoy quirky dramas will enjoy escaping to Oregon and will be satisfied by Hubbard’s skillful writing craft. We look forward to enjoying more of Claudie O’Brien’s escapades.

    The Secrets, Lies, and Champagne High’s strong development of its Oregon setting helps create a world of quirky people and familiar locations. Hubbard’s novel has a multitude of characters and twists that will keep readers turning the pages.

  • TREASURE: A Trilogy by Vanessa Hoffman

    TREASURE: A Trilogy by Vanessa Hoffman

    In the 1930s, a homeless, pregnant teenager dies in a New York shelter after giving birth to twin, golden-haired boys, identical in every respect except for a disfiguring birthmark. One child is adopted into a wealthy family; the other one ends up in an orphanage. Kenneth grows into a handsome, privileged, and self-absorbed man; Francis lives a hardscrabble life, raging against his fate and determined to one day balance the scales.

    Years later, Camille, a forty-something woman who has grown up in a loving family but has received more than her share of hard knocks in life, decides to spend the afternoon drinking in a tavern. There she meets a distinguished gentleman in his 60s, who introduces himself as Kenneth. They chat, and something clicks.

    Kenneth, a retired general from the military, owns a huge ranch and has made a vast fortune off cattle and citrus groves. For seven months, Camille dates the man of her dreams, believing that her luck has finally changed. Or has it? Is Kenneth who he says he is? For that matter, is Camille the woman Kenneth believes her to be?

    Thus begins a trilogy of absorbing stories, interconnected by fascinating characters and united by theme. Long after readers finish the book, they may find themselves reflecting on the questions Vanessa  Hoffman asks about how we lead our lives.

    Are our important life decisions the product of how we were raised by our parents? Or are they more heavily influenced by the instinct to survive? And once we make unethical choices, do we rationalize them and ignore any feelings of guilt? Ultimately, will we pay for our bad decisions, or will we skate through life, able to ignore the damage done to others?

    The people who populate Hoffman’s novel are neither wholly good nor wholly bad; but are merely victims of life’s vagaries. They are ordinary people, innocent, vulnerable victims, the self-absorbed and privileged, Irish Mafia bosses, and criminals in league with Jihadists. They have—in some cases—lucked out by an accident of birth, but in other cases, had to struggle to overcome daunting obstacles. All have made questionable, life-altering choices.

    Time and again, Ms. Hoffman draws a picture of a person who, had circumstances been different, might’ve made different decisions. In each case, Ms. Hoffman asks the question; will they suffer the consequences of their actions? Some readers may find Hoffman’s tone occasionally a tad preachy. However, the intriguing characters and the interwoven stories of suspense and political intrigue will remain with readers long after they finish the book.  Treasure: A Trilogy  raises important questions about the ways in which we live our lives. An engrossing and fascinating novel!

  • The QUEBEC AFFAIR by Robert Penbrooke, a Spy Thriller

    The QUEBEC AFFAIR by Robert Penbrooke, a Spy Thriller

    Robert Penbrooke’s The Quebec Affair represents a promising entry into the thriller field for the debut author, whose well-researched plotting propels the work to a satisfying conclusion.

    John Thurmond is a former Canadian citizen who decides to join the US Army when he disagrees with Canada’s foreign policy related to China. Because of his Canadian citizenship, he is recruited into the CIA from the army in 1971. John’s first mission takes him to China, where he poses as a Canadian journalist in order to acquire Russian and Chinese nuclear information. Stealing photo negatives related to important developments in nuclear physics from a Russian scientist, his identity is compromised, and John is forced to flee to Cambodia with the negatives.

    The Khmer Rouge are just beginning to terrorize the country and John must escape a country that is falling apart. He befriends a French Colonel who has a better chance of getting the negatives safely out of the country and hands them off before attempting to make his way out on foot through the jungle. John is captured and tortured by the Russians, but he eventually escapes and manages to make it back to his family in Canada. When he calls to check in with his CIA contact, however, he discovers that his department has been closed for 10 months.

    Twelve years after he was first recruited, John is a lawyer with a wife and child, but his failed mission still haunts him. When he finally reaches the officer who recruited him into the CIA, he is determined to see it through. Penbrooke sets up a fascinating plot with compelling motivation, but occasionally gets lost in unnecessary detail. While dialogue occasionally veers toward the cartoonish, Penbrooke does a great job of sustaining tension and keeping things unpredictable.

    Several emotion heavy subplots add to characterization: for instance, through the course of the mission, John is reunited with the son of his family’s tenant farmers whom he grew up alongside, only to have a brutal falling out with. These elements add depth, but fail to coalesce into more than mere diversions from the main action. Penbrooke’s novel suffers from the sheer number of central characters and the introduction of too many new characters, so there just isn’t enough room to develop them all sufficiently. However, it is nevertheless a compelling read. Overall, Penbrooke’s intricately plotted first thriller is a page-turner and shows promise, despite a lack of character focus. Readers looking for a fresh thriller will enjoy the novel’s unique settings and research.

  • NEWORLD PAPERS: The HISTORIAN’S TALE by KB Shaw

    NEWORLD PAPERS: The HISTORIAN’S TALE by KB Shaw

    A young man’s unique talents plunge him into the center of a revolutionary movement and force him to make decisions that could destroy his world, the peaceful Neworld with no concept of war or murder.

    In a world where all forms of history are forbidden, Fallon becomes the Historian for a new age using his power of observation to unlock long-buried secrets and reveal the truth about Neworld’s origin. But truth, no matter how noble, has teeth as well as limits and those limits are tested as Fallon is forced to choose between the status quo and the potential destruction of Neworld society.

    Through first-person narrative, K.B. Shaw’s engaging world-building novel introduces the reader to Fallon, a foundling who’s lived his first 17 “annums” as a ward at the Neworld school known as the “Mount.”

    Fallon’s inferior status places him in the servant’s quarters rather than the classroom but his unique set of abilities and his hunger for knowledge give him hope as he anticipates the arrival of his 18th annum – the date when he comes of age and claims his freedom.

    His hope is crushed when, days shy of his legal liberation, the head of the Mount “sells” him into what he fears is indentured servitude. In reality Fallon’s time at the school has been closely monitored. His talent for rendering detailed drawings from his perfect memory makes him an asset to the revolutionary Solarist Movement. Those same talents mark him as a danger to the Council, the ruling body of Neworld. Fallon’s fate is now in the in the hands of the Solarists, as much for his protection as for their use.

    In Neworld Papers Series 1: The Historian’s Tale the author has created a planet rich in textural detail from the native plants and creatures to the underground world where technology lies like treasure waiting to be unearthed. At times the pacing slows when Fallon is trying to make sense of objects and life forms that are foreign to him but using Fallon’s innocent and decidedly un-worldly point of view enables the reader to enjoy the journey and stand alongside Fallon as he encounters each new discovery with clear, unbiased eyes.

    Author K.B. Shaw effectively uses Neworld Papers as a platform for deeper thought by providing moral dilemmas that continue to challenge mankind, not the least of which is the question of how truth, freedom and control can intersect to create a functional society.

     Neworld Papers: The Historian is an engrossing Science Fiction novel with a thought provoking premise, awesome world building, and more than a dash of romance. An overall enjoyable read!