Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

  • An Editorial Review of “Murder Strikes a Pose” by Tracy Weber

    An Editorial Review of “Murder Strikes a Pose” by Tracy Weber

    In this award winning mystery, yoga instructor Kate Davidson tries her best to live the Zen life, but she often finds herself being challenged with her fluffy hips, her struggling yoga business, and missing her deceased dad, who was a cop. Date-free for nine months, three days and seven hours since her break-up, Kate tries to resist friend Rene’s numerous attempts to set her up with dates.

    Into Kate’s world steps George, a homeless alcoholic with a German shepherd sidekick named Bella who loves to bark. The duo has decided that the entrance to Kate’s yoga studio is the perfect place for them to hang out, which definitely challenges Kate’s savasana.

    An uneasy truce develops between Kate, Bella, and George as she learns more about George’s history and that Bella adores him. She also learns that Bella was stolen, but George corrects her: “Bella wasn’t stolen. She was rescued.”  Bella needs costly medicine, and George has a scheme to get the funds needed for his dearest friend in the world.

    But George is murdered, and the Seattle cops dismiss it as another drug-related street crime. Kate ends up taking care of the sickly, shedding dog that is the size of a small horse. She also finds that having a murder take place within steps of your business is not the best thing to increase clientele. Despite warnings, Kate takes on solving George’s murder. She is also desperate to find Bella a home.

    Kate and Bella become unlikely partners on the murder beat and at home when Kate realizes George’s murderer is hot on her trail and that Bella may know too much. Weber keeps the plot twisting and turning until its climactic conclusion.

    Its fresh writing, social relevance, and suspenseful page-turning plot makes Murder Strikes a Pose a hands-down winner. We look forward to reading more of Kate and Bella’s clever sleuthing adventures in the next novel of Tracy Weber’s Downward Dog Mystery series.

    Murder Strikes a Pose by Tracy Weber was awarded a First Place Category Winner in the Mystery and Mayhem Awards 2013, a division of the Chanticleer Book Reviews writing competitions.

    [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Reviewer’s Note: Even if you don’t know your downward dog pose from your dolphin plank, we believe that cozy mystery readers will enjoy this engaging first novel in Tracy Weber’s Downward Dog Mystery series.][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • An Editorial Review of “The Starlight Fortress” by Fiona Rawsontile

    An Editorial Review of “The Starlight Fortress” by Fiona Rawsontile

    Courage, love, and loyalty are counterpoised with intrigue, hatred, and betrayal—in settings ranging from intimate dinners to royal banquets, seaside walks to interplanetary voyages and galactic space battles in this highly entertaining and fast moving debut novel by Fiona Rawonstile: The Starlight Fortress.

    After reluctantly turning the last page of this mesmerizing and unpredictable tale of love, life, and war, I looked out my window to see the solid shape of a bright quarter moon and the twinkle of the “Evening Star” that is Venus against a deep azure sky. I wished I could see further into the galaxy and find the Renaisun solar systems, with their widely differing planets, countries, and cities—but of course they don’t exist (yet?) except in the pages of The Starlight Fortress.

    Spectacular battles in the Stony Band of asteroids, the interstellar pathways, and even on-the- ground maneuvers provide plenty of fast-paced military action, conducted with imaginative space-age techniques, weapons, and ships of all shapes and sizes—the most spectacular being the RA allied forces’ enormous five-armed Starlight Fortress, coveted by Emperor Pompey. Artfully interwoven with the military battles are the interpersonal relations among the royals, the military officers, and ordinary citizens.

    Despite their future sci-fi existence in the universe, Rawsontile’s characters and their language, lifestyles (with a few tweaks), hopes, and desires—as well as their darker natures of envy, jealousy, hate, prejudice, and war—will resonate with readers. The young Queen Geneva of Sunphere, the primary country on the RA-4 planet of the Renaisun A system, is unlike any queen, past or present, on Earth. Elevated to her post after the untimely death of her father, she would rather go shopping on one of the moon malls with her friends than rule the country, but duty calls and the stakes are high.

    Geneva may be queen, but her elders question her judgment when she selects as her military assistant not an experienced officer, but Commander Sterling Presley, on the basis of a speech he delivered at his graduation from Sunphere’s Space Force Academy just four years earlier.  However, they are betting that age isn’t everything when it comes to creating new battle strategies.

    Sometimes singly, and sometimes together, Geneva, with her chubby cheeks, and Sterling, resembling a junior college professor, face some hard work if they are to earn the respect of Sunphere’s citizens and Space Force—not to mention that of their allies of Renaisun A, as well as their enemy Emperor Pompey with his colonial forces of Renaisun B.

    Joining Geneva and Sterling is a full cast of colorful, multifaceted characters—Sir Lloyd, Geneva’s uncle and Secretary of Defense; the handsome, aristocratic, young officer Charlie Swinburne of Rainprus; Prince Edwards of the neutral Renaisun C, who could be a good ally; military diamond-in-the-rough; and more, all artfully crafted by Rawsontile.

    Dangerous, sticky, and amorous situations intensify as hostilities mount and battle fleets are amassed. Be sure to strap in, hang on tightly, and enjoy Rawsontile’s exhilarating ride into the future. This reviewer really didn’t want the story to end. Please, Fiona, give us a sequel to The Starlight Fortress! 

  • An Editorial Review of “Tea Leafing” by Weezie Macdonald

    An Editorial Review of “Tea Leafing” by Weezie Macdonald

    In her debut novel, Tea Leafing, Weezie Macdonald demonstrates extraordinary skill in deftly weaving the multifaceted personalities and lives of a quartet of friends—exotic dancers (or strippers, as you will) at a high-end gentlemen’s club in Atlanta. It is an intriguing thriller of local graft, mafia-style murder, international drug rings, money laundering, and revenge.

    Juxtaposed with the shadier side of  Tea Leafing is the story of these women’s’ loyalty to each other, clever sleuthing, and determination not to let their co-worker and friend’s unjust and gruesome death go un-avenged.

    Macdonald masterfully develops the rich and distinctly different characters of Sam, Grace, Mary Jane, and Birdie both on and off stage at the Pink Pussycat, yet enables them to mesh within the close bonds of their friendship, especially when they resolve to face the dangers of joining forces to solve Lena’s murder. Tears of loss and compassion flow as they mourn their friend’s death, though they purposefully maintain a discreet distance from Lena’s high-society Savannah family and friends—all except her younger sister Amanda, who provides a key clue.

    Chunks of humor lighten the story—in the shenanigans and uninhibited dialog of the feisty-tongued, Irish-born, Manchester-raised Birdie, and vignettes of the club manager’s outlandishly dressed and coiffed mother, Pietra Maria Speranza DiFrancesco, who sails through the crowded club like a battleship, bellowing for her son Gio. Macdonald’s colorful descriptions enable us to smell the smoky air of the club, the whiskey, the perfume, even the sweat. We feel ourselves to be a part of the scene, and of the lives of those within it. Her multifaceted characterizations make us aware that people are not only, or perhaps not at all, what or who they appear to be.

    The story accelerates at a heart-stopping pace, as the clues build and the quartet construct their plan of action. Additional colorfully drawn characters join the cast, and the scene explodes to cover the globe—the Caribbean, Russia, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore. The suspense builds as money launderers, the Russian mob, and the underworld of Atlanta come into play. The urge to turn the pages faster and faster fights the need to absorb the intricate detail of the story. Heed that warning, readers, or you’ll find yourselves back in Atlanta not quite sure what happened.

    Tea Leafing by Weezie Macdonald is an entertaining and captivating mystery that will take you on a great ride on the wild side.

    [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Editorial note: If you, like this reviewer, feel as though you’ve made some very good friends only to have to tell them goodbye, Weezie Macdonald is not going to let that happen. This quartet will entertain us again in the next book of Macdonald’s series. And, yes, you will discover what “tea leafing” is all about.]

     [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • An Editorial Review of “Rebellious Heart” by Jody Hedlund

    An Editorial Review of “Rebellious Heart” by Jody Hedlund

    Rebellious Heart makes history come alive in the years prior to the War of Independence.  The first sentence gripped me; the story and the writing skill held me captive until the end.

    Hedlund  bases her fictional characters on real people who lived during those times.  Ben Ross and Susanna Smith must make life-changing choices amidst looming threats in the thirteen colonies of the new world.

    Birthed into families of different social status, Ben and Susanna resist their growing affection for each other. Though he has a Harvard law degree, he is a poor farmers son. Susanna is born into high social status and wealth.  Matters of conscience and circumstances push them together and gradually Susanna moves away from the stiff and merciless norms of the time. They risk terrible consequences—alienation of family and hanging for treason — while they move deeper and deeper toward their quest for freedom.  For them, lines of behavior are no longer clearly defined, but swing on both sides of the social dictates and the law.

    Hedlund lets us see the determination of those  loyal to Britain, their fear for loved ones at risk, and their fierce adherence to the morés surrounding social tradition and religion in this page-turning drama that explores ethical dilemmas.

    Ross and Susanna risk discovery to firmly stand against family, the law, and the British crown, the greatest power on earth at that time.  The novel brings to life the courage many embraced in the midst of their well-founded fear, yearning to win freedom from tyranny in the thirteen colonies.

    Jody Hedlund’s Rebellious Heart  shows us individuals stirring the seeds of rebellion and inspiring many to follow their lead, forging the beginning of the free and independent United State of America. This is her fifth historical romance novel.

    [Reviewer’s Note:  Rebellious Heart  is appropriate for all ages.]

     

  • An Editorial Review of “The Prodigal” by Michael Hurley

    An Editorial Review of “The Prodigal” by Michael Hurley

    Undoubtedly one of the best new books I’ve read, The Prodigal by Michael Hurley is the novel I tell everybody they must read.  This award-winning novel is a story that you will not soon forget.

    The Prodigal could be interpreted as a coming of age story, not of teenagers or young adults, but of the middle-aged. Mature adults who seem to have it all together, but grapple with insubstantiality.  Adults, who as arrows of Life’s bow, are missing their true target. These are the vividly drawn characters of Michael Hurley’s novel.

    A riveting and socially relevant tale, The Prodigal is a contemporary marvel of an allegorical story of vices and virtues, of Achilles’ heels, and odysseys into the unknown. Hurley spans two thousand years, several oceans, and eternal love with adventure and captivation.

    The protagonist, Aidan, finds himself stripped of all his privileged-trappings: professional kudos,  private clubs, top level connections, cash, even credit cards, due to a quick and nearly fatal bite from one of his own kind, an attorney of law. Aidan’s mentor sends him to the backwaters of Okracoke Island in North Carolina, a land  sequestered between the Pamlico Sound and the Atlantic Ocean, to get his bearings.

    Okracoke is often described as a geographical oddity with the folks to go with it. This quirky island has a single paved road and is only accessible by boat; it is so isolated that you can still hear traces of Elizabethan English spoken by the locals. It is as it has always been–a place treacherous enough to be a safe haven. It is here in Okracoke that Aidan meets the others whose fates and chances are bound up with his.

    The tides, winds, and currents of life propel us along in directions that, unless we take notice and change our sails, might endanger us, indeed, ensnare our very souls.  Hurley captures the forces that swirl among us; sometimes with dangerous gale strengths, sometimes with stalling headwinds, and sometimes becalming. And then there are those magical times in our lives when we have the wind at our backs and our sails on a broad reach going faster than hull speed—our eyes on the prize. The Prodigal portrays these moments with powerful writing that is finely nuanced.

    Hurley unfolds the timeless stories of transgression and forgiveness, of despair and hope, of damnation and redemption with brilliant subtlety in this riptide of a novel.

    The Prodigal was awarded the Chanticleer Best Book of the Year Award 2013 and the Somerset Grand Prize for Literary Fiction.

    2013-Hurley[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Reviewer’s Note:  If you love the taste of salt on your lips, the stars above you and the wind in your face, The Prodigal will engulf you in its myriad of temperaments as it races against time, the elements, treachery, and power.  As a sailor myself, I must say Hurley’s portrayal of `The Prodigal’ sailboat as a metaphor for the Divine Heavenly Host, Savior, and Spirit is pure genius.]

    [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • An Editorial Review of “Midsummer Magick” by Laura Navarre

    An Editorial Review of “Midsummer Magick” by Laura Navarre

    The Golden Age of England is threatened and the timeline of history as we know it will be changed forever if powerful forces of Heaven and Hell, Faerie and Mortal have their way.

    Laura Navarre has done it again. Midsummer Magick, the second book in her Magick Trilogy series is not your typical bodice-ripper novel. Navarre exquisitely interlaces the adventure of Arthurian legend, the timelessness of angelic lore, the intrigue of the English Tudor court, the magic of the Faerie realm, and deliciously passionate love scenes in this spellbinding novel.  The mesmerizing story line will sweep you into its world and may even have you wondering if this alternate reality that Navarre constructed for her Magick Trilogy series might just exist somewhere, in some time.

    Midsummer Magick finds country- bred Lady Linnet Norwood, a shy young scholar, as a lady in waiting at the coronation of the Queen Elizabeth Tudor.  Linnet’s mother, Lady Catriona Norwood, disappeared without a trace when Linnet was but five-years-old.  As the only living soul left in the Norwood line Linnet is, for the moment, the Countess of the troubled lands of Glencross, Scotland.

    For those who read Magick by Moonlight, they will know that Linnet was considered missing—if not dead— for two years by mortal time. The Tudor court thinks the worst of her—that she is a ruined woman who speaks madly about being kidnapped by fairies and whose father disowned her on his deathbed. And since Lady Linnet is a Papist in a decidedly Protestant court, there are those who consider her a threat and her loyalty to the Queen questionable.  The story begins with Linnet being led to a trap where her killers await.

    Enter Zamiel, the Angel of Death, son of Lucifer. Zamiel is unique in the Heavenly Host. Because his touch brings death, he leads a solitary existence that straddles the vast divide of the Heavenly Host and the Hell of fire and brimstone. However, the angel Zamiel has Lucifer’s infamous rebellious nature along with his devilish good looks and charm.

    Zamiel, on his way to deliver his touch of death, aids Linnet in fighting off her attackers instead of touching her. His good deed will be his un-doing. He is exiled from Heaven and made mortal for his transgression of intervention. Now it is his soul that hangs in the balance. Navarre excels at introducing the hierarchy of angels to her readers and almost has you feeling sympathy for the devil and his son.  Zamiel’s weariness of his eternal role of bringer of death is palpable.

    Navarre deftly counters and parries powerful entities against each other as all struggle to gain or maintain power within their own dominion. The Machiavellian maneuvering of usurpers of Queen Elizabeth’s reign is brilliantly reflected in the realms of the Fae and the dominions of the Heavenly Host.  The ante is raised when the realms plot to gain supreme power and control over the other realms. Zamiel and Linnet struggle to remain true to themselves as the sovereigns of these different realms scheme to use them as pawns for their own means.  They encounter magic and trickery, subterfuge and knavery, as they fight for their very lives and eternal souls.

    But wait a minute; this is supposed to be a steamy romance novel. It is. The lovemaking scenes are sumptuous, the flirting and foreplay arousing, Zamiel’s gallantry seducing.  Navarre artfully juxtaposes wanton sex with the celebration of true love manifested.  Zamiel and Linnet are both virgins, but they are not unexposed to the vagaries of mortals, which makes their love all the more enrapturing.

    Laura Navarre is a wonderful story teller who takes romance novels to a new level.  Those who enjoy sensuous heat with a measure of  Phillippa Gregory’s Tudor series intrigue, but who also take pleasure in the fantasy elements of magic and Arthurian legends a la Marion Zimmer Bradley will find the Magick Trilogy an enjoyable and engrossing read.  These are not Y/A novels. The next installment, Book Three, of Laura Navarre’s  Magick Trilogy is  ardently anticipated by this reviewer.

     

  • An Editorial Review of “Trudy, Madly, Deeply” by Wendy Delaney

    An Editorial Review of “Trudy, Madly, Deeply” by Wendy Delaney

    Witty, fresh, and full of surprises, Trudy, Madly, Deeply, delivers. Wendy Delaney’s debut novel in her Working Stiffs mystery series is a fun and immensely entertaining read with its odd assortment of lovable characters, clever writing, and twists and turns that will keep you turning the pages.

    When Charmaine Digby is cut loose as “excess baggage” from her ex-husband whom she met at culinary school in California, she heads back home to the small town of Port Merritt, a retirement mecca on the waterfront of Washington state.  She finds herself living with her Gram, slinging cheeseburgers at her great-aunt Alice’s diner, and living across the street from a guy who used to pull her pigtails when they were in grade school together.

     Charmaine Digby is also living up to her school moniker of “Chow Mein;” she has been eating her way through her divorce. She is out of work, out of money, and out of shape.

    This wonderfully humorous cozy mystery will have you cracking up at the trouble that “Char” manages to get into when she finally lands a “real job” as a deputy coroner to the Chimacam  County Prosecutor’s office—if she can make it past Day One of her 30-day-trial period.

    She was hired not for her crime fighting abilities (unless that includes her handiness with a rolling pin), but for her special ability – Charmaine is a human lie detector. Apparently only .25 percent of the population has this uncanny ability—these few people are known as “truth wizards.” Really.  And Charmaine, bless her heart, is one, which doesn’t help to make her life any easier. And it is about to get tougher.

    A handsome doctor at the local hospital reports a suspicious death of a patient, Trudy Bergenson, who was a  dear friend of Char’s Aunt Alice. Trudy was supposed to be released to come home on Charmaine’s first day of work–not end up at the county morgue.

    With Aunt Alice’s diner at the eye of the gossip hurricane of Port Merritt, it isn’t long until Char is in hot pursuit of clues to discover if Trudy’s unexpected demise is the most recent in a chain of suspicious deaths at the county hospital.  It seems that childhood neighbor, now all grown-up and sexy, Detective Steve Sixkiller, is not appreciative of Charmaine ‘playing detective.’ Sparks fly—in more ways than one.

    If you enjoyed reading Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series, you will love Delaney’s Trudy, Madly, Deeply. I had no idea whodunit until the very end (and I have read hundreds of mysteries). Well done, Ms. Delaney, well done!

    I cannot wait to read the next novel in Delaney’s Working Stiffs mystery series so I can learn more about the goings-on of Chimacam County, its cast of lovable (if not, peculiar) characters, and any new mysterious treats that Ms. Delaney decides to dish out to her awaiting fans, yours truly included.

    Trudy, Madly, Deeply by Wendy Delaney is a Finalist in the M&M Awards 2013 for Mystery & Mayhem Novels, a division of Chanticleer Book Reviews writing competitions.

     

  • POE: Nevermore by Rachel M. Martens – Horror, Paranormal, Thriller, Mystery

    POE: Nevermore by Rachel M. Martens – Horror, Paranormal, Thriller, Mystery

    Poe: Nevermore, by Rachel M. Martens, is a contemporary suspense thriller with a nod to paranormal elements of the Romanticism Movement. This dark and dense novel that borders on horror is told in the first person by a young woman, Elenora Allison Poe, known simply as ‘Poe.’

    The story begins innocently enough; it seems that the characters and the plot are driven by mental illness (even Poe) until the impetus is revealed. That is the hook of Martens’ writing—just when you think you’ve got it figured out, the game changes. The plot twists and turns as it sinks its hook deeper into you. At first, as I read, I thought  that this novel might be another variation of Fight Club or the Dragon Tattoo series. It is not.

    For some, it may be too haunting a tale. The author skillfully builds tension and anticipation with complex characters that are not easily dismissed. The antagonists are evil incarnate. The scary part is that they could be someone you speak with every day, the next date that you are on, the person you work with….

    The beginning of the story manifests Poe’s awkwardness of Poe  in trying to make her way in the world alone, as many young adults do. The ordeals Poe has survived so far in her young life have reduced her to perilously low levels of self-worth and confidence. You think to yourself that Poe needs to get a grip on herself, to stop feeling sorry for herself. But soon enough the reasons for her self-defeatist attitude are divulged and you will wonder how she functions at all and why, … indeed, why she is still alive.

    Poe learns that her family has been accursed since Edgar Allan Poe’s foster father had a witch invoke it. The curse destroys the victim psychologically and emotionally. It will destroy everything and everyone to torture its victim, to make the victim’s life a living hell.

    Poe must unravel the details of the family curse in order to save the few loved ones she has left in this world. She pursues this with the help of a budding relationship with Frost, a homicide detective who sees something worth saving in her, and shares her interest in the writings of Edgar Allan Poe.  Edgar Poe himself aids her pursuit, explaining the curse, and presenting himself as her spirit guide.

    The 19th century Romantic Movement, a revolt against societal norms in art, was represented by deep emotional response to experience, including emphasis on terror, horror, and the supernatural. Edgar Allan Poe’s writings, known for their mystery, their macabre methods of death, and his delving into the human psyche, were part of this movement. The parallels between our heroine’s life and that of Edgar Allan Poe are brilliantly developed by the genre and style in which Poe: Nevermore has been written.

    Be warned; Poe: Nevermore is not a cozy mystery. Ms. Martens succeeds at painting dark, suspenseful, sometimes horrific pictures. It is the type of psychological horror that locking the doors and windows and reading with the lights on will not keep out.

    I highly recommend this book for my fellow edge-of-our-seat junkies—those of us who are constantly seeking the book we ever so briefly fear picking up, then can’t put down in the relentless pursuit of discovering whatever comes next! Martens’ Poe: Nevermore deliciously feeds these cravings along with satisfying those with classical literary interests. I anxiously look forward to reading  Marten’s next installment of Poe.

    5 Star Best Book Chanticleer Reviews round silver sticker

  • An Editorial Review of “A Simple Soul” by Vadim Babenko

    An Editorial Review of “A Simple Soul” by Vadim Babenko

    In this character-driven novel that delves deeply into the psyches of six flawed individuals seeking life’s meaning in post-Soviet Moscow, the most enigmatic character is Russia itself.

    A Simple Soul begins apparently as a romantic endeavor that turns into an enthralling perilous thriller with plot twists, humor, and retribution.

    Russian-born Babenko’s novel, A Simple Soul, is filled with souls who are anything but simple. They are bored workers and wily entrepreneurs, all hardened to the murky world of Russian commerce, rampant corruption, and the decay of society. Yet each one seeks an elusive truth—happiness, love, the meaning of life. Elizaveta sees herself as a cold Venus, breaking the hearts of the men she dates, only to leap at marrying her long-ago love, Timofey, whose proposal has shady underpinnings. Alexander, her spurned lover, finds contentment in collecting words of wisdom, then loses it to despair. Seeking “his true mission,” Nicolai Kramskoy plans to steal and doctor a historical document to “prove” a connection to folk hero Pugachev, which links him to American Frank White Jr., who’s pursuing Pugachev’s alleged treasure map, along with a connection to his own Russian roots. Eventually joining them is Andrei, Nicolai’s old friend and a writer struggling to find confidence and purpose in his work.

    For much of this complex story, plot is relegated to the background as internal monologues become the focus. Personal histories and meandering thought processes draw the reader into a compelling maze of metaphysics and social commentary. Each character’s life is beset by small mysteries: Elizaveta finds mysterious symbols; Frank studies star signs; even Nicolai, the most cynical of all, once ran a business called the Astro-Occult Parlor. He observes that “people here were too fond of prophets, oracles, soothsayers, and magicians of all kinds,” but it becomes easy to see why even he is drawn to peering into the future.

    One could argue that Babenko’s characters all carry the same voice: intelligent, cynical, questioning, opinionated. What separates them is where that voice takes them: on personal journeys of soul-searching analysis, perhaps best exemplified in Nikolai’s comment while traveling by train:

    “Any country could be proud of its limitless vastness. Any except this one: people here don’t know how to be proud of anything, and perhaps they never did. Where there’s a lot of space, there’s free will and farsightedness, but there’s also no respite and an eternal restlessness, which results in universal sadness.”

    Such observations show the author’s skill in portraying the depths of functional loneliness.

    As Elizaveta sums up:

    “I don’t need this – riddles, higher powers. … – could the issue be with me? Do I have an overly simple soul?”

    After delving into the heart and mind of this postmodern Russian, the answer can only be, not in the least.  A Simple Soul transcends genres and time as its characters move across the vast lands of Russia and its ever-changing socio-economic landscape. Prepare to be transported.

    Vadim Babenko, who has a doctorate in physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, has published six books, three are novels.  A Simple Soul was nominated for Russia’s most prestigious literary awards: The Big Book Awards (the Russian equivalent of the Booker Awards) and the Russian Bestseller Awards. His stories are complex with many subtle philosophical questions and dilemmas.  His prestige is sure to follow in North America as well.

     [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Reviewer’s Note:  I found A Simple Soul a fascinating and entertaining read. I am fortunate to have been introduced to Babenko’s masterful works as they are still relatively unknown in North America. ]

     [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

  • An Editorial Review of “Darklight II: Conflagration” by John Wells

    Five years after the publication of the military sci-fi thriller Darklight I: The Substance of Shadows, comes the second installment in the series, Darklight II: Conflagration,  the continuation of the conflicts between human and Matarin rebels and the genocidal Cren Empire.

    The stakes have considerably risen since mathematician and rebel fighter Crash Tyson first encountered the billions-year-old Cren Empire in the battle against the equally ancient ESOG Empire. The remaining freedom fighters seek a new sanctuary where they can rebuild their fleet and enhance the Spatial Exclusion Wave technology that Tyson created. They find safe haven with the Skarr, a species that had battled the Luin—the telepathic race controlling the Cren Empire—many eons ago.

    The Skarr hold an advantage: the Luin believe them extinct, along with the Sargen and the Valm, two species that had fought alongside the Skarr. Tyson, however, has the distinct disadvantage of being the Cren Empire’s sole focus, with his capture worth the destruction of billions of their own warriors.

    What warrants such galactic wastage? Tyson is the Progenitor Being, the model human that P-Quan, the Cren governor, created as an experiment in accelerating human genetic evolution in order to generate someone capable of solving The Great Problem.  It is with this experiment that Wells compels us to consider the purpose of sentient life in the Universe. The nature of that problem serves as a teaser until late in the game, when the conflict escalates into a war of multi-dimensional magnitude.

    The depiction of intergalactic war and its futuristic weaponry is where author Wells excels. The astrophysics and engineering of such advanced technology is at once mind-boggling and wholly believable. As E.E. Smith’s works (1890 – 1965) that explored the universe outside of our solar system with fictional technologies, extra-dimensional beings, and time travel before NASA, string theory, or the Hubble Telescope, the Darklight series take readers beyond  the confines of the known universe and into mind-boggling technologies that venture into multi-dimensional applications of  universal cataclysmic potential.

    Warfare comprises much of the story, with telepathic and directed-energy combat filling the gaps between massive, planet-destroying battles. Brisk pacing keeps readers enthralled as other ancient species join the fight, and each apparent victory sees a new threat emerge—none more so than the thousand-mile-long rift in space created by the increasingly powerful weaponry used on both sides.

    Wells explores the connection of life with the ultimate fate of the universe itself and sentient life’s connection to that fate in his Darklight series.  When the godlike being that dwells on the other side of the rift raises the stakes to an unfathomable level, the stage is set for the next Darklight installment.

    If you enjoy E.E. Smith’s space operas that influenced the first generation of computer war games, and (some say) the authors of Earthlight, Star Wars, Babylon 5, and Superman, then venture forth into the Darklight series to expand your universe.