Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

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.

August 28, 2013
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. ]

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August 22, 2013
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.

August 20, 2013
An Editorial Review of “More Faster Backwards, Rebuilding David B.” by Christine Smith

“More faster backwards,” she yells to the boat captain. Christine Smith’s angst makes her words tumble out scrambled. These words, now the book title, summarize how obstacles pushed Christine and her husband Jeffrey “more faster backwards” during their boat’s reconstruction.

They race against time, money, and natural elements to save the David B—the vessel that they bet all of their resources on in hopes of making their dream of owning and operating a small expedition cruise boat in the Pacific Northwest come true.

The adventure begins when Christine and Jeffrey Smith, searching for an old boat to transform into a small passenger vessel, examine a sixty-five foot 1929 work-boat, precariously moored on Lopez Island—the neglected wooden vessel that hovers near death is the David B. However, Jeffrey sees the elegant beauty of a three cylinder antique engine and the strength of the hull made from Northwest timber. Christine saw the look in Jeffrey’s eyes and knew that this was the boat.

In the opening pages, we learn they’ve accomplished part of their dream and we’re ready to climb aboard. The author seamlessly carries us from her present experiences and joy during the sea voyage, back into her memories, where she re-lives the enormous hurdles of the rebuild process. The flashbacks work well because we want to know. Need to know.

With hearts captivated by the David B, the couple gambles everything. Looming bankruptcy lurks alongside the other huge challenges. Anxiety heightens because their cherished family and friends (without whom they couldn’t have succeeded) share the risk. Readers will think, “This can’t be done” and then ask themselves, “How did they do it?” Intrigued from beginning to end, we peek into the lives of the author, her husband, the crew, family, and friends. We yearn for their success and their safety.

More Faster Backwards, Rebuilding David B seamlessly mixes nautical terms with natural elements and boat builder’s craft. Those who enjoy cooking and baking will also discover it a delightful read. Seafaring people will sail through the narrative like soul mates, but landlubbers might appreciate a glossary of boating terms. The map provides great references and the photo albums heighten the pleasure.

A sample of Smith’s fluid writing style: “Jeffrey worked the boat with the skill of a lover. Every movement she made, he watched carefully, to see how she responded to his commands, the light breeze, and the incoming tide.”

When the literary boat trip ends, readers might sense an inner torch quicken along with the call to embrace their dreams anew. As for Christine and Jeffrey, the restoration of the David B is just the beginning.

More Faster Backwards, Rebuilding David B by Christine Smith won the Grand Prize of the Journey Awards for Narrative Non-fiction, a division of Chanticleer Book Reviews Blue Ribbon Writing Competitions.

August 11, 2013
An Editorial Review of “Artemis Rising” by Cheri Lasota

Rendered with a lush and lyrical touch, this Y/A historical fantasy depicts the romantic yearnings of two innocent lovers, both dedicated to and trapped by the belief that they embody tragic figures from myth and legend.

Born of a pagan mother and a strict Catholic father, fifteen-year-old Eva Maré learns the hard way that when the two religions clash, catastrophic results follow. Aboard a ship bound for the Azores, Eva undertakes a ritual to transfer the role of Arethusa, a sea nymph dedicated to Artemis, from mother to daughter. But instead of the Goddess’s blessing, hell’s own fury is unleashed. The ship crashes into the volcanic face of Ilhéu das Cabras, though not before Diogo Cheia, a marquês’s son possessed by his desire for Eva, displays his wrath over her rejection.

Eva, now Arethusa, regains consciousness on the Azorean island of Terceira, surrounded by the flotsam of the shipwreck that took the lives of her parents and nearly everyone else on board. Badly wounded and rendered mute by an act of violence she cannot remember, she is rescued by a beautiful young man, who takes her to the orphanage in Angra do Heroísmo, where he lives. There Arethusa is healed, but it won’t be long before she discovers Diogo survived as well.

Thus begins the ages-old tale of two men fighting over the woman they both love. But this is no ordinary triangle: Diogo believes himself heir to the role of Alpheus, the river god to whom, in Greek mythology, Arethusa is bound for eternity. To complicate matters, Tristão Vazante, Arethusa’s rescuer, had been led to believe he is the embodiment of the Cornish knight Tristan and that Arethusa is his Isolde.

This well-written and crisply paced novel mixes the two myths: one Greek, the other of the canon of Arthurian literature. It’s possible the author intended the two disparate myths to represent the clash between paganism and Christianity—and the way the main characters eventually reconcile their religious conflicts—but one is distorted to emphasize evil, while the other is less a Christian morality play than a medieval tale of courtly love.

However, the sweetly chaste passion of Tristan and Arethusa carries the day, along with the Azorean setting, with its seaports and beaches, caves and cities, all wonderfully evoked and enhanced by a sprinkling of Portuguese expressions. An early scene, when Arethusa dreams between life and death after the shipwreck, is a sensory feast. The inevitable showdown between Arethusa’s two suitors challenges the traditional endings of the two myths in a way that is as anticipated as it is satisfying. Readers who enjoy being swept away in romantic fantasy will not be disappointed.

Artemis Rising by Cheri Lasota was awarded First Place in the Mythological Category, The Cygnus Awards 2013. The Cygnus Awards is a division of Chanticleer Book Reviews Blue Ribbon Writing Competitions.

August 1, 2013
An Editorial Review of “Granddad’s House” by Kate Vale
Granddad’s House is a contemporary romance that will captivate you and have you wanting more.

While Granddad’s House stands on its own, you will find Vale’s characters so engaging that you will want to know more about them. Good thing that author Kate Vale has written (so far) four books in the On Geneva Shores series, which take place in the small Pacific Northwest town of Evergreen, Wash.

The story begins as we meet attractive redheaded Olivia Brown, of Brown Family Realty, conducting an open house. The handsome Southern architect named Beauregard Elias James is touring it on behalf of a client who wants to turn it into a B&B. Of course, Olivia knows not to reveal to him that the historic house is her family home, but, she does! Why, she asks herself, did she break one of her own rules with this incorrigible man with awesome green eyes? The family real estate business is central to the story line and that is where the author Vale’s real life expertise as a realtor along with the many awkward situations that they find themselves is seamlessly integrated into the adept writing.

Granddad’s House is an engaging read from page one that will make you laugh and cry as author Kate Vale portrays life’s struggles and conundrums with poignancy and touching honesty that rings true.

Vale’s writing captures germane issues that women face in today’s world: being torn about decisions made between life for oneself and the caring for a beloved elder who has dementia, the strife of feeling the need to be in at least three places at one time, the far reaching effects of the Middle East Conflict, along with the emotional bonds of family and friends, and the myriad of tugs that women must face as they navigate modern life’s complexities.

If you want to get to know characters who embrace contemporary challenges with integrity and passion, then look no further than Kate Vale’s novels for a book about love and loss, friendship and family ties, and finding happiness. Granddad’s House is an exemplary example of Vale’s encouraging and fortifying stories. While her writing is inspiriting, it does cross over to sensuousness in order for readers to identify with the issues we deal with in confronting our own sexuality in our daily lives.

Kate Vale’s relevant women’s fiction story lines, believable characters and spot-on romantic flair assure that we will be hearing great things about this talented up-and-coming contemporary women’s fiction romance author.

On Geneva Shores series by Kate Vale
- Family Bonds starts the Geneva Shores series with Book 1. How can a couple overcome their families’ dark secrets and disparate backgrounds?
- Granddad’s House is Book 2 of Geneva Shores. Love transcends and gives hope.
- Just Friends, Book 3 we follow the blossoming love of Olivia’s best friend, Sally, and Beau’s brother, Paul, a returning wounded soldier from Afghanistan.
- Choices, Book 4 — look for our review! Can Sam, a long-time bachelor, commit himself to marriage and kids –especially when the kids propose the idea?
July 22, 2013
An Editorial Review of “Deadly Recall” by Donnell Ann Bell

Donnell Ann Bell deftly intertwines a fast-paced thriller with an emotionally-charged love story. Deadly Recall will entice devotees of both genres, with added appeal for those who appreciate the southwestern setting of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The mystery begins when nine-year-old Eden Moran learns that her beloved mentor, Sister Beatrice, is leaving the school that very day. When released for recess, the devastated Eden dashes across the playground to St. Patrick’s Church with hope of finding the nun even though it was against the rules to leave the school yard. She knew it was a sin to disobey but she had to take the chance. Unseen by Father Munroe and Sister Beatrice, Eden witnesses an argument between them that turns physical. The sister falls and the priest is unable to wake her. The shocked Eden sneaks back out and races back to the school’s playground. Here, panicked adults await her. When they ask her where she’s been, the little girl tells them she couldn’t recall.

Seventeen years later: Eden—who had acted so outrageously all those years ago that she was expelled from school and sent by her parents to live with her aunt—has returned to Albuquerque. Now 26, she is an attractive and successful public defender. Unfortunately, relations with her parents are still strained.

It isn’t long before Eden meets Albuquerque Police Detective Kevin Dancer. Attorney and cop can’t help but be attracted to each other, but the detective’s job is to put the bad guys in jail, while the public defender seeks to help the accused remain free. To add further complications, like Eden’s, Kevin’s family relations are troubled. Thus, both are wary of close relationships.

The skeletal remains of one Celeste Lescano, aka Sister Beatrice, have been uncovered at a construction site inciting Detective Dancer to solve this cold case. When he investigates, witnesses recall Eden’s close childhood relationship with the nun. However, when Kevin questions Eden, she denies having known Sister Beatrice.

Eden invites Kevin to attend her sister’s wedding at St. Patrick’s in hopes he’ll meet people who actually knew the woman. Father Munroe, now a bishop, officiates and attends the reception. Noting the bishop’s attraction to women, Detective Dancer pencils him in as a possible suspect.

Murders and close calls occur bringing more twists and turns to the story. It seems that Sister Beatrice’s killer wants to make sure that Eden doesn’t have the chance to recall what she witnessed that fateful day—by doing whatever it takes to keep her quiet forever. The suspect list lengthens, with St. Patrick Church as the focal point, making Kevin and Eden at odds with each other even as their irrepressible attraction heats up and Eden’s life becomes increasingly in danger.

Deadly Recall is a page-turning thriller that comes to a breathless conclusion. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this emotion-packed action story by Donnell Ann Bell so much that her November release of Betrayed is on my personal reading list. In the meantime, I have ordered Bell’s earlier thriller, The Past Came Hunting. I look forward to reading more suspense mystery novels from this award winning author.

July 20, 2013
An Editorial Review of “Her Boyfriend’s Bones” by Jeanne Matthews

Dinah Pelerin, cultural anthropologist and world traveler, is ready for romance and relaxation. Her Norwegian police force boyfriend, Thor, has invited her to join him at a Greek villa that he rented for his sabbatical holiday.

The villa is located on the island of Samos—famous for its sweet wine, birthplace of Pythagoras and Hera, queen of the Olympian gods. Dinah plans on joining an archaeological dig in Turkey at the end of summer after basking in the land of the Greek mythology. The perfect summer vacation awaits her. Or, so it seems.

Idyllic as the setting is, Dinah’s dream vacation is startlingly interrupted on day one of it. She and Thor spotted a body as they were walking home from the village taverna—the same man who they just saw arguing with an old man—is now sprawled on the ground with a gaping hole in his chest. The murder was so recent that the body is still warm. Dinah starts to believe that trouble follows her wherever she goes. Thor goes back into “policeman mode full-throttle.”

Dinah has also learned that their vacation villa was the home of the local movie star of the 60s, Marilita Stephan, who was accused of committing three murders on a remote beach on Samos: her boyfriend, his mother, and a powerful colonel in the military junta. Marilita was arrested and tried for the crime, and executed later by a firing squad in nineteen-seventy-three—several days before her fortieth birthday. Dinah is more than a little perturbed when she also discovers that Thor is fascinated by the circumstances of the event and that is why he chose this particular Greek island and this particular villa for their romantic holiday.

To add to the complications, Dinah’s troubled and out-of-hand sixteen-year-old niece, K.D., turns up on their vacation villa’s doorsteps. K.D. adds her own lively dimension into the storyline as only a sixteen- year-old teenager could. The rosiness of Dinah’s romantic getaway is turning as blue as the Aegean.

Enter the CIA and Interpol, false identification papers, the Norwegian Intelligence, terrorist guns, suspicious locals, and old grudges, secret letters, and “evil eyes” everywhere—all seemingly connecting back to Marilita Stephan.

Thor disappears, but his car is found plunged off a cliff. Contrary to what everyone tells her, Dinah believes that Thor is still alive and that she must find him before it is too late. Dinah doesn’t know who to believe or trust—especially the local police. The suspense rapidly intensifies as she starts piecing the clues together, which place Dinah and her niece in peril as they frantically search for Thor.

Ms. Matthews is adept at placing the reader into the hardships of the current Greek economic debt crisis as well as interjecting bits of history and mythology into her compelling story-line. By doing so, she captures the essence of the day-to-day life of modern Greeks who must eke out a living in exacerbating politico/economic circumstances as they live and work in the shadows of the temple ruins of the golden age of Greece.

Feel the Mediterranean heat, the treacherous traverses of the island’s landscape, the scent of the wild thyme, and the ever changing colors of the Aegean Sea as Ms. Matthews’ evocative descriptions take you to Samos. She places you at the local village taverna where you hear the buzz of gossip and feel the rumble of the “Tourkos” F16s as they roar overhead.The colorful characters and intriguing plot twists make Her Boyfriend’s Bones a gratifying and diverting page-turner.

Her Boyfriend’s Bones, is the fourth novel in the entertaining and marvelously researched Dinah Pelerin mystery series. Readers need not look any further to be transported to adventures faraway.

July 11, 2013
“I, Walter” by Mike Hartner

I, Walter is a captivating story of valor and chivalry. This classic grand adventure takes you on the high seas and to exotic ports-of-call during the Elizabethan era when a boy acknowledges that he must change his stars and expand his horizons if he is to live the life that he wants to live–one that is quite different than the one into which he was born.

The narrator is Walter, who at the age of 67 years and possibly dying of malaria – in sixteenth century England- begins his tale of how he, like other boys of that era who lacked social standing, were “earning coin” as soon as they could be put to work to earn money for their family and find food, too.

After his older brother suddenly leaves home without notice, Walter does his best to help his family. But in doing so, he learns the reality of what life has in store for him if he continues down the same path as his father, whom he considers lethargic. He has often felt as if he was born into the wrong family. He decides that he must leave his family (now living in a hovel near London) or succumb to a disappointing life. He decides to take a chance to change his stars. He finds himself in Bristol, where he is commandeered into the Royal Merchant Marines as a lowly sailor. It was then and there that his adventures began.

Young Walter learns how to use the stars to steer the way the ancient mariners did, but he also is taught how to work with the Davis Quadrant, the latest advancement in navigational technology at that time. Meanwhile, the crusty old salts taught him the survival skills that he would need to survive at sea; they took a special interest that the boy could hold his own if their ship was boarded. They teach the young boy to fight with knives, swords, muskets, and cannons. Trading merchant ships, like the one that Walter served on, were hunted by pirates who are always plying the waters in search of booty–making “sayling” a most dangerous endeavor.

Walter narrates his encounters with the scoundrels in a way that makes us feel as if we need to dodge a cutlass or thrust a sword in the heat of a battle. Walter cannot seem to escape the threat of peril even on dry land. A mysterious thin man with a hat pulled down over one eye seems to be following him. And even more dangerous to Walter, he falls in love with the beautiful, but to his heart, unattainable Marie.

Walter engages us with tales of his sea adventures that took him to strange lands and introduced him to new trading goods such as sugar and tobacco along with excellent new wines and exotic spices. As we read Walter’s memories, we smell the odors and aromas of foreign markets. We feel his strength and confidence building as he develops into a valiant, but humble, young man.

However, all is not glory and honor. Hartner, the author, also shares the brutishness and indifference of the times in the telling of I, Walter. The story nuances mature as Walter ages. We experience the travails of life at sea, the treacheries of traveling by land, the comforts of a familiar pub, and love’s longing.

This action packed novel is a tale of noble innocence with a most refreshing, charming slant. Romance, adventures, mysteries, rescues, deceptions, along with vivid descriptions make this novel an enjoyable and inspirational read that will leave you wanting more. This reviewer is happy to know that I, Walter is the first of the series from Mike Hartner.

June 27, 2013
“A Serpent’s Tooth,” a Walt Longmire Mystery by Craig Johnson

Craig Johnson’s well-honed and crafted Walt Longmire mysteries are engaging page-turners that are as fresh and raw as they are multi-layered and nuanced. Furthermore, Johnson doesn’t back down from the socio-economical issues taking place in today’s West and bringing them to a roaring boil.

Johnson’s mysteries keep us turning the pages, but as we do, he gives us glimpses into the contemporary west, the people who live with the imposing presence of the looming Rocky Mountains, and the undercurrents of modern technology, and social ills. Dichotomies abound with cowboys on horseback with I-phones, raging snowstorms and the futility of technology in their midst, western machismo and the women with balls enough to stand up to it.

As you read Johnson’s works, he will divulge his characters’ souls to you. We learn, bit by bit, about their weaknesses, their wounds, and their paths that led them to inhabit this remote corner of America. We also share in their triumphs and victories — even if it is small as an ice cold Ranier beer after a day of driving dusty roads.

The “Walt Longmire Mysteries” series explores our world and our psyches with their imagery, symbolism, mythological archetypes and spiritualism. He does this without stereo-typing or rehashing old cliches, but with spot-on dialogue, engaging characters, and complex suspenseful plot-building. And that is what makes the reading of the Walt Longmire mystery series so very addictive.

We root for Walt Longmire because he fights the good fights that must be fought–no matter what the costs are to him. In “A Serpent’s Tooth,” Walt must deal with a splinter group of a renegade polygamy group of Latter Day Saints who have built quite the arsenal of weapons and an old vendetta that crosses time-lines and cartels. How Craig Johnson interlaces water rights in the West, Shakespeare, physics, Lost boys, flying saucers, Lamanites, corsages, L.D.S., slow car chases, “My Friend, Flicka,” and the C.I.A. into a fast-paced, suspenseful novel is truly a testimonial to his storytelling ability.

“A Serpent’s Tooth” by Craig Johnson earns five stars from Chanticleer Book Reviews. Find yourself mesmerized by a great storyteller! Be forewarned: You will not be able to stop at just one Walt Longmire mystery. [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: Not since reading Jim Harrison’s works have I encountered writings that are so satisfying to read.][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

June 11, 2013