Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

HYBRID HYSTERIA: A Novel of Corporate Intrigue Both Holy and Diabolical by Charlie Robinson – Crime Thriller, Conspiracy, Suspense

Two professors uncover a conspiracy to sterilize liberal Americans with specially-manufactured electric cars, in Charlie Robinson’s thriller, Hybrid Hysteria.

Dr. Theresa Lauzon, endowed assistant professor at SUNY-Canton’s Department of Automotive Engineering, comes to Charlie “CC” Cavanaugh, university Chaplain and physics PhD, with two troubling revelations.

First, while testing an electric car donated by the Gauss Hybrid Electric Automobile Company (GHEA), she’d discovered troubling spikes in its battery’s electromagnetic field. She connects these spikes to a rash of infertility and miscarriages along the Pacific coast, where GHEA cars have boomed in popularity.

Second, Theresa is pregnant, and the father is GHEA’s technician-on-loan to SUNY-Canton, Jay Fish. And though Fish recently disappeared from campus, Theresa has much more complicated problems.

Theresa reveals to CC that she is likely the daughter of GHEA’s founder, Girard LaCroux, with Theresa’s Akwesasne mother having gone into hiding after she and Girard divorced. She has no idea what Girard’s son and current GHEA president, Claude LaCroux, might do if he discovers her true identity. But she does know that CC has underworld connections, and asks his help in hiding long enough to give her child safely up for adoption.

CC calls upon his uncle Tony, the godfather of the Fiocchi mafia. Tony’s sinister means might concern CC as a priest, but he’ll need secrecy and resources for all the trouble to come.

Sending GHEA’s goons chasing after a decoy, Theresa escapes with help from her Native community. But CC’s work isn’t nearly done– he has to discover whether Theresa’s fears about the GHEA cars are true. Girard LaCroux was an arch-conservative, and Claude follows in his footsteps, but could they really enact such a horrific plan? And what threat might they pose to anyone snooping around?

CC connects with an old mentor, Dr. Toshio Kikuchi, and the two uncover GHEA’s clever system; their battery control modules differ between the Midwest and the Pacific coast, allowing GHEA to specifically target the latter. If not for Theresa’s curiosity, their sterilizing effects would have gone completely under the radar.

Amidst careful investigation and deadly family ties, criminal factions and covert organizations wage war through knowledge and spy-craft.

Gayle Smith, Claude LaCroux’s executive assistant, uses her newfound position as Jay Fish’s bodyguard to do some investigating of her own. As a double agent for a world-spanning secret society, she tricks her way into high-security parts of GHEA’s black-site testing grounds. She delves ever deeper into their work, revealing the depths of LaCroux’s evil scheme.

Meanwhile, CC, Theresa, and Toshio publish a paper on the danger of GHEA batteries, drawing LaCroux’s attention right to them and putting their lives in sudden peril. Even if they save others from GHEA’s plot, who can save them?

Hybrid Hysteria pores over intricate details with every plan, discovery, and question.

The story is full of scientific and mechanical information, ranging from the fundamental measurements of magnetism to the construction of GHEA’s batteries, the methodology of faking a natural mud slide, and even the careful steps a sniper must take to derail half of a train. While this often causes the pacing to drag, many of these details show clear expertise and research on the part of author Robinson. Readers interested in a thriller that goes over its subjects with a fine-toothed comb will certainly be satisfied.

Multiple perspectives reveal new sides of each conspiracy as it begins to unravel.

CC might have moral reservations as he enters this world of secrecy and danger, but he’s far from the only character with difficult tasks before them. Every person he brings into his confidence quickly finds a target painted on their back.

Hybrid Hysteria takes readers on a journey through the corporate offices of Claude LaCroux, the manor of an Italian mob boss, and even an alcove of Vatican-adjacent spies.

Some of these perspectives reveal the conspiracies rather plainly early on, reducing the tension of future investigations. However, when the multiple plotlines converge towards the climax, readers will excitedly follow characters like Gayle and CC as they take a stand in this hidden global battle.

Hybrid Hysteria by Charlie Robinson won Grand Prize in the 2022 CIBA Global Thriller Awards for High Stakes Suspense.

February 28, 2024
LIGHTEN The LOAD: Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail Book 2 by David Fitz-Gerald – Historical Fiction, Oregon Trail, Mystery

Once on a grand adventure to a new life with her husband and young family, Dorcas suddenly finds herself the sole shepherd for her children into the unknown, in David Fitz-Gerald’s historical fiction novel, Lighten the Load.

Owner of a fully loaded wagon, in a train of travelers on the truly wild western trail, Dorcas must give every decision her full attention. She faces immediate life-altering choices, some threatening her own safety and others putting her children at terrible risk. The expedition rolls forward over a mystery yet to be solved and an underlying paranormal mystique.

On this dangerous venture west, Dorcas is called upon often to help and comfort her fellow travelers. As she and her family face escalating dangers and devastating catastrophes, can she learn to Lighten the Load and accept help when she desperately needs it?

Dorcas and her children struggle to adjust to all they’ve faced since they left home.

This future was certainly her husband’s dream, but did she really share it? Dorcas and her family begin this episode of their lives where there is no sign of civilization other than the people of the wagon train where they’ve hitched their hopes. And as her oxen struggle to pull forward their heavy wagon, Dorcas debates if Oregon is still the best future for them. With all the deaths so far on the trail, will any of them even reach Oregon?

The leader of their caravan has concerns too, and offers a controversial solution. Dorcas is called to the campfire to meet a man willing to marry her. Though she embraces the romance, of her own choosing, her heart and thoughts weigh heavy on her. She takes responsibility for her children and the tragic circumstances of those around her: her new friend’s difficult pregnancy; those who are grieving; and others who are discouraged from pursuing their dreams. And always that push, rolling forward deeper into new territory.

The difficulties on the trail contrast with majestic views of the great outdoors, as well as the camaraderie, sacrifice, and friendship of those around Dorcas, and the vision of what could be.

There are surprises around every corner. A lingering mystery casts a shadow over the notorious lothario, Armand Bartholamieux. Clues begin to surface, and Dorcas seeks answers. All the while, she cares for her children, trying to teach them lessons of self-reliance. But her daughter Rose continues to be drawn towards a supernatural force. Dorcas worries and debates how to best help her daughter, until Rose disappears. And lurking in the shadows are the mysterious Viper and his brothers.

Hitch your team up for a memorable journey into the 1850 American West. Award-winning author David Fitz-Gerald skillfully guides readers through vivid descriptions of a setting filled with ever-changing extremes.

Lighten the Load will introduce you to fascinating characters who relentlessly continue their life’s journey toward destiny. Dorcas must learn how to move forward after all she’s faced, and if she can, she just might find Oregon, a bright future, and even blooming love.

February 21, 2024
TESSY TURTLE by Anna Casamento Arrigo, Illustrated by Jryona – Children’s Picture Books, Marine Life, Climate Change

“We are turtles, one and all, in oceans and on land. But we’re in danger of dying if you don’t lend a hand!” warns Anna Casamento Arrigo in her heartwarming children’s book, Tessy Turtle.

Sweet Tessy, along with her underwater friends, explains the life cycles of sea turtles and the environmental hazards they face daily due to their most dangerous predator: human beings. Written in lilting rhyme with vibrant illustrations on every page, Tessy Turtle captures the hearts of the young and not-so-young, reminding readers of our responsibility to the living beings and ecosystems we live amongst.

As readers swim beside tour guide Tessy, she points out the symbiotic relationships and friendships of sea life.

Barnacles cling to the backs of turtles for safety and turtles eat long green seagrass to keep it from growing unmanageable and disrupting other sea life from hunting. Tessy also exposes environmental barriers to the underwater critters’ happy lives, such as pollution and over-fishing.

Through story and rhyme, Tessy Turtle promotes positive conversations around climate action and encourages little ones to make a difference in their worlds.

Tessy provides young readers with examples of simple preventative measures– such as picking up after themselves at public beaches and avoiding touching the little green creatures– to encourage a safer world for all living things.

Anna Casamento Arrigo invites empathy and challenges readers to take action in this beautiful sing-song lesson on marine life. Tessy Turtle is sure to spark little readers’ imaginations and stick to their hearts like a barnacle.

February 19, 2024
DAUGHTER Of HADES by Mack Little – Historical Fiction, Caribbean Piracy, Slavery

Mack Little’s historical fiction novel Daughter of Hades explores the lives of slaves during the age of pirates.

Little’s research shines in her thoughtful presentation of the Caribbean islands, the escaped slaves who found freedom amongst them, the lives of buccaneers and maroons, and their daring and dangerous exploits.

On the first page, Little introduces us to Geraldine, or “Dinny”, running for her life from her owner, Owen Craig, who has just raped her.

Dinny’s father had arranged for her to be removed from the plantation before Craig molested her, but he’d miscalculated Craig’s lust. Dinny is rescued by her twin brother, Jimmie, and Leixiang, and taken to the Hades, a pirate ship captained by the buccaneer Duff.

Lei is drawn to Dinny, and when he finds out Craig raped her, he tells Duff against Dinny’s wishes. Duff organizes a retaliatory raid.

Their revenge sets in motion a series of events that Duff and Company must overcome, namely the wrath of the Craig family.

Little exposes the harsh cruelty and treatment of slaves during the 17^th century, revealing a life in the Caribbean that was sometimes beautiful for the Maroons, but was also fraught with danger and the constant fear of being recaptured and punished to near death.

Expertly building this world, Little fills it with characters that readers will love and hate, especially as they root for Dinny, Lei, and Duff.

Dinny’s future looks bleak, and she gains knowledge of Owen Craig’s father that shrivels her heart against the Admiral and his housekeeper Jane.

With the whole island aware of Admiral Craig’s deviant ways, and Jane’s assistance in finding him young boys to satisfy his lust, the clock is ticking before the island erupts in violence. Little’s plot twists and turns to keep readers on the edge of their seats as she slowly reveals the resolution to Craig’s revenge.

Author Little’s research into the history of buccaneers and the lives they led– right down to the democratic approach some captains took in including their crew in the decision-making process– creates a rich setting for this tale. Her skill in developing such a varied cast of characters will delight readers, and the love story that ties the novel together will draw readers in until the very last page.

Daughter of Hades will provide hours of entertainment and satisfy history buffs and romance readers alike. Little enthralls us with Dinny’s compassion, courage, determination, and strength, as this intelligent woman pursues a life of conviction and honesty.

Daughter of Hades by Mack Little won Grand Prize in the 2022 CIBA Chaucer Awards for Early Historical Fiction.

February 16, 2024
COLIN And The LEGEND Of The WEEPING WILLOW by Anna Casamento Arrigo – Children’s Picture Books, Native American Legends

In Colin and the Legend of the Weeping Willow by Anna Casamento-Arrigo, curious Colin learns a Native American legend about the Weeping Willow from one of his favorite people, his grandmother.

Across the years, people have shared their cultural legends and tales. Often these stories are told to explain phenomena in the natural world, and are passed down by elders through oral traditions.

In this story, Colin visits his grandparents to join in fun activities like baking cupcakes and playing catch. During the cupcake making, he shares with his grandma that he has been learning about Native American legends, and she takes the opportunity to tell him another Native story.

As Colin and Grandma sit under a willow, she shares the story of how the willow came to be called “weeping”.

She introduces Colin to some heritage, practices, and values of the tribe whose story she borrowed, while telling him about the variety of Native Tribes that were here before the explorers came.

The beautiful illustrations of Gabriel Parame show how Colin imagines his grandmother’s story, including a fun tie-in to the legend that Colin and his grandma get to experience at the end.

Colin and the Legend of the Weeping Willow is a perfect story for a grandmother– or grandfather– to read to a child and continue the tradition of sharing legends throughout the generations.

February 12, 2024
THE BONES At POINT NO POINT: A Thomas Austin Crime Thriller Book 1 by D.D. Black – Mystery, Serial Killer Thriller, Pacific Northwest Fiction

The Bones at Point no Point, by D.D. Black, begins with a crime so distinctive that it could only have been committed by one person.

A festive Christmas bag, decorated with cheerful season’s trinkets, brings much darker tidings within. Bones. Small gleaming bones, tiny like those of a baby, including a skull. And they’re engraved with the words of a loving poem.

But that one possible suspect is safely locked up in prison 3,000 miles away. A copycat murder seems likely, but one with details only the convict herself could know.

Thomas Austin is a retired New York City cop who now lives in Washington State’s Puget Sound, running a combination general store, café, and bait shop. But even with the great distance, he’s haunted by one particular case.

The Holiday Baby Butcher, serial murderer Lorraine D’Antonia, remains in his mind. It wasn’t enough that Austin had to face the horror of her crimes. He also had to deal with the media circus that surrounded them.

He believes he can put the case behind him until a local police officer calls him about the new case, a duplicate down to the smallest details, that has just been committed locally.

At first, he tries to stay as far away from the crime as possible. But a nosy reporter bringing unwanted publicity to the case and Austin personally, and reports of a second infant abducted from a local hospital, force him to join the investigation.

As the local community shuts down for the Christmas season, Austin and a crew of local police officers begin a frantic search to find the second infant in time, and struggle to understand how this new killer committed such a perfect recreation of the old Butcher murders.

Throughout the story, Austin shows himself to be an engaging, complex character.

Austin’s reluctance and pained memories of New York– including his own wife’s murder– contrast his smart, intuitive skills as a cop. He quickly parses out new situations, whether he is conducting a suspect’s interview or figuring out how a specific crime was committed, with only the barest clues.

The Bones at Point No Point is the first in a series of Thomas Austin books, making a strong first impression for the series.

February 9, 2024
VETERANS KEY by Richard Bareford – WWI, Mystery, Historical, Thriller, Florida Keys, Political Intrigue

Veterans Key opens in 1935 as hundreds of derelict vets of the Great War are working in ramshackle government relief camps bridging a gap in the Overseas Highway connecting Key West with the mainland.

One hot August morning, two striking co-eds, Cindy and Ella, step off a train in Islamorada to be greeted with the crude cat-calls of beery veterans. What happens next is unexpected. Cindy singles out Fred, a soft-spoken, muscular vet drinking a Coke. He offers her a sip. She accepts, flirts, and invites him to her hotel in Key West for an amorous rendezvous.

Dealing love and betrayal in equal measure, the protagonists of Veterans Key embark on a course of events that will keep readers guessing.

Eager to meet Cindy, Fred has no inkling that he has in fact been chosen to participate in a carefully planned bank robbery in Havana, the results of which will have enormous consequences for everyone involved. But this pivotal event is barely an introduction to the riveting mystery that is Veterans Key, a serio-comic novel with moments of pathos, terror, and more twists and turns than a cottonmouth snake.

With fate and family tied together and wrapped tight in a web, Richard Bareford ensnares readers in this original story where nobody is quite who they seem.

Cindy’s brother Emilio is a Cuban revolutionary intent on avenging his torture by deposed General Machado’s secret police. Cindy’s father is a former official of the target bank and his knowledge of the contents of a certain safe deposit box is critical for the heist. Fred’s role is to play the patsy in the robbery and the investigation that will surely follow.

If everything had gone to plan, Fred would take the fall, while Emilio and the girls escape with the money, but in this highly original, picaresque novel, nothing goes to plan.

As the story unfolds, the characters’ various involvements with good guys and thugs, including the Cuban police, American FBI agents, Communists, Nazi spies, and mobsters from the Meyer Lansky gang make for a rich mix of deceptions, lies and misdirection. Ultimately Ella may be the most complex figure of them all, a 17-year-old German Jew living an impossible balancing act.

Bareford creates a vivid and compelling adventure by weaving the historical with the plausible.

The disdain of camp officials for the men in their charge and the devastating aftermath of the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane adds gravitas to the deceptively light tone throughout much of the book.

Veterans Key evokes other distinctive novels including The Horse’s Mouth and A Confederacy of Dunces, not for their story lines but for the originality of their thinking. Readers may appreciate the nods to Hemingway’s To Have and Have Not. There is no “predictable” here, only the sheer joy of an original work that commands your attention on its own terms. Highly recommended!

February 7, 2024
ITALIANS In The PACIFIC NORTHWEST by Tessa Floreano – American History, Immigrant History, Pacific Northwest History

Tessa Floreano’s Italians in the Pacific Northwest is an inviting pictorial narrative featuring both ordinary and extraordinary individuals of Italian heritage who helped to create and develop Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

Concentrating on the decades from 1880 to 1950, Floreano begins by referencing the earliest Italian explorers of the Pacific Northwest Territory, then quickly moves to the efforts of those who sought a better life through hard work and new opportunities on American shores.

Floreano’s research shows through the fascinating details of this book.

She includes stories, photographs, and memorabilia to highlight both the struggles and triumphs of these pioneering Italian Americans. From the backbreaking labor of building the road and rail infrastructure that connected this new land, to working in the coal mines, logging and milling the giant cedars, farming the soil, fishing the waters, and becoming savvy entrepreneurs, these people proved a hearty, steadfast bunch.

Floreano investigated the formation of fraternal organizations and social groups that helped with assimilation, housing, health, and employment concerns. She emphasizes the vital role of the established Italian churches in the Northwest communities, recognizes the importance of military service, and notes the Italians’ contributions to the fields of sports, music, and entertainment.

A volume of black & white photos is complemented by well-detailed narrative captions.

Here, images depict the likes of immigrants arriving in the US along with passports that had to declare their literacy and early records of naturalization. With the popularity of the Church, there are snapshots of weddings, communions, Parish School students, altar boys, clergy, and church buildings that help showcase their religious faith.

During wartime, unfortunately, Italian citizens 14 and over were considered enemy aliens and treated as such. Men often volunteered for service in order to prove their loyalty to their adopted homeland.

Whether considered captives or allies, POW identification cards were issued to over 50,000 Italians captured in North Africa in WWII. One 1940s photo portrays Italian prisoners of war “well-suited and booted,” though they still had to maintain their own lodgings.

Audiences are further entwined with little-known facts that brought recognition to this Northwest Territory.

Early immigrants farmed a sustaining vegetable, later to be known as the Walla Walla sweet onion. Corno’s Food Market, part of Portland’s “Produce Row”, was popularized in a scene from Burt Reynold’s 1989 film “Breaking In.” Famed father of nuclear science, Enrico Fermi, spent time in Hanford, WA developing the atomic bomb.

With her Italian heritage, Floreano’s work is undoubtedly a labor of love. For those interested in a reveal of the history and people that helped develop this part of the country, this book should prove an enjoyable read. In particular, for those of Italian descent, “Italians in the Pacific Northwest” lives up to the motto the author ascribes to these feisty and determined immigrants, “Per aspera ad astra” – through hardship to the stars. A truly informative tribute.

February 2, 2024
THE SHERIFF: Book Three of The Druid Chronicles by A.M. Linden – Historical Fiction, Medieval England, Mystery

The Sheriff, the third installment of A.M. Linden’s Druid Chronicles series about 9th-century life in Anglo-Saxon England, fully immerses readers in that distant era with all of its joys, conflicts, and hardships.

Trained from his youngest years in the military, Stefan has learned both battle skills and leadership, with the ability to approach a situation without causing it to get out of hand. He is fiercely loyal, but continually denied a larger role in the kingdom’s army. His latest indignity came with the king assigning him as sheriff of Codswallow, a paltry village. With a retinue of less than 10 people including his slave, he has to collect taxes and keep the peace.

The novel shows two major episodes. The first follows his Codswallow days, including his relationship with Jonathan, owner of the Three Dragons Inn. Stefan learns that Jonathan is paying protection money to keep bandits away from the inn, and carries out a series of plans to discover who is, what we could call, the crime boss.

But Stefan stirs up yet more trouble in Codswallow.

A Druid priestess and her niece, relatives of Jonathan, take refuge in the Three Dragons Inn after their sacred shrine is discovered. The niece may actually be Jonathan’s child by his marriage to the queen’s sister, and things get complicated when Stefan, unhappily married with three children of his own, sets his eyes on her.

Before he can act on his romantic impulse, Stefan is summoned to track down a princess who went missing on the day she became betrothed to the ruler of a neighboring kingdom, possibly being abducted by that king’s enemies, or even killed. The possibility that she ran away to avoid being wed to the notoriously cruel king, was barely a consideration. It would take a person of Stefan’s many skills to find her and reunite her with her king, whether she wanted to or not.

Overall, The Sheriff is a well-rounded character study of Stefan himself.

We see him as a child, and when his warm family is torn apart by a searing dispute between him and his father. He is apprenticed to the military and is trained by Matthew, a devout Christian who sees in the youth the makings of a leader, later becoming his most loyal soldier.

Stefan shows his disappointment in the king not assigning him to the post that he deserves, but he handles trouble effectively, diffusing potential conflicts and becoming a careful investigator. He doesn’t reflect on himself, instead focusing on the problems of those around him.

This book takes time to fully establish the world and people of its stories.

Of the large cast, many characters have detailed backgrounds, some connected to previous books in the series. Thankfully, a detailed character glossary makes it easy to keep up with everyone.

The Sheriff succeeds most in its feel of authenticity.

While life in early England cannot be fully known, The Sheriff gives the reader enough granularity to help them imagine what it would be like to live there. It isn’t about the battles that often dominate history, but rather the regular people who could be our family, friends, and neighbors even though they exist in a time so far gone.

Readers who enjoy being taken away to the distant past, feeling as though they could breathe the air of something different from what they know, will find The Sheriff a fascinating and satisfying read.

January 31, 2024
THE FOREST by Miriam Verbeek – Crime Thriller, International Mystery, Organized Crime

The Forest, a slow-burning mystery and the second book in Miriam Verbeek’s Saskia van Essen series, follows a young investigator trying to unravel a mystery that sits deep in the core of a private logging organization.

Saskia, a co-owner of International Financial Services, is requested by Tania to help uncover a network of criminal activity in her family’s Australian timber business. After taking over the company as its new director, Tania doubts the legitimacy of their remarkable profits, given high expenses, severe competition, and a substantial reduction in timber production that should have made it difficult to make any substantial gains.

Wasting no time, Saskia travels to Australia, having agreed to investigate possible criminal activity while helping the timber mill restructure.

Shortly after settling in, she identifies a weak correlation between the employment of three people: Daryl in carpentry, Con in flooring, and Peta in finance. More concerning, a huge amount of data ”accidentally” gets lost immediately after her arrival, including crucial due diligence records.

Saskia’s investigation reveals a series of suspicious activities such as fake invoices and massive cash payments for unsold furniture and flooring. Furthermore, she finds that the companies making the purchases are mere shells with complex, disguised ownership. Adrenaline levels rise as her secret pursuit begins to take shape. She tries to exercise caution, but not before a ruthless figure comes after her with everything he’s got.

In The Forest, Miriam Verbeek characterizes the cruel world of organized crime.

She exposes crime syndicates’ desperation to put a legitimate face on their riches through careful money laundering.

Her prose keeps readers engaged with the developing mystery, which will change a reader’s view of cash-heavy businesses.

Among the many heroes in this book, Saskin stands out. She shows expert sleuth skills and competence despite her short stature. The problems she encounters are ones that the author has found Australian companies and society also dealing with, and she brilliantly incorporates the input of the NSW police, the Federal Police, and the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forests in fighting these financial indecencies.

This novel shows how money laundering has now moved from the simple transfer of cash into financial institutions to sophisticated systems of layered multi-business transactions.

Money laundering is a worldwide problem, and Miriam Verbeek does a great job emphasizing the need for international law enforcement cooperation. The Forest is an eye-opener for mystery readers and the business world alike.

January 29, 2024