Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

DILLION And The CURSE Of ARMINIUS by John Middleton – Historical Fantasy, WWII, Young Adult Fiction

Hang your disbelief by the door, pull up a chair, and prepare to step back in time to a period of unrest that would forever change the world In Dillion and the Curse of Arminius by John Middleton.

British and European legends set the stage for ancient warriors with a clarion call to re-awaken to battle—and only the innocents can intervene.

In 1936, the children of the privileged le Close family pursue their interests and enjoy their lives at their patriarchal home, gifted to the original Baron le Close by King James centuries ago. Since Oakholm Abbey lay on the border of England and Wales, everyone looked to the Baron to protect the surrounding farmlands from Welsh raiders. They would slip down from the wilds of the Welsh hills and valleys just beyond the old monastic estate and do their damage on the population.

By virtue of their lineage, the youngest generation of the le Close family, Gilbert and Emelia, have certain special abilities. Gilbert is attuned to the animal kingdom—and it to him—and wanders fearlessly into deep forests on the Welsh borderlands where he discovers magical places. These places exude an aura of intense spirituality, bringing Druids and secret ceremonies to mind. On the other hand, Emelia is percipient, although she is only just learning how to understand the meaning of her experiences.

Unbeknownst to Gilbert and Emelia, trouble brews across the channel.

They will soon become integral in saving both the lives of their good friends, Axel and Rebecca, German refugees now living in Amsterdam, and in helping good conquer evil in their part of the world.

Meanwhile, at Schloss Wewelsburg, a centuries old castle in south-western Germany, Heinrich Himmler, the commander of Hitler’s SS, has turned to the occult to realize a dream. He believes in the supernatural and wants to contact and enlist the aid of the fabled Cherusci warriors who conquered the Romans centuries ago to assist in Germany’s attempt to rule Europe.

Himmler connects with a revenant whose ancestor was second in command to Arminius, the chieftain of the fierce Cherusci tribe that freed the Germanic people of Roman rule.

What happens next, when the bucolic world of life at Oakmont Abbey collides with the occult, is the stuff of legends.

Gilbert and Amelia will discover their connections to their ancestral history, and are called upon to fulfill their predestined roles as guardians of a sacred place. They will be sorely tested, and must call upon everything in their beings to survive, to secure the survival of their friends, and to save their way of life.

In Dillion and the Curse of Arminius, author John Middleton has created a work of fantasy fiction with a plot that will appeal to pre and early teen readers. Much of the writing is lyrical with vivid imagery, creating a mystical mood—set up with a complex storyline and sophisticated language.

Dillion and the Curse of Arminius won 1st Place in the 2019 CIBA Dante Rossetti Book Awards for Young Adult Fiction.

July 15, 2022
GALDO’S GIFT: The Boovie by Eleanor Long & Trevor Young – Animated, Picture Books, Children’s Fantasy Stories

In Galdo’s Gift: The Boovie, Eleanor Long & Trevor Young create an interactive animated story that helps children learn about their unique gifts through an imaginative tale and diverse vocabulary.

The first page opens with a poem sharing a personalized gift with the reader. Then, we meet the frog King, and his kingdom Galdovia. His land is “where the wild wind whistles while the songbird sings” and he narrates the story, voiced by Brian Murphy.

The townsfolk of Galdovia move on the page in textured illustrations. They need a hero to undertake an important adventure, with the promise of a gift from the King to whoever completes this quest. Enter four great heroes who start their journeys in the hope of earning the King’s reward.

The four fearless heroes of this story are hilarious!

Any child or child at heart will notice the innocent humor in this story. Even their names (Strompoff, Brendara, Mustafo and Doogood) are silly, along with their exaggerated physical appearances.

The four are hysterical to watch as they employ clever alliteration-described skills to obtain the king’s gift. The animations show deliberate attention to a child’s curiosity and imagination. Overall, the story is a very joyful read.

By helping children to see their individual gifts, it empowers them to become better people.

We do not all share the same gifts as the fearless four, but individually we learn our strengths and purpose. Galdo’s Gift teaches us to hone our abilities while growing up.

Often adults convince children they must become something they are not capable of or comfortable with. Long & Young foster a child’s worth and esteem as inner flames which must be stoked. We all admire great heroes, but once we play to our strengths, they show us the heroes inside ourselves. This story teaches us this lesson without sounding overpowering or insensitive to a child’s curiosities and insecurities.

More importantly, by encouraging a child’s strength, we empower and boost their confidence. Galdo’s Gift encourages us to use our strengths and magical gifts, one adventure as a silly great hero at a time.

Galdo’s Gift: The Boovie by Eleanor Long & Trevor Young won Grand Prize in the 2019 CIBA Little Peeps Book Awards for Early Readers and Picture Books. This interactive masterpiece is available on Apple i-Tunes.

July 13, 2022
DAWN Of GENESIS: Titan Code Book 1 by Rey Clark – Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalypse, Young Adult

Dawn of Genesis: Titan Code Book 1 by Rey Clark portrays a near future Earth that is dying by inches, feet, and yards.

Specifically, yards and acres of crops are choked to death by a constant dust-bowl. Only a small human population has so far managed to survive the collapse of both the environment and the economy of the entire world.

The desperate circumstances of most of humanity are exacerbated by the rise of mutated super-humans with powers to rival those of typical superheroes. But the “Evos,” evolved humans, are missing the moral compass that directs those comic book superheroes, and the government that has arisen to “protect” the remaining non-Evo population isn’t much better.

The reader’s perspective on that boiling stew is teen Tessa Jones, still in school and trying to pretend that her combat and engineering skills aren’t nearly as excellent as she knows they are.

If she shows what she’s really capable of, she’ll be whisked away from her family’s farm by a government that uses – and uses up – every available person in order to defeat the Evos.

But Tessa’s dreams of remaining with her family explode when she manifests her own Evo powers to save her little sister’s life. Unable to hide what she really is, Tessa becomes a pawn, caught between forces that plan to use her for their own ends, either as a warrior for the Evos or a lab rat for a government planning to make more super-soldiers just like Tessa.

Because Tessa is still learning about the world and her place in it, she provides an eye-opening perspective on this post-apocalyptic world, as well as giving the story crossover appeal to readers of young adult and new adult fiction.

Tessa is on the cusp of adulthood, facing decisions that will set the course of her life. She is still facing all the issues of being in school: boredom, bullying, trying to fit in and desperate not to stand out too much. Even in the post-apocalypse, these issues are easy for readers to identify with.

She also tries to find her truth, to find a way of coping with the dying world she has been born into. She’s aware that what she hears about the larger world is all propaganda, and she doesn’t know which way to turn or what to believe because she has no idea where to find the truth.

She’s naive, she’s uncertain, and she’s desperate because she’s trapped in terrible circumstances facing equally terrible choices, none of them of her making. But she is the one person who might be able to fix at least some of her world, if she is willing to take the reins of the future into her own hands.

Dawn of Genesis is a post-apocalyptic survival story. And it’s a story about one young woman making a place for herself on a dying Earth. But it’s also a story about training and learning to be the most that one can be, and it’s a kick-ass adventure story about grabbing a better future.

Dawn of Genesis by Rey Clark won 1st Place in the 2019 CIBA Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction.

July 11, 2022
EXIT The MAZE: One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure by Dr. Donna Marks – Addiction Recovery, Personal Transformation, Overcoming Trauma

Exit The Maze: One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure by Dr. Donna Marks is a welcoming and comprehensive enchiridion of untapped wisdom that offers a step-to-step guide to getting out of any form of addiction.

No one sets out to become an addict; it catches us off guard. An addiction can happen quickly or slowly and can affect anyone regardless of intelligence, social class, ethnic group, or religion. With pitch-perfect prose, Dr. Donna Marks invites readers into the root causes of different forms of addiction, while offering pragmatic and evidence-based solutions that are bound to yield results.

Buoyed by the personal experiences of the author along with numerous case studies, Dr. Marks further offers deep insights into the inadequacies of traditional treatment models. For example, she notes that most rehab centers lack adequate staffing and overstep the limits of their capabilities. Another example is the famous 12 steps of fighting addiction which she believes do help to stop a behavior and develop a solid support system, however, she also sees that the program falls short

Marks attempts to address the traumas that underlie most addictive behavior.

This book does not stop there but offers alternative solutions to beat any form of addiction such as facing the pain, releasing it, writing out the thoughts and feelings that are disturbing you, forgiving the pain, letting go of resentment, visualizing a new life for yourself, and eventually exiting the maze. With valuable and reflective questionnaires at the end of every chapter, the result is a comprehensive compendium that is not only educating but eye-opening.

This guide is divided into twelve chapters that begin with a welcoming and illuminating quote from scholars and other well-known people. Each chapter amplifies the previous ones, resulting in a well-nuanced and easy-to-read self-help journey. Further, Dr. Marks’s empathetic and honest tone creates a much-needed balm for those longing to exit the frustrating rabbit hole of addiction. She closes on the last ultimate step of exiting the maze which includes self-care such as caring for the body, spirit, mind, and relationships.

The core backbone of this guidebook is the extensive research that Dr. Marks did in preparation for writing it.

Exit The Maze: One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure offers a unique roadmap to assist readers in discovering true healing and comfort. The book’s suggestions are concise and emphasize the need to deal with unresolved emotional trauma, as it is more often than not the doorway to addictions, as many try to blot out the pain. As addictions and depression escalate in the modern world, Dr. Donna has written a blueprint for living a post-addiction life of serenity and self-love.

Indeed, this revolutionary guide delivers a much-needed anchor designed to inspire, guide, and steer readers through all forms of addictions including gambling, love addiction, and drug addiction, just to name a few, and exit to the other end, triumphantly and fully recovered.

Exit the Maze: One Addiction, One Cause, One Cure won Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBA Mind & Spirit Book Awards for Spirituality and Enlightenment Non-Fiction.

July 8, 2022
The Discovery by Patrick M. Garry – Legal Thriller, Suspense/Thriller, Mystery Thriller

Patrick M. Garry’s The Discovery encompasses a narrative that traverses a family legal case jigsaw puzzle toward a discovery of self by exploring the ghost of ancient regrets, basic human desires, and questions of faith.

Frank Horgan, a former lawyer at one of Minneapolis’ largest firms, now practices small-case litigation in the little community of Basswood Hills. Frank, a victim of his own follies, has one more chance to restore his career to its former glory. But not before a huge legal matter comes knocking on his door at his father’s diner. This case kicks off the legal drama, bringing in several main and secondary characters to play their parts in the ultimate discovery of buried contentedness and eventually a scandal that breaks into the national newspaper.

Meanwhile, Frank comes upon the case of the most prominent McCorkle family in Basswood Hills.

Clayton McCorkle made a contract nearly a decade ago for his children to own the McCorkle Farm Equipment Company. But now, Clayton wants to reclaim his business. As his lawyer, Frank must overturn the agreement in order to reclaim Clayton’s ownership of the company from the children. The McCorkle kids’ choice of a huge New York firm for representation causes Frank to dig deeper.

It seems that the kids’ are involved with the commodities hedge fund, Parnassis, which owns a bin site adjacent to McCorkle land, and is coincidentally, also represented by the same huge New York firm. Parnassis’s urgent involvement in the case as well as the McCorkle siblings’ sudden generosity in preserving a portion of factory land around the bin site as a nature preserve reinforce Frank’s belief that there is more to this story than meets the eye.

Frank confronts a dilemma.

Enter Emily, an ex-nun and Frank’s road to faith, who seeks funds for a social cause benefiting women. Only, the funds are contingent on Frank’s losing the McCorkle lawsuit. Frank, as Clayton’s lawyer, must not only contend with the big firm lawyer’s blackmailing and unethical practices, but confront rumors of bodies of Clayton immigrant workers buried twenty years ago at the McCorkle factory site. If that weren’t enough, Frank’s close friend, Martin, has his own set of reasons to weaken Frank’s victory in the case.

The omniscient third-person narration of the story is the correct choice, in that, it allows for the characters’ implicit dialogues to gain depth into their development. Patrick M. Garry cleverly utilizes a non-linear narrative, the incorporation of first-person accounts written by Frank Horgan’s acquaintances and former clients that adds a sense of urgency and character development of the protagonist.

A key theme in the novel is the nuanced relationship between moral emotions and behavior in human life.

Frank’s ego compels him to always want to be linked with the most important cases – and to win. His pride and lack of judgement propel him to act in such a way that his profession and goals become jeopardized. As for Emily, she has felt the sting of her own past actions that cause her to doubt her ultimate trust and optimism in life. The continual struggle with guilt, as well as the search for meaning in life, dominate the novel. This reinforces the recurring topic in this author’s novels – life and the struggle of human beings to live in ways that transcend basic materialism and the grasp of destructive temptations.

Infused with legal drama, religious themes, and a personal quest, The Discovery is an all-action adrenaline-filled novel readers’ won’t want to put down.

Patrick M. Garry won Grand Prize in 2021 CIBAs in the Mystery & Mayhem Division.

July 6, 2022
The MAGICAL GUIDE To BLISS by Meg Nocero – Personal Transformation, Self-Discovery, Follow-Your-Dreams

The Magical Guide to Bliss is the first book in Meg Nocero’s creative and empowering Butterflies & Bliss Trilogy, an authentic series that nurtures readers along their paths of self-discovery.

With heartfelt intention, Nocero openly shares daily lessons and reflections that helped her find happiness, and will hopefully help others to move beyond their comfort zones and view life as an adventure. The Magical Guide to Bliss invites the reader to recognize the value in simple things like faith, hope, love, and joy. These facets of life help in an effort to transport ourselves and those around us from a realm of sorrow and defeat to uplifting enlightenment.

This unique motivational journey has 366 entries, each representing a day of the year. In the calendar-like set up, each month focuses on a specific concept and features Nocero’s reflections on it. From February’s theme of love, to the “Attitude of Gratitude” welcomed in November, all 12 chapters highlight a distinct transformative idea. Readers can explore the book from beginning to end, or as a leisurely daily practice either according to the calendar, or at random.

Each reflection opens with a related quote from a wide range of writers, artists, and celebrities.

Whether the sound advice of actress and comedian Lucille Ball to “Love yourself first and everything falls into line,” or British novelist C.S. Lewis’ affirming words “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream,” the messages reveal that each day offers new opportunities and a chance to step into bliss. Prayers of gratitude from the renowned Dalai Lama to thoughts of the French artist Henri Matisse about searching for a balanced life and peaceful existence all prove to be well-chosen phrases to compliment the overall purpose of this guide.

Nocero’s own glorious revelations offer insight on a variety of efforts like letting go of the past and overcoming fears, using your imagination, breathing in life’s blessings while breathing out the hardships, and staying optimistic.

These valuable insights come along with magical keys and mantras intended to open the locked doors encountered on the road to bliss. The keys come in the form of simple actions to take, such as writing out a vision statement, watching an inspiring movie, repeating positive influencing words, or performing deep breathing exercises to clear your mind and connect with your spirit.

A small photo journal along with bibliography and suggested readings at the end of the book adds a personal touch. These recommended works served Nocero along her own blissful path, and she hopes they will prove equally beneficial to others.

Reeling from the loss of her mother, Mary Jo, the creation of this guide clearly served as a catalyst for Nocero to move beyond the darkness of a devastating time in her life. The Magical Guide to Bliss is dedicated to the loving memory of her mom.

This motivating work is a simple road map that’s easy to follow. While there is some repetition along this soul-stirring route to bliss, it reinforces the powerful messages and affirmative insights being shared.

“Your past is over, your present is waiting, and your future holds much possibility.” Nocero’s ardent and passionate writing proves a worthy guide for that future.

July 4, 2022
RAVENS ROOST by Maggie Bates – Children’s Nature Books, Illustrated Books, Children’s Friendship Books

Maggie Bates’s Ravens Roost is a Children’s book that explores the illustrated nighttime adventures of a woman with her friend, a small frog.

This story teaches children how to be curious about forest animals, even in the middle of a wind storm. Bates is new to writing Children’s books, and cares deeply for the natural world. Her rapport with animals likely inspired her debut tale.

Ravens Roost begins with a frog sitting on a roof, wondering where ravens go at night. The woman who lives in the house decides to help the frog follow his curiosity on an adventure. First, she climbs up a tree to watch ravens soar overhead. She admires the moon and notices the birds perching in her favorite tree. She climbs down and starts her trek along a forest path as night falls and the wind picks up. The woman tucks her frog friend into her pocket for safety. Along their journey, the frog and the woman share a special friendship.

The pair get trapped in the storm and the woman feels lost about where the ravens have gone.

Illustrations of the storm, the face of the wind, and the swirling background add depth and complexity to a pivotal part in the story. These images bring the story to life and sweep the reader up in their tale.

Ravens Roost is imaginative and observant of the world, making it a good choice for building vocabulary with a youngster.

This story’s lessons come in elegant prose. After reading of the author’s love and respect for nature at the end of the book, the parallels between the lead character and the author become apparent. Some beautiful ideas from Ravens Roost are realized by letting the wind carry us away, admiring numerous ravens on a perch, or protecting a frog from harm during a storm. Maggie Bates teaches children to be curious about animals, and the world we share with them.

Although the woman and frog are different in many ways, their ability to coexist is a valuable lesson.

In the end, if we do not stop to admire the natural beauty that surrounds us, we are overlooking unlikely friendships that may form, such as a woman with a frog. Bates reminds us that nature is a sacred space in her debut tale, and this story is paramount to us appreciating nature at any age.

July 1, 2022
MORAL FIBRE: A Bomber Pilot’s Story by Helena P. Schrader – Historical Fiction, WWII, Historical Aviation

In Moral Fibre: A Bomber Pilot’s Story, Helena P. Schrader takes readers to 1943 England, where deeply held values of honor and bravery mingle with the importance of one’s place in society. It was a time and place where failures of the former could shatter the latter and change a man’s life forever.

Within this psychological landscape, the reader is led to wonder, in the case of RAF pilot Christopher “Kit” Moran, will the war break him?

With thirty-six missions under his belt and as a decorated veteran, Kit suddenly refuses to fly another mission. Although a shock to everyone who knows him, Kit has his reasons. The new assignment comes less than one day on solid ground and two hours of sleep since returning from his most recent bombing sortie over Berlin. In itself a harrowing experience, the mission ended with his best friend, the plane’s skipper, being mortally injured and ultimately dying. The RAF hierarch deems Kit LMF (Lacking Moral Fibre) – a term introduced in 1940 to address those who refused to fly without having a verifiable medical reason. He is sent to a diagnostic center and examined by a psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist understands. Kit is not insane nor lacking in moral fibre. He was simply “wiped out.”

So Kit is declared capable and fit for duty and given the opportunity to train as a pilot. This outcome was a far cry from what he, an experienced flight engineer, expected after the incident that sent his career off track.

The novel really takes off in 1944 when, after completing pilot training in South Africa, Kit returns to England for the final stages of training and ultimately a return to operations. Now he must put his experience and training into practice while sublimating his lingering self-doubt and anxiety about his own resilience. Should he fail, people will die, and his dreams will die with him.

What ensues takes the reader into the English psyche of that time, tapping the depths of human emotions, holding them up to the light, and revealing their concomitant beauty and ugliness in times of fear and crises.

Before the war is over for Kit, he finds his inner strength, finds love, and learns the true meaning of sacrifice.

Meticulously researched and skillfully written, Schrader’s Moral Fibre steps off the pages and comes to life. Her nuanced characters and authentic dialogue also provide a glimpse of Britain’s stratified class-conscious culture during the WWII era.

Schrader picks a critical period during WWII for the setting and, in so doing, educates today’s readers about the horrors of a war that was and what it takes to save a nation – and perhaps the free world.

In Moral Fibre: A Bomber Pilot’s Story, Helena P. Schrader again reaffirms George Santanya’s position, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

June 29, 2022
The GREEN REMAINS: Book 2 of the Nora Tierney English Mysteries by M.K. Graff – British Cozy Mysteries, Women Sleuths, Romance

American editor and author Nora Tierney has a lot going on, from a book deal and pregnancy to stumbling on the site of a high-profile murder, in M.K. Graff’s mystery novel, The Green Remains.

After winning a contest for a three-book deal, Nora and her artist are proofreading her first novel while she is researching for the next installment. Add to this that Nora is also almost nine months pregnant with her dead boyfriend’s baby, and she should have enough to keep her busy.

As a temporary resident of Ramsey Lodge, the ancestral home of her novel’s artist Simon Ramsey, Nora enjoys the beautiful scenery of Bowness-on-Windermere, a Cumbrian village on the shore of England’s largest lake while attempting to find a name for her son. It doesn’t hurt that Simon and his sister Kate pamper her and want her to live with them at least as long as she and Simon are collaborating and by all means, until the baby is born.

However, Nora’s idyllic rest is interrupted when she stumbles upon the dead body of Keith Clarendon, the only son of prominent citizens Sommer and Antonia. When the medical examiner deems Keith’s death murder via rare poison, Detective Ian Travers, Kate’s fiancé, finds himself in the awkward position of questioning Simon’s possible involvement. However, the small community is again rocked by murder when two local drunkards are also found dead with signs of the same poison. Nora is determined to prove Simon’s innocence, but each day she draws closer to her due date and as she conducts her clandestine investigation, each clue takes her closer to the killer.

The romantic relationships in the novel present an interesting contrast.

In the first book in the series, Nora loses her fiancé, Paul, in a plane crash, but she had already “lost” him. She had allowed herself to ignore the negativity in their relationship. In hindsight, she knows she refused to see who her fiancé had truly been. When Kate suggests naming the child after Paul, the true feelings Nora had suppressed rise to the surface. She knows with certainty she could never name the child after his father. She suspects Paul himself had fallen out of love with her, but like her, couldn’t bring himself to break off their engagement.

Nora and Simon are another contrasting couple. In the previous novel, Simon saved Nora from certain death in Oxford while she investigated the accusations of murder made again her friend Val. They also shared a brief physical interlude there as well, and he is the artist for her children’s novels. Her need to clear Simon’s name is both obligatory and emotional. He and Kate have helped Nora in numerous ways, providing support and comfort. They attend birthing classes with her and give her a home at Ramsey Lodge. They paint her future son’s room and put together his crib.

Simon loves Nora and desires more than she is willing to provide.

She chooses to keep their current relationship platonic but often questions that choice. In short, Nora’s torn between her feelings for Simon and for the Oxford detective, Declan Barnes, who worked closely with her on a previous investigation.

Whenever she thinks about Declan, she experiences all of the “new-love” emotions, excitement, trepidation, and uncertainty. However, she simultaneously cannot stop the surge of jealousy she feels when Maeve, a manager at the hotel, flirts with Simon. Nora knows she has no right to these emotions but still cannot stop herself. Simon means security, a real family, while Declan represents passion and desire.

A theme many readers will find familiar is the anxiety of parenthood.

After learning of Paul’s death, Nora soon discovers she’s pregnant. She chose to keep her child and raise him on her own, a gutsy decision that she often questions. Her mind often fills with uncertainty. Nora’s mother lives in Connecticut, and her father drowned years ago when she was a teenager. She carries the burden of guilt over his death because she had turned down his invitation to join him.

The ghost of parenting haunts Nora because she wants to live up to the memory of what a wonderful parent her father truly was. She understands that saying you are going to be a good parent doesn’t really deliver the proof of actually being one. In the meantime, she must face the tragedy of Keith’s death and the grief of his loving parents. The strength of their loss, in a strange way, highlights her desire to be a loving parent.

Facing the death of her only child, Antonia mentally implodes. The loss feels monumental to Nora, and she questions her involvement in the investigation since death seems to surround her pregnancy. She sees how fragile life truly is and how having a partner makes that life more bearable, which in turn makes her wonder how she’ll ever be parent enough for her son when she can’t even choose a name or keep herself out of trouble.

The Green Remains by M.K. Graff won 1st Place in the 2014 CIBA M&M Book Awards for Cozy Mysteries.

June 27, 2022
EDGE: Turning Adversity into Advantage by Laura Huang – Business Motivation, Success Self-Help, Personal Transformation

Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage by Laura Huang is a valuable mixture of business strategy, science, and examples, all directed to help readers develop their unique skills and strengths.

Author Laura Huang takes readers through her own journey to becoming an award-winning Harvard Business School professor. Along with real-world examples of both successful entrepreneurs and up-and-coming business students, she lays out a four-part guide on how to create your personal edge.

Creating your own edge is essential to getting ahead in life no matter who someone is or where they come from. Huang herself is a child of immigrants and was one of a few female engineering students at her university. She had to navigate her own specific challenges, figuring out what worked for her and what did not.

Instead of being in business to invent or promote the next big thing, Huang is in the business world for its rich research opportunities.

In Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage, Huang will take readers through her process: Enrich, Delight, Guide, and put in Effort, to create their special edge. Huang reiterates throughout her book that anyone can have an edge; they can use who they are and whatever adversity they have faced to their advantage in not just business, but in their everyday life.

Huang uses her research expertise to give relevant sociological, philosophical, and business contexts to each section of the book.

Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage is not about gaming the system to get ahead in business, and Huang stresses that there is not one method to follow. She presents her research and gives examples of how to gain an edge in ways that can create new opportunities for you.

Along with all the examples and stories, this book follows its own advice to Enrich, Delight, Guide, and put in the Effort. Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage is at the same time enlightening, engaging, and truly a wake-up call to take charge of the growth of your life.

Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage won Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBA Harvey Chute Book Awards for Business & Enterprise Non-Fiction.

June 22, 2022