Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

The BOY WHO WROTE POETRY by Judy Taylor – Poetry, Family Memoirs, Artist Biographies

The Boy Who Wrote Poetry is a heartwarming and inspirational work about Mark Ford, a promising young poet and writer who died a tragic and premature death at the age of eighteen. This collection is the poetry he left behind.

Judy Taylor, Mark’s sister and the author of the book, tells the story of her brother’s short life and their family, the circumstances in which he grew up, and how he began to express his creativity at a very young age. The examples of Mark’s poetry and general writings that the author presents are remarkable and moving. Considering the tender age at which Mark wrote the poetry, the sophistication and insight revealed in the work are astonishing.

Despite the sometimes perplexing narration and lack of photograph captions, leading to confusion about who’s who in the images presented, the pictures of the family growing throughout the years give a touching clue to the close-knit family and the seven children, of whom Mark was the eldest and the author, his sister Judy, was the youngest. The photos, even without clarity on which child is which (the glasses at least make clear which is Mark Ford), make for warm reminiscences and give a clue to how the young poet lived and grew.

What is of particular note is the degree to which the self-awareness is evident in Mark’s work. “Please excuse the misspelled words,” he requests in the introduction to a collection of his poetry. “It was meaning, not grammar I strove (and am still striving) for.”

There are glimpses of what kind of storyteller that Mark would have developed into with offerings like “What do you use/To keep out the night? Try to conceal/Your delicate fright. Don’t call for help/For nothing is worse/Than wounded dignity/Innerness unhorsed.” A little trepidation, a little humor.

Mark, according to the author, went through phases including fantasy (in particular The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien) and Bob Dylan’s work, and produced imagery that reflects the prose of the time:

What changes in a day?
What makes the sky so grey?
What takes the wind and makes it so alone?
What breaks the earth and scatters senseless stone?
On the horizon, the bare brown
Horizon, glowing with the last of life,
Glowing with the last of life.
What changes in a week?
What makes it easier to speak
The words I should have said but could not say
And now that day has joined the past days
Littered in a pile.
A useless pile of days.
A useless pile of days.
A lightning tears the sky in two.
Another moment it is through
And sky is whole.
Beating down your wincing brow
The rains betray your wisdom now.
Alone the storm.
You, your trials, disappear
For who will equal or compare
Its tear-born ire?
The weeping storm screams out aloud.
Its tears are naked, bare and proud,
Anew for each departed leaf.
The sky lays down and cries its grief.

Not only that, more than a bit of insight amid the darkness, in his final poem before his death:

Guilt drops hawklike on suspecting man
And plummets toward his silent, secret sin.
The soul is pierced in vain; no talon can
Remove the stain when it is held within.
The grace of God, when sought, can dull
The beak and claws of guilt. A man can pray
And ease the burden in a heart too full
To bear, although the pangs of failure stay;
For God is God above us all and draws
Us up to Him, but man is man and shall
Persist in needing comrades in the pause
Between the ultimate rise and the ultimate fall.
God’s gifts uplift, but cannot be compared
In saving strength to sadness equally shared.

Mark Ford’s poetry and creative writing, the focus of the piece, were truly outstanding, and his early demise heartbreaking.

June 13, 2022
SCROOGE and CRATCHIT DETECTIVES: The Dark Malevolence by Curt Locklear – Victorian Mystery, Victorian Cozy, Holiday Fiction
Curt Locklear’s The Dark Malevolence, book 2 in the Scrooge and Cratchit: Detectives series is an immersive Victorian murder mystery that sets readers firmly in the era alongside two of our favorite characters from the most famous novelist of its time, Charles Dickens.

Once again Locklear hits the high notes of Dickens and Doyle as he paints good old London town in the days before electricity and public sanitation. We follow our heroes, Scrooge, Cratchit, and Lockie, as they put their talents to work to solve not one, but four mysteries.

With a cast straight out of the classics, Locklear references Shakespeare as well as developing his “something is afoot” mystery. Upon taking the case of Mrs. Evangeline Peabody’s missing husband, the mystery soon becomes a murder case. The husband is found dead and a local police officer, or “Metropolitan,” is found mauled to death. Mystery-one leads to murders one and two, and each event leads readers to another crime, another suspect, and another victim.

He does not shy away from the economic classes fraught with double standards, scandals, and social injustice. The story unfolds in upholding the Victorian penchant for complicated plots and stories and along with timeless investigative techniques as used by Sherlock Holmes. A compelling combination for lovers of classic mysteries.

The historical period comes to life under the author’s deft crafting, and his characters fill the pages with high-stakes chases, shootouts, brawls, and mad dashes to safety.

Lockie uses skills from his former life along with his knowledge of the criminal mind to help uncover leads his upstanding colleagues wouldn’t even recognize. Scrooge, a man trying to mend his uncharitable ways, uses his quick wit and abilities to judge character as they pursue one lead after another, and Cratchit uses his benevolent nature to bring all the talents together to help solve the crimes.

Locklear introduces complication after complication and with it come characters from Grimm’s fairytales, namely Snow, alluding to Snow White, and her seduction and disappearance from her home with a family of little people who will do everything in their power to save her.

Buckle up – there’s more!

Add in a crime ring and new medical technology for Victorian times, and you have the elements for the darkly compelling work. Locklear creates a sinister world where evil reigns in the back streets and alleys, and the success of our heroes is uncertain.

Locklear has done his research and the glossary of terms at the end of the book comes in handy for the language and terms used by the characters. The mystery builds and builds even as one murder is solved, and another begins.

Shining a light on issues of the time, such as human trafficking, illegal human experimentation, and hypnotism – a very popular medium for the Victorian era – Locklear kept this reader immersed and turning the pages of this well-crafted murder novel.

The characters become embroiled in and expose these issues. At times we cringe, but Locklear always holds out hope and optimism, even when Cratchit is afraid to sleep, and Scrooge dreads the wee hours of the night when Marley pays his visits.

The complex subplots create tension and intrigue as we follow our heroes through the dark seamy alleys and warehouses of London to solve murder and mystery.

The historical aspects lend a wonderful period flare, and the suspense and plot twists keep the tension high from beginning to end. Locklear’s Victorian mystery, a four caper in one book, has Lockie, Scrooge, and Cratchit rushing to solve each murder and put bad guys behind bars, but can they catch them all? The Dark Malevolence is a page-turner extraordinaire, a captivating read from beginning to end, and one we highly recommend.
June 10, 2022
HEALING OUT LOUD: How to Embrace God’s Love When You Don’t Like Yourself by Sandi Brown & Michelle Caulk, PhD, LPC – Christian Counseling, Memoirs, Friendship

Two writers – friends, and former counselor and client – combine forces to create Healing Out Loud, a dynamic book aimed at understanding and overcoming the deficits that life hands us.

Sandi Brown, a radio personality with more grit than she realizes, seeks professional help. Michelle Caulk’s therapeutic methodology perfectly suits this case. The two offer examples of wishing for and finding true mental health through the development of a remarkable communicative relationship.

Each chapter of the pair’s psychological explorations begins with a memory from Sandi, accompanied by her expanded view of incidents from childhood and beyond. These ruminations are then matched by counselor Michelle’s personal grasp of Sandi’s specific dilemmas, and well-constructed guidelines for a healing process that readers can incorporate into their own lives. Sandi, grappling with low self-esteem, was traumatized as a child when her father left her mother and brother, loudly and finally, with no explanation.

This was followed by her mother’s marriage to a gruff and unloving stepfather who abused the little girl starting when she was six.

As Sandi opens up to Michelle about this period of her life, she remembers once refusing to properly excuse herself from the supper table, simply sitting there for a protracted period in silent defiance. To this, Michelle declares that Sandi was “a fighter,” and this becomes a working theme in their therapy sessions as Sandi’s emotional grasp expands.

She begins to realize she can confront and overcome her long held shame; she has a voice and she is loved, not only by those in her current life, but by God, who has a plan for her success. At each stage of her self-discovery, Sandi is offered another step in “The Unpacking Process with Dr. Michelle.” The day Sandi buys make-up is a notable turning point, since previously she considered herself too unattractive to draw undue attention to her features.

Sandi and Michelle, whose relationship gradually enters the realm of friendship as both reveal their deepest aspirations, have constructed this vibrant manual to help others take on the task of self-healing.

Part of the process, as is made clear in a variety of ways, is to speak out and invite others to share their own inner doubts and fears. The writing is both educated and plain, emphasizing their shared drive for outreach and their common Christian outlook. Useful metaphors include taking the plunge off a high diving board, throwing unwanted feelings off a bridge, and Sandi’s youthful memory – expanded now to include her greater understanding – of being a kite, learning to fly past her problems, accept life’s inevitable scars, and share her experiences with other battered flyers.

Healing Out Loud is a most unusual literary experiment that combines a woman’s need to find a better path and greater fortitude, and another woman’s wish to help her see that the positive qualities she seeks already dwell within her. The resulting work has the power to evoke threads of memory and longing for improvement among its readers and can doubtless serve in both individual and group contexts.

June 8, 2022
BLOOD In The LOW COUNTRY by Paul Attaway – Religious Mysteries, Action & Adventure Literary Fiction, Southern Literary Sagas

Are the sins of the father destined to burden the children? Or is it the sins of the mother that create a child’s worst nightmare? Find out in Paul Attaway’s riveting Southern mystery, Blood in the Low Country (The Atkins Family Saga).

Rose Atkins is weighed down by a lifetime of desperate secrets. The mother of two teenage sons and wife to a lawyer, Monty, Rose goes to great lengths to keep her past hidden. Her attempts to conceal all details about this sordid history may bury both of her sons. With the passage of time, secrets become harder and harder to keep. The pressure builds and leads to cracks in the foundation that Rose carefully manufactured for her life. If she falls through, it may be her family that will pay the heaviest price.

Rose’s brutal efforts to maintain a blissful family illusion is designed so she will be admired by all in the community.

Behind closed doors their dysfunctional home life erupts. Rose idolizes her younger son, Walker and loathes her older son, Eli. Both extremes are destructive. Her misguided actions reflect her feelings about their different fathers.

Despite their mother’s constant interference, sons Eli and Walker develop a close bond. They work to brighten their futures, creating their own secrets as they try to live undetected by their mother’s intrusive radar. At the same time, they can’t help but engage in a never-ending series of individual attempts to earn love from Rose and Monty. All their efforts end in disappointment. Rose and Monty always want more.

The boys become discouraged and distraught by the pressure of their parents’ requirements of acceptance – of earning their love. Why does love have strings attached? Eli and Walker are caught in a sad cycle. If only Monty could find a way to unite the family, but he is mystified by his wife’s actions and unsure what he can do.

Catastrophe strikes when Eli’s girlfriend, Kimberly is found murdered.

Last seen in an argument with Eli, the boy becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Eli declares his innocence and naturally seeks support from his mother. She coldly turns her back on him. Abandoned, can her desperate son find justice on his own?

The shock of this tragedy has forever altered the lives of Eli, Walker, his parents, and all those in Kimberly’s family. In the meantime, there is a killer on the loose who is emboldened knowing that all accusing eyes are distracted by Eli.

Author Paul Attaway creates intriguing characters with complex interrelationships, presented in such a realistic way readers will find it difficult to put the book down.

The characters’ reactions to their situations as the plot moves forward is compelling and heartbreaking. In short, those who enjoy their Southern Mysteries with an intricate plot and highly relatable characters will line up for more. Blood in the Low Country is one mystery we highly recommend.

Author Paul Attaway is a master at showing a series of events from such varying characters’ perspectives. It’s so intriguing to discover the motives and actions of the different personalities when confronted by the same events. The writing is artfully paced, stimulating the reader with a constant curiosity of what can happen next.

These characters, often at cross purposes, drive circumstances forward to an inevitable, explosive conclusion. The author ignites this climax by skillfully revealing surprise twists. While presenting this enticing drama, the story also contains a thrilling mystery and hunt for a killer. Readers follow the clues as they are uncovered, finding themselves caught up in the case and cheering for the families, and for justice. But, once Blood in the Low Country is spilled, can secrets be forgiven, love triumph, and trust be restored?

June 6, 2022
The BIBLE for ME: Bible Stories and Prayers by Mike Nawrocki and Amy Parker – Christian Children’s Books, Christian Children’s Early Readers Books, Children’s Devotional Christianity Books

The Bible for Me: Bible Stories and Prayers by authors Mike Nawrocki and Amy Parker is a brightly illustrated, highly readable and listenable collection of fifty stories drawn from the Holy Bible and specifically geared for children of all ages.

The collection moves through the Bible from Old to New Testaments, with twenty-five stories from each. In the first half readers will see, through simple words and vivid pictures styled to the text by artist Taylor Thompson, how the universe was created, and the Jewish people were chosen to carry God’s word throughout the known world in their time. The language is frank and will appeal to young readers, as we learn for example, how in the Garden of Eden “Adam and Eve Mess Up.”

In “Three Friends in the Hot Seat” we see how three spiritual heroes – Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego – are punished by King Nebuchadnezzar for refusing to worship idols; they are thrown into a fire but are saved by an angel of the Lord.

The special place of girls and woman is extolled, with the account of Esther, “The Girl Who Saved Her People,” and later through the story of young Mary, and her role in God’s plan as the mother of Jesus. Thorny issues such as Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his own son for God are treated with wisdom and appropriate tact, as the authors follow the story with an ameliorating prayer in which the child reader may ask God “to put You first and to be willing to give up even our favorite things to follow you.”

With the advent of Jesus in the book’s second segment, the traditional biblical stories are again accompanied by these prayers that help to make the meanings clearer. When Jesus is tempted by Satan, the prayer forthrightly thanks God “for showing us how to deal with the devil.”

Both composers of these short, educational offerings have a background in writing and producing: Parker has authored more than sixty Christian-themed children’s books, and writer Nawrocki works in film and other media to provide Bible-based allegorical texts for youthful readers, watchers, and listeners, and of course was one half of the well-loved Veggie Tales creative team. Together with Thompson, whose pictorial interpretations range from puckish to powerful to awe-inspiring, a wide-ranging panorama of Christian history springs to life to help youngsters develop a grasp of higher truths.

The authors begin by informing readers (and those who may read to them) that the stories they have chosen are aimed at speaking directly to their audience. They conclude with a closing prayer and brief “sermon” to encourage young people to accept Jesus and his saving grace.

The Bible for Me by Nawrocki and Parker could be used in a Sunday school or other group context, as well as within a family, and may serve to inspire teachers, parents, and grandparents as well as their young listeners.

June 3, 2022
BED of CONSPIRACY by Juliette Douglas – Western, American Historical Fiction, Adventure

Growing up alone on the streets of Saint Louis in the mid-1870s, nineteen-year-old Samantha Davis has had to fight for everything.

When she rescues Colonel Brady from armed attackers, she isn’t trying to be a hero or land a dangerous new job, but the moment Brady sees her deadly aim and unparalleled courage, he knows he’s found his new undercover agent. Brady has been tasked with infiltrating the KGC, the Knights of the Golden Circle, a group of Southern sympathizers hellbent on bringing down the government in a Confederate uprising.

Brady believes Sam will be the perfect partner for Ross Cooper, a veteran agent who spends his off-time as a trail boss in Kansas. However, Ross is less than thrilled with Brady’s choice of the untrained, bad-tempered girl. Despite his misgivings, Ross agrees to team-up with Sam, and the two go undercover as Jim and Virginia Van Meter, a newlywed couple from South Carolina visiting Washington. After being introduced to Adam Mundy, the leader of this cell of the KGC, Ross (aka Jim) agrees to use his shipping business to help the Confederate cause.

The plot to rise again also means an assassination attempt on President Grant, and Ross must find a way to stop the uprising or see the president killed. Meanwhile, Sam is intent on doing her own investigation. Between the KGC and Sam’s hairbrain attempts, Ross has his hands full. On top of that, the longer the two play the happy couple, the more complicated their feelings become. As the conspiracy heats up so does their relationship, and the two must fight their feelings and the men plotting to plunge Washington into chaos.

The star of this novel is the courageous protagonist, Sam Davis.

From the first introduction, Sam bursts onto the scene with fire and gusto. At her young age and in this time period, she should be husband-seeking in layers of petticoats and ribbons. Instead, suspenders and pants are her wardrobe of choice, and finding a husband has never entered her mind. Even though she sometimes second-guesses her new role as the first female secret agent in this newly formed agency, Sam refuses to quit and give up her obligation to a man who plucked her off the streets. Keeping her ragged nails covered with gloves and hiding her omnipresent boots become her priority when she playacts as Ginny Van Meter.

Even when she must don the garb of a spy, Sam refuses to give up who she really is, and thank goodness she doesn’t! Repeatedly her heroics save the day. Her decidedly unladylike behavior is just what the colonel needs to foil the KGC. This girl is far from the “sit and wait” mentality of many of her contemporary compatriots. From riding into a cowboy camp armed with only her six-shooter and a letter from Colonel Brady to being arrested for trespassing, Sam flourishes on action. At times, Sam is reckless without forethought to what her actions will mean for Ross and his plan to slowly infiltrate the group. With her “peppered” language and the gun hidden in her silk handbags, Sam’s irreverence and fearlessness are endearing while her sass will keep the reader thoroughly entertained.

The historical context and references within the novel provide insight into a turbulent time in American history.

The novel’s focus on the Knights of the Golden Circle sheds light on a nearly forgotten society of Confederate sympathizers, a group with infamous members such as outlaws Jesse and Frank James and assassin John Wilkes Booth. Interweaving the truth into a fictional tale is often a daunting and confusing task, but this book seamlessly does exactly that.

While characters like Adam Mundy are fictitious, the object behind the KGC, overthrowing a government battered by the Civil War and Reconstruction, was a very real threat. Their refusal to acknowledge Lee’s surrender at Appomattox even ten plus years later could easily have created world-changing events. Ross and Sam’s involvement in this fictional assassination attempt on President Grant is a tale that could have been both possible while making an engrossing story. The action is non-stop with believable support characters adding to this captivating plot.

Bed of Conspiracy by Juliette Douglas won 1st Place in the 2019 CIBA Laramie Book Awards for Western and Americana Fiction.

June 1, 2022
SHADOWED BY DEATH by Mary Adler – Mystery, WWII Historical Fiction, Crime Thriller

In Shadowed by Death, the second novel in writer Mary Adler’s World War II mystery series, we’re taken back to America in the forties, and to a time when human kindness and human soullessness battled for the soul of the world.

Homicide detective Oliver Wright, a Marine wounded in the Pacific and his service dog, Harley, are back home in the San Francisco Bay area. Despite recovering from a nearly shattered leg, the military calls on Wright to investigate the near-fatal battering of Irina, a young woman found bruised and beaten on a local military base. The assignment leads to an equally complex assignment, protecting Sophia Nirenska, a Polish Jew whose life’s mission is to raise American awareness of the atrocities committed by Russia against her countrymen. She also proselytizes aiding orphaned Jewish children strewn across the world after the war is over.

Someone is trying to shut her up, at minimum, or kill her. Wright is given the task of protecting her at all costs. It’s not easy. Sophia is a survivor of the Nazi’s unrelenting attacks against Warsaw and a severe critic of Russia’s unacknowledged attacks against her countrymen. She is also uncompromising about being self-sufficient after having survived the horrors of the Warsaw ghetto and the disintegration of her family.

The question is who wants her dead the most: anti-Semites, Nazis, or Russians? Protecting her is no easy job.

Harley, Wright’s military-trained service dog, becomes a major player in his master’s twin investigations, both protecting Wright and helping to track down the people who are trying to hurt her.

More than just a thriller, this novel seemingly has a mission to educate 21^st Century readers about some aspects of World War II that few may be familiar with. While the Holocaust is well known, the Russians capture and massacre of thousands of Poles at Katyn is less so. It took modern scholarship to prove Russia did it, not the Nazis. The dogged resistance of the U.S. to take in more Jews during the war years becomes part of the book’s informational side. Readers are given a detailed description of the bureaucratic quagmire that made emigration of European Jews here virtually impossible despite knowledge of the atrocities being committed against them.

These and other facts are expertly interwoven into the narrative as Wright tries to get to the bottom of who wants Sophia and Irina dead, and why.

In many ways, Wright becomes a surrogate for most Americans who never experienced the full impact of the war in Europe. As one character says, in part, “We must think of [these refugees] as having brought their own justice system with them, and for the duration, we will suspend ours where they are concerned… The communists who infiltrate the Polish underground inform on them to the Gestapo. The Poles who survive will be killed or imprisoned when Russia takes over Poland. [Those who] betrayed the resistance for years… will be the cause of suffering for even more years to come. We can only imagine how many people were tortured and killed because of [them], and how many more will be.”

Shadowed by Death is a powerful inventive thriller and a provocative look into some chilling aspects of World War II that have lost none of their relevance in today’s explosive international political climate. Highly recommended.

Shadowed by Death by Mary Adler won 1st Place in the 2019 CIBA Goethe Book Awards for Post-1750 Historical Fiction.

May 30, 2022
LEGENDS of the VALE: A Martial Arts Story, Book 1 by Rey Clark – Middle Grade Fantasy, Coming of Age, Adventure

The magical creatures of the Vale are being destroyed, in Rey Clark’s fantasy adventure novel, Legends of the Vale.

The Cursed Queen, an elf bent on controlling all magic, is wreaking havoc on the inhabitants of this formerly peaceful, beautiful world co-existing parallel to normal life on Earth. As a woodland fairy, Robyn Greywink isn’t able to do much because of his small size; however, because of his father’s dying command, Robyn finds himself responsible for the last dragon, the final defense against the queen’s power. In a last ditch effort to protect the unhatched egg, Robyn sends it through a portal into a forest on Earth.

Before Robyn can retrieve and move the egg, it is found by Allison Doyle, a fifth grader who has no knowledge of the secret world around her. After the egg hatches to reveal a tiny purple and green dragon, she is Awakened to magic and quickly becomes Izzy’s protector. She and Robyn are determined to return the hatchling to the Vale.

After enlisting the help of her friend Vanessa, the three embark on a journey into a magical realm, but at every turn, they are pursued by the Hunter, the Cursed Queen’s chief assassin. When Allison discovers she has a much bigger role in the fate of the Vale, she must find the courage to face an enemy with the power to destroy anyone – or anything – standing in her way.

Determination and perseverance to duty are two major themes shining through the adventure within this novel.

Robyn, a creature so tiny he has no real power beyond the magical dust he carries, is given what seems to be an unattainable and insurmountable challenge. His father gave his life to secure the dragon egg after watching the Cursed Queen and her elven army kill the only adult dragons left in the Vale by sealing their power within the jewel of her sword, Death Striker.

Knowing he has no hope of defeating such a foe himself, he sends the egg to Earth then follows it, entering a foreign land with only the limited dust he is carrying. He refuses to give up on the dragon baby nor give up the mission given to him by his dying father. Robin knows he cannot dishonor his father’s memory by taking the cowardly way out and abandoning the egg. There’s no time to mourn or even think of the danger he now finds himself in because he cannot let the egg hatch in a place without magic. He must Awaken Allison and convince her to help him return the dragon to the Vale.

Allison is just a girl starting a new school year.

She thinks she has no unusual abilities or talents, but as a student of Kuk Sool, a Korean martial art, she is a warrior within her soul. Allison and Vanessa defend the tiny dragon against trolls and goblins before even entering the Vale. She goes from facing school bullies to a deadly Hunter overnight, and she takes all of this in stride, never allowing her uncertainty or fear keep her from a duty she acknowledges as her own from the first moment Izzy looks at her.

The dragon chooses Allison as his protector because he sees her inner strength. Upon arrival in the Vale, she soon learns she has been chosen not just to protect Izzy but to save the entire world. It is her job to overthrow and defeat the queen who has terrorized all of the creatures in the Vale. She cannot let her doubts stop her from helping everyone under the tyranny of the Cursed Queen, her Hunter, or her army.

The world of the Vale is so well-crafted that the reader will immediately feel immersed in a cursed land.

From trolls who turn to stone in sunlight to enchanted buildings that defend those inside, the fantasy-building is thorough and wonderful. Readers will find themselves seamlessly immersed in a world totally different from their own, and while the worlds built in high fantasy can often be difficult to understand, the rules of the Vale are accessible and understandable for young readers, who will find themselves facing all manner of creatures. They will feel just as Awoken as Allison and will revel in their discoveries.

In true Lord of the Rings fashion, this fantasy adventure will send readers spinning through a world of adventure and magic.

Legends of the Vale by Rey Clark won 1st Place in the 2019 CIBA Gertrude Warner Book Awards for Middle-Grade Fiction.

May 27, 2022
COGNITION by Jacques St-Malo – Technothrillers, Philosophical Fiction, Genetic Manipulation

A scientific thriller by Jacques St-Malo, Cognition draws from a variety of sources – from Middle East royals to Asians, corporate tycoons from the US and UK to the Chinese and US administrations – to create a canvas as broad and fascinating as the philosophical and moral speculations it presents.

Cognition moves along in the span of a few decades, with its many facets of people in search of the child entrusted with the full capability of germinal-choice technology – to finish off the exclusive child before its countrymen could claim the genius mind for themselves. Meanwhile, an agitation based on the rage of those denied this germline manipulation is being waged against the richly endowed children of the privileged. The tug-of-war between the several factions throughout the book, each with their own set of interests and ideologies, creates numerous opportunities for philosophical debates among these genetically engineered children, educating the reader on the many ramifications of genetic manipulation that results in mental and physical enhancement.

Upon the fall of the last monarch’s regime in Turkey, the royal child prince is taken away to a foreign land to live with his mother’s maidservant for safety of life.

The Chinese Code Seagull is under operation to locate the child entrusted with the full Prometheus module —alpha and beta complement. Ethan, the sought-after child, is growing up away from his regal life and knowledge of real identity as a housekeeper’s son in the home of billionaire business mogul Bruce Taylor. Valerie Taylor, Bruce’s daughter, is another ‘extra somatic’ or genetically tailored child whose fate intersects with Ethan’s. Their course is eventually altered by the gap in their familial genealogy.

Driven by resentment against privileged for the lack of opportunities, Connor Dashaw becomes a rolling force in populist Aamon Wade’s political party fighting against germ line-treatment, which is only affordable by the rich.

All the big players in the novel – political, business, and administration – enact a cat-and mouse game to get grip of a clue puzzle to gain greater power. The collision of many motives results in a chain reaction that consumes everyone in its radar – those seeking a countermeasure to humanity’s predetermined DNA on the one hand, and arbitrariness on the other.

The novel explores, through the psyches of three children, the feeling of estrangement.

Ethan and Connor, in their own ways, embody the estrangement: one is a prince who is oblivious of his identity, while the other is socially deprived of prospects. Ethan feels at ease in the peaceful seclusion of tycoon Taylor’s historic palace-like property. However, his position as a servant’s son stings him, and he considers it humiliating to spend his life “tending to another’s leisure.” Connor, on the other hand, becomes a staunch supporter of political ideology against extrasomatics. The feeling of not belonging returns to Ethan, along with genetically modified Valerie, when they do not find friends or partners who share their “eccentric” views.

Each chapter of the story begins with a quote and introspection about the topic of the chapter.

The author’s tone is upbeat and open about his various philosophies as well as current technologies, which demonstrates his extensive knowledge and necessitates thought. A subtle critical tone accompanies the ardent tone: there is an occasional commentary on the human urge to exert control over others and his own fate, however unethical it may be.

Cognition mixes a wealth of material – from science and technology to business and philosophy, and politics – to create an enthralling fiction about modern evolution. A heavy-read that requires time and consideration, Cognition will especially appeal to tech nerds due to the abundance of scientific discussion that it presents.

Cognition by Jacques St-Malo won 1st Place in the CIBA 2019 Cygnus Book Awards for Science Fiction.

May 25, 2022
BLUE FLAME: Book 2 of the Daemon Collecting Series by Alison Levy – Fantasy, Supernatural, Adventure

Leda Morley has just discovered she stands between the world and total devastation in Alison Levy’s second book, Blue Flame.

As a gatekeeper, Leda is descended from a long line of women responsible for keeping Apep, a chaos daemon, from devouring the sun and spinning the world – at least the Notan dimension – into complete oblivion. After barely escaping the a terrifying journey to the world of Arcana, Leda has decided to learn everything she can about these alternate dimensions and the rules controlling them. Rachel Wilde, a collector in charge of sending defective daemons back home for repair, has agreed to allow Leda to shadow her on her job in order to collect as much data as possible. However, both Leda and Rachel get more than they bargain for when they investigate a market already familiar to Rachel.

Naji El Sayed, the young son of the owners, has accidentally brought a Djinn into the Notan world, and the creature is bent on revenge and attempting to murder Naji’s mother. Rachel worries she won’t be able to help the family at all until she finds help in an unlikely place, a formerly homeless oracle. Bach Chesterfield spent six months living under a bridge and raging against the images constantly bombarding him until Rachel rescued him and moved him into her house, but will this unlikely hero have the courage to step up before it’s too late?

Bach is truly a shining character in this novel. In this second installment of the series, the reader will see his backstory and his personality come forward.

Having spent the last six months living under a bridge with other homeless people, Bach is terrified of “normal” life. He knows it would be incredibly easy to slip back into his previous life of obliviousness, but he refuses to do that. With the help of Simon Morley, Leda’s brother, he is painstakingly attempting to rebuild his shattered existence and overwhelmed mind from the wealthy parents who disowned him to the partner who kept his belongings and moved on.

Seeing the past, present, and future of most people and creatures he meets has left Bach consumed and imprisoned within his own gift, but his resiliency to retake his life is touching. Even though he knows it’s impossible, he would help every person on the planet if he could, and he insists on giving back to those who helped him along the way, going so far as to track down a fellow homeless man who acted as his protector and giving him the information he needs to find the daughter who desperately wants to find him.

When he must confront the Djinn, he finds a strength he never knew he possessed and even manages to bring forward the “humanity” within the being. Bach’s role in the plot cannot be undervalued and promises to be one of prominence within future installments.

Leda and Rachel present an intriguing dichotomy. The women share a few similarities, yet their differences really highlight the unique world-building within the novel.

The work of these women is one such area. While Leda loves learning about diverse cultures and has a voracious thirst for customs and language, she hates her job working for an administrator at a local museum. Her boss is lazy, often requiring her to perform his duties then complaining when the quality suffers following her near-death kidnapping and subsequent injury. She detests the harassment and sexualization she feels within her workplace and longs for the kind of world where that would never happen – a world like Arcana.

In Rachel’s matriarchal society, a woman would never experience such an insult. She has a much more equalized workplace, but she, unlike Leda, has no love for what she does. Five years into her eight-year length of service, Rachel wants out. She dreams of returning to her family’s farm. Though she answers Leda’s myriad questions, she’s often confused by Leda’s conflicting emotions so different from her own background.

Faith is, perhaps, the biggest and most significant difference. Leda struggles to reconcile her Christian upbringing where demons and angels hold supernatural posts with Rachel’s dogmatic practical explanation of inter-dimensional creatures malfunctioning on Earth’s plane. Though she sees the daemon in action, she cannot believe the stories she remembers so fondly are make-believe. Rachel cannot see them as anything but broken creatures needing help. However, while their discrepancies leave Leda with questions, her faith, interestingly, doesn’t diminish.

The Daemon Collecting Series is a great spin on an age-old stereotype. It’s fun, engaging characters will create a fantastical journey without leaving the very world surrounding us.

May 23, 2022