Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

The LONG DESERT ROAD by Alex Sirotkin – Literary, Romantic Fiction, Contemporary Fiction

Alex Sirotkin’s debut novel, The Long Desert Road, navigates the emotional arcs of life in contrast with the greater expanse of the cosmos. Here a young woman must face her addictions while the people around her try to move beyond her backlash.

We meet Henry Spinoza, a 44-year-old quirky science writer. He ponders his life as half over, looks for the right woman, and wonders if there isn’t more to existence.

For twenty years, Henry, a science writer, has been researching a non-fiction book on the universe that he intends to write. Henry’s feeling “bored, boring, and budget-conscious…the trifecta of gloom,” as he puts it. But in the middle of this ennui, his sister-in-law invites him to dinner, along with her divorced friend, Isabel Dalton, an attorney, and “the setup is afoot.”

Meanwhile, Isabel deals with a family crisis. Her daughter Lauren, newly out of rehab, gets into a severe accident with tragic consequences. Determined to stop enabling Lauren, Isabel places her in the Dusty Palms rehab facility for an extended 6-month stay. Lauren struggles through detox and nightmares, therapy sessions and medications, self-destructive escapades, and mother/daughter communications. Lauren’s thinking, actions, and attitude would justify Henry’s subsequent observation that she’s “just your average, somewhat immature, impulsive bipolar twenty two year old with a history of serious trauma, drugs, alcohol and jail.”

In an effortless blend of conversation, humor, and questioning, Henry and Isabel slowly begin to bond.

Their relationship blossoms from sushi dinners and casual banter. Henry’s fascinating diatribes about the cosmos and Isabel’s sharing of her daughter’s cunning, manipulative ways deepen their connection. When Lauren’s sudden, unexpected release from rehab threatens to derail the merging couple’s dream trip to Chile (coinciding with Henry’s last bit of research), Henry convinces Isabel that they should bring Lauren along. Amidst the desolate beauty of the hot Atacama Desert, with an infinite sea of stars and planets shining down upon them, these characters find common ground, coming to terms with their inner struggles.

Sirotkin tells a story richly layered with well-defined characters, an informative narrative, and genuine, probing dialogue. While the characters initially appear in their own chapters, their lives soon become entwined. Multiple subplots quickly move the action forward. The story uncovers a variety of personal and family issues that help these characters recognize their pitfalls. Henry’s enthrallment with the cosmos contrasts Isabel’s frustration and concern for Lauren. Finally, Lauren begins to question her own self-destructive impulses.

Clearly, much research went into this work.

The story’s focus on addiction reflects Sirotkin’s personal experience with a similar family situation. He creatively places this sense of concern within the framework of a scientific perspective. Sirotkin keeps the science complex but understandable. Henry’s enthusiasm about the wonders of the sky spreads to the reader. Atop a mountain observatory, Henry shines as a brilliant researcher who openly recognizes that scientific principles don’t necessarily conflict with faith in God in the search for truth.

The Long Desert Road thoughtfully explores family, friends, relationships, love, loss, and addiction. More importantly, it reveals the minute significance of these intertwining stories within the vast complexity of our star-studded universe. Highly recommended.

Alex Sirotkin’s The Long Desert Road was the 2021 Grand Prize Winner for the Chatelaine Awards.

November 5, 2021
FROM NICHOLAS to CHRISTMAS by Kyle Poehls – Mythology and Folklore, Christmas Lore, Children’s Holiday Books

This delightful three-part story told in simple rhyming verse, takes us back to the origins of Christmas before the emergence of Santa Claus.

With a creative premise, From Nicholas to Christmas by Kyle Poehls brings the spirit of the holiday to life, in a town filled with despair. One man’s actions set off a wave of happiness and joy in giving to those less fortunate.

Here we meet Nicholas, his wife Carol, and their two children, Holly and Timmy. These youngsters help their father in the wintery woods. One day, they ask to bring the outdoors in by setting up a pine tree in the house and decorating it with toys. First, the loving family gives thanks for all their blessings and soon decides to help those in need.

Nicholas travels in his sleigh to a nearby town, where he encounters a young girl named Mary. While helping this seemingly destitute child, Nicholas notes her kindness to return a found bag of coins. She explains, “I was taught not to take even though I am poor.” Back in his workshop, he discovers a glass snow globe where a vision of Mary’s family suddenly appears. With heartfelt concern, he wishes them a good life.

Nicholas prepares for another journey and takes a special bag of gifts to Mary.

Though delighted and thankful for his generosity, Mary kindly passes the gifts along to others. She then relates a story of her own magical experience whereupon awakening, she found her room filled with food, clothes, and coins. Nicholas considers the surprising blessing a true miracle. As Mary receives more gifts, she continues to give them away, and in a pay-it-forward moment, others begin to join in the giving and sharing. Her actions lead a once darkened town into the light to ignite the true holiday spirit.

Artful illustrations by Diego capture a close-knit family and the warmth of home.

Small oval renderings lend an old-fashioned Currier and Ives appeal as if offering readers a glimpse into this wonderful world. Whether a moonlit cabin on a winter’s night, Nicholas gently repairing Mary’s beloved yarn-haired doll or showcasing a peek inside a magical crystal ball, the images become a reminder of what the holiday season is truly about.

A feel-good story with a message for all ages, this new take on the holiday’s origins with all its heartfelt intentions and charm may turn the reading of From Nicholas to Christmas into a new family tradition. One of our favorites!

November 1, 2021
JUST DIE by E. Alan Fleischauer – International Mystery & Crime, Occult Horror, Thriller & Suspense

E. Alan Fleischauer’s lead character holds the power of life and death in his fingertips in the new crime thriller, Just Die.

How would you react to holding the fate of the living in your bare hand? Recovering from his own near-death experience, retired financial advisor Jake Silver attempts to understand his new powers after a stint in the hospital. When he points his bare finger and utters well-worn words, the object of his attention instantly dies.

With great power comes great responsibility. Now that Jake has this power, how will he decide to use it? And what repercussions come with his decision?

Happy to be home after a stroke, Jake celebrates a second chance at life with his fiancée Beth. He’s also made a new friend from the hospital. This man, Omar, turns out to be an idolized NFL Super Bowl winner, and he joins in Jake’s celebration.

Despite Jake’s gratitude for being home, life’s annoyances can still rub him the wrong way. When he flashes a familiar gesture at any living thing, it dies. It dawns on him that he’s the cause of the deadly results. When a particular bike rider crosses a path near Jake’s home, he suffers this ultimate, lethal punishment. An overreaction? Keep reading to find out more.

The biker’s death brings on a police investigation, exploring motive, means, and opportunity.

Witnesses come forward with motives of their own. Both Jake and his beloved Beth are questioned as witnesses – and then as suspects. How can Jake answer the cops? Concerns grow over whether this stress will force an end to the couple’s engagement, bring them closer together than ever, or put one or both behind bars.

Omar shares a provocative idea with Jake.

After seeing firsthand his friend’s extreme power, Omar shares a story with him. An all-too-familiar tale of justice denied – and the impact upon Omar’s family moves Jake. He sees that it’s within his new power to deliver justice by a covert plan to kill a freed criminal. Will Jake intentionally take on the role of judge and jury to execute what he thinks is the rightful outcome?

In the meantime, the police investigation heats up.

Jake’s power may no longer be a secret. Someone wants this power used for the benefit of the nation and tells an influential official. Now Jake faces more potential danger and critical decisions as the government has designs on his powers. Where will Jake turn? His retired life, gratefully saved in the hospital, has been interrupted by the thriller life of a hired gun.

An action-packed paranormal thriller, Just Die challenges readers with questions about the quality of life, shades of morality, and personal loyalty.

E. Alan Fleischauer masterfully creates relatable characters, including the human frailties shouldered by an NFL star. No one is immune from the limits of being human when tackling bigger-than-life issues. Fleischauer handily delivers a paranormal thriller destined to garner the attention it so rightly deserves. How will it all end? Who will survive the threats and the investigations, and who will just die? Readers, get ready for one thrill ride of a novel. This one will keep you up at night! Just Die won 1st Place in the 2020 CIBAs for Paranormal Fiction.

October 27, 2021
WRITING IS MURDER: An Emlyn Goode Mystery by Susan Lynn Solomon – Cozy Mystery, Paranormal Mystery Series, Women Sleuth

A perfect seasonal read, Susan L. Solomon’s mystery, Writing is Murder: An Emlyn Goode Mystery delivers a witty, intuitive red-headed writer who has many connections in her community, a handsome police detective-maybe-lover, a mouthy cat who keeps her grounded, and a Wiccan BFF whom she can trust with her most profound concerns. And, of course, magical abilities inherited from her ancestor, Salem’s legendary accused witch Sarah Goode, adds layers of mystique.

When Roger Frey interrupts Emlyn Goode battling her recalcitrant muse, she can’t be upset. Roger, aka Police Detective Roger Frey, her next-door neighbor and sometimes sleep-over boyfriend, stumbles on the hunt for coffee, a good-morning kiss, and a sympathetic ear, in that order. He’s bored at work and wants to complain.

She’s heard it all before. But soon, she sees something remarkable.

When Emlyn goes to her writers group, she experiences an out-of-body experience that takes her back in time. She travels across to the Crystal Beach amusement park, across the lake in Canada, where modern-day condominiums grow. There, she glimpses two couples, one unfamiliar to her, the other, her parents. Before she can process what she sees, one of Em’s writing cohorts jerks her away from the action, asking her a question.

The group takes a break, and Emlyn has a curious talk with Daniel Bennett, the newest writer in the group. Daniel shares with her a copy of an old document he found in his deceased grandfather’s possessions. She catches only a glimpse of it before Daniel gets spooked and puts it away – but she won’t forget.

The mystery sparks to life.

A few days later, on Halloween night, Em joins her writing cohorts for a ghost hunt. Their good fun turns to horror when they discover Daniel’s murdered body in an empty, historic home. Emlyn, to her dismay, might be implicated.

Susan Solomon skillfully uses a prologue to set Writing is Murder’s theme and mood. She introduces the reader to “perhaps one of the most haunted areas in the country,” relates the legend of an ancient Tuscarora curse and seemingly related murders, and includes accurate descriptions of historical places and events in western New York State. All this pulls the reader into the story and keeps them there.

As the story progresses, Emlyn realizes that the past and present must somehow converge before solving the murder. Thanks to Emlyn’s unique gifts, along with her friend Rebecca Nurse’s witchy knowledge and advice, she might do just that.

Writing is Murder: An Emlyn Goode Mystery will entertain readers who love their mysteries with a bit of paranormal in the mix. The plot twists and turns to satisfy even the most ardent sleuths. In addition, the burgeoning romance coupled with sometimes glib banter, and the notion that potions and spells may really work, highlight the characters’ charm.

Susan Lynn Solomon’s Writing is Murder: An Emlyn Goode Mystery won 1st Place in the 2019 CIBA Mystery & Mayhem Book Awards for Cozy and Not So Cozy reads.

October 25, 2021
TEVYE The MAGICAL THEATER CAT (Introduction to Community Theater) by Peggy Sullivan, M.Ed., Counseling – Children’s Performing Arts Fiction, Children’s Drama Books, Children’s Community Theater Books

An ordinary gray tabby discovers the behind-the-scenes magic of community theater in Peggy Sullivan’s, Tevye the Magical Theater Cat: Introduction to Community Theater.

Sullivan builds a straightforward, simple narrative on the foundation of a true story. ‘Cat’ the furry neighborhood wanderer happens upon a work-in-progress stage production at the local theater. She follows her curiosity, touring through the box office, the heavily curtained stage, a sound and lighting booth, and a group of gathering musicians.

Amidst the extraordinary wonders of a welcoming environment, the intrigued feline also finds a family of her own.

Cat takes special interest in the neighborhood cast who don wardrobes and makeup to undergo magical transformations. Any readers familiar with classic stage and screen productions will quickly recognize this community presentation as a rendition of the ever-popular “Fiddler on the Roof.” As the play unfolds, Cat decides to adopt the name of the central character who sings about his life and family. These local thespians – and the play itself – ignite Cat’s own longing for a sense of connection.

Sullivan’s inviting illustrations feature clean lines and bright and colorful imagery.

The sweet and longing expressions of the inquisitive Cat compliment the star-studded backdrops that highlight the harmony of cast and crew. A stellar ensemble performance grows from the bonding community effort. This kind of magic proves available for everyone, including our four-footed, furry friends.

As a licensed mental health counselor and cat lover herself, Sullivan has written and illustrated a series of books with life lessons from a cat’s point of view. She draws on her experience and expertise to charm and teach her audience. This entertaining story features the emotional relatability and connection to humankind that those feline creatures offer.

In a heartfelt effort of community spirit, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will be donated to local community theaters. Tevye the Magical Theater Cat introduces local theater to young children, emphasizing the joy and magic of community and family.

A sweet, imaginative tale, with an earnestly shared message. Highly recommended!

Tevye the Magical Theater Cat by Peggy Sullivan, M.Ed. won 1st Place in the CIBA 2018 Little Peeps Book Awards for Early Readers.

October 22, 2021
COLOMBIAN BETRAYAL: A Bruce & Smith Thriller: Book 1 by Randall Krzak – Suspense Action, International Mystery & Crime Fiction, Terrorism Thrillers

Randall Krzak opens Pandora’s box on the world of Columbian cartels and Islamic terrorists in his latest thriller, Colombia Betrayal: A Bruce and Smith Thriller, Book 1.

On the first page of Krzak’s thriller, we are thrust into the dangerous world of a wealthy family, straddling the legitimate world of hotels and sugar cane fields and the illegitimate world of drugs and violence. Krzak places us in Medellin, Columbia, with the patriarch of the Zapata family, Jesus Pedro Zapata, on his way to a luncheon at his country club. With his eldest son by his side, he is ambushed and killed in a fiery explosion.

With her father and older brother murdered, Olivia Perfecta Moreno’s life is turned upside down, as she becomes the heir to the family fortune and businesses. She is determined to take charge, but she has large shoes to fill and a target on her back. With her son, Alonzo, her useless husband, Pedro, and her bodyguard Ramon on her side, she begins the change of power. But Krzak shows us the cracks in her armor, and we soon realize that Olivia shouldn’t be trusting any of the people she trusts most.

In a CIA office in Langley, Virginia, Agent AJ Bruce receives her next assignment.

Robert Lintstone, head of the counter-terrorism division, introduces Colonel Javier Smith, the advisor for the mission. A loner, she finds Smith attractive, but she refuses to be impressed by his Silver Eagles.

Lintstone informs them:

“There are indications the Islamic State is attempting to gain a foothold in our territory. They’ve already infiltrated a number of countries around the world. We’re trying to ascertain the validity of the intel before we make a move.”

This intel takes AJ and Javier to Columbia, where their search for the terrorists becomes embroiled with the Zapata families’ drug operations.

AJ and Javier dodge bullets and try to stop the terrorists before crossing the Mexican border into the US.

In a surprising twist of fate, Olivia ends up in the hands of Lintstone. Alonzo tries to rescue his kidnapped sisters as AJ and Javier unravel the whereabouts of the terrorists, saving Olivia’s daughters in the process. Olivia tries to escape captivity in Gitmo, and Krzak keeps us enthralled as we turn page after page to find out what will happen next.

Fans of Jack Slater and Barry Eisler will love this first installment of the Bruce and Smith series.

Krzak’s deft world-building skills and masterful orchestration of terrorists, CIA operatives, and the Columbia drug cartel will have readers panting for more. Since 2017, Krzak has cranked out six award-winning military and political thrillers, and this latest contribution sparkles as well. Uniquely qualified to build the worlds we find in Columbia Betrayal, Krzak’s experience as an Army veteran and a civil servant living abroad inform his rich, detailed description of the terrain and the architecture – right down to the weaponry used in the covert operations he describes in detail. Readers can’t help but be sucked into his page-turning stories.

Readers can follow AJ and Javier as they embark on their next assignment and thrilling adventure in book two, Revenge.

Colombian Betrayal won 1st Place in the CIBA 2020 Global Thrillers Book Awards for High Stakes Thrillers.

October 20, 2021
PLAGUE by C.C. Humphreys – Historical Thriller, Medical Thriller, Serial Killers

Captain William Coke lives as a thief with a conscience, in C.C. Humphrey’s historical thriller, Plague. Never loading his pistol with anything more than powder, he carefully selects his victims from the wealthy and the pompous. But he soon walks into crimes far more horrific than robbery.

Captain Coke and Dickon, a rescued street urchin, never expected to find their marks slaughtered on the road to London. Coke has never seen a killing like this, not even on the battlefield fighting to restore his king to the throne in the English Civil War. Pitman, a thief-taker, is likewise shocked by the brutality of the murders supposedly committed by the highwayman he has come to see as a gentleman bandit. Now, Pitman will stop at nothing to find Coke, who has become known as the Monstrous Coke after the notorious murder.

As the murders continue, the victims piling up, Pitman and Coke begin to realize that this criminal doesn’t just kill, but kills with religious symbolism. The two eventually team up to find the murderer. When the killer brutalizes and murders an actor, his wife and fellow actress, Sarah, becomes an ally of the men who are chasing him.

The would-be detectives face yet another obstacle when the Black Plague breaks out across the poverty-stricken parts of London. These unlikely heroes must now dodge not only the law, but a serial killer, a deadly illness, and a heretical cult who search for that which will take them from the gutters to the palace.

Coke, Sarah, and Pitman contrast one another, each with a well-developed character. Captain Coke first meets Sarah when he is fulfilling a pledge to visit and check on Lucy, the sister of his closest friend Quentin, a fellow soldier who was killed nearly twenty years prior. When Lucy finds herself unmarried and pregnant, Coke doesn’t hesitate to help her even though it means putting himself in harm’s way.

He has also taken in Dickon, a boy with both physical and mental disabilities, and will kill if need be to protect him. Coke is a criminal, but also a kind and gentle man. Pitman uses his remarkable abilities to stay ahead of his time with his crime scene investigations, and no one catches more thieves than him. As a constable, he must shut up the homes of plague victims with their families inside – infected or not – causing great distress to the big-hearted Pitman. In his kindness, he can see the impossibility of Coke committing the terrible murders, and though the two fought on opposing sides in the war and now live on either side of the law, they develop an easy friendship, trusting each other with their very lives.

Sarah Chalker owes much of her success as an actress to the protection of her husband, John. As childhood sweethearts, she and John have fought their way from the gutters of St. Giles to a place in the Duke’s Company, a theatre group frequented by Charles II himself. When John is killed, the sheer brutality of his murder drives Sarah on to find the vicious killer. She doesn’t hesitate to join with Coke and Pitman even though the search will put her in grave danger without the advantage of her male counterparts.

Religion plays a huge role in the novel.

On the heels of the English Civil War and the Restoration, London in 1665 is full of unrest. With the Act of Uniformity and the Act of Conventicles keeping dissenters from practicing anything other than the “accepted” Church of England within the city, all who choose to worship differently must do so in secret. This need for secrecy provokes many to violence, including the Fifth Monarchists, who seek to bring about the Apocalypse and the coming of Jesus.

With the year 1666 fast approaching, the Fifth Monarchists find the end times in every facet of the city. From its sprawling corruption to its massive poverty, London yearns for its brand of justice and a crescendo to the devil’s time. Among these “Saints” the serial killer hides, committing his atrocities in the name of his religion. The religious symbolism connected to verses in Revelation truly takes this thriller into the realm of the sinister. Chapters from the murderer’s point of view show this obsession for Apocalyptic cleansing of the sinful falseness of London. This obsession contrasts sharply with Pitman’s own faith. Pitman, a Quaker and therefore a dissenter himself, uses his religion and beliefs to practice strength and kindness. The near-complete lack of religion in the other characters keenly expresses the duality of the novel.

Plague takes the reader on a thrilling ride through the gritty parts of seventeenth-century London, and readers of history and mystery alike will enjoy its shocking twist ending.

October 18, 2021
ONE LONDON DAY by C.C. Humphreys – Technothrillers, Serial Killers, Contemporary Urban Fiction

A good thriller should be like the best-boxed chocolate sampler: the ones that not only offer you a great variety of tastes but allow you to sample and resample the chocolates you’ve discovered.

C.C. Humphreys’ noir thriller One London Day resembles that box of chocolates. The story takes you from delicious to delicious bits, round and round, until you have sampled everything and everyone once, twice, or even three times until you understand the full impact of this brilliantly dark – based on a true story thriller.

It begins, deceptively, with Mr. Phipps, who has a taste for the dark side of life. He’s a handsomely compensated and frequently used assassin. The first victim on this day will be Joseph Severin, a well-heeled real estate manager, married, and prominent member of London’s Jewish community. Severin keeps a double set of books in handwritten form—no computers, please—for a financial group which calls itself the Shadows, a name picked from comic books. The Shadows, a well-to-do collection of white-collar men, fund various illegal enterprises, the details of which Severin cleverly encodes in his books. When the Shadows discover Severin dabbling in their investments, it becomes clear; the bookkeeper knows too much. The Shadows move Severin from the credit side of the ledger to the debit side, so to speak. Goodbye, Mr. Severin.

Meanwhile, Severin meets a stunning woman named Lottie.

She’s a beautiful, sexy, for-hire pianist, and Severin impulsively offers a month’s free rent in one of his unoccupied flats. Of course, the offer comes with fringe benefits if only Severin can get over the fact that he’s about to break his marriage vows.

Lottie, of course, has her own story. She’s been dating a rising young black actor, Patrick, whom she loves. But Patrick loves kinky sex and arranges for a Russian hooker, Sonya, to join him and Lottie for a delicious threesome. Despite the pleasures of the moment, Lottie can’t stop thinking about Severin.

Sonya’s a highly paid hooker in London who needs to raise enough money for her daughter’s much-needed operation back in Moscow. She’s almost raised enough money to leave the escort business altogether and take care of her daughter.

Enter Bernard, who lost his wife and hires Sonja to hold and comfort him, not for sex. There’s somewhat of a complication here because Bernard is a member of the Shadows. Sebastien, another one of the Shadows, also craves an evening with Sonya.

The Shadows want Mr. Severin removed, but they need to recover Severin’s incriminating accounting books. Enter Mr. Phipps, who must collect the books that seem to have wound up with Lottie. However, recovering the books may not be as easy as he thinks.

C.C. Humphreys develops his story like a game of Mousetrap, requiring readers to pay close attention to every detail.

Characters and plot points circle, again and again, each time adding to a fuller picture of what happened on this one day. Greed and comeuppance play out in today’s London from someone who knows it well. Humphreys’ craftsmanship is unmistakable.

Read One London Day if you enjoy present-day noir thrillers. Read it if you enjoy well-crafted writing. Read it if you want a few hours of fun entertainment. But above all, just read it. You won’t be disappointed.

October 15, 2021
An October Spotlight on the 2021 Global Thriller Awards

Time is running out! The 2021 Global Thriller Awards are due in October!

You’re working the puzzle, the patterns you see that no one else pays attention to. You’ve been at it for days, your eyes are burning, your throat dry, when a message notification beeps on your smartphone. You tap to open:

“We know who you are and your time is running out.”

The smartphone beeps again. This time, the message reads:

“You have until October 31, 2021, 11.59 p.m. to turn in your Global Thriller, or you will have no chance of winning…”

Don’t let this happen to you!

Turn in your High-Stakes Thriller, your Chillers, your multiple Killers for a chance at the prize! But one thing is certain, if you don’t enter, you won’t have a chance of winning!

The Global Thriller Awards Spotlight

The clock is ticking… you’re working on a deadline while your spouse is across town, picking up the kids. You’ve taken the day off and gone to the cabin. You have to write that last chapter… the one that will get your work noticed, like J.D. Barker or Stephen King kind of noticed.

The Chanticleer Global Thriller Awards recognizes High Stake Thrillers on an International Scale, including Lab Lit. While Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series might be the first thing that comes to mind, there is a wide variety of espionage and mystery that can fit into the Global Thriller genre. One thing is for sure, it will keep you up late, and, if you can sleep, it’ll be with one eye open.

The only certainty is that the competition for this CIBA Division Awards is steep. Let’s take a look at some of our favorites.

The Bucharest Dossier, a Novel by William Maz

Chanticleer Review is forth coming.

Doubt and Debt
By John Feist

Pipelines—large industrial pipelines through which pour oil, gas, and other natural elements—are not the usual stuff that writers tackle for intelligent, sophisticated international high-stakes spy novels. But then again, most writers aren’t John Feist, whose lawyering background in, yes, global pipelines and related industries such as steel, coal, and shipping companies make him the perfect choice to turn these typically pedestrian subjects into absorbing books. His work introduces us to complex issues involving international trade at the highest level, greed, murder, and above all, the intricacies and rewards of multinational, prominent, and sometimes multiracial families.

Read More here!

The Kurdish Connection (Book 1 in the Bedlam Series)
By Randall Krzak
Semi-Finalist in Global Thrillers

International writer Randall Krzak addresses one of the world’s saddest ongoing tragedies in The Kurdish Connection, a thriller about the plight of the Kurdish people and a desperate plan to free them from their fate.

In a world awash with refugees, perhaps no greater tragedy exists than the ongoing fate of the Kurds of the Middle East, roughly 30 million sect members spread between Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Connected by language, religion, and history, this group has no country to call their own. The Kurds have been the subject of several attempts by international agreements to help them create a haven, the most recent in northern Iraq’s no-fly zone. Meanwhile, all four host countries have ruthlessly suppressed Kurdish hopes and dreams politically and especially militarily.

Read More here!

Execute Order
By Jett Ward
First Place Winner in Global Thrillers

On a military base outside Las Vegas, Lieutenant Brent Parker sits in a bunker in a darkened room looking to an outsider to be playing a sophisticated aerial combat video game. But this is no game. People live and die with Parker in control of a lethal drone nicknamed the Reaper flying over forbidden Syrian air space in 2011, striking American enemies on the ground with killer missiles from several miles in the air.

Enemies are one issue, but collateral damage—men, women, children, whole families who die in a missile attack as a side effect of bringing down a terrorist—weighs heavily on Parker’s conscience. It doesn’t help when his ultra-sensitive cameras see the face of a woman who his missile will obliterate as a side effect of bringing down a military-mandated target, a face that haunts him as he leaves the bunker for the clean, and safe, American desert air of Nevada.

Read More here!

The Kafir Project
By Lee Burvine
First Place Winner in Global Thriller Awards

From page one, things are not going as planned on The Kafir Project, and author Lee Burvine has many more surprises in store before this undertaking ends. The action leaps off the page from beginning to the grand finale in this thought-provoking thriller. The villains are well-organized and highly motivated to stop the Project dead, as well as anyone who gets in their way.

Gevin Rees is a television science communicator, a celebrity who explains complex scientific discoveries and theories to television audiences. He interviews guests on specific topics and is surprised the world’s most celebrated and reclusive physicist, Edward Fischer, wants to meet with him. It’s even more curious because Fischer’s death in an explosion had been broadly reported. However, he stands before Gevin Rees and begins to tell a story of intrigue about a secret project on a pier along San Francisco Bay. The story is interrupted with gunfire. This time there is no doubt that Fischer is dead. Now on the run, Gevin Rees is a new target.

Read More here!

Hong Kong Central (Book 3)
By Marilyn Larew

Former CIA agent and all around badass, Lee Carruthers, returns for the thrilling third book in the series, Hong Kong Central by Marilynn Larew.

Lee is looking forward to some well-earned downtime, so when her ex-boss and mentor, Sidney Worthington calls with another job, Lee is not amused. During her previous mission, people tried to kill her—multiple times. All she really wants right now is some serious R&R. However, she is the gal who will never say “no” to a job. And besides, Worthington swears it’s an easy gig.

Read More here!

Bishop’s Law
By Rafael Amadeus Hines
First Place Winner in Global Thriller Awards

Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. This is the code that John Bishop, one of America’s most decorated military heroes, teaches his men to follow whether they’re on a mission in the heat of the Middle East or in the jungle that is New York’s Lower East Side in Rafael Amadeus Hines’ novel, Bishop’s Law.

To say his life is complicated is putting it mildly. In this second volume of the John Bishop series, several high-level assassins are hell-bent on killing him for his actions as a soldier. At the same time, he’s deep in his crime family’s military-style battles against various opponents’ groups. All these forces are closing in on him simultaneously, even as the United States government had hired him and his family to protect the country from bad guys using whatever means necessary.

Read More here!

Have a great Global Thriller? Submit before the end of October for the 2021 CIBAs!

When you’re ready, did you know that Chanticleer offers editorial services? We do and have been doing so since 2011.

Our professional editors are top-notch and are experts in the Chicago Manual of Style. They have and are working for the top publishing houses (TOR, McMillian, Thomas Mercer, Penguin Random House, Simon Schuster, etc.).

If you would like more information, we invite you to email Kiffer or Sharon at KBrown@ChantiReviews.com or SAnderson@ChantiReviews.com for more information, testimonials, and fees.

We work with a small number of exclusive clients who want to collaborate with our team of top-editors on an on-going basis. Contact us today!

Chanticleer Editorial Services also offers writing craft sessions and masterclasses. Sign up to find out where, when, and how sessions being held.

A great way to get started is with our manuscript evaluation service, with more information available here.

And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn more here.

If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Review here or to one of our Chanticleer International Awards here.

Also remember! Our 10th Anniversary Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22) will be April 7-10, 2022, where our 2021 CIBA winners will be announced. Space is limited and seats are already filling up, so sign up today! CAC22 and the CIBA Ceremonies will be hosted at the Hotel Bellwether in Beautiful Bellingham, Wash. Sign up and see the latest updates here!

October 14, 2021
IN the LAND of the FEATHERED SERPENT by Richard C. Brusca – Historical Caribbean & Latin Fiction, Magical Realism, Adventure Fiction

Odel Bernini wades deeper and deeper into treacherous political intrigue, in Richard C. Brusca’s Historical Adventure novel, In the Land of the Feathered Serpent.

This story, like the feathered serpent itself, moves time and space to visit an era remembered by many Americans as one where the U.S. government worked to destabilize several Central American regimes who were at odds with its politics.

A young Odel works as chief curator of a world-renowned natural history museum in Seattle, an occasional teacher at a college in nearby Tacoma, and an archaeology hobbyist. His marine biology fieldwork in support of his specialty – the documentation of crustaceans in Central America – brings him time and again to nations long under the political sway of the United States, especially Nicaragua and Guatemala.

Revolutions and counterrevolutions create governments and insurgents that brutalize the local populations, especially the indigenous people. Prodded by his wife, the daughter of an American cultural attaché, Bernini approaches the CIA to ask whether it might fund his continued research in the region in exchange for “some silly things” he could do for them.

Those “silly things” lead to funding from a foundation to cover his travel, but with strings attached.

He collects crustaceans and intel. Having sold his soul, he gradually undertakes more dangerous tasks on the CIA’s behalf. Like a frog placed into room-temperature water, it is almost too late before he realizes that the burner has been lit. In addition to the growing peril to his life, Bernini falls for a devastatingly gorgeous woman he meets in a hotel bar, on the eve of his first assignment.

As things grow more complicated, the malicious Guatemalan army tears through the jungle looking for Bernini. He must contend with the wildlife buzzing and slithering around him in the dark and hopes he can escape – right up until he meets a venomous fer-de-lance snake.

Author Brusca delivers modern man’s Odyssey, both in scale and complexity.

We are riveted to this man’s journey of self-discovery through challenging times as he navigates the siren calls of the CIA and impossibly beautiful and sexually adept women while his mundane life as an academic and museum curator disintegrates. The lead character’s descent into calamitous Central American politics and American foreign policy plays foil to erotic scenes with his wife back home in Seattle, a darkly fascinating and even more beautiful seductress in Central America, and a final twist coupling with a yet more mysterious and enigmatically enthralling woman.

Author Brusca has an effortless style that draws the reader in and manages to convey needed facts of science, political history, and geography that quickly absorb the reader. Brusca delivers a mega-novel that will resonate with readers drawn to sensually charged, clandestine storylines that run through dangerous political landscapes and treacherous jungles. In the end, much like the heroes he echoes, Odel Bernini, is a super-heroic Indiana Jones archetype with a whole bunch of sexy Bond on the side.

October 13, 2021