Chanticleer Book Reviews

Category: Reviews

THE GALICIAN PARALLAX by James G. Skinner – Spies & Politics, Thriller, Terrorism

Lieutenant Sergio Quiroga of the Civil Guards has smelled something fishy brewing in the northwestern autonomous community of Spain known as Galicia for some time, and it’s not the world-renowned Port of Vigo.

Not directly, anyway. It’s the cartels that are using the port to funnel drugs into Europe via the yachting enterprise, but what’s worse, the cartels have ties to the terrorist faction known as Al-Qaeda. The deeper Sergio delves into the latter organization by way of the former, the more he learns of their shifting plots to attack on European soil. Without the support of his superiors, Sergio must immerse himself in the Galician underworld in order to stay ahead of this thing. He eventually enlists the aid of British consul Stan Bullock to decipher exactly where and when the onslaughts are to take place.

Largely set against the backdrop of northwest Spain following the 9/11 attacks, Skinner capitalizes on factual events to craft his narrative, such as the Madrid train bombings of 2004 and the bombings in London of 2005, to name a couple. And even more often he peppers in smaller-scale acts of aggression dually to punctuate the characterizations of Sergio and Stan and keep the looming threat they both face alive and machinating. To that point, Skinner also fills in the blanks of his international playing field by briefly focusing on the subsidiary parties such as the cartel leaders, Sergio and Stan’s superiors, and even the then President George W. Bush and Osama bin Laden.

The Galician Parallax is certain to make a shrewd birthday gift for your diplomatically savvy uncle who likes to read about the second Bush administration and the concurrent War on Terror as if he were reading a series of dailies. The author maintains that he uses information based on facts to inform his readers rather than just trying to keep them entertained. On the other side of the coin, those readers more inclined to pick up a tight-knit character drama with some thrills here and there may be left wanting. Ultimately, Skinner, in his didactic world-building, challenges his readers and forces them to decide if they want to be informed or entertained. On the fiction side of things, Skinner imbues Sergio and Stan with their own personal struggles and desires to keep the reader caring about the story’s primary focal points.

Make no mistake, The Galician Parallax is strong message serving to expose the cartel involvement in well-known terrorist organizations around the world. A timely and informative thriller set in Galicia, Spain. Shrewd writing about the international playing field of cartels by James G. Skinner!

July 19, 2017
A CROWDED HEART by Andrea McKenzie Raine – Literary, Historical Fiction, Veteran/PTSD

Willis Hancocks survives fighting in Western Europe during World War II but faces continuing battles of the mind at war’s end in Andrea McKenzie Raine’s poignant study of the plight of the former soldier in her historical novel, A Crowded Heart.

Willis decides to remain in London rather than return to his native Canada where his parents and sister live near Vancouver. Eager to put the war behind him, he marries Ellie, an intelligent young woman who has studied art at Cambridge University. Her affluent parents approve of Willis, and her father offers to finance his new son-in-law’s study of law at Cambridge. The newlyweds’ future could not look rosier.

This is, however, the story of a man who is haunted by the terrors of the battlefield. Life cannot proceed smoothly for someone who wakes from sleep in terror, who is plagued by survivor guilt, anxiety, and depression. Willis struggles to find his footing but repeatedly fails as he fights personal battles with alcohol, infidelity, and deception.

Admittedly, these are poor weapons of choice to face the daily struggle of postwar life, and although he has periods of relative calm and sobriety, his sins and regrets continue to multiply. He recognizes his inadequacies as a husband and a father of two sons, one born out of wedlock to a mistress. Although Willis manages to earn his degree in law and launch a practice with his war buddy, Sam, he is never victorious at achieving inner peace.

Raine wisely expands the narrative of the novel to reveal the wide net of war. Willis is not the only victim; the people in his life experience the after-shocks of fighting as well. Ellie is a dutiful wife but she is alone in her marriage, painting in secret because she can’t share her work with her emotionally remote, often absent husband. Willis spends years away from his family in Canada, neglecting them, and returns only when summoned after his mother’s death. He doesn’t engage with either of his sons and arranges to abandon the younger one altogether. It’s clear that the war will leave its mark on the next generation as well.

The ending of the novel is not surprising, but it is powerful and deeply affecting. One is left thinking of all the soldiers who escape death but are nonetheless robbed of their lives. Standing beside them are loving, distraught family members and friends, people who fervently hope for a cure – some miracle that will return traumatized veterans to their former selves. Not to give up on those who have already given up on themselves is the challenge. Raine reminds us that doing so requires a full heart, indeed, a crowded heart.

July 17, 2017
GUILTY DEEDS by Scott D. Smith – Police Procedural, Mystery, Thriller

What would you give if you could add to your memories – say, load your brain with pleasant, peaceful memories on top of the violent ones you live with every day? What would you do if the memories you were promised actually turn out to be those of a sadistic serial killer?

Memories are at the heart of this fascinating detective thriller, Guilty Deeds, by Scott D. Smith. The plot involves the transplanting of memories from one person to another and the result is an intriguing set of concentric mysteries and a very good read.

Stephanie Monroe, a young, smart and sarcastic detective working in Houston has a seemingly open and shut case when one Robert Grayson, a veteran who saw a good deal of violence in the Middle East, arrives at the police station with blood-stained hands and confesses to the murders of several women. He’s terrified he’ll kill again and begs to be incarcerated before he can do so. Investigations don’t get much easier for a homicide detective, but Stephanie has been on the job long enough to know that life is never that simple.

Enter Happy Memories, a company that buys and sells memories for your pleasure – and their profit. When Stephanie uncovers the fact her self-proclaimed killer is one of Happy Memories’ clients, she turns her investigation to the very affluent Dr. Lawrence Mead the owner of the company whose practices range from the unethical to the sinister. With the help of the police psychiatrist and Robert, Stephanie works to unravel this ever-deepening mystery before Robert’s sanity becomes the next victim.

Tension is ripe throughout the well-written scenes and the dialogue is unexpectedly fun and engaging. The affectionate and quick-witted banter between Stephanie and Robert, whose attraction to one another grows as they become more deeply mired in the investigation, is solidified when they share their own sets of memories. This establishes a trust that will connect them in ways they could never have anticipated – and hooks the reader from the start.

The conclusion leaves the reader hoping for a sequel. How fortunate, then, that there’s an epilogue that manages a perfect and surprising finish for a novel that probes the essence of the human condition. Thought provoking and entertaining, this thriller will have you second guessing yourself.

July 12, 2017
STANDBY for BROADCAST by Kari Rhyan – Memoir, Wartime Nursing, PTSD

Childhood demons and combat wounds cause one Navy nurse to examine her life in Standby for Broadcast, a moving and turbulent memoir by Kari Rhyan.

Rhyan served nearly twenty years in the US Navy as a nurse, her final deployment taking place in Afghanistan to a medical unit run by the British where Rhyan upheld her duties to aid others, while inwardly feeling unprotected and helpless. After witnessing the many tragedies of war, primary among them multiple amputations, she comes home scarred in mind. Her trauma becomes so obvious that she is sent to a special private unit.

It is at this private unit, The Willows, where Rhyan is overseen by a compassionate counselor, Riza, who enjoins her to attend AA meetings. Rhyan refuses, feeling that “acceptance” is not the answer for her rational hatred of warfare. But she cannot dodge the assignment of writing a chronicle of her war experience to be read aloud to fellow patients at sessions in “The War Room.”

Her memories of Afghanistan soon become jumbled with her childhood recollections of abuse by her addicted mother and sexual aggression by another family member, and with her current, difficult life as a gay mother. Because fellow patients were deployed as soldiers, Rhyan feels her suffering is not as authentic as theirs, but Riza continues to push her to write, to remember and describe, at the least, a single day. Finally, she is able to bleed out her agonized story of observing and treating pitifully wounded war victims, including a child, burned nearly to the bone. Ultimately, her treatment at The Willows leads her to separate from her alcoholic mother and find a new life outside the military.

Rhyan writes with vivid emotion, leaving nothing out in her determination to make her story known and understood. Not a soldier, still she and her fellow medical personnel must find inner stores of courage and battlefield humor in order to take on the daily task of assisting young soldiers so badly torn apart that it would seem death more likely and perhaps the most desirable outcome.

Throughout her recollections, which are liberally peppered with appropriate profanity and shocking imagery and at times exhibit a frantic desperation, Rhyan quotes great writers and philosophers on the subject of war. Through Riza’s voice, in a dramatic scene, she reminds us that warriors in ancient times were never allowed to return home because of the madness that war caused…so wars had to be continuous, to keep those who waged it occupied and out of sight. Rhyan shows us their madness close-up, with its many results, as she has seen and lived it: the nightmares, paranoia, violence, self-medication, self-hatred.

The conclusion to Rhyan’s hard work on herself at The Willows is what seems for now like a restful, if not entirely peaceful existence, in closeness with her child and the spouse who remained faithful and understanding throughout her long ordeal.

Rhyan’s memoir is frank, insightful, and a powerful reminder of the toil taken by those who wrestle with the fallout of the carnage of war. She also reminds us of the resiliency of the human spirit and the power of hope.

July 8, 2017
TIGER and the ROBOT by Grahame Shannon – Thriller/Suspense, Mystery, Women’s Adventure

Chandler (Chan) Gray, recent president of a “rags to riches and back to rags again” app development start-up, is the good-looking, good-hearted protagonist. He was left with enough money to buy the 50-year-old vintage yacht, “Blue Rose,” his home of the moment.

Tiger is the childhood nickname of the feisty, but gorgeous billionaire Gina Lee, owner of the 120-foot yacht, Aphrodite (aka Afro).

The Robot is an Android app, the female persona of which is named Saga, created and programmed by the tech savvy Chan. Little does Chan know of the extent of Saga’s AI, its development continuing autonomously way beyond what he programmed, leading to her role as cyber-sleuth private investigator on the trail of Gina (aka Tiger) after she is kidnapped on the morning of the prestigious Swiftsure yacht race.

“Aphrodite” skipper Billy Taylor, used to his boss’s eccentricities, nonetheless wonders where Gina might be when the race countdown begins. However, he knows that it is his job is to make sure Afro wins the Swiftsure. Chan, previously asked by Gina to join the Afro crew, isn’t as sanguine as Billy, but manages to do his share of the crewing, is caught up in the excitement of waves and wind especially as the sleek vessel is poised to win position among the parade of more than 150 competing yachts racing toward the finish line. Putting a dampening on the thrill is that Gina, the yacht’s owner, is still mysteriously missing. Billy advises Chan to let the police handle her disappearance, but Chan, who recently spent a most memorable night with her at the Empress Hotel, can’t do that. Billy agrees, and Chan search begins, with cooperation from the police.

Saga (the Android app developed by Chan) enters the story big-time at this point. Chan is the private investigator on the case to the rest of the world, but Saga—operating as an app in Chan’s Android mobile phone while observing the scene via the tiny cameras built into Chan’s sunglasses—is operating behind the scenes.

Right at home in the world of complex, inventive, and daily changing high-tech communications and electronics, the author Grahame Shannon knows his way around technology. Also, he is a well-known designer of racing yachts as well. In fact, Shannon is a well-known yacht designer. And, for someone born in the Caribbean (Grenada), he’s quite at home in Victoria, Vancouver, and coastal and rural British Columbia, as well as the mariner’s highway along the B.C. and Alaska coast.

The combination of the authors background and expertise makes the Tiger and the Robot an entertaining and plausible read for those who are fans of sailing, cyber thrillers, and for those who simply enjoy a good whodunit mystery. Shannon has created a page-turner of a thriller and carved a small world’s worth of fascinating and unique characters, pulled out of both high places and dark corners.

Special Note: The Swiftsure International Yacht Race Week of 2017 began in Victoria, B.C., over Memorial Day weekend. While the reviewer penned this review of Grahame Shannon’s exciting fictional search for the fictional kidnapped owner of a fictional entry in (and fictional winner of) the Swiftsure race of 2016! The fact of the actual race (sponsored by the Royal Victoria Yacht Club every Memorial Day weekend) in real-time late May 2017 lends a touch of reality to Tiger and the Robot, especially if you’re familiar with Victoria, Vancouver, British Columbia, and possibly even the annual Swiftsure event.

June 28, 2017
PRINCE of the BLUE CASTLES by Timothy Vincent – Crime Thriller, Suspense

Wilson Ames will always offer you a deal of a lifetime – your lifetime, that is in Timothy Vincent’s suspense/thriller, Prince of the Blue Castles.

Highly suspenseful and carefully penned, this is a thinking person’s novel that will grab you from the get-go. Castles come into play, but they comprise a book within this book, a small sketchbook to be precise. Our protagonist, Wilson Ames, is never without it since he never knows when he’ll feel the need to draw a castle, using an old-fashioned mechanical pencil filled with dark blue lead.

Yes, it may seem odd that someone in Ames’ line of work carries a sketchbook rather than a gun or a high-tech electronic device to help extricate himself from dire situations. But, then, Ames is not your typical hero. A slight, quiet, fastidious man who speaks with utmost clarity and precision, his power rests in not being a James Bond type. His opponents don’t know what to make of him, and his size and demeanor cause them to underestimate him, a miscalculation that works to Ames’ advantage.

So, what exactly does he do? As the founder and only employee of Suadela Consulting Agency, he’s a messenger who delivers the most sensitive of communications. In doing so, he negotiates, arbitrates, and manages to persuade clients to undertake specific actions if they want to avoid disastrous consequences.

Although he maintains a very low profile, his skills are well-known to Haines, an old college friend who hires Ames to contact various people. While negotiating with clients, Ames is unflappable. Even when being questioned by brutal, sadistic men who torture him, Ames maintains a clarity of thought and never discloses his consuming desire for the safety of his wife. The cost may be his life, but such is his devotion to her that any concern for himself is abandoned.

Vincent provides just enough tantalizing information about Ames’ past, via flashbacks, to allow the reader to regard him in the present with escalating curiosity and admiration. When Ames is boxed in by circumstances, his values about to be compromised beyond repair, he meets a worthy opponent, Mr. Yoto, and learns that life sometimes offers options that can’t be anticipated.

And what of the castles, described in such inviting and lovely language? Is the reader just privy to a relaxing pastime for someone whose life often takes harrowing turns? There’s more to quiet little Wilson Ames than meets the eye, and the same is true of his drawings. They clue the reader to Ames’ thoughts and plans. They are, in a sense, maps that he uses to navigate his work and his overall life. And just when the reader believes all to be resolved, a bit of dark red literally enters the picture, and all is forever changed. Overall, Ames’ opponents are foolhardy to underestimate him, and readers should not make the same mistake.

A thinking person’s psychological thriller – twists & turns,worthy opponents, conspiracies & deceptions abound–exquisitely intriguing.

June 28, 2017
MAKE NO BONES ABOUT IT by Ann Charles – Action/Adventure, Mystery, Romance, Thriller

Ann Charles has another true winner on her hands as she reunites the intrepid band of archeologists led by Angélica García for the second installment of her crackerjack series A Dig Site Mystery. From the very first sentence, Make No Bones About It is an entertaining thrill ride of the first order.

Top-notch archaeologist, Angélica García, admits that after her divorce she “suffered from trust issues—as having no faith in her own ability to judge character.” She leaves her university teaching job for a change of pace and heads to Mexico where she is hired by the National Institute of Anthropology and History to clean up and prepare derelict dig sites (ruins) for the current tourism boon— archaeo-tourism.

Angélica’s latest project has a few challenges she must overcome. It is located in a remote part of Mexican jungle infested with a myriad of hazards: scorpions, spiders, toxic fauna, bloodthirsty insects, hungry Jaguars, mounds of skeletal remains, and a seemingly endless supply of deadly rattlesnakes. Oh, and it is the same place where her mother, a top archaeologist in her own right, was killed in a helicopter crash—some say because of a curse.

To accomplish her mission, Angélica is joined by her father, Juan, a brilliant man nursing a leg injury who is saddled with his fair share of superstition anxiety. Quint Parker, a handsome photojournalist that jets off across the globe on assignments on short notice, but returns to lend a hand and tug on Angélica’s heart strings: she is ready with open arms and a razor-sharp machete! Pedro, her quasi-adopted brother and helicopter pilot, and several others round out a solid cast that adds color, context, and pathos to the story.

Angélica leads the team to unlock and document the secrets of the ruins, but she is consumed by a quenchless drive to complete her mother’s unfinished work. As the team delves deeper into labyrinth warning signs abound and it becomes clear that they are in mortal danger. The book’s first sentence states, “The Mexican jungle had devoured the remains of the dead, bones and all,” and so for those who ignore history could become history.

At the beginning of the book, Ann Charles discusses her extensive research, which pays off tremendously and adds incredible depth and texture to a well-crafted story. Additionally, C.S. Kunkle’s fabulous illustrations are dramatic, prescient and add substance to the story.

Make No Bones About It, simply put, is one of those books you pick up and cannot put down.

June 20, 2017
PAYTON’S PURSUIT, The WINTERS SISTERS, BOOK TWO by Joanne Jaytanie – Paranormal/Military Romance

A diabolical plot brews in the midst of a steamy romance in author Joanne Jaytanie’s second Winters’ sisters’ novel, Payton’s Pursuit.

Continuing where book one left off, Victory and Tristan marry, and Morgan and Collin—Lawrence Braxton’s DNA guinea pigs—join forces with Tristan’s team and the Winters Corporation in Washington State for book two. Payton Winters, one in a set of triplet sisters, learns from Victory that her ability to detect and inadvertently calm Collin’s unstable emotional levels has something to do with the specially formulated fertility drug their mother used for conception.

Concurrently, Braxton, his company Biotec, and the clandestine Kaleidoscope Group remain at large, which means that Victory (and quite possibly all of the sisters) is still a prime target because of her powerful telepathic ability to communicate with animals.

Payton attends dog shows with the last person she would want assigned to be her bodyguard: Collin McBain, the very same man who kidnapped Victory when she was held captive at Biotec (in book one).

During one of the dog shows, Collin finds out that his young stepsister, Emma, may be in trouble and assigns a team to keep an eye on her. After connecting the dots, he and Payton learn that the Kaleidoscope Group runs the boarding school for specialized students, and that the group has chosen Emma for more reasons than Collin and Payton realize. What’s even worse is Victory’s discovery of their mother’s fertility research, which has ties to none other than Biotec.

Needless to say, close quarters breeds love, and Collin and Payton fall in love. Amid their burgeoning romance, Braxton relentlessly searches for Emma. Providing for Emma’s safety, however, turns out to be a more complex problem than Collin and Tristan’s crew thought.

Many returning characters, as well as a new supporting cast, grace the pages of Jaytanie’s second book in the Winters series. Punctuated with aspects of book one, Chasing Victory, Payton’s Pursuit clearly can function as a stand-alone, yet, it is highly recommended for readers new to Jaytanie’s Winters series to start with book one to appreciate the series’ plot dynamics. One of the most important plot dynamics is in understanding how telepathy plays into the sisters’ lives. This begins with Victory who first discovers that her gift—which is heightened when she meets her future husband Tristan—goes well beyond working with animals. Of course, Jaytanie does not dwell on the details of Victory’s story—kidnapping and romantic ties to Tristan. So, first-time readers will miss out on those nerve-racking and spicy tidbits.

Payton’s Pursuit plot tension builds slowly while throwing in a whole bunch of twisty turns that will have your engines racing until the very end. Consistent with her series is Jaytanie’s writing style, including a well-defined cast, woven together with engaging dialogue and riveting scenes.

June 20, 2017
CRACKED! A MAGIC iPHONE STORY by Janine A. Southard – Seattle, Cyber-Punk, Fantasy

Can a middle-aged, hip statistician find the perfect boyfriend in Washington’s Emerald City? Maybe with the help of her magic iPhone!

On this quirky journey through and around Seattle our heroine, Morena’s accompanied by two strange, but well-meaning sidekicks. Morena’s best friend/roommate, Suzyn, a twenty-something, aspiring photographer from New York, who likes to dance, get drunk, and get high; Magic Man, is an undercover, 6,000-year-old elf, who only wants to fit it with the humans around him. Also, a mysterious Green Man, who seems to be nearby wherever Morena goes, but whom she never notices, adds a note of mystery.

After a breezy false start in which the narrator chats the reader up, like a neighbor over mid-morning coffee and Danish, the real story begins.

One morning, Morena discovers a package on her kitchen table. Her ex-boyfriend, who “never sent her a single gift,” before their “horrid break-up,” has now sent her an iPhone—and it just so happens the phone is magic. It has only one app, designed for finding the right mate—and Morena, with her biological clock ticking, longs for love. She is searching for a soul mate—as long as it doesn’t take a lot of effort. She enjoys her current lifestyle, so, the right man would have to not only conveniently drop into her life, but also fit into her life. That iPhone may have been the perfect gift.

The reader journeys with Morena, her magic phone in hand, on Seattle’s buses and light rail, into various neighborhoods, coffee shops, pubs, and restaurants, as well as to neighboring communities. Cracked! . . . introduces a plethora of geeks, freaks, “funky hipsters,” story gamers, “hipsters playing at being gamers . . . ,” anonymous drug dealers, and more. Along the way, the reader may learn some street slang while being apprised of the go-to (for whatever you want) places in that urban area.

Particularly entertaining and interesting are the forays into the story gaming world, where the gaming part counted as a respectably nerdy pursuit, and the story part counted as creative . A fun feature of the story is that it is a microcosm of Seattle life: giving its readers a chance to interact with some odd characters, but still not have to be friends with them.”

While some may find Cracked! to be somewhat thin on plot, it’s heavy on atmosphere and setting, which is captivatingly authentic. Southard’s hip and cool characters are multi-dimensional and memorable. As a stylistic technique, the intrusive and opinionated omniscient narrator is sometimes informative and amusing, but at other times, can be distracting. However, always fun!

Overall, Cracked! A Magic iPhone Story provides an insider view of Seattle, its denizens, and some of their various activities and belief systems, that contribute to its unique culture. It’s a fun read in a much too serious world.

June 20, 2017
The FLYING BURGOWSKI by Gretchen Wing – YA, Social & Family Issues, Fantasy

In many ways, Gretchen K. Wing’s protagonist in The Flying Burgowski, Jocelyn Burgowski (Joss, for short) is a typical teenager. She admires and appreciates a favorite teacher, argues with her older brother, Michael (in an awkward rebellious stage), and hangs out with her friends, the popular Savannah and the sweet social misfit, Louis. She loves to relax with a good book, usually one in the Harry Potter series. The third is her favorite.

Then there are the atypical aspects of Joss’s life. She lives off the coast of Washington, on Dalby Island, beautiful with its tall fir trees and surrounding water, although not a mall or a MacDonald’s in sight. Her father runs the all-purpose store and shocks his children when he abruptly marries Lorraine, the seemingly stereotypical librarian. Joss’s mother abandoned the family nine years earlier for mainland life and has struggled with alcoholism and pill addiction.

And then there’s Joss’s very vivid dreams, dreams in which she takes flight and soars over the island. Unlike Harry Potter, she doesn’t need a broom. No, she flies as freely as a bird. On her fourteenth birthday, which occurs on the summer solstice, she discovers that the dreams were preparation for the real thing. She instinctively takes off from The Toad, a large rock on the island, and life will never be the same. How could it? Even if she and Michael (in trouble again for driving his father’s truck into a ditch and smoking pot) weren’t sent to the mainland to spend time with their mother, Joss’s life is forever on a new course, one that is mapped against the sky.

To Wing’s enormous credit, the novel never loses its convincing realism despite the main character’s spending a good portion of it in the sky, her arms outstretched, her body turning as she banks left and right, her lungs filling with the scent of lilies. The author weaves these scenes seamlessly, beautifully into the narrative. We root for Joss as she plans her flight sessions, catch our breath when she takes a rough landing, her skin scraped, and worry with her that she’ll be sighted by someone who happens to look up at the evening sky. The realism is complemented, however, by the exhilaration of these scenes. Joss is so thrilled by the experience of flight that the reader wants to take her hand and witness what she does as a human bird, to feel that rush of air swim against our skin.

Joss’s gift for flight, of course, is mired in old and interesting secrets that involve her mother and even her new step-mother. Her aerial talent is tested when she adjusts to a new school, unkind classmates, her mother’s substance abuse relapses, and the surprising but welcome maturation of her brother. Wing’s poignant and sensitive handling of Joss’s and Michael’s time on the mainland underscores the protective power of sibling relationships in the face of parental weakness or failure. The self-growth that they experience as a result stays with them when they return to Dalby Island and resume life as they knew it, but with far greater self-awareness.

The Flying Burgowski isn’t your typical young adult book and that’s a very good thing. Wing infuses realistic teen life, with all its problems, with a hefty dose of magic realism, and the result is an engaging and captivating fusion. After reading it, don’t be surprised if you find yourself looking up at the sky, ready to sight the lucky human endowed with the gift of flight.

June 15, 2017