Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: 5 Star Book Review

Thieving Forest by Martha Conway – Women’s Historical Fiction

The story is set in 1806 and follows five sisters who are on their own after the recent passing of their parents. The five are faced with the choice to remain and run the family store in the tiny settlement along the edge of Ohio’s Great Black Swamp or pull up stakes and join the youngest sister living with their aunt in Philadelphia.

By the banks of the Great Black Swamp, one woman fights to save her sisters caught between two cultures in Martha Conway’s tale, Thieving Forest.

The world is filled with such events that when the right author develops characters and plunges them into a real-world timeline, history comes alive. Martha Conway has succeeded in doing this in her debut novel, Thieving Forest.

Conway turns the story up a notch early as four of the older girls are kidnapped by a band of Potawatomi Indians who raid their home. Seventeen-year-old Susanna is left behind, and though shaken deeply, quickly comes to her senses and determines to rescue her siblings.

Trust is the theme as the story unfolds. The kidnapping is somewhat of an unexpected occurrence as the family had good relations with the natives. The issue is complex and Susanna finds herself questioning who she can trust along with the sad realization that sometimes people are not always who they claim to be. The sisters are eventually reunited, but as is true in real life, things can never be the same.

Martha Conway paints a stunning portrait of life in the early days of the United States expansion into the West. She has done her research, and it shows as she delves into Native American tribes and the relationship they have with the European settlers.

Detailed descriptions of day-to-day life, including the hardships experienced, are fleshed out with complex and engaging characters. A tale of self-discovery, personal growth, romance, family ties, loyalty and more in this book readers will find hard to put down.

February 22, 2017
Ghost Horse by Thomas McNeely – Literary Fiction

With a firm sense of place and time, Thomas McNeely creates a tableau of class and race segregation juxtaposed with the frailty of youth: One young boy exists in the tormenting forces of his own personal hurricane of a broken family and a broken society that throws him down and swirls him around without regard to their tragic effect on him.

Eleven-year-old Buddy Turner’s understanding of what it means to be normal hangs in the balance. He’s facing the trials of growing up and a family unit in shambles and his whole world is about to change. It’s the 1970s, Houston, and most kids don’t expect to be thrown into the nasty realities of a broken home. However, this is Buddy’s reality in Thomas McNeely’s debut novel, Ghost Horse.

Buddy’s mother spends much of her time working in a hospital laboratory while his absentee father comes back to town leaving Buddy with a fresh set of empty promises and his mother with a request for a divorce.

Buddy’s only escape is working on an animated film with his best friend, Alex Torres. Together, the boys create a film about a ghost horse. Entering into the work helps Buddy avoid the painful realities at home and serves as a buffer for his heartache. Indeed, the movie the boys create is a metaphor for the upheaval Buddy is experiencing in the real world.

McNeely expertly weaves an intricate and darkly complex story of a boy trying to gain a foothold in a world–a raw, and sometimes, painful coming-of-age story. The book took ten years to pen through the author’s own turbulent waters and his father’s untimely death and at points the reader can see his internal battle emerging in his writing in this heart-rending coming-of-age tale set in the turbulent 1970s.

In the broader spectrum of the novel, McNeely unleashes his questions about class and racial prejudices, and how adult behavior informs children who are expected to follow suit. Ultimately, however, McNeely’s storytelling is rich with texture and the soulful portrayal of a lost boy, who is un-moored by those whom should care for him the most. Ghost Horse has the weighted emotional cache and heartfelt pertinence that enables the tale to tug at the reader for a very long time.

February 21, 2017
St Louis Affair: The Adventures of Herbert Falken by Michael Scheffel – Historical Thriller/Detective

This tantalizing whodunit is set in 1899 St. Louis and revolves around the heinous murder of a prominent wealthy citizen, Charles Garrett, whose body is discovered on the banks of the Mississippi River. Because the crime scene is devoid of clues and political pressure for a fast resolution abounds, the city police turn to professional Inquiry Agent, Herbert Falken, for assistance.

Falken, also known by the public as Major Falken from his heroic exploits fighting renegade raiders along the US – Mexican border, is well respected for his deductive abilities and previous success in solving a perplexing string of grisly crimes. What the public doesn’t know is that Falken is haunted by his own personal and professional demons.

Not long after departing from this crime scene, however, Falken discovers a curious fact: Charles Garrett’s public and private personas are polar opposites. Faced with a growing list of suspects and demands from the Governor on down to the average citizen for an immediate arrest, Falken feels the pressure. If it weren’t for James Westfall (former army officer mustered out due to a permanent leg injury) Falken’s aide-de-camp, our hero would be in dire straights. Westfall not only records critical crime scene and subject interview information, but he also cares for and tries to protect Falken—sometimes from himself.

A strong cast of well-drawn and individually distinctive characters who aid, circumvent, and forestall Falken’s pursuit of justice adds richness to the story.

Scheffel’s use of architectural design, clothing and accouterments, individual and class attitudes, and various character traits and dialects to resurrect old St. Louis is a true highlight of the book. He deftly crafts different scenes in smooth, articulate detail without hindering the story’s pace. Whether it’s inside Falken’s dining room, traveling across uneven paving bricks in a horse-drawn buggy, trudging along the muddy banks along the river, descending into a seedy opium den, or watching Falken get his butt kicked in a bare-knuckle brawl, the reader is right there. Another treat is the seamless placement of real-world news events into dialogue, which adds both authenticity and consistency to the setting.

Overall, St Louis Affair: The Adventures of Herbert Falken is an entertaining turn-of-the-century page-turner with plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing to the end. Michael Scheffel grabs the reader’s attention from the first sentence and doesn’t let go until the very last in St. Louis Affair: The Adventures of Herbert Falken, a fast-paced, page-turner that will have the reader hoping that he is hard a work penning a new tale involving Herbert Falken, Inquiry Agent.

February 19, 2017
Age of Order by Julian North – YA Dystopian SciFi

In the not too distant future, one girl races to save the ones she loves in Julian North’s Age of Order.

Daniela Machado, a young Latina from Bronx City, is smart and successfully athletic – especially on the track – but she has more than a few secrets. She’s learned to be very protective of herself and those she cares about, her blood, in an environment where others frequently die. Aba, her grandmother, and her older brother Mateo, along with her sister of choice, Kortilla, are the only ones she fully trusts.

Daniela knows something must be behind the sudden offer she receives to attend a very prestigious and selective school in another part of the Five Cities, and she’s reluctant to accept. Attending the new school and leaving Kortilla behind, however, may be the only chance Daniela has to save Mateo’s life.

In this school environment, North skillfully weaves in multiple references to other dystopian works frequently taught in high school. The reader will be reminded of Orwell, Huxley, and William Golding, as Daniela reads them for class. Something else becomes abundantly clear: Daniela and most of her classmates don’t get along.

It’s more than just a question of money and social standing, though. It’s genetics.

Set in the near future of the United States, the action is often thrilling, complete with high-tech rivalries, partisan politics, chase scenes, and class conflicts. While most of the major characters are teens, North’s insights into their thoughts and feelings can apply to any age, lending an ageless quality to this otherwise clear morality tale. Their conflicts, confusions, and pain are more than any child should have to encounter. But in this world, those lucky enough to survive must grow-up quickly.

Daniela finds her one solace in running, and she fights her way onto the school track team. No one, not even the school star, can easily beat her when she runs. Daniela, it becomes apparent, has a gift which, after being honed throughout childhood, is now formidable.

It’s on the track when she feels completely free, even when the competition seems unfairly rigged against her. North does a fine job of writing these athletic scenes and the reader will feel their feet pounding and gasping for breath as Daniela runs against others – and her hidden past.

As that past comes into conflict with what she is experiencing at school, Daniela and her allies (the other misfits at school) begin to see the true shape of the reality around them. Only through courage and steely resolve will they be able to do what must be done to prevent the genocide those in power have already begun. It’s up to Daniela to find her true self, when she needs it most, to save the people she loves.

Age of Order is powerfully charged with rich characters and a dynamic storyline. One of the BEST new YA books we’ve reviewed!

February 9, 2017
Love, Loss, and Awakening: (Mis)adventures on the Way Back to Joy by Dennis Freed – Non-Fiction/Memoir

A heartfelt and profound account of confronting the death of a beloved spouse, Love, Loss, and Awakening combines pathos, humor, and gutsy truth from a survivor’s direct vantage point.

When Dennis Freed married Hope, they were young. They had two sons, lived in the same house for years, and weathered many crises—until Hope contracted cancer and after several years of struggle, passed away. This is Freed’s frank, heart-rending tale of bereavement and recovery, and as such, it is also a paean to his devotion to Hope.

As can be seen, even the names are charged with significance. Hope was a person with a positive nature who enjoyed helping others; who was determined to avoid discouragement even as her body was ravaged by disease, and who after her passing seemed able to advise and comfort her grieving spouse. But Dennis knew that in order to be truly “freed” he must, somehow, move on.

At first, he battled with suicidal ideations, bouncing from despair and loneliness to anger–why did his wife “leave” him? Tormented by memories of Hope, he seized, perhaps prematurely, perhaps to excess, on the notion that other women could save him from his hellish grief state. This wasn’t easy for him because he’d met Hope at age 21 and married her soon after; he had to relearn the art of dating. He took on the search for women like a job. He visited dating websites, studied how to create a profile, and took pictures of himself in various poses and outfits. He had problems with his sexual apparatus and sometimes turned to a certain kind of female to relieve his aches and longings. He experimented with hair removal products to re-image himself for dating.

Yet, as he remembered Hope, he knew what he wanted: not just a date – but a real partner. He went through all the recommended rituals: writing a letter of apology to Hope and burning it, scattering her ashes, connecting with his old memories and new aspirations through music and meditation, attending focus groups.

In an especially poignant segment, he describes in vivid detail his wife’s one last tear. At times he even believed he had “seen” Hope, or “heard” her counseling him. But widower Freed finally realized that he had to take life as it came at him, not try to orchestrate the next moves; it was then that he found a new companion, someone he could accept and love fully, without guilt or regret.

Freed, a developer, construction executive, and part-time university lecturer displays a remarkable gift for creating rich, emotionally tinged prose. Anyone who’s been through, or envisions ever having to go through, even a small part of what Freed experienced, will be moved because his story elicits vividly painful and, ultimately, a broad redemptive spectrum of emotions.

Too personal to be a how-to manual, Love, Loss, and Awakening is more akin to a vivid portrayal of someone desperately stumbling in the dark desperately fumbling for a light switch, a flashlight, even a match to show the way out despair and hopelessness, and, then after a lot of bumps and scrapes, finally finding what he was seeking–happiness.

February 8, 2017
The Breast is History: An Intimate Memoir of Breast Cancer by Bronwyn Hope – Inspirational Non-Fiction

A realistic, up-close look at life as a cancer patient and survivor. The Breast Is History is a strong tool of hope and humor in the darkest days of any woman’s life.

In September 2011, Bronwyn Hope received her initial diagnosis of breast cancer; by March 2013 she had had both breasts removed, had gone through numerous chemo and radiation treatments, taken thousands of pills, and come out of it with a gritty, positive philosophy.

When she was first diagnosed, a close friend advised her to start a blog, something very far from her mind at that moment. But, her friend reasoned, she could inspire others with her story. This was not a fanciful idea, given that Bronwyn was and is a powerhouse—an avid athlete, media maven, entrepreneur, activist, mother, and writer. She took her friend’s advice and this book is the result, a sometimes day-by-day journal of her battle with a disease she admits we often think of as a death sentence.

Through the blog and, one suspects, because of her generally extroverted nature, Bronwyn discovered a very positive aspect of her illness: the immediate outpouring of warmth, good wishes, gifts and visits from a host of friends and family members. But as time passed, and her treatments, especially chemo, took their toll, she records many days of lonely suffering, struggling with nausea, pain in every part of her body, the loss of all body hair, and feelings of profound weakness and despair. Yet she constantly, remarkably, tries to recoup her pre-cancer strength and endurance.

A visit to a Catholic church and a later whirlwind trip to India provide spiritual insights. During her own cancer challenge, Bronwyn’s sister Fiona was also diagnosed with cancer. Helping Fiona through what she had already experienced became a sustaining factor for Bronwyn.

The author does not shy away from tough issues, or from the occasional use of profanity when appropriate. She displays a secure knowledge of many complex medications and their effects and side effects. By detailing how her illness progressed, she provides a guideline for others. Her account is not without humor: she had been a large-breasted woman and had named her breasts Nicky and Paris. Nicky was the first to go, early on, and Paris about two years later. Photographs show the author with her once-straight hair, then hairless (with husband and dog getting a shave in sympathy) and then with the incongruously curly hair that grew in later.

There will be no doubt as one reads this honest account, that Hope has walked the walk and is also very capable of talking the talk. Her wisdom, based on a long, harrowing experience, is anything but saccharine. She concludes, “I am not angry or depressed or saddened by what cancer has taken away from me. I am instead, empowered and strengthened by what it has given me: lessons that are priceless.”

February 8, 2017
Gateways by Jessica Schaub – Y/A Fantasy

Mind bending is one thing, but when teenager Victoria Nike paints her landscapes – and then falls through them into another dimension – you know you’re in for a treat in this charming and intelligent fantasy, Gateways.

There are many similarities between Victoria’s story and that of Dorothy Gale: the emerging of special powers, real or imagined; companions both human and beast; an ultimate confrontation with a wicked witch.

That said, in Gateways, Jessica Schaub has created a wonderful fantasy that takes readers on a journey into parallel worlds, where mages – beings who can invoke the elements and use their energy – coexist with sphinxes and other fantastic beasts. It’s also a tale of self-discovery, of innocence lost and wisdom gained. Schaub succeeds in placing teenagers into a story of mystic powers and magical without her characters losing their modern savvy and their wisecracker-y. This refined skill in storytelling keeps the elements of this story believable.

When Victoria sees her mother’s growing distress, she notices her world changing in subtle ways as well. She retreats into the art room at school, where she paints. When she abruptly finds herself inside of her painting, she has no idea of how to climb out. Her art teacher, Anna Witherspoon, comes to her rescue. Anna is a Painter of gateways, and so, apparently, is Victoria.

When she returns home, Victoria and her twin best friends, Tucker and Bobby Martin, are told by their parents to flee. “No matter what,” Mr. Martin tells his boys, “keep her safe.” Victoria takes Tucker to hide with her inside a painting of a forest.

But that particular painting holds a prisoner, Lucian – a fallen mage accused of murder. Lucian wastes no time in escaping with the painting – the portal leading back to Victoria’s world – and so she, Tucker, Bobby, and Anna have no choice but to set off to recapture him in order to stop him from perpetrating further harm.

This is a coming-of-age novel, and much like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, Victoria learns that things aren’t always as they seem. Bad people turn good, and good turn bad. Family history enlightens and relationships shift. But that is life and Victoria realizes that though her world has suddenly opened into ever-expanding opportunities, there truly is no place like home.

A great read with a magical – air-bending quality that will draw the reader in and not allow them to leave until the very last page.

February 8, 2017
Tupelo Honey by Lis Anna Langston – Y/A

A stick-to-the-ribs portrait of an extraordinary girl who overcomes the deck stacked against her in the deep South. Tupelo Honey is one of our favorites.

When you read more than a hundred books per year, it’s exciting to find one that surprises you. Tupelo Honey by Lis Anna Langston is one of those, sneaking up quietly to bust expectations and leaves you thinking about the story long after closing the book.

Part of the surprise comes from being able to read on multiple levels. On the surface, it’s a sardonic YA adventure through tough modern times. Underneath, a unique and subtle paranormal story grounded in today’s world. At the deep level, a poignant coming-of-age tale about what it’s like to be a neglected child in a twisted family, and how spirit and smarts let one avoid a doom that seems inevitable.

Tupelo Honey is a preteen girl in Mississippi whose mother is an abusive junkie. Her father is unknown but his place is filled by a compassionate drug dealer; her grandmother can offer only love and shelter; her uncles are both crazy; her best friend is suppressed by severely religious parents. Then there’s Mooshi, her invisible pal—half human, half dog—who comforts and helps through his silent presence. Only Tupelo Honey can see him.

She accepts his existence (and others’ disbelief) without question, just as she accepts the poverty, insecurity, and frequent illegality of her life. While she’s wise beyond her years, she’s also still a child who craves loving parents and safe routine. There are so many abnormal people in her world that she takes them as normal, so her emotional reactions are low key where more privileged and conventional people would be freaked out.

This gives the book a sort of creepy, quiet tone from the opening page that seduces the reader onward. Tupelo Honey simply tells her story as she grows through the year that turns her life around.

The author has mastered the art of showing versus telling, giving just enough information so the reader can figure out what’s going on without having to back up or skip forward. Nothing about Tupelo Honey’s story is familiar enough to guess what’s going to happen next, making it an understated page-turner for youth and adults.

February 4, 2017
Beauty and the Bridesmaid by Lisa Souza – Chick-lit

Beauty takes a different a form in Lisa Souza’s page-turning debut novel, Beauty and the Bridesmaid.

Dorothy (Dot) Lindell tags herself as a “relationship black hole.” An overweight software geek with a loser love life whose only wish is to not die a virgin.

At her cousin’s wedding, displayed in a tightly molded purple-ish taffeta gown, Dot feels she wins the award for the ugliest bridesmaid. To add injury to insult, Dot has lost hope of an amorous hookup since her escort, Kennedy J Kennedy is gay – and the life of the party. But when he offers to trade his image consulting services for her software know-how, Dot checks the box for a complete image overhaul.

What she doesn’t realize is that her extensive overhaul is bigger, financially and physically and emotionally, than she could ever have imagined. If facial acid applications through a dermatologist aren’t enough, Dot’s personal trainer works her to death. Although it only takes her three and a half months to lose the weight through rigorous exercise program and her spanking-new meal plan, it all pales in comparison to the painful aftermath of plastic surgery.

As a result of her hard work and her surgeon’s skill, Dot is NOT the same person, anatomically speaking, than before. Changing her moniker to her middle name, Alana (Dot) enters a new world of attraction. Among her many admirers, the first person to ask her on a date is none other than her heart-throb who didn’t know she existed – even though they worked in the same office.

As told through Dot, Souza’s first person narrative describes a young woman whose involvement as a bridesmaid is less than stellar for several reasons, hideously unflattering dresses near the top of the list. Beauty and the Bridesmaid is a fascinating story that will hit the nerve of women who have ever felt or been told that their physical appearance just isn’t enough.

Souza’s distinct cast encompasses a wide range of personalities. From the down-and-outers and geeks to the haughty, and those that are purely villainous, Souza has designed much of her figures to function as foils for the main purpose of shaping Dot’s persona. Scenes continually alternate between Dot’s work, home life, friendships, and attendance at weddings as she transforms from an unattractive heavyset woman to a slim drop-dead gorgeous diva. An appealing feature of Dot’s character is her snarky comebacks, which as comedic as they are, function as her defense mechanism. Underneath her callous demeanor is actually a very humble and compassionate side that remains consistent even though she changes outwardly.

Souza slowly but steadily builds her plot with various elements to keep the story fluid. Aside from cliffhanging chapter endings and scenes replete with copious amounts of unexpected everything, Souza eliminates monotony by sprinkling the storyline with Dot’s therapy appointments, her Barbara Cartland romance reads, and bridal excerpts from Sarah Stein and Lucy Talbot’s The Bridesmaid’s Manual.

Beauty and the Bridesmaid is a perfect read with broad audience appeal for both Chick Lit and Romance aficionados.

February 1, 2017
The Only Witness by Pamela Beason

Seventeen-year-old Brittany Morgan’s infant daughter was taken from her car—an apparent kidnapping. Brittany’s young mind is quaking in attacks of hope, fear, guilt and desperation. Why would anyone take little Ivy from her? Where can Ivy be by now? Is she being held for ransom? Is she still alive?

Detective Matt Finn hopes so. As a recent transplant from the mean streets of Chicago, where experience taught him to expect the worst, to the relative innocence of a small town in the Pacific Northwest, where everyone already has an Ivy-fate theory, he knows that this investigation is not going to go smoothly. His clue file is empty and the clock is his enemy. If only he could find a witness to the crime! Well, Dr. Grace McKenna over at the “Talking Hands Ranch” just left what she hopes was an anonymous tip that might be able to help the investigation. It seems that one of her charges witnessed the snatching of baby Ivy.

In The Only Witness author Pamela Beason employs knowing doses of drama, humor, adventure and romance to polish her clever premise into a sparkling jewel; a friendly persuasion of plot and character development that maintains a high level of reader interest and fascination.

Beason’s linguistic skills are evident in the often endearing scenes in which Dr. McKenna is patiently trying to coax some useful testimony from the agitated Neema who has a story to tell. Neema is the endearing gorilla that Dr. McKenna is teaching sign language to at Talking Hands Ranch. She is a dangerously strong and potentially aggressive “witness” with the IQ and attention span of a human five-year-old. Nevertheless, Neema knows how to negotiate for a banana and steal your heart while doing it.

Beason manages to plunge deeply into the hearts and minds of her main characters without creating any interruption of narrative flow. Brittany Morgan’s teen angst, Matt Finn’s dealing with his wife leaving him as he adjusts to being a cop in a rural town, Grace McKenna’s worries about the future of her underfunded project, Neema’s feverish need to communicate: all intriguingly support and contribute to the smart pace of Beason’s hip and socially relevant who-done-it. Indeed the author has a good time taking well-aimed shots at some of the peculiarities of our priority-challenged culture.

The Only Witness is a marvel of story-telling. Pamela Beason’s novel is one of those rare gems that is intelligent and informative but also embracing and charmingly accessible. The Only Witness is the Grand Prize Award winner of Chanticleer Book Reviews Blue Ribbon Novel Contest.

November 1, 2012