In Winter’s Reckoning by Adele Holmes, a mercurial new pastor in town threatens the families of two women.
Welcome to 1917. A time of suspenders for men and, in the cities, bloomers for women. Horse-drawn wagons range the landscape, stoves burn wood, and people have to use outdoor facilities. A time of few vaccines and no antibiotics. People understood little of most diseases. Germ theory still had ground to cover. Women routinely died in childbirth. Life could vanish in a moment.
In rural Jamesville, a Southern Appalachian town, Madeline Fairbanks does what she can to make the lives of friends and neighbors more comfortable. She works as the healer in this community – and has for the past quarter of a century. Madeline eases the passage into and out of life, treating aches and pains in between.
Maddie comes from a long line of healers. Her grandmother taught her, and she’ll pass along what she knows to her granddaughter in turn. Hannah already has the inclination. The time has almost come to give her the ancestral box, which holds herbal remedy recipes and sketches and notes. That box contains all the learning from the women in their family who came before them.
Maddie has also trained an apprentice, Renetta Morgan, who is just about ready to begin working in the community, her own community, alone.
Maddie is white. Renetta is Black. They walk through town together, brazenly traversing from North Main (the white section of town) to South Main (the Black) and back again. Sometimes they go to tend the sick. Sometimes, to the fields and hillsides, gathering the healing flowers and roots and herbs. Other times, they work in Maddie’s cabin, creating tinctures, potions, and ointments. When Renetta learns enough, the two of them must no longer work together.
The long-promised railroad has recently bypassed the town, spelling a slow death for the community, cut off now from the lifeline of the new transportation. With their Main Street shops shutting down, the townsfolk face hard times. In the South, rigid segregation, Jim Crow laws, black codes, and the Klan divide the community. In Jamesville, the pointy hat boys haven’t been active in recent memory, but that’s about to change. Not everyone turns a blind eye to the flagrant close fraternizing of Maddie and Ren, two uppity women who don’t seem to know their place. Tempers are fraying.
Into this small town closing in on itself rides a lone horseman one day, who, after a brief look around, announces that he’s the new pastor. Reverend Carl Howard is the match to the powder keg.
As the town adjusts to this new pastor in their midst, and Reverend Howard takes his measure of the place, we will watch events unfold from the vantage point of three characters, all of whom have secrets to keep. Secrets that could be their undoing.
With the loss of the railroad, another potential casualty looms – one of education.
The town is divided on whether to invest in secondary education or not. Currently, only the primary school offers its young charges the most rudimentary learning. Nothing to build on. With more education, Maddie thinks, real change might be possible. Greater equality between peoples, despite their gender or skin color. Greater freedom for women. Or at least a good step in that direction.
The theme of education and what it can bring – more profound understanding, greater personal freedom and fulfillment, and economic opportunities – underlies the struggle of those for and against keeping women and Blacks “in their place.” One side looks forward to what could be; the other looks back to what has been. The balance of power always tilts in favor of those who have always held it. As the tension mounts, where words fail, violence threatens.
When a severe winter storm hits, everyone’s lives are suspended.
As they wait out the freeze, rationing their supplies and tearing up the porch for firewood, Maddie and Ren will come to know things about each other and themselves. And Hannah will grow up a little.
Set in the brooding rural South, and for a good portion of the novel in the challenging and crystalline world of a deep snowstorm, Winter’s Reckoning is rich in storyline and character with plenty of mystery woven throughout. Simply put, here’s a story that takes on issues whose harm remains with us today. With a climactic pulpit scene that’s not to be missed – and one novel we can highly recommend!
The Clue Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Suspense and Thriller Mysteries. The Clue Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards is seeking the best books featuring suspense, thrilling adventure, detective work, private eye, police procedural, and crime-solving, we will put them to the test to discover the best! (For lighter-hearted Mystery and Classic Cozy Mysteries please check out our Mystery & Mayhem Awards, and for High Stakes Suspense Novels please check out our Global Thriller Awards).
The 2021 CLUE Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the CLUE Grand Prize Winner were announced by Cathy Ace on Saturday, June 25, 2022 at the Hotel Bellwether and broadcast via ZOOM webinar.
This is the OFFICIAL 2021 LIST of the CLUE BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the CLUE Grand Prize Winner.
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
T.L. Bequette – Good Lookin’: A Joe Turner Mystery
Amy S. Peele – Match: A Medical Murder Mystery
Kevin G. Chapman – Fatal Infraction (Mike Stoneman Thriller #4)
Rip Converse – Callie Awakens
Shelley Nolden – The Vines
James A. Ross – Coldwater Revenge
Emily A. Myers – The Truth About Unspeakable Things
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 CLUE Awards is:
The Vines
by Shelley Nolden
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
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The 2022 CLUE Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 10 year Conference Anniversary!
Submissions for the 2022 CLUE Book Awards are open until the end of September. Enter here!
A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in August. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
The Ozma Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Fantasy Fiction. The Ozma Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer International Book Awards discovers the best books in the Ozma Awards featuring magic, the supernatural, imaginary worlds, fantastical creatures, legendary beasts, mythical beings, or inventions of fancy that author imaginations dream up without a basis in science as we know it. Epic Fantasy, High Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Dragons, Unicorns, Steampunk, Dieselpunk, Gaslight Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, or other out-of-this-world fiction. These books have advanced to the Long List in the 2021 CIBAs OZMA division.
The 2021 OZMA Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the OZMA Grand Prize Winner were announced by Isaac Fozard on Saturday, June 25, 2022 at the Hotel Bellwether and broadcast via ZOOM webinar.
This is the OFFICIAL 2021 LIST of the OZMA BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the OZMA Grand Prize Winner.
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
David Fitz-Gerald – Waking Up Lost
Laurel Anne Hill – Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846
Allegra Pescatore – Where Shadows Lie
L. A. Thompson – Isle of Dragons
J.W. Zarek – The Devil Pulls the Strings
KC Cowan – Asa’s Redemption
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 OZMAAwards is:
Plague of Flies: Revolt of the Spirits, 1846
by Laurel Anne Hill
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the Facebook post. However, for Facebook to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews.
Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Facebook and Twitter handle is @ChantiReviews
Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.
The 2022 OZMA Book Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 10 year Conference Anniversary!
Submissions for the 2022 OZMABook Awards are open until the end of October. Enter here!
A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in August. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. We thank you for participating in the 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards!
The Global Thriller Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in High Stakes Thriller Fiction. The Global Thriller Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring suspense, thrilling stories that put the balance of world power or that will end the world as we know it. We include with Global Thrillers the Lab Lit genre. Lab Lit is when Fiction Meets Real Science and Research or stories that are based on real science and research up to a certain “what if” point.
For other Mystery Divisions see our Clue Awards for Suspense/Thriller Novels and our M&M Awards for Cozy-and-not-so-Cozy Novels.
The 2021 GLOBAL THRILLER Book Awards First Place Category Winners and the GLOBAL THRILLER Grand Prize Winner were announced by Peter Greene on Saturday, June 25, 2022 at the Hotel Bellwether and broadcast via ZOOM webinar.
This is the OFFICIAL 2021 LIST of the GLOBAL THRILLER BOOK AWARDS First Place Category Winners and the GLOBAL THRILLER Grand Prize Winner.
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Timothy S. Johnston – Fatal Depth
J Lawrence Matthews – One Must Tell The Bees
Norman M. Jacobs, MD – A Divine Wind
Randall Krzak – Mission: Angola (Xavier Sear Thriller Book 1)
Ron McManus – The Chameleon
Andrew Kaplan – Blue Madagascar
The Grand Prize Winner for the CIBA 2021 GLOBAL THRILLER Awards is:
The Chameleon
Ron McManus
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
Attn CIBA Winners: More goodies and prizes will be coming your way along with promotion in our magazine, website, and advertisements in Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards long-tail marketing strategy. Welcome to the CIBA Hall of Fame for Award Winners!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews
Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.
The 2022 GLOBAL THRILLERBook Awards winners will be announced at CAC23 on April 29, 2023. Save the date for CAC23, scheduled April 27-30, 2023, our 10 year Conference Anniversary!
Submissions for the 2022 GLOBAL THRILLERBook Awards are open until the end of October. Enter here!
A Note to ALL the WINNERS: The coveted CIBA Blue Ribbons will be mailed out starting in August. We will contact you with an email to verify your mailing address and other items. Thank you for participating in the 2021 Chanticleer International Book Awards!
The Global Thriller Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in High Stakes Thriller Fiction. The Global Thriller Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring suspense, thrilling stories that put the balance of world power or that will end the world as we know it. We include with Global Thrillers the Lab Lit genre. Lab Lit is when Fiction Meets Real Science and Research or stories that are based on real science and research up to a certain “what if” point.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Global Thriller High Stakes Fiction Short List to the 2021 Global Thriller Book Awards FINALISTS. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the FINALISTS of the 2021 Global Thriller Book Awards novel competition for International Suspense and Intrigue
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Avanti Centrae –The Doomsday Medallion
E. R. Barr –Gods In The Ruins: A Vatican Archives Thriller
Randall Krzak –Mission: Angola (Xavier Sear Thriller Book 1)
Stu Jones & Gareth Worthington –Condition Black
Norman M. Jacobs, MD, –A Divine Wind
J Lawrence Matthews –One Must Tell The Bees
Andrew Kaplan –Blue Madagascar
Ron McManus –The Chameleon
John Stafford –A Hand of Vengeance
Roberta Seret –Treasure Seekers
Kristie Clark –Killing Dragons
Timothy S. Johnston –Fatal Depth
These titles are in the running for the FIRST PLACE WINNERS of the 2021 Global Thriller Book Awards novel competition for High Stakes Fiction!
First Place and Grand Prize 2021 Global Thriller award winners will be announce at the CIBA Awards Ceremony and Banquet on Saturday, June 25, 2022. The CIBA Awards gala is hosted by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
Additionally, we also post on Twitter. Chanticleer Twitter’s handle is @ChantiReviews
Or click here to go directly to Chanticleer’s Twitter feed.
Good luck to all as your works move on the next rounds of judging for the First Place Positions and Grand Prize Winner of the 2021 Global Thrillers, a division of the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards.
The Grand Prize Winner for the 2020 GLOBAL THRILLER Awards was William Maz for The Bucharest Dossier
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Global Thriller Book Awards for High Stakes Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
The Global Thriller Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in High Stakes Thriller Fiction. The Global Thriller Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring suspense, thrilling stories that put the balance of world power or that will end the world as we know it. We include with Global Thrillers the Lab Lit genre. Lab Lit is when Fiction Meets Real Science and Research or stories that are based on real science and research up to a certain “what if” point.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from the 2021 Global Thriller High Stakes Fiction Long List to the 2021 Global Thriller Book Awards SHORT LIST. The Short Listers will compete for the FINALIST positions. Finalists will be selected from the Short List. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the FINALISTS of the 2021 Global Thriller Book Awards novel competition for High Stakes Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Avanti Centrae –The Doomsday Medallion
E. R. Barr –Gods In The Ruins: A Vatican Archives Thriller
Joe McNeil –Confronting the Enemy
Dimple Patel Desai –The Lambda Factor
Randall Krzak –Mission: Angola (Xavier Sear Thriller Book 1)
Stu Jones & Gareth Worthington –Condition Black
Norman M. Jacobs, MD, –A Divine Wind
J Lawrence Matthews –One Must Tell The Bees
Andrew Kaplan –Blue Madagascar
Ron McManus –The Chameleon
Kristie Clark –Dragon Clan
Gordon Bickerstaff –Tears of Fire
John Stafford –A Hand of Vengeance
Roberta Seret –Treasure Seekers
Kristie Clark –Killing Dragons
Timothy S. Johnston –Fatal Depth
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Global Thriller Book Awards for High Stakes Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
The Global Thriller Book Awards recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in Supernatural Fiction. The Global Thriller Book Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Book Awards (The CIBAs).
Chanticleer Book Reviews is looking for the best books featuring suspense, thrilling stories that put the balance of world power or that will end the world as we know it. We include with Global Thrillers the Lab Lit genre. Lab Lit is when Fiction Meets Real Science and Research or stories that are based on real science and research up to a certain “what if” point.
These titles have moved forward in the judging rounds from all 2021 Global Thriller High Stakes Fiction entries to the 2021 Global Thriller Book Awards LONG LIST. Entries below are now in competition for 2021 Global Thriller Shortlist. The Short Listers will compete for the FINALIST positions. Finalists will be selected from the Short List. All FINALISTS will be announced and recognized at the Chanticleer Authors Conference (CAC22).
The First Place Category Winners, along with the CIBA Division Grand Prize winners, will be selected from the 24 CIBA divisions’ Finalists.
We will announce the 1st Place Category winners and Grand Prize Division Winners at the CIBAs Banquet and Ceremony on Saturday, June 25th, 2022 at the luxurious Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham, Wash. sponsored by the 2022 Chanticleer Authors Conference.
These titles are in the running for the SHORT LIST of the 2021 Global Thriller Book Awards novel competition for High Stakes Fiction!
Join us in cheering on the following authors and their works in the 2021 CIBAs.
Kristie Clark – Killing Dragons
Kristie Clark – Dragon Clan
Dimple Patel Desai – The Lambda Factor
Paul Mark Tag – Retribution Times Two
Timothy S. Johnston – Fatal Depth
Ron McManus – The Chameleon
Gordon Bickerstaff – Tears of Fire
John Stafford – A Hand of Vengeance
Andrew Kaplan – Blue Madagascar
Roberta Seret – Treasure Seekers
Spaulding Taylor – Last Star Standing
Norman M. Jacobs, MD, Ms – A Divine Wind
Randall Krzak – Mission: Angola (Xavier Sear Thriller Book 1)
Stu Jones & Gareth Worthington – Condition Black
Avanti Centrae – The Doomsday Medallion
E. R. Barr – Gods In The Ruins: A Vatican Archives Thriller
Richard Garis – Magenta is Missing
Joe McNeil – Confronting the Enemy
Kevin Wilde – The Rookie and the Raven
J Lawrence Matthews – One Must Tell The Bees
Stu Jones & Gareth Worthington – Condition Black
PROMOTING OUR AUTHORS!
This post has been posted on the Chanticleer Facebook Page. We try to tag all authors listed here in the FB post. However, for FB to allow us to tag an author, that author must LIKE our page and Follow Chanticleer Reviews. FB rules — not ours.
We are now accepting submissions into the 2022 Global Thriller Book Awards for High Stakes Fiction. The 2022 CIBA winners will be announced at CAC 2023.
FLEXIBLE REGISTRATIONS ARE AVAILABLE for these challenging times.
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
At Chanticleer we are looking to discover the best books that feature Paranormal Romance, Urban/Edgy, Magical Beings & Creatures, Supernatural Powers, and Adventure/Mystery/Thriller books! The overlap with Fantasy and Science Fiction is palpable, but we know Paranormal when we see it. Paranormal often delves into the weird, bizarre, and spooky. There’s often a modern touch, similar to urban fantasy where the world looks similar to our world, just with ghosts, vampires, werewolves, and other supernatural creatures.
Now, some will draw a line between Supernatural Fiction and Paranormal Fiction, saying that Supernatural Fiction is always beyond the realm of science into transcendental subjects like the soul and God. While Paranormal Fiction is also beyond the realm of science, it lives on the lines of possibility, no matter how remote, that one day we might understand something of that strange and magical nature. While knowing this distinction exists, we won’t send a vampire after you if they feel confusing.
And of course, we have reviews of Paranormal reads that can thrill, chill, and fulfill you! Check them out!
SOUL SEEKER By Kaylin McFarren Grand Prize Winner in Paranormal Awards
The realms of demons and angels clash, as the possibility of romance, plunges the beings of Hell into chaos. Kaylin McFarren’s Soul Seeker follows the otherworldly set as they flee for their lives, uncover millennia-old secrets about one another, and face the possibility of love in a very dangerous world.
But first, the demon, Crighton, wreaks havoc on his human target, a man named Poe, devastating the man and his family. You could say, Crighton’s at home collecting wicked souls for his boss, Lucifer. His villain persona is put into question when he meets the angel, Ariel. At first, Crighton believes the angelic Ariel would make an excellent prize for the prince of darkness, as the demon is well aware that his master adores ruining pretty things. However, when an undeniable attraction emerges between them, they wrestle with each other, pitting strength against strength. Beware any who would do anything to tear these two apart—that would spell certain death.
When 17-year-old high school student, Stevie Wales, suddenly blossoms, she and her best friend, the ever-popular Winter, have some adjusting to do. Sometimes, however, adjusting to new information between friends isn’t possible.
In their case, Stevie winds up alienated from Winter and the group in her Puget Sound Island community. She decides to become what she believes they all see – the weird girl. As her oddity status rises, so does her anger. When she takes a job at an equine therapy ranch, tending the horses used in the program, she discovers her unusual ability to take away pain in both animals and humans.
The protagonist and all-around decent guy, Boone Daniels, is in a heap of hurt in JW Zarek’s new Young Adult novel, The Devil Pulls the Strings.
One would think being plagued by an evil spirit wendigo since age six would be enough inconvenience to last a lifetime, but when Boone jousts with his best bud at a Ren Faire and accidentally deals a mortal blow, the hurt he experiences suddenly lands on a sliding scale of 1 to 1 million. And Boone Daniels becomes a millionaire, so to speak.
No ordinary guy, Boone makes a living as a handyman and swashbuckling knight at Renaissance Faires around Missouri. He’s also uniquely gifted with a form of eidetic memory coupled with synesthesia. What’s that? Simply put, synesthesia allows people to see colors and taste things when they hear music – and an eidetic memory allows folks to memorize whatever they’ve seen or heard one time. But that’s not all. Boone can time-travel, make friends with almost any feline or shapeshifter, and convince a certain immortal he’s worth more as an ally than a snack. No kidding, Baba Yaya loves human meat.
WRITING IS MURDER: An Emlyn Goode Mystery by Susan Lynn Solomon First Place Winner in M&M Awards
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.
The MADWOMAN of PREACHER’S COVE By Joy Ross Davis Grand Prize Winner in Paranormal Awards
Award-winning author, Joy Ross Davis’ latest work, The Madwoman of Preacher’s Cove, ventures beyond the paranormal into the surreal. Like Medusa on a bad hair day, the lives of characters are intertwined and twisted in a snaky snarl of conflicting human desires, terrifying inexplicable events, and the lingering afterlives of ancient, supernatural beings.
Davis gifts us with a 21st-century legend, replete with mythological themes and creatures, and snippets of folklore and superstition melded with documented vagaries of weather, obscure herpetology, and creates a mystical potion worthy of Circe. In other words, Davis gives us a thrilling read!
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 availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn morehere.
If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Reviewhereor to one of our Chanticleer International Awardshere.
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!
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 availablehere.
And we do editorial consultations for $75. Learn morehere.
If you’re confident in your book, consider submitting it for a Editorial Book Reviewhereor to one of our Chanticleer International Awardshere.
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!
If you haven’t heard the news, Kiffer was interviewed on DIY MFA where she and Gabriela Pereira discuss
Why now is the best time to be an author
The difference between a write-up and a review
The Four Types of Reviews
How advance reviews help to promote your book
When you should start sending your book out for reviews
Plus, Kiffer’s #1 Tip for Writers
You can listen to the full interview on Chanticleer’s under the hood technology that gets increases the digital footprint of each book review published on Chanticleer’s website here or wherever you get your podcasts. Kiffer also gives quick and easy tips about how to get more “Amazon Love” to your book’s Amazon selling page. Below is a quick synopsis of the interview, but tune in to get the full scoop!
So what does all this mean? We have the inside scoop!
The Best Time to be an Author
With millions of books being published every year, it’s harder for an author to be noticed than ever! So why is now the best time to be an author?
Simply put, the number of resources available to authors now are greater than ever before. Not only can Chanticleer help you navigate this vast ocean of publishing, but we provide many of the tools directly. A brief list of our formidable resources are:
Overwhelmed? You can always email us at info@ChantiReviews.com for assistance, or message us directly on Facebook. Of course, one of our primary services is the Editorial Review.
A Write-Up vs A Review
The proof is in the pudding for write-ups vs reviews. A write-up, as said on Merriam-Webster is a review that is intended to be “flattering.” While there’s nothing wrong with one of these, readers will wisely be wary of them as they have a biased tone. By contrast, Editorial Reviews are unbiased and objective, referring to what a text specifically does or does not do – it focuses on the quality of the work. Editorial Reviews are an excellent way for readers to gauge their actual interest in a book, instead of having to read between the lines to see if it’s actually something they’ll enjoy. Both happen and can help with book sales, but an Editorial Review will be more versatile. Let’s dig into that!
The Four Types of Review
Editorial Reviews
These reviews are unbiased and objective, the standard by which readers measure if they’ll want to read a book or not. Chanticleer Editorial Reviews are a professional avenue for your book to be fairly assessed and get people talking about it! We keep up with the latest in Search Engine Optimization technology to maximize the digital footprint of our clients, including cross-posting across social media.
Chanticleer’s Marketing Kits are given to authors whose books receive a 4 or 5-star CBR review.Our kits include personalized Shelf Talkers you can use wherever your print book is sold, as well as samples of our silver-foil Book Review stickers designed to catch readers’ attention.
Typically, the best time to begin submitting your work for an Editorial Review is when you reach the proofing stage. Your reviewer will understand that the book is approaching its final form, and that minor changes will still be made. Your book will be evaluated, not on minor typographical errors, but on how well you’ve realized your story.
Reader Reviews
Close kin of the write-up, these are the kinds of reviews you’ll find everyone on Amazon and Goodreads letting you know how someone who read the book liked it. While some are helpful and provide real insight on the book, many are just a rating from 1-5, and the information relating to your book varies. You can’t be sure this reader is in your audience, even if they read your book! There’s no denying that reader reviews help your book do well, and it’s more of a question of quantity over quality, but they’re tricky to maneuver and guarantee.
Peer Review
One of the most difficult reviews to obtain is that of the peer review, or, as it’s commonly known, the book blurb. This describes an author or someone else in your circle of influence who readers will listen to. J.D. Barker, a regular presenter at The Chanticleer Authors Conference, has networked to have Stephen King blurb his thriller novels, and you can believe that King’s readers sit up an pay attention to that!
Circle of Influence is how Kiffer describes those who surround you that can directly contribute to your success as an author. If you aren’t sure who your circle includes, try writing down ten people who you know you can turn to for advice or support. Each year, you’ll want to grow this circle by another ten people. Kiffer and Sharon Anderson wrote an excellent article about this that you can read here.
JD Barker presented at CAC19 and VCAC21!
While you will, of course, reach out to authors on your level, it’s always good to have a few authors who are doing better than you blurb your book. Obviously, writers at the top of their game will be inundated with blurb requests, so be gentle and patient when asking, even if you never hear back.
The Manuscript Overview
This one is always unexpected, because a review of your manuscript doesn’t come after your book is done (or close to it). However, Kiffer recommends that you do a Manuscript overview around the second of third draft of your book. It’s before you’ve paid someone to painstakingly line edit and proofread your book, but after you feel comfortable with knowing the core of the story, and you know the ideas you want to convey are on the paper. That’s when you’re ready for your overview.
A manuscript overview (MOV) is a broad overview of your manuscript – what’s working and what isn’t from all aspects of your story: structure, plot, pacing, character development, dialogue, etc. Chanticleer can offer guidance on what you need next. Using a manuscript overview before you begin the editorial process will not only save you money in terms of editorial services down the road, but it also will save you time by clarifying where you are in writing your story right now.
Now that we’ve covered the four types of reviews, let’s continue to dig deeper into how you can use your Editorial Reviews
How Advance Reviews Can Support Your Book
So often when authors receive their Editorial Review, instead of inspiration lighting up the night sky telling them what to do next, there’s a strange buzzing sound that surely isn’t dread and uncertainty.
It’s okay! Of course, you’ll want to test bits of your Editorial Review as blurb material for you book. Feel free to be selective and grab multiple sound bites that you like to describe your book. Workshop them with friends and fellow writers in your circle of influence. For the other potential blurbs, you can use those on Amazon, Goodreads, Barnes Noble, and Kobo. Each one of those places has a special location for Editorial Reviews that the author can upload. The reason you use different quotes from you review for these is so that readers who come across your book on multiple platforms have something new to read in each spot. Editorial Reviews used in this way can really help drive presales.
If your book hasn’t been published yet, but is a manuscript that you are sending to agents and publishers, then the Editorial Review can still be used in the same way to market it to those you query regarding your book.
The other big thing is link to your review! Adding links on blog posts and websites increase your SEO rating, and having your digital footprints over a wide path with help readers come across your book online.
When Should you Solicit Reviews?
At least six months in advance. In times where shipping is not being impacted by a global pandemic, it takes about two weeks to receive a shipment of books. And that’s in the best case scenario. Remember, even if all you have left to do is proofreading, your book will still have the following to go through before it can go to print:
Interior Formatting
Cover Design
Proof Copies
The interior formatting and cover design time varies greatly, and the time it takes to receive a galley or proof of your book will be another two weeks for shipping. Six moths will be the minimum amount of time you’ll want to make sure the blurb can appear somewhere on your book and then will be sent out in marketing packages. Bestselling books are often sent out a year or more in advance to receive reviews.
The book is a wonderful tool for someone interested in an MFA, but sitting on the fence. It walks you through the essentials of what an MFA program provides, and the dives into how to create a similar situation, while providing craft tips on par with the latest advice from top-tier editors. Highly Recommended!
Seating is Limited. The esteemed WRITER Magazine (founded in 1887) has repeatedly recognized the Chanticleer Authors Conference as one of the best conferences to attend and participate in for North America.
Join us for our 10th annual conference and discover why!
In Winter’s Reckoning by Adele Holmes, a mercurial new pastor in town threatens the families of two women. 
