Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Best Books

Spring Events and Updates from Chanticleer Reviews

CBR to Attend BEA and BookCon, May 27, 28, 29, & 30!

Book Expo of America NYC – It’s the leading book and author event in the North American publishing industry.

It is the largest gathering of booksellers, publishers, librarians, retailers, and book industry professionals of the year—making it the best place to learn about the latest trends and technologies in the biz.

BookCon is an immersive experience that features interactive, forward thinking content including Q+A’s with the hottest talent, autographing sessions, storytelling podcasts, special screenings, literary quiz shows and so much more.

Kiffer Brown, publisher of Chanticleer Reviews, has been given a BEA press pass and a BookCon Editorial Media Badge. She will report back to the Chanticleer Community of Authors and Writers. Look for her blog posts and tweets! @ChantiReviews and @KifferBrown.

The BEA Expo takes place on May 27, 28, & 29th at the Jacob Javitz Center, NYC. Click on the link for more information about BEA.
BookCon takes place on Saturday and Sunday, May 30 & 31, at the Jacob Javitz Center, NYC. Click on the link for more information about BookCon NYC.

Historical Novel Society Affiliation

It’s OFFICIAL — The Historical Novel Society is a sponsor of the Chanticleer Authors Conference 2015 and Chanticleer Reviews is a sponsor of the HNS 2015 North American conference in Denver, Colorado.

The Historical Novel Society conference will take place on June 26, 27, & 28, Denver Colorado. If you are attending HNS, please stop by our exhibit table and say hello.

UPDATED INFORMATION as of May 14th — this just in!

The Chaucer Awards winners and The Laramie Awards winners will be recognized at the HNS Saturday Awards and Costume Banquet that will feature Special Guest Diana Gabaldon–the author of the acclaimed Outlander book series as well as the TV series on Starz. Janet Oakley, who won the Chanticleer Grand Prize for her historical novel Tree Soldier and Sean Curley, the Chaucer Awards grand prize winner for his novel Propositum will be recognized along with other First In Category award winners for these two Chanticleer Writing Competitions divisions.

If you are attending HNS and are a First in Category Award Winner or Finalist in the Chaucer or Laramie Awards, please contact Kiffer Brown immediately at KBrown@Chanticleer Reviews.com. Thank you!

We are excited to have the Historical Novel Society as an affiliate of Chanticleer Reviews and Writing Competitions. And we are proud to be an affiliate of the venerable HNS!

Chanticleer Reviews is a Supporter Chuckanut Writers Conference.

We are proud to support this local pacific northwest writers conference for four years in a row.

The conference takes place on June 26 & 27 at the Whatcom Community College located in Bellingham, Washington. Chanticleer Reviews will have a table at the Syre Student Center, so please stop by and say hi to Paulina! We will have candy!

Don’t Forget to Register for Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala 2015!

Take advantage of the Early Bird Special! The conference will take place over four days: attend all four days or select the days that fit your schedule.

Saturday, Sept. 26: CAC15 sessions and master workshops will take place at Bellingham Yacht Club. That evening we will kick things off with a BBQ and dancing to live music at the BYC.

Sunday, Monday, & Tuesday, Sept. 27, 28, & 29 will feature sessions, presentations, and panels during the day with daily featured keynote luncheons, “Appy Hours” sponsored by Books I Love, a staffed Book Room open to the public, and evening dinners. The conference culminates on Tuesday evening with the Chanticleer Awards Banquet and Gala.

Be sure to visit www.ChanticleerReviews.com for the latest information and the growing list of presenters.

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How SSL works: Secure Socket Layer certificates encrypt all the information going to and coming from Chanticleer Reviews, L.L.C. website, securing it from unauthorized interception and making sure that your information remains private.

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Thank you for your continued support of Chanticleer Reviews and Writing Competitions!

May 13, 2015
BECAUSE of the CAMELS, by Brenda Blair

Because of the Camels is an inspiring story about a little known account of the incredible journey that brought Egyptian camels to rugged Texas in the mid-1800s. This historical novel skillfully weaves more into the story than just a depiction of what happened; it is a story of many cultures, the coming upheaval with the war that changed our nation, and the pioneering of the West and of Texas.

More uniquely interesting was the portrayal of people from two different cultures, East/Islamic and Western/Christian, encountering their societies and customs for the very first time that is enlightening about the isolation of different cultures before the age of television or radio.

Elizabeth McDermott, an up and coming socialite from one of Galveston’s most prominent families has no idea of the grand adventure that awaits her when the camels arrive in port. Nor do the three young men Alex, Nate and Hassan who accompany the camels. Their lives will intersect in ways that none of them could have imagined.

But this is not just Elizabeth’s story, nor is there ultimately one main character; more it is the story of how bringing the camels effected the lives of those half-way around the world, the military men who were in charge of the special mission to procure the animals and then get them back to U.S. for the Army Camel Corps, the brave Egyptian young man who accompanied the camels, the plight of non-whites in ante bellum Texas, and the arrival of German immigrants. Tensions soon mount from the effect of all of these new cultural aspects clashing.

To counterbalance some more of the gritty scenes that are historically accurate of the time, there are also many delightful scenes. But readers should be aware that the author did not overlook the racism and subjugation of people of color that was prevalent at that time. I felt that her descriptions were so vivid that they truly took you back to Egypt, to the trans-Atlantic sail, to the crushed covered streets of Galveston, to the beautiful colored bays and its abundance of life that surrounded Saluria; to the vast expanse of the prairie grasses in the unsettled lands near San Antonio. Each scene is so well depicted that one effortlessly travels back in time to become part of the adventures told. U.S. history and military buffs will appreciate this well-researched book. Those looking for an antebellum romance will also enjoy reading it.

Not only was I captivated by the imagery the author created, but I was taken away by how well each character in the story was developed. The author developed each and every character so well that you can’t help but feel that you are having tea with Elizabeth, riding the camels with Hassan and Alex, sitting around the campfire listing to the tales spun by the camel men, and rocking on the porch with Jeremy.

The story of the camels’ journey to America and the part they played in American history is one that I found to be most informative and entertaining. Ms. Blair had me turning the pages to find out what will happen to the McDermott family, Hassan and the camel men, Alex and his Uncle Babcock, Nate and his grandfather, as well as the many other characters. This is one story I will not soon forget.

Because of the Camels was awarded the Laramie Awards First Place for Historical Western Novels. The Laramie Awards is a division of Chanticleer Novel Writing Competitions.

May 8, 2015
The CHAUCER Awards for Historical Fiction – Official 2014 Finalists List
The CHAUCER Awards recognizes emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Historical Fiction Novels. The Chaucer Awards is a division of the Chanticleer International Blue Ribbon Awards Writing Competitions.

More than $25,000 dollars in cash and prizes will be awarded to Chanticleer International Blue Ribbon Awards Winners annually.

The Chaucer Awards for Historical Fiction has twelve categories to compete in for First Place Category Positions. The Chaucer First in Category award winners will compete for the Chaucer Grand Prize Award for Best Historical Book 2014. Grand Prize winners, blue ribbons, and prizes will be announced and awarded on September 29th at the Chanticleer Authors Conference and Awards Gala, Bellingham, Wash.

We are proud to announce last year’s award winners and this year’s Chaucer finalists at the Historical Novel Society’s 2015 Conference in Denver, Colorado that will take place on June 27, 2015.

The CHAUCER Historical Novel Competition Categories are:
- Women’s Historical Fiction
- Legacy/Legend
- Pre-historic
- Ancient History
- Medieval, Renaissance, Dark Ages
- Elizabethan/Tudor
- 1600s
- Regency, Victorian, 1700s & 1800s
- Turn of the 19th century
- Turn of the 20th century
- World Wars
- Young Adult/New Adult
- World/International History
Congratulations to following CHAUCER 2014 FINALISTS and good luck to all as they compete for the twelve First In Category positions:
- Michael S. Pritchett for Saints and Strangers
- P. Lorraine Buck for By Blood and By Vow
- J.S. Dunn for Bending the Boyne
- Mary S. Black for Peyote Fire
- S. Thomas Bailey for Forest Sentinels: The Gauntlet Runner
- Kerryn Reid for Learning to Waltz
- Sandy James for Runaway
- Michael J. Cooper for The Rabbi’s Knight
- J. P. Kenna for Beyond the Divide
- R.N. Vick for Wings of Fury
- Patricia Averbach for Painting Bridges
- Rebecca Lochlann for The Year-God’s Daughter and The Thinara King
- Jared McVay for The Legend of Joe, Willy, & Red
- Syril Levin Kline for Shakespeare’s Changeling: A Fault Against the Dead
- Emma Rose Milar and Kevin Allen for Five Guns Blazing
- Elizabeth Soloway for The Great Deception
- Anna Angelidakis for The Icon Thief
- T.E. Taylor for Zeus of Ithome
- J.L. Oakley for Timber Rose
- Susanne Petito Egielski for Nelson’s Castle: a Bronte Fairy Tale
- David Brendan Hopes for The One with the Beautiful Necklaces
- Lilian Gafni for The Alhambra Decree: Flower of Castile
- Gloria Javillonar Palileo for The Indios
- William Jarvis for The Partisan
- Helena P. Schrader for St. Louis’ Knight
- Michele Rene for I Once Knew Vincent
- Jodi Lew Smith for The Clever Mill Horse
- Catherine A Wilson and Catherine T Wilson for The Lily and The Lion
- Gregory Erich Phillips for The Love of Finished Years
- Chelsea Lemon Fetzer for The River Map
- Ben Sharpton for 7 Sanctuaries
- Jeff Ridenour for The Art Procurer
- Elisabeth Storrs for The Golden Dice: A Tale of Ancient Rome
- Sharon Short for My One Square Inch of Alaska
- Ruth Hull Chatlien for The Ambitious Madame Bonaparte
- Ginger Cucolo for The Knoll and Beyond the Knoll
- Wendy Roberts for Where the Foxes Say Goodnight
- Jeff Braun for The Secret of the Just
- Dr. Evan Mahoney for Nongae of Love and Courage
- Steph A Amey for Holloway 8632
- Jeni Renner for Puritan Witch
- James Zerndt for The Korean Word for Butterfly
- Michael Hugos for Leptis Magna: Emperor’s Dream on the Edge of a Desert
- William Meisheid for The Partisan
- Donna Scott for Shame the Devil
- Karleene Morrow for Destinies
- Gita Simic and G.T. Simm for As for Costanza
- Michael D. McGranahan for Silver Kings and Sons of Bitches
Finalists will continue on to compete for a first place category win in their sub-genre, and then for the overall grand prize of the 2014 Chaucer Awards. The First In Category award winners will receive an award package including a complimentary book review, digital award badges, shelf talkers, book stickers, and more.

We are now accepting entries into the 2015 Chaucer Awards. The deadline is May 31, 2015. Click here for more information or to enter.

More than $30,000 worth of cash and prizes will be awarded to the Chanticleer Novel Writing Competition winners! Ten genres to enter your novels and compete on an international level.

Who will take home the $1,000 purse this September at the Chanticleer Awards Gala and Banquet?

Last year’s Chanticleer Grand Prize winner was Michael Hurley, for The Prodigal.

You know you want one!
May 5, 2015
The VINEYARD by Michael Hurley

Martha’s Vineyard, an island located south of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, provides the tradition-laden setting for a summer reunion of three long-time girlfriends, who were roommates in college. Dory, Charlotte, and Turner are now in their early thirties, single, sharing their mistakes and their lives’ courses, which find them alternately in heaps of tears and laughter as they get reacquainted.

For as pleasant a place as a well-appointed island guest-house should be for a reunion, a cloud of ominousness hovers over it. One of the girlfriends, Charlotte, has a darker purpose for attending the gathering. We, the readers, are accompanied onto the island with Charlotte and her well-thought out plan for self-destruction. Charlotte is distraught over a decision by the Catholic Church over her deceased daughter, and would rather be with her little girl than to try to find purpose or happiness in this life. However, the best laid schemes of mice and men (or in this case, women) often go awry.

Dory, the host with the Vineyard estate, connections, and an overbearing mother, is staying the course of all familial expectations, driven by decades of what was handed down to her. Turner, the last to join the trio, has reason to doubt her course, but is too ashamed to confront Dory with what she knows.

Mysteries, both major and minor, are introduced in the form of a stealthy blue-eyed fisherman – the only one who can find shrimp in the area; a glowing red light, and unexplained occurrences that have miraculous results for two of the ladies. The story takes unexpected twists and turns, as it meanders into the history of some of the local men and their relationships with the women.

Surrounded by wealth, deception, opulent parties, and the high life of summer at the Vineyard, the fisherman stands in contrast as a beacon of innocence and light; a moral compass in a world of selfishness, extravagance and greed – an almost Christ-like figure some presume to be a prophet. That makes him a target of those with lower impulses and motivations, and one of the women will betray him in an effort to save herself.

Trust is violated in multiple ways as the women seek justice for some of the wrongs inflicted upon them by those with self-serving motives, motives that are in conflict with the trust their posts should elicit. Intimate situations arise, or in some cases, barely arise, and not always to the satisfaction of both parties. Blackmail, manipulation, and ulterior motives abound. Meanwhile, one of the three is leaking out the miracles and the oddities of their summer via her blog, causing a stir none of them could have anticipated.

Michael Hurley’s signature style of metaphor and allegory runs delightfully just below the surface of the storyline adding dimension and intrigue. Scandal and betrayal juxtapose the idyllic and captivating setting of Martha’s Vineyard in this enigmatic work that encompasses tragedy and hope, human frailties and strengths, of contemporary American society.

The Vineyard is a multi-layered modern tale of women’s self discovery and coming into their own, of men getting their comeuppance, and mysteries begging to be solved. An exposé of marriage and the Catholic Church drive the events and the histories of the characters and place. But where tradition may be lost, hope is not. As the final pages approach all too quickly, The Vineyard delivers the satisfaction one hopes for, just as the rising tide carries a beached vessel back to safety of the deep.

Michael Hurley’s The Prodigal won the Chanticleer Grand Prize for Best Book 2013 and the Somerset Grand Prize for Literary Fiction. The Prodigal was optioned for film rights by Diane Isaacs, executive film producer August 2014. His memoir, Once Upon a Gypsy Moon, is published by Hachette. We are looking forward to reviewing his next work, The Passage, that will chronicle his solo Atlantic Ocean crossing on his 30-foot sailboat, The Prodigal.

April 26, 2015
JANUS UNFOLDING: EMERGENCE by C.A. Knutsen

In the remote town of Frazier, Washington, a house fire burns so inexplicably white-hot that the firemen are forced to retreat. There are no known materials used in home construction or interior decoration that can explain the heat and ferocity of the blaze. Upon closer examination of the charred remains of the structure, the firemen discover a body burned so completely that only bones survived. And in the surrounding property, they find the comatose bodies of three professional assassins, clearly laid out for the authorities.

From that intriguing beginning, author C. A. Knutsen draws the reader into alternating stories in Janus Unfolding: Emergence—one placed slightly into the future, and one placed roughly in present day. Chapters flip back and forth from a crime scene investigation that initially stumps the authorities to a description of the childhood of a gifted boy named Jimmy, who exhibits unusual intellectual and physical prowess. The reader soon learns that the Jimmy, who became the adult Jim Post, a reclusive rich man about whom little is known, was killed in the house fire.

Determined to find answers, Jim Post’s business partner, Jeff Pierce, along with the help of the Frazier and Seattle police detectives as well as an Artificial Intelligence program named Martha, work to discover why anyone would murder a man who had no enemies and who had dedicated his life to making the world a better place in which to live. The mystery of exactly what happened in those woods will keep readers eagerly turning the pages.

This novel is, however, far more than a typical whodunit and crime scene investigation; it is a novel about the evolution of mankind. It is also a novel about the reactions of mankind once it learns of that evolution. Readers are drawn into the lives of each of the characters in the book, and are curiously compelled to find out what will happen to them, and whether as a species, Homo sapiens can accept the changes happening within our own societies.

The extensive chapters of the main character’s childhood would make for slow reading if they weren’t essential to eventually understanding the theme of Janus Unfolding: Emergence. However, Knutsen’s accurate portrayal of martial arts scenes will appeal to those who have an interest in the subject. Similarly, readers who enjoy a dash of science fiction in their whodunits will find the descriptions of DNA sequencing and evolution of our species fascinating.

This intriguing novel is not one that fits squarely into the mystery genre, or that follows the standard formula and plot for either a mystery or a SciFi novel. However, readers of both genres will find it a compelling and thought-provoking novel that crosses new boundaries. Highly recommended.

April 10, 2015
CATENAE by S.E. Curtis

Debut author S. E. Curtis has penned an intriguing science fiction novel about one family’s fight to defend humanity’s natural timeline. The family, consisting of two generations of noble fighters, has been tasked with guarding the time continuum of all reality, ensuring that no one can alter it in such a way to change the course of history.

The story begins in present day, when beautiful, young Tamara Decaire, a second-generation Family member, is injured in a battle against her enemy. She quickly time-travels back to a present-day hospital ER for treatment. Danny Nolan, an ER surgeon who works the night shift, struggles to save her life. Though her unusual wounds don’t appear to be fatal, she is also presenting symptoms of some type of toxic poisoning. He makes a risky decision to treat her as if she has been poisoned, thus saving her life. However, in the process he has temporarily damaged the tiny nano-processors inside her body that give her the extraordinary powers she uses to fight her galactic enemies.

Upon awakening, Tamara realizes that her ability to fight off her assassin is temporarily weakened. She enlists the help of Danny to get her out of the hospital and moved to a location where she can recover. Thus begins a race against Time to identify Tamara’s powerful, elusive enemies, in which Danny travels into the future and to other planets with the aid of Tamara’s Family members.

S.E. Curtis has written an action-filled adventure that is sure to engage science fiction readers. The author describes a world built on the fascinating premise that all of history is connected, in a cause and effect continuum, back to the origins of reality itself. Those continuums, called catenae, must be protected against any type of modification. The Family, whose members squabble and fight in engagingly human ways, must ensure that no catena is altered in such a way that it changes the course of history. To do that, they must guard their own catena, to ensure their own survival and thus the survival of Reality itself.

The author seems to have left open the possibility of more books, making Catenae, hopefully, the first novel in what should become a very popular series.

Warning of Adult Content: This novel contains non-graphic depictions of rape and torture that may offend some readers. There is a description of repeated rape and torture of the main character in exposition, in the first part of the book. However, the events are not graphically depicted, just told.

April 2, 2015
THE WATCHER by Lisa Voisin

Mia Crawford is a vibrant, outgoing high school student in West Seattle with a close circle of friends. She shares most things in her life with them, but not the strange occurrences that keep her guessing her own sanity: cloudy dog-like creatures with menacing red eyes that chase her, voices cloaked in static, flickering lights, and even real people no one else sees. Mia’s family isn’t around much – Mom works a lot, her dad has a different life out of state, and her brother is away at college. She feels everything with deep intensity, as the smallest events trigger emotional responses landing on both ends of the spectrum.

Two new boys arrive at her high school this year: the first is mysterious Michael, who experienced death after an accident but came back. He is beautiful, strong, and seems to show an interest in Mia, always showing up at just the right time. She quickly develops strong affections for him, but he does not reciprocate her feelings. Instead, he pushes her away, disappointing and confounding her, giving rise to her insecurities.

Damiel, the other new boy, shows up dashing and debonair on his vintage motorcycle. All the girls swoon under his attention, and he pursues Mia persistently. Michael warns her to stay away from him, and she really doesn’t like Damiel. However, she is inexplicably drawn to him, in spite of being in love with Michael.

Mia loves the study of ancient civilizations and literature. She lives out her painful crush through a classroom reading of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Sometimes she has visions of another world, seeing at times a meadow, a loom, and large birds circling in a fight to the death. She also knows she has some kind of connection with Michael, and that he and Damiel have a history. But nothing could prepare her for knowing the truth of that history, and her role in it.

Things become heated when Michael and Damiel confront each other in an other-worldly fight over Mia. When she finally discovers the truth, it sends her on a soul-searching journey of love and redemption, and into a supernatural battle of good and evil, involving angels and demons.

Voisin transports us visually into Mia’s world with rich details, from places as mundane as a wall locker in a school corridor, to a thrilling winged flight high above the city. We ache with Mia for Michael’s touch when he is near, and feel Michael’s pain for resisting.

The mundanity of high school life and petty spats gives way to an other-worldly realm with life and death significance. Mia and Michael have a tragic past that occurred before recorded history, resulting in Mia’s early death and Michael’s fall from his fold into hell and guilt-ridden remorse. Only Mia’s strength can save them in this lifetime; is she up to the task?

The author draws from principles of many different sources, from the Bible and the Quran to Tarot cards, giving none any greater importance than the others, and without judgment. The Watcher will keep you guessing, and feeling, and leave you with great hope.

The Watcher by Lisa Voisin was awarded the Grand Prize Award for Paranormal Novels, a division of Chanticleer Reviews Novel Competitions.

April 1, 2015
Summer Shorts & Novellas 2015 Official Finalists Listing
The Finalist results for the 2015 Spring/Summer Short Stories and Novellas are in!

We are pleased to announce the following authors whose works have made it to the Finalist round and will go on to compete for First Place Summer Shorts Award.

Prize Package for the First Place Summer Shorts Award Winner: A Chanticleer Review Package or a $ 100 purse for Overall First Place for Spring/Summer Reads. The award winner will be recognized at the CBR Awards Banquet 2015.

Congratulations are in order to the following authors and their works:
- Robert Cone for Redcoats!
- Jianna Higgins for Destiny’s Alliance
- Jianna Higgins for Just Waiting
- L.S. Kilroy for Roma
- Charles Kowalski for Let This Cup Pass From Me
- Elaine MacPherson for One Twenty-Nine
- Alix Nichols for Falling for Emma
- Alix Nichols for You’re the One
- YA/New Adult: Natasha Tsakos for Colours
- Annie Wood for Just a Theory: a Quantum Love Adventure
We are now accepting entries into the Winter Shorts 2016 writing competition. Please click here for more information or to enter.
April 1, 2015
BY the SWORD: SPOILS of OLYMPUS by Christian Kachel

By the Sword is an atmospheric and character driven coming-of-age story that takes place in the years immediately following the untimely death of Alexander the Great. The news of his death traveled quickly throughout the land. He was born to the King of Macedon and was tutored as a noble and later by Aristotle. When he died, his kingdom was one of the largest the ancient world had known—more than 2 million square miles. His unexpected death left a vacuum of power and chaos. Civil wars and power grabs from Alexander’s generals tore this great empire apart. This is when Kachel’s enthralling Hellenic military epic begins.

Andrikos grew up during Alexander’s rule. Now everything has changed. The story begins in his village when he is an errant adolescent more interested in his next drink or round of sex. He is in no hurry to have the responsibilities of an adult. Kachel illustrates the ages-old influence that peers may have on young men and how they can affect them and their actions—changing their lives forever—for better or for worse. Young Andrikos hangs out with the wrong crowd and is swept up in their illicit behaviors and actions. He finds that he must flee his family and his home to save himself from an unintentional crime—forever changing him and his life.

Andrikos has no real plans for his life. Suddenly he finds that the only option he has is to join the armies of Alexander to escape his past. However, he was unprepared for the brutal conditioning and the heartlessness of the recruiters whose job it is to ferret out the weak from the strong. Kachel vividly portrays these horrific and brutal experiences through the eyes and heart of Andrikos as he undergoes the physical and mental conditioning that is forced upon him and his fellow recruits. There is no turning back. The only way out is death or fight to live another day.

Kachel captures what could happen when trained killers are left to their own devices and their own greed and bloodlust without guidance and a chain of command in this satisfying read. He also brings forward the importance of having a mentor can be to the young and inexperienced. Vettias is a confident and self-reliant warrior with a complicated background in gathering intelligence. He recognizes potential in Andrikos and takes on the mantle of becoming his mentor and teacher. Under Vettias’ guidance, Andrikos develops and matures into more than a foot soldier as he learns of honor and integrity, of treachery and deceit, and of friendship and loyalty.

By the Sword is a well-researched military historical epic where Christian Kachel, the author, portrays the effect that chaotic, warring times have on women and children, on the weak and infirmed, and the men who are caught up in the violent and ruthless swells of battles, and then the heartrending aftermath that follows even on the heels of victory.

One cannot help but think of the millions of young people who are going through their own coming of age throes in the heat of battles and skirmishes that are taking place at this very moment. Kachel, who has served three tours of duty in Afghanistan and Iraq, writes with compelling adroitness about what Andrikos experiences as he makes his journey from an oblivious youth to a young man whose eyes have been opened to the cruelty of war but still manages to maintain his empathy for his fellow man and holds on to his humanity.

Be warned that Kachel does not whitewash the horrors of war, nor the rape and brutish treatment of women and children, nor the screams of pain and the blank eyes of starvation in the telling of his epic.

Christian Kachel’s By the Sword is a fine debut novel that explores the little known, but fascinating, age of post-Alexandrian Greece. Its intriguing interwoven storylines of a young man’s coming of age, of alliances and espionage, and of harrowing battles scenes will be sure to captivate readers and keep them turning the pages even as they wince and grimace with Kachel’s no-holds- barred descriptions in this well-researched historical narrative. We look forward to reading more from Kachel about what awaits Andrikos in his next adventure.

Historical Fiction: Military, Classical Age
Targeted Audience: New Adult, military history buffs, Classical Studies

March 28, 2015
IN a VERTIGO of SILENCE by Miriam Polli

Debut novelist Miriam Polli has written an interwoven, multi-generational story, spanning four decades from the 1920s to the 1960s, of a grandmother who is a first-generation Polish American immigrant, her daughters, and her granddaughter.

The novel moves back and forth in time, juxtaposing the granddaughter Emily’s story with those of her mother, her aunts, and her grandmother. As you are drawn into the lives of each of these women and the choices they made, you slowly begin to realize the impact on each successive generation and in particular, on Emily.

As the grandmother is dying, a terrible family secret, one that dates from when Emily was just six weeks old, comes to light. How will this secret affect Emily’s life, once the truth is revealed?

This novel deals with difficult subjects, such as alcoholism, abuse, and mental illness, which can damage a family in ways that only become clear after decades. It is an intimate, touching portrait of the daily lives of resilient women who are forced to cope with these problems during a time when such diseases were little understood.

It is also a heart-warming, emotional depiction of the relationship between the matriarch of the family, the grandmother Marishka, and the granddaughter Emily. Polli has gifted us with exquisitely drawn characters who instantly become real people to us, drawing us into the beauty and tragedy of their lives.

Readers who enjoy novels spanning several generations of a family, providing glimpses into its collective consciousness, will enjoy this lovingly rendered story with its themes of cruelty, loss and ultimately, tenacity. Anyone who has experienced the fractures that can occur over time in a family will be deeply moved by the stories of these strong, intelligent women.

In a Vertigo of Silence by Miriam Polli resets the bar of excellence for debut literary women’s fiction.

March 27, 2015