Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Chanticleer 5 Star Book Review

A HAUNTING At LINLEY: A Henrietta and Inspector Howard Novel by Michelle Cox – Cozy Mysteries, Murder Mysteries, Women Sleuths

Dire darkness descends upon Castle Linley in A Haunting at Linley by award-winning author Michelle Cox. Lord Linley is dead, black blankets and sashes cover windows, mirrors, and all sources of light. Mourning overtakes all—well, almost all.

Henrietta and her husband, Inspector Clive Howard, return to England and the estate. They come to offer comfort, but quickly discover the family needs much more help than anticipated.

Lord Linley’s death is only the first.

Another death follows, and it’s clearly murder. The killer remains a threat among the estate’s residents and guests, who witness yet more extraordinary and concerning activities.

Henrietta and Clive find Lady Linley beside herself with grief. Her son Wallace shows patience with his mother but has his hands full with his own emotions and the practical concerns of the estate. A fast-evolving financial crisis due to pending taxes and other complications demands immediate action. After all, Wallace is now Lord Linley.

Henrietta and Clive help where they can. Wallace decides to quickly put the estate, or at the very least parts of the estate, up for sale. He presses on despite great resistance from his mother and other people involved.

A local realtor arrives to show the home to a potential buyer, but the sale is called off when the agent is found poisoned. Everyone at the estate becomes suspects. A local inspector begins questioning them, but, with Clive’s own background as an inspector and the investigations he and Henrietta have conducted, the duo grow concerned that the local police may be inept. To solve the murder, they have to open their own investigation.

The family, guests, and staff at Castle Linley all have their own distinct and compelling motives to uncover.

As Clive and Henrietta explore different possibilities and question the suspects, they run into personal danger. The haunting of the castle adds a further eerie dimension to the facts of the case, as Lady Linley is certain the culprit must be the spirit of a maid who had been hanged.

In the meantime, other family members outside England are left to manage crises of their own. Elsie and Gunther are living peacefully on a farm in Omaha, meeting life’s struggles head on. Then Elsie is stunned to find Oldrich Exely at their door one day. He has an idea for a specific course of action Elsie must take to change her life, and he is determined to make her comply. Julia struggles with terrible marital issues. Melody is plunged into mischief and can’t find her way out. The historical setting of the 1930’s is well presented across this variety of locales.

The award-winning duo of Henrietta and Inspector Howard continues with a complex new puzzler in this seventh book of the series.

A Haunting at Linley maintains the cozy, suspenseful plotting. It’s filled with interesting clues that invites readers to try to solve the mystery alongside the investigators.

Each character remains consistent in personality throughout the series and is fascinating to follow and analyze as their character continue to develop throughout each book. An abundant array of suspects are on display for the reader to scrutinize their actions, motivations, and secrets. As the suspense builds on every page, the apparent paranormal incidents will keep you wondering who or what has taken up A Haunting at Linley.

A Haunting at Linley by Michelle Cox won Grand Prize in the 2023 CIBA M&M Awards for Cozy and Not-So-Cozy Mysteries.

December 9, 2024
FISHING With HYENAS by Theresa Mathews – Life at Sea, Surviving Loss, Women’s Memoirs

Theresa Mathews’ memoir, Fishing with Hyenas, is filled with adventure, love, and the spirit of an explorer, all on the high seas. In the audio version, the author herself tells this gripping story of love and death, grief and recovery.

Mathews begins the book in a place most difficult for her. She takes us through her emotional devastation at the news of her husband’s death. We see all the stages of her grief from the initial call: denial, disbelief, bargaining, and finally acceptance. Readers will be hooked in the first chapter.

She then deftly fills in the gaps with the backstory of how she met her husband Bart, their first date, their decision to commit to one another, and her first time she went for a ride on his Harley. These are often hilarious recaps of her anger and frustration, and her examination of what this relationship with a man who loved the sea would mean for her city-girl life.

Mathews alternates between the present and past with perfect pacing, giving readers a balance between the immersion in and relief from the intense emotion of her husband’s unexpected death.

She perfectly captures the experience of grief, revealing her weaknesses and her strengths. The support she received—and the support she gives in return when tragedy hits the families of her friends—is truly inspiring.

Mathews paints the colorful world of what living and working on the ocean meant for Bart and herself.

She explores the limits of surviving on the Pacific in a tuna boat with a dead engine. She masterfully builds tension, then releases it, just as the ocean swells take hold of their boat, then release them. Mathews takes us through storms both emotional and meteorological, and by the time she wraps up this heartfelt memoir, we are on the other side of grief and loss and perhaps have a new idea of how to survive ourselves.

This memoir embraces reality head-on. It reveals the best and the worst about fishing: being at sea for months at a time, weathering monster storms with only a small crew to manage the onslaught of waves and high winds, and sometimes, dealing with the raw guilt of surviving that crashes down upon a person.

Old timers will appreciate reminiscing about fishing large schools with colorful jigs, when fish were still sold at market value.

Mathews captures the love of the sea held by her late husband and the members of the Hyenas—a name that has a fabulous story to tell on its own. She develops salty characters that we grow to love, only for us to grieve when they are gone. We relate to Mathews’ own grief and her struggles after Bart’s death. Even if we’re not fishermen, we easily understand the depths of her loss.

Readers of women’s fiction, memoir, fishing, boat stories, or survival stories will all draw something from this excellent audiobook of Mathews’ memoir Fishing with Hyenas. They’ll find much to laugh, cry, and get goosebumps about as they come to understand the many perils of loving a man who loves the sea.

This is a five-star listen!

Fishing with Hyenas won First Place in the 2017 CIBA Journey Awards for Narrative Non-Fiction.

December 6, 2024
IVER And LUKE And The FRIENDS-For-OTHERS CLUB: Owning the Dash Kid’s Books by Anthony C. Delauney, illustrated by Chiara Civati – Children’s Friendship Books, Picture Books, Children’s Determination Books

Iver and Luke and the Friends-for-Others Club by award-winning author Anthony C. Delauney, tells an accessible moral tale about helping one’s friends. With relatable characters and vivid illustrations in a panorama of colors by Chiara Civati, it’s a story that will surely garner the rapt attention of little book lovers.

Life sometimes leads us into unexpected storms, throwing us off balance for a while before we get back to our feet. Some of these setbacks require us to change and recognize that we are not alone. It is during these times of adversity that we discover who our true friends are and how much we can lean on their shoulders to make it through the bad.

Iver and Luke and the Friends-for-Others Club keeps young readers engaged while teaching them the values of resilience, hard work, and true friendship through a cast of endearing characters.

When Iver and Luke’s mother suffers a severe leg injury after falling off her bike, their father takes up the responsibility of being her caregiver while she recuperates at home. Little Iver and his brother enthusiastically offer to help with the many chores at home in an attempt to lighten their father’s duties. They create a “Family Jobs List,” jotting down all the work that needs to be done daily, weekly, and monthly. However, a shadow of doubt is cast upon the two when they realize the duties are too many and they don’t know where to start.

Apprehensive but determined, Iver and Luke start their new tasks with firm resolve as they forge ahead to establish a money-making venture. The two boys are quickly overwhelmed by their new routine. But thankfully, their friends note their sluggishness at school and realize they need to help the two boys. Providing a real-life example that proves true friends are life’s most valuable gifts.

This story offers children vibrant illustrations, characters they can identify with, and a story that will make them see the world through a new lens.

Delauney deftly handles complex issues such as sickness, caregiving, household chores, cooperation, compassion, and the value of being a good neighbor. He creates a safe place for young readers to ponder and slowly digest the lessons learned. The pleasant choice of font, the use of warm colors, and the dynamic designs on each page enhance the storytelling and will keep kids glued to the story.

Delaney’s read-out-loud tale is a great avenue into a conversation about supporting your community for parents who want to cultivate a sense of responsibility and good decision-making in their children.

Iver and Luke and the Friends-for-Others Club by Anthony C. Delauney is an achievement that provides both entertainment and valuable life lessons and should be a staple on every child’s bookshelf.

December 4, 2024
A GRAND PAUSE: A Novel on May 14, 1945, the USS Randolph, Kamikazes, and the Greatest Air-Sea Rescue by Gary Santos – Historical Fiction, WWII Pacific Theater, WWII Naval Aviation

In A Grand Pause: A Novel on May 14, 1945, the USS Randolph, Kamikazes, and the Greatest Air-Sea Rescue by Gary Santos, readers board the US Naval aircraft carrier alongside its crewmen as World War II’s Pacific Theater reaches a critical point.

This compelling novel opens with a startling description of the US Navy caught in the bloodiest and longest battle in its history. Through a wide cast of characters, from sailors to pilots, officers to the deck crew, everyone plays a vital role in keeping the USS Randolph running amidst the most heated naval combat of World War II.

Santos writes every moment of these nightmarish battles with intensity and authenticity.

Rich details provide a visceral experience for the reader as they feel, see, and breathe each nuance of the desperate fight to stop the kamikazes from reaching their targets. These kamikaze attacks move so quickly readers will need to catch their breath. To feel as if an attack is truly happening while turning the pages is a testament to Santos’s talent. His entwining of fact with fiction is seamless.

With meticulous detail, Santos describes the moment when Ensign John Morris and his gunner Cletis Phegley are shot down.

Readers share the stomach-dropping terror of a descent to an unknown fate. When the USS Randolph sets a plan in motion to rescue the men before the Japanese can get to them, their heart-pounding, desperate hope becomes inescapable.

With a lifetime working in aviation, Santos is deft at explaining the intricacies of what the pilots, flight crew, and officers experienced. As the actual son of one of the crew members in this historical event, he delivers its emotional reality with lasting impact.

A Grand Pause is a must-read that will grab the attention of any historical or wartime reader who wants to be truly submerged in a heart-stopping, passionate military story. Gary Santos brings the past into the present!

December 2, 2024
MATILDE’S GENERAL: The Visigoth Saga Book 2 by Robert S. Phillips – Historical Fiction, Ancient Rome, Visigoths

Matilde’s General, the second book in The Visigoth Saga by Robert S. Phillips, follows young Matilde, daughter to the Visigoth Elodia and the Roman Caius, as she takes part in the looming fall of the Roman Empire.

Showing the same will and cunning exhibited by her mother in Elodia’s Knife, Matilde spends her youth training to fight. She transforms from an 11-year-old bravado into someone stronger, wiser, and ultimately respected by men in power.

Matilde’s General thrusts readers right into battle – and the action keeps blazing throughout this ancient history.

Her stepbrother Alaric, and his fighters – prized by the Roman Emperor Theodisius – are hired to fight in a civil war. Matilde follows behind in secret. When she is discovered, Matilde is grudgingly allowed to help her mother with the medical cart. But nothing has prepared her for the bloody conflict ahead.

Used as arrow fodder, half the Goth fighters are slaughtered, with most of those still alive badly wounded. Compartmentalizing her grief and horror, Matilde helps treat the injured, whose numbers are multiplied when a ferocious storm follows the battle.

As the ragged remainder, including a wounded Alaric, return home, Matilde asks, “Our songs and stories are full of heroic deeds. Why don’t they tell the truth? That war is horrible, and young men die?” Elodia tells her that men are born to fight and protect us – women to be mothers – but Matilde thinks otherwise.

She listens carefully and begins to debate military philosophy with first Alaric, and eventually, all men in her sphere.

Although Rome viewed all non-Romans as barbaric, the Goths held themselves as civilized. All peoples plundered and burned other villages, but the Goths only took what they needed. Matilde’s family experiences this firsthand on their return home to Storgosia. The Huns have destroyed all but the old Roman fortress.

Matilde and Alaric agree that their people can’t remain there. Together, they hatch a plan.

Emperor Theodosius has died, leaving his kingdom split between his two mentally weak sons. The pact between the Goths and the emperor is now nullified. Alaric determines to forge a new one, not only codifying him as magister militum, but also giving his people lands within the Roman empire.

Matilde refines Alaric’s speech to the Goths and is credited by one of the leaders as “wise beyond her years.” It won’t be the only time. In fact, many of the women far outweigh the men in perceptiveness and prudence. This echoes the point that Elodia made to her daughter.

The Goths under chieftain Alaric journey to Constantinople to propose their new pact. Now recognized as a thoughtful advisor by her people, Matilde attends in the guise of a server but whispers counsel in Alaric’s ear. The negotiations last a month, and ultimately, Emperor Arcadius grants Alaric the region of Thessalia, but no military title.

When Arcadius reneges on part of the pact, a battle breaks out, but the top Roman generals Stilicho and Gainas choose not to escalate.

General Gainas takes note of Matilde. Before the Romans return to Constantinople, they demand two hostages as “guarantors of Alaric’s good behavior.” With Gainas’s growing respect for and attraction to Matilde, it’s no surprise that she is chosen.

Robert Phillips imbues Rome with life and color, exciting readers with the ancient city just as it fascinates Matilde herself.

The market stalls are filled with silks, jewelry, and other riches. Matilde joins on weapons drills, astonishing the young men. She watches gladiatorial games and chariot races, realizing that above all, Rome is defined by the constant presence of bloodsport, violence, and death.

But for all its jubilant chaos, Rome is controlled by careful intrigue and political machinations. Matilde has to quickly grasp the tenuous flow of power.

She is taken prisoner as a spy, but soon released back to an ever-more adoring Gainas, who acts on her suggestion to remove the chief minister and take his place. However, Arcadius feels threats closing in on him and starts having generals killed, so Gainas departs with an envoy to recruit more fighters.

Befriended by a general’s wife, Matilde confesses: “Gainas is destined to be the Stilicho of the East […] though he doesn’t know it. He needs a woman to help him fulfill his purpose. I am that woman […] Gainas and I would become the rulers – the effective rulers – of half the world.”

For once, Matilde’s instincts fail her.

On their return to Rome, unrest escalates, and the empire’s slow demise is reflected in Matilde’s personal life. Now very pregnant, she loses the empress’s friendship. Gainas is obsessed with military action, and he no longer takes her counsel. She realizes that, faced with turmoil, “Gainas was too proud to take suggestions from a little girl.”

With few people she can rely on, Matilde will have to survive this collapsing city.

Historical fiction rarely looks into the so-called barbarian tribes who helped bring about the fall of the Roman Empire. The Visigoth Saga illuminates this fascinating and important part of the ancient world.

Phillips bolsters this story with intriguing, authentic details about battle maneuvers, political plotting, and life in general circa 400 CE. Each chapter is introduced with the words of an actual ancient historian. Within this historical veracity, Matilde’s General is made intimate by its intelligent women who love, and understand, their flawed men.

Readers can look forward to Matilde’s story reaching its epic conclusion in book 3 of The Visigoth Saga: Matilde’s Empress.

November 27, 2024
FREEING TERESA: A True Story About My Sister and Me by Franke James, Billiam James, and Teresa Heartchild – Biographies & Memoirs, Disability Activism, Family & Social Issues

“Let me speak. Let me speak,” says Teresa Heartchild, a self-talk poet, writer, and disability activist with Down Syndrome in the epigraph of the memoir, Freeing Teresa: A True Story About My Sister and Me by Franke James.

And speak she does, freeing herself from the boundaries set by other family members and the healthcare system. “In this heart-wrenching audiobook, a cast of thirteen actors recount the journey of Teresa’s unfortunately common experience. She was a victim of unjust medical treatment and nonconsensual housing placement—both by the Ontario government and her immediate family members. Actor Jackie Blackmore plays Franke James, the author and environmental activist. Teresa is played by the U.S. star Lauren Potter, and Dayleigh Nelson plays James’s husband, Bill.

By elevating Teresa’s activist voice as a prominent feature in the story, Freeing Teresa reveals how injustice and ableism can tear a family apart—but also how courageous love and the decision to listen to those who have been marginalized serves to build unbreakable bonds.

Franke James writes, “It all began with the question, ‘Where will Teresa live?’” In Toronto, Ontario, Canada 2013, six siblings wondered how to care for their youngest sister with Down Syndrome following their father’s anticipated death. Unfortunately, as is too often the case, these conversations took place without the knowledge and input of those directly involved: Teresa and her caretaker father.

Over several months, a corrosive division formed amongst the family, splitting Franke James from her beloved siblings and their spouses. This conflict quickly escalated until Teresa was wrongly removed from her home with her father and placed in a nursing home meant for end-of-life care without her consent. Armed with a camera, a recording device, and endless determination, Franke James and her husband set out to free Teresa from the unjust control the rest of her family extended over her and her father. Together, Teresa, Franke, Bill, and their father fight for Teresa’s human right to live where she wants and experience a full, happy life. But the path toward victory is rife with ruined relationships and painful ableism.

Freeing Teresa is not only a touching and inspiring story but a practical one as well.

Using her extensive background in climate change art and her political resistance to the Canadian government’s censorship, Franke James exposes the layers of injustice her sister faces through clearly articulated research about medical, legal, and interpersonal ableism. In doing so, she models practical activism skills for readers, including reading the fine print, documenting every conversation, asking probing questions, searching for alternative options, and listening to and prioritizing marginalized voices.

Together, the authors have constructed a well-researched, expertly documented, and beautifully articulated message of courage and endurance in the face of oppressive forces—even when they are directed from one’s own family. Freeing Teresa will leave readers inspired and in awe of the courageous love that drives true activism.

Over ten years after being freed from the nursing home that would have limited her potential as an empowered individual and activist, Teresa is thriving and inspiring countless artists and disability advocates worldwide. Teresa’s poems work as bookends for the memoir, appearing in the epigraphs at the start and end of the story. In the audiobook, Teresa’s voice is narrated by Hollywood actor Lauren Potter, who starred in the TV series Glee. Potter, who also has Down syndrome, acts as an authentic representative, allowing her to embody Teresa’s truth and express Teresa’s own voice.

This award-winning memoir is fueled by love and an endless drive toward equality—no matter the cost. After all, as Franke James writes, “The war is never won. The struggle for equality is never done. But sometimes by standing up for what’s right, you can make a difference.”

November 20, 2024
THE SCALES Of BALANCE: A Vengeful Realm Book 1 by Tim Facciola – Epic Fantasy, Sword & Sorcery, Political Intrigue

The Scales of Balance opens with an amnesiac gladiator, a queen certain her husband must die for the sake of the kingdom, and a prince who will do anything to save his father. Tim Facciola’s first novel in the high fantasy series A Vengeful Realm is threaded through with plots of assassination and political intrigue, all fueled by a divine struggle for dominance.

A Vengeful Realm is a study in richness. Its characters, setting, and world-building, the vital elements for a strong fantasy, pull the reader into the land of New Rheynia where the most valuable currencies are loyalty and power.

Facciola excels at characterization, beginning with an engaging tapestry of backgrounds.

The gladiator Zephyrus’ first memories are in a temple hearing the words of a prophecy that he can’t understand. Depending on the interpretation, he could bring peace or destruction. His only guide is his iron morality, which he hopes is enough to bring him back to who he once was.

Prince Laeden discovers a Revivalist plot to assassinate the king. This splinter group is displeased with his father’s handling of mages in New Rheynia, thinking exile and banishment to be too soft of a punishment for those who would blaspheme against the Six Gods of Valencia. But the last person Laeden would suspect is his stepmother, Queen Danella, who plots against King Varros from his marriage bed. And that’s just chapter one.

Facciola’s high-fantasy world feels like a finely tuned watch. As the characters come to life, they move inexorably toward the only choice they truly have.

A study in freedom and free will, the question of what rights and choices the enslaved gladiators who surround Zephyrus have features strongly in the book. With factions vying for control, the Uprising of enslaved who push back against their torment are a prominent force to be reckoned with, and an easy scapegoat for darker and more powerful groups to blame their own enterprises on.

The disgust Zephyrus feels with being a gladiator fighting for the entertainment of a gilded cast is not shared by all of his new brothers in arms. Some resent his prowess with a blade, others ridicule him for spitting on the honor of their house, and still more are drawn to him for what his prophecy might mean for all those forced into bondage.

As the first book in a series, The Scales of Balance lights dozens of fuses that begin to burn and cross over each other. Careful readers who adore titanic fantasy authors like Brandon Sanderson and Robert Jordan will be thrilled at the plots within plots and intrigue behind every move.

With the fate of a kingdom in the balance, tension is sky high from the very beginning. Multiple points of view allow the reader to see how Queen Danella stays one step ahead of her stepson, and the little ways in which Zephyrus and Prince Laeden are able to subvert and close in on her machinations. Death waits around every corner for those who misstep, and each character knows it, uncertain from where the next strike will come or where it will land.

All told, Tim Facciola’s A Vengeful Realm takes its place with the best caliber of high fantasy books.

The story of Zephyrus and the world of New Rheynia isn’t one of might makes right and violence putting evil in its place. It believes a different path is possible, that hope for the future is not just a dream, but a necessary reality to push back against cruelty in power.

The Scales of Balance: A Vengeful Realm Book 1 by Tim Facciola won Overall Grand Prize in the 2023 Chanticleer International Book Awards.

November 13, 2024
SOUR FLOWER by Maryanne Melloan Woods – YA Coming of Age, Family Relationships, 1970s

Sour Flower, the unpublished feel-good coming-of-age novel by Maryanne Melloan Woods, contrasts the joys of teen friendship with the hardships of growing up in a broken family.

As a fourteen-year-old in 1970s San Francisco, Marigold (call her “M”) Hayes is fed up with her life.

M is very much aware of her role as the mature buzzkill in the family. Her parents, college dropouts and now divorced hippies, barely have it together. M often has to act as the mature adult for the sake of housing and basic necessities. With a spaced-out father who barely supports them and a mother who thinks her daughter is a square, it’s a miracle that M has kept her family afloat for so long.

When her English teacher suggests M apply to Barnum—an elite prep school offering scholarships to students in need—she dares to hope. Maybe this could give her a chance to pursue her dream of becoming a financially stable businesswoman.

But the application process poses its own challenges, one being an in-person interview with Barnum and her tragically embarassing parents. As she prepares her application alongside Philip and Gabi, her best friends who also come from broken homes, M must contend with a range of insecurities both childish and adult.

She stalks Barnum students to determine how she can fit in, sells her crocheted patterns at street fairs to make ends meet, and helps her friends see their own potential as she strives to find her writing voice for her application essay. M faces an uphill battle where the stakes for a young teenage girl seem impossibly high.

As a writer, Woods masterfully approaches the bildungsroman with equal parts levity and melodrama.

M makes a compelling and flawed protagonist. She extends her parental role to protecting her younger brother, making sure he gets every opportunity to experience the joys of childhood—often at the expense of her own. M’s ambition to break out of the conditions that hold her back propels her into the awkward antics and embarrassing mishaps rife in any well-penned young adult novel.

The backdrop of 1970s San Francisco’s hippie scene makes for a pivotal plot point, as M’s family butt heads with their stances on the Vietnam War unfolding in real time thousands of miles away.

A comedy of errors follows many of M’s sour-hearted decisions, but it’s precisely this trouble that draws people close to her personal authenticity.

As she begins to attain true maturity, M learns to embrace the contradictions in her life and in the lives of others. She discovers along the way that some of her so-called nemeses may be more like her than they’d care to admit. Fans of Louise Rennison’s Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series and Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird would find Sour Flower heartwarming in M’s aching desire to fit in, and in the lesson to take life a little less seriously while learning to accept all of its complexities.

Sour Flower by Maryanne Melloan Woods won Grand Prize in the 2023 CIBA Dante Rossetti Awards for YA Fiction.

November 11, 2024
THE BYZANTINE CROSS by Dena Weigel – Espionage Thriller, Cold War Thriller, International Mystery

The Byzantine Cross by Dena Weigel starts at the end of an explosive rogue mission. Sarah Kraft is committed to saving a record of irreplaceable relics from a bombing mission in World War II. Despite her extraordinary success, the OSS spy is later put out in the cold by her handler, Albert Phillips, for a mistake she didn’t commit.

Years after World War II has ended and the Cold War is dominating headlines, Kraft has a new role as an art insurance appraiser in New York. The company’s lip service for their rich clients and irreverence for her skills don’t sit well with Sarah. It becomes clear that her moral compass will soon lead her into unemployment. But right at the end of her rope, Agent Phillips returns to recruit her back into the organization, now rebranded the CIA.

Sarah Kraft’s mission is simple: break into the Kremlin and retrieve an ancient relic from before the birth of Christ.

The story cycles through multiple points of view, all trained with deadly accuracy on Kraft. The prize she seeks is the titular Byzantine Cross. Carved from Noah’s Ark, it is a revered heirloom of the Romanov family and was last seen with Rasputin, the Mad Monk. Now, the Vatican, the Soviet Union, and the United States are all poised on a knife’s edge, wondering if the Cross’s rumored mysterious power could be the key to the next weapon of mass destruction.

Traveling to Rome before her trip to Russia, Agent Kraft circumvents the old office, wanting to avoid the man who betrayed her and ended her career in intelligence. The culprit, Kraft’s ex-lover, Marco, remained silent as her professional life was destroyed when he let her take the blame for his deception. He reappears in her hotel room, hoping to ingratiate himself with Kraft to further exploit her for his own gain. Still with the CIA and charming as ever, Marco is a dangerous seductive force. But he’s only one of the forces arrayed against her.

Kraft faces the calculating Cardinal Max and the ruthless mercenary Yuri Feodorov as they attempt to take the cross from Kraft.

Even as a man of the cloth, Cardinal Max’s plans for the Byzantine Cross go far beyond a rich score. He believes the relic is the key to world domination and undying worship from the faithful. On the other side of the coin, Yuri hopes to fulfill his darkest desires in addition to the payout he receives from killing Sarah Kraft. Together, these men weave an entangling web that Kraft might not escape.

The mystery around the Byzantine Cross deepens as she meets her MI6 connection, Nicolai Rodzyanko, once she’s inside the Soviet Union.

As complications arise and Nicolai’s cover is compromised, the two agents are forced to flee both the Kremlin guards and Yuri, heading south toward Istanbul. Whether or not the spiritual power of the cross is real, there’s no questioning they face danger at every turn. As Kraft continues to unravel the history of the cross and its connection to Rasputin, she decides she can only trust herself to choose where the relic will finally be safe.

The Byzantine Cross stands for more than a simple relic.

Like the Holy Grail in Indiana Jones, it symbolizes the collision of ancient beliefs and the desire for power, something to be feared and revered by those who pursue it. Weigel weaves in themes of loyalty and doubt as Kraft tries to discover what this power might mean, and who she can trust to help her.

The Byzantine Cross takes the best of James Bond and Dan Brown and adds a dark layer of suspense into Sarah Kraft’s adventure. Having a woman as the lead enhances the dangers faced and gives a unique perspective for the thriller genre, making this a great debut that promises more adventures to come.

November 8, 2024
THE FARAWAY MOUNTAINS by Radu Guiaşu – Historical Fiction, Communist Romania, Social Issues

The Faraway Mountains by Radu Guiaşu is a fascinating blend of fiction and autobiography that brings to light the restrictive nature of the Communist Era in Romania and throughout the Eastern European Bloc. Experienced through the eyes of a group of friends, their persistence to find their friend perfectly illustrates the importance of human connection, even within the cold confines of a communist country.

Guiaşu begins his story as a chronicle of the entwined lives of childhood friends Victor, Dan, and Alex—who embark on a quest to find their lost comrade, Gabriel. Along their journey, they debate the important issues of their day.

Their discussions reveal the intricacies of daily life from the broad, to the particular. Topics like the oppressive regime in the country, the egregious ineptitude of some high-ranking officials, the deterioration of living conditions, and the recent and shameful destruction of numerous architectural gems are discussed right alongside the possibility of the national football championship game being another sham, the rising cost of foreign blue jeans on the black market, and the record heat wave they left behind in the capital.

This work pays homage to those exceptional individuals who, in spite of the harsh conditions their government forced on them, retained their moral rectitude, bravery, and irreverent sense of humor. It is also a condemnation of everyone who worked in tandem with these oppressive systems.

In the second part of the book, Guiaşu depicts the mutual desire of two close friends to explore the bright promise of the West.

He goes into great detail about the complexities of obtaining permission to leave the repressive country of his origin. During his quest to weave his way through the red tape, he demonstrates the various ways in which officials took advantage of the situation to preach to the populace about the superiority of communist society and the inevitable, rapid collapse of the West.

As the story portrays, citizens were forced to stand up for a corrupt system where those in power took unjust privileges at the expense of those below them. Through the characters’ conversations we come to understand how the elite’s hatred for the less advantaged populous was fueled by the knowledge that many escaped their control to a less restrictive and more comfortable part of the world.

This novel goes deep into the subject of communism to present a realistic picture of what it is like to live under such an authoritarian form of government.

Guiaşu conveys the catalyst and motivation behind the regime’s blatant deceptions, indoctrination, repeated defeats, and continuous repression by deftly blending his personal experiences with fiction. He expands the story beyond the direct scope of a single person.

This work offers a fresh perspective on the value of freedom and independence while showing the brutal grip of a power that seeks to crush the characters’ last hopes of escaping.

Guiasu’s The Faraway Mountains is a novel that masterfully balances intellectual depth, emotional relevance, and creative perfection during brutally oppressive times.

Readers are fully drawn into the book as its vivid imagery and rhythmic language demystifies complex communist concepts and issues. Clever depictions of the many characters and their variety of reactions show how people deal with ambiguity and look for purpose when faced with hardship.

November 6, 2024