Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Chanticleer 5 Star Book Review

SNARLING WOLF: Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail Book 4 by David Fitz-Gerald – Historical Fiction, American West, Mystical

In Snarling Wolf, David Fitz-Gerald’s fourth installment of an adventurous migration to Oregon, wagon wheels sidewind along and through the serpentine Snake River.

It’s summertime, hot and dangerous on the cross-country trails. Wild animals, and the titular Snarling Wolf, ominously share the wilderness with a caravan of travelers. The group has become accustomed to their daily routines, but their remote destination seems almost mystical, moving always farther away, taunting and driving them toward madness.

Widowed Dorcas Moon is determined to do anything it takes for her beloved children to survive and thrive in a new life in a new land. But this difficult trip takes its toll on her family in surprising ways, and will leave them forever changed.

Dorcas Moon deeply fears an animal attack on their unprepared people.

As a native tribal member whose name loosely translates to Snarling Wolf follows their caravan, Dorcas even begins to suspect that he is a true two-legged wolf. Dorcas learns that, in truth, Snarling Wolf is a gentle and philosophical man, and cannot help but be drawn to him. But that doesn’t stop her worrying about the attraction between him and her daughter Rose, a vulnerable girl who believes she sees and aids the dead.

Rose confesses a shocking action to her mother, which has Dorcas concerned if her daughter is telling the truth or going mad. Barely a teen, Rose and this young man Snarling Wolf proclaim they are destined to be together, convinced of this inevitability by the paranormal insights of guiding spirits.

Dorcas has much to learn from Snarling Wolf. And the young couple have much to learn about life, promises, and the inevitability of fate.

The slow-moving wagon train slithers along the Snake River, sometimes moving away only to meet it again miles ahead. There is no escaping the river’s coils—eventually they will have to plunge their wagons through this deep, treacherous water to reach the other side and, if they make it, onto the promise of the west.

From the experience of the trail so far, Dorcas knows she can’t predict what’s going to happen next, leaving a tangible danger in the air. The ever-present threat of thieves hides all along the route, including the vicious Viper who is planning and biding his time to hit when he feels the wagons are most vulnerable.

All Dorcas’s children are growing up in this wild adventure, and Dorcas is often surprised at how they each do so. Her two sons have had to step up after the loss of their dad, and the increased responsibilities bring both rewards and tribulations. Nightmares from the trail even visit Dorcas’s youngest daughter, no longer a babe in arms. One foot in front of the other, they face each day head on.

As they trudge forward, Dorcas continues to wish for a new love, yet instinctively she hesitates to embrace affection with dear Agapito. She vows she must remain a single, independent woman.

How will destiny propel this family and their fellow travelers through the wild country in the heat of the summer, and what will they find on the other side?

Author David Fitz-Gerald skillfully continues an epic, historic tale about the people of the 1850 American West. He illustrates their dreams, sacrifices, fears, joys, persistence, and love against an exciting and suspenseful backdrop. Readers will revel in raw emotion shared with the vivid and diverse characters. They’re moving slow, and despite the heat of today, winter’s coming fast. Unknown secrets lay in wait, revealed by Snarling Wolf in the miles still ahead.

July 8, 2024
CHASING The DAYLIGHT: One Woman’s Journey to Becoming a U.S. Army Intelligence Officer by Joanna Rakowski – Memoir, Life in the Military, Inspirational

Chasing The Daylight by Joanna Rakowski is a revealing memoir that captures the rigor, intensity, and ferocity of military training in a salient style.

Ever wondered what it takes to become a soldier in one of the most powerful armies in the world?

Joanna Rakowski was born in Poland and grew up practicing dance from a young age, eventually becoming a professional classical ballet dancer and teacher. Upon her migration to the US in 1995 and the painful fallout with her friend and mentor, Chris, Joanna knew she needed to make a drastic change in her life. Her great awakening came when she decided to transform from a fragile and sensitive ballerina into a steadfast U.S. Army soldier, a goal that many close to her doubted she could accomplish.

With arresting insights, the text builds from Rakowski’s striking introduction as it describes her first day of enlistment, which was filled with uncertainties.

Despite having so many questions in her mind, she knew one thing for sure; that she had made the first step onto an important new journey. She would prove to everyone who doubted her that the common notion of fragility in artists did not actually have to be equal to an artist’s character and physical strength.

Her accessible account details the intricacies of military training such as living in the platoon barracks, practicing new drills— both primitive and hi-tech— classroom learning, and army values, among many more. Rakowski even goes further to describe the demeanor of drill sergeants and army commanders, debunking some of the myths that surround these personalities.

She does not shy away from mentioning the obstacles that come along with military drills, like training under the sweltering heat, extreme physical exhaustion, injuries, and sleepless nights.

This will undoubtedly make one understand the significance that soldiers see in their purpose, to endure such difficulty.

Despite the mental and physical challenges that she face in her four-year span in military training, Joanna would become a U.S. Military Intelligence Officer, demonstrating true resilience and fortitude.

Chasing The Daylight is a majestic piece of writing.

The narrative comes alive through Rakowski’s voice, which reveals her unfettered and unique collection of thoughts, allowing readers to draw from the well of her experiences, emotions, reflections, and attitude.

Ample flashbacks along the pages give us a sneak peek into Rakowski’s life in Poland, as do the fine art photographs peppered across, indicating the credibility of the story herein.

Rakowski affirms, “Life is a continuous cycle, full of glorious moments of light and moments of darkness. You never know where a new passion for life will come from. Then you become that passion that defines your existence. You become someone new and as you grow with love and within it; Eventually, you find your daylight”. Through these impactful words, she encourages her audience to keep chasing their dreams, no matter how insurmountable they may seem.

Bold and eye-opening, Chasing The Daylight contains fresh information on basic training for those considering enlisting in the U.S. Army and for any citizen interested in finding out what it takes to mold an army recruit into a competent U.S. soldier.

Chasing the Daylight by Joanna Rakowski won Grand Prize in the 2023 CIBA Military and Front Line Awards for Service to Others Non-Fiction.

July 5, 2024
THE DOCTOR’S VOICE by Dr. Pietro Emanuele Garbelli – Modern Healthcare, Professional Development, Advocacy

Dr. Pietro Emanuele Garbelli speaks out on serious professional issues faced by modern healthcare workers, in The Doctor’s Voice.

Doctors deal with overwhelming stress, leading to burnout, illness, many of them leaving the profession, and even a higher-than-average rate of suicide. The Covid19 pandemic both heightened and helped illuminate some of the causes of this stress, prompting author Garbelli to write this book as a set of advice for his colleagues and as advocacy for broader changes in hospitals and other healthcare systems.

Garbelli highlights a common disconnect in communication—administrators and higher-ups telling doctors what to do while those doctors don’t have much opportunity to bring up the problems they encounter day-to-day.

Planning made without doctor input leads to a near-constant state of crisis and under-staffing. Restrictions on what treatments a doctor is allowed to authorize—while sometimes established for patient protection—lead to consistent delays and create an atmosphere of mistrust. Corporate command structures obfuscate who even makes these significant decisions.

Doctors take on major risk, without enough authority to justify it, nor enough protection to ease the stress of it. All the while, they deal with equally stressed colleagues, superiors who don’t always listen to their proposals, and countless little inefficiencies in a system often more interested in money than effective care.

The Doctor’s Voice offers valuable advice, from the individual to the organization.

Garbelli returns frequently to the idea of communication. How important it is to develop one’s own communication skills to be heard by those with power, as well as how damaging a one-way, top-to-bottom system is to an organization as a whole.

He proposes the use of modern data technology to make it easy for doctors to record and share stumbling blocks they encounter. Discussing information systems as they are now, he points out the needless frustration of dealing with myriad incompatible programs to access something as vital as a patient’s medical records.

Serving as a starting point for further discussion, The Doctor’s Voice stays true to its name—laying out problems that doctors, and healthcare workers in general, often suffer in silence.

The author writes about these issues clearly and concisely, making the information easily graspable even by laymen. While directed primarily at other doctors, this book is a valuable read for anyone working—or even just interested—in healthcare, as it makes obvious how sorely change is needed.

Garbelli maintains a broad scope, focused on showing how universal these frustrations are within his profession. The Doctor’s Voice ultimately encourages doctors to free themselves from restrictive senses of professionalism and speak openly about the stressors that need to be fixed.

Impactful as advocacy for changing a broken system, and important as a frank discussion about the mental toll on individuals, The Doctor’s Voice sheds light on issues that will only become more important as time goes on.

The Doctor’s Voice by Dr. Pietro Emanuele Garbelli won First Place in the 2023 CIBA Harvey Chute Awards for Business & Finance.

July 3, 2024
NUTSHELL REGATTA by Jonna Laster – Picture Books, Children’s Adventure Books, Imagination & Wonder

In Nutshell Regatta by Jonna Laster, the narrator’s grandmother reveals adventures in nature that could easily be missed without her watchful eye.

With her wise guidance, clouds turn into campers, dandelions hold moon yokes, leaves sing, and a broken branch takes on the form of a fox. Most importantly, twigs and pebbles become sailors who embark on a grand regatta in their nutshell sloops and sailboats.

Three ships come to the forefront of the story. Two of them sink, their twig sailors swimming safely to a nearby lily pad, while one continues on. Its passengers Burt the pebble and Betula the birch twig encounter what appears to be disaster, but when they fall over a waterfall, the grandmother guides the narrator to listen close. When they hear a faint “yipeeeeee” from the bottom of the waterfall, it’s clear that all has turned out well.

The narrator takes more ownership over the fantasy in the end, wondering aloud to their grandmother about where Burt and Betula might end up—downstream or even all the way to sea. The grandmother doesn’t miss a beat, suggesting the twig and pebble passengers might send a postcard. And indeed, the final illustration of the book is just that—a postcard from Burt and Betula!

From beginning to end, Nutshell Regatta is an imaginative poem.

Laster takes mundane aspects of nature—like twigs, pebbles, and common flowers—and turns them into lyrical images and dramatic adventures sure to captivate any child or child-like heart. The tension of Burt and Betula falling over the waterfall is just the right touch of stress, with a valuable resolution.

Laster could have resolved the story with the grandmother or narrator scooping the nutshells out of the water to save them. Instead, she takes a different and more developmentally helpful direction: the little sloops fall down the waterfall, and the grandmother coaches the child on creating a happy outcome for the event (the passengers going on a new adventure). This resolution could help guide anxious children to find positive meanings in change and transition.

The illustrations are wholesome and sweet, with little twig people peeking out of each picture even before they are introduced into the story.

The images serve the story immensely by bringing to life the cheerful adventurers in all shapes and sizes.

Regardless of what children take away on a conscious level, they will be delighted by the fantastical lens through which we see Burt and Betula’s adventures.

But for discerning young readers, Laster’s direct message is that “there are passengers everywhere,” if only you might look for them.

Children will surely come away from Nutshell Regatta inspired to make twig people and shell boats of their own the next time they find themselves in nature.

Nutshell Regatta by Jonna Laster won First Place in the 2023 CIBA Little Peeps Awards for Early Readers and Children’s Books.

July 1, 2024
GECKOS In The GARDEN by Ruth Amanda – Picture Books, Children’s Animal Stories, Learning to Count

Geckos in the Garden by Ruth Amanda is a children’s counting book that takes readers through a delightful, rhythmic, aesthetically pleasing romp past a series of hidden geckos.

Amanda starts out with just one gecko in the garden. Every page after, one more is added amongst myriad natural details such as flowers, a snail, a palm tree, garden taps, rocks, a mango tree, leaves, a gate, a bird’s nest, a pond, and more.

Amanda demonstrates a natural sense of narrative arc even within a counting book—readers will feel the climax of the adventure when they arrive at the ninth gecko and read the line, “I spot one—two—no, six—no, more! Nine!” The escalation of the words’ momentum makes the ninth and tenth geckos more dramatic. Furthermore, the clever dénouement includes the narrator realizing the geckos might watch them just as much as they watch the geckos, and this is written alongside an adorable picture of a gecko looking in the window of the narrator’s home.

The rhyme and rhythm of the story are extremely satisfying and feel natural, making the book effective at engaging children learning to count.

The counting practice is not just in the words of the story, but in a scavenger hunt for each of the geckos in the illustrations. When a gecko is hidden in a challenging spot, hints like “I bet I’d find more geckos/If I hunted in the hedge” are integrated into the story. This is sure to create a game out of counting that will please children and adults alike. The images are beautiful and clear at the same time—perfect for ease in counting as well as maintaining interest.

Pristine formatting helps the excellent writing style and lovely images to shine.

The font serves the rhythm of the story, with bold words to guide readers toward the correct emphasis in the line. The images are balanced around the words in such a way that the pleasing layout draws the eye in the correct direction down the page. And finally, the consistent placement and slight tilt to the number on each page (“One!” and “Two!” etc.) creates a predictable and comforting routine for young readers to follow, even making it possible for them to anticipate the number that’s coming next.

Geckos in the Garden is the perfect book for a child learning to count through playful means. Amanda makes it easy for an adult reader to read with a satisfying beat because of the balanced arrangement of words. Any child will surely be inspired to count geckos or other creatures like them upon sight even when the book’s covers have been closed for the day.

Geckos in the Garden by Ruth Amanda won First Place in the 2023 CIBA Little Peeps Awards for Early Readers and Children’s Books.

June 26, 2024
THE SPOON: The Story of Two Families’ Survival of the Hungarian Revolution by Lisa Voelker – Historical Fiction, Family Saga, Hungary

Lisa Voelker’s historical fiction novel, The Spoon, takes us back to the 1950s in Hungary during the daring student uprising, and attempted revolution, in Buda and Pest. The author weaves historical facts with fiction in the form of family lore that has been handed down for generations.

We follow scores of people whose lives intersected during this uprising of 1956. The revolution was, at its inception, a time of joyous upheaval, but in less than two weeks became one of devastating dissolution. People fled Hungary by the thousands, but not before giving the Soviet Union a taste of their discontent.

Voelker introduces Rebeka, a member of the Varga family with old ties to the bourgeoisie, who lived a life of privilege on a farm east of Buda and Pest. As well as Peter, a member of the Turea family who attends Budapest Technical University, where students began demonstrating against the Hungarian Government that was under Soviet control.

Voelker’s cast of characters stems from over a dozen families, some involving four generations, so even as this story focuses on Rebeka and Peter, we get the sense that it is truly the story of a nation. It’s the story of a people who are embroiled in the ramifications of a revolution attempt that was less than two weeks long but reverberated for decades.

The national pride and courage of the demonstrators stands out.

Their resilience and continued opposition against the Soviet super-power, pushed forward by the resistance fighters, never wavered. Voelker captures that loyalty and bravery on every page, just as her well-researched novel captures the imagination.

The ultimate mystery of the book is based on actual family lore, and Voelker keeps us turning the pages to find out what the significance and importance of a particular object is. She gives clues that whet our appetites, and with perfect timing reveals the satisfying conclusion.

Rebeka and Peter move through the uprising along with friends, family, and people they meet along the way. Voelker’s mastery in developing these interesting individuals keeps us invested in their stories and their successes— and yes, sometimes their failures.

There are tragedies, as with any war-like situation, and this is an underdog story, much like many international news stories that we see today.

As philosopher George Santayana wrote: “Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.” This idea has been paraphrased and passed down in many variations, but the truth behind it remains, and we commit this error at our own peril.

Voelker plays with themes of liberty, freedom, nationality, family bonds, first love, war, and more.

Her ambitious novel delivers an excellent read while also making connections between the past and the present, and showing us the strength of the family myth— stories that we pass down through generations.

Lisa Voelker’s The Spoon matches the interest of any history buff, any war novel aficionado, or any reader who loves learning while they enjoy a good book.

The Spoon by Lisa Voelker won First Place in the 2023 CIBA Goethe Awards for Late Historical Fiction.

June 24, 2024
NOT THAT KIND Of CALL GIRL by Nova Garcia – Contemporary Fiction, Mexican-American Fiction, Contemporary Social Issues

In Nova Garcia’s novel, Not That Kind of Call Girl, Julia Navarro-Nilsson balances a lot heavy responsibilities on her plate. She’s the supervisor of the Cascade City Chronicle call center, has just had her first child, and is dead set on saving her newest employee from a lifetime of abuse.

As a Mexican-American, Julia knows first-hand how difficult life can be for a minority woman, so when Carmen Cooper shows up for a job interview, Julia is determined to hire the young college student even though her story and answers to Julia’s question are sketchy. This reluctance to share her personal information intrigues Julia, but Carmen’s life turns out to be much more challenging than Julia would have ever dreamed.

Sussing out the truth behind the timid young woman’s clearly fictional story, Julia turns detective with the help of her reporter friend, Jerry. The two are dogged in their search and discover a secret so deep that it will rock Hollywood — that is, if she can juggle her new baby, her neglected husband, her sexually harassing boss, and an unending visit from her critical mother.

Julia’s detailed character makes her easy to empathize with, especially as she faces issues that many women confront in the real world.

Her biggest personal struggle is with motherhood. After the birth of Trey, Julia expects to be overwhelmed with her love and devotion to this tiny person. However, when she doesn’t feel those things — feeling almost the opposite actually — she is shocked and disappointed in herself. She has no immediate connection, instead suffering from postpartum depression.

To add to her fears of motherly inadequacy, she endures multiple bouts of mastitis — landing her in the hospital on one occasion— and she finds that maternity leave feels like a prison sentence rather than a chance to bond with Trey. She hates that she is missing work and hates that she hates that! Julia’s muddled feelings leave her frightened and uncertain, far from her sense of self pre-motherhood.

Like many women, Julia has a hard time accepting her body for what it is.

She has never been a petite size four, like her still-attractive mother, who always pressures her to conform to a different standard of beauty. Julia is tall and full-figured, a curvy, sensual woman. Post-birth, she feels “fat” and unattractive. Because she has to continue wearing her maternity pants (another very common experience), Julie feels as though she has failed again in some way. Though her adorable, loving husband Charlie still tells her she is beautiful and shows her that he continues to find her desirable, Julia has a hard time engaging in any physical contact. Her mother’s comments don’t help the situation, and with her confidence in tatters, Julia stress eats, continuing an unhealthy cycle.

Julia takes great pride in her position as call center manager for the local newspaper, but that position comes with near-constant harassment from her boss.

She cares about her employees, knows their problems, and is fighting for their jobs as the newspaper owners negotiate a sale of the business. In fact, it’s this level of concern that leads to her involvement in Carmen’s tragic life. Julia takes her job seriously and maintains high expectations for herself, but at every turn her boss Carlton Cressey epitomizes a villain to all of womankind. He makes jokes about various body parts and propositions Julia directly for sex. Even though she is a hard-working employee, likely his best, he can only see her body and face, so not only is Julia worried about her employees losing their jobs, she is also worried about losing her own if she reports him to HR.

Julia is a strong, normal woman. She’s not a superhero or a rich Country Club wife. She’s real, and many readers will identify with the problems she faces.

Not That Kind of Call Girl by Nova Garcia won First Place in the 2023 CIBA Somerset Awards for Literary and Contemporary Fiction.

June 19, 2024
TSARINA’S CROWN: The Nightingale and Sparrow Chronicles by Jerena Tobiasen – WWI, Historical Fiction, Romance, Espionage, Russian Revolution

Jerena Tobiasen delivers a sharp, first-rate novel in Tsarina’s Crown, first installment in The Nightingale and Sparrow Chronicles, capturing a precise panorama of Russian politics and British espionage during a delicate period in time.

The year is 1915 and Simon Temple, a young naval officer aboard the RMS Guardian— a British Royal Navy Ship— patrols the North Sea for questionable communications and marine activity. Months later, he is entrusted by the British crown to serve as a liaison on a covert mission in Petrograd, Russia. Simon is careful not to blow his cover as a young aristocrat while he is thrust into the world of international politics, the ruthless Russian Revolution, and becomes caught right in the middle of two powerful royal families.

The mission turns out to be longer than Simon anticipated, and his life quickly becomes threatened as he tries to navigate a dangerous political labyrinth, all the while hoping to unearth the spy information that his King requires of him. But as the precarious wheel of mayhem and chaos churns in Russia, Simon’s only way to survive is to escape, realizing that his wit and intelligence might not save him from the tense political atmosphere. Things become even more complicated when he is joined by two other people who hope to flee.

Told with verve and heart, the plot offers a raw and intimate portrait of events and activities bookended by the First World War.

The tension and suspense are palpable in every chapter as Simon wrestles his way out of one dangerous situation after another.

Tobiasen’s lucid writing and adept storytelling capture the culture and intricate details during one of the biggest social and political upheavals of the twentieth century. She takes us behind palace walls of both Britain and Russia, offering readers a globetrotting experience as we glimpse into the intrigues of the aristocracy amid controversy and fiery protests.

The author does a remarkable job balancing vocabulary and syntax appropriate for this period while using modern language to make her text easily graspable. The meticulous research done before writing this novel is salient in her story and keeps the chronology accurate, a worthy indication of an author in command of her genre.

Love becomes a central theme in the story, giving weight to the characters’ emotions and connections.

An element of romance sparks between Simon and Mary, allowing characters to maneuver not just external conflicts but inner ones as well, pushing them to grow as people. Simon Temple is a character to cheer on, with admirable boldness and determination. The supporting characters are memorable and well-wrought too, adeptly playing their role in moving the story forward.

Tsarina’s Crown: The Nightingale and Sparrow Chronicles is a striking start to a promising series, and one of the best espionage stories in modern historical fiction.

Tsarina’s Crown by Jerena Tobiasen won First Place in the 2023 CIBA Hemingway Awards for 20th Century Wartime Fiction.

June 14, 2024
ONE Of FOUR: World War One Through the Eyes of an Unknown Soldier by Travis Davis – Historical Fiction, WWI, Family Relationships

One of Four: World War One Through the Eyes of an Unknown Soldier by Travis Davis is a compassionate and intimate portrait of the tenuous and unforgiving First World War, as shown through the eyes of an American soldier on France’s front lines.

Based on real people and events in 1918 France, One of Four begins with a young French girl, Camille, who stumbles upon a diary lying next to an unknown American soldier. He was killed among his comrades in a German ambush near the banks of the Aire River, as he tried to protect his fellow soldiers. When Camille comes of age, she leaves her hometown to seek a better life in Paris. There, she is killed after joining a German resistance group. But before her death, she tucked the soldier’s diary in her Bible and hid it in a local bookstore.

Decades later, a man by the name of Walter travels to France with his son, Alex, to whom he’d become estranged after the painful divorce from Alex’s mother. He hopes this will be a journey of healing and exploration and that their time together will revive their shaky relationship. While there, Alex purchases the Bible left by Camille many years ago. By reading the hidden diary entries of the soldier together, Alex and Walter’s relationships takes an unexpected turn.

One of Four deftly alternates between Walter and Alex’s story—detailing their growth, reflections, musings, and dialogues—and the soldier’s diary records of his experiences in France.

The unknown soldier is among the first American to leave the United States to fight in Europe, and his diary entries recounts the excitement and joy that he and his comrades felt upon boarding the ship for France—even as an air of uncertainty casts a long shadow over their lives.

His narrations relay the enthusiastic reception the US military received in France, but the entries take on a more somber tone as he details the vivid brutality of the war amidst harsh weather conditions. Hiding in desolate muddy trenches, the soldier is worn down by the constant sound of cannons, rigorous combat training and drills, and the sorrowful deaths of his friends from disease and shell fire alike. The author presents these experiences to readers in a succinct and often fervent manner. His wish was to return home, and although his wish was not granted, his thoughts and feelings live on in the diary, even as his remains are laid to rest in the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier back in his home country.

Davis asserts, “Kindness can be found even in the worst conditions known to man; you don’t have to look far. The compassion that lies in a man’s heart is, at times, overwhelming, and those same hearts are trained to kill their fellow man.”

The text demonstrates this idea impeccably, with readers retracing the steps of the unknown soldier in the period between 1917-1918, through the bloodshed for which the war was infamous. Yet, his narrations provide an unwaveringly honest panorama of his dedication and loyalty to his fellow soldiers in the face of tremendous challenge.

This powerfully told tribute to a brave American soldier is not only emotionally resonant but also a worthy demonstration of the resilience of the human spirit in the face of insurmountable tragedy. Here, literary fiction and historical threads are woven together expertly, as the writer whisks us back to a bleak era, one that implores us to reflect and learn as we draw strength from those who came before us. Ultimately, One of Four by Travis Davis is a page-turner whose payoff upon its conclusion is well worth a read.

June 3, 2024
THE SILVER WATERFALL: A Novel of the Battle of Midway by Kevin Miller – WWII Historical Fiction, Battle of Midway, Military History

In The Silver Waterfall, author retired U.S. Navy Captain Kevin Miller reveals the intricate and deadly turns of the Battle of Midway, a combat shaped by transforming warfare, and one that would in turn shape the rest of WWII’s Pacific Theater.

After their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Navy seeks to draw American aircraft carriers into an ambush, to secure Japanese power over the Pacific. In a time of great upheaval for warfare technology, aircraft carriers dominated both sea and sky. So, to destroy the USS Enterprise, Yorktown, and Hornet, Chūichi Nagumo— commander of the Japanese First Air Fleet— brings to bear his own four carriers, HIJMS Akagi, Hiryū, Kaga, and Soryu.

But the Americans had cracked the Japanese communication codes, so as the First Air Fleet launches their provoking attack against the Midway Islands, the American carriers are already steaming into position. From June 4^th to June 6^th of 1942, planes filled the skies above the remote Pacific waters, both American and Japanese pilots dashing back and forth, knowing that either they sink the enemy’s carriers, or they’ll have none of their own to return to.

Author Miller, author of the highly-rated Raven One trilogy of contemporary carrier aviation, draws on his experience as a former carrier-based fighter pilot to place the readers into the shoes of commanders, strategists, pilots, and gunners alike.

Readers get a glimpse into the intricate planning and communication involved with this sort of naval warfare, as each character struggles to glean the information vital to their own success— and survival. This is a warfare of radio, fuel tank ranges, hand-drawn plotting boards, and cloud cover. Characters clash over the right move, knowing that any mistake could cost their lives and more.

Amidst all this detailed information, however, The Silver Waterfall takes time to shown the humanity of its characters. Though specific moments and personal dynamics are fictional, each character was a real person in the Battle of Midway. Their little conflicts with each other, their moments of bonding, and the lives that they hope against the odds to return to, become palpable. And every bit of personal charm lives under the shadow of their next flight.

From the bunks of the aircraft carriers to the cockpit of a Devastator torpedo plane, neither characters nor readers can escape an imposing sense of danger, the ever-present possibility that someone’s unique, full life will be snuffed out in a cloud of black smoke.

The Silver Waterfall takes on a massive amount of information, given the complex nature of real naval warfare.

Readers will have to pay close attention to understand the events of the battle, as planes take flight time and time again. Thankfully, Miller provides a list of commanders and naval jargon/acronyms, so those unfamiliar with this specific setting will be able to grasp the details. As well, a few helpful diagrams throughout the book keep locations clear— a luxury not afforded to those in the battle itself.

Though each side pores over their plans, information is precious and incomplete. The Japanese strategist Genda argues with his superiors as they wait for confirmation on the presence of enemy carriers, just as John Waldron— Commanding Officer of Torpedo Eight— pleads for a fighter escort, knowing that death awaits his pilots without one. But even solid plans have fractures and crack apart amidst tracer rounds and enemy pursuit.

The dynamics between different groups of pilots stand out amongst the chaos, with torpedo planes (“torpeckers”) and bombing squadrons relying on scouts and fighters to bring them into— and more importantly out of— enemy fire. Tensions rise with every miscommunication and bad decision, as everyone must grapple with the fact that they hold someone else’s life in their hands.

The Battle of Midway is filled with personal weight. Characters on both sides become easy to empathize with.

The Japanese pilots are much like the American ones— sent to kill and die for the sake of their country. They share the fear of death, the thirst for vengeance as their comrades fall out of the sky or into the flames of a dying carrier, and heartbreaking moments of grief— all the more horrible for the fact that they can’t take but a moment away from the fight.

Knowing these characters at a personal level makes each flight gripping. Will Taisuke Maruyama somehow escape the storm of anti-aircraft fire from the American ships? Is Bill Evans really going to follow his CO Waldron to his death? Will Lloyd Childers ever get to pay Darce the money he owes him? Or, will these young men be lost? Readers will feel the importance of each answer they receive.

More than anything, The Silver Waterfall confronts the horrific impact this battle has on the people who wage it.

Grief turns to rage, the flames fanned by racism, national supremacy, and the unrelenting, unpredictable chance of death. Miller shows that for every kill made in the name of a fallen warrior, a soldier on the other side etches another name into their memory. But to speak of rage and revenge alone wouldn’t do these pilots and gunners justice.

It takes monumental feats of bravery for these soldiers to get in their planes and fly into danger. Readers sit with them in those terrible seconds of watching a compatriot go down, and the true comradery of the pilots looking out for one another. They yearn for the glory of a hit on an enemy carrier. They act for their cause despite death all around them. And in an ocean of violence and terror, their humanity, their compassion reminds the reader that these are not just soldiers— they’re boys, some no older than nineteen.

But this story saves its deepest sorrows until the quiet after the battle, as the characters themselves must do the same.

With pathos and intricate detail, The Silver Waterfall makes for a fulfilling read.

Fans of historical fiction will appreciate the clear amount of research that went into this novel, which illuminates the back and forth aircraft carrier warfare in one of its earliest and most impactful forms. Readers of all sorts will end the book with a greater understanding of one of WWII’s most pivotal battles— an understanding both factual and emotional.

The Silver Waterfall by Kevin Miller won Grand Prize in the 2023 CIBA Hemingway Awards for 20th Century Wartime Fiction.

May 31, 2024