Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Chanticleer 5 Star Book Review

A WEEK at SURFSIDE BEACH by Pierce Koslosky, Jr. – Short Story Collections, Vacation Stories, Family & Relationships

Vacationers from all walks of life converge on Portofino II-317C, South Carolina, a quaint blue beach house, in Pierce Koslosky Jr.’s short story collection, A Week at Surfside Beach.

From May 30th-December 26th each group of people comes to stay one week at a time, to forget their cares of the big city, to work, to celebrate, or to simply get away. Surfside Beach has much to show them, including temperamental weather.

The small town itself offers a charming supermarket where fishing supplies, whoopie pies, and local southern favorites can be found. The Christmas vacationers, the final of the thirteen beach house renters, struggle to find a tree in time; a real tree simply wouldn’t allow enough space for the family to sleep, and the fake tree would cost too much. But they find arts and crafts supplies in town, to fashion a paper Christmas tree during a day of rainy weather.

We all know that during vacations there are disagreements, lover spats, lessons learned, stolen kisses, and many other moments for a reader to see through the eyes of the characters at Surfside Beach.

The house itself exists in the real world, as does the town of Surfside Beach. Koslosky purchased the actual house after Hurricane Hugo hit the coast of South Carolina. The short stories connect the characters through this realistic setting.

These thirteen stories are rich with emotion and relationships. Even in just one tale, two families quarrel over a better view, a better beach house, an entrée item at dinner, their kids fighting, and a lack of parental approval of the feuding families’ son/daughter Romeo and Juliet hidden romance. Human compassion shines through these conflicts, such as in a later story where a father shows his son kindness and understanding when a gang of locals leads him astray, presenting a strong faith in humanity.

Koslosky creates a believable work of fiction which flows from story to story, recreating a well-known setting of a beach house, the characters playing out a reminder that while nothing is perfect even in paradise, nothing needs to be perfect.

A Week at Surfside Beach by Pierce Koslosky Jr. won Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBA SHORTS Awards for Short Story Collections.

July 22, 2022
WINTER’s RECKONING by Adele Holmes – Southern United States Fiction, Women’s Historical Fiction,

In Winter’s Reckoning by Adele Holmes, a mercurial new pastor in town threatens the families of two women.

Welcome to 1917. A time of suspenders for men and, in the cities, bloomers for women. Horse-drawn wagons range the landscape, stoves burn wood, and people have to use outdoor facilities. A time of few vaccines and no antibiotics. People understood little of most diseases. Germ theory still had ground to cover. Women routinely died in childbirth. Life could vanish in a moment.

In rural Jamesville, a Southern Appalachian town, Madeline Fairbanks does what she can to make the lives of friends and neighbors more comfortable. She works as the healer in this community – and has for the past quarter of a century. Madeline eases the passage into and out of life, treating aches and pains in between.

Maddie comes from a long line of healers. Her grandmother taught her, and she’ll pass along what she knows to her granddaughter in turn. Hannah already has the inclination. The time has almost come to give her the ancestral box, which holds herbal remedy recipes and sketches and notes. That box contains all the learning from the women in their family who came before them.

Maddie has also trained an apprentice, Renetta Morgan, who is just about ready to begin working in the community, her own community, alone.

Maddie is white. Renetta is Black. They walk through town together, brazenly traversing from North Main (the white section of town) to South Main (the Black) and back again. Sometimes they go to tend the sick. Sometimes, to the fields and hillsides, gathering the healing flowers and roots and herbs. Other times, they work in Maddie’s cabin, creating tinctures, potions, and ointments. When Renetta learns enough, the two of them must no longer work together.

The long-promised railroad has recently bypassed the town, spelling a slow death for the community, cut off now from the lifeline of the new transportation. With their Main Street shops shutting down, the townsfolk face hard times. In the South, rigid segregation, Jim Crow laws, black codes, and the Klan divide the community. In Jamesville, the pointy hat boys haven’t been active in recent memory, but that’s about to change. Not everyone turns a blind eye to the flagrant close fraternizing of Maddie and Ren, two uppity women who don’t seem to know their place. Tempers are fraying.

Into this small town closing in on itself rides a lone horseman one day, who, after a brief look around, announces that he’s the new pastor. Reverend Carl Howard is the match to the powder keg.

As the town adjusts to this new pastor in their midst, and Reverend Howard takes his measure of the place, we will watch events unfold from the vantage point of three characters, all of whom have secrets to keep. Secrets that could be their undoing.

With the loss of the railroad, another potential casualty looms – one of education.

The town is divided on whether to invest in secondary education or not. Currently, only the primary school offers its young charges the most rudimentary learning. Nothing to build on. With more education, Maddie thinks, real change might be possible. Greater equality between peoples, despite their gender or skin color. Greater freedom for women. Or at least a good step in that direction.

The theme of education and what it can bring – more profound understanding, greater personal freedom and fulfillment, and economic opportunities – underlies the struggle of those for and against keeping women and Blacks “in their place.” One side looks forward to what could be; the other looks back to what has been. The balance of power always tilts in favor of those who have always held it. As the tension mounts, where words fail, violence threatens.

When a severe winter storm hits, everyone’s lives are suspended.

As they wait out the freeze, rationing their supplies and tearing up the porch for firewood, Maddie and Ren will come to know things about each other and themselves. And Hannah will grow up a little.

Set in the brooding rural South, and for a good portion of the novel in the challenging and crystalline world of a deep snowstorm, Winter’s Reckoning is rich in storyline and character with plenty of mystery woven throughout. Simply put, here’s a story that takes on issues whose harm remains with us today. With a climactic pulpit scene that’s not to be missed – and one novel we can highly recommend!

Winter’s Reckoning was a First Place Winner in the 2021 Goethe Awards.

July 20, 2022
DIVINITY’S TWILIGHT: Rebirth by Christopher Russell – Epic Fantasy, Military Fantasy, Gaslamp Fantasy

Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth by Christopher Russell is the opening of a High Fantasy epic about the rise and fall of vast empires.

The story grows from unfinished business between three brothers gifted with magic and power but chose different paths to achieve safety and security for themselves and the people who followed them.

These different paths culminated in a battle where the fate of their world is balanced precariously on a knife’s edge. Darmatus and Rabban are engaged in a war to the death with their oldest brother Sarcon. Sarcon believes the road to that safety lies in power alone, that the only way to be secure is to crush all his enemies, no matter how heinous the deeds required.

Darmatus believes that knowledge and education are the way, while Rabban advocates for engineering and artistry. But all are powerful in war as well as in peace. In the end, Darmatus and Rabban prevail, or so it seems.

But that is only the prologue to this grand saga.

This ancient battle was a projection of memory crystals. Nearly 700 years have passed since then. Sarcon, Darmatus, and Rabban are long dead, but their empires founded by their followers continue on, each espousing the brothers’ philosophies.

Sarcon is at the pinnacle of military might, while Rabban’s engineering prowess has kept their empire dogging at Sarcon’s heels. Darmatia holds the balance of power in their mercantile empire and serves as the breadbasket for all three.

But this tenuous balance will not last long; history is about to repeat itself. Sarcon is threatening war yet again, and Darmatia seems to be on the verge of throwing in their military lot with Rabban to keep Sarcon from swallowing them both whole. The action – and there is plenty of it! – follows the adventures of one very mixed group of Darmatian military cadets who may just hold the key to peace in their ill-prepared hands.

The world of Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth is an epic, complex, and well-crafted story.

Key characters represent each of the empires, enough to give the reader an understanding of the critical differences between the three kingdoms. The story has a vast cast overall, and keeping track of all the individuals can be challenging for some.

This story moves through multiple casts; the opening prologue has one set of characters long gone by the time the story shifts to its current time frame. Yet another set pushes the story forward until we reach that group of cadets who carry the meat of the narrative. Once the tale gets to Matteo, Vallen, and their cohort, readers won’t be able to set the book down.

The scope and setting of this series opener may invoke fond memories of the Star Wars saga for many readers.

Divinity’ Twilight weaves its tale in operatic (space operatic) fashion, where mighty empires and plucky underdogs clash. In a universe of both space ships and high magic, a place where a chosen hero – or heroine – must rise from obscurity to save their world from an evil that reaches beyond death itself.

Any reader of epic fantasy, fantastic tales of politics run amuck, or epic space battles will find a lot to love in Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth.

Divinity’s Twilight: Rebirth by Christopher Russell won Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBA OZMA Book Awards for Fantasy Fiction.

July 18, 2022
GALDO’S GIFT: The Boovie by Eleanor Long & Trevor Young – Animated, Picture Books, Children’s Fantasy Stories

In Galdo’s Gift: The Boovie, Eleanor Long & Trevor Young create an interactive animated story that helps children learn about their unique gifts through an imaginative tale and diverse vocabulary.

The first page opens with a poem sharing a personalized gift with the reader. Then, we meet the frog King, and his kingdom Galdovia. His land is “where the wild wind whistles while the songbird sings” and he narrates the story, voiced by Brian Murphy.

The townsfolk of Galdovia move on the page in textured illustrations. They need a hero to undertake an important adventure, with the promise of a gift from the King to whoever completes this quest. Enter four great heroes who start their journeys in the hope of earning the King’s reward.

The four fearless heroes of this story are hilarious!

Any child or child at heart will notice the innocent humor in this story. Even their names (Strompoff, Brendara, Mustafo and Doogood) are silly, along with their exaggerated physical appearances.

The four are hysterical to watch as they employ clever alliteration-described skills to obtain the king’s gift. The animations show deliberate attention to a child’s curiosity and imagination. Overall, the story is a very joyful read.

By helping children to see their individual gifts, it empowers them to become better people.

We do not all share the same gifts as the fearless four, but individually we learn our strengths and purpose. Galdo’s Gift teaches us to hone our abilities while growing up.

Often adults convince children they must become something they are not capable of or comfortable with. Long & Young foster a child’s worth and esteem as inner flames which must be stoked. We all admire great heroes, but once we play to our strengths, they show us the heroes inside ourselves. This story teaches us this lesson without sounding overpowering or insensitive to a child’s curiosities and insecurities.

More importantly, by encouraging a child’s strength, we empower and boost their confidence. Galdo’s Gift encourages us to use our strengths and magical gifts, one adventure as a silly great hero at a time.

Galdo’s Gift: The Boovie by Eleanor Long & Trevor Young won Grand Prize in the 2019 CIBA Little Peeps Book Awards for Early Readers and Picture Books. This interactive masterpiece is available on Apple i-Tunes.

July 13, 2022
The Discovery by Patrick M. Garry – Legal Thriller, Suspense/Thriller, Mystery Thriller

Patrick M. Garry’s The Discovery encompasses a narrative that traverses a family legal case jigsaw puzzle toward a discovery of self by exploring the ghost of ancient regrets, basic human desires, and questions of faith.

Frank Horgan, a former lawyer at one of Minneapolis’ largest firms, now practices small-case litigation in the little community of Basswood Hills. Frank, a victim of his own follies, has one more chance to restore his career to its former glory. But not before a huge legal matter comes knocking on his door at his father’s diner. This case kicks off the legal drama, bringing in several main and secondary characters to play their parts in the ultimate discovery of buried contentedness and eventually a scandal that breaks into the national newspaper.

Meanwhile, Frank comes upon the case of the most prominent McCorkle family in Basswood Hills.

Clayton McCorkle made a contract nearly a decade ago for his children to own the McCorkle Farm Equipment Company. But now, Clayton wants to reclaim his business. As his lawyer, Frank must overturn the agreement in order to reclaim Clayton’s ownership of the company from the children. The McCorkle kids’ choice of a huge New York firm for representation causes Frank to dig deeper.

It seems that the kids’ are involved with the commodities hedge fund, Parnassis, which owns a bin site adjacent to McCorkle land, and is coincidentally, also represented by the same huge New York firm. Parnassis’s urgent involvement in the case as well as the McCorkle siblings’ sudden generosity in preserving a portion of factory land around the bin site as a nature preserve reinforce Frank’s belief that there is more to this story than meets the eye.

Frank confronts a dilemma.

Enter Emily, an ex-nun and Frank’s road to faith, who seeks funds for a social cause benefiting women. Only, the funds are contingent on Frank’s losing the McCorkle lawsuit. Frank, as Clayton’s lawyer, must not only contend with the big firm lawyer’s blackmailing and unethical practices, but confront rumors of bodies of Clayton immigrant workers buried twenty years ago at the McCorkle factory site. If that weren’t enough, Frank’s close friend, Martin, has his own set of reasons to weaken Frank’s victory in the case.

The omniscient third-person narration of the story is the correct choice, in that, it allows for the characters’ implicit dialogues to gain depth into their development. Patrick M. Garry cleverly utilizes a non-linear narrative, the incorporation of first-person accounts written by Frank Horgan’s acquaintances and former clients that adds a sense of urgency and character development of the protagonist.

A key theme in the novel is the nuanced relationship between moral emotions and behavior in human life.

Frank’s ego compels him to always want to be linked with the most important cases – and to win. His pride and lack of judgement propel him to act in such a way that his profession and goals become jeopardized. As for Emily, she has felt the sting of her own past actions that cause her to doubt her ultimate trust and optimism in life. The continual struggle with guilt, as well as the search for meaning in life, dominate the novel. This reinforces the recurring topic in this author’s novels – life and the struggle of human beings to live in ways that transcend basic materialism and the grasp of destructive temptations.

Infused with legal drama, religious themes, and a personal quest, The Discovery is an all-action adrenaline-filled novel readers’ won’t want to put down.

Patrick M. Garry won Grand Prize in 2021 CIBAs in the Mystery & Mayhem Division.

July 6, 2022
The MAGICAL GUIDE To BLISS by Meg Nocero – Personal Transformation, Self-Discovery, Follow-Your-Dreams

The Magical Guide to Bliss is the first book in Meg Nocero’s creative and empowering Butterflies & Bliss Trilogy, an authentic series that nurtures readers along their paths of self-discovery.

With heartfelt intention, Nocero openly shares daily lessons and reflections that helped her find happiness, and will hopefully help others to move beyond their comfort zones and view life as an adventure. The Magical Guide to Bliss invites the reader to recognize the value in simple things like faith, hope, love, and joy. These facets of life help in an effort to transport ourselves and those around us from a realm of sorrow and defeat to uplifting enlightenment.

This unique motivational journey has 366 entries, each representing a day of the year. In the calendar-like set up, each month focuses on a specific concept and features Nocero’s reflections on it. From February’s theme of love, to the “Attitude of Gratitude” welcomed in November, all 12 chapters highlight a distinct transformative idea. Readers can explore the book from beginning to end, or as a leisurely daily practice either according to the calendar, or at random.

Each reflection opens with a related quote from a wide range of writers, artists, and celebrities.

Whether the sound advice of actress and comedian Lucille Ball to “Love yourself first and everything falls into line,” or British novelist C.S. Lewis’ affirming words “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream,” the messages reveal that each day offers new opportunities and a chance to step into bliss. Prayers of gratitude from the renowned Dalai Lama to thoughts of the French artist Henri Matisse about searching for a balanced life and peaceful existence all prove to be well-chosen phrases to compliment the overall purpose of this guide.

Nocero’s own glorious revelations offer insight on a variety of efforts like letting go of the past and overcoming fears, using your imagination, breathing in life’s blessings while breathing out the hardships, and staying optimistic.

These valuable insights come along with magical keys and mantras intended to open the locked doors encountered on the road to bliss. The keys come in the form of simple actions to take, such as writing out a vision statement, watching an inspiring movie, repeating positive influencing words, or performing deep breathing exercises to clear your mind and connect with your spirit.

A small photo journal along with bibliography and suggested readings at the end of the book adds a personal touch. These recommended works served Nocero along her own blissful path, and she hopes they will prove equally beneficial to others.

Reeling from the loss of her mother, Mary Jo, the creation of this guide clearly served as a catalyst for Nocero to move beyond the darkness of a devastating time in her life. The Magical Guide to Bliss is dedicated to the loving memory of her mom.

This motivating work is a simple road map that’s easy to follow. While there is some repetition along this soul-stirring route to bliss, it reinforces the powerful messages and affirmative insights being shared.

“Your past is over, your present is waiting, and your future holds much possibility.” Nocero’s ardent and passionate writing proves a worthy guide for that future.

July 4, 2022
RAVENS ROOST by Maggie Bates – Children’s Nature Books, Illustrated Books, Children’s Friendship Books

Maggie Bates’s Ravens Roost is a Children’s book that explores the illustrated nighttime adventures of a woman with her friend, a small frog.

This story teaches children how to be curious about forest animals, even in the middle of a wind storm. Bates is new to writing Children’s books, and cares deeply for the natural world. Her rapport with animals likely inspired her debut tale.

Ravens Roost begins with a frog sitting on a roof, wondering where ravens go at night. The woman who lives in the house decides to help the frog follow his curiosity on an adventure. First, she climbs up a tree to watch ravens soar overhead. She admires the moon and notices the birds perching in her favorite tree. She climbs down and starts her trek along a forest path as night falls and the wind picks up. The woman tucks her frog friend into her pocket for safety. Along their journey, the frog and the woman share a special friendship.

The pair get trapped in the storm and the woman feels lost about where the ravens have gone.

Illustrations of the storm, the face of the wind, and the swirling background add depth and complexity to a pivotal part in the story. These images bring the story to life and sweep the reader up in their tale.

Ravens Roost is imaginative and observant of the world, making it a good choice for building vocabulary with a youngster.

This story’s lessons come in elegant prose. After reading of the author’s love and respect for nature at the end of the book, the parallels between the lead character and the author become apparent. Some beautiful ideas from Ravens Roost are realized by letting the wind carry us away, admiring numerous ravens on a perch, or protecting a frog from harm during a storm. Maggie Bates teaches children to be curious about animals, and the world we share with them.

Although the woman and frog are different in many ways, their ability to coexist is a valuable lesson.

In the end, if we do not stop to admire the natural beauty that surrounds us, we are overlooking unlikely friendships that may form, such as a woman with a frog. Bates reminds us that nature is a sacred space in her debut tale, and this story is paramount to us appreciating nature at any age.

July 1, 2022
MORAL FIBRE: A Bomber Pilot’s Story by Helena P. Schrader – Historical Fiction, WWII, Historical Aviation

In Moral Fibre: A Bomber Pilot’s Story, Helena P. Schrader takes readers to 1943 England, where deeply held values of honor and bravery mingle with the importance of one’s place in society. It was a time and place where failures of the former could shatter the latter and change a man’s life forever.

Within this psychological landscape, the reader is led to wonder, in the case of RAF pilot Christopher “Kit” Moran, will the war break him?

With thirty-six missions under his belt and as a decorated veteran, Kit suddenly refuses to fly another mission. Although a shock to everyone who knows him, Kit has his reasons. The new assignment comes less than one day on solid ground and two hours of sleep since returning from his most recent bombing sortie over Berlin. In itself a harrowing experience, the mission ended with his best friend, the plane’s skipper, being mortally injured and ultimately dying. The RAF hierarch deems Kit LMF (Lacking Moral Fibre) – a term introduced in 1940 to address those who refused to fly without having a verifiable medical reason. He is sent to a diagnostic center and examined by a psychiatrist.

The psychiatrist understands. Kit is not insane nor lacking in moral fibre. He was simply “wiped out.”

So Kit is declared capable and fit for duty and given the opportunity to train as a pilot. This outcome was a far cry from what he, an experienced flight engineer, expected after the incident that sent his career off track.

The novel really takes off in 1944 when, after completing pilot training in South Africa, Kit returns to England for the final stages of training and ultimately a return to operations. Now he must put his experience and training into practice while sublimating his lingering self-doubt and anxiety about his own resilience. Should he fail, people will die, and his dreams will die with him.

What ensues takes the reader into the English psyche of that time, tapping the depths of human emotions, holding them up to the light, and revealing their concomitant beauty and ugliness in times of fear and crises.

Before the war is over for Kit, he finds his inner strength, finds love, and learns the true meaning of sacrifice.

Meticulously researched and skillfully written, Schrader’s Moral Fibre steps off the pages and comes to life. Her nuanced characters and authentic dialogue also provide a glimpse of Britain’s stratified class-conscious culture during the WWII era.

Schrader picks a critical period during WWII for the setting and, in so doing, educates today’s readers about the horrors of a war that was and what it takes to save a nation – and perhaps the free world.

In Moral Fibre: A Bomber Pilot’s Story, Helena P. Schrader again reaffirms George Santanya’s position, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

June 29, 2022
EDGE: Turning Adversity into Advantage by Laura Huang – Business Motivation, Success Self-Help, Personal Transformation

Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage by Laura Huang is a valuable mixture of business strategy, science, and examples, all directed to help readers develop their unique skills and strengths.

Author Laura Huang takes readers through her own journey to becoming an award-winning Harvard Business School professor. Along with real-world examples of both successful entrepreneurs and up-and-coming business students, she lays out a four-part guide on how to create your personal edge.

Creating your own edge is essential to getting ahead in life no matter who someone is or where they come from. Huang herself is a child of immigrants and was one of a few female engineering students at her university. She had to navigate her own specific challenges, figuring out what worked for her and what did not.

Instead of being in business to invent or promote the next big thing, Huang is in the business world for its rich research opportunities.

In Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage, Huang will take readers through her process: Enrich, Delight, Guide, and put in Effort, to create their special edge. Huang reiterates throughout her book that anyone can have an edge; they can use who they are and whatever adversity they have faced to their advantage in not just business, but in their everyday life.

Huang uses her research expertise to give relevant sociological, philosophical, and business contexts to each section of the book.

Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage is not about gaming the system to get ahead in business, and Huang stresses that there is not one method to follow. She presents her research and gives examples of how to gain an edge in ways that can create new opportunities for you.

Along with all the examples and stories, this book follows its own advice to Enrich, Delight, Guide, and put in the Effort. Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage is at the same time enlightening, engaging, and truly a wake-up call to take charge of the growth of your life.

Edge: Turning Adversity into Advantage won Grand Prize in the 2020 CIBA Harvey Chute Book Awards for Business & Enterprise Non-Fiction.

June 22, 2022
ELI’S REDEMPTION by Paul Attaway – Financial Thrillers, Small Town Mysteries, Suspense

When Eli Atkin’s mother betrays him in his girlfriend’s murder trial, he has no choice but to flee his home. He must find a way to survive, ultimately clear his name, and emerge transformed in Paul Attaway’s novel, Eli’s Redemption.

When life corners you, what choice do you have? On the brink of his high school graduation and a potential major league baseball career, Eli Atkins is framed for the brutal murder of his beloved girlfriend. His alibi hinges on the honest testimony of his mother, but instead she shocks him with a cruel, ruthless lie. Devastated and terrified, Eli takes his chance and runs away, fast. Alone, grieving, and confused, where can this troubled young man turn? He has to fight for his freedom and reputation, despite the impacts on others’ lives.

In the first book of the series, Blood in the Low Country, Eli escapes dangerous accusations, and the warrant for his arrest. We never learn where he goes, until now.

The thrilling tale behind that mystery mixes aspirations of hope with a dire tension. Once again the unknown may swoop in and create circumstances that will bury Eli forever. At the risk of facing arrest themselves for helping an escaping suspect charged with murder, surprising people step in for the sake of their friend. Eli makes it safely to the Caribbean. He hides from his old life and the law that pursues him, assuming a new identity. Though he escapes, he also leaves behind everything he loved. Eli grieves the loss of his girlfriend, his family, and the future he had planned for himself. All that has dissolved into thin air.

Anxious for the efforts of his friends back home to prove his innocence, Eli waits. Weeks turn into months and then years.

While others work on his behalf, digging up clues and following leads, the rhythm of life in the Caribbean captivates Eli. He discovers some joy in his work, in those people around him, and in new interests. The devoted baseball player tries his hand at a new game, golf. He develops enviable expertise. When he least expects to, he meets someone special, and irresistible. Cautiously, he even opens the door to the possibility of a new love.

Similar to the game of golf, life sometimes leaves players out of bounds, or deep in a sand trap. Not everyone wins with a hole in one. Eli finds delights in the Caribbean, but also dangers. When he has the chance to clear his name and reconcile with his old life, will he be tripped up again by the deceptions of his new life? Is Eli’s Redemption just one more broken dream? He fears that may be par for the course for his future. And yet, Eli drives forward and finds out.

Author Paul Attaway satisfies readers’ curiosity about Eli’s escape and his experiences as he grows from a scared teenager into an exiled man.

Artistically, the author paints the picture of this young man’s emotional journey. Along with Eli, the reader cringes with fears, thrills at joys, grieves at loss, and is surprised by new trouble and danger. Tension builds, keeping our interest and concern as Eli, and those around him, are tested by trials and tribulations. While we follow Eli’s adventures, we’re also treated to glimpses into the lives of those he left behind. How can they move forward without Eli, immersed in all the secrets that drove him away? Readers will be in Eli’s corner when he finally returns home and faces his ultimate test, his family. Reconciliation is easier said than done.

June 17, 2022