Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Chanticleer 5 Star Book Review

The DEVIL PULLS the STRINGS by J. W. Zarek – Young Adult Epic Fantasy Adventure, Young Adult Fantasy Action Adventure, Young Adult Urban Fantasy

The protagonist and all-around decent guy, Boone Daniels, is in a heap of hurt in JW Zarek’s new Young Adult novel, The Devil Pulls the Strings.

One would think being plagued by an evil spirit wendigo since age six would be enough inconvenience to last a lifetime, but when Boone jousts with his best bud at a Ren Faire and accidentally deals a mortal blow, the hurt he experiences suddenly lands on a sliding scale of 1 to 1 million. And Boone Daniels becomes a millionaire, so to speak.

No ordinary guy, Boone makes a living as a handyman and swashbuckling knight at Renaissance Faires around Missouri. He’s also uniquely gifted with a form of eidetic memory coupled with synesthesia. What’s that? Simply put, synesthesia allows people to see colors and taste things when they hear music – and an eidetic memory allows folks to memorize whatever they’ve seen or heard one time. But that’s not all. Boone can time-travel, make friends with almost any feline or shapeshifter, and convince a certain immortal he’s worth more as an ally than a snack. No kidding, Baba Yaya loves human meat.

After wounding his best friend, Boone promises to fill in for him as lead vocalist in the band, The Village Idiots, for a major gig in New York City.

The gig caps off the Dragons and Nymphs Annual Charity Ball – a blood drive. (The irony of this will make readers chuckle.) After the band plays, a mysterious score of music by Niccolò Paganini will be played by the best violinist of the time, who also happens to be Boone’s fast-friend-confidant-maybe-girlfriend-we’ll-have-to-see, Sapphire Anjou. Sapphire, the French Ambassador’s daughter, has connections that tie her deeply to the Lavender and Rose Society. There’s more to these societies. The Dragons and Nymphs want nothing but destruction and chaos, while the Lavender and Rose Society maintain order and work to keep people alive. And both societies seek the magical score. You see, no one actually has the Paganini sheet music. It’s a mystery and plenty of people die and get maimed in the pursuit of the piece, but finally, just in the nick of time, Boone and Sapphire obtain it.

What’s so special about this piece of music?

It’s magic, of course! Whoever plays the Paganini score can summon anyone they want. The Dragons and Nymphs want it to summon Ambrogio, their Vampire All-Father, who now resides in Hell. One immortal wants it to free her sister, who’s been caught in a pocket universe (you’ll have to read the book to figure out what that means). And then there’s the nefarious all-around baddie, Ambrozij Sinti, humiliated as a young boy, who now seeks his revenge by using the Paganini piece to summon the Devil himself and destroy the world. The stakes are high, and there’s no time to lose.

Told in first-person by hero Boone Daniels, J. W. Zarek spins an epic fantasy with tons of action, adventure, and folklore.

His writing peppers readers with alliteration in trios, that serve to tighten phrasing to speed up action scenes, evoking visceral responses. Readers feel the panic Boone feels as the world closes in around him. Does it work? Like a charm. Almost perfect, readers will surely love this first in series, epic fantasy world and fall in love with Zarek’s leading man because of it.

Somewhere between The Librarians meets The Magicians – mixed with the flawed hero archetypes of Jim Butcher’s Harry Dresden and Harold Hearne’s Atticus O’Sullivan, Zarek’s hero brings fans of the genre something new to dig their teeth into – and that’s an excellent thing. Fans will be thrilled to learn that the novel will release in Graphic Novel format soon!

The Devil Pulls the Strings won a whopping four Ribbons at the 2021 CIBA Ceremonies, a First Place Ribbon in both Ozma and Cygnus, as well as the Grand Prize in Paranormal, and the Overall Best Book of 2021 for the Chanticleer Int’l Book Awards!

July 12, 2021
A YEAR of LIVING KINDLY: Choices that will Change Your Life and the World Around You by Donna Cameron – Spiritual Growth Self-Help, Happiness Self-Help, Communication and Social Skills

Donna Cameron’s guide, A Year of Living Kindly: Choices That Will Change Your Life and the World Around You, invites readers to live more richly, thoroughly, and fruitfully.

Perhaps the best way to enjoy Cameron’s guide to kindness is to drink it in slowly, for a year, as its structure suggests. Savoring one of its 52 meditations – thoughtful, introspective, resonate, and wide-ranging discussions – each week. She turns to a new topic grouping with the advent of each new month, traversing the four parts, the “seasons,” as the year progresses.

Of course, as Cameron will tell you, living a year of kindness is not, in the end, enough; it’s a journey suited to a lifetime. But the habit of it, the joy of it, can take root throughout a year.

Based on the experiences of its author, the book’s foundation lies in the work of a lifetime of nurturing nonprofits and championing causes from the varied perspectives of executive, consultant, trainer, and volunteer. The guide incorporates observation and situates itself also in research. In and among her insights, Cameron weaves the thoughts, studies, and findings of cultural anthropologists, philosophers, physicians, psychologists, investigative journalists, mindfulness experts, and other teachers. The source notes at the back are modest enough to be accessible to those outside academia, yet extensive enough to show sinew.

So that readers might more easily incorporate these habits of thought into their own lives, each meditation ends with a Kindness in Action exercise. Together, these exercises are the passageways to reshaping ourselves.

The four seasons – Discovery, Understanding, Choosing, and Becoming – mirror the natural contours of such a journey.

In Discovery, we learn about kindness: what it is and what it isn’t, the health benefits that being kind grants, how we might begin to be truly warm and caring. In Understanding, we learn the barriers to kindness – from within and without – and delve more deeply into opening ourselves to this way of encountering the world. In Choosing, we explore the courage that kindness can take, the roles of vulnerability and curiosity – yes, curiosity – play, and what it means to extend compassion to all, including standing up to bullies, online and off. In Becoming, we settle in to look soberly at the challenges, at what we might do to create a kinder world, and at what it means to live in kindness every day.

This structure makes for a powerful presentation and easy entry into the eddies and currents of these gently meditative discussions. But it is not, as Cameron herself notes, necessary to follow a linear path. A reader could just as quickly open the book and flip to any point within it to encounter something rich and thought-provoking to ponder that day, that week, that month.

In this journey to kindness, we might each of us follow whichever path calls to us.

Giving our whole selves to kindness helps us to become whole.

A Year of Living Kindly is a generous book brimming with open good-heartedness and calm practicality, with guidance firm yet gentle. Wise, yet itself kind. Cameron undertakes her journey from a position many would recognize – not so much unkind as hurried, distracted, disengaged. Perhaps in the habit of being, when the situation calls for it, “nice.” Civil, not especially warm. Cautious, not connected.

Cameron invites us instead to be open to the world. To be generous with our time and our talent, in word, deed, and spirit. To be aware of and awake to others. To be fully present. To be, fully.

She invites us to embrace kindness as a way of embracing life. Adopting the “mantle of kindness,” she says, will enable each of us to enjoy more entirely in the abundance of our own lives and in the richness the world has to offer. Such a journey connects us more deeply with ourselves and others, enabling us to live our best lives. And such kindness spreads. When we give so wholly of ourselves, others tend to take that gift and pass it along.

The case she makes is compelling. The message, timely. It’s an invitation that’s difficult to resist, particularly in the company of such a guide. In the world it seems we’ve all been hurtling toward in the past five years or so, Donna Cameron’s steady voice and clear-eyed vision is a balm for the soul.

Perhaps, just perhaps, with enough kindness, we might indeed remake neighborhoods, remake communities, and transform the national temper. A Year of Living Kindly placed 1st in Category in the CIBA 2019 Instruction and Insight Awards for Non-Fiction How-To manuals.

June 30, 2021
SOMETIMES WHEN I’M MAD by Deborah Serani, Psy.D. – Children’s Self-Help Books, Children’s Books About Anger, Children’s Books with Reader Guide

Sometimes When I’m Mad, “… it’s because everything goes wrong,” is the enticing opening phrase of psychologist Deborah Serani’s informative children’s book. It explores the emotion of anger and helps youngsters identify and cope with this often uncomfortable feeling.

Here we meet a dark-haired girl with spiky pigtails who is easily frustrated by the day’s happenings. Whether a spilled glass of milk, a frantic search for a toy, or discontent when a friend doesn’t come over to play, sharp images of a furrowed brow, snarling face, or pouting lips tell the story. Concerned parents, grandparents, and a teacher soon help this youngster realize that simple actions can help remedy and manage her anger. Ultimately a talk or fun activity, a nap or hug, or sometimes even an apology can calm the inner turmoil and make an individual feel better.

Kyra Teis’s artful illustrations beautifully complement the straightforward narrative.

The opening background of a lined and spattered wall seems intentionally reflective of the tumultuous subject matter. Details like a crossed arm stance, ears covered to avoid listening, or the rising blush in cheeks when attempting to put on a pair of socks all prove indicative of the child’s building frustration. The color palette is natural yet toned down. For appropriate contrast, the central character’s bright red shirt and shorts and an orange sweatshirt draw the reader’s attention and accentuate the young girl’s intense upset. A final smiling image, where she dons cool-green attire and pets her ever-present, inquisitive feline, helps bring an element of soothing comfort to the storyline.

The book’s final pages guide concerned adults looking to help a child deal with their emotions of anger. Learning to understand it can prove a transformative, healing, and empowering force. Serani smartly explains how the negativity of anger may appear as many physical symptoms like headaches, stomachaches, appetite, and sleeping problems. Anger unmanaged can also contribute to academic difficulties, as well as social and emotional concerns. Ideally, learning to express anger in adaptive ways will help build confidence and allow children to experience greater physical and emotional well-being.

Serani also points out that anger can manifest itself differently within each child, but there are specific patterns to look for within the developmental stages of specific age groups.

Treating children with respect, helping a child understand that anger is natural, encouraging open and honest communication, and providing age-appropriate consequences for aggressive behavior are also noted as methods to help promote healthy emotional expression. Special needs challenges such as ADHD, Autism, or learning disabilities may also influence a child’s anger. Likewise, if a child’s anger becomes more frequent and intense, consultation with a mental health professional or specialist may be in order. Also included is a list of various organizations offering information and support.

An easy read intended for the 4-8 age group, Sometimes When I’m Mad proves an intelligent choice that delivers positive reinforcement and direct ways to handle complicated feelings that can stir within us at any age. Highly recommended.

June 23, 2021
I, TARZAN: AGAINST ALL ODDS by Jean-Philippe Soulé – Adventure Memoir, Overcoming Obstacles, Inspirational Memoir

In his adventure-infused memoir, I, Tarzan: Against All Odds, Jean-Philippe Soulé recalls a difficult childhood, fractured and sometimes anger-laced teen years, and remarkable adult accomplishments that continue to the present day.

A child of the 1960s, born in France, Jean-Philippe learned many of life’s lessons through the early medium of television, watching the real-life exploits of Jacques Cousteau and the fantasy heroism of Tarzan. While Cousteau became a life-long role model for Soulé the man, the boy set up ropes to swing from in the backyard – much to his mother’s horror. Both role models, however, influenced Soulé to embrace the outdoors. His acerbic father took him on sailing excursions from time to time, increasing the boy’s sense of the challenges of nature.

Challenges helped Soulé discover his resources and strengths.

At a young age, the introverted Soulé wore glasses and became targeted by bullies, making his life at school hell. Nevertheless, he excelled at sports, proving himself the best runner in the school. Facing inevitable draft induction by age 18, Soulé longed for the opportunity to join the elite French Mountain Commandos, a small Special Forces unit of the 27 BCA. However, his chances were very slim as he had only a few weeks of experience in mountain climbing, and the highly lauded unit was at the time — and remains — a very exclusive military branch. Soulé put his incredible willpower to the test. Once allowed to compete, he so impressed his superiors with physical feats that he not only made the selection but also received rare promotions, participating in harrowing rescue and recovery missions in life-threatening conditions.

The 27 BCA offered Soulé a long-term contract.

Soulé debated about whether to accept the contract. At the end of the day, he refused the position. With scant funding, he decided to embark on the life of world exploration that he’d dreamed of as a child. Making his way to the US by various means, he joined the Microsoft team in its heyday. Outside of work, he met other intrepid men like himself. He learned diving and became an instructor — and even earned his recreational pilot’s license, something he’d been told he’d never be able to do because of poor eyesight in his right eye. At the age of twenty-six, Soulé resigned from Microsoft, ready to travel the world in earnest.

I, Tarzan: Against All Odds, a truly inspirational and powerful memoir, conveys an invaluable message: if one determines a goal and pursues it without compromise, one will succeed. Soulé transports readers onto the scene of his many adventures. We feel what he feels, experience what he does in the truest sense, and delight in the ultimate reward of witnessing his personal growth in self-esteem and accomplishment. I, Tarzan, simply put, is the most inspirational memoir of the year. A final wrap-up includes color photographs of the author with the Indigenous peoples he’s met in the various countries he’s explored. In a brief Epilogue, he offers this hard-acquired wisdom: “If we choose to live our true life, no matter the odds, we can all be Tarzan.”

June 18, 2021
MY ONLY SUNSHINE by Lou Dischler – Humorous Fiction, Dysfunctional Family Humor, General Humor

Lou Dischler delivers an intricately woven story about one well-meaning boy who tries to make sense of the crazy he’s been born into. Get ready for one belly laugh of an adventure in My Only Sunshine.

Welcome to the Louisiana low country, home of 9-year-old Charlie Boone, a kid growing up in 1962. Charlie, a most unreliable narrator, concerns himself with giant wingless wasps and biting red velvet ants. Combine his critter-concerns with the legend of the giant slugs, the story of his mother taken up by a hurricane, and the episode of the puddle he and his brother dug that grew into a pond, then turned into a lake, and we have one wildly imaginative ride well-worth taking.

Dischler delivers an epic tale that shifts from Charlie’s first-person point-of-view with his youthful ignorance coloring his observations to his Uncle Dan’s and “Aunt” Lola’s in third-person point-of-view. While Charlie ages and grows in wisdom as the story progresses, his uncle never seems to gain a lick of sense. Dischler skillfully applies the laws of magic realism to Charlie’s wonderful way of viewing his world. Uncle Dan’s story, on the other hand, derives from an inept conman’s rap-sheet – from failed grifts to bank robbery bungles that succeed only by accident. Dischler guides us, normalizing the ridiculous to the point that the characters jump off the page and set up camp in your living room.

Charlie and his family come richly drawn.

Altogether, the story lands somewhere between Stand by Me meets Bonnie and Clyde combined with an over-the-top sense of humor. Charlie’s easy banter transports us from the classroom to the lake, which becomes a vivid metaphor for his life. Through it all, readers experience the naïve confusion in Charlie at his uncle’s supposed wife, the Tijuana Bibles – more porn than scripture, and his uncle’s frequent disappearances. Dischler casts his spell, causing us all to fall for this 9-year-old boy and want to see what happens next.

My Only Sunshine shines brightly.

In the end, Dischler weaves the threads of this story into a fine cloth of satisfying, dysfunctional family love. Top that off with Charlie’s determination to find his mom no matter the outcome, and this novel shines like a gem. Readers can’t help but root for Charlie to catch a break, find his mom, and become the young man his destiny calls him to.

This rollicking novel will keep readers up at night, rehashing the escapades of one young southern boy, someone to whom we can all relate. Charlie’s a well-meaning kid who makes mistakes. He’s human, after all, just a kid whose mission unfolds in hysterical detail on every page. Dischler’s My Only Sunshine comes highly recommended as a laugh-out-loud read with some thought-provoking issues on the side.

June 16, 2021
FATAL INFRACTION (Mike Stoneman Thriller Series #4) by Kevin G. Chapman – Thriller/Suspense Fiction, Police Procedural, Crime Thrillers

Football, love, racism, and murder are the subjects of interest Kevin G. Chapman uses in his latest crime novel, Fatal Infraction.

Racial tension, throwing the game, and a love triangle all play a part in why the team’s controversial quarterback, Jimmy Rydell is dead. NYPD homicide detective Mike Stoneman and his partner, Jason Dickson, put their personal lives on hold after Rydell’s body turns up frozen in New York City’s Central Park. Who hated Jimmy enough to end his life? Readers soon find out what made the quarterback a possible target.

The brutal way Jimmy dies drives the cops to chase any lead on every turn of the page with little evidence to go on. Waiting for the body to thaw leaves time for the cops and detectives of the NYPD to question all involved, including team members, girlfriends, Jimmy’s agent, and friends.

How many times does a first-round draft pick end up dead in a metropolis like New York City?

As the community becomes more agitated due to racial tension, the news reporters hound the players and people of interest to get the best insight and first story – the details of the murder. The sports reporters play the game, too, but they have an in with the players’ lives that the other reporters and the cops do not. Through myriad lies and deceptions, one truth becomes clear – someone is hiding something, and the cops and detectives know it.

When the detectives uncover the murder of a possible witness and friend of Jimmy, the plot thickens. Can the detectives save a life while also solving the murder? That’s a question readers will find out for themselves.

In the midst of the murder investigation, Jason and Mike face their own challenges that deepen each character’s growth and carry the series forward. Those subplots and several others weave a tapestry of topical social issues into the murder mystery. Although Fatal Infraction is the fourth book in the Mike Stoneman series, it stands on its own as a strong, relevant who-dun-it that will undoubtedly lead new readers to the first book in the series.

Chapman’s style of storytelling and his extraordinary attention to detail in this present-day crime novel leaves no topic unturned before the murder of famous quarterback Jimmy Rydell is put to rest. The dialogue and prose of this intense crime novel resonate with authenticity and a style all its own. In short, Fatal Infraction will capture readers’ attention from the beginning to the end – with no timeouts.

June 8, 2021
WALTZING A TWO-STEP by Dan Juday – Inspirational Memoir, LGBTQ+ Memoir, Coming-of-Age Memoir
Dan Juday’s memoir Waltzing A Two-Step is a humble and compassionate look at his formative years.

Born a few years after the second world war, Dan experiences a peaceful and happy childhood in rural Indiana, moving frequently before the family settles on a rural area of land named Springwood in Clinton County, Indiana. The Juday family were devout Catholics and enrolled Dan and his siblings in Catholic schools until the family moved to Springwood. Public school became the only option for the siblings. There Dan does his best to fit in but his status as a minority Catholic in a mostly Protestant community in the 1950s brings its own challenges.

For Dan, his struggles don’t stop there.

From a young age, Dan knew there was something inherently different about himself that didn’t align with what the world around him expected, and as he grows older and enters adolescence, it becomes increasingly difficult to ignore. By the time Dan reaches college, the country is facing a lot of cultural changes from the growing political and racial tensions of the 1960s. Young men around him without deferments are being drafted to fight in Vietnam. As he progresses through his undergraduate courses, Dan continues to struggle with finding his place in the world and finding a suitable partner his family would approve of.

Almost by fate, a counselor suggests he switch his minor to Spanish. Dan soon finds a sense of belonging with a group of international students and soon decides to study abroad in Spain. While at the airport, he meets a fellow student named Ricky and embraces the growing desire to live truthfully in a world that is still a long way from being accepting.

Waltzing A Two-Step is a unique memoir in that Dan’s thoughts and feelings serve as a backdrop and rarely come to the forefront.

Dan uses his ability as a strong observer to tell his story through the people and places that surrounded him in his life. Through his quiet observation of the world, he sees the simplicity of life growing up, but as the 1960s bring large cultural shifts, Dan’s simple worldview is increasingly challenged. His struggle to find a sense of belonging is a quintessential part of adolescence and emulates that complex experience throughout the memoir. His journey of self-acceptance of his sexuality will also be relatable to any reader who has experienced similar challenges.

Juday focuses on the themes of family, faith, and self.

He dedicates a section of the book to each with a final one tying them all together as a sort of reckoning. One theme that stands out addresses how people who may only be in your life for a brief moment, in the end, can have some of the biggest impacts. The most beautiful and often bittersweet moments of the book show meaningful relationships that last just a short while. The best example being the immigrant family that lives in the apartment above Dan in New Jersey and welcomes him into their family when he needed one. It’s a beautiful message about life, to embrace the people around you and treasure them as you journey through the trials of life.

Dan Juday’s Waltzing A Two-Step: Reckoning Family, Faith, and Self is a coming-of-age memoir that is a must-read. A compassionate journey of self-acceptance that follows Dan Juday from the rural communities of Indiana, across Europe, and along the East Coast searching for a life well-lived.
- This title is available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or wherever you buy your books.
June 2, 2021
BEYOND the HUMAN REALM by Gene Helfman – Killer Whale Fiction, Family and Friendship Fiction, Action/Adventure Fiction

Author Gene Helfman, noted academic expert on aquatic biodiversity, delivers a fictional tale about an orphaned orca (killer whale) named Sam and the humans who seek to change his life in Beyond the Human Realm.

The book opens from Sam’s viewpoint. On display for humans, whom he calls “split-tails” or “logriders,” Sam relies on the humans now for food in his too-small habitat. In exchange, he must perform tricks such as carrying balls and leaping about, actions he performs reluctantly if at all. There’s one split-tail that he likes, though, a female who speaks to him gently. Sam allows her to ride on his back as one of his tricks. When a female companion arrives in his habitat Sam falls in love and the pair produces a baby. All seems blissful until the split-tails take his baby, and his partner dies of grief.

Sam can’t know, but some split-tails rally to his side, plotting to release him in the wild, to join wild orcas.

Rudy Laguna, a college professor and renegade whale behaviorist, is recruited by billionaire J. B. Alexander, who wishes to rescue the orca they call “Makai”, a highly costly venture, to make amends for his principal source of income – the manufacture of toilet paper and its decimation and contamination of forests and seas.

Rudy leads the effort to sequester “Makai,” re-accustom him to catching live fish, repair his broken dorsal fin, acquaint him with an orca tribe, and finally, set him free. Rudy enlists the help of Cassie Flanagan, an aspiring academic whose love of aquatic creatures and former acquaintance with the whale brought them close – but not too close; Cassie wears a gold ring and Rudy lost a previous job for consorting with a female student. The humans’ collaboration will result in “Makai’s” return to wild waters, allowing the embittered orca a chance at happiness – and revenge.

The action in Helfman’s multi-layered tale switches between dry ground and the depths of the sea, floating between the viewpoints of Sam/Makai and the split-tails.

Helfman, Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Ecology and the Program in Conservation Ecology and Sustainable Development at the University of Georgia, Athens, weaves scientific details into the narrative reflecting his extensive knowledge of the aquatic realm. Heretofore most known for his non-fiction titles focusing on fishes, Helfman gifts readers with lively dialogue, an intriguing storyline, and delightful characters. Readers will enjoy the possibilities of non-verbal communication between land dwellers and sea beings and no doubt wish for more fiction releases from this author. As the story unfolds, a series of remarkable coincidences tie the tale of the humans and that of Sam together, including the presence of one of the book’s more mysterious characters, a friendly canine whose name may be Genius, Cheez Whiz…or Jesus.

Helfman’s cinematic, wide-ranging novel is a rewarding must-read for anyone who loves seafaring adventure, respects nature in all its aspects, enjoys a ribald romantic rivalry, and most of all those who find whales fascinating as friends and teachers to humankind. In other words, here’s a novel we highly recommend.

June 2, 2021
UNTIL MORNING COMES by Jonathan Epps – True Crime Thriller, Vigilante Justice Thriller, Conspiracy Thrillers

Jonathan Epps pulls from the darkest corners of our headlines a tale most despicable in his latest novel, Until Morning Comes.

Young girls seldom know the dark, wicked places awaiting them in the world, but they do have real problems. They come from hard-scrabble backgrounds and make destructive decisions because they want something more for themselves. These girls don’t know how to get what they desire, only without a doubt, each one understands they need something so much bigger – so much better than what life currently offers, and they will believe anyone – and do anything – to attain it.

In short, they become targets for predators.

The very rich and the celebrated take what they want from these girls and leave them worse off than ever. It’s those people who should know better but don’t care. They hire people to hunt down these girls, profit from them, and promise a future that never comes to fruition, then discard them like trash.

The girls participate in sordid parties for the uber-wealthy, famous, even celebrated elite who enjoy perpetrating illicit and disturbing actions upon the underaged and vulnerable. They take their pleasure in places where drugs never run dry, and consent is deemed optional. Lots of money changes hands, and some of it even makes its way to a few girls. But at one of these events, Ava witnesses a most deplorable act, and instead of helping the girl, she runs away. She can’t forgive herself. Ava’s haunted by the sights, sounds, and smells of that night, and her hatred grows for the people who perpetrated these offenses.

Ava forms friendships with two others, and they all try to move on. Each one deals with the lingering trauma in different ways. The other two begin to piece together plans for the present, hoping they can eventually set goals for happy futures. But Ava fails in all her attempts. She can’t move on from her past. She can’t move on from the horrific scene she ran from, and so she puts together a plan for revenge.

Ava Rose Anderson decides to put an end to the group.

Why? Simple. She has nothing left to lose. Ava seeks revenge for herself and for all those who suffer the aftermath of the life they once lived. She challenges the offenders with exposure of their crimes – and she’s determined to fight that nightmare to the bitter end.

Revenge may give Ava closure, if not peace. Ultimately, she wants to face the man who ran the trafficking operation. She wants to see him dead. Also, she wants to face off with the woman who recruited her – and so many like her. Ava hunts her targets through media and across a couple of major cities to trap the human trafficking ring. She doesn’t know it, but Ava is not the only person on this trail. Who will reach them first, and how will it all end?

Jonathan Epps masterfully develops his latest thriller with public figures we all recognize from today’s headlines. True crime and thriller fans alike will find Until Morning Comes riveting and simply impossible to put down.

May 27, 2021
A DIVINE WIND by Norman M. Jacobs MD, MS – Technothrillers, Literature and Fiction, Environmental Thrillers

A Divine Wind by Norman M. Jacobs MD, MS is a technothriller that will keep readers glued in their seats until the last page is read.

Working in secret, one government experiments with technology that allows them complete control over the weather. If the user guides the technology with a heavy hand, the weather will strike like a weapon; likewise, if those at the control wield compassion, calm weather that nourishes the land will result. Calculated strategies could deploy storms against one’s foes. Of course, any intentions to channel the weather for good may produce scattered, unintended, and deadly consequences. There’s an old saying, “An ill wind may blow nobody any good.” However, a divine wind may unite people if they don’t kill one another first.

Doron Ben Avrahim suffered significant losses in his life. At just eight years old, his parents died in the 9/11 Twin Towers attacks. The young and devastated Doron journeys to Israel, becoming a ward of his relatives. Now Israeli army lieutenant Doron is captured in Iran. It happens just one week before his wedding. On the day of the arrest, Sarah, his beloved fiancé, tried on her wedding dress. Life offered Doron nothing except Sarah. All joy had forsaken him as a child, and six months into his captivity, if not for Sarah, he didn’t care if he lived or died. Then a tornado sweeps into Iran and changes everything.

Everyone wants to know what happened and why.

High-ranking officials in the United States, including the President and Vice President, develop curiosity about the strange weather events in the Middle East. Governments around the world press for information. What happened? Was it an artificial event? Who did it? Can the technology be duplicated? And, how can we get our hands on it? Israeli officials, driven by their people’s plight of living under constant threat of annihilation, want to keep the technology secret. It makes no sense to share it with the world.

Can there ever be peace?

As governments of the world do what governments do best – investigate, interrogate, and spy on one another, the world’s citizens learn of a unique family that crossed borders. These people have learned about what can unite them and how they can all dream of a better world. Once they envision it, they believe they can create it. Can a foundation be built on a dream, or will it crumble under the winds of change?

Author Norman M. Jacobs, a physician/scientist, builds his plot on a most intriguing premise: the ability to alter weather patterns and control specific storms at will. The theoretical science, including its eventual and significant butterfly effect, develops in a most fascinating and approachable way, leaving readers imagining the likelihood of such a tool’s viability in our world today.

A Divine Wind begins at a heart-pounding, thrilling pace, as any technothriller should. Jacobs then weaves historical events into his characters’ lives, bringing depth and empathy for what shapes their actions. Here, Jacobs allows us a glimpse into the communities and destinies of two cultures and questions their futures. In the end, we ask the all-important, sobering question, can there ever be peace? Ultimately, Jacobs delivers an intelligent technothriller far too close to home to be anything else but highly recommended!

May 22, 2021