Chanticleer Book Reviews

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The 2020 CANDIDATE by Lloyd Bruce Miller – Political, Presidential Bid, Non-Fiction
There are so many hopefuls gearing up for the United States 2020 election, what’s one more?

Meet Lloyd Bruce Miller, 75-year-old who wants your vote. Or not. You see, Mr. Miller is a complicated man. Crazy, some may say – and why not, for he calls himself ‘crazy’ several times throughout his bid for the presidency.

In all actuality, it is uncertain whether or not Mr. Miller is indeed throwing his hat into the ring for 2020. He realizes he’s a “nobody” but goes on to comment that if “Trump could win, I don’t see why I, or anyone for that matter, couldn’t be a valid candidate.” By the way, Mr. Bruce did make a run for mayor of New York City back in 2009, he even registered, but Michael Bloomberg stole the election from underneath him. It’s as simple as that.

Reading through his 10,962-word bid for the 2020 Presidency (this is, the point of fact, what Mr. Miller’s book is all about), we begin to wonder who this man is. Where did he come from? He helps us out on page 24 by stating that “…(he) doesn’t really want to be president. (He’s) a fictional character in a story or novel.” We should all think of him in this way.

And yet, he has these thoughts… “I am a lunatic of some sort, a screwball in a novel. My name is Harold. That’s enough for you to know, at least for now.” He goes on to say, “The man who wrote something called ‘Utopia’, Thomas Moore I believe, must have been also a little crazy, like me.” Further along, he gives himself the title, “Harold the madman.”

From my perspective, there is nothing unusual for a politician to be a ‘madman.’ Most politicians have to be a little off in order to open themselves up to ridicule and public display. That being said, should you wish to cast your vote for Harold the Madman in 2020, you should know what he stands for, what his policies are, and how he approaches things.

Here’s a head’s up, Harold the Madman is not ‘politically correct’ in any fashion. Reading through his bid, here is what I’ve discovered:
1. Criminal Justice System. Criminals should be treated with respect and reasoned with. Therefore, no prison terms in years; prison terms should be measured by if the individual has had a real change.
2. Bullies have a right to bully. It’s a matter of protecting their Freedom of Speech. Victims of the so-called bullying should “toughen up.” (I warned you…) But, even so this is the age of “Jordan Petersen” and his penchant for political incorrectness that attracts both support and criticism.
3. #Metoo. It is, according to Harold the Madman, wrong for a woman to ruin a man’s career simply because he touched her. It’s up to women to tell men what behavior is right or wrong. He arrives at this because “100 French actresses came forward opposed to the Me, too, movement*.” Also, according to HtM, “women and men play sexually with each other.” He is also from the “Mad Men” era, much like that uncle we all have and care for but disagree with at Thanksgiving dinner. Perhaps Harold the Madman isn’t a misnomer after all, but perchance a lingering after effect?
4. Freedom of speech is the foundation of a free society; therefore, people have the right to talk about wanting to kill themselves, wanting to kill other people, etc. Because the only way to help these people is to talk to them and reason with them. HtM is opposed to the Suicide Hotline, and they are monitored by the government, and the government is more interested in collecting information about you to aid in your arrest**.
5. Foreign policy. Because HtM doesn’t have a lot of experience with foreign policy, he is going to leave it in the hands of the military. He believes in compromise and Manifest Destiny. This allows for the policy he proposes next: Because we cannot fit “the entire population of the whole world into the area of the current United States… you are welcome to join us, but now, your land is our land, part of the United States under the jurisdiction of our federal government.” At first, HtM will focus on friendly democracies like “… Mexico, Canada, Israel, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, France, Germany…” and extend the invitation to become part of the United States. Undoubtedly, HtM will find support for his foreign policy platform as I did see a red truck the other day with “I LOVE WALLS” painted across both sides of it.
6. “Compromise is actually the force which enabled the human race to survive over the centuries. Without compromise, no nation could even be formed or last a day. Compromise, more than anything else, is the basis of human society.” This is when HtM starts to make some sense and I found myself nodding my head in agreement—just when I was shaking my head in confoundedness on some of his other platforms.
While it is true that there certainly is much in his proposition to scratch your head about and ponder over, the true beauty of The 2020 Candidate is the freedom by which its author can express his opinions. That, after all, is the American Way.

And then in his closing remarks, he recommends that we all need to talk to each other and get to know each other on an individual basis. Because there are so many variations of us communication is key—if not the most important agenda of his bid.

In closing, if you choose to read Harold the Madman’s bid for the presidency, please read it through to the end. It’s not so “mad” after all…

All things considered, Lloyd Bruce Miller, a.k.a. Harold the Madman, is a unique character and perhaps someone with whom one might like to sit down for a conversation and a pint at Samwise Gamgee’s Old Gaffer’s table at the Green Dragon.

—
- Catherine Deneuve and 99 other prominent women in France did speak out against Harvey Weinstein, but also raised concerns with the Me, Too, movement going too far. Here’s the link to the NPR article:https://www.npr.org/2018/01/10/577163155/100-french-women-pen-letter-saying-metoo-movement-has-gone-too-far
**This is not our view at Chanticleer Reviews. Suicide Hotline is a vital service in our society, one we could scarcely do without. So if you are thinking of doing something dangerous to yourself or someone else, we strongly encourage you to reach out to this service at: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ or call them at 800-273-8255
April 6, 2019
BRITFIELD and the LOST CROWN by C. R. Stewart – Action/Adventure, Coming of Age, Mystery/Caper

Tom and Sarah are best friends who reside in a dilapidated English orphanage housed in a 16th-century castle. Only this castle isn’t the kind that inspires romance or chivalry; Weatherly orphanage is run like a maximum-security prison where children are forced to work, creating goods that are sold in the local village.

Many orphans have tried to get beyond Weatherly’s gates and have failed. Mr. Speckle, a scurrilous caretaker, prowls the grounds, keeping constant surveillance, ensuring the children are working and staying in their place. But Tom is a daring lad, often going on “raids” to steal books from the private library of Weatherly’s owners for his friends to read. Mr. and Mrs. Grievous, a dreadful pair who frown upon any sort of learning, run the orphanage.

One day, Tom and Sarah resolve to get out of Weatherly – forever. Ahead of them, the path is long, twisting, and dangerous, filled with a whirlwind tour through the English countryside. Here, author Stewart sharpens his focus and showcases the beauty and mystery of Great Britain. Readers will discover the places that are dear to the author’s heart as Tom and Sarah travel far and wide, including places such as the Midlands, Canterbury, Windsor Castle London and many more. But trouble is always nipping at Tom and Sarah’s heels, and when the renowned Detective Gowerstone takes up the case, the pair are nearly captured. They only escape by commandeering a hot-air balloon!

As we follow them on their clandestine route, we begin to learn more about who Tom might be—and why some highly placed operatives would like to see him eliminated altogether. It all goes back 150 years to the disappearance of the mysterious Britfield dynasty and the ascendancy of Queen Victoria, leaving one to wonder, Did the wrong person get the crown?

Britfield and the Lost Crown delivers as a detailed and intriguing first-in-series read that is sure to capture the attention of the middle grade and young adult crowd and those who love the Y/A action and adventure genre. Readers journey through the English cities and countryside beautifully rendered in the narrative. The book also includes maps and intelligent background information about the setting and history with access to online illustrations and commentaries on castles, villages, and towns where our heroes visit. Overall, Britfield weaves plot, texture, storytelling, and fascinating characters into a winning combination and enriching experience for adventure fans.

April 1, 2019
TOM – The ADVENTURES of a PORTSMOUTH LAD by Tom Edwards – Memoir, Action/Adventure, Coming of Age

Tom Edwards grew up rough and never lost his yen for travel and new adventures, as shown in this wide-ranging portrait that spans numerous years and continents.

The author depicts himself through the eyes of an omniscient observer, growing up as a sailor’s son in and around the city of Portsmouth, England during the Depression era. Many scenes of his childhood speak to the poverty in which the family, his mother, sister, and brother, lived in as they rarely saw the father/husband who was mostly away at sea.

But the boy never realized they were poor until one Christmas when the better-off folk visited his neighborhood with boxes of fruit, cakes, and toys for the children. Vivid historical touches including everything from famous buildings, castles, and ships in the harbor are wrapped around childhood memories of the flannel vests slaked in camphor that children were forced to wear all winter, to the sports cards sold with cigarettes that children prized, saved, and fought over. Yet despite an absent father and a mother who seemed happy to have the old man gone, Tom chose the seafaring life.

Born in 1929, Tom was accepted at Portsmouth Technical High School, and as the war was ending, he joined the Royal Navy, beginning his roving lifestyle. He was often punished in his training stint for being a daring young man, but he also managed to compete in various sports – swimming, boating, sailing, and once – but only once, boxing.

Stationed in Ireland, he was then transferred to Malta, his first experience of a truly foreign place. That was followed by years in various countries of southern Africa and finally Australia. In those years he was married, twice, had daughters whom he loved but rarely saw as his wife kept returning to England, while he couldn’t bear the boredom of home for long.

He mined for semi-precious gems, learned to fly gliders, played water polo, started a camera magazine, headed a rescue team, battled and won a fight against tuberculosis, worked in a dynamite factory, sailed around the world, and was shipwrecked three times, became a surveyor, a painter and ran art groups in three countries, and immigrated to Australia when independence movements in Africa began to make existence difficult for the former English colonizers.

Edwards is known for his writing, his first book compellingly titled If I Should Die, composed after he joined an anti-terrorist unit in Rhodesia. His prose is colorful and well organized, and his interjections of significant events in the world add a stirring background – the abdication of Edward VIII, the coronation of Elizabeth II, the war and all its terrors told both by the history book and from the observant memory of a growing boy in a critical seaport city. Small details overlap the larger scheme of things, including a great deal of humor surrounding young men’s constant longing for, and occasional securing of, female companionship. He is careful to admit his flaws, such as his weaknesses as a husband, his incurable need to seek new adventures in new climes, and his now waning physical powers after a youth and manhood of grit and occasional glory.

Edwards has made a comfortable name for himself in several spheres and here delivers a memoir that combines the larger historical picture and a plethora of nostalgia, revealing him as both gutsy and tenderhearted.

March 27, 2019
PRAIRIE SON by Dennis M. Clausen – Early 20th-Century Orphans, Family Drama, Biographies & Memoirs

Lloyd Augustine Clausen has but one early memory of his real mother, in which she hugs him tightly displaying a deep love for him. Everything that follows is chaos and fear. He is handed over to an orphanage and by the time he is four or five years old, Lloyd knows two things: his adoptive Pa and Ma do not love him, and his role on the farm is to shut up and do as he is told. He takes Pa’s lunch pail out to him daily and tries to stay out of Ma’s way. For her part, Ma simply ignores him unless he does even the smallest thing wrong, inciting her evil temper.

Had it not been for the daring protection of the farm’s two dogs, Buster and Minnie, Lloyd might well have been seriously injured or even killed by his adoptive mother. For example, one day he trips and falls down, breaking some eggs. Unconcerned whether or not he is hurt, Ma attacks him with a frying pan, only to be stopped by Buster. Another time, when Pa is in town playing cards, his Ma has a mysterious visitor come to the farm. When she locks Lloyd in the cellar, a place of total darkness, Buster finds a way to get his nose into the small space and offer comfort. Buster and Minnie, in fact, behave more like parents than the ones with whom he’s stuck.

A friendly, mostly silent farmhand stays for a while and teaches Lloyd the art of machine repair and other skills needed to tend the farm, as Pa is increasingly lackluster in that regard. When the Great Depression hits, the family is often on the verge of starvation.

Lloyd’s bright moments come when he spends time with a fellow orphan, Delores, condemned like him to be tricked, spat on and called “bastard” by the other, un-adopted children. A wandering cowboy once offers him a ride on his horse. Gypsies make him a fishing pole. And occasionally, neighbors, seeing the boy’s plight, step in to assure that Ma and Pa treat him better.

Despite his terrible existence, Lloyd sometimes finds inspiration in the world of nature or the random kindness of others. As Lloyd grows older, he begins to research his past and through a series of serendipitous events, begins to find the answers he seeks.

In 1979, author Dennis Clausen learned that his father Lloyd, who had been a distant but loving figure for him, was dying of cancer. He encouraged his father to write his memoir. The old man’s words, painfully written out on a few notepads, displayed a great talent for storytelling. Those words form the basis of this luminous coming-of-age saga of sorrow upon sorrow and the will of one little boy to keep looking for a better way.

Bleak scenes of a weeks-long blizzard, a plague quarantine, and a tornado worthy of The Wizard of Oz provide lowering drama, as if the boy’s personal woes – being socked around by Ma, belted by Pa, and almost thrashed by school children until a local bully took his side – were not severe and frustrating enough. The direct effects of the Depression and then, rumors of World War II through the tinny voice of Roosevelt on the radio, fill out the historical picture. And, happily, the book’s ending is a kind of victory for the tough, lonely fighter.

Clausen has skillfully woven his father’s handwritten pages into a riveting story worthy of Steinbeck, a cinematic setting redolent of fundamental American community values, and a paean of hope for all orphaned children.

March 27, 2019
TRACK TWO ON REPEAT by Rebekah N. Bryan – Y/A, Music, Friendship

Annette Amsel is not on the popular-girl list at her school. She’s obsessed with Fuchsia Fireball, an emo band least liked among her peers, and receives more than her fair share of ridicule, which often leaves her close to tears. It doesn’t matter that Annette consistently knocks out has near straight-A grades and is involved in sports (shot put, discus, and track). It isn’t that she lacks a friend, she has a few, but they are all too preoccupied with their boyfriends to notice her misery. Ugh.

Amid her uncomfortable environs, Annette learns that Fuchsia Fireball will be performing in a sketchy area of Milwaukee. Besides requesting a concert ticket for her upcoming sixteenth birthday, Annette goes through a series of deals (including getting her driver’s license) with her parents so she can attend. One major prerequisite is for her to go with a friend, which is easier said than done. That’s when she turns to a Fuchsia Fireball fan website and begins chatting with a guy who may be a hopeful means to an end. Whether or not he is who he says he is and holds to his word remains to be seen.

In the next installment of The Fandom Collection award-winning author, Rebekah N. Bryan dishes up a lead character with whom readers will easily relate. Annette is shy, somewhat socially awkward, and just a wee bit introverted. To her, fitting in at school is critical, yet she always seems to be doing the wrong things or liking the wrong bands or, well, whatever. And even though she knows she’s got brains, she doesn’t feel like she measures up to the other girls at school. In other words, Annette is the perfect target for bullies.

Bryan’s plot may sound stereotypical, and that’s what makes the story ring so true. In a world where pressures surrounding today’s young adults lands somewhere in the too-much lane, Annette embodies these struggles, and we get to see if and how she resolves/solves them. Woven with today’s added bonuses of live chat rooms, experimental music, and online-strangers who feel like friends, bullying is the monster it always was. Readers will focus on the narrative’s underdog and follow along on her journey as she strives for self-acceptance. Bryan’s writing style is sure—a harmonious intermingling of story and dialogue (including chat lingo).

Light verbal flirtatious innuendos with Annette’s chatroom “boyfriend” help to break the continual tension as Annette finds herself in a flurry of believable and often frustrating situations that appear to block her chances to enjoy high school social life, but more importantly, attend the Fuchsia Fireball concert.

Track Two on Repeat is an engaging read and a nice addition to Bryan’s collection and won First Place in the 2017 CIBAs, Dante Rossetti, for Young Adult Fiction.

March 15, 2019
The CRIMINALIST: A Novel of Forensic Science Suspense by John Houde – Thriller/Suspsense, Mystery, Sex-Slave Trade

Beautiful, blond Russian photographic models and half-sisters, Anna and Vika, are excited, but also a bit nervous, as their trans-Atlantic flight reaches its destination of Los Angeles. Vitaly, their photographer in Russia, has sent them at the request of his brother, Mikhail, who will photograph the sisters at beach locations along the Pacific Coast near Santa Barbara.

Mikhail—a fiftyish-looking bodybuilder with a salt and pepper goatee—meets the sisters, and they are soon heading north, the girls transfixed by the sights of Los Angeles and the California terrain en route to their new venue. Mikhail drops them off at a motel, suggesting that they rest up. This they do, but they awaken to growing needs for a fix—alcohol for Vika, heroin for Anna. Mikhail returns and takes Vika with him to pick up the necessary booze, needles, and drugs. He’ll pick them up in the morning for a shooting day at the beach.

In this suspense-filled novel, board-certified 25-year veteran criminalist John Houde shares his knowledge in this field—much of it published in the Journal of Forensic Sciences and other professional venues—with both young adult and older readers seeking an exciting tale of crime and murder investigated at crime scenes and in crime labs of California’s police and sheriffs’ departments. Evidence gathered by these organizations comes to be used by the FBI to bring down an international ring of criminals engaged in human trafficking of young women. The crime and mayhem are lightened by a little American-Russian romance and the close relationships that develop among the ‘good’ characters.

Houde intricately weaves many threads into his story, with parts played by colorfully crafted characters, among them the Russian trio; Santa Barbara Police Department criminalist Paul Connert, who is determined to help Vika find her missing sister; SBPD officer Kyra and her partner, Tina, a University of California-Santa Barbara graduate student, whose thesis involves research on the method of nanoparticle-mediated medication delivery to treat drug and alcohol addiction; and a crime investigator turned criminal right under his coworkers’ noses.

What makes Houde’s novel most fascinating, however, is his skillful use of accessible language to enable his readers to enter the contemporary world of criminal investigation and see how forensic evidence is collected, examined, and used to solve crimes that might otherwise never be solved. If this book piques your interest in this scientific field, you’ll want to read Houde’s Crime Lab: A Guide for Nonscientists.

The Criminalist won First Place in the 2017 CLUE Awards.

February 6, 2019
SECRETS of INNOCENCE, Book Two of The Perils of a Reluctant Psychic by V. & D. Povall – Mystery/Suspense, Paranormal, Occult

Learning about girls, boys, and love is a part of growing up. It’s these lessons that shape a person’s future and mold the soul. Authors V. & D. Povall show that even when forgotten, the Secrets of Innocence have an astounding way of making themselves known. And, what do these secrets reveal? In this second book of the suspense-mystery series, The Perils of a Reluctant Psychic, Sarah’s psychic powers reveal clues that weave a gripping story of discovery.

Sarah Thompson, although still learning how to manage her powerful psychic abilities, emerged stronger after her adventures in The Gift of the Twin Houses. She opened her heart to her new family and left behind the fear of being different. It’s when she finds an unconscious man on the side of the road that the peaceful life she yearns for is sorely tested. This man has been severely beaten and cannot remember anything, not even his name. The victim finds a friend in Sarah, and in a volunteer nurse who names him Daniel after a character in the stories she reads to comfort him during his recovery.

Meanwhile, Sarah’s supernatural abilities conjure up a movie in her subconscious. It shows clues to an intriguing puzzle. Does this story tie in with the man she saved? Who is this movie spirit that is communicating with her, and why? Despite the impromptu scenes playing out sans warning, she is determined to help Daniel discover who he is and what has happened to him.

Sheriff Williams is investigating Daniel’s assault case, and refuses any help from Sarah. He is suspicious of her powers. Undeterred, Sarah and her husband Conrad pursue their own independent search for the truth. When Sarah discovers and confronts the Sheriff about his own disturbing secret, he is stunned that she could possibly know what he has successfully kept hidden for so many years. Even more surprising is that through her powers he sees a glimmer of hope in the truth to his Secrets of Innocence.

The authors are a husband and wife writing team that has also authored screenplays, science fiction and murder-mystery novels, in addition to this suspense mystery series. Their background in different cultures and experiences leap off the pages of this sophisticated, character study that is set within a spellbinding puzzle. The writing is imaginative, vibrant, and exciting. The anticipation of what may come binds you to the story, as it builds to final revelations which are breathtaking.

A compelling examination of the depths of deception, regret, and violence that can motivate a person’s actions, whether for noble or ignoble purposes. Secrets of Innocence reveals the profound impact people have on each other.

Secrets of Innocence won 1st Place in the 2018 CIBAs, Somerset Awards for Literary Fiction.

This book is also available at Barnes & Nobles and on iTunes.

January 19, 2019
PALADIN’S WAR, The Adventures of Jonathan Moore, Book 3 by Peter Greene – Historical Fiction, Y/A Action/Adventure, 19th Century

The magic of living in 19^thcentury England comes to life in the early chapters of Peter Greene’s delightful, but also exciting, story—with British Navy Midshipman Jonathan Moore and daughter of the Governor of the Bahamas, Delain Dowdeswell, enjoying the fashionable new treat of ice cream, then joining their friends and family members at the boat race in Dover on a beautiful day. Granted, that wasn’t how everyone lived, and even these special few lived daily lives far less comfortable than do most ordinary people today. But they didn’t know that.

Jonathan is the son of Admiral Nathaniel Moore, who had been imprisoned in France during the Napoleonic wars. This happenstance orphaned the boy, who lived a sorry few years on the streets of London until he was found by his father’s friend, Captain Walker. The admiral was eventually rescued, and he and Jonathan were reunited. Delain and her sisters, Penelope and Rebecca, had been sent by their parents to live with the Walkers, who, with the help of Barbara Thompson, were tasked with teaching the sisters to become ladies. That seems unlikely for the irrepressible, fourteen-year-old adventuress, Delain, who once stowed away on the HMS Poseidon, from which she fired more than one cannon shot in battle!

Shortly after the race at Dover, however, the young midshipman, also fourteen, boards the HMS Paladin, along with his former street friend Sean Flagon, soon to become a Marine captain, board the HMS Paladin, leaving their friend Delain behind as they head straight into an adventure way beyond their expectations. Not surprisingly, Delain soon finds herself in a spy adventure right in London. And perhaps not so strangely for these three musketeers, their adventures overlap.

Greene paints not only the scenes in London but those on the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, and even the Black Sea with vivid color and action. He allows us to experience life on the sailing ships of His Majesty’s Royal Navy, telling us what the officers and crew wear, what they eat, where they sleep, how they talk, and especially what they do. As Peter Greene writes in his Acknowledgments, he “hoped to create a series that would capture the excitement and thrill of being on one of His Majesty’s wind-powered warships in the [Lord] Nelson era.”

The action on the HMS Paladin, as well as her sister ship, the HMS Echo, mostly unbeknownst to each other, rise to a fever pitch as they find themselves engaged in an explosive battle not with the French, but with the Russians and even the Turks! As you might guess from the overall tone of Greene’s story, the British, at least most of them, live to return to England.

This book was such fun to read. I’m hoping Peter Greene will give us a Book Four. Meanwhile, those who haven’t read Books 1 and 2 of The Adventures of Jonathan Moore, Warship Poseidon, and Castle of Fire, as well as a number of earlier books, will have some good reading to tide them over.

January 4, 2019
DRAGON ASCENDANTS (Luminess Legends Book 1) by Paul E. Vaughn – Epic Fantasy, Paranormal & Urban , Young Adult

Dragon Ascendants, Luminess Legends Book 1 WON First Place in the CIBA 2018 OZMA Awards for Fantasy Fiction. Congratulations!

A boy comes of age when he learns his true heritage in a magical, mountainous land of dwarves, elves, men, and dragons, which is threatened by a powerfully malevolent force.

Tallian is the adopted son of Meerkesh, a dwarf whose wife died when his only child, Killmesh, was just five years old. Killmesh and Tallian are the same age – 18 – but have very different personalities. Killmesh tries to please his father, but his responsibilities are almost overwhelming as the apparent heir to the role his father holds as Spokesman for their burrow.

Tallian works with all the others in the gem mines of the Furin Mountains, and because he towers over his co-workers, he works faster and finishes sooner than the others. Tallian spends his spare time walking alone in the woods where he discovers a dragon he names Emerald Wildfire.

When terrifying bats formed of rocks invade the burrows, things go from bad to worse. Killmesh, charged with guarding wagonloads of jewels, is drawn away by a villain who shows him an axe he longs to buy. It’s a set-up. While he is gone, all the gems go missing. Killmesh can’t take the disgrace. He runs away, finds the axe and uses it for violence, which he finds very satisfying. He joins up with the evil elf-dragon monster Fearoc, who is bent on finding Tallian’s birth parents. They slipped from his cruel grasp 18 years before, and he has vowed savage vengeance.

Meerkesh, seeing the desperate situation in the burrows, finally tells Tallian the story of his origins, setting the stage for a colossal battle between Tallian with his dwarf family and the dreaded Fearoc and his minions.

Dragon Ascendants (Luminese Book 1) is a well-constructed soon-to-be-classic YA fantasy by debut author Vaughn, who envisions this as the first part of a series. He has carefully laid the scene: Tallian, aided by his brash but brave friend Briskarr and Briskarr’s gentle sister Briska, faces a barrage of challenges from Fearoc, with more to be revealed in future volumes of the Luminess saga.

Vaughn conveys a steady, credible view of his mystical setting. Tallian is a readily likable hero, someone who has such love for his adopted dwarf clan that he will do everything in his power to save them. Killmesh, by contrast, is disturbed and impulsive, driven by some anger within that causes him to wreak havoc among his kin.

Magic interspecies transformations, sparkling gems, and powerful weapons that make great mischief in the wrong hands all underpin Vaughn’s plot, resulting in a fast-paced page-turner for every age.

June 9, 2018
DARK SIGHT by Christopher Allan Poe – YA Thriller, Horror, Occult

A strong-willed, gutsy teenager, Monique is one of two African American students in her white, uppity high school. Victoria, Monique’s white bestie since Kindergarten, may come from wealthy means, but her life is riddled with her own set of familial issues. All in all, the girls get along like sisters. They attend rally revival at Awakeners, a cult compound, and an argument ensues, leading to a car accident that leaves Victoria comatose and on life support. Ethan, the cult group’s son, gives Monique a talisman-looking necklace, which she uses to spark Victoria back to life.

Victoria, who is an artist savant, may be riddled with quirks, but her resurrection proves differently: she is not herself, especially when she feeds off the critters in the neighborhood. Based on “the new Victoria,” her friends deduce Victoria now bears the characteristics of a psychic vampire, or in layman’s terms—an energy-sucker.

Monique believes there’s a connection between Victoria’s altered condition and the cult group and seeks out Ethan for answers. Ethan responds with enough chilling information to indicate that Victoria’s life may be in danger. The only problem is, Victoria doesn’t see it that way—at all. To her, dead is just the beginning.

Rising paranormal author Christopher Allan Poe spins a wickedly twisted tale in his YA horror novel. Front and center of his tightly knit and well-rounded cast is a middle-class gal with plenty of moxie.

Besides creating a host of colorful characters—many of which are teens, Poe is a superb raconteur. He not only has a firm handle on defining his characters but also relaying a chilling tale. Poe’s writing style, which is both crisp and punchy, provides him the opportunity to state what he has to say, and at the same time suggestively highlight the plight of women, children, and racism.

Edgy dialogue scenes are the driving force behind Poe’s non-stop tension-filled chapters. Scenes are replete with a continual string of twists and turns, teen angst, and sexual lust. Poe provides light relief with Monique’s waggish tongue-in-cheek comments, as well as her sexually-laced similes and metaphors punctuated with infamous factual and fictional figures (i.e., Caligula, Jason Voorhees) and horror movies (i.e., Nightmare on Elm Street, Dark City).

Offering high appeal for YA and adult audiences, Dark Sight is a first-rate paranormal thriller with enormous Silver Screen potential.

May 2, 2018