Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: Chanticleer Book Review

SOULS UNTETHERED SAGA, Book 1 by K.J. McPike – YA Metaphysical, Contemporary, Action/Adventure
Lali Yavari has her hands full. She’s the oldest of five siblings, a bright, sensitive daughter of a scientist (her father) and a loving mother. Except, her mother up and abandoned the family leaving only a cryptic note behind. And now Lali’s having strange visions of things and people she does not know coupled with the disturbing ability to astral project her consciousness to another place—another dark and beautiful place.

Imagine her surprise when one of the people from her visions shows up as the new kid (#hottie_alert) at school! The surrounding cast includes her boy-crazy best friend, Paisley (and Paisley’s new annoying side-kick), and Nelson, a buddy Lali has grown up with since pre-school. Just to be clear: Nelson is not fond of NewBoy, Kai. In fact, Nelson is downright irritated over all the attention Lali is suddenly giving to the new boy. But Kai’s arrival at school is no accident. He knows more about Lali than she does—why she’s having visions and, perhaps more importantly, what the visions mean. He may even be able to help Lali decipher her mother’s note, thus solving the puzzle of her whereabouts.

But his assistance comes with a price. Kai’s baby sister also disappeared shortly after she was born, and Kai wants Lali to find her. Kai knows something no one else does: Lali is the only person who can astral project to the alternate reality of Alea.

Alea is filled with thick white trees and grass that’s red and yellow. Beautiful or not, Lali soon learns that Alea is a dangerous place whose citizens are watched by a controlling government with a police force known as the “Eyes and Ears.” Could this surveillance operation have something to do with Lali’s mother’s disappearance? If so, what has her mother done to earn their wrath—and how is her mother connected to Alea in the first place? Past and current events collide in a deeply suspenseful narrative that will have readers turning page after page to determine which characters are good and which are evil. Fittingly, Lali’s brothers and sisters get in on the action and the adventure ramps up in nail-biting intensity.

McPike gives us a strong family full of teasing, quarreling and sarcasm, yet indisputable evidence of a deep and abiding trust between brothers and sisters alike. The dialogue is fast-paced, witty, and wholly believable throughout the book. Here we have a splendid contemporary metaphysical young adult novel that deserves a place alongside our beloved Ursala Le Quin.

Souls Untethered is the story of an endearing, resourceful teenager who will stop at nothing to reunite her family.

*Note: Souls Untethered original title, Xodus, won first place in the 2016 Dante Rossetti Awards for Paranormal Y/A Fiction.
- Writing: Excellent
- Sex: None
- Violence: Some physical combat, nothing graphic
- Narration: Prologue is in 3^rd person; the main novel is in 1^st person; Epilogue is in 3^rd
- Tense: Past
- Mood: Suspenseful with comedic moments
April 28, 2018
A SEEPING WOUND by Darryl Wimberley – Historical Fiction, Literary, Deep South
Here is a novel of utmost despair, but also the determination of the human spirit to do what is right and survive in the face of grave danger. Set in Northern Florida in the 1920s, A Seeping Wound by Darryl Wimberly centers on the nefarious activities of the Blue Turtle Turpentine Camp, one woman’s life in that camp, and a young veteran’s search for his missing sister.

Still suffering from wounds inflicted during the Great War, Prescott (Scott) Hampton arrives in Cross City, Florida determined to find his sister Sarah, and her husband Franklin Breaux. The Hampton family has not heard from Sarah in months and Cross City was the last town she posted a letter from. Scott quickly discovers a deeply embedded system of graft involving the Bucknell Timber & Turpentine Company, local law enforcement, and the county judge. Judge Hiram Sheppard runs his courtroom exactly as he sees fit—no defendant is allowed to testify on their own behalf, no written records are taken, and all debtors are sent to the Blue Turtle Turpentine Camp.

Scott suspects something along these lines may have happened to his sister and questions Judge Sheppard as to whether or not he can recall Sarah passing through his courtroom. The judge merely shrugs and advises Scott not to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong. After all, men have died for lesser things. Scott disregards this barely veiled threat and buys horses and gear to search for his sister himself in the Florida wilderness.

Sarah Breaux, Scott’s sister, and her husband Frank are indeed at the Blue Turtle Turpentine Camp. They answered a newspaper advertisement and were conned into believing they would be getting involved in honest work, not indentured servitude, and are now suffering horribly. Frank has been thrown into The Box—a four-foot square, four-foot tall prison cell open to the elements and Sarah has no idea when he may be released. The camp is run by some of the foulest, most sadistic men in existence. The captain of the camp, however, is the worst of all.

Captain Henry Riggs is an evil man. He is a ruthless, vengeful pedophile and he runs his turpentine camp like a cotton plantation in the old Deep South. Whippings are given out with ‘Black Auntie,’ men are forced to drink and gamble away what little wages they’ve made every Sunday, and the women of the camp are put on the ‘schedule.’ The schedule is a euphemistic term for the enforced prostitution almost every woman in the camp must endure. The captain, of course, takes his cut and leaves the women with hardly any money or medical care to see to their injuries or other needs.

The one person who is able to see to the needs of the sick and injured is Martha LongFoot, the camp’s medicine woman. Half Muscogee, half African, she is a striking woman. She is repeatedly referred to as ‘injun’ and ‘it’ and other harsher epithets. She’s easily taller than most men, with bronze skin and long black hair…on the half of her face and head where she hasn’t been burned. The other side of her profile is horribly mutilated and has never fully healed from when she poured boiling rosin on her own face as a young teenager to avoid being forced into prostitution by Captain Riggs.

Martha’s oath as the camp medicine woman to do no harm continually comes into conflict with the reality of the world she lives in. She is witness to the greatest atrocities inflicted on those who are forced to live and work in the Blue Turtle Turpentine Camp and she also must care for her jailors when they themselves are sick or injured. She takes her oath as a healer very seriously, despite multiple opportunities to just let the evil men who run the camp die of their wounds and illnesses.

The fates of the Breaux and Martha connect as Scott circles ever closer to the camp and his sister’s whereabouts. Martha, Sarah, and Scott must each walk a very precarious line if they want to survive and ultimately must depend on each other to get out alive.

A Seeping Wound is a thoroughly researched work of historical fiction told in alternating viewpoints. There are lush descriptions of the wilderness and the environment and these descriptions succeed in making the setting a character itself. This is a land and an era where black men and women are still viewed as nothing more than property and readers who are sensitive to racism, rape, and epithets may want to pick a different novel. A Seeping Wound represents all these darker issues with stark, unforgiving language.

As is to be expected with a story as harsh and unrelenting as this one, the ending is bittersweet. Salvation arrives, but whether or not it is too late is up to the reader. This novel is sure to be appreciated by historical fiction fans given the copious and dedicated research that has gone into writing it, the diverse viewpoints, and the unusual setting.

Reviewers Note: Not suitable for children or teenagers. This novel contains many emotional triggers and depicts graphic violence and rape.
April 27, 2018
MURDER BESIDE the SALISH SEA by Jennifer Mueller – Mystery, Thriller, World War II, Pacific Northwest

Brock Harker, World War II fighter pilot returns home to the Pacific Northwest on leave. He’s searching for a little peace once he finds his half Japanese wife who vanished while he was away. What he finds is Murder Beside The Salish Sea by author Jennifer Mueller, who artfully pulls Brock into an intriguing plot that hides the darkest of secrets.

Working as a pilot for the Flying Tigers in China, Brock earned the distinguished Order of the Cloud and Banner from the Chinese. After Pearl Harbor, he joins the Air Corps as a bomber pilot. Brock would say that flying was the one good thing his dad taught him, and he’d learned it so well he swore he could dogfight when he was ten years old. He should have been dead many times during these World War II years, but what has him frightened most is Amy’s disappearance. Half Japanese/American women have to watch themselves now. His heart broke when her letters stopped, and the letters he sent went unanswered. Now he’s determined to find her or find out what happened to her.

The search begins at his father’s home, the only family he has left. They parted years ago on the worst of terms, in large part because of his racist father’s hatred for Brock’s beloved Amy. Now, will his father greet Brock after all these years, or throw him away again? Brock reacquaints himself with his hometown of Bellingham, friends and other people he had known before, and meets military personnel on the nearby base. Several of these people become suspects in the ensuing murders. Brock is also accused by the police in his father’s murder. Brock applies wartime tactics and a little help from his friends to track and capture the murderer. Only then are devastating secrets revealed that may be unbearable for this war hero.

This thrilling, historical mystery that’s steeped in sweet romance tugs at a sense of adventure. The story travels across plot twists like an army jeep driving the diverse, Pacific Northwest landscape, from the Cascade Mountains to sandy beaches, and along the Straits to the Ocean. Hang on because just when the reader thinks the plot ahead is recognizable, there’s another curve and the view completely changes.

With Murder Beside The Salish Sea, Jennifer Mueller brings to life an important time in history, while weaving in poignant, personal drama. As Brock’s beloved wife Amy once said to him, “We endure what we cannot change.”

April 26, 2018
FROM the SHADOWS by KB Shaw – YA, Science Fiction, Action/Adventure

In the tradition of H. G. Wells and Isaac Asimov, K.B. Shaw’s From the Shadows piques the reader’s imagination. In the world where Cameron Rush, a shy, geeky boy from Wisconsin, and Rosa Costas, the bright, sassy daughter of a New Mexico ranch foreman, live, twenty-first-century technology makes a quantum leap and changes the nature of human experience.

Sounds amazing, right? This new technology could take tailgating to a new level. Seriously, what could possibly go wrong?

Only, Robert K. Merton’s law of unintended consequences still prevail. So, there is that…

Fifteen-year-old Cameron and Rosa have never met in person. However, they know each other well, as they met in a chat room, and talk daily on their multiComs. The couple takes GundTech’s multiCom technology — computers, without cameras, that capture images and display them in a way that allows virtual eye contact among users—for granted. It’s been around forever, well, at least ten years. They also take for granted their personal AIs.

A multiCom computer’s artificial intelligence (known as its AI) allows it to think, have personalities, experience emotions, and develop self-images. Each computer’s AI is unique and requires that the user demonstrate respect and courtesy to get a requested response. Cameron and Rosa understand this — as the rules of operation were clearly explained in the operating instructions. Therefore, they are never surprised when Sam and Vee, their respective multiCom AIs, sometimes add their two bits worth during conversations.

But they never expect to meet the AIs in person.

Unbeknownst to them, Cameron and Rosa were preordained centuries ago to play an integral part in the technological evolution triggered when GundTech’s mysterious creator introduces the Interactive Holographic Transmitter. With the IHT, time and space can be manipulated enabling humans, alone or collectively, to touch, see, hear, and ultimately, smell, and taste events as they happen.

Throughout this complex, fascinating tale, Shaw manages to keep the teen protagonists real and likable. They are “in touch” with their families, community, and school; they tease, flirt, grumble and complain, and impress the reader with their spirit and ingenuity.

In this well-crafted book, the amalgam of speculative fiction with a hint of Gothic eeriness works very well. What happens, to whom, how, and why is the stuff of possibility thinking. Fast-paced and engaging, with no loose ends, From the Shadows provides readers no opportunities to rest or close the book. Here’s a YA novel that’s a good read for any age.

March 2, 2018
WIZZY WIG: THANATOS RISING, BOOK 2 by Tiffany Pitts – Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Humor
Have you ever wondered what might happen if you unknowingly ripped a hole in the space-time continuum? Jake and Kix find out firsthand just how much madness can ensue when this exact conundrum befalls them in Wizzy Wig: Thanatos Rising Book Two by Tiffany Pitts, a fun and quirky Sci-Fi romp that fans of Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams are sure to enjoy.

The evening begins innocently enough when Jake invites Kix over with a pizza to help him solve a wave function experiment. While Kix relaxes on the couch, Jake turns his attention to an experiment he’s come up with based on the idea of Schrödinger’s cat, except instead of a cat in a box, Jake’s version uses a pizza in a box. For those unfamiliar with the concept of Schrödinger’s cat, this thought experiment posits that an unobservable cat in a box is simultaneously alive and dead—essentially the cat can exist in any or no state at all. Jake hypothesizes that an unobservable pizza in a box is inherently similar—it could exist in any state as well—and thus can have its toppings changed if one knows the right math—which he does.

Jake turns his attention to his computer and does his best not to be distracted by Kix’s (striped) tights and his massive crush on her while he attempts to alter the toppings on the unseen pizza in the box. He succeeds. And the world as they know it is altered in incredible, yet difficult to see ways. Soon, Kix is on the run for her life from the genuinely creepy and disturbing Brad, a far more sinister version of her neighbor Thad, who has crossed over from another version of reality.

Enter Thanatos, Dark Lord of the Underworld, otherwise known as Toesy. Toesy is not your normal housecat. Firstly he is part demon, secondly, he has thumbs that help him open doors (a souvenir from a previous experiment of Jake’s in book one) and lastly, he’s got Executive Wartime Consigliore Steve…the voice inside his head who helps him strategize his battles. As a cat, Toesy is a natural ‘boundary walker’ and quickly realizes what the other characters do not—that the hole Jake ripped in the space-time continuum by solving his wave experiment has caused the distinct versions of the multiverse to overlap and merge in terrifying ways.

Wizzy Wig is told through the shifting perspectives of its diverse cast of characters, some of whom are alternate versions of each other. Multiple storylines that may at first be confusing come together in the end to create a complex story set in the heart of modern Seattle. Readers should note that this isn’t the type of novel one can halfway pay attention to. Wizzy Wig requires all of a reader’s attention. We are dealing with the space-time continuum after all and characters do not only cross from one reality to another in easily tracked ways. The realities themselves overlap and merge at times, and characters may appear as one or the other version of themselves or even change personalities altogether.

Pitts has crafted a fun, complex, modern Sci-Fi novel in which nothing is off limits. Multiverses exist, murderous banana spiders find their way into apartment buildings, sugar gliders seek their freedom, readers find themselves in the mind of a sociopath, and the boy who just may get the girl, if they can both survive long enough. Wizzy Wig: Thanatos Rising is an entertaining and quirky Sci-Fi novel, and while there are some punctuation errors throughout, it doesn’t detract from the story. Readers will find clever and resourceful heroes worth cheering for in this second installment of the Thanatos Rising series.
February 27, 2018
The SILVER LINING: ENCOUNTERS WITH ANGELS by Phoebe Walker – Memoir

Imagine a crisp autumn afternoon, taking a walk with a favorite companion on a country lane. You share stories about life’s ups and downs; you both laugh and cry. When you get to your destination, you give each other a goodbye hug and part separate ways with a smile, feeling a sense of strength in your friendship.

Meandering through the pages of Phoebe Walker’s, The Silver Lining Encounters with Angels, is like a walk down this country lane, leaving us with warmth and hope.

Admittedly, Walker’s book is a tough read – a story rife with abuse, her parent’s divorce at a young age, a suicide attempt, battling Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and other health concerns, and a near-death experience. It’s a lot to handle, for both the author and reader, but Walker makes the story accessible and down to earth with her conversational tone. Flipping through the pages is like a fireside chat.

In one early and instrumental memory, Walker recalls how she was introduced to God. In 1989, her friend Christi said, “speaking to Jesus was just like talking to your best friend.” Accepting Christi’s advice, Walker became convinced that certain people in her life were placed there by God as “silver linings.” “God provides the crutches,” Walker says in her memoir.

And so it went in Walker’s life, assigning silver linings to people who helped during dark days, including her loving husband Chip. The memoir is engaging and heartfelt, a recommended read for anyone wishing optimism and hope amid adversity.

Not only do we learn that Walker survived incredibly tough times, but also she thrived, earning a college degree, having children, and living a full life, later without vision due to MS.

A theme of revelation is what led her to write and share her story. She says: “By allowing myself to become fully exposed, I’m confident that not only will I continue on my journey of healing, but that it will offer hope, peace, and perhaps even direction to others. That makes sharing my story fully worth [it].” Today, she maintains a website displaying her art and ways she helps others through a life coaching business.

While Walker’s book takes us on an emotional rollercoaster, even to the edge of despair, she holds our hand with thoughtfulness and humor. She avoids lecturing and being preachy by staying in her own story, ultimately showing how her deep faith has healed her during life’s challenges.

October 29, 2017
The WELL: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN the MIND RELEASES but the HEART SUSTAINS by Colleen Golden – Aging Parents, Heartwarming, Coma

The subtitle of Colleen Golden’s lovely book, The Well, asks a searching question: “What happens when the mind releases but the heart sustains?” There are few greater mysteries and that’s exactly why this charming and touching novel will appeal to so many readers.

At the outset, the central character, seventy-six-year-old Grace, has been in a coma for a few months. That doesn’t stop the feisty and funny protagonist from addressing readers, however, and taking us with her on a transcendental journey in which we’ll meet many of her family members and friends.

While her grown children sit in her room at the nursing home and worry about her being in a seemingly vegetative state, Grace hears every word. The voices seem to be coming from deep within a well, and she sits gingerly on the edge of that well, sometimes leaning over it to eavesdrop more carefully. She reminisces about her life spent in the Midwest, musing about her dimming short-term memory, and shares vivid recollections of flappers (she herself is a great dancer), the first telephones, the excitement over indoor plumbing, radios, televisions, highways, and rockets to outer space.

It’s a joy to spend time with Grace in this limbo dimension because she’s a thoroughly engaging storyteller and a very astute observer of the human condition. While she seldom judges, she’s quick to point out mischief, like the time one of her sisters stole a boyfriend from another sister, or when teenagers slipped into a vacant house for a romantic rendezvous. So many of Golden’s characters are familiar; they remind us of people we’ve known, people we’ve lost, and people we dearly miss.

As time goes by, Grace realizes she can do more than just listen to people. She experiments with “dissolving” into their thoughts and discovers that she can help them solve dilemmas and find their way out of difficult and sometimes dangerous situations. She herself finds her way to her old kitchen, where she’s happiest, and starts to bake. While she used to make delicious cakes and pies, she now kneads the dough to fashion a puppy who bounds to life and becomes an adored companion. Well, if that works, why not make people? She does just that, an entire cast that includes old friends and her deceased husband who looks just as he did when he was a handsome, young man.

Grace creates streets and buildings and before long has created an entire town which she names “Possibilities.” Not bad for an elderly woman in a coma! There are reasons, revealed carefully, for all of Grace’s creativity, as well as lessons to be learned from these paranormal sojourns. Grace has lived a long life but there are loose ends to be tied before she discovers what the next chapter holds for her.

This material in a less gifted author’s hands might run the risk of sentimentality or frivolity, but Golden wisely has Grace contemplate the sadness of life, along with the joy. There are nocturnal activities at the nursing home that, when discovered, enrage and devastate her children.

Everyone knows heartache and loss, and Grace has lived long enough to experience her share. In a moment that brings Emily of Our Town to mind, Grace glimpses her deceased mother, describing the scene thus: “The sun’s brilliance silhouettes her against the horizon, and bedazzles the grass into a field of emeralds.” Golden’s prose is imbued with a wistful nostalgia, so perfect for a book that considers the variedness of life and the questions of death. While we don’t know all the answers, this novel helps us realize that because “love makes a good conduit,” the possibilities are, indeed, endless.

October 16, 2017
The BOY WHO WANTED WINGS by James Conroyd Martin – Medieval Historical Fiction, War/Military, European

A suspenseful and often overlooked chapter in history, the siege of Vienna in the late 17th century is the subject of James Conroyd Martin’s masterful novel, The Boy Who Wanted Wings.

Although Poland’s involvement in the protection of the city from the invading Turks is the mainstay of the book, Martin widens the breadth of his study to underscore the multinational effort undertaken to halt the spread of Islam, providing meticulously researched details about the allied forces of the Saxons, Franconians, and Bavarians uniting to halt the siege of the Ottomans and Crimean Tatars*. Although this is a work of fiction, to the author’s credit, the wealth of historical information provided is beyond impressive. Most helpful is the glossary of Polish cultural and military terms of the time at the outset of the book.

The reader navigates this chapter in Europe’s past with Aleksy Gazdecki, a boy on the verge of manhood whose personal past and present circumstances present no end of identity issues. A Tatar by birth, he was orphaned as an infant and raised by a Polish peasant family, tenants of Lord Halicki. Aleksy’s swarthy complexion and dark, almond-shaped eyes cause him to stand out amongst the Poles and ultimately be treated with suspicion. He longs to join the Winged Hussars, the elite branch of the Polish military whose legendary skills with seventeen-foot-long lances are announced by a uniform that includes “wings.” Although he trains with a former soldier, currently a stablemaster, Aleksy knows how futile his dream is since only men of noble birth can become Winged Hussars.

Amidst the military drama is, of course, personal drama. Aleksy has a chance encounter with the beautiful Krystyna, Lord Halicki’s daughter, and the two engage in a dangerous, secretive romance, jumping the hurdles presented by her family, who are determined to see her married to a wealthy noble, as well as confronting the escalating war at hand. Krystyna’s brothers, the sweet Marek and the haughty, vengeful Roman, will cross paths with Aleksy again and again since he follows them into battle as Marek’s “retainer.”

Just as Aleksy sought to overcome the circumstances of his birth in his romantic life, he will do so also on the battlefield. Ironically, his Tatar heritage gives him the opportunity to save a life, a very important life, and the resulting events put Krystyna within his reach. Martin takes no shortcuts and keeps the reader guessing with a long list of characters and numerous plots twists all carried out with exquisite pacing.

Despite the triumph of the Poles, Martin deftly explores the addictive nature of bloodlust and the true consequences of war. Aleksy is exhausted and saddened by the killing and able to transcend nationalistic feelings. He has killed men, regardless of where they’re from or what faith they practice. It’s an apt observation from a Tatar who has lived his life amongst a people other than his own, a Tatar who has tried to be the most loyal subject of Poland.

This is a novel with staying power. Given the geopolitical situations in the world today, the author reminds us that war has a long and bloody history, and political alliances are intricately tied to this history. James Conroyd Martin’s The Boy Who Wanted Wings will make one most glad for the opportunity to spend time in the 17th century.

*Alternate spelling: Tartar

This book is also available in Softcover (ISBN-13: 978-0997894509) and Hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-0997894516)

May 18, 2017
CURBCHEK RELOAD by Zach Fortier – True Crime/Police Memoir

Interspersed with surprising moments of dark humor, fervent police pranks, and told with unchecked language, CurbChek-Reload by Zach Fortier is an expose’ of the challenging and graphically violent situations that are reflections of his day-to-day experiences of his thirty-year career as a city police officer.

Fortier’s CurbChek-Reload is the third installment of his true-crime trilogy, The Curbchek Collection and takes readers on another ride through the arduous physical and emotional tribulations he experienced as a veteran police officer.

Fortier does not temper his prose when he describes the depth of indifference, cruelty, malice, and depravity people inflict upon themselves, their loved ones, or someone in the wrong place at the wrong time without regard to the consequences of all involved.

From the first sentence, the reader is positioned as a civilian who desires to witness the real underbelly of the mean streets and rides along in the patrol car. Fortier, who professes he hates ride along’s, recounts each story to you without emotion and in straightforward, curt exposition as if you’re watching over his shoulder. He articulates the benefits, downsides, and hazards of working the night shift, day shift, and with a four-legged partner armed with razor sharp teeth and a nasty independent streak.

The stories take place in an undefined location called Central City and do not have a time sequence. The book is somewhat of a hybrid as it does not follow the usual conventions of true crime or memoir and contains some minor craft issues. However, it shines in its representation of the hazardous and complex challenges faced by the police. Fortier admits that if the public actually knew how thinly spread the police department was at times (six officers for an entire city), there would have been absolute panic.

Fortier’s attitudes concerning some members of an apathetic society, duplicitous city leaders, inept police department management, and other officers are quite telling. He calls the people who drive into the city each morning to work Daywalkers.

Conversely, Fortier provides examples where he relied upon his ability to communicate to de-escalate dangerous situations such as domestic disturbances, suicidal gestures or attempts, a potential melee, insatiable drug abusers, and so on.

There is no overall plot or chronological framework to this story; rather, it’s a collection of episodic scenes without a story arc that occurred during the author’s law enforcement career. The writing style contains gives the impression this book is a transcription of the author’s recorded recollections of some of his intense situations that he experienced in his thirty-year career as a policeman.

Nevertheless, as written, this collection contains some indomitable, funny, freakish, sad, outlandish, and bizarre accounts that vividly reflects one police officer’s complex experiences that occur all in his line of duty to protect and to serve.

April 10, 2017