Chanticleer Book Reviews

Tag: historical thriller

CROSSING The FORD by Gail Hertzog – Historical Fiction, Magical Realism, Old West

Crossing the Ford by Gail Hertzog opens in classic Western fashion: a train rolls in, carrying a stranger. Twenty-five-year-old Ruby knows, when she sees “that little lady” get off the train, that life in her rural Nevada town will never be the same.

Until this moment, Ruby’s children and her no-good husband have claimed most of her time and energy. But she gets to know Kenna, the red-headed stranger — and finds herself irrevocably changed in the process.

Hertzog weaves a rich tapestry of the post-Civil War West. Her characters inhabit a world that’s lush and bleak by turns, vivid with details of a landscape that shifts with the seasons, from giving to unforgiving. A thread of magical realism creeps in so subtly readers may hardly notice it at first. By the end, though, this book stands as a testament to how mystical and inscrutable the twists and turns of life can be.

The book is punctuated with vintage-style illustrations and even recipes, which tie in nicely with the plot and help readers immerse themselves in the moment in history.

Kenna soon introduces Ruby to new ways of looking at the world: ideals of feminine independence, the joy of luxury, and even using magic to bend life to your will.

Kenna comes from privilege and mystique, with a Scottish Highland heritage steeped in witchcraft – a stark contrast to Ruby’s bleak past. By turns, Ruby finds Kenna intimidating, frustrating, and awe-inspiring. They strike up a close friendship as the seasons turn.

The novel’s intrigue grows from early on, as Ruby and Kenna hold secrets from each other while holding each other dear. And then there’s Valentine: the local man that Kenna captivates, and Ruby desires from afar (and sometimes, from too close). With the addition of Ruby’s wayward, abusive husband, a tense love square emerges, and it’s not always clear what shape the characters’ lives will end up in. Even Valentine has secrets of his own.

As Crossing the Ford progresses, everyone’s secrets start to catch up to them, while every event is tinted with Kenna’s magic and mythology.

The mood sways from joyful to tragic and back again, from sensitive and compelling depictions of the abuse Ruby endures from her husband, to the life she builds in spite of it with Kenna and Valentine’s help.

This story maintains a confessional quality, as Ruby speaks directly to the mysterious character introduced in the prologue, setting up a satisfying reveal at the end. Over time, Ruby goes from passive observer to active anti-heroine, working to determine her own fate (and sometimes others’ too.) Readers get a deep look at the challenges she’s faced in life, so that when she starts making choices that seem brutal, we can understand her reasons. The action slows for a bit in the middle, but it’s a brief pause, carried by a strong sense of place and Ruby’s compelling voice. You can hear her accent in every word, that of a poorly-educated woman in the rural West, set against the fine and proper language of her best friend Kenna.

Crossing the Ford makes deft use of moral gray areas, as those areas seem to grow bigger with each page.

At first, the narrative raises questions about good motherhood and marital loyalty, but later, ponders questions of life and death. Ruby finds herself forced to answer: Is it ever justifiable to kill? Is it ever justifiable to forgive a killer? These issues ring of truth, as Hertzog paints a clear picture of the perils and quandaries faced by folks in the harsh landscape of the post-Civil War West. In the end, it turns out that everyone has something to run from, but not everyone will escape their fate.

This book is an excellent choice for lovers of historical fiction, complex female characters, and anything with a witchy bent. It shies away from easy answers, instead crafting a portrait of people and places whose outward beauty belies flaws, threats, and hard secrets. The ending is so tragic that it almost feels unsatisfying at first. Hertzog has given us such relatable, compelling characters that readers are left wanting more for them. Yet there’s a deeper truth to this narrative: magic may be real, but it doesn’t always work in one’s favor.

The characters in Crossing the Ford may not get the ending they want, but they just might get the ending they deserve.

Crossing the Ford by Gail Hertzog won 1st Place in the 2022 CIBA Goethe Awards for Late Historical Fiction, and 2022 CIBA Laramie Awards for Americana Fiction.

September 25, 2023
BED of CONSPIRACY by Juliette Douglas – Western, American Historical Fiction, Adventure

Growing up alone on the streets of Saint Louis in the mid-1870s, nineteen-year-old Samantha Davis has had to fight for everything.

When she rescues Colonel Brady from armed attackers, she isn’t trying to be a hero or land a dangerous new job, but the moment Brady sees her deadly aim and unparalleled courage, he knows he’s found his new undercover agent. Brady has been tasked with infiltrating the KGC, the Knights of the Golden Circle, a group of Southern sympathizers hellbent on bringing down the government in a Confederate uprising.

Brady believes Sam will be the perfect partner for Ross Cooper, a veteran agent who spends his off-time as a trail boss in Kansas. However, Ross is less than thrilled with Brady’s choice of the untrained, bad-tempered girl. Despite his misgivings, Ross agrees to team-up with Sam, and the two go undercover as Jim and Virginia Van Meter, a newlywed couple from South Carolina visiting Washington. After being introduced to Adam Mundy, the leader of this cell of the KGC, Ross (aka Jim) agrees to use his shipping business to help the Confederate cause.

The plot to rise again also means an assassination attempt on President Grant, and Ross must find a way to stop the uprising or see the president killed. Meanwhile, Sam is intent on doing her own investigation. Between the KGC and Sam’s hairbrain attempts, Ross has his hands full. On top of that, the longer the two play the happy couple, the more complicated their feelings become. As the conspiracy heats up so does their relationship, and the two must fight their feelings and the men plotting to plunge Washington into chaos.

The star of this novel is the courageous protagonist, Sam Davis.

From the first introduction, Sam bursts onto the scene with fire and gusto. At her young age and in this time period, she should be husband-seeking in layers of petticoats and ribbons. Instead, suspenders and pants are her wardrobe of choice, and finding a husband has never entered her mind. Even though she sometimes second-guesses her new role as the first female secret agent in this newly formed agency, Sam refuses to quit and give up her obligation to a man who plucked her off the streets. Keeping her ragged nails covered with gloves and hiding her omnipresent boots become her priority when she playacts as Ginny Van Meter.

Even when she must don the garb of a spy, Sam refuses to give up who she really is, and thank goodness she doesn’t! Repeatedly her heroics save the day. Her decidedly unladylike behavior is just what the colonel needs to foil the KGC. This girl is far from the “sit and wait” mentality of many of her contemporary compatriots. From riding into a cowboy camp armed with only her six-shooter and a letter from Colonel Brady to being arrested for trespassing, Sam flourishes on action. At times, Sam is reckless without forethought to what her actions will mean for Ross and his plan to slowly infiltrate the group. With her “peppered” language and the gun hidden in her silk handbags, Sam’s irreverence and fearlessness are endearing while her sass will keep the reader thoroughly entertained.

The historical context and references within the novel provide insight into a turbulent time in American history.

The novel’s focus on the Knights of the Golden Circle sheds light on a nearly forgotten society of Confederate sympathizers, a group with infamous members such as outlaws Jesse and Frank James and assassin John Wilkes Booth. Interweaving the truth into a fictional tale is often a daunting and confusing task, but this book seamlessly does exactly that.

While characters like Adam Mundy are fictitious, the object behind the KGC, overthrowing a government battered by the Civil War and Reconstruction, was a very real threat. Their refusal to acknowledge Lee’s surrender at Appomattox even ten plus years later could easily have created world-changing events. Ross and Sam’s involvement in this fictional assassination attempt on President Grant is a tale that could have been both possible while making an engrossing story. The action is non-stop with believable support characters adding to this captivating plot.

Bed of Conspiracy by Juliette Douglas won 1st Place in the 2019 CIBA Laramie Book Awards for Western and Americana Fiction.

June 1, 2022
The REFUSED by Ron Singerton – Historical Fiction, Action and Adventure Historical Fiction, Historical Thriller

Fine artist and award-winning author Ron Singerton turns his astute attention to some little-known history, enmeshed in immortal names and enduring truth in his mystery romance novel, The Refused.

The story boils from the first page, depicting families from the North and South in 1859 America. The brewing conflict will pull all of them into its orbit. In the South we meet Charlotte, her half-brother and slave, Jerome, who sail to France at war’s end.

Life and love in Paris become the vibrant heartbeat in The Refused.

Jack Volant, an aspiring painter and Union cavalry officer, wounded at Gettysburg, travels to Paris following the war to become a more accomplished artist. It is there that he begins a tumultuous relationship with Charlotte, a sculptor who sells her work to Empress Eugenie, wife of the Emperor, and a noted art patroness.

Jack’s younger brother Steven, while still in America, becomes embroiled in an affair with a professor’s wife. When the professor, an expert shot, learns of it, he challenges the young man to a duel. Fearing for his life, Steven changes his name and flees to Paris where he engages in the eerie occupation of unwrapping mummies in the salons attended by the elite.

All these dynamic characters, many involved in intrigue and murder, will interact in the decadent City of Light. They enjoy its ambience for only a short time, however, before war finds them once again. In 1870, the influence of the Empress, Prussian militarism and national rivalry will lead to disaster for France in the Franco Prussian war, the siege of Paris. In the chaos, Charlotte, deeply in love with Jack, waits anxiously as he attempts to save his brother and Jerome from the Prussian onslaught.

The Refused is more than the title of a novel.

Jack will find himself accepted by and creating new works alongside the Impressionist painters. Their adopted sobriquet, the Refused, stems from their rejection by the mainstream critics of the day. Their band includes Manet, Monet, Pissarro, Degas, Cezanne, and Renoir. They all resolve to paint what they want and hope for success, even if it be posthumous.

This novel explores far more than artistic expression.

Even after Prussian victories in the field, Paris holds out and becomes a hotbed of the Parisian underclass, the Communards. Jerome, with his sympathy for the desperately poor, joins the movement, putting his life in danger. As turmoil explodes around them, Jack, Charlotte, Steven, and Jerome attempt to survive as the reign of Emperor Louis Napoleon III and the Second Republic implode around them.

Singerton writes with verve and intelligence. He fashions several interwoven plots in numerous historical settings, while making all his players come to life as credible people, some with high aspirations and others with low scruples.

The author provides useful background in his “Author’s Notes.” He cites the real people and fact-based events that he selected for this engaging tale. The narrative encompasses formal dueling, womanly wiles, shadowy views of a typical morgue, costuming, cafés, conditions in Paris in wartime, and many other fine touches that powerfully immerse the reader in the times and places.

Singerton served in Asia with the US military, was a Civil War cavalry reenactor, an art and history teacher, and enjoys saber fencing and horsemanship. He has penned notable works of historical fiction. And significantly, he is also, like several of the book’s protagonists, a professional artist. All these interests weld neatly together into this enthralling novel, sure to please his current audience and garner new readership.

Read our reviews of Ron Singerton’s other books by clicking on their titles, A Cherry Blossom in Winter, The Silk and the Sword: Gaius Centurion, Book 2, and Villa of Deceit: A Novel of Ancient Rome.

January 17, 2022
PLAGUE by C.C. Humphreys – Historical Thriller, Medical Thriller, Serial Killers

Captain William Coke lives as a thief with a conscience, in C.C. Humphrey’s historical thriller, Plague. Never loading his pistol with anything more than powder, he carefully selects his victims from the wealthy and the pompous. But he soon walks into crimes far more horrific than robbery.

Captain Coke and Dickon, a rescued street urchin, never expected to find their marks slaughtered on the road to London. Coke has never seen a killing like this, not even on the battlefield fighting to restore his king to the throne in the English Civil War. Pitman, a thief-taker, is likewise shocked by the brutality of the murders supposedly committed by the highwayman he has come to see as a gentleman bandit. Now, Pitman will stop at nothing to find Coke, who has become known as the Monstrous Coke after the notorious murder.

As the murders continue, the victims piling up, Pitman and Coke begin to realize that this criminal doesn’t just kill, but kills with religious symbolism. The two eventually team up to find the murderer. When the killer brutalizes and murders an actor, his wife and fellow actress, Sarah, becomes an ally of the men who are chasing him.

The would-be detectives face yet another obstacle when the Black Plague breaks out across the poverty-stricken parts of London. These unlikely heroes must now dodge not only the law, but a serial killer, a deadly illness, and a heretical cult who search for that which will take them from the gutters to the palace.

Coke, Sarah, and Pitman contrast one another, each with a well-developed character. Captain Coke first meets Sarah when he is fulfilling a pledge to visit and check on Lucy, the sister of his closest friend Quentin, a fellow soldier who was killed nearly twenty years prior. When Lucy finds herself unmarried and pregnant, Coke doesn’t hesitate to help her even though it means putting himself in harm’s way.

He has also taken in Dickon, a boy with both physical and mental disabilities, and will kill if need be to protect him. Coke is a criminal, but also a kind and gentle man. Pitman uses his remarkable abilities to stay ahead of his time with his crime scene investigations, and no one catches more thieves than him. As a constable, he must shut up the homes of plague victims with their families inside – infected or not – causing great distress to the big-hearted Pitman. In his kindness, he can see the impossibility of Coke committing the terrible murders, and though the two fought on opposing sides in the war and now live on either side of the law, they develop an easy friendship, trusting each other with their very lives.

Sarah Chalker owes much of her success as an actress to the protection of her husband, John. As childhood sweethearts, she and John have fought their way from the gutters of St. Giles to a place in the Duke’s Company, a theatre group frequented by Charles II himself. When John is killed, the sheer brutality of his murder drives Sarah on to find the vicious killer. She doesn’t hesitate to join with Coke and Pitman even though the search will put her in grave danger without the advantage of her male counterparts.

Religion plays a huge role in the novel.

On the heels of the English Civil War and the Restoration, London in 1665 is full of unrest. With the Act of Uniformity and the Act of Conventicles keeping dissenters from practicing anything other than the “accepted” Church of England within the city, all who choose to worship differently must do so in secret. This need for secrecy provokes many to violence, including the Fifth Monarchists, who seek to bring about the Apocalypse and the coming of Jesus.

With the year 1666 fast approaching, the Fifth Monarchists find the end times in every facet of the city. From its sprawling corruption to its massive poverty, London yearns for its brand of justice and a crescendo to the devil’s time. Among these “Saints” the serial killer hides, committing his atrocities in the name of his religion. The religious symbolism connected to verses in Revelation truly takes this thriller into the realm of the sinister. Chapters from the murderer’s point of view show this obsession for Apocalyptic cleansing of the sinful falseness of London. This obsession contrasts sharply with Pitman’s own faith. Pitman, a Quaker and therefore a dissenter himself, uses his religion and beliefs to practice strength and kindness. The near-complete lack of religion in the other characters keenly expresses the duality of the novel.

Plague takes the reader on a thrilling ride through the gritty parts of seventeenth-century London, and readers of history and mystery alike will enjoy its shocking twist ending.

October 18, 2021
NEVER AGAIN by Harvey A. Schwartz – Alternative History, Terrorism Thriller, Historical Thriller
Given recent world events (from COVID-19 to the murder of Floyd George and the subsequent civilian marches, even the boomeranging price of oil), Schwartz’s tale of Holocaust II is far, far too believable to be a work of fiction.

Imagine Tel Aviv being virtually obliterated by an atomic bomb; imagine one woman—a former NYC TV journalist—as the last one standing with three atomic bombs of her own – complete with the codes and crew to use them in the Negev Desert; imagine deciding to send one of those WMDs to obliterate Damascus. Imagine saving one of those bombs to fight another day: even if that fight happens to be in the USA.

Welcome to Israeli minster Debra Reuben’s evaporating world. Soon joining her on this incredible journey is Israeli Navy officer Chaim Levi who happens upon a luxury yacht in Spain – only to have it become the means of transport across the Atlantic to Massachusetts once he makes acquaintance with Reuben—the remaining bomb safely stowed on board.

Once stateside, it’s a matter of what to do with the radiation-oozing device. Fortunately, there are many in the Jewish community ready to help, from civil rights lawyer Ben Schapiro (also a sailplane—upscale glider—enthusiast), militant activist Abram Goldhersh and his pacifist wife, Sarah. Together, they set their minds against the president of the United States (Lawrence Quaid) and his somewhat estranged, more sympathetic spouse, Catherine. With more people arriving to join the cause, gather to join a huge protest march slated in front of the Washington Monument. But Quaid and his hawks soon decide to send over 400,000 Jews (mostly Americans—all declared “enemy combatants”) to 21st-century concentration camps.

Schwartz’s inventive fiction feels as if it’s been ripped from today’s headlines. When this review was first penned, the Toronto Star’s front page shouted this: “Trump Threatens to Use Military Force.” We all know what happened next. Never Again might be too close for comfort for some, but others may find the story cathartic. The writing, itself, is strong and well-balanced with more than a few end-of-chapter cliffhangers. Schwartz’s novel is well worth a read—especially now as his fictional vision slips closer and closer to fact.

Never Again won 1st in Category in the CIBA 2018 Global Thriller Book Awards.
October 13, 2020
St Louis Affair: The Adventures of Herbert Falken by Michael Scheffel – Historical Thriller/Detective

This tantalizing whodunit is set in 1899 St. Louis and revolves around the heinous murder of a prominent wealthy citizen, Charles Garrett, whose body is discovered on the banks of the Mississippi River. Because the crime scene is devoid of clues and political pressure for a fast resolution abounds, the city police turn to professional Inquiry Agent, Herbert Falken, for assistance.

Falken, also known by the public as Major Falken from his heroic exploits fighting renegade raiders along the US – Mexican border, is well respected for his deductive abilities and previous success in solving a perplexing string of grisly crimes. What the public doesn’t know is that Falken is haunted by his own personal and professional demons.

Not long after departing from this crime scene, however, Falken discovers a curious fact: Charles Garrett’s public and private personas are polar opposites. Faced with a growing list of suspects and demands from the Governor on down to the average citizen for an immediate arrest, Falken feels the pressure. If it weren’t for James Westfall (former army officer mustered out due to a permanent leg injury) Falken’s aide-de-camp, our hero would be in dire straights. Westfall not only records critical crime scene and subject interview information, but he also cares for and tries to protect Falken—sometimes from himself.

A strong cast of well-drawn and individually distinctive characters who aid, circumvent, and forestall Falken’s pursuit of justice adds richness to the story.

Scheffel’s use of architectural design, clothing and accouterments, individual and class attitudes, and various character traits and dialects to resurrect old St. Louis is a true highlight of the book. He deftly crafts different scenes in smooth, articulate detail without hindering the story’s pace. Whether it’s inside Falken’s dining room, traveling across uneven paving bricks in a horse-drawn buggy, trudging along the muddy banks along the river, descending into a seedy opium den, or watching Falken get his butt kicked in a bare-knuckle brawl, the reader is right there. Another treat is the seamless placement of real-world news events into dialogue, which adds both authenticity and consistency to the setting.

Overall, St Louis Affair: The Adventures of Herbert Falken is an entertaining turn-of-the-century page-turner with plenty of twists to keep the reader guessing to the end. Michael Scheffel grabs the reader’s attention from the first sentence and doesn’t let go until the very last in St. Louis Affair: The Adventures of Herbert Falken, a fast-paced, page-turner that will have the reader hoping that he is hard a work penning a new tale involving Herbert Falken, Inquiry Agent.

February 19, 2017
VALHALLA REVEALED by Robert A. Wright, a historical thriller

The year is 1945, and governments around the world are debating how to navigate the political and economic fallout from World War II. The trials in Nuremberg seek to punish those who participated in the Third Reich, whether they are members of the military, or businessmen who produced the armaments that gave Germany its fearsome power. Former officers of the Third Reich have fled to South America, hoping to evade capture. Though the Marshall Plan is helping to rebuild the war-ravaged economies of Western Europe, all eyes are turning toward the Stalinist Soviet Union, wondering whether an even larger threat now looms.

Businessman Paul Hoffman, whose family was first introduced in Beyond Ultra, struggles to deal with his grief over the ravages the war has forced upon his family. With a mother and brother dead, another brother missing, and a father exiled in Spanish Guinea, Paul must hold the family together while managing its business interests on three continents—the vineyards in Spain, commodities businesses in Africa, and import/export companies in the United States.

While dealing with divided family loyalties and attempting to lead his family forward, Paul also copes with his grief and survivor’s guilt over the deaths of his family members, as well as a haunting desire to discover what happened to his missing brother Hans, a German U-boat captain who disappeared at the end of the war. Paul’s search for answers will take him to the corners of the globe and uncover secrets with ties to international military and spy networks.

Employing meticulous research, in-depth knowledge of real historical events, and a deft hand for describing famous figures of the post-World War II era, Robert Wright has crafted a novel rich in detail and amazing in scope. Readers are introduced to people such as Heinrich Mueller, infamous leader of the Gestapo, exiled former SS officers in Paraguay, Stalinist Soviets, and William Donovan, head of the wartime OSS and predecessor to the CIA.

While the people of Western Europe and America re-awaken after a long and arduous war, complacent in the knowledge that their governments are back in control of world events, Wright reveals the true historical impact of decisions made by a small group of powerful businessmen largely unknown outside their inner circle. Valhalla Revealed is an astonishing novel—it is hard to cover the breadth of it in a review. The informative 540 pages will fly by with intrigue and surprise. Fortunately for its readers, Beyond Ultra, the prequel, will help satisfy the desire to unravel more of Robert Wright’s epic saga of two families whose destinies are intertwined.

Highly recommended to those who love historical fiction and international espionage thrillers.

September 11, 2015