J ULY 2018

Your guide to self-publishing

Indie Scouting Report • Book Cover Redesign •
First Lines from BookLife Authors •
Ask the Editor with Betty Sargent • 72 New Titles Listed

Write,
Market,
Repeat
How a prolific author
took control of her
career by going indie
BY MATIA BURNETT

A
uthor Susan Wittig Albert has some
straightforward advice for aspir-
ing writers: “Write. Write a book.
Write another, and another after that.
Writing is a craft. It has to be learned. It
can only be learned with practice.”
The author of more than 100 books,
Albert still makes time for raising cattle,
sheep, geese, ducks, dogs, cats, and chick-
ens (not to mention gardening and fiber
crafting) on her 31-acre farm in the Texas
Hill Country. She writes five or six days
per week, handling publishing and mar-
keting chores in the mornings before
 ® INDIE SUCCESS
turning to her works in progress: “[I take] breaks
for lunch, laundry, and for sweeping up Molly’s fur
bunnies.” (That would be Molly Maguire, Albert’s
elderly heeler.)
Albert has written several mystery series, includ-
ing the China Bayles garden-themed mysteries
and the historical series the Darling Dahlias, the
Cottage Tales of Beatrix Potter, and the Robin
Paige Victorian-Edwardian Mysteries, which she
coauthored with her husband, Bill Albert. She has
also written numerous standalone books.
Albert’s path to self-publishing was a wind-
ing one. Her writing career began when she
traditionally published an academic book
in 1973. Albert then worked as an author
for popular YA properties throughout the
1980s, writing under various pseudonyms.
She has published her adult mysteries with
Avon, Berkley, and Scribner. But when
she had trouble placing a novel
titled A Wilder Rose in 2013, Albert
decided to veer off the traditional
publishing path and launch
her own publishing
imprint, Persevero Press.
A Wilder Rose, which was
rejected 33 times, has
gone on to sell 70,000 cop-
ies and has even been
optioned for TV. Albert has
published two other historical
novels under her
imprint: Loving
Eleanor (2015)
and The General’s
Women (2017).
46 B O O K L I F E , J U LY 3 0 , 2 0 1 8
And Albert isn’t looking to return to traditional
publishing anytime soon. “Beginning in 2019, I
will be publishing new work exclusively under my
imprint,” she says. She isn’t shy about using out-
side expertise, however: “I currently subcontract
the copyediting, page design, and cover art.” The
independent book publisher and distr ibutor
Greenleaf Book Group handles Alber t’s book
printing and distribution. She also has an agent,
Kerry Sparks at Levine Greenberg Rostan, who
handles subsidiary rights.
Albert says that since launching Persevero
Press, she has gained some critical insights
into the self-publishing market: writing a
great book is just the beginning—quality
cover ar t and book design are critical.
Publishing in both the digital and print-
on-demand formats has also been essential
for Albert. And there’s the nitty-gritty
of marketing. She advises writers to
“market the hell out of yourself and
your project,” then, “repeat, repeat,
repeat.”
Of course, few authors produce
the number of books that Albert
has. She counts her natural curios-
ity and love of research among
the driving forces behind her pro-
lific outpouring: “I write about
what I know, what I want to learn,
and what I think will interest
readers. These things naturally
find their way out of my life
and my reading and into
my writing—I just follow
my nose.” ■
Susan Wittig Albert
on her farm in
Texas Hill Country
 Q&A SPONSORED
BookLife Talks with
Laurel Anne Hill
Hill dazzles with a dystopian steam-
punk novel full of spirits.
What is the story behind The
Engine Woman’s Light—why and
how did you write it?
Around 1993, I had a dream about
an elderly woman who rode a
“death train” toward an asylum for
thrown-away people. An attendant
gave her an abandoned infant to
babysit during the journey. The
spirit of the old woman’s deceased
husband appeared to her and said,
“This is our great-granddaughter.”
The woman, carrying the baby in a
basket, escaped the train and
walked toward a distant light.
Within weeks of the dream, sev-
eral characters sprang to life
inside my head—all determined to
convince me to tell their tale. I
wrote a short story about them.
An editor suggested writing a
novel instead. A few years later, I
took her advice.
Who do you like to imagine read-
ing The Engline Woman’s Light?
The Engine Woman’s Light is a dys-
topian spirits-meet-steampunk
tale. My ideal reader can deal with
gadgets and grit. A mature teen or
an adult who enjoys fantasy with a
diverse cast of characters will love
this book.
What makes this book relevant
right now?
The Engine Woman’s Light is a coming-of-age novel
about a young Latina that delves into dark and pain-
ful issues: rape, abuse, child abandonment, murder,
and the loss of loved ones. It also addresses love,
loyalty, honor, family, forgiveness, and redemption.
The topics are timeless. I wanted to write directly to
the human experience.
To what extent do you draw from real life, and
what responsibility do you feel to reimagine or
change characters who are based on real people?
When writing The Engine
Woman’s Light, I drew upon the
love of my husband, the strength
of my mother and her parents,
the stories about my paternal
Mexican great-grandparents, and
the behavior of every chauvinis-
tic man I’ve ever met. I also drew
upon adventures I’ve had, such
as operating a steam locomotive,
climbing and almost falling off
the side of a cliff, and being swept
under a large inflatable river raft
in white water. Still, I let my char-
acters establish their own person-
alities within my mind and on the
page. I always insist on my charac-
ters remaining true to themselves.
Steampunk figures prominently
in The Engine Woman’s Light.
What about this aesthetic
inspired you?
I love steam-powered machinery:
steam locomotives, steamboats,
and steam calliopes. The power of
steam is almost sexual in nature. I
also love windup clockwork. None
of these devices contain black box
technology, which gave me a lot to
work with as a writer. I can look
at them and understand how they
work and invite the reader into
this fascination.
What is the one thing you most
want to tell readers, other writ-
ers, booksellers, publishers, or
agents about you or your book?
I spent 20 years creating The
Engine Woman’s Light. Now this novel has received
a total of 10 honors and awards, including a 2017
Independent Press Award and a 2018 San Francisco
Book Festival award. Writers, never discard your
failed manuscripts. Your time of insight may come.
For more information, visit booklife.com/hill
 ® COVER ART

Cover Redesign
This month, Michelle Argyle at Melissa Williams Design
reimagines the cover of the romance Just Not Ready Yet
by indie author Brooklyn James.
To submit a book for a free cover redesign, email us at booklifeeditor@booklife.com.
Original Cover

While I wanted
a cowboy
couple on the
cover to push
the romance
angle, the title
indicates some Using a darker,
hesitation on eye-catching
the part of the color scheme
characters, so sets a dramatic
I kept the man backdrop for
and woman this cowboy
separated. romance.

Font choice is
everything.
The title font
immediately
Keeping an shows the
author’s name reader that this
larger than the story is going
title puts the to be a fun,
focus on the happy read.
author’s brand,
giving the sense
that there are
more books by
this writer to be
discovered and
read.

48 B O O K L I F E , J U LY 3 0 , 2 0 1 8
 Q&A SPONSORED

BookLife Talks with It’s also a way for the poet to connect with his or
her past meaningfully and in a way that, hopefully,
Howard Giskin if a poem is doing its job, connects with the reader.
For me, perhaps most importantly, memory provides
Giskin, a retired world literature professor, threads images, which are often charged by complex and, at
his vast knowledge of poetry through a worldly col- times, fascinating emotions. Frequently, this is the
lection of verse steeped in memory. start of a poem for me, an image accompanied by
a feeling that suggests it could form
Is there a thread that links the the basis of some verse.
poems of Murmurings?
With Murmurings, my motivation was How has your experience teaching
to capture recollections from more world literature shaped your poetic
than 40 years of travel, life, and fam- craft? Do you have any favorite
ily. Strictly speaking, not all the poets working outside of the English
poems collected here are memories, language tradition whom you would
though in many cases their inspira- cite as creative inspirations?
tion springs from something I’ve wit- Over the years, I’ve paired teaching
nessed or lived through. Now that I ancient and modern literature with
am retired, I have time to let things traveling, sometimes for pleasure and
ferment and settle, rather than feel- other times for academic exchanges
ing rushed to produce a poem or piece to Asia and Latin America. There are
of writing. some wonderful love poems from
ancient Egypt that are nearly 4,000
Who is your ideal reader and why? years old, and the Epic of Gilgamesh
My ideal reader is someone who enjoys has some of the most powerful lines
travel and is interested in the joys, sor- in all of literature. For some reason,
rows, and discoveries in life; a person though, I’m particularly attracted to
Howa rd Gi sk i n

Living was not lost on us

fascinated by history,
for the philosophy, and
island’s millennia early Japanese literature from the
spoke, its nooks and
the mysteries of human nature; some-
crags murmuring …
Nara and Heian periods, a formative
one willing to step into the shoes of time when two of Japan’s greatest col-
MURMURINGS

another, if only for a few moments.

There are stories being whispered around us, if we but
listen. Murmurings is a collection of poetry that draws lections of poems, the Man’yōshū and
the Kokinshū, were compiled. With
upon the experiences of a lifetime spent traveling the
world, reflecting on philosophy and the spirit, and
listening deeply. The poems express singular moments in
What makes your poems particu-
time—Walt Whitman strolling in Prospect Park, mulling
over a line of poetry; Monet gazing upon swirls of water
Murmurings, I aspired to capture
larly relevant now? the same level of fleeting emotions,
MUR MURINGS
lilies with eyes made fuzzy by cataracts; an ancient nun,
smiling and chanting through smoky drifts of incense.

We are living in an increasingly inter-

Rich in details, Murmurings will draw you in, fill your
senses, and let you imagine yourself in another place … sensations, and complex sentiments
connected world, more intercon- of the type often found in classical
in another time.

nected than at any other time in Japanese verse.

human history. Modern genetics has
confirmed that we are one human What is the one thing you most want
family, related through complex webs ISBN 9781525503757
90000 >
to tell readers about your book?
of ancestry and descended from com- I write primarily from experience,
Howard Giskin
mon ancestors. I’d like to think that 9 781525 503757
from what I have seen, felt, under-
Murmurings captures a little of this stood, and sensed as transformative
interconnectedness. in my life. My message is that everyone has stories
worth telling, be they in the form of poems, prose,
Memory figures prominently in this collection. song, prayer, or simply conversation with friends.
Why is poetry, rather than prose, your chosen Murmurings is my attempt to tell some part of my
medium for capturing the past? story.
I think poetry is most suited to evoking the feelings
associated with unusual and complex states of mind. For more information, visit booklife.com/giskin
 ® FINDING READERS
Mentoring
Tomorrow’s
Writers and
Readers
Indie authors can help high
school students become
avid readers and published
authors
BY MARK COKER
I
ndie authors invest a lot of time, energy, and
financial resources into book marketing. Yet, for
most authors, the struggle is fraught with chal-
lenge; it’s tough to reach readers.
There’s a glut of high-quality books out there,
especially in the e-book market, where indie authors
find most of their readers. Indies face a market in
which the supply of e-books is growing faster than
the supply of readers. The result is that, on average,
every new book published from this day forward
will share a thinner slice of the pie.
It’s time to grow the pie. We need to create new
readers.
According to the Pew Research Center, overall
book consumption has remained flat over the past
10 years. E-book consumption is highest among
college graduates and high-income earners. Pew
reports that 42% of U.S. college graduates read an
e-book in the last year. The figures were 8% for those
who didn’t graduate high school and 17% for those
who graduated high school but didn’t pursue college.
Why do college grads read more e-books than
people without a college education? Readers have
access to hundreds of thousands of e-books at no
cost via libraries and retailers. The problem is that
these potential readers are choosing not to read
books.
Reading stimulates the imagination, and from
50 B O O K L I F E , J U LY 3 0 , 2 0 1 8
Mark Coker
imagination comes creativity, inspiration, and
innovation. Reading gives us knowledge, encourages
critical thinking, and improves our communication
skills. Avid readers can learn more, learn faster, and
do it with less effort.
More early intervention is needed at the high
school level to help young adults develop a greater
love for reading. But how do we foster greater love
of reading? It’s not enough to tell students to read
books. A better approach is to teach these students
to write and publish books.
Four years ago, in partnership with my local
public library, I volunteered to help design and
launch a pilot program at Los Gatos High School in
which 120 freshman honors poetry students col-
laborated over a five-week period to write, publish,
and promote a poetry anthology e-book. That e-book
is titled Windows to the Teenage Soul.
The project was led by teachers Tonya McQuade
and Catherine Wehr. They invited me to speak to
each of their five class periods about e-book self-
publishing. I shared the same knowledge that most
indie authors already know from experience.
Students contributed one poem each. Next, they
divided into teams. One team focused on editing,
layout, and design. Another team focused on art
and photography. Another team managed market-
ing and publicity. And another team managed event
 FINDING READERS
planning for their book launch.
The day it was released, Windows to the Teenage
Soul briefly ranked as the #1 bestselling poetry book
on the Apple iBooks store. The evening of the release,
Los Gatos Public Library hosted the book launch.
The event was standing room only. Proud parents
and lucky patrons listened to the students describe
the project and read excerpts from their favorite
poems.
Now in its fifth year, this e-book publishing proj-
ect has touched the lives of more than 600 students.
This May, 175 students published Voices from the
Poet-Sea.
These students will begin the first chapter of their
adult lives with a deeper appreciation for the writ-
ten word. Their accomplishment will go on their
college applications. These students are more likely
to write more, read more, and publish again.
This entire project, from start to finish, didn’t cost
anything. Thanks to free e-book publishing platforms,
Q&A SPONSORED
BookLife Talks with
Carol Basdeo
Basdeo combines her experiences
as a science teacher and a mother
to create a series of children’s books
that makes science fun for kids.
How did you get started writing the K.C. & Kayla’s
Science Corner series?
I left my corporate job two years ago to spend time
with my young children. We spent many days at the
library and brought home a variety of books. None
of these books sparked my children’s interest. They
had too much information or were too advanced.
Soon thereafter, my son, K.C., came home with a sci-
ence experiment that we did as a family. That night,
after seeing the joy on my children’s faces, I wrote
the first book.
How do your books help kids get into science?
My books allow children under the age of 10 to learn
science through storytelling. They encourage children
to explore science in the home, making it relatable.
Children will develop a fondness for science while hav-
ing fun.
For the complete interview, visit booklife.com/basdeo
®
the tools of professional publishing are accessible
to all. All that is needed is knowledge. And this is
where indie authors come in.
Indie authors can partner with local schools to
inspire similar projects in their local communities.
Every high school can replicate this project in its
classrooms. Every person can write poetry. All it
takes is a visionary teacher, and an indie author
willing to help share her smarts to help kick-start
the project.
Windows to the Teenage Soul includes a teacher’s
guide in the appendix to help others replicate the
same project. It includes project timelines, handouts,
and a list of resources. To learn more about this
pioneering project at Los Gatos High, check out
episode 16 of the Smart Author Podcast, “Publishing
in the Classroom.” ■
Mark Coker is the founder of Smashwords and
host of the Smart Author Podcast.
Q&A SPONSORED
BookLife Talks to Jamiyl
and Tracy-Ann Samuels
Picture book hero Amani wins
hearts and helps children on the
autism spectrum and their families.
What is the story behind The
Amazingly Awesome Amani?
It’s based on our 11-year-old son,
Trey Amani, who is on the autism spectrum. We
wanted to raise awareness about autism while writ-
ing a book that kids could relate to. We also wanted
to shine a spotlight on an issue that is not being
addressed openly in the black community. We also
wrote it for our six-year-old daughter, who brought
to our attention the need to have open dialogue
about our son’s challenges.
Who do you most hope will read this book?
Families who are dealing with a child with autism and
who are in denial; children in general who have low
self-esteem, who have issues communicating with
other kids, or who get bullied; and adults whose first
reaction is to laugh at, move away from, or point a
finger at a child who is on the spectrum. We hope that
the book will encourage people to be more empathetic.
For the complete interview, visit booklife.com/samuels
B O O K L I F E .C O M 51
 ® BOOKS TO WATCH

Scouting Report
In this month’s roundup of the best-reviewed BookLife
titles, we highlight three thrillers—about a haunted house,
a reluctant homicide detective, and a weapon of mass
manipulation—plus an audiobook and a romance.

★ Shy Grove ★ Infinite Us

SCOTT A. JOHNSON EDEN BUTLER

Synopsis: In this thriller Synopsis: Butler beautifully

from Johnson, after the weaves three interracial
death of his aunt, Gary romances—taking place in
inherits her house in the Brooklyn, New Orleans,
remote town of Shy Grove. and Washington, D.C.—into
But once he moves his fam- a satisfying and complex
ily into the old house and work.
looks to turn his marriage PW’s Takeaway: The complex
around, things take an structure crystallizes
unexpected turn. into an impressive resolution that ties up loose
PW’s Takeaway: Creepy, twisted, and relentlessly threads hidden in the very first pages. This
unsettling... This is an impressive new take on splendid story is destined for many a keeper
classic horror themes. shelf.
Comparable Title: Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting Comparable Title: Renée Carlino’s Wish You Were
of Hill House Here
Sample Line: “The place felt like a museum, a Sample Line: “Once there was an ordinary girl
shrine to a dead woman’s tastes and passions.” who held an extraordinary hope.”
Read the Review: Read the Review:
publishersweekly.com/9780692982594 publishersweekly.com/ASINB06XKMKZ2J

★ Gone Viral ★ Shadowed Terminal

J.A. KNIGHT by Death Rage
Synopsis: When MARY ADLER A.M. KHALIFA;
a man creates a Synopsis: In 1944 NARRATED BY
weapon of mass San Francisco, SCOTT BRICK
manipulation, detective Oliver Synopsis: After a
he finds himself Wright has returned terrorist takeover
involved with a shadowy intelli- from combat in the Pacific and has of a skyscraper, former FBI agent
gence agent. mixed feelings about his first Alex Blackwell is dragged from
PW’s Takeaway: Fans of intelligent homicide case. retirement.
thrillers will relish Knight’s prom- PW’s Takeaway: A superior PW’s Takeaway: A totally
ising debut. whodunit. satisfying audiobook.
Comparable Title: Christopher Comparable Titles: Sheldon Russell’s Comparable Title: Daniel Silva’s
Farnsworth’s Flashmob Hook Runyon series The Black Widow
Read the Review: publishers- Read the Review: publishers- Read the Review: publishers-
weekly.com/9780998775906 weekly.com/ASINB07F2V369K weekly.com/ASINB07D5J4H6

52 B O O K L I F E , J U LY 3 0 , 2 0 1 8
 FIRST LINES ®

First Lines
Swim Season
MARIANNE SCIUCCO
“Aunt Mags didn’t say a word on the way
to the high school, and neither did I.”
Our monthly look at some of the best
Gathering Frost
first lines by BookLife authors KAITLYN DAVIS
“The world ended on a Saturday
This month brings the end of the world and an
in spring.”
early-morning visit from the cops. To submit a
first line, email booklifeeditor@booklife.com.
Identity Crisis
DEBBI MACK
Martha’s Sister: “I’ve never been a morning person, and
Beloved Prodigal if there’s one thing I don’t need before
PATRICIA ANNALEE KIRK my first cup of coffee, it’s a visit from
“I watched the young girl in horrified the cops.”
fascination.”
Your Crocodile Has Arrived
Missing LAURIE MCANDISH KING
WOLFGANG PARKER A third-grade classmate of mine
“Jonas Shurmann woke up tired and named Jimmy told me he would eat
grumpy—probably because he hadn’t a live worm if I paid him twenty-five
heard cats speak yet.” cents.
BOOKWORKS_HALF_H_0715_Layout 1 7/24/15 10:12 AM Page 1

Calling all Indie Authors

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● Help You Find Your Reader ● Chat With Our Experts
● Post Excerpts from Your Book ● Showcase and Sell Your Books With
for Peer Review Direct-to-Retailer Links
● Get a Featured Author Cover Medallion ● Find the Best Editors, Designers, Illustrators,
for Your Book Marketers, and Publicists in the Business
And that’s just for starters
Let us help you Prepare, Publish and Promote your books. We show you how to make
indie publishing easier and, yes it’s true —how to make it fun.

JOIN NOW!
bookworks.com
 RELIGION_THIRD_V_1114_Layout 1 11/11/14 11:38 PM Page 1
® WRITING ADVICE

Ask in your career. And you are not

PW keeps a watchful eye
alone. Here are some examples
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New Titles from

Self-Publishers
Booksellers, publishers, librarians, and agents are encouraged to look at the 72
self-published titles below. Each appears with a list of retailers that are selling the
book and a description provided by its author. Some of these writers are waiting to
be discovered; others have track records and followings and are doing it on their
own. If you are a self-published author interested in listing titles in this section,
please visit publishersweekly.com/pw-select for more information.
Fiction Set against a backdrop of wild Tasmania, Man on the Floor!
All the Lies We Live Australian gold, and African diamonds, Daniel L. Coberly. Man on
Don Trowden. Publerati. this is an epic story of betrayal, undying the Floor Productions.
$16.95 paper (258p), love, and one man’s struggle to find his $26.99 paper (566p),
ISBN 978-0-9979137- way home. ISBN 978-1-71949-
3-6; $7.99 e-book, ASIN 284-3
B077Y9CN7C Island Fever (Jimjeran, Book 1) Amazon
Amazon, BN.com, Sarah Carrell. Sarah The son of a military
BookBaby, Indiebound, Carrell. $12.25 paper father and a French war bride tries to
Ingram (363p), ISBN 978-1- make sense of a brave new world in
A cast of octogenarians pursue their 980414-73-5; $4.99 post-WWII Munich and Verdun.
dreams as a hurricane approaches a e-book, ASIN
Maine island. The theme is redemption B07D4KT65F My Friend Marilyn: The Great American
through love. Amazon Destination Series
Carlie Beecher, a Christopher Lentz.
The Family Jewels spunky American nurse, leaves her fiancé Christopher Lentz. $3.99
Vincent Graziano. GGP in the States in her hunt for adventure and e-book, ASIN
Publishing. $24.95 hard- volunteers for a term on a tiny atoll in the B07DDBZZ8C
cover (290p), ISBN 978- Marshall Islands. Amazon, Apple iBooks,
0-692-93682-5 BN.com, Kobo,
Amazon, BN.com Lagging Indicators Smashwords
Destitute middle-aged Jennifer Anglade After being named Marilyn Monroe’s
brothers are forced to Dahlberg. Jennifer assistant, a sassy small-town spinster is
return to the tenement apartment where Dahlberg. $5.99 e-book, surrounded by showbiz temptations and
they grew up. Their aged mother will be ISBN 978-1-77342- hidden dangers.
glad they are home. A third brother, not 049-3
so much. Amazon, BN.com, On Burning Mirrors
Chapters Jamie Klinger-Krebs. J2K
Fortune’s Son Wall Street executive Mia Lewis finds Creative. $14.99 paper
Jennifer Scoullar. Pilyara herself suddenly unemployed and dis- (450p), ISBN 978-0-
Press. $3.99 e-book, graced. A handsome single dad ignites 692-11305-9; $3.99
ISBN 978-0-648- questions about her future, but then the e-book, ISBN 978-0-
30892-8 past comes calling. 692-11300-4
Amazon, Apple iBooks, Amazon, BN.com
BN.com, Kobo Journalist Jules Kanter

B O O K L I F E .C O M 55

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seemed to have it all, but she also had
well-hidden secrets. With everything left
unsaid, can those she loved move on, or
will they be destroyed by her lies?
Sacred Secrets of the
Cedar Chest
Angela Pisaturo. WestBow
Press. $17.95 paper
(187p), ISBN 978-1-
973613-71-8
Amazon, BN.com
A wounded woman, a childhood trauma,
a mysterious cedar chest. The poignant
story of growing up with bipolar disorder
and how God healed the pain.
Sin and Redemption:
The Pink Elephant
Connection
James E. McCarthy. Ashanti
Victoria Publishing. $19.99
e-book, ISBN 978-1-
944136-02-4
Amazon, Ingram
A story of crime and coming-of-age,
from street thug to international heroin
smuggler, to murder, to prison inmate,
to vengeance, to redemption.
Taming the Twisted 2:
Reconstructing Rain
Jodie Toohey. Wordsy
Woman Press. $11.95
paper (154p), ISBN 978-
0-692-07276-9
Amazon
Alice Sinkey must put
her family back together in this sequel to
Taming the Twisted.
Tough Love
Aalia Lanius. Catalyst Group. $14.99 paper
(201p), ISBN 978-0-692-99921-9
Relationshipsunsugarcoated.com,
Amazon, BN.com
Aleyna, known for her
passion, success, and
picture-perfect fam-
ily, hides a marriage
on life support. When
cancer returns, she
faces a journey of self-
56 B O O K L I F E , J U LY 3 0 , 2 0 1 8
PAID LISTINGS
love, courage, and healing. Life.
Alysa VanderWeerd.
Uncommon Counsel WestBow Press. $30.95
Art Smith. Obumbravit paper (456p), ISBN 978-
Press. $14.95 paper 1-973606-96-3
(300p), ISBN 978-1- Amazon, BN.com
73217-330-9 These poems are
Amazon, Apple iBooks, modern-day hymns—
BN.com, Kobo openly expressing VanderWeerd’s heart
Rip Taylor is a lawyer in the presence of God and man.
wrestling with schizophrenia and diffi-
cult choices. His journal entries and Tales from the Trails
psychiatrist’s notes offer a novel first- Melissa K. Melton. Xlibris.
person perspective on mental illness. $19.99 paper (158p),
ISBN 978-1-5434-
The Weekend Warriors 3704-1; $3.99 e-book,
James W. Burke Jr. Toplink ISBN 978-1-5434-
Publishing. $11.99 paper 3703-4
(238p), ISBN 978-1- Amazon
948962-01-8 A collection of stories from the trails and
Amazon, BN.com the roads, which gives a slice of life from
What if the Cold War a runner’s point of view.
suddenly ran red-
hot? Burke’s debut novel unfurls the Mystery/Thriller
grim historical possibilities of a world And the Walls Came Tumbling Down
lost in war. William S. Moody.
AuthorHouse. $10.99
Poetry paper (62p), ISBN 978-1-
Beyond the Wire 5462-0731-3; $3.99
Gary Galsworth. Close e-book, ISBN 978-1-
Hand Press. $14 paper 5462-0730-6
(153p), ISBN 978-0- Amazon
9798063-4-6 This novel examines
Amazon, BN.com the possibility of sophisticated Western
This collection fol- European countries being legally over-
lows an explorer who thrown by Islamic groups using the ballot
candidly delves into the nuances of box as the vehicle to achieve their goal.
love and loss, beauty and pain, change
and reinvention. Coyote Alibi: A Naomi
Manymules Mystery
Glimmerglass Girl J. and D. Burges.
Holly Lyn Walrath. Naaltsoos Press. $15.95
Finishing Line Press. paper (281p), ISBN 978-
$14.99 paper (30p), 0-9998573-3-5
ISBN 978-1-63534- Ingram
545-2 Rookie Navajo parale-
Finishinglinepress.com gal Naomi Manymules navigates a
In her debut chapbook, colorful assortment of criminals, surly
Walrath explores the boundaries of teenagers, prominent locals, some
womanhood through speculative polygamists, and a mobster or two.
poetry.
I Didn’t See This Coming from My Family
Niecy M. AuthorHouse. $20.99 paper (272p),
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ISBN 978-1-5462-1530-1 In the hill town of Tanya Gray made a

Amazon, AuthorHouse, Sanover, the exquisite, promise to her father
BN.com secretive, malicious, on the day the missiles
A mystery/thriller/ thoroughly immoral were launched. She
suspense journey con- Devika Singh is mur- promised to survive
veyed through the eyes dered. SP Sharma the unthinkable.
of a razor-sharp nine- probes the sinister
year-old named Sofay web spun around a Eris Adrift
White. tangle of lies and deception. Bruce Post. CreateSpace.
$9.99 e-book, ASIN
Sig Alert The Tribal Case B07DBT551W
David Scott. AuthorHouse. Theresa M. Janson. Red Amazon
$20.99 paper (322p), Garnet Press. $14.95 Civilization collapses
ISBN 978-1-5462- paper (188p), ISBN 978- and chaos erupts after
3047-2 0-692-06461-0 the cruise ship Eris sails
Davidscottsigalert.com, Amazon, BN.com out of Jamaica. Capt. Willa Freundlich has
Amazon, AuthorHouse FBI Special Agent the strength and confidence to keep the
Darcy Garcia and Peter Samantha Wright ship safe, but Dave Sturgis knows the
Dale are solving the biggest crime of inherits the serial killer case of her life odds are bad.
their careers. The future of Los Angeles when her mentor at the bureau dies.
hangs in the balance. The case sends her to the Cheyenne Heart of the Dragon: The Oracle
reservation in the wilds of Montana. Peter Man. iUniverse. $20.99 paper (358p),
Tetterbaum’s Truth (Book 1, Just Call ISBN 978-1-5320-4855-5; $3.99 e-book,
Me Angel Series) SF/Fantasy/Horror ISBN 978-1-5320-4856-2
S.R. Claridge. Global The Aesir: Midgaard Amazon, BN.com,
Publishing Group. $14.99 Cycle, Vol. 2 Chapters, iUniverse
paper (300p), ISBN 978- Tim Slee. T.J. Slee. $12.99 Victoria, a Canadian
0-9898467-0-7 paper (634p), 978-1- teenager, goes on a
Amazon, BN.com, 983047-95-4 perilous odyssey to
Smashwords Amazon China, where she dis-
Angel’s life hangs in a Norse mythology and covers that her family
twisted balance of deception and crime noir join in this was from a mythical
revenge, and her only hope for staying sequel to Publishers Weekly’s BookLife paradise planet. She must save her
alive is to expose the truth. Prize–winning novel The Vanirim. parents and then save the world.

The Thanks You Get Angelvoice Short Days,

Corey B. Collins. Dorrance John Keeling. Xlibris. $19.99 paper (166p), Long Nights
Publishing. $17 paper ISBN 978-1-5434-4857-3; $3.99 e-book, Shawn Scuefield. Archway
(218p), ISBN 978-1- ISBN 978-1-5434-4858-0 Publishing. $19.99 paper
4809-4100-7 Amazon (304p), ISBN 978-1-
Dorrancebookstore.com Eric, a mortal, is con- 4808-6120-6
Hank Goodman is scripted to find angel Amazon, Archway, BN.com
drawn into a mystery by Ariel trapped in hell Six tales take readers
wealthy Benjamin Beasley and lovely and take her from the on a journey through the dark and
Sonia Santaria. Searching for Beasley’s depths of her prison unknown, where nothing is certain
long-lost brother, the three face surprises to salvation. Will he except uncertainty.
and adventure. complete his perilous
mission? The Warrior Revealed
Tied to Deceit (The World of Evendaar,
Neena H. Brar. Penguide Books. $19.99 Die to Live Again Book Four)
paper (326p), ISBN 978-1-77515-803-5; David Crane. Foremost Press. $3.99 e-book, A.R. Winterstaar. Evendaar
$7.99 e-book, ISBN 978-1-77515-802-8 ASIN B00FZW20AQ Publishing. $5.97 e-book,
Amazon, BN.com, Google Play, IndieBound Foremostpress.com, Amazon, BN.com ASIN B07DFDTGRS

B O O K L I F E .C O M 57
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Amazon Google Play, Kobo Etiquette... Manners...
The fourth book in the World of The guide aims to Uncensored Unfiltered
Evendaar series, a tale filled with adven- offer a clear definition & Raw!
ture, romance, and unlikely heroes. of what happiness is, Claudio Capra II.
lay out the recipe to Uncensored Publishing.
Romance/Erotica achieve it, and $2.99 e-book, ISBN 978-
Mary Poser describe how to find 1-73250-210-9
Angel A. Angel’s Leap Pty. one’s own unique path. Amazon
$16.99 paper (480p), A candid take on how people should and
ISBN 978-0-9876222- A Better Human: shouldn’t be conducting themselves,
2-8; 99¢ e-book, ISBN The Stoic Heart, delving deeper into some very relevant
978-0-9876222-0-4 Mind, and Soul life lessons that we should all be
Amazon, Apple iBooks, George J. Bradley. Bradley reminded of today.
Google Play, Ingram Publishing. $12.95 paper
There’s troubled love in Music City, U.S.A. (250p), ISBN 978-0-692- Extrapolating the Unknown:
Despite deeply entrenched obstacles, 90492-3 A Unified View on Spirituality
Mary falls for Simha Das, a visiting Bolly- Amazon, Apple iBooks M.V.K. Mohan.
wood director. This book looks at what the Stoic philos- PartridgeSingapore.
ophers said and did, and how it impacted $13.77 paper (144p),
The Unexpected Wife their lives by increasing their tranquility, ISBN 978-1-5437-4141-
Caroline Warfield. Soul Mate Publishing. joy, and success, and it shows how the 4; $3.99 e-book, ISBN
$3.99 e-book, Stoic lifestyle can be beneficial. 978-1-5437-4142-1
ASIN B07FGGC918 Amazon
Amazon, BN.com Blessings and This philosophical and
Canton, 1838: the Betrayals: A True Story spiritual commentary explores the law of
Duke of Murnane of One Woman’s Fight correspondence and how it, along with
expects work to heal for Freedom and Love Hindu spirituality, can answer life’s most
him; he doesn’t expect R.J. Blum. Bookstand profound questions about the universe,
to confront his wreck of Publishing. $14.95 paper God, and humanity.
a marriage or find the love of his life. (208p), ISBN 978-1-
63498-634-2 A History of the People and Events at
Nonfiction Amazon, BN.com One of the Residential Hotels that
10 Most Common The true story of one 90-year-old wom- Proliferate the Cities of America
Mistakes Dog Owners Make: an’s fight with her son for her freedom Frank M. Lick. Dorrance
And How to Resolve Them! and to be with those she loved. Publishing. $30 paper
Tammie Rogers. (630p), ISBN 978-1-
CreateSpace. $12.99 Enerjettics: Your New Energy 4809-4564-7
paper (156p), ISBN 978- Jeremy Gorman. Toplink Publishing. $7.99 Dorrancebookstore.com
1-5484-8279-4 paper (92p), ISBN 978-1-948962-09-4 True stories from the
Amazon Amazon, BN.com author’s residential
Relying on 30 years of This is a guide to hotel, which hosts a
experience, Rogers enjoying saving mix of people with different talents and
offers an honest, com- money while saving disorders, leading to many adventures.
passionate, and dependable approach the Earth. The world’s
to solving 10 of the most common prob- outrageous demand The Hormone Shift: Using Natural
lems that plague dog owners. for energy is destroy- Hormone Balancing
ing the atmosphere for Your Mood,
Are You Happy? and poisoning the Weight, Sleep &
A Guidebook on How to Earn Happiness oceans, so we must change our energy Female Health
Lea Colleens, illus. by Calvin Tony. Harlen sources from fossil fuels to clean Dawn M. Cutillo. Book-Art
Books Pty. $9.99 e-book, ISBN 978-0-648- energy. Press Solutions. $14.99
22951-3 paper (272p), ISBN 978-
Amazon, Apple iBooks, BN.com, Booktopia, 1-948817-23-3

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Amazon (252p), ISBN 978-1- Rule Breaker:

A 30-day guide for those who wish to lose 5320-3027-7; $3.99 An Entrepreneur’s Manifesto
a stubborn 10–20 pounds, diminish hot e-book, ISBN 978-1- Shelly Weinig. CreateSpace. $12.95 paper
flashes, improve sleep, and banish mood 5320-3026-0 (224p), ISBN 978-1-71957-494-5; $3.95
swings. Amazon e-book, ISBN 978-1-
The author recalls life’s 71957-494-5
In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great, funny moments of Amazon
Part 1: The 1998 Footsteps of growing up on a farm Thousands of entre-
Alexander the Great Tour and spending time with her dad, even if preneurs from all over
Mansur Johnson. he was loading the manure spreader. the world seek advice
CreateSpace. $40 paper from Weinig, “the
(212p), ISBN 978-1- Principles to Fortune: Crafting a father of electronics
976392-63-4 Culture to Massively Grow a Business materials.” Here are his rules for rule
Amazon Scott J. Bintz. Red Headed breakers.
This book follows the Rebel. $19.95 paper
author’s journey (214p), ISBN 978-0- Secrets to Tame a Mystical Dragon:
through six Middle 9996234-0-4 Cracking the PTSD Code...
Eastern countries—Greece, Turkey, Syria, Amazon, Apple iBooks, Now You Have a Choice
Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt—in 1998, BN.com Sharron Gleason. Conscious Media
with more than 200 color illustrations. Bintz shares hardcore Publishing. $12.99 paper (176p), ISBN 978-
experience and practi- 1-941595-00-8
Journey into Health: cal actions any business can take to Amazon, BN.com
Heal Yourself with Meditation create a winning workplace culture, and Gleason argues that
and the Aid of Your Spirit Guides provides many ideas that can be used in our deepest, darkest
Katrina Blecher. Balboa everyday life. emotions hold us back
Press. $12.99 paper in life, preventing us
(156p), ISBN 978-1- Reverse Mortgage from achieving happi-
5043-8336-3; $3.99 360, a New ness. She explains
e-book, ISBN 978-1- Perspective from personal experience, study, and
5043-8337-0 Jim Hostler. CreateSpace. helping trauma survivors what works
Amazon $17.95 paper (132p), best and why many therapies today are
Blecher employs hyp- ISBN 978-1-981192- ineffective, and puts forward a method
nosis, meditation, and other holistic 46-5 to crack the PTSD code.
healing methods as a conduit to self- Amazon
healing. The book also introduces ways Hostler writes to dispel yesterday’s Slave to the Dream
readers can meet their own spirit guides. myths and misconceptions, explaining Gaylan D. Wright. Outskirts
how today’s reverse mortgages work; Press. $20.66 hardcover
Mountaintop simple and clear with real-life stories of (152p), ISBN 978-1-
Mornings their benefits. 4787-5611-8; $11.99
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Xulon Press. $34.99 The Rise and Fall of 68118-678-8
paper (792p), ISBN 978- Paradise Outskirtspress.com
1-5456-2036-6 I.K. Fleming. iUniverse. A memoir of one man’s
Amazon, BN.com $24.95 paper (372p), intense rebellion, roadblocks, and ulti-
This is a 365-day ISBN 978-1-4917- mately his inspiring growth, powered by
devotional that is pure Scripture pieced 3529-9; $3.99 e-book, the healing powers of family support
together, with every devotion ending in ISBN 978-1-4917- and divine intervention.
an amen. Included is a three-year journal. 3527-5
Amazon Two Journeys: Father and Son Wresting
Not So Politically Correct: Fleming shows ancient Paradise’s scat- Meaning and Hope Through Suffering,
A Collection of Laughs, Inspirations, tered symbolism survives to offer an Forgiveness, and Prayer
Favorite Emails, and Great Stories alternative perspective on how life might Daniel C. Nelson. Xlibris. $15.99 paper
Martha Howald. iUniverse. $20.99 paper be lived on this Earth. (166p), ISBN 978-1-4931-5261-2; $3.99

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e-book, ISBN 978-1- Wild Child to Couture Style: (58p), ISBN 978-0-692-91023-8
4931-5263-6 The Shailah Edmonds Story Amazon
Amazon Shailah Edmonds with Smelly teaches children to find an indi-
This is about the spiri- Chester L. Fultz. Lyons vidual’s inner beauty regardless of size
tual journey of two Publishing. $21.99 paper or shape. Children learn that heroes are
people who found (242p), ISBN 978-0- ordinary people that do extraordinary
purpose and meaning 9712338-4-3 things.
in their lives through Amazon
their suffering, their struggle to forgive, This book follows inter- Bank Magic:
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Edmonds’s journey from Portland, Ore., for Young People
A Vermont Idyll to the couture runways of Paris. The K. Samuel Murray. Murray
Laurence Grey. Dorrance stories are intended for people of all Wealth Group. $17.99
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At 84, a coldhearted The Adventures of Anna and young people to become financially
professor encounters Andy Hummingbird literate. It covers chores and allowances,
the great love of his Linda P. Young. Xlibris. savings, credit cards, budgeting, investing,
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with a startling revelation. 9568-6 Dead Perfect
Amazon P.G. Shriver. CreateSpace. $13.99 paper
Whistleblower: Having This story follows (230p), ISBN 978-1-4699-7054-7
Ethics Regardless of Anna and Andy’s Amazon, BN.com
the Outcome journey through a Two auto accidents
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Amazon falling for a handsome
This book details Lane’s story as the The Adventures of new guy with ghostly
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garnered national attention and was in Italy
eventually ruled in his favor by the U.S. Eddie R. Johnson Jr. Excuse Me Ma’am, Excuse Me Sir:
Supreme Court. Book Venture I’m Amina, an All-American Girl
Publishing. $11.99 Shayma Mustafa, illus.
Why Being Happy Matters: Discover How paper (38p), ISBN by Ella Newman.
the Power of Joy Will Energize Your Life 978-1-64348-038-1 CreateSpace. $17.85
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BN.com, Chapters the wrong destination? It turns out to be Join Amina on her
Profiles of 37 people from the U.S., a great adventure. adventure through
Canada, Europe, different states highlighting America’s
Asia, and Australia The Adventures of beauty. Every state is one of a kind, as
who share how hap- Smelly the Garbage is Amina, the all-American, proud
piness improves Truck: From “PU” to Muslim girl.
their outlook, adds “Woo-hoo!”
value to their days, Tamara M. Lucas, illus. The Flying Rock
and enhances their by Toby Mikle. Tamara Robert Rush, illus. by Ruth Whiting. Prior Manor
peace of mind. M. Lucas. $12.99 paper Press. $19.95 hardcover (38p), ISBN 978-0-

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9990665-3-9 children about bullying in a creative way.

Amazon, BN.com,
IndieBound, Ingram The Moon and NUMBERS_HALF_V.qxp_Layout 1 2/16/18 4:23 PM Page 1

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able lesson after Dakota Rising
accidentally injuring
another child.
R. Calhoun Sargent and
Thelonius Fix. No
2017
2017
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B O O K L I F E .C O M 61
 ® REVIEWS
Fiction
Awakenings
Clint Geller. SciroFant, $3.99 e-book (322p)
ISBN 978-1-77342-008-0
Geller’s cluttered debut, first in the
Gennebar Rising epic fantasy series, moves
awkwardly from labored beginning to
action-packed second half, but that action
demonstrates the series’ promise in spite of
derivative elements. In Drenarian-occupied
Gennebar—a clear parallel to ancient
Roman-occupied Israel—tensions between
various opposing factions are reaching
breaking points. Sixteen-year-old Arol, a
menial assistant at the Sacred Temple of
Gennebar, develops unexpected and sur-
prising powers that will change the course
of his life. Arol’s best friend, Zorn, is at
loose ends until he meets a beautiful and
mysterious fortune-teller. Meanwhile,
militaristic rebel leader Zemakiel and
peaceful spiritual shepherd Lemuel present
competing visions for Gennebri resistance.
Numerous characters are archetypes with
murky motivations, and in spite of an
intriguing, long-hidden system of magic,
the construction of the world’s other ele-
ments is occasionally clumsy, especially
when it relies too heavily on historical
analogies. Readers interested in stories of
uprisings against occupying regimes will
appreciate Geller’s work, especially the
intricately plotted battle scenes.
The Bone Curse
Carrie Rubin. Science Thrillers Media, $13.99
trade paper (296p) ISBN 978-1-940419-98-5
In the arresting opening of this horror-
tinged mystery from Rubin (The Seneca
Scourge), American medical student Ben
Oris visits the Paris Catacombs with his
best friend Laurette, a med student from
Haiti. After Ben is cut by a bone in the cata-
combs, bad luck follows him back home to
Philadelphia. People in Ben’s life, including
an ex-girlfriend and his estranged mother,
develop a violent and possibly fatal illness.
Laurette, whose family is practiced in the
traditions of Haitian Vodou, warns Ben that
she suspects the bone contained a centuries-
old curse. Practical, logical Ben resists the
idea that a powerful supernatural force is
behind the illnesses. Realistic details of
61a B O O K L I F E , J U LY 3 0 , 2 0 1 8
Ben’s hospital clerkship as he and other med
students diagnose patients help ground the
story’s paranormal elements. Laurette’s
belief in unknown forces at work in the
world serves as a foil to Ben’s pragmatic
skepticism, though her character is less
developed than his and not much is made
of the Vodou angle. The novel’s strength lies
in the author’s sensitive commentary on
adult responsibilities and mental illness.
The Chalky Sea
Clare Flynn. Cranbrook Press, $15.99 trade
paper (342p) ISBN 978-0-9933324-3-2
Flynn’s memorable historical novel takes
readers back to early World War II, from
the farmlands of Canada to a seaside town
in England, as two damaged souls are
changed forever by a chance meeting.
Canadian farmer Jim Armstrong joins the
army after his fiancée jilts him for his
brother, Walt. In the English town of
Eastbourne, Gwen Collingwood’s privi-
leged life changes when her husband,
Roger, goes off to war and her housekeeper
leaves. Gwen, a member of the Women’s
Royal Voluntary Service who translates
German radio communications, also takes
in boarders and discovers that her uptight
notions of propriety have no place in war-
time. Gwen’s purpose-filled life translating
the communications is disrupted when
she loses her position to Jim, who is also
billeted at her home. She and Jim become
closer even as they know their wartime
romance is fleeting, and they both discover
a love that helps heal wounds of the past.
Flynn’s novel is a vivid page-turner that
depicts the destruction of war, but it is most
notable for its portrayal of the effects it has
on individual lives.
Clansman: Invoking the Darkness
Royce Scott Buckingham. Gere Donovan,
$9.99 trade paper (256p) ISBN 978-1-5423-
0479-5
In this brisk first Mapper epic fantasy,
Buckingham (Impasse) introduces Ian
Krystal, a shrewd and calculating leader of
a band of Hilltopper clansmen. Ian has been
summoned to Abrogan by the new king,
Blackpool, to build roads and tame the
inhabitants. What he finds are villagers
who worship cats, a bog filled with can-
nibals, and a royal court led by a drunken
teen, Lord Bryce. After brokering peace
with the cannibals, Ian, his brothers, and
a secretive scribe join Lord Hodge, aggres-
sive commander of the Green army, to clear
the bog of monsters. When the fight goes
poorly, it is left to Ian to clean up the mess
and secure the safety of the road. His actions
soon put him on the wrong side of the
lords—and of Blackpool. Fans of action-
driven fantasy epics will enjoy this story as
long as they don’t require too much in the
way of character development.
The Covert Captain
Jeannelle M. Ferreira. Beehive, $2.99 e-book
(240p) ASIN B07BHCP27L
Ferreira’s smart, sexy Regency romance
features a bravura cross-dressing heroine.
Capt. Nora “Nathaniel” Flemming, who
took her brother’s identity to become a sol-
dier in the Napoleonic Wars, meets and falls
in love with her commanding officer’s sister,
Harriet Sherbourne. Harriet is determined
to remain unmarried after each of her three
sisters died in childbirth. The two fall in
love despite class differences between them
that create tension within Harriet’s family.
Harriet is an elegant lady; Flemming breaks
horses for her brother as a peacetime profes-
sion. When Harriet learns Flemming’s
secret, she’s initially distressed, but soon she
learns to love Nora just as she had Nathaniel.
Their forbidden love story is set against an
exceedingly detailed historical Britain that
will delight history buffs but overwhelm a
casual reader. Frequent perspective jumps
muddle the chain of events, but there’s
much to enjoy nonetheless.
The Crimson Heirlooms
Hunter Dennis. A-R-B Books, $16.99 trade
paper (470p) ISBN 978-0-9994936-0-1
Dennis’s debut is an ambitious, sweeping
epic of French history between 1776 and
1832 that follows two men decades apart
who are loosely connected through two
elusive, fabled heirlooms—a priceless
necklace called the Cross of Nantes and
lyrics to the devil’s song, said to contain a
secret. Set mainly in France and Saint-
Domingue (now Haiti), the story begins
with Xavier Traversier, French heir to a
failing dynasty in Nantes, who goes into
shipping and the African slave trade to
restore his family’s fortune. The Guerrier
REVIEWS
family of Saint-Domingue were in posses-
sion of the Cross of Nantes; years later, a
fateful meeting between Estelle Guerrier
and Xavier forged a connection between the
families and the missing necklace. Decades
later, Jake Loring is an American studying
in Paris who leads a foiled rebellion against
the king and is arrested. A stranger frees
him on the condition that he find both
artifacts, called the Crimson Heirlooms, a
journey that takes him around France and
to Ireland, culminating in Jake’s discovery
of a shocking secret that connects the two
heirlooms, and a newfound suspicion that
his involvement is not a coincidence. In this
remarkable, webby tale, Dennis uses the
heirlooms as the link to weave Xavier, Jake,
and many other story lines into the politics,
religion, social issues, culture, and ideas
of the time. Meticulous research, sharp
historical detail, and a deepening mystery
results in an exciting story. A cliffhanger
ending ensures a sequel.
Discovery
Leslie Schweitzer Miller. Ranjilor, $14.99
trade paper (278p) ISBN 978-0-9677480-8-5
Miller’s debut, a multi-generational tale
centered on the contested history of Jesus
and Mary Magdalene, has an intriguing
premise hampered by clumsy execution.
In 1885, Abbé François Bérenger Saunière
is assigned to Rennes-le-Château and dis-
covers that his church is a shelter for secrets
that challenge the foundations of the
Roman Catholic faith. This knowledge puts
him and his comrades in mortal danger. In
2012, biblical scholar Dr. Giselle Gélis, a
descendant of one of Saunière’s confidants,
finds her quiet world upended when she
meets and falls in love with archeologist Dr.
David Rettig. While on a romantic sojourn,
the two discover the final resting place of
Saunière’s treasure: a marriage contract
between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Their
love and Giselle’s faith are threatened as
they struggle to cope with the implications
of their find and the endless media hype
surrounding an upcoming biopic of Mary
Magdalene. The scenic details and paired
plotlines are appealing, but stilted, artifi-
cial dialogue and a lack of character devel-
opment keep this novel feeling
superficial.
Driving Whiskey Wild:
The Whiskeys, Book 3
Melissa Foster. World Literary, $4.99 e-book
(312p) ASIN B076X4T6QN
Foster’s savory third Whiskeys contem-
porary (after Truly, Madly, Whiskey) will
delight fans of alpha male heroes and
feminine heroines. Bullet Whiskey, an ex–
Special Forces biker, and Finlay Wilson, a
chef starting a catering business, seem
entirely unlike—she’s sweet and he’s
scary—but they have more in common than
they think. Soon they’re finding their ways
into each other’s hearts. Although the focus
is on the budding romance between the
two, the novel also takes time to raise con-
cerns about the toll that war takes on sol-
diers as well as their loved ones. Foster
writes believable protagonists and shows
that these complete opposites make sense
together. Her secondary characters are also
well-developed, and readers quickly
become invested in their lives. Tension and
release in all the right places will keep
readers eager for the next book in the series.
Fast Bang Booze
Lawrence Maddox. Shotgun Honey, $9.95
trade paper (152p) ISBN 978-1-946502-54-4
Frank, the unimposing 24-year-old nar-
rator of Maddox’s fast-paced novella set in
1990s L.A., has a “nervous system that’s
souped-up like an engine with sixteen
valves per cylinder and turbocharged to
boot.” It makes the world appear to be in
slow motion. This impediment, as he calls
it, comes in handy when he’s attacked in a
bar. An extraordinarily fast and brutal
fighter, he easily dispatches his oversized
assailant, who’s left crying on the floor. A
Russian drug dealer named Popov, impressed
by Frank’s lightning-quick takedown,
offers him a job. Broke and unemployed,
Frank readily accepts. The position gives
Frank plenty of chances to make use of his
unique skills as he tries to help his new boss
recover the more than $1 million ripped off
in a drug deal gone bad. Despite Frank’s
lack of endearing qualities (he’s introduced
sitting in a pool of his own “whiz, puke, and
blood”), Maddox manages to keep readers
interested in how his story plays out, up
until the enigmatic and tantalizing con-
clusion. Fans of offbeat noir will have fun.
®
Go with Your Heart
Savannah J. Frierson. SJF Books, $0.99 e-book
(116p) ASIN B01F0IATFC
This sweet but shallow historical novella
pairs up Shiloh, an enslaved black woman,
and Nashoba, a Choctaw man reluctantly
fighting in the Confederate Army, as the
Civil War careens to an end. The two bond
as they defy their mutual enemy, the
Confederacy, and hope to build a new life
that doesn’t revolve around America’s
“peculiar institution.” Although Shiloh
must part ways with Nashoba when she
escapes bondage, they eventually reunite
after the war. Frierson develops accurate
cultural portrayals, avoiding clichés and
stereotypes. The story is told in a nonlinear
format, which is perfect for this couple’s
erratic journey. Unfortunately, too little
time is spent on the characters’ conflicts
both inside and outside of the relationship,
and the story moves too quickly for the
reader to savor each special moment. This
is a tender, quick romance that’s perfect
travel reading, but romance fans who desire
something a bit deeper or hotter will be
disappointed.
★ Gone Viral
J.A. Knight. Carbon Life, $14.95 trade paper
(318p) ISBN 978-0-9987759-0-6
Fans of intelligent thrillers about poten-
tial technological threats will relish
Knight’s promising debut. After Lenny
Driver crashes and burns in his effort to land
a job with Blahst, the Massachusetts-based
“coolest web company in the world,” his
roommate finds him a position with
Healthway Research International, a
small nonprofit group that focuses on AIDS
prevention in third world countries. After
Lenny uses up much of the organization’s
funding in an unauthorized experiment
targeting Burundi, he deploys a viral algo-
rithm that creates personalized appeals for
money across a range of social media sites
to repair the damage he caused. His scheme
quickly raises enough money for Healthway
to cover what he spent—and much more,
which is sent directly to Burundi. But that
influx of cash leads the Burundi government
to back out of a deal with a crooked U.S.
senator, who asks a shadowy intelligence
agent to find out what triggered the wind-
fall. Knight maintains suspense throughout
B O O K L I F E .C O M 61b
 ® REVIEWS
while making her projections about viral
social media both plausible and compre-
hensible to the lay reader.
Heart of Dust:
Death’s Embrace, Book 1
H.L. Moore. H.L. Moore, $3.99 e-book (213p)
ISBN 978-0-648-27129-1
Moore’s entertaining futuristic romance
tackles messy family dynamics and civil
disobedience in a dystopian, semi-subter-
ranean world. Bryson, the tyrannical archon,
ignores concerns about the country’s highly
lucrative but brutally unsafe coal mines and
the miners’ extreme privation, so hot-
headed and charismatic former foreman
Doran Ó Seanáin and his Black Lung Gang
orchestrate a massive strike. After an
attempt to incite rebellion, a wounded
Doran stumbles into the apothecary of
t a c i t u r n but generous Nathaniel
Morgenstern. Doran ducks the huge bounty
on his head to visit his estranged adult
daughter Grace, who’s living with the
wealthy family her mother abandoned to
marry Doran. He discovers she is engaged
to the archon, a personal affront to Doran,
who crafts a risky ultimatum for miners’
rights. Tensions among the gang leadership
mount, and Doran’s increasing feelings for
Nathaniel and frustrations with Grace
cloud his judgments until the explosive
conclusion. Moore’s worldbuilding could
be slightly more fluid as she packs in Celtic
mythology, a crypto-Jewish minority (to
which Nathaniel belongs), and a compli-
cated political situation, but her characters’
entangled relationships and Doran’s angst-
free bisexuality keep everything feeling
fresh. Shocking revelations and unfinished
reforms pave the way for future books in this
series that should appeal to fans of slow-
burning desire and fights against
oppression.
Hexen’s Cross
J. Kowallis. Gatekeeper, $16.99 trade paper
(396p) ISBN 978-1-64237-042-3
Kowallis’s first Hexen’s Cross novel is a
cleverly articulated portrait of a modern
witch. Driven by her Hexen lineage and her
father’s murder, Dr. Taran Grim has dedi-
cated her professional life to the study of
European occult practices. Taran’s use of her
own magic is perfunctory at best, but when
61c B O O K L I F E , J U LY 3 0 , 2 0 1 8
a stranger presents her with a rune that
bears an etching of two scarred hands, she
recognizes the circular marking carved
into her own palm. The rune spurs Taran’s
discovery of an ancient prophecy, which in
turn forces her into the company of Collens
Donovan, the owner of the corresponding
scar depicted on the rune. Together, they
are tasked with finding and protecting the
Craniarann, or staff, of Woden—Taran’s
ancestor—in order to prevent the end of
the Hexen race. Coll’s own family history,
however, makes him a less than willing
participant, much to Taran’s chagrin.
Kowallis’s blend of mythologies is immer-
sive and impressive, and the volatile
chemistry between the two protagonists
propels this dynamic narrative forward into
the series’ next volume.
★ Infinite Us
Eden Butler. Eden Butler, $2.99 e-book (296p)
ASIN B06XKMKZ2J
Butler (Fall) beautifully weaves three
interracial romances into a single satisfying
work. Brooklyn programmer Nash Nation
is focused on getting his company started
to the detriment of everything else, including
sleep. When his attractive neighbor Willow
helps him finally get some rest, he dreams
of Prohibition-era New Orleans, seeing
through the eyes of black delivery girl
Sookie as she falls in love with her rich white
neighbor, Dempsey. Willow, meanwhile,
dreams of 1967 Washington, D.C., where
university tutor Riley is falling for her
student Isaac despite her abusive ex-boy-
friend and the tensions of the civil rights
movement. As Nash and Willow’s relation-
ship becomes more passionate, they realize
that the dreams they share are actually
memories, pointing their way to a happy
ending. Butler’s lush descriptions evoke the
love and terror the past couples feel as they
face violence that threatens their relation-
ships and lives. The complex structure
crystallizes into an impressive resolution
that ties up loose threads hidden in the very
first pages. This splendid story is destined for
many a keeper shelf.
The Last Homecoming
Dan Chabot. Yellow Wahee Publishers, $16.95
trade paper (404p) ISBN 978-1-5480-2601-1
A generation-spanning homecoming is
at the heart of this captivating novel from
Chabot (Godspeed: A Love Story). More than
just a venerable landmark in Haviland,
Mich., the grand old house at 401 Barnhill
Road has been the cherished home of four
families over the course of the last 90 years.
With the house set to be demolished soon
to make way for a new highway and bridge,
the home’s current owner, Nettie Tannehill,
sends out invitations to the surviving
members of the other three families for a
final Christmas Eve homecoming. On
Christmas Eve, newspaper owner Willow
Summerhaven, former baseball player Nick
MacAlinden, and 90-year-old Sister
Theresa Renwick—all troubled by pressing
financial woes—reunite one last time in the
house that had once provided them with
shelter and security, little realizing that the
answer to their problems lies within the
house’s walls and under its floorboards.
Although Chabot lovingly depicts a
Rockwell-esque image of small town
Americana, his memorable characters are
shaped by less rosy issues like alcoholism
and suicide. Though the pacing is a little
slow, the detailed prose and dynamics
between the characters makes this a worthy,
inspiring novel.
Loathly
Erica Forrest. Erica Forrest, $1.35 e-book
(319p) ASIN B07D1CZKSY
Forrest builds on “Beauty and the Beast”
in her slightly overwrought fairy tale of a
feminist curse, political machinations, and
courtly drama. Lady Maud of Stonerow has
been locked away in a magical castle for
19 years due to a curse that turns each
generation’s firstborn child into a beast.
Favior Elwyk, a half-fae knight, arrives and
binds her to help his prince’s insurgency. He
is dismayed when his actions break the curse
and saddle him with a young woman
instead of the fearsome beast he’d hoped to
employ. Maud convinces him to marry her
and become Baron of Stonerow so he can
provide a loyal estate inside the kingdom.
Soon after the marriage, Favior rides into
battle and leaves Maud at a fort with a
gaggle of snippy knights’ wives and
Salvador, a mage and priest who helps her
research a way to end the curse forever. Once
triumphant, Favior returns with Maud to
Stonerow, where they awkwardly step into
REVIEWS
their noble duties only to face suspicion,
gossip, and insubordination from the ten-
ants. Favior’s mercurial inclinations to
alternatively spurn and ravish Maud
become somewhat tedious, but Forrest
excels at highlighting resentment and
defiance in the other relationships. This
occasionally dawdling story will attract
those who want to explore the complicated
emotional, domestic, and political terrain
between the kiss and happily ever after.
Love over Lattes
Diana A. Hicks. Wild Rose, $5.99 e-book
(322p) ISBN 978-1-5092-1945-2
Hicks’s sizzling first Desert Monsoon
contemporary romance is a touch predict-
able but wholly entertaining. Valentina de
Cordoba has an emotional meltdown in a
café when she finds out that her rental
application has been rejected, jeopardizing
her future with her young son, Max.
Hunky Derek Cole, who’s been eaves-
dropping on Valentina’s conversation,
impulsively offers to rent her the cottage
on his estate. With no other options,
Valentina reluctantly takes Derek up on
his offer but wants to keep things strictly
professional—something he has a hard
time doing, though he and his wife are in
the midst of a rough divorce. The acerbic
wit of Derek’s housekeeper and the pre-
cociousness of Valentina’s son boost an
otherwise stock plot with humor and
heart, and Valentina and Derek’s great
chemistry gives this story its sizzle. Each
stolen glance is taut with sexual tension
that continues to build until an utterly
satisfying release. This irresistible romance
is sure to satisfy.
The Mother Keeper
Paula Scott. West Butte, $12.99 trade paper
(358p) ISBN 978-0-692-88531-4
In a departure from her historical
romances, Scott (California Rising series)
delves into contemporary dangers with this
inspirational novel about the power of
secrets. In Colorado Springs, Colo., Jenny
and Ken McBride believe that they are
happy, strong Christians. But after their
unborn child is killed in a car accident, the
deep emotional and physical scars left on
Jenny and Ken slowly bring their relation-
ship to the brink of collapse. In Sutterville,
Tenn., 17-year-old Ellie Ryan discovers
she’s pregnant. Although she is happy about
the news, she also fears her dreams of
singing in Nashville will need to be put on
hold. When the Klein family, who are active
members of their church’s crisis pregnancy
center, decides to take her in, she must
adjust to the wealth and the strong faith of
the new people around her. As Ellie becomes
closer to the Kleins, she begins to believe
some of them are hiding secrets, but decides
to keep quiet. Then Jenny meets Ellie on a
trip to Tennessee, and both women begin
to again believe that their dreams are worth
fighting for; Jenny starts to emerge from
her depression, and Ellie continues her pur-
suit of a singing career. But after hidden
addictions and affairs are finally revealed,
characters must struggle with their own
values in search of redemption. In this pow-
erful story, Scott elegantly considers the
difference between faith and trust.
The Organ Growers:
A Novel of Surgical Suspense
Richard Van Anderson. White Light, $11.99
trade paper (264p) ISBN 978-0-9907597-4-4
Van Anderson hits the ground running
in the breathless middle volume of his
medical thriller trilogy featuring Dr. David
McBride (after 2014’s The Organ Takers).
McBride and his mentor, Dr. Andrew
Turnbull, were dismissed from NYU
Medical Center’s Department of Surgery
two years earlier after allegations that they
accepted bribes to move patients up on a
transplant wait list. In the prior book,
Turnbull abducted and killed McBride’s
wife and unborn child, and this sequel
opens with McBride’s revenge: he injects
Turnbull with a chemical that causes his
former friend to suffocate. McBride man-
ages to escape from the NYPD with the
help of a shadowy NSA agent, Richard
Whitestone, who offers McBride a deal: if
the doctor uses Turnbull’s research to grow
a kidney for Whitestone’s dying daughter,
the operative will help keep McBride’s one
surviving family member, his father, from
being permanently sedated in a psychiatric
ward. Robin Cook fans will appreciate Van
Anderson’s skill at combining action with
plausible extrapolations of what is currently
medically possible.
®
Peculiar Savage Beauty
Jessica McCann. Perspective Books, $24
(422p) ISBN 978-0-9994602-0-7
The heart of McCann’s gripping, atmo-
spheric novel, set in 1934 during the Dust
Bowl, is an intrepid government geologist,
Rosa Jean “RJ” Evans, who returns to her
drought-stricken hometown to help farmers
stop soil erosion and restore the land. The
environmental devastation and human
suffering are shocking to RJ, yet many of
the residents of Vanham, Kans., do not
welcome the interference of a government
scientist, or a woman at that. RJ sets up soil
experiments, gradually persuading some
farmers to adopt her methods, while
easing into friendships with brilliant,
misunderstood Woody, who becomes her
assistant, and Ethel, the owner of the local
diner. RJ also falls in love with Harvey Clay,
who wants to marry RJ and move to Wichita
for a new life, yet he forces her to choose
between marriage and her career. The dust
storms depicted are graphic and terrible,
none more so than the “black blizzard,”
based on 1935’s Black Sunday. McCann is
especially good at using the ever-present
dust—gritty, dirty, seeping into homes,
and infecting characters with “dust pneu-
monia”—to depict its devastation on
humans, livestock, crops, and homes.
McCann’s Dust Bowl saga meshes a seminal
event in American history with a suspenseful
plot and insightfully etched characters.
★ Shadowed by Death:
An Oliver Wright WW2 Mystery
Mary Adler. Dancing Dog, $14.95 trade paper
(296p) ISBN 978-1-7320097-0-7
Set in 1944 San Francisco, Adler’s supe-
rior second whodunit featuring homicide
detective Oliver Wright (after 2014’s In the
Shadow of Lies) finds Wright, who has
returned to the U.S. from combat in the
Pacific with only one good leg, serving as a
JAG lieutenant. He has mixed feelings
about his first homicide case: “regret for the
victim and her family, and an unseemly
exhilaration at being able to do the job I
loved—a job that required someone to die
violently, unwillingly.” This time, a woman
resembling Greta Garbo, whose battered
body was found in the Presidio by a pass-
erby, clings to life, having suffered two
severe head wounds. The only clue to her
B O O K L I F E .C O M 61d
 ® REVIEWS
identity is a flyer advertising a fund-raising
talk the previous day about the Hidden
Children of Europe, which was given by
Sophia Nirenska and Marek Landau, Polish
Jewish resistance fighters. Before Wright
can locate Nirenska and Landau, they, too,
are attacked, leading him to suspect a link
between the crimes. Fans of Sheldon
Russell’s Hook Runyon series will find this
a more than acceptable substitute.
★ Shy Grove: A Ghost Story
Scott A. Johnson. CLB Publications, $19.99
trade paper (279p) ISBN 978-0-692-98259-4
This creative, twisted, and relentlessly
unsettling creepy house story draws
deeply on the natural tensions of a stressful
marriage and of parenting a teen while
pulling its characters into profoundly
strange territory. Gary is excited to move
with his wife, Angela, and 14-year old son,
Zach, into the old house he’s inherited from
his reclusive Aunt Ester in a remote, dying
town hours from their home in San Antonio,
Tex. But the locals tell stories of an evil
church that once stood on the property, and
thumps from under the floorboards, dis-
embodied voices, and disturbing erotic
dreams make the house feel anything but
welcoming. Zach focuses on repairing the
classic truck in the barn and on his first
romance, but the increasingly strange
behavior of his parents becomes impossible
to ignore. Johnson (Droplets) skillfully
brings readers into Gary and Angela’s inner
thoughts so that their flips between belief
and disbelief, and the ways in which each
reacts to the atypical behavior of the other
while experiencing the incongruity of
increasing compulsions, become terrify-
ingly relatable. This is an impressive new
take on classic horror themes.
Thinks Out Loud: A Blog at First
Martin Perlman. Marrow Books, $14.95 trade
paper (366p) ISBN 978-0-9975039-0-6
Perlman’s somewhat promising debut
mixes the blogosphere with the story of a
man lost in the South Seas. Isaac, the
blogger of “Thinks Out Loud,” decides to
take a sabbatical and leaves his blog in the
hands of frequent commenter “tallboy.”
Isaac then reappears on the blog, claiming
to be posting from the small South Pacific
island of Tiaré via inter-island drumming
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and transmitting his posts back through
time in Morse code. In Seattle, tallboy
begins a job at AltaSystemics, a mysterious
startup that claims to store data in another
dimension via psychic power, and he rapidly
succumbs to the odd corporate culture.
tallboy’s college student brother, Eddie,
begins to both carry the blog and recruit
allies to save his brother and others drugged
by AltaSystemics’s CEO. Important among
those allies are Isaac and his newfound
Tiaran acquaintances, who travel from the
South Pacific to Seattle to take part in the
confrontation with AltaSystemics.
Perlman’s metafictional approach leaves
both his in-book blog readers and actual
readers guessing what is and is not real.
The dialogue is sometimes stilted, and the
depiction of the Tiarans borders on a cari-
cature of Polynesians. Still, fans of stories
set in the tech world, residents of the Seattle
area, and readers who enjoy offbeat and
original stories will be entertained.
The Vale: Behind the Vale
Brian D. Anderson. Longfire, $3.99 e-book
(412p) ASIN B079J3YVYS
In this formulaic but well-executed
dystopian fantasy, which opens the Vale
series, Drake Sharazi, a disgraced royal
guard turned bounty hunter, is tasked with
rescuing the crown prince from a rebel
group and becomes entangled in a vast
political conspiracy. Nine years earlier,
Drake was falsely accused of murder and
exiled from Troi, the capital of Vale and
the only city flourishing in a time of
famine. He is called back into the fold when
Prince Salazar, his former friend, is abducted
by the radical group Exodus. Drake is
joined by a revolving rogues’ gallery—
Bane, a volatile mage; Linx, an adolescent
grifter; and Princess Lenora, with whom he
had a forbidden affair and for whom he still
pines—as what begins as a simple rescue
mission brings to light past betrayals and
ongoing schemes that endanger everyone in
Vale. Drake himself is a sympathetic badass,
but the minor characters, especially the
women, fall into cliché. The twists and
turns of Anderson’s plot are familiar but
capably written; less demanding fantasy
fans will find this a perfectly acceptable
work.
Nonfiction
Becoming Jesus:
The Making of a Prophet
Michael Berens. MJBerensResearch, $9.95
trade paper (228p) ISBN 978-1-73204-050-2
Berens, a freelance writer, discusses the
historical background and personal devel-
opment of Jesus Christ in this enjoyable
speculative biography. Beginning with the
premise that Jesus would have had similar
experiences to those of his contemporaries,
Berens marshals archaeological evidence as
well as historical and biblical scholarship to
explore what Jesus’s everyday life was like
as well as which events and influences may
have led him to make his choices. Taking a
strictly historical approach, Berens situates
Jesus as a Galilean man among other
Galilean men, experiencing the events of
his lifetime—the hardships of life under
Roman rule, the recent history of religious
violence—just as his contemporaries (par-
ticularly John the Baptist) did. Berens’s
approach is matter-of-fact and sticks close
to the arc of Jesus’s life as known through
the Bible, continually bringing the reader
back to the everyday realities of first-century
Palestine and the notion that the rationales
for some decisions (particularly spiritual
ones) are only known to the individual
making them. Reaching no real conclusions,
Berens’s rehashing of scholarship will
appeal to those looking for a primer on
Jesus’s life.
Hacked Minds:
A Loss of Personal Freedom
Jorge Rudko. J.R, $11.99 trade paper (144p)
ISBN 978-0-9984196-4-0
“We are exchanging our minds for the
promise of endless convenience and
unmatched accessibility,” argues Rudko in
this short, startling treatise on the ill
effects of society’s overreliance on digital
technology. Rudko warns that digital tech-
nology is inhibiting creativity, encroaching
upon privacy and freedom, and tearing
families apart by eroding time together (he
describes the average family dinner as a
bunch people at table preoccupied by their
devices). He urges readers to reflect criti-
cally about their own habits, designating
such common behaviors as sleeping with
REVIEWS
one’s phone next to the bed or checking it
unprompted by a notification as red flags.
His remedy is straightforward: people need
to turn off and step away from their devices
for at least part of the day. Though there’s
merit to some of his observations, his
alarming tone detracts from his cause (on
media manipulation: “The modification
of our brains comes from such deceitful
tactics, biased data coverage, and false
stereotypes”). There are some good ideas, but
many readers may find the overheated manner
in which they are delivered off-putting.
Humdinger
Michael A. Malpass. Chicken Man Media,
$49.95 trade paper (160p) ISBN 978-0-692-
95584-0
Malpass, the oldest child and namesake
of sculptor Michael Malpass (1946–1991),
immortalizes his father’s legacy in this
beautifully illustrated, reverential tribute.
The author traces his father’s artistic drive
to his childhood in Yonkers, N.Y., in the late
1940s, through his education at Pratt
Institute in New York City, to his time in the
Vietnam War. The younger Malpass describes
how his father infused his art with existential
wonders at every stage in his career. The older
Malpass was inspired by the sphere, which
he called “the most perfect form,” and his
best known sculptures are patchwork metal
globes (up to five feet in diameter), which he
welded together from metal scraps, creating
what he dubbed “humdingers,” “an out-
standing thing of its kind.” Whether finding
spiritual connection in the spheres, whimsical
joy in his “chicken men” sculptures, or authen-
ticity and psychological depth in his collages
and autobiographical drawings, the sculptor
expressed his passions for life and family
through the process of creating—which he
did until his death at 44 from a heart attack
when the author was a teenager. This beauti-
fully crafted book offers an indelible portrait
of a sensitive artist, his spirited psyche, and
his diverse body of work; it is also a son’s
loving homage.
The Last Road Rebel and Other
Lost Stories: Growing Up in a Small
Town—and Never Getting Over It
Robert Gilberg. True Directions, $20.95 trade
paper (354p) ISBN 978-1-4917-5723-9
First-time author Gilberg’s memoir of
life growing up in the 1950s in the small
town of New Bremen, Ohio, is like taking
a leisurely Sunday drive down a country
road. The impetus of his book was a reunion
in his hometown of friends he hadn’t seen
since 1958, “fifty-five years earlier.” The
Road Rebels were teens who, inspired by
James Dean and the early days of California
hot-rod car culture, decided to get “some
shirts, bumper plaques, and a club name”
to be both “cool and different from all the
other teenagers in New Bremen,” as well as
show the town that the Road Rebels “could
be organized and do something important.”
As a group they helped stranded motorists
and organized road rallies and car shows.
Gilberg’s life revolves around the group, as
well as typical teenage activities like school
and dances, but his memoir isn’t a warmed
over American Graffiti. He delivers a sympa-
thetic look at his desire to leave his small town
for the bigger world of Ohio State University
where he first hears Joan Baez’s “incredible,
crystal-clear, haunting voice” drifting down
his apartment hallway. While he ends up in
California designing microcircuits for main-
frame computer companies, his heart clearly
is back in Ohio. Gilberg’s book beautifully
evokes 1950s small-town America.
The Nanny Manual:
How to Choose and Nurture
the Perfect Childcare Partner
Alyce Desrosiers. Chirp, $12.95 trade paper
(274p) ISBN 978-0-9815773-0-2
As Desrosiers admits in the introduction
to her valuable and user-friendly guide-
book, when a friend asked her to help find
childcare in 1996, she was “clueless” about
how to do this. However, she was determined
to locate the best nanny in what she found
to be an unregulated and unlicensed
market. Afterward, she founded a childcare
agency and now provides insights from
her 20 years in the business. Desrosiers
often finds the process of finding childcare
an emotionally fraught one for parents,
identifying five “heartfelt worries” that
mothers in particular often face, namely
trust, being replaced, inadequacy, guilt,
and envy or jealousy. While observing that
parents often have a gut feeling about a
particular hire, she encourages them to use
objective facts as well, and to take enough
time (commonly four to six weeks) to find
®
the right person, along with a trial period
to ensure that the nanny is a good fit. A
useful appendix with sample contracts,
checklists, interview questions, and other
important forms rounds out the book. With
chapters specifically focused on dads and on
LGBTQ parents, this primer contains a great
deal of practical information for parents
seeking help with an often challenging
process.
The Old Testament Case for
Nonviolence
Matthew Curtis Fleischer. Epic Octavius the
Triumphant, $12.99 trade paper (254p)
ISBN 978-0-9994306-0-6
Addressing Christians who struggle
with reconciling Old Testament images of
a violent God with New Testament images
of a peaceful Jesus, Fleischer, an attorney,
argues that God engages in “incremental
ethical revelation,” gradually revealing
Christianity’s nonviolent moral standard.
Beginning with a comprehensive listing
of Old Testament accounts of God commit-
ting or ordering Israel to commit violence,
Fleischer acknowledges that humans
throughout millennia have used these sto-
ries to justify slavery, apartheid, slaughter
of indigenous peoples, and other atrocities.
Fleischer claims that Israel’s Mosaic Law,
compared to contemporaneous ancient
Near Eastern religions, offered significant
moral advancement in warfare policy,
treatment of the disadvantaged, and man-
agement of bloodlust. Arguing that God’s
“introductory moral lessons” included
teaching obedience and trust in God
rather than military might and temporarily
sanctioning limited violence while leading
people from retribution to restorative jus-
tice, Fleischer contends that God’s “end
goal” was always the revelation of the
“universally applicable moral code” of
nonviolence and enemy love preached by
Jesus. In a section entitled “Maybe God
Didn’t Do It,” Fleischer suggests that human
misinterpretation may be responsible for
the violent portrayal of God. While some
biblical scholars may quarrel with Fleischer’s
argument for chronological divine revela-
tion, Fleischer makes a strong argument for
a Christian embrace of nonviolence based
on both testaments.
B O O K L I F E .C O M 61f
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★ Successful College Teaching
Begins with Throwing Away Your
Lecture Notes
Calvin Luther Martin. K-Selected, $15.75
trade paper (154p) ISBN 978-0-9841827-3-2
Most professors are experts in their field,
but woefully inept at the most essential part
of their job—teaching—argues Martin (The
Way of the Human), a retired history pro-
fessor at Rutgers University, in this astute
and idiosyncratic guide to college teaching.
Early in his book he describes his technique
for creating a seating chart and memorizing
the names and faces of every student in a
class—“I review my name chart... at traffic
lights; while I’m shaving.” His goal in mas-
tering a lecture-hall full of names is “to
teach individuals, personalities, real
people.” Content and brilliant scholar-
ship—not to mention the instructor’s
ego—are secondary concerns to the great
teacher, he argues soundly. Over the course
of this short book, Martin meanders from
topic to topic in a way that is refreshingly
off-kilter and personal. He goes from dis-
cussing term papers, which he views as a
waste of time and energy for both students
and professor (most students at the college
level can’t write, he says, and unless you’re
leading a writing seminar, it’s not your duty
to teach them) to describing a lecture he
conducted for more than an hour in the dark
during a power outage, in which not a
single student left or said a word. His
point is that teachers need to establish a
connection with their students to keep
them truly engaged in learning. The book
serves as evidence that Martin practices
what he preaches: It feels like light reading,
yet the message is deep and thoughtful.
This Is 35
Stacey Wiedower. Gemma Halliday Publishing,
$11.99 trade paper (302p) ISBN 978-1-5410-
9668-4
On the brink of her 35th birthday, a
reality TV show coproducer and actress
reexamines her existence and goals in
Wiedower’s humorous and touching
romantic novel. Before she turned 30, Erin
Crawford completed a bucket list that
included “start a blog.” The popularity of
this blog and bucket list leads to Erin
becoming the successful co-executive
producer-turned star on YOLO, a TV show
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that follows Erin as she tries to complete all
the items on her new bucket list before she
turns 35. This list includes getting married
to and completing a marathon and dance
lessons with longtime boyfriend Ben
Bertram. But, as Erin begins to buckle
under the rigors of her life-turned-reality-
show, she begins to suspect that there is a
better way to gauge success and happiness
besides a growing fan base. The chaos
mounts and newlywed Erin travels from her
home in Texas, to Los Angeles where she
tapes her shows. Wiedower effectively
portrays Erin and Ben, and the plight of the
modern working couple who are devoted to
both their relationship and their work but
are unsuccessful in balancing the two. The
flow of the narrative is, at times, disrupted
by overworked plot points such as Erin’s
anxiety about Ben’s clingy female coworker,
and flat descriptions to fill in backstory.
However, the playful tone and insightful
observations on relationships and life’s
changing priorities are entertaining enough
to make for a light and appealing novel.
Why Don’t You Want My Stuff?
Josh Levine. BookBaby, $16.99 trade paper
(132p) ISBN 978-1-5439-2199-1
Levine, owner and founder of J. Levine
Auction & Appraisal in Scottsdale, Ariz.,
shares two decades worth of wisdom
regarding antiques and collectibles in this
breezy and informative guidebook. While
reality shows like Antiques Roadshow extoll
the virtues and sometimes extraordinary
value of decades-old furniture and
ephemera, Levine shares a harsh reality: in
many cases, nobody wants it. The current
“buying generations,” with differing
interests and lifestyles, along with shifting
tastes, has resulted in once-pricey items like
china and toy trains dropping dramatically
in value. Levine has yet to meet a Gen Xer
who collects Hummel figurines—most
don’t even know what they are, he writes—
but vintage watches and pens are hot right
now, as are Star Wars toys and Chinese
antiques. Levine argues that the key to
succeeding as a collector is patience, an eye
for quality, the ability to recognize the
cyclical nature of collectibles, and knowing
when to sell before the market cools.
Levine’s insights into antiques economics
along with his terrific needle-in-a-haystack
anecdotes about discovering treasure
among clutter will inspire readers to not
only dig through their attic, but maybe
visit some estate and tag sales.
Audiobooks
Terminal Rage
A.M. Khalifa, read by Scott Brick. Mavenhill
Audio, unabridged, digital download, 10.5
hrs., $29.99 ASIN B07D5J4H6W
The audio production of Khalifa’s
twisty thriller begins with a terrorist
takeover of a Manhattan skyscraper and
features a spirited reading by Brick.
Former FBI agent Alex Blackwell initially
sounds annoyed as he is dragged from
retirement to handle a hostage situation
in a New York City high-rise. His attitude
shifts to that of a determined professional
when Seth, the terrorist leader, demands
a safe escape and a trade —the kidnapped
daughter of an influential senator for the
release of two bombers imprisoned in
Egypt. Once the deal is struck and com-
pleted, Blackwell vows to hunt down
Seth, and his quest is interrupted by chap-
ters featuring Sam Morgan, a Southern
California software developer who’s lured
to a new job in New York City. The way
the stories connect is clever and shocking.
The plot hops around the globe, giving
Brick’s international accents a workout—
from credible Australian, Egyptian, and
German accents to a questionable
Caribbean one. Brick’s clipped, precise
performance smooths out some rough
spots in Khalifa’s prose and, more impor-
tantly, makes the most of the surprising
finale. The result is a totally satisfying
audiobook. A Mavenhill paperback.
Children’s/YA
Road Whiz
Darcy Pattison. Mims House, $5.99 e-book
(178p) ISBN 978-1-62944-098-9
Jamie Kruger hates being so big, towering
above the other eighth-grade students at
his Arkansas middle school. He’s growing
constantly, hungry all the time, and bullied
by other kids, especially rival Chan
Maxwell. Jamie’s father, who travels for
REVIEWS ®

long stretches of time, doesn’t notice Charlie Sparrow and the Secret of
Jamie’s growth or isolation, and his mother Flight: Tales of Tree City, Book 1
is sad about her husband’s most recent D.F. Anderson, illus. by Daniel McCloskey.
work assignment: a year or more in Poland. Underdog, $9.95 paper (86p) ISBN 978-0-
To help allay the physical and emotional toll 9918003-5-3
of being on their own, Jamie and his mom Anderson’s buoyant, if slight, chapter
start running together. Meanwhile, grey- book is set in Tree City, where sparrows are
hound Road Whiz’s racing days are over; flightless and rely on a system of elaborate
when Forever Homes for Greyhounds visits staircases to ascend into trees. When the
Jamie’s school, Jamie persuades his mom to titular young sparrow, Charlie, discovers
adopt the retired dog. Everyday life remains that he can fly after an accidental fall, his
a challenge, however, until a Thanksgiving concerned parents take him to see Dr.
Turkey Trot teaches Jamie and his family Nightingale, who declares that Charlie suf-
about love, understanding, and what’s truly fers from “Leaping Syndrome,” or “the Leap,”
important. Pattison (the Blue Planets World which causes him to exhibit “an extreme and
series) attempts to connect worthy themes dangerous urge to leap off things.” The only
of alienation, bullying, competition, cure, Dr. Nightingale suggests, is to
friendship, and family relationships into a remove Charlie’s feathers. Charlie escapes
coming-of-age story, but a lack of focus and discovers a community of other birds
results in a missed opportunity to make a with similar abilities who consider the love
strong point. Ages 10–12. of leaping to be something fun and entirely
organic. Anderson offers a fast-moving
A Yorkie’s Tale: story with an allegorical feel that touches
Lessons from a Life Well-Lived on themes of fitting in, embracing differ-
David L. Heaney, illus. by Alexandra Tatu. ences, and finding like-minded friends.
CreateSpace, $19.99 paper (150p) ISBN 978- McCloskey illustrates in pared-down line
1-9759-9132-6 art that captures the personalities of the bird
Heaney’s contemplative novel centers characters, who return in a sequel, Charlie
on a cast of endearingly self-aware anthro- Sparrow and the Book of Flight. Ages 6–9.
pomorphic animals who face significant
questions about life’s meaning. Niles, an
elderly Yorkshire terrier, leads a carefree life
with his human owners (“Mama” and
“MAN”)—until he meets fruit rat (not a
“common trash rat”) Nathaniel, who has
witnessed something troubling: a family
burying a cat in the ground. Knowing
nothing of death, Niles and Nathaniel are
educated on the matter by a knowledgeable
possum named Leach. The animals embark
on a journey to the sea, along the way
encountering animals that impart powerful
lessons about living mindfully and making
peace with death. Throughout the story,
Niles is visited by the spirit of a deceased
cat, Deheune, who hints at a greater purpose
in life—or perhaps beyond it: “Stay true to
your quest now, but these words ne’er dis-
miss./ The life you were meant for is/ Not
this, not this.” Heaney offers wisdom, poetry,
and humor in his narrative. His distinctive
animal characters—pictured in Tatu’s
expressive watercolors—will resonate with
middle grade readers. Ages 9–12.

B O O K L I F E .C O M 61h