Broken Chord

Broken Chord by Alice A. Jackson

Reviewed by Lisa Brown-Gilbert

Alice A. Jackson’s Broken Chord: A Music Row Mystery, offers a compelling collaboration of love betrayal, passion, intrigue, and murder set in Nashville’s famous Music Row.  Purchase Here.

Captivating from the outset, we meet relatable protagonist, the beautiful but middle aged-beleaguered, Sarah Ann Boswell. She finds herself beset by the throes of a middle of her life crisis, when not only does she turn fifty years old, loses her husband to unfaithfulness and divorce, and feels largely ignored by her children, as well as finding herself unceremoniously fired from her job. At a loss for direction or self-esteem, Sarah Ann does the unthinkable and tries to take her own life; nevertheless, she survives with the staunch love and support of her longtime friends, her prayer group.

While hospitalized Sarah Ann meets godsend, the savvy, smart and talented, Jill Edgerton, who offers her the promise of a renewed life with an offer to join Edgerton Group, her Nashville based talent management firm. Accepting the offer, Sarah Ann embarks on a new and happier journey through life and into the alluringly lucrative world of the country music business. They strike country music gold with the advent of newly discovered artist Jared Parson. Although he’s handsome, talented, and virile he also seems to harbor a secretive side. Besides turning out to be a cash cow for Edgerton group, Jared also starts to cause a divide between partners Sarah Ann and Jill, as an illicit relationship forms between him and Jill. Moreover, events take a turn for the twisted and mysterious when Jill Edgerton is found murdered, leading to an investigation focusing on multiple, possible suspects including Sarah Ann.

Wholly entertaining, Broken Chord: A Music Row Mystery turned out to be an enjoyable read that moved as a crescendo does, steadily paced with slow building intensity that culminates into a well-orchestrated conclusion. The story itself was well written. Author Alice A. Jackson writes in a literate, polished, easygoing style, while the overall story keeps you engaged with its setting, plot twists and cast of resonate, fleshed out and likable, characters. I especially liked Sarah Ann, whose honorable personality, struggles and triumphs were easy to commiserate with. Additionally, the character of Jared Parson was also done well; he was a character whose formidable personality made him an engaging personality, albeit it was a “love to hate” connection. This book would make a terrific read for adult fans of mystery reads.

 

Leave No Choice

Leave No Trace by A.J. Landau (Jon Land and Jeff Ayers)

Reviewed by Russel Ilg

LEAVE NO TRACE, the latest thriller from Jon Land writing under the pseudonym A. J. Landau, is subtitled “A National Parks Thriller” for good reason. The book opens with a domestic terrorist attack on the Statue of Liberty and ramps up from there with more of America’s most iconic parks, monuments and memorials in the crosshairs.  Purchase Here.

If you think that’s all, though, you haven’t read a Jon Land book in a while. He teams here with fellow thriller maven Jeff Ayers who just happens to be an expert on all things National Parks. Adding that bite of reality to a heavy dose of knife-edged action makes this not just a surefire pick for best thriller of 2024, but also the most relevant. See, the bad guys, most notably a white nationalist general, are targeting America’s icons because they intend to burn the country down and rebuild it from scratch. Viewed from that perspective, LEAVE NO TRACE reads like a harbinger of what might truly be in store for the United States if we continue down the road we’re on.

Leading the charge to prevent that is the stalwart team of park service Investigative Services Branch agent Michael Walker and the FBI’s Gina Delgado who’s second-in-command at the FBI’s New York field office. Walker and Delgado cast aside their early jurisdictional squabbles to form a brave and able pair, as determined to stop the carnage as the villains are to murder ten million Americans in the centerpiece of their plan.

The action winds from Liberty Island, to Independence Hall, the Gateway Arch, and Zion National Park, before finally climaxing at Wind Cave National Park. Oh, and there’s also a flashback sequence on Mount Rainier where Michael lost both his wife and left foot in a violent confrontation with serial killers picking victims from park grounds. If you know your thrillers, you’ve probably already figured there’s more to that tragedy than meets the eye, ultimately forming the book’s biggest twist among many.

The fact that Michael has a prosthetic foot renders him the only current disabled hero in thriller fiction today, if memory serves. He’s the ultimate underdog, totally overmatched by the bad guys he’s taking on and yet able to prevail through a combination of guts, guile and knowledge of the rattlesnakes that call Zion National Park home. For her part, Gina serves up a comparable complement of gravitas and grit, especially in a harrowing sequence when she spirits the country’s first female president out of harm’s way and then must continue to protect her alone, since there’s no one left she can fully trust.

LEAVE NO TRACE is a rip-roaring, no-holds-barred thriller of the highest order that mines today’s political climate for a tale that should feel over the top, but instead flashes a bright red warning sign. That helps makes this series debut a stunning, truly terrifying triumph of pitch perfect storytelling, begging to be read in a single sitting. It’s the Super Bowl of thrillers where genre fans come out the biggest winners.

Every Silent Thing

Every Silent Thing by Alan Brenham

Reviewed by Douglas R. Cobb

Every Silent Thing, by author Alan Brenham, is a terrific read for all fans of the mystery genre. It was my first encounter reading anything by Brenham, but I hope it won’t be my last, for I totally enjoyed reading this novel. Now, also knowing that Every Silent Thing is the first of a trilogy of mystery novels featuring the shy and deaf twenty-three-year-old Claire Deveraux, who works as a foreign service officer at the U.S. Embassy in Paris, makes me want to check out the other two books is the series.  Purchase Here.

Right from the first page of Every Silent Thing, before I knew anything about the book, I felt myself drawn into the rapidly unfolding plot by the author’s style of writing. Deveraux witnesses an apparent murderer enter a women’s restroom at the Louvre, just before a woman does the same. When the man leaves a few minutes later, he locks eyes with Deveraux. Claire looks away, briefly, and the man melts into the crowd.

So, of course, what does Deveraux do, but let her curiosity get the better of her. She wonders about the woman who had entered the restroom but hadn’t yet come out of it. Upon entering the restroom, Claire sees a woman bleeding to death on the tiled floor.

For readers who dislike reading about any potential spoilers, don’t worry. I’ll try to limit them, but here are a few, so fair warning:

1.) Claire Deveraux is one of a set of triplets. Her two siblings are Megan and Boyd.
2.) Every Silent Thing contains a lot of knowledge about Europe in it and also great chase scenes.
3.) Claire’s identical appearance to her sister results in cases of mistaken identity.

The murder of the woman is tied into an international crime cartel. I enjoyed reading about how Claire Deveraux deals with the situation she finds herself in.  Another spoiler: Megan’s ex-boyfriend, Randy, gets killed after getting into a dispute over stolen diamonds. Randy’s death prompts Megan to flee to Paris.

Oh, yeah — one further spoiler: Their brother, Boyd, gets kidnapped by these nasty cartel members, who think that Megan somehow has the stolen diamonds. These are just a few examples of some of the other plot intricacies author Alan Brenham weaves into this fine novel. I highly recommend that if you love reading terrific mysteries, check out Brenham’s book, Every Silent Thing. If you haven’t read Every Silent Thing yet, add it to your reading lists today!

 

Neon Lights and Plane Tickets

Neon Lights and Plane Tickets: Sci-Fi Poetic Prose Collection by Eli Alemán

Reviewed by Lisa Brown-Gilbert

Spanning an eclectic variety of subjects, while featuring polished stanzas teeming with free verse and deeply insightful mentations, Neon Lights and Plane Tickets by artist, scientist, and author Eli Alemán artfully merges the poetic and the fantastical in this collection of creative prose narratives. For Eli Alemán this is her first published work.  Purchase Here.

At the outset of reading, there is instant connection to author Eli Alemán’s poetry. It is tantalizing to the imagination. Populated with creatively fluent passages which draw the mind into often sinister and imaginative, otherworldly scenes, that shrewdly guide readers through a cultivated series of universal wonderlands brimming with themes of horror, science-fiction as well as the dystopian.

Moreover, this journey through the heart and mind of author Eli Alemán not only exceeds the bounds of imagination with inventive science fiction within poetic verses but also uncommonly delves into the common topics like Love, Humanity, Food, and Music, with works such as, Cosmic Love Theory: Infinite Cosmic Ballet, Food Gourmet Escapades, Bloodied Veil, Acrid Skies, Visceral Cries, Melodious Rhapsody and Matchmaker Cloud just to name a few. In total there are many more as well, as the book houses a collection of over 60 poems. It offers a lot to choose from with each poem as quality as the last.

Altogether I thoroughly enjoyed Neon Lights and Plane Tickets, by Eli Alemán.   It was easy to connect with this plentiful and diverse sharing of free-flowing verses, which offered engaging, detailed imagery fueled by fantastically drawn stanzas. In fact, author Aleman’s writing is so effective that I was often left with a residue of vivid, intelligent as well as enlightening imprinting from its unforgettable passages, which did very well to hold my attention rapt. While the entire collection of poetry flowed well, was well written, and kept me entertained and attentive to the worlds built through the author’s passages, there were several that stayed with me long after I finished reading.   Some are: Sheen, Phantasmagoric Reverie, Monstrous Genesis, Touchscreen, Grimly Ever After: Forevermore Elixir, Empires of Thought, and Celestial Bodies.

 Overall, while the titles alone were enough to pique my curiosity, it was the entirely distinctive nature of the poems that left me reeling with the memorable stunning vision of worlds never before experienced. This is a poetry collection that is definitely worthy of adding to the personal library of any fan of well written, uniquely posed poetic works, as it does well to leave a lasting literary impression.

 

Voodoo Child

Voodoo Child, Book One: Zombie Uprising

Reviewed by Chris Phillips

Around the globe and then landing in a small Caribbean island, this story traverses the world and more.  Purchase Here.

The action starts on the small island of Isle De Fantomas. It moves to the deserts of the Middle East and then back again. The plot is an interesting mix of horror, mystery and voodoo. The most intriguing part of this to this reviewer is the author’s respect for a small religion, voodoo, in this case.

Yes, there are demons, devils, voodoo priestesses and hordes of the undead. They fill the pages and bring out a very mixed bag of horror and yet detailed practice of a little known religion. There are soldiers, military and mercenary troops and wickedly charming scientists and others not nearly so charming.

The action on this small island centers around an ancient and forbidden voodoo ritual from a dark book only recently translated by General Manual Ortiz’s bokor or voodoo priest. The General has declared himself by several titles the island’s Prime Minister for Life, supreme dictator, etc. He possesses this book from killing the previous voodoo priestess. With the bokor’s strange ability to understand the languages the book is written in. Possessor of an ancient voodoo rituals and with his bokor, he performs ceremonies most would leave unexperienced.

The General, his bokor and his fiancé, Lavonia Dawes are in a dark dungeon room performing a ritual that is darker than anything done for many centuries. While this is going on, his nephew, Lieutenant Miguel Ortiz, is out hunting and attempting to kill Sarafina, the current island’s voodoo priestess. One thing leads to another and through an amazing amount of mistakes, errors and simple poor assumptions the theme of the book blasts into the reader’s mind, raising the zombie uprising.

Baron Kriminel, the cigar smoking voodoo spirit of death is summoned, and then has to confront his longtime lover, Gira, the spirit of love and fertility. It is a match made in the environs of the voodoo spirits and thus everything gets darker still.

Talos corporation, a mega-multi-national corporation, researching many devious and insidious ideas, but mainly working on something very similar to voodoo zombies. Maggie Child, co-pilot of a Blackhawk in the Iraqi desert is truly the main character of this tale and although not introduced until Chapter 8, she is the main character of the book. She becomes one of the experiments that Talos is working on to create super-soldiers. James Gallo, shows up to replace his friend and predecessor. Steven Caine. Maggie escapes with Glen Logan, her accidental sidekick from the Talos facility where the dark experiments take place. Her uncle, Rip Flowers, enters the picture and the fun begins.

All of these characters end up on the island and become embroiled in the zombie apocalypse that is taking over the island. This is where the true horror of the story shows up.

Any reader will be enthralled with this rather long book. It holds the reader’s interest right up until the final words of this book, Part One of Burke’s Zombie Uprising series. This reviewer and probably every reader will be waiting with bated breath for the next and other books in the series.
5 Stars.

On the Corner

On the Corner: A Novel of Lifelong Friendship by S.J. Tagliareni

Book reviewed by Nancy Eaton

Did you have a best friend who was there for you during the good times and difficult times in your life? This is the story of On the Corner.  Purchase Here.

Sal and his childhood friend, Michael have been there for each other. It is difficult to imagine what would have happened had they not been there to provide the emotional support to each other during the many events that took place over the years.

The reader will follow the story of these two men as they face many situations in life; marriage, deaths of loved ones, going their separate ways to college and reconnecting again.

Once you read On the Corner, it will make you really appreciate someone you might have known like Sal and Michael. Sometimes we take friends for granted but this story will make you take a second look at your close friends. Even if you have lost contact with a close friend, On the Corner will make you want to search for that person so you can reconnect again.

The author of this book, S.J. Tagliareni, has written this story in a very descriptive manner and it never lacks in details. The story never gets boring because there is always something new going on in the lives of these two men. Sal makes the reader feel like they are right there with him as the story unwinds.

On the Corner is a story of how true friendship can make a difference in someone’s life. This is a very heartwarming story, and it will bring out many emotions in the reader. I know it did for me – it brought tears to my eyes in many cases and at other times the story made me laugh. I don’t want to give away any spoilers so that is all I’m going to say about the story. On the Corner is a very worthwhile read and one that I highly recommend!

The Bee Sting

The Bee Sting by Paul Murray

Book reviewed by Teri Davis Takle

t’s odd how one event can change your life, your future, and your future family’s lives. It’s simply one thing that could be traumatic, but it becomes the pivot point for everyone. That’s rather terrifying when you think about it.  Purchase Here.

Cass is a high-achieving, attractive student looking forward to attending college in Dublin next year along with her best friend, Elaine. She is apprehensive about her upcoming exams and has found alcohol changes things, including herself.

Twelve-year-old P.J. is running away from home. Life is not good, and an older bully is threatening him.  

Imelda, the mother of Cass and P.J., has problems.   She is the typically born-beautiful wife who expects to be admired by all, completely self-absorbed. Born into an impoverished and dysfunctional family, she fears going backward.   However, keeping her spending under control can be a challenge. Additionally, she feels the burden of keeping up her image to the rest of the town.

Dickie Barnes is in a downward spiral. Can he save his job and his family before bankruptcy?

You would think that Dickie was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, being that he inherited his family’s Volkswagen business.    However, Dickie is changing, his business is in financial trouble, and his priorities are out-of-whack.

The Bee Sting is an epic history of the Barnes family in about 650 pages—each character’s insecurities, the parents’ pasts, and how their emotional baggage affects their children, themselves, and each other. 

The style is a little unusual, omitting commas and ending punctuation. Usually, this is fine, but occasionally, you need to reread the sentences to follow the storyline. 

The story surrounds those who make life happen instead of those who choose the easy path; ambition, lack of opportunity, and chance all play a role in everyone’s life, along with expectations of family, friends, or society. All are influencers along this curved road of life. The importance of dreams and goals, or lacking these, often decides our success or failures.    

The characterization and setting are superb. You know these people and understand their choices in usually taking the easiest path.   You can picture each one along their misadventures. 

The ending troubled me because it did not tie up all the loose threads. I finally realized that someone finally dared to put others before themselves and do the right thing.  

Paul Murray is an Irish author and has also written three more award-winning novels, An Evening of Goodbyes, Skippy Dies, and The Mark and the Void, and additionally wrote the screenplay Metal Heart.   

The Bee Sting is not for everyone, and the issue of homosexuality makes this an adult book.

The Bee Sting was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.

Stella and Shell

Stella and Shell by L.S. Lentz

Book reviewed by Teri Davis Takle

Making new friends is always a little scary, especially when moving to a new home.

For Stella, a big dog, there is so much to explore and the nearby river is almost calling to her.  She is an adult dog, but she sometimes cannot help herself by getting into the trash, like a naughty puppy.  Purchase Here.

Moving to a new home is exciting.   What new adventures are waiting?  Who will these adventures be with?  Who will be her playmates?   Who will be her friends?

Stella and Shell is a beautifully illustrated children’s book.  The lush, picturesque settings immediately pull the reader into the story with the simple text in perfect correlation.   It’s easy to relate to the farmhouse, the kitchen, the river, and the surrounding area.

Friendship is the theme and the need to find something in common to build those friendships.   With the challenge Stella has about how to approach new friends and being persistent, many lessons can be learned.

There are numerable teachable lessons in Stella and Shell.  Vocabulary lessons with the words amber, oozes, startled, and fluffy would be appropriate for young children.  With Stella sniffing, patting, and barking the senses could be mentioned along with when to best use those actions.  For everyone, discussions about how to approach new people, as well as dogs, and big dogs could be wonderful life lessons.  Even a little problem-solving could be used with asking how could Stella later make friends with Mr. Fish, Mrs. Owl, and Brother Beaver.   Who could be friends with these other creatures?

Unlikely friendships are essential for everyone.  We all need to respect each other’s natural abilities, strengths, weaknesses, disabilities, and gifts.  There is a need for everyone to learn to make friends and to further develop their friendships.  Who would ever imagine a friendship between a large dog and a turtle who enjoy digging together?

The ideal reader for this book would be for young children with the book being read out loud to them.  However, the audience could easily be extended to older children, especially those with any type of difficulty, disability, or those who have problems making friends.

The author, L.S. Lentz, is an experienced educator who recently moved to a farmhouse in Massachusetts.  Stella is her actual dog and she really created a bizarre friendship with a turtle and the two of them enjoy digging together.  Stella and Shell is her first published children’s book.

Stella and Shell is a delightfully wonderful story for young children, those who enjoy a happy story, and friendship.  We each differ but finding common sharing is the key to building lasting relationships and lifelong friendships.

 

Travels and Tribulations

Travels and Tribulations by Tyrel Nelson

Reviewed by Lily Andrews

An emotional and physical journey, “Travels and Tribulations” is a compulsively readable memoir written by Tyrel Nelson. During the bleak time of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tyrel lost his mother whom he had shared a close relationship with, to a kidney disease and thereafter, his job.  Purchase Here.

It was a depressing moment for him pushing him into persistent despondency and it was during this time that he began making a recollection of significant experiences in his life going back from 2008 to 2020 including the people and places that he got a chance to meet and see respectively. This somehow provided a much-needed catharsis for him, relieving him from the agony and grief that hung around him. It was through sorting various compilations that he had written over the years that he penned these captivating vignettes that he shares with us today.

With a unique sense of rare immediacy and keen depth, the author walks us through the memories of his life, his experiences, and his relationships and even goes ahead to share the sorrow that engulfed him during the pandemic period. Part travelogue and part self-reflection odyssey, “Travel and Tribulations” takes us across the physical excursions and super-famous Carnivals in Ecuador, the lowlands in Guatemala, the countryside of Mexico, and back to Minnesota in the United States. Throughout, Tyrel’s voice shines with raw honesty and candidness, not holding anything back, leading us to moments of soul-searching during the reading.

He credits his mother for laying the groundwork and sparking the desire in him to see the world. This is after traveling with her to her homeland, the Philippines for a two-week trip. He does not stop there but goes ahead to celebrate both his parents for instilling in him the values of resilience, compassion, selflessness, and living in the moment from an early age. Across, the author’s writing and travel style are equally affable invoking in his exposition, an inviting feeling of shared thoughts and experiences, both poignant and impactful. “Travels and Tribulations” by Tyrel Nelson is an indelible biography and one that marks the arrival of a quintessential voice in biography writing.

 

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Tracks

Tracks: A Curious Tale of Who’s Her Daddy? by Simon Plaster

Reviewed by Dianne Woodman

Who is Henrietta Hebert’s biological father? An answer to the question is a conundrum that could be illuminated when Henrietta’s mother finds DNA evidence that supposedly belongs to the mystery man, and this is the impetus behind Tracks: A Curious Tale of Who’s Her Daddy? Henrietta’s mother hires a private detective, Max Morgan, to find out the truth. Max is not only an admirer of hard-boiled detective tv shows and crime novels but also an avid listener to The Fat Man, a popular detective drama radio program in the 1940s and early 1950s. In American history, the show lasted for six seasons. Max fashions himself after the detective in the title role. A marvelous beginning to an entertaining story with a number of complications arising as the detective becomes more embroiled in the speculative paternity case. More than one man is a suspect for possibly fathering Henrietta, and melodrama surrounds each man. Purchase Here.

Simon Plaster pulls readers into this delightful story from the first page and keeps their interest right up until the final page. It takes place over a time period of five days in Henryetta, Oklahoma. A good balance of noteworthy, pivotal, and lighthearted moments lends additional meaning to momentous subject matters, such as political treachery and subterfuge, differing views and aspects involving paternity, and ethical issues in both sperm donation and DNA testing. All of these topics are woven together with amazing skill revealing a seamless story from beginning to end. Plaster also beautifully shows how extenuating circumstances and individuals’ subsequent reactions to them can impact a person’s life in positive and/or negative ways.

Plaster’s skillful use of amusing and imaginative metaphors and eclectic dialogue provides readers with wonderful visuals of scenes and characters. Each of the characters is imbued with a unique voice that suits their roles and makes their distinct personalities stand out to readers. The characters act from believable motivations, and each one’s actions are pertinent to not only moving the plot forward but also to the final outcome of the story. Plaster’s stylistically complex writing techniques along with witty and clever wordplay adds to the overall enjoyable reading experience. Readers will appreciate and enjoy the fictional excerpts of Fat Man episodes that wonderfully tie into the storyline. The musical interludes scattered throughout the book are not only fitting but also humorous in the scenes in which they appear. Plaster has written a great twist ending that surprises readers and totally fits in with this intriguing story that will stick in readers’ minds long after they have finished reading it.