Halloween Review: “Tegen Punishment” by Inge-Lise Goss

This is the third in this series and although I’m neither keen on horror, nor on spiders, this series has got me hooked. Tegen’s are creatures with a mixture of human and spider DNA and they are immortal. Yet, they try to stay under the radar and have their own circles.
In book three, our heroine is being punished by means of being forced to work a dangerous case – see blurb below.

The author has created am original species and a unique world with its own rules and parameters. The heroine is vulnerable as well as tough, suspense and tension run steady throughout the book and I simply couldn’t stop reading, despite my dislike of spiders and horror. A very spell-binding read, just right for Halloween.

Who will be the next spider victim?

For over two years a treacherous Tegen has evaded capture by enforcers, executing anyone who crosses his path.

Newly requisitioned to assist a Tegen enforcer, Sara Jones is on a desperate hunt to stop the renegade who has no regard for human, or spider, life. To penetrate the religious compound he uses as his hideout, she must conceal her true identity. But finding the elusive Tegen is more difficult than she may have imagined, and the compound is far more dangerous than anyone could have known.

When a notorious crime boss shows up in town, Sara enlists his help, but he has his own agenda – one that may advance his criminal enterprise.

As mayhem erupts, she must outwit unsavory zealots and find the killer before her cover is blown. The clock is ticking. Can she bring the fugitive to justice before it’s too late?

This action-packed fantasy-thriller constantly leaves you on the edge of your seat.

Tegen Punishment is the third book in the Tegen series. After reading the Tegen definition at the beginning of the novel, it can easily be read as a standalone story.

Biography

Inge-Lise Goss was born in Denmark, raised in Utah and graduated from the University of Utah, magna cum laude. She is a certified public accountant and worked in that field for over twenty years. Goss lives in the foothills of Red Rock Canyon with her husband and their dog, Bran. She spends most of her time in her den writing stories. There, with her muse by her side, her imagination has no boundaries, and her dreams come alive. When she’s not pounding away on the keyboard, she can be found reading, rowing, or trying to perfect her golf game, which she fears is a lost cause.

Mystery Mondays Review: “Place Of Skulls (Ambrose Lincoln Book 4)” by Caleb Pirtle III

A man with no known past and no name has been dispatched to the deserts, ghost towns, and underbelly of drug-infested Mexico to uncover a secret that could forever change the scope and teachings of Christianity.

A DEA agent has written that he possesses the unmistakable and undeniable proof that Christ did indeed return to earth again and walk the land of the Aztecs almost fifteen hundred years after his crucifixion on the cross. But has the agent found a relic? An artifact? A long lost manuscript of the written Word? No one knows, and the agent dies before he can smuggle the secret out of an empty grave.

Ambrose Lincoln can’t dig past the charred fragments of his memory, but he must unravel the legend of Quetzalcoatl, the white-skinned, blue-eyed, god figure whose sixteenth century ministry, death, resurrection, and mystical promise to return someday to gather up his people closely parallels the Biblical story of the man called Christ. Is Quetzalcoatl merely a myth, or was he Christ himself?

Lincoln’s quest to find the answers, he becomes involved in a rogue CIA plot to invade Mexico and wage an unholy war on drugs, financed by operatives working for Hitler’s Germany. He finds himself pursued by the same mysterious assassin who struck down the DEA agent.

Does the artifact actually exist? Who possesses it now? Lincoln battles an unseen and unknown enemy in an effort to survive long enough to discover the truth. If he doesn’t, he knows that death awaits him on the desert sands of a land held sacred for centuries by the mysterious and holy ones.

My review:

This was a rather excellent surprise find for me. I had it on my kindle but couldn’t remember how it got there. Intrigued by the stylish cover and mysterious title I started to read and soon got myself dragged into the narrative. The writing is atmospheric and dry, to the point and very accomplished. I read the author has received several awards for it and I’m not surprised. Most compelling and well-done is the rivalry between some of the characters. With a hint of conspiracy lurking in the story behind the artefact the main suspense for me came from the personal. I could almost feel the anger and hate against the nemesis, enjoyed the action scenes and the suspense surrounding the mystery until the last page. Well maintained tension throughout make this a very readable and compelling read.
A great find.

 www.amazon.co.uk/Place-Skulls-Ambrose-Lincoln-Book-ebook/dp/B06VW93ZZJ

Biography

Caleb Pirtle III began his career writing about history and travel. He learned quickly, however, that what happens is never as important as those who make it happen. Many of those people have made their way into his novels.
Pirtle is the author of more than 65 published books, including the new noir suspense thrillers, “Golgotha Connection,” “Secrets of the Dead,” “Conspiracy of Lies,” and “Night Side of Dark. His other novels, include “Deadline,” and “Little Lies.” He has written such award winners as “XIT: The American Cowboy,” “Callaway Gardens: the Unending Season,” “The Grandest Day,” “Echoes from Forgotten Streets,” and “Spirit of a Winner.” His nonfiction works include Gamble in the Devil’s Chalk and No Experience Required.
He earned a journalism degree from The University of Texas and became the first student at the university to win the national William Randolph Hearst Award for feature writing. As a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Pirtle received both the Texas Headliner’s and Associated Press Awards.He served as travel editor for Southern Living Magazine, and his travel writing was given the National Discover America Award three times. For more than two decades, Pirtle was editorial director for a custom publishing company in Dallas.
He has written three teleplays for network television, including “Gambler 5: Playing for Keeps,” a mini-series for CBS and “The Texas Rangers” for John Milius and TNT. Because of the success of the CBS mini-series, Pirtle was asked to write two novels, “Jokers Are Wild” and “Dead Man’s Hand” for Berkeley. His blogs appear regularly on http://venturegalleries.com.

New Release: “The Burgas Affair” by Ellis Shuman

Ellis Shuman is no stranger to my blog. You may recall my enthusiastic blog posts about his first work: “Valley of Thracians“. Today I’m delighted to announce his latest release:

“The Burgas Affair” 

Publication date: Tomorrow – October 30, 2017

Purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/Burgas-Affair-Ellis-Shuman-ebook/dp/B0767KHQPW

Amazon Universal short-link: http://getBook.at/BurgasAffair

Please scroll down for my review and also some very interesting paragraphs by Ellis about the attack at Burgas Airport in July 2012 and about the release of the book in Bulgarian.

Book Description

The Burgas Affair

She’s an Israeli data analyst. He’s a headstrong Bulgarian detective. Together they must track down those responsible for a horrific bombing.

In the wake of a deadly terrorist attack at Burgas Airport in Bulgaria, Israeli and Bulgarian intelligence agencies launch a joint investigation. Detective Boyko Stanchev on the police task force teams up with Ayala Navon, a young Israeli intelligence analyst on her first overseas assignment.

The two must establish whether the terrorists were assisted by a Bulgarian crime organization in laying the groundwork for the attack.

It should be a routine investigation, but shadows of the past keep interfering.

Boyko’s interactions with a crime boss pursuing a vendetta against him threaten to throw him off track. Ayala’s pursuit of the terrorists and their accomplices brings up painful memories of a family tragedy.

Boyko and Ayala form a shaky alliance, one that evolves into growing cooperation and affection as they desperately race against time to uncover who was behind the Burgas bombing.

The Burgas Affair is a fictional account of the aftermath of a very real terrorist attack. On July 18, 2012, a deadly explosive rocked a tourist bus at Burgas Airport, killing five Israelis and their Bulgarian bus driver. The terrorists responsible for this murderous attack have never been brought to justice.

My review:

I received an advance review copy of this book by the author and gratefully accepted, having tremendously enjoyed his previous work.

This book captures you from the first quick chapter where a woman realises she’ll blow up with a bomb – a harrowing close-up of a victim and a powerful way to introduce the issue of terror attacks and suicide bombers.
Shuman then introduces another layer of the terror attack by showing us two other victims as they prepare for the fatal journey.
Only after having introduced these human elements to the Burgas tragedy does the author switch to the police investigation and the two detectives. But here, also, we’re given two non-stereotypical characters, one from Bulgaria with a complex professional history, and one from Israel, with a more personal history.
In a parallel narrative to that of the investigation we find out more about one detective’s past and begin to suspect that this will have a connection to the terror attack, while the other detective has personal issues to deal with that may interfer with the investigation.

Shuman has put a lot into this novel, there’s plenty of attention to detail and rich layering. The bombing is after all a sensitive subject and the author has handled it with delicacy and care. While the incident is fictionalised, the novel is based on police reports and therefore stays close to what we know.
Shuman stays away from outrageous or sensationalist speculation and keeps a realistic and plausible tone. This level and thoughtful approach, combined with well-chosen characters and backstories really resonated with me. There’s plenty of suspense, tension and action to please thriller fans, but it doesn’t go over the top as so many others do. The detectives aren’t super human and because of this, far more interesting and spell binding.
Most importantly, the real life Burgas bombing is a to-date unsolved case and I’m grateful that it wasn’t hijacked for an exploitative treatment in the novel, but instead used respectfully as a setting that allows the author to portray the many dimensions of terror attacks.

Having once lived in Bulgaria, Shuman adds a lot of fascinating facts about the country with descriptive detail. This is a very engaging and thought-provoking read, a gripping thriller and a multi-layered read that I would highly recommend.

Author Bio

Ellis Shuman was born in Sioux City, Iowa, and immigrated to Israel as a teenager. He completed high school in Jerusalem and served for three years in the Israeli army. Along with his wife, Jodie, he was a founding member of Kibbutz Yahel. After working for several years in the hotel industry, he today writes and edits online marketing content. In the years 2009 – 2010, his job was relocated to Sofia, Bulgaria. His writing has appeared in The Times of Israel, The Huffington Post, The Jerusalem Post, Israel Insider, and on a wide range of Internet websites. His collection of short stories, The Virtual Kibbutz, was originally published in 2003. His novel Valley of Thracians was published in 2013. Ellis lives with his wife, children, and grandchildren on Moshav Neve Ilan, outside Jerusalem.

Ellis writes about Bulgaria, Israel, books, travel, and the craft of writing on his blog:

Ellis Shuman Writes

http://ellisshuman.blogspot.com

Ellis Shuman on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellisshumanauthor

Ellis Shuman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ellisshuman

Ellis Shuman on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1529444.Ellis_Shuman

The Burgas Affair was originally published in Bulgarian!

The Burgas Affair was traditionally published in May 2016 by Ciela, the leading publisher in Bulgaria. The book was presented at a book signing event in Sofia in June 2016.

How did this come about? After living in Bulgaria for two years, I had established connections with Bulgarian authors and publishers. In addition, an article I wrote for the Huffington Post entitled “10 Amazing Things You Didn’t Know about Bulgaria” in August 2014 generated huge interest, especially in Bulgaria, gaining over 27,000 Facebook likes. The article was translated into Bulgarian three times!

A year after selling the Bulgarian language rights to The Burgas Affair, I decided to self-publish the novel in its original English version. The book will be published in a digital edition on October 30, 2017. A paperback edition will follow.

My feelings about the attack at Burgas Airport in July 2012

My wife and I lived in Sofia for two years (2009–2010) when my job was relocated to Bulgaria. I had never previously visited Bulgaria and quite honestly, it was not on my bucket list of travel destinations. Alongside working full-time, we utilized our weekends to explore the country. We were fascinated by Bulgaria’s history and culture, and fell in love with its nature and picturesque villages.

The terrorist bombing at Burgas Airport in July 2012 took me by surprise because I never expected that such an attack could occur on Bulgarian soil. Having grown up in Israel, I was unfortunately quite familiar with the horror of suicide bombings and explosions on buses. Israelis are very security-conscious, but Bulgaria, I believed, was supposed to be safe territory. And also, I had been to Burgas Airport so I could clearly picture where the bombing took place.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the attack. The Bulgarian government issued contradictory announcements regarding Hezbollah’s involvement. Although the terrorists were later identified by name and nationality, no one was ever brought to justice. It was reported that the Hezbollah mastermind who orchestrated the bombing may have been killed in Lebanon.

The more the events raced through my head, the more my creative mind kept coming up with plot lines and characters, a process that led to my writing The Burgas Affair.

In the novel, many of the details of the bombing as well as the names of the suspects are based on information released to the media. However, the joint Bulgarian-Israeli investigation, the leads investigated, the suspected collaboration between Hezbollah and a Bulgarian crime organization, and the characters are all figments of my imagination.

The Burgas bombing was a very real, deadly terrorist attack. Six people were murdered—five Israelis and one Bulgarian—and many others were injured. I hope that my fictitious description of the victims is not considered disrespectful by their families. With that in mind, I dedicate The Burgas Affair to them.

 

Saturday Historical Review: “Marriage before Death” by Uvi Poznansky

After D-Day, her photograph appears on the most-wanted Nazi propaganda posters. Who is the girl with the red beret? She reminds him of Natasha, but no, that cannot be. Why does Rochelle step into his life when he is lead by SS soldiers to the gallows? At the risk of being found out as a French Resistance fighter, what makes her propose marriage to a condemned man?

Uvi is no stranger to my blog. I’m a big fan and am delighted to share my review of her latest masterpiece: 

Like the rest of the series, this novel deals with the nasty disease that is Alzheimers’, a topic close to my heart and subject of some of my own writing. As with her other work, Uvi deals with the subject with grace, precision and depth. The result is one moving and evocative novel.

Natasha and Lenny meet us at the beginning of this novel in modern day US. Natasha, a pianist, suffers from Alzheimers and Lenny, her husband, regrets the gaps in his knowledge about her that he now no longe rcan fill.
Flashbacks tell the story of Lenny and Natasha during WW2. She said she was leeaving for New York, but then they find themselves both in occupied France. She as spy and he as soldier.

It is an intriguing story with an excellent authentic WW2 feel. The writing is amazing and the story shines with emotional depth. It is a moving and touching story, especially with the tragedy of loss in its many incarnations; the narrative is eloquent, the prose is stylish, the story perfectly paced and historically accurate. The book adds a great deal of information about the time and place, bringing much more to the table than a tragic love story. Uvi balances the tight line between sentimental and romance wonderfully. Beautiful, bittersweet, romantic and tragic – an excellent series. As one reviewer called it: This is “Literary writing at its best.”

Still Life with Memories:

Vol. #1: My Own Voice: Kindle, Nook, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords

Vol. #2: The White Piano: Kindle, Nook, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords

Vol. #3: The Music of Us: Kindle, Nook, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords

Vol. #4: Dancing with Air: Kindle, Nook, Apple, Kobo, Smashwords

Author Links:

Blog

Facebook author page

Amazon author page

Goodreads author page

pInterest

@UviPoznansky 

Uvi Poznansky is a bestselling, award-winning author, poet and artist. “I paint with my pen,” she says, “and write with my paintbrush.” Her romance boxed set, A Touch of Passion, is the 2016 WINNER of The Romance Reviews Readers’ Choice Awards.

Education and work:
Uvi earned her B. A. in Architecture and Town Planning from the Technion in Haifa, Israel and practiced with an innovative Architectural firm, taking a major part in the large-scale project, called Home for the Soldier.

Having moved to Troy, N.Y. with her husband and two children, Uvi received a Fellowship grant and a Teaching Assistantship from the Architecture department at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. There, she guided teams in a variety of design projects and earned her M.A. in Architecture. Then, taking a sharp turn in her education, she earned her M.S. degree in Computer Science from the University of Michigan.

She worked first as an architect, and later as a software engineer, software team leader, software manager and a software consultant (with an emphasis on user interface for medical instruments devices.) All the while, she wrote and painted constantly, and exhibited in Israel and California. In addition, she taught art appreciation classes. Her versatile body of work includes bronze and ceramic sculptures, oil and watercolor paintings, charcoal, pen and pencil drawings, and mixed media.

Books and Genres:
Her two series won great acclaim. Still Life with Memories is a family saga series with touches of romance. It’s latest volume is a WWII spy thriller. The series includes Apart From Love, My Own Voice, The White Piano, The Music of Us, Dancing with Air, and Marriage before Death. The David Chronicles is a historical fiction series. It includes Rise to Power, A Peek at Bathsheba, and The Edge of Revolt.

Her poetry book, Home, is in tribute to her father. Her collection of dark tales, Twisted, and her Historical Fiction book, A Favorite Son, are both new age, biblically inspired books. In addition, Uvi wrote and illustrated two children books, Jess and Wiggle and Now I Am Paper. For each one of these books, she created an animation video (find them on YouTube and on her Goodreads page.)

Review / New Release: “Demon’s Reach” by Will Macmillan Jones

“Demon’s Reach” by Will Macmillan Jones

(You can meet Will at the Llandeilo Christmas Book Fair on Dec 09th and listen to him at 12:30 reading entertaining kitchen stories at Peppercorn Kitchenware)

This is the fifth in Mister Jones novel, which I received before the release. Demon stories aren’t my usual fare but I very much like Will’s personal style, so couldn’t resist.

In the prologue we learn of a demon about to be released.

Then the narrative switches to Mr Jones, who gets a letter from a solicitor, stating her has inherited from a distant cousin, names Roger Havard.
He receives a box with some old photographs, which set up a mystery to be solved.

Surprised and curious to learn more about his family and their past, Mister Jones journeys to the mist haunted eastern coast of England, and the village of Hawkstowe.

There he finds that his family have an unsavoury reputation locally for their dealings in black magic, and that his arrival is viewed with fear and horror. So scared are the locals that Mister Jones might herald a return to the dreadful times they experienced many years ago that they decide to burn down the house in which he is staying.

Soon after his arrival in the village there are also some gruesome murders.
Mister Jones must confront demons, monsters, and members of his family both living and dead to escape with his life and his sanity intact. 

This is very original, creative and excellent. The novel is well written, the author is a versatile word smith with excellent use of language. The story is well paced, full of great intrigue and suspense throughout. It is quite gruesome in parts with evil, demons and darkness. Yet, it is lightened up plenty by playfull and fun-filled segments, wit and marvellous humour and the quirky characters, which is why it is so hugely enjoyable.

https://read.amazon.co.uk/kp/card?preview=inline&linkCode=kpd&ref_=k4w_oembed_ZGTTUEn8HMFCOT&asin=B074X5KCBY&tag=kpembed-20

https://read.amazon.com/kp/card?preview=inline&linkCode=kpd&ref_=k4w_oembed_JgtaP3vCeAeUMD&asin=B074X5KCBY&tag=kpembed-20

 

Obviously you’ll want to know a bit about Will’s book.

All families have secrets or skeletons in the cupboard, hidden away from view. Most of those secrets are better left undisturbed, for very good reasons. When Mister Jones agrees to deal with the Estate of a recently deceased cousin, he finds that the secrets hidden by his family are very dark indeed, and that the skeletons in this cupboard are very real – and not yet entirely dead.

Drawn once more by Fate into a world where magic and myth are all too real and danger lurks at every turn, Mister Jones confronts a past that seeks again to become the present, and to plunge his future into a rising Darkness.

Can he escape the Demon’s Reach?

When Mister Jones discovers that he has been asked to be executor of the Estate of a cousin he wasn’t aware he had, he thinks that the request is innocent, a family matter. But when he travels to his late cousin’s home, he finds that the local village is a dark place, full of mistrust of his family and with unsettling whispers of a dark past.

Indeed, his arrival is enough to spark of an attempt by the villagers to destroy part of his late cousin’s home – and the first death. The mystery deepens as another lost relative finds Mister Jones – but is she all that she seems?

His first visit to his late cousin’s house is almost his last, for Mister Jones finds first evidence of Black Magical Rituals among the effects in the house, and then discovers that a Demon still walks the grounds. The Demon makes herself known to more than just Mister Jones, and the body count rises. Joined by another relative stranger who reveals that she is his half sister, Mister Jones struggles to unravel the web of deceit and mystery and uncover the truth – only to discover that his half sister is more involved than he believed and that the plot centers around his presence, there in the house. He is to be a sacrificial victim, in a Ritual that will restore his long-lost father to life – at the expense of Mister Jones’.

Can Mister Jones’ half sister bring herself to sacrifice the brother she doesn’t know, for the father she fears?

Meet The Author ​Will Macmillan Jones

Will Macmillan Jones lives in Wales, a lovely green, verdant land with a rich cultural heritage. He does his best to support this heritage by drinking the local beer and shouting loud encouragement whenever International Rugby is on the TV. A just sixty lover of blues, rock and jazz he has just fulfilled a lifetime ambition by filling an entire wall of his home office with (full) bookcases. When not writing, he is usually lost with the help of a satnav on top of a large hill in the middle of nowhere.

He writes Dark Fantasy, fantasy he fantasises is funny, and books for children. Some of his pieces have won awards but he doesn’t like to talk about that as it draws attention to the fact that other pieces haven’t.

Connect With Will With Using These Links!

Twitter: @macmillanjones

Email: macmillanjones@btinternet.com

Blog: www.willmacmillanjones.wordpress.com

Web: www.willmacmillanjones.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheShowing/

https://www.facebook.com/william.macmillanjones

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5170305.Will_Macmillan_Jones

Pinterest: https://uk.pinterest.com/macmillanjones/

The Healer… Review of the week…

I only found this review blog post for The Healer this week, and and now, with the sequel and the box set being released, it seemed a good time to share it. Thanks Anita and Jaye
When I first heard about this book, the brilliant cover and title intrigued me, and I expected it to be some kind of supernatural mystery.
The Healer is nothing of the kind. It is a well-written psychological thriller, and not a simple story by any means.
Christoph Fischer has created entirely believable character profiles of both the healer and the woman he treats.
The woman, dying of cancer, seeks a cure from the healer, but this turns out to be not a magical ‘one touch and you’re healed’ situation. There are all kinds of conditions, and as you read, you begin to form your own opinions as to the truth of it all.
Is the healer the real deal, will the woman be healed? Or is she being taken for a very expensive ride?

Suspicions and red herrings abound as the story twists and turns, and at times, you find yourself doubting the motives of everyone.
I thoroughly recommend this book…

Books & Bonsai

When I first heard about this book, the brilliant cover and title intrigued me, and I expected it to be some kind of supernatural mystery.
The Healer is nothing of the kind. It is a well-written psychological thriller, and not a simple story by any means.
Christoph Fischer has created entirely believable character profiles of both the healer and the woman he treats.
The woman, dying of cancer, seeks a cure from the healer, but this turns out to be not a magical ‘one touch and you’re healed’ situation. There are all kinds of conditions, and as you read, you begin to form your own opinions as to the truth of it all.
Is the healer the real deal, will the woman be healed? Or is she being taken for a very expensive ride?

Suspicions and red herrings abound as the story twists and turns, and at times, you find…

View original post 155 more words

Welsh Wednesdays Review: “Views from the Valley: a collection of rural tales from God’s own country” by Karla J. Smith

“Views from the Valley: a collection of rural tales from God’s own country” by Karla J. Smith

A friend recommended this author to me as she lives not far from me. I took an interest but never got round to doing anything about it.  Eventually said friend bought me the book, and, short as it is, I soon found a moment to read it. Karla J. Smith has been published in several magazines and I can easily see why.  The book deserves all the praise it got, from my friend as well as from the other reviewers.

I truly enjoyed these short but memorable and moving short stories set in the Welsh valleys. The characters draw you in quickly, as do their indivudal situations. An ageing woman reminiscing with an special outfit, valley people old and young, happy or melancholic. Some stories are more serious than others, but they all do certainly cut a slice of Welsh valley life with its charm. It’s hard to give a synopsis of each story but let me say they are all a delight, moving and thought provoking. They ring true, feel authentic and made me smile.
A short but very enjoyable read.

Author’s biography:

A keen English student at school, but lacking the academic prowess to enter university, I found little opportunity to write beyond the classroom until, decades later, I returned to my childhood home; a weather beaten Welsh hill farm, bordered by an upland bog.

Here the creative urge sucks like marsh on ill-fitting wellies. Cautiously I began to pick my way through the mire of composition, revision, submission and rejection, trying to tell ‘urban’ stories of contemporary comfort or cutting edge gloom.

This unfamiliar path led precisely nowhere so I turned my attention to the people of the bog itself, toughened by history, softened by charm, tugging at my sleeve and heart, clamouring for their stories to be told.

Happily, this led to my winning some writing competitions, and having stories accepted by People’s Friend and Woman’s Weekly.

I have also completed a novel, a comic caper set in West Wales, which we hope to release on Kindle soon, and written three very well received pieces for performance by my local drama group.

I am delighted to have a selection of my short stories – Views from the Valley – out now on Kindle. I hope you enjoy them!

 

Reviewed for Discovering Diamonds: “Juliana: Volume 1: 1941 – 1944” by Vanda

Reviewed for Discovering Diamonds:

It’s been a while since a book got under my skin so quickly. The excitability, the hope, the determination and the vulnerability of youth are beautifully depict in our heroine Al/ Alice and in the friends around her who join her to make a go at their acting and writing careers in New York.  Naïve country pumpkins that they are, they possess something else, some spirit that captures the reader as much as it captures Max, the theatre producer who is willing to take them under their wings.
I trembled with the four youngsters as they get to find out whether Max is in fact someone they can trust.
All the while the author shows us the aftermath of the big depression. This focus on America before and during the war without the usual excessive foreboding of WW2 was refreshing to me as European. As gay man I was particularly interested in the life of gay characters during that period and found this exceedingly well done.
The biggest achievement however has to be the chemistry between the two lovers, Al and Julianna. Not everything that goes on between them always makes perfect sense, but so is the nature of forbidden and dangerous love. I found the tension between them, the erotic sparks seriously breath taking.
With many sub plots and side characters involved this is a rich and rewarding read that I shall treasure and re-read again. Very well done.

Blurb / editorial:

“An Absolutely Beautiful and Moving Novel!”
–Philip Crawford, author of Mafia and the Gays
Readers say, “I can’t wait for the next book in the series.”

She went looking for fame, and found her true self, instead.

New York City, 1941. Alice “Al” Huffman and her childhood friends are fresh off the potato farms of Long Island and bound for Broadway. Al’s plans for stage success are abruptly put on hold when she’s told she has no talent. As she gets a job to pay for acting classes, Al settles into a normal life with her friends and a boyfriend. It all changes when she meets Juliana.
A singer on the brink of stardom, Juliana is everything Al isn’t: glamorous, talented, and queer. The farm girl is quickly enthralled, experiencing thoughts and feelings she never realized were possible. Al finds herself slipping between two worlds: the gay underground and the “normal” world of her childhood friends. It’s a balancing act she can handle until the two worlds begin to collide
In a city bursting with change, can Alice find what she was looking for all along?

Juliana: Volume 1: 1941-1944 is a captivating work of LGBT historical romance. If you like extensively researched settings, spell-binding storytelling, and characters you can’t help but fall for, then you’ll love the first book in award-winning playwright Vanda’s new Juliana series.

Website

http://www.vandawriter.com.

Twitter

vandawriter

I was born and raised in Huntington Station, Long Island, but my mother would never let us call it that. She said we came from South Huntington. Saying we were from Huntington Station, according to my mother, made it sound like we came from the other side of the tracks. And, well, Mom, we did and that fact has greatly influenced my writing.

My novel, JULIANA (Vol. 1: 1941-1944) is the first in a series in which the same characters live out LGBT history in New York City through the decades.

As a playwright I have received a number honors, among them an Edward Albee Fellowship. My play, Vile Affections, published by Original Works was a finalist for a National Lambda Award. My play, Patient HM, which later became The Forgetting Curve, won the Pride Stage and Screen’s Women’s Playwriting Award and another play, Why’d Ya Make Me Wear This, Joe, won Celebration Theater’s (where Naked Boys Singing originated) Best New LGBT Play.

My non-fiction story, “Jack,” was published in Prairie Schooner and another non-fiction piece, “Roger: Lost Between Philosophies,” which appears in Pentimento was selected by New Millennium Writings for Honorable Mention from a submission pool of 1,300.

Mystery Monday: “The Fraud or Miracle? Trilogy” by Christoph Fischer

Further to my recent “New-Release-Posts”
I proudly present you my first ever Mystery Box Set:

“The Fraud or Miracle Trilogy” – available in paperback and available for pre-order on kindle / delivered wirelessly to your kindle on November 1st.
The box set contains my brandnew thriller, “The Sanctuary on Cayman Brac” which will also be released separately on November 1st.

Get it from your Amazon website via these universal links:
http://smarturl.it/FraudorMiracle
http://bookShow.me/B076N771K4

The Trilogy comprises three novels that explore – both, seriously and light-heartedly – the conflict between facts versus faith and trust versus doubt: The Healer (released 2014), The Gamblers (released 2015) and “The Sanctuary on Cayman Brac: Key to the Truth” (to be released 15th November 2017)

In “The Healer” advertising executive Erica Whittaker, diagnosed with terminal cancer, seeks help from retired, controversial healer Arpan. He has retired for good reasons, casting more than the shadow of a doubt over his abilities. So begins a journey that will challenge them both as the past threatens to catch up with him as much as with her. On one level this is just the story of a young woman trying to survive, on the other it’s about power, greed and selfish agendas, even when life or death is at stake. Can Arpan really heal her? Can she trust him with her life? And will they both achieve what they set out to do before running out of time?

In “The Gamblers” Ben, an insecure accountant obsessed with statistics, gambling and beating the odds, wins sixty-four million in the lottery and finds himself challenged by the possibilities that his new wealth brings.
He soon falls under the influence of charismatic Russian gambler Mirco, whom he meets on a holiday in New York. He also falls in love with a stewardess, Wendy, but now that Ben’s rich he finds it hard to trust anyone. As both relationships become more dubious, Ben needs to make some difficult decisions and figure out who’s really his friend and who’s just in it for the money.

In “The Sanctuary on Cayman Brac” the loose ends from both novels come to a head in a sizzling finale on the Carribbean Island when the truths about all frauds and/or miracles will be released.

http://smarturl.it/SanctuaryCaymanBrac
http://bookShow.me/B076JJPTCS

Praise for “The Healer”:

Lots of twists and a brilliant ending

I like a book that has me second guessing all the way through. It grabs hold and takes you on a wonderful journey. This book is exactly like that. I changed my mind as to who is wrong and who is right, who could be trusted and who couldn’t, from the start through to the finish.

Praise for “The Gamblers”

This story is thrilling, fascinating, fast-paced, and it presents interesting physiological questions on human natural in general and Ben Andrews in particular. A wonderful story I highly recommend!

Available for Pre-order: “The Sanctuary on Cayman Brac: Key to the Truth (Fraud or Miracle?) (Volume 3)”

It gives me great pleasure to announce that “The Sanctuary on Cayman Brac: Key to the Truth” is available for pre-order (delivered to your kindle on Nov 1st) and available as paperback as of today.

http://smarturl.it/SanctuaryCaymanBrac

http://bookShow.me/B076JJPTCS

This is not only a sequel to “The Healer” but also an ending to “The Gamblers”.

In “The Sanctuary on Cayman Brac: Key to the truth”” Arpan has set up a training school and spiritual retreat on the small island in the Caribbean. Yet, the peaceful and quiet existence he has sought soon comes to an end. The arrival of Erica teaches him that lose ends won’t stop until they’re truly healed and dealt with. Erica, out to seek revenge for past wrongs soon begins to fall under the Caribbean spell and the magic of Arpan. Torn between her desire for justice and her own longing for peace, what she discovers at the school sets her again on the path of confusion and distrust. Set in a beautiful location and spiked with a crossover from the cast of Fischer’s other mystery novel, “The Gamblers” this is another fast-paced psychological thriller about faith and deceit. Erica will finally find out the full truth about who tricked whom and we’ll all get an answer as to who will walk away with the last laugh.

All three books can be bought together in a box set under the title “Fraud or Miracle Trilogy”. – in paperback and on pre-order. (also to be delivered by Nov 1st)