#BookReview: The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos

Rich And Multilayered Story Marred By Emphasis On COVID. At one point during/ after the world collapse due to COVID-19, I had an ironclad star deduction policy for any mention of COVID whatsoever. One line referencing it even obliquely was usually enough to trigger it. I’ve relaxed that policy over the years and no longer apply it for such one off/ tangential references, so long as they are minimal and don’t actually impact the story beyond an attempt to acknowledge the reality of setting any story in that period of world history.

This noted, I absolutely still apply it religiously when a story makes COVID a primary focus of the story… and unfortunately that happens here. Borgos could have used almost literally anything else to achieve some of the same ends he uses COVID for here, and it would have worked reasonably well – hell, some of them could have even tied into themes from earlier in the series. But he chose to use COVID, and that is damnable to many – and a major issue for me. Enough to warrant the star deduction, at minimum.

One of the other major themes here is perhaps just as volatile, if more locally – that of Nevada’s wild horses and what should be done about them. This story plays out across the entire book, and Borgos seemingly does a solid job of showing the strengths and weaknesses of both sides. I say “seemingly” here as as a native of the borderlands between Appalachia and Atlanta, I can certainly count on both hands the number of times I’ve even been west of the Mississippi River – and I’m pretty sure I can count them on one hand. I’ve only been west of Texas *once* – a weekend nearly 20 yrs ago in Phoenix, Arizona. Thus, I don’t really know anything at all about how Nevadans feel about this issue one way or the other, and unlike Borgos, this isn’t something I’ve spent a lifetime in and around- culturally, at minimum. (Now, if the issue is the American Civil War… different story. But that particular topic doesn’t apply to this book. :D)

Outside of these issues (and even inside of them, to a degree), this is a police procedural in form and format, if a more interesting/ less typical version of the sub genre in its particulars. Throughout this series, Borgos has made a truly interesting and compelling character in Porter Beck, a fully fleshed out, heroic yet flawed in his own ways, man of his world. Supporting characters, including Beck’s dad and sister, are equally compelling, and even other relationships come across as all too realistic, particularly as things develop further in this book with these relationships. Even secondary characters such as the various suspects of this book are fleshed out much better than other authors generally do, including some rather horrific backstories that have enough detail to them that they seem based on at least generalizations of specific real world people and events. Indeed, once one gets beyond the COVID and beyond the horse issue- both central to this particular story, to be clear – and perhaps beyond the issues of foreign ownership and mining also discussed here, though less prominently and in far less detail, the actual story here between the various characters themselves is actually quite strong, and everyone plays their roles rather superbly.

Borgos has done an excellent job of building this world in a realistic, complex manner that reflects on the real world issues of its place and time in a manner that provides food for thought for all involved and for those completely unfamiliar with the area or its issues, and in so doing presents a solid story for all readers, but particularly male readers who may be looking for more male-oriented books that don’t have the problems that more extreme forms of entertainment and/ or discussion all too often have.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Blue Horse by Bruce Borgos was originally written on July 13, 2025.

#BookReview: Roswell Incident by David Wood

David Needs To Open A Teepublic Store. Y’all Should Help Me Convince Him. 🙂 This was another fun entry in the long and spiraling Dane Maddock saga, but also one that those new to Wood can pick up as their first book and neither have much spoiled nor miss much of anything, as it largely is a fairly solid standalone tale with a couple of links to a larger world – though one of those links in particular does play a larger role in the epilogue than it does in the overall tale here.

Instead what we get here is an adventure thriller based in the American Southwest featuring its most famous of creatures – the Roswell Aliens and the various lore and objective facts that are known about that event all those years ago. As usual, Maddock himself has seen some things, but is still the more down to earth explorer. His partner “Bones” Bonebrake… is the more outlandish believer of many things who also happens to be *very* good at, well, breaking bones when the need arises.

As with most of these tales, there is at least some plausibly achaeology-ish setup, a lot of being chased by people with bad intentions, a few key fights, and (particularly later in these adventures, as this book is), some element of scifi and/ or the supernatural. Though in this case it *does* have a more interesting spin on the concepts than I’ve seen in other works, and I’ve read a lot of interesting stuff related to these particular events.

But the reason David needs to create a teepublic store: He has created a symbol for a group – and granted, these people are the antagonist for this novel – that is so badass I actually would consider getting a tattoo of it, and despite having several tattoos, many of them book-inspired, that isn’t something I say very often. I would *absolutely* wear this on a shirt in a heartbeat, and I honestly think even just having stuff available with this image alone would have enough sales to at least warrant the effort of creating the shop and making it available.

But y’all need to read this book and leave your own reviews of it, and tell David to create the shop so we can buy the shirts. Maybe if enough people har – I mean, gently ask him – he’ll eventually do it just to get us to leave him alone? 😀

Very much recommended.

This review of Roswell Incident by David Wood was originally written on June 29, 2025.

#BlogTour: The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner

For this blog tour, we’re looking at a book that will transport nearly anyone to the beauty of the Amalfi Coast of Italy for nearly anyone who may possibly want to go along for the ride. For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner.

First, the review I posted to the book sites (BookBub.com / BookHype.com / Goodreads.com / Hardcover.app / PageBound.co / TheStoryGraph.com) and YouTube:

Something For Damn Near Everyone. Seriously, this book has a LOT. You’ve got romance, in both timelines. You’ve got a touch of action, in both timelines. You’ve got adventure, again, in both timelines. You’ve got pirates and witches. You’ve got a lonely mom just trying to keep her family together. You’ve got a son desperate to keep his business… in business. You’ve got various heartaches. You’ve got at least some humor. You’ve got an academic investigation. You’ve got the fucking Amalfi Coast of Italy, which apparently is one of the more beautiful settings in Europe. (One I personally have no interest in ever visiting, despite this book’s strong efforts of conveying just how beautiful it is. I have do doubt it is every bit as beautiful as this book describes so vividly… and yet, I can tell you of places in the Caribbean and the Americas that are just as beautiful. :D)

Overall, the story works well here in both timelines. Yes, it can be a touch slow at times… but then, in a setting such as this… maybe you want to more casually linger, have a more relaxing time in this world and in this location, if only in your mind while you trudge through your “real” life in whatever location you may find yourself in. It *does* take a bit more effort to get into the 19th century story than the 21st century one, but once you do… both parts are equally magic.

Ultimately it almost doesn’t matter how you approach this book – whether you’re in it for the 18th century pirates/ witches story, the 21st century travel/ adventure/ discovery story, either one of the romances, or even just here for some of the secondary characters or just to hang out in the Amalfi Coast for a few hours in your mind… you’re going to find something to enjoy here regardless. Truly about the only types of readers that will be overly disappointed – and I’m warning you now if you’re one of these – are those who can *only* read balls to the wall action or Carolina Reaper scorching, damn near erotica, romance, as neither of those are here at all – though their milder forms certainly are. Enough to get the pulse pounding but perhaps without the flood of adrenaline. 🙂

Very much recommended.

After the jump, an excerpt from the book followed by the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Amalfi Curse by Sarah Penner”

#BookReview: Rescue Run by John Winn Miller

WWII Historical Fiction *Action* Book. *With A Bibliography*! Yes, you read that right. Not only do we get a kick ass action/ adventure tale set during WWII, but this one is so accurate that it actually has a bibliography longer than some nonfiction books I’ve read recently!

The tale itself, while technically a sequel, has enough in the story here to provide the necessary context to understanding this tale itself… *and* has a summary of book 1 at the back of the book, just before the bibliography, as well, for those that need it laid out a bit more explicitly and don’t mind being completely spoiled on Book 1. For those that would rather read Book 1 first… I haven’t read it, but if it is anything like this one you’re in for an awesome time and apparently you’ll be ready for this one pretty well as soon as you finish that one.

And what a tale it is! Yes, if you’re looking for *hyper* realism… you’re going to be disappointed. There are *several* times where in real life…. yeah, dead or in prison or in prison and then dead. But you don’t (shouldn’t) read action/ adventure tales for that level of realism, and the level of realism brought more generally, with the various units and locations and tech and such is on par with the best WWII era historical fiction tales I’ve come across.

With the running problem in booklandia of needing more male readers and with the “understanding” that once a male hits 40 he either becomes intently focused on WWII or on grilling… for those who, like me, went the WWII route (though admittedly I did it long before 40 due to both of my grandfathers serving in it), this book is going to be one those types of guys are truly going to enjoy.

But truly, if you’re into action tales and/ or historical fiction tales set in WWII, you too are going to find a lot to enjoy here, and I really do think this one will be something you’ll want to read as it brings a style not commonly seen much (if at all) anymore, and one which I believe needs to be celebrated just as much as the more women’s fiction oriented tales of the period. (Which are awesome in their own right, to be clear… but they’re also not this particular type of tale either, and I believe there is more than enough space on the digital shelves for both types of stories. 🙂 )

Very much recommended.

This review of Rescue Run by John Winn Miller was originally written on March 28, 2025.

#BookReview: What She’s Hiding by Art Bell

Noir Thriller Blend Legal Thriller Reminiscent of Early Grisham. I think the most recent of John Grisham’s books I’ve read was Bleachers, and that was *far* from a legal thriller of any form. But I read a lot of his earlier works (The Firm, The Chamber, The Runaway Jury, The Pelican Brief, etc) many years ago, and here Bell brings to mind a question of “What if Grisham had taken a more noir tone with those books?” I honestly think the answer to that question is that you’d get something remarkably similar to what Bell has created here.

If you’re more a fan of small town / low stress tales… this one isn’t for you. If you prefer spice levels akin to a warm glass of milk… you’re gonna get the vapors if you read this book, as its spice level is more akin to a jalapeno or so. Spicy enough to feel, without necessarily making your nose run like Niagara Falls.

Indeed, another decent comparison here – without the sheer brutality of that book – is Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, where both romance and thriller elements combine to make the tale as strong as it is, and with both thriller and romance elements being essential to the overall tale.

Except that, to be clear, this is no White Knight hero the way even John Clark is portrayed as. Bell went to great lengths to use a normal guy in a normal (ish) job as his central character here, and he does a great job of sticking to that ideal throughout this. So yes, our main guy is going to make mistakes. Things are going to be confusing and scary and awesome and nearly surreal at times… but that’s because *life* is all of those things at times, and Bell is committed to showing at least elements of all of this.

Overall a solid tale within its type that bends and breaks enough conventions or even rules as to be refreshing, while at the same time conforming to enough of them to be comfortable for fans of its types of tale.

Very much recommended.

This review of What She’s Hiding by Art Bell was originally written on March 9, 2025.

#BookReview: Bazaar by Miles Joyner

Pulse Pounding Thrill Ride With Non-Preachy Commentary. This is one of those books that *is* overtly political… *because it is dealing with political assassinations in and around Washington, DC*, among other topics. So while not all books are political and not all reading is political, this book absolutely is – though the act of reading and reviewing it is *not*.

Joyner’s background writing for the screen is evident here with his quick cuts to seemingly random groups of characters, which can be a bit hard to follow at first until you manage to get a grip on who everyone is, but at that point the story really does begin to flow quite readily.

And what a story it is. The action is relentless and seemingly non-stop, and yes, the aforementioned quick cuts actually help in this regard. The inventiveness of the reasonings, techniques, and tactics of both our bad guys and our good guys are truly something to behold – Joyner clearly has a lot of ideas here, and for the most part they tend to land exactly as desired.

There is quite a bit of class-based commentary baked into the flow of this story, though it never really becomes preachy and is even at such a level that trying to determine the author’s actual views are… not as clear as some would likely want them. For example, commentary on the dark web seems both technology-forward *and* pro-police. Similarly, commentary on class speaks to the lower classes *no matter* their race, and even points out how even some black characters would never face certain things in certain situations. And commentary about immigrants both shows their plight *and* cautions against the rise of illegal immigration. And yet every bit of this commentary is done well in-world and thus seems true to the characters taking each position as they take them, thus avoiding sounding preachy to the readers.

Overall truly an interesting book with a perspective and topic rarely seen in fiction.

Very much recommended.

This review of Bazaar by Miles Joyner was originally written on March 6, 2025.

#BookReview: Viper’s Den by J.M. LeDuc

Contains Most Brutal, Most Sadistic Scene I Have *EVER* Read. Truly Even Better Than Reacher. With this particular entry in the series, LeDuc takes Sinclair O’Malley places that Reacher has gone – and beats him! – *and* gives O’Malley a depth of character that Reacher will never obtain.

And yes, it is via the said most brutal, most sadistic scene I have ever read. I’ve read some dark, twisted shit over the years, including books with on screen child sexual abuse, rape, and other brutalities. *NEVER* have I encountered one book that had all of that… *in a single scene*. Truly the darkest, sickest, most twisted scene I have ever encountered across reading literally thousands of books across nearly every imaginable genre and niche out there… and yet LeDuc *absolutely* makes it work to further his character and finally more fully explain some of her own more brutal – excuse me, “direct” – methods.

Then there is the one scene in particular where O’Malley takes on one of my absolute *favorite* Reacher scenes in that entire franchise (and yes, I read them all until a book or two into the Andrew Child books)… and LeDuc outdoes Lee in even that type of scene. The scene here is different than the Reacher scene, but to be clear, the scene I’m talking about in Reacher is the sniping competition Reacher has with the militia leader in Die Trying, where Reacher pulls off a particularly impressive feat.

There’s a LOT going on in this book, and a LOT – even beyond the scene above – that will be disturbing for some people, including some blatant on screen racism deep in the book (from the bad guys, to be clear), but revealing some of this stuff gets deeper into spoiler territory than I feel is warranted in this review. (I have no problems mentioning the types of stuff in the scene above, mostly because I understand how deeply traumatizing that stuff can be even in one scene, and because it is *only* in the one scene and doesn’t really give away much else about the book. I also spoke in generalities that don’t even fully give away that particular scene. The other things I’m alluding to here are far more central to the book, and thus even mentioning them would be too much spoiler.)

This may well be the best book in the series to date – and likely absolutely is. But there is also a lot of backstory here that you need to read *at minimum* Book 4, Eastern Drift, to be prepared for, and really you should start at the beginning of this series and work your way to this book, if you haven’t yet. Trust me, the reward will absolutely be worth it, *and* this book sets up the future of the series very nicely.

Very much recommended.

This review of Viper’s Den by J.M. LeDuc was originally written on March 4, 2025.

#BookReview: The Gray Ghost by David Wood And Stephen John

Maddock AND Bones. Back Together! And Taking On A Civil War Mystery! This is what I love to see from Wood. Both Dane Maddock and Uriah ‘Bones’ Bonebrake back together again solving archaeological mysteries and kicking ass when needed.

The mystery – and adventure – here are awesome for this Son of the South who frequently notes how the Civil War is literally still visible in my home region between Atlanta and Chattanooga… and it isn’t even hard to find in that particular region. While this mystery starts in Virginia, it does in fact also find itself in a location I’ve been to a few times – even taken a date or two out there, *many* years ago. Atlanta’s Stone Mountain Park, home of the largest bas-relief sculpture in the world… and site of many anti-Confederacy protests over the years.

But even if you’re not from the Southern United States and haven’t grown up with this history all around you (as only certain regions of even the South have), the mystery here is still top-notch, and the action is even better. If you like say National Treasure, the 2000s era movie where Nic Cage steals the Declaration of Independence… now imagine Nic and his best friend are both former US Navy SEALs, with action – and danger – ramping up to challenge even them.

Ultimately this was the same type of dangerous (for the characters) yet fun (for the reader) action/ adventure tale that makes this series so excellent, and this was yet another truly great entry in this long running series.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Gray Ghost by David Wood and Stephen John was originally written on March 2, 2025.

#BookReview: Sleepwalker by Xander Weaver

Imagine Ted Dekker’s Circle Series… Without The Christian Allegory. Now toss in perhaps a dose of Jeremy Robinson or Douglas Adams, and you pretty well know exactly what to expect with this particular book.

You’ve got the man who goes to sleep in one world… and wakes in another (Circle series). You’ve got pretty damn insane amounts of balls to the wall action with a lot of inventive scifi aspects all over the place (Robinson). You’ve got jokes ranging from so subtle you barely pick them up all the way up to slap the stick upside your head slapstick comedy. (Robinson and Adams). You’ve even got a version of one particular late 90s movie going on to an extent… but revealing *which* movie gets into spoiler territory I’ll not go into. Suffice it to say that the parallels here are as obvious as the Dekker ones, and anyone who has seen this movie should easily recognize them.

And yet, Weaver still manages to craft a compelling tale uniquely his own, one full of both action and heart and one that will make you ponder things you may have pondered before, but in newer ways.

Yes, at 600+ pages this is a tome – but it is a fun one that tells a complete story and doesn’t really feel repetitive or that any scene/ group of scenes could be left out and still tell the same story with the same depth, so I would thus argue that it is exactly the right length. Even if it *is* my longest read of the year so far, and even if Weaver *did* forget to warn me about its length before I picked it up. And even if the base apparently real science underpinning the entire book does sound like something out of Idiocracy. 😉

Seriously, this is easily one of the more inventive scifi books you’re going to read this year, so if you like the scifi genre at all, you really need to pick up this book. If you like action at all, you need to pick up this book. Truly one of the early standouts of 2025.

Very much recommended.

This review of Sleepwalker by Xander Weaver was originally written on February 25, 2025.

#BookReview: The Poseidon Adventure by Paul Gallico

Aint No Way In Hell A Book-Accurate Movie Of This Tale Is Ever Made. There’s just too much that would cause people of most any era – even 1969 when this book was written – to walk out of the theater on. A few certain words beginning in “N”. A couple of uses of what was at least at one time British slang for a cigarette but which has largely meant something else entirely in the US. Repeated uses as a pejorative of a certain “Q” word that many now actively adopt as an identity. A rape where the victim then holds her rapist fondly *and wishes she is pregnant by him as the book closes*. (Literally, the last words of the book are this particular passage.) Possible statutory rape between a man in his 30s and a “girl”, as she is repeatedly described, who is clearly in the upper half of the teen years but whose age is never clearly established. Several racial stereotypes of varying ethnicities of varying shades of melanin, most all of which are now (in 2024) decried as racist. Even the smoking and drinking is frowned upon and/ or outright ostracized (in at least some circles) in 2024.

And yet… even the action is different than any of the movies, to a degree. For example, Gene Hackman’s character from the original 1972 movie? Yes, he falls into the water near the end, as he does in the movie (seriously, if you haven’t seen a 52 yr old movie by this point, that’s on you 😉 ) but unlike the movie, there are no flames involved in the book. Revealing other differences does involve true spoilers, so I won’t go there.

But if you’re a fan of the movies and can withstand all that I noted above (and more, really), absolutely read the book. The differences between book and movie add a *lot* more nuance to everything and everybody, even as they often take away from the action – and yet add in even more explicit horror/ gore than I’ve ever seen in any incarnation of the movies. (Even the rape scene starts as a seeming horror/ gore scene that is later, after the rape, explained away.)

So yeah, this book has a LOT of problems by 2024 standards and really even by 1969 standards. Read it anyway, if you can withstand those issues. If not, you’re not going to enjoy this, so truly, don’t bother.

Recommended. Particularly for fans of the movies.

This review of The Poseidon Adventure by Paul Gallico was originally written on December 31, 2024.