Tag: family

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#BookReview: The Secret Librarian by Soraya M. Lane

Tight-Set Story Packs Hefty Punches. This is one of those tight set stories where it isn’t a locked room, but the overall setting for much of the story isn’t more than a handful of buildings/ places seemingly separated by as many blocks – in other words, a lot tighter than many of Lane’s other historical fiction (always WWII based) stories, many of which span countries. Yes, a few scenes – notably in the beginning and ending of the tale – are set in other areas, but the vast bulk of the story takes place along a few key streets in Lisbon over a period of just a few weeks or so, thus using the location and time as an effective way to increase both the tension and the suspense of the tale.

Yet again, Lane takes great care to craft fictional yet also all too realistic characters with all too common backstories and motivations, place them in very real situations within WWII, and allow us, her readers, the chance to see how these situations very likely played out in all-too-real manners for our parents/ grandparents/ great grandparents. (Yes, it is hard to believe that that era is now great and in some cases even great-great grandparents, but that is the nature of time. 😉 )

While not as harrowing as some of Lane’s more recent historical fiction novels and by no means a spy-thriller ala Ludlum’s Bourne books, this is also a solid spy drama showcasing intelligence gathering by atypical people in completely typical situations, and Lane does a solid job of showing just how much people of this era were willing to and ultimately did sacrifice for the good of all.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Secret Librarian by Soraya M. Lane was originally written on August 8, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen

Solid Family/ Psychological Drama/ Suspense. This tale takes the concept of twins – always interesting to me given that my grandfather was a twin and two of my nieces are twins – and spins a solid psychological/ suspense family drama in and around them in ways that are unfortunately all too realistic in at least some circles in the Southern US.

This is a richly complex tale with a lot going on, even as it has only a few central character and only two primary viewpoints – that of both of the twins. One twin is written in a manner that reads a touch unusually, which can be a problem for some readers, but I thought that view written in that manner actually worked quite well for the story being presented here. The other twin uses a more standard writing style and should pose little difficulty for most readers.

Overall one of the more rare and inventive ways to tell this type of tale I’ve come across, both io the use of twins and in the overall setting involved – the titular locked ward. Pekkanen easily has a solid hit here – I’m not sure that I would quite call it a home run, particularly given the struggles some will have reading the one twin, but I would absolutely call this a solid stand up double. (A baseball analogy, in case it wasn’t clear from the “home run” bit. What can I say, I *am* a dude. :D)

Very much recommended.

This review of The Locked Ward by Sarah Pekkanen was originally written on August 4, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Last Letter Of Rachel Ellsworth

Strong Travel/ Foodie / Found Family Drama Shoots Itself In The Foot. This is one of those books where everyone is flawed – and it tells a remarkable story *because* of this, not in spite of it. So if you’re a reader where at least one character has to be some level of perfect for you to enjoy the book…. I tell you here and now you’re not going to like this one. So save O’Neal yet another 2 star or lower review because you’ve been warned right here, right now that this isn’t your kind of tale.

For the rest of us flawed humans, this is actually a remarkable tale of picking yourself back up – and finding some fortuitous help along the way to help you do that. And yes, those people are going to be flawed too, and you may actually get a chance to help them even as they help you… hey! isn’t that how friendships and families are *supposed* to work? Have so many of us been so damaged by modern life that we’ve forgotten this? Or is it the idealized world of booklandia that is just too perfect? Regardless, O’Neal ignores the perfection of people in pursuit of the perfection of story, and she does a truly remarkable job here. One of her books, The Art Of Inheriting Secrets, was the first Advance Review Copy review I posted on my then brand new blog when I started it all the way back in July 2018, and it has been a true pleasure reading her most every year since. Of those I’ve read in that time, this is easily in the upper half in terms of depth of emotion evoked and pure joy of reading.

As a foodie and travel romp, this story also works quite well. While we don’t get the steaks or *ahem* Rocky Mountain oysters *ahem* of Colorado, once the story starts traveling beyond the US, we wind up in a few different countries and a few different cafes within each, and the food honestly sounds phenomenal. I hope O’Neal had recipes for these fictional dishes, because I absolutely want my wife to try to make some of them for me. No, I’m not joking about this at all. That is how lovely and visceral O’Neal makes these scenes. Also the traveling itself, at times making deliberate choices within the story to slow down and not just jet-set all over the place, to take the time and really embrace the place you’re in (or, more accurately, where we find the characters in that scene… warts and all.

But I did mention that for all the praise I’ve heaped on this book – deservedly – it shot itself in the foot too, right? Well, to discuss that part absolutely goes into spoiler territory, and since the various places I post these reviews don’t always have good spoiler tags, let’s play it this way, shall we?

And now… the spoilers. DO NOT READ BELOW HERE IF YOU DO NOT WANT SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Giving.
People.
Who.
Don’t.
Want.
To.
Be.
Spoiled.
Time.
To.
Leave.

Ok, at this point I’ve given everyone’s eyes a chance to leave before you read what I say next, so HERE COME THE SPOILERS.

The blatant mistake O’Neal makes is that she allows her utter disdain for one particular type of tool to come through the page of the text here as much as her love of food and travel does. She didn’t need to use a mass shooting to achieve the character dynamics she has here, *many* other things would have worked just as well or perhaps even better. Not even that ‘perhaps’, as using this particular vehicle and using it the particular way O’Neal does will actively turn people off across the political spectrum for a variety of reasons, and many particularly pro-gun people will likely want to defenestrate the book from the highest available window. (But don’t. Read the book anyway, because it *is* a particularly strong tale even with this – it could simply have been *so much more* without it.)

Also, she kills a dog. Come on. That is a *complete* throwaway that was 100% an unforced error, and *nobody* likes killing dogs – at least nobody that most of society wants anything to do with. Again, there were other ways to achieve the same results as far as characterizations. You didn’t have to kill the dog.

Yet neither of these are truly objective criticisms – there are many who don’t like guns and will share O’Neal’s disdain for them, who will thus praise her for using them the way she did, and like I mentioned, *some* absolute idiots don’t mind killing dogs. But is that *really* a crowd you want to *market into*???? Still, because they weren’t even approaching objective criticism, I couldn’t really allow myself to deduct one or even multiple stars for it – yet it *did* need to be mentioned in this review, if deep within a spoiler coded section.

And.
Now.
We.
Come.
Back.
Out.
Of.
The.
Spoilers.

Ultimately, this was a fun, if deep and emotional as well, book that did a lot of things right… and then shot itself in the foot. Maybe even both feet.

But you, oh reader of my review, give it a read yourself, then let us know your own thoughts wherever you are reading mine. I’d love to see what you think, even if it is just a few words. Reviews don’t need to be long – really only about as many words as the first sentence of this paragraph – and can truly just be “I did (not, if applicable) like this book because (insert a reason here).” You only need 24 words to be accepted everywhere I currently know of, and I just gave you 6 of them (or 7 if you didn’t like it). *Anyone* can come up with an additional 18 words. Particularly if you’ve just finished reading a near 400 page book. 🙂

Very much recommended.

This review of The Last Letter Of Rachel Ellsworth by Barbara O’Neal was originally written on August 2, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Miner’s Myth by Russell W. Johnson

Solid Conclusion With One Significant Flaw. As a conclusion of a trilogy, this story works *extremely* well. We get a contained story here that is on par with the other books, yet we also get closure for each of our main characters and answers about the overall mythos established in the earlier books as well. Yes, for fans of books having every possible plot thread tied into a nice little bow before “THE END”… this trilogy is “officially” for you.

Which means that by its very nature, this book was always going to be rather explosive, and it absolutely lives up to that. Johnson, a lawyer before becoming a published author, manages to bring us into a courtroom… well, like a seasoned lawyer should be able to. 😉 But seriously, he actually exposes what the process of a Grand Jury can be like, particularly through the viewpoint of someone testifying about charges the prosecutor is trying to level against the person testifying. This drives a significant part of the book, and is done quite well… mostly.

The significant flaw here is that interspersed with the Grand Jury testimony, we get flashbacks to the events at hand. Rather than staying in the courtroom, we flash back and see the events as they actually unfold. Which is awesome, to a degree – show me, don’t tell me, right? Yet even with my Autistic brain (some may argue *because of* my Autistic brain if they don’t notice this issue 😉 ), the actual manner in which we go between courtroom and flashback is a bit jarring and at times even fairly difficult to ascertain which timeline we’re currently in. Yes, there are a few clues, but with the way the testimony is written… at certain points it could truly feel like you’re in either one.

And yet the story overall really is richly layered, really on par with the movie version of For Love Of The Game, wherein there also we get a “real time” event and glimpses of what led to that moment as the moment plays out. (Except that doesn’t actually happen in the book form of that tale, btw. This is absolutely one case where the movie form of the tale is *so* much stronger.) Indeed, it is this rich layering that makes the Grand Jury scenes pop as much as they do, as well really begin to see how Mary Beth thinks in ways we didnt get even in the first couple of books here.

All of this noted… with this trilogy, each book really does build on the one before it, so go pick up Moonshine Messiah, book 1, first. Then work your way up through this book. If you like kick ass action and cops who aren’t afraid to at least test the boundaries… you’re going to love this entire series.

When you read it, make sure you leave a review wherever you see this one. It doesn’t have to be anywhere near as long as this one, it doesn’t even actually have to be as long as this sentence. But no matter how verbose or brief you may be and no matter your opinion of the book, it will help the book sell. Even if you absolutely *hate* the book and think Johnson is a complete idiot, some will agree with you… and some (to be clear, I’ll tell you right now I’ll be in this camp 😉 ) will think you’re the idiot and buy the book to spite your “negative” review. Thus, either way, reviews help sell books. So please, write one, no matter your thoughts on the book. If the trilogy sells well, maybe we’ll get another series from Johnson. Which would be awesome, based on how good a storyteller he proved to be in this trilogy.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Miner’s Myth by Russell W. Johnson was originally written on July 31, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Devil She Didn’t Know by Laura Drake

Excellent And Atypical Examination Of Serial Killers And Their Relationships. When I first met Drake, several years ago now, she was a cowboy romance author. Seriously, that was the first several books of hers I read, and they were all excellent. More recently, she started turning in a more women’s fiction direction, and here she proved that she really has a knack for making rooms quite dusty whenever she wants to execute on such a scene.

With this book, she pivots slightly to create a women’s fiction tale… centered on a serial killer, given the recent fad of books involving that topic. (Even as I’ve just in the last couple of days seen data that serial killer activity apparently peaked in the 1980s and has dramatically declined since then in the real world, fwiw.)

Here though, Drake does a truly excellent job taking a tack I’ve never seen before: What happens when you’ve been married to a guy for decades, borne his children, and *then* find out he not only *is* a serial killer, but that he has actively been killing people throughout your marriage? How does this affect you both in practical terms and mentally, relationally, and socially? How does it affect your kids, particularly your teenage son who is old enough to both be cognizant of what is going on and be affected in his own relationships and social structures?

Drake applies her usual skill and remarkable storytelling abilities to craft a truly intriguing and insightful look at just how someone could really work through exactly these things, and in making it all too real, allows the rest of us to safely examine one nightmare we hope we never have to actually live out.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Devil I Didn’t Know by Laura Drake was originally written on July 29, 2025.

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#BookReview: Hot To Go by Kristen Bailey

Hilarious And Spicy Beach Read Romance. I don’t normally proclaim a book to be a “beach read” as by definition, *any* book you bring to read on a beach is a “beach read”, and I don’t know what books every reader is bringing to every beach for all of known humanity, thus I can’t possibly proclaim what a “beach read” is.

That noted, this is *absolutely* a book I could personally envision myself or many others enjoying at a warm beach (again, not all beaches are warm – anywhere sufficiently north or south on the globe yet along a large body of water will have a beach that will be cold) or perhaps poolside on a warm day or perhaps even on a cruise in some warm location. The reason being the two parts (of 5) of the book that travel specifically to warm Spanish locations – Mallorca and Seville, where the warmer-than-the-British-Isles location actually plays a role in how some of the events come to be.

Now, for those wanting a *quick* read… this aint that. This book clocks in at nearly 400 pages, and it takes nearly 100 of them to get to Part II – after Mallorca. For those less interested – for whatever reason – in the day to day banalities of being a K12 classroom teacher… know that this book deals fairly significantly with these in the back 2/3 of the book, as that is one of the drivers of the rest of the tale – the couple from Mallorca find themselves working down the hall from each other in a school, in the same department. (In the description so not a spoiler, btw. :D)

For those readers who can barely tolerate a warm glass of milk spice wise, know that this tale is somewhere between a Habanero and a Ghost chili – you’re *going* to see and feel it, and you might come to regret all that you saw and felt. Which is actually where some (much?) of the comedy comes in, particularly in Mallorca and to a lesser extent back in Seville. The London and Paris sections were seemingly relatively less “spicy” and it was within these sections that we get a lot more of the non-physical drama and romance.

Overall I thought this was particularly well done, even at its length. The romance was enough to be both playful and heartfelt. The spice was enough that you may want either your partner or a towel – no shaming here – nearby. The comedy was everywhere from chuckles to damn near literally “I can’t read right now because I’m literally rolling on the floor laughing so hard my gut may well explode and my ass may literally fall off”. And for those reading this because the title is apparently a Chappell Roan song? No idea there. The most recent music I regularly listen to is now seemingly at least 15 yrs old, with newer stuff from John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Alan Silvestri, and a few other film composers thrown in along with the *occasional* random find on Spotify. Let’s face it, you’re coming to me for *book* recommendations, not music recommendations. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of Hot To Go by Kristen Bailey was originally written on July 28, 2025.

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#BookReview: Now And Then by Kay Bratt

A Living Example Of “If It Sells”. This is yet another solid entry into this now long-ish series, but again one that you really need to read at minimum the book immediately prior to it, as some of the situations we find ourselves in within these pages were set up in that prior book. (And if I remember correctly, I said the same thing about *that* book…) Best advice… if you are new to this series, just start at the beginning. If you like that one, know that the entire series (to date, at minimum) is very much like it in overall style and tone, so if you like that one… congratulations, you’ve now got 12 more books (and counting, but we’ll get to that) to read!

Long time fans… well, it is already official on the book trackers: Book 14 is in fact coming, and is in fact set up in *this* book. (So the next review will *also* note “well, some of the things here were set up there…” 😉 )

And that gets to the title of the review, which I do want to briefly discuss here. This is a series that Bratt outright said she only intended to go for a few books or so. I don’t remember the exact number, but it was around half or less of what we now have. Then at least once and maybe twice, she also noted she was thinking of ending the series. But damn it, the books keep selling, and Bratt has a lot of very good uses for the money, including her growing family (her youngest daughter being about to give her a new grandbaby any day now as I write this review) and her long time animal rescue work.

I for one am in no way complaining, as this series in particular *just works*. The crimes are all too real, mostly because they’re all based on actual, real world crimes that Bratt has heard of and fictionalized. The family at the heart of the series is all too real, particularly for its region, and is in a near perfect sweet spot such that it is relatable for nearly everyone. The romance is that softly understated nature that works so comfortably, the cursing is rare if ever, the “spice” is about as hot as a warm glass of milk (sorry, carolina reaper lovers), and even the parts where you begin to go “did she *really* have to add *that* in” work out to be pretty evenly balanced. *Everyone* has flaws, and most everyone are just trying to live their lives as best they can. This isn’t Mayberry… but it could easily be a slightly more real, 2020s era facsimile. And hell, sometimes we need Mayberry. I’ve long said I would prefer Sheriff Andy to Judge Dredd any day. 😉

Very much recommended.

This review of Now And Then by Kay Bratt was originally written on July 24, 2025.

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#BookReview: Florida Palms by Joe Pan

Update The Outsiders To 2009 ish Florida And You Have This Book. Seriously, this is one case where the publisher got the first line of the description (at least as it exists on publication day) 100% spot on. While there is perhaps more here than many will be comfortable with allowing even in high schools, much less younger ages, this is also absolutely a book that should be at least on the recommended lists for college level ENGL courses.

Speaking of things that are perhaps a touch rough for younger readers – and that many adults prefer not to read themselves, let’s dispense with a bit of a listing here: the entire damn book centers around a drug gang and the relationships within it and on its boundaries. There is a fair amount of sex – not erotica level, and really more “fade to black” than anything, but still, more than most will be comfortable with particularly younger readers being exposed to. The violence is at least as intense as The Outsiders, but with a more gun focus rather than the 50s era knives and fists. There are also some rather graphic and disturbing scenes of hunting, including hunting endangered animals that have only recently been brought back from the brink of full extinction through much human effort.

Aside from the above though, this really is quite a strong book. Yes, at least as strong as Hinton’s famous masterpiece – though one presumes Pan would prefer to have a follow up that gets as much acclaim as the first. Based on what we have here, this reader in particular would love to see what Pan can do when he *doesn’t* have a lifetime building up to this day – the day I write this review being release day of the book, despite having had it for several months. It happens to be my 98th completed read this year, and I’ve read 134 books since picking this one up from NetGalley on November 30, 2024.

At nearly 500 pages, this book doesn’t *quite* qualify as a “tome”, yet is also nearly 50% longer than most books even I read, and certainly one of the longer non-scifi/ fantasy books I’ve read. Looking back in my records, I’ve only read 8 books longer than this one that were neither nonfiction nor scifi/ fantasy since my spreadsheet began at the beginning of 2019. But perhaps you’re a reader that prefers such longer books. In which case, you’re going to love this one. If you’re a reader that generally prefers shorter-than-this books… well, I still thought this one worked well even with its length, and I urge you to give it a try. Either way, if you do read it, make sure you leave your own review and let us all know what you thought of the length here. 🙂

Again, for me this was absolutely a strong debut, truly a modernized Outsiders – which is high praise, as I, like so many Americans, truly cherish that story – and is thus…

Very Much Recommended.

This review of Florida Palms by Joe Pan was originally written on July 22, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Lake Escape by Jamie Day

Complex Web Of Secrets. You’re in your 30’s/ 40’s or so – old enough to have mid teen kids yourself – and you’ve been going to the same lake houses for literally decades at this point with the same neighbor families, so you’ve effectively grown up with these people. Considered them close friends. Perhaps even family. You know you know them.

But do you? Do they know you? Do you as a collective know all the secrets the lake – or even the houses you’ve come to all these years – may hold?

You have your secrets. They have theirs. The lake has its.

All is about to be revealed…

(Yeah, yeah. I don’t normally do a version of a description for a review, but seriously, *for this book*, I think the above is largely the best way to do the review. There are elements here that some will love and some will hate – there are a lot of characters and at least a few different narrators here, and the book takes over 350 pages to tell a somewhat simple (at a high level at least) tale. Breakneck action, this is not. But it *was* a *really* good tale of relatable friends and family… even when some of them are pretty open scumbags. The tale is rather dark, and there are no white knights to be had here. Just a group of people doing the best they can in rather interesting and stressful situations. So give this book a chance, read it, and write your own review and let us know what *you* thought about it.)

Very much recommended.

This review of The Lake Escape by Jamie Day was originally written on July 16, 2025.

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#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.