Tag: historicalfiction

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#BookReview: Call Of The Camino by Suzanne Redfearn

In The Running For Best Book Of 2025. I’ve read some strong books this year, even a couple this month alone. This is easily right up there in contention for the best of the best. But it could very well be a “me” thing, to a degree.

You see, while this book is all about the roughly 450 mile Camino de Santiago in Spain (and specifically its traditional “French Way”), it also has the vibes of the stories of a far longer trail I am much more familiar with and somewhat connected to – the nearly 2200 mile long Appalachian Trail that begins in the mountains I grew up in the foothills of in northern Georgia outside Atlanta and ends in the wilds of Maine. Many years ago (enough to constitute a few decades ago), I too intended to strike out on my own to conquer that particular trail, as it represented the ultimate challenge to me at the time. Life happened and instead of spending the latter half of my 18th year hiking, I was already deep into my collegiate career and indeed that very summer taking steps that would allow me to come into my own and find myself within the college ecosystem as much as the Trail would have allowed me to do the same within its ecosystem. All these years later, I still hear the call of the Appalachian Trail at times… but I’m now a middle aged fat ass that would take a significant training investment to even last the approach to the trail at Springer Mountain in Georgia. These days, I couldn’t even make it up trails I *did* hike all those years ago at the beginning of that approach.

But back to Redfearn’s book, now that you know that bit of history about *me*.

With part of this book being set in 1997 and featuring a then-17 year old character setting out on this adventure as an escape from a rural setting for… reasons… and with the history above happening in my own life circa 1997 at its peak (when I was just 14 years old), you can very easily see how easily I found myself identifying with one of our two female lead characters. I’d never heard of the Camino de Santiago until I saw Redfearn mentioning it on social media (presumably around the time she began actively working on this book) along with another author (Boo Walker, iirc, who spent time living in Spain) also mentioning this trail at some point. But the way Redfearn describes it here, in both the practical and the near mystical, is truly eerily similar to the tales of the Appalachian Trail.

Redfearn does indeed note that she did actually walk this trail, and that experience shines through vividly in this tale. (Including one particular character being based on a person she actually encountered on the trail… but read the book and its Author’s note to find out what happened there. 😉 ) She really does a truly phenomenal job of highlighting both the hard realities of a trek of hundreds of miles, both logistically and on the human body, while at the same time showing just how transformative such an endeavor is on the human psyche and just how much it truly changes lives.

Read this book. Absorb this book. Feel the magic of Redfearn’s words and how transformative this undertaking clearly was for her as she creates this fictional version of the Camino that even as fiction is yet also all too real.

Then write your own review of it. Let the rest of us know how you felt about it. (Though yes, I will absolutely condemn you to a day of minor irritation if you 1 or 2 star this book over some bullshit personal hangup like “it mentioned AI!!!”, but still, I absolutely want to see your own reaction to this book even if it is that level of bullshit… mostly so I can see how many others saw the same magic here I did. 🙂 )

After you’ve written your review… maybe consider going for even a mile hike in a local park. Get out in nature and the sun. I know I’ve been inspired here to make it a point to begin moving more and get away from my desk more, and hey, audiobooks exist in part for exactly that. 😉

Very much recommended.

This Review Of Call Of The Camino by Suzanne Redfearn was originally written on September 30, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Shark House by Sara Ackerman

Beautiful Anti-Jaws. In a sense, this book is the anti-Jaws intended to take everything ugly about Jaws (including its New England setting, sorry Yankees) and make it more vivid and beautiful, with a far stronger emotional component to boot.

Now, admittedly I haven’t read the Peter Benchley original book (yet), but this year *is* the 50th anniversary of the movie that effectively created the Summer Blockbuster out of thin air, and yes, I’ve seen the movie more than a few times (and ridden the former ride at Universal Orlando, may it rest in peace). Stupid Harry Potter. (No, Rowling is awesome. I just hate that Universal decided to rip out Jaws to insert a new HP land. Almost as much as I hate that they took away Dueling Dragons in Islands of Adventure to put in Hagrid’s rollercoaster.) Wait. Wait. Back to the Ackerman’s book.

Seriously though, Ackerman flipped the script from New England (boo! hiss!) to the beautiful Hawaiian waters (yay!), gave us a compelling and complicated shark scientist lead character, truly makes us see the beauty of both Hawaii (as she always does in her books) and sharks, …

Wait. She makes us see the beauty in *sharks*? Those apex predators who are nothing but man eating living torpedos that lurk silently and randomly attack humans? Yeah, well, Ackerman actually has solid in-story rebuttals to all of that, and she works it in without being preachy but instead having her characters truly be in awe of the majesty of the sharks and seeking to understand them.

Combining elements of real-world Hawaiian anti-“mainlander” racism and magical realism to great effect both comedically and in key moments in the story, Ackerman brings in elements of Hawaiian culture in this book I’d never seen her bring in before, and looking at her catalog, I’ve now read 75% of it – the last six of her nine published books. (And I’m fairly sure I have the other three on my Kindle as I type this review.)

Indeed, it is the magical realism elements here that perhaps shine the brightest in the biggest moments of the book and help elevate the book from “just a Jaws clone” to more of a “Moana-esque epic celebration of family and culture”.

Or maybe I’m just completely seeing all of this wrong and being an absolute idiot here. Once this book releases less than two weeks into 2026, make sure to read it for yourself and write your own review. Feel free to call me out on anything you feel I got wrong here. As long as you’re actually writing a review, I’ll gladly take the hit. 🙂

Very much recommended.

This review of The Shark House by Sara Ackerman was originally written on September 23, 2025.

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#BookReview: The Guest In Room 120 by Sara Ackerman

Intriguing ‘What If’? Particularly with the author’s note at the end, where Ackerman notes that her motivation for this book was to try to resolve the mystery behind Mrs. Stanford’s death, this book feels most like a phenomenal book most of y’all have never heard of – The Last At-Bat Of Shoeless Joe by Granville Wyche Burgess. The key difference being that Ackerman admits she created a character to blame the death on, while Burgess actively dug into the scandal and claims to have unearthed new real-world evidence that definitively exonerates Shoeless Joe Jackson of the Black Sox scandal.

This noted, for what this book actually is, it will absolutely put you back into Mrs. Stanford’s last days both in California and in Hawaii, where all of Ackerman’s books (at least every one I’ve ever read, including her January 2026 release The Shark House (review will be written shortly after I finish writing this one)) are set. The story is full of Ackerman’s usual attention to detail of the specific time period of Hawaiian history that her central mystery actually took place in, and really makes the reader long for the Hawaii of old rather than the hyper-touristy destination it can be at times and in places today. (Which is only going to get worse with Carnival Cruise Line resuming cruises from Los Angeles to the Hawaiian islands in the coming years.)

One of the more interesting things about this tale that I’ve never seen Ackerman do is the addition of the novelist character and the discussions on writing novels… which always seem like the author inserting meta-commentary about their own views and practices, even when they’re actively creating a character they actively oppose with every fiber of their being. (As Dale Brown once somewhat infamously did in Warrior Class with the introduction of President Thomas Nathaniel Thorn over 20 years ago now.)

Between the turn of the 20th century timeline and the 21st century timeline, there really are two compelling stories that do in fact eventually sync up to some degree… and the damn cat nearly steals every scene it is in. Seriously, this cat will make even dog lovers want to at least consider have a cat adopt them.

Overall truly a strong book of its type, one that will absolutely leave you questioning the official narrative of Mrs. Stanford’s death – even with the introduction of the fictionalized killer.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Guest In Room 120 by Sara Ackerman was originally written on September 23, 2025.

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#BookReview: Before We Say Goodbye by Boo Walker

Quite Possibly Walker’s Best Yet. I’ve been reading Walker’s books for several years now, finding him with An Unfinished Journey, which was apparently his next book after the Red Mountain saga. Because of my own reading schedule – 90% of which, including Unfinished Journey and every other book from Walker I’ve read, including this one, is Advance Review Copy based – I haven’t had a chance to go back and read that saga yet.

With this book… I *really* need to. Not because I needed it in order to understand this book, quite the opposite. This book is *so* compelling and *so* well told that it really makes you feel for Mr. Otis Till and all that he has gone through – stuff that apparently is largely history by the beginning of the Red Mountain books, as this is his “origin” story and apparently he is a key player in the rest of the saga.

Told in a dual timeline manner with a touch of the supernatural/ magical realism, this is one of those books that uses those components well enough that even people who claim to not like any book that uses them – and yes, I’ve seen some of those types of readers over the years – shouldn’t have any difficulty with this book and indeed, I would even go so far as to say that if you allow yourself to miss this book because of your own hangups on those types of issues, you’re doing yourself a great disservice and missing out on a truly terrific book.

This is one of those tales that so very many men can relate to – the same type of story that made The Greatest Showman so truly spectacular. A man struggling to attain his life’s desires, finding it… and finding what really matters after all. Many of us have either been there or are somewhere along that path and can identify all too well with these desires, and Walker captures that struggle across the decades *perfectly*.

And yet there is more than enough here for female readers as well, as we see how Till first meets the love of his life and how she shapes the life they lead together across all the years they have left together… and then some.

Those looking for ghost pepper level spice won’t find that here, but also those looking for no more spice than a warm glass of milk may get quite red in the cheeks at times, or perhaps even get the vapors. There is nothing here that I would hesitate at all to put in front of a mid-teen or so, though it is likely a bit much for those younger than that. (To be fair, it is also one that those younger than that won’t be able to relate to as much either, but most any adult should be able to relate all too well to.)

Truly quite likely Walker at his absolute best to date, this is one that both makes me want to go back and read the Red Mountain Saga… and hope that there are more books in this particular series forthcoming.

Very much recommended.

This review of Before We Say Goodbye by Boo Walker was originally written on August 28, 2025.

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#BookReview: Good Grief by Sara Goodman Confino

Appropriately Weighty Look At Life After Loss. This historical fiction novel set in 1960s era Maryland – which plays a role in both some of the story and in some of the things that happen herein, and thus why it is worth mentioning – really does a rather terrific job of giving an appropriate amount of weight to moving on after the death of a spouse. It has its moments of comedy, as all life should, but it is far from a comedy book. It has its moments of utter despair, as life truly does, but it isn’t a super heavy book either.

Instead, Confino finds that near perfect balance between the two and uses both to show how life sucks at times – but there is also hope and joy to be found. There is peace. Moving on is *so* hard – but it *is* doable, and ultimately must be done.

As seems common across Confino’s books (now having read this one and 2024’s Behind Every Good Man), bigotry towards Jews in that era and their experiences coming out of not just Germany but also Russia and Eastern Europe in the years not-then-distant, do in fact play a role here, and Confino does an excellent job making these situations realistic without going into preachy territory. Similarly, once again this book is a celebration of all things Jewish as they relate to the time and place at hand in all its shades of good and not so great, from celebrating various cultural practices to discussions of the then-still-happening creation of suburbia and its implications for this specific cultural community.

But ultimately the true heart of this tale is family – a very specifically and intentionally Jewish family, yet still a family that anyone can relate to on that level. And it absolutely works. Most adults are going to have living parents that sometimes exasperate them. They’re going to have at least one in-law that can sometimes be difficult or meddling. (For what its worth, I got particularly lucky there. Seriously, my mother in law is damn near a saint, and my father in law is a fellow tech geek that I can nerd out with about tech any time. 🙂 ) They’re going to have kids that have their own lives and needs and wants – and grandparents that spoil them and have their own attitudes about how said kids should be raised. They’re going to have friends and pets and neighbors and people they know by sight because they’re always in the school pick up line or the grocery store or what have you at the same time. They’re going to have work colleagues that are amazing and work colleagues that are… let’s go with “not so amazing” ;). And all of this is here, making this book have that much more life and making it feel that much more real.

And when we get into the endgame here… well, it aint “Avengers! Assemble.”, but instead hits more along the lines of “My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I *am* the President.”. (An ancient reference and yet a damn fine movie with several excellent points in its climactic speech even ignoring the more explicitly partisan and plot based points.) In other words, you may be tempted to cheer out loud. I encourage you to do so, even in a library. If the librarian shushes you, tell them that this reviewer told them to shush, that this book needed that at that moment and that more importantly, you needed to do it in that moment. And yet, in the end, for all the bombast and comedy, it really is the quieter moments that really make this book everything that it is.

Very much recommended.

This review of Good Grief by Sara Goodman Confino was originally written on August 16, 2025.

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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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#BlogTour: The Paris Promise by Suzanne Kelman

For this blog tour, we’re looking at . For this blog tour, we’re looking at The Paris Promise by Suzanne Kelman.

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

Superb Tale Of Survival And Love Offers Hope For Modern Era. This is one of those dual timeline WWII historical fiction tales that manages to create a solid amount of survival tension without ever actually going into the concentration camps… and is rare in that it offers a fair amount of modern day hope as well.

The timelines here are each done particularly well, with tension ratcheting up throughout the book in each as hints are placed and ultimately secrets are revealed, and the timelines manage to play into each other in more than the usual ways – very nearly to what I hold as the ultimate visual in the dual-timeline approach, that of the final fight in the movie Frequency and in particular *that* sequence. Kelman never goes anywhere near there really, yet also manages to very nearly create the same effect in the reader’s mind at one point.

Overall simply a superbly crafted, multi layered story that offers pointers for the modern era without ever being preachy about them at all – simply using its own story to show some things that we may consider more broadly, should we so choose. And yes, we very much should take these things to heart in reality, if we truly seek to avoid the horrors shown (and not shown so directly) here.

Very much recommended.

After the jump, the “publisher details” – book info, description, author bio, social links, and buy links.
Continue reading “#BlogTour: The Paris Promise by Suzanne Kelman”

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#BookReview: The Girls Of Good Fortune by Kristina McMorris

Poetic And Compelling. Usually, if a book uses a lot of flowery language and descriptions, it tends to bog the book down quite heavily. Here, McMorris actually manages to flip that script and use such poetic prose to *lift* material that is otherwise quite heavy indeed.

The entire book is essentially about the perils faced by both Chinese immigrants and indeed poor people generally on the US West Coast at the nadir of the 19th century, and McMorris does a wonderful job of transporting the reader to that place and time throughout the book.

The dual timeline yet single character approach is rare and useful here in creating tension in the reader, and yes, the timelines do eventually converge.

Overall a rare look at an often glossed over or even outright ignored period of American history, and McMorris manages to pluck it out of relative obscurity and tell a powerful tale set in all of that era’s realities – both good and bad.

Very much recommended.

This review of The Girls Of Good Fortune by Kristina McMorris was originally written on May 19, 2025.

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#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 / 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”

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#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.