Readers' Favorite Reviewer Gives Browder Novel 5 Stars

Dark Knowledge

by Clifford Browder

Author's blog

Genre: historical fiction, action/adventure

ISBN: 978-1-68114-367-5

Available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Reviewed by Gisela Dixon originally for Readers' Favorite

5 Stars

Dark Knowledge by Clifford Browder is a historical fiction novel set in New York around the American Civil War era. Dark Knowledge is the story of Chris Harmony and his search for his family’s roots and secrets. Chris is a young man who has always been proud of and inspired by his family that has been in the shipping industry for the last three generations. After Chris’s father passes away, he comes across a chest with old shipping papers that motivate him to research and write about his family’s history, which he had been told was one of glory on the sea. However, as soon as his uncle hears of the plan, he tries to steal the chest. Chris manages to hold on to the chest and with the help of his sister, Sal, starts uncovering a wealth of lies and the ugly reality that his family, for generations, has in fact been involved in the slave trade and human trafficking of African-Americans. This is the story of Chris and his quest for the truth, with many surprises and twists and turns along the way.

I enjoyed reading Dark Knowledge and Clifford Browder definitely managed to recreate the vibe and feel of that era so that I could almost smell the salty sea air and feel myself transported to that period. The characters are very well drawn, and in addition to Chris and Sal, who are fantastic, all of the other family members, former ship captains, etc. also have their own flavor and personalities. Sal is shown to be a smart and capable woman which I appreciated. But most of all, this is Chris’s story and Clifford Browder succeeds in highlighting the horrors of slavery through this book. This is great read!

MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Clifford Browder is the author of historical novels and nonfiction relating to New York City. His blog is No Place for Normal: New York . He loves this quotation by T. S. Eliot: Humankind cannot bear very much reality.  And he signs his e-mail, "Geezers rock.   C.H. Browder." 

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Novel by Clifford Browder Set in New York City

Title: Dark Knowledge

Author: Clifford Browder

Genre: Historical fiction

Paperback: 234 pages

ISBN: 978-1-68114-367-5

Do Black Lives Matter?

 SYNOPSIS

Young Chris Harmony thinks so when, learning that members of his family may have been involved in the pre-Civil War slave trade, he determines to learn the truth.  He tells his story in Dark Knowledge, a historical novel by Clifford Browder released by Anaphora Literary Press on January 5.  The story is set in late 1860s New York.

Chris’s investigation takes him into elegant brownstone parlors, a dingy waterfront saloon, and musty old maritime records that reveal startling secrets.  Since those once involved in the trade fear exposure, he meets denials and evasions, then threats, and finally a murder.  Chris is haunted by vivid fantasies of the suffering slaves on the ships and their savage revolts.  How could seemingly respectable people be involved in so abhorrent a trade, and what stratagems did they use to avoid exposure?  And what price must Chris pay to learn the painful truth and proclaim it?

This is the third title in Browder’s Metropolis series of historical novels set in nineteenth-century New York.  Surprised to learn that New York City was the center of the North Atlantic slave trade in the years just before the Civil War, Browder researched the subject at the New York Public Library and the New York Historical Society library, using primary sources whenever possible.
  

The other novels in the Metropolis series are The Pleasuring of Men (Gival Press, 2011), about a young man who chooses to become a male prostitute, and Bill Hope: His Story (Anaphora Literary Press, 2017), in which a street kid turned pickpocket relates his adventurous life.  Browder is also the author of two biographies; a critical study of the French Surrealist poet André Breton; andNo Place for Normal: New York / Stories from the Most Exciting City in the World (Mill City Press, 2015), a selection of posts from his blog that won the Tenth Annual National Indie Excellence Award for Regional Non-Fiction, and first-place in the Travel category of the 2015-2016 Reader Views Literary Awards.  He invites his friends and fans to read his fiction and nonfiction, but to avoid his poetry (awful stuff!).

ABOUT  THE  AUTHOR

A transplant from the Midwest, Browder is a writer and retired editor living in New York City’s Greenwich Village high above the Magnolia Bakery of “Sex and the City” fame.  He loves New York for its intensity and diversity, its craziness and creativity, and celebrates it, warts and all, in his blog, "No Place for Normal: New York."  A member of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, he loves old buildings and their history, but is also dazzled by glass-pinnacled high rises that spike the sky.  A hiker, he is fascinated by the black jelly and spongy white brain of slime molds, the intoxicating scent of milkweed, and the haunting beauty of the mushroom known as Destroying Angel, one bite of which is death.  Though ripe in years, recently he learned the Charleston; geezers rock.

Purchase Dark Knowledge at Amazon,

https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Knowledge-Clifford-Browder/dp/1681143674

Barnes and Noble,

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-knowledge-clifford-browder/1126857782

and Anaphra Liteary,

https://anaphoraliterary.com/catalogue/novels/historical/clifford-browder/ 

Clifford Browder blogs about New York city at  No Place for Normal: New York. 

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG

 The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. Of particular interest to readers of this blog is her most recent How to Get Great Book Reviews Frugally and Ethically (http://bit.ly/GreatBkReviews ) that covers 325 jam-packed pages covering everithing from Amazon vine to writing reviews for profit and promotion. Reviewers will have a special interest in the chapter on how to make reviewing pay, either as way to market their own books or as a career path--ethically!

This blog is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.

Interview: Vet Pens Historical Fiction

Hi! I am Carolyn Howard Johnson, your trusty New Book Review blogger and author of the multi award-winning HowTo Do It Frugally Series of books for writers. This blog has heretofore been exclusive for reviews but I thought I’d do a special series of interviews after I chatted with Jeanie Loiacono, President of Loiacono Literary Agency – Where ‘can’t’ is not in our vocabulary!  I thought sharing the interviews would help the many subscribers and visitors to this New Book Review blog, including authors, reviewers, and, of course, readers who just might find a new favorite author among the featured books and authors.

So, today welcome Thomas E. Simmons. 

Simmons grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi, attended Marion Military Institute, the U. S. Naval Academy, the University of Southern Mississippi and the University of Alabama. Tom was once the commercial captain of a seventy foot sailing vessel, has been a pilot since the age of sixteen, (3000 plus hours in the air), has flown professionally and participated in air shows flying aerobatics in open-cockpit bi-planes. In the late 1950s he served as an artillery officer in Korea. He is the author of three nonfictions: The Man Called Brown Condor (Skyhorse, 2013), Forgotten Heroes of World War II: Personal Accounts of Ordinary Soldiers Land, Sea and Air (Taylor Trade, 2014), Escape from Archangel (University of Mississippi Press); and two historical fictions: By Accident of Birth (TouchPoint Press, 2015) and The Last Quinn Standing (TouchPoint Press, 2016). He has also written numerous magazine articles, an example of which, “Growing Up With Mr. Faulkner,” was published in The Oxford American, a literary magazine founded by John Grisham.

1. What is your genre? Is it fiction or nonfiction? Both historical fiction and nonfiction.
2. What made you want to be a writer? My love of books, and the fact, as with most writers, I write because I am driven to.
3. Of all the authors out there, who inspired you most? Too many to list.
4. What is your writing style? Do you outline? Linearly? By scene?  Linearly. Why? It is the way my brain works. Nonfiction should flow as the history of your subject to make it easier for the reader to follow and understand. I write fiction linearly for it wouldn’t be fun if I knew how my story will end. I want it to be as big a surprise to me as for the reader.
5. Do you write every day? How much? How long? When working on a project I write a little almost daily. If my muse is flowing, I may write late into the night when all is quiet and there are no interruptions.
6. Do you think reading is as important to writing for an author? Absolutely. Why? It presents a study of sentence structure, new ways of looking at specific words, different story or fact presentation, implants the desire to do better; all, of course, if you read quality work.
7. What are some of the things you would like to share with budding authors? Perseverance, dedication, courage, research, research, research until you know your subject, character, setting, facts…never get caught stating facts or details that are wrong; revise, revise, revise; develop a thick hide to handle criticism, rejection slips, and disappointment, and work hard to get an agent (mine is Loiacono Literary Agency, Jeanie Loiacono www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com ) in the field of which you are writing.  If you can’t get an agent, rework the piece and try again. Remember, John Gresham (with his book The Firm ) was turned down by some thirty-nine or more agents.
8. Do you have any marketing and promotional advice, referrals, tips you would like to share? Work with your publisher, work with independent book stores in your area, use any contacts you have with radio stations, TV stations, newspapers in your local/regional area, volunteer to make talks and book signings, use social media. Friends will spread the word, and last but not least, read Carolyn Howard Johnson’s book The Frugal Book Promoter.
9. Do you think conferences are beneficial? If so, what have you learned? Which ones do you frequent? Yes, they are beneficial. Only been to one and that is where I met my agent. There is much you can learn at conferences about writing, publishing, and marketing.

Where can we find you, your books and when is your next event? You can find me at my web site www.thomasesimmons.net; at my E-mail tesim@bellsouth.net. I have a new novel, By Accident of Birth, which has just been released, with launch at Barnes and Nobel 15246 Crossroads Parkway, Gulfport, MS 39503, and a second printing of The Man Called Brown Condor (which won the Gold Medal for Biography from the Military Writers Society of America) this time in soft cover due out in January 2016; its launch at Barnes and Nobel 15246 Crossroads Parkway, Gulfport, MS 39503.

Three books of mine are currently in print and can be obtained at any book store, Barnes and Nobel, Amazon, Kindle, and one as an audio book. Nonfiction: Escape from Archangel; Forgotten Heroes of World War II: Personal Accounts of Ordinary Soldiers Land, Sea and Air and The Man Called Brown Condor, hard cover and soon in soft cover. Fiction: By Accident of Birth just released. www.thomasesimmons.net  Amazon Author Central

Facebook LinkedIn Tom Simmons interview about the Lighthouse

Represented by Loiacono Literary Agency, Jeanie Loiacono http://www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com/authors/thomas-e-simmons

MORE ABOUT THE SPONSORING AGENT

Jeanie Loiacono, President, Loiacono Literary Agency

A facilitator of dreams, Jeanie Loiacono represents over eighty authors. Her forte is mystery, romance, thrillers, historical/military/southern fiction, and all quality fiction/nonfiction. Her passion is to see her authors succeed.

“There is nothing more rewarding than to hold one of my author’s books and know I helped bring it to fruition. I am so blessed and privileged to be able to work with some of the most talented writers in the world.” Jeanie.L@llallc.net  www.loiaconoliteraryagency.com    

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE MORE INTERVIEWS--TO FIND GREAT READING OR TO NETWORK WITH AUTHORS--PLEASE SUBSCRIBE TO THIS BLOG. YOU ARE A WELCOME ADDITION TO THIS FAMILY WHO LOVES BOOKS! YOU'LL FIND A WINDOW TO DO THIS AT THE TOP OF THIS BLOG PAGE.

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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor.