Memoir Reviewed for Black History Month

Suitcase Full of Dreams
by Hoy Kersh
Author's Web site: http://www.hoykersh.com/
Memoir
ISBN 978-0-9823165-1-1


Reviewed by Linda Austin


Author Hoy Kersh practically sings her story of childhood growing up in the 1940s and 1950s in Mobile, Alabama. Jim Crow country, but not as bad as Mississippi. Hoy, who was called Cat then, uses a lyrical and mostly carefree voice to tell of a young girl's spring dreams and summer fun, the mischief and the play of any happy child. But this child is poor, her mama has burdens that aren't spoken of, her beloved daddy cheats, and her kind, wise grandma packs a pistol and runs a gambling house. While "the clear light days of childhood call to me, voices on the wind, fairies in every flower," life also held the grim reality of shoes mended with cardboard, beatings, white man rules and the Klan. But the march for freedom had begun, and rebellious Cat was "full of wonder and magic, piss and vinegar." Looking for a brown Jesus of justice, Cat challenges the white priest and her nun teachers. She's encouraged hearing of civil rights leaders. She reads what she can of black history and learns pride in her heritage. She hears the call of the northern states.



The book tends to meander like a child runs from flower to flower, with some abrupt transitions common in memoirs, but it succeeds as an intimate poem of childhood delights and adolescent discovery against a gently told backdrop of poverty, injustice and anger. The book belongs in high school social studies and history classes, and is an excellent introductory story before tackling Isabel Wilkerson’s The Warmth of Other Suns. I'll be waiting for Part II.



~The reviewer is Linda Austin, author of  Cherry Blossoms in Twilight from Moonbridge Publications
















-----
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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Criminologist Pens Thriller

Title: Silent Partner


Author: Jennifer Chase
Author Website: http://www.authorjenniferchase.blogspot.com/
Genre: Thriller
ISBN: 978-0982953600

Reviewed Originally by Fran Lewis for BookPleasures


Listen to the silence of the jungle as the soldiers carefully trek through the forest avoiding traps set by snipers. As K9 dog, Max and his leader Alec Weaver, lead the way; they foil what could have been a disaster. Combat can leave lasting impressions on the minds of soldiers as it does on impressionable children who witness a horrific scene at the hand of an adult who is supposed to protect and care for them. Jack Daniels witnessed a scene at the home of his friend’s house as a child and has been haunted by it ever since. Sisters Megan and Teresa O’Connell are escorted from their home and placed in the care of their grandmother. Living in an abusive home all of their lives and witnessing the murder of their mother at the hand of their father leaves twp young girls emotionally scarred. Unable to forget what happened and living the nightmare as a daily part of her life Megan O’Connell suffers from agoraphobia. Agoraphobia is an abnormal and persistent fear of public places and open areas. People with agoraphobia such as Megan, fear open areas, especially those, which have limited or no immediate escape routes. This brings me to my review of an outstanding thriller and murder mystery, "Silent Partner" by author Jennifer Chase.


Today Alec Weaver and Jack Daniels are friends. Alec is now a sergeant in the K9 Division of the police department and Jack his Deputy Sheriff. As both men search for three dangerous killers who have kidnapped, murdered and mutilated their victims without mercy or fear of being caught lives are put in jeopardy including their silent K9 partners.
The suspense heightens and the plot continues, as there are more murders and many more victims as by this unknown and sadistic serial killer. As Jack and Alec go after the brutal killers murdering people in a restaurant, two of the suspects are caught and the most dangerous is still at large. Darrell Brooks is a sick and demented man who takes pleasure in killing others. So, why is Teresa O’Connell caught up in his life and part of his world? What is her secret and what is she hiding from her younger sister that will take her life and turn Megan’s world into something short of living in the Twilight Zone. Who murdered Teresa in her bed? Why is Megan covered in blood when the police find her and who is the intruder she claims to have seen? Added into the mix is a serial killer who is killing prostitutes and young girls. Just how all of this links together will startle, surprise and astound the reader as I continue my review of this first rate novel.


Reunited after many years in the vet’s office Jack is having his K9 dog, Keno’s wounds tended to as Megan enters with Eddie who has been poisoned. Childhood memories come to light at both Jack and Megan form a bond that will take them on a journey you will never forget.


Megan is riddled with fear, uses her medication to hide behind herself and what is really motivating her anger. Her relationship with Jack takes off but the end result will shock the reader as two brothers collide, greed wins out and one girl’s life will never be the same. The final conflict will tie things into a tightly fit knot, endear you to our K9 friends, and bring tears to your eyes. Some fall in the line of action and others help you understand the meaning of loyalty, trust and friendship. Jack and Keno with the help Emily Stone and Rick Lopez, investigators, uncover who is behind the murders of the young girls, why the diabolical plot was put into place to destroy Megan. Who can be trusted and who is the really the mastermind? You need to read this outstanding thriller/murder mystery to find out. But let’s not forget to give credit to the Silent Partner’s of the K9 unit, the dogs. Without these brave and courageous animals many criminals would not be brought to justice.


Action packed, fast paced this novel is so engaging once you pick it up you won’t be able to put it down until you read the last sentence on the last page. An ending that will not only surprise but shock the reader, author Jennifer Chase should definitely bring back Jack, his fellow officers, Emily and Rick again in a sequel that will include what does happen next. No lose ends but one that remains to be seen. This is definitely a must read and an outstanding novel right up there with both Clancy and Baldacci.


~The author Jennifer Chase is an award-winning author and criminologist. She blogs at  http://authorjenniferchase.blogspot.com/ and her Web site is http://jenniferchase.vpweb.com/. She also hosts Book and Crime Talk at  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jennifer-chase ,

-----
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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Title: Twisted Christians

Author: Scott Meade
Website: http://scottmeade.webs.com/
Genre: Christian Horror
ISBN: 9781450582476


Reviewed by Dr. Ann Nyland

I loved this book and in fact read it from start to finish without putting it down. This is far from a cliche Christian horror book, fascinating at all times and never superficial or namby-pamby. It will appeal to those interested in spiritual warfare and those after a really good read alike. Twisted Christians kept up a fast pace throughout. It was "real" and not heavily censored for the Christian market, a major plus in my view. I see some reviewers have commented on the theology, but there are many different denominations and beliefs within Christianity, yet all are Christ-centered. This is a work of fiction not a theological textbook and to me excels as such. I can easily see it translated to the big screen.

Those who like Frank Peretti will love this book! Highly recommended. I can't wait for the next book by Scott Meade.

The Source New Testament With Extensive Notes On Greek Word Meaning

~The reviewer Dr A. Nyland is a translator.






-----
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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Free Webinar Offered by Publishing Veteran Terry Whalin

I often recommend Terry Whalin's book on writing book proposals for those who want a more indepth look at proposals than my little booklet The Great First Impression Book Proposal (www.howtodoitfrugally.com/inspiration_and_references_for_writers.htm or  BOOK PROPOSALS THAT SELL, 21 SECRETS TO SPEED YOUR SUCCESS,.  I met him when we both spoke at the Erma Bombeck Workshop at Dayton University in Dayton, Ohio. I trust him and look! Here he is with a free Webinar. And a FREE e-book for participating! I'm pasting his release below.

Publishing Expert W. Terry Whalin will answer questions about book proposal creation or proposal marketing in a free live 70-minute telewebcast on Tuesday, February 22, 2010 at 4 p.m.. PST or 7 p.m. EST. Anyone can ask a question at: http://www.askaboutproposals.com/  and register for the free teleseminar.


More than 83% of Americans plan to write a book in their lifetime yet literary agents and publishers do not read manuscripts. They read book proposals. A former acquisitions editor and former literary agent, Whalin wrote the best-selling title, Book Proposals That Sell, 21 Secrets To Speed Your Success which has over 95 Five Star reviews on Amazon. Yet Book Proposals That Sell was written seven years ago and has not been revised. Since that book, Whalin spent three years as the fiction acquisitions editor at Howard Books. The author of over 60 books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams, Whalin is a popular speaker at conferences.

Every registrant to the teleseminar receives a free Ebook from Whalin: Acceptance or Rejection?, 5 Strategies That Make a Difference. Besides answering questions about book proposals, Whalin is introducing a 12-week step-by-step course on how to write a book proposal at: www.WriteABookProposal.com.

“My goal is to help writers achieve their publishing dreams and get the literary agent or editor they want to publish their book. It begins with an excellent proposal,” Whalin explained.

The teleseminar will be recorded and every registrant will receive access to the replay links which can be downloaded to a computer or iPod. After the teleseminar, the site will remain to answer authors’ questions about book proposals and they can instantly access the recording.

-----
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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Blood on His Hands

Author: Mark P Sadler
Author's website link: http://www.markpsadler.com/
Genre or category: thriller/suspense
ISBN: 0741452618

Originally Reviewed by Shannon Raab for Suspense Magazine

A hunt for payback--predator vs. prey--is the underlying electrical current coursing through this colorful debut thriller by Mark Sadler. The movement of the storyline, written so vividly, straddles the lines between dark thriller and in-your-face horror, as Sadler's descriptions spill out with shocking intensity.


Michael Renton was just a typical working Joe with a wife and two sons and while his life was not the pinnacle of excitement, he was proud of his accomplishments...their accomplishments as a family. A hard worker, he understands that being away from the wife and kids was a strain on the family unit, but it would have been much more difficult without the money from hours of overtime. Unfortunately, all that time away made it tricky to appreciate his wife's needs and desires for more. Much more than Michael, a simple man, could ever offer. Michael could never have prepared himself--even had he fully understood the true toll his schedule had taken--for the day he walked in on his wife and her lover. His American dream was over in an instant...within seconds of a shotgun blast.
Not for the faint of heart, Blood on his Hands can make your stomach roll as well as a roller coaster while Sadler zigzags you on a frenzied chase across the country





-~The author may be found at http://www.markpsadler.com/ or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/mark.p.sadler.author

"Write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow." Lawrence Clark Powell


-----
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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Biography Highly Recommended

Book Title: Empty Chairs
Author: Stacey Danson
Type: Biography. Nonfiction.
ISBN: 1453858520
Published by: Night Publishing
Author's blog:  http://staceydansonemptychairs.blogspot.com/

Originally reviewed bt Bill Kirtin for Amazon
.
REVIEW:5.0 out of 5 stars

Some of my friends have said of this book that they want to read it but, knowing the pain and horrors it chronicles, need to get themselves into the right frame of mind to do so. Others have admitted that they doubt whether they'll actually get round to it. They should and must - for several reasons.


It's an autobiographical story, written under a pseudonym, which reveals how a 3 year old was subjected to gross sexual abuses at the behest of her own mother, and forced to continue servicing visitors to the house until eventually, at the age of eleven, she ran away. Thereafter, life on the streets proved equally stressful, threatening to confirm all the negatives she felt about how people behave.



Perhaps that crude synopsis has made you join the `I'm not sure I could read this - it's too horrible' camp. If it has, it's deprived you of an astonishing experience. Because this is a page turner and, bizarrely, a sort of celebration. I know that's a cliché beloved of Amazon reviewers, but here it's a fact. The story is relentlessly riveting. There's tension, hidden (and not so hidden) forces at work, powerful characters, and observations of social interaction that are penetrating insights into what lurks behind the facades of sunny, happy-go-lucky Australia, where families picnic in the sun and glory in sights such as the fabulous Sydney Harbour Bridge.



The abuse inflicted on the infant Sassy-Girl (let's use the street name she earned) was not at the hands of social low-lifes, but `respectable' middle class professionals. When she eventually rebels and runs away, she has to find places to sleep, clothes to wear, ways to get food, and simultaneously avoid the pressure from pimps to recruit her into their stable. She experiences some kindnesses but her whole life seems to have been a denial that trust is possible between humans. When groups of girls at the zoo mock her for the clothes she's wearing, she asks `why do people do those things? What was it that gave those girls the right to make fun of something they didn't understand?' adding that `It would take a very long time to discover how common that trait was in humans'.



It would have been so easy (in theory) to succumb to prostitution to earn her keep, but the abuse she suffered makes her determined never to allow her body to be used again. As she says `I knew my soul would die anyway if I made a conscious decision to sell the child's body in which it was housed. I wasn't being brave, or strong. I simply knew that all of me would survive - or another me would. What point would there be living without my soul and my spirit?'



An author's note at the beginning speaks of the compulsion Danson had to write this, the promise she'd made to someone to do so, but she also admits that it's taken longer to get round to it than she thought it would. And that's part of the spell this narrative weaves. We're getting the intimate day to day experiences of a 12 year old - the encounters, the threats, the violence, the alienation - but they're all being recounted by the mature woman she survived to become.



And the narrator herself is aware of this, of course. This is a woman who knows how to write, how to use language, sometimes simply, always directly, to engage the reader, a woman who has come to know that friendships and trust are possible, and yet who's re-entering the mind of her pre-teen self and reliving those years, with their innocence and ignorance. Because Sassy-Girl is uneducated (in formal terms). She thinks everyone speaks Australian (except Americans, whom she's seen on TV and who speak American). `If someone had told me we all spoke English,' she says, `I would have been even more confused.



At times, the mature narrator lends her voice to the girl. When she makes her way to the War Memorial, for example, she says she `spent the rest of the night in the company of the spirits of people who had died in a nightmare as well'. And there's an awareness of the power of simplicity in sentences such as `I wanted to laugh and mean it', or `It reminded me of the way I cried, back when I still could.'



But these aren't intended to be criticisms. The moment Sassy-Girl suspects she's feeling self-pity, she forces herself out of it. She's a survivor and, despite all the torments she's endured in these early years, what remains is an affirmation of her spirit, a confidence that, despite the enormous forces ranged against her, she won't be a loser. It's a compelling read, a reminder of the deepest evils of which we're capable, but also a celebration of our ability to overcome.


~The review is from Aberdeen, Scotland, http://www.bill-kirton.co.uk/. He review for Book Squawk at
http://www.booksquawk.com/

-----
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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :

Rave Review for Hackensmith's First in a Series

Name of Book: Checkmate

Author: Jean Hackensmith
Author Website Link: http://www.jeanhackensmith.com/
Genre: Action/Thriller
ISBN 13: 9781592995479
YouTube Promotional Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gf-JQ2nru_g

Reviewed by Poppy originally for Long and Short Reviews 

Wow. Okay... so just... wow.

This was one of the best suspense novels I’ve read in I don’t know how long. I’ll state right off that this is not so much a romance as a suspense. There are a H/H, but the romance is fairly fully developed. At the beginning of the story Caryn and Zach are living together and are very much in love. It seems everything is rosy, right up until Caryn gets a threatening note from her ex-husband, Dan, newly released from prison for almost killing Caryn and their two children eighteen years before.
I was nearly as nervous as Caryn! The reason behind the notes from Dan is simply to terrorize Caryn, Zach and the two (now-grown) children. Each note is accompanied by increasingly escalating and threatening activities leading to the inevitable murder of Caryn and everyone she loves.

Checkmate: Eleven moves left.

Zach does everything he can to protect the woman he loves. His best friend, Brian (who is also the police chief) helps as well. But Caryn’s ex-husband is also an ex-cop, and he knows how things work. Despite all the various protections, Dan still manages to get through, still manages to frighten them, still manages to get close enough they believe they are in danger of being murdered.
Caryn’s children move. Phone numbers are changed. Guards are placed at her work. And, yet, Dan still gets to her, time and again.

Checkmate: Four moves left.

Do NOT pick up this book unless you want to finish it in one sitting. This book is non-stop excitement. Even when things aren’t happening, you expect them to be, and it’s frightening to think of what these people are going through.

Is it a perfect book? Of course not, and that's why it's not a "Best Book", but it's darn close. The author head hops (though, it’s fairly seamless, to the point where even I – a POV purist – wasn’t thrown from the story), there are some bits of dialogue that sounded a little “off”. Sometimes I think character motivation didn’t ring entirely true. But despite these small glitches (and they ARE small), this was absolutely the most enthralling book I’ve read in months. If I were a Hollywood executive, I’d option this book for a movie immediately. It’s really that good.

If you’re a fan of non-stop action with enough romance to satisfy your heart, I highly recommend you give this book a chance.



-----

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. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :