Carolyn Wilhelm Reviews Entire Charlene Tess Series of Mysteries

Reviewer Carolyn Wilhelm makes it easy on those who love mystery series by submitting all three in the Chance O'Brien Suspense Trilogy written by Charlene Tess and Judi Thompson under the penance of Tess Thompson.  Learn more at Tess's blog, http://simplestepstosentencesense.blogspot.com/. 

Book One: 

When an Angel Whispers (A Chance O'Brien Mystery Book 1)

• ISBN-10: 1985725029
• ISBN-13: 978-1985725027
• 346 pages
• Available on Amazon
• 
  
• This is a compelling read I couldn't put down. There is a serial killer on the loose, and that is one scary thread throughout the book. Then the sparks are flying towards the end with a few situations, and only one ends badly. I so like a book with a satisfying ending and this has one (although I thought it would from the author's previous books). Chance's grandmother although dying in the hospital reveals information to a few of the characters that help them through the mystery. Chance (the hero) is a great guy and loves his family and is respected by coworkers. In the beginning it looks as though he may remain single and he does for many years, and of course I worried about that when the perfect girl left for another city. Although I figured out early on who the bad guy was, I couldn't see how it would be revealed or how there could possibly be an ending I would like---the twists and turns of the stories within the story were surprising, which I like in a book. I couldn't imagine all that happened and I liked that it was partly predictable and yet was amazing because I couldn't see how it would all resolve. When I thought I had it figured out there were unexpected events that kept me on the edge of my seat. Great read!
  
  Oh, and with the flooding in Houston and seeing the bayous on TV recently, it was all the more vivid! 

Book Two:

Student Body (Chance O'Brien Mystery Series) (Volume 2)

• ISBN-10: 1985724839
• ISBN-13: 978-1985724839

348 pages

Purchase on Amazon 

I like it that Chance O'Brian and his wife are back! I like to read a mystery series.
From page one the gripping beginning of the mystery draws the reader in and you won't want to put this book down. I like the Chance O'Brian mysteries as they have familiar characters in new situations so the reader feels like an insider to the details of the case. I like the restaurant and bakery scenes, too, mmmmmmm. Until the surprising end of the book, the twists and turns are clever and appreciated as they keep the reader engaged. The family loss(es) will tug at your heartstrings. The school microphone announcement of a homicide will also cause you to recall recent news events and worries, and as a teacher I can imagine the reaction of students and people in the school. Keeps you guessing! 

Book Three: 

The Devil Makes the Rules: A Chance O'Brien Mystery (Chance O'Brien Mystery Series Book 3)

• ISBN-10: 1985277441
• ISBN-13: 978-1985277441

236 pages

Purchase on Amazon

This is book 3 in the Chance O'Brien mystery series and the plots and characters are getting more and more interesting and complex. I recommend reading books 1 and 2 before 3 as the story is a continuation of life events, personalities, and the interwoven story threads. I thought I had the ending figured out only to be surprised a few times toward the end. I read this in one sitting and stayed up late to finish the story as I just had to read it through to completion.

We learn more about the reasons the characters behave the way they do and also understand why events evolve as they do. There are points in the story where characters have conversations and reveal their motivations and reasons for their behavior. Every time the scene changed I wasn't quite ready. I think these books should be made into movies! Very interesting. I do not know how the authors figured all this out and wrote it so well. 

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER 

Carolyn Wilhelm Curriculum Writer and Blogger, Wise Owl Factory cwilhelm@thewiseowlfactory.com The Wise Owl Factory | Reminiscing Writers

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.

                  

A Symphony of Rivals Review from Kirkus Reviews

A Symphony of Rivals

Author: Roma Calatayud-Stocks

Historical Fiction

ISBN: 978-0-9987319-3-3

Ebook and Hardcover available at Amazon

 Printed with permission of Kirkus Reviews

“A Suspenseful bridge to the final volume to a historical fiction series. Alejandra Stanford Morrison is a strong-willed woman with ambitions to become a symphony conductor, though it defies the gender expectations of the 1930s. When she learns of her acceptance into a prestigious conservatory in Berlin, her ecstasy is met with reluctance from her husband, Richard. Part One chronicles their travels and musical training amid increasing political tensions in Germany and Austria. Calatayud-Stocks portrays her characters clearly, each with a unique voice and agenda. The novel raises stimulating questions regarding work-life balance and the entwinement of art and politics.  The momentum accelerates with the emergence of more serious conflicts, leaving readers with a cliffhanger that should entice them to pick up the next volume. And for culture enthusiasts, the author once again offers musical selections corresponding to each chapter. 

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.

Dr. Wesley Britton Reviews the Clinton/Patterson Book

The President is Missing

Authors: Bill Clinton and James Patterson

Audible Audiobook

Version: Unabridged

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Audible.com Release Date: June 4, 2018

Reviewed by: Dr. Wesley Britton originally for BookPleasures.com

On so many levels, the powerhouse collaboration between best-selling novelist James Patterson and former President William Jefferson Clinton has ignited nearly every kind of possible critical response. Some readers nearly gush with effusive praise; other reviewers are far less kind, and not always for political reasons.

Some reader games would seem unavoidable. Guessing who wrote what is more than problematic, although I’m certain Clinton wrote both the first and last chapters. The first as it seems so much like Clinton’s own experiences during his impeachment hearings, the last as it reads like one of Clinton’s famously long speeches. To the chagrin of some readers,it’s a speech that touches on many issues not dealt with in the novel at all.

Another game is trying to decide how much of Clinton is captured in the character of President Jonathan Lincoln Duncan. Other reviewers have pointed out a handful of biographical similarities as well as major differences. Me, I read the book noticing the absence of any sex or romantic relationships. Was this a means of avoiding the smirks and/or guessing games of readers who’d want to connect Clinton’s erotic life with his fiction?

The fingerprints of James Patterson are evident throughout the bulk of the thriller. For one thing, the pace of the book is partly driven by his very short chapters that jump from scene to scene, from character to character in a rapid-fire delivery. Throughout, there are many very familiar tropes of the political thriller genre that are reminiscent of numerous authors, not just Patterson. For example, the rudder of the plot is a terrorist named Suliman Cindoruk who wants to activate a computer virus that will cripple the U.S. by erasing all internet data of the military, government, business, medical facilities, and infrastructure. In an often convoluted storyline, President Duncan believes he’s the only man who can meet with Abkhazian separatists to avert the catastrophe. That’s why the President is missing, although political opponents think he’s pulling a fast one to avoid impeachment hearings. 

Typical of such novels, one fly in the ointment is a traitor at the very top echelons of the government. But who is the traitor? And why is the female sniper code-named Bach not assassinating world leaders when she has them in her sites, but instead shoots defectors from the terrorist ranks? And who is paying for all this carnage?

Part of the story focuses on discussions between Duncan and his advisors, part is action-oriented with shootouts, car crashes, Viper helicopters, and deadly infiltrations into secret government facilities. It’s either a pleasure or an annoyance to read so many red herrings in the book that lead to a number of very surprising reveals and conclusions in the final chapters. 

I recommend reading the Hachette Audio edition of the book to hear the passages narrated by Dennis Quaid, January LaVoy, Peter Ganim, Jeremy Davidson, and Mozhan Marnó . It’s also interesting to hear the chapters focused on Bach read by a female reader and often spiced with musical backgrounds by the classical composers Bach is listening to while setting up her kill shots.

For my money, The President is Missing is a fun read occasionally laced with political observations no doubt offered by Clinton. Maybe some of these lectures will resonate with readers who don’t often listen to voices not coming from their political bent. 

You can download the book for free and hear samples at various sites on the net, such as

https://www.audible.com/ep/title/

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

 Dr. Wesley Britton is the author of The Beta Earth Chronicles and regular reviewer for BookPleasures.com and this blog.  Learn more about him: 

Explore the Beta Earth Chronicles website:

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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.

Readers' Favorite Reviewer Gives Wilma Fleming's Middle Grade Novel Five Stars

TITLE OF YOUR BOOK: The Curse at Lilac Waters

AUTHOR OF BOOK):   Wilma Fleming

GENRE OR CATEGORY: Middle Grades Fantasy

 ISBN: -13 9781540607720

ISBN:-10 1540607720

Library of Congress number: 2016919809 

Purchase at Amazon

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite- *****Five Stars*****

The Curse at Lilac Waters is a fantasy novel for children and preteens written by Wilma Fleming. Troelina was used to having things her own way. She was the prettiest purple troll and the others treated her with a bit of deference when she wanted her pick of the berries or other wild goodies the trolls fed upon. That feeling of privilege quickly got her into quite a bit of bother, however, when she ran up against the goat called Krug. Krug didn’t like trolls trespassing on goat territory, not one bit, and he was not at all impressed by either Troelina’s fair features or her attitude. All it took was a few magical words uttered by the truculent old goat, and Troelina found herself in the body of a Gopher tortoise. All her dreams about marrying Fole were instantly shattered. A mockingbird came by and laughed at poor Troelina, but even so she knew in her heart that the tribe and Fole would find her. The mockingbird told her that there was one cure to Krug’s curse; a magic pearl that could only be found in a lily pad in the middle of the lake -- but Gopher tortoises can’t swim. Will Troelina find a way to end the curse and be reunited with Fole?

Wilma Fleming’s fantasy novel for children and preteens, The Curse at Lilac Waters, is an enchanting environmental fantasy that blends the story of Troelina with that of Eric, a young New Jersey transplant to the Florida wilderness that his botanist father calls home. I enjoyed seeing how Eric's and Troelina’s stories came together so well. Fleming’s story also introduced me to the Gopher tortoise and other endangered species living in the Florida wetlands, and her descriptions of the environment Eric finds himself in are first-rate. While the woods are not for everybody, that Florida wilderness Eric’s father found seemed like paradise to me. This well-written and exciting tale succeeds on so many levels, not least of which is as an enthralling fantasy. The Curse at Lilac Waters is most highly recommended.

 MORE ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 Wilma Fleming has written columns, articles, and musical reviews for various newspapers as a freelancer, and former lifestyles reporter. Her stories have appeared in several anthologies, and she has published credits from small press, and nationally distributed magazines. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, (SCBWI), a former member of the Creative Writers of Southern Tier, (CWST), and the Florida Children’s Author Team, (CAT). She is married, a mother of five, and currently writes from home. Learn more at

www.WilmaWrites.com

 www.Scwbi.org

www.Carlaquarius.com

Reach her at )wilma2flem@yahoo.comR

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.

Author Jendi Reiter Reviews The Poet Spiel's "Pictures and Words"

Author: Tom Taylor a/k/a The Poet Spiel

Title: Revealing Self in Pictures and Words

Genre: Poetry, Memoir, Art Book

ISBN-13: 978-1979893695

Purchasing Link: https://www.amazon.com/REVEALING-SELF-Pictures-Words-Taylor/dp/1979893691/

Reviewer: Jendi Reiter

Publication: Reiter's Block

Reviewed by Jendi Reiter originally for her blog at JendiReiter.com

Visual artist Tom Taylor, a/k/a The Poet Spiel, is a creator of varied personae, with a 66-year career spanning genres from graphic design to mixed-media collage and installation art, poetry, and now memoir. His new book, Revealing Self in Pictures and Words, is an impressionistic retrospective of his personal journey and the dramatic shifts in his style and materials over the decades.

Boldly colored reproductions of his artwork are interspersed with vignettes, aphorisms, dreamlike or nightmarish memories, and previously published poems reformatted as prose paragraphs. These written sections are set off in quotation marks, like tantalizing snippets of an overheard conversation, and formatted in a multi-hued script that creates the impression of an artist’s journal. (This font was admittedly a challenge to read in large amounts, but the necessity of slowing down may have helped me absorb more of the meaning.) Instead of traditional narrative transitions, third-person summaries of the action, in a more businesslike sans-serif font, serve as occasional signposts to situate the samples of his creative work within the chronology of his life and travels.

And what a life: Born in 1941, Spiel was a maverick from the start. He grew up on a Colorado farm on the Great Plains, a repressive environment for a gay artistic boy with migraines and manic-depressive tendencies. The early pages of his book speak candidly, in intense and hallucinatory flashbacks seared with humor, about the burden of his mother’s mental illness and her violation of his intimate boundaries. His bond with animals and nature kept his soul alive, a connection he would later channel into successful commercial posters and landscape paintings of wildlife, inspired by his travels in Zambia.

In the 1990s his work took a surreal and expressionist turn, protesting social conformity and war. His life as a gay man in America has given him an outsider perspective on the hypocrisy of conventional mores, and a rage against the stifling of his authentic life force. These themes show up in his raw, satirical, unpretentious poems. Revealing Self invites the reader to experience Rimbaud’s maxim that “A Poet makes himself a visionary through a long, boundless, and systematized disorganization of all the senses.”

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Jendi Reiter is the author of the novel Two Natures (Saddle Road Press), a

Rainbow Award winner, Book Excellence Award, and National Indie Excellence Award finalist. 

See the book trailer at http://bit.ly/twonaturestrailer. The Midwest Book Review says, "Intense revelations about what it means to be both Christian and gay...a powerful saga."  She is Editor of WinningWriters.com , a Writer's Digest "101 Best Websites for Writers." 

"Things are not what they appear to be: nor are they otherwise." ~Surangama Sutra

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.

Title Bob Hope on TV Subtitle Thanks for the Memories

Title: Bob Hope On TV

Subtitle: Thanks For the Video Memories

Author: Wesley Hyatt

Publisher: BearManor Media (December 15, 2017)

ISBN-10: 1629332178

ISBN-13: 978-1629332178

Purchase at Amazon 

Reviewed by Dr. Wesley Britton originally for Book Pleasures.com

No other modern entertainer can claim the longevity or scope of what Bob Hope accomplished between 1919 to 1997, nearly 80 years in show business. Before his death at the age of 100 in 2003, Hope was a vaudevillian, actor on stage, radio, film, and television. He helped define just what a “stand-up comic” is. He was also a singer, dancer, sometime athlete, and author. He starred in 54 feature films, appeared in many more,  and hosted the Academy Awards show 19 times, more than any other host.

Those Academy Award Shows are among the seemingly countless Bob Hope TV appearances chronicled by Wesley Hyatt in his Bob Hope on TV.  The heart of his book, not surprisingly,  are the numerous specials Hope hosted for NBC television starting in 1950 which continued until 1997. Among those specials were a number of shows performed live before military audiences for the USO (United Services Organization),   including the 1970 and 1971 Christmas specials taped in Vietnam, now listed in the Top 46 U.S. network prime-time telecasts. Both were seen by more than 60 percent of the U.S. households watching television.

Add in all the specials hosted by others and TV shows Hope guested on, it’s obvious Hyatt had a daunting task simply cataloguing but one part of the Bob Hope legacy.      Gratefully, Hyatt gives us much more than capsule descriptions of each Hope TV outing.  Decade by decade, Hyatt gives us useful introductions that describe what Hope’s career was like during each of these periods of his small screen life.

I must admit, Hyatt’s critical analysis of each special, in particular,   make it surprising Hope’s tenure with NBC ran for as long as it did.  After the 1950s, Hyatt uses few compliments to describe these programs. Hyatt claims that Hope got further and further out of touch with contemporary tastes and mores,    especially regarding equal rights for women.  During the Vietnam war, Hope was a conspicuous supporter of that unpopular conflict and was a known backer of beleaguered President Richard Nixon.   Hyatt goes beyond these already well-known aspects of Hope’s public life and knocks most of the skits and monologues for much of Hope’s TV career. As Hyatt made every effort to screen as many of the Hope appearances as he could,    one wonders if boredom crept into his critical eye or if Hyatt is using contemporary standards—as in his distaste for Hope’s targeting of gays—to measure broadcasts that might not have always earn high ratings, but remained popular for many reasons.  Audiences kept coming back again and again even as the generations changed. Advertisers usually supported Hope for long periods of time, especially Chrysler (1963–73) and Texaco (1975–85).

Whether or not readers agree with Hyatt’s often unhappy critical analyses or not, without question,   you got to be a major fan of Bob Hope to want this lengthy tome.  There’s a whole lot of old-timers in that number. And we must all applaud Hyatt for his incredible task of doing the research for this volume. From hunting down rare and obscure copies of the old broadcasts to screening nearly everything he could find to interviewing surviving participants, notably joke writers like Bob Mills,    Wesley Hyatt has compiled an impressive work of research most libraries should want to shelve, especially those with good collections of books dealing with entertainment. Bob Hope fans of whatever generation you belong to may well want to skim through these pages—Bob Hope on TV isn’t a cover to cover read unless, like Hyatt, all this television minutia is your cup of tea.

 MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

 Dr. Wesley Britton is the author of The Beta Earth Chronicles and a regular reviewer for BookPleasures.com. Learn more about him at: 

Explore the Beta Earth Chronicles website:

Follow Wes Britton’s Goodreads blog:

Check out Wes Britton’s Beta Earth Chronicles Facebook page:

Enjoy the videos at Wes Britton’s YouTube Channel:

  

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.