Perhaps 2019's "Catch 22?" Review of Thomas Allbaugh's Satirical Romp

Title: Apocalypse TV

Author: Thomas Allbaugh

Publisher: eLectio Publishing (Sept. 12, 2017)

Purchase on Amazon

Publisher's website: www.electiopublishing.com

ISBN 978-1632134288  

Paperback, $17.99

Reviewed by Marlan Warren Originally for Midwest Review

“His whole life has been a sham because he can’t accept responsibility for his failure to live by his own convictions.”—APOCALYPSE TV

What do reality TV game show contestants, religious fanatics, true believers, atheists, zombies, quarreling siblings, an FBI agent, Elvis impersonator, and an almost-fired English professor at a Christian college have in common? They all come together to interlock as essential players in Thomas Allbaugh’s tightly wound, often hilarious, debut novel, APOCALYPSE TV.

Shakespeare today might muse that “All the world’s a reality TV game show, and all the men and women merely players in their quest for prizes amid layers of illusions and media hype.” It is upon this slippery platform that Allbaugh has built a metaphor for our contentious world as viewed through the lenses of good vs. evil, secular religion vs. spirituality, and love vs. indifference.

The story kicks off when Christian intellectual, Walter Terry, takes a leave of absence from his conservative college in California to visit his dying father in Michigan. Walter has just been put on notice for allowing students to express non-conservative viewpoints, and fears his job is on thin ice.

Walter and his sister are approached in a Midwestern diner by a talent scout for a new reality TV show that claims to be “an investigation into American religious ideas.” He describes himself to the pretty interviewer as an “outsider in terms of religion,” but sees her write down “soft and vulnerable.” This pigeon-holing is exactly what makes these shows maddening, but also makes them fun for the fans.

Seduced by the promise of money and his own rationalization that perhaps a show like this could use an educated analytical thinker, Walter embarks on what will turn out to be a character-building odyssey. After he is entrenched in “Race for the Apocalypse,” Walter hears the producer refer to him as the show’s “sacrificial lamb.” And after that…all bets are off.

APOCALYPSE TV gradually amps up its madness, expanding reality until it pops with an outrageousness that is not quite Marx Brothers, but a fun romp nonetheless.

Allbaugh treads a fine line between crafting a thoughtful, moving plot with three-dimensional characters and satire. He keeps the humor subtle and deadpan, in the vein of Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22,” while never straying far from the book’s serious themes which examine secular religion vs. spirituality, truth vs. fiction, loyalty vs. betrayal.

Nothing turns out to be what it seems, the innocent must suffer, guilty baggage must be unloaded, and once a gun is introduced, it must eventually be used in the finale (with a nod to Chekhov). It is Allbaugh’s incredible juggling act that keeps the comedy, drama, and religious debates lightly airborne until they come back down to Earth, not with a bang or a whimper, but with the hard truths of Life and what it means to slog willingly through it.

APOCALYPSE TV will appeal to open-minded faith-based readers, as well as those who have no affiliation with a religion or belief. It argues against the extreme notion that only members of a certain faith are favored by God, while making a case for spiritual salvation through love, faith, hope, service…and the willingness to persevere.

Even when the chips are down.

MORE ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Marlan Warren is a Los Angeles based blogger, playwright, and editor.  She is a frequent panelist for Greater Los Angeles Writers Society writers' conferences.  

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS AND ANOTHER FREEBIE

 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.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

Orphan Train Girl by Christina Baker Kline Book Review

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. 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.

Orphan Train Girl by Christina Baker Kline Book Review

• Age Range: 8 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 3 - 7
• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; Young Readers' ed. edition (May 1, 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062445952
• ISBN-13: 978-0062445957
• Review posted on Amazon
• 
  

This story really captured my heart and is still tugging at it! We adopted a daughter from Korea as an infant and so the topic of adoption is one familiar to me. I had no idea there were 250,000 American orphans on trains between 1854 and 1929. Most were new immigrants to this country. The author has met eleven of them. She has completed extensive research on the topic including travel to Ireland. This is such a powerful story told about an "older" girl of nine. Babies and older boys were adopted first, and many of the older children had to do extensive work (sometimes not being allowed to attend school). 

My interest in this topic began with a story a writing group member wrote about not knowing her heritage. She had her DNA tested as her mother was an orphan from one of these trains. At the age of two, her mother was sent from New York to Minnesota. Record keeping was not well done at the time and so little was known about what country her mother was from. Of course, Ancestry DNA testing is fairly vague. Only DNA testing from a doctor's office provides much information. Yet, the writer said she learned a few things and would have still tried the test had she realized it would not provide detailed information. 

In the book Orphan Train Girl, they are able to find photos and even news articles to help them figure out a few things. A young orphan is helping an older person who was one of these orphans as a community service project. The reason for the service project is not only based on good intentions, but the two characters become friends. The younger one knows how to research on Google to help create a somewhat dramatic ending. I'm not sure how often people could actually find very much information on this topic, though. 

My next read is the first version of the book. I had no idea I was reading an adaptation of the story for middle school students and that there was a different version which had been a best-seller when I started reading. My interest is piqued!

Christina Baker Kline is the author of a New York Times bestseller A Piece of the World (2017), Christina’s World. Kline has written six other novels: Orphan Train, Orphan Train Girl, The Way Life Should Be, Sweet Water, Bird in Hand, and Desire Lines.. Her 2013 novel Orphan Train spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list. Her adaptation of Orphan Train for young readers is Orphan Train Girl. 

Thank you for reading, Carolyn Wilhelm, Wise Owl Factory

The Girl with Seven Names Discussion Questions

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. 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.

Discussion Questions for

The Girl with Seven Names

by Hyeonseo Lee and David John

Free instant download of the questions

I was very taken with this book and read it twice in just a few days. I have been curious about North Korea and bought this and another book very recently. I also know someone who escaped from a different country with a much shorter story, so I found it intriguing. I can't image what so many immigrants went through to get to other countries. 

Here are my discussion questions:

Why do you think Hyeonseo Lee says leaving North Korea is not like leaving any other country on earth?

What does Hyeonseo Lee mean by saying a single Korea does not exist?

How did she feel when she found out North Korea is a byword for evil?

When there was a fire, why did her father rescue the portraits? Who were the people on the portraits?

How and where did her parents meet and how long was it between their first and second meetings? Why was there another wedding with her mother first?

How does Hyeonseo Lee describe the caste system that operates in North Korea?
Why is it impossible to rise within the system?

How did her grandmother’s safekeeping of the cards ensure the family’s high Songbun?

How did the grandmother prevent the marriage for some time, and almost have the baby adopted?

How does bribery work in North Korea? Was Hyeonseo Lee’s family involved?

When did the system with bribery begin?

What were some of her seven names and when did she acquire each?
Her birth name was Kim Ji-hae.
The second name was Park Min-young. Why? When did she get this name?
Who gave her the third name? Chae Mi-ran.
Then she was to be a Korean-Chinese called Jang Soon-hyang. Why?
What were her other names? Why did she assume them?

She lived in several places in North Korea with her family.
What was Hyesan like?
What was it like in Anju?
Then they relocated–to North Korea’s second-largest city, Hamhung. What was good about living in Hambung?

It was at school in Hamhung that she received her initiation into “life purification time,” or self-criticism sessions, a basic feature of life in North Korea since introduced by Kim Jong-il in 1974. How did she and her friends deal with these sessions?

Then the family moved back to Hyesan. Kindness toward strangers is rare in North Korea. There is a risk in helping others. What unusual episode happened when they were going to take the train back?

In Hyesan, the second house they lived in seemed to be cursed. What happened?

Mothers superstitions drove her to fortune tellers. What story from a fortune teller became a kind of deliverance myth, that Hyeonseo Lee would remember in moments of danger?

When and why was winter the time for school vacation?

Aunt Pretty had an appendectomy. Discuss what happened.

The care of portraits was very important. Hyeonseo Lee states:
“About once a month, officials wearing white gloves entered every house in the block to inspect the portraits. If they reported a household for failing to clean them–we once saw them shine a flashlight at an angle to see if they could discern a single mote of dust on the glass–the family would be punished.” How did these inspections control the population?

What is another example of capitalistic thinking in North Korea that could be punished, such as putting clothes on dogs, a well-known example of capitalist degeneracy?

What were the holidays and how were they celebrated?
February 16 Day of the Bright Star
April 15 Day of the Sun
What were the mass games for Liberation Day on 15 August? Why were they the most sacred dates in the calendar?

How did they celebrate the Day of Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War (the Korean War) on July 27^th?

Party Foundation Day, on 10 October.

What kind of information was taught in school regarding history?

When was the famine?

Why was there a campaign in 1992 called “Let us eat two meals a day.”

What was the real cause of the famine? Did the North Koreans know the real reason?

How does the North Korean system continue to this day, and how does the organized system of surveillance on every family contribute? Does Hyeonseo Lee think North Korea will change anytime soon?

What did people do on the weekends?

Is schooling in North Korea really free?

What happens if someone in North Korea is caught with a Bible?

Hyeonseo Lee found out her father was not her biological father. How did she react?

What were the classes at school, and what topic was the most important?

What was the math problem example shared in the book?

Are North Koreans able to travel to other countries?

Can they watch foreign television?

Who arrested Hyeonseo Lee’s father?

What are the two kinds of prisons in North Korea?

What was the reason Hyeonseo Lee gave for terrible drunken fights breaking out among men in Hyesan during the public holidays?

What did the mother do when the death certificate of the father said suicide?

Why did school close on the 8^th of July, 1994? What happened over the next days? How did Hyeonseo Lee deal emotionally with these events?

What did the students know about sex? Menstruation?

What besides food was in short supply during the famine? What did school children have to bring to school in order to help?

Did all the provinces experience the famine in the same way at first? How did Hyeonseo Lee know?

How many students in Hyeonseo Lee’s class were in the songbun ‘hostile’ category? What did this mean for their futures?

When did Hyeonseo Lee see Changba? How did she feel looking back at Hyesan?

Why do you suppose there were none of the heavy green military trucks, the most common vehicles around Hyesan in Chanagba?

Her uncle and aunt made her feel instantly welcome. What did Uncle Jung-gil and Aunt Sang-hee do for a living?

She became almost engaged. When did she run away?

Why did Hyeonseo Lee move to Xita, Koreatown? 

What did she learn about South Korea and North Koreans who succeeded in reaching Seoul?

What happened to her at the Police ‘Xita Road Station?

Hyeonseo Lee was attacked with a full beer bottle. What happened and why? Who did she think did that to her?

Four years of frugal living meant that she had saved enough to pay a broker to find her family in Hyesan. It was many years later when she saw them again. Explain the travel and situations that happened, and how it appeared to be impossible several times.

Who were some of the people, bribed and not bribed, who helped her along the way back to Seoul with her mother and brother?

Why couldn’t she tell she was related to her mother or brother on the trip to Seoul?

What is Hanawon? Where is it? What is the curriculum? Who attends?

How long did it take for the mother and son to reach Seoul after Hyeonseo returned again?

Why did Hyeonseo Lee and her then-boyfriend break up when her mother and brother arrived?

What work did the mother do in Seoul? Was she used to such work?

Why did both the mother and the son want to return to North Korea? Did they go back?

What are the two kinds of people who leave North Korea and how do they adjust to living in Seoul? Why?

The book does not have a happily ever after ending. What are the problems people who leave North Korea face for the rest of their lives?

Why was Hyeonseo Lee flown to California? To Australia?

Where did she get married?

How has this book affected you?

Carolyn Wilhelm
Wise Owl Factory

Death by Wall Street Audible and Paperback Comparison Review

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. 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.

• Death By Wall Street: Rampage Of The Bulls (Detective Louis Martelli, NYPD, Mystery/Thriller Series) 

  Series: Detective Louis Martelli, NYPD, Mystery/Thriller Series (Book 1)
• Paperback: 240 pages
• ISBN-10: 1452079455
• ISBN-13: 978-1452079455
• 
  

Gary and Carolyn Wilhelm read the paperback and listened to book on Audible, and here is what they thought.

Death by Wall Street: Rampage of the Bulls by Theodore Jerome Cohen
Our rating: 5 of 5 stars

Carolyn's Thoughts -- Originally posted on Amazon
I have listened to the Audible version and also read the book. Both experiences were quite different to me. The audible version was an intense experience as the oral reader had the perfect voice which matched the genre, mystery suspense thriller -- which kept me on the edge of my seat although I had read the book. It would be good to listen when you have some time or want to exercise as it is not relaxing to hear about the stock market and healthcare "cure" corruption. It is fiction based on real events and it seemed more like I was an insider to the plot when listening to the spoken word. I felt more "in" the story through the listening experience.

The book is good when you want to read quietly. I thought this book was going to be a story about financial information of stock market manipulations by big companies, but it also delved into the healthcare industry. If you have ever lost a loved one to cancer or knew someone who needed a promising drug, this is a must-read. Nonfiction events are woven into a narrative to enlighten the reader about how big pharmacy works while newer drugs with proven track records are defeated. Ill people need help and this book is discouraging about Wall Street, Washington DC, and big pharma. A sad story that teaches the information voters should make informed decisions -- if only the "little people" had more power. The author worked to make this information entertaining and exciting while revealing disturbing information and truths. Great read! The author worked to make this information entertaining and exciting while revealing disturbing information and truths.

Gary's Thoughts, 5 Stars
Originally Posted on Amazon Audible
"Important Information for Voters of Our Time"

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I just finished listening to this great Audible version of the book. Listening is a more engaging experience than simply reading quietly. The story information, while entertaining, is also based on nonfiction events surrounding especially the 2008 financial disaster and supposed cancer "cures" being widely promoted. The greedy truth behind this story is alarming. So much corruption went on and goes on.I hope this book helps others prevent or be taken advantage of by money schemes and schemers. Thanks for this truth!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Louis Martelli is a detective with a leg disability and yet is so clever and cunning as to be able to expose the criminals. He out-thinks everyone else and solves cases with finesse. Criminals walk right into the traps he sets.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The way the surveillance camera was placed was hysterical. The fact cancer drugs are more about greed than healing could make anyone cry.

Any additional comments?

A must read!

Carolyn Wilhelm, Wise Owl Factory 
Gary Wilhelm, The Frugal Engineer

Judith Briles Adds to Her Series of How-Tos for Writers

TITLE: How to Create a $1,000,000 Speech

AUTHORS: Dr. Judith Briles

PUBLISHER: Mile High Press, LTD.

ISBN:  978-1885331-67-0

293 pages, $25.00

PRINT LINK: https://amzn.to/2DuaXp7

GENRE: Nonfiction

CATEGORY: Speaking/Careers

Reviewed by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, 

author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers

My first serious introduction to self-publishing was at a SPAN conference in Atlanta (Small Publishers of North America); it was there I was introduced to a very fat volume on self-publishing by Marilyn Ross that included the idea that real publishing includes marketing. She also applauded speaking as the best way to market a book—read that as the most assured path to success.

Since then, I have recommended a couple of super speakers’ books to my clients and in the appendixes of my #HowToDoItFrugally Series of books for writers and I’ve pointed to the writing (and speaking) career of the late Dan Poynter as an example of how well speaking benefits a writing career—and vice versa. 

Now, years later, Dr. Judith Briles, adds her How to Create a $1,000,000 Speech to the battery of my choices for “Best Books on Speaking.” And trust me, it is not a battery, but a very short list! 

Though this book's title may seem as if it is promising more than speaking can deliver, it is not. I have seen speaking make many authors a ton of money over the years and build writing careers as it does so. One side benefit that always appealed to me: Travel.

Have I convinced you of the possibilities? Then the next step is to study up. May I suggest you start with Briles’ book? For the fun of it. For the enthusiasm and inspiration between those royal purple covers. And for the all-in-one-place advice you’ll get on the process of speaking as a marketing technique. 

Patricia Tripp, CSP and Past President of the National Speakers Association, said it perfectly and I can’t beat that: “Learning from Judith Briles could well be your best purchase of the year.” 

It boils down to experience. And, of course, Judith’s near-unique ability to tap that experience and organize it into a book you won’t want to put down or relegate to a bookshelf. Not when you can keep it near your computer to nudge you toward your speaking goal a little each day.

MORE ABOUT THIS BLOG AND GETTING REVIEWS AND ANOTHER FREEBIE

 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.

Note: Participating authors and their publishers may request the social sharing image by Carolyn Wilhelm at no charge.  Please contact the designer at:  cwilhelm (at) thewiseowlfactory (dot) com. Provide the name of the book being reviewed and--if an image or headshot of the author --isn't already part of the badge, include it as an attachment. Wilhelm will send you the badge to use in your own Internet marketing. Give Wilhelm the link to this post, too! 

The New Book Review Offers a Way for Authors to Query for Free Reviews

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OFFERED BY AUTHOR/EDITOR LOIS W. STERN

WANT REVIEWS FOR YOUR BOOK? 

Get your review request listed here on The New Book Review blog (no charge). Send me the elevator pitch describing one of your books and asking for a reviewer for it. The pitch should be no longer than 75 words. State format of book (paper back, pdf, e-book). Follow the format under REVIEW WANTED, below, to include all of the required information and send your request and description to tales2Inspire@optimum.net with REVIEW WANTED in the subject line. Make sure the book is already listed at Amazon.com. 

Authors who participate must be willing to send a book (in whatever format(s) you list below) and promotional materials to anyone who contacts them. Authors (or publishers!) who offer paper copies of their book are more likely to attract a reviewer. 

Just make your pitch short, describing the book in a few words. Lengthy submissions will not be posted. Interested reviewers only need enough information to see if they have expertise and an interest in your book--its category or genre. Supply full contact information including your name and email address. Write the draft as it should appear so that we do not have to do more than copy-and-paste. 

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Note: Those offering paper back or hardcover copies are more likely to attract reviewers. 

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ABOUT LOIS W  STERN

   

MORE ABOUT LOIS

"Tales2inspire® was a kernel of an idea that I started in 2012, which has grown to proportions even I didn’t dare to envision. My innate curiosity about potentially fascinating human interest stories was the spark that ignited this idea, but it was the confused state of traditional publishing that propelled me forward. Tales2inspire® delivers exactly what it promises as both an ‘Authors helping Authors’ project and a contest. Winners get their stories published in print, e-book and some even in video formats, with their names, headshot photos, and mini-autobiographies included. But it doesn't end there. I continue to spread the word about the winners and their stories on my blog, social media and monthly newsletter. Free to enter, this is a great competition for talented newbies and seasoned authors alike. "

Lois W. Stern is a multi award winning author whose work has been featured in the New York Times, Newsday, on Local Access TV and in live presentations in many varied venues. She has now published nine Tales2Inspire® books of her contest winners' stories. Fans of Chicken Soup for the Soul are particularly enamored of Tales2Inspire books, because aside from their inspirational themes, they are filled with original photos to enhance the power of each story.

Lois invites interested readers to get a FREE Tales2Inspire® sampler book at: www.tales2inspire.com/gifts and to learn more about entering the next Tales2Inspire® contest at:  http://tales2inspire.com/contest-2

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        More About #TheNewBookReview Blog

The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning #HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers . Authors, readers, publishers, and reviewers may republish their favorite reviews of books they want to share with others. 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 and love. Please see submission guidelines in a tab at the top of this blog's home page or go directly to the submission form . 

Authors and publishers who do not yet have reviews or want more may use Lois W. Stern's "Authors Helping Authors" service for requesting reviews. Find her guidelines in a tab at the top of the home page. And know that Carolyn Wilhelm, our IT expert, award-winning author, and veteran educator, makes an award image especially for those who volunteer to write reviews from Lois's review-request list and post them in the spirit of her "Authors Helping Authors"  project.

Reviews, interviews, and articles on this blog are indexed by genre, reviewers' names, and review sites so #TheNewBookReview may be used as a resource for most anyone in the publishing industry. As an example, writers will find this blog's search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find Carolyn's also blogs at SharingwithWriters and The Frugal smart and Tuned-in Editor. #TheFrugalbookPromoter, #CarolynHowardJohnson, #TheNewBookReview, #TheFrugalEditor, #SharingwithWriters, #reading #BookReviews #GreatBkReviews #BookMarketing #amwriting

Terminal Identity Suspense Book Reveals a New Reality

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. 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.

• Print Length: 280 pages
• Publication Date: December 1, 2018
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B07KDYKNSY

From the publisher:

"Juliette Dreschler awakens to a startling reality. She is only a shell of the woman she used to be after a life-altering accident left her both physically and mentally changed and now someone has marked her for death."

Terminal Identity shares the fictional (based on real life) experience of a family who is dealing with a traumatic brain injury. Not just a TMI, but an international thriller mystery as well. This true explanation is briefly mentioned in the author’s note at the end of the story.

We have a relative who experienced three falls, and with only a mild TBI has fairly significant challenges – organizational issues and distractibility -- which make it difficult for her to be productive. The story was based on fact, although many people have more than the minimal impairment of the character Juliette. The story rang true for me, which I liked.

One character has to split his time between visiting the hospital, working with the Police, and meeting with a private investigator. The family also has to divide their time especially as the story happens in both Switzerland and the USA. The different time zones, distinct hospital rules in two countries, and necessary international travel complicate the story for added suspense. Romance adds to the story.

A stolen identity is revealed near the end of the story, and it not at all what I first would have imagined -- if I had seen it coming. The plot has plenty of surprises as it moves right along. Some suspicious characters that seem guilty are not, It is hard to know which people can be trusted.

One part of the story-within-the-main-story I enjoyed was about the adoption of a baby. I am partial to adoption stories with an adopted daughter myself. A play within the play, so to speak.

One of the main bad guys is a doctor that you will love to hate!

Thank you for reading, 

Carolyn Wilhelm

Wise Owl Factory