Editorial Reviews

Tamar by Sheldon Greene – full subtitle, A Historical Coming of Age Novel of a Jewish Native American Woman in Post-Civil War California – depicts the tumultuous journey of a Jewish/American Indian community who find themselves dispossessed of their ancestral land. The story intimately follows the leader of the community, Tamar, as she navigates such unprecedented events: the building of a railroad, settlers, war, and the relocation of her people to an industrialized world. An inspiring, visceral novel, Tamar will leave you breathless with its wholly unique perspective on this period of history. The dichotomy Greene creates between artificial America […]

In this honest and poignant memoir, The Last Leadholders: Quest for Fulfillment, author Richard Deatherage discovers that after a lifelong career as an architectural draughtsman, computers are taking over and he is one of the last pencil holders in the industry. Looking back at his military father’s career, and his resulting nomadic childhood growing up in the heart of Jim Crow’s segregated America, Deatherage draws from his life’s lessons to find peace and fulfillment for the future. Editing slips and a generally shaggy-dog-style tale slow the read down, but the author’s intention is all heart, for an intriguing portrait of […]

A biblically-based look at the religious significance of current events, The Mystery of Iniquity: Last Days Convergence by D.F. Hodge gives the reader insights into why the times we live in are potentially a signal of the return of Christ and the new Kingdom of God. Interestingly, Hodge calls out systemic racism, police brutality, and the subjugation of women as endemic of these turbulent times, which may not always be the case for books with this focus. Hodge’s book also covers the purpose of God, the purpose of evil, and the significance of the signs that surround us. A decidedly […]

Cascadia, the domed Edenic last city left on a ravaged Earth, is the setting for Jonathan Sobe’s mind-bending work of science fiction, Mannequin. The quest for immortality relies on life extension technology produced by the Continuum Corporation, whose CEO Cesare Osvaldo hires troubled private investigator Jessa Bennet to find the missing person who threatens to destroy it all. Moving in and out of projected realities and back and forth across time, Mannequin tackles big questions of truth, reality, good and evil, God and science through a series of dramatic twists in Jessa’s battle to save humanity, for a uniquely […]

A stellar cozy mystery, replete with infidelity, a Halloween setting, an empathetic protagonist, and two well-drawn detectives, Bonnie Traymore’s Killer Motives is a superb first installment of the Hudson Valley Mystery series. There’s a tragic death in Hudson Valley, which brings married couple Victoria and Nick’s life to a standstill, as the victim is Nick’s lover. Could they be the next victims, or is Nick darker than Victoria ever imagined? With spot-on realistic criminal procedures, and the historically detailed setting of the Sleepy Hollow area giving the story a brooding feel, Killer Motives offers a thrilling escape, even with the […]

A colorful and creative A-Z guide to flowers, Alphabet of Flowers by Gloria D. Gonsalves is a children’s book that can be appreciated by anyone unfamiliar with our floral friends. The brief statements following each alphabetical bloom contain simple and interesting facts, though some entries are more intriguing than others. Particularly impressive are the crayoned flowers and descriptions beginning with more rare letters, such as X and Q. Though the concept of the book is simple, the images are easy to duplicate for aspiring artists, and getting to know the names and spellings of flowers is an important skill for […]

A steamy South American thriller, At All Costs by Geoffrey Robinson is a fast-paced read with conspiracies and betrayal aplenty. Kelly and Danny are hunting for different things – the scoop on a dangerous story and intel for his shadowy superiors, respectively – but their missions inevitably tangle in a chaotic mess of smuggling, murder, and international manipulation. While the writing is sometimes rushed and could afford to slow down, the plot moves quickly, the tension is visceral and realistic, and the complexity of the story’s villains helps this novel stand out from other international thrillers.

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Kimberly Sullivan’s compelling literary work, In The Shadow of The Apennines, is an emotional journey following an American woman as she escapes to the mountains of Italy, fleeing the memory of a failed marriage, only to find that a getaway can be just as isolating. When she finds the journal of a local woman from a century ago, her world starts to transform, as she finds she is connected to the woman in ways she couldn’t have imagined. While readers may have to suspend disbelief for our heroine’s abrupt mastery of the Italian language, Sullivan’s novel is romantic in the […]