Historical Fiction Book Reviews

A touching tale of brotherly devotion and the life-altering consequences of war, In the Shadow of the Sun by Poli Flores Jr. is an outback California drama that echoes across small-town American life.

In the shifting cultural landscape of the Vietnam era, a young man named Curt leaves for war as a musclebound titan, but returns as a troubled and broken soul, unprepared for the very different battles that still lay ahead. When a respected member of the community is bludgeoned to death shortly after his return, the clues and suspicions all seem to point toward Curt.

With corrupt law […]

An instantly immersive story of innocence lost and justice miscarried, Karl Myers by Jeff Lee is a patiently profound piece of 1950s fiction – a visceral, dark, and poignant drama, which offers a snapshot of a sinister time that America has yet to fully escape.

Karl Myers is a melancholic ex-Marine police chief with a stack of regrets, an unwavering hunger for justice, and a raised eyebrow at the backwards beliefs that still flourish in the town he calls home. Jerry Peterman is a scarred veteran with a quick temper and no tolerance for weakness, let alone disobedience, from either […]

Celey by Susan Diane Black Blackmon is the second book in the Heritage Series, a collection of historical novels based on real-life characters and events. Standing between fact and fiction, Celey is a heartwarming novel about hardship, family, and the hopes and dreams of a town in 19th-century Arkansas, for an engrossing and evocative work of historical fiction.

Waldron is a place on a difficult journey from wilderness to civilization, and Celey, a young woman of sixteen, experiences what it means to live in an unsafe environment, where women cannot go around town unaccompanied and bullies seem to go […]