Review - Opur's Blade by James Ross

Genre: Fiction
Title: Opur’s Blade
Author: James Ross
Rating: 3.5/5

Owen Purler Jr.’s mom takes stuttering 12-year-old Owen to Prairie Woods Golf Course one summer to take advantage of free golf lessons. He learns about the sport and so much more.

J Dub Schroeder, the golf pro and manager at Prairie Woods quickly realizes the natural talent Owen has with a golf club. As is appropriate with just about everyone on the golf course, Owen Purler gets a nickname. His first and last name merge and he becomes known as Opur. Learning how good he is at golf helps Opur with self-confidence. As Opur grows up, he learns more about life through J Dub than his estranged father and comes to appreciate his mother’s sacrifices. The theme of Opur’s life seems to be that just when he can see his goal within reach he is blindsided by an action or event that forces him to reassess his plans.

Ross uses short chapters to keep the pacing of the story going, and it works well. It could almost be a young adult novel, except that it follows Opur well into his twenties and has adult topics in the back story of his father. In this novel, more than the previous three, Ross delves into the actual details of how to play golf. Ross uses his in-depth experience of the sport to include details that golf fans will understand, but also enough for people unfamiliar with the sport to be able to grasp and appreciate. Pulling the point of view around the golf course works especially well in this novel. The reader moves from the sportscaster’s booth, to the golfers’ shoulders as they discuss strategy with their caddies, to various spectators in the crowd commenting on what they are seeing, hearing, and experiencing. The shifting point of view can be distracting, but in this instance it helps add to the suspense of play at each hole and keeps the reader moving along with the game.

James Ross took up golf at the age of twelve. After turning fifty, he decided to pursue his creative side. He went to a keyboard and let the words flow through his fingertips. Opur’s Blade is fourth in a series of books centering on the Prairie Woods Golf Course. It follows Lifetime Loser, Finish Line, and Tuey’s Course. His fifth novel, Pabby's Score is due out this year. When he’s not writing, Ross can most likely be found on a golf course.

Opur’s Blade is my favorite of the four I’ve read in this series, although the editing and ending leave a bit to be desired. Opur’s Blade is about keeping focused on your passion and pushing through any and all obstacles to reach your goals without being tempted to take what, at first glance, appears to be the easy way to the finish line. Persistence and patience will get you to your destination. It is a recommended read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews, www.allbooksreviewint.com.

Available through: Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

Publisher: Nightengale Press
ISBN: 978-1-9334-4987-6
Pages: 472
Price: $18.95

Review of Tuey's Course by James Ross

Genre: Fiction
Title: Tuey’s Course
Author: James Ross

Most of this story focuses on an almost-middle-aged black man who was born in the city projects on the east side of St. Louis named WeWildapheet Ulisees O’Tweety, but is known to most as Tuey. The nickname comes from the fact that there are two back-to-back e’s in each of his names. There are stories behind the misspelling of his middle and last names, for the reader to discover, too.

Tuey is an independent contractor who can’t seem to be on the right side of town ordinances no matter how hard he tries, or how reasonable he is. J Dub is still managing the Prairie Winds Golf Course with his brother Curt and when they are told of a development project that is going to run along one edge of their golf course, they go with a friend’s recommendation and hire Tuey for the easement work. It isn’t all smooth greens and light winds for the project.

As with the prior novels, Ross prefers the omniscient point of view, so the reader gets insight into each character that appears on the page. The POV choice and the extensive cast of characters don’t allow the reader to have any particular character to empathize with, but it allows the reader to feel part of a group discussion. Ross definitely has opinions about discrimination and has created a complex story around it to include corrupted politicians, racial profiling, and what can happen when a person is pushed a little too far. The author writes most characters with dialects, so the readers must read slowly to comprehend a lot of conversations. Ross is daring in the latter part of the novel in blurring the line between reality and fiction, in regard to Tuey. Ross makes his readers work for the ending, which does resolve a lot of questions.

James Ross graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia. After turning fifty, he searched for a positive outlet to battle the economic ups and downs that most people experience. He went to a keyboard and let the words flow through his fingertips. Tuey’s Course is third in a series of books centering on the Prairie Woods Golf Course. It follows Lifetime Loser and Finish Line. James is an avid, low-handicap golfer who enjoys the sport and the lessons of the game. He shares his belief that golf may very well hold the key to a lot of life's best secrets, through his novels.

Tuey’s Course starts 5 months before the prior novel, Finish Line, ends. So for readers of the series, take note that the cliffhanger ending of Finish Line is not addressed in any hurry in Tuey’s Course, and some details are rehashed from July through December. Tuey’s Course is a novel about the stronghold that discrimination still has in today’s world and it’s my opinion that the target audience is limited. It is an average read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews, www.allbooksreviewint.com.

Available through: Xlibris.com, Amazon.com, and BarnesandNoble.com.

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 978-1-4363-8993-8
Pages: 286
Price: $19.99

Review of Finish Line by James Ross

Genre: Fiction
Title: Finish Line
Author: James Ross

Thirteen-year-old Justin Ventimiglia is a good kid who seldom gets into trouble and manages well enough in school. He has issues with his step-father, but what kid doesn’t? And what kid doesn’t have a friend who pushes the boundaries of right and wrong? Justin has Keith Puccio to nudge him into trouble, and for the most part, the pranks are harmless.

Justin and Keith find themselves having to work their entire summer break at the golf course seven days a week from sun up to sun down to make amends for a prank gone too far. Curt, an old friend of Justin’s mother, agrees to take the young teens under his wing for the summer. Curt mentors the boys and teaches them all about the work needed for a golf course. Some of it is fun, some not so much, but Curt is always there to lend a hand or an ear. Learning to respect themselves and others goes a long way as these boys work to pay off their debt. Curt learns as much from the boys as he’s able to teach them, and everyone grows through the up and down experiences they have over the summer.

The omniscient voice choice by the author gives the reader insight into almost every character that appears on the page. The mostly male cast works well together and the author is able to capture many nuances of male relationships. Curt is crafted well as a mentor to teens and a man that other men look up to. Like in the first novel, the character backgrounds are entertaining and lend to giving a lot of color to the story, since every story is unique. The point of view choice allows the reader to get to know a large cast of characters but not any one character in particular. The short chapters allow for many scene and point of view shifts and keep the activity moving along.

James Ross graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia. After turning fifty, he searched for a positive outlet to battle the economic ups and downs that most people experience. He went to a keyboard and let the words flow through his fingertips. Finish Line follows Lifetime Loser in a series of books centering around the Prairie Woods Golf Course. James is an avid, low-handicap golfer who enjoys the sport and the lessons of the game. He shares his belief that golf may very well hold the key to a lot of life's best secrets, through his novels.

Although Finish Line is set on a golf course, it can entertain any reader. It’s also suitable for young adult and adult readers. Finish Line is a novel about the importance of setting goals and meeting them. It’s acknowledging that the goal isn’t achieved until the “finish line” is crossed. It is a good read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews, www.allbooksreviewint.com.

Available through: Xlibris.com, Amazon.com, and BarnesandNoble.com.

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 978-1-4363-3326-9
Pages: 290
Price: $6.95

Review of Starring in the Movie of My Life by Laurel Osterkamp

Genre: Fiction
Title: Starring in the Movie of My Life
Author: Laurel Osterkamp

Thirty-five-year-old Samantha acts impulsively, but always doing what she thinks is right. She loves her husband, Nate Linden, but constantly wonders how she got so lucky with a man ten years younger than herself. Melody is a high school senior. After Mr. Linden saves Melody from being attacked at a Valentine’s dance, she believes it is destiny that she and her teacher belong together.

Starring in the Movie of My Life follows Samantha, as she follows her impulsive heart into pursuits that challenge those who love her, and Melody, who thinks she knows exactly how her life should be and who doesn’t consider how her actions affect others. Samantha has a life, but it isn’t fully satisfying, for some reason. She keeps secrets from her husband and from her ex, who happens to live in an upstairs apartment. Melody’s home life is nothing to cheer about, but she always manages to land on her feet and make the best of any situation. All her life she’s had to take care of herself and her mother and be the focus of barbs and jokes from classmates. She believes it has made her stronger. When push comes to shove, she does what it takes to be on top.

The author chose alternating points of view for each chapter of the two women who want Nate for themselves. The tight writing keeps the pace moving, and the short chapters help build suspense because the reader is left wanting more. The movie subject works well in the storyline. The author crafted Samantha to be forever comparing her life to movies she’s seen and Melody as a person who researches, plans, and directs exactly out how she wants her life to go. The writing mixes current day with backstory in small portions, so the reader slowly gains understanding into why the characters act the way they do.

Laurel Osterkamp drew on her experience as a high school film studies and creative writing teacher to craft Starring in the Movie of My Life. Laurel’s first novel, Following My Toes, won a 2008 National Indie Book Award for Excellence. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and children where she’s at work on her next novel.

Starring in the Movie of My Life is fast-paced, engaging, and a recommended read for those not afraid to go back to high school and experience some angst or to experience what it can be like to scramble to find a focus and purpose for life in the mid-30s. Jumping in with both feet without thinking isn’t always a bad thing. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews, www.allbooksreviewint.com.

Publisher: PMI Books
ISBN: 978-1-933826-677
Pages: 316
Price: $13.95

Review of Beyond the Shickshock Mountains by Malcom Mills

Genre: Historical fiction
Title: Beyond the Shickshock Mountains: A Canadian Talon Saga
Author: Malcolm Mills

It’s the late eighteenth century and the British and French fight over the eastern part of Canada. The Talon family tree has deep roots in this time period and beyond. Men and women alike have to decide whether to stay and accept their lives under another’s rule, or leave and find a safer and not so volatile place to settle. It’s hard to find a safety net when everyone is struggling to survive.

Beyond the Shickshock Mountains follows the lives of three young men: Jean George, Shannagan, and Trevallion. At 20, Jean George finally had enough of the local fishing merchant short-changing his family and others in the community. At the annual tally, he stood up and demanded to see the books. His satisfaction at proving the merchant was bilking the town was short lived as he became a pawn in a game he couldn’t hope to win. Young, orphaned Shannagan runs to the mountains to avoid British capture and to share news with others who live in hiding. Twenty-five-year-old Trevallion has already sailed to Europe and back. He has a few pieces of personal business to attend to before settling down with a wife, but life keeps throwing him curves.

The author chose to write the first and last sections in first person, seemingly so the reader can be more involved in the stories of Jean George and Trevallion. The short middle section is narrative and tells about 12-year-old Shannagan Thomas Murphy’s struggle to survive as a ‘free’ man. The descriptive writing and engaging dialogue keep the reader engaged in the lives of these three unique individuals in a time long past.

In addition to Beyond the Shickshock Mountains, Malcolm Mills is the author of High Hopes & High Tides, a historical fiction novel, and It’s a Tough World Out There, a satirical look at business in the fast lane. Malcolm has frequently traveled across North America and has lived in Europe and China gathering data for his writing. Malcolm lives in Nova Scotia with his wife where he continues to write of adventures in Canadian history.

Beyond the Shickshock Mountains is full of adventure and history. It’s a story of self-preservation and survival in unexpected conditions. This novel can entertain young and old alike. It is a good read. This review is based on a pre-published copy of the manuscript. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews, www.allbooksreviewint.com.

Publisher: Asteroid Publishing, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1-926720-09-8
Pages: 270
Price: $17.95

Interview with author Jonathan Maxwell

Jonathan Maxwell is a Georgia-based writer and public speaker. He is the author of Murderous Intellectuals: German Elites and the Nazi SS, which received the 2011 Allbooks Review Editor’s Choice Award in the Category of Best Non-fiction Book. In addition, the online publication Author Exposure rated the work as being one of the “20 Most Memorable Debut Books of 2010.” Jonathan holds a BA in English, along with a psychology minor and a paralegal certificate.

Jonathan, please tell us about your current release.
Murderous Intellectuals: German Elites and the Nazi SS examines why so many well-educated professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, scientists, and the like, willingly joined the Nazi SS, the notorious group that spearheaded the Holocaust.

What inspired you to write this book?
In part, I wrote the book to correct some of the misconceptions that people have about the Nazis. Many persons believe that this organization was full of street brawlers and misfits who lived on the fringes of society. To a considerable degree, this was true; Adolf Hitler himself exemplified the “social failure as Nazi” stereotype. However, the organization was also full of intellectuals. Such figures included:
·Johannes Stark. Stark was a German physicist who won a Nobel Prize for his work. He also became a fervent Nazi. He helped to rid German universities of liberal professors. He sent many of these educators to the concentration camps, where many died.
·Philipp Lenard. Lenard was another German physicist who garnered a Nobel Prize. Like Stark, he was a devoted Nazi, and he wrote much anti-Semitic literature.
·Otto Ohlendorf. This man was a death-squad commander who operated in the Ukraine. He and his men shot down about 100,000 Jews over a period of about six months. Obviously, Ohlendorf was a dangerous, fanatical criminal. He was also superbly educated: he held doctorates both in law and in economics.
·Oskar Dirlewanger. Dirlewanger was another death-squad commander. He operated in the former Yugoslavia. He openly encouraged his men to commit atrocities such as plunder, rape, and the murders of civilians. Like Ohlendorf, he was a dangerous felon. He was well-educated as well, possessing a doctorate in political science.
·Josef Mengele is the most famous SS doctor who performed experiments on people within the concentration and death camps. He came from a respected upper class family and held doctorates in medicine and anthropology. By no means was he the only one, though. There were at least 200 doctors who engaged in such inhumane practices, and they often graduated from the best European universities. In addition, many German doctors regularly killed thousands of mentally ill or mentally retarded individuals as part of a “euthanasia program.”
·The SS was full of architects. One such architect was Paul Blobel, a death-squad commander. At a Russian ravine called Babi Yar, he and his men murdered some 35,000 Jews over a two-day period. Another architect, Albert Speer, was a slave master who was responsible for the deaths of millions of forced laborers. He came from a respected upper class family.
·The SS was also full of lawyers. One such lawyer, Ernst Kaltenbrunner founded Mauthausen, one of the most brutal of the concentration camps. Another attorney, Hans Frank, became the governor-general of Nazi occupied Poland. His tenure there was marked by mass murder, graft, plunder, and corruption.
·Robert Ley was a slave master. He possessed a doctorate in chemistry.

These individuals are not particularly exceptional: one-third of SS officers possessed at least a bachelor’s degree. The truth, then, is much more disturbing. Many of the Holocaust’s practitioners were otherwise rational, accomplished individuals. Ultimately, I hope to convey to the reader that evil can come in many forms. It can come from thugs, but it can come from professors and engineers, too. I also hope to convey to the reader that the ideas of social elites need to be questioned from time to time. Sadly, average Germans during this period did not do so. They simply assumed that such leaders and intellectuals were always right. They failed to consider the fact that evil can corrupt social elites as well.

What exciting story are you working on next?
My second book is called Piltdown Man and Other Hoaxes. It’s much different from my first book. It’s a fun work that is designed for both adults and children. It’s about scientific hoaxes through history, including those involving Bigfoot, the Yeti, lake monsters, and Atlantis. It explores why hoaxes are perpetrated, and why people keep falling for them. Piltdown Man and Other Hoaxes is controversial (people tend to have strong opinions about such subjects), but in a light-hearted way.

It's schedule for release this summer.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I finally considered myself to be a professional writer when I received my first publishing contract about three years ago. I wrote for decades, but I had always been hounded by self-doubt. During the writing of Murderous Intellectuals, I had these sad thoughts: am I just a wannabe? Am I just fooling myself? Am I a phony? I don’t suffer from self-doubt much anymore.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I write full-time. That being said, my writing schedule is schizophrenic. I operate much like a painter or a sculptor. I have these periods when I get really inspired, and I’ll write thirty pages over a day or two. Then again, I have these periods when I can’t write for weeks on end. I don’t advise such a strategy; ideally, one should write every day. That never worked for me, though. I have found an effective way of dealing with it, however: simply do other writer-related tasks. You can send out queries or book proposals, you can arrange interviews, you can create and then send out press releases, and so on. To be a successful writer, you don’t have to write every day necessarily, but a writer should always stay busy doing one thing or another.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a writer, but I never thought that I could ever become one. My father was a truck driver. I thought that to be a writer, you had to have graduated from an ivy-league college and to have come from the upper class.

The reason why I wrote my first book is because I had been laid-off from work repeatedly. In between sending out resumes, I decided to write a manuscript. After all, I had a lot of free time on my hands, and it sounded like an interesting challenge. At the time, I simply wanted to prove to myself that I could do something like that. At no time did I ever feel like I could ever sell the book. My mother read it, and urged me to send it out to publishers. I was amazed that I received a contract. In addition, I never felt that I could do book signings or arrange interviews or public appearances. I’ve been pleasantly surprised time after time.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
Readers can find my title on www.amazon.com, www.borders.com, and www.barnesandnoble.com, as well as at independent booksellers. They are also invited to contact me on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Thanks!

Review of Lifetime Loser by James Ross

Genre: Fiction
Title: Lifetime Loser
Author: James Ross

J. W. Schroeder, known throughout his life as J Dub, is a golfer. His father taught him some of life’s lessons in tandem with how to excel at hitting a small white ball on a range and then down a fairway. However, not all of life’s lessons can be taught through anything less than direct experience, and not everyone is a gentleman when it comes to the ‘Gentleman’s Game’.

Lifetime Loser is a story about how falling one shot short on making it to the pro circuit changed J Dub’s life’s path. An opportunity to be a partner in and manage an Illinois golf course seemed almost too good to be true. After checking into the details, J Dub decides it’s legit and signs the papers – even though his wife hasn’t seen the property and she’s uncomfortable with his new partner, Lew. J Dub’s passion for golf never wanes, nor does his passion to support his family as best as he can. It’s when he discovers himself in the midst of a thick web of deceit that he pulls on the lessons he’s already learned in order to do the right thing, no matter how difficult.

The author chose to write in omniscient voice, so the reader learns a lot about almost every character who appears on the page. The reader has to play close attention to each line since the head hopping isn’t limited to one character per paragraph. The character backgrounds are entertaining and lend to giving a lot of color to the story. The point of view choice allows for a large cast of characters and a way for the reader to feel a part of the conversations in the pro shop and beyond. The short chapters allow for many scene and point of view shifts and keep the activity moving along.

James Ross graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia. After turning fifty, he searched for a positive outlet to battle the economic ups and downs that most people experience. He went to a keyboard and let the words flow through his fingertips. Lifetime Loser took eight months to write after four years of crafting it in his mind. James is an avid, low-handicap golfer who enjoys the sport and the lessons of the game. He believes golf may very well hold the key to a lot of life's best secrets.

Lifetime Loser can entertain a golf fan, a golf player, as well as someone who knows nothing about the sport since the sport is used as a metaphor for life. This novel is about a man having the patience and perseverance to pursue the right path, no matter how much easier life might be if he could just walk away from it all instead. It is a good read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews, www.allbooksreviewint.com.

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 978-1-4257-8208-5
Pages: 328
Price: $19.99

Review of Love Always Prevails by Marguerite Ashton

Genre: Christian Fiction
Title: Love Always Prevails
Author: Marguerite Ashton

Devin Williams didn’t start dating until she was eighteen. Raised in a Christian home, sex before marriage, among other things, was in the “do not do” category. By her nineteenth birthday, unwed Devin finds herself pregnant and strongly encouraged to marry the baby’s father. Even though it wasn’t the most perfect way to begin a marriage, Devin imagines a house surrounded by a yard and a white picket fence and filled with a loving husband and kids.

Love Always Prevails is a story about a woman who takes her wedding vows, given in front of God and family, as a lifetime contract. Her parents are active and involved in her life over the years and those of her three children, as Devin deals with the ups and downs of her marriage.

The author’s choice of using first person for most of the novel brings the reader into the story immediately. It reads as a memoir, especially due to the Prologue and Epilogue, but also due to the experiences the main character deals with and works through. The chapters are kept short and time passes within the novel at varying lengths from days to months to years in no particular rhythm. Devin is a natural character with flaws, but also one filled with compassion, endless optimism, and determination to live the life where love always prevails.

Marguerite Ashton hails from Colorado and now lives in Wisconsin. She is the author of two previous books: Taylini: A Family Saga and Traci’s Story. She has a passion for writing crime and suspense novels, as well as screenwriting. She is a registered screenwriter with the Writer’s Guild of America.

Love Always Prevails is a strong Christian-based story that shows a person can heal and move past the worst of times and that there is always hope for a better tomorrow if one believes in it enough. It is a good read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews, www.allbooksreviewint.com.

Publisher: Hi Skool Books, Inc.
ISBN: 978-1449919450
Pages: 218
Price: $20.00

Review of Posted in Colombo by Shizue Tomoda

Genre: Memoir
Title: Posted in Colombo: A Glance at Toiling Women and the Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka
Author: Shizue Tomoda

Shizue Tomoda enjoys traveling to foreign countries and she’s gone on several missions to a few countries through positions with the International Labour Organization (ILO). After more than six years being comfortable living and working in Geneva, she craves another field assignment. Official word of placement in Colombo, Sri Lanka finally arrives and Shizue has three-and-a-half months to tie up all loose ends of her current life and relocate to a new country to start a new life and job. The opportunity has been a long time in coming and Shizue is excited.

Posted in Colombo is an engaging memoir that shares details of the civil war and the ethnic makeup in Sri Lanka. Written by a former director of ILO’s Colombo, Sri Lanka office, Posted in Colombo gives a front row experience of a living in a foreign country where suicide bombers, shootings, and death are a regular occurrence. The author brings you to the bombed streets and neighborhoods, introduces you to female migrant workers, mostly housemaids, who yearn to improve their standing in society, and allows you a glimpse into her passion for bringing light and hope to women who have only experienced darkness and despair.

The author’s writing style is direct, detailed, yet personal. She weaves real world events with her personal reactions in a conversational way. Her attention to detail and being able to weave memories and description together caught me on the first page, starting with an A4-size brown envelope. Tomoda’s passion for helping empower women so they can take greater roles in society is at the core of the book, yet it is balanced with her activities outside of the office and with examples of what is happening in the world at that time. The writing transports the reader to a different time and place with honesty and grace.

Shizue Tomoda was born in Japan and educated there and in the United States. She had a twenty-five year career with a United Nations agency promoting international labor standards. Her other books include Sachiko, a novel based on her upbringing in post-war Japan and her new life and coming-of-age in the States, and Taro and Tomi: My Feline Son and Daughter, a memoir about her and her two adopted cats. The author currently lives in France on the Swiss border near Geneva where she pursues her creative writing interests.

The illustrations by Edwin Batawala included in the book balance the narrative with a personal voice and attention to detail that is similar to the author’s. Shizue Tomoda’s memoir Posted in Colombo is a highly recommended read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews.

Publisher: Createspace
ISBN: 978-1453634981
Pages: 316
Price: $18.99

Review of Down to the Needle by Mary Deal

Genre: Fiction/Thriller
Title: Down to the Needle
Author: Mary Deal

It has been twenty-three years since five-year-old Becky was kidnapped. Abigail “Abi” Fisher is just as diligent today as she was on the first day in trying to find and reunite with her daughter. Abi looks at every young woman who crosses her path and wonders, “Is that Becky?”

Abi’s heart continues to celebrate, yet also break, as every missing child and every homeless young woman is identified or found, and is not her daughter. Five years ago, Abi met Joe. The two clicked almost instantly and they keep each other balanced through the emotional rollercoaster that each deals with in life. Just as Abi’s interest piques with a woman on death row, Joe becomes distracted with someone from his past. Abi struggles with pursuing her newest lead that may bring her to her long-lost daughter while supporting Joe in his need for discovery, too.

The author has created a protagonist that any parent, or anyone who cares about children, can identify with. The need to protect a child is overwhelming, and the character of Abigail has lived with the guilt of not being able to do that for the past two decades. Readers will quickly empathize with Abi’s wholehearted desire to find a positive resolution – a reunion with her daughter – especially as the time for the quest seems to have a deadline. The tightly woven plotlines combine with the fast-moving action to keep the reader on the edge of her seat.

Mary Deal is retired and living in Hawaii. She spends a most of her time writing, but ventures out to the beach every now and then. Along with her passion for writing, she enjoys oil painting and photography. She has four published suspense/thriller novels and is working on more. Her third novel, River Bones, won the Eric Hoffer Book Awards competition. She has also published short stories and poetry in various magazines and anthologies.

I find the title appealing since the pacing and tension has the reader hoping for answers along with the protagonist right down to the needle. Will there be a positive resolution before lethal injection is administered? Make sure you have time to read, because once you start, it’s hard to stop. Down to the Needle is a great read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews.

Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 978-1-4401-9820-5
Pages: 326
Price: $16.95

Review of Restless Heart by T. William Phillips

Genre: Historical fiction
Title: Restless Heart
Author: T. William Phillips

It’s 1838 and eighteen year-old Konrad Quintero de Leon wants more than knowledge from books found only between four walls on a university campus. He wants to experience life and find what calls to him on a deep level. He leaves New York for England and learns his first lesson from his uncle – that to understand a city fully, one needs to live there, not just visit. Konrad’s quest for knowledge and experience expands with each new discovery and he finds that he’s always restless for something more.

Most people Konrad knows follow their parents’ advice and pursue lives that may not fully satisfy them. Konrad follows his own beat, his own heart, in order to discover the life he’s meant to live. The road isn’t always easy or exactly as expected, but Konrad keeps moving forward with the adventures and new discoveries that fill his life with pleasure and pain, yet mostly with the unquenchable desire for more.

T. William Phillips’ choice of first person narrative talks to the reader in a way that almost prompts a conversation. The first-person voice is curious, thoughtful, and honest. The book is broken into three sections. Duty, justice, and truth are themes for each section and relate to the growth Konrad experiences as he ages. The author keeps the character true on the focus of following his heart’s decisions, which could make for a predictable story line. However, the character, like any real person, sometimes struggles between ‘want’ and ‘should’. It’s a well-crafted tale.

Restless Heart is T. William Phillips’ first literary work. He has other novels and novellas in process. He’s studied classic literature, including Hermann Hesse, Ernest Hemingway, and Jack Kerouac, as well as Dostoevsky, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Flaubert, Camus, Steinbeck, and Joyce.

Anyone with a curious, and perhaps never quite settled spirit, will enjoy Restless Heart. It’s a historical novel full of adventure, romance, self-discovery, and travel. A recommended read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews.

Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 978-1-4502-3251-7
Pages: 510
Price: $26.95

Review - Tales of Addiction and Inspiration for Recovery

Recovering from any addiction starts with acknowledging the problem. In Tales of Addiction and Inspiration for Recovery, stories from everyday people at various stages of addiction and recovery put their honest personal lives, most of which aren’t pretty, on the page to help others.

Raw is the word that comes to mind when trying to describe this book. Reading each story is like sitting with the author and watching them open a vein. The tales are not for the weak. There’s no holding back. What they have to say is put there on the page. Addiction is not pretty and recovery is difficult, at best. So many lives are impacted by addiction and Tales of Addiction is a mere glimpse into a few realities. Love, interventions, pleading, and begging can be used to try to help an addicted person, but only the addicted have the ultimate power to make the changes. The inspiration gained from the stories uplifts and gives hope for a better tomorrow.

The author includes portions of her son’s journal as he struggled with addiction and recovery, along with her emotions and feelings woven between the other individual and unique heart-wrenching tales. Very few people aren’t touched by addiction in some way. Minimal editing was done in order to preserve the individual voices and each new story is indicated with a bold title. The chapters are broken into categories such as “The Early Years,” “Hitting Rock Bottom,” Searching for Recovery,” “Difficult Lessons,” and “The Spiritual Path.”

Barbara Sinor, Ph.D. is a Psychospiritual Therapist dealing with childhood abuse/incest, PTSD, addiction recover, and adult children of alcoholics. She has several published books on her areas of expertise. The content for Tales of Addiction is in direct response to a public “call for submissions” asking for the stories from those who wanted to share them.

The stories in this book reach out to anyone who has an addiction, is recovering, has recovered, or is part of the life of someone in any of these stages. The stories let you know you aren’t alone and that there is hope. A good read.

Available at: www.amazon.com.

Reviewed for Allbooks Review.

Publisher: Modern History Press
ISBN: 978-1-61599-037-5
Pages: 264
Price: $19.95

Review of Love Each Day by Gail Bernice Holland

Genre: Inspiration & Personal Growth
Title: Love Each Day
Author: Gail Bernice Holland

Have you ever thought about living a day in such a way that you would want to live it again? Love Each Day is a beautiful reminder that joy and happiness can be found, maybe not every day, but on most days, if we just look for it.

Love Each Day is a compilation of forty distinct and individual stories of people from different walks of life. Each short essay focuses on a particular day in someone’s life that stands out as a day they would like to live again. Whether it was a life-altering event that made the day memorable, or something small and simple like a smile or a handshake when least expected, it is an event the individual treasures.

Author Gail Bernice Holland spent time talking with people as she traveled. She wanted to know what it would take to “Live each day so you would want to live it again.” Her compilation of stories shows there isn’t any one particular universal thing; it is as unique as an individual. She varies the stories in first and third person and it works well.

Gail is an author and award-winning journalist who has worked on newspapers and magazines in Britain and the United States. Holland is known for her books and articles that explore new ways of thinking and acting. She has authored other books including, Forget-Me-Not: A Memoir of Anne Bashkiroff’s Alzheimer’s Crusade.

The variety of the stories in the book make the compilation uplifting and inspiring for just about anyone. Love Each Day is a recommended read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews.

Publisher: Modern History Press
ISBN: 978-1-932690-79-8
Pages: 124
Price: $16.95