Pole Shift 2: The Ribbon Years
Albert Samuel Tukker
Lulu Press
2010
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-557-37369-7
$ 29.28
457 pages
Science fiction
As a continuation from the first book Pole Shift, this novel continues. As a quick refresher, Pole Shift is
the thrilling action adventure novel about the change of our planet’s magnetic poles due to the
galactic alignment and change in the gravitational forces that actually shift our magnetic poles which
level the mountains and create the Plains Sea in middle America.
Forrest Woods, along with Claire, is continuing his search for survivors in the area of what we now consider as Arizona, Kansas, and Nebraska and being guided by the spirit of his former wife in the form of a blue firefly. He is also looking for the changes in geography as well as the changes in the wildlife such as carnivorous rabbits and cows.
Forrest and Claire are constantly wondering about the people they meet along their journey. They are surprised that there seem to be either those who are evil or good. There is no middle ground. They are constantly rescuing those who need help and attempting to eliminate those who take advantage of others.
There are also many realistic health and injury challenges which are believable with anyone being exposed to the elements and fighting with others. The grieving of personal losses also is considered and varied as it is in real life.
Forrest seems to have a restlessness that is balanced by his wandering and searching. As the story progresses, he changes as his personal needs evolve. The strength of this science fiction/almost western is the characters and their relationships with each other. Sometimes though, it seemed a little too black and white with no regard for the areas in-between.
The ending was forced with skips in time as the chapters progressed. Being that this was not present in the earlier parts of the novel, it is unsettling and seems contrived. The author obviously wanted to end this series.
I loved Pole Shift and would recommend that this be read immediately after it. Albert Samuel Tukker is an extremely talented author who seems to be overlooked by the publishers. His previous novel, Rage, won third place in the Mystery/Suspense/ Thriller category by Premier Book Awards for 2009.
Read anything written by Albert Samuel Tukker. You won’t be disappointed.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Prophecy of the Guardian
Prophecy of the Guardian: Guardian of the Seventh Realm Part I
J. W. Baccaro
Whiskey Creek Press
2010
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-61160-024-7
$ 17.95
320 pages
Fantasy
Darshun Luthias was born for a purpose. As a infant, he was almost a sacrifice when he was rescued, as foretold in a prophecy. Now, he has the distinction to fulfill this prophecy with a world hoping for his victory of the Light over the Dark.
Prophecy of the Guardian is the story of Darshun and his childhood. Being one of the few surviving Nasharin warriors, Mirabel senses the existence of another of his almost extinct race. Carefully, with Seth, another Nasharin, he stealthily views a small child who will soon be a Cullach sacrifice. Cullachs physically have piglike faces, gray skin, and are slightly stooped. They are creatures who serve the
Dark. The two of them, successful ly rescue the infant. Mirabel becomes Darshun’s adopted father and mentor.
The story is fast-paced and a fantasy lover’s delight. The traditional conflict between good, the Light, and evil, the Dark is a constant struggle with the god of Light, Abidan, and the opposing god, Abaddon. Notice the word “bad” inside Abaddon. There is a quest, a race between the two forces to find the four crystals of the earth forces which we know as elements. Whoever possesses them, rules the world.
Personally, there were too many characters, tribes, and gods. The book needs a character list to help keep them all straight. If you make one as the story progresses, this greatly helps because you do need to refer back to it due to the author’s favoritism of certain letters and having a multitude of fictional proper nouns with very similar letters. Also, sometimes the character’s name changes from ending in an “a” to ending with an “um”. There are also some problems with noun/verb agreement and staying consistent with the verb tense.
Prophecy of the Guardian: Guardian of the Seventh Realm, Part I is an ambitious multi-book plan for novel ist J. W. Baccaro who resides in New York.
This series beginning has many human-like creatures and races that are battling among each other. The action is constant with this race for the crystals and good reigning over evil. If you are patient with the names, you will be richly rewarded with this first installment of a wonderful and memorable tale.
J. W. Baccaro
Whiskey Creek Press
2010
Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-61160-024-7
$ 17.95
320 pages
Fantasy
Darshun Luthias was born for a purpose. As a infant, he was almost a sacrifice when he was rescued, as foretold in a prophecy. Now, he has the distinction to fulfill this prophecy with a world hoping for his victory of the Light over the Dark.
Prophecy of the Guardian is the story of Darshun and his childhood. Being one of the few surviving Nasharin warriors, Mirabel senses the existence of another of his almost extinct race. Carefully, with Seth, another Nasharin, he stealthily views a small child who will soon be a Cullach sacrifice. Cullachs physically have piglike faces, gray skin, and are slightly stooped. They are creatures who serve the
Dark. The two of them, successful ly rescue the infant. Mirabel becomes Darshun’s adopted father and mentor.
The story is fast-paced and a fantasy lover’s delight. The traditional conflict between good, the Light, and evil, the Dark is a constant struggle with the god of Light, Abidan, and the opposing god, Abaddon. Notice the word “bad” inside Abaddon. There is a quest, a race between the two forces to find the four crystals of the earth forces which we know as elements. Whoever possesses them, rules the world.
Personally, there were too many characters, tribes, and gods. The book needs a character list to help keep them all straight. If you make one as the story progresses, this greatly helps because you do need to refer back to it due to the author’s favoritism of certain letters and having a multitude of fictional proper nouns with very similar letters. Also, sometimes the character’s name changes from ending in an “a” to ending with an “um”. There are also some problems with noun/verb agreement and staying consistent with the verb tense.
Prophecy of the Guardian: Guardian of the Seventh Realm, Part I is an ambitious multi-book plan for novel ist J. W. Baccaro who resides in New York.
This series beginning has many human-like creatures and races that are battling among each other. The action is constant with this race for the crystals and good reigning over evil. If you are patient with the names, you will be richly rewarded with this first installment of a wonderful and memorable tale.
Strangle a Loaf of Italian Bread
STRANGLE A LOAF OF ITALIAN BREAD
Denise Dietz
Five Star
Gale, Cengage Learning
May 2009
Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-59414-760-9
$ 25.95
269 pages
Cozy Mystery
Many normal people with ordinary jobs dream of their one chance for greatness. Sara Lee, not her real
name, had her own dream. With a voice that sounded more like Barbara Streisand than Barbara
Streisand, Sara expected to win the part of Dolly in the local production of “Hello, Dolly” at the l
community theater. However, someone did not want her to audition. While taking a smoking break as
a waitress, she was rehearsing in the back alley behind the restaurant, she was strangled from behind by
someone grabbing her Daffy Duck necktie which was part of her uniform.
Who would want her dead? “… nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee.” Was that true?
Ellie Bernstein loves sleuthing with her fiancée, Peter Miller who works as a detective in Colorado
Springs. Peter is concerned about Ellie endangering herself by sticking her nose into possibly
dangerous situations. Daily, she works as a leader with Weight Winners making many friends and
acquaintances through her connections.
One of her friends, Rachel Lester, is frustrated with learning about her husband’s cheating with many
different women. She needs to make some decisions for herself. She tells everyone that she is visiting
her ill sister in Texas, but in she is seeking shelter in a friend’s cabin.
Ellie agree to dog-sit for Rachel. She hopes that Scout will get along with her Persian cat, Jackie
Robinson.
Strangle a Loaf of Italian Bread is a short cozy mystery. This is a light fun story with numerous
twists and turns. The characters are realistic and act in a believable manner. The mystery is
fast-paced with constant real life challenges intermixed with the investigations in an almost
real time manner.
Denise Deitz has written other culinary mysteries Throw Darts at Cheesecake, Beat Up a Cookie, and Chain a Lamb Chop to the Bed which also feature Ellie and Peter. With the main character Ingrid Beaumont, she has written Footprints in the Butter and also the stand-alone, Fifty Cents for your Soul. As Mary Ellen Dennis, she has written The Landlord’s Blackeyed Daughter, Stars of Fire, Heaven’s Thunder, and The Greatest Love on Earth. She wrote Finding Bess with her husband, author Gordon Aalborg. She resides at Vancouver Island.
Strangle a Loaf of Italian Bread is a logical but not predictable mystery that is delightful to read.
Denise Dietz
Five Star
Gale, Cengage Learning
May 2009
Hardback
ISBN: 978-1-59414-760-9
$ 25.95
269 pages
Cozy Mystery
Many normal people with ordinary jobs dream of their one chance for greatness. Sara Lee, not her real
name, had her own dream. With a voice that sounded more like Barbara Streisand than Barbara
Streisand, Sara expected to win the part of Dolly in the local production of “Hello, Dolly” at the l
community theater. However, someone did not want her to audition. While taking a smoking break as
a waitress, she was rehearsing in the back alley behind the restaurant, she was strangled from behind by
someone grabbing her Daffy Duck necktie which was part of her uniform.
Who would want her dead? “… nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee.” Was that true?
Ellie Bernstein loves sleuthing with her fiancée, Peter Miller who works as a detective in Colorado
Springs. Peter is concerned about Ellie endangering herself by sticking her nose into possibly
dangerous situations. Daily, she works as a leader with Weight Winners making many friends and
acquaintances through her connections.
One of her friends, Rachel Lester, is frustrated with learning about her husband’s cheating with many
different women. She needs to make some decisions for herself. She tells everyone that she is visiting
her ill sister in Texas, but in she is seeking shelter in a friend’s cabin.
Ellie agree to dog-sit for Rachel. She hopes that Scout will get along with her Persian cat, Jackie
Robinson.
Strangle a Loaf of Italian Bread is a short cozy mystery. This is a light fun story with numerous
twists and turns. The characters are realistic and act in a believable manner. The mystery is
fast-paced with constant real life challenges intermixed with the investigations in an almost
real time manner.
Denise Deitz has written other culinary mysteries Throw Darts at Cheesecake, Beat Up a Cookie, and Chain a Lamb Chop to the Bed which also feature Ellie and Peter. With the main character Ingrid Beaumont, she has written Footprints in the Butter and also the stand-alone, Fifty Cents for your Soul. As Mary Ellen Dennis, she has written The Landlord’s Blackeyed Daughter, Stars of Fire, Heaven’s Thunder, and The Greatest Love on Earth. She wrote Finding Bess with her husband, author Gordon Aalborg. She resides at Vancouver Island.
Strangle a Loaf of Italian Bread is a logical but not predictable mystery that is delightful to read.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
The Weird Sisters
The Weird Sisters
Eleanor Brown
Amy Einhorn Books
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Penguin Group
Hardback
2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-15722-6
336 pages
$24.95
Fiction, Sisters, Terminally Ill Parents, Middle-aged Women, Domestic
“See, we love one another. We just don’t happen to like one another very much.”
Sisters . . . mine included.
The Weird Sisters is about three adult women who are sisters and return home because of their mother being diagnosed with breast cancer. At least that is what it appears. Rosalind “Rose” is home because her fiancé is studying in England and she is scared to leave the security of her job and being close to home. Bianca “Bean” is hiding from her former New York employer who fired her for embezzlement. Cordelia “Cordy” is home because she has no stability in her gypsy lifestyle and is developing a nesting instinct. The three grew up in this house with their father teaching Shakespeare at a local college and their mother staying at home to take care of the family. The daughters grew up without the advantage of having a television but with the gift of having a strong relationship with books and Shakespeare.
Surprisingly, the three daughters closely resemble each other physically, but are extremely different in personality and tend to resemble the Shakespearian characters of their names. Each one is dealing with their own personal conflicts and being unable to deal effectively in the real world with other humans.
“Instead, we were going to wrap ourselves in cloaks woven from self-pity and victimhood, refusing to admit that we might be able to help each other if we’d only open up. Instead, we’d do what we always did, the only thing we’d ever been dependably stellar at: we’d read.”
Although it is easy to identify with the sisters, the story itself was well-written but contrived. Reality does not resolve problems quite so nicely. The learned dysfunction of escaping your problems by reading instead of living and building relationships with others was evident in each of the daughters. Only by building relationships with others were they able to achieve balance within their lives.
The Weird Sisters is the debut book for Eleanor Brown who currently resides in Colorado. For a first novel, the story is good. The predictable audience for this novel is women, most likely those over thirty. I really don’t think men would enjoy this novel as it leans toward the romance genre.
Eleanor Brown
Amy Einhorn Books
G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Penguin Group
Hardback
2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-15722-6
336 pages
$24.95
Fiction, Sisters, Terminally Ill Parents, Middle-aged Women, Domestic
“See, we love one another. We just don’t happen to like one another very much.”
Sisters . . . mine included.
The Weird Sisters is about three adult women who are sisters and return home because of their mother being diagnosed with breast cancer. At least that is what it appears. Rosalind “Rose” is home because her fiancé is studying in England and she is scared to leave the security of her job and being close to home. Bianca “Bean” is hiding from her former New York employer who fired her for embezzlement. Cordelia “Cordy” is home because she has no stability in her gypsy lifestyle and is developing a nesting instinct. The three grew up in this house with their father teaching Shakespeare at a local college and their mother staying at home to take care of the family. The daughters grew up without the advantage of having a television but with the gift of having a strong relationship with books and Shakespeare.
Surprisingly, the three daughters closely resemble each other physically, but are extremely different in personality and tend to resemble the Shakespearian characters of their names. Each one is dealing with their own personal conflicts and being unable to deal effectively in the real world with other humans.
“Instead, we were going to wrap ourselves in cloaks woven from self-pity and victimhood, refusing to admit that we might be able to help each other if we’d only open up. Instead, we’d do what we always did, the only thing we’d ever been dependably stellar at: we’d read.”
Although it is easy to identify with the sisters, the story itself was well-written but contrived. Reality does not resolve problems quite so nicely. The learned dysfunction of escaping your problems by reading instead of living and building relationships with others was evident in each of the daughters. Only by building relationships with others were they able to achieve balance within their lives.
The Weird Sisters is the debut book for Eleanor Brown who currently resides in Colorado. For a first novel, the story is good. The predictable audience for this novel is women, most likely those over thirty. I really don’t think men would enjoy this novel as it leans toward the romance genre.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
In the Garden of the Beasts
In the Garden of Beasts
Erik Larson
Crown Publishers
Random House
2011
Hardback
ISBN: 978-0-307-40884-6
450 pages
$26.00
Being a United States’ Ambassador to Germany obviously is an honor with tremendous expectations. Can anyone imagine what it would have been like to be in this position prior to World War II just when Adolf Hitler became the leader of the Nazi party?
William E. Dodd was an unlikely choice for an ambassador appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His only qualifications were spending time in Germany twenty years previously and knowing history, but obviously not understanding it. Many wealthy and experienced politicians had turned it down so it was a surprise for a university professor to accept this. Dodd started in this position with the idea that it would allow him time to write his book, Old South. He had no realistic expectations of his situation nor how he was perceived by our politicians and the German leaders.
To begin with, Dodd decided to live within the means of his salary for all entertaining and expenditures. This would include the elaborate parties with the German leaders. Then he insisted on transporting his old Chevrolet to Germany. With the Nazi leaders either having a chauffeur or driving long flashy vehicles, this didn’t successfully maintain any dignity.
Also with him came his wife, his adult son and daughter. His son planned to continue his studies while in Germany and to learn the language. His daughter, Martha, found this to be the opportunity for adventure. She divorced her husband who was a New York banker and partied her way through the younger Nazi leadership developing a longtime relationship with the head of the Gestapo and a Soviet spy.
There were numerous challenges for Ambassador Dodd at this time, especially with Americans in Berlin. When the Nazi’s marched past, everyone was expected to salute and to show respect. Those, even Americans, who did not, were frequently beaten. The situation was even more difficult if the visitors were American and Jewish.
Erik Larson is known for writing factual books that read like fiction. He continues to succeed with In the Garden of Beasts. The other novels he has written are Thunderstruck, The Devil in the White City, and Isaac’s Storm.
Though factual, this novel is quickly read even with the footnotes which were enriching to read along with each chapter. The information was extremely easy to understand and helped in filling history prior to the war that is usually not considered but made the Nazi movement more understandable. Also wonderfully written is the aspect of the global impact of the situations surrounding the Ambassador and his family. Written as real people, the style was easy and similar to fiction which made the events realistic to the reader. Knowing the situation and the after events, the reader realizes the danger and the impact of these decisions and situations.
To read In the Garden of the Beasts is to truly transport yourself to another time and place that few of us have and will ever experience except through the eyes of Erik Larson.
Erik Larson
Crown Publishers
Random House
2011
Hardback
ISBN: 978-0-307-40884-6
450 pages
$26.00
Being a United States’ Ambassador to Germany obviously is an honor with tremendous expectations. Can anyone imagine what it would have been like to be in this position prior to World War II just when Adolf Hitler became the leader of the Nazi party?
William E. Dodd was an unlikely choice for an ambassador appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His only qualifications were spending time in Germany twenty years previously and knowing history, but obviously not understanding it. Many wealthy and experienced politicians had turned it down so it was a surprise for a university professor to accept this. Dodd started in this position with the idea that it would allow him time to write his book, Old South. He had no realistic expectations of his situation nor how he was perceived by our politicians and the German leaders.
To begin with, Dodd decided to live within the means of his salary for all entertaining and expenditures. This would include the elaborate parties with the German leaders. Then he insisted on transporting his old Chevrolet to Germany. With the Nazi leaders either having a chauffeur or driving long flashy vehicles, this didn’t successfully maintain any dignity.
Also with him came his wife, his adult son and daughter. His son planned to continue his studies while in Germany and to learn the language. His daughter, Martha, found this to be the opportunity for adventure. She divorced her husband who was a New York banker and partied her way through the younger Nazi leadership developing a longtime relationship with the head of the Gestapo and a Soviet spy.
There were numerous challenges for Ambassador Dodd at this time, especially with Americans in Berlin. When the Nazi’s marched past, everyone was expected to salute and to show respect. Those, even Americans, who did not, were frequently beaten. The situation was even more difficult if the visitors were American and Jewish.
Erik Larson is known for writing factual books that read like fiction. He continues to succeed with In the Garden of Beasts. The other novels he has written are Thunderstruck, The Devil in the White City, and Isaac’s Storm.
Though factual, this novel is quickly read even with the footnotes which were enriching to read along with each chapter. The information was extremely easy to understand and helped in filling history prior to the war that is usually not considered but made the Nazi movement more understandable. Also wonderfully written is the aspect of the global impact of the situations surrounding the Ambassador and his family. Written as real people, the style was easy and similar to fiction which made the events realistic to the reader. Knowing the situation and the after events, the reader realizes the danger and the impact of these decisions and situations.
To read In the Garden of the Beasts is to truly transport yourself to another time and place that few of us have and will ever experience except through the eyes of Erik Larson.
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