The Memory Stones: Forgiveness is a Journey in Time by Lewis Pennington – #BookReview – #timetravelfiction

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars 5 stars

Book Blurb:

The Memory Stones by Lewis PenningtonWhen Mase Winslow, the heir to a Civil War-era plantation is forced to almost kill his best friend, a slave named Spoon, he unconsciously brings about the demise of his beloved home. As guilt and remorse overtake him, he seeks atonement through death on the battlefield. With the help of an ordinary-looking stone given to him by Spoon’s mother, he is transported through time. When he realizes he can redeem himself by altering his actions, he suddenly has hope. The reality-bending journey that ensues takes him to present-day New York City and then back to Civil War-era South Carolina, requiring him to navigate a myriad of desperate challenges. With more than a century of guilt weighing him down, he battles himself, Yankee troops, nature’s elements, and a nemesis that follows him through time. Set against an ominous ticking clock counting toward a deadly showdown that could cost him the love of his life, all odds are stacked against him.

His Review:

The U.S. Civil War was the most brutal event in U.S. history. Sometimes brother fought brother on either side of the conflict. Lewis Pennington has taken this conflict into a dramatic story of love and survival. The Winslow plantation, better known as Willow Creek Plantation, is unique in the treatment of its’ slaves where they are treated more as family and friends.

The Memory Stones by Lewis PenningtonMase Winslow’s father, Braxton Winslow, is struck with a debilitating degenerative paralysis that leaves him unable to carry on management of the plantation. This occurs at the time the civil war is beginning. Mase has joined but does not want to leave because of his fathers’ failing health. His best friend is nicknamed Spoon. Often times, Spoon is heard entertaining groups with his ability to play tunes with two silver spoons. He is beloved by all who know him.

Mase’s sister Annabelle was raped just prior to his reporting for duty with the Confederate army and the prime suspect is Spoon. The penalty was to be death, but Mase does not have the heart to kill his best friend and whips Spoon to within an inch of his life. But he can’t handle the guilt.

Trauma amnesia is the result and Paul cannot recall the incident.

Paul Talbert has a passion for writing and works for a large New York newspaper. However, the editor of the newspaper relentlessly pushes him on deadlines. His co-worker, Zoey Antonelli, struggles to keep him on task and away from the bottle that helps to allay his lack of memory of his childhood. His early life is a ghostly memory and he does not understand why, so he goes back to Beaufort County, South Carolina to try and recover some of his memories. The memory of a beautiful old antebellum colonial mansion is actually a broken-down shopping mall. Could his recollection be so far from accurate?

Memory stones are a portal to different dimensions and times. The user need only squeeze the stone and is transported to another place and time. Memories and identities are not taken intact from one time to the other though.

CE WilliamsThis tale is wonderful adventure into the musings we all have; “if we could turn back time?” The characters are engaging, endearing, and feel real. I suggest anyone who has daydreamed about going into the past or future enjoy this ride authored by Lewis Pennington. 5 stars – CE Williams

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and these are my unbiased opinions.

Book Details:

Genre: Time Travel Fiction, Time Travel Science Fiction, Suspense
Publisher: Silver Lining Publishing
ASIN: B08W3Q2M87
Print Length: 391 pages
Publication Date: February 22, 2021
Source: Author request
Title Link: The Memory Stones [Amazon] 
Barnes and Noble
Kobo

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Lewis Pennington - authorThe Author: Lewis Pennington graduated from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina with a degree in Graphic Design and Marketing. Upon graduation, he moved to New York City where he began his career with the now-defunct Science Fiction Magazine Omni Magazine. After decades of navigating through the corporate marketing maze, he is now focusing on his next chapter in life–providing readers with inspirational fiction. Lewis and his family live in Asheville, North Carolina.

©2021 CE Williams – V Williams

Vicious Circle (A Joe Pickett Novel Book 17) by C J Box – #Audiobook Review #crimethriller #TBT

Vicious Circle by C J Box

Book Blurb:

The plane circled in the dark. Joe Pickett could just make out down below a figure in the snow and timber, and then three other figures closing in. There was nothing he could do about it. And Joe knew that he might be their next target.

The Cates family had always been a bad lot. Game warden Joe Pickett had been able to strike a fierce blow against them when the life of his daughter April had been endangered, but he’d always wondered if there’d be a day of reckoning. He’s not wondering any longer. Joe knows they’re coming after him and his family now. He has his friend Nate by his side, but will that be enough this time? All he can do is prepare…and wait for them to make the first move.

My Review:

Hmm, this being my fourth book by CJ Box, three in the Joe Pickett series, I’m thinking I’ll swerve back to the Highway Quartet series.

No, I’ll not give up the author for the let down experienced by listening to Vicious Circle. Don’t get me wrong. I didn’t hate it—but neither did I love it.

It’s the general atmospheric storytelling that compels me to gravitate to the western world of Wyoming and Montana. While I did get some of that western color, I had a problem with the characters—and I’m still struggling somewhat with the narrator.

Vicious Circle by C J BoxJoe Pickett is a Wyoming game warden who is coming up against an old local family with whom he’s crossed paths before. And not happily. Now they’re coming back for him.

Guess I’m getting tired of the vengeance theme. The backwoods family, nasty, with little concern for other than their perceived retribution begins a cat and mouse game to the end putting both Pickett, his family, and Nate Romanowski at risk. (Nate is the experienced falconer who’s played a prominent part in other episodes of the series.)

A smaller plot underlying the Cate family retribution is the poaching of animals by a group who has succeeded in evading discovery. Interesting local lore as well as game animal stats are woven into the narrative adding to that wild west mystique. Usually, poachers are after trophy animals, but the twist here is that the animals are standard wildlife. (They are not, however, being wasted as meat portions are being harvested.)

I did enjoy Wolf Pack and Long Range, perhaps less so than The Bitterroots, but I’ll be trying the Highway Quartet series again—maybe it’s time to go back to a female protagonist.

Book Details:

Genre: Crime Fiction, Mysteries, Suspense
Publisher:  Recorded Books
ASIN: B06WRT9FSR
Print Length: 377 pages
Listening Length: 10 hrs 20 mins
Narrator: David Chandler
Publication Date: March 21, 2017
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Vicious Circle [Amazon]

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Rosepoint Publishing:  Four of Five Stars 4 stars

C J Box - authorThe Author: C. J. Box is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over twenty-two novels including the Joe Pickett series. He won the Edgar Alan Poe Award for Best Novel (Blue Heaven, 2009) as well as the Anthony Award, Prix Calibre 38 (France), the Macavity Award, the Gumshoe Award, the Barry Award (twice), the Western Heritage Award for Literature, and 2017 Spur Award for Best Contemporary Western. The novels have been translated into 27 languages. Open Season, Blue Heaven, Nowhere To Run, and The Highway have been optioned for film and television. Millions of copies of his novels have been sold in the U.S. alone.

Box is a Wyoming native and has worked as a ranch hand, surveyor, fishing guide, a small town newspaper reporter and editor, and he owned an international tourism marketing firm with his wife Laurie. In 2008, Box was awarded the “BIG WYO” Award from the state tourism industry. An avid outdoorsman, Box has hunted, fished, hiked, ridden, and skied throughout Wyoming and the Mountain West. He served on the Board of Directors for the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo and is currently serving on the Wyoming Tourism Board. He lives in Wyoming

The Narrator:  David Chandler was born on February 3, 1950 in Danbury, Connecticut, USA as David Suehsdorf. He is an actor and writer, known for Hide and Seek (2005), Law & Order (1990) and The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1987). He is married to Janet Elizabeth Muir. They have two children.

©2021 V Williams –

Flea Market Felony: A Cozy Mystery Novel (The Mattie and Mo Mysteries Book 1) by Tricia L. Sanders #BlogTour #BookReview #Giveaway

Flea Market Felony by Tricia L Sanders

Welcome to my blog stop for a review of Flea Market Felony by Tricia L Sanders on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour.

Scroll down to enter your chance to win the Giveaway!

Book Details

Flea Market Felony (The Mattie and Mo Mysteries) 
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Publisher: Independently published (April 1, 2021)
Paperback: 190 pages
ISBN-13: 979-8729049523
Digital ASIN: B08ZMBTQ8B

Book Blurb

These new retirees have just hit the road. Will their first campsite’s shenanigans land them both in handcuffs?

Mattie Modesky’s been hankering to start retirement right. Even if it’s in an RV. The sassy senior believes there’s no time like the present after her policeman husband hangs up his badge and they hit the road. 

When they reach their first RV park, the yoga instructor hitting on Mattie’s man turns her peaceful vacation sour. In an effort to stand her ground and confront the sneaky resident, Mattie finds a new friend, a stiff corpse, and her husband as the prime suspect.

She is shocked to her core when her man’s newly purchased pocketknife is the murder weapon. But when the real killer makes the fatal mistake of dognapping her beloved pooch, the silver-haired sleuth sets her sights on solving the crime herself and proving her lawman’s innocence. 

Can Mattie clear her hubby’s name and reclaim their pup before the villain turns their golden years into iron bars? Or will the killer roll away in a motor home with Mattie’s dog in the passenger seat? 

Flea Market Felony is the adventure-packed first book in The Mattie and Mo Mysteries series. If you like irresistible characters, fun surprises, and captivating whodunits, then you’ll love Tricia L. Sanders’s clever read. 

Buy Flea Market Felony to catch a dastardly devil today!

 

My Review

Love it when I get to read a novel of (close) contemporaries and most especially a story about RV’ers as I still get pangs that our Rvving experience couldn’t have been longer. I miss it. It was fun and always held a discovery around the corner.

Much like the discovery Mattie and Mo made when pulling to the entry of the Oldies but Goodies RV Park and Flea Market. Mattie hadn’t started out with the same enthusiasm as I though and given that she and Mo had a 40’ Class A, I can only imagine how much nicer that might have been. The park, however, had seen better days; ah, yes, so many of those. Mo is a retired police chief from Pine Grove, Missouri and they also have their rescue dog, Max, with them.

Mo, usually a bit more reticent than Mattie about meeting new people meets Stan right away (next unit over) who has a boat and is an avid fisherman. Perfect! Mattie also hits it off with Sandi (his wife). The new couple meets several residents, both permanent and temporary (Mattie and Mo constitute temporary) and discover there are some residents with whom they’d rather not get to know.

There is also a contiguous flea market (we called them “craft fairs”) and Mattie, a shopper, was interested in shopping the booths and quickly finds several gifts, one of which she gives her hubby.

When her “gift” is found at the scene of a crime, Mo becomes a person of interest. Mattie can’t have that.

There are few characters other than Mattie and Mo, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to narrow down the suspects. The couple dutifully attend fish fries and get to know their park grounds a bit better, along with the local small town cafe that offers up a down home perfected biscuits and gravy special.

I can see potential here in the further fleshing of Mattie and Mo and their long term marital dynamic and the chance to travel to different states (next stop—Wisconsin). New experiences are wide open as they put on the miles and get to know their new house on wheels. (For first timers in a 40’ RV (diesel pusher with slides?), they seemed to have remarkably few issues.)

I fell in love with that book cover and the blurb and received a gifted copy of this book from the author. These are my unbiased opinions.

Giveaway

Sign up for your chance to win two (2) Prize packs (Print Books) containing Book 1 Murder is a Dirty Business AND Book 2 Death, Diamonds, and Freezer Burn. (U.S. ONLY).
Rafflecopter giveaway
 

About the Author

Tricia L Sanders - authorTricia L. Sanders lives in the Austin, Texas area and writes about women with class, sass, and a touch of kickass. A former instructional designer and corporate trainer, she traded in curriculum writing for novel writing, because she hates bullet points and loves to make stuff up. And fiction is more fun than training guides and lesson plans.

When she isn’t writing, Tricia is busy crossing dreams off her bucket list. With all 50 states checked, she’s concentrating on foreign interests. She’s an avid St. Louis Cardinals fan, so don’t get between her and the television when a game is on. Currently, she is working on a mystery series set in the fictional town of Wickford, Missouri. Another project in the works is a women’s fiction road trip adventure.

Her essays have appeared in Sasee, ByLine, The Cuivre River Anthology, and Great American Outhouse Stories; The Whole Truth and Nothing Butt. She is a proud member of The Lit Ladies, six women writing their truths into fiction.

Website: www.triciasanders.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/authortricialsanders/

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/tricia-l-sanders

Cozy Clique Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/599311313773440/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/tricialsanders

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/tricialsanders/

YouTube: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXRJSRSmTjg

Newsletter Sign Up: https://mailchi.mp/23a87d715dc3/tricia-l-sanders-sleuthscoop

Purchase Links – Amazon – Books2Read 

Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour and please visit the other stops listed below!

Tour Participants:

June 1 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 1 – Christa Reads and Writes – SPOTLIGHT

June 2 – Novels Alive – GUEST POST

June 2 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT

June 3 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST,

June 3 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 4 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT, RECIPE

June 5 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

June 5 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 6 – I Read What You Write – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 7 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

June 8 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW

June 8 – fundinmental – SPOTLIGHT

June 9 – Ascroft, eh? – GUEST POST

June 9 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – AUTHOR INTERVIEW

June 10 – Novels Alive – REVIEW

June 10 – Baroness’ Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT

June 11 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 12 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW

June 12 – Reading Is My SuperPower – GUEST POST

June 13 – Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST

June 14 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT Great Escapes Book Tours

 Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this cozy mystery!

2021 V Williams

Aftermath by Terri Blackstock – #BookReview – Christian Mystery & Suspense Romance

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars 5 stars

Book Blurb:

Aftermath by Terri BlackstockA devastating explosion.

Three best friends attend a concert. Only one makes it out alive.

A trunk full of evidence.

When police stop Dustin Webb with a warrant to search his trunk, he knows there’s been a mistake. He’s former military and owns a security firm. But he’s horrified when the officers find explosives, and he can’t fathom how they got there.

An attorney who will risk it all for an old friend.

Criminal attorney Jamie Powell was Dustin’s best friend growing up. They haven’t spoken since he left for basic training, but she’s the first person he thinks of when he’s arrested. Jamie knows she’s putting her career on the line by defending an accused terrorist, but she’d never abandon him. Someone is framing Dustin to take the fall for shocking acts of violence . . . but why?

His Review:

Three young aspiring politicians attend a political rally and as the candidate comes onto the stage, the Trudeau Hall auditorium explodes. Taylor Reid scrambles to exit bloody and bruised but alive. Outside she looks for her friends. They do not show up so she tries to call them. There is no answer.

Aftermath by Terri BlackstockMs. Blackstone writes a very compelling tale of the aftermath of a bombing. Guilt envelops Taylor as she wonders why she did not try to help her friends. Fight or flight had overtaken her. She was one of the few survivors. Guilt follows for not trying to rescue her friends.

Dustin Webb is driving along the highway when he is suddenly pulled over. Why? The police ask to check his car including the trunk. He inquires if they have a warrant and why they want to search his trunk. Being confused and knowing there is nothing in the trunk he allows them to search. He is arrested after 4 boxes of highly explosive RDX is found in his trunk. How could that be? They explain they had an anonymous tip which motivated them to pull him over.

His best friend, Travis Grey, is at a hospital where his wife, Crystal, is dying from inoperable cancer. Together he and Dustin started a building security firm called Grey Webb Security. He is unaware that his business partner has been arrested and charged with the crime of domestic terrorism for planting the bomb.

The intricacy of the plot and the interweaving of the lives of the characters kept me glued to the pages.  The conclusion is surprising and convoluted as Taylor decides to take matters into her own hands because of the death of her friends.

An old flame of Dustin, Jamie Powell, Attorney at Law, decides to help him. She simply cannot believe he would ever commit such a terrible crime. The twists and turns kept me guessing. 5 stars – CE Williams

Book Details:

Genre: Christian Mystery & Suspense Romance, Christian Suspense
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ASIN: B08BZ14BV7
Print Length: 332 pages
Publication Date: May 11, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Links: Aftermath [Amazon] 
Barnes and Noble
Kobo

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Terri Blackstock - authorThe Author: Terri Blackstock is a New York Times best-seller, with over seven million copies sold worldwide. She has had over twenty-five years of success as a novelist. Terri spent the first twelve years of her life traveling in an Air Force family. She lived in nine states and attended the first four years of school in The Netherlands. Because she was a perpetual “new kid,” her imagination became her closest friend. That, she believes, was the biggest factor in her becoming a novelist. She sold her first novel at the age of twenty-five, and has had a successful career ever since.

In 1994 Terri was writing for publishers such as HarperCollins, Harlequin, Dell and Silhouette, when a spiritual awakening drew her into the Christian market. As she was praying about her transition, she went on a cruise and noticed that almost everyone on the boat (including her) had a John Grisham novel. It occurred to her that some of Grisham’s readers were Christians, and that if she wrote a fast-paced thriller with an added faith element, she might just find her niche. As God would have it, Christian publishers were showing interest in the suspense genre, so she quickly sold a four-book series to Zondervan. Since that time, she’s written over thirty Christian titles, most of them suspense novels.

Terri has appeared on national television programs such as “The 700 Club” and “Home Life,” and has been a guest on numerous radio programs across the country. The story of her personal journey appears in books such as Touched By the Savior by Mike Yorkey, True Stories of Answered Prayer by Mike Nappa, Faces of Faith by John Hanna, and I Saw Him In Your Eyes by Ace Collins.

©2021 CE Williams – V Williams –

The Forever Home by Sue Watson – #BookReview – #psychologicalfiction

Happy Release Day! 

Book Blurb:

The Forever Home - Sue WatsonCarly had thought they’d always live there. The beautiful Cornish cliffside house they’d taken on as a wreck, that Mark had obsessively re-designed and renovated – a project that had made him famous. It was where they’d raised their children, where they’d sat cosily on the sofa watching storms raging over the sea below. It was where they’d promised to keep each other’s secrets…

Until now. Because Mark has fallen in love. With someone he definitely shouldn’t have. Someone who isn’t Carly. And suddenly their family home doesn’t feel like so much of a safe haven.

Carly thinks forever should mean forever though: it’s her home and she’ll stay there. Even the dark family secrets it contains feel like they belong to her. But someone disagrees. And, as threats start to arrive at her front door, it becomes clear, someone will stop at nothing. Because someone wants to demolish every last thing that makes Carly feel safe. Forever.

My Review:

Mark chose the eve of their 25th wedding anniversary to announce he was seeing someone else—not that he had a choice. It was tell Carly or her best friend would. Okay, not a huge surprise, he’d been a womanizing the entire length of their marriage. A sham, really, because the brand they’d created together by redesigning and renovating houses would not allow for other than being a perfect family. Beautiful home, two gorgeous children, and finally enough money to live comfortably.

A lie.

Carly Anderson had tolerated…everything. They had secrets. Behind those closed doors, there were things not to be shared with the public. And Mark was crazy occupied with his public persona. This, too, would be spun. The public would get a version. Maybe not the truth, but a version.

A slow burn.

The Forever Home by Sue WatsonI had a problem getting into the family drama. The divorce back and forth turning ugly. Carly would keep the house. Her house. She’d inherited the one of a kind Cornish cliffside home from her mother, but his new girlfriend wanted it—had wanted it all her life. Carly had been the power behind the face that Mark put on for his adoring public. Now it was quietly being undermined. Would she lose the house to Mark and his pregnant girlfriend?

“…an interview in the Daily Mail with Gemma Hough, the lead groupie and yummy mummy who virtually accosted me at the hair salon.”

Lots of tell not show; stories from Carly regarding the characters surrounding she and the family, the building of the brand, the celebrity. Slow, with repetition of salient plot points. Mark is beyond narcissistic but I eventually got tired of Carly as well. Okay, okay. She’d worked just as hard. It was her house. She’d put up with him all those years. He held her secret, although threatening her with revealing it was getting old, and the secret easy to guess. She didn’t love him; hadn’t for a long time.

I’d have been happy with much of the repetition deleted, the chapters instead making progress toward the end reveal (which, btw, was also guessed well ahead of the conclusion), and Carly showing a little more of the gumption that it took to get both of them to the status. I needed more empathy in at least one of the characters and didn’t feel it for Carly.

The author has a large fan base and dedicated followers. While this may not have been my cup of tea, no doubt her fans will appreciate her new release. FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. These are my unbiased opinions.

Rosepoint Rating: Three stars three stars

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Book Details:

Genre: Psychological Fiction, Psychological Thrillers
Publisher: Bookouture

  • ASIN : B08YDCN27S

Print Length: 391 pages
Publication Date: June 4, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

 Title Link(s):

Amazon   |   Barnes & Noble   |   Kobo 

Sue Watson - authorThe Author: Sue Watson was a TV Producer at the BBC until she wrote her first book and was hooked.

Now a USA Today bestselling author, Sue has written eighteen novels, many have been translated into several languages. Sue is now exploring the darker side of life with her thrillers OUR LITTLE LIES, THE WOMAN NEXT DOOR, THE EMPTY NEST, THE SISTER-IN-LAW, FIRST DATE and her latest, THE FOREVER HOME.

Originally from Manchester, Sue now lives with her family in Worcestershire where much of her day is spent writing – okay, procrastinating. Her hobby is eating cake, while watching diet and exercise programmes from the sofa, a skill she’s perfected after many years of practice.

more info visit Sue’s website; http://www.suewatsonbooks.com/

Sue would love to meet you on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/suewatsonbooks

Follow Sue on Twitter @suewatsonwriter

©2021 V Williams

Land of Wolves: A Longmire Mystery (Walt Longmire Mysteries Book 15) by Craig Johnson – #Audiobook Review #TBT #westerns

Land of Wolves by Craig Johnson

(Amazon) Editors Pick Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense 

Book Blurb:

Attempting to recover from his harrowing experiences in Mexico, in Land of Wolves Wyoming Sheriff Walt Longmire is neck deep in the investigation of what could or could not be the suicidal hanging of a shepherd. With unsettling connections to a Basque family with a reputation for removing the legs of Absaroka County sheriffs, matters become even more complicated with the appearance of an oversize wolf in the Big Horn Mountains to which Walt finds himself feeling more and more empathetic.

My Review:

You all know I do love the Longmire series and while I’ve reviewed several here, have listened to many more and just enjoyed. I’m sure part of my interest lies in the narration by George Guidall, but you can’t go wrong with a Longmire episode. Also, having devoured the entire series offered on Netflix, I can now see in the minds’ eye these characters who were so well cast in the TV version.

While it’s nice to have some knowledge of the characters, you can start this series most anywhere as a standalone and quickly get up to speed. As mentioned above, I’ve listened to a number of these books, most recently Dry Bones and The Highwayman. The novels are all great, some even better, and George Guidall is consistently excellent.

Land of Wolves by Craig JohnsonWalt Longmire is back from a crushing, almost fatal, trip to Mexico to rescue his daughter Katie. He is still not back 100% physically or mentally when he discovers a sheepherder, hanging, which is labeled a suicide. Longmire is not so quick to agree and, as usual, the plot appears to go multi-level with the infusion of the wolf mystique and the age-old quarrel of ranchers, their livestock, and wolves. The Cheyenne Nation sets a spiritual aura surrounding the sighting of a lone wolf. But wolves have not been seen in Absaroka County for a very long time.

Johnson lays on the prose, waxing philosophical through Longmire, spiritually through Henry Standing Bear, Dog, and the flippant and vitriolic under-sheriff Victoria (Vic) and her unfiltered mouth. Love these characters. Longmire struggles mightily during the narrative, sometimes experiencing black-outs, periods of PTSD, as well as physical exhaustion.

The novel explores family, sacrifice, and strong atmospheric immersion into another way of life. It runs a little dark with the inner and outer struggles of Walt, but the occasional flashes of humor are splashed in irreverently as are Vic’s sexual innuendo. Well, who am I kidding? No innuendo about it. She can turn a four letter word fest into a pornographic hootenanny. So nice being back in Absaroka County, Wyoming, where the Red Pony Bar and Grill is a continuous soirée.

Book Details:

Genre: Native American Literature, Westerns
Publisher:  Recorded Books
ASIN: B07S6525LW
Print Length: 335 pages
Listening Length: 8 hrs 10 mins
Narrator: George Guidall
Publication Date: September 17, 2019
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: Land of Wolves

Add to Goodreads

Rosepoint Publishing:  Four point Five Stars 4 1/2 stars

Craig Johnson - authorThe Author: Craig Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of the Longmire mysteries, the basis for the hit Netflix original series Longmire. He is the recipient of the Western Writers of America Spur Award for fiction, the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Award for fiction, the Nouvel Observateur Prix du Roman Noir, and the Prix SNCF du Polar. His novella Spirit of Steamboat was the first One Book Wyoming selection. He lives in Ucross, Wyoming, population 25.

George Guidall - audiobook narratorThe Narrator: George Guidall is a prolific audiobook narrator and theatre actor. As of November 2014, he had recorded over 1,270 audiobooks, which was believed to be the record at the time. Wikipedia

©2021 V Williams

 

happy thursday!

May Rosepoint Reviews Recap—Welcome June Promise

June is always so full of promise. Weddings, sunny and warm outdoor activities, gardening and around here, birthdays. My head fills with visions of a full, healthy garden just about the bunnies and deer line up for fresh, sweet seedlings. This year I armed myself with miles of stretchy netting. It took me two times to figure out how to contour it up and over my veggie patch (about 10’ x 20’), work on the fairy garden, and the flower bed (much smaller). I’m still taking inventory of the plants lost in the fairy garden during the winter. Not so much snow or ice, or even February/March rain, so I’m not sure why some plants didn’t make it back. Many volunteer tomatoes, I’ve had to do some heavy culling.

Mallard duck pairTo make the schedule just a little more hectic, I decided to tackle some stair-steps down the slight slope between the veggie and flower bed and discovered, as usual, it took at least twice as long and again more materials than I’d calculated. Hauling the pavers in the trunk of our little car was an experience. Still, it’s done, and while not quite the vision I’d had, doesn’t look too bad. In the meantime, the mallard pair were back to check on the birdseed scattered by the birds at the bird feeder.

We are continuing to look for homes with our daughter. Haven’t found one yet but the target is June, July being too hot to move. Gees, so when did I have a chance to read? (Well, not as much as usual!) The CE’s reads and reviews are getting mighty handy!

We posted sixteen book reviews for May, half from the CE that included ARCs from NetGalley, author requests, and audiobooks from our local library.  

TV Netflix movie vs audiobook Pieces of Home by Tammy L Grace The Big Gamble by Mike Faricy Hell's Half Acre by Jackie Elliott The Searcher by Tana French Elizabeth and Monty by Charles Cosillo The Cuts That Cure by Arthur Herbert The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji  The Arrangement by Robyn Harding Once Upon a Rhyme by Antony L Saragas Key West Dead by Mark Nolan Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr Money Bear by Kerry K Cox Hellhound, Take Me Home by Stu Laane A Trail of Lies by Kylie Logan Gone Too Far by Debra Webb

A Trail of Lies by Lylie Logan
TV Netflix Movie-The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society vs Audiobook
Pieces of Home by Tammy L Grace
The Big Gamble by Mike Faricy – CE review
Hell’s Half Acre by Jackie Elliott – CE review
The Searcher by Tana French – audiobook
Elizabeth and Monty by Charles Casillo
The Cuts That Cure by Arthur Herbert – CE review
The Decagon House Murders by Yukito Ayatsuji – CE review
The Arrangement by Robyn Harding – audiobook
Once Upon a Rhyme by Antony L Saragas – CE review
Gone Too Far by Debra Webb – CE review
Key West Dead by Mark Nolan – CE review
Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr – audiobook
Money Bear by Kerry K Cox
Hellhound, Take Me Home by Stu Lane – CE review

Reading ChallengesNetGalley – Still running about 95% on NG, but at 43 will need to do some hustling if I’m to make the goal of 75.

Goodreads has me at 85 towards my challenge of 175.

Four books for the Audiobook challenge bringing the total to 21.This one will be no sweat.

Goal AchievedHistorical Fiction – One book in May—ten total–which means this goal is completed.

You can check out my challenges progress by clicking on my Reading Challenges page.

Hope all of you in the US had a safe Memorial Day Weekend, always tough for me as I remember my brother.

And again, a welcome to my new followers—and I so appreciate all my active followers, your likes and comments. Thank you—have a wonderful and happy, hopefully COVID free June—finally!

©2021 V Williams

Hellhound, Take Me Home by Stu Lane – #BookReview – #warfiction

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars 5 stars

Book Blurb:

Hellhound, Take Me Home by Stu LaaneSingapore,1942. Ken Hazel, an Australian soldier, is captured during the Japanese invasion and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Japan where years of hard labour, torture and hardship await.

Australia, 1944. Ken’s wife, Ann, a young nurse and mother, encounters an escaped Japanese prisoner of war, Hito Egami, hiding out in the Australian bush. Against all her instincts, Ann takes in Hito and shelters him from the authorities.

Soon, an opportunity presents itself to both of them. For Ann, it is a chance to free Ken from captivity. For Hito, it is to return home and be reunited with his family. This leads to a dangerous journey over thousands of miles against the cataclysmic backdrop of World War Two, with Hito hated by the Allies as an enemy soldier, and by his fellow countrymen for being a coward.

For both Ann and Hito, a perilous and nail-biting adventure lies ahead…

His Review:

No matter what side you are on, war and propaganda indoctrination are the same. The enemy is heartless and ruthless and will show no mercy. As a soldier in the Emperor of Japans’ military it is better to follow the “Path of Bushido” (to die in battle or commit suicide rather than be captured by the enemy). The Battle of New Guinea was such a battle. Torrential downpours and excessive heat were a daily occurrence and yet fresh water was very scarce.

Hellhound, Take Me Home by Stu LaneKen Hazel and his platoon are part of the military divisions assigned with the mission of defending New Guinea at all costs. The Japanese juggernaut was taking the peninsula and this Australian platoon were tasked with stopping them. At this point in the war the Japanese seemed almost impossible to stop. Ken’s platoon is over-run and he and some of the others are taken hostage. They are shipped to prisoner of war camps in Japan and forced to do slave labor with minimum food and drink.

Hitoshi Egami (Hito) is a Japanese soldier who is captured by the Aussies during one of the battles and sent to a prisoner of war camp in Australia. The prisoners of war receive Red Cross packages and occasional letters from home. However, as a Japanese they are required to attempt to escape and not remain in an enemy prisoner of war camp. The Japanese POW’s find that the Australians are not as they were led to believe during basic training.

During a prison escape, Hito is discovered by Ann, an Australian woman who helps him. She discovers that her husband Ken is in a POW camp called Naoetsu POW camp in Japan. She decides to devise a plan to get Hito back to Japan to help her husband. Hito’s brother Noriaki is the camp commandant at the Naoetsu camp. Ann is a trained nurse and volunteers to help and smuggles Hito back to Japan.

Hito did not die for the Emperor nor did he commit harikari. He is a discredit to his family and his brother has no use for him. Trying to assist Ken in getting out of the camp ends in a tragedy. Noriaki hates his brother for bringing dishonor to the family. CE Williams

I highly recommend this WW II saga. It is well written and entertaining. The ends to which Ann works with the military and smuggles Hito back to Japan is astounding. 5 stars – CE Williams 

Book Details:

Genre: War & Military Action Fiction, War Fiction, Action Thriller Fiction
ASIN: B07TMG2V22
Print Length: 306 pages
Publication Date: June 25, 2019
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link: Hellhound, Take Me Home [Amazon]

 

Add to Goodreads

Stu Lane - authorThe Author: Hi to all goodreads members, I hope you are well.
My book, ‘Hellhound, Take Me Home’ has just been added to goodreads so with doing that, thought I should also add a bit about me.
I live in the East Midlands region of the UK. ‘Hellhound’ is my second published book. The first, Trolling Jemma Harvey’ was published in 2016 and is available as an e-book on Amazon right now.

The idea for ‘Hellhound, Take Me Home’ gradually formulated in my mind after reading Bill Bryson’s ‘Down Under’ (which is one of the best books I’ve ever read, definitely recommend it!)
In this, he describes an incident that occurred in Australia during World War II known as the Cowra breakout. A large group of Japanese POW’s escaped from their prison camp and fled into the Australian bush. Eventually, all of the escapees were re-captured. However, in my mind I had the thoughts of ‘What if one of them was never captured?, What if one of them was taken in by an Australian woman? And what if her husband is already a prisoner of the Japanese?
I built on the possibilities these questions raised, added various strands to it as I went along and the end result is the book now available on goodreads.
If you choose to read this book, then I hope you enjoy it. Any feedback is gratefully received and I am happy to answer any questions that you yourself have following the reading of this book.
Best wishes,
Stu Lane

©2021 – CE Williams – V Williams

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