#bookseries – Page 24 – Rosepoint Publishing

Unwrapped by Lynda McDaniel – #BookReview – Cozy Craft & Hobby Mysteries

An Appalachian Mountain Christmas Mystery

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

Laurel Falls, N.C., Christmas 2012: The walnut dresser I bought my son sure brought a load of trouble. Not because one of the drawers kept sticking and the whole thing needed so much refinishing. No, I could handle that, what with being a woodworker most of my life. It was the diary hidden in a secret compartment for almost sixty year that turned everything upside down.

That diary was filled with awful stories of mistreatment and misfortune, stories that twisted up something inside of me. Especially because the teenage girl who wrote them stopped writing mid-sentence. Like someone grabbed her and took her away. Or killed her to keep secret what she’d written.

I just had to find out what happened to her. I knew what a lousy upbringing looked like, but even mine couldn’t compare with what she’d faced. I needed to know she’d made it through, like I had.

I was awful glad Della Kincaid could help. It’d been almost thirty year since she’d moved next door, buying Coburn’s General Store after Daddy drove it into the ground. She’d made a success of it, and hired a good assistant a while back, which meant she had time to join me on the search for the truth.

The timing, though, couldn’t have been worse: Christmastime and I had the boys that year. I was set on making it the best one yet, but with vile threats and truck chases and family feuds raining down on us, it was hard to squeeze in very much ho-ho-ho.

Turned out our investigation took us all through the mountains of North Carolina and up into Virginia to places I never wanted to see again. ~Abit Bradshaw

You’ll enjoy this suspenseful Christmas mystery because who doesn’t hope someone would care if you disappeared?

If you love Louise Penny, Richard Osman, and Fern Michaels, you’re sure to enjoy the Appalachian Mountain Mysteries series.

My Review:

When I discovered the first in the Appalachian Mountain Mysteries, I knew I’d found a new series I’d greedily follow as each new book came out. Welcome to this year’s first Christmas theme book with all your favorite characters from that series!

Immensely empathetic Abit finds the perfect chest of drawers for one of his sons for a Christmas surprise, but as it was an old one, requires cleaning and some refinishing. As some old drawers do, one of them stuck but Abit persevered until he got it opened and discovered the reason it stuck—a hidden diary.

Human curiosity being what it is, Abit can’t help but read it. The problem is that it ends abruptly. After a chilling story of abuse, the unexpected and terse cessation sends off alarm bells in Abit’s head, and obsessed about it, decides he must find the writer, Daisy, and learn of her circumstances. Is she even alive?

Abit doesn’t hesitate to bring in his friends and allies to help him search for Daisy, and, of course, includes Della Kincaid. I love the characters of Della and Abit. Their relationship is borne of respect, inspiration, and a kinship only those folks of a small, tight-knit mountain community in isolated circumstances can foster. Life was hard. They survived together.

“…the way I see it, God is Dog spelled backwards, instead of the other way around.”

The author has a way of building the tension, extending the drama, wringing out the emotions, and proposing various plausible explanations of what could have happened to Daisy. Her family are tight-lipped.

Her novels can be read as standalone but hopefully you’ve been following this delightful series and know these characters like family—have thrilled over their triumphs. This short narrative introduces a sweet Christmas-themed mystery entry to the series and will leave you with that Hallmark feeling as well.

I particularly loved Murder Ballad Blues and my last in the series Deep in the Forest. This is a lovely quick read that I can recommend will help to kick off the season for you.

I received a review copy of this book from the author who in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Cozy Craft & Hobby Mysteries, Mystery Series, Christian Suspense
Publisher: Lynda McDaniel books
ISBN: ‎ B0CC7FLMYG
ASIN: B0CC43CPGF
Print Length: 193 pages
Publication Date: July 16, 2023
Source: Author

Title Link(s): Unwrapped [Amazon]

Lynda McDaniel - author — Lynda McDaniel – author

The Author: I love writing page-turners—both fiction and nonfiction. And I love helping others to do the same, living into their dreams of writing books. I believe my success comes down to a respect for my readers and clients. I know I’m easily bored, so I work hard to engage and inspire my readers.

After all, we’re all busy these days, and I want to deliver value–whether that’s a gripping mystery filled with memorable characters or books on writing that give you the tools to write your own fiction and nonfiction. Both make me happy.

I got my start as a writer in the most unlikely place—a town of 200 people in the mountains of North Carolina. But living there changed my life in so many positive ways. Decades later, I realized that everything I value today, I was introduced to there. My Appalachian Mountain Mysteries–“A Life for a Life,” “The Roads to Damascus,” “Welcome the Little Children,” “Murder Ballad Blues,” “Deep in the Forest,” “Up the Creek,” and “Unwrapped”–pay homage to the people of Appalachia who taught me so much. And to Mollie the Wonder Dog, who plays a role every book starting with “The Roads to Damascus” (aka Millie in that book)..

To keep up to date with Abit, Della, and the gang (and receive a free novelette, “Waiting for You,” that pulls back the curtain on Abit’s and Della’s lives before they met in Laurel Falls), head over to http://www.LyndaMcDanielBooks.com. No spam, no pestering, just the free novelette and timely offers/updates.

Over the years, I’ve written more than 1,200 articles for major magazines, hundreds of newsletters and blogs. I’m proudest of the 21 books I’ve written. My nonfiction books include my Write Faster Series. “Words at Work,” which I wrote straight from my heart, a much-needed response to all the questions and concerns people have about writing today. (It won top honors from the National Best Books Awards.) “How Not to Sound Stupid When You Write” and “How to Write Stories that Sell” complete the series.

I grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, but I’ve lived all over this country—from the Midwest to the Deep South to Appalachia to the Mid-Atlantic to the Pacific Northwest. Whew! I finally settled by the sea in Eureka, California, a place that reflects the values I learned while living in the mountains of North Carolina, all those years ago.

Authors to books to reviewers

Some of Us Are Looking by Carlene O’Connor – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

A County Kerry Novel Book 2

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

In the powerful tradition of Ann Cleeves and Louise Penny, USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor’s new Ireland-set series continues, bringing together complex characters with a focus on a female vet who returns home to the village where she grew up and must reckon with her past while untangling mysteries in the present.

In Dimpna Wilde’s veterinary practice, an imminent meteor shower has elevated the usual gossip to include talk of shooting stars and the watch parties that are planned all over Dingle. But there are also matters nearer at hand to discuss—including the ragtag caravan of young people selling wares by the roadside, and the shocking death of Chris Henderson, an elderly local, in a hit-and-run.

Just hours before his death, Henderson had stormed into the Garda Station, complaining loudly about the caravan’s occupants causing noise and disruption. One of their members is a beautiful young woman named Brigid Sweeney, and Dimpna is shocked when Brigid later turns up at her practice, her clothing splattered in blood and an injured hare tucked into her shirt.

Brigid claims that a mysterious stranger has been trying to obtain a lucky rabbit’s foot. Dimpna is incensed at the thought of anyone mutilating animals, but there is far worse in store. On the night of the meteor shower, Dimpna finds Brigid’s body tied to a tree, her left hand severed. She has bled to death. Wrapped around her wrist is a rabbit’s foot.

Brigid had amassed plenty of admirers, and there were tangled relationships within the group. But perhaps there is something more complex than jealousy at play. The rabbit’s foot, the severed hand, the coinciding meteor shower—the deeper Dimpna and Detective Sargeant Cormac O’Brien investigate, the more ominous the signs seem to be, laced with a warning that Dimpna fears it will prove fatal to overlook.

My Review:

I admit it.

I gave Book 1 of Ms O’Connor’s new County Kerry series, No Strangers Here, to the CE to read. Of course he loved it! I was introducing him to one of my favorite series authors. This time, I grabbed it for myself. So glad I did.

First, I tripped over the main character’s name every time I saw it—pronounced it just as it looked–a little awkward and the first time I’ve seen that name in an Ireland novel. Dimpna is a veterinarian but somehow she manages to get into the middle of some high local drama, the first of which is the hit-and-run of a beloved elderly local.

Dimpna was told about a caravan’s shenanigans, loud and irreverent, shortly before his death. Then here comes Brigid, a beauty and part of the caravan’s occupants, clutching an injured hare livid with wild stories of someone obtaining rabbit’s feet while they are still alive. Just the visual gave me the willies!

“Brigid was nothing like his mam. His mam was a storm; Brigid was the rainbow after.”

Then events turned even darker upon the discovery of the woman, herself the victim of someone who would mutilate a bunny. Normally, this time of year, the Dingle peninsula is full of tourists and with a major impending meteor shower set to provide a wild display, the area fever is worse than during a full moon.

The storyline gets complex quickly as Dimpna and Detective Sargeant Cormac O’Brien follow the clues. There are twists and red herrings. There are great characters as well as peripheral characters associated with the caravan that keep the narrative lively and atmospheric. I love the peek into old Ireland and have no problem engaging. The prose is spirited.

“I’ve always been the thorn in the family rose.”

I’ve enjoyed the author’s cozy mysteries for some time, but really liking this new series; graphic bordering on noir, thrilling and suspenseful. Love the lore and mystery.

Recommended for those who enjoy stories written by and about Ireland or any mysteries set in an exotic locale.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley which in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: International Mystery & Crime, Murder
Publisher: Kensington Books
ASIN: B0BT8N86YY
Print Length: 362 pages
Publication Date: October 24, 2023
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor comes from a long line of Irish storytellers. Her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland to America and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places across the pond she’s wandered, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork. She writes the bestselling IRISH VILLAGE MYSTERIES, the HOME TO IRELAND series, and the new COUNTY KERRY MYSTERIES. Her books have been translated into numerous languages, and optioned for television. Readers can find her at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086525205106 or through her website: http://www.carleneoconnor.net

Rosepoint Publishing

Night Owl by Andrew Mayne – #BookReview – #technothrillers

A Trasker Thriller

Book Blurb:

A shocking act of sabotage draws a retired spy into a deadly conspiracy in an explosive thriller by an Amazon Charts and Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

After three decades in counterintelligence, Brad Trasker is retired, disillusioned, and dealing with a tragic loss. Spy games are behind him until he attends the launch of a next-generation aircraft. When the project of innovative aerospace CEO Kylie Connor explodes on the tarmac—nearly killing her in the process—Trasker is pulled back into the line of fire.

The mystery of the sabotage quickly deepens. All Kylie’s data has been wiped from the server. One of her engineers has disappeared. A seed investor has died in a suspicious car accident. And a cold-blooded murder raises the stakes even higher.

To discover who’s pulling the strings behind a dangerous conspiracy, Trasker needs to find a motive. Corporate espionage, revenge, or something he can’t yet see? Targeted by assassins, he finds himself overmatched when he realizes he can’t trust anyone—including Kylie. Too long out of a game he no longer understands, Trasker must adapt or die.

His Review:

The rich and powerful do not want “We the People” to invent any new or revolutionary technology. They will hire infiltrators and spies to get your technology and then file patent papers to preclude you from completing your project, the concept of this novel and the beginning of a new series.

Kylie is a very rich lady who has developed a breakthrough propulsion system which uses hydrogen and oxygen and is environmentally sound. As her invention is exiting its’ hanger, however, it suddenly explodes. Kylie barely escapes with her life. Trasker is hired to assure her safety and handle security. The explosion would lead one to believe that someone was lacking in job performance.

Kylie’s technology is very valuable to the Russians and mirrors the efforts of Kylie’s group. Kylie’s life is constantly at threat and Trasker must find the culprit and stop the threat. Easier said than done!

This book illuminates the underworld of espionage and the dangers therein. It is an interesting book well paced with action including bombs, snipers, and technology. The narrative keeps the reader in suspense. Enjoy! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

I read Sea Castle in January and greatly enjoyed that established series. Night Owl is a strong start in his new series. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Technothrillers, Assassination Thrillers, Kidnapping Thrillers,
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
ISBN: ‎ 1662506430
ASIN: B0BVCXCYH4
Print Length: 312 pages
Publication Date: December 1, 2023
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble

The Author: Andrew Mayne is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author whose books include The Naturalist, a Thriller Award finalist and Black Fall an Edgar Award finalist Black Fall. He’s the star of the Discovery Channel’s Shark Week special Andrew Mayne: Ghost Diver, where he swam alongside great white sharks using an underwater invisibility suit he designed and also was the star of A&E’s Don’t Trust Andrew Mayne. He currently serves as the Science Communicator for OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT and GPT-4.

@AndrewMayne

AndrewMayne.com

Enjoy your day

The Wrong Victim by Allison Brennan – #AudiobookReview – #ThrowbackThursday

A Quinn & Costa Thriller Book 3

Book Blurb:

A lethal attack with no clear motive…and a killer dead-set on keeping the truth buried.

A bomb explodes on a sunset charter cruise out of Friday Harbor at the height of tourist season and kills everyone on board. Now this fishing and boating community is in shock and asking who would commit such a heinous crime—the largest act of mass murder in the history of the San Juan Islands.

Was the explosion an act of domestic terrorism, or was one of the dead the primary target? That is the first question Special Agent Matt Costa, Detective Kara Quinn and the rest of the FBI team need to answer, but they have few clues and no witnesses.

Accused of putting profits before people after leaking fuel endangered an environmentally sensitive preserve, the West End Charter company may itself have been the target. As Matt and his team get closer to answers, they find one of their own caught in the crosshairs of a determined killer.

My Review:

My step into the author that the CE sampled last year, this one in the middle of an established somewhat hard-boiled series. I was attracted to the Pacific Northwest location of the San Juan Islands on the coast of Seattle, a gorgeous historic oceanside area.

In this episode, Special Agent Matt Costa and Detective Kara Quinn join with the rest of the FBI team following the explosion of a sunset charter cruise in Friday Harbor. They begin by looking at those individuals who were killed by the bombing and there is also the question of whether or not the target was directed against the West End Charter Company.

They have been joined this time by Catherine Jones, an FBI forensic psychiatrist, who immediately clashes with Kara. Kara has pulled herself up by her bootstraps, has LA street smarts, and finds Catherine’s grating methods ill-conceived and laced by over-education rather than real-time experience. Catherine is the perfect antagonist, proves to be the irritation focus in the foreground while the team quietly works in the background to pick apart the bits of the what, why, and who.

The bombing is a hook that serves to lay the plot for the complex storyline but I had a problem engaging in Kara who proves rough around the edges bordering on crude, the obvious antithesis of Catherine. I felt the narrative bogged down somewhat by all the in-fighting and found my attention wavering. The novel could have been shorter and carried more punch.

As the plot adds additional persons of interest and the body count rises, it becomes clear there is another layer that feels like it is reaching a bit far. It does find a solid conclusion but at the loss of my interest.

The CE read North of Nowhere last year, our first experience with this author and narrator, and one that left him a bit exasperated. I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedural Mysteries, Crime Thrillers, Suspense
Publisher: Harlequin Audio
ASIN: B09GL4CQ82
Listening Length: 13 hrs 13 mins
Narrator: Suzanne T. Fortin
Publication Date: April 26, 2022
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Wrong Victim [Amazon]

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

The Author: Allison Brennan is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling and award winning author of three dozen thrillers and numerous short stories. She was nominated for Best Paperback Original Thriller by International Thriller Writers, had multiple nominations and two Daphne du Maurier Awards, and is a five-time RITA finalist for Best Romantic Suspense. Allison believes life is too short to be bored, so she had five kids and spends all her non-writing time as a sports spectator, chauffeur, and short-order cook for her munchkins. She has a dog, two cats, and three chickens. Allison and her family live in northern California.

#ThrowbackThursday

Home at Night by Paula Munier – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

A Mercy Carr Mystery Book 5

“Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.”—Mark Twain

Book Blurb:

Beware the blackbirds…

It’s Halloween in Vermont, winter is coming, and five humans, two dogs, and a cat are a crowd in Mercy Carr’s small cabin. She needs more room—and she knows just the place: Grackle Tree Farm, with thirty acres of woods and wetlands and a Victorian manor to die for. They say it’s haunted by the ghosts of missing children and lost poets and a murderer or two, but Mercy loves it anyway. Even when Elvis finds a dead body in the library.

There’s something about Grackle Tree Farm that people are willing to kill for—and Mercy needs to figure out what before they move in. A coded letter found on the victim points to a hidden treasure that may be worth a fortune—if it’s real. She and Captain Thrasher conduct a search of the old place—and end up at the wrong end of a Glock. A masked man shoots Thrasher, and she and Elvis must take him down before he murders them all. Under fire, she and Elvis manage to run the guy off, but not before they are wounded, leaving Thrasher fighting for his life in the hospital, Mercy on crutches, and Elvis on the mend.

Now it’s up to Mercy and Troy and the dogs to track down the masked murderer in a county overflowing with leaf peepers, Halloween revelers, and treasure hunters and bring him to justice before he strikes again and the treasure is lost forever, along with the good name of Grackle Tree Farm….

My Review:

I love it when one of my favorite series pops up with a new one. This one seemed rather inspired, full of prose, quotables, and down home philosophy.

While I tripped over the name of Grackle Tree Farm every time I read it, the plot is a good one and there is a lot going on. The doggies have an active part—love Elvis and Suzy Bear.

Love the atmospherics in this particular episode. The author knows how to weave in the texture, suspense, the unknown. It builds tension and multiplies interest in the characters, who are mysterious and engaging. Particularly invested in their efforts to secure the ownership of the farm—sounded so neat I wanted a tour.

“…private roads, private being Yankee-speak for unpaved.”

The mysteries are interesting, the backstories clever and complex. There are twists and pushes into the poetry world I’d never consider otherwise. Romance language is interwoven as easily as English.

“The ghosts that stalk us are the secrets we cannot keep, the trespasses we cannot forgive, the truths we cannot bury.”

I really liked the progress that Mercy and Troy made this time and can’t wait to discover what they do with the property. Never hurts to catch up on Elvis either. He is an awesome canine character, as is Suzy Bear, both are so different yet so competent in their separate roles.

I read The Wedding Plot in August 2022 and had a bit of a problem with the pacing. This one keeps interest throughout, no sags in the middle, is well-paced.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Cozy Animal Mystery, Cozy Animal Mysteries, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ASIN: B0BQGJSWCQ
Print Length: 352 pages
Publication Date: October 17, 2023
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: PAULA MUNIER is a literary agent and the USA TODAY bestselling author of the Mercy Carr mysteries. A BORROWING OF BONES, the first in the series, was nominated for the Mary Higgins Clark Award, and was recently named the Dog Writers Association of America’s Dogwise Book of the Year. The second, BLIND SEARCH, pubbed in November 2019. The third, THE HIDING PLACE, will debut in March 2021.

Paula was inspired to write the series by the hero working dogs she met through Mission K9 Rescue, her own rescues, Newfoundland/retriever mix Bear, Great Pyrenees/Australian cattle dog mix Bliss, and Malinois mix Blondie, and a lifelong passion for crime fiction.

Paula also written three popular books on writing: PLOT PERFECT, THE WRITER’S GUIDE TO BEGINNINGS, and WRITING WITH QUIET HANDS, as well as the acclaimed memoir FIXING FREDDIE: A True Story of a Boy, a Mom, and a Very, Very Bad Beagle, and HAPPIER EVERY DAY: Simple ways to bring more peace, contentment and joy into your life.

She lives in New England with her family, her three rescue dogs, and a rescue torbie tabby named Ursula.

#TuesdayBookBlog

Trotting into Trouble by Amber Camp – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Horse Rescue Mystery Book 2

Book Blurb:

An investigation goes from an easy trot to a full-on gallop into danger in the second Horse Rescue mystery, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Mollie Cox Bryan.

It’s business as usual when horse rescue owner Mallory Martin gets a call from Sheriff Grady Sullivan that a loose horse has been found in a popular hunting area. While trying to catch the horse, Mallory stumbles upon the body of his unfortunate rider, Hillspring’s star basketball coach, Douglas Griggs. All signs point to a tragic hunting accident.

Despite her better instincts, Mallory finds herself in the middle of another murder investigation when the coach’s widow begs her to look into the case. Mrs. Griggs believes the sheriff is ignoring any evidence that doesn’t point to an accident.

But Mallory’s troubles are only beginning. As she juggles a blossoming romance, tensions with her best friend Lanie, and responsibilities at the rescue, she discovers that Coach Griggs’s enemies had ample motive to murder him. And now, Mallory may be in the killer’s sights.

My Review:

A new author to me and a new cozy mystery as well as I did not get in on the first book in the series. Still, much as I enjoy dog stories, thought I’d appreciate a horse story as they have always provided a fascination for me (witness how many episodes of Heartland we’ve watched!).

In the second of the series, protagonist Mallory Martin gets a call about a riderless horse running in a park and they need her expertise with the Hillspring Horse Rescue to corral the animal. Sure enough, he’s spooked, and in the effort to calm him, Mallory finds the rider—dead. It just doesn’t feel like an accident to her, however, and she is compelled to look deeper into the situation as she knew the man. Coach Griggs was a good influence in her life. This has become personal.

Hey, it’s a cozy mystery. Of course, the sheriff has warned her to stay out of it, but he wants to declare a hunting accident. Not gonna happen. She finds a piece of evidence overlooked by law enforcement. She has a recent nursing history and forensic experience. She can’t let this go.

Mallory is a smart character, feels real, and has great support characters who come alive in the pages, including Biscuit, the donkey and Banjo, the “goofy blue heeler.” I enjoy the knowledge imparted about the horses—there is always so much to learn about our domestic animals, particularly these magnificent creatures.

Well written, well paced (no let down in the middle of the storyline), and an atmospheric, descriptive rural setting keep the pages turning.

The evidence and her investigation lead to a satisfying conclusion, along the way side-tracked with a few twists and turns. Not a huge surprise, but certainly one that lends itself to reality.

Fun new cozy animal mystery (loved the cover—totally caught my eye) and I look forward to the next in the series. I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Amateur Sleuth Mysteries, Cozy Animal Mystery
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
ASIN: B0BVTH36MG
Print Length: 304 pages
Publication Date: November 14, 2023
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Amber has lived in Northwest Arkansas for twenty+ years, working as an RN at a rural hospital in the area. She has a menagerie of animals that includes dogs, cats, horses, and what has been described as the Mule from Hell, which may or may not be a slight exaggeration. Writing has always been a focus in Amber’s life, something she describes as “food for my soul.” An avid reader since grade school, she enjoys multiple genres and is always looking for new authors to add to her favorites. You can visit her on social media or at https://www.ambercampauthor.com

#TuesdayBookBlog

A Sagebrush Soul by John Isaac Jones – #BookReview – #biographicalfiction

A Biographical Novel of Mark Twain (Great American Authors Series Book 2)

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

John Isaac Jones’s new biographical novel on Samuel Langhorne Clemens, A/K/A Mark Twain, brings the fascinating life of America’s most famous humorist to you in vivid, captivating detail.

His time – 1840s-1910 America. Westward movement begins; the trail of tears; telegraph is invented; California gold rush; War between the States; Lincoln assassinated; the golden spike; Custer massacred; invention of electric light, the telephone and the automobile; the Spanish American war; the tumultuous presidency of Teddy Roosevelt; events leading to WWI.

His loves – His strait-laced, highly-religious mother Jane who vowed he was “born to be hanged!”; Laura Hawkins, his childhood sweetheart whom he was unable to commit to; Ina Coolbrith, the beautiful California poetess and lover who vowed to hold him; his beloved wife Olivia who urged him to become “a serious writer;” his oldest daughter Susan whom he worshipped from the day she was born until the day of her death.

His genius – Samuel Langhorne Clemens, news reporter, steamboat pilot, gold miner, lecturer, world-traveler, adventurer, author of the classic Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn books; the first man to circumnavigate the world on a steamship; singlehandedly invented the travelogue genre when he wrote Innocents Abroad; later books, including A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Roughing it, Life of the Mississippi and the short story, The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, earned him the title “The father of American literature.”

His Review:

Growing up along the Mississippi River, Samuel Clemens was always getting into mischief. He and a boyhood friend, Tom Blankenship, are always having problems. Finally, Sam’s parents determine that Tom is leading their son down the road of perdition and forbid him to have any further contact with him. This relationship was the basis for the character Huckleberry Finn.

Sam’s boyhood town, Hannibal, Missouri, is located on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River. The town is a major port city and with deep water is able to take in many of the steamboats that ply the river. Sam falls in love with the idea of becoming a steamboat captain and sailing the route between New Orleans and Hannibal.

But he becomes a newspaper reporter and decides to head west to broaden his experience. He is swept up in the search for gold and he and a couple other guys search for the elusive metal near Carson City, NV and then the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The three manage to eke out $8.00 per day after grueling twelve-hour days and decide this is not for them. They take their hard-earned savings and try to double it in San Francisco.

Sam marries a young lady and they decide to move and live back east. Life gives him many harsh lessons including losing his daughters and ultimately his wife. Life is not easy for Samuel Clemens and his alternate ego, Mark Twain, who with an abundance of life experience to write about, then becomes a great traveling orator and humorist. This book, however, reveals the difficult life that this American legend lived and the many tragedies that he experienced. 5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Book Details:

Genre: Historical Biographical Fiction, Biographical Fiction, Biographical Historical Fiction
Publisher: John Isaac Jones (1^st Edition)
ASIN: B0C55VKF7N
Print Length: 506 pages
Publication Date: May 12, 2023
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: John Isaac Jones is a retired journalist and novelist currently living and writing at Merritt Island, Florida. For more than thirty years, “John I.,” as he prefers to be called, was a reporter for media outlets throughout the world. These included local newspapers in my native Alabama, The National Enquirer, News of the World in London, the Sydney Morning Herald, and NBC television. His latest book, A Quiet Madness, is a work of historical fiction about the life of Edgar Allan Poe, author of the short story classics, The Tell-tale Heart and The Cask of Amontillado. Jones is the author of ten novels, two short story collections and five novellas. You can find “John I.” on his website, johnisaacjones.com, or on Facebook at author john Isaac Jones.

Have a Great Sunday

Before It’s Too Late by Sara Driscoll – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

An FBI K-9 Novel Book 2

Book Blurb:

As a serial killer plays games with the FBI, a special agent and her K-9 partner refuse to follow the rules in this Washington, D.C., thriller.

Somewhere in the Washington, D.C. area, a woman lies helpless in a box—barely breathing and buried alive. In Quantico, the FBI receives a coded message from the woman’s abductor. He wants to play a game: decipher the clues, save the girl. But when FBI cryptanalysts crack the code, Special Agent Meg Jennings and her K-9 partner, Hawk, are too late. An innocent life is lost…and the killer’s game is far from over.

With more coded messages, the deadly pattern is repeated—again and again. As the body count rises, Meg decides to break protocol and consult her brilliant sister, Cara, to decipher the kidnapper’s twisted clues. Putting her job on the line, Meg is determined not to let one more person die under her and Hawk’s watch. If the plan fails, it could bite them in the end. And if it leads to the killer, it could bury them forever . . .

My Review:

I can’t seem to resist getting back to a Sara Driscoll FBI K-9 novel, one of my favorite doggy series. This one, only the second in the series, but amazing with the amount of research into Civil War info and the little ditties at the beginning of each chapter. Designed to whet the interest and give a heads up to the next chapter, they are also a great learning tool of many little known military facts and those specifically gleaned from the Civil War experience.

Meg discovers she is the target of a perp who loves to play deadly games—his clues are usually left on the canine companion of an abducted woman. It’s up to the FBI cryptanalysts and then Special Agent Meg Jennings to decipher the code in time to find and save the woman. Eerily, the woman invariably looks much like Meg.

Meg’s dog is Hawk, a war canine she was able to obtain following the death of her then fiancé. A Belgian Malinois, he’s smart, alert, effective and trained extremely well. Meg is not without residual problems from her own military experience but she is smart and physical and can hold up with the best of them.

Her team includes an agent with another dog, but in this case, she quickly discovers she must carefully include two outside of the team for the help their intel can supply, one of whom is Clay McCord, a reporter who knows Civil War history. She does stretch credulity a bit this time with what a body (particularly a female body) is capable.

I appreciate the intelligence that Meg brings to the pages, but even more so the relationship she shares with Hawk and with the canine mystique in general. I always learn something new and discover it’s appalling I knew so little about my own beloved canine companions to whom we so often attributed anthropomorphic behaviors.

But as my buddy Michael Reisig says, “If you think it’s just a dog, then that’s all you’ll ever have.”

About this time last year, I read and reviewed Still Waters and love getting back to Meg, Hawk, and her amazing FBI page-turning thrillers and am always looking for another I might have missed or a new one coming out.

I received a copy of this book from my local well-stocked library that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Add to Goodreads

Book Details:

Genre: Animal Fiction, Dog Care, Kidnapping Thrillers
Publisher: Pinnacle Books
ASIN: B07HLYR1R4
Print Length: 309 pages
Publication Date: September 25, 2018
Source: Local Library
Title Link(s): Before It’s Too Late [Amazon]

The Authors: Sara Driscoll is the pen name of Jen J. Danna and Ann Vanderlaan,

Ann Vanderlaan - author — Ann Vanderlaan

authors of the Abbott and Lowell Forensic Mysteries. Jen is an infectious disease researcher at a cutting-edge Canadian university near Toronto, but loves to spend her free time writing the thrilling and mysterious. Ann lives in western North Carolina with five rescued pit bulls, including Kane, now a certified therapy dog. She also trains with Kane for competitive nose work. You can follow the latest news on the F.B.I. K-9 Mysteries at SaraDriscollAuthor.com.

#TuesdayBookBlog