Do No Harm: A Lucas Page Novel by Robert Pobi – #BookReview – #crimethrillers

Do No Harm by Robert Pobi

Book Blurb:

In Robert Pobi’s thriller Do No Harm, a series of suicides and accidental deaths in the medical community are actually well-disguised murders and only Lucas Page can see the pattern and discern the truth that no one else believes.

Lucas Page is a polymath, astrophysicist, professor, husband, father of five adopted children, bestselling author, and ex-FBI agent—emphasis on “ex.” Severely wounded after being caught in an explosion, Page left the FBI behind and put his focus on the rebuilding the rest of his life. But Page is uniquely gifted in being able to recognize patterns that elude others, a skill that brings the F.B.I. knocking at his door again and again.

Lucas Page’s wife Erin loses a friend, a gifted plastic surgeon, to suicide and Lucas begins to realize how many people Erin knew that have died in the past year, in freak accidents and now suicide. Intrigued despite himself, Page begins digging through obituaries and realizes that there’s a pattern—a bad one. These deaths don’t make sense unless the doctors are being murdered, the target of a particularly clever killer. This time, the FBI wants as little to do with Lucas as he does with them so he’s left with only one option—ignore it and go back to his normal life. But then, the pattern reveals that the next victim is likely to be…Erin herself.

His Review:

Lovely Dr. Jennifer Delmonico is on her run after work across the Brooklyn Bridge releasing the stress of a long arduous shift. Some runners approach her from the other direction and her next experience is falling from the footpath to the traffic flowing below. Her pain is brief after suffering multiple injuries. The other runners do not stop to report her fall and death.

Detective Russo later arrives at the scene. He is a “by the books” detective. He believes that all events follow a statistical format. In his jurisdiction, however, there have been 30 dead doctors in 30 days with various causes of death! They do not meet the statistical parameters of the detective and he sees an obvious lethal pattern. Who would be killing these doctors and why?

The reduction of medical personnel, all doctors, in so short a period of time points toward someone with a vendetta against doctors. Who would do such a thing and why would they specifically be targeting New York City medical personnel? Things become so drastic that the hospitals are considering hiring bodyguards for all of the doctors in the tri-bureau area. Solving this case cannot come quick enough.

This author develops a very believable scenario of revenge and murder against all doctors. Why would someone do such a thing? Could it be because of malpractice or loss of someone very dear to the perpetrator? This book has many twists and turns as Russo searches for answers! He’s a pit bull. The public and his superiors are clamoring for answers and arrests. The clock is ticking and how many more will die before the perp is caught? 4.5 stars – CE Williams

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: Police Procedurals, Crime Thrillers
Publisher: Minotaur Books
ISBN: ‎ 1529348471
ASIN: B092T9F97Q
Print Length: 423 pages
Publication Date: August 9, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Links: Do No Harm [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: Robert Pobi‘s novels have been published in more than twenty-five countries, making bestseller lists around the world. He divides his time between Canada and the United States.

Have a great weekend!

Still Waters (An FBI K-9 Novel Book 7) by Sara Driscoll – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Still Waters by Sara Driscoll

An F.B.I. K-9 Novel, Book 7

Book Blurb:

A training session in the Minnesota wilderness becomes a fight for survival for FBI handler Meg Jennings and her K-9 partner . . .

Keeping their search-and-rescue skills honed isn’t just a job requirement for FBI Special Agent Meg Jennings and her Labrador, Hawk—it’s essential to saving lives. A water search training weekend in the Boundary Waters area of Minnesota has attracted participants from all levels of law enforcement, each vying to win. The races are challenging, the rivalry is intense, and Meg is already under pressure when Hawk alerts to a scent in the water—and discovers the fresh body of one of Meg’s fellow competitors.

The contest is called off, but Meg’s still feeling the heat. The victim had made an unfounded complaint about her, one that could cost Meg her job and see Hawk removed from her care. The field of suspects is daunting, and all of them are experts in throwing others off the trail. And though Meg’s team flies out to Minnesota to help uncover the truth, they’re on unfamiliar territory, pitted against a killer with the skills, and the motivation, to stay hidden in plain sight . .

My Review:

I’m always thrilled to get the next book in this exciting series, as the last book read always leaves me looking forward to the next. And, of course, I’m partial to books about service dogs and their staunch loyalty to their handlers.

This entry to the series has Meg Jennings, a search and rescue dog handler for the FBI’s Human Scent Evidence Team off in remote Minnesota in a field competition for dogs training to perform underwater searches. Hawk is a Labrador, essentially a rescue, who performs beautifully on land, Meg having spent countless hours training, working with the dog, honing his skills both verbally as well as through hand signals.

The competition draws members of law enforcement from all over and while the rivalry is intense, Meg is not required to add the accomplishment to her jacket—she just wanted to expand on Hawk’s abilities. When Meg discovers a competitor mistreating her dog, Meg protects the animal. The handler, however, turns the table on Meg and files a complaint about her abusing Hawk. When Hawk discovers her body in 80 feet of water after the second trial, it’s Meg who hits #1 on the suspect list.

Meg is not alone, however, as she has her team including partner Brian and his dog, Lacey (best buds with Hawk), as well as her heart partner, Todd Webb (a firefighter/paramedic), and extended family Clay McCord (her sister’s partner and investigative reporter). Unfortunately, the accusation is very serious and could spell the loss of Hawk as well as her job.

Meg going pro-active can only work for so long, even given that the competition is shut down, as no one is allowed to leave and law enforcement establishes authority—a national park is also federal jurisdiction. I enjoy the teaching moments, the tidbits about the training of the canines, their instincts and how to use them, their abilities, and the symbiotic relationship with their humans.

This storyline dealt heavily with Meg’s feelings about her possible loss of Hawk and her job, the plans to surreptitiously “interview” the other handlers, and those who might possibly have known the victim or her previous bad experiences, providing a montage of suspects. While I enjoyed the atmospheric descriptions of the cold Minnesota mountains (the camping…brrr…) and the land of a thousand lakes, I missed more active involvement with the dogs.

The conclusion swept the narrative into a climactic and dramatic operation that included both dogs and law enforcement and provided a satisfying closure to all open threads.

“Oregon Tuck: A method of floating or vertically rolling over a waterfall in a kayak or dinghy. Named for the many large waterfalls in the northwest United States.”

I’ve read most of the books in this series, enjoying each one, including the last one, Book 6, Under Pressure, and am always assured of a new, unique storyline while still involving my favorite characters, particularly Hawk. You could read this as a standalone, but then you’d miss a lot of good reading!

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author(s) and Kensington Books (thank you!) through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts. Currently on pre-order—go ahead and get on the list!

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedurals, Crime Thrillers
Publisher: Kensington Books
ISBN-10: ‎ 1496735064
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1496735065
ASIN: B09TX318L4
Print Length: 305 pages
Publication Date: November 29, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

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

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.

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The Line (Helen Scott Royal Military Police Thrillers Book 2) by Rachel Lynch – #BookReview – #women’sdetectivefiction

The Line by Rachel Lynch

“An unputdownable crime thriller”

Book Blurb:

The truth can have deadly consequences…

On a sunny morning, when the Mediterranean is dead calm, Captain Paul Thomas embarks on a dive to the wreck of the Zenobia, off the coast of Larnaca, Cyprus. Within hours, he has taken his final, gasping breath in an accident below the surface. A new Royal Military Police liaison is required to pick up on his work, and Major Helen Scott gets the assignment.

It turns out Paul Thomas had rattled cages during his current case – four serving soldiers are in custody accused of the leaking of state intelligence. If proven, the scandal would rock the foundation of the armed forces. Once on Cyprus, it becomes clear that the island relies on a delicate balance of old-school glad-handing and turning a blind eye, and anyone who threatens to upset the equilibrium will find themselves in the line of fire…

An action-packed crime thriller, perfect for fans of Angela Marsons and Lee Child.

His Review:

Four corporals are in the brig for the death of a naval officer who drowned off the coast of Cyprus. A seasoned and well-trained diver should not have drowned at 60 meters exploring a wreck. Major Helen Scott RMP is sent to investigate the incident.

Helen does not believe such an accident would have occurred with a trained diver. Her investigation reveals some very strange and frightening facts about this quiet Mediterranean island. How could the officer have drowned when being accompanied by three other seasoned divers? Why was he not able to get back to the surface by following his dive line back to the opening in the ship being investigated?

Major Helen Scott is an extremely strong character and an excellent effective member of the navy. This book has many twists and well-developed characters guaranteed to keep you turning pages. Enjoy! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

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: Women’s Detective Fiction, International Mystery & Crime
Publisher: Canelo Crime
ASIN: B0B1TT59PG
Print Length: 328 pages
Publication Date: July 28, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: The Line [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: [Goodreads] Rachel Lynch grew up in Cumbria and the lakes and fells are never far away from her. London pulled her away to teach History and marry an Army Officer, whom she followed around the globe for thirteen years.

A change of career after children led to personal training and sports therapy, but writing was always the overwhelming force driving the future. The human capacity for compassion as well as its descent into the brutal and murky world of crime are fundamental to her work.

Have a Nice Weekend!

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub – #Audiobook Review – #timetravel

This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub

Best Books of 2022 So Far

Book Blurb:

With her celebrated humor, insight, and heart, beloved New York Times bestseller Emma Straub offers her own twist on traditional time travel tropes, and a different kind of love story.

On the eve of her 40th birthday, Alice’s life isn’t terrible. She likes her job, even if it isn’t exactly the one she expected. She’s happy with her apartment, her romantic status, her independence, and she adores her lifelong best friend. But her father is ailing, and it feels to her as if something is missing. When she wakes up the next morning she finds herself back in 1996, reliving her 16th birthday. But it isn’t just her adolescent body that shocks her, or seeing her high school crush, it’s her dad: the vital, charming, 40-something version of her father with whom she is reunited. Now armed with a new perspective on her own life and his, some past events take on new meaning. Is there anything that she would change if she could?

My Review:

Okay, I’m definitely not the right demographic for this book. Besides being a much older generation, I couldn’t identify with the intensity of the retrospection with her father, not having one myself that I noticed his passing. And, sorry, I’m not a monster city fan.

As it’s been out now for several months and it’s been a fav, accruing a lot of notice and positive reviews, everyone knows it’s about a time-traveling woman who leaves a forty-year-old body having over-partied into oblivion to discover herself again at sixteen. UGH! Those teen years—no thank you. However, I am a fan of the time traveler genre. In this case, back and forth to the same time, 1996, and the relationship with her single-parent father.

Having said the above, you’ll possibly understand why I thought the first part of the book was relatively slow and difficult for me to engage as it set up the characters, the current atmosphere, and the stressful situation with her dying father.

I enjoyed her first travel experience and again when she figured out how to move freely between the times. I found the pace, and my interest, accelerated somewhat in the middle of the book when she began to explore the question of whether or not there was any way to change any outcomes. More importantly, would she?

Lots of retrospective discussions, reliving the grand old 1990s, heavy nostalgic memories. Gees, it’s almost depressing, interesting heavy-handed author writing style prose but the conclusion came well-plotted and satisfying.

So many time travel novels end in the trope of “do-overs.” I also wrote about that back in 2015. The fork in the road. What if…I’d gone left instead of right. Isn’t this something all of us have mused over? The novel charges the reader to look at what we have now—enjoy it or make the changes–particularly for those whom we love.

I received a complimentary review copy of this audiobook from the publisher and NetGalley. These are my honest thoughts.

Book Details:

Genre: Time Travel Science Fiction, Time Travel Fiction, Family Life Fiction
Publisher: Penguin Audio
ASIN: B09HST51ZG
Listening Length: 8 hrs 31 mins
Narrator: Marin Ireland
Publication Date: May 17, 2022
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Links: This Time Tomorrow [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

The Author: Emma Straub is the New York Times-bestselling author of five novels—This Time Tomorrow, All Adults Here, The Vacationers, Modern Lovers, Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures—and the short story collection Other People We Married. Her books have been published in more than 20 languages, and All Adults Here is currently in development as a television series. She and her husband own Books Are Magic, an independent bookstore in Brooklyn, New York.

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Deadly Spirits by Mary Miley – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Deadly Spirits by Mary Miley

(A Mystic’s Accomplice mystery Book 3)

Book Blurb:

Medium’s assistant – and reluctant sleuth – Maddie Pastore is shocked when her long-lost sister is accused of murder, in this twisty, atmospheric mystery set in 1920s Chicago.

Summer, 1924. Young widow Maddie Pastore has been working for fraudulent spiritual medium Madame Carlotta for nearly a year – if ‘work’ you could call it. Investigating Carlotta’s clients, and attending seances as her shill, keeps Maddie and her young son Tommy fed and clothed, and she’s grown to love the kind, well-meaning spiritualist like family.

Still, Maddie – estranged from her abusive parents for over a decade – can’t help but wonder what fates befell her brothers and sisters. So when she lucks into two free tickets to a glamorous Chicago speakeasy and recognizes the star performer as her pretty little sister Sophie, she’s beyond delighted.

But before Maddie can meet with Sophie again, the telephone rings. It’s Sophie’s husband, calling in a panic to tell her that his wife is locked in the Cook County jail, charged with first-degree murder . . .

Enter a dark and deadly world of seances and speakeasies, populated by fake mediums, sultry singers and dangerous mobsters! An ideal pick for readers who enjoy glitzy Jazz Age mysteries with feisty female sleuths.

My Review:

What a pleasant surprise this turned out to be! I was sucked in because of the blurb and the cover and thought it would be one I’d like. And it is! It’s the wild and wooly early 1920s, a decade that can provide endless stories.

Maddie Pastore is the MC, a young widow working for spiritual medium Madame Carlotta for bed and board. Handy that Madam Carlotta loves Maddie’s fourteen-month-old son. She attends Madame Carlotta’s séances as a shill, but her real purpose is to research upcoming clients so she can feed info to Freddie who helps with “enhancements” to solidify the experience.

Maddie scores free tickets to a Chicago speakeasy and discovers the star performer is her own baby sister from a large abusive family where siblings scattered like the wind as soon as they could. But before she and Sophie really have a reunion and catch up, she is notified by Sophie’s husband that she’s in Cook County jail charged with first-degree murder.

You can’t scratch much of the surface of Chicago’s history without confronting the mobsters who populated the back streets and unfortunately Maddie has a bit of experience with that as it was what got her husband killed.

So here’s what I liked about the story: There’s history here, real history, lots of well-known names, the Chicago mystic, and iconic architecture. Lots of fascinating tidbits you might not have known about the area and the time. (Reversing the flow of the Chicago River, for heaven’s sake! Yeah, I’m still new to the area.)

In between working on finding a way out of jail for the sister she’s sure is innocent, she is given the names of new clients to investigate and these are interesting side stories uniquely fabricated into the narrative seamlessly. Her method of investigation is remarkable, not unlike a person searching ancestry info—sources readily (or not so) available to scour.

I like the characters, both the main characters and the support characters, most well fleshed, and the female detective (apparently drawn from history) a hoot, but I thought the baby might have been a little good to be true.

I had just a little problem with the climax (wondering about survivability) and the conclusion that pushed boundaries a bit. Otherwise, although this is the third in the series (and sorry now I missed the first two!), it can easily be read as a standalone. It’s gripping, evenly fast-paced, and has me ready to read the next.

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: Historical Mysteries, Amateur Sleuth Mysteries, Historical Mystery
Publisher: Severn House
ASIN: B09XGRP2TK
Print Length: 259 pages
Publication Date: September 6, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: [Mary Miley] I’m an Army brat who has lived in Virginia most of my adult life. I received my BA and MA in history from the College of William and Mary and taught American history and museum studies at Virginia Commonwealth University for thirteen years. I am the author of 200 magazine articles, most on history, travel, and business topics, and a dozen nonfiction books. The Impersonator (2013) was my first foray into fiction–and it won the national Mystery Writers of America award for Best First Crime Novel! Three others in the series followed: Silent Murders (2014), Renting Silence (2016), and Murder in Disguise (2017). More recently, my new Roaring Twenties series debuted in the U.S. in 2021. The Mystic’s Accomplice is set in Chicago and features violent gangsters, fraudulent Spiritualists, and a single mom with a new baby. Its sequel, Spirits and Smoke, was released early in 2022 and the third, Deadly Spirits, is scheduled for a fall debut. For me, the Roaring Twenties is the America’s most fascinating decade and the perfect setting for both my mystery series.

When I’m not writing or plotting, I spend a good deal of time at Valley Road Vineyards in Afton, VA, a winery that my husband and I own with 4 other couples. Last year we planted another 6 1/2 acres of vines and introduced several new wines–my favorite is the viognier. Already this year I’ve spent 3 days on the bottling assembly line, doing strenuous intellectual work like loading full bottles into cases and standing on a ladder to feed corks into the hopper. Visit us at Valley Road there in person or at http://www.valleyroadwines.com.
http://www.marymileytheobald.com
http://www.pinterest.com/mmtheobald/the-mystics-accomplice

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The Secret Keeper by Siobhan Curham – #BookReview – #historicalfrenchfiction

The Secret Keeper by Siobhan Curham

A gripping and emotional World War 2 novel, inspired by true events

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

Nazi-occupied Paris, 1942. “I want to create a world where we are free to be together, to be in love,” he whispered. I gulp down the sobs building in my throat. “I want that too. I’ll come back to you. I swear I’ll come back.”

Elena Garcia knows that the mission she has been tasked with is her most dangerous yet. With a tearful goodbye to the man she has grown to love, the dark-eyed and warm-hearted Santiago Lozano, she hurries to catch the train to the drop-off point, the coded maps she is delivering for the resistance concealed in a pack of playing cards in her purse.

As she leaves the underground meeting, she hears heavy footsteps closing in behind her. Her heart pounds, and a dark figure comes into her line of sight. Expertly fighting off her attacker, Elena races back to the station, barely making it onto the train. She is forced to confront the worst: her cover is blown and now nowhere will be safe. Somebody close to her is a traitor, but when you live in the shadows, how do you know who you can really trust?

To stay alive, Elena must flee the country – and that means leaving Santiago behind. But she refuses to abandon her mission while Europe is still in the clutches of the enemy, and she will not leave Santiago to face the wrath of the Gestapo alone.

But when Elena uncovers that the love of her life has been having meetings with high-ranking government officials and hears German officials greeting him by name in the street, it’s clear that Santiago has his own secrets.

Elena must now ask herself: should she risk everything to save Santiago… or was he the one who betrayed her to the enemy? And now, with millions of innocent lives across Europe at stake, how can she know what is the right choice?

An epic, gripping and emotional wartime novel based on the true stories of the female spies sent into occupied Europe. Fans of The Alice Network, Soraya M. Lane and Pam Jenoff will be totally hooked.

His Review:

Elena has grown up in the Los Angeles area but loves the letters from her Grand-mere Rose. After Pearl Harbor, Elena is approached by the Office of Strategic Services to become an operative. Her beloved grandmother had moved back to France and is now encased in a Nazi-controlled country. Because Elena speaks three languages fluently, she is a perfect candidate to become a spy.

Her training in a camp in Maryland is extensive and rigorous. She is taught many things including how to disarm or kill a man in close physical combat. Her training includes ciphers and other coding techniques. She knows that if she is caught, she will be tortured by the enemy for information and secrets and then killed.

She wants to be an actress and has been training to become one. Her persona is a Spanish actress working in a play in Madrid. She has a minor role in the production. Madrid is lousy with German operatives who are trying to catch allied personnel who are trying to get back to England! Her primary role is to infiltrate the German high command and thereby help the pilots elude capture.

The author has written a believable saga of a young girl in occupied Europe. The amount of danger and efforts to stay alive bring credibility to this character. Knowing the result of not staying vigilant will result in a slow and painful death. Danger moves with her every step of the way. I could not put the book down. Read and enjoy the efforts of this masterful storyteller. 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 French Fiction, Women’s Religious Fiction, Women’s Historical Fiction
Publisher: Bookouture
ASIN: B0B12NDDTD
Print Length: 426 pages
Publication Date: July 27, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: The Secret Keeper [Amazon]

Siobhan Curham - author — Siobhan Curham – author

The Author: Thank you for visiting my Amazon author page! It still blows my mind to be able to say that I’m an award-winning, best-selling author of over 40 books for adults, young adults and children, because I’m also a former council estate kid and university drop-out who gave up on my writing dream because I didn’t think I was from the right (aka posh enough) background. So I really am proof that miracles can happen!

It’s safe to say that my books cover very wide ranging subjects, from spirituality, love and friendship to World War 2, the refugee crisis and talking animals! One theme remains constant however, my desire to leave my readers feeling uplifted and inspired.

My first historical novel, An American in Paris, was published in 2021 and became an Amazon best-seller in the US and UK, which I was over the moon about, as it turns out I have a real passion for writing historical fiction. I love unearthing the lesser known facts and details from World War 2 and presenting them to readers in stories that will resonate today. My other World War 2 novels are Beyond This Broken Sky, The Paris Network, and the yet to be titled ‘Book 4’ – which will be published by Bookouture in August 2022.

I’m also currently writing two more books for my Moonlight Dreamers series for young adults.

Because my path to writing success has been such a bumpy one, I love nothing more than helping other people achieve their writing dreams via my online community, THE WRITING ADVENTURE (you can find us on Facebook).

You can find out more about my writing and sign up to my newsletter, GRIT, GRACE & GRATITUDE, at http://www.siobhancurham.com

And you can connect with me on social media here…

Facebook: Siobhan Curham Author

Instagram: @SiobhanCurham

Twitter: @SiobhanCurham

Thanks so much to everyone who has read my books and taken the time to leave a review here on Amazon, it really helps so I very much appreciate it.

Siobhan

My fairy garden

The Iron Way (The Sarmatian Trilogy Book 2) by Tim Leach – #BookReview – #ancienthistoricalfiction

The Iron Way by Tim Leach

Book Blurb:

AD 175, Vindolanda, Britannia. After their cavalry was broken by the legions on the frozen waters of the Danube, Sarmatian warrior Kai bought his people’s lives with a pledge to serve Rome. Bound to the will of the Emperor, the Sarmatians are ready to fight and eager to die – death in battle is the only escape from the dishonour of their defeat.

Exiled from their home lands, they are ordered to take the Iron Way to the far north and the very edge of the Empire. Here, a great wall of stone cuts across the land as straight as the stroke of a sword. On one side, Rome’s dominion; on the other, mist and rumours – stories of men closer to giants, of warriors who fight without fear or restraint.

For a people who knew no borders, who were promised war, garrison duty is cruel punishment. But as insurrection stirs on both sides of the wall, Kai will discover that every barrier has its weaknesses – and he will have his chance to fight, perhaps to die.

His Review:

The Romans had the perfect solution to protect their part of the British Island. Build a wall to keep the “northern hoards” and rabble out. Hadrian’s Wall is a constant reminder that isolationism and border walls do not work.

The northern part of the British Isles has been an area of contention for many centuries. The Romans invading the island did nothing to change that. Therefore, they built a very impressive border wall with guard towers every mile to dissuade foreign invaders from attacking and occupying the region.

Thousands of invaders approached the wall carefully. Surely an attack was imminent! Remarkably no defense was supported on the wall and the army just pushed through on their journey to London. The invaders could not believe the arrogance of the people on the other side of the wall.

A Roman Centurion was the leader of the defense brigade. He considered this posting to be punishment for his inability to control the population. The prefect hated his job and could not wait to retire. His greatest concern was that he would not be invited to return to Rome or its environs, but would instead retire on a small parcel in England. This was one of his greatest nightmares.

This story exemplifies the schism that was the British Isles during the first one thousand years of the current epoch. Being the representative of Rome in such a backward area was tantamount to total ostracizing. The invaders heading toward England simply went to the hole in the wall and advanced on toward London.

This story is a very interesting look at the calamity that befell various nomadic tribes which colonized those islands at the time. The Roman’s promise was that 25 years in the Roman Legions would result in freedom to go home and live a retirement of ease. The Romans knew that this would never happen. Twenty-five years at that time was almost surely a death sentence.

This book is well written and certainly has poetic license at its core because there is no written history of many of these tribes. Read and enjoy! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. These are my unbiased opinions.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Ancient Historical Fiction, Historical Thrillers
Publisher: Head of Zeus—an Aries Book
ASIN: B09GZR81KT
Publication Date: August 4, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Links: The Iron Way [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble
Kobo

The Author: [Goodreads] Writer, climber, whisky drinker, chess dabbler and general purpose layabout. London exile currently encamped in the North and loving it. I’ve studied and taught creative writing at the University of Warwick and worked in bookshops in London and Greece.

If you’d like to know any more about me or my books, just ping me a message. Thanks for stopping by!

Have a great weekend!

The Faithful Dog: A Civil War Novel by Terry Lee Caruthers – #BookReview – #historicalfiction

The Faithful Dog by Terry Lee Caruthers

in Children’s 1800s US Historical Fiction

Book Blurb:

When German-born Louis Pfeif leaves home to join the Fifty-Eighth Illinois Infantry Regiment in 1862, his dog accompanies him. At Chicago’s Camp Douglas, Bärchen charms Louis’s fellow officers—even Colonel Lynch. As the Civil War escalates, the unit is transferred to Tennessee and placed under the command of General Lew Wallace. Shortly afterward, they come under fire at Erin Hollow. Bärchen proves his mettle—remaining by Louis’s side amid the boom of cannon and the rattle of musketry. Then one morning the two are thrust onto a battlefield, where one will die and the other must learn to carry on.

Based on a true story and the history of the Fifty-Eighth Illinois, The Faithful Dog powerfully illustrates the unwavering bond of devotion between dogs and their humans.

His Review:

A country was torn in the conflict between the north and the south. Many of the combatants who fought were immigrants or first-generation Americans in the new world. Second Lieutenant Lewis W. Pfeif was one of those volunteers. He served valiantly fighting to support President Lincoln and his new homeland.

This story is about his faithful dog Bänchen. The family dog was his pride and joy and went with him to the various camps. Second Lieutenant Pfeif was attached to the Fifty-Eighth Illinois regiment. They were transported by rail or steamboat to the various battlefields they fought in. The dog was a constant companion and was instrumental in alerting the regiment whenever danger was near.

Second Lieutenant Pfeif was killed in a battle against the Thirteenth Tennessee commanded by Confederate Colonel Alfred J. Vaughn. A head wound dispatched the Lieutenant instantly but the dog stayed by his master’s side and could not be coaxed to leave, nor would he allow anyone to approach or assist his master. Despite all of his efforts, his master would not rise.

After the war, his mistress went to the battlefield to try to find her husband’s remains. She was unable to find him until she was approached by a very tired and beleaguered Bänchen. The dog was so dirty and mangy that she hardly recognized him. However, he was able to lead her to the location of her husband’s remains and they were dug up and returned to Illinois.

This well-written story describes the horror and sacrifices the combatants suffered on both sides during the Civil War. The heartbreak of most families during this conflict was the lack of knowledge of where their brothers, fathers, or sons fell and were buried. Because of this war dog, he was able to get his master’s remains back to the proper burial site in Illinois. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

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: Children’s 1800s US Historical Fiction, Children’s Dog Books, Children’s 1800s American Historical Fiction
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
ASIN: B09VPXZV1N
Print Length: 166 pages
Publication Date: July 7, 2022
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Links: The Faithful Dog [Amazon]
Barnes & Noble

The Author: Terry Lee Caruthers enjoys writing, storytelling, and cats with a little cross-stitching on the side. Her preference is to spend her days curled up in the porch swing with a large glass of ice water and a good book. And yes! Unbelievably, she actually has a porch swing in her living room!

Terry credits her mother and maternal grandmother for nurturing her love of books. As a lifetime reader, she is drawn to coming-of-age novels and Southern literary fiction, but can’t pass up a good mystery. Her favorite book of all time is Harper Lee’s “To Kill A Mockingbird,” which she was assigned to read in ninth grade–and has re-read almost every year since. Because of her prior involvement in cat rescue, Terry collects books on stray, feral, lost, and abandoned cats.

While fall is her favorite time of the year, she does love a good, deep snow. Summer is a season she could do without–although she does love its caladiums!

When not working, Terry spends her time writing. She has several more manuscripts in progress which she hopes to share with you in the future!

Enjoy Your Sunday