Review: One Man's Journey by J.R. Wheeless

 Genre: Memoir

Description:

“One Man’s Journey is a short trip down the path on the fight against prostate cancer. This is the author’s story about his battle against a cancer that afflicts thousands of men each year. It is a down-to-earth telling of a, hopefully, successful skirmish he has fought in his war against a cancer every man fears, but few understand. He has months, most likely years, before he can be declared cured, but he lives with hope. Take the journey with him along the early part of his fight.

This is not a medical journal, nor is it a technical manual. In easy to understand language the author hopes to acquaint the reader with what occurs when a man is diagnosed with prostate cancer, and what that diagnosis means in his life.

All proceeds from the sale of this book is being donated to the fight against prostate cancer. It is hoped that eventually medical science will find a simple cure to this dreadful disease.”

Author:

A writer all his life, J.R. Wheeless was writing a weekly column for his local newspaper as a high school senior. His writing was more personal for a lot of years, journals he kept for himself and such, but in 2015 he published his first book and he has had several since then, some fiction, some non-fiction, some novels, some short story collections.

Appraisal:

An interesting read that most middle age or older adult males could benefit from reading. (The women in their lives could benefit as well.) While it doesn’t get the attention that other forms of cancer do, the author points out that roughly the same percentage of men get prostate cancer as the percentage of women who get breast cancer. Making sure your doctor is doing the appropriate blood tests as part of your annual checkups and addressing any potential issues early can make a big difference. While a quick read the author does a lot in giving a feel for the experience he’s gone through, his less than perfect (according to him) interpretations of some of the medical issues and at the end lots of sources if you’d like to dig deeper into the subject.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 20-25,000 words

Review: Cauldron of Wrath by Terrence Poppa

 

Genre: Thriller

Description:

“Terrorists smuggle two nuclear bombs into the United States through a Mexican drug tunnel in a bold plot to destroy the United States. While world attention is riveted on the fiery destruction they aim to bring to downtown Los Angeles with the first nuke, they intend to detonate the second bomb at the bottom of an experimental NASA geothermal well located in a remote corner of Yellowstone National Park. The nuclear blast will rip open Yellowstone’s sizzling caldera, triggering a massive eruption that will obliterate half of the United States.

FBI agent Malcolm Hendricks, special agent in charge of a counterterrorism task force in Los Angeles, thwarts the LA bomb only seconds before two of the suicide bombers can detonate it near USC where the agent's daughter is giving her PhD thesis defense. He has learned the identity of the terrorist leader, Abu Hadi al-Maliki, through actions he took in defiance of his superiors in Washington. In recognition of his bold work, the president puts him in charge of finding Maliki and the second nuke, but the only clue Hendricks has to go on is a trail of bodies that ends in Idaho near Yellowstone.

As Hendricks unleashes every resource available to find Maliki and the second bomb, the terror leader and his zealots attack the geothermal site, killing most of the drilling rig workers and many of the journalists who arrive by bus to report on the project. Trained for the mission to operate a drilling rig, Maliki and his commandos begin lowering the bomb two miles to the bottom of the NASA well.

All that stands in the way of the fanatical plot to destroy America are Hendricks’ relentless efforts to find him, the resourcefulness of the NASA spokeswoman who brought the doomed journalists to the site, and the brave resistance of the few rig workers who survive Maliki’s brutal assault.”

Author:

“Terrence Poppa has a background in journalism, private investigations, and Islamic studies. As a journalist, he wrote a biography of a Mexican drug trafficker: Drug Lord, the Life and Death of a Mexican Kingpin.”

Appraisal:

I’ll start off by saying that in spite of the less than glowing rating, I liked the story told here. However, the number of proofreading issues I saw exceeded what I’ll let slide. These ranged from missing words to extra words to the wrong word. We even had my personal favorite case of using the wrong word two times when someone “waived” their hands. As I like to joke, you can only waive your hands once and then you’ll never be able to do it again. But if you’re okay occasionally getting thrown out of the story as you try to figure out what a sentence should have said then this is a pretty intense and entertaining thriller.

The book’s description gives a pretty high-level idea of what happens although how it all turns out and the many tense situations the good guys have to deal with to figure things out and hopefully prevent the majority of the US from being wiped out keeps the reader engaged. The concept of the damage the Yellowstone Caldera could do if it exploded, either naturally or induced to do so as this book imagines is one I’ve seen before. A short story collection called “A Land of Ash” that I read several years ago had multiple authors imagine this happening and writing short stories based on it. That book prepared me to understand just how high the stakes were in this book. The story was driven home for me too because the terrorists and those trying to find and stop them traveled through places I’ve lived so I could picture myself there as the author described an area.

In the end, if you’re into thrillers, able to overlook a fair number of proofreading misses, and the book description sounds interesting, this is a good read that you should give a try.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

As indicated in the review, more proofing issues than I find acceptable.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

Review: For Your Benefit by Patrick Canning

 Genre: Detective/Satire

Description:

“Teddy Lint is the kindest private investigator on the planet, committed to seeing the best in everyone he meets. The detective agency he runs out of a Los Angeles strip mall with his brother Ralph has seen a strange case or two before, but never anything like this.

A man claiming to work for the CIA hires the Lints to find a shipping container of radioactive Agent Orange that vanished over fifty years ago. He insists someone is planning on using an army of drones to drench L.A. with the deadly chemicals before the week is out.

The Lint Brothers enter a maze of bizarre suspects, from nefarious ad executives, to anarchistic Boy Scouts, to a toga-clad militia fighting for exclusive rule by women. The propaganda-obsessed society that seems to be running the world is probably worth looking into as well.

The power of empathy collides with the dangers of disinformation as Teddy fights to save the people he loves. Our beloved detective doesn't give up easily, but any Angelenos with an aversion to death by herbicide might want to dust off that umbrella, just in case . . .”

Author:

“Patrick Canning is the author of For Your Benefit (2024), Cryptonalia (2021), Hawthorn Woods (2020), The Colonel and the Bee (2018), and Cryptofauna (2018).

His work often blends genres, combining elements of humor, adventure, fantasy, and mystery into stories with imaginative settings, quirky characters, and typos.

Patrick lives in Chicago with his Australian Shepherd, Hank. When he isn’t writing, he enjoys walks on the lakefront, being excited/worrying about AI, and eating his bodyweight in potatoes.”

Appraisal:

This was an interesting read. It was described to me as a “satirical detective novel” and I wasn’t sure how satire was going to work with a mystery or detective story. I found the characters in this to be interesting, amusing (the satirical qualities were at least part of that), and, as you’d want with a detective novel, the story kept me guessing, having little clue what direction things were going. There were times when it felt like my ability to suspend disbelief was being stretched to its limit, but I think the strange detectives allowed me to keep believing and continue reading since I really wanted to know where the story was going to end up. All in all it made for a fun and very unique read.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

Review is based on an advance reviewer copy, so I can’t gauge the final product in this area.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 65-70,000 words

Review: Heroic Measures by Joel Shulkin, MD

 Genre: Technothriller

Description:

“The medical examiner’s job is to speak for the dead and protect the living.

But what happens when the dead speak for themselves?

Stephen Englehart, an Armed Forces medical examiner. dedicates his life to bringing peace to the families of fallen soldiers. Tagged as one of the best, he’s able to spot forensic clues others miss. But when the body of a US Marine, supposedly burned beyond recognition, shows up with hardly a scratch, even Stephen is stumped. Were the bodies switched? Then, in the middle of the autopsy, the impossible happens.

The soldier wakes up.

Something incredible—and dangerous—is happening to the military’s elite, and Stephen may be the only one who can figure it out. And when Stephen’s sister, a Green Beret, goes missing, the entire military machine seems designed to stop him from finding her. To find the truth and save his sister, one man must stand against an army. Can he be the hero he never thought he could?”

Author:

“Being a full-time physician hasn't stopped Joel from writing. Far from it, the complexity of his patients, prior service with the United States Air Force, a Master's in Public Health, and involvement in organized medicine in the middle of an ever-changing healthcare system all provide raw material for his stories.

Joel's short work has appeared in various print and online journals, and he's won several awards, including Best Medical Fiction from SEAK and an Honorable Mention from Writer's Digest Thriller Suspense Competition. Adverse effects is his debut novel.

Joel lives in Florida with his wife and twin daughters.”

Appraisal:

The one thing this technothriller definitely does is keep you guessing. You’re figuring out lots of things with the protagonist, Stephen Englehart, as he does his job, tries to figure out what is happening with his sister who has gone missing, and what is going on with his current work project. He’s also got parts of his past that still bother him and he finds himself discovering were much more complex than he realized as a kid when they happened. How all these different things tie together comes out eventually as Stephen peels back more and more layers to each part of the story. This kept me guessing and engaged in the many related mysteries, hoping it would all work out for Stephen, right up to the very end.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

This review is based on an ARC (advance reviewer copy) so I can’t gauge the final product in this area.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 85-90,000 words

Reprise Review: A Violent Light by Jim Baton

 

Genre: Suspense

Description:

“The Youth For Peace Fresh Start Initiative gathers ten Muslim and ten Christian youth from ten nations around the world to learn new paths to peace. But the camp staff have some highly unorthodox teaching techniques. And when one by one the youth start disappearing, some of them wonder if the staff might not have an entirely different agenda. Those left behind must work together to solve the mystery before they also disappear. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them, the entire world is watching…

Jim’s third novel of the Peace Trilogy confronts American prejudice head-on. Pursuing world peace today will require a generation committed to a deeper level of trust and cooperation than ever before.”

Author:

“Jim Baton has spent the last 20 years in the world’s largest Muslim nation, building bridges between Muslims and Christians who both desire peace. His speaking and writing call people out of fear and into authentic friendships that can change the world.”

Appraisal:

A Violent Light started out slow for me. The underlying political point was obvious and something I agreed with. (I also assumed no one who disagreed with that stance would be likely to even start reading the story and would abandon it quickly if they did.) That the staff and the youth camp were not what the kids expected (no matter how much they tried to rationalize a way for that to not be) and the reason why seemed obvious.

However, as the story progressed I found it drew me in more and more. I found myself struggling to decide who was thinking most clearly when proposing ways to react to the situations they found themselves in. Their struggles caused me to think more deeply about some of the more serious questions facing the world today. By the time the story hit the climax the intensity had hit a level I’d have never anticipated in the beginning. That slow start was more than made up for coming down the stretch.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Although a case could be made for this book being aimed at the young adult audience since the primary characters fit in that demographic, some portions might be too graphic or intense for some of the younger part of that demographic. (It might be too intense for some adults, too.)

Although this is the third and final book in a trilogy, it can be read as a standalone.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

Review: The Thing About My Uncle by Peter J. Stavros

 Genre: Coming of Age

Description:

“The thing about my uncle was that I hardly knew him. Uncle Theo kept to himself, some would say he was a recluse, and by all accounts, that was how he preferred it. I couldn’t precisely recall when I had seen him last in the flesh. I just had a foggy recollection from when I was little, like a grainy home movie with cracks and skips and frames missing…

Although ten years have passed, Rhett Littlefield has always blamed himself for his father abandoning him and his family. When the troubled fourteen-year-old gets kicked out of school for his latest run-in with the vice principal, his frazzled single mother sends him to the hollers of Eastern Kentucky to stay with his Uncle Theo, a man of few words who leads an isolated existence with his loyal dog, Chekhov.

Resigned to make the best of his situation while still longing for the day when Mama will allow him to return home, Rhett settles into his new life. Rhett barely remembers his uncle, but he’s determined to get to know him. As he does, Rhett discovers that he and Uncle Theo share a connection to the past, one that has altered both their lives, a past that will soon come calling.

The Thing About My Uncle is an engaging and heartwarming coming-of-age story that explores the cost of family secrets, the strength of family bonds, and the importance of reconciling the two in order to move forward.”

Author:

A licensed attorney, playwright, and former reporter for the Associated Press, Peter J. Stravros is an award-winning writer with a novella and some short story collections to his credit. This is his first full length novel. Mr Stavros lives in Louisville, Kentucky.

Appraisal:

This was a fun read. While my life as a teen boy more decades ago than I care to admit was nothing like Rhett Littlefield’s, the protagonist of this story, I found that I could still relate on some level. Okay, I confess, his propensity to push limits, what ultimately led to his mother sending him to live with his uncle, might be something I had in common with him. But not the rest of it. I’m afraid that if I’d gone through all that he had that I might not have done as well as he did. This was a fun read with some little mysteries buried in it. Some of them, like what Rhett’s Uncle Theo does to make a living, was pretty obvious to me from the start. (It took Rhett a bit longer to figure it out.) Other things, like why Rhett’s dad had disappeared from his life when he was only a few years old, is one that takes a while to come to light. As Rhett, with help from his Uncle Theo, slowly figures things out and gets his life back on track, I found myself both entertained and pulling for him as I read his story.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

Review is based on an advance review copy, so I can’t gauge the final product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 85-90,000 words

Review: The Mechanics of Changing the World by John Macgregor

Genre: Non-Fiction

Description:

“The Mechanics of Changing the World argues that war, inequality and climate

change are insoluble within our current system of government. That they will only

be curable at the level of causes: the level of democratic design.

 

‘Third draft democracy’ is a suite of interlocking reforms to decontaminate politics,

decentralise information, and democratise decision-making. It’s a natural evolution

of the first (Greek) and second (Euro-American) ‘drafts’ of the democratic experiment.

 

The last half-century has seen the antiwar movement, Perestroika, Tiananmen,

Occupy, and the Arab Spring: great activism, great ideals, strong popular support.

Yet none of these built anything lasting.

 

One-off campaigns—whether against lopsided trade deals, poverty or surveillance—

are fragile. Changing the world needs more than inspired troubleshooting. It needs

architecture”

 

Author:

“John Macgregor has won national awards for literature and investigative journalism, managed aid projects in Cambodia, and wrote the story development for the movie Shine. From Washington, Rangoon and occupied East Timor, he has reported on science, politics, corruption and slavery for The New York Times, New Scientist and The Sydney Morning Herald.”

Appraisal:

The author has an interesting take on governments in the world today that are democratic. He makes a strong case that some of the world’s issues aren’t likely to get resolved until the form of government is reformed. Note that the issues the author is thinking of could, in some cases lead to extinction of life on Earth (climate change or war, if it goes nuclear). Or the third item, inequality, continuing in its current direction could leave us wishing we’d been wiped out.

The author does an excellent job explaining the history of democracy, evolving from what he calls first draft democracy into what we have in many countries today, that he calls second draft. He explains where the weaknesses in the current systems are. He makes the case for why tweaking these existing systems isn’t going to fix things well enough to work. He then explains what would work, why it lays the foundation for a political system that will work better and doesn’t have the fatal flaws the current systems do.

One thing that I found interesting early on was the author said that no reader was going to agree with everything he says and indicates that hoping for that would “be at odds with the spirit of the book.” He also indicates that his ideas are sometimes going to be things that we would perceive as being on the left of the political spectrum and other times on the right of the spectrum, which was correct. But I found myself not objecting to many of his suggestions that weren’t in sync with my current political leanings. He argues that much political conflict in today’s world happens for reasons that might not be what we perceive as their cause.

Last, the author doesn’t throw out things he claims are facts that many would question and just expect the reader to take his word for it. There are over 1,500 footnotes with each footnote providing a link to a source backing up his claim, so if you want to dig deeper, he’ll help you start down that rabbit hole. I’d recommend this book to anyone with any interest in politics (and if you aren’t interested, you should be).

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

The author specifically mentions that the language he uses in the book is “a mix of the Australian, American and British dialects” of English. That seemed accurate.

Format/Typo Issues:

My review is based on a pre-release copy of the book, so I can’t gauge the final product in this area.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 120-125,000 words

Review: Silverskin by Caitee Cooper

 Genre: Supernatural/Romance

Description:

Way up in Alaska a small, grieving family are having a holiday with some old friends, hoping a change of scene and a sojourn in nature will help them heal. They go out hunting in an area renowned for Bigfoot sightings, and run into something way worse than Bigfoot.

Author:

Caitee Cooper grew up in Laramie, Wyoming, where she enjoyed all things outdoorsy, musical, and bookish. She went to college at the University of Wyoming, where she earned a B.S in Psychology as well as two minors: one in music and one in business management (which is code for ‘she didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up so decided to just cover her bases.’) While attending school, she met and married her husband, Dallin, and they went on to have many adventures. Caitee currently lives in Riverton, Wyoming with her husband and their two children.

Outdoorsiness, music and books feature large in the novel. And she has obviously chosen the right profession because ‘not knowing what to be when you grow up’ is pretty much a standard description of writers. Except for those that always knew they were going to be writers, end of.

Appraisal:

This is a book with two foci. On the one hand it is (especially in the early part of the book) a truly scary supernatural story. On the other hand there is burgeoning romance. This is fair enough – it’s a sub-genre now: love and zombies/werewolves/vampires/demons, take your pick.

Unfortunately the couple falling for each other spend far too much time seeking to spare each other pain, misunderstanding each others’ brooding silences, and attempting to protect each other from the Alaskan evil. There is much weeping, concealment of weeping, soul-searching, dark circles under eyes, internal monologues, with occasional attempts to unburden to others when they are routinely disbelieved regarding the supernatural events in Alaska. Around the middle of the book this slows pace to a crawl and leads to a lot of repetition. Not of the helpful kind. (But, full disclosure: I am not a fan of the sort of romance that is fed by constant misunderstandings .)

Silverskin appears around the middle of the book and makes brief appearances thereafter. His role does not seem to be pivotal, as far as I could tell. Thus the reason for the title eludes me. And doesn’t give much of a clue as to what the book is actually about. See what you think.

Towards the climax of the book pace picks up again. Problems are going to be resolved: it is do or die! But that resolving event then doesn’t occur! Without any heads-up for readers, it was kept back for a second book, which I see was published in August 2024. That was naughty. An author should always be kind to his/her readers, and attempt to satisfy their legitimate expectations. If this is a two-parter the reader deserves to be told.

So, the author writes well: settings are varied and obviously well known to Cooper (Alaska, Colorado, California): the action set pieces are powerful and flow well: the human characters are all warmly drawn, it is easy to like them and care about them: the evil things in Alaska are well scary: Big Foot is … big. But the book is flabby in the middle. And you will not be vouchsafed a proper conclusion to your reading of this lengthy book unless and until you read the second one. One hopes that the denouement that was set up in the first book will finally be delivered there.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: *** Three Stars

Reviewed by: Judi Moore

Approximate word count: 120-125,000 words

Review: Final Encounter: A Leine Basso Thriller by DV Berkom

 

Genre: Thriller

Description:

“A former assassin, a disgraced-cop, and a cyber-security expert race to stop a relentless cyber-terrorist determined to sell death and destruction to the highest bidder.

When three performers from a prestigious Seattle nightclub are murdered, former assassin Leine Basso is called in by a close friend to help investigate.

The clues lead her to a wealthy tech mogul with a revolutionary AI program. Despite compelling evidence implicating the billionaire, Leine senses a deeper conspiracy.

Assisted by a cyber-security expert and a disgraced-cop-turned-PI, Leine must navigate a maze of deception and cyber warfare, uncovering a cunning rival with a deadly agenda who is manipulating events from behind the scenes.”

Author:

“DV Berkom is the USA Today bestselling author of action-packed, riveting adventure and crime thrillers. Known for creating resilient, kick-ass female characters and page-turning plots, her love of the genre stems from a lifelong addiction to reading spy novels, action/adventure stories, and thrillers.”

For more, visit Ms Berkom’s website.

Appraisal:

As her bio makes clear, DV Berkom writes books with strong female protagonists. I’ve read a bunch of them, some historical westerns, some modern day and most, if not all fitting the thriller genre and having just what her bio claims, a “kick-ass female” as the protagonist. This book, the fourteenth in this series featuring Leine Basso, continues the streak.

Over the years and through the prior books in the series Leine has evolved, with her situation, goals, and the kind of cases (for lack of a better word) that she becomes involved in. There are definitely situations where what she does is breaking the law, and yet as a reader I may realize this, but I don’t view it as a problem because I can see that she is pushing the limits for the greater good. This particular story has the qualities I’ve come to expect with Leine and those assisting her digging deep to figure out what’s going on. Of course the world is always changing and with that change come new challenges. Some of the recent technological changes the world has been experiencing figure in to the story here, keeping the story and Leine’s skills on the cutting edge. This was a story that had me on the edge of my seat, wondering what would happen next, until the very last page. A heck of a read. Or maybe, like Leine, I should call it a kick-ass read.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

My review is based on an advance reviewer copy, so I can’t gauge the final product in this area.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Reprise Review: Smugglers & Scones by Morgan C. Talbot

 

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Description:

“Pippa Winterbourne runs Moorehaven, the Oregon Coast’s quirkiest bed-and-breakfast and former home of world-famous mystery writer A. Raymond Moore. Guests come there to write their own crime novels. When a real-life murder takes a local’s life and washes a handsome boat pilot into her arms, Pippa is yanked into a deadly plot of her own. A tangle of secrets crashes past into present, and Pippa must uncover clues dating back to Seacrest’s Prohibition days, including a secret Moore himself hid from the world.

Juggling her book-writing guests, small-town intrigues, secret club agendas, and a possibly fatal attraction, Pippa must sort fact from fiction to know who to trust before a desperate killer claims a final revenge nearly a century in the making.”

Author:

“USA Today Bestselling Author Morgan Talbot is an outdoorsy girl with a deep and abiding love for the natural sciences. Her degrees involve English and jujitsu. She enjoys hiking, camping, and wandering in the woods looking for the trail to the car, but there isn't enough chocolate on the planet to bribe her into rock climbing.”

Appraisal:

I read and enjoyed Morgan Talbot’s “Caching Out” series, cozy mysteries that were built around geocaching, with this obscure hobby (at least it was to me) and those who participate playing a role in the mysteries. Smugglers & Scones is the first of a new series that takes place at a B&B located in the former home of a “world-famous mystery writer” on the Oregon Coast.

Talbot does a great job of describing the surroundings and setting the scene of a small Oregon Coast town. The characters were all interesting and added color to the story with the main character, Pippa, being one I hope to see again. There were plenty of twists and turns as Pippa uncovered the solution to the mystery which kept both her and I guessing to the very end.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No issues

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words