Review: Voices Carry: A Story of Teaching, Transitions, & Truths by Raven Oak

 Genre: Memoir/LGBTQ

Description:

Rules of Teaching:

1.   Clone thyself

2.   Learn teleportation. The sooner the better.

3.   Trust no one.

These are the rules I learned as a middle school teacher, though it was the last one that drove me from the classroom forever. Like many educators, I couldn’t survive the politics. After thirteen years, I bailed. How did I, an abuse-surviving queer, end up teaching in the middle of the Bible Belt? Better yet, how did I survive?

New Rule of Life:

1. Neither my silence nor my identity is for sale at any price.

My former vice principal said it best (though I wasn’t supposed to see that email) when he asked, “Why does she always have to write a damn novel?”

So here I am. Writing a damn novel. As to the why…because I believe in changing the world, one word at a time.

Navigating discrimination, whether it’s from employers, medical professionals, colleagues, or family, is often fraught with uncertainty. Join Raven Oak on their journey of transition and self-discovery in a world built on silence.

Author:

An award-winning author of numerous speculative fiction books as well as a contributor to several short story anthologies, Raven Oak is a former teacher, queer, and disabled. She fled the south for Seattle where she now lives with her wife and is a fulltime author.

Appraisal:

Countless times in reviews of memoirs I’ve said that one of the things I like about memoirs, at least those that are well done, is if the author is different than me in some way that it helps me to better understand people who are different. That might be different in experiences, in upbringing, gender, or many other things. This book delivered for me in this regard as there are numerous differences between Raven Oak and me. I haven’t had the struggles that she has had (yes, we could describe it as me having privilege, relative to her). I think me understanding those struggles she has gone through is helpful for me to understand others, but I also couldn’t help but notice that in spite of the differences that we’re not entirely different. I could relate to many of her thoughts and opinions, goals, etc. I suspect most people who gave this a read could both learn from and be inspired by it.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

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

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

Review: Ghost Cruise by Melissa Bowersock

 Note: This is the second half of a doubleshot review. Judi Moore gave us her take a couple days ago. Now here's BigAl's thoughts on the same book.

Genre: Mystery/Supernatural/Ghosts

Description:

“When Lacey realizes that her parents are approaching their 50th wedding anniversary, she and her brother Sean decide to go all out to gift them a week-long family cruise aboard a private yacht. While everyone else is enjoying the excursions and delicious food, Sam feels a sense of unease beneath the celebration, and in addition, mechanical problems seem to vex the boat. With the carefully planned vacation turning into unexpected and ever-worsening mishaps, can Sam and Lacey figure out the cause before they’re all marooned at sea?”

Author:

“Melissa Bowersock is an eclectic, award-winning author who writes in a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres: paranormal, biography, western, action, romance, fantasy, spiritual, and satire.”

For more visit Ms.Bowersock’s website and follow her on Facebook.

Appraisal:

This series, now 43 books long, has certain things long time readers know are going to happen in the story. Specifically, the spirit or ghost of at least one person is going to be causing issues for someone somewhere. The stars of the series, the medium Sam Firecloud, and his partner, Lacey Fitzpatrick, will come and figure out what is causing the spirit to be unable to move from this “Earthly plain” to where ever they go from here. Figuring out who the spirit is and how to help them move forward is a mystery. Even if you don’t believe in spirits or other supernatural beings, suspending disbelief isn’t that tough and the mystery pulls you in. What that mystery is, who is involved, and where it happens always adds more to the story as Sam, Lacey, and others involved try to carry on as they’re figuring things out.

This story was a twist from the norm in that someone didn’t come looking for help from Sam and Lacey, instead they stumble into the situation when they take Lacey’s parents on a cruise with some other family members. I felt like I was taking a little cruise along the coast of Southern California as everyone was participating in various activities and sightseeing along the route of the cruise. The avid traveler in me loved going along for the ride. All the pieces made for another fun and unique read.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 30-35,000 words

Review: Ghost Cruise by Melissa Bowersock

Note: Although it has been a long, long time since we did this last, we sometimes have what we call a doubleshot review. This is two reviews done by two different reviewers to provide different takes on the same book. Sometimes they'll be in agreement, sometimes they won't be. They'll often focus on different things, giving our followers a few viewpoints about the book. Today is the first half of our doubleshot review from Judi Moore. Then in two days, on Sunday morning, you'll get BigAl's take on the same book.

Genre: Cozy Mystery/Paranormal

Description:

Native American medium, Sam Firecloud, is persuaded by his partner, Lacey Fitzpatrick, to take her parents, her brother and his wife, on a six-day cruise around the Californian Channel Islands to celebrate Lacey’s parents’ fiftieth wedding anniversary. Sam’s special talent becomes extremely useful during the trip.

Author:

Melissa Bowersock is an eclectic, and prolific, award-winning author who writes in a variety of fiction and non-fiction genres: paranormal, biography, western, action, romance, fantasy, spiritual, and satire. She has been both traditionally and independently published. One of her several ongoing series is this “Lacey Fitzpatrick and Sam Firecloud Mystery Series”. She writes romance under the pen name Amber Flame.

She has a tattoo on the inside of her left wrist that says IMAGINE. In her next life, she plans to be an astronaut.

Appraisal:

Thinking up the idea of the cruise, booking it, and the cruise itself are all described in detail. The cruise sounded lush. One felt it might be a trip the author herself had recently enjoyed. I would too!

About a third of the way in, Sam senses something ghostly, and the Fitzpatrick-Firecloud team go into action.

Although what there is in the way of ‘action’ is satisfying, it is a very slight idea, and one feels that a lot of padding has been packed around it. The padding is interesting, and beautifully written, but there is much more travelogue to this short book than ghost hunting.

For me, a big part of the enjoyment of this series is the Native American element. That was almost entirely missing in this novella.

Add to this that Bowersock’s extensive back catalogue is listed at the front of the book and given again, with a paragraph about each book, at the back.

An engaging, but very slight, addition to Bowersock’s oeuvre.

One for completists.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: *** Three Stars

Reviewed by: Judi Moore

Approximate word count: 30-35,000 words

Reprise Review: The Wedding Planner’s Son by Donna Fasano

 

Genre: Sweet Romance/Short Story

Description:

“Tawny McNealy is a driven, high-achiever who fully expects to someday take over and run the family accounting firm. But when an attempt is made to use her as a pawn, Tawny flees to the only place she’s ever felt truly free and happy — the beach.

Jack Barclay spends his summer days creating romantic seaside weddings for lovers. His laid-back attitude has served him well over the years. He feels stressing out about work only causes a person to miss the best parts of life.

Jack and Tawny are as different as sea and sky, but the fascination they find in each other’s company can’t be denied. Can they withstand the crazy twists that fate tosses their way?”

Author:

“USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR DONNA FASANO is a three-time winner of the HOLT Medallion, a CataRomance Reviewers Choice Award winner for Best Single Title, a Desert Rose Golden Quill Award finalist, a Golden Heart finalist, and a two-time winner of Best Romance of the Year given by BigAl's Books & Pals Review Blog. Her books have sold 4 million copies worldwide and have been published in two dozen languages. Her novels have made the Kindle Top 100 Paid List numerous times, climbing as high as #1.”

You can learn more about Ms. Fasano on her website or stalk her on Facebook.

Appraisal:

Tawny McNealy has gotten herself in a real bind accepting an engagement ring from her friend/business partner during a surprise dinner party of family and friends. Both families are thrilled with their engagement. Immediately struck with second thoughts Tawny panics and takes off for the beach to clear her head, organize her thoughts, and decide how to handle her situation without hurting anyone’s feelings. She had no intention of falling asleep on a dune overlooking the ocean.

Jack Barclay and his trusty dog Roo happen to be setting up a sunrise wedding on the beach that morning. When Roo rudely awakens Tawny and she screams from the surprise, Jack comes to the rescue, not that she needed rescuing from the friendly dog. Jack apologizes for Roo’s behavior and offers to buy her breakfast.

Due to an unfortunate turn of events Tawny ends up staying at Jack’s place. As Jack and Tawny get to know each other they both feel an attraction to each other. Their dialogue is realistic and entertaining. They both live very different lives but are able to find some commonalities. Jack has been burned in a past relationship and is having trouble getting over it. With a mind-blowing twist everything in Jack’s life is turned upside down. I loved the way that Tawny and Jack are able to help each other on their journey.

The Wedding Planner’s Son is the perfect short story to read at the beach or on summer vacation. Ms. Fasano’s books are always intelligent, and humorous with clever twists you don’t see coming.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

The Wedding Planner’s Son is book six in Ms. Fasano’s OCEAN CITY BOARDWALK SERIE??

Format/Typo Issues:

I found no issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Approximate word count: 13-14,000 words

Review: The Decision by Karen A. Wyle

Genre: Historical Fiction

Description:

“It is autumn of 1938, in Hitler’s Germany, in the capital city of Berlin, perhaps a month before the devastating anti-Jewish violence of Kristallnacht. Three Jewish boys have received new bicycles — because their family has, with difficulty, arranged to leave Germany, and they will not be allowed to take much cash with them. Two of the boys are experienced bicyclists, but the youngest is less so. On a downtown street, the latter’s lack of skill causes an accident. And the traffic policeman on the scene wears, just visible under his uniform, the brown shirt of a member of Hitler's storm troopers.

What did the policeman do? The answer is known, because the preceding paragraph describes an actual event. But why did the policeman make the choice he did? What life did he live that led him to make it? And what happened to him, while the boys and their family escaped, lived, and thrived? This novel imagines possible answers to these questions. In doing so, it takes the reader into the heart of the experience of wartime, and the repercussions of such conflict for years thereafter.”

Author:

“Karen A. Wyle was born a Connecticut Yankee, but eventually settled in Bloomington, Indiana. She now considers herself a Hoosier. She is an appellate attorney, photographer, and mother of two.

Wyle's thoughtful and compassionate fiction includes SF, historical romance, and fantasy. She has also collaborated with several wonderful illustrators to produce picture books. Relying on her legal background, she has written one nonfiction resource, explaining American law to authors, law students, and anyone else interested in better understanding the legal landscape. Wyle's voice is the product of a lifetime spent reading both literary and genre fiction. Her personal history has led her to focus on often-intertwined themes of family, communication, the impossibility of controlling events, and the persistence of unfinished business.”

Appraisal:

I loved the premise of this book. People often wonder how someone like Hitler could rise to power and why people didn’t recognize the issues and push back. This book starts with the real story of a German policeman who kind of did push back in a subtle way and then imagines his back story, what led him to that point and where things might have gone from there. It makes for an extremely interesting story. This should get you thinking, both how you would react if you were in a situation like the policeman who is the book’s protagonist and how some things in the current world feel a bit too much like those times leading up to World War II. A good read that I’d highly recommend.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Star

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 75-80,000 words

Review: Section Roads by Mike Murphey

 

Genre: Coming-of-Age/Mystery/Romance

Description:

“When attorney Cullen Molloy attends his fortieth high school reunion, he doesn’t expect to be defending childhood friends against charges of murder…

In a small town on the high plains of Eastern New Mexico, life and culture are shaped by the farm roads defining the 640-acre sections of land homesteaders claimed at the turn of the Twentieth Century. Cullen and Shelby Blaine explore first love along these section roads during the 1960’s, forging a life-long emotional bond.

As junior high school band nerds, Cullen and Shelby fall under the protection of football player and loner, Buddy Boyd. During their sophomore year of high school, Buddy is charged with killing a classmate and is confined to a youth correctional facility. When he returns to town facing the prospect of imprisonment as an adult, Cullen becomes Buddy’s protector.

The unsolved case haunts the three friends into adulthood, and it isn’t until their fortieth reunion, that they’re forced to revisit that horrible night. When a new killing takes place, Cullen, Shelby and Buddy find themselves reliving the nightmare.

Murder is an easy thing to hide along old country section roads.”

Author:

An eastern New Mexico native, Mike Murphey spent thirty years as an award-winning newspaper journalist.

Appraisal:

This is a great story. It happens at three different points in time with things that happened during all three periods coming together to solve the mystery at the root of the story. You’ll be jumping back and forth between the three different periods, but each chapter makes it clear when the events in that chapter are happening, so keeping track of where you are in time isn’t as difficult as in some books like this. Along with the mystery you’ve got a coming-of-age story for all the characters with how they went from being small town kids struggling to figure life out to reasonably responsible adults. If you’ve ever visited eastern New Mexico and have some sense of the geography and culture there, or really any small town, you’ll find the story draws you in even more. I was especially amused when one of the characters went to a restaurant in Las Cruces, New Mexico in the south-central part of the state and it was a place I’d actually been to myself many years ago. A great story that kept me engaged every step of the way.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Some adult language.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 85-90,000 words

Review: The Fifth Digit by Grant Burger

 

Genre: Crime Thriller

Description:

“A SWAMP HELD A KILLER’S SECRETS.

When the remains of two young women are discovered in a remote Florida swamp, it reopens old wounds for Detective Blake Crosby, whose teenage sister was also murdered. Time and a hostile environment have covered the killer’s tracks. But Crosby is undeterred and forges ahead, determined to see justice served.

ARE ALL VICTIMS EQUAL?

Crosby will do anything to prevent the murder investigation from becoming another cold case. But when some local men with questionable morals begin to disappear, he faces a dilemma. Do the men deserve the same commitment he’s given to finding the women’s killer?

A DANGEROUS DISTRACTION.

Crosby interviews the alluring Naomi Busch, an artist who’s known tragedy. She’s icy at first, but when her mood softens, he’s captivated. If they become lovers, he’ll be crossing the professional line. But this becomes the least of his concerns when he and Naomi find themselves pitted against a network of depraved individuals. And in the ensuing conflict, Crosby finds the struggle to retain his soul is as desperate as the battle to survive.”

Author:

“Grant Burger was born in South Africa, where he lived till he relocated to Sydney, Australia, in 2002.

He has tried his hand at many things and has worked in a bookstore, a lock factory, a brewery, in pubs, in a copper mine, at a dynamite plant, as a sales representative, in construction, and in commercial real estate. Through it all, he has always been an avid reader and, for many years, a dedicated writer.

The Fifth Digit is Grant’s debut novel. The story is set in a place similar to the one he’s come to know on visits to Florida but with a few characters Floridians wouldn’t want living anywhere near them.”

Appraisal:

A very engaging story. As with any good crime thriller such as this the reader gets pulled in and is pulling for the protagonist, in this case Detective Crosby, to meet their objectives. The book is a bit longer than many in this genre, but the chapters are short making it easy to stop and start. However, I did find myself confused at times since the story shifts between the current time frame and one from the past with me sometimes not picking up on the time shift. The story kept me guessing right up to the end as new information and clues kept coming to light. Definitely an intense and engaging read.

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

FYI:

Lots of adult language and a tiny amount of vaguely adult subjects.

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: **** Four Stars

Reviewed by: BigAl

Approximate word count: 100-105,000 words

Review: Belle’s Ruin by Joseph McRae Palmer

 

Genre: Science Fiction

Description:

This is also known as “Belle Machado, Book 1”. It came out in July 2023 and was billed as the first of a series of four. All four have now been published, the most recent one in January of this year.

This is hard SF. It is about surveying distant planets. The Kepler corporation running the work on Clinton planet is as arbitrary and dour as our own mega-corps. Bureaucracy rules. Working conditions are tough. The people working for it are just like us. Palmer uses different points of view, with equal success, putting us occasionally into the heads of people who can fill in some plot holes for us; the main viewpoints are those of Belle Machado and pararescuer Grant Stewart.

The planet Clinton is teeming with life, all of it inimical to humans. There is nothing hospitable here. But it is the most Earth-like planet humanity has so far discovered. And they are determined to explore it. Belle is sent on a surveying mission, the parameters of which are changed at the last minute. And then the fun begins…

Author:

Palmer has been very busy writing and publishing over the past couple of years. As well as the tetralogy above, he is also now two books into his next series: ‘The Void Walkers’.

As well as writing speculative fiction, Palmer has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and is an engineer in the telecommunications industry. He was raised in Alaska (which may explain his interest in extreme geo-climatic conditions) He has worked as a missionary (which may explain his interest in cultures not his own). He and his family live in northern Utah, USA.

Appraisal:

This is good, rock-solid, hard SF. It’s got space ships and alien worlds: the whole nine yards. But even for a SF fan of longstanding there is still plenty here that is new and fresh.

There is (as one hoped) more to Planet Clinton than meets the eye, and Palmer wastes no time in plunging the reader into action. Then come the discoveries.

The book peels like an onion: under the official mission is another. Under the monolith which gives the books its title is … something else. Under that, something else again. Later, yet more layers are revealed. Thus the plot broadens and deepens. The plotting and exposition are good and taut, in a book of less than 300 pages.

There is plenty of well-crafted tech in evidence, and suitable jargon to go with it, all of which worked well. I got a real sense of vehicles being flown, environmental suits being tested to their limits and beyond, and the difficulties of progressing as a pilot in a fiercely competitive field with not enough ships to go around. Palmer is particularly good (yet still entertaining, thankfully) about rules and regs and paperwork (sigh). He really has thought this world through carefully.

The only problemette I had with the book was that the structure Belle finds is not a ruin. And it is not hers …

Buy now from:            Amazon US        Amazon UK

Format/Typo Issues:

No significant issues.

Rating: ***** Five Stars

Reviewed by: Judi Moore

Approximate word count: 70-75,000 words