book blog – The Spine View

The Minister’s Wife by John Anthony Miller

I was first drawn to The Minister’s Wife, by John Anthony Miller, because I was intrigued by the idea of a woman spy during the Revolutionary War. I love books that highlight strong women in unusual circumstances and this book delivered. I need more books like this!

Abigail, the minister’s wife, has just returned to Philadelphia from New York with her new husband. She comes home to find, in her absence, the city has been captured by the English and the redcoats are everywhere she looks.

However, some things have not changed. Ian Blaine, her former lover, still lives in the city and when he is accused of being a traitor to the crown old feelings begin to rise in her. Though he is able to prove he is innocence, the English are watching him closely, especially the English Commander Duncan.

Soon it becomes obvious that Ian still loves Abigail and he just can’t stay away from her. As Abigail is pulled into the web of patriot spies, there are lies and deceit that abound that will threaten both her and Ian.

This story is full of twists and turns you will not see coming. The plot is fast paced and the suspense was almost unbearable at times. I was on the edge of my seat with worry about Ian and Abigail being caught. They took far too many chances, in my opinion, and it made my heart skip a beat every time they took an unnecessary risk. Then the dramatic ending just sealed my love of this story.

Not only did I got caught up in the drama of the story early on, but it was also the character of Abigail that made me really love this book. She was so brave. She knew she was taking big risks; yet, she found the courage to do what she thought was right.

The type of suspense, and the characters, in this book are what I feel makes a good story great. Perfect book for fans of Historical Thrillers. I also think it will appeal to those Romance readers who enjoy a story that is not all fluff and has a bit of bite to it.

I received a free copy in exchange for by honest review.

Not the Witch You Wed by April Asher

Though this is a well-loved troupe of enemies to lovers, you can’t help but love this sweet and funny story. The characters make this paranormal Rom-Com well worth reading. Give me a swoon worth leading man and a sassy witch any day!

Violet Maxwell is one of three triplets and the only one without any magic ability and life is going well for her without it, thank you very much.…. until it isn’t. First off, she finds out that that she will be forced to mate with someone in order to stabilize the magic she does not possess. Stupid laws! Furthermore, at an engagement party for one of her sisters, she runs into an old flame, Lincoln Thorne, who broke her heart in school. He stirs not only her anger, but feelings she would rather not revisit.

However, Lincoln popping back into Violet’s life maybe fortuitous, since he is also facing a similar fate of an arranged marriage. When Lincoln suggests that they fake date in order to bide themselves more time to figure out a way out of these unwanted marriages, Violet goes along with his plan. Yet, the feelings that he stirs maybe the least of her problems, because he also has stirred her magic to life.

I have been stuck on these rom-coms lately because I am a sucker for a happy ending, especially so with all that is going on right now. These types of books are the perfect escapism that I find are the perfect stress relief. This book in particular fit the bill and drew me in. I totally got lost in the story and the funny scenes and snarky comments made it even better.

The plot flowed nicely and I loved the various paranormal elements. The author gives the reader just enough world building and back story for context; yet, not enough to get bogged down in. As far as rom-com goes, this is one of the better ones. Not too sappy, not too much drama but plenty of pizazz.

I really thought Asher brought her A game on this one. I recommend for all readers of rom-com, especially those that like the paranormal element.

I received a free copy, via NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

Street Freaks by Terry Brooks

Title: Street Freaks
Author: Terry Brooks
Pub. Date: 2-Oct-2018
Rating: 4 Stars

Street Freaks is not your typical Terry Brooks novel. He is best known for his fantasy novels. I remember reading his Sword of Shannara series when I was younger and loved his story telling, characters and brilliant world building. I have never doubted his writing ability; however, I was surprised to realize this is a YA Sci-Fi book. Regardless, of the genre, Terry Brooks is a great writer and Street Freaks just goes to show how great his skills are.

The story is set in the future where technology has advanced to the point that machine and man can and have been seamlessly integrated to overcome debilitating illnesses and injuries. At the beginning we meet Ashton (Ash) Collins. He is your typical teenager who lives at home with his Dad and 3 robots until one day he gets an urgent call from his Father to run as fast as he can to the Red Zone and go to Street Freaks. Ash has lived a sheltered life thus far and he is not prepared for what he finds in the Red Zone or at Street Freaks.

Fortunately for Ash, the kids (actually young adults) at Street Freaks, a place where street cars are built and raced, take him in and make him part of their community of misunderstood rejects of experiments. That’s right, in this dystopian future, companies have experimented on kids and then disposed of them. They help him to discover what happened to his father. Together this band of unlikely allies sets out to take down the person and company who is responsible for Ash’s father’s disappearance and in the process hopefully expose the terrible things that have happened to kids.

Even though this was not the typical Terry Brooks story I am accustomed to, I liked it. Mr. Brooks has developed characters that you can empathize with and I was routing for them throughout the story. The future he has envisioned in this story was well thought-out and worked nicely with the plot. There is a lot of attention to detail and the story and characters are better for it.

The plot was paced nicely and I appreciated that Mr. Brooks did not just do a data dump to the reader in the beginning. All the facts and information important to the story were doled out only as needed. There were several twists in the story and a couple of real surprises that keep me interested and yet I did not get a feeling of the plot being overworked.

As I said, the story is well told and I think it will appeal to Sci-Fi and Fantasy readers alike. Though a note of caution, it is a YA book but some of the topics are not suited for the younger reader. Therefore, I recommend only for ages 16+.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

The Adults by Caroline Hulse

Title: The Adults
Author: Caroline Hulse
Pub. Date: 27-Nov-18
Rating: 4 Stars

Could you spend the holidays with your ex and new partner? In this funny, and sometimes harrowing story, of 4 adults trying to have a “Normal” Christmas for the sake of one child, the author explores the underlying problems that make this a very bad idea and a good story (provided you are not in the story). Of course, the adults are anything but adults and when jealously, insecurity and other normal human emotions enter into the mix it is a disaster in the making.

The story opens with a frantic call to the police by Alex, Matt’s partner, saying someone has been shot with an arrow. Then Alex hangs up. Now step backwards in time a few weeks, to when Matt finally has the courage to tell Alex that he has already committed them to plans for the holidays. They are spending the holidays with Claire, his ex, and Claire’s partner Patrick at the Happy Forest Holiday Park. They want Scarlett, Matt and Claire’s daughter, to have a normal family Christmas.

Everything is already planned he says. Just pack a bag and have fun he says. I don’t know on what planet he thought it would be fun; because we all know, even without the glimpse into the future we got at the start of the story, these “Adults” are asking for trouble. Boy, oh boy did they get it!

Usually I do not like to know what is going to happen in advance, but in this instance it really worked. Since we know how things are going to end it leaves the reader time to imagine all the possible things that could go wrong before they arrive there. While reading, I constantly had thoughts such as, surely this was an accident, who shot who, what about Scarlett, and so on. In short, the plot execution was spot on. The pace was great too. All the little incidents that happened, such as Posey not liking Alex because scientists experiment on rabbits, moved the plot along in a way that I kept wanting to read more.

Throw in the loveable and flawed characters and one invisible, talking rabbit and you have a winning combination. I especially liked how the author presented some very real problems that lots of families face and injected some humor to make a very likable story. The character of Scarlett was particularly well done and by giving her an invisible friend, Posey, which she communicated with we were able to understand her view point. Scarlett and Posey made the story!

In recap, this is a humorous story and I think it will appeal to readers who like humorous fiction as well as readers who like stories about family dynamics and dysfunctional families. I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Beneath the Same Stars: A Novel of the 1862 U.S. – Dakota War by Phyllis Cole-Dai

Title: Beneath the Same Stars
Author: Phyllis Cole-Dai
Pub. Date: Aug-2018
Rating: 5 Stars

Are you a lover of Historical Fiction and/or American history? If so, you must read Beneath the Same Stars by Phyllis Cole-Dai. I have rarely read a book that portrayed the plight of the Native American so accurately. Much of the American history that I was taught was heavy on the American Revolution, Civil War and the two World Wars. The conflict with Native Americans got just a light gloss over. It is a tragedy because it has allowed us to continue to overlook their issues and concerns.

The main character, Sarah Wakefield, is the wife of an army physician stationed in Redmond which is part of the upper reservation of the Sioux. She has been assured that it is safe and most of the Sioux are farmers and mission Indians. Yet the tensions have been mounting with the Sioux. The Sioux have been promised, by the Great Father in Washington, a yearly payment in gold and food as compensation for the loss of their hunting grounds. Despite these promises every year the Sioux are cheated out of both food and money.

The tensions come to a head in August 1862 when yet again the promised amount of food is not sent to the Sioux. Faced with a winter of starvation, the Sioux kidnap Sarah and her two children along with other white families as hostages in an attempt to force payment of what has been promised. Fortunately for Sarah a Sioux warrior Caske takes her in as his wife. This gives her and her children some measure of protection from the other Sioux who might do her harm. Of course, when the uprising escalates into an all-out war, Sarah is stuck in the middle.

Though this book is a work of fiction, the underlying facts are historically accurate. The author has taken the real people that were involved in the conflict and given them a voice. She has accurately portrayed the prejudices of the time and the consequences of the actions on both sides of the conflict.

In addition, the author has done an outstanding job of weaving the fact and the fiction together to create a compelling piece of literature. She invites you to step into the world of Sarah Wakefield if only for a brief period. This is a must read for lovers of history of all kinds not just Native American history.

I received a free copy for the author in exchange for my honest review.

Honour the Dead by John Anthony Miller

Title: Honour The Dead
Author: John Anthony Miller
Pub. Date: 3-Nov-2018
Rating: 5 Stars

Honor the Dead, by John Anthony Miller, is a cleverly written historical murder mystery that will hook you in the first page and all the while keep you guessing right until the end. It was so good, despite grand kids visiting, I read it in three evenings. Granted, the third evening I read until 2:00AM because I HAD to finish.

The book opens with a death reported at Lake Como by the Milan, Italian newspaper. The reader is given only the basic facts, no names are released. Skip backward two months to a sanitarium at Lake Como where Penelope Cavendish, a wealthy English aristocrat, has just been admitted after a recent suicide attempt. Only, Penelope insists that someone is trying to kill her.

Dr. Joseph Barnett is a well-known and respected doctor who is taking on Penelope’s difficult case. He is sure with time he can help her recover. She is severely depressed over the death of her mother, at a young age, and then her brother during the Great War. She also is delusional at times and feels threatened by those around her.

Her father, Wellington Jones, is at Lake Como to lend Penelope, the only child he has left, the support she needs to recover. It seems he will do anything to protect her. Her husband, Alexander Cavendish, is also a wealthy aristocrat and war hero and also wants his wife better. So who would want her dead?

Nothing is as it seems and Mr. Miller is adept at weaving half-truths, lies and using misdirection to keep the reader on their toes. There are plenty of suspects and ample motives to go around. The facts are revealed slowly and the tension builds as the police work to solve the crime. Do the police even have the right suspects? So much was running through my mind when I was trying to work out who the killer was. I kept second guessing myself and you will to. I suspect, in the end you will be truly surprised.

Honor the Dead is not your typical murder mystery. Largely because of the way in which the plot was executed. Which, by the way, is ingenious. There are more reasons and I want to tell you all of them. Yet, if I do, it will spoil the fun for others. I hate spoilers and I refuse to do them!

The cast of characters is wonderful, with a lot of depth, and they fit the plot splendidly. I love it when an author is mindful of the characters and plot. This attention to detail allowed me to become deeply invested with the characters, both good and bad. It is ones of those rare books that has you rushing to the end to see what happens, then disappointed when you get there because there is no more to read.

In short, the book exceed my expectations. It should appeal to a variety of readers. Therefore, I highly recommend it to lovers of murder mysteries, thrillers and historical fiction.

I received an ARC from the author in exchange for my honest review.

The Devil’s Son by Charles Kowalski

Title: The Devil’s Son
Author: Charles Kowalski
Pub. Date: 27-July-2018
Rating: 4 Stars

The Devil’s Son by Charles Kowalski was not the spy thriller I expected. I loved his first book Mind Virus and was expecting something like that again. I liked this one but it was not entirely to my tastes. That said, I think I will be in the minority and I will go into further detail shortly.

The story opens in Argentina in 1960 with Azriel Horowitz, a Jew and member of Mossad (the Israeli version of the CIA), attempting to capture two high ranking former Nazi fugitives. You see, for him this is personal, very personal. He is the sole surviving member of his family from Auschwitz and the two fugitives are Karl Weiss and Josef Mengele who were the deputy commandant and doctor, respectively, of Auschwitz. As luck would have it, the two manage to evade capture by the Mossad team.

Skip forward to the present day and Rachel Horowitz, the daughter of Azriel, and a member herself of Mossad, is being tasked with seeing that Henry Hale is not elected to the Presidency of the United Sates. She expects to achieve this by proving that Hale is actually the son of the famous Nazi Karl Weiss. She is also out to show that Weiss has passed on his Nazi views to his son.

Once in America this proves to be more difficult than she imagined and she will need the help of someone on the inside. When a near fatal car accident caused by Secret Service Agent Emmett Miller’s loss of focus turns out to be a blessing in disguise, Rachel manages to gain his attention and uses him for her own ends. Little does she know just how dangerous a game she is really playing.

There is a lot of action in this book and unexpected plot twists. However, the best part of this book is the suspense. I loved how the author set the reader up and then slowly resolved an issue only to have some other little twist come up for the heroine to deal with. Speaking of heroine, I loved the main character. Rachel is fierce, strong and resourceful, I just wished that her character had been a little more developed.

The story is good; however, I felt it a little far-fetched and it has a lot of political undertones. Personally, I am so over anything to do with politics. Another thing I want to mention, I felt the story in places was a bit Hollywood. In other words, a bit overdone. Without giving anything way, roughly ¾ through, a couple of things happened and I was like… really? Lastly, as much as I loved the main character, I felt things just came a bit too easy for her.

Despite the few things I mentioned above, I did enjoy reading The Devil’s Son. I have no hesitation in recommending this book to those readers who like fast paced thrillers and especially to those who like a strong heroine.

I received a free copy of the book, from the author, in exchange for my honest review.

Time and Time Again by Robert Silverberg

Title: Time and Time Again
Author: Robert Silverberg
Pub. Date: 6-Nov-2018
Rating: 5 Stars

Robert Silverberg is one of the first Science Fiction authors I remember reading as a young adult. His stories always seemed to contain that special quality… that euphoria I get when a story sweeps you away. No doubt that is why he is considered among the masters in the field of Science Fiction.

In this anthology of time travel stories, Silverberg explores various problems and contradictions that time travel could cause. Despite being a collection of sixteen stories, each story is unique in some way. I think that is one of the reasons I have always loved his works, he has never failed to impress with his unending imagination. This collection served to further reinforce my feelings.

It is not feasible to write a synopsis of each story. However, I will tell you that Silverberg has written a short introduction to each story that explains how he came to write the story and where and when it appeared. I actually liked this addition information and it did shed light on his thought processes. Therefore, I am glad the publisher had the foresight to include the introductions.

In addition to the story introductions, there is a lengthy introduction to the collection that I found interesting. Silverberg, among other things, talked about those that influenced him in his career. Because I have not read much about Silverberg himself, I found it intriguing.

My favorite story of the batch was Gianni. I was intrigued just from the introduction where Silverberg explained about his desire to be published in Playboy and how the editor at the time insisted that he change the story. In the story a musical genius that died at a young age from TB is brought forward in time from the 18^th century where now he is cured but suffers from, shall we say, excesses. At the heart, the story is suggesting that karma follows a person even in time travel.

I highly recommend Time and Time Again to all lovers of Science Fiction. This is a fantastic assembly of time travel stories from one of the best writers of our time.

I received an ARC from the publisher via LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program. For more of my reviews, and author interviews, see my blog at www.thespineview.com.

Melmoth by Sarah Perry

Title: Melmoth
Author: Sarah Perry
Pub. Date: 16-Oct-2018
Rating: 1 Star

I was expecting much more for Sarah Perry’s new book Melmoth. I was particularly excited that it was a gothic style novel since Halloween is right around the corner and I was in the mood for a spooky read.

First off, I did not get any spooky. I would call it more muddled than anything. The characters were lack luster and I was never able to connect with anyone or the plot for that matter. Thinking of plot, a turtle moves faster and there was not enough meat in the story to hold me interest. Despite three attempts, I have to mark this one as DNF (did not finish) at a little over 100 pages.

Here is the synopsis given:

For centuries, the mysterious dark-robed figure has roamed the globe, searching for those whose complicity and cowardice have fed into the rapids of history’s darkest waters—and now, in Sarah Perry’s breathtaking follow-up to The Essex Serpent, it is heading in our direction.

It has been years since Helen Franklin left England. In Prague, working as a translator, she has found a home of sorts—or, at least, refuge. That changes when her friend Karel discovers a mysterious letter in the library, a strange confession and a curious warning that speaks of Melmoth the Witness, a dark legend found in obscure fairy tales and antique village lore. As such superstition has it, Melmoth travels through the ages, dooming those she persuades to join her to a damnation of timeless, itinerant solitude. To Helen it all seems the stuff of unenlightened fantasy.

But, unaware, as she wanders the cobblestone streets Helen is being watched. And then Karel disappears. . . .

I recognize that I am the odd man out here. It was just not to my tastes. However, if you liked her first book then you might enjoy this one.

I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Problems in Prague – JJ Bennett: Junior Spy by Alba Arango

Title: Problems in Prague
Author: Alba Arango
Pub. Date: 10-May-2018
Rating: 4 Stars

Problems in Prague: JJ Bennett Junior Spy by Alba Arango is a middle grade book that reminds me of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books I loved as a kid; Of course, with more modern lingo and cell phones, etc. It is an exciting adventure story about kids as spies and secrets that must be protected at all cost.

Jeremiah Bennett, aka JJ, is currently living in Prague where his father works as a computer tech for the CIA. With the Bennett’s are JJ’s tutor Ms. Hernandez and her daughter Maggie who is the same age as JJ.

During a sightseeing tour at a castle, JJ and Maggie, run into a young Russian girl, Ivana, who JJ had an encounter with, at the airport, the day before. He wants to ask her some questions but she runs away before he has a chance. JJ and Maggie decide to chase after her. Ivana leads them into the Black Tower and they slip inside unseen. A short time later they caught a glimpse of Ivana leaving a room but she manages to slip away but not before telling them she is a member of the P-KGP.

They decide to investigate the room she exited from. Inside a book they find a cryptic note to a Josef left by a person called Kangsly. Later they find out that Josef is Joseph Stalin and Kangsly was an American defector in the early 1950s. They are now determined to figure out what this P-KGP is and what the note means. What they discover is a secret that must be kept from the Russians and so the adventure begins.

What I loved about this book is the likable characters of JJ and Maggie and the fast paced plot. There was not a lot of descriptive prose, which is a good thing; because in this case I feel excessive prose would turn off the target audience. I could never see an 8 or 12 year old reading a book for its prose! They want action and characters they can relate to.

Speaking entirely as a parent here, I appreciate that the author was sensitive to the audience she was writing for. The book did not contain any language or scenes that where inappropriate for a young audience, not even any hidden innuendos. In addition, there were no violent scenes that might be upsetting to younger readers.

The only negative comment I have is with the plot. JJ just seemed to be too quick to figure things out. I always thought this of the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew books too. I must admit, I think me age colors my thinking a little on this one.

Overall I found this book has a good story that was written with a young audience in mind. Therefore, I highly recommend this book for middle grade readers.

I have rated the book four stars and I feel this is the correct rating. However, upon reflecting I wonder how much my age is influencing my rating. I am passing the book on to my grandson, currently 10, who is also a big reader and I hope to update this review sometime in the future with his rating. In the spirit of fairness, I believe the target audience should have their opinion heard and have more weight because ultimately they are the consumer.

I received a free copy in exchange for my honest opinion. For more of my reviews, and author interviews, see my blog at www.thespineview.com