The main character in this impressive
novel is the physically and ideologically
divided city of Berlin, described with
incandescent, highly descriptive detail.
This is a stimulating page-turner about a
major turning point in history.
Protecting Caroline
Susan Stoker. Susan Stoker, $3.99 e-book
(232p) ISBN 978-0-9907388-0-0
Stoker’s bland, short novel consists of
story sequences that never cohere into a
satisfactory work. Matthew “Wolf” Steel
and his team of five other Navy SEALs are
traveling on a commercial airline on a
break from their
missions. Wolf’s
seatmate, chemist
Caroline, detects
drugs in the bever-
ages served to the
passengers; she
warns Wolf, who
manages to foil a
plot to hijack the
plane, but her
actions draw the attention of the terror-
ists’ allies on the ground. When they
come after her, Wolf and his team ride to
her rescue, despite their only perfunctory
(but intense) previous interactions.
Stoker’s writing is at its best when she
describes the characters’ emotions for one
another, but those nuggets are not enough
to redeem the overall low quality of the
prose, pacing, and structure.
The Sixth
Avery Hays. Diadema Press, $26.99 (362p)
ISBN 978-0-9854182-4-3
In this spirited debut historical thriller,
we meet the worldly, well-bred artist
Florbela Sarmentos as she is moving into
La Ruche, the histroical decadent residence of artists and political dissidents in
1910 Paris. Born
in Lisbon and educated in London
and Cherbourg,
Florbela is the
daughter of
Portugal’s leading
antimonarchist
political prisoner.
Florbela rushes
headlong into
Parisian life accompanied by her myste-
rious roommate and pursued by lovesick
suitors. After witnessing an assassination
by hit man The Pope’s Panther, Florbela
becomes drawn into her father’s political
affairs; her involvement with a gritty
underground cabal, a painting, and a
secret cipher could change the course of
history. Hays’s recreation of the era’s
“bohemian bedlam” involves an
intriguing who’s who of famous emigrant
artists and political exiles—Marc Chagall,
Amedeo Modigliani, Diego Rivera, Pablo
Picasso, Gertrude Stein, and Vladimir
Lenin. Vignettes at salons and La Ruche
provide an enjoyable glimpse into the
politics, social habits, and fashions of the
gaslit era. Though some of the romance
aspects are lacking, the political intrigue
and its energetic pace will certainly capti-
vate readers.
Starblind
D. T. Dyllin. Tik Tok, $2.99 e-book (298p) ISBN
978-1-941126-37-0
Dyllin (E-Day) hits all the right notes
in this light SF romance, building a uni-
verse full of politics and battle while fan-
ning the flames of passion. Captain Jane, a
genetic hybrid who can withstand fire,
embraces her
human side, using
her bounty-
hunting prizes to
support a collec-
tion of period
clothing and his-
toric foods that
remind her of
destroyed Earth.
Her all-female, all-
alien crewmates on the Pittsburgh think
she takes too many chances by going after
Class 4 targets—those with unpredictable
abilities—but the United Galactic
Federation of Stars (UGFS) pays too well
for her to pass them up. Her latest bounty,
Ash, is like nothing she’s ever chased
before, and his heat calls to an unknown
part of her DNA like no other creature in
the universe can. Ash understands what
Jane is, but refuses to let her catch him
until she understands why the UGFS is
out to silence both of them, along with
entire species who threaten its control.
Fans of both paranormal romance and
space opera will find this a
refreshing mix of the two.
True North: Tice’s Story
Mark Alan Leslie. Mark Alan Leslie, $12.95
trade paper (196p) ISBN 978-1-62890-602-8
Journalist and consultant Leslie
(Midnight Rider for the Morning Star) delves
into the obstacles runaway slaves encoun-
tered prior to the Civil War. Nineteen-
year-old Tice was born and raised on a
plantation near Maysville, Ky. His mother
is dead and his father sold by the time a
stranger hints that
he is willing to
help Tice escape to
freedom. When
the opportunity
arises, Tice makes
it across the Ohio
River and is soon
guided by mem-
bers of the
Underground
Railroad. Because of the Fugitive Slave
Law, getting north does not mean
freedom, and Mason, the plantation
foreman, relentlessly tracks Tice. Leslie
vividly describes the plight of runaway
slaves, noting differences between biblical
slavery and its 19th-century version. He
includes a smattering of historical figures,
Henry David Thoreau and Hannibal
Hamlin among them, in his fictional cast
of characters and details notable stops
along the Underground Railroad. Tice
exhibits a deep religious confidence that
will endear him to readers of inspirational
literature. While the main plot is a work
of fiction, the well-researched historical
elements make it believable and even, at
times, educational.
The Way into Darkness
Harry Connolly. Radar Avenue, $15.99 trade
paper (366p) ISBN 978-0-9898284-6-8
Connolly’s epic fantasy comes to a
resounding resolution (after The Way into
Magic) in this gory, action-packed third
episode. The once vibrant Peradaini
Empire has become a scattered collection
of tyrannical holdings struggling to feed
and house the refugees fleeing an invasion
of monsters. Tejohn Treygar, once fiercely
loyal to the king above all else, now realizes the very survival of the human race
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