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- Hope in a Time of Dying
- Written by Len Leatherwood
- ISBN # 9798218382896
- Red Hawk Publishing
Emotions Erupting —With Good Reason
If you had the chance to help a brother who was dying of AIDS, what would you do? What if he turned out to act bipolar and put you down for your efforts? These are only two of the issues that Len Leatherwood’s narrator, Hope, faces in Hope in a Time of Dying.
When Robert, a cosmetic surgeon, asks Hope and her husband Ben to move from Texas to LA with their three children, she steps in to help him to help with the business side of his collapsing practice. He makes a lot of promises about compensation, but she knows little about what is behind the story because of his complicated relationships, and dysfunctional attitude. What is the duty of a sister, and how does she let go of old resentments?
After Robert marries his charming but manipulative partner Cody, Hope’s husband and mother are both leery. His business partner, Anthony, also disapproves—strongly—warning Hope that Cody cannot be trusted. Meanwhile, Robert’s increasingly erratic behavior flares and his shrieking at Hope would make less loyal sisters leave. Hope’s relationship with her pragmatic brother, Ben is strained and so is her relationship with their mother, who grew up in a generation with different expectations. Hope must deal with her past and her family before it’s too late. Is that even possible? Read the book!
Author Len Leatherwood is a writer, teacher, and lifelong lover of stories. A two-time Pushcart Prize nominee and nationally recognized writing coach, Len has spent years helping others find their voices. She’s also an award-winning author of short memoir, fiction, and personal essay, an editor, and a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas.
Leatherwood’s explorations will appeal to anyone who’s ever had to confront siblings, AIDS, or both.
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- The Burning Heart of the World
- Written by Nancy Kricorian
- ISBN: 978-1636281933
- Red Hen Press (April 1, 2025)
Displacement and Survival
What might a war cost three generations of a civilian family, people who call their country a home and not a war zone? How long will the effects last? These are two of the contemporary issues that Nancy Krickorian addresses in her lyrical, short novel, The Burning Heart of the World.
The story opens with scenes from the tragedy of the Twin Tours on 9-11-01. Her reactions showed us she’s been through the tensions and errors of war before.
Vera is on the cusp of puberty during the Lebanese War that surrounds her Armenian family. She loves the three generations she’s lived with forever. Once again, she was surrounded by the surreal effects of noise, the devastation of ashes and smoke over everything, but this time she had children to care for. When she went through a similar experience as an Armenian living in a small town not too far from Beirut, she was on the cusp of puberty. That time she experienced the trauma of attacks as a daughter. When the Twin Towers fell, she was a mother.
This is a story of intergenerational loss of place, of home, of the things make a girl or a woman feel safe. It’s the story of normalcy juxtaposed against the grim requirement that the family hide themselves in a fetid basement, which they were using as a makeshift bomb shelter. Also, it’s the story of leaving a grandmother behind and the nuances that looming tragedy forces on a family. It’s also a larger story of being without a homeland and how that can rattle a soul.
This is about a series of events and their lifelong effect on Vera and her family. It’s a story of ideas and the costs and aftermath of war and the right to be who you are and the age you are, no matter where or how you live.
Author Nancy Kricorian was born and raised in the Armenian community of Watertown, Massachusetts. She is the author of four novels about post-genocide Armenian diaspora experience. Her first book, Zabelle, was translated into seven languages and adapted as a play. It has been continuously in print since 1998. She has been the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship, a Gold Medal from the Writers Union of Armenia, and the Anahid Literary Award, among other honors.
This is a story of displacement that everyone should read–especially. People are being displaced from their homelands in so many places and this is a beautifully told story that should stay with you long after you turn the last page.
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- If Two Are Dead
- Written by Rick Mofina
- ISBN # 78-0778368595
- MIRA; Original edition (April 29, 2025). –Available for pre-order until 4-29-25
Guilt, Accountability, and Memory Loss
Secrets and guilt are great motivations in any story, since most people can identify with them. So are the issues of accountability and memory loss. This is especially true in the capable hands of Rick Mofina, whose newest novel If Two Are Dead is a chilling recounting of a small town case that never closed and an innocent family returning to the scene of the crime. Or are they innocent? When you’re in the midst of a story, it can be hard to tell.
Twenty years before the story started, three high school girls, two seniors and a junior, went into the woods after a Hallowe’en party. Only the seniors came out. The junior, Carrie, woke up in the hospital and could not remember what happened. Had she killed her friends as some people claimed? And how did she wind up in the river?
She moved to California where she met Luke Conway, and the two of them moved back to Clear River to help take care of Carrie’s ailing father.
One night after returning to Clear River Luke Conway strikes something—or someone. Or did he? He searched for the evidence, but after a tragedy at his previous job, he can’t be sure. There’s a wild rainstorm and he could have hit a falling branch. With no one else around, no witnesses, and no body, this off-duty cop leaves the scene without reporting it. But his conscience clings to it.
He can’t put more stress on Carrie, who’s already haunted by the unsolved attack and murder of two teenage girls that happened years ago in Clear River, a horrific crime in which she was the sole survivor.
Can anyone find the killer from the woods? Has her husband, Luke, killed someone? And what role will the retired sheriff, Carrie’s father who’s fighting a fatal illness, play in unearthing the truth?
Rick Mofina is a USA TODAY bestselling author of more than thirty crime fiction thrillers. A former journalist, he has interviewed murderers on death row, reported from the Caribbean, Africa, Kuwait and Qatar. He is a two-time winner of the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence, a Barry Award winner, and a multiple finalist for the International Thriller Writers Thriller Award and the Shamus Award, presented by the Private Eye Writers of America. You’ll see how his experience has paid off in If Two Are Dead.
This edge-of-your-seat thriller is guaranteed to get your heart pumping. Mofina’s characters are complex and three dimensional, and we get pieces of the puzzle at the same speed they do. You’ll also wonder how you might react to the crises this family faces. If you like fast-paced, character driven mysteries, you’ll love this one.
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- The Women
- Kristin Hannah
- ISBN #: 978-1035005697
- Martin’s Press 2024
More Sacrifices Than Joys
What makes a woman a hero? Is it conduct, beliefs, or relationships? Is a woman who’s a hero different from a male hero? These are important question, especially these days. Kristin Hannah explores these issues deeply through the eyes and experiences of Frances “Frankie” McGrath who joins the Army Nurse Corps after her brother is killed in Vietnam. The book is historic fiction, allowing readers to look at what’s changed for women since 1965, and what we’ve overcome.
Raised by conservative parents on Coronado Island in Southern California, Frances “Frankie” McGrath was protected and pampered, but her world was changed forever after her older brother died. At 20, she become a nursing student and as soon as she can, she goes to Vietnam, trying to figure out what happened to her brother and wishing she could make it right.
Once there, she doesn’t feel up to the task any more than the 18-year-old soldiers she’s treating. She learns quickly. Finding herself surrounded by fear, loneliness, chaos, and destruction, her fellow nurses introduce her to liquor to take the edge off. There are also many men eager to assuage loneliness.
Friendships run deep. Vietnam is chaos, but the chaos escalates when she returns to a divided America. If it weren’t for the help she’s given by fellow nurses Barb and Ethyl, she might have been drowned by the aftermath of the war.
If you like audio books, you’ll love Jill Whelan’s narration. Her wonderful voice brought the development, intensity, and drama of Frankie’s journey to life. And Kristin Hannah is the author of so many bestsellers that I imagine you already know her reputation as an outstanding writer.
The Women explores the sacrifices and joys of women who put themselves in harm’s way. Frankie was often told there were no women in Vietnam. She was living proof that whoever reported that got it wrong.
In the author’s talented hands The Women is a story of trial by fire, of maturing, of refining goals and beliefs and even idealism. The world has changed since Vietnam, but with a woman’s place in the service being scrutinized and redefined these days, this is a compelling and poignant story that’s well worth your time.
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- While We’re Young
- By K.L. Walther
- ISBN: 978-0593813959
- Delacorte Romance (March 4, 2025)
An Epic Day and Wishes Realized
What do you really want out of your life? How close are you to getting it? No matter what the year or what generation you’re in, there’s no time quite like your senior year in high school for looking at these issues. It’s also a time for rebellion, so it’s no surprise that student body president Grace decides to emulate Ferris Bueller and take a day off from school with her bestie, Isa, in K.L. Walther’s While We’re Young. There’s a big difference though. She does it to rekindle their friendship with their friend, Everett, which dissolved when Isa broke up with him three years earlier.
In an epic day that includes racing up the famous Rocky steps, taste-testing Philly’s finest cheesesteaks, and even crashing a wedding, their secrets are bound to collide. What secrets? Plenty. Grace is secretly in love with Everett, who used to go out with Isa before breaking her heart in the infamous Freshman Year Fracture. And, Isa has been secretly hanging out with James, Grace’s twin, who marches to the beat of his own drum.
Three weeks before graduation, Grace becomes as impulsive as her brother for one day only. She takes her good friends Isa and Everett to Philadelphia to relive the old days before Everett’s dad died. When chaos erupts because student-body president, Grace is sick, her touble-making twin brother, James, steps in, proving he’s much smarter than she ever imagined.
Whether you’re looking ahead to your future or back on your life, While We’re Young will touch your spirit of adventure, your hope for the future, and the dreams that you never mention. It’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off meets Dead Poet’s Society. The characters sparkle and the plot races. The disasters they flirt with are averted, and this is a charming, feel-good rom-com.
Author K.L. Walther grew up Pennsylvania surrounded by family, dogs, and books. Her childhood was spent playing ice hockey, watching romantic comedies, and singing along to Taylor Swift. She earned a B.A. in English from the University of Virginia, where she fell in love with writing. She’s the author of 17 books, and you can learn more about her at https://www.klwalther.com.
This is a refreshing comedy for teens and adults. Whether you’re living your senior year in high school or want to reminisce, this is a fun way to do it.
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- Silent Evidence
- Written by Clea Koff
- ISBN #: 978-0008726027
- Avon (January 21, 2025)
Who Would Freeze Multiple Body Parts—and Why?
Everybody has secrets. But not everyone’s secrets involve murder. In Clea Koff’s forensic crime thriller, Silent Evidence, we meet two scientists, Jayne and Steelie. These two women founded Agency 32/1 so they could use their specialist forensic skills to help police solve crimes.Because I was curious about the title, I looked it up and learned that silent evidence is evidence that we don’t have access to, either because of the way information is gathered, or the way we choose to interpret the information we do have. is also an appropriate title for. It fits this story perfectly.
When a bundle of frozen body parts fall out of a van on a Los Angeles freeway, FBI agent Scott Houston goes to Jayne and Steele for an off-the-record analysis. The team quickly determines the parts are from multiple bodies. Shocking? Absolutely! Who would freeze parts from multiple bodies?
It’s clear to Jayne and Steelie that a serial killer is responsible. Is he lurking in Los Angeles or collecting more bodies? Scott Houston’s call has put Jayne and Steelie’s lives in danger. Can they find the killer, before the killer finds them and murders them?
In the first volume of this story with series potential, readers will be impressed by Steelie and Jayne’s scientific knowledge as well as the complex relationships evolving. If you happen to have a scientific vocabulary, you’ll be ahead of the game, but if you don’t, you’ll still be drawn into the action and romance.
Clea Koff is a forensic anthropologist and author. Born in London and raised in England, East Africa and the US, she was a member of the first international forensic team brought together by the UN in 1996 to investigate evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity, commencing in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide. She subsequently worked for the UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in Bosnia, Croatia and Kosovo. Now she’s an author. This is her fourth book and her first work of fiction.
What are your special talents? How are you using them to help the world? Clea Koff’s story may make you think differently about them and put them to use in different ways. If you’re a fan of detective thrillers or women with guts and skills, you should read this book.
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- Don’t Tell Me How to Die
- Written by Marshall Karp
- ISBN #: 979-8874824396
- Blackstone Publishing, Inc.; HARDCOVER edition (March 4, 2025)
A Chronic Disease and a Sense of Humor
Does a chronic disease lurk in your family history? Do you ever worry that it could kill you, and if so, do you worry about the people you’d leave behind? These are some of the conditions that the characters face in Marshall Karp’s fast-moving revenge thriller Don’t Tell Me How to Die.
Maggie Dunn, a doctor’s wife, has a loving family and a rewarding job as mayor of a town in upstate New York. Complications arise when she’s diagnosed with the same blood disease that took her mother. As a teenager, Maggie and her sister promised to protect their father from women with an agenda, women who’d bring cakes and casseroles and the intention of replacing their mother. Maggie remembers the problems they went through when the wrong woman stepped in to take her mother’s place. The consequences were devastating, so she starts looking for the new Mrs. Dunn before her own family faces the same situation. But what exactly does her husband deserve, and what can she do to see that he gets it?
There’s a lot to love about Karp’s ability to blend well-wrought characters, heart-pounding tension, and mix them with unexpected humor. He’s skilled enough to create a non-linear sequence of events that serves the story well and keeps readers engaged. The tone is always on target, and the story’s ending is not what you’re expecting.
Marshall Karp has written extensively. His works include the first six books in the #1 bestselling NYPD Red series, which he co-authored with James Patterson. He is also the author of five books in the critically-acclaimed Lomax and Biggs Mystery series.
After a successful career in advertising, Marshall moved to Los Angeles, where he wrote Just Looking, which is a coming-of-age comedy loosely based on his own embarrassing teenage years.
If you like suspense and humor, you won’t want to close his latest book, Don’t Tell Me How to Die.
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