Winter 2024 ~~ Hooked on More Books

“Dervla McTiernan explores the nuances of love and family dynamics.” 

• What Happened to Nina?
• Written by Dervla McTiernan
• ISBN # 13 – 978-0063042254
• William Morrow (March 26, 2024)

Defending Their Offspring

Imagine that your 20-year-old daughter goes away with her boyfriend during a college vacation. Sound good? Now, what if she never comes back? What if the boyfriend says they had an argument, and he left his parents’ second home when she asked him to? If you were a parent, what would you think and what would you do? For that matter, what wouldn’t you do? This highly charged situation is thoroughly explored in Dervila McTiernan’s newest novel, What Happened to Nina?

Nina and her boyfriend are experienced hikers who’ve been dating for about 6 years, so when Simon returns without Nina, alarm bells go off. They had a fight. An entitled young man, Simon left his parents’ second home in the woods at Nina’s request. He told his parents they’d broken up—said it convincingly, though people grew more and more suspicious, especially when a tracker dog alerted those who were looking that he’d found the scent of human remains. But no human.

This story isn’t so much about Nina’s going missing as it is about both sets of parents defending their children—Nina’s parents seeking their daughter, Simon’s parents protecting their son, and the media seeking the juiciest story. The plot may not be original, but the parents’ reactions and sense of loss will draw you in.

If you’re a parent, you’ll recognize the flurry of emotions that comes up with the question, “What would you do to protect your child?” How much of a role model had Nina’s mother and stepfather been? What did Simon’s father do to protect his son? More importantly, can you blame them?

In sharp, crisp prose with nuanced depth and no wasted sentences or thoughts, author Dervla McTiernan explores the nuances of love and family dynamics. She is the critically acclaimed author of four novels and has won numerous prizes for her work. For a woman who lives in Australia she knows a lot about the sense and sensibilities of those who live in Vermont, or maybe she simply understands about love and power in any relationship.

This is an excellent story that will keep you turning pages.

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“It’s the consequences that are huge.”  ~~B. Lynn Goodwin

• Disrupted
• Written by B. Lynn Goodwin and Reviewed by Karin Cooper
• Olympia Publishers – 252 pages
• Publication January 25, 2024
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1804393487
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1804393482

Earthquakes, Issues, and Hope

EDITOR’S NOTE: The e-book for Disrupted costs only $5.07 and is only available on Amazon. There’s also a paperback there. If you’d like to contribute to Independent Bookstores, part of your payment at Bookshop.org will go to them. Or you might have a discount card for Barnes and Noble. Your choice. 

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During an afterschool play rehearsal of Our Town, a massive earthquake strikes the town of San Ramos. The aftershocks of the earth’s power physically and emotionally rock the community. Structural damage closes the high school, and all extracurricular activities are canceled. Friends and their families are displaced, and businesses are ruined. Sandee Mason, grieving the death of her brother, a soldier in Afghanistan, channels his leadership to revive the morale of her friends and the community with a fundraiser talent show. 

With total dedication, Sandee Mason has the often-thankless job of student stage manager for the fall play. Even with intermittent earth rumblings, no one expects a 7.1 quake that hits just as Sandee is atop a ladder fixing a light. Everyone has an anecdote of the quake’s terror. Sandee intends to put San Ramos on the map with hers. The introduction to local news begins with learning the value of publicity, sharing, and optimism to find lost people like her friend’s father. Though her best friend Diego has had to move away, a new boy has entered her life with as many fissions in his story as the earth.

The cast despairs the play is over without school, rehearsals, and most of all, the funds needed for the production. Sandee sees the opportunity for what’s in the student cast control. Keep rehearsing, raising funds, and passing along the poignant message of hope in the play Our Town for their real town, San Ramos. As Sandee makes decisions and takes action, she grows into a leader recognized by her parents, peers, and community. Most importantly, she gains a newfound sense of self.

Disrupted is B. Lynn Goodwin’s second YA novel. An award-winning author for previous work of Talent (YA) Never Too Late: From Wannabe to Wife at 62 (memoir) and You Want me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers (self help), including other works published in several anthologies. Lynn is the solopreneur of Writer Advice, www.writeradvice.com. 

A YA novel told in the first person. A clever parallelism between Sandee’s duties as the stage manager and Our Town storytelling Stage Manager character. Sandee’s leadership strengthens throughout the two-month timeline. Disrupted incorporates seamlessly current social issues and realities of teenage homelessness, school closures, addiction and recovery, grade pressure and college acceptances, friendship bonds, climate change, and empathy for all the natural and metaphorical quakes life is shaken by. 

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• Midnight on Beacon Street
• Written by Emily Ruth Verona
• ISBN: 978-0063330511
• Harper Perennial (January 30, 2024)

Unexpected Twists

How can you distinguish a sign of trouble from an active imagination? Or can you? It’s not an easy task in Emily Ruth Verona’s debut horror/thriller, Midnight on Beacon Street.

Imagine you’re a seventeen-year-old babysitter spending the evening with a young boy you really like and his older sister—the girl with an attitude. What’s the first sign that trouble may be brewing? Is it rolling eyes? A knock on the door? A visit from your boyfriend, who you’re expecting, and his older brother, who gives you the creeps?

Although the evening starts out normally, with the mother on a date and the kids playing games, eating pizza, and enjoying the efforts of Amy, the babysitter, though 12-year-old Mira is more resistant than 6-year-old Benjamin, whose confidence is shaky at best. Amy understands, since she copes with her own anxiety disorder. She loves horror movies but doesn’t seem to remember the ones about babysitters. Then again, movies don’t usually prepare people to cope with real issues.

When an unexpected visitor rings the doorbell, things get dicey, and the tension escalates, especially when Mira announces that she’s called the police. Though none of them know it yet, they’ll need an investigator and more to unravel the disaster that will live with them for years to come.

Author Emily Ruth Verona slides through time as she tells the story and provides the motivations that explain each character’s reaction to a crisis in the kitchen at midnight that you don’t want to miss. Although this is her first novel, Ms. Verona has published many short stories and poems. Learn more about her work and read her bio on her website.

Unexpected twists and shocking behaviors fill Midnight on Beacon Street. It’s a heartwarming tale of both fear and love that explores the ways we keep our loved ones safe. I loved these characters and if you have empathy for kids as well as memories of your life as a child and teen, this is a book you shouldn’t miss. 

 

• Enough
• Cassidy Hutchinson
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1797162232
• Simon & Schuster September 26, 2023

Fierce Determination

What did Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony in front of the January 6^th Committee cost her, how did it help her, and how should individuals channel their loyalty? You’ll find answers to those questions and demonstrations of how the White House worked in the Trump era as well the source of her strong Republican beliefs in her memoir, Enough.

When I was 24, I was teaching at San Ramon Valley High School. I thought I had some decent skills, but they were not much when compared with those of Cassidy Hutchinson, who was Mark Meadows’ aide in the Trump White House.

A visit to Washington, D.C. when she was a child inspired Cassidy Hutchinson to serve her country. She grew up in a working-class family with an extremely capable mother, who modeled organization and multi-tasking and a difficult dad. She took several internships in Washington D.C. while she was an undergraduate. Despite having no ties to Washington being the first in her family to graduate from college, Hutchinson earned a reputation that brought her to the attention of Mark Meadows. She was the chief assistant to the Chief of Staff in the Trump White House and worked a few doors down from the Oval Office. 

At twenty-four, she became an observer to one of the most extraordinary and unprecedented calamities in modern political history. Much later, when the January 6 committee asked her to testify, Hutchinson had to chose between loyalty to the Trump administration or loyalty to the country. As you undoubtedly know, she became a pivotal witness in the House January 6 investigations. Her testimony stunned the nation, and Enough reveals the struggle between the pressures of Trump Nation and the requirements of her oath to defend American democracy.

Enough is the story of Hutchinson’s fierce determination, which helped her overcome childhood challenges,get her dream job, and face a crisis of conscience—one that more senior White House aides tried to evade. In the process, find her voice and herself. Her courage helped change the course of history.

Her memoir is clear and a bit frustrating as we join with her on this journey, knowing what the outcome is going to be. When a reader knows how the story will end, he reads to discover the paths the narrator took and the crises that the media never covered. Where is Cassidy Hutchison now? Living a private life, free from the crowds that loved her and the crowds that attacked her. She’s a fiercely independent woman with talents for organization, processing information, and making courageous choices. I suspect we will hear more from this exceptional woman.

Cassidy Hutchinson is a former special assistant to President Donald Trump and his chief of staff, Mark Meadows. She received national attention after being a key witness in the hearings led by the United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. Hutchinson previously worked for the White House Office of Legislative Affairs and interned for Republican leaders Steve Scalise and Ted Cruz. She was born and raised in Pennington, New Jersey. Enough is her first book.

 

“Nations die from within.” Jon Perkins

Dangerous Political Hoverings

A Review of Jon Perkins’ Brat by Karin Cooper

A dystopian new world order has emerged. Instigated by elite billionaires and naïve followers believing in one justice system of equality and socioeconomics for all, America loses the freedoms and constitutional guarantees for the nation. Destiny brings together Marine Corps sergeant vet Boyd Baker and Marine Captain Barbara Bennet, a fighter pilot, in a contentious meeting in a grocery store aisle. Boyd nicknames the Captain, Brat. The name sticks, and so does a fast-developing relationship. Brat and Boyd foresee the dangerous political winds hovering. 

Friendships and loyalties quickly change once America and other nations are under the auspices of a tyrannical New World cabal. Brat first challenges Marine pilots on who would fire on American dissenting citizens under the new leadership commands. Lines become drawn between service branches: Marines and Navy join to fight the global order. At the same time, the Army and Airforce follow orders of the installed government. Militia insurrection around the country ensues. Southern California’s major cities come under the violent and brutal rule of MS13 gangs. Chaos and fear are fractioning all nations and the will of most citizens. 

The rebellious cadre, led by Boyd and Brat, gets a strong ally, Russian fighter pilot Major Alina Leveda, and her well-connected uncle, the Russian Premier, who will not give in to the pressure of the world order. The Marines, Navy, and Russian armed forces dismantle and fight against the despotic forces. The elite billionaire syndicate eliminated, it becomes evident that China and a nefarious shadowy billionaire figure planned and instigated the world fraction. The worst fears of world nuclear war happen with the devastation of major world cities around the globe. America, Russia, and world allies stay strong while China remains defeated in a quest for world power domination. Only the billionaire demagog is unaccounted for. 

Boyd and Brat are now husband and wife, ready to live life with dedication to the Marine Corps, America, and each other. 

Author Jon Perkins is a veteran Marine. He earned an MFA in fiction writing and has numerous short stories published in five anthologies. 

Right Wing Speculative Fiction is a genre infrequently reviewed. However, there is an audience that would welcome more reading choices. Brat is a fictional page-turner of theoretical danger. After a read, one can only hope the risks and outcomes stay fictional. 

Karin Cooper has taught college composition and English courses for over 20 years. She also is a freelance content copy editor.  With a writing resume of plays and education essays, recent writing interests and challenges are developing middle-grade novel about a young Angolan boy rescuing a pangolin. Ms. Cooper has reviewed for us before, and she does a great job. Thank you, Karin.

If you’d like to review books for us, use the Contact Button on the home page to let us know.

 

• Anna O: A Novel
• By Matthew Blake
• ISBN #: 978-0063314153
• Harper (January 2, 2024) 432 pages

Is It Murder If She’s Sleepwalking?

When I was around nine, I was a sleepwalker. It happens to many kids, but after I opened the locked door to the stairs one night, my parents tied up the handle to keep me safe. Although we never knew why I was doing this, they kept me from harming myself. Matthew Blake’s Anna O wasn’t so lucky.

Ever wondered what you might do while you’re sleeping? Could you be held accountable for actions you know nothing about? Like murder? Matthew Blake explores these questions, motivations, and other mysteries in his debut novel, Anna O. Apparently, Anna, a budding magazine editor, killed two business partners while they slept after they spent some time in the forest of a retreat center. Apparently, she was asleep and not responsible for her actions.

Four years later she’s still asleep, when her case comes to Dr. Benedict Pierce, an expert in the field of sleep-related homicides. He’s also studied a rare psychosomatic disorder known as “resignation syndrome,” a condition that causes reduced consciousness. People stop walking, talking, and eating, lie in bed with their eyes closed, and become disconnected from the world around them when they have it. The condition is not recognized in medical circles, though, so what’s really going on?

Only Anna knows the truth about that night; only Dr. Pierce knows how to assess her status and help her get out of it. If she wakes up, he must determine whether she has any memory of the events and if she’s criminally responsible. The story captured the attention of journalists, and he knows he must be careful. With a failed marriage to a police detective and a professional secret or two, he could become a target instead of Anna if he makes a mistake.

Matthew Blake has written a calculated thriller, filled with twists and told from a unique point of view. If you look up Anna O and discover that she was a patient of Freud’s, you may wonder how her case influenced the story? Although this is a debut novel, it’s written with the confidence of a veteran author and will spark your imagination.

Withhold your judgements until you get to the end of this startling thriller. That won’t take long, but don’t expect to get much else done while you’re reading it. Riveting!

After discovering that the average person spends thirty-three years of their life asleep, Author MATTHEW BLAKE felt the pull of a story. He began extensive research into sleep-related crimes and into the mystery illness known as resignation syndrome, research that sparked a thrilling question: if someone commits murder while sleepwalking, are they innocent or guilty? And so his novel Anna O was born.

Before writing fiction, Matthew worked as a researcher and speechwriter at the Palace of Westminster. He studied English at Durham University and Merton College, Oxford.

 

• Divine Vintage
• Written by Sandra L. Young and reviewed by Karin Cooper
• The Wild Rose Press, Inc. page count 282
• Publication 2022
• ISBN 978-1-5092-3823-1

The Mystery of Why

“I’ve been chosen to convey Phoebe’s message and I won’t let her down.”  Sandra L. Young

Tess Burton’s dream has arrived. She’s the owner of Divine Vintage, a clothing shop. Unlocking the deadbolt, the first customers enter. An older, distinguished woman, Ester DeLeon, holds onto the arm of a gorgeous younger man. It’s been a long time since Tess blushed looking at a man, but Trey Dunmore, a relative of Ester’s, has caught her stare. A request to drop flyers quickly becomes an invitation to Ester’s grand historic home, Carver House, and the 100th anniversary tea benefit for a local homeless shelter. Tess’ petite stature is ideal for modeling some dresses from a trousseau chest. Somewhat reserved, Tess realizes it’s a great way to become involved in the community and advertise her store. Trey has agreed, albeit grudgingly, to partake in the Edwardian fashion show. Fitting perfectly into the dazzling satin gown and entering the ballroom with Trey, Tess blacks out, seeing visions of Phoebe’s murder. The young bride who never got to wear the gown on her Paris honeymoon.

The tragic, haunting tale of the murder-suicide at the newly built Carver House on the night of Phoebe and Edward’s wedding seemed solved long ago. But the mystery of why always lingered. Believing Tess’s vision is real, Ester gives her Phoebe’s clothes and 1913 diary for background. Trey’s unsure about the visions but wants to clear his family’s tainted legacy. And an excuse to spend more time with Tess. They start reading the diary together, constructing the romance and events of a hundred years earlier.

Tess and Trey discover the list of potential murderers grow and that relationships were as complicated then as they are now. The visions and clues interfere with the blooming intimate relationship between Tess and Trey. Phoebe will not be silent. The final vision and message from Phoebe reveal the real murderer. The true love of Phoebe and Edward can finally be at peace.

Author Sandra L. Young’s love for vintage clothing inspired her debut novel, Divine Vintage. Like the character of Tess, she has also collected vintage clothing over the years but rarely parts with them. Being a performer in community theater and singing in a trio are experiences she draws from for her writing.

Divine Vintage is a novel that threads mystery, romance, and paranormal elements. The story is set in a community where politics about homelessness play a significant role in moving the plot forward. The book is an entertaining read as it reconstructs history and unravels a mystery that links the past and present while uniting lovers.

 

• Stuck in Her Head
• Written by Kylie Wang and Liana Tang
• ISBN-13: 978988769988
• Earnshaw Books, Ltd. (10/24

Celebrating the Complexities of Success

When you’re a talented teen, how do you find your way into the life you most want to lead? Experimentation is one path. Hard work is another. Mix the two together and add equal parts empathy and honesty, and you’ll have a formula for success. Not that formulas always work. After all, every teen is an individual seeking control of her life and choices. Kylie Wang and Liana Tang’s Stuck in Her Head is a YA crossover written by two wise teenage women, that celebrates all the complexities successful teens experience as they search for their unique place in the world.

Set in contemporary Hong Kong, Stuck in Her Head is the story of Emma Chan, an aspiring musician with big dreams, and her best friend, Naomi Lin, who seems more talented and relaxed—at least on the surface. Emma wants to please her parents and goes to extremes to do so. The same is true of Naomi, who thinks her talent is coding rather than music—which she has a love-hate relationship with.

Both are dissatisfied with the expectations life has thrust upon them. They want to find their own paths when they sign up for a coding competition with another student, Laurence. The plan is to use their musical skills to make their project unique. Despite their banter and competitive nature, deep longings and dark thoughts emerge. In addition to all the desire to succeed, their teenage hormones complicate Emma and Naomi’s relationships, which are already fraught with the need to prove themselves to their parents and the world. The coding contest and lying to avoid hurting others bring them together, pull them apart, and reshape their relationship into something more nuanced and mature. 

Wang and Tang both started life in Hong Kong. Their backgrounds are an integral part of this story of two wise, sensitive, and empathetic Chinese teen girls. It’s YA by and for teens, but it will also appeal to parents and teachers. With honesty and strong writing chops they tell a story filled with the need for balance, empathy, and recognition. This is a coming of age story without drugs, alcohol, or car accidents. The excitement comes from their striving along with a few embarrassing mistakes on the road to discovery. These are definitely two writers to watch. Read Stuck in Her Head, and you’ll understand why.

 

Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class

• Written by Blair LM Kelley, PhD
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1631496554
• Liveright/ W. W. Norton & Company

A Fair Shot

You can change many things in your life, but race is not one of them. We’re born into a race and culture, and we often see the world through that lens. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been drawn to books by black authors since I was a teen and wondering why I happened to be born white. Was it chance? Luck? Or were the Black people the lucky ones because they shared a culture and history that ran throughout their community? They had things in common that outsiders might never understand. I wanted that sense of belonging, and I searched for it in Black Literature, so when I had a chance to read Blair LM Kelley’s Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class, I happily said yes.

Reading the book, I was embraced by the same joy of discovering another culture that I used to feel—years ago—in sociology classes. I got to be a fly on the wall and experience the life of a blacksmith, a laundress or washerwoman, a pullman porter, a postal worker and more. I cheered both the author and the washerwoman when I read, “…the washerwomen continued to work on their own terms,” then sighed as she continued, saying, “…but there were limits to their autonomy.”

I got an inside look at the struggles that Black people endured and the way they adjusted their attitude when they were around whites while at the same time fighting for the rights they were entitled to. I’ve never been black, but the book encouraged me to imagine what my life might have been like if I lived in their circumstances. 

In this well researched and thoroughly documented exploration of the black working class, Kelley presents hard-working, entrepreneurial people determined to overcome ridiculous obstacles imposed by whites who believed they were superior. “They wanted a fair shot at better jobs, a life away from the boundaries of segregation and subjugation.” They lived in a society that set them up as second class and inspired them to fight back.

She includes stories from her own family, beginning with Henry, an enslaved blacksmith from Elbert County, Georgia and ending with her grandmother, Brunell, who she remembers holding her hand whenever they went out. “Her handhold soothed her worry and kept my young mind and thin body from roaming away. I learned that her tight clasp was protective, confirmation that I was right there.”

As a reader I was right there with the people, the culture, and the struggles that Kelley describes and analyzes. They say that those who don’t remember history are doomed to repeat it, so if you want to learn the history of the whole country, including the parts that aren’t included in textbooks, this historical, factual, lively account of Black folks in a white world is worth your time.

Blair LM Kelley, a 2022-23 National Humanities Center Fellow, is the Joel R. Williamson Distinguished Professor of Southern Studies, co-director of the Southern Futures Initiative, and the Director of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. 

Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class (Liveright–W.W. Norton and Company, June 2023), was awarded a 2020 Creative Nonfiction Grant by the Whiting Foundation. Her first book, Right to Ride: Streetcar Boycotts and African American Citizenship (UNC Press), was awarded the Letitia Woods Brown Memorial Best Book Prize from the Association of Black Women Historians.

She holds both a M.A. and Ph.D. in History from Duke University and earned her B.A. from the University of Virginia in History and African and African American Studies.