When the Lights Go Out by Max Elliot Anderson

When the Lights Go Out. Max Elliot Anderson. Comfort Publishing. August 2011. YA Ages 8-13. 172 pages. ISBN #: 9781936695478.

Set to be published near the 10th anniversary of 9/11, Max Elliot Anderson's book is meant to convey to young boys (and I think girls, as well as readers of any age) the seriousness of that catastrophic day when 3,000 people died because of a terrorist attack!

Peyton's Dad is a Colonel in the Army. What he does Peyton doesn't know, but he thinks it's something like being a Ranger. So Peyton and his friends decide they will begin their training so that they can become actual Rangers who conduct special missions. One morning while they are hiding, Peyton overhears a telephone conversation between his Dad and someone else about a secret "package" being delivered which must be guarded because of its dangerous contents.

In a second overheard conversation, Peyton and his friends learn that other people are aware of this delivery and are determined to steal it, somehow distracting the soldiers by another means. The plot quickens as the Rangers-in-training try to figure out how to stop this theft from happening without letting Peyton's Dad know about the overheard phone call. The author does a great job in creating the tension, fear, and seriousness of this new and very real mission these boys take on.

The end will surprise you and at the same time make you realize the threat is constant and one's alertness and preparation must be just as vigilant. Great job, Mr. Anderson!!!

Frostbound:The Dark Forgotten by Sharon Ashwood

Frostbound: The Dark Forgotten. Sharon Ashwood. A Signet Eclipse Publication. June 2011. 384 pp. ISBN #: 9780451231956.

Lore, the alpha hellhound, is serving as deputy sheriff in a town brimming with excitement and trouble! For an upcoming election in which a supernatural being is running is pitting not only humans against supernaturals but also a mysterious killer against a vampire. This enemy has necromancy or magical powers that starts a huge fire that can burn right through concrete and steel. Immediately after that conflagration begins, a human, Michelle, is slaughtered, and her vampire cousin, Talia is overcome by grief and then rage. But in her initial confusion, she is caught by Lore, who thinks she may be the murderer and yet is totally besotted by her, leading to an unyielding need to kiss her and make her his, a very dangerous connection!

At the same time, it seems like Lore's status as Alpha or leader of the pack is under question unless he soon finds a mate of his own kind, a fact that his wild desire for Talia could lead to the loss of his leadership. Talia never wanted to become a vampire, and the reader is gradually introduced to her family, her background of terror and freedom achieved at a devastating cost. To Lore's pack, however, Talia is the enemy whom he must forsake.

Gradually the mystery unfolds into terrible battles to the death, as well as a menacing threat that looms large over the city. Lore enlists the aid of a radio journalist with special connections and powers of her own, Errata Jones. After a while, her words about love between the hunter and prey are replayed in multiple nail-biting scenes that depict the ravenous nature of all in both love and war!

Finely plotted, sensitive, fierce, tender, and complex, Frostbound is the fourth book in the Dark Forgotten series that is a must read for those who love the supernatural fantasy genre. Karen Ashwood knows how to craft an eerie, old-fashioned, terrorizing tale!

On Hummingbird Wings: A Novel by Lauraine Snelling

On Hummingbird Wings: A Novel. Lauraine Snelling. Faith Words: Hachette Book Group. April 2011. 288 pp. ISBN #: 9780446582117.

Gillian Ormsby is a powerful business executive whose world is about to come to a shrieking halt, with massive changes forcing her to review her entire life. She's used to the tension of her consuming job but is now about to undergo a true test of stamina. For her mother, Dorothy, has decided she is dying; and to make sure she gets the message across, she's not eating or talking. All she does is sleep. Gillian's sister, Allie, calls for desperately needed help because she just can't cope. At the same time, Gillian discovers on the news that her company has been bought out and she's out of a job, albeit with a severance package. So Gillian moves from Manhattan in New York to California to take care of her mother and to eventually plan for her very vague future. Huge stressors!

But Gillian's life is about to be blessed through the friendship of Adam, a neighbor who shares her love of gardening, and Enzio who is a friend to Dorothy, even when he's not wanted. No one can figure out at first how to find out what's really wrong with Dorothy and how to get her living again.

Little by little, without me providing a spoiler, Gillian learns to relax even though she's doing lots of physical things. Allie finally tells her, after pages and pages of snide remarks and alternative silence, what's really bugging her. A plan begins to emerge, but even Gillian isn't prepared for the shocking revelations she receives in a series of emails and is pleased to bits about the relationship with Adam that seems to be evolving in a wonderful way.

On Hummingbird Wings is a novel about what's first and foremost, the blessings of family and friends, exactly as they are. These conflicts bring Gillian into a world of practical faith that stands the daily tests, simple or gigantic! People rather than work become the priority in her new world. This is a novel about growing, changing, and loving in a creative, accepting, inspiring, and real way. Very nicely done, Ms. Snelling!

Death By China: Confronting the Dragon - A Global Call to Action by Peter Navarro and Greg Autry

Death by China: Confronting the Dragon - A Global Call to Action. Peter Navarro and Greg Autry. Pearson Education Corp. publishing as Prentice-Hall. June 2011. ISBN #: 9780132180238.

The United States to any astute observer has become a nation dealing with the after-effects of multiple disasters, some natural and some very man-made in nature. What is sorely lacking is a large dose of preventative measures meant to restore our economic, military, social, psychological, cultural, educational, etc. leadership throughout the world. That usually means preventing a problem from beginning; but in this well-researched, critical novel, the call is for individuals and the government of the United States to prevent China from destroying America. That sounds like a tall order, and yet these two passionate authors lay out past behavior, intentions and effects on many policies active between China and America that seem designed to enrich China and bring the United States to its knees!

Each chapter herein specifically covers how China is poisoning America. First, the authors describe how lethal fillers, additives, chemicals, and more are inserted into our food, furniture and drugs. Notice the emphasis on multiple specific examples. The specificity of these facts as one reads makes it all the more frightening. Who hasn't heard about poisoned drugs or wood for baby cribs?

Navarro and Autry next canvas China's increasing economic domination, a fact many have heard but fail to appreciate just how widespread this takeover has spanned the American economy. Consider, as the authors advise, the elaborate web of illegal subsidies, the undervalued currency, piracy and theft of our intellectual property, massive environmental damage, lax health and safety standards, unlawful tariffs and more, protectionism, and more. Very often, our business and political leaders are aware this is happening but claim to be helpless to stop it. As one reads more and more, one questions and wonders how we have reached this point.

Then one might be more horrified after reading about China's theft of our technology, including manufacturing, space programs, financial systems, and national secrets. If one hasn't previously believed this was a deliberate conspiracy, by now one cannot with a level amount of thinking believe otherwise. On and on it goes. Finally, however, the authors offer a chapter with multiple suggestions for American individuals to take in demanding our government respond to these nightmarish scenarios, as well as offering leaders a path to restore our country's economy, intellectual, military, and political future to a position of strength rather than victimized weakness that spells out the potential for America's total demise.

Death in China is a moving, passionate, and gripping wake-up call to American citizens and leaders. According to the authors of this book about the decline of America, it is not too late to change our American journey from its present complacency to a vigorous stance leading to success and prosperity.

Very nicely done and sure to be debated everywhere and by anyone who reads Death At China.

Keys to the Kingdom: A Novel of Suspense by Senator Bob Graham

Keys to the Kingdom: A Novel of Suspense. Senator Bob Graham. Vanguard Press. June 2011. ISBN #: 9781593156602.

Ex-Special Forces government operative, Tony Ramos, an African-American Cuban skilled investigator is an expert on Afghanistan. Senator Billington and he believe that the Iraq war is a mission that is draining badly needed funds and on-the-ground military forces in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They see the latter as a powder keg waiting to blow, as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda have a huge amounts of funds and support to carry out terrorist attacks that will make 911 look like nursery play. In fact, they believe Saudi Arabia is supplying the bulk of finances and there are many suggestions that the U. S. Government is aware of the connection but choosing to do nothing because of the imminent election. Things begin to rapidly fall apart when Senator Billington is murdered, after receiving a threat of two bullets and neglecting to change his ordinary schedule of activities. The above is not a spoiler in any way, as the mission Billington leaves Tony begins to proceed in a careful, methodical, and deadly way where everyone connected to Tony all of a sudden become at risk potential targets!

Three women will prove to be pivotal in discovering the source of funding and former double agents hired by the U. S. Government and then spurned by the same will lead Tony to discover the source of the funding and the actual connections of the plot behind 911. But that is the goal that quickly becomes superceded by the revelation of the terrorists' larger plans. For they are planning three attacks, each of which will be larger than the former and will definitely result in world-wide chaos, fear and financial disaster. Tony is given the job of stopping the third attack and the sacrifices for achieving success will be huge!

Senator Graham has crafted a novel that poses as much questions as it does answers. There are as many missing as revealed connections, providing descriptions of betrayal that explain just why our Arab neighbors in the U.S.A. and the Middle East hate Americans fiercely. Governments' efforts to stop terrorism are portrayed as flimsy and downright obstructive, at best. Tony is a bit of a fickle character, claiming love and having hot sex with one woman, only to quickly flit to another and then another woman, albeit with some hesitation at first. The plot is tightly spun; and at the end of the novel, readers will be wondering how much is fact and how much is fiction. For this nightmare journey is all too plausible in a world still reeling from 911 and other devastating terrorist events. For those coping with the aftermath of war and terrorism, reading this novel will be memorable and fearfully fascinating - a timely tale sure to be read by those on all sides!

Open Wounds by Joseph Lunievicz

Open Wounds. Joseph Lunievicz. WestSide Books. May 2011. 352 pp. ISBN #: 9781934813515.

Cid Wymann's mother died during his birth, and his presence reminds his drunken father of that loss on a daily basis. This fact earns Cid frequent beatings, which his grandmother can do little to stop. But two things are his salvation. He makes two friends, Siggy and Tomik Kopecky, who help him battle the neighborhood bullies. He discovers his grandmother is not attending church services but really is going to the movies, a world Cid comes to revere as he is weekly thrilled by scenes in Captain Blood and other Erroll Flynn movies about swordplay duels. Cid yearns to learn to be a fencer and an actor but does'nt believe those dreams lie in the realm of possiblities. He is to be quite surprised!

Abandoned by his father and losing his grandmother eventually by death, Cid is now a homeless child with no known relatives. Siggy's mom and dad take him in for a while but are forced to find a relative as they have to move themselves during this period of economic decline and loss of jobs in early 20th Century New York. So begins an amazing adventure as Cid lives with Lefty, a distant cousin who was gassed in WWI and lost his left arm and leg as well. His passion was honoring the secret love he held for Cid's mother and acting. Cid now becomes the student of that latter passion, reading all of Shakespeare's plays and imagining the duels therein each play. Lefty teaches Cid to fight and his fencing lessons then begin with Lefty's friend, Nikolai Varvarinski, who is teaching him to fight for fighting's sake and not just for acting. The scenes of this very tough training are exhilarating, and the readers senses a huge battle coming!

Finally, the old bullies reappear surprisingly in an older, more sophisticated venue, and they are out for Cid, this time with death-dealing intentions. The remainder of the novel leads up to a climax in which victory, honor, and integrity fill the pages of this story for all involved, with some head-splitting, hair-raising battles added to spice the mix!

Open Wounds is well-written, plot-driven, with cultural additions about movies, plays, and The Great War, elements that combine to make this a phenomenal piece of historical fiction! Superbly done!

Loyalty Binds Me by Joan Szechtman

Loyalty Binds Me. Joan Szechtman. Star Publish LLC. May 2011. 212 pp. Pb. ISBN #: 9781935188254.

In the novel, This Time by Joan Szechtman, Richard III and his son, Edward, were brought into the 21st Century by scientists who invented a time machine financed by a wealthy businessman who yearns to be accepted as a Ricardian scholar. Richard marries the scientist who originally created the undeveloped time machine and her daughters come to cherish Richard as the solid, caring father they never had.

As this new story begins, the family has traveled to England to pay their respects as a family to Richard’s first wife and Edward’s mother, Anne, at Westminster Abbey. It’s a journey complicated by the fact that Edward is trying to cope with a new family and living in a totally different world, and Sarah and the girls are still moving through their own family adjustments. These insecurities lurking below the surface are about to be stretched to the limit!

On their arrival in London, Richard is accosted by British authorities who tell him he is about to be charged with the murder of Edward IV’s “missing Princes,” as they have come to be called throughout history. The accusation initially strikes the reader as ludicrous, until British and American agents, a dynamic British journalist, a Ricardian lawyer, and other characters become intimately connected with this family who just want to be left alone to grow as the loving family they are becoming.

When the allegations change to something even more drastic, the unfolding scenario becomes intricately complex because of the mixed motives emerging that tell a totally different story, one packed with suspense, intrigue, and even violence.

Loyalty Binds Me is a credible, finely plotted historical mystery that encompasses all possible theories about Richard III’s motives and acts in the 15th Century. It also challenges the traditionally accepted Shakespearean depiction of this “distorted” King and provokes readers to challenge historical interpretation in an intelligent, dynamic, and adventurous way. Well-researched and well-written, Loyalty Binds Me is an exciting, surprising, yet sensitive novel that will delight every reader appreciative of excellent historical and time-travel fiction.