Poor Richard's Lament: A Most Timely Tale by Tom Fitzgerald

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Poor Richard's Lament: A Most Timely Tale. Tom Fitzgerald. Hobblebush Books. 2012.  640 pages. ISBN #: 9780984592135.

Expediency is the heart of Tom Fitzgerald's foray into the imaginary life of Benjamin Franklin. For two hundred years have passed since the death of this notable American hero, years that Ben has had to pen the story of his life and include all of his wrongdoings. But Ben has left out quite a bit, and now he stands before his colleagues, now Judges, Alexander Wedderburn, John Adams and the Reverend William Smith. In multiple scenes that almost seem like Scrooge being judged in the well-known A Christmas Carol, heavenly swirls of colors, smoke, and lightning flashes accompany each new revelation that surprisingly damns this historical giant!

For as we proceed, we come to learn that while Ben lived by the virtues of Industry, Frugality, Resolution, Order, Cleanliness, Silence, Chastity, Sincerity, Temperance, Justice, Moderation, and Humility, Expediency was forefront in the way he treated his family. A fine balance of humor and tragedy fill each story as we learn of Ben's abandonment of his wife for years at a time, a sickly woman whose greatest yearning was for the return of her beloved husband. When Ben turned from loyalty to King George III of England, he unfortunately demanded his son William do the same and disowned him as a son after he refused to do so. He who taught his son to always be loyal betrayed both King and progeny forever! 

Fitzgerald is ruthless the way he has the Judges present scenes of Ben and other citizen's slaves being ordered around, beaten, and even tortured to death for amusement. He who spoke about the equality of all denies both the equality of women and slaves. While this sounds severe, Fitzgerald does manage to combine irony, some funny scenes, and a buffoon-like characterization of the Judges that keeps the reader intrigued and flipping the pages.

Finally, Ben is allowed to visit contemporary Philadelphia and other American cities he formerly knew and make a difference. But history repeats itself not for Ben but for others who supposedly admire him but certainly live lives that are bound by the same sense of expediency and hypocrisy, some almost ridiculous and some with horrific results. They include a President and his aide who will do anything to guarantee winning the next election, a drug-free man trying to forge a new life clean of the killer crack and helping others to live instead from a life of dignity and self-respect.

Poor Richard's Lament is certainly not light reading, however this description hardly covers the amazing breadth of Ben's life and influence that is covered herein. Ben is a sympathetic Petitioner and it is the potent scenes that speak most loudly, much more than anyone else's pompous words. This novel is so cleverly constructed and so informative of what the reader probably doesn't know about Ben Franklin's life that the reader is riveted to every page and more so as one progresses. Yes, Ben, "make one's self acceptable in one's own eyes firstly...in the eyes of others foremostly." Great literate historical fiction - one of the most cleverly crafted novels this reviewer has read in years!!!

No Story to Tell: A Novel by K. J. Steele

No Story to Tell: A Novel. K. J. Steele. Fiction Studio Books. 2011. 388 pages. ISBN #: 9781936558209.

Victoria Lackey is a fighting survivor, beginning on the day of her birthday when her twin died and she lived. Her family weren't too thrilled with her and wished her brother had lived. One doesn't need too much of an imagination to know how she grew up; her abusive father and cowering mother die young, followed by an Aunt; and Victoria falls where she will. It's amazing as we progress and meet Bobby her husband who treats her more like a child and possession than a wife. Then we meet her friend, Rose, who seems to be the only one who is sensitive to Victoria's inner world - a world no one in this small town of Hinkley really knows about - oh what a surprise is waiting to burst out of its shell!

Then we meet Elliot Spencer, the man who thinks and feels so widely that he speaks to Victoria's dreams in a way that mirrors so much within any reader's life as well. For Victoria wanted to be a dancer but the people around her, except for her mother who once fought for her to be in a dance recital, thwart her every attempt. Now she decides to give in to the fancy to start a dance school. Where will it go?

How will Bobby react to his new woman who most of the time reacts with fear and submission to him, while he in turn demeans and commands her. What choices does she have. The plot evolves with some strange phone calls and messages that Victoria believes are coming from Elliot and which encourage her more. Again, what a surprise is coming that will shock readers to the core!

One can dream about the "road not taken," but Victoria is a well-developed character who begins to observe her world and dream about possibilities, something almost every reader can relate to in some way.

No Story To Tell is about recreating one's world - something to tell one's self more than other dreamers and idlers! Fascinating read, Ms. Steele!

Fool's Mate by Laura Pedersen

Fool's Mate. Laura Pedersen. CreateSpace Publisher. 2011. 452 pages. ISBN #: 9781463652883.

Josie Kincaid is a cable news network journalist who wants to be reporter who makes a momentous, award-winning contribution to her job. But Josie's a definite out-of-the-box character who is funny, sloppy, and tough lady who is often her own worst enemy. She courts disaster on the job, has cost the company a heap of money by getting into dangerous situations and leaving behind costly wrecks. Her excessive drinking and reputation as the gal who sleeps around with anyone certainly don't help her public persona.

Now she's royally ticked that her company is chipping away with budget cuts and a newbie has been placed in her cubicle, a posh, upscale Yale graduate lawyer who is smart, preppy, and serious, everything that Josie isn't. About all they have in common is having famous parents. That's all about to change, and the journey is the exciting concern of this very funny novel. It all begins when Calvin, the newbie, marries a "society" gal, and Calvin and Josie are thrown together in a journey to Africa, a trip that will change everything and require Josie to grow up fast. Is she up to the task?

Rambunctious and still attracted to Calvin, Josie finally faces the seriousness of a threatening election situation in North Africa that could change all of Europe. Now she has to begin learning to listen to her head and heart about the news and Calvin! What a trip!

It's been quite a while since this reviewer read a Pedersen novel; her skill has evolved in a grand way that I found so pleasing! Fool's Mate bounces along and then proceeds at a taut, riveting pace as the cast of characters in this cleverly-crafted novel live, learn, and grow in a way that gives new meaning to folly and wisdom!!! Delightful!!!

You're Not the One by Alexandra Potter

You're Not the One. Alexandra Potter. Penguin Group, USA. 2011. 384 pp. ISBN #: 9780452296909.

Lucy Hemingway and Nat Kennedy believed they were bound together ever since they visited Venice, Italy and hear a message about those couples who kiss on a gondola traveling under a certain bridge. They each have a memento of that experience and are totally elated with knowing how deep and solid their love is and will endure!!!

But things crash when Nat meets someone else and tells Lucy he is sorry but he will be getting married. It's now ten years later and Lucy pretends it is "water under the bridge" as the saying go. But deep down, she has never stopped loving Nat and wondering what happened to their guaranteed dream life together. Meanwhile, she's an assistant at an art gallery with an owner, Magda, who wants to be Lucy's matchmaker. What follows is as much of a mystery as a romance as Lucy on an assignment to deliver art pieces to a buyer discovers that the purchaser is Nat. As the days go by, they discover their new love but also discover some irritating quirks about each other that are both funny and yet puzzling. How is the promise of eternal love and never being unconnected to happen when they cannot tolerate each other for more than a few minutes?

And what about Adam whom Lucy meets and could really love getting to know and date were it not for Nat who keeps popping up in Lucy's world too often for it to be coincidence? Must Lucy and Nat do something to break what now feels like a curse? How many misunderstandings can Adam endure? What about Lucy's sister who was formerly so cold and uncaring and now reveals a devastating secret that changes Lucy's perspective on all the aspects of her crazy bohemian life?

You're Not the One is a funny, romantic, mysterious, intriguing read you won't forget for a long time. It certainly makes one think about who is "the One!"

The Other Life: A Novel by Ellen Meister

The Other Life: A Novel. Ellen Meister. Penguin Group USA. 320 pages. ISBN #: 9780425243374. SEE SPECIAL OFFER AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE!

So many readers have pondered Robert Frost's poem where one wonders what life would have been like on "The Road Not Taken." But what if one had the opportunity to do just that, to see what life would yield if one had made a different decision about one's lover or spouse, one's job or anything else one considers of ultimate importance?

Quinn Braverman lives two lives. As a child, she learned that there were portals she could enter that would take her to another world. Her mother knows about these entrances into another world existing at the same time as the present one but full of different places and "other" people. Quinn isn't a very secure person and at one time ditched her needy ex-boyfriend, Eugene, to marry Lewis, the man who is caring, observant, and totally in tune with pleasing Quinn rather than himself! Sounds like a dream, right?

But Quinn's life is suddenly turned upside down when she discovers her pregnancy is in danger and the baby she is carrying has a huge medical problem. So is suburban life with this new devastating problem one to continue or should she see what it would be like if she had actually stayed with Eugene in his musical, citified life?Where would she be and more important, who would she be in that other world?

It's a terrifying journey yet one Quinn cannot stop pursuing. There's a mystery connected with her deceased, artistic mother to which Quinn seeks an answer, hoping to achieve peace with her presently questionable life. She seems to sense that the answers will not only determine what her marriage will be like in the future but also help her make the very important decision about this as yet unborn child.

The Other Life is riveting reading and finely written. It deserves a wide audience for its tense, complex, and yes, painful but beautiful world! Finely done, Ms. Meister!!!

Ellen Meister, author of THE OTHER LIFE is doing something really fun for Book Clubs! She just launched a program to thank book club members by name in the acknowledgments section of her next book. She has a Book Club Guestbook on her site now and anyone in a book group that read or plans to read THE OTHER LIFE is free to sign up. All they need to do is visit her site at http://www.websitetoolbox.com/guestbook/ellenmeister and fill out the form. That's it!

Event Horizon Conspiracy by Robert E. Bonson

Event Horizon Conspiracy. Robert E. Bonson. Xlibris Corporation. 2011. 208 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9781465376183.

A man walks toward a limousine driver who nods and opens the door for him. The doors close and locks are in place. For an unspecified reason, the passenger panics and panics and panics; he then tries to get out of the car, fails, and succumbs to a mind-boggling, claustrophobic, fearsome pain that spreads and spreads!

So begins this story of two researchers who have disappeared and the attempt to find them by a relative and Russell, our hero with past experience in aeronautics, criminal investigations and mystery writing. As the story progresses, it seems that this rather secretive research about rDNA is tied to the 2012 Mayan Calendar feverish public commentary about the end of the world or some other scenarios just as shocking and ultimately ending with the same demise of Earth.

What is happening at a funeral home where dead people are buried but no families are involved in the final days of the deceased? Why are there two murders that follow rapidly upon the sharing of secretive information that just might lead the investigators closer to finding one dead researcher and one who still might be alive? If the research isn't connected to the Mayan calendar predictions but instead a diabolical plot to eliminate all but a select few, what can and can't be done to prevent such a horrific possibility from coming to pass?

Robert Bonson's novels have always been intriguing, but this mystery specifically exceeds all of his earlier stories. The complexity of the plot is credible, fear-filled to the point of producing anxiety, and obviously well-researched. The information behind the incredible schemes is depicted in layperson's terms, with enough theoretical possibilities to make the reader believe he or she is right there and that this will indeed all come to pass!

Congratulations Robert E. Bonson on a fascinating, gripping mystery and adventure tale sure to engage many future readers!!! Very nicely done!

At The Mercy of the Queen - A Novel of Anne Boleyn by Anne Clinard Barnhill

At The Mercy of The Queen: A Novel of Anne Boleyn. St. Martin's Press. January 2012. 448 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9780312662134.

Lady Margaret Shelton, or Madge as she is known throughout the novel, arrives at the Court of King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. Madge is 15, close in age to Anne, who is soon to wed Henry. For Henry's late Queen has been put aside, Henry has formed his own Church of England after splitting with Rome over his soon-to-be-Queen Anne. It's a dangerous time for all but the King, who revels only in a reign that gathers more and more wealth from the old Church, delightful food and drink, and of course his voracious sexual appetite now focused solely on Anne. But this novel is as much about Madge as it is Anne Boleyn. For Madge's fortune is explicitly tied to the ups and downs of Henry and Anne's relationship. And all too soon, there are more "down" moments!

Anne and Madge are enigmas, one minute displaying piety and virtue and the next speaking about the most outrageous forms of lovemaking, etc. For neither, quite obviously, is sure of how to gain and keep love. Both are slow to realize how a word spoken impetuously can cascade into dramatic scenes that could cause banishment or even death. Madge is betrothed to a loathsome Sir Norris while she madly falls in love with another man of no real consequence in Henry's Court, Arthur. Anne urges Madge on, as her own romance with the King waxes and wanes, decreasing as she gives birth to a girl and then proceeds to miscarry other babes, including one who would have been the long-sought-after Prince or heir to Henry.

At one point, the Queen will sacrifice the virtue of Madge in order to regain her husband's fancy, a plan that quickly falls apart as Henry suspects the "French" techniques of love as beyond debauchery and obscene. Ironically, the other members of the Court, outside of Cromwell and Jane Seymour, have little place in this tale, even Anne's brother, George.

Having read many, many accounts of Queen Anne Boleyn, this reviewer didn't expect to be so enthralled with another account of same, but Anne Barnhill has managed to craft a thrilling, human, and inspiring portrait of two characters who really did so little to deserve admiration, beyond their obvious physical beauty and charm, but who manage to have readers rooting for their success, even when one knows the end of the story for Anne.

Well-done, Anne Clinard Barnhill! Anne Boleyn is much more likable and probable in your depiction. This is a graceful, spicy, terrible, and totally engaging novel!