Desolation Row by Kay Kendall

Desolation Row. Kay Kendall. March 2013. The Armchair Publisher. March 2013. 258 pp. hbk. ISBN #: 9780985994211.

Austin Starr’s husband David is a “draft dodger” (term used for those without refused to fight in the Vietnam War) and has taken her to live in Canada where they are both pursuing academic careers.  Austin isn’t completely happy there, is rather homesick and finds the culture in Canada very different from America.  Things are about to get even more difficult for her and her husband.  Even though they’re living outside America, they are still part of the protest movement which is actually picking up steam in both countries.  Murder suddenly alters their world!

One of the protest leaders, Reginald Simpson, the son of an American Senator, has been great for the movement but has earned a few enemies as well.  When Austin one night stumbles over his dead body, she is totally traumatized but quickly has to recover when David is accused of the murder.  Having spent some brief time being trained to work for the CIA, albeit never pursuing that career, she knows with every fiber of her being that David is innocent and sets her course to find the killer.  This drive doesn’t exactly endear her to the Canadian Mounties, who don’t know about her background and see her as meddlesome.  However, she does make a somewhat strange semi-friendship with one of the officers and manages to share her findings with him.

At the same time she comes under the protection of her university mentor, a Professor of Russian history, and his daughter.  They help her examine her questions: Who hated Reg so much to kill him?  Why was Reg so out of sync with his father and why is there something shady about Reg’s father?  What’s the difference between hating the system that turns to war in times of conflict and just not wanting to fight in a war?  Other questions appear on so many pages but the most important is who is now threatening Austin?

The ending will be quite a surprise and another point of view that really most will realize we don’t think of too often.  Desolation Row is a good read, an engaging mystery, and a satire of the anti-war movement in some ways.  Interesting read!

Tendrils of Life by Owen Choi

Tendrils of Life. R. Owen Choi. Princeton Falcon Press. July 2012. 428 pp. pbk. ISBN#: 9780985728601.

To many the Korean War remains a distant memory, except for those American soldiers who fought in the war and passed on their knowledge to their children and grandchildren.  Now we have a potent novel that explores what happened to the Korean people before and during this war, how the Japanese, Chinese and North Koreans forced Koreans to turn against Koreans.  We read a story of the depths of despair from starvation, filth, disease, rape, murder, but we also have here a story replete with the deepest love, cooperation, compassion, and most of all hope that drives men and women forward to obtain dreams of a better life.

Jimin and Sinman are the protagonist and antagonist respectively who are deadly enemies not realizing how deeply they are truly connected.  The novel opens with Jimin, his sister Misern, their mother and father leaving the island of Ockdo, a remote island in southern Korea.  The father comes briefly and infrequently and leaves for long periods of time.  They arrive in a communist-occupied Seoul in 1950 before the war begins and they live with starvation, fear of the communists who randomly arrest, torture and kill anyone and everyone for the flimsiest reason.  On and on this horror continues, with Jimin and Misern’s mother eventually attacked and dying from her wounds.  Sinman hates Jimin, a family clan warfare whose origin is gradually revealed throughout the entire novel.  Sinman has money and bribes whoever he needs; his goal is to kill Jimin, but after much suffering Jimin and Misern decide to return to Ockdo. 

Little do they know that they are about to begin a horrendous, long journey which will be full of hate and love, starvation and food provided by kind-hearted Koreans, and so so much more than this review can adequately convey.  Sinman hates his father but must comply with his commands due to their true origins as poverty-stricken peasants; trying to be what one can never be is what tips the mental imbalance of Sinman and his father.  But Jimin doesn’t know this and escapes before he can come to harm; later he will have one final confrontation.

American soldiers are depicted quite poorly here; they speak of their disdain for the country that they are risking their lives for. They bomb cities and towns, never realizing that the Communist Chinese have hidden in the hills and caves.  Communists cannot be trusted for one second.  Sora becomes Jimin’s lover, introducing a new type of relationship into Jimin’s life. Other characters like Teacher Yang appear when just needed, wisely advising Jimin how to proceed when his fears and ignorance would threaten to destroy his dream.

So much more could be said about this surprising, fascinating novel that has received little attention and deserves so much more.  It is well-researched, perhaps one-sided in several places, but still reflective of the multiple points of view regarding that long ago, almost forgotten nightmare period in Korean history.  Highly recommended historical fiction!

The Sixth Station by Linda Stasi

The Sixth Station.  Linda Stasi. Forge Books.  January 2013. 368 pp. hbk. ISBN #: 9780765334275.

Alessandra Russo is a smart, sassy journalist who loses jobs because of her cynical, snide comments; but she’s a true journalist who will do anything for a story, anything!  But her life in search of the award-winning story is about to go ballistic!

Alessandro gets pulled into the middle of a crowd of thousands awaiting the arrival of Demiel ben Yusef for his trial.  For he is accused of being a terrorist responsible for the murder and horrific suffering of people around where bombs have changed the life of millions.  Some think him a demon; others revere him as the “Son of the Son of God.”  As he steps out of the van, he sees Alessandra and leaves her with something that turns her into an instant celebrity, but reporters see her as an accomplice or a nutty follower.  Either way, they think Alessandra knows something that could contribute one way or another to a guilty or innocent verdict. Yusef himself, once he has been seated for the trial, refuses to defend himself.  On the way out of the first day’s proceedings, he quietly passes a verbal message to Alessandra.  Now she’s in big trouble for she’s a hunted woman and even more so after her editor completely rewrites her article, leading to a fight and her being fired!  Worse, she has to go somewhere other than home because she is no longer safe!

The story progresses with a priest, former CIA agent, another older priest, and many more characters all sent by “them” or an organization seeking a relic that could prove Yusef really is a divine human.  For it seems that thirty-three years ago, some cloned Yusef from the actual blood of Jesus Christ.  Now, there is a search for DNA evidence plus a relic that could change the world and prove Yusef’s innocence, allowing him to “save the world.”  The journey takes Alessandra through Italy, France, Turkey, and other places in hair-raising scenes as someone else from an opposition group is out to find the relic first and/or kill her. The plot races along, as the reader attempts to follow hair-raising, tension-filled, illuminating but frightening scenes.  It’s like being on the most terrifying roller-coaster ride of your life!

All in all, however, this novel is an enigma.  The involvement of terrorists, the Catholic Church, mad scientists, Mary the Mother of God, the Templars, the Cathars, (considered a heretic sect of Catholicism at the time), upscale technology used for cloning, murder, and blackouts and more after a while truly stretches the plot so far as to seem less than credible, but this is fiction, right?

Since Dan Brown started this type of fiction, there have been many spin-offs of the “quest” for the Holy One, and this story goes one step further.  Alessandra spins back and forth from atheism, agnosticism, and awed belief like a spinning top that makes one truly, truly wonder how she became the “Chosen One.”  Dreams, groups bowing down before her, etc. clash wildly with her constantly sarcastic comments or thoughts.  The ending is surprising and one wonders if all this questing just crashed out of fatigue from the frenetic pace carried over 300 pages or if there will be a sequel to tie all the loose ends together. Hmmm…

If you love adventure, a good mystery, some historical connection, some religious inspiration, this is your next read for sure!  Inspiration – not – too much busyness and craziness that stretches the certainty of even those filled with unshakable faith!  You can’t stop reading, in spite of it all and for that, Lisa Stasi deserves some kudos and some “downers” before she writes a sequel!

When She Came Home by Drusilla Campbell

When She Came Home. Drusilla Campbell. Grand Central Publishing. April 2013. 336 pp. pbk. ISBN #: 9781455510351.

Frankie Byrne Tennyson is the daughter of a retired Marine Brigadier General and her life as well as the General’s wife have been all-military.  There’s no room for weakness and Frankie is out for a challenge from family and her husband when she is so stunned by 911 and the death of children on the planes that were attacked that she decides to enlist to do battle in Afghanistan or wherever required.  Her father, however, makes sure she is not put in harm’s way after her initial training.  Later however she signs up for another tour and does get to serve in Iraq, even if her job is only to create a new school rather than do battle.  But she is witness to unspeakable things which will later come up in as certain facts and issues come to the public light. 

When Frankie returns, she’s definitely not the same person she was, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and that her going and returning have also seriously affected her daughter, Glory.  The latter has questions galore, none of which Frankie wants to answer as she is definitely in need of professional help herself. But the General’s family have been well-trained as “perfect” Marines.  That basically means that psychological help is off limits as it would, if exposed, put an indelible mark on one’s career chart and worse than that display an inability to cope. 

The father’s secret is, however, that at one time he was coping no better than his daughter.  All of these characters must move through their days displaying more and more dysfunction until there will be no denial of the need for help.   It’s either that or someone will be bearing the brunt of the unconscious raging and invisible battle wounds everyone is denying.

This is such a timely issue that must not be covered over or denied, and Drusilla Campbell handles the problem with all its nuances and direct consequences with aplomb and admirable grace.  Rather than the expected maudlin quality, Frankie and her family are the epitome of what thousands of individuals and families are experiencing after returning from one or several tours of military service in Iraq or Afghanistan.  Kudos to you Ms. Campbell for writing a realistic novel about what unfortunately is today not one iota of fiction!  While it may gloss the surface of the issue, it’s definitely worth the read!

Bristol House: A Novel by Beverly Swerling

Bristol House: A Novel. Beverly Swerling. Viking Adult. April 2013. 416 pp. hbk. ISBN #: 9780670025930.

Annie Kendall’s academic historian career has been at a standstill for ten years when she’s offered the chance of a lifetime, or so she sees it.  She is hired by Weinraub, the head of the Shalom Foundation, to travel to London and find secret treasures hidden by Giacomo the Lombard, also known as the Jew of Holbern.  These treasures are connected to the ancient Second Temple of Jerusalem.  But there’s a heaviness and threatening attitude from Weinraub that bothers Annie but not enough initially to stop her from taking the job.  She’ll have free room and board and she has three months to complete what is really an impossible task.  So it begins!

The first unsettling aspect of this job is that after her landlady leaves Annie begins hearing chanting and visually senses the presence of a monk in her temporary home.  She has this uncanny ability to sit down immediately after seeing something and drawing it precisely as if it were a posing model.  So imagine her shock when she meets a researcher and TV personality, Geoff Harris, who is writing a book about what he believes to be a looming disaster that will occur in Israel; Geoff looks exactly like the monk haunting her home.  Their relationship forms slowly; Annie is a recovering alcoholic and so doesn’t expect anyone to believe her actual experience of her haunted dwelling.  But Geoff is a fine judge of truthful or sham characters and comes to believe that Annie is conveying reality, including later scenes of hearing music, seeing things written on the misty bathroom mirror and much, much more.

Somehow Annie and Geoff, along with Geoff’s dying mother and another Rabbi, come to see that the Jew of Holbern’s hidden treasures are linked to the Catholic Church and a secret sect known as the True Obedience of Avignon, tracing back to the time of a terrible schism in the Church about who was the “real” Pope.  Are these relics connected with Judaism or Christianity? What seems to be pointing to the Middle East leads them on a long journey of finding clues accompanied by the actual account told by the Jew of Holbern and the monk of Avignon who are connected in ways the reader could never imagine!

Bristol House… is a terrific mystery, thriller, fantasy and/or work of historical fiction.  If you love a complicated puzzle or a great mystery, this is the book for you. The clues move along slowly but then the pace picks up and the reader has to pay careful attention to piece it all together as the tension grows and grows. If you love historical fiction, this is a book that suggests how fanaticism regarding history can become so delusional that it poses a dire threat to the present on a global scale.  All in all, a fine novel that deserves much attention, rave reviews, and best seller status! This reader hated for the story to end – I want to know more about Annie and Geoff and what adventures their future holds! Congratulations Beverly Swerling!

The Chalice: A Novel by Nancy Bilyeau

The Chalice: A Novel. Nancy Bilyeau. Touchstone. March 2013. 485 pp. hbk. ISBN #: 9781476708652.

Joanna Stafford, former novice, has escaped the Tower of London while so many others have gone on to torture, beheading, and burning at the stake, all at the hands of King Henry VIII.  The year is 1538 and Joanna is trying to adjust to the life of a common woman, a difficult task given her noble background, all of which readers may have encountered in the prequel to this novel, The Crown: A Novel.   Having heard two prophecies about her role in the supposed downfall of the King, she wants no more knowledge as death has stalked everyone who is connected to her.  

As the King is destroying more monasteries and carrying out the Reformation through Thomas Cromwell, Joanna now learns that others are conniving to have European leaders attack England in order to restore the Catholic faith Henry has so thoroughly worked at stamping out.  Meanwhile, two men love Joanna and the course of these potential romances is a lovely and frightening one indeed.  For Joanna is not trusted and spies watch her every move, while others are using everything in their power to get her to agree to hear the third and final prophecy.  This is the story of temptation in so many ways, with Joanna experiencing physical desire at the same time she knows horror of what the future could bring.

For now Joanna is developing her talent as a seamstress, designing tapestries that awe all who see them.  Suddenly, her quiet life is shattered and after many fruitless arguments, she agrees to finish the task that seems to be divinely inspired.  She will travel to Belgium, be held prisoner when she once again refuses to cooperate with the powers that totally oppose the King, and then meet a famous seer who has just been accused of being a converso by the notorious Inquisition.  Finally, a revelation will clarify what she has struggled with for years upon years and she will embrace her task with faith.  Will she succeed?  How will England fare with so much division rife throughout the country and other nations?

Nancy Bilyeau is a very talented writer who has spun a brilliant work of historical fiction, as well as a tense plot replete with complex, dynamic characters.  Obviously well-researched, The Chalice immediately draws the reader into the story, urging support and opposition at all the right places, crafting complexity to several riddles within the account, and inserting just enough levity and love to balance out the "humanity" of all the characters.  For motivations and outcomes do not always exist as pure and simple as one would want but follow the complexity of the times in which this story takes place.

The Chalice: A Novel is finely crafted historical fiction.  It, as well as its prequel, deserves the status of "classic historical fiction." Congratulations, Nancy Bilyeau on an amazing, enjoyable and noteworthy series!

Mrs. Lieutenant: A Sharon Gold Novel by Phyllis Zimbler Miller

Mrs. Lieutenant: A Sharon Gold Novel.  Phyllis Zimbler Miller. Create Space. April 2008. 494 pp. hbk. ISBN #: 9781419686290.

The early 1970s is a difficult time in American history. The Vietnam War is in full swing, surrounded by patriotic men who sign up to fight this war to save America from the spread of Communism and the protesters who face armed violence but refuse to back down against a war they believe is totally unjust .  In the middle of this pitched battle are the wives of four officers undergoing special training in Fort Knox, Kentucky.  They represent four types of women throughout America, a Jew, an African-American, a Southern Baptist and a Puerto Rican.  They have received a booklet by the name of Mrs. Lieutenant, a book whose contents they are to read and obey without question, rules that determine the success or failure of their husband’s officer training program.

It sounds a simple enough plot yet there is so much complexity representative of this actual historical period of bloodshed and strife.  Yes, there is the obvious prejudice that depicts the anguish of being a Jew or black person in a white, “Southern” mentality Army; but always threading the conscious conformity lie the fears and questions of those who knew that orders to Vietnam meant death or at the least permanent mental anguish from what is seen, heard and done during that time.  For instance, what of the custom of “fragging” which means the killing of an officer by discontent men who lack respect for their leader?  Those who are older might think they know everything about these years and scarring memories, but this novel will open the eyes of many.

What about the tension that mounts to snapping point and winds up in the near-death of a man and the actual death of the one who has flipped?  What about a woman who has lost one husband and is now faced with the death of another to this man-eating war that promises disaster no matter how well one is trained?  These and so many more questions are addressed in this monumentally simple yet profound account of historical fiction that is replete with too much painful and yet proud reality?  Quite a job well-done, right down to the raw emotions, memories, and imagined scenarios for the present and future replete on every page for Vietnam era participants! Read it and reflect on its theme about tomorrow’s possibilities!