In this humorous and tender memoir, Honour (There’s Some Place Like Home) recounts her life as a reluctant expat in Europe. New York City and “my personality were so co-dependent that I had no idea where it ended and I began,” Honour writes, recalling her shock at her husband’s proposal that they move with their two kids from Brooklyn to Cyprus for his work in 2008. At the time, Honour had lived in New York for 20 years, and she feared what she’d find if she had to reexamine her sense of self. But the offer was a “career unicorn” for her husband, so she agreed to pack up. Honour writes with quick wit and bruised candor about her rocky first few months in Cyprus, during which she moped and struggled to adapt to the relaxed pace of life. Then, with equal panache, Honour illustrates how, as her husband’s work whisked them to Copenhagen and then Berlin, she learned to extricate her self-worth from being a “New Yorker” or an “expat,” and came to appreciate the resilience that the family’s new lifestyle fostered in her and her children. This will resonate with anyone who’s had to redefine themselves under unexpected circumstances. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 12/06/2024 | Details & Permalink

Aukes (the Redline Corps series) successfully tweaks the Jurassic Park formula in this intricate sci-fi thriller about a plot to revive extinct species. Sam Brodie, a federal wildlife officer, is called to Yellowstone National Park to investigate reports of an unusually large cat roaming the area. Brodie and a colleague find and kill the animal; afterward, Brodie notices that its massive teeth resemble those of the extinct saber-toothed tiger. She reports her findings to her superiors, and the case gets shunted to the Wilderness and Animal Special Protection team, or WASP, a task force that “works the weird stuff” in America’s wilderness. As more evidence of living prehistoric carnivores surfaces across the region, Brodie gets reassigned to WASP to help unravel the mystery. Flashbacks reveal that the creatures are part of a business initiative by billionaire Marc Angel, who hopes to charge people for the opportunity to hunt the beasts or watch them battle each other. Soon Angel and his corporation are clashing with Brodie and her colleagues, with deadly results. Aukes takes the time to fully develop his characters while still providing enough action to keep the pages flying. A sequel would be welcome. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 12/06/2024 | Details & Permalink

Lyndsey (Girl in the Dark) captures the horror of having one’s chronic illness dismissed by others in her scattershot latest. After Tom Jenkins, a British PhD student in physics, starts experiencing headaches and nausea, he takes part in the psychology department’s study of self-described “reactors,” people who believe they have electromagnetic hypersensitivity. Tom comes to believe that he’s a reactor, too, when he notices the symptoms lift as he spends time away from campus, which has just installed a high-powered Wi-Fi system. After many reactors drop out of the study, Tom and his psychologist friend Kevin band together to report on its problems. When their concerns are brushed under the rug and Tom’s girlfriend dumps him, claiming he’s imagining his condition, he retreats to the countryside and joins a camp of fellow reactors. As he recuperates, he hatches plans for an experiment that will prove what they’re enduring is real. Rigorous discussions between Tom and the others about the scientific method throttle narrative momentum as the plot veers from Tom’s inner turmoil to hints of a far-reaching conspiracy. Still, Lyndsey paints a realistic picture of what it means to cope with a condition that is not recognized as a medical diagnosis, but which still has the power to shape one’s life. It’s a provocative tale. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 12/06/2024 | Details & Permalink

Bishara, a doctor of integrative medicine, debuts with a competent guide on the benefits of eating well. Explaining that the gut contains trillions of microbes, she contends that eating a varied diet of high-fiber, plant-based foods contributes to the flourishing of beneficial bacteria, which promote digestion and eliminate toxins, whereas eating unhealthy processed foods fuels harmful bacteria that can make individuals more likely to develop Crohn’s disease and irritable bowel syndrome. Gut bacteria also affect mood by producing neurotransmitters that cycle into the brain, Bishara writes, asserting that eating eggs, grains, and walnuts fosters production of the calming GABA neurotransmitter, while consuming apples, dark chocolate, and leafy vegetables boosts levels of the “excitatory” chemical compound dopamine. Elsewhere, Bishara extols the benefits of intermittent fasting, suggesting readers fast for 16 hours per day because going without food for that long prompts the body to burn fat for energy. There’s not much here that can’t be found in similar diet guides, but Bishara’s no-frills approach and encouraging tone (“Don’t jump off the bandwagon just because you have 1 or 2 bad days”) are a boon. This is worth checking out. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 11/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

Children’s author Castoro (How to Keep Monsters out of Your Room, as Catie Cat) makes her adult debut with a winning portrait of a struggling Detroit single mother trying to make a better life for her daughter. Edwina “Eddie” Hest is evicted from the apartment she shares with her nine-year-old daughter, Grace, after the landlord sells the building, prompting Eddie to borrow money from her mother for a down payment on a small suburban house. She thinks their newfound stability will help her be a better mother to Grace, whose father is incarcerated. Structured as a series of transcripts from Eddie’s therapy sessions, the voice-driven narrative depicts how Eddie, a self-described “rebel” with tattoos and dyed purple hair, gradually loses the chip on her shoulder (“I don’t intend to hang out with suburbia,” she says early on) as she spends more time than she’d like with soccer mom Sheila, whose daughter is friends with Grace. The story takes a strange turn when Sheila blackmails Eddie, threatening to expose the fact that Grace’s father is in prison. Castoro skillfully raises the stakes all the way to the deliciously karmic ending. It’s a satisfying tale of redemption. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 11/29/2024 | Details & Permalink

Doyle (The Assassination of Mary Magdalene) puts his knowledge of the Gospels to good use in this intriguing Sherlock Holmes pastiche. In 1901, Watson’s friend and former war comrade, the Rev. David Adams, asks for his help in getting Holmes to go to the scene of a suspicious death. The victim is Canon Alfred Lilly, a friend of Adams’s, who was found in his study with a fatal knife wound in his neck. On Lilly’s desk is a scrap of paper with a partial passage from the Gospel of Mark about Jesus’s journey to Jericho. Holmes quickly proves that Lilly didn’t take his own life, as the police suspect, and develops a theory that his murder was related to his translation of an ancient manuscript preserved in a Paris church. The mystery deepens when Holmes ascertains that the fragment Lilly had composed varies from the accepted text of the Gospel of Mark and includes details about what happened in Jericho that had been kept secret for centuries. The investigative trail leads to another murder and more shocking discoveries that call Church doctrine into question. Doyle seamlessly combines a sturdy understanding of Holmes’s specific skill set with the giddy puzzle-solving of a Dan Brown thriller. It’s great fun. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 11/22/2024 | Details & Permalink

Rose (Catch the Earth) chronicles a woman’s efforts to move on after a tragedy in this empathetic if simplistic outing. Zoey Sanders, 27, an intern with Mountaintop Search and Rescue in Montana, spends her days patching up broken bones and treating concussions. She feels a sense of belonging with the crew but misses her family, her older siblings having scattered across the country. New to the rescue outfit is dog handler Micah Byrne, who is Deaf and was raised by adoptive parents, and whose two canine companions can sniff out survivors buried under feet of snow. Zoey and Micah form an instant connection, and Zoey brushes up on the sign language she learned in school. One day, during a visit from Zoey’s younger brother, Charlie, a drunk guy on a snowmobile fires his gun, causing a massive avalanche, in which Charlie is killed, sending Zoey into a rage that jeopardizes her burgeoning romance with Micah. She gets a second chance, though, when she helps Micah look up his birth parents. The writing isn’t particularly skillful, as Rose leans too much on exposition, but there’s a natural flow to the narrative as Zoey attempts to rebuild her life. This is worth a look. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 11/15/2024 | Details & Permalink

Skillfully blending the mundane and the macabre, Shehata (the Russian Tattoos trilogy) presents a delightful paranormal romance built on a foundation of suspense. Evelyn is an artist with a secret: ever since a near-death experience, the spirits of the dead contact her through her art. On the cusp of opening her own gallery in Chicago, she crosses paths with Det. Leo Ricci, a member of the violent crimes task force and avowed denier of the paranormal. After a coffee shop meet-cute, the pair are quickly thrown into a deadly game of cat and mouse when Evelyn’s real estate agent friend, Sydney, is murdered—and Leo reluctantly teams up with Evelyn to crack the case. Clues and red herrings abound, though character development occasionally gets lost in the shuffle, especially when it comes to the secondary cast members who play key roles. The supernatural aspects are where this truly shines, with Evelyn’s spirit encounters, automatic drawing, and clairvoyance presented in all of their spine-tingling glory. Aficionados of old-school paranormal romance will be eager for more. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 11/08/2024 | Details & Permalink

Chen (Three Terrible Tales) smoothly shifts between realism and fantasy in this unsettling collection. In “The Zhangs and the Zumans,” a couple visits their former starter home, which they’re renting out, and are surprised to find their tenants getting along with the chaotic next-door neighbors who drove them away. In the story’s surprise ending, Chen reveals how the couple’s attitude toward their former neighbors says more about themselves. “Wedding Day at St. Thomas” explores themes of complacency and passivity, as a woman realizes during the disastrous first kiss with her husband at their wedding ceremony that she’s having “one of the most terrible moments of her life,” but goes through with the marriage anyway. In “He’s Just Fine,” a mother enrolls her son at day care despite worrying he won’t be properly cared for, only to learn her fears have come true. Interspersed with these longer entries are flash fictions, often with more overtly creepy situations. In “Paradox,” for example, a woman fleeing a multiheaded dog takes refuge in her friends’ house, only to get lost in the home’s endless hallways. With a wide range of tones and subjects, Chen demonstrates an impressive ability to pinpoint the traps her characters get caught in. This allures and alarms in equal measure. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 11/08/2024 | Details & Permalink

Potenza (the Nicky Matthews series) pairs an idiosyncratic sleuth with a rip-roaring plot in this promising series launch. Gruff paleontologist and poison expert Myrna Lee, whose colorful past includes stealing from Siberian ivory hunters who subsequently threatened her with a rocket launcher, is seeking evidence to support her theory that human ancestors hunted prehistoric megafauna, including mammoths, with poison. With few promising leads and her grant funds drying up, Lee is thrilled to learn that a New Mexico ranch owned by the influential Donavan family houses a collection of artifacts that could help prove her thesis. Lee attempts to persuade matriarch Sylvia Donavan to give her access to the collection if she solves the mystery of what, or who, is poisoning elks on the ranch—deaths which, if they’re made public, could scuttle the presidential aspirations of Sylvia’s husband, Charles. Lee’s mission grows even more complicated when she finds evidence that the poisonings were intentional, then discovers the body of an apparent murder victim on the property. Potenza peppers the action with plenty of enjoyable plot twists, and Lee’s endearingly antisocial antics make her a refreshingly iconoclastic lead. Readers will be eager for the sequel. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 11/01/2024 | Details & Permalink