Category Archives: Fiction

Review: Speaking From Among the Bones, by Alan Bradley

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Speaking From Among the Bones cover artSpeaking From Among the Bones, by Alan Bradley (Doubleday, 2012)

Flavia de Luce lives with her father and two older sisters in a decaying English country manor in 1951. She’s almost 12 and has already solved four murders, to the chagrin of the local constabulary (who are beginning to show her some grudging respect).

In this mystery, she discovers another body—this time in conjunction with the excavation of the village church’s patron saint’s tomb, honouring the 500th anniversary of his death. Why do the Bishop and the Magistrate want to block the project? What’s the secret hidden in the Magistrate’s creepy manor? And, of course, who killed the dead man?

Flavia’s family fortunes are slowly succumbing to what her father calls “His Majesty’s leeches” and in this novel the dreaded day comes when Buckshaw Manor must be put up for sale. The crisis, plus perhaps a bit of maturing among the sisters, gives them a common focus. I appreciate Alan Bradley’s deftly understated portrayal of the family dynamics, and I’ve come to care for the somewhat dysfunctional de Luces and their staff.

Although Flavia is a “child sleuth” there’s a rich depth to the stories that make them satisfying to (and designed for) adults. I like the humour and the word choices, and Flavia’s fixation with chemicals and poisons. She’s one of those delightful characters that you might not want to live with but who’s awfully fun to read about.

Alan Bradley’s mysteries are gentle reads in the “Golden Age” style, and this one ends with a surprising turn that has me a little perturbed about having to wait a whole year to find out what will happen next (in The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches). This is a series that builds on itself, so for maximum enjoyment a reader would begin with book 1, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie. But you can start with any one of them and not feel out of place.

To learn more about Alan Bradley and the Flavia de Luce mysteries, visit Flavia de Luce or pop over to Canadian Living‘s Saturday Afternoon Book Club to read an interview with the author about this newest book in the series.

[Review copy from my local public library. Amazon link is an affiliate link for The Word Guild.]

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Review: Sinking Deeper, by Steve Vernon

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Sinking Deeper cover artSinking Deeper: Or My Questionable (Possibly Heroic) Decision to Invent a Sea Monster, by Steve Vernon (Nimbus, 2011)

Fourteen-year-old Roland lives in the dying seaside town of Deeper Harbour, Nova Scotia. His parents have separated, and when he’s with his police-chief father, he sleeps at the jail while his dad does night patrol.

Except when his grandfather convinces him to sneak out for some prank-type vandalism. That’s how the story opens, and lest parents be concerned, there are consequences and restitution. There’s also, through a madcap series of events, the inspiration of how to revitalize the town’s tourist industry so Roland’s mom won’t make him move to Ottawa in search of a better future.

Roland, along with Grandpa Angus, 15-year-old Dulsie, and her father Warren, will create a sea monster. And they do—through spreading rumours and building an actual “Fogopogo” for the townspeople’s “sightings”.

The story is told in the first person with evocative descriptions like this one:

I … squoodged the sleep-sand out of my eyeballs with the sides of my fists. (p. 3)

And observations like this one:

The idea that had been sneaking around the basement of my imagination jumped up and smacked me directly between the eyes. (p. 30)

This is a fun novel, heartwarming in places, and with plenty of humour. It also has plenty of depth, which, sadly, makes for a more realistic ending than I’d hoped. But the characters are delightful, and Roland discovers new layers to these people he’s grown up with and thinks he knows.

I heartily recommend Sinking Deeper for young adult readers and adults who are still in touch with their 12-to-14-year-old selves. Sinking Deeper was nominated for the Silver Birch and Hackmatack Awards.

Steve Vernon is the author of four collections of Maritime ghost stories, the children’s picture book Maritime Monsters, and more. He and his publisher, Nimbus, are local to me, but I heard of this book through a blog giveaway (and won!) You can learn more about Steve Vernon at his blog and on Facebook.

[Review copy won from Polilla Writes.]
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Review: Hill of Great Darkness, by H. C. Beckerr

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Hill of Great DarknessHill of Great Darkness, by H. C. Beckerr (WestBow Press, 2011)

In the year 2037, a prototype spaceship called Magellan sets out from Earth on a mission to test a revolutionary new propulsion system—and disappears. The US government will label what happens next “The Magellan Incident” and bury it deep in classified files. An international terrorist group will use whatever means necessary to find the truth and use it for mass destruction.

There’s much to like about this story. The technology is clever and plausible (to this non-scientist reader), the spacecraft itself is funded privately instead of being tied to a particular government’s agenda, there’s a terrorist threat, there are interesting characters, and there are surprises. There’s even a link to the past and the mysterious disappearance of the Native American people known as the Mississippians, of whom I had not heard.

The story is narrated from an omniscient viewpoint, complete with sprinkles of dry humour. While the voice is natural for relating anecdotes over coffee, the low-key delivery often “tells, rather than shows,” which might better suit a literary tale than an action-based plot.

The characters are a mix of heroes, scientists, ordinary folk and villains. Perhaps my favourite is Simone Syette, a brilliant Ugandan scientist who speaks her mind, trusts in Jesus Christ, and is the inventor of Magellan‘s drive unit. It’s clear that the author knows and loves his characters and has put serious time into developing them.

Hill of Great Darkness is a good story that could have been fantastic. The elements are all there, waiting to be teased out by a gifted editor. I’d love to see what Marcher Lord Press would have done with this.

The novel is well worth reading, and the ending sets up a sequel. You can read an interview with H. C. Beckerr at The Old Stone Wall (that’s where I won a copy of the book)  and connect with him on Facebook. Hill of Great Darkness is available in softcover, hardcover, and ebook formats. Amazon.ca, Amazon.com.

[Review copy won through a giveaway at The Old Stone Wall. Amazon links are affiliate links for The Word Guild.]

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Review: Wonders Never Cease, by Tim Downs

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Wonders Never Cease cover artWonders Never Cease, by Tim Downs (Thomas Nelson, 2010)

Nurse Kemp McAvoy’s latest brilliant scheme involves impersonating an angel. His nightly “visitations” to a comatose movie star will prompt her to write a best-selling self-help book, from which he’ll take a well-deserved share of the publisher’s profits.

Kemp is a jerk. There’s no nice way to say it. He really is. Self-absorbed and without conscience. He got kicked out of his residency as an anaesthesiologist for what he calls a “minor” ethical issue, and now he resents living on a nurse’s salary.

He got the angel idea from another best-selling spiritual-insight book and from his girlfriend’s daughter, who claims to have actually seen an angel.

Six-year-old Leah sees a few angels as the story progresses, and that brings her mom, Natalie, into conflict with Leah’s attractive teacher, Matt, and with the school’s arrogant psychologist.

Leah’s voice in the prologue sold me on the book. She’s sharp and funny. The rest of the novel is told third-person, mostly in Kemp’s and Natalie’s points of view.

Wonders Never Cease is a comedy of errors as we watch Kemp dig himself in farther and farther. And it’s a gentle romance as Natalie begins to see the truth about Kemp and to notice Matt’s kindness.

And there are angels.

Author Tim Downs is probably best known for his Bug Man mystery novels. You can learn more about him and his books at the Tim Downs website, and read a sample chapter of Wonders Never Cease.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

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Review: Then, There’s Love, by Rena Manse

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cover art: Then, There's LoveThen, There’s Love, by Rena Manse (Kindle Edition, 2013)

Ashley McKenny is a twenty-something single woman with a strong sense of family. Her father’s out of work and her mother just received an “invitation to resign” from her CEO position. How can Ashley support the three of them on a nurse’s salary?

The chance to go home with one of her patients as a private nurse looks like a good short-term solution, and Ashley leaves Toronto for upscale New York. Her patient, Val, is a charming elderly woman, and Val’s home in the Hamptons is like a fairy tale. Less idyllic (but dangerously attractive) is Val’s grandson, Aaron, who lives with her when he’s not away on business.

To further complicate matters, Aaron is the corporate executive who came to Toronto to fire her mother. Had Ashley known, she’d never have taken this job. Aaron is desperate to save his international business (the company is called Revealing), and he’ll do whatever it takes. The one thing they do agree on is concern for Val’s recovery.

Then, There’s Love is an interracial Christian romance with strong characters and edgy romantic content. Nothing is inappropriate, although some bits are more sensual and descriptive than I’m comfortable with. One thing I really appreciate is Ashley’s commitment to keep her virginity until she’s married. That’s not unusual in Christian fiction, but this novel has more sexual tension between lead characters and it tests Ashley’s resolve. Her example in staying strong can encourage single (or single again) women whatever their past history.

Ashley has high ideals about love, while Aaron has written it off. He’s also walked away from God, and despite what she’s starting to feel for him, she can’t commit her heart to a man who doesn’t share her faith. Yet they understand one another on deeper levels than their friends can see. The two of them stayed in my imagination after the story ended.

Then, There’s Love is Canadian author Rena Manse’s debut novel, available for Kindle from Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.

[Review copy from my personal library. Amazon links are affiliate links for The Word Guild.]

Review: Whirlpool, by Lorena McCourtney

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Whirlpool, by Lorena McCourtneyWhirlpool, by Lorena McCourtney (Kindle version, 2011)

Would you stay in a town where your ex-husband flaunted his lavish lifestyle and new fiancée while he stalls on dividing ownership of your former family business? Well, maybe you would, since there’s evidence he’s been less than honest with the company finances.

Stefanie Canfield chose to stay.

Arson investigator Ryan Harrison spent a miserable portion of his childhood in the town of Julesburg and can’t believe his company’s sending him back there. Surprise number 1 is the discovery that Stephanie’s still in town. After their shared underdog status in school, he figured she’d have distanced herself as much as he had. Surprise number 2: She’s turned into an attractive woman, and they seem to have some chemistry. Number 3? She’s one of the suspects in his case.

Stephanie knows she didn’t start the fire. Her ex, Hunter, is calculating enough to have done it, but she has no proof.

What she does have are odd “blurry” episodes, brought on by stress, when she can’t remember what she’s done. Under the circumstances, these happen more frequently. So when there’s a murder, can she really be sure she didn’t do it? Even if she didn’t, can Hunter successfully frame her?

I really enjoyed this novel, the first in the Julesburg Mysteries series. It has a more serious feel than Lorena McCourtney’s Ivy Malone series or her new mystery, Dying to Read, but there are still light-hearted turns of phrase to bring a smile.

Whirlpool is a good mystery, set in coastal Oregon. I like Stefanie, although her impulsive actions often had me wanting to shake her and say “don’t do that!” Not only has she lost her husband to another woman, she lost her mother to cancer the year before. And she may have lost her faith. After all, where was God in all this hurt?

While the specific mysteries of arson and murder are wrapped up for the authorities by the novel’s end, some of my questions aren’t resolved (will Stefanie’s blurry spells go away, and was the accident that caused them really an accident?). I thought that might happen as the series progressed, but the next two novels, Riptide and Undertow, focus on new characters and new romances. Stefanie and Ryan do appear, and all three books are worth a read.

You can learn more about author Lorena McCourtney at her website, or find her on Facebook. Whirlpool previously appeared in print through Fleming H. Revel, a division of Baker Books, 2002. The Julesburg novels are all available on Kindle, and since they’re re-issues of older novels, the prices are very inviting (under $3 each). See Amazon.ca and Amazon.com.

[Review copy from my personal library. Amazon links are affiliate links for The Word Guild.]

Review: The Superlative Stream, by Kerry Nietz

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Cover art for The Superlative Stream, by Kerry Nietz. The Superlative Stream, by Kerry Nietz (Marcher Lord Press, 2010)

If you haven’t read book 1 in the DarkTrench Saga yet please click to this review first: A Star Curiously Singing. If that sounds like your sort of novel, you’ll want to read it before diving into The Superlative Stream (book 2). And my review of book 2 will be a bit of a spoiler for book 1.

Still here? Okay, here we go.

In a dystopian future Earth, Sandfly and HardCandy are—were—debuggers. Tech support, equipped with brain implants to allow them to access a wireless data stream that makes our internet look primitive. Debuggers have no rights. They’re the property of the masters, and are kept in line by the same implants that let them touch the stream.

Earth has fallen under the control of a corrupted form of Islam. How will the true God make Himself known again? In A Star Curiously Singing, God’s message comes from a distant star and changes Sandfly’s life.

Sandfly is used to the ordinary data stream. What is this superlative stream that freed him from his master’s control and led him away on a mission on the spaceship DarkTrench? When he and HardCandy arrive at the source, there’s no singing star. Instead they meet an advanced race of people who may be too good to be true.

Now Sandfly wonders if he heard right in the first place. All he hears is occasional random sayings that make no sense to him. And he’s seeing things no one else sees.

The DarkTrench novels are written in the present tense from Sandfly’s point of view, except for excerpts of HardCandy’s past. Sandfly has a distinctive voice that I enjoy. He’s funny, direct and honest about his shortcomings. He occasionally speaks to the reader, adding to the conversational feel of his narrative.

I’ve enjoyed the first two novels in the series, and am looking forward to book 3, Freeheads. All three books in the DarkTrench series have been finalists in the EPIC eBook Awards Competition in the Science Fiction category. You can visit the author’s website to learn more about Kerry Nietz and his books.

[Review copy from my personal library.]

Review: Vanished, by Irene Hannon

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Vanished -- cover artVanished, by Irene Hannon (Revell, 2013)

Driving in heavy rain, Moira Harrison can’t avoid hitting the person who darts out in front of her car on a deserted woods road. Shaken from the accident, she accepts a kind stranger’s offer to call 911 and to help the victim. Then she passes out.

When she wakes, both the mysterious helper and the injured woman have vanished. Emergency responders dismiss her story as a product of a concussion, but Moira knows what she saw. The woman was not only real but terrified—fleeing from something or someone. What if Moira’s her only chance for help?

Moira is an investigative journalist, and her instincts insist she find some answers. Her story intrigues private investigator Cal Burke, but with no evidence, how far will they get?

Vanished is more of a puzzle-type mystery than an action-heavy suspense novel, and it doesn’t really get tense until the end. The key characters are strong and well-developed. I enjoyed watching Moira and Cal discover clues and chip away at the solution. From early on we see snippets from the villain’s point of view, and by the novel’s end we understand why he’s done what he’s done—and why he thinks it’s right.

Fans of romance will also enjoy the story, because the growing relationship between Moira and Cal is a strong secondary plot. Vanished is book one in Irene Hannon’s new Private Justice series, and it looks like Cal’s two single partners in the Phoenix Inc. PI firm will each find love in the books to come.

RITA Award-winning Irene Hannon has written over 35 novels, including the bestselling Guardians of Justice series. You can read an interview with Irene Hannon and discover more about her books on her website. Click here to read an excerpt of Vanished.

[Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.]
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Review: The Alloy of Law, by Brandon Sanderson

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The Alloy of Law: cover art

The Alloy of Law, by Brandon Sanderson (Tor Books, 2011)

Waxilium Ladrian is a frontier lawman with the Allomantic ability to mentally Push metal (a “coinshot” in the original Mistborn trilogy terminology). He’s also a good man with a gun.

Wax moves into the city of Elendel to manage his late uncle’s estate. It’s a struggle to reinvent himself to be acceptable in social circles … and to attract a wealthy bride to restore his house’s fortunes.

But his friend and former sidekick, Wayne, won’t let him forget his law-enforcement days. There’s a new gang of thieves at work and the local police are out of their league. Wax and Wayne 🙂 are a fun team to watch at work.

If you haven’t read the earlier Mistborn books, you can jump right in here. Much has changed since that trilogy, and anything needed is explained. Those who familiar with the first series will recognize little nods and tributes here and there.

The Alloy of Law takes place 300 years after the events of the original Mistborn series. In the acknowledgements section, the author says he plans to write two more epic trilogies on this planet, Scadrial: one urban and one futuristic, to show how the culture changes over time.

This novel, though, isn’t part of that. It’s shorter, and has a wild west / frontier town feel. It may be my favourite Brandon Sanderson book yet, possibly because it’s a bit faster-paced and still has his trademark threads of humour.

He doesn’t say anything about it being more than a stand-alone title, but the ending sets up enough problems for Wax and Wayne that I certainly hope there’ll be a sequel.

Visit the official Brandon Sanderson website for more about the author and his books, or see The Alloy of Law page for more about this story.

[Review copy borrowed from my son’s bookcase.]

Review: Daughter of Light, by Morgan L. Busse

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Daughter of LightDaughter of Light, by Morgan L. Busse (Marcher Lord Press, 2012)

Rowen Mar has always felt like an outsider, and when she develops a mysterious white mark on her palm—and unleashes a frightening power—she’s truly alone. Can she make a new life as bodyguard to Lady Astrea in the White City, or will her secret come out? And does she have a part to play in the war that threatens her new home?

Caleb Tala is an unstoppable assassin whose victims haunt his dreams. Nierne is a young scribe thrust from her secure monastery and charged with a dangerous journey.

With supernatural power, secrets, danger and death, Daughter of Light follows Rowen, Caleb, Nierne and their associates in a lavish-scaled fantasy that is only the beginning of the real battle.

In this book, the armies are human. But just as Rowen discovers herself to be one of the Eldaran, an angelic-type race thought long dead, another forgotten race still lives: the Shadonae. And while the Eldaran serve the Word (God of the story’s world) the Shadonae oppose Him and want to destroy all humans.

The story drew me in, the world-building is detailed, and I liked Rowen, Nierne and their friends. The Word is a clear representation of Jesus, and those who follow Him are realistic in their struggles. There are a few instances of Divine interaction in the plot, and they’re neither gratuitous nor taking over the characters. They’re the logical result of having a God who cares about His people but who gives them free will, and I found they encouraged my faith.

I would like to have seen Nierne’s plot thread taken one more step at the end, but I’ll have to wait for book 2. And there must be a book 2; the Shadonae are rising. Marcher Lord Press doesn’t release a list of new titles too far in advance of publication but that doesn’t mean a sequel isn’t in the works.

You can learn more about author Morgan L. Busse and Daughter of Light at her website, In Darkness there is Light.

[Review copy from my personal library. Amazon links are affiliate links for The Word Guild.]
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