Book Reviews

Tangles by Kay Smith-Blum
Nuclear Production and Environment Impact
I was very intrigued by this story because I live in Washington State and I’ve seen the news reports of recent lawsuits linked to this nuclear production complex in Handford, Washington. The latest lawsuit was as recent as 2015. Sickened workers have accused and sued the site repeatedly.
This was a very important nuclear production site during the Cold War, established in 1943. It produced close to two-thirds of the plutonium needed for US nuclear weapons stockpile.
The story in Tangles intertwines science, love, loss and tragedy. The author created a story that made the applicable science understandable and relatable. She masterfully highlights the negative human and environmental impact of mismanagement, blatant negligence and controversy.
Luke Hinson is a young ambitious scientist who is determined to avenge his father’s death. He believes that his father fell ill because of the conditions he worked under at the plant. Luke is not the only one who believes that the harmful practices are beyond concern. Tests on a harpooned whale finally offer some proof. However, as with so many before him, he must fight to publish his findings.
His story is not only linked to the tragic death of his father but also to a love for a missing woman. Her bravery and selflessness unfold and leads Luke to a deeply personal discovery.
The author takes us on a journey of tragedy, discovery and highlights how secrecy can destroy lives. Her detailed research into the science that drives this story is solid. I could not put the book down and read it in a day.
Theme: Environmental disasters, Human impact of nuclear production and corporate greed, Resilience.

When Banana Stains Fade by Frances-Marie Coke
Generational Trauma
This book is one of the best novels I’ve read that highlights the shackles that generational trauma places on families. It filters into the very fabric of a family dynamic.
In ‘When Banana Stains Fade’, we witness how difficult it is to remove the ‘stain’ that sexual assault places on a close-knit community that is held together by outdated and dangerous norms.
The story starts when Zarah returns to Jamaica after running off with a man her family disapproved of. She was warned that she too could be cursed like her mother, grandmother and great grandmother had been. She left without saying goodbye and had been living in New York for years. However, even living in another country couldn’t save her from the family curse of abusive relationships. Zarah is raped.
While still in New York, Zarah accepts an invitation to a support group. Previous generations of women in her family kept their trauma to themselves. She may not realize it at first, but Zarah took the first step that could break the cycle of abuse by talking about it.
When she finds the courage to return home, Zarah finally listens to the stories her grandmother Naomi tells her and accept that her experiences with sexual assault was not that different from so many in her family, starting with her great grandmother Pearlie.
Through knowledge, understanding and acceptance, Zarah rebuilds her bonds with her family. Especially with her mother Esther who broke Zarah’s trust after an affair that caused Zarah’s parents to divorce.
I found this book captivating because it delves into family dynamics that are cemented in the past. It takes a strong woman to break the cycle and Zarah, despite her faults, manages to change the course for future generations.
Theme: Generational trauma. Resilience. Redemption

Vibrations Children of Atlantis by A.R. Alexander
Bonded Friendships
I love books where the theme is about friendship, loyalties and teamwork. Experiences are enhanced when they are shared. Nada and Kani find this companionship and camaraderie as they are forced to fight for their lives.
Our teenage years are tough enough but when we feel different as well, it can be extremely difficult.
Sixteen-year-olds, Nada and Kani feel this way. Their entire lives have been shrouded in confusing mystery. Naturally, both are surprised to discover that they belong to a secret order. They are reincarnations of ancient warriors. Their unique gifts are actually survival skills. Nada can hear sound waves despite being deaf and Kani is sensitive to vibrations.
Before they can fully process their new realities, they are thrown into a mystical war. They must trust each other to survive and save their world, their loved ones and themselves, but the immortal Tenebris Gods won’t make it easy.
Theme: For me the themes that ran the length of the book are self-discovery, friendship, loyalty and teamwork.

The Shabti by Megaera C. Lorenz
When Lies Become Terrifying Truths
Shabti is a story of loss and discovery for the main character, Dashiel Quicke. In 1934 he is recovering from a bullet wound and trying to rebuild his life away from the shady scam world of fake mediums. However escaping the criminal world is difficult and Dashiel is struggling.
He is a changed man and actively tries to warn the public about the people he used to call friends. This puts a target on his back and makes him very unpopular with the medium crime ring. He is convinced that ghosts don’t exist and that you can’t communicate with the departed.
Dashiel’s new belief is tested when Hermann Goschalk comes to one of his debunking shows and asks him for help. Hermann is an Egyptologist who believes that he is being haunted by an ancient Egyptian entity. Dashiel is thrown right back into his old life while he tries to help Hermann and avoid his ex partner and lover.
Dashiel’s predicament deepens when he falls in love with Hermann and realizes that he might have put their lives at risk. Dashiel’s ex partner is not about to give up their relationship, both professional and personal, without a fight. The bullet in Dashiel’s leg is proof of that.

The Twisted Road by A.B. Michaels
From Defense to Defendant
Jonathan Perris had to overcome a lot to achieve the level of success that he enjoys. He has lived with mysteries for a large part of his life. Starting with his mother’s disappearance and his uncanny ability to sense danger. A gift his mother left him.
To escape his past Jonathan immigrates from England to San Francisco to start a new life and establishes a law firm. Then, the 1907 streetcar strikes erupt and the city is plunged into chaos, violence and murder.
The young lawyer is thrown into the mess when his lady friend dies mysteriously and he is arrested for her murder. Through the investigation, Jonathan and his law firm staff uncover a world of extremists who will stop at nothing to further their cause. Their excuse is that they support the street car strikers and other working folk. However, it runs deeper into love triangles and hidden family connections.
I loved how the story evolved and I can see how this could be a series. It is full of expandable details.
I think this book is very relevant for today’s reader. It is based on a historical event but mirrors a lot of what we see on the news today.
Theme: The core theme is murder mystery with a love triangle twist.

Sharkman by Tom Vater
Survival After Adventure
The adventure started in 1992 when three German friends decide to each buy a car and drive across the Sahara Desert from Morocco to Togo via Algeria and Mali. An area in northwest Africa. Unfortunately, their timing could not have been worse.
Peter had attempted this trip 2 years prior and felt that they’d be safe. However, a rebellion against the government was growing in northern Mali. The Sahara Tuareg tribesmen were willing to kidnap foreigners and take what they could to survive. Just north in Algeria, the miliary was about to annul the current parliament and lawlessness was rife.
The Tuarag rebellion, and a drought threatened their way of life. The tribesman became vigilantes in the desert and this is what Peter and his friends drove into when they were kidnapped and robbed.
This story is about their fight for survival in the middle of a vast desert. Their only tool was hope.
The author tells the story after interviewing Peter who now lives in a tent on the beach of Southern Thailand. He swims with sharks daily to revisit what it means to feel fear.

The Building That Wasn't by Abigail Miles
Dystopian Time Trap
When Everly Tertium’s father dies, she feels lost. He was her only relative. Her constant blinding headaches make it impossible to sleep and when she does, she has recurring dreams.
She has always felt out of place and alone. So, when a man steps into her life claiming to be her grandfather, she is compelled to follow him. Despite resenting him for his absence, she can’t resist his invitation to enter a mysterious building that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Her journey of déjà vu and horror starts when she enters the building. As her time with her grandfather develops, so does the realization that the building and the residents are not what they first seemed.
Everly gradually uncovers the terror that permeates every room. When she meets Luca, a longtime resident, her quest for the truth takes a life changing turn that could either perpetuate suffering or turn the table on everything.
Thought: At what point is it valuable research and at what point is it torture?

Serabelle by Tavi Taylor Black
Wealth and Class Divide
I love historical novels because they highlight how far we have come in society and how much work we still must do to reach equality for all. Serabelle is a perfect example of how wealth and socio-economic privileges can divide a household and extend into the surrounding community.
Mabel is a young woman who is hired by the wealthy and influential Hunt family in Bar Harbor, Main in 1913. She is naïve and falls in love with Mr. Hunt. It isn’t long before she falls pregnant and realizes that she had been used. Her involvement thrusts her deeper into the Hunt family dysfunction.
To me Mabel is the only character that grew in this novel. It is as if the rest of the characters were already too set in their ways. I was frustrated with Mabel’s naïveté but soon realized that she was a victim of the times when class and wealth drew wide divides between the rich and the working class. It was equally infuriating to see how arrogant the Hunt family is. They treated their animals with more regard than the staff.
There are many twists and turns in this novel. It touches on death, women’s suffrages, crime, adultery and the cruelty that money can buy. I marveled at the blatant disloyalty that the Hunt family showed each other to the point of betrayal. While the staff banded together with compassion.
Thought: Without money to cloud their judgements, the staff were more in tune with their humanity.
Theme: The biggest theme in this book was division but manipulation came in as a close second.

Tell Me a Story Babushka by Carola Schmidt
Memories of War and Escape
An illustrated book about a moment between a young girl and her grandmother. When Karina asks her Babushka (Ukranian for grandmother) to tell her a story, her Babushka tells her a true story about her own escape from war. She says it is a story about a princess and a monster.
Babushka was just a child when the Soviet Communist Party invaded Ukraine in the early 1900’s. Many died of hunger because the Soviet army stole all the grain. This resulted in what is known as the Holodomor. A Ukranian word for starvation. To add to their cruelty, families were taken to prisons in Siberia where children were separated from their parents.
Babushka is rescued when the children find matryoshka dolls (nesting dolls) under their mattresses. They are secretly sneaked onto a train and rescued.
The illustrations and the story fit really well. While this is a difficult story, I think the author and the illustrator found a way to tell the story of war and horror without making it too graphic.

The Invisible Hand of Cancer by Carola Schmidt
Cancer is Complicated
Carola Schmidt is a Pediatric Oncology Pharmacist and writer with over 25 years' experience in the pharmaceutical industry. She has dedicated her life to this field. Her Indepth knowledge is very evident in this book.
Carola takes a deep dive into the history of cancer. There is so much one can learn from her. This book is about cancer care and the role of pharmaceuticals in a complex medical field. However, the disease and its treatment is also influenced by poverty, culture and availability of care.
In places like Ghana women will often not report their condition because breast cancer is considered contagious and will bring shame to the family. This thinking makes the availability of care difficult. This is a cultural war with the disease that is prevalent in several countries.
I found that while I am not in the medical field, I understood her explanations because she offers them in short bite size chapters.
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As a cancer survivor myself, I found a lot of the information about genetic influences very interesting.
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Carola explains how stem cell therapies work.
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She shares the financial impact of cancer research. She talks about the cost of research and how cancer drugs are priced.
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She dedicated a chapter to the psychology of cancer and how art and dance can help a cancer patient.
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She also talks about how different countries offer care.
I found this book incredibly interesting and appreciate the deep level of research that went into writing it. Carola makes sure that she cites her reference at the end of the chapters.
I recommend this book to anyone interested in cancer care and the pharmaceutical industries that drive it.

Tales of the Wythenwood by J.W. Hawkins
Many Lessons in Every Story
While this is probably not a fairytale that I would read to younger children, I think the story’s dark side is not darker than some of the Grimm Brother’s tales for instance. It still had a taste of whimsy and fantasy sprinkled into the darkness that surrounded most of the story.
I think the author’s ability to paint with words helps the reader imagine the forest in which the stories unfold. The animal characters evolved and even surprised me as one short story led into another. However, I think at times the author used too much imagery, and it broke the flow of the read for me.
We are introduced to The Great Oak who is the forest overseer and somewhat omnipresent. Some in the forest are not happy with the level of scrutiny and reverence that The Great Oak yields. The rest of the stories unfold as one character tries to lead a coup to gain power over the forest.
As this is unfolding, another group of forest inhabitants, a beaver family, is dealing with its own internal political power struggle. As the stories progress, the political and power struggles seemed to be the longest running theme.
It all culminates in a dramatic end where good is fighting evil.
Themes: Morality, Survival, Family Loyalty and how power and greed can destroy you.
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