Review of "Written in the Stars" by Beverly Herr

First-time author Beverly Herr gets many things right in her debut novel Written in the Stars, a historical fiction about a young woman living 150 years ago in the Midwest. Her life is hard, enduring the abuse of her grandparents after the death of her mother. And, she's never seen her father, and man from Italy, not in the picture. At least that's the story she's been told her whole life.

At sixteen, the truth comes in the introduction of Timber Wolf, a Lakota warrior who aids in her abduction from the home of her uncles, where she has been staying. Scared, but thinking back to her many dreams of an old warrior trying to get her, Emily learns her given name translates to Little Fawn, and her father is the Chief of the Bruele village.

This is a good, long read, 315 pages, published August 18, 2016, on Kindle. Currently, the novel is available for $5.99.

This story reminded me of the female lead in Dances With Wolves, who is abducted at about four-years of age, but by a local Native American Tribe. In this story, the four-year-old is abducted and taken to the white grandparents and then returns to Native American life at 16. Becoming Little Fawn again isn't without wagon-loads of turmoil. There are injustices on either side of the coin flipping through her life, and accepting her will to choose life, lifestyle, and belief system is complicated by her infatuation with Timber Wolf.

The pace of this novel moves from moderate to fast-paced as the dangers of her decisions come to haunt Little Fawn. And, she learns first hand the prejudices and misunderstanding the new white settlers have for the Native Americans. Can there be a true metamorphosis of her soul? It won't be easy.

Fortunately, the characters Emily/Little Fawn interacts with are well flushed-out, not just 30-word paper figures so that the reader can get happily immersed in the story. This is a good book to read on the porch, rain or shine.

Thanks for reading - Al W Moe

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Review of "The Career Killer" by Ali Gunn

Author Ali Gunn brings us the first in her DCI Mabey series, with The Career Killer, a smart detective-mystery novel. Set in London, the main character works at London Yard, where her father wrote many of the training manuals. She may be her father's daughter, but her fellow detective would have preferred her father's son to be the heir apparent to his legacy.

Newly-minted Detective Chief Inspector Elsie Maybe takes her new promotion in stride until she inherits a wonky tribe of underlings and a murder at an old church. She's not fast to gather clues, not because she's moving at half-speed due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but because the nature of the new string of murders has some ring of normalcy or familiarity to her, starting with a young woman in a wedding dress found in the ruins of an ancient London church.

She doesn't move like Columbo or Hercule Poirot, asking questions and sifting the carnage over in her mind. Instead, she seems to plot the next move of …

Review of "Hop on Board" by Nicholas A. Price

Coming February 15 (and currently on Preorder) is Nicholas A. Price's children's book Hop On Board. Written for children 5 to 9, this story carries the tagline "We are the Germ family and you love to carry us around everywhere!"

Colorfully illustrated by Gigi Art, Price's story centers on the tough life germs lead, especially when silly children use soap, which particularly irritates germs.

Children will enjoy the many pictures, especially the ones of rogue germs who try to hide out in places too small for the human eye to see.

If the story and pictures don't convince your children to wash up before meals, then the Ghastly Facts presented near the end surely will.

They include such scary things as "Fifty thousand of the largest virus germs could fit on a pinhead!Ten thousand could fit on a grain of salt," and "Viruses can only survive inside a living plant, person or animal, yet they can still live on a dirty surface for a while and wait!"…

Review of "I Remember the Time" by Kim Hemphill

In the simplest terms, Kim Hemphill is a survivor. That's all he knew, that's all he had. And, he's a Seattle Mariner's fan, so things are still tough since the Mariner's have never made it to the World Series, but he's still rooting for them. And, I'm a Mariner's fan, so I know what it's like rooting for the underdog when there's no help in sight.
Of course, that's what Kim's life was like for years. The car he was riding in what hit by a train when he was three years old. The result was cuts, scrapes, bruises and 105 stitches across his face and his scalp. Just an early turning point.
His family life was rough and tumble, and they were so poor he bought himself his first toothbrush when he was 14, shortly before he lost his brother to the Vietnam war.
If you are ready for a tough read, a story of homelessness, a story of learning to live with what you've got on your back and nothing more, then I Remember the Time, Kim Hemphill&#…

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