Tuesday, May 31, 2022

On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club - The Oath (The Druid Chronicles, Book One) by A. M. Linden #BookReview #HistoricalFiction @shewritespress @maryanneyarde

 am so excited to welcome A. M. Linden onto Oh Look, Another Book! today. You have to check our A. M. Linden's novel - The Oath (The Druid Chronicles, Book One) -  it is sooooo good!



The Oath
(The Druid Chronicles, Book One)
By A. M. Linden


When the last of members of a secretive Druid cult are forced to abandon their hidden sanctuary, they send the youngest of their remaining priests in search of Annwr, their chief priestess’s sister, who was abducted by a Saxon war band fifteen years ago. With only a rudimentary grasp of English and the ambiguous guidance of an oracle’s prophecy, Caelym manages to find Annwr living in a hut on the grounds of a Christian convent.


Annwr has spent her years of captivity caring for the timid Aleswina, an orphaned Saxon princess who was consigned to the cloistered convent by her cousin, King Gilberth, after he assumed her father’s throne. Just as Caelym and Annwr are about leave together, Aleswina learns that Gilberth, a tyrant known for his cruelty and vicious temper, means to take her out of the convent and marry her. Terrified, she flees with the two Druids—beginning a heart-pounding adventure that unfolds in ways none of them could have anticipated.


Praise


“Linden's well-researched tale eloquently brings to life a lesser-known period of transition in Britain. . . . The author has created a strong foundation for her series with well-developed characters whom readers can embrace. . . . [a] layered, gripping historical fiction.”

—Kirkus Reviews


“The story rolls along at a lively pace, rich with details of the times and a wide cast of characters. [The] plotting, shifting points of view of the three engaging protagonists, and evocative writing style make The Oath a pleasure to read. Highly recommended.”

—Historical Novel Review


“Linden uses a fairy tale-like style almost as though this story has been passed down orally over the centuries.”

—Booklist Review




I find myself constantly saying one thing to my husband, and that is ‘no, I will not be buying too many books this week’. It is a conversation we seem to have every Monday, Tuesday, and so on, whenever I mention a new series I have discovered. Luckily for him, only book 1 of this series is out so far, so he needn’t worry… that is, until the next books come out!

Caelym is a druid priest, sent on a mission to find the priestess’s sister, who was abducted by Saxons many years ago. She was presumed dead, until a prophecy told that she was not dead, but very much alive and in need of rescue. When Caelym finds her, an arrow in his back, a souvenir from his journey, he doesn’t find what he expected. Annwr is no young, distraught maiden, but a woman who seems comfortable with the life she is living.

Annwr is reluctant to listen to Caelym, most of his sentences are riddled with poetic turns of phrase anyway, but she can’t ignore that he needs medical help, and begins to take care of him. Annwr has spent her years looking after the Saxon princess Aleswina, who lost her parents at a very young age. Aleswina is like a daughter to Annwr, and when Aleswina learns she is to leave the convent she never wanted to go into, to marry her cousin, the King, she sees just one path ahead of her. She knows Caelym wants Annwr to go with him, and Caelym is finally well enough to travel – she must go with them.

One of my favourite things about finding a new book (or series…!) to love, is meeting the characters. More times than not, I completely fall in love with them, and cannot bear to leave them. I do have young children, so I sometimes find it difficult to find time to read. It is especially hard when books like this come along, and I can’t bear to put them down, even if there is Play-Doh on the floor, and my youngest is demanding snacks half an hour before dinner. 

I am a sarcastic person by nature, and, to my absolute delight, so is Caelym. He does so much to try and gain a little praise from Annwr, although such a thing is never forthcoming, for Annwr is much too preoccupied to tell Caelym ‘well done’. Aleswina is not used to living in the woods and eating only what is available from the land, and Annwr has her hands full with teaching the delicate Aleswina how to look after herself away from the Saxon civilisation she is used to. Nevertheless, Caelym has little patience for her, and his thoughts are very sarcastic and I found his remarks incredibly funny. My husband did not, although when I kept interrupting him to read aloud my new favourite part, I clearly didn’t give him enough context to properly appreciate them.

This is an absolutely amazing adventure to follow the characters on. I can’t wait for book 2, for I am already missing the characters, and need to rejoin them as soon as possible!


If you are looking for your next page-turning read then head over to your favourite online bookstore. Go on, treat yourself! Amazon UKAmazon USAmazon CAAmazon AUBarnes & NobleWaterstonesKoboApple Books

AM Linden

Ann Margaret Linden was born in Seattle, Washington, but grew up on the east coast of the United States before returning to the Pacific Northwest as a young adult. She has undergraduate degrees in anthropology and in nursing and a master’s degree as a nurse practitioner. After working in a variety of acute care and community health settings, she took a position in a program for children with special health care needs where her responsibilities included writing clinical reports, parent educational materials, provider newsletters, grant submissions and other program related materials. The Druid Chronicles began as a somewhat whimsical decision to write something for fun and ended up becoming a lengthy journey that involved Linden taking adult education creative writing courses, researching early British history, and traveling to England, Scotland, and Wales. Retired from nursing, she lives with her husband and their cat and dog in the northwest corner of Washington State.

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Tuesday, May 24, 2022

On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club - Angels and Bandits by Brodie Curtis #HistoricalFiction #WWII #BlogTour @BrodieCurtis4 @maryanneyarde

Stop what you are doing and check out Brodie Curtis' book, Angels and Bandits. This book really deserves a place on your bookcase. Scroll down to check out my thoughts. 
Thank you to The Coffee Pot Book Club for your invite to take part in this tour.


Angels and Bandits
By Brodie Curtis


The Battle of Britain rages and two young RAF pilots from very different stations in life must somehow find common ground—and stay alive.


On the eve of World War II, working-class Eddy Beane is a flight instructor in London. He successfully completes dangerous espionage missions for Air Commodore Keith Park and takes on society-girl June Stephenson as a student. Her ex-fiancĂ©, Dudley Thane, is also a flyer, but upper-class and Cambridge-educated. When the German Luftwaffe attacks England in 1940, Eddy and Dudley end up serving in the same Spitfire squadron. Aerial combat is intense, and both men show their skills and courage, but can they set aside jealousy and class differences to become fighting brothers for the defence of Britain? 



I have said it before, and I will say it again – sometimes you know you are going to love a book before you’ve read it. Sometimes, I will admit, I do get my hopes up a little too high for books, and I end up disappointed, but with this book, this was not the case. In fact, I don’t think I could’ve hyped this book up enough for it to disappoint me. 

Eddy Beane goes from a tailor working for his aunt and uncle to a RAF pilot. This book is about the journey he takes, from being invited on a flight for the first time, and the subsequent urge to get back up in the air. Since the first time Eddy was lifted from the ground, he knew he belonged in a plane, and he works hard to get his licence and to succeed in what he loves. 

Dudley Thane is the kind of character that you are not sure about. When we first meet him, he is not a character I liked. He is egotistical, stuck-up, and rude. And yet, he is also the kind of character who changes over the course of the book, until, somehow, you start to see his side of things, and learn who he really is. 

I loved Eddy’s character a lot, but it is not just Eddy that makes this book worth reading. I have never flown a plane, surprise surprise (if any flight instructor saw how clumsy I can be just walking around the house, there’s no way they would ever let me near the plane, let alone to sit in the passenger seat), but reading this book, I started to feel the thrill of flying, even though I was just sat on my sofa, curled up under blankets. I don’t think I would ever be able to actually fly a plane, but the way everything has been described in this book makes me want to so much. Or maybe I just want to spend time with Eddy, and have him fly me around in a plane. I have problems talking to my husband about the books I’m reading, because I gush far too much about the male characters I am kind of in love with, and he’s not entirely sure whether he should be considering countless fictional characters as competition for my love and affection.

While World War Two fiction is some of my favourite, I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that focuses solely on the RAF, and the pilots of the Spitfires. Come to think of it, I haven’t ever read a book about planes. This is either a mistake on my part, and a gap I need to fill in my bookshelf, or this author has just written an amazingly brilliant book, he managed to make me passionate about Spitfires, and want to fly planes. I think I’m probably leaning towards the latter.

So much happens in this book, it is difficult to sum it all up without talking about it all and spoiling things that happen halfway through. In a brief summery, I love Eddy, I want to fly planes, and I absolutely have to read more books by this author. In a slightly longer one, Eddy is a fabulous character, and I adore the fact that all of the characters change over the course of the book, they work towards what they want, and they stand up with courage. The way the aerial combat has been described is utterly amazing, I might as well have been watching a film it was so vivid in my mind. And I am starting to run out of adjectives and ways to describe how wonderful this book is, so I will end it with this – buy this book and read it. You absolutely have to.

I received my copy from The Coffee Pot Book Club but you can grab your copy from Amazon UKAmazon USAmazon CAAmazon AUBarnes & NobleKoboApple Books

Brodie Curtis
Raised in the Midwest, Brodie Curtis was educated as a lawyer and left the corporate world to embrace life in Colorado with his wife and two sons. 

Curtis is the author of THE FOUR BELLS, a novel of The Great War, which is the product of extensive historical research, including long walks through the fields of Flanders, where much of the book's action is set. His second novel, ANGELS AND BANDITS, takes his protagonists into The Battle of Britain. Curtis is currently working on a novel set on a Mississippi Riverboat prior to the Civil War.

A lover of history, particularly American history and the World Wars, Curtis reviews historical fiction for the Historical Novels Review and more than 100 of his published reviews and short takes on historical novels can be found on his website: brodiecurtis.com.  

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Monday, May 16, 2022

On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club - The Mesilla (The Two Valleys Saga, Book 1) by Mary Armstrong #HistoricalFiction #WildWest #WesternHistoricalFiction @authornotarthur @maryanneyarde


Please given a warm welcome to historical fiction author, Mary Armstrong.
Thank you to The Coffee Pot Book Club for inviting me to be a part of this tour. 


The Mesilla
(The Two Valleys Saga, Book 1)
By Mary Armstrong


At 14 years old, Jesus ‘Chuy’ Perez Contreras Verazzi Messi is too small and frail to work the land on the family farm near the Rio Bravo in Mexico. The local padre’s tutoring reveals Jesus’s unending curiosity and fertile mind. Noted Las Cruces, New Mexico attorney, and politician Colonel Albert Jennings Fountain, agrees to take his nephew under his wing. Jesus ‘reads law’ with his uncle and shares adventures and adversity with the Fountain family and other historic Mesilla and Tularosa Valley citizens. His coming-of-age story will take you into the wild southwest, a brewing range war, a territory struggling toward statehood, courtroom dramas, and the adventures and adversities of a boy’s quest for manhood. 

*A fictional memoir by Jesus about the ten years leading to the notorious and unsolved Fountain murders.


Doesn't this novel sound amazing! You can catch up with the series by clicking on the link!



Mary Armstrong

Mary lives in the heart of one of the ‘Two Valleys’ in Las Cruces New Mexico, with her husband Norman ‘Skip’ Bailey, Jr. and their Cavachon child-dog, Java. In 2017 she wrote the one-act play, “It is Blood,” which was selected for a performance by the Las Cruces Community Theatre. Whereas the Two Valleys series is a prequel to the notorious and unsolved murders of Albert J. Fountain and his eight-year-old son, “It is Blood,” is a sequel to those events. 

After winning an award for her debut historic fiction novel “The Mesilla,” Mary has decided to focus on that genre — at least for the foreseeable future. Her writing is fast-moving, thought-provoking and with just enough wordsmithing to satisfy your artistic hankerings. While her writing has literary merit, she strives to capture the moment — the time and the place — and help you live in that moment.

Before releasing her debut novel, Mary dabbled in creative writing, including a weekly column in the Las Cruces Sun News. Since retiring from a diverse career in various planning and design fields, she has devoted herself more fully to her writing, being a good spouse, serving her dog Java, and slipping away to the golf course when left unchained to the desk. 

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Sunday, May 15, 2022

#BookReview - Crusader’s Path by Mary Ann Bernal #HistoricalFiction @BritonandDane



Crusader’s Path 

By Mary Ann Bernal



From the sweeping hills of Argences to the port city of Cologne overlooking the River Rhine, Etienne and Avielle find themselves drawn by the need for redemption against the backdrop of the First Crusade.

Heeding the call of His Holiness, Urban II, to free the Holy Land from the infidel, Etienne follows Duke Robert of Normandy across the treacherous miles, braving sweltering heat and snow-covered mountain passes while en route to the Byzantine Empire.

Moved by Peter of Amiens’ charismatic rhetoric in the streets of the Holy Roman Empire, Avielle joins the humble army of pilgrims. Upon arrival in Mentz, the peasant Crusaders do the unthinkable, destroying the Jewish Community. Consumed with guilt, Avielle is determined to die fighting for Christ, assuring her place in Heaven.

Etienne and Avielle cross paths in Constantinople, where they commiserate over past misdeeds. A spark becomes a flame, but when Avielle contracts leprosy, Etienne makes a promise to God, offering to take the priest cowl in exchange for ridding Avielle of her affliction.

Will Etienne be true to his word if Avielle is cleansed of the contagion, or will he risk eternal damnation to be with the woman he loves?


In the words of Janice (from Friends) OH, MY GOD! You don't just need a box of tissues next to you when you read this book, you need a truckload, you need hankies, toilet rolls, you name it. You need so much in fact that this book could easily start another toilet roll shortage!

The story is about a young woman called Avielle. Avielle is a deeply religious woman whose belief in God cannot be shaken. She is also incredibly caring and does not shy away from diseases as others do. And yet, her story is a tragic one. Just as I thought Avielle was back on the right track and everything was going to be alright the author threw yet another spanner into the works and once again I found myself reaching for the tissues.

I don't know much about the Crusades if I am totally honest and I was shocked by the religious fever that seemed to grip the people involved. It was also difficult reading about the horrors of reality - the desperate situations in the camps, as well as the siege and the massacres. 

This book is deeply moving, but the story is told so vividly that it was impossible to turn away from. I will be reading this book again, as I feel that to really appreciate how great this book is, it needs to be read twice. But, I will put it aside for now, at least until I do the next supermarket shop so that I can stock up on tissues!


If you are looking for your next tear-jerking read then this book is for you. You can find it over on Amazon.

Mary Ann Bernal

Award-winning author, Mary Ann Bernal, attended Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, NY, where she received a degree in Business Administration. Her literary aspirations were ultimately realized when the first book of The Briton and the Dane novels was published in 2009. In addition to writing historical fiction, Mary Ann has also authored a collection of contemporary short stories in the Scribbler Tales series and a science fiction/fantasy novel entitled Planetary Wars Rise of an Empire. Her recent work includes Crusader’s Path, a redemption story set against the backdrop of the First Crusade, and Forgiving Nero, a novel of Ancient Rome.

Since Operation Desert Storm, Mary Ann has been a passionate supporter of the United States military, having been involved with letter-writing campaigns and other support programs. She appeared on The Morning Blend television show hosted by KMTV, the CBS television affiliate in Omaha, and was interviewed by the Omaha World-Herald for her volunteer work. She has been a featured author on various reader blogs and promotional sites.

Mary Ann currently resides in Elkhorn, Nebraska.

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Thursday, May 12, 2022

On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club - Unlike Any Other by Edward Londergan #HistoricalFiction #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub @edlondergan @maryanneyarde


Today's guest is historical fiction author, Edward Londergan, who is sharing an excerpt from his new book. Thank you to The Coffee Pot Book Club for inviting me to be a part of this tour.


Unlike Any Other
By Edward Londergan



The Story of An 18th Century Woman from A Prominent New England Family Who Went from A Life of Privilege to The Gallows


Bathsheba Spooner was the daughter of Timothy Ruggles, a general in the French and Indian War, president of the Stamp Act Congress, Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas, and a leading loyalist in Massachusetts during the Revolutionary War; the epitome of upper class.


Like her father, Bathsheba was smart, strong-willed, and a staunch British loyalist. Forced to marry a man she did not love, Bathsheba withstood her husband’s abuse for years until a young Continental soldier entered her life. But when this well-heeled mother of three small children discovered she was pregnant with the soldier’s child, her thoughts quickly turned to murder.


Based on a true story, the events that follow Bathsheba’s life, her decisions, and her ultimate demise will show readers that Bathsheba Spooner was, in fact, Unlike Any Other . . .





And who do we have here?” Cooley asked. 

“This is Ezra Ross, late of the Continental Army. He is visiting us on his way home from Saratoga,” Joshua said. Men from other tables looked up. Cooley looked at Ezra with a special interest. 

“Fought in any of the other battles?” Cooley asked. 

Ezra nodded before taking a sip of his rum. 

Cooley and the other patrons waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t continue. 

“What battles were they?” I asked. 

Ezra looked up at the two men as if just realizing they were there. 
“I was at Bunker Hill, New York, Trenton, and Saratoga.” 

A man sitting at the next table overheard him. “Did you say you were at Trenton?” 

Ezra saw the man, an older sort, a pig farmer from the look and smell of him. Ezra nodded. 

“What was it like?” 

Other men had stopped talking and were listening to the conversation. 

“It was cold,” Ezra said, staring at the table, moving his finger around in a circle. “Awfully cold.” 

The men sat there waiting for him to continue, curious about his adventures. 

“A snowstorm started on Christmas Day. We were on the other side of the river from Trenton waiting for orders.” 

Cooley walked over from the bar after throwing a towel over his shoulder. All the men were now facing Ezra. Joshua sat there obviously fascinated by the tales such a young man might tell. As I looked at Ezra, I could only think about undressing him. 

“About mid-afternoon, we started for the river. Our packs were heavy with three days of food and plenty of ammunition, sixty balls for each of us. It was dark and raining when we reached the river.” He drained his mug and looked around suddenly aware that there was no other sound except that of his voice. 

Cooley took the mug and filled it. Ezra picked it up, took a sip, and wiped a hand across his forehead. “The river was high, the current was strong, and there was ice floating everywhere. I never thought we’d make it across alive.” 

A small log in the fireplace popped and fell onto the hearth. A man kicked it back into the fireplace with his boot. 
“I heard the weather was bad,” asked a man standing behind Ezra. 

“It was horrible. Unlike anything you’ve ever seen. We made it to the river and had to wait for the others to get there, so we pulled down fence posts and started fires to warm ourselves. We couldn’t keep them going. It started snowing but turned to hail, then rain, then the temperature dropped. Everything froze quicklike before it started snowing again. The wind blew the whole time. The snow came down so hard you couldn’t see six feet in front of you. I remember everything was so quiet. There was no sound.” He sat up a bit in the chair and put his arms on the table, fingers on either side of the mug. 

“Did you think you were going to die that night?” Cooley asked. 

Ezra snorted. “Five or six times. I was walking so slow that I thought if I didn’t keep moving, I’d freeze to the ground.” He chuckled, but it was a sad sound. “We made it across a couple of hours before dawn and walked for miles before reaching the town. We ran across the field as fast as we could, racing the men next to us as much to stay warm as to be the first to reach the enemy.” He drained the rest of his mug and put it on the table. Cooley made no move to take it but waited like the rest to hear about the battle. “It was all over in less than an hour. Our guns were wet and frozen so they wouldn’t fire, but we fixed our bayonets and charged. The Hessians ran, we chased them, they surrendered, and while it was still snowing, we marched back to the river and crossed to the other side.” He held the empty mug up to Cooley. 

Cooley grabbed it and hustled to the bar, filled it, and returned. “What happened then?” he asked, placing the mug on the table. 

“I was so cold I didn’t sleep for another day and didn’t dry out for a week. That and sleeping out in all sorts of weather because we didn’t have tents, made me sick, and that’s why they paroled me in January.” 

The room was quiet for a moment. Someone threw a couple of logs onto the fire. Drinks were refreshed and men packed and lit their pipes; the good smell of tobacco smoke drifted around the room. 

“Saratoga was better,” Ezra said with a hollow laugh. “I helped General Arnold when he was injured. He fell off his horse right at my feet.” People were crowding around again listening carefully as Ezra continued his tale, looking at the table while running a finger around the rim of his mug. 

“I’ll remember the day as long as I live. It was October 7th, and the dawn was crisp and clear. There was that sharp tang in the air when you know fall is here. Nothing much happened in the morning, but by mid-afternoon, they started firing at us. They were too far away so they didn’t hit us, just wasted their ammunition. I was with General Learned’s men, and we were in the center. 
Both flanks started moving towards the Brits, and we had to stay there. We were all itching to fight. By that time, our blood was up, and we wanted to finish this. 
“Finally, the order came for us to attack. We faced the grenadiers, who were about two hundred yards away.” He took a sip of his drink and looked at the men gathered around him. He turned to me and smiled.

“This officer came galloping at General Learned. He was going so fast I didn’t think he’d be able to stop; I thought he’d run right into the general. Then I realized it was General Arnold. His horse never stopped moving. It pranced around, ready to run. General Arnold raised his sword and yelled for us to attack. He turned and rode right toward the British line. 

“We all ran behind him, but we couldn’t keep up. He ordered us to halt when we were about sixty yards away. Both sides aimed and shot at the same time.” 

Someone coughed and a couple of chairs scraped the floor as people moved their seats around. 

Cooley quietly filled mugs without being asked. 

“I’d seen men die before but never like this,” Ezra continued. “Two men to my right, a man was shot in the eye, and the back of his head exploded, spraying blood and brains on my jacket. The soldier next to me on the left was shot in the chest and fell at my feet.” Ezra inhaled deeply and let it out. “I reloaded my musket while I saw big spouts of blood pouring out of him every time his heart beat. I thought I’d be killed too, then and there. The enemy fired again, and musket balls whistled through the air all around me, but none of them hit me. 

“We followed General Arnold and overran their line and drove them back to two redoubts on either side. The general stopped right in front of me when his horse screamed and started tottering from side-to-side. It was shot in the leg. The general fell and the horse landed on his leg. He’d been shot in that leg too. He screamed as we pulled the horse off of him. I grabbed him by the arms while two others got his feet. I slipped and fell on a rock. I landed about two feet from the general’s face, as close as me to you,” he said to Joshua. “Even though he was shot, he looked right at me. ‘Never give up,’ he told me. We tied up his wound, made a litter, and got him back to headquarters.” 

No one said a word. I’m sure many in the room were thinking the same as me; I found it hard to believe that someone as young as Ezra had been through so much. My heart went out to him. I put my hand on his arm and squeezed it. He gave me a wan smile. Patting his shoulder, I stood up and went to the door. 

Joshua looked at me with a steady measuring gaze. He was everything Ezra wasn’t, and I despised him for it. 



Doesn't this novel sound amazing?! If you would like to grab your copy of Unlike Any Other you can do so at the following places -



Ed Londergan

Ed Londergan is the author of the award-winning books The Devils’ Elbow and The Long Journey Home. Having researched American history for many years, he is a frequent speaker with a focus on colonial Massachusetts. A graduate of Holy Cross, he lives in Warren, Massachusetts. 


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Tuesday, May 10, 2022

On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club - The Alcoholic Mercenary by Phil Hughes #BookReview #HistoricalFiction #Crime @Phil_Hughes_Nov @maryanneyarde

 


They said, “See Naples and then die!”

Rachel had thought it was to do with the natural beauty of the place. A misconception she soon lost after climbing down from the C130 troop carrier. The suspicious death of her predecessor, followed by the murder of a sailor, and an enforced liaison with a chauvinistic and probably corrupt cop saw to that.

“See Naples and then die!”

Some said the saying was anonymous. Some attributed it to Goethe. Still, others said it was Lord Byron, or maybe Keats. When the young brother of a mercenary hitman became her main suspect, Rachel leant towards Keats. Didn’t the poet die here? Somewhere near, for sure. Probably coined the phrase on his deathbed.
And then, the cherry on the top of her ice cream soda, she could smell grappa on the breath of the mercenary when she interviewed him. The only thing worse than a violent man: a violent man who drinks.

The only thing worse than a violent man who drinks: a violent man who drinks and considers himself Rachel’s enemy.



Are you ready for a road trip back to the late 70s? Hold onto your hats as Phil Hughes turns back time and takes his readers to Naples, a place where crime lords rule the streets. Things are not much better at the Nato base where those in charge seem more concerned about their inflated egos than anything else! Throw into this volatile mix, newly promoted Special Agent Rachel Welch, well, that is a story waiting to be told!

Rachel is not too sure about stepping into the boots of her predecessor, who died under mysterious circumstances, but this was the chance to really prove that she was up to the job. She would risk everything, even her marriage, if it gained her recognition and equality.  The weather may have been hot when she stepped off the C130 Hercules but her welcome was far from warm. Maybe it was because she was a woman, or perhaps there was some other reason, yet to be unearthed.
 
Let me tell you this, there are no wilting dahlias in this booK! The action is non-stop as the narrative goes backwards and forwards between Rachel and Boccone (who will seemingly do anything to save his brother from certain death). The corruption and the fear of the crime lords is depicted with a wonderful insight into what makes a bloody good crime thriller.

I thought the author really brought this era back to life, and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of this book.

If you are looking for a fast-paced crime thriller then this novel will be right up your street.


You know what I am going to say now - head over to Amazon and grab your copy today. And get this, if you have  #KindleUnlimited subscription it is free to read. What are your waiting for? 


Phil Hughes


Although educated in Classical Studies, Phil is the author of several historical crime novels. Having spent many years living in the Mafia infested hinterlands of Naples, Phil bases his novels on his experiences while living there. Much of what he includes in his stories is based on real events witnessed first-hand.

 

Having retired from writing and editing technical documentation for a living, Phil now lives in Wexford with his partner and their border terriers, Ruby, Maisy, and the new addition Ted. He writes full time and where better to do it than in the Sunny South East of Ireland.


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On tour with The Coffee Pot Book Club — Small Eden by Jane Davis #HistoricalFiction #TheCoffeePotBookClub #BlogTour @janedavisauthor @cathiedunn

You have to check out Jane Davis' new book, Small Eden. Thank you to  The Coffee Pot Book Club  for inviting me to be a part of this to...