So, yesterday was the official kick-off of the Keep Portland Weird festival here in Paris, which meant that I had a reading/screening in the...
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***** J. R. Lindermuth’s Best Book Yet. Highly Recommended.
Review by Douglas Quinn, The Webb Sawyer Mysteries, The Ellis Family Thrillers, Cornelius The Orphan, Historical Fiction/Adventure, and Children’s Chapter Books.
I was weaned on the great fin de siécle 19th century mysteries of Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle. Then Caleb Carr gave me the moody and exciting The Alienist and its sequel Angel of Darkness. All of these (even accounting for Sherlock Holmes forays into the moors and English countryside) were urban based. In contrast to the frenetic time-is-of-the-essence rush by these author’s protagonists to solve the crime, in Fallen From Grace, Lindermuth offers up a delicious, slow-paced murder mystery set in a small, rural Pennsylvania town called Arahpot.
In order to solve the murders that have befallen his town, Sheriff Sylvester Tilghman does his best to expand the deficiency of clues to the stabbing of a stranger on his way into town. When a second suspicious death occurs, Tilghman sifts through the evidence to determine what happened. But in 1897, the small town’s day-to-day lives of its long-time citizens don’t come to a halt because of the unfortunate events that befall strangers and newcomers.
When the sheriff declares that the telegraph is the greatest invention ever for a sheriff, this gives you an idea of the pacing of the story. But this is a good thing, because it allows Lindermuth to spend time developing all of the interesting characters in this interesting and intriguing tale. What I enjoy about Lindermuth’s writing style is that he feels no need to spend time with detailed physical descriptions. Instead, as the characters are introduced and progress through the story, I had a perfect image in my mind of their physical appearance, who they were and what they were all about. This is the mark of an expert writer and I applaud Lindermuth for this skill.
Sylvester Tilghman, Syl to his friends, is a bachelor who doesn’t do so well in the cooking-for-himself department and is always on the lookout for an invitation to a meal, be it breakfast lunch or dinner. His favorite targets are his girlfriend, Lydia, and her parents, and his neighbors, Dr. Mariner and his family.
That brings me to the other thing I like about Lindermuth’s writing, that being all the little side stories and character interactions he weaves throughout the tale, the most interesting being the relationship between Sylvester and Lydia. Lydia, who Sylvester wants to marry, clearly cares for him. However, she has been putting off his request for some time. The reader is left to speculate her reasons and, at the end of the book, while other town romances resolve themselves, he isn’t able to solve his dilemma with Lydia. During it all, Lydia is foisting her annoying cousin, Cyrus, upon Sylvester to fill a deputy sheriff’s position. There are other distractions, some related to the crimes, some not, that occupy Sylvester’s attention. These diversions add richness to the setting, the characters and the story.
Does the sheriff solve the crimes? After a well disguised ending, of course he does. But the enjoyment for the reader is how he sifts out the wheat from the chaff in his plodding but effective manner. I hope we see Sheriff Sylvester Tilghman again, not only to enjoy his investigative techniques but to find out if he can close the deal with Lydia.
Fallen From Grace is J. R. Lindermuth’s best book yet and is highly recommended.
**** A Story of Personal Tragedy, Spiritual Reawakening and Romance Recommended.
Review by Douglas Quinn, Author of the Webb Sawyer Mysteries, The Ellis Family Suspense Thrillers, etal.
and by Donna Higgins Colson, Artist/Publicist
From Douglas Quinn:
Set in western Pennsylvania and the Finger Lake Region of New York, A Stone Barn follows the separate lives of Lynne Simms and Jarred Cameron, two people from different walks of life, as they struggle to reinvent themselves after each experienced family tragedies.
Lynne Simms lost her husband and children to a fatal auto accident. After eight years of losing herself in her work, she has a nervous breakdown and finds herself at a high-priced retreat for overworked and stressed out executives.
Scotsman, Jarred Cameron, lost his wife to suicide after their daughter succumbed to leukemia. Wanting to start over, he comes to America to take over a family bed and breakfast in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
With the help of a guardian angel named Sophie, they find each other. They also find that they share more than their family tragedies. But will their common journey of pain, healing and discovery be enough for them to find comfort in each other?
In the beginning of the book, a moving poem entitled For Victoria by the author caught my attention. The poem alone draws the reader into the novel.
This is Nancy Lynn’s first novel. Her second novel Red Dirt, has just been released. Recommended.
From Donna Higgins Colson:
(Caveat: Donna knows the author because, many years ago, she taught art to her twin sons; nevertheless, Donna promised both the author and Douglas Quinn that she would give a fair and honest review)
As part of my reading-for-sanity program, I just finished A Stone Barn by Nancy Lynn. I enjoyed her cast of characters and her skill at unfolding the tale. It’s obvious that the author is a writer who knows whereof she speaks and is not afraid to put into words abstract concepts of spirituality and emotional healing. This is a novel that exhibits the wonder and hope for those who are overwhelmed by the unfortunate events in their lives. Recommended.
***½ Historical Fiction based on the author’s first generation ancestor by Clifford Neal. Qualified Recommendation.
Review by Douglas Quinn, author of the Webb Sawyer Mysteries, the Ellis Family Thrillers, Cornelius The Orphan (Historical Fiction/Adventure), and two Children’s Chapter Book Series.
The main character in this novel is William Neal, the first generation American ancestor of the author. William Neal of Virginia finds his way in life during the beginnings of Colonial America.
This novel is meticulously researched, technically well written, and is impressive for the historical content. However, while points of tension and conflict were implied, the knuckle-biting suspense never actually materialized. The characters, while different in background, culture and ethnicity, were unidimensional and I had a difficult time establishing an emotional connection with them.
I would also recommend that, in future books, the author format paragraph indents, as I found the lack of same distracting.
Kindred Spirits is the first of a planned eight-book series chronicling the life and times of author Clifford Neal’s ancestors. I believe this book will be enjoyed more by historians, Neal ancestors and current Neal family members rather than the general public. So I give it a Qualified Recommendation.
**** A Story of Family Tragedy and Racial Tensions in the Post World War II South. Recommended.
Review by Douglas Quinn, Author of Blue Heron Marsh, etal
Set in post World War II, Fairburn, Georgia, when the civil rights movement for African Americans was beginning to heat up, Separate But Equal chronicles the tale of one family’s conflicting views on the place for “coloreds” in the white-ruled world of the old south.
The author tells the story through a conversation between Ruth and her mother, who is in a retirement home, and through flashbacks to the actual events.
Ruth’s mother, Evelyn Caldwell, is reluctant to discuss family events that happened when Ruth was a child. Ruth, however, has memories rekindled after finding a diary in the family farmhouse.
The diary belonged to a black woman named Della Gaddy. Della, who was hired to assist Evelyn with her children and with chores around the house, is not your typical southern black woman of the times. She is educated and interested in making her place in the world.
However, Evelyn’s tyrannical ways, along with her learned and inherited racial views, drive her husband and his brother into conflict within the family and with other white members of their community, ending with tragic consequences at a bar in a colored town called Lightning.
Even in her old age, her mother is still in denial and living in a world of her own truths. When Ruth finally drags out her mother’s version of the story, her fears about the actual truth behind what transpired that fateful night at the Blue Moon Bar are realized.
The conversation portion of the story sometimes drags, but the novel builds nicely through the flashbacks toward the tension-filled, climactic ending. Recommended.
A Seductive Selection of (in)Famous Fairy Tales. Recommended.
Reviewed by Douglas Quinn, author of Pelican Point: a Webb Sawyer Mystery etal.
The author of a dozen+ books and creator and host of Mitzi TV, Mitzi Szereto, now brings us a seductive selection of (in)famous Fairy Tales with a titillating twist of Mitzeroticism.
Szereto explores the erotic origins of Rapunzel’s curly locks, Beauty’s sleeping habits, along with thirteen other arousing tales that would make the Brothers Grimm grimace.
While I personally found Szereto’s erotic fairy tales entertaining (more naughty than erotic, actually), what I enjoyed more were the historical essay introductions for each story as presented by the author. They were well-researched and academically informative.
Those who would like to revisit their childhood stories told in a more ribald manner will enjoy In Sleeping Beauty’s Bed. Recommended.
Powell's City of Books is an independent bookstore in Portland, Oregon, that fills a whole city block with more than a million new, used, and out of print books. Shop those shelves — plus literally millions more books, DVDs, and eBooks — here at Powells.com.
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Fallen from Grace by J. R. Lindermuth
rivercitypress, May 17, 2011
***** J. R. Lindermuth’s Best Book Yet. Highly Recommended.Review by Douglas Quinn, The Webb Sawyer Mysteries, The Ellis Family Thrillers, Cornelius The Orphan, Historical Fiction/Adventure, and Children’s Chapter Books.
I was weaned on the great fin de siécle 19th century mysteries of Edgar Allan Poe and Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle. Then Caleb Carr gave me the moody and exciting The Alienist and its sequel Angel of Darkness. All of these (even accounting for Sherlock Holmes forays into the moors and English countryside) were urban based. In contrast to the frenetic time-is-of-the-essence rush by these author’s protagonists to solve the crime, in Fallen From Grace, Lindermuth offers up a delicious, slow-paced murder mystery set in a small, rural Pennsylvania town called Arahpot.
In order to solve the murders that have befallen his town, Sheriff Sylvester Tilghman does his best to expand the deficiency of clues to the stabbing of a stranger on his way into town. When a second suspicious death occurs, Tilghman sifts through the evidence to determine what happened. But in 1897, the small town’s day-to-day lives of its long-time citizens don’t come to a halt because of the unfortunate events that befall strangers and newcomers.
When the sheriff declares that the telegraph is the greatest invention ever for a sheriff, this gives you an idea of the pacing of the story. But this is a good thing, because it allows Lindermuth to spend time developing all of the interesting characters in this interesting and intriguing tale. What I enjoy about Lindermuth’s writing style is that he feels no need to spend time with detailed physical descriptions. Instead, as the characters are introduced and progress through the story, I had a perfect image in my mind of their physical appearance, who they were and what they were all about. This is the mark of an expert writer and I applaud Lindermuth for this skill.
Sylvester Tilghman, Syl to his friends, is a bachelor who doesn’t do so well in the cooking-for-himself department and is always on the lookout for an invitation to a meal, be it breakfast lunch or dinner. His favorite targets are his girlfriend, Lydia, and her parents, and his neighbors, Dr. Mariner and his family.
That brings me to the other thing I like about Lindermuth’s writing, that being all the little side stories and character interactions he weaves throughout the tale, the most interesting being the relationship between Sylvester and Lydia. Lydia, who Sylvester wants to marry, clearly cares for him. However, she has been putting off his request for some time. The reader is left to speculate her reasons and, at the end of the book, while other town romances resolve themselves, he isn’t able to solve his dilemma with Lydia. During it all, Lydia is foisting her annoying cousin, Cyrus, upon Sylvester to fill a deputy sheriff’s position. There are other distractions, some related to the crimes, some not, that occupy Sylvester’s attention. These diversions add richness to the setting, the characters and the story.
Does the sheriff solve the crimes? After a well disguised ending, of course he does. But the enjoyment for the reader is how he sifts out the wheat from the chaff in his plodding but effective manner. I hope we see Sheriff Sylvester Tilghman again, not only to enjoy his investigative techniques but to find out if he can close the deal with Lydia.
Fallen From Grace is J. R. Lindermuth’s best book yet and is highly recommended.
A Stone Barn by Nancy Lynn
rivercitypress, May 8, 2011
**** A Story of Personal Tragedy, Spiritual Reawakening and Romance Recommended.Review by Douglas Quinn, Author of the Webb Sawyer Mysteries, The Ellis Family Suspense Thrillers, etal.
and by Donna Higgins Colson, Artist/Publicist
From Douglas Quinn:
Set in western Pennsylvania and the Finger Lake Region of New York, A Stone Barn follows the separate lives of Lynne Simms and Jarred Cameron, two people from different walks of life, as they struggle to reinvent themselves after each experienced family tragedies.
Lynne Simms lost her husband and children to a fatal auto accident. After eight years of losing herself in her work, she has a nervous breakdown and finds herself at a high-priced retreat for overworked and stressed out executives.
Scotsman, Jarred Cameron, lost his wife to suicide after their daughter succumbed to leukemia. Wanting to start over, he comes to America to take over a family bed and breakfast in the Catskill Mountains of New York.
With the help of a guardian angel named Sophie, they find each other. They also find that they share more than their family tragedies. But will their common journey of pain, healing and discovery be enough for them to find comfort in each other?
In the beginning of the book, a moving poem entitled For Victoria by the author caught my attention. The poem alone draws the reader into the novel.
This is Nancy Lynn’s first novel. Her second novel Red Dirt, has just been released. Recommended.
From Donna Higgins Colson:
(Caveat: Donna knows the author because, many years ago, she taught art to her twin sons; nevertheless, Donna promised both the author and Douglas Quinn that she would give a fair and honest review)
As part of my reading-for-sanity program, I just finished A Stone Barn by Nancy Lynn. I enjoyed her cast of characters and her skill at unfolding the tale. It’s obvious that the author is a writer who knows whereof she speaks and is not afraid to put into words abstract concepts of spirituality and emotional healing. This is a novel that exhibits the wonder and hope for those who are overwhelmed by the unfortunate events in their lives. Recommended.
Kindred Spirits by Clifford Neal
rivercitypress, February 14, 2011
***½ Historical Fiction based on the author’s first generation ancestor by Clifford Neal. Qualified Recommendation.Review by Douglas Quinn, author of the Webb Sawyer Mysteries, the Ellis Family Thrillers, Cornelius The Orphan (Historical Fiction/Adventure), and two Children’s Chapter Book Series.
The main character in this novel is William Neal, the first generation American ancestor of the author. William Neal of Virginia finds his way in life during the beginnings of Colonial America.
This novel is meticulously researched, technically well written, and is impressive for the historical content. However, while points of tension and conflict were implied, the knuckle-biting suspense never actually materialized. The characters, while different in background, culture and ethnicity, were unidimensional and I had a difficult time establishing an emotional connection with them.
I would also recommend that, in future books, the author format paragraph indents, as I found the lack of same distracting.
Kindred Spirits is the first of a planned eight-book series chronicling the life and times of author Clifford Neal’s ancestors. I believe this book will be enjoyed more by historians, Neal ancestors and current Neal family members rather than the general public. So I give it a Qualified Recommendation.
Separate But Equal by Carol Culver Rzadkiewicz
rivercitypress, September 17, 2010
**** A Story of Family Tragedy and Racial Tensions in the Post World War II South. Recommended.Review by Douglas Quinn, Author of Blue Heron Marsh, etal
Set in post World War II, Fairburn, Georgia, when the civil rights movement for African Americans was beginning to heat up, Separate But Equal chronicles the tale of one family’s conflicting views on the place for “coloreds” in the white-ruled world of the old south.
The author tells the story through a conversation between Ruth and her mother, who is in a retirement home, and through flashbacks to the actual events.
Ruth’s mother, Evelyn Caldwell, is reluctant to discuss family events that happened when Ruth was a child. Ruth, however, has memories rekindled after finding a diary in the family farmhouse.
The diary belonged to a black woman named Della Gaddy. Della, who was hired to assist Evelyn with her children and with chores around the house, is not your typical southern black woman of the times. She is educated and interested in making her place in the world.
However, Evelyn’s tyrannical ways, along with her learned and inherited racial views, drive her husband and his brother into conflict within the family and with other white members of their community, ending with tragic consequences at a bar in a colored town called Lightning.
Even in her old age, her mother is still in denial and living in a world of her own truths. When Ruth finally drags out her mother’s version of the story, her fears about the actual truth behind what transpired that fateful night at the Blue Moon Bar are realized.
The conversation portion of the story sometimes drags, but the novel builds nicely through the flashbacks toward the tension-filled, climactic ending. Recommended.
In Sleeping Beauty's Bed: Erotic Fairy Tales by Mitzi Szereto
rivercitypress, October 28, 2009
A Seductive Selection of (in)Famous Fairy Tales. Recommended.Reviewed by Douglas Quinn, author of Pelican Point: a Webb Sawyer Mystery etal.
The author of a dozen+ books and creator and host of Mitzi TV, Mitzi Szereto, now brings us a seductive selection of (in)famous Fairy Tales with a titillating twist of Mitzeroticism.
Szereto explores the erotic origins of Rapunzel’s curly locks, Beauty’s sleeping habits, along with thirteen other arousing tales that would make the Brothers Grimm grimace.
While I personally found Szereto’s erotic fairy tales entertaining (more naughty than erotic, actually), what I enjoyed more were the historical essay introductions for each story as presented by the author. They were well-researched and academically informative.
Those who would like to revisit their childhood stories told in a more ribald manner will enjoy In Sleeping Beauty’s Bed. Recommended.
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