Odd Socks

David Clapham
iUniverse, 255 pages, (ebook) $3.99 , 9781475989526
(Reviewed: February, 2014)

Protagonist Andrew Carter’s life is impacted by two young women in David Clapham’s novel titled Odd Socks.

The story contains many plot threads that never seem to come together in a coherent fashion. London native Andrew is a young mathematician during the late 1960s. He’s offered a lectureship at a university where he will be working with a computer scientist and television personality developing home computers.

Andrew accepts and relocates to North Lancashire, where he runs into old friend Toby Morton. At this time, Toby shares his history with Sir Oliver Laine, an MP (Member of Parliament) and businessman, and someone Andrew will come to know. Toby then invites Andrew to his family’s home for the weekend to celebrate his half-sister Antonia’s 15th birthday. After Antonia’s flirting and pursuit, Andrew and Antonia become a couple.

Spring forward 30 years. Andrew’s career is established and he’s presented with an opportunity by Sir Oliver Laine, who is helping launch a pharmaceutical company. Andrew can spend half his time as a supernumerary fellow at Oxford University, and half his time in Viet Nam, assisting with statistical analysis of medical experiments and clinical drug trials. He accepts, and during his first trip to Viet Nam, he meets Cathy, a local teen. Their paths cross again, and soon he brings the girl into his life.

Vivacious Antonia and Cathy are the story’s strongest characters and outshine dull Andrew. In fact, Clapham’s novel is full of pompous British men who talk for pages about themselves or politics or religion, doing little to further the nearly nonexistent plots. The author’s aim here is difficult to discern: Is this a love story? Andrew’s journey of self-discovery? Both? No matter – either way, the purpose is eclipsed by superfluous dialogue and tedious characters.

Clapham’s story sinks under the weight of these many issues. Readers are likely to become confused and disillusioned as they go along, and many may stop reading before the novel’s end.

Source: BlueInk Reviews

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The Valley: Sahra's Quest

Elizabeth Martin
iUniverse, 245 pages, (paperback) $16.95, 9781491710326
(Reviewed: January, 2014)

Sahra’s Quest is the first of a planned fantasy series called The Valley, written by transplanted Scotswoman Elizabeth Martin, now residing in Wyoming.

The book’s heroine, Sahra, is a traveling medic roaming The Valley, a protected fortress constantly under attack by bands of renegades. When Sahra’s beloved uncle is assassinated, she begins a quest to discover who killed him and why. But courageous Sahra, who can shoot as well as heal, must also understand who she is — why she has silver hair and the gift of mental telepathy.

Sahra’s husband Logan recognizes that Sahra has a mission and doesn’t try to hold her back. Among their loose-knit band are: Gertrude, a steady-as-you-go fellow medic; Willi, a teenaged girl afflicted with TB; and Alice, a child with the same telepathic gifts as Sahra. Villains include the murderous Sykes, and Marianna, the power-crazed leader of the psychic Elites, whom Sahra must confront and subdue. The cast of characters also includes the mysterious Monahan, whose loyalties are unknown.

Sahra’s Quest, the author’s first full-length book, is competently structured. However, all the characters speak alike, displaying no accents, idiomatic speech patterns, or special patterns that would help readers tell them apart. The more noticeable weakness is the lack of any backstory about how or why The Valley became isolated, making it hard for readers to empathize with Sahra and her cohorts; the action is non-stop with no pause for retrospection. Sahra’s fierce determination buoys the plot, but by convention, the author should have included enough background material to make the situations more coherent.

The Valley: Sahra’s Quest is an acceptable start-up from a new fantasy writer. In future installments, however, Martin should more fully map and explain the world she has created in order for the series to garner wide appeal.

Also available as an ebook.

Author’s Current Residence
Casper, Wyoming

Source: BlueInk Reviews

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Liberty's Dawn: Book One of the Liberty Trilogy

Art Theocles
iUniverse, 385 pages, (paperback) $21.95, 9781469751573
(Reviewed: January, 2014)

This unusual novel mixes historical fiction with a science fiction twist, telling a story about the American Revolution from a different perspective.

Nik, John, and Sid are three seemingly normal men living in early 21st century North Carolina, struggling to make ends meet in jobs they do not enjoy. On a camping trip, they find themselves hurtled through time back to 1780. After the initial shock and exploring of their surroundings, they decide to observe, from hidden vantage points, the last battles of the Revolution. To their amazement, they discover the details are different than what history records, and take it upon themselves to ensure that events happen as they remember.

While the premise behind this novel is intriguing, there are many elements that strain credulity. Even though none of the three men have any military experience, they have detailed knowledge of military tactics, both from their own era and the time of the Revolution. They know much about the details of each battle they come across, yet none have previously shown much interest in history. From their camping trip, they conveniently have enough supplies to let them live comfortably on their own, and enough weaponry and ammunition to take on the British Army, one of the strongest military forces in history.

In terms of pacing, the book drags, with travelling and camping scenes heavily outweighing action scenes and historical interaction. In addition, the author has a distinctly conservative view on the contemporary economic situation, politics, and environmental issues, which he interjects into the story at several points. Readers with a different take may find these sections difficult.

The first in a trilogy, Liberty’s Dawn establishes the setting, characters, and plot for the novels to come, but some rethinking in future books might be required in order to attract an appreciative audience.

Also available in hardcover and ebook.

Author’s Current Residence
Bailey, North Carolina

Source: BlueInk Reviews

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The Bribe

Oskar Klausenstock
iUniverse, 280 pages, (paperback) $17.95, 9781491709146
(Reviewed: January, 2014)

Two men in whom history has engendered mutual hatred gradually surmount their past experiences in this absorbing novel.

Elderly Nathan Klein is in a nursing home recovering from a stroke when he sees an old man with one leg sitting on a bench in the garden. In a spasm of revulsion, he recognizes the man as Herr Arbeitsleiter Gerhard Reichenberg, the Nazi officer whose battalion demolished Klein’s native Polish ghetto and slaughtered most of its inhabitants. Despite the efforts of a warmhearted physical therapist, Miss Hedberg, Nathan cannot help but envisage Gerhard as the epitome of Nazi cruelty. Gradually however, with Miss Hedberg acting as postmistress, the two men begin a correspondence.

Also available in hardcover and ebook.

The halting revelation of their memories is well paced and convincingly drawn. Nathan vents his hatred of those who perpetrated the Holocaust, and is surprised when Gerhard reveals his secret: He had fallen in love with a beautiful young Jewish girl who had been sent to clean his military quarters. He has been vainly searching for her for 50 years, meanwhile having metamorphosed into a man ashamed of his country and its wartime atrocities.

The book’s most impressive passage is Gerhard’s description of a post-war visit to Jerusalem, vividly illuminated with precise sensory images and sociological detail. Equally as moving is Nathan’s description of returning to his empty village after six hellish months of hiding in the nearby forest. A jarring note, however, occurs when Klausenstock emphasizes Nathan’s lonely existence by giving him a pretentious son married to a spoiled materialistic flibbertigibit, both of whom Nathan despises.

Reconciliation of Holocaust enemies is not a new theme, but the story gains substance and dimension by Klausenstock’s assured use of physical and atmospheric details, and by psychological insights that slowly reveal the sources of each man’s behavior. Klausenstock is a fluent writer, in command of his material and his historical period. The novel’s redemptive message should satisfy anyone looking for an uplifting read.

Author’s Current Residence
Tiburon, California

Source: BlueInk Reviews

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Shadows Present, Shadows Past

J.H. Sanderson
iUniverse, (paperback) $13.95, 9780595398737
(Reviewed: December, 2013)

A quick, easy read, Shadows Present, Shadows Past is the ghost story equivalent of a “cozy” mystery, in which the characters may be discussing a grisly murder, but they do it at teatime while buttering their scones. In this case, the subject is a haunted house, debated over a breakfast of farm-fresh eggs and milk. Still, the result is the same: an entertaining tale whose underlying mystery is almost coincidental.

J.H. Sanderson’s novel has all the elements of a traditional ghost story. The Evans sisters inherit a neighbor’s long-abandoned home, a dream come true that is fast becoming a nightmare. Starting on moving-in day, the house comes alive with phantom footsteps, unexplained door-banging, and sudden cold chills.

It’s pretty standard fare, and the ghost elements are rarely the most engaging parts of the story. Instead of deeply exploring the paranormal, Sanderson turns to character development, and the mind of Colleen Evans as she tries to sort out which shadows are real and which are her own creations. Colleen’s investigation brings out not only her complex character, but also a rich a sense of place: In this small town, the librarian knows all of the gossip, and Colleen’s high school sweetheart is still pining away for her on his farm. Generations of family feuds alternately reveal and obscure the truth as the rural history unfolds.

Shadows Present, Shadows Past is written in an accessible, easy-to-read style; it’s a book you can devour in one or two sittings. You’ll enjoy it if you can forgive the occasional typographical error and a complicated conclusion that draws together a startling number of threads. Instead, concentrate on the old-fashioned story of one woman overcoming her fears with the help of her family. In this, you’ll find a satisfying tale.

Also available as an ebook.

Author’s Current Residence
Madison, New Hampshire

Source: BlueInk Reviews

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Looking into the Revelation: The Countdown to Christ's Return

Dr. Boyd O. Gray
iUniverse, 542 pages, (paperback) $31.95, 9781491704264
(Reviewed: December, 2013)

A recurring theme in Dr. Boyd O. Gray’s lengthy book, Looking into the Revelation, is that mankind has lost sight of its first love, God. This is an idea that permeates the controversial book of Revelation, the last book in the Christian Bible. The author, a pastor for over 30 years, knows Revelation well, and in the course of over 500 pages unpacks the scripture line-by-line and chapter-by-chapter.

One must imagine that this was a daunting task, and Gray’s commitment to the text and his desire to reveal the enigmatic messaging in John’s Apocalypse is apparent. Moreover, there is a strong pastoral quality to the book to help lead people to a change of heart: “The only time Christians have unlimited power of the Holy Spirit at their disposal is when they are obedient to the will of God,“ he writes. “When they break their alliance with God and make their alliance with the world they are entering into a powerless state that will ruin them in effectiveness.”

Though the book could use editing to condense ideas and tighten lines, Boyd is a clear and articulate writer. He makes what is an extremely dense biblical work accessible to the general reader. The problem — and its one the author acknowledges in part in his foreword — is that there is no footnoting so it’s difficult to know exactly which are Boyd’s idea and which are the thoughts of those that have come before him. To be fair, the book is not written for academics, but this lack of citation can leave readers questioning the authority of the writing.

Nonetheless, Looking into the Revelation provides a useful jumping-off point for church groups looking for insight into a book that still perplexes people today.

Also available in hardcover and ebook.

Author’s Hometown
Saint James, Missouri

Author’s Current Residence
St. James, Missouri

Source: BlueInk Reviews

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Transgressions and Other Stories

Hilary Orbach
iUniverse, 239 pages, (paperback) $16.95, 9781475980455
(Reviewed: December, 2013)

The work of a New York City psychotherapist, these 14 precisely-written stories deal with the kinds of problems their author is likely to hear about every day at the office: grief, rage, betrayal, family dysfunction, loneliness, sexual awakening, the discontents of modern life.

Hilary Orbach's characters can seem a bit overcivilized (the story is replete with Grahams, Adeles, Trevors and Elyses) and, for their unlikely coincidences, her plots can feel as calculated as blueprints. But the author has her finger squarely on the pulse of the human animal as it lurches out of the long night of existence into the half-light of morning. She is an observant writer.

In “Jeopardy,” a needy neighbor suffering from AIDS undermines the tenuous relationship of two young lovers living in a cramped Manhattan apartment. Having alienated his beloved, the uncertain narrator concludes: “Sometimes I think our only safety lies in not really knowing each other.”

That theme recurs in the Cheever-esque “Transgressions,” wherein an adulterous couple ruins two suburban families. The couple ultimately winds up estranged because “you can't ever be sure you really know the other.” In “Touch,” a young widow who sells psychotropic pharmaceuticals tries—and fails—to love a blind guidance counselor, and in “Becoming Mira,” a teenager realizes she's a lesbian just before finding her troubled father in the arms of the older woman she's fallen for.

Taking stock, perhaps, of her own profession, Orbach glimpses an unsettled Manhattan psychiatrist in “Verona Waits for You.” In the end, the shrink and a rough-hewn New Jersey divorcee set out as “a pair of hopeful messengers through the darkness.”

A touch of humor here and there might color up these dark tales about unhappy people. But as visions of the untidy mind, the troubled conscience, and the doomed soul seeking redemption, they largely succeed, adding up to a collection that’s well worth a look.

Also available in hardcover and ebook

Author’s Current Residence
New York, New York

Source: BlueInk Reviews

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Fire From the Sky

Ron Greer and Mike Wicks
iUniverse, 272 pages, (paperback) $18.95, 9781475997132
(Reviewed: December, 2013)

A valuable contribution to the history of WWII, this in-depth memoir chronicles the air war over Japan. More than a narrative of one man’s harrowing experiences during his 28 bombing missions on a B29 Superfortress, it contains a wealth of essential information about the military operation that decimated Japan’s war arsenal and defenses.

Staff Sergeant Herbert Greer was a 23-year-old, newly married, “frightened boy” from a little town in the Pacific Northwest when he was stationed on Guam. His diary of his service as the radio operator on bombing flights is precisely detailed, also augmented and enriched by his recollections six decades later, as spoken to his son, Ron Greer. Co-author Mike Wicks shows a fine editorial hand in stitching those strands together to provide background to the wartime events that Greer witnessed.

Military buffs will be interested in the development of Boeing’s fabled aircraft, since its enhanced ability in range and bomb capacity made a crucial difference in the war’s course. Even general readers will be impressed by the levels of training the flight crew of the City of Monroe Superfortress maintained.

The crew endured 14-hour flights in excruciatingly tight quarters, often encountering severe weather fronts, before reaching their destination. Once they arrived, they were in extreme peril from flak, fighter and suicide planes, and firestorms that arose and engulfed the plane from the havoc they had created below. Greer recalls “the remarkable stench… the smell of burning flesh” that rose and permeated the plane after a bombing. Equally horrifying was the Japanese military’s practice of summarily beheading captured Allied soldiers, a fact that haunted airmen who faced the option of parachuting from a disabled aircraft.

Greer’s recollections and insights about the members of his squadron and their tight camaraderie add considerable dramatic suspense to this compelling narrative. The book will hold great appeal for WWII veterans and their descendants, as well as general readers with an interest in this fearsome war.

BlueInk Heads-Up: Those interested in military history of any epoch will also find much to intrigue them here, especially since the text includes black and white archival photos and a bibliography of 47 web sites.

Also available in hardcover and ebook.

Author’s Current Residence
Cabot, Arizona

Source: BlueInk Reviews

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