Book Review: Once Upon a Lie by Michael French

Once Upon a Lie by Michael R. French
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I began reading Once Upon a Lie, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the synopsis. The story follows the lives of two main characters—Alex, daughter of a successful attorney and his socialite wife, and Jaleel, an intelligent African-American male born to two working class parents. The novel begins in present day, with the voice of an adult Alex apprehensively awaiting a meeting with her mother, and then in the next chapter, takes the reader back to a young Jaleel, and the life he lives in Peartree, Texas with his two parents before their unexpected deaths.

The novel is filled with interesting characters, such as the quirky Cornelius Appleton/Dirick, who kindly offers help to Jaleel (and the many identities he must assume) after he begins life on the run. The majority of the novel is set in the 1980s, which is one of my favorite decades, so there are references to the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and the life of the affluent in the Los Angeles suburbs mixed in. I found it very hard to have any sympathy for Alex’s parents, who were both entitled in different ways and seemed to have no remorse for the destruction their actions left in their wake.

As I mentioned before, Alex and Jaleel came from very different backgrounds, but were brought together in a random meeting at a lemonade stand that would have a lifelong effect on both of them. Learning how Jaleel’s brushes with the law shaped his persona and gave him a brittle, but wise, edge was one of the more intriguing parts of the book. Fans of writer and activist James Baldwin will appreciate Jaleel’s references to his work, as he becomes a writer in his own right.

Once Upon a Lie is an exploration of the secrets families keep, and the ways those secrets can tear a family apart. It’s also an examination of the country’s justice system—past and present—and how those with influence and money can manipulate that system to their advantage, while those with less means are left with only their word as a defense. These examples include the very different outcomes when both Alex’s father and Jaleel are accused of crimes. By the last half of the book I was on the edge of my seat wondering if justice would truly prevail—and in my opinion, the way the stories are wrapped up will be a great source of discussion for book clubs.

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Enter to win a copy of this book at WOW! Women on Writing.

Book Review: Incarnation by Laura Davis Hays

Deep in the ocean lies centuries full of secrets. The water—and the creatures that reside in it—has more knowledge than we’ll ever imagine. Civilizations may have disintegrated into the murky waters over time, but the lessons of love, power, and courage of those who dwelled there can still be found in modern society. As the story of Incarnation teaches, there is still much to learn and forgive.

It's been awhile since a book took me on such whirlwind adventure. Join me today as I host author Laura Davis Hays, author of Incarnation, as she tours with WOW! Women on Writing.

About Incarnation:

Kelsey Depuis, Santa Fe scientist, and Iriel, betrothed on Atlantis to a man she cannot love―two young women bound by a single soul.

In Kelsey’s everyday world, three men shape her life: Myron Crouch, the boss of BioVenture Enterprises; Harrison Stillman, a brilliant colleague of hers there; and Stan Dresser, who twists her feelings with his kisses and lies.

But gradually, growingly, Iriel is shaping her life too. Through dreams and visions, she draws Kelsey into the ancient realm where refusal to marry Gewil has driven her to daring flight with fantastic creatures across a strange and terrible land.

As Kelsey joins other BioVenture researchers testing a new organism on a remote Caribbean island, turmoil and violence darken her fate―and Iriel’s presence grows stronger. Worlds shift and merge, danger grows. Past and present, vengeance and love swirl together as the seas rise up, the seas that once swallowed Atlantis.

Tested in life-or-death struggle, Kelsey must face an ordeal she can survive only through great courage and deep karmic understanding.

Paperback: 388 pages
Genre: Suspense/Thriller
Publisher: Terra Nova Books (March 1, 2016)
ISBN-10: 1938288440
ISBN-13: 978-1938288449

Incarnation is available for purchase at Amazon.  

About the Author:

Laura Davis Hays is a California native, the only child of a theoretical physicist and a librarian. Her prize-winning body of work includes a forthcoming fantasy series, the Atlantis Material, and a collection of linked stories set in Denmark, her ancestral homeland, in the early twentieth century. Hays is also an accounting consultant, a performing pianist, a composer, and a skier. She and her husband live in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with their two cats, Rufus and Dexter.

Review:

Oh, how I’ve tried to forget that life! A life filled with sweetness, but with terrible sad things too. Did I cause them? Perhaps. For that, I’ve done my penance, once, twice, tenfold. Yet there is something I cannot finish, something that grinds like a bone in the throat. One who once desired me, one who blamed me, will not let go.

From the very first pages of Incarnation, it’s clear that this will be a story unlike any you’ve read before. The images presented are dazzling, sparkling, hopeful but foreboding, and most of all, mystifying. Who is this wise narrator that speaks in the passage above, and how is the protagonist, Kelsey, connected to her?

Incarnation is three intricate stories woven together—there’s Kelsey, her work in the lab at BioVenture and her relationships with colleague Harrison and the magnetic Stan; the ancient tale of Iriel, Gewil, and Jarad in Atlantic; and the culmination of the mysterious scientific project in the isolated island in Belize.

The novel is full of unforgettable characters. As Kelsey opens herself up to her spiritual connection with Iriel, her relationship with the man she is deeply drawn to becomes more complicated, and eventually, dangerous. In my opinion, the last third of the book was hard to put down, when Kelsey joins her fellow scientists and researchers in the secluded island out in the middle of the Caribbean, and her connection to Atlantis becomes even more vivid. Incarnation mixes spiritual and metaphysical themes with science, anthropology, and adventure in a tale as turbulent as the ocean waters that play such a main part of the story.

Want to enter to win your own copy of Incarnation? Visit WOW! Women on Writing to read an interview with Laura and enter before this Sunday evening for your chance to win.

Book Review: Talent by B. Lynn Goodwin

My curiosity about the book Talent was piqued as soon as I read the press materials from the WOW! Women on Writing blog tour. First off, contemporary young adult novels are one of my favorite genres to read. Second, I participated in musicals during my high school years and loved the idea of the stage as a main setting.

Synopsis:

Fifteen-and-half-year-old Sandee Mason wants to find her talent, get her driver's license, and stop living in the shadow of her big brother, Bri, who disappeared while serving in Afghanistan.

She discovers that real life doesn’t have a script as she deals with loss, the manipulation of Bri’s best friend, her burning ambition to find her talent and figure out what happened to Bri, and unexpected bits of joy that pop up when she least expects them.

About the Author:

B. Lynn Goodwin is the owner of Writer Advice, http://www. writeradvice.com, and the author of You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers. She’s been published in local and regional newspapers, plus numerous magazines, anthologies, and online journals. A former drama and English teacher, she now conducts writing workshops, writes book reviews, edits, coaches writers, and is currently working on a second book about Sandee Mason’s adventures and a memoir about getting married for the first time at age 62 to a two-time widower who she met on…gulp…Craigslist. She lives with her husband, Richard, and her dog, Eddie McPuppers, in Northern California.

B. Lynn Goodwin’s website:

http://blynngoodwin.com

http://www.writeradvice.com/

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/blynn.goodwin

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Lgood67334

Review:

Talent hooks the reader from the opening pages, as fifteen-year-old Sandee Mason anxiously awaits her audition for her school’s production of Oklahoma! (I loved this part--I was in the ensemble Oklahoma! in my teens and couldn’t get the songs out of my head while reading.) It’s clear from the beginning that Sandee is searching for something of her own, after living in the shadow of her older brother Brian for so long. With Bri M.I.A. in Afghanistan, she is certain landing a part in the show will be her chance to shine in the spotlight.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, maybe!) Sandee ends up taking on a role she never imagined, and it bolsters her confidence and helps her forge new friendships while strengthening old ones. Goodwin definitely writes teenagers well—there is a well-rounded cast of characters that keeps you guessing at every turn. There’s the obnoxious diva classmate that has you rolling your eyes (Jenn), the boy-next-door/seventh grade boyfriend of Sandee’s that looks more attractive in each chapter (Diego), the moody stage manager and best friend of Bri (Rob), who also has his eye on Sandee, and several others. The character of Sandee was well written; there are times she displays an emotional maturity beyond her years and other times when her decisions made me cringe, just as any authentic teenager would actually behave. I also enjoyed reading about all the behind-the-scenes workings of the theater, too, as it brought back some great memories for me.

The author also paints a vivid and heartbreaking picture of a family struggling with the knowledge that their son has gone missing shortly after joining the military. Sandee spends much of her time at school and rehearsals because her home life has become non-existent. But she soon learns that most people are dealing with their own personal demons, and there are a few underlying mysteries sprinkled throughout the book that made me want to keep reading. Bravo to B. Lynn Goodwin for a fast-paced, heartfelt story of love, loss, and finding your place in the world.

Note: Read a fun interview with the author here. Be sure to check back on Wednesday, March 16, for a guest post from the author on how writers can use acting techniques to get inside of their characters. 

Book Review: Afta-U by Jennifer-Lynn Keniston

About Afta-U:

Michael’s smile broadened. “It seems you’re surprised to see me, Jean. Don’t tell me you thought that they’d leave an eleven-year-old boy locked away forever.”

Twenty-nine years after the tragic death of her childhood best friend, Hope, Jean Cartwright Rhodes returns to her hometown with her husband and daughter after she inherits the house her friend’s family once lived in. Now, years later, she finds herself haunted by a dark truth – and by the specter of Hope herself.

Every time Jean looks through her kitchen window, she sees two stark reminders of her troubled past; the Afta-U sailboat, ironically named after young Hope, and the old oak tree where her eleven-year-old friend met her death at the hands of another child.

Afta-U unfolds as a psychological chess match, a complex web of intrigue, unexpected relationships, lies, and devastating secrets as Jean stuggles with the impact of decisions she made long ago on all the lives around her. When Jean confronts and tries to come to grips with Hope’s killer, she finds herself waging a personal battle between madness and redemption.

Jennifer-Lynn Keniston:

Raised in Hanson, Massachusetts, the author earned a Master of Arts degree in English, from Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English, with a concentration in writing and a minor in philosophy, from Plymouth State College in New Hampshire. Jennifer-Lynn currently works as a project manager for a company that provides cloud software products for call centers at small, medium, and enterprise companies. In April 2014, she started her own business, Ansel Resume Resolution Services LLC, writing resumes and cover letters. She now lives and writes in Concord, New Hampshire, and enjoys teaching Spinning classes in her free time.

Website: http://www.jenniferkeniston.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjenniferkeniston/

Twitter: @jenkeniston

Purchase Link:

http://www.amazon.com/Afta-U-Jennifer-Lynn-Keniston/dp/1680284274/

Review:

It’s amazing sometimes what the heart and soul can endure, and the characters in the novel Afta-U are definitely a testament to that. When the main character, Jean, moves into her best friend’s childhood home, she wants to feel connected to the innocence of her early years and the good memories of Hope, her best friend who tragically died at the age of eleven. Unfortunately, it doesn’t turn out that way.

As a parent, reading the details of Hope’s death was terrifying, especially seeing how quickly something meant to be a game can spiral out of control. The memory of that event is something Jean buried deep within herself and never truly confronted. But now she’s sharing Hope’s childhood home with the ghost of Hope herself, a solemn figure who doesn’t speak.

Constant reminders of you swirled around me every day. I could hear your laugh in the physical walls of my current house and the land itself, haunting echoes of my childhood memories of you.

The paragraph above is an example of how Jennifer-Lynn Keniston’s lyrical prose draws the reader in from the opening pages, along with the use of symbolism and the complex and often complicated nature of human relationships. The characterization is also excellent—I loved the character of Nick, Jean’s husband, and I loathed the two villans, Damian and Michael.

I think many of us can relate to the feeling of being overwhelmed by a traumatic event in our lives, and how it can make you want give up and stop fighting, even if just for a little while. Afta-U is a heartbreaking tale of the loss of childhood innocence, and how the emotional scars can find a way to resurface no matter how much time has passed. But it’s also a testament to how a person can heal if they can hold on to their faith and have a strong support system to lean on.

As a bonus, the author is also a talented poet, and poems that add depth to the story are interspersed throughout the novel:

Autumn

Red flames danced

As the white envelope

With black penned ink fell

Trying to silence the voice whose story it was to tell

A lamb’s choice breathes air to the fire below

Shifting from shielded innocence

To the heavy stature of a lioness

Defining a choice and one’s free will

The catcher of lost souls

A saddened sparrow weeps

As colored beach sand and tears freely flow

Learn more about the inspiration behind the book in this interview at WOW! Women on Writing.