Deep Creek by Dana Hand

The time is 1887. The place is Deep Creek, along the banks of the Snake River (Idaho and Oregon's natural boundary line).

A murder mystery ensues, set in the West when moneyed men and women (and countries) plot and play politics in their strategic game of power and greed.

What goes around, comes around. Eventually. From this side of reality and beyond.

A Judge, a Company investigator, and a Metis tracker band together to solve the mass murder of more than 30 Chinese gold miners. Secrets abound from all sides. Who is telling the truth?

Based on real events during the fading Gold Rush days of America's West. Relive the last days of the fated mining camp, the personal struggles of the investigating party, and the choices to be made that will eventually change the course of everyone's life!

A great look into a window of time past, of the reality and harshness of prairie life, for foreigners and American-born alike. Well written, with twists and turns that hold the reader's interest far beyond the last pages of the story.

Book Giveaway: Eadric the Grasper: Sons of Mercia Vol. 1 by Jayden Woods

“His name was Eadric, which meant ‘power,’ and he had been acquiring it consistently his entire life.

Once a bastard and a swineherd, now a thegn. Who could say what he might become tomorrow?”

Eadric the Grasper: Sons of Mercia Vol. 1

Author Jayden Woods explores the life of the “worst Briton of the 11th century” in her new novel, Eadric the Grasper: Sons of Mercia Vol. 1. From Eadric’s humble beginnings as a fatherless swineherd, to his meteoric rise as ealdorman of Mercia in northern England, Woods has provided readers a multifaceted view of one of history’s supposed villains.

A casual conversation about the Danish invaders plaguing England occurs between Eadric and a young boy, revealed as the king’s son. It swiftly leads to a summons to the court of King Ethelred the Unready, where, after some shock the king demands to know what he should do about the Danes. Eadric’s answer seems simple enough: deal with the invaders, as they have done with the English in the past, a history mired with their broken promises. Eadric is unprepared when his answer precipitates a massacre of the Danes, including his master Wulfric’s host. In the aftermath, Eadric soon has an unforgettable encounter with the king’s daughter Aydith, which will influence the course of his life in years to come.

Throughout the intervening years, Eadric attempts to survive the politics, famines and Danish raids that threaten to destroy England. However, he cannot remain ignorant of the upheaval for long because Ethelred soon demands that he kill a great Saxon landowner. Seeing little choice, Eadric submits to the command and gains land for his troubles. By then, his reputation is growing unfavorably in the kingdom, as people question his influence. In an attempt to impress Aydith, he leads a ragtag band against the Danes and gets himself captured. Although he survives the ordeal, it is a turning point for Eadric, the moment where it becomes clear that prevailing winds of change can easily sway his loyalties.

For her part, the princess Aydith is a staunch, defiant enemy of the Danes. She harbors a dangerous secret, one that often imperils her life. Not even the mutual attraction between her and Eadric and their later marriage can distract her from the goal of riding England of the invaders. She refuses to stand by helplessly while her father vacillates and capitulates to every Danish demand for even more bribes. The worse betrayal for her is when she thinks Eadric’s sole focus is on his selfish interests, and that he cares nothing for the fate of England. Although she tries to remain a dutiful wife, they clash and mutual suspicions ruin their former happiness. When Eadric finally discovers the secret that his wife has held from him, he must decide whether his own interests or her safety is his paramount concern. His choice surprised me.

Like Aydith, sometimes I struggled to reconcile Eadric’s character. I understand that for Ms. Woods it is no easy feat to turn the “worst Briton of the 11th century” into a man with distinct motivations. It was not often clear whether Eadric was on a quest for peace throughout the kingdom, or just in his domain, in an idyllic world of his own creation. Because of this ambiguity, he could easily swing from supporting Ethelred and his children to betraying them in the next instant. Although his relationship with Aydith grew difficult over time because of those actions, I never got the sense that they had ever stopped loving each other. Many of the characters refer to him as a coward, but I never thought of him in that way. If anything, he acted boldly and through astute observation of the swift changes coming to England, he did his best to forge a good life for him and his family. Still, his boldness accompanied a strange and dangerous naiveté that did not allow him to appreciate the full consequences of his actions at times. As in life, Jayden Woods’ Eadric remains a complicated character.

Jayden Woods has graciously offered a FREE copy of her new novel, Eadric the Grasper: Sons of Mercia Vol. 1. Please leave a comment on the blog this week for your chance to win.

 AVAILABLE OCTOBER 5, 2010

An Unforgettable Journey Through Italy and Life by Federico G. Martini

An Unforgettable Journey Through Italy and Life by Federico G. Martini


For anyone trapped in the rat race of a big city who juggles career, family, and the pressures of life, this novel will certainly strike a chord.

In this fascinating contemporary story, Davide is a manager in a factory, and one day, while trapped in a traffic jam on Milano’s ring road, he suffers a panic attack. Plagued by anxiety and exhausted by the demands of a stressful career, on an impulse, he decides to leave his work and family and wander through Italy in search of healing. Without clear direction, he throws caution to the wind, and embarks on a journey of discovery through small towns, major tourist centres, and visiting historical locations. Along the way, he meets many colourful characters who touch his life in a myriad of ways, teaching him to focus on the richness of life.  With each encounter, he learns the meaning of simplicity and tranquillity, and his spirit slowly begins to heal.

This tiny novel is vivid with descriptions of Italy and the Italian lifestyle. As I read along, it felt as if I was being taken on a grand tour of Italy visiting Florence and Venice and the many quaint towns and villages along the way. The novel describes the beauty of the Italian countryside and the splendour of its cuisine. Davide sweeps us along a fabulous voyage from the north to the southernmost regions of the Italian countryside. Through its poignant prose, I could not help but feel Davide’s pain and yearning for a better life.

Federico G. Martini is an award winning Italian novelist. For further information on Federico and his books, I encourage you to visit http://www.federicogmartini.it/

Magician's Spell by Debra Denson

In early 19th century Europe, Lady Johanna Cornehl is an Admiral’s daughter who boards the Magician’s Spell, a ship under the command of Captain Harold Monroe who was dishonorably discharged from the navy by her father. This sets the tone for much tension by a colorful cast of characters throughout this romantic sea yarn.

Magician’s Spell is Debra Denson’s first novel. It is an easy read with a compelling story line. The main characters struggle against adversity and enmity in the form of those who conspire to keep them apart. At times, I found the main character, Johanna, to be a feisty heroine who sometimes came across a little spoiled, but who slowly improved as the romance between her and Harold bloomed. The villain, a ruthless shipping mogul is well drawn and adds good overall tension to the tale. Like many first novels by debut authors, Magician’s Spell does have some minor flaws, which is expected, but it has a compelling storyline and the climax was well written with a captivating, satisfying conclusion. A sequel, His Apprentice is scheduled for release in the next several months.

What Alice Knew by Paula Marantz Cohen

Ms Marantz has brought together the characters of the author Henry James, his doctor brother William and their sister Alice, into the Victorian thriller story of the Whitechapel murders of the 1888.

The three siblings with their various idiosyncrasies add colour and entertainment to the story. Henry the self- opinionated and in many ways shallow writer, whom I liked as he was well meaning and harmless in his conceits. William the self-effacing medical man who still grieves for the loss of his baby son and Alice, who, to save herself the trouble of visiting her friends and relations, decides to become an invalid so they all have to pay court to her as she reclines in bed.

William is enlisted from his sanitised world of medical academia in America to assist Scotland Yard in their hunt for The Ripper. Alice decides that she is best placed to work out the identity of the man all London wants to find, so she sets her brothers to accumulate clues and information that she can seive through to solve the crime.

Among the contemporary characters the James’ siblings discuss and some they entertain, are John Singer Sergeant, Oscar Wilde, George du Maurier, Ellen Terry and Mark Twain. Alice develops an affinity for Walter Sickert, who also has a keen interest in the murders, and she asks him to paint her portrait.

The investigation itself takes a while to get underway, as the author likes to set scenes of intellectual discussion about social mores of the times, recent developments in psychology and commonplace attitudes toward the working class. Her research is extensive but sometimes the narrative is dragged down by the minutiae of everything circa 1888.

Two incidents add tension at the beginning of the story, an enigmatic gentleman who helps Henry into a carriage when he has gorged himself at a dinner party and collapses in the street. Then Henry narrowly escapes being pushed in front of a speeding curricle. When William and Henry enter the East End, they are taken aback that the ‘ignorant classes’ are suspicious of authority and less than eager to co-operate with their questions.

William develops an attraction for a beautiful woman, though in a typical male manner he also expresses jealousy of Alice’s attentions to Mr Sickert. His interest in psychology means he delves into his motivation, his attitude to his own ‘Alice’ at home in America and Alice’s reasons for her attraction to Mr Sickert. Unfortunately this tends to get very heavy and is a distraction from the original plot, turning this work into less a work of fiction and rather an academic and social exercise.

Alice does prove very observant with the clues the brothers supply, spotting minor details which I feel only a woman would notice, like the quality of notepaper etc. I did enjoy the atmospheric Victorian world in which these characters exist and their observations about themselves and each other are very entertaining. There is a scene with a spiritualist which was particularly amusing.

I didn’t expect a conclusive solution to this story as there wasn’t one in real life, but even so the end was unsatisfactory in its vagueness.

Ms Marantz Cohen says at the beginning that she wrote the book to bring life to historical characters and events. She has certainly done that, and as a slice of Victorian life this book is fascinating, but you won't find out the identity of Jack The Ripper.

If You Live In a Small House by Sandra Park

This story takes place on the island of Oahu in the early 1950’s before Hawaiian statehood. The heart of the story lies with a large, multigenerational Korean-American family living under one roof – immigrant grandmother and grandfather, mother, father, children, Auntie and Uncles. The story bears the traces of war fatigue from post World War II and the Korean War and deals with what those conflicts did to a population fighting an enemy that looked like them in different uniforms.

The book is not so much a self-contained novella as a series of vignettes and scenes, each written in beautiful language. The final scene is a powerful re-telling of the Hawaiin Tsunami and it certainly derives some of its power because of the reader’s new-found knowledge of Tsunami.

The author starts the Tsunami sequence by describing the picnic or party feel the Tsunami warning gave. Oahu’s inhabitants travel into the hills and enjoy the hospitality of their neighbors, like Mr. Casella, who serves his spicy chili and Mrs. Casella who makes sweet chili for those who prefer it. The warning continues for two days and many no longer take it seriously. Then, in her typically languid language, the author paints the following scene where the reader can only read in horror, knowing what will happen:

A clear mile of the bay’s floor was exposed; it was a strange sight that no one could compare to anything in memory.

On the wet stretch of sand, fishers were flopping everywhere. Ruts and ledges of sand, colorful rubber slippers here and there, seaweed clumped like gelatinous trees or light green and matted like air, piles of pocked gray-white rocks, smooth green glass, shells that looked like ordinary gravel, and bits of trash that looked like precious jewels. Word spread and a few people ventured out to see for themselves. There were many who were tired of waiting. Earlier feelings of dread were overrun by boredom. Among the restless, there was no expectation that waiting any longer would make a difference. Every passing hour added credence to their suspicion that endless waiting was for fools. The sky was clear blue. Bird were silent, out of sight.

By noon, it looked like the day before, people everywhere. A wave of people rushed from the highest hill to the bottom of the sea. Adults behaved like children, pointing and laughing.

Everyone wanted to start a collection. The bay turned into a concourse of opportunity, crawling with treasure hunters. There were more fish and ono seaweed than anybody could possibly gather. Buckets and wheelbarrows were not big enough to hold the harvest. Separating collectibles from garbage was exhausting guesswork, an impossible predicament of what to keep, what to throw away. People were picking through the littered expanse, relentless in their efforts, driven by the unforeseen opportunity. A bow-legged woman said that someone found a wedding ring with a diamond as big as a tooth. Radio broadcasts continued to issue warnings.

On a hill overlooking the bay, Mr. and Mrs. Casella were sitting in their kitchen, listening to the radio. Fly me to the moon and let me play among the stars. Mrs. Casella was secretly in love with Ol’ Blue Eyes. She poured a cup of coffee for her husband. She made more coffee for the people still camped on their lawn.

When the wave train came, it rolled forward at over two hundred miles per hour.”

This scene was by far the most powerful in the book and it’s probably the largest and most complete of the vignettes. Since the story doesn’t have a primary point of view character and is written almost as narrative nonfiction, plot is not the novella’s strongest point. However, if you’re interested in Hawaii or the 1950s, or if you're interested in detailing this time period to a classroom, this book's detailed, vivid portrayal of everyday life in Oahu is worth your time.

The Bells by Richard Harvell

This is a mesmerizing debut novel about a young boy named Moses. The waif is born to a deaf mute woman and they live in utter poverty, completely dependent upon scraps to survive. His mother’s only role in life is to toll the massive church bells in the church tower that provides them with a place to live.

From his earliest memories, Moses is attuned to the sound, able to discern even the minutest of changes or nuances, and he is entranced by the melodius sounds. Everyone believes he is like his mother, deaf and mute. But when his true father, the priest of that church accidentally discovers Moses can hear and talk, his father attempts to deafen him out of fear the secret of his paternity will be discovered. When that failed, he threw Moses into the raging river. Moses is rescued by two wandering monks and ultimately is brought to a monastery to live. There, he encounters Ulrich who attempts to preserve Moses’ beautiful voice by castrating him.

As a castrato, Moses encounters adversity wherever he goes – from the taunting of boys in the monastery, to the ballrooms of Vienna. When Moses falls in love with the beautiful Amalia, and she with him, their lives are embroiled in turmoil as others seek to tear them apart.

The Bells is a beautiful, tragic love story. The prose is redolent with music, as if the prose creates sounds and tones for the ear. Each page seems to evoke emotion as Moses faces one adversity after another, making the book literally unputdownable. I cannot say enough about the wonders and beauty of this novel and the emotions that grab you with every word. With all sincerity, this is one book you must read, not only for its uniqueness, but because it’s so very, very good!