Book Review: The Perfect Horse

Book Review: The Perfect Horse by Elizabeth Letts Disclaimer:  I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway to facilitate this review.  No other compensation was offered or requested. The year is 1945.  The war in Europe is almost over.  American troops learn that a stud farm in Hostau contains horses looted by the Nazis from… Continue reading Book Review: The Perfect Horse

Book Review: The Great Quake

Book Review: The Great Quake by Henry Fountain Disclaimer:  I received this uncorrected proof through a Goodreads Giveaway to facilitate this review.  No other compensation was offered or requested.  As an uncorrected proof, many changes will be made in the final product, due out August 2017, including an index and bibliography, and possibly more illustrations.… Continue reading Book Review: The Great Quake

Book Review: Jefferson’s America

Book Review: Jefferson’s America by Julie M. Fenster In 1803, many people in the fledgling United States expected a Louisiana War, as the Spanish had forbidden American shipping from passing down the Mississippi and through the port of New Orleans.  That didn’t happen, as the Spanish were induced to yield the Louisiana Territory to their… Continue reading Book Review: Jefferson’s America

Book Review: Merton of the Movies

Book Review: Merton of the Movies by Harry Leon Wilson Simsbury, Illinois might just be a wide spot in the road, but twice a week, the Bijou Palace shows movies made in far-off Hollywood.  Perhaps the most fanatical attendee of these showings is young Merton Gill, assistant shopkeeper at Gashwiler’s Emporium (general store.)  Merton has studied… Continue reading Book Review: Merton of the Movies

Book Review: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

Book Review: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table by Martin J. Dougherty The Arthurian mythos is a familiar one to just about everyone in some form or another.  But unless you’re a scholar of the subject, you might not know where all the pieces came from and how they got put together.… Continue reading Book Review: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table

Book Review: Life Is Beautiful

Book Review: Life Is Beautiful by Sarah M. Johnson In 2008, an airplane carrying humanitarian workers to a remote village in Guatemala, where they were to build a school, crashed and burned.  The crew and most of the passengers were killed; one young woman survived relatively unharmed, though she had lost half her family, and… Continue reading Book Review: Life Is Beautiful

Book Review: Three In One

Book Review: Three In One edited by Leo Margulies According to the introduction by the editor, this book came about because there were three long science fiction stories in the to-publish pile, too long for short-story collections but too short to be their own paperback.  The cover by Emsh is a good choice with the… Continue reading Book Review: Three In One

Book Review: The Play of Death

Book Review: The Play of Death by Oliver Pötzsch Disclaimer:  I received a Kindle download of this book through a Goodreads giveaway to facilitate this review.  No other compensation was offered or requested. The year is 1670, and the people of Oberammergau are preparing their every-ten-years Passion Play…though some of them think it might be… Continue reading Book Review: The Play of Death

Book Review: Minnesota Vice

Book Review: Minnesota Vice by Ellen & Mary Kuhfeld As I have mentioned before, Minnesota has many fine mystery and crime writers.  Mary Kuhfeld is probably best known under the pen name Monica Ferris, under which she has written nineteen Betsy Devonshire Needlework Mysteries.  (Thus the subtitle “Monica Ferris Presents” for these self-published books.)  Ellen… Continue reading Book Review: Minnesota Vice

Book Review: The Black Stallion Challenged

Book Review: The Black Stallion Challenged by Walter Farley Alec Ramsay and his faithful trainer Henry Dailey are wintering in Hialeah, Florida, where they hope to race their prize horse, the Black Stallion.  Provided, of course, that the Black has fully recovered from the hoof injury he received some months back.  One day Alec receives… Continue reading Book Review: The Black Stallion Challenged