I first read a Josephine Tey book in 1962 and it changed my life. I became a huge fan of British history especially in the period from King Arthur to Richard III. I took a tour of the Tower of London castle/prison in August 1962. It was just before I began my junior year in …
I have been a book professional since 1974. In the course of my career, I have met many authors. Some have become friends. Bharti Kirchner is one. I try not to let friendship get in the way of honest reviews. Ms Kirchner has written several books in the fields of cooking and fiction. Season of Sacrifice is the first …
About a year ago, I read The Dragontail Buttonhole, the first book in a trilogy by Peter Curtis, in which he details his family’s flight from Prague after the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939. That story read like the best spy fiction of that period of infamy. Peter has followed that story with Cafe Budapest. After an unbelievable trek …
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press for an advanced reading copy of P.T. Deutermann’s newest WWII military thriller, The Iceman. This is the 4th of Mr. Deutermann’s standalone WWII novels I have read. The previous books include Pacific Glory, Ghosts of Bundo Suida, and The Commodore. They all are about different ship’s captains facing primarily Japanese opponents during the …
After nearly 40 years as a book professional, I retired in 2011 and began traveling for pleasure. Many of the trips my wife and I have taken have a close relationship to books I have read. In 2011 we traveled to Carcassonne in southwestern France. I had read several books in which that part of …
As a reader, I have lists of authors that are favorite writers. Sometimes I like to discover authors that are “new” to me. Brad Thor is an old favorite. The last time I read a book by Mr. Thor was 5 years ago (my bad!). I returned to the world of Scot Harvath with Use …
In 2006, I discovered Jack Whyte’s multi-volume series on King Arthur entitled The Camulod Chronicles. Arthurian legends are one of my favorite topics to read. The series combined some of the myths as well as some factual information. I really enjoyed reading those books. The combination of truth and fiction is another attention-getting device to …
Michael Jecks has written many medieval mysteries featuring a defrocked Templar set in the early 14th Century. I have read about a dozen of those mysteries, the last one about five years ago. So many books, so little time! A few years ago, Mr. Jecks branched out to write novels about other historical events but …
Imagine you are Jewish, living in Prague, and it is the summer of 1939. Author Peter Curtis does not have to imagine that. He lived it and he survived. Peter was two when his family left Prague. He is now a retired doctor and lives in Seattle, Washington. In his book, The Dragontail Buttonhole, Peter has …
You have heard the cliché “Never judge a book by its cover!” Thank goodness I heeded that advice. I saw the cover of At the Table of Wolves by Kay Kenyon at a writers’ conference. It had a couple of icons that I recognized: Big Ben in London, WWII aircraft, and a woman dressed as a …
