Numbered Love – A Story from American Buddha by Maysam Yabandeh

April 18, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Numbered Love – A Story from American Buddha by Maysam Yabandeh
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Young Adult (14 – 18 y.o.), Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Romance, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Nam never stopped thinking about the girl who once held his heart. For thirty years, he kept her memory alive through ancient romantic tales from the Far East. But when he returns to America to find her, his hopeful search unravels into a journey full of unexpected turns as he confronts the realities of love in modern times.

There’s nuance to everything in life, even love.

The plot twists kept me on my toes, especially when it came to the relationship between Nam and Livia, his young friend who promised to fall in love with him once they both grew up. Just when I thought I’d discovered the most unusual places this childhood vow took these characters, they ended up in a slightly to dramatically stranger place than they’d been just a moment before. I’d like to tip my cap to the author for taking these sorts of risks as they make reading – and reviewing – so much more fun!

It would have been nice to have a deeper exploration of Nam’s personality as he didn’t feel well-rounded to this reader. He came across as someone who was unaware of how sexist he was but who would have been mortified and possibly changed his ways if he were better at noticing his own flaws. His intelligence and willingness to work hard were easy to spot, but I needed more details about him in order to sympathize with the double standards he set when it came to how men should behave versus how women should behave.

With that being said, I enjoyed the sections of this short story that discussed what Buddhism has to say about suffering, the consequences of one’s actions, and how people should live. There were several nuggets of wisdom there that I can’t go into detail here for spoiler reasons but that made a lot of sense to me. It’s always nice to walk away from characters with something to ponder over.

Numbered Love was a wild ride.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Holy Ghost by John Sandford

April 17, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Holy Ghost by John Sandford
Publisher: G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Pinion, Minnesota: a metropolis of all of 700 souls, for which the word moribund might have been invented. Nothing ever happened there, and nothing ever would – until the mayor of sorts (campaign slogan: “I’ll Do What I Can”) and a buddy come up with a scheme to put Pinion on the map. They’d heard of a place where a floating image of the Virgin Mary had turned the whole town into a shrine, attracting thousands of pilgrims. And all those pilgrims needed food, shelter, all kinds of crazy things, right? They’d all get rich! What could go wrong?

When the dead body shows up, they find out, and that’s only the beginning of their troubles – and Virgil Flowers’ – as they are all about to discover all too soon.

Agent Virgil Flowers is sent to Wheatfield, Minnesota to investigate two shootings. After an apparition of the Virgin Mary appears at the tiny town’s church, pilgrims and other tourists flock to the small township. Though neither shooting is severe, the local police are baffled and the Mayor is determined to have the situation resolve – hopefully with no further harm coming to the many people flocking to the small town. Can Virgin uncover what’s really going on?

I’ve been reading both the Lucas Davenport series and the Virgil Flowers series for many years and I find them both amazingly written. I do admit the Flowers mysteries usually have a keener sense of humour – and often a little bit of absurdity – in them and I was pleased that while both aspects were still thoroughly present, this book isn’t quite as outrageous (or unbelievable) as some of the other Flowers books I’ve read. Readers who have read almost anything previous in either series should have a good idea of what to expect in tone and style of this book. Better still, this book really stands quite well on its own. Readers who are new to John Sandford should be able to easily pick this story up and thoroughly enjoy it.

I enjoyed the plot. As I’ve said this is quite a lighter, more humorous story, but I strongly feel it’s still an excellently written murder mystery. There’s quite a layered plot underneath the “small town gone viral” style of plot and I really enjoyed the strong cast of primary characters. Sandford always does an excellent job of making characters both relatable and interesting.

Readers looking for a high-action or faster paced plot might not find this fits the bill. While there is a good pace to the plot it’s at heart a small town and the characters aren’t magic – so police procedure and ticking the boxes needs to happen. I do feel Sandford makes this journey enjoyable and somewhat hilarious, but this isn’t a high octane adventure thriller. This is absolutely a small town mystery book.

An excellent addition to the Flowers series this book was a lot of fun and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Recommended.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Humdrum by Mitchell Brockman

April 16, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Humdrum by Mitchell Brockman
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Suspense/Mystery/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

How long can someone endure the silence? For David, the answer’s not long enough.

In the hum of an office filled with laughter and camaraderie, David Clark exists on the edges unseen, unheard, and trapped in a cycle of quiet isolation. Nights in his empty apartment feel endless, and the world outside his window moves on without him.

When a coworker’s kindness cracks open the walls he’s built, and a sudden tragedy shakes his fragile existence, David is forced to confront the silence he’s lived with for too long. As his carefully guarded life unravels, he must decide: will he take the risk to finally connect, or retreat further into the safety of solitude?

Everyone carries their own burdens, some more quietly than others.

One of the things I liked the most about this book was how thoroughly it explored the emotional pain and loneliness of mental illness, especially for people who don’t have strong support systems to help them cope with their worst days. David was plagued by thoughts and feelings that overwhelmed him with anger, paranoia, grief, and fear. It was difficult for him to describe this cascade of emotions and even harder for those around him to understand why he reacted so negatively to what most people would interpret as friendly banter or, at worst, genuine misunderstandings.

I would have liked to have learned more about David’s past, from his childhood to any family history of mental illness that he might have been aware of. Both genetics and adverse life experiences can trigger the sorts of symptoms he dealt with, and I think it would have been helpful for the audience to have a deeper understanding of who he was as a character and how long he’d been struggling with his dark thoughts and feelings. Was this a recent change in his mental health, for example, or something he’d been dealing with since early childhood?

Let’s see how much I can share about the ending without giving away any spoilers. The shift in tone was surprising, but I appreciated the points it made about what could be learned from David’s experience and how the storyline would be moving forward from that point forward. I could close my eyes and imagine a few different directions things could be headed, all of which matched what I’d previously read and made me wonder if those possibilities were the closest to the author’s assumptions about the future. It’s nice when readers are given this sort of opportunity!

Humdrum was thought provoking.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Little Joe and the Big Rain by Mike Darcy

April 14, 2025 By 2 Comments


Little Joe and the Big Rain by Mike Darcy
Publisher: Lilbuda Creations
Genre: Children’s (0 – 6 y.o.), Contemporary
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Every great adventure starts with fly soup and ends with a new best friend, right?

When Little Joe’s froggy friend Hopper invites him over for a nice bowl of fly soup, they embark on Little Joe’s first-ever adventure through the wilderness! There, he’ll meet lots of woodland creatures and even make a surprising friend. Join these two unlikely explorers in this debut book Little Joe and the Big Rain.

This amusing animal story will delight young readers of all ages! It can teach children clever problem-solving, show how small acts of kindness can help you make unexpected friends, and instill in them the priceless treasure of curiosity. Entertaining for both kids and parents, it makes a fantastic bedtime story and a fun tale for elementary schoolers venturing into longer picture books.

Friendship is forever.

I loved how much detail was included in this picture book! Instead of having a sentence or two per page to read, there were a few paragraphs to enjoy instead which left plenty of space for me to get to know Little Joe and Hopper well as they explored the wilderness, discovered fun plot twists, and had all sorts of adventures. What made this even better were the occasional references to human culture and nature that older kids or adults are more likely to understand which added extra layers of meaning and would be fun to explain to little ones once they’re old enough to wonder what certain terms meant, for example. These details weren’t necessary in order to understand the main storyline. They were simply fun additions if a reader picks up on them.

Mr. Darcy trusted his audience to figure out the message without being directly told what they should learn from it. Instead, he allowed his characters to go on an adventure and see what might be waiting for them out in the world. This is the sort of writing that makes rereading so much fun as certain scenes feel a little different the second or third or tenth time around once one knows what is about to happen and can look for any hints about the future in the early scenes. No, I can’t possibly give any hints about what these characters find. It’s so much more fun to let the plot move where it needs to go and not have any idea what might happen next.

One of my favorite aspects of the storyline had to do with how Little Joe and Hopper’s expectations played out once it began raining and they couldn’t have the fly soup they were originally planning to make. Life is full of twists and turns for everyone, after all, but kindness and hope are two fantastic tools for figuring out how to react when something surprising or disappointing happens.

Little Joe and the Big Rain was heartwarming.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , ,

Twisted Prey by John Sandford

April 11, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Twisted Prey by John Sandford
Publisher: G.P. Putnum’s Sons
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Lucas Davenport had crossed paths with her before.

A rich psychopath, Taryn Grant had run successfully for the U.S. Senate, where Lucas had predicted she’d fit right in. He was also convinced that she’d been responsible for three murders, though he’d never been able to prove it. Once a psychopath had gotten that kind of rush, though, he or she often needed another fix, so he figured he might be seeing her again.

He was right. A federal marshal now, with a very wide scope of investigation, he’s heard rumors that Grant has found her seat on the Senate intelligence committee, and the contacts she’s made from it, to be very…useful. Pinning those rumors down was likely to be just as difficult as before, and considerably more dangerous.

But they had unfinished business, he and Grant. One way or the other, he was going to see it through to the end.

When Senator Smalls is violently run off the road and his companion is killed he immediately knows who is behind the so-called “accident”. With virtually no proof to what he witnessed and reported, he makes a phone call to the only person he feels will both believe him and be able to help. Marshall Lucas Davenport. Both Smalls and Davenport have delt with this villain before – Senator Tanya Grant. And this time neither of them will underestimate her intelligence, nor her desire to end up in the White House.

It’s been nearly twenty years that I have been reading John Sandford’s books and yet I still feel a thrill of enjoyment when I read a Lucas Davenport story for the first time. This book was no exception. If you haven’t enjoyed this series before I can give it my highest recommendation. Obviously for such a long running series there is a whole bunch of history between the characters, but mostly that shouldn’t impede a new reader picking up any book and having a thoroughly good read.

That said, this book really does pick up a few leftover threads from a book a few previously (Certain Prey) and from the very beginning of the book the readers are shown who the villains are. To be clear – this is not a who dun it style of murder mystery book. Similar to quite a few other books in this series the focus really is more on both unknotting the complicated plot and hunting down the bad guys and getting them caught/imprisoned. The “who” aspect of it is not really part of the mystery. Don’t be swayed by that though, there is still plenty to uncover and plenty of action while that’s happening.

Readers who like a faster paced mystery should really enjoy both this book and this series. There’s often a few fights, chases and quite a decent clip to the pace of the mystery unraveling. This is quite different to a lot of police procedural style books where it isn’t a slow and steady investigation uncovering each step. Something that I always love in Sandford’s books as well is there’s frequent “laugh out loud” moments where reality or coincidence or just something really hilarious occurs and its not uncommon for me to laugh in the middle of some really important scene. The Davenport books don’t have as much of this as the Virgil Flowers books do – but that sense of humour is still present in these books and I love that.

A fast paced and well woven mystery, I love this series and even after twenty years still will automatically buy the next book when it comes out. This is a brilliant author and series and I can highly recommend this book and his works as a whole.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Logos 43 – A Witty Philosophical Adventure Chasing the Logic of Desire by N Wende

April 9, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Logos 43 – A Witty Philosophical Adventure Chasing the Logic of Desire by N Wende
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

When one morning, a brilliant robot named Logos discovers he wants to play the violin, his life spirals into dangerous chaos. The transistors in his brain vibrate, copper coils heat up, as he can’t bear a thought as random and unfounded as desire. Now, he has no choice but to find a logical justification for this strange phenomenon. Otherwise, he’ll fall into a severe psycho-electric crisis, and his mind will completely crash.

And so, with a draining battery and a determined enemy in pursuit, Logos embarks on a daring, dangerous, and hilarious journey. He’ll examine with robotic sensitivity the values and fundamental thoughts of us all. He’ll encounter bizarre religious sages and mad scientists. He’ll confront deep philosophers and active idealists, all in pursuit of one troubling question: Is it even logical to want something?

Everyone has desires, even robots.

The setting grabbed my attention immediately because of how crisply and clearly it was described. Sometimes I’d go back and reread a previous paragraph to have another chance to imagine what Logos 43 was experiencing as it attempted to figure out why it suddenly had the urge to play the violin despite its programming. The gentle beaches and peaceful forests provided a nice contrast to the conflicts the characters dealt with and the complex discussions that happened during this quest.

It took me a little while to settle into the rhythm of this book due to how differently Logos 43 viewed the world when compared to how the average human would describe the same experience. I needed to observe him respond to multiple types of religion before things clicked for me. Patience was key, and while I was a bit confused in certain places in the beginning, it was well worth it later on once I better understood what the main character was saying and how to better interpret some of his unusual reactions to ideas I wouldn’t necessarily find surprising myself.

With that being said, I appreciated the protagonist’s logical approach to what should or shouldn’t be classified as a religion. His arguments made sense even though I wouldn’t ever have thought to lump some of those belief structures together before I read this. This is one of the reasons why I enjoy reading science fiction so much, and I look forward to checking out more from the author in the future.

Logos 43 reminded me of a grownup version of The Phantom Tollbooth. I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves wordplay and thought-provoking fables.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , ,

No Reserve by Felix Francis

April 8, 2025 By Leave a Comment


No Reserve by Felix Francis
Publisher: Zaffre Publishing Group
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

Theo Jennings, an auctioneer in Newmarket, England, has been climbing the ladder at the bloodstock sales company for the past three years. He’s planning on making his first ever multi-million sale with a yearling colt. When he finds the colt dead a few days after the auction, Theo is suspicious that there was foul play involved.

As Theo begins to investigate the death, he finds that answers aren’t coming readily from those who he questions. When a person’s body is discovered in the same stable a few days later, all fingers point to him. As his world turns upside down with the accusations, Theo decides to further his investigation.

The only way to clear Theo’s name is to find the real murderer, but it isn’t just the police who have their eye on him–the killer has a target on his back.

Theo Jennings is a young auctioneer at the Newmarket sales and during the October yearling sales he makes the biggest auction of his life – selling an unnamed, untested horse for three million guineas. Flushed with his success, he then overhears a secret conversation between two bidders, discovering they colluded to fix the price of his enormous sale. Determined to uncover what’s really happening, Theo finds himself sinking into more and more danger.

I really enjoyed this stand alone novel. While some of the Francis books are linked by characters – the majority are thoroughly enjoyable, stand alone, racing themed mysteries and this book falls solidly into that category. I admit I know virtually nothing about horses, racing or anything Newmarket related – and yet somehow, time after time, I really get into and enjoy the Dick Francis/Felix Francis novels. It’s a testament to the excellent writing and well thought out characters that they draw me in over and over.

This book is no different. With some interesting and varied characters, a totally believable situation and plenty of pace to the mystery I found myself easily swept up for the ride and loving every minute of it. Readers who enjoy British mysteries or well plotted novels should definitely find this as good as I did. While the action wasn’t break neck speed I did find the pace moved along very well – a little faster than I usually find British Police Procedural style of novels – and I do love how Theo in particular is very much an ordinary sort of guy. He’s not a police officer or an investigator or anything other than a regular person caught up in something far bigger than himself and determined to do the right thing.

With a good plot and pacing, I feel this should appeal to a wide range of readers. Definitely worth a try if you’re looking for something a little different.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Gone Crazy by Terry Korth Fischer

April 7, 2025 By Leave a Comment


Gone Crazy by Terry Korth Fischer
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Contemporary
Rating: 5 stars
Reviewed by Snowdrop

A formal declaration of love scares the bejesus out of small-town Detective Rory Naysmith. As Valentine’s Day approaches, he evaluates his relationship with bookkeeper Esther Mullins, and decides to take her on a romantic date that ends with a poet’s murder. Assigned to the case, Rory pushes his private life aside. Things gets tricky after Esther is appointed Executrix for the estate—then rumors start that place a priceless item among the poet’s many possessions.

The race is on to unearth the treasure and solve the murder, but it leaves Rory wondering if Esther will live long enough to become his Valentine—or end up as the murderer’s next victim.

It’s almost Valentine’s Day in Rory Naismith’s little town of Winterset, Nebraska, and Detective Naismith is supposed to look into a robbery at the local hardware store. He might be thinking more about what he’s going to get as a gift for his almost serious lady friend, Esther. Winterset has decided to appoint a Poet Laureate and during the reading they attend, one of the poets’ collapses. Esther runs to help her but unfortunately can’t save her. It definitely looks like foul play.

I like this Rory Naismith character so much. I like small-town cop stories, and this one fits the bill. To me this was almost a somewhat sophisticated cozy. There’s an amateur sleuth, a handsome cop, and a small town with delightful characters. Fischer has made all the characters come alive with a homey description of those very much like the real-life ones I grew up with in my small town.

I might have used the word cozy but there is nothing missing from this good mystery with lots of surprises and hidden clues. Gone Crazy is Book 3 of a series titled “Rory Naismith Mysteries”. I have read the previous Rory Naismith books and loved them just as I did this one.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

The Light Remains by Rhys Dylan

April 4, 2025 By Leave a Comment


The Light Remains by Rhys Dylan
Publisher: Wyrmwood Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Rating: 3 stars
Reviewed by Fern

The games people play…

When a revered sports legend falls victim to a brutal home invasion, a nation is shaken to its core. Outrage swells and the press and powers that be demand answers.

DCI Evan Warlow, fresh from a well-earned vacation, is thrown into the cauldron to lead the investigation. But the victim, despite his iconic status, has secrets of his own.

Amidst the chaos of jealousy and rivalry that swirls around the case, a darker underbelly emerges. The pursuit of truth transforms into a gripping hunt, but whose truth is the team hunting?

Something else lurks in the labyrinth of deception. Something vile and twisted that could strike again at any moment… unless it’s found.

A nationally loved retired sports hero is brutally hurt during a home invasion. When he dies from those wounds the aggregated burglary case is turned over to homicide – and DCI Warlow and his team. Pressured from the public as well as their own managers, Warlow and his team do their best as they do for every case. Can they unravel all the threads and find out who could do such a seemingly senseless crime?

I have been greatly enjoying this Welsh based police procedural series. I feel this book can absolutely be read alone – though the team has quite a strong history together now and readers who prefer to read their stories in order might want to go back and start at the beginning. Everything is very well explained in this book I feel, and certainly I think the crime and plotline is very well encapsulated here and no prior reading is strictly necessary.

While many of the books in this series have a slightly gritter feel to them I do feel this book is more about the smaller towns in Wales and the tight knit communities. I enjoyed how there was a few different threads in this plotline, and they were all given a good weight and for quite some time I found myself piecing everything together along with the team. Any one of these threads could have borne fruit and been part of the murder mystery so I feel the author did a really good job of juggling a number of balls in the air but also making them all quite realistic and very well balanced together.

A strong police procedural style of murder mystery, made even better to my mind for being based in Wales which I still find quite an interesting and different setting, making this a standout read.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,

Rudy & Me by Brittany Gilbert

April 2, 2025 By 1 Comment


Rudy & Me by Brittany Gilbert
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Middle Grade (8 – 12 y.o.), Inspirational, Contemporary
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A twelve year old girl who is having trouble adjusting to her family dynamics finds refuge and encouragement with her Grandmother until she encounters unexpected obstacles.

Family is forever.

I appreciated the attention this book paid to Alzheimer’s disease, especially the more subtle signs that someone is developing it that kids might not pick up on. Brandy had no idea why her grandmother kept forgetting to do ordinary things like remember where she put the car keys or get dressed in clothing that’s appropriate for the outdoors. Her grief as she realized that these were signs their lives were about to change forever was written honestly and realistically.

The large cast of characters made it difficult for me to get to know most of them well. Other than Brandy, there simply wasn’t time to dive into their backstories, personalities, and interests. This made it tricky to remember who was who in some cases due to the dozens of people who were introduced in the storyline and how little I learned about them in general. I found myself wishing I could have had more time with a smaller number of characters so that I could compare their personalities to the main character.

It took me a while to understand why Brandy’s parents and stepfather were overlooking the obvious signs that she was struggling with adjusting to so many changes in her life over what was at most a few short years. I have to admit that I was annoyed with them at first for not paying attention to why her grades were slipping and why she seemed so frustrated. The explanation that was given for their choices softened my reactions to them, though, and reminded me that adults don’t always have everything figured out yet either.

Rudy & Me was thought provoking.

Filed Under: Reviews, YA/Middle Grade/Children's Tagged With: , , , , ,
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