Medina-Sandoval, Isabelle
Guardians of Hidden Traditions
Gaon Books , ISBN-10: 0982065787, ISBN-13: 978-0982065785
$15.95 Amazon
Guardians of Hidden Traditions by Isabelle Medina-Sandoval chronicles the story of New Mexico’s Crypto Jews, particularly women. They bore the responsibility of preserving the Jewish faith and passing it to their children in the face of the Inquisition. Medina-Sandoval begins the story in the 1300s when Spanish Jews, Christians, and Muslims lived in an atmosphere of tolerance. From there she discusses the rise of anti-Semitism, pogroms, particularly in Toledo, he question of what to do with people who converted to Christianity (conversos) and finally the expulsion of the Jews to the Americas.The author draws upon her own family history, using her great-grandfather Medina’s 1894 journal as the basis of her research. Some of the characters she portrays are fictional. Others, such as Catalina Lopez, Catalina Romero, and Maria Paula Mascarenas are her grandmothers. Guardians of Hidden Traditions includes detailed descriptions of Jews leaving Spain and life in Santa Fe once they got here. A picture emerges of how women used songs, rituals, prayers, foods, holy days, prayer shawls, altar cloths, and menorahs to preserve their faith and heritage as best they could, sometimes in dangerous situations.Unfortunately, the book is not without problems. While interesting, some of the writing falls awkwardly onto the page. Phrases like “the aging old woman” or “in the light of the window the storage chest was filled with wheat” jolt the reader out of the story.
Guardians also lands somewhere between a novel with characters that grow and changes individuals, and an illustrated history using people to bring facts to life. The split is unsettling at times, giving the reader a feeling that the book can’t decide what it wants to be.
But overall, Guardians of Hidden Traditions is an interesting read. Medina-Sandovol includes a bibliography at the back for those wishing to further study crypto-Jews, and translations of some family songs and stories. Guardians of Hidden Treasures works both as the history of family and the story a group of people who helped settle New Mexico and have contributed much to it.MARVIN, STEVE
Approaching Loss
AuthorHouse, ISBN 978-1425996994 AMAZON
$15.49
FINALIST 2008 NEW MEXICO BOOK AWARDS
What started off as a good story, with some exceptional writing in description of characters and places, slowly evolved into a book difficult to categorize. At first I thought it was a romance, about marriage and divorce and finding oneself again. As chapters went by, however, I found myself becoming confused. Every other chapter seemed to shift into a whole new story. The protagonist was in each chapter, but different characters and different time frames were introduced, making it hard to follow a story line when the following chapter would revert to another place and time. About halfway through the book, I decided the theme was alcoholism and how it fouls peoples’ lives. However, the writer then took us in another direction, and the plot seemed to be a murder mystery. By the end of the book it finally was shown as a dark piece of fiction about alcoholism, marriage, infidelity, divorce, and murder. The punctuation and sentence structure suffered from poor copy editing, which often made it difficult to know who the characters were or who was talking. With a second reading, knowing how it ends, one is more able to follow the author’s convoluted plotting and is better able to appreciate the writing and the story.9/08 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle author of From The Eye of An Eagle
MEEKS, JOHN
Bogey’s Final Gift
Create Space ISBN:9781456312404 Amazon
12.50
After being unjustly accused of negligence in caring for a horse which died after winning a race, Bogey Dawson, trainer/owner, is working hard to get himself out of debt and back to the top of his game. He has all his hopes pinned on a horse which he feels will be a big winner. Huddleston, a competitor with a muscled bodyguard keeps making trouble for him.Bogey hires Becky Friedman to help at the stables and begins to have very deep emotional feelings for her. Because of their social standing in the Jewish community, her family, particularly her mother, does not want her working with horses, putting a guilt trip on her whenever she tries to analyze her feelings for Bogey, who is not only a horse trainer but also a non-Jew.Menacing intimidation from Huddleston and his henchman accelerate into a kidnapping and the threat of death when Bogey continues to refuse their demands that he sell his horses to them.With financial help from his long-time friend, legal advice from his father, and ultimately some unexpected assistance from Becky, he extricates himself from his problems in a last dangerous encounter with Huddleston.Written with a flair for building suspense and romantic tension, this is a well-authored, well-formatted novel set in and around horseracing tracks, keeping the reader enthralled with each page.12/11 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, author, free-lance writer and poet
MILLER-ALLEN, MICHELLE
Journey from the Keep of Bones
Amador Publishers ISBN-10: 0938513362 ISBN-13: 978-0938513360
20.00
Michelle Miller Allen’s Journey from the Keep of Bones, published by Amador Press, is a tough novel to describe. It blends modern main stream fiction, humor, the ancient Mezzo-American world view, Reincarnation, and New Age philosophy into a unique multilayered and quirky reading experience. Two Mezzo-American shamans and their mates agree to reunite in the future as members of the opposite sex. They do it in the modern singles world of Albuquerque, New Mexico.In the process of letting them locate each other through a spiritual medium who calls herself Light, Michelle Miller Allen takes a gentle poke at New Age teachings, Yuppies, and the self delusion that can disguise flimsy sex affairs as solid relationships.But while laughing, the author also examines change, love and peoples’ complex reactions to both. In a note at the end of the book she comments, “All we have to live by, to offer and to leave behind, are our complicated responses to each other, what we think it all means, and where it is taking us.”That philosophy makes Journey from the Keep of Bones a read that requires imagination and alertness Ms. Miller Allen alternates chapters between the characters’ lives in present day Albuquerque and their lives hundreds of years ago in Mezzo-America. The reader must keep the two straight, or lose the thread of the story. The couples never quite realize who they once were, though they have subconscious inklings. That results in disequilibrium which the reader must accept in order to get through the plot. The author leaves the ending ambiguous, never saying what becomes of the reunited pairs. The reader must add his or her own imagination to the mix to sort that out.The book has some weaknesses. The author makes a few references that are difficult to understand. Cats of all kinds wander through the book but don’t seem to connect to anything. They just hang around watching people. One of the shamans tries to swim a large body of water, which might be an ocean. Later he and his mate try again. It’s never clear why, in either case. Some of the dialogue goes on for lines and lines with no tags, making it easy to lose track of who is speaking. Then there’s Motorcycle Woman who leads the characters up endless paths more of distraction than importance.Fortunately Michelle Miller Allen’s clear writing style and chapter organization guide the reader around most of these difficulties, leaving edgy questions as to what relationships are all about, instead of confusion at the end of the story. The reader can filter out the stuff that makes no sense and enjoy the parts that resonate. It would be interesting to discuss Journey from the Keep of Bones with other readers, and see if confusion and resonance differ for different people.12/08 Reviewed by Connie Gotsch, author of A Mouthful of Shell
MONTOYA, CHERYL with illustrations by MONTOYA, JERRY
Three Dog Night: A New Mexico Cuento for Grown-ups
Rio Grande Books, ISBN 978-1-890689-46-9
14.99
WINNER 2009 New Mexico Book Awards
A cuento is a story generally passed from generation to generation. This one just happens to be for adults as Juan the Coyote, his love Maria, the local cantina girl, and his cousin Manuelito get involved in a triangular relationship. Manuelito is a bad influence on Juan and talks him into stealing a Maria's rooster that’s expected to win the prize at the State Fair. This is a fun story with charming illustrations that will make a nice gift to take home from New Mexico to the neighbors who watched your cat while you were gone or to give to your uncle that’s impossible to buy for at Christmas. However, I do have some problems with the formatting of the book combined with the contents. At 8.5 inches square, it has the appearance of a children’s book. Yes, “Grown-ups” is boldly printed on the cover, but the formatting will guarantee that this book ends up mis-shelved in the children’s section of the library or picked up by a well-meaning grandparent unaware that the story contains adult situations and language. Three Dog Night is a great book for its intended audience and will bring a lot of laughs to the right readers. It does the traditional cuentos proud.7/09 Reviewed by Sabra Brown Steinsiek, author of Annie’s Song
Golden Enchantment
$14.95
New Mexico Territory, 1880, San Vicente Cienega (known as Silver City today). Charles Alexander is dead, murdered in an attempt to get his knowledge of a long-lost treasure in the unknown Oro Valley. With Charles gone, his eighteen-year-old daughter, Andrea, becomes the target when she returns from her schooling in New York to run the Flying A Ranch with the help of her dandified New York cousin, Clarence.Enter the boy next-door, or at least as next-door as you get in the wide-open spaces of territorial New Mexico. Jake Houston who had left the Diamond C Ranch to join the Texas Rangers when Andrea, “Andy” was only a child. It’s no wonder she fails to recognize him as her childhood crush when he tumbles out of the saloon doors to land at her feet. Andy, all grown up, captures Jake’s attention. If it weren’t for his parent-arranged, loveless engagement to the beautiful Seńorita Lupita Vega, he wouldn’t mind paying some serious attention to Andy.It soon becomes clear that someone thinks that Andy holds the missing clue to the treasure. She’s determined to find it before her father’s murderer does and Jake is drawn into the pursuit of the Oro Valley gold while he fights off his feelings for Andy.This is a fun read, rich in historical detail, with well-written characters that have a depth not always found in a romance. Add a glass of lemonade and a hammock, and this is the perfect read to while away an afternoon. 9/08 Reviewed by Sabra Brown Steinsiek, author of When That Time Comes
MORRELL, DAVID
Nightscape
Subterranean Press, 1-59606-000-X
$35.00, Amazon
Santa Fe author David Morrell has garnered widespread acclaim on a variety of fronts: he’s the creator of Rambo and arguably the father of the modern action novel; his novels are international bestsellers that have thrilled readers for almost four decades; his books have been translated into 27 languages; and 18 million copies of his works are currently in print. But only his most loyal followers probably know that Morrell is as adept at writing short fiction as he is at crafting novels, as evidenced by his second collection entitled Nightscape.
Featuring five stories, two novellas, and a never before published TV script, each piece deals with obsession and how it can consume lives, for good or ill. Though all the stories are superb, three stand out above the rest. In “Nothing Will Hurt You,” the father of a murdered girl becomes fanatical about making sure her killer receives the death penalty, but finds out that the execution is definitely not the closure he was expecting. “Resurrection” relates the story of a young man who dedicates his entire life to creating a cure for his sick father, who has been placed into cryogenic sleep. Finally successful after too many years to count, the situation is turned on its head when the son himself is stricken with an incurable illness. “Resurrection” is an especially poignant tale, with echoes hearkening back to one of Morrell’s personal tragedies – the loss of his son, Matthew, to a rare form of bone cancer. Romero, a Santa Fe police officer, suspects that several pairs of discarded shoes on Old Pecos Trail have sinister implications in “Rio Grande Gothic.” Despite departmental questions about his sanity/ability to serve and threats against his life, Romero’s persistence eventually uncovers a series of brutal crimes in a quiet, rural community. The Introduction and additional preface material before each story provide a deeper, fascinating glimpse into Morrell’s storytelling process and the issues that form the core of his fiction. As he so aptly puts it: “In the obsession of the characters in Nightscape, I recognize myself. I recognize my youth. I recognize my mother’s youth. And the absence of bedroom doors.”As this signed hardcover edition is limited to 1,500 copies, the book is also guaranteed to be a much sought after item by collectors and fans alike.The only lament is that Morrell has not produced another story collection since the publication of this one (2004) and Black Evening (1999). One can only hope that he’ll return to the short form again soon. And when he does, I’ll be ready to snatch up the new book! 6/11 Reviewed by David J. Corwell y Chávez, author of “Gremma’s Hands” (see Voices of New Mexico), “Susto” ( see Día de los Muertos), and “Conqueror of Shadows” (see Tales of the Talisman, Vol. 6, Issue #2)
MORRELL, DAVID
Scavenger
By David Morrell
Vanguard Press, ISBN 1-59315441-0
24.95 Amazon
I don’t often read thrillers. Oh sure, when I was in college Stephen King’s creepy books kept me awake at night – certain that the demented father from The Shining, or the crazed, prom-attending, high-school girl in Carrie would somehow invade my reality in an undesired and shocking way. But I’m a grown adult now, a grandmother for heaven’s sake. A book can’t scare me now. So, I dared myself to read Scavenger, David Morrell’s tale of a deadly, real-life video game – a scavenger hunt for a time capsule and a life-and-death race against the clock. I knew that several of Morrell’s previous books had been made into very successful films, so I figured he must be good. After all, we wouldn’t have Sylvester Stallone fixed firmly in our minds as John Rambo were it not for Morrell, who wrote First Blood in 1972, Rambo, First Blood Part II in 1985, and Rambo III in 1988. Morrell also wrote The Brotherhood of the Rose, which was made into a movie for television in the 1989. I told myself this was going to be fun. I would read Scavenger quickly, enjoy getting back into a genre I had strayed from, discover Morrell as a writer, and give Reading New Mexico a witty review . . . right?Wrong! This book scared the pants off me. “I’m not ready for this,” I kept muttering to myself as I read night after night. Yet I couldn’t stop reading. Morrell is really a remarkable writer. I found myself caught up in his stark but wonderfully descriptive text which made physical landscapes come alive (from the inner city buildings of Manhattan to an expansive, wide valley near Lander, Wyoming) as much as it made protagonist Frank Balenger (a damaged man – literally and figuratively – recovering from a previous deadly encounter) and his lover Amanda Evert (less damaged but also recovering) into people I cared about and wanted to see survive. I knew that Balenger and Evert had been introduced in Morrell’s 2005 book Creepers, and I wondered if I would sense a lack of understanding the characters. But I needn’t have worried. In the first few pages, I knew I would like Balenger and Evert a lot. The rawness and vulnerability of these characters was appealing. “A nightmare jerked him awake, memories of shots and screams. Through frightened eyes, he saw Amanda hurry from the bedroom. ‘I’m here,’ she assured him. In the pale light from a corner lamp, she looked even more like Diane, making him wonder if impossibly Diane’s spirit had merged with Amanda’s. She held his hand until his heart stopped racing.” My heart didn’t stop racing until I finished Scavenger. 6/11 Review by Lynn Thompson Baca
MORRELL, DAVID
The Shimmer
Vanguard Press, ISBN 978-1-59315-580-3
$7.99 Amazon
In The Shimmer Santa Fe Police officer Dan Page returns home one evening to find his wife gone, his only clue being a note saying she is visiting her mother. When she doesn’t arrive, his investigation into her whereabouts leads him to Rostov, Texas near where mysterious lights have been appearing most nights for longer than anyone can remember. Are the lights a natural phenomenon or part of a secret government weapons program? Just what is going on at the abandoned military airfield and at the observatory? Is the hauntingly dangerous music a part of the lights or something separate? How would the lights have affected me? These are only a few of the questions the reader must consider.David Morrell once again proves his power as a storyteller. From the first pages the reader is hooked and it is difficult to put the book down. Morrell’s descriptions make the characters come alive; they are so real we feel that we know them. When Page learns that his wife is missing we can feel his worry and his confusion. We feel the allure of the lights and the music and the frustration of those who can’t or won’t see the lights. We can even feel the anger of the gunman who considers the lights evil. In The Shimmer we find that things are not always only what they seem to be. Page begins by trying to rescue his wife only to find that in rescuing her he has also found himself. Early on in the book Page remembers his father telling him, “Sometimes we see only what we expect to see. Sometimes we need to learn to see in a new way.” That is what Morrell is asking the reader to do as he weaves the elements of his plot together. He wants to make us feel the story, to make us look at it in a new way. And he does, as only a master can do.That the book is based in part on real events in and around Marfa, Texas only adds to the enjoyment of the book and makes it feel all the more real. Not that Morrell needs help making his stories feel real. He is a superb craftsman and The Shimmer is a must-read.10/10 Reviewed by Susan Weed-Alvarado
MORRELL, DAVID
Extreme Denial
Warner Books, ISBN 9780446519625
$23.95 Amazon
Few readers of suspense novels would need an introduction to David Morrell, author of such books as First Blood and The Brotherhood of the Rose.In this novel, Morrell brings his protagonist, Steve Decker, to New Mexico. After years with the CIA, Decker is involved in a mission gone wrong in Italy in which innocent lives were lost. Although the fault for the fiasco was not Decker's, he decides he's had enough of the life he had been leading with the Agency. Based on something he sees on television, he moves to Santa Fe and establishes himself as a realtor. A year later he meets a woman calling herself Beth Dwyer, sells her a home next to his, and falls in love. From that point, his life is again caught up in intrigue, violence, and mayhem. His first thought is that terrorists have found him again and want to exact revenge for his part in the Italian tragedy. Subsequent events bring questions as to Beth's involvement, which leads him back to New York and hair-raising adventure before ending with a return to New Mexico and a shoot-out in the mountains north of Santa Fe.Having perfected his writing through numerous prior books, this author relates a story that both thrills and fascinates, while capturing the essence of New Mexico in wonderfully descriptive prose that often borders on poetry. From Albuquerque to Madrid to Santa Fe, the reader gets a realistic mental view of the terrain, the inhabitants and the culture in wonderful detail. I couldn't put the book down from start to finish.8/10 Review by Lola R. Eagle, free-lance writer and poet
MORRELL, DAVID
THE SPY WHO CAME FOR CHRISTMAS
Vanguard PressISBN 978-1-59315-563-6
ISBN 978-1-59315-563-6$10.00
A suspenseful action novel that takes protagonist Paul Kagan, a double agent for Russia and the United States, to Santa Fe. His team kill ruthlessly as they carry out their mission to kidnap the baby son of a Middle Eastern leader from his bodyguards and nursemaid while his parents are at the Governor’s mansion. Then Kagan has an epiphany, having reached a point where he feels he can no longer obey the horrible orders being given to him by the Russian mafia. He snatches the baby away from the killers, wanting to save it from its captors, blowing his cover. Thus, he finds himself hurrying through the falling snow with the baby inside his jacket. It’s Christmas Eve and Canyon Road is filled with crowds of people walking, out to view the lights and farolitos of the decorated homes. Desperate to get away from his pursuers, he enters a home and enlists the help of the woman and boy who live there. The story is told with flashbacks of events leading up to his escape with the child. An interesting version of the travels of the Magi is related by Kagan to the boy and his mother as they wait for the three Russian agents to storm the house. As with all Morrell’s books, this one holds one’s attention from page to page and the hours slip away until the last page is reached.3/11 Review by Lola R. Eagle, author, free-lance writer, poet
MULLIGAN, NEIL
Lost Letter
Booksurge.com, ISBN 978-1-4392-2636-0
$16.99 Amazon
A truly moving story about the last letter a World War II soldier writes to his wife, which is inadvertently lost in the mail and discovered sixty years later. It is delivered to his widow as she lies dying of cancer.This story was especially nostalgic to me as someone who grew up during those war years, with a father in the army. I felt empathy, too, for the caretaker daughter, since I too cared for two loved ones who died in similar circumstances.
The widowed Maggie raises her daughter by herself and never remarries. The daughter, Mary, becomes a successful business woman. When Maggie nears her last weeks of life, Mary takes a leave of absence and brings her mother to her own home with home hospice care so that her last days will have her surrounded by some of her own things and Mary can always be with her.
With an intriguing cover, the book is well set-up and may very well be based on a true story. Professional editing could have tightened the writing to avoid awkward sentence structure and improper word usage, which would have resulted in a more perfect publication. However, the author’s efforts showed great imagination and a knack for following a story down through the years.I liked the story a lot. It took me back in time and brought me to tears at the end.6/09 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, author and poet
Searching for Spring
The Naiad Press, Inc., ISBN 0-941483-00-2
$ 15.00
While sometimes disturbing, Searching for Spring is one woman’s journey from incest victim to emotionally whole survivor. Written with humor as well as gut wrenching honesty, Searching for Spring takes readers through the stages from traumatized child to confused adolescent to dysfunctional adult and finally to triumphant survivor. By the end of the book, the protagonist is finally able to confront her father the perpetrator, as well as her mother the enabler.Searching for Spring explores the damage incest inflicts not just on the victim(s) but on later partners and children. Much of Searching for Spring explores the consequences of incest and other forms of sexual abuse among various members of the same family, in this case, 5 daughters and 2 sons, now all grown with families of their own. The 5 daughters shared different experiences of sexual abuse at home, while the sons learned abusive behavior from their father and replicate the pattern in their own lives with their own daughters. When the protagonist, Annie, gathers her adult sisters together to demand they all address the issues of incest and family dysfunction, the family splits between those who want to forget the incest happened and those who want to confront the perpetrators, both father and sons, and threaten legal action.Much of the book details Annie’s experiences in an incest victims support / counseling group and the series of increasingly honest letters she pens to both her parents, especially her mother, demanding they acknowledge and explain their actions. There is little sense of vindication or resolution at the end of the book, just as there would be little in real life. Annie gets little of what she actually wanted from her family, but she does learn the primary lesson from her support group. The only person you can save is yourself.Women (and men) who are victims of emotional, physical and sexual abuse but lack the means or ability to enter counseling may read Searching for Spring with profit and apply some of the counseling techniques to their own situations.Although published over 20 years ago, Searching for Spring is still available through the author’s website (click on author’s name.) Proceeds from the sale of the book go to assist victims of sexual abuse.Reviewed by Victoria Erhart
We Walk the Back of the Tiger
The Naiad Press, Inc. ISBN 0-941483-13-4
ISBN 0-941483-13-4$8.95
When we first hear about Neil Norman, he is a grossly overweight 17-year-old boy who is physically and mentally abused by a demanding father. His mother stands by with ineffectual pleas for her husband to abstain from beating Neil. We feel sympathy for the boy.However, all the abuse and resulting lack of self-worth push Neil into a path of drugs and acting-out fantasies until he becomes a woman-stalker, and eventually a killer. Our sympathy is replaced with shock at the callousness with which he chooses and disposes of his victims.Cara Doherty and her lover, Marti McDavid, work with women’s advocate groups, and when several girls go missing from the university, Cara organizes rallies to provide information for women to protect themselves. Marti is one of Neil’s drug customers, but never suspects him as the killer.
With some graphic scenes of lesbian love, the relationship of Cara and Marti develops, is strained by incompatibility, then resolves into friendship.
Well-written (aside from frequent typos which may be attributed to the use of spell check which does not check whether a word is the proper one to be used), the story is engrossing and thought-provoking, reminding women to be very cautious when interacting with strangers. I liked the “justice is served” ending. We’d like to see all such criminals get their just deserts with a little help from Fate. Reviewed June 2009 by Lola R. Eagle, writer and poet
NEW
NEW MEXICO BOOK CO-OP
Voices of New Mexico
Rio Grande BooksISBN 978-1-890689-67-4
ISBN 978-1-890689-67-4$17.95
A collection of stories, essays, and poems by a diverse group of New Mexico authors, this anthology has a little something for everyone. “We Were a Clan,” by Irene Blea, focuses on an incident from her childhood during the Depression when her father’s bees are lost, only to be found within the walls of their home.“Wooden Indians and Cedar Cowboys,” by Hank Bruce, is a most interestingly-told tale of a creative process.“Gremma’s Hands,” by David Corwell y Chavez, is a wonderfully poignant reminiscence that had me hoping my grandchildren would remember me with as much love.Loretta Hall’s very knowledgeable essay about White Sands Missile Range and the space testing done there was both educational and interesting.The inspiring story of blind Elizabeth Garrett, the daughter of Sheriff Pat Garrett, written by Sue Houser, was another bit of history brought to life. The humor deftly written into each of David Kyea’s stories made them fun to read.A poem about Albuquerque by Lela Belle Wolfert created vivid mind pictures.A light-hearted account of “The Phantom of Carlsbad Caverns,” by Sabra Brown Steinsiek, gives some history of that famous site and why it has not been glitzed up.This is a nicely-done little book with only minor editing errata.7/11 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, author, free-lance writer and poet
ORTEGO, SHEILA
The Road From La Cueva
Sunstone Press, ISBN 978-0-86534-588-1
$26.95 Amazon
WINNER 2008 NEW MEXICO BOOK AWARDS
This beautifully done novel pulls the reader along through the trials of a young mother, unhappy in her marriage yet reluctant to do anything about it. Her home is thirty miles out in an undeveloped area. She resents the inconvenience, her husband’s lack of respect for her, his obsessive controlling, and the fact that he hasn’t provided the home he promised. Working as a lab technician in a Santa Fe hospital, she meets a male nurse who is attracted to her. She sneaks an affair into her life which goes on for some time, until her lover breaks it off because she won’t leave her husband, being afraid of a confrontation. She then gives up her job at the hospital to avoid her estranged lover. During this time she becomes friends with a fiercely independent Indian woman who lives alone in the same neighborhood. From this friendship she derives strength of her own and builds her independence, finally divorcing her husband and starting a new job and a new life. After taking care of her friend through a terminal illness, she finds herself no longer afraid to face life. She decides to reconnect with her lover.This is a well-written story with only occasional typographical errors, the most disconcerting of which was the use of hyphens in place of commas in many places which makes the reader stumble over the meaning of the phrase. However, all in all, well worth reading for its examination of a woman’s psyche and her spiritual growth.12/08 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, author of From the Eye of an Eagle
Inherited Sins
University of New Mexico Press ISBN-10: 0826344968, ISBN-13: 978-0826344960
$18.95 Amazon
What happens when a married preacher has a brief but intense affair with a parishioner and gets her pregnant? What if the parishioners father rapes her and she gives birth to his child as well? And what if she does whatever she must to protect both children from scandal? In a small Texas town, circa the mid 1930s the truth leaks, and the stain of the transgressions seep into succeeding generations.Paula Paul’s short novel Inherited Sins, published by the University of New Mexico Press tells a story of this kind from the perspective of grandmothers, mothers, and daughters. When Willa Mae and her daughter Louise come home to west Texas, Willa Mae’s ailing mother, Johnnie Mae asks Louise to give a metal box to an old friend, Dan Fletcher. Willa Mae opens the container. What she finds presents harsh truths about her past, her mother’s, and Fletcher’s. But though these facts may be best buried with Johnnie Mae when she dies, they explain things Willa has not understood about herself, her mother, and their particular mother-daughter relationship. They may even clear up some odds and ends between Willa Mae and Louise.Using diary entries, narrative, multiple points of view, and masterful pacing Paula Paul raises a knotty question in “Inherited Sins.’: How long must a family pay for the misdeeds of an ancestor? If someone doesn’t know a family secret, is he or she absolved of the sin it implies? Should a secret be revealed or left hidden?Groping for answers, Johnnie Mae, Dan Fletcher, and Willa Mae become characters that both evoke sympathy and anger. The conclusion to which they come leaves readers pondering how they might handle the same issues, or how they might react to someone else who must. 1/09 Reviewed by Connie Gotsch, author of A Mouthful of Shell
PECK, RICHARD
Dead Pawn
University of New Mexico Press, ISBN 0-8263-3263-3
Richard Peck has a way with words, blasting them out like buckshot onto the pages of this novel that starts out in a cell of the prison in Santa Fe and moves quickly on to Albuquerque.Bob Wince, former contractor, had been given three to five years for fraudulent business practices, but was released after nineteen months – a gift of the over-crowded conditions of the New Mexico prison system. He knew he hadn’t done it. Someone had set him up and he was certain of who it was. Now he meant to have some revenge, but he’d do it legally.His father, Dimmie, owns a mediocre restaurant which has become a meeting place for shady operators. It was there that they plot and plan their burglary “business,” which soon attracts the suspicions of the police to the recently incarcerated Bob. Drawn into the periphery of events, he uses his prison-learned smarts to discover the perpetrators, feed out enough rope for them to hang themselves, and let the legal system do the rest, after administering a little “justice” on his own.In the beginning we aren’t quite sure of the character of the protagonist, but he is gradually seen as a pretty good guy, all in all. The author also weaves in a bit of romantic sexual tension, which shows his hero to have more than just base instincts as were previously revealed in the very unromantic coupling scenarios.The reader will be rewarded with secret smiles at the way justice ultimately prevails, with the bad guys getting their comeuppance in the end and the good guy getting his revenge. 2/10 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, author and poet The Music of Her Life,
PECK, RICHARD E.
Final Solution
DoubledayISBN 0-385-51240-6
ISBN 0-385-51240-6$15.00 Amazon
Former president of the University of New Mexico Richard Peck plunges into the genre of science fiction and, as with all his books, comes up a winner. Even though I seldom read science fiction, this book proved that good writing and well-thought-out plotting can lead a reluctant reader such as myself through the maze of unfamiliar imagery into a fascination with the story.This story centers around cryogenics and the “rebirth” of a university professor years in the future, bringing him into a completely different kind of world, due partly to the writings he authored during his lifetime. On the order of the novel 1984, the society in his future is troubling and fantastic, led by a small faction of people who keep others in an illiterate bondage. Perhaps Peck’s authorship stems from events he saw as a present-day educator. If so, the allegorical nature of this book may be a wake-up call to Americans to look more closely at the administration of our universities. There may be a frightening reality ensconced in these pages.6/10 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, free-lance writer and poet
PECK, RICHARD E.
Philly Amateurs
UNM PRESSISBN 978-0-8263-3939-3
ISBN 978-0-8263-3939-3$9.00 Amazon
This is a farcical work filled with fun, spoofing the adventures of a young man who decides to steal two truck-loads of new Cadillacs in order to make a big killing all at once. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to him, his caper includes ripping off a Philly mob boss. He finds himself stuck with all his ill-gotten goods because nobody wants to get in bad with the mob. Embroiling his girlfriend, her father, and a new best friend in his scheme, his elaborate planning eventually brings him to success, although not in the way he had planned.This book is well-written, with great characterization and lots of humor, and a very satisfactory ending that brings poetic justice to the mob boss.12/09 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, author and poet
PECK, RICHARD
Strategy of Terror
Seven Locks Press ISBN 1-931643-43-1
ISBN 1-931643-43-1$23.95 Amazon
Author Peck gets better with every book. This latest novel shows his growth toward a sophistication and plotting expertise that many of us wish we could earn with subsequent writings. I read with fascination deep into the night, turning pages to discover how his protagonist would worm his way out of impossible situations. I liked that he included romantic bondings that were gently simple, yet totally and believably realistic. Our hero, Robert Mason, is set up by international organizations to be blamed for horrendous events centered around the Vatican, which are planned to shock the world into a more fierce opposition to a political power. Not just one, but two or maybe several groups manage to involve him in their terrorism. Not knowing who, what or why, he must bull his way from one predicament to another, using his near-photographic analytical mind and his strength from years of body-building training to extract himself from near-death circumstances. Hoping for help from friends in high places, Mason is left to grapple with the evils alone because of traitorous and non-feeling people who turn out to not be friends at all.Horribly graphic scenes make the reader shudder, but draw one on, hoping to get past them with the hero intact and the bad guys out of the way.Resolved satisfactorily in the end, the story yet leaves one with a cynical view of the organizations supposedly formed to keep the world safe.Exciting, romantic, well-written – many are the adjectives that could be used to describe this book. Probably “excellent” will do.3/10 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, author and poet
PETSKA, JANNINE CORTI
Rebel Heart
Highland Press ISBN 978-0-9746249-8-3
9.00 Amazon
The location is Santa Fe and the year is 1873. Courtney Danning travels from New York to the Wild West in order to marry her sweetheart against her father’s wishes. Mr. Danning pays a hired gun, Beau Hamilton, to follow along and ensure her safety. When her husband is killed on their wedding night, a series of events occurs which gradually show Courtney that her husband was not the man she’d believed him to be while Beau is more than she ever could have desired. While she struggles to run a sheep ranch, Beau struggles to deny his attraction for the lovely young woman he’s been hired to protect.Rebel Heart is a high-spirited romp and a delightful read. The author is adept at bringing the hero and heroine together nearly non-stop and providing lots of opportunities to insert a good love scene. Her prose is eloquent as well.A couple things got in the way of my total enjoyment of the book. The first is the frequent point of view changes, sometimes several within the space of a few pages and with no warning. The second is the historical and geographical accuracy. I’m a real stickler for making the reader of a historical romance feel like they have stepped through time and there were several errors in etymology which snapped me right back out of 1873 and squarely into the 20th century.For a good, entertaining read to while away a lazy afternoon, Rebel Heart fills the bill. Ms. Corti Petska is clearly a talented author and I would love to read a follows up to her first romance novel.12/08 Reviewed by Candace Morehouse, author of Golden Enchantment
PYEATT, KEITH
Struck
Quest Books ISBN 978-1-935053-17-0
$19.95 Amazon
WINNER 2009 New Mexico Book Award
Pyeatt has a way with words and he uses it to great advantage. He writes with s realistic sense of place and has a masterful grip on character building.Barry Andrews has always been told by his mother that he is special and will become a “warrior.” She believed that because she was struck by lightning while pregnant with Barry. When Barry is twenty-three he is also struck by lightning, and that event changes his life.
Paranormal occurrences mystify Barry as he begins to see into people’s psyches and feel their pain, but he has no idea why these apparently unbelievable events are happening to him. He is inexplicably led to Amitole Pueblo where he meets Walter, an elderly Indian who is burdened with the secrets of the Ancient Ones of Chaco Canyon and believes Barry is the one who was sent to realign the forces of nature that have been disturbed.Another young man, Thomas, was previously thought to be the one sent by the spirits, but his attitude convinced Walter he was not the right person because he begins to evince characteristics of evil. Nevertheless, Thomas continues to desire the teachings offered by Walter in order to use them for his own purposes. He becomes a threat to Barry and others.Interwoven into this main plot are sub-plots concerning Barry and his friends, some of whom are gay like him. These plot lines are not resolved, but they do add realism and flavor to the book.
This is a gripping novel with murder, mayhem, and other-worldly emanations expertly sewn together into an engrossing page-turner.9/09 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, Albuquerque author and poet
Perilous Pursuit on the Santa Fe Trail
Ashley House ISBN: 9-7809-6643-3753
22.95 Amazon
Sheila Jones and her amanuensis (yeah, I had to look up that word, from the very first page, too. It means ‘secretary’) Dora Watling are the modern, female version of Sherlock Holmes and his trusty sidekick, Watson. The pair are hired to protect the young Helen Stoner from the evil machinations of her stepfather. Helen is convinced he is trying to kill her through a series of clues he leaves to guide her along the famed old Santa Fe Trail, which just so happens to be the subject of her master’s thesis. As the unlikely trio, joined by a man who works at Helen’s sister’s nunnery, travels from town to town and monument to monument following the trail, various perils await them. Dora, the more romantic partner of the detecting duo and more apt to succumb to the mysterious happenings during the course of investigation, sees a ghost who seems to follow her from destination to destination, giving her a warning of impending danger. A bit of romance occurs as Helen falls for Eddie, the down-on-his-luck convent worker, and even Dora feels attracted to Mr. Gregg, a rancher who shares a love of the Santa Fe Trail.It is quite obvious that the author has done impeccable research by actually traveling along the trail herself. Her descriptions are apt and the tale quite engaging. There are no real surprises in this book. It is more of a quaint, cozy mystery in the style of British authors such as Dorothy Sayers or Patricia Wentworth. The book was quite entertaining and I would definitely recommend it. Perilous Pursuit makes a perfect, wintry Sunday afternoon read while sipping on hot chocolate in front of a blazing fire. The author must be good; after all she wears a red cowboy hat with great aplomb!1/09 Reviewed by Candace Morehouse, author of Golden Enchantment
SABERHAGEN, FRED
An Old Friend of the Family
Tom Doherty Associates, LLCISBN 978-0-7653-6389-3
ISBN 978-0-7653-6389-3$6.99
Although this genre is not my usual cup of tea, I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed the writing, as well as this story of vampires.It begins in wintry Chicago with rebellious Kate Southerland going alone to a party at the home of a new acquaintance, just to show her boyfriend Joe, a policeman, that he mustn’t take her for granted. While there she is drugged, later found dead and taken to the morgue.Her family, consisting of Grandmother Clarissa, parents, brother Johnny, and sister Judy, are finding it hard to understand what she was doing in such a disreputable part of town. When the police can come up with no answers, Grandmother Clarissa remembers a book given to her by her own grandmother years before. It was to provide help if she and her family ever found themselves in desperate trouble. She and Judy get down the old book from the family library and use it to produce a spell.Shortly thereafter, an old man arrives at their door claiming to be an old family friend from England. He turns out to be a “good” vampire who has been summoned by the spell wrought from the old witchcraft book.The story continues with the kidnapping of Kate’s brother Johnny, the disappearance of Kate’s body from the morgue, some horrific scenes of violence, the struggles between the “good” and the “bad” vampires, and triumph of the Old Friend of the Family.Fantastic as this all seems, the writing is very good and the story completely believable – that is, if one believes in vampires and witchcraft. I can definitely recommend this book. 4/10 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, author and poet
SHAW, JOSEPH W.
To Honor the Dead
$24.95
WINNER 2009 New Mexico Book Awards
“Forgive and forget,” our elders tell us when we stumble across the various potholes that suddenly appear along life’s highway. Unfortunately, the people populating Albuquerque author Joseph W. Shaw’s first novel, To Honor the Dead, have discarded this simple, guiding principle. For when Colter Wayne Tyree finally returns to the family homestead in Fairview, Oklahoma, he inadvertently disturbs the ghosts of a tragic past and sets off a deadly confrontation forty years in the making.Colter is a “fifty-plus-year-old,” out of shape truck driver going through his midlife crisis, particularly a separation from his wife, the indifference of his children, and the failing of his freight business. Holding down an unsatisfactory job with another employer, he’s running a meat shipment to “Okie City” when he’s stopped by an unusual spring snowstorm along the interstate near his childhood home. Though he does his best to avoid the place altogether, Fate seems determined that he return to his roots. Coyote even plays a conspiratorial role.Once in Fairview, Colter is reacquainted with childhood friend, Oliver Wendell Holmes Lonewolf, a Cheyenne Indian. The cover blurb touts the “escalating violence” between the “sheriff” and Oliver, but the true drama revolves around the two friends, the interweaving of their family histories, and the long-term consequences of those interactions. While the story feels contrived and the characters’ motivations are questionable at times, the narrative moves along at a brisk pace, finely balanced between scenes of deep introspection and harrowing action. Tension emanates from the pages in several places, especially during Colter’s first encounter with “the Law” in the town’s diner, and when the final showdown explodes, shocking secrets stand revealed. Along with childhood memories best forgotten, Shaw poignantly captures the decline of small-town America. Buildings, once proud landmarks of Fairview’s growth and progress, are now shown deserted or falling into ruin, dying, yet battling for survival in a modernized, urban landscape. The degradation is a superb reflection of Colter’s own overwhelming sense of loss. Native American mysticism also flows strongly through the book, providing some of its more powerful imagery and cultural commentary. Coyote, ever the entertainer, takes center stage in dual guises as watchful guardian and consummate trickster, both of which are eventually personified in Oliver.The novel is not without its problems, the biggest impediment being the author’s writing style. Shaw has a fondness for overlong sentences, cramming them with so much information between the subject and the predicate that the connection between the two is often lost. The prose is muddled further with clunky – sometimes incomplete – constructions, lapses in viewpoint that keep readers at arms length from the characters, and confusing passages that cloud key moments of the story. However, the characters and story are compelling enough to overcome these distractions.Despite its flaws, To Honor the Dead is a fascinating novel of homecoming and redemption that succeeds fairly well. The book certainly offers a fresh perspective about honoring past misfortunes in order to embark toward the promises of the future.9/08 Reviewed by David J. Corwell, author of Legacy of the Quedana, (see Cloaked In Shadow)
SHEPARD, TORI WARNER
Now Silence: A Novel of World War II
Sunstone Press, ISBN 978-0-86534-596-6
$26.95 Amazon
Santa Fe, New Mexico, World War II. This is the story of the women left behind waiting for the men in their lives to return home from the Japanese Prisoner of War Camps; men who will not be the same as when they left. There’s Anissa, widow and local leader of the cult like I AM group with invoking St. Germain to stop the “friendly fire”. Her feud with her husband’s former lover, Phyllis, only fuels her madness. Nicasia, her husband and son killed in the war, clings to the hope that her remaining son, Melo Garcia, will return safely from the POW camp where she had last heard he was still alive. Needy LaBelle, Melo’s novia (fiancée) lives with her intended mother-in-law, never quite in touch with the reality of what lies ahead.Their stories are interspersed with the story of Melo and his friend Senio Lopez as they struggle to survive the Bataan Death March and the torture and hideous conditions of the Japanese camp where they are being held. These camp passages are dark and disturbing and altogether real. They make for compelling, if not pleasant, reading and are essential to the story. Will they live to return to Santa Fe? Will the women survive the wait? Author Tori Warner Shepard has given us a glimpse into life as it was and, we hope, will never be again in a sleepy little New Mexico town called Santa Fe. Shepard has taken the profane and the faithful, the serious and the amusing, and woven together a story that should be a must read for all of us so we will never forget.11/08 Reviewed by Sabra Brown Steinsiek, author of Annie's Song
STEELE, CHARLES BENJAMIN
The Sacred Blood of a Child
Create SpaceISBN 9 781451 554182
ISBN 9 781451 55418211.00 Amazon
The story line of this novel is good, and it is obvious the author knows his way around police work. That said, the book is in need of much editorial help in formatting and putting together the manuscript. Verb tenses get booted around a lot, from present to past to past perfect, until one isn’t sure just when an event is taking or has taken place. Many hyphens are thrown in when unnecessary; commas and quotation marks consistently are left out where they should have been included; words and phrases are used repetitively. The changes in point of view (POV) are never clearly delineated, such as with extra line spacing, so that the characterization is always in question. The whole first chapter has no definitive POV. The book begins in third person, with a sniper being arrested, shifts into first person as the narrator enters into the story, and switches back and forth between POV, as well as first and third person, all the way through the book. The real story is in the narrator’s telling of what happened when the sniper had previously come to town to investigate murderous activities of a vigilante group. Nathan, a former Green Beret who is the main character aside from the narrator, uses unorthodox methods to clean out the camp of the bigots who “get rid of” those of different color or race whom they don’t like.I never like to cite a litany of unprofessional errors in a published manuscript, but this book definitely needed a good editor. Still, the story does bring to public attention the result of bigotry. 10/10 Review by Lola R. Eagle, free-lance writer and author of From the Eye of an Eagle, The Music of Her Life, and More Visions in Verse
NEW
STEINLAGE, BEN
Want to go West, Lady?
Tate Publishing & Enterprises, LLC ISBN 978-1-6024743-3-8
$14.99 Amazon
Set in the Civil War era, this is the tale of Ida Marsh and Matt Duncan, two survivors of the horrors of war, how it affected their lives and what eventually brought them together. Ida lost her mother and father, their plantation, their slaves, and her home. Ida’s childhood friend, Edgar Buchanan, came home from the war to find all his property gone, also, but he and Ida married and began a family. A former slave stayed on the property belonging to Ida, and he and his wife became close friends of Ida and Edgar. Several years after the war, they all decided to go west. Along the way, Edgar and two of their five children died. Ida had to find a way to support herself and her three sons. Matt’s father and two brothers were killed in the war; his two remaining brothers left the South and he didn’t know where they were. He wanders from one job to another, farther and farther west. He finds the widowed Ida running a boarding house and proposes to her, after which they move to California. The author has a good story to relate as an historical novel. Unfortunately, innumerable typos, grammatical and punctuation errors, poor sentence structure, and garbled phraseology are deterrents to total enjoyment of the story. Usage of modern terms not compatible with vernacular of the 19th Century further detracts from the book. Future writings by the author would benefit greatly by adequate proofing and editing before publication. Nevertheless, the chapter formatting, alternating the stories of Ida and Matt respectively before bringing them together, is good; the cover is good; the story as a whole is intriguing; and I learned why wagon-masters circled the wagons at the end of the day. Reviewed October 2011 by Lola R. Eagle, author, free-lance writer, and poet
Annie's Song
$15.95
WINNER 2008 New Mexico Book Awards
Annie’s Song by Sabra Brown Steinsiek has a typical romance plot. Boy (Kit) knows girl (Annie) since childhood. They’re sort of friends. Boy (Kit) and Girl (Annie), go out with other people. That doesn’t work and they end up friends, lovers, and engaged.What saves Annie’s Song from unraveling into clichés is the laugh the author has with the throes, trials, triumphs, and tribulations of young love. At 23, Annie Collins has experienced success on the Broadway stage, but because her life has revolved around the theater, she has never had a serious boyfriend.Deciding she’s ready to give that a try, she experiences the infatuations, tears, and befuddlement's that everyone over the age of 30 has experienced as they try to date. In one hilarious scene, Kit, who becomes her platonic roommate, arrives home just in time to interrupt her romantic moment with the guy she believes is Mr. Right. Who hasn’t been there and witnessed that?While much of the action of ‘Annie’s Song’ takes place in New York, Sabra Brown Steinsiek mixes in a good bit of Southwestern culture, by giving Annie a native New Mexican mother, and a Hispanic grandmother, who lives in Ireland with Annie’s grandfather. The result is a joyful blend of foods and customs that both evoke fond memories of family gatherings, and capture the feeling of what it’s like to live in a state where Hispanics, Anglos, and Indians have more or less learned to get along over four centuries. Steinsiek also adds a touch of Albuquerque popular history. A ghost said to haunt the KiMo, an old theater at 5th and Central downtown, comes to warn Annie of danger. Real street names and locations, both eastern and western, add a further sense of authenticity to the book. Steinsiek’s simple and direct descriptions trigger memories of both locations, to anyone who’s been lucky enough to spend time in Manhattan and New Mexico.Add to that a few unexpected (and sometimes nasty) events, a slew of Annie’s girl friends and nieces; a doting father, and older sisters, and Annie’s Song becomes a celebration for anyone who has come of age with strong roots and powerful wings.It won’t matter that the reader will guess the outcome of the book long before the end. Steinsiek’s humor and warmth make Annie’s Song work anyway.10/2008 Reviewed by Connie Gotsch, author of A Mouthful of Shell
STORM, GALE (aka Mabery, Marilyne)
Christmas Paradise
ZUMAYA PUBLICATIONS, 1-894869-56-7
PRICE $12.99 AMAZON
Christmas Paradise features Tarralee Roessel, a self-described hermit who lives deep within the wilds of the Cascade Mountains. She raises and trains dogs bred with wolves and has learned how to be completely self-sufficient after raising five brothers upon the death of her parents. Not only can Tarry ice fish, she can cross-country ski, mush her dogs on a sled, and single-handedly shoo a pesky bear from the house. Along comes Tyrone Shields, a Hollywood producer who is starting work on his next film. He wants to feature wolves, and only one trainer can help him with his project: Tarry Roessel. He drops by at the beginning of a snow storm only to be greeted by the sight of a pack of wolves tearing Tarry to bits, or so he thinks.The relationship between Tarry and Tyrone gets off to a rocky start. Eventually Tarry agrees to go to LA and help Tyrone with his documentary. As they work and play together in LA, she ends up falling in love with him but Tyrone’s cynical attitude toward marriage and a lifestyle that includes casual girlfriends gets in the way. After a snowbound Christmas together, however, both hero and heroine realize what’s most important in their lives.Christmas Paradise is the typical romance at its core, yet the characters are very unique. I genuinely liked Tarry and her toughness; her need for solitude with a strong dislike of fancy clothes and social settings. Tyrone was a likeable hero, too but it was hard to get to know him since only a paragraph or two was ever presented from his point of view. The secondary characters could have been more fully developed; Tarry’s brothers were not much more than names inserted occasionally.All in all, Christmas Paradise is a good read. The author presents the setting well, showing the hardness of life in the high altitude Cascades with deftness while moving on to Los Angeles with the same credible description. A light and rather sweet romance (there is one sex scene and it is not overly graphic), it is a good book for those summer days when the intense heat makes you long to imagine yourself in a cold and snowy locale.03/10, Reviewed by Candace Morehouse, author of Suspicion of Love www.candacemorehouse.com
STORM, GAIL (GALE)
Memory’s Desire
Zumaya Publications LLCISBN 978-1-934135-90-7
ISBN 978-1-934135-90-7$14.99
Sheena Lassiter, veterinary surgeon, leaves her east-coast home to pursue her career in Arizona, hoping to reconnect with Travis, the man with whom she has had a one-night affair. After deplaning in Albuquerque, she takes the train west to Flagstaff. On the train she meets Rob and immediately shares a sibling affection with him, not knowing that he is the half-brother of the man she loves. She forgets her purse on the train, is befriended by the young Rob and stays in his motel room. The next morning his older brother finds Sheena in the room and jumps to the wrong conclusion. They have a confrontation and Sheena runs from the room into the path of a vehicle. Taken to the hospital, she wakes to find she has no memory of her past. Thus begins this romance which takes place mostly on an Arizona ranch. Through some weeks of amnesia, Sheena struggles with her feelings for Travis, wondering always at her reaction to his presence which brings up such strong emotions in her without her knowing why. At the same time, Travis wants her to remember their previous love-making without being told. Eventually, Sheena’s memory returns and a happy ending ensues. Reviewed 3/10 by Lola R. Eagle, author and poet
SUMNER, MELANIE
The Ghost of Milagro Creek
Algonquin Books, 978-1-56512-917-7
$13.95 Amazon
WINNER 2010 NEW MEXICO BOOK AWARDS
Past the welcoming, often glitzy trappings of any tourist city lies the true heart of its community – an oftentimes gritty and unvarnished contrast to the popular locales that draw in visitors. In The Ghost of Milagro Creek, this sobering reality exists in a barrio just outside Taos, New Mexico.The loyalty between Mister Romero and Tomás Mondragon, “blood brothers” who’ve found comfort in one another from the harshness of their family situations, is put to the test when Raquel (Rocky) O’Brien, a gringa outsider, arrives. Both boys are smitten, but only Tómas is successful at wooing the girl. Mister and Tomás drift apart until Mister’s abuela (Ignacia Vigil Romero) dies. Feeling more alone than ever before, the teens attempt to renew their strained friendship by carrying out a suicide pact. But only one gun goes off, leaving a survivor to pick up the tattered threads of two lives. Billed as a love story, this is not a typical romantic tale. The book’s evolving love triangle is both complicated and torturous, while heartbreakingly touching. Yet in the face of ongoing tragedy, the novel bespeaks to the fact that even in the most dysfunctional of families, love can exist and blossom. Ignacia, a curandera, narrates the initial chapters as a spirit, recounting the boys’ inseparability, the love that provides sustenance for her “family,”and the traditions of her Jicarilla Apache heritage. The curanderismo she practices is a captivating, realistic blend of Catholic and Native American beliefs and values, as is her “unorthodox” relationship with Chief, an Anglo drifter who builds a sweat lodge and becomes a shaman. Unfortunately, her POV – the most fascinating one in the book – disappears early on. The reader is evidently left to assume that her spirit continues on its otherworldly journey, but there is an unsatisfying lack of closure with her sudden departure.
Sumner does a great job of capturing the scenery of northern New Mexico, including the beautiful and colorful sandstone formations of Abiquiu, the pilgrimage to Chimayó during Holy Week, and the isolation of Chama Canyon, the location of Monastery of Christ in the Desert, a Benedictine monastery where Rocky has taken up residence. The author’s portrayal of the characters’ intermixed backgrounds is also impeccably done. Having lived in Taos for a short time, it’s obvious that setting and culture are subjects she writes about with both authority and love.
While the Spanish words are spot on, the terms are often defined immediately after they are used rather than trying to reveal their meanings in context, which creates a sense of artificiality within the narrative. The story’s chronology also skips around frequently, making it difficult to determine whether a scene has actually shifted in time or whether it is simply the recollection of some memory by one of the characters. However, these stylistic shortcomings shouldn’t impede the readers’ enjoyment of the story as a whole.
The Ghost of Milagro Creek is definitely not a standard novel on many levels, but this is what makes it a fascinating and original read. Nor does the book end on an expected happy note, though it hints at the possibilities of what can happen if, despite all of life’s hard knocks, we follow our hearts.
12/10 Reviewed by David J. Corwell, author of “Conqueror of Shadows” (Tales of the Talisman Magazine, Vol. 6, Issue #2), “The Harvest” (Daily Flash 2011: 365 Days of Flash Fiction), and “Legacy of the Quedana” (see Cloaked in Shadow: Dark Tales of Elves)
TARVER, BEN
Far From The Angels
Amador Publishers, ISBN 0-938513-11-7
$10.00
During Pancho Villa’s raid on Columbus, New Mexico in 1916, a young girl is rescued from a burning hotel by one of the Villistas and taken away into Mexico. The ensuing year brings the 15-year-old near-starvation, witness to horrifying events as the Mexican Revolution unfolds, and a great love. We are plunged into the lives of Princess, disguised as a boy, and her rescuer, Panfilo Rios, as they aid the revolutionaries in ridding their country of the vicious men who would take over their government. With no funds, no shelter, and little resources, they struggle through months of poverty, hunger, and filth as they attempt to fulfill the spying role thrust upon them by circumstances.This story, based on historical events, is full of adventure, the brutality of war, bravery and cowardice, the coming of age of the teenager Princess Xavier, all written with a pen full of power by author Ben Tarver. Perfectly crafted, perfectly researched, perfectly edited – this book is a treasure rarely found. You’ll want to turn the last page, hoping for another chapter, or search bookshelves for a sequel. For romantics, history buffs, action lovers, thrill seekers, I personally warrant a terrific read.
6/09 Reviewed by by Lola R. Eagle, author and poet
THOMPSON, SALLY-ALICE
Green Eyed Woman
Trafford Publishing, ISBN 1412085594
14.66 Amazon
In this short novel set in 19th century Missouri and Kansas, Rhoda, young mother of a baby daughter and a five-year-old son, is unhappily married to a generally ignorant Bible-thumping, abusive husband who believes it’s a man’s right to have authority over his wife. He uses his fists to exert that right, while teaching their son the same philosophy. A sign from God, in the form of a giant “C” in the clouds, seems to command John to take his family to California, so he gets four other families to join with him and makes up a small wagon train to leave the Ozarks and head west. On the way, tragedy strikes, taking the only joy from Rhoda’s life. As they travel into Kansas, John hits Rhoda once too often and she runs off into the prairie, preferring to starve to death by herself in the wilderness rather than continue living with him. Believing she couldn’t have survived, John tells his son that Indians killed his mother. He then marries himself to another woman in the train whose husband has drowned during a river crossing.However, Rhoda is found by Powila Indians (I’ve never heard of that tribe; it may be an invention of the author) and taken into their village where she falls in love with her rescuer. They eventually marry in the Indian way and have a son. Rhoda is happy in her new life until the westward movement of settlers brings tragedy to the small band of Indians.Although this book could have been expanded into a much longer story, it nevertheless captured my imagination. I felt empathy for the abused wife. The unsympathetic Americans who came to encroach on the Indians’ lives made me, as always, sad about the way our country was forged from the misery of the natives.12/2008 Reviewed by Lola R. Eagle, author of From the Eye of an Eagle
TILCHEN, MAIDA
Land Beyond Maps
Savvy Press, ISBN 978-0-9669877
14.95 Amazon
WINNER 2009 New Mexico Book Award, Gay/Lesbian
FINALIST 2009 New Mexico Book Award, Historical Fiction
Set in Santa Fe just prior to the beginning of the Depression, Land Beyond Maps narrates the individual and intersecting lives of five women who have journeyed to Santa Fe to reconstruct their lives. Ms. Tilchen constructs believable and sympathetic characters based loosely on the lives of landscape photographer Laura Gilpin (1891-1979) and her life partner Betsy, a Public Health nurse on the Navajo Nation. Laura and Betsy help Morna, a frustrated artist and wife of an emotionally manipulative husband, in leaving her trading post life in the middle of nowhere to recapture her muse. After working for years in a Maine fish processing factory, Jonnie arrives in Santa Fe with hardly a dime to spare, hoping to hire on as a Harvey girl at age 50. Wealthy, sheltered Ruth is sent to Santa Fe by her overprotective parents as a last resort cure for her respiratory problems. Together and separately, these no longer young women adapt to changing and reduced circumstances while building new lives and identities for themselves.In addition to her cast of main characters, Ms. Tilchen has constructed multi-dimensional antagonists to represent obstacles facing women trying to live independent, intentional lives: archaeologists insensitive to Native American beliefs and practices; clueless tourists who want to experience a “Wild West” that exists only in their imaginations; and Christian missionaries who believe their good intentions to save “heathen” Indians absolve them from the damages their ham-fisted efforts leave behind.Ms. Tilchen has captured the enormous impact physical geography has on all who try to create lives in the desert southwest. Ms. Tilchen vividly describes the summer heat baking rocks until they are too hot to touch, and the difficulties of travel through roadless terrain (note the book’s title). With sensitivity but absent maudlin sentimentality, Ms. Tilchen describes the warmth as well as reticence of the Navajo caught in Anglo-caused changes to their world.Readers interested in American history, Southwest and Native American cultures, and women’s history will find much to enjoy while reading Land beyond Maps.2/09 Reviewed by Victoria Erhart
TIPPIT, LUCRETIA
The Pageant Unveiled
$18.95
WINNER 2008 NEW MEXICO BOOK AWARDS
Lucretia Tippit has taken on the touchy subject of religion in this novel. It’s not always an easy subject to discuss, especially when it takes on the role of a spouse and the humanity of the Pastor. Kathy Whitford has been fascinated by her Lutheran religion from childhood, loving the pageantry as much as she loves her God. It’s that pageantry that attracts her to the stage and the possibility of making her career there despite parental objections. While in college, she joins the local student fellowship and finds a deeper understanding of her faith. The Pastor even tries to convince her to train as a minister in a time, not so very long ago, when women in the ministry were few and far between. Instead, she chooses the love of her life and convinces herself that she can overlook his lack of faith as they build a life together. And it works for a while – until Kathy’s part-time job as a youth director begins to interfere with the home life her husband expects. When Kathy hears a clear call to the ministry, Tony is less than accepting. In fact, he’s downright hostile. Her decision to pursue her calling and preserve her marriage is a major part of this book.She makes it and finds an assistant pastor position in a westside Albuquerque congregation where she assists Pastor Paul Mueller who is wrestling with problems of his own. Their instant rapport soon turns to something more personal, leading them into, and beyond, temptation.This is a powerful story of the changes in public perception of the roles of women in the last thirty years. Tippit does a fine job incorporating Kathy and Paul’s beliefs and religious discussions in a way that is natural and not at all “preachy”. Discussion questions for reading groups are included. This is a human story from all angles, well written and intriguing. Tippit leaves the reader with much to think about after a truly fulfilling read.9/08 Reviewed by Sabra Brown Steinsiek, author of ‘Til The End Of Time
UNRUH, O.K.
Dynamite Time
iUniverse, ISBN 978-0-595-53461-6
$14.95
The adventures of young “Tad” (Theodore) Stone as written in letters to his granddaughter, whom he has never met, are intriguing, hilarious at times, true to life, and suspenseful. Stone and his son, his granddaughter Julie’s father, have been estranged for many years and Stone lives alone in Chama, New Mexico, a lonely old man living on a veteran’s pension. When he receives a letter from his young granddaughter asking for information about his youth to use for a school project, he uses the first letter as the beginning of an ongoing correspondence by relating a story from his childhood only up to a point and telling Julie she’d have to write back if she wanted the rest of the story. The tales begin as Tad is not quite six years old, living with his parents on a ranch in Montana, and take him through his eighth birthday. Some of the highlights of those several years include his receiving a pony of his own which he named Dynamite, together with the adventures he has with it. After months of writing back and forth, Julie finally poses a hard question to her grandfather: Did he abandon his son as her father has told her? The answer to that question gave Stone the opportunity to explain years of hurt and brings a revelation to all of them. Exceptional writing and a novel way of putting it all together made me laugh many times, empathize with the boy Tad, and cry a little, too. Good reading for children as well as adults, it is not too difficult for young people, as well as including life lessons by which they could profit.April 2009 Review by Lola R. Eagle, author of From the Eye of an Eagle and The Music of Her Life
UNRUH, O. K.
Shadow Of The Jicarilla Owl
iUniverse.com, ISBN: 987-0-595-47259-8
$14.95 Amazon
“Long Life, Everything good, Old Age, No Evil.” The wish to you from the author. Set in beautiful north central New Mexico, in Chama, the Brazos and the Jicarilla Reservation. Owl is a story of Indian Mystics, the tragedy of drug use, friendship, hope and a twisted plot that will very much surprise you at the end. All of it started by the death of a canary. John Noah is a divorced and retired engineer who moved to New Mexico to contemplate the end of his life. The death of the canary is the final straw, the last link to everything he cares about. Mourning the bird and his lost purpose in the world, he meets a Jicarilla Shaman. One who knows far more about John than he should, even knowing his dreams. Thus begins a journey he never expected. An apache needs a friend to help him into the afterlife and the Shaman has picked John Noah. He has also predicted a future full of danger for the unsuspecting white man. A prediction that is far too accurate for John’s comfort. What follows is a series of drug related murders that give the reader an insight to just some of the challenges facing this native people. Unruh gives a story that is at once personal and compelling and you can tell he not only lives in the area, he has an understanding of its diverse community. One that I was intrigued with because I spend a lot of time at a cabin in the Brazos as well. Reading the back cover, I didn’t expect to connect with this book, yet I finished it in one sitting. Give it a chance. I think you will enjoy this book. 11/08 Reviewed by Gregory Saunders author of the Trilogy, Unknown Country
The book’s supernatural character appears as an old Hispanic woman, a gypsy, a baby sitter, a nun, and Carlos’ grandmother wanders in and out of the story and does not seem to drive the plot. It’s hard to figure out the point of her being there. The crafting of Deception and Desire is often shaky. The Spanish verbiage used was uncommon. The author used Columbian Spanish which seemed unlikely in an area of Los Angeles where the more Americanized slang version would be more common. The book could also have benefited greatly from a thorough editing. The story does have some nice moments. In order to find her stepson, Fancy comes to East L.A. to teach pottery. The descriptions of her classes and the students have the feel of truth. Julia, the woman in whose home she stays, and her children are well-rounded characters. The descriptions of the neighborhood, Julia’s house, and a hotel which Carlos owns are vivid and clear. When Fancy and Carlos finally do get together romantically, the sparks certainly fly and the author did a great job of writing some steamy scenes but only the reader can decide if that’s enough to redeem this novel and make it believable.
This was an ok read but, with a bit more polish and a lot more editorial input, Wolfert’s next effort could be a great read. 2/09 Reviewed by Connie Gotsch and Candace Morehouse, review edited by Sabra Steinsiek
Woods, Judy
Sicilian Enigma,
Outskirts Press, Inc., 978-1-4327-2406-1
15.95 Amazon
What a pleasant summer read this charming little book is! One part travelogue, complete with learned discourses on European (particularly Italian) history, and fascinating descriptions of Sicilian architecture and landscape; one part romance; and one part suspense, there is something on nearly every page to hold one’s attention.Clara Cartwright, a professor at a small college in Albuquerque, is off on a mission to increase her knowledge of medieval Sicily for the benefit of her students and her academic tenure, a mission that turns into something different when she meets Gaetano Perillo. Both interested in the whereabouts of a certain ancient treasure of gold and jewels, they travel together to see ancient castles and libraries, eat Italian food, and yes, fall in love. Gaetano’s Mafia-employed brother-in-law lurks in the background, hoping to follow the couple to the valuables, but Gaetano proves equal to the occasion. The ending is neatly done, even if we do not get to see the lovers’ touching good-bye. More than that I will not say, as it would be giving too much away.My chief complaint is that the book needed professional editing, as so many do these days. A read-through with fresh eyes would have resolved some obvious problems, such as the brother-in-law rendered as ‘brother’ on page 68, and a character’s name given as Caroline suddenly appearing as ‘Pauline’ on page 94. It’s hard for a writer to submit one’s work to an editor, I know, I’ve been through it, but it must be done, it makes a better book.Still, the unexpected revelations of medieval history and gorgeous Sicilian scenery, complete with castles, do much to make up for these small confusions. Anyone who enjoys an armchair journey to a foreign place – and I do – would enjoy this book.7/10 Reviewed by Drusilla Claridge, author of Peacock Ore
