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Category Archives: Historical Fiction
Goldenseal – Maria Hummel
(Reviewed by JD Jung) Lacey and Edith, ages seventy and seventy-one respectively, have been estranged for forty-four years. It’s now 1990, and Edith decides to travel across the country to visit her one-time best friend. Lacey, born in Prague, … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Modern Literary Fiction, Our Best
Tagged friendship, Los Angeles, relationships, socio-economic class, WWII
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Mission Churchill – Alex Abella
(reviewed by JD Jung) 1933-Havana Cuba: Irishman Marcus Riley’s objective is to kidnap the visiting Winston Churchill and hold him hostage in exchange for IRA members serving time in London prisons. However former Detective Inspector Walter Thompson, now serving as … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Historical Fiction, WWII
Tagged Cuba, London, Nazism, political fiction, thrillers, Winston Churchill, WWII
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Forgottenness – Tanja Maljartschuk, translated by Zenia Tompkins
(reviewed by JD Jung) “I was an inconsequential being who had suddenly become deathly afraid of life.” Our present-day narrator suffers from mental/psychological disorders: frequent panic attacks, obsessive compulsive disorder, substance abuse, and changing levels of agoraphobia. Eventually she breaks … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Slavic Literature, World Literature
Tagged history, mental illness, political activism, politics, Ukraine
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The Inimitable Jeeves, Deluxe Edition – P.G. Wodehouse
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned I must admit that I was not familiar with the celebrated British humorist P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975) until now, when I thoroughly enjoyed the recent release of The Inimitable Jeeves, Deluxe Edition. This sidesplitting story, taking … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Humor & Satire, Lost and almost forgotten
Tagged English literature, humor, Jeeves, valet
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Sherlock Holmes & the Silver Cord -M.K. Wiseman
(reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “I had my holiday. I had enjoyed three years without a single thread binding me to this or that place, any one responsibility save for my own to myself and the fishing of what I … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Historical Fiction
Tagged Sherlock Holmes
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The Blue is Where God Lives – Sharon Sochil Washington, PhD
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “If Satan is successful, the family’s history will end with the blue baby girl.” It is currently 2008, and Blue (referenced above) is grieving the murder of her daughter. She questions God’s existence, which leads … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction, Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Mythology
Tagged African literature, class, folkore, magical realism, mysticism, poverty, slavery
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PRIMO—a stageplay: Auschwitz through the lens of time – Ed Davidson
(Reviewed by Heidi A. Swan) #CommissionsEarned Primo Levi was a writer, chemist, and a survivor of the Holocaust. This tightly written one act play is a fictional account of the last day of his life. As he goes through his … Continue reading
Posted in Historical Fiction
Tagged audio book, Auschwitz, Holocaust, stage play
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The Safe Game – Wes Verde
(Reviewed by Christopher J. Lynch) #CommissionsEarned The Safe Game by Wes Verde is undoubtedly one of the best books I have ever read. Set in the late 1920’s America, it follows the story of three con artists trying to pull … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Historical Fiction, Our Best
Tagged crime fiction, grift, Historical fiction
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The Scent of Burnt Flowers – Blitz Bazawule
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned It’s the mid-1960s and an African American couple, Melvin and Bernadette are on the run. Melvin sees that their only chance is to flee the U.S. Back in college, Melvin saved the life of a … Continue reading
Posted in African Literature, Historical Fiction, World Literature
Tagged 1960s, colonization, FBI, Ghana, racism
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Comeuppance – Frank Honorof
(Reviewed by Don Jung) #CommissionsEarned It’s the end of World War II and American military attorney, Philip Almeister, is sent on a liaison mission to Austria to help restore assets stolen by the Nazis. While working there he uncovers a … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Historical Fiction
Tagged intrigue, thriller, WWII
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