#BookReview - Betrayal of Faith @justicefellow

Betrayal of Faith (A Zachary Blake Legal Thriller Book 1)

By: Mark M. Bello
Publisher: 8Grand Publications
Publication Date: November 2019
ASIN: B07ZL16H3B
Reviewed by: Amy Lignor
Review Date: February 27, 2020

Whether it be Perry Mason, Atticus Finch, or even Turow’s famous lawyer, Rusty Sabich in Presumed Innocent, who was actually pursued by his own kind, everyone out there most likely has a favorite fictional lawyer. You know...the one who when a new book or movie or TV episode came out, you just had to watch, or read, and find out what happens. When it comes to this brand-new lawyer (in my life, anyway), a man called Zachary Blake, I can honestly say that with just his first starring role in a series of legal thrillers written by Mark M. Bello, he has captured my imagination, earned my respect, and made himself a “must-read” for the rest of time.

This is not an easy tale, by any stretch, but I can’t remember when I found a lawyer more riveting. When we first meet and begin to understand Zachary, we learn that he is definitely the epitome of a lawyer and man who’s down in the dumps and is at a point where it may just be impossible to turn his life around and put his career back on track. Changes alter his life awfully fast, however, when Jennifer Tracey decides to become his client.

Jennifer is a woman of unending faith. She believes in the Lord, but is now stuck in a position that brings pain to her heart and could just shatter her faith completely. Recently widowed, saying goodbye to her true love, Jim, she’s now a single parent of two boys: Jake (9 years of age) and Kenny (age 11). A new priest was transferred to her parish when the man the boys felt close to, Father Bill, left. He was transferred to Virginia which caused the boys to feel sorrow again; it was as if their “substitute” father had also died. Worse was that he was replaced with Father Gerry, a man Jennifer soon finds out brought harm—and not friendship or kindness—to her two sons. But, don’t shy away just because you “think” you’ve read this plot before. It’s not just a lawyer against a sick man who wears a cross around his neck in order to get away with sin; this abuse has links to something on a much larger scope: The Coalition. This is one organization that is not only a “secret” club run by the church, but it’s also run by a man who’s drunk on power and will stop at nothing to protect this group who needs to, quite literally, be punished by God on high in order to receive the right amount of wrath.

Absent the Lord being able to wreak vengeance, Zachary steps in with his P.I., Micah Love. Zachary needs to get his head on straight, so to speak, as his life has been made up of binge drinking at strip clubs after his wife kicked him to the curb and took everything. But somewhere deep inside this man’s soul lies the intelligence, ego, and ability that once made him “Detroit’s King of Justice.”

Clues start to add up about this sinister church group, including the fact that Zachary and Micah discover two families actually “disappeared” after they had an encounter with Father Gerry; as well as finding out that a person who could have provided much-needed information about The Coalition died under mysterious circumstances.

But with Jennifer’s determination, Zachary will rise up from the darkness he’s been in for a while and fight with everything he has—both in the courtroom and outside of it. Readers will immediately get pulled into Zachary Blake’s intuitive mind, and it is not an overstatement to say that they will be entertained throughout the entirety of this tale that actually makes Detroit thrilling.

Quill says: The greatest thing you can say about a book will be said here: Book II awaits, and everything will be set aside in order to dive right back in to Zachary Blake’s life!

For more information on Betrayal of Faith, please visit the website: www.markmbello.com

#AuthorInterview with Mark Daniel Seiler @markseiler3

Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Anita Lock is talking with Mark Daniel Seiler, author of Shave Ice Paradise.

FQ: What would you say was the turning point in your life that led you to become a writer?

SEILER: When you’re a kid, you notice little things, like air. “Hey! Why isn’t anyone talking about this invisible stuff?” Even though we can’t live long without air, we just kind of get used to it and don’t really think about it much. Little invisible things, like air, tend to go unnoticed until the tiny unseen things gather together into a storm: a tornado carries away your home or a gale blows your ship off course and you find yourself shipwrecked on a desert island. What was the turning point? Why did I begin writing? I blame the little invisible forces.

FQ: Who would you say are your inspirational authors, and why?

SEILER: Just the right book, at just the right time in your life, can change the world. As a terrible teen, a kind, older woman gave me Tolkien’s ​Lord of the Rings​. Looking back on it, had I not run into those hobbits and elves at just that precise moment, I probably would have become an orc? Books aren’t just “okay.” Books change the world.

FQ: What books would you say have had the most influence on your life as a writer, and why?

SEILER: Before I ever dreamed of becoming a writer, reading Hermann Hesse’s ​Narcissus and Goldman​ in high school had a profound effect on the trajectory of my life. Many of Hesse’s novels follow a similar pattern: childhood friends take diverse paths, one quits school runs away and has unexpected adventures and experiences, while the other youth goes to university and leads a conventional life. By chance, many years later, the two friends meet and compare mythologies. I love stories that blend the knowledge learned from experience with the knowledge that can be taught. And yes, I was the friend who ran away.

FQ: Since Hawaii is your place of residence it makes perfect sense to write a story that weaves everything Hawaii in them. There are under fifty novels (according to Wikipedia—thirty-three, to be exact) written with Hawaii in the backdrop. Have you read any of them, and if so, would you consider any of them to be inspirations to why you’ve chosen to write a Hawaiian-based novel? If not, what inspired you to write this story?

SEILER: I’m shocked there are only thirty-three Hawaiian novels. If you walk around the neighborhood you’re bound to bump into at least thirty-three storytellers. Life is a struggle on the island. Locals work three jobs to make ends meet, but they make time to talk story. Along with the constant Trade Winds, there is also a prevailing attitude of giving on the islands. A little respect, a measure of kindness, and a pinch of generosity returns to you thousandfold. If you’re very lucky, you will encounter the true Aloha Spirit which can’t be captured with words, but must be experienced. I’m constantly inspired and humbled by the people I meet.

FQ: What would you say is the inspiration for your characters in ​Shaved Ice Paradise?​

SEILER: Though other people appear in our dreams, I’ve read that we are all of the people in our dreams, which is crazy to think about. Dreams are wonderful and wild—pure storytelling. We have little, if any, control over the characters in our dreams. Similarly, the characters in ​Shave Ice Paradise​ have minds of their own and seldom, if ever, listen to my advice. They are willful, troublesome, stubborn, and fun. I’d like to say we have somethings in common, though I’m not sure they would see it that way.

FQ: You’ve chosen to portray all your characters in ​Shaved Ice Paradise —​ protagonists and antagonists alike — with redeeming and flawed qualities, which is not common in literature. Why did you choose to do this?

SEILER: “Redeeming and flawed,” you say? Flawed sounds like a piece of pottery that comes out of the kiln with an imperfection. We’re all certainly works in progress. Somethings in life come easily for us, while other things are just plain hard, if not impossible. What’s in the way, what are the obstacles keeping us from being content? One can make a compelling argument that the reason we’re not happy is because of things that can’t be changed, that we ourselves can never change. One of the dirty secrets is we ​are​ able to change. Transformation is not only possible, it is taking place around us all of the time.

FQ: You incorporate environmental issues in ​Shaved Ice Paradise. ​Are they based on events that have happened or are presently happening in Hawaii?

SEILER: Yes, there are many serious environmental issues at present in Hawaii.

FQ: With two award-winning books under your belt and a possible third with your latest novel, ​Shaved Ice Paradise,​ what plans do you have for your next literary project?

SEILER: If you love fun characters, my new novel, ​RIFT,​ is coming out in the spring of 2021, followed by a thriller, ​Black Tango. T​he genres may vary, but at the heart of all my novels is a love story.

FQ: What do you hope your audience will come away with after reading ​Shaved Ice Paradise?​ 

SEILER: Mostly, I want readers to have fun and enjoy the story. If I’ve done a proper job, there might be one or two points of interest along the way. One of the many things I love about being a writer is hearing from readers. I’ve learned to never underestimate the reader’s imagination. I’m constantly amazed by the rich, wonderful world the reader creates from the words I’ve strung together. When the reader describes the story they read, the tables are turned, and I’m the one who comes away with something new.

FQ: Do you foresee writing more Hawaiian-based mysteries in the near future?

SEILER: My hope is readers enjoy ​Shave Ice Paradise​ and they leave me no choice but to write the continuing adventures of Gina Mori.

#BookReview - Shave Ice Paradise @Markseiler3

Shave Ice Paradise

By: Mark Daniel Seiler
Publisher: Owl House Books
Publication Date: May 2020
ISBN: 9781947003682
Reviewed by: Anita Lock
Date: February 21, 2020

A mysterious murder leads the daughter of a Buddhist into more than she bargains for in Mark Seiler’s mystery, Shave Ice Paradise.

Something fishy surrounds the mysterious death of Gina Mori’s Auntie Nalani. The feisty daughter of a Buddhist minister contacts her police friend, Carla Moreno, for details on the crime scene for starters before Gina investigates. Curly (aka Julius), a stream biologist, is busy gathering samples for the Department of Land and Natural Resources near the crime scene at the time she shows up. The two hit it off, and Gina takes Curly with him to search for more clues after he finds Auntie Nalani’s missing handbag.

Even though Curly becomes immediately enamored with Gina, he has a difficult time reading Gina’s feelings because of her hardcore persona. It doesn’t help that she is the complete antithesis of what he would expect from a foxy-looking female. While Gina, undoubtedly, is a force not to be reckoned with, the two become an item until one of them divulges a bit of their skewed past.

A chain of events, spurred by a bus accident and an agrochemical company, leads Gina to further sleuthing, and this time without Curly’s help. The more information she gathers, the more she fears that she may be the next on her aunt’s murderer’s hit list.

Award-winning author Mark Seiler weaves in “all things Hawaiian” in Shave Ice Paradise. Although Seiler’s new mystery opens with the plot’s crime scene, readers should expect immersion into the fauna, flora, culture, traditions, and language of Wai Nau, the northwestern portion of the Island of Hawaii, from the get-go.

There is more to Gina Mori than the bumbling, awkward persona she displays around the Buddhist temple where her father serves as minister. Once she gets wind of her aunt’s death, Gina morphs into stealth mode. Her gutsy, no-nonsense approach to how she handles herself around the townsfolk makes her a complicated character to read for several chapters. One thing is for sure though: she’ll do whatever it takes to get answers.

Curly enters her life very early in the plot. A bit reserved to her gutsiness, Curly has no idea what’s in store when he falls head over heels for Gina and joins her on some of her sleuthing adventures. While a light romance builds, there are other issues brewing, such as their pasts...

This first glimpse into the protagonist’s flaws is just the tip of the iceberg as Seiler slowly but deftly develops the inner workings of his cast—a vital and attractive element to his literary writing style. It is from this character-building element that Seiler’s storytelling takes off and provides the perfect setup for him to cleverly weave in a Hawaiian word here or there, the area’s landscape, and even environmental issues.

Scenes mainly shift between Gina’s investigations and her relationship with Curly, but as the story develops, scenes begin to glance at other characters with their strengths and shortcomings. Chapters are short and engaging and close on light cliffhangers until the plot thickens. Seiler pulls from the several tangled situations to create unpredictable twists and turns, a ticking-bomb climax, and a slam-bang ending.

For more information on Shave Ice Paradise, please visit the website: www.sighingwomanteas.com

#BookReview - Juliet and Dead Romeo @thatacus

Juliet and Dead Romeo (Shakespearean Murder Mysteries, Book 1)

By: C.J. Love
Publisher: Columbine Publishing Group, LLC
Publication Date: January 2020
ISBN: 978-1945422836
Reviewed by: Barbara Bamberger Scott
Date: February 21, 2020

Mixing and matching with equal ease, author C. J. Love has recreated elements of Shakespeare’s romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet, in the process creating a new, modern sleuth - the very feminine, very gutsy Juliet Da Vinci.

Juliet loves a policeman named Nicolo whose surname – Montague - would be anathema to her feisty father Santos, who has been in a feud with the Montague clan ever since Mariotto Romeo tried to steal his secret recipe for risotto – and might have seen his wife naked, accidentally. Juliet has kept her feelings for Nicolo a secret, and that means playing hard to get. Meanwhile her mother Italia, eager to arrange a marriage, has introduced her to the handsome Paris, who finds her quite attractive though she is not in the mood to reciprocate. But the two find themselves taking a walk on a dark night, and together discover the dead body of Mariotto floating under a bridge. Santos is summoned, tampers with the scene, and makes Juliet and Paris swear to tell no one since the corpse is on his property. But after the conflicted Juliet sends a surreptitious text to Nicolo, Mariotto’s demise is deemed murder with Santos the prime suspect. The actual perpetrator will not be discovered until many layers of truth and lie have been unveiled, bringing in a cast of characters with Shakespearean names and roles recalling the bard’s famous drama. Identifying Mariotto’s killer will expose Juliet to the ultimate threat and show her what she is capable of, not only in solving a murder case but also in the art of self-defense.

Author C.J. Love has set out in a new direction in her writing, moving from the romance genre to this whodunit saga, with Juliet and Dead Romeo already designated as Book 1 of a series. She cleverly injects notable names from the original script: Tybalt (kind of a drunk, hothead, sneak, rather like the original character); an overbearing mother bent on finding Juliet a husband; lovely Roseline who has the power to charm Juliet’s would-be lover and evoke her jealousy; and a priest, Father Larry, who knows enough herbal lore to concoct a poisonous potion. A few other names and situational echoes borrowed from the bard crop up in the narrative, but even those who have never read a word of Shakespeare’s plays will be hooked by the strong personalities and the action-packed storyline in this strong new offering. Love’s crime thriller begins with a brawl and ends with a fight to the near-death, yet remains centered on the heart of the matter: who loves whom, and how and when will they acknowledge it and go on an actual date, instead of mainly meeting on several well-placed balconies? 

Quill says: C. J. Love’s Juliet and Dead Romeo innovates by melding modern parlance with reference to a great classic, throwing out alluring clues and revealing the development of a nervous, doubt-ridden girl into an adventurous, self-confident woman poised to solve more mysteries in future volumes. 

For more information on Juliet and Dead Romeo, please visit the website: lovecj316.wixsite.com

#BookReview - I Am Me

I Am Me

By: Trevor D.
Illustrated by: Christina Rudenko
Publisher: Kia Harris Juniors
Publication Date: November 2019
ISBN: 978-1734218657
Reviewed by: Ellen Feld
Review Date: February 17, 2020

Get ready for your little readers to meet one precocious and adorable young man in author Trevor D.'s debut children's book, I Am Me.

On page one of I Am Me, we meet Jayden, an African American boy with a big smile and confidence oozing off the page. He tells his readers:

I am Jayden.
I am me!
No one can be me.
No, not like me!

Jayden continues by telling kids about his eyes, nose, fingers and toes (in a nice flowing rhyme). He also explains that his skin is brown, just like his parents' and his best friend's. We soon learn a lot about the star of this book, and all he can do. He works very hard, loves to sing, and while he's very successful at what he does, Jayden is clear that he never has to cheat to get ahead. Still oozing confidence, Jayden delivers my favorite lines in the story:

I am pretty cool.
No, I am not shy.
My barber says,
he thinks I am fly.

I Am Me is the first book in a planned series by author Trevor D. to empower African American boys. This underserved market definitely needs more books like this to show them how special they are and open up a world of possibilities. The message is incredibly hopeful and through Jayden, readers will realize a very positive self-image. Jayden doesn't mince words when he talks about how special he is and that's one message we need to hear more about. The text is very simple and while the book's Amazon page lists the reading level as 4 to 8, I believe that even younger boys would benefit from this story. The illustrations by Christina Rudenko are bright and playful and blend nicely with the story to hold one's attention. I Am Me is an excellent start to what promises to be a popular series to empower young African American boys. I look forward to reading the next book in this series! 

Quill says: Jayden is one cool guy and if you have a little one you'd like to grow up strong and self-assured like him, add this book to your child's bedtime reading list.

For more information on I Am Me, please visit the author's website at: www.trevordauthor.com

#AuthorInterview with B.T. Keaton @mylittledemon

Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Barbara Bamberger Scott is talking with B.T. Keaton, author of Transference.

FQ: How much of Barrabas/Kilraven is really B.T. Keaton?

KEATON: Parts of him are very much my Dad, and parts of him are my brother—the two most important men in my life, of course. On the other hand, some of Barrabas is very much “me” and some of him isn’t. At the same time, I didn’t envision him so much as the protagonist of the story, but as someone having crossed paths with some unsavoury characters. So, in a way Barrabas simply ended up being at the wrong place at the wrong time. It’s funny talking about him as if he were a real person! (laughs).

FQ: Has your own world travel and transplantation given you insight into the footloose life of your characters?

KEATON: Wow, that’s an interesting question. I am not sure how to answer it and not sound like a jerk. I suppose if the characters in Transference are footloose, that’s probably because the world’s economic system as we now know it has crashed, which means perceived responsibilities have also changed drastically. Gone are the days of the American Dream, so to speak. As far as insight goes I wouldn’t ever say that I have any leverage over one person or another, however, I would admit that traveling does change you. It’s so good for your soul. On the flipside, I think if you are a traveller it’s partly because you’re constantly looking for something more, whether that’s to fill an internal void, or to find something greater than yourself. And frankly there are things about the world that you simply cannot fully grasp if all you ever do is stay in your hometown. I’m not judging anybody in saying that, it’s more of a remark on my own life. I wish everyone could travel more. Someone needs to invent those transporters in Star Trek so it’s easier for everyone to see the world!

FQ: Are you a student of reincarnation as described in many Eastern religions, since it represents a more etheric kind of “transference”?

KEATON: I’m a student of baloney. (laughs) In truth I don’t know enough about the subject to really talk about it intelligently, but, in my heart, I subscribe to the notion that we all get one life. I certainly don’t want to come back and do it all over again. I mean, could you imagine living forever in this plane of existence? What a nightmare. It’d be like being a vampire...all the people you once loved are gone, and you can only watch as life goes on and times change, while you yourself are fundamentally incapable of making the world better. I think that would be an awful, awful thing. Then again, I can see how another person might find reincarnation enlightening… and I think it could be, if you were able to carry all your knowledge from one life to the next.

FQ: Do you see in our current world the possible development of such elements as the cold domination of Church and the stratification of society as described in Transference?

KEATON: Absolutely. We’re already there in some ways. Look at the innumerable allegations against, let’s call it, “Exhibit A,” and what it’s been accused of with in regards to gross sexual misconduct. That kind of abuse literally damages the soul, and it derails lives forever. On the surface, it seems to me that there’s been no real accountability there, and I’m baffled as to how it continues to thrive. At the other end of the spectrum look at the dangers of militant extremism from “Exhibit B.” It seems painfully clear and quite logical to me that a religion which encourages martyrdom through violence and allows for the destruction of other human beings is in fact not a religion, but rather an archaic sect that does not cherish life, and as such ought to be relegated to a far distant past. All of these things are so shameful and have no place in modern-day society, nor a future one. Fortunately, we still live in an era where there are wonderful people, saints of all faiths, who wish to coexist to achieve what I think we’re all really here for—to help one another. 

FQ: Is writing now your primary profession or will you explore other avenues of creativity?

KEATON: No, but I wish it were so! When you’re writing, there’s a zone you get in, and once you’re in it, you don’t want to get out. It’s such a wonderful place to thrive in that even having to stop and do necessary tasks like eating dinner seems irritating (laughs)! So yeah, I find that having a regular “9 to 5” is a detriment to that process. In fact it’s so distracting for me to the point that, more often than not, I’m unable to write. It probably doesn’t help either that the visual representation of my brain, where you to see it, is probably akin to watching a ping pong match.

FQ: Your book, while focusing on a world in which science and religion have both gone awry, is still a hopeful story. Does this beg a sequel in which things veer off again?

KEATON: There was a villain from The Matrix who said hope was “mankind’s greatest strength and simultaneously its greatest weakness.” I love that juxtaposition! When I wrote Transference in 2012-2013, it was intended to be a one-off story and it was far less hopeful than the final product ended up being. So, I’m glad that you said that about hope, because it means that changes made to the book afterward were for the better. Lately I have been toying with the idea of a sequel, and I already know how it would begin… but I don’t have the ending. I think for it to work, yes, it would need to veer off, and to be scarier than the first book. Think T2: Judgement Day. Personally, I would have to feel that whatever I come up with will top the first book, in order to not disappoint myself or the reader...and I’m not quite there yet.

FQ: Who - besides Tolkien - influenced you most in the creation of Transference?

KEATON: I love Tolkien so much, don’t you? Especially The Silmarillion. I could never even come close to pulling off what he did. I mean, he crafted an entire world, with a full backstory, even to the beginning of Time. Amazing! But to answer your question it was mostly a hodgepodge of movies that influenced the book coming to life—Ghostbusters, Return of the Jedi, Dune, Tombstone, to name a few. Ultimately, I wrote the book for my late father, who loved sci-fi books and films. I loved him dearly, and I love him still. I really just wanted to make him proud.

FQ: Do you have plans for the next creative endeavour? 

KEATON: Transference was entirely self-published, and it’s been a long and bumpy road. Kinda like life is at times! (laughs). Financially speaking I don’t think I could do this again, at least not for a couple of years, so I have to navigate a way to keep my writing career viable. That said, I’ve got three children’s picture books fully written, and I’m also roughly halfway through a novel about time-travel. (Back To The Future, anyone?) I’m overwhelmed and quite baffled by the response to Transference thus far, so I am hopeful that I can get some of these other projects off the ground in the near future. If all else fails, I can always fall back on my cooking skills. I’ve heard from more than a few people that I make a mean French toast!

#BookReview - Transference @mylittledemon

Transference

By: B.T. Keaton
Publisher: Ingleside Avenue Press
Publication Date: January 2020
ISBN: 978-1645701507
Reviewed by: Barbara Bamberger Scott
Review Date: February 14, 2020

A rough-cut thief holds the key to saving society from its worst ills in B.T. Keaton’s deep exploration of an eerie future world.

About 100 years from now, Earth has become a mechanistic, highly controlled monoculture controlled by the Church, as much a despotic machine as a religious entity, with a never-ending set of illusions to keep humanity under its fist. The greatest of its secrets is transference, the process of moving souls from one body to another, giving the promise of everlasting life. The lowest strata in this bizarre set-up are men like Barrabas Madzimure, who for his crimes of thievery has been relegated to prison on a far-off planet where he and his scurrilous cohort are forced to mine a precious ore used by the Church for its continued domination. 

The book opens when Barrabas has been confined for killing a warden. He has six days to live. Under interrogation he asserts that he is actually Thaniel Kilraven, a person of genteel upbringing who witnessed the first transference and was punished by the Church for his technological revelations, which it then co-opted. Since Kilraven, if it is he, would be of utmost danger to the Church, a mysterious, and not entirely unsympathetic interrogator, Corvus, is put on his case. Kilraven will learn who Corvus really is – or was - while in the act of escaping with a band of rough, tough miners. His goal – to return to Earth and find his family – gradually morphs into a determination to change, and save, the world.

Keaton’s book is remarkable for the wide range of ideas it presents and the thoroughly enjoyable way he mixes and matches those ideas. He contrasts the grit and recklessness of the criminal element with the arrogance and occasional graces of the elites, at home with the language of both as he constructs lively dialog. He postulates the pros and cons of life eternal in the theory of transference: if one’s soul can inhabit many bodies, not by the divine method of reincarnation but by the control of science, how will it react to the changes? Will it bring happiness or weariness to know one can never die? An admirer of Tolkien, whose fantasy worlds have elements of comparison with Transference, Keaton boldly takes on big themes and has created in Kilraven a hero big enough to deal with them. And, importantly, though Kilraven must tackle universal problems, what matters most in the end, it seems, is family love and loyalty. 

Quill says: B.T. Keaton has created an imaginative tale that will have appeal for fans of dystopian fiction by engaging the emotions, as well as to those who enjoy the more technological and intellectual aspects of the sci-fi genre.

For more information on Transference please visit the author's website at: www.brandonkeaton.com