Interview with Author Stuart Samuel

Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Holly Connors is talking with Stuart Samuel, author of The  Adventure of Thomas the Turtle.

FQ: How does The Adventure of Thomas the Turtle differ from your first children's book?

SAMUEL: My first children's book One, Two, Three, This Book 's for Mewas written for my son when he was just turning four years old. I was looking for a book with certain features (all capital letters, rhyming and rhythm, pictures beneath words to aid in the reading, etc.) that would maximally assist him to read and count. However, I could not find anything available in bookstores or online. So I generated the content myself and later turned it into a published book. Hence, this first book was non-fiction and highly educational and even lead to the publication How I Taught My Four-Year-Old Son to Read. Secondly, One, Two, Three, This Book 's for Mewas written from a young child's viewpoint. Indeed, the reaction of preschool children to it was phenomenal; they become so excited to discover how easy it was to read. However, despite this and the fact that the book won a prize (Best of 2002 by January Magazine), sales were mediocre. What I discovered was that the book did not appeal that much to parents, and parents, of course, are the ones who buy the books. So when I decided to write a book for my daughter, I deliberately wrote it from an adult point of view.  The Adventure of Thomas the Turtleis in some sense adult literature in which the parent is to read and to explain it to a child. So compared to my first book, The Adventure of Thomas the Turtleis narrative fiction aimed to be enjoyable to a slightly older child (ages 5 to 9). It is a sophisticated book in its language, with deep meanings and multiple themes. Indeed, a few reviewers have criticized the language of the book and I accept this. Authors are not usually supposed to reveal their books' ideas but many of the reviewers at Netgalley.com and Goodreads.com have discussed them for The Adventure of Thomas the Turtle. Foremost is the idea of obeying one's parents. Thomas's mother told him not to go to the forbidden regionand although he did not outright disobey her, he – out of curiosity – did venture too close. The consequences of his actions taught him a lesson that will help convince young readers that they should listen to their parents. Another theme involves family unity: Thomas sets out on a heroic endeavor to be re-joined with his family. And this brings in the character themes of courage and determination. In this regard, Thomas often prays for help. To paraphrase one reviewer, “praying in times of trouble provides hope and support to never give up.” When Thomas is separated from his mother by falling over a waterfall, he struggles battling the forces of nature to survive. This is a direct physical experience. But there are perceived supernatural elements in The Adventure of Thomas the Turtle: the forbidden region and the evil force. When a brother and sister rescue Thomas from being stuck in a thicket, it is from the Thomas' point of view as if some mysterious external intervention has answered his prayers. And this brings us to another theme, the one for which Feather Quill Reviews has selected The Adventure of Thomas the Turtlefor the “Be Kind to Animals Award”: The brother suggests taking the turtle home as a pet. However, his sister believes that Thomas is (in her words) “a natural creature and should be left as such.” So the children end up helping Thomas return to his natural habitat rather than taking him home. I have discussed quite a few themes here; however, I believe that a deeply thinking reader will find several others.

FQ: What made you want to write a children's book about turtles?

SAMUEL: The best way to answer this is that the story selected the animal. I needed a separation event: I realized that a waterfall would be perfect given how traumatic it would be to be toss over it. This and being sweep over rapids would provide a battle with the forces of nature. If you think about the rest of the story, a turtle is really the only option. I also like turtles very much.

FQ: So are you hopeful that young readers will realize that should they find a turtle in distress, they should help it return to a safe place?

SAMUEL: Definitely. As I  explained above, this is one of the themes of The Adventure of Thomas the Turtle.

FQ: The illustrations forThe Adventure of Thomas the Turtle are quite lovely. Were you and the illustrator, Nathaniel Dailey, acquainted before starting this project and how hard was it to work together?

SAMUEL: Actually, I have never met nor had any contact with Nathaniel Dailey. An editor at Jupiter Scientific (the publisher) handled everything. I agree that the illustrations are beautiful and that Dailey did a wonderful job of using them to render the story vivid.

FQ: Are you currently working on your next book? If so, will it be another animal story?

SAMUEL: If The Adventure of Thomas the Turtlesells well then there is a natural sequel.

I would like to say one last thing: Frequently authors become bored with their books having written, rewritten, read and reread them so often. However, with the passing of time, I have actually become quite fond of this brave, little turtle named Thomas.

#BookReview - White Witch @LDTauthor

White Witch

By: Larry D. Thompson
Publisher: Story Merchant Books
Publication Date: January 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9991621-5-6
Reviewed By: Kristi Benedict
Review Date: May 7, 2018

Every country has their own legends they pass down through generations, and the original story that starts each legend probably has some truth to it, but over the years the stories change slightly. The country of Jamaica was no exception, and one of their most well known legends was that of the White Witch. The legend says that she was a ruthless sugar plantation owner who lived over 300 years ago.  This White Witch instilled fear in the slaves she owned through cruelty and dark magic. The story goes that she was a priestess who could wield dark magic, and possessed a snake dagger with ruby eyes that she used to kill slaves who disobeyed.  Finally, a brave slave decided it was time to rid the world of this terrible priestess, and he killed her. Unfortunately, he lost his life in the struggle as well, but gave specific instructions to four other slaves on how to bury her body so that her soul would never return from the grave. However, these men were spooked by the recent events and did not follow his instructions, and legend has it because of that the White Witch has been free to haunt the island ever since.

Meanwhile, the slaves began to create a community in the rainforest, calling themselves Maroons. Over the years they fought off the Spaniards and then later fought against the British. Using guerrilla warfare tactics, the Maroons were successful in their efforts and the British began to realize that fighting the Maroons in the jungle was a losing battle for them, and they were not truly interested in the rainforest anyway. A treaty was struck between the Maroons and the British saying that the Maroons owned the land, and they would have control of it for as long as they wish. Now, 300 years later a mining corporation is threatening to build a mine in the middle of this Maroon country, and it may be time to fight for their land once again.

When Will Taylor came to Jamaica he had no idea about the stories surrounding the White Witch legend - he was there to do his job and that was it. He was hired as head security for a large mining company call Global American Metals, and it was his job to make sure all employees of this company stayed safe. With the background of a Navy Seal, he was ideally suited for this job and did it well. However, when he arrived on the island he could not shake the feeling that this job would be much more difficult than originally thought.

His intuition turned out to be right as within a couple days of being there a Global employee was found dead, and it appeared to be no accident, it was murder. Whisperings that the White Witch has returned spread through the island, but Will did not believe in this superstitious talk. He knows there is a living, breathing human who is behind the murder and he plans to discover the truth. As he begins to look for clues, he realizes he is a little out of his element.  Soon another employee is found dead, but still there are no leads on the murderer. Before it is over Will gets some much needed help from a local Maroon and comes face to face with the dagger of the White Witch.

This book put together such a wonderfully entertaining array of characters that I found myself loving every page.  It was more than just a murder mystery - it also had action, superstition, and romance that were all beautifully combined to make a great read.  Author Larry D. Thompson did a wonderful job of bringing the emotions of each character to the forefront, and I felt as if I was right there beside them throughout this story.

Quill says: White Witch combines all of the best things I love about reading!

For more information on White Witch, please visit the author's website at: www.larrydthompson.com

#BookReview - One Lucky Fool. @tompointeratx

One Lucky Fool

By: Tom Pointer
Publisher: Tom Pointer
Publication Date: August 2014
ISBN: 978-0615917832
Reviewed by: Anita Lock
Review Date: May 3, 2018

A fluke incident turns a stranger into an overnight hero in author Tom Pointer’s one-of-a-kind read.

William “Rooster” Brown has nefarious motives at the time the notorious Blackwell brothers enter Mel’s Truck Stop, and he puts a stop to their deadly plans. A newcomer to Merky, Texas, Rooster shifts gear and uses his grandfather’s pistol to kill the brothers. Even though the newcomer to Merky thwarted a possible mass shooting, Rooster considers himself to be a murderer. The locals, notably Mel Tucker, the town mogul, think otherwise, earmarking him a hero.

Mel Tucker, who is overly grateful since Rooster saves his daughter Laura from impending rape, is indebted to him, bending over backward to help him in every way possible. As a result, Rooster lands a job, a lovely home, and eventually marries Laura. Rooster’s luck continues when the lovebirds return from their honeymoon, and he learns that he is slated to run for sheriff. The only problem is that he has to run against the one person who is dead-against Rooster because of his ties with his law-breaking grandfather Devil Brown: Sherriff Hickey.

Pointer spins an unusual story. Set in the 1950s with a western bent, One Lucky Foolfeatures an unlikely character whose corrupt intentions unwittingly morph into an optimistic future. While placing an underdog with a sad past front-and-center in his near 550-page plot, Pointer surrounds Rooster with a small but colorful cast that frequently functions as foils to help develop Rooster’s character.

The plot follows a seemingly circuitous flow, but for a good reason. Underneath Rooster’s humility is a self-denigrating man, who believes deep down that hypocrisy masks his good fortune. Indeed, Rooster is riddled with flaws, and Pointer makes sure to highlight the dark side of this improbable figure who is quietly trying to overcome his low self-esteem. Amid Rooster’s introspection, Pointer balances his narrative with “bumps in the road,” which not only translate into Rooster’s ills and periodic poor decision-making but also the confrontations he has with a handful of surly antagonists.

Idiomatic writing reflects the 1950s scenery, replete with women’s insufferable roles within a patriarchal social structure. That said, clichés are expected, especially in regards to the responses from the supporting cast, such as encouraging and often idealistic comments from locals who support Rooster as opposed to the lowly and insensitive remarks from his non-supporters. While some readers might have an issue with occasional wordiness, Pointer keeps his plot fluid by sprinkling unanticipated scenes with a few red herrings thrown in.

Quill says: Closing on a satisfying note, One Lucky Fool is the perfect read for those who are looking for a refreshing narrative twist.

#AuthorInterview with Steve Zell

Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Diane Lunsford is talking with Steve Zell, author of Urban Limit: They are already inside...

FQ: Let me say a heartfelt thank you for such a thrill of a story! Have you ever been compared to Stephen King? Often while I was reading Urban Limit, I found myself periodically drifting back to years ago when I read The Stand.

ZELL: Thank you for your wonderful review! And the comparison is certainly an honor. I have gotten that a few times now - I think King and I both like seeing things through the eyes of kids. Their ability to find magic (good and bad) in the world is fantastic. We also both seem to like taking a “normal” community or family and giving them something terrifying to deal with.

FQ: In line with question 1, I’m curious to know what inspired you to conjure up such a dark and entertaining tale.

ZELL: I can’t help seeing connections in seemingly unrelated things or events. Of course, a lot of Urban Limit’sinspiration just came from living in Oregon. As gorgeous as it is, it’s a place where a family can take one wrong turn on an autumn mountain drive and be found by hikers late in the spring. Right out my front door I’ve seen all four seasons in one April day – the weather here can change that fast. It’s a tough enough proving ground that we have our share of Olympians – both famous and infamous – and, yes, we have our share of illegal pharma going on in the mountains and forests. The title comes from Portland’s obsession with urban growth boundaries and limits – which I can’t help but read as, “that place where civilization ends.”

On a side note with regard to inspiration – the idea for my first novel, WiZrD, came from something I saw while stuck in traffic in LA…but that’s literally another story…

FQ:  The motherlode of a storm that changes the Carroll family’s lives forevermore was quite fantastic. Your description in setting the scene at the onset and the propensity in which it raged on was fantastic. I see you traded Southern California and Arizona for the Portland, Oregon area. What is the most horrific storm you have weathered in that area of the country?

ZELL: So far (knock on wood) I haven’t been in a storm here nearly as frightening as half the earthquakes I experienced in LA – but the ice storms that come with Oregon snow storms can be brutal – especially in the higher elevations. We lose hikers and mountain climbers on Mount Hood every winter. The worst snowstorm I’ve weathered was actually on my way home from school in Schenectady, NY, in eighth grade. I literally trudged home 2 miles from school through a blizzard in my school clothes with a light sweater and leather dress shoes. I know that sounds like a typical “dad” story…

FQ: You are quite descriptive when addressing not only the evils of the meth camps in the mountains of Oregon, but also the tie-in of the element of Isis setting up shop. What drove you to tie these two themes of the story together? 

ZELL: It made sense to me that a terror group looking for a way to smuggle personnel and deadly cargo into the US would choose a partner with a strong illicit-cargo smuggling network already in place. MS-13 would be a solid choice. Hopefully the DHS is thinking the same way…

FQ: The ‘super fortress’ Ken Carroll built for his family seems like it could withstand just about anything that came its way. Without too much of a spoiler, do you suppose we humans have become far too reliant on the modern technologies at hand to provide a false sense of security as a result?

ZELL: It was fun coming up with a “high tech” design for removing snow from the Carroll’s roof that isn’t any more “high-tech” than a dog shaking water off its coat. But yes, sadly “self-reliance” doesn’t carry much value anymore, in fact, it’s largely ridiculed. Convenience is king. A world full of self-driving cars with hackable software at the wheel is scary as hell to me. At the same time I do love technology – I draw/paint my cover-art on a digital tablet and much of what I did as an animator and instructor was teaching traditional cel and stop-motion animators how to move to digital tools. I haven’t used actual paper and canvas for years. We make trade-offs, but I do worry about that.

FQ: I like the nuance toward the all American, Olympic contender you painted in the development of Kristi’s character. Yet, when exposed to the contamination of the meth leeching into the pristine mountain streams she drank from, it was clear her life was spiraling out of control. What made you take that detour with her character?

ZELL: With world-class athletes - so driven to compete with the best and win – I think a lot of them are looking for an edge. It comes down to integrity, emotional and physical cost. Kristi has a lot of integrity and her case is special – she isn’t juicing willingly, and by the time she realizes what’s happened to her she’s already hooked. I think it would be a really, really difficult choice for anyone at that level – and when it’s her family’s life or death, not a medal she’s fighting for, she’s forced to make a tragic choice.

FQ: This is a wonderful story of good versus evil and I applaud you for not ending it with ‘… and they all lived happily ever after…’ Did you find the more invested you became with the axis of evil, the more the story took on a life of its own? If so, what was that like? If not, have you experienced this euphoria in this or any of your previous works?

ZELL: Thank you for that. I’m definitely not tied to happy endings. I was bullied enough as a kid to learn you have to fight back to end it – but no fight comes without pain, even loss. You need to be ready for the pain, and for failure, without letting that stop you. I know that the ending to WiZrD shocked some folks when it came out while Running Cold has an ending I’ll just call, “quirky.”

FQ: In line with question 7, how do you overcome those moments when you transition from a pen that flows to a pen that is forced? How do you get back on track when you feel you are forcing your pen?

ZELL: When I wrote WiZrD I took the time to write an outline before I started – and wound up throwing most of that away as the characters interacted with each other and grew. If the fight is between what you’re planning for a character to do, and what that character actually would do in that moment you’re looking through their eyes, the character has to win that battle. The only hard & fast rule I have is knowing how the story ends before I start writing. If my characters come up with a better ending along the way, that’s great! As long as they’re in charge, I’ll go with it – but I have to have a strong ending in mind before I begin.

FQ: I noticed in your bio that you were an animator and digital animation tools instructor while in Los Angeles. What was your most memorable project while doing this line of work?

ZELL: Hah! The most memorable could actually be one of the worst ever. I was a lead animator on The Nuttiest Nutcracker, which was meant to replace the stop-motion classic, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer, as the Christmas favorite. I came to the production late and you won’t find me in the credits, which is likely a blessing. During the final weeks of animation (what we call “crunch time”) the director brought all the animators together in one room and drew a pile of steaming poo on the white board. The very next day we had a new director. I still have a production shirt from that show which reads, “F’it, Ship it.”

FQ: Again, I want to thank you for delivering such a fascinating (and thrilling) tale. What’s next? Are you able to give us a teaser?

ZELL: Thank you again – and yes, I’m working on four stories bit by bit (one of them is a sequel to Urban Limit) – but the next book out, hopefully by the end of 2018, features two characters from Running Cold. I won’t say more now than it’s a thriller/murder mystery with supernatural underpinnings. I have the title (and the ending of course), but I’ll wait till I’m a little closer to publishing before I get that out there…

#BookReview - Urban Limit

Urban Limit: They are already inside...

By: Steve Zell
Publisher:  Tales From Zell, Inc.
Publication Date:  June 2017
ISBN: 978-0-9847468-4-2
Reviewed by: Diane Lunsford
Review Date: April 22, 2018

Steve Zell delivers an edge-of-your seat, page-turning thriller in his latest novel, Urban Limit.

Ken Carroll hasn’t made that golden age of retirement quite yet. However, he has managed to climb high enough on the ladder of notoriety and success with Portland Micro to earn the coveted (and forced) four-month, paid sabbatical. ‘…Seventeen years straight, a long, wide, river of press releases, PowerPoint presentations, and trade shows interrupted by nothing more than his daughter’s weekend sporting events, and an occasional day-trip to the mountains…’ Finally, the dream home and destination were no longer on their distant horizon. It was right in front of them. Ken looked forward to leaving the city behind and moving to the quaint and quiet mountain community of Cedar. He couldn’t wait to reconnect with creating music in his private studio. After all, the past seventeen years were the sacrifice he made for family and work to arrive here now. He was convinced once his family settled into the new state of the art fortress he had built, they would come around. It would be an adjustment, but wasn’t that what life was about? What Ken wasn’t prepared for was the magnitude of adjustment that lie in wait for them and it wouldn’t take long before too much change wasn’t necessarily the plan Ken had in mind.

Amanda Carroll would stand by her man. She was completely committed to making the transition from city to mountains and had spent the previous months preparing their twin teens Kristi and Reed for the drastic change as well. Living in the mountains meant homeschooling for the two. Not quite keen on the matter, they didn’t have much of a voice in changing the situation. Kristi acquiesced once she realized daddy had designed her very own practice ski slope with tow rope to get her back up the hill in their own backyard. Kristi was an Olympic contender and there weren’t many kids on her block who had their very own personal training grounds. In contrast, Reed was a computer nerd. He wanted nothing more than uninterrupted hours to spend lost in the fantasy of Mythykal - his latest fascination in computer games. Indeed, it’s going to be an adjustment for all the Carroll family members. When the mother of all storms begins to brew and is headed straight for their mountain, perhaps Ken should have thought his plan out a bit more thoroughly. By the time the storm passes, lives will change, and some will be lost…forever.

Steve Zell is the master of ramping the goose bump effect early on in this thriller of a story. From the onset, there is a sublime element of foreboding that only builds with intensity from beginning to the bitter end. The characters are superbly developed with their own identities ranging from innocence to blatant selfishness. There is a fantastic tone of foreboding and evil that lurks beneath the surface that moves the story along at a good clip. Mr. Zell has an envious talent of setting each scene with precise description and an intensity that lends way to credible dialogue. It makes for a wonderful ride through terrific peaks and equally low valleys throughout. I have not had the pleasure of reading any of Mr. Zell’s previous works, but certainly have penned him in to do just that and soon. Well done Mr. Zell. I look forward to your next thrilling tale.

Quill says: Be careful what you wish for in your retirement years. When the time comes, what you envisioned may not be what actually comes to pass.

For more information on Urban Limit: They are already inside..., please visit the author's website at: www.talesfromzell.com

#BookReview - Gate 76

Gate 76

By: Andrew Diamond
Publisher: Stolen Time Press
Publication Date: June 2018
ISBN: 978-0996350761
Reviewed by: Lynette Latzko
Review Date: April 21, 2018

Private Investigator Freddy Ferguson, who is currently on a case involving stolen artifacts from the Smithsonian, finds himself in the San Francisco International Airport staring at a couple ahead of him in the security line. He’s drawn to them, like the proverbial moth to a flame, and can’t help noticing their details; she, a hard-looking, but attractive blonde with bloodshot eyes, and he, a greasy goon in a suit that doesn’t quite match his overall look. He’s got a grip on her elbow, and though she has a stoic look on her face, Freddy can’t exactly figure out why he feels the need to keep watching them. Maybe it’s one of these premonitions he gets that something is not right, and bad things are about to happen. Unfortunately, he may never know, because as the line moves, he loses sight of them and eventually forgets what he sees and starts thinking about the case he’s working on, and what he’s going to tell his boss, Ed Hartwell, when he returns to his office.

Later on, after going through security and stopping for a beer, Freddy spots the same girl, this time completely alone, browsing the airport shops, and then quickly walking towards her gate when she hears the agent make a last call for her flight to Honolulu. What catches his eye this time is the fact that an airport worker who’s supposed to be emptying trashcans is clearly more interested in also watching the blonde lady, and begins to push his cart closer to her gate. At that point, Freddy follows both of them from a distance and watches as the lady checks in at the gate and walks down the gangway to her plane. The trashman moves on and appears to be phoning someone as he walks away. Other passengers continue to board, and the next thing Freddy sees is the blonde woman hurriedly walking back out of the gangway, rustling through her purse, and rushing into the restroom. Eventually all passengers board the plane, the gate closes, and the plane takes off, without the mystery woman aboard. He’s about to walk away when he recognizes the woman, this time with brown hair, sporting sunglasses, and a different outfit with high heels, emerging from the restroom and making her way to another stop a few gates down from the original flight. She again checks in at the gate, but this time she boards a flight to Chicago.

PI Ferguson eventually boards his plane heading towards Washington Dulles International Airport. During the flight, he can’t help but spend time thinking about what he witnessed earlier at the airport. He can’t get it out of his head, something is niggling inside his mind, perhaps it’s one of the premonitions he often gets not only from being a private investigator, but from his troublesome past as a champion boxer. When the flight lands in Washington, he walks out into the airport and immediately his eyes are drawn towards breaking news playing on a nearby television. The flight bound for Honolulu never made it to its destination. Reports say the flight was fully booked, but Freddy knows the truth, not all the passengers were aboard the flight that went down into the ocean.

Like a dog with his favorite bone, Freddy Ferguson is in hot pursuit of answers, and won’t give up trying to find the blonde woman, despite a few run-ins with law enforcement, and being told by his boss to “back off” and continue with his current assignment. Readers will be hooked from the shocking beginning of this thriller that has both corrupt law enforcement and politics at its core. They will be whisked through several plot twists as the main character tries to not only discover and find the mysterious woman, but who she is running from, all before they get to her first. However, the author may lose or confuse some readers due to his numerous characters intertwined throughout the storyline; perhaps a character list would be a helpful addition to the beginning of the novel. But that should not dissuade readers from diving into Gate 76 by Andrew Diamond, especially fans of action-packed thrillers. Readers will quickly find themselves following along with the main character, a former boxer with an abrasive past, as he desperately tries to put all the fragmented pieces together and to ultimately put a stop to the blonde woman’s pursuers.

Quill says: Gate 76 is a good read filled with an intense plot, and equally powerful characters that will have readers quickly flipping pages until the very end.

For more information on Gate 76, please visit the author's website at: diamond.me

#BookReview - Slay the Dragon @lzubulake

Slay the Dragon

By: Laura A. Zubulake
Publisher: Laura A. Zubulake
Publication Date: March 2018
ISBN: 978-0985064037
Reviewed by: Anita Lock
Date: April 22, 2018

A politician discovers that defending the poor becomes costlier than he anticipates in author Laura A. Zubulake’s debut mystery.

Forty-six-year-old Cesar Rosada is no ordinary politician. The famous football star turned Minister of Finance, Cesar never loses sight of his meager beginnings; his highest priority is to help the impoverished in his country break the vicious cycle of oppression. Making strides is slow going amid corruption, especially when opioids are involved. Cesar’s plans (Project Amalur) for citywide changes are met with opposition, beginning with a cryptic phone call.

The call is not the only situation that troubles Cesar. The mysterious deaths of a top-level administrator and a boy (who was involved in a local robbery) coupled with the lack of news coverage also weigh heavy on his mind. More disconcerting events follow that harm the agricultural sector. It’s not until a significant explosion directly affecting his parents’ coffee farm that Cesar believes that all of the incidents are somehow connected. Whether or not he can successfully identify and successfully deal with the miscreants remains to be seen.

According to Zubulake’s website, it is during her many years working on Wall Street where she was able to hone “her communication skills, business acumen, attention to detail, and sense of intrigue.” There is no doubt that Zubulake utilized these skills in the shaping of her first novel, particularly capturing the vicious cycle of exploitation within societies and governments.

A tension-filled plot from the get-go, Zubulake’s fictional Latin-American-ish setting lends plausibility to the ubiquitous corruption connected with opioids and the problems associated with people’s efforts to solve societal ills once and for all.

Zubulake surrounds Cesar, her protagonist, with a tight and well-defined cast. The characters, designed mainly as foils, keep pushing and prodding Cesar in directions that steadily test his principles. Chapters alternate between taciturn and tightly-lipped characters replete with elusively laced conversations and consistently closing on cliffhangers.

While extremely well-written, there are a couple of chapters focused on drug-related history and statistics that may bog down the narrative flow for those who are well-versed on those topics. Regardless and to Zubulake’s merit, the inclusion of such pertinent information makes for a well-rounded plot.

Quill says: Kudos to Zubulake for producing Slay the Dragon, a gripping and provocative read.

For more information on Slay the Dragon, please visit the author's website at: www.LauraZubulake.com