A Passel of Hate, by Joe Epley

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

A work of historical fiction, A Passel of Hate transports the reader to the Carolina colonies during the American Revolution. In the western Carolinas, the war for independence has set families and neighbors against each other as Loyalist and revolutionary militias patrol the countryside exacting revenge on those who don’t share their political views. In the Godley family, three brothers will side with the British against two brothers who fight with the Liberty Men. The book culminates in the battle of Kings Mountain, where each brother will find out that the cost of war is personal and brutal.

A Passel of Hate is one of the best books I've read this year. The characters are finely crafted, the action is fast-paced, and the historical details are both interesting and accurate.

Reviewed by: Edward Cox (2012)

---

Author's Synopsis

Gripping, visceral, and full of intensity, A Passel of Hate is as historically fascinating as it is emotionally satisfying; capturing the heartache and triumphs of a war that brutally pits brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor in the western Carolina frontier in 1780. “The first link in a chain of evils…the loss of America” is how Sir Henry Clinton, Britain’s commander-in-chief in the Colonies, describes the decisive American victory at the battle of Kings Mountain. This fact-based novel brings the events leading to that battle into sharp focus through the highly personal experiences of families and individuals who shaped its outcome. Through the eyes of Jacob Godley, A Passel of Hate brings to life the hardships and challenges of frontier living where there is a constant threat from Indians, roving raiders and British invaders. Without government orders or formal training, mountain and piedmont patriots join together with their own weapons and horses to expel a British led Loyalist army that plunders the western Carolina countryside, delivering harsh retribution to those supporting rebellion. Jacob and his 15-year-old brother enter the savage fighting with the Liberty Men, but with a dread of having to face their three Loyalist brothers. The overwhelming victory at Kings Mountain is bittersweet for Jacob who suffers a crushing personal tragedy on the battlefield. In addition, his nemesis, the notorious Tory raider Rance Miller escapes, and Jacob, consumed by hatred, tracks the terrorist through the Carolina backcountry to seek the revenge he so desperately needs. A battle Thomas Jefferson called “the turn of the tide of success,” Kings Mountain has a devastating impact on the British Army’s goal of quashing the rebellion in the south. Brutal in its depiction of the harrowing nature of war and the price paid by our revolutionary ancestors, A Passel of Hate is a powder keg of highly charged personal feelings and military significance.

Through My Daughter's Eyes by Julia Dye

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Through My Daughter’s Eyes by Julia Dye presents a military family from the first-person perspective of their seventh grade daughter, Abbie. With unerring accuracy, Dye depicts the preteen mind, with all its angst, emotion, and hard-earned wisdom. What’s unusual in this coming of age story, though, is that Abbie must deal not only with the turbulence of the middle school years, but do it in the context of the particular stresses pressed upon military families whose loved one is deployed to a combat theater. 

During her father’s 14-month deployment to the Middle East, Abbie struggles with classmates who dismissively taunt her about her father’s absence, her own sadness, her mother’s increasing inability to cope, and the growing estrangement between her parents and herself. 

While aimed at the young adult audience, this book can also hold the attention of adults, whether they are from a military background or not. Military families will find much (maybe all) they have in common with the Mathews family, sharing their journey from pre-deployment jitters through post-deployment post traumatic stress. Nonmilitary families will gain a better understanding of the small percentage of the population that is still willing to lay their lives on the line for their country and for freedom for all.

MWSA Reviewer: Betsy Beard (Feb 2018)

Author's Synopsis

Through My Daughter’s Eyes is a one-of-a-kind, much-needed look at what it means to come of age in a military family today.

Our middle school heroine Abbie is wiser than her years—and most of the adults in her life, for that matter. Equal parts Flavia de Luce and Harriet the Spy, Abbie describes her life this way: “My best friend and fellow Army-brat Megan and I had a plan to get through Dessau Middle School (Go Diamondbacks!) by being just good enough to not get noticed and not so good we’d be picked out for any attention. And it worked—for a while.

"Then my dad got deployed—again—and mom fell apart, leaving me in charge of my own life and, it seemed, everyone else’s. When Dad came home after about a hundred-million years, he wasn’t much help, either. I know war is terrible, but it’s not like he talks to me about it, so how was I supposed to know what to do? He’s not even the same dad that left.

"I turned to my grandpa for help, but in the end, I had to let go of being the glue that kept everything together. I had to learn to give my parents room to save themselves—and our family.”

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1944353148
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Genre(s): Fiction, Young Adult
Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Young Adult (fiction or non-fiction)
Number of Pages: 190
 

The Last Spymaster – Gayle Lynds

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

MWSA's 2006 Novel of the Year

Author Lynds has become an icon! There comes a time when the disciple becomes their very own a master – that has now taken place for author Gayle Lynds. She has co-authored some great books with the old spymaster writer himself, the late Robert Ludlum; but her newest book offering even surpasses her own standout individual creations“Masquerade,” “Memorized,” “Mosaic” and even her very popular “The Coil.” “The Last Spymaster” is the crowning creative achievement to this writer’s career that was already successful both in sales and critical acclaim.

Lynds uses the English language like an artist’s brush to paint visions of her thoughts and ideas with just the right words and phrasing. Her writing technique of story telling is becoming her own signature of high-testosterone suspense. She is a one-of-a-kind author who is now, not just known as the best female author of spy thrillers, but THE BEST AUTHOR OF SPY THRILLERS.

“The Last Spymaster” is a must read page turner. It is high octane energy and action packed with great characters and enough twists and turns to make all fans of spy genre stories feel more than satisfied. This is another of her books that cries out for a movie version. The reader will be able to follow the flow of action and energy; it is a great reading adventure!

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2006)

---

Author's Synopsis
As chief of the CIA's elite Clandestine Services, Jay Tice was a legend throughout the world of international intelligence. But secretly he was also a traitor, selling information that would compromise the security of the United States for decades to come. Since his treachery was exposed, Tice has been kept under strict surveillance in a maximum security prison. Then one morning, his cell is discovered empty. Tice has vanished--without tripping an alarm or leaving any trace of his passing.

Elaine Cunningham is a hunter, a CIA operative who specializes in finding people who don't want to be found. Young, gifted, and a maverick, she is assigned to track Tice--until she discovers there is far more at stake than an old spy's last run for freedom.

Lurking in the shadows are other hidden players with their own lethal agendas…and from Geneva to Washington, Berlin to New York City, a deadly conspiracy is coalescing. With only a few hours to go and the future of millions in the balance, Cunningham must uncover the truth behind the legend of THE LAST SPYMASTER

Nobody Comes Back, by Donn Pearce

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

MWSA – The Best Military Novel of the Year – 2005!

The public has waited over 30 years for author Donn Pearce (who wrote the successful book and the movie screen play “Cool Hand Luke”) to come out with another blockbuster novel—and now the wait is over! “Nobody Comes Back” is another masterpiece by a master novelist! What is evident is that this tale about World War II is destined to become another classic war novel. This story is told with all the emotions and intensity of a combat veteran. It is a book about courage, the coming of age, suffering and hope. It is so much more then just about life and death on the battlefields—you will never read another story like this about any war. You will not sleep until you finished it!

This is the most riveting and powerful novel about “The Battle of the Bulge” that has ever been written—and that is saying a lot.

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2005)

---

Author's Synopsis

Donn Pearce, the author of Cool Hand Luke, again revisits the subject of men under tremendous pressure, living and dying according to oppressive circumstances. Now, he brings you another tragic hero, thrust out of the only world he knew and forced to create one on his own terms . . . or die trying.

Toby Parker was America's unwanted son. Only sixteen years old, he was too young to be enlisted in the army, but old enough to know that he didn't want to return to the life he knew: moving from new home to new home, neglected by his mother, ignored by his father, overlooked by everyone else. 

The war overseas promised exotic locations and adventure, but what it delivered was something else entirely. The Nazis were beginning to fall back, and the war was all but over. But the fighting still raged on in pockets of Europe. Out of the critical focus on France, only one last position needed to hold: the city of Bastogne. Thrown into battle almost immediately upon arrival, he soon found himself wounded and alone, struggling to survive and looked upon to lead. It was here that Toby was to learn what war really was, and what kind of man he was destined to become. 

Many American boys went into World War II, and each one lived their own nightmare, critically shaped by what they experienced. Out of the dead, even the survivors, Nobody Comes Back.

Told with gritty authenticity, Donn Pearce captures the very essence of what it means to be caught under the worst circumstances imaginable, while having the strength and humanity to rise above them. 

Stand To... A Journey to Manhood by Franklin Evans

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Vietnam veteran and author E. Franklin Evans has captured something very special in his personal war memoir, "Stand To...A Journey to Manhood". We get a good glimpse back into the life and times of a "young man" caught in the vortex of war. The reader is treated to a well written accounting of his experiences surviving both the traumas of battles and people. It is historic, personal and entertaining. 

This is one of this decade's "Top 10 Best Memoirs" on the Vietnam War experience. The story is emotionally presented through the eyes of a young Army officer - but it is clearly written with the introspection of a much older author. He looks back at that time and place in his life in an attempt to understand and come to grips with these events. It is truly a journey and one that most readers will find well worth taking with this author. 

The book gives us some insights on what it was like in one of the remote Special Forces Camps. The readers will find themselves fully engaged and on the edge of their seats as they read about the heavy fighting that took place in and around these camps. The book is about life and death and about those brave young men who lived and died a long time ago. But it is obvious that these events for men like Evans, will never seem that long ago. In their hearts and minds it is just like it happened yesterday. 

This book gets my fullest personal endorsement and recommendation. 

Review by Bill McDonald, MWSA Reviewer & former President (July 2009)

"Stand To--A Journey to Manhood" is not just another Vietnam War book filled with clichés about this most misunderstood war. I can almost recite some of the stereotypes about the war that I have read in other books/memoirs. This is fresh, this is new. A memoir of a young Lt. Frank Evans, infantry officer, who started as a grunt officer and ended his tour of duty with the Special Forces at the battle of Ben Het. This battle was the only battle between American forces where enemy tanks also took part.

But, what made me really like this book? The humor that the author was able to inject into the story. His knife fight with a Christmas turkey, fighting Viet Cong elephants, and an elusive VC chicken, all made this otherwise serious look at the daily grind and terror that the average infantryman went through  an enjoyable diversion. But, when the author needed to take you into the heat of the battle, especially Ben Het, he did so with great detail.

The book is 260 pages with 34 very much appreciated short chapters, and has many personal photos that the author was able to bring home. 

This is an outstanding book. Deserves the highest rating from MWSA.

Reviewed by: Jim Stewart (2008)

---

Author's Synopsis

E. Franklin Evans had watched every war movie John Wayne ever made, sometimes several times over. When the “Duke” led his men, war was exciting and heroes were made as they ruggedly fought and predictably won each battle. But when Evans’ high school friend and real-life hero Glenn was killed in Vietnam, war became real and personal for Evans, and he felt a tremendous obligation to the buddy who gave his life in that faraway jungle.

At the tender age of nineteen, Evans voluntarily enlisted in the U.S. Army and left for basic training in early December of 1966. Before long, he was deeply entrenched in a treacherous war, far removed from his innocent and carefree youth. He had to learn not only to survive but also to muster the bravery to lead others in combat as he was thrust from adolescence into adulthood.

It has taken Evans more than thirty-five years to begin to heal the physical and emotional wounds that kept him from sharing his intensely personal story. From his depiction of the picturesque aerial view of Cam Rahn Bay to that of the barbed wire, metal planking, and squat huts housing weapons of death and destruction, Evans’s Stand To …provides a vividly detailed glimpse into what it was like to become a man on the battlefields of Vietnam.

Days of Smoke by Mark Ozeroff

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Days of Smoke is a compelling story of an aviator soldier who is caught up in his love of combat flying, at the cost of participating in one of history's most egregious events.  He is a metaphor for an entire generation of Germans that becomes trapped, literally, in a moral tug of war between duty, honor, country, and bestiality. 
 
The book is told, in tight vignettes, through the eyes of the principal character, a young Luftwaffe officer who was born to fly the awesome, beautiful Messerschmitt on the book's cover.  Any pilot who has been in combat knows that the serious business of war lends an edge to flying that cannot be replicated when the shooting stops.  Our man is caught up in this life of constant adrenalin rush, but terribly conflicted by his participation in an unforgivable political horror that his own actions are contributing to.  He represents much of the German military at the time, victims of a social tsunami that overwhelmed them quickly, and viciously. Professionals who got much more than they bargained for when they donned their uniforms, they are stranded on a road to national ruin, unwitting participants in a holocaust of genocide that serves only to slake the hatred of their mad leader. Our main character has a Jewish soul mate throughout the story, a love that is to be gratified in almost fairy tale fashion. This aspect of the book adds a human element to the warrior personality of our hero, and is representative of what too few realized during that terrible, barbaric war. There were not many happy endings.  The author does not shy away from the gut bleeding inhumanity of the Holocaust, a topic whose message bears repeating until the end of time.  While a well constructed novel, this is a book of historical fiction that addresses several niches in the many pages of World War Two, and does it with well researched accuracy.
 
This reviewer's father flew with the Army Air Corps in WW2, and Korea.  He was trained by the Royal Air Force in the early days of 1943, before the United States had its' own training program in full gear.  As a child, and military brat, I was immersed in the lore of airplanes of that war, and I was surrounded by my father's friends, who had also flown in combat. My god father, a P-51 pilot, was shot down by a swarm of German Messerschmitts, and spent over a year in a POW camp on the North Sea.  I lived in Germany for 3 years as a teenager, and spent another year there as a young army officer, before heading off to my own war in Vietnam.  So, familiar bells, and whistles started sounding in my head as I began Mark Ozeroff's book, Days of Smoke, a story of strong young warriors who flew fast planes, precisely, and professionally in a manner unique to the German mind, and military discipline of that time.  I am not sure if the author was writing in a German accent, or, I was hearing it as a result of my own past, but, either way, it lent an authentic air to the story, as did the author's command of the most minute details of the various aircraft in this story.  
 
So, a young man responds honorably to the calling of a country which fails him, and its' people, and is brutally tested. But, in the process he finds love, and keeps his moral focus. He is beat up, and drained, but he never forgets the feel of the stick of a mighty war plane in his hand, as he soars through the heavens as a young man, yet to lose his innocence. The feel of those controls is, happily, satisfyingly replaced by the love of a family that odds should have denied him.  Read this book if you are a history buff looking for technical accuracy, a person who believes in the basic goodness of the human heart, a military man, or, better yet, an aviator, and if you are lucky, watch it on the movie screen some day. I will send this book to a lot of people who, like I, will turn the pages deep into the night.

Reviewed by: Bob Flournoy (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

Days of Smoke offers a mold-shattering view of war and Holocaust, from the unique perspective of German flyer Hans Udet. Across aerial battlefields ranging over much of Europe, Hans progresses from naive young Messerschmitt pilot to ace of increasing rank and responsibility. But unfolding events pit Hans' love of the Fatherland against his natural compassion for humanity, after he saves a young Jewish woman from brutal assault. As growing feelings for Rachel sensitize him to the "Jewish problem," Hans is torn between mounting disdain for the Nazis and his sense of duty to Germany. Rachel is the unlikely bridge joining his disparate halves.

French Letters: Engaged in War by Jack Woodville London

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

A small Texas town medic's eye view of the largest confluence of military personnel & materiel in history.

Engaged In War, the second book in the French Letters series, is a hundred pages longer & filled with well-wrought dramatic episodes of relationships, hard-kept secrets & revenge, as if surviving combat & the war wasn't enough.

Will Hastings, an officer doctor, is about to step out of a landing craft into the maw of Omaha Beach. After a clash with his commanding officer back in England, not only is he ordered to make contact with the forward triage centers, he must take the place of any wounded medic until relieved. As Will follows the tsunami of war inland, he stumbles through the French countryside in search of his brother & finds, instead, a bullet bearing his name, & true love.

A more absorbing read than Virginia's War, perhaps because of the vaster landscape, Jack Woodville London's story plotting & evocative reconstruction of the life & times of the various people gets better with each book.

With this trilogy, the author set out to honor his father, a member of the often-silent Greatest Generation & their experiences in the ETO. He has a sure touch when it comes to revitalizing the small stories & furtive gestures of a long gone society. Perhaps it was because so many returned to the Home Front only to find it on fire with change & torn apart by gossip, that it fell short of the idealized clichés that had kept our hapless heroes going through thick & thin so they could get home, pack away their uniforms & their dreadful memories & simply get on with their hard-won lives.

Reviewed by: Dave Brown (2011)

---

Author's Synopsis

French Letters: Engaged in War is the second book in the French Letters Trilogy. The companion to French Letters: Virginia's War, it is the story of Will Hastings, an army doctor caught up in the D-Day landings in Normandy and the drive to capture St. Lo, France. Isolated from Virginia Sullivan and the events taking place at home, Will faces the demands of combat surgery under fire and the losses of his brother, his friends, and his connection to home. Historically accurate and precise and covering events from exactly the same time frame as the events in the first volume, Engaged in War is a novel of the will to survive when war, distance, loss, and the uncertainty of the future separate a couple far beyond the breaking point.

Gated Grief by Leila Levinson

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Gated Grief by Leila Levinson is a well written, gripping and important book about the horror of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, and how the liberation of the camps by American GIs impacted their lives and the lives of their families.  Gated Grief is a cautionary tale of the evil in men’s hearts and the evil they may do through their government officials.

Gated Grief is at heart a quest by the author to exorcise the demons of her past by seeking understanding of the parents who had caused her to be the way she was.  The book operates on many levels, which the author skillfully integrates into the story of her mother’s mental instability and her father’s remoteness, which never allowed him to exhibit the affection that Leila so obviously craved, or to deal with his wife’s problems.  Then, there is the Holocaust, a horrific evil inflicted by Nazi Germany on the Jewish people.  One of the revelations in the book is that the concentration camps were widely dispersed throughout Germany; the German people had to know of the horrors within the camps as the ash from crematoriums covered the trees and the stench of death permeated the area.

This then, is Leila’s personal quest to uncover the source of her father’s remoteness, initiated by finding pictures in his personal effects of the horrors he found when he entered the gates of hell.  As a physician he treated the walking dead who were so far gone they were beyond his powers of healing.  The sights of what he saw and experienced scarred him for life.  Leila interviewed others who had witnessed what her father witnessed, and found that they also could only deal with the horror by burying it deep within their psyches.  And so the silent suffering of the GIs was transferred to their families.

Leila’s quest led her, as a Jew, to make an uncomfortable visit to Germany.  And of course the German people must live with their shame, not only for plunging the world into war, but for the enslavement and murder of perhaps six million people.  At the end of the book Leila uncovers her father’s special horror.  The reader will be shocked along with her, and hope that that her experience allows her to finally move on from her past.  The things of which she writes should never be forgotten.

Reviewed by: Weymouth Symmes (2011)

---

Author's Synopsis

After the death of her father, a World War II Army doctor, Leila Levinson discovered a concealed box of shocking photos he had taken of victims of a Nazi slave-labor camp.  "A foot emerged from the chaos of countless bodies, a leg.  Grotesquely frozen faces.  My fingers turned the photo over: Nordhausen, Germany, April 12, 1945."

Intuiting that the photos might be clues to her father’s cold silence and detachment, his intolerance of grief or sadness, she became a detective, finding and interviewing dozens of World War II veterans who also liberated Nazi concentration camps. Veteran after veteran demonstrated ongoing pain and shock.  “My mind froze.”  “I was never the same.”

Still traumatized by the unimaginable horrors they found, most of the veterans have spoken very little of what they witnessed, not even to their spouses or, as decades passed, to their adult children and grandchildren. “No words could convey the horror.” 

As many liberators opened up to Levinson, their recalling long suppressed memories created closure for them as well as for her. Gated Grief weaves their eyewitness accounts with Levinson’s own story to portray the trauma that has followed the veterans and shaped their children’s emotional lives.  Gated Grief, which includes dozens of her father’s and other veterans’ never-before-seen photos, concludes with the author’s journeying to Nordhausen in a necessary attempt to reconcile her own life.

Out of the Mist: Memories of War by Michael “Moon” Mullins

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

MWSA 2011 Founder's Award

People wonder why I select certain books for "The MWSA Founder's Award" each year - there seems to be so little in common with the selections at first glance. But it is not just the book that I select - but also the character of the authors themselves. Their tales go beyond the self and express universal themes - and in some way, give inspiration and HOPE to the readers.

This year's award winning book took the author out of his personal comfort zone a little - beyond simple prose and humor - as he introduced readers to a line-up of heroes from American wars - some had actual medals to show for that effort - some just had their lives and survived. However, all were truly heroic and the author found ways to share that humanity with an inner glimpse of these real people.

The author also followed my personal writer's rule Number One – “Always end the book, or movie, by giving the reader/viewer HOPE!” There is nothing worse then reading a book full of sad stories and leaving a reader depressed after reading it. This writer heeded my advice and was successful in that effort.

The book title OUT OF THE MIST: MEMORIES OF WAR is not a tale of just one man and one memoir - but it is a collection of souls - each with their own story to tell. Each story reflects personally on that man's experiences but most lead us to those universal questions for all mankind at large. The bigger questions of life and its meaning - why we are here and why we survived and others did not? How do we put back our lives after war? How do we honor our own memories and those of our fallen friends?

MWSA member and author Michael Mullins wrote a book that is more about the inner voyage of the heart and spirit then so much on wartime events. There is plenty of the war stuff - but Mullins connects it all together with his own emotional energy; thus, he elevates the individual stories to another level. It is like they are all truly connected at the highest universal level of mankind. It is like all the experiences exploded from one soul source and one mind and yet are so very different in nature - as day is to darkness. Yet - there is also a dark side to these tales as well - and the author wanders through that valley with you so you do not get lost.

It is my honor to give this year's MWSA Founder's Award to Michael Mullins - I wish I were there to give this to him in person. But know that my heart is truly there with all of you.

Bill McDonald
MWSA Founder

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

Michael D. "Moon" Mullins with his usual flair has found a perfect way to bring life to the stories of America's Warriors. His lyrical way with words has opened a window into the past that is closing much too quickly. Out of the Mist, Memories of War touches the soul and brings the reader to a deep understanding of the sacrifices made by those ready to stand in the breach. - D. H. Brown, Award-winning author of Honor Defended, Board member of Military Writers Society of America, Vietnam Veteran.

USERNAME by Joyce Faulkner, Performed by Mike Mullins

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

USERNAME, the title an indicator of the time frame of the novel, we live in a world of technology with all its benefits and pitfalls. What follows is a chilling tale, exciting and so inventive it will become one of the great set pieces of the genre.

Faulkner demonstrates fluidity in her story telling that few match. From page one on she draws the reader in thoroughly. You will become immersed in the story and absorbed into her twisting tale as it unfolds.

Reaching into the wellspring of her imagination Faulkner displays a superb ability with words and as the drama unfolds the reader will be left engulfed in what will become one of the great thrillers.

Do you feel safe as you go about your daily life? Are you comfortable enough and do you feel secure enough? Read USERNAME and your perceptions and comfort zone will be rattled. 

Reviewed by: Greenwald, Jim (2012)

Available as an Audio Book - Performed by Michael D. Mullins

A little more than a year ago, Joyce Faulkner published Username, a taut, well-written and very recommendable thriller about two people who live by adopting fake identities and scamming others.  Now the story has been issued in audiobook format.  A good audiobook, the Library of Congress notes, is an "art form related to acting and oral interpretation, but is neither.  Rather, it is a niche in the performing arts that blends some elements of both."  In other words, it's a challenge to create an audiobook. 

A great many decisions need to be made.  Should the "book" be available only as a sound file, for use in a laptop or ipod or other device; should it be on CDs; or both?  Should the author decide to read the book herself or employ another voice?  Or even a multitude of voices, for some audiobooks are in essence rendered into a dramatic broadcast, using multiple voices to perform the book's characters.  This option is a technical challenge and usually so expensive that it drives the price of the audiobook up beyond what many readers wish to pay.  Then there are questions of sound effects, background music (with attending copyright issues) and/or narrative asides.  Every choice has consequences -- it's a notorious fact that more than a few avid readers tend to "hear" a specific voice for each character while reading; in this media age, some readers even imagine a specific actor playing the part of a book's "cast."  In such cases, the reader of the traditional text often can be disappointed with a much different voice in the audiobook.   

Given the complexity of these choices and consequences, Faulkner has wisely chosen to release the audio version of Username as a straightforward narrative read by Mike Mullins, with no distracting music or special effects.  The heart of Username is the manner in which the two main characters – a serial killer, and a scam artist who lives by stealing the identities and financial information of other persons -- slowly come into a confrontation with one another.  Mullins relates this story in a well-modulated, strong voice.  The volume and timber of the narrative is good, the pacing is excellent.  Mullins narration conveys the sense of the text to the listener, using an appropriate emotional level for each scene in the story.  He does not overplay the narration, avoiding dialects or accents that might confuse the listener or detract from the story.  This book is a thriller, so Mullins is careful to adhere to Faulkner’s narrative pace and tell the story in a way that builds the suspense.  The audiobook succeeds in the same way a good book succeeds: it tells a good story.

Some readers, who like to merge their own imaginative elements to the text of a book, will never be entirely satisfied with the audiobook as a narrative mechanism.  But for all others, most especially those who enjoy thrillers, this audiobook is strongly recommended. 

Reviewd by: Terry Shoptaugh (2013)

---

Author's Synopsis

Identity theft, scams, and a serial killer. Username is a must-read for every person who has a credit card or uses the Internet. Who’s using your name? Your username? You may not know until it’s too late. See yourself as a mark through the eyes of Maureen and Jennifer, master identity thieves. Their scams will shock you as you realize how vulnerable you are. Then there is the nice gentleman you could meet in a chat room, or perhaps he sends you a persuasive e-mail. He couldn’t possibly be a serial killer … could he?

Grand Slam Grooming Dogs Speak Out, by Pat McGrath Avery

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Written as  a series of fictional "first-hand" memoirs by various breeds of dogs, describing their lives with their owners, the book is written in simple clear language, in which each dog's breed, relation to its owners and details of its life are revealed.  There are almost 40 narratives in all, and the dogs are mostly terriers, spaniels, poodles, and similar small breeds; no outdoor hunting dogs here. The one other common factor linking these pets is the fact that all are groomed at one local Grand Slam Grooming pet salon (the first chapter focuses on the salon).   Each narrative highlights the strongest factors of these types of pooches – their fervent loyalty toward their owners and their cuteness and mischief.  Two Bichon Frise pups named Ben and Bart “testify” to their fondness for chewing on everything from rugs to table legs to “stuffed bears and little squeaky toys.” The narratives are illustrated with film clips in the ipad format copies, highlighting the sound and visual powers of that device. Still photos are used in the print format copies. Some of the clips and photos are quite sharp, others are "phone camera" quality. The writing becomes somewhat repetitive: phrases like "yummy treats" and "mommy and daddy" -- to indicate the dogs' owners -- are used throughout the book. The book will appeal to fans of house pets and is recommended to dedicated owners of such small breeds as noted above. It should also appeal to young adult readers who own such pets.

Reviewed by: Terry Shoptaugh(2013)

---

Author's Synopsis

The dogs of Grand Slam Grooming tell their stories to Luke the Detective Dog turned Investigative Reporter. Funny, clever -- and sweet as only dogs can be.

Famous Dogs, by Pat McGrath Avery

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Writing a good book lies in the eye of the reader.  Pat McGrath Avery has brought to me the reviewer a good book.  In fact it is an excellent book.  Her writing is very direct as she also uses the efforts of our imaginary co-author Luke the Reporter Dog in describing these stories. In fact Luke reminds me of Duke the dog trying to tell the secret recipe of Bush Beans commercials.  And so it goes.

The author takes new and old stories of canine and oh yes one cat story and their relationships to the human genre.  The book is short and simple and did I mention very excellent and compelling.  This compilation of short canine and oh yes one cat story tells the true story of man’s relationship to dog-dom and oh yes cat-dom!!

Very well told and highly recommended to any dog and oh yes cat lover!!

Reviewed by: Dick Geschke (2013)

---

Author's Synopsis

As human companions, dogs have taken part in much of man's history and in some cases, actually created change by their actions. These stories of twenty-six dogs and a cat are suitable for adults and children who want to know more about dogs and their role in history.

Backcountry Fury, by Tom Zeiss

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Backcountry Fury is 18th Century history made interesting to 21st Century young audiences. Sixteen-year-old Thomas Young participates in the American Revolutionary War for personal reasons rather than philosophical -- which is often the rational for young soldiers. As an adult reading this book, Thomas' courage, strength of character, and bravado at the beginning of his adventure is a heartbreaking reminder of teenage angst -- when youngsters struggle with their environment to transit from childhood to maturity -- and for some, their journey is complicated by world changing events. 

I am partial to the use of first person point of view in general but especially for historical fiction because it helps the reader appreciate the thought processes of folks living in different times and places and cultures. It is one of the quickest ways for an author to create empathy. In the case of Thomas Young who was a real person, Dr. Zeiss' choice of voice was appropriate and effective. We experience Thomas' adventures as Thomas does -- and eventually, the distinctly old fashioned use of language and world view seems less alien. There were moments where I got a chuckle though -- like the dated expletive "Bull Manure" or the time when Captain Jolly, reported to Thomas' Company that while they only lost three men killed and five wounded, the enemy had lost at least ninety men killed and seventy-five wounded during a battle.  The soldiers responded to this news with the quaint, "Oh Yez, Oh yez." These were examples of the many small moments that give this novel texture and fun.

However, at the heart of this story, was a sense of family -- and a balance between independence and solidarity as neighbors and countrymen. 

Reviewed by: Joyce Faulkner (2013)

---

Author's Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Thomas Young vows revenge against the British Army and local Tories for murdering his older brother in the spring of 1780. The South Carolina backcountry is rife with civil unrest as British General Cornwallis attempts to take command of the Carolinas and suppress the great American rebellion. Thomas matures quickly in the life and death struggles at Kings Mountain where he fights bare-footed against Major Patrick Ferguson and 900 Tories and at the Cowpens where he leads a cavalry charge against Bloody Banister Tarleton and his fierce Dragoons.

This true story is perfect for young adults and lovers of American history and adventure of all ages.

Butterfly Dust, by Nubby Grumpins (David Michaelson)

MWSA Review

David Michaelson (aka Nubby Grumpins) once again delights us with rascally tales taken from his childhood. Butterfly Dust and Other Animal Adventures offers a range of stories, vignettes, sayings, and poetry about animals and children. All are done in age appropriate language and simply styling. Some stories, such as “Ollie the Orca,” are written from the viewpoint of the animal. Although it seems to leave the reader hanging, but Ollie turns out to be a page turner, that it, it’s concluded in the book. An interesting way to keep the reader interested.

Most of the stories in the book are about animals the Tuttle family—in reality the Michaelson family of long ago—owned or knew. Grumpy is at his story telling best here. His irrepressible sense of mischief brims over in “Budgie Fights Back” and “Spinning Poor Spooky.” For those who read Michaelson’s Rapscallion Summer, there’s no denying Timmy Tuttle is Michaelson at his rascally best. Poor bird, to have mashed potatoes flung at him. Clever bird, to fight back with a well-aimed green pea at Timmy Tuttle’s head! And who but a rapscallion and his sister would spin a hapless cat on a waxed floor for the pleasure of watching it walk away like a drunken sailor?

Other tales are glad with a sad ending, such as the chronicles of Feisty, the cat, and Tippy, the dog. The latter gave his life to save the Tuttle children from a rattlesnake. The former met a cruel and untimely end at the hands of a neighbor’s child. Yet the boy’s punishment, helping out at the local animal shelter, so suited his crime, that he not only regretted what he did, but ultimately led to his becoming a veterinarian devoted to healing animals, not harming them.

The book’s many drawings are suitable for the under twelve set, some photos, some line drawings. Done in black and white, they represent the respective animals, but the resolution of the pictures occasionally is fuzzy. The three wise camping sayings lack pictures but not wit. My favorite was number two, “No matter where you stand near a campfire the smoke will always find you.” True, very true.

Entries like these make Butterfly Dust a treat not only for children but also for adults who remember what it was like to be a child. Better still, they can be read to children by adults, alternately with a smile of nostalgic longing—or rascally identification.

Reviewed by: Barbara Peacock (2013)

---

Author's Synopsis

BUTTERFLY DUST is a fanciful collection of animal adventures drawn from actual incidents as well as the author's imagination. This book is an entertaining look at our animal friends, sometimes from their point of view, and how we humans often interact with them.

Lion's Pride: A Tail of Deployment, by Grace Anne Remey

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Deployment is hard on families of that no one should have any doubt. Long separations are a part of military life. But, what about for children that are forced to deal with it?

Helping your child cope with what surely is the toughest challenge of their young lives. Though temporary, it is forever for a child, causing fear, anger, anxiety a hundred fold more for them than the adult in the situation.

Deployment is the price children are forced to pay without having the right to say anything about it. Imagine how that seems to a young mind.

Grace at the ripe old age of eight has created a path to deal with those issues. Join her on her trip through this clever story line written from the perspective of a Lion's pride.

This is a book that should be part of a families package of assistance to help deal with upcoming or repeated deployments. Helpful hints and aids to help children deal with separation are provided in the back of the book, all written from a childs eye view of the world but apply well to all members of the family, regardless of age.

Reviewed by: Jim Greenwald (2012)

---

Author's Synopsis

Lion's Pride: A Tail of Deployment is written and illustrated by Grace Anne Remey who is eight years old. She has experienced 7 deployments in her young life. In her book, Grace Anne tells her story from the perspective of an 8 year old lion cub who shares her experiences and feelings through all the stages of the deployment cycle. The book also includes a 'How To' section where Momma Lion describes ideas families can use at home during a deployment.

Spanky a Soldier's Son, by Sue LaNeve

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

“Spanky: A Soldier’s Son” is a young adult novel that tells the story of a Middle School student, Seamus “Spanky” McDougal and his struggle against a bully, his wish to get a girl’s attention, prove himself during an Outdoor Education camping trip and deal with his mother who has depression. All of this takes place against the backdrop of his father’s deployment to Afghanistan.

“Make me proud,” Spanky’s Dad tells him just before he leaves. Spanky wants nothing more than his father’s approval and to fit into his new school. Throughout the 255-page book Spanky worries that he doesn’t measure up. Every time he has the chance to do something heroic, such as administering CPR to his teacher, he freezes.

By creating a character with depression (Spanky’s mother), and a father who is on deployment, LaNeve has opened the way for her young protagonist to grow. Spanky learns that inner strength comes from speaking one’s truth not from hiding it in an attempt to protect the ones you love.

Questions a young reader might have about war and depression are asked, but not answered, in the email exchanges between Spanky and his father. The questions include whether the US should do nothing when it comes to Afghanistan, whether the people in Afghanistan should be helping themselves, whether American soldiers should continue to die, etc.

LaNeve’s connection to the military comes from her late father. She explains how she never spoke with him directly about his experiences. Rather, she overheard his conversations with his friends. As a result she has created characters that initially hide their true feelings and thoughts to protect the ones they love. Ultimately, Spanky and his friends learn speaking the truth is not only liberating, it allows for growth.

The shelves are filled with many books about bullying and separation. “Spanky: A Soldier’s Son” stands out because its about so much more – its about learning to speak ones truth. 

Reviewed by: Cathryn Prince (2013)

---

Author's Synopsis

Spanky loves snakes, sketching, camping, and, well, maybe girls. While his dad is fighting grown bullies in Afghanistan, school bully, Mack Malone, has Spanky in his crosshairs. Worse yet, whenever Spanky needs to defend himself, help a friend, or. . . OMG. . . save his teacher's life, he freezes! The overnight Outdoor Ed camping trip is Spanky's best chance to catch the attention of a special girl. It could also make his dad proud to have him for a son. Turns out, it could get him suspended. Ultimately, Spanky learns to face his fears and what it really means to be a hero.

Pickysaurus Mac, by Sandra Miller Linhart

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Ms. Linhart has penned a book destined to awake people's attention to a problem almost always over looked or wrongly diagnosed. The focus is children and helping them to understand why they feel as they do, but adults, therapists, doctors, various professionals can and will gain from reading this book.

The inability to turn messages from the senses into appropriate motor behavioral responses is serious, many times the child is wrongly tattoed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder).

Pickysaurus Mac moves the conversation away from being different to being understood. Being different is difficult enough without having to deal with wide spread misunderstanding of the issues involved.

Reviewed by: Jim Greenwald (2013)

---

Author's Synopsis

Pickysaurus Mac is not your typical dinosaur. Mealtimes pose a special problem for our picky little friend. Sometimes foods smell too gross to eat, they taste different than they look and their textures feel like garbage in his mouth. His friends tell him to eat right to stay healthy, but some things you just can't fix with words. Will Pickysaurus Mac ever find something he likes? When he finds he likes it, will it be the best food for him? Will he find it in time?

Haysoos the Honu, by Kristin Barnes

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Haysoos the Honu is the beautifully written and illustrated story of Haysoos, a Hawaiian sea turtle. He struggles because he sees himself as being “different” due to having a hard shell, which is unlike the other sea creatures he swims with in the ocean. Being a Honu meant traveling the ocean alone, but Haysoos loved to be around other creatures. But he discovered that because of his heavy shell, he couldn’t keep up with the other creatures, or just when he was having some fun, he would have to leave to surface for air. Haysoos learns some important life lessons from both a great white shark and a wise old turtle. I can say from experience, that I’ve used this book with third graders who loved the story and could apply it to their own lives. I recommend this book for families and teachers, as the message comes through that we should each discover how our differences can make us special…if we only let them.

Reviewed by: Joyce M. Gilmour (2012)

---

Author's Synopsis

Haysoos the Honu is a Hawaiian sea turtle. He loves the company of other creatures, but he feels different from the fish, eels, and manta rays. His bulky shell slows him down, and his lungs mean he has to interrupt playtime to surface for air. Haysoos believes that being different is a bad thing, until he meets a special friend who shows him just how special it is to be different!

Mitakuye Oyasin, by jim greenwald

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

A Love for Mother Earth – Poetry that has a message

First off, the title of this book is taken from a Lakota term that when translated means “we are all related” thus the full title of poet’s Jim Greenwald’s book is “Mitakuye Oyasin: We Are All Related.” When reading his poems you can see very clearly that the title fits the poetry within the pages. Jim's Native American Ojibwe heritage comes through in great evidence in all his prose. This is another of his wonderful books of poetry and this may be his absolute best work to date.

The feeling you get from this themed book of poetry is that there is a connection with nature and the natural world around us. His words are like a walk in the woods with someone who truly loves being outdoors and appreciates the trees, the birds and all that surrounds him. This poet is very much at ease in the wilderness of his mind or in his earthly terra firma. So, it becomes a joyful and pleasant journey of prose as we transverse through this world that he observes.

His poetry has a message of respect and love for “Mother Earth” but also for each other. His words and phrasing are like a pathway to the inner heart. He knows how to connect with nature but he also connects with people. These poems are uplifting and hopeful. It was a pleasure to wander through his words and feel what he must have been feeling when he wrote them.

Some of his poetry asks questions as a way of pointing out a problem such as in his poem “Window.”

"He hears no animals, no insects, no birds,

only the noise of horns blaring,
as he breathes the poison engines spew out,
The air burning his lungs.
He sips his water from a bottle
as he stands beside a stream so polluted it stinks.
Grandfather, I do not understand.
Why would one destroy that which gives life?"

The poet and poetry become one and the same as you read his book. Wonderful verse and wise words! Certainly a poetry book of substance and spirit! I recommend it for poetry lovers and those who like Native American philosophy. It is a gentle reading experience and one that will fill you with peace.

Reviewed by: W.H. McDonald Jr. (2006)

Mitakuye Oyasin whispered to me, “Read me and experience me with your voice and ears, the eyes of your soul and heart, and the taste and smell of your memory and sensory.” Then I heard an even deeper voice, “Jim, Native Americans, and all the world are all related by the blood, streams and rivers of America.”

Sounds in the forest muted
dreams faded
darkness vanquished

Knowing how Jim doesn’t speak in the same manner as most, I recognize that the wounded warrior, Jim, has less wounds of the soul than me.

Here I find peace in your love
Here in my heart you will remain for eternity.

In order to begin to contemplate a warrior’s tears, I realized that I must be the maiden of Jim the Warrior: “Words of tenderness and passion flow from his soul which gives them life, to his lips, which give them sound, to my ears, which give them meaning.”

If am to understand anything Jim writes, I must be intimate and vulnerable. Will I courageously enter and reverence this sacred tear and space… knowing that mitakuye oyasin?

I hope to.

Mitakuye Oyasin is an important book of love, loss, the past, respect and survival as stated on the back cover. It was a wonderful reflection and food for me.  The poems forced me to ponder and take my own walk into the neglected woods in my backyard. After reading Message Received on page 61, I wrote: "Many of the poems are springboards for me to go deeper, beyond and alone, away from the author...but also with him." We are all related. All human beings contribute to the disharmony between each other and the earth.  All human beings are also capable of being the healing balm of Mother Earth. This excellent book has been on my heart and mind for the past three turbulent months. As I read it out loud and slowly, it aided in my healing. I danced to the words as my mood floated skyward and endured the darkened nights of bloodletting battles. As great poetry should do, it brought up more thoughtful questions than answers. Native Americans have a wonderful respect of Mother Earth, but the Siren’s lure of war and the romanticizing of the battle seem to be a major hereditary trait among all of us related.

Reviewed by:  Ron Camarda (2013)

---

Author's Synopsis

This book is a mix of love, loss, the past, respect and survival. This planet we live on (Mother Earth) is in peril, of this no one should have any doubts. The issue is awareness, and whether we are to be part of the problem or part of the solution. What we do now will determine not simply issues of quality of life, but of life itself. If we continue to poison the air, water and seas, this home of ours will die.

He drove to work sipping coffee from a styrofoam cup, and when he finished he pitched it to the side of the road; it is only one styrofoam cup after all. It is a shame we often think of individual instead of collective concerns. For on that morning he was joined by at least a million others with the same thought.

It is time we all hugged a tree!

Wishing for Rain, by jim greenwald

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Poetry That is Pure as Emotional Rain 

“Wishing For Rain” is one of those well thought out books of emotionally flowing prose; the kind of poetry that speaks of lost loves and loneliness. The poet uses the rain as a spiritual bridge from his heart to the universe. Jim Greenwald’s wonderfully crafted little poetry book (59 pages) comes across as soft and sensitive and at times inspirational without losing any male energy. It is a book that men will be able to relate to. 

Even though the words from most of his poems deal with lost loves and being alone, the under current is all about hope. The poet takes his readers on a journey of feelings and dreams and desires. He uses simple naked phrasing, which paints the inner image of what he is feeling without over writing each individual piece of poetry. It is a straight forward approach to his poetry that is honest. He dives into his heart quickly and pulls out pearls of feeling with each poem. It is poetry that easy to read and to understand. 
My favorite poem was the title poem “Wishing For Rain,” where the poet asks:

If I screamed I love you…would it rain again! 
Would I hear your words
Or feel only your tears as
They fell from the sky mixing with mine

Truly one of the better poetry books written over the past couple of years; a good book to buy as a gift to someone you care about.

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2010)

Wishing for Rain is a collection of tender heartfelt poems that embrace romance, longing, love, and loss. The poems are sensitive and poignant, delivering a timeless commentary on the complexities of the relationships of the human race. Jim Greenwald, whose background is a cultural mix that includes Native American, weaves the concept of spiritual oneness with nature into many of the poems. When you read of the starlit nights, the wind, the ocean, or the rain, you feel that you are part of the healing vastness of Mother Earth.

In poetry, each word counts. Greenwald uses his words to maximum effect, while leaving the meaning open enough that the reader can bring his or her own emotions into the poems. Using a free verse style, the poet allows the words to roll from the pages and into our hearts.

I enjoyed reading the poems out loud, savoring the sound and the feel of each line as it unfolded. I found myself going back to previous poems and reading them over and over. Wishing for Rain is the kind of book you can enjoy for a few moments each day for a long time to come. Leave it on your bedside stand or end table and visit it often.

Join Greenwald as he seeks to express the fullness of the human experience. You will be richer for having explored the deeper meanings of life, the joy of discovered love, the searing pain of brokenness, and the healing touch of a hand reaching out or a smile freely given.  

Reviewed by: Betsy Beard (2012)

---

Author's Synopsis

We all have feelings, wishes and desires, to some expression comes easy while to others an endless struggle or a fight they refuse to join for a myriad of reasons. I have tried here on these pages to express not just my feelings but my perceptions of others feelings. There is nothing more complex than love, look for a definitive definition and surely your search would take years. My inspirations come from many directions, experiences, words overheard, a scene that unfolds before my eyes, a movie, a song. All directed in an endless search to express love and all that it encompasses. I hope my writing draws you in and it becomes part of you, join me in the journey. Enter my book, I hope you enjoy it.