Social Commentary, Historical Mythology Merges into Extraordinary Vampire Novel...

I saw little difference between my human classmates and myself. I was a little faster, a little stronger, but that seemed pretty normal to me. I was a fifteen-year-old Black girl, and I didn't have my vampire abilities yet. I live with my father in Beverly Hills, California. I was insulated from the outside world, from the breezes, the scents, the sounds. My father was a hard man with few regrets, and I adored him.
In less civilized times, he would be in charge of our coven, the alpha vampire. In those days, vampires allowed what was known as The Thirst to rule them. It was simple arrogance that prevented the vampire from living longer than forty years. In that time, vampires had no desire to fit in; they wanted to run things. The word 'Integration' for the vampire, for my father, had the same meaning as suppression. He didn't believe in killing humans, only because that could start a war.
I was born in deep vampire country, Savannah, Georgia to be exact. I was born in a simple house that my parents shared. They separated five years before we all moved west to Southern California. I had no reaction to the shake-up; I guess I was too young to even notice. My father and I moved into a plush Beverly Hills condominium. My mother moved to a modest three-room, one-story home in Angel Beach, California. I hadn't spoken to my mother in years because it was agreed that my father would provide all of my needs. Big cities and vampires didn't mix, so my father spent half a decade hovering over me...
The repeated clicking of the turn signal pulled me from the isolated region of my mind. Here I am in the passenger seat of a chrome black-walled Porsche Panamera. It sped along at seventy miles per hour; its soft leather seats swallowed my small body.
As I eyed my father from the corner for my eye; the corners of my mind neatly hid the bad dream. It was my nightly screams that alerted him. The only thing I was sure of was that something had gone wrong,
"You're going to love your new school," the volume of my dad's voice slowly increased. I was lost in thought the whole time he had been talking. We slowed as the traffic congested the freeway. I could tell that the weight of the occasion unnerved him.
The plan was for me to stay with dad until a certain age. As I stared out the window into the deep blackness, I realize that certain age was about three nights ago. "Dad, you sound just like a TV commercial," I retorted.
"What's wrong with a father wanting his daughter to love her new school?"
"How do you know I am going to love it? I just don't understand why I have to move, and here of all places. I mean, why can't I just stay in Beverly Hills with you, like I've been doing? Why can't I just keep going to the same school?" "Because... it's just that your mother is more..." "More what?" I interrupted. "She's more stable than I am. Look, I have my own issues, and now you're having these nightmares... so your mom and I..." "...decided that I should move without asking for my opinion. Well, it's my life. Isn't it? I'm fifteen years old. I'm practically an adult. I already know what's best for me." I could tell that my father read my thoughts and had saw remnants of what I had hidden.
"And what, may I ask, is best for you?" he looked over at me through his jet-black sunglasses.
I paused as I looked away from my father to gaze out the window. We passed thousands of lighted billboards and dozens of car dealerships as we speed south on the 405 freeway. My father effortlessly moved the steering wheel, gently coaxing the vehicle from lane to lane. My dad's familiar scent of red grapefruit, saffron, and wood filled the vehicle. We were insulated from the night. Angel Beach was a large city along the California coastline. Its port was the accompaniment to Los Angeles.
By accompaniment, Angel Beach was one of the busiest port centers in the world. Angel Beach High School had five thousand students, and there would be fifteen hundred students in my sophomore class. That's a lot of humans. The thought of it was nauseating. If I were hardly noticed before, I really wouldn't be noticed there.
"I just wish you and Mom had talked to me before making a life altering decision that will ruin my social life," I let that linger for a minute. I didn't remember much about my mother. My father said when they met she needed him; she made him want to be a better vampire. "How can living with your mother ruin your social life? You're not being reasonable. There are more things in life, more things to your life, than being social..." he said, looking at his diamond-encrusted watch.
It was exactly 11 p.m.

~~~

Amber had been living with her father in California for most of her life and had a good life. But at 15, she was informed that she would be now moving to live with her mother--that it was time for her to begin to learn new things and be taught how to handle what would be happening to her.  It all ways, Amber looked like a typical African-American teen, but she was more than that. She was only half human and her body would be accommodating to changes brought forth as her non-human side blossomed...

"Ambrosia Wharton!" he said. He quickly pulled the car over to the freeway's shoulder. "How dare you raise your voice to me?" His fangs bared, a faint yellow glow circled his pupils as the sound of his voice rattled the rear view mirror. "You may be a young woman, but I am still your father. You won't be just another girl on the beach. You must always remember your legacy. You were born where you were born, and you face the future that you face because you are what you are and for no other reason. "

"The limits of your ambition are set. You were born into a world that has spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, what you are. You are not expected to aspire, to excel. You are expected to make peace with being invisible. Never forget who you are and what we are. We are the Uhura coven. We are the elite. We are vampires!" 

"I know." 

"Then, act like it! As a female vampire, it's crucial for you to be around..." "Another female vampire," I interrupted my father's lecture. "You've told me this a half a dozen times. I get it; I don't have to like it." I sat uncomfortably silent in my seat. The car's chassis subtlety vibrated from the still running engine. "Dad...I'm sorry. I shouldn't have raised my voice."

~~~

Amber didn't care and she was upset nobody had discussed with her the need to move away from her home and friends... Besides, she hadn't seen her mother for years, would have to go to a new school and would again have no friends...

Still, she knew why the change had to be made and she really was happy to be with her mother again... And, once she saw...him...at her new school, she was quite willing to wait and see how things would go... But there was already a problem... He was human; he was a Christian. Both were trouble.

She didn't care... He was a star basketball player and she was going to try out for the team and was soon accepted and leading the team with her skill. Adrian and Amber soon became friends and Amber also developed a small group of additional friends...Things at the school seemed to be doing well...only disrupted when Adrian had pulled Amber close in a hug and Amber sharply pulled away--Adrian's cross around his neck had burned her... Quickly making an excuse to leave, she left him standing, confused...

The school activities are somewhat typical for the most part, except that Amber spends most nights out on the roofs of buildings in town... preparing her body for the future...

I talked to the author about the number of small typographical errors and discovered that he'd paid three different editors to work on his book. You, the potential buyer will have to decide about this issue. Given what I learned, I decided to point the problem out via a downgrade of ranking, but am quite willing to also recommend it highly for many of you who have the desire to read it based upon the cover and book description. 

There are also a couple of other issues to be spotlighted...The book contains a number of picture collages of the events happening in the book. They were exceptionally well done, but needed to be bigger for me to totally enjoy them and would have made perfect whole-page additions to the novel. Nevertheless the idea is very cool and the author should be commended... Also the author has used another method for helping to teach reading and color identification...Great idea... I read the book in a non-color application and didn't see the effect until I checked it out online... Nice...

Throughout the book, Hardie has presented considerable social commentary about the life of Blacks interacting in today's world, and with other races. It is definitely a learning experience, including the use of historical mythology to explain the heritage of the vampire. I was impressed... with the continuity and integration of this broader scope of the book beyond the typical vampire life...

And yet, the ending felt like it could also be the beginning...perhaps a sequel or a series? I've been reading Hardie since his first book and have seen continued improvement in his writing... In this book, which I would place in the literary drama genre rather than horror, which is normally expected for vampires, there is a element of  life participation that pulls individuals into what the author wishes to share with his readers. In fact, I was so involved that with the ending, I was totally shocked... Do Check it out!

GABixlerReviews

An average guy making his way in the world. Speaking and writing are my contribution to make the world a better place.
What are the names of your titles?
My works include Every Day Life, It Ain't Just The Size, Midnight: Rise of the Black Vampires and the science fiction THEM title.
Each time I am told not to do something...it motivates me to break the rules and to push limits...

Come, We're Visiting Cadillac, Oklahoma with Louise Farmer Smith

Voice of Experience
Sloane Isaac Willard
1948
Sally arrived in our town the summer I turned seventeen, and that three-month stretch of heat burned up what was left of my childhood. She had that kind of wrecked voice that made her sound like a pack-a-day smoker, a woman with a story to tell in what my granddad Sloane Benjamin Willard, who'd been to France in WWI, called a whiskey voice. She looked to me like she might be as old as twenty-five, the perfect older woman to train me for what I hoped would be a lifetime of pleasing women...
~~~

That night, as the news of Peanuts Murphy's grisly death swirled through the town, Wynona's mind fled to the town green in Concord, Massachusetts. Louise May Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, Nathaniel Hawthorne had lived in Concord. Wynona herself had been an English teacher. She belonged there where everything was leafy and literary, moist and mossy. She had visited the authors' graves and identified in herself a feeling of kinship.
Though she never got back East, through the years she fed her visions of a town green for Cadillac, and after seeing the movie, The Music Man, she added a bandstand to the picture. Her bank was going to provide the financing, and more important, it was her good taste that would guide the whole project. She had already found the little marble-top tables and the twisted wrought iron "ice cream" chairs in a catalog.
But now things could not have turned out worse, and she couldn't sleep. That tranquil green would have allowed her to be a better, more beautiful person, a woman who read more books and recalled what she'd learned in college and contemplated all this sitting under shade trees. That vision had been making her desperate for this project to succeed, but now, what happened to Peanuts was keeping her awake at night...
~~~

I am finding in my years of retirement that I knew very little about the people in my small home town... Now those stories are second-handed tales that may or may not be true, some of them, hoping they definitely are not true...

So it was that I quickly began to experience the fictional town of Cadillac, Oklahoma, during the year of 1948 when a young Sloane Willard decided to try courting an older woman who had just come to town! She had started working for Reverend Morgan's church and he was a delivery book that summer for McCall's Grocery... and so, of course, Sloane started going to the Methodist Church...

But now, it was 2012, and we're stopping in at a funeral. We meet Phoebe who was eleven that winter and she sat next to her Great Uncle, Sloane Willard...

It was an easy funeral. Nobody had to come too far or cry too hard, though I did feel Uncle Sloane sighing and swallowing during the service. It was his half-brother who had died.

And that's when it began... You know, the usual and disturbing discussion by remaining relatives about who was going to get what from the deceased's estate. Never have understood this; never will! As it happens sometimes, a secret life also is discovered which upsets the plans for that estate... In this case, Wendell had left his estate to a certain female friend who was supporting two young kids, and who needed what he could provide for them... Of course, Marvella Ketcham, his most vocal relative, did not yet know this--she'd been the one who'd started asking about the will...

Then the following year, Wynona Blosser decided that the town needed some leadership, taking on the Chamber of Commerce. Her idea--to create a central town green--was certainly good; especially since the property had run-down buildings that really needed to be dealt with... Except the land was owned, and the owner wasn't interested in selling...at least not for the price the town would offer...

But nobody expected to find the owner' body at the bottom of a ravine...

It seems Cadillac has all the drama that could be found in one town...and then some... Readers will find an underlying touch of humor throughout that will lighten some of the other more serious stories that will be shared...What I've mentioned are just a few of those to be told about the people who have lived or come to Cadillac...

You know, it seems everywhere we go, we'll find those who add "color" to the town... Some have gained respect through many years of service to the community like Sloane Willard who was still called on to give his advice on many matters. And then there was the Sheriff, who tried to deal with all the issues that occurred... But there are also the town residents who want to gain respectability through contributions and power within that same community. And, sometimes, someone will take action to gain whatever it is they want, no matter who is hurt...

So now, in Cadillac, Oklahoma, a murder must be solved... Did that death end the conflict? Let's just say that the town was slowly losing its appeal... Because more was coming...

And one new town reporter on the Courier was trying to make a place, and, hopefully, a career...

Readers begin to see the changes that were happening and before it started to get better, it got worse... But then Hillary O'Brien started to involve the town people, by creating a contributing editorial column... Newspaper sales started going up... People were more interested and involved... These little articles split up the narrative and became a special addition to the book itself. One of them even explained that the sands of Oklahoma once caused Woodie Guthrie, who thought he was about to meet his Maker trying to find his way through the sand wrote... "So Long, It's Been Good to Know you..."

In one way, you might call this an anthology; however, by having each story about some facet, person, or event in Cadillac, it feels much like a novel since the community environment is so much a part of the stories... I was thoroughly enjoying each and every story...until the last one...

I was stunned...and immediately, I had a question for the author. What was the message that you wanted your readers to receive? Perhaps I knew why, but I was not satisfied... I'm asking, Louise Farmer Smith, Why did you finish your book as you did? 

And yet I realized...this was America, in 2013 or any year thereafter... I don't want it that way, but...as a common saying we've been using recently, "It Is, What It Is...

But does it have to be? Here is our reality. It's heartwarming, It's devastating. It's where each of us can see parts of our lives and remember... What we choose to do with the future can only be decided by each reader... Thank you Louise Farmer Smith for a remarkable revealing look at  Everytown, USA...

GABixlerReviews

LOUISE FARMER SMITH, descendant of pioneer dugout-dwellers and chip-gatherers, grew up in Oklahoma. A former high school and college English teacher, she trained as a family therapist in the children's division of New Hampshire State hospital, and later served on a U.S. congressman's staff. She was a PEN/New England Discovery and her short stories have appeared in literary journals including VIRGINIA QUARTERLY REVIEW, NORTH DAKOTA REVIEW, THE SOUTHEAST REVIEW; and online in NARRATIVE and PERSIMMON TREE, both online. Her latest publication, "Summons to Tulsa," appeared in the August 1 issue of the broadsheet, THIS LAND, from This Land Press.

BELLEVUE LITERARY REVIEW nominated "Return to Lincoln" for a Pushcart Prize. That story and five others make up ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF MARRIAGE, A Novel in Stories, her first collection. An extensive and helpful review is available at http://starr-review.blogspot.com. Scroll down to June 3, 2012.

Her memoir pieces have been anthologized in I'VE ALWAYS MEANT TO TELL YOU (Pocket Book) and TO FATHERS, (Story Line Press), and her fiction has appeared in DOTS ON A MAP and COMING HOME, both from Main Street Rag Press. An essay, "On Betraying Family," will appear in the October 2012 GLIMMER TRAIN newsletter.

Smith’s next book, WEDDING STORIES, is a delicious mix of ceremonies and acrimonies, set between the 1920’s and 2013, each story devoted to one participant: the bride, the mother-of-the-groom, the florist, the limo driver, etc. 

She may be contacted through her website, louisefarmersmith.com. Smith lives with her husband on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, always a good source of material.

The Invention of Clay McKenzie--Delightful Romp Into Unique Publishing "Situation..."

"So you will help this author get discovered on your own time, not to mention mine, and for what? The satisfaction of finding a good book."
"She shrugged. "That is one way of putting it, I suppose."
"He laughed. 'And is there another way of putting it? Obviously I know little about publishing, but in my world a smart person does whatever it takes to put a deal together as long as the return is worth it--if the juice isn't worth the squeeze, then you drop it like a hot rock. In your world, it seems that those who have the least to gain do all the work, and that is, to coin a word, fucked. You are too smart to play that game for long."
"Publishing is an odd business. People get into it because they love books, and enjoy the publishing process."
"Is your love of books greater than your concern for yourself? It seems to be it is a vicarious way to go about things. You get the dog work and not the glamour."
"I have to learn to play the game before I can figure out a better way to go about things."
"Pablo sighed and threw up his up his hands. "Okay, I give. What kind of book is it anyway?" he asked. "Is it good erotica or something worthwhile like that?"
"I'd call it a contemporary Western mystery."
"Is that a real genre?"
"She laughed. "No, not really, but that is what it is."

~~~

The Invention of Clay McKenzie

By Ed Teja and

J. Reid Beckett

Writers across the world would love to have Stephanie Masters be the first reader of their manuscripts! She was ambitious, even taking the slush pile--unsolicited submissions from writers--home with her to read, hoping to find that one manuscript that would help both her as well as an unknown writer...

And she did!

Great, right? No, wrong...

The manuscript was indeed good--good enough to move it forward for the next reader...

But if she did that, it would be her one and only involvement with this great book she'd found! She wanted more!!!

"It is just common sense things," Stephanie said.
"The writer has to make his book an attractive
proposition for the publisher to consider it, and
without some of that, how do we know that we can
sell it?"
"Pablo laughed. "Yet for two days you've been
telling me that this book will sell shit loads."
"She winced. "It is one thing to convince editors.
But if the sales staff doesn't sign off on it, it won't
get published."
"To be fair to your cowboy writer," he said, "I
wouldn't have known that publishers need all
that stuff either. And I certainly wouldn't expect
to have to plan on doing all, or most, of the
marketing myself. If I sent a manuscript to a
publisher, I'd think of the process as similar to
that when an engineer develops a new product.
Someone has identified a need, he comes up with
a product to meet that need, and then the company
takes over, doing the packaging and marketing."
He scratched his head. "But you guys expect your
product designer to develop and execute the
marketing plan?"
"Sure. Why wouldn't they? They get paid royalties,
so the more books we sell, the more they make."
"Pablo  laughed. "I think I am in the wrong
business. What is it that Icon does for its share
of the money, which I presume is significant?"
~~~

If Stephanie had not been living with Pablo at the time, she may not have started it... But Pablo was rich, buying and selling businesses and he was quite willing to point out that Stephanie was intelligent but not making much money. Her bringing home manuscripts to read, rather than being available for sex whenever he wanted it, was just an example of the differences between them...

Personally I was glad when she left him...

But while she had listened, she began to dream a little, making money at what she loved doing was much better than working herself to death trying to succeed...

So she took the first step. She traveled to the home of the author, on her own time, money and without the knowledge of the company for whom she worked...

What she discovered forced the next step... 

Not only did the author know nothing about the business part of becoming a published author, he didn't want to learn!

You know, I have to believe that sometime in the past, publishers handled much more of the business part of getting a book out than they do now... But no matter how much is true in this book or another, the author is certainly not prepared and normally would never consider having to market his own book, including making all the arrangements, etc. Lots of good books are out there, believe me, that never get bought, simply because nobody knows about them...

Soooo, during the discussion with the author, there was many ideas floating around in her head... When I was working as an "author's representative" I was essentially doing what Stephanie planned... I was the individual behind the scenes submitting for authors, then negotiating with publishers on rights, etc. But Stephanie had one, much bigger problem, than most...

Her author not only did not want to do any marketing, business planning, and all the other myriad tasks that came with the actual publishing activity, he was also not an individual who "could" effectively market the book...

Clay McKenzie, author of The Sound of One Man Dying didn't exist. The author, Jerome Mortenson, had written under a different name, but had not included it in his submission. Clay McKenzie could be anybody, so I

Clay was probably younger, but I
thing Richard Boone would make
a wonderful author, don't you?

picked out somebody to play the part [on my blog at least]. Actually, an actor was hired to do just that--create the author, Clay McKenzie...

"He leaned against the back of the chair, smiling at the blonde, and thinking how pleasant the job had gotten once he mastered his fear of talking to people off the cuff about writing and being a writer. Even talking with writers and editors turned out to be far easier than he'd expected. Fun, even. Writers were a lot like actors and each had his own way of working so he couldn't really ever say anything that would mark him as a phony. As long as he knew the plot and characters of his own books, the rest was subjective. Fortunately, he had always been a reader and had a working familiarity with contemporary writers. That gave him confidence. Mortenson had given him a description of his writing process, including his goals and intentions for his books. Stone had nervously memorized every word. As his comfort grew he rephrased the information, putting his Clay McKenzie spin on things; these days he often spun things out of whole cloth giving his efforts a folksy twist. Even if he made a mistake or contradicted himself he'd learned that one of his practiced smiles earned him tolerance and forgiveness. It made him more human, therefore, oddly, more convincing.
"This scenario repeated regularly but never bored him. He imagined that it was like having a part in a long-running Broadway play only the pay was better and he got a starring role. I can't imagine ever tiring of his, Stone Thought. Lovely to have a run of the play contract...

~~~

Was all of this a scam? I think the major issue for me was that Stephanie had continued to work for the publishing company which ultimately bought the book... that was definitely a conflict of interest. Otherwise, it sounded like a process that just might work...

Except one bad apple in the planning... There were now five individuals involved, but it only takes one criminal, doesn't it... To say that the invention of Clay McKenzie started to fall apart was to trivialize what happens and the dangerous situation Stephanie was actually in! 

This is both a fun and uniquely different romp into book publishing. An ambitious individual who can look at an issue and figure out how to get things done is A future entrepreneur if...  But when it turns into one scam after another... For the reader, we sit back and laugh because of the "dumb" people who were involved. Well, no, not dumb--rather, the "trusting" people who get involved and don't immediately realize that if something does not sound right, there is, indeed, probably something that is not right. There's not too much mystery involved for readers; it's more an adventure watching to see how far this will go!

The key issue are the characters. The author, reclusive, remains true to himself. Stephanie is the main character and before long, you will be wanting to help her, maybe even slap her into recognition! Still, even if nobody slapped her, it is a wonderful and fitting ending that totally satisfies, even if it certainly is a surprising one! A totally enjoyable tale in the ever-changing world of today's publishing! Check it out!

GABixlerReviews

Ed Teja has worked as a magazine editor, poet, freelance writer, musician and boat bum. He grew up traveling the planet and never stopped. He currently is sitting still in Cambodia long enough to finish writing some new stories, learn a bit of Khmer and some tunes on traditional Cambodian instruments. Hiw previous books include The Legend of Ron Anejo, a novel about the world's very best Caribbean boat bum.


Jim Beckett grew up in a military household, living in Hawaii, Japan, Turkey and less exotic locations across the United States. After earning a degree in Organic Chemistry, Dr. Beckett began his career as a research chemist for Cities Service Company. Shortly after Cities was bought by Occidental Petroleum, Jim moved into the management and business functions, leading a group of talented professionals into developing the first commercial coalbed methane operation in Virginia among other innovations. Before retiring in 1999, Jim was involved in the environmental aspects, remediating Superfund sites for the company. Technical writing and executive communications were always an integral part of Jim's career.

Antonio Garrido Creates Historical Novel of Significance, Including Background, and Thriller With Leading Character Song Ci, Father of Forensics!

The Corpse Reader

By Antonio Garrido
Translated by Tom Bunstead



Recipient of the 2012 Zaragoza International Prize for best historical novel published in Spain


Out on the 28th of May; Pre-order now!!!



When a novel receives such an award, it is quite easily for any reviewer to exlaim that it is outstanding! And that is very true...

Buttt, naturally, for me, when I saw the author's name and learned he was from Spain, I automatically went to the back of the book!

Yes, there it was, a complete bibliography, as well as a glossary! Then I checked out his credentials--a former educator and industrial engineer... Further, he has spent years of research into the Tsong dynasty, as well as the five-column treatise on forensics written by Song Ci, who is now commonly known as The Father of Forensics Medicine...

Now, why did that come first for me? Well, because this book was written by someone outside of China. To me that automatically meant he had to have considerable evidence of research to have acquired the knowledge to write such an epic historical novel on the life of Song Ci, don't you think?
And Antonio Garrido certain has done that. Interestingly, he had little knowledge of forensics...

Wow! Don't we Americans think we all know so much, given our variety and interest in television programs, such as CSI, Bones, etc., but when we read a novel based upon a master of this science, we will quickly learn that we really know so very little!

"Ci had some doubts about Gray
Fox's inspection, and Ci was ready
to see if he was right.
"He went first to the corpse's nape,
working his fingers from there up
along the scalp to the crown of the
head, and then inspecting the ears
with the help of the little spatula.
Then he went downward from the
next, examining the muscular
shoulders, upper arms, elbows, and
forearms, stopping at the right hand
and paying particular attention at the
base of the thumb...
"Your student has carried out a
superficial examination. Blinded
by his ego, he ignored the value of
what seemed to him banal facts.
Just as a race over a thousand li
can only be achieved one step at a
time, examining a corpse requires
patience and attention to the most
minute details..."
~~~

The first half of the novel surrounds Ci's childhood and reminded me of the famous Prodigal Son's story, except that Ci was attending college, while his older brother farmed their land. But when his father lost his job, Ci had to come back and did most of his work, while his brother took much more time off. 

A number of important characters are introduced in this part, including a judge for whom his father worked and who did much to ensure that Ci was taking the proper classes and other support he needed to be able to sit for a future position.

Even then, while he took classes, however, his brilliance placed him as somewhat of an outsider, especially, with a student who had high connections, but did not have the "eyes" to see what Ci did when he evaluated bodies.

But then a neighbor, Shang, was murdered and Ci first found the body as he worked in the fields, and then was brought in to review his body. Ci's brother was blamed for his murder, but his rival made sure that word got around that Ci should not be trusted...


Ci was also foolish in later becoming involved with a local gambler who wanted to take advantage of his expertise and entice rich customers to the local cemetery, to have Ci examine the body and define how the individual died. It was at that time that Ci began to be called "The Corpse Reader..." It's hard to blame him, however, since his father and mother as well as his brother in jail, leaving Ci with his ill sister...

At this point, the drama, suspense, and investigation moves into high gear as Ci tries to find evidence to save his brother. He met  with corrupt officials, told he would have to pay to gain support for his brother. In desperation, he manages to get further into trouble to make money...and then having to quickly leave town! As he left, he visited the cell where his brother was and saw the results of his torture and knew he was dead. They had lied to him, even as they took the money!

In The Washing Away of Wrongs, the first documented forensic entomology case is reported. In 1235 A.D., a stabbing occurred in a Chinese village. By testing different blades on an animal carcass, it was determined that the wound was caused by a sickle. After further questioning, the investigator had all villagers bring their sickles and lay them out before the crowd. Blow flies were attracted to a single sickle because invisible remnants of blood and tissue still adhered to it. The owner of the alleged sickle later broke down and confessed the crime.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collected_Cases_of_Injustice_Rectified

Interestingly, this case which comes from the works of Song Ci, is used in several ways during the mystery thriller. Cool use of actual research, right?!

"1206, Tsong dynasty, Eastern China.

Fujian Circuit.

Jianyang Subprefecture farmlands.

"Shang didn't know death was coming for him until he tasted the blood spurting up into his throat. He covered the wound with his hands to try to stem the bleeding. He tried to speak, too, but before he could make a sound, his eyes opened wide and his legs crumpled beneath him like a worn-out marionette's. If he could have uttered the words, he would have spoken his killer's name, but the blood in his throat, along with the cloth the killer had stuffed into his mouth, prevented him.

"On his knees in the mud, before breathing his last breath, Shang felt the warm rain and smelled the wet earth beneath him. Both had been with him his whole life. Then, soaked in blood, Shang's body collapsed into the mire, and his soul drifted away..."

~~~

Test: What is the most important word in the above paragraph for solving this mystery?

This novel is exceptional in so many different ways... If you are into forensic sciences, this is a must read... History buffs...also a must-read! For those who enjoy a good forensic science suspense thriller, this will easily fulfill your interests. Highly Recommended!

GABixlerReviews

A native of Spain, a former educator, and industrial engineer, Antonio Garrido has received acclaim for the darkly compelling storytelling and nuanced historical details that shape his novel The Corpse Reader. This fictionalized account of the early life of Song Cí, the Chinese founding father of forensic science, represents the author's years of research into cultural, social, legal, and political aspects of life in the Tsong Dynasty, as well as his extensive study of Song Cí's own five-volume treatise on forensics. In 2012, The Corpse Reader received the Zaragoza International Prize for best historical novel published in Spain (Premio Internacional de Novela Histórica Ciudad de Zaragoza). Antonio's previous novel, La Escriba, was published in 2008. Garrido currently resides in Valencia, Spain.

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Ellis Shuman's Adventure Thriller Also Historically and Culturally Significant.

"...My name is Sophia, Sophia Ivanova."

"Sophia?" he asked. "Sophia from Sofia, Bulgaria?"...

"Nice to meet you, Sophia from Sofia. I'm Simon Matthews from Chicago. I'm a professor, well actually a retired professor, from the University of Chicago."

..."Oh, you never know!" she said, laughing, her eyes focused on his. "I am also in academia. I teach at our local St. Clement of Ohrid University. In the history department, specializing in Thracian culture..."

"Professor, tell me something. What is the perception of Bulgaria among average Americans?"

"I'm not sure there is a perception of Bulgaria among average Americans. I think there's quite a substantial Bulgarian community in Chicago, where I'm from. At least I've come across some former Bulgarians in the city, and there were many Bulgarian students at the university. But the average American, well, I don't think they could even find Bulgaria on the map."

~~~

Sofia Synagogue - See Much More at the Bulgarian Adventure Blog!
I loved the opportunity to pictorially visit the beautiful architecture and other pictures from Bulguria!

Valley of Thracians:
 A Novel of Bulgaria

By Ellis Shuman

If you are like me, I do a lot of my traveling via books! Certainly the setting for many fiction novels takes us to exciting places; however, Ellis Shuman who has spent time there, has taken special care in including much more than the usual, in writing Valley of Thracians. So if you are like myself, as an average American who had no real "perception" or knowledge of this country, then I highly recommend you consider this much more than an exciting adventure thriller--consider it a significant historical and cultural novel from which you will learn much... While enjoying the familial love of a grandfather who refuses to believe his grandson is dead...

"It's called a gaida," one of the Peace Corps instructors
explains to me. "It's quite common all over Europe
actually."
..."You know a lot about bagpipes!" I joke with the
instructor.
"Oh, not really, but I do know one thing," he says,
laughing. "When you finish playing your gaida each
night, you pour a glass of rakia into the bag."
"You must be kidding me!"
"No, it's true. Rakia [beer] acts as an antiseptic
within the bag to keep it from rotting..."
~~~

Scott had always been close to his grandfather, finding him easier to discuss things with than his own father. So when the family heard that he had been killed while in Bulgaria, although the body had never been found, his father initially investigated but then worked to go on with life.

But three years later, Simon was still not willing to accept Scott was dead. Having lost his wife, Simon decided to do his own investigation. Before long he met a fellow professor who was quite willing to introduce Simon to her country and its treasures. It is to the character Sophia from Sofia that we are also given a guided tour as she volunteers to help Simon with his search.

Scott had been having some normal teenager problems when Simon began to talk with him. Scott turned around enough to finish school and join the Peace Corps who sent him to Bulgaria. During their training period Scott had lived with a local family, but had also started to use drugs again. That had led to his being blackmailed into some minor crime activities, normally just as a messenger. But soon Scott realized that those with whom he was involved were selling Thracian artifacts!

On the latest trip, he had been forced to deliver one of those artifacts and the sister of the man who was blackmailing him was forced to go with him. But when he actually has to go into the building to meet the buyer, she refuses to go in with him...

That was the last time anybody who knew him could say where he had been... Now Simon was trying to retrace his grandson's steps...

"As they passed the sign announcing their destination with a
colorful montage of pictures, Sophia told him about the
important role monasteries played in Bulgarian history. Over
five centuries of oppressive Ottoman rule, the country's
monasteries--usually situated in the safety of isolated mountain
valleys like this one--were guardians of Bulgarian customs and
served as teaching centers for the Bulgarian language. In the
serene setting, they offered protection to hermits and those
seeking religious salvation, as well as to Bulgarian leaders
planning their rebellion against the Turks. Bulgarians were
not a religious people, Sophia said, but they deeply respected
the country's many monasteries..."
"They call Rila Monastery the Jerusalem of Bulgaria..."
"Scott!"
"This man was not his grandson at all, Simon realized,
and then he passed out..."
~~~

But word had gotten around that a renewed effort to find Scott was being made... And the original thieves...as well as the buyer...were keeping track of everywhere that Sofia and Simon traveled...

Poor Simon soon began to get hurt in one way or another, although not badly, as they encounter the men following them! But that didn't stop him because a major clue had been sent to him.Scott's silver chain, which Simon had given to him, had been delivered to where he was staying. Did this mean he was alive? Or did somebody actually know he was dead and wanted to return an important part of Scott to his family...

Soon, though, Simon began to wonder about Sophia... She was making calls or texting without saying what she was doing. Did she think that somehow Scott was tied to the missing artifact that she had told him about when they toured the museum?

A treasure hunt? Or a native Bulgarian who was
 trying to help out a fellow member in academia?
 Simon was beginning to feel his trust fading,
since even the police and fellow Americans
living there were not really helping in any way...

"Sophia explained that ancient treasures were accidentally discovered quite frequently in Bulgaria. Gold and silver vessels were unearthed near the village of Valchitran in 1924, and farmers uncovered treasures while plowing their fields near the town of Borovo in 1974. Other caches of Thracian relics had been dug up by chance at Loukovit and Lemitsa..."What was in this one?" Simon was standing by an empty glass case, the largest in the entire Treasure Room hall...
"They called it the Rogozen Drinking Lion."
~~~

This is not a fast-paced thriller, but there is certainly enough action and adventure to keep the thrills moving... Plan instead to sit back and relax and learn about the many Bulgarian sights that Simon enjoys seeing while searching for his grandson. You'll learn much about this country, including, for instance, that because of the high quality of its roses, "mastered over centuries of dedicated cultivation, Bulgaria is one of the world's largest exporters of rose oil, used in the production of perfumes, beauty creams, chocolates, liquors, and jams...and even tooth paste." Cool, right?! Bet you didn't know that, did you... 

Lots more, but most importantly, emails are included between a loving grandson and his grandfather, who never gave up believing he could find his grandson... Highly recommended!

GABixlerReviews

Ellis Shuman...at Shipka Pass, Bulgaria...

About the Author

Ellis Shuman was born in Sioux City, Iowa, and immigrated to Israel as a teenager. He completed high school in Jerusalem and served for three years in the Israeli army's Nahal branch. Along with his wife, Jodie, he was a founding member of Kibbutz Yahel in the Arava Valley in Israel's south. On the kibbutz he worked in agriculture, industry, tourism, the dairy barn, and served as the kibbutz's general secretary. After moving with his wife and three young children to Moshav Neve Ilan in the Judean Hills, Ellis received formal training in the hotel industry. He worked in a variety of positions at the Neve Ilan Hotel and later was Food and Beverage Controller at the Jerusalem Hilton. He served as the moshav's general secretary during a period in which the community underwent major social changes. As a hobby, Ellis began writing on the Internet. He wrote extensively about life in Israel in his position as the Israeli Culture Guide at About.com. He designed and maintained websites for the Neve Ilan Hotel and for Indic--Independent Israeli Cinema. For two years he was webmaster for Yazam, an international financial firm that provided support for technological start-ups. Ellis served for three years as Editor in Chief of Israel Insider, an online daily newsmagazine that developed new technologies as it posted the latest news and views, from and about Israel. Starting in 2004, Ellis began working in a marketing company servicing the online gaming industry. In the years 2009 - 2010, his job was relocated to Sofia, Bulgaria. During those years, Ellis and Jodie traveled extensively in Bulgaria as well as in the countries of the region. Today Ellis continues working at this job, based in Ramat Gan. Read about Ellis and Jodie's Bulgarian Adventure at their blog:  http://shumansinbulgaria.blogspot.com/. Ellis writes regularly on his blog at: http://ellisshuman.blogspot.com/

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Kathleen Tessaro Shares World of Fragrance in Delightful Drama of Family Secrets Out May 16th!

Small perfume distillery on display at the Fragonard perfume factory in Èze, France. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Grace Munroe woke up with a start, gasping for breath.
She’d been running, stumbling, over uneven ground,
in a thick, dense forest; searching, calling out. But the
harder she ran the more impenetrable the woodland
became. Vines grew, twisting beneath her feet, branches
whipped against her face, arms and legs. And there was
the panicky feeling that time was running out. She was
chasing someone or something. But it was always just
ahead, out of reach. Suddenly she lost her footing, tumbling head over heels into a deep, rocky ravine...
~~~

Grace pressed her fingertips against the cold glass of
the window. This was not, as her husband Roger put
it, their real house. He had more ambitious plans for
something grander, closer to Belgravia. But Grace liked it 

here; being in the centre of Bloomsbury, close to London 

University and King’s College, it reminded her of Oxford, 

where she’d lived with her uncle until

 only a few years 

ago.

~~~

The Perfume Collector

By Kathleen Tessaro


I was happy to find a historical plus technical look at how perfume is made in the latest novel by Kathleen Tessaro! Of course, I'd never be able to apply that new knowledge since I don't have the "nose" for it, but it was fascinating to learn how and what goes into creating new scents! Certainly not what I, as a naive individual who appreciates smelling beautiful, would have thought...

Now, many cannot wear perfume due to allergies of family or professional connections. But I enjoyed my favorites when I was younger. The interesting thing about one of the perfumers in this story was his belief that nobody should wear scents also used by others! While it makes perfect sense and is an ideal for us to imagine, it obviously would be impossible to carry out. Traditionally I wear a lighter perfume in the spring and heavier in the winter...but of course I would love to have a "signature" perfume, wouldn't you?

Grace Munroe, newly married, beautiful, and...bored...She would love to have a job, even was thinking about taking some courses in secretarial studies. But when she talked about it to her friend Mallory, she quickly pointed out that she already had a job, as a wife. Grace knew that was exactly what her husband would say, if he were back from his latest business trip...

So when she got a letter from a law firm in France, she was totally caught off guard that somebody called Eva d'Orsey had left her an inheritance and she was being asked to come to France! Perhaps she realized that was exactly what she needed--to get away--and she left with nobody's permission but her own...

Paris, Winter 1954

Eva d’Orsey sat at the kitchen table, listening to the ticking
clock, a copy of Le Figaro in front of her. This was the
sound of time, moving away from her.,,

Exhaling, Eva stubbed the Gitanes cigarette out in the

ashtray. They were common – too strong. Unladylike. But

that suited her. She could only taste strong flavours now.

Cheap chocolate, coarse pâté, black coffee. What she ate

didn’t matter anyway; she had no appetite left.

There was something naïve, sweetly arrogant about the

doctor’s assumption that everyone wanted to live forever.

Picking up a pen, she traced a ring of even circles along

the border of the newspaper.

There were still a few more details to be arranged.

She’d been to the lawyer weeks ago, a diligent, rather aloof

young man. And she’d left the box with the sour-faced

concierge, Madame Assange, for safe keeping. But last

night, when she couldn’t sleep, another idea occurred to

her. There was the passage, from London to Paris. The

idea of an aeroplane intrigued her. It was extravagant and

unnecessary. But there were a few things a person should

experience in life; air travel was definitely one of them...

No. She would run a bath. Dress. And go to 7.30 Mass at Eglise de la Madeleine. Of all the churches in Paris, this was her favourite. There, Mary Magdalene, that wayward, difficult daughter of the Church, ascended regally into heaven on the arms of angels all day, every 

day. 

Mass was like grand opera, a magic show with the most 

expensive props in town. And faith, a sleight of hand trick, 

in which one was both the magician and the audience; the 

deceiver and the deceived. Still, who could resist a good 

magic trick?

~~~

Monsieur Tissot had been assigned to work on Grace's case since he was fluent in English. But no matter how many times she told him that there must be some mistake, he would reiterate that this was all verified. She had inherited an apartment and stocks. He continued that the apartment was to be sold and she would get the money... Again, Grace tried to explain that she couldn't accept any of this...

But then she grabbed onto the statement about property...and demanded to see it! Tissot again explained that it was to be sold, according to the will. Grace's question led to his response "...that's precisely what she intended. My understanding was that she wanted you to have financial independence. Le droit de choisir was how she put it. The right to choose... He then presented her with a picture and her address in London, as well as her birth date... She couldn't listen to anymore!

English: Perfume urn in the Caron
shop in Paris, France.
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Imagine what you would do if you learned that your entire life was based upon lies? Would you simply accept the strange inheritance? That's what the lawyer expected--as everybody else he'd ever worked with had... But Grace Monroe was not like other people. Perhaps because she was unsure of her present life, perhaps not, but Grace was not going to just sign those papers...

And she started by visiting the apartment... and then she learned about the shop and visited there, where there were still thousands of bottles of "absolutes" (the essence)  and "accords" (a blend)... and then she met a former perfumer who had known the woman, Eva...

The key issue for me was the ending...Does it move into a sequel!? I hope so! Otherwise, readers will want to know what happened in Grace Monroe's life based upon her discoveries. The book is beautifully done, moving from Grace's investigation back into the life of Eva, who had started in service in a large home, only to be soon enticed into traveling with a professional gambler! The drama is high, sometimes dangerous, but always there is an underlying story of a young girl who had her baby taken away from her and given to someone else...

This literary novel takes readers back to the 20s and 50s of the last century with references to the devastating results of the war and how it affected those who did anything to ensure they had food... It is sophisticated in the telling, but heartbreaking in the reality! Learn about the world of perfumes, how they can be used to bring back memories that may make you happy...and sometimes even afraid! Truly a memorable story! Highly recommended for many reasons!

GABixlerReviews

Kathleen Tessaro is the author of Elegance, Innocence, The Flirt, and The Debutante. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Kathleen attended the University of Pittsburgh before entering the drama program of Carnegie Mellon University. In the middle of her sophomore year, she went to study in London for three months and stayed for the next twenty-three years. She began writing at the suggestion of a friend and was an early member of the Wimpole Street Writer’s Workshop. Her debut novel, Elegance, became a bestseller in hardback and paperback. All of Kathleen's novels including Innocence, The Flirt, The Debutante, and most recently, The Perfume Collector have been translated into many languages and sold all over the world. She returned to Pittsburgh in 2009, where she now lives with her husband and son.

Check out Unsolicited Advice! on her Website
Loved it!

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