The Sterling Directive by Tim Standish – Review & Blog Tour

An engaging read.

WHAT’S THE BOOK ABOUT

Captain Charles Maddox returns secretly to London from an exile in disgrace only to be arrested, imprisoned, and threatened with the death penalty. He is rescued by a shadowy government agency called the Map Room who give him a choice: return to prison or become an agent, codenamed Sterling, and help them uncover a government conspiracy connected to the Ripper murders.

Led by the coolly calculating Milady and her associate Collier, and aided by fellow agent Church and mechanical computer expert Patience, the freshly appointed Agent Sterling must rapidly learn his new trade if he is to survive the murky and violent fringes of Victorian life and uncover a secret that threatens the Empire itself.

Set in 1896 in an alternative Victorian timeline where mechanical computers are a part of everyday life, The Sterling Directive blends fact and fiction to create a gripping thriller for fans of espionage and historical adventure alike.

The Sterling Directive by Tim Standish – Review

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

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Secure the Shadow by Marion Grace Woolley – Review & Blog Tour

WHAT IS THE BOOK ABOUT

In 1824, a young man buttons up his redcoat and goes to war. Amidst the blood and devastation, he discovers a magical power which can save memory from the ravages of time.

1867 and a woman, living above a watch shop, meets two men who will change her life forever. As she ventures further into a world of séance and mysticism, she must decide whether to trust her own eyes.

In the present day, a rebellious artist finds herself photographing stillbirths for a living. At Little Angels, it’s not about what you can take from a picture, but what you can give.

The story of three lives, spanning the history of photography and our relationship with mortality.

Secure the shadow, ere the substance fades.

Secure the Shadow by Marion Grace Woolley Blog Tour

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Kanzashi by Christopher Kincaid – Review

Kanzashi by Christopher Kincaid is an absorbing read about a maiko’s struggle to find her place in the world.

WHAT IS THE BOOK ABOUT

Geikos are women skilled in the art of entertaining men with dancing, singing, pouring drinks, and telling stories. Maikos are apprentice geikos.

Mameko is one such maiko, training to be a geiko under the stern guidance of her mother. Her calendar is choc-a-bloc with training, appointments, and other social demands of a maiko. Being a daughter of a prominent geiko family, everyone thinks life is easy for her. However, only Mameko knows how hard she works.

Amid all these, one of Mameko’s patrons, Mr. Funaki (who is also an important politician), is murdered with her hairpin stuck in his throat, thus, making her the prime suspect. She must resist the police’s effort to make her confess to the crime and find the true killer, or else her dream of becoming a geiko will never be fulfilled.

Kanzashi by Christopher Kincaid – Review

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Dead but Dreaming by Blake Dean Posey | Bird in a Snare by N.L. Holmes | Mini Book Reviews

While Posey’s Dead but Dreaming is a sinister yet engaging tale of black magic, N.L. Holmes’ Bird in a Snare is a must-read historical whodunit. Read on to find more.

Dead but Dreaming by Blake Dean Posey and Bird in a Snare by N.L. Holmes – Mini reviews

The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt Och Dag – Review

Mickel Cardell, an infirm ex-soldier and former guard, fishes out a mutilated corpse from the fetid lake of Stockholm. The corpse has no limbs, eyes, teeth, or tongue. The only thing that distinguishes it from a discarded carcass is his mass of golden hair.

Cecil Winge is a brilliant consulting detective to the Stockholm police and is suffering from tuberculosis. Together, Winge and Cardell must race against time to discover the monster who ravaged this unidentifiable man.

Meanwhile, Kristopher Blix—a joyful fellow—arrives in Stockholm from his village to become a doctor. His initial good fortunes soon take a turn for the worse.

In another corner of the city, Anna Stina—a young woman—is unjustly imprisoned in a workhouse. She hopes to escape from the hellhole, but she should do it soon since she is the next target of a sadistic guard. The paths of these extraordinary characters collide in unexpected ways in The Wolf and the Watchman penned by Niklas Natt Och Dag.

The Wolf and the Watchman by Niklas Natt Och Dag – review

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Reading the Knots by Susan Garzon

Reading the Knots by Susan Garzon

Rating – 5/5

Three women in Guatemala, 1954. An archaeological dig. An astonishing discovery that establishes a significant connection between Andes and Mesoamerica, but which also triggers a chain of events that forever changes the lives of these women.

Meg Fuente, the archaeologist’s American wife, hobnobs with a left-leaning political group, but soon realizes this could put her and her family in danger if the current progressive government falls. Patricia Baldt, the stubborn daughter of a wealthy coffee planter (a German immigrant to Guatemala), is determined to excavate at the dig, but she must keep her activities hidden from her savage, right-wing, orthodox father. Finally, there is Noemi, a girl from an impoverished Mayan town, whose family survives on her brother’s salary as a foreman at the dig.

In a country where tension has been brewing between the Spaniards and the indigenous population for years, the situation has turned gloomier due to a looming civil war supported by outside forces. In this hatred-filled atmosphere, the discovery at the dig spells doom for the three women who must show extraordinary fortitude to survive.