Reviewed by Lesley Jones for Readers' Favorite

The small town of Bergama, Turkey, is about to be brought to its knees when terrorist and Muslim convert Osama Flynn's mission of martyrdom is 'successful'. Tugce Iskan is sent by the Ministry of Culture in Ankara to investigate the motives behind the attack. When she discovers one of the victims of the attack had an ancient gold coin on his person, she must find out if indeed the attack was an act of terrorism or connected to the ancient cache of Galen, a well-respected philosopher and architect from the second century of the Common Era. What Iskan uncovers is a wall of silence to her questions, but slowly her investigation reveals a lucrative business of selling artifacts by the powerful Hamit crime organization and a retired archaeologist called Ozlem, who has in her possession an ancient Roman letter. Iskan is not the only one who wants to know if Ozlem is hiding the whereabouts of an ancient burial ground filled with antiquities. The Hamit family are on her trail too.

From the first chapter, The Healer's Daughters by Jay Amberg gripped my imagination and attention. The main plot is filled with tension and suspense and there are many interesting subplots that support and add depth to the story. The characters are believable and introduced gradually so the storyline was easy to follow. The characters of Ozlem and Iskan were superb, strong and focused on achieving their aim, and the scenes between them were my favorites. The author has a clear skill of building tension and suspense and taking you into the world of the characters. Jay has cleverly woven so much into this novel; acts of terrorism, the kidnap and indoctrination of a young child, and the abuse of his mother. There were also great scenes showing the complex family dynamics of Ozlem and her two children who all have secrets to hide. There are some brilliant twists to the plot that are uncovered towards the end. This novel has a clear 5/5 for me and I would recommend it to anyone who loves a gritty, powerful story.

Reviewed by Joel R. Dennstedt for Readers' Favorite

“Until she hears the bus driver swear, Camille isn’t worried.” With this instantly captivating and encapsulating opening sentence, Jessica Winters Mireles begins her highly engrossing, impeccably written novel, Lost in Oaxaca. In fact, the novel is so well written, it begs to be reviewed on two levels: that of the writer, and that of the reader. Why? Because Ms. Mireles does what any good artist does – she makes the hard look easy. From a writer’s viewpoint, one notes the many plotting pitfalls so narrowly averted at every turn. But this bus does not take a fateful muddy plunge. Rather, it navigates its way artfully past clichés and easy expectations toward a most satisfying end. Along the way, the story moves with competence and skill derived from intense and committed effort. The reader does not see this, however. The reader simply enjoys a wonderful story wonderfully told.

Jessica Winters Mireles also navigates two distinctly different cultural worlds in Lost in Oaxaca, and she captures both impeccably. Her tangible knowledge of southern Mexico and the intrinsic warmth and communal caring of its indigenous people is without flaw. Every nuance of that culture is perfectly conveyed by the author. Ah, but the plot. A rather spoiled but highly damaged young woman, Camille, a piano teacher living with her mother in Santa Barbara, flies to Oaxaca, Mexico to find and return her recently disappeared student, a natural virtuoso and the key to Camille’s ultimate success. On the way to a small outlying village, the bus Camille is riding on takes its fateful plunge. Thus begin Camille’s cultural education and transformation, and the aforementioned wonderful story so wonderfully told. A virtuoso performance.

Reviewed by Gobi Jane for Readers' Favorite

The Greek Persuasion: A Novel by Kimberly K. Robeson is a wonderful story that explores strong themes with an irresistible appeal to fans of mythology and readers interested in the concept of soulmate. As a young girl, Thair Mylopoulos-Wright learned from her mother that humans were created to be whole and that it was Zeus who cut out a part of them. So, we have to search for our Other Self. Thair is in her thirties and still not feeling completely fulfilled with her partner. Desirous of discovering her authentic Other Half, she begins a spiritual odyssey that takes her to the Greek island of Kythnos for a summer. Alone on the idyllic island, she begins to write stories about her grandmother in Egypt, her mother in Greece, and her own life in America. By looking into the past, can she find the key to unlock the mystery that can lead her to the Other Self?

This is a novel with a beautiful concept, a story that is complex in both plot and the exploration of the themes. In this narrative, the author explores the possibility that humans were created to be self-sufficient until Zeus cut off part of them, which is why they have to find their soulmate to feel complete and contented. The characters are exceptionally developed and I loved discovering Thair, Dita, and Phaedra. Themes of maternity, mother-daughter relationships, and maternal influences are ingeniously developed. It is also interesting how Kimberly K. Robeson explores the influence that fairy tales and our connection with our mothers have when it comes to making decisions in life. The Greek Persuasion: A Novel is beautifully written and Kimberly K. Robeson writes in a voice that is strong and compelling, exploring human sexuality with skill and from unique perspectives. It is original and utterly engaging.

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

The Man on the Rails is a work of fiction in the psychological drama and literary style writing sub-genres and was penned by author Rovshan Abdullaoglu. Written with a dedication to “everyone who does not give up and stands up to cancer and other great challenges”, this is a heartfelt tale exploring human fortitude and emotional strength during times of trial. We begin with a shocking scenario of suicide, an instance that rockets us back into the past to the conflict between Bosnia and Serbia. We meet Adriana, whose life story changes and affirms what the human spirit can endure despite hopelessness, thus affecting the later storylines and bringing everything into perspective.

Author Rovshan Abdullaoglu has crafted a wide perspective on humanity which homes in at the perfect moment to bring us detail and emotional impact as the story progresses. I knew very little about the Bosnian war and the conflicts of the different parties involved, so the novel delivered a lot of historical, cultural, and social perspectives from that time which all readers can benefit from understanding. I was most impressed by the character development, which creates the strong protagonists who underpin every action of the novel, and of course, Adriana stands out as a proud figure who undergoes quite the learning experience. The dialogue was a strong point too, driving important philosophical questions and digging deep into the emotive content of the tale, but remaining realistic and not clichéd. Overall, I would highly recommend The Man on the Rails to readers who appreciate thoughtful literary fiction with a wide-ranging perspective.

Reviewed by Steve Leshin for Readers' Favorite

The Heritage by Jack Michonik (translated from the Spanish by Michael B. Miller) is an epic story of family, hardships, triumphs, life and death, and assimilation. In the year 1961, Leon Edri, a Jewish immigrant from Russia, now living in Larida, Peru, attends the funeral of a close friend and business partner. As he mourns for his friend, Leon thinks back to the time he and his late friend rose up from poverty in the tiny village or “shtetl” of Golochov in Russia. Leon’s birth name is “Lieb”. As a teenager, he decides to leave the shtetl and go to America. After years of travel through Europe with a stay in Paris of all places, “Lieb” becomes “Leon” and finds passage by boat to the small town of Larida. He decides to stay there, and through moxie, determination, and help from other immigrants he meets, Leon Edri finds fortune, but with consequences.

As the title implies, The Heritage’s main emphasis is the struggle for Leon and especially his descendants to keep their heritage. Michonik’s tale encompasses several Jewish families from Golochov who brave the extremely difficult task of leaving the shtetl with meager possessions through the expanse of Russia in the 1920s, only to find language barriers, harsh living conditions, and prejudice on their way to their destination. One character in the story makes the trip to Palestine or “Eretz Israel”. The reader is able to follow the happenings of the different families in the form of letters written to and from close-knit family members. Leon Edri is the main character of the book. Taught by his mother to “never forsake your heritage or your people”, Leon’s journey from a teenager to adulthood takes the reader on quite a journey. The translation from Spanish to English by Miller works to keep the style and flow of Michonik’s prose. All in all, a good read.

Reviewed by Grant Leishman for Readers' Favorite

Brandenburg: A Story of Berlin by James Cloud takes us on a journey through the Germany of the early twentieth century, through the eyes of some ordinary and not so ordinary Berliners. Beginning with the declaration of WWI by Kaiser Wilhelm, we travel through the false bravado and patriotism of a nation at war to explore the horrors and senselessness of the killing fields of Ypres, the Somme and Passchendaele. With the war and the deprivations it brought almost over, the people of Germany must then face, along with the rest of the world, the ravages of the Spanish Flu. What follows is the constraints of the Treaty of Versailles, the incredible hyper-inflation of the early twenties, five years of relative prosperity to be followed by the share-market crash of 1929, and the perfect storm that would see the rise in Germany of two competing ideologies; Communism and its vicious and violent enemy, Nazism and Adolf Hitler. Through the eyes of a young Prussian aristocrat and his beautiful Jewish wife, along with their best friends, a working-class girl and her farming-stock husband, the author examines the class structures and the political pressures that were exerted on Germany during this period that would lead to one of the darkest times in world history.

I particularly enjoyed this simple story of love and family. Brandenburg: A Story of Berlin by James Cloud is set against the momentous events of the first third of the twentieth century. The author clearly is well versed in the city of Berlin and its history. I really appreciated his main characters that represented all stratum of German society. In Herbert, we could see the young, liberal Prussian aristocrat who wanted to go his own way and saw nothing unusual or wrong in falling in love with and marrying a rich young Jewess. That their best friends should be from a working-class and a rural background provided a wonderful counterpoint to the political turmoil that was happening all around them. That their families were able to generally reconcile and accept the breaking down of class, religious and political barriers within German society was well expressed by the author.

This book did a wonderful job, for me, in laying the groundwork for what was soon to plunge Germany and the world into further chaos, as Adolf Hitler was appointed Chancellor in 1933. That this story ended there gives me hope that there is a sequel coming, as I for one am excited to find out what happens to this diverse range of characters as Nazism takes over and dominates Germany for the next ten plus years. I highly recommended this read to all historical fiction buffs and readers in general.

Reviewed by Maria Victoria Beltran for Readers' Favorite

Jugend by Aalia Lanius is a historical fiction novel that is set in 1937 Europe juxtaposed with events unfolding in 2017 in the United States of America. Fourteen-year-old Ernst, an enthusiastic member of the Hitler Youth, is chosen to participate in what is made to look like a bicycle tour of London. But his real task is to spy on a wealthy British family of Jewish descent suspected of sheltering Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany in 1933. Clark, on the other hand, is a young American boy who lost his mother to cancer and his father to the Iraq war. Orphaned and living with his guardian, his dad's friend who is a rabid white supremacist, Clark finds himself spying on a Muslim family that are long-time residents of the US, but branded as terrorists.

Aalia Lanius' Jugend is a riveting tale of two boys innocently caught in historical events that have drastically changed their lives and enormously impacted the very history of the world. Ernst and Clark are two young boys who are forced to make a decision between good and evil when children their age should just be starting to learn the intricacies of life. Fast paced and gripping, Jugend successfully tells a complex and emotional story in a way that is easy to understand. Aalia Lanius' creative writing style is subtle, without a lot of frills, and the result is a novel that is informative, enjoyable and emotionally tugs at the reader's heart. The content of this book is universal and is relevant to any other time in history!

Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite

Sons of the Soil by Lucas Dines is a sweeping historical fiction novel taking place on the cusp of two of the world's most defining moments, the onset of WWI and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. Macedonia in the earliest years of the twentieth century sets the stage for a multiple points of view story about a man, Jon Ahmeti, who will do anything to save his family. At the behest of MacGregor, a British spy, there is little that isn't required of him as he becomes witness to (and a victim of) the atrocities of the Balkan conflict. “We Macedonians are frozen in time, confined to a playground in which Fate continually acts out all of its most sadistic fantasies.”

Dines has done an exceptional job in bringing to life a piece of history that so few seem to know about. Sons of the Soil is epic in both sound and substance, pushing beyond Jon Ahmeti's first-person perspective and cracking open every bloody angle through the eyes of opposing characters. Each allows the reader into the heart and mind of a transgressor, which all are, including Ahmeti in his own forcefully misguided way. I loved Eleni, a strong yet violently damaged Greek rebel, but found Gotse Delchev, a Slavic freedom fighter and leader of the IO, to be the most intriguing. It takes an even-handed, skilled writer to deliver such an ambitious saga, but Dines has done it with a responsible storyline that manages the delicate act of balancing a cataclysmic time in history with a riveting fictional drama. A beautiful novel.

Reviewed by Charles Remington for Readers' Favorite

Short Stories II by Rich DiSilvio is an eclectic collection of tales ranging from the Roman era to the 19th century right up to the modern day. It includes short stories featuring Armand Arnolfini, a high-powered private detective with CIA connections who specializes in art theft and forgery cases. These are followed by the story of a man who appears in court due to a traffic offence, with a surprising twist - a tale so realistic one wonders if it is based on the author’s personal experiences. Next is a harrowing story of a man who, after a road accident, is fully conscious but unable to move a muscle or communicate with his doctors or family in any way, after which follows an intriguing, thought-provoking tale of a Korean war aviator. The collection concludes with four historical vignettes or dramatizations where the founder of the FBI, the Roman Emperor Augustus, Guglielmo Marconi, President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill all make an appearance.

I thoroughly enjoyed the selection of Rich DiSilvio’s works which have been collected in Short Stories II. Well-written with a cast of extraordinary characters, it is a book that you will dip into time and again. A fine collection of tales with many twists and turns, surprising and informative revelations and passages that will make you pause to think. Filled with good dinner party anecdotes, this collection ensures that you will not fail to be enthralled by Mr DiSilvio’s story telling and penmanship. This is my first encounter with this author’s work but I will certainly make a point of looking out for his books in the future.

Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite

Mary Poser: Butterflies and White Lies as Bollywood Comes to Nashville by Angel A is a story of love and commitment between two people who are the polar opposites of one another. What I loved most about this story is the fact that the two characters were so different from each other and yet they remained true to themselves. Neither of them tried to change the other person and that just made the story brilliantly beautiful. It made the story even more enjoyable for me as this helped the story build and become a live entity.

This is the story of Mary and Simha, one a Christian and the other a Hindu, but their hearts want something that their minds will not allow. Mary spent her life being the perfect daughter, the perfect friend and the perfect person for everyone. But when it comes to herself, there is something that she has neglected for far too long. Simha Das came to the USA to make a movie, but he was not expecting to find Mary and fall in love with her. Falling in love with each other is easy, but the cultural and religious differences between them are holding them back. What can these two do? Can their love fight their differences and conquer them?

The story was complex and brilliantly crafted. The differences between these two characters were palpable, yet this made them even more perfect for each other. I enjoyed how these two tried their hardest to become one. At times, I wanted to shake Mary and make her realize what she was missing, but I did not have to do that. She realized it all on her own. This story is perfect! Their connection, their integrity towards themselves and their love for each other made this a beautiful story. Exceptionally good!