FAVORITE QUOTE FROM FIRST CHAPTER:
 
In forty-four seconds, tens of thousands of people will have their lives shattered in an instant. In forty-four seconds, a twenty-four-year-old Russian emigre, Kaleria Palchikoff, will be in the center of a horrendous conflatration never before unleashed in human history. 

Kaleria Palchikoff is my mom.


BOOK COVER:

Superb cover with I'm supposing is Kaleria on the cover with the bombing in the background - spectacular!

FIRST CHAPTER REVIEW:
 
The first chapter opens with the 393rd Bomb Squadron carrying a top-secret weapon that is so top-secret they were not even briefed on what kind of weapon for fear this secret mission gets into the wrong hands and is not successful. Truth be known, the Enola Gray is about to drop its first atomic bomb ever used in war on Japan. At 8:09 in the morning, the air raid sirens in Hiroshima begin to wail. The people of Hiroshima hear the sirens but tend to ignore them as they go off very frequently. However, right on time, the mission is a success and "tens of thousands of people will have their lives shattered in an instant." This is when we are introduced to 24-year-old Kaleria Palchikoff and this is her story.

From this first chapter, the reader will come away with a thirst for more. 

KEEP READING?

I'm definitely going to finish this one! 

Amazon → 

https://amzn.to/2DHTSue

 

 

Meet The Authors

Anthony “Tony” Drago was born in Camden, New Jersey and spent much of his early childhood at his paternal grandparents Italian grocery store. From a young age, his mother, Kaleria Palchikoff Drago, would tell him the captivating story of her journey from Russia to Japan and then to the United States. It created Tony’s foundation for his love of history—especially his family’s history—bringing him to write this book.

After retiring in 2006, Tony doubled down on his passions—flying his airplane, restoring his classic car, and traveling the world with his wife, Kathy. Tony and Kathy have been married for forty-five years. They have three adult children and enjoy spending their days on the beach in their hometown of Carmel, California with their eight grandchildren and dogs, Tug and Maggie. For more information about Kaleria and the book, visit http://www.survivinghiroshima.com.

Douglas Wellman was a television producer-director for 35 years, as well as dean of the film school at the University of Southern California. He currently lives in Southern Utah with his wife, Deborah, where he works as a chaplain at a local hospital when he isn’t busy writing books.

For more information on Doug and the books he has written, visit his website at http://www.douglaswellmanauthor.com.

Searching for his great-grandparents’ graves in a hidden cemetery outside Prague makes him recall his experiences of becoming American: listening to Army Counterintelligence agents gathered at his family home in Austria; a tense encounter with Russian soldiers during the post-war occupation; seeing Jim Crow racism in the South during his first visit to the United States; becoming an American citizen in his teens; having his citizenship challenged by border guards; fearing for his new country upon witnessing the Watts riots in Los Angeles; advancing the American dream as a real estate lawyer, helping develop entire new communities; and rising to leadership positions in organizations shaping government policies around some of the most important issues of our time.

Becoming American won the 2020 Discovery Award for best political writing from an independent publisher. It features a foreword by bestselling author Edith Eger.

FAVORITE QUOTE FROM FIRST CHAPTER:
 
Although the slaughter was over, the guns were silent, and the armies mostly had gone home, I lived amid the aftermath of the war — the bombed cities being rebuilt, the Hitlerhaus that cast a cloud over my hometown, my refugee nanny Herma, displaced persons in squatters’ camps, and concentration camp survivors piecing their lives back together.


BOOK COVER:

I personally absolutely love the cover and find it fitting for this book. It looks like a path leading to America. Very clever.

FIRST CHAPTER REVIEW:
 
Again so fitting, the first chapter opens with the author and his daughter looking for the graves of his paternal grand-parents in a long-closed Jewish cemetery near Strakonice, in the countryside south of Prague. They reach the cemetery only to find it locked and they can't get in. This is when the author gives us a little back story telling us why it was so important to find these graves. The author takes us back to the Holocaust remembering stories of his father's narrow escape from Vienna on the eve of WWII and of his mother's years in hiding during the war and her narrowing escape. The author takes us back to his childhood in Austria in which The Iron Curtain blocked them off from their roots for years. He remembers "Although the slaughter was over, the guns were silent, and the armies mostly had gone home, I lived amid the aftermath of the war - the bombed cities being rebuilt, the Hitlerhaus that cast a cloud over my hometown, my refugee nanny Herma, dsplaced persons in squatters' camps, and concentration camp survivors piercing their lives back together."

The author tells us about two weeks earlier when his late father's older sister, Mimi, wanted him to do something very important to her - find the graves of the author's great-grandparents and see if they are alright.

The very end of the chapter, when they feel somewhat defeated because they can't seem to get into the graveyard, his daughter tells him to climb the wall. And that's where the chapter ends and the journey begins.

KEEP READING?

I'm telling you - on this first chapter alone which is powerful in itself - I am dying to read the rest of the book. I'm so into the Holocaust for sure but the author has a way with words and makes me want to finish the book. When I'm finished, I'll write up a proper review. Overall, with this first chapter, it grabbed me in so much that I'm going to have to finish it soon and I can't wait. Well done!

Amazon → 

https://amzn.to/3njh97y

 

 

Cary Lowe is the author of the award-winning book Becoming American: A Political Memoir. He has published over fifty essays on political and civic issues in major newspapers, as well as professional reports and articles in professional journals.

Mr. Lowe is a retired California land use lawyer with 45 years of experience representing public agencies, developers, Indian tribes, and non-profit organizations. He holds a law degree and a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. He taught courses in law and urban planning at USC, UCLA, and UC San Diego, and he writes and lectures on land use and environmental issues. In addition to his legal experience, Mr. Lowe is a credentialed mediator affiliated with the Land Use & Environmental Mediation Group of the National Conflict Resolution Center.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Website:  https://carylowewriter.com/

A man wakes up in present-day Alaskan wilderness with no idea who he is, nothing on him save an empty journal with the date 1898 and a mirror. He sees another man hunting nearby, astounded that they look exactly alike. After following this other man home, he witnesses a wife and child that brings forth a rush of memories of his own wife and child, except he’s certain they do not exist in modern times—but from his life in the late 1800s. After recalling his name is Wyatt, he worms his way into his doppelganger Travis Barlow’s life. Memories become unearthed the more time he spends, making him believe that he’d been frozen after coming to Alaska during the Gold Rush and that Travis is his great-great grandson. Wyatt is certain gold still exists in the area and finding it with Travis will ingratiate himself to the family, especially with Travis’s wife Callie, once Wyatt falls in love. This turns into a dangerous obsession affecting the Barlows and everyone in their small town, since Wyatt can’t be tamed until he also discovers the meaning of why he was able to be preserved on ice for over a century.

A meditation on love lost and unfulfilled dreams, The Ancestor is a thrilling page-turner in present day Alaska and a historical adventure about the perilous Gold Rush expeditions where prospectors left behind their lives for the promise of hope and a better future. The question remains whether it was all worth the sacrifice….

FAVORITE QUOTE FROM FIRST CHAPTER:
 
The nightmare vanished along with the sun rising like a bride’s pretty little hand on his grizzled cheek.

BOOK COVER:

Loved the cover. It makes you cold - real cold.

FIRST CHAPTER REVIEW:
 
A man wakes up in an unfamiliar place not even knowing who he is. This first chapter gives us a taste of the author's story by allowing us to get into the main character through powerful imagery. If you're squeemish - hey the guy is hungry, you know? - the wolf part as tempting as it was to read and find out what happened, don't. That's if you're squeemish but it's a food source to the man who is cold and doesn't even remember the last time he ate, or even who he is. Powerful first chapter.

KEEP READING?

Of course I'd keep reading! I need to find out where the guy from and his purpose. It's going to be yummy!

Amazon → https://amzn.to/31Oays9

 

 

 

Lee Matthew Goldberg is the author of the novels THE DESIRE CARD, THE MENTOR, and SLOW DOWN. He has been published in multiple languages and nominated for the 2018 Prix du Polar. The second book in the Desire Card series, PREY NO MORE, is forthcoming, along with his Alaskan Gold Rush novel THE ANCESTOR. He is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of Fringe, dedicated to publishing fiction that’s outside-of-the-box. His pilots and screenplays have been finalists in Script Pipeline, Book Pipeline, Stage 32, We Screenplay, the New York Screenplay, Screencraft, and the Hollywood Screenplay contests. After graduating with an MFA from the New School, his writing has also appeared in the anthology DIRTY BOULEVARD, The Millions, Cagibi, The Montreal Review, The Adirondack Review, The New Plains Review, Underwood Press, Monologging and others. He is the co-curator of The Guerrilla Lit Reading Series and lives in New York City. Follow him at leematthewgoldberg.com

WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:

Website: http://www.leematthewgoldberg.com

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/LeeMatthewG

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/leemgol

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53472461-the-ancestor

OUR FRIENDSHIP MATTERS
Kimberley B. Jones
Rhetoric Askew Publishing, LLC
YA

Two teenage friends, Sasha and Leah, live a comfortable life in the affluent St. Louis suburbs. They attend a well-established private Christian academy and the only thing on their mind as they enter their senior year is graduation and their senior prom. When tragedy strikes, however, the best friends are torn apart because of social tensions, ignorance, miscommunications, and fear.

Our Friendship Matters reveals a fictional story mirroring real-life cultural tensions and racial injustice – a young black boy, Mitchell, is mistaken for someone else and tragically killed by police. Tensions rise among the community, citizens are angry. One night, while Sasha is out, she sees her old childhood friend protesting the death of Mitchell. Curious about him and wondering if there is anything, she could do to become involved, Sasha talks to her friends about it. Sasha’s white friends are not interested in getting involved and her parents forbid her from taking part. Sasha’s makes a momentous decision to go against all the advice she is given and joins her old friends in protest. The fight for justice in Mitchell’s name causes a rift in her relationships.

An argument with Leah drives a wedge between them and leads Leah to take the opposite viewpoint, taking sides with those who are supporting different viewpoints, while Sasha’s boyfriend is jealous of the time she is spending with her old friends, he breaks off their relationship. The girlfriends, one black and one white, are unaware of an escalating war between the groups they support, and chaos and fear continue—lines are drawn and sides are chosen.

Our Friendship Matters is a beautifully thoughtful coming-of-age story about two friends who are forced to take a deeper look at their culture through different angles. The easy-to-read story is full of drama, well-rounded characters and a positive narrative that will engage readers of all ages

As I pulled up into Ricardo’s driveway, Victoria and two other girls who attended Eastview were standing there holding signs that said, “Justice for Mitchell.” I was sweating more than ever. Scared of both the police and the girls I didn’t even know who were going to be getting into my car.

“I didn’t know you were doing signs. I would’ve made me one.”

Ricardo and some guys were busy placing things in the car's trunk.

“Are you okay? The time is now,” said Ricardo.

“I’m ready but a little nervous, too.”

“You shouldn’t be nervous. All we are going to do is go downtown and making a statement that we want justice. Once we are done, we’ll come back home. I won’t let anything happen to you but, if something breaks out, I need you to look for Victoria and get in your car and go home. And if something happens to me, I need you to look for Victoria then go to my house and warn my peeps.”

As the girls got into my car, Victoria told me I could march, and chant the same thing they were planning on saying.

I was missing Leah. This could have been a positive moment that we could’ve shared together. I was still hoping she would come to her senses and realize that our fight from our disagreement was all crazy.

We arrived downtown, and I parked in the garage.

“Why didn’t you park on the streets?” Victoria said.

“My parents always told me to park in the garage so nothing would happen to my car.”

She laughed at me and said, “Well, you are driving a Mercedes. I would do the same if I had an expensive car.”

 

 

 

Amazon → https://amzn.to/2RKybNF

 

 

Kimberley B. Jones is a small country girl from St. George, SC. She followed her heart in college writing children books. Recently she decided to challenge herself and branch off to novels. She is your typical nomad who moves from place to place. Not by choice, but her husband serves in the military. She has a bachelors and masters in early childhood education. Kimberley is represented by Rhetaskew Publishing company and is best known for her debut novel, Our Friendship Matters. When she is not writing, she is either thinking of another topic or reading. She loves writing, it gives her a chance to escape into another human character and express herself, other than being your typical mother and wife. If you don’t want to be on her bad side, then she needs her white chocolate mocha every morning. Some days Folgers breakfast blend coffee is okay.

Website: www.kimberleybjones.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KimberleyBJones

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kimberley.jones.3762584