James Markert

This book absolutely immersed me in the dust bowl experience, and in a good way. It is the story of twin brothers Jeremiah and and Josiah Goodbye who long ago had a falling out when Josiah turned Jeremiah in to the police for four murders he did not commit. Jeremiah wins a reprieve when the electrocution that was supposed to kill him runs awry and he escapes. He travels back to Nowhere Oklahoma to take revenge against his brother and on the way picks up/rescues a young non verbal boy named Peter. When the dust settles on the brothers feud they have a truce of sorts. Jeremiah decides to stay in Nowhere and he and Peter move in to an abandoned home in town. Dust storms are common and sometimes deadly and the town people are just about done in by them, many of them have given up, but that is where Peter and Jeremiah can do their best work and help the towns people survive the hideous dust. There are elements of magical realism and the age old fight between good and evil interwoven throughout the story and I really, really liked these tropes. I love a story with a little bit of supernatural thrown in the mix. The characters are all well fleshed out and believable and I loved the underlying message of 'kindness breeds kindness'. The narrator was excellent and gave voice to each individual character. The author James H. Markert's writing and story telling style reminds me a little of one of my favorite authors Michael McDowell, although not as dark. I can highly recommend this book, especially the audio version.

Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher Dreamscape Media for an ARC of this highly entertaining audiobook.… (mais)

My Review:

Genre: Historical, fantasy, post-WWII.

My Rating and recommendation: Since I did not finish this book I will not give a rating or recommendation as that would be unfair to the publisher, author, and even possible readers that may want to check this book out but a poor rating turned them away.

My Thoughts: I enjoyed this book and read until late 80-ish, I stopped reading because of personal views but before that I had enjoyed the book, and I liked the characters and wanted to know more. Chapter 1 opened with an extremely gripping scene of a man returning from war, which I loved! Even though I didn't finish the book I can say that I enjoyed the beginning. Plus, I fell in love with the cover but read my warnings to see if you want to read it for yourself, there are spoilers so read on with caution.

Warnings: Where to start? I was all right with the mentions of Greek gods since they're just myths . . . but when a character had memories of people from hundreds if not a thousand years before, I was disturbed. There was also the fact that the same character remembered when they were a baby, not even a few months old. I couldn't finish it after that and am sad about it as I had enjoyed the book so far otherwise. There are mentions of nude statues.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”… (mais)

Enter the days of prohibition and bootlegging.

Set in a small South Carolina town, Bellhaven in the 1920s this is a historical fiction with a touch of fantasy and horror.

I have to say I did find this to be a rather odd book with a mix of romance, war, religious symbolism, magic, and baseball! Touching on issues such as racism and hate crimes. A pretty eclectic range of things all wrapped up in one book where the main theme running through it being Good v Evil.

It takes place after WWI in a small town near Charleston with a mysterious chapel in the woods that people can communicate with their departed loved ones. The 'healing floor' feels like a slice of heaven to the townspeople...until it slowly starts to turn the townspeople malicious.

With some quirky characters, some not so likeable this is a compelling story bringing the characters to live and the book draws you right into Bellhaven.

Reminiscent of Stephen King's Needful Things this is a somewhat unique, mystifying read but all in all I am glad I read it!

Many thanks to the author James Markert, publishers Thomas Nelson--FICTION and NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest, independent review.… (mais)

At the outset I had a feeling of déjà vu – that I read something similar a long time ago. This similarity I thought, was to Stephen King’s Needful Things, but when I refreshed my memory of King’s book I realised the only real similarity was the house (and evil presence) on the top of the hill overlooking a township.

All Things Bright and Strange is more mystical than horror although like many of King’s books it is based around a struggle between good and evil.

There are a plethora of characters in this book - too many it seems for some readers based on their reviews but I found them interesting and their diversity integral to the storyline.
… (mais)