"Remember Me", by Mario Escobar

                                                   

                                                     A Spanish Civil War Novel

     
1936-1939

The Spanish Civil War is referred to as one of the bloodiest wars of the twentieth century. Mr. Escobar’s novelization of the events is told by Marco, a fictional survivor and one of the 500 children that were relocated via ship to Mexico to escape the violence.

At what cost do you protect your child?

“Remember Me” is the story of the Alcalde family and focusses mainly on the children: Marco, Isabel and Ana who traveled across the sea without their parents only to be trapped in a country far from their homeland. Based on true events and documents we follow the siblings through their ordeal. Life was not easy, they had to endure hunger, beating and even kidnapping...their overall situation was horrible. The Alcade family represents the lives of thousands of families who were separated ... many children trying to survive alone and many parents suffering from having to let them go.

The story is told in three parts: the first deals with the Civil War in Spain, the second the children evacuation to Mexico and the last part covers the life in Spain under Franco’s rules. At the end of the book we have the author’s clarifications of the factual events from those needed to fit into his narrative and the final chapter gives a timeline of significant events during that period. The research is outstanding.

Mr. Escobar writing style is simple; his fluency of words and charged phrases will strike a chord in your heart, it did for me.

This is a great historical fiction

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher Thomas Nelson via Netgalleys the opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

"In the End", by John W. Mefford

                                               Ivy Nash book #6

                                   Redemption Thriller book # 12

This is the final novel in the Ivy Nash series and the most captivating story penned by Mr. Mefford.

It opens with Ivy being asked to find a missing daughter without the help of the authorities. The parents being illegal immigrants are deeply worried to be deported if the police are involved. Ivy will do her best to find the girl but it is not as easy as one may think. With Stan unofficially helping her working the case they soon stumble into satanic rituals going on and around the school and the local church......Creepy and macabre.

Mr. Mefford is extremely descriptive of the setting and knows how to make his characters leap off the pages. The story features a diverse set of characters but my favourite still are Ivy and her teenage sidekick Christina. Both grew throughout the series I hate to part with them but it is what it is... As I was flipping the pages I could visualise the action as it developed...yes, gruesome in parts but what a twisted imagination this author has. My heart rate kept going up and down ..grrrr.. but when a story is filled with action, has several plot twists and full of surprise what more can you ask....

I enjoyed the Ivy Nash series and looking forward to reading the 3rd set of thrillers in the Redemption series “Ozzie Novak Thrillers”.

I wish to thank John W. Mefford for sending me the 6 books in this series for my enjoyment.

"The Berlin Girl", by Mandy Robotham

This is a heart-wrenching story of a young woman, an English reporter, who puts herself in the line of fire as the world is about to be forever changed. Germany is on the brink of war. The story is set in Berlin 1938, at the height of summer and last till early Fall 1939.
After witnessing innocent people being torn from their home, Goergie Young along with her colleague, Max Spencer, needed to do something. As they dug deeper they uncovered the truth about Hitler’s Germany and through their eyes we see a world swathed in red flags and crawling with Nazis.

I was totally taken by this story; I simply couldn’t put it aside. Within the opening pages I was hooked and stayed eager to know what was in store for Goergie as she navigated her journalistic life during the Nazi occupation. Reporter’s work was not only censured by the Reich but the home office took great care not to offend the Germans by publishing what they thought were not based on fact reports; they wanted photos as proof before publishing anything, in fact Georgie and Max were also censured at home. Leaving the rest of the world oblivious to what really was going on.

There is a lot going on beyond the copious amounts of booze, smoking and yes strudel as Georgie bonded with her fellow journalists. She soon made friends with Sam at the British Embassy while she was involved with a German officer, but of course, this relationship eventually put her in extreme danger and the story behind is more than captivating. My favourite secondary character was Rubin a Jewish man who drove Georgie around the city till he no longer was permitted. The voices were essentially of Goergie but from time to time Rubin took center stage as he got more involved. By the end, along with his family, Goergie helped him escape Germany. I could continue but I rather you read this novel for yourself: discovering Ms. Robotham vision of events is what makes this novel a must read.

This historical novel is well-written and has sympathetic and likeable characters and we have quite a few to follow. Being during this difficult period in time the story plays with our emotions: although a truth spoken without drama. We have some elements of mystery, suspense and romance all perfectly balanced. This novel wraps up with a brilliant epilogue: closure for all....

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Avon Books UK via Netgalleys the opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

"Acceptable Risk", by Lynette Eason

Book #2, in the Danger Never Sleeps series

This romantic suspense novel is another winner, a story that is as gripping and as hard to put down as its predecessor “Collateral Damage”. No worries book#2 has its own intriguing story and stands perfectly on its own.

A brief summary

Journalist Sarah Denning, barely back home after being held hostage overseas, digs into her brother’s death after he committed suicide. With the help of former Army ranger Gavin Black they race to peel back layers of lies to uncover the truth but along the way Sarah’s enemies seek to silence her....

My take

The storyline weaves together a nonstop thrill ride, a blend of suspense, mystery, intrigue. Along the way, the author has softened her narrative with light romantic threads. Through her protagonists and her plotline, the author masterfully tells the military life and the struggles the veterans have to face dealing with VA hospital once they are home. This story deals with hard but realistic issues that may not be easy to read: such as PTSD, hostage situations and suicide. By the end the piece of the puzzle connects and the higher than usual death are linked to a single VA hospital... What a perfect blend of betrayal and greed. Although we may be into a conspiracy hard to believe but the cat and mouse game played out by believable characters is definitely what drive this suspense.

“Acceptable Risk” gives us an enjoyable fast-paced scenarios peppered with emotions from start to finish. It is told in third person alternating between Gavin and Sarah, the chapters are fairly short making this a quick read.

Although this book is a Christian novel, the story does not overwhelm us with faith elements. The plot has the perfect structure to be Hallmark Movies and Mysteries Channel’s new drama. I was highly invested throughout.

I received a copy of this book from the Publisher Revell Books via the First Reviewer Program for my thoughts

"The Girl Who Lived twice", by David Lagercrantz

                                                                Millennium book # 6

We have two stories to follow in this last installment: one involves the death of a beggar who had previously accosted Mikael Blomkvist, the editor of the journal Millennium and in the second we find out the reasons why Lisbeth Salander has somewhat disappeared from Mikael’s life and as created a cat and mouse game in which he is used as fair game.

Most of the narrative follows Mikael Blomkvist. The book opens with Mikael so tired and fed up trying to finish an article about a Russian oligarch when he gets a call telling him that his phone number was found in the pocket of a dead beggar in the wooded area. He turned up to be a Nepalese Sherpa... Then the novel meanders quite a bit with Salander appearing from time to time to mainly help Mikael with technical support as he goes about with his interviews.....eventually the story reveals unexpected connections and is more captivating...

While in the secondary plot we have Camilla, the evil twin sister, with her GRU cohorts tracking down Lisbeth in order to exact revenge. No worries about seeing blood and gore apart rolling political opponents into cremation oven alive there is not much other howling going on...of course...till the final confrontation....”When two bitches fight, only one will survive”.

This story leaves me hot and cold, at time captivating and at time dragging way too much. All of this drama unfolds with prose that is somewhat stilted and with plots that make little sense. This story is needlessly complex bogging down in a sea of names. Too often I had to pause and reread in order to place the character or go to the detailed list at the beginning to make sense of what’s going on. . Furthermore and as a side note, I think the ability of both the protagonists to take a hell of a kicking and somehow survive another day is a heck of a stretch.....What more can I say....

"Cometh the Hour", by Jeffrey Archer

 The Clifton Chronicles # 6

Mr. Archer’s spins a cracking yarn with his sixth volume and has plunged us even deeper into a very intense tale of spies, politics, love and most of all unlimited intrigue. “Cometh the Hour” continues the events of the fictitious Clifton and Barrington families now the characters have reached the 1970s. Although this story can be read on its own I would highly suggest not doing so as this latest follows the events of the previous book.

All stories have started with a bang and ended in a cliff-hanger, this latest is no exception...What tumultuous lives they lead and what intense reading it is navigating through the pages reading Emma facing a vicious legal battles while her husband Harry is still determined to get “Uncle Joe” published and his author, poet Anatoly Babakov released from the Soviet gulag. Her brother, Giles Barrington will do anything to get his lover out of East Germany but is Karen in love or a well disguised spy...what a hot topic...The story will not let us forget that it wouldn’t be so captivating and be such a page turner if it were not for the conniving Lady Virginia. You will enjoy reading what she is up to...Of course Emma’s son Sebastian is in love with a beautiful Indian girl with powerful parents who will go to any ends to keep them apart, another captivating saga we follow. Andrian Sloane and Desmond Mellor, Sebastian’s rivals, have insidious schemes waiting for him...What a bunch of back stabbers.....Not a moment of peace....What a bunch of fascinating characters.

The characters’ stories intertwined with historical events of the period such as the Cold war and Margaret Thatcher’s political ascent. While some chapters focus on British political and international espionage others will on corporate espionage and financial crime and some will give us more social commentary of the time. The portrayal of these different views is really what keeps the story fresh and engaging.

This is another story terribly hard to put down. I simply

 

loved it