This program includes a letter read by the author.
“We the unwilling, led by the unqualified to kill the unfortunate, die for the ungrateful.” (Unknown Soldier)
Set in the South at the height of the Vietnam War, The Unwilling combines crime, suspense, and searing glimpses into the human mind and soul in New York Times best-selling author John Hart’s singular style.
Gibby’s older brothers have already been to war. One died there. The other came back misunderstood and hard, a decorated killer now freshly released from a three-year stint in prison.
Jason won’t speak of the war or of his time behind bars, but he wants a relationship with the younger brother he hasn’t known for years. Determined to make that connection, he coaxes Gibby into a day at the lake: long hours of sunshine and whisky and older women.
But the day turns ugly when the four encounter a prison transfer bus on a stretch of empty road. Beautiful but drunk, one of the women taunts the prisoners, leading to a riot on the bus. The woman finds it funny in the moment, but is savagely murdered soon after.
Given his violent history, suspicion turns first to Jason; but when the second woman is kidnapped, the police suspect Gibby, too. Determined to prove Jason innocent, Gibby must avoid the cops and dive deep into his brother’s hidden life, a dark world of heroin, guns, and outlaw motorcycle gangs.
What he discovers there is a truth more disturbing than he could have imagined: not just the identity of the killer and the reasons for Tyra’s murder, but the forces that shaped his brother in Vietnam, the reason he was framed, and why the most dangerous man alive wants him back in prison.
This is crime fiction at its most raw, an exploration of family and the past, of prison and war and the indelible marks they leave.
A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press
“Another scorcher from Hart…[he] keeps us engaged…subtly folding quiet, character-driven moments into the story while still powering the narrative toward an all-stops-out ending – and a chilling coda.” (Booklist, starred review)
Review
John Hart is an author that I buy his books the day they are released. As a matter of fact I preordered a signed copy of this book before I even started listening to it. He is that good! And this book is his absolute best.
Jason has just been released from prison. He has returned to his hometown just to see his little brother, Gibby. He has a complex relationship with his family. Heck, Jason is a very complex character. He is a Vietnam vet with a high kill rate and huge secrets.
Gibby is a high school senior. His mother has sheltered him from many activities and especially from Jason. When Jason shows back up in his life it opens a whole new world. Then, Tyra, Jason’s girlfriend, is murdered. Gibby is determined to prove that Jason is innocent.
There are so many intricacies in this story. The characters are amazing and believe it or not…Jason was my favorite. He broke my heart with his damaged self. But then he has such strength and intensity. I could not help but be pulled into his orbit.
Wow! Just Wow! I cannot say enough about this story. Captivating, thrilling, mysterious and mesmerizing are just a few words to describe this tale…I could go on and on! And the narrator, Kevin Stillwell is fantastic. He hit just the right level of intensity at the right time! Need a book you cannot put down or an audiobook you do not want to stop listening to…THIS IS IT! You will not be disappointed!
I received this audiobook from the publisher for a honest review.
Coming home dredges up deeply buried secrets in The Survivors, a thrilling mystery by New York Times best-selling author Jane Harper.
Kieran Elliott’s life changed forever on the day a reckless mistake led to devastating consequences.
The guilt that still haunts him resurfaces during a visit with his young family to the small coastal community he once called home.
Kieran’s parents are struggling in a town where fortunes are forged by the sea. Between them all is his absent brother, Finn.
When a body is discovered on the beach, long-held secrets threaten to emerge. A sunken wreck, a missing girl, and questions that have never washed away….
A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books
“[Harper is] a master at creating atmospheric settings, and it’s easy to fall under her spell…. A layered and nuanced mystery.” (Kirkus)
“As always, Harper skillfully evokes the landscape as she weaves a complicated, elegant web, full of long-buried secrets ready to come to light.” (New York Times Book Review)
Review
Kiernan returns home hoping to expel his demons. Instead, a body is found on the beach and it brings back all his hidden secrets.
I am definitely in the minority on this one. I had a hard time with this read. I struggled to follow the narrator and to keep up with all the characters. The story was a slow burn and really did not grip me like I expected. That being said…the ending is worth getting there.
I did have trouble with the narrator’s accent. This usually doesn’t bother me. I just slow down the speed and I do pretty well. But for some reason, this was a hindrance for me.
I received this audiobook from the publisher for a honest review.
From New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller M.J. Rose comes a provocative and moving story of a young female architect in post-World War II Manhattan, who stumbles upon a hidden treasure and begins a journey to discovering her mother’s life during the fall of the Romanovs.
Sophia Moon had always been reticent about her life in Russia and when she dies, suspiciously, on a wintry New York evening, Isobelle despairs that her mother’s secrets have died with her. But while renovating the apartment they shared, Isobelle discovers something among her mother’s effects—a stunning silver tiara, stripped of its jewels.
Isobelle’s research into the tiara’s provenance draws her closer to her mother’s past—including the story of what became of her father back in Russia, a man she has never known. The facts elude her until she meets a young jeweler, who wants to help her but is conflicted by his loyalty to the Midas Society, a covert international organization whose mission is to return lost and stolen antiques, jewels, and artwork to their original owners.
Told in alternating points of view, the stories of the two young women unfurl as each struggles to find their way during two separate wars. In 1915, young Sofiya Petrovitch, favorite of the royal household and best friend of Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna, tends to wounded soldiers in a makeshift hospital within the grounds of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg and finds the love of her life. In 1948 New York, Isobelle Moon works to break through the rampant sexism of the age as one of very few women working in a male-dominated profession and discovers far more about love and family than she ever hoped for.
In M.J. Rose’s deftly constructed narrative, the secrets of Sofiya’s early life are revealed incrementally, even as Isobelle herself works to solve the mystery of the historic Romanov tiara (which is based on an actual Romanov artifact that is, to this day, still missing)—and how it is that her mother came to possess it. The two strands play off each other in finely-tuned counterpoint, building to a series of surprising and deeply satisfying revelations.
Review
Isobelle is a woman in a man’s world. She is an architect in the 1940s. She has worked on one of the government secret projects. But nothing captures her attention quite like what she discovers about her mother. As Isobelle is cleaning out her mother, Sophia’s, room after her death, she comes across a box with a tiara frame. Isobelle has no idea why her mother has this piece or why it has no jewels.
This story follows Isobelle’s quest and her mother’s past. Isobelle has no knowledge about what has transpired during her mother’s past. Sophia would never talk to her about it or even tell her about her father.
I was immediately captivated about the mystery surrounding the tiara. I love a book which has me researching. Then there is the Russian history mingled through out this novel. Talk about wanting to know more!
I have been a huge fan of this author for quite a while. I love her strong women characters, her historical references and her wonderful mysteries. This story captured all of the above plus it has a little romance thrown in.
Need a good historical mystery with a twist….GRAB THIS ONE TODAY!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
From the number-one bestselling author of The Nightingale and The Great Alone comes a powerful American epic about love and heroism and hope, set during the Great Depression, a time when the country was in crisis and at war with itself, when millions were out of work and even the land seemed to have turned against them.
“My land tells its story if you listen. The story of our family.”
Texas, 1921. A time of abundance. The Great War is over, the bounty of the land is plentiful, and America is on the brink of a new and optimistic era. But for Elsa Wolcott, deemed too old to marry in a time when marriage is a woman’s only option, the future seems bleak. Until the night she meets Rafe Martinelli and decides to change the direction of her life. With her reputation in ruin, there is only one respectable choice: marriage to a man she barely knows.
By 1934, the world has changed; millions are out of work and drought has devastated the Great Plains. Farmers are fighting to keep their land and their livelihoods as crops fail and water dries up and the earth cracks open. Dust storms roll relentlessly across the plains. Everything on the Martinelli farm is dying, including Elsa’s tenuous marriage; each day is a desperate battle against nature and a fight to keep her children alive.
In this uncertain and perilous time, Elsa—like so many of her neighbors—must make an agonizing choice: fight for the land she loves or leave it behind and go west, to California, in search of a better life for her family.
The Four Winds is a rich, sweeping novel that stunningly brings to life the Great Depression and the people who lived through it—the harsh realities that divided us as a nation and the enduring battle between the haves and the have-nots. A testament to hope, resilience, and the strength of the human spirit to survive adversity, The Four Winds is an indelible portrait of America and the American dream, as seen through the eyes of one indomitable woman whose courage and sacrifice will come to define a generation.
Review
Elsa lives a life of privilege but she is still in a terrible situation. When she ends up pregnant, her family kicks her out and she moves in with her new husband and his family on their farm. Elsa has no experience in farm life or a family quite like this one.
When life once again takes a terrible turn, Elsa digs deep for strength and makes some tough decisions. After the last dust storm which nearly killed her youngest son, Elsa decides to leave the only true family she has ever known. She loads up her kids and they strike out for California.
Elsa is one tough lady. She struggles to feed her family, to show love, and to just plain survive. She does what it takes. Sometimes it was even too much for me to handle. I would have to set the book aside for a minute and just breathe. My heart goes out to the people who lived during this time period.
Well! I think I have already read the best of the year for me! It is going to be tough to beat this one! What a wild ride this book is. Every emotion you could have…it is experienced within this story. I cannot imagine going through what these people went through.
Do not miss this one! Best of the best! It gives you all the feels!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
Well! I had a fantastic January. I had wonderful escapades and fabulous escapes!
So now…on to the good stuff.
First up…
Escapades
My lovely daughter is getting married in May. We made a an excursion to Brinkley, Arkansas. We went to Lows Bridal and it was such a wonderful experience.
There were tons of fabulous dresses.
And yes….she came home with one!
I also received my first vaccine. I will be honest…I got a little emotional. It is the best way out of this pandemic. I am so ready to travel again. And in Mississippi…it was drive through. Believe it or not, it was easy and quick. Way to go Mississippi!
New York Times bestselling author Charles Belfoure takes readers on a breathless journey from the gilded ballrooms of Imperial Russia to the grim violence of the pogroms, in his latest thrilling historical adventure.
St Petersburg, 1903. Prince Dimitri Markhov counts himself lucky to be a close friend of Tsar Nicholas II and Tsarina Alexandra. Cocooned by the glittering wealth of the Imperial court, the talented architect lives a life of luxury and comfort, by the side of his beautiful but spiteful wife, Princess Lara. But when Dimitri is confronted by the death and destruction wrought by a pogrom, he is taken aback. What did these people do to deserve such brutality? The tsar tells him the Jews themselves were to blame, but Dimitri can’t forget what he’s seen.
Educated and passionate, Doctor Katya Golitsyn is determined to help end Russian oppression. When she meets Dimitri at a royal ball, she immediately recognizes a kindred spirit, and an unlikely affair begins between them. As their relationship develops, Katya exposes Dimitri to the horrors of the Tsar’s regime and the persecution of the Jewish people, and he grows determined to make a stand . . . whatever the cost.
Review
Dmitri, a close friend to Tsar Nicholas, is slowly becoming aware of the travesty of this regime. When a Jewish Pogrom happens in front of his eyes, he is devastated by the loss of life and the destruction. He vows to stop this even if he has to betray his best friend.
If you are familiar with Charles Belefore, you know his stories are a slow burn but worth every minute. And this is the first one I have listened to. I was afraid I would “zone out”. Well, that did not happen! This is a unique story and I was tuned in! I enjoyed the history. Plus, I was captivated by Doctor Katya Golitsyn. She is a strong female character during terrible time.
I also enjoyed reading about how “out of his element” the Tsar actually was. Tsar Nicholas was a very good father and husband but he was not a ruler. He was very out of touch about his country and it lead to his downfall. Also, the Russian aristocracy rules are fascinating indeed!
The narrator, Nancy Peterson, did a fabulous job with the accents and the characters, including the southern accent. I was impressed with her ability. Sometimes a narrator can hinder a story if there are accents. But Nancy definitely nailed it!
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
If you are born into ineffable darkness, could you even comprehend the light? Take one-part volatile home life, two-parts haphazard nomadic experience, zero-parts social connection, and shake well. Our protagonist’s only constant is unpredictability: that, and the charismatic, fundamentalist hammerings from the pulpit. But when a sheltered child goes nuclear? Just pray you are FAR from the exclusion zone. Can a toxic cocktail of compounded trauma, spiritual warfare, and an unfettered nosedive into addiction be overcome? Join Rachel on her passage through the underworld as she searches for the means to reassemble her splintered psyche while wrestling “Against Such Things.”
About the Author
Rachel Baldwin is both a chronic wanderer and a homebody at heart.
She is passionate about criminal justice reform, helping the still-suffering addict, and collecting children.
She is a first-time author, long-time writer. After years of traversing compounded trauma, addiction, and its resulting consequences, she is proudly free of all mood-changing and mind-altering substances.
“Against Such Things” is her first book, and its completion is a lifelong dream fulfilled.
The Irrational Fear Cure is a radical yet visionary book that serves as a blueprint for achieving personal and societal well-being. It is a timely resource for a world living in the age of a global pandemic.
Author Teri Smith-Pickens, a mental health practitioner, interviewed more than 200 people to help them to better understand where their fears and anxieties come from. She shares these stories throughout the book, highlighting how many people are living in survival mode stemming from trauma in childhood, and as adults, who now use obsessive compulsive behaviors to fill voids they feel on the inside.
She outlines what happens to a mind already filled with irrational fears and chronic anxiety when it encounters the rational fear of a pandemic. By unmasking the truth behind these addictions, she gives a deeper understanding of the fears we all face and how to cure them.
Teri makes it clear that it is not part of God’s plan for us to live in our childhood primal brains and remain in bondage to our fears. Instead, He wants us to put on our spiritual anchor and break free from all fears and anxiety.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Teri Smith-Pickens is an award-winning and best-selling author and speaker, in addition to her work as a mental health practitioner and coach. She has inspired and transformed many lives through her coaching, speaking and media appearances. In 2007, Teri had a supernatural revelation that changed the course of her life, giving her unerring courage to confront important, controversial mental health issues in children’s lives and the society at large, giving birth to her book, The Fear Cure in Four Miraculous Steps.
PRAISE:
“The Fear Cure helps readers face their irrational fears, including pandemics or other natural disasters, live in the present, let God worry about tomorrow, live each day as if it is the last, and make prayers and meditation their daily routine. The spiritual undertones in the book help readers understand the power of faith and how fear ceases to exist where there is faith.”
Mamta Madhavan, Readers’ Favorite
“The author offered true insight and deep exploration of a range of timely and urgent issues. The narrative was deeply and thoughtfully researched, and I appreciated the author’s genuine, authentic tone throughout the manuscript. The narrative held my interest throughout, and I liked the real-life examples the author used to illustrate different problems and principles discussed in the chapters. The writing is clear and engaging, and there is good depth to the subject matter, appropriate for a book in this genre.”
Courtney Watson, Editor, Gatekeeper Press
“I can honestly say my life has changed after reading The Fear Cure. It’s like being born again; it is releasing the child that is inside you without sin, without fear. You are able to love, forgive, understand and to surrender because the innocence is there. The grass is greener, the lights brighter, the sun is shining, the trees are taller, and the air is crisp. I have found my serenity. God, what a beautiful feeling.”
Alberto Colon, HCCC, Kearny, NJ
Book Details:
Publisher: Flying Enigma Press
Release Date: January 5, 2021
Format: Paperback
Price: $14.99
Genre: Self-help/Motivational
ISBN-13: 978-0-9761596-0-5
Author’s name: Teri Smith-Pickens
Author’s city: Ridgewood, NJ
Author’s job/title: Mental health practitioner/ Coach/Author/Speaker
Book Title: The Irrational Fear Cure (in Four Miraculous Steps)
The Imperative to Protect Children from Survival Mode Syndrome
By Teri Smith-Pickens
The most significant take away from my book The Irrational Fear Cure is the imperative to protect future generations of children from living permanently in the fear-based system of Survival Mode.
Besides Survival Mode Syndrome’s symptoms of chronic anxiety, mood instability, poor self-esteem, memory deficits, poor sleep habits, issues with trust and faith, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, etc., these children will not only learn habits to keep chronic anxiety at bay but living in this Mode will wreak the most havoc on their health. Over time, they will develop the highest number of cases of allergies, cancer or autoimmune illnesses, due to the stress created by the brain and the body always needing to respond to a sense of “danger” that is irrational. This wreaks havoc on the body’s immune system, is a deadly enemy to achieving success, and causes Spiritual paralysis.
Today most adults use the term “Survival Mode” loosely, concluding that something is wrong with their thinking and their behavior, especially, the part that is fear-based. However, the process of entry into Survival Mode starts soon after birth with the young child’s under-developed brain where they do not have the capacity to understand the context of most of the things that happen to them. Things like corporal punishment, being exposed to media and other adult rated issues, sex abuse, the threats of siblings, parents yelling or being impatient when stressed when the child misbehaves, etc.
During this early period of childhood, many of children’s day-to-day experiences are interpreted by their “primitive” brain as potentially dangerous – even ones that are not! This is why they need adult intervention to PREVENT their primitive brain from becoming frozen in a “protective posture” even when there is NO imminent threat or danger.
The term “irrational” describes feeling fear and experiencing the physical and psychological responses to it but there is no imminent threat, no real danger. This can result in the child entering and staying permanently in Survival Mode, having all the symptoms of Survival Mode Syndrome.
Why the children? Take a look at the increased incidences of school-aged children having ADHD, ADD, chronic anxiety, behavior issues, and being prescribed medication. About 80 percent of children who need medication for ADHD still need it as teenagers.
Estimates on the number of children diagnosed with ADHD in the U.S. have changed over the years. Per a 2014 CDC study:
In 2003, 7.8 percent of children were ever diagnosed with ADHD
In 2007: 9.5 percent
In 2011: 11 percent
Related conditions:
Nearly two thirds of children with ADHD have at least one other condition.
51.5 percent of children with ADHD have behavioral or conduct problems
32.7 percent have anxiety problems
16.8 percent have depression
13.7 percent have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
1.2 percent have Tourette syndrome
About 45 percent have a learning disorder
Children with ADHD are 12 times more likely to have Loss of Control Eating Syndrome (LOC-ES), a type of eating disorder similar to binge eating disorder in adults.
This is because they were not protected from their primal fears which caused their brain to be frozen in a protective posture and remain in Survival Mode. They grow up but ADHD and other symptoms continue to define Survival Mode Syndrome.
Adult ADHD diagnosis rates are also rising. ADHD diagnoses among adults are growing four times faster than are ADHD diagnoses among children in the United States (26.4 percent increase among children compared to 123.3 percent among adults).
Today’s society is exploring “mindfulness” to counter the above symptoms as an initiative in early school but that is just a band-aid. Instead, the best solution is prevention.
Protect children from the experiences of their primal brain during the formative years.
Teri Smith-Pickens is an award-winning and best-selling author and speaker, in addition to her work as a mental health practitioner and coach. She has inspired and transformed many lives through her coaching, speaking and media appearances. In 2007, Teri had a supernatural revelation that changed the course of her life, giving her unerring courage to confront important, controversial mental health issues in children’s lives and the society at large, giving birth to her book, The Fear Cure in Four Miraculous Steps.
Forced into retirement, Evan Smoak gets an urgent request for help from someone he didn’t even suspect existed—in Prodigal Son, the next New York Timesbestselling Orphan X book from Gregg Hurwitz.
As a boy, Evan Smoak was pulled out of a foster home and trained in an off-the-books operation known as the Orphan Program. He was a government assassin, perhaps the best, known to a few insiders as Orphan X. He eventually broke with the Program and adopted a new name—The Nowhere Man—and a new mission, helping the most desperate in their times of trouble. But the highest power in the country has made him a tempting offer—in exchange for an unofficial pardon, he must stop his clandestine activities as The Nowhere Man. Now Evan has to do the one thing he’s least equipped to do—live a normal life.
But then he gets a call for help from the one person he never expected. A woman claiming to have given him up for adoption, a woman he never knew—his mother. Her unlikely request: help Andrew Duran—a man whose life has gone off the rails, who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, bringing him to the deadly attention of very powerful figures. Now a brutal brother & sister assassination team are after him and with no one to turn to, and no safe place to hide, Evan is Duran’s only option. But when the hidden cabal catches on to what Evan is doing, everything he’s fought for is on the line—including his own life.
Review
Evan, or Orphan X, or Nowhere Man, has been in retirement. Now, out of the blue, he receives a call for help. This call came from someone he had no idea existed…his mother. This stirs up more feelings than he expected but he has to reel them in to save Andrew Duran.
Andrew has gotten himself in a mess and he has no idea how he got there. My heart went out to Andrew from the first paragraph. He is a guy with a heart and just pure bad karma. And the mystery surrounding Andrew and Evan kept me fascinated. And how does Evan’s real mother fit in…must read this to find out.
I love the Orphan X series. No, I have not read them all and I need to fix this soon, especially after reading this novel. I love Evan. There is not a better strong, silent type than this character. Plus….he is smart and he can fight! The fight scenes in a book are usually ones I kind of skim. But not when it involves, Evan. He truly takes no prisoners.
Need a quick, fast paced thriller…oh boy! You do not want to miss this one.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
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