Tag: 5 stars

When Darkness Comes by John Anthony Miller

Title: When Darkness Comes Author: John Anthony Miller Pub Date: 8-Jul-2016 Rating: 5 Stars
Title: When Darkness Comes
Author: John Anthony Miller
Pub Date: 8-Jul-2016
Rating: 5 Stars

When Darkness Comes is another brilliant historical novel from John Anthony Miller. The story is fiction but the facts surrounding it are all too real. The story is about three people who are working for the French Resistant in Paris during World War II.  Each person has a reason to loath the Germans.  Yet, not all Parisians feel this way and some even profit from the occupation. In this kind of atmosphere it is difficult to know who you can trust. Your neighbor, a coworker, anyone can turn you over to the Gestapo.

In this incredibly dangerous environment, Rachel a young Jewish girl and her family barely escape Paris with their lives. The Resistant helps to resettle them in the country side with new identities. Yet, Rachel feels a strong need to help put an end to the Nazi occupation and decides to return to Paris to help the Resistant. Together with Claire, a book store owner, whose husband was killed during the initial invasion of France and Paul, a banker, whose wife and daughter where murdered by the Nazis, they work to gather information that will assist the Allies. After a dangerous turn of events, Rachel becomes involved with helping other Jews escape Paris via the underground tunnels in Paris. All is going smoothly when disaster strikes and it could cost all three their lives.

The story is truly a nail biting, suspenseful ride and you will not want to put it down. The story moves quickly and not all the characters are what they seem. Wonderfully written and sure to keep any reader up into the wee hours of the morning to finish. I was almost disappointed when I got to the end. It was that good!

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Risen by Ron Rash

Title: The Risen Author: Ron Rash Pub Date: 16-Sep-2016 Rating: 5 Stars
Title: The Risen
Author: Ron Rash
Pub Date: 16-Sep-2016
Rating: 5 Star

The Risen is another Ron Rash novel that the prose just sings off the page. Rash never fails to disappoint me in his use of descriptive verse. He so easily transports me to the stage of his characters. It was as if I was sitting on that river bank soaking my toes in the icy waters of the mountain stream known as Panther Creek. The story itself is rather quiet and ambles along at a nice pace and then before you know it you have reached the end. Then I exhale in a long sigh because it is always bittersweet to come to the end of a story well told.

The book is both a coming of age story and a murder mystery wrapped up in one neat package.  The story revolves around two brothers, Eugene and Bill Matney, 16 and 20 respectively, and one pivotal summer in 1969. Bill is home from Wake Forest for the summer and he and Eugene have gone fishing after church, as they do every Sunday, when they meet Ligiea. Ligiea, 17 herself, has been exiled by her parents to her Uncle’s in rural Western North Carolina in an attempt to remove her from the drugs and counterculture of the 60s she has been involved in at Daytona Beach.

For these young boys/men, she is a temptress. She is worldly to their innocence and Eugene is captivated by her. With her, he experiences alcohol, drugs and sex for the first time. Bill, is much less progressive, while at first he joins in, later, after his girlfriend visits, he under goes a metamorphosis. A sibling rivalry of sorts ensues and the brothers drift apart.

Years later, Eugene is an alcoholic and his brother is a prominent surgeon in Asheville and though the physical distance between them is short, in reality, they are worlds apart. Then the unimaginable happens, a body is found near the spot where they fished that summer in 1969. The remains are identified as Ligiea’s. The police start asking questions. She can’t be dead, Eugene knows Ligiea was on a bus bound for Florida.

I have had this book on my desk for over a month. I kept putting it off for others that were more pressing. Now I want to read it again. Great Stuff!