Author: victor
A Lesser Light: A Novel by Peter Geye

Review by Michael Carrier Peter Geye, in his novel A Lesser Light, has served up to his readers a well-constructed and entertaining chunk of his heart—and it’s a sizable chunk at that. Here Geye not only demonstrates his amazing ability to put words and sentences together in a deeply compelling fashion…
Death’s Door: The Truth Behind the Italian Hall Disaster and the Strike of 1913 (Second Edition) by Steve Lehto

Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Steve Lehto’s “Death’s Door: The Truth Behind the Italian Hall Disaster and the Strike of 1913 (Second Edition)” offers a detailed account of the 1913 Christmas Eve mayhem and the corruption behind the strike in the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan. The peninsula is located in the northwestern…
The Coca-Cola Trail: People and Places in the History of Coca-Cola, by Larry Jorgensen
Dead Silence by Craig Brockman

Review by John Austin About a hundred pages into Craig Brockman’s recent thriller Dead Silence, the reader and the complicated “hero” of the story meet the book’s most splendidly rendered character: Ma’ii, the trickster coyote spirit who eventually resolves the plot, albeit in confounding fashion, and not necessarily to everyone’s…
Gentlemen of the Woods: Manhood, Myth, and the American Lumberjack, by Willa Hammitt Brown
The Adventures of ArgyLe Sock by M. Kelly Peach

Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Evil forces trapped animate objects in a Misplaced Universe in M. Kelly Peach’s book The Adventures of ArgyLe Sock. The animate objects varied from articles of clothing and socks to metal items such as paper clips, scissors, and clipboards. These objects could speak, move around,d and have…
The Mysteries of Marquette, by Tyler R. Tichelaar
The Death of Tintagiles Death by M. Kelly Peach

Reviewer: Sharon Brunner M. Kelly Peach told a tragic story of a puppet and its master, a story filled with mournful memories, creative endeavors, and deadly delusions. It is staged in Detroit with an unsure timeline, probably a time when puppet shows with marionettes were popular. Kyle, the main character,…
Roots in Water By Kathleen Carlton Johnson
Gentle Spirits by Thomas Ford Conlan

Review by Mack Hassler “…the novel is reflecting upon its own nature” Jean-Paul Sartre, Search for a Method, 1963 Gentle Spirits, this first book-length offering by Conlan, a retired shipmaster and poet, is not exactly an “Anti-Novel” in the tradition that Sartre describes above. It does not use the…
The Decade of Letting Things Go, A Postmenopause Memoir by Cris Mazza
Brockway Mountain Stories by Paul LaVanway

Reviewed by Victor R. Volkman Brockway Mountain Stories is a beautifully illustrated tribute to the 2013 decision of Clyde and Lloyd Wescoat to relinquish their family’s nearly 80 year ownership of the 320 acres which comprised Brockway’s summit. Through a consortium of public and private donors both large and small,…
Yooper Murders of Mackinac County by Mike Cronan
Ellie and the Midwest Goodbye by Nikki Mitchell

Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Midwest goodbyes can be heartfelt and drawn-out experiences for a young girl who longed for her bed in Nikki Mitchell’s “Ellie and the Midwest Goodbye” book. Her parents had many family members and friends who cared about them and had many stories to share. Dressed for winter…
Accidental Shepherd: How a California Girl Rescued an Ancient Mountain Farm in Norway by Liese Greensfelder

Review by: Sharon Brunner Liese Greensfelder’s Accidental Shepherd: How a California Girl Rescued an Ancient Mountain Farm in Norway tells a story about how a young courageous woman from California faced dangers and obstacles that she was not prepared to handle in a foreign country. It’s a story of remarkable…
Piracy on the Great Lakes: True Tales of Freshwater Pirates by Mikel B. Classen

Reviewer: Sharon Brunner Mikel B. Classen’s “Piracy on the Great Lakes: True Tales of Freshwater Pirates” offers thought-provoking information about piracy, including attacking, robbing, and hijacking various types of watercraft and their crew. Piracy has occurred on the Great Lakes since the 1700s. Voyageurs in canoes transporting tons of furs…