All posts in Book Reviews

November 6, 2023

The Hurricane Book: A Lyric History

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews, Writing

New Creative Nonfiction by Claudia Acevedo-Quiñones How do we mark the passage of time? How do we reconcile what we remember of our life and those we love – and have loved – against the mutability of memory? Like author Marcel Proust (À la recherche du temps perdu), Ms. Acevedo-Quiñones grapples with her life growing up in Puerto Rico and her identity as a writer in Brooklyn, marking the journey with the island’s six great hurricanes of the 20th century. With our deep gratitude to Rose Metal Press for publishing this book, we herewith present excerpts from Claudia Acevedo-Quiñones’ remarkable work. These excerpts do not do full justice to her innovative narrative, so please read the book. Meet the author live tomorrow (Wednesday, November 8, 2023) evening, in conversation with poet Paolo Javier at the…

Continue reading →

October 5, 2023

“Out of the Far North” – A New Novel of International Intrigue

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews, Writing

The Third Nir Tavor – Nicole le Roux Mossad Thriller, Just Published With over 100,000 copies of Operation Joktan and By Way of Deception in print, authors Amir Tsarfati and Steve Yohn deliver again with another pulse-pounding novel of international intrigue. Enriched by its being based on true events – as well as Tsarfati’s having been a major in the Israeli Defense Forces – your editors at The Fictional Café loved Out of the Far North and think you will, too. When the story begins we find Israeli Mossad secret agent Nir Tavor outside Damascus, Syria, bribing a road guard with a carton of Alhamraa cigarettes, and we’re off and running. The very contemporary backstory concerns Russia and Putin, who is furious and plotting revenge on Western energy markets. Europe, once reliant on Russian gas, have…

Continue reading →

September 5, 2023

The FC Publisher Interview: Stephen Games

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews, Interviews

The Publisher of EnvelopeBooks Proves You Can Judge A Book by Its Cover The art of creating a distinctive publishing brand among a miasma of publishers Ever wonder why there is no authoritative, independent resource for seeking out books like there is with IMDB for movies? (Well, like IMDB used to be, anyway.) It surely isn’t Amazon, nor is it Goodreads, which Amazon took over in 2013. A year earlier, a publishing entrepreneur filled that void in the UK . . . we interviewed him to learn about his experiences and views of the publishing business. In 2012, Stephen Games started a magazine connecting publishers’ books with readers and named it Booklaunch , which he says is, “now the highest circulation books magazine in the UK . . … Tabloid-size pages allow publishers to place…

Continue reading →

August 3, 2023

“Dare To Question: Carrie Chapman Catt’s Voice for the Vote”

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews, Interviews, Writing

A New Book by Jasmine A. Stirling Jasmine returns to grace these e-pages with her story of the woman who led the struggle to give American women the right to vote in the early 20th century. Yes, the twentieth century, just a hundred years ago. Yet to this day, the same kinds of issues continue to plague this so-called enlgihtened country. But who was Carrie Chapman Catt, and what exactly happened 103 years ago this month? Jasmine writes: “As a child, Carrie Chapman Catt asked a lot of questions: How many stars are in the sky? Do germs have personalities? And why can’t Mama vote? Catt’s curiosity led her to college, on to a career in journalism, and finally to becoming the president of The National American Woman Suffrage Association. Catt knew the movement needed a change,…

Continue reading →

July 3, 2023

“The Retribution Squad,” A Novel by J.M. Henderson

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews

If you’re upset by the shenanigans in American politics and government, this is a story for you. Author J.M. Henderson, a veteran and lifelong observer of the American Way, pulls no punches in this novel about eight patriots who go after the insurrectionists and their ilk who defiled Congress and attempted to stop Biden’s presidential election vote count on January 6, 2021. The Retribution Squad, born from the chaos of the January 6 insurrection in the nation’s capital, is operating outside the law. Led by old timers and vets, they are on a patriotic crusade to defeat the forces plotting an even bigger, more successful, much more deadly insurrection. They risk life, limb and incarceration to carry out lethal operations against the greedy and power-hungry who are destroying the Constitutional fabric of American democracy. Will…

Continue reading →

June 26, 2023

“No Man’s Ghost,” A Novel by Jason Powell

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews, Interviews

The Fire: Is fire alive? Does it possess intent or emotions or is it simply one of the four forces of nature, indifferent to human life? What would a fireman say if you asked this question? We asked Jason Powell, author of No Man’s Ghost, a brand-new, engrossing novel about a rookie New York fireman. See the interview with him following the Chapter 1 excerpt where he answers this question. No Man’s Ghost: This may be the most popular quotation among firefighters: “Let no man’s ghost ever come back and say his training failed him.” The Tale: Charlie Davids, freshly graduated from the New York City Fire Academy, is starting his first day at the firehouse. He’s considered on probation and thus called a “probie” by the other firefighters at Engine 99 and Ladder 88,…

Continue reading →

June 12, 2023

Impact! A Sci-Fi Trilogy by C.K. Westbrook

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews, Interviews

We conclude “The Impact Series” Trilogy with volume 3, “The Judgment” How we got here: We recently attended a book fair where we met the author, C.K. Westbrook, and were intrigued by “The Impact Series,” a science fiction trilogy: The Shooting, The Collision, and The Judgment. In each volume the story, told a day at a time, is that of Kate Stellute, who works for the United States Space Force in the near future and while out for a run is abducted by an alien. She becomes its media connection to the people of earth, who are warned they must change their ways or be obliterated. The first two books explore events that raise the stakes for human life on planet earth. Now, in this the book, we learn just what we have to ante…

Continue reading →

May 27, 2023

Staying Safe Is Not A Random Act

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews

Barista Jason Brick’s New Book About Family Safety We are constantly reminding others to stay safe, but it took our own Jason Brick to put some weight behind the idea with his work and his new book, Safest Family on the Block: 101 Tips, Tricks, Habits, and Hacks to Protect Your Family at Home, at School, and in the World. Just published, it’s already a #1 best seller on Amazon, and for good reason. We’re starting Memorial Day weekend which is perennially a three-day accident waiting to happen. We cannot be too careful on bikes, in cars, swimming, barbequeing – anything, really. In this book, author Jason distills his knowledge into important, simple tips any parent can use to protect their loved ones at home, at school, at work, and abroad . . . all…

Continue reading →

April 4, 2023

“Spring in Siberia” – A Novel by Artem Mozgovoy

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews, Guest Posts, Writing

Red Hen Press and Fictional Cafe celebrate today the publication of Spring in Siberia, the first novel by a young writer named Artem Mozgovoy. Born in Central Siberia, he finds solace in the literature he reads and begins to write. Spring in Siberia is his coming of age story, told in fiction. This excerpt is from Chapter 16. An interview with Kate Gale, Managing Editorand Executive Director at Red Hen Press, follows it. ‘I’m afraid that I love you,’ my classmate spoke quickly and quietly, but I managed to catch his words before they melted in the evening smoke. We were standing on the sixteenth-story balcony, on the top floor of the tallest building in our city. Neither he nor I lived in that block, but we knew that each level gave access to a…

Continue reading →

March 6, 2023

“The Painter’s Butterfly” – A Novel

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Book Reviews, Writing

A mystical adventure by Rebecca Weber I love butterflies. My mother-in-law absolutely adored butterflies, so when we published the 2-disc CD of her musical works, a butterfly was the cover image. We have a big hand-painted Talavera pottery butterfly adorning our home. Last year, we published an excerpt from Sara Dykman’s book, Bicycling with Butterflies adventure with the monarch butterfly migration here at FC. So yeah, we like butterflies, including those in this youth novel, and we hope you will, too. This is Rebecca’s first novel! ** from Chapter 3 Chapter Three First Impressions Nova swiftly opened the white wooden door and a happy silver bell chimed out to say hello. Inside the place was cozy and welcoming, and her head pivoted around like a swivel chair as she took it all in. There were…

Continue reading →