review of FORWARD TO CAMELOT

  

 

FORWARD TO CAMELOT

Susan Sloate & Kevin Finn

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GENRE:  Time Travel Thriller

 

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BLURB:

 

RETURN TO A VANISHED WORLD, in this new edition of the beloved time-travel thriller:

 

Extensively researched, filled with real but still unknown tales of history, FORWARD TO CAMELOT takes readers on a grand adventure, filled with danger, deceit and real-life heroes.

 

October 2000

 

Soap-opera actress Cady Cuyler knows she is not brave, adventurous or accomplished; that's Sheila, the glamorous EMT she plays on TV. But too many other people think she's Sheila, which Cady doesn't understand: Recently divorced from her agent, Cady's life consists of playing Sheila and providing a safety net to her mother Sandra, who has hardly noticed her since her birth; she's still lost in grief over the disappearance of her husband years before in Dallas. Cady's deepest wish is to somehow earn her mother's love and attention.

 

When a profound tragedy alters her own life and her job abruptly ends, Cady is offered the chance of a great adventure: She agrees to recover the Bible owned by JFK, which was used to swear in LBJ as president, on November 22, 1963, the same day her father, whom she idolized, disappeared forever. To do this, she must travel back in time to the Dallas of 1963, a dangerous world filled with dangerous secrets, and meet the man with the most dangerous secret of all--he plans to assassinate President Kennedy during his upcoming visit to Dallas.

 

For the first time in her life, Cady, the armchair adventurer, can live an adventure more exciting than anything Sheila ever did. She might even change her own destiny... if she dares.

 

Time can be altered. Lives can be altered.

 

History can be altered...

 

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Excerpt:

 

John gazed around the room. “I don’t believe history is written in stone. I think if you add or take away certain elements—well—you’d have to be looking at a whole different outcome. Not the big events,” he said hastily. “I don’t mean you could stop a war or anything, but if your father hadn’t disappeared, your mother would have been a lot happier, wouldn’t she? I mean, that’s why she—why things happened the way they did.” He seemed to be having trouble presenting the idea, and it made me like him. “If you could prevent your father’s disappearance, then your own life could be—” He gave me a quick glance, and I felt as though he knew every heartache I’d felt in the last 20 years. It was exhilarating, it was extraordinary… it was frightening.

 

I thought of Mel telling me I could fly on my own.

 

I thought of the lack of opportunities that awaited me elsewhere.

 

I thought of this man who had dropped into my life, the first one in years who had aroused any feelings in me that could be called passionate.

 

I looked at him, and I could feel a warm, inviting smile stretching across my face. I had a direction. I had a plan. I had a chance—which is all we can ever ask. “All right,” I said. “Where do I sign?”

 

John’s face lit with relief, and Mel, seeing that smile, began to sing “Fly Me to the Moon”.

 

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 Review: This story is a fun vintage read. Cady Cuyler is an actress living in the year 2000. When she loses her job, she is presented with an intriguing mission: to visit the year 1963 and retrieve President Kennedy’s lost bible.

 

The thing is, Cady’s father went missing that year, when her mother was pregnant with her. Cady sees the chance to solve a family mystery while she is hanging out in the 1960s. 

 

The story starts out a little slow with quite a lead-up before Cady hits the ‘60s. Once she is there though, the action really gets rolling. Her primary mission gets put on the backburner as Cady is trying to solve her family mystery. 

 

She gets a job working at her father’s company, so that she can get an inside view of what is happening. Also, she rents a room in her parents’ house. 

 

Cady is a well-developed character who is smart and easy to like. The world of the 1960s is rich with time details, immersing us in the era. As Cady digs deeper into things, danger picks up, and the suspense grows. 

 

This is quite an enjoyable read, and the execution of it is just right.

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

 

SUSAN SLOATE is the author or co-author of 24 published books, including 2 previous editions of Forward to Camelot, the #2 Amazon bestseller and Hot New Release Stealing Fire and Realizing You (with Ron Doades), for which she invented a new genre: the self-help novel. The original 2003 edition of Forward to Camelot went to #6 on Amazon, was honored in 3 literary competitions and was optioned by a Hollywood company for film production. 

 

Susan has also written young-adult fiction and non-fiction, including the children’s biography Ray Charles: Find Another Way, which won the silver medal in the 2007 Children’s Moonbeam Awards. Mysteries Unwrapped: The Secrets of Alcatraz led to her 2009 appearance on the TV series MysteryQuest for The History Channel. She has also been a sportswriter and a screenwriter, edited the popular Kyle & Corey young-adult book series, managed two political campaigns and founded an author’s festival in her hometown outside Charleston, SC. Visit her at https://susansloate.com.

 

A Bronx native, KEVIN FINN began his professional writing career as a television news- and sportswriter just six months out of high school, moving on to produce & report for daily news shows, features, documentaries and live sports events. Over the past thirty years, he's established himself as a screenwriter and has mentored young writers for the American Film Institute's Writer's Workshop Program, as well as being a noted freelance script consultant and a novelist. 

     

Equally adept as a cameraman and editor, he currently produces and films local media content in the Princeton, NJ, area, while continuing to mentor new and younger writers, including the heralded web series The News Kids. His first Young Adult novel, 200 METERS, will be published later in 2016, and the long-awaited novel BANNERS OVER BROOKLYN is scheduled for release early in 2017. 

     

Follow Kevin on Twitter @finnkv.

 

     

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

 

The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

Enter here:

 

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CHOICE Dora Farkas

 

CHOICE

Dora Farkas

 

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GENRE:  Women's Fiction

 

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BLURB:

 

Val is a young Mexican-American quantum physicist and single mother struggling with an anxiety disorder and financial challenges. Her world is turned upside down when her ex-husband files for full custody of their three-year-old daughter to take her across the country where he was offered a job. The story unfolds as she decides either to stay put in Boston and meet job related deadlines or go on a holiday and visit her parents in Mexico.

 

Encouraged by her father, Val flies to Mexico with Maya, her service dog, and Daisy, her daughter, and she discovers a world of magic that will change her outlook on life forever. She also reconnects with her childhood friend, Mercedes, who gives her a glimmer of hope. Things, however, are not what they seem to be. As all areas of her life begin to fall apart, Val must explore the power of her intuition and make different choices to change the course of her and her daughter’s futures.

 

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Excerpt:

 

It was magic that led me to Val. The day her mother, la señora María, came into our house, I felt something I had never felt before. This woman and her family needed me. I couldn’t explain why. But as soon as she stepped into the house, I ran up to her and started pawing at her shiny shoes. La señora Luz always wore sandals, but this lady had the most interesting shoes ever, with high heels and colors I didn’t even know existed. She petted all my siblings, but I kept pawing at her shoes until she lifted me and didn’t put me down until she got back to her own house.

 

Is it a coincidence that la señora María got me right before Val got sick? Not a chance. Like all of us, la señora María was guided by her intuition to get a puppy for her daughter just when Val needed someone the most. Val and I had only been together for a few weeks when Val got so ill that she couldn’t get out of bed except to walk me. If I hadn’t been there, who knows what would have happened? My being there helped her to get through the day until her doctor told her to train me as a psychiatric service dog. I can’t tell you how happy it made me to have a job!

 

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

 

 

 

Although Dora was born in Budapest, Hungary, she lived in Mexico for five years during her early childhood. Her connection to the Mexican language, history, and cooking inspired the cultural setting for her debut novel, “Choice.” 

 

After getting her doctorate from MIT, she published her first book, “The Smart Way to Your Ph.D.” which paved the way for a six-figure consulting business while she was a stay-at-home mom with two daughters. She has given workshops about writing at MIT, Tufts, Boston University, the University of Connecticut, Ohio State University, the Scripps Research Institute, the University of Calgary, and the University of British Columbia. 

 

 

 

Author website: https://dorafarkas.com/

Buy link: https://dorafarkas.com/Choice

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dora.farkas

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION 

 

The author will be awarding a $25 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner.

 

Enter here:

 

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Review of Crossing Day

  

 

CROSSING DAY

William A. Glass

 

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GENRE:  Young Adult/Alternate History

 

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BLURB:

 

It's been one hundred and sixty years since the Confederacy won its independence at the Battle of Altamaha Crossing. Slaves of African descent still perform most of the work in the South. This seems normal to Ryan Walters and his friends who attend high school in Huntsville, Alabama. Like teens everywhere, they enjoy sharing videos, playing sports, and hanging out with friends. Jaybird's drive-in is their favorite gathering place. There, they befriend Mish, a slave girl who works as a car hop. When the drive-in’s owner sells Mish to a dirty old man, Ryan and his friends awaken to the injustice around them. Despite the danger, they decide to help Mish escape. Will they succeed?

 

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Excerpt:

 

Melanie wanders into the dining room and finds her parents already seated at the table with their personal slaves standing behind them. Her mother, Dorothy, takes a sip of orange juice and replaces the glass on the lace tablecloth. Her servant, Natty, immediately gets a pitcher from the sideboard and refills the glass. Meanwhile, James is smiling at Melanie. “Morning, Miss,” he says. The white-haired Black man pulls out her chair. Once she’s seated, he spreads a cloth napkin over her lap. 

 

“What was all the ruckus at Jaybird’s last night?” Dan Montgomery asks. He’s the mayor of Huntsville and knows everything. 

 

“A German boy started it,” Melanie says defensively.

 

“Yes, and his father already called me to complain. He’s a big wheel at The Space Flight Complex.”

 

“Sorry!”

 

Montgomery points to the syrup. His slave, Parker, reaches for it and then pours. “Enough,” Montgomery snaps. He turns back to Melanie. “You and all the others will have a week of detention.” 

 

Melanie gasps. “What about cheerleading practice?”

 

“You should have thought of that before you went to the drive-in. That’s where all the delinquents hang out and you with them.”

 

“I won’t go anymore. Please.” Melanie bats her baby blues at her father. His expression melts. “Go to detention after school today, and maybe we’ll see about tomorrow.” 

 

“Thanks, Dad.” 

 

Montgomery cuts off a bite of pancake and pops it into his mouth. That reminds Melanie to eat as well. It’s almost time for the bus.

 

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Review:

Crossing Day is an entertaining read, but it is also a novel to ponder. There are things that people may not think much about nowadays, but this story will have readers thinking of the past, in this case, an alternative past that is blended with the present.

 

The story is told through the experiences of some teenagers used to a way of life much different than we know it, one where African Americans are still under the horrible bondage of slavery in this country. The author has given even that a twist though: If America had been on the losing side during World War II, and Germany had won, what would happen in the States? What could life be like? The combination is intriguing. 

 

The characters are well-developed, and so is the world building of this fictitious setting. Through dialogue and sense details, we get a real feel for this imaginary time and place. There is plenty of tension to create suspense and a lot to think about here.

 

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

 

 

Bill is a retired business executive who now lives in a small southern town with his wife, Bettina. She’s a retired high school German teacher. Bill coaches soccer at a small college. Often, Bettina, who has a commercial driver’s license, pilots the soccer team bus to away games. 

 

Bettina and Bill have three sons, Alex, Robert, and Gordon who have all graduated from college and moved away to pursue careers. Instead of having an empty nest, Bettina and Bill now host three rescue dogs. They enjoy finding promising hiking trails to explore with their dogs.

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/william.glass.50767

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/williamasaglass

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/WilliamAGlass3 

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-glass-1281609/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20170818.William_A_Glass 

LibraryThing:  https://www.librarything.com/profile/Glaswa4611

 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Day-William-Glass-ebook/dp/B0CW8HBGV4/ref=sr_1_1

 

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION

 

 

William A. Glass will award a $10 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter.

 

Enter here:

 

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