Between Earth and Sky by Amanda Skenandore

Happy Friday! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Amanda Skenandore's debut, Between Earth and Sky.

1881: Seven-year-old Alma and her family have moved west to start a school. A school for Indians. Here, the tribal children will learn to integrate into society. To lose their Indian ways and become Americans. It's her father's one true passion and Alma is excited to be part of it all. 

1906: An Indian has been arrested, accused of murdering a federal agent, and awaiting trial out west. When Alma sees the story she knows it can't be true - the accused is her friend, Harry Muskrat, a man she's knows since her school days. A smart and kind man she is certain could never have murdered anyone. And so she convinces her husband, a lawyer, to help. 

But when they travel to Minnesota, Harry staunchly refuses their help, posing a question to Alma that forces her to question her father's cause and her own part in it. 

Between Earth and Sky is a fascinating read. Based on a true case, that of a Lakota man named Tasunka Ota, and the very real Indian boarding schools that began to spring up in the late nineteenth century, the book shines a light on a piece of history many may not be aware of.

Alma herself just wants to be friends with her new classmates. But she doesn't realize the truth about the school or their circumstances - that the children are being ripped from their homes and stripped of their cultures. She does see that they're treated unjustly at the hands of their teacher - punished for not learning English quick enough for example - and she tries to help. She does eventually make friends and begins to learn more about these children and their lives before the school.

Even still, as an adult she doesn't understand why Harry would refuse the help of a white man. And it's then that she finally has to face the fact that what happened all those years ago may have been a grave wrong on the part of her father and everyone else involved with the schools and more. That the treatment of her friends wasn't for their own good at all.

Alma's spunkiness and drive draws the reader in, but it's her overall growth that keeps the reader fully immersed in her story. From the start she's clever and warm, seeing immediately that the kids she's to be schooled with are nothing like the stories and books she's been told. Her determination to make friends is rewarded and her interest in their lives and cultures makes the reader love her even more.

The story isn't sweet or happy. These things happened, fictionalized though they may be, but with Alma as a guide and Harry and the others as her own guide to the truth, Skenandore gives voice to and gives the reader a chance to really consider this dark part of our history and the awful treatment of our nations native people.

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Amanda Skenandore and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

The House on Harbor Hill by Shelly Stratton

It's Friday! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Shelly Stratton's latest, The House on Harbor Hill!

Delilah Grey makes a habit of taking in boarders who need help. She picks them carefully, ensuring they're the right person, and helps them get back on their feet. Her latest, Tracey Walters. And Delilah's offer couldn't have come at a more perfect time for Tracey. 

After leaving her husband, Tracey has run out of money. Her landlord is done granting favors and she needs to find a new place to live. But the note from Delilah Grey sparks confusion and worry for Tracey, especially when she learns about Delilah's clouded past. 

In spite of that, Tracey, out of options, does decide to take Delilah up on her offer. Through friendship and support, Tracey finally starts to make progress at a new life. But when her past comes calling, her new haven could become a danger to them all. 

I loved this book and these characters so much!

First of all, this is the story of Tracey, trying to start a new life away from her abusive husband. Struggling to make ends meet and still provide for her family, she's done everything she can and still feels like she's falling short. So the note from Delilah Grey really does come at the perfect time.

Delilah's latest boarder has just moved on and, haunted by the ever deriding voice of her dead husband, she's ready to welcome someone new to her home. But Delilah's past hangs over her in more ways than that voice and even thought she was acquitted of murder, the locals who remember still hold it over her.

The story is told from both Delilah and Tracey's perspectives and transitions easily between the present and Delilah's past (1960 to be exact).

The mystery of Delilah's husband's murder is a large part of the tale as well, adding suspense to an already tense story. While I may have been slightly more partial to her as a character and her overall story, both women are beautifully wrought and hold their own, making the overall book well balanced and easy to sink into.

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Shelly Stratton and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble

Worth Killing For by Jane Haseldine

Happy Wednesday, readers! Today I'm a stop on the TLC blog tour for Jane Haseldine's latest Julia Gooden mystery, Worth Killing For.

A politician's nephew has been murdered and Julia Gooden is tasked with covering the story. An investigative reporter, Julia can't help but dig into the mystery surrounding the murder of Angel Perez, especially when evidence seems to support a serial killer who's been long silent. 

But her latest story is hampered by the realization that her con man father has returned to Detroit. Not only does his return leave a bad taste, so to speak, it brings up memories of a mystery much closer to home - the disappearance of her own brother. 

As it turns out, this new murder may be connected in some way and may finally offer Julia some closure. But her father's return also means Julia is a target of the very people he made enemies of so long ago. 

Interestingly enough, Worth Killing For is the third in the Julia Gooden series. Considering I was unfamiliar with the books, it's a good thing this latest makes for an easy starting point!

Julia is a tough as nails reporter - she'd have to be to have come out of the disaster of a childhood she grew up in. Her own sister wasn't so lucky and the disappearance of her brother has haunted her all these years.

When you add together the mystery of Ben's disappearance - the coldest of cold cases where one of the main witnesses (Julia herself) has literally no memory of the crime - with the bizarre beginning of the book, you have the makings of a gripping story.

And the book begins with a bang. Angel Perez is a college student struggling to make ends meet before he gets his degree. The degree means a good job with his uncle and he's just months from finishing, but in the meantime he and his pregnant girlfriend rely on any work Angel can get. Which is why he's waiting outside the home improvement store before it's even open, hoping to get picked for day labor. Unfortunately, Angel's luck has truly run out.

Figuring out the motive for a criminal whose tactics are... bizarre, to say the least, is part of the intrigue and the draw of this book. The rest is Julia!

Again, this is the third in the series but does work well as a stand alone. My understanding is that the series opener delves a bit more into Julia's past and specifically the fact that she's unable to remember what happened when Ben was abducted. If you want to start from the beginning, the series in order, so far, is:

The Last Time She Saw Him
Duplicity
Worth Killing For

To see more stops on the tour be sure to check out the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Jane Haseldine and her work you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.

Purchase Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

 

Summit Lake by Charlie Donlea

Summit Lake, a picturesque town where nothing really bad ever happens. Until now. 

The brutal murder of Becca Eckersley has shocked the community, leaving many wondering just what really happened that terrible night. It's a question Kelsey Castle is intent on answering. 

Recovering from her own ordeal, Kelsey is given the opportunity to travel to Summit Lake on assignment for Events magazine. But her coverage of the case is immediately hampered by local authorities. It seems Becca's own father has had a hand in ensuring that certain information never becomes public. Even the local police chief has been shut out! Area gossip is filled with theory and rumor, but it will take all of Kelsey's talent as a reporter to tease out the true facts surrounding this shocking crime. 

Charlie Donlea's debut is one that is sure to keep you reading through the wee hours!

Chapters alternate between Kelsey's investigation and Becca's own story in the months leading up to her attack. In truth, the who is a little easy to figure out if you're really paying attention. And yet, following the story through to its dark conclusion is still incredible suspenseful.

Becca's story begins over a year before her murder. She's an average college student on her way to law school. She's stressed about grades, law school applications, all the usual stuff. But Becca and her friends have more than the normal stresses of college life to deal with in the coming months.

It's clear from the start that Becca's murder is built around secrets someone - someone other than the murderer, that is - is intent on keeping. Her father is heavy handed in quieting elements of the investigation, but, as mentioned above, Summit Lake is a small town with small town gossip. This gossip does help Kelsey in her own investigation quite a bit, as do local officials who don't exactly like having been left in the dark.

In truth, the way officials share information with Kelsey was just a bit too easy peasy for my own taste, but it didn't detract from the overall suspense or mystery in the end. The alternating chapters and Becca's flashbacks give the book an increased tension that builds wonderfully as the story progresses.

Rating: 3.5/5

No Time to Die by Kira Peikoff + a Giveaway

What if you held the key to agelessness? 

Zoe Kincaid is a twenty-year-old woman trapped in a teenager's body. She's always been small and underdeveloped but doctors have never been able to find a reason, until now. A world renowned geneticist believes that Zoe's situation is caused by a rare genetic complication that has only appeared in one other person. The next step would be to map and study Zoe's genome and identify the exact genetic marker causing her condition. Not only does it lead her to hope that she may one day live as a normal adult, but it could also mean prolonging her beloved grandfather's life. But as soon as Zoe is diagnosed and shown to be physically stunted at the age of fourteen, officials step in. Although she herself is an adult, the physical results have led lawyers to suggest that Zoe is indeed only fourteen and thus unable to make decisions on her own. With her parents strongly against further testing, Zoe has no choice but to join up with the Network, a secret group intent on research without the burdensome oversight of government. 

Meanwhile, a government agency desperately seeks out that very same group. To date almost thirty researchers, doctors, and patients have disappeared without a trace - with one exception. A scientist is murdered by his own research subjects in his own lab and the Network's calling card is left behind. 

In her latest, Kira Peikoff tackles some interesting ideas and conundrums in the medical field. The first, of course, being the medical fountain of youth.

Genetic testing, while making great strides, is still a new frontier in the medical field. Scientists are still working to identify the function of most of the human genome so it's not too far fetched to imagine that something in there is capable of turning on and off the physical aging process. And yet there's a HUGE part of the pharmaceutical and medical industry built up around age management - not to mention the political ramifications of a population that's suddenly able to halt the aging (and dying) process.

Which leads directly to the other biggest issue in Peikoff's No Time To Die, oversight - or checks and balances - in medical research. It's a touchy subject to be sure.

I'm likely not the only reader to become somewhat infuriated at Zoe's story and the idea that while she's apparently old enough to be accepted into college she's still somehow only fourteen? It seemed like a stretch at some times and I'm not sure I'm completely sold on the idea. Considering it's a driving force in Zoe's plot it was, for me, a point that didn't work so well in the book.

But the Network, that did work!

No Time To Die wasn't a totally smooth ride - I did have issues with some aspects of the plot. In general, though, Peikoff's latest was both fast-paced (always a good thing in a thriller) and compelling (dirty review word - I use them a lot). It was also accessible reading for a layman! Peikoff does a great job making the science believable without going over the top with the medical jargon.

Rating: 3/5

Thanks to the publisher, I'm able to offer up a copy of Peikoff's latest to one of you. To enter simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, September 29. Open US only and no PO boxes please.

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Equilibrium by Lorrie Thomson

Good morning, everyone! As promised, here's my second TLC tour for the day: Equilibrium by Lorrie Thomson.

It's been almost one year since Laura's husband, Jack, killed himself. A writer who suffered from bipolar disorder, he'd attempted suicide twice before but the third time, in this case, really was the charm. While Laura struggles to take care of her two teenage children and pull their lives back together, she lived with Jack and his disorder long enough to know it was the sickness. But her own two children face the possibility of this genetic roll of the dice and Laura fears for their future, watching intently for any signs they may suffer like her late husband. It doesn't help that thirteen year old Troy seems to be reeling without a father figure and fifteen year old Darcy is dating the new bad boy in school. 

I kind of loved Lorrie Thomson's debut! The time I spent with this family was heartbreaking but also touching. Laura and Darcy both come into their own in the story: Laura finally examining her relationship with her husband and starting to move on and Darcy, a true daddy's girl, coming to the realization that her father wasn't at all perfect. 

What I think I liked most was Thomson's ability to integrate so many different aspects of the family and their lives here. It's not just the family facing the year since Jack's suicide and it's not just the fear that one or both of the kids could also be bipolar, it's Darcy's teen angst and revelations about her own friends, it's the effect Adain - the family's tenant - has on the family as well. It's Laura's challenge of being a single parent, something she comes to realize she kind of always was, and gaining more self confidence in the things she let slide while Jack was in their lives. And of course it's Laura's and Darcy's love stories - Laura beginning to consider the possibility of love once again and Darcy's first serious relationship. Thomson masterfully weaves all of these elements into one cohesive and captivating read. The Kleins and the characters that revolve around the perimeter of their story are all so vivid and real that I left Equilibrium feeling a bit as though I'd become friends with a new family in the neighborhood. Very close friends that I wanted to wrap up in a big hug!

Rating: 4/5

To see more stops on the tour, check out the official TLC tour page here.  

For more on Lorrie Thomson you can visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.