Strong “Finale”. I use “finale” in quotes in the title of this review because it seems we are getting a Christmas “epilogue” for this series later this year, at least per book site listings as I write this review nearly a week before this book publishes. This noted, the story here absolutely reads like a genuine and strong finale of a series that has put its main characters through quite a lot… and has still more for them to go through. The laughs… and dusty rooms… are both timed and executed well, even as many of them seemingly come out of the blue – particularly the dusty rooms. Yet every aspect here remains perfectly true to who each of the main characters are, even as the situations they find themselves in through the course of this series finale are very unexpected. Even as someone who first came to this series at Book 4, and thus missed the developments of the first three books, this really was very well done – one of the better finale/ wrap-ups/ send-offs I’ve seen done in a series finale in any medium, and certainly *far* superior to the various infamous finales over the years. No one is waking up and claiming it was all a dream here, y’all. 😉 Read the rest of the series before reading this book. But then make sure you have some tissues ready, because when those dusty rooms hit in this book – and yes, I said “rooms”, as in plural – they *really* hit, and you’re going to need them. Fortunately each book in the series (at least those I’ve read) is at or under 200 pages, which makes them all fairly quick reads, even for busy parents (or others busy with whatever life you may lead). By the time you get to the end of this one, you’ll be satisfied with where Gilbert leaves these characters… but you’re also going to welcome that epilogue currently scheduled to release in late October 2025. 😉 Very much recommended.

Brennan Expands Her Storytelling In A New And Refreshing Direction. Long time fans of Brennan, and even those who have only started reading her this decade like me, know she is most well known for very *dark* murder tales and the teams investigating them. This book is not that. At all. While it retains *some* elements of that - bodies are piling up rather rapidly at a small private island resort - this is much more a pure romantic suspense with strong island vibes. Thus, we get a lot more tropical/ island feel here than is typical of Brennan's writing to date... and that is an *amazing* thing to see, as she executes it so well. About the only thing Brennan could have done to be even more different than her usual style would be to go pure bubblegum pop romcom, and while this is nowhere near that... there are certainly both comedic and spicy moments, making the reader literally laugh out loud at times while offering perhaps around a jalapeno level spice - more than a warm glass of milk, but also far less than the ghost peppers of books I read earlier in the week before reading this book. Truly well done, and a very welcome and refreshing departure from where Brennan has been these last several years at minimum, this reader at least is hoping both sides of her storytelling will continue. Very much recommend.

Sexual Exploration Romcom. The title of this review says it all. This is *easily* one of the actually closest to erotica romcoms I've ever encountered, with pretty well the entire plot focused around sexual exploration and a somewhat thin, yet still fun and compelling, plot wrapped around that to tie the sex scenes together. I would say the comedic elements here are fewer and further between than they were in Nine Month Contract, but they're still present - and the animals (primarily a cat in this tale, which first appeared in Nine Month Contract) don't quite steal the scenes as much in this tale, despite being nearly equally present. Instead, this book revolves more around healing from past traumas of both halves of our main couple, including one particular event seven years ago that may not have gone down exactly as each understood it to have. And yes, lots and lots of ghost pepper level "spice", though without some of the elements of Nine Month Contract that may have turned some off from that tale. And while this part of the tale may make some uncomfortable, it is actually handled quite well within the story being told. Overall still a compelling romance with comedic moments, this one is likely less problematic for some than its predecessor, while still being nearly as problematic as its predecessor - or even more problematic - for others. Still, for what it actually is, it really is quite good and any issues are with the reader, not with Daws' storytelling here. Very much recommended.

Apparently Controversial. Fucking Hilarious. Near-Perfect (If Unusual) Romcom. I picked up this book specifically because I agreed to work its sequel (Seven Year Itch) as a blog tour... before realizing that book was a sequel. When I found out, I knew I needed to read this book first. Now, upfront, I've read a LOT of books over the years that some will find disgusting or *well* against their moral philosophies for various reasons and rated most all of them fairly highly - 4 or 5 stars in every case I'm thinking of at the moment. Those have ranged from a look at sexual ethics through the eyes of a hyper conservative American Evangelical Christian lens all the way to a MM romance series that openly involved (adult) baby/ diaper kink. I'm *also* a guy who was introduced to porn because his Pastor, who would later become a President of the Georgia Baptist Convention, once spoke against videoing not only a baby's birth, "but also its conception". As a young and sheltered teenage boy who was very scientifically curious... I had to find those videos. (Here's a tip, Pastors: *Never do this in a mixed congregation.*) Thus, coming into a book involving a degree of breeding kink was nothing particularly shocking for me. (If it is for you, you *really* don't want to go into some of the Omegaverse type stuff. Seriously, just forget you ever even heard that word.) Yes, the entire setup is rather unusual - the book goes through great pains to explore that exact facet of the relationship, and indeed much of the drama in this romcom is specifically due to the unusual nature of how our male and female leads meet and begin to interact. Instead, most everything I've seen anyone complaining about in previous reviews of this book are largely played either for comedy or for enhancing the tension and drama, and both sides of this romantic comedy work quite well in their separate lanes, and indeed come together to make one of the more stand-out and interesting romcoms I've read in quite some time. Again, it won't be for everyone, for varying reasons. But for those that can allow your brains to accept this tale for just a few hours, you're going to come away with one of the more memorable romance tales I've read in literally years. Here, I speak as a man who reads on average 200 books per year across nearly all (non swords and sorcery fantasy) genres. Even the standard inclusion of who the next couple in the series will be is done well by including them when it makes sense in *this* story, but not having them dominate the screen in their scenes the way I've seen others do over the years. Spice level wise... y'all, breeding kink is a major thing here. Thus, the spice level is pretty well ghost pepper/ damn near erotica level at times, but with the main focus of the book being on the actual story. But when it goes to sex scenes... not only does it not fade to black, it gets into a lot of stuff that will make a lot of people fairly squeamish, and not always in good ways. So yet again, be prepared for this, and if this isn't really your thing... this book likely won't be for you, and that is perfectly ok. Truly an unconventional and thus memorable romcom, but again, it won't be for everyone. *And that is perfectly ok.* Very much recommended.

Orwellian. 1984 was originally published in 1949 - 76 yrs and 2 days before the publication of this book - so I don't feel bad at all about revealing its final line: Wilson loved Big Brother. Which ultimately made it a tragedy as well as a warning. Here, we get a very similar effect, if not a retelling of the overall story of someone rebelling against a thing they are tied to in so many ways before being abused back into loving the thing they originally rebelled against. Obviously without the political commentary, as (as another reviewer noted), Rouda is clearly making a name for herself in the trainwreck popcorn thriller market. Why insert any overt politics and piss off whatever segment of potential readers, after all? :) Thus, fans of Rouda will love this new entry. Those new to Rouda's writing will find a pretty spot on example of it here, at least in my reading of her last few books (though not all of them, yet). And yes, her style doesn't leave anyone looking particularly great or give the reader really anyone to "root for" 100%. Nobody is a truly "good" character, but all of the characters work reasonably well for their role in the story being told. And the story being told will have you on the edge of your seat much of the time, with little time for any "potty break" sections. If you're looking for a darkly entertaining thriller with minimal blood or sex or even really cursing... you've found exactly that. If you're looking for something that is not pretty well exactly that... this ain't what you're looking for. It really is as simple as that, as is the case with pretty well every Rouda book. (Some may have more sex than others, some may have more cursing than others, but largely if you're ok with reading about people doing horrible things to each other, up to and including murder both onscreen and off... you're going to be ok here.) Overall a darkly fun book that will be perfect summer reading for some, and that may be either too dark or even not dark enough for others. Very much recommended.

More About Influencer / Hyper Online Culture Of The Last Decade And How To Manipulate The Algorithms To Increase Your Reach. This is one of those books where I suspect most people will go into it with one expectation - to learn about the etymology of various terms used online and how the creation and propagation of these terms is shaping the future of language. Instead, what we largely get is a look at influencer and hyper-online culture of the last decade and tips on how to manipulate language so that the algorithms of social media don't shadow ban (or outright ban) you and even how to use them to gain more followers for yourself. In and of itself, this is a rather fascinating look at what it actually is... but that isn't really what was "sold" to us in the (current, one month to the day before publication) description of the book. But is it *quite* enough to justify a star deduction in and of itself? Normally, possibly, but here I'll allow it simply because Aleksic does do a truly great job of explaining what he actually wants to explain... even if this isn't what the description of the book (which isn't controlled exclusively by Aleksic) wants us to believe the book is about. Thus, the star deduction here is actually for the dearth of even really a modicum of a bibliography, at least in the Advance Review Copy of the book I read. Perhaps the final form will include one, and perhaps that bibliography will be roughly 15% or more of the overall text. That would be *awesome* - but that is NOT the version of the book I read, and thus is not the version of the book I must judge. Overall truly an eye opening book roughly about linguistics and etymology, but really more about influencer culture and how to manipulate the algorithms to your own personal gain, this one will be one that will likely fly about that high - perhaps gaining a modicum of attention for a few moments, before the algorithm instead pushes the next Big Thing. Very much recommended.

Solid Explanation Of Why Knowing The Basics Of Software Development Is Essential In Modern Life. Full disclosure up front: My degree is in Computer Science. I actually started the program at 16 years old and was already going into Programming 3 by the time I graduated high school. I spent over three years in college as a Programming 1 tutor, having never made less than a 95 on *any* assignment or test - including the handwritten final exam - in Programming 1. I was a middle school/ high school teacher for a year before spending the last 18 years as a professional software developer building everything from credit card processing applications at a Fortune 50 megacorporation to various medical billing systems to even a couple of stints at the Savannah River Site as a nuclear software engineer on various projects, including one that informed the chemical engineers of when any one of a couple dozen nuclear waste tanks ranging in size from a few hundred thousand gallons to over a million gallons were about to explode within 24 hours if they didn't act in time. All that to say, obviously, I love my craft. I'm a 25+ year student of this industry as well as practitioner, and I've learned, done, and seen quite a bit. I *know* how critical my industry is to modern life. Here, Arbesman does a truly remarkable job of explaining to everyone *else* what I've known for quite some time. No matter your background outside of software development - including those non-coders inside of the more general Information Technology industry - Arbesman does a truly great job of explaining the basics of coding and why it is important to modern life - both for good and ill - in such a way that it is both easily approachable and easily understandable by pretty well anyone who can read at all. Reasonably well documented - at least by my more recent, more relaxed standards - at 15% or so, this book explains the wonders and pitfalls of this industry in ways that will make most anyone understand just how critical it is and why it is critically important that they have at least some understanding of it... and also make those of us who have been in the trenches for quite some time come to love what we do all over again. It is both informed and inspiring, and while it doesn't go into all of the complexities of the field, it does give a solid overview of at least a lot of the key issues in such a way that it invites the reader to discover even more about this industry. Overall a great book for anyone, and seemingly destined to be at minimum suggested reading - if not required - in perhaps a lot of Computer 101 courses in college or even high school. Very much recommended.

Strong Small Town Tale. This is one of those tales that has a bit of a lot. Rich boy falls in love with trailer park trash girl over the course of one fateful teenage summer. Events happen in their small seasonal town, and small seasonal townspeople - including police - respond as small seasonable townspeople all too often do, even in real life. But what if... what if damn near *everyone* was wrong? What if the truth of that summer all those years ago was so much more complex? What if virtually *no one* had anywhere near a complete picture of what was happening, due to *everyone* having far too many prejudices and preconceptions? Can wrongs done that summer all those years ago be corrected all this time later - at least to some degree or another? Can relationships destroyed then - family, community, romantically, and others - be repaired after so much time has passed and so much bitterness has been so deeply internalized? Novak here provides a stunning tale perfect for summer reading that delves into all of the above in a tale that ultimately leaves the reader a bit breathless and a lot of emotions to deal with. It isn't a comedy, though it has a touch of that. It isn't a romance per se, though it does in fact meet all known qualifications there and may be marketed as such. This is far more a family/ small town drama, and one that plays out quite remarkably well. Very much recommended.

Hitler In Heaven, Pope Francis In Hell, And The Surprising Connection To Why Santa Claus Is The Best Missionary In The History Of Christianity. Got your attention with that title, right? And I know you're asking, seriously, dude? Hitler? THAT Hitler? In Heaven???? And the recently deceased Pope Francis, the freaking POPE, the HEAD OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH POPE, in Hell???? And what, by God, does either one of those things have to do with Santa Claus AT ALL????? Well... you need to read this book. :D (Though to be clear, I *did* modify Holloway's premise for purposes of this review. In the text, Holloway actually uses Mother Teresa rather than Pope Francis, but I thought Pope Francis was more relevant to the current moment while serving the exact same purpose. :) ) I fully cop to the simple fact that the title of this review and indeed most of it to this point is openly written to attempt to trigger the Outrage Machine (as Tobias Rose-Stockwell called it in his book of the same name almost two years to the day before this book is released) / Algospeak (as Adam Aleksic proclaims it in his book of the same name releasing on the same day as this book). My duty as a reviewer is first to be completely honest about my thoughts on a given book, but second to do everything in my power to help promote my review of the book (and thus the book itself), so this is an experiment in that line of thinking. Seriously, this book is all about the pros and cons of Santa Claus, as seen by an ordained Baptist minister who actively dons the red and white suit every year and openly professes his love of (nearly) all things Christmas and Santa. Yet even though Holloway is quite open with his natural bias here, he is also quite thorough in looking through the common complaints of Santa and examining each in turn - both from the left ("shaming isn't cool, y'all, and we need to protect the feelings of the young flowers") and from the right ("Heresy!!! There is NOTHING about Santa in the Bible!!!"). And Holloway truly does a pretty even handed look at all aspects of the complaints at hand, writing as both defense lawyer and prosecutor of both sides. Truly, it works quite well and since he uses a very conversational tone, it also reads quite easily. Further, at barely 150 pages, this is also a very *quick* read - I read it in under 3 hrs, and that included getting a few chores done around the house preparing for my sister in law to arrive later today as I write this review. Truly, anyone interested in any form of Christmas - even the secular, Santa/ Rudolph only version - will appreciate the overall discussion here, as while this *is* an explicitly Christian book and Holloway explicitly talks about using his time in the suit to spread the Christian message - part of the whole "best missionary in the history of Christianity bit", though read the book to see what Holloway does with this and how carefully and sensitively he approaches it - this is truly a book that looks at several non-religious arguments for and against Santa as well, and these discussions could be beneficial to even the most ardent secularist/ anti-Christian. Indeed, the *only* reason for the star deduction is that even though Holloway does include at least some footnotes at the end of each chapter, they're all brief enough that I daresay they wouldn't quite get to the 15% or so of the text that even my recently relaxed bibliographic standards require in order to get the full amount of stars in the rating. Truly an well written quick read that does everything it sets out to do... and maybe a bit more. Very much recommended.

Among The More Complete Histories Of The Nuclear Bombing Of Japan. Clocking in at nearly 450 pages, with only about 10% of that bibliography - and hence the star deduction - this account really is one of the more complete accounts of the entire event I've yet come across in all my years both reading books generally and studying WWII in its various facets more specifically. It was also the last of three books about the bomb and/ or the use of it that I read over the few days of US Memorial Day Weekend 2025 or in the days immediately after, the other two being Evan Thomas' 2023 book Road To Surrender and Frank Close's June 2025 book Destroyer Of Worlds. Specifically, in tracking exactly who it does - including several key US personnel involved with both war planning and the Manhattan Project itself, the pilot of the bomber that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima, the reporter who really opened America's eyes to the horrors of nuclear fallout, and even the Mayor of Hiroshima himself - this book really does give a complete all around picture of all aspects of the creation and use of the atomic bomb and the repercussions for both American leadership and Japanese civilians. Reading almost like a Tom Clancy or perhaps Robert Ludlum war thriller at times, this text *also* manages to have the emotional heavy hitting of Hersey's original Hiroshima report, which it covers in nearly as much detail as Lesley MM Blume's 2020 book Fallout - which told the story of that report exclusively. Leaning more towards the American position that as horrific as this event was, it very likely saved lives - American, Japanese, and even Russian - this is one of those texts that largely doesn't speak of the efforts in both America and Japan by several key, yet not quite highly ranked enough, leaders to at least consider trying to end the war through dialogue (ala Evan Thomas' 2023 book Road To Surrender), but instead seeks to offer the reader a more complete understanding of the men who *were* making the decisions in these moments, from the President of the United States all the way to the commander of the airplane that actually dropped the bomb itself. Ultimately a thorough yet sobering account, and with its release intentionally timed just barely a month before the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing, this really is one of the most complete books I've ever encountered on the topic, one that at least attempts to strive for a balance in understanding *all* involved in this event. Thus, all -American, Japanese, and everyone else interested in discussing the event with intelligence and facts - would do well to read this particular accounting. Very much recommended.

Despite Title, This Is A Physics History - Not A WWII History. Despite using J. Robert Oppenheimer's famous quote upon seeing the detonation of the first atomic bomb - quoting from the Bhagavad Gita, he proclaimed "I am become death, the destroyer of worlds" (in case you've been living under a rock and had never heard that tale) - and indeed even showing that moment in this history of physics, this really is exactly that - a history of nuclear physics and the scientists involved. Even when the book finally gets into WWII and the Manhattan Project - as well as at least touching on both Germany and Japan's efforts to also create the first atom bomb - it still primarily focuses on the science, scientists, and the technical, logistical, and political challenges they were having. Indeed, this is really as close as this text gets to discussing the larger picture of WWII - or the Cold War after it ended. Instead what we get is a fascinating, and perhaps first of its kind in just how detailed and comprehensive it is, examination of the history of scientific discovery as it relates to nuclear and even quantum physics. Yes, it has a lot of complex - as in, truly seemingly PhD level in the field - images of some of the various mathematical equations involved, but Close does a pretty great job of actually explaining them in such a way that someone with at least a high school physics class under their belt should be able to follow along reasonably well, and even for those that don't have even that background in physics, it really is more "history of physics" than "physics" in the text's actual discussions of the relevant histories. (Though I could absolutely see this being used as a textbook, particularly at the collegiate level and particularly in certain history classes or even physics classes, as a way of showing all that has come before to get us to roughly where we are in our understanding of the topics at hand.) At least I had an easy enough time following along with the text here- though as others frequently tell me, this could very well be a "*my* abilities" thing rather than a more general level of ease. So please, read this book and write a review yourself, no matter who you may be, and please briefly describe your own educational background when you do. (For me, I have a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, came within a handful of classes of getting two other degrees in Secondary Mathematics Education and Mathematics -long story there - and had physics classes in both high school and college. In addition to several history classes, including a few covering the time and issues in question.) I also had a great time reading this over US Memorial Weekend 2025, as we prepare for the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki later this summer - though I *did* expect this book would be more about those events than it was, which was one main reason I had originally picked it up and chose to read it at this exact time. So again, to be crystal clear yet another time: This is a history of nuclear physics, *NOT* a history of the atomic bomb directly or exclusively. Truly a fascinating and compelling history, particularly for anyone at least remotely interested in the field for any reason. Oh, and the star deduction? For all that is discussed here, the bibliography is actually rather short, clocking in at just 10% or so of the text. Astonishing, really, considering the sheer amount of history presented here. Very much recommended.

History In All Its Complexity. This is one of the better histories of the nuclear bombings of Japan that I've come across over the years in that it isn't "hoo-rah we didn't drop *enough* bombs on Japan!", but it also isn't "nuclear weapons are an absolute abomination and their use made the term "war crime" seem like stealing a piece of gum, it was so much worse than that". (The second there being closer to my own position on the matter, for what that's worth.) Instead, Thomas takes pains to show the complex realities on both sides of the war, both in what the leaders at the time knew and in the various pressures each was facing in trying to lead nations during a war. This is a Western-based book, and thus ultimately comes down on the side of the deployment of these weapons being "necessary", but Thomas really shows effort to show that at least some of the American leaders that ultimately selected the targets and ordered the strikes did at least attempt to consider other alternatives - but again, given their own intelligence estimates, planning, and pressures, ultimately concluded to issue the orders they did. One thing that becomes crystal clear when reading this text, however, is that while there may not have been (apparently clearly were not) actual communications regarding this between the governments, there absolutely were people - high ranking people - on both sides that were seeking ways to avoid this fate. There were those on the American side high enough up to know what was being built in top secrecy but low enough to not be able to countermand the order to actually use them that wanted to avoid civilian deaths at *all* costs - even if it meant not dropping these bombs at all. There were those on the Japanese side that were striving, as early as late 1944 in particular, to find some way to end the war and still allow Japan to retain its Imperial system, or at bare minimum its Emperor. (Which, to be clear, despite the US "insisting" on "unconditional" surrender, *was* ultimately allowed - and yes, Thomas goes into detail here too about what the terms actually meant to both sides.) Truly one of the better histories of the topic I've ever come across, and I'm glad I finally read this text on US Memorial Weekend 2025, as we begin to go through the 80th anniversary of many of the final events detailed in this book. Very much recommended.

Mass Effect. September 11. Small Exurban Atlanta, Georgia. A Blimp Commonly Seen At Major US Sporting Events. All Connected By One Event. Many, many years ago - nearly as far back as the fire at the heart of this book, though I'm not quite *that* old - I attended a Family Day (or whatever they called it at the time) at the Goodyear plant in Rockmart, Ga, just outside metropolitan Atlanta at the time. My dad and several uncles all worked for Goodyear at one of their two plants in my hometown of Cartersville, just up the road, and for whatever reason this year (and maybe one other?) Goodyear was combining the event for all three plants. Little did I know that in attending that event, I would have a direct - if extremely remote - connection to a fire that killed 13 US Marines and injured nearly 50 other people when my dad was 19 and just before my mom's 19th birthday, nearly a year before they wed and within 5 yrs before my birth. To the level that given my family and community connections, it is at least somewhat likely that I actually know people who know the people who likely never even knew that something they had made had unfortunately indirectly caused so much devastation. And little did Henry know that in including the tiny detail of who made the fuel bladder that leaked the fuel that burned and caused these casualties, he would instantly make this tale that much more personal to a reviewer who had never heard of this tragedy before seeing this book. But there are wider connections here, both more in the aftermath than the setup. One issue Henry dives into for a page or two (of just barely 230 pages of actual text here) actually connects directly to an issue explored early in the first Mass Effect game in an encounter that is almost unavoidable, but to reveal which one would be a major spoiler for the discussion at this point of the book, as they are in fact identical, with identical reasonings if not identical particulars. The other, perhaps even most surprising connection of all, is actually that this 1979 USMC tragedy along the slopes of Mount Fuji in Japan is directly connected to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City - and directly helped save lives in 2001. All because one doc in particular was there in 1979 trying to save the lives of as many of these Marines as he could and learned lessons that became directly applicable that Tuesday in New York. Read this book to learn of the Marines tragically lost over those two months in late 1979. Their stories have rarely been told outside of Marine circles, and everyone deserves to be remembered and have their stories known. Read this book to learn of the mistakes that were made that caused this calamity - or certainly exacerbated it, at minimum - and what we can do better both in the military (which *has* updated and clarified the relevant regulations over the intervening decades) and as a society in response to emergency and traumatic situations. Read this book to learn of the selflessness and heroism of so many working to save as many people as possible, and of the Marines themselves who were so often so much more worried about their fellow Marine than their own body. Read this book because so few of us have ever heard these stories, yet the sacrifice and courage of so many truly deserve to be more well known by so many more of us. And yes, after you read this book... leave your own review. Tell the world what you thought of Henry's reporting here (reads like a thriller, even as you know it is all too real) or the events shown here (I think I've been clear on that point). Help get the word out about this book so that the world can see what happened in 1979... and since. And then go hug a loved one, because as this tale so poignantly points out... you never really know when it will be the last time you have a chance to do so. Very much recommended. PS: The star deduction? Unfortunately there was no bibliography at all in the Advance Review Copy edition of the book I read, and while I understand that this is original investigation, even by my more relaxed bibliographic requirements of nonfiction books these last few years I still really need to see at least around 15% of the text be bibliography, as that does seem to be a rough industry standard and is the standard I've been judging nonfiction books by for quite some time.

You Think You Know Me. I fully cop to being one of those people that avoids my hometown in my adult life (other than visiting family members who continue to live there) specifically because high school was hell and I don't care to catch up with pretty well anyone from that era of my life. (To be fair, the feeling is largely mutual. :D) So for me, a group of former HS friends deciding to catch up by spending a weekend together to celebrate the upcoming 40th birthday of one of them is... weird. And yet... Danvers absolutely makes the idea work. The first part of the tale is largely "establishing shots", with each of our four friends introducing themselves and where they currently are in life as they begin to travel to the meeting point on Cape Cod. This section is admittedly slow... but then, so is this section in many of the best thriller/ horror/ disaster movies or stories. Once everyone begins catching up, the action begins to pick up - including a scene that reminded me of a long ago college Service Spring Break incident, but to reveal that tale here would get into spoiler territory for the book. Hell, I didn't even connect it until I began writing that last sentence. ;) From here, the tale goes less introspective and, eventually, more into "what the hell is going on" / "who can we trust" territory, with a fair amount of exploration of the common theme of "who we are on social media isn't always who we are in real life" that has been explored so much over the last decade. While Danvers doesn't really add much to that particular discourse with this tale, she does use it to add a touch of depth to her own story. I will note that the mystery, once it arrives, was perhaps given away a touch too early with one particular detail that one of the characters revealed in her opening monologue. So for those that just cannot stand solving the mystery before the author reveals it... well... "you think you know me". In other words... there may yet be more to this tale... The epilogue in particular offers a stinger that takes this seeming one-off tale and offers the possibility that it could in fact become a series, which those of you who pick this book up with the "Book 1" on its title would already know. (I had received an Advance Review Copy of the text months before publication, though I only read the book about 2 weeks before due to other ARC commitments.) Ultimately, this actually has a blend of the approaches used in say the "Widows" series by Kimberly Belle, Cate Holahan, Layne Fargo, and Vanessa Lillie - where each author seemingly takes one of four widows and they combine to craft an intriguing and rompy series - and the meta-publishing discussions of say Romantic Friction by Lori Gold - among others - and yet still manages to be fairly uniquely its own thing even with those similarities. It will be interesting to see where Danvers takes this budding series and how long she intends to have it run. Very much recommended.

Poetic And Compelling. Usually, if a book uses a lot of flowery language and descriptions, it tends to bog the book down quite heavily. Here, McMorris actually manages to flip that script and use such poetic prose to *lift* material that is otherwise quite heavy indeed. The entire book is essentially about the perils faced by both Chinese immigrants and indeed poor people generally on the US West Coast at the nadir of the 19th century, and McMorris does a wonderful job of transporting the reader to that place and time throughout the book. The dual timeline yet single character approach is rare and useful here in creating tension in the reader, and yes, the timelines do eventually converge. Overall a rare look at an often glossed over or even outright ignored period of American history, and McMorris manages to pluck it out of relative obscurity and tell a powerful tale set in all of that era's realities - both good and bad. Very much recommended.

Superb Tale Of Survival And Love Offers Hope For Modern Era. This is one of those dual timeline WWII historical fiction tales that manages to create a solid amount of survival tension without ever actually going into the concentration camps... and is rare in that it offers a fair amount of modern day hope as well. The timelines here are each done particularly well, with tension ratcheting up throughout the book in each as hints are placed and ultimately secrets are revealed, and the timelines manage to play into each other in more than the usual ways - very nearly to what I hold as the ultimate visual in the dual-timeline approach, that of the final fight in the movie Frequency and in particular *that* sequence. Kelman never goes anywhere near there really, yet also manages to very nearly create the same effect in the reader's mind at one point. Overall simply a superbly crafted, multi layered story that offers pointers for the modern era without ever being preachy about them at all - simply using its own story to show some things that we may consider more broadly, should we so choose. And yes, we very much should take these things to heart in reality, if we truly seek to avoid the horrors shown (and not shown so directly) here. Very much recommended.

Thinking Person's Thriller In Directions Perhaps Belle Didn't Intend. This is one of those kinds of books that I really like because it tells a kickass suspense/ thriller tale, and if that's all you want... there you go. But *just* below the surface, it also makes some points that in all honesty, knowing Belle for several years now and seeing several of her political posts on social media... I honestly don't think she meant to make. As a surface level thriller, this tale works quite well with both of its leads being American expats who find themselves connected to one part of Amsterdam's diamond trade when all hell begins to break loose. Even at this surface level, the amount of intrigue and suspense Belle manages to layer into this barely over 300 page tale is rather astonishing, really. Lesser authors likely wouldn't have been able to quite pull this off as effectively as she does, with the various corporate and familial relationships, motivations, and quandries happening side by side and sometimes directly overlapping... whether or not anyone or everyone involved knows it is happening. On the deeper level, Belle makes clear that she does not like American gun culture, despite having lived in Atlanta for at least some time - the major metro area I grew up just outside of, where my grandfather was, so it was claimed, the most decorated WWII vet in his metro Atlanta County at the time of his death... *because of his comfort and use of guns before and during that war*. And while there are many who may be tempted to defenestrate the book over this, don't. She doesn't actually get preachy at any point about it, though various "Americans and their guns" comments are made more than once and by more than one character. Which is perhaps fitting given the Dutch setting of the novel. But it actually goes well beyond this, getting subversive to many real-world political positions, because one major subplot revolves around a particular technology which I'm intentionally being obtuse about in this review so as to avoid spoilers. Yet in showing just how easy this particular technology is to use, and even making a point at least as much as "Americans and their guns" that using this tech itself isn't actually illegal even though possessing the results of the tech very much is, Belle actively destroys every single argument about owning the result of this tech while also making it clear that bans against the possession of the results of this tech are actively elitist and classist, as this tech isn't exactly dirt cheap. (Though it *is*, seemingly, more common than this particular book shows.) Thus, this thriller featuring several complex characters of nationalities on both sides of the Atlantic works both with one's brain in "just entertain me" mode *and* in "I want something to ponder after reading this book" mode, while still retaining its primary purpose of more straightforward entertainment. Which is always a nice to see. Very much recommended.

Important History That Should Spark Needed Discussion. First up, I fully admit I am *far* from a public housing expert of any kind. I read books like this to learn about issues, not because I already know about them. The closest first hand knowledge I have of any of this is growing up in Exurban Atlanta and being generally aware of the Atlanta news... right as the Atlanta Projects were coming down and being rethought in the late 90s/ early 2000s around the time of the Olympic Games in Atlanta. And even then, even while working with a community service oriented collegiate honor society throughout my college years in this period, while we worked a lot with various "community revitalization" efforts, we never really worked in the Projects. Maybe some other Atlanta chapters did (Georgia Tech, Morehouse, Spelman, etc), but my school just in the suburbs (Kennesaw State) didn't. All of that tangential personal history dealt with, the actual text here is great for sparking discussion on a few different, yet mostly related, topics... but the text here is also written almost as a textbook. It *feels* like something you would actually take a class on with this as the text and expect to be quizzed and tested about the various people and dates and movements and philosophies and such, yet it isn't as dry and formal as an actual academic paper tends to be. It is one of those University Press (NYU, in this case) titles that seems truly destined to be *most* read as a textbook, very nearly explicitly designed for exactly that... and yet it *should* be read by a much wider audience, particularly among the "leader" / "influencer" / "organizer" set, because it really does have some interesting things to say about the entire history up to 2023 or so - and, somewhat, of the potential future - of public housing in the United States. Among the discussions relevant here are the Nazi-based origins of public housing as we now know it in the 2020s - literally, the leaders who first proposed the national laws that led to the Projects openly praised Adolf Hitler and many of his acolytes of the late 1920s/ early 1930s - when their antisemitism and violence was already clear, but well before their "final solution" began. How can we openly embrace the freedom and diversity we claim to hold so dear in the US in the 2020s while also advocating for ideas that are in places almost word for word out of Hitler's own mouth? Another discussion point that Husock actually does a truly phenomenal job of exploring, even if a touch tangentially, is reparations. No, not for slavery - by and large, clear records of that don't exist and the people directly affected by it are long dead. HOWEVER, the black communities whose property was effectively stolen -via so-called "eminent domain", where the government can dictate the price it will pay you for your land - ... this happened in the 1930s and later. We have actual property records of those who owned that land at that time. While many of the owners themselves are now dead, as many of them would have been born around the turn of the 20th century, some of the later ones - the projects built more in the "golden era", as Husock describes it, of the 1950s and early 1960s... some of those original owners *may* still be alive. In either case, it is very likely that direct legal heirs of many of these people - their kids, grandkids, or even great-grandkids - are very much alive today and could be more adequately compensated for what was taken from their near ancestor. In theory, this could be seen as a just remediation for sins that while in the past, are still recent enough to bear accurate justification. Obviously, this would have to be more completely thought through and debated by those with far more knowledge of the specifics than I have, and likely far greater philosophers and ethicists than I will ever begin to approach claiming to be, but I do believe that Husock lays the basic groundwork for such conversations quite well in this text, and it should be read for this if for no other reason. The final major discussion that Husock leads to here in the text is actually the very original discussion - what, if anything, should be done regarding public housing: Who should fund it, who should manage it, who should benefit from it, *is it possible* to truly benefit from it, under what conditions can it be successful, what is "successful public housing", etc? Husock makes clear that in certain times and places - even in this Millennium - public housing *has* worked and *can* work - but he also makes equally clear that the realities of public housing have rarely lived up to the ideals and goals of its proponents. Read this book. Even if you yourself happen to be a public housing expert, you're still likely to learn at leasta few things here. Write your own review of this book. And, perhaps more importantly, write to your governmental "leaders" at every level from your local City Councilman (as Housing Authorities are run by local leaders) all the way through your Congressman and even the President (as Federal policy is set in DC) and let them know your thoughts after reading it. Maybe, just maybe, we can actually get these discussions had in the manner than they are due. Oh, and the star deduction? The bibliography clocked in at just 11% or so, which is short of even my recently relaxed standard of 15%. Very much recommended.

Truly Masterful. This is one of those books where the dangers of a foreign country - specifically, Mexico relative to US tourists, in this case - form a major plotline... so be aware of that going in, and depending on your own views you may like it or not. Either way, Bratt works it pretty amazingly to show that there are both good and bad people everywhere, and for the most part, people really just want to live their lives and work for the best for those they love. In addition to the dangers of Mexico though (which are central to one of the major plotlines of the book), Bratt also does a great job of showing just how beautiful the resort areas in its tourist hotspots can be - which I can also attest to as well. And then there is the plotline following the youngest of the Hart sisters, back again in a major way and having a more direct link with some of my own activities over the last couple of weeks, as I mentioned in Bratt's Facebook group. So that was pretty cool for me personally, but even more generally Bratt managed to layer this particular plotline into this story very well, despite its only real connection to the Mexico-based plotlines being that it involved a member of the Hart family. Overall I do think this was one of the stronger tales of this series, really, with all that is done herein and all that is set up to come out of everything. Bratt carefully and beautifully layers all these elements of destination wedding, missing person suspense, travel danger, personal danger, family loyalty, non-preachy political commentary, and so much more... and she manages to do it all while telling a compelling tale in just over 250 pages. As I mentioned in the title, truly masterful. Start from Book 1, Hart's Ridge, to understand all that is going on here, but for those more adventurous readers, this *can*, technically, be read as a standalone / entry point in series. Very much recommended.