Search Results for: Beyond Me

Clockwork Scarab, by Colleen Gleason (book review) – the Misses Stoker and Holmes, on the case!

Feb4

book cover of Clockwork Scarab by Colleen Gleason published by Chronicle BooksAncient Egypt is all the rage,
“Cognoggins” crave the newest steam-machines,
London society’s fairest maidens are being kidnapped…and worse!

It’s Evalina who inherited the Stoker family call to hunt vampires and the superhuman quickness needed to succeed. The logical mind and innate problem-solving skills shared by Sherlock and Mycroft also live on in gadget-loving Mina.

Only the personal request of Her Highness could make these rivals work together in this 1889 world powered by steam… and lies.

Add a handsome police detective, a young man of the streets who knows more than he should, and a stranger who claims to come from the future (where electricity is legal? Oh, who is he trying to fool?), and things get more complicated than either independent-minded miss had anticipated!

Check out the first Stoker & Holmes book today at your favorite local library or independent bookstore, and immerse yourself in a steampunk city with mystery and mayhem.

Or should modern writers not take classic tales beyond their original authors’ limits?
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Book info: The Clockwork Scarab (Stoker & Holmes, book 1) / Colleen Gleason. Chronicle Books, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: When young London society heiresses go missing and leave scarab amulets behind, Stoker and Holmes must investigate – that’s Eva Stoker, vampire hunter, and Mina Holmes, niece of Sherlock.

Summoned by the Princess of Wales to solve the deadly mystery, the two young ladies find another dead girl in the British Museum’s Egyptian room – and a young man in strange garb who claims to come from the future!

Inspector Luckworth of Scotland Yard suspects this Dylan fellow in the case, charming street urchin Pix knows more than he’s telling, and another young lady of quality disappears…

Can Eva’s defensive talents keep rational Mina from becoming the scarab cult’s next victim?

Can Mina solve the scarab mystery before Eva’s impulsive actions close off all clues or get them both killed?

Can they get Dylan back to his time in his own world?

Something much deadlier than illegal electricity is stalking the streets and levels of steampunk London in this first volume of the Stoker and Holmes series, even if these dedicated young ladies are underappreciated by the men in their noted families!  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Thorn Abbey, by Nancy Ohlin (book review) – love beyond death, vengeance beyond the grave?

Oct28

book cover of Thorn Abbey by Nancy Ohlin published by Simon PulsePerfect beauty,
ideal love,
no room for the merely average?

Tess feels like a sparrow among peacocks when she transfers from her huge urban high school in upstate New York to private Thorn Abbey, with its ultra-wealthy students and palatial buildings. Peer pressure there is strong, but her growing feelings for Max are stronger – surely she can help him get over the tragic death of his girlfriend last spring…

Ask for Thorn Abbey at your local library or favorite independent bookstore and shiver through this spooky tale of love and obsession, a retelling of Daphne du Maurier’s classic Rebecca.

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Book info:  Thorn Abbey / Nancy Ohlin. Simon Pulse, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [video author visit] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My book talk: Whatever Tess expected at private school, it wasn’t moving into a dead girl’s room, falling for her still-mourning boyfriend, or encountering a malicious spirit after English class!

Tess came to Thorn Abbey for academics; her privileged classmates are mostly there to party and gossip on this picturesque New England coastal campus. The so-tragic drowning death of Becca last spring has left Max terribly depressed, and there are bitter undercurrents in conversations that Tess overhears in their dorms.

Finding out that she’s in Becca’s old room is a shock, Max’s growing attraction to her is a delight, but the eerie nighttime apparitions and attacks are starting to freak out Tess.

Whose advice should Tess follow at Thorn Abbey?
Could ultra-rich Max from Manhattan really fall in love with a shy middle-class girl from nowheresville?
Was Becca’s death really an accident?

Devon was Becca’s roommate, is now Tess’s roommate, and definitely has secrets that are giving her nightmares in this modern-day retelling of Daphne du Maurier’s classic Rebecca.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Rose Throne, by Mette Ivie Harrison (book review) – powers crossed, palace perils doubled

May22

book cover of Rose Throne by Mette Ivie Harrison published by EgmontA land divided, perhaps to perish,
Ancient prophecy says reunification will save them.
Would that their prejudices were less vicious…

The opposing forces of combative taweyr and nurturing neweyr are a bit like yin and yang, but in Rurik and Weirland if your gender does not match your inborn weyr, woe to you, as every trouble from poor crops to lack of heirs will be blamed on you… whether commoner, noble, or royal.

Just published on May 14th, The Rose Throne  tells of balance and betrayal, power and its price, two strong princesses with complementary strengths which could heal their lands, were they only allowed to use them. Oh, there’s no predictable “happily ever after” ending for this story of political alliances forged and broken, just lots of mystery and intrigue, love in the shadows, temptations and trial.

How much should we mask our less-traditional talents and interests?
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Book info: The Rose Throne / Mette Ivie Harrison. Egmont, 2013.  [author site]  [publisher site]  [book trailer]

My book talk: Taweyr and neweyr – the force of brute power beyond muscles and the force of growing life – are only found on this one island shared by two kingdoms, two unlike kings, and a prophecy that could change history. Two princesses hear the prophecy, wonder whether if its fulfilment is finally here, and worry that their own gifts of weyr may not be enough to overcome human treachery.

Princess Ailsbeth loves music, a little-appreciated gift in Rurik, and knows that she’s just a political pawn to her father, King Haikor, who keeps order through might, taking taweyr from his nobles as a tax. Women’s neweyr gift of growth is despised in Rurik, and its crops suffer.  Across the narrow landbridge, King Jaap lets jousts keep the taweyr levels down, and Princess Marlissa leads Weirland’s women in strengthening their green land through neweyr.

When Duke Kellin arrives from Rurik to offer a betrothal between Prince Edik and Marlissa, the princess and her father are wary, since there’s little love lost between the two kingdoms. Accepting the offer will stave off a war and might be the first step in fulfilling the prophecy of a royal child who will have both weyrs and will reunite the island. Perhaps 13-year-old Prince Edik will grow less like his father during their long betrothal…

What a change from the simplicity of rural Weirland accosts Princess Marlissa as she enters Rurik’s cities where no green thing grows, where strict court protocol rules everything, where King Haikor’s hatred of the ekhono who hold the wrong weyr for their gender leads him to hunt them to the death.

Having no gift of neweyr seems no burden to Princess Ailsbeth, who saw that it did her mother the Queen no good in Rurik. But when the young woman discovers that she has as much taweyr as her brother Edik lacks, she must use all her skill to conceal it.

Can the two princesses become allies, if not friends?
Can they survive the treachery and deceit of the Rurese court?
Can they live long enough to give the prophecy a chance to come true?

Required to marry for royal alliances instead of love, regal opposites Ailsbeth and Marlissa are so alike in their love for their homelands in this tale of magic, intrigue, boundaries, and heart.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Difference Between You and Me, by Madeleine George (fiction) – love, be true to yourself

Jan4
book cover of Difference Between You and Me by Madeleine George published by Viking

Fisherman boots and rough-cut hair.
Sweet little flats and pearl buttons.
These two girls couldn’t be more different, yet more attracted to one another.

But fabulous kisses can hardly outweigh Emily’s go-go-go-business attitude when Jesse considers the damage that a large corporation could inflict on their charming small town. 

Beyond the complicated/simple attraction between Jesse and Emily in this story is the larger question of being true to your community. Whether observing the International Day of Peace Vigil every September 21st with millions or demonstrating weekly for peace like Jesse and friends, perhaps humankind can take more steps forward for community and peace in 2013.

Find this honest and enriching story in hardback or eBook today at your local library or independent bookstore.
What’s your most heartfelt wish for this new year?
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Book info: The Difference Between You and Me / Madeleine George. Viking, 2012. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

My Recommendation: Her kisses are perfect, her pearl-button sweaters are adorable, but the way that Emily compartmentalizes her life bugs Jesse. Of course, it’s complicated because she’s always second-fiddle to Emily’s boyfriend, and Emily’s work as Student Council VP, and Emily’s upcoming internship with NorthStar…

Jesse’s parents accept her orientation, although they’re not so happy about her frequent detentions for plastering the high school with posters for NOLAW, the National Organization to Liberate All Weirdos. They think she has a crush on earnest young activist Esther when the girls attend their town’s weekly peace vigil together. Honestly…
Her buddy Wyatt has to contend with his anti-gay father while trying to keep his homeschooling on track so that he doesn’t have to go back to their high school; he and Jesse keep each other real. So why hasn’t Jesse ever told him about her weekly rendezvous with Emily?
Emily cannot understand why the Student Council won’t let NorthStar be the sole sponsor of their dance. Just because the corporation might bring a huge StarMart to town, might endanger all the small businesses, might…might…might!
When should financial gain win out over doing the right thing? How far can you go to protect your community without resorting to violence? How do you decide when a relationship is over?
Alternating chapters by Jesse and Emily weave together a story that’s more than physical attraction and much more than your average StuCo meeting.  (One of 6,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

In High Places, by Harry Turtledove (book review) – alternative history, time travel, danger

May30

book cover of In High Places by Harry Turtledove published by Tom Doherty TorWhat if the Black Death had lasted decades and decades?
What if scientific knowledge was scourged from Arabic thought?
What if you could visit timelines where history had changed?

Welcome back to the world of Crosstime Traders, where technology makes it possible – and profitable – to travel to the many timelines where historical events large and small caused different time-streams to branch off from the Home Timeline.

Crosstime Traffic isn’t some science experiment, but a vital business enterprise that brings in food and energy resources from low-population alternates to support the high-technology Home Timeline.

So in this alternate, educated Annette from California must disguise herself as a quiet, modest Muslim daughter of olive oil merchants from southern France and make sure that she never says or does anything that would make locals question that identity.

Of course, profit is the slave traders’ motive, too, but there’s something truly strange here. Could this particular group of slavers be in cahoots with someone from the Home Timeline?

Other Turtledove adventures in the Crosstime Traffic series include The Valley-Westside War, set in an alternate where The Bomb fell worldwide in the 1960s, and The Disunited States of America, where the US Constitution was never ratified. Alternative history brings intriguing answers to “What if?”
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Book info: In High Places (Crosstime Traffic, book 3) / Harry Turtledove. Tom Doherty Associates/ Tor Science Fiction, 2007. [author’s website] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk:  Almost time to leave muddy Paris and go back to school – on an alternate timeline. Annette’s family is returning to their Crosstime transfer station when slavers attack their caravan and take the teen far from her destination, far from her parents, far from her only way to get Home.

In this 21st century, the “City of Light” is a filthy small town in the rough Kingdom of Versailles. The Black Death killed 80% of Europe in this timeline, allowing the Muslim Kingdoms to spread far beyond the Middle East – no voyages of exploration, no Scientific Revolution, no Industrial Revolution. Here, a second son of God is credited with finally stopping the plague, basic sanitation is unknown, and bad water kills more people than marauders’ arrows.

Masquerading as olive oil traders from Marseilles, Annette’s parents observe local politics in Paris as they gather fine fruits and olives to be sold on the Home timeline, which requires food and energy from many alternate timelines to support its technologically advanced population.

Duke Raoul of Paris feels that something is too-different about these oil merchants, but is more worried about reports of slave traders attacking closer and closer to his realm. By sending young Arabic-speaking Jacques as a caravan guard on the long journey over the mountains, perhaps he can learn more about both problems.

The attack on their caravan was expected; being captured for sale as slaves in far-off Madrid was not! Far from the safety of Marseilles, Annette and Jacques are sold to a large household with some mysterious buildings where large groups of slave disappear for a whole day before returning.

How will Annette’s parents know where she’s been taken?
How can she escape to Marseilles and the only transfer station to Home?
Why does Jacques’ description of a metal room sound so much like that advanced technology?

Take a trip through time to a country that might exist somewhere, some-time, with another exciting adventure of the Crosstime Traders from the master of alternative history, Harry Turtledove.  (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Lost Code (Atlanteans 1), by Kevin Emerson (book review) – ozone layer gone, Atlantis calls

May24

book cover of The Lost Code by Kevin Emerson published by Katherine Tegen BooksArchery, crafts, swimming in the lake,
bright-colored “bug juice” that all tastes the same,
it’s summer camp, just like every other summer camp…
A future Earth unshielded by the ozone layer

Camp Eden is trying to make campers feel like everything is just fine, but their 22nd century world ravaged by global warming lurks just beyond the BioDome with its radiation-blocking panels and artificial sky.

So how does average guy Owen find himself drowned on the first day of camp, yet alive and a super-swimmer soon after? Why does any visit to the camp infirmary – from sprained ankle to skin rash – involve a blood test? And that voice beckoning him toward the light deep in the lake…an ancient prophecy? Can the legend of Atlantis be real? Is Lilly part of the prophecy, too?

I met author Kevin Emerson at KidLitCon in Seattle last September, shortly after this book was headed to his publisher, so I was pleased to see its “book birthday” scheduled for May 22 and truly enjoyed reading Owen’s adventures in a solar-scorched future with a mystery that ties him to the distant past.

Be sure to request The Lost Code at your local library or independent bookstore soon so you can help Owen puzzle out this mystery of the Atlanteans.
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Book info: The Lost Code (The Atlanteans book 1) / Kevin Emerson. Katherine Tegen Books, 2012. [author’s website] [publisher site]  Review copy courtesy of the author; cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Book Talk: Drowning on the first day of summer camp was not on Owen’s agenda. He hadn’t planned on being underwater for ten minutes and getting cuts on his neck, either. Or being bullied by his bunkmates or hearing voices call him underwater or kissing a girl or being chased by terrorists…

Owen felt strange at Camp Eden, being outside under the huge BioDome with a real lake and trees instead of safely inside the caves of Yellowstone Hub with his dad. Could those TruSky panels really protect campers from the massive solar radiation blasting Earth since the ozone layer had vanished? Better safe than sorry, they slather on NoRad lotion for all daylight activities.

Failing the swim test was bad, but the itchy wounds on his neck are even worse. Dr. Maria said not to get them wet, but a shower makes the pain stop. Cute lifeguard Lilly told Owen to go with any strange urges he has near the lake, so a night swim with the counselors-in-training sounds great – and he’s suddenly in his element, swimming and diving deep using his new gills. During the daytime, the thick NoRad lotion disguises their necks, and every night the CITs and Owen explore the lake’s depths – and sometimes the voice calls him toward an azure light.

Long-time camper Leech bullies everyone in their cabin, goes fishing with the camp director, and generally is obnoxious. He knows the secret trails in the camp forest and cheats during team challenges. Does he suspect that Owen isn’t just a skinny kid from the Hub anymore?

Touring the Eagle Eye Observatory which watches over the 200,000 inhabitants of EdenWest Dome, wondering if Dr. Maria knows more than she’s telling him about why he survived so long underwater, trying to stay away from Leech while he listens for the lake voice – Owen’s summer is turning out to be no picnic.

Why does the voice tell him of a prophecy?
Can there really be people who live and survive outside the Dome?
Is the camp director friend or enemy?
Can Owen trust the visions about the future of his world and the Atlantis of its past?

First in a series, finding The Lost Code could be the secret that rescues humanity from itself or the final step in sealing their fate. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)

Silverhorse, by Lene Kaaberbøl (fiction) – guest post recommendation by Rachel Ward

May14

book cover of Silverhorse by Lene Kaaberbol published by Macmillan UKWild hellhorses,
A headstrong young girl,
Women lead society, men travel as they can.

Guest reviewer Rachel Ward brings us an exciting book about a chilling future on Blogathon2012’s Guest Post Day.

Silverhorse is the first book in the Katriona series, one of several written by Danish author Kaaberbøl, whose four-volume Shamer Chronicles fantasy series is published by Henry Holt Books  in the USA.

Check WorldCat to find a library near you to check out Silverhorse or check your favorite bookseller for a copy of this London-published novel. Its sequel, Midnight, has also been translated into English, but book 3 remains in Danish only. Perhaps reader demand will interest a US publisher in getting the entire Katriona series back in print.
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Book info: Silverhorse / Lene Kaaberbøl. Macmillan (London), 2007.   [author’s website in Danish]  [author’s biography from Gale Biographies of Children’s Authors]  

Rachel’s Recommendation *:
Silverhorse by  Lene Kaaberbøl is set in a post-apocalyptic world where nobody is allowed to own the land, but it is passed down from mother to daughter. Women are the rulers with a duty to care for the land, and men lead an itinerant life. The main character is 12-year-old Kat, daughter of Tess, the maestra of Crowfoot Inn. Kat has a fiery temper and fights constantly with her stepfather. 

In the end, Tess has no choice but to send Kat away, despite it being very unusual for a girl to travel in this society. After a disastrous apprenticeship to a dyer, she ends up at the academy for Bredinari, who ride the strange and dangerous hellhorses – wild nightmares crossed with sturdy mountain horses – and serve justice and law in the land of Breda. Here, Kat has to learn to control her temper so she can master the weapons and horses she will need to handle. Events come to a head when she gets caught up in power politics beyond her control or understanding, and finds herself fighting for survival.

The plot rattles along at a good pace and Kat is an engaging and sympathetic, if flawed, character. Her struggles with both authority figures and bullies her own age are all too recognisable and the book also tackles the reverse-sexism of her world, snobbery, loyalty, betrayal and true friendship.

Kaaberbøl’s writing is truly fantastic, in every sense of the word. This is an excellent and compelling fantasy story, translated from the Danish by the author herself – being able to write as well in another language as she can in her own is a skill of which I am frankly in awe!

Highly recommended  (Cover image courtesy of the publisher.)

*This review was originally posted on A Discount Ticket to Everywhere on Saturday 12th May, 2012.

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photograph of guest blogger Rachel Ward
Rachel Ward – guest blogger

Since gaining her MA in Literary Translation in 2002, Rachel Ward has been working in Norwich, United Kingdom, as a freelance literary translator from German and French to English. She specialises in children’s and young adult literature as well as crime novels, fantasy and other contemporary fiction. 

She blogs on reading and translation at http://adiscounttickettoeverywhere.blogspot.com/and is on Twitter as @FwdTranslations. Her most recent translations, the Nea Fox books by Amelia Ellis, are available as e-books from Amazon and www.neafox.com.

U for Underworld – Abandon, by Meg Cabot (fiction)

Apr24

The underworld, the afterlife…
We always wonder what it’s like, after we die,
but Pierce knows.

If she hadn’t tried to save the dying bird, she wouldn’t have fallen into the near-freezing water, wouldn’t have drowned, wouldn’t have flatlined in the emergency room.

And finding herself in the Underworld, seeing the young man she met in a cemetery as a child, realizing that she’s dead… Pierce just can’t stay, and somehow she escapes back to the world of the living. But she’s never completely here.

Well-known author Meg Cabot retells the Persephone myth with a dark, modern twist in this first book of the Abandon trilogy. Book two, Underworld, will be published May 8, 2012, so hurry to read book 1 at your local library or independent bookstore first.
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Book info: Abandon (Abandon, book 1)/ Meg Cabot. Point Books, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site] [book trailer]

My Recommendation: A new start in a tropical paradise…that should cheer up Pierce, right? Somehow, she’s not recovering from her near-death experience very well. Part of her heart must have stayed in the Underworld, with him.

So Mom brought her to Isla Huesos, where she grew up. New house, new school, her uncle and cousin and grandmother nearby – living among the Florida sea breezes and bright flowers of “the Island of Bones” should help her readjust to being alive, to fully recover from being clinically dead after that accident two years ago, to escape from the strange things that happened at her last school.

People ask if she saw a bright light as she died, but not about her seeing John in the Afterlife or escaping from death itself. They don’t know that Pierce met handsome, dangerous John Hayden during her childhood when she tried to revive a dying bird at her grandfather’s funeral in Isla Huesos and succeeded or that he’s given her a necklace that warns her of danger approaching.

Isla Huesos High School has an odd tradition of “Coffin Night,” celebrating a hurricane so fierce that it lifted all the coffins from the cemetery. But this year, Coffin Night has been cancelled because someone has broken the cemetery gates and overturned gravestones. When John caught up with Pierce in the cemetery last night, he didn’t think that they’d be attacked by dark forces – striking back did a bit of damage, but they’d escaped, leaving Pierce’s necklace behind.

When the cemetery sexton shows up at school with her necklace darkening in its danger mode, Pierce has to meet with him later, despite John’s warnings. Does Mr. Smith know about John or is he just trying to frighten the newcomer? Why does her mother warn her about some local families and not others? Why are the storms strengthening so early in the season? Why does Pierce feel drawn to return to the cemetery again and again?

This eerie retelling of the Persephone myth takes readers to the Island of Bones and beyond, as strong winds and stronger feelings take Pierce far beyond herself. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

P for Prized, by Caragh O’Brien (fiction) – not enough daughters, not enough time

Apr18

In the desert-dry future,
when the oil is depleted and hope is imprisoned,
there are rumors of a safe place beyond the wastelands.

Gaia and her tiny infant sister actually make it to Sylum, to a lake with more water than the teen midwife has ever dreamed of, to morning mists instead of parching winds, to the Matrarch‘s iron-fisted rule over everyone – the women citizens and the second-class males who vastly outnumber them.

Her own grandmother fled here years ago, and Gaia had hoped against hope that she’d still be in Sylum. Alas, she died a decade before their arrival, but left coded messages addressed to Gaia’s parents. Perhaps they’re family history, perhaps they’re clues to why fewer and fewer daughters are born to Sylum each year.

To fully appreciate Gaia’s story, read Birthmarked first, but if you just can’t wait to jump into this dystopian world, the author subtly brings in enough snippets of information from the first book to let you read Prized by itself. If you have read Birthmarked (book 1) and want a “bridge” to Prized, or if you just want a bit more backstory on The Enclave, look for O’Brien’s short story “Tortured” (free eBook at this time).

A mystery, a love story, a cautionary ecological parable.
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Book info: Prized (The Birthmarked Trilogy, book 2) / Caragh O’Brien. Roaring Brook Press, 2011. [author’s website] [publisher site] [video book review]

My Recommendation: Gaia is afraid that her infant sister might not survive their escape across the wasteland, but the rumors hadn’t prepared her for the women-ruled settlement that rescues them. Staying in the Enclave would have enslaved them both; living in Sylum will give Maya to someone else to raise as the Matarch rules everyone. And once Gaia stays in Sylum for two days, she can never cross its borders or she’ll die.

So few females have been born in Sylum during recent decades that Gaia, with the birthmark streaking down her face, is accepted at once, and Maya is doubly prized. Now men drastically outnumber women, and they are forbidden to touch women or to vote in assemblies – a kiss means time in prison for assault. Men who have been tested as fertile have a chance to marry, if they impress a woman during the thirty-two games and the Matrarch approves.

When Gaia uses her midwifery skills to help a young woman in distress and won’t tell who, the Matrarch puts her under house arrest. Eventually, Gaia relents, stepping into the sunlight and a wealth of confusion as two brothers very delicately express their interest in her as a wife – and an intruder turns out to be Vlatir, who helped her escape from the Enclave!

As time approaches for the thirty-two games, Gaia gets strong hints that she’ll be the winner’s choice for chaperoned time together. Even prisoners can be chosen to play, so seeing Vlatir on the field is only a slight surprise. But the winner’s choice of companion shocks the whole community, and Gaia finds herself in a whirlwind of old secrets, new information, and terrible danger.

Can Gaia discover why so few girls are born here? Will the Matrarch let her act on any knowledge that she gains? Can she or Maya or even Vlatir survive in this strange place of marshes and lakes and women-archers who guard the assembly hall?

Readers who begin the Birthmarked Trilogy with this second volume will easily follow Gaia’s story as the author skillfully weaves in characters and incidents from the first book throughout the tale. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com) Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

D is Dying to Tell Me (fiction) – hearing the dead, dog on a mission

Apr4

D for a dying man, red flashes of light,
D for dread, cold whispers of wind on a still night…
Approaching the old stone jail cell, Sasha’s visions get worse.
Red flashes, a dying man,
The past or the future??

Do you believe in messages from beyond the grave? Are premonitions true indicators of what may happen in the future? Can there be mental communication between people and animals?

Moving to a strange small town is bad enough, but being immediately tagged as the policeman’s kids and mostly shunned makes it that much worse. Sasha wonders if her more-frequent visions of blood and peril are part of the town itself or simply mean that she’s losing her mind. Hearing King somehow speak to her makes her suspect the latter – retired police dogs do not talk to grumpy teen girls, they just don’t!

Many mysterious things in this novel by Sherryl Clark, who firmly places readers in Manna Creek, Australia, with the town itself as one of the book’s main characters. Look for Dying to Tell Me at your local library or indie bookstore.
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Book info: Dying to Tell Me / Sherryl Clark. Kane Miller, 2011 [author’s website] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

My Recommendation: Strange chills and odd visions – doesn’t anyone else in Manna Creek sense them? Sasha and her younger brother aren’t impressed with the little town where their dad has moved them for a “fresh start.” After the troubles that landed her in Teen Court, Sasha doesn’t have any voice in this, of course.

They nearly hit a scrawny dog as they drive up to this shabby little house that can’t even hold all their furniture. The shops in town look dusty and tired, and the townspeople aren’t very friendly to the new policeman or his family. Sasha knew that her mum wouldn’t un-divorce her dad, but she never dreamed that they’d move away from Melbourne, out to nowhere.

On their first walk around, Sasha slips off the trail and into icy Manna Creek, hitting her head on the way. Rescued by little brother Nicky and the local ambulance squad, she keeps getting visions of a man, a hunted-looking man. The visions are worse in their backyard, which they share with the police station – flashes of red and the image of a man in the old stone building.

A gun-shy retired police dog comes to live with the family. At least King likes them! Bored during the long school break, Sasha and Nicky visit the local history museum and learn about a man who hanged himself in that police cell 100 years ago. And the small art gallery includes original masterworks of famous Australian painters that Sasha recognizes from her art classes. Out here?

As Nicky and Sasha roam Manna Creek and discover more about its people and past, her visions get worse. Images of fire and death – are they shadows of the past or premonitions? Can she stop a tragedy before it happens? Why does King seem to understand what she’s thinking before she says it? And that man in her visions – who is he?

More than one mystery hides in Manna Creek and in the pages of this well-written novel by Australian author Sherryl Clark. (One of 5,000 books recommended on www.abookandahug.com)