Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Women by Kristin Hannah

Book Description


Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam.

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Women by Kristin Hannah is yet another home run.  It has become obvious for those who have read her books she must own stock in Kleenex because people will go through a tissue box. The novel is split into two parts: During the Vietnam War and after.

The story has a twenty-year-old, Frances “Frankie” McGrath, after finishing nursing school, deciding to serve in Vietnam as an Army nurse. Nothing can prepare Frankie for what awaits in Vietnam, a chaotic and destructive environment.

Her story shows how the friendship grew between three American military nurses serving in Vietnam: Frankie, Barb Johnson, and Ethel Flint, where they became a sisterhood.

These women served and sacrificed so much yet were dismissed and seamlessly forgotten. Vietnam was a dark thorn in American history, but it is also a tragedy the way those who served were treated when they came home. Through Frankie’s eyes readers can take a journey with her, going through bad times and ending with hope.

It is a story about patriotism, friendship, and remembrance.  These women who served in Vietnam were not only strong, but also courageous. As Hannah so brilliantly points out they should not have any shame, because it all belongs to Americans who mistreated them.

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Author Interview

Elise Cooper: Why write about Vietnam vets now?

Kristin Hannah: I have wanted to write it for quite some time.  It has been on my mind for a long while. I wanted to focus on returning from war.  I saw this personally when I was a child. I think for a long time Vietnam was a subject people did not want to read about or talk about. I sought to show what life was like in the Vietnam hospitals with its horror, difficulty, and camaraderie. On a book tour I was told by both male and female Vietnam vets and their children how this was an unspoken trauma in their family for over fifty years.  If the book helps in some small way this makes me happy.

EC: The female lead, Frankie, a Vietnam vet, seems to have the same journey as many vets who come home and feel misunderstood. Agree?

KH:  It is a sad truth that we have often failed our veterans upon their return in how we care for them. This has been my soapbox for a while.  If we as a country are going to ask people to put themselves in harm’s way for us it really behooves us to care for them fully when they come home.  This is especially true of female veterans who are often forgotten in this equation.

EC:  Your earlier book, Home Front, was similar but focused on a war on terror vet?

KH:  My passion for wanting to focus on returning veterans led me to write Home Front. This was the beginning of my rearing up to write this book, The Women. By speaking with a Blackhawk pilot who deployed, Teresa Burgess, a warrant officer, helped me to find authenticity.  She also helped me to understand when women are considered in combat and when they are not. This idea that someone can be a Blackhawk pilot rescuing soldiers in a hot landing zone and not be considered in combat just stayed with me. One of the things the Vietnam nurses heard when they came home and tried to get help for their emotional trauma, “well you were not in combat so why would you have any issues.”

EC:  Your dedication in The Women was very powerful.  Do you want to explain it?

KH: It summarizes the book. It is my discovery of why I wrote this story. It was shocking to see that even the male Vietnam vets brushed off what nurses went through. The women were continually confronted with their invisibility and lack of remembrance for their service even by the VA and those who should have known better. Women have served as nurses in wars for ages. It was weird to me how consistently they were overlooked. They have been marginalized or forgotten.

EC:  You do explain that the Vietnam veterans, unlike other vets, were treated horrifically, which included being called baby killers, being flipped off, and spat upon.  Why put it in?

KH:  This is why I wanted to write about the Vietnam era.  As a child I remember how they were treated when they came home. My best friend’s father was shot down and I wore his POW bracelet for decades. This stayed with me. I always wanted to write about this terrible and dark period of American history because it so important for healing, individually and as a nation.  We need to recognize and remember their service. I think in many instances they lived in the shadows about what they went through.

EC:  You also delve into PTSD?

KH:  Remember this is a time when there was no help for PTSD for the men either. This is the beginning of the treatment and the understanding of it.  The male vets faced daunting challenges to getting help as well, especially in the late 1960s. These vets came home to a toxic American reaction to their service. I do not think it can be overstated about how it affected their healing and wanting to get help.  This was entirely new.  The WWII vets came home to ticker tape parades of gratitude and honor, while the Vietnam vets, both male and female, came home to horror.

EC:  Do you think PTSD played a huge role in the book?

KH:  In my first draft I did not include it because I wrote about it before in Home Front and The Great Alone, the dark side of PTSD. But the truth is, in reading about the Vietnam era vets it felt wrong not to talk about this journey of theirs including emotional trauma, flashbacks, nightmares, and responses they did not understand.  There was this layer of shame and silence that overlayed their service. I had to have Frankie experience what so many of her sister and male counterparts experienced.

EC: Do you think wars now and in the past helped women who served be more empowered, many breaking the glass ceiling?

KH: I agree. I met a woman who was a nurse over there, became a lawyer, and is now a judge in Southern California. She said that one of the things learned after being a nurse in Vietnam is that “we can do anything.” I thought how true and powerful.  The women who I met have a wide range of careers. The 1960s was a time when women’s roles were much more prescribed, yet these women broke out of it and realized their own strength and power. Women should be able to do anything they want.

EC:  How would you describe Frankie?

KH: I created Frankie to be a woman of her time, someone coming of age in the 50s and 60s.  She realized her own strength but became broken by her Vietnam experience.  Because of her lack of healing, she makes choices that destroy her.  She must fight with her girlfriends at her side as well as her own self to become the best version of herself.  She has learned from her mistakes, a survivor.  At times very competent, angry, fragile, anxious, and unhinged.  She is very smart, honest, and compassionate. Not necessary all these things all at once, a before and after.  When she came home to stateside after the war, she is fighting between the woman she was raised to be and the woman the Vietnam War turned her into. It takes her a long time to accept this new version of herself. She had to forge an unfamiliar and sometimes an unsupported path.

EC: What about the friends Ethel and Barb?

KH:  Barb was the rebel rouser. They both are loyal and helped each other and Frankie.  They are strong and believed in each other. This is a presentation of female camaraderie during war. One thing I always heard is that war can be the best of times and the worst of times simultaneously. The best of times is the friendships they made, and they felt they did something that mattered.  Barb, Ethel, and Frankie were literally saving lives. This all comes together that created powerful bonds. 

EC:  You have a recurring theme in all your books?

KH:  Yes, female friendship is something I cared deeply about.  It is important to me that Frankie was healed by herself but also with her girlfriends. They saved her.

EC:  What about Frankie’s relationship with her father?

KH:  I found in my research how often these women who served felt unsupported by their own families, both on leaving and on returning. The father was part of the greatest generation who taught Frankie to be proud of her family’s military service.  He was proud when his son went off to war, but embarrassed and ashamed when his daughter did the same thing. I think many women in Vietnam did not have the support of their own families.

EC:  Frankie’s love interests: Jamie and Rye?

KH:  Rye was Frankie’s brother’s best friend.  Over the course of her in country and at home life she falls in love several times.  Some of these love stories prove to be helpful and some are difficult.

EC:  The way Jamie was described I thought of Robert Redford in the movie, “The Way We Were”- do you agree?

KH:  Me too. I said in the book that he looked like Robert Redford in the movie, “This Property Is Condemned.”

EC:  Did the movie or TV show MASH come into your mind?

KH:  I mention it in the book because it came out in 1972/73. I grew up watching it.  It took me awhile to figure out what war were they talking about. I was astounded by those who said, “there were no women in Vietnam,” considering MASH was on. Women have served as nurses throughout wars.  How is it that these women were completely forgotten, even by the people who ought to know better. 

EC:  The emphasis in the book is that those women who served in Vietnam were forgotten?

KH: And they were not thought about. I saw this cartoon where someone pulled a military uniform out of the attic, and someone asked when did your grandfather serve.  They responded, “it was my grandmother.” It is so indicative to me that people automatically think soldiers are just male. There were over 10,000 women serving in Vietnam.

EC: Is The Nightingale still going to be made into a movie?

KH: It got stalled for a couple of years because of the pandemic and then got tripped up because of the writer’s strike and the actor’s strike.  I think we are finally on track to film in 2024, fingers crossed.

EC: Do you have any control over your books being made into movies?

KH: Control is not a word I would use. For The Nightingale they have been good about keeping me involved that includes me reading the script and giving input. This is as much as I can hope for as a novelist since I do not want to do the heavy lifting.  So, I must give up control to the people who hopefully know what they are doing.

EC: Is this book, The Women, going to be made into a movie?

KH: Warner Bros. has picked it up and they want to do a big screen.  I do not have control, but I do have input. I feel very much I am a part of the team, and this is a great feeling.

EC:  Next book?

KH: Right now, I am thinking about some things.

THANK YOU!!

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BIO: Elise Cooper has written book reviews and interviewed best-selling authors since 2009. Her reviews have covered several different genres, including thrillers, mysteries, women’s fiction, romance and cozy mysteries. An avid reader, she engages authors to discuss their works, and to focus on the descriptions of their characters and the plot. While not writing reviews, Elise loves to watch baseball and visit the ocean in Southern California, with her dog and husband.

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: The Other Murder by Kevin G. Chapman

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for THE OTHER MURDER by Kevin G. Chapman on this Black Tide Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Sometimes, the most dangerous thing . . . is the truth.

For disgraced cable news producer Hannah Hawthorne, covering the shooting of a pretty NYU sophomore is a chance for redemption. When the story snowballs into a media circus, Hannah’s reporting fans the sensationalistic flames and earns her acclaim. The tragic murder prompts protests and vigils that further magnify the story.

Meanwhile, Paulo, a neighborhood newspaper reporter, is following the other murder in Washington Square Park that same night – a young Hispanic boy. He discovers an unexpected connection that is political dynamite. When Hannah and Paulo team up, they uncover disturbing facts, leading them to question everything they thought they knew. It also leads them to the man who might be the killer.

When the story is ready to explode, the truth may be hotter than anyone can handle. Breaking the next scoop could ruin Paulo’s paper and wreck Hannah’s career – and it could get them both killed.

If you like David Baldacci’s page-turners, Michael Connelly’s cops, and Sara Paretsky’s quirky characters, you will love The Other Murder.

TRIGGER WARNING:  Heavy theme of racism in the context of the news media’s coverage.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/180169378-the-other-murder?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=V8oDoYmyE3&rank=1

Universal link for the book on Amazon

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE OTHER MURDER by Kevin G. Chapman is a crime thriller/police procedural with a twist in the storytelling that shines the light on media bias today. This is a tour de force standalone crime fiction novel that I could not put down.

Two people are murdered on opposite sides of Central Park. One a female white NYU student and the other a male Hispanic high school student. The media latches on to the white female’s murder and the story broadcasts across the country, while the Hispanic male’s story is largely ignored. No one believes the two may be tied together.

The story is written with intertwining perspectives between two journalists investigating the murders and two NYPD detectives investigating the murders. The investigation is very well plotted and paced between both groups, but what made this an exceptional read for me was the integration throughout the story of differences in handling, investigating, and reporting on crime depending on gender, ethnicity, and social class of the victim. It shines a spotlight on what media organizations believe readers want to read vs. the entire truth of the story.

All the characters in this story are fully developed, relatable and realistic, both good and bad. The plot is believable on every level. There is nothing I would want to change.

I highly recommend this brilliant crime thriller/police procedural!

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About the Author

Kevin G. Chapman is an attorney specializing in labor and employment law and an independent author. In 2021, Kevin finished the first five books in the Mike Stoneman Thriller series. Righteous Assassin (Mike Stoneman Thriller #1), was named one of the top 20 Mystery/Thrillers of 2019 by the Kindle Book Review and was a finalist for the Chanticleer Book Review CLUE award. Deadly Enterprise (Mike Stoneman Thriller #2) was also named a top-20 Mystery/Thriller of 2020 by the Kindle Book Review and made the Short-List for the 2020 CLUE Award. Book #3, Lethal Voyage, was the winner of the 2021 Kindle Book Award and a Finalist for the CLUE and for the InD’Tale Magazine RONE Award. Book #4 in the series, Fatal Infraction, was named Best Police Procedural of the year by the Chanticleer Book Review, and book #5 (Perilous Gambit) was published November 24, 2021. Kevin has also written a serious political drama, A Legacy of One, originally published in 2016, which was short-listed for the Chanticleer Somerset Award for literary fiction. A Legacy of One was re-published in a newly re-edited and revised second edition in 2021. Kevin recently completed a stand-alone mystery/thriller titled Dead Winner, published in late 2022, winner of the 2023 CLUE Award (best suspense/thriller), and he is working on a stand-alone mystery titled The Other Murder. Kevin is a resident of Central New Jersey and is a graduate of Columbia College and Boston University School of Law.

Social Media Links

Website: https://kevingchapman.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KevinGChapman

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KGChapman

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/kevin-g-chapman

ARC Feature Post and Book Review: Mind Games by Nora Roberts

Book Description

As they do each June, the Foxes have driven the winding roads of Appalachia to drop off their children for a two-week stay at their grandmother’s. Here, twelve-year-old Thea can run free and breathe in the smells of pine and fresh bread and Grammie’s handmade candles. But as her parents head back to suburban Virginia, they have no idea they’re about to cross paths with a ticking time bomb.

Back in Kentucky, Thea and her grandmother Lucy both awaken from the same nightmare. And though the two have never discussed the special kind of sight they share, they know as soon as their tearful eyes meet that something terrible has happened.

The kids will be staying with Grammie now in Redbud Hollow, and thanks to Thea’s vision, their parents’ killer will spend his life in supermax. Over time, Thea will make friends, build a career, find love. But that ability to see into minds and souls still lurks within her, and though Grammie calls it a gift, it feels more like a curse—because the inmate who shattered her childhood has the same ability. Thea can hear his twisted thoughts and witness his evil acts from miles away. He knows it, and hungers for vengeance. A long, silent battle will be waged between them—and eventually bring them face to face, and head to head…

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/195791352-mind-games?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=E3m2MFm1v6&rank=2

Expected Publication: May 24, 2024

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

MIND GAMES by Nora Roberts is an amazingly rich and layered multi-genre story. It follows the young protagonist, Thea Fox, between the ages of twelve to twenty-seven from a traumatic family event to her ultimate battle and HEA. This book is a mix of family drama, romance, romantic suspense, murder mystery, generational paranormal psychic abilities all rolled together into an engaging story set in a small town in the Kentucky Appalachian Mountains.

School is out in Virginia and twelve-year-old Thea and ten-year-old Rem are on their way to spend two weeks with their Grandma Lucy in the Kentucky foothills. They always look forward to helping with the animals and gardens, helping with their grandma’s home-based company, and running free in the mountains. But this year, something terrible happened to their parents and they will be staying with their grandma in Redbud Hollow.

Thea has the gift of sight that has passed down through generations of women in her family and she is able to use it to help police capture her parent’s killer. But the killer has the same gift, and he uses it to stay tied to Thea. A mental battle wages between them over the next fifteen years until they are face to face and Thea is ready for a final game.

If you loved the sweeping story in Identity, you will love this story just as much. The parents’ murder is heartbreaking, but the family love between Lucy, Thea, and Rem warms and heals the break, at least partially. Then you get to read how Thea strengthens not only physically, but mentally and learns to deal with her gift as well as how to handle the intrusions and attacks from the killer. I fell in love with all the well-developed characters in this story, especially the son of Thea’s love interest. I loved the ending, not only because it ends on a HEA, but because of Thea’s solution and use of her gift to obtain it even if it could end her own.

I highly recommend this new multi-genre story from the author that never disappoints!

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About the Author

Nora Roberts is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of more than 200 novels, including Hideaway, Under Currents, Come Sundown, The Awakening, Legacy, and coming in November 2021 — The Becoming — the second book in The Dragon Heart Legacy. She is also the author of the futuristic suspense In Death series written under the pen name J.D. Robb. There are more than 500 million copies of her books in print.

Social Media Links

Website: https://noraroberts.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/noraroberts

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/nora-roberts

Book Tour/Feature Post and Book Review: Umbrate by A.D. Jones

Hi, everyone!

Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for UMBRATE by A.D. Jones on this Black Phoenix Book Tour.

Below you will find a book description, my book review, an about the author section, and the author’s social media links. Enjoy!

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Book Description

Welcome to Dalton
Home to Humans, Dwarves, Elves and the shadowy Umbral Populace.

Detective Vanic Bradley works hard to keep the peace, coming down hard on the criminal underbelly of the city.

After putting his life on the line multiple times in recent weeks, all he wanted was a day off work to spend time with his son, and re-evaluate his place in the world – but forces beyond his control have other ideas.

For reasons unknown, he will find himself in a race against time as two hundred innocent citizens become collateral damage in a murderous plot centered around him.

Umbrate is the debut Urban Fantasy crime thriller by A.D Jones, that will offer up his take on a fantasy setting that should be welcomed by many readers, regardless of their genre tastes.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199395214-umbrate?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=RYgA5KMF4E&rank=1

Universal link for the book on Amazon

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My Book Review

RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars

UMBRATE by A.D. Jones is an engaging debut urban fantasy crime thriller that introduces us to a new world that is like ours but besides humans is also inhabited by dwarves, elves and a dark and shadowy species known as the Umbral. This is also a fast-paced crime thriller. While this novel is a short standalone, it could easily lead to a series.

Umbral can only come out in the night or in protected environments that will not let the sun touch them and even as the government has tried to assimilate them, there has always been a deep prejudice towards them. Detective Vanic Bradley works the dangerous night shift and does not like Umbral. After being wounded on the job, Vanic just wants a day off to enjoy with his young son. They end up at the mall and are suddenly trapped inside with a killer who is willing to turn everyone else into collateral damage to get to Vanic.

I really enjoyed this story and was easily pulled into this new urban fantasy world. The crime thriller plot is what you would find in many thrillers, but this story has distinct races from fantasy stories as well as the new Umbral race. Vanic is well developed for this shorter novel. He is divorced, but on good terms with his ex, a loving father, has a current love interest and is a rising star in law enforcement ranks, but he does have a prejudice against Umbral which goes all the way back to his youth. There is plenty of action, especially once everyone is enclosed in the mall, and this is when all the major secondary characters become known and help in the fight.

This is a fast read with an interesting new world, gripping thriller action and by a debut author. I am looking forward to seeing what will come next from this author.

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About the Author

A.D Jones lives in the North of England; where he spends his time favoring books over people and can be found writing or devouring said books to review online. He loves Coca-Cola, Twin Peaks, all things horror, and cult movies. He dislikes the movie ‘The Karate Kid’ with a passion that burns brighter than the sun.

His debut novel – Umbrate was released in October 2023 to positive feedback and his next book: Sacrificial Waters is scheduled for release sometime in 2024.

He also has multiple short stories in print through publishing houses such as Dark Village Publications and January Ember Press.

You can find him on Instagram – the_evergrowing_library

ARC Feature Post and Book Review: The Last Twelve Miles by Erika Robuck

Book Description

Two real, brilliant women on two sides of the law, in a daring game of cat and mouse

1926, Washington, D. C.

In the Prohibition Rum Wars, the Coast Guard is losing. Eleven million gallons of illegal liquor a year have created a booming smuggling economy, with criminals wreaking havoc on American cities, and everyday citizens thumbing their noses at Uncle Sam. But the Coast Guard has a new, secret weapon—one of the husband-and-wife pair who invented cryptanalysis and trained Great War soldiers—to crack smuggler codes, intercept traffic, and destroy the trade, one skiff at a time. That secret weapon is a 5’2″ mastermind in heels, who also happens to be a wife and mother: Mrs. Elizebeth Smith Friedman.

Bahamas

When Marie Waite—wife of a rumrunner and mother of two little ones—notices discrepancies in cargo, she insists on accompanying her husband, Charlie, on a run from their home in Miami to Nassau. There, not only does Marie witness her husband’s shortcomings, but she becomes enthralled by Cleo Lythgoe, “The Bahama Queen,” who announces her retirement while regaling the thugs at the bar with tales of murder and mayhem on the high seas. In spite of Cleo’s warnings about a “new man in the government” who seems to know where they are before they get there, Marie knows an opportunity when she sees it, and she wants the crown for herself so badly she can taste it.

So begins Marie’s plan to rise as rumrunner royalty long enough to get her family in the black. What she didn’t count on was that the more sophisticated her operation grows, the more she comes on the radar of the feds, nabbing criminals by the daily dozen. Once Marie knows who she’s up against, she’s more determined than ever to triumph.

On the other side of the law, Elizebeth is the only codebreaker battling scores of smugglers. From solving thousands of intercepted codes and ciphers, to riding along on Coast Guard patrols, to national travel, to testifying in court rooms—all while managing her household—the strain begins to wear on her. Once the work becomes personal, and she discovers Marie as a premier adversary, Elizebeth’s desire to catch the woman becomes almost obsessive.

From the glamorous world of D. C. Intelligence to the sultry shores of the Straits of Florida, The Last Twelve Miles—a tale of ambition and envy—is based on the true story of two women masterminds trying to outwit each other in a dangerous and fascinating game of high stakes.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/197036048-the-last-twelve-miles?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=4O3AytmCTF&rank=1

Expected Publication: June 4, 2024

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My Book Review

RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars

THE LAST TWELVE MILES by Erika Robuck is a thrilling historical fiction story of two women, each brilliant, going head-to-head on opposite sides of the law during the Prohibition Era southern rum wars. While I have read about Elizebeth Friedman and her contributions to cryptanalysis, Spanish Marie was new to me, and this author brought both women to vivid life for me as I was reading.

 Mrs. Elizebeth Smith Friedman and her husband invented cryptanalysis during WWI. Elizebeth has gone on to work for the Coast Guard during Prohibition to crack smugglers’ codes so the Coast Guard can intercept smugglers and destroy their illegal alcohol. Her primary focus is on the Cuban, Bahamian, and Florida routes. She is the Coast Guards secret weapon to capturing many law breakers.

Marie Waite is the wife of a rum runner and when she learns the queen of the runners is retiring, she seizes the opportunity and becomes Spanish Marie. She takes advantage of every new technology to evade capture and continue her rise to the top of her chosen illegal trade.

Spanish Marie becomes Elizebeth’s obsession in a cat and mouse game.

I loved this story so much! Ms. Robuck brings both women to life on the page, even though the author acknowledges that information on Spanish Marie is more lore than fact. This is a historical fiction book that grabbed me from page one, and I was unable to put the book down. Elizebeth has a full life outside of the home with her cryptanalysis and must learn how to balance her work and home life as a wife and mother, which is an unusual position to be in during the 1920’s. Marie begins life poor and makes terrible choices in men, but it leads to her ambition and endless need for wealth. Elizebeth and Marie are fully developed characters that you can empathize with in different ways, and it makes their protagonist/antagonist battles even more fascinating.

I highly recommend this amazing historical fiction!

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About the Author

Erika Robuck is the national bestselling author of historical fiction including SISTERS OF NIGHT AND FOG, THE INVISIBLE WOMAN, and HEMINGWAY’S GIRL, and sports parent satire #HOCKEYSTRONG. Her articles have appeared in Writer Unboxed, Crime Reads, and Writer’s Digest, and she contributed an essay to Writer’s Digest’s AUTHOR IN PROGRESS. 

A boating enthusiast, amateur historian, and former teacher, Erika was recently named Annapolis’ Author of the Year, and she resides there with her husband and three sons.

Social Media Links

Website: http://www.erikarobuck.com/index.html

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ErikaRobuck

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

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/erika-robuck

Feature Post and Mini Book Review: A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan

Book Description

The Roaring Twenties–the Jazz Age–has been characterized as a time of Gatsby frivolity. But it was also the height of the uniquely American hate group, the Ku Klux Klan. Their domain was not the old Confederacy, but the Heartland and the West. They hated Blacks, Jews, Catholics and immigrants in equal measure, and took radical steps to keep these people from the American promise. And the man who set in motion their takeover of great swaths of America was a charismatic charlatan named D.C. Stephenson.

Stephenson was a magnetic presence whose life story changed with every telling. Within two years of his arrival in Indiana, he’d become the Grand Dragon of the state and the architect of the strategy that brought the group out of the shadows – their message endorsed from the pulpits of local churches, spread at family picnics and town celebrations. Judges, prosecutors, ministers, governors and senators across the country all proudly proclaimed their membership. But at the peak of his influence, it was a seemingly powerless woman – Madge Oberholtzer – who would reveal his secret cruelties, and whose deathbed testimony finally brought the Klan to their knees.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/61423989-a-fever-in-the-heartland?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=bPVA4CB3WV&rank=1

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My Mini Book Review

Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot to Take Over America and the Woman Who Stopped Them by Timothy Egan is a nonfiction book that is part true crime, part historical reference, and all-around terrifying tale of hate, fear, greed, and megalomania. This book is set primarily in Indiana in the 1920’s but hate and fear of the other was an infection throughout the Midwestern states. If you think the Klan was only a Southern phenomenon, think again.

D.C. Stephenson rose in four short years to become the Grand Dragon of the KKK in Indiana in a very short time in the 1920’s. With his charisma and slick tongue, he had a stranglehold on every aspect of politics, law enforcement, and business. His order of the Klan in Indiana at one time had a larger membership than many southern states. This included a women’s auxiliary and even a Ku Klux Kiddies branch. But like in most moral tales and warnings, absolute power corrupts absolutely. The law catches up with Stephenson eventually and he is held responsible for the death of Madge Oberholtzer, who he kidnapped, raped, and mutilated and her death becomes the turning point of the KKK fever in Indiana.

This book is difficult to read in its unrelenting reporting of the true horror and crimes committed by the KKK in the Midwest in the 1920’s. This book lays bare racial, religious and immigrant hatred and segregation, educational restrictions and book banning, and a group of people led by fear of the other and hate to follow a charismatic cult leader. This book shines a light on the terrifying parallels with current events.

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About the Author

TIMOTHY EGAN is a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and the author of ten books, including the forthcoming, A FEVER IN THE HEARTLAND, which will be released on April 4. His book on the Dust Bowl, THE WORST HARD TIME, won a National Book Award for nonfiction. His book on photographer Edward Curtis, SHORT NIGHTS OF THE SHADOW CATCHER, was awarded the Carnegie Medal for nonfiction. He’s also written several New York Times’ bestsellers, including THE IMMORTAL IRISHMAN and THE BIG BURN. He’s a third-generation Westerner.

Social Media Links

Website: https://www.timothyeganbooks.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nytegan

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/books/a-fever-in-the-heartland-by-timothy-egan

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=a+fever+in+the+heartland&ref=nb_sb_noss