Tag: #elisesthoughts

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Defending Britta Stein by Ronald H. Balson

Book Description

Defending Britta Stein is a story of bravery, betrayal, and redemption—from Ronald H. Balson, the winner of the National Jewish Book Award

Chicago, 2018: Ole Henryks, a popular restauranteur, is set to be honored by the Danish/American Association for his many civic and charitable contributions. Frequently appearing on local TV, he is well known for his actions in Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II—most consider him a hero.

Britta Stein, however, does not. The ninety-year-old Chicago woman levels public accusations against Henryks by spray-painting “Coward,” “Traitor,” “Collaborator,” and “War Criminal” on the walls of his restaurant. Mrs. Stein is ultimately taken into custody and charged with criminal defacement of property. She also becomes the target of a bitter lawsuit filed by Henryks and his son, accusing her of defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Attorney Catherine Lockhart, though hesitant at first, agrees to take up Mrs. Stein’s defense. With the help of her investigator husband, Liam Taggart, Lockhart must reach back into wartime Denmark and locate evidence that proves Mrs. Stein’s innocence. Defending Britta Stein is critically-acclaimed author Ronald H. Balson’s thrilling take on a modern day courtroom drama, and a masterful rendition of Denmark’s wartime heroics.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Defending Britta Stein by Ronald H. Balson is a wonderful read. Although the book has some courtroom drama including legal strategy and loopholes, most of the story is Britta Stein’s recounting of the events leading up to and during World War II in Denmark. This is historical fiction at its best with bravery, betrayal, and redemption.

Britta Stein is a 92-year-old Jewish Danish woman who emigrated to America. She is being sued for defamation after being seen and then admitting to spray painting “Coward,” “Traitor,” “Collaborator,” and “War Criminal” on the walls of a restaurant. The owner, 95-year-old Ole Henryks, will be honored by the Danish/American Association for his many civic and charitable contributions. Frequently appearing on local TV, he is well known for his actions of saving Jews in Nazi-occupied Denmark during World War II and is considered a hero.  But not to Britta who claims he was anything but and sent Jews to their deaths including her sister and brother-in-law.

Attorney Catherine Lockhart and Investigator Liam Taggart, husband, and wife, have agreed to defend Britta and have as an assistant counsel her granddaughter Emma. The plot alternates between present day Chicago (2018) and Britta’s oral account of her memories of her homeland of Denmark prior to the presence of the Nazis and during World War II. They are up against “Six o’clock” Sterling Sparks, Henryk’s’ shady attorney, who pushes for a speedy trial and is willing to waive witness lists and pretrial exhibits. Readers anxiously turn the pages hoping Britta will be vindicated since they take a journey with her during the horrific events.

What is very interesting is the way Balson contrasts defamation versus freedom of speech, the consequences of staying versus leaving, and Denmark’s role in protecting its Jewish citizens.

This book will stay with readers well after they finish the book. The author has an incredible way of telling a story with sympathetic heroes and monstrous villains before and during World War II. The story has mystery, intrigue, suspense, and history all intertwined into a riveting novel.

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Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper:  Why Denmark?

Ronald H. Balson:  I wanted to tell the story of what this country did since it was so unique and extraordinary.  They unified and came together as a country, they came together to hide, protect, and ultimately rescue 7,600 of their Jewish brethren from certain death. Other countries did not do it: not Belgium, not France, not Norway, not any other country.

EC:  It was interesting that Hitler made a non-aggression pact with Denmark, The Cooperation Agreement?

RHB:  Denmark got a pass from Hitler who considered the country small and not a military force.  But he needed this country to get into the North Sea.  For whatever reason he decided not to totally occupy Denmark and to peacefully co-exist.  Denmark ran its own internal affairs and was allowed to govern their Jewish population until 1943. 

EC:  The Danish people were incredible?

RHB:  I hoped to get across through the civil jury trial here in America what it was like to be a Dane and Jewish.  As I recounted in the book, there were plenty of non-Jews who put themselves at risk to help save the 7600 Jewish citizens in Denmark.  They were hidden in hospitals, churches, stores, and homes.  Many also helped the Jews get to Sweden. I wanted to show how the Danes had emotional pride and belief in their own country.

EC: You discuss the debate about staying versus leaving?

RHB:  I have this scene in the book between Catherine her lawyer, and Britta.  Catherine says, “I know it’s easy for me to say in hindsight, and it’s not fair, I shouldn’t judge, but the consequences of staying were dire, yet they found some reason to ignore the writing on the wall, which to me defies logic and good sense.”  Britta responds, that if they could see into the future a wiser decision could have been made; yet, they “would have packed up and left everything and everyone… your job, your home, your profession, and headed off blindly in some unknown direction… At that time, in 1943 Hitler owned Europe.”

EC:  You seem to explore this in many of your books?

RHB:  It is a constant theme in a lot of my books.  They all had the same opportunity to leave.  But how does someone leave everything including family and community.  Where would they go? How many countries would have taken in millions of Jews? What the Nazis did continued to escalate, and no one could imagine the concentration camps.  Many thought they could last out the war. 

EC:  How would you describe Britta-I thought of her like Golda Meir?

RHB:  Really interesting.  She was a spunky young woman and now in her 90s she is a spunky older woman.  She is a fighter, passionate, principled, independent, determined, and headstrong.

EC: She was accused of having a Nazi symbol but denied it?

RHB: She said she would never use these symbols because then it becomes a part of her language.

EC:  In the story there is an explanation between freedom of speech and defamation?

RHB: I have a scene in the book where Catherine explains to Britta that freedom of speech is not absolute.  No one can use words to legally defame someone. If someone is accused of criminal conduct, crimes of moral turpitude, and coalescence with the Nazi Party there can be serious consequences. Traitor, Nazi agent, and Nazi collaborator are defamatory on their face.  But couldn’t liar, informer, and betrayer be opinions?

EC:  How would you describe the granddaughter, Emma?

RHB: She is learning a lot about her grandmother who she admires.  She is a brilliant young lawyer who is articulate and dignified.

EC:  What about the lawyer Sterling Sparks?

RHB:  He is called “Six O’clock Sparks” for a reason. I have been practicing law for over 49 years and have met plenty of Sterlings. He knows how to work the media.  Very flashy but not that sharp as a lawyer. Very brash, narcissistic, over-confident, and conceited.

EC:  What do you want readers to get out of your books?

RHB:  I think of historical fiction like cheating.  The backdrop has already been written by history.  My job as a writer is to create characters, a plot, and a setting to weave into the history, making sure a certain point is brought out.  I want my readers to be invested in the fictional characters created.  My goal is for people to learn something.

EC:  What about your next book?

RHB:  It will not have Catherine and Liam although I think I will write another one with them. This next book takes place in 1945 with some espionage.  It will possibly come out in September next year. 

THANK YOU!!

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.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Family Across the Street by Nicole Trope

Book Description

Sometimes, the most perfect families are hiding the most terrible secrets. How well do you know the people next door…?

Everybody wants to live on Hogarth Street, the pretty, tree-lined avenue with its white houses. The new family, The Wests, are a perfect fit. Katherine and Josh seem so in love and their gorgeous five-year-old twins race screeching around their beautiful emerald-green lawn.

But soon people start to notice: why don’t they join backyard barbecues? Why do they brush away offers to babysit? Why, when you knock at the door, do they shut you out, rather than inviting you in?

Every family has secrets, and on the hottest day of the year, the truth is about to come out. As a tragedy unfolds behind closed doors, the dawn chorus is split by the wail of sirens. And one by one the families who tried so hard to welcome the Wests begin to realize: Hogarth Street will never be the same again.

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Elise’s Thoughts

The Family Across The Street is Nicole Trope’s latest novel. Her American debut was in June of this year with the outstanding book, The Boy In The Photo.  With all her books, readers get a vivid plot that grips them and grabs their full attention. The stories usually delve into everything from emotional abuse, child abuse (both psychological and sexual), and domestic violence.

The Boy In the Photo was first published by Grand Central Publishing this June.  It takes readers on an emotional roller coaster involving love, hurt, heartbreak, and joy. The story is told in two parts: six years ago, and six years later.  Megan Kade divorced her abusive husband, Greg Stanthorpe.  Intending to get Megan back or to hurt her he kidnaps their son and goes off the grid. Six years later the boy, Daniel, appears at a New South Wales police station, reporting that his dad died in a fire.  Daniel is distant, volatile, and in some ways resistant to Megan.  He believes all the horror stories told to him by his father.  The flashbacks of how both Megan and Daniel feel in the six-year gap emphasizes their grief and apprehension.

The Family Across The Street, her latest book, can be purchased as either an e-book or a paperback.  The plot begins with Kathleen and her five-year-old twins, George and Sophie, being terrorized by someone in their house. Logan, a delivery driver, gets a strange feeling that something is wrong after he tries to deliver a package that requires a signature, and the homeowner tells him she can’t open the door. He is not alone; Gladys, the caring across the street neighbor, also suspects something is wrong. Both grapple with deciding if they should intervene. Would they be interfering and falsely calling the police or should they be disinterested and mind their own business. This is a subject explored throughout the plot along with how Kathleen plans to protect her children.

All her books are riveting reads with another two books that readers might want to read first, The Nowhere Girl and The Life She Left Behind.

The Nowhere Girl has Alice married to a wonderful man, Jack, and raising three wonderful children. But as with many of Trope’s books this character has a secret.  She has told Jack that she ran away from home when she was younger, but she didn’t tell him the whole story. Her husband doesn’t know about the guilt she bears about her little sister she failed to save. Trying to come to grips with her emotions, she starts a blog for those abused. One of the women she is in contact with wants to meet her.  But she wants her past to stay in her past, until she realizes that her abusive father is watching her and waiting to attack.  The story goes back and forth explaining Alice’s childhood and how she plans on protecting her family.

The Life She Left Behind also has a wife not able to confide in her husband about her past. Twenty-eight years later the secret does not stay buried.  Rachel and her husband Ben, along with their young daughter Beth, have just moved into their very first house in a new housing complex. But what should be a happy and joyous moment is shattered when someone breaks into their new home leaving Rachel with memories of a childhood she wishes to forget. Someone is leaving her childhood Troll dolls in places for her child to find. It seems her mother and she escaped the domestic violence inflicted by the husband/father.  But has he returned? 

As with all her books, Trope skillfully keeps readers guessing, always having a twist at the end of the story.  She has the reader take a journey with the characters as they try to protect themselves and their family.  She also has the reader ponder a question about what would they do:  would they call the police, would they leave and start a new life, or would they stay? Because of the abuse scenes, readers will be on the edge of their seats hoping that the heroine can overcome the evil in her life.

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Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper: How would you describe your books?

Nicole Trope: There is a family where, in a certain moment, something changes in their life, and how they react.  Usually there are troubling characters, where I hope to redeem them in some way.  I want readers to understand why they behaved the way they did.  Many of the books deal with abuse and families in crisis. 

EC:  How did you get the idea for your last book, The Family Across The Street?”

NT:  Looking at Facebook, I saw a post by an American photographer who took pictures of gang members’ and their tattoos.  One guy had a very emotional reaction after seeing his picture where the tattoos were photoshopped out. He felt without them he looked like an average person. I thought about someone who might not have had a good start and wanted to change their life.  Yet, they are marked forever.  In this book, Logan, the delivery driver was like that and after he entered my head along came the story.

EC:  In most of your books the abusers have a certain persona?

NT:  They are dominant, distrustful, angry, violent, and like to inflict fear.  Many times, they like to be in control because they cannot control their own rage, anger, and fear.  There is an underlying reason for their emotions.

EC:  There are also mothers who want to stay close to their children?

NT:  In this book, The Family Across The Street, the heroine Katherine West has a wonderful new start.  Yet, she does not want to be cut out of her older child’s life.  She is very much a mother who is trying to do her best.

EC:  Gladys, is the neighbor across the street?

NT:  She is an elderly woman who is from a different generation when all the neighbors knew each other.  She is struggling because her best friend, her husband, is dying. She must contemplate a future without him in her life.  She never had children, so she is lonely.

EC:  This book shows how many people feel about getting involved?

NT:  This is something that fascinates me.  When to call the police?  Does someone call if they hear a child crying or do they go over to their neighbor’s house to make sure everything is OK? I understand the reader wants someone to call the police because they know more than the neighbors.  I made sure the event takes place only over one day because I want the neighbors and Logan to consider what to do.  People are afraid to put forward the wrong foot yet, the consequences could be devastating if wrong.  The Family Across The Street had people afraid of overreacting, but worried their neighbors are being harmed. It is very difficult to know what to do.

EC:  Did the five-year-old George steal the show in your latest book?

NT:  He is very protective, caring, and will grow up into a lovely man.  I loved him.  He is a brave little soldier.

EC:  What about your next book?

NT: It comes out October of this year, titled, The Mother’s Fault. It is in the same vein as the last book. 

THANK YOU!!

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.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Bertha’s Resolve by Serena B. Miller

Book Description

From the USA Today Bestselling Author of the acclaimed Love’s Journey series comes the story of Bertha Troyer.

In 1959, after reading a heartbreaking plea for medical personnel, Bertha Troyer, a young, beautiful Amish woman from Sugarcreek, rebels against church rules and enters nursing school determined to pour out her life on behalf of the desperate children of Haiti.

This fourth installment of the Sugarcreek Series, follows Rachel’s beloved aunt, Bertha, back in time to a nightmare of poverty, political unrest, and the fury of nature, as Bertha is forced to make the most agonizing decision of her life in order to protect her people—and the man—she loves.

Elise’s Thoughts

Bertha’s Resolve by Serena B. Miller is the fourth installment of the Love’s Journey in the Sugarcreek series.  This novel, as well as the other three, have engrossing characters, a riveting plot, and information about the Amish of Ohio.  The stories involve policewoman Rachel Troyer, her three elderly Amish aunts who run a Bed and Breakfast, Joe Matthews, Rachel’s eventual husband, and his son Bobby, along with other Amish town members.  These books should be read in order to get a feel for the characters, but after the first chapter of the first book readers will not want to put down any of the stories.

Going from the first book to the latest:

Love Finds You in Sugarcreek, Ohio also known as The Sugar Haus Inn brings to life the Troyer family.  Three elderly aunts who happen to be Amish have raised their niece, Rachel Troyer ever since her father died. The aunts understand her desire to respect the Amish culture, while not following in the Amish footsteps. Rachel has since joined the Sugarcreek police force and views her job as protecting her aunts and the town. 

Bertha is the oldest of the three aunts and she is the leader who is strong, responsible, and dominant.  Lydia, the middle sister, is gentle, kind, and finds solace in baking.  The youngest is Anna, a sweet, Down Syndrome person who gives unquestioning love and befriends younger children.

The plot has Rachel suspicious of a bearded stranger who land on her aunts’ doorstep, begging shelter for himself and his young son. Joe Matthews and his son Bobby decided to escape the Los Angeles lifestyle after his wife was brutally killed.  They are looking for anonymity and a quiet life. Although the aunts warmed to Joe and Bobby immediately, it took Rachel much longer to realize she had feelings for the father and son. In addition, all the books, have a suspenseful mystery.  In this one Rachel must protect herself, her aunts, Joe, and Bobby as she tries to find who murdered the wife.

Book 2, Rachel’s Rescue, delves into the backstory of how Rachel’s father was killed.  On her tenth birthday she and her dad, a policeman, had gone to the bank.  There, her father was murdered in front of Rachel’s eyes after he tried to stop the bank robber. Knowing how to use a gun, Rachel grabs her father’s gun and points it at the killer, Carl Bateman.  This book explores forgiveness and second chances as Rachel must come to grips with her anger and bitterness over losing her father. Twenty years later, she becomes obsessed with wanting revenge when Bateman was released from prison for serving his time. The suspenseful mystery also involves Bobby being kidnapped.  This story takes readers on a journey with Rachel as she tries to overcome her feelings of revenge.

Book 3, Love Rekindled focuses on two new “English” characters.  Dr. Michael Reynolds gets an opportunity to take over a country veterinarian practice in Sugarcreek, Ohio, and jumps at it, because this is his childhood town, and he feels close to the Amish community. His wife, Cassie, a Columbus attorney, is climbing the corporate ladder with lightning speed and refuses to go with him. Neither will compromise.  A second plot finds Keturah Hochstetler, a midwife saving a baby after the mother has a horrific car accident.  This story compares the English couple with the elderly Amish couple who show that sometimes career goals need to take second place to love and devotion, that career sacrifices are needed.  The mystery involves Rachel trying to find family members of the rescued baby.

Book 4, Bertha’s Resolve explores the oldest aunts’ backstory. In 1959, after reading a heartbreaking plea for medical personnel, Bertha Troyer, a young, beautiful Amish woman from Sugarcreek, rebels against church rules and enters nursing school determined to pour out her life on behalf of the desperate children of Haiti. As a young nurse, she dealt with a nightmare of poverty, political unrest, and the fury of nature, as Bertha is forced to make the most agonizing decision of her life to protect these people.  This book is very relevant today regarding the Americans and Afghan people who need to be rescued. 

There is also a romance, and the choices Bertha must make so that a marriage is not destroyed, sacrificing her own love. Fast-forward to current time and Bertha again meets up with her forever love.  Also, in this book Joe’s brother, Darren, is highlighted.  He and Joe have opened a restaurant/bar that is becoming very successful until someone tries to steal their money.  Childhood bullying and abuse are also issues in this story.

In all the books, the way of life of these simple, hardworking people is explored.  People become engrossed in reading about Joe and Rachel, the aunts, Bobby, and Darren.  Readers will take a journey with each character and have a vested interest in how the plot plays out. The stories combine a smidgen of romance, a suspenseful mystery, Amish life, and the importance of family.

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Elise’s Author Interview

EC:  The last book has Bertha part of a rescue effort.  Rumor has it that your son is also part of a rescue effort for those in Afghanistan?

Serena B. Miller:  My son had been in Afghanistan for five years as a contractor.  He is currently working day and night to get people out, Afghan translators. One was tragically killed by the Taliban a few days ago.  They warned his wife that she and her four children were next to be executed.  Thankfully, he got them out, but I am worried about others who are trapped.

Elise Cooper:  How did you get the idea for the series?

Serena B. Miller:  An editor suggested I write an Amish story.  I decided to choose the Sugarcreek area in Ohio because of its pretty name and it being compared as “the Little Switzerland of Ohio.” I lucked out because the owner of the Bed and Breakfast where I was staying had a lot of Amish friends.  I had dinner with an Amish family that had seven children and the grandmother/grandfather was also there.  The matriarch of the family told me I could ask anything, nothing was forbidden.  His one stipulation was that I write the truth about the Amish.  They loved the finished book. I even have an Amish family vet every Amish book I write. 

EC:  You write other series/books?

SBM:  I have written three historical books, another Amish series, a non-fiction book about Amish parenting, and a series about Manitoulin Island in Canada, which was optioned for the Hallmark channel. Also, the first of these Amish books was made into a TV movie which can be found on many of the streaming channels.

EC:  How would you compare the three Amish sisters?

SBM: Bertha is the oldest who has integrity and a tender heart. She is not domesticated but is the wise leader of the family with a bossy will of iron. Lydia is the baker who lives for cooking and is very quiet.  Anna has Down Syndrome and is very sweet.  Her personality is based on a church friend of mine.  Since I have three sisters, I have become fascinated with the sisterly dynamics.

EC:  How would you describe Rachel?

SBM:  Very protective of those she loves.  The killing of her father in front of her has defined her personality.  She is determined to protect her family no matter what.   She is analytical with common sense except where her father’s killer is concerned. Although very compassionate and direct, at times she is vulnerable. She also is very loyal and tenacious.

EC:  What about the relationship between Joe and Rachel?

SBM:  Both are very strong personalities. They can be stubborn at times.  They have their disagreements, but always respect each other.  They are on equal footing.

EC:  In the second book you redeem the killer?

SBM:  I felt I had to.  He served his time in prison for twenty years. Now he has turned his life around by healing abused dogs and training them for search and rescue.  His early life, when he was abused by his mother, is based on a true story.  Carl, the killer, has an affinity for animals because they saved him as a child.  He is now caring, remorseful, and deserves a second chance.

EC:  How would you describe your books?

SBM:  They are mysteries, suspense with a crime, and has an emphasis on the importance of family.  For me, the mystery has the reader turning the pages to see what happens next.  I put this quote in, “Whenever she (Rachel) needed the world to feel like a safer, saner place, she went to visit her Amish aunts.” I like writing about the big family, the agrarian culture, and the Amish community.  Each book has a goal, a mystery, and a spiritual theme, with of course, a happy ending.

EC:  What are the themes of each book?

SBM: Love Finds You in Sugarcreek, Ohio is about acceptance and not to judge a book by its cover. Rachel’s Rescue has a theme of forgiveness. Love Rekindled is about the healing of a marriage.  I wrote this one in the months after my husband passed away.  We had been married for many years.  It is about family relationship, but at that core is the marriage relationship. Bertha’s Resolve shows that it is possible to do the right thing and to walk away from the possibility of an extra marital affair. 

EC:  You always have tidbits about the Amish lifestyle.  In Bertha’s Resolve you compare the Amish with the Mennonites?

SBM:  The Mennonites can get on a plane, go to college, and have an extensive mission program of helping. The story of this book has Bertha worshipping a co-worker from afar. Now fifty years later they still have that depth of friendship. I want to show that with both groups they have a very strong work ethic and are problem solvers.

EC:  What about your next books?

SBM:  I am currently writing book 5 in this Sugarcreek series.  I am debating if Rachel will continue her profession as a police officer, maybe part time.  It will feature Joe’s brother Darren who will get a love story.  Since Joe is a former Major League baseball player, I will bring baseball into this story.  I am thinking of having an Amish boy who has a phenomenal talent for the game. Both Amish girls and boys love baseball.  Hopefully it will come out in the Spring of 2022.

I am also working on an Amish children’s novel that is for children.  It will also be set in Sugarcreek with some familiar characters. There will be twelve books in the series.  The first should come out around Christmas time.

THANK YOU!!

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.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: Bloodless by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Book Description

Agent Pendergast faces his most unexpected challenge yet when bloodless bodies begin to appear in Savannah, GA, in this installment of a #1 New York Times bestselling series.

A fabulous heist:
On the evening of November 24, 1971, D. B. Cooper hijacked Flight 305—Portland to Seattle—with a fake bomb, collected a ransom of $200,000, and then parachuted from the rear of the plane, disappearing into the night…and into history.

A brutal crime steeped in legend and malevolence:
Fifty years later, Agent Pendergast takes on a bizarre and gruesome case: in the ghost-haunted city of Savannah, Georgia, bodies are found with no blood left in their veins—sowing panic and reviving whispered tales of the infamous Savannah Vampire.

A case like no other:
As the mystery rises along with the body count, Pendergast and his partner, Agent Coldmoon, race to understand how—or if—these murders are connected to the only unsolved skyjacking in American history. Together, they uncover not just the answer…but an unearthly evil beyond all imagining.

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Elise’s Thoughts

Bloodless by Doug Preston and Lincoln Child intertwines different genres:  historical, mystery, and science fiction. It delves into an unsolved heist, a brutal crime, and a case involving secrets, lies, and darkness.

The story begins with a true hijacking and theft. In 1971, D. B. Cooper took control of a passenger airliner, allowed them to deplane, and after getting a ransom payment parachuted into the dark Pacific Northwest night, never to be seen or heard of again. Now fifty years later, Agent Pendergast takes on a bizarre and gruesome case in the ghost-haunted city of Savannah, Georgia. Pendergast, his partner, Coldmoon, and his ward Constance, are diverted from traveling to their home by their boss. A strange murder has occurred where a body has been found completely drained of blood. The killer has been dubbed the “Infamous Savannah Vampire.” The heroes must also deal with a team filming a documentary about the haunted places of historic Savannah, an author on a mission to debunk all that, and a narcissistic Senator running for reelection, demanding quick answers about the murders as the body count mounts. At the heart of the mystery is a device that Pendergast claims is the answer to whoever or whatever is plaguing Savannah.

Although Pendergast is front and center, Coldmoon takes a back seat to Constance. The only clue they have is that the manager of the historic hotel, The Chandler House, where they are staying, is the first victim. Constance assists by befriending the reclusive hotel owner, Miss Felicity Winthrop Frost, rumored to have prolonged her life by drinking human blood and seen arguing with her manager. As Constance gains the elderly woman’s confidence, she is shocked by what she finds out, linking everything back to the kidnapping.

A bonus is the vivid description of Savannah. The setting is quaint and atmospheric, dripping with Spanish moss and eerie, foggy mists.

Blending reality with fantasy, readers at time must suspend their beliefs and let their imagination take over. The plot was engaging with engrossing characters.  Some of the plotline is left unfinished and will be wrapped up in the next two books of the series.

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Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper:  How did you get the idea for the story?

Doug Preston: I have always been fascinated with the D. B. Cooper hijacking case.  It is one of the longest cases in the files of the FBI that has not been solved.  I asked Lincoln if we could base a novel around it that would basically solve the case.  He came up with all these great ideas.

EC:  Why D.B. Cooper?

DP:  It is the 50th anniversary since the hijacking, which took place the day before Thanksgiving. Lincoln and I like to weave together true and weird stories.  We will try to answer did he survive and other questions?

EC:  Why the Savannah Georgia setting?

DP:  Some of it is still in the 19th Century. It is a unique city, especially the historical part.  It has rumors of being a haunted, spooky city, gothic in flavor.  It has tremendous atmosphere with the live oak trees, cobblestone streets, and huge mansions.  The Bonaventure Cemetery with its old tombs was important to the story, especially because it is so huge.  Savannah is a character in the novel.

Lincoln Child:  We both love this city.  We ended our last book with the agent’s plane being diverted here after leaving Florida.  For Coldmoon, this city is foreign to everything he knew about.  It has voodoo undertones, and this is no place like it on the Southern coast of America.

EC:  What about Constance?

LC: I have a crush on her and am not afraid to admit it.  We are not going to abandon her in that very strange unfamiliar place we left her.  This book is the first in what we anticipate being a trilogy.  Pendergast must deal with his own conscience and relationship with her, something we have danced around in the past few books. 

EC:  How about the relationship?

LC:  Dysfunctional.  Unusual.  She can be violent when protecting him and has feelings for him.  He is unsure about his feelings regarding her.  There is tension between the two of them.  She is not the young woman she seems to be.  We hope to resolve her past life and bring closure. 

EC:  There is a dual universe.  Were you thinking about Einstein’s Theory of Relativity?

DP:  We did use an Einstein theory, but not this one.  He was the founder of Quantum Mechanics.  It is a legitimate theory. The physical and cosmological underlying properties of nature.  It is believed by Physicists that it happens in different universes.

EC:  Why the Savannah Vampire?

LC:  Our first book Relic was different than the other books.  In that one we toyed with having a supernatural being.  After that we were branded as techno thriller writers with a supernatural edge.  But we are very careful to always begin the books with science and to have a potential scientific explanation to the ending.  We trend middle ground like Michael Crichton.

EC:  It has a theme of greed?

DP:  Yes, on many levels, both money and power.  The Senator in the story who is up for re-election has greed of power.  We had a wonderful time writing his demise. The others who died had a greed of money.

EC:  Your next book?

DP:  Constance’s story will start to get resolved with a lot of action.  We have no title or publication date but probably in the summer of 2022.  Coldmoon will be in book two to a certain extent.  We are not sure about book three.  In both books Pendergast will be front and center where readers can see his arrogance, idiosyncrasies, and impatience with those of lesser intelligence.

THANK YOU!!

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.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Widows of Champagne by Renee Ryan

Book Description

For readers of Lilac Girls and The Lost Girls of Paris comes a captivating novel of resilience, as three generations of women battle to save their family’s vineyard during WWII.

Champagne, 1939

Gabrielle Leblanc Dupree is taking her family’s future into her hands. While she should be preparing for a lavish party to celebrate two centuries of champagne making, she secretly hides Chateau Fouché-Leblanc’s most precious vintages behind a fake wall in the cellar in preparation for the looming war. But when she joins the resistance, the coveted champagne isn’t the most dangerous secret her cellar must conceal…

A former Parisian socialite, Gabrielle’s mother, Hélène, lost her husband to another war. Now her home has been requisitioned by the Germans, who pillage vineyards to satisfy the Third Reich’s thirst for the finest champagne. There’s even more at stake than Hélène dares admit. She has kept her heritage a secret…and no one is safe in Nazi-occupied France.

Josephine, the family matriarch, watches as her beloved vineyard faces its most difficult harvest yet. As her daughter-in-law and granddaughters contend with the enemies and unexpected allies in their midst, Josephine’s deep faith leads to her own path of resistance.

Across years and continents, the Leblanc women will draw on their courage and wits, determined against all odds to preserve their lives, their freedom and their legacy…

***

Elise’s Thoughts

The Widows of Champagne by Renee Ryan is the story of a family struggling to survive in Nazi occupied France. Three widows who lost their beloved husbands must now protect their livelihood, the Chateau Fouche-LeBlanc vineyard in Reims, after it was requisitioned by the Nazis.

The plot has wine merchant, Helmut Von Schmidt, now turned Nazi Captain in the Wehrmacht, requisitioning the LeBlanc home and stealing their wine for the German troops. Throughout the days he appears as Lord over the women and the manor. 

But the three widows come up with a plan.  Josephine, the family matriarch, a grandmother to Gabrielle, another widow, will use her early stages of dementia, appearing confused.  She and Gabrielle appear to struggle for control over the vineyard so that Von Schmidt must have all his dealings with the granddaughter. Helene, Josephine’s daughter-in-law, has the worst chore, to be the social secretary and a mistress to Von Schmidt.  Her two daughters, Gabrielle and Paulette, struggle to understand why their mother seems to have turned into a collaborator. Gabrielle fights to defend her vineyard and her country by joining the French resistance movement.  She does not understand why she is both fearful and enchanted with Gestapo Detective Wolfgang Mueller, who searches out French citizens.  Completely unlike Gabrielle, Paulette is young and selfish and has an SS boyfriend. The three widows struggle to keep each other alive, out of the Nazi grasp, and to make sure the Nazis do not find out their secrets.

This is a story of resistance, betrayal and heartache. It delves into the sacrifices and risks people will take to protect what they love. 

***

Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper:  How did you get the idea for this story?

Renee Ryan:  I was writing another WWII story and came upon how Hitler’s soldiers stole all these treasures including the French wine.  Unfortunately, the wine was lost forever.  Think about it, no one can ever get back or make, for example, a 1912 or 1867 wine.

EC:  How did the wine and champagne play into the story?

RR:  The story is set in and around a vineyard that is the LeBlanc family livelihood.  The Nazi occupiers shipped all the wine to the front to give to the soldiers.  It is based on a true story.  A lot of widows ran these vineyards because they lost their husbands during WWI.  For example, there were the widows Veuve Clicquot, Elisabeth Law de Lauriston Bollinger, and Marie-Louise Lanson de Nanoncourt.

EC:  How would you describe the four women?

RR:  Josephine is the boss until she realizes she is becoming confused.  As the matriarch of the family, she has passed the running of the vineyards to her granddaughter Gabrielle. She is very courageous.

Helene is the former Parisian socialite who is witty, charming, and brave.  She appeared to be a collaborator but is doing what must be done to save her family. 

Gabrielle is the fighter and very responsible.

Paulette is spoiled and entitled.  She represents those children who have yet to grow up.

All the women are trying to find their own way.

EC:  How would you describe Von Schmidt?

RR: He is self-indulgent, self-promoting, and narcissistic. He used the war for his own purposes.  Just like him, a lot of the SS men forwarded their own agenda.  He is a bully, thief, controlling, opportunistic, and has no regard for women.  He took away Helene’s dignity and independence.

EC:  Helene was accused of being a collaborator, but she wasn’t?

RR:  People make assumptions without asking the questions.  It was assumed that these women were able to make choices, while for many it was their only choice.  Survival for themselves or their family should be considered very noble, such as Helene. But there were also the ones like Coco Chanel, women more like Von Schmidt.  Since I worked for Chanel for a time, I learned how she hated these Jewish brothers. The Nazi seizure of all Jewish-owned property and business enterprises, provided Chanel with the opportunity to gain back the full monetary fortune generated by Parfums Chanel and its most profitable product, Chanel No. 5. The directors of Parfums Chanel, the Wertheimer brothers, were Jewish. Chanel used her position as an “Aryan” to petition German officials to legalize her claim to sole ownership.

EC: You go into how some people were stuck in the Nazi controlled lands?

RR:  This was the backdrop for Helene who decided to stay, thinking it would get better.  Her father had begged her to leave with her mother and himself.  They did get out, but when Helene wanted to leave it was too late. 

EC:  What about your next book?

RR:  It is scheduled to be published in October 2022.  It is a WWII European setting during the 1930s, early 1940s.  An Austrian opera singer and a British romance writer joined forces to get the Jews out of Germany and Austria. 

THANK YOU!!

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.

Friday Feature Author Interview with Elise Cooper: The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

Book Description

Seduced by her employer’s son, Evangeline, a naïve young governess in early nineteenth-century London, is discharged when her pregnancy is discovered and sent to the notorious Newgate Prison. After months in the fetid, overcrowded jail, she learns she is sentenced to “the land beyond the seas,” Van Diemen’s Land, a penal colony in Australia. Though uncertain of what awaits, Evangeline knows one thing: the child she carries will be born on the months-long voyage to this distant land.

During the journey on a repurposed slave ship, the Medea, Evangeline strikes up a friendship with Hazel, a girl little older than her former pupils who was sentenced to seven years transport for stealing a silver spoon. Canny where Evangeline is guileless, Hazel—a skilled midwife and herbalist—is soon offering home remedies to both prisoners and sailors in return for a variety of favors.

Though Australia has been home to Aboriginal people for more than 50,000 years, the British government in the 1840s considers its fledgling colony uninhabited and unsettled, and views the natives as an unpleasant nuisance. By the time the Medea arrives, many of them have been forcibly relocated, their land seized by white colonists. One of these relocated people is Mathinna, the orphaned daughter of the Chief of the Lowreenne tribe, who has been adopted by the new governor of Van Diemen’s Land.

In this gorgeous novel, Christina Baker Kline brilliantly recreates the beginnings of a new society in a beautiful and challenging land, telling the story of Australia from a fresh perspective, through the experiences of Evangeline, Hazel, and Mathinna. While life in Australia is punishing and often brutally unfair, it is also, for some, an opportunity: for redemption, for a new way of life, for unimagined freedom. Told in exquisite detail and incisive prose, The Exiles is a story of grace born from hardship, the unbreakable bonds of female friendships, and the unfettering of legacy.

***

Elise’s Thoughts

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline brings to life five women in nineteenth century Australia.  All faced similar hardships struggling for redemption and freedom in this new society. They were mistreated and taken from a culture they knew. These women were all brought to their new lives against their will but showed strength and courage.

Evangeline, orphaned after her Vicar father died, found a job as a Governess.  But the stepson living in the manor seduces her and shows her affection by giving her a family heirloom ring.  The maid, Agnes, finds it and accuses her of stealing it.  To make matters worse, she pushes Agnes and is now also accused of attempted murder.  Found guilty she is sentenced to fourteen years in an Australian prison.

Olive, also a prisoner, befriends Evangeline. Accused of stealing, she received a sentence of seven years and transport to the Australian prison.  She was street wise and knew what was needed to survive.

Hazel, a sixteen-year-old, was accused of stealing a silver spoon and sentenced to seven years in the Australian prison. She is a skilled midwife and herbalist, bartering her skills for goods and favors.

All three women are transported to Australia on the ship, Medea.  They must struggle with sea sickness, avoiding sailor’s advances, and the harshness of the journey.  Evangeline also must deal with being pregnant, the father being the stepson.  She knows she will give birth to her baby while at sea.

Mathinna, the Aboriginal native, an orphaned daughter of the Chief of the Lowreenne tribe, has been adopted by the new governor of Van Diemen’s Land the setting for the Australian prison. She is used by the Governor’s wife as an experiment in civilization, trying to make her into a “lady.” Her life intersects with Hazel’s about two-thirds of the way through the book.  Although Mathinna is not a convict, she like the other women is a prisoner with no control over their life.

Caleb Dunne is the doctor on the ship.  Because of a misdiagnosis of a prominent woman, he decided to escape and signed up for the ship.  Shy and feeling out of place he first forges a friendship with Evangeline, both enjoying the discussion of books.  But later he and Hazel become friendly after he realizes her worth as a mid-wife.  Their relationship becomes stronger as the story progresses.

The story fascinatingly allows the reader to follow the lives of these women in 19th Century Australia as they forge a new life with new opportunities.  People will have their eyes open to pieces of history that are still pertinent today. It is obvious the author did her research and intertwined it into a riveting novel. Readers’ take a journey with these women and root for them as they gain strength and resilience.

***

Elise’s Author Interview

Elise Cooper:  How did you get the idea for the story?

Christina Baker Kline: I was inspired by a small article I read in a newspaper about criminal ships.  The point of the article is how convicts then had it harder than today.  I thought how parts of my life intersected with this story. I had a life-changing six-week Rotary fellowship to Australia. I taught in women’s prisons.  I also wrote a book with my mother about the second wave of the women’s movement.  A lot of the issues in this book are relevant today including the needed reform of the criminal justice system and the role of women in society.  I think it is a hopeful story.

EC:  Why the map in the front of the book?

CBK: I wanted to show the route from London to Van Diemen’s Land, renamed Tasmania.  It is from the mid 19th Century.  I hope readers get a sense of the wide-open places including the placement of the ports, an understanding of the geography. This is the setting where the convict women stayed. 

EC: Why the Lowreenne Tribe?

CBK: I went to Australia and Tasmania before Covid.  I learned when I arrived about the Aboriginal people who were essentially being pushed into open air concentration camps.  By the late 1860s there was no full-blooded Aboriginal people left in Tasmania, out of thousands.  I felt it would be irresponsible if I did not address it.  Mathinna was a real person who died tragically at the age of seventeen.  Everything I described in the novel actually happened to her.

EC:  How would you describe Evangeline?

CBK:  She was the perfect person to lead the reader into the story, in some ways a stand-in for the reader.  Evangeline was naïve and emersed herself in books.  The convict world was a shock for her.  She was inquisitive, thoughtful, brave, and very lonely.  She did not know how to survive as a convict because she was not tough so depended on Olive and Hazel.

EC:  How about Hazel?

CBK: She had this “superpower” of healing; a knowledge learned as a mid-wife.  Hazel knew how to balance things really well.  She was savvy, caring, and angry at being abandoned.  I think she goes through a change in the novel.  At first, she was a mistrusting teenager, betrayed by her mother.  As the story unfolds, she begins to trust more people and comes to love the baby, Ruby.

EC:  How would you describe Olive?

CBK: Funny, irreverent, a comic relief, and does what it takes to get by in prison. 

EC:  What about the relationship between Dr. Dunne and Hazel?

CBK: He is called the “hot doctor.” As with Hazel, he also changes over time.  He went on the convict ship because he needed work.  At first, he befriends Evangeline who is more like him.  Yet, over time Hazel and he realize they share an interest in medicine.  He comes to respect her.  All the class restrictions fall by the wayside.

EC:  How would you describe the doctor?

CBK:  A complex character.  At times he could appear to be a jerk because he was dismissive, a snob, but overall caring.

EC:  What was the role of the Quakers?

CBK:  They believed the convicts were worthy of redemption.  Elizabeth Fry was a real person who helped them.  She was very judgmental because she thought they were sinners.  She gave them a sense of dignity and treated them as human beings but was never 100% accepting. 

EC: There are similarities with today’s topics?

CBK:  Most of these women sent to Australia committed crimes of poverty.  They stole to feed themselves and their family since there was no social safety net.  These women fell through the cracks.  The criminal justice system was brutal then. Back then the poor had no rights and were considered expendable.  Legal counsel was only for the rich and the poor had no recourse. Evangeline was an example of someone without allies, resources, and representation.

EC:  Why did the British courts sentence these women to prisons in Australia?

CBK:  The goal of the British government was to populate Australia. It had a ratio of nine men to every woman.  They were sent there under flimsy pretenses. Today, 20% of Australian descendants come from convicts.  The Australian personality was forged within their convict past: irreverent, willing to take changes, and never took themselves very seriously.  When out of prison, these women had opportunities they would never have had in Britain.

EC:  Why the drowning scene?

CBK:  I wanted to show how no life is sacred.  I read books on drowning.  Sebastian Junger who wrote the non-fiction book, The Perfect Storm describes in detail how someone drowns.  This was very helpful to me with those scenes in the book.

EC:  A powerful quote, “People we love live inside us, even after they’re gone.” Please explain.

CBK: In my novels I often talk about this. In Orphan Train the book begins with the line, “I believe in ghosts.  They are the ones who haunt us.  They are the ones that left us behind.” With both quotes I thought about the tree metaphor. I love the idea of years that pass, giving us a core of strength.  The convict women were alone and had to draw on what they had internally.  Even though they lost someone they still had a piece of them in their memories.

EC:  What about your next projects?

CBK:  My next book, probably out in 2023 will be set in the Civil War era in North Carolina.  This novel has been optioned for a TV series by Bruna Papandrea.  I will be an executive producer.

THANK YOU!!

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.