Books that I have reviewed and that I consider exceptional. Since it is my own opinion, it is reliable and trustworthy.
Desperation: The Queen of Swansea won a 2017 The Very Best! Book Award for Fictionalized History. storyteller and prolific author Gary Collins hails from Newfoundland and his previous book, Left to Die concerned the tragic death of 78 seal hunters on an ice floe in 1914. For his eleventh book Desperation: The Queen of Swansea (2016, Flanker … Continue reading Desperation: The Queen of Swansea by Gary Collins
World War II Internment Camp B70, better known as Ripples Internment Camp is a little-known part of New Brunswick (and Atlantic Canada) history. Located near the mining town of Minto, the camp existed from 1940-45. Little of it exists today; a concrete structure that supported a wooden water tower is the only permanent part of … Continue reading Prisoner of Warren by Andreas Oertel
Award-winning Newfoundland author Paul Bowdring's fourth book, Mister Nightingale (2016, Vagrant Press) is an introspective novel, one requiring some patience on behalf of the reader before being gently absorbed into James Nightingale's world. Mister Nightingale, while being written by Mr Bowdring, is penned as if the fictional character James Nightingale (who is also an author) has written … Continue reading Mister Nightingale by Paul Bowdring
It seems that Latin America is not given much attention these days, unless an international event like the Brazil Summer Olympics directs our attention to that sector of the globe. Yet, there is a multiplicity of issues occurring there as a casual look at the BBC's Latin America news page proves: economic unrest and uncertainty in … Continue reading Blood of Extraction by Todd Gordon & Jeffery R. Webber
Samantha Rideout was born and raised in an outport community in Central Newfoundland. Her first novel, Pieces, was released in 2013. She currently lives in New York with her husband, Rob. Perhaps it is no coincidence that the primary female antagonist of The People Who Stay (2016, Flanker Press), Sylvia Pride, is also from an … Continue reading The People Who Stay by Samantha Rideout
QC Fiction will be releasing their second English language translation of a French novel in November 2016. It is entitled The Unknown Huntsman (Le chassuer inconnu) by Jean-Michel Fortier. Their first release was the excellent Life in the Court of Matane by Eric Dupont. The Unknown Huntsman is a difficult book to describe. I was … Continue reading The Unknown Huntsman by Jean-Michel Fortier
This is Valerie Mills-Milde's debut novel and it is a superb one. Located on the north shore of Lake Erie where there was once a thriving freshwater fishing industry, After Drowning is a semi-psychological and vastly intriguing novel about lives shattered by events past and present in the fictional town of Port, where a vestigial … Continue reading After Drowning by Valerie Mills-Milde
Aptly named, Wild Pieces (2015, Breakwater Books) is a collection of short stories by Catherine Hogan Safer, author of Bishop's Road (2004, Killick Press), thus making it her first major release in over 10 years. For her fans, it certainly has been a long wait, and if (like me) you haven't read Bishop's road or any of her … Continue reading Wild Pieces by Catherine Hogan Safer