Reviews By Charline

“Vivian Rising”

Author: Daniella Brodsky

I had just finished reading and reviewing a different book when I received the following email: “Is there anything new on the pending list that looks interesting?” my editor/friend’s message asked. I chuckled because I really was planning to send him my “what I want to read list” the following day. Traveling back and forth between three states sometimes causes me to be slower than normal and unfortunately coffee can only do so much! Anyway, I promptly went to visit that “pending list” and as I perused it I came across the title “Vivian Rising” by Daniella Brodsky. After looking it over via Amazon, and as you’ve no doubt guessed by now, I asked that it be sent to me.

The premise of “Vivian Rising” is this: Vivian Sklar has lived with her grandmother ever since her mother abandoned her. “Grams” makes Vivian feel safe because she is wise, feisty and gives Vivian the impression that she has life all figured out. When Grams passes away Vivian feels completely alone and bereft. Suddenly her comfortable world is no longer familiar. As she desperately searches for solace she happens upon an extremely perceptive astrologer who is intent on passing along some cosmic help. For a fee of course… “Vivian Rising” is the story of a young woman who, because of her grandmother’s death, is just now realizing that she knows nothing about herself. It’s the story of her life as she frees herself from a mundane and unfulfilling existence in order to allow peace, love, and happiness into her life.

For the most part I would say that “Vivian Rising” was a cute story. Brodsky is a talented writer and her words paint vivid pictures which allow the book’s characters to come to life. Sadly, I noticed some errors which pulled me out of the book because I had to re-read them just to be sure I had read those sections correctly. Example: Viv takes a drink of water but is too shocked to swallow and holds it in her mouth. Next, she makes a joke and I, of course, wonder where the water went. Finally, she “…speaks, forgetting the water, splashing it out down her chin and over her chest.” Lastly, I felt that the ending was unbelievable. One of my criteria for any fictional book I read is that it at least be believable to its own story. Based upon the character of Vivian’s love interest, which had been spelled out over and over again throughout the book, I was totally unable to “buy” the ending that was provided.

“The Bootlegger’s Secret”

Author: Michael Springer

It’s the summer of 1941. Two eleven-year-old boys, Mark Penn and Swede Larson, discover a submerged automobile while swimming in the Minnesota River. The car is a 1931 Pierce-Arrow and Swede decides it merits further investigation. He swims down and into the car but finds nothing of interest other than an inlaid-gold cigarette case. Swede returns to the surface and the two boys open the case. They discover it plays music and contains Turkish filter-tip cigarettes as well as a photograph of a beautiful woman. Surprisingly enough the picture and the cigarettes are dry even after being submerged in the vehicle for the past eight years.

The boys don’t realize that, because of their discovery, they have now attracted the attention of members from Al Capone’s mafia as well as agents from the Federal Treasury department. Unfortunately for the boys, the cigarette case holds a secret neither of them is aware of. The Treasury department wants the case, and its hidden information, so that they can prosecute the corrupt officials who have been bribed by mob member Eddie Knowland. The Chicago gangsters want the records so they can blackmail these same officials. While the Treasury agents are willing to work with the boys in an attempt to recover the case, the mafia members are not. Suddenly and without warning the boy’s summer vacation becomes fear-filled and they discover they are not safe anywhere.

“The Bootlegger’s Secret” by author Michael Springer was definitely a great book. Springer has an easy-to-read writing style and his descriptions of characters and situations are crystal clear, intense and suspenseful. Springer kept his storyline straight and I never had to deal with redundancy or having key elements of the plot forgotten. There was even a nice little twist at the end. It was also nice to read about life back in 1941 where children got to be children; get into mischief and no one really got hurt. A time when there was still naiveté and innocence and a general joy for life… Lastly, at one hundred and fifty-eight pages “The Bootlegger’s Secret” is a shorter book / quick read but I would say it’s definitely worth picking up. It’s also “age-friendly” and can, therefore, be enjoyed by readers of any age.

In closing I give “The Bootlegger’s Secret” a five-star rating and I look forward to reading more by this author in the future…

“Leonidas of Sparta: A Boy of the Agoge”

Author: Helena P. Schrader

While I enjoyed reading “Leonidas of Sparta: A Boy of the Agoge” by author Helena P. Schrader, I’m going to be honest and admit that it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I thought I was going to be reading a fictional story about the legendary Leonidas. I did count on historical facts being woven throughout the book but I figured they would only be used to provide that “realistic” feel. What I got was a book that seemed to focus on education, culture, laws and the Spartan way of life. Leonidas was present, but at times he seemed almost an afterthought… Superfluous as his mother would say…

When I finished, and being slightly dissatisfied, I decided to look at this book from a different point of view. “Leonidas of Sparta: A Boy of the Agoge” is the first book in a trilogy about Leonidas. Hmmm… Maybe the author really intended to focus more on Leonidas’s surroundings as a child rather than Leonidas himself. After all, one can hypothesize that ultimately Leonidas’s childhood is what shaped him into the man he became.

Unfortunately I wasn’t completely thrilled with the writing style either. While I did find “Leonidas of Sparta: A Boy of the Agoge” to be a decent book I definitely was not sitting on the edge of my seat as I read it. It flowed like a non-fiction book. It seemed to be mainly facts and figures with hardly any suspense, drama or humor. Every now and again there was a glimmer of something but then it vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared. At this point I remembered reading that Schrader had previously published four non-fiction books. I realized that this would help explain the writing style.

As far as a rating, I give “Leonidas of Sparta: A Boy of the Agoge” three stars. It is a solid book and I would classify it as an interesting read. Schrader does have a good writing style – it’s just a bit on the dry side. She is also descriptive but, because of her writing style, her words tend to come across as if they belong in a college textbook or…the “Journal of Ancient Spartan and Greek History.”

I am however looking forward to reading the final two books in this series. My only hope is that Leonidas plays a more exciting and interesting role in them…