Jeff Sexton

Review of HUNGER (originally written June 9, 2015):

Curing world hunger sounds great, right?

That is why I did it. I wanted to be the guy that solved World Hunger.

And I did. I used genetic modification to unlock so-called "junk" DNA in plants, and with this I was able to allow them to grow anywhere that had a permeable surface. Desert? Not a problem. Marsh? Not a problem. Mountains? Not a problem. As long as it didn't involve steel, concrete, rock, or the like, my plants would grow.

Unfortunately I never really tested my breakthrough before it got out of control, and my boss never looked at my work either.

So I wound up causing the apocalypse by solving world hunger.

Oops.

Now it is several years after my breakthrough caused the end of humanity, and my boss is on the run. She still has hope that what little remains of humanity outside of our San Francisco complex can be saved. Me, I'm not so sure - but her bosses sure seem to be intent on stopping her for some reason.

How did we do it? How did we cause the end of humanity? Will she be able to reverse what I did?

Well, you're just going to have to read Jeremiah Knight's debut book to find out...

Note: Hate to spoil the illusion here, but just to be clear: I am a real person who is a long time fan of the author (as in, we met via MySpace) whose name the author used for a character in this book. The above is solely my own review, my way of trying to thank the author, who is easily one of my favorites.

Review of FEAST (Originally written June 9, 2016):

This time we travel, interestingly, not far from where the real me actually lives - to the swamps outside Charleston, SC. This book in particular is great because it slows the pace down a bit from the first book, yet WAY amps up the drama. There are certain situations in this book that will make some/ possibly many uncomfortable, but this is still a Jeremiah Knight/ Jeremy Robinson book - you don't have to worry about actually seeing any of the things I refer to. The monsters here are top notch, as always, but the case could be made that the real monsters of this story are the humans our heroes encounter - and along the way, we may just see the possibility that perhaps the monsters we know aren't so monstrous, and the people we know aren't so nice...

Review of FAMINE (Originally written June 24, 2023):

Years ago, Jeremy Robinson created a seemingly fantastical dystopian tale of what *could* happen if genetically modified organisms and specifically food somehow found a way to run amok. He even included a version of me that is probably (almost certainly) more accurate than I'd like to admit, as the absolutely brilliant yet also cocky, self assured scientist who doesn't double check the safety of his work. Thus, while I manage to (accidentally) solve World Hunger... I also caused the Apocalypse in the process and kick started the events we see unfolding through this now (finally) completed trilogy. After literally *years* of me *begging* Robinson to write this book, FAMINE - and show me how "I" die. And to be sure, while the "me" presented in HUNGER is all too real, the "me" presented in FAMINE is... remarkably less so. :D But that's actually quite awesome, because now I've had a chance to buy *both* of Robinson's "Jeremy Robinson [Spared/ Killed] Me In A Novel, So I Had To Buy This Shirt" shirts.

Here, in this book that I've been begging so long for, Robinson manages to again outdo the MCU in that while the follow up movie from Avengers: Endgame was a bit of a letdown, here, Robinson shows that his talent is still in full swing and truly at the top of his game. While the INFINITE TIMELINE and its conclusion, SINGULARITY, was one of the best science fiction collections ever written - and whose epic story makes it rank among the best complete stories ever written, period - FAMINE comes in equally strong, showing not a single modicum of a hint of a slide from that peak. The creatures throughout the book are fantastic, the character growth of our central team is on par with some of Robinson's best ever work, and the final fight scene here is quite possibly one of the best creature feature fight scenes you're ever going to encounter anywhere in any medium. It has laughs, it has high drama, the tension is razor sharp, and the flow is superconductor level perfectly smooth.

And yes, one might argue that my opinion is tainted because I *have* been begging for this book for so long and building it up for so long in my head. How could I ever think it would be anything less than THE BEST THING EVER!!!!! But that's just it: Yes, I *had* built this book up in my head for so many years. I *had* been dreaming of seeing my death and how Robinson would orchestrate it. I *had* been trying to figure out the endgame and how Robinson would solve some of the pickles he had written himself into by the end of FEAST. And yet... this book was *still* more than anything I could have ever dreamed. While it is no SINGULARITY, it also wasn't doing the same things that book was. This book simply had to be a solid conclusion to a great trilogy, and instead of coming in and hitting a base hit to drive in the one walk off run, this book *still* came in and hit the walk-off Grand Slam.

Robinson is pricing this entire trilogy at the normal price of just a single book, making this a 3 for 1 deal - a great value in nearly any situation. Do yourself a favor. Take the deal. Read this book. Have a great summer with a great escapist adventure. Because the "real" world is bad enough, and we could all use some mindless fun, right?

Very much recommended.

Elite Sociology Types Explain Homelessness. In a spirit of full disclosure up front, I'm a guy that literally has "Real Is Real" - the subheading of Part III of Ayn Rand's magnum opus Atlas Shrugged - tattooed on his wrist, along with a few other tattoos of various Christian thinking, both common (Triune God) and more obscure (Christ's death redefines religious laws). And yet I've also presented at a sociological association's conference, over 20 years ago while still in college. With that noted, let's get into my thoughts on this book, shall we? :)

Coming into this review moments after reading this book, I wasn't going to rate it 5*. There is quite a bit of rampant elitism and racism here, from forgetting just how horrid public housing has proven to be to openly advocating for several explicitly racist programs such as Affirmative Action and reparations. And yet, while admittedly deep into the text... the authors own up to their racism and elitism, unlike so many other books in this space. So there went that potential star deduction. And I was thinking that the book was only about 16% documentation, and it actually ended with about 18%. While still *slightly* lower than the more normal 20-30% I'm accustomed to seeing in these types of books, even I have noted in at least one or two reviews over the last few weeks that given how many more recent books are coming in somewhere in the teens, I may need to revise my expected average downward a few points - which would put this 18% within that newly revised range, almost assuredly. Thus, there went that potential star deduction.

So what I'm left with is an idealistic book that bounces between firmly grounded in reality in showing the full breadth and scope of how so many people come to a state of homlessness and how and why so many programs built to "combat" or "end" homelessness fail and even actively harm the people they claim to he trying to help to being truly pie in the sky, never going to happen "solutions" such as Universal Basic Income. And yet, here again, some of the solutions proposed - such as tiny house villages and container box conversion homes - are ideas that I myself have even proposed.

Admittedly, I chose to read this book this week because of the ongoing struggles in Gastonia, NC, where the City Council is currently threatening to entirely shut down a local church because of its efforts to serve the local homeless population, efforts brought to media attention by the efforts of Libertarian activist (and rumored potential 2024 Presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party) Spike Cohen. Unfortunately, I've seen myself over years of even casually watching the issue that the current events in Gastonia are simply far too common - which is one of the things this text gets quite right in covering while never really going in depth with any specifics. Even down to also addressing, again at a high level, the all too common practice of hostile design.

At the end of the day, there are very clear differences in how the authors here and I approach this (and likely many) issue, and I suspect that will be true of many who read this book as well. But if you're interested in the issue of homelessness at all, if you're truly interested in trying to help end this problem, if you're searching for something you can personally do to help, if you're looking for ideas to work at any level to assist... you should read this book. It really is quite a solid primer, despite the authors' clear bents, and at minimum it will help you avoid pitfalls that are far too common even among those with quite a bit of experience working within these communities. Very much recommended.

Solid Introduction To New British Police Procedural Series. This book is exactly what I note in the title - a solid introduction to a new British police procedural series, one with a couple of interesting hooks that will be interesting to see exactly how they play out throughout the series. The first being that our lead Investigator is a triplet with a haunted past (which we learn about through this book), the other being that while she is a British national, she has spent several years prior to the events of this tale being trained by the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation and working with them. Neither are exactly typical elements of any of the fairly numerous series I've read within this exact space, and both contribute to helping this particular series stand out a bit from the pack.

The pacing is near frenetic, starting even with our opening chapter featuring a somewhat shocking and certainly atypical book opener within the police procedural space - much less the very first scene of a brand new series.

Overall, one of the better books within this genre I've encountered in quite some time, and I'm glad I already had book two on hand to also read as an Advance Reviewer Copy when I finished this one. Very much recommended.

Explosive Tale But Make Sure You Read Book 8, Their Resting Place, First. Without revealing any actual details, all I'm going to say here is that this book picks up immediately after the prior book in this series - and because of that, you really need to make it a point to read that book first.

Here, our team has several problems to work through - both professionally and personally. The case they find themselves involved in is even more time sensitive than most of their prior cases, and yet the team's personal priorities are also in a state of flux. Spangler manages both sides of the police procedural format masterfully here, combining both to excellent effect to create quite possibly one of the best complete books of this series to date.

Overall truly a compelling tale that won't quite leave you with that "I NEED THE NEXT BOOK RIGHT THIS SECOND" feeling from the prior book, but will still leave you satisfied and waiting anxiously for the next book to come out anyway, as you want to learn what happens next in the lives of our investigators. Very much recommended.

Quick Read That Serves As A Good Look Into The Mind Of Some Childless People. I've struggled for nearly 10 days now to sit down and write out my thoughts on this book, and ultimately what I come down to is that this really is a really good look at how desperate some people are to have children - and the lengths they will go through to get them, up to and including risking everything else they claim to care about. As a sub-300 page book, it is also a relatively quick read, which helps because this is largely one dark and depressing tome (can a sub-300 page book be a 'tome'? this one certainly feels like it) that will have many readers wanting to throw it out the nearest window, even if reading it on your Kindle or other device. There is just enough light here to keep it from being *too* dark and depressing, but seriously, if you've ever been anywhere near these issues in your "real" life... this one hits all too close to home. And while I, as a male, have never been in our female lead's exact shoes - I've been near enough to her husband's, as we actively weighed IVF and the "modern miracle" horrors it wreaks on the female body in a desperate ploy to *maybe* get pregnant. In the end, my wife and I actively chose to become childfree - yes, there is a difference between childfree and childless, and this book actively shows it. Childfree is happy not having kids. Childless is always feeling a void/ like you've missed out on something, as our lead here does. Still, for those who have never reason to consider this particular path or its varying branches... this really is truly a strong look into that overall mindset, for all its benefits and pitfalls. Very much recommended.

Not McKenzie's Strongest Work, Still A Solid Read. I suppose this is how you know when an author is truly good overall - when they can have a book that is rather far from their best, and still create a mostly compelling tale from it. Here, it almost seems like McKenzie is phoning it in. Clearly, *something* happened here, but that is for her to know and we readers to simply move on from. :)

The book itself is both interesting and yet slow. There is enough of the mechanics built in to move the plot along and to ratchet up the mystery and tension before a wild curve late in the book that very nearly gives a sense of whiplash, and there is even room here for a sequel, should McKenzie choose to go that route. There is a lot of telling what happens rather than showing what happens, and yet McKenzie overall makes this work within the space of this tale and how she is telling it.

If you're a fan of Yosemite National Park and/ or want to vicariously live a summer there, this may be of interest. If you're interested in learning something about the volunteer search and rescue teams that spend summers in some of these parks, this may be of interest. And if you're a long time fan of McKenzie, this will absolutely be of interest. But for anyone else, I actually recommend reading almost any of McKenzie's *prior* works first, to see how good she is and build some trust first. *Then* come into this book with that trust, and hopefully it works out for you. I know it did for me, as I'm still looking forward to the next one. Recommended.

Solid Look At History, Current Uses, and Future Of The Barrel. At just 240 pages or so - and just 14% or so of that bibliography, which is where the single star deduction comes in - this is far from a truly in-depth look at the topic. But as kind of a "Barrel 101", this book really works. The majority of the text focuses on the various current uses of barrels, mostly dealing with the various forms of alcohol stored in them - everything from liquors to wines to even beers - but also delving into even, surprisingly, hot sauce. Shorter sections deal with the millenia-old history of the barrel and with its most modern incarnations and looking to what the future might hold for the technology.

Indeed, for what it is, the only truly glaring weakness here is in fact the dearth of a bibliography, clocking in at just about 14% of the overall text, when 20-30% is more typical in my extensive experience with nonfiction Advance Reviewer Copies.

Overall a quick, fun, and informative read that will give you yet more esoteric knowledge and trivia and thus expand your horizons just that much more. Very much recommended.

Welcome Back, Dr. Moore! For roughly a decade now, the once-phenomenal Dr. Russell Moore has been either a shill for SBC Leadership in his role as head of its Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission or embroiled in controversy over his rabid anti-Trumpism. Here, while not *completely* stepping back from either position, Moore does an excellent job of calling American Churchianity - not just the SBC, but *all* of American Churchianity - back to a focus on Christ, Him Crucified, and Spreading the Gospel. Full of Southern aphorisms that even this native Son of the South rarely heard in the exurbs of Atlanta, despite being barely a decade younger than Moore, this text also shows just how knowledgeable and insightful Moore at his best can show himself to be. And yes, while allowing that he is still wrong on a few positions (which I'm sure he and others would disagree with me over), this really is a return to the best of Moore, the Moore that made me at first *excited* that he was taking over the ERLC.

Indeed, the only reasons for the two star deductions are simple: the dearth of a bibliography - less than 10%! - when 20-30% is more normal, and even at least 20% is more normal *within this specific genre*, and the frequent use of "prooftexting", the practice of citing Bible verses outside of their context as "proof" of some point or another, which is a rampant problem in this genre in particular.

Still, if you're a Christian in America today... you need to read this book. If you're just interested in studying the decline of Christianity in America today and what could be done about it... you need to read this book. And if you're actively anti anything remotely Christian... maybe skip this one. ;) Still, that means that several million Americans... need to read this book. Very much recommended.

Hallelujah. One thing of note up front: I read the Audible version of this, so I have no way of knowing how well documented it is - and given its almost memoir-based approach, those tend to be on the lighter side of documentation. But again, because of the form I consumed this book in, I just don't know.

This caveat understood up front, this text is absolutely phenomenal - and will have any office worker in 2023 scratching their heads over why virtually *any* of us are constrained to a physical location we must report into x number of times per week. This book is a decade old this year, released *well* before certain worldwide insanities led to a (sadly temporary) shift to very nearly 100% remote work for a time, and yet lays out the case for fully remote work *even with that era's tech* so clearly and so completely that one will be left wondering why any business person would ever consider forcing their staff to work in a physical office space, unless that business person happens to own said space outright and can't offload it because everyone else is going fully remote.

For those of us who love(d) working remote, this is absolutely preaching to the choir and having them sing its praises from the rafters. Even for those more opposed to remote work... read this book and try to find a reason the authors here haven't already addressed, up to and including your own personal preferences and management styles.

Indeed, the most irritating thing about this book is how long it has existed and how few business leaders in 2023 are heeding its lessons. Particularly business leaders who spent 2020 and 2021 praising their teams' increased productivity while fully remote.

So read this book. Learn why remote work really is the best work for everyone whose jobs don't involve physically touching some widget or another. And then go and spread the message ever more.

Very much recommended.

Powerful Multi-Timeline Story Weaves Multiple Threads Into Amazing Tapestry. You know those centuries old tapestries where when you look at them, you're almost *positive* they *had* to have been painted *after* being woven - and then you see the details and realize that, no, the threads really were placed together to the level of precision required to produce the scene you see from further away? This book is the literary equivalent of one of those types of tapestries.

Yes, particularly early in the tale it is somewhat hard to distinguish who is who in the alternating chapters, as while each chapter is headed by the lady's real name, more often the story is told (particularly of the actual spies during the war) using their code names. So it can take a while to piece together who is who, which is perhaps the only glaring weakness of this particular tapestry. (We'll detail a more minor one, that only some will have problems with, momentarily.)

But the piece overall is truly stunning in both its breadth and its attention to minutia level details, all while weaving together a story that while the reader *knows* it is fiction... almost seems all *too* real. Particularly in certain sequences... it gets quite uncomfortable. (Though, to be clear and to alleviate some concerns, never in a sexual way. More along the lines of V for Vendetta's more uncomfortable sequences... and then these get even worse.)

Indeed, the quibble level issues are that perhaps, given the story told, things are wrapped up a little *too* neatly in the end. If you like every possible string fully tied off, you're going to like this one. If you prefer more open ended sequences when those are called for... well, I just told you everything gets tied off into nice little bows. The other quibble that some might argue - and would usually argue is more than a quibble, but I'm actively downplaying it here because it *is* a minor issue in the grand scheme of this story and how it is told - is the presence of an LGBT character that could have been, so the argument goes, written with almost any other backstory to achieve the same result, resulting in a character that has that particular background for no other reason than, again going with how others are likely to present this argument, 2000s era sensibilities that perhaps would not have been period accurate.

Still, even accounting for the "inclusions", to draw from the term for a diamond's imperfections, this really is one of the stronger WWII historical fiction stories out there, and I've read a fair amount within that space. Yes, this is yet again France and in particular D-Day, but those tend to be the stories that get the most attention, both in the historical record and the overall zeitgeist. Overall, truly one of the better and stronger WWII historical fiction tales I've ever come across. Very much recommended.

All Michigan Tourism Boards Should Hire "Ms. Shipman". Seriously, this book in particular is basically one giant love letter to rural Michigan, in prose form for around 350 pages. The history - for better and worse. The current - for better and worse. The land. The culture. The lakes you can never get far from.

And the cherries. Always the cherries.

Oh yes, there are humans here too. And some mysticism/ "magical realism". And their story is both linked and compelling, as they always are in a Viola Shipman book.

But really, you're reading this book to feel like you're travelling to Michigan - and that is not a bad thing at all. It really is described so beautifully that even this hardened Southerner who has been north of the Mason-Dixon just three times in his lifetime... want to consider going to Michigan at some point. Maybe.

Very much recommended.

Slow Burn Hallmarkie Southern Romance. This is another of those books that almost seems destined for the small screen on the Hallmark Channel or one of its newer competitors. But here, the romance is *very* slow burn, taking nearly all of this books 350 or so pages to finally get the couple together - and even then, they barely kiss, much less anything else. So this is definetly more for the "sweet" and/ or "clean" crowd than the crowd that wants damn near erotica level sex in the first chapter. (You know what I mean, and you know who you are.) Cursing is next to non-existent here, and may even be completely non-existent - I certainly don't remember any. Prayers, church attendance, mentions of God and Jesus... those are far more plentiful - and just as accurate to the Southern small mountain town setting as the broken families, abuse, and alcoholism that are also discussed, but which take place long before this book and are only discussed - not shown "on screen".

Indeed, the bulk of the tale is a woman being conned... and then trying to re-establish her life after very nearly everything other than her breath is taken from her. Here, the book truly shines as the reader feels quite viscerally everything our lead is going through, as well as just how much the investigator assigned to her case wants to solve it for her. Naigle uses this structure to first get our lead to the point of being willing to move - and then to show the small town that will serve as the basis for the rest of this series (more on that momentarily) as an outsider would see it, for all its wonders and faults.

Really the only thing quite obviously missing here is an obvious second book, as this is listed as "number one" in a new series. As the series name is the same as the town name, clearly the town itself will be central to this series, and thus its establishment here is quite solid indeed. There's just no real obvious "oh, this is who we're tracking in the next book" set up. Or maybe I just missed it?

Overall a solid tale of its type, one that some will absolutely adore and others will find... the nearest window to throw it out of. Still, for what it is, truly a good tale, well told. Very much recommended.

Dark Side Of Hollywood. This book is perfect for those types that love the darker stories of Hollywood, and particularly the stories about how demented and depraved some "wholesome" childhood stars become as adults. At under 300 pages, it is a fairly quick read, but with every chapter coming from a different character's perspectives - and several of them, to boot - this may be one that is too complex for some to follow. And yet, that storytelling mechanic actually works well for this particular tale, particularly the deeper into the tale we get. In the end, it even becomes a bit of a mindbender trying to determine who is actually responsible - so again, people that like their endings all tied up in a bow... probably not your thing either. Overall an interesting tale that keeps the reader engaged, and one that will work well for those darker summer moods. Very much recommended.

Compelling Survival Story Marred By Inexcusable Missed Details. As someone who cruises more than many - I've got over 100 days at sea with Carnival Cruise Line over the last 16 years and now routinely spent roughly two weeks per year at sea with them - I've been to Grand Turk several times. I'm even going back yet again on my next cruise in Fall 2023. I love the island, it is easily one of my favorite common ports in the Caribbean. And this is exactly what drew me to this book. The setting on and around Grand Turk in this book is truly amazing, for the most part it very much feels like you're actually there, even in areas I've never experienced. If this book doesn't make you want to get into the Caribbean ASAP, I'm not sure of anything short of Jimmy Buffett that could. Then, when the storm hits - the other factor that drew me into the book, as I've personally seen some of the devastation Hurricane Irma and Hurricane Maria wreaked across the Caribbean, and even had a cruise or two diverted to other ports because of the damage sustained where we were supposed to be going - the story shifts into survival mode, and here too the book is remarkably (mostly) realistic. Particularly for the isolation of the island if things truly go bad, as they tend to do during a Category 5 hurricane making a direct hit.

But it is that (mostly) during the survival section in particular that mars an otherwise truly amazing book.

Being someone that alternates her time between New England (Vermont, specifically) and Grand Turk, maybe, *maybe*, the author can be excused for claiming that a 9mm round "isn't meant to kill", as she does during the survival section here in one particularly tense moment. As someone who also owns a 9mm pistol... I can very much attest to the opposite - every single round in my 9mm *is* meant to be a kill shot, should I ever need it to become one, and every single round has the power to do so. Now, if you want to argue *shot placement*, as many in the online and IRL gun communities routinely do, fair game - but that isn't what the author says in this particular passage.

The second major flaw is geographic in nature. Grand Turk is *tiny*, just 6 square miles in surface area, and at least some of that is water. The southern end is dominated by the cruise pier and the services needed to run it. Meaning the actual population of Grand Turk has even less area to live in. And one thing you can easily notice from the bigger ships that dock there in particular is just how *flat* Grand Turk is. If there is a hill bigger than *maybe* 10 feet tall, I've never noticed it in all my time on and at the island. And yet, in another sequence, Mehuron, who per her biography spends a fair amount of time actively living on the island, describes one particular journey is both arduous and up a significant hill. The problem is that the biggest "hill" on Grand Turk, even with putting some research in for this review, is no more than about 60 feet or so above the main elevation of the rest of the town there on Grand Turk. As a reference point, a particularly steep hill - among many in the area - just a street over from the house I spent my teens in in my hometown north of Atlanta, GA, is roughly twice as tall. And in a survival situation, I could be up that hill within minutes with minimal effort. Hell, I used to routinely ride my bicycle up it as a younger teenager.

So she gets a major point of geography completely wrong, and hell, maybe you're arguing "artistic license". Perhaps. My counter would be that the story didn't need that particular element. There could have been other, much more realistic, impediments to that particular location to make it just as treacherous or perhaps even more so, without getting such a basic fact so blatantly wrong.

It is for both of the above errors combined that the single star is deducted, as while both are glaring and nonsensical, neither do they *completely* take away from the otherwise strong tale of life and survival told here.

Overall this actually was quite a compelling tale, one that takes the classic disaster format of showing life before, during, and after a disaster and uses it quite well indeed to showcase a particular setting remarkably well while also telling a story of a woman's family and friends, and her overall community, within that framework. Very much recommended.

Hunter and Hunted - But Who Is Who? This is one of those books that seems like it wants to take on Big Ideas, but in its brevity... eh, those Big Ideas are more sacrificed to telling a more compelling and less potentially divisive story, while still hitting some of the high points of the Big Ideas. Ultimately, this is a book whose main characters are very finely drawn and nuanced... and whose lesser players are almost cardboard caricatures. Still, Heard here uses the main characters, their varying histories, and the island setting (through at least half the book) quite well indeed to craft a suspenseful tale that will keep you on the edge of your beach or pool lounger just enough to keep your feet in the water... without giving you a heart attack before you can finish the book and dive in. A couple of bits in particular are more mind-bending than others, though those are quickly moved on from and the more cat and mouse nature of the book again reasserts itself. Overall a solid, mildly pulse pounding book that will be quite enjoyable as a vacation read and one that should be able to be devoured almost no matter how little reading time one may have on a summer break or vacation. Very much recommended.

Thorough Examination Of The Field. This is a look at the history of disaster response (mostly in the US, and primarily over the last 50 some odd years) and the incentive structures of the various players in the field - and what those incentive structures lead to, for good and bad. It also has a few recommendations on how to move forward, as most books of this type do, though as with most all recommendations of most all books of this type, these very much come down to a Your Mileage May Vary situation. Though I do appreciate that the authors are realists and openly acknowledge that some would be easier to achieve than others, and some of the recommendations are about as close to "never going to happen" as anything ever truly gets. At 34% documentation, it is even on the high side of average in my experience - which is always a plus. Overall a solid and informative look at a lot of aspects of disaster response - and particularly disaster response coordination - that most even within the field probably aren't fully aware of, and for this alone it is absolutely essential reading for anyone who may ever experience a disaster. Which is everyone, everywhere. Very much recommended.

Interesting Take On High School Love Angles. This book is quirky enough to make everything work, and yet has a lot of things about it that will throw various groups off - often having some element that may be popular with one group, yet having another element that will be off-putting to that same group. For example, you've got the aura-reading ability where our main character sees emotions as colors and you've got the nonbinary side character - and yet the book's very premise is that our main character is openly catfishing, gets caught doing so, and yet things somehow still work out for her. You've got some good, hard work ethic going with both our main character and her best friend, and yet the best friend openly chooses the boy over her best friend. You've got the seemingly rural small town North Carolina vibe going on - and you've got the aforementioned nonbinary character that seems mostly tacked in just to have an excuse to go off on "small minded Republicans" and to be able to promote that the book has a queer character. It could be argued that doing this character in this manner isn't inclusive, but exploitive - and off putting to at least some potential readers anyway. And yet, despite all of its contradictions and issues... the book truly does work. If you're into young adult/ high school romance at all, this book is going to scratch most every itch you have there, and it does in fact have the interesting wrinkles of the auras and how to *use* that ability to set it apart from the field naturally, without needing all of the other aspects. In the end, despite coming close to seeming to try too hard, this really is a mostly benign and fairly interesting tale within its genre, and a very easy and mostly inoffensive summer/ beach read that won't get the pulse pounding too much, but will instead be a more charming and breezy read while sitting poolside or oceanside soaking up some sun. Recommended.

PS: There is no such thing as a love triangle without at least two of the three people involved being bisexual. Thus, while some describe this book as featuring a love "triangle", as all three involved are never described as bisexual, it is most accurately described as a love "angle", with three points and two line segments, the segments meeting at a common point. But this could well be the former math teacher and Autistic in me coming out. I admittedly tend to be a bit pedantic on this particular point. :)

Excellent Mid-Series Wrap Up And Soft Reboot. This book is exactly what the title says - an excellent epilogue to the series as it has been, and a soft reboot for what is to come. The story to this point, as much as it has been about Hart's Ridge, has also been about the one family, and here we see (most) of their initial travails handled and handled well. Meanwhile, a dark secret emerges that will seemingly drive at least the next book and, depending on how Bratt chooses to play this, could well drive the back half of this planned eight book series. This is also one of the creepiest, and yet even more real because of it, books, with the crime here not being rape or murder or torture or some such, but scams and elder abuse - another facet of life that is seemingly all too common these days in the "real" world, and one which Bratt manages to work into her town and series quite well indeed. And as a bonus, as a "soft reboot" of the series... this is actually a decent entry point for those who have not read the prior books and yet don't mind events from them being discussed within this book. Overall a well told story in a well developed small town in real-enough North Georgia Mountain country, and I'm very much looking forward to seeing where Bratt takes this next. Very much recommended.

Overt Racism And Extensive Elitism Mar Otherwise Intriguing Premise. In "shit sandwich" form, let's start out with something good, shall we? The premise here, that peer groups affect behavior more than most other factors, is one that few sociologists - at least those I've seen in my 20+ years on the outskirts of that field - have openly espoused. Thus, this book was immediately intriguing and in fact had at least some promise here.

But then we get to the overt racism against anything white male and the extensive elitism in promoting New York City and in particular one particularly exclusive high school as the epitome of virtually everything, openly declaring multiple times that NYC is the cultural heart of the US, among several other elitist (and typical New Yorker) claims. The longer the text goes, the more and more overt the authors get in showing their anti-white male racist misandry, until finally at one point, after clearly establishing "cultures that are longstanding" and similar phrases to mean "white male", the authors openly state "Cultures that are longstanding have a built-in legitimacy to them; to change them means that people inside and outside of that culture *have to see aspects of their identity, their culture, as illegitimate, as immoral, as wrong.*" (emphasis mine). Imagine the outcry if a white author had made the same statement in reference to virtually any other demographic - and *that* is my standard for detecting bigotry: invert the demographics involved. If there would be outcry, it is likely bigoted. Thus, one star is deducted for the overt racism in particular, and the other star is deducted for the pervasive elitism.

Finally, I can say that the bibliography being roughly 20% of the text was perhaps a touch low, but at least on the low end of *normal* in my extensive experience with Advance Reviewer Copies. And yes, as I am writing this review almost fully six months prior to publication, this means that I am in fact reading and reviewing an ARC here.

Overall, there is enough positive and worthy of consideration here to keep this fairly safely above my dreaded "gold mine" label, but there is still enough detritus here that one should approach the text a bit warily. Still, it does in fact bring some worthy wrinkles to the public discourse, and for that reason it *should* be widely read. Recommended.

Neurodivergent Time Travel Women's Fiction. I do believe this is the first time I've ever encountered a book quite like this one - a book with a neurodivergent main character who time jumps most similarly to The Time Traveler's Wife (vs a true time loop ala Groundhog Day or a "glimpse" ala Family Man), but yet ultimately lands more on the women's fiction side than the romance side, despite said main character's main focus being on restoring the romance she loses at the beginning of the tale. There's also quite a reliance on Greek mythology reimagined, more akin to elements of Jeremy Robinson's Infinite Timeline event than say Rick Riordian's Percy Jackson lore. But as with at least Robinson's books (I've never actually read Riordian's), there is enough explanation of the relevant mythology that one not need have a degree in the field to understand the story enough to enjoy the story for itself. Overall, this has quite a few rare features in it, and fans of the time travel genre will likely enjoy it the most, but others should still step into this wildly quirky world. Very much recommended.

Solid Use Of Multi-POV To Create Compelling Thriller. Ok, this is one the "intelligentsia" claim "you can see coming from a mile away with a blindfold on". Eh, maybe. I didn't, not until the actual reveal. But I don't read mysteries or thrillers *trying* to do that. If anything, I'm looking for deeper connections to the current zeitgeist or to some legend or lore. (None of which is really present here, to be clear, other than this being yet another missing person based book.) What I found here was a solid use of multiple POVs and perspectives to create a thriller where everyone has secrets, everyone is lying... and yet one person's lies are hiding an awful truth that will unravel the entire thing. And then there is the back quarter or so, where all the lies are revealed, and the tale instead turns into a race to save a life... or end another. This part was where Glass apparently lost some readers, who felt that the tale fell off the rails here. Again, I disagree. While a different approach through this section (yet still maintaining the multiple POVs), I felt it was at least as compelling as anything that had come before it, and indeed even the ending itself felt justified and at least understandable, if not completely realistic. Overall, this book admittedly isn't likely to win any awards, yet as compelling or at minimum serviceable escapism for a few hours (clocking in at just under 300 pages), this is absolutely a book that will transport you away from the "real" world and into one with a bit of everything for everyone, including even doses of humor and romance. Very much recommended.

Decent Exploration Of The Topic. A couple of caveats to this review up front: This book was released in 2019, and I've read at least a handful of books on the same general topic of human circadian rhythms both before and since. I also read it via Audible, so I have no way of knowing if its documentation is adequate or lacking. These caveats noted, to me this book was more a decent introduction to the general topic than a truly in depth or ground breaking look at it. Most of the things it covered were things I was already generally aware of and even knew a bit of the specifics of due to those other books. So to me, there truly wasn't much "new science" here at all. And yet, the book was very much approachable and enjoyable, and indeed seemed great for someone less read in the subject at hand. Geddes herself reads the Audible version, and it is quite clear she both knows her subject well and is genuinely passionate about it, so those are definite bonuses in my take on the book. Overall a truly solid introduction to the topics at hand, told in a very approachable manner even for those less familiar with them. Very much recommended.

Feminist Horrible Bosses. If you're familiar with the 2011 movie Horrible Bosses starring Jason Sudeikis, Jason Bateman, and Charlie Day... you've got a good idea of what you're getting into here. Though that movie was played for comedy, and this is much closer to suspense/ thriller here, and from a much more feminist perspective. These three ladies have been *wronged*, and the bastard that did it must *pay*. Except that there are those things that are illegal, and then there are those things that are wrong... and then there are those things that are prosecutable. And rarely do those three things intersect - and nothing any of these guys has done is technically all three. Indeed, one could argue that one of the guys was actually a moral, outstanding citizen who simply sought to have the laws enforced. Yeah, right. ;) Still, the tale ultimately becomes a cautionary one, as things begin to spiral out of control... as these things tend to do. In the end, this was a solid bit of escapism for a few hours, and really that is all that I really expect in any entertainment medium. As others have noted, Stone's Jane Doe series is genuinely superior to this particular tale, but where I disagree with some of them is that this one wasn't *bad* - it just wasn't as good as the Jane Doe series. Still, if you need some escapism and perhaps some catharsis... this book may just provide a touch of both. Recommended.

Complex Almost Anti-Hero Leads Layered World Into Promising New Series. This is one of those books that touches on a lot of things - the opioid epidemic, the crash of coal in the push for so-called "green" energy, land speculation, family, the complexities of being on the right side of the "law" when your family isn't, high school romance and the fallout thereof, traditional Southern living vs the newer get-rich-quick ethos... and even a strong dash of the militia movement and the mistakes on both sides of Ruby Ridge and Waco and the long shadows both of those events cast in certain communities. In the process, it creates a truly layered and compelling world that while just as complex as our own, still allows for a high degree of escapism (for most). And yet, it is also a brutal tale of survival and betrayal, of losing yourself and finding yourself over and over and over again. Of trying to become something you want to be, even as your community and even family are doing their damndest to drag you in other directions. Overall truly a remarkable tale for what it is, and one I am very much looking forward to coming back into this world. Very much recommended.

South Florida Noir. This really does have that combo South Florida / Noir vibe to it, and if you approach it from that sense... it tends to make more sense. In the end, this is a tale of one man and his daddy issues, and while ultimately nowhere near the literary feat of The Great Gatsby, also gives off some similar vibes there too.

Note that the Amazon listing even for the Kindle book shows it dramatically shorter than what Goodreads currently shows it as - 209 pages on Amazon (which feels closer to accurate with just how quickly this book reads) vs 336 on Goodreads (which feels remarkably long for just how quickly this book reads). And yes, as I am writing this review a full week before release, that means I read an Advance Reviewer Copy and a Goodreads Librarian can update the page count on that site at any point between when I'm writing this review and when you are reading it. So if this has been corrected, ignore this part of the review. :)

Overall, this is a great, fun, short read perfect for a bit of escapism and perhaps a degree of catharsis. Maybe not a Dr. office read, and arguably not really a beach read either, yet perfect for one of those languid hot humid Southern summer nights. Particularly if you happen to be *in* South Florida at the time, and likely particularly with a good cigar in one hand while sipping a fine Old Fashioned. Damn, now *I* need to read this book again in that manner. :) Very much recommended.