Jeff Sexton

Laid-Back Mystery With Bite. Here in this sixth entry of D.P. Lyle's Gulf Coast based mysteries, we see so much of what makes this series so great. There is quite a bit of humor, a great sense of laid back Gulf Coast small town life, and a mystery that could prove to be either nothing at all or quite sinister indeed. Human/ Sex Trafficking is mentioned early as a possibility of what is happening, though to reveal if it actually is would be a massive spoiler. Just be prepared for the possibility, if that is a major no-go for your own reading tastes. Overall this is truly a great book full of heart and humor all wrapped up in a satisfyingly complex and dangerous-enough mystery. Very much recommended.

Interesting Yet Only Tangentially Related To Title. This is a book primarily about plant pathogens and the history of the study of plants and specifically their pathogens, mostly centering on the roughly 200 ish years between the beginnings of the Irish Potato Famine in the mid 19th century to the bleeding edge research being done by Dunn and other scientists in the later early 21st century. Dunn bemoans the fact that the food supply of the world basically comes down to a dozen or so key varieties of key species in the beginning... while later backdoor praising that very same thing as saving the world from certain pathogens, at least - as Dunn claims- "temporarily". Overall the book, at least in the Audible form I consumed it in, was engaging and thought provoking, and despite being vaguely familiar with farming due to where and when I grew up, Dunn highlights quite a bit here that I was never aware of. Things that adventure authors like David Wood, Rick Chesler, or Matt Williams could use as inspiration for some of their stories - but also other real world events that could serve as inspiration to Soraya M. Lane and other WWII era historical fiction authors. Ultimately the book becomes quite a bit self-serving, highlighting work done by Dunn and his colleagues and friends in the years preceding writing the books. And yet, again at least in Audible form, there was nothing truly objective-ish wrong here to hang a star deduction on, and thus it maintains its 5* rating. Recommended.

Weird Book But Nothing Technically Wrong. Ever read a 5* review that is probably going to read like the reviewer actually rated it 1*? Well, if you haven’t… you’re about to. Because let me be clear up front: There was nothing from a technical/ objective-ish standpoint to hang a star reduction on here. There weren’t any clear technical/ editing mistakes, the story is at least plausible within the context of the world/ situation set up, etc. Thus, with my subtractive system where every book starts at 5* and I have to have objective-ish describable reasons to deduct stars… there simply weren’t any here.

AND YET… this book kinda sucked, y’all. I hate to say it, but it did. I’m down with a slow burn, I’ve defended a LOT of slow burn books over the years and even as recently as this week. What I can’t defend is a book that is just so *boring* and completely disjointed. Someone once said (paraphrasing) that if you show a red phone on Page 23, it better be used somewhere in the finale – and this… doesn’t happen. There *is* a massive twist at the end of the book, but it comes completely out of left field with absolutely zero foreshadowing *at all*. Instead we get all kinds of irrelevant details such as kid sister sleeping in the bed with her parents over fears of the “rampaging kidnapper/ serial killer”, among other completely irrelevant details that are never really explored or shown why they are crucial to the story being told. As at least one other reviewer pointed out, this story could likely have been told much better from different perspectives – maybe the two boys (even the one who dies in the opener – maybe in an “if i stay” type manner?), particularly given the twist at the end.

Overall though, this *is* a five star review, so I’m going to recommend you read this book – if for no other reason than maybe I’m wrong and there was genuinely a great tale in here that I just didn’t pick up on? Let me know in the comments wherever you may find this review, or on social media somewhere if that isn’t possible. Recommended.

Slow Burn That Becomes Twistier And With More Crossings Than A Mountain Road Between A Railroad Track And A River. Let's get the elephant out of the room up front: Through around the 2/3 or so mark of this 300+ page book - so for roughly the first couple hundred pages - this book is *slow*. So slow that it does in fact struggle to keep the attention at times. But then, Great Gatsby was *so much worse* in that regard and is regarded as one of the greatest books in American literature. This particular book will never be in *that* conversation, but like Gatsby it does have the moment where suddenly, it begins getting *so much better* and actually becomes a truly solid book by the end. Indeed, that back third - that last hundred pages or so- really is going to remind you of driving down a 2 lane mountain road between train tracks and a stream - there are so very many twists and crossings that it can get rather dizzying trying to keep track of who is crossing who and for what reason now. And yet it is this aspect of the book that is executed *so* well and almost *had* to have the slow buildup it got. Some of the stuff here is utterly horrific, others of it more simply extremely creepy, and in the end you will be left breathless. Very much recommended.

Solid Exposition, Lacking Bibliography. This book is truly a phenomenal look at southern culture from the time the first Europeans came to the southern North American region through today and how various in and out groups have viewed and shaped that culture along the way. Divided into a few different eras, Reagan truly does an excellent job of showing just what Southern culture and Southern Civilization meant to the various peoples of the given eras and how those views would come to shape later generations. Indeed, the only issue I could find with this book (even given its 600+ page length!) was that its bibliography comprised just 10% or so of the text, when 20-30% is more normal for a nonfiction text in my experience across literally hundreds of Advance Review Copies over the last few years alone. Thus, the one star deduction – which even I admit may be debatable in this particular case, as 10% of a 600+ page book *is* 20-30% of a 200-300 page book. Still, I’ve seen similar length books still hit that 20-30% mark, so I’m sticking to my guns here even as I openly admit others may feel different. Very much recommended.

No Fate But What You Make. Wait. What? You're a freaking moron, Sexton. There is no possible way that a historical fiction/ women's fiction mashup tale set in 2019 and the Vietnam War period and barely featuring any male characters whatsoever can possibly have anything to do with John Connor's war against Skynet. It. Can't. Possibly. Be. Linked.

And yet... yes, it can. Because ultimately we see here that there truly is no fate but what you make, as three friends meet in a podunk Kansas nursing school and go on to live lives that become inextricably linked to one another - but which forces each woman to make her own destiny, society and family be danged.

Along the way, we're going to cry several times at least as hard as when the T-800 sacrifices itself into the molten steel. We're even going to beg some characters to make different choices, same as John was doing there.

But in the end, we're going to get one amazing tale, one that just might make it difficult to think of other books for quite some time. (Which is difficult to do when you're trying to clean up your ARC work before holiday traveling. ;) )

Ultimately this truly is quite a strong tale and friendship and family. Very much recommended.

Awkwardly Titled Slow Burn Hallmarkie Romance. This is one of those romances where it feels like Naigle was leaning perhaps a bit too hard into her Hallmark stories - as this one is dang near a cross between a Hallmark movie and something similar to Great American Country's Heartland. If you like small towns and saying your prayers and going to church... yeah, this story is going to be right up your alley. If you're opposed to any of the above, and particularly if you're strongly/ vitriolically opposed to the above... maybe just skip this one and save yourself some time and spare the author a bad review over something that was never going to be a good fit for you to begin with.

But for those who *do* enjoy this type of story - and clearly, there is a large enough segment of the population to make a comfortable career within this space across several different mediums of art - this is a pretty solid story that goes down pretty well how you expect. A lot of small town interaction, some ranch riding, some will they/ won't they (even though this is a romance and you *know* they eventually will), and being that this is of the "good Christian story" type, you know there isn't going to be anything beyond a light kiss or so.

No, the biggest real criticism of the book is, as some others have mentioned, the titular venue only plays a minor role - which could be explained away more if this were Book 2 in a series, as it often feels that it is. And yet, from everything I've been able to see on Goodreads and elsewhere, this is truly a standalone book. Though *technically*, I suppose, the "Ranch" includes more than just the venue... including much of where this story takes place. So in a larger sense, it may actually work in the end. This still doesn't excuse such *deep* backstory that seriously, this could have even been a Book 3, with Book 1 and 2 focusing on the creation of the venue and Book 2 focusing on some aspect of the friends in Raleigh. (Obviously perhaps not Lori herself, but the male friend - who features prominently in the couple here initially getting together and then again in the end of this tale - would make for a good center piece for one of these theoretical earlier book.)

Overall this is still a strong tale of its type, and well told. Very much recommended.

Short And Fun Valentine's Romance Novella. This is a short and fun novella where the main conflict is that our leading dude used to date our leading lady's sister, and while both are attracted to each other in this forced-proximity mishap, the sister weighs heavily on them both. Given that this is a 70 ish page novella... there isn't a lot of room for much more conflict than that, and Snow works well within the space she has allowed herself here to show a full romance, but quicker and with fewer details in certain areas and less overall conflict/ adventures. Still, yet again, for long time fans looking for a quick book to hit whatever arbitrary reading goal you have or for those new to Snow looking for a quick taste to see if you're even going to like her style of storytelling, this is a solid book for both camps and for anyone in between. Very much recommended.

Fun And Short Christmas Novella. This is a 50 ish page novella that packs a punch, particularly for anyone who has ever felt like the black sheep in the family. Solid Christmas theming, complete with decorations, a "Scrooge", and forgiveness. Oh yeah, and even a complete romance tale that checks off all of the "rules" I am aware of, while not going into a *ton* of detail on any given aspect - the difference in a 50 page novella and a 300+ page novel. ;) For those looking for an introduction to the author and/ or this series, this tale works well as only a minimal time commitment to give them a try. For fans of the series, this is more of a quick bite between longer tales, and for readers - like this one - who are fans of the author and series who are looking for a quick book to meet some arbitrary reading goal quickly... here ya go. :D Very much recommended.

Interesting Tale Told In Unconventional Manner. I mean, come on, how often do you get a dual timeline tale with two women - both alive in the past, but one now dead and yet still telling her tale - where both women feature in both timelines? I've read a LOT of books over the past few years alone, and I can probably count on one hand - *maybe* both of them - the number of times I've come across a remotely similar dynamic. So read the book for that alone, as Hepworth makes it work quite well.

The rest of the tale, about both of these women's love for their husbands and the lengths they will go through to save and protect both their husbands and their marriages, is interesting enough to be readable, but for some reason it just didn't hit me as hard as Hepworth's prior works. There was never a real sense of "I *must* know what happens next!", though the ending was quite beautiful in and of itself, and yes, even if you're struggling with the book, you need to read it to get the full beauty of what happens there. Overall, as noted, an interesting tale unconventionally told. Recommended.

Strong Story Well Told - Yet Very Preachy As Well. I've been reading Melissa Payne's books since the very first one, and I can assure long time fans that while this book is in fact quite preachy on a couple of subjects in particular (more on that momentarily), it is also her usual quite strong storytelling here. For people that haven't read Payne yet, this is a good one to start with *if you don't have issues with the topics she is preachy about here*. (Otherwise go with literally any of her other books - The Secrets of Lost Stones, Memories In The Drift, or The Night Of Many Endings.)

The preachiness here is *mostly* around trans/ LGBT issues, though there is also a fair amount of "country men who don't agree with my opinion on these issues are all backwards a**h***s". (I'm not going to say outright misandry, because there *are* a few male characters who are both country and shown in quite positive lights - so long as they agree with particular views on the above issues.)

Beyond the preachiness though, there *is* a genuinely strong story here. Perhaps not quite as strong as the prior works by the author, all of which created strong dust storms no matter where they are read, as this reader's eyes got watery no matter what environment he was reading them in - and *that* never actually happened with this book. Still, as a story of finding oneself even in tragedy - a few times over - and how traumas can last to new generations, this really was quite a strong tale. And heck, there are even elements of the tale that the most hyper militant pro-LGBT types probably aren't going to like much either, but discussing those gets *way* too far into spoiler territory to mention beyond the simple fact that they exist.

Overall truly a strong tale well told, and one that while preachy, is still readable and enjoyable by most anyone - one that even if you would normally be put off by the preachiness, it is still a tale strong enough to push through those feelings and read anyway. Just please, if you do that, don't lower your rating because of the preachiness. Do what I did here, and put your thoughts on that subject in the text of the review. :)

Very much recommended.

Complex And Short Tale. Bromke manages to show that if a storyteller is truly great, they can manage to pack quite a bit of complexity into a still short-ish (seemingly less than 200 page) book. Here, Bromke manages to show a teacher’s passion for her particular craft, a son’s devastation over losing his father, and how the two can come together in some very unexpected ways. Heck, she even manages to toss in elements reminiscent of Mr. Holland’s Opus (without the actual concert). And again, all in a short-ish book and *while still telling a compelling romance tale* to boot! Truly excellent work. Very much recommended.

Meganets And Pre-Networks. Ok, I know what you’re thinking – what does computer networking and the Internet have to do with this book? Well, on some level, it is somewhat obvious – one of our main characters is a social media “influencer” with a million followers. But on another level… Belle actually manages here to show the pitfalls and advantages of two different eras of human history, perhaps without even being cognizant of doing this, just seeking timelines that worked for the story she was telling and making the other details work around that. Yet speaking of details, there are some wrong ones here, particularly around guns – which anyone who follows Belle’s own social media knows that the anti-gun paranoia expressed by one main character is at least somewhat close to Belle’s own real life feelings (though, to be clear, I am not saying the character’s specific motivations for these feelings are anywhere near Belle’s, as I have never seen any public comments from her anywhere near those specific actions). Specifically, guns are not “registered” anywhere in Georgia, not even in Fulton County (home of Atlanta and generally heavily left-of-center of American politics, much less non-Atlanta Georgia politics). Still, going back to the main thrust of this review, Belle truly does do a remarkable job of showing just how easily today’s meganets can be used for harm… while also showing that the pre-meganet era was still pretty dang bad itself. All told this is a remarkable tale that manages to bring elements to the general setup not often seen anywhere else – and never seen before in my own reading within the genre – and thus this alone is quite commendable. Very much recommended.

A Needed Conversation. As someone also in tech at a megacorporation (though to be clear, not the same ones Auerbach has worked for) that openly seeks to employ several of the technologies discussed in this book, and as someone who finished this book right as Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter was being completed and Facebook announced that it was open to colluding with Twitter regarding content moderation... this was an absolutely fascinating look at my field and where at least one part of it currently is. But it is also written in a very approachable manner, one such that anyone who so much as uses any social media even casually or who interacts with their government virtually at all (if you see what I did there ;) ) will be able to follow along with reasonably well. Fear not! No Discrete Modeling, Statistics, Calculus, or any other high level collegiate mathematics Computer Science majors are forced to endure will be required here. :)

And yet, this is also a book that everyone *needs* to read and understand. Auerbach manages to boil his primary thesis of what meganets are and how they operate into three very simple yet utterly complex words: Volume. Velocity. Virality. And he repeats these words so *very* often that you *will* remember them long after you've read this text. (Though I note this writing this review just 24 hrs after finishing my read of it, and knowing I'll read at least 30 more books before 2022 is done. So check back with me on that after this book actually publishes in about 4.5 months. :D)

Indeed, really the only problem here - potentially corrected before publication - is that at least in the copy I read, the bibliography only accounted for about 15% of the text, which is fairly light for a nonfiction book in my experience, where 20-30% is more normal and 50% is particularly well documented. Thus, the single star deduction.

Still, this truly is a book everyone, from casual readers uninterested in anything computer yet who are forced to use computers in modern life to the uber-techs actually working in and leading the fields in question to the politicians and activists seeking to understand and control these technologies, needs to read. Very much recommended.

Far From Radical. This is a book that should be widely read because it does have some interesting and important things to say - and yet it was also far from a radical adherence to the teachings of Jesus Christ that the description would lead one to believe. Even among the first three chapters, Chapter 2 openly counters the claims and arguments of Chapters 1 and 3, with Chapter 2 being a hyper-progressive/ leftist screed one would hardly expect from someone affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, and whose arguments are never actually found in the words or actions of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. The ubiquitous-but-heavier-later defense of the American government and American military is, again, far from radical and completely unBiblical, but will feed right into those very conservative SBC churches Platt has long been associated with. Thus showing that Platt doesn't mind crossing current political boundaries - and yet, again, Platt never in this text does the truly radical thing of embracing a full-throated embrace of YAHWEH as declared in 1 Samuel 8 (which would require a full rejection of all earthly kings).

But on all of the above, ultimately your mileage will vary and there will be some points you agree with no matter your own political slants and others you disagree with, which is actually (to my own mind at least) the mark of a Christian preacher actually doing his job - because in Christ, there *are* no politics, and the things Christ does speak of and do do *not* align neatly with 21st century American politics.

No, ultimately the two star deductions come from two more basic and more technical errors here:

1) Prooftexting, which is citing Bible verses out of context. Platt is far from alone in this practice - most *every* Christian author does it, and even some non-Christian ones - and yet it is *wrong* on so many levels. Thus, I wage a one-man war against the practice any time I encounter it, and the only "weapon" I have in that war as a book reviewer is a star deduction.

2) Lack of Bibliography. Coming in at barely 15% of the overall text here, this is lighter than the 20-30% that is more typical in my experience, and far from the particularly-well-documented level of near 50%. For the amount of non-Biblical claims Platt makes and in particular how controversial at least some of them can be, there really needs to be *far* better documentation of them.

Ultimately this *is* a book that will challenge you to some degree or another virtually no matter what your thinking is on religion and/ or politics, and that alone makes it a worthy read for everyone. Very much recommended.

Dark Spring. I read this book and write this review as someone who longs to see that which I've never seen in nearly 40 years of existence on this Earth - the Milky Way as the Ancients did. Here, Eklof makes a case as to why the light pollution that is so prevalent in so many areas of the world needs to be treated just as seriously as any other form of human-made pollution. Indeed, at least in his claims, this is as strong a book against light pollution as Rachel Carson's Silent Spring was all those years ago.

HOWEVER, where Eklof fails a fair degree - and the reason for the star deduction here - is that while he makes a lot of strong claims, there is scant documentation of these claims - coming in at just 15% or so of the text here, when more fully documented books come in closer to 20% - 30%, and books that are particularly well documented can reach 50% or so of the overall text.

Still, as a sort of primer to these issues for those who may not be aware of them already, this is a strong book that will allow for further research after reading it. Very much recommended.

Fun Amalgamation Of Scooby-Doo, Stranger Things, and The Sandlot. This is one of those fun, nostalgic types of kids-solving-mysteries tales that will bring back all of the above + Nancy Drew/ The Hardy Boys type vibes, as well as a touch of Johnny Quest. Now, if I've named enough popular franchises to get you this far, know that this book *does* still have its own feel - it isn't merely a clone of the other franchises, though it does share a genre and general vibe with them. Here, Holloway manages to spin is own form of the tale and involve science fiction ala the *earliest* science fiction (yes, there's a touch of Frankenstein and his monster involved here) while centering the tale in his own "native" (and actually native) Kentucky and Southern lore and mythology. Ultimately this is simply a fun romp through a simpler time that still had its evils and mysteries, and Holloway shows the period and style - and his own particular culture - particularly well. Very much recommended.

Yet Another Realistic Fiction Of WWII. Lane does a tremendous amount of research for all of her WWII historical novels, then takes licenses where needed to tell the story she is trying to tell within that setting, and this tale is no different. Yet again Lane manages to bring a spotlight to a particularly deadly role in the war, that of the female motorcycle dispatch riders in the UK -where in the author's note Lane reveals that of the 303 women killed in the line of duty (of 100,000 serving), roughly one third of them were these very riders.

And yet, even in this realism we also get a remarkable sense of who these characters are and some of their all-too-real motivations, as is also typical of a Lane tale. You're going to fall in love with these women and their men, and that makes the tragedies of war all too real for the reader as well.

The only modicum of anything remotely negative here is likely at least parts of the epilogue, where Lane falls into tropes all too common in romance books (which this could *maybe* qualify as, as well?)... but here again, given the events of the years immediately after the war... even this particular thing is more real than not, and thus contributes to the very "mostly accurate" depiction Lane strives for and achieves.

Ultimately this tale does exactly what Lane set out to do - highlight these women most have never really known about, and tell tales of their lives that are all too plausible in every respect. Very much recommended.

Haunting Yet Preachy. This is a book in the vein of if i stay, though here we know up front that our narrator is dead - and she knows it. Still, when searching through my memories trying to find a comparison point, that is what comes up and I think the comparison works. This tale has a similar haunting effect, not from the haunting itself (though the narrator is, if anything, a benevolent ghost just trying to be helpful), but more from the style of the story being told. There is a lot of trauma here in terms of child molestation/ exploitation (though within the last few months pre-18th birthday, at least on screen). adultery, abuse, and safety generally. It is on this last point - safety generally - that this book veers too far into the "preachy" side, hammering the reader over the head several times with its own metaphorical version of the murder weapon used here, and this is the reason for the star deduction. Still, overall the tale is solid if a touch slow, but interesting enough to want to find out what is going on and to keep reading through the end. Very much recommended.

Fish Out Of Water Romance That Shows That Not Everything Is As It Seems. This is a fish out of water romance between a barely-has-a-job clothing designer assistant for a TV show... and one of said show's stars. It is very much a slow burn, enemies to lovers type and yet still meets every RWA requirement. This noted, it does get a touch preachy about the differences between the characters actors portray and the actor themselves, though it *does* manage to keep much of this preachiness within the context of the story being told here - so that is good at least. :) Yet another romance where honest communication from the get-go could probably have saved about 80%+ of the overall friction/ drama between the couple, this one is still fairly light and funny despite its at-times heavy handedness noted above. Overall a fun look at a side of Hollywood not often seen, and written by someone with seemingly at least some knowledge of that particular setting. Very much recommended.

Compelling Arguments Need Better Documentation. This is another of those nonfiction tales that uses a singular case as its overall narrative structure, but also looks to several other cases and events related to the overall thesis of the text. The overarching case is a brutal murder out of 1980s Washington DC where several black kids where wrongfully convicted of a murder they could not have committed, and where police and prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence that resulted in these kids spending decades behind bars. Dybdahl then expands out to show that while this case was particularly egregious, it is also far from uncommon. Indeed, it is almost banal in just how common the abuses at hand truly are, causing one (later disgraced for unrelated reasons) judge to even call it an "epidemic" within the last decade prior to publication of this book!

The problems here are related yet distinct enough to my mind to warrant a two star deduction. The first star is lost due to the small bibliography, something that could potentially be corrected prior to actual publication of this book roughly three months after I sit to write this review of this advanced reader copy. Coming in at just about 15% of the overall text, this is short of the 20% - 33% that is more normal for works such as this one, and well short of the 40% - 50% that I *prefer* to see in such texts.

The second star is lost specifically because the claims herein are not as well documented as they need to be to make these points something that opponents cannot simply dismiss.

Make no mistake - I actually have been following this general issue (though not the specific cases at hand) for quite some time and nearly completely agree with the author's points and recommendations. But as the author points out often, there is quite considerable opposition to these ideas in the minds and actions of the very people who could most correct these injustices - and the only way to really be able to attempt to convince such opposition of our correctness is to more fully document our case. Thus, I always appreciate books such as this one - I simply need it to be much more documented. Still, for the ideas it presents and how it actually presents them, this is still a book that needs to be read by every American. Thus, it is very much recommended.

WWII Like You've Never Seen It Before. This is an account primarily of WWII and specifically a few particular people and their associates within the war - and these are people who you may have heard of, but likely never heard of their actions within the WWII period. As the description states, some of these people became quite famous indeed *after* WWII for their actions during the Vietnam / Civil Rights era - but those actions were originated when they were 20 years younger, during the trials and travails that history now knows as World War 2. As an anarchist who strives toward pacifism himself, learning of these people - several of whom I had never heard of before, and the others of whom I had never heard of this side of before - was utterly fascinating, and indeed actually eye opening, as even I had never heard of the philosophy of personalism before reading this book. Now, I intend to research it further.

The *singular* detriment to this book is that while it is clear in the narrative that the book is quite well researched indeed... the Advance Reader Copy of this text I read had barely any bibliography at all, clocking in at just 5% of the overall text when a minimum of around 20% is much more common for even barely-researched-at-all texts.

Still, even if the publisher doesn't correct this flaw at actual publication, this is absolutely a worthy read and one that anyone who wishes to discuss the events and impacts of WWII needs to study in order to have a more complete picture of that era. Very much recommended.

Male Self-Help/ Lifestyle Podcast Turned Book. This is essentially a podcaster turning his podcast (apparently of the same name as the title of the book) into a book. Each chapter begins with an excerpt from an interview from one of the episodes of the podcast, then the author continues the theme of the chapter with his own commentary for seemingly 2,000 - 3,000 words or so while including a few lists of various things related to the chapter at hand. As such and given the nature of the podcast in question, this is primarily geared towards adult males and yes, has the occasional cursing in it as a result, but there is enough here that women *may* find useful as well that it might warrant a read from a particularly curious woman. One refreshing thing to note is that there isn't really anything "toxic" about the masculinity portrayed herein, Scheinman's schtick seems to be mostly "embrace who you are, do the right thing, and have fun doing it". Overall an interesting if not particularly deep read, and it will be interesting to see if the success in printed form mirrors the apparent/ claimed success of the podcast form. Recommended.

Interesting Memoir From A First Time Candidate. This is a memoir from a long time business executive who decided to make his very first (and so far only, according to the text here) campaign for public office be to seek to replace outgoing Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John Boehner when Boehner announced his resignation in 2015. Spurlino speaks with candor about what was going on when he heard the announcement, what he was looking for in a candidate, and, when he didn't see any of that... what influenced him to run in the first place. The rest of the book is largely a deep dive into what running for US Congress is really like, from an "everyman" (ish) perspective, and through this section Spurlino shows himself to be fairly well read and reasoned, as well as very approachable. The last section of the book is a bit of a lessons learned/ future proposals look, and through this section in particular Spurlino truly shines in speaking out against the more popular populist positions of the day, including expanding the Supreme Court (he says to expand Congress instead), eliminating the Electoral College (not going to happen), and general Congressional reforms. Overall a very easy to read and short-ish at under 300 pages real-world look into what really goes on in our Congressional electoral processes in the United States, and therefore very much recommended.

Needs More Showing And Less Telling. This is almost "Novel Writing 101" these days, but a classic and oft repeated bit of advice for new writers is that they should *show* the actions of their characters rather than *tell* the readers about it. Here, Grisham - a normally masterful storyteller and legend in the business - somehow manages to miss that, to the detriment of the overall tale here. The tale itself, a multi-generational saga tracing two families through 60 or so years of Coastal Mississippi history, is actually quite good. I was 15% into the tale before I even realized it, and not much had happened at that point. The back quarter to third or so could *really* have been quite legendary in its own right with more showing and less telling, but even in this format it was still a compelling tale. The ending is a bit abrupt and perhaps too open-ended for some readers, but other than the abruptness I thought it actually worked reasonably well. But getting there, across nearly 500 pages that other readers have compared to investigative nonfiction rather than an legal fictional thriller, can in fact be a bit of a slog. Still, other than the "show don't tell" aspect, there really isn't anything here to actually say "this is particularly bad" about. Thus, only the single star reduction. Still, this really is a great tale for those who can bear with it, and for that reason it is very much recommended.