Jeff Sexton

Just As Long - And *STILL* Only Tells One Part Of The Story. As the title of this review harkens back to my original review of the first book in this series, PARADISE-1, I should note that in that review I specifically proclaimed "I personally would love a sequel that picks up moments after this book leaves off". Which is *exactly* what we get here. So yes, this is one of those series you really do need to read in order - and in this case, that means sitting down for about 1400 pages of scifi space horror.

I named a lot of different scifi franchises in that review of PARADISE-1, and while they are spot on for that book, this book feels more like a different scifi franchise, one that first released months after that book - the new (now 14 month old) STARFIELD. Players of that game will note that many of its planets are barren, rocky, and almost entirely devoid of any life at all - even humans looking for a pit stop. Which is largely the case with this book, and just as Starfield can admittedly get a touch repetitive in the "find this spot, get attacked by whatever is there, kill it, move to the next spot" mechanics... yes, that same type of storytelling comes to bear here.

Where Wellington shines, and truly helps the pacing and thus makes the read feel nowhere near as long as it actually is, is in his use of shorter chapters. There are nearly 120 chapters in this book, and thus by the time you're in the Chapter 30 range and roughly 25-30% done with the book... you find yourself looking back and thinking you haven't actually been reading that long. Even at Chapter 100 with another 100 pages or so left, you still don't think it has been that long, nor do you really think there is that much longer left. Or at least this was my own experience. :)

And yes, this one also ends with the reader demanding to see the next book immediately, as where the first book left off at a certain point that *demanded* a sequel, here things have changed and now it is because of the specific course of events and those still to come that the reader will be desperately waiting to see what happens next.

One note here, more on my personal experience, but possibly informative for others as well: I "only" read 335 books in the 644 days between reading PARADISE-1 and REVENANT-X, and Wellington does a solid job of bringing the reader back into the fold rapidly, even if you don't remember exact details of the prior book.

Very much recommended.

Solid Look At Linkin Park Pre 2024. Lipshutz does a truly excellent job of detailing the life and times of Linkin Park as a band, from most of their days in California toiling as Zero (giving rise to the 2024 effort "From Zero"... ;) ) and Chester's days in Phoenix pre-LP signing in various bands to their formation as one group to their initial success and detailing every record they ever made, before yes, coming to Chester's suicide and its aftermath. This particular section is handled with the care it deserves, yet is also easily the dustiest rooms you'll experience reading this book. Ending with discussions as recently as 2023 noting that the band didn't know what the future held and releasing just weeks after the announcement of Emily Armstrong as the new lead singer of the band, this book truly does encompass pretty much every aspect of the "Chester Bennington" era of the band.

Long time fans are going to find a lot to enjoy here. Those who simply enjoy biographies of musicians are going to find a lot to enjoy here. Those of us who have been listening to Linkin Park's music since they first hit radio are going to find a LOT to enjoy here, particularly if you weren't one of the truly fanatical that may have already known much of this and even possibly been there for some of it.

Ultimately, this is going to make you want to go in and listen to Linkin Park all over again and appreciate ever more just how great this band is. The one star deduction was simply because the bibliography came in particularly short, at just 12% or so.

Very much recommended.

There Is A Case To Be Made For The Premise Of This Book. The Text Of This Book Does Not Make It.

And ultimately, that's the bottom line. Not because Stone Cold Said So, but because Stuckey was so utterly inept in trying to make her points that she didn't bother to do even cursory research into the issues - at least, at bare minimum, immigration and police abuse of citizens.

Her points about abortion seem reasonable, if almost verbatim from the pregnancy crisis centers anti-abortion advocates run. Be warned, through this section - the first chapter of the book - Stuckey dives deep on being as explicit as possible on what exactly happens during an abortion. Not for the squeamish, but it is also clear that she is going for shock value here. So take it as you will.

Similarly, in Chapter 2 when discussing transgenderism, she goes for the shock value quite often again, while also making some genuinely intriguing points - many of which have been pointed out by various others (sometimes on both conservative and "progressive" sides) over the years. Here, she cites some work that sounds promising - but which another 1* reviewer claims has been retracted due to failure to obtain institutional oversight review approval. Take that as you will.

In Chapter 3, discussing LGB issues more generally, Stuckey actually shows probably the most promise of the entire text of genuinely being more compassionate... except that even here, she often ignores Christ in favor of some US right wing 2000s era talking point or another.

And then, as mentioned earlier, the last couple of chapters are just such *utter* trash that to even begin to describe them... well, let's just say that it is *here*, in particular, that this book truly earns out my dreaded "gold mine" label. There is perhaps a modicum of genuinely good thought in these sections, but it is *so* buried under so much detritus that sifting through it may as well be moving mountains to find a fleck of gold dust. It is through this section in particular that I wish I had been able to see her bibliography, but this wasn't possible in the Audible form of the book I read.

And, lest the reader of my review think I wasn't going to point this out, there is indeed the constant and ever present proof texting - which is bad enough for a 1* deduction in and of itself.

Ultimately this is a right wing US political book calling itself a book about Christian thought... without ever actually (or, specifically, *accurately*) citing Christ's examples in literally anything at all she discusses.

I picked up this book because it was being so utterly destroyed in my circles on Twitter - and now I have to admit that those friends and other luminaries were far more correct than I'd have liked about this book. I wanted to be able to defend this text - as I said in the title, I firmly believe that a case for the general premise *can* be made and even *should* be made. I simply wish Stuckey had given even a wet Dollar General paper towel's worth of effort in crafting such an argument, rather than... whatever this is... that we ultimately got.

Not recommended for anyone but the truly masochistic.

Epic Finale As Only The New God Of Science Fiction Can. Robinson has had epic finales before (SINGULARITY, PROJECT: LEGION, FAMINE), and yet this man continually out does even his own insane storytelling abilities. Truly, his creativity knows seemingly few - if any - bounds, and he is always surprising in what influences he brings to bear on any given project.

Once again, we find ourselves dealing with the near immediate aftermath of the last book... as we jump straight into the action of this one. And what action it is. Spanning the globe and breaking a team into smaller chunks... and yet bringing them back together in surprising and inventive ways. Along the way, I'm pretty sure Robinson does as much as possible to gross everyone - but particularly his Audible narrator - out... and yes, if you have a somewhat weak stomach, there will likely be more than a few gag moments for you. But there are also going to be a lot of rolling on the floor laughing your ass off moments... so just hope and pray to all that you consider holy that the two moments are no the same one. (And know that your prayers won't go any higher than the ceiling of the room you're in, because yet again, Robinson seems intent on making someone learn what it feels like to lose their lunch while laughing so hard.)

Full of Robinson's unique blend of action, laughs, and heart, this conclusion to this trilogy really is his best yet.

Very much recommended.

Promising Debut. This is one of those debut books where it absolutely shows flashes of brilliance... yet also doesn't fully come together. But not in any objective-ish sense, just more of a more nebulous "there should probably be more *there* there". And because it isn't objective-ish and because I can't really put a finger on exactly what my ultimate issue is here, the book by default retains its full 5* in my own rating system.

Ultimately this *is* a reasonably solid mystery-thriller (part of the issue is the tension between the two and the book constantly switching gears and never really settling on one or the other, even just in a "this genre is dominant and that one is a touch secondary" manner) that keeps fans of both genres reasonably satisfied throughout. Set at Princeton among its real life eating clubs, and featuring such real world issues (even well outside Princeton at State colleges) as tutoring a kid getting particularly preferential treatment due to being a Legacy, this is one of those tales that will excite some and turn off others, but I thought it worked well enough for what it was. Far from a Dead Poets Society, this is really more of a The Skulls level tale, but primarily featuring 2 sisters each in two different timelines each.

And I think, ultimately, that is the key to enjoying this tale - if you approach it ala The Skulls (and if you haven't seen that movie from current Dr. Odyssey Joshua Jackson's Dawson's Creek years, you should) - you'll likely have a great time with this tale. If "Dark Academia" is 100% not your thing... you likely won't have such a great time here.

Very much recommended.

Slow Burn Hallmarkie Christmas Romance. If you like Hallmark Christmas movies and maybe the CBS show Fire Country (vs NBC's Chicago Fire, featuring a fire dept, yes, but in a big city rather than a small town ala Fire Country), you're likely going to enjoy this book. If neither one of those are your thing... you'll probably enjoy it less.

This is one where the romance itself almost takes a back seat at times, it is *so* slow burn. But if you enjoy crafting, particularly Christmas related crafting, there's quite a bit for you here. There's also a strong tale of neighbors helping neighbors - which may be a good thing to remember in the aftermath of the Helene and Milton hurricanes and as we wind up the 2024 election and begin to get ready for the holiday season. But again, the romance itself... can seem secondary (or even tertiary) at times. So for those looking for a more hot and heavy, romance centered tale... this aint that. Instead, this is once again on the "cleaner" / "sweeter" side - which is perfectly within Naigle's normal approach.

Ultimately a fun and solid tale of its type, and clearly a type that has a lot of fans to boot.

Very much recommended.

If Charles Dickens Wrote A Hallmarkie Christmas RomCom. Seriously, this is one of those Christmas Hallmarkie type tales that in its basic set up brings to mind almost a modern version of A Christmas Carol... but as a romcom rather than a "glimpse" based drama. Here, Bailey works her usual comedic genius in the various situations Maggie finds herself in, even if the ultimate outcome (not just the romantic one, but the specific plot one) was rather obvious almost from the moment the "problem" is introduced in the tale. But there again: Hallmarkie. As in, such obvious outcomes are damn near a reason to read the book to begin with - there won't be much unexpected here, and what does show up unexpectedly will be used for either comedy or light drama that won't really go much of anywhere other than to add a few dozen more pages to the tale.

I will note that as someone in tech who actually experienced an unexpected "reduction" earlier this year, this one hit a touch harder than many for me personally - and given the blood bath that tech has been experiencing these last few years, this will likely be the case for many readers. One of the better things here though is that Bailey captures our world so well that one begins to suspect she may have been one of us before beginning her writing career.

Ultimately a feel good Christmas romcom, this is going to be exactly what some people want... and exactly what at least a few others want to avoid. Know thyself and which camp you're in and read (or not) accordingly. :D

Very much recommended.

If Toby Keith Joined The American Pie Crew And Had Lunch With Nicholas Sparks, You'd Get Something Close To This Book. Seriously. One, no matter what the RWA/ RNA types claim, Sparks writes romance novels. Tragedy is a perfectly valid end to a romance, and sometimes the romance is ever more powerful/ memorable *because* it ended in tragedy. And now that we've inserted a "controversy creates cash" flashpoint into this review... ;)

Seriously, the Keith and Sparks connections here are primarily due to the background of our male lead, a former soldier now returning home to take over his parents' business as they attempt to retire. It is this part of the tale that adds some extra emotional heft that Sparks and Keith were so excellent with, particularly as it relates to soldiers, in their stories. Indeed, there are absolutely times where Keith's "American Soldier" begins to sound almost audibly in at least this reader's head while reading this book.

Outside of our male lead though, this book is one that highlights that northern Michigan/ upper Wisconsin lake resort vibe that American Pie used so well in a couple of their movies to great extent, though mostly showing it from a more local perspective than the summer party crowd. We get some meta commentary on the perils of online "fame", and we get a LOT of laughs - which is where the American Pie connection really comes to bear. Not in the titular joke from that series, but there are absolutely some comedic bits that will take readers "of a certain age" (re: those who were older teens/ younger 20s when the first couple of American Pie movies came out) back to that era.

Overall a largely fun romcom with some truly serious elements, though seemingly lighter in tone than many "Hallmarkie" movies despite having elements that are more serious than are generally found in that set. So an interesting combination, and one that Hahn works to great effect here.

Very much recommended.

RomCom In A Nightmare Setting. Seriously, the title of the review here is pretty much exactly what you're getting. I don't know how common it is, but I know I've had the nightmare that is a version of the basic premise of this book - that you suddenly find out all of your "government" "approved" "identification" is suddenly found to be fraudulent and/ or non-existent... anywhere. How would you survive in modern America? Particularly if you were just starting a new job? And now you have the basic narrative here.

The romance/ romcom aspects of this tale take a bit of the realism of the premise out of the picture, but then, if we wanted a gritty real world version of the premise above, we wouldn't be looking for it in a romcom, now would we? Instead, both sides of romance and comedy work well, so long as you don't mind absurdist/ "What the FUCK?" comedy. (And seriously, if you can't enjoy that type of comedy at least from time to time, that absolutely says more about you than about Wiesner's writing here.)

Ultimately, this *is* a romcom - even with the initial premise - so yes, things get tied up in nice little maybe more Lifetime Movie than Hallmarkie bows, but said bows are absolutely the pink and frilly kind. In other words, don't let the premise get you too anxious here, just sit back and enjoy the ride - if maybe a touch more pulse pounding than many romcoms.

Very much recommended.

Superbly Written Thriller Will Make You Reconsider Your Ideas Of 'Justice'. On the one hand, a man has identified a way to identify serial sexual predators - and is committed to stopping them before they can strike again. On the other, a law man absolutely committed to the Rule of Law and that *everyone* has the right to a second chance once their sentence is complete. Which one is "good". Which one is "just"? How can we as readers of this text reconcile the two competing ideals? Should we? How can we as a society reconcile these ideals? Should we?

Redfearn - yes, the same Suzanne Redfearn of In An Instant, Moment In Time, Hadley & Grace, and Where Butterflies Wander - here presents her most thoughtful book to date, damn near an Atlas Shrugged level deep, *deep* philosophical dive - without Rand's overt political diatribes. Indeed, the text here in some ways is also remeniscent of NPC by Jeremy Robinson, which also features such deep examinations from two different sides by two people of equal mental acuity - though in the Robinson text, the questions at hand are more existential in nature rather than centered on justice for all, particularly those deemed the lowest of the low by society at large.

This is one of those books that could have gotten quite preachy rather quickly in any number of ways in a less deft hand - as Rand was known to do, despite her own great storytelling abilities - and yet never actually does. It questions and it shows pros and cons of both sides, with quite a bit of real (enough) logically paced and logically executed action. While it can be read as a straight up thriller, and many might, it is one of those texts that really deserves and demands to be more deeply considered and examined. Perhaps particularly in the weeks leading into an Election Day, though that has nothing at all to do with the book and is nowhere present in the text.

This was the 157th book I read in 2024. I'm reasonably confident (at the moment at least, we'll see what happens in my final rankings in December) in saying that if you read just a single book this year... make it this one.

Very much recommended.

Very Different From Previous Books. Still Solid In Its Own Right. The first two books in this series dealt with vastly different types of relationships than our MCs here have. In the first book, it was a friends to lovers situation, while in the second book it was a S L O W burn second chance situation. Here, its more of a situation situation. As in, this is a couple that has been fucking for *years* behind the backs of the siblings of one of them - one of those siblings being the best friend of the other. More on a situational level though - both were available and attracted to each other and had an opportunity, so mutual itch scratching was had. Fair enough, and that back story alone makes this *wildly* different than the other books here.

And because of that back story, this is perhaps the spiciest entry into the series. So those looking for the no sex/ "fade to black" type books... this aint fucking that. Instead, it more readily takes scenes from a Fifty Shades type environment, and that alone should tell most anyone what to generally expect there.

Still, this book and these characters have history within the series, and that is well respected here. The characters from the prior entries all show up in appropriate enough places, and indeed certain elements of prior storylines come into play heavily in this book - so absolutely read this series in order.

Overall a fun, spicy, story whose every element blends the Puerto Rican background of these characters with their current Chicago home quite well. Very much recommended.

Obvious "Research" Yet Still Manages To Be Hyper Political. The basic premise of this book is that people are more about those things that are physically, emotionally, or ideologically close to them. Ok, and the sky is blue. Next. Oh, but now there's numbers showing this! And? There are numbers showing why the sky is blue. Nobody cares. Well, maybe the scientists and pedants. Aha! The target audience for this very academically oriented text!

I'll grant that the length of the bibliography is solid, clocking in at 30% of the text of the Advance Review Copy of this book that I read. Though content wise, it seems cherry picked specifically to support the author's conclusions rather than offer a more well rounded view of the topic.

In making claims such as "Partisan polarization proved to be the deadliest factor for Americans' health." (while blaming elderly Americans for their own deaths during the COVID event) and saying the US-Mexico border "The US -Mexico border as we know it today is a product of historical correction that took place in 1896 to rectify mapping errors from the US-Mexican War of 1849-1855. However, it is not merely a line drawn by Washington, DC and Mexico City to separate two nations. Rather, it is a dynamic permeable membrane shaped by centuries of movement and interaction among indigenous peoples, Spaniards, Mexicans, and Americans.", Cortina makes statements that his fellow members of the Academy may agree with... that will leave the rest of us in the "real" world wondering what the fuck those "Academics" are smoking, and if we can have some - particularly in these last days before the 2024 Presidential election. And then there is the fictitious claim that "assault rifles" exist (they don't) or that anthropogenic "climate change" is causing ever more natural disasters. Here, I'll at least give Cortina credit for moderating a *touch* in later chapters and moving on to a more "regardless of origins, it is happening" approach - which is still not actually borne out in the data, but is at least much closer to reality. Cortina would argue that my own proximal politics - growing up in the foothills of the Appalachians yet currently living just six miles off the beach - influences our disagreement here... I would argue reality does. ;)

And that is ultimately how anyone is going to find this book. If you like academic treatises with a strong leftward bent, you're going to enjoy what Cortina has put together here, obvious though it may be. Hey, there's numbers now! ;) If you find yourself not drawn to that type of book... spare Cortina the much more vicious take down that even *I* was tempted to write and just ignore this book. Your cardiologist will hate you for it, but your family will love you ever more for allowing them a few more days with you from not having a heart attack over this book. :D

Recommended, but only for very select readers.

Solid Hallmarkie Christmas Romance That "Officially" Has The Weirdest Personal Story Ever For Me. This is one of those damn near prototypical Hallmark Christmas movie type romances, and that alone will tell most people whether they're going to like this or not. Obviously, with how much success Hallmark has with these types of movies every year (and with so many of the romance authors I've worked with over the years now getting chances to write some of these actual movies), there is quite a considerable market for exactly this type of story, so kudos to Cassidy (and the actual person behind her) for branching out into this realm. Here, Cassidy even manages to introduce a few wrinkles not *always* seen... but this also ties into the personal story I have to tell.

For those who don't care about my very weird personal history with this book, what I said above is everything you need to know. It was really good for its type and had some interesting wrinkles, and is absolutely worthy of your time if you like these types of tales. Very much recommended.

Now, for the weird personal tale:

As I was reading this book in the week before release in October 2024, I *absolutely knew* I had read this tale before. To the level that it was an exact duplicate of the tale I knew I had already read, which I recognized 100% from one particular scene, among others. As I've known the actual person behind the Cassidy pseudonym online for many years now and have read and reviewed many of her books under her real name, I knew such blatant plagiarism simply *was not* possible. Not the author I've known for so long. And yet... I *knew* I had read this story weeks earlier, back when I last reviewed this author's 2024 release under her real name.

And yet... I had *ZERO* record that I had already read this book. Which is statistically damn near as close to zero as you can get, as I have *extensive* record keeping about literally every book I read in *numerous* different places.

I have an Excel file where I have three different sheets containing different data about every book, and I mark each sheet as I complete a given book. I download the cover to my phone and then create two separate images - one with my Hardcover.app profile on the side and one without - with my rating of the book on both. I then post the one without in a Facebook group on my personal profile where we keep track of all the books the group reads. I then Facebook Messenger my reader profile both images. I then save both images in a particular folder on my computer. Then I begin to actually write the review in Hardcover.app. I then copy the text of the review into Goodreads, BookHype.com, BookBub.com (if the book is there), TheStoryGraph.com, NetGalley.com (if the book came from there, as both the earlier book under this author's real name and this book did), my blog, and at least two separate Facebook reader groups, and I'm trying to get better about making it at least three. (My own group there, Reader Garage, as well as at least Readers Coffeehouse and I'm trying to get better about My Book Friends). I then finish out my review on my blog with imagery and some links, then post the links from my blog to the Hardcover.app review and to the NetGalley review. I then copy all of the other review site review links into the NetGalley review and submit that. Finally, I place the link to my blog review in my LinkTree and get the Hardcover version of the cover image out on my Twitter, Instagram, Threads, and Facebook Blog Page. I then share the Facebook Blog Page post publicly on my reader profile there.

So there are a LOT of places that *some* record of me reading this book back then *should* have existed in some form. 25 by my count, 26 counting the My Book Friends group.

And YET, I found record that I had read this book in just *ONE* of them - It had been removed from the Excel tab where I remove books as I complete them. Even this isn't conclusive, however, as I've been known to make mistakes and cut the wrong book from time to time over the years.

But y'all, I *KNOW* I read this book, and I even remember having the plan back in July, when I read the other book under this author's real name, that I would read this book immediately after - along with then doing the same thing with another author who had two books releasing around the same time as both of this author's books. (IIRC, the other author's first book released a week or so after "Cassidy"'s first book, and the other author's October book released last week, a week before this book.)

So what I *suspect* and *believe* happened - yet have almost exactly zero evidence of - is that I did in fact read this book back then. It is the only thing that makes sense with everything that I know to be true about everything surrounding this very weird experience. I then noticed that I simply had too many books releasing in August to follow through with my plans for working the other author in a similar manner, and clearly I somehow forgot to go through my review process for this book back then. I honestly have no idea what caused such a lapse, but such a lapse happening is the *only* thing that actually makes sense with everything else I know.

So there you have it. Even the "machines" of the book review space, as some authors have called me over the years, have our breaking points. It seems that August 2024 - whose books I did not fully clear until September 30, with my review of James Rollins' Arkangel - may have been too close to my own for comfort. But at least I'm on the back side of that, and some new opportunities are arising as I begin to slow down the ARC work that has kept me so busy for so many years now.

Hopefully y'all will continue to follow me on these new adventures... and hopefully you'll continue to follow Ms. Cassidy under both this identity and her real one. :)

Compelling Companion. This book is more "companion" novel to Bleeker's 2023 novel When We Were Enemies than "sequel", in that only the prologue and epilogue feature the more modern timeline from the earlier book. The rest of this story is, well, the rest of the historical story found in pieces in the earlier book as our lead character there tries to piece together her family's past.

Bleeker does a remarkable job of continuing the story of survival she began in When We Were Enemies and continuing through WWII and the ensuing decades. And just when you think survival is all you get - and with some interesting foreshadowing bringing another well known tale into the narrative in a perfectly timed (both narrative wise and timeline wise) point - ... Bleeker manages to bring heavy amounts of dust into the room and absolutely *shatter* you, the reader. But this is done in almost literally the last pages and even words of this tale, so those who give up short of the finish line won't get to the best part of the tale overall... much like those who give up short of the goal line in most other things, come to think of it. :)

I've literally read everything Bleeker has written, from her powerful debut through this one, and this is easily near the top of her stack in ambition and overall storytelling. Bleeker has had others that may hit even harder (her 2015 debut, WRECKAGE), but this one shows a remarkable growth as a storyteller overall, able to write this in just a few months and make it flow so well with both its predecessor and within the times and worlds in which it inhabits in our "real" world.

Overall a truly excellent book, and very much recommended.

Interesting Twist On The Series. With the first two books in this series - which is held together primarily by being the adventures of a buddy cop pair - the mysteries were of a more paranormal nature. With this one, Beltz creates an interesting challenge as a storyteller while taking the series in a more science fiction direction. This ultimately still has the same general tone and structure from the first two tales in this series, and thus series fans will most likely still enjoy it. And hey, for those that like tales with interesting characters, this is absolutely one of those as well. Keeping this review completely spoiler-free is challenging even on this end... because of the challenge Beltz gave himself as an author. So it will be interesting to read future reviews of this tale as they come out to see how they handle that. :) Overall this was a solid yet also very different book in its series, and the series feels like Beltz could take it almost as long as he wants to - even though he is very open about having written these first three books back to back to back all at once before releasing them a month apart several weeks later. Very much recommended.

Timely Conversation Needs Even Better Documentation. The timing of this book, releasing just a week before Election Day in the United States, could perhaps be slightly better - a month earlier would have allowed it and its ideas to be discussed more during the final days of the campaign. And to be clear, this book does in fact present a mostly compelling argument and certainly a wrinkle on the American justice system that needs to be more openly examined and more critically debated by those who can actually change things - the various elected officials and bureaucrats who create and implement the very rules in question. The only truly noticeable objective-ish problem with the text here is that while the documentation provided is on the low-ish side of average in my experience (23%, compared to 20-33% being average), there is a lot of hand-waving, undocumented claims, that could have used much better documentation. These claims may in fact be accurate - but they needed sources rather than just claims, and for those more ardently opposed to the proposals here, the added documentation to these claims could be crucial in defense of Anderson's points and proposals. Thus, the one star deduction here. Still, this book truly does add yet another necessary wrinkle into an already truly complicated discussion, and for that reason it is very much recommended.

Exactly What It Claims To Be. This is a book written by a “Progressive” (not liberal, there is a difference that is crucial in these discussions) that mostly focuses on using the Progressive dog-whistle of their version of “democracy” and showing how fighting Conservatives has “saved” that version of “democracy”. In other words, a balanced look at the whole of the Free Speech issue in America... this is not. But it also never really claims to be, so it can't really be faulted for this. It just could have been so much better if it had been more balanced and thus more complete. Still, progressives will love this version and even those adamantly opposed to the “Progressive” political agenda will likely find useful knowledge here, potentially even some they were unaware of. Thus, this is recommended.

Transformative Yet Still A Touch Myopic. In centering this book around a grid that combines the traditional left/ right spectrum with “Modernity” and “Post-Modernity” as its up and down, Butler does an interesting and even transformative job of showing Americans that no matter what they think about politics and the church... they likely have some form of idolatry at play. The weakness here is the exact framing - in limiting himself to just the traditional left vs right and modern vs post-modern, Butler does in fact speak to a large swath of the majority. However, as Jason Blakley's Lost In Ideology - which will release almost a full month after this particular book hits bookshelves - shows, there is actually quite a bit more nuance and flux within the “traditional” ideologies than many - including, clearly, Butler here - think. So one can't really fault Butler for not having read a book at the time of writing this one that won't even be published until after this book itself is. ;) But the point remains, for those of us able to read both books close together, as I have been even months before either releases to the public. (Yes, making these Advance Reader Copies.) Furthermore, this framing also largely excludes more minority political views that don't abide by the usual L/R spectrum nor the up/ down system Butler uses here.

Overall though, this is yet another of those books that, particularly going into a Presidential election year with all of the hand-wringing, arguments, and outright vitriol that includes in the modern era of American politics (and every era, according to other works I reviewed a few years ago such as James Morone's Republic Of Wrath), every single member of every single American Church - no matter the individual's politics or the church's faith traditions - needs to read. Short at just 220 or so pages - over 22% of that being bibliography and discussion questions - this is written in a fairly conversational style such that one could easily envision Butler speaking this entire book into existence over the course of probably a couple of months or so of sermons. The included discussion questions, both at the end of each chapter and at the end of the book, foster a great deal of introspection and, in the case of groups, discussion, and could genuinely go quite a way to at least moderating the vitriol of this and hopefully future campaigns.

Ultimately truly a remarkable work, one that sadly will likely be review bombed by haters of Butler's (also excellent, fwiw) prior work (and indeed already has a one star on Goodreads from a known review bomber who could not possibly have read this book, yet which Goodreads refuses to remove for several weeks now prior to the writing of this review). But read it for yourself, and make your own conclusions. Very much recommended.

Not A Christmas Book. Admittedly, I saw “Caesar” and the release date and for some reason thought this had... anything at all to do with Christmas. To be clear, it does not. Just in case anyone else was somehow thinking it might. ;)

What we do get, however, is actually a rather intriguing tale in its own right, of the author's adventures in a post-collapse world to try to find the last remaining vestiges of ancient Roman roads in Italy, Greece, Turkey, and surrounding areas. We get a decent amount of history, but to be clear - this is far more travel book (and almost travel log even) than history book. We get tales of espresso and kind strangers and parking woes, and we get tales of finding obscure patches of ancient Roman roadway or bridgeworks or some such often deep in farmer's fields - and which the author only stumbled upon because he happened to stumble into a local who happened to know what he was looking for. We also get several tales of various “official” sites being closed, some of which the author was able to sneak into anyway either by outright sneaking or by some official or another looking the other way.

Indeed, this was, as I mentioned above, quite an intriguing tale for what it is - just really don't go in here expecting some detailed treatise on the exact engineering of ancient Roman roadways and how at least certain sections of them have managed to last all these centuries. Go in expecting a 2020s era romp through the region at hand... and you'll probably leave a lot more satisfied here.

The one star deduction comes from having next to no bibliography, despite having so many historical details and references. Instead, the bibliography is simply a “selected reading” and clocks in at less than 4% of the overall text - compared to closer to 20-30% being my expected norm based on reading hundreds of nonfiction advance review copies of books across nearly every discipline these last few years as a book blogger.

Still, I had a great time with this book and learned a lot about a subject the author is clearly passionate about. I felt I was right there with him through many of these adventures and woes, and really... what more do you actually want in a book of this type?

Very much recommended.

Do The Needs Of The Many Outweigh The Desires Of The Few? 20 years ago as I was wrapping up my Computer Science degree requirements at Kennesaw State University just outside of Atlanta, GA, there was a massive debate raging around campus. At the time, the school - new to the “University” title, having had it for less than a decade at this point - was trying to grow from the commuter college it had been since its inception 40 yrs prior into a full fledged research level University... complete with student housing. The problem was that where the University wanted to place some of its first dorms was on the hill directly behind the Science building... where an endangered plant of some form was found, which kicked off rounds and rounds of going back and forth with various Environmental Protection Agency types. To be quite honest, I was never directly involved in any of this, but being on the school's Student Media Advisory Board for a couple of years, I was connected enough to at least the reporting that I heard about at least the high points.

In The War Below, Scheyder looks at just these types of examples, where larger, grander ideas butt up against some much more local concern. Where the larger, grander idea is always “The only way we can see to fight climate change and stop carbon emissions while maintaining the global economy as we currently know it is to produce advanced electronic machines that require certain minerals to function, therefore we must obtain these minerals wherever they may be found.” Which admittedly means that for those that are more adamant that human-caused climate change isn't a real thing or is some level of alarmist bullshit... well, you've been warned about a central tenet of this book in this review now.

However, Scheyder doesn't really stay on the climate change debate itself, instead focusing on the more micro battles. “We found a supply of this particular mineral - but as it turns out, this particular plant that only exists in this exact spot also is dependent on this mineral, and therefore some are acting on behalf of the plant to stop us from getting to the mineral.” Or “We found a supply of a different mineral - but it happens to be under a location that some Native Americans consider sacred, and they're trying to stop us from destroying their sacred spot.” Or “We found a supply of another mineral - but it happens to be in the middle of a town, and nearby residents don't want to sell their land to us.” Every chapter is built around these and other variations of the same types of battles, pitting humanity's need for these particular minerals against some more local, more intimate desire.

Scheyder does a remarkably balanced job of talking to both sides and presenting both sides in a way that they will likely consider the reporting on themselves to be pretty close to fair - as he notes within the text a few times, his job isn't really to make a decision for humanity so much as to present the competing interests and allow humanity the chance to choose for itself.

Is our survival - as we currently see it - worth forcing ourselves on someone who is more intimately connected to that spot on Earth than most of us will ever directly be?

This book isn't the call to arms that Siddarth Kara's Cobalt Red, released almost exactly one year earlier and describing the outright horrors and abuses rampant throughout much of the cobalt industry specifically, was. Instead, as noted, it is more of a balanced and even nuanced look at the competing interests surrounding how and even if certain materials can be obtained in certain locations, and how these small, individual battles can impact us all at a global level.

In the case of KSU's Student Housing vs the plant, fwiw, apparently it was resolved in favor of KSU's Student Housing at some point in the last 20 yrs, as now the entire hill that was once a battleground is now a few different student housing complexes. In the cases Scheyder details... well, read the book. Some of them were still ongoing at the time Scheyder had to hand his book off for final editing, but he gives up to that moment details on where they are in such instances.

Very much recommended.

This review also appears on BookAnon.com.

Lots Of Moving Pieces, Yet Feels Slow Somehow. I think a growing peeve of mine- maybe not yet a pet peeve, but certainly a major annoyance - is using a “hurricane” bearing down on a location and yet using it poorly... which is what happens here. Why a hurricane when a normal storm system would have worked just as well for plot purposes??? Hell, here in Florida (much less Maine, where this is set and where they get far fewer hurricanes), our daily thunderstorms (particularly in the summer) are generally worse than many of the hurricanes I've lived through here in North Florida (including Irma, just a few weeks after I moved here).

Beyond my irritation with the misuse of the hurricane though, which is admittedly a personal thing, the story works reasonably well, if seeming a bit slow and perhaps a touch unrealistic/ idiotic with some of the moves some of the characters make. But hey, we're all idiots at some point, right? It just seems like our supposed “heroes” in this particular tale are particularly stupid at times... which grates some people more than others. (Indeed, reading over the other reviews, it seems like many have a hangup on this similar to my hurricane one above.) And yet the stupidity ultimately works to make this novel work, and perhaps that is the reason it is here - this near 400 page book may have been reduced by at least a third and perhaps as much as a half had one or two characters made even a single better decision, perhaps a couple of better decisions. And maybe Day had a word or page count to meet.

Still, there's nothing objectively wrong about this book, and it is an enjoyable read that is certainly better than other books and is a solid way to lose a day or a few afternoons in a fictional world... which is becoming so much more important as election season ramps up in the US again. So forget the politics for a bit and pick up this book. You may be disappointed a bit in it, but it will still be better than spending that time watching the news. :)

Recommended.

Chilling Combination Of Police Procedural And Paranormal. Beltz apparently wrote this entire trilogy at once, before releasing each book a month after the previous entry, and here we find the two cops at the center of Book 1 - Twisted - involved in yet another paranormal mystery where the only connective tissue between the books is the cops themselves. Here, rather than the tele-muchness of Twisted, we get a different type of paranormal ability, and yet Beltz still manages to use these abilities in surprising ways to fight a particularly cunning and chilling bad guy. This is one of those books that will absolutely make you rethink some of the things you allow your children to do/ you allow to be done to your children - and yet Beltz does this perfectly within the story he is telling here, without ever being preachy about any real-world topic. Very much recommended.

Action Packed Series Starter. This is one of those series starters that ends on an “oh SH!T” cliffhanger - and while it could possibly be debated if the story should have continued on from there in a longer tale, it also told a complete story to that point, so I'm personally comfortable leaving the rating at 5* rather than deducting a star for blatant cash grab. But I could also see other readers making a different call on that point.

Still, for what the story actually is up to that point, and even through that point in making the reader want the next book right this second... this is a truly great book. The story has elements of a wide variety of known and not-as-known scifi, from Amy Adams' Arrival to Neil Blomkamp's District 9 to Jeremy Robinson's Unity to Meg Pechenick's Vardeshi Saga, and yet still manages to feel fresh and unique even within its lost memory / alien invasion / sudden awakening type of story.

This is one that contains several elements of several different genres (including a few teases of romance), so certainly nearly everyone will likely find something here to like - and thus the book could have near universal appeal to some level.

Overall a strong tale well told, and I'm truly looking forward to the next book here. Very much recommended.

Small Town Shenanigans. This is a great example of one of those small town tales where everyone has secrets, and, to quote Tony Stark in The Avengers: their “secrets have secrets”. So when a murder happens as our hero here is trying to rebuild her life and save her career... of course she has to investigate it herself. Because, you know, secrets. But along the way we really do see the inner workings of very small towns quite well, and Banks also manages to keep enough of the romance there to balance out just how dark and creepy this town can feel at times. A definite break from this author's norm (she is working under a new pseudonym here), but a solid effort in this particular type of space and one that manages to up the creepy factor while adding in quite a bit of tension and apprehension not generally found in her other works. Very much recommended.

Solid "Secret Identity" Romance Where Side Character Nearly Steals Show. This is one of those romances where there are a lot of instances of "oh, you happen to be here and look who else happens to be here" bits, particularly in the setup. Which leads to a lot of miscommunications and assumptions, and you know what they say about "assume". Still, it totally works in the usual Hallmarkie and zany way, and if you're down for that kind of story, you're going to enjoy this one. If the secret identity/ happenstance/ assumption setup isn't your bag... eh, you probably won't enjoy this one as much.

And then... one particular side character. Not going into this character at all other than to note that this character does in fact nearly steal the entire damn book, and indeed, it almost feels like there are more "real" emotions as our main characters interact with this character than with each other. Which is probably not the best thing in a romance book, but hey, at least there are "real" and touching moments *somewhere*, right?

As to spice level... this one is far closer to a warm glass of milk than a Carolina Reaper. So there again, know that up front and read (or not) according to your own tastes there. For those that *must* have sex of some form (open door/ closed door) in their romance books... eh, I think that speaks more to you than the author, but just know that this is NOT present in this book.

Overall I think the book worked well as a continuation of its series, including having a few characters from earlier books come back and play pivotal roles (and, for those that despise spoilers of any form, absolutely read the earlier books in the series before getting to this one).

Very much recommended.