‘The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez’ is the new release from Rudy Ruiz. Photo: google
Rudy Ruiz is a writer, advocate and social entrepreneur. The award-winning author’s short fiction has received several awards, including four International Latino Book Awards for his short-story collection “Seven for the Revolution” and the 2017 Gulf Coast Prize in Fiction. His stories have been published in the Notre Dame Review, Ninth Letter, Gulf Coast and New Texas. A native of the US-Mexico border, he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at Harvard, and now resides in San Antonio with his wife and children. Ruiz is also a regular special contributor to CNN and co-founder of Interlex, an advertising and marketing agency. His new book “The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez” weaves together the past and present as Fulgencio strives to succeed in America, break a mystical family curse, and win back Carolina’s love after their doomed youthful romance. It was just released this week.
Set in the 1950, in “The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez,” tensions remain high in the border town of La Frontera, Texas. Yet amidst the discord, young love blooms at first sight between Fulgencio Ramirez, the son of impoverished immigrants and Carolina Mendelssohn, the local pharmacist’s daughter. But their bonds will be undone by a force more powerful than they could have known. Thirty years after their first fateful encounter, Fulgencio Ramirez, RPh, is conducting his daily ritual of reading the local obituaries in his cramped pharmacy office. After nearly a quarter of a century of waiting, Fulgencio sees the news he has been hoping for: his nemesis, the husband of Carolina Mendelssohn, has died. “The Resurrection of Fulgencio Ramirez” offers a vision of how the past has divided us and how the future could unite us.
‘Total Power’ is the new novel in the Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn/Kyle Mills
Vince Flynn was an American author of political thriller novels best known for the Mitch Rapp series. He created one of contemporary fiction’s most popular heroes: CIA counterterrorist agent Mitch Rapp, featured in thirteen of Flynn’s acclaimed political thrillers. Rapp’s primary focus is stopping terrorist attacks on the United States and usually does so using less than acceptable measures. His frustration with procedures and red tape is a major theme throughout the entire series. All of Flynn’s novels are The New York Times bestsellers, including his stand-alone debut novel, “Term Limits.” He was a consultant for the fifth season of the television series 24. “Total Power” is the new novel in the Mitch Rapp series and it is a race against the clock when ISIS takes out the entire US power grid and throws the country into chaos.
Starting in 2015 with “The Survivor,” the Mitch Rapp series has been continued by Kyle Mills. Kyle Mills is the #1 bestselling author of nineteen political thrillers, including “Red War” for Vince Flynn and “The Patriot Attack” for Robert Ludlum. He initially found inspiration from his father, the former director of Interpol, and still draws on his contacts in the intelligence community to give his books such realism.
According to amazon, in “Total Power,” when Mitch Rapp captures ISIS’s top technology expert, he reveals that he was on his way to meet a man who claims to have the ability to bring down America’s power grid. Rapp is determined to eliminate this shadowy figure, but the CIA’s trap fails. The Agency is still trying to determine what went wrong when ISIS operatives help this cyber terrorist do what he said he could, plunge the country into darkness. With no concept of how this unprecedented act was accomplished, the task of getting the power back on could take time. Rapp and his team embark on a desperate search for the only people who know how to repair the damage, the ones responsible. With computers and communication networks down, fuel can no longer be pumped from gas stations, water and sanitation systems are on the brink of collapse and the supply of food is running out. Rapp needs to get the lights back on before America descends into chaos.
Zeke Mesirow left his apartment in Crestview Manor as soon as Big John Thomas on KUKU-FM announced—using his serious radio voice instead of his fake hillbilly twang—that they were bringing the bodies to the high school gymnasium.
The tornado had arrived from the north, surprising the so-called experts. It cut an equal opportunity path of destruction through Maple Springs, flattening the black Baptist church on the west side where Zeke’s very white ex-wife used to sing in the choir, and blowing away the sanctimonious Presbyterians on the east side. It pinballed down Main Street, chewing up the Tastee-Freeze, Hank Dabney’s Esso Station, Dr. Manickavel’s emergency care clinic, and the Main Street Diner, but sparing the useless bank, Crutchfield’s boarded up general store, and the VFW Lodge.
As it roared out of town, it destroyed the Chevy dealership where Zeke’s son had once worked and the fancy townhouse development project Ted Landis was building across the road from Crestview Manor.
Zeke wanted to call his son, but Wayne didn’t own a cellphone. The road into town was impassable. Uprooted trees, overturned vehicles, chunks of concrete, twisted rebar, and pickup-stick configurations of aluminum sliding, roof tiles, and wallboard were strewn across the highway. It didn’t matter—he couldn’t drive anyway. His truck had disappeared.
A soft mist hung in the air like a wet fog, and it was eerily quiet as he started walking down the highway to the high school. At the outskirts of town he saw a man, his dark business suit turned gray with grit, standing in his front lawn clutching an open briefcase and staring down the road like he was waiting for the bus. A few blocks farther on an old woman wrapped up in a ratty bathrobe swept brick fragments from her front stoop. The stoop was all that was left of her home. As Zeke turned on to Hill Street, a teenager on an ancient Huffy with a twisted front tire pedaled slowly by, weaving around the debris, his head swiveling like he was trying to figure out which pile of rubble was his home.
The high school at the end of the Summit Avenue looked untouched. A highway patrol car and Sheriff Patrick Quinlan’s cruiser flanked the driveway leading to the front of the school, and there was an ambulance and a fire truck in front of the entrance to the gymnasium. Two men were lifting someone off a stretcher into the ambulance.
Sheriff Quinlan leaned against the open door of his car like he needed it for support. Water dripped from the brim of his hat and his uniform was plastered to his skin. A mud-splattered Silverado rolled past Zeke and stopped at the driveway entrance. There were two body bags in the truck bed. Body bags just like they’d had in Nam. Quinlan waved the truck through.
As Zeke approached the sheriff, Quinlan held up his hand. “You have to go to City Hall, Zeke. The mayor’s handling the missing persons reports.”
Zeke Mesirow frowned. They had been friends once.
Len Joy is an award-winning author of the novels “American Past Time,” “Better Days” and “Everyone Dies Famous.” He is a nationally ranked triathlete and competes internationally representing the United States as part of TEAM USA.
‘Everyone Dies Famous’ is Len Joy’s new novel. Courtesy photo, used with permission.
Len Joy is a nationally ranked triathlete who competes internationally representing the United States as part of TEAM USA. He is also the author of “Letting Go: Stories,” “American Past Time: After the Cheering Stops” and “Better Days: In This World Heroes Don’t Get Parades.” His fourth novel “Everyone Dies Famous,” released last month, is the story of a stubborn old man, who, as a tornado threatens their town, teams up with a troubled young soldier to deliver a jukebox to the wealthy developer having an affair with the soldier’s wife.
In the Prologue set on July 18, 2003 at 7p.m. Zeke Mesirow, one of Maple Springs, Missouri residents, leaves his apartment after a tornado and surveys the devastation left behind. He eerily witnesses “….a man, his dark business suit turned gray with grit, standing in his front lawn clutching an open briefcase and staring down the road like he was waiting for the bus.” After the Prologue, the first chapter begins fourteen hours earlier and the last chapter, set at 6:40p.m. ends the tragic story. The chapters in between track the residents’ lives before the tornado hits and sets the stage for the damage left behind by the storm. The small town is going through a drought, so many of the residents are unprepared for the approaching storm. Dancer Stonemason, an aging and long-forgotten hometown hero, is still grieving the death of his oldest son Clayton. He is liquidating his late son’s jukebox business so he hires Wayne Mesirow, an Iraqi war veteran, to help him transport two jukeboxes. Wayne is also dealing with grief: one of his fellow soldiers, Sonny, killed himself and Wayne feels he should have done more to help. His wife’s infidelity is also weighing heavily on his mind. Together, Dancer and Wayne navigate through their own family drama while the storm brings its own disaster that will leave one of them dead.
For those familiar with Len Joy’s work, “Everyone Dies Famous” is the sequel to “American Past Time” where Dancer Stonemason’s story continues. Years later, his son Clayton is dead and Dancer is trying to move on. The aftermath of the tornado is set at the beginning, so there is no surprise ending. The fun is in trying to find out how the different characters end up after the storm. Due to the extensive character build up, by the time the storm hits, the reader has spent time getting to know them and is eagerly flipping pages to find out their fate. The tornado action is just as exciting as the family drama taking place within the small town. Throughout the story, the storm is lurking in the background until it comes roaring into the picture starting on Chapter 33. From there the action shifts as the residents have to rely on each other to survive. Len Joy has an excellent grasp on the human condition and uses it to create brilliant storytelling. “Everyone Dies Famous” is an easy read, with relatable characters that spotlight the heart of everyday American life. It is a definite must-read and is recommended for fans of character-driven small town dramas.
“This is a small town, Dancer. Everyone dies famous here.”
*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.
‘One by One’ is the new psychological crime thriller by Ruth Ware. Photo: google
Ruth Ware is a British author of psychological crime thrillers but has also written young adult fantasy novels published under her name Ruth Warburton. The writing style in her crime thrillers has often been compared to Agatha Christie’s in the sense that one of her plot devices consist of protagonists who are usually ordinary women who find themselves in dangerous situations involving a crime. These include “In a Dark, Dark Wood,” “The Woman in Cabin 10,” “The Lying Game,” “The Death of Mrs. Westaway,” “The Turn of the Key” and her new release “One by One.” The characters in “One by One” are snowed in at a luxurious, rustic chalet high in the French Alps; it was released on September 8.
According to Amazon, when the co-founder of Snoop, a trendy London-based tech startup, organizes a week-long trip for the team in the French Alps, it starts out as a corporate retreat like any other: PowerPoint presentations and strategy sessions broken up by mandatory bonding on the slopes. But as soon as one shareholder upends the agenda by pushing a lucrative but contentious buyout offer, tensions simmer and loyalties are tested. The storm brewing inside the chalet is no match for the one outside, however, and a devastating avalanche leaves the group cut off from all access to the outside world. Even worse, one Snooper has not made it back from the slopes by the time the avalanche hit. As each hour passes without any sign of rescue, panic mounts, the chalet grows colder, and the group dwindles further…one by one.
‘Act of Revenge’ is the third book in the Doc Brady Mystery series by John Bishop, M.D. It will be released on Thursday September 10, 2020. Courtesy photo: used with permission.
I was stunned but not unconscious. My first concern was that I had sustained another head injury. I had been mugged a year and a half ago and had spent ten days in a coma after developing a subdural hematoma, a collection of blood between my brain and skull requiring surgery. The hair on my shaved head had taken seemingly forever to grow back out to a length and texture I could brush. I wasn’t prepared to go through all that again.
“I’m okay, I think,” I said to Mary Louise. She was kneeling down over me, skis off. “Thanks for not being in front of me. I might have hit you, too. Where’s the guy I ran into?”
“He’s up the hill. I’ll go check on him.” And with that, she headed back up the slope.
Since I had landed face down in the snow, I used my corduroy cap to clean off my goggles and face in an attempt to see what was going on. I was partially buried in the foot-high drift, but when I assessed that my extremities were intact and my vision was relatively normal, I managed to turn myself around.
I sat up and saw my wife kneeling down over the man I had run into twenty yards behind me. One ski was off, and the other was twisted about 45 degrees, half-buried in the snow. Unfortunately, his leg was still attached to it. My skis had come undone, and God only knew where they had landed. Probably in someone’s condo.
I had heard of a ski accident that occurred on the same slope wherein a crash between two skiers had resulted in a lost ski sailing down the hill and crashing through a picture window into the living room of a residence. No one was hurt, at least in the home, but I’m sure it gave them quite a start. And some decent kindling.
I abandoned my ski poles, which had still been attached to my wrists with their adjustable loops, and stepped up the hill to join Mary Louise and the unknown assailant. A thought crossed my mind that perhaps I was the unknown assailant. Whatever the situation, I hoped the man had experienced enough of a shock to render him an amnesiac but not unconscious or damaged.
“Are you okay?” Mary Louise was asking him repeatedly as I arrived on the scene. Several other skiers had gathered as well and had already placed their skis in the ground, tips up and crossed, the universal sign of an injury requiring the ski patrol’s attention.
The man was on his side. His eyes were open.
“Listen,” I said, “I’m a doctor. I need to check your pupils and your arms and legs. Don’t be frightened. Okay?”
He nodded.
His pupils reacted normally to light. I felt his neck.
“Any pain here?” I asked as I gently moved his cervical spine from side to side. “Any numbness? Arms or legs?”
He shook his head. “My leg . . . killing me.”
“I’m sure. I’ll get down there in a minute.”
The man’s arms, chest, head, spine, and right leg all seemed to be in working order. It was time to address the crucial issue.
“Listen,” I explained, “my name is Jim Brady. I’m an orthopedic surgeon from Houston. I need to check out this left leg and try to decide if you’ve got a fracture in your femur or tibia or if you’ve got a knee ligament injury. I may not be able to tell, but I’d like to try before the ski patrol arrives. Okay?”
“I don’t want you to move it. Hurts too bad.”
“Well, the medic will have to move it to get you onto the stretcher. Your leg’s kind of twisted out at an angle. If I can figure out what’s wrong, I may be able to make you more comfortable by moving it. Let me try.”
He nodded. I gently felt his femur, the thigh bone, with both hands. No pain. Same with the tibia and fibula, the two bones connecting the knee to the ankle. When I felt his knee, however, even through his bulky, waterproof ski pants, I could feel the enlarged joint. He winced.
“It’s your knee, probably a ligament tear. If I can get your ski off and straighten out the leg, you’ll feel a lot better. I want you to hang on for a minute.”
“Man, it’s killing me! Just leave it alone!”
I paused, then slid down toward his boot release, had Mary Louise support the ski to minimize the torque, and unsnapped his boot from the binding. He moaned for a second, but I quickly untwisted the leg, brought it parallel to the other, and laid it down.
“Damn it! I told you not to—huh. Feels better.”
“See,” I said, “you should have trusted me.”
“Sort of hard to trust a guy who runs you over, wouldn’t you say?”
I assumed amnesia wasn’t going to be a problem for him.
Two members of the ski patrol arrived on separate snowmobiles pulling stretchers. One of them had probably been intended for me. I was glad to decline it. I helped the medics get my victim onto the stretcher and bind him down to minimize the shock of the journey to Snowmass Ski Clinic. I felt obligated to accompany them.
“Are you by yourself? Is there anyone we can notify?” Mary Louise asked. “I’ll be glad to make a call. Whatever you need.”
“Guess you better call my wife, tell her I’m hurt. I hate to upset her, though.”
“Where are you staying?” she asked him.
“Wood Run Condos. Just down the hill. I was headed home.”
“So were we,” Mary Louise said. “Why don’t I just run by there. We’re at the Chamonix. You’re only a block or so away. How would that be?”
He nodded and sort of smiled. “That’d be real nice, ma’am. I’d appreciate
that.”
She looked at him for a minute, waiting. “I need your name and condo number,” she said patiently, like a schoolteacher waiting for a third grader to figure out the times tables.
“Oh, sure. Sorry. I’m Lou Edwards. Her name’s Mimi. We’re in 530 Wood Run. And thanks.”
“It’s the least I can do,” Mary Louise said, looking at me like she was very glad I was okay, but not happy that I had run over the poor man. I didn’t blame her.
John Bishop, M.D. has practiced orthopedic surgery in Houston, Texas, for 30 years. His Doc Brady medical thriller series is set in the changing environment of medicine in the 1990s. Drawing on his years of experience as a practicing surgeon, Bishop entertains readers using his unique insights into the medical world with all its challenges, intricacies, and complexities, while at the same time revealing the compassion and dedication of health care professionals.
‘Gaijin’ is Sarah Z. Sleeper’s debut novel about a woman who moves to Okinawa looking for answers after her boyfriend disappears. It is scheduled for release on Saturday, August 1, 2020.
Sarah Z. Sleeper is a former journalist with an MFA in creative writing. Previously, she was an editor at New Rivers Press and editor-in-chief of the literary journal Mason’s Road. She completed her MFA at Fairfield University in 2012. Prior to that she had a twenty-five-year career as a business writer and technology reporter and won three journalism awards and a fellowship at the National Press Foundation. Her short story, “A Few Innocuous Lines,” won an award from Writer’s Digest and her non-fiction essay, “On Getting Vivian,” was published in The Shanghai Literary Review. Her poetry was published in A Year in Ink, San Diego Poetry Annual and Painters & Poets and exhibited at the Bellarmine Museum. “Gaijin,” a coming of age novel about a budding journalist who sets off to Okinawa in search of answers when her college boyfriend mysteriously disappears, is her first novel and will be released on Saturday, August 1, 2020.
In Japanese, the word gaijin means ‘unwelcome foreigner’ and it is often used as a slur directed at non-Japanese people in Japan. “Gaijin” centers around Lucy, a college student at Northwestern University who is obsessed with an exotic new student, Owen Ota, who becomes her lover and sensei. When he disappears without explanation, she moves to Okinawa in hopes of tracking him down. The story is told in the first person point of view and begins with a Prologue where Lucy recounts how she ends up in Japan and how her experience with Owen motivates her to seek answers in a foreign land. It all goes back to Japan in 2016 and begins as Lucy arrives at Okinawa’s Naha International Airport. For the next three months, instead of the glamorous culture that Owen described, she is confronted with, among other surprises, anti-American protests fueled by the rape case involving an American military man and a young Japanese girl. She also meets Hisashi, Owen’s brother, who helps her come to terms with Owen’s tumultuous private life that culminates at the base of Mount Fuji and the infamous Suicide Forest. With the biggest mystery solved, Lucy is now content to stay in Japan and enjoy the country and culture she admired for so long.
Sometimes it is easy for foreigners to get wrapped up in the fantasy of an unfamiliar culture and once it hits home, reality can be disappointing. Such is the case with Lucy in “Gaijin,” Sarah Z Sleeper’s superb debut novel. The author has penned a poetic and charming story filled similes and metaphors “His energy was warm, like a favorite oversize blanket” and peppered with poems and haikus. Despite being a small, easy to read book, the reader is immersed in Japanese culture, terms and traditions like tea ceremonies, all of which make the narrative come alive throughout the pages. Impressive character development and descriptions makes them relatable, “As the snow drifts piled shoulder-high on the edges of Northwestern’s campus, I dug myself into a cave of loneliness, busying myself while keeping social interactions at bay.” Of special interest is the background on Aokigahara, a forest on the northwestern flank of Japan’s Mount Fiji. It has a historical reputation as a home to yūrei: ghosts of the dead in Japanese mythology. Also known as “the Suicide Forest”, one of the world’s most-used suicide sites; signs at the head of some trails urge suicidal visitors to think of their families and contact a suicide prevention association. History fans will appreciate the section on the conflict between Okinawa and Japan. “Gaijin” is the chronicle of one woman’s journey from idealistic college student in love with an image to an adult who learns to accept life’s disappointments and build a life on her own terms.
“A culture so beautiful that taking tea was a memorable occasion and yet so dark it contained a forest devoted to suicide.”
*The author received a copy of this book for an honest review. The views and opinions expressed here belong solely to her.
‘Red Zone’ is the newest novel in The Charlene Taylor Mysteries by Luke Murphy. Photo: google
Luke Murphy is the international bestselling author of two series: The Calvin Watters Mysteries: “Dead Man’s Hand” and “Wild Card” and The Charlene Taylor Mysteries: “Kiss & Tell” and “Rock-A-Bye Baby.” He is a teacher with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing and a Bachelor of Education (Magna Cum Laude). His newest novel, “Red Zone: A Calvin Watters & Charlene Taylor Mystery (A Calvin Watters Mystery) has Calvin Watters, a former running back at USC, and Detective Charlene Taylor, working together on a homicide case when a woman’s dead body is found on the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum football field.
In “Red Zone,” Calvin has not returned to USC since he was stripped of his scholarship. Detective Charlene Taylor knows the freshman cheerleader’s murder is complicated because the USC football team is a close knit family and getting inside the trusted circle as a cop is nearly impossible. When Calvin and Charlene meet, Charlene sees an opportunity to use Calvin to penetrate the circle. Little does she know that Calvin is now an outsider who is no longer welcome and who many would like to see fail. Together they must find a way to solve this case without letting their egos get in the way.
Brad Thor’s new novel ‘Near Dark’ will be available on Tuesday July 21. Photo: google
Brad Thor is an American thriller novelist and The New York Times’ bestselling author of twenty thrillers. These include “Backlash,” one of Suspense Magazine’s Best Books of the Year, “Spymaster,” “The Last Patriot,” nominated for best thriller of the year by the International Thriller Writers Association and “Blowback,” one of the ‘Top 100 Killer Thrillers of All Time’ by NPR. He graduated cum laude from the University of Southern California where he studied creative writing under author T.C. Boyle. His new novel “Near Dark” will be released on Tuesday July 21, 2020 and features the return of Scot Harvath, one of America’s top spy. An excerpt is available on the author’s page.
In “Near Dark,” the world’s largest bounty has just been placed upon Scot Harvath, America’s top spy. His only hope for survival is to outwit, outrun and outlast his enemies long enough to get to the truth. For him to accomplish his most dangerous mission ever, one that has already claimed the lives of the people closest to him, including his new wife, he is going to need help. Not knowing whom he can trust, Harvath finds an unlikely ally in Norwegian intelligence operative Sølvi Kolstad. Just as smart, just as deadly, and just as determined, she not only has the skills, but also the broken, troubled past to match Harvath’s own.
‘The Only Good Indians’ is Stephen Graham Jones’ new novel. Photo: google
Stephen Graham Jones is a Blackfeet Native American author of experimental fiction, horror fiction, crime fiction and science fiction. He is celebrated for applying more “literary” stylings to a variety of speculative genres, and for having published 22 books under the age of 50. He has won the Texas Institute of Letters Award, a National Endowment for the Arts fellow in fiction and the Bram Stoker Award (Long Fiction). His newest novel “The Only Good Indians” is available today and is being called “One of 2020’s buzziest horror novels” by Entertainment Weekly.
According to amazon, “The Only Good Indians” is a tale of revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from tradition from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones. Seamlessly blending classic horror and a dramatic narrative with sharp social commentary, the story follows four American Indian men after a disturbing event from their youth puts them in a desperate struggle for their lives. Tracked by an entity bent on revenge, these childhood friends are helpless as the culture and traditions they left behind catch up to them in a violent, vengeful way.
SA Examiner 