Pat Dunlap Evans's Blog

New Release: ICE AND FIRE, the sequel to OUT AND IN

Hello, from A.M. Chai Literary, publisher of Out and In, and its sequel, Ice and Fire: A Suspenseful Thriller Set in Hawai‘i Both novels are by author Pat Dunlap Evans.

Sale prices are available now through April 20. Released on April 11, Ice and Fire: A Suspenseful Thriller Set in Hawai‘i is on sale at the discounted price of only $0.99 in a variety of e-book formats. Also, if you have not read the first book in the "Curious Cellist" series, Out and In is also on sale for $0.99 on Kindle.

Paperback versions of both novels are priced at $14.99 on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

Below are links to a variety of retailers for both novels:


AMAZON KINDLE: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01... PRINT: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0996882227BN... PRINT: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/out-... Due to Kindle Unlimited restrictions, OUT AND IN is available in e-book format only on Kindle.)


AMAZON KINDLE: https://www.amazon.com/Ice-Fire-Suspe...
APPLE BOOKS: https://books.apple.com/us/book/ice-a...
NOOK: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/ice-... https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/ice-...

Recommended: Fellowship Point

Fellowship Point by Alice Elliott Dark

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I am a tremendous fan of this author and look forward to reading more from her. This is an old-fashioned novel that you can sink your mind into, however, less your heart. While wading through the winding prose, you become a bit like one main character Agnes, who claims to have loved but was afraid to express it. This speaks to my complaints that the novel goes on too long, repeats itself, and probably would scare off less literary readers who want more urgency to their tales. The author needed a "Maud" (an editor in the story) to hone this work, but that does not mean this was poorly written. A much tighter edit would have gained EIGHT Stars from me, as I loved, loved, loved the characters, the eventual storyline (which took way too long to develop), and the wondrous descriptions of this imaginary setting. This is an awesome achievement, and I congratulate this author on her "instant classic," as the marketing types call it, although it took many years to complete. Tip for other readers: do not try to read this quickly. It's something to pore over slowly. Oh, and one more thing, in addition to the fun little map of Fellowship Point, I would have loved a list of all characters' names and which families they belonged to. I found it difficult to know who was who and sometimes found myself asking, "Who in the heck is—?"



View all my reviews

New Cover, Same Romantic Suspense

Some of my readers already know, while some may not. My publisher A.M. Chai Literary has redesigned the book cover for Out and In: a mystery-thriller. I loved the original cover concept, shown to the right, because it expertly conveyed the concept of a maestro "playing a woman like a fiddle." But the concept had a bare-backed woman, and in these days of digital publishing, Amazon's advertising bots thought the image was too provocative. After many emails and phone calls to Amazon's advertising p...

I am Pro-Life and Pro-Choice, Aren't You?

I so dislike the term "pro-life" because most of us are "pro-life," in that we want all lives to be nurtured and respected. But what the Pro-Life movement actually is saying is with their insidiously crafted moniker is that they are "Anti-Abortion."

Guess what. You can be Anti-Abortion and also be Pro-Choice, in that you might not think abortion is the right choice for yourself, but you still think it should be another woman's option.

Choice is the issue.

Women should have the right to make pers...

Why Did I Swear at a Stranger, but More Importantly, Where can I Stream "MI-5"?

This evening, Bill and I settled in to watch Season 6, Ep. 1 of "MI-5" on Britbox, but the spy thriller isn't there anymore. Formerly called "Spooks" in the UK, "MI-5" has expired on Britbox, effective April 5, or so I saw via one Google search link that has since been deleted. There's not one thing on the Britbox site about it. Fiddlesticks! "MI-5" was one of the major reasons I signed up for Britbox—that and the fact US network TV series have truly gone to the dogs.

This disappointment topped...

Pat’s Version of French Onion Soup

There are a gazillion versions of French onion soup. I reviewed about seven different chefs' recipes to land on this version below. Some chefs use cognac, some use sherry, some use white wine, some use all three, some use red wine, some don’t use wine – you get the picture.

Because I’m a fan of garlic, I noted one version that used two garlic cloves. So, I included garlic, which added richness to the caramelized onion flavor. One chef used 10 onions and about 1/3 of the liquid below, but I don'...

A Triangle of Some Silly Satire

One other Oscar-nominated film Bill and I streamed recently was The Triangle of Sadness. I'm not going to delve deeply into this one. It was way too long. It was disjointed: you think the main characters are a handsome but somewhat daft male model and his conniving social-media influencer girlfriend, but many more characters come on board during a cruise and even take the story's helm, including a drunken ship's captain (Woody Harrelson), a militaristic cruise director, and a garrulous Russian, ...

A Pretentious Bore

Okay, so we sat through Tár, a film about a lesbian classical music conductor who finds herself in hot water for the same abuses that sometimes bring down powerful males: accusations of sexual harassment, or ruining careers because she did not like what someone did or said.

Played by the very talented Cate Blanchett, Lydia Tár is at the apotheosis of her career, with a rather preposterous list of awards and accomplishments to her name. But instead of admiring her, you quickly tune in to Lydia Tár...

4.5 Stars for The Banshees of Inisherin

Summary: Set in 1923, on a remote island near the west coast of Ireland, The Banshees Of Inisherin follows lifelong buddies Padraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson), who suddenly reach an impasse when Colm decides to end to their friendship. A shocked and hurt Padraic, advised by his sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon) and an idiot islander (Barry Keoghan), aims to repair the friendship and won’t take no for an answer. But Padraic's repeated efforts only fortify his former friend's resolve. ...

Spielberg: Again with the Same Ol' Story

A Pat-Oh-Meter Review of "The Fabelmans."

Our Tuesday night streaming of the Oscar-nominated film was “The Fablemans,” written, directed, and produced by Steven Spielberg and collaborator Tony Kushing. Other than the brilliant “ET” and “Schindler’s List,” I have not been a fan of many Spielberg films. They frequently tell the same story of a small, usually Jewish boy or teen who is picked on by his peers. Or else his parents are having marital issues. The plots usually revolve around the boy lea...