Kaye Lynne Booth's Blog: Writing to be Read, page 40

In Touch With Nature – Lionesses, the queens of the savannah #lionesses #wildlife

Last month, I discussed the role of male lions in the pride. If you missed it, you can read it here: https://writingtoberead.com/2024/02/28/in-touch-with-nature-the-vulnerable-life-of-male-lions-wildlife-lions/. This month I’m talking about female lions.

Lionesses are the primary hunters within the pride. They hunt in groups of three to eight females, all of whom are usually related. Lionesses display exceptional teamwork during hunts, deploying strategic hunting techniques, such as coordinated flanking and ambushing, to outmaneuver their prey. Their synchronized approach increases the likelihood of a successful kill. Lionesses, working together, are able to take down a target twice their size. Lion prey includes zebra, wildebeests, buffalo, antelope and other grassland animals.

Picture caption: Lioness patrolling the area around a zebra kill. Picture by Robbie Cheadle

Lions will kill other predators including leopards, cheetahs, hyenas and African wild dogs. They do not eat them as the flesh of other predators is not nutritious. Lion predator kills are purely to remove competitors for food and territory, as well as threats to the lions young. In particular, lions actively kill leopards as leopards kill and eat their cubs.

Picture caption: Lioness tucking in to her kill. Picture by Robbie Cheadle

This is my video of this lioness kill:

Lionesses are known to be excellent mothers and will go to great lengths to ensure the survival of their cubs. Lion mating is polygamous and takes place all year round. The dominant male will copulate with multiple females within his pride. Lionesses are receptive to mating for three or four days within their variable reproductive cycle and during this time they will mate frequently, up to fifty times per day. Female lions have the ultimate say in deciding which lion they will reproduce with. Lionesses observe the males carefully, accessing their physical condition, strength, and overall fitness, before committing to a partnership. Lionesses are also not monogamous and can mate with multiple lions during their estrous cycle, although it has been observed that approximately two-thirds of these mating events occur with the primary male, with the remaining third being distributed among multiple males from the peripheral coalitions of that primary male. This means that a single litter can have cubs from different fathers. Lionesses in the same pride often breed around the same time and the resultant cubs are raised together.

My video of lions mating:

Lionesses are pregnant for 105 to 112 days, during which time her belly will grow larger, and her nipples will enlarge and darken. Just before giving birth, the lioness will begin to look for a safe and secure place to give birth. Once she has found a suitable spot that is hidden from predators and close to water, she will start to build a den using grass and other materials. The actual birth is relatively quick, approximately 1 hour, and between two and four is the usual number for a litter.

The cubs are born blind and helpless and rely on their mothers to protect and care for them. During the first few weeks of their lives, the cubs feed on their mother’s milk and she only leaves them for short periods to hunt.

My video of lion clubs:

Last month I said that male lions commit infanticide and can kill the cubs of other males. Given that lionesses are fiercely protective of their cubs, why do they not defend their cubs from lions? The answer is simply that male lions are much bigger and more aggressive than lionesses. Challenging a male lion is risky for a lioness as it could lead to the serious injury or death of the lioness, as a result, in this situation the lioness will prioritise her own survival and the wellbeing of the rest of the pride over the survival of her cubs.

If you are interested in seeing more of my photographs, videos and artworks relating to Cats, please enjoy this stunning post created by the talented Resa McConaghy. Resa and I share a love for wildlife and a passion for conservation.

Robbie’s Cats

Lion Lust by Robbie Cheadle

Sidling up beside her
He strokes her shoulder
In a gesture of affection for his mate
He quickly mounts her
For the eighteenth time
***
She walks quickly away
He meekly follows
Lying down face-to-face in her chosen spot
A short period of rest
Before the next round
***
They will stay together
For twenty-four hours
Mating every twenty to thirty minutes
Despite his high demands
She lovingly purrs

This poem is from my book Lion Scream, Syllabic Poetry About Southern African Wildlife.

About Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Award-winning, bestselling author, Roberta Eaton Cheadle, is a South African writer and poet specialising in historical, paranormal, and horror novels and short stories. She is an avid reader in these genres and her writing has been influenced by famous authors including Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe, Amor Towles, Stephen Crane, Enrich Maria Remarque, George Orwell, Stephen King, and Colleen McCullough.

Roberta has two published novels and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories included in several anthologies. She is also a contributor to the Ask the Authors 2022 (WordCrafter Writing Reference series).

Roberta also has thirteen children’s books and two poetry books published under the name of Robbie Cheadle, and has poems and short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

Roberta’s blog features discussions about classic books, book reviews, poetry, and photography. https://roberta-writes.com/.

Find Roberta Eaton Cheadle

Blog: https://wordpress.com/view/robertawrites235681907.wordpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertaEaton17

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertawrites

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Roberta-Eaton-Cheadle/e/B08RSNJQZ5

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WordCrafter News: Celebrate National Poetry Month with WordCrafter Press & Approaching Short Fiction Deadline

Celebrating National Poetry Month

WordCrafter is celebrating National Poetry Month with discounted poetry books and the release of Poetry Treasures 4: Natural World.

Discounted Poetry Books

All WordCrafter Press poetry collections and anthologies will be only $2.99 each through the month of April. This includes:

Poetry Treasures – https://books2read.com/PoetryTreasuresPoetry Treasures 2: Relationships – https://books2read.com/PT2-RelationshipsPoetry Treasures 3: Passions – https://books2read.com/u/b5qnBRBehind Closed Doors, by Robbie Cheadle – https://books2read.com/BehindClosedDoorsCheadleFeral Tenderness, by Arthur Rosch – https://books2read.com/FeralTendernessSmall Wonders, by Kaye Lynne Booth – https://books2read.com/SmallWondersPoetry Treasures 4: The Natural World

I’m pleased to announce that Poetry Treasures 4: Natural World will be released in April. Featuring the poetry of Andrew McDowell, Robbie Cheadle, Patricia Furstenberg, Marsha Meara, Luanne Castle, D.L. Finn, Emily Gmitter, Selma Martin, Meril D. Smith, Frank Prem, and Colleen Chesebro. We are shooting for April 8th for this one, but stay tuned, as I’ll be posting an updates with more information on its release.

Short Fiction Contest Deadline

Just a reminder: The deadline for the 2024 WordCrafter Short Fiction Contest is April 30. So get those dark fiction stories in before it is too late. It’s only $5 to enter. Winner guarunteed inclusion in the WordCrafter 2024 Short Fiction Anthology, as yet untitled. You can find submission guidelines and fee entry portal here: https://writingtoberead.com/2024/01/01/call-for-submissions/

Let’s Talk About Book Reviews

Instead of offering a book review today, I’d like to talk about book reviews. If you follow the blog, you know that I post at least one book review almost every week. I hope no one feels shorted because I chose to do things differently this week. You might also know that I offer up honest reviews in exchange for an ARC copy of the book, digital, print or audiobook, for those who request it. (ARC stands for A Review Copy, or a copy which was sent out early in hopes of review by traditional publishers. I send out between thirty and sixty requests for review for each WordCrafter Press book published.) Obviosly, if I’m writing that many book reviews, I am a voracious reader, so I also pick up other books to read and I review them as well. As a rule, if I read it, I review it. It’s just one way to help out my fellow authors, and I often, though not always, know the authors of the books I choose to read.

But today, I find myself in a dilemma. I just finished the most awful audiobook I have ever listened to. The audiobook was one that I purchased, by an author which I had previously read one of her books. That first one I listened to was well-written, a good story, and had a decent narrator, so I thought I would give this book a go.

To start off, it was a different narrator, a very poor narrator. The inflections were all wrong, there were pauses where there shouldn’t be, with starts and stops that made the reading jerky and chopped, and there was little or no emotion. Honestly, my AI narrated audiobooks did a better job.

But then I realized that it wasn’t just that. The book was poorly written, as well. Perhaps this was one of the authors earlier works and the first book I read was a later work? After the first time I tried to listen to it, I put it down for some time, but since I haven’t been financially able to replenish my audiobook library, I decided to give it a go, since I had already listened to everything else. So, I struggled through it for lack of better input. But about halfway through, I realized that there was no way I could review this book without trashing both author and narrator, and I really don’t like doing that.

They say that a negative review is better than no review, but I’m not sure if I buy that. All reviewers are critics, but I don’t believe that a critic must harsh to be effective. I offer my reviews to help other authors, and my reviews are honest, even if there are things I didn’t like about a book. I always try to emphasive the positive, but the negative is still there.

I know many of my readers are bloggers who are reviewers, so I’m asking you all today – how would you handle this? Am I obligated as a critic to write a negative review of this audiobook? Would you write it? Or would you just put the book into the archive and forget about it? I would love to get someone else’s thoughts on this. What do you think?

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.

Something New on Writing to be Read

In my post on Monday, I mentioned that I’ve been out of work and having a difficult time recently. Yet, I am determined to keep at my writing and carry out my business plan for 2024. I received a larger than usual royalty check a few days ago to give me encouragement. It occurred to me that some of you might be willing to help by showing your support through a small donation, so I have provided the opportunity to do that on my About Kaye Lynne Booth page: https://writingtoberead.com/about-me/.

If you’d like to show your support to help keep WordCrafter on track in the coming year, or you’d just like to throw a dollar or two my way, please click on the link and head on over to my author page.

To show my appreciation, I’ll send you a free copy of my short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction as a thank you gift.

All support is greatly appreciated.

Treasuring Poetry – Meet poet and novelist, Jude Itakali, and a review

Welcome to fabulous poet and novelist, Jude Itakali. As a fellow African, Jude is from Uganda, I always feel we have a lot in common and that our love of this continent, its wildlife, and its people, shows through in our writing. Welcome Jude.

What is your favourite style of poetry to read?

It’s so difficult to choose. I love different forms for different reasons and employ them depending on the purpose.

However, if I had to choose one, I’d go with “haibun”. The transition from vivid verbiage and concise prose, to a juxtaposed haiku which most often provides the ‘wow’ moment, really hits the spot for me. So yeah, haibun it is.

What is your favourite poem in your favourite style to read?

It’s near impossible to pick a favourite as I read poetry in a cocktail of forms and never really remember which haibun or sonnet was my favourite. But I’ll include two haibuns that I read recently that really got me:

Susan B. Auld

 Directed by reception I wait. But not in the same room where I once sat with other pregnant women, where we spoke soft conversations, smiled in recognition, crocheted pastel blankets, read parenting magazines, made lists of things to buy, to do. There is no baby now

winter rain

an empty nest

beneath the tree

Margaret Domaus

 His fingers – are what I can’t stop conjuring. Long and slender nails trim and clean, a baker’s hands lightly dusted with flour.
       snowbound     

 the underground pulse       

of hot springs

What is your favourite style of poetry to write? Why?

Another tough choice. Ask me on a different day and I’ll likely have a different answer. But Afro now, I’ll go with ‘etheree’. I love its descending/ascending order of syllables depending on whether to write a reverse etheree or not. This is because writing in this form enables me to expand my musing upon a single word or simple thought, or else to comprehend complex musings and reduce them to a particular word or single thought.

What is your favourite of your own poems in your favourite style?

My favourite amongst the haibun I’ve written is the most difficult question I have to answer here. It’s impossible to choose amongst my babies. I write all of them with so much emotion. Because of this, I’ll simply pick the most recent haibun from my blog. It’s a little bit longer than a single paragraph and haiku, so I’ll include the link instead:

World of the fae #haibun poetry

How do you promote your poetry and poetry books?

Not very well I’m afraid. Promotion is a work in progress. For now, I write for my blog, twitter, and do creative reels on my Instagram. I’m still trying to figure out the self-promotion thing, so any help is absolutely welcome.

Thank you so much for listening to me mumbling.

My review of Jude’s latest book, Dark Butterflies: Poetry and short stories of mental health Picture caption: The beautiful cover of Dark Butterflies, featuring blue and black butterflies on a dark background

Dark Butterflies is a deep and compelling exploration of the darker side of life. Itakali uses poems and short stories to expose the mental health issues that lie hidden under the shiny surface of societies. Some of the poems and short prose pieces interspersed with syllabic poetry, are told from two or even multiple points of view and experiences, which I really liked. One of my favourite prose pieces is A Tale of Two Beauties which is truly heart warming.

A few of the themes explored in this book, with a relevant quote, are as follows:

Child abuse – ‘You carry the mark of a black kiss,
A bruise etched into your every wish’ from Child fleeing light

Loss of hope – ‘All wonder diminishes in their reflection
The light that once sparked is gone’ from Unseen

Split personalities – ‘By day she is Anne
By night she is Liz’ from Split

Drug abuse – ‘Syringe on the cracked floor
Pills to numb the stench of failure’ from Dark themes we do not see

Loneliness – ‘In the dark hour before dawn, I scale the precipice
Of loneliness. If only for a glimpse of a dream.’

Each of the harrowing mental illnesses or seemingly inescapable circumstances, is handled with compassion and understanding by the poet.

This is a beautiful collection that opens the reader’s eyes to the places in life where the shadows have ownership and trauma is the dwellers daily companion.

You can purchase Dark Butterflies from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Butterflies-Poetry-stories-mental-ebook/dp/B0CJ54YLST

Jude also has another poetry book and two novels in the Realms of the Mist series. You can find all of Jude’s books here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Jude-Itakali/author/B093BJSYTB

About Jude Itakali Picture caption: Jude Itakali’s author photograph from Amazon US

Jude Itakali is a poet, writer and fiction author from the suburbs of Kampala, Uganda.

Itakali never liked sharing his books as a child. That has changed, especially since he started writing his own.

A lifelong obsession with ‘the good story’ evoked his personal phrase, “Reality is all around us, but fantasy is a part of us.” Egged on by a conniving appetite to consume works across genres, Itakali crafts the compelling themes and rounded characters in his books.

When not ‘life-ing’ or pursuing infrequent exercise routines, you can find Itakali writing fiction in a small cubicle, or under a tree, furnishing his website, Tales told different, with life epiphanies, ponderous prose, and poetry.

About Robbie Cheadle

Award-winning, bestselling author, Robbie Cheadle, has published fourteen children’s books and three poetry books. Her work also features in several poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

The eleven Sir Chocolate children’s picture books, co-authored by Robbie and Michael Cheadle, are written in sweet, short rhymes which are easy for young children to follow and are illustrated with pictures of delicious cakes and cake decorations. Each book also includes simple recipes or biscuit art directions which children can make under adult supervision.

Robbie and Michael Cheadle have recently launched a new series of children’s books called Southern African Safari Adventures. The first book, Neema the Misfit Giraffe is now available from Amazon.

Robbie’s blog includes recipes, fondant and cake artwork, poetry, and book reviews. https://robbiesinspiration.wordpress.com/

My Interview with Sean Taylor on Bad Girls, Good Guys, and Two-Fisted Action

I just came across this interview I did back in January with Sean Taylor for Bad Girls, Good Guys, and Two-Fisted Action. I’m proud of this one, so I hope you’ll check it out.

https://seanhtaylor.blogspot.com/2024/01/kaye-lynne-booth-who-almost-wasnt.html

Aging Gracefully, or Not

I’ve never been one to worry about aging. I always thought I would just age gracefully, just letting the process happen naturally, sans a few boxes of hair color over the years. But recently, I’ve been feeling it more. My joints get stiff when the weather turns cold, I need a nap after a trip to town, it’s harder to get up from my seat at times, and I can’t seem to stay awake to write into the night, like I used to. I notice more wrinkles each time I glance in a mirror, and there’s considerably more gray in my hair. Maybe it’s because I just turned 60 that I notice the changes more now, or maybe it’s because I have been out of work for almost a year and I’m struggling to keep up on car payments, insurance, and basic necessities, but I’m having more and more trouble in dealing mentally and emotionally with the everyday stresses of life. Sometimes I feel like I cannot take anymore, but problems just keep coming at me. It has begun to effect my writing life, as well as the reality around me.

In the past, even when the rest of my life was falling apart, my writing was the one thing I had control of. I could keep it on track and moving forward. So when my Kickstarter camapign for Sarah didn’t fund, I tried not to take it too hard. I wasn’t done writing the book, which should have been finished in December, so I just pushed back my production schedule, setting Sarah for release in May instead of March, and I decided to add a May Kickstarter campaign for The D.I.Y. Author which had not been previously planned with my author services offered as some of the rewards. I reached out for the opportunity to have my own books, Delilah, Hidden Secrets, and The Rock Star & The Outlaw, available in audiobook with AI audio narrations on the spur of the moment, seeing a chance to possibly expand my audiences, and made all three of them $2.99 on Google Play during the entire month of March. I guess when I’ve made it through May, I’ll find out if these choices were solid decisions or acts of desperation, but I picked myself up by my bootstraps and carried on in either case.

My dream has always been to take my writing full time and not have to hold down the proverbial day job, but it is a slow climb to making enough from my work to do that. I haven’t given up on finding a day job, but lately I’ve been thinking that maybe my age is what is stopping me from arousing the interest of potential employers. I put in the time and work to earn two masters degrees, but I’m wondering if my efforts didn’t come too late in life. Does turning 60 and entering the world of senior discounts mean that I’m too old to be gainfully employed?

And it’s not like I haven’t been trying to use my writing skills to gain remote employment. I’ve put in more applications than I can count, some with over a hundred applicants, and most of them don’t even respond back to tell me to take a hike. I’ve thrown out my hook for editor and proofreader, as well as content writer and copywriter for countless companies without even a nibble. Maybe I’m using the wrong bait. Am I over educated?

I keep telling myself that something has to break soon, and I do have a couple of promising interviews scheduled even now, but as I approach the milestone of being unemployed for a year, I’m beginning to wonder. I find myself worrying more and more about what is around the next corner for me. The worry eats at me more than it did when I was younger. The depression weighs on me, making it feel like the next sunrise may not come. It makes it harder to focus on the part of my life that I’ve always maintained control of, and it’s more difficult to focus on putting words on the page.

I press on, putting in applications, interviewing, and writing my heart out with specific goals in mind. I had to push back the production schedule on Sarah and change my marketing plan for The D.I.Y. Author, but if I can meet my production goals for this year, it should be a pretty good year for WordCrafter Press. In addition to the above mentioned books, I’ll be releasing a poetry anthology, three books in the My Backyard Friends children’s series, and two different short fiction anthologies. I’m using that as something to look forward to and it motivates me to keep at it. I don’t know if this is what they call aging gracefully. Gracefully or not, guess I’ll just have to keep on going and see what happens.

About Kaye Lynne Booth

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets; Book 1 of her Women in the West adventure series, Delilah, and her Time-Travel Adventure novel, The Rock Star & The Outlaw. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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Book Review: Cashing Checks with Jim Morrison

About the Book

“CASHING CHECKS with Jim Morrison offers a surreal cascade of archetypes from, among others, ancient Greece, the Bible, American Literature, and pop culture. Moving through it is the speaker’s companion spirit and guru, Jim Morrison-Lizard King, Narcissus/Adonis. Set in a world where, in Albert Einstein’s words, ‘reality is merely an illusion, ‘ Lindsey Martin-Bowen’s poems are alive with wit, evocative imagery, insight, and sometimes downright playfulness. Through heeding Morrison’s counsel to ‘go weirder, ‘ she’s made this collection reader-friendly.”-William Trowbridge, Missouri Poet Laureate, 2012-2016 Author, Call Me Fool (2022)
“In Lindsey Martin-Bowen’s CASHING CHECKS with Jim Morrison, I relish every word, compelled by the poet’s stories and singing voice. Fantasy and fact merge in these invocations of the seminal American rocker Morrison and of his spirit. Join me as a reader in exploring this exciting testament to the power of language to resurrect history and wonder.”-Denise Low, Kansas Poet Laureate, 2007-2009 Poetry Unbound Featured Poet

My Review

I was thrilled to receive a print copy of Cashing Checks with Jim Morrison, by Lindsay Martin-Bowen. The title alone, was enough to peak my interest, and lend anticipation as to what I could expect within its covers.

This collection of poems is all about hanging out, and philosphizing with the spirit of the late, great, Jim Morrison. I was amazed by the way the author captured the voice of Morrison in many of the poems, enough to let me believe briefly that maybe the author truly does converse with the dead musician. Included are poems that serve as social commentaries on life and love, on the state of the world today, and on possible futures; topics which every one of us can relate to.

So many of these poems struck a chord with me that it is impossible to pick one favorite. but I really loved the imagry in “Coming Back to Me”.

The dawn inhales and holds its breath, drawing

wisps of clouds up the foothills, where theyb hover.

Jim steps out of the mist, unsteady as some soldier

searching for his platoon on a surreal battlefield.

He wedges boot heels into fissures be3tween rock

ledges, ambles down to where gravel meets asphalt.

Then he steps onto the road leading to my Dutch

Colonel on a corner in this mountain college town,

where I chose to spend many of my remaining days,

watching parades of seasons pass in the hills’

keleidescope of colors revolving — in fall, scarlet,

gold, and bronze. In winter, cobalt blue and white.

Spring brings a rushed array — one week yellow,

the next red, then purple, and green never leaves

till late August, just before the aspen twitter

with orange and gold coins glittering in sunlight.

I don’t see a move to Kansas or any spot east, wonder

if Jim and I will land in Venice, his California beach.

He raises a hand and yells, ‘lo,’ his voice echoing

down the street, falling at my knees, now trembling.

When he heads my way, I smell his Jade East, see

his hazy body morph into solid physique, black

leather pants, jacket, and sandaled feet. He lifts his chin,

shakes his curls, then lowers his face and stares at me.

Still trembling, I remember our jaunts on a motorcycle

and a persnickety jeep — wonder if I’ll ever be free again

or if I’ll ride highways like some banshee for eternity.

And I also enjoyed the section of Tanka strings, always the sucker for syllabic poetry. Most have five Tankas, but “Jim Morrison and I Lose Our Way on a Moon Dog Night” isonly two, and short enough to share with you here.

The drive home’s always

this way — too long, when sudden

changes shakes us up.

After a few warm, sunny

days, cold winds hit us again.

Tonight, an odd haze

encircles the moon like white

light in an X-ray

outlining a frail hip bone

fallen into necrosis.

An unusual collection of poetry through which to view the world through different eyes; perhaps through the eyes of Jim Morrison. I thoroughly enjoyed Cashing Checks with Jim Morrison, and I give it five quills.

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Kaye Lynne Booth does honest book reviews on Writing to be Read in exchange for ARCs. Have a book you’d like reviewed? You can request a review on the Book Review tab above.

Wrapping Up the WordCrafter “Northtown Angelus” Book Blog Tour

This is the last day of the WordCrafter “Northtown Angelus” Book Blog Tour. To wrap-up we have a double stop today, with my review of the book here, on Writing to be Read, and then on to Undawnted for a final guest post from the author, Robert White. But , let before we get started, let me offer a reminder to be sure and leave comments when you visit a stop to be entered in the giveaway below. You can click on the links in the schedule to go back and visit any stop you may have missed along the way. Undawnted does not accept comments, but you can leave your comments for the second stop on today’s tour here.

Giveaway

Each stop where you leave a a comment,

you get another chance to win one of five digital copies,

and one signed print copy of Northtown Angelus.

Tour Schedule

Mon. March 11 – Writing to be Read – Author Interview

Tues. March 12 – Robbie’s Inspiration – Guest Post

Wed. March 13 – Patty’s Worlds – Author Interview

Thurs. March 14 – Writing to be Read – Review/Undawnted – Guest Post

About Northtown Angelus

Johnny Dillon took his life. His wife Cora wants to know why. The Northtown cops don’t care; they closed the case as a suicide. The M.E. hasn’t got any answers for the discrepancies Ray Jarvi discovered in the autopsy report and from what Johnny’s wife told him about the days leading up to his decision to take his life.

This is the beginning of an investigation for private investigator Ray Jarvi, who follows a twisting path of corruption and vice in his rust-belt town on the shores of Lake Erie to help her find some resolution to the worst day in her life. Like a medieval play between warring devils and angels battling for a soul, he must deal with a variety of Northtowners who play one part or the other on his journey to find those answers. Getting past one obstacle only leads to another—and another. Before long, Jarvi does not know whom to trust. He realizes nothing in his town is what it appears to be and that there are some dangerous people who like it that way.

Purchase Link: https://www.amazon.com/Northtown-Angelus-Raimo-Jarvi-Investigates/dp/B0CRQ66L4Y

About Author Robert White

Robert T. White writes from Northeastern Ohio. He has published several crime, noir, hardboiled novels and genre stories in various magazines and anthologies. He’s been nominated for a Derringer. “Inside Man,” a crime story, was selected for Best American Mystery Stories 2019. His second hardboiled p.i. series (after the Thomas Haftmann mysteries begun in 2011 with Haftmann’s Rules) features Raimo Jarvi in Northtown Eclipse (Fahrenheit Press, 2018) and Northtown Blitz (2020). British website Murder, Mayhem & More cited When You Run with Wolves (rpt. 2018) as a finalist for Top Ten Crime Books of 2018 and Perfect Killer in 2019. “If I Let You Get Me” was selected for the Bouchercon 2019 anthology and The Russian Heist (Moonshine Cove, 2019), another crime thriller, was selected by Thriller Magazine as winner of its Best Novel category. “Out of Breath” and Other Stories is a mixed collection of mainstream and noir fiction (Red Giant Press, 2013).

My Review

Northtown Angelus, by Robert White, is book 3 in the Raimo Jarvi Investigates series. This story reads like a classic hardboiled crime fiction tale, complete with flawed P.I. protagonist and colorful inner city characters and setting. The writing style and lack of dialog tags was a little off-putting at first. It kind of grew on me though, and once I became emmersed in the story, I hardly noticed unless I got confused about who was speaking.

Dealing with less than desirable people and neighborhoods, is bound to give anyone a grim outlook on life. But for Ray Jarvi, a P.I. with an unfortunate history which left him scarred, inside and out, working those neighborhoods throws low lifes, drug dealers, and other criminal types in his path at every turn, has turned his outlook grim indeed. He’s learned not to expect too much from his fellow man. Ray is on a case to find out what really happened to man the cops wrote off as suicide, for the greiving widow, but finds himself in the middle of something even bigger. Ray doesn’t wait for things to happen, he pushes peoples buttons and makes things happen, always on the offensive. But when a friend and employee is brutally beaten while doing survellience for him, we see a softer side of Ray, as someone who really does give a damn, before donning his social armor once more and going back after the villians who are responsible.

Fast moving and hard hitting, Northtown Angelus is all that a hard-boiled crime novel should be. I give it four quills.

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Don’t forget to visit the second stop on today’s tour to hear more from author Robert White on Northtown Angelus and his Raimo Jarvis Investigates series. You can visit that stop here: Remember you can come back here to leave a comment for today’s entry in the giveaway.

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That wraps up the WordCrafter Northtown Angelus Book Blog Tour. Thank you all for joining us. Be sure to visit each stop through the schedule at the top of this post for more chances to win a copy of this hardboiled crime fiction novel. I hope you enjoyed meeting Robert White and learning more about Northtown Angelus.

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Day 3 of the WordCrafter “Northtown Angelus” Book Blog Tour

For Day 3 of the WordCrafter Northtown Angelus Book Blog Tour we’re over at Patty’s Worlds, where Patty Fletcher interviews author Robert White. Join us, and leave a comment for a chance at a free copy of this hardboiled crime fiction novel.

Welcome to Day 3 of the WordCrafter Northtown Angelus Book Blog Tour