CHARLIE BRAY’S BOOK REVIEWS – Five Indie Books to Enjoy

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SEBASTIAN by Christoph Fischer

Sebastian is the second book in Christoph Fischer’s Three Nations Trilogy and follows The Luck of the Weissensteiners, which I reviewed back in February. This second offering does not follow on from the Weissensteiners, but does totally reflect the author’s style. The time period and location are different, and without doubt the reader’s perspective is widened as a result.

The heroes of the book again enjoy a relatively passive existence and the reader’s knowledge of the important world events of the time is fed, not by a fly on the wall experience, but through the eyes of characters removed from the action.

And yet, as with the Weissensteiners, the book is very much character based.

Sebastian is the story of a young man who has his leg amputated before World War I. When his father is drafted to the war it falls on to him to run the family grocery store in Vienna, to grow into his responsibilities, bear loss and uncertainty and hopefully find love.

He, his extended family, their friends and the store employees experience the ‘golden days’ of pre-war Vienna and then Fischer convincingly describes life in Vienna during the war, how it affected the people in an otherwise safe and prosperous location, the beginning of the end for the Monarchy, the arrival of modern thoughts and trends, the Viennese class system and the end of an era. This is a fabulous piece of fictional history, beautifully told. The characters reveal flaws consistent with the human race, and yet there are no flaws in this author’s descriptive powers. You’re there with him every step of the way on location. You experience the era as if you’ve just stepped out of a time machine and are left to wonder at the sights around you.

A wonderful read which I cannot recommend strongly enough. Two down and one to go. I can’t wait for the final part of the Three Nations Trilogy

Also available from Amazon.co.uk 

THE UNSURRENDERED by Joyce Shaughnessy

This is the last book in the trilogy, Pearl of the Orient.

Joyce Shaughnessy’s story focuses on the Japanese invasion of the Phillipine Islands during the Second World War and reflects the amazing amount of accurate research that Joyce must have committed to. And yet committed is the wrong word to use as she very much regards it as a labour of love.

The research proved to be time well spent as this is an amazing piece of military history, where events are real and the characters are brought to life. Both the pain and the love are tangible as the main characters Carla,a Filipino and Jacob , an American weave there way through this remarkable story.

After the surrender to the Japanese they join forces with other Filipino-American guerrillas to wage a continued war against the occupying Japanese.

The author successfully blends a fictional love story into the quite horrific realities of this period of World War 2. Fact and fiction merge beautifully and make this a must read for followers of military history and romance.

Readers are treated to a whole spectrum of emotions and there will be times when you need a handkerchief to wipe your tears and times when you need it to hide behind.

Also available from Amazon.co.uk

ONE CHANCE FOR GLORY  by Edward T. Heikell and Robert L. Heikell

 

A very good mix of historical fact and fiction, created by the Heikell brothers.

Most people are well aware of Charles Lindbergh and his well-known 3600-mile solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927 while few have even heard of the incredible feat accomplished by Clyde Pangborn.  He played the key role in making a nonstop 5500-mile Pacific Ocean crossing four years later, in 1931.   During the crossing, Pangborn had to slip outside in the frigid night to make repairs at 17,000 feet, jettison the landing gear to reduce weight and drag and put the airplane into a terrifying high-speed dive to 1400 feet to restart the engine somewhere over the Bering Sea.

During an action-packed 41-hour flight, he eventually belly-landed in an airfield carved out of the sagebrush near Wenatchee, Washington.

Although the flight was nearly twice a long as the famous ‘Lindbergh crossing’ and the expertise required was considerably more taxing, Pangborn received insignificantly less fan fare.

An incredible story, extremely well told. It literally grabs you by the seat of your pants

Edward (Ted) Heikell and Robert (Bob) Heikell are brothers born in Yakima, Washington, and raised in Wapato, Washington

Also available from Amazon.co.uk

 

CHASING HEART by Mark Lingane

To all intents and purposes this book is a bumper bundle. It strays successfully into so many genres that, whilst being difficult to categorise, it is an absolute joy to read.

Action and adventure, romance, humour, thriller. You get the lot in one glorious package.

Basically it is a story of a lawyer, Ellen Martin who is dispatched by her dodgy employer to a remote part of South America to undertake a charitable case, which is in reality everything but.

She becomes embroiled in a revolution and is rescued more than once by the man who will doubtless one day become the love of her life – Alex Heart.

This couple are meant to be together. A modern day Burton and Taylor. But each one fights the attraction and the relationship seems doomed from the start. And yet they are continually thrown together, both in this story and in the sequel that is soon to be released.

Mark Lingane excels at characterisation, dialogue and fast paced action. But he is just as good at tender romance and volcanic passion. No wonder the book strays in and out of so many genres. This guy is master of them all. He somehow creates a tangible bond between his characters and readers and more than once I’ve been caught by my wife shouting out advice to them in the middle of a hectic scene.

An absolute page-turner that hooks you in from the beginning. Once you pick it up, you will not put it down until, sadly, it is all over. The real good news is that the sequel is on its way and you will soon be able to join the intrepid couple on a new set of adventures.

Also available on Amazon.co.uk

And finally a Guest Review by Christoph Fischer:

OPEN HOUSE by Charlie Bray

 

“Open House” by Charlie Bray is the first in his Cove Castle Comedy Series and it is off to a promising start. An aristocratic family runs into financial difficulties and has to open their house to the public, at least for certain people and projects, such as a hunting party, a film crew and ghost tourists.

Charlie Bray portrays the British class system and its difficulties to stay intact in modern society extremely well. The family concerned struggle in hilarious situations with the outside / real world and with the decay of the conservative values amongst their own ranks. Catalogue brides, tree hugging activists outside their premises and rebellious family members provide an excellent mix of adventures for the reader and the author tells it with great wit and talent. A must read for any fan of the genre and anyone in need of a good laugh.

Also available from Amazon.co.uk

 

 

 

I hope you enjoyed reading my reviews as much as I enjoyed writing them. I look forward to publishing more reviews soon. Meanwhile… Happy reading, Charlie.