Fear Itself

by Bette Bono

After a threat at her home, retired teacher Aggie May drives through a blizzard to return to the Lodge, the quiet retirement village that serves as a meeting place for a group of senior time travelers who solve mysteries from the past. She reconnects with Lodge director Abe Irving and other friends and is soon involved in a new mission. The source for the mission is Chaya Reese, an elderly woman who escaped Nazi Germany as a child when her parents put her on the Kindertransport. In a bid to understand what was happening in America as Hitler rose to power, Chaya asks the time travelers to investigate America First and the pro-fascist German American Bund, two groups active in the United States in the 1930s. As Aggie and Abe explore this dark history, they grow closer. But when their safety is threatened by unexpected danger, they are forced to confront their obligation to act against evil.

257 pages, Paperback

Published August 20, 2021

About the author

Bette Bono’s writing mixes genres and incorporates many things she loves including history, mystery, time travel, adventure, and romance.

Her novels, The Better Angels and Fear Itself, are about a group of time-traveling senior citizens who use their ability to solve mysteries in the past. A third book in the series is in the works.

Bette has also written two short story collections: Neighbors & Other Stories, includes tales about coal mining, vaudeville, a Nazi exhibition of “degenerate art,” Coney Island, wasps, poisonous plants, space debris falling from the sky, old people falling in love, young people falling in love, Grand Central Station, synesthesia, and the meaning of life.

The Second Chance Shop & Other Stories includes stories about ghosts, baseball, fortunetelling, Brooklyn in 1902, Nevada in 1958, and a cat on a Chicago fire escape in 1962.

All her books are available on Amazon in both print and Kindle formats. They are free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers. The Better Angels and Fear Itself are also available as Audiobooks.

Bette has worked as a writer, public school teacher, teachers’ union steward, Harvard-trained lawyer, and D.C. political analyst. She lives in Connecticut with her family. Learn more at bettebono.com.

Reviews

[Richard Seltzer]

In the main plot, a team of senior time travelers go back to the 1930s to glimpse history in the making, not to change the outcome. The past events are typical of the time, not ones highlighted in history books. -- gatherings and demonstrations in support of Hitler in America, with eerie echoes of today's politics. We see those moments stripped of hindsight, as they were experienced by those who lived through them. This technique is fertile. Bette Bono could illuminate any historical period this way. I look forward to reading a long series of such novels from her.

[Meira Rosenberg]

I loved Bette Bono's first novel, The Better Angels, and Fear Itself is a wonderful second book in what I hope will be a series. In this well-written novel, Aggie and the other characters once again go back in time, visit terrible events in American History, and see in action members of the pro-fascist, anti-semitic group, the America First Committee, and the German American Bund, a Nazi and Nazi-sympathizing group. The story kept this reader hooked as it dealt with very serious themes, dramatic and tense subplots, and the budding romance between Aggie and Abe. I love the fact that these senior citizen, time-traveling detectives are portrayed as smart, competent people, and I look forward to Aggie's next adventure!

[shawn m clay]

Loved this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was well written and entertaining. I usually bounce between several books at a time, but Fear Itself held my attention from start to finish.