Debt of Fear Review

Hello Everyone!  I know its been awhile since I last posted, but I have been BUSILY reading  (I have finished approximately 5.5 books since The Nightingale..... (3.5 of which were re-reads in anticipation of their sequels)... and so I am going to post a couple reviews this weekend..... so here goes:

Debt of Fear

By: Michael Reid Jr

I just want to preface this review with a couple things.  First and foremost, this author is new to the literary world and is someone that I have been in contact with several different times.  I told him that I would happily read/review his first book (unbiased-ly), and try and help bring some awareness to a great cause.   

I came across this book on Instagram (I don't even really know how), and I was initially intrigued by the fact that Mike's posts had stated that all proceeds from the book's sale would go to helping US soldiers that struggle with PTSD.  This immediately drew me in, as I have had a close member of my family end his life due to complications from that very illness.  After talking with Mike through the messenger app on Instagram, I made the decision to purchase a Kindle edition of the story and after a couple weeks of it sitting in my online library, I was finally able to dive in......  (SPOILERS AHEAD OBVIOUSLY)

  When I first started this book, I will have to admit that I really STRUGGLED.  It was not the setting, it was not the character development, it was not the genre (though it was a BIG BIG BIG change from my typically reading material), and it was not the author's prose...no, these were all great.....  IT WAS THE MILITARY JARGON. 

  Okay, I am going to stop and say right now, that this book is not bad, it is actually VERY ENTERTAINING (and has a deliciously surprising ending).  It's just that I am not military and did not grow up in a military home.  I try to be very patriotic, I LOVE AMERICA and believe that it is by far the number one country in the world.  But keeping all this in mind, I am just a typical American book-lover who (if I do say so myself) has a pretty high reading comprehension, yet I am almost embarrassed to say that I was quite lost early on in this story because I could not follow all of the military slang.  However, I was able to power through the vocabulary barrier by just deciding not to worry about the specifics of what an LMG or whatever actually was, as it was not overly imperative to the story line.  Upon completion of the book, I am pleased that I did continue with it (also, I am not a quitter especially where books are concerned), and it turned out to be very enjoyable.  Let me say too that I am well aware that this book was written for a military audience, so I didn't want to give up on it, as I had heard wonderful things about it.

  

  The story begins in the current time period but then quickly jumps to the past and into the back stories of two of the main characters.  It explains the how and the why of our "hero" (Logan) and his reasoning for winding up stationed back at Camp Lejeune.  Logan's back story is a sad one that includes the loss of a close friend while stationed in the Middle East.  He returns home after suffering from stress related to his combat and the loss of his partner.  Upon returning home, he slowly starts becoming a part of society again.

Next, we are also given the history of our "villain" (Amir).  He begins his life as a US soldier, going overseas to fight with his comrades.  Unfortunately, he later has a sad encounter at an Olive Garden back in the states, that causes him to re-evaluate his life.

Get ready for some pretty high doses of terrorism that definitely hit home pretty hard; thanks to the evil mass shootings that our world has been experiencing lately.  In this particular book, The Eiffel Tower acts as the site of a terrorist bombing that is somehow tied back to the United States.  Not long after, The Water Tower Place in Chicago is hit by another attack, causing the US government to start a manhunt for the culprits. 

  Enter Samantha: another key player in the game of "find the terrorists before they strike again".  She is Logan Falcone's old (yet, soon-to-be rekindled) flame and a member of the FBI stationed in Chicago.  She enlists Logan's help when she is thrust in the middle of the "whodunnit mystery" by her boss and the US government.

  Eventually, by many different means, Logan and Sam are able to track down the suspects right before they pull off another bombing, and they wind up with Amir in custody.  The terrorist decides to enlighten the US government on the fact that one of their very own Generals is the mastermind behind all of the bombings.  Amir is able to bargain with the group and promises to release more information and also help them nab the General.  In the end, the General is captured and arrested, but Amir manages to slip through Logan and his men's fingers to escape with another terrorist group, leaving room for.......A SEQUEL!!

Overall, this book was quite good and I definitely recommend it to those interested in military genres or psychological thrillers.  Apart from my personal struggle with the military lingo (and please do not let that be the reason that you do not read this book, as it does not take away from the story-line), I found this literary work to be both entertaining and thrilling.  I did not foresee the ending and I would definitely purchase the sequel.  For a debut novel, this book does an excellent job of introducing us to Michael Reid Jr's writing style and hopefully lays the foundation for even more works from him, whether they be about Logan or whomever.  Please take the time to purchase this book, if not for the adrenaline rush that reading it will bring, than at least to help save more of our precious veterans' lives.   

A Bientot,

LadyJane

The Nightingale Review

The Nightingale

By Kristin Hannah

Just want to start by stating that it took me SO LONG (way longer than normal, might I add) to finish this book.... not because it was boring, but because I have been sooooo terrribly busy these last couple weeks.  So once I finally got around to giving it my much-deserved undivided attention, I blew right through it.  So, as promised, here is my personal review  (SPOILERS AHEAD OBVIOUSLY):

     This book is one of those special ones that slowly creeps under your skin and into your soul without you really truly realizing it.  When I first started this book, it took me a couple days to really get into it.  It wasn't that it was not entertaining to me, it caught my interest right away, but it was that it was from a slightly different genre than I had been addicted to lately, and I really needed to reset my mind to give it the attention it deserved.  It is definitely not one of those books that takes your breath away at the end of each chapter, begging you to read just one more page (even though it is 10:45 pm and your alarm goes off at 5:00 am) but instead, is one of those powerfully written novels that finishes each chapter with one or two lines that hit you straight in the heart.  On numerous occasions, it created a sense of melancholy in me as I remembered my own grandfather living through and fighting against the horrors of WWII.  He very well could have been one of the Allied pilots that Isabelle bravely led to freedom, or perhaps one not so lucky to be led home at all.  This type of story is not one to be taken lightly and I do not recommend it if you are looking for a feel-good "beach read".  It touches on some of the terrible things that the Nazis forced upon France and much of Europe and has some pretty graphic content.  Hannah does an excellent job, though, of bringing beauty into such a sad time, as we rarely get reminded that, though it was wartime and difficult for many during the 1940s, there were still things to smile and rejoice about in the world.

      

“If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are. Today’s young people want to know everything about everyone. They think talking about a problem will solve it. I come from a quieter generation. We understand the value of forgetting, the lure of reinvention.” 

                           -Vianne Mauriac, The Nightingale

The story takes place in two time periods--the present (USA-1995)--and the past (France-WWII 1941-1945).  The "present" time period is set in first person POV by an unknown narrator.  You get bits and pieces of information throughout the "present" time period as to whom the narrator may be, but you are not told until the last chapter of the book.  The "past" time period focuses on the separate stories of two sisters, Vianne (the older, married sister) and Isabelle (described as 19 and extremely impetuous).  Vianne's story is one of hardship from the beginning.  The story tells of her early pregnancy and marriage to her husband, Antoine, and the eventual birth of their daughter Sophie after many miscarriages.  As war comes to France, she says goodbye to her husband as he heads to war and she takes on the duties of the household alone.  Eventually German soldiers overrun her town, and a soldier takes her house as his own.  As the story unfolds, Vianne changes as a character.  Initially, I really struggled with her, as she was very weak and reminded me of a simpering mouse.  She had no backbone and continually hid her sheep-like acceptance of her situation behind the idea that she needed to preserve her home and do what was best for her daughter.  Thankfully, as the story moves along and her life becomes riddled with more loss and struggling, she slowly becomes a notable heroine and it was so refreshing to see her actually make a difference in the war in the final two years.  She eventually risks not only her own, but her daughter Sophie's life as well, to save countless Jewish children from being sent to concentration camps.  She gets a happy ending, which you will find well-deserved for her by the time the war is over in 1945.

      

“I always thought it was what I wanted: to be loved and admired. Now I think perhaps I'd like to be known.” 

                      -Isabelle Rossignol, The Nightingale

Isabelle's story is one of much more excitement and danger.  Early on, she is an extremely patriotic French woman who wants nothing more than to fight the Germans singlehandedly.  She is feisty and fiery and acts before she thinks (much to the chagrin of her sister and father).  Eventually, she becomes part of the Resistance and takes on the alias Juliette Gervaise, and, finally, The Nightingale. She risks her life dozens and dozens and dozens of times over the years to rescue downed RAF and Allied pilots, by smuggling them out of German-occupied France and into Spain---her biggest asset to her success being that she is nothing but a woman, stunningly beautiful, yet overlooked as a threat. Throughout her story, Isabelle's biggest struggle, apart from staying alive, stems from her extreme desire to be loved and accepted.  She has been turned away, time and time again by her family and friends, and searches throughout the book for that one person who will love her as she is, impetuous and wild.  Towards the final chapters of the book, she does find happiness and solace in a fellow Resistance operative, yet the war is not kind to them and does not discriminate.  In the end, she comes to terms with the fact that one doesn't need to be loved to have love for oneself, and that the love you have for yourself is the most important thing of all.  Ironically enough though, during her time in the war, she makes a difference in hundreds of soldiers' lives, resulting in her gaining the love and respect from thousands of family members and friends to which the POWs return home.

The final chapter brought tears to my eyes, as you finally realize who the narrator of the present story actually is.  She is returning with her son to a 50 year anniversary of the end of the war, as a passeur, and is being recognized and reunited with the same people she fought beside and endured the long years of the war.  I will not spoil the ending for you, but I will say that it was one of those that I did not foresee (and I am usually am pretty good at guessing).  Hannah does an excellent job of tying loose ends and does not leave the reader wondering (though I did shed some tears here and there during the final few chapters).  

I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this book, especially if you have a love of HISTORICAL FICTION...  I, personally, love HF but had never read a book set in Europe during WWII... Being the Yankee that I am, it was nice to read something not set in the United States, as that is what I am most used to when it comes to wartime novels.  

Please feel free and COMMENT COMMENT COMMENT.... ask questions, leave reviews of the book, or just leave an emoji, but I would love to know who is visiting and reading my work!  Thanks so much!

A Bientot,

LadyJane

"We're All Mad Here"

Hello World and......


*******WELCOME TO MY BLOG *******

This first post is just your typical "get-to-know" the blogger & all that jazz, so...


First things first:

My name is Maria.  I'm from a small, rural town outside of Indianapolis called Fairland.  I currently reside about 20mins away from my hometown on a small spot of land with my husband, Brad, two daughters, Caroline & Vivian, teacup MalShi, Milo, adoptive Great Pyrenees, Daisy, and two barn cats, Felix (who has only three working legs) and Scorch (of whom we THOUGHT was a boy...WRONG...new kitties on the way!)


Second things second??:

Thank you so much for visiting my blog!  I am so excited to do this.  I LOVED  recreational writing in school and have always wanted to get back to it, so this blog is gonna kinda be my thing for awhile.  Please visit often, post comments/questions/recipes/whatever, and TELL YOUR FRIENDS!


Third things third:

This blog is mostly going to be me rating/reviewing/rambling on about books.  MY BIGGEST PASSION IS READING, and I have always loved discussing literature with anyone (human, animal, rock) that would listen.  I read all types of books (with my least favorite being non-fiction), though my first few posts may focus on the YA genre, as I have been on quite the kick lately.  I'm HOPING to try and blog at least once a week (if not more often) or MOST DEFINITELY after I finish a book.


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WISH ME LUCK and happy reading ya'll!

A Bientot,
LadyJane