Emotionally charged historical fiction

The Vengeance of Samuel Val by Elyse Hoffman is a suspense-filled, edge-of-your-seat historical fiction that opens in a WWII Russian village at a time in history when the German Army, military, SS, and German police units took an active part in authorized mass murders of Jews in the Soviet Union. The story opens with a young man by the name of Samuel Val, attending synagogue on the Sabbath with his family and neighbors in the quaint Jewish village of Khruvina.

About the book: The Vengeance of Samuel Val

This Historical fiction hits the ground running with action as the normal Sabbath gathering is visited by the Nazi SS led by Viktor Naden, the Beast of Belourussia. Samuel is the only survivor. He witnesses the smells and sounds of his family and friends being burned alive. As a teen, he is shot and left for dead but is rescued by an anti-Nazi group known as the Black Foxes. He joins their tanks but harbors a thirst for vengeance. His true mission is killing Victor Naden to avenge his family. His cares about nothing else.

That mission is put on hold when he must escort a Jewish refugee to a safe house. All is going according to plan until he realizes that the safe house brings him to within reach of Victor Naden. Samuel has decisions to make. At what cost will he fulfill his quest to kill Naden? Will he sacrifice innocents to accomplish his goal?

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Book review: The Vengeance of Samuel Val

This story reads like a slow-burning fuse of suspense and uncertainty. Each emotionally charged chapter hooks and urges the reader to go one more chapter. The unforgettable characters are flawed and easy to care about. I admit I am a fan of Hoffman’s Paranormal WWII fiction including The Book of Uriel, and Where David ThrewStones: A Haunting WW2 Tale of Courage, Love, and Redemption. As I picked up this gripping drama, I wondered if I’d feel the same. This short read did not disappoint. It took me on an unpredictable coming-of-age journey with a conclusion I did not expect. I recommend this book to fans of WWII fiction, historical fiction, and historical Jewish fiction. The Vengeance of Samuel Val is book 1 in a series, and while this story is a satisfying standalone, it left me hungry to find out what happens next. I’m happy to award it four stars.

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As BookHookup, I am a long-time book reviewer and I received a free review copy of this book and have not been compensated for reviewing or recommending it. This review is posted in collaboration with Black Coffee Book Tours. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.  

 

About the author: Elyse Hoffman

Elyse Hoffman is an award-winning author who strives to tell historical tales with new twists. She loves to meld WWII and Jewish history with fantasy, folklore, and the paranormal. She has written six works of Holocaust historical fiction: the five books of The Barracks of the Holocaust and The Book of Uriel.

Engaging and unpredictable YA fantasy

The story opens in 1864 London, where we meet a fifteen-year-old orphan by the name of Anna Addison. Her hopeless existence of living at an orphanage and working in a sewing sweatshop is brought to an abrupt end at gunpoint, and she is carried off to a new world where she learns she has magic powers and attends Fearghus Academy for training. 

This story is a true hero’s journey as she makes friends, grows in her knowledge and experience, and transforms into someone new with friends, powers, and challenges. The school sends its gifted students on dangerous missions to locate artifacts, but this transformation comes at a high cost–the loss of a good friend. The loss troubles her. She struggles with guilt, thinking that she should have been able to save her friend. Overcoming this is part of her transformation and growth. During the process, more questions are raised with underlying mysteries.

Fearghus Academy: October Jewels is an action-packed young adult adventure filled with magic, evil foes, and the normal challenges that come with navigating teenage life. The plot is engaging and unpredictable. I did find it challenging to keep track of so many characters introduced all at once, but I figure that’s about how it feels when you move to a new world and a new school.

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As BookHookup, I am a longtime book reviewer. I received a free review copy of this book from BookTasters and have not received compensation for reviewing or recommending it.

 

Hitchcockian style suspenseful drama

The Brittle Sea by Tom Kane is the first book in an historical drama trilogy. This suspense-filled psychological thriller opens with a young Ukrainian woman heading to America for an arranged marriage. She’s rather a manipulative independent sort as she boards the Titanic and survives the ship going down. When she awakens, she doesn’t remember who she is, where she is from, or where she was going, and her personality is sweet and innocent. The boat that rescues her is The Lady Jane, captained by Richard Blackmore, and he quickly finds he cares for her. The ship’s steward decides she needs a name while onboard, and gives her the name Maggie.

The Brittle Trilogy

 

About the Book: The Brittle Sea

This story is full of plot twists as the man Maggie is supposed to marry is a shrewd American businessman by the name of Matthew Turner. He doesn’t plan to marry her because he wants a wife, but because he has plans to procure oil-rich property her family owns in Alaska. But when the Titanic goes down, Maggie goes missing and when The Lady Jane arrives in New York, Richard Blackmore takes Maggie to live at his apartment until her memory returns, and the two of them fall in love. In the meantime, Turner hires his sociopath henchman, William Harker to hunt down the woman he has paid to marry.

 

@donnasundblad BookHookup Review The Brittle Sea #bookreview #bookreviews #bookreviewer #historicalfiction #thrillerbooks #suspensebooks #bookhookup #booktok #readersoftiktok ♬ original sound - Donna Sundblad

Book review: The Brittle Sea

I’m not going to give more than that away because I don’t want to include spoilers in this review, but I can tell you that The Brittle Sea will set you on the edge of your seat and hold you there. The characters in this Hitchcockian-style suspenseful drama are unpredictable and you will either love them or hate them. Sometimes both. The complex plot is volatile and will take you on a tortuous journey filled with danger, paranoia, and a thirst for revenge. I highly recommend The Brittle Sea to readers who enjoy historical thrillers or psychological thrillers couched in a love story that reads like detective fiction. The end took away my breath. I’m happy to give it 4 stars.

 

About the author: Tom Kane

I was born in the corner of the living room, behind the TV. So said my father many times, and the family agreed wholeheartedly. That seems to have set the tone for the rest of my life. In the corner or behind the TV, what is known about my birth is that it was on a dark and stormy night.

 

My mother inspired me to write. Doctor Who and Isaac Asimov inspired my love of science fiction. Monty Python inspired me to be silly and I blame Billy Connolly for my infrequent bursts of bad language.

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As BookHookup, I am a longtime book reviewer. I received a free review copy of this book and have not received compensation for reviewing or recommending it. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.

 

 

 

Unpredictable, emotional historical fiction anchored in faith hope and love

Nellie’s Gold is an inspirational coming-of-age story that follows tomboy Nellie Ward from childhood to adulthood as the youngest child of four. Author Danie Marie’s captivating storytelling, gives the reader a fly-on the wall experience back to the late 1940s, into the 1950s, in historic Folsom, California, where red-haired, freckle-faced Nellie Ward loves to read books while sitting in her favorite tree near the river. But homelife for this Ward family is not picture perfect like the Leave It to Beaver Ward family of 1950s Americana TV. In this Ward home, Nellie shares a room with her three older brothers, with only a linen curtain hanging between them for privacy. Her Papa is an abusive drunk and her mother is a Christian woman who prays for them all while making home life the best she can.

 

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Nellie's Gold Book Review #bookreview #bookreviews #bookreviewer #historicalfiction #christianfiction #bookhookup #booktok #readersoftiktok

♬ original sound - Donna Sundblad

Book review: Nellie's Gold

Danie Marie’s fly-on-the-wall writing style lets you feel what the characters feel, and her flawed, but lovable characters are easy to care about. The plot read like real life drama. An unpredictable emotional roller coaster, sometimes surprising, other times disappointing and even heartbreaking. It draws you in with the small things that seem big to a kid, as well as life-changing heartaches and loss that changes the course of life. This is a moving story anchored in faith, hope, and love. I highly recommend Nellie’s Gold to those who enjoy Christian fiction, inspirational fiction, those praying for loved ones struggling with alcoholism or abuse, and for baby boomers who enjoy reading about the good old days even though everything wasn’t always good. I’m happy to give this easy read 5 stars.

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As BookHookup, I am a longtime book reviewer. I received a free review copy of this book from BookTasters and have not received compensation for reviewing or recommending it. Some links in this post are affiliate links. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to amazon.com and affiliate sites.