Tag Archives: war

Aug 9 2022

Retro Review: Michael’s Wife by Marlys Millhiser

I’ve occasionally written about re-reading old favorites, and I recently turned my eyes to The Mirror by Marilys Millhiser, and beside it, Willing Hostage, residing on my “keeper” shelf. However, my favorite novel by Millhiser is Michael’s Wife. When I was in high school, I borrowed this novel from a friend who had checked it out of the local library and read the opening chapters during Spanish class. After class I begged to keep it but was rebuffed. No, I had to get on the waiting list at the library. Seems like I had to wait months before I got to read the book in its entirety. I loved it!

Michael’s Wife was published in 1972 so modern readers should consider it a period piece and be prepared to suspend a bit of disbelief as well as setting aside certain notions of proper behavior. The story opens with the main character awakening in a dry stream bed in the desert. She has no memory of who she is, nor why she is there. She is afraid, however, and her fear motivates her to walk swiftly toward a roadway. Shortly after she finds the road, she is offered a ride from a rough looking man named Harley McBride, who is willing to help her as long as she isn’t a hippie. She assures him she is not, but says nothing when asked her name. Somewhat amused, Harley calls her “Doe Eyes” because he says her brown eyes remind him of a doe he saw while hunting. When asked, Harley tells her that he shot the doe right between the eyes. (Remember, modern readers, this is a period piece.)

While visiting a restroom, our amnesiac main character finds something hidden in the waistband of her slacks: A slip of paper—“Captain Michael Devereaux, Luke A.F.B.” handwritten across it. With this clue, she asks Harley to take her to Luke Air Force Base. Harley supplies lunch and some information as they drive from Florence to Phoenix. Harley stops as a motel owned by his brother in Phoenix, and our POV sees a sign wanting a waitress. She offers to take the job in exchange for a room and Harley’s brother agrees. Once she has the privacy of the motel room, she calls Luke Air Force Base and finally reaches Captain Devereaux. After she utters a few halting phrases, he calls her Laurel and tells her to stay put, he will be there in half an hour.

Okay, I hate book reviews with spoilers. The summary here is only the first chapter. This novel has quite a few twist and turns, and although it was classified as romantic suspense when released, it is more suspense and any romance is secondary. There’s some violence, including sexual violence, so this story isn’t for the faint of heart. (Honestly, I can’t understand modern readers who quit reading when a character loses his temper, but can embrace 50 shades of bondage.) Some of the reviewers on Goodreads were unhappy that this novel is very different than The Mirror, which is a time travel yarn. I get that, but in my case I much prefer the plot of Michael’s Wife. Millhiser is a creative writer who crosses between genres, and she did write other supernatural yarns, such as Nella Waits.

Millhiser died in 2017, so I only felt minor guilt at re-reading Michael’s Wife on a freebie site. She leaves a legacy of 15 novels, and her later works were a series of mystery novels featuring a sleuth named Charlie Green. I might try one of those, or I might re-read Willing Hostage, as I have fond memories of that one as well.

Aug 23 2021

More from D.A. Boulter— One Trade Too Many and Trading for War

Some years ago, I discovered D.A. Boulter’s ebook series about a family of traders who traveled via space going vessels to various ports of call. Recently, I bought a couple more entries in the series, books 3 and 4, with the respective titles above.

As I previously touched upon earlier books in the series, here are links to Courtesan, Trading for the Stars, and Trading for a Dream. I’ve also read some of his stand alone books and other series, but the Yrden Chronicles remain my favorites in his growing booklist.

In One Trade Too Many, the Clay and Colleen Yrden are doing what their family does, traveling, trading, and raising their kids onboard one of the combo passenger and cargo ships, Blue Powder. During this entry, the Captain of Blue Powder (Clay Yrden) asks the head of security, Adrian Telford, to play passenger in an attempt to ferret out a possible saboteur, and one of the passengers, a widow, begins stalking Mr. Telford. While not boring, the story takes a while to build, but there is significant suspense toward the end of this third volume of the Trading series, and it has a cliff hanger ending. Some folks hate such endings, but as I purchased books 3 and 4 at the same time, I just swiped on over and read Trading for War. The latter is largely about warfare, and focuses on Colleen Yrden, who has a host of problems: her husband is missing, her son is growing into manhood with revenge on his mind, her family’s business is being disrupted by pirates and mercenaries, and her two mothers hate each other’s guts.

Nowadays, authors tend to follow other forms of media and rely upon bad language, sensuality, and inorganic plot twists to entertain readers. D.A. Boulter’s stories do not have any of those characteristics. Indeed, while not written for kids, or even young adults, these stories are entertaining but almost squeaky clean. Honestly, it is quite refreshing to read Boulter’s stories, which rely more upon world building, character evolution, and wholesome themes than anything shocking.

Fans of science fiction and multi volume stories should take a look at the works of D. A. Boulter. He’s one of the first eBook authors I ever read, and he remains a favorite a decade after I discovered his work.

Jan 17 2019

For Honor We Stand— quick review

51buujujxsl._sl250_I’ve enjoyed this series by H. Paul Honsinger, a trilogy that begins with To Honor You Call Us, as a space opera for fans of David Weber or others in that vein. Lots of authors try this sub-genre (and my Trinity on Tylos dabbles in it for a few chapters), but most such efforts don’t hold my interest. Honsinger’s universe and characters are well thought out, and therefore more entertaining than other authors.

His villains (the Krag) are truly obnoxious, and his hero, Captain Max Robichaux, has the right stuff to be a hero, but isn’t perfect, which is an unfortunate side-effect of being too heroic. Authors much achieve some balance, and Honsinger does that quite nicely. The captain’s side kick is Doctor Sahin, who is a bit like Dr. Watson’s being a sounding board for Sherlock Holmes. The situation is dire, for the enemy and the lengthy war have affected the human race in negative ways, such that surrender is unthinkable and victory an uncertain quest.

For Honor We Stand  is the middle book in the series, so I hope to read the final book soon, and I’ll try to post a more through review of the trilogy.

Dec 6 2017

Not with a Whimper: Producers

D. A. Boulter was one of the first authors I read when I first downloaded the Kindle app for my (now passed on to a grandchild) iPad2. Gosh, I loved the app, the book, and that iPad. Fast forward a few years, and I have quite a few ebooks, a newer iPad, and more time to read.  I recently purchased Not With A Whimper: Producers. Despite the odd title, this novel fits into the “universe” that I first explored when I read Courtesan by Boulter.

I was prepared to love this book, as I have generally liked most of the books I’ve read by the author, and the description seemed interesting. However, as I slogged through the early parts, I wasn’t so sure. Somewhere around the 50% read portion I got seriously interested, but in the interest of not spoiling it, I won’t say why. The rest of the book was a quick read.

The main character of this story is a not quite 19 year old Larry Clement, and in many ways this story reminds me of the coming of age yarns that were the foundation of Robert Heinlein’s science fiction writing. Larry is a very unhappy young man, but a fundamentally good person, as the story opens. His girl, Sandra, and his fellow students are not fleshed out too well, but the relationship with his father is a main focus, so dear old dad, aka Robert Clement, is also a well thought out character. While I think that Courtesan is among this author’s best works, it isn’t necessary that readers read it first, as this novel stands alone quite well. However, the stories do share some characters, so I enjoyed the connections.

When I last reviewed a story by Boulter, I commented that his works don’t have many reviews and seem to have few readers. That’s a shame, because this guy has plenty of stories in him, good ones, and in a time when there is such a dearth of new material for readers, he deserves more reviews and the readers that write them. Indeed, anyone who likes science fiction or simply a good story should check out D. A. Boulter’s $2.99 Kindle books. Honestly, that’s cheap reading— less than a decent hamburger!

Mar 3 2015

American Sniper— the book

American Sniper by Chris Kyle coverOkay, I admit, I have a tendency to do certain things backwards. Hubby laughs at this one: whenever I pick up a magazine, I thumb through and begin reading somewhere near the back. I sometimes do that with catalogues, too. Why? Because the snazzy pictures are in the front, and the words are in the back. I like words.

American Sniper, the movie, is in theaters in my area of the country as I write this, which means it is the perfect time for Pam to read the book! Chris Kyle’s exploits are apparently quite controversial, based on the reaction to the film, but I did not find it so much controversial as conversational. After I finished, I felt like I has spent a while talking with this Texas cowboy turned Navy Seal, who loved guns and his country enough to go back into a war zone, over and over.

Why is Kyle’s career a controversy? There are those who feel that Americans were invaders in Iraq. Okay, I see that. A little bit, anyway. Any war on foreign soil will have that aspect. And there are those who feel that being a sniper, hiding behind a big rifle with a bigger scope, is a cowardly way to fight. That I don’t get, at all. Guerilla warfare is not new. And, in the war in Iraq, with insurgents attacking government installations and convoys, having a sniper on every tall rooftop made a lot of sense. As he often puts it in the book, Iraq was a “target rich” environment. His recorded number of “kills” is far above any other sniper, and he is matter of fact in explaining that his accomplishment was in part due to being in the thick of things for four deployments.

Kyle’s story, which begins during his childhood in Texas, is entertaining and quintessentially American. When he discusses the war, it is the voice of a military man, explaining what happened from his point of view. Also of interest are brief interludes where his wife, Taya, discusses what was happening from her perspective. This gives the story more depth because modern warfare can happen so far away that the combatant’s home country is isolated from the realities of war. The price paid by the family is made quite real through her observations.

If you haven’t read Kyle’s autobiography, you might want to give it a try. Although it becomes a bit repetitive, because what he did on a day-to-day basis didn’t change all that much, his voice is strong throughout the book, and Chris Kyle was a man’s man in a country that has, by and large, gone soft.