historical fiction – Page 32

I’m delighted to welcome Lynn Downey and her new book, Dude or Die, to the blog #DudeRanch #HistoricalFiction #WomensFiction #WesternWomen #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Lynn Downey and her new book, Dude or Die, to the blog with a guest post.

Lynn Downey

I’ve been writing about the American dude ranch for the last few years. My novels, Dudes Rush In and the new sequel, Dude or Die, are set on a fictional Arizona dude ranch in the 1950s. My last nonfiction book tackled the same theme, American Dude Ranch: A Touch of the Cowboy and the Thrill of the West.

Dude ranches began in the Rocky Mountain West in the 1880s. They were originally the kind of place where men from the eastern states could go to hunt or just live like cowboys for a few weeks. It didn’t take long for women and families to start visiting these places, which opened up throughout Montana and Wyoming, and then in California and the Southwest around the time of World War I. People had experiences at dude ranches they couldn’t get anywhere else, and ranching is thriving throughout the western states today.

I first got interested in dude ranches when I was working as the company historian for Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco. There was a catalog in the archives called Dude Ranch Duds, featuring clothing specifically to be worn on dude ranches. Not just the denim jeans and jackets, but western shirts, satin shirts with embroidery, gabardine riding pants, everything that real cowboys wouldn’t actually wear. But that was the point. The guests were dudes and dudines, they came from somewhere else to immerse themselves in the cowboy West.

Writing about dude ranching for so many years has yielded stories I never thought I would find, and they went beyond tales of cowboys and dudes. Doing research included perusing a lot of historical newspapers, which are available and searchable online. One day I found what is probably my favorite headline of all time. It was in a number of papers in July of 1935:

“Vampire to Retire to Dude Ranch”

It seems actor Bela Lugosi, most famous for playing Count Dracula in the 1931 film Dracula, had just finished making a new movie called Murder By Television (believe it or not). The Cameo Pictures Corporation was running publicity for the film, and told Lugosi to fill out a questionnaire for readers of various movie magazines. One of the questions asked what his “Present Ambition” was. His answer: “Dude Ranch.”

Of course, I had to read that article.

This just tickled newspaper reporters. One writer for the Brooklyn Times tracked down what he thought were a few more details about Lugosi’s interesting statement.

While the second leading fiend in the United States does not find his lot an unhappy one, he would rather be a cowboy…he has no intention of retiring to a haunted castle in the mountains of his native Hungary when his days of screen acting are over. His desires are for a home on the range, preferably a dude ranch, where all the midnight shrieks, if any, will be from guests whose digestive systems have disagreed with the ranch fodder.

Well, I didn’t believe that for a minute. So, I did what any good historian would do: I tracked down Bela Lugosi’s granddaughter.

She was lovely, and intrigued by the story, which she’d never heard before. She talked to her father, Bela Lugosi, Jr. and a few days later wrote me an email. “My grandfather was an interesting person and I believe he could have thought a dude ranch was a good idea. He really loved the outdoors and especially enjoyed hiking and taking walks.”

I think Lugosi also had a great sense of humor. Because I believe he told the PR people about his dude ranch ambition purely as a joke. Perhaps he was tired of talking to the publicity folks, and wanted to have a little fun.

This reflects how popular dude ranches had become by the 1930s. Movie stars like Errol Flynn and Joel McCrea told reporters they planned to open ranches of their own, but they never did. Gary Cooper did have a dude ranch during this decade on the property where he grew up in Helena, Montana, but it didn’t last long. That was probably because people expected to see the movie star when they arrived, but he was rarely if ever there.

Bela Lugosi could have made up anything when the Cameo Pictures Corporation people asked him about his ambitions for the future. But he chose the dude ranch, which was deeply embedded in American culture. It was also the absolute opposite of his character, both on and off screen. And he knew it.

Here’s the blurb

It’s 1954, and San Francisco writer Phoebe Kelley is enjoying the success of her first novel, Lady in the Desert. When Phoebe’s sister-in-law asks her to return to Tribulation, Arizona to help run the H Double Bar Dude Ranch, she doesn’t hesitate. There’s competition from a new dude ranch this year, so the H Double Bar puts on a rodeo featuring a trick rider with a mysterious past. When accidents begin to happen around the ranch, Phoebe jumps in to figure out why, and confronts an unexpected foe. And a man from her own past forces her to confront feelings long buried. Dude or Die is the second book in the award-winning H Double Bar Dude Ranch series.

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Meet the Author

Lynn Downey is an award-winning novelist, short story writer, historian of the West, and native Californian.

She was the Historian for Levi Strauss & Co. in San Francisco for 25 years. Her adventures as ambassador for company history took her around the world, where she spoke to television audiences, magazine editors, and university students, appeared in numerous documentaries, and on The Oprah Winfrey Show. She wrote many books and articles about the history of the company and the jeans, and her biography, Levi Strauss: The Man Who Gave Blue Jeans to the World, won the Foreword Reviews silver INDIE award.

Lynn got interested in dude ranches during her time at Levi’s. Her debut historical novel, Dudes Rush In, is set on an Arizona dude ranch in the 1950s; Arizona because she’s a desert rat at heart, and the 1950s because the clothes were fabulous.

Dudes Rush In won a Will Rogers Medallion Award, and placed first in Arizona Historical Fiction at the New Mexico-Arizona book awards. The next book in this series, Dude or Die, was released in 2023. And just for fun, Lynn wrote a screenplay based on Dudes Rush In, which is currently making the rounds of reviewers and competitions.

She pens short stories, as well. “The Wind and the Widow” took Honorable Mention in the History Through Fiction story contest, and “Incident at the Circle H” was a Finalist for the Longhorn Prize from Saddlebag Dispatches. The story “Goldie Hawn at the Good Karma Café,” won second place in The LAURA Short Fiction contest from Women Writing the West, and is based on her experiences in a San Francisco religious cult in the 1970s. (That will be another book one of these days.)

Lynn’s latest nonfiction book is American Dude Ranch: A Touch of the Cowboy and the Thrill of the West, a cultural history of the dude ranch. It was reviewed in The Wall Street Journal, True West, Cowgirl, and The Denver Post, and was a Finalist for the Next Generation INDIE Award in Nonfiction. Kirkus Reviews said the book is “…deeply engaging and balances accessible writing style with solid research.”

When she’s not writing, Lynn works as a consulting archivist and historian for museums, libraries, cultural institutions, and businesses. She is the past president of Women Writing the West, a member of the Western Writers of America, and is on numerous boards devoted to archives and historic preservation.

Lynn lives in Sonoma, California, where she sometimes makes wine from the Pinot Noir grapes in her back yard vineyard.

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It’s my turn on the Thor’s Revenge by Donovan Cook #blogtour #newrelease #historicalfiction

Here’s the blurb

A kingdom without a crown.

A boy forsaken by his God.

A warrior bent on revenge.

After the bloody Battle of Jelling, Denmark’s throne lies empty and chaos reigns as Jarls jostle for power.

Sven survives the bloodshed only to return home to find Ribe sacked by those he trusted and Charles, a pawn in a much bigger political game, kidnapped.

Consumed by the loss of Charles, Sven is shocked by the arrival of the Abbess Hildegard, daughter of his nemesis King Louis of East Francia, who seeks the whereabouts of Charles, her son, and also the cross of Charlemagne.

But whilst others want revenge for the chaos Sven has caused, Denmark burns and Sven must stand in the shield wall one more time if he is to survive and rescue his grandson.

Outnumbered and outmaneuvered, Sven and Charles must put their fate in the hands of the gods if they ever want to see each other again.

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/thorsrevengesocial

My Review

Thor’s Revenge is the third book in the Charlemagne’s Cross series by Donovan Cook. I have read the previous two books.

Thor’s Revenge begins immediately after the previous book’s events, with Sven the Boar recovering from the events of the great battle. At the same time, conspiracy and secrets continue to swirl around him and his grandson, Charles.

In book 3, we learn more answers to the secrets and also meet a few new characters who have previously been alluded to but not ‘seen’ on stage, as it were.

The many threads take a while to get into, but when I did, I flew through the story, really enjoying how well they connect. I also greatly enjoy the ‘light’ touch adopted for the competing religions of paganism and Christianity. Questions are asked by those of both faiths, especially Sven and Charles, who can perhaps see that not everything is as black and white as might be believed. The conniving members of the royal family in East and West Frankia add a layer of ‘sophisticated’ conspiracy above that of the more ‘immediate’ concerns of Sven and Charles.

There are also several battles and fights, and I’m looking forward to Book 4, where I hope we may find some resolution for Sven and Charles.

It is a fine addition to the series that develops depth as the story progresses and has an ending, making me desperate to read more. So, get on with it Donovan:)

Fans of the genre will delight in the continuing tale of Sven the Boar and Charles.

Check out my reviews for Odin’s Betrayal and Loki’s Deceit and Valhalla’s Fury.

Meet the author

Donovan Cook is the author of the well-received Ormstunga Saga series and the Charlemagne’s Cross series, both of which combine fast-paced narrative with meticulously researched history of the Viking world and are inspired by his interest in Norse Mythology. Donovan was born in South Africa but raised in England.

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I’m delighted to welcome David Fitz-Gerald and his new book, Lighten the Load, to the blog #HistoricalWestern #WesternAdventure #AmericanWest #Pioneers #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome David Fitz-Gerald and his new book, Lighten the Load, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail (book 2), to the blog, with a series trailer.

Lighten the Load, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail Series Trailer

Here’s the blurb

After a devastating tragedy, Dorcas Moon faces brutal choices in the unforgiving wilderness.

An unsolved hometown murder casts a foreboding shadow over the journey. Mounting responsibilities weigh heavy on Dorcas’ shoulders while navigating the trail along the Platte River. Family, friends, and neighbors can’t seem to get along without her help.

The gruesome trail exacts a heavy toll. A sweeping grass fire blazes across the prairie. A doomed wagon careens down a treacherous hill. A fellow traveler is gored to death while hunting buffalo. Each disaster pushes the pioneers to the brink. Amidst the chaos, Dorcas grapples with the realization that she must dump her precious cook stove and her husband’s massive safe. The oxen can no longer haul the heavy weight of unnecessary cargo.

When her daughter mysteriously disappears while the wagons are at Fort Laramie, Dorcas Despairs. She is desperate to help her daughter when the troubled youth is found in the arms of a Brulé man in Spotted Tail’s village.

Secure your copy of Lighten the Load and delve into an unforgettable saga of empowerment, sacrifice, and the haunting echoes of the American frontier. Rejoin Dorcas Moon on the adventure of a lifetime as she confronts the challenges that shape her destiny.

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Meet the Author

David Fitz-Gerald writes westerns and historical fiction. He is the author of twelve books, including the brand-new series, Ghosts Along the Oregon Trail set in 1850. Dave is a multiple Laramie Award, first place, best in category winner; a Blue Ribbon Chanticleerian; a member of Western Writers of America; and a member of the Historical Novel Society.

Alpine landscapes and flashy horses always catch Dave’s eye and turn his head. He is also an Adirondack 46-er, which means that he has hiked to the summit of the range’s highest peaks. As a mountaineer, he’s happiest at an elevation of over four thousand feet above sea level.

Dave is a lifelong fan of western fiction, landscapes, movies, and music. It should be no surprise that Dave delights in placing memorable characters on treacherous trails, mountain tops, and on the backs of wild horses.

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I’m delighted to welcome Trish MacEnulty and her new book, Cinnamon Girl, to the blog #HistoricalYA #ComingOfAge #HistoricalFiction #YAFiction

I’m delighted to welcome Trish MacEnulty and her new book, Cinnamon Girl, to the blog with a guest post, ‘My Historical Research’.

My Historical Research – Trish MacEnulty

Cinnamon Girl was first published in 2009 under a different title and with a different cover. When I contacted the publisher and told him I wanted to re-issue the book with a new title and a new cover, he agreed. I also decided that this time I would use what I’d learned from writing four historical mysteries: how to incorporate historically accurate details to make the narrative richer.

When a story takes place during your lifetime, it’s easy to think that you don’t need research. I found that, in fact, I did need to do research and lots of it. And actually for me, research is part of the fun.

For Cinnamon Girl, I needed to do research about the rock concerts in 1970 that my protagonist would have gone to; I needed to research the cultural changes wrought by FM radio; and I needed to do research about the anti-war movement, the Black Panthers, and the Weatherman Underground Organization.

I also needed to research the highway system in 1970. We take for granted our Interstate Highway System, but it wasn’t completely built in 1970, and when Eli Burnes, the protagonist, travels across country I needed to figure out what highways existed and which still needed to be built. Fortunately, I have a brother who actually remembers some of the main roads in St. Louis from 1970 and that helped. In fact, he also helped me to understand the anti-war movement of the time and the police brutality that existed because he was there and he witnessed it.

Researching the rock concerts was, of course, lots of fun. I definitely misremembered some things. For example I was sure Joe Cocker had played in St. Louis in 1970 or ’71 but he wasn’t in the country at the time. I found out that the Grateful Dead was arrested in New Orleans the night before my character sees them at Kiel Auditorium and they barely made it to the concert. I also was able to find the playlist for the Moody Blues Concert and the name of the opening band for the Jethro Tull Concert. Yes, I had been to those concerts when I was a teenager living in St. Louis, but those details I found on the Internet helped recreate the era. I’m a big believer in specificity.

The change over from AM radio to FM was also something I didn’t really understand until I did some research. In the book my protagonist’s father goes from being a “Howling Wolf” sort of AM DJ to a mellow FM DJ. This worked well with my plot because being a DJ at an FM radio station meant he could answer the hotline at night and this would be a good way to communicate with fugitives. FM radio station hotlines would not have been tapped and often did help people learn about where protests would be held. He could also have his own slant on the news of the day unlike at an AM station where they were instructed to read the news straight off the wire and not offer any commentary. Of course, the music was better on the FM stations.

Finally I needed to learn about what was going on socially and politically. Even though I remembered the riots from that era, I was stunned to discover that one had taken place in Augusta, Georgia, in which six Black men were killed by law enforcement. I used this as a moment of awakening for my protagonist, Eli Burnes. She has grown up in the South with the belief that everything was fine between the races — only to witness the result of years of oppression explode. This led to Eli’s learning about the Black Panthers and their work, serving breakfast to children as well as the ambush and murder of activist Freddy Hampton.

Here’s the blurb

Winner of the Gold Medal in YA Fiction from The Historical Fiction Company!

When her beloved step-grandmother, a semi-retired opera singer, dies of cancer in 1970, 15-year-old Eli Burnes runs away with a draft-dodger, thinking she’s on the road to adventure and romance. What she finds instead is a world of underground Weathermen, Black Power revolutionaries, snitches and shoot-first police.

Eventually Eli is rescued by her father, who turns out both more responsible and more revolutionary than she’d imagined. But when he gets in trouble with the law, she finds herself on the road again, searching for the allies who will help her learn how to save herself.

“The book is a fantastic read: fast-moving, full of smoothly woven historical detail and rich characterizations, all told in Eli’s appealing voice.” — Sarah Johnson, Reading the Past

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Meet the Author

Trish MacEnulty is the author of a historical novel series, literary novels, memoirs, a short story collection, children’s plays, and most recently, the historical coming-of-age novel, Cinnamon Girl (Livingston Press, Sept. 2023). She has a Ph.D. in English from the Florida State University and graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Florida. She currently writes book reviews and features for the Historical Novel Society.

She lives in Florida with her husband Joe and her two tubby critters, Franco and Tumbleweed. More info at her website: trishmacenulty.com.

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It’s paperback publication day for #TheLastTrueTemplar #blogtour #historicalfiction

Here’s the blurb

The thrilling new historical adventure from New York Times bestselling author Boyd Morrison and expert medievalist Beth Morrison. Fox and Willa find themselves on a dangerous quest for the treasure of the Templar Knights.

A Perilous Quest. A Deadly Legacy.

Italy, 1351. English companions, knight Gerard Fox and the resourceful Willa, have come through a death-defying journey across war-torn Europe. Now looking towards a future together, they must first find a way to reconcile with their difficult pasts.

In a small village between Florence and Siena, Fox and Willa are caught up in a deadly ambush. After rescuing Luciana, the target of the attack, they take refuge in her opulent villa and learn her heartbreaking story – a tale of loss, deception, and a burning desire for freedom.

Soon, Fox and Willa are involved in a perilous quest to save Luciana’s family legacy. To do so, they will have to solve a mystery that points the way to the fabled lost treasure of the Knights Templar.

‘Complete with mysteries, secrets, and adventure, rich in detail, delivering exactly what a reader craves. This writing duo knows all the right chords to touch.’ Steve Berry, #1 New York Times bestselling author
‘A mesmerizing sequel to the hugely entertaining The Lawless Land…. There is action galore. What a ride!’ Elizabeth George, #1 New York Times bestselling author
‘Any lover of historical mysteries or great tales of adventure will find much delight in this novel!’ James Rollins, #1 New York Times bestselling author
‘A triumphant follow-up to The Lawless Land, with a puzzle that will dazzle fans of The Da Vinci Code. There’s so much breathtaking excitement that the book should come with an oxygen tank.’ Lee Goldberg, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Purchase Link

https://geni.us/TLTTPBRRR

My Review

The Last True Templar is a thrilling journey through fourteenth-century Italy, taking our two heroes to Siena, Florence and Venice (and somewhere else, but spoilers) as they attempt to assist Luciana in her bid to finally solve the mystery of her father’s last letter, sent to her over forty years ago, and which it’s believed, will lead to the lost Templar treasure.

And they’re not alone, for as with all good thrillers, there is another side to this story, and someone else wants to get their hands on the Templar treasure just as much as they do: Luciana’s ruthless husband.

This is an Italy in recovery following the devastation of the Black Death, where few, it seems, have been left unscathed. Ironically, two Englishmen, Gerard and Armstrong, are most involved in the hustle and bustle of the quest, with the aid of some quick-witted and intelligent women.

This story is well-grounded in the historical architecture of the time, as our characters race to solve clues, riding from city to city, some loyal to Luciana’s husband and some to Luciana, all needing to look at or visit various important buildings – many of the well-known ones still being built, or heavily renovated. There is intrigue aplenty. Those characters trying to stop Gerard, Willa, and Luciana are ruthless and ambitious, and all this while Gerard and Willa are trying to determine their future.

This is book 2 in the series – I haven’t read book 1 – I don’t necessarily think you need to read the first book to enjoy this one, as we’re given snippets of what’s happened before, but this is very much an isolated ‘quest’. And I did enjoy it. The Last True Templar is very much in the mould of a Dan Brown thriller, only set in the distant past, with an eye to what the cityscapes would have looked like in 1351, and with three feisty women to ensure the narrative never gets bogged down in more purely violent bouts between our two sides.

A rollercoaster of a journey, it’s sure to appeal to fans of historical fiction, historical mysteries and old-fashioned action and adventure stories- (as well as to fans of The Curse of Oak Island:))

Meet the authors

Boyd Morrison is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of twelve thrillers, including six with Clive Cussler. His first novel, The Ark, was an Indie Next Notable pick and was translated into over a dozen languages. He has a PhD in industrial engineering from Virginia Tech.
Follow Boyd on: @BoydMorrison IG: @BoydMorrisonWriter http://www.facebook.com/BoydMorrisonWriter

Beth Morrison is Senior Curator of Manuscripts at the J. Paul Getty Museum. She has curated major exhibitions including ‘Imagining the Past in France, 1250-1500’, and ‘Book of Beasts: The Bestiary in the Medieval World’. She has a PhD in the History of Art from Cornell University.
Follow Beth on: @BethMorrisonPhd IG: @BethMorrisonWriter http://www.facebook.com/BethMorrisonWriter

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Boyd

Twitter: @BoydMorrison. Instagram: @BoydMorrisonWriter
Facebook: Boyd Morrison Writer. Website: https://boydmorrison.com/

Beth

Twitter: @BethMorrisonPhd. Instagram: @BethMorrisonWriter

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Today I’m reviewing Her Scandalous Suitor by Rachel Brimble on the blog #steamyromance #blogtour #newrelease #historicalromance

Here’s the blurb

A chance meeting…or so she thought. Is confidence trickster Will Samson the hero he claims to be or someone else entirely…

Emily Darson assumed her future of propriety and privilege amid a loveless marriage was set in stone. At least, she did until confidence trickster Will Samson came into her life…

Then everything changed.

With each revelation about her fiancé and herself that Will uncovers, he also reveals a little more of who is he, what he has suffered, and the volatile vengeance that burns in his heart.

Can Emily really risk security for scandal? Loyalty for love? Only time will tell…

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Her-Scandalous-Suitor-Rachel-Brimble-ebook/dp/B0CQ8VB3BH

https://www.amazon.com/Her-Scandalous-Suitor-Rachel-Brimble-ebook/dp/B0CQ8VB3BH

My Review

Her Scandalous Suitor is a steamy historical fiction romance set in the 1800s.

Our two main characters, Emily and Will are both stuck in unenviable situation, Will seeking revenge against Nicholas, Emily quailing at the prospect of an unhappy forthcoming marriage to Nicholas, the son of her dying father’s dead business associate.

All is not well with Nicholas, and while Emily worries about her future, Will determines to exact his revenge against Nicholas, inevitably pulling Emily into his plot, and along the way, finding himself falling in love with her.

While Emily feels the same pull, she tries to do all she can to avoid him, but is to be prevented from doing so due to a series of events. And because Nicholas is not at all the man he pretends to be, as she begins to discover.

Taking readers to the underworld of Bath, Her Scandalous Suitor, addresses some of the pertinent issues of the day with regard to women and the hardships they face from the over mighty men who seemed to be able to get away with anything.

An engaging tale, with all the right touches for a steamy romance, including the promise of a happily ever after.

Check out my review for Victoria and Violet.

Meet the author

Rachel lives in a small town near Bath, England. She is the author of 29 novels including the Ladies of Carson Street trilogy, the Shop Girl series (Aria Fiction) and several single titles with The Wild Rose Press. She is super excited to be the first historical fiction author writing for Harpeth Road Press and her first novel with them will be released May 2024.

Rachel is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Female Entrepreneur Association and has thousands of social media followers all over the world.

To sign up for her newsletter (a guaranteed giveaway every month!), click here: https://bit.ly/3zyH7dt

Connect with the author

Website: https://bit.ly/3wH7HQs

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I’m delighted to share my review for Murder in the Library by Anita Davison #bookreview #blogtour #historicalmystery #newrelease

Here’s the blurb

A body in a hospital isn’t so unusual. Unless they’ve been murdered!

1916, London: Keen to support the war effort, bookshop manager and sometime amateur sleuth Hannah Merrill has taken a volunteer role in the library of the nearby military hospital. But arriving at the hospital one cold winter’s morning, she is horrified to find the body of a dead soldier in the library.

What’s more, a beautiful young nurse confides in Hannah that she thinks she’s being followed, and then she abruptly disappears. Hannah can’t shake the suspicion that the two cases are connected, but she can’t solve the case alone. She’ll once again need to call upon her delightful, demanding, only-occasionally devious aunt, Violet. The two women know they must find the missing nurse before it’s too late… but they don’t realise they’re now both in the killer’s sights.

Purchase Link

https://mybook.to/MurderLibrarySocial

My Review

Murder in the Library is the second book in the Miss Merill and Aunt Violent cosy crime mystery series. I have read the first book.

Events begin quickly in this one when Hannah finds a body in the hospital library where she volunteers. Although she doesn’t intend to, Hannah quickly finds herself embroiled in the investigation to uncover who killed the dead man and why. Along the way, she finds herself involved in a few tricky situations as the toll of World War I begins to be felt in Britain.

All the familiar characters from Book 1 reappear, and I’m enjoying the relationships that are developing between Aunt Violet and Hannah.

The mystery is intriguing, although it seems to be resolved fairly quickly. Although, fear not, for there is more at play and more to uncover.

It’s a really enjoyable historical mystery. Hannah is a fun character, as is her aunt, and I’m enjoying reading about the two women flouting the social constraints of the era.

It’s sure to appeal to fans of a good historical who dun it.

Check out my review for Murder in the Bookshop.

Meet the author

Anita Davison is the author of the successful Flora Maguire historical mystery series. Previously published by Aria, she is writing a new cosy mystery series for Boldwood, the first title of which, Murder in the Bookshop, will be published in August 2023.

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I’m delighted to welcome Jerry Madden, and his new book, Steel Valley, to the blog #HistoricalFiction #SteelValley #ComingOfAge #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Jerry Madden, and his new book, Steel Valley: Coming Of Age in the Ohio Valley in the 1960s, to the blog.

Here’s the blurb

For readers of The World Played Chess by Robert Dugoni and Last Summer Boys by Bill Rivers

Love is never easy…even in easier times, like the 1950s and 1960s in the Ohio Valley with the steel industry booming.

Second-generation immigrant families were reaching for the American middle class. And Catholic schools-made feasible by selfless Catholic nuns-promised bigger lives for everyone, including Jack Clark and Laurie Carmine. As they spent years searching for their separate futures, though, they were also stumbling toward love just as their world came crashing down.

Steel Valley depicts a story of love longed for, lost, and perhaps still within reach, just as our nation’s mythic yesterday became our troubled today, our last summer of innocence.

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Meet the Author

Jerry Madden grew up in the Upper Ohio Valley in the 1960s. He holds a B.A. from the College of Steubenville and law degrees from the University of Dayton School of Law and the Georgetown University Law Center. After law school, Jerry served as the sole law clerk to the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, C. William O’Neill. He served in the United States Marine Corps (R) between 1970 and 1976.

Jerry has practiced law in Washington, D.C., since 1979, including fourteen years at the Department of Justice as a trial and appellate attorney. He is the principal of The Madden Law Group PLLC in Washington, D.C.

He lives in Northern Virginia with his wife, Cyndi, a retired educator. They have two children, Kelsey and Jack, both of whom hold M.Ed. degrees. They have one grandchild, Jamie Maclennan.

Meet the Author

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I’m welcoming a returning Alan Bardos to the blog with a fascinating post about Why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor alongside his new book, Rising Tide #historicalfiction

Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?

Japan’s decision to attack Pearl Harbor has gone down in history as a short-term victory with catastrophic long-term consequences.

The Japanese leadership, already bogged down in an unwinnable war in China, were aware that they were hopelessly out matched by the industrial might of the United States. However, they believed there was no other option.

Japan had no natural resources, a growing population to feed and was encircled by Russia, Britain, France, the Netherlands and the United States; who were all furthering their interests in the Far East. Japan felt it needed to expand and increase its power base to avoid being swallowed by the Western powers and to develop as a great power in their own right.

This led to their invasion of China in the 1930s and the annexing of French Indochina in 1941. In response the United States imposed stiff economic sanctions that cut Japan’s supply of oil and raw materials. This left the Imperial Navy with only enough oil for a year. The Japanese government and military therefore saw a war with America as inevitable and an act of national self-defence that had been imposed upon them.

Imperial Japanese Navy, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Takeo Yoshikawa in his memoir Japan’s Spy at Pearl Harbor stated that, ‘in the final analysis, the U.S. was the underlying cause of this war… The war finally broke out because you (Americans) did not understand Japan.’

The decision to go to war therefore originated from what was seen as two choices, to either face the humiliation of curtailing their imperial ambitions and exist as a client state of America, dependent on their iron-ore and oil. Either to become a third-class nation as Prime Minister Tōjō put it or to come out fighting.

Richard Overy argues in Blood and Ruins, The Great Imperial War 1931-1945, ‘The decision was taken with a fatalistic acceptance that fighting was preferable to humiliation and dishonour.’

Japan was already a highly militarised society and at a war footing, where as they viewed America as unprepared and unwilling to fight because of its culture of isolationism.

U.S. Navy, Office of Public Relations, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Nonetheless it was clear that war could not be waged on conventional lines. Japan would need to knock the United States out in one decisive engagement, destroying the morale of America and making it impossible for them to conduct war in the Pacific by forcing a stalemate. This, along with the growing pressure for America to fight the Germans on a second front in Europe, would be too much even for a power such as America and they would quickly make peace. That, at least was the strategic thinking behind the attack on Pearl Harbor and much of Japan’s long-term military thinking.

It was a terrible risk, but it presented a great opportunity. If Japan could destroy the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, the raw materials of Southeast Asia was there for the taking.

Such a complex operation would need careful planning and precise information about the disposition and defences of the US Fleet. That in itself risked exposing the whole plan. This is a major plotline of my novel Rising Tide, as seen through the eyes of Takeo Yoshikawa.

Here’s the blurb

November 1940.

Lieutenant Daniel Nichols, a former pacifist turned crusader, is wounded taking part in the Royal Navy’s carrier born air raid on the Italian Battle Fleet in Taranto.

Six months later Sándor Braun, a British double agent, escorts a Japanese delegation around Taranto and discovers that they are planning a similar attack. But what will the target be?

Nichols, now unable to fly, joins the Naval Intelligence Division, despite growing rumours that his nerve has gone. He debriefs Braun in London and sees the implications of his discovery. Britain cannot afford to suffer further setbacks in the far East.

Nichols convinces his superior officer, Ian Fleming, to allow him to travel to Lisbon in a bid to identify the target before it’s too late. The former airman uses the rumours about his lack of moral fibre as cover and poses as a deserter, with information to sell about the Taranto raid.

Braun helps Nichols to gain the confidence of German and Japanese Intelligence officers – and he is recruited to fly to Hawaii and spy on the US Navy.

Convinced that the Japanese plan to attack Pearl Harbour, Nichols travels to America to inform the FBI, but his warnings fall on deaf ears.

Nichols takes matters into his own hands and ventures to Hawaii, with the intention of preventing a catastrophe.

But will the Englishman’s intervention prove too little, too late?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CP4J1SZR

https://www.amazon.com/Rising-Tide-Daniel-Nichols-Thrillers-ebook/dp/B0CP4J1SZR/

Meet the author

Writing historical fiction combines the first great love of Alan Bardos’ life, making up stories, with the second, researching historical events and characters. He currently lives in Oxfordshire with his wife… the other great love of his life.

There is still a great deal of mystery and debate surrounding many of the events of the First World War, which he explores in his Johnny Swift historical fiction series. The series starts with the pivotal event of the twentieth century, the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The second book ‘The Dardanelles Conspiracy’ is based on an attempt by Naval Intelligence to bribe Turkey out of the First World War. In the third book ‘Enemies and Allies’ Johnny is employed as a useful idiot to flush out a traitor working to undermine the Allies.

His new World War 2 series follows Daniel Nichols, a former pacifist turned crusader, as he moves from the Fleet Air Arm to Intelligence and Special Operations. The first book ‘Rising Tide’ is set against the backdrop of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; as Nichols is embroiled in a conspiracy to keep the USA bogged down in the Pacific and out of the war in Europe.

Connect with the author

Check out Alan’s previous posts.

Johnny Swift

I’m delighted to welcome Deborah Swift and her new book, The Shadow Network, to the blog #WW2 #Thriller #BlogTour #TheCoffeePotBookClub

I’m delighted to welcome Deborah Swift and her new book, The Shadow Network, to the blog, with WW2 German and Irish Saboteurs.

The Shadow Network: WW2 German and Irish Saboteurs

The radio signal for the ‘fake news’ radio stations that feature in The Shadow Network needed to be strong enough to appear as though it came from Germany, and had to be more powerful than anything that was then available.

By coincidence, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) had created two high-powered radio transmitters which could not be used in the US, because of a change in American law. The RCA were eager to sell them to Britain. So Harold Robin, a Foreign Office radio engineer, saw their potential, and travelled to America to examine them, and then worked to improve them. He adapted a transmitter so it was able to move frequency in a fraction of a second, at the flick of a switch.

The powerful ex-RCA transmitter, eventually installed in Sussex, England, was named Aspidistra, referencing the popular Gracie Fields song ‘The Biggest Aspidistra in the World’, in which an Aspidistra houseplant grows until it ‘nearly reached the sky’.

In fact, most of the technology was buried underground at the site at Crowborough in Sussex, though its antennae were visible – three guyed masts, each 110 metres tall, directing the signal broadly to the east. The Art Deco–style transmitter building was housed in an underground shelter which had to be excavated by the Canadian army troops who were stationed nearby.

As far as I know there was never any attempt to sabotage or bomb the Aspidistratransmitter, though I enjoyed making it a possible target for a German agent and saboteur. However, German agents were sent into Britain to sabotage British targets – mainly military, industrial, and transport facilities. Their aim was to create maximum disruption, and to lower the morale of British civilians.

Inefficient Saboteurs

In reality, the German spies were less efficient than my fictional Brendan – the German spies had poor English-language skills and little knowledge of British customs. One German spy was arrested after trying to order a pint of cider at ten in the morning, as he didn’t know that landlords weren’t allowed to serve alcohol before lunchtime. Two other agents were stopped because they were cycling on the wrong side of the road. The twelve spies we know of who landed in Britain as part of the so-called Operation Lena in September 1940 were nearly all captured.

The German war machine was generally very efficient, so it remains a mystery why these men were not better trained. For this reason, I chose to link my saboteur to the Irish Republican Army (IRA), and the Coventry IRA bomb. It is a little-known fact that the IRA and the Nazi regime were in collaboration during the war.

Irish Saboteurs

At lunchtime on 25 August 1939 an unknown bomb-maker cycled into the city of Coventry in England with a five-pound bomb in his bicycle basket. The device, wrapped in brown paper and with an alarm clock timer, was left outside Astley’s shop where it exploded fifty minutes later, killing five people and injuring seventy, and causing devastation to the surrounding buildings. For a while, the authorities and the public were wary of anyone Irish, but because of close ties to Ireland this vigilance soon waned.

The Coventry plot was linked to three other ‘bicycle bomb’ plots in London which were part of a concerted campaign by the IRA. The S-Plan (Sabotage Campaign or England Campaign) was a campaign conducted by members of the IRA to protest against control of Northern Ireland by the British.

Nazi links to the IRA

The Nazis made links with the IRA as far back as 1936, when IRA member Sean Russell sought German support for IRA activities and engaged in talks with the German Foreign Office, regarding IRA–German cooperation. When war was declared, the Germans saw the IRA as a useful ally should the Wehrmacht invade Britain. However the IRA saw Germany only as a stepping stone to a united Ireland, and these two motivations were not easily aligned. The IRA’s collaboration with the Nazis against Great Britain made the ideal background for me to construct the character of Brendan Murphy, the agent charged with sabotaging the Aspidistra radio mast.

Listen to a podcast about German agents trying to blow up Britain.

Here’s the blurb

One woman must sacrifice everything to uncover the truth in this enthralling historical novel, inspired by the true World War Two campaign Radio Aspidistra…

England, 1942: Having fled Germany after her father was captured by the Nazis, Lilli Bergen is desperate to do something pro-active for the Allies. So when she’s approached by the Political Warfare Executive, Lilli jumps at the chance. She’s recruited as a singer for a radio station broadcasting propaganda to German soldiers – a shadow network.

But Lilli’s world is flipped upside down when her ex-boyfriend, Bren Murphy, appears at her workplace; the very man she thinks betrayed her father to the Nazis. Lilli always thought Bren was a Nazi sympathiser – so what is he doing in England supposedly working against the Germans?

Lilli knows Bren is up to something, and must put aside a blossoming new relationship in order to discover the truth. Can Lilli expose him, before it’s too late? Set in the fascinating world of wartime radio, don’t miss The Shadow Network, a heart-stopping novel of betrayal, treachery, and courage against the odds.

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Meet the Author

Deborah Swift is the English author of eighteen historical novels, including Millennium Award winner Past Encounters, and The Lady’s Slipper, shortlisted for the Impress Prize.

Her most recent books are the Renaissance trilogy based around the life of the poisoner Giulia Tofana, The Poison Keeper and its sequels, one of which won the Coffee Pot Book Club Gold Medal. Recently she has completed a secret agent series set in WW2, the first in the series being The Silk Code. Deborah used to work as a set and costume designer for theatre and TV and enjoys the research aspect of creating historical fiction, something she loved doing as a scenographer. She likes to write about extraordinary characters set against the background of real historical events. Deborah lives in North Lancashire on the edge of the Lake District, an area made famous by the Romantic Poets such as Wordsworth and Coleridge.