Rosemary and Antonio by Marie Fostino

Rosemary and Antonio is a brief history of the era of prohibition and gangsters, of the 1920’s, in Chicago. It’s all about the rivalry between Al Capone and Bugs Moran.

Added to the mix of violence is a couple, Rosemary and Antonio, whose story is compared to Romeo and Juliet.

Al Capone is Rosemary’s father’s cousin, and Antonio works at his father’s auto mechanic garage, and repairs Bugs Moran’s vehicles.  This relationship makes it impossible to continue, as their lives are in danger, because they cannot be seen together.

It was a nice romance story mixed with the violence of the 1920’s.

I would have appreciated more of the music scene, as Rosemary and Antonio only visited a club once. It was fun reading and visualizing them dancing to the Jazz era’s music.

More of the music scene and less of the violence, would have justified the title, Rosemary and Antonio. After all it wasn’t titled, the Chicago era of the 1920’s.

The story would have been enhanced as a romantic love story with more of the 1920’s music scene, including Rosemary and Antonio.

Marie Fostino exhibits outstanding writing skills and I would like to see her research a historical novel because her attention to detail is recognized.

Pyramid of Skulls: A Novel of Timur, Warrior and Emperor by Martin Fruchtman

I am officially up to speed on Timur, the most sadistic killer of the late 14^th and early 15^th Century, hence the title, Pyramid of Skulls, which was his trophy.

The story is told through the eyes of Timur’s Jewish doctor. It basically consists of a horrific war, a serial killer - killing only one prostitute a day - and typical daily political issues in Timur’s court.

There’s a lot going on in, Pyramid of Skulls, besides the style (if you will) of war during that era, and way of life. There’s philosophy and social issues of the era as in any historical fiction.

If reading between the lines, I wonder if we, as a society today, are any more tolerant than society was in the 14^th and 15^th Century.  Food for thought, if nothing else.

As far as Timur himself, all I got from, Pyramid of Skulls, was his brutality as a leader. As disgusting a man as he was, I wonder what kind of person it takes to become such a man. I mean, it seems he was rather brilliant. To his credit, he did make Samarkand the capital of his empire, where he built a new city and populated it with artisans and craftsmen from all of the places he had conquered. I wonder about this side of him.

I am no expert in this era, or of Timur, hence my deciding to read, Pyramid of Skulls: A Novel of Timur, Warrior and Emperor by Martin Fruchtman.  As I stated in the beginning, I’m officially up to speed, and it was a rough read arriving.

Messages from Henry by Rebecca Scarberry

In reading the book description before ‘flying into’, Messages from Henry, it states the story is an “edge-of-your-seat suspense thriller.”  I disagree.

It’s about a homing pigeon, named Henry, who tries to save his kidnapped owner, Evelyn.  A neighbor, a cop, and Evelyn’s son, depend on Henry’s notes to locate Evelyn.

A very short book of ‘thirty something’ pages, a child would enjoy the short tale. In the book description it declares, Messages from Henry, for the twelve and above age group, however, I think it is better suited to the twelve and below age group. There is minimal drama for the twelve and over reader.

Rebecca Scarberry does a wonderful job writing in present tense. I appreciate her writing style.

Messages from Henry, is not an “edge-of-your-seat suspense thriller.” However, it is a harmless, cute, little story for young children.

Thirty Something (Nothing's How We Dreamed It Would Be) by Filipa Fonseca Silva

It must require a certain type of person to enjoy reading, Thirty Something.  The story is about a group of unhappy, whiny, old college friends that never stop complaining.

All the characters are dysfunctional, putting on airs, lying to one another; nothing is ever good enough, etc. etc. This plot might be fine if integrated into a piece of writing, but it’s quite another story when it is THE story.

I realize the book title depicts exactly what the story is about. However, page after page of every single character whining about their existence, continued to be too excessive.

Readers will recognize it definitely is not what these thirty something characters dreamed their lives would be.

Filipa writes well, and she develops her characters in depth.

ANTics by Dakota Douglas

The play on the word ANT is very clever. The ants live in InhabitANT. Inhabitants are HesitANT, EXUBERant, and BrilliANT, just to name a few.

The story is a fun adventure for children to read. The ants are very much alike families that deal with similar issues as human beings. In this story, the biggest challenge for the ants is foraging food for InhabitANT, without getting killed by humans, animals, or bullies in their own environment.

While the book is not age coded, and because of its length, children would appreciate the story if it included pictures. The cover page is very enticing and fun and young readers would expect to visualize each unique ant and ‘character’ in color.

An idea would be to break up the book into smaller stories. There are so many terrific adventures; one adventure a book would be more effective in holding a child’s attention.

There are several typos, which cannot occur in a child’s book.

ANTics is a subtle and fun way to teach children life’s lessons. The story is clever and well written. Pictures accompanying such a character rich story would be an enhancement.

Young readers will be entertained when they choose, ANTics by Dakota Douglas.

American Amaranth: Love and world war in the new American century by J.R. Ortiz

Julian Stansfield is a US Naval officer on a nuclear submarine, his wife Olivia, is a Classic Studies major at Dartmouth. The two share a love most couples only dream about. They have four children, three boys and a girl.

Olivia, being a political exile from Cuba, has an extraordinary love for America. The following is what Olivia inscribed in a large laminated bookmark, to go along with a book she gives to one of her sons for his birthday; it sums up the entire book:

“Love of democracy can be likened to a mother’s love for her son. It must be nurtured and protected for all time. Happy birthday, Julius, Love, Mom.”  With the inscribed bookmark came a single preserved Red Globe Amaranth flower.

Because of Olivia and her family’s adversity in Cuba, Julian and their children learn the true meaning of liberty. Their three sons graduate from Annapolis and join the Navy, like their dad, and their daughter becomes a world renowned pianist.

American Amaranth is a novel which begins in the future, 2016. It follows Julian Stansfield in a world war as he is now Director of Naval Intelligence at the Pentagon. He has personal vested interest in the war, because his sons are fighting and his beloved Olivia dies. He makes a promise to bring their boys home safely.

Instead of reading a history book about a war already fought, or in the midst of fighting, American Amaranth is a history book of a future war. We get to experience it through a family’s eye. As with any war, it is never a pretty sight.

J.R. Ortiz manages to intertwine the hell of war with the love of his family. It is a well written novel including all the elements of a good story.