Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair 2022 – #Shortstories Beem Weeks, #Mystery #Thriller Joy York, #Shortstories Simon Van Der Velde

Welcome to the Smorgasbord Christmas Book Fair with a selection of books from personally recommended authors on my bookshelf I believe will make wonderful gifts for friends, family and for you.

The first author is Beem Weeks. I enjoyed reading his novel Jazz Baby in the summer and can highly recommend. Today I am featuring his short story collection Strange Highway.

About the collection

If you ever find yourself on the Strange Hwy—don’t turn around. Don’t panic. Just. Keep. Going. You never know what you’ll find.
You’ll see magic at the fingertips of an autistic young man,
•A teen girl’s afternoon, lifetime of loss.
•A winged man, an angel? Demon—?
•Mother’s recognition, peace to daughter.
•Danny’s death, stifled secrets.
•Black man’s music, guitar transforms boy.
•Dead brother, open confession.
•First love, supernatural?—family becomes whole!
You can exit the Strange Hwy, and come back any time you want.
See, now you know the way in, don’t be a stranger.

One of the reviews for the book

Mae Clair Americana at its best

This is a fantastic collection of short stories, many of which have a coming-of-age theme. The author has a talent for capturing young voices and setting mood, especially in earlier decades. Many of the stories carry the flavor of the 1950s and 1960s, breathing vivid life into the past. Weeks offers us a slice of Americana in each story. The voices are authentic, descriptions vivid, and the writing polished. Each and every one is a gem, but there are several I must call special attention to.

“Sweetie Girl”—poignant, raw, and sad—addresses the pain of Alzheimer’s; “Memory of a Robot” is filled with the magic of what makes a spring afternoon special; “Overcome (Holy Water”), takes a look at a flood in the Jim Crow south and the change in brings in people (it gave me goose bumps of the good variety!), “Wordless” is about a man learning to read, and his daughter setting a path in life. Finally, “Looking for Lucy” the story which closes the book addresses separation and forgiveness with a unique and brilliant twist.

This is the second collection of short stories I’ve read by Mr. Weeks. He truly has a talent for this form. Highly recommended!

Head over to read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK

Also by Beem Weeks

Head over to find out more about Beem Weeks and buy his books: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Follow Beem Weeks: Goodreads – Website/Blog: Beem Weeks – Twitter: @BeemWeeks

Another recommended book for you this week that I recently reviewed, a perfect gift for mystery and thriller readers. Genuine Deceit by Joy York.

About the book

Abandonment. Suicide. Murder. When a young woman finds herself unknowingly accountable for the past sins of her family, she must unravel their secrets and lies to stay alive.

When her grandmother is brutally murdered in her own home, Reagan Asher leaves her corporate job and rushes to her sleepy hometown in Ohio. She has barely entered the house before a second break-in attempt is made, prompting police to believe it’s not just a random burglary. Reagan’s lifelong friend Mattie asks Aiden Rannell, her brother-in-law and an ex-Navy Seal, to lend support and protection to Reagan as she navigates the investigation.

Aiden suggests a ring that Reagan’s grandmother owned may be more valuable than anyone believes. Considering her frugal life growing up, Reagan dismisses the idea, showing Aiden an old pink box filled with similar colorful, ornate costume jewelry she and her friends played with as children. When they find a decades-sealed container with shocking contents supporting Aiden’s concerns, Reagan begs him to help her find the origin and if it is related to her Nana’s death.

With the answers seemingly rooted in Reagan’s family’s past, they delve into her tragic childhood as the danger escalates. With each new revelation of betrayal and deception, Reagan begins to doubt everything she ever knew about her life.

My review for Genuine Deceit 26th November 2022

A terrific suspense novel with some unexpected twists to keep the reader turning the pages.

A mystery spanning decades begins to unravel as Reagan Asher encounters unsettling discoveries following the murder of her grandmother. To complicate matters she finds herself torn between her new protector and a boyfriend who may or may not be serious about their relationship. It is an emotional rollercoaster which is not helpful when her life and the lives of those she cares about are in danger.

The author does a great job of keeping the pace moving along and slipping in the reveals in a timely way to keep the reader glued to the story. Some of these are red herrings which result in the police and FBI are being creative with their investigations as they attempt to make the pieces of the puzzle fit.

All the characters are carefully crafted with strengths, but also the small imperfections that make them believable. Those on the dark side of the story are certainly well portrayed, and their attempts to retrieve what they consider to be theirs are chilling.

As Aiden’s and Reagan’s relationship develops, they are led into a complex and dangerous labyrinth built by a man and a woman with a secret they will go to great lengths to protect, and a criminal conspiracy from the past. There is plenty of action, romance, surprises and a great lead up to the climax of the story that both challenges Reagan’s belief in who she really is, and brings together a family separated by deceit.

I highly recommend this book to mystery and thriller lovers who love to be kept in suspense right to the end of the story.

Read the reviews and buy the book: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK

Also by Joy York

Discover more about Joy York and buy the books: Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – Follow Joy: Goodreads – Website: Joy York – Facebook: Joy York Author – Twitter: @JoyYorkAuthor

The final book today is by Simon Van Der Velde – Backstories a short story I can also recommend with some interesting speculations about the back stories of some famous faces…

About the collection

Can you find the famous person hidden in every story? And once found, can you understand them?

‘Ingenious idea, brilliantly executed‘ – Daily Mirror

Backstories – ‘the stand-out most original book of the year’ – is a collection of stories each told from the point of view of one of my personal heroes, (or villains) back when they were just another Jew or black, or queer – back when they were nobody. Bullied, assaulted or psychologically abused, their road to redemption was never easy, and for some there would be no redemption, only a descent into evil.

These are the stories of people you know. The settings are mostly 60’s and 70’s UK and USA, the driving themes are inclusion and social justice – but the real key to these stories is that I withhold the protagonists’ identities. This means that your job is to find them – leading to that Eureka moment when you realise who’s mind you’ve been inhabiting for the last twenty minutes.

I should also add that this is a book that operates on two levels. Yes, there’s the game of identifying the mystery activist or actor, singer or murderer, but there is then the more serious business of trying to understand them. This in turn leads to the challenge of overlaying what you now know about these famous people onto what you thought you knew – not to mention the inherent challenge to your moral compass.

These are people you know, but not as you know them. Peel back the mask and see.

This book is dedicated to the victims of violent crime, the struggle against discrimination in all its forms and making the world a better place for our children. That is why 30% of all profits will be shared between Stop Hate UK, The North East Autism Society and Friends of the Earth. Simon Van der Velde January, 2021

One of the reviews for the collection

C J Limb A new genre of short story

Heroes or villains, idols or tyrants; when someone becomes an icon (for good or ill) there is a tendency for us to view them as a symbol and forget the actual person behind and before the archetype.

Backstories addresses this perceptual gap splendidly and gives us all pause for thought. Each of the fourteen short stories in this collection tells one of the very human accounts of a diverse set of individuals in such a way as to spark empathy and understanding in the reader only to pull the rug out from under their perception in the last sentence – sometimes explicitly, sometimes hinting strongly – where the identity of the protagonist is revealed. To find out who they all are you’ll have to read it for yourself – no spoilers here!

Very quickly this becomes a challenge and you begin to try and second guess the denouement before it arrives and occasionally general knowledge about the subject helps out, adding to the sense of achievement when it turns out you were right all along.

Highly enjoyable, readable and entertaining, this anthology of tales has almost invented its own genre – and leaves the reader eagerly awaiting the second volume.

Head over to read the reviews and buy the collection: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US

Also by Simon Van Der Velde

Find out more about Simon Van Der Velde and buy his books: Amazon UK – And: Amazon US – Goodreads: Simon Van Der Velde – Twitter: @SimonVdVwriter