Deep in the Heart of Trouble

Title:Deep in the Heart of Trouble
Author: Deeanne Gist
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Publisher Address: 11400 Hampshire Avenue South, Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
Url: www.bethanyhouse.com
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0226-1, Price $13.99 Publication Date: 2008
Reviewed by Bethany L. Canfield for Reader Views (8/08)

Yearly count: 50

What is life worth if you don't get down and dirty? Well, as far as Essie is concerned, life that is not lived is not life at all. She is not content to sit and watch the men do the hard work, or ride bicycles, catch snakes, go fishing or own oil companies. She sets it clear from the start that she is a woman who does not have the need to fit into the social standards of that day. Deep in the Heart of Trouble is a historical romance novel that engaged me and kept me wanting more the whole way through. I have actually never read this genre before, but this book was a great introduction into the scene. I enjoyed the writing, simple and straightforward, not flowery and over dramatic at all. I felt the pace was speedier than expected in a historical romance novel.

Deeanne Gist does and excellent job with character development, each character becomes alive and feels like a whole person, not just a made-up one dimensional book being. Through the character development the reader is brought to trust, hope and enjoy each person described filling the pages of Deep in the Heart of Trouble with an honesty and sensitivity that will not be forgotten.

Life, morality, trust and integrity are traits that shine through the entire book, it is easy to be captivated by their luster.It is fully enjoyable to read a book that does not threaten my moral standpoints over and over. I wish there were more books out there like this, creative and captivating because of the writing and characters, and not the steamy sex scenes and over extended violence. This was pure joy to read, it really was.

Two Brothers: One North, One South

Title:Two Brothers: One North, One South
Author: David H. Jones
Publisher: Staghorn Press
Publisher Address: P.O Box 260162, Encino, Californa 91426-0162
Url: www.staghornpress.com
ISBN: 978-0-9796868-5-7, Price $24.95 Publication Date: 2008
Reviewed by me, Bethany L. Canfield for Reader Views (05/08)
Yearly Count: 26



The question of war is always the same: is what is gained through it worth the loss that it causes? "Two Brothers, One North, One South" by David H Jones is not the typical history book that conveys only the gruesome dates and facts of the Civil War, but the war is brought to a more intimate level. Two brothers, who love each other, brought up in the same family, both in the same house, who grew up as friends yet a wedge is developed as the war cries out to each of them and their loyalties lie firmly on opposing sides. Deep from within each brother there is a call to be loyal, true and never wavering, but this loyalty will threaten their family, bring division and cause hurt. That is a high price to pay, but it does not seem to get a second thought by either of them, who are both bent on serving their country, and protecting their rights, while challenging and bringing change.


"Two Brothers" is an informs of the nature behind the war and the people who sustained it. Jones perfects the task of displaying the confusion, the chaos, the misunderstanding of what the war was going to be, and especially how long it would take and what it would cost (in lives especially). Citizens became soldiers overnight, and left their families. The emphasis is put that no one really knew what was going on, almost all of the men in uniform were not soldiers, but regular men, farmers, plantation owners, scholars. Many of them were young men, some were only fifteen years of age, and did not know the price, but knew they were being beckoned.Their adrenaline was rushing, they believed in the cause and therefore off the boys, men and soldiers headed to a war which was too hungry for human flesh. When over, it was more a feeling of chaos and loss, because so much of what was accomplished was hidden beneath the dirty, tired surface.


I enjoyed the humanness attached the the civil war, that Jones was able to put faces and feelings while not neglecting the dates and facts. I was captured by the families involved and the outcome and affect of the war on their lives as individuals, as families. However, to me the way it was written was too predictable, I know that we all know the outcome, but I am talking about a dullness in the writing, or more a lack of details and development. The art was left out of the prose and conversations. I am not sure if this was intentional, but I would have enjoyed a more artistic portrayal. As I said, it could have been intentionally full of very practical speech, and descriptions because of the time which the author is intending to portray. But I could tell the author was more of a historian than a writer, since his dates and battles were described with such care, yet he seemed to struggle through some of deepness and development of characters, causing me to not feel as deeply connected as I could have to each of them. I would recommend it, especially if you are a history buff, or if you enjoy historical novels from the civil war era. It was good, just not as touching as I think it could have been.


*Two Brothers: One North, One South website

Invasion of the Bible Thumpers

Title:Invasion of the Bible Thumpers
Author: Skookum Maguire
Publisher: iUniverse
Publisher Address: 2021 Pine lake Road, Suite 100, Lincoln, NE 68512
Url: www.iuniverse.com
ISBN: 978-0-595-44814-2, Price $11.95 Publication Date: 2007
Reviewed by Bethany L. Canfield for Reader Views (5/08)
Yearly Count: 27


Jammed tight from cover-to-cover with loggers, lumberjacks, crew workers and big-butt waitresses ,is "Invasion of the Bible Thumpers" by Skookum Maguire. A story it has about life and country-folk, that will almost get you dirty and able to smell the rain and pine just by opening the book. Nine short stories of lives that are lived, dreams that fall apart, and antics that will kill you, they are fun to read and learn from. The voice of Maguire is stout and rich in quality, that is also a treat. Each story was deep, and engulfing yet when the last page of the the book was done the short stories came together as a joined unit. Nothing is given freely, the characters have a common thread of grit, dirt and crudeness to them. The harsh reality is what is lived, and they would die to keep it that way. Each story is incredible and endearing in its own way, but the theme: live your life, you won't get another screams like a hard-core rockstar. The life that is hard-lived is the life of quality, yet it is not a life that is given, but one that must be fought for.

Enjoyable, down-to-earth and honest, the "Invasion of the Bible Thumpers" is one that once picked up, dived in to and pages are turned, the reader will not want to abandon it part way. The stories that stayed with me were: A Time for Mourning, Newspapers and Invasion of the Bible Thumpers. Maguire does an exceptional job of portraying the loggers, construction workers, and down-to-earth Oregonians and I should know since I am a true North westerner myself, with grandparents on both sides being loggers and farmers of this sweet, wet land.

The one thing that was difficult was that the rest of the stories (besides the three mentioned above) really did not stand out significantly. I enjoyed them, but Maguire's characters became too similar, too generic. A book of short stories to me is about variety, diversity, switching-it-up and the ability to go deep fast and keep the reader there too. The three stories I mentioned above were like that for me, but the rest seemed weak, and I did not develop that deep interest in the people whom the story was about. Almost like I was reading a story about an extra in a movie and the action was really somewhere off to the right or left. The book was good, and the stories that I enjoyed I really enjoyed, the others were just nothing extra-ordinary. I would recommend the book, especially to people I know from the grand 'ol Pacific Northwest just based on the stories that I did like. So over all, it was good not great.