Vernon Poche and the Ghosts of New Orleans

by Paul Siefkin

Narrated by Hamilton Clancy

Audiobook Review

The resilience and rich history of New Orleans are revealed through the exciting post-Katrina adventures of two spunky young residents.

Vernon Poche and the Ghosts of New Orleans is a unique and exciting story of two middle-grade explorers in the aftermath of Katrina. Both Vernon and Alisha are lifelong residents of the city and are facing relocation as the adults in their lives look elsewhere for their futures, believing New Orleans is incapable of recovering from the damage of the epic hurricane. Strangers before a chance meeting in the French Quarter, Vernon and Alisha join forces to hunt for rumored treasure with the help and hints of the city's more permanent and ghostly residents. 

The stories of both children are anguishing as they mourn their separate circumstances. Vernon's mother died from cancer some time before the storm, and he frequently visits her gravesite in town. He doesn't want to abandon her and her final resting place by moving with his father to another state. Alisha, who was visiting her grandparents outside the city when the storm struck, was separated from her mother when she was evacuated to Houston during the devastation. Her mother was about to realize her dream of being the featured chef at one of the city's iconic restaurants when the storm hit. 

Life takes an unexpected turn when Vernon meets the mysterious Marie Laveau and her companion, the unusual stray dog, Tonti, while visiting his mother's grave, while his father works downtown to restore necessary services. Following Marie's cryptic instructions and against his father's wishes and the warnings of the National Guardsmen patrolling the area,  Vernon bikes his way around town with Tonti in a box on his handlebars, where he meets the ghosts of some of New Orleans most notable former residents and, eventually, Alisha, who is scoping out the damage and hoping to talk to the restaurant owner to secure her mother's job. The ghostly residents share the rich and varied history of their unique city with the kids and encourage them to discover New Orleans' true treasures as the clock ticks down to Vernon's father's final departure for their new home out of state. 

The story is easy to follow and addictive to listen to. It was easy to get wrapped up in Vernon and Alisha's stories and want to know what was going to happen next. The author's portrayal of their adventures is enhanced by their personal struggles and worries, creating relatable characters for young readers or listeners. At times, the attitudes regarding the Confederate history of the area felt a little heavy-handed, such as when Alisha shuns Vernon for having had an ancestor who fought on that side during the war. However, this creates an excellent opportunity for parents and children to discuss the past and present realities. 

The audiobook edition is narrated by Hamilton Clancy, who gives each character a unique voice. He captured the differences in age, gender, and nationality so well that I often completely forgot this was one person performing them all. It was just as easy to believe I was listening to a famous gospel singer as it was to an 18^th-century pirate. While the narration's pace was adjustable, the default setting made it easy to understand and provided ample opportunities to pause as needed, without having to adjust the stopping point later. 

While, as a parent, I have reservations about a book that features children disobeying their parents, it does offer an opportunity to discuss this aspect of the story with my own. However, the disobedience advances the plot, and even Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys were known for taking similar liberties. Still, the dangerous chances Vernon embraces should be addressed. Other than that, the story is unique, mysterious, and ultimately happy. 

I recommend the audiobook edition of VERNON POCHE AND THE GHOSTS OF NEW ORLEANS to upper elementary and middle-grade-age listeners.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy through AudiobookReviewer.com. 

Murder Under Redwood Moon

Murder, Tea, and Crystals, #1

by

Sherri L. Dodd

Magical and suspenseful!

Murder Under Redwood Moon is the first novel in author Sherri L. Dodd's cozy paranormal mystery trilogy, Murder, Tea, and Crystals, and is an exciting introduction to the magical and suspenseful story of Arista Kelly, a young witch just coming into her powers – powers passed down in her family from generation to generation and coveted by a close family member. 

After the loss of her parents as a child, Arista was taken in by her father's aunt, Bethie, and taught about herbs, crystals, nature, spells, and natural magic to prepare her for the day when her own powers would manifest. She grew up in the quiet mountain town of Boulder Creek, with lifelong friends who still reside nearby. But when one of her friends from middle school disappears and is later found murdered, and then other young women Arista knows are also targeted, she and her aunt protect themselves the best way Bethie knows. Still, Arista may have attracted a serial killer's attention. 

Arista, the main character, is a positive personality, always looking on the bright side and giving people the benefit of the doubt. From the start, you know she is about to come face to face with the dark side of humanity, including that which resides within her own flesh and blood. 

From its unnerving opening, a literal parent's nightmare, the suspense builds. But while maintaining this tension, the author must handle the heavy lifting of creating the world in which these characters exist, and the complex, multi-layered plot unfolds. Dodd quickly populates a small town and Arista's past and current relationships, and that is a lot of information to take in. But along with vivid, living, breathing imagery, I think she pulls it off and gives readers a solid sense of the place and the people who live there. But even as the world-building unfolds, the plot moves briskly, and I found myself really engaging with Arista and the story, staying up late to reach the exciting resolution. 

I recommend MURDER UNDER REDWOOD MOON to readers of paranormal cozy mysteries. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy through WOW! Women On Writing Book Tours.

Anastasia’s Midnight Song

by

M. Laszlo

An atmospheric and complicated tale of madness set at the time of WWI.

Because she imagines that an arctic fox exists inside her womb, Anastasia goes to work in a Sinai mirror factory, believing that will drive the presence out. While in wartime London, Jack watches as other young men, his friends, head off to fight, leaving him unable to overcome his cowardice until he strikes on an alternate plan of action that sends him to the Sinai as well, where he sees and becomes enamored of Anastasia: attention and desire she doesn’t return.

Anastasia’s Midnight Song by M. Laszlo is not a comfortable, easy book to read, yet it is riveting all the same. Told from the perspectives of the two main characters, Anastasia and Jack, I was mesmerized by what they were going through and kept off-balance by the fluidity of reality and fantasy. I turned the pages, hoping they each would find their way to peace and freedom from their hallucinations and depressions, but was unsettled by their ensuing descent further into their madnesses. 

The story’s settings are unusual, and the events of the time contribute to the characters’ problems. The author’s descriptions of 1917 St. Petersburg and the Sinai create a palpably heavy atmosphere that I felt I was constantly wading through alongside the characters. 

As the story unfolded, reality and Anastasia’s hallucinatory interactions with the arctic fox and Svetlana often merged, and I was uncertain what she was really experiencing, if there was still some reality at work. I also felt Jack’s fear of going to war was well-founded. His childhood ill-prepared him both mentally and physically for life in general; he was delusional as to his skills and future already, and a wartime posting would have been certain death, especially considering the transition the mechanics of war were undergoing during WWI. Still, his cowardice and inability to join in the conflict preyed on his mind with tragic results. 

With its character-driven plot and atmospheric imagery, I recommend ANASTASIA’S MIDNIGHT SONG to readers of literary fiction. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tours.

Crescent City Christmas Chaos

Vintage Cookbook Mystery, #4

by

Ellen Byron

This holiday season in the Big Easy is anything but easy!

When Virgil surprises Ricki by hiring her father out of retirement as the cameraman for his upcoming cooking show special, she’s ecstatic to be reunited with her adoptive parents for the holidays, and as they’ll all be busy with the show and working at the Bon Vee Culinary House Museum, they’ve planned their visit to extend into the New Year. Ricki wants to take the opportunity to pick her mother’s brain about her memories of Ricki’s first days, when she was left at Charity Hospital as a newborn by her teenage birth mom. Josepha had always been supportive of Ricki’s quest to learn more about her birth parents, but this time, she’s uncharacteristically vague and resistant to delving into the past, especially when Ricki stumbles across the name of one of Josepha’s former coworkers who worked in the Records Department at that time. Tracking the older woman down proves simple, but Ricki gets creepy vibes from her the minute she mentions her mother is in town, and terminates the visit before asking about her memories of the teenager who gave her up for adoption. However, when the woman is found dead in her home under suspicious circumstances the next day, Ricki and her parents become prime suspects in her death. 

Crescent City Christmas Chaos is the fourth book in author Ellen Byron’s intriguing New Orleans-set Vintage Cookbook Mystery series, and features vintage shop owner Miracle “Ricki” Fleur de Lis James-Diaz and her friends, family, and coworkers at the city’s beautiful Bon Vee Culinary House Museum. Ricki has established a unique and successful small business that she loves and has embarked on a lovely new romance with celebrity chef and neighbor Virgil Morel. Their relationship is still in the early stages, and Ricki is quite taken with Virgil’s innate goodness, especially after her past romantic experiences. They really fit well as a couple, as do her adoptive parents, Josepha and Luis James-Diaz, who met, married, and relocated to Los Angeles when Ricki was small. 

While the main plot follows Ricki’s well-done personal investigation into Phyllis Gibbs’s death, some interesting subplots vie for attention, including Virgil’s cooking special, the Bon Vee staff’s cookbook project, and Theo Charbonnet’s curiously secretive activities. Ricki’s search for her birth parents has been a theme running through the series since the beginning, and little pieces of the puzzle have been revealed in each successive mystery. This book does not disappoint. 

With its crush of great subplots involving a plethora of engaging recurring characters, I recommend CRESCENT CITY CHRISTMAS CHAOS to cozy mystery readers, especially those who’ve read the previous novels in the series and those who enjoy a New Orleans setting or adoption theme. 

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours.

A Fable of Wood and Strings

The Puppetmaster Duology, #1

by

L.T. Getty

Imaginative and action-packed young adult fantasy.

A Fable of Wood and Strings is the first book in author L.T. Getty’s new Puppetmaster Duology and is an imaginative tale of what happens when an evil puppeteer comes to the small village of Stagmil. Lily and her young twin siblings, Seth and Tiffany, are targeted by a beautiful stranger who stumbles into their town when the men are away hunting an injured wyvern that has been attacking their livestock. The stranger, a monster behind a magical mask, lures the children of the village into the woods and them into marionettes with spider silk as strings. Lily and Seth, with the help of a mysterious village outcast and other magical beings, must work together to save Tiffany and the other children before it’s too late. 

The author’s world-building is extensive and detailed as the story unfolds. Lily is a kind and considerate daughter who longs for more than her life in Stagmil, and her parents depend on her so much to help not only their family but the village as well. Seth and Tiffany are fun as a typical bratty younger brother and sister. They are relatable characters and easy to get behind and root for. I thought the adult villagers were a pretty sorry lot to Lily as a whole. They were demanding and ungrateful, using and abusing Lily verbally. She’s way more forgiving than I would have been in her shoes. 

The plot was by far one of the more creative ones I’ve encountered, with vividly frightening monsters, magical foxes, and a wise sword master in Zin. The characters are definitely put through the wringer, and this is just book one! 

With its engaging and relatable characters and imaginative plot, I recommend A FABLE OF WOOD AND STRINGS to young adult fantasy readers.

For this and other book reviews, visit my blog, Boys' Mom Reads!