Dr. Wong by Don Engebretson -- BOOK REVIEW

BOOK REVIEW

Dr. Wong by Don Engebretson (2023)

Billed as Volume 1 in what will be a series of Cole Ember spy thrillers, Dr. Wong is an irreverent romp through the world of international espionage. The adventure follows special operative Cole Ember and Canadian Intelligence Officer Olivia Laidlaw as they race to stop archvillain Dr. Wing Duck Wong from executing his destructive plans.

Engebretson is a seasoned magazine and short story writer. His debut novel, Welcome to Kamini, followed a man in a failed marriage and professional tailspin to the Canadian woods of northern Ontario. Dr. Wong has the same strong plotting, memorable characters, and captivating writing, but with non-stop action and laughs on every page.

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

Cole Ember is an operative for CASPER, a black ops force so black it’s rumored only in CIA bathroom stalls. Unbeatable in a fistfight, deadly with a gun, and dense as a paving stone, Ember’s laughable IQ test score was grossly inflated by a bitter, underpaid CIA behavioral scientist as a “screw you” to his employer before retiring. Crossing paths with famed genetic scientist Dr. Wing Duk Wong, Ember slowly—very slowly—discovers that Wong has created a ruthless army of genetically modified humans to aid in his heinous plot to acquire vast wealth via the boldest, and most peculiar, terrorism attack in history.

Also on Wong’s tail is Canadian Intelligence Officer Olivia Laidlaw. She’s skilled, clever, beautiful, and deadly, albeit armed only with a combat knife and bear spray, per restrictions imposed by the Canadian government. Can this hapless pair find and defeat Wong before the world’s financial centers collapse, and thousands of innocent people die? Are you kidding?

FROM THE AUTHOR

My new novel is Dr. Wong—A Cole Ember Spy Thriller. First in a series. We had all the great Ian Fleming James Bond novels at the cabin, and I devoured them in my teens. Regurgitated decades later, naturally it was spewed across the page as a spy spoof. Too many people have told me that it’s spit-your-coffee funny for me not to tell you that it’s spit-your-coffee funny.

 

Painting Through the Dark by Gemma Whelan -- BOOK REVIEW

BOOK REVIEW

Painting Through the Dark by Gemma Whelan (2022, Shangana Press)

Painting Through the Dark is the story of a young woman, Ashling O'Leary, who is determined to leave Ireland and her demons behind and make a life for herself as an artist in San Francisco. In writing this engaging novel, Irish-born author Gemma Whelan drew on her own experiences from when she arrived in the U.S. several decades ago at the age of 21, with no contacts and little money.

Whelan describes San Francisco in such detail the city is like a character in the story. The bay, the hills, the cable cars, the architecture, and the neighborhoods all create a living background to Ashling’s coming-of-age story. Set in the 1980s, the city represents the freedom and artistic outlook Ashling seeks.

Although her living situation is difficult and exploitive, Ashling is tough. Rebelling against the secrecy and silence of her upbringing in Ireland, Ashling uses art to express herself emotionally through color and texture. And Whelan uses Ashling’s story to explore themes of resilience, independence, and creativity.

The book is a page-turner, filled with vividly visual scenes and dialog that make the story speed along. I read it straight through to find out what happened to Ashling!

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

Fleeing from the emotional shackles of her family in Ireland and the convent where she was training to be a nun, the feisty 21-year-old Ashling O’Leary arrives in San Francisco in 1982 with a backpack, a judo outfit, her artist’s portfolio, a three-month visa, and a determination to find a way to speak up about the abuse of girls and women in Catholic Ireland. As she becomes embroiled in a whirlwind of love, art, and deception, Ashling learns that her success as an artist and a human being depends on dealing with the ghosts of her past and speaking out on behalf of others.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gemma Whelan is an award-winning director, screenwriter, and educator. As an Irish immigrant to the U.S., her perspective crosses the boundaries between cultures, and as an artist, she gives expression to stories that have been suppressed. Gemma was the founding Artistic Director of Wilde Irish Productions in the San Francisco Bay Area and of Corrib Theatre in Portland, Oregon. She has been directing and teaching at universities and conservatories in the U.S, Ireland, and Asia for over 35 years. Her novels are Fiona: Stolen Child and Painting Through the Dark. She lives in Portland, Oregon.

Read my interview of Gemma here. 

 

Need Blind Ambition by Kevin Meyers -- BOOK REVIEW

BOOK REVIEW

Need Blind Ambition by Kevin Meyers (2023, Beaufort Books)

Need Blind Ambition is the second novel from Kevin Meyers, a former journalist turned college administrator. I love the play on words in the title, the moody cover, and the whole college noir atmosphere of the book.

As with his first novel, Hidden Falls, this story deftly balances action, ideas, tension, and humor. The protagonist Peter Cook, having landed a public relations job at a prestigious private college, finds himself torn between protecting the college and exposing its illegal activity. Peter is a sympathetic hero who also wrestles with his own past trauma. Woven into the story are reflections on the state of college education, its cost, admission policies, and the fallout from the pressure created by our higher education system.

I love campus novels and I love mysteries, so a novel of suspense set on a college campus is my cup of tea on any day. That this one is set in my town of Portland, Oregon, made it even more tantalizing. With a complex plot, realistic characters, and exploration of relevant issues, Need Blind Ambition is an excellent read.


FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

The desire for relevance—and to save his marriage—is ultimately what pushed Peter Cook to leave his beloved Alaska for the prestigious Parker College. Lured by the chance to work with his childhood political idol turned college president, Peter moves his family to Portland, Oregon to help promote his hero’s fundraising initiative that would eliminate financial status from the college’s admissions process.

Peter arrives on campus as the Great Recession looms, the stock market is trending toward disaster, and the opioid crisis has breached the walls of the privileged college. He quickly learns the reality of Parker College strays far from its professed idealistic mission after discovering a plot to cover-up felonious drug activity in return for a seven-figure payday to the Need Blind Campaign.

While plumbing the depths of his conscience for the conviction to do the right thing, Peter’s untreated childhood trauma resurfaces, threatening to cloud his perception when it needs to be at its sharpest. Peter must stabilize his mental health while also trying to parse competing versions of “the truth” as law enforcement investigates the criminal conspiracy.

Burn Down This World by Tina Egnoski - BOOK REVIEW

 Burn Down This World by Tina Egnoski (2020, Adelaide Books)

Tina Egnoski's new novel, Burn Down This World, centers on Celeste and Reid Leahy, a brother and sister who come of age in a military family in the South in the late 1960s, at the height unrest about the Vietnam War. Both are active in antiwar demonstrations at the University of Florida in the early 1970s until violence at the protests tears the siblings apart. Reid leaves Florida, not to return until the two reunite in 1998 during the devastating Florida wildfires.

The novel goes back and forth between the story of the campus protests in the 1970s and 1998 when Celeste and Reid reunite during the wildfires. Egnoski handles this braided narrative well. She weaves just enough information into each storyline to keep the reader engaged without revealing too soon the twists and turns of the plot.

The essence of the story is the family drama between Celeste and Reid. The exciting settings of protest and wildfire make that family story all the more compelling. Egnoski also uses the music of the 1960s and 1970s to set the scene and sometimes as a catalyst for the story. For example, Celeste's love of The Doors brings her closer to her brother at an otherwise contentious time in their lives. Both the college protest and the wildfire storylines have action and emotional impact.

All in all, Burn Down This World is an absorbing story, well told.

NOTES

I'd recommend Burn Down This World for readers interested stories about the 1970s or Vietnam War protests, brother/sister stories, or family dramas. Also, readers looking for novels about Florida other than murder mysteries would like it. It would make a great Book Club pick because there is a lot in it to discuss.

Burn Down This World is available in paperback or kindle.

Author Tina Egnoski writes poetry and fiction. She is a native of Florida and now lives in Rhode Island where she works in the Liberal Arts Division at the Rhode Island School of Design. Burn Down This World is her first novel.

Read my review of Tin Egnoski on Rose City Reader here.