GSMC Book Review Podcast

Sarah speaks with Carla Damron about her suspens, crime fiction novel, The Orchid Tattoo: "Social worker Georgia Thayer can balance her own mental illness with the demands of an impossible job. Mostly. But when her sister vanishes in the dead of night, her desperate quest to find Peyton takes her into the tentacles of a human trafficking network-where she encounters a young victim called "Kitten."...

Sarah speaks with Patty Mechael about her Middle Grade book, The Antidotes: Pollution Solution: "Just when a group of fifth-grade friends is returning to normal life and to school after a global pandemic, the waters of the Chesapeake Bay have become polluted by a plastic-eating bacteria experiment gone wrong—and both fish and kids are getting sick! Izi, Gir, and their friends go to science club an...

Sarah speaks with David A. Bowles about the most recent book in his Westward Sagas series, Sherriff of Starr County: "When Texas becomes a newly-minted state, good men and women work hard toward progress and peace. Texas Ranger Will Smith travels to the borderlands of the Nueces Strip to become the first Sheriff of Starr County. He’ll do what he must to bring justice to the frontier, including wra...

Sarah speaks with Mazey Eddings about her novel, The Plus One: Some facts are indisputable. The sun rises in the east, sets in the west. Gravity exists. Indira doesn’t like Jude. Jude doesn’t like Indira. But what happens when these childhood enemies find the only thing they can rely on is each other? On paper, Indira has everything together. An amazing job, a boyfriend, and a car. What more could...

Sarah speaks with Alison Levy about the second book in her Daemon Collecting series, Blue Flame: "While introducing Leda Morley, last of an ancient line of gatekeepers, to the ins and outs of her daemon-collecting work, Rachel Wilde encounters something far more dangerous than any daemon: a young boy who stands alone against an unseen yet terrifying enemy that has invaded his home—an inhuman creat...

Sarah speaks with Catherine Raphael about her debut novel Journey to the Heart Stone: "In the beginning, the Goddess danced the world into existence. Peace reigned for generations through matriarchal rule within the Minca, Dute, and Carroo tribes. But then one man’s lust for power destroyed this balance: Vestor assassinated his sister, Mother of the Minca tribe. His army ravaged the Dute and Carro...

Sarah speaks with Mary T. Ford about her novel, Boy at the Crossroads: From Teenage Runaway to Class President: "Tennessee, 1955. Conley Ford learned quickly the world's full of hard knocks. Seeking the wrong kind of excitement, the restless thirteen-year-old falls in with a group of older boys joyriding in stolen Mercury cars... until he is arrested and put on probation. With a harsh father waiti...

Sarah speaks with Anthony McGowan about his book Dogs of the Deadlands: "Chernobyl, 1986.Natasha’s world is coming to an end. Forced to evacuate her home in the middle of the night, she must leave her puppy behind and has no idea if she’ll ever return. Some time later, growing up in the shadow of the ruined nuclear power plant, pups Misha and Bratan need to learn how to live wild - and fast. Creat...

Sarah speaks with returning guest J.P. McLean about the second book in her Dark Dreams series, Ghost Mark: "Jane’s nightmares are back—and this time, they’ve unleashed a brutal killer. Jane Walker’s nightmares aren’t imaginary—they’re glimpses into the traumatic past; and the past can be dangerous, especially now that Jane’s protective birthmarks are gone. Worse, she’s no longer invisible within h...

Sarah speaks with Kim Taylor Blakemore about her historical fiction novel, The Deception: "New Hampshire, 1877. Maud Price was once a celebrated child medium, a true believer in lifting the veil between the living and the dead. Now penniless, her guiding spirits gone, the so-called “Maid of Light” is desperate to regain her reputation—but doing so means putting her faith in deceiving others. Cleme...

Sarah speaks with Susanne Dunlap about her historical fiction novel, The Portraitist: A Novel of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard: "Based on a true story, this is the tale of Adélaïde Labille-Guiard’s fight to take her rightful place in the competitive art world of eighteenth-century Paris. With a beautiful rival who’s better connected and better trained than she is, Adélaïde faces an uphill battle. Her lo...

Sarah speaks with returning guest Stephanie Kane about her book, True Crime Redux: "'More than a witness but less than an active participant, I was a bit actor whose role in the crime shaped my life.' So writes Stephanie Kane, who here recounts the dramatic events that forever fractured the lives of the Frye family as well as her own. The murder of Betty Frye goes unpunished for decades. Kane, ex-...

Sarah speaks with returning author Louise Marburg about her collection of short stories, You Have Reached Your Destination which "captures turning points in the lives of twelve disparate women. Marburg's crisp, clear-eyed prose, infused with dark humor, reveals the inevitable collapse of pretension beneath the struggles of loneliness, death, and the all too human need to be seen. From a pre-teen a...

Sarah speaks with her friend Elizabeth Romero Stanley about her middle grade novel, I Love This Game: "I Love This Game is a must-read for children of all ages. It is not only a highly enjoyable and entertaining story for the reader, walking alongside the lovable Peyton throughout her journey and rooting for her the whole way, but what stands out to are the values that are highlighted throughout t...

Sarah speaks with Linda Hurtado Bond about her novel, All the Broken Girls: "Crime reporter Mari Alvarez was never able to solve her mother’s murder ten years ago. But when a woman is gunned down on the doorstep of her West Tampa neighborhood, Mari can’t shake the eerie sense of connection. Now there have been two murders in two days. Each crime scene awash with arcane clues—and without a trace of...

Sarah speaks with Coco Picard about her novel, The Healing Circle: "A mother abandons her family in California to pursue a miracle cure in Munich. Once she gets there however, she wonders if she might have already died. Bedridden with a terminal diagnosis, memories, nurses, immoral doctors, foreign television broadcasts, and phone calls from children intrude upon her consciousness. An aloe plant c...

Sarah speaks with Mark Chesnut about his memoir Prepare For Departure: "At an early age, award-winning travel writer, Mark Chesnut, learned to dodge discomfort by jumping on the nearest plane, bus or car. That tactic proved especially useful when his single mother made it clear that there was no room for discussion about his gay identity. Mark, overwhelmed with wanderlust, shoplifts in airports, a...

Sarah speaks with Scott Russell Sanders about his book, Small Marvels: "In Limestone, Indiana, a city tucked away among forested hills, peculiar things happen, often in the vicinity of a jack-of-all-trades named Gordon Mills. Centaurs and nymphs shelter in a local cave, alligators lurk in the sewers, warm snow falls on the Fourth of July, cornstalks rise higher than chimneys, and the northern ligh...

Sarah speaks with Donna Gordon about her debut novel, What Ben Franklin Would Have Told Me, which "explores the story of Lee, a vibrant thirteen-year-old boy who is facing premature death from Progeria (a premature aging disease); his caretaker TomÁs, a survivor of Argentina's Dirty War, who is searching for his missing wife, who was pregnant when they were both "disappeared;" and Lee's single mot...

Sarah speaks with R. V. Minkler about his post-apocalyptic novel, The Redeemed: "Eleven years after a virus swept through the world, small, spread-out gangs are all that's left of humanity. Veena Osborne and her mentor, Abraham Jones, lead the Tierrans through the daily trials of surviving in post-apocalyptic San Diego. Together, they cling to the daily disciplines of faith and life that keep them...

Sarah speaks with Sue Mell about her novel Provenance: "Still grieving his wife's early death, DJ has spent the last three years-and the money from her insurance policy-collecting guitars, composing music, and continuing to shop the Brooklyn stoop sales and flea markets they'd always enjoyed. When his building is sold, he takes refuge in his younger sister's half-finished basement, imagining a com...

Sarah speaks with David Ellis about his novel, Look Closer: "Simon and Vicky couldn’t seem more normal: a wealthy Chicago couple, he a respected law professor, she an advocate for domestic violence victims. A stable, if unexciting marriage. But one thing’s for sure … absolutely nothing is what it seems. The pair are far from normal, and one of them just may be a killer. When the body of a beautifu...

Sarah speaks with Kim Hays about her novel, Pesticide: "Bern, Switzerland—known for its narrow cobblestone streets, decorative fountains, and striking towers. Yet dark currents run through this charming medieval city and beyond, to the idyllic farmlands that surround it. When a rave on a hot summer night erupts into violent riots, a young man is found the next morning bludgeoned to death with a po...

Sarah speaks with returning author Carter Wilson about his novel, The New Neighbor: "Aidan holds the winning Powerball numbers. Is today the best day of his life... or the worst? Aidan Marlowe is the superstitious type—he's been playing the same lottery numbers for fifteen years, never hitting the jackpot. Until now. On the day of his wife's funeral. Aidan struggles to cope with these two sudden e...

Sarah speaks with returning author Laury A. Egan about her novel, Once, Upon an Island: "A sixteen-year-old girl, Olivia, who feels guilty about her younger brother's death. Her mother, Evelyn, a glamorous artist. Travis, the charismatic owner of the Pink Fancy Hotel. A mysterious Czechoslovakian widow, Sofiya. A sojourn on St. Croix, a tropical island. Two love affairs. Secrets. Nazis. Ravensbrüc...