‘A Dark Twisted #Mystery’ Noelle reviews Fault Lines by Tsveti Nacheva @guelphed

Today’s team review is from Noelle. She blogs here https://saylingaway.wordpress.com

Noelle has been reading Fault Lines by Tsveti Nacheva

I purchased a copy of this book for a review as a member of Rosie’s Book Review Team.

This is a debut novel for Tsevi Nacheva, a Bulgarian born writer now living in Canada. It’s a combination of mystery and what I would call romance/chick lit, with parts being one or the other.

In Fault Lines, the reader is introduced to a TV reporter/producer based in Toronto – Lauri Arbo. Laurie grew up in Solway, a small town some distance from Toronto, with a best friend, Ashley, and her boyfriend, Nate Stone. Following the night of a revelrous and drunken teenage Halloween party at the farm of Nate’s parents, Laurie awakens with a massive hangover, remembering little of the night before. And she discovers Nate’s clothes are covered in blood.

Over the next several days, she realizes that Ashley disappeared that night. Days turn to months, and Ashley is not found. Seven years later, Laurie is established as a well-known TV producer. On the trail of an old and cold case for her show, she finds herself back in Solway, dreading being there, knowing Ashley is gone. She and Nate grew apart and Nate is now not-so-happily-married to a woman who is still insanely jealous of Laurie’s and Nate’s former relationship.

There are several threads woven into this novel that oh so gradually unravel, like a tangled ball of yarn. First is the two mysteries: Ashley’s disappearance and the story that Laurie is working on – the unexplained deaths of a woman and her daughter in Solway in the 1950s. The second thread is Laurie’s live-in relationship with a handsome and sought-after actor. The third is Laurie’s unstated but still recognized love for her ex, Nate.

The pace of the book slows to that of a snail from time to time, then speeds up, only to slow again. These pauses in the pace occurred in the lengthy descriptions of Laurie’s relationships with various people: her production assistant, her lover, Nate’s mother, and Nate and his wife, all dealt with in great detail. Interesting, yes, but had me urging the author to get on with it.

The author is very creative in her descriptive writing and much of it is a delightful discovery. She uses the Canadian backdrop to cleverly create atmospheric tension. Occasionally, though, she lapses into over-the-top prose and nonsensical similes.

Luckily, though, as the character Laurie gets closer to the solutions to the mysteries, the author picks up the pace of the various story lines and the book becomes a page turner with endings that are totally unexpected and satisfying. And ties the threads back together.

I think this is a good book for a first outing and I look forward to watching the development of this author.

Four stars

When the unthinkable happens…
When her best friend disappears from a party at a haunted house attraction, Laurie Arbo fears the worst. Ashley would not just up and leave. As days turn into weeks, it becomes clear that she is not coming back. But without a body, proving that a crime has been committed—let alone unmasking the culprit—is a tall order.

The truth should come first.
All eyes are on Ashley’s boyfriend, who is being cagey. But Laurie’s own partner, Nate, is keeping secrets too. On that fateful night, his clothes were covered in blood, which he swears wasn’t Ashley’s. Refusing to accept the man she loves might be a murderer, Laurie decides to believe him. Yet, unable to put the past behind them, they drift apart.

But what if it’s ugly?
Seven years later, while working on a TV documentary about a local family drama, she reconnects with Nate, and the pieces start falling together. As Laurie draws closer to learning what happened that night, she realizes the truth might be the one thing she doesn’t want to uncover.

AmazonUK | AmazonUS

‘A very creepy and threatening feel to the narrative.’ @AlisonW_Editor reviews #Crimefiction Fault Lines by Tsveti Nacheva @guelphed

Today’s team review is from Alison. She blogs here https://alisonwilliamswriting.wordpress.com/

Alison has been reading Fault Lines by Tsveti Nacheva

I really enjoyed this novel. The characters are very well-written, the writing flows well, and there’s enough intrigue and twists and turns to keep you turning the page.

Laurie’s best friend vanishes after a Halloween party out in the backwoods of Canada. Laurie having gone to bed drunk, can’t remember the night clearly, but what she does remember is that her boyfriend Nate’s clothes were covered in blood – surely he can’t have anything to do with Ashley’s disappearance?

They split up, but years later, Laurie’s work takes her back to her past, and she’s finally forced to confront the truth.

As the story unfolds, our ideas about the characters and their motivations unfold too, and they reveal things about themselves that add to the intrigue of the story. That said, I did feel that Erin was a bit of a missed opportunity – I was expecting more from her and her potential didn’t feel realised.

Laurie, though, is a great character; it’s very easy to believe in her and the way she behaves and to sympathise with her. Her confusion and her emotions are so well portrayed.

The settings work very well too, and there’s a very creepy and threatening feel to the narrative.

One of the strengths of the novel for me was the smaller storyline around Ashley’s mum and her frustration and fear around her daughter’s disappearance. She’s another really well-written and fully realised character.

There are a few issues with tense, however, with lots of switches from past to present that don’t really work, and some of the dialogue feels rather formal.

But overall this is a very well-written and enjoyable novel

Four stars

When the unthinkable happens…
When her best friend disappears from a party at a haunted house attraction, Laurie Arbo fears the worst. Ashley would not just up and leave. As days turn into weeks, it becomes clear that she is not coming back. But without a body, proving that a crime has been committed—let alone unmasking the culprit—is a tall order.

The truth should come first.
All eyes are on Ashley’s boyfriend, who is being cagey. But Laurie’s own partner, Nate, is keeping secrets too. On that fateful night, his clothes were covered in blood, which he swears wasn’t Ashley’s. Refusing to accept the man she loves might be a murderer, Laurie decides to believe him. Yet, unable to put the past behind them, they drift apart.

But what if it’s ugly?
Seven years later, while working on a TV documentary about a local family drama, she reconnects with Nate, and the pieces start falling together. As Laurie draws closer to learning what happened that night, she realizes the truth might be the one thing she doesn’t want to uncover.

AmazonUK | AmazonUS

With Its Strong Mother / Daughter Relationship @deBieJennifer Enjoyed #HistFic Lilacs In The Dust Bowl by @DianaStevan

Today’s team review is from Jenni. She blogs here https://jenniferdebie.com/

Jenni has been reading Lilacs In the Dust Bowl by Diana Stevan

There’s something about a mother/daughter story that always gets me. Perhaps because I am a daughter who has a strong relationship with her mother, perhaps because I look forward to having my own daughter someday—but stories, poetry, films, and novels about the bonds and contrasts between mothers and daughters have always been the kind of art I gravitate towards.

Lilacs in the Dust Bowl is the second installment of Diana Stevan’s chronicle of her grandmother’s life, and it revels in exploring the mother/daughter relationship between Lukia, who anchored Sunflowers Under Fire (2019), and her teenaged daughter, Dunya.

Dunya, grows up to be Diana Stevan’s mother, and tells Stevan the family stories that have been woven into these two novels, just for everyone keeping track of the metatext at home.

Stevan’s wise decision to expand the perspective to incorporate Dunya’s side of things brings texture and depth to an already compelling story. Where Lukia adapts to her new surroundings in one way, Dunya grows and changes in another, pushing against her mother at times and pulling with her at others.

Yet there is always love.

Where a weaker writer might make this a mother vs. daughter story to add conflict or drama, Dunya and Lukia never work against each other. They work in different ways, but always together, and always with love and for the betterment of the family as a whole. Besides, there is enough external conflict in Lilacs without attempting to layer in unnecessary tension between these two.  

Having grown up in Texas, I forget that the dustbowl was not a purely American issue, but rather something that affected the entire continent on a truly biblical scale. Dust storms, insect swarms, crippling heat and punishing cold, Lukia and her family must weather them all in the first years of their immigration to Canada, constantly battling the elements, the bank, and the poor soil on the farm they’ve been allotted to scrape their way towards survival.

As with Sunflowers, Lilacs is not all heartbreak and struggle. There are barn dances and new friends and a truly delightful anecdote about gopher tails. There is struggle, but in the end, there is also reward.

In the end, all of that struggle was not for nothing.

In the end, Lukia finds triumph in this new home she has made for herself and her children.

Lovingly researched and written, Lilacs in the Dust Bowl is a worthy sequel to Sunflowers Under Fire, detailing this second chapter in the history of Lukia, Dunya, and Stevan’s family, and exactly the kind of generational story so many people need right now.

5/5

A family saga, set during the Great Depression, when hope and opportunity clashed for all who tried to make a living off the land.

Based on the true story of her grandmother’s trials, Diana Stevan continues the amazing tale of Lukia, a woman who showed—no matter what life threw her—where there’s a will, there’s a way.

When Lukia Mazurets, a Ukrainian peasant farmer, and her family immigrate to Canada in 1929, she has no idea the stock market is about to crash and throw the world into a deep depression. For the next seven years, she and her children will be tested not only by life as immigrants in a strange country but also by the ravages of nature. The threat to family security will also come from her rebellious son, her willful daughter, her arrogant brother, and the married son she’s come to rely on. And to add to the turbulence in her home, she’ll be romanced, awakening desire she thought was long gone.

AmazonUK | AmazonUS

Rosie’s #Bookreview Of #HistoricalFiction Lilacs In The Dust Bowl by @DianaStevan

Lilacs in the Dust Bowl by Diana Stevan

4 stars

Lilacs In The Dust Bowl is historical fiction set in Canada and begins in 1929. It follows Lukia Mazurets and her family who leave their home in the Ukraine and immigrate to Canada. The Canadian authorities have offered farmland at a fraction of the cost of land at home and thousands are flocking there.

However, once Lukia and her family arrive in Winnipeg, all the good land has already been bought. They face extreme cold each winter, summers which stretch to drought, terrible dust storms, grasshopper plagues and near starvation especially when the grain prices plummet as Canada goes into its Depression years.

The book covers around eight years of Lukia’s life; she is fifty-four when she leaves the Ukraine and the book ends with her reflections, then aged sixty-two. This book is the sequel to Sunflowers Under Fire, which I haven’t read, and I was interested to read in the author’s notes that Lukia was the author’s grandmother.

It was quite humbling to read how the family survived. The author’s research into the Depression years shone through with details from the era, but on occasions I felt that some of the story was written so that historical facts could be added, rather than them complimenting the narrative.

As a dedication to the author’s relatives, this book worked well; as an engaging piece of fiction, it was okay, but I struggled to engage with the characters as much as I had hoped and I kept comparing the story to similar ones I’ve read.

View all my reviews on Goodreads

A family saga, set during the Great Depression, when hope and opportunity clashed for all who tried to make a living off the land.

Based on the true story of her grandmother’s trials, Diana Stevan continues the amazing tale of Lukia, a woman who showed—no matter what life threw her—where there’s a will, there’s a way.

When Lukia Mazurets, a Ukrainian peasant farmer, and her family immigrate to Canada in 1929, she has no idea the stock market is about to crash and throw the world into a deep depression. For the next seven years, she and her children will be tested not only by life as immigrants in a strange country but also by the ravages of nature. The threat to family security will also come from her rebellious son, her willful daughter, her arrogant brother, and the married son she’s come to rely on. And to add to the turbulence in her home, she’ll be romanced, awakening desire she thought was long gone.

AmazonUK | AmazonUS