Chevron Ross | Updates

Buckeye: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I struggle with books like Buckeye. Their authors write so well, their characters are so engaging, and their subject matter is so interesting. The one thing their stories lack is decency.

Take Cal Jenkins, son of a bitter World War I veteran. After Pearl Harbor Cal is eager to serve in World War II but is rejected because of a birth defect. Or Becky Hanover, who has a gift for communicating with dead souls. Then there’s Margaret, who grows up wondering why her mother abandoned her to an orphanage. And Felix Salt, whose secret sexual yearnings threaten his marriage. Patrick Ryan paints all these characters with a depth of understanding that keeps the reader enthralled and sympathetic.

Set in various parts of Ohio before, during, and after the war, Buckeye carries us through decades of sorrow as members of two families find themselves disappointed in each other. All the characters suffer internal and interpersonal conflicts that emerge in numerous poignant scenes. They do things they come to regret, things that cause collateral damage to their children. But their individual ways of compromising for the sake of love and family make them memorable, endearing, and deeply moving.

This is the kind of book I would enjoy reading again if I didn’t have to wade through the profanity, vulgar language, and explicit sexuality that doom so many novels these days. Gifted writers like Patrick Ryan should know better. My four-star rating is better than his effort deserves.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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The Labors of Hercules Beal: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 3 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Gary D. Schmidt has won my heart with another of his delightful novels about middle-school kids. The latest is a youngster with the improbable name of Hercules Beal. His brother’s name is Achilles.

The Beal brothers live in Truro, a small New England town where they try to carry on following the deaths of their parents. Achilles runs the family plant farm and nursery with the help of his girlfriend, whom Hercules is convinced is a vampire.

One of Hercules's teachers is an ex-Marine who runs his class like a military unit. Lieutenant Colonel Hupfer assigns his students to a long-term project involving Greek mythology. Hercules must perform modern versions of the mythical Hercules’s twelve labors and write essays about them. How he performs them, and how they shape his young life, is the center on which this story revolves.

Schmidt has a wonderful talent for identifying with kids. His wit shines through all his works, combined with a breezy yet penetrating style that makes it difficult to stop reading, no matter how often your cell phone pings. I know, because I tried it and failed.

One of the nicest things about this book is the sense of community that arises as Hercules and his brother experience crises that test their endurance. As neighbors pull together to help them, the brothers do their part when bigger challenges threaten the entire town. Schmidt manages to make self-discipline and hard work sound like fun.

I never figured out why the Beal brothers’ parents gave them mythological names, but they suited the author’s purpose. Whatever your reading taste may be, I hope you’ll make room for The Labors of Hercules Beal. This is a five-star novel if there ever was one.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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The Memory Police: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Although The Memory Police appeared more than thirty years ago, it speaks to the present moment, when sinister forces work to destroy human freedom and initiative.

A nameless narrator describes how squads of police officials sweep through her island community to remove random objects such birds, ferryboats, and rose gardens. Once the items are gone, most people cease to remember them. Some brave souls provide safehouses for the few people whose memories remain intact. But the Memory Police are relentless. They track down and arrest those who do remember. Having forgotten so many things already, the narrator believes that she may soon forget how to write.

Significantly, her current novel concerns a typing student whose teacher locks her in a clock tower with piles of defective typewriters, apparently to break her spirit. Both the narrator and her story’s victim accept their plights with resignation, as if persecution were natural and benevolent. Still, acts of kindness persist among the oppressed islanders. Even amid famine they share food and risk arrest to protect friends and loved ones.

Ogawa’s premise is not new. It combines elements of George Orwell’s 1984, Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, and The Diary of Anne Frank. Her poignant words teach us to value the little things in life, for when we forget them, we lose something of ourselves. “My memories don’t feel as though they’ve been pulled up by the root,” says one character. “Even if they fade, something remains. Like tiny seeds they might germinate again if the rain falls. And even if a memory disappears completely, the heart retains something. A slight tremor or pain, some bit of joy, a tear.”

The Memory Police speaks to today’s war against the goodness in humanity. Unless we are vigilant, we may lose the precious freedom our forebears fought to win and whose descendants died to preserve. This five-star novel should be required reading because freedom, like memory, is a fragile thing.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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East of Eden: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

East of Eden is one of those famous books I've always meant to read but have put off until now. In case you’ve been doing the same thing, here are my impressions.

This is supposed to be a retelling of the Biblical Cain and Abel story, but you might not guess that from the text. It involves two Civil War-era families, the Hamiltons of Salinas, California, and the Trasks of Connecticut. Adam Trask enlists in the Union Army while his half-brother Charles stays home to farm their father’s land. Adam has his father’s love; Charles does not.

The father, who is something of a blowhard, leaves his sons for an influential career in Washington, D.C. Eventually he dies, and Charles buys Adam’s share of the inheritance. Adam moves to Salinas where he becomes friends with Samuel Hamilton, who digs wells for the farmland Adam has purchased.

The kind-hearted Adam falls in love with Cathy Ames, who is undoubtedly Steinbeck’s most despicable character. She bears twin boys but wants nothing to do with them, choosing instead to become a prostitute and eventually owner of a brothel. Adam tries to protect the boys, Caleb and Aron, from this horrible truth by telling them their mother is dead. From there the story becomes a kind of philosophical soap opera with Adam and Aron as benign innocents, while Charles and Caleb have permanent marks on their heads. If there’s any further resemblance to Genesis, it’s over my head.

What makes this book worth your time is Steinbeck’s narration. Some of his scenes are so well-crafted as to make you go back and read them again. We get vivid portraits of the California farm country and how it shapes his characters’ lives. Samuel and his long-suffering wife Liza could fill a book by themselves. Adam’s Chinese servant Lee is a prophet-like figure whose wise counsel guides the others through their travails.

There are some amusing scenes, including a mechanic’s involved explanation of how to start an early-model automobile, Olive Hamilton’s traumatic ride in a stunt plane, and Adam’s attempt to get rich by shipping refrigerated lettuce from California to New York.

Overall I found the saga interesting but somewhat implausible. If you’re not familiar with Steinbeck’s work I recommend you begin with The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men before tackling this one. Be aware that Steinbeck tends to employ a lot of profanity.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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The Tin Can Tree: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Published in 1965, The Tin Can Tree was Anne Tyler’s second novel. Though she was only 24, her unique insight into human beings shines brightly in this story of tattered relationships.

Three families, the Pikes, the Greens, and the Potters, share a house in North Carolina’s tobacco country. All are grieving over the accidental death of Janie Rose Pike, an exuberant, though bothersome, child. While her mother retreats into a catatonic state, the others try to help while dealing with their own problems. James Green, a small-town photographer, endangers his casual romance with Joan Pike because of his self-imposed duty to his hypochondriac brother Ansel. The Potter sisters, the third family, combat loneliness by baking cookies for everyone and begging for regular visits from the insurance man.

Joan works in the tobacco fields while keeping house for the Pikes and competing with Ansel for James’s attention. Self-centered and whiny, Ansel spends most of his time napping on the couch except for occasional disappearances that keep James on edge. Meanwhile, nine-year-old Simon Pike struggles to find his place in the world following Janie Rose’s death.

There are many poignant passages that capture the characters’ feelings, such as Joan’s: “She felt like a stick, very straight and alone, standing upright with nothing to lean against.” And sometimes we almost feel sorry for Ansel, whose monologues drive James crazy but betray his own conviction that his life is a perpetual limbo.

Like most of Tyler’s books, The Tin Can Tree minimizes plot. Her characters are its strength, lingering in our hearts beyond the final page. Now in her eighties, Anne Tyler remains a gift to American literature. If you haven’t yet discovered her books, choose one at random. You’ll be hooked, as I have been for many years.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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Elysian's Son: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 6 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000

It’s nice to see a new novel from Douglas S. Reed. I read Child of Gilead several years ago and enjoyed it immensely. His latest is Elysian’s Son, a thoughtful and engrossing tale about a dictatorial society.

A young boy named David is a citizen of the Divine Five alliance. Children his age receive indoctrination from AI machines. Though orphaned and almost blind, David has qualities that bring him to the attention of authorities. He is assigned to Lady Myla, a highly-placed official’s wife struggling to deal with the death of her infant son.

David is also under the influence of Mother Reina, a member of a religious society that encourages young people to think for themselves. Torn between two persuasive rationales, David must decide who to trust. Matters come to a head as he learns more about his parentage, and Lady Myla begins to question her own place in the world. Together they go in search of a legendary free society, pursued by an assassin bent on preserving the status quo.

Much of the novel is a progression of encounters with people possessing vague, mystical names that cloud David’s quest. Unlike other dystopian novels, Elysian’s Son goes beyond the simple contrasts between good and evil, with a single hero fighting for good. In the Wilderness David encounters many factions who lay out their arguments in great philosophical detail. Reed does an impressive job of fleshing out the foundations of this fractured world and how it came into being. The ruling class has a clever approach to dealing with rebellion that keeps everyone in line and reinforces the idea that government knows and does what is best for its citizens.

Some readers may find the novel tedious at times, but I think Reed has something important to say. He is an exceptional writer, well-read and authoritative about his subject matter. His descriptions of David’s journey are vivid and imaginative. I’m pleased to award Elysian's Son a four-star rating.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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Twist: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 27 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Until I read Twist, I didn’t know that the Cloud is deep in the ocean, not high in the sky. If it accomplishes nothing else, Colum McCann’s novel makes us realize how fragile the internet is and how easily it can collapse.

Anthony Fennell, a burned-out novelist and alcoholic, is assigned to write an article about a fiberoptic cable outage somewhere in the South African region. The repair mission commander, John Conway, is an enigmatic character obsessed with both his job and an actress involved in a British production of Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot. While the repair crew searches for the damaged cable, something happens to the actress that changes Conway’s life.

These events occur against the backdrop of African poverty. As he prepares to write his article, Fennell compares his experience to a critical scene in the filming of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. If you know anything about the movie or Beckett’s play, you can imagine the rest for yourself.

Colum McCann does a masterful job of combining these elements to make a statement about despair. His narration is compelling and easy to follow. But as much as I admire his talent, I found this foul-mouthed novel depressing. The plights of the main characters suggest that our lives are pointless because we are at the mercy of forces beyond our control. If that were true, the human race would have erased itself long ago. The best rating I can offer for Twist is a rather generous three stars.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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Pescadero: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 20 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Families are falling apart in this well-written tale featuring Hilde, a 14-year-old farm girl. Her mother Jasmine drags the kids to California, leaving their father behind in Wisconsin. Meanwhile two desperate Hispanic men, Joaquin and Fernando, try to sneak across America’s southern border. What unites these storylines is Gabriel, a migrant who works part-time on Jasmine’s goat farm while waiting for Joaquin to join him.

Despite Hilde’s love of animals and her friendship with a benevolent evangelist, conditions worsen under Jasmine’s incompetence and her flirtation with a self-righteous rancher. While Hilde’s brother Ethan works for a shady café owner, Joaquin and Fernando risk starvation, danger and deportation during their trek across harsh desert country.

The author is obviously well informed about the plights of fractured families, both American and Central American. Although sinister forces scheme to take advantage of both, kind-hearted Samaritans occasionally come to the rescue so that Hilde, Joaquin and Fernando have hopes on which to build their futures. Whether they will succeed is the question that keeps us turning the pages.

Pescadero is a novel of idealism. I wish those ideals had included consideration for the reader, who has to wade through offensive language and an unnatural sexual relationship to appreciate the story. I hope Hollis Brady will exercise greater discretion in the future.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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The Promise of Heaven: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Does the world have to be a place of misery and conflict? What’s the point of life if things never get any better? Dr. David Jeremiah addresses these issues in his joyful exploration of heaven.

Jeremiah argues that we are never satisfied with our lives because we have a natural longing for what we lost when we were expelled from the Garden of Eden. His book contains numerous anecdotes about people who have experienced that longing; others who have struggled against it; and still others who submitted to it and found peace.

Heaven is waiting for us, Jeremiah says, and he proves it with Scriptural descriptions of what heaven will be like. “God’s word is like a mirror at an intersection that shows us what’s just around the corner.” Quoting from Revelation, he analyzes John’s vision in which believers will wander in the new Jerusalem and gather around God’s throne. We’ll be able to take to heaven the results of our good works; to converse with angels; to be reunited with those we knew on Earth; and to have fellowship with God Himself.

And heaven will not be boring, Jeremiah says: “We won’t be put on some divine Social Security list.” There will be plenty to do, beautiful things to see, new bodies exempt from suffering, and a new outlook. These assurances appear not only in Revelation, but in the words of Jesus and the prophets who preceded Him.

Heaven is the goal toward which we should be working instead of complaining about what’s happening on Earth. Grounded in faith, The Promise of Heaven is a joyous exploration of what waits beyond our mortality.

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What the River Keeps: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 6 Feb 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hildy Nybo is a passionate environmentalist, admired for her expertise and leadership. But the real Hildy is a deeply disturbed recluse who buries herself in work to maintain her sanity, which is fraying at the edges.

Traumatic events rise to haunt her when she’s forced to return to the Washington State fishing resort of her childhood. Hildy takes residence in one of the resort cabins while overseeing a government reclamation project to preserve aquatic life in the Elwha River. There she meets Luke Rimmer, a widower trying to recover from a personal disaster that led him into alcoholism.

What follows is a fairly predictable storyline. A budding romance between Hildy and Luke suffers under her psychological problems. Keys to her recovery may lie in the depths of the river she’s trying to save.

It’s Cheryl Grey Bostrom’s passion for nature and her excellent narrative powers that set this novel apart from other romances. We find ourselves drawn into Hildy’s ecological world, replete with the power and dangers of the Elwha, and the coterie of friends and family who understand and support Hildy and Luke. Hildy’s devotion to a pet canary deepens our understanding of her personality and the repressed love in her soul.

There are some imperfections. We learn little about the aftermath of a terrible truck accident and the victim’s identity. We get only a murky image of the grandfather central to events in Hildy’s past. On the positive side, Bostrom handles the sexual aspects of her story with good taste. There’s not a single offensive word in the book, refreshing in today's world. I’m comfortable recommending this four-star novel to romantics and nature lovers alike.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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The Sundial: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Today’s newsletter concludes my review of Shirley Jackson’s less-known novels.

Shirley Jackson employed numerous iconic elements to create this darkly hilarious novel. Bits of Hansel and Gretel, Robinson Crusoe, Chicken Little, Lizzie Borden, the Book of Revelation, Jane Austen novels, and Greek tragedy join forces to portray a snobbish family preparing for the end of the world.

The Hallorans have just returned to their cloistered mansion after burying Lionel Halloran. His widow Marjorie claims that her mother-in-law Orianna pushed her own son down the stairs in order to cheat her granddaughter Fancy out of the estate. Blithely, Orianna takes the accusations in stride and assumes leadership of the household.

The next morning Aunt Fanny has a terrifying experience that culminates with the voice of her dead father warning of an imminent disaster. Taking Aunt Fanny at her word, Orianna decides the Hallorans are a chosen people and should prepare themselves for a holocaust that will destroy the world outside their vast property and leave them to inherit a new Earth.

The Hallorans have derived their twisted outlook from their wealthy patriarch, who built his estate on a foundation of whims, swallowing up neighboring lands, filling the library with books neither he nor anyone else has ever read, and walling off his property from the nearby village. The characters are a curious lot: Orianna’s demented husband; Essex, a manservant who goes around quoting Shakespeare and commenting on the proceedings; Gloria Desmond, a reluctant prophet; Miss Ogilvie, Fancy’s timid governess; Augusta Willow, an old friend who insinuates herself and her young daughters into the family in hopes of marrying them off; and “the Captain,” a stranger Aunt Fanny drags in from a village street.

The village itself is a curiosity, subsisting on tourists attracted by the legend of a local girl who murdered her parents and brothers. The world surrounding it seems to have a sinister life of its own, as one character discovers when she tries to escape the mansion in a heavy fog. While Aunt Fanny stockpiles great quantities of survival gear, Orianna presides over the household like a nesting spider. On the eve of the apocalyptic date, she invites the villagers, whom she is convinced are doomed to die, for a feast on the Halloran property.

Shirley Jackson’s work often defies interpretation, and The Sundial is no different. It’s the reader’s place to enjoy the craftsmanship she puts into every scene and character while we wait to find out if the world is, indeed, going to end.

Except for a few profanities here and there, The Sundial is an admirable book by an author whose legacy continues to attract new readers like me. I recommend it enthusiastically to all lovers of great literature.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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The Bird's Nest: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Today’s newsletter continues my review of Shirley Jackson’s less-known novels.

The non-fiction story of Sybil came to mind while I was reading this one. That book and the movie it inspired created a sensation during the mid-1970s and established Sally Field as a great actress. But The Bird's Nest predates Sybil by two decades. It's a fascinating tale and one of the first one to deal with multiple personalities.

Elizabeth Richmond is a colorless, repressed young woman with a meaningless clerical job. She lives with her Aunt Morgen, with whom she has a contentious relationship. Morgen constantly accuses Elizabeth of behavior she doesn’t remember. Matters come to a head when Elizabeth creates an unpleasant scene during a social occasion. A psychiatrist eventually places her under hypnosis to discover that there is more than one version of Elizabeth.

To avoid spoiling the fun, I will say only that there are several wonderfully crafted chapters that draw us into the mind of this character. It’s as much an adventure as it is a personal drama—for Elizabeth, her mercurial aunt, and the doctor. I especially enjoyed a beautifully detailed account of the patient’s trip to New York and an amusing scene in which she takes four baths within an hour. But there are also moments of horrific crisis and danger. Everything Elizabeth does seems logical, once we become familiar with the complexities of her mind. Jackson is a master at making us feel compassion for her characters, even when they are at their worst.

Although Jackson provides tantalizing clues to the cause of Elizabeth’s condition, she leaves them vague, perhaps because 1954 readers might have found them offensive. Still, I heartily recommend The Bird’s Nest with a warning that it contains occasional profanity.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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Hangsaman: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 16 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Today’s newsletter continues my review of Shirley Jackson’s less-known novels.

Sometimes I wish there was a list of books titled “Read These Before You Die.” They would be books I’d never heard of before, but which spoke directly to my heart. Shirley Jackson’s Hangsaman, published in 1951, is one of them.

Though lacking the high profile of The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House, and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, the desperate emotional journey of Natalie Waite is equally engrossing. She is the 17-year-old daughter of a moderately successful writer whose relationship with the girl is long on intellect and short on love. There is, in fact, no trace of love in her family. Invisible walls separate Natalie from her parents, her brother, and from each other, to the point that their conversations are almost painful to read. Her father’s Sunday afternoon social gatherings do nothing more than flatter his own ego. During the most recent one, Natalie escapes into a private world in which an imaginary police detective grills her about an unspecified murder.

Shortly before leaving for college, Natalie experiences a traumatic incident that she tries desperately to forget, insisting to herself that “nothing happened, nothing happened.” She repeats the assertion in the journal in which she records her thoughts and observations. College turns out to be as disappointing as home, with the other freshmen in her dorm forming a society from which she is pointedly excluded. A promising relationship with a professor and his wife goes sour when the wife turns out to be a drunkard and the husband unfaithful. Events escalate to a miserable Thanksgiving visit to her family. Returning to college, Natalie forms a relationship with an imaginary companion named Tony. On a richly detailed journey of enticing conversations, Natalie must decide whether to commit herself to Tony’s dark path or trust in her own judgement.

Every page of this book is an achievement. Some of its narration is so exquisitely crafted as to be breathtaking. I could go on and on about Natalie’s observations of the physical world, her fantasies, her father’s pomposity, the sharing with her mother that never takes place. Jackson manages to involve us in Natalie’s sad young life to the point that we fear for her soul. In my judgement, only J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye compares favorably with it. Yet somehow, it manages to be a monument to the inner strength that God gives us if we will only call it forth. That’s why I hope my literary searches will continue to turn up treasures like Hangsaman. This is a five-star book if there ever was one.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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The Road Through the Wall: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 9 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Shirley Jackson is famous for her singular use of fiction to comment on the human condition. Her most famous works are The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House and We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Over the next four weeks I will review her less prominent novels. Today I begin with the 1948 book that launched her career.

Pepper Street is an ordinary place with ordinary people—ordinary in the sense that its residents are far from perfect. A superficial harmony lies over the neighborhood. Author Shirley Jackson methodically peels it away as she chronicles small town America in 1936.

The Pepper Street children are typical but often disturbing. Helen Williams takes advantage of schoolgirl crushes by daring insecure girls like Harriet Merriam to write love letters to boys. Tod Donald, who lives in his older brother’s shadow, sneaks into the Desmond house on a whim while no one is home. There, he sits in a closet and speaks ugly words aloud. George Martin fantasizes about running over people with a tractor. Others reflect their parents’ antisemitism by shunning a Jewish family.

Some of the adults are peculiar. Mrs. Mack lectures her dog from the Bible and sets it in her late husband’s place at the dinner table. A Chinese man offers hospitality to Harriet Merriam and Virginia Donald, suggesting sinister intentions. A family of new arrivals has a mother who sleeps constantly, forcing her teenage daughter to take charge.

Cruelty infests the Pepper Street children. It’s the kind of spontaneous behavior kids usually outgrow but which leaves lasting scars on their victims. The author allows the characters to indict themselves, leaving the reader to pass judgement.

A brick wall separates Pepper Street from the community’s less savory areas, giving the residents a false sense of security. In reality, the wall serves to contain a festering sickness that culminates in a neighborhood tragedy.

What makes the novel work is its sense of familiarity. The characters think, and sometimes act, in socially unacceptable ways that most of us have learned to suppress. They leave the reader with an uneasy ambivalence about our feelings for them.

Jackson is often characterized as a horror writer. The Road Through the Wall shows her to be a keen observer of human nature. She does it without offensive language, sex, or explicit violence. This is a five-star book that invites us to look at ourselves. I recommend it enthusiastically.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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The Landbreakers: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 2 Jan 2026 00:00:00 +0000

I don’t know what I’d do without book ads to help me find new treasures. I had never heard of John Ehle until I saw a BookBub blurb about The Land Breakers, which was published in 1964. If you’re not familiar with Ehle, you should check him out. His deep respect for nature and rustic life shines on every page of this captivating novel.

In 1779 Mooney Wright and his new bride arrive in the North Carolina mountains. Determined to build a cabin and live off the land, they work hard to prepare for the coming winter. Arriving shortly afterward is Tinkler Harrison, an elderly man married to his sister’s young daughter. Tinkler has liquidated his estate in order to start a new life in this untamed region. Ernest Plover, a Harrison relative, follows in the spring with his own family that includes Mina, a teenage girl who begins a flirtation with Mooney Wright.

Through Ehle’s brilliant narration we see the strengths and weaknesses of these pioneers. Mooney is a large and powerful young man with a great deal of practical knowledge and abilities that enable him to adapt to the hostile environment. By contrast, Ernest Plover is impractical and doesn’t get around to building a house until his lean-to collapses.

To me the most interesting character is Mina, a girl with a restless imagination and an affinity for wild animals. She spends much of her time singing, wandering through the woods, and daydreaming about clouds. But there is more to Mina than meets the eye, as we learn when she meets new arrivals, and when other people try to take advantage of her immaturity.

Through their experiences we learn a great deal about how our ancestors might have adapted to the harsh realities of early America. Mooney, for example, has to keep his cow and horse in the cabin that first winter to keep them from freezing, for the creatures are essential to his family’s survival. He must chop down trees and dig clay to seal wall cracks; make a pole so his wife can boil water over the fire; clear the land for spring planting; and make tools out of what nature provides.

The novel is packed with adventures. Bears and wolves are a constant threat to livestock, and everyone must work long hours in the battle against nature. The characters confine their talk to their chores and rarely talk discuss their feelings, though romance and jealousy occasionally create complications. Childbirth in this wilderness is the business of an old Negro woman who considers womanhood God’s curse and uses herbs and incantations during labor pains. And there are terrible tragedies involving an infestation of snakes and a dramatic quest to track down a bear that has stolen one of Mooney’s pigs.

Ehle’s detailed study of old folklore permeates this story to the point that we develop deep respect for settlers who shared their knowledge for the sake of the entire community. It is their enterprising spirit that laid the foundation of American prosperity.

Although the book contains a few instances of profanity and a rather graphic sex scene, The Land Breakers is a five-star novel that I recommend enthusiastically to those who enjoy informed narration and a crackling good story.

Chevron Ross's novels include Weapons of Remorse, The Seven-Day Resurrection, and The Samaritan's Patient. Click here for more information.

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Olivetti: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 26 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

It’s not every day that a typewriter is the hero of a novel. But for a writer with a good imagination, anything is possible. Author Allie Millington puts hers to work with great skill in Olivetti.

The typewriter belongs to Beatrice Brindle, who has used it to record her feelings after a bout with cancer. But her husband Felix and their four children retain scars from the trauma. One of the boys, Ernest, has withdrawn into himself to the point that he rarely speaks. Felix hides in his career while the other kids battle amongst themselves, as kids are prone to do.

We learn all this from Olivetti, which knows everything that happens in the family, and from Ernest, whose only passion is the Oxford English Dictionary. The family’s troubles multiply when Beatrice sells Olivetti to a pawn shop and disappears. Blaming himself, Ernest embarks on a search for his mother after learning that Olivetti can converse with him through its keyboard.

Millington cleverly balances the somber emotions against Olivetti’s amusing personality. Even typewriters have feelings, as we learn in conversations between Olivetti and another typewriter whose worn components cause it to commit spelling errors.

This is a good novel for middle schoolers as well as families in general. It’s a reminder that we should never take the people in our lives for granted. My only disappointment is a scattering of scatological references that discerning readers should find unpleasant. Otherwise I give Olivetti a solid four-star rating.

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How to Hide an Empire: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Did you know that George Washington considered Daniel Boone a bandit? That during World War II the Japanese occupied part of Alaska? Or that Hawaii lived under martial law for three years? Have you ever heard of the National Screw Thread Commission? All these facts are part of Daniel Immerwahr’s fascinating history of American colonialism.

In How to Hide an Empire, the author recounts the circumstances which led Europeans to conquer not only the land they own today, but many territories beyond the mainland. Immerwahr’s research tells how the US became interested in acquiring numerous islands because it desperately needed fertilizer for crops to feed its rapidly growing population. The abundance of bird guano on those islands was essential until scientists found ways to create synthetic fertilizer. Later, some islands became strategically important during wartime as military bases and bomb testing sites.

Much of the book focuses on the results of America’s growth into worldwide dominance during World War II and afterward. Things like fire hoses, nuts, bolts and screws had to be standardized among the Allied countries in order for the machines of war to function. Though other cultures seethed at the thought of adapting themselves to American ways, American influence prevailed, to the point that few countries today can thrive in the global marketplace without learning English.

Dark and shameful events accompanied colonization, and not just the treatment of Native Americans. Did you know, for example, that birth control pills resulted from American experiments on Puerto Rican women?

Sometimes the US government found itself better off without its territories. Such possessions as Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, acquired in brutal wars of conquest, became troublesome when the natives began to demand independence. But in recent decades these small dots in the ocean have become useful, particularly following the 9/11 attacks—uses that bring no credit to America’s image as a Christian nation.

Immerwahr’s history, magnificently researched and well executed, adds a valuable perspective to American history. I have limited my rating to four stars due to several instances of offensive language.

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B.D. Lawrence: Brave Author

Chevron Ross — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Today it’s my privilege to feature author B.D. Lawrence. He’s a member of Brave Authors, a collaboration of Christian fiction writers.

B.D. is best known for his crime and detective novels. But recently he and two other Brave Authors have produced Every Captive Freed, a collection of three novellas about human trafficking. His novella Sarah's Story features a girl rescued from the brutality of street life. In an effort at redemption, she reaches out to others caught in the same trap.

Streams of the Heart, by Shannon McNear, recounts the story of Sacagawea, from the historic Lewis and Clark expedition. Her fame as a guide and interpreter has overshadowed her history of enslavement.

Unbroken, by Angela Shelton, concerns 17-year-old Nova Stone, whose dream date turns into a nightmare, leaving her in a battle to reclaim her life.

Ten percent of all proceeds from Every Captive Freed go to the anti-human trafficking arm of the Tim Tebow foundation. Learn more at https://timtebowfoundation.org/ministries/anti-human-trafficking-1.

Click here for a link to the collection on Amazon.

Click here for a link to B.D. Lawrence’s newly revised website.

Click here for a link to the Brave Authors website.

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The Garden: A Chevron Ross Book Review

Chevron Ross — Fri, 5 Dec 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Something terrible has happened on the declining estate where two elderly sisters live. Beyond the stone wall surrounding it lies something so terrible that Evelyn and Lily won’t even look in that direction.

More disturbing things are happening. The food seeds and flowers they plant are blooming late. The seasons aren’t right. Something’s wrong with the weather. The sisters live and sleep in the kitchen because most of the house is boarded up to protect them from “man things.”

And now, someone or something is creeping around their property.

The sisters appear to have survived alone in the decades since their father left their mother alone with two young children. With bitter determination, she turned the estate into a fortress. A homemade almanac serves as a kind of bible for their planting and harvesting. Evelyn, the more responsible sister, struggles to carry out their dead mother’s instructions while Lily behaves very much like a child. Now, unforeseen events force them to decide whether to remain in their precarious state or venture beyond the wall into possibly greater danger.

With The Garden, Nick Newman rises above the mediocrity of most apocalypse novelists. He has done a masterful job of maintaining a balance of mystery, suspense, and character portraits. We see everything through the sisters’ eyes and memories. Even more intriguing is the possibility that Evelyn’s memory may not be so sharp as it once was. That keeps us turning the pages to find out the truth.

Discovering a new author is always a joy when the writing turns out to be worthy of my attention. Despite a single offensive word in the narrative, I am pleased to give The Garden a five-star rating.

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