Review: The Unknown Beloved

Title: The Unknown Beloved

Author: Amy Harmon

Publisher: 19th April 2022 by Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 413 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: historical fiction, mystery, crime, romance

My Rating:  4 cups

Synopsis:

From the bestselling author of Where the Lost Wander and What the Wind Knows comes the evocative story of two people whose paths collide against the backdrop of mystery, murder, and the Great Depression.

Chicago, 1923: Ten-year-old Dani Flanagan returns home to find police swarming the house, her parents dead. Michael Malone, the young patrolman assigned to the case, discovers there’s more to the situation—and to Dani Flanagan herself—than the authorities care to explore. Malone is told to shut his mouth, and Dani is sent away to live with her spinster aunts in Cleveland.

Fifteen years later, Michael Malone is summoned to Cleveland to investigate a series of murders that have everyone stumped, including his friend and famed Prohibition agent Eliot Ness, now Cleveland’s director of safety. There, in a city caught in the grip of a serial killer, Malone’s and Dani’s paths cross once again.

Malone is drawn to Dani and her affinity for the dead and compassion for the destitute. It doesn’t take long for him to realize that she could help him solve his case. As terror descends on the city and Malone and Dani confront the dark secrets that draw them together, it’s a race to find the killer or risk becoming his next victims.

My Thoughts

I am such a fan of Amy Harmon’s. Her writing is always so lyrical and you are guaranteed to be swept away no matter what she writes. Her previous books have covered genres including fantasy, historical fiction, contemporary and young adult just to name a few. I was intrigued to read what a mystery/crime novel by Amy would be like. I went in with no real expectations, except knowing Amy to be a talented author who can literally turn her hand to any genre. Her storytelling in any field with the characters she produces and research undertaken is always impressive.

‘Malone had learned that the images most people presented to the world didn’t reflect reality.’

The Unknown Beloved is based on actual happenings in 1930's Cleveland, Ohio during the Great Depression. It’s dark, sinister and gruesome. Infamous names including Eliot Ness and Al Capone arise. In terms of the criminal mystery it leans into the morbid and graphic but all based on facts from the real ‘Torso Murders’ of the day. You get an accurate sense of what Cleveland, poverty and the Great Depression really felt like. Add into the mix a serial killer and it most definitely is a dark read. 

‘No, the murders weren’t about the victims. Malone was convinced the murders were about the killer himself.’

Amy is a magician with how she turns her pen to any genre. She fits no author model. What a talent. Yes, this is a crime thriller, however, it is so much more given the author is Amy Harmon. The characters are real, the crimes are most certainly real but so too is the love story between the two leads. In many ways, it is like watching a black and white classic movie come to life. The blend of real facts with Amy’s fictional story is sublime. She even adds in a touch of the supernatural! In any other author's hands I would be wary, but not with Amy - it just adds that next layer of depth to the story. It is not only effective but most believable. 

“The truth is, the harder we are, the easier we shatter. It takes some softness to absorb life’s blows.”

This book is a crime thriller, it is historical fiction, it is a romance, it is mystery, it is classic Amy Harmon. Her story telling is something that has to be experienced. Amy has an incredible way with words and I will gladly read anything and everything she writes. This book, whilst not my favourite of hers, still testifies to her incredible storytelling. It conveys such depth and soul, sorrow and pain, hope and love, with moments that will simply steal your heart away. Do yourself a favour and go read some Amy Harmon. You won’t be disappointed.

“Must we try everything to know something is wonderful?” she asked softly. “I don’t think so.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: Where the Lost Wander

Title: Where the Lost Wander

Author: Amy Harmon

Publisher: 28th April  2020 by Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 328 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: historical fiction, womens fiction

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

In this epic and haunting love story set on the Oregon Trail, a family and their unlikely protector find their way through peril, uncertainty, and loss.

The Overland Trail, 1853: Naomi May never expected to be widowed at twenty. Eager to leave her grief behind, she sets off with her family for a life out West. On the trail, she forms an instant connection with John Lowry, a half-Pawnee man straddling two worlds and a stranger in both.

But life in a wagon train is fraught with hardship, fear, and death. Even as John and Naomi are drawn to each other, the trials of the journey and their disparate pasts work to keep them apart. John’s heritage gains them safe passage through hostile territory only to come between them as they seek to build a life together.

When a horrific tragedy strikes, decimating Naomi’s family and separating her from John, the promises they made are all they have left. Ripped apart, they can’t turn back, they can’t go on, and they can’t let go. Both will have to make terrible sacrifices to find each other, save each other, and eventually…make peace with who they are.

My Thoughts

Amy Harmon has a new book out! Sign me up! Amy is one of those buy without knowing authors, as her writing is so lyrical and you are always guaranteed to be swept away. ‘Where the Lost Wander’ is a wonderful tale set in 1853 on the Oregon Trail, a moving story of hardship and love.

‘Feeling . . . not so much. Feeling is instant. It’s reaction. But thinking? Thinking is hard work. Feeling doesn’t take any work at all. I’m not saying it’s wrong. Not saying it’s right either. It just is.’

Amy is an incredible author - she can literally turn her hand to any genre. She could write something on a napkin and I would sign up to read it. I have read her fantasy, contemporary, historical - and each time she nails it. Her storytelling in any field, the characters she produces and research undertaken is always impressive. 

Now, the prologue!  WOW! Do you remember all those Westerns you would watch as kids, cowboys, Indians, settlers in wagons? Made me think of all that. She hits you with it in the beginning and then you wait the whole story to see when and where it will come to pass. This is not an easy read for anyone squeamish. It is brutal and confronting at times. Yet that was the reality for both pioneering families and Native Americans alike. 

“I know my own mind, Mr. Lowry. I always have. My own heart too.” “But you don’t know the terrain.” “I’m counting on you to guide me through it, John, all the way to California.” “I’ve never been,” he murmurs. “I don’t know how to do this . . . any of it.” “So we go steady and slow,” I say.

Then there are the characters. The story is then told in dual viewpoints by both Naomi May and John Lowry. This is a love story but counterbalanced against this is the suffering, hardships and incredible loss experiences by many. There are such interesting secondary characters also - Naomi’s mother and Jack’s father for starters - and the story behind Chief Washakie is worth reading for its own sake. The authors note at the end helped provide perspective to real events and characters. 

If you have never read an Amy Harmon book, I suggest you do (HERE) ... and soon. She has an incredible way with words and I will gladly read anything and everything she writes. This book is not one of my more favoured ones of hers, however that being said, I still loved it and would recommend it to those who have a particular interest in American pioneering history. 

“The hardest thing about life is knowing what matters and what doesn’t,” Winifred muses. “If nothing matters, then there’s no point. If everything matters, there’s no purpose. The trick is to find firm ground between the two ways of being.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

Review: What the Wind Knows

Title:  What the Wind Knows

Author: Amy Harmon

Publisher: 1st March 2019 by Lake Union Publishing

Pages: 416 pages
How I Read It: ARC book
Genre: women fiction, historical fiction, romance

My Rating: 4 cups

Synopsis:

In an unforgettable love story, a woman’s impossible journey through the ages could change everything…

Anne Gallagher grew up enchanted by her grandfather’s stories of Ireland. Heartbroken at his death, she travels to his childhood home to spread his ashes. There, overcome with memories of the man she adored and consumed by a history she never knew, she is pulled into another time.

The Ireland of 1921, teetering on the edge of war, is a dangerous place in which to awaken. But there Anne finds herself, hurt, disoriented, and under the care of Dr. Thomas Smith, guardian to a young boy who is oddly familiar. Mistaken for the boy’s long-missing mother, Anne adopts her identity, convinced the woman’s disappearance is connected to her own.

As tensions rise, Thomas joins the struggle for Ireland’s independence and Anne is drawn into the conflict beside him. Caught between history and her heart, she must decide whether she’s willing to let go of the life she knew for a love she never thought she’d find. But in the end, is the choice actually hers to make?

My Thoughts

Amy Harmon has a new book out! Sign me up! Amy is one of those buy without knowing authors, as her writing is so lyrical and you are always guaranteed to be swept away. ‘What the Wind Knows’ is a wonderful tale of Ireland during the 1920s.

‘I’d often wondered, absorbed in piles of research, if the magic of history would be lost if we could go back and live it. Did we varnish the past and make heroes of average men and imagine beauty and valor where there was only dirge and desperation? Or like the old man looking back on his youth, remembering only the things he’d seen, did the angle of our gaze sometimes cause us to miss the bigger picture?’

The novel was well researched on so many aspects, everything from the clothing worn, to the political unrest, all adding to its authenticity. There are a number of really interesting aspects to this book: the mythical story of Niamh and Oisin, excerpts from Yeats poems, key moments of the Irish Revolution, cameo’s by Michael Collins’ and his fight for freedom and finally, a timeless love story of Anne and Thomas. Bound to be something for any history lover in this book.

What I did find, however, was the balance was not quite right for me between all these aspects. There is a lot of history in this book and sometimes it is to the detriment of the more personal aspects, such as the love story. I would have preferred to learn more of the story between Anne and Thomas. Amy makes a valiant effort to link the history to the people ie. through the inclusion of Michael Collins, but it does not quite fully gel. I feel like there were two distinct tales - one a history lesson the other a love story. So whilst I appreciate the amount of time and research that went into this book , I really wanted to learn even more about the characters, particularly Eoin who was so central but glossed over as an adult. I admittedly skimmed some parts which is shocking for an Amy Harmon book , yet I needed to be more invested in the personal tales that were being told and not the outright historical recount.

If you have never read an Amy Harmon book, I suggest you do (HERE) ... and soon. She has an incredible way with words and I will gladly read anything and everything she writes. This book is not one of my more favoured ones of hers, however that being said, I still loved it and would recommend to those who have a particular interest in Irish history. This is a well written tale with the added bonus of a beautiful, historical, time traveling romance.

“Shh,” I soothed. “’Tis just the wind.”

“What story is it trying to tell?” she murmured, her voice rough with spent emotion.

“The wind knows every story.”

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release

Review: A Different Blue

Title: A Different Blue

Author: Amy Harmon

Publisher: 30 May 2017 by Spencer Hill Press

Pages: 330 pages

How I Read It: ARC book

Genre: young adult, romance contemporary

My Rating: 5 cups

Synopsis:

Blue Echohawk doesn't know who she is. She doesn't know her real name or when she was born. Abandoned at two and raised by a drifter, she didn't attend school until she was ten years old. At nineteen, when most kids her age are attending college or moving on with life, she is just a senior in high school. With no mother, no father, no faith, and no future, Blue Echohawk is a difficult student, to say the least. Tough, hard, and overtly sexy, she is the complete opposite of the young British teacher who decides he is up for the challenge, and takes the troublemaker under his wing.

This is the story of a nobody who becomes somebody. It is the story of an unlikely friendship, where hope fosters healing and redemption becomes love. But falling in love can be hard when you don't know who you are. Falling in love with someone who knows exactly who they are and exactly why they can't love you back might be impossible.

My Thoughts

‘What we believe affects our choices, our actions, and subsequently, our lives.’

Having read Amy’s previous books (though of a different genre - ‘The Bird and the Sword Chronicles’) I was intrigued to try something of hers that was not fantasy.  I went in with no real expectations, except knowing Amy to be a talented author, and in the end, was blown away by, ‘A Different Blue’. Amy Harmon can most certainly write, and this little book is really quite extraordinary in making you a part of Blue’s journey.

‘My life, my history, would be laid out before me like a movie script . . . complete with crime scenes and character descriptions. And like a movie script, none of it seemed real.’

This tale slowly and subtly creeps up on you, until you cannot put it down until complete. The power lies in it’s quiet reflections and intricately weaved sublayers. So many lessons here to learn from and move on from. Blue is a wonderful leading character with so many complexities that you cannot help but feel her hurt and pain. Then there is Wilson, this extraordinary caregiver, putting her first all the way through. The synopsis does not begin to convey the power of this book and I am so glad I went into this trusting the storytelling gifts of Amy.

‘My heart pounded in my throat and my mind screamed at me, demanding I catalog every detail of the event I had dreamed about but never dared hope for.’

Let me make it very clear, romance is not the sole focus here. This is a story about a girl and her journey of self discovery - literally and figuratively. Yes, Wilson (our leading man) assists with that but he is a guiding hand in what remains a story about Blue. Their relationship is a slow burn so as not to be drawn away from other key elements and the slow and steady evolution of their relationship is all the more rich for the gradual growth and understanding.

‘Why don’t you focus on where you’re going and less on where you come from?’

Then there is the symbolism which is infiltrated throughout, with again subtle ties to Native American legends, woven both perfectly and poignantly. Often reading like a history lesson, there is much to love and appreciate here.

Amy Harmon's writing is beautiful and lyrical and this book holds such depth and soul, sorrow and pain, hope and humour, with moments that will simply steal your heart away. Do yourself a favour and go read some Amy Harmon. You won’t be disappointed.

‘Who we are is made up of the little choices, the little acts, the little moments that comprise our lives, day after day.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release