The LGBT Fiction Shelf

Wild with All Regrets
E. L. Deards
She Writes Press
www.shewritespress.com
9781647424879, $17.95, PB, 288pp

https://www.amazon.com/Wild-All-Regrets-Emma-Deards/dp/1647424879

Synopsis: A decade has passed since Lucas Connolly lost his best friend (an=
d the only man he's ever loved) in World War I, but he still can't shake hi=
s guilt over Jamie's death. In fact, ever since losing Jamie, Lucas has hea=
rd his friend's voice inside his head -- confused about what happened to hi=
m, begging him for help. And now, suddenly, it's not just Jamie's voice any= more; now, a specter who looks and acts exactly like Jamie did before his d= eath, and who is demanding answers from Lucas about what happened to him, h=
as begun to haunt him.

Concerned about Lucas's deteriorating mental state, his friend Angela encou= rages him to move on with his life, and even sets him up with a co-worker w= hom she suspects is also gay. But Lucas is too consumed with the secret he = still keeps about the part he played in Jamie's death to even begin to form=
a healthy connection with someone new -- and as Jamie's ghost begins to re= cover his memories and get closer to the truth, Lucas's obsession only deep= ens.

Ultimately, Lucas realizes that his only path forward is to first go backwa=
rd --that only in examining his troubled youth, facing his deepest self, an=
d shining a light on the shadowed parts of his past will he finally be able=
to set his old friend, and himself, free.

Critique: A deftly crafted story that is all the more impressive considerin=
g that it is author E. L. Deads' debut as an author, "Wild With All Regrets=
" will be of particular interest to readers of LGBTQ+ and Historical Fictio=
n.

"Wild With All Regrets" by E. L. Deards is a particularly and well recommen= ded read -- making it a welcome addition to community and academic library = Contemporary Literary Fiction collections. It should be noted for personal = reading lists that "Wild With All Regrets" is also available in a digital b= ook format (Kindle, $9.49).

Editorial Note: Emma Deards (https://www.authorsanswer.com/interviews/emma-= deards) grew up in New York City and earned her undergraduate degree at Bar= nard College at Columbia University, where she studied Japanese literature = and biology. She was then accepted to The University of Edinburgh, where sh=
e completed her veterinary degree. She remained in the UK afterward, and si= nce then has split her time between her day job as a vet and her truest pas= sion: writing. Emma has authored a number humor articles for In Practice, a=
veterinary magazine, and was the recipient in college of two writing award=
s: Oscar Lee Award and the Harumatsuri Award.

Fault Line
H. N. Hirsch
Pisgah Press
https://pisgahpress.com
9781942016762, $22.95, PB, 260pp

https://www.amazon.com/Fault-Line-H-N-Hirsch/dp/194201676X

Synopsis: Newly minted 25-year-old lawyer Bob Abramson joins the DA's offic=
e in San Diego and soon finds himself leading an investigation into the pol= itically charged murder of the mayor's husband, a powerful, wealthy develop=
er with far too many secrets for his wife's political ambitions.

Bob's first encounter with murder occurred four years previously, when his = roommate, the scion of an old Boston family, was murdered and the case was = investigated by the victim's Harvard professor, Marcus George. As the inves= tigation developed, Bob and Marcus, naturally, fell in love.

Now, Bob has completed law school and landed a job as an Assistant District=
Attorney in San Diego, and Marcus has accepted a new position at UC San Di= ego. As they settle in to their new home, they're thrust into the investiga= tion and its political ramification, and they find that a gay subculture ro= ils much of southern California's placidly straight surface.

Critique: Of special and particular attraction to readers with an interest =
in LBGTQ+ themed mystery novels, "Fault Line" by H. N. Hirsch is richly ent= ertaining, original, and showcases the author's impressive flair for the ki=
nd of narrative driven storytelling style that keeps his readers compulsive=
attention from first page to last. A masterful 'whodunnit', "Fault Line" i=
s especially and unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists and co= mmunity library Mystery/Suspense collections.

Editorial Note: A graduate of the University of Michigan, with advanced deg= rees from Princeton University, H.N. Hirsch is the Erwin N. Griswold Profes= sor of Politics Emeritus at Oberlin College in Ohio, where he also held a j= oint appointment from 2005-2014 in Comparative American Studies; served as = Acting Chair of the Department of Politics in 2010-2011; and was Dean of th=
e Faculty of Arts and Sciences, 2005-06. His first mystery, SHADE, was publ= ished by Pisgah Press in May 2022. He is also the author or editor of Offic=
e Hours: One Academic Life (2016); A Theory of Liberty: The Constitution an=
d Minorities (1992); and The Enigma of Felix Frankfurter (1981/2014); and e= ditor of The Future of Gay Rights in America (2005).

EDITOR'S NOTE:

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Anyone wanting to submit books for review consideration can send them to:

James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129

To submit reviews of any fiction or non-fiction books, email them to Frugal= muse (at) aol (dot) com (Be sure to include the book title, author, publish= er, publisher address, publisher website/phone number, 13-digit ISBN number=
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James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review

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