Lance Hawvermale

This book had an uphill battle for me from the first page after these lines:

The billion crystal stars overhead were no more mysterious than this desolation, this empty skull of earth. The complete and bleak denial of all life. "Like a few women I've known," he said to himself, only half meaning it. Always the comedian, even when he was alone. He should've done stand-up at eighteen instead of Stanford.

Not usually the best sign when I'm already rolling my eyes at that point. I thought the premise was interesting, but it wasn't enough to save what felt like self-indulgent writing.… (més)

WW1, Germany, suspense

Rural Germany, an western American tutor/apiarist, a small patriotic farm family, a RFC pilot with shortsighted plans, and danger in the skies and on the ground. This presents the war from a different perspective than others I've read and that makes it even more interesting. The pilot's plane nearly decapitates the beekeeper in its death spiral, she shoots him in the hand (that part is too peculiar for me) but later assists him to steal a plane with the purpose of rescuing his sister from a secret danger. The plot is a bit odd, but the writing is good. In spite of a lot of head shaking on my part, I liked and enjoyed it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from The Wild Rose Press via NetGalley.… (més)