Featured Book: Threads of THE WAR - Vol. 3

My guest author today is

Jeremy Strozer

featuring his latest book:

Threads of THE WAR - Volume 3

Book Description:

Threads of The War, Volume III collects and shares personal narratives during real events across the span of The 20th Century's War. Building off of the success of Volumes I and II, Threads III takes us from the private study of the Kaiser in the summer of 1914, through the trench on the last day of World War I, across the frosty Icelandic landmass in 1940 into the hills of Korea in 1951. Within short easily-readable, yet emotionally compelling, bursts Threads III continues opening the door to the personal facet of war; exposing the reader to the facts, fictions, and fallacies of armed violence. Following each story, the reader is provided specific and revealing facts about the events narrated, offering both entertainment and education within the time it takes to read a blog-post.

My Book Review: 

Jeremy Strozer writes this series of books in a style he calls “flash fiction.” They are short stories written in first person of events that take place in war. These stories are in depth vignettes and focus on a micro events as opposed to a broad view with an involved plot. These stories focus on intense personal reactions to acute events or critical decisions and their consequences, both physical and emotional.

I particularly appreciate that at the end of the fictional story, the author includes the factual details of an actual event which was the inspiration for the story. Sometimes they are a mere snippet of history, other times a historical footnote. It was as though the author, after reading one of these instances connected to one of the twentieth century wars asked himself, “If that was me, how would I have felt, what would I have done, and what unexpected consequences would I have encountered?” He ended up with a collection of stories that pack a punch.

The author’s three books are great ones to download onto a cell phone to read while standing in line or waiting for an appointment. They are short, and thought-provoking. They enough to consider I usually prefer to read only a few stories at a time to allow myself to fully digest and appreciate them. I highly recommend this to those who love to read about true stories from the twentieth century world wars and beyond.

About Jeremy Strozer:

I write first-person emotional history in order to teach people to avoid the wanton waste of war. Fascinated by ideas and personal stories, I am able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena. By enjoying thinking and learning about the past I understand the present through creating its context. I have faith in the links between all things; believing there are few coincidences and that almost every event has a reason. I am also inspired by the future and what could be; thereby inspiring others with my visions of what occurred and what is possible.

My inspiration comes from years of improvisational acting education; the actions and writing of Gene Sharp, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Woody Guthrie, Studs Terkel, and Henry David Thoreau; as well as an affinity for history. I believe all stories are best told from the perspective of the individual experiencing the event and that learning about history should be an emotionally driven experience. Therefore, I push the conviction that all history is simply a personal story, compounded and woven with the personal story of everyone else, throughout time.

Raised in California, I moved to the D. C. area at the age of 18 to attend university. Through education and luck, I've been able to travel across vast swaths of the world, seeing and feeling things I never would have realized otherwise. I helped remove unexploded ordnance from war ravaged countries, stem the flow of the world's most dangerous weapons, and potentially reduce the likelihood of war between some of the world's most powerful countries.

Now, I simply seek to warn the world of the human cost of violence.

 

Connect with Jeremy Strozer:

Website  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Goodreads  |  LinkedIn   |  Patreon

Purchase Links:

All Three books in one PDF  

Smashwords  |  Kobo  |  Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble

Get a free copy of Threads of The War: Smashwords

 

Buy Threads of The War, Volume II:

Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Kobo  |  Apple

 
 

Book Tour: THE JOURNAL OF RABBI LEVY WANG

Three Friends, Two Countries, One Priceless jewel

1937 China; the Japanese Imperial Army is chewing up China. Three middle-aged friends, Westerners, who have lived in China for decades, are about to lose everything to the onslaught. Leave China or die. As their world collapses around them, a fur trader from New York, a Russian, and a Rabbi from Germany, learn that a race of Chinese Jews is about to become victims of a German and Japanese alliance to acquire a valuable ruby, supposedly hidden in their village of Kaifeng.

The three friends embark on one last adventure before leaving China, to save the Jews of Kaifeng and the jewel. Can they reach Kaifeng before the alliance bent on the destruction of the village gets to them? It’s a deadly pursuit across 1937 China, through Japanese controlled territory, Chinese bandits, and countless dangers and obstacles. The only clues to its location are written in a cryptic, twenty-year-old diary of a disillusioned Chinese Rabbi; the Journal of Rabbi Levy Wang. The three friends are tested to the extreme in a desperate attempt to warn their friends and find the jewel.

~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Amazon UK ~ 

~ Amazon Canada ~ Amazon Australia ~

David Harris Lang, a current resident of Hong Kong, has lived and worked in Asia much of his life. Besides being a prolific author of Asian-based thrillers, he is an international architect who brings an indelible sense of place’ to his writing as well as a deep understanding of Asian cultures, locales, and customs. His vivid fight scenes come from a life-long practice of the martial arts. 

Connect With the Author Here:

 ~ Website ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads ~ Facebook ~

The Journal of Rabbi Levy Wang is an action-adventure that at times struck me as a fantasy novel, too. It is set in China in the late 1930’s at the time Japan was in the process of trying to conquer China. Many of us Americans who may have some familiarity with the growth of the Axis Powers may be more familiar with events in Europe and have a sense that Japan attacking Pearl Harbor was an event that came out of nowhere. That is not the case. Part of the premise of this novel is the early stages of Germany and Japan courting each other even as they remained cautious allies.

Towards the front of the book the author tells a history behind the existence and journey of a fabulous ruby, starting by playing fast and loose with the retelling of the Moses and Aaron leading the Children of Israel out of Egypt story. It ends up in a Chinese Jewish community of Kaifeng. Such a place did exist in the 1930’s. However, as the Rabbi Levy Wang questions his faith and seeks answers, he goes on a quest and takes the ruby with him. The only clues to the location where the good rabbi hid it are recorded in his journal found twenty years after his death.

The story follows the plethora of adventures of the three main Western characters—an American, a Russian and a German Jew. Juwu, a Chinese member of a resistance organization, was a fourth honorary member of this group on the quest. These middle-aged men used their wits and persistence more than brute strength to meet and overcome the challenges they faced in an effort to find the ruby. Along the way they met a wide variety of characters, helpful and not so helpful. Many of the cast of characters were Chinese and Japanese with a smattering of Germans and other Americans for good measure. It took a little doing for me to follow some of the names to keep track of the host of characters, but once I was able to identify the Chinese names from the Japanese, it became easier to keep track who was on what side.

Some characters came across as mystical, as if I had stumbled upon a fantasy novel. Some were contemplative, giving a sense of the religious teachings of China. Others were downright bizarre. They were all entertaining and they intertwined and moved the plot forward at warp speed. I especially enjoyed the scenes that took place in the mountainous regions, and recalling images of the mountains of China, I could picture myself there.

The author drew upon some of the stories told by his father and grandfather who were fur traders in China in the 1920’s and 1930’s. Also, he has lived in Japan and China and is currently living in Hong Kong. His understanding of these Asian cultures comes through in the book. This book is not for the faint of heart—there are some violent acts described—and the language was rough in spots. This was not a romance novel. It was fast-paced, laced with subtle humor in spots, and I enjoyed it very much.

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Three friends~two countries~one priceless jewel THE JOURNAL OF RABBI LEVY WANG by David Harris Lang #ZinaAbbottBooks http://bit.ly/1Y5Uf2p

Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 Series: ANOTHER BRIDE?

I've been working hard on my last book in the Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series. Three are now published, and you can find the book links by CLICKING HERE.

I recently signed a contract for the fourth in the series titled  Haunted by Love. The title can give you a clue as to when it may be released. 

As for where much of the story is set, this old photo may give you a clue.

To wrap up the year 1884, I had two brides--and two weddings--in mind. As I started to write the story, I decided to add some excitement in the form of including an incident that took place in that area in 1884 and had the good folks of Lundy, and later Bridgeport, all stirred up for awhile. After I researched that incident and started a whole new first chapter to the fifth book, the story started writing itself. I ended up with a huge chapter, and it isn't complete. I have at least two to three more chapters to write, just to wrap this incident up with a satisfactory conclusion.

Then I realized I have another bride--one I didn't know existed until I woke up with her on my mind Tuesday morning.

          Will she fit in my last book in the series with a working title of Bridgeport Holiday Brides? 

                    Or, will she need her own story in order to not detract from my other two brides?

Hmmm.......

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Another bride? Will she have her own book? Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series @ZinaAbbott #ESB1884 http://bit.ly/1t1Ckyx