The Haunted Hornby Edward WillettPublished by Endless Sky BooksReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$19.99 ISBN 9781998273706 Wow: Regina’s Edward Willett has done it again. He’s written a book—this time a light-hearted, middle years’ horror—that’s certain to keep young readers transfixed. The longtime multi-genre writer and publisher’s cracked the code to literary success: his plots zoom; his characters are credible and maintain distinctive voices; and he understands literary craft. In The Haunted Horn, the American Civil War meets present day and reality meets the supernatural, and it’s all more fun that a bunch of bugles. This engaging, republished novel (first edition, 2012) is set in “Oak Bluffs, Arkansas,” where Union soldiers defeated the Confederates in a fiery battle that closed out the Civil War. It revolves around eighth-grader Alex, a creative only child—he fancies himself “a future best-selling novelist”—small for his size, smart in science and English, and a French horn player in the school’s marching band. Willett notably reveals that Alex’s family is upper middle class: antique-obsessed Mom picks Alex up at school in a Lincoln SUV; Dad recently left retail management when elected to town council. Alex is a target for bully Sammy Findlater and his gang, and Sammy’s on…

Gods of a New Worldby Ryan MelsomPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Michelle Shaw$26.99 ISBN 9781998273379 A mind-bending thriller set in a dystopian future is not something I usually read, but Ryan Melsom’s immersive world and powerful writing in Gods of a New World kept me turning the pages. All 336 of them! What initially drew me to the book was its premise. A thriller set in a world controlled and reshaped by trillionaires using superpowered AIs – “a world where miracles are engineered and secret technology is wired into the very air”. It sounded frighteningly almost relatable. Within this world we are introduced to the two central characters: James Kessler – a childhood survivor of the “Bad Times” (when the world as we know it crumbled), who is now living a very pleasant life as a cog in the new social structure; and Maree Shell – a privileged executive living the high life in the controlling hierarchy of the new society. These two unlikely collaborators are confronted with a frightening conspiracy by the gods of this new world to seize control of reality itself, by encoding their consciousness into the world — stripping away the free will of the world’s…

Waiting for the Piano Tuner to Dieby Harriet RichardsPublished by Shadowpaw Press RepriseReview by Toby A. Welch  $24.99 ISBN 9781998273317 This compact collection of ten short stories delivers a nonstop emotional rollercoaster. Richards explores heavy themes – death and dying, family dynamics, sibling relationships, love, loss – but what stands out is how hope runs through it. It packs a punch by taking raw situations and humanizing them.  While I enjoyed all ten tales (not something I can usually say in a short story collection), my favorite was Andrea’s Kitchen. It comes in at just under seven pages but it leaves a lasting impact. It tells the story of a woman blessed and burdened by her beauty and how that has played out in her life, for better or worse. A close second was Marine and Jonathan, Plus Carmalita’s Journal, the longest story at thirty pages. The layout of the tale was cool as parts of it were journal entries, hence the title. It follows the story of the three people in the title from adolescence into adulthood and the complications that arise. Most of the stories quietly linger, resurfacing hours or even days later.  I know a book is special when I’m…

The Laundrymanby Dwayne BrennaPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Brandon Fick$26.99 ISBN 9781998273522 If you’re looking for a fast-paced historical crime novel, presenting a cross-section of frontier life and a region on the brink of massive changes, then The Laundryman is for you. What Dwayne Brenna achieves in his third novel is twofold: a mystery with twists and turns and two protagonists of differing but complementary personalities; plus, like most worthwhile historical fiction, he touches on issues we still deal with today, including racism, corruption, and the nature of justice. This might sound like a heavy story, and while solving murders is at the heart of The Laundryman, Brenna’s work is more along the lines of Agatha Christie than the ruthless westerns of Cormac McCarthy. The Laundryman focuses on two North-West Mounted Police Officers: Corporal Belvedere, a hard-drinking, laudanum-using officer with five years of experience, and Surgeon Virgil Montgomery, a strait-laced recruit haunted by mistakes in his previous medical practice. They are sent from Battleford to investigate the murder of a Chinese laundryman in Prince Albert in the fall of 1883. But what initially seems to be a one-off murder over a disagreement or racial prejudice expands into a wider conspiracy…

Elephants in the Roomby Betty Jane HegeratPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Sally Meadows$22.99 ISBN 9781998273485 The best–or at least most satisfying–single-author anthologies have a common thread woven throughout the stories. In Betty Jane Hegerat’s new short story collection Elephants in the Room, published by Shadowpaw Press, readers don’t have to dig deep to identify the connecting theme: it’s right there in the title. Hegerat has taken eight of her previously published stories and fleshed out her overarching idea of topics that are avoided because they’re uncomfortable to discuss, with six new tales including the capstone story “Elephants” that literally includes elephants–lots of elephants–in the room. With deft precision, she fearlessly exposes the things we often keep to ourselves: secrets and lies, regrets and beliefs, fears and hopes, all mixed in with glimmers of love, grace, and compassion. Hegerat’s prose is both straightforward and complex as she adroitly exposes human foibles–especially as they surface in imperfect family relationships–with a dose of humour and/or affection. Her characters are finely drawn, inherently flawed, and more relatable than we might be willing to admit: the begrudging son who receives praise when he least expects it; a daughter-in-law’s final act of love for her husband’s…

First Light, Last Lightby Glen SorestadPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Brandon Fick$19.99 ISBN 9781998273461 First Light, Last Light is a fitting title for a poetry collection that concerns itself with the beginning and end of human life, lost and recovered memories, the rhythmic cycle of the seasons, and glimpses of natural life in the early dawn of spring or the cold, shadowy dusk of winter. Glen Sorestad, one of Saskatchewan’s elder literary statesman, its first Poet Laureate, and co-founder of Thistledown Press, has compiled a book without pretension. Many of Sorestad’s poems are written from personal experience, meditating on his parents, brother, or children, a bulldozed childhood farm and disappeared dog, or more recently, medical appointments and the strange rituals of the pandemic. He also proves to be a keen observer of birds. All of this adds up to a satisfying portrait of a man. In “Part One: The Human Touch,” Sorestad fluctuates between poeticizing contemporary life and excavating the past, with an emphasis on the latter. In fact, there is a poem titled “Excavation: Mount Pleasant Public School,” provoked by a photo, as a number are in this section. This 1940s school in Vancouver “long gone to wrecking ball…

The Traitor’s Sonby Dave DuncanPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Toby A. Welch  $26.99 ISBN 9781989398913 The Traitor’s Son is the ultimate worst case scenario book and I couldn’t put it down! This science fiction read is about a colony in futuristic times. The colony has limped along for centuries but it is now at a crossroads; either they change almost everything in their world or they face extinction. I don’t want to give away too much! Duncan does a phenomenal job of making readers feel like they are immersed in the action taking place on the pages. For example, check out this paragraph about a crew fighting to keep their ferry on course despite storm surges and squalls: “Melchior sighed in relief. ‘That’s Touchdown. Stand by for a sharp turn.’ He has landmarks to guide him now, and swung the boat to the left just as it cleared the island. The tide itself shot them around into the calmer water in the lee, although Doig’s stomach thought he had slid over a cliff.”   Science fiction isn’t one of my must-read genres. But every time I dive into a sci-fi book – especially one as engrossing as The Traitor’s Son – I resolve to make…

Fireboyby Edward WillettPublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Shelley A. Leedahl$22.99 ISBN 9781998273423 There are several things I can count on each time I open a book for young readers by Regina author Edward Willett: the story will be technically well-written; the characters credible and clever; and whatever weird, fantastical situations the young cast finds themselves in, there’s bound to be laughs along the way. In short, I know I’ll be impressed. Fireboy is the Aurora Award-winning author and publisher’s latest title, and with this blaze-paced novel it’s clear that Willett’s lost none of his … fire. The story’s told by thirteen-year-old Samantha “Sam” MacReady, who missed out on her Grade 7 overnight field trip (“a camping-trip-and-astronomy-adventure”) in May and thus was spared when her fellow “Limberpine,” Alberta classmates were involved in a tragic school bus accident. The bus was driven by Grade 7 science teacher Dr. Ballard, and he and a single student—loner Meg, from the wrong side of the tracks—were the sole survivors. The remaining nineteen students mysteriously vanished, and no one can say for sure what even caused the bus to flip on its side. After the news crews left the small town folks alone and “The rest…

Cupboard Loveby Mark MortonPublished by Shadowpaw Press RepriseReview by Michelle Shaw$29.99 ISBN 9781998273355 If you’ve ever wondered about the plural of asparagus (asparagi), or the origins of Camembert (invented during the French revolution) or why there are so many spellings of perogie…perogey…piroghi (it’s complicated),then wonder no more. Mark Morton’s extensively researched Cupboard Love: A Dictionary of Culinary Curiosities explores the definitions and origins of a vast array of culinary terms in a fascinating and very witty way. From à la (as in à la carte and à la king) to zuppa inglese, Morton examines how the definitions of words have developed – sometimes far from their original meanings. This is actually the third edition of the book (so clearly, it’s stood the test of time) and it has been updated and expanded. It was originally published in 1996 and was one of three books nominated for a 1996 Julia Child Cookbook Award in the Food Reference/Technical Category (Calphalon Award) and was included in The Globe and Mail’s list of “required reading” notable books for 1997. I’m a linguistic nerd so I was fascinated about Morton’s research process through the years. When the book was first published in 1996, his primary…

Let Us Be Trueby Erna BuffiePublished by Shadowpaw PressReview by Sally Meadows$24.99 ISBN 9781998273065 As an award-winning documentary filmmaker, Erna Buffie has put her strengths of visual thinking and stellar storytelling to excellent use in her recently re-released debut novel Let Us Be True. Originally published by Coteau Books in 2015 and a finalist for both the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction and the Eileen McTavish Sykes Award for Best First Book at the 2016 Manitoba Book Awards, the book was re-published by Shadowpaw Press in 2024 for a whole new generation of readers to devour. This sweeping story, which unfolds over several generations with a myriad of twists and turns, is told from various viewpoints that allow readers to get an intimate portrait of each deeply flawed character. From the grit of the Great Depression to the battlefields of WWII to mid-century and turn-of-the-century life on the Prairies, Buffie’s descriptive mastery–along with her historical knowledge–immerses the reader into each compelling but often painful scene. Like a tragic accident we can’t pull our eyes away from while passing it on a highway, Buffie has crafted a page turner that is hard to put down, employing portents that leave the reader…