the last paradise

Michael Kasenow
iUniverse (2009)
ISBN 9781440120015

lorious in scope, The Last Paradise follows the downtrodden and oppressed people of Galveston, Texas, through trials of injustice and bigotry in post-Civil War America. Debut novelist Michael Kasenow artfully weaves a tapestry of vivid and historic detail in this inspiring story of strength and survival.

During the beginning of the twentieth century, the alley people in Galveston band together against racism, prejudice, and poverty hidden within the hypocrisy of civic and corporate corruption. Men and women such as Fanny, Maxwell, Newt, Bishop, Elma, the prostitutes and nuns of St. Mary's, and the puckish poor who hang out at Bleach's Tavern journey through self-discovery in their attempt to find their places in the changing landscape of a modernizing world.

Winner: Cindy Thurman

Natalie's revenge

Susan Fleet
Music and Mayhem Press (2012)
ISBN 9780984723539

Murder and revenge in New Orleans. Vol. 3 in the Frank Renzi mystery series. TWO MURDERS TWENTY YEARS APART.

• 1988: Ten-year-old Natalie is devastated when police find her call girl mother murdered in a New Orleans hotel. Like the dragon tattoo girl, Natalie wants revenge. Her relentless hunt for the killer takes her from dancing in New York City strip clubs to working as a call girl in Paris. And back to the Big Easy, with a gun.

• 2008: New Orleans Police Detective Frank Renzi investigates the murder of a VIP businessman in a French Quarter hotel. Is it revenge for the 1988 murder? When the killings continue, Renzi pursues the elusive Natalie. Is she the killer? Or just another call girl? Don't miss the exciting showdown between Natalie and Frank Renzi.

Winner: Lance Saltzman

Bone Shadows

Christopher Valen
Conquill Press (2012)
9780980001754

The bodies of young men have been turning up in the Mississippi River for years, their deaths attributed to excessive drinking. But when an Iraq war vet suffering from PTSD is found in the river, St. Paul Homicide Detective John Santana must decide if the young mans death was accidental or the result of something far more sinister. Caught between a reporter trying to resurrect his flagging career, an FBI agent with a troubled past, and a beautiful private investigator on the trail of a serial killer, Santana is pulled into a whirlpool of greed, seduction, and death. Determined to find the truth no matter what the cost, he must first face his own dark memories and a killer intent on stopping him.

Winner: Sharon Powell

firestar

Claudia Newcorn
Outskirts Press, Inc. (2012)
ISBN 9780984681167

What choice will you make if saving your realm demands that you sacrifice yourself? It began with dragon tears and bog wraiths... continued with a Firelord and his scheming councilor... and concludes with desperate battles of which only the dragon knows the outcome...

The stunning and splendid conclusion to this award-winning epic trilogy! A gripping and unpredictable adventure of war, magic, treachery, and ultimate sacrifice that will entangle the realms of Lampion and Nonetre as two ancient prophesies force féyree, elves, dwarves and daemiani into a battle of beliefs in which only one realm will survive.

Winner: Lynette Thompson

The Almond Tree

Michelle Cohen Corasanti
Garnet Publishing (2012)
ISBN 9781859643297

Gifted with a mind that continues to impress the elders in his village, Ichmad Hamid struggles with knowing that he can do nothing to save his friends and family. Living on occupied land, his entire village operates in fear of losing their homes, jobs, and belongings. But more importantly, they fear losing each other.
On Ichmad's twelfth birthday, that fear becomes reality. With his father imprisoned, his family's home and possessions confiscated, and his siblings quickly succumbing to hatred in the face of conflict, Ichmad begins an inspiring journey using his intellect to save his poor and dying family. In doing so he reclaims a love for others that was lost through a childhood rife with violence and loss, and discovers a new hope for the future.
Reminiscent of The Kite Runner and One Thousand Splendid Suns, this is an uplifting read, which conveys a message of optimism and hope.

Winner: Rebecca Stephen

Lifting the spiritual self-esteem of the lgbt community

Khepra Ka-Re Amente Anu
iUniverse, Inc. (2012)
ISBN 9781450299343

Lifting the Spiritual Self-Esteem of the LGBT Community is written for all people-whether heterosexual or members of the LGBT community-who are disgusted with the judgmental and discriminatory way that religions project and impose their beliefs onto the lives of others in the self-righteous name of God. Author Khepra Ka-Re Amente Anu provides source material for readers to counter and fight back against religious institutions, organizations, and individuals who condemn any lifestyle that does not conform to their own narrow ideology. He offers a critique of the man-made, mythological religions of Africa-Egypt/Ethiopia, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. With the exception of Buddhism, religions are violent; the scriptures of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are manuals that provide instructional and operational guidelines for the enslavement of humans.

Winner: Michael Irenlan