Tag Archives: the fever

ARC Review: Lucky Strike by Thomas Fenske

Lucky Strike by Thomas Fenske

Thomas Fenske does not disappoint with his third installment of the Traces of Treasure series, Lucky Strike. Changing focus from the lost gold mine to a mystery buried treasure from World War II, Fenske steps it up in the complexity department. I’m impressed by his ability to weave together so many disparate parts into a coherent whole, slowly revealing bits of information both about the resolution of the mystery and about the characters we’ve met through the first two books. World War II, deserters, and buried treasure; international criminals, kidnapping, and murder. Oh, and our friends the ghosts, who once again play a pivotal role in the resolution of the key drama. As the drama unfolds, we learn in bits both information useful for solving the mystery of the lost treasure as well as some of the backstory to the characters we’ve come to love from the first two books. I originally erroneously thought the series was going to end with this book, and that made me sad because Sam, Smidgeon, and Lance have started to feel like old friends. I’ve spent so much time with them and in Van Horn that sometimes I forget I’ve never actually been to Texas. I’m glad to spend more time with them, though at the same time I do wish they could live in some sort of peace!

Four stars!

Check out my reviews of Books 1 and 2, The Fever and A Curse That Bites Deep, then go buy them and read up in anticipation of Lucky Strike‘s release this fall!

The Mossback Café has a cookbook!

Hopefully you all remember my review of The Fever by Thomas Fenske. If not, click here and read it, and then click here and buy a copy and read it yourself! There’s a second book, too, A Curse that Bites Deep, that I have on my Kindle and haven’t yet finished (see my previous post – I haven’t been reading, so sad), though I’m sure is as excellent as the first.

In any case, now that you’re reacquainted with the books – some exciting news: the lovely Mossback Café, which plays an important role in the books, has a COOKBOOK!

The Mossback Cafe Cookbook: Texas Cooking from the Pages of The Fever and A Curse That Bites Deep by [Fenske, Thomas]

I was so excited when I learned about it that I downloaded it immediately and read it straight through in one sitting. My husband asked me, somewhat incredulously, “You’re reading a cookbook?” Technically, yes, but in the author’s words, it’s so much more than a cookbook!

The Mossback Café Cookbook is “compiled” by Thomas Fenske, writing in the voice of Smidgeon Toll, a character from the books. It’s a treasure of Texas-style cooking that I’m sure will go over well in my house (well, at least with my husband…) when I have a chance to try the recipes out. Having read The Fever, and looking forward to restarting A Curse that Bites Deep, it was a lot of fun to learn more about Smidgeon and the Mossback Café from Smidgeon’s perspective. I smiled throughout, and it definitely rekindled my desire to pick up A Curse that Bites Deep again soon.

I can’t see how anyone would read the cookbook (check it out! only $.99!) and not want to read the books themselves, so even without trying the recipes I call the cookbook a great success. And I can’t wait to try out the homemade chorizo!

Five stars!!!

 

Get “The Fever” Free in July

Author Thomas Fenske is participating in a freebie at smashwords.com this month. For the month of July, all e-book versions of The Fever are free at Smashwords. Read my review from the end of May – it’s definitely worth giving it a read!

Details here. Use code “SFREE”

When you give it a read, please stop by and let me know what you think!

Enjoy!