Review of The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova

When Alexandra Boyd arrives in Sofia to start her position as an English teacher, she doesn’t know what to expect of Bulgaria. The Eastern European country is as far away as she can possibly go from her home in the Appalachian Mountains, and from the tragic loss of her beloved brother.

Upon her arrival in the city, Alexandra is dropped off by mistake at a hotel where she goodheartedly helps an elderly couple into a taxi. When the vehicle drives off, Alexandra realizes that she has accidentally taken one of their bags.

Inside the bag is a small wooden box containing an urn with human ashes. Realizing that this box is undoubtedly sorely missed, Alexandra sets out to return it to the couple to whom it belongs. If only she can find them.

Like Alexandra, most readers of The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova (Ballantine Books, April 2017) will be visiting Bulgaria for the first time. The customs, the villages, the culture, and the history come to life in a country that surprises at every turn.

What Readers Are Saying about “The Burgas Affair”

Readers, book bloggers, and reviewers around the world are thrilled to be reading my crime thriller, The Burgas Affair. Here is what they are saying, in their own words. Have you gotten your copy yet?

“Beginning with an enigmatic prologue featuring an unnamed woman strapped into a ticking bomb-jacket, each scene is packed with suspense. Layers of intrigue build to a fever pitch when Ayala and Boyko meet their nemeses - and confront each other. When he isn't describing terrorism and crime, Shuman fills out the story with lush and complex Bulgarian and Israeli scenery and culture. In real life, the case has never been solved. I'll leave it to you readers to discover how Shuman handles the ending. Given his penchant for dramatic tension, don't expect a predictable conclusion.”
- Midwest Book Review

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"A real page turner from start to finish and one I would definitely recommend.  Ideal for readers of crime, thriller with good amount of action, adventure.  "
- Me and My Books

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"I recommend this to anyone looking for a fast paced, action packed, detailed description of a plot based on true events. You will not be disappointed!"
- Brianna Remus Books

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“The Burgas Affair is a very readable novel; Shuman is clearly a talented writer and engages the reader early on, conveying the horror and mystery surrounding the bombing. He weaves a complex story all the while exerting complete control over it. Boyko’s past and the investigation dance around each other until they collide in an explosive finale. There is crime, thrills, a hint of romance and corruption to keep the reader enthralled. If you enjoy a story with lots going on then you’ll like this one. The action is relentless, spilling across Bulgaria and Israel to great effect.”
- Lindley Reviews

Don’t Read It until I Finish Writing It!

I had just finished writing the first section of the first draft of my first novel and I was eager to have my wife read it. Who was better qualified than my wife to serve as my alpha reader?

My previous attempts at writing a novel had been overly autobiographical, my wife had stated in the past. In my new manuscript, I believed, I had created a totally fictional world, in a unique setting, and with three-dimensional characters dealing with unusual circumstances. My wife would be the best judge of this, I thought, as I waited for her reaction.

“I can’t read it on the computer,” she said.

Review of Strangers with the Same Dream by Alison Pick

This book begins with a lie. They said she killed herself, that hers was “the first suicide.” She has a story to tell and we, the readers, are “the chosen people” who will hear this story.

This is the enigmatic opening of Strangers with the Same Dream by Alison Pick (Knopf Canada, August 2017), a novel set in Palestine in the 1920s. A group of halutzim—pioneers—have come to claim the land not out of religious destiny, but as fulfillment of the Zionist dream. Haunted by secrets and tragedies, they are challenged with establishing a kibbutz in the barren north of what will become, a generation later, the Jewish state.

First, we meet Ida who wants to build Eretz Yisrael in her beloved father’s memory. She strives “to become a new person” suited to her new life on the kibbutz. But things don’t go as planned. “Was this Eretz Yisrael?” she thinks. “She had been promised—had believed so fervently—that they were making something new, but instead, everything was falling to pieces.”

Review of The Fraud or Miracle Trilogy by Christoph Fischer

I had previously read one novel by Christoph Fischer but there were a number of others on my to-be-read list. When The Fraud or Miracle Trilogy by Christoph Fischer (November 2017) was published, I had a chance to read three at the same time. And this turned out to be a good choice, as the the novels come across best  when read together.

The first book in the trilogy is The Healer, which introduces a mysterious ‘healer’ by the name of Arpan. Is he the real thing, or is he a fraud? That is what advertising executive Erica, who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, must determine. Arpan may be her last real hope, if he can truly heal her.

How I Found My Editor

After I finished writing, revising, and polishing my manuscript—a suspense novel set in Bulgaria—and after receiving very few responses from the literary agents I queried, I decided to take my next step in a completely independent direction.

It would have been incredibly simple to immediately self-publish the novel but before I did that, I needed to be totally convinced that it was free of embarrassing punctuation and grammar mistakes. I needed the assistance of a professional editor.

Review of Underskin by Orit Arfa

How do young Israelis relate to Germany and the Holocaust these days? An unconventional love story explores a very heavy topic in a lighthearted, erotic way.

First, a warning. Due to its generous doses of explicit sex, some of it quite kinky, this novel is intended for mature audiences only.

In Underskin by Orit Arfa (Route 60 Press, August 2017), an Israeli architect by the name of Nilly meets a thirty-something German peace activist by the name of Sebastian on a Tel Aviv beach. Nilly is attracted physically to her new German acquaintance, but baggage from the past threatens to prevent the couple from forming a serious relationship.

The Burgas Affair Now On Sale!

The Burgas Affair has been published and can now be purchased at Amazon!

"A masterfully written fictional account that weaves personal tragedy into the intricacies of international police cooperation in a way that will grab and hold the reader’s attention throughout." - review on Goodreads.

"A very engaging and thought-provoking read, a gripping thriller and a multi-layered read" - Writer Christoph Fischer

Purchase your copy of The Burgas Affair today!