A Matter of Life and Death : A Robin Lockwood Novel by Phillip Margolin Series: Robin Lockwood (#4)

Joe is trying to find a job so he can move his wife and child out of the homeless tent city they are living in.  A man approaches him and says he can get paid for fighting.  Joe was a professional fighter for a while so he says yes.  He knows the fight is illegal but he feels he has no choice.

Minotaur Books and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you),  It will be published on March 9th.

He fights and wins.  The other man was drugged but he didn't know it.  They take him away and someone else kills the man he was fighting.

From there the story gets complex.  Joe believes he's killed the man.  They take him to another house to rob the jewelry in the safe, but he almost falls over the dead woman on the floor.  He has left fingerprints behind but he runs.  The man that brought in the van was gone.

This was a set up to make Joe the fall guy.  He ends up in jail.  But Robin doesn't think he's guilty and keeps checking things out.  There was more than one killer, lawyers are involved as well as a judge, and it's confusing but Robin straightens it out and reveals the real killers...

Death Grip by Elaine Viets

Angie is a death investigator.  She goes to where the body has been found, takes pictures and notes all the injuries.  She got a phone call to head out to the woods to find a buried body and do her job. 

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published March 2nd.

As they look over the site, they decide there is more than one victim.  Sure enough, they find two more skeletons.  The first body is somewhat intact yet, skeletons are harder to identify.

The worst part of the investigation is that the suspected killer is a rich and important person.  They are warned away from him.  But it just makes them more determined to find facts to support their suspicions.

They find one woman who had survived but had all kinds of bruises.  She has photos she gives to Angie.

They identify the three buried bodies.  One woman is still missing.  Angie thinks she knows where she is.  She's right but the killer is there, too...

A Game of Cones by Abby Collette

There's talk about a new mall going in their small town and a night meeting was held to discuss it.  Almost everyone there was against it.  

Berkley and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published on March 2nd.

Bronwyn wasn't excited about it either but she certainly didn't expect to find the presenter dead in the alley...

The detective tells her to keep her nose out of it, he'll handle this himself.  But he doesn't know all the business owners like she does.  She is running the local ice cream shop and most of the business come in for a treat.

Her friends have the same bug she does and soon they are asking questions, checking alibis, and trying to decide who would have shot him down.

Even after all that, they are still heading in the wrong direction.  They figure that out when they are threatened with a gun in the back of the shops.  Will they live or die?

Haunted Hibiscus by Laura Childs

An old house in town has been renovated into a haunted house.  There is an author there who is doing a book signing and her table is mobbed.  After they buy and get their books signed, they snoop around a bit more and then leave.  As they are going, Theodosia and Drayton look up and see the author hanging outside the upstairs window...  She's dead and nobody saw who did it...

Berkley and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you)  It will be published March 2nd.

Theodosia is warned to stay away from the crime.  She tends to get involved.  And the police chief can warn all he wants but the killer shot Theodosia's love and she intends to find them.  Luckily her boyfriend survives and the shot wasn't too devastating.

There are plenty of suspects.  She finds many of the people are lying about their backgrounds or the current situation.

There's lots of action and the killer was no one I suspected.  Give it a read and then tell me if you figured it out early.

Death of a Messenger by Robert McCaw

When Kao gets a call about a dead body on military property, he coordinates the search with a military policeman.  He's not fond of the man he has to work with because he looks for easy answers to close a case. 

Oceanview Publishing and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published and you can get a copy now.

The body has been mutilated.  An eye is missing, the chest has been cut in several places, and his genitalia have been cut.  Now they need to find out why.

With a bigger search going on, they find that the cave he was found in was at a historical site and there was another entrance in.

This story is set in Hawaii and Kings were buried in unknown locations and the ones who put the King there were killed.  That means that all the artifacts found have great value on the black market.

Kao has a number of suspects that he searches back history on.  It's very hard to determine who did it.  Several could have.  But Kao doesn't give up.  He finds a connection between the telescope research unit and the burglaries.  And he begins to think an important person may have been the killer.  Can he prove it?

Dark Sky by C. J. Box Series: A Joe Pickett Novel (#21)

Joe has been basically blackmailed by the governor to take a celebrity on an elk hunt.  If he doesn't do it, he could lose his job...

G P Putnam and Sons and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published on March 2nd.

Joe and a guide take the internet sensation into the woods to hunt for elk.  Joe has no idea someone is hunting the tech baron.

They do what is necessary for an elk hunt but then things go sideways.  A man wants to kill the internet sensation.  He thinks he's responsible for his daughter's suicide.

This turns into a deadly game of hide and seek.  Joe is a bit worried about bears but when they are attacked by an animal, it's wolverines!

Various people die as the hunt continues.  It turns into a fight for their lives because they want no witnesses.

Luckily Joe's eldest daughter and a falconer are looking for Joe and they add a hand in the gun battle.

This is a gritty nature story that shows the best and the worst of humans.  It reminded me of our camping days.  At least no one was trying to kill us.

Will Joe and tech baron survive?  Read it and see.

The Girl Who Stole an Elephant by Nizrana Farook

Chaya lives in a village that is ruled by a King.  He's not a nice man.  If anyone needs help, he doesn't help.  So Chaya steals and gives it to the people in need.

Peachtree Publishing and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published March 1st.

She manages to sneak in the palace and steal some of the queen's jewels.  A boy got caught by an alligator and his family needs money to save his leg.  She gives them one of the jewels to sell and help their son.  Unfortunately it wasn't a clean getaway.  The King's men find the jewels in the possession of her male friend and they jail him in the dungeon.  He'll lose his head shortly.  So Chaya sneaks in and gets him out.

Then they flee to the jungle to try to escape.  Chaya steals one more thing.  She takes the King's elephant.

This is a good adventure with lots of challenges and constant hiding from the King's men.  They finally get caught.  Will they survive?

Thirteen Witches by Jodi Lynn Anderson

Rosie's mother is missing a lot of memories.  She doesn't even know how to love her child and she doesn't know how she got that way.  The first odd thing is that Rosie can see ghosts...

Aladdin sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It will be published on February 9th.

Rosie likes to write stories.  They all have happy endings because her life isn't happy.  One day she gets disgusted with them and burns them.  That brings some witches out of hiding.

Rosie has a friend in Germ, a girl her age.  She also has a friend in ghost form that is a young man.  The ghost tells her the Memory Witch is coming for her when the moon goes dark.  Witches don't like the light of the moon, it burns them.

The witch has cursed her mother, that's why she is the way she is.  Rosie doesn't want to be taken by the witch.  But the only way the witch can be stopped is by killing her.  How can a 12 year old do that?

There are more secrets hidden and as Rosie learns them she attempts to be ready when the witch comes.

This was a good fantasy tale with lots of challenges for Rosie.  This is also the first book in a series.  The witches are still around...

Little Sweetpea Teaches Little Possum a Lesson by Halle J Ladd

Little possum eats vegetables and every now and then some  meat.  He's always sneaking up on his prey.

The author and Goddess Fish Tours invited me to read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can grab a copy now.

Sweetpea is a flower growing in the garden.  She doesn't want little possum to eat her so she looks for something he might like better.

She hears him in the tree next to the garden so she speaks to him.  He replies because he knows she heard him.  Then she tosses him a blackberry to see how he likes it. He does! It becomes part of his daily diet and he and Sweetpea have become friends...

Halle J Ladd will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.  Enter HERE.

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found HERE.

Happy reading and good luck!

Once Upon a Dragon's Fire by Beatrice Blue

Two girls read all the stories about dragons and it portrayed them as mean and evil.  They both said they were not afraid of a dragon.

Clarion Books and Edelweiss allowed me to read the book for review (thank you).  It will be published on March 2nd.

One day a deep coldness came to their village.  The people living there thought the dragon did it.  The two girls decide to go up to the mountain cave and find the dragon.  They found him and he was cold and lonely.  They sat down next to him and began reading him a story.  Soon they realized all the dragon books had evil dragons in them.  So they made up their own stories.

He was so pleased to have friends and nice stories, he warmed up and then breathed out the first flame of fire.  They climbed on and he flew them down the mountain and warmed up their village.

That's how dragons learned to breath fire...

The Postscript Murders by Elly Griffiths

Natalka works as a care giver.  When she finds one of her patients dead, sitting in a chair, she calls the police.  Since she was 90, the cops think she died of hear attack.  Natalka doesn't agree.  The autopsy report proves her right, she got a shot that killed her.  

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published March 2nd.

This is a complicated murder mystery.  More authors are killed, there are different killers, and the people who knew and loved them are looking for the murderers too.

These people are mostly immigrants so that's a factor in the murders too.  At the heart of it, it seems someone has plagiarized a book and that's why the original author died.  

Everyone wants to make sure no one speaks out about them.  One is shot in the head, one gets a deadly shot, and another method is used for the other death.

It takes a lot of work, but they do find the guilty parties.  I had no clue who they were.

There's quite a bit of book talk in this story as well as the investigation.  I enjoyed it.

The Progress of a Crime : A Fireworks Night Mystery by Julian Symons, Martin Edwards (Introduction by)

It was Guy Fawkes's (bonfire) night and the whole area is filled with people when some motorcycles show up.  It's a group of young men and they are there to get even with a man who had harassed them.  First they shoot fireworks at him.  He gets angry and goes after them.  Soon he's on the ground dead and all the boys are gone...

Poisoned Pen Press and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published on March 2nd.

It was dark and almost no one got a good look at who did what.  The journalists and the cops go to work asking questions and trying to find suspects.  They determine it was a group of boys.  Most carried knives and that's how he died.

This is a police procedural where the journalists did more work than the cops.  They determine who was involved and they knew who had knives.  But finding ways to prove it is harder.  There's family trauma, witnesses changed their stories, and the trial is a battle of lawyers.

Part of the ending was suspected but the other part was a real surprise!

It was a bit slow reading but you keep reading to find out what's going to happen next...

Diversity by Monique Gliozzi

This is an anthology of short stories.  I liked them all.  There are ghosts, some tales are only two pages, and all of them make you think a bit.  There's romance, crime, and more in the collection.

The author and Goddess Fish Blog Tour let me read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can get a copy now.

The stories are written well, the plots well thought out, and the words flow smoothly.  I enjoyed this read.  Diversity is in the stories, too.

I had no particular favorite.  They are all very good.  Give it a try and see what you think.

Monique Gliozzi will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.  Enter HERE.

Follow the tour and comment; the more you comment, the better your chances of winning. The tour dates can be found HERE.

Happy reading and good luck! 

The Princess Spy: The True Story of World War II Spy Aline Griffith, Countess of Romanones by Larry Loftis

Aline grew up in a small village and she never went anywhere.  Then she goes off to model things and finds it exciting to travel.  Her brothers are in the war and she wants to help, too.  Suddenly she finds herself becoming a spy...

Atria sent me an ARC to read for review (thank you).  It will be published on February 9th.

This is a complex look at her training to be a spy and a good look at all the other spies no matter who they were spying for.  The author read her books and then went through all the documents available so this will be an accurate account.

She flirted with death, worked mostly with men, and managed to get the information they sent her after.

This story isn't boring.  You keep reading to see if she gets caught. You have to admire her for what all she did.  She left spying to marry but she doesn't get happily ever after.  Life just wasn't that kind to her.

Furbidden Fatality by Deborah Blake

Kari was lucky enough to win the lottery but she hadn't spent much of it.  She wanted to do something good and she decided to buy an old rundown shelter and fix it up.  She would work on getting the animals homes and there was even a house on the property she could live in.  The last thing she wanted to do was to find a dead man outside the kennel fencing out back...

Berkley and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 23rd.

The police chief thinks she killed him.  She researches the past and takes that info to him.  He says he knows about that, but she's still a suspect.

This is an interesting town.  The dog catcher had a racket going, do did the court clerk and even the deputies.  The chief is appalled at all the law breaking she finds.

She wants to save the pitbull the dog catcher was after and she wants to save her business.  She manages to do that but almost loses her life in the process...

This was a good, busy mystery.

A Side of Murder by Amy Pershing

Samantha always had a love of food and she wanted to be a chef.  So she heads to the Big Apple to go to school and then goes to work in a restaurant.  But then her aunt dies and she's willed the house.  She decides to go home.

Berkley and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you.  It will be published on February 23rd.

Sam is visiting old friends and getting used to being back in this small town, when she finds a dead body in the pond.  It's the local gossip.  She calls the police and the chief immediately suspects her as the murderer.

Sam also inherited a puppy which she's not too happy about because he's a big dog.  Given time, she falls in love with him.  How can you not love a dog that loves you?

Since the cops think she was the killer, she starts investigating herself.  Someone drowned her and it wasn't Sam.  The more she finds out, the nastier the woman seems.  She was blackmailing people.  But who didn't want to pay anymore?

There are two men who are part of the bad doings in town.  One I didn't suspect.  The other wasn't the nicest guy.

Sam ends in a confrontation with the killer.  But he has the gun and intends to kill her.  Who will save Sam?

The Diabolical Bones by Bella Ellis

This is a tale of the Bronte sisters.  Each of the sisters has a very different personality but they work well together.  They are writing poetry and hope to be published. But they hear about some bones found not far from their residence so they want to find out who it is.

Berkley and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published on February 16th.

The bones appear to be a child's but the doctor tells them the child was probably between the ages of ten - twelve.  The child had lots of physical ailments from not enough to eat.  Nobody has any idea who it is.

They begin asking questions.  There are a lot of superstitions that get in the way of facts.  The longer they work on it, the more people get involved.

The killer is not unusual but the child's mother is almost a killer herself.  She's the last one I would have suspected.

The pace of the story is a bit slow and there is a lot of interesting conversations but it's a good mystery.

Dangerous Women by Hope Adams

This is a tale of women who get thrown in jail that are now traveling by boat to an island across the sea.  Some are guilty, some were only trying to save themselves but they all got blamed for their bad deeds.

Berkley and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 16th.

The women are of all types.  One has changed her identity, many are silent and not real friendly.  Others are loud and too boisterous to get along.

Those who know how to sew are gathered together to make a pieced quilt.  They commence to work on it either by lantern light or daylight.

About halfway through the journey, one of the women is stabbed.  She has a son and he can't understand why she doesn't recover.  Despite the best efforts of the doctor, the woman passes.  They have asked all the women about it but no one saw anything.  However before the journey is over, the killer cracks and confesses.

The Captain finds a love on board.  The young boy finds another woman to take care of him. and the woman traveling with the wrong name is told to keep the name and continue to make up for her transgressions on the island.

I wonder how it all turns out for them...

Farm to Trouble by Amanda Flower

Shiloh has come back to the farm from the big city.  She had a good job, but she'd paid off her father's mortgages and her father's health is not good, so she came back.

Poisoned Pen Press and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 23rd.

The downtown area has built up, but the farm has really gone downhill.  She has big plans for the farm and has worked out a loan to get started.  When her father finds out who she got the loan from, he's angry.  The man with the money has been trying to buy the farm.

She agrees to meet with the man at the farmer's market to talk about details.  When she gets there, he's late.  So she walks around trying to find him.  She does.  He's dead by the honey booth.  The woman who owns the booth returns and calls her a killer.

If that wasn't bad enough, they arrest her father for murder.  He can't walk well but the man was shot from a truck.  Her father drives a truck.

Shiloh works hard at the farm and at trying to find the real killer.  When she does, the killer intends to kill her to keep her quiet. 

Who survives...

Savage Road: A Thriller (Hayley Chill Thriller #2) by Chris Hauty

The US is being attacked by cyber specialists.  It begins as TV stations go down, then a train crashes, and it's going on from there.  They think the man doing the damage might be from Russia.

Emily Bestler Books sent me a copy of this book to read for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can get a copy of it now.

This is a complex story about the white house and the moles that are planted there.  Hayley knows the president is one.  Her job is turn him and give information up that could help the US.  There are more.  It's hard to tell who is and who isn't.  There were more moles than I expected in this story.

Hayley knows who one of them is but they don't want her going after him...  One thing about Hayley, she's dangerous.  She ends up taking out two of the moles and a couple secret service agents.

Things shift often in the story and it's hard to tell who is doing what.  Everyone keeps secrets.

This story is almost scary because it's so realistic.  I doubt there is any government who doesn't have a mole or a spy in it.

The story keeps you glued to it.  It's intense and it's a good read.

Deadman's Stagecoach, Second Edition, November 2020 by C.M. Oslund

The stage was on its way to the next town when gunmen showed up.  They shot at them, the riders shot back and when it was over, one man was dead.  The dead man was coming to work on the ranch Luke and his sister Annie lived on.

BooksGoSocial and Net Galley let me  read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can grab a copy now.

At first they thought the bandits killed Adam but in time they found out that someone on the stage had done it.  He came with little luggage so they didn't immediately cotton on to a motive.  But they were going after the killers even if they had the wrong people in mind.

There's a lot of tracking that the part Indian men do well at.  As they catch up to them, there are shootouts and the number of suspects dwindles.  But when they found out he was shot on the stage by one of those riding with him, there's a whole new direction to go.

This was a good western and it's not until you get to the end that you find who the killer is.  Life wasn't easy in the cowboy era.

The Witch's Heart by Genevieve Gornichec

This is a fantasy tale of times when gods, warriors, witches, and kings and queens lived.  The witch is central to the story but her life is not easy...

Ace and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 9th.

The witch gets burned more than once because she will not go where Odin wants her to go.  She's afraid if she goes that deep into a trance, she may not return.  The last time they cut her heart out.  Somehow she survives.

Loki brings her the heart and they fall in love with each other.  They have three children.  The first born was dying but the witch brought her back.  The second one was a wolf and the third one was a snake.  That changes their marriage and Loki goes back to the village he grew up in.

You need to have a good imagination for the rest of the story is even more unusual.  

The place she didn't want to go for Odin suddenly shows her the future.  It's not pleasant.  She attempts to change things but it doesn't work.

The ending reminds me of life here but without magic and unnatural powers.

It was an interesting read.

Out of Hounds by Rita Mae Brown

Sister loves to foxhunt.  She goes out with the group and rides hard and fast.  Usually the fox wins.  They have safe places they've created dens in and they go to ground.  It's not until they get back to their homes they find there was a burglary done.  It was a picture by a noted painter of a woman riding side saddle.  There are very few of those pictures in what he painted so it could be worth millions to the right buyer.  Who took it?

Ballatine Books and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published the 19th of January.

Then people start showing up dead.  At first it's the fellows out of prison working for one man.  Then an older lady was killed.  Sister thinks the cons were killed because they were part of the plot but she doesn't understand why the woman was killed.

Soon more paintings are missing.  All with sidesaddle women riders.  The whole fox hunting group is asking questions and watching for the paintings to come up for sale.

Then sister thinks she may know who the killer is.  It's while they are on a hunt that she gets a gun put to her head.  Will she and her lover survive?

At the Gates and Other Stories: Sixteen Tales of Magic and Wonder by Patrick Samphire

If you enjoy fantasy stories, you'll love this book!  Some of the tales are a bit scary but they are fun to read. Most of them  aren't too long so you can set it down and do what you need to and then come back.

The author shared a copy of this with me.  It's being printed by Five Fathoms Press on January 2nd. 

The stories are well written  Some are provocative, some are rewriting of a traditional fairy tale, and all of them grab your attention and keep you reading.  Most are situations I wouldn't want to find myself in but they make good stories!

I enjoyed reading these.  Why don't you give it a try?

Murder With a View by Diane Kelly: Series: A House-Flipper Mystery (#3)

Whitney and her cousin, Buck, go to a tax sale to bid on an old run down motel.  There's a man there with more money than the cousins have but Whitney talks about a piece of property that's up for bid first and the man with the money bites and bids for it.  While he's in paying for it, the motel comes up.  They had to use all the money they had to get it, but they did.  Now they have to rehab it.

St Martin's Paperbacks and Edelweiss let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 9th.

First they find a man using one of the rooms for a temporary shelter.  He seems nice and volunteers to work with them for some extra money when he gets out on the road again.  They agree.

The next discovery is even worse.  Whitney finds a dead man in one of the beds.  He's a well-known singer and publicity over his death gets going right away.  One of the cops is Whitney's boyfriend so she calls him to come and join the others.

There is no real trail or clues to find the murderer, so a lot of questions are asked.  Several people get on the suspect list but they quickly come off.

Whitney almost loses her life when she figures out who did it.  Will her cousin and boyfriend get there in time?

 

Tell No Tales : Pirates of the Southern Seas by Sam Maggs, Kendra Wells (Illustrated by)

Anne Bonny was a pirate and a good one, too.  She and her crew liked to take down English ships.  But one day they hear how pirates are disappearing...

Amulet Books and Edelweiss allowed me to read this graphic novel for review (thank you).  It will be published February 9th.

Then she runs into the person that has captured so many pirates.  She manages to get away, but she discovers they can't sink that ship and the captain is a ghost.  That's enough to put her off a bit but it doesn't slow her down. 

They head out to a safe spot where they can patch up their ship and members of her crew meet their relatives for a visit.

Then they head back out on the ocean again.  This time the other ship is back after them again and they are caught.  Will they get free or is this the end for them?

A Fatal Lie by Charles Todd

A boy has gone fishing and when he gets a tug on his line, he's thrilled.   But when he pulls it up, he finds a dead man...

William Morrow and Edelweiss let me read the book for review (thank you).  It will be published on February 16th.

As Ian begins looking for the murderer, it gets more and more confusing.  There are three more deaths, there's a child missing, war veterans are involved, and there's even a woman who is partly crazy.

It's a long hunt for Ian and things don't become clear until the end.  He spends a lot of time spinning his wheels while trying to find all the people involved.  Then several lie to him.

When he finds the child's mother has gone away with the suspect, he races after them.  The man told her he had found her daughter.  Will Ian get there in time to stop another death?

Best Laid Plans by Gwen Florio

Nora and her husband Joe have both been let go from their jobs.  They decide to sell their house and get an Airstream trailer and see the country.  Nora was really excited about it until she caught her husband with a friend of hers in her home.  She gets a few things together and leaves without Joe...

Severn House and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published February 2nd. 

She's driving a big pickup with the trailer behind and her husband was supposed to be the driver but she manages.  She goes for miles before finding a park she can stay in.  She finds a spot she can drive into and camps.

Then the campground hosts husband goes missing.  They think a bear got him.  But they haven't found anything yet.

Then Nora gets attacked by a man and just barely stays alive.  The sheriff thinks she did the damage to herself.  Then her husband shows up.  He says he'll represent her in her trial.  They are accusing her of killing the missing man.  Then Joe goes missing.

Nora gets attacked again but she defends herself.

There is a lot going on and things get mixed up but somehow Nora makes it out alive.  Others are not so lucky...

Wellybobbers visit Tikka Tonga Lake by A Swan

This is a sweet little book for young ones.  Declan is a small elf, there is a fairy, a mouse and more creatures in this tale.

BooksGoSocial and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can get a copy now.

When the nut that the squirrel was going to put on top of the birthday cake she was making got wet,  she started to cry.  The others offer to help her by finding a new nut.  One of them even knows where it is.

This is a magical tale for children.  Everybody works well together and they are all happy.  This story will make the reader smile.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother) by David Levithan

All of a sudden, his older brother wasn't there.  They searched all of the house, the woods, and got the police and their neighbors and friends all looking for him.  He was gone several days and then suddenly he was home again, in the attic.

Knopf Books for Young Readers and Edelweiss allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  The book will be published on February 2nd.

When he's asked where he went, he tells them he has visited another world.  The only reason he came back was because he was banished.  They were afraid he might be carrying a disease.  As he tells his story he can tell they don't believes him.  His brother does even if the tale is out of this world.

The newspapers get hold of the story and it creates all kinds of backlash.  The folks looking for him think he's lying.  Nobody has heard of the world he's talking about and they think he's making it up.  School was hard because everyone had some opinion of him.

Finally things begin to settle down.  That's when his brother discovers something that proves it was not a lie...