Narrated by Sydney Young
Genre: Historical Fiction / Romance / WWII Spies
Publisher: Fish Tales Publishing
Scroll down for the giveaway!
Fans of Pam Jenoff, Susan Elia MacNeal, and Kate Quinn will want to read the first book in a sparkling WWII historical fiction series, The Big Inch. Lane Mercer is a spy recovering from a disastrous mission in France when she’s assigned to protect the interests of the new federal project sending American oil to the Allies. Thrown into the high-stakes world of Texas oilmen, she’s inventing maneuvers on the fly to outwit would be counter-intelligence and Fascist sympathizers. Complicating her mission is a handsome con-artist who manages to be under her feet at the most inopportune times. Trapped between trusting her gut or trusting her informers, Lane has to learn to navigate a town that is laced with more intrigue than she’d ever have guessed, and she soon discovers that the life she might have to save. . .is her own.
Kimberly Fish’s well-researched writing drops readers into the colorful world of the American home front known so well to those who lived alongside the Greatest Generation. Buy The Big Inch today to begin this exciting first novel in a WWII series set in Texas.
PRAISE FOR THE BIG INCH:
— Louis Gouge, author of Love Inspired Historical Four Star Ranch series
The Big Inch is a dive into Texas Oil history during World War II. The main character is an under-cover former spy, pretending to be a secretary. Lane is a great character, who, along with a bevy of other stand-out characters, make for a compelling novel.
Let’s start at the end for my review. I loved the end of The Big Inch! I’ll admit that the beginning of the novel was a bit slow for me. But once the action picks up, I really began to enjoy it. The last couple of hours really caught my attention. My favorite scene in the whole book is that of Lane tossing and turning, restlessly running over her day while not sleeping. That’s pretty much me on a daily basis. As the pipe line is completed, and the mysteries in the books are wrapped up, I was quite satisfied with the end of the Lane’s story. There is also a great setup for the next book . No cliff-hangers here, thankfully.
The Big Inch is written in date-specific scenes weaved together into an overall story. This journal style works for the novel. We get the highlights of what is happening in Lane’s life, without the day-to-day tedium. The focus of the story is that of Lane’s life while she’s working and trying to live her life.
The characters are well-rounded individuals, especially Lane. We learn the history of why she’s been positioned to help with the pipeline building. I really enjoyed the scenes with Lane and her aunt Edith. We can really see the struggle that civilians endured on the home front during World War II. Or what Edith sees as a struggle. 😉
I don’t normally read other reviews for books I’m reviewing, as they tend to influence me a bit too much. But when The Big Inch originally toured with Lone Star Book Blog Tours, I read Kristine Hall’s great review. What stood out to me most in the review is her comment on the ‘love square’ in the novel. That square analogy is so true! Through most of the book, I was wondering which male character Lane would truly fall for. As a war widow, Lane is a bit gun-shy on dating anyone. The three potential suitors have their own strengths and flaws. Like Lane, I can see the appeal in each one. Mostly though, I enjoyed the witty banter between Lane and her beaus, especially Zeke. Ms. Fish does a fantastic job with the dialog between the characters. The downside of audio books is listening makes it difficult to find great quotes. Luckily, I have also the e-book to share a quote with you!
“If you fall in,” she called out, “I’m leaving you there to rot.”“If I fall in, I’ve got bigger problems than a bad back, so shoot me and put me out of my misery.”(Lane to Zeke, while helping him to the outhouse)
The audio narration was a hit and a miss for me. l appreciate how well Ms. Young portrayed the different characters, each with her or his own distinct voice. This is a great strength in a narrator that I can appreciate as an avid listener of audio books. It’s always more enjoyable for me if I can pick out different characters from the narration. I struggled, however, with the breathy pauses and the accents. For Lane’s voice, Ms. Young uses breathy pauses to express frustration and indignation. The technique works and feels conversational. But also frustrates me. I don’t think I’d be able to have a conversation with a person who uses that many breathy pauses without wanting to walk away before the end of the chat. The problem with the accents is my own, not the narration. There is something about southern accents that grates on my nerves. (Yes, even though I live in Texas.) Ms. Young voices the different accents well, but my mid-western raised ears find the southern drawl displeasing. I’m always wondering if it’s sincere, or over-done sarcasm.
Overall, the narration works for the novel, but I do wonder if I would remember more of the beginning of the novel if I had read it, instead of listened. I pick audio books because I can listen while doing menial tasks. While listening to the novel, I found myself loosing focus on a number of occasions. paying more attention to the other tasks at hand, instead of the novel. For me, I think the vignette style of this book would have been better read. I would have been better able to capture the essence of the story.
Either reading or listening, I’d recommend The Big Inch to fans of Texas History and/or strong female characters, with some romance and witty banter on the side.
Thanks to author Kimberly Fish, narrator Sydney Young, and Lone Star Book Blog Tours for providing this opportunity to review The Big Inch. I received the novel free in exchange for my honest review.
Kimberly Fish has been a professional writer in marketing and media for almost 30 years. In the course of research for the Longview Chamber of Commerce 100-year compilation, she stumbled across a 1940s federal works project that was too good, too war-winning, not to be retold to modern audience. In 2017, she released The Big Inch, her first WWII spy thriller detailing the crazy, big pipeline project that fueled the Allies to a win in Europe. The Big Inch has also been released as an audio download on Audible. That eye-opening novel was so consumed by readers, she quickly followed it with a second WWII spy thriller set in Longview, Harmon General. Both of these novels will be helpful to her work with the City of Longview’s 150th birthday celebrations which begin in January of 2020. Comfort Plans, a contemporary novel also set in Texas, continues her love of history by weaving old letters into the renovation of an iconic Hill Country farmhouse.
Kimberly enjoys speaking on the value of weaving history and nostalgia into our plans as we grow our communities for the future.
║ Pinterest ║ Amazon Author Page ║
Sydney Young is a lawyer, award-winning writer and audio book narrator from the Lone Star State. Her next theatrical project will be directing “SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE,” for the Paris Community Theatre stage (Feb. 2019), while her novel “I AM HOUSTON,” is being submitted for publication by the Loiacono Literary Agency. Sydney has long been a reading advocate, including with her readings to an adopted second grade class each year. She loved voicing THE BIG INCH for all of its authentic Texas voices and true characters, all while she learned the history of the East Texas oil effort for World War II. Visit Sydney’s website for more information on her writings, theatre, and audio books.
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Choice of Audio or Signed Print Copy of The Big Inch
+ $25 Amazon Gift Card + a WWII Themed Surprise Gift!
NOVEMBER 5-12, 2018
VISIT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:
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11/5/18
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Joint Guest Post
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11/6/18
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Audio Book Review
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11/7/18
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Audio Book Review
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11/8/18
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Narrator Interview
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11/9/18
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Audio Book Review
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11/10/18
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Audio Book Review
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11/11/18
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Guest Post
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11/12/18
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Audio Book Review
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11/12/18
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Audio Book Review
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A perfect post for me. I am a music lover as well as I like to read books. So its my pleasure to find out such a blog. I read the review and I think I will follow given recommendations. Thank You.
Hope you enjoy, Michael!
Thank you so much for taking the time to not only listen but give such a well thought out review! Glad you loved the story, I’ll have to talk to Lane about those breathy pauses. (?) I can attest that she was frequently so very frustrated with so many of the people and circumstances she had to deal with.
In all seriousness, I truly do appreciate your honesty with your feelings here. I think narrations likes and dislikes are much more individual than regular reading so it’s very important for potential listeners to know, especially if those kind of characterization quirks bother them. I did wonder if a higher speed would help with that. Apparently, Kristine can testify that the answer is yes! I’ll confess I use the higher speed myself, in almost all my listens. My sister-in-law, who is newly hooked as a listener, says I saved her life when I told her about changing the audio speed. ??♀️?. So, thank you!!
Thanks, Sydney! And yes – I get frustrated with people, just like Lane!
Loads of listeners I know also listen at higher speeds. I’ve been known to do so when I need to finish a book club book in a hurry. I just find that the faster the narration, the more likely I am to miss parts of the plot. I might try out the 1.25 speed. Maybe I have to gradually work up to 2x!
Great review! I get impatient with breathy pauses, too, so I increased the speed to 1.25x on this book. Perfect! Thanks for the shout out, too!
thanks, Kristine. People keep telling me about 1.25x speed. I might have to check that out.