Bigfoot Island (Jack Lee Murder Mystery #1) by Eve Paludan is a criminal investigation by a frustrated detective, Jack Lee.  His partner had been killed in the line of duty saving Jack's life.  He's been life long friends with an anthropologist, Dr. Allie Chandler, who's obsession with searching for the Sasquatch has been described as wacky.  He moves to Cedar Island, Washington for a fresh start.

Jack tells Margo "'It's the kind of place where I can make a difference.'

'I don't doubt that being a police chief on a small island will be less stressful.  I'm not that selfish that I don't get that the new job will be healthier for you.  And getting away from the Seattle PD, too.'

His wife, Margo, reluctantly goes with him.  Her college-bound niece,  Jenn also goes. Things don't take place according to plan.

Part of the story is charmingly told from the point of view of the female Bigfoot, Una, who rescues an infant from a car trapped in a mudslide then disappears.

Una thought:  "It felt good to let out her anger with a forbidden word that was reserved for the males of her tribe.  She giggled even as tears ran down her hairy cheeks."

I gave this entertaining story five stars.  I look forward to more novels in this planned series. Next book, soon please.

Link to purchase: http://www.amazon.com/Bigfoot-Island-Jack-Murder-Mystery-ebook/dp/B00LIGL9UA

"Expressions of sheer terror pervaded their faces..."

Pervaded sure is an awkward word to use there. 

Look at the way the confusion pervades his face.   That's how I feel now.

So far this makes zero sense.   

It starts out this way:

"In the year 2020, a nuclear war, perpetrated by a ruling entity known as The ARK..."

But then we get this about the ARK: "Its ruler, The Anchor, and his Superiors..."

If the ruling entity is ruled by The Anchor, who are his Superiors?   

Then there's the All-Seeing Army, which is a blind army committed to a Blind War.   The soldiers can't see, but they turn this into their greatest weakness.   "Not only are their other senses heightened to the point of giving them superior fighting skills..."

That's now how senses work.   Heightened senses don't equate to fighting skills, and can even be detrimental in a fight.   (I'm thinking Daredevil where his senses can overwhelm him, and did so particularly when he first got his heightened senses.)

Not only that, there's no reason as of yet for them to be blind.  The implication in the phrasing of this book - that they turn their sightless into their greatest weakness leading to the heightened senses - is that they somehow managed to gain the heightened senses.   I'm thinking training, which is what would also account for their superior fighting skills.   

If this is the case, couldn't regular people train themselves to have heightened senses?   

"Into this class of titans, a sightless, orphaned boy is thrust.   Iori, the eventual One-Eyed King, is kidnapped by this All-Seeing Army..."

Later, Iori is described like this: "As commander of the last capable resistance movement on Earth..."

First of all, the first description is clumsy.   "Iori, a sightless, orphaned boy who is also the eventual One-Eyed King, is thrust into this class of titans.   Kidnapped by this All-Seeing Army..."

Secondly, not enough information is given again.   Why do they need to kidnap recruits?   Why does this recruit become commander?   It seems as if they knew this when he kidnapped them, and I'm not sure why they knew, what's special about him or how they knew.   

So far, the details seem sloppy and the writing seems as if it could use another edit. 

Christmas Ghosts - I know, Grim, I know.  But there is a really good Chanukah story (as well as a couple other non-Christmas stories).

Goodreads has a list of books of 26 that include - the ones above.  You can find the list Here

There is a multi-cultural list Here

Esther list ; Here

GR also has several kid Chanukah book lists.

It was the first night of Chanukah last evening. Here is the the prayer my family gives each night:

We light these candles to celebrate the triumph of hope over fear, light over darkness, and the powerless of the powerful.

Wishing you and yours love and light.

Here are some wonderful Chanukah Romances (my lists are never in any particular order.)

1. Lighting the Flames by Sarah Wendell

Genevieve and Jeremy have known each other since they were seven, and have been summertime best friends at Camp Meira, a Jewish overnight camp in the mountains. As campers, and then as staff, their friendship was a constant, something neither wanted to change, no matter how tempting those changes might be.

Then, last year, with little warning, Jeremy left camp early. After that summer, Gen left the country on a graduate fellowship.

Now, a little over a year since they were last at Meira, Gen and Jeremy are back together to help run a special Winter Camp during Hanukkah. Any water under the bridge is frozen this time of year, and with so much left unspoken and unexplained, this week may be their chance to rekindle their friendship, or turn it into something new.

2. HEARTS OF HANUKKAH by Eve Paludan

When ninety-one-year-old Moshe asks his adult grandson, Benjamin, for a complicated mitzvah, it throws the family's Hanukkah plans for a loop. Moshe's secret, long-lost wartime sweetheart has found him through the Internet! Now she wants to see him again, as soon as possible. Benjamin's wife isn't happy that his grandfather can't wait until after Hanukkah, but time is of the essence, after all, he isn't getting any younger either.

When Benjamin and his grandfather set out on a road trip in a blizzard to reunite Moshe with his long-lost Sarah, the miles turn into an odyssey of truth, love, hope, forgiveness, pain, and joy. Moshe has chosen Benjamin for this mitzvah (good deed or favor) for a very special reason. He's an author, and Moshe wants him to write the love story of himself and Sarah, so he can read it to her when they reunite. But is Benjamin really up to the task?

It will be a true labor of love to write the harrowing story of this beloved couple who was torn apart by a horrific war and separated for more than seven decades. And Benjamin must also get Moshe to Sarah before it is too late. No one in the family will ever be the same again, from the oldest to the youngest.

3.  Lights, Latkes, and Love by Peggy Bird

Ah, the holidays. David Shay can't get enough of the December festivities. He especially enjoys sharing his love of the season with the underprivileged children at his non-profit organization SafePlace for Children and Parents. Hannah Jenkins, on the other hand, turns into a jaded Scrooge every year on Black Friday. As manager of a large retail store, she's seen firsthand how the rampant commercialism of the holiday can bring out the worst in people.

When David's organization is the charity Hannah's boss picks for their annual donation, it falls on her to organize a huge holiday party, whether she likes it or not.

Can a nice Jewish boy—with the help of some Christmas lights, a little girl, and a latke party—teach Hannah the true meaning of the season and guarantee them both a New Year's Eve kiss to remember?

4. Sweet and Sour by Astrid Amara

Miles thought he and Itai would make a great team, despite the infidelities haunting their past. After all, Itai is smoking hot, they're both driven entrepreneurs, and they love each other. What else did a person need? Well, a lot more, apparently, because not only are they no longer passionate, they don't even share the same passions. Like people, affections change, but Miles wonders if a relationship this broken is truly worth repairing.

Itai's business launch with his ex-boyfriend isn't helping. And Miles himself has a new business to grow over a busy few weeks where Thanksgiving and Hanukkah collide to form either the best holiday season ever, or a kosher caterer's worst nightmare. But help comes in the unexpected, ruggedly handsome form of Detective Dominic Delbene, a pickle aficionado with his own ghosts, who stakes out the deli to capture a dangerous drug dealer.

As Hanukkah's eight days and Miles and Itai's relationship comes to an end, Miles discovers that Nic is not only good with pickling; he's good at everything.

5. A Candle for a Marine by Heather Long

Tormented by the question of 'what if...'

Home for Hanukkah, Sergeant Isaac Janko has never forgotten the baby his girlfriend gave up for adoption years ago. But he didn’t realize how angry he still was....

More than time separates them....

A chance meeting at Temple brings Zehava Elbaz face-to-face with the first and only man she's ever loved. She sees a deep and hidden pain in him, one she blames herself for...

An invitation to Hanukkah brings them together....

The two must confront their pain and loss. They have only eight days to face their past, and win each other's trust, but it is a time for healing, reconciliation and miracles….

6. Newly Fallen by Megan Hart

Faced with spending her first Hanukkah alone, Lilly Gold wishes for a miracle that would change her life just a little bit. Then her prayers are answered--in a big way--when the most perfect naked man appears in her yard during a blizzard.

Zachariah tells Lilly he's been sent to be--and do¬--anything she wants. And for eight passionate days, trapped together by the snow, he does just that, giving Lilly all the pleasure she could have hoped for. But when their holiday is over, only another miracle can keep their affair from ending, too...

7. Sweet Light by Judith Arnold

They went down on an icy mountain. It was a miracle they survived.

For Alana Halpern, flying Judd Singer was supposed to be a quick favor, and then home for Hanukkah. But when her plane went down in New Hampshire, it became a journey of survival.

Was it all an illusion--the makeshift cabin, the woodpile, the oil lamp that never burned out? When Judd laid his ice-blue eyes on her, passion flared, and Alana knew this was real.

She never expected to spend Hanukkah snowbound with a man she barely knew, a man who could ignite her with just a gaze. But as the wind howled outside, inside they created a heat all their own.

The fight for survival became a flight from desire. And Alana hoped for one more miracle--to resist a forbidden attraction.

8. A Very Scandalous Holiday by Nancy Fraser, Crista McHugh, Sophia Garrett, and Amber Lin