Author Steve Wilson delights readers with his fourth Michael Niell Adventure, the award-winning Eye of Charybdis. When Marine Corps . . . 

Read more.

This is so adorable!! I squealed in delight when I saw it in the bookstore, hastily grabbed it on the shelf, and gleefully marveled at every hedgehog-filled page.

Hattie and Horace are the best of hedgehog friends, and do everything together, but they desperately wish to hug each other. Their poky quills make hugs troublesome and really just plain impossible. They try covering their quills with anything they find, from strawberries and snow*, to leaves and hollow logs, but darn it all, nothing works. One day, Horace finds a sock and wiggles into it. He looks about as silly and adorable as a hedgehog in a sock would

but Hattie doesn't mind. Hattie sees the potential. Hugging potential. (She also probably see the potential for becoming rich by selling socks to other hedgehogs to fulfill their hugging needs, but that's neither here nor there.) Hattie knows she's got to find herself a sock. And when she does, the most wonderful thing occurs; a thing that gives birth to fairies and makes old grumpy miser men smile in delight...a hedgehug.

This book also perfectly explains why socks are constantly missing their matching pair. The age-old mystery solved!

*Hedgehogs hate the cold and hibernate in the winter. They also pretty much lose the will to live in temperatures below 60F if they don't get to hibernate so...(yes, I realize I'm nitpicking a children's book with sentient hedgehogs besties, but I can't help it. )

Reviewed for Readers' Favorite at www.ReadersFavorite.com.

There is something deeply satisfying about settling into a story created by a man of military training and insight as is the case with Tempest of Fire by Steve Wilson. Bringing back Lieutenant Michael Neill from an earlier story (Red Sky at Morning), Wilson weaves a careful tale of political intrigue and espionage on an international scale. When a Chinese submarine goes down near Hua Shan, an island about 100 kilometers from the Chinese mainland, an island shrouded in mystery according to folklore, the U.S. suspects it is the work of a rogue element of the Chinese military led by Admiral Xian Lee. Meanwhile, U.S. intelligence identifies an American who has set into play, events that could give Lee a decided advantage through cyber warfare. Following the leads, Lt. Neill and a specially selected crew, including Lt. Simon Chau, a gifted computer analyst who also has synesthesia, visit the island. What they discover there could have a serious impact upon international relationships. Everything comes together when Lee determines it is time to take back the wayward Taiwan by opening events with the use of a torpedo dubbed the “Tempest of Fire.”

Tempest of Fire comes with a setting that is unique, a fast paced story that is believable, and it is packed with easy to read and understand information about the military and its dealings with political leaders as well as private commercial interests. The characters are well drawn, each challenged in his or her own way. In Lt. Neill, Steve Wilson has created a man of integrity and faith, a man others respect. Chau was an interesting addition, with his ability to “sense” location. Sec. Lt. Nathan Crockett, a “man’s man,” adds elements of both focus and humor. Add in Ensign Kelsi Pressman, incredibly talented at breaking code, Captain Zhu Ling, Lee’s chief of staff (who comes with a few surprises of his own), and additional high ranking government and military officials, and you have a story that continually draws you in. Tempest of Fire reinforced the profound gratitude I have for the men and women who serve. It is a fitting tribute to their sacrifice.

Find out more about the author on his GoodReads page here and his website here.  Tempest of Fire is available on Amazon here and on Barnes and Noble here.

Also posted at www.Oathtaker.com and on GoodReads, added to my FaceBook page and to two Google+ review groups, and tweeted. Cover pinned.

Reviewed for Readers' Favorite.

First Lt. Michael Neill, born of American parents living in the Ukraine back in the days of the Soviets, is the protagonist to whom Steve Wilson introduces readers in Red Sky at Morning.  Neill is uniquely situated for a mission in the Ukraine, to uncover information about a new Russian aircraft responsible for taking down a U.S. military aircraft that had flown off-course during a storm in the vicinity of the China-Russia borders.  The story captures Neill’s faith and the significance it plays when he works with a former family Ukrainian friend and fellow believer, Colonel Andrei Ulyanov.  Together, Neill and Ulyanov discover the plans of two terrorists, originally commissioned by some from among the highest ranking in the Russian government, who have stolen a nuclear warhead and intend to use it to bring chaos to the former Soviet satellite country.  But things go terribly awry when one of the terrorists pre-programs the warhead to detonate, using a code that goes with him to his grave.  Will Neill and Ulyanov succeed in capturing the last living terrorist and in shutting down the warhead before its countdown is complete?

Steve Wilson brings with Red Sky at Morning, a story that emphasizes the significance of faith and that demonstrates the power of prayer.  Neill is presented as a caring Christian who remembers, even in the most dire of times, those less fortunate.  He is a man of honor who, though intrigued by the beautiful Viktoriya Gavrilenko, a Ukrainian journalist digging for a story, puts duty first.  Readers will be encouraged as they follow the efforts of those who exercise their power by remembering first their principles.

Also posted at www.Oathtaker.com and on GoodReads, added to two review groups with Google+ and on Facebook. Cover pinned.