Purposeful Poetry with Thomas McRae

                                         

LYRICAL REVELATIONS
Thomas McRae
Poetry
March 9, 2024, Thomas McRae Publisher, 22 pp.
Buy paperback, $7.50

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About the Book

Join Thomas on a profound journey through the pages of his poetry book, where he eloquently explores themes of love, civil rights, religion, and more. Each poem is intentional, diving deep into the depths of the human heart and societal issues with poignant insight and heartfelt expression. From the tender verses about love to the powerful reflections on civil rights struggles, Thomas's words will captivate your soul and inspire reflection on the complexities of life. This poetry collection is a testament to the enduring power of words to illuminate the human experience and provoke thought on the world around us.

My Review

Lyrical Revelations by Thomas McRae is a tight read of 29 poems divided into 4 categories: Love, Religion, Politics, and Miscellaneous.

From two-line heartfelt poems, “you are my eternal forever,” to no longer than 13 lines in “America’s Truth,” “I'm calling out the Democrat and the Republican slime,” McRae’s mostly prose or rhythmic, sometimes wrenched rhyme odes are straight from the gut.

The love poems open with a deeply personal statement of faith in “Congratulations”: “Congratulations on love because everyone needs to believe,” and the beautiful pulsating beat of “I Believe”: I believe in love because love is so precious/ I believe people should love and stop being reckless./ When you open your heart, you connect with someone's soul/ Because love is a journey that will never grow old.”

It’s not much of a stretch to shift into Religious Poems. “Fear” advises McRae’s readers to “Thank God for His glory and ignore all the phonies.” He calls upon the believers to ride on the devil, tell the truth and unite in other poems. The final poem in Religious section, “Rest in Peace to Me” with its refrain of ready for death and flatlining segues into Political Poems where McRae calls out specific perpetrators of unrest, discord, along with a tribute to victims of senseless fear and hate. I am saddened to read “I pledge my allegiance to the African flag because America and Europe hate every black man” in the poem “Uganda” and want to reassure the author to the best of my ability that this American woman does not hate every Black man.

Miscellaneous poems include shout-outs to the author’s parents (“You taught me morals and self respect”); thankfulness for poetry and role models. McRae ends with a call to action, a challenge to respect ourselves and our partners and responsibility for the results of our choices in “Sperm Donor.”

Those who love poetry with purpose will find their own thought-provoking call to choose to rise above in Thomas McRae’s Lyrical Revelations.

About the Author

Hello my name is Thomas McRae I'm a poet author and writer I have several poetry books available online Amazon and other online book stores. Two short fiction movies. I've done numerous interviews and gotten several reviews. Newspaper interview with The Wave paper location Far Rockaway Queens NY. I'm working on another poetry book I'll keep you posted. I bought my co-op working hard talking care of funny looking forward to starting my own family. Contact me on Facebook or email quietthomas41@gmail.com McRae’s other work includes Poetry 4 the Soul, The Soul of a Poet, and Pimp in the Pulpit, and several others. He’s also developing merchandise to go along with the messages in his work.

Wayne Turmel and last Johnny Lycan book

 

Johnny Lycan & the Last Witchfinder, book 3 of the Werewolf PI series

By Wayne Turmel

Black Rose Writing, May 2024, 228 pp/253pp print.

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About the Book

A mysterious figure stalks Chicago’s Paranormal community, and the only person who can stop it is Johnny Lupul, the Werewolf PI.

First, he must cope with a 400-year-old witchfinder, rampaging demons, and a journalist threatening to reveal Johnnys dark, hairy secret.

As if that's not enough, his boss has been kidnapped and the clock is ticking.

Packed with non-stop action, humor and twists, Johnny Lycan & the Last Witchfinder will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. Don't miss the heart-stopping conclusion to the Werewolf PI series.

 

My Review

Opening with our hero Johhny Lupul dealing with a nasty Wendigo on the Oneida Reservation in Wisconsin, the third, and I’m told, sadly, final Werewolf PI book, shows us just what a Lycan, aka werewolf, can do. Tasked with taking care of this nasty cannibal zombie-like creature by his boss-client in exchange for a powerful spiritual relic, Johnny takes care of business and delivers another item to the mysterious Mr. Cromwell’s vast collection of unusual artifacts.

Mr. Cromwell’s got some trouble back home with hand-written threats to his collection, while a hotshot paranormal podcaster and monster magazine reporter gets up in Johnny’s fangs after putting vintage video werewolf-in-action footage together and questioning reality. It’s enough to make a werewolf go full-moon-maniac all the time. Johnny’s new assignment is to figure out who made sand out of Cromwell’s newest antique purchase. The clue is the author of the threatening note, which Johnny learns belongs to a 500-year-old legendary witch hunter, Matthew Hopkins, who, back in his day, went on idol smashing rampages. Besides a great name for a rock band, it’s way too much of a coincidence, right? But not since the Sons of Hopkins have become a modern-day movement with every intention of welcoming their true leader and his minions back to cleanse the planet of “evil” with such helpful declarations as, “Witches and idolaters be on notice. Good people won’t be silent anymore. We don’t need them in this city, and we’re leading the purge.”

With the support of his housemates Meaghan, a rescued girl who picks up tarot card reading, along with Bill and Gramma, who took him in as a troubled teen, Johnny is learning to control his alter-ego inner werewolf he’s named Shaggy. Shaggy tends to get riled pretty easily, and it’s Johnny’s business to use him judiciously when things come down to a dogfight, though a lot depends on the phases of the moon; e.g.: “This low in the lunar cycle I wouldn’t have Shaggy’s help, but I didn’t need it.” For those unaware, Johnny explains, “Not all Lycans go full werewolf. Some just have violent reactions to the top of the lunar cycle. That’s what she meant when she said some men couldn’t handle the full moon. … Even when they don’t completely turn, they’re unpredictable and dangerous. The average human’s bite can be toxic if it gets deep enough and these guys bite plenty hard.”

In this third adventure, Johnny researches the Sons of Hopkins. Cromwell, after admitting he owns a particularly nasty antique book on demonology of consummate interest to the creepy master of the Sons of Hopkins, goes missing. The bad guys are after the book in particular, and Johnny and anyone else with unnatural tendencies in general. Johnny must decide to stay a “lone wolf” or learn to depend on his friends, new and old, to reclaim his boss and save his world.

Even if this is the first book by Turmel you pick up, you’ll be able to settle in quickly. It’s an interesting not-so-clear good vs. evil story set in Chicago with the obligatory Cubs mention, where you meet all kinds of creatures, some of whom bite. One little bothersome point in the plot about Johnny’s ability to keep information from Hopkins had me scratching my head, but all in all, the story unfolded para-naturally with a lot of high action energy. Told in Johnny’s first person voice, with chapters noting the moon cycles, readers of urban fantasy will enjoy Turmel’s sense of humor in an issue-charged environment.

About the Author

Wayne Turmel is a former standup comedian, car salesman and corporate drone who writes to save what’s left of his sanity. Originally from Canada, he writes and lives in Las Vegas with his bride, The Duchess. www.wayneturmel.com