The Essence of Judo captures the inspiring stories of 53 individuals from Ontario's judo community, including 12 Olympians and Hall of Fame inductees. This powerful photographic journey documents thousands of years of collective wisdom, celebrating perseverance, dedication, and the transformative spirit of martial arts across generations.

Daniel T. Bodanis

5 out of 5 stars

Inspired Reading/Highly Recommended ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Reviewed in Canada on July 15, 2026

Format: Paperback

Inspired Writing/Motivational/Uplifting/Informative

This book truly is 'An Audience with Excellence!'

The Essence of Judo is a 'must read' that truly captures the most inspiring stories of 53 'Judoka,' from Ontario's Judo community, including 12 Olympians and Hall of Fame inductees.

As the description of this 'must own book' so aptly states: This powerful photographic journey documents thousands of years of collective wisdom, celebrating perseverance, dedication, and the transformative spirit of martial arts across generations

Highly Recommended!

A body found in the aftermath of a forest fire brings Doug and Jill Fletcher back to the Black Hills. They quickly determined the forest fire started when someone made a poor attempt to dispose of a body. Identifying the victim is key to solving the murder and fire.

Having barely started the arson investigation, Fletchers are summoned to the Jewel Cave National Monument headquarters when a cave explorer reports the injury of a colleague miles from the entrance. The unconscious victim dies during the two-day rescue trip. The autopsy points to murder with her team members being the only suspects. Competition to discover new sections of cave and broken romances among the team members surface as likely motives. Or is the motive unrelated to the cave?

Matt receives a call from one of his regular clients, Lucy Hastings; a lawyer he has worked for several times in the past, asking for his help. Her nephew, Jack Forbes, has recently returned home from serving in the US Army in Vietnam. Unfortunately, he was involved in an incident resulting in his dishonourable discharge and a criminal record. Turns out, while over there, his squad was implicated in a set of murders which he witnessed and gave evidence against the killers. Now he was back home, trying to put his life back together. Then one day he spotted one of his old squad-mates; Willie Scaggs, the primary killer he helped to convict and send to prison in Leavenworth. He also remembered Scaggs’ last words to him on the day he was sentenced to somehow see him dead. Matt agrees to look into the matter and determine if Scaggs was actually here and then report it to the proper authorities. However, a day after meeting with Forbes, he learns that the kid’s body was found in an alley in the Village; he had been beaten to death. He realized he did not do more and if he had, maybe Forbes might still be alive. Now it was personal. 

Editorial Review of Murphy’s Debt, by JD Shipton

Vietnam was at least peripherally responsible for delivering some unscrupulous characters on Canada’s doorstep. When old debts get settled and bodies turn up, Matt Murphy finds himself in the middle of it. He’ll have to call up old contacts and make some new ones to bring some kind of justice back to the streets of his hometown, but the grittier side of PI life ain’t what it used to be.

Sergeant CJ Jensen is adjusting to life as a new homeowner in Pine County when the Sheriff’s Office receives a call about a bar patron who never woke up after a night of sleeping it off in a local establishment’s back room. In the process of death notifications, CJ and Pam learn of his connection to one of the most notorious criminal Pine County families, a drug smuggling operation and his own past life transgressions. How does a Beaver Dam fit into this mystery and will Riley be successful at another undercover assignment?

Praise for Skidded and Skunked – “I never expected the twists and turns in this book. It seems D.L Dixen has seen some things in her former life before becoming an author. I couldn’t put it down! Super easy read that will keep you reading and waiting for what will come next!” – J.R.

Editorial Review

Book number 13 in the Pine County Mystery Series drew me along until the very end, including the Epilogue. CJ Jensen, Pam Ryan, Sandi Maki, Riley Sanders, Floyd Swenson, and the rest of the characters, established or new to the series, made quite a stirring story of murder, drugs, domestic abuse, money laundering, and more, with the sheriff’s department’s personal lives included as well. The main characters drive the adventure throughout, with more interesting facts about each introduced along the way.

An addictive series to read, I’m so looking forward to book number 14.

Out of money and out of luck, Emily arrives in Castor Alberta during a raging blizzard. With no place to go, she finds refuge in an abandoned restaurant on the corner of Main Street and 51 Avenue. Jessie’s Café has a long and storied past, but all Emily is interested in is getting out of the storm. However, the spirit of the building and its ghosts have other things in mind for their visitor. Cold and starving, Emily slips through time to find a much friendlier reality than the one currently surrounding her.

EDITORIAL REVIEW

Jessie’s Café is a real place in Castor, located in Central Alberta. The building today is in a sad state and looks as though it could collapse at any moment. The infamous shed in Bell’s novel is still there in all its shabby glory. Jessie’s Café changed hands numerous times over the years, giving Bell a great cast of characters to work with. She has also woven in historical events that present-day citizens of Castor are sure to remember.

The thread that binds it all together is the story of Emily, her dog Miley, and Ruairi, an Irishman from whom we learn the traditions of May Day and something of the Irish troubles. That these three are time travellers adds a paranormal aspect to the story. Anyone who enjoys stories involving time travel, mystical happenings, and historical events will enjoy this book. I recommend it as a highly entertaining read.

Some prophecies are meant to save the world. Hers might destroy it. Adelina wakes in a land of dying magic, her name the last piece of herself the gods didn’t take. Hunted for a prophecy she doesn't understand, Adelina is thrust into a kingdom teetering on ruin—caught between the only friend who doesn’t fear her, and a king who would burn the world to control her. But she’s not the only one fate has marked. Scattered across the realm are others—strangers bound to her prophecy by forces unnamed. A haunted warrior fleeing a blood-soaked lineage. An assassin. An orphan. A witch torn between duty and her own destructive nature. As their paths converge, so too does a reckoning that will reshape the world—or end it. None of them wants a part in the prophecy binding them. Least of all Adelina. But the longer she walks this strange realm of twisted magic and mad kings, the clearer it becomes: there is no escaping destiny. And what begins as one girl’s search for freedom and identity soon threatens to unravel the veil between two realms.

EDITORIAL REVIEW

The landscape of Ava Vienne’s The Prophecy of Ash and Ikarus is populated by magical and mystical beings, from searchers to assassins and witches. The protagonist, Adelina, falls from one world into another, where her arrival prompts a price on her head for whoever finds her first.

We see Adelina’s growth along the way as she deals with betrayals and bloody battles. But is she strong enough to deal with Ikarus, her nemesis and will she ever return to her home? Fans of fantasy are sure to find this an engrossing read.

In 1792, Ned Creel, a bondservant in a wealthy household, is forced to flee after an ill-advised dalliance with the daughter of the house. Arriving in London, he survives as a pickpocket and petty criminal, but is quickly caught up in the anti-monarchist republican movement inspired by the American and French Revolutions. Driven by his own desire for revenge against the landed gentry, Creel is used and manipulated by the revolutionaries, and drawn ever further into a web of blackmail, deception, espionage, and murder, reaching into the very heart of the Royal Navy as it wages war with France. He attempts to extricate himself, but instead is dragged more deeply into the mire by his own hatred and greed. Infiltrated by double-agents, the republican conspirators are relentlessly pursued by the British Government and the First Lord of the Admiralty, and Creel finally realizes he must leave England if he hopes to escape the hangman.

Editorial Review

Mossop delivers. The characters, the settings, the vernacular, the intrigue, all expertly worked together in this thoroughly enjoyable period piece. I’ve read the big names of Imperial British period fiction, and I’m here to tell you that Mossop should be counted among them.

Strong, handsome male lead Shay McGregor is a man on the move, riding the rails in beautiful Eastern Canada during the Great Depression. Widow Rietta Nicholson is finally free from her marriage to a bad man and now struggling to run the family farm on her own. Then she’s introduced to Shay, a tall, dark stranger new in town and looking for work. There is immediate chemistry between the widow and the hired man, but murder and mayhem await on Cherry Orchard Farm. Stalked by an unseen assailant, neither Rietta nor Shay is safe in this wild ride of romantic suspense. Can they even survive the night?

Editorial Review

The story begins in 1932, when Rietta Nicholson finds out her husband’s car, with him inside, was discovered submerged in the Kennebecasis River. The realism of the characters and their daily lives throughout the story held my attention to every detail. The fear, anger, love, labor, etc., throughout their relationships, presented a colorful, suspenseful mystery, and a thrilling ending. An unputdownable read.

Assisting with the capture of a military doctor who kept a dead woman in his house is a thorn in Colonel Amelia Matheson’s side compared to the devastating news of her daughter Hope’s disappearance.

On the hunt for the perpetrators who kidnapped her deaf daughter from the groomed trails during a solo biathlon training session, Amelia enlists the help of Morgan Anchor, a local sheriff who once sold her out. To find Hope, Amelia and Morgan must untangle a web of secrets, including their own, and trust each other again.

Held captive in a remote cabin in the mountains, Hope fights the storm of her life using her wits and her skills. Scared but unafraid, she sets out to escape and save the man that her mother sent to rescue her – a man who is not who he appears to be.

Many people think of Alberta as mountains, Calgary Stampede, and West Edmonton Mall. They don’t realize there is so much more to see and do in the province, so many adventures to be had. Road Tripping Southern Alberta will: take you to out of the way hamlets, villages, and towns; get you exploring hidden gems of the province; and tell you about the history, the people, and the sights of this portion of the province. It covers the area from Edmonton south to the USA border and from British Columbia to Saskatchewan and you can do day tours, weekend jaunts, or spend as much of the summer as you wish on these roads. And while active travellers will enjoy the journey, armchair travellers will also relish the creative imageries and colourful observations of the author. Come, discover, and experience this unique part of the world.

Private detective Em Montgomery is hunting for a missing woman. She expected dead ends. She did not expect a dead girl who refuses stay buried. Now Em is knee-deep in fog, small-town secrets, and the uneasy sense she’s being watched by more than wildlife. Cardinal mixes a sharp wit with sharper danger to get under your skin. And follow you home.

Few things can change a mother-daughter relationship as quickly and profoundly as a diagnosis of dementia. Walking Each Other Home is the true story of how one daughter’s life was changed—and ultimately enriched—when her mother was hit with vascular dementia.