“Lyrical and evocative, ‘Doves in a Tempest’ summons up memories of a lost Texas childhood in the summer of 1958. Fans of Stephen King will get a big kick out of the mix of nostalgia and menace, and an extra dollop of Stranger Things spices up the mix.”

James Hider, author of "Ripe" and "Cronix”

Stranger Things Meets The Twilight Zone

Doves in a Tempest is a potent mix of coming of age, mystery, and nostalgia-tinged horror. Told in a style reminiscent of The Twilight Zone, it rings true for the late 1950’s when it’s set. The voice so mesmeric, it will carry you straight through from the first page to the last.

Inexplicable things are happening at a chemical engineering facility. The local emergency room is overrun with people suffering hallucinations. And a group of precocious friends go searching for the source of strange lights in the Texas woods. In fifth grade, they are on the edge of adolescence. Too young to know better but old enough for what they find to leave an indelible mark.

Doves in a Tempest is the Stranger Things of an earlier era — an ode to bygone times, to lost innocence, and to unexplained things that go bump in the night. I’m already looking forward to reading Schweitzer’s next book in the series.

Brooke L. French

A Definite Five Star Read!

      Doves in a Tempest takes the reader back to earlier, nostalgic times, only to find that they were neither as kind nor as gentle as memory suggests.  A well-executed timeline underpins multiple story lines and highlights social issues, which are unfortunately still with us today.

     A group of childhood friends have a startling encounter in a moonlit field.  This sets an unwelcome investigation into motion. A clandestine government project with possible extraterrestrial involvement ratchets up the suspense-filled possibilities.  Character transformations take place as danger brings out unexpected personal growth in these courageous youths and their parents.

     -Can’t wait for the sequel!

 Diane Lauer, Author of Dormant Diversionrsion

Powerful Writing!

Five Stars

Doves in a Tempest drew me into a time period I have never experienced.  The author painted a picture of 1958 Austin, Texas, that made me feel like I was really there.  His accuracy of detail and descriptive language brought the past to life, all within the framework of a coming-of-age tale.

 Sarah Lauer Nakawatase, co-author of Dormant Diversion

Doves in a Tempest is a vivid, compelling story. Schweitzer, a skilled wordsmith, pushes genre boundaries as he masterfully weaves a 1950’s Austin, Texas coming-of-age tale with elements of sci-fi and government conspiracy. 

Levi Bronze – Author of Two Yellow Cabooses

Dove’s in a Tempest

By Bill Schweitzer

It’s summer 1958 and Stevie Lindquist is a fan of sci-fi radio broadcasts. His active imagination suits him nicely as he tunes in to marvel over stories of alien landings and tiny green men from Mars. But what Stevie sees blazing across the night skies over the picturesque hills of rural Texas will set him and his 4 friends on an adventure they will not soon forget. Schweitzer masterfully blends government conspiracy, small town cover ups, and cloak- and-dagger espionage into a captivating period piece. Fans of Stephen King’s Stand by Me, and Netflix’s Stranger Things, will absolutely love Dove’s in a Tempest.

— Frank DeRuosi, author of Holding Back the Tide

If there’s ever a book that will transport you into the past, it’s Doves in a Tempest. In the first book of the series, Valley of Horrors, all is normal in the town of Austin, Texas, until a group of kids encounters trouble during a hike through the woods. Schweitzer leaves you with chills as the layers of truth unfold in his nostalgia-inducing coming-of-age novel. Chills, and the desire to know what really happened that night in the woods.

-Stephanie Letourneau, author of The Call of Uwyn

Review of Doves in a Tempest, The Valley of Horror by Bill Schweitzer

Doves in a Tempest, by Bill Schweitzer surprised and delighted me in unexpected ways. What an excellent novel realistically set in simpler, but racially prejudiced and narrow-minded Texas in 1958! Schweitzer introduced me to five extremely bright fifth and sixth grade friends in a small Texas town as they begin their summer vacation. Each kid came to life, in my mind, with courage, fears, weaknesses, hopes and dreams that swept me along on their journey. Mystery, horror, and evil brought out unexpected strength of character in these endearing and believable pre and barely post adolescents. The kids and eventually their parents must come to grips with an evil government project, or is it aliens, affecting them all. The descriptions and accounts all kept me intrigued and wanting to get to the next page. I give this fascinating book five stars!

Carlton James

Doves in a Tempest is an addicting and thoughtful novel—its timeless atmosphere delves into a local Texas town in the ‘50s and the conspiracy that sends seismic ripples through its inhabitants. Equally a coming-of-age story and an irresistible mystery, the story provides a cast of characters who are, in a word, real. You’ll be attached to each one as they adventure into an experience of immense magnitude.

Is it science-fiction? Is it a sinister government-fueled cabal? Schweitzer opens up all possibilities and will keep you engaged throughout. It’s Schweitzer’s unique voice that really shines though, as he eschews the halcyon days of nostalgia and replaces them with compassionate ruminations.

- Ryan Morgan Miller, author of The Vain Curse

Move over, Stephen King!

               In his novel “Doves in a Tempest” author Bill Schweitzer weaves a spooky psychological tale that begins on a summer night in the year 1958 in the Hill Country outside of Austin, Texas when five young friends on the restless verge of adolescence hike into the woods in search of an adventure. What befalls them that night is the first link in a chain of strange, frightening and inexplicable events, including odd, surreptitious activity in and around the labs of a chemical engineering company and a troubling number of hallucination cases arriving in the emergency room of a local hospital.

               The story unfolds in a combination of narration and journal entries and has a “Twilight Zone” vibe that keeps the suspense high and the pages turning. And though the book is close to 300 pages long, when you (quickly) reach the last page you’ll wish the story went on. But happily, a sequel to “Doves in a Tempest” is on the way!

—Patti Liszkay, author of Tropical Depression

Doves in a Tempest, a coming-of-age novel with sci-fi elements by Bill Schweitzer, was a delight to read. I was transported back to 1958 Austin, Texas, a place I'd never been. Now I feel that I've not only been there but have lived in the story. The omniscient narrator works very well here, adding another dimension and perspective to the story.

Schweitzer tells a dark tale, laced with bits of humor, of late 1950s Texas -- with its segregation, racial and religious intolerance, and a sense of childlike innocence in the adults, typical of that time. The precocious preteens are the novel's main characters, daring in their quest to uncover a dark force that threatens their sanity and, ultimately, their lives. Meanwhile, their brilliance doesn't keep them from experiencing confusion about puberty. In fact, the strange visions and nightmares might be thought of as a metaphor for their fears of what their minds and bodies are going through in the passage to adulthood. 

As for the plot, it twists and turns as much as the Texas hills the author describes. The big question at the ending: Will all be happily resolved -- or not. Stay tuned. 

—Sandra Gardner

Review by Yvonne deSousa

It’s 1958 in Texas and a group of five misfit friends have the summer ahead of them.  What should be a routine evening exploration explodes into a sheer terror they don’t understand, can’t describe and worse yet, carries with them as they rush out of the valley.  From there this story explodes into story most extraordinary as the intelligent kids, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, try to figure out the mystery amid the unexplainable in their world; adolescence, racism, religion and class differences.  While they face their own struggles as the horror overwhelms them, something very strange is going on at the nearby chemical plant and it is up to their parents to face the odds and expose it. 

The strength of this novel is in the author’s ability to feel absolutely everything going on in the worlds of Levi, James, Betty, Stevie and Anna Belle.  From the promise of summer, to their unimaginable nightmares that Schweitzer actually allows you to imagine, you feel their fears and their frustrations.  The reader will be transported to central Texas of the late fifties and will feel the gun shots, the heat, the confusion, and all the obstacles confronting the HI-Q gang and the adults around them.

☆☆☆☆☆5 out of 5 stars.

R

Reader’s Favorites Reviews

Reviewed by: Tiffany Ferrell

Review Rating: 5 Stars - Congratulations on your 5-star review!

In Doves In A Tempest by Bill Schweitzer, it’s the summer of 1958, and a group of smart preteens wants nothing more than to enjoy the summer together. That peaceful dream is shattered when they come across a strange anomaly that none of them can explain. Each of the children’s stories is the same as they enter the forest, trying to see what the big deal was, and what Stevie thought he saw a few nights prior. A strange creature or being shows itself to each of the kids differently. For Betty, it is a beautiful fairy that reminded her at first of her favorite character in Peter Pan; Tinkerbell. Anna, Levi, Stevie, and James have different experiences but one thing remained similar: they believed their friends had abandoned them and were traumatized by whatever it was. None of the kids can make up for an hour of lost time, and the fact that they had bruises and cuts all over them. They know that something isn’t right, but feel that no one will believe what happened to them. Taking matters into their own hands, the kids, along with Stevie’s older brother, decide to figure out what’s in the forest.

I really enjoyed reading Doves In A Tempest. It reminded me a lot of Stephen King’s It with other homages to different books and movies from the 80s and 90s. Bill Schweitzer created a great tale of a group of preteen kids who had a terrifying yet unexplainable event that happened to them. I liked all the characters but I found myself relating the most to Anna personality-wise. She has this Beverly Marsh and Richie Tozier kind of feel to her. She’s smart with the mouth of a sailor but is always loyal to her friends. I also liked the nostalgic feeling of being a kid as my group of friends and I go on these adventures with our bikes. Doves In A Tempest is a summer tale of friendship and the paranormal; be prepared for a scare! I’m really glad I came across this book. I think Schweitzer has done an excellent job and I can’t wait to read more of his work.

Reviewed by: K.C. Finn

Review Rating: 5 Stars - Congratulations on your 5-star review!

Doves In A Tempest: The Valley of Horror is a work of fiction in the speculative fiction, horror, and adventure subgenres. The work features preteen kids as its protagonists but contains a lot of mature content, including explicit language and racially motivated violence, so it’s best suited to mature YA and adult readers. Penned by author Bill Schweitzer, this nostalgic look at growing up and the confusion of puberty and identity takes place during the 1950s in Texas. A possible government experiment may be to blame for the vivid hallucinations of a group of youngsters, but it’s also possible that something beyond our earthly imaginations is lurking in the shadows of their lives.

Author Bill Schweitzer has crafted a work that fans of Stephen King and Stranger Things are sure to enjoy because it focuses intently on characters and the psychological and emotional journey that they undergo during the plot. I really enjoyed the speculative elements, which touched on science fiction and horror plentifully in the early stage, but also seemed so eerily plausible and realistic that you could never totally tell what was going on. The split journey between the younger characters and their parents gives us a chance to see both sides of the story developing, which leaves plenty of room for speculation and tension, and I liked the difference in attitudes as the younger generation approaches things with a fuller imagination and open minds. Overall, Doves In A Tempest will be a highly enjoyable read for fans of poignant coming-of-age tales that also have a multi-layered approach of interesting genres, fantastic atmosphere, and plot twists aplenty.

Review Rating: 4 Stars

Reviewed by Scott Cahan for Readers’ Favorite

Doves in a Tempest: The Valley of Horror by Bill Schweitzer is a coming-of-age tale that includes strong doses of adventure, mystery, and science fiction. The story is set in 1958, in Austin, Texas, and centers around a group of pre-teen children. When one of them sees something unusual in a wooded part of town, he convinces his friends to come with him to check it out. As they crest a hill to look down into a valley, something strange happens that will have long-reaching effects on each of them. Meanwhile, college students from a nearby university are having hallucinations, and there is an explosion at a large manufacturer in town that looks suspicious. The children and their parents are in the middle of it all. While the adults look for logical explanations, the pre-teens suspect that something much more bizarre and dangerous is going on.

I enjoyed the way Doves in a Tempest told its story through the eyes of its preteen characters. Not only does each of the children deal with the strange events of the story, but they also experience the pressures of school and new emotions and bodily changes that happen when they are around the opposite sex. Bill Schweitzer does a great job of describing the innocence and nostalgia of 1958 America. I also enjoyed the mystery as the plot piles one strange occurrence on top of another, turning up the tension slowly but surely throughout the plot. Seeing it all through the eyes of young people reminded me a little of Stranger Things, but there is a different vibe here than in the show. We go much deeper into the young characters' minds and lives here than they ever do in Stranger Things. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys stories with fascinating characters caught up in mystery and intrigue, and it's all wrapped in the ambiance of 1950s America.