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Banana cream Pie Murder, book review

11 Saturday Mar 2017

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Book Review
Banana Cream Pie Murder
By Joanne Fluke

WARNING: SPOILERS, BIG SPOILERS AHEAD!

I discovered the Hannah Swensen series, by Joanne fluke, a few years ago. I was enchanted by the title Blackberry Pie Murder. I love blackberry anything and had to read the book. And I got hooked. I rushed off to BARD—that’s the National Library Services for the blind’s braille and audio digital service—and got all the books in the series, starting at book one and making my way through to what was the last book at the time. My dear friend, Blackberry Pie Murder. I’d never cared for cozy mysteries before, but I fell in love with Lake Eden, with Hannah’s bakery the Cookie Jar, with the characters, quirky, funny, kind or not so. I loved it all. Some books in the series were better than others, and I definitely had my favorites and ones I skipped over when I reread, in preparation for a new book release. I never thought I’d be so angry and disgusted with one of the books that I would consider giving up on Hannah Swensen for good. And yet, here I am.

Three books ago, when Hannah got engaged to Ross Barton, I was thrilled. I was so tired of the ongoing should-she-marry Norman or should-she-marry-mike debate that Hannah has with herself. Obviously, if she loved either of them enough, she wouldn’t be stumbling over making a decision. Mike is a jerk and Norman is too gooey. I liked Ross from the time he was first introduced in Cherry Cheesecake Murder, so I was ecstatic when Hannah booted both previous contenders for her hand and fell head over heels in love with Ross.

I reviewed Wedding Cake Murder, and my disappointment with that book was deep but not overwhelming. Mike and Norman were despicable in that one. But the worst was Hannah herself. Rushing off to a restaurant to catch a killer instead of rushing off to the church to marry her intended. She had her cell phone and at least half a dozen sheriff deputies in her contact list. So why, oh why did she go catch the killer? And then she jumps in a garbage truck to get away from him, has to be rescued again, by Mike naturally, and races down the church aisle covered in trash. I supposed it was supposed to be funny, but it wasn’t. It was horrible. That was then, Wedding Cake Murder.

Finally, yes, I’m there, my review of Banana Cream Pie Murder. This is when the spoilers begin, so read at your own risk. Personally, I love spoilers.

The book begins with Hannah’s mother lounging around her condo. She hears arguing from the condo below hers, but her friend, a former Broadway actress and a now acting coach for Lake Eden’s amateur acting group, so Dolores thinks it must just be someone acting. But then she hears a gunshot, and it was real. Does she immediately pick up her cell phone and call 911, or her son-in-law, bill, the sheriff, or even Mike the jerk, the homicide cop? No, of course not. She rushes downstairs into the scene of the crime, and she does find her friend dead, shot to death. Oh no. She thinks to herself that she must call her other daughter Hannah, who is conveniently on her honeymoon, and tell her she absolutely must come home right away and solve this crime.

From then on, the rest of the book is back to Hannah as the point of view character. Hannah is on her honeymoon. Ross is out of the cabin right now, and Hannah is thinking that it’s nice to have him away for a few minutes. He hovers too much and she’s not used to it and doesn’t like it. I have to say, having been single, living alone, since my divorce over thirty years ago. I get that. I do understand. It’s part of why I vow I will not marry again, ever. But I don’t think anyone would feel that way on their honeymoon. This was just the beginning of all the ways that Hannah no longer felt like Hannah to me.

We know the formula. Hannah and Ross come home from their cruise and Hannah begins to solve the mystery, while running her bakery and starting her new life with Ross. This should have been great, or at least, if not great, it should have been fun, and sweet and charming. We should have had happy moments between Ross and Hannah mixed in with the baking and sleuthing. The book should have had some added element with Hannah being married. But what we got was a very weird Hannah, a boring predictable mystery, Mike and Norman butting in and horning in where they don’t belong, and well, I don’t even know where to begin with Ross or the marriage aspect of the story. And a cliff hanger that makes no sense and shouldn’t be in a cozy mystery at all, in my opinion anyway.

My biggest complaints are about Hannah. They all go back to work the day after they get home from the honeymoon. Okay, so they all is just Hannah and Ross. That’s cool. But Hannah invites Mike and Norman over for dinner that same night. The night after she got home from her honeymoon! Yes, that’s right. What? Really? I wouldn’t want the gals my husband used to date to come over for dinner the night after we got home from our honeymoon. It felt weird and just off to me. Also, Hannah’s younger sister, Michelle, was staying in town for a while, instead of finishing her college semester. Hannah immediately asked her to stay at her condo, and it was Michelle who practically had to force her to call Ross and ask if he minded. And I understand that too. If you’re used to living alone, it takes time to get used to thinking for two and living for two, so to speak. I liked that Hannah didn’t feel she had to ask permission to go to the various places to ask questions as she tried to solve the murder. She’s an independent woman, and it’s nice to see it. And it would have been nice to see her being independent but still becoming a couple. I believe she spent more time with Mike and Norman than she did with Ross. At least, they got more screen time than Ross did. Hannah didn’t seem to be married at all. It felt like Ross was just a roommate or a guest, not someone Hannah loved deeply and was ecstatic to spend her life with. It just felt wrong.

Ross is a good guy. He accepts Hannah as she is in ways neither Mike nor Norman ever did. He doesn’t put her down, and he doesn’t try to stop her from doing whatever she wants to do. He doesn’t try to protect her too much. He encourages her and supports her in all her activities, including amateur sleuthing. I really wanted to see Mike and Norman dating other people, or even better, I’d have liked to see that both Mike and Norman had split the scene altogether. Yippee, happy day that would have been. He loves her as the strong woman she is and doesn’t try to make her anything less. He’d been the sort of man I could love, his personality I mean.

Of course, Hannah solves the mystery. Yawn, ho hum. Yep. As usual. Along the way, we see Andrea, Michelle, Dolores, Tracy and Bethy, Lisa and of course Moisha, Hannah’s wonderful cat. We don’t see enough of Ross, but we see the characters we’ve come to love over all the books. And we get some yummy new recipes. The banana cream pie recipe alone was worth reading the book to get.

What can I say about the ending? More spoilers, the biggest spoiler of all. Of course, Hannah nearly gets done in solving the crime. Mike the Jerk takes her home. Ross had been away on a trip, and as they pull into the parking lot of the condo, Hannah notices Ross’s car is home. She’s thrilled. Well, that’s nice at least. But when they get to her door, they discovered it is ajar. Mike goes in first and when he finally allows her to enter, he is somber and in cop mode. They can’t find Moisha at first either. Finally he appears, having been hiding in the closet, afraid of something. Oh, and Ross is nowhere to be found.

Mike leads Hannah down to the master bedroom, where she finds a half-packed suitcase, with Ross’s clothes jumbled into it. His keys are on the dresser along with his cell phone. Ross has disappeared. The only key he took with him is the key to the condo he shares with Hannah.

I was ready to throw my Victor Reader stream—an MP3 type player that plays accessible books—across the room. I was ready to scream and yell and have a complete fit of rage and irritation.

Mike, of course, Mike the Jerk, proceeds to tell Hannah that the reason Ross left everything is because he wants to disappear. He left money and credit cards and ID, so he can’t be traced. The Jerk works hard to place doubt in Hannah’s mind. He never gives her any other sort of idea for what it could be, and as far as I can tell, he doesn’t plan to investigate. And good grief, Hannah isn’t even investigating! Hannah, who can’t let a dead body pass her by, doesn’t even consider investigating what happened to her husband. The one man she loved so much that she couldn’t bear to be without him and married him. I don’t get it.

The main story ends with Hannah realizing that Ross took only the condo key, and so he must be coming home to her. But there is a brief epilogue sort of thing after that. Showing everyone, the usual gang, at Dolores and Doc’s place, watching the Mayor on TV accepting an award for his sister, the former Broadway star who got murdered at the beginning of the book. Remember her? Hannah is beginning to live again and feels good being out and surrounded by her family and friends, including Gooey Norman and mike the Jerk. However, Norman does get the only real points for anyone in this story, because he tells Hannah that he believes Ross loves her and that he will be back. Yay Norman. And Hannah is still not thinking of investigating.

One big red herring in the process of solving the murder, was an allusion to unscrupulous business managers for people like actresses. This was mentioned over and over and turned out to be nothing. Could have been just a red herring, but I also wonder if it’s a clue about Ross and his disappearing act. He was a Hollywood producer before giving it all up to move back to Lake Eden, Minnesota to be with his one true love. Personally, I believe Ross is in trouble but that he hasn’t done anything bad or illegal. I believe someone has done something bad to him. Because frankly, if we had all this set up and Ross turns out to be a bad guy, I am going to scream, really throw my book player, and delete every book in the series from my hard drive. I could not bear to lose Ross, to go back to Hannah debates over Gooey Norman or Mike the jerk, in essence, to go backward instead of forward. I do usually get bored with a series after a long time, having stuck with Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series since the eighties, and Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch since the nineties. But those are the only two that haven’t come to bore me at some stage. I can move on from Hannah and Lake Eden, but I would be sad to do so because the entire series became so outrageous and unacceptable to me. I don’t know how long we have to wait for the next book. Another year? I only plan to read it to see what really happened to Ross, but I also hope it will restore my joy in my visits to Lake Eden and Hannah Swensen’s world.

I suppose this isn’t the most terrific book review. I had a gut reaction to this book, a visceral reaction. I didn’t hear the final words with any sense of contentment and pleasure at a nice comfortable experience. I was just angry. I felt cheated and frustrated. I’ve read plenty of books that make me angry. Take martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series, where every good guy I love gets murdered. But it all makes sense in the world the author has created. Karen’s death in exodus by Uris broke my heart, but it worked with that story. I wasn’t outraged, feeling like the author cheated me and confused me for no reason. And that’s how banana Cream Pie left me, feeling angry, drained, cheated and confused. I didn’t like it at all. If I was handing out stars, it would get one, for the fantastic recipes.

Very sad to write this review.

book review, The Contract, by Melanie Moreland

22 Wednesday Jun 2016

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The Contract

By Melanie Moreland

 

Richard, an high-flying advertising exec, an unrepentant tyrant to everyone around him, a man who despises everyone, especially his personal assistant, Katy. Katy, an all-suffering assistant, perfect at her job but unable to put her far too demanding boss in his place. She puts up with behavior that would have me telling my boss where to stuff it and send me running to Human Resources. But she has a reason for tolerating Richard’s attitude, an aunt with Alzheimer’s Disease, whose care Katy pays for. She can’t afford to be fired or to quit. Who’d ever dream these two opposites could ever fall in love?

 

When he doesn’t receive a coveted promotion, Richard decides to try to get a job at the only other major firm in the area. The problem is that the firm’s owner is family-oriented and would never hire Richard, due to his lack of stable personal relationships. Richard has to come up with a plan. Find a fiancé, a fake fiancé, and make the owner of the new firm believe it’s real. Who does he know who can fill the role? A woman who is loved by all who meet her, who can charm everyone, and is just the type to make anyone believe the romance is real? Katy, of course.

 

For Katy, this contract will help her support her aunt and improve the care her aunt receives. It will lighten the heavy burden of always trying to find the money to pay for the care. She despises Richard, but she can tolerate anything for a year, right?

 

So begins this wonderful story. Enemies, become friends, and then, maybe more. This sort of plot may have been done before, but never so well as in this delightful book by Melanie Moreland. The character development is believable in such a way, that I went from disliking Richard to adoring him, and from sort of sneering at Katy for putting up with him, to applauding the way she can take him on outside the job front, and put him in his place. The gradual change in their relationship took the exact right amount of time, not too fast, not too drawn out. We see it happen in ways that work absolutely, in ways I could see it happening with real people.

 

I love lots of characters in books, never content with just the two main protagonists, and this book has plenty of fun characters to satisfy me. The big engaging family who runs the new firm are delightful, people I’d love to know. They make the story better, as they interact with Richard and Katy. They help make this lovely romance richer and deeper with extra little details that, for me, take a story from good to great.

 

I’ve been reading Melanie’s work for a number of years now, and the contract is absolutely my favorite so far. She makes me want to smack Richard, then hug him. She makes me want to tell Katy to stand up to him, then applaud when she does. She makes me laugh, makes me angry, makes me smile. Everything a great story should make you feel. And she reminds me, as I’ve become cynical and scorn most romances, that love stories can still be wonderful things to read. I give my highest recommendation to The Contract. I only wish it could have gone on longer, because I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to these characters.

 

 

book review, The Mercy of the Sky

31 Thursday Mar 2016

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The Mercy of the sky
By Holly Bailey

Journalist and native of Moore, Oklahoma, chronicles the May 20, 2013, EF-5 tornado that killed twenty-five people, including ten children. Discusses the path of the storm, which hit two elementary schools and a hospital among other sites, reactions on the ground, and the aftermath. 2015

I wonder if you, like me, found yourself glued to your TV, watching CNN or some other news channel, on May 20, 2013, unable to tear yourself away from the coverage of the disastrous tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma that day. I work from home, and I remember turning off my work computer and turning on my TV to hear about the storm, already in progress. It was a night of tragedy. Twenty-four people lost their lives, ten of whom were children, and seven of those children, third-graders at a local elementary school. The tornado demolished two elementary schools that day. In one, all the children and staff survived, but in the other, seven children died.

This book follows a group of characters, Oklahoma’s famous meteorologist, Gary English, a few families, the principals of the two schools, city officials, and here and there a random person, whose stories must have touched her heart as they did mine while I read. She doesn’t go much into the nature or history of tornados, but she goes into great depth into the history and lives of the people of Moore. She grew up in the area, so this book was deeply personal to her.

It seems that Moore Oklahoma has a weird history of being more often slammed by monster tornadoes than any other city in the state. They used to talk about what they call, May 3rd, like the rest of the country talks about September 11. May 3, 1999 was the date of another killer tornado that struck the area, and after surviving that, the town was hit multiple times over the next fourteen years, culminating in the horrific events of May 20 2013. Bailey brings this to life in such a strong and personal way, that you almost feel as if you could have experienced it. Not quite, unless you’ve lived through a tornado, but she makes you know the people, the town, the spirit, and the strength to pick up and go on after disaster.

As I read, I often felt amazed that people experienced tornado after tornado, lost everything, lost loved ones, and yet, they still continue to rebuild, right in the same place. Why don’t they leave, move away, I found myself asking, over and over. Then I had to remind myself that I grew up in California, and there’s a whole state full of people who haven’t run away from earthquakes either. Shaking my head, I’d think, well, guess there’s no place completely safe when Mother Nature decides to get tough.

I was in awe of the spirit of the residents of Moore during the storm. One weatherman, who knew the tornado was heading right toward his own home, continued to do his job, staying on air, trying to get people to get into shelters, get underground, get off the roads and be safe. He didn’t know if his wife and their two dogs would survive, but he stuck by his post. Then there were the teachers at the elementary schools. Time after time, Bailey told how teachers threw their bodies over those of the children in their care, desperate to protect their charges, not thinking of their own danger. One of those teachers was in the area where the children died, but the three children she was able to cover with her body survived. And yet, after it was over, months later, she still felt she had failed. I wondered, would I be that brave and unselfish. Would I throw my body across a child to protect it? I hope I would, but here were examples of real people, not actors in a movie, who did this. Not just one teacher but all the teachers. They deserve medals of Honor.

There was even some fun trivia, such as the fact that Gary English was quoted in the movie twister, and he and other meteorologists from the area had bit parts in the movie. I need to get hold of that movie I think. It was fascinating to me, how some people develop such a passion for storms, like English, who grew up wildly interested in storms and doing everything he could to get into the field, to the point of practically obsession. And I know storm chasers have provided valuable information about tornados, but I kept thinking to myself that they were just plain idiots. But then, some people are obsessed with earthquakes! But I ran away from California rather than live through any more of them. There’s no accounting for taste.

This was an amazing book, riveting, exciting, tragic, victorious and absolutely fascinating. With all the tragedy and sorrow of this book, it was a story of triumph in many ways. Yes, it was heartbreaking. I wept for the children, terrified, crouching in hallways that gave pitifully little protection. I ached for the people who didn’t have shelters so crawled into their bathtubs and still were blown away by the storm and lost everything, some losing their lives or their children’s lives. My heart broke over the animals that died, on one Horse farm, dozens of beautiful horses in the area for some kind of show.

But the people of Oklahoma don’t sit around and dwell on it all. Yes, they grieve, but they get up, brush themselves off and start putting their town and their individual lives back together. I’d like to go hug them all, shake their hands, bring them cookies. but I never want to go near Moore, Oklahoma, just in case, you know.

book review, Wedding Cake Murder

24 Wednesday Feb 2016

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Book review

Wedding Cake Murder, by Joanne Fluke
Hannah Swensen #19

Warning, spoilers ahead perhaps

If you’ve been following this series, you might know that this book is the one in which Hannah gets married. However, as I know people reading the series who have not reached the getting engaged part yet, I’ll try not to mention the name of the groom.

Ever since I read the very last sentence of Double Fudge Brownie Murder last year, the moment when Hannah tells her sister she is going to marry someone, I’ve been anticipating this newest book in the Hannah Swensen series. I preordered it from Audible and read it in a day from the moment I got it downloaded yesterday. I went to bed Monday night thinking, when I get up tomorrow, the book will be in my audible library! I loved it in many ways, but I was also disappointed in many ways.

The book opens with Hannah talking to someone about her upcoming wedding plans. We had learned in the previous book, that Hannah’s youngest sister, Michelle, had entered Hannah into a cooking contest with a fictional food channel, and Hannah had won and been invited to participate in a televised cooking show contest. At the beginning of this new book, Hannah is getting ready, planning to get married, and then spend her honeymoon in New York participating in the contest. All her plans fall apart, when a rep from the contest calls to tell her they are moving up the dates of the contest, and whichever contestant wins the first round in the competition will have the home advantage, because the contest will be moved to their home town. But this also means that it might affect Hannah’s wedding plans. She tells the producer about the wedding, and he assures her the contest will end before that date, and the food channel will stick around and film her wedding.

All this to set the scene, so most of the book can take place back in Lake Eden and around the friends and townspeople we’ve all come to know and love.

I enjoyed the parts of the book about the cooking contest very much. Michelle is Hannah’s assistant, and I always enjoy their interaction as sisters. The recipes, the judges, the other contestants, it was all fun and interesting. My only negative thought on that part of the book was that for one of Hannah’s desserts she made apple pie, and I happen to hate apple pie. Good thing I wasn’t her judge, isn’t it?

Hannah wins the first round and the contest moves to Lake Eden and continues on. In the midst of that, Hannah is still preparing for her wedding, but it seems to be the least important thing on her list of too many things to do. In the midst of the contest, one of the judges is murdered, and of course Hannah adds sleuthing and solving mysteries to her already too full agenda. Okay, it’s Hannah Swensen, and there has to be a murder and Hannah has to try to solve it. But this is where the book started breaking down for me.

Hannah is so focused on trying to solve the mystery that her excitement over her wedding seems so far back in her mind and heart that it might as well not be there. I’ve always loved that these books are not heavy on the romance, but it would have been nice to see more of Hannah and her intended. It seemed she saw more of one of the people she didn’t marry than she does of her fiancé.

There’s a scene where Hannah is asked to go next door to Clair’s dress shop to pick out her wedding dress, and Hannah balks and tries to get out of it. She has no interest, excitement or concern about what she’ll wear to her wedding. This was extremely off-putting to me. I know plenty of women like Hannah who aren’t much interested in fashion and clothes, makeup and the whole bit, but I’ve never known any woman who wasn’t the least bit interested in getting her wedding dress. That scene fell flat and I wanted to give her a good shake and say, “don’t you want to make his eyes pop when he sees you come down the aisle?”

But here’s the clincher, the worst moment for me, the most unrealistic thing I’ve ever read in one of these novels, a moment that might have been meant to be funny or humorous in some way but came off to me as slapstick. It’s Hannah’s wedding day. She’s alone. Her mother and sisters are already at the church, and she’s going to drive herself to the church to get ready. On the way, she stops into the Lake Eden Inn to arrange for a special bottle of wine for her groom, and through conversation with one of the owners, she realizes who the murderer is. Cool. Sure, this is what Hannah does. But it’s getting late, and she barely has enough time to get to the church to get dressed and marry her sweetheart, but what does she do? She goes off to the inn’s kitchen, where the contest cooking happened, and waits to confront the killer. Now, if you’ve read earlier books, you know, Hannah knows at least four or five men in the sheriff’s office. Under those circumstances, if it was my wedding day and I was already nearly late, I’d be making a quick call with my handy cell phone, letting one of those nice sheriff guys know the scoop and off to my wedding I’d go. I wouldn’t be hanging around waiting to confront the murderer when I was supposed to be getting married!

Of course, there’s a big confrontation scene, Hannah is nearly killed and has to do something extreme and crazy to save herself. She jumps into the Inn’s dumpster and is carted off by the garbage guy who handles the dumpsters! Of course her cell phone battery is dead and she can only, finally get off part of a message to one of the sheriff guys in order to get rescued. She’s nearly an hour late to her own wedding, rushes into the church screaming “I’m here” all while being covered head to toe in gunk, gross nasty food garbage from the dumpster! I didn’t find it funny or entertaining at all.

There’s a scene nearly an hour into the book, when Hannah meets individually with people she needs to clear the air with. I can’t say who because it will reveal who isn’t her groom. But in these scenes, it seems Hannah cares more for their feelings than for the feelings of her groom. And this brings up other issues I had with the story that I can’t say because of trying not to reveal the groom. But it felt as if everyone else was more important to her than the man she was planning to marry.

Other things I didn’t like were:
Not enough Moisha, and no particular funny Moisha mischief.
No Tracy, Hannah’s sweet and too adult seven-year-old niece. She’s mentioned but has no air time.
Hardly any Lisa and hardly any time in the Cookie Jar, Hannah’s bakery.
Not enough time, as I said earlier, with Hannah and her groom.

Things I loved:
I loved the overall contest.
I enjoyed the interaction with Hannah and Michelle, and with the three sisters, when it happened. There were some lovely moving scenes between Hannah’s mother, Dolores, and the three sisters, Hannah, Andrea and Michelle.
Loved what time we had between Hannah and what’s his name.
The mystery was fun as always and took me time to figure out who and why.
And I loved that Hannah finally did get married to the one I’d been hoping she would for several books.

I’d give this book four out of five stars. It wasn’t what I was hoping for in many ways. I was wanting to see the reactions of everyone when Hannah announced her engagement: how did her sisters react after her big reveal at the end of the last book? How did Dolores? What about the ones not chosen? What about Lisa and the rest of the town? Did Lisa “tell the story” of how Hannah got engaged to the wide-eyed audience in the coffee shop?

But the book was also full of much of what I enjoy in this series. Hannah is entertaining. I love Lake Eden and wish I could visit, have cookie and coffee at the Cookie Jar and meet the colorful characters I’ve come to know after nineteen books. I thoroughly enjoyed what time we did have with Hannah and her groom. He’s always been the most supportive of her, accepting her for who she is. There were the recipes, the mystery, a fun contest, great sisterly interaction and a wedding. So of course, I loved it. I just wanted more of some things and less of others. I’m already waiting for the next book! And though Wedding Cake murder might not be my favorite in the series, it certainly is not my least favorite. It was fun, and that’s a pretty good thing to find in a book.

book review, Freud’s Revenge, by PJ Adams

14 Friday Aug 2015

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Freud’s Revenge
By PJ Adams

Two knife wounds–one to the groin, one to the hand impaling him to the desk–suggested somebody definitely wanted the guy dead. In this Amanda Carlisle
Mystery set in posh Del Mar, California, empath Amanda Carlisle and detective Nick Caswell find themselves in a race with a nearly invisible psychopath.
When Amanda mind-walks the killer, she discovers a complex Freudian psychosis that may be the key to the crime. Unbeknownst to her, that psychotic mind
has decided Amanda will be next. It will take Nick’s hardboiled sleuthing and Amanda’s deciphering the victim’s cryptic clues to catch the killer in gorgeous
surf-meets-turf Del Mar–where the ponies race and a psychopath is on the run.

I got this book on kindle a couple years ago, but I hadn’t gotten around to reading it yet. I finally started it two days ago, and I literally couldn’t stop reading it. Amanda, the therapist with a unique gift of empathy, Nick the tough detective who won’t stop till he uncovers the truth. Together, they are a fantastic duo. Amanda has the understanding of the psychological elements and people in the counseling practice, and Nick knows how to read the clues. There’s enough delving into psychology theory and practice to keep it interesting but not so much as to overwhelm the average reader.
I began to guess who the killer was about halfway through the story, but I didn’t guess the complete reason why and I didn’t put together all the aspects of who and why. There were good guys and bad guys and not-so-nice guys, a great blend of real humanity. The danger Amanda experiences was well done without being so constant and edge of your seat, which would have made me enjoy the book less. I liked the blend of the intellectual process of figuring it out for both main characters with the danger element keeping me and the heroes on our toes, not letting us relax or become too complacent.
Nick and Amanda are likable characters. There is attraction between them, but that isn’t the focus of the story and they don’t fall into bed together every time you turn around. They are committed to figuring out the mystery, and their attraction will have to wait for another day. I liked that about this book very much. And I liked these characters very much.
The setting is the San Diego area. I lived in San Diego for most of the nineties, and reading about places and sites with which I am familiar brought back fond memories and made me smile. Horton Plaza, La Jolla, Del Mar, UC mall, all of it here and more, making me want to take a trip back and visit some old haunts.
There isn’t too much excessive violence. The murder is gruesome and some of the details can be a bit disturbing, but other than that, it was a comfortable read for me, not overly violent, not loaded with sex scene after sex scene—though there is a sexual element to the plot which I can’t describe without spoiling the story. Two great characters, a great setting and an engrossing mystery. How much better can it get?
I looked on amazon for more books featuring Amanda and Nick, hoping this was the first book in a series, but it doesn’t seem to be. If there should be a sequel, I would definitely read the next one. I would give this four out of five stars, mostly because I started to figure out the culprit too soon and because I would have liked more explanation of what might have caused the situation with the killer and why that person became what they became. Other than that, I loved it.

Book Review, Dante’s Dilemma, by Lynne Raimondo

13 Thursday Aug 2015

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Another captivating story of psychologist Mark Angelotti. And so far, my favorite in the series. In this one, he’s got a new boss who doesn’t think so highly of Mark. He’s also given the assignment to be an expert witness for the prosecution of a woman who claims to have murdered her estranged husband after years of domestic abuse. But things just don’t seem to add up for Mark, and he’s off into another investigation and into danger. Someone definitely doesn’t want Mark to discover the truth.
Mark has a lot on his plate this time around. Not only does the mystery lead him round lots of twists and turns. Every time I think I’ve figured it out along with Mark, something undoes the whole solution and we’re back where we started. But along with the mystery, Mark has the new not-so-friendly boss, and a potential law suit with his ex-wife who isn’t so thrilled about the possibility of joint custody of their son. Mark seems in a better place personally in this book. He seems to have a better handle and acceptance of his blindness, and as usual with this series, Raimondo gives us a number of laugh out loud moments. Everything from Mark walking into his office furniture, mysteriously outside his office instead of in it, or the trials of trying to use a white cane on sidewalks buried in snow. As a woman who is blind, one of the things I love best about this series is that I forget about the whole blindness thing altogether. I tend to avoid books with blind characters, and if I read them at all, I read with part of my brain critiquing the portrayal of the blind character. But with the Dante series, it’s shown so realistically that I don’t think of Mark being blind any more than I wake up every morning and think, “good God, I’m blind!” The ways in which Mark performs the everyday things of life are so real and natural that I don’t even think of it as I read. I’m too caught up in the personality of Mark, his kindness, his sarcasm, his sense of humor. I’m too caught up in the mystery wondering how the author will surprise me this time. Mark’s blindness is in the background, just as it should be.
The mystery this time around was glorious, kept me guessing almost to the end. I thought I’d gotten it figured out. I thought I knew why the accused killer was going along with the prosecution. I thought I knew who was doing what, and at almost every revelation, I had been wrong all along! I generally figure out mysteries very quickly, so whenever I read one that surprises me, I’m so delighted, I just have to sit back and smile at the end, wishing I could read it again as if I hadn’t read it before, to see if I’d pick up the clues differently this time.
The author deals realistically and with great respect on the subject of long-term domestic abuse, a topic so heartbreaking and sadly still far too prevalent today. She doesn’t sugar-coat it, and yet, the rest of the story, with Mark’s compassion and humor, keeps the subject matter from getting too dark.
The Dante series is just plain fun, delightful. A good solid mystery, with a protagonist who is human and real, who makes you laugh out loud one moment and ache with sorrow for him the next. He’s a character you could meet on the street, someone with flaws and greatness, just a guy, and every man sort of guy, trying to make the best of his life, trying to give the best of himself and stumbling and succeeding just like all the rest of us. Seriously, I can’t rave enough about the series. This series isn’t so-called disability fiction, it’s a series of psychological mysteries with a hero who just happens to be blind.

The Bone Whistle, book review

13 Saturday Sep 2014

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Book Review, The Bone Whistle
Book 6 of the Gateway Chronicles
By K. B. Hoyle

From the time I read the first book in this series, The Six, I have been eagerly awaiting, as well as somewhat dreading, this last book in the series. Awaiting it, to discover the answers and ultimate outcome. Dreading it, fearing the age old questions, who would survive. And dreading the end of something that has captivated and thrilled me from the first chapter of the first book.
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD!

At the end of book five, Darcy’s parents have come to believe she’s into something bad and have told her they are moving away, and that she will not be returning to Cedar Cove Family Camp the following summer. As this book opens, we see Darcy and the showdown with her parents. Darcy knows she absolutely must get to Cedar Cove, so that she and the rest of the Six can get to the gateway and hopefully save Alitheia from the evil that has been trying to destroy it. She ends up telling her parents the truth and they believe she is suffering from some kind of mental illness. Well, who wouldn’t think that? If I had had children and my teenager came and told me a story about gateways into another world I would likely think she’d been smoking something she shouldn’t, had been watching or reading too much fantasy or had a mental illness. But nothing can stop Darcy. She must get there, must find out if her beloved Tellius is alive and must fulfill the destiny of her and the others to save Alitheia at last.
After eluding her parents, Darcy drives alone from Tennessee to Cedar Cove. She is late and she doesn’t know if her friends have crossed over or not. Next thing she knows, she’s waking up in Alitheia, bloody and wounded and not remembering a thing. And this at last is how the final story, the final battle begins. No more spoilers from now on.
I adored this book. It was everything I’d hoped for in the final adventure of this series. All the questions introduced in the first book come to satisfying conclusions, all the answers are there.
What does that prophecy mean?
How are all the messages from the Oracle connected?
Will Colin be redeemed or lost forever?
What will happen to Darcy and the others once their Quest is completed for good or ill?
At last we learn the truth of the prophecy, and the only way the world can be saved. We are reunited with beloved characters, those we have come to know and love. We learn the tasks the six and ultimately Darcy must accomplish. There is adventure, romance and danger. The themes of friendship, love and sacrifice ring strong and true. No great task can be accomplished without great sacrifice and the Bone whistle is no exception to that rule.
And I loved it, every single word, until the last two, the end.
The Six have grown into very special young men and women. Their bonds of friendship and trust have only deepened. Their maturity is beyond their physical years in our world. Their commitment to saving Alitheia and completed their mission is unbroken and enduring. I fell in love with them all over again. And especially Darcy, who has grown from the shy spoiled socially awkward girl we first met all the way back at the start, becoming this true heroine. She is ready to step boldly into her role, to do what must be done. I alternately cheered and wept for her and felt incredibly proud.
If you have followed this series, you will not be disappointed in this last volume. I felt deeply satisfied, full and content. Yes, I wish there would be more, more books, or short stories to show us the characters we love, but realistically, they have reached their finish, come out where they all needed to be. If you’ve never started this series, I encourage you to give it a try. I only wish it was available in more formats, particularly audio, so everyone could have a chance to meet the characters, to visit Alitheia, to learn about day and night Narks and to lose themselves for a little while in the beautiful land of Alitheia and the adventures of the Six.
A most definite five out of five stars and all the praise I can heap on the author and this series. I could babble on endlessly trying to find words to say what the series has meant to me, so I’ll just say, go forth and read. You won’t be sorry.
Thank you, K B Hoyle. And farewell for now to Darcy, Sam, Perry, Lewis, dean and Amelia. And oh yeah, my favorite, dear Yahto Veli. I shall miss you all and will start over at book one and read of your exploits again and again.

book review, the Reluctant First Lady

24 Saturday May 2014

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Book review

 

The Reluctant First Lady

By Venita Ellick

 

Summary:

 

Ashley Taylor has been straightforward with her husband, the president-elect of the United States. She supported his candidacy, but she has no intention of assuming the traditional role of First Lady—a position she describes as “First Hostess.” Instead, she will resume her own career as head of one of the largest art museums in New York. The aftermath of her decision triggers reactions from the public, news commentators, late night comedians, and other political factions. While Ashley and Michael wrestle with saving their marriage and preserving their professional lives, the country debates whether the role of First Lady is a necessity, how the media influences the lives of public figures, and how much a woman should sacrifice for the person she loves.

 

 

 

I was excited at the chance to read and review this book. In all the political fiction I’ve read, I’ve only come across one book that has dealt with the idea of a First Lady with a career. That book was Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy. One of the subplots was that Jack Ryan’s wife who was a world renowned eye surgeon refused to give up her career when Jack became president. I loved that part of the story and the details on how she made that work, secret service and all. So, when I was asked to participate in this blog tour for The Reluctant First Lady, I jumped at the chance and could hardly wait to begin the book. I was not disappointed. Whereas Clancy’s First Lady was one subplot in a massive book with many subplots, The Reluctant First Lady is all about the concept of a two-career, commuter marriage when the man becomes president and the woman refuses to give up her career to become the Whitehouse Hostess.

 

The story is contemporary and timely. Someday, we will have a First Lady with her own career, and someday we will have a woman president. One of the aspects I found fascinating was how men and women on both sides of the political aisle reacted angrily to ashley’s decision. Surely, I thought, liberals, women at least, would understand and applaud Ashley’s actions. But the character receives heat for her choices from many corners. She sticks to her guns and is almost too adamant at times. I occasionally found myself wanting to grab both ashley and Michael, knock their heads together and hiss the word, “compromise”. But mostly I felt proud of these two characters and wanted them both to have what they wanted.

 

I know little about art and museums, and the scenes dealing with ashley’s career were some of the most interesting to me. I love learning about new things, and the touches about art and running a museum were just enough to give me knowledge and make me want to learn more without bogging down the overall story.

 

Ellick shows us the public reaction at times by slipping in imaginary newscasts by real news people or jokes from famous comedians, and I loved that! I’d smile when I heard a familiar name, no matter what I thought of their commentary on our Reluctant First Lady. It was touches like these that gives the story an authentic feel and makes it seem as if it could be coming right out of today’s headlines.

 

As the story unwinds, eventually, Ashley must come up with a plan both to keep her career and her marriage, and it was then I loved her most of all, because she chose to have both and she made it work. Isn’t that what we women have worked so hard to achieve?

 

The Reluctant First Lady is fun and funny, heartwarming and thought-provoking at times. It’s one hell of a good read! After all, when an author says she was captivated by the books Mistress of Mellyn and Pride and Prejudice, you know she’s going to tell a tale you’ll want to read again and again. I will read this book again and will be looking for more by this author. I want to know more about how this reluctant First Lady changes what it means to be the First Lady.