Fade to Blue

This book will be published this April 2011 by Poisoned Pen Press. Check them out they have some really good books coming up !


Fade to Blue by Bill Moody

A book that could be ripped from the headlines of any tabloid or newspaper and what a good read it is. Fade to Blue takes us inside the world of Hollywood, its stars, and all the rest that goes with fame and fortune. While it has its shortcomings, it is a well written book and a good story.

First, the story line, Evan Horne, a jazz pianist has been hired to teach a mega star how to look like he’s playing the piano. The key here is the premise to look like not to actually do the real thing. Now most of us know that much of Hollywood is make believe and we accept it as a way of escaping from ordinary life. The fun part for us is too follow stars that have made make believe their real world. The character that does it in this book is super star Ryan Stiles, and Moody has his character nailed!  Reading him brought Tom Cruise too mined. I don’t know who he really modeled this character after, I just pictured Tom Cruise, especially his couch jumping scene and the mood swings that seem to haunt him. In this book the stat is haunted by a temper that sets up some main scenes in the book.

What I really liked in this book is how the author wrote about the celebrity’s and their life styles interacted with non celebrity without being condescending.  Even though Horne has been hired to do a job, he is never treated as a hired hand by Stiles or any of “his people”. He did great job writing about how movies are made and how music is added to them. I guess that I didn’t realize that stars might not be playing instruments for real in movies. I knew about stunt doubles and all that and this is a take on a stunt doyble.  I enjoyed reading about that.

What I didn’t like about the book was the mystery that was set up early in the story that involved Evan and a psychopathic killer from earlier in his life was never really developed. Moody seemed to be setting up a scenario where this was going to be the main focus of the movie in the book and the mystery that he was writing about. This fizzled out early in the story and the book dragged a bit here. There was a lot of going back and forth with Evan, his girlfriend, The FBI agent and his best friend, the cop. It was interesting but didn’t really add anything to the story until the second crime had been committed. Or had one been committed? In fact had any crime been committed in this book?

The “crime” Moody writes about ate tied into the premise of Hollywood that nothing is what it seems to be. What you think are murders are something else. The characters that you think are really flawed turn out to be OK and the one character you think is solid turns out to be flawed.

I would have enjoyed the story more if all of the murder mystery elements had been tied together tighter. To me the story lost its tension when the mystery surrounding Evan was not kept in the story and tied into the new mysteries. However, because of this there is room for more stories.

Overall I enjoyed the book. It was a fast read and has the makings of the start of a new series.

Saving Max by Antoinette van Heugten

What can I say about this book?  The story is chilling and the writing is superb. van Heugten has written a story that showcases strong female characters throughout

Danielle Parkman is a mother first and a lawyer second. In this book these two roles are closely woven. When she finds her son Max’s, diary, she becomes alarmed enough to reach out for the help that he needs. What she finds is a mental health nightmare, Maitland Psychiatric Institute. This place would give anyone the creeps! First of all, the nurse in charge gives a whole new definition to “nurse ratchet” She is written as the most uncaring, unfeeling person, who ever entered the profession. There is not one ounce of humanity in her, and that’s just for openers in this place. The physician in charge can only be described as an iron maiden. She is tough without being brutal, but make no mistake, she is in charge.

Parkman has her own demons about leaving her son here for an evaluation and boy is she ever correct. The bond between mother and child is explored and developed in this book, but never in a way that is contrived. The story also explores the bond between another mother and child in the book, Marianne Morison and her son Jonas. The reader starts out liking these two, but has very different outlook by the end of the story. Marianne Morrison suffers from Munchhausen’s by Proxy. How the story is discovered and told will make you cry, I know that I did.

Reading a novel requires the reader to suspend belief for the length of the story and this book succeeds at this is a strong way.  The book opens with a horror scene where Parkman discovers the murdered boy, Jonas, and her son is a bloody isolation room. Parkman becomes convinced that her son is being framed for the murder of Jonas, and will do whatever she thinks that she has to prove his innocence. This is where the suspension of belief comes in. There is so much going on and it is happening so fast that you find yourself wondering how she will pull it off! Against all odds, she succeeds. Along the way, she manages to shame the DA and the Judge and that was a good thing. The lawyer’s scene in New York depicts lawyers who are cold and uncaring. This may well be the way that major firms run, but it sure doesn’t make you like them. Parkman and Sevillas, on the other hand are the kind of lawyers I will always want on my side, if I ever needed them.

For everyone who enjoys a good mystery thriller, this is book to read. It is fast, gripping and believable. The ending leaves room for more by this author, I hope that she continues to develop the characters’ that she has introduced to us.  Antoinette van Heugten has written a true women’s mystery thriller.  Ninety percent of the characters are female and they can hold their own! They do not need rescuing, coddling or explanation. This book will go far.

Another site that I love for discovering new authors and new books is http://www.netgalley.com/ Feel free to explore this one, who knows what you will find there !

Original Sin

Terrorists and Toddlers

Lucy Hamilton aka Sally Sin is building a new life as a suburban wife and mother after falling in love and leaving her old job as a spy. No one in her new life knows about her old life and this creates some interesting scenes. As she builds her new life, characters from her old life with the USAWMD agency keep popping up in her new life with laugh out loud results. A scene with a yoga instructor is priceless ! She proves that old habits die hard, if only catching the bad guys were this much fun. The story is quick and fun. Move over Stephanie Plum there's a new gal in town. I am looking forward to more sin, Sally style of course !


This was an ARC from www,bookbrowse.com. This is really good site to find new books and authors. Love this site