Big Time Dreams, Small Town Grifters

What's not to like in this book ! It really has it all, a cast of characters that are relatable and a plot that has all of them shining. Gillespie Texas is a town that is being gentrified and Carel Geische aims to make his dream come true because of it ! Fate however has other plans for him. The county fair is setting up and with it an entire town is either helping him get the reward he thinks be deserves, or is conspiring to keep it from him. At times he's not sure which fate is waiting for him ! And this is what makes the novel fun to read. Along with the characters already in town, someone from his past comes back just in time to stir things up ! Of course, no story set in Texas would be complete with big hearted women, and Marc Hess has written them beautifully ! The story is well told and is fun to read ! You will not be disappointed

A Book in Need of a Story

The Gray Heron by John Wilde is a book in need of a story ! Don’t get me wrong, I really wanted to like this book, but there are too many undeveloped stories here. To show you what I mean. The book opens up introducing the reader to a semi-retired CIA Operative and quickly jumps into a special op mission in Nicaragua which has the potential to be a really good read. The book then quickly devolves into the story of his family and this is where ninety percent of the book stays. In the very end the reader is returned too Nicaragua to tie up the lose ends of the special op mission that the book opened with. Both of these stories have the potential to be developed into really good full bodied stories. Unfortunately, that is not  the case here. The book suffers from lack of a good editor and that is a shame because Mr. Wilde can tell a good story. I just wish he had picked one and fully developed it. I will look for more books by him because I do believe that he will improve with time.