Night Road

Night Road  by Kristin Hannah

When you think about twins, you think about the bond that exists between them. Sometimes their secret language, sometimes their ESP with each other, and sometimes their shared likes and dislikes. But did you ever think about what it would be like to be the mother of twins? Or what it might be like to lose one? Did you ever wonder how the surviving twin might feel? I know that I never did, fortunately Hannah did and has written a beautiful story about this.

The twins in the book, grow and fall in love with life, their friends and one friend in particular. Both of the twins fall in love with Alexa Bail, Lexi, in different ways. It is this loves that shapes the story and all of the characters in it. Lexi is Mia’s, one of the twins, bff and she is the girl that Zack, the other twin falls in love with, for better or worse.

The twin’s parents, Jude and Miles are pillars of the community, good strong and caring people. They are more than comfortable. The mother in this story is, by the author’s admission a helicopter parent. Yet the way the character is written is never odious .Lexi’s Aunt Eva, the woman who took her in and raised her, works at Walmart and lives in a rented trailer. She is not financially comfortable but she is strong with a tremendous moral compass. There is a tragedy one night involving all three children and the reaction by their relatives splits the book into two parts. Eva is a lady who knows family and what it means without all the trappings of success . She is able to function after the tragedy to try to protect her niece. Jude cannot function and falls into despair. Both lose a child in this tragedy, and both handle it very differently.

 I have never read grief described the way that Hannah writes about it. Jude’s grief and her struggle to overcome it and come back to her life are so poignant and so believable. I found myself both crying and lost with her. I literally felt the sense of gray that Hannah writes about and I found myself getting cold with her. The inability to function, to feel is part of the emotional roller coaster is handled skillfully. It never becomes maudlin and I never found myself annoyed with how the character was written.  Anyone who has lost a loved one will be able to relate to Jude on a very visceral level.

Equally interesting and well written is the story of Lexi after the incident. Hannah has written about a young girl and the choices that she made, honorable but disastrous for her. The story of her and Zack is so well written that I can’t say enough good things about it. Zach’s reaction to everything is not what you would expect. Anyone who has ever fallen in love deeply will appreciate their story.

This book held my interest from the moment I picked it up. I could not put it down. Hannah has written a beautiful story that explores so many themes and she does it brilliantly. I did not want this story to end; of course I know that it had to but I kept wondering what Hannah would do with the characters if she had gone a little further in the story.

The Dangerous Edge of Things

The Dangerous Edge of Things by Tina Whittle

Wow, another strong female crime character!! There is more mystery than meets the eye in this book. First off we have a dead body in the opening scene and the fun begins. Tai Randolph has just inherited a gun shop in Alabama form her dead redneck uncle. Her brother is a mysterious character involver with a high end security firm called Phoenix. Her partner in this book turns out to be Phoenix employee who is an ex-cop with serious neurological issues. His name is Trey Severs and he is one dangerous and loyal character. There are plenty of other characters to like and dislike in this book. Garrity, Trey’s old partner is one to like. Landon and Marissa and the Senator and his wife inspire more dislike than like although at times the line between the two is extremely fine.

While trying to figure out why someone ends up dead in front of her brother’s quiet house, Tai soon finds herself in over her head. This is Atlanta after all full of ghosts both old and new. Tai’s occupation, before the gun shop, seems to have been that of as tourist guide. She will use that information and other friends to help her get to the bottom of this. She believes that her brother Eric is somehow involved in the actual murder, she is wrong !

Tai solves the murder with the help of Trey and along the way questions her feelings for him. The two of them start out on a bad footing but the soon they are trusting each other, him more than her. They need to trust each other because a wild ride starts that leads to the solution.

The plot is well developed and believable. Overall a good murder mystery that will hold your interest from start to finish.

A New Steel Magnolia

 Georgia Bottoms  a novel by Mark Childress

Warning this contains a spoiler

This is a warm, wonderful read. The characters are so well written that I felt that all of them were people that I knew all of my life. Georgia, her mother and brother made me laugh out loud. Brother is a piece of work and we all have someone, or know of one like him in our lives. Childress makes him likeable when in real life he may nothing more than a problem to deal with. All of the characters in the book are developed beautifully, even the one that you may not like is well written.

Georgia’s mom, Little Mama, is a woman who I fell in love with. She reminded me of my own mother especially as she was getting older, more forgetful and at time downright hilarious.

The story is set in Six Points Alabama, or it could be any small town where people stay and make a life. There are many secrets in this book and Childress lets us discover them all. The town’s secrets and Georgia’s secretes. Of course secrets never stay hidden. They always come out in the end and give the story spice. The best secrete in the book are of course Georgia’s. She keeps her own and half the town’s secrets, and does so in a way makes for a good read. Her main source of income is “entertaining” gentlemen in the back part of her house. For the life of me, I don’t know how she hid it for so long from her mother and brother and all of her friends, but she does. She claims to be sewing quilts, but no-one can do that much sewing! As in real life one half truths, or one outright lie, always begat’s another and that is true here also. Childress handles these beautifully. I got caught up with them as well as Georgia did ! I loved it all !

Georgia makes choices in the book, some good and some bad, as we all do. Childress ties her llife and choices in with 9/11 and with Katrina. This works because it is so true in real life. 9/11 changed many lives in small and big ways. People re-assessed their priorities and made changes accordingly. The changes that Georgia makes are no different. The one that involved her biggest secret is the most positive part of the story.

When Georgia was in high school, she dated and became pregnant by her black boyfriend. This was a definite no-no for that period of time especially in the South. For me the incredible part was that in the story time line, this would have been the 1980’s not the 1i940’s or 50’s. I would have thought that 20 some odd years past the civil right bill of 1964 that attitude toward inter-racial dating would have changed and boy would I have been so wrong! In the story she goes away, has the baby and gives to her boyfriend’s family to raise. She does send money toward his care every month, whatever she can after paying for everything else in her life. This is all from her “entertaining” and he other side line of selling hand mage quilts that she never made. Well life changed and her son comes into her life. Some of the books funniest scenes are between her son and her demented mother. I guarantee you will never forget them. The choice that she makes regarding her son and her life are the best in the book. This is where Katrina comes into play and you just know that things are not going to go as planned.

Georgia is a woman, like many of us, who may sometimes make wrong choices. In the end she finds away to make them right, We can all relate to that.

This is really good book and I know that I will re-read it, both for its humor and it’s insight. I hope thagt Childree does a follow up to her life, I sure would love to read more about her.

The Grayton Beach Affair

This book was just published and is worth reading !!

The Grayton Beach Affair by James Harvey

Just when you thought that you knew everything, or had read everything, you could about WWII, along comes something new. For example, I knew that German U-Boats where active off the Jersey Shore but didn’t know that they were very active in the Gulf of Mexico by Florida and Louisiana. I never even thought about a POW camp in the United States until this book came along. Harvey has written a book about cross and double cross, murder, mystery, international intrigue and a shot or two of romance.

The story opens in a Florida of yesteryear when life was a lot simpler. No internet, cell phones or cable TV. What a different world! This world allows the story to proceed without interference.  It is a story that could not happen in today’s world.  I’m not saying that it’s good or bad, just different and interesting.  There are German spies and Prisoners of War. There is a Southern Sherriff who appears npt tp be bigoted. There are locals who are insulated and caring. There is a  black family who is way ahead of the times, as is the main female character!

The story centers on a German American, Christian, who is disillusioned with America and returns to Germany before the start of WWII to help rebuild Germany.  He is pressed into service by Germany and fails in his mission; it is that failure that is the story. Harvey tells the story of this man on two continents while telling the story of the French Resistance. This part of the story is well researched and well written, a little simplistic at times, but well done.

 The female in the story, Margaret, is ahead of her time at times and then again very much in them. For example, she goes to a deserted area of Florida to get over the death of her fiancée, something that young women of the 40’s might not do. In the end, she winds up in a job, secretary to the president of a company, and engaged to the boss’s son, something that would be expected of women in the 40’s. There is a character, John Logan, in the story that is truly evil. Margaret deals with him as a woman in this decade might do. The Sherriff in the story is given a minor role and the murderer in the story is never really brought to justice.  This is the books only short coming. In retrospect, if the murderer had been brought to justice, it would have been a very different story.

I really enjoyed this book. Harvey has a way of telling a story without making it overly complicated. It is just plain refreshing to read his work.

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

Blowback by Peter May

This is a review of a Peter May book that will published in march 2011. It is number 5 in the Enzo Macleod series, and I really loved this book !

Blowback  by Peter May

Peter May has done it again!! Blowback, the 5^th Enzo Macleod mystery, is great and sure to please all those fans that follow his exploits. Enzo has agreed, on a bet, to solve seven cold cases that a friend of his has written about. So far he’s 5 for 5 ! Off course, new readers to the series will also be haopy that they found him!

Readers always learn something from a Peter May mystery. These time they’lll learn about haute cuisine and the Michelin rating system. The mystery is set in a three star restaurant in a beautiful, remote area about 4 hours out of Paris. The mystery revolves about the two brothers that own and operate a Michelin three star restaurant. The wine and food described in the book will make you want to go out and indulge in some fine dining.  Calories be dammed!! The brother theme dovetails with another aspect of the story and adds another dimension to Enzo. The book opens with the chef summoning journalist to reveal some news…..and the mystery is on!  The murderer is never easy to solve in any of his books and this one is no exception!  I love the way that May blends the modern world with vices that are as old as mankind.

As in other MacLeod mysteries, Macleod’s family plays a part in helping him with the case. The tension between his daughters is missing from this one and it works well for the story.  His family grows in this one in a way that follows the others in the series and with a new addition that takes the story in a new direction. There are the usual romantic interests, and tensions, in the story and the odd character that adds to the story without taking it over. May is really good with this technique!

This book is well plotted and beautifully written. Peter May has a series that is a winner! I’m looking forward to more from him!

The Brutal Telling

This is number five in the Chief Inspector Gamache mysteries that center around the villagers of  Three Pines by Louise Penny. This is a village with more murders than people ! The peaceful life of this village is shattered in this book and the secrets that are reveled are dark. This is an old fashioned who dun it. There are clues all along but they turn out to be red herrings.  The ending totally surprised and upset me. This is not the way it should be, good guys should not become the bad guy. I can't wait to read the next one !

An Object of Beauty

Steve Martin, yes Steve Martin the comedian has a new book out. Since I really enjoy his humor, I bought the book...and boy was I disappointed. Here's my review. If you read it and though differently, post a comment and let's discuss

Does Not Deliver

Art is about beautiful objects, pairing, sculpture, music,  and sometimes about people. The book does not deliver.

This is a story about Lacey Yeager, a newcomer to the art scene in New York City and what she will do to advance herself. It turns out that she will do just about anything, as will most of the characters in the story. Reading this book was like watching a train wreck. You know you should look away and say a prayer for the victims, but you just can't take your eyes away. There is no climax to the story, no good over evil, no "gotcha" moments where the bad guys get caught, there just a depressing tale of unfettered greed and ambition. Even the moments where Martin describes great art are tainted by the  characters always putting a dollar sign in the piece in question.

 The story is all about Lacey and noting else. Martin has created a character without depth, there are no complexities, no layers, no redeeming graces in her. In other words, there is no reason to like her or even to dislike her. She is what she is, vain, shallow and self serving. She is someone who if I meet her in real life, I would shrug off. Nothing there to be befriend.

The other main  characters in the book are written in the same vein, and again there is no reason to like any of them. The book showcases a world of privilege and manipulation, both of people and money. Success is measured in how much money you have, how "smartly " you go about acquiring it. Money does not buy class and Martin demonstrates this very well. Relationships are not important and can be discarded as easily as trash, at least in this world view. Every person that comes into her life is judged for friendship or gain, in how she can use or abuse them. When it comes to use and abuse, Lacey is a master. She never seems to realize that those she uses are  doing the same to her. Talley uses her to sell pictures, Patrice uses her as an object of gratification that can be exploited. Her two girlfriends in the story only interact minimally with her. Boyfriends are for drugs, sex and power. None of them seem to like her. The crowd that she so desperately wants to join, want nothing to do with her socially. The ones that have potential for her, she mocks and loses. In the end, she winds up the same way she lived her life in New York, alone.

Money and greed are universal themes, so are love and hate. Martin dwells exclusively on money and greed, and that, in my opinion makes this a inferior book. I expected more humanity in this novel, and Martin did not deliver.

I'm Back !

Hi everyone, boy it sure has been a long time since I posted ! Well life has been busy and I have been reading !! In addition to my Kindle, I have been reading on the iPad that I got for Christmas. Kindle books are so much brighter and photos inside of books look really good look !

So onto books......