Luck of the Devil by Patricia Eimer

What a hoot! We are introduced to Faith and Hope Bettincourt, the half human, half demonic daughters of Lucifer himself. We meet their Mother Roisin, her brother Tolliver, his girl friend Lisa, a newly made succubus and a whole host of minor deity’s. Along with hell’s denizens we also get to meet Matt, a half human and half angel  , the Lord Almighty and his son Jesus.

The story takes place in Pittsburg Pennsylvania, who knew that will become a portal to hell. I know that there are probably some people who consider Pittsburg hell, but in this book, it really will turn into a way to the dark side. Faith is the youngest of Lucifer’s half daughters and turns out to be his favorite! In the story she is just trying to lead a normal human life away from the family. Normal for Faith turns out not to normal for the rest of us. Turns out that Matt, her neighbor, is trying to do the same, hide from his family. When the story opens, all Faith Wants to do is enjoy a vacation from her nursing job and watch reality TV. Instead she needs to deal with murder of her boss by her roommate Lisa, a visit from her sister and her brother in law, and a visit from her parents. As she says, she’ll need a vacation from her vacation !

This is a laugh out loud book. The descriptions of how Hope and her husband Boris, managed to lose control of an entire cult will have you thinking and laughing at the same time. Thinking because many the extremist form of any religious practice is controlled by the Devil, or his minions, and laughing because Ms Eimer knows how to tell a story. The scenes with Faith, and everyone else in the book, especially in the hospital’s ER will make you realize that the line between  good and evil is very fine and can be easily crossed.

At it’s heart this is a love story. Faith, for all of her evilness, loves her family and would like to find a love of her own  that would not be frightened by what she is. The same is true for Matt. Her sister Lisa looses the cult because she has fallen in love with her husband and will do most anything for him. Now doesn’t this sound like some people you may know? The book gets a little complicated at times, but then so does life.

With a little help from her father, the Devil, and Matt’s father, the Lord almighty, these two fall in love and in the end, the Lord makes  things right !

A good read and an author that I will look for more stories from.

Domesic Violets

What a hoot ! Everybody in this book is having some ind of mid-life crisis, except Tom's daughter ! (She’s too young for one !) The main character is in the middle of deciding what to do with his life. He is fantasying about a co-worker, suspecting his wife of having an affair and is trying to keep up with his father ! His wife is debating whether or not to start an affair and his father is ending a marriage and he is starting an affair !
Tom Violet writes press releases for a company that he loathes. He is in an office "romance " with a much younger co-worker, which you just know is going to lead to trouble. The highlight of his day is verbally tormenting a co-worker. These are among the funniest lines in the book. When his tormentor is promoted and becomes his boss, Tom writes a press release that goes viral. Anybody who has ever had a bad boss will love this piece of writing.
Tom's father, Curtiss Violet, is a n aging literary star who has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness. Even though he has just won a Pulitzer for one of his books, he is suffering from a major case of writers’ block. In addition to the writers block, he is also reviewing his life and all the regrets that go with a life spent in the fast lane.
Tom and his wife are trying to get pregnant and each of them is equally of emotional infidelity. This story is also well told and has some twists that will surprise you. Norman also develops some supporting characters that are so likeable that you find yourself wanting to know more about them.The author writes that "domestic violets are more fertile" This story is fertile in imagination .
All of this makes for a really good read. The book is well written and the story flows. Book clubs should enjoy this book, I know that I will recommend it for mine when it comes out because there is so much to discuss and enjoy.
This review is available on my blog http:janiesreads.blogspot.com

Odds and Ends

Well, it has been a summer for reading and listening to books. The weather is hot and therefore I am lazy but I really enjoy this weather for reading. Movies are geared toward remakes of comic books or just light romances so I find that when I ignore them, I don't feel bad. I am reading a book about film making, more on that in a  later post, which is giving me a whole new appreciation for the movies. I've discovered the Bernie Gunther mystery series by Phillip Kerr as a result of the my local Marvelous Sleuths Book Club, which I happen to lead and really enjoy it. I fell in love with A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. This is the first in a series and I cannot wait for the next one ! 

In the audio world I have been enjoying  Steve Berry's The Jefferson Key. He did a great deal of research for the book and it makes for a good read. A book that I found myself arguing with was titled  I Though You Were Dead  by Pete Nelson. The main character here is a guy who has no sense of self. The other main character, his dog Stella, is the one who trully makes the book worth reading or listening to.


Well the porch and a book are calling, so more later. Happy reading !

Maria Juana's Gift

I finished a book several weeks ago titled Maria Juana's Gift by  T. Lloyd Winetsky. The book is published by www.booklocker.com. The story is simplicity in itself, a story as old as time. It is the story of a young couple who are the victims of  both prejudice and medical malpractice. Winetsky's writing is clean and the way the story is told broke my heart. I was in healthcare for a very long time and saw first hand many of the stereotypes that are portrayed in this book. I know that in many ways, the healthcare industry has come a long from the simple times portrayed in this book. I also know that in many ways, the industry has not. Poor people, people with disabilities , people who are overweight, and people who don't fit the norm  whatever that may be, still suffer from labeling and prejudice. I wonder how many mistakes are made just from these practices alone. In this story, the result is tragic. Winetsky simply tells a wonderful story and the story will guide you to the obvious conclusion. I will be looking for more from this author. But no more spoilers, read the book, I guarantee that it will make you think for a long time after you put it down

The Things We Cherish

The Things We Cherish  by Pam Jenoff  

This is a story about the human cost of World War 11. It is a story as old as time. One brother falling in love with another brother’s wife, the other brother in love with mankind in general but can’t find time to show his love for his family. Jenoff tells the story by moving back and forth through time and does it beautifully. She uses the dynamics between brothers to move the story along. She goes back to the turn of the 20^th century to create the setting that will eventually lead to the story’s conclusion.  Her writing is clean and easy to follow.  Jenoff demonstrates that things are not always what they appear to be, both in the past and in the future, and it is always foolish to jump to quick and easy conclusions based on appearances.  This is a simple story told with tenderness and in the end, broke my heart. I enjoyed it.

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 !