FMAM MOSTLY MYSTERY REVIEWS
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THE FMAM MOSTLY MYSTERY REVIEW is the place to come
to find out what to read next. Want to know what readers are saying
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write with the world! (Or, right in the world of write!) New reviews this month from: . Dr. Cynthia Clark . Harriet Klausner . Christine I. Speakman . C.E. Japhe |
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August 2008
Cockatiels at Seven
Donna Andrews
St. Martin’s Minotaur,
July 8, 2008, $23.95, 320 pages
ISBN: 10-0312377150
Meg Lanslow has a knack for getting into the strangest situations but she isn’t alone. Her family does as well. Her father recently discovered his father, a documentary filmmaker who has a knack for getting arrested while recreating bad animal conditions. Her father, a zoologist uses her home as an extended zoo housing snakes, birds and other animals as he desires. She never knows what she may find there. Her husband, a professor seems to be the only ‘normal’ one in the bunch. But this odd group makes for a lively and fun secondary store line as the book progresses.
In this book of the series, Meg is visited by a friend, Karen who asks her to watch her young son, Timmy for a few hours while she runs a few hours. Reluctantly, Meg agrees. But Karen doesn’t return in a few hours or the next day. As Meg begins to investigate, she finds that the Karen she sued to know has changed. She has moved from a nice area to a bad area where drug deals go on constantly. She seems to be in financial trouble. The only good thing is, is that she has dumped that no good man that is Timmy’s father. Meg finds that Karen’s apartment has been broken into, she has shown up for work, and money has been embezzled from Karen’s company. Dragging Timmy along Meg investigates where Karen is and if she is involved in the embezzlement.
In the meantime, Meg’s dad is using her house to help the zoo’s snakes shed their skins. Her brother is slowly moving all of his things into the third floor’s bedroom, and her dad and his newly found father are up to something.
Someone is watching her house. Who is it? Why? Will Karen find a babysitter for the precocious toddler so she can really investigate the disappearance of her friend?
COCKATIELS AT SEVEN is a fun cozy. Anyone who has a toddler or access to one will appreciate what Meg and her family go through to get anything done much less solve a mystery. Ms. Andrews writes a clever who dun it with a twist.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I gave it a 4.5.
The Vision Quest - Book One: The age of Light
Deborah Pratt
VGM Publishing, $21.54, 366 pages
ISBN: 0-9787309-0-9
A series of massive quakes and eruptions have redefined the world. VISION QUEST, BOOK 1, is set in the future following this redefining of the world’s mass due to extreme weather changes. People did adapt and survive and although the time they lived through was chaotic, light shown through. They called this survival the Age of Light.
Atlantia, one of the new territories is met with a slaughter. Cole Lazerman, a young man of 18, witnesses this slaughter, which consists of his father as well as 2700 other residents. The Black Guard is at work. They are biodroids which were created by Duane Covax a scientist extraordinaire who originally created them to protect humans. What happened?
Cole is filled with anger, fear, and hatred for what he witnessed. Now he must face all of his emotions and confront his desire for revenge to see if he can pass through the universal forces of the forgotten powers of the Visionistic Arts. If he can do this he will change the fate of humanity. So, Cole embarks on the Rite of Passage Journey.
This is book one. I am generally not a fan of science fiction or younger based books, but I could not put this book down. I loved it! Deborah Pratt has a beautiful way with words and weaves such a story that you are riveted to this new futuristic world. While reading, I got lost in her world. I was transformed into the future and walked side by side with Cole. A writer cannot do a better job than that. Excellent and I cannot wait for book two! Hurry, hurry, Deborah.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 5!
The Olive Horseshoe
Ben F. Small
Night Shadows Press
$19.95, 366 pp.,
ISBN: 978-0-9799167-2-4
Self-made internet billionaire Denton Smith is off in the wilderness “finding himself” when his father and a traveling companion are brutally murdered in Spain. Not having been close to his father, and having lost the chance to mend their relationship, Denton is wracked by guilt. The police don’t seem to have any leads, and seem to be treating the murders as a simple mugging. Denton, of course, knows better, and calls on his considerable resources to avenge his father’s murder. Denton is joined on his mission for revenge by an assortment of characters including Jenna, winery owner and daughter of the man killed with his father, Carlos, Jenna’s right-hand man, and Mandy, Denton’s personal assistant and sometimes lover.
As bodies continue to stack up, Denton and his gang are drawn into an international mystery involving drugs and a tour company. Complicating matters is his father’s business partner, Joe Corsano, a slick Italian who Denton does not trust, and may be hiding something.
THE OLIVE HORSESHOE is a fast-paced, thoroughly enjoyable mystery. The ending is a bit contrived and predictable, but still a worthwhile read. Once I started it, I couldn’t put it down!
Two on the Hunt
Heather Hiestand
Publisher: A Cerridwen Press Publication
www.cerridwenpress.com
Genre: Romance/Suspense
ISBN 9781419912566
Pages: 168
Price: $5.95 (USD)
Would you give up your child to save her?
Georgia Bellair did, now, after fighting her internal demons, she’s trying to build a life for her and four year-old Abby. Instead she falls for a bounty hunter and Abby is kidnapped by a cult of vampires…okay, wanna be vampires, but still a bit off of the deep end. Not something you want for a clean start.
Truthfully, this eBook did not stay with me. For me, it was maybe an average romance/suspense read. It could have been so much more given just a bit more storyline and detail. I would have enjoyed reading more about the “chiang-shih” or Chinese vampire. I needed more detail as to why this cult and their leader wanted Abby.
It does fill the quick-summer-read-need.
Starr Light (Book 2 in the Mystic Riders series)
R.E. Matheson
Publisher: A Cerridwen Press Publication
www.cerridwenpress.com
Genre: Romance/Suspense
ISBN 9781419914737
Pages: 174
Price: $6.99 (USD)
Ms. Matheson delivers another solid read.
Book 1 in the Mystic Riders series was “Keeping Faith” which I reviewed for FMAM in December 2007. Neither “Keeping Faith” nor “Starr Light” needs to be read in order to enjoy Ms. Matheson’s stories. They are complete stand-alone eBooks.
Starr and her brother Glen went to live with their aunt Blythe after their parents’ death. During these childhood years Glen became friends with Rik who lived just a few doors down the street. Who would have suspected that all these years later Rik would become the Knight of Swords shown in Starr’s Tarot reading.
Yes, “Starr Light” is a story where the heroine uses Tarot cards for guidance. Starr is an empath. She can read a person’s emotions and sometimes, lately, the emotions of inanimate objects. Is this why Mildred St. James hid her precious donut in Starr’s bag?
A donut, you ask? Not quite. It’s the major wooden piece of what could be a Viking sun compass, quite a rare artifact. Mildred finally loaned four of the smaller pieces to the Norseland Historical Foundation, in downtown Toronto, only to have them stolen. Was Mildred murdered for the fifth piece, the donut? Can Starr run to childhood friend, Rik, for help or as the Foundation’s medieval historian is he the one she should run from?
I enjoyed this story where the heroine battles internal fears, but does not waiver from the threats she must face. This leads to a more convincing character, one who finds her own way, even with a strong male by her side. Yes, I do believe in unknown/unexplained guidance and Rik’s scepticism is genuine and written with a careful balance of disbelief and acceptance. There are too many coincidences not to think something’s in the cards.
A bit more information on Viking sun compasses would have been nice, but that’s just me wanting more history on Vikings and their times. It wasn’t really what the full story was about, or needed.
I was amused by the battle of wills between Rik and Starr. These are not cookie-cutter romance characters who refuse to acknowledge their attraction. Perhaps they are too straightforward with each other, but I like that change of pace in romance characters.
The suspense wasn’t hold-your-breathe, but an authentic page-turner entertainment.
Ms. Matheson has delighted me again, and “Starr Light” will not disappoint.
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