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
(as opposed to critics) about the books you see around you? You’ve
come to the right place! And, if you appreciate a critical review
we’ll have those, too. Come in, sit down and see what’s
write with the world! (Or, right in the world of write!) New reviews this month from: Dr. Cynthia Clark . Harriet Klausner . Christine I. Speakman |
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February 2007
BLEAK
WATER
Danuta Reah
Bloody Brits Press Paperback
$13.95, 288 pages
ISBN: 193285921
The city of Sheffield is being renovated. In one particular area although
there is some renovation there is still a canal that is overgrown. Sitting
near this canal is a trendy innovative art gallery. Given the darkness
of the canal, the curator, Eliza Eliot feels it's a perfect place to house
the exhibition of "The Triumph of Death" by artist Daniel Flynn
Eliza feels that the darkness of the location and Flynn's nightmarish
topic is just what she needs to put her name on the map. Instead, the
images that Flynn has painted seem to come to life, so to speak when a
dead body is found that bears a striking resemblance to his images.
Eliza is affected by the body as she has yet to recover from the murder
of the daughter of her friend. She is drawn into the violence, unsure
if there is a psychopath at work or if there could be a link between the
two deaths.
BLEAK WATER is an intriguing dip into psychopathology. Ms. Reah throws
out the bait and reels you in, hook line and sinker. She'll have you looking
over your shoulder. Excellent job!
On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 5!
Cynthia Lea Clark
CHRONIC
NIGHTS
Frank Caceres
iUniverse, Inc.
$20.95, 344 pages
ISBN: 0-595-40711-0
On the way to an afternoon concert with his family, a man swerves to avoid
hitting a man in a wheel chair in the crosswalk. This simple action causes
a wreck that kills the man's wife and child. Not able to get over his
grief, he blames wheelchair bound men, for what he calls the murder of
his family. This distorted views causes him to plot is revenge on the
murder. But, he does not know who that man was that was in the crosswalk
that fateful day, so any wheelchair bound man is a target.
Bill Colon is quite the accountant, having worked for the IRS. He now
suffers from MS which sometimes necessitates his need for a wheelchair.
His brother Luis is a cop who drinks too much and has a miserable marriage.
Rosa, Luis's wife runs a genealogy business until she crosses paths with
low life criminal Ernest Thomas.
Luis harbors much resentment for Bill and secretly suspects or hopes
that his brother Bill is either the killer or will be the next victim.
But as Luis and his partner solve the pattern to the crimes, Rosa decides
she wants out of her marriage (and not by divorce) and Bill feels he should
help catch this crazed killer, the many sub plots merge together in a
heightened edge of your seat way to keep you guessing what will happen
next.
Frank Caceres writes of Bill Colon with the passion and commitment of
one who truly knows as Frank was diagnosed with MS in 1996. He uses his
own experiences to add the touches necessary to make the book so real
you'll feel you're right there. Frank paints a picture of the disease,
not in a preachy or poor me way, but in an informative, hey look at me,
I am a survivor kind of way. It's uplifting and suspenseful at the same
time.
CHRONIC NIGHTS is suspense with a twist. Excellent read.
On a scale of 1 t 5, I give it a 4.6!
Cynthia Lea Clark
DESTROYING
ANGELS
Gail Lukasik
Five Star Publishing
$25.95, 291 pages
ISBN: 1-59414-360-9
Leigh Girard survives cancer with a mastectomy, a bad marriage, and a
questionable career. She decides to change her life, by leaving it all
behind and moving to Egg Harbor , Wisconsin , an artist community. She
quit teaching and takes a job as a reporter with the local newspaper.
Her first assignment is an obituary. But it isn't as simple as it should
be. The widow, Eva Peck, claims that her husband, Carl Peck did not die
of natural causes.
Carl was a naturalist and when it is discovered that he died from mushroom
poisoning, it is labeled murder. The locals are denial, because murder
doesn't happen in a nice little community like Egg Harbor . Before much
investigation, the local librarian kills herself and a week later Peck's
daughter and the librarian's friend supposedly tried to kill herself.
What is happening in Egg Harbor ? Leigh is busy bouncing from case to
case when she uncovers yet another case, this one twenty years old.
Leigh is determined to see how it all fits even though is alienates her
with her new community and forces her to face her own scars.
DESTROYING ANGELS is two stories, the whodunit and the who am I. They
are nicely woven together to not bore us or freak us out. Yes, Leigh has
cancer, but it is presented in a dignified way, with strength and hope.
I enjoyed DESTROYING ANGELS on both levels and recommend it. It is an
excellent whodunit, and an even better who am I. Ms. Lukasik paints a
beautiful picture with her words. Excellent job!
On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 5!
Cynthia Lea Clark
GRAVEWRITER
Mark Arsenault
St. Martin 's Minotaur
November 28, 2006 $23.95
288 pages
ISBN: 0312335962
Billy Povich has not been the same since his ex wife was killed in a
car crash. For years he has blamed the driver of the accident Maddox.
On the eve of the sensational trial of Peter Shadd he was considering
murdering Maddox but jury duty for the Shadd trial intrigued him. Billy,
once a great newspaper man now an obituary writer found the case curious
and sets out to investigate on his own (against court orders). Billy is
also running from loan sharks having become a gambler since his wife's
death.
Did Peter Shadd kill the headless man in the boathouse? Where is the head?
The blood? Billy had questions that weren't being answered. When the only
other juror who seemed to care about the case supposedly kills himself,
Billy feels something is very wrong. He knew no one would look into his
fellow juror. It was up to him. But who is following him, someone involved
in the case or someone to break his bones?
GRAVE WRITER is a not just a whodunit but it is also a coming of age story.
Billy deals with his many demons and comes to accept his son, who unconditionally
accepts him. It has a bit of a bumpy start with several points of view,
but it is worth hanging in there. As you read you can't help but root
for Billy.
On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 4.7!
Cynthia Lea Clark
Intimate
Deceptions
Lise Fuller
eBook: November 2006, $6.49
ISBN #1-4199-0787-5
www.cerridwenpress.com
Romance - Suspense
*Some descriptive sex scenes
Once they were childhood friends; once they were lovers. Once was a long
time ago; too long ago? For the sake of their child they reunite.
However, like other romance stories only one of them know they share a
daughter. Eight years ago Elena and Brodie shared an earth-shaking passion.
They discovered they were soul mates only to have their warring families
tear them apart. Lies beget lies; cover-ups and deceit manipulated their
lives. Even their best friend Manuel aimed to destroy their love. He offered
marriage to Elena, knowing of her pregnancy but never letting her know.
Determined to be the rich successful man he thought she wanted, he chose
a life path that would only bring danger to her and her child.
Now, years later Manuel has kidnapped the child forcing Elena into Mexico
all in a strange attempt to protect his family from his crazed child-pornographer
and drug dealing boss.
Never did he expect Brodie to come with Elena. Who would have ever dreamed
that Brodie's father would have such a change of heart; calling his son
home for forgiveness.
Lise Fuller's "Intimate Deceptions" takes you on an emotional
roller coaster ride of who's who.
Now, remember Romance isn't my favourite genre. And I tend to judge this
genre harder than others because of this, so...
...I found "Intimate Deceptions" filled with too many characters
and sub-plots. I found myself lost as to which character was which. And
because of the sub-plots - drug lord hiding daughter entrapping his wife
back to him, his underling a sadistic killer, his boss a child-pornographer,
his boss' boss so secret that no one knows him but is somehow linked with
terrorists (al-Quaida), the CIA, a terrorist sniper out for revenge on
the CIA agent. As well as torn apart lovers reuniting to save daughter
- I was just muddled.
However, I do believe that fans of this genre will enjoy "Intimate
Deceptions." I also think that, and I don't mean to imply men don't
like the romance genre; some men (if they can move past the romance type)
could enjoy this story.
There were times I felt this was more a man's story than a suspense-romance.
Keeping this in mind, I found the story slightly more enjoyable.
Either way, while not a favourite read, I would recommend "Intimate
Deceptions" to those who enjoy romance-suspense.
Christine I. Speakman
MY
DATE WITH VERONICA LAKE
Jeremy Schneider
eBook Novella: November 2006, $4.00
Paranormal/Romance
www.chippewapublishing.com
Who was Veronica Lake? I grew up knowing the name but not the face. Veronica
Lake was the "Peek-a-boo girl." She was the starlet, whose mystery
was hidden behind her hair. Think Kim Basinger in "L.A. Confidential,"
Veronica Lake was the original.
What man wouldn't want a date with this beauty. One slight problem, she
died in 1973, 32 years before her date with Sam. This is no dream, no
slight of hand story. It is written just as is...a recount of an actual
date. Of someone falling in love and someone getting another chance.
Hmmmm, well not quite a true mystery story, you'll have to admit it's
intriguing.
You won't regret taking the time to enjoy this short visit to one magical
night.
Christine I. Speakman
Available Formats:Adobe Acrobat Reader (PDF), Palm Doc (PDB), Rocket/REB1100
(RB), Pocket PC 1.0+ Compatible,
Franklin eBookMan (FUB), hiebook (KML), iSilo (PDB), Mobipocket (PRC),
OEBFF Format
(IMP), Microsoft Reader (LIT), (HTML).
SCRUB-A-DUB-DEAD
Barbara Colley
Kensington Books
January 2007, $22, 256 pages
ISBN: 0-758-20766-2
Charlotte LaRue takes a temporary leave from her own cleaning business
to assist a friend who needs help in cleaning her client's ritzy New Orleans
Hotel. Charlotte thinks this will be an easy job, clean some rooms help
a friend, but she steps into a lion's den. Women from the Red Scarf Society
are staying at the hotel. They seem nice until she reaches Tessa Morgan's
room. As she is picking up the red scarves, Tessa enters screaming. Charlotte
leaves the room and continues to clean learning that Tessa although high
strung is the leader of the Red Scarves and is stressed over her impending
divorce. Her husband is seeing Lisa, who is young enough to be her daughter.
As she continues to clean, she runs into an old friend, Mack Sutton who
happens to be Tessa's father. But before they can really reminisce, Lisa
is murdered. Of course, Tessa is accused of her murder. Charlotte doesn't
buy Tessa's guilt and against the orders of the police she investigates.
SCRUB-A-DUB-DEAD is a delightful cozy, part of a series of Charlotte LaRue
stories. Charlotte runs a cleaning service that finds trouble with the
trash. SCRUB-A-DUB-DEAD is a fast read with a charming older heroine.
I especially love that this is a post Katrina story that is positive and
fun. For a fun, enjoyable read this one cleans up! Delightful!
On a scale of 1 to 5, I give it a 5!
Cynthia Lea Clark
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