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Wild Nights
Mary Ellen Courtney
2014 Silver Medal
360 Pages
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Fiction - General
Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite
When we first meet Hannah, she is fighting traffic on her way to her grandmother's funeral. She is bringing her grandmother's embalmed canary, which, according to family legend, alerted her grandfather to toxic fumes in the coal mine her grandmother owned. Hannah is dreading the family gathering and thinks her mother sees the funeral as a kind of bonding experience. Hannah adored her funny, adventurous father and used to fly with him in the family plane. She was crushed when he died in a plane accident, leaving her, her brother and sister in the care of their alcoholic mother. Now that they are all grown, visits with the family tend to turn into dramas leading to subsequent texts, phone calls and emails, but Hannah hasn't figured out how to distance herself from it all. Her love life is also not terribly exciting. After a disastrous marriage, she is now in a rather dull and predictable relationship with a man who doesn't have what it takes to make her pulses sing. When Hannah's car breaks down on the way to the funeral, everything gets turned upside down, but in what could be the best possible way.
I was probably about 20 or 30 pages into "Wild Nights" when I realized that this could turn out to be a really outstanding book - and it just got better from there. Hannah is brash, funny and wise all at once, and her relationships with her friends are a hoot. The family scenes also play true to life, both the tragic and the comic, which are not always kept separate. While the timeline of "Wild Nights' is about a year, Hannah's life is eventful, and the reader is brought along when she travels to Hawaii on Christmas vacation and then to India where she works with her mentor and friend, Margaret. The descriptions of both places will have any reader lazily drifting on warm, Hawaiian waves, and walking the crowded, dusty streets of India. I spent all day yesterday wrapped up in "Wild Nights" and reluctantly finished the last page late last night, Hannah and Jon and the rest of the characters peopling this work still alive and fresh in my mind. This is an extraordinary work.
When we first meet Hannah, she is fighting traffic on her way to her grandmother's funeral. She is bringing her grandmother's embalmed canary, which, according to family legend, alerted her grandfather to toxic fumes in the coal mine her grandmother owned. Hannah is dreading the family gathering and thinks her mother sees the funeral as a kind of bonding experience. Hannah adored her funny, adventurous father and used to fly with him in the family plane. She was crushed when he died in a plane accident, leaving her, her brother and sister in the care of their alcoholic mother. Now that they are all grown, visits with the family tend to turn into dramas leading to subsequent texts, phone calls and emails, but Hannah hasn't figured out how to distance herself from it all. Her love life is also not terribly exciting. After a disastrous marriage, she is now in a rather dull and predictable relationship with a man who doesn't have what it takes to make her pulses sing. When Hannah's car breaks down on the way to the funeral, everything gets turned upside down, but in what could be the best possible way.
I was probably about 20 or 30 pages into "Wild Nights" when I realized that this could turn out to be a really outstanding book - and it just got better from there. Hannah is brash, funny and wise all at once, and her relationships with her friends are a hoot. The family scenes also play true to life, both the tragic and the comic, which are not always kept separate. While the timeline of "Wild Nights' is about a year, Hannah's life is eventful, and the reader is brought along when she travels to Hawaii on Christmas vacation and then to India where she works with her mentor and friend, Margaret. The descriptions of both places will have any reader lazily drifting on warm, Hawaiian waves, and walking the crowded, dusty streets of India. I spent all day yesterday wrapped up in "Wild Nights" and reluctantly finished the last page late last night, Hannah and Jon and the rest of the characters peopling this work still alive and fresh in my mind. This is an extraordinary work.
Recommend this book:
An Absent Mind
Eric Rill
2014 Gold Medal
276 Pages
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Fiction - General
Reviewed by Lisa Jones for Readers' Favorite
An Absent Mind by Eric Rill is a moving story about a man diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Saul was in his early seventies when this terrible illness struck. It was obvious that throughout his life he had been a larger than life kind of character and suddenly that would all change. His struggle through the middle stages to the end are written in this very moving novel. The story also examines the family and their relationships with each other.
Eric Rill has delivered a very powerful yet touching novel. It centers on Alzheimer's and the way in which the disease progresses. Having had some personal experience with this, the author then felt the need to write about it and I am so glad he did. He told his story in a unique way. Throughout the story, the point of view changes between people. Sometimes it was the patient Saul's point of view, then it would be from his wife's perspective. Other times it was from the son or daughter's point of view. There were a couple of references to the doctor's view, which I found important as it gave a more clinical outlook. The whole story from start to finish touched my heart and at the same time I found out a great deal about the disease that I did not know. I learned how the body begins to shut down completely and in the end something as simple as swallowing would not be possible.
Eric Rill explains at the end of his novel how he worked closely with a clinical doctor so that he could give the most honest opinion of the different stages of the disease. This was very helpful to me as a reader and I am sure it will be helpful to other readers. My eyes have truly been opened as I never fully comprehended what actually happens. I have the utmost respect for the author for writing this beautiful book and I am glad he did. What a moving story that has truly touched my heart.
An Absent Mind by Eric Rill is a moving story about a man diagnosed with Alzheimer's. Saul was in his early seventies when this terrible illness struck. It was obvious that throughout his life he had been a larger than life kind of character and suddenly that would all change. His struggle through the middle stages to the end are written in this very moving novel. The story also examines the family and their relationships with each other.
Eric Rill has delivered a very powerful yet touching novel. It centers on Alzheimer's and the way in which the disease progresses. Having had some personal experience with this, the author then felt the need to write about it and I am so glad he did. He told his story in a unique way. Throughout the story, the point of view changes between people. Sometimes it was the patient Saul's point of view, then it would be from his wife's perspective. Other times it was from the son or daughter's point of view. There were a couple of references to the doctor's view, which I found important as it gave a more clinical outlook. The whole story from start to finish touched my heart and at the same time I found out a great deal about the disease that I did not know. I learned how the body begins to shut down completely and in the end something as simple as swallowing would not be possible.
Eric Rill explains at the end of his novel how he worked closely with a clinical doctor so that he could give the most honest opinion of the different stages of the disease. This was very helpful to me as a reader and I am sure it will be helpful to other readers. My eyes have truly been opened as I never fully comprehended what actually happens. I have the utmost respect for the author for writing this beautiful book and I am glad he did. What a moving story that has truly touched my heart.
Recommend this book:
![](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=/book-award/promised-valley-conspiracy&media=https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51Dl5Lpsa3L._SL442_.jpg._AA200_.jpg&description=In "Promised Valley Conspiracy", the third in the innovative series, Ron Fritsch continues to chronicle the social and political turmoil of the unique prehistoric world he has created. Tensions remain high between the agrarian Valley People and the hunting-class Hill People, and whatever truces were put in place in the earlier books teeter precario...){kind=link}
Promised Valley Conspiracy
Ron Fritsch
2013 Honorable Mention
268 Pages
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Fiction - General
Reviewed by Johnny Masiulewicz for Readers' Favorite
In "Promised Valley Conspiracy", the third in the innovative series, Ron Fritsch continues to chronicle the social and political turmoil of the unique prehistoric world he has created. Tensions remain high between the agrarian Valley People and the hunting-class Hill People, and whatever truces were put in place in the earlier books teeter precariously on the brink of failure as each side looks to gain an edge on the other. Dissension among the Hill People forces a detente on the part of the valley society, and they concede the upper valley to those refugees who want to work toward peace. This act leads to the rise of a threat to both peoples, a threat that can only be defeated by both sides joining together against the common enemy.
As in the other books of the series this plot line is built upon the backdrop of the unique world at the time of the dawn of mankind. Sustaining this world is Fritsch’s particular forte, and he practices it so seamlessly as to make almost necessary occasional references to period topics such as the first domestication of the horse, the invention of the wheel, and the first use of permanent housing, to remind the reader that it is indeed a period piece. These topics also add an intelligence and insight to the narrative and serve as a perfect framework on which to structure the main plot elements. Woven through these elements are themes that possess a universality that has resonated through the entire span of human existence on the planet. There is war and peace, racism and class unrest, scientific and educational developments, social cooperation and the effects on the social order when that cooperation breaks down. These themes not only subscribe to the classic literary aspects of conflict and resolution, but, through Fritsch’s deft craftsmanship, do so in a way that is pertinent even when read in the context of today’s world.
In "Promised Valley Conspiracy", the third in the innovative series, Ron Fritsch continues to chronicle the social and political turmoil of the unique prehistoric world he has created. Tensions remain high between the agrarian Valley People and the hunting-class Hill People, and whatever truces were put in place in the earlier books teeter precariously on the brink of failure as each side looks to gain an edge on the other. Dissension among the Hill People forces a detente on the part of the valley society, and they concede the upper valley to those refugees who want to work toward peace. This act leads to the rise of a threat to both peoples, a threat that can only be defeated by both sides joining together against the common enemy.
As in the other books of the series this plot line is built upon the backdrop of the unique world at the time of the dawn of mankind. Sustaining this world is Fritsch’s particular forte, and he practices it so seamlessly as to make almost necessary occasional references to period topics such as the first domestication of the horse, the invention of the wheel, and the first use of permanent housing, to remind the reader that it is indeed a period piece. These topics also add an intelligence and insight to the narrative and serve as a perfect framework on which to structure the main plot elements. Woven through these elements are themes that possess a universality that has resonated through the entire span of human existence on the planet. There is war and peace, racism and class unrest, scientific and educational developments, social cooperation and the effects on the social order when that cooperation breaks down. These themes not only subscribe to the classic literary aspects of conflict and resolution, but, through Fritsch’s deft craftsmanship, do so in a way that is pertinent even when read in the context of today’s world.
Recommend this book:
Puck
Kevin White
2013 Bronze Medal
118 Pages
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Fiction - General
Reviewed by Trudi LoPreto for Readers' Favorite
“Puck” by Kevin White is the beautiful, heart-warming and heart-wrenching story of Kathy and Jason and their autistic young son Luke. Ice hockey becomes the thread that connects Luke to the outside world. Luke’s story is told to us through the eyes and heart of his father. Luke at two years old was diagnosed as being an autistic child while at four he started therapy. Luke did not speak but had a fascination in catching flies in his little hands as they flew by. He could also build towers with tin cans and blocks. He watched TV but never showed any interest or understanding of what he was seeing unless it was a hockey game. Jason took Luke for a daily walk around the neighborhood and one day they stopped in at the local ice skating rink. Luke immediately became absorbed in watching the young boys playing hockey and when a puck came out of the rink and landed at his feet, it became his prized possession. When Luke surprised his parents, speaking his first word, it was 'puck'. Because of his strong interest in following the movement of the puck, they decided to teach him to skate and signed him up to play for a local home rink hockey league. This was the beginning of a new life for Luke and it changed his life forever.
“Puck” is a great story that Kevin White wrote with feeling, understanding and a lot of love. I felt all of the pain and joy along with Jason and Kathy. I cheered for Luke and became emotionally attached to him. The final chapters tore at my heart and made me proud too at the same time. I was really sad to leave my new friends behind when I got to the last page. Kevin White has written a winner that can easily hold its own as the top best seller for many weeks. It would make a fantastic movie as well. My hope is that there is a follow-up so that we can see where life takes Luke next. Kevin White is a five star writer who has left me wanting more.
“Puck” by Kevin White is the beautiful, heart-warming and heart-wrenching story of Kathy and Jason and their autistic young son Luke. Ice hockey becomes the thread that connects Luke to the outside world. Luke’s story is told to us through the eyes and heart of his father. Luke at two years old was diagnosed as being an autistic child while at four he started therapy. Luke did not speak but had a fascination in catching flies in his little hands as they flew by. He could also build towers with tin cans and blocks. He watched TV but never showed any interest or understanding of what he was seeing unless it was a hockey game. Jason took Luke for a daily walk around the neighborhood and one day they stopped in at the local ice skating rink. Luke immediately became absorbed in watching the young boys playing hockey and when a puck came out of the rink and landed at his feet, it became his prized possession. When Luke surprised his parents, speaking his first word, it was 'puck'. Because of his strong interest in following the movement of the puck, they decided to teach him to skate and signed him up to play for a local home rink hockey league. This was the beginning of a new life for Luke and it changed his life forever.
“Puck” is a great story that Kevin White wrote with feeling, understanding and a lot of love. I felt all of the pain and joy along with Jason and Kathy. I cheered for Luke and became emotionally attached to him. The final chapters tore at my heart and made me proud too at the same time. I was really sad to leave my new friends behind when I got to the last page. Kevin White has written a winner that can easily hold its own as the top best seller for many weeks. It would make a fantastic movie as well. My hope is that there is a follow-up so that we can see where life takes Luke next. Kevin White is a five star writer who has left me wanting more.
Recommend this book:
![](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=/book-award/the-second-chances-of-priam-wood&media=https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51HAo6ixOiL._SL442_.jpg._AA200_.jpg&description=Alexander Rigby tells the story about a man’s redemption from his own regrets in "The Second Chances of Priam Wood". Seventy year old Priam Wood had died, but the afterlife wasn't something he had expected at all. Chloe, his Golden Retriever that died several days before him, appeared and greeted him as his guide. The old artist was told that he ...){kind=link}
The Second Chances of Priam Wood
Alexander Rigby
2013 Finalist
494 Pages
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Fiction - General
Reviewed by Lit Amri for Readers' Favorite
Alexander Rigby tells the story about a man’s redemption from his own regrets in "The Second Chances of Priam Wood". Seventy year old Priam Wood had died, but the afterlife wasn't something he had expected at all. Chloe, his Golden Retriever that died several days before him, appeared and greeted him as his guide. The old artist was told that he had second chances to change the seven days of his past life. It was a revelation that was double-edged, for he could easily fail and things might become worse. But with his beloved dog’s support, Priam Wood decided to make everything right and those seven days given to him were about to be a priceless life lesson that he overlooked when he was still alive.
The very first chapter started slowly for me but I was glad the pace picked up when Priam died and was greeted by Chloe in the world between the living and the dead. The writing is flawless; the seven days that the character had to re-live is told in details and isn't rushed. The concept of the story isn't new, nevertheless it is beautifully and genuinely written. Moreover, the lessons and inspiration that one could take from this book are plenty: live life to the fullest, nothing lasts forever and you don’t know what you have got until it is gone. The depth of this story was astonishing. This is a kind of book that you will want to read while you are relaxing no matter where or when.
Alexander Rigby tells the story about a man’s redemption from his own regrets in "The Second Chances of Priam Wood". Seventy year old Priam Wood had died, but the afterlife wasn't something he had expected at all. Chloe, his Golden Retriever that died several days before him, appeared and greeted him as his guide. The old artist was told that he had second chances to change the seven days of his past life. It was a revelation that was double-edged, for he could easily fail and things might become worse. But with his beloved dog’s support, Priam Wood decided to make everything right and those seven days given to him were about to be a priceless life lesson that he overlooked when he was still alive.
The very first chapter started slowly for me but I was glad the pace picked up when Priam died and was greeted by Chloe in the world between the living and the dead. The writing is flawless; the seven days that the character had to re-live is told in details and isn't rushed. The concept of the story isn't new, nevertheless it is beautifully and genuinely written. Moreover, the lessons and inspiration that one could take from this book are plenty: live life to the fullest, nothing lasts forever and you don’t know what you have got until it is gone. The depth of this story was astonishing. This is a kind of book that you will want to read while you are relaxing no matter where or when.
Recommend this book:
 agrees somewhat reluctantly to spend the winter at his old friend Jack Rockshaw’s house in Cornwall, working on a commission. Renowned photographer Rockshaw is temporarily in New York and, unbeknown...){kind=link}
Portrait of a Landscape
Daniel D. Watkins
2013 Finalist
250 Pages
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Fiction - General
Reviewed by Ioana Marza for Readers' Favorite
Daniel Watkins’ Portrait of a Landscape is a fictional work of introspection. In the aftermath of a bitter divorce, Hugh Borne (a sculptor/painter) agrees somewhat reluctantly to spend the winter at his old friend Jack Rockshaw’s house in Cornwall, working on a commission. Renowned photographer Rockshaw is temporarily in New York and, unbeknownst to his wife Elise, is involved in a tense relationship with a young student. While Hugh struggles to find inspiration, peace and some sense of direction, the family life of the always supportive Elise crumbles around them. They both find it difficult to connect with their teenage children and they are all unsure what they want from life anymore. Paradoxically, it is another teenager, Jonah, who helps Hugh to start seeing things from a different perspective.
I like the fact that Watkins describes the more unpleasant side of art – the swollen knuckles, the commercial aspect, the lack of inspiration and the inevitable frustration. None of the characters is happy or comfortable in their own skin, and some are trying to adapt to it like wearing a suit they don’t like. Everybody is trying to find a way out, but where to? None of the themes is new. Man’s search for a meaning for life, and the desire to create and transcend our own limitations have been discussed since the dawn of time, but Daniel Watkins makes these wonderfully human in a way that the reader can relate to. Some characters might be stereotypical, but their dialogues are not. It does not try to provide any fundamental answers and, for such deep themes and troubled people, the ending could not possibly fall into place too neatly. I wouldn't say that Portrait of a Landscape gave me a joyful fulfilled feeling, but rather a restless one; however, once I picked this book up I couldn’t let go. I highly recommend it.
Daniel Watkins’ Portrait of a Landscape is a fictional work of introspection. In the aftermath of a bitter divorce, Hugh Borne (a sculptor/painter) agrees somewhat reluctantly to spend the winter at his old friend Jack Rockshaw’s house in Cornwall, working on a commission. Renowned photographer Rockshaw is temporarily in New York and, unbeknownst to his wife Elise, is involved in a tense relationship with a young student. While Hugh struggles to find inspiration, peace and some sense of direction, the family life of the always supportive Elise crumbles around them. They both find it difficult to connect with their teenage children and they are all unsure what they want from life anymore. Paradoxically, it is another teenager, Jonah, who helps Hugh to start seeing things from a different perspective.
I like the fact that Watkins describes the more unpleasant side of art – the swollen knuckles, the commercial aspect, the lack of inspiration and the inevitable frustration. None of the characters is happy or comfortable in their own skin, and some are trying to adapt to it like wearing a suit they don’t like. Everybody is trying to find a way out, but where to? None of the themes is new. Man’s search for a meaning for life, and the desire to create and transcend our own limitations have been discussed since the dawn of time, but Daniel Watkins makes these wonderfully human in a way that the reader can relate to. Some characters might be stereotypical, but their dialogues are not. It does not try to provide any fundamental answers and, for such deep themes and troubled people, the ending could not possibly fall into place too neatly. I wouldn't say that Portrait of a Landscape gave me a joyful fulfilled feeling, but rather a restless one; however, once I picked this book up I couldn’t let go. I highly recommend it.
Recommend this book:
Unpredictable Webs
Darlene Quinn
2013 Gold Medal
447 Pages
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Fiction - General
Reviewed by Kristie Ingerto for Readers' Favorite
There is a new Darlene Quinn book out in her Webs series and it is one you will not want to miss out on! “Unpredictable Webs” draws the reader back into the retail and fashion world as well as the lives of Ashleigh and Conrad and their twin daughters Callie and Cassie/Marnie. The book picks up in the series five years after Marnie is returned to her birth parents. Marnie is a rebellious teenager and has had difficulty adjusting to her family as they are not the family she grew up with as a child and finds it hard to fit in with the perfect twin sister. Marnie believes that she has met a friend online and comes to trust him – to trust him enough to meet him. However, Marnie learns too late that her friend is not who she believes him to be and she is caught in a sinister plan.
This book is a fast-paced exciting read that immediately draws the reader back into the characters’ lives. They are characters who are loved from Quinn’s previous novels. All the characters are so well-developed and so real in this book. It is easy to empathize with the characters, especially the mothers Erica and Ashleigh. I found myself trying to imagine how it would feel not to have my daughter, as Ashleigh felt for years, and how difficult it is for Erica not to have her daughter whom she raised as an infant and child. Quinn is a talented writer and storyteller who writes books filled with all the elements of great books – real characters, love, betrayal and suspense.
There is a new Darlene Quinn book out in her Webs series and it is one you will not want to miss out on! “Unpredictable Webs” draws the reader back into the retail and fashion world as well as the lives of Ashleigh and Conrad and their twin daughters Callie and Cassie/Marnie. The book picks up in the series five years after Marnie is returned to her birth parents. Marnie is a rebellious teenager and has had difficulty adjusting to her family as they are not the family she grew up with as a child and finds it hard to fit in with the perfect twin sister. Marnie believes that she has met a friend online and comes to trust him – to trust him enough to meet him. However, Marnie learns too late that her friend is not who she believes him to be and she is caught in a sinister plan.
This book is a fast-paced exciting read that immediately draws the reader back into the characters’ lives. They are characters who are loved from Quinn’s previous novels. All the characters are so well-developed and so real in this book. It is easy to empathize with the characters, especially the mothers Erica and Ashleigh. I found myself trying to imagine how it would feel not to have my daughter, as Ashleigh felt for years, and how difficult it is for Erica not to have her daughter whom she raised as an infant and child. Quinn is a talented writer and storyteller who writes books filled with all the elements of great books – real characters, love, betrayal and suspense.
Recommend this book:
Deed So
Katharine A. Russell
2012 Silver Medal
440 Pages
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Fiction - General
Reviewed by Joy Hannabass for Readers' Favorite
Katharine Russell’s “Deed So” is an amazing fictional story about young Haddie as she tells about her life growing up in Maryland in the 1960’s. Haddie is just at the coming of age stage, and like most people her age, she wants to leave her hometown and find out what big city life is like. But city life wasn’t to be for Haddie because her little hometown all of a sudden erupts at the seams, taking Haddie and the rest of its residents on a journey they never expected. A young black teen was killed by a white man. It was witnessed by Haddie, which placed her as a witness at the trial. This causes total chaos and builds tension between blacks and whites in the backdrop of the racial violence that was so evident in the 1960s. All the while Haddie was going through the usual things a young girl faces including her wild crush on older guy Gideon, who already had a girlfriend! And then Gideon ends up going to Vietnam, coming home wounded, and with secrets that would surprise everyone in their community. Haddie’s story is one that will stay with you for a long time after you finish reading the book.
“Deed So” is a well-written, delightful book to read about life in the 1960s. Having been around Haddie's age at that time, I thoroughly enjoyed reflecting back to that special time in my life and the life of my family. The historical details came to life for me as Kath Russell describes so vividly a lot of the things that were happening around the world during that time. I felt as if I was there living those days again. I fell in love with Haddie from the beginning, and I was so engrossed in the book that I couldn’t put it down until the last page. The other characters are so real and life-like that I felt they were real friends by the end of the book.
I highly recommend this book for your enjoyment. And if you were growing up in that era in history, this is a must read for you!
Katharine Russell’s “Deed So” is an amazing fictional story about young Haddie as she tells about her life growing up in Maryland in the 1960’s. Haddie is just at the coming of age stage, and like most people her age, she wants to leave her hometown and find out what big city life is like. But city life wasn’t to be for Haddie because her little hometown all of a sudden erupts at the seams, taking Haddie and the rest of its residents on a journey they never expected. A young black teen was killed by a white man. It was witnessed by Haddie, which placed her as a witness at the trial. This causes total chaos and builds tension between blacks and whites in the backdrop of the racial violence that was so evident in the 1960s. All the while Haddie was going through the usual things a young girl faces including her wild crush on older guy Gideon, who already had a girlfriend! And then Gideon ends up going to Vietnam, coming home wounded, and with secrets that would surprise everyone in their community. Haddie’s story is one that will stay with you for a long time after you finish reading the book.
“Deed So” is a well-written, delightful book to read about life in the 1960s. Having been around Haddie's age at that time, I thoroughly enjoyed reflecting back to that special time in my life and the life of my family. The historical details came to life for me as Kath Russell describes so vividly a lot of the things that were happening around the world during that time. I felt as if I was there living those days again. I fell in love with Haddie from the beginning, and I was so engrossed in the book that I couldn’t put it down until the last page. The other characters are so real and life-like that I felt they were real friends by the end of the book.
I highly recommend this book for your enjoyment. And if you were growing up in that era in history, this is a must read for you!
Recommend this book:
The Missing Element
A James Becker Mystery
John L. Betcher
2012 Finalist
272 Pages
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Fiction - General
Reviewed by Bob MacKenzie for Readers' Favorite
While this tale hinges partly on 21st Century technology, the style and substance is very old fashioned, reading not so much like John Gresham or Tom Clancy as Raymond Chandler or Mickey Spillane with just a dash of Nick and Nora Charles thrown in. A description of the story could sound rather boring. In the quiet town of Red Wing, Minnesota, the cop's wife's best friend has disappeared, leaving behind a note for her husband that their marriage is over. The cop, having little time for this, asks a lawyer friend of his to look into it. That could be the whole story. However, the missing woman is one of the highest qualified computer programmers in the world. In a former life, the lawyer had been top international spy for U.S. military intelligence. The lawyer's wife is a former CIA operative and code-cracker still doing contract decoding for the agency. Soon, people start getting violently threatened or killed. Life in Red Wing has become an adventure!
The characters in this story are thinly drawn, as is often the case in detective fiction, yet they walk just this side of the line between stereotype and stark realism, becoming intriguing individuals almost in spite of themselves. Central to the story, James "call me Beck" Becker and his wife Beth especially stand out and become real to the reader, but others become real the more they are on stage. Like the plot and the pacing, the development of characters in this novel is quite masterful. "The Missing Element" has the pace of "The Big Sleep" or perhaps of any Elmore Leonard novel you could name and has its share of quirky characters and cliffhanger moments to keep your eyes locked on its pages until the very end.
I am very impressed with this novel and with the author's skills as a storyteller. The story is gripping and at times intense. I would recommend "The Missing Element" to anyone as a great, fast-paced read.
While this tale hinges partly on 21st Century technology, the style and substance is very old fashioned, reading not so much like John Gresham or Tom Clancy as Raymond Chandler or Mickey Spillane with just a dash of Nick and Nora Charles thrown in. A description of the story could sound rather boring. In the quiet town of Red Wing, Minnesota, the cop's wife's best friend has disappeared, leaving behind a note for her husband that their marriage is over. The cop, having little time for this, asks a lawyer friend of his to look into it. That could be the whole story. However, the missing woman is one of the highest qualified computer programmers in the world. In a former life, the lawyer had been top international spy for U.S. military intelligence. The lawyer's wife is a former CIA operative and code-cracker still doing contract decoding for the agency. Soon, people start getting violently threatened or killed. Life in Red Wing has become an adventure!
The characters in this story are thinly drawn, as is often the case in detective fiction, yet they walk just this side of the line between stereotype and stark realism, becoming intriguing individuals almost in spite of themselves. Central to the story, James "call me Beck" Becker and his wife Beth especially stand out and become real to the reader, but others become real the more they are on stage. Like the plot and the pacing, the development of characters in this novel is quite masterful. "The Missing Element" has the pace of "The Big Sleep" or perhaps of any Elmore Leonard novel you could name and has its share of quirky characters and cliffhanger moments to keep your eyes locked on its pages until the very end.
I am very impressed with this novel and with the author's skills as a storyteller. The story is gripping and at times intense. I would recommend "The Missing Element" to anyone as a great, fast-paced read.
Recommend this book:
Jane of the Jungle
Jane Baskin
2012 Honorable Mention
248 Pages
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Fiction - General
Reviewed by Molly Edwards for Readers' Favorite
Jane Baskin is a highly talented author. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting from this novel, but I got some good laughs and really had the wild ride-of-my-life with this interesting story. Ms. Baskin has done a wonderful job at creating a complex yet intriguing heroine with Jane and opens the story with a fun plot line. Jane is a character to be reckoned with. She is a widow, and has some rather unique talents. She talks to animals. Well so do I - just ask my adorable Cocker Spaniels - but she can ACTUALLY talk to the animals. It is kind of like a Doctor Doolittle-ette. And, did I mention that Jane can make buses fly? Well, she does. It is absolutely a fantastic part of the story, giving it a whirlwind action feel. On top of the flying buses and the animal talking, you get an adventurous comedy ride with mobsters and love, giving this book the perfect amount of everything: laughs, love, suspense. You name it, it is all incorporated into one heck of a great read.
Now, I'll be honest and say that if I had seen this on Amazon, or in a book store, I would not have picked it up on my own. I just wouldn't normally go for this book. But, in all honesty, I would have been missing out. The action, the writing style, the characters, all of it absolutely gripped me and didn't let me go. Jane is a character who will settle in my heart to stay, and I will cheer for awesomeness all the way.
I can definitely recommend this book with high flying 5 stars. It is a book that will keep you hooked and have you wanting to come back for more. Great job, Ms. Baskin!
Jane Baskin is a highly talented author. I'm not quite sure what I was expecting from this novel, but I got some good laughs and really had the wild ride-of-my-life with this interesting story. Ms. Baskin has done a wonderful job at creating a complex yet intriguing heroine with Jane and opens the story with a fun plot line. Jane is a character to be reckoned with. She is a widow, and has some rather unique talents. She talks to animals. Well so do I - just ask my adorable Cocker Spaniels - but she can ACTUALLY talk to the animals. It is kind of like a Doctor Doolittle-ette. And, did I mention that Jane can make buses fly? Well, she does. It is absolutely a fantastic part of the story, giving it a whirlwind action feel. On top of the flying buses and the animal talking, you get an adventurous comedy ride with mobsters and love, giving this book the perfect amount of everything: laughs, love, suspense. You name it, it is all incorporated into one heck of a great read.
Now, I'll be honest and say that if I had seen this on Amazon, or in a book store, I would not have picked it up on my own. I just wouldn't normally go for this book. But, in all honesty, I would have been missing out. The action, the writing style, the characters, all of it absolutely gripped me and didn't let me go. Jane is a character who will settle in my heart to stay, and I will cheer for awesomeness all the way.
I can definitely recommend this book with high flying 5 stars. It is a book that will keep you hooked and have you wanting to come back for more. Great job, Ms. Baskin!
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