MBR: Reviewer's Bookwatch, April 2014
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Reviewer's Bookwatch

Volume 14, Number 4 April 2014 Home | RBW Index

Table of Contents

Reviewer's Choice Ann's Bookshelf Buhle's Bookshelf Carson's Bookshelf Cheri's Bookshelf Gail's Bookshelf Gary's Bookshelf Gloria's Bookshelf Gorden's Bookshelf Janet's Bookshelf Julie's Bookshelf Margaret's Bookshelf Mason's Bookshelf Molly's Bookshelf Paul's Bookshelf Peggy's Bookshelf Sandra's Bookshelf Susan's Bookshelf Teri's Bookshelf Theodore's Bookshelf

Reviewer's Choice

The Albino Redwoods (The Redwoods series)

Heather Nelson

Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

B00GFDHUOU, $2.99, www.amazon.com

Mary Crocco, Reviewer

mrc-bookreviewer.blogspot.com

Bullying and Discrimination

In a post-apocalyptic word of albinos, a mature seventeen year old girl, Joanne, bullied and discriminated against because of her pigmented skin, tries to make the best out of her life.

In high school, Joanne mistakenly falls for a cruel and deceitful albino, Grey, who tricks her for his own devious pleasure. The situation forces Joanne to remember what her father taught her before he died - to be proud and demand justice.

While taking care of her dying mother, Joanne tries to pull herself together, finish school, and keep her job. In the meantime, Grey is relentless. However, a silver lining appears when she unexpectedly meets Grey's brother, Jem. Joanne's life takes a surprise turn for the better.

Twists and turns throughout The Albino Redwoods by Heather Nelson create an enjoyable and unpredictable read for all ages. It may generate discussions about bullying and discrimination.

Killing Jesus

Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard

Henry Holt & Company LLC

175 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10010

9780805098549, $28.00 hc / $6.49 Kindle, www.amazon.com

K. Anne

Reviewer

If you know Bill O'Reilly from Fox News, you will be able to hear him talking throughout this book. He definitely writes like he talks. Whether that is good or bad, I leave up to you. This is one of three books the pair (O'Reilly and Dugard) collaborated on. The other two are Killing Kennedy (which was made into a tv movie) and Killing Lincoln. So far, I have only read Killing Jesus. As O'Reilly has stated on his show, this is a historical book, not a theology book. Although he felt inspired by the Holy Spirit to write this book, it is not intended to inspire but to inform, and that it does. The reader travels back in time to the period when Jesus lived. Geographical and cultural references deliver images to the mind's eye that are both beautiful and horrible. I realize that the book is entitled, Killing Jesus, so I should have been prepared for the graphic horrors of that time but I was hoping those details wouldn't be so....... detailed. This book is not for the faint of heart. Not only does the book describe Jesus' crucifixion but also the common tortures of that time period and then the debauchery of the Kings and other men in power. Certain things about these leaders I didn't need or want to know. I received an education I could have done without. Unfortunately, I cannot "unknow" these things. Thanks Bill.

Ok, onto what I did like about this book. The politics behind Jesus' arrest and killing are explained far better than any other book I have read on the subject, including the Bible. Being a historical book, the authors made fervent effort to produce an accurate account of who was governing and the circumstances that might have drove them to make fateful decisions. Most of us read Bible stories, in Sunday school, about a wonderful man named Jesus. We learned about His kindness, His miracles and wondered why those "bad guys" killed Him. If you were perplexed by that quandary, you won't be after reading this book. It is clear that Jesus was a maverick who made those in power feel threatened. Possibly losing their power, status and funds made them desperate to extinguish the threat and they felt unfettered do so by any means. The book ends where the facts end and faith begins. The facts of Jesus' life and death are not disputed among the erudite scholars. It is only the resurrection that is disputed and whether or not He was the Son of God. Historians of all faiths or no faiths do not argue that Jesus lived, preached, was very popular, stirred up turmoil and died on the cross. The arguments are about what happened to His body after burial and whether or not He rose. Some claim that His body was stolen or He just "swooned" and did not actually die on the cross. In either case, this book does not go there. It is strictly a factual history book detailing indisputable facts. Therefore, people of all faiths or no faith at all can read this book without getting "bent out of shape".

I recommend this book.

The Four Kings

Scott Spotson

Solstice Publishing

P.O. Box 460455, Denver, CO 80246

9781493535644, Paper $12.65, Kindle $2.99, www.amazon.com

Michael Thal, Reviewer

www.michaelthal.com

Political Fantasy

The U.S. presidency is shrouded in scandal. The world economy is in depression, and India and Pakistan are on the brink of a nuclear exchange. In the midst of the crisis four young adults materialize in the Oval Office and announce, "We are the Liberators!"

Thus begins Scott Spotson's political fantasy, The Four Kings. This 492-page epic novel is about a race of wizards taking over our world to implement needed changes. From the Mortals (that's us) they choose Amanda Fullerton as their Supreme Liaison.

A committee of four takes control of each continent destroying the nation-state paradigm over night. World government and economy are now in the hands of the Wizards where coins and bills are replaced by "bitcoins" and taxes are abolished. Each continental team of wizards appoints its own Supreme Liaison to act as emissary between the Wizards and the Mortals.

Through Amanda's point of view, Spotson's political fantasy about Justica, Demus, Regi, and Indie - the four wizards of North America - is perceived. Their ruling style can be seen by the masses on special days called Game Day, Debate Day, and Petition Day. As Supreme Liaison, Amanda has the challenging job of communicating wizard intent to the "liberated" population and Mortal concerns to their new rulers. Thrown into the mix is a love triangle between Amanda and the two male wizards and Amanda's loyalty to her conquered people as she connives to uncover the Wizard Achilles heel.

The Four Kings is a novel with non-stop excitement that keeps coming until its rewarding climax. The only negative about this page-turner is that it ended.

5 Stars

The Genie Who Had Wishes of His Own: 21st-Century Fables

Margaret Harmon

www.margaretharmon.com

Plowshare Media

P.O. Box 278, La Jolla, CA 92038

www.plowsharemedia.com

9780982114582, $13.95 (PB), 226pp, www.amazon.com

Beth Wolfensberger Singer

Reviewer

Twenty-two rich confections await the reader in this lovingly constructed collection of fables for the world as we know it. If you're looking for food for thought, here's your banquet, and it's nourishing fare for discussion, too. With humor and wisdom and a careful eye for detail, Harmon has spun scenario after scenario that will illuminate many journeys, especially the path of the creative soul. A sweet book that would make a sweet gift for your thinker friends, served in bite-size pieces for our busy lives.

Fighting Down into the Kingdom of Dreams

Robin Wyatt Dunn

John Ott

1625 Hillside Dr., Fallbrook, CA 92028

9781940830025, $15.00, paperback, 312 pages

9781940830032, $8.00, ebook

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20511110-fighting-down-into-the-kingdom-of-dreams

https://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/78171-fighting-down-into-the-kingdom-of-dreams

Victoria Irwin, Reviewer

Geek Girls

www.thegeekgirlproject.com

Fighting Down Into the Kingdom of Dreams is the latest book from writer Robin Wyatt Dunn. The story follows Hrothbert, a former priest who has started to fight his way down and destroy a monster known as The Wight. Told by the Hrudu Man, who often takes the form of a giant rabbit, a strange narrative of speaking rats, an alternate New York city and a corrupt former king begins to unfold for the reader. The story twists and turns, with fish men, The Hierophant and elaborate plots that seem to only slightly be resolved.

Fighting Down Into the Kingdom of Dreams is much like it's name. Like a dream, the writing is poetic, transporting the reader from place to place, image to image. However, also like a dream many times the sequences make little to no sense and jumps around. I found myself having to reread many passages just to make sure I had the information correct. Towards the end, I finally just gave up trying to keep it all straight in my mind. This is not a book for those who wish to power through a lazy read on a Sunday afternoon; this is a book that one has to savor and digest in small portions, like an eight course meal at a fancy restaurant.

The downside to this book is that it is fairly easy to get lost while reading the story. Characters appear in a semi random order, and disappear just as quickly. Answers always seem about two steps away from the reader's grasp, and like the proverbial carrot and stick, the reader finds themselves being alluded by the concept. Dunn chooses to focus on concepts, such as what war does to an individual and a nation. My particularly favorite line had to do with employment, declaring, "Management takes love, because without love management would kill their employees."

The book is beautifully written and charming, but requires the reader to let go of control and embrace the flow of the words and imagery. This is a book for poets; not a book for control freaks.

Winning Fantasy Baseball: Secret Strategies of a Nine-Time National Champion

Larry Schechter

Emerald Book Company

c/o Greenleaf Book Group LLC

PO Box 91869, Austin, TX 78709

512.891.6100; 800.932.5420; Fax: 512.891.6150

www.winningfantasybaseballthebook.com

9781937110574, $19.95, 360pp, www.amazon.com

Also available Kindle, Nook, iTunes

Steve Gardner

Reviewer & Senior Fantasy Editor

USA Today

The upcoming season brings a renewed sense of optimism to any baseball fan. Perhaps this will be the year our favorite team brings home a championship.

It's that way for fantasy baseball players as well. The season begins with a blank slate. And even in keeper leagues where some of the players carry over from last year, it all begins with every team tied for first place.

From there, it's up to each individual owner to find the best path to a championship.

Larry Schechter, arguably the most successful fantasy baseball player in the country, has written a book that provides an in-depth, behind-the-scenes look at just how he's been able to win seven experts league titles and two national competitions in the past 12 years.

The book is appropriately titled Winning Fantasy Baseball because that's what he does. He wins ... more often than just about anyone else.

But take note: the book is not called "playing" fantasy baseball. There is a big difference.

Though Schechter says the book is written for players of all skill levels - and it does include a section on the basic concepts of the game that experienced players can easily skip - the emphasis is clearly on the "winning."

He goes step-by-step through his preseason preparations, from projecting player statistics to calculating their values to formulating a draft strategy to leveraging the trade and free agent markets.

Along the way, Schechter also reveals some of the tricks of the trade that even veteran fantasy owners may not realize. (One example: Calculating separate inflation rates for hitters and pitchers in keeper leagues to more accurately gauge their draft values.)

Undoubtedly, some of his fellow competitors in the LABR and Tout Wars experts leagues (both of which he won in 2013) will use the knowledge to their advantage, but in the end it may not make much difference at all.

He's THAT good.

What readers of this book will want to know is whether or not they can be THAT good in their leagues. The answer is an emphatic yes. But the main takeaway from Winning Fantasy Baseball is that achieving success requires a significant commitment.

It all begins with projecting player values. Schechter encourages fantasy owners to compose their own projections for every player in the pool. While it's not an iron-clad requirement (an average of several trustworthy sources will work as well), any outside factors that may affect a player's fantasy value -- such as injury history or park factor -- can be built into the projections from the very beginning.

The second step is converting those projections into a player value. It doesn't matter whether you use an auction or a straight draft or play in a keeper or single-season league. Each player will have a specific value.

In one of the book's more polarizing statements, Schechter argues that there's no such thing as position scarcity. Therefore, there's no reason to pay more for a player or draft him earlier just because of the position he plays. (One caveat: the lack of depth and irregularity of playing time among catchers does require a slight adjustment.)

Where Schechter gets his edge is in the precise accuracy of his player values, which he trusts implicitly, even down to a fraction of a dollar. If the auction reaches $21 on a player he has valued at $20.8, he won't bid.

The main objective, Schechter says, is to get as much excess value as possible out of your roster. For him, a draft isn't successful unless he has at least $300 worth of stats out of his $260 draft budget. He'll even pass on some significant bargains during the draft because he's confident he can get an even bigger one later on.

For me, that was the biggest revelation. If you have confidence in your values, you'll be willing to wait for the right mix of players - even if it seems as though pitching is being overvalued or all the good power hitters have suddenly become scarce. Since there's a finite collection of stats in the player pool, the owners who overpay to acquire those stats will always lose out to those who get more, less-expensive stats.

Where I end up disagreeing with him is how accurately anyone can determine what those stats will be. Is a $21.3 player really worth more than a $20.8 player? Schechter says yes - and adding up all that incremental value is how he gets his edge on everyone else at the draft table.

Based on the results and the number of championships he has won, it's hard to say he's wrong.

The greatest issue for an average fantasy owner is the willingness to make a commitment to Winning Fantasy Baseball. If the will is there, Schechter's book provides a clear blueprint to building a championship-caliber squad.

In a manner-of-fact style, Schechter explains exactly why he does things the way he does. He provides the charts and calculations to prove his points. He downplays his understanding of higher-level math and sabermetrics, but isn't afraid to use those concepts to make his strategy work.

On the other hand, if playing fantasy baseball just for the fun of kicking back with a couple beers on draft night and following your favorite players during the season is what's most important, then you'll just have to be content watching Schechter's followers take home the trophy.

As a fellow LABR participant, I have first-hand experience of how well his system works. If you need more proof, just ask the other owners in AL Tout Wars, where he's won the last three titles.

If you're serious about winning your league, Larry Schechter's Winning Fantasy Baseball: Secret Strategies of a Nine-Time National Champion should be an essential element in your preseason preparation.

Science and Religion: Reconciling the Conflicts

David M. Barker

Tate Publishing & Enterprises

127 East Trade Center Terrace, Mustang, OK 73064

www.tatepublishing.com

9781625103796, $29.99, 523 pages

Dave S. Collingridge, PhD

Reviewer

In the same spirit of reconciliation as Francis S. Collins and the late Stephen J. Gould, Mr. Barker shows how to reconcile science and religion's seemingly incommensurate beliefs. This book is especially relevant to Christians looking for a well-thought-out approach to reconciling traditional Biblical views with modern scientific discoveries. Abundant scientific information on dating, evolution, and other topics typically at odds with religious views are presented. Barker offers reasonable critiques and ways to interpret scientific findings without doing injury to traditional religious views - food for thought even if you don't accept all his views. The book is well-written, researched, and presented in a non-dogmatic fashion. Highly recommended for people interested in science and religion.

Listen To The Whisper

David Sample

www.davidleesample.com

Balboa Press

c/o Hay House, Inc.

PO Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018-5100

www.balboapress.com www.davidleesample.com

9781452582733, $8.00 (PB), $21.00 (HC), $3.99 (Kindle), 108pp, www.amazon.com

Reviewer yet to be named.

TriCountySentry.com

David Sample captures the promise and truth of life in his new collection of free verse and lyrical poetry, "Listen To The Whisper."

Inspired by his own life and faith in God, Sample pulls inspiration from his personal experiences, including his successes, failures and life-altering decisions, to create moving, thought-provoking poetry. Readers will be inspired and encouraged to reflect on their lives.

"Listen to the Whisper"captures the imagination and brings insight to anyone searching for peace within themselves. It is an emotional collection of poetry that contains pearls of wisdom and will guide those who seek to deepen their spiritual journey. Sample's book is truthfully written and heartfelt.

An excerpt from "Listen To The Whisper":

"No greater battle is waged and won

Than the one from within the man

Who struggles to free himself

From the chains of self-doubt"

Readers are already responding positively to "Listen To The Whisper." Jack McCall, founder of ACT Ministries, says, "David Sample's contribution to each of us through this book is no doubt inspired by God. I highly recommend that all of David's readers take time to listen to the whisper."

David Sample is a speaker, songwriter, singer, poet, author and sales guy. Through the arts, Sample opens the hearts of his audience to their full potential. A veteran of the Xerox Corporation and the Tom Peters Group, Sample knows the importance of discipline and heart in achieving extraordinary performance.

Readers can listen to or download Sample's music at www.davidleesample.com

Silk Armor

Claire Sydenham

Old Harbour Press

Greenville, North Carolina

9780615774749, $10.49, 318 pp., www.oldharbourpress.com

Marilyse Figueroa, Reviewer

World Literature Today

In the town of Eski?ehir, Turkey, fate is called kismet. In Silk Armor, debut novelist Claire Sydenham never lets her readers forget that it is the unseen force of kismet pushing her characters into the individuals they are destined to become. In this twisting tale of destiny, secrets, and growth, Sydenham's narrator - named Claire - is an ex-pat university English teacher working in Turkey. Claire expected to spend a year discovering a Turkey without complications. However, she finds herself involved in a secret affair between a coworker, Victor, and Didem, one of her students. Much of the story reveals itself in Claire and Victor's trip back to the United States. Claire appears to know many of the obvious facts about their relationship, but she probes Victor for answers about another female student - Sevgi, Didem's childhood friend from the village of Karaagac - who suddenly disappears.

The plot seems simplistic at the outset of the novel, because Claire has not yet discovered all the information. However, each twist and turn will take the reader into a deeper understanding of the kismet that ties all the characters together. Claire's search to find Sevgi's whereabouts opens a well of secrets, creating tension and desire in the reader to discover the truth along with Claire, who reluctantly must partake in the search. The search proves to be the most important part of the story as Claire realizes that each person has made "mistakes - fated mistakes."

A Western reader will find a familiar guide in Claire as they discover Turkey and its people alongside her. A Turkish reader will understand this familiar story of rebellion against family and traditions. Special attention is paid to the deeply symbolic veil that is a prominent motif in the novel. Because the details about Turkey are told through the perspective of an outsider, the feeling of being veiled and protected from real life is potent in the story. Both men and women, whether they look towards home in the East or the West, will be able to discern the power of the veil to cover and to protect. However, Silk Armor does not seek to question the validity of tradition or to compare differing cultures. Sydenham's power of crafting characters that walk the pages as individuals with their own thickly layered struggles - calling to mind the Turkish proverb, "One who is drenched does not fear the rain" - is compelling enough to make readers turn inside to the truths within themselves.

College Freshman 101

Brenda Faye Collie

Daylight Books

PO Box 1105, New York, NY 10040

www.daylightbooks.net

Atlas Books (Bookmasters, Inc.)

9780984022021, $9.99, 276pp, www.amazon.com

Ellen Feld, Reviewer

Feathered Quill Book Reviews

When College Freshman 101 arrived at Feathered Quill I was excited to see it and grabbed it for my review stack. Back in 2011, I had read the first book in this planned trilogy, Almost A Senior, and found it a very enjoyable read. I was eager to learn what happens to the protagonist, Loresha Evans, as she embarks on her college adventure.

We first met Loresha when she was a junior in high school, in Almost A Senior. Loresha, a young woman growing up in Harlem, might have been marked for failure by many, but they didn't know how strong she was, nor how determined she was to get what she wanted. She knew that graduating from high school was necessary to set her on the path to reach her dream of going to college, and so, throughout the first book, we follow Loresha as she struggles, and

prevails.

Now, in College Freshman 101, we catch up with Loresha once again, this time as she prepares to leave the streets of Harlem for the lush, green grounds of a beautiful college in Massachusetts. Saying good-bye to her family and friends, Loresha makes the several hour trip to her new home, at Jackson College, where everybody seems to fit in except her. The first thing that Loresha notices is that the school is predominately white. Will Loresha find a place at her new school?

Loresha's roommate, Cookie, starts off by annoying her without even trying-'Loresha' seems too long a name so Cookie calls her 'Lori' and when that doesn't work, 'Whatever' seems to be the new name. Loresha is unhappy to say the least, but when she ventures outside she spots "Another Black student...maybe I would make it here after all."

Loresha soon finds several friends among the small Black and minority population at school. Eager to fit in, she goes along with them as they steal money from the library's copier machines. Loresha is hesitant to go along, but when the others in the group encourage her with lines such as, "we're not stealing. We're on financial aid," she gives in and acts as a decoy while others take the money. while Loresha makes some bad choices, she also makes some decisions that show she is maturing. Anxious to earn some money, she takes on a work-study job recording the life stories of Black people working in the area. And while she does party hard, she also is quite serious about studying. That determination to get good grades is also what leads her to a tutor. Walek Simms, a handsome graduate student. Loresha is immediately drawn to the young man, but is he falling in love too or just using her?

Told in the first person by Loresha, I was instantly drawn into College Freshman 101. While I honestly can't relate to the trials that Loresha was going through because our backgrounds are vastly different, the author did such a good job of writing a well-fleshed out main character, that I truly was interested in Loresha's life. When she helped steal the copier money, I found myself cringing, hoping that she would see the mistake she was making. Other characters, too,were well crafted-I particularly liked the way Loresha's relationship with her roommate Cookie changed over time. And while the new college student fell for the hunky graduate student's claims of everlasting love, many readers will undoubtedly scream at Loresha not to fall for his sweet talk. While there were a few spots where the dialogue was a bit strained, overall it was a very satisfying read and I truly enjoyed catching up with Loresha. I look forward to meeting Loresha again in the final book in this enjoyable trilogy.

Quill says: New friends, life lessons, heartache and joy await Loresha as she embarks on her first semester of college. It's a journey she won't soon forget, and I suspect that for the reader, the story will also linger long after the last page is read.

Ann's Bookshelf

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

Elizabeth Kolbert

Bloomsbury

9781408851210, A$29.99, 319 pages

Henry Holt & Company

175 Fifth Avenue, Suite 400, New York, NY 10010-7725

9780805092998, $28.00, 336pp, www.amazon.com

We have 'Save the Whales', 'Save the Rhinos', 'Save the Sharks' - but what about 'Save the Frogs'?

As Elizabeth Kolbert begins her book she is in a market in the town of El Valle de Anton in Panama. It has, she says, "what must be the largest selection of golden frog figurines in the world", because, here, the golden frog is a lucky symbol. Once, there were thousands and thousands of golden frogs in the El Valle area but by 2002 they had all disappeared. Scientists who decided to capture and breed a few in captivity were too late. It quickly became apparent that the golden frog and amphibians of all kinds were disappearing rapidly, not just in South America but also in Central America, Costa Rica, Australia and many other places, too. The culprit was found to be a chytrid fungus which lives on the animal's skin and interferes with its metabolism.

The golden frog and many other amphibian species are now extinct in the wild and amphibians are currently the world's most endangered species. Should that worry us? Yes, says Kolbert. Extinction takes place very rarely in geological time and usually very slowly. Sudden mass extinction, such as that which is currently happening to amphibians, and, worryingly, to other species such as reef-building corals, fresh-water molluscs, rays and sharks and some species of mammal, is usually associated with a sudden change in the environment caused by a catastrophe of some kind. So, what is happening?

One major factor cited by Kolbert is "intercontinental reshuffling" - the ease with which animals and organisms are transported around the world. Recent concern about the spread of the SARS virus is one example of the danger this poses. But there are other things which are changing the environment. And who is responsible for this? "One weedy species": Us.

Having pointed the finger, Kolbert digresses into an interesting history of the way in which the concept of extinction came about. Not until the eighteenth century was there any idea that a species might die out. Huge fossilised bones were found and studied in America in 1739 and they were argued over for years, but it was assumed that the animal from which they came was "still out there somewhere". Not until Frenchman, George Cuvier, made a close study of as many of these huge bones as he could collect did the idea of a vanished species arise. In 1800, Cuvier determined that there were at least four species of animal that no longer existed, but he argued with Jean Baptiste Lamarck as to whether these animals were a separate species or were creatures which had 'transformed' (evolved) into animals which currently existed.

Kolbert follows this argument through, introducing seminal figures in the debate, such as Charles Lyell, whose Principles of Geology strongly influenced Charles Darwin. She also discusses those who proposed and argued over various theories about the cause of mass extinctions. And she brings the arguments up-to-date by visiting places where important discoveries have been made and talking to scientists, ecologists, geologists, conservationists, and others whose current work adds to the debate. Her style is journalistic, which makes for easy reading. But her habit of introducing each person by their physical attributes gets rather wearing: x is lanky, long faced, with bushy eyebrows; y wears a silver ear-ring in each ear and has a large tattoo; z has curly brown hair and a boyish smile; and so on.

Five mass extinctions are know and Kolbert discusses each of them. This current 'Sixth Extinction' (as she has called it) is, like the others, put down to sudden change, caused, not as earlier mass extinctions apparently were by an asteroid strike or a massive volcanic eruption but by our disruption of the Earth's biological and geochemical systems.

Can we stop it? Halfway through this book, reading of the first appearance of homo sapiens and our supposed culpability in the extinction of the Megafauna and also of our close relatives, the Neanderthals, ten thousand years ago, and reading of our continuing responsibility for the loss of various species of birds, bats, trees etc., I began to find the book depressing. Kolbert, however, is not a doom-monger. She pins her hope on "our restlessness, our creativity, our ability to co-operate to solve problems and complete complicated tasks". But at the same time she believes that we are now at the point of "deciding, without quite meaning to, which evolutionary pathways will remain open and which will forever be closed".

Kolbert's accounts of her travels, her descriptions of specific events and of particular animals and historical developments, are all good reading. The overall message, however, is clear: the Sixth Extinction is ongoing and it will change our world. Whether we will survive or not we don't know, but we should heed the warning of ecologist Paul Ehrlich, who wrote that "in pushing other species to extinction, humanity is busy sawing off the limb on which it perches'.

The Wives of Los Alamos

TaraShea Nesbit

Bloomsbury

9781408847824, A$29.99, 230 pages

Bloomsbury Press USA

175 Fifth Avenue, Suite 315, New York, NY 10010

www.bloomsbury.com

9781620405031, $25.00, 240pp, www.amazon.com

In 1943, nuclear physicist, J Robert Oppenheimer, was given the task of establishing a secret bomb-development laboratory in a remote, isolated location in America. He chose a Ranch School in Los Alamos, New Mexico, which the American government acquired for the purpose, and he set about recruiting a staff of highly qualified scientists.

Most of the scientists were men, most were married and their families were allowed to join them. Some were American, some British and some had been born in countries which were then being ravaged by war. To begin with, none of them knew exactly where they were going or what to expect when they got there.

For the men, the work was challenging and intensive and the hours were long, but they had a goal and a reason for being there. For their wives, the move meant an almost complete loss of identity and purpose. They left their homes, jobs, parents, family, friends, their social networks and connections, to move, initially, to an unknown location. They could not even tell their children where they were going, because they did not know themselves until they got there. The only address they could give to anyone was P.O. Box 1663, Santa Fe. They arrived at a closely guarded, barbed-wire-surrounded area, where the small wooden buildings in which most of them were to live were still being built; where essential facilities like water and electricity were often restricted; and where all letters in and out were censored. For some of them, even their names were changed so that they sounded more American: Mrs Meuller became Mrs Miller.

The culture shock for all of them, and for their children, must have been immense and TaraShea Nesbit conveys vividly how they felt, what life was like for them, and how they adapted - or did not. Nesbit traces the women's lives from their first move to Los Alamos to their departure a few years later, and, briefly, what some of their lives were like in the following years. Her choice of the collective 'we' brings their experiences close, includes the reader in their lives, and makes everything feel personal. This style takes a little getting used to but it works well when she describes "our husbands", the difficulties "we" faced and the things "we" hated and loved, the new friendships "we" made, and the changes "we" saw in "our" children as they grew up. At times, however, it is awkward: "One night we found our husbands, or someone else's husband, sitting in the middle of the children's sand box...".

Oppenheimer and The General ((Leslie Groves), the scientists, the GI's (Los Alamos was a US Army establishment, although the scientists were civilians), the first detonation of the Atomic bomb - all these come alive in this book, so that the horrific news of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and its civilian populations is immensely moving. And the mixed reactions of "our husbands" to this news easily become part of our experience. Husbands, wives and, later on, grown-up children all respond to the development and use of the bomb in very different ways.

TaraShea Nesbit's imaginative empathy with the wives of Los Alamos and her skill in conveying their many experiences, thoughts and feelings makes this a remarkable and unusual first novel. She is certainly a writer to watch.

Terms & Conditions

Robert Glancy

Bloomsbury

9781408852217, A$29.99, 254 pages

Bloomsbury Press USA

175 Fifth Avenue, Suite 315, New York, NY 10010

www.bloomsbury.com

9781620406434, $26.00, 272pp, www.amazon.com

Because Terms & Conditions is all about reading the small print, it comes with a title and advertising material replete with small-print footnotes. None of these are as enlightening as the footnotes in the book itself, but they warn you what to expect. And if you are short-sighted you may need to read this book with a magnifying glass handy, as there are often footnotes to the footnotes to the footnotes and the typeface gets progressively smaller as these progress.

This gimmick is essentially part of the story, since Frank Shaw, our narrator, is a corporate lawyer who specialises in the small-print Terms & Conditions on legal contracts. He is, he tells us, on one of the bottom rungs of his business: "the legal equivalent of the guy who sweeps up the hair in a barber's shop".

Frank, however, is expert at his job, even after losing his memory in a car crash, so he is indispensable to his brother who runs the family law firm, even if he doesn't initially recognise him. Nor does he recognise the other person sitting by his hospital bedside who, it seems, is his "alleged wife".

Robert Glacey's debut novel is carefully plotted, fresh and amusing. Frank is understandably confused and the gradual return of his memory reveals more to him than the bare facts of his pre-accident life. He learns things about himself as the "Old Frank", and things about his family, which he finds surprising and enlightening. He sees that Oscar, his brother, is manipulative, evil and "the most corrupt lawyer in London"; that Alice, the "lovely, messy, chaotic girl" he fell in love with has become, in her own words "a brilliant HR expert and change-enabler" who, in Frank's words, no longer speaks plain English but is fluent in "corporate cant"; and that Malcolm, his younger brother who sends him quirky e-mails from exotic places, had the right idea when he said "Fuck it!" to becoming a partner in the firm and walked off into the blue.

All the characters are lightly drawn and Frank, himself, is wryly funny and likeable, so much so that when he eventually exacts his delightful and appropriate revenge you feel like cheering, even if he can't resist one final footnote as he walks off wishing everyone "the best of luck and lots of love" *

* terms and conditions apply.

Ann Skea, Reviewer

http://ann.skea.com

Buhle's Bookshelf

The Compleat Acupuncturist

Peter Eckman, M.D., Ph.D., M.AC.

Singing Dragon

c/o Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Inc.

400 Market Street, Suite 400

Philadelphia, PA 19106

9781848191983 $49.95 www.jkp.com

Acupuncture is an alternative medical practice that has existed for thousands of years, involving stimulation of specific points on the skin with needles, heat, pressure, or other mean. Full-time acupuncturist of 40 years' experience Peter Eckman presents The Compleat Acupuncturist: A Guide To Constitutional and Conditional Pulse Diagnosis, an in-depth resource about the history, clinical details, traditional and modern practice of acupuncture. The Compleat Acupuncturist covers both traditional Chinese acupuncture, and the lesser-known practice of korean Constitutional Acupuncture, based on the author's years of personal study. A handful of black-and-white diagrams, a glossary, and an index round out this "must-have" for any layperson or professional intrigued to learn more about this enduring, inexpensive, and popular form of treatment. Highly recommended, especially for alternative medicine reference shelves.

Tales from the Dry Side

Christine Molloy

Outskirts Press, Inc.

10940 South Parker Road, #515

Parker, CO 80134

9781478722090 $15.95 www.outskirtspress.com

Sjogren's syndrome is a chronic autoimmune (and therefore non-contagious) illness that affects moisture-producing glands in the human body. An estimated four million Americans have it, although it is difficult to diagnose; often the symptoms are incorrectly classified as psychosomatic. Tales from the Dry Side: The Personal Stories Behind Autoimmune Illness Sjogren's Syndrome gathers true-life testimonies of day-to-day life with Sjogren's syndrome, from thirteen different individuals who share their life story of the long journey to diagnosis and treatment. "I've found that Sjogren's has made me learn to choose the most important activities. I've learned that people are more important than things... I've learned sign language and I work with a deaf/blind woman at church. Somehow, helping someone who has different problems than you do provides perspective." Highly recommended, especially as inspiration or fortification for anyone personally affected by a chronic illness.

Broken Wing

Anna Klay

Privately Published

www.annaklaybooks.com

9781482586527 $9.99 pbk. / $2.99 Kindle www.amazon.com

Broken Wing is an original novel about the innately relentless cycle of domestic violence and abuse. Ray Long comes to the town of Pettington hoping to break free of horrific memories. He meets Skye Roosevelt, and believes his own lies denying the past. But the abuse Ray Long once suffered is still a part of him, and it gradually twists him into an abuser. Skye Roosevelt suffers an identity crisis as she struggled to protect herself and her son from Ray's inner demons. Is their any path to escape the endless, repeated suffering? Introspective and emotional, Broken Wing candidly portrays the harsh realities of deep physical and psychological wounds. Highly recommended.

Silent: The Power of Silence, revised edition

Gregory Nicholas Malouf

Epsilon Healing Academy Press

9780988863880 $23.95 www.epsilonhealingacademy.com

Silent: The Power of Silence is a self-help guide that blends both practical wisdom and a metaphysical understanding of the healing power of collective souls and spirits. Chapters speak of learning to connect with oneself (Socrates command to "Know thyself" is as relevant today as it was millennia ago), "The Three L Rule" (Learn to Give, Learn to Accept, and Learn to Love), the power of conscious creation - learning how to perceive a new reality and bring it about - and much more. The books title refers to the treasure that is silence, which enables one to contemplate, concentrate, or meditate. "When does your mind stop for an instant in time to do nothing, think no thoughts, and truly rest in solitude and silence? Resting your mind in nothingness rests your body. A well-rested body finds its path to passion and lives with energy and vitality. A mind free of conditioned responses is a mind living consciously in the present moment that is capable of thinking creatively." Silent: The Power of Silence is a welcome addition to New Age shelves about empowerment and personal growth.

The Devil's Playground

Cynthia Sens

iUniverse, Inc.

c/o Author House

1663 Liberty Dr. Suite #300

Bloomington, IN 47403

9781491711835 $15.95 www.iuniverse.com

Book One of the Sapphire Staff Series, The Devil's Playground is a contemporary mystery-thriller with an air of the supernatural. Genealogist Mel Taylor is caught between memories of previous life's struggles in World War II, and the hard times of 2011. Then Mel's friend Jospeh begs for help to find his missing son. The search will take Mel on a journey through a labyrinth of diabolical past memories and remorseless present-day evidence, leading him to a rogue Nazi scientist and a relic of unimaginable power, hidden somewhere within the cornfields of Iowa. Suspenseful to the very end, The Devil's Playground is a fresh twist on a captivating genre, highly recommended.

It's Raining Tonight

Eralides E. Cabrera

www.eralidesecabrera.com

AuthorHouse

1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200

Bloomington, IN 47403-5161

c/o Bohlsen Group (publicity)

9781477232507 $16.95 www.authorhouse.com

Practicing attorney Eralides E. Cabrera, who has lived in Cuba, Spain, and the U.S., presents It's Raining Tonight, an original novel about the obstacles and challenges of an interracial relationship. A young couple's love is tested by the difficulties of the modern world - from prejudice to economic hardship to differences in expectations, whether of each other or of society about them. A tale of courage, hope, and learning to work through mutual differences, It's Raining Tonight is a thoughtful, uplifting read.

Willis M. Buhle

Reviewer

Carson's Bookshelf

Teen Self Defense

Lieutenant Colonel Garry Klaus, USMC Ret.

AuthorHouse

1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200

Bloomington, IN 47403-5161

c/o Bohlsen Group (publicity)

9781491813508 $28.99 www.authorhouse.com

Retired marine Garry Klaus has studied martial arts under Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and American teachers since 1968. He shares his knowledge in Teen Self Defense, a handbook of self-defense techniques created especially to help teach teenagers and young adults. The techniques cover how to escape from holds and grapples, how to fight back when threatened with a gun or knife. Each technique is described at length, and illustrated with full-color photographs. Perhaps just as valuable is the practical-minded advice for remaining alert and aware of potential dangers during everyday life. "Be aware of your instincts! If a situation feels wrong, trust that feeling and leave! Sometimes this is nothing more than a feeling that something just is not right. Some people call it a sixth sense, others call it 'gut instinct'. Whatever you call it, it's usually a good idea to pay attention to it." Like all martial arts, Teen Self Defense needs to be practiced with partners, preferably under the guidance of a skilled teacher, for best effect; it's an excellent supplementary manual for self-defense courses.

One Man In His Time

William C. Prentiss

AuthorHouse

1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200

Bloomington, IN 47403-5161

9781491824634 $23.95 www.authorhouse.com

Thoroughly accessible to readers of all backgrounds, One Man In His Time is the memoir of a man who spent a great deal of his life learning and working to help others. Born in 1932 during the Great Depression, author William C. Prentiss' childhood overlapped with World War II, and his efforts to serve included duty to the United States Air Force, grassroots work with the 1972 presidential campaign of George McGovern, and his 1976 foundation of a program to help youths referred by the Orange County Juvenile Court. Dubbed Operation Comeback, this programs was chosen by President Ronald Regan for the prestigious honor of the Volunteer Action Award. Prentiss has worked to help troubled youth not only professionally, as a college-level instructor in the areas of Adolescent Psychology and Juvenile Delinquency, but also personally; he and his wife have taken in seven troubled young men over the course of years. One Man In His Time is a thoughtful, vivid, and candid life story, highly recommended.

A River Divides

Michael J. Roueche

Vesta House Publishing

9780983756767 $17.99 www.VestaHousePublishing.com

2012 Cooke Fiction Award-winning author Michael J. Roueche presents A River Divides, book two in the Beyond the Wood series. Set in 1864, during the last throes of the American Civil War, the story follows Confederate widow Betsy Henderson, and runaway slave William searching for freedom and the opportunity to fight for the Union. A complex narrative about conflicted individuals struggling to be true to themselves and their beliefs, despite the harsh realities surrounding their lives, A River Divides is a sober, thoughtful, and expertly researched Civil War novel. Highly recommended.

Four Corners

Cary Smith

Privately Published

c/o The Barrett Company

9781492204084 $9.89 pbk. / $5.99 Kindle www.amazon.com

Four Corners, or A Book That Will Tickle Your Intellectual Nipple is a no-holds-barred, sheer satirical look at daily life in high school. The author adopts the dubious persona of "Cary Smith" to narrate his tormentedly twisted narrative of pseudo-intellectual critics, frustrated dreams, overbearing peers, and highly crazed hyperbole. So real it must be grounded in personal experience, yet so wildly offbeat it can only come from a demented imagination, Four Corners resonates a chord with every reader who has suffered through the uncountable indignities of attempted to extract a secondary education, and is every bit as utterly unforgettable!

Michael J. Carson

Reviewer

Cheri's Bookshelf

Navigating the Bible: The 5-Minute Guide to Understanding God's Word (Illustrated Bible Handbook Series)

Christopher D. Hudson

Barbour Publishing Inc

1810 Barbour Drive Uhrichsville, OH 44683

9781624167546, $12.99, 288 Pages, www.amazon.com

We all struggle with reading the Bible. We as Christians want a clearer understanding and we know we should read it more but in frustration we give up feeling as a failure. We don't need to struggle anymore. "Navigating the Bible: The 5-Minute Guide to Understanding God's Word" is an outstanding compliment Bible handbook to our Bible reading. Broken down into five minute bites we can get a clearer picture and understanding of God's Word. We have all the information we need at our fingertips. We have an introduction, timeline, a who's who cast of characters and more. Most important to note is the five minute overviews making it perfect for devotional time. All this makes studying God's word fun and exciting no more frustrations!

Hudson has done an amazing job with this unique concise Bible handbook. With most study guides we deal with the same confusion as reading the Bible. "Navigating the Bible is perfectly laid out with no guessing what the Word has to say. This is by far the best Bible handbook ever written! Highly recommended for adults and teenagers with bright bold pictures there is no way to lose interest. Whether read alone or with the Bible this is a must have in any Christian home.

Heaven and Hell: Are They Real?

Christopher D. Hudson

Thomas Nelson Publishers

501 Nelson Place, Nashville, TN 37214

9781401680251, 288 Pages $12.99, paperback

B00GUTATIS, 277 Pages $7.99, digital, www.amazon.com

The belief of heaven and hell changes from person to person even from Christian to Christian. But here is the truth clearly to set the record straight. Not only do we learn if they exist but what we can expect. Whatever questions you may have the answers are here. The book is divided into two parts the first being on heaven. All our questions are answered such as what happens after death, what life will be like in heaven and what will heaven look like. In part two we learn about hell with answers to questions like is hell a choice, why there is a hell and what will hell be like.

Outstandingly written Hudson has included information from all the greats C.S. Lewis, Randy Alcorn, John McArthur, R. C. Sproul, God Himself plus many, many more. There is not a better book on the subject as you have all the information ever needed put into one book. Easy to read without the usual commentary lingo usually found on these subjects and concise being less than three hundred pages. Excellent study guide to read with your Bible to see what God says or read alone as an in depth look at heaven and hell. Highly recommend for teens and adults, Christian or non-Christian. Also would make an excellent ministry tool to reach the unsaved. This book is so outstanding it should be on every Christian's bookshelf but on their e-reader too to be referenced again and again.

Cheri Clay

Reviewer

Gail's Bookshelf

I've Never Been to Vegas, But My Luggage Has

Mandy Hale

Thomas Nelson Publishers

P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, Tennessee 37214

9781400205257, $15.99, www.thomasnelson.com

Author and blogger Mandy Hale, affectionately known as The Single Woman releases her second book, "I've Never Been to Vegas But My Luggage Has" March 11th. It's both a serious and humorous account of Mandy's "wrong turns, humiliating flops and painful breakups" that taught her life doesn't always work out as planned because "God has a greater plan at work."

She captures her take on the singles life with a dash of humor, sprinkles of wisdom and inspirational quotes on her blog and in her books. Due to her massive global presence on Facebook and Twitter Mandy has a "built-in" platform for anything she writes, from books to The Single Woman's blog. Not to mention more than a half million Twitter followers.

Mandy's Twitter handle @TheSingleWoman was voted one of the top ten Nashville Twitter handles by Nashville Business Journal, who also identified her as a "Woman of Influence." While the Huffington Post considers Mandy a "Twitter Passionista" with a voice of empowerment for women.

Yet it took a long road of self-discovery to become that woman where "the ashes of the girl" she once was became the "diamond" God intended her to be. Her journey would include a miraculous healing doctor's couldn't explain and a baptism "that penetrated her heart" unlike her first immersion.

That baptism spurred a newfound walk with God at a charismatic church where a prophetic minister called her forward and said, "I see you one day speaking into the lives of many young women." That was "a full decade" before "The Single Woman" came into being, writes Mandy.

Meanwhile dating gave her more questions than answers and prompted her to "kiss dating goodbye" for five years in favor of courtship where singles put romance on hold, "hang out in groups together and get to know one another as friends."

Mandy's fresh, sometimes sassy voice engages readers emotionally since many struggle with issues she writes about. From her poignant descriptions of loneliness to hopes being dashed when a current love interest doesn't meet expectations or struggles with anxiety and depression.

However, one of the best chapters, Mandy's abusive relationship experience, reveals the unrecognized danger and subtle development of abuse until it can no longer be ignored. This segment provides insight into the abuser as well as the abused and the courage it takes to walk away.

Mandy's vulnerability, genuine honesty and multiple "foot-in-mouth" experiences reveal her unique ability to laugh and continue in spite of embarrassing moments. Her words make it clear she's sold out to the Lord as she gives him credit for her success and talent to encourage and inspire single women.

For a two minute preview: I've Never Been to Vegas... in Mandy's own words.

Join Mandy's new release launch team and receive a free digital copy.

The Shepherd's Song: A Story of Second Chances

Betsy Duffey & Laurie Myers

Howard Books

c/o Simon & Schuster

216 Centerview Dr., Ste. 303, Nashville, TN 37027

http://imprints.simonandschuster.biz/howard

9781476738208, $19.99, www.amazon.com

The "Writing Sisters," Betsy Duffey and Laurie Myers, penned The Shepherd's Song, scheduled to release March 11th, around a prayer drenched Psalm from the Old Testament. It's an inspirational narrative of chance and change that "links lives and hearts with it's simple but beautiful message."

The story begins with Kate McConnell, a wife and mother who regains consciousness to hear the ambulance medic give a "critical assessment" of her vital signs to the emergency room doctors. In coming days newspapers would report Kate was part of the "worst traffic accident ever on I-95 between Washington D.C. and Baltimore," that involved "twenty-five cars, six semis and one bus."

Kate's last memory was "the sounds of breaking glass and crunching metal" then a "crushing pain in her chest and down her right leg" before she lost consciousness. When she came to in the ambulance she felt restraints on her wrists as blood pooled beneath her. The medic's calm transmission of vital signs made her wonder if she was going to die and she prayed, "Please, let my life count."

While the ambulance sped toward the hospital Kate remembered carefully copying Psalm 23 onto the scrap of paper she slipped into her son Matt's coat pocket, hoping he would read it. She had prayed long "over each phrase" she wrote, then had forgotten to take the paper from Matt's coat pocket when she left the coat to be cleaned.

That's what prompted her to go back. Kate couldn't know how God would use her carefully, prayerfully scripted words in the weeks ahead. Thus begins a story within stories of lives forever changed as Kate's handwritten scrap of paper travels around the globe. Through a narrative that begins with Kate and ends with Kate, her son Matt and husband, John among other brief narratives sandwiched in between.

Readers meet Chris, an employee of the cleaners who emptied Matt's coat pocket and read the first verse of Psalm 23 - I shall not want that brought the unexpected into his life. Then there's Private Johnson, a veteran in therapy with Doctor Mitchell, who's frozen in a life-changing moment of combat who reads the words from verse two - He makes me lie down in green pastures.

Or Nadia in Turkey, whose brother translated the Psalm as their family ran from the "horror of war." While the Haboob, a stinging sandstorm, adding meaning to verse three - He leads me beside still waters. These and many more richly drawn narratives reveal people powerfully changed by Kate's prayer filled words from the most beloved Psalm in the Bible.

Although the book is a quick read, the stories important message teaches God uses what might be considered our most insignificant words, gestures and actions to affect the lives of others. It might be as simple as smiling at a stranger, giving a tip of the hat or the wink of an eye. Or taking the time to make that phone call, fix a meal for someone or sending a card just to say, "I'm thinking of you." If you, like Kate, wonder whether your life has meaning "The Shepherd's Song" is a must read.

The Auschwitz Escape

Joel Rosenberg

Tyndale House Publishers

351 Executive Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188

9781414336244, $26.99, www.tyndale.com

The Auschwitz Escape, scheduled to release March 18, unlike Joel Rosenberg's other novels, is an inspired work of historical fiction based on the "greatest escape of all time," writes Rosenberg. It's the story of two men sentenced to the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps who escape to warn the world of what the "final solution" really means - death in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp Gas Chamber. They carry with them documents the world would come to know as the Auschwitz Protocols.

The riveting, multi-layered story includes an idealistic young man, a pastor, German Jews and the men and women of France who sacrificed to save them. Although a narrative of death, grim persecution and heartbreak, moments of hope inspired heroism are riveting. The story begins in 1940's France, where, writes Rosenberg, no one realizes "Evil unchecked is the prelude to genocide."

Jacob, one of the main characters, is an underground freedom fighter involved in "a rescue operation that went horribly wrong." While some of the Jewish prisoners escaped the trains cattle car, Jacob remains trapped inside with those who didn't escape. Pastor Luc, the other main character, is arrested by the Gestapo, beaten and sentenced to Auschwitz for "helping Jews" escape. Their riveting story plays out against the concentration camp of Auschwitz.

Rosenberg adds realism with historical facts, such as Franklin Roosevelt's Executive Order 9417 "for the rescue and relief of victims of enemy oppression." And the burning of German Jewish poet, Christian Johann Heinrich Heine books in 1933. Who had written "wherever they burn books, in the end will also burn human beings."

Rosenberg's realistic characterizations and nail-biting events enhance a segment of history few lived to tell about with a fictionalized account of courage and faith that reveals the resilience of the human spirit. "The Auschwitz Escape," thought-provoking, unforgettable and guaranteed not to disappoint.

Water Walker: Outlaw Chronicle Series, Book 2

Ted Dekker

Worthy Publishing

134 Franklin Road, Suite 200, Brentwood, TN 37027

9781617952746, $14.99, www.worthypublishing.com

"Water Walker," book two in Ted Dekker's "Outlaw Chronicles," releases March 18 from

Worthy Publishing Group who acquired the print rights. The suspenseful narratives of redemption and forgiveness makes clear why "Library Journal" considers this author a master of suspense.

It's the story of thirteen-year-old Alice Ringwald, a foster child with amnesia. Her memories begin six months ago and it's as if she didn't exist before that. In those months she'd been tested many times, told she had a high IQ and speaks like an adult with an unusual ability to absorb new information intuitively. Yet, the counselor she sees once a week tells her she's also naive and trusts without question, much like a child.

Alice only knows she's different in a way no one can explain which makes her feel weird, like she doesn't fit in anywhere. She must have had parents but she doesn't know who they were, where she once lived or even if she went to school. No one has answers and she has too many "why" questions. Until one night, four months after moving into the foster home of John and Louise Clark, Alice answers the door and "stares up into the blue eyes of a man who claims to be her father."

Thus begins a "modern day parable" that takes readers on an unforgettable, mind-bending journey that keeps them guessing from beginning to end. From Kathryn, a mother everyone thought dead, to Wyatt, a submissive father who does what he's told. To FBI agent Olivia Strauss, obsessed with a case that reminds her of Michelle, her kidnapped daughter who was murdered, to April herself, who learns her real name is Eden.

Add a rich senator, a large inheritance, bizarre and strange ritualistic behaviors, a cult-like life of captivity; Stephen the "Outlaw" who gives "secret words" and this suspense filled thriller, based on choices, consequences and spiritual warfare is one only Dekker could write.

I especially liked Dekker's writing Alice's chapters from her point-of-view with the rest of the story in third person. By the time I finished I realized he had returned to his earlier style of writing that made such a huge impact on the Christian publishing world and brought him thousands of fans. If you mystery and suspense this is not a book to miss! I'm also looking forward to reading Hacker, book three, scheduled to release June 10, 2014.

52 Heart Lifters for Difficult Times

Diana Savage

Harvest House

990 Owen Loop North, Eugene, OR 97402

9780736956604, $11.99, www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Professional editor, author and encouraging mentor, Diana Savage penned, "52 Heart Lifters for Difficult Times," a book of hope filled meditations served up with a dash of humor. Intimate with loss and grief, this Washington native now encourages others with the encouragement she received that she now writes about on her popular heartlifters blog. Where readers can also read sample chapters of this book.

Diana begins with a description of what a "heart lifter" is, such as a smile, wink, nod or tip of the hat, small gestures that remind recipients "we're not alone on life's journey." Her warm humor, God-blessed wisdom and insightful understanding shine through each meditation.

The book, divided into four segments includes:

"Choosing our Outlook" - what our minds dwell on determines our destiny. Or like Ralph Waldo Emerson writes, "We become what we think about all day long."

"Living Miraculously" - belief in miracles and believing God for miracles. Or like the French proverb says, "There are no miracles for those that have no faith in them."

"Participating Joyfully" - centers on trusting God. Believing God has a plan and purpose for your life and has your "best interests at heart."

"Pursuing Possibilities" illustrates how a victim mentality, incorrect assumptions and misconceptions "shackle" and hinder pursuit of "new possibilities" in life.

Fifty-two scripture themed meditations include a Bible verse, a light-hearted anecdote or other illustration of the selected scripture theme and conclude with prayer. These brief devotions are perfect for time-challenged readers.

Diana's book of "52 Heartlifters" is especially good for anyone suffering from loss, disappointment, or a sense of failure in our fast-paced world. The book would also be an excellent choice for a friend or family member in need of hope and encouragement.

The Love Languages Devotional Bible

Dr. Gary Chapman

Moody Publishers

820 North LaSalle Blvd., Chicago, IL 60610

9780802408532, $29.99, www.moodypublishers.com

Dr. Gary Chapman, noted counselor, relationship expert and author of, "Five Languages of Love" that teaches language of love concepts adds his practical and helpful devotions to the NLT version of "Love Languages Devotional Bible." It's a perfect choice for couples of all ages with readings that apply "text to real-life relationships and deepens couples' understanding of God and of each other."

His devotions are a perfect addition to this translation, already appreciated for its straightforward approach and "clear, dynamic writing style," which can also be said of Dr. Chapman's teachings and devotions.

Dr. Chapman's devotions focus on different aspects of relationships, enhanced by a topical, "relationship oriented" index of relevant Bible verses and devotional themes. Bible books start with summaries that note the author, time frame and overall theme of the book. Three easy-to-follow reading plans are also included:

"Read through the Bible in one year"

"Getting to know God"

"Growing your faith."

More than 260 devotions touch on communication issues, gender roles, conflict, finances, children, guilt, manipulation, confession, forgiveness and more. For example the devotion on "Temper, Temper" cites the example of Moses who struck the rock in anger instead of trusting the Lord to do what He promised. (Numbers 20:1-13).

The reading illustrates anger has negative consequences, while acting in love neutralizes a hostile situation. Examples of provocative situations, recommended responses and suggestions for prayer complete the devotion. The "if you have more time" segment offers extra relevant scriptures and questions.

Since weekends are busy times for couples and families, the 52 "weekend studies" are intentionally short, contain supplementary scriptures, several questions and a "challenge" to consider and discuss. Besides a "powerful, life-changing resource," devotions and reading plans encourage individuals and couples to read the Bible.

Dr. Chapman also provides free study guides on the love languages of marriage, parenting, teens and children. To listen to why Dr. Gary Chapman believes this Bible is good for all ages, click on the link, or visit Dr. Gary Chapman.

Gail Welborn

Reviewer

Gary's Bookshelf

Nathan's Run

John Gilstrap

Kensington Publishing Corp

119 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018

www.kensingtonbooks.com

9780786028276, $6.79, www.amazon.com

"Nathan's Run" is a suspenseful nail biting thriller that starts on a high plateau and races to a final crashing finish. Twelve year old Nathan Bailey does not have an easy life. He is thrown into juvenile detention because of the system, he then fights for his very existence and has to kill an officer of the court. Knowing the authorities will not listen because of what he has had to deal with so far, he runs way from the detention center. There is no one he can turn to, but there are those who do help him fight to tell his side of the story. Nathan's Run" is more than a good novel because it has a lot to say about how the juvenile and adult criminal court systems are failing the people of this country

Breed

Owl Goingback

Signet

c/o Penguin Group USA

375 Hudson Street, New York, NY 10014

www.penguin.com

9781596074255, $6.95, www.amazon.com

Stop what you are reading and pick up a copy of "Breed" by Owl Goingback. Something is on a killing spree in old St. Augustine and detective Jack Colvin of the St, Augustine Police Department is on the case. Until this occurrence Colvin thought he had seen it all. An ancient Indian chief spirit contacts St. Augustine tour guide Ssabra Omith because she is part Cherokee Indian, about the murders. He wants her to contact the police. When she talks to Colvin and tells him that a Wican priestess from Cassadaga, Florida opened a door for an evil spirit to attempt to crossover and mate with beings of this existence, he shows very little interest in what he's been told. He thinks Ssabra is just too weird to believe. Later when he hears from another source the same information, he begins to allow himself to realize that he is not dealing with something human but that the killer is something supernatural. Goingback known for his three other tales of horror that involve Native American folklore is on solid ground with the spirits that frequent this novel. He is also in new territory with telling the many interesting facets of the legends and lore of America's oldest city, St. Augustine. Owl Goingback is one of the finest horror writers writing today.

Return to Sender

Les and Sue Fox

West Highland Publishing Company

9780964698604, $49.95 new, used $0.01 to, www.amazon.com

Unlike many other books about the King, "Return to Sender" is a fun what it story that is written by fans of Elvis and in no way damages his image. In 1995 a young man named Jamie Randolph who reminds people of Elvis Presley inherits $4 million dollars anonymously. Not content to just take the money, Randolph tracks down a strange set of clues dating back to 1973 that lead directly to Elvis himself. The authors fill their tale with enough twists and turns, interesting characters and situations to please any reader of mystery novels as well as the millions of Elvis fans.

Bimbos of the Death Sun

Sharyn McCrumb

Fawcett Books

c/o The Random House Publishing Group

1745 Broadway, 17th floor, New York, NY 10019

www.randomhouse.com

9780345412157, $3.97 www.amazon.com

"Bimbos of the Death Sun" falls into the category of mystery fiction, but science fiction fans will have a very good time with it. The novel takes place at Rubicon, a science fiction convention. One of the guest authors is killed. The mystery is finding out who would want to kill him, and why. Half the fun of this novel is reading about the numerous people who also attend this convention. Rubicon is surely the most memorable gathering of science fiction fans ever to be written about. "Bimbos of the Death Sun" is great fun.

One

Richard Bach

Dell Books

c/o The Random HousePublishing Group

1540 Broadway, New York, NY 10036

www.randomhouse.com

9780440205623 $7.19, www.amazon.com

"One" is an interesting blend of fantasy, sf, and a love story. Bach and his wife take of in their small plane and have adventures back in time with themselves. The writing is sharp and races along to a grand conclusion. "One" is one of Bach's best novels.

Island of Tears

Troy Soos

Kensington Publishing Corp

119 West 40th Street, New York, NY 10018

www.kensingtonbooks.com

9781576667683, $19.50, www.amazon.com

"Island of Tears" is far different from all of Troy Soos's other books. This time the work has nothing to do with baseball. The novel takes place in the 1890s in New York when America opened Ellis Island, involving corrupt police, immigration and a murder. The writing is very easy with characters that are realistic while the description of the time period is very educational. "Island of Tears" is a great novel to read and enjoy

Mystery in the Sunshine State

Edited by Stuart Kaminsky

Pineapple Press

P. O Box 3889, Sarasota, Fl 34230

www.Pineapplepress.com

9781561641855, $14.95, www.amazon.com

Some of the tales are a bit weird while others are great mysteries, but all are by authors who live in Florida. Some of the names are Robert W. Walker, Les Standiford, Edna Buchanan, Harold Q. Masur, and 18 other writers. "Mystery in the Sunshine State" is a fine collection of stories of the State of Florida.

The Dollar Collar

Ed L'Heureux Jr.

Sabal Palm Press

P.O. Box 756 Goldenrod, Fl 32733

978096161634100, $4.00, www.amazon.com

"The Dollar Collar" is the first collection by the author of "Clay Of Vases. The 13 short stories are about suburbia and set the tone of life in America. Two of the best stories are "The Blade" in which a man makes a new friend when he takes his lawnmower in for repair, and "Passing at the Beach" where a couple finds out the value of a walk at the beach. Other stories in this collection show that this author is gifted and his writing ranks in the class of a John Cheever or John Updike. "The Dollar Collar" is a wonderful collection of short stories.

Where Garagiola Waits

Rick Wilber

University of Tampa Press

401 Kennedy Blvd, Tampa 33606

www.ut.edu/tampapress.pressmain.aspx

9781879852617, $24.95, www.amazon.com

"Where Garagiola Waits is a collection of writings about the national pastime game of baseball with an SF slant as well as editorials, articles, and poetry. Wilber even tells some stories that involve his father Del who played the game in the 1950's, in a what if universe that brings together some of the best ball players from different generations. 'The short stories appeared in a variety of magazines and anthologies, and used bits and pieces of my history with the game, blending them with fictional elements to tell the story at hand. Most of what you'll find in the short stories isn't true of course, at least not in the way it's used in the story. But fiction writers write about what they know and lie to fill in the rest...Writing is a lonely business in most cases, but when I write about baseball I get e mail, phone calls, letters. People really read these stories and they care. I find that strange and wonderful." "Where Garagiola Waits" is a great baseball book for any fan of the game.

The Andy Griffith Show Book

Ken Beck and Jim Clark

St Martins Press

175 Fifth, New York, NY 10010

www.stmartinspress.com

9780312661770, $15.99, www.amazon.com

"The Andy Griffith Show Book" is another fine book for fans of the show. Unlike the Richard Kelly account of "The Andy Griffith Show, this one focuses on the town of Mayberry, instead of the actor. This is the only history of the people, city, and other good little tidbits of the fictitious town of Mayberry, U.S.A. No fan of the show should miss this great book.

Gary Roen

Reviewer

Gloria's Bookshelf

How the Light Gets In

Louise Penny

Minotaur

c/o St. Martin's Press

175 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10010

www.minotaurbooks.com

9781312655471, $25.99, Hardcover, 404 pp, www.amazon.com

The newest novel in the Chief Inspector Gamache series is perhaps the finest yet, which is high praise indeed. As the book opens, Gamache, head of homicide at the Surete de Quebec, has become increasingly isolated. Now "on the far side of fifty," after three decades in the department the only one of his original investigators left is Isabel Lacoste, the rest having been either transferred out on their own or moved by Gamache's nemesis, Chief Superintendent Francoeur, the most senior cop in Queec. But that situation has to take a back seat when he is called by Myrna Landers, the woman who owns the bookstore in the village of Three Pines, concerned when a friend who had just spent a few days there visiting, promising as she left that she would return shortly for the Christmas holidays. The enigmatic woman, Constance Pineault, had not returned, and Myrna, worried about her, asks Gamache to investigate. Therein lie the seeds of the ensuing parallel investigations. The rest of the novel concerns itself with murders and intrigues, both plentiful, going back over decades. Along the way we learn a great deal about lesser-known aspects of Canadian history, some more shameful than one might expect.

Gamache discovers that Constance, 77 years old, was in fact Constance Ouellet, the lone surviving member of quintuplets who had become world-famous upon their birth in the time of the Great Depression. She had for years hidden that identity and lived under her mother's maiden name to avoid the spotlight that had always followed her. (The author admits to having been "inspired" by the real-life Dionne quintuplets, born in that same era many years ago.)

All the residents of the village are present, and the many fans of the series will welcome them: Myrna, a large black woman who had been a practicing psychologist; Ruth Zardo, an eccentric, award-winning poet, and Rosa, her beloved pet duck; Gabri and Olivier, the lovers who run the bistro and the B&B; Clara Morrow, an artist and portraitist; as well as Henri, Gamache's German shepherd. Crucial but present only on the fringes of the tale is Jean-Guy Beauvoir, formerly Gamache's second in command and engaged to his daughter but now in the throes of a terrible addiction to painkillers after the life-threatening wounds sustained during the traumatic events which closed the prior book in the series. Suffice it to say that I found myself literally holding my breath in the final pages.

The writing is never less than elegant. This book is going from my hands into those of my granddaughter, a big fan of Ms. Penny's writing and a resident of Montreal from the time she started her college career at McGill University in that city as well as since her graduation, which I know will give her an even deeper appreciation of the book than my own.

As usual, the author from time to time includes snippets of poetry (mostly courtesy of Crazy Ruth), one such giving us the title of the novel: "There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." And the meaning of that couldn't be clearer by the end of this novel, which can only be called simply terrific. And highly recommended.

The Set-Up Man

T.T. Monday

Doubleday & Company

c/o The Random House Publishing Group

1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019

www.doubleday.com

9780385538459, $24.95, Hardcover, 272 pp, www.amazon.com

The book is equal parts mystery and baseball. There is enough action in both aspects to keep the reader involved and turning pages quickly. Johnny Adcock is a terrific protagonist. He is a no-longer-young baseball player, 35 to be exact, thirteen years in the big leagues, his assigned role, as the title would suggest, to come into a game in the eighth inning, primarily to face left-handed hitters (as he is a southpaw himself), and retire them. Divorced and with a teenage daughter, his significant other is Bethany, a partner in a venture-capital firm who Johnny describes as the most intelligent woman he has ever met.

Johnny's side job, so to speak, is as an investigator, which primarily involves "cheating spouses, paternity threats, nothing bloody or life-threatening." Until now, that is. He is approached one night by Frankie Herrera, the 25-year-old backup catcher for the Bay Dogs of San Jose, California, who tells him that he has a "problem with his wife." Very shortly thereafter, Frankie is found dead after an apparent auto accident. His widow believes it was not an accident, and hires Johnny to find out who killed her husband. The ensuing investigation embroils Johnny in matters of murder, porn, Mexican cartels, and other assorted intrigue.

Timing is everything, they say, and my reading this debut novel by T.T. Monday on the eve of the new baseball season couldn't have been more perfectly timed. "The Set-Up Man" is a good mystery, with heavy doses of humor despite some of the darker aspects, and contains an abundance of terrific baseball lore and references. One doesn't have to be a baseball addict to enjoy the novel (although, to be fair and in the spirit of full disclosure, I am exactly that). Not a no-hitter, perhaps, but a solid performance, especially from a rookie. This is a very entertaining book, on any level, and it is recommended.

Helsinki Blood

James Thompson

Berkley

c/o Penguin Group USA

375 Hudson St., NY, NY 10014

www.penguin.com

9780425264614, $15.00,Paperback, 341 pp, www.amazon.com

Inspector Kari Vaara, of the National Bureau of Investigation, the protagonist in this series, in which this is the fourth entry, has a reputation as a "hero cop," having been shot more than once in the line of duty and decorated for bravery both times, and possessed of "annoying incorruptibility." In the prior book in the series, "Helsinki White," he was offered, and accepted, a job running a black-ops unit in his native Helsinki, using crime to fight crime with hand-selected (and admittedly sociopathic) cohorts, his "brothers in arms, brothers in blood."

The book opens a very short time after the events described in the last book. Kari is still recovering from brain surgery to remove a tumor, the unsettling after-effects of which, while now lessening, were psychological/emotional rather than physical. As I wrote about that book, his motives were primarily altruistic: "I took this job and started this illegal operation after being promised that it was for the purpose of helping people" specifically "young women being forced into the slave trade and prostitution. (A welcome by-product of bringing those criminals to justice was the ten million euros he had "liberated" from a faked blackmailer, aiding his present efforts.)

Those are still his primary motivations, especially when he is approached by a woman who begs him to find her 19-year-old daughter, who has Down syndrome, who has been duped and is being held against her will with an intended future as a prostitute. He believes that "if I could truly save this one girl, in some tiny way, it would justify all I've done. It wouldn't make things right or restore balance to my inner world, but the symbolism would be there, proof that doing good is possible for me." And maybe get his wife back: Vaara's life, mind and body are in shambles, only made worse when his wife of two years, shattered by the events in the prior book and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, has left him, and their baby daughter, and sought refuge (ironically) with her drug-addicted brother in Miami. Honor-bound "to the concept of duty, that sacrifice for the good of others is not only laudable, but expected, especially when it comes to family," he is determined to see that justice is again served, even after his investigation soon reveals that some very important people are involved, to his, and his family's, peril. This book, as readers of the prior books in the series know, is not for the faint of heart.

It is, however, recommended.

The Dead Place

Stephen Booth

Witness Impulse

c/o Harper Collins

10 E. 53rd St., NY, NY 10022

9780062302021, $15.99 pb, Kindle & Nook e-book, www.amazon.com

The newest book in this deservedly popular series by Stephen Booth, first published in the US in 2007, brings back Detective Constable Ben Cooper and his partner, Detective Sergeant Diane Fry. While Fry is investigating creepy phone calls received by the police from an obviously deranged person speaking through a voice changer and referring to deaths which have not yet taken place, in addition to the disappearance of a young woman from a car park, Cooper is trying to identify, with the help of a forensic artist who has done a facial reconstruction, a woman whose body has been found lying in a wooded area apparently more than a year after her death.

The anonymous phone caller is obsessed with death, and the subject permeates every corner of this book. Part of one phone call: "I can smell it right now, can't you? ...It's the scent of death." And indeed death in all its aspects becomes palpable - to the police and the reader in turn, the thanatologist who volunteers to assist the police as a consultant only enhancing the effect. Diane muses: "...there must be many ways of shutting out the sight of death passing by, or pretending it didn't exist." But the caller, again, insists: "To most people, death is a dirty secret, a thing of shame, the last taboo. To me, it's completion, the perfect conclusion." On the other hand, Ben "knew that he'd have to face up to his own death some time. Like most people, he'd always thought he could avoid it forever. And perhaps he'd read too many stories in which people didn't die. Instead, they passed away, breathed their last, or were no more. In polite conversation, death was skated over rapidly, like thin ice." Cryptic clues are contained in the phone calls, which exhort the police and tells them that all they have to do is find "the dead place." It becomes a race against time as the police attempt to discover the identity of the caller, and of his next victim.

A psychological thriller of the first order, "The Dead Place" is filled with atmospheric detail and a complex plot. Fry and Cooper are wonderfully drawn characters with whom the reader becomes more involved with each new novel by Mr. Booth. Highly recommended.

Lost

S.J. Bolton and Sharon Bolton

Minotaur Books

c/o St. Martin's Press

175 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10010

www.minotaurbooks.com

9781250-042231,$15.99, Paperback, 400 pp, www.amazon.com

The current obsession of Barney Roberts, a bright young boy with OCD, is something with which many in London are currently preoccupied: Five boys his age had disappeared in the last five weeks in South London, where Barney himself lives, their bodies turning up soon afterwards with their throats cut. And as the book opens, the bodies are being found more and more quickly, the killer seemingly escalating. Barney's den is covered with posters, maps and photographs about each boy, his kidnapping, and his death.

The police investigation is headed up by D.I. Dana Tulloch, of Lewisham's Major Investigation Team. Sure of only one thing, that the killings will continue, they have no clues. And someone, perhaps the killer, is taunting them online. On the periphery of the investigation is D.C. Lacey Flint, still recovering from the horrific event of her last case, in the aftermath of which she is still seeing a psychiatrist twice a week, fighting her own demons, unsure of whether or not she still wants to remain a policewoman.

Barney is the youngest of a small group of kids (five boys and one girl) who are brave, and foolhardy, enough to do some investigating of their own. He also happens to live next door to Lacey Flint. One day he works up the nerve to ask her to help him find his mother, who apparently left several years ago, when he was four years old, and he is determined to track her down, going so far as to use all his meager wages working for a newsagent to run anonymous classified ads in very methodically and geographically plotted newspapers in London and beyond.

The novel is but the newest of several suspenseful books from this author, and characters, plotting and tension seen in her prior work are fully present here. The reader is never more than guessing at the possible identity of the killer, as are the detectives whose work is detailed here, knowing that if they do not succeed another boy will die. Obsession is a constant theme. This is another winner from S.J. Bolton, and is recommended.

Graveyard of Memories

Barry Eisler

Thomas & Mercer

c/o Amazon Digital Publishing

276 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10001

www.amazon.com/thomasandmercer

9781477818169, $14.95, Paperback, 322 pp.

A prequel to the thriller series whose protagonist is John Rain, assassin for hire, this new novel takes place in Tokyo in 1972. Rain, recently returned from combat duty in Vietnam and Cambodia and having left the military under a cloud, barely 20 years old, he finds a job of sorts as a CIA bagman. Rain is half American and half Japanese; after his father was killed in street riots in Tokyo in 1960, when Rain was eight years old, his mother brought him to the US, where he stayed until her death, at which time he joined the military. His beloved Suzuki motorcycle has been dubbed "Thanatos," which he felt was "appropriate after what I'd done in the war."

After a series of incidents which trigger "combat reflexes shaped in the jungle," and initially at least through no fault on his part, Rain finds that "something about my demeanor . . . was suddenly making everyone swoon for my apparent potential as a contract killer," and so the Rain we have come to know and love is born. Rain also displays a sentimental side: "My past and everyone part of it sundered, irretrievable, accessible to me now only as painful and haunted memories, some still sharp, some increasingly indistinct . . . But with sufficient exposure, you get acclimated to anything, killing included." And ultimately there is "the smooth,ineluctable symmetry of fate."

The author manages to inject humor into a tale that is, unexpectedly, almost dispassionate, not as dark or graphic as might have been the case in lesser hands, despite the high body count. And the mantra throughout: "Sometimes there's just what you can do, and what you can't." By book's end, Rain is forced to enter a self-imposed exile and starts a decade of life as a fugitive.

Highly recommended.

Don't Ever Look Back

Daniel Friedman

Minotaur

c/o St. Martin's Press

175 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10010

www.miotaurbooks.com

9781250027566, $24.99/28.99 CA, Hardcover, 304 pp., www.amazon.com

This book is the second by Daniel Friedman featuring Baruch "Buck" Schatz, an 88-year-old Jewish ex-cop from Memphis, Tennessee, self-described as "grumpy more for sport than out of necessity" but more recently as "a crippled retiree living in a rest home." He has had to sell his house and move with his wife of 65 years into an "Assisted Life-Style Community for Older Adults" after having been shot and severely beaten in the first book, "Don't Ever Get Old." During his 35 years as a cop he had shot thirty-one men and beaten an equally impressive number, but was "famously incorruptible." He still carries a blackjack, which he named "Discretion," and as he says, he "exercised my Discretion liberally."

He still carries the scars, physically and mentally, of his days in Auschwitz as a child, of his father's murder when a young boy, and his son's death seven years ago. Also returning here is Buck's grandson, a law school grad named William Tecumseh Schatz, whose nickname is Tequila (apparently a frat thing) - the last name of course being pronounced "Shots." (Of his grandson, Buck says "Maybe because he was family, I disliked him less than most other people.") The tale takes place in 2009, but is equal parts flashbacks to 1965, a time when racism and anti-Semitism were endemic, and when the seeds of the events taking place in 2009 were sown. A lot of history from that earlier time, much of it unfamiliar to this reader, is included. The intricate plot spins out after Buck receives a visit from an old nemesis, who offers him what appears to be a bribe, which Buck of course refuses. But more importantly, it appears that the man intends to rob a local bank. And Buck can't allow that to happen, not in his town. The events that follow are alternately shocking and very, very funny.

Interspersed from time to time are brief passages from Buck's notebook of "Things I Don't Want to Forget" (primary among which is a reminder that "paranoia is the first symptom of dementia in the elderly," important for him to remember since paranoia seems to be recurring with worrisome frequency). These are often more like ruminations than part of any story, but they are intrinsic to knowledge of the man, as well as occasional historical details. As Buck says, "you just write down the stuff you want to remember, leave out the rest of it, and keep pushing yourself forward on a walker or in a wheelchair or with anything that can keep you moving."

The author does not shy away from the occasional difficult and wrenching truths. As was the first book in what one hopes is a series, this novel is alternately laugh-out-loud funny, often poignant, frequently touching, and with a totally unexpected ending, the book is recommended.

Don't Look For Me

Loren Estleman

Forge

c/o Tor-Forge Books

175 Fifth Ave., NY, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

9780765331212, $24.99, Hardcover, 288 pp, www.amazon.com

"Don't look for me" is the entire content of a handwritten note left for the newest client of Amos Walker, to wit: a full partner in an investment company "with gray temples and an office with a view of two countries" - - that would be the US and Canada - - whose wife, 14 years her junior, has disappeared for the second time in the six years they've been married Her husband suspects anything from her having left him for a younger man to having met with foul play.

Mr. Estleman is the author of over 70 novels, and this is the 23rd entry in the series. Walker, a former cop who carries an honorary sheriff's star, is now a private detective renowned for finding missing persons. There is immediate evidence of the author's trademark wit, to which the new client responds: "The humor I can take or let alone." Not so the reader. His descriptions of several characters are exquisite portraits. Of his new client's choice of attire: "a suit the color and approximate weight of ground fog," and of the man himself, "If he was so rich, why wasn't he smart?" The superintendent of his building was "on the tattered outer edge of middle age." Inspector John Alderdyce, of the Homicide division of the Detroit Police Department, who he'd known "longer than anyone living," and who is Walker's "bane and salvation, . . . looks like a grizzly bear carved with a chainsaw from a living oak."

Walker soon realizes that "a simple missing-persons case had turned into something else, like most things in a bad dream." It ultimately involves the Detroit Mafia, a porno film studio, and a 'Dragon Lady' nemesis of Walker, "a psychopath with a two hundred IQ and more liquid assets than an emirate . .. ten times smarter than I am and twice as insane. Make that three times."

A fast-paced and consistently witty entry in this terrific series, it is highly recommended.

Just What Kind of Mother Are You

Paula Daly

Atlantic Monthly Press

c/o Grove Atlantic

841 Broadway, NY, NY 10003

www.groveatlantic.com

9780802121622, $24.00, Hardcover, 312 pp, www.amazon.com

This stunning debut novel from Paula Daly is a breathtaking tale of ostensibly normal lives torn asunder. Lisa Kallisto, who runs an animal shelter, lives in a small village holding 260 houses in the English Lake district. Just a few days before Christmas, her best friend's thirteen-year-old daughter disappears, and the only thing more horrifying to Lisa is the fact that it appears to have been her fault. The author makes palpable the guilt which wracks the overworked and overwhelmed mother of three. And apparently this is not the first adolescent girl in the area to have been kidnapped, nor is she the last. As Lisa says: "There is nothing as bad as a missing child. Nothing at all."

The investigation is headed up by D.C. Joanne Aspinall of the CID. Both women are in their late thirties, and the author focuses much of the book on these two women, wonderfully well-drawn, as are the other characters. The book is not as dark as one might expect, dealing as it does with such perverted acts. It is certainly suspenseful. Not edge-of-your-seat suspenseful, perhaps, at least until Day 4.

As the tale comes to a close, what came to mind was my mother's old adage: One never knows what goes on behind someone else's closed doors. And everyone has a secret (or two). I read this book in a little more than 24 hours, and it is highly recommended.

Tragic

Robert K. Tanenbaum

Gallery Books

c/o Simon & Schuster

1230 Sixth Ave., NY, NY 10020

www.simonandschuster.com

9781451635553, $26.00, Hardcover, 390 pp, www.amazon.com

This book is the newest entry in the Butch Karp/Marlene Ciampi series. Karp is the District Attorney for New York County, ably assisted by Special Assistant D.A. Ray Guma ("the Italian Stallion," whose significant other is Darla Milquetost, Karp's receptionist) and Detective Sergeant Clay Fulton of the NYPD. Marlene, his wife and the mother of their twin sons, is the former head of the DA's sex crime bureau and a defense attorney/p.i., now devoting most of her time volunteering at a women's shelter.

The plot involves criminality on various levels, from corruption to embezzlement to murder, among the leaders of the New York dockworkers union. When a well-respected and high-ranking member is killed, Marlene investigates on behalf of the girlfriend of one of those picked up for the crime, and Butch takes the lead in the ensuing trials.

The novel is replete with wonderful references to Shakespeare's Macbeth (as well as the film On the Waterfront). The author, himself a former Chief of the Homicide Bureau for the NY DA's Office, among several other prestigious positions, has written another terrific courtroom drama, with his trademark twists and turns, realistic characters and dialogue. Series fans will love it, and it should find many converts among those not already familiar with the Karp/Ciampi books.

Recommended.

Japantown

Barry Lancet

Simon & Schuster

1230 Sixth Ave., NY, NY 10020

www.simonandschuster.com

9781451691696, $25.00, Hardcover, 398 pp, www.amazon.com

The eponymous area of San Francisco is comprises six square blocks and the scene, early in this new novel by Barry Lancet, of a horrendous murder of three adults and three children. (Ultimately one learns that the second man was in fact the bodyguard of the woman, who is the daughter of a wealthy and powerful Japanese mogul.) There are "no fingerprints, no trace evidence, no witnesses" and no clues except for a blood-drenched slip of paper bearing an unreadable kanji, a unique Japanese character.

Jim Brodie, formerly LAPD, is now a 32-year-old private detective who is a 6' 1", 190-lb. Caucasian with black hair and blue eyes, had lived for the first 17 years of his life in Japan, where he has his office; he also has a shop in San Francisco where he repairs and sells art and antiques, primarily Oriental. (He says of himself that he is "refined on the one hand, brutish on the other," and wonders if he can "make the leap from things people created to things they destroyed.") He is called in as a consultant by the SFPD to assist in the investigation, and is staggered by the enormity of the crime. Brodie is a fascinating protagonist, intent in finding the perpetrators, but equally dedicated to protecting his six-year-old daughter, all the more so after having lost his Japanese wife in a lethal fire which had destroyed their home. The ensuing events put Brodie, his daughter, and all those around him and involved in the chase in great danger as it soon becomes evident that they are looking for a serial killer (or killers).

The novel is obviously very well-researched, beyond the author's own apparent knowledge of Japanese culture, history and martial arts. The plot draws the reader in. I have to admit that in the early pages I thought some of the dialogue a bit overwrought, but that reaction dissipated as I read further. The book is action-filled and suspenseful and surprises, as Brodie digs deeper into a twisting plot whose tentacles reach through parts of Asia, Europe, and the US to find the killers, of whom the description "ruthless" doesn't even come close. A thriller in every sense of the word, the novel is recommended.

Tragic

Robert K. Tanenbaum

Pocket Books

c/o Simon & Schuster

1230 Sixth Ave., NY, NY 10020

www.simonandschuster.com

9781451635560, $9.99, Paperback, 480 pp, www.amazon.com

(This review was e-mailed yesterday for the hardcover edition of the book. I'm re-sending just to give information on the pb edition, which was inadvertently omitted.)

This book is the newest entry in the Butch Karp/Marlene Ciampi series. Karp is the District Attorney for New York County, ably assisted by Special Assistant D.A. Ray Guma ("the Italian Stallion," whose significant other is Darla Milquetost, Karp's receptionist) and Detective Sergeant Clay Fulton of the NYPD. Marlene, his wife and the mother of their twin sons, is the former head of the DA's sex crime bureau and a defense attorney/p.i., now devoting most of her time volunteering at a women's shelter.

The plot involves criminality on various levels, from corruption to embezzlement to murder, among the leaders of the New York dockworkers union. When a well-respected and high-ranking member is killed, Marlene investigates on behalf of the girlfriend of one of those picked up for the crime, and Butch takes the lead in the ensuing trials.

The novel is replete with wonderful references to Shakespeare's Macbeth (as well as the film On the Waterfront). The author, himself a former Chief of the Homicide Bureau for the NY DA's Office, among several other prestigious positions, has written another terrific courtroom drama, with his trademark twists and turns, realistic characters and dialogue. Series fans will love it, and it should find many converts among those not already familiar with the Karp/Ciampi books.

Recommended.

Gloria Feit

Reviewer

Gorden's Bookshelf

The Psalter

Galen Watson

Amazon Digital Services, Inc.

B009ZSPS14, $3.99 US

9780615726588, paperback

The Psalter is a well written historical suspense novel. The history is strong and the fiction blended into the history is not so fanciful that the history is impossibly corrupted. The story is actually two tales, a contemporary and a historical, separated by a thousand years of time. The only problem I have with the story is the metho