The Secret Crown by Chris Kuzneski

This book will be released on January 12, 2012.

Book Description
From the mountains of Bavaria to the secret tunnels under King Ludwig II's castles, no one is safe when they search for the Secret Crown.

Hidden among the crates in a recently discovered World War II bunker are documents stamped with an elaborate black swan, the insignia of the murdered King Ludwig II. According to legend, Ludwig stockpiled a massive treasure in the years before his death, a cache of gold and jewels that would finance the construction of the largest castle of all time. But in the years since his death, no one has found any evidence that Ludwig had hidden anything. Until now.

Jonathon Payne and David Jones are pulled into the mystery by a colleague of theirs, a former supply sergeant in the U.S. military who asks them to investigate. They agree to help and quickly find themselves in a life-or-death struggle to uncover the truth about Ludwig's murder and his mythical treasure.

My thoughts
This is another Jones and Payne (former Special Forces members) adventure that takes them to Bavaria and the lost treasure of King Ludwig II. I found the camaraderie and banter between the two sometimes hysterical; sometimes irritating as they search for a secret from the past. Of course, they’d rather be at Oktoberfest then battling the bad guys.

Although, sometimes a little far-fetched, this is an enjoyable escapist novel that is filled with historical references, that it made me want to visit Bavaria and the castles built by Ludwig.

Disclosure: I received this book for review from the publisher via librarything.com. I received no compensation for my thoughts.

Assassin of Secrets by Q. R. Markham

Book Description

An elite spy risks his biggest asset to defeat an insidious international organization hell-bent on selling the most sensitive state secrets to the highest bidder.

Jonathan Chase, the CIA's top field agent, is sworn to protect and serve the United States at all costs. But after a brutal period of captivity during the Korean War, Chase developed an agenda of his own: to use his mastery of war to create peace.

His new target: the Zero Directorate, a cabal of rogue assassins who have embarked on a campaign to systematically interrogate and kill seasoned secret agents from across the globe.

But the Directorate has set an elaborate trap, and for Chase the whole mission involves an inescapable paradox. As the world's preeminent operative, the closer he gets to the cabal, the closer the cabal gets to their primary target.

My thoughts

Reading this book made me think of the old James Bond novels from my childhood. Although, I liked the book, I recently found out that this book was pulled by the publisher for plagiarism.  Because of that, I will not review this book.

Disclosure:  I received this book for review from the publisher via librarything.com.  I received no compensation for my thoughts.

Dead Man's Grip by Peter James

Book Description
Carly Chase is still traumatized ten days after being in a fatal traffic accident that kills a teenage American student from Brighton University. Then she receives news that turns her entire world into a living nightmare. The drivers of the other two vehicles involved have been found tortured and murdered. Now Detective Superintendent Roy Grace of the Sussex Police force issues a stark and urgent warning to Carly: She could be next.

The student had deadly connections. Connections that stretch across the Atlantic to America and an organized crime group. Someone has sworn revenge and won’t rest until the final person involved in that fateful accident is dead. The police advise Carly her only option is to go into hiding and change her identity. The terrified woman disagrees. She knows these people have ways of hunting you down anywhere. If the police are unable to stop them, she has to find a way to do it herself. But already the killer is one step ahead of her, watching, waiting, and ready.

My thoughts

It all begins with a three car accident and the death of a bicyclist.  Carly Chase who is one of the drivers is devastated by the accident.  But then is being targeted for murder as were the drivers of the other vehicles.  Seems, the kid on the bike was related to an organized crime family in the United States.

Although Peter James writing style is fantastic and I had no problem with the writing, it is just that the story was not suspenseful enough for me and more procedural.

Disclosure: I received this book for review from the publisher through goodreads.com. I received no compensation for my thoughts.

Stirred by Blake Crouch and J.A. Konrath

Book Description
Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels has seen humanity at its most depraved and terrifying. She's lost loved ones. Come close to death countless times. But she always manages to triumph over evil. Luther Kite is humanity at its most depraved and terrifying. He's committed unthinkable acts. Taken human life for the sheer pleasure of it. He is a monster among monsters, and no one has ever caught him. Each is the best at what they do. Peerless. Unmatched.

Until now...

In Luther's experience, people are weak. Even the strong and fearless break too easily. He wants a challenge, and sets his depraved sights on Jack. But with a baby on the way, Jack is at her most vulnerable. She's always been a fighter, but she's never had so much to fight for. So he's built something especially for Jack. His own, private ninth circle of hell - a nightmare world in a forgotten place, from which no one has ever escaped.

It's J.A. Konrath's greatest heroine versus Blake Crouch's greatest villain in Stirred, the stunning conclusion to both Konrath's Lt. Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels thriller series and Crouch's Andrew Z. Thomas series.

Only one can survive. And it won't be whom you think.

My thoughts
In this book comes the final chapter to both authors’ most popular characters, Jack Daniels and Luther Kite. Other characters from the past and/or other stories are tossed in to give this finale a final goodbye. I have read all of the Jack Daniel’s novels and have enjoyed the thrill of the ride. To see her progress and deal with not just the dangers she faces but the men in her life.

Luther Kite is one sadistic person and he sets up a horrific park centered around Dante’s Inferno just to have his own private amusement at Jack’s expense. And boy does the graphic horror abound. I have to go back and read more of Luther Kite and the Andrew Z. Thomas tales.

Not only is this a thriller, it is a horror with enough of Harry’s one liners to break it up with comic relief (You have to know Harry to understand him). And I liked how the authors interjected some of their personal lives into the scenario.

I hated to see this series end, but I enjoyed the adventure.

Disclosure: I received this book for review from the authors. I received no compensation for my thoughts.

Jesus, My Father, The CIA and Me by Ian Morgan Cron

Book Description

At the age of sixteen, Ian Morgan Cron was told by his mother that his father, a motion picture executive, also worked for the CIA in Europe. This astonishing revelation, coupled with his father's dark struggles with alcoholism, upended the world of a boy struggling to become a man. Decades later, as he faces his own personal demons, Ian realizes the only way to find peace is to voyage back through a childhood marked by extremes--privilege and hardship, violence and tenderness, truth and deceit--that he's spent years trying to forget. In this surprisingly funny and forgiving memoir, Ian reminds us that no matter how different the pieces may be, in the end we are all cut from the same cloth, stitched by faith into an exquisite quilt of grace.

My thoughts

This book; as the title suggests is a memoir of sorts. The author reflects on his life living with an alcoholic father and how it affected his family structure and growth. He does discuss Jesus, his father and his father’s involvement in the CIA , but really it is about him and how he becomes who he is today.

Cron is a good story teller and the book flows easily and I enjoyed reading it; especially when he discussed his own children and his hopes for them.

Although labeled a Christian life and spiritual growth book, I found it to be inspirational.

Disclosure:  I received this book for review from the publisher.  I received no compensation for my thoughts.

Mallomars

Product Description
Enjoyed for over 90 years! Mallomars were created by Nabisco in 1913 and first sold to a grocer in West Hoboken, NJ. The metropolitan New York City area boasts the most loyal Mallomars fans. More than 70% of all Mallomars sales are generated in the shadow of the Big Apple. Made in Canada.

Product Features
Made with chocolate and cocoa butter for rich flavor
Cholesterol-free; no trans fats
The crunch of a cookie combined with a soft, fluffy center--all covered in creamy chocolate
Decadent treat any time of the day

My thoughts
I remember eating Mallomars as a child. It was a delicious treat then as it is now. The sweet chocolate coating over the cookie base with the soft marshmallow center is heavenly.

The problem is that a serving size is two cookies and that’s 120 calories or 3 Weight Watchers PointsPlus. I can’t stop at two cookies. Once I start eating them, I want the whole box. Maybe that’s why my mother stopped bringing them home when I was a kid.

Disclosure: I received this product for review through the amazon.com vine program. I received no compensation for my thoughts.

Ghost Lights by Lydia Millet

Book Description
Hal is a mild-mannered IRS bureaucrat who suspects that his wife is cheating with her younger, more virile coworker. At a drunken dinner party, Hal volunteers to fly to Belize in search of Susan's employer, T.—the protagonist of Lydia Millet's much-lauded novel How the Dead Dream—who has vanished in a tropical jungle, initiating a darkly humorous descent into strange and unpredictable terrain.

My thoughts
This is the story of Hal, who goes through life just being; he is married to Susan who he believes is having an affair with a co-worker. They have a daughter who after having an accident is a paraplegic and her parents think she is a telemarketer, but in reality is a phone sex operator. Susan’s boss is missing in Belize and Hal suggests that he himself travel down to there to find him. He is trying to prove that he is man enough for Susan or is he trying to add something that is missing from his life? This is a story about mid-life crisis and self-examination. It may be an interesting read for some, but too cerebral for me.

Disclosure: I received this book for review through the goodreads.com program. I received no compensation for my thoughts.

The Affair by Lee Child

Book Description
Everything starts somewhere. . . .For elite military cop Jack Reacher, that somewhere was Carter Crossing, Mississippi, way back in 1997. A lonely railroad track. A crime scene. A coverup.

A young woman is dead, and solid evidence points to a soldier at a nearby military base. But that soldier has powerful friends in Washington.

Reacher is ordered undercover—to find out everything he can, to control the local police, and then to vanish. Reacher is a good soldier. But when he gets to Carter Crossing, he finds layers no one saw coming, and the investigation spins out of control.

Local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux has a thirst for justice—and an appetite for secrets. Uncertain they can trust one another, Reacher and Deveraux reluctantly join forces. Reacher works to uncover the truth, while others try to bury it forever. The conspiracy threatens to shatter his faith in his mission, and turn him into a man to be feared.

A novel of unrelenting suspense that could only come from the pen of #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child, The Affair is the start of the Reacher saga, a thriller that takes Reacher—and his readers—right to the edge . . . and beyond.

My thoughts
I have enjoyed the Reacher novels when I first stumbled across them in the library. Wasn’t sure if I was going to like this one since it didn’t deal with the present, but the past. It turned out to be one of the better ones in the series.

It is 1997 and Reacher is ordered to undercover to investigate a murder that may have been committed by a military man and the powers that be don’t want it to blow up in their face. When Reacher goes down to Carter Crossing, Mississippi he is quickly uncovered and but still does his own investigating. What he finds is a lot more than anyone suspected. We also learn the reason why Reacher left the Army.

Disclosure: I borrowed this book from my local library.

Taproom No. 307, New York, NY

If you are a beer lover and are ever in New York City, you have to go to Taproom 307.  They have over 40 types of beer on tap.  We went there in October, just in time to try some pumpkin beer. They had two types on tap; Pumpkin Pie from Chelsea Brewing Company and Punking from South Tier Brewing Company (both New York breweries).  The Pumpkin Pie had a nice aroma but a weak pumpkin taste.  The Punking, my wife and I both enjoyed. It had a nice taste and a creamy aroma.

Next up we tried Liefmans Cuvee Brut Cherry Ale from Belgium. It was a tart cherry beer; not too strong but definitely a cherry flavor.  Next was Bocktoberfest from Wandering Star, MA; Its lager that’s not pale and has some strength.

I would have loved to try more but without food, that wouldn’t have been a good idea. The Taproom serves food, but we didn’t order anything.  Being there on an afternoon, it was quiet with only a few customers at the bar.  The Beer sommelier, Hayley who was tending bar, talked with us and explained all about the beers and how she chooses different ones and also tries to keep local brews available. Open since April2011, I hope they stay around awhile; I’d like to attend one of their events and try more beers.

Rain Falls Like Mercy by Jack Todd

Book Description
Set against the sweeping backdrop of World War II, Rain Falls Like Mercy is a gripping depiction of a family and a country touched by the grand violence of war, the senseless violence of crime, and the intimate violence of the heart.

IN THE TRADITION OF TRUE CRIME narratives such as In Cold Blood, acclaimed author Jack Todd’s new novel grips the reader from the first page; and as it spans continents and generations of one family, its taut and shocking undercurrent of violence builds to a stunning crescendo. Todd’s first novel, Sun Going Down, which introduced the Paint family, won praise from reviewers and major authors such as Michael Korda and Michael Blake. His second novel, Come Again No More, recounted the Paints’ saga of triumph and tragedy through the Great Depression, inspiring the Ottawa Citizen to label Todd “a first-rate novelist with a tender heart.”

Rain Falls Like Mercy opens with the murder investigation of a young girl in Wyoming in mid- 1941. Tom Call, the young sheriff running the investigation, falls in love with Juanita, the wife of Eli Paint, whose son Leo and grandson Bobby Watson are on duty with the U.S. Navy. Almost overnight, the case is derailed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, disrupting the lives of all involved. Bobby mans an antiaircraft gun during the attack. Tom joins the U.S. Air Force and is deployed to England to fly bombers, still trying to pursue his murder investigation. His suspicion falls on Pardo Bury, the psychotic son of a wealthy rancher in Wyoming.

As Pardo and Tom make their ways to their inevitable and shattering confrontation, Rain Falls Like Mercy displays Todd’s uncanny ability to zero in on his characters’ emotional lives while simultaneously painting a sweeping picture of the historical events that shape their destinies.

My thoughts
Set in the American West during the time around World War II, this novel follows Sheriff Tom Call’s quest to find the murderer of a young runaway. But when Pearl Harbor is attacked he becomes a pilot for the Air Force, but is still determined to capture the person he suspects is the killer. To add to this, Tom is in love with the wife of a rancher, and they would have run off together if it weren’t for the war.

With other characters in the mix and many years cumulating, the buildup to what could be described as a showdown makes this a tense and emotional story. It is filled with detailed description of the times and historical events. Jack Todd uses real life events to intertwine several storylines. It made for interesting reading and colorful characters.

Disclosure: I received this book for review from the publisher. I received no compensation for my thoughts.

The Basement by Stephen Leather

Book Description
New York is a city full of strangers. For NYPD detectives Turner and Marcinko, none are harder to figure out than the serial killer on the loose torturing and killing young women. In fact, right now, somewhere in the city, a woman is being held captive in a basement and it is up to the detectives to find her and the killer—before it’s too late.

As pressure mounts on Turner and Marcinko, their prime suspect is screenwriter wannabe Marvin Waller. He is becoming increasingly frustrated by his lack of success and the cops think he might be channeling his anger into murder—but he doesn’t seem to be at all concerned that they are hot on his trail. As Turner and Marcinko close in on Waller they have to wonder: is he the killer? And if he isn’t—who is?

Fusing shifting viewpoints with a growing sense of dread and almost unbearable suspense, the UK’s thriller master Stephen Leather arrives on the shores of the United States with The Basement, his most terrifying work to date.

My thoughts
This novella has two storylines interwoven. One about a serial killer who is sadistically raping and murdering woman in the basement and that of a young man trying to sell one of his screenplays by stalking famous people and the cops who harass him.

The story is tight and quick and is a short rollercoaster ride. I didn’t want to put it down and guessed what the ending (no mystery for me), but did enjoy the little twist. I liked how he described New York City and its people (I knew where he was coming from). The basement signs a little graphic (not gory, but sexual). Too bad the characters weren’t fully developed.

Disclosure: I received this book for review through the amazon.com vine program. I received no compensation for my thoughts.

Kind Healthy Grains Vanilla Blueberry Clusters with Flax Seeds

Product Description

Vanilla Blueberry Clusters with Flax Seeds are a nutritionally rich blend of blueberries, flax seeds and whole grains amaranth, quinoa, oats, millet and buckwheat with a hint of vanilla. These perfectly sweet clusters are high in fiber and contain 750mg of omega-3 fatty acids and 16g of whole grains per serving.

My thoughts

I tried these both as a snack and as a cereal.   As a snack, they tasted bland.  I was expecting more of the blueberry but I didn’t get it.  Then I thought, maybe the milk would bring out the flavor, but it didn’t.  Although a healthy snack, it didn’t have the taste I was looking for and can always get a granola, flaxseed blend anywhere, if that’s what I want.  Just average.

Disclosure:  I received this product for review through the amazon.com vine program.  I received no compensation for my thoughts.

Bond Girl by Erin Duffy

This book will be released on January 24, 2012

Book Description
When other little girls were dreaming about becoming doctors or lawyers, Alex Garrett set her sights on conquering the high-powered world of Wall Street. And while she's prepared to fight her way into an elitist boys' club, or duck the occasional errant football, she quickly realizes she's in over her head when she is relegated to a kiddie-sized folding chair with her new moniker—Girlie—inscribed in whiteout across the back. No matter. She’s determined she's got the stamina to make it in bond sales at Cromwell Pierce, one of The Street’s most esteemed brokerage firms. Keeping her eyes on the prize, she’ll endure whatever menial, degrading tasks come her way—trekking to the Bronx for $1,000 wheels of Parmesan cheese, uncovering a secretary’s secret Friday night dance party in the conference room, fielding a constant barrage of practical jokes, managing a love-hate relationship with her boss, and babysitting a colleague while he consumes $28,000 worth of vending machine fare.

Ignoring her friends’ pleas to quit, Alex excels (while learning how to roll with the punches and laugh at herself) and soon advances from lowly analyst to slightly-less-lowly associate. Suddenly, she’s addressed by name and the impenetrable boys’ club has transformed into thirty-eight older brothers and one possible boyfriend. Then The Apocalypse hits. As her life on The Street falls into the depths of intolerable cruelty—both personally and professionally—Alex is forced to choose between accompanying Cromwell Pierce in its descent and kicking off her Jimmy Choos to run for higher ground.

My thoughts
Erin Duffy’s life working on “The Street “ has giving her enough stories to write an absolutely hilarious and amazing novel which is Bond Girl. Ever since she was a child, Alex Garrett wanted to work on Wall Street and she when she is older she starts her career at an investment firm. Trying to break into the bond market business and compete with the boys is a struggle and the abuse and shenanigans that take place are only the beginning. This is not a boring, stuffy look at Wall Street, but an enjoyable and bright comedic view. Erin Duffy’s debut is a hoot.

Disclosure: I received this book for review from bookreporter.com. I received no compensation for my thoughts.

The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy

Book Description
Before Audrey was the baker's wife, she was the pastor's wife.

Then a scandalous lie cost her husband a pastoral career. Now the two work side-by-side running a bakery, serving coffee, and baking fresh bread. But the hurt still pulls at Audrey.

Driving early one morning to the bakery, Audrey's car strikes something-or someone-at a fog-shrouded intersection. She finds a motor scooter belonging to a local teacher. Blood is everywhere, but there's no trace of a body.

Both the scooter and the blood belong to detective Jack Mansfield's wife, and he's certain that Audrey is behind Julie's disappearance.

But the case dead-ends and the detective spirals into madness. When he takes her family and some patrons hostage at the bakery, Audrey is left with a soul-damaged ex-con and a cynical teen to solve the mystery. And she'll never manage that unless she taps into something she would rather leave behind-her excruciating ability to feel other's pain.

My thoughts

Audrey’s life is turned around when she becomes involved in an auto accident where she may have hit a person on a scooter, yet that person cannot be found.  The scooter belongs to the wife of the detective investigating the incident.  He is also an elder at the church where Audrey’s husband was fired as the pastor.

This Christian fiction novel deals with suspicion, jealousy and secrets.  Although, I found the writing to be smooth and easy to read, the story did not take a hold on me.  Although, a mystery, it is was more descriptive then action-filled.

Disclosure: I received this book for review from the publisher through the goodreads.com program. I received no compensation for my thoughts.

How The Mistakes Were Made: A Novel by Tyler McMahon

Book Description
Laura Loss came of age in the hardcore punk scene of the early 1980s. The jailbait bass player in her brother Anthony’s band, she grew up traveling the country, playing her heart out in a tight network of show venues to crowds soaked in blood and sweat. The band became notorious, the stars of a shadow music industry. But when Laura was 18, it all fell apart. Anthony’s own fans destroyed him, something which Laura never forgot.

Ten years later, Laura finds her true fame with the formation of The Mistakes, a gifted rock band that bursts out of ‘90s Seattle to god-like celebrity. When she discovered Nathan and Sean, the two flannel-clad misfits who, along with her, composed the band, she instantly understood that Sean’s synesthesia—a blending of the senses that allows him to “see” the music— infused his playing with an edge that would take them to the top. And it did. But it, along with his love for Laura, would also be their downfall.

At the moment of their greatest fame, the volatile bonds between the three explode in a mushroom cloud of betrayal, deceit, and untimely endings. The world blames Laura for destroying its rock heroes. Hated by the fans she’s spent her life serving, she finally tells her side of the story, the “true” story, of the rise and fall of The Mistakes.

My thoughts
The novel is the story of the rise and ultimate demise of the fictional grunge band called the Mistakes. We see it through the eyes of Laura Loss, who in the 80’s was in a successful band in with her brother. Now in the 90’s, she is a barrister in a coffee shop and meet two best friends who convince her to start a new band.

This is more than a story about the underground music scene and the struggle to make it big time. Tyler McMahon has captured the essence of the music scene and the grittiness of what life is like as a struggling musician. He makes the reader feel Laura’s pain as the story bounces back from the 80’s to the 90’s and we learn what happened with her brother and his band and the turmoil that becomes her life with the new band.

This book was more than about music; it’s about love, commitment, family, sacrifice and more. I found it to be truly emotional and extraordinary debut.

Disclosure: I received this book for review from the publisher through librarything.com. I received no compensation for my thoughts.

Helpless by Daniel Palmer

This book will be released on January 31, 2012

Book Description
Nine years after he left Shilo, New Hampshire, former Navy Seal Tom Hawkins has returned to raise his teenage daughter, Jill, following the murder of his ex-wife, Kelly. Despite Tom’s efforts to stay close to Jill by coaching her high school soccer team, Kelly’s bitterness fractured their relationship. But life in Shilo is gradually shaping up into something approaching normal. Normal doesn’t last long. Shilo’s police sergeant makes it clear that Tom is his chief suspect in Kelly’s death. Then an anonymous blog post alleges that Coach Hawkins is sleeping with one of his players. Internet rumors escalate, and incriminating evidence surfaces on Tom’s own computer and cell phone. To prove his innocence, Tom must unravel a tangle of lies about his past. For deep amid the secrets he’s been keeping—from a troubled tour of duty to the reason for his ex-wife’s death—is the truth that someone will gladly kill to protect…

My thoughts
Tom Hawkins is a former Navy SEAL, is now a high school soccer coach for his daughter’s Jill’s team. Trying to establish a relationship with Jill after his ex-wife is murdered is tough. And life gets tougher when he is excused have having an affair with a student, one of Jill’s friends. Then suggestive photos of female students are emailed to him and found on his computer.

He knows he is innocent and could be the target of a set-up but why? And does his ex-wife’s death have something to do with it. Or are the secrets from his Navy days that have come back to haunt him?

Daniel Palmer’s second novel Helpless may be not be a powerful thriller as his first (Delirious) but it hits home for those of us who are fathers of teenage daughters and the fear of sexting (which is spreading like wildfire). I found the Tom’s predicament to be powerful and his determination to find the cause and end this frightful mess to be sometimes intense and sometimes a little off. To find that there were not one but two separate things going on made it all the more surprising.

Disclosure: I received this book for review from the author. I received no compensation for my thoughts.

Think Of A Number by John Verdon

Book Description
An extraordinary fiction debut, Think of a Number is an exquisitely plotted novel of suspense that grows relentlessly darker and more frightening as its pace accelerates, forcing its deeply troubled characters to moments of startling self-revelation.

Arriving in the mail over a period of weeks are taunting letters that end with a simple declaration, “Think of any number…picture it…now see how well I know your secrets.” Amazingly, those who comply find that the letter writer has predicted their random choice exactly. For Dave Gurney, just retired as the NYPD’s top homicide investigator and forging a new life with his wife, Madeleine, in upstate New York, the letters are oddities that begin as a diverting puzzle but quickly ignite a massive serial murder investigation.

What police are confronted with is a completely baffling killer, one who is fond of rhymes filled with threats and warnings, whose attention to detail is unprecedented, and who has an uncanny knack for disappearing into thin air. Even more disturbing, the scale of his ambition seems to widen as events unfold.

Brought in as an investigative consultant, Dave Gurney soon accomplishes deductive breakthroughs that leave local police in awe. Yet, even as he matches wits with his seemingly clairvoyant opponent, Gurney’s tragedy-marred past rises up to haunt him, his marriage approaches a dangerous precipice, and finally, a dark, cold fear builds that he’s met an adversary who can’t be stopped.

In the end, fighting to keep his bearings amid a whirlwind of menace and destruction, Gurney sees the truth of what he’s become – what we all become when guilty memories fester – and how his wife Madeleine’s clear-eyed advice may be the only answer that makes sense.

A work that defies easy labels -- at once a propulsive masterpiece of suspense and an absorbing immersion in the lives of characters so real we seem to hear their heartbeats – Think of a Number is a novel you’ll not soon forget.

My thoughts
Dave Gurney, a retired police detective who had his fifteen minutes of fame when he solved a huge murder case is contacted by an old college friend, Mark who received a note that may or may not be threatening. The letter asks him to guess a number and when he does, he opens a note within the letter that reveals the same number. Although, Dave and his wife Madeline moved upstate to enjoy the peace and quiet of retirement, Dave still has it inside him the inquisitiveness and guile that made him a detective and wants to figure out how the sender did this.

Although the book was slow at times, the determination of Dave to find out how the killer planned his murders is what made me interested in reading this book. I too, wanted to figure and learn how it was possible. The novel is interesting and the tension builds to a fascinating climax.

Disclosure: I received this book from my local library.

Motor City Shakedown by D.E. Johnson BLOG TOUR

Thanks to Lisa at TLC Book Tours, I am hosting the tour of D.E. Johnson's latest book, Motor City Shakedown. Check out the tour schedule here.

Book Description
Detroit, 1911. Seven months have passed since Will Anderson’s friend Wesley McRae was brutally murdered and Will and the woman he loves, Elizabeth Hume, barely escaped with their lives. Will’s hand, horribly disfigured from the sulfuric acid he used to help save them, causes him constant pain, forcing him into a morphine addiction. He lives for nothing except revenge against the people who contributed to Wesley’s murder—first among them crime boss Vito Adamo. When Will stumbles upon the bloody body of Adamo’s driver, he knows he’ll be a suspect, particularly since he was spotted outside the dead man’s apartment that same night. He sets out to find the killer, and the trail leads him to a vast conspiracy in an underworld populated by gangsters, union organizers, crooked cops, and lawyers. Worse, it places him directly in the middle of Detroit's first mob war. The Teamsters want a piece of Will’s father’s car company, Detroit Electric, and the Gianolla gang is there to be sure they get it. To save their families, Will and his ex-fiancée Elizabeth Hume enlist the help of Detroit Police Detective Riordan, the teenage members of what will one day be known as the Purple Gang, and Vito Adamo himself. They careen from one danger to the next, surviving shootouts, kidnappings, and police brutality, while barreling toward a devastating climax readers won’t soon forget.

My thoughts
Will Anderson goes to confront Carlo Moretti, a driver for a local mob boss, and instead finds him dead with his throat slit. The police believe that Will killed him in retaliation for the murder of his friend some seven months prior. After being released from prison when another person confesses, Will becomes entangled in the war between the Adamo and Gianolla gangs.

Sounds like something you’d read about in the papers, yet this takes place in Detroit in the year 1911. D.E. Johnson combines historical facts with his fiction to make a captivating thriller that takes us back to a different era. Not only were the Adamo and Gianolla families real, but also intertwined into the story are Henry and Edsel Ford and the labor movement of that time.

Johnson writes any easy flowing story that is fast moving and surprising. The interaction between the fictional and real characters was a treat. Two thumbs up!

Dan's Contests
Dan's got two contests going on his website (not me, but the author). One is for reviewers (now that could be me) - you can enter for a chance to be a character in his next book, Detroit Breakdown!

The other is for anybody to win an autographed copy of Motor City Shakedown.

Go to his website to learn more and a chance to win.