“A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.”
—-Ralph Waldo Emerson


In 1977, Paul Aurandt and Lynne Harvey wrote the book Paul Harvey's the Rest of the Story, and when I found a copy years later I was fascinated. The two writers found famous (and not so famous) people who did things we never would have thought possible, and then they shared these facts with us in fabulously interesting short stories. There was a 1950’s presidential candidate...who killed a teenage girl, and a founding father...who kept his wife locked in a cellar, to name a few. I loved the book and reviewed it many times over in libraries and community centers. It showed me that everyone has a bit of a hero and a bit of a monster lurking inside and once his/her life story is written and looked back upon, everyone will have a moment that truly defines who he/she is.

Some might say that Nicholas Cruz had his moment in Parkland two months ago when he killed seventeen innocent people, but I imagine that was an example of uncontrolled mental illness coupled with too easy access to killing machines.  It was students like fifteen year old Anthony Borges who had his defining moment on that Valentine’s Day tragedy.

Anthony was the last of twenty students to enter a room seeking safety. As the rest of the young people found shelter, Anthony turned to lock the door and faced the shooter. Instead of fleeing he blocked the door and was shot five times...no one else in that room was hurt. We don’t know what we would do in any given circumstance, but when faced with the worst, Anthony proved himself a hero.

Yesterday in Nashville, Tennessee, James Shaw Jr. was enjoying an evening with his best friend that ended with a Waffle House breakfast in the wee hours of the morning. Suddenly a shot rang out, and he saw a man shooting customers around him. He was able to hide in the bathroom, but when he got his bearings he rushed out and attacked the killer, disarming him and pushing him out of the door. Four people died in that massacre, but many more were saved. He claims he was just saving himself and did what anyone else would have done, but in fact, James Shaw Jr. proved himself a hero.

Facing bullets is not the only way to prove herself heroic. On March 6 of this year I reviewed The Escape Artist by Brad Meltzer. I just read an interesting article telling the rest of the story. Meltzer’s high school history teacher, the person who started him on his love of history and writing, was in need of a kidney. Finding organ donors can often prove a fruitless search, and Meltzer decided to reach out to his vast reading audience for help. Meltzer offered to feature the donor as a character in his next book, and a young woman named Amy Waggoner decided to take him up on his offer. She was a match and the rest is more of Meltzer’s beloved history. His teacher is feeling much better after the surgery, and Amy Waggoner proved herself a hero.

On September 11, 412 police officers, firefighters and emergency workers gave their lives as they tried to protect and save the victims of the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. They each made a decision that morning to put the lives of others ahead of their own. Although it is expected that rescue workers will put others ahead of themselves, no one knows how he or she will act until faced with a do or die situations. These rescue workers proved themselves heroes.

We can not plan to be a hero. We can not know if the hero lives inside of us. We can only hope that when it is our time to show who we really are, we will show strength and courage and prove ourselves to be heroes in a world that desperately needs people to believe in.

Andy Carpenter is my hero, because he makes me smile. The protagonist of David Rosenfelt’s much loved series made my weekend as I read his latest book, Rescued: An Andy Carpenter Mystery. Once again the reluctant attorney and his band of cohorts solve mystery after mystery while making us smile. In this tumultuous time, sometimes a smile is worth everything. Thanks David...keep up the good work!

As always a complete review of this book follows my blog.

Happy reading,

Beverly

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​Genre: Legal Mystery

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Rosenfelt’s plots are generally comfortably basic as far as legal thrillers go, but his talent with characterization has me anxiously awaiting each addition to his Andy Carpenter series. Although I have never met the author personally, I have to believe that he sees himself in Andy. Outwardly pushy and inwardly humble, Andy uses his sarcastic wit to get him out of (and generally in to) some very difficult situations.

Andy's friends and associates have all been fleshed out throughout the series and continue to make me laugh through the murder and mayhem that each novel presents. His brave and patient wife, Laurie, his pessimistic partner Hike, and Marcus, the huge and basically non-verbal muscle of the group, band together to aid and protect Andy as he tries to save the world. Even Edna, his “office manager,” adds a bit of humor to Andy’s days when he decides to take on a new client.

In Rescued: An Andy Carpenter Mystery, defense attorney Andy is called to the scene of a murder on a truck that is housing over seventy dogs on their way to shelters in various states. Since his affinity for dogs is well known (his conversations with his own golden retriever, Tara, are some of the best one way exchanges in his series) it isn’t a stretch that he becomes involved. The dogs are transported to a shelter that he co-owns with his former client and pal, Willie, and he goes home to find Laurie speaking with his soon to become newest client.

Dave Kramer is in trouble, and he is also Laurie’s ex-fiancé. This tall, good looking ex-marine admits to shooting the driver of the truck Andy just viewed. He claims it was self defense, and Andy isn’t sure he is buying it. Preferring to be retired, and feeling immediate jealousy when he looks at Kramer, his first instinct is to turn down the case, but Laurie’s expression tells him otherwise.

As always, Rosenfelt’s book is filled with excitement, surprises and humor, as we follow Andy and his crew through one adventure after another in this fun-to-read “who done it.”  

-Beverly
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Publisher - MacMillan
Date of Publication - ​July 17, 2018

“Too often government responds to the whispers of lobbyists before the cries of the people.”
———Andrew Cuomo

I read something that infuriated me on two levels this morning. It was another article written by “experts” explaining that monosodium glutamate (MSG) is harmless and people who claim bad reactions from it are either reacting to something else, dealing with psychological issues, or just exaggerating.

More years ago than I care to think, my college roommate and I were sitting in LUMS, eating our requisite beer cooked hotdog with Sherry Sauerkraut, when a news report came on the television. Scientists had come to the conclusion that MSG, the flavor enhancer used liberally in most of the food we consumed, was killing off brainwaves at an alarming rate. I remember pondering it for a bit as the newscaster discussed “Chinese food syndrome” and then dismissing it in the way most college students dismiss things they prefer not dealing with at the time.

Lobbyists for the industry quickly got involved as manufacturers of processed foods that were laden with the accused ingredient began to panic. Not only did most processed food contain MSG, but housewives were buying it in the form of ACCENT in bucketloads as the industry expanded each year. This powdery ingredient added umami to weak tasting foods at a very reasonable price. Rather than using an entire chicken to make a soup, a quarter of a chicken and a teaspoon of accent would show the same results. Economically it was a miracle ingredient.

As the years moved on, the battle between the scientists and the lobbyist continued, and it is still waging as I write this blog today. I am very familiar with both sides of the issue, because my second pregnancy altered my body and rendered me uncomfortably allergic to MSG. this was no light matter for a woman who frequented Chinese restaurants weekly and even enjoyed her occasional fast food meal now and again.

My reactions are unmistakeable and include headaches, rashes, uncontrollable shivering and breathing issues to name a few. Interestingly enough, I am able to eat foods containing naturally occurring MSG (tomatoes, mushrooms, etc) with no reaction, but the chemically produced culprit is my enemy. I can eat few processed foods and must check with chefs before visiting many restaurants.

Through the years I have pondered over both sides of the MSG battle and watched both sides greatly exaggerate to make their points. Two things are certain. 1 - Healthwise, we would be much better off if chemically produced MSG was removed from all products immediately, and 2 - financially the removal would prove disastrous to many large corporations. While the MSG lobbyists have won out through the years so far, we are becoming a more health conscious nation, and more and more processed foods claim to have no added MSG. Unfortunately, as long as lobbyists contribute to the running of our country, our health will not win out, and products like tobacco and monosodium glutamate will continue to be a part of our every day lives.

The article that I read angered me because it used half truths to convince its readers that they are perfectly safe adding this white powder to their foods and made those of us that suffer with a real intolerance to it seem just a bit crazy, and it angered me to realize that the American public can not really trust much of what they read anymore.

We are living in a time when scientists are being doubted and the scientific method scoffed at, and that is a very dangerous precedent to set. Even though it might be more comfortable to brush off scientific proof and enjoy what we want without worry, we must fight the attempts to discredit these men and women who have nothing to gain but truth as they present their findings to us in all areas.

My chosen author for this week mixed a bit of science with greed and came up with a thriller that kept me turning pages into the night. The Back Door Man, by Dave Buschi introduces us to a protagonist caught up in a hacking scheme that threatens him and everything he cares about as we follow his attempts to save us all.

As always a complete review of this book follows this blog.

Happy reading,

Beverly

​Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog

​Genre: Thriller

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The author of The Back Door Man published this book almost seven years ago, and I believe current events make it even more frightening today. Hackers have gotten into almost every area of our life today, so much so in fact that the storyline made me slightly nauseous. We are so very dependent on computers today, from managing our finances to ordering our food, clothing and pharmaceuticals on line, that it is difficult to imagine losing all access and still managing our lives.

James Kolinsky works in information security, and suddenly his world begins to fall apart. Millions of people lose connectivity, and a very smart group of criminals plans on diverting money while making James into their fall guy. They're expecting to become “sixty billion dollar men.” Their plan involves murder, suicide and theft, and it is up to mild mannered James to save the day.

This is definitely an exciting premise with good follow through. It starts with a short prologue and quickly introduces chapter one. We get a good idea of James' personality as we watch him sneak into his company to retrieve some money he left there and is suddenly faced with danger in the form of a gun. The story generally keeps a good pace, slowing down only when it gets a bit too computer technical in parts. Since I am not overly computer knowledgeable, I can’t vouch for the author's descriptions, but I did find myself skipping a paragraph here and there.

The bad guys are truly bad, and our hero gets into some tricky situations. The reader must definitely suspend reality as he/she tries to believe James can accomplish all that he accomplishes, but I never have too much of a problem doing that when the book intrigues me. I do believe his research in several minor areas seemed a bit weak, but it never really hampered the storyline, so I went with it.

All in all The Back Door Man is a fun read that might make you just a wee bit nervous as to how safe your money really is and how important the Internet has become in your life.

- Beverly
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Publisher - Dave Buschi (Amazon Digital Services LLD)
Date of Publication - ​September 28, 201

“Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture.”
—-Allen Ginsberg
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This week’s "Real Time with Bill Maher" show had me thinking on several levels. Bill found himself defending Laura Ingraham, and I found myself strongly disagreeing with Bill. Laura, if you will remember, made disparaging comments about Parkland survivor David Hogg’s rejection from four colleges. An insensitive thing to do, it was far from the worst thing she has ever said. The first amendment gave her every right to say it though, and David’s sudden unwanted notoriety puts him in the position of target for the extremists in our media.

David then used the media to his own advantage. He tweeted his dislike of Ingram’s actions, and asked his followers (over 700,000 of them) to boycott the sponsors of Ingraham’s show. Bill felt this was wrong. Of course he lost a show in the early part of this century when a similar thing happened to him, so he might be biased, but he felt messing with her livelihood went beyond what he should have done.

I, on the other hand, think it is exactly what he should have done. He didn’t threaten anyone or even attack anyone. He asked Americans to use self-censorship to let the sponsors know that we didn’t agree with Laura Ingraham’s radical viewpoints. This system worked, and eighteen of her sponsors dropped her show. She took a week’s “vacation,” and it will be interesting to see what happens next.

I understand Bill’s discomfort with a tweet being able to bring down a show, but David has the same first amendment rights as Ingraham, and he used the media effectively to counter her attack on him. I wondered how companies like Johnson & Johnson, Nestlė, and Wayfair (to name a few) supported her homophonic, racists beliefs in the past and find it interesting that this is the issue that they are standing up for, but it is nice to see the system working.

The other topic that interested me on this week’s show also dealt with the media. Bill had Geraldo Rivera on as a guest and questioned Geraldo's support of our current President. Geraldo explained that Trump has always been nice to him (not a particularly stellar reason to support someone whose agenda is against all you have ever worked towards), and he believes that the news media is inappropriate in their behavior towards the President.

As I have mentioned before, I believe the media does go too far in their treatment of the man who was elected to hold the office of President of the United States. It is definitely their responsibility to expose all of the inconsistencies in the White House and make us aware of any illegal happenings. If there was collusion with Russia, we need to know. If our taxpayers’ money is being misappropriated, that must be exposed. If visitors to our country are being abused rather than welcomed, the media needs to share this with us.

We do not, however, need to see pictures every time that Trump’s comb-over flies like the flag on a windy day. We do not have to watch Melania rebuff him ( you go girl) constantly, because that has little to do with our “right to know.” I was in the Veterans’ Administration Office the other day and saw a perfectly normal, official picture of Donald Trump hanging on the wall. I did a double take, because I didn’t realize the man could actually look normal. The media consistently uses those pictures that we would have made our parents throw away when we were younger.

Rather than fulfilling their jobs to give us all of the information that we have the right to know, the media is being vindictive to a man who admittedly deserves their wrath. He has called them liars, he has shut them out of meetings, and he has refused to honestly answer their questions, but they should be above retaliation. They should deliver our news without bias and show us all sides of any administration that happens to be in Office. It will always be their job to report the news, not shape the news.

I was impressed at how well Geraldo held his own against Maher though. He admitted that he disagreed with most of the president’s policies. He supports a woman’s right to choose, immigration and equal rights for all and is aware that Trump doesn’t agree with him, but he also believes that Trump has done some good this past year and challenges the media to show both sides. Bill tried his hardest to trip him up a bit, but Geraldo never lost his cool.

The book that I read this past week, The last Trial(McMurtrie and Drake Legal Thrillers Book 3) by Robert Bailey, was a well written legal thriller that described the Deep South so well that I began craving grits and cornbread. Bailey’s characters are so genuinely portrayed that the reader becomes truly invested in the outcome.

As always a complete review follows this blog.

Happy reading,

-Beverly

​Click on the book cover to order the title mentioned in today's blog

Genre: Legal Thriller 

​Click book cover for Amazon.com

Author Robert Bailey lives in Huntsville Alabama and is obviously quite familiar with life in the Deep South. His descriptions of Tuscaloosa and its environs were so vivid that I feel as though I had actually been on a city tour. Even the restaurants and food came alive as I got deeper into this “who done it” legal thriller.

This is the third book in Bailey’s series featuring Tom McMurtrie and Rick Drake. Since Bailey’s character development is as strong as his scenic descriptions, by this time I was as familiar with McMurtrie’s aches and pains as I am with my own. While there are definitely references throughout the book of the previous two plot-lines, The Last Trial can easily stand on its own.

Jack Willistone, recently released from prison, is found dead on the banks of the Black Warrior River. When every bit of evidence points to Wilma Newton, a local woman whose life was ruined because of Willistone, district attorney Powell Conrad loses no time in bringing her in for questioning. He tries to contact his mentor, McMurtrie for advise, only to find McMurtrie has decided to represent Wilma in what seems like an open and shut case.

Taking on the case was not an easy call for McMurtrie, but he thinks he owes her something because of a previous case, and he also believes she is innocent. Since his partner, Drake, is tied up with personal business, he turns to his friend Bocephus Haynes for help. Bo is an attorney who has been temporarily suspended (another story from a previous novel) and agrees to act as McMurtrie’s investigator. Bailey does a good job high-lighting the troubles facing a black man in the Deep South in his descriptions of Bo’s experiences in this book as well as the previous two books.

As the story progresses McMurtrie finds other possible suspects as he interviews a monster he helped to incarcerate as well as witnesses who suddenly disappear. I was lucky to happen upon Bailey’s first book several years ago, and he quickly became one of my go to authors. This book certainly keeps him on that list.

- Beverly

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Publisher - Thomas & Mercer
Date of Publication - May 6, 2018