"How did it get so late so soon?"
                                           Dr. Seuss

Time and its passing frightens me. Frighteningly, we have no control over the hands of a clock.  When waiting for a pot to boil, a doctor to call or a baby to be born, time seems to move backwards.  On the other hand, when raising a child, celebrating an event or looking in the mirror, time flies by on hummingbird-like wings. When I was younger I watched a soap opera that started each episode with a sand timer and the words, "like the sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives." It had little meaning to a mother of an infant and a two year old who never gave the passage of time a second thought. I figured there would always be another day to play with my kids or call my mother.

Unfortunately, I learned that isn't true.  Beth is now busy playing with her kids, and Mike, the son I missed when he was as close as the corner pre-school, now lives 1200 miles away. My mom and Arthur's parents are gone, and the clock keeps ticking.  Today I ran into a student from one of my first years of teaching.  We reminisced about English class twenty years ago, and she told me that her daughter just graduated high school. How can that be?  Wasn't it just yesterday that she and I were debating the merits of Shakespeare?

The good news is...I have learned to appreciate each minute that I am lucky enough to experience. Arthur and I travel, take nature walks whenever possible, enjoy each other's company and laugh together often.  My sister Judy and I designate each Tuesday as "sister day," and no one better try to get in our way.  Beth became an English teacher too, and I enjoy my time with her now more than ever.  Of course I will always miss Michael when he is away from me, but when he is in Florida he stays with us and we have 24/7 time together.  We still talk about movies, T.V. And sports, and now when he acts as my psychologist, he has a doctorate to back him up.

Speaking of time passing, time passes for FBI agent Raymond O'Hara in Richard Hilary Weber's novel, F Train, and he finds himself retired and sharing drinks in a bar.  One night, while waiting for the F train, he glances into one of the cars and sees seven obviously dead bodies.  Poisonous gas, a hard working detective and some interesting back stories make for a good read.

The only way that time figures into The Wrong Man by Kate White, is by my lack of it.  This has been a hectic week for me, filled with out of town guests, two birthday parties (Happy Birthday Allan and Pearl), Father's Day brunch (Park Tavern in Delray Beach puts out a great brunch menu) and several other happenings.  I just didn't have time to read two complete books.  I did review The Wrong Man even though I still have pages " to go before I sleep"( thank you Robert Frost).  I read enough to know you should enjoy this book and its charming heroine.

Happy reading,

Beverly

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 Genre: Thriller

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I always enjoy reading books that do a good job giving the reader a feel of a location.  It is easy to tell that Weber is a native of Brooklyn when you read F Train. The charm of Brooklyn's neighborhood stores, bars and restaurants come through.  The story line is an interesting one. Retired FBI agent, Raymond O'Hara leaves a local bar one evening and waits for the F train. When the four car train comes to a stop in front of him he notices one car is populated with seven dead bodies.  He realizes that the weapon was gas and stops the motorman from opening the door.  

NYPD Detective Florence Ott is assigned the case, and the story builds from there. Flo does not have an easy time of it, but she is a hard worker who is well respected.  The reader learns about her personal life as well as her work life, and I tended to like her character.  Author Weber obviously likes to research whatever he is covering, and the research he did is evident as we read about the workings of the detectives and the police administration.

I will say that it took me several chapters to get involved in the book, and for some reason I wasn't a hundred percent vested in the book the entire time.  It could just have been my reluctance to read about poisonous gas, but parts of the book made me a bit uncomfortable. I did enjoy learning the back stories of the  dead passengers and imagine that many would find the book exciting and informative.

New Yorkers will definitely find this book fun to read, and the rest of us will learn much about the city that never sleeps. I am happy I stuck with F Train and will definitely try the next Flo Ott book.

- Beverly


Publisher - Alibi
Date of Publication - June 23, 2015

Genre: Thriller

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I spent my younger years as a conservatively acting teenager, hesitant to take a chance for fear of a bad outcome. I related to Kit Finn who decides to take ONE chance, ONE day on her vacation in the Florida Keys.  The stranger, Matt Healy, was charming and at the time was good.  He wants to continue the fun in New York, and she agrees to meet him at his apartment.  

When she gets there, and Matt Healy answers the door, an entirely different man is standing before her. Same name, different...everything.  Suddenly everyone she loves and everything she worked for is at risk.  Nothing makes sense and she knows she must find the truth in order to save it all. There are several clues to help guide the reader, and the search for what is really going on held my interest as I tried to piece these clues together.

The story is exciting, Kit is engaging, and...time got the best of me.  I must admit that I still have several chapters to go before finishing this book. Unless the book has a really disappointing ending though, I think it is well worth recommending it.  

- Beverly


Publisher - Harper Paperbacks
Date of Publication - Jun 16, 2015

"A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading." – William Styron


I was in a park last week and watched an elderly man sitting on a bench next to his aide.  She was busily texting or playing a game on her iPhone, and though he was obviously being cared for, his mind was not being challenged. He watched several birds fight over some crumbs, smiled at me, then picked up a copy of The Da Vinci Code and began to read. 

I am well aware of the amazing advancements and inventions that have improved our lives through the ages.  The telephone, the washing machine, refrigerators, automobiles, computers and the ever present cellular devices have changed the way we live, decade by decade.  To my way of thinking, the book stands next to most and surpasses some in importance.  

According to Ask.com,  "as far as historians know, and depending on what one means by 'made,' the first book was either the Epic of Gilgamesh, the first bound copies of the Bible, or the Gutenberg Bible," and from that time on, man always had places to go and people to meet without ever getting up from his chair.

I watched the man in the park as he followed the adventures of Robert Langdon and saw him gasp at one point, chuckle at another and get thoroughly involved in Professor Langdon's European adventures. His walker and age might make an actual trip to Paris impossible, but his imagination can take him to the Louvre and Eiffel Tower whenever he wants to join the good professor.  

Great books do give us many experiences, and I know that I am usually exhausted when I finish the final chapter of a book I am reading.  Yes, Mr. Styron, I do live several lives per book, and each life helps me develop into a stronger and wiser person.  You can take away my television or my telephone or even my stove (sandwiches can sustain me) but never try to take my book out of my hand. It never disappoints when I need something to take my mind off of life's stresses.

The President Killed His Wife by Steve Richer certainly did exhaust me.  While it was definitely farfetched in parts, it was exciting from the first page until the last page.  The "good" characters were quite likable and the bad quite evil.  Could there possibly be a logical reason for the President to shoot and kill his wife during the State of the Union address?  You will have fun following Rogan Bricks as he searches for the answer to that question.

The girls of Patterson's Murder Club are also searching for answers in his 14th novel in this series. 14th Deadly Sin has the four main characters searching out clues to solve several different cases.  James Patterson fans should be happy with this newest adventure.

Hope everyone has a happy Father's Day spent with those you love, surrounded by lots of food and stacks of books.

Happy reading.

Beverly

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Genre: Mystery

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I am going to admit right now, I am not a Patterson fan.  I used to be.  When he started his Alex Cross series he seemed like a serious author, not a serious business man.  I used to wait anxiously for each edition to the life of this amazing police detective and his family.  Somewhere along the way, when he started writing with a slew of co-writers, he lost what made him unique.  In fact, I began to enjoy some of the co-writers (Andy Gross, David Ellis) more than Patterson himself.

I stopped reading most of his books, but I still have a soft spot in my heart for his murder club series.  Lindsey Boxer, Jill Bernhardt, Cindy Thomas and Claire Washburn were founding members of this "club" of crime solvers, and several books and deaths later, Yuki Castellano joined them.  Detective, reporter, coroner, and attorney...they cover all the bases and solve all the crimes.  Their families and romantic encounters lighten what could be a grimly depressing load, and their relationships with each other remind me of a tamer version of Sex in the City.

This book, however, does not live up to the rest for me.  A woman is stabbed to death in the middle of a busy street, and there seem to be no clues.  Lindsey connects this crime with several cold cases in a way that brings it right into the lap of the murder club.  While they are dealing with these murders,  several masked NYPD impersonators (or are they really cops?) are causing chaos wherever they appear.

It is Patterson's style to have several crime investigations going on at the same time, and he does that well.  He also is a master of the short chapter, making the reader feel the need to read just one more chapter before turning out the light.  This book lacks some of the excitement the series usually produces, and I found myself skimming a wee bit.  Parts of it are still anxiety provoking though, and the personal connection is interesting.  Lindsey's husband is dealing with his own work issues, and I love seeing her juggle work and home life.

One thing that has ALWAYS driven me crazy about all of Patterson's books are his endings...or lack of endings.  I know it is his style, and it is probably a smart one.  He ends each book with what could be the exciting first chapter of the next one and then makes us wait a year to see how it plays out.   Arghhhhhh.  That is torture for a reader like me, who likes it all tied up in a neat bow.

Well, tied up or not, Patterson fans, and there are millions, will like this book enough to anxiously await number 15 next year, and new readers should probably start at book one to really get a feel for these great ladies.

- Beverly


Publisher - Little, Brown and Company
Date of Publication - May 4, 2015

Genre: Thriller

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Rogan Bricks has a partner he is still getting used to, a wife whose death he can't get over and more money than he knows what to do with, when we first meet him.  He is an FBI agent stationed, by choice, in Alaska.  He was in The D.C. Office five years before, when his wife was killed in a car accident.  He asked to be re-stationed and liked where he ended up. 
One evening, while cooking a mouth watering crab cake (I love a book with amateur chefs as protagonists...entertaining and occasionally recipe providing) Rogan starts flipping channels to find something other than the State of the Union Address.  He is distracted by the President's odd behavior and decides to watch for a while.  The President suddenly grabs his secret service agent's weapon and kills his wife.  He is immediately arrested (which makes sense) and Bricks is immediately called back to head the investigating team(which doesn't make much sense) in Washington.
 
The reader is quickly caught up in an investigation that is meant to fail and a shadow government that decides to make sure the truth remains hidden.  The book is an exciting one.  It stretches the imagination of even the biggest conspiracy buff, but I had no trouble suspending belief for the short time it took me to whip through it.  Bricks quickly realizes he can trust very few people, and those he trusts end up dying.  He puts James Bond to shame as he dodges bullets and jumps from moving planes, but it is all part of the fun.

I was able to get the Kindle version for $.99 this week on Amazon, and it was worth a great deal more.  Check it out on my link and enjoy a few hours of heart racing reading.  This is definitely another great Father's Day gift idea.

- Beverly


Sold by - Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Date of Publication - May 31, 2015

"I find television to be very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book." – Groucho Marx


I am a reader...I have always been a reader...I will always be a reader!  First, before any other form of entertainment, I will select a book. When I am bored, it will chase away the boredom, and when I am sad, it will make me laugh.  When I am anxious, the perfect book will calm my nerves, and when I need a friend, I have go-to characters to play with me.  That being said, I wonder why some people proudly proclaim that they NEVER watch television.  Their disdain for it is so evident that they make the rest of us feel like we are missing I.Q. points because we enjoy an hour in front of the "Boob Tube."

There are amazing scientific shows on now that introduce us to concepts we might never have understood. The History Channel teaches me things that I wasn't ready to learn when it was offered to me in high school. News Magazines give me in-depth information on current happenings and interviews with some very interesting people.  "Big Bang Theory" makes me laugh and "Scandal" keeps me at the edge of my seat.  I enjoy Sunday dinners with the Regans on "Blue Bloods", and "Sherlock" definitely has me trying to beat him out in clue finding.   Actually, even MacGyver-like Doctor Hank Lawson saving everyone in the Hamptons helps me pass the time.

 In other words, there is a time and place for everything in our lives, and the more we are willing to experience, the more we will get out of these lives.  Television characters will never replace the "friends" I have made in the various books I have read throughout my life, but they certainly add a bit of spice. As I previously mentioned, this blog has opened me up to different genres through the past year.  The medical thriller is one I generally stayed away from in the past.  Although I used to read Robin Cook until hypochondria took over completely, I found most medical thrillers trite and redundant. I took a chance on a Michael Palmer book several years ago and found his protagonist captivating and the storyline quite interesting.  I think his mixture of politics and medical mystery added a depth that I enjoyed.  His sudden death last year was quite a loss, and I am glad to see that his son Daniel, an author in his own right, is taking his dad's ideas and running with them.  Michael discussed his idea for the novel Trauma with Daniel shortly before he died.  I definitely saw the father/son collaboration in the pages of this book.

After the trauma of Trauma I needed something light, and I almost always turn to David Rosenfelt to fill that role. His fiction always makes me laugh, so I decided to take a chance on his non-fiction and read  Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure.  In this humorous tale, Rosenfelt takes us with him when he loads three RVs up with 25 rescue dogs and 11 generous friends and acquaintances and takes a cross-country trek.  He and his wife, both dog lovers, decided to move, and they found people willing to help them.  This book is written in typical Rosenfelt style, and I had fun taking part in their adventures.

Aside from those two books I want to remind everyone that The Fixer by Joseph Finder came out this week.  All three of these books would make great Father's Day gifts as well as a great present to give yourselves.


Happy Reading,

Beverly

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Genre: Medical Thriller

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The wee bit of a hypochondriac that lives in me generally warns me against reading medical novels.  Somehow I can read about murder and mayhem and still sleep like a baby, but show me a paragraph about Ebola or the flu, and I am up half the night.  That is why I was really surprised that I always looked forward to the next Michael Palmer novel.  His death was a loss to his family, friends and fans, but his ideas live on in the mind and pen of his son Daniel.  Apparently father and son discussed ideas for Michael's next book, and Daniel decided to write it for his dad.

Dr. Carrie Bryant is a  neurosurgeon at White Memorial hospital.  Like most young physicians, she is overworked and often exhausted.  When she makes a mistake resulting in permanent brain damage for a woman she has operated on, she resigns and moves back with her parents. Personal reasons draw her interests towards working with PTSD, and she decides to get involved in a program dealing with a new technique that uses Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) as a treatment for memory issues and emotional trauma related to PTSD.
Although her surgeries are successful, her patients begin disappearing.  She seeks help from David Hoffman, an investigative reporter who has been writing stories about PTSD, and of course, for the sake of an exciting thriller, danger follows.
 
I think Daniel did a fine job representing is father and surely would have made him proud.  His descriptions of the medical techniques were well done and left me more well versed on the subject than I was before reading the novel.  I love learning through fiction, so that was a definite plus.  He does a good job building his characters and most of them are likable enough to win our allegiance.  I did question Carrie's involvement in things better left to the police or a private investigator, but hey, novels are supposed to make us suspend belief.

This was a fast moving story with plenty of excitement, and I hope Daniel continues to write novels that draw in fans of his dad.  If you like medical thrillers then this should definitely make your list of books to buy.  It would also make a great Father's Day gift, so happy shopping.

- Beverly


Publisher - St. Martin's Press
Date of Publication - May 12, 2015

Genre: Non-Fiction/Humor 

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If you have been following Madderly Review, you know that David Rosenfelt is one of those authors whose books I anxiously wait for each year.  He averages two a year...one a stand alone thriller and one a book in his Andy Carpenter series.  Somewhere along the way he must have realized that he had five minutes a day free, because he decided to add non-fiction to his repertoire. Dogtripping: 25 Rescues, 11 Volunteers, and 3 RVs on Our Canine Cross-Country Adventure  takes us on a journey into the experiences of a couple who have devoted themselves to the saving of dogs.

The preface of this book explains how they met and introduces the dog that started this adventure.  Tara was wife Debbie's dog when Rosenfelt met her, and they (Debbie AND Tara) quickly stole his heart.  In fact,  Rosenfelt fans know that Andy Carpenter has a Golden Retriever named Tara in his series, and that dog is my favorite character. Obviously modeled after the real Tara, this fictional one seems wiser than most humans and never shy about voicing her opinions.

As the book starts, David and Debbie are moving from California to Maine. They are in a three RV caravan with eleven people (some they just met) who offered to help them transport their 25 rescue dogs to their new home. Most of us would be overwhelmed by that number but not David, who, at times, housed 42 of these canines in need. The trip is an interesting one, and Rosenfelt tells it in his own heartwarming style. His humor, often at his own expense, never fails to make me smile...and often laugh out loud. 

Some chapters tell of the dogs' backgrounds and some tell of their lives now, but every chapter helps even those who are not dog fanatics think about going down to the shelter and bringing home a dog.  I rarely have a bad word to say about a Rosenfelt book, and this is no exception.  His humor and obvious warmth cover any tiny flaw that might be found.  Do yourself a favor and grab a copy of Dogtripping.  It might just lead to a doggie adoption in your life, and even if not, it will surely give you a few good laughs.

-Beverly


Publisher - St. Martin's Griffin; Reprint edition
Date of Publication - July 22, 201

"I would like to apologize to those who were unable to graduate with the class of 2015 because they were too distracted by my midriff and consequently failed all of their classes!XOXO"
                                                                                                              -- Chloe Cross

This year teens are using their yearbooks to send political messages, and I am proud of them for taking a page out of Thoreau's beliefs in "Civil Disobedience."  He believed that a man/woman must stand up for what he/she believes in...but do so in a non-violent manner.  He was against slavery and refused to pay taxes because those revenues supported it. He was thrown in jail and would have stayed there if relatives wouldn't have secretly paid his debt.  It is not that I am comparing bare midriffs to slavery, but Ms. Cross is making a more important statement than we might first believe.

We are all responsible for our own actions, and a woman's clothing should not determine her culpability in any given situation.  As a teacher, I hated seeing girls in low scooped necklines or mini-mini skirts, but it had nothing to do with the distraction the boys felt.  Teenage boys are distracted by paper clips, white boards and the wind. Girls can't, and shouldn't have to, worry about what might lure them away from books.  I disliked those outfits because I disliked girls building those self images.  Too many women feel that is the only way to attract a man, and too many men forget to look for the book beneath the glitzy cover.

Ms. Cross wants men to realize that even if a woman walks by in a scimpy outfit, they don't get a free pass.  Whether in a classroom or a court of law, men must take responsibility for their actions.  "She was asking for it...look what she was wearing" is not a defense, and any lawyer who continues to use it needs to be held as accountable as the man he/she is defending.

Speaking of defending, Paul Madriani is at it again in Steve Martini's latest legal thriller, which pits Madriani against unscrupulous lawyers, politicians and a lethal mercenary.  The Enemy Inside finds the lawyer defending someone he knows this time and has the reader as confused as the poor suspect who remembers very little about the night in question. Did Alex really get drunk enough to earn a DUI and manslaughter charge and remember none of it, and will Paul be able to find the answers to save him? Spoiler Alert...Paul ALWAYS finds the answers!

Speaking of finding answers, the Battle family is falling apart because of one heartbreaking question.  What happened to Auggie?  The young child disappeared from the bus stop months ago and was never seen again.  In Unpaved Surfaces, Joseph Souza takes us into a world that no one wants to enter, but he does it with so much talent that none of us can turn away.  Each member of the family is so beautifully brought to life that the reader can actually feel their pain. Although the subject matter is difficult, I do recommend this book highly.  If you appreciate an author who knows how to focus on strong characterization, I promise you a terrific read.

Happy reading,

Beverly

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