​​Genre: Fiction/Historical

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There are few authors who draw me in as completely as Ronald Balson. I anxiously await his latest novels and feel sad when the last page is finished. His main characters, attorney Catherine Lockhart and investigator Liam Taggart are interesting enough to hold our attention through the series, but his secondary protagonists in each book are the ones that bring out emotions I didn’t know I had.

Three of his previous books took place in and around the holocaust, and The Girl From Berlin is no exception. Catherine and Liam are hired to try to prevent the eviction of their friend’s aunt Gabi from her small farm/vineyard in the Tuscan hills. A powerful corporation claims that they own the deeds even though she has her own set of deeds for the land.

Gabi sends Catherine a translated copy of a journal written by Ada Baumgarten, who was born in Berlin in 1918. Ada was the daughter of an accomplished first-chair violinist in the prestigious Berlin Philharmonic, and she herself became a prodigy. Flashbacks begin during her years enjoying Berlin’s rich culture as a small child, and go on through the years of Hitler’s Germany. We follow her escape to Italy and subsequent dealings with the Nazi’s there. We follow her career, her family and friends, and her forbidden romance, as everything is taken from the Jewish people during those years.

I often have trouble reading stories centering around this time period, but Balson’s books are different. He doesn’t try to hide the horrors, but he concentrates more on the bravery of his characters and the lives that they live. The actual concentration camp scenes are scarce and less graphic then many others I have read, but the message is no less powerful. 

When the readers’ emotions reach a breaking point dealing with Ada, Balson brings us back to 2018 and the legal case that our protagonists are fighting to win in Italy.  I spent a good deal of the book trying to figure out how Gabi came to be in possession of Ada’s manuscript, and the answer didn’t disappoint me.

Balson’s descriptions of a collapsing Germany and the beautiful hillsides of Tuscany add a depth to the book and lead me to highly recommend it for your collection.

-Beverly


Publisher - St. Martin’s Press
Date of Publication - ​​​October 9, 2018

​​​​Genre: Fiction

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There are a slew of mother-in-law jokes written each year, yet no one seems to get tired of them. Mothers of men are particularly picked upon, but often it is with good reason. Sandie Jones gives us a peek into just how nightmarish a life can be when a mother fights to be number one in her son’s life in the novel The Other Woman.

Emily isn’t necessarily looking for a husband when she meets Adam, but he seemed like the real deal. Almost perfect...and then there was Pammie. Pammie raised Adam and his brother after becoming widowed, and the two boys adore her. Early on the reader (and Emily) see just how manipulative Pammie can be. Her need to be everything to her sons is pathological, and we watch her try to destroy Emily and the relationship that is blossoming.

The book builds around this premise, and Jones draws the reader in as the story progresses. I love the way the author paints a picture with her words. “His breath had smelled of last night’s curry,” certainly allows us to feel her disgust. When Emily disagreed with her own mother’s advice about judging a man by his teeth, she explained, “ I put more importance on whether someone’s smile reaches their eyes.”  Those words helped build a picture of Emily as well as the person she was meeting.

Pammie was far from endearing, and I wasn’t overly fond of Adam, but they were both fascinating characters. It was frustrating watching Emily fight an uphill better as Adam turned a blind eye to his mother’s manipulation. It was hard to imagine that this bright young man was missing all the in-your-face clues, but it is often difficult to come between a boy and his mother. Jones’ exploration of this relationship added to the story and made it more than just another quick summer read, and the twist and turns kept me going until the very end.

-Beverly

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Publisher - Minotaur Books
Date of Publication - ​​​​August 21, 2018

​​​Genre: Legal Thriller

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Phillip Margolin’s legal thriller, Violent Crimes: An Amanda Jaffe Novel, kept me up a good part of the night as I tried to put all of the pieces together. Margolin gives us several murders, questionable business practices, a son who admits to killing his father...but probably didn’t, and an innocent ex-military man being set up to take the fall for several murders.

The protagonist in this series, attorney Amanda Jaffe, fights every battle with a quest for the truth and fights enemies on several fronts in order to defend her client. In Violent Crimes she works with her investigator to defend two men whom she believes to be innocent and finds possible conflicts of interests along the way. 

This book is relevant to today’s politics and makes one wonder how far people will go to accrue immense wealth. I found it a bit overly convoluted at times, but the author did a good job bringing it all together as the book progressed. Although he threw in little glimpses of Amanda’s private life, I would like to have seen a bit more. It would have served to soften the book a bit and given the reader a break from all of the murder and mayhem.

That being said, Margolin is a master of murder and mayhem, and this novel does showcase what he does best. As always, villains are frightening, his heroes are fearless and his book fulfills the promise of an exciting few days of page turning.

- Beverly
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Publisher - Harper
Date of Publication - ​​​​February 9, 2016

​​​Genre: Thriller

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Stephen Frey’s novels often encompass the military world and/or the financial world, and Ultimate Power does both. On the day that Andrew Falcon Jr. becomes the youngest hedge fund manager to become partner at his Wall Street investment bank, his niece is kidnapped. The price to get her back is information about his firm, and what he finds out horrifies him.

Meanwhile we meet the President, Katrina Hilton, and are privy to her liberal-leaning plans for the country. Several high ranking military leaders will do anything to thwart those plans, and a rogue faction forms to manipulate the American people. Throw in a mob boss on the run and presidential protection that goes beyond the Secret Service, and you have one of Stephen Frey’s non-stop thrillers.

The story-line got a little nerve wracking as it seemed to hit home with today’s political climate. In fact, Frey added an author’s note at the end explaining his need to change a locale in the book because, although it was written before an event that shocked our nation, it was too similar and would perhaps make a sensitive situation even worse.

Although many of the characters were a bit shallow and unappealing, I did like Andrew and enjoyed watching him fight his way through this untenable situation.  Frey’s thrillers tend to be a bit convoluted, and there were times I had to look back and check out who was who, but on the whole I can recommend this as a book worth reading.

- Beverly
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Publisher - Thomas & Mercer
Date of Publication - ​​​February 13, 2018

​​​Genre: Mystery

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This was my first Chris Patchell book, but it won’t be my last. Vow of Silence was one of those books that I couldn’t put down. It was a bit confusing at first because each chapter is told through the eyes of different characters, but once I became familiar with the main ones, and their individual stories, I became totally invested in the book.

I liked the fact that, as in real life, no character was all good or all bad. Jill Shannon has a tragic backstory (unfortunately I didn’t read the first book in this series), and her dark secrets might just be the end of her. Conner Manning, her fiancé, is caught up in his father’s political ambitions, and that could have repercussions for them all.

Detective David Shaw is trying to find out who murdered reporter Joe Gaines and somehow ends up on Jill’s doorstep. Joe might have been working on a secret exposé that got him killed, or it could have been his drug involvement or a jealous husband. Detective Shaw is determined to solve this murder, even while he is skipping over a major problem in his own home.

The story is a good one and most of the characters are strong. Though there were a few loose ends, it kept my interest until the last page, and I look forward to the next in Patchell’s series.

- Beverly


Publisher - CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 2 edition
Date of Publication - January 17, 2018

​​​Genre: Political Thriller

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I have carefully avoided political thrillers taking place in Washington this year, but I decided to listen to a recommendation and give this one a chance. I never read a Marc Rainer novel before, and Death Votes Last: a Jeff Trask Crime Drama is the fifth in this series, so I was hesitant. I needn’t have been, because the book stood well on its own.

In an uncomfortable twist of fate, the senate in Rainer’s book is split 50/50, and that isn’t good enough for some politicians who want to ensure a win for every point on there agenda. The plan seemed easy enough...drug one of the senators right before he gets in his car, slip a bottle of pills in his pocket, and wait for him to get pulled over for erratic driving. This would take him out of the running in the next election, and a candidate more sympathetic to their cause could take his place.

When the senator loses control of his car and ends up dead, the equation changes and suddenly federal prosecutor Jeff Trask is looking at a possible murder. Suddenly there is more than one murder to solve, and complicating everything is the fact that the trial must take place in the political hotbed that is Washington, D.C.

Author Rainer does a good job involving his readers in the goings on during a trial, and I enjoyed seeing things through the prosecutor's eyes. Some of the happenings were too close to “ripped from the headlines” happenings for me to be entirely comfortable, but I recommend this book highly to anyone with an interest in political thrillers.

- Beverly 


Publisher - Gatekeeper Press
Date of Publication - ​​​November 10, 2017

​​Genre: Mystery

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In order to train for her new (and high paying) job, Isobel Avery had to memorize the taste and smell of all relevant poisonous and psychoactive substances so she could detect them in food and beverages. Izzy is a poison taster for the rich and famous.  The job is a dangerous one, but the money is good, and paying off her ex-husband’s debts isn’t easy.

Her first client, Connor, did not prove to be easy, and the fact that her cover was to play his girlfriend was not a pleasant thought. During their first meeting he told her to deal with his stylist and get a makeover so she will fit the role. His attractiveness was a plus, but his condescending manner cancelled out any hope she had of a pleasant experience. Interestingly enough, her first case turns out to be not so much a case as ...well, I am not going to give away any more of the story except to say that you can expect a loan shark, a murder attempt, a little romance and a few good laughs.

Author Fields did a good job making Izzy easy to root for, and I found this light read entertaining for the most part. The heroine is a fairly good puzzle solver, and even though she gets into some rather insane jams, she shows her intelligence every now and again as we follow her antics.

Eat, Pray, Die will definitely take you through a long airplane ride or a day at the beach.

- Beverly


Publisher - JFP Press
Date of Publication - ​​July 3, 2016

​​Genre: Erotica

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I have never been a fan of Erotica, but I decided to give this book a try. I am still not a fan,  but I see the appeal of Em Brown’s His For A Week: Bought (book 1 of a 2 part series) for those who do enjoy the genre. There are definite sexual situations that lean towards Bondage/Sado-Masochism and there is a story line to follow, but I couldn’t get past the women being such willing participants in their own humiliation.

Attractive females are auctioned off to the highest bidder and must spend the week catering to their “owner’s” demands. The protagonist of Brown’s tale, Kimani Taylor, is a journalist after a story, and she allows herself to be purchased by Jake, an abusive and truly despicable buyer. When he and his friends transport their “purchases” to a secluded cabin and confiscate the women’s phones and clothing, Kimani realizes she may have bitten off more than she can chew.

When Jake’s business acquaintance, Ben, enters the picture, he is attracted to Kinani and appalled at the way the men are treating their “possessions.” He convinces Jake (who had purchased two women) to sell Kimani to him, and now we watch him alternate between protector and abuser.

I realize that abasing women was the idea behind the book, but watching these women gladly endure the abuse in hopes that they may end up like the star of Pretty Woman and find true love was more than I could stomach. Finding out that the book ended in the middle of the story and forced the reader to buy the second book to find out the ending was the last straw, and I think I will leave erotica reviewing to someone else in the future.

-Beverly
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Publisher - Wind Color Press
Date of Publication - ​​​May 8, 2018

​​Genre: Thriller

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David Bell’s book, Somebody I Used To Know, pulled me in on page one. While the premise is implausible, there was something about the story line that kept me going. The writing is somewhat simplistic, but that didn’t detract from the plot. I did start losing patience with it about three quarters of the way through though and found the ending disappointingly predictable.

It begins with Nick Hansen noticing a young woman who resembles his college girlfriend, Marissa Minor, while he shops at his local grocery store. Marissa died in a fire twenty years before and this young woman with her face and mannerisms takes him by surprise. She rushes off when he approaches her, and is found dead in her hotel room the following morning with Nick’s name and phone number on a scrap of paper in her pocket.

When Nick becomes a person of interest in this young woman’s (Emily) murder, he enlists the help of several friends as he begins an investigation to clear himself and find out why Emily was looking for him, and why she ran away. While Nick is an engaging protagonist, his obsession with the long gone Marissa seems odd, and his on again, off again relationship with Heather (a college friend of his and Marissa’s) seems too contrived. 

Bell brings in an aging dog and an adorable stepson to add to Nick’s appeal, and the reader can’t help but liking him as he blunders into one predicament after another. While the book has its flaws, I did enjoy it and recommend it as a fun vacation read.

- Beverly​

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Publisher - Berkley
Date of Publication - ​​​July 7, 2015

​Genre: Legal Thriller

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Most legal thrillers are written from the prospective of the attorney, and it is refreshing to read J. D. Trafford’s novel through the eyes of the judge. Good Intentions introduces us to Judge Jim Thompson just as his world seems to be coming apart. He has been following in the footsteps of his mentor, Judge Meyer, and is working with children and their families, trying to fairly determine if foster care is the correct solution for the children who come before him. A recent decision that turns tragic jeopardizes his job at the same time that he finds Meyer’s murdered body.

I must say, I have read a great deal of legal thrillers and find it odd that so many lawyers  (and now a judge) spend most of their time trying to solve crime rather than defend or adjudicate. In Good Intention, Judge Thompson is determined to find out who killed his mentor. While digging through Meyer’s belongings, he comes across several pictures that seem out of place and a bank account earmarked for Thompson that contains millions of dollars. Trying to save Judge Meyer’s reputation while in the midst of trying to salvage his own gets complicated, and Thompson is no longer sure who he can trust.

Trafford is a compelling writer, and his stories always keep the reader interested. He is a lawyer by trade, and I feel he does a stronger job representing lawyers as displayed in his last book, Little Boy Lost. In that novel, attorney Justin Glass felt three dimensional throughout, where as in this latest novel there are times when Judge Thompson falls a little flat. The story is a good one though, and he does a good job showing the various sides of foster children cases.

This is a good choice for Trafford fans as well as legal thriller thriller enthusiasts looking for a slightly different point of view.

- Beverly


​Publisher - Thomas & Mercer
Date of Publication - ​​​June 19, 2018