Fiction Views

Good and Bad Days!

2008-11-05T14:15:00.001-05:00

A day for the ages!

New President! Congrats to Sen. Obama!

Condolences to Michael Crichton's family.

One of my favorite authors, a young man, a cancer victim!

Sorry to see you go so soon!

Sunday Salon - The English Assassin - Mr. Silva

2008-11-02T12:25:00.001-05:00

This fifth novel written by Daniel Silva, has our hero Gabriel Allon, an accomplished art
restorer and a secret agent for the Israeli government, protecting a beautiful violinist.

Augustus Rolfe, a Swiss banker, whose private life extended into Nazi Germany, has an art collection to be dead for!

Anna Rolfe, his daughter, is now in danger because of her supposed knowledge of her father's activities.

Can Gabriel protect her?

Can Gabriel match up with a ruthless British mercenary turned assassin?

Anna is a head-strong world renowned musician determined also to find her estranged father's killer.

Clues are hidden in the depth of the super-secret Swiss banking community, can they be found?

Great so far, will follow-up next week!

Sunday Salon - A Group of Mean Women?

2008-10-19T13:00:00.001-04:00

This is my first Lisa Scottoline novel and I hope not my last!
Although Ms. Scottoline is an Eagle football fan from Philly, I will overlook this fact!

When Trish Gambone strutted into Mary DiNunzio's office all hell was about to break loose.

You see Trish and Mary had the same high school sweetheart.

Of course, Mary, now the successful lawyer did not realize that
"sweetheart", Bobby Mancuso, was a mobster and a girlfriend-beater.

Trish was begging Mary for her help and advice to get out of the situation with Bobby, but no ideas Mary had seemed to satisfy Trish.
Trish seemed to imply her life was in imminent danger!

Trish disappears!

Mary is now really frightened, and their mutual friends, the Mean Girls show up a Mary's office to get her help!

Very upset now that she did not help Trish, Mary, leaves her job to help find Trish. Mobster Bobby is found murdered, but where is Trish?

Is Trish alive?

Read the ending for yourself, very entertaining!

Sunday Salon - You Think you Are a Einstein?

2008-10-05T19:28:00.006-04:00

No, No, No, I am not an Einstein! But in Final Theory by Mark Alpert there are several!

Mr. Alpert's first novel is a well written thriller with many twists and turns.

His prowess in this subject, scientific theory, comes from being a columnist with Scientific American Magazine.

I am excited to get to read a "late-model" novel as usually it is several years till I get one!

Albert Einstein has succeeded in developing a theory if used as a weapon...

One of Einstein's assistants from long ago now an old man like me, Hans Kleinman, is severely beaten because of his knowledge of "The Theory." Dieing at the hospital, Herr Kleinman calls for one of his former students, David Swift, now a Columbia University professor. He relays to David a string of numbers, then passes. David Swift is now in the fight for his own life!

The terrorists involved in trying to get these numbers from Dr. Swift will stop at nothing including attacking his ex-wife and son. A pyhsicist friend of David's, Monique Reynolds has her home burglarized which she doesn't understand till David tells of his situation.

As mentioned before, this story is full of plausible and non-plausible twists. Too many times the amateurs kill or thwart the professionals. All in all for a first novel, Mr. Alpert did an admirable job.

Give us another one, Mark!

Sunday Salon - Torsos ? Not for the Squeamish!

2008-09-28T15:14:00.005-04:00

John Peyton Cooke has really made a page turner in Torsos!

Not expecting all the sex, gore, and killings, I enjoyed this novel based on the serial murders in Cleveland in the 1930's.

Dismembered bodies are driving the detectives crazy along with new safety director Eliott Ness. Hank Lambert, a detective and closet gay, is in charge of the investigation.

Mr. Ness decides to take over after his political ambitions get in the way.

The underground homosexual community is being attacked by a crazed killer who cuts off heads, arms, legs and genitals.

It just can't be the pharmacist, who is the son of one of the elite families of Cleveland. Mott Hessler knows this seedy side of town and has left no clues to his own dark side.

Only through Hank "Lucky" Lambert's relationship with a known male prostitute, Danny Cottone, is he able to finally get this most notorious killer.

This book is definitely not for the young mind!

Sunday Salon - Small Town Girl - Bad?

2008-09-07T01:20:00.001-04:00

AHH... Western North Carolina, great landscapes, tall mountains, beautiful flowers, and Josey Cirrini.
Who? You remember Josey that little brat, well she's all grown-up now.
Still lives with her Mom at twenty-seven and loves the postman!
Her Dad, Marco, died many years ago, but Josey did not know he was the town playboy.
Della Lee lives in her closet?

You talk about Sub-Plot City, Sarah Addison Allen has conjured up a series of events that will make your head swim in The Sugar Queen!

Josey is used to little own world, a closet full of treats, dreams of the postman, and an outside world she has never experienced.

Della Lee has moved into Josey's closet for the time being(strange) and gets Josey to go to the local sandwich for her, where she meets Chloe.

Chloe leads Josey on a roller-coaster ride of emotions with her strained relationship with her boyfriend, Jake.

Adam, the postman, finally leans of Josey's love for him through Chloe.

Her Mom, Margaret, had an affair with the local cab driver many years ago.

This sounds choppy doesn't it? Well Ms. Allen does a much better job in the book itself, read it!

Sunday Salon- Dead Heat or Upset Stomach?

2008-08-24T02:28:00.003-04:00

Dick Francis has been a great writer for many years. His son, Felix, has done most of the research on the last two novels, they have collaborated on.

I've read several earlier books of Mr. Francis and since his wife died, there is a distinct lack of "fullness" as I read.While Dead Heat , is good the characters lack the depth I am used to getting.

But all in all, Dick Francis is one of my favorites!

Max Moreton is a self pronounced culinary star in Newmarket, England.

His restaurant, The Hay Net, so named because of its proximity to the local racetrack, has its share of admirers from the horse-racing crowd.

However after "poisoning" several people at a private catered event, his business hits the skids as the local health officials shutter The Hay Net. Things even turn for the worse as the next day at the track at another private event a bomb kills several people including one of Max's employees.

Max soon realizes that someone is out to get him as his car is sabotaged and his house burns down.

Well as always, you need to read this book to get the rest of the story!

Sunday Salon - The First Patient by Michael Palmer

2008-08-18T00:46:00.003-04:00

Being around the President would be scary enough without having to be his doctor also!

Gabe Singleton, a rancher, a doctor, a long-time friend of Andrew Stoddard, President of the United States, has been living in Wyoming for the last few years.

Oh yes, Gabe has a criminal record. His involvement in an auto accident while being intoxicated kills a pregnant woman. This accident happens while he and buddy, Drew are at Annapolis and Gabe serves a year in prison.

Several helicopters land on Gabe's property and President Stoddard asks his friend to be his doctor.

Not really following his heart, Gabe reluctantly agrees to go to Washington even after finding that the President's former physician has disappeared. After only a couple of bedside visits, Gabe is called to the Presidential bedroom and sees him acting very strangely.

Is the President insane? Gabe wonder what he has got himself into. Leaving the White House, Gabe is attacked by a gunman in his car. Allison, a Secret Service agent undercover as a nurse bumps into the rear of his car and the bullet only shatters his side rear window.

What follows is Gabe trying to find both who is out to kill him and what is really wrong with the President.

Facing reelection Drew cannot afford to let the public know about his illness, but Gabe must face his conscience and call the Twenty-fifth Amendment if this mystery illness is nit solved.

A world crisis is hanging in the balance... what will Gabe do?

A fantastic, suspense-filled novel with a great end!

Sunday Salon - Is There a Heaven? (Blue)

2008-08-03T12:25:00.001-04:00

Who is C.J. Box?

Well it seems he lives in Wyoming and has worked as a ranch hand, surveyor, fishing guide, a small town newspaper reporter and editor, and he co-owns an international tourism marketing firm.

And he still has time to write? Nine novels no less! The first eight about a fictional character named Joe Pickett.

Where have I been?

Blue Heaven has got to be in the book somewhere. But just started reading Wednesday night and can't see the correlation yet.

Annie and ~~Willie~~ William really want to go fishing and Tom Boyd their mother's "boyfriend" says "yeah, I'll take you."

Of course as adults we usually end up disappointing a lot of kids in our lifetime, Tom forgets about the trip so Annie and William go fishing by themselves.

The trip takes a turn they will never forget!

They see a man shot to death and the killers see them!

Kids are now running and hiding to protect their lives!

More to come...

Sunday Salon - Two Different and Maybe Good?

2008-07-20T01:32:00.001-04:00

Have been reading two completely different, maybe somewhat how shall I say, ~~boring~~ , no "lacking" novels this week. Both by authors not so familiar with me but have read of them.

The Consignment by Grant Sutherland, is ok, but has some inaccuracies of the details reveal a lack of understanding of the American military. Officers going in and out of active duty and F16s have become able to land on aircraft carriers. If you ignore these and other missteps the book isn't too bad.
Ned Rourke works as an undercover sales rep for an arms company to help the government catch illegal arms traders.

Thom Racina author of Deep Freeze has written multiple novels over the years, but this one lacks depth. The characters are pretty thin and after fifty or pages of snow, your attention is drawn to what is on the ol' TV!
The disaster novel is about a cosmological climate change in California that brings about a blizzard in Los Angeles. I have not finished this book, so I do hope the end is better that the start!

You all know I am a positive reader, meaning I generally only have good things to say about most fiction novels, but this week I am just letting my feelings out!

One of this books was $3.00 and the other a gift, boy am I glad!

Sunday Salon - Havoc? Could this be Real?

2008-07-06T22:59:00.001-04:00

Started Havoc three weeks ago and in between the many summer visits from my grandchildren, I have managed to get to the last chapter today.
The Nano's of my mind are boggled with all the possibilities of what this ever advancing technology can do.
Imagine opening the hood of your ~~flying~~ car to see that one inch by two inch engine that takes you to the store and back.

Imagine a laptop that could blow away in the wind!

Wow, I am really dreaming or am I?

R.J. Pineiro really knows the nanotechnology area. But this could mean the end of Homo Sapiens and a world ruled by "smart" machines. Assy, would like nothing better. You see Dr. Giles created Assy, modified Assy, and gave Assy all the info to rule the world. Or so he thought.

Mike Ryan certainly was not going to let a nanoassembler destroy us!

Tom Grant a retired CIA operative was coaxed back into service by Rachel Muratani, a sleek, good-looking, rising star in the agency.

Tom is trying to find Troy Savage his old boss whom Rachel believes has turned to the other side.

Nothing is as it seems, as Troy is secretly working for CIA Director Bane to help catch a mole or moles inside the agency.

All Havoc does break loose as the German conglomerate, CyberWerke is the villain both in the case of the moles and the world-wide Nano horror that is named Assy along with its subordinates.

You will enjoy this book! Cost $3.00! How much is a Big Mac?

Sunday Salon - Havoc is Hell

2008-06-22T20:29:00.002-04:00

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This report will make it easy to get a handle on the terminology of this new technology and is a must-read for anyone looking to profit from the Emerging Tech revolution.

JoeB have you gone crazy? I thought you were reading Havoc by R.J. Pineiro? What does investing in nanotech have to do with Havoc?

Well its interesting I get a newsletter to sign up for from Forbes about investing in nanotechnology. I started to laugh after reading about half of this alarming novel.

Tom Grant, a retired agent with the CIA, is suckered back into service by Special Agent Rachel Muratani with a promise of more than enough money to retire ~~better~~ again.

His job is to track down his old boss and trainer who is supposed to be dead, Troy Savage. Little does he realize his real position is to save our species!

Assy, the prototype nanoassembler, who is highly intelligent, self-propelled and self-replicating has a mission to destroy humans.

Now why would I want to invest in nanotech, Mr. Forbes?

Final assessment next week!

Sunday Salon - Raise Havoc or Hell

2008-06-15T01:44:00.001-04:00

My oldest treated me to three new books for Father's Day and she always seems to know what I don't have in reading materials.

The one I grabbed first was Havoc, by R.J. Pineiro.

Reading the first chapter, I thought of one of my early heroes, Ray Bradbury. Not in style but in the futuristic style of this novel.

Nanotechnology is what the future holds for all of us, but this terrifying book is not what I want to be involved in the future.

A stolen nanoassembler with the ability to recreate itself, destroying any object or human capabilities, and able to comprehend new information makes for a fascinating read!

Well enough till next week!

Happy Father's Day!

Sunday Salon>The Watchman< Fact or Fiction

2008-06-02T00:57:00.002-04:00

I do not know where I've been, but this is the 11th thriller to feature Joe Pike, the ex-cop,ex- Marine, ex-mercenary and now bodyguard. Also my first Robert Crais novel. Where have I been?

Mr. Crais is the author of the Elvis Cole mysteries and Mr. Cole plays an important role in this fast paced, twisted plot, flawed character mystery thriller.

A young heiress, Larkin Conner has unknowingly become the target of hitmen. When several attempts are made on her life, her multi-millionaire father calls in security professionals, and they call Joe Pike.

One night while returning home, she accidentally hits a car, injuring its passengers. Before she can call for help, the driver speeds off and a man in the back seat disappears down a nearby alley.

As Pike and Cole try to figure out why Larkin is a target, they realize that essentially everyone claiming to want to protect her is hiding behind a facade, withholding information that will save her.

Looking forward to finishing this exciting book this week!

Sunday Salon - Fiction or Not?

2008-05-25T15:37:00.001-04:00

Adam ~~Blair~~ Lang the ex- British prime minister, has allowed Mr. X to be his new ghost writer of his memoirs. There's a lot of money to be made if Mr. X can complete the "book" in a month.
Appears that there is more to the job than bargained for.

Prime Minister Lang is charged with illegally handing over terror suspects to be tortured by the CIA. The publishers behind the book see an opportunity as the allegations surface and now want the book finished in two weeks.

Mr. X has some weird feelings about the whole scenario and follows the previous ghost writers trail which leads him to an ex-CIA agent.

The trail begins to muddy as Mr. Lang is killed by a bomb, as his beloved wife looks on.

The Ghost is flabbergasted when after talking to PM Lang's former foreign secretary, he deduces that Mrs. Lang is also CIA.

What a great plot!

Read this one!

Sunday Salon - Do You Believe in Ghosts?

2008-05-18T13:43:00.001-04:00

When I picked up The Ghost by Robert Harris, I did not read the inside cover as I usually do, and in not doing so thought I was buying a novel probably about a ghost.

Well the ghost turned out to be a writer whom is aptly not named in this political novel, but is hired after Mike McAra the ghost writer of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang commits "suicide."

Started reading this last Thursday and continuing today this caustic novel is packed with inveiglement, domination, and manipulation.

Mr. Harris, I believe has used this "novel" to unveil more of his own political views on the British government and its war on terrorists.

Great read, will have to finish next week!

Sunday Salon - Hotel Stories by Mike Tyler

2008-05-04T17:39:00.001-04:00

Would you like to live in a hotel for eight years? Mike Tyler author, poet, and singer(? see www.cutepoet.com) did. His girlfriend locked him out of his apartment and he settled in for while. He became the poet in residence.

Amy Hills saw this blog and sent me this book back in February and I guess I am not a "hip" reader.

Hotel Stores is a collection of short stories about Mike's life at the Carlton Arms in New York.

His style of writing is uncensored, true to life, and shows a no-holds barred approach. While I will not go into every detail of the book, you can imagine what really goes on in a New York City hotel for eight years!

Mike does show characters just as we see them in everyday life. Open, closed, sexy, pure, philosophic, drug users, and "friendships" are some of the traits shown in Hotel Stories.

My final thoughts are no this is not my kind of book, but you will have to judge for yourself!

Sunday Salon - Final Review for Iris and Ruby

2008-05-04T16:39:00.001-04:00

As I read and thought about my Grandmother whom I called Nanny, my heart was yearning for the glorious cheese sandwiches she made for me when I slept over.

My relationship with Nanny was not as profound as Ruby's was with Iris. She did not have the past lovers or life setting that living in Cairo, Egypt provided. She also was not a doctor like Iris, but as a kid I thought she was a "healer."

This picture of life that Rosie Thomas so elegantly portrays in a manner that shows the link between two completely different people. There is more depth to the story than a love novel and this attribute leaves you thinking of the noble aspects of life.

Having never been abroad, the description of the beautiful Cairo made me want to be there. It seems as if during and shortly after WWII, Cairo was the place to be!

Wouldn't you like to read Iris and Ruby, I did!

Sunday Salon - Iris and Ruby by Rosie Thomas

2008-04-20T10:22:00.001-04:00

You never know about a book until you open the cover and read the first page, well this morning I really became intrigued.

Iris and Ruby written by Rosie Thomas is a classic. With skillfully written narratives from the points of view of both Iris and Ruby, this moving story makes the book hard to put down.

From the first page you feel comfortable, intertwined, and vibrant as you read the relationship that develops between a grandmother and granddaughter.

I've only started with the first few chapters being spanned, but will finish this week and give a final review next week.

I am really proud to be a part of Sunday Salon, we just keep growing! Remember we should have a convention!

Sunday Salon >>> Are You in the WITSEC?

2008-04-06T01:42:00.001-04:00

Kate Raab seemed perfectly normal. Beautiful, fun-loving, and very smart. Had a great job that she loved, as a lab researcher at a college. Loved her family and was especially close to her Dad. Life is "grand."

Benjamin Raab makes great money at his own business in the New York diamond district. He buys and sells a lot of gold. Kate's dad had been doing well for over twenty years.

The FBI does not take kindly to money launderers and have burst into Mr. Raab's office to arrest him. Of course he denies the allegations, but is convicted and sent off to prison.

Sharon, Emily, Justin, and Kate are of course non-believing , but now must enter the Witness Protection Program because of Benjamin's under-handedness. Kate decides she will not go into the program and remains in New York.

Kate gets married and some months later notices strangers following her. Then a co-worker is shot in the head at close range and she knows that shot was for her. So Kate begins to search into her Dad's past and this turns her world upside-down.

A very tense, heart-moving, page-turning, jaw-dropping, and plot twisting novel that I would recommend to everyone. I have certainly used enough hyphens in the review. Oh, yes The Blue Zone means the area when a participant has been compromised and is in danger.

Andrew Gross did a terrific job on his first single novel!

Sunday Salon-Are You A SandHog?-Fact or Fiction

2008-03-23T01:09:00.002-04:00

Could you be a sandhog? You could if you worked in the tunnels of New York.

This is my first Linda Fairstein novel although she has many to her storied career. Here is a list for you:

Killer Heat (2008), Bad Blood (2007), The Best American Crime Reporting 2007 (2007),
Death Dance (2006), Entombed (2005), Cold Hit / The Deadhouse (2005), The Kills (2004),
I'd Kill for That (2004), Final Jeopardy / Likely to Die (2004), The Bone Vault (2003),
The Deadhouse (2001), Cold Hit (1999), Likely to Die (1997), Final Jeopardy (1994),
Sexual Violence: Our War Against Rape (1993)

Her novel centers around Alexandra "Alex" Cooper an assistant DA in New York. Alex is supported by NYPD detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace.

Amanda Quillian is found murdered and the "team" believes her husband has hired a hitman to pull off the crime. Brendan Quillian is coming into the court room when he grabs an officer's gun, leaves one dead, and several injured.

Now the investigation really gets complicated when Alex discovers two feuding families, the Quillians and the Hassetts have hated each other for years.

Both families menfolks have been "sandhogs" for several generations and are very tough, no-nonsense kind of guys. Well as usual I will leave you hanging, so maybe you would like to purchase the book from here and finish this riveting story yourself!

PS: Still reading Hotel Stories...

March is Really Some Month!

2008-03-22T02:40:00.001-04:00

Hello Everyone,

Yes, I know where have you been joeB? Well here we go! My dear ol' Dad has been ill for about a month now and his only son has been taking him back and forth to the hospital and doctor's offices for many, many, and many more tests. So far "we do not know", isn't that a great answer? Please remember him in your thoughts and prayers.

I have been able to read some, so Sunday Salonists never fear joeB is here! And , WOW, is our little group growing!

Talk to you Sunday!

Sunday Salon - Hotel Stories- And News

2008-03-02T18:24:00.002-05:00

As I read this group of stories by Mike Tyler entitled Hotel Stories, I am just not sure...

Next Sunday maybe I can relate to you what this book is about, have not read enough to give a fair judgement.

I do believe now I know why I love mysteries and thrillers!
***************************************************************************************************

This news about some of Charles Dickens' works are worth repeating.

Rare works by Charles Dickens, including a page from the original manuscript of "Pickwick Papers" and an illustration of the "Oliver Twist" character Bill Sikes, are going on the auction block.

The Kenyon Starling Library of Charles Dickens is expected to fetch more than $2 million when it is sold at Christie's on April 2.

Among the highlights is "The Uncommercial Traveller" (1861), inscribed by Dickens to novelist George Eliot. Its pre-sale estimate is $100,000 to $150,000.

A page from the original manuscript of Dickens' first novel, "Pickwick Papers," containing a comedic scene between Pickwick's valet, Sam Weller, and a gentleman, John Smauker, could sell for $150,000 to $250,000.

The collection also includes a number of original drawings by Dickens illustrators Hablot K. Browne and George Cruikshank. An early Browne illustration is the only drawing from "Pickwick" to appear at auction in at least 30 years, Christie's said. It could bring $15,000 to $20,000. An original Cruikshank sketch of Sikes, the menacing criminal in "Oliver Twist," and his dog could sell for $12,000 to $18,000.

The collection also includes The Daily News No. 1, the liberal newspaper Dickens edited in 1846.

Kenyon Starling, who died in 1983, left his Dickens collection to the family of William E. Self, a collector of English and American literature and film industry executive. NEW YORK (AP)

An Interesting Invitation! ?HOTEL STORIES?

2008-02-27T15:42:00.002-05:00

I received an email from Amy Hills, Literary Manager of The Art Cannot be Damaged, Inc. Ms. Hills graciously invited me ( yeah me) to a release party in New York at the Carlton Arms Hotel, 160 East 25th Street at Third Avenue, Friday, February 29, from 6pm- 9pm for Mike Tyler's new book, a collection of stories titled Hotel Stories.

Sorry Ms. Hills, but I will not be able to attend the party, but I would like to read and review the new book. The gracious Amy said yes and I received Hotel Stories today! Thanks Amy for the chance both to read and report on a new author and his book.

Rest of the story coming soon!

Sunday Salon - The Assassin - Andrew Britton

2008-02-25T00:30:00.000-05:00

Andrew Britton's political thriller sets up a reality that may distract some readers from a decent if unremarkable plot centering on terrorist plans to attack the U.N. and leave clues pointing to the Iranian government.

Dennis Hastert is Speaker of the House, and the American political leadership is debating whether to withdraw troops from Iraq, but the U.S. president is David Brenneman not George W. Bush, who's facing a fierce re-election opponent in California governor Richard Fiske, who's surely not Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The characters, including Jack Ryan-clone Ryan Kealey and the action-from the discovery of a high-ranking mole to the obligatory under-fire romance-offers nothing new. The path by which Kealey uncovers Vanderveen's subterfuge and ultimate trail moves a bit slowly at times during the book's first half, though much of this is due to Britton's painstaking insistence on getting his world right.

To his credit, he does not take intellectual shortcuts or talk down to his reader. If anything, it gives us time to catch our breath between flash fires and explosions, which are more than plentiful in THE ASSASSIN.

It's exciting to watch someone of Britton's talent build a career from the ground up. This is the first Andrew Britton novel for me having not yet read his first, The American.