Boarding Old Blue, whether amongst passengers or riding solo, you’ll become acquainted with On-Time Charley, its dedicated driver Worth Riding the 309
Boarding Old Blue, whether amongst passengers or riding solo, you’ll become acquainted with On-Time Charley, its dedicated driver who’s never late coming or going. Why, even when he got shot while out on a run, he still drove the bus back to the station on time. On in years, Charley’s pretty much been on his own ever since his wife up and left him with their sons.
Before long, On-Time Charley realizes the 309’s usual night route is different for him as it is for the reader. Guess he should have read the dispatch letter before he set out, rather than avoiding it, fearing the company was going to let him go.
I highly recommend this short story which doesn’t skimp on details or character development and background. Samantha Parker will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. ...more
Krampus, the half-demon and half-goat son of a powerful deity who ruled the underworld in another realm, is the darkness to SantaDeliverance from Evil
Krampus, the half-demon and half-goat son of a powerful deity who ruled the underworld in another realm, is the darkness to Santa’s light. Krampus roams the earth on Christmas Eve to deliver the innocent from evil, and dispense justice as he sees fit. Should he crush and collect bones in the process, so be it.
A most gratifying read on many levels. I highly recommend following in Krampus’ footsteps as he navigates the dark, slithering streams to where they lead. ...more
Whereas ‘Snares and Delusions,’ the first book in the Triptych, focuses on Hedda West, her dominant personality overpowers her grown dA Sorrowful Saga
Whereas ‘Snares and Delusions,’ the first book in the Triptych, focuses on Hedda West, her dominant personality overpowers her grown daughter Ellie, in ‘Woes and Wonders,’ book 2. She even overpowers Hans, Ellie’s husband.
I have such high regard for Book 2 because of the author’s seamless and natural infusion of the devastating effects of war on Ellie and Hans’ marital relationship through World Wars I and II. The polarizing effect filters down to their children and grandchildren.
Through Ellie’s flighty narrative, the author conveys both her scatterbrained preoccupations and accurate political convictions. Her husband dismisses her intellectualism; her mother ridicules it. Hedda maintains a cold distance from Ellie, keeping secrets of her birth from her. Hans is his own harbinger of dark secrets inbred from shameful experiences while a prisoner of war.
I found it difficult to like Hedda, Ellie or Hans for their inability to relate with genuine warmth.
I highly recommend this work of historical fiction for its sobering portrayal of war on many levels, and its flawed characters whose frailties are shaped by life’s woeful experiences. ...more
This Sweet Romance swirling around the glitter of Christmas is a reader’s self-indulgence. Above and beyond the crunch of boots on A Holiday Must-Read
This Sweet Romance swirling around the glitter of Christmas is a reader’s self-indulgence. Above and beyond the crunch of boots on freshly-fallen snow, cups of hot cocoa, and coziness—there’s a buzz-kill named Samantha who throws a wrench in the works of a potentially budding romance between Darci and Brian. Greg’s a downer too.
I even had my dander up, dismissing the leading man based on what I considered a callous decision and wishy-washy demeanor. Glad he got himself a brass set.
Conflict, tension, heartache, and hope kept me turning the pages at a rapid rate. Upon my arrival on the last page, I didn’t want the ambience of Hope Falls to end.
Stave the chill of winter wrapped in the comfort of ‘The Reindeer Ranch,’ a warm, holiday romance. ...more
Cut-to-the-Chase Medical Fiction A masterminded conspiracy is going on at Tri-City Hospital where patients get sicker than when they’re admitted, for wCut-to-the-Chase Medical Fiction A masterminded conspiracy is going on at Tri-City Hospital where patients get sicker than when they’re admitted, for whatever reason, then miraculously recover.
The author wastes no time pulling the reader into this small-town dilemma with down-to-earth characters. Raising goosebumps in the process too, through a few touch-and-go situations. At times, feeling downright creepy. Fearful for Doc Adams—more than once.
Although a work of fiction, it’s by no means, far-fetched or out of the realm of possibility. A chilling thought, right there.
Each successive book featuring G-Ma, the seventy-something Mildred Petrie, who works security at the Ivory Wind’s Casino, gets bWell Worth the Gamble!
Each successive book featuring G-Ma, the seventy-something Mildred Petrie, who works security at the Ivory Wind’s Casino, gets better and better.
In ‘Mildred Raising the Ante’ there’s the slot-machine ring of familiarity Mildred’s fans have grown to love: her disguises working the floor; her heroic feats; the weekly meetings she hosts for the security personnel at her condo, replete with cherry turnovers; the comradery; the loving relationship she has with her family.
However, this book delves deeper into her husband’s death. The stakes for Mildred’s endangerment are higher. Things aren’t exactly as they seem, keeping the reader on edge until the last page. Even at that, I still want definitive answers.
The story is realistic in its painstaking details pertaining to the investigation of counterfeit chips, and the ever widening ripple effect of organized crime.
Well worth the gamble for holding reader interest.
Not a handbook on everything you wanted to know about Alzheimer's, by any means, this book is so much more. It is a warm, literarA Warm Literary Quilt
Not a handbook on everything you wanted to know about Alzheimer's, by any means, this book is so much more. It is a warm, literary quilt addressing the human condition shaped by many variables. It is the authors’ personal testimony stitched together with the fabric of the lives it encompasses.
Composed of several individual narratives flitting back and forth in time, each vignette helps the reader understand the person Martha had become before she was afflicted with Alzheimer's: Martha herself; her husband, Bob; daughters Marcee, Leslie, and Susan; her mother, Edith; her sister, Glory Ann.
Ironically, and perhaps cruelly, it took Alzheimer's to define the mother three daughters never really knew.
I highly recommend this book, a warm literary quilt padded with honesty. ...more
A Reader’s Roller Coaster Ride When Adela falls from her seat on a roller coaster and plunges to the ground, the roller coaster ride is just beginningA Reader’s Roller Coaster Ride When Adela falls from her seat on a roller coaster and plunges to the ground, the roller coaster ride is just beginning for the reader.
In 103 pages, the author covers lots of ground, doling out background information about her fleshed-out characters. Other than Dominick, Adela’s clueless fiancé, and Lea, the subservient secretary, the rest have hidden agendas and things to hide.
Little by little, pieces of the puzzle come together while the reader takes that precarious roller coaster ride from start to finish in this suspense thriller with ties to the Underworld.
Highly recommended for its thickening plot propelled by characters with dangerous ambitions leading to deadly consequences. ...more
From the first page to the last, the author takes the reader on a dark journey through a collection of stories with unpredictable tOut of the Ordinary
From the first page to the last, the author takes the reader on a dark journey through a collection of stories with unpredictable twists and turns in both the real world and supernatural realm. She has a knack for not only turning the tables, but somersaulting them so you don’t know what end is up until the very last sentence. The settings tend to be eerie and creepy, adding to each story’s mystique. “Only at Night” is a gal’s worst nightmare!
Each unique story harbors distinct characters. Whether their circumstances are wretched, their psyches disturbed, their appetites for lust insatiable, or whether they have redeeming qualities or evil intentions, you won’t turn your back on them after the last page has been turned. Lindsey in “Killers” is not to be trifled with. Dr. Bree Hudson and Percy Peacock know how to play mind games.
I highly recommend this horror short story collection filled with thrills and blood spills....more
I was profoundly moved by each soulful and heart-wrenching poem in Anna Casamento Arrigo’s collection. Chris Tutty’s complementary A Lyrical Visionary
I was profoundly moved by each soulful and heart-wrenching poem in Anna Casamento Arrigo’s collection. Chris Tutty’s complementary art is breathtaking.
Intelligently and artistically written by a lyrical visionary, the poet infuses many references to classical literature in her verses which flow like musical compositions. The reader is swept along the bittersweet melodies of her childhood. “The Immigrant Child,” “My Orange Sandals,” “Alone Together,” “My Dad,” and “The Path” loom large in my mind.
Then, there’s the memorable, “My Easter Bonnet,” where the poet lovingly recalls her mother’s green bonnet with plastic flowers sprayed with Heaven Scent.
Although somber truths are revealed—inner strength, resilience, and a positive outlook prevail without donning rose-colored glasses. In “Let’s Play Pretend”:
Even the dreary, dark skies, which covered all with their deep gray haze, Did not stop the bright flowers of the field, just beyond my yard, From peering out and making their presence known.
I highly recommend ‘Changeling,’ a brilliant collection of poems written by a lyrical visionary in collaboration with Chris Tutty, an artist who blends photorealism with abstract imagery. ...more
Mitchel Gause is a glutton for inflicting painful punishments on anyone who has crossed him. Or, as his appetite to kill increA Glutton for Punishment
Mitchel Gause is a glutton for inflicting painful punishments on anyone who has crossed him. Or, as his appetite to kill increases at an alarming rate—just anyone who crosses his path. In my capacity as a reader, I became a glutton for punishment by voyeuristically accompanying Mitchel on his prolific killing spree.
Although Mitchel is psychologically twisted, one has to admire his random methods of selection, and his improvisational techniques for using the tools he happens to find at the scene of the crime where he perpetrates the deed. He’s also adept at messing up any traces of evidence on his way out the door.
I admit to growing more squeamish as Mitchel ups the ante for torturing his victims. Can’t say that I have an ounce of empathy for the henpecked guy either. Mitchel’s perverse sense of humor is his saving grace. He wouldn’t dare tell his wife, She Indoors, what he’s really thinking.
If you’re a glutton for punishment and have a strong stomach, I highly recommend this work of fiction whose protagonist has an insatiable urge to kill. I advise you to take Mitchel with a grain of salt....more
Waking from a coma in the hospital, Whitney Joy Snow struggles with coming to terms with her identity in present-day Denver, CoThe Best of Both Worlds
Waking from a coma in the hospital, Whitney Joy Snow struggles with coming to terms with her identity in present-day Denver, Colorado. Asleep and dreaming, she is more comfortable with the alternate reality of her life as Joy Snow-White, Princess of the Silver Mountain, in a faraway land from long ago.
The author weaves a clever tale of alternate realities and parallel universes, bridging the past and present for the protagonist who learns a valuable lesson in the wake of a tragedy.
I highly recommend this short story which blurs the distinction between fantasy and reality. ...more
Drawn to J.S. Frankel’s Teen & Young Adult novels for his accurate portrayal of “fringers” at odds with their peers, ‘The HundA Hell-Raising Adventure
Drawn to J.S. Frankel’s Teen & Young Adult novels for his accurate portrayal of “fringers” at odds with their peers, ‘The Hundredth Floor’ was no exception. Kyle Toombs and Marina Ohanian each bring their own psychological baggage with them when they enter the Tower Hotel’s walking contest in commemoration of its 100th anniversary.
Horror at its finest, Kyle and Marina embark on a seemingly impossible “walk through hell and back” along floors sixty to one hundred, which—er uh—for all intents and purposes, don’t exist. Ankrus, a sadistic, hell-spawned fiend with a murderous connection to the hotel, calls the shots by exploiting their deepest fears along a frightful climb.
While impossible for some, not for this author, who:
Vividly depicts the unspeakable horrors Kyle and Marina encounter along their hell-raising adventure which inhibits them from differentiating reality from illusion.
Interjects the characters’ horrendous backstories.
And, my favorite—plausible character transformation.
One of Frankel’s darker stories, he grabbed my attention from the first floor, and held it all the way up to the hundredth.
Having read ‘Club Cargo,’ the first book where Jack Kregas introduces his key players in Boston, it was a sure bet I’d love the action in ‘A Sure Bet!
Having read ‘Club Cargo,’ the first book where Jack Kregas introduces his key players in Boston, it was a sure bet I’d love the action in ‘The Vegas Transactions’. If you haven’t read Book 1, which I highly recommend, the author does a fine job apprising the reader of what went down in Boston.
It might appear that Willie Shinronski takes a back seat in this story. However, he is the mastermind behind keeping Jack Ross, a renowned mob boss ousted from his leadership position in the Irish Mob, safe from getting whacked by the Italian Mob following his release from prison. Hence, the move to Vegas, where the Global Hotel & Casino provides much of the story’s backdrop. Then, there���s one of the new key players, Willie’s brother Albin, a force in his own right and my favorite character this time around.
Besides holding the reader’s interest with superb plotting, the author is in command of his cards throughout the story. Without getting off track:
He sprinkles historical tidbits of what Vegas was like in the early ‘70s, as well as the mindset of the Mob during business transactions and transitions. A time when Mafia-controlled casinos were fighting new laws to keep their illegal operations going, this provides realistic cannon fodder for the book.
He provides plenty of interesting and plausible character backgrounds.
You’re going to love the exit strategies he incorporates.
As Jack Ross said, “We all do what we have to do.”
If you’re looking for a sure bet of a book, you know what you have to do to acquire it....more
Taking the basic premise from the biblical Book of Genesis with regard to the story of “Cain and Abel,” the author plunges into the Fire and Brimstone
Taking the basic premise from the biblical Book of Genesis with regard to the story of “Cain and Abel,” the author plunges into the darkness of Hell with her boundless imagination. I mean, really, you gotta get a glimpse of Lucifer’s pad and what he has going on inside his den of inequity.
Beth Hildenbrand’s Cain—the virile, copper-skinned hottie with a Rastafarian hairstyle who has wandered the earth for centuries, searches for redemption by preying upon demons and sending them back to hell.
My enthusiastic recommendation for ‘Cain Heretic Son’ is multi-faceted:
The plot takes many hairpin turns.
Every character has a distinct persona, whether they tread the earth with a heart of gold, a pure heart, or their heart embodies evil.
Plenty of witty and edgy dialogue.
Many beautiful turns of phrase.
The author bends biblical references to suit her artistry of storytelling.
What are you waiting for? Grab your copy of a novel steeped in horror, paranormal activity, romance—and, fire and brimstone. ...more
The poems inside Cindy J. Smith’s ‘Hugs-Love and Great Karma’ struck me as comforting hugs offering soothing balms for the Soothing Balms for the Soul
The poems inside Cindy J. Smith’s ‘Hugs-Love and Great Karma’ struck me as comforting hugs offering soothing balms for the soul. As she intimates in “Scribbled Words”:
Using ink to cast a magic spell So others will finally realize Love and Happiness inside them dwell
Sure, there are poems which address her prevailing pain and despair over the death of a loved one; violence taking its toll on life; burdens; disillusionment; self-doubt. These ground the book in reality and relatability.
Citing two out of a plethora of poems which provide solace and soothing balms for the soul:
In “Shackled” she reminds us that our imprisonment is self-imposed; we have always held the key to set ourselves free.
The poem “Enjoy” reminds us to leave tomorrow to the future, yesterday to the past, and enjoy all of today because life goes by too fast.
I highly recommend this book of poetry for its endearing wisdom and heartfelt sentiment in every turn of phrase. ...more
Having read ‘Climb the Highest Mountain’ by Martha Perez, I felt compelled to read Book 2 in the series. Haley, older and wiser, but A Gripping Story!
Having read ‘Climb the Highest Mountain’ by Martha Perez, I felt compelled to read Book 2 in the series. Haley, older and wiser, but no less formidable, fit, and foxy, is put to the test once again. Only the stakes are much higher this time as the tentacles of evil hold her in its fold.
In warrior mode, once more, to exact revenge on those who have betrayed her, the reader discovers as Haley does, that nothing appears as it seems. Although Haley steels her body, mind, and soul for her tasks at hand, she still is capable of romantic love.
Because the story ends in a place as precarious as the top of Snow Mountain, I’m looking forward to Book 3.
I highly recommend this action-packed, gripping page-turner. ...more
The author infuses mythology, historical fiction, and magical realism in her graceful and imaginative story teeming wiA Graceful and Imaginative Story
The author infuses mythology, historical fiction, and magical realism in her graceful and imaginative story teeming with vivid descriptions worth lingering over.
It’s as much a coming-of-age story for Magrit (Maidy) Bader who receives her much anticipated sweet sixteen birthday gift of a gilded mirror handcrafted by Pappy. “And if the birthday girl looks carefully enough, she will discover the face of the man she will one day marry.”
Maidy’s disturbing vision makes this reader wonder if the prophecy will be revisited in the sequel, ‘Sunset on Golden Wings’.
Indeed, the dark machinations of love propel the plot forward, causing plenty of turbulence for feathers to fly.
Threads of secrecy throughout, which are unraveled at the end, gnaw away at Maidy as they did for me. There’s more than meets the eye of Waldger, Jaan, Tristan, Zande and her brother Pieter—birds of a feather.
From page one, I began to care very deeply about the characters, holding on to my disdain for Ruth from the very beginning, and my admiration for Maidy who is pure of heart.
I highly recommend ‘The Year the Swans came,’ a novel whose story takes flight with grace and imagination through the author’s superb writing prowess....more
When Helena’s paranormal dreams come true—look out! Although she had no control over her dreams which materialize as a result of Dreams Can Come True!
When Helena’s paranormal dreams come true—look out! Although she had no control over her dreams which materialize as a result of high school trauma, the content serves as an omen for bad tidings. I can’t say I feel the least bit sorry for her social studies teacher, Mr. Frane Horvat.
The author has a knack for telling a fully developed story in the span of 57 pages. She spares no expense at providing physical descriptions and backgrounds of several characters crucial to the story: Sandra, Danijel, Nina, Anita, and David.
As if that isn’t enough, Ms. Gallo fills the reader in on the cultural cadences and social upheavals between the Serbs and Croatians. This has a direct bearing on the plot.
The situations and dialogue exchange in the high school arena are realistic.
Bad things may happen to bad and good people. But, when a decent enough human being at odds with so-called normal teens gets a glimpse of optimism, there’s hope. That’s an important message in itself.
I highly recommend this engaging short read. ...more
This heart-wrenching work of fiction breaks down the walls of silence that have imprisoned victimized women. Set in Italy during A Poignant Must-Read!
This heart-wrenching work of fiction breaks down the walls of silence that have imprisoned victimized women. Set in Italy during the 1960s, the reader witnesses the raw ordeals suffered by Maria, the protagonist in the story.
I clenched my teeth in anger while reading every plausible scenario of deception and betrayal heaped upon Maria through cruel intentions blind-eye enabling, archaic beliefs, and institutional hypocrisy. Although I condemned so many of the characters, Maria is commendable for her courage, determination, and compassion.
The author’s storytelling grace and vivid details bring victimization of woman to fruition with conviction. A truly poignant must-read!
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