21 Tales by Dave Zeltserman

 These are short stories of the noir genre. They are categorized in groups such as: The Weird, The Hardboiled, The Manny Vassey stories, the Brutal, etc.

These are pretty well-categorized and whie this is not a genre that I often read, these were very readable stories.

I have to say that my favorites were the Manny Vassey stories. I really could have read many more of them beyond the three that were included.

Very descriptive wording by the author and the stories pull you in for the short time that you are involved. This is definitely an author I would give another opportunity to take up my time with his writing.


http://davezeltserman.com/

Columbine by Dave Cullen

 I really wanted to read this after the devastating massacre of children and administrators in Newtown, CT. I thought that maybe something would stand out and help me understand the severity of these attacks by individuals.

Dave Cullen has done such a wonderful job of researching this book. What is so alarming is that we really did see something like this happening with at least one of the individuals, Eric. Dylan seems to be sort of a follower. I don't condone any actions by either of them, it just seems that Eric was the one who was not the stable one. Dave Cullen has designated Eric as a psycopath, and the more that you read into the tragedy, you can really see that is the fact.

I can't help but feel sorry for the parents of these two boys. Understandably, the blame was being put on their shoulders, only because nobody had anyone else to blame, the two boys were gone. The police were certainly not blameless with the way that they handled things, not releasing any information until well past the time when people should have been able to put a close on things and try to start carrying on with their lives.

I sure hope that these tragedies will make people think twice about what they are witnessing, but not start watching too closely. We have to learn to talk to people and help them with their fears, anguish, hormonal imbalances, etc.

I would rate this book a 4 because it helped to answer at least some questions about the actions of Eric and Dylan and made them seem more human than I would have thought plausible. This world is a scary place and we should be able to help stop some of this with the right decisions about getting people some help when we feel that they need it.

http://davecullen.com/

The Bracelet by Roberta Gately

This book was sent to me by Romance Junkies for review.

Abby Monroe is in Geneva for orientation after having lost her job as a nurse in Boston, where her position was slashed because of the recession. Her love life had also crashed when Eric, the love of her life, broke up with her by e-mail.


Abby's parents had wanted her to move in with them in Florida, but Abby chose to go work for the U.N. to get away from her heartbreak.

While in Geneva, Abby witnessed a jump or murder from an office complex. The young woman has either jumped, fallen or was pushed out a window from the 4th floor of an office building. Abby hides from the gentleman who comes running out of the building, and gets away. Abby's brain is imprinted with this and especially by the bracelet that adorned this young woman's wrist, diamonds, sapphires & rubies in a sun pattern.

Abby calls the police as soon as she gets back to her hotel, but there is no body found and the authorities seem to want this to go away, and treat her as if she is crazy.

Abby is then placed in a home in Pakistan to assist with vaccinations on women and children at a camp in Pakistan. The house is very quiet with an unfriendly housekeeper, Hana, and a young woman who comes and goes named Najeela, who resembles the woman who Abby saw in Geneva.

Najeela is very friendly, but not very work-oriented. She likes to go shopping and eat at the finest restaurants, which strikes Abby as strange, considering all of the poverty surrounding them, at the house and on the streets and at the camp.

While Abby works at the camp for only two days during the week, she is in the house a lot and is very lonely. Najeela does not live there, she lives with her parents, with her father being considered for presidential status. Najeela's uncle, Imtiaz, also stays there at times, and Najeela is trying to get Abby and Imtiaz together, although Abby is not inclined to want anything to do with the man.

Najeela lets Abby know that she has a secret fiance, one that Najeela's father would never approve of, as he is not of her origin.

Nick Martin, a Pulitzer prize-winning journalist has shown up to interview Abby about her work. She is an American nurse working in a very dangerous part of the world. Abby is not comfortable speaking to Nick, who is very street and world-savvy, unlike the very naive and unwordly Abby. Nick wants to see the clinic and camp that Abby works at and gets to know Abby and brings her to lunch at a very American place in the middle of a very busy and poor country.

Abby is still suffering from nightmares about the girl in Geneva. She starts to trust Nick and tells him about the incident. It is then that Nick opens up about his true reasons for being in that part of the world. Human trafficking is his story and he want to bring down the men that are profiting from that business and shed light on it.

Abby then becomes more involved in helping him learn more, although she is very naive and trusts people a little too easily. There could be extreme problems for her and Nick's safety because of that, and Nick is trying to make her understand how deeply this goes.

This novel really sheds light on a major issue that takes place and opens your eyes to the dangers that unfortunate poor people from these countries face in life. Roberta Gately certainly has done her research and this story makes a very readable show of that.

This is well-written and during the story, you are hoping that Abby toughens up and learns that there are people that you just don't know the truth about until the worst happens.

www.robertagately.com

Trucker Ghost Stories edited by Annie Wilder

This book was sent to me by Vera of Luxury Reading for review.

This is a compilation of short accounts of drivers (mostly truckers) who have encountered strange things while driving. Most were alone, some with other people. 

The book is sectioned off into different categories:

Just Plain Weird, Messages & Assistance from the Spirit World, Haunted Highways: Legends & Lore of the Road, & Time Slips. 

Just Plain Weird has many stories of alien beings, strange lights etc.

Assistance from the Spirit World has many stories of spirits with the ability to avert bad happenings by circumstances that are all different, from a flashing of lights to a presence that appears in the vehicle, etc.

Haunted Highways has some very strange stories of appearances by spirits crossing the roads, being in the surrounding areas, etc, really just making their presence known, for good or bad.

Time Slips was my favorite segment of the book, with spirits from different eras appearing to these drivers, many telling stories of their own lives.

Keep in mind that these are recitations by drivers who are not necessarily writers, so they are really just relating their experiences like a told story.

The book is fascinating and doesn't make me want to become a driver riding around these areas by myself any time soon. These are just true writings of things that have happened to these people and make you understand that there probably is a lot more to our world than our own physical beings.

Annie Wilder has put together some interesting people with some very interesting and scary, sometimes vital, encounters.      '

http://anniewilder.com/

Coffee With Marilyn by Yona Zeldis McDonough

This is a cute little book with lots of questions for Marilyn, like you were having coffee with her. Unfortunately, we don't really know if Marilyn would have answered these questions with these answers. This really is just someones interpretation of their Marilyn, just like we all have our own opinions of how she thought.

 http://yonazeldismcdonough.com/

Proof of Heaven by Mary Curran Hackett

 This ARC was sent to me by Vera of Luxury Reading for review.

Colm (pronounced Colum) has died seven times in his seven years of life. Cathleen Magee (his mom) has experienced this and has been put through a lot of heartache. Cate is a single mother trying to raise Colm alone, although she has her brother, Sean, to be the father-figure in Colm's life.


Cate is trying to hold her career down along with trying to find the reasons behind Colm's medical condition. Cate was brought up very Catholic and she and Colm and Sean attend church every Sunday.

Cate seems to be holding on to her faith like a life preserver. There are times when it makes her feel hopeful and times when it just seems to be routine. Her mother was a very religious person and attended church every day.

Cate brings Colm to many doctors who don't seem to have any answers about Colm's condition. She is recommended to visit Dr. Gaspar Basu, who immediately seems to recognize the condition that Colm suffers from. Dr. Basu has had the opportunity to read Colm's medical records and tells Cathleen immediately that Colm should have a pacemaker installed. It is his diagnosis to stop Colm's heart from stopping, as there seems to be a disconnection between Colm's brain and heart.

Cate is a little taken aback at such an early diagnosis by one doctor, but feels a strong connection between Dr. Basu and Colm and heeds to the doctor's diagnosis.

Dr. Basu had lost his wife and son in India and instantly felt a pull toward Colm. Colm also fees the connection and instantly bonds with Dr. Basu.

The relationship between Dr. Basu, Cate, Sean & Colm becomes stronger. There is an attraction between Cate & Dr. Basu that is not really addressed by either. Cate is offered the opportunity to take Colm to Italy by her church to see if there are miracles that can be performed to save Colm. Cate asks Dr. Basu to go with them. Dr. Basu wants very badly to make Cate understand that travel might not be the best for Colm, but he understands that Cate is again trying everything to save her son. It always comes down to her faith and wanting Colm to have every chance she can give him for life.

Colm has always had one fantasy: to find his father. Cate has never told Colm too much about his father, as he left Cate when pregnancy was announced. But Colm has dreams every day that his father will be at the apartment when they return, although he does not tell this to his mother.

Colm is a very wise child, knowing that his life is short-lived, irregardless of this mother's endless means of finding any way to prevent that from happening.


This story is such an eye-opening and thought-pondering mix of faith and non-faith. There are many thoughts about what people believe and the clash between those beliefs. The young boy seems to keep the faith going because his mom needs it that way, but then declares his real feelings and puts Cate into the mindset that really makes her question her own position.

Well written and Colm is a very brave and smart child who goes through so much and loves his mother with all of his being. Worth the read and makes you ponder the attitudes of different thoughts on faith.



http://www.mchackett.com/

The Lion, The Lamb, The Hunted by Andrew Kaurmang

This is a very good murder mystery with some nice twists.

Patrick Bannister is back at Black Lake to attend the funeral of his mother, who he hasn't seen in 15 years. He has become a writer for a national magazine as soon as he finished college. He and his mother lived in an abusive household, with Patrick being foisted off to his uncle, Warren, quite a bit. Warren is a senator and therefore, has a lot of money.

Patrick's mother was extremely psychologically abusive while he was growing up. His father died when he was very young and Warren was really the only father-type figure he knew as a child.
Warren tries to re-connect with Patrick at the funeral and Patrick agrees to go back to the house to see if there is anything that he may want. He goes into the basement and acquires a box filled with small things that belonged to him when he was a child.

Within the box is a child's necklace, a St. Christopher's medal, that he does not remember. He is curious enough to want to find out what his mother's need for holding on this necklace was.  
There was a horrendous death of a 3 year old child, Nathan Kingsley, that had never been solved, and the necklace belonged to Nathan. Nathan's mother then committed suicide and the story just takes off from here.
Patrick slowly finds clues about the connection between his mother, Warren, and Nathan. The twists are delicious and twisty enough to encourage you to want to finish and discover all that is involved.

Really good writing by Andrew Kaufman. There are times that things become a little confusing, but it makes you want to continue to be able to figure it all out.

andrewekaufman.com