Witness on the Quay
by Gini Anding
ISBN-10: 0595339670
Review by Heather Froeschl
I've never been to Paris but I feel as though I have after reading Gini Anding's "Witness on the Quay." This is no ordinary whodunit. The book is full of intrigue, romance, history, and raw human emotion; an entertaining read!
Amy Page is a middle-aged widow, authoring a cookbook and staying in Paris for a good length of time. She has rented a flat and is enchanted with Ile St-Louis. The mystery begins as she returns to her apartment and finds that a taxi driver has been murdered right outside her door. Jean-Michel Jolivet, an inspector with the French Police, asks her questions over a period of hours. This is the beginning of an interesting relationship and the unraveling of a mystery much bigger than the murder of one man.
As the case evolves it seems that Amy is much more involved than a simple witness, and even more than she ever realized. And as time goes on she and Jean-Michel become more involved than either of them intended. The plot thickens as the pages turn and readers will find they stay up late to find out what happens next.
Gini Anding has written an intriguing story with an ever-expanding plot. It is a delightful read, but even more than that it is a glimpse into Paris that many people will have dreamed of. I hope to see more from this author in the future but in the meantime I recommend "Witness on the Quay" to anyone who loves a good mystery.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Monday, November 14, 2005
Fiction Review
The Death of an Agent
by RM Secor
ISBN-10: 1420857983
Review by Heather Froeschl
Jim Deliviki is an agent on a mission to avenge his father's death. What he gets himself into is a lot more involved, as he becomes the pawn of several different double agents. Never knowing who is on his side or who is pretending to be for the moment, Jim is very much alone in a position against the terrorists of the world. What cause did his father die for? What is the purpose of Jim's involvement? This espionage novella has a twisting plot and action packed scenes.
The writing could be better. The first rule in writing fiction is to show and not tell, but most of this book is spelled out in telling form. Much more detail and sensory input is needed to tell a story in a captivating way. Numerous typos distracted me from trying to figure out where the author was leading the reader. The plot was sometimes fuzzy and unclear. I feel the book needs a bit of fleshing out and a good editor's guidance before it can become a sought after read.
RM Secor shows promise as an author, with a pulp fiction appeal.
by RM Secor
ISBN-10: 1420857983
Review by Heather Froeschl
Jim Deliviki is an agent on a mission to avenge his father's death. What he gets himself into is a lot more involved, as he becomes the pawn of several different double agents. Never knowing who is on his side or who is pretending to be for the moment, Jim is very much alone in a position against the terrorists of the world. What cause did his father die for? What is the purpose of Jim's involvement? This espionage novella has a twisting plot and action packed scenes.
The writing could be better. The first rule in writing fiction is to show and not tell, but most of this book is spelled out in telling form. Much more detail and sensory input is needed to tell a story in a captivating way. Numerous typos distracted me from trying to figure out where the author was leading the reader. The plot was sometimes fuzzy and unclear. I feel the book needs a bit of fleshing out and a good editor's guidance before it can become a sought after read.
RM Secor shows promise as an author, with a pulp fiction appeal.
Fiction Review
Ghost Of A Chance
by Eric Wilder
ISBN-10: 141375936X
review by Heather Froeschl
Buck McDivit digs dirt for a living. He's a P.I. who stumbles across the fact that he has an Aunt in Deception, Texas. Deception isn't just the name of the town; it's the feel of it. Things are not what they seem to the tourists and when you stay a few days longer than most, like Buck does, you're likely to uncover some very ugly truths.
Buck discovers his aunt just a little too late and comes to town to learn that she has died. The island, in the middle of Caddo Lake, where Aunt Emma's lodge and marina are, is about to be foreclosed upon and since her death is ruled a suicide her life insurance is not valid. Pearl, Aunt Emma's housekeeper and friend, and her husband Raymond, do not believe she would drown herself though, and what's even more suspicious is the fact that Emma's lawyer claims there was no will. This leaves the couple without the inheritance of the marina, and what's more, the deed to their own house and property on the island has disappeared from the records of the courthouse. Buck has a lot of digging to do if he's to find out what exactly is going on in Deception, and find a way to save the island.
What he digs up is a whole lot of trouble. Deception, Texas is run by the powers of a number of white-power, Klan bigots who seem to have denied the knowledge that the civil war is long over. What they've gotten away with, and what they plan to do is enough to turn your stomach even while remembering that this is a work of fiction. Will Buck be able to get to the truth before it is too late? What can he do once he finds it? And what does all of this have to do with the visiting spirit of a young girl on the island? Things are not what they seem, at all.
Eric Wilder is a gifted storyteller. I was drawn into the book from the first page and the plot led me through every chapter, turning pages to discover what would happen next. Everyone enjoys a good family secret revealing story and this one offers such with the twist of a ghost, despicable villains, down-home traditions, a bit of romance, mystery, and the exciting adventures of a stubborn P.I. I highly recommend this book as a ripping good read.
by Eric Wilder
ISBN-10: 141375936X
review by Heather Froeschl
Buck McDivit digs dirt for a living. He's a P.I. who stumbles across the fact that he has an Aunt in Deception, Texas. Deception isn't just the name of the town; it's the feel of it. Things are not what they seem to the tourists and when you stay a few days longer than most, like Buck does, you're likely to uncover some very ugly truths.
Buck discovers his aunt just a little too late and comes to town to learn that she has died. The island, in the middle of Caddo Lake, where Aunt Emma's lodge and marina are, is about to be foreclosed upon and since her death is ruled a suicide her life insurance is not valid. Pearl, Aunt Emma's housekeeper and friend, and her husband Raymond, do not believe she would drown herself though, and what's even more suspicious is the fact that Emma's lawyer claims there was no will. This leaves the couple without the inheritance of the marina, and what's more, the deed to their own house and property on the island has disappeared from the records of the courthouse. Buck has a lot of digging to do if he's to find out what exactly is going on in Deception, and find a way to save the island.
What he digs up is a whole lot of trouble. Deception, Texas is run by the powers of a number of white-power, Klan bigots who seem to have denied the knowledge that the civil war is long over. What they've gotten away with, and what they plan to do is enough to turn your stomach even while remembering that this is a work of fiction. Will Buck be able to get to the truth before it is too late? What can he do once he finds it? And what does all of this have to do with the visiting spirit of a young girl on the island? Things are not what they seem, at all.
Eric Wilder is a gifted storyteller. I was drawn into the book from the first page and the plot led me through every chapter, turning pages to discover what would happen next. Everyone enjoys a good family secret revealing story and this one offers such with the twist of a ghost, despicable villains, down-home traditions, a bit of romance, mystery, and the exciting adventures of a stubborn P.I. I highly recommend this book as a ripping good read.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
Children's Picture Book Review
The Life of Riley the Cat
by Julie Akerson Chicos
ISBN-10: 1412058589
Review by Heather Froeschl
Meet Riley, a curious kitty who goes in search of discovering what it means to be a cat. Does he have a purpose like so many of those other creatures that he meets? Time will tell and in the meantime young readers will come to learn a thing or two themselves.
Riley first meets Simon the crow, who isn’t very kind when he tells Riley that cats don't sound very important. This sets the plot in motion, and Riley comes to understand how spiders, bees, and beavers are all very useful creatures. When she meets a wise bat, named Bart, she learns the most important thing of all – that you have to look deep inside yourself to see what it is that you can do to make the world a better place.
Children will learn this lesson along with Riley but will also come to see that everyone is important in some way and that being different isn't a bad thing. Back home, Riley is reminded of the most important job of all – being part of a loving family.
I highly recommend this book to every child, everywhere! The text is well written, friendly and captivating, the characters are interesting, Riley is extremely lovable, and the illustrations are sweet and inviting. The messages of the book are appropriate and important for all children to learn. I would like to give a copy of this book to every child I know, and one to every child I don't know! Parents will be reading this book to their little ones time and time again, as it should be.
by Julie Akerson Chicos
ISBN-10: 1412058589
Review by Heather Froeschl
Meet Riley, a curious kitty who goes in search of discovering what it means to be a cat. Does he have a purpose like so many of those other creatures that he meets? Time will tell and in the meantime young readers will come to learn a thing or two themselves.
Riley first meets Simon the crow, who isn’t very kind when he tells Riley that cats don't sound very important. This sets the plot in motion, and Riley comes to understand how spiders, bees, and beavers are all very useful creatures. When she meets a wise bat, named Bart, she learns the most important thing of all – that you have to look deep inside yourself to see what it is that you can do to make the world a better place.
Children will learn this lesson along with Riley but will also come to see that everyone is important in some way and that being different isn't a bad thing. Back home, Riley is reminded of the most important job of all – being part of a loving family.
I highly recommend this book to every child, everywhere! The text is well written, friendly and captivating, the characters are interesting, Riley is extremely lovable, and the illustrations are sweet and inviting. The messages of the book are appropriate and important for all children to learn. I would like to give a copy of this book to every child I know, and one to every child I don't know! Parents will be reading this book to their little ones time and time again, as it should be.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Fiction Review
Loop the Loop
by Dan Spencer
ISBN-10: 1411639936
Review by Heather Froeschl
The newest thing to hit the nation draws crowds of spectators anxious to marvel at the skies overhead. Airplanes take the stage and their pilots make names for themselves through daring stunts and death defying (for the most) acts. It is 1912 and aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss is stealing the thunder of the Wright Brothers. Or is he? Curtiss planes become much sought after. And the star of the expositions, stunt flyer Lincoln Beachey, outdoes himself with every new trick. When Herkimer Dawes witnesses a stunt show he becomes smitten with the prospect of flying.
Born into considerable wealth, Herkimer is unused to having to struggle for goals. He wants nothing to do with his family's soap making business though, and sets out to become a pilot. It turns out he has a natural talent and his flying is as graceful as that of a hawk. He eventually becomes second fiddle to his own inspiration, Lincoln Beachey.
Herkimer's life is quite the up and down ride. He becomes involved with an up and coming young actress, whose goals include the new flickers. Eloise is not quite what she seems, or at least Herkimer doesn't see her for what she is until it is too late. He travels with expositions where lesser pilots lose their lives in attempts to imitate the great Beachey. His family life is in uproars with his brother a major league baseball player, his sister somewhat timid, and his father working diligently to keep the business afloat.
Will Herk come to emulate his hero or will he continue down his own path with his talent at flying to soothing sounds of Brahms, demonstrating a perfection of flight?
Dan Spencer has a talent for immersing the reader into an earlier time. Opinions, attitudes, social customs and patterns of speech are all a bit different than what we witness in 2005. The feel of his novel, Loop the Loop, is enticing and interesting as one is transported back to the Progressive Era. It is exciting to witness the growth of airplanes, moving pictures, and baseball, as we know it. The story is a personable one, the characters real and humanly flawed. I very much enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone with an interest in aviation, or the early 1900's.
by Dan Spencer
ISBN-10: 1411639936
Review by Heather Froeschl
The newest thing to hit the nation draws crowds of spectators anxious to marvel at the skies overhead. Airplanes take the stage and their pilots make names for themselves through daring stunts and death defying (for the most) acts. It is 1912 and aviation pioneer Glenn Curtiss is stealing the thunder of the Wright Brothers. Or is he? Curtiss planes become much sought after. And the star of the expositions, stunt flyer Lincoln Beachey, outdoes himself with every new trick. When Herkimer Dawes witnesses a stunt show he becomes smitten with the prospect of flying.
Born into considerable wealth, Herkimer is unused to having to struggle for goals. He wants nothing to do with his family's soap making business though, and sets out to become a pilot. It turns out he has a natural talent and his flying is as graceful as that of a hawk. He eventually becomes second fiddle to his own inspiration, Lincoln Beachey.
Herkimer's life is quite the up and down ride. He becomes involved with an up and coming young actress, whose goals include the new flickers. Eloise is not quite what she seems, or at least Herkimer doesn't see her for what she is until it is too late. He travels with expositions where lesser pilots lose their lives in attempts to imitate the great Beachey. His family life is in uproars with his brother a major league baseball player, his sister somewhat timid, and his father working diligently to keep the business afloat.
Will Herk come to emulate his hero or will he continue down his own path with his talent at flying to soothing sounds of Brahms, demonstrating a perfection of flight?
Dan Spencer has a talent for immersing the reader into an earlier time. Opinions, attitudes, social customs and patterns of speech are all a bit different than what we witness in 2005. The feel of his novel, Loop the Loop, is enticing and interesting as one is transported back to the Progressive Era. It is exciting to witness the growth of airplanes, moving pictures, and baseball, as we know it. The story is a personable one, the characters real and humanly flawed. I very much enjoyed the book and recommend it to anyone with an interest in aviation, or the early 1900's.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Historical Fiction Review
The i Tetralogy
by Mathias B. Freese
ISBN-10: 1587364042
Review by Heather Froeschl
Lest we forget...an "inmate" barely exists in a concentration camp, a "soldier" lives out his "duties," and the reader witnesses it all. "The i Tetralogy" is a powerful work. It is unforgettable, as it should be when existing as the reminder of those horrible, terrible, inhumane days of the Holocaust. We are reminded so that we will never forget, so that we can see exactly how far humans will go, so that, hopefully, we will never go there again.
Through the mind of i, readers are exposed to the barely living horror of the camp from the view of an "inmate." Here you will witness the zombie-like existence, the wish for the will to die, the endless misery. Read about the madness that crept around, waiting to take its next victim. Come to understand the death of the soul while the body hangs on.
Through the voice of Gunther, readers are forced to see the mind of the guard, the master, the giver of death if he feels generous. Read of his years in the camps, torturing the Jews whom he loathed. Try to understand, if you will, his inhumanity, his heartlessness, his cold and controlling power. And then witness his years living free in America, doing his best to torture the family he built around him as protection.
Through the life of the son of Gunther, examine what the holocaust did to the world, to all of humanity. Try to understand what humanity did to have allowed such an atrocious evil to occur. Read how the truth about a father splits the world of a family wide open only to lay festering in its juices.
This powerful book will likely turn your stomach, give you nightmares, and make you frown through its entirety. And this is good. What better reminder of this evil than to be stark naked about the details? For young adults, who have possibly only read cursory descriptions of the Holocaust, this book will be a slap in the face introduction. This book is not for those under 18. For those who have read moderately, or even extensively on the subject, it compares as one of the best examples. This is a work of fiction, but it is as if Mathias B. Freese channeled the text from those souls who lived it. An intense and powerful book.
by Mathias B. Freese
ISBN-10: 1587364042
Review by Heather Froeschl
Lest we forget...an "inmate" barely exists in a concentration camp, a "soldier" lives out his "duties," and the reader witnesses it all. "The i Tetralogy" is a powerful work. It is unforgettable, as it should be when existing as the reminder of those horrible, terrible, inhumane days of the Holocaust. We are reminded so that we will never forget, so that we can see exactly how far humans will go, so that, hopefully, we will never go there again.
Through the mind of i, readers are exposed to the barely living horror of the camp from the view of an "inmate." Here you will witness the zombie-like existence, the wish for the will to die, the endless misery. Read about the madness that crept around, waiting to take its next victim. Come to understand the death of the soul while the body hangs on.
Through the voice of Gunther, readers are forced to see the mind of the guard, the master, the giver of death if he feels generous. Read of his years in the camps, torturing the Jews whom he loathed. Try to understand, if you will, his inhumanity, his heartlessness, his cold and controlling power. And then witness his years living free in America, doing his best to torture the family he built around him as protection.
Through the life of the son of Gunther, examine what the holocaust did to the world, to all of humanity. Try to understand what humanity did to have allowed such an atrocious evil to occur. Read how the truth about a father splits the world of a family wide open only to lay festering in its juices.
This powerful book will likely turn your stomach, give you nightmares, and make you frown through its entirety. And this is good. What better reminder of this evil than to be stark naked about the details? For young adults, who have possibly only read cursory descriptions of the Holocaust, this book will be a slap in the face introduction. This book is not for those under 18. For those who have read moderately, or even extensively on the subject, it compares as one of the best examples. This is a work of fiction, but it is as if Mathias B. Freese channeled the text from those souls who lived it. An intense and powerful book.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Biography Review
If This Is Heaven, I Am Going to Be a Good Boy.: The Tommy Leonard Story
by Kathleen Cleary
ISBN-10: 0595356982
Review by Heather Froeschl
Biographies can be a hard sell in the book world. Typically, readers will pick up a book about Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan, Marilyn Monroe or Elvis, or some other such person, famous in name and career. "If This Is Heaven, I Am Going to Be a Good Boy" is about a regular guy, who just happens to be very well known. I'll bet that this biography is a hot seller even if only Tommy Leonard's friends and acquaintances buy it.
Honestly, I am not a runner and had never heard of Tommy nor even the race that he founded, The Falmouth Road Race. But I came away from reading about his life with a purr of contentment that there are still such giving and caring people out there. From his humble beginnings, through his struggle filled teens and into his adulthood, Tommy Leonard showed heart and strength. It is his generosity of self that surely endears him to everyone who meets him. His passion for running, and racing, and all of the camaraderie that accompanies those things, shows through his actions in garnering support for his fellows.
If everyone worked so hard at sharing their passions, as Tommy has with getting people to support running or even don a pair of running shoes themselves, the world would be a happier place. Also known as one of Boston's most personable bartenders, Tommy Leonard is a character to at least read about and smile if you can't meet him in person. For those who have, his biography is surely a joy and fitting tribute.
Kathleen Cleary has done a service in her writing of "If This is Heaven..." in that she shares the story of one of our hero's. Through extensive research and interviews she has gained the necessary facts to portray Tommy's life. It was undoubtedly through personal conversations with him and with those who know him that helped her to portray the heart of the man. Cleary tells a good story, and Leonard is the star character.
by Kathleen Cleary
ISBN-10: 0595356982
Review by Heather Froeschl
Biographies can be a hard sell in the book world. Typically, readers will pick up a book about Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan, Marilyn Monroe or Elvis, or some other such person, famous in name and career. "If This Is Heaven, I Am Going to Be a Good Boy" is about a regular guy, who just happens to be very well known. I'll bet that this biography is a hot seller even if only Tommy Leonard's friends and acquaintances buy it.
Honestly, I am not a runner and had never heard of Tommy nor even the race that he founded, The Falmouth Road Race. But I came away from reading about his life with a purr of contentment that there are still such giving and caring people out there. From his humble beginnings, through his struggle filled teens and into his adulthood, Tommy Leonard showed heart and strength. It is his generosity of self that surely endears him to everyone who meets him. His passion for running, and racing, and all of the camaraderie that accompanies those things, shows through his actions in garnering support for his fellows.
If everyone worked so hard at sharing their passions, as Tommy has with getting people to support running or even don a pair of running shoes themselves, the world would be a happier place. Also known as one of Boston's most personable bartenders, Tommy Leonard is a character to at least read about and smile if you can't meet him in person. For those who have, his biography is surely a joy and fitting tribute.
Kathleen Cleary has done a service in her writing of "If This is Heaven..." in that she shares the story of one of our hero's. Through extensive research and interviews she has gained the necessary facts to portray Tommy's life. It was undoubtedly through personal conversations with him and with those who know him that helped her to portray the heart of the man. Cleary tells a good story, and Leonard is the star character.
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