I feel so honored to review Matthew Quirk’s first novel. It is an amazing book that will have you on the edge of your seat the whole time you are reading this book. I stayed up way too late several nights because I just couldn’t stop reading. Matthew Quirk is a writer to watch, I think he has a lot of books to write and I for one will read all of them. The novel 500 has been purchased by 20th Century Fox to be made into a move and I am sure it will be excellent.

Mike Ford is a bright young man and he gets a dream job before he graduates from Harvard Law. His job is with the Davies Group, the most powerful consulting firm in Washington DC. Mike is the Davies Groups rising star. He has it all; an amazing salary, beautiful home, and a gorgeous girl. The group helped his dad get of prison. What more could a guy want? Mike loves being on his way to the top but quickly discovers that all is not as it seems to be.

This is a very fast read but you will want to pause for a second just to get your bearings. You will continue to say “Oh my God”, as you see what Mr. Quick his in store for Mike Ford. You will feel like you are really into the book – a part of the story. This book will have you reading things into the articles you see and hear about each day. Who is really in control?

While reading The Body in the Boudoir, the twentieth book in Ms. Page’s Faith Fairchild series, I wondered more than once if this was going to be the last readers saw of Faith. In the end, I decided that was not the case, but it well could be. The book starts with Faith and Tom flying to Italy for a second honeymoon. While on the flight, Faith reminisces about how she met Tom, their courtship and wedding and it ends with Faith remembering all of those who have pasted on.

It is quite a departure from previous books, and not particularly in a good way. The tone of the book is a bit melancholy and the plot lines-and there are several, never quite fit together. The main plot is built around the courtship and wedding planning of Faith and Tom, but there are several side plots involved. Faith becomes violently ill at her wedding shower, and that is but the first in a string of unusual things that happen to her. Is someone trying to kill her and if so why? Is it to prevent the wedding? It is apparent from the shower that Tom’s sister and the long time family friend Sydney don’t approve of Faith and that causes some ongoing issues for Faith.

The wedding is to take place at Faith’s Great Uncle Sky’s house on Long Island, and there at least three side plots tied to Sky and his household. Mysterious things keep happening at the house-stonework falling, a middle of the night break-in with little taken but a person (who was dressed as someone else) is murdered and a malfunctioning car. The housekeeper is a strange old bird and may be hiding secrets of her own. Sky’s wife, his third, too may not be quite what she seems or at least their marriage appears to not be.

In the middle of all of this, Faith leaves to go to Virginia to help her friend and former employee Josie, open her new restaurant. While interesting, this really did not tie into the rest of the book at all.

This brings us to Francesca, Faith’s newest employee and recent arrival from Italy. Her family back home thinks she’s in England instead of the United States, Faith sees her meeting with and paying a man a couple of times and eventually Faith gets involved with helping Francesca find a man who was stationed in Italy during the war. Yes, I know what you’re thinking, I did too, but it’s not that simple. This entire plot was quite complicated and could easily have been an entire book in itself. Also, it seemed to serve no purpose to the bigger story at all except to give Faith and Tom a reason to be flying to Italy.

And if this is not enough, Faith is trying to help her sister Hope figure out who is sabotaging her career and why.

The Body in the Boudoir really seems to be parts of what could have been three separate installments in the series. Instead, readers are given a sort of mishmash of plots to think about with an unsatisfactory conclusion to them all.

Wambaugh’s readers know of the quality writings he puts out for all of us to enjoy. Harbor Nocturne is no exception. He basically takes you into a big city police force and before you know it, you are there in the briefing room, on a beat, in a squad car, chasing someone down a street, raiding a building, being a part of an undercover operation, or any one of many police actions. You find yourself using some of the language, not always decent, that they use or hear at their many locations of work. You will visit with them at their favorite pastime locations and watch them drink too much and usually say too much.

One of the cops worked on the force with a prosthetic foot that he received when in a work-related accident some years ago and he was still very proficient at police work so he was allowed to continue on the job. A prostitution ring had a customer that wanted to be with someone with prosthetic equipment such as this cop had. This same ring also had a lot of involvement from a very bad foreign element with illegal girls that were tightly controlled by the leaders of this ring. The police figured this “prosthetic fetish” would be a great way to get into the gang and eventually bust them. They would murder you faster than you could do them a favor, especially if they suspected you were either trying to cheat them or double-cross them. Not the kind you would take home to mother. But, believe it or not, one of the lower men with a slight connection to the ring actually made a good friend of one of the gorgeous girls and did take her home to mother, being very much in love with her. What a circle of events this created in the mob, the police force, and out in the streets.

The story had many connections with dockworkers. Dinko Babich was a young longshoreman who was on suspension from one infraction or another, whichever the union decided. It was Dinko that met the beautiful prostitute through some of his dealings with the lower positioned ringleaders and he persuaded Lita to come and stay with himself and his family. This is only one small part of the book. The actions and reactions of the mob, the police, the dockworkers, both business and personal connections keep the reader going and, in my case, made me shake my head wondering how people can live like this. It is non-stop action that you will enjoy. The small bits I have described are far exceeded by many more similar and possibly stranger in character.

I am fairly certain that law enforcement personnel do not enjoy having a reality show in their community. Between the loyal viewers, fans, and contestants who will do anything to win, keeping within the law is not a high priority. To those people, getting their time, their fifteen-minutes of fame, is the entire purpose while they view this opportunity as having no boundaries with their belief of assured fame.

In the resort suburban town of Sea Haven, near Atlantic City, New Jersey, is the newest location for another reality sensation. This one is called Fun House. It has the typical contestants, busty, tanned, buffed, drunk, and definitely lacking compassion and intelligence. What could possibly go wrong? John Ceepak is an experienced and ethical police officer who has a reputation for doing the right thing. I see him as a combination of James Bond and Sheriff Andy Griffith. Danny Boyle is Ceepak’s partner who has the advantage of knowing his native town and many of the locals in Sea Haven. Through a chance event involving illegal steroids, Ceepak ends up being an admired policeman who seems to be part of the televised plot of the reality show. However when one of the contestants in murdered, the two also have the almost impossible task of protecting the rest of the cast while investigating at the same time.

Fun House is the seventh John Ceepak/Danny Boyle mystery by Chris Grabenstein. Mr. Grabenstein also has written children mysteries which are outstanding. This series now with Fun House, are all fast-paced with an involved intriguing story line that is somewhat predictable, but still thoroughly enjoyable.
The strength of all these novels is the characterization. As John Ceepak and Danny Boyle grow in their relationship with each other, the readers also get to know each one as a real person with a personality and some depth of the character. Ceepak is the type of person who is a natural hero. His Boy Scout ethics combined with his athleticism and military training makes the reader constantly reassured and yes, makes the storyline predictable. Danny is highly influenced by Ceepak but is more human, even flawed. Even though Fun House is part of a series, it is also a great standalone novel. From my point-of-view, you could read this novel and then go back to read the other Ceepak novels. Also, everyone definitely needs to read Grabenstein’s children’s novels especially the trilogy featuring Zack Jennings.

Fun House is definitely a fun read for the summer.

An excellent story including Amish and English as they mix together in mystery, love, religion, and find their social differences and how to blend all of these together in areas possible. I have read quite a few Amish stories over the past year and I have enjoyed them all, possibly because of the peaceful, but mostly private, lives the Amish live. This story is set in Shipshewana, Indiana, a city that is factual but while the characters are fictional, they represent a cross section of an Amish-English community when the English generally come to the Amish community for mainly business purposes and blend in as well as possible. A wedding is coming up soon to unite Esther and Tobias in marriage and Esther, along with her friend, Deborah and her two children, are riding in their horse-drawn buggy through the area taking in the so well described scenery, all the time discussing the many details of the wedding. Their conversation topic changed abruptly when they found a young girl floating dead in the pond of the property owned by Tobias and his cousin, Reuben. Something had told them to stop their ride and get out and stretch while observing the wonderful nature in the area.

The news of the dead girl got to town requesting the police to come to the pond and investigate. The women that found the body left it in the same position so the police could take it from there. Another person, Trent, a photographer for the local news, also heard the news and of course he had to rush to the scene. Callie, an Englisher, had taken over the Daisy Quilt Shop in town and it was a local gathering place for the women. The news spread. The police arrested Reuben when they found some evidence that implicated him and Rueben would not tell anything about the entire situation. He was in jail until hearings could be held. This sort of infuriated the locals as they knew Rueben would not kill anything or anyone, but the police had no choice since Reuben would do nothing to help himself. When an older gentleman from a nearby city searched for his missing daughter, the police and the people from Shipshewana started to connect their dead girl to this mans search.

This sets the story for you to enjoy. The descriptive phrasing is fantastic throughout the entire book. The characters are very real, both the Amish and the English, as is the blending of their lives together. You will meet many characters, both Amish and English, and into their lives you will go. You will go through an Amish wedding, an English trial of an Amish man, hunts for evidence, chase for some people needed for the trial, learn of the details of a tornado that went through this area years before, use your judgment as to who should marry who, and enjoy the best character in the entire book, Max, Callie’s yellow Labrador. Near the end of the book, you will share a running search in a brutal cold rainstorm Enjoy this wonderful story. I sure did!

Adam, Grace and baby Millie leave the hustle and bustle of London to settle in a cottage in North Yorkshire that Adam inherited from his grandparents. The area is beautiful but isolated. The cottage seems to have its own personality and is filled with the possessions of Adam’s grandparents. Grace is confident the family can adjust and be happy there.

One day, Adam leaves a note for Grace that he has something to discuss with her when he returns from walking Millie. Grace is curious, but as the old grandfather clock ticks away the minutes she begins to get nervous. It seems that Adam has been gone a long time for a little walk. When Grace hears a noise at the door, she opens it to find her daughter, Millie, in her carriage but Adam is nowhere near. Grace calls the police and a search is immediately conducted but with no success. It appears that Adam has disappeared without a trace.

Grace’s parents take her away from the cottage because they feel that it is not a healthy environment for their daughter or their grandchild. A year goes by with no news of Adam and Grace cannot let go of her memories, or the hope that he will come in the door at any time. Grace decides to return to Yorkshire with Millie. She hopes that living in the cottage and sorting through all the many boxes stored in the attic and the basement will help her come to terms with her situation and help her decide what to do with the cottage.

Grace’s neighbor, Meredith Blakeney, invites Grace to visit her. Annabel, Grace’s sister, comes from London to visit and help Grace sort things out. She also meets Ben, a man staying in the area to housesit, and he agrees to come to the cottage and do some renovations.

Grace spends the nights alone letting her thoughts wander to the many tales of ghosts and demons that locals tell about the area. She is also worried about the grandfather clock that seems to have a mind of its own, slowing down and starting up again without warning.

As Grace unpacks boxes she finds letters written by Adam’s deceased mother as well as other items that make Grace feel more and more that Adam did not just leave, but met with a tragic ending.

“Beneath the Shadows” is a gripping story that keeps the reader interested every step of the way. Grace has many bad moments and times when she wanted to just run away but in spite of her fears she is able to stay in Yorkshire and eventually solve the mystery of Adam. The conclusion comes as a surprise but was a brilliant ending.

I am always excited to read the winner of the Mystery Writers of America’s First Crime Novel Award and have seldom been disappointed with their selection. This year is no exception A Simple Murder by Eleanor Kuhns is everything I hoped for and more. I doubt that this will be the last award this book garners this year.

Unable to nurture his son after his wife’s death, Will Rees left his sister and husband in charge of his farm and young son while he traveled the country weaving, seldom returning home for visits. Once, when he did return, he found his farm in disrepair and son gone-off to join a community of Shakers. Will goes to the community to try to win David his son back, but finds his son to be quite bitter towards him and determined to stay with the community. Disappointed in his son’s response to his visit, Will leaves to spend the night at a nearby farm where he had bedded the night before. However, because he is an outsider, Will is soon arrested in the murder of a young woman who was a member of Zion, the Shaker Community. After it becomes clear that Will could not have been involved, he is released and finds that Elder White waiting for him. Although the community doesn’t readily welcome visitors, Elder White, the head Community of Zion allows Will to stay and have short visits with his son to see for himself the boy is happy and wants to stay. But soon it becomes apparent Elder White has another reason for wanting Will to stay. David has told the Elder that his father has experience in investigating crime. Elder White engages Will to help in a murder investigation. Will’s investigation uncovers a twisted plot involving so many different people, both with in and outside the Zion community.

This book was very well done on so many levels. The author has done her research and gets the little details of things like language used, household furnishings and farming methods perfectly. She also does a skillful job of placing the reader right in the middle of the Shaker movement. Set in 1796, the height of the Shakers, the book shows what life was like inside the communities giving us an inside look at not only the Shaker ideals, but the reality of what made them “tick” on a daily basis. Through Will’s investigation, he discovers that people come to the Shakers for many reasons, some not at all religious. His investigation-his discoveries, bring this fascinating slice of history alive for readers.

It seems probable that this is the first book in a fresh historical mystery series. I certainly hope so! I look forward to seeing where Will’s travels take him next.

Katrina Burton is traveling to a new job teaching high school English at Cascade High School in Leavenworth, Washington. The last thing that ever occurred to Katrina was that this new life would start out with a white lie leading to another lie and another lie up to the point where Katrina finds herself lying to protect a murderer.

It all starts innocently enough when Katrina picks up a strange man on her way to Leavenworth. Katrina was well aware of the dangers of picking up strangers but the weather was bad and there wasn’t any traffic and Katrina felt guilty passing up the man. Once he got in the car with her and her dog, Bandit, Katrina began to have second thoughts. When she spotted a sign leading to a turnoff to Lake Wenatchee she told her first lie and said she had a place at the lake and dropped the man off at the turn. Katrina was relieved to be rid of the hitchhiker named Zach and felt sure she had seen the end of him.

Katrina and Bandit settled in the place that Katrina had rented and Katrina prepared for the first day of school. It turns out Zach Marshall not only lives in town but teaches in the high school where Katrina is going to begin her new career. To Katrina’s horror, Zach announces to the other teachers that Katrina owns a cottage at the Lake and suggest she host a party for her new coworkers. Katrina is beside herself trying to figure out how to get out of the one little lie she told.

Jack Reeves is a man Katrina met at the local hardware store and she confides in Jack the problem about the party and the lake house. Jack comes up with a solution for Katrina to save face with her fellow workers. Though Katrina realizes it is not the best solution, she goes along with his suggestion.

Zach is a strange character. I disliked Zach at times but other times felt sympathy for him. Jack Reeves also has many sides to his personality. Katrina soon begins to realize that Jack may not be the person that originally caught her eye.

As the pages turn the reader soon realizes that with Reeves influence Katrina is digging herself a hole with half-truths and new lies. The characters in White Lies are strong and the suspense builds and builds. This is a book that leaves the reader wanting more. I will be looking for future books by this author.

Rominy Pickett lives a quiet single life in Seattle but is upset about the man who seems to be stalking her at the grocery store. She is proud that she has earned money for her new car and would like to find a special man, even at the grocery store. However, this man just seems too interested in her. When this strange man tackles her as her car blows up in the parking lot, she discovers her life is being hurled into an adventure that she could never have imagined.

What she didn’t plan was to discover was her own heritage! Being that she was adopted by her parents, she didn’t know anything before about her biological parents. It took a grocery store stalker to inform her about her Aryan heritage, especially that she was basically Nazi royalty.

Blood of the Reich is an adventure with the reestablishing of the Nazi party through their search for the source of the Aryan race and the continuation of the pure blood lines literally traveling from Seattle to Tibet to Switzerland.

The history infused reflects around Heinrich Himmler and many of his plans and research in Tibet. It is well known that the Nazi party sent an expedition into Tibet to discover their connection with the Aryan race through the myths of Shambhala or Shangrila. Also intertwined is a quick physics lesson regarding the CERN supercollider in Switzerland.

There were some errors that distracted from the story such as being unable to buy airline tickets with a credit card and cash being preferred. Wouldn’t terrorists be more inclined to buy one-way tickets with cash? Also how can a Buddhist nun who has a shaven head have enough hair to be grabbed? There is also confusion about blood in a centrifuge spinning until the cells fall to the bottom of the tube and the blood plasma being separated.

The story was reminiscent of an Indiana Jones adventure with the main characters never being able to rest and never knowing who they could truly trust. The value of Blood of the Reich is the history of the Nazi party focused on one of the many fascinations of pure bloodlines. This was an enthralling and fast-paced novel with phenomenal descriptions especially about Tibet.

Although this particular novel was not part of the Ethan Gage series, the heroine, Rominy Pickett, still needs further character development if she is part of a new spin-off series. Also, this story was not as tightly-wound as previous novels by William Dietrich. It’s a decent story but the errors, although small, did distract from the story.

I still look forward though to the next William Dietrich novel. Overall, his adventurous writing makes a wonderful journey.

Michelle’s Life is a mess. Her husband died in a car crash leaving her heavily in debt. Her home has been foreclosed on and she’s stuck sleeping on her sister’s couch. Her credit cards are maxed out and creditors are hounding her day and night. t turns out, their entire married life had been based on one big financial scam and Michelle is being held accountable for her husband’s shady business practices. But there was one thing that she has left. Michelle and her husband had planned a Mexican holiday. The trip was paid for already, so why shouldn’t Michelle take the trip anyway?

The answer of course, since this is after all a crime novel, is that her already fouled up life is about to become even more of a mess. While things were bad for her in Los Angeles, they quickly approach hell on earth for her in Mexico. It all started with a drink and a good looking guy. Daniel was just what Michelle needed to bring her out of her morose and help her forget all of her troubles for at least a night. But when two guys broke into her hotel room and an injured Daniel ended up in the hospital, Michelle would have been smart to get on the first plane back to L.A. Unfortunately, she didn’t. When she discovered she had Daniel’s phone, she realized he must have hers. Finding Daniel and trading phones ends up pulling Michelle into a complex and murky underworld.

While the book’s plot screams thriller, it lacks the fast pace that seem to be standard with most thrillers. Brackmann has traded the breakneck pacing for developing a multi leveled plot that just sucks readers in and pulls them down further into the murky underworld Michelle has stumbled into. That has the same affect for the reader though. We may not like where things are going, but we can’t help but to keep the pages turning to find out what in the world is going on and will Michelle ever get out of Mexico alive?

Getaway is an interesting book that is very difficult to put down. While as a reader I kept thinking that Michelle fell into the category of “too stupid to live” in many instances because of the incredibly poor decisions she made, I couldn’t help but root for her. There is a fair amount of violent action and a large body count-many of them fairly graphic so readers who are sensitive to that sort of thing might want to give this book a pass, but for most readers, this is book would offer hours of enjoyment.