"After The Storm" by Linda Castillo-Suspenseful!

 

 

SUMMARY: 

When a tornado tears through Painters Mill and unearths human remains, Chief of Police Kate Burkholder finds herself tasked with the responsibility of identifying the bones―and notifying the family. Evidence quickly emerges that the death was no accident and Kate finds herself plunged into a thirty year old case that takes her deep into the Amish community to which she once belonged.
Meanwhile, turmoil of an emotional and personal nature strikes at the very heart of Kate's budding relationship with state agent John Tomasetti. A reality that strains their fragile new love to the breaking point and threatens the refuge they've built for themselves―and their future.
Under siege from an unknown assailant―and her own personal demons―Kate digs deep into the case only to discover proof of an unimaginable atrocity, a plethora of family secrets and the lengths to which people will go to protect their own.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:
Published by:  St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books
Author:  Linda Castillo
Pages:  320
Series:  Book 7
May Be Purchased:  Amazon

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:





Linda Castillo knew from an early age that she wanted to be a writer--and penned her first novel at the age of thirteen. She's published thirty books for three New York publishing houses and won numerous industry awards, including a nomination by the International Thriller Writers for Best Hardcover, the Golden Heart, the Daphne du Maurier Award of Excellence, and a nomination for the prestigious Rita.

Her debut thriller, SWORN TO SILENCE, garnered starred reviews from Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly, and Booklist--and spent four weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. The following books in the series also hit the NYT and USA Today lists and became international bestsellers. Recently, SWORN TO SILENCE was adapted into a two-hour original movie re-titled AN AMISH MURDER and starring Neve Campbell as Kate Burkholder.

In her spare time, Linda enjoys trail riding, and dabbles in barrel racing. She resides in Texas with her husband, two rescued Blue Heelers, and two Appaloosa horses. She's currently at work on her next novel, a thriller set in Amish Country and featuring Chief of Police Kate Burkholder.

 

This book received 4.6 out of 5 points in the Amazon reviews!

 

See her website at:  http://www.lindacastillo.com/

 

 

 

THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS:

 

I am a huge fan of Linda Castillo!  Can't get enough of her books and her feisty protagonist, Chief Kate Burkholder.  One of her books, "Sworn to Silence," was made into a Lifetime Original Movie starring Neve Campbell as Burkholder...the perfect casting...and now I can only see her when I read the books.

 

Castillo is a master at keeping the book and story moving along.  The chapters race at rapid speed with the plot advancing at every turn.  I pride myself on being a regular crime reader who isn't easily fooled, but these novels trip me up every time!  It's a joy ride for me.

 

In this particular novel, Castillo enlists our sympathies from the very beginning.... I was hooked.  I  was taken in track by track as Kate Burkholder moved to solve the crime.  This is not a story that you would expect about a sleepy Amish community.  It's a down and dirty, every day community hidden behind a strict religious screen that protects it from outsiders.  Because Kate grew up Amish, and left the order as a late teen, she has some understanding of the oxymoron, which keeps the story real and revealing to a curious reader.

 

I highly recommend this series of novels.  Murder is possible in the Amish community...from the most unsuspecting people!  I loved this book.  Also a fabulous read was her book:

 



This one is about an Amish man and his three children who were hit and run...he and two children killed.  Kate finds this was a deliberate act of murder!  Fantastic book! It had me guessing until the end.

 

5 stars for both!



 





"You Can Trust Me" by Sophie McKenzie-Sizzles!

SUMMARY:
From Sophie McKenzie, best-selling and award-winning author of Girl, Missing and Sister, Missing

On a quiet, sunny Sunday morning, Livy arrives at her best friend Julia's apartment for a lunch date only to find her dead. Though all the evidence supports it, Livy cannot accept the official ruling of suicide; the Julia she remembers was loud, inappropriate, joyful, outrageous and loving, not depressed. The suspicious circumstances cause Livy to dig further, and she is suddenly forced to confront a horrifying possibility: that Julia was murdered, by the same man who killed Livy's sister, Kara, eighteen years ago.
Desperate to understand the tragedies of her past and hold her unraveling life together, Livy throws herself into the search for Kara and Julia's killer, who she now believes is someone close to her family. But if that is true, can she still trust anyone? Damien, the man Julia was secretly dating? Leo, her husband's boss and a close family friend? His son Paul, her husband's best mate since college? Or even Will, her own dear husband, who has betrayed her perhaps one time too many?
And when Livy finally faces her sister's killer, and he traps her with one horrible, impossible choice, she must finally decide: is she strong enough to trust herself?
Get lost in the dark, gripping pages of You Can Trust Me.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:
Published by:  St. Martin's Press
Author:  Sophie McKenzie
ISBN:  978-1-250-03399-4
Purchase on Amazon
Author's Page:  Sophie McKenzie

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 Sophie's first crime fiction novel for adults - psychological thriller Close My Eyes - was published in 2013. Her second, You Can Trust Me, comes out in April 2015.

Sophie made her name as an award-winning writer for children and teens in the UK and her teen thriller In a Split Second is published in March 2015, with sequel Every Second Counts following on soon...

Based in London, England, Sophie has also written a number of award-winning books for children and teens in the UK, including two YA romance series and teen thrillers including Girl, Missing, Blood Ties and the Medusa Project series.


THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS:

Sophie McKenzie is one of those authors who will have you guessing to the very end!  This is a fine novel of suspense and terror.  The thrills keep up on every page as we try to figure out who would kill her protagonist's best friend, and her sister many years before.

One of the great things employed in Ms McKenzie's writing are the journal entries spread throughout the book of the psychopathic killer as he documents the murders of his victims.  They give subtle hints as to his identity, teasing us, but never really giving away who he is. Loved her development of the twisted mind. Creepy and egging us on to the conclusion!

I had a hard time putting together the pieces until nearly the end, and even then I was surprised.

This is a very well-written thriller with characters who are beautifully filled out and believable.  It was difficult to put the book down since the chapters moved along quickly and the anticipation built so strongly.

I loved the book, thoroughly enjoyed the read, and hope to find myself engrossed in another of Sophie McKenzie's books very soon.  She's a fabulous writer!

5 stars

Deborah, The Bookish Dame

"Blind Justice" by Ethan Cross...Heart-stopping!

 

 

SUMMARY: 

 

Deacon Munroe is not your average investigator. He’s intelligent, cultured, well-connected.

And totally blind.

Washington DC is Munroe’s city. Now it’s a city shaken to the core by the death of a high-ranking general and his wife. All the evidence suggests that the general killed his wife before taking his own life. Deacon Munroe does not trust what other people see – only what he knows is true.

What Munroe soon knows is that the general's death is part of a far greater plan, a sophisticated and brutal plot to kill thousands of innocent people, including those closest to Munroe himself.

But with only a small team at his aid, and just hours to stop a devastating attack on the city, can Munroe unearth the truth in time to bring justice to the city?

 

 

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK:

 

Published by:  The Story Plant

Author:  Ethan Cross

Available:  Amazon

Author's Website: http://www.ETHANCROSS.COM

 

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

 

 

ETHAN CROSS is the International Bestselling and Award-Winning Author of THE SHEPHERD, THE CAGE, CALLSIGN:KNIGHT, and his latest, THE PROPHET--a novel described by bestselling author Jon Land as "The best book of its kind since Thomas Harris retired Hannibal Lecter" while #1 New York Times Bestselling Author Lisa Gardner said, "The surprises are fast and furious and will leave you breathless to read more."

 

 

THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS:

 

This is a real deal fast-paced thriller!  Ethan Cross is a top-notch author with a story to tell that will keep your heart racing and you sitting on the edge of your seat.  I found my eyes widening and my heart skipping on certain chapters.

 

Mr. Cross has developed some strong characters who are both visually available and who capture your inner imagination with their vitality.  Deacon Monroe is a character not unlike Jeffrey Deaver's blind retired detective, only he's more mobile and government-connected.  They are alike in that they have strong intellectual capacities and don't let their handicaps hinder their work and willingness to solve mysteries and crime.  However, they are different in their emotional makeup, Deacon being more accessible and willing to share his feelings which is a nice quality in such a novel.

 

The plot of the book seemed to stagger for me a bit at first, but when it got going and was made clear after the first couple of chapters, I was hooked.  As I've said, it's a page-turner with short, dynamic chapters that really have strong impact. 

 

I loved this book and will be looking forward to reading more of Ethan Cross's books very soon.  He's now at the top of my suspense novelist list.

 

5 stars

 

 

Deborah,  The Bookish Dame

 

 

 





"The Giver" by Lois Lowry~Read Soon!

BACK IN THE STACKS: "The Giver" by Lois Lowry

BACK IN THE STACKS:


I chose this classic, award-winning novel for my Bookish Libraria Blog as a "Back in the Stacks" review book this past week.

It's actually, unbeknownst to me prior to my reading it, a dystopian novel about the coming of age and the coming to wisdom and understanding of a young boy in a futuristic society. A book I missed reading in school, but which my children were exposed to in their time, this is somewhat dated in spots; I felt, but held the same sort of message that we hear and see in our own world and society today through a plethora of young adult literature. That alone makes it worthy of reading!

It's a small book, but every page is profound. Lois Lowry knows how to write exactly like my Rhetoric professor wanted us to write...with precision and acuracy. Her every word has purpose and meaning. And, in that instance, we discover that we need to pay attention, acutely, to what she's telling us. This is a serious book with a warning for young and old, alike.

I found it most poignant that Ms Lowry wrote "The Giver" for young people at their pivitol age. It's a book that is meant to make them consider the society they are a part of without a doubt, but it's also meant to make them question the world and the ways of life they've taken for granted. It hopes, it seems, to help them shed the scales from their eyes and take the plugs from their ears...to have the courage to rise up against the norm. For that alone, I found it worthy of the Newberry Prize.

It seems to me that as adults we fear young people. We want to corral them, to keep them in check, to make sure they don't skate board near the Library. There's alot about them that reeks of uncontrollable power and unhinged disaster. There's impulse on edge, and the half-here-and-half-there sense of what's going to really damage their lives and the lives around them, and what's not. Because of this, teens and pre-teens have this magical quality to them...this freshness of vision coupled with this wildness of vision like the boys in "Lord of the Flies," like those vampires and psychics and witches they "wanna be" in the YA novels.

In "The Giver" we see such power in the young protagonist. He is pent up and on the verge of destruction in several instances. We see him risk breaking serious rules only to see him pull back and turn to the side of wisdom to protect those he loves. This is the quality that Lois Lowry is telling the young to emulate, this is the hidden treasure that the Giver has to offer~this potential to create a new system lovingly, or simply to destroy mindlessly.

Ms Lowry acknowledges the terrible strength and power of the young adult to be victorious or to vanquish, and offers an instruction of vision, values and valor. In a society where everything is ordered, equal, peaceful and happy...life is not valued, and people deemed less than fit for society are done away with like old newspaper.

"The Giver" is a book worthy of literary and humanitarian awards, and it's a book worthy of being the classic it's become.

I strongly recommend "The Giver" to everyone, young and old, who hasn't already read it...and even to those who have. It's a good time to reread this book. It's an especially good time to read it...

I look forward to the up-coming movie!

Deborah/TheBookishDame

Book Haul~New Stash and Recently Received

Here's a new crop of books that have come in recently from publishers, and a couple that I've ordered for myself.  Things have slowed down with the publishers since I took a hiatus with my illness, but now that I'm back reviewing...are picking up again.  I'm delighted to be back and able to read again.
There's a mixed bag here as you'll see.

One I just ordered that came in this week!  I may have already told you about it, but it bears telling again.  It's fantastic.  Published by Orbit.  Here's a summary:

The Girl With All the Gifts is a groundbreaking thriller, emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end.

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class.

When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

Melanie is a very special girl.

A new book ( #2 ) in the Flavia Albia series!  Thanks to St. Martin's Press.

SUMMARY :

"There are rules for private informers accepting a new case. Never take on clients who cannot pay you. Never do favours for friends. Don’t work with relatives. If, like me, you are a woman, keep clear of men you find attractive. 

“Will I never learn?”

 In Ancient Rome, the number of slaves was far greater than that of free citizens. As a result, often the people Romans feared most were the “enemies at home,” the slaves under their own roofs. Because of this, Roman law decreed that if the head of a household was murdered at home, and the culprit wasn’t quickly discovered, his slaves—all of them, guilty or not—were presumed responsible and were put to death. Without exception.

When a couple is found dead in their own bedroom and their house burglarized, some of their household slaves know what is about to happen to them.  They flee to the Temple of Ceres, which by tradition is respected as a haven for refugees. This is where Flavia Albia comes in. The authorities, under pressure from all sides, need a solution. Albia, a private informer just like her father, Marcus Didius Falco, is asked to solve the murders, in this mystery from Lindsey Davis.

Another Elin Hilderbrand...I love her stories, as I've said.  This is one I just bought at Target on a whim.  Don't you love the cover?  It's published by Little, Brown & Co.

SUMMARY :

A summer wedding stirs up trouble on both sides of the family in the newest bestseller from "the queen of the summer novel" (People)

The Carmichaels and the Grahams have gathered on Nantucket for a happy occasion: a wedding that will unite their two families. Plans are being made according to the wishes of the bride's late mother, who left behind The Notebook: specific instructions for every detail of her youngest daughter's future nuptials. Everything should be falling into place for the beautiful event -- but in reality, things are falling apart.

While the couple-to-be are quite happy, their loved ones find their lives crumbling. In the days leading up to the wedding, love will be questioned, scandals will arise, and hearts will be broken and healed. Elin Hilderbrand takes readers on a touching journey in BEAUTIFUL DAY -- into the heart of marriage, what it means to be faithful, and how we choose to honor our commitments.

This is an unusual memoir sent to me by Skyhorse Publishing.  It harkens back to the times when the Soviet Union was closed and at its worst where human rights was concerned.  I'm interested to give it a try...

SUMMARY :

There is always some part of the world where human rights are trampled and oppression quashes the human spirit. In the 1980s, it was the Soviet Union. In Swimming in the Daylight, Lisa Paul, a Catholic-American student living in Moscow in the early ’80s, details how she grew to understand the perverse reality of the pre-Gorbachev Soviet regime as her friendship with her Russian-language tutor, Inna Kitrosskaya Meiman, blossomed. Inna, a Soviet-Jewish dissident and refusenik, was repeatedly denied a visa to receive life-saving cancer treatment abroad. The refusal was an apparent punishment imposed on both her and her Jewish husband, Naum, for his participation in the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group—the lone group fighting for human rights in the U.S.S.R.

Before Lisa returned to the United States, she promised Inna she would do all she could to get her out of Moscow. But Lisa was one person, what could she possibly do that would make a difference? Inspired by her faith and rights as an American, Lisa staged a hunger strike, held press conferences, and galvanized American politicians to demand Inna’s immediate release.

In this heartfelt, compassionate, and inspiring narrative, Lisa brings the reader along with her as she learns indelible lessons from her heroic teacher. Inna’s greatest lesson—that it is possible to swim through treacherous waters, in daylight, not in despair—is as relevant today as it was during the final years of the Soviet regime. At a time when international strife seems insurmountable and worries at home seem to paralyze, this story will teach people everywhere that it is the courage inside, not the chaos outside, that defines us.

Louise Penny is a new author for me.  I've listened to one of her books on tape and enjoyed it, and look forward to an actual read.  I know she has a tremendous group of followers.  This was sent very nicely by St. Martin's Press.

SUMMARY :

Happily retired in the village of Three Pines, Armand Gamache, former Chief Inspector of Homicide with the Sûreté du Québec, has found a peace he’d only imagined possible. On warm summer mornings he sits on a bench holding a small book, The Balm in Gilead, in his large hands. “There is a balm in Gilead,” his neighbor Clara Morrow reads from the dust jacket, “to make the wounded whole.”

While Gamache doesn’t talk about his wounds and his balm, Clara tells him about hers. Peter, her artist husband, has failed to come home. Failed to show up as promised on the first anniversary of their separation. She wants Gamache’s help to find him. Having finally found sanctuary, Gamache feels a near revulsion at the thought of leaving Three Pines. “There’s power enough in Heaven,” he finishes the quote as he contemplates the quiet village, “to cure a sin-sick soul.” And then he gets up. And joins her.

Together with his former second-in-command, Jean-Guy Beauvoir, and Myrna Landers, they journey deeper and deeper into Québec. And deeper and deeper into the soul of Peter Morrow. A man so desperate to recapture his fame as an artist, he would sell that soul. And may have. The journey takes them further and further from Three Pines, to the very mouth of the great St. Lawrence river.  To an area so desolate, so damned, the first mariners called it The land God gave to Cain. And there they discover the terrible damage done by a sin-sick soul.  

Very kindly sent to me by Kensington Press, this is of course a historical fiction about Jack the Ripper and his wife.  Brandy Purdy is known for her fiction having to do with kings and queens of England.  I look forward to reading this new approach of hers!

I am so looking forward to starting this one sent by Tom Doherty Associates.  It looks awesome.  I love this type of thriller.  Read the summary below:

The Ark Storm is coming—a catastrophic weather event that will unleash massive floods and wreak more damage on California than the feared “Big One.” One man wants to profit from it. Another wants to harness it to wage jihad on American soil. One woman stands in their way: Dr. Gwen Boudain, a brave and brilliant meteorologist. 

When Boudain notices that her climate readings are off the charts, she turns to Gabriel Messenger for research funding. Messenger’s company is working on a program that ionizes water molecules to bring rain on command. Meanwhile, Wall Street suits notice that someone is placing six-month bets on the prospect of an utter apocalypse and begin to investigate. Standing in the shadows is journalist Dan Jacobsen, a former Navy SEAL. War hardened, cynical, and handsome, Jacobsen is a man with his own hidden agenda.

Linda Davies's Ark Storm brings together the worlds of finance, scientific innovation, and terrorism in a fast-paced thrill ride that will leave readers gasping.

 

A techno thriller sent kindly by Tom Doherty Associates, as well.  This one sounds like it could be a modern-day happening!  It's a follow up to another book, but, hopefully easy to catch up on.

SUMMARY :

A trip to an island off the New England coast—and away from the demands of police work—might be just what is needed to jumpstart Detective Doyle Carrick and Nola Watkins’ stalled relationship. But a mysterious plague is killing the island’s bees. Nola takes a job at an organic farm hit hard by the disease, working for the rich, handsome, and annoying Teddy, with whom she quickly becomes a little too friendly for Doyle’s liking. When Teddy’s estranged father offers Doyle a big payday to keep his son out of trouble until he can close a big government contract—and when Doyle meets Annalisa, a beautiful researcher studying the bees—Doyle decides to stick around.

Stoma Corporation, a giant biotech company, moves in with genetically modified super bees that supposedly are the answer to the world’s bee crisis. As tension grows between protestors and a private army of thugs, Doyle realizes that bees aren’t the only thing being modified. Annalisa’s coworkers start to go missing, and she and Doyle uncover a dark, deadly, and terrifying secret. Things spin violently out of control on the tiny island, and when Doyle closes in on what Stoma Corporation is really up to, he must race to stop them before their plot succeeds, and spreads to the mainland and the world.

Deadout is thrilling follow-up to McGoran’s highly acclaimed novel, Drift.

A mystery and crime novel also generously sent by Tom Doherty Associates.  This one is a Sonya Iverson series book.  Has been compared to Barbara Taylor Bradford in its storyline.

SUMMARY :

Elsa Klensch, host of the groundbreaking CNN news magazine, Style with Elsa Klensch, is the author of the New York Times bestseller, Style with Elsa Klensch. When she retired from television, Elsa took with her many secrets, stories she'd never been able to tell...until now in The Third Sin.

Television producer Sonya Iverson has a habit of stumbling over dead bodies. Wade Bruckheimer decides to sell a fabulous diamond that once belonged to his late mother. He needs money, and selling the Braganza seems the best way of getting it. His stepmother, Irina, is furious—that diamond is her ticket to every A-list party in New York. A few days before the sale, Wade is found dead in his luxurious apartment.

Sonya was already working on a story about the diamond and immediately begins to cover the murder, to the dismay of her boyfriend, who fears that Sonya is putting herself in danger. Irina Bruckheimer is the first, but not the last, suspect. Esperanza’s family want the Braganza back. There are long-standing rumors that Wade’s high-maintenance wife is having an affair. Only Sonya, with her outsider’s viewpoint, can sort through Wade Bruckheimer’s life and find his killer.

 

Beautiful cover...this one is an ancient Ireland mystery which is Peter Tremayne's forte'.  I love this time period and a good mystery.  This one should be a fun read.  Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for thinking of me with this one.

SUMMARY :

Winter, 670 AD. King Colgú has invited the leading nobles and chieftains of his kingdom to a feast day. Fidelma and her companion Eadulf are finally home for an extended stay, and have promised their son, Alchú, that they’ll be able to spend some time together after months of being on the road, investigating crimes. Fidelma and Eadulf are enjoying the feast when it is interrupted by the entrance of a religieux, who claims he has an important message for the King. He approaches the throne and shouts ‘Remember Liamuin!’ and then stabs King Colgú. The assassin is slain, but does enough damage to take out Colgú’s bodyguard, and to put the king himself on the verge of death.

As King Colgú lies in recovery, Fidelma, Eadulf, and bodyguard Gormán are tasked with discovering who is behind the assassination attempt, and who Liamuin is. They must journey into the territory of their arch-enemies, the Uí Fidgente, to uncover the secrets in the Abbey of Mungairit, and then venture into the threatening mountain territory ruled by a godless tyrant. Danger and violence are their constant companions until the final devastating revelation.

 

Atonement of Blood is a mystery of Ancient Ireland from Peter Tremayne.


On another note:

I'm reading "Outlander," "Me Before You," and "A Game of Thrones" presently.  Also have started "The Girl with all the Gifts," which I've said is excellent!

Hope you are enjoying your new reads.  Check back with me soon...

Deborah


  
 

"Game of Thrones" by George R. R. Martin~The HBO Series!

SUMMARY :

Based on the bestselling book series A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, this sprawling new HBO Drama is set in a world where summers span decades and winters can last a lifetime. From the scheming south and the savage eastern lands, to the frozen north and the ancient Wall that protects the realm from the mysterious darkness beyond, the powerful families of the Seven Kingdoms are locked in a battle for the Iron Throne. This is a story of duplicity and treachery, nobility and honor, conquest and triumph. In the Game of Thrones, you either win or you die.

PARTICULARS OF THIS PRODUCT :

Produced by:  HBO Home Video
Inspired by author:  George R.R. Martin
Book Series:  "Game of Thrones"  series
See author's website:  http://www.georgerrmartin.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR :   

(Mr. Martin prefers not to have his photo displayed without written permission.  Please see his website for more information and a picture of him...)

George R.R. Martin was born September 20, 1948 in Bayonne, New Jersey. His father was Raymond Collins Martin, a longshoreman, and his mother was Margaret Brady Martin. He has two sisters, Darleen Martin Lapinski and Janet Martin Patten.

Martin attended Mary Jane Donohoe School and Marist High School. He began writing very young, selling monster stories to other neighborhood children for pennies, dramatic readings included. Later he became a comic book fan and collector in high school, and began to write fiction for comic fanzines (amateur fan magazines). Martin’s first professional sale was made in 1970 at age 21: “The Hero,” sold to Galaxy, published in February, 1971 issue. Other sales followed.

In 1970 Martin received a B.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, graduating summa cum laude. He went on to complete a M.S. in Journalism in 1971, also from Northwestern.

As a conscientious objector, Martin did alternative service 1972-1974 with VISTA, attached to Cook County Legal Assistance Foundation. He also directed chess tournaments for the Continental Chess Association from 1973-1976, and was a Journalism instructor at Clarke College, Dubuque, Iowa, from 1976-1978. He wrote part-time throughout the 1970s while working as a VISTA Volunteer, chess director, and teacher.

In 1975 he married Gale Burnick. They divorced in 1979, with no children. Martin became a full-time writer in 1979. He was writer-in-residence at Clarke College from 1978-79.

Moving on to Hollywood, Martin signed on as a story editor for Twilight Zone at CBS Television in 1986. In 1987 Martin became an Executive Story Consultant for Beauty and the Beast at CBS. In 1988 he became a Producer for Beauty and the Beast, then in 1989 moved up to Co-Supervising Producer. He was Executive Producer for Doorways, a pilot which he wrote for Columbia Pictures Television, which was filmed during 1992-93.

Martin’s present home is Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is a member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (he was South-Central Regional Director 1977-1979, and Vice President 1996-1998), and of Writers’ Guild of America, West.

His awards and honors are too numerous to list here, please see his website for details!

Second Season of the Series

Third Season of the Series!

One of the box sets... "A Song of Ice and Fire" inspired the HBO series


THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

I'm probably the last to see this magnificent series inspired by George R.R. Martin's books.  Now, needless to say, I've been spending a marathon of days and nights over this past weekend and today watching the DVD's, hoping to catch up.  I'm only on season #3 at this point.  Hooked!!!  This has to be the best of any series I've seen, and I highly recommend it to those of you who have been waiting or have missed out as I have.

Not ordinarily a huge fan of fantasy, I discovered "Game of Thrones" one day when I was bored and browsing at Barnes & Noble about six years ago.  I took a notion to ask one of the stocking guys to tell me what some of his favorite books were.  This isn't something I do on a regular basis...I usually ask the women clerks!  His eyes flared and he said, "Game of Thrones," you have to read it!"  I bought it on a lark and started it as soon as I got home.  The writing was gorgeous and lush.  I was truly bowled over.  Not like any fantasy book I'd read before. But, I somehow put it down.  Something else called to me...could have been a review I needed to write.  Could have been that I wanted to buy the whole series before I started it.  I can't remember.  Then, I had a huge physical problem that put me out of commission, and the book fell to the wayside...

Once the HBO series hit the news in force, I was determined not to watch it.  I wanted to get back to reading the book.  It was so good, and I didn't want to spoil the prose by watching the acting.  Time went by; however, and my health got worse.  So, I decided this weekend to break my promise to myself and go ahead and get the DVDs.  I'm so thrilled I did.  I've rarely enjoyed anything more!

There is a medieval tone to the story.  The characters are rich and deeply involving.  The plot is intriguing.  Everything about the series is seductive and exciting.  I'm particularly drawn to the "Mother of the Dragons."  This is a story of war and hardship, love and family, betrayal and honor.  There's so much to love and enjoy about the fantasy and the characters.  The acting is superb and the stage sets are fabulous.  Even Queen Elizabeth is a fan!

Of course, I could never summarize here the entire show.  Suffice it to say that if you haven't yet tried it, please go find a copy of a DVD (I purchased mine...just had to).  It's well worth your time.

Primarily, I recommend getting a copy of the book(s) which are simply outstanding.  George R.R. Martin is a literary genius.  The books are easy to read, and are just gorgeously written in every way.

Loving this series on DVD, and I've sent for the box set of books for my library!

5 stars

Deborah/TheBookishDame

"The Predator, The Making of a Wiseguy" by Anthony Aqua ~ Going Viral

SUMMARY :

He was about to take Julie against her will. Having her body would not be the same as having her heart and mind, but Don didn't realize it at the time.

Obsession takes on terrifying form in Anthony V. Aqua's The Predator. This sexually explicit cat-and-mouse game will take readers into the mind of a man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

Don Ricci is handsome, rich...and a psychopath. After a humiliating rejection by Julie, an old classmate, he kidnaps her at knifepoint and locks her away in a homemade dungeon.

Determined to make Julie into his idealized version of the perfect "wife," Don's violently sexual encounters with his traumatized captor are interrupted only by his intermittent carousing around town.

As his tempter spirals out of control, Don runs into more and more trouble both in and out of his underground lair. His erratic behavior eventually brings him to Black Jack Roma, a grizzled veteran of the New England mafia who assumes Don is there to silence him for good.

But as Black Jack realizes the true nature of Don's derangement, he decides to make the rich playboy an offer that he simply can't refuse.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

Published by:  CreateSpace
Pages:  248
Genre:  Thriller
Series:  Don Ricci  The Making of a Wiseguy  Book 1
Author: Anthony V. Aqua
Purchase the book: 
Barnes & Noble    Amazon


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Anthony V. Aqua is second-generation Sicilian, having grown up in Boston and graduated from Northeastern University. After working a variety of jobs, including as an employee in his family’s import/export business and as a police officer, he settled into a twenty-five-year career in real estate.
Mr. Aqua currently lives with his wife in Naples, Florida, where he is hard at work on his Don Ricci series.


THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

This is not the type of book I generally read or review, but this one is starting to go viral, and I wanted to bring it to you.  Like "Shades of Grey," Anthony V. Aqua's "The Predator" is a shocker. It stands out in a unique way. It is more than risqué, it's downright explicit sexual material; more so than any book I've ever read.  But, it's completely un-put-downable!  People have commented they are compelled to keep reading.

Dedicated to those who have been kidnapped and held hostage, and those who have been sex slaves, it gives an eye-opening glimpse into the heart and mind of a predator and psychopath.  It's not a beautiful story, but it's more realistic than any I've read in my life.

The book is fraught with the type of violence that only those connected with criminals would know to be an every day matter.  It's stuff that will absolutely shock you to read.  While Mr. Aqua swears he has no connection to the mob and never has, it is difficult to believe when you read this book!  Amazing chapters, and such fine, descriptive writing in some places, you feel you're watching a movie.

The weakness in the book is that Mr. Aqua is a new author, so there are some obvious loose points and less intriguing sections.  These are easily over looked in the long run. 

This isn't one for everyone, and I hesitate to recommend it.  I'm just letting you know it's out there.  I suspect it will become a cult novel fast.  If you have the stomach for something sexually explicit and violent that's about the mafia, you might like to give it a try....  Warning!!

Deborah/TheBookishDame
 

"What Is Visible" by Kimberly Elkins ~ Fascinating...

SUMMARY :

A vividly original literary novel based on the astounding true-life story of Laura Bridgman, the first deaf and blind person who learned language and blazed a trail for Helen Keller.

 At age two, Laura Bridgman lost four of her five senses to scarlet fever. At age seven, she was taken to Perkins Institute in Boston to determine if a child so terribly afflicted could be taught. At age twelve, Charles Dickens declared her his prime interest for visiting America. And by age twenty, she was considered the nineteenth century's second most famous woman, having mastered language and charmed the world with her brilliance.

 Not since The Diving Bell and the Butterfly has a book proven so profoundly moving in illuminating the challenges of living in a completely unique inner world.

With Laura-by turns mischievous, temperamental, and witty-as the book's primary narrator, the fascinating kaleidoscope of characters includes the founder of Perkins Institute, Samuel Gridley Howe, with whom she was in love; his wife, the glamorous Julia Ward Howe, a renowned writer, abolitionist, and suffragist; Laura's beloved teacher, who married a missionary and died insane from syphilis; an Irish orphan with whom Laura had a tumultuous affair; Annie Sullivan; and even the young Helen Keller.

Deeply enthralling and rich with lyricism, WHAT IS VISIBLE chronicles the breathtaking experiment that Laura Bridgman embodied and its links to the great social, philosophical, theological, and educational changes rocking Victorian America. Given Laura's worldwide fame in the nineteenth century, it is astonishing that she has been virtually erased from history. WHAT IS VISIBLE will set the record straight.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

Published by Grand Central/Hachette Publishing
Pages:  320
Genre:  Historical Fiction
Author:  Kimberly Elkins
Website:  http://www.kimberlyelkins.com
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Kimberly Elkins was a finalist for the National Magazine Award and has published fiction and nonfiction in the Atlantic, Best New American Voices, Iowa Review, Chicago Tribune, Glamour, and Village Voice, among others. WHAT IS VISIBLE is her first novel.

THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

When I decided to preview this novel on Netgalley with a "taste" of the book, I never thought I would be caught up, leading me to purchase it just so I could finish the story.  This is a fascinating account of Laura Bridgman, the very first known woman who was both deaf and blind, and who learned to communicate.  It is a book I imagine will mesmerize everyone.  I was held rapt, absolutely.

While "What Is Visible" is a historical novel, Kimberly Elkins writes with such grace and delicacy that it flies off the pages as a real account.  Absorbing and disturbing at times, it's a book I couldn't put down and raced through the night hoping to finish.  It took me longer than I had eyes to keep open!

Each of the characters she describes are vivid in their every day lives in her novel.  I was completely engaged with Laura and the Doctor.  I was drawn in like a voyeur, able to see what a magnificent and complicated person Laura was, and how she loved the Doctor who sculpted her life.  I think the underlying study of what her inner life might have been like was most compelling.  This is a novel with teeth, but also with a strong heart at the center.  Laura seems to reach for us from its pages and she touches us!

I can't say enough about the genius of Ms Elkins's writing.  The novel is beautifully crafted.  The characters engender caring and tender feelings.  The story is moving.  You can tell her heart is in this book.

This is a must read!

5 stars                                          Deborah/TheBookishDame

Summer Reading~New Books

SUMMER READING BOOKS :

This is my newest collection of books I'm planning on reading in August or before.  I'm including below a couple of pictures of more which I don't yet have in earnest, but which I've ordered.  Just about everything has a blue tinge!

My head is doing better and it's getting easier to read again, so I'm excited about that.  I'm hoping as the months increase, my eyes will get better and I'll be back to my reading speed again.  I'm coming out of my slump, as well.  It feels great!

So let me give you some summaries of the above books:

In 1860, Alexander Ferguson, a newly ordained vicar and amateur evolutionary scientist, takes up his new parish, a poor, isolated patch on the remote Scottish island of Harris. He hopes to uncover the truth behind the legend of the selkies—mermaids or seal people who have been sighted off the north of Scotland for centuries. He has a more personal motive, too; family legend states that Alexander is descended from seal men. As he struggles to be the good pastor he was called to be, his maid Moira faces the terrible eviction of her family by Lord Marstone, whose family owns the island. Their time on the island will irrevocably change the course of both their lives, but the white house on the edge of the dunes keeps its silence long after they are gone.

It will be more than a century before the Sea House reluctantly gives up its secrets. Ruth and Michael buy the grand but dilapidated building and begin to turn it into a home for the family they hope to have. Their dreams are marred by a shocking discovery. The tiny bones of a baby are buried beneath the house; the child's fragile legs are fused together—a mermaid child. Who buried the bones? And why? To heal her own demons, Ruth feels she must discover the secrets of her new home—but the answers to her questions may lie in her own traumatic past. The Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford is a sweeping tale of hope and redemption and a study of how we heal ourselves by discovering our histories.

*Note:  I'm a sucker for books about the Scottish coasts and its legends.  This one about mermaids and selkies should be good.

 

A heartbreaking, wildly inventive, and moving novel narrated by a teenage runaway, from the bestselling author of Midwives and The Sandcastle Girls.

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless teen living in an igloo made of ice and trash bags filled with frozen leaves. Half a year earlier, a nuclear plant in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom had experienced a cataclysmic meltdown, and both of Emily's parents were killed. Devastatingly, her father was in charge of the plant, and the meltdown may have been his fault. Was he drunk when it happened? Thousands of people are forced to flee their homes in the Kingdom; rivers and forests are destroyed; and Emily feels certain that as the daughter of the most hated man in America, she is in danger. So instead of following the social workers and her classmates after the meltdown, Emily takes off on her own for Burlington, where she survives by stealing, sleeping on the floor of a drug dealer's apartment, and inventing a new identity for herself — an identity inspired by her favorite poet, Emily Dickinson. When Emily befriends a young homeless boy named Cameron, she protects him with a ferocity she didn't know she had. But she still can't outrun her past, can't escape her grief, can't hide forever—and so she comes up with the only plan that she can. 

A story of loss, adventure, and the search for friendship in the wake of catastrophe, Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is one of Chris Bohjalian’s finest novels to date—breathtaking, wise, and utterly transporting.

*Note:  I've started this one.  Bohjalian is a great author, so what's not to love.  I'm excited to get further into this post apocalyptic novel.  Something new for him...

Lydia is dead. But they don’t know this yet . . . So begins the story of this exquisite debut novel, about a Chinese American family living in 1970s small-town Ohio. Lydia is the favorite child of Marilyn and James Lee; their middle daughter, a girl who inherited her mother’s bright blue eyes and her father’s jet-black hair. Her parents are determined that Lydia will fulfill the dreams they were unable to pursue—in Marilyn’s case that her daughter become a doctor rather than a homemaker, in James’s case that Lydia be popular at school, a girl with a busy social life and the center of every party.

When Lydia’s body is found in the local lake, the delicate balancing act that has been keeping the Lee family together tumbles into chaos, forcing them to confront the long-kept secrets that have been slowly pulling them apart. James, consumed by guilt, sets out on a reckless path that may destroy his marriage. Marilyn, devastated and vengeful, is determined to find a responsible party, no matter what the cost. Lydia’s older brother, Nathan, is certain that the neighborhood bad boy Jack is somehow involved. But it’s the youngest of the family—Hannah—who observes far more than anyone realizes and who may be the only one who knows the truth about what happened.

A profoundly moving story of family, history, and the meaning of home, Everything I Never Told You is both a gripping page-turner and a sensitive family portrait, exploring the divisions between cultures and the rifts within a family, and uncovering the ways in which mothers and daughters, fathers and sons, and husbands and wives struggle, all their lives, to understand one another.

*Note:  I did a preview read of this one, as well.  Great writing.  This one was a recommended read for me.  It captured my interest immediately.  I'm interested in getting to it very soon.

From the author of Queen’s Gambit, which People magazine called, “A must-read for Philippa Gregory fans,” a gripping historical novel about two sisters who tread as dangerously close to the crown as their tragic sister, Lady Jane Grey, executed after just nine days on the throne.

Early in Mary Tudor’s turbulent reign, Lady Catherine and Lady Mary Grey are reeling after the brutal execution of their elder seventeen-year-old sister, Lady Jane Grey, and the succession is by no means stable. In Sisters of Treason, Elizabeth Freemantle brings these young women to life in a spellbinding Tudor tale of love and politics.

Neither sister is well suited to a dangerous life at court. Flirtatious Lady Catherine, thought to be the true heir, cannot control her compulsion to love and be loved. Her sister, clever Lady Mary, has a crooked spine and a tiny stature in an age when physical perfection equates to goodness—and both girls have inherited the Tudor blood that is more curse than blessing. For either girl to marry without royal permission would be a potentially fatal political act. It is the royal portrait painter, Levina Teerlinc, who helps the girls survive these troubled times. She becomes their mentor and confidante, but when the Queen’s sister, the hot-headed Elizabeth, inherits the crown, life at court becomes increasingly treacherous for the surviving Grey sisters. Ultimately each young woman must decide how far she will go to defy her Queen, risk her life, and find the safety and love she longs for.

From “a brilliant new player in the court of royal fiction,” (People) Sisters of Treason brings to vivid life the perilous and romantic lives of two little known young women who played a major role in the complex politics of their day.

*Note:  Elizabeth Fremantle became one of my favorite historical fiction authors when she wrote "Queen's Gambit" last year.  A brilliant read...   I can't wait to get to this one!


NOW FOR BOOKS I'M EXPECTING IN THE MAIL OR ON NETGALLEY :

The Girl With All the Gifts is a groundbreaking thriller, emotionally charged and gripping from beginning to end.

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class.

When they come for her, Sergeant keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

Melanie is a very special girl.

*Note:  Creepy!!  This is a novel I just ordered from Amazon after a "taste" of it on Netgalley.  It's a fabulous read....I can't tell you more.  :]

"Funny and moving. After this, nothing will ever taste the same again."—T. C. Boyle

It's 1973, and David Leveraux has landed his dream job as a Flavorist-in-Training, working in the secretive industry where chemists create the flavors for everything from the cherry in your can of soda to the butter on your popcorn.

While testing a new artificial sweetener—"Sweetness #9"—he notices unusual side-effects in the laboratory rats and monkeys: anxiety, obesity, mutism, and a generalized dissatisfaction with life. David tries to blow the whistle, but he swallows it instead.

Years later, Sweetness #9 is America's most popular sweetener—and David's family is changing. His wife is gaining weight, his son has stopped using verbs, and his daughter suffers from a generalized dissatisfaction with life. Is Sweetness #9 to blame, along with David's failure to stop it? Or are these just symptoms of the American condition?

David's search for an answer unfolds in this expansive novel that is at once a comic satire, a family story, and a profound exploration of our deepest cultural anxieties. Wickedly funny and wildly imaginative, Sweetness #9 questions whether what we eat truly makes us who we are.

*Note:  Can't resist this one!  I like a book like this for a change.  I'm getting a snap of it on Netgalley this week...but you can find it for purchase on B&N and Amazon.


So, those are my newest choices.  Wonder what you're reading this summer....

Deb

"One Kick" by Chelsea Cain ~ Explosive!

SUMMARY :

From the author of the critically acclaimed New York Times bestselling Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell thrillers: The first in a nail-biting new series featuring Kick Lannigan, a young woman whose complicated past has given her a very special skill set.

Famously kidnapped at age six, Kick captured America’s hearts when she was rescued five years later. Now, twenty-one, she finds herself unexpectedly entangled in a missing child case that will put her talents to the test.

Trained as a marksman, lock picker, escape artist and bomb maker by her abductor, Kick could not return to the life of the average young girl after her release. So, in lieu of therapy, she mastered martial arts, boxing, and knife throwing; learned how to escape from the trunk of a car, jimmy a pair of handcuffs, and walk without making a sound—all before she was thirteen.

Kick has trained herself to be safe. But then two children go missing in three weeks, and an enigmatic and wealthy former weapons dealer approaches her with a proposition. John Bishop uses his fortune and contacts to track down missing children. Not only is he convinced Kick can help recover the two children—he won’t take no for an answer.

With lives hanging in the balance, Kick is set to be the crusader she has always imagined herself. Little does she know that the answers she and Bishop seek are hidden in one of the few places she doesn’t want to navigate—the dark corners of her own mind.

A heart-stopping, entertaining thrill ride, One Kick announces the arrival of a blistering new series by a stunning talent in the thriller realm.

PARTICULARS OF THE BOOK :

Published by:  Simon & Schuster
Pages:  320
Series:  Kick Lannigan Series Bk 1
Genre:  Thriller/Mystery/Suspense
Author:  Chelsea Cain
Website:  http://www.chelseacain.com


ABOUT THE AUTHOR :

Chelsea Cain is the author of the New York Times bestselling Archie Sheridan/Gretchen Lowell thrillers Heartsick, Sweetheart, Evil at Heart, The Night Season, Kill You Twice, and Let Me Go. Her Portland-based thrillers have been published in twenty-four languages, recommended on the TODAY show, appeared in episodes of HBO’s True Blood and ABC’s Castle, been named among Stephen King’s top ten favorite books of the year, and included in NPR’s list of the top 100 thrillers ever written. According to Booklist, “Popular entertainment just doesn’t get much better than this.”

CHECK out her website for a link to a Goodreads giveaway!!!  http://www.chelseacain.com


THE BOOKISH DAME REVIEWS :

It's after midnight and I've just finished another Chelsea Cain novel much to my delight.  She's a long time favorite thriller/suspense novel writer who never fails to give a great "ride" for the money.  Chelsea is one of those authors who calls you to pick up every book she writes because you know you're going to get consistent thrillers that speed along and are gripping.  "One Kick" is no exception to this rule.  I'm excited to have this introduction to a new set of characters and a new series.

Loved, loved the story here of a young woman who is a grown up "rescue" from a child kidnapping.  The details of what she went through in her transition back to "normal" are exceptional and believable.  They add a broad dimension to this thriller based on finding two children who have also been kidnapped. 

Kick Lannigan is a wiry and wild protagonist who is worthy of a series of her own.  I absolutely love her.  Beautiful and brilliant, she is also physically powerful and; yet, psychologically vulnerable.  A startling combination for a potent storyline.  Her strange relationship with John Bishop adds that sugar and vinegar aspect to the plot that's pitch perfect!  These two are dynamic and fun to read about.

I couldn't put this book down all day until I'd finished it.  I think you'll love it if you're interested in a fast-paced suspense novel.  Great storyline with fascinating characters.

5 stars                    Deborah/TheBookishDame