Margitte's Reviews

A murder mystery: two murders including a feisty old ghost, Bosley - a womaniser and restless soul who move things around in the Fenton Hotel Tavern and Grille, who sings happily along with the performers and who hope someone can solve his murder. 

That's where the father and son - detective team, Clay and Tanner Thomas, comes in when they also have to sort out another murder. They both have special abilities - really special, believe me, including communicating with ol' Bosley, read minds and basically do what has to be done to get this murder mystery on the road.

Meet Jasper, their midget lawyer, who would get sprayed by a skunk, 'accidently' lands on the female prosecutor's lap(which makes his day!) and has the ability to super-charge a certain cop to look like an overly-blown-up red balloon.

Poor six foot ten and overweight Sherman Septic Tankersley, the plumber, has his hands full with confined spaces, ghosts who open taps and switch off lights, metal steps that bends under his weight and have him captured by the handrails closing in on him. Life is not a good one for this giant. His temper is severely tested by his fright of ghosts and people who just do not understand him.

In the mix is also Zander Frauss, the neuroscientist ....need I say more?

Mix all these characters, and quite a few interesting ones more, with science, the paranormal, romance, intrigue, humor and excellent writing skills, and you get "Bulletproof" by Jeff LaFerney: a riveting, fast-moving who-dunnit that will keep you awake!

I feel so honored and happy to have met the characters and read this third book in this series. I will definitely read the other two as well. It will be shear bliss!

A very special thank you to Books4tomorrow and Jeff LaFerney!

A fabulous read! 

The Unlikely Gift of Treasure Blume

For those of us not believing the airbrushed photos of models advertising a dream image of ourselves if we just buy the product / service / rhetoric, the story of Treasure Blume might be the inspiration everyone, especially young women, always seek. The book is actually meant for the Young Adult market who ravages romantic stories like forbidden midnight chocolate binges. For older witches like yours truly, this is a tongue-in-cheek but fun read. We just do it with our lips zipped and a smile on our faces :-)

However, the protagonist is more real than the fabulous faces adorning a magazine cover or young women's dreams, and that makes her story special. Nobody likes her on first contact. Wow, how would you feel when it happens to you? Does this story resonate within yourself? Or do you know how she must feel in some or other way?

She accepts her genetic looks, educated herself, got a cat and prepared to stay behind when pheromones hit male and female members of the human specie. She instinctively knew that the visual satisfaction(for men) and nesting instincts for young women( read: nice house, nice car, promising bank accounts and looks) attracted the sexes to each other like moths to a flame. The hunt for the very best breeding partner did not promise a winning place for a girl like Treasure Blume. She believed more in her mirror and learnt to turn her back on the people who judged her by her looks alone. She compensated with a refreshing sense of humor nevertheless.

But there are men such as Dennis who got burnt by the flame of the romantic candle the first time around. He was left deeply hurt and with a child he had to raise on his own. He would soon discover more in the teacher who made his daughter happy. 

This is a delightful read for the right generation of optimistic love-addicts. It is peppered with wit and wisdom and a feeling of well-being. A great addition to the romance genre, I would say. A book with real heart! I loved Treasure Blume's self confidence and guts!

Top Semi finalist, 2008 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award.
Kindle Edition: Published April 12th 2013


This is one of the best books I have read in a very long time! 
When it was finished my first thought after reading "The End"was: "what an unbelievably, incredible, amazing story!" 

Jando, a twelve-year-old child is the narrator, lying in a 'spider-hole' introducing himself as a boy-soldier - those kids "too tough to be real children, too young to be real men". 

The riveting, evocative tale starts with his innocent life on his father's sugar plantation, introducing his family: 

Mang Miguel Flores, his dad; Sampaguita Inday - his mom; Tanaya - his adopted little sister, with her pet pig Rosa; Monching - his missing brother; His uncle - Tio Mario: "He was a boulder no one could budge, someone one could hide behind. Today showed me that he was only human "Oso was a member of the Peasants Union and was as disagreeable as a swollen canker sore." 

Jando is still discovering the world around him, describing his life from every angle: the smells of the forests and plantations, his mom's masterful cooking of traditional foods; the colors of the insects, animals, mountains, flowers, clouds; the detail of the community's dresses, believes, habits, history and languages. We are taken into the lives of decent, hardworking people living an uncomplicated life. 

And abruptly his life changed when he also was confronted with the ugliness of revolution, war, politics and greed in which his family's - as well as those of many people around them's lives would forever change.
"Bad wind never blows alone, so goes the Filipino saying. 

But I wasn't listening. I wanted to be alone. I was mad. Mad at Mama and Papa for delaying me, mad at Father Rufino for leaving me, mad at Tio Mario for interrupting me, mad at Leilani for cheating on Oso, mad at Oso for being a fool, mad at Tato for getting himself killed, and mad at everything else. I punched the air with my fist. It was a stupid world with stupid people living in it.

The author blended love, family, hardships, war, and unbelievable violence into a poetic tale of hope and determination.

The story is fast moving, exact, riveting. "The sun rose and fell and the days peeled away like the pages of a calendar."

Every page would shock, mesmerize, and grip the reader as a silent witness to this remarkable historical accurate, yet fictitious tale. 

The reader is left breathless at the end, yet also grateful for a young boy's integrity, compassion and love for his country and his people and the price he was willing to pay to honor the people he loved and to keep his promises. 

"The memories still haunt us, but they are faded now, like the pages of an old manuscript left out in the sun." 

I recommend this brilliant,compassionately-written book to anyone enjoying Khaled Hosseini, Amy Tan, Abraham Verghese, Tan Twang Eng. 

It is not a genre I normally read, but something about the title and the cover design prompted me to read this book. The cover reminded me so much of my childhood, visiting my grandmother on her farm; the old porch where we used to sit, she peeling and slicing fruit for bottling, telling me stories of the family and her childhood. I was too young to remember who finally took her rockin' chair when she passed away, but it never bothered me. I had so much rich and beautiful memories whenever I encountered a rockin' chair ever since.

This family saga of the old gentleman, John McCarthy and his family pulled me into the American way of rural life which we often see in movies, but seldom read in books. The characters in the book were so familiar as though I knew them all my life, yet so very American in their values, talk and outlook on life. Decent, honest folks who were paternally lead and protected by a grandpa who also wrote a diary.

The writing style, the story elements, the characters...everything, gripped me from the first sentence before I even knew what the story would be about. I only knew I wanted to learn the story behind that rockin' chair on that porch and I was determined to hear it! 

It was as though the author knew where to get to me. He went straight for the heart and left me sitting in total wonderment on how it was done.

Who would not react emotionally when a simple, decent, proud man writes these words:"I've had dreams of Alice calling me home and I reckon my time is close. But I'd leaved a pig-headed fool without makin' a few things clear. I reckon I've lived a life most men could only hope for. I had folks that taught me right. I found a woman that loved me right. I worked a farm that treated me right. But none of it ever added up to the love I had for my boy, Hank. Even if I owned words fancy enough, I couldn't start to say how much I love that stubborn boy." 

The symbolism in the Rockin' chair is strong enough to have everyone reading this book yearn for family we never knew, or who passed away, or for opportunities we wished we had treasured. We would all agree that those rockin' chairs was more than just a few pieces of wood that made up a useful piece of furniture! It really rocked for a special reason. They all have stories to tell. 

This Rockin' Chair had me in tears - of memory but also of joy. I felt so part of this family in which the challenges of a tough life, misunderstandings, and hardship did not leave much room for emotions such as love and appreciation. Yet it does not mean it did not exist. 

It is a brilliant book in so many ways. It is a book that men should read just as eagerly as women. There is a lot to contemplate and a lot of our own changed values to weigh against the message this book leaves behind. In the end I needed to ask myself: and how do you measure up, girl?

Five stars for everything, grampa John!

The title of the book captured my attention immediately. I just had to read it.

Li Lan, the eighteen-year-old narrator stemmed from a Chinese family who settled in Malaya in the 1800s. Although there were various other influences in their lives from the multitude of cultures present at the time, including the British influences, her family, as most Chinese families, still maintained their own belief systems. Hence it resulted in her being subjected to one of the traditions of providing prosperity and catering to all the needs of the deceased in the afterlife.

When her formerly affluent father landed in dire straits, losing his inherited wealth, he asked her to become the ghost bride to the deceased son of the Lim family. Through the meddling of his mother, a grieving woman, Lim Tian Ching accessed Li Lan's dreams, haunting and harassing her to become his wife. When she refused, ghost started to fly. Literary!

Through different avenues and assistants, she managed to meet up with more deceased members of both her and her supposedly new family-in-law, resulting in one fast-paced exhilarating journey through different worlds with different tutors in the form of different characters that died and were waiting to be called to Judgement Day. They would ultimately teach her enough so that she can meet love on her own terms in the end. And what a surprise it was.

******

I haven't read a book like this before and did not want to be trapped in a spiritual world much longer than the first few chapters, as it made me uncomfortable, but the writing was so good, that I just could not stop reading after I started! In the process I learnt so much more about all the different Malay cultures - I even looked up how to roast water melon seeds the right way.

The book is a complete testament to Chinese food, languages, beliefs, and cultural practices. Informative, thrilling, and evocative.

Mmm, I did not believe in ghosts before, but now I wonder.... ;-)

This is the fourth book in the acclaimed mystery series evoking the mores, values and people of the Scottish Highlands of the 1950s.

Nurse Urquhart discovered a severed leg in the washing coming from the shinty team after their Saturday match against a rival town. Sundays was a forbidden day for washing and she was upset about this sunny day going to waste when time was limited. She pulled the muddied and bloodied shorts and shirts out of the container and let out a scream who had her husband, the trainer of the local shinty team, fainting. 

The news splashed all over the front page of the newspaper, about the foot in the shinty boot, had the town talking the hind legs of the donkeys. For some inhabitants in the laid-back quiet town in the Scottish Highlands it was a sick prank, yet for others it would become the opening salvo for a chain of events that would divide the town, lead to murder, introspection, new discoveries, redemption and perhaps happiness. 

The town was ruled by a bleak God, who was suppose to be the father of a loving Son, who resided in buildings with high walls, built with unforgiving stone, worshipped by unforgiving people and preaching the Gospel according to men.

Joanne Ross, a soon to be divorcee, wanted to prove that she can be a real news reporter, write more than just school events, church happenings and recipes for plum duff puddings. She wanted to liberate herself from a society who regarded women as mothers, not persons with dreams and thoughts of their own. 

The appearance of Mae Bell, seeking more information about the death of her husband Robert, had Joanne brewing like a volcano seeking a place and time to explode. Her inner rebellion was fueled by the staunch believe of the male society that real women arranged everything, was always right, paid the bills, did the washing, the ironing, the shopping, the cooking, remembered everyone's birthdays, anniversaries, funerals, as a good wife should. In the men's eyes, that was how good women expressed love. Those who refused, or chose another way of expressing themselves were dealt with the right way, the justified way: physical abuse and/or rejection. Would she trust men again? Can she believe in love? Does it really exist?

Mae Belle represented everything Joanne wanted to be: confident, elegant, well-traveled, mysterious. But what was she hiding?

Only the police and the staff of the Highland Gazette were eager to get behind the sinister message and would lead to a lot of leg work to keep the investigators running for their money ...

I was in a little bit of a dwam myself after being drawn into the kurfuffle of solving the mystery. The story and characters were so real, so possible, so familiar, apart from the delightful introduction to Scottish words and customs. The narrative is a mystery, leading the reader through a maze of suspicions - exhilarating thoughts - of who's-dunnits' as well as added elements to throw us off the track. It was highly successful! And of course I was half-right half-wrong in the end, leaving me sneaking away tail between the legs! The conclusion was highly dramatic. 

My thoughts on why it is a four-and-half and not a full five star read: The story is overall predictable in the sense that the recipe is the same for most of the books in this genre.Everything happens when it should, sort of. The scene where the guilty party was realized, had my legs pulled from under me though. It was too sudden, coming out of nowhere. I paged back to see where I missed the run-up paragraphs to it, but couldn't find anything in the previous few pages. I might be totally wrong and will accept it, but I had the impression that the story was shortened. The concluding events were too drawn out and lost the rhythm of the exploded drama.

However, the shocking surprise lies waiting, the final moment of sucking in your breath hard and fast. It is something so totally unexpected, it will make you laugh or cry. Who was the late Robert Bell really? 

The events, characters, scenes, and everything else making this an excellent read, are all there in detail. There is so much depth to the story and people in it. It was definitely worth the time. Everything is concluded.

This book not only inspired me to read more books by A.D.Scott, but also to visit this amazing country and meet the inhabitants. I promise you, this severed leg is going to shake YOU right out of your socks!

PS: Adjectives: I love to use it! 

1945. Moscow, Russia.

Jubilance raged over the war-ravaged city. Hitler was defeated. New beginnings lay ahead for a nation with promises of greatness by Stalin. The hope for normalcy raised slowly from the ashes.

The young Andrei Kurbsky saw “crumbling buildings, their façades peppered with shrapnel, windows shattered, roads pockmarked with bomb craters. Everything – the walls, the houses, the cars – everything except the scarlet banners was drab, beige, peeling, khaki, grey. But faces of the passersby were rosy as if victory and sunlight almost made up for the lack of food, and the streets were crowded with pretty girls in skimpy dresses, soldiers, sailors and officers in white summer uniforms. Studebaker trucks, Willys jeeps and the Buicks of officials rumbled by – but there were also carriages pulled by horses, carts heaped with hay or bedding or turnips, right in the middle of this spired city with its gold domes. Sometimes, when he closed his eyes in the heat and the world went a soft orange, Andrei heard laughter and singing and he was sure he could hear the city itself healing in the sunshine.”
`
Life was starting over for everyone. The top officials in the Communist party were compensated with lavish lifestyle in the high-ceilinged apartments in the Granvosky building (otherwise known as the Fifth House of the Soviets), with dazzling corridors of capacious parquet floors and crystal chandeliers. Each official owned more than one chauffeur-driven car: open-topped Mercedes and -Packards, Dodge, Cadillacs, limousines, and Rolls Royces. It was also the home of Serafima Romashkina.

A new life was also starting for Andrei and his mother who just returned from exile in Stalinabad, “The Paris of Central Asia”, also known as “The Athens of Turkestan”. Everybody knew what that meant. “It was his tainted biography all over again.”

Young, poor, optimistic, ambitious, inexperienced Andrei would meet Serafima.

It is a magnificent book: well written, extremely detailed, beautiful prose, spell-binding with no unfinished characters. The story is about a group of children and their families, every member, their teachers, and what happened to them, during the reign of Stalin. There were many love stories, too many, to be told. A historical novel at its best.

The Divine Drawing - first book in a planned trilogy in the Broken Wings series

WILD, ROBUST, THOUGHT-PROVOKING

August 1945: Twenty-seven year old Daniel 'Surefire' Lasky had a tough life, apart from feeling guilty for knowing that his mom died giving birth to him. He always felt unworthy and condemned to carry his mother's maiden name as his middle name through life.

He needed to get away from the marriage-hungry nineteen-year old Miss Mitty, a tourist guide at the Grand Canyon, and Benjamin ' Burning Sky' Smith - also called Benjy or Sky- his longtime friend.

"As the crippled youngest of ten children, proving his manhood in a society which tended to mollycoddle the disabled, had been a constant struggle. Rejected by the army at the age of nineteen, he'd gone off to find toughness that would take him on. Pitting himself against ferocious felines in Africa was not be the same as walking unaided, but it sure gave him a great edge. And back home he'd force himself to excel at whatever he set his mind to. In the air, on horseback and in water, his lameness was less inhibiting, and he could manoeuvre a plane like some dog-fighting German ace, ride a horse like the old-time redskin warriors, and, with his fine upper-body physique, swim strongly. His Indian tracking, skilled markmanship and death-defying exploits made him a champion trick-shooter and America's most acclaimed rodeo stuntman."

He had a rootless life, following rodeos around the country in a horse-trailing truck, showing off his roping, telling hunting anecdotes, sing cowboy songs, do horse-riding stunts, show off his rifle, tomahawk and knife skills.

He lived his young adult days refining his skills in gambling, girls, smoking loco-weed and cheap liquor, while acquiring his pilot license with the money he saved up. The hair-dangling eagle feather was his proudest possession. And a lion-claw necklace would be another trademark. An African-shaped birthmark had a place on his face. His horse is named Buckwheat and his swag-bag, a stuffed sock, full of money concludes his worldly possessions. He is also known as 'Manshadow'. He associated easier with the Indian culture becoming more Indian than the Indians themselves. He would therefor be regarded as the 'Indian-aping atheist' at the mission.

He received a letter from Doctor Jonas Burns Cadence of the Episcopal Church, offering him a proposition in Africa where Luce Lasky previously spent two years. They were to set off for Mamelodi (Holy Water) mission in Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) on the continent,known as 'The White Man's Grave'. Luce Lasky was asked to find the grave of Dr. Cadence's long lost twin brother, Josiah. He promised the censorius Dr. Cadence that he is compromised in certain activities, such as roller-skating and dancing the jitterbug, but he has the aptitude 'to think as clear, shoot as straight, and lay as many wimmen'as the rest of 'em!'

" Gold might be the god of some men, precious gems the treasure others hankered for, but for Daniel 'Surefire' Lasky, hunting African lions constituted the very elixir of life."

He already killed 49 and could not wait to deliver no. 50 to the taxidermist.

Absolutely nothing would keep him down, not while his will and wit were pitted against it. He was determined to solve the mystery of 'The Mountains of Tomorrow' which everybody, locals as well as missionaries and pilots, refused to investigate. He believed he could do it.

My opinion: A really relaxing, tension-builder which never falters throughout the book. Although the pace is not super fast, it is still constant enough to keep the reader interested in the story. There is enough adventure, social comments, humor and thought-provoking moments, even some really scary ones, that makes the narrative colorful and beautiful. It is Africa through another female eye, addressing a Wilbur Smith adventure with a touch of Indiana Jones thrown in.

The detailed book is beautifully written, the characters human with a dollop of mysticism and fairy tale slightly mixed in. The descriptions in the book are well done. The inclusion of the fauna and flora, and very well executed, capture the spirit of magical Africa excellently. There were scenes in the book that had me looking for a safer place on my bed! Overall I enjoyed the book! I am sure it will delight many more fans of African books. It is definitely a good read. Great penmanship! The under-current of the book is gentle, kind, but also sparky and defiant. Humor lightens many moments and the issue of Christianity used as a tool, rather than a conviction/belief are illustrated very well. However, this journey will change his outlook on life and severely test everything he ever believed in...

Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia - July 1899

Among the wildlife of the unforgiving wilderness Mary Louella Harley's family lived within a community of forgotten people in the forgotten, uninhabitable paradise which catered to the toughest of the tough - both human and indigenous creatures alike. It was a frontier settlement of people who lived by their own laws. Wolfe's notes - a government initiative to eradicate wolves, catching snakes and selling moonshine kept the clans alive. Children were taught to drink moonshine since the early age of 6 or even younger.

Mary and her three sisters were each a color-coded pattern on a special piece of cotton. There was an important reason for it. Embroidery needles did for their mother in patterns what reading and writing skills did for educated people on paper. The latter was hard to find in these mountains. Mary's own literacy was kept a secret, only her mom knew, since her dad scoffed at book-learning.

In the wilderness of Claw Mountain lived the fearful patriarch, Obediah Buchanan, and his sons, produced by his late French extracted, cultured wife, Hedina Charlemaine. The good-looking oldest son, Zachary Thomas, "borrowed" a horse, descended from his own territory and traveled many hours to ambush Mary Harley in her father's cow shed at dawn, after seeing her for a brief few minutes in the trading store for the first time a few days prior, and convinced her to elope with him and get married. Which she did. There were only two rules in the feuding mountain clans at the time: to survive and breed.

Obediah himself once knew a life of prosperity and splendor, being a descendant of a wealthy aristocratic family who owned vast tobacco plantations and several distilleries in the Graves Mill area. His refusal to join the Confederate army during the Civil War, and his wild, unsavory lifestyle, had him disowned and banned from his family (who were all killed in the war anyway and their plantations totally destroyed by fires). His deeply-rooted resentment of authority allowed him to ignore the rights and wishes of the wealthy landowner, Devon Ansley, on whose land Obediah defiantly established himself as a squatter. To him, Claw Mountain was his inviolate kingdom and his mode of rule, both in the mountain and off, was fear.He claimed Ansley Devon's property as his own divine right, after Ansley decided for unknown reasons to abandon it.

As a refugee from the Virginian law, as well as a former experienced manager of one of his own father's distilleries, and having a brood of wild sons to raise, Obediah would produce the finest whiskey and apple brandy with his illegal moonshining. 

With their powerful and predatory skills, they would subject their neighbors, the Ficks and Addis clans, to devilment and tyranny. However, their biggest bitter feud would rage against the equally wild and hostile Galtrey clan of Buck Knob Mountain, until Mary came along, and through hard work and a Christian intervention, would change things...

In the media of yesteryear, Claw Mountain and its people were depicted as backwards, ignorant and shiftless. They were also caricatured as hillbillies living in squalid conditions. The agenda of the government and private organizations behind it was to vilify them enough so that their final destiny would not be frowned upon by the general public. But then authors such as Brenda George comes along and put the heart back into the people and their mountain and expose these "false claims" against the people.

Was the government intervention really such a bad decision after all? One thing was certain though and that was that these clans needed to be saved from themselves and as soon as possible - no matter how it was done or by whom!

"There's no reason to think that somebody who comes from the mountains can't succeed. It's just changing the contours of their expectations, and maybe the geography of their hearts. This story proved it."

This is reality in all its splendor. A little bit of "Couples Retreat", mixed in with a slight touch of "Wisteria Lane"(although on steroids) and some quirky moments from "According to Jim" and in a sadistic moment I thought a few moments of "Big Bang Theory" would have thrown them off kilter just a little bit more. The problem is that the crazy bunch of scientists would not have made it quite into this Newton neighborhood, not ambitious enough!

But my dear fellow sugars, honeys, babes, angels, Snootin' Newton is preparing for landing! Okay give or take a few indiscretions and idiosyncrasies, popular Crystal Lake Lane in Newton is the address to die for. It is the place where trust fund babies are born, where half the kiddos born last year were Fifty Shades babies; where the children are always immaculately dressed with good manners, Dr. Phil is the highlight of each day, mums cocoon themselves in love-bubbles of soft pink and blue; marathon mums favors exercise much more essential than waxing; miracle underwear and tornadoes in glasses builds up enough va va vooms in wives to blow the spouses brains out so that they cannot think about the knockout gorgeous babysitters, such as Jessie Armstrong, with the posh English accent, the masters degree student in psychology.

Soon not only the seasons will change in the lane. Rosebud wallpaper will even be considered cat vomit as well. And in reflection of the metaphorical high-voltaged fireworks display that shook the inhabitants and the innocent homes, Fifi, the Shih Tzu, and Rusty, the bulldog, will produce a Botox-induced litter of Bull-Shits, while Orga, the Labrador, will watch over them like a grandmother. In fact, Bull-Shits are not only the new kids on the block, they are the "new must-haves!"

Living in Crystal Lake lane is like being specially chosen as babies and dropped into awesomeness! If it was impossible to forget Wisteria Lane, you won't do any better with Newton Neighbors either. Anything that leaves a trail of glitter will always shine!

My five star rating: It is not a fairy tale - the villain is the hottest guy on the block, in fact! And everyone makes stupid mistakes that would have Sheldon Cooper in the Big Bang Theory bawling his eyes out. The characters are very well developed; the plot is perfectly constructed, all the elements come together as it should. The story delivers on its promises. It is predictable and clichéd enough to make it an all-American heartwarming romantic comedy. It leaves a happy pumping of the heart behind.

It is fast moving and exhilarating; makes fun of all our silly hang-ups; is a thrilling jog through the American psyche of hard work, resilience, and all the right reasons for good living. How I would love to live in Chrystal Lake Lane!

If you desperately need a feel-good thrill in your life, with a couple of fireworks thrown into the mix for a few personal hollering crack-ups, this book is for you!

"I already know what it's like to feel ostrichized, which is a better word for excluded (because ostriches can't fly, so they often feel left out).

Alex's epistemological view on life, on everything, would have me in stitches, even at five in the morning with the first cup of coffee in hand. His scientific approach to pornography had my laughter sound like a 1948-Fordson tractor with locked bearings - combustion inhibited by gaseous protests!

Talking about gas. "I attribute Mum's insomnia to her concerns about The State of Her Marriage. It can be helpful to use the word state when describing a marriage because it makes you think of the people involved as particles. Right now Mum and Dad's marriage is a gas."

I am sure he would have made Einstein proud as well (not only P.G.Wodehouse & Co).

Einstein : "How does it happen that a properly endowed natural scientist comes to concern himself with epistemology? Is there not some more valuable work to be done in his specialty? That's what I hear many of my colleagues ask, and I sense it from many more. But I cannot share this sentiment. When I think about the ablest students whom I have encountered in my teaching — that is, those who distinguish themselves by their independence of judgment and not just their quick-wittedness — I can affirm that they had a vigorous interest in epistemology. They happily began discussions about the goals and methods of science, and they showed unequivocally, through tenacious defense of their views, that the subject seemed important to them."

The wit and humor influences of P.G.Wodehouse, Woody Allen and alike is evident everywhere in this tragicomedy.

With everything the courageous young Alex went through, he never lost his sense of reason and his urge to dissect even the minced meat in his school lunch with a paint brush he borrowed from the Art department!

Mr. Sinclair: "Try and imagine your brain as an orchestra." ( I try, but it's difficult, because my brain is already a circuit board, a dog kennel, a water park, and a hostage negotiation.)"

Did Einstein fatally compromise himself? I think not. Not at all. And Einstein was also ostrichized by an educational system and society which could not accommodate his genius!

Before I venture too deeply into the epistomology about this book I should stop. Laughter can be deadly too, you know! If dissected, it becomes really a scary phenomenon! I'm sure Alex will agree with me!

Those staff members who taught Alex comment that his record of work was consistently good. They spoke to the keen interest and intellectual curiosity that he brought to the classroom. His written work was described as imaginative, fiercely logical, strongly argued, lucid, and unwaveringly grammatical. His command of concepts was confident and advanced."

That is what Alex and this book is all about. A skilfully crafted plot, a masterful tying together of all the detailed elements of the story line. It must have been quite a challenging novel to write. Thought-provoking - YES! Compassionate - YES!

BRILLIANT first novel. I am a fan forever!

When an author can climb into my head and read my thoughts, knows what I want, from the get go, the book will be ravished, giving up everything near and dear to make it a one-sitting experience. This book was one of those.

The book is an experienced view of the current publishing world - the plummeting book sales, the blogging phenomenon, the influence of online reviews being often less forgiving than the printed versions, the wheeling and dealing behind the scenes. 

Two ingenious tales are snaked through the narrative, involving two authors with both their families being trapped in an existential panic. They are basically honest people pushed to their limits forced to make choices they wouldn't have made under ordinary circumstances

Books can safe or destroy lives. 

Sometimes in fiction you had to mute reality in order to make it seem more believable.

Five flashing stars for this brilliant story! There is not a single dull moment anywhere in this book. I could not stop reading it until it was all finished. I am definitely an Adam Langer fan after reading this book. 

It is a must-read for EVERYONE: wanna-be authors, reviewers and readers alike. The story in itself is a fast flowing suspense drama incorporating highly interesting background of the publishing industry. There is lots to enjoy and learn from this book.

Author: Adam Langer

"When you build a house, one wrong measurement can send the whole thing slightly off. It will stand okay, but doorjambs and walls aren't even, so doors don't stay shut, and pictures never hang straight." 

There was so much blood the day of the accident in which Abigail and Bonnie died. Enough of it to flow for years in the memories of everyone who wanted to be loved, accepted and protected in the Little family. The accident impacted tragically on everyone's life. The shocking secrets would slowly drain the life out of them until only emotional apathy and expressionless, lifeless souls would remain. 

The misunderstandings and hurt flowing from the secrets would leave every member of the family stranded on their own emotional islands. Lonely, uninhabited places. Some would feel trapped, others would feel protected and safe. It all depended on how each member was able to process the truth.

Every first weekend after Labor Day, this event would be commemorated. However, this year, the twentieth anniversary, would be different. It would also be the memorial service of grandma Joan. Her last note to her daughter stated :"Grace, flowers, by the water, have fun!"

The true meaning of those words would only become clear when the family gathered at their family Inn on Little island, Maine for the weekend. Nobody was looking forward to spend time together. They all dreaded each other's company.

"Grace's children were like boxers, she thought, dancing around the ring, taking swings, dodging, tantalizing the crowd. Eventually someone would land a blow. Grace wanted peace tonight, harmony, fun!"

"Grace felt the familiar pressure building inside her little family, but, just as when she heard a storm warning, she could gather candles and kerosene, lanterns, fill jugs and bathtubs with water, secure windows and lawn furniture. She could do nothing to prevent the coming storm."

The story had me hooked from the beginning. It did not take long to witness the skill the author used to link the past to the present and build the future in the same narrative through different voices without confusing the living daylights out of the reader. All the different types of mothers in the family were introduced and highlighted. The relationship between fathers and sons would be dissected to the bare bones. The siblings, Joy, Tamar and Roger(twins), would finally acknowledge the person they see in their own mirrors.

Isn't it true that we all determine the fate of our children by what we do, not by what we say? However, It would take two unknown aunts to finally explain to Grace and her family, what Joan meant by her last note. But a thunderstorm first had to unleash itself over the family before the true meaning of family, honor, love, protection and commitment could be revealed. The events are fast-moving. Every single word in the book plays a pivotal role in leading up to the dramatic conclusion.

The book resonated so deeply in my own life, it is difficult to compact the impact into a few words on paper. At times it was difficult to continue reading. I was emotionally ripped apart. 

The plot was brilliantly constructed. The message strong. Their own little islands would be forced to release them through the final events. One by one they would find their way back to the only sanctuary they ever loved. Little island will once again become home. The family finally could burst out in laughter when a bear, a table filled with food, drenched guests on overturned chairs, and a thunderstorm, splashed grand finale all over the lonely memories of the accident, as well as honor grandmother Jane's legacy of 'Grace, flowers, by the water, have fun!". The laughter brought the healing.

I absolutely and highly recommend this book to everyone. Excellent in every literary way possible! It is not a gut-destroying, dark book at all. It is also not a book to be easily forgotten.