C.T. Markee’s Blog

Set in the 1980s, during the final years of the cold war with the Soviet Union, George Taylor, a medical researcher turned college professor, finds himself drawn into the adventure of his life. An inexplicably downed Russian plane containing nuclear devices and corpses, Russian military personnel dying in droves and a cover-up manipulated by Russian officers intent on retaining control at any cost, turn this novel into a page-turner in the style of Dan Brown.

George and Landon, both medical researchers, are recruited by Steffon, a government agent, and asked to investigate what happened on the Russian plane. With that investigation completed in secrecy, George next accepts an assignment to investigate a possibly related issue in the Ukraine, where he meets the beautiful Dr. Maria Vargas.

Without intending it, George has become a spy, although his medical fame for studies in treating cancer places him, at least temporarily, above suspicion. Tension builds as more mysterious deaths occur in an environment where General Salcovich enjoys total control over the lives of too many.

The most impressive aspect of this novel is its authenticity. Ramirez includes details that make each scene come to life. The author’s research and probably his personal experience shine through the book. As his protagonist’s knowledge becomes more and more dangerous to the Soviets, the tension ramps up. The author also gives us a real sense of the main characters, in particular George and Maria. By the end of the novel, I was cheering them on. In my view, all of these things make the last 2/3 of the novel terrific.

However, I’ve given the book less than five stars because the beginning chapters read like government documents. There is so much ponderous telling exposition that it weighs the story down. This tendency continues in the book, but it’s eventually balanced by action and engaging dialogue. The author attempts to draw us in with a prologue that’s a scene from the end of the book, a scene that only makes sense if you know the context. This hint at more exciting events isn’t enough. I really wanted to join his characters from the beginning.

I can certainly recommend this book as a thriller, but be prepared to wade through the early chapters. I’m looking forward to this author’s next novel. He’s a good storyteller.

After seven or eight years on patrol as a deputy in Santa Rosa, Meredith Ryan is promoted to detective. What she doesn’t know is that her new position will almost immediately involve her in a dangerous chase to find and arrest a sociopathic killer, while exposing her to an insidious stalker. These two exciting plot lines keep us on edge and engaged from the opening prologue to the concluding epilogue.

Hevron does an excellent job of keeping us in the mind of the protagonist and surrounding us with the authentic details that became part of her nature during a 35-year career in law enforcement. It’s also a hometown story written by a hometown author that includes our local Santa Rosa venue. Her descriptions put me in the scene as a reader and her dialogue moved the story through chapter after chapter with the pressure of the adventure. As the title claims, I felt the force and experience the fear of the protagonist. I also got a strong sense of the bond between Meredith and her detective mentor/partner, Nick.

I downloaded this novel onto my Kindle and read it quickly, but I can only recall one extra word left in a sentence. The book was professionally edited and I found it a quick read. I’d recommend it as a good detective genre novel.

In retrospect, I thought the climax a bit too quick and not entirely believable. Considering the work overall, it’s a minor issue as well as my personal opinion. But you be the judge. Regardless, don’t miss an opportunity to read a good ‘cops and robbers’ tale.

I’m always glad to discover a book for boys about boys, although the ‘green’ theme in this novel should make it attractive to girls as well. The setup for the novel finds 13-year-old Leo and his 10-year-old brother, Hollis orphaned when their parents die in a plane crash. Their totally rich uncle Crane takes them to live with him in a kid’s dream palace in a warehouse. When Leo starts hearing sounds that no one else hears, it launches him on an unpredictable adventure with his two best friends.

I like the character mix. The protagonist, Leo, is smart, resourceful, perseverant and he sincerely cares for his younger brother. Leo’s friend, Trevor, is super smart—good to have with you on an adventure. Leo’s mentor, Jeremy, is reliable—a solid father figure and he’s into music.

Leo’s paranormal phenomena are clever and intriguing. That caught my interest at the outset of the story and maintained it to the end. Also, the pace of the adventure and Leo’s sense of urgency keeps the tension on from the start. However, the story lacks a level of excitement and I think that’s because Leo doesn’t have much at stake. He’s never in any real danger.

The descriptions are clear and build good mental images. The authors use interesting and apt figurative language. The edited book is professional and squeaky clean—what else would you expect from Scholastic Press?

Although the plot and actions are kid-like, I thought the narration and internal dialogue sounded too mature for thirteen, more like sixteen or older. Pre-teens might bog down with this diction, although kids do like to read up.

Patricia does a favor for a drunken friend and drives her home in the friend’s classic car, a 1959 Cadillac El Dorado Biarritz convertible. When she borrows the car to get home, this Good Samaritan is arrested and thrown in jail. Thus begins a light-hearted mystery, which turns a bit more serious when the friend turns up dead in her apartment complex swimming pool.

To exonerate herself from the car theft charge, Patricia begins snooping around. With the interference, help and savviness of four senior reprobate lady friends of her deceased grandmother, Patricia learns more than she ever wanted to know about her own family and a sleezball acquaintance from her high school years, Jimmy Chang. Suspecting the death of her friend was not an accident, Patricia’s probing turns exciting, especially when her crusty senior mentors begin teaching her some dangerous tricks of the trade.

Philipp does a nice job of moving this story along with multiple support characters and a protagonist who is believable. The novel is well written and an easy read, with a lyrical balance of sentence structures. Her characters are quirky, funny and contribute panache to the story line.

In the first few pages, you know what this book is all about, a beautiful protagonist, violent death and non-stop action. It reads like an assault weapon video game. The story line takes us all over the world as the heroine is either eluding or chasing the bad guys who all want her dead. Obviously, this is a plot driven novel. The characters are sketched, but only skin deep. That said, it’s well written with clever use of figurative language and almost every line moves the story forward, albeit with cartoon like simplicity.

The protagonist, Jet aka Maya, is a combination of James Bond, Bruce Lee and Marilyn Monroe, or in other words, she’s a femme fatale superhero. Proficient with every modern hand weapon known to mankind, she baffles her foes, leaving a wake of dead bad guys behind. Who are these bad guys? And why did they hunt her down in Trinidad where she had retired from life in a deadly fast lane to eke out a living selling curios? Well, you’ll just have to read the book to find out. There is an answer, and it’s close to the end of the book.

The book title is perfect. Reading it was a crazy ride, tense and exciting and not at all what I expected. But who knows what to expect from a narrator who is a little psychotic, well maybe, a lot psychotic. Meet Constance, a shy troubled person, and Rose, who is at least flamboyant if not nasty wild, and Thisiphone, your local neighborhood nymph. Look her up. She’s a piece of work. From beginning to end, this trio keeps you on your toes, mentally that is. And the characters that Constance meet fit right into the story. To say much more would be a spoiler.

The first three or four chapters didn’t pique my interest the first time I read them, so I put the book down for a month. But something about the story bothered me. I wanted to know what Constance was doing, so I read past the initial chapters and was hooked. I couldn’t put the book down—took it with me everywhere until I finished it. Yes, it was a page-turner.

It’s an adult story; drugs, sex, music and occasional violence, all mixed with the supernatural, just the things that keep the pressure on the protagonist as well as the reader. The writing is good, descriptions are creative, figurative language is used effectively and the book is cleanly edited. More than a good read, I recommend this book to open-minded adults.

Mrs. Cavendish is one creepy lady and Victoria, our heroine protagonist has her hands full when kids begin disappearing, towns’ folks stop being very human and her own parents succumb to the spell. Ms. Legrand’s writing craft is a delight to read and she keeps it creepified on every page. I particularly enjoyed Victoria’s voice and her over-the-top arrogance. Who else would have a melt down faced with her lowest grade ever, a “B.” The second place winner on my enjoyment scale was music dispelling evil. Music is incredibly powerful for healing and Victoria learns to use it to defend herself against devilish threats. Music has always thrilled me and it was ultimately satisfying to see it used against the forces of evil. It was no surprise then to discover the author used to be a musician.

I read the Cavendish book with a sense of relief, since I had been worried about my own work being too edgy for the pre-teen middle grade marketplace. Mrs. Cavendish’s dark side is a bit more gothic than my evil characters and depicted in a very scary way. I give this author credit for high marks on the spooky index. I particularly liked the bugs that seemed to be everywhere including printed on the pages. I was a little surprised they did not gross out Victoria, but after all, she’s our hero.

This is the second pre-teen book that I’ve seen with illustrations. The first was the Blogtastic novel series by Rose Cooper. In both cases, the illustrations add to the impact of the books; comedy for Cooper and spookiness for Legrand.

I found only one serious flaw in the storyline. Pressed on all sides by evil pressures, Victoria finally buckles. Yet after sinking to the depths of despair, she mysteriously recovers. I expected, but didn’t find the dramatic motivation for this emotional switch. What triggered the change? Also, the ending scenes closed a bit fast for me and I lost the ability to visualization the characters who had been absorbed into the garden.

Overall, this was an exciting and enjoyable read and I would recommend it for eleven and twelve year old pre-teens and more mature younger readers.