BlackFive

Book Reviews: The One Man and The Saboteur

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

 

The One Man and The Saboteur, the latest books of Andrew Gross, are a departure from his usual writing genre. Instead of writing thrillers with storylines of criminal activity he has ventured into the historical novel field. Yet, his writing style has not completely changed with these two plots in that they both are thrilling and gripping. The characters must find solutions to their dilemma, and the stories affect the readers’ heart.

The One Man, released last year with the paperback version coming out soon,is a story about guilt, survival, and heroism. Yet, having the main setting in the Auschwitz Concentration Camp it is unavoidable to touch on the atrocities, the fatalistic feeling, and the helplessness of those interned. The title is taken right out of Jewish law, a passage from the Mishnah Sanhedrin, “It was for this reason that man was first created as one person, to teach you that anyone who destroys a life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed an entire world, and any who saves a life is as if he saved an entire world.” Gross explores how one man is worthy of being saved over others. But as the plot progresses readers will question who shall be saved and who shall die?

Gross had the idea, from his father-in-law’s life. “He came here from Poland in April 1939. As it turned out, he was the only member of his family to survive the war. In fact, he never learned the fate of any of the family that was left behind. Like a lot of survivors, he never talked at all about his family or even about his life back in Poland before he left. It was just too painful. In 1941, after America entered the war, my father-in-law signed up to serve his new country, and because of his facility with languages, was placed in the Intelligence corps, never divulging a word of what his role was there. During his whole life he seemed to carry around a weight of guilt and regret, despite his successes here, and everyone pressed him to find out just what was behind it. In some ways, I set out to write the story I thought my father-in-law might tell.”

The three main characters are extraordinarily written. Readers will feel the same emotions of fear, hatred, and a desire to be courageous. Dr. Alfred Mendl is the renowned electromagnetic physicist whose research and knowledge is the key to America’s secret efforts to build an atomic bomb. The problem is that he and his family are now trapped in Auschwitz. The OSS, the predecessor to the CIA, had devised a plan to get him out. A desk-bound Jewish intelligence officer, Nathan Blum, who escaped from Nazi-overrun Poland, is recruited for a near suicidal mission, to sneak into Auschwitz to rescue Mendl in 72 hours. Mendl is smart enough to realize his days are numbered and he wants to up the ante so that the allies will get this vital information. Possessing an astonishing memory, Leo, a sixteen-year-old boy, is recruited by Mendl, who hopes to preserve his work, by having him memorize the vast amount of scientific knowledge.

The scenes with Greta Ackermann, the wife of the Assistant Gestapo are extremely powerful. She represents the conscience of the readers. She is isolated and imprisoned, unable to do anything or stop the brutality around her. A thought provoking quote by her shows how those suffering under the Nazis were not numbers, but individual human beings. “They were people. Your precious numbers… Not digits. They were mothers. Husbands. Little children. They had lives. Hopes. Just like we did once. People.”

Not only readers, but the author also felt he was traveling back in time to the Holocaust. “As a writer we have life and death power over our characters’ survival. I am the one to choose the settings, the time and the place, what language they speak, the different variables. But when you write a book of this kind, it’s not like reading one. You’re not an observer. So to me it was like having to go through something I’d only read about, both a life affirming and an invigorating process.”

The One Man was heartbreaking, inspiring, and realistic. But this was not the only first rate historical thriller novel Gross has written. The second of the World War II books, released this August, The Saboteur also has these qualities. Each story has daring missions, characters who were brave, and plots that showed how the Nazis must be stopped at any cost in obtaining a nuclear bomb first.

The Saboteur is more historical than fiction, based strongly on actual raids during World War II in Vemork, Norway. A secret committee called the SOE (Special Operations Executive) was formed, in England, to deal with the threat at the Norsk plant, the Nazis production of “heavy water,” critical to making an atomic bomb. An earlier attempt resulted in the loss of forty elite men, but the allies knew this danger had to be eliminated. The critical mission depended on six resistance fighters parachuting into Norway, penetrating the plant, demolishing the heavy water supply, and destroying the means of its production. The plot is tension filled, as readers understand that the allies will stop at nothing to make sure the Germans do not have the means to make the bomb, even if it means a secondary raid is necessary.

Gross knew of the story from “doing the research for The One Man. I came across information on this actual daring raid during WWII. I knew I had to write about it. The actual raids themselves were very realistic; the fiction came in when I wrote the time periods between them, inventing a background history for the characters.”

The setting acts as a major supporting character, both antagonist and protagonist. The plant is set atop unscalable cliffs with an impenetrable gorge, connected by a single suspension bridge, and is under constant heavy guard. Both the surrounding terrain and the weather were unforgiving. Wind gusts could drag a man off his feet, cold and freezing snow with zero visibility, and a ridge drop of fifty feet covered by rocks and boulders. Yet, this terrain and weather would end up eliminating their tracks and provided cover from Nazi patrols.

With these books it is apparent that Gross has a knack for writing captivating quotes. In his latest there are two that stand out and show the courage of the allies and the depravity of the Nazis. The Saboteur has a quote that could apply to the books heroes, “A true man is a man who goes on till he can go no farther, and then goes twice as far.” The other quote from this latest shows how the Germans “just took things. Ground them up in its indifferent jaw, like a tank running over friend and foe alike, spitting them back out as memories.” The one aspect they could not take was someone’s memories of a life before the atrocities.

What link both books, according to Gross are “The humanity of man and the inhumanity of the Nazis. I wanted to maintain that balance, between brutality and death, as well as heroism. The stories tap into some universal quality of the human spirit. Both heroes were willing to put their life on the line for a nearly impossible mission with a ticking clock that is winding down, and wanted to measure up to their fathers expectations.”

Each book is tension filled with unexpected endings. The plots are awe-inspiring, action-packed, and gripping. A must read for anyone who wants to be captivated by these World War II stories.

Book Reviews: Damaged and Exposed

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

Lisa Scottoline deserves a high five for her latest novels Damaged and Exposed. These back-to-back homeruns hit at reader’s heartstrings with her gripping and riveting storylines and characters. These stories will not disappoint fans having the traditional trademarks of fast-paced action combined with an emotional gravity.

Within both books is an intense fight for justice where Scottoline clearly explains the legal and ethical issues, intertwining it throughout the story. The details are presented in a way that is clear to any non-lawyer, without making it seem like an info-dump. But the strength of the novels is the characters that the readers get engaged with early on in the story. Not only the main ones, law partners Mary DiNunzio and Bennie Rosato, but the supporting cast as well. Who would not want to be a part of Mary’s world, her loving and caring parents as well as the extended family, the Italian community? The antagonists in each story give lawyers a bad name. They are controlling, hollow, and want to win at all costs, not to mention their attempts to hit on their former classmates.

Both plots are so gripping readers will not want to put the books down. In Damaged, released last year with the paperback version out August 1^st,a ten-year-old child, Patrick, has fallen under the radar of the government agencies. His needs are not being met regarding dyslexia, abuse in a public school by a teacher’s aide, and having to endure classmates’ bullying. Making matters worse the teacher’s aide filed a lawsuit that alleges Patrick attacked him with a pair of scissors. Willing to defend him, Mary counter sues and through her investigative process finds that the public school district offers no support to him. Mary becomes his champion, willing to take on all, lobbying to get Patrick transferred to a more appropriate private special educational school. In her struggle to save Patrick, Mary finds herself fighting her associates, her fiancé, and social services, as well as the opposing counsel Nick Machiavelli (aka the Dark Prince), who is determined to win a settlement, despite the emotional cost to the 10-year-old boy.

Scottoline enjoys writing about children. “I think sometimes in fiction children are not really differentiated; although, today we are more aware of children’s disabilities and illnesses. These children need to be given the spotlight with my job making sure that the issue is as real as possible. In essence blurring the line between fiction and non-fiction. Patrick became an introverted and inward little boy because the dyslexia became an important aspect to his development. I want readers to imagine what it is like for a child when he does not get the programming that he needs or is entitled to within a public school.”  

Exposed, the latest just released book, also has an engrossing storyline. Childhood friend, Simon Pensiera, who is more like family, requests Mary’s help. He wants to file a wrongful-termination case against his employer, OpenSpace, because his boss, Todd Eddington, fired him when his daughter Rachel’s medical expenses rose into the stratosphere. The problem, her partner, Bennie, represents Dumbarton Industries, OpenSpace’s parent company, so there’s an obvious conflict of interest. To make matters worse, Dumbarton’s CEO Nate Lence files a retaliatory defamation suit seeking $2 million from the newly unemployed Simon and a misconduct complaint against Mary. The suspense increases after a major plot twist that has both partners reevaluating their respective stances as the case heads off into an unexpected direction that includes a dangerous cover-up.

Having been a lawyer herself Scottoline allows readers to get the nuances of the justice system. “I always ask the question, does law lead to justice? With both books I wanted to show if you really follow the law it might not lead to the result you want. In Exposed the two law partners, Mary DiNunzio and Bennie Rosato, had what appeared to be a conflict of interest. Bennie represented the parent company and Mary was suing the subsidiary. I thought there must be an easy straight ethical answer until I started doing the research. I called a lawyer friend of mine, Larry Fox, who teaches ethics at Yale. He allowed me to talk to the class and even made it their semester project to find out if a lawyer like Mary could actually defend someone if the client of the firm was the parent company. All of the nuances I learned were put in the book.”

This series only gets better with each book. The characters and their relationships grow over time with Mary becoming stronger and more assertive and Bennie showing her soft spots. The plots are captivating and the twists and turns only add to the intensity.

Book Review: The Good Daughter

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter bares no bones. This emotional crime mystery delves into family, grief, regret, and guilt. Known for not sugar coating the violence the story is dark and graphic, but this only adds to its intensity.

A line from the book, “a never-ending sphere,” best describes the plot. The events of past and present are circular in motion, occurring twenty-eight years apart. During the course of the novel the horrific attack on the Quinn family is re-visited a number of times, with the two sisters, Charlie and Sam, alternating their views of the incident.

The reason for the repetition, according to Slaughter, “That line from the book, “a never-ending sphere,” shows how circular life is. Charlie stops her story, because she is avoiding what happened to her. If you notice the first time she tells it the emphasis is on how others were impacted, not herself. I wanted to echo back with the point; you really cannot escape your past. You can learn to deal with it, but should not let it hold you hostage.”

On that horrible day the sisters’ life changed forever. Charlie and Sam were at home with their mother, Gamma, when two masked men entered the house. They shot Gamma dead, pushed out Sam’s eyelids, shot her in the head, and buried her alive. As Charlie tried to escape she had to endure a horrific attack as well. These assaults occurred because their dad, Rusty, defended the most evil of characters.

Slaughter used her own personal experiences to write the scenes about head injuries. “I toured military bases with the author Lisa Gardner and saw those kinds of injuries. Also, the husband of a friend of mine flipped head first over the bike handlebars. He became brain damaged. When I spoke with my friend, his wife, she talked about their struggles. This is why I put in the quote, ‘Sam often compared her first year of recovery to a record on an old turntable. She awoke at the hospital with everything playing at the wrong speed.’ Sam knew what she was and knew what her life would be like from that point onward. It can be even more psychologically scarring for people who are cognizant of what they’ve lost.”

Fast-forward twenty-eight years later with the family torn apart. Sam has moved away to NYC, becoming a successful patent lawyer. Charlie has followed in her father’s footsteps, becoming a defense attorney; although she only takes clients she believes are innocent or being over-charged for a minor crime. Having stayed in the town where she grew up she is still struggling with her demons, which is the reason behind why her husband is now estranged.

Trying to escape she decides to have a one-night-stand with Huck, a stranger, and while leaving mistakenly took his phone. During the process of exchanging phones at her old school, where Huck works, all hell lets loose. Charlie finds herself in a nightmarish situation. She is the first witness on the scene in the midst of a distressing double school shooting that includes a young child. She later discovers the shooter, Kelly, has learning issues. The incident also unleashes the terrible memories she's spent so long trying to suppress. The only one able to get her out of her fog is Sam, who returns to face her own anxieties. The sisters must work together to find the answers to the past and present events as they attempt to heal their relationship.

Grieving can be very personal and Slaughter shows the many facets of it. “I do not think all people grieve in the same way. Charlie was in denial, while Sam deals with it head on. Every morning Sam wakes up and is faced with what happened, but has learned how to deal with it. Yet, Charlie looks back on her life and realizes she is not the person she hoped to be. This makes her miserable. She keeps doing the same thing and it is not working, but never self-reflects. Rusty on the other hand damages himself by taking on more dangerous cases, drinks too much, and smokes too much, despite having a major heart attack.”

Readers will need to have their wits about them when reading this suspenseful mystery. It is a very much character driven plot where everyone will go through the heartache with the sisters. Beyond the violent crime, the story is about loss, love, survival, and forgiveness.

Book Review: Seeing Red

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

Seeing Red by Sandra Brown is an intriguing story about redemption and second chances intertwined within a “who done it” mystery. The complexity of the plot originates with the lies and deceit.

The saying that fate plays a role in everyday life where someone can be at the wrong place at the wrong time is the starting point for this novel. Twenty-five years ago a bombing at the Dallas Hotel, the Pegasus, leaves 98 dead and 197 wounded. An iconic photo was taken of Major Franklin Trapper rescuing a little five-year-old girl from the building’s ruins. Although he was never the reluctant hero and has played off his fame, the last few years he has gone into seclusion. Fast-forward to twenty-five years later, where that girl, Kerra Bailey, now a Dallas reporter, is trying to get an interview with the Major. She is hoping to gain national fame during the exclusive as she tells the world that she is the girl in the photo.

Brown commented, “the iconic photo of the fireman carrying the child out was blazed into my mind. That iconic photo made an impact on everyone in the world who saw it. It was horrible and heartbreaking. It really resonated with me. And I got to thinking about other iconic photos of history. There was the raising-of-the-flag at Iwo Jima, the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square on V-E Day, the Vietnamese girl running naked down the road, covered in napalm. Each of these photographs tells a story that affect people in a profound way. I thought about how the photos impact the people who are actually in the photographs? In the Major’s case, he has made a whole career out of that photo and the fame that ensued. It defines him for the remainder of his life. What must that be like? And what must it be like for someone to live in his shadow, such as his son Trapper?”

Hitting roadblocks she contacts the Major’s son John Trapper, a former ATF agent, to help her get the exclusive. Persuaded to do the interview, the Major and Kerra re-live those horrific moments. But more chaos ensues afterward when two gunmen shoot him, with Kerra barely escaping. Looking to protect his father and Kerra, Trapper renews his interest in the case and hooks up with her literally and figuratively. There are some hot romantic scenes as they are joined at the hip trying to find out who is behind the original bombing and the shootings.

The strength of the story lies with the characters. Kerra is not a typical journalist, putting her conscience ahead of her ambition. She is not insensitive and does not act “like vultures circling a wounded animal, waiting for it to die.” She is poised, smart, personable, and tenacious. She plays off well with Trapper who is at times rude, aggressive, intelligent, and proud. He is still haunted by the regrettable choice of his father who put fame over family. The Major is a very complex character who is at times likeable and at other times dislikeable. He cares about his family, but will sacrifice them to bask in the sun, becoming corrupted by fate and fame. The regrettable choice ruins any chance of a relationship with his son Trapper.

Brown believes “The Major was ego-driven with his family becoming secondary. He stepped into the hero role easily and embraced it. Being former military he became a Patriot to admire and a champion that society needed. He had the courage to take the time to go back and get Kerra instead of just running out of the building. Kerra is a character I admire. She didn’t let her profession overcome her humanity. She knew where the line should not be crossed. I describe the media in the book, but it does not apply to her: They act ‘like vultures circling a wounded animal, waiting for it to die.’ She is ambitious, goal-driven, and a hard worker. Trapper is a flawed hero. His life was one long game of catch-up. A game he could not possibly win, since the expectations for him were so high and unrealistic. He did have a defining moment even if it was the worst thing he could fear. He self-sacrificed.”

Seeing Red bleeds with tension. It is action-packed, suspenseful, and riveting involving secrets, murder, and

Book Review: On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

On Her Majesty’s Frightfully Secret Service by Rhys Bowen is a delightful read. It combines an old fashioned who done it mystery with social commentary, humor, true 1930s historical content, and fun loving characters.

The plot begins with Lady Georgiana (Georgie) Rannoch, 35^th in line to the British throne, traveling to London to meet with Queen Mary. During this time period anyone in line to the British throne could not marry a Catholic. This presents a problem since her fiancé, Darcy, is Catholic. The only solution is for her to give up any claim to the throne, but she needs the support of the crown to ask permission from Parliament for this to happen. In the course of their discussion the Queen finds out Georgie will be traveling to Northern Italy to visit her good friend Belinda who is unwed and hiding out until she delivers her child. The Queen asks Georgie to attend a house party and spy on her son David, the Duke of Wales, who is heir to the throne. After arriving she finds also in attendance are Wallis Simpson; a Contessa, who was once Camilla Waddell-Walker, Georgie’s schoolmate; Count di Marola, Mussolini’s advisor; Baron Rudolf von Rosskopf; a German Nazi general and his aide; and Georgie’s mother, Claire, a former actress engaged to Max, a wealthy German industrialist. Much to Georgie’s surprise Darcy is also there camouflaging himself off as an English gardener. Besides the Queen, Darcy, who is believed to be part of English intelligence, asks her to spy on the guests, requesting her to become a fly on the wall, wanting her to be his eyes and ears.

It is apparent Bowen does not like Mrs. Simpson very much, probably because she “does not have any redeeming qualities except she was considered glamorous. She spent a lot on clothes, manipulated David, the future King of England who was known as Edward, and was so cutting to people. He wanted a mother figure to hug him, make him feel safe, and tell him what to do. She bossed him around a lot. Because she is not the nicest person in the world I enjoyed having her battle wits with Georgie’s mother who does not take her guff.”

The humorous and biting bickering between the houseguests occurs after the police sequester them. They are trying to find out the killer of one of the visitors, the Baron, who was flirtatious to the women and a blackmailer as well.   The game of Clue comes to mind, who did it and with what weapon? Georgie now has her hands full as she tries to find the killer and the true purpose of why Mussolini’s assistant and the Nazi generals are in attendance.

Down the line Bowen will have to decide how to handle Claire, Georgie’s mother, and where “her loyalties lie? In this story, Max is manufacturing guns at his factories. In a future book she will have to decide if she wants to be a part of Germany or go home. Max is quite willing to play along with the Nazis because he is making a load of money.   As I say in this book his family made a fortune during WWI by supplying all the weapons. He is not bad like Goebbels, but is morally blind.”

As with all her books, Bowen intertwines the culture, customs, and events of the time period. Readers learn about the life of the aristocracy, what is required of them, versus the common class. There is also the Conference in Stresa between England, France, and Italy to consider forming an alliance to stop the Nazi threat. Another conference, at the villa, hopes to convince the Prince of Wales that the threat of communism is much more worrisome than Hitler, who is painted as a leader helping Germany out of its dire economic situation.

Bowen noted, “I always go through the historical details that occur at the same time as the plot of the book. I see if there was a blizzard, big fire, conference, or treaty.   When I found out about the 1935 Stresa Conference held by England, France, and Germany I wondered how it was possible. Remember Hitler and Mussolini were as thick as thieves, where Mussolini goes up to Germany and fawns all over Hitler. Why would he outwardly try to show he wanted to participate in combating the Nazi threat? Then I thought, what if there are other conferences going on behind the scenes for the opposite purpose. I wanted to have Georgie be a lamp with a lampshade secretly hearing what was spoken, inadvertently hearing things she should not.”

This novel has a very authentic spin. It is enjoyable, believable, and a very fun read within a great plot that has well-developed characters.

Book Review: The Cuttingly Secret

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

The Cottingley Secret by Hazel Gaynor is literally a “fairy” tale. Do you remember the part in Peter Pan where Tinkerbell is dying and Peter says: “She’s going to die unless we do something. Clap your hands! Clap your hands and say ‘I believe in fairies.’ And then everyone – adults and children alike – does just that? Clapping and reciting that belief that fairies do exist.

In her latest novel, Hazel Gaynor brings back all those fond memories and more. She takes readers back to a world of enchantment with this intriguing mystery questioning if fairies really do exist. Even the Yorkshire setting appears magical, the shallow Beck with the little waterfall, the willow bough seat, and the sunlight illuminating the leaves on the trees.

Gaynor also believes in fairies, “100 %. They are like Santa Claus where you do not want to question that sense of another being. During World War I so many lives were lost. People latched on to this magical story and were primed to believe there was an after life. They chose to escape the horrors of WWI and hoped there was another realm, where life went on. If we believe in something then we can make it happen. I think they were symbolic for a sense of hope, faith, and belief.”

Cottingley in Yorkshire became famous after two girls, in 1917, claimed they could see fairies. One, Frances Griffiths, believes she actually saw them, and the other, her cousin, Elsie Wright, thought it would make a great practical joke to play along with the observations of Frances. It’s easy to understand why Frances, a lonely young girl following her father’s going to war and her move from South Africa to England with her mother, would want to imagine magical figures. After telling her family and wanting very much to be believed she and her cousin Elsie take photographs of fairy cutouts, drawn by Elsie. It got out of hand when the famous British writer Arthur Conan Doyle, known for the Sherlock Holmes character, and photography experts heard about it, and in the course of investigating said that the photos were 100% authentic.

Fast forward 100 years to 2017 when Olivia Kavanagh finds out that her great grandmother was Frances’ teacher and played a role in the fairy hoax. But, she finds more information after her grandfather dies while combing through the old bookshop left to her. After discovering a photograph and a manuscript about the Cottingley fairies, Olivia feels a connection to the past. She becomes almost obsessed to find the answers to the mysterious photo and manuscript, hoping to sort out what is real and what is imagined.

Struggling in love and life she tries to cope with her mother’s death during her formative years, the recent death of her beloved grandfather that leaves her more alone than ever, a grandmother who has Alzheimer’s, and the realization that her fiancé is not someone she wants to spend the rest of her life with.

Gaynor’s scene about the loss of a loved one is very powerful, where her words express the feelings of anyone who also had someone they care for die. “The awful reality of his absence hit her… sending broken memories of happier times skittering across the creaky floorboards to hide in dark grief-stricken corners. He wasn’t there, and yet he was everywhere.”

The author noted, “I lost my mother when I was in my twenties. It could be written from my raw experience. As I grow older I feel that sense of loss because I could not talk to my mom about becoming a woman, a wife, and a mother. I just write on my life experiences as I enter into this fictional world. I expressed some of my feelings through Olivia because I could not express it through myself. I hope that the way I describe it makes sense to readers as well.”

It is said, that a mental photo is the representation in a person's mind of the physical world. Yet, family members of those suffering from Alzheimer’s understand that the mental photo becomes dim over time. This powerful book quote can be a simile for Olivia’s grandmother, “There is more to every photograph than what we see-more to the story than the one the camera captures on the plate. You have to look behind the picture to discover the truth.”

Regarding Alzheimer’s, she commented, “my husband’s nana was suffering early stages of dementia before she passed. I wrote Martha’s story as her story. There is a sense of a fading away with the memories. For me, that is why a photograph is very important because it is a very permanent record of family. I also spoke with friends and how they felt the frustration of seeing their loved one slipping away.”

This is a book for adults who never want to grow old, or those who have a speckle of childhood left in them, and for parents to read to their children as a bedtime story. It is a magical tale that is moving and relatable.

Book Review: The Shadow Girl

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

Shadow Girl by Gerry Schmitt is the second installment in the Afton Tangler series. It features a family liaison officer who works for the Minneapolis police department. The beginning of each book starts out with an intense scene, setting the atmosphere for the rest of the story.

Some may wonder how could a family liaison officer be the featured character for a thriller. Schmitt does a great job creating stories that are riveting, but also believable. Most everyone enjoys playing detective while reading or watching a TV show, and Afton is no different. The difference is that in the story she gets to actually play detective, using her instincts in real life situations.

Schmitt noted, “Afton has all the promising signs of being a detective. In order to make her one I would need to check out the legality of how I could realistically change her profession. According to most police departments rules she would have to be a rookie first and do some time on the streets. Possibly there might be a special way she can jump the gun.”

The saying if you do not have your health, you do not have anything springs true in the novel. Leland Odin made his fortune launching a home shopping network, but his millions can’t save his life. On the list for a heart transplant, the ailing businessman sees all hope lost when the helicopter carrying his donor heart is shot out of the sky, and the heart flies into a University dorm room.

Enjoying the ability to write big opening scenes, Schmitt wants those to be “whiz bang acts. I was going to write this helicopter scene in the first Afton book, but decided to put it in this one instead. I even went to the University of Minnesota to scout out a location for where the heart could end up. What I put in about the donor heart is based on a woman I knew who had been waiting for a transplant, but never made it. I knew that a heart is only viable for a certain amount of hours and is only offered to someone close to the area of where the donor originated.”

In close proximity to the attack Afton and her partner Max Montgomery realize that the attack has something to do with wanting Odin dead, and concentrate the investigation on who wanted him dead and why. Was it family, a business partner, or someone seeking revenge? As Afton and her partner get closer to discovering who is behind the horrific crime scenes, the violence turns personal as she, her family, and her dog are threatened and assaulted.

In each book of this series her villains are very creepy. “I enjoy writing the villain, making them evil, conniving, greedy, and arrogant. If written well they should be interesting characters. I always put in some backstory on them for readers to understand how they become an antagonist. In this novel, the evildoer, Mom Chao Cherry, an American, not a Dragon Lady, was dragged to Asia by her missionary parents who were killed. She was then struck in an orphanage and became a child sex slave. After escaping she became a Kingpin in the drug world. I did a lot of research on Asian criminal organizations and have been to China, Japan, and Indonesia. I knew these gangs are brutal and make the Columbians look like Boy Scouts.”

Schmitt leaves nothing to the readers’ imagination regarding the violence. People should make sure they have some time when reading this because they will not want to put the book down.

Book Review: Paradise Valley

Paradise Valley by C. J. Box is the finale in the Highway Quartet Series. Each book is interconnected starting with Back Of Beyond that introduces former sheriff Cody Hoyt. In the next book of the series, The Highway, he becomes the mentor of his rookie partner Cassie Dewell as they battle the serial killer the Lizard King. Box has come full circle ending in the same setting that it all began in, Paradise Valley with Cassie driven by events that happened in The Highway.

Box is “debating internally if I will bring Cassie and Company back. When I finished this book I thought how this series is over, but I am still deciding. I never intended to have two series running at the same time, and for this to be a long running series. In fact, my next book called The Disappeared, will be a Joe Pickett story. He is assigned by the Governor to find three English women who have vanished after leaving a dude ranch.”

In this installment, Cassie is out to capture the Lizard King as she seeks restitution for the victims and revenge for what he did to her friend, Cody. For three years, she has been hunting for this serial killer whose stalking grounds are the highways and truck stops, going after runaways and prostitutes. Having a plan to trap him, it goes incredibly wrong where she loses her job as an investigator for the Bakken County, North Dakota sheriff's department.

The decision to have truck stops as an important aspect to the plot came to Box, “after my youngest daughter was driving back and forth from college to home, and had to deal with all the trucks on the road. The nuts and bolts of the truck information are all realistic. I decided to go on a ride along with this married trucker couple. As we went across the US Northwest I saw what a fascinating, unique and individualistic lifestyle truckers have where the Interstate system is basically their home. This couple literally had two weeks a year, living in their actual ‘home.’”

The scene where the Lizard King decided to want an actual home comes from Box’s trucker experiences. Yet, the serial killer wanting a makeshift family kidnaps two women and two boys. The boys are Cassie’s son’s friend Kyle Westergaard and his buddy Raheem Johnson, who ran away from home, seeking to imitate the adventures of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. After capturing them, this psychopath achieves complete control over his captives through violence by having them wear an electric dog collar. Having nothing else to do Cassie agrees to search for Kyle, which overlaps with her pursuit of the Lizard King.

She is not the conventional heroine, being a bit overweight, a single mom devoted to her son Ben, who juggles motherhood and her career. Having Cassie’s husband, a soldier killed in Afghanistan, Box shows how complicated her life has become. Although this book answers the question about what happens to the Lizard King, her personal life is left open ended.

The supporting cast of characters is very well written. Kyle, first introduced in Badlands, returns. Although suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome causing him to have a hard time pronouncing his words, he is sharp and connects the dots. Those helping Cassie in her search are the rough and tough old outfitter Bull Mitchell, while hindering her is the evil Bakken County attorney Avery Tibbs.

Box wanted to write the County Attorney, “Tibbs as the typical political climber who will stop at nothing to get ahead. In my books those concerned more with their own self worth than the general good will get poetic justice. I countered him with Bull Mitchell who was based on a real person. He is a rugged frontier kind of guy who reads to his wife children books because she has Alzheimer’s. Yet, when he is asked to help out and is able to get back in the saddle he comes alive.”

Everyone must contend with the Lizard King, named for kidnapping, raping, torturing and killing truck stop prostitutes, aka “lot lizards.” His Modus Operandi is to lure his victims into his truck, inject them with a syringe filled with Rohypnol, and stash them in the kill-room built into his trailer. He videotapes his rituals and tortures his victims for as long as a month before murdering and disposing of them. Cassie knowing some of his tactics is determined to find justice for so many lives lost at the hands of this killer.

The previous books in this series were a bit over the top with the violence, but with this novel Box has found a balance in this gripping tale. Readers should find it mesmerizing.

Book Review: Hank Greenberg in 1938

Hank Greenberg in 1938, by Ron Kaplan, blends geo-politics and baseball. As Hitler was gaining power in Germany, Greenberg was a premiere power hitter for the Detroit Tigers. It shows how Hank Greenberg, represented by the Greatest Generation, made a decisive contribution to America’s society.  

The book explores two battles taking place simultaneously, Greenberg battling at the plate while his people, were battling to escape the atrocities of the Nazis. Readers learn how Greenberg, normally hesitant to speak about the anti-Semitism, said, “I came to feel that if I, as a Jew, hit a home run, I was hitting one against Hitler.” In a small sense Greenberg foiled Hitler’s attempt to portray the Jews as weak and was not the stereotypic Jew, considering “Hammerin Hank” was powerfully built, towering with a 6’4” frame and 200 pounds, a relative giant in those days.   A quote in the book hammers the point home, “He was a legendary ballplayer to many, especially in Jewish households…He was the first truly great Jewish ballplayer, and ironically a power hitter in the 1930s when the position of Jews in the world-especially, of course, in Hitler’s Germany-grew weaker.”

He was not someone who would sit on the sidelines and decided after America entered World War II he would enlist. Kaplan noted, “Not only was he one of the first Major Leaguers to enlist in the military, but he was discharged on December 5th, two days before the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. He was driving back to his home when he heard the news and immediately re-enlisted. All told, Greenberg spent three full seasons and a part of two others during his prime playing years and was fully prepared never to play baseball again. Not to mention that for most of his time in the service he was doing active duty. Many celebrities and athletes spent their time going on morale-boosting tours, which was also important, but much less dangerous.”

But it is also a baseball book, where Kaplan gives a play by play of Greenberg’s attempt to break the single season baseball home run record of Babe Ruth. Kaplan explained, “There was a lot of pressure on him and he just fell short. There's an appendix in the book that shows how the pitchers he faced over the last month or so pitched to him and the numbers are pretty close to what they did during the rest of the year. Unfortunately he fell three short of breaking the record of sixty home runs.”

What sets Kaplan’s book apart from other baseball books is his ability to recap a very exciting season, comparing what was happening on the baseball field to what was happening in the world arena. Anyone who has never heard of Hank Greenberg should read this book, because, as Kaplan describes him, “Not only was he a great baseball player but “he was a leader, a gentleman, a mentor, but quietly, not in a ‘look at me’ kind of way. In all my research, I didn't find one negative comment about him.”

Book Review: The Freedom Broker

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

The Freedom Broker, K. J. Howe’s debut novel is an intriguing story. Readers get the feeling from page one that they are on this roller coaster ride with the characters as they attempt to rescue kidnapped victims. Thea Paris is a woman with a mission, using her personal experiences to be the best world-class freedom broker, an elite kidnap and ransom specialist.

The author uses some of her personal experiences to write this story. “I grew up in various countries and knew I wanted to write a book with an international setting. After reading about kidnapping, I realized a novel or series of novels about that subject would allow me to do this. When I was a child, my father worked in telecommunications. When we were in Saudi Arabia one of my father’s colleagues was arrested and nobody knew where he was because they moved him from place to place. What I find fascinating from a psychological point of view is that someone kidnapped and held hostage, lives in a kind of purgatory. What I mean is you’re still alive, but have no quality of life. You’re in a cage, or a cabin, or in a jungle, being held against your will. You must ask the kidnappers for everything you need. The rest of the world goes on, but as a hostage, you’re stuck where you are.”

Shortly after returning from saving a hostage Thea must face her most challenging rescue when her oil-magnate father, Carlos, is kidnapped on a yacht where very few clues are evident. To make matters worse the kidnappers won’t negotiate and only leave cryptic messages in Latin. In search of her father she travels to Africa, Greece, and Turkey and comes into contact with dubious players such as warlords and the Chinese. As the body count rises, the clock for rescuing is ticking down for Thea and company.

Thea is confident, strong, and independent, but has a vulnerability both emotionally and physically. She is able to hold her own in a male-dominated world; yet, gets along well with others although she remains at arms length. Driven to make sure the tragedies that shattered her family never touch anyone else, she risks her life with a fierce determination to bring everyone home alive. Having Type 1 Diabetes might limit some people, but Thea makes sure that this illness will not define her.

Family plays a huge role in this story. Thea is still haunted by her brother’s kidnapping.  As a twelve-year old he was taken as she looked on and remained silent, letting her fear get the best of her. For nine months he was brutalized and turned into a child soldier, made to do unthinkable acts of violence. The dynamics in this rich and powerful family adds to the fascinating storyline to see how revenge, guilt, and regret play out. But, Thea has an extended family with those at Quantum International Security including the former Special Forces guys, especially her childhood friend Rif Hakan. Her attitude is that family is what you create, not necessarily what you are given.

Howe believes a strong theme throughout is “family. They are the ones we love the most, but also those who can hurt us the most. Sadly children may judge their parents or vice-versa. Sometimes love is not unconditional. There are parents who see children as extensions of themselves in a narcissist way. I wanted to explore how children feel that they must live up to their parents expectations and demands. Is family only blood or broader? How will a family handle a kidnapping? I think the entire family would be held captive, and they have to make very complicated decisions. For example, should they get law enforcement or the media involved?”

Different scenes in the book allow readers to absorb details about hostages and their rescuers. Throughout the novel the author sprinkles strategies about surviving. Because her father was an alpha personality she worried that he would have a hard time as a hostage since he needs to control his emotions, by being patient, disciplined, and yielding to the captor’s authority. There are many more fascinating facts about what to do when traveling to be safe.

The Freedom Broker has nonstop action and suspense. Using exotic locales, the rich and powerful, manipulation, betrayal, family relationships, and the geo-political world this storyline becomes a page-turner.

Book Review: Before The Dawn

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

Cynthia Eden is a unique suspense romance writer. All the books in the Killer Instinct trilogy, including the second installment, Before The Dawn have very creative titles that alert to the heroine; After the Dark is named after Samantha Dark and Before The Dawn is named after Dawn Alexander. There is also the premise that explores how someone in law enforcement through their special relationship, are able to see the killer in a way others cannot, allowing readers to be drawn into the dark minds of the psychopathic characters.

Her next book, the conclusion to the Killer Instinct series, “will feature Macey Night and Bowen Murphy, the last book of the “Killer Instinct” series. As FBI Agents they will be working on a case together and then form a relationship. All of the characters will be back because this is the tie up book for the trilogy. In the future I would like to do a series that focuses on one character, the lead in every book of the series, where we can see how they would handle different cases presented and grow.”

Eden does a great job of getting someone up to speed that has not read the first in the series. Early on Samantha Dark, the main character of After The Dark, returns, explaining her job is now the supervisor of an experimental unit of FBI Agents that have a personal connection to the serial killer through family, friendship, lovers, as well as their tormentors. This team moves throughout the US when murders start piling up with the suspect attributed to a serial killer.

The author noted, “Samantha is smart; yet, has trust issues and because of that keeps secrets. She is a conflicted heroine because justice matters most to her and she does not always see the world as black and white. I explored with her how it is truly hard to know someone, especially those who do not fully open up. We only know what people show us, basically what is on the surface.”

Unfortunately the Iceman with his diabolical ways possibly slipped under the radar, having committed his crimes before the unit was established. Seven years ago, Jason Frost, the Iceman, sliced Dawn Alexander up with a knife, and calmly explained how he planned to freeze her to death. This was personal to the killer, because he used his father’s meme, “blood always comes first and binds.” hoping his brother Tucker would join in the “fun,” since Dawn was his lover. At that moment his brother Tucker, also Dawn’s lover, recognized he had missed all the signs that Jason was a monster, and knew that in order to save Dawn he must shoot him.

In the present day, a serial killer with Jason’s hallmarks, starts operating in New Orleans, also the place where Dawn currently resides and is now being terrorized. Although the sole survivor to the Iceman’s attacks, she still has scars, both emotional and physical where he maimed her. Samantha’s team, including Tucker Frost, hunts the predator, unsure if they have a copycat or Jason has returned.

Although Dawn starts out as the victim she had developed an inner strength, making sure her life got back on track. Part of the reason she became a PI is to be seen as the protector, not a weak and scared person, but someone who uncovers secrets and lies to find the truth about people. Now having a sense of normalcy she is determined not to let this antagonist take it away from her. A quote from the book hammers the point when she told Tucker, “He didn’t break me... I am stronger than he was. I’m stronger than you give me credit for being… I’ve changed and could let the fear go. That the past wasn’t going to control my life.”

  Tucker must also realize that if he is to have the relationship re-emerge with Dawn he must also let the past go. He needs to compartmentalize between Jason the brother and Jason the serial killer. His brother was his support system, teaching him to ride a bike, holding his hand as they buried their mother, and his best friend, while the killer was evil, sadistic, and depraved.

A warning: keep a light on while reading this “Dark” series. Before The Dawn gets readers hooked from page one. Eden does a wonderful job with the character development as she allows readers to get into the minds of the antagonists and protagonists. The tense atmosphere created with the brutality of the murders makes the plot very suspenseful.

 

Book Review: The Smear

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

Journalists today are elitists with their own agenda, never actually practicing journalism.  Only a handful can be respected, trusted, and believed: Sharyl Attkisson falls into this category. She is an author and investigative reporter who hosts the syndicated TV news series Full Measure. (http://fullmeasure.news)  Attkisson is a whistle blower of sorts in educating the public about the biased media.  Her latest book The Smear reveals the tactics used to influence opinions in order to obscure the truth.

In the beginning of this book she discusses the propaganda campaign used by the OSS, the predecessor to the CIA. They had asked the legendary Marlene Dietrich to sing “Lili Marlene” in German and English in order to make the Axis forces feel homesick and realize they were fighting for the wrong side. She contrasts this with Hitler’s chief propagandist Joseph Goebbels’ playbook, which calls for creating a big lie, the bigger the better to get more people to believe it; repeat it often enough so it becomes the truth; and persistence is the most important requirement for success.

Today’s media and Leftists seem to take a page, not out of the OSS, but out of Goebbels strategy. Attkisson wants to inform Americans on the tactics used by political operatives on both sides as well as corporate operatives. These tactics fall into categories of “Astroturf, and Transactional Journalism,” all tools of the smear campaign. Her definition of a smear, “Taking a sprinkle of truth and perverting it into a weapon of mass destruction to advance an undisclosed larger goal, often political or financial. Smear campaigns take something that many times has a grain of truth and amplifies it to accomplish the annihilation of their target.”

One of the worst smears of all is the comparison of Donald Trump and those in his administration to the Nazi regime.  Take for example Ashley Judd who said at the Women’s March, “I feel Hitler in these streets. A mustache traded for a toupee. Nazis renamed the cabinet electric conversion therapy the new gas chamber shaming the gay out of America turning rainbows into suicide notes.” The press is no different. The Washington Post editorial board, during the heat of the Republican primary, wrote, "You don't have to go back to history's most famous example, Adolf Hitler to understand that authoritarian rulers can achieve power through the ballot box."

It would be almost laughable if it were not so sad that these denouncers of Trump are themselves hypocrites.  Even liberal commentator Piers Morgan has had enough.  He sarcastically said in a FOX interview, "I find this Hitler stuff with Donald Trump unbelievably offensive... Donald Trump to my knowledge has not murdered anybody.  If you are not prepared in the liberal world to now say he is the new Hitler, you yourself then become the Devil, and that is what happened to me."

These smear artists need to understand they have crossed a line as they suspend their normal standards and practices, and should take a history lesson to learn about the Nazis’ crimes: political opponents being thrown into prisons, with many executed; the mass slaughter of Jews and gays along with other ethnicities; Russian prisoners of war killed; forced labor camps; the Nuremberg laws of 1935; children experimented on; and the Final Solution of the Jews.

In reading this book people will become more aware about the world of opposition research and the dirty tricks those in power use to influence opinions. They have an agenda to prop up or destroy any narrative that goes against their beliefs by using the smear tactic to create an impression of widespread support or falsehoods when the opposite is true. Even movies are not out of the realm of these smear artists.

One way the operatives do this is by Astroturf, an “idea to keep the public from ever knowing exactly who is behind a particular effort to sway opinion. I describe it in my book as a way to saturate our consciousness, where we are made to think everyone believes something. It’s similar to the bandwagon approach. If you do not agree with a narrative, you are made to believe you’re an outlier, afraid to say what you think because ‘no one’ agrees with you. The idea is to give the impression there’s widespread support for or against an issue when there may not be.”

Attkisson noted, 13 Hours, the movie, about the attack in Benghazi, was not very flattering to the Obama Administration and Hillary Clinton. “They could not directly impeach those heroes that put their life on the line; instead, they sought to ‘controversialize the movie itself,’ in an attempt to keep people from seeing it. For example, Vox put up a review that pans the movie even though the writer only saw the trailer. Many others falsely pointed out that the movie was a box office flop; yet, the true narrative is that it was the number two-grossing new movie release in the US during its opening week.”

If her book had come out earlier people might have recognized the tactics used against the movie about Chris Kyle, American Sniper. This Washington Post comment is a good example, “the movie also reveals a man remarkably unburdened by conscience.” Actually, this reviewer got it wrong because in the book, the movie, and in the interview Chris always pointed out how he was haunted by his sniping duties, "I definitely have my nightmares, but not for the people I killed, but for the people I could not save: my brothers who died next to me, on top of me, or in my arms.  I don't worry about what other people think of me. My only regret is not being able to save more American lives. When I try to take someone out, it's because they are attempting to take the life of one of our soldiers.” 

She explains why she considers these astroturf smear campaigns, “Whether intentional or not, the players include a familiar group of media outlets known for advancing liberal narratives and to be on the Media Matters agenda. The information put forward is misleading, and in some cases, inaccurate to further a narrative instead of the truth. Finally, some of the efforts seem disingenuous and use recognized astroturf language.”

Another tactic, Transactional journalism refers to the “friendly, mutually beneficial relationships that have developed between reporters and those on whom they report. It’s when the relationships cross a line.” Falling into that category are some political pundits. Take for example CNN’s Donna Brazile, a Democratic party operative, who secretly slipped Hillary Clinton an advance question for a CNN town hall with Bernie Sanders. Attkisson noted, “We are not keeping an adequate firewall, giving the very people access to the newsroom who are trying to sway our opinion and shape news coverage. I am often not sure what these pundits on both sides add, besides propaganda talking points. This is part of what I call the soft ‘infiltration’ of the news media. We haven’t done a good job at staying at arms length from the interests who seek to use us as tools.”

As an investigative reporter she is an expert at detecting smear campaigns and warns, “One smear artist I interviewed said nearly every image you run across in daily life, whether it’s on the news, a comedian’s joke, a meme on social media or a comment on the Internet, was put there for a reason. It’s like scenes in a movie, he said. Nothing happens by accident. Sometimes people have paid a great deal of money to put those images before you. What you need to ask yourself isn’t so much ‘is it true,’ but ‘who wants me to believe it and why?’” This is why everyone should be reading The Smear, to find out how they do it, who is doing it, and what to look for regarding these dirty tactics.  

Book Review: Blame

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

Blame by Jeff Abbott is a psychological thriller. The good news for fans is that he writes the plot with the same intensity as the Sam Capra novels. This stand-alone explores in a gripping fashion the “what if mystery” that happens after a car crash.

Abbott noted Sam Capra is on a sabbatical and “is taking a well deserved time off. Before writing the Sam series I wrote stand-alones. In Blame I rewrote scenes because the body count was rising like in a Sam novel. I decided to make this story’s suspense driven by emotion rather than solely action. Wanting to write a book set in a similar place to where I live, I spoke with a personal injury lawyer I know. I then got the idea to write about someone that crashes, but never knew what happened. I wanted to explore the emotional and physical side of memory loss. What happens when someone has to rely on getting the facts about their life from others who could also edit what was told? In this story the unreliable narrators were all the people around the amnesia victim.”

Two years ago Jane Norton and her lifelong friend and next-door neighbor David Hall were in a car crash. Plunging off a cliff Jane was blamed by those in the Austin, Texas suburb of Lakehaven for his death. Due to the crash, she cannot remember anything since her father’s death three years ago, having been in a coma and now with complete amnesia. Besides having to cope with David’s grief-stricken mother, Perri, Jane must now find out who is Liv Danger and why are they threatening her on the Internet. She does not know whom to trust since everyone seems to have their own motivations including her therapist, friends, even her mother. With her memory coming back in bits and pieces she becomes convinced the car crash was not an accident, that she didn’t intend to kill David, and that everyone around her has been keeping something from her.

Abbott related to the characters Jane and Perri, considering them “one of my favorites. Jane starts off beaten down but makes a decision to find out the truth. Perri begins with anger, resentment, and feels powerless. There is nothing more awful than losing a child. Jane and Perri deal with a lot of adversity, but end up finding a way to move forward. I think throughout the book both had a personality reconstruction where they had to make new choices as they sought closure and some state of happiness.”

The story is filled with action and surprises that people will not see coming. Readers will not want to put this novel down, until they have the answers to the mystery of what happened that night.

Book Review: Down A Dark Road

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

Down A Dark Road by Linda Castillo is an electrifying thriller. It seems with each book, this being the ninth, she gets better and better. Within a riveting mystery she is able to seamlessly blend the Amish culture, giving glimpses and insights to their way of life.

The tidbits about the Amish help make the plot realistic. Family trumps all considering they are a strong and tightknit community. When something bad happens they circle the wagons and step in to help. Although Kate left the Amish she still misses this. They try to maintain their culture by keeping their children under their thumbs, which is something Kate did not conform with. A scene in this book shows Kate’s independent side as she played ice hockey after being encouraged by Joseph; yet, her parents tried to steer her away. Probably because they are a male dominated patriarchal society where the husband has the final say. The scenes show this when Amish women interviewed by Kate are told by their husbands to get inside the house. Also, the phrases from their language, Pennsylvania Dutch add to the authenticity.

Once again small town Painters Mill police chief Kate Burkholder is forced to re-visit her childhood past. She is notified about the escape of Joseph King, convicted of killing his wife while his children slept in the same house. This is personal for her since he was her childhood friend and hero who she looked up to. Knowing that Joseph had always denied killing his wife Naomi, Kate begins to wonder if he is guilty or was he railroaded. Although never leaving the Amish community he has become a dark figure after losing his father in an accident.

Castillo comments about Kate, “She can be stubborn at times and never gives up. I also think she can be imperfect and impulsive. People should be aware that in the first book, Sworn To Silence, her backstory was introduced. At that time she was a little rough around the edges and a damaged soul that drank way too much. In later books I speak about her relationship with her siblings who have remained Amish. I hope to present in future books more of her imperfect childhood. Although she had a big heart Kate did lash out. At some point I will examine her relationship with her mother and father who knew she was a rebel of sorts.”

Regarding Joseph the author notes, “An imperfect and flawed man who went down a dark road. He lost control of his life. He was not a black and white person, but had a lot of gray. I am hoping that over the course of the book readers begin to care for and sympathize with him. I put in the scene where he defends his horse after someone threw an egg at the animal when he was only thirteen, and another time he comes to Kate and her sister’s defense. These scenes show how the English have participated in crimes against the Amish that also include throwing live firecrackers, bottles, and rocks into their buggies.”

In this book characters that come to life have readers caring what happens to them. As the mystery unfolds it becomes obvious this is not a cut and dry story that weaves suspense, humor, and a gripping tension.

Book Review: Two Nights

The following review is a special for BlackFive readers provided by Elise Cooper. You can read all of our book reviews and author interviews by clicking on the Books category link in the right side bar.

Two Nights has writer Kathy Reichs venturing into new territory. This novel’s  plot line and characters do not delve into forensic anthropology as with the Temperance Brennan series, the basis for the hit TV show Bones. What both have in common are main characters that bring justice to the families and the victims, whether dead or alive.

Reichs noted the main character Sunnie Night “grew out of a story from an earlier book, Death du Jour. It is based on a true cult where seventy-five people were killed. Three of the victims were in Quebec, parents and a baby, who were assassinated. This actually happened and I was present when they came to our lab for autopsy. After thinking about the mentality of cults and why they kill themselves and others I did a lot of research on the psychology. This gave me rise to think, ‘what if someone grew up in the context of a cult where everyone they knew was either killed or killed themselves?’”

She decided to write a non-Temperance book after “my publisher suggested it. At first I was not overly enthusiastic, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it could be quite fun. After nineteen Temperance Brennan books I am locked in with the facts, and I have to remember to keep everything straight. With a new character like Sunday I was able to once again make things up, starting from nothing. I found the process stimulating and fascinating. BTW: I like Tempe and am not done with her yet, but I was energized in writing this new character.”

The featured character, Sunday Night, is the direct opposite of Temperance Brennan in many ways. She is not a scientist, but ex-military and an ex-cop who never wants to follow the rules. Physically and emotionally scarred from her troubled childhood she has developed a toughness and stubbornness, while withdrawing from the world, now living on Goat Island, off the South Carolina coast. What she has in common with Temperance is a dry sarcastic wit, resourcefulness, diligence, a never-ending persistence, and intelligence, although hers is more a street smarts.

The book begins with Sunday (Sunnie) as a reclusive hermit being asked to investigate a missing girls’ case by her foster father, retired detective Beau Beaumonde. He feels that if she handles the investigation of a teenage girl possibly kidnapped by a cult he can draw her out of seclusion and have her face her own demons.

Stella Bright vanished a year after a bombing at a Jewish day school where her mother and brother were killed. Her grandmother hires Sunnie to find out if Stella is alive or dead. Needing assistance she enlists the help of her twin brother August (Gus) Night. The backstory of these twins influences the plot in a riveting way. Both are impulsive, have a temper, with an attitude to shoot first and ask questions later in their attempts to find out the truth behind Stella’s disappearance.

Although billed as a stand-alone it has all the features to be a series with intriguing characters and an action filled plot. The twists and turns keep the readers guessing as to what will happen next.