If you like puzzles and connecting the dots, this suspense/thriller (with a hit of romance) is a book you will enjoy.  J.B. Holman spins out a web of intrigue that keeps you guessing and frequently sends you in multiple directions at once as the main protagonist, Eduard Foxx, and his very unwilling accomplice, Julie Connor, … More You Think You Know Someone, by J. B. Holman

Disappointing read and a 30-year-old book Sometimes when you pick up a book as a giveaway or for 99 cents you get something other than you expected.  This is one of those times.  Right off the bat, be advised that although it is being advertised as if it were a recently-released book, it was written … More True Life Adventures (Paul Mcdonald Mystery #1), by J. Paul Drew

Disappointing read for lawyers Author Pamela Samuels Young’s biography says that she was a lawyer for a large law firm and then an in-house employment lawyer for a major corporation.  As an author, she’s a very good story-teller who unfortunately gets most of the legal issues wrong. This is disappointing for me as a lawyer … More Every Reasonable Doubt, by Pamela Samuels Young

            This Sci-Fi story has many layers and many characters.  It is truly an origin story and might be best thought of as the prequel to the rest of the series.  The world in which it is set, who the villains really are, and what’s really happening are all revealed slowly as the many tendrils … More Manumission (The Metaform series Book 1) by E.R. Harding — Imperfect but interesting Sci-Fi Origin Story

Disappointing Sci-Fi Despite good premise and some good writing Imagine a Sci-Fi novel centered around the construction of the first starship, complete with detailed schematics and detailed descriptions of the construction techniques, along with the inner-workings of the propulsion systems, weapons, sanitation, food-preparation, etc.  Now, add a conspiracy to scuttle the project from a shadowy … More Slingshot: Building the Largest Machine in Human History (The Starchild Trilogy, Book 1), by Robert G. Williscroft

From the Delta Mud, by Guy Wheatley, is a slow-paced story about a group of characters living in a small town on the shores of the Mississippi river.  None of the characters are particularly compelling or interesting, and although the author gives us a lot of detail about their daily lives (a LOT of detail), … More From the Delta Mud, by Guy Wheatley

Headline:  Confused, disjointed, and pointless (but at times beautiful)                 Tommy Orange’s novel, There There (derived from a quote by Gertrude Stein that there “is no there there” in Oakland) features many characters.  One is Dene Oxendene, an aspiring Native American filmmaker working on a project in which he asks urban Natives in Oakland to … More There, There: By Tommy Orange

Of Half a Mind, by Bruce Perrin, is the first book in “The Mind Sleuth” series, starring research psychologist Sam “Doc” Price.  This is an intellectual mystery, filled with plot twists and puzzles and interesting characters.  It’s a well-written page-turner that will keep you guessing, and keep you wanting to keep guessing, to the very … More Of Half a Mind, by Bruce Perrin

April 6, 2019 In, A Convenient Death, by Laurel Heidtman, Detectives Jo Valentine and “Sticks” Mullins are investigating a double-murder that occurred at a convenience store (hence the title).  The pretty and promiscuous young store clerk and a senior-citizen patron are shot execution-style in the back room of the quickie-mart.  Was this a robbery that … More A Convenient Death, by Laurel Heidtman

Reflection: The Paul Mann Story, is a relatively short novel that reads more like the outline for a story than a completed book.  The plot points lurch along in quick succession with little connection, detail, or explanation.  The characters lack depth (or names in many cases) and are two-dimensional ideas rather than fully developed people.  … More Reflection: The Paul Mann Story, by Titan Frey