#bookreader – Page 89 – Rosepoint Publishing

Landscape of a Marriage: Central Park Was Only the Beginning by Gail Ward Olmsted – #BookReview – #biographicalfiction

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

A marriage of convenience leads to a life of passion and purpose. A shared vision transforms the American landscape forever.

New York, 1858: Mary, a young widow with three children, agrees to marry her brother-in-law Frederick Law Olmsted, who is acting on his late brother’s deathbed plea to “not let Mary suffer.” But she craves more than a marriage of convenience and sets out to win her husband’s love. Beginning with Central Park in New York City, Mary joins Fred on his quest to create a ‘beating green heart’ in the center of every urban space.

Over the next 40 years, Fred is inspired to create dozens of city parks, private estates and public spaces with Mary at his side. Based upon real people and true events, this is the story of Mary’s journey and personal growth and the challenges inherent in loving a brilliant and ambitious man.

His Review:

Fredrick Law Olmstead is arguably the most famous and well-known landscape artist in the world. During his lifetime he was sought after around the world for his talented approach to landscape design. Central Park in New York City and the design of the Worlds Fair and Exposition in Chicago in the late 1800’s is among many shining examples of his work.

This author has scraped away the accolades and achievements and made the artist into a more personal figure. His wife Mary and he had many decades of a happy marriage despite the loss of a number of offspring. Mary was the linch-pin which held together his myriad of accomplishments. She led the family through many heartbreaking episodes and was often a sounding board for family events.

Looking at the accomplishments of the Olmstead clan, tragedies often clouded and overshadowed the triumphs. Losing a daughter and three sons is a tragic example of the challenges faced by the family. One in particular is Charlotte who lost her way as an adult and spent most of her life in an asylum. Mary kept her wits and steered the family through all the heartbreaks.

The author illuminated the importance of a strong matriarch in this family enterprise. Mary made lifelong friends who helped her through the darkest of days when children were lost and the future looked the darkest. Mr. Olmsted helped to develop and enhance some of the nations most prized national parks including Yosemite. This particular chapter is very endearing.

The end result is a very endearing tale of a family with vision and purpose. Fredrick Law Olmstead and his sons and daughter helped to leave a family legacy of unparalleled significance. Anyone who visits the national parks and many city and/or regional parks owe the majesty and authenticity of the landscape to the tenacity of this family. Read this book and enjoy the enlightening adventure. 5 stars – CE Williams

We received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are his honest opinions.

Book Details:

Genre: Biographical Fiction, Romance
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
ISBN: ‎1684337216
ASIN: B0947331QQ
Print Length: 315 pages
Publication Date: July 29, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link: Landscape of a Marriage [Amazon]
Barnes and Noble

The Author: [Gail Ward Olmsted] I enjoy writing about quirky, lovable women in search of their happy ever after! My newest title- Landscape of a Marriage, is historical fiction. It’s the story of renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted told through the eyes of Mary, his wife of 44 years. Watch for it this summer!

A hopeless romantic, I am married to the love of my life. My favorite role is that of mom to two young adults and I enjoy reading, boating, knitting, music and traveling.

The Good Guy by Dean Koontz – #Audiobook Review – #suspense #TBT

Book Blurb:

Timothy Carrier is an ordinary guy who enjoys a beer after work. But tonight is no ordinary night. Instead, Tim will face a terrifying decision: Help or run. For the jittery stranger sitting beside him at the bar has mistaken Tim for someone else—and passes him a manila envelope stuffed with cash and the photo of a pretty woman. “Ten thousand. The rest when she’s gone.”

Now everything Tim thinks he knows—even about himself—will be challenged. For Tim Carrier is the one man who can save an innocent life and stop a killer as relentless as evil incarnate. But first he must discover resources within himself that will transform his idea of who he is and what it takes to be the good guy.

My Review:

From the prolific pen of Dean Koontz came The Good Guy, published in 2007. I’ve read a number of his books, mostly of the Jane Hawk series, which I enjoyed. So, it was time I sampled some of his other books while trying to avoid the hardcore horror that my son attributed to him. This one is billed as suspense.

In this standalone, Timothy Carrier (our good guy) is approached by a man who mistakes him for the hired killer he was to meet, handing him an envelope with $10k and leaves. When the real killer arrives and mistakes Tim for the client, Tim tries to cancel the contract, offering half the money back to drop it.

Oh, wait…I think I’ve heard this one!

Tim, being stuck and checking out the target, decides he’ll warn the unsuspecting woman and together try to figure out why the impending hit. (Cue the violins.) She’s clueless why someone would want to kill her. She’s a simple woman, albeit a bit unusual in her tastes, and they’re both single with baggage and unhappy histories. (I think I can see where this is going.)

Koontz is nothing if not adept at developing his characters carefully, a nuance at a time, right down to nervous tics and tells. Tim is a simple mason—but good at his job. Linda harbors secrets and I’m thinking, “run, Forest, run!.” But no, they are ducking and outwitting the antagonist who is one very nasty guy, free of any moral compass, and so far hasn’t hesitated to knock off those who block his way or just generally piss him off. Krait also has a history,

But you don’t want to know…

Krait anticipates their moves and positions himself very well. He really hates the thought he may be losing cred with his employers and the tension ramps up.

As usual, Koontz kicks in his own macabre sense of humor bestowing it mostly on Krait and the sense of the man rises the hair on the back of the reader’s neck. Some tender scenes with Tim and Linda, natural dialogue, Tim rising to his white knight position, Linda to distressed damsel.

The narrator used a soft sell voice on the antagonist adding to the creepy factor. He is truly going over the deep end trying to save his face on this one and his handlers are cueing in.

The conclusion actually arrives with more of a whimper not a bang but Koontz has one more little surprise for you. If you like suspense thrillers, you’d probably like this, and I’d recommend the audiobook. Do you read Dean Koontz? Did you enjoy his Jane Hawk series? What is your favorite Koontz book? Strangely, I don’t see that many five stars on his books in Goodreads. Well, anyway, I like the pictures of his dogs.

Book Details:

Genre: Suspense, Suspense Thrilllers
Publisher: Random House Audio
ASIN: B000R34YQ6
Listening Length: 9 hrs 18 mins
Narrator: Richard Ferrone
Publication Date: May 1, 2007
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Good Guy [Amazon]

Rosepoint Publishing: Four of Five Stars

The Author: Dean Koontz, the author of many #1 New York Times bestsellers, lives in Southern California with his wife, Gerda, their golden retriever, Elsa, and the enduring spirits of their goldens, Trixie and Anna.

The Narrator: Richard Ferrone is a former lawyer who became an actor in the 1970s. He has appeared on Broadway and in theaters across the country. His television appearances include ”Law & Order,” “Against the Law,” “Guiding Light,” and “One Life to Live.“ He became an immediate favorite of audiobook fans more than 20 years ago with his first audiobook, “The Stranglers” by Loren D. Estleman, and since then he has recorded the works of many bestselling authors including Dean Koontz, Dashiell Hammett, and myself! Although he has recorded books in nearly every genre, from romances to children’s stories to self-help books, he is best known for his mystery and thriller recordings, especially those of John Sandford’s “Prey” novels and the Tim LaHaye/Jerry Jenkins “Left Behind” series. He is an Audie Award winner and is married to actor Cynthia Darlow.

Striking Range: A Timber Creek K-9 Mystery by Margaret Mizushima #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Rosepoint Rating: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

A deadly secret is buried in the Colorado high country–and murder is only the beginning in the seventh gripping installment of Margaret Mizushima’s Timber Creek K-9 mysteries.

He was suspect number one–the man who tried to kill Deputy Mattie Cobb and may have killed her father thirty years earlier. But when Mattie and cold case detective Jim Hauck reach the Colorado state prison where they will finally get to interview him, he’s found dead in his cell. There’s only one clue: a map leading to Timber Creek and rugged Redstone Ridge.

Though she usually works with veterinarian Cole Walker, Mattie’s K-9 partner Robo has just sired a litter of pups, who require special, time-consuming care at Cole’s clinic. Left to explore the map’s clue without him, Mattie and Robo journey into the burned forest surrounding Redstone Ridge. But before they can finish their search they’re called to help investigate the death of a young woman found in a campground filled with elk hunters. Identification of the deceased points to her having recently given birth, but the infant is nowhere to be found.

As a deadly storm descends upon the mountains, covering everything with a layer of ice and snow, Mattie and her team search for the missing newborn. The storm batters the area, taking its toll on the team and forcing the sheriff to call in reinforcements. When new evidence surfaces, they decide that finding the woman’s killer will lead them to her baby, making them even more desperate to solve the case.

Then Cole goes missing, stranded alone in the high country with a person that Mattie now suspects is the mastermind behind several murders, including her father’s. She and Robo take to the trail to find Cole–but the killer has a cold-blooded plan that threatens them all.

My Review:

I just love it when author Margaret Mizushima comes out with a new installment in the Timber Creek K-9 Mystery series. This is the seventh and my new favorite in the series.

Protagonist Deputy Mattie Cobb is partnered with her canine, Robo. The little Colorado town of Timber Creek is small but situated on major north/south, east/west roads and gets their fair share of action—even up in God’s country, those gorgeous pine covered mountains.

Mattie is still trying to clear her father’s reputation as a dirty cop and think she’s finally going to talk to the one guy who could shed some light on what actually happened all those years ago. When she arrives with California Cold-Case Detective Jim Hauck to interview him, however, he is discovered deceased in his cell. They find a map he has left marking locations of his activities that will generate an excursion into the high country.

In the meantime, the multi-layered plot begins to ease into other experiences such as the birth of a litter of puppies that Robo has sired and the discovery of a young woman’s body who has just given birth. The newborn infant, however, is missing.

I have really come to love the support characters, including her boyfriend, veterinarian Cole Walker and his two daughters. I always get to learn more about canine behavior and their amazing relationship with their handlers (or owners), their intelligence, intuition, and empathetic natures.

The writing style always manages to grip the scene and describe it down to the nuances of body language, inflection, and personality. They come alive on the page, as does the scent of the mountains, the chill of the temperatures, and the wind as it slices sideways through the heavy winter clothing.

The fast-paced plot lines make for a compulsive read. It’s gripping and never waivers or sags in the middle or constantly repeat gains.

The police procedurals remain authentic, realistic, and the interpersonal dynamics believable. As always, suspenseful and artful storytelling, building the tension as it shifts the scenes.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley and these are my honest and unbiased opinions. I started the series with Hunting Hour (Book 3) but my last reviews were Hanging Falls and Tracking Game. This is one of my very favorite authors and series and I’m always happy to recommend. Currently on pre-order.

Book Details:

Genre: Cozy Animal Mystery, Cozy Animal Mysteries, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
ASIN: B08PYR6FN9
Print Length: 288 pages
Publication Date: September 7, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Margaret Mizushima is the author of the award-winning and internationally published Timber Creek K-9 Mysteries. Active within the writing community, Margaret serves as president for the Rocky Mountain Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, was elected the 2019-2020 Writer of the Year by Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and is also a member of Northern Colorado Writers and Sisters in Crime. She lives in Colorado on a small ranch with her veterinarian husband where they raised two daughters and a multitude of animals. She can be found on Facebook/AuthorMargaretMizushima, Twitter @margmizu, Instagram at margmizu, and her website at http://www.margaretmizushima.com.

The Ghost Camper’s Tall Tales: Destiny Falls Mystery & Magic Series by Elizabeth Pantley #BlogTour #Bookreview #Giveaway

I am so delighted today to provide a review for you at my blog stop for The Ghost Camper’s Tall Tales by Elizabeth Pantley on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour.

Scroll down to enter your chance to win the Giveaway!

Book Details:

The Ghost Camper’s Tall Tales: Destiny Falls Mystery & Magic Series
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Independently Published (August 2, 2021)
Digital Print Length ‏ 312Pages
ASIN: B095177BFG

Book Blurb:

A ghost, a witch, a sassy cat, and a mystery. Hayden’s adventures in Destiny Falls continue when a mysterious old man keeps popping up to tell her a series of tall tales. Who is he? And is he actually glowing? Are his stories fiction, or is he telling her the history of her family, the enchanted islands, and the witch? And why did a dead body show up . . . of someone who is already dead? Can Hayden and her brave, quirky sidekick, Latifa unscramble this mystery before someone else turns up dead?

My Review:

It’s the third in the series and my first, but most of my followers know at this point that I enjoy witchy, (in this case, dark) magic tales. This one describes Destiny Falls as a pretty, weather sculpted area complete with it’s antithesis, Gladstone Island; the dark to Destiny Falls light.

In this installment, there are several discoveries, not the first of which is the murder of a man who was already supposed to have died in a fiery car crash more than a month ago. And there is a scary link to which protagonist Hayden must discover that includes her mother.

The support characters take on a profile of their own (particularly Latifa), adding to the atmosphere of the area and the enchanted house, and there is a mysterious ghost who manifests at (mostly) inopportune times who slowly reveals little tidbits along the way that will color the present.

The conclusion and the discovery of the bad guy came quietly into the conclusion, but it was then the little twist hit. The main plot resolved, the sub-plot came to the fore. It’s a gotcha cliff-hanger and one many will tune in to pick up on in the next episode.

The cozy shined with humor, romance, and magic—a very interesting take on the latter and stirs up a fun read.

Giveaway

Sign up for your chance to win one Prize Package – includes Set of ebooks: Book 1, 2, and 3 … PLUS a coffee mug & plush kitty in the Rafflecopter giveaway

About The Author: Elizabeth Pantley is the international bestselling author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution and eight other books in the No-Cry Solution series of books for parents. Her books have been published in over twenty languages. She is also the author of the well-received magical cozy mystery series, The Destiny Falls Mystery and Magic books. She lives in the Pacific Northwest.

Author Links

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/24811.Elizabeth_Pantley
Website:  https://www.nocrysolution.com/books/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElizabethPantleyNoCryAuthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethpantley/
Pinterest:  https://www.pinterest.com/nocrysolution/_saved/
Blog:  https://elizabethpantley.com/

Purchase Link: Amazon

Thank you for visiting my stop on the tour and please visit the other stops listed below!

Tour Participants:

August 2 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

August 2 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

August 3 – Novels Alive – GUEST POST

August 3 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

August 4 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

August 4 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

August 5 – I Read What You Write – REVIEW, GUEST POST

August 6 – Cozy Up WIth Kathy – REVIEW

August 7 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

August 8 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW

August 8 – Rosepoint Publishing – REVIEW

August 9 – Novels Alive – REVIEW

August 10 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW

August 10 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – CHARACTER GUEST POST

August 11 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

August 12 – Thoughts in Progress – SPOTLIGHT

August 13 – Angel’s Guilty Pleasures – SPOTLIGHT

August 14 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – SPOTLIGHT

August 15 – BookishKelly2020 – SPOTLIGHT

Thanks to Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours for the opportunity to read and review this cozy mystery!

©V Williams

Love in a Time of Hate by Matthew Langdon Cost – #BookReview – American Historical Romance

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

“A Voodoo ritual?” Emmett stared dumbly at her.
A young man from Maine fights for social equality in New Orleans after the Civil War while pursuing a murderer of prostitutes, becoming enmeshed in voodoo, and falling in love.

“Education is the tool that makes us all equal, whether we are Black, white, Indian, woman, or man,” Manon said.
Much like Louisiana’s famous gumbo, Love in A Time of Hate, is a spicy dish of varied ingredients. The main theme is the struggle for social equality between the whites, Blacks, and Creoles, but flavor is added with the subplots of politics, voodoo, murder, love, and hate.

And then came the Rebel scream, a sound Emmett had not heard since near the end of the Great War.
New Orleans becomes a literal battleground as carpetbaggers, scalawags, Creoles, and recently freed slaves fight against the entrenched southern plantation notion of white superiority.

His Review:

After the Civil War, New Orleans was a city rife with dissent. Young attractive women of color had very few opportunities for advancement other than a brothel or marriage. Inter-racial marriages were particularly disdained and frowned upon. Both of the participants in this union were subject to ridicule, potential hanging, or mutilation.

The Battle of New Orleans in 1812 gave African Americans the opportunity to earn their liberty or enhance their free status. Marriage with a white man was another way to gain a tenuous free status. The consequence was discrimination from both the white community and the African American community.

Emmett Collins has come down to New Orleans from Maine. He is there to enforce the Special Convention at the Mechanic’s Institute for Black Suffrage bylaws and establish order and acceptance of the currently emancipated black population. He is dismayed to see the power groups in the city spurn the law and continue the pre-war racist environment.

Emmett falls in love with and marries a lady of color. His standing in the community erodes as the rampant discrimination continues. At times in this tale he is literally taking his life in his hands as he walks these streets. Trying to uphold the rule of law is a very dangerous undertaking indeed.

Matt Cost has put together a very enlightening historical novel of the problems facing all people in New Orleans during that time. Marauding whites fired into crowds without regard to ethnic heritage. The contrast between the struggles of all citizens of the city are heart rending. The end result of this read is a greater understanding of the struggles of the colored community despite the war. 5 stars – CE Williams

Currently on pre-order. We’ve read a number of books by this author. He continues to grow into his writing and explore more serious genres. Our last read, Wolf Trap, received five stars from me as well. He also wrote several in his Goff Langdon Mystery series. We received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher that in no way influenced this review and these are the CE’s honest opinions.

Book Details:

Genre: American Historical Romance, Native American Literature, Serial Killer Thrillers
Publisher: Encircle Publications, LLC

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1645992349
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1645992349

ASIN: B093DPBJHZ
Print Length: 253 pages
Publication Date: August 25, 2021
Source: Author request
Title Links: Love in a Time of Hate [Amazon]
Barnes and Noble

The Author: Over the years, Cost has owned a video store, a mystery bookstore, and a gym. He has also taught history and coached just about every sport imaginable.

During those years, since age eight actually, the true passion has been writing. I Am Cuba: Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution (Encircle Publications, March, 2020) was his first traditionally published novel.

Mainely Power is the first of the Mainely Mystery trilogy featuring private detective Goff Langdon. This will be followed by Mainely Fear (coming in December, 2020), and Mainely Money (to be released in May, 2021).

Cost now lives in Brunswick, Maine, with his wife, Harper. There are four grown children: Brittany, Pearson, Miranda, and Ryan. A chocolate Lab and a basset hound round out the mix. He now spends his days at the computer, writing.

The Long Call: The Two Rivers Series Book 1 by Ann Cleeves – #Audiobook Review – Traditional Detective Mysteries

Book Blurb:

In North Devon, where two rivers converge and run into the sea, Detective Matthew Venn stands outside the church as his estranged father’s funeral takes place. On the day Matthew left the strict evangelical community he grew up in, he lost his family, too.

Now, as he turns and walks away again, he receives a call from one of his team. A body has been found on the beach nearby: a man with a tattoo of an albatross on his neck, stabbed to death.

The case calls Matthew back to the people and places of his past, as deadly secrets hidden at their hearts are revealed, and his new life is forced into a collision course with the world he thought he’d left behind.

My Review:

Book One of a new series by Ann Cleeves? Oh, yes. Count me in. As it happens, this was originally published as a digital release back in September, 2019. The audiobook was published just this April.

In The Long Call, the reader is introduced to Matthew Venn of the Devon Police. Venn is called out to investigate a body found on the beach at Crow Point.

It is a small village and all knew of the victim, but not actually who he was or his story. Cleeves dives us into the inhabitants, defining, describing the people and the possible relationship, if any, to the victim. The support characters are widely diverse.

During the course of the investigation, we learn more about Venn and his husband, Jonathan. Venn is surrounded by a magnetic group of colleagues, including his partner, DS Jen Rafferty, a dynamo with a chaotic private life and still manages to be extremely effective at her job. The villagers are not entirely onboard with his investigation nor particularly helpful.

It’s a smorgasbord of turmoil, well-developed characters, motives you can’t guess, and a perp who won’t peg as well. But it was a slow burn for me, and perhaps coming from an audiobook delivered in quiet monotone, tended to blur into the background. I had a little problem staying engaged and was only mildly surprised at the conclusion.

It’s sharply character-driven with immersive description into the local countryside. I previously read The Darkest Evening of the Vera Stanhope series and found it to sag somewhat in the middle as well although I may go back to that series as Vera is a “mature” but very competent DCI in Northumberland.

Book Details:

Genre: Traditional Detective Mysteries, International Mystery and Crime
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ASIN: B091RYVYLK
Listening Length: 11 hrs, 36 mins
Narrator: Ben Aldridge
Publication Date: April 8, 2021
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Long Call [Amazon]

Rosepoint Publishing: Three point Five Stars

The Author: Ann is the author of the books behind ITV’s VERA, now in it’s third series, and the BBC’s SHETLAND, which will be aired in December 2012. Ann’s DI Vera Stanhope series of books is set in Northumberland and features the well loved detective along with her partner Joe Ashworth. Ann’s Shetland series bring us DI Jimmy Perez, investigating in the mysterious, dark, and beautiful Shetland Islands…

Ann grew up in the country, first in Herefordshire, then in North Devon. Her father was a village school teacher. After dropping out of university she took a number of temporary jobs – child care officer, women’s refuge leader, bird observatory cook, auxiliary coastguard – before going back to college and training to be a probation officer.

While she was cooking in the Bird Observatory on Fair Isle, she met her husband Tim, a visiting ornithologist. She was attracted less by the ornithology than the bottle of malt whisky she saw in his rucksack when she showed him his room. Soon after they married, Tim was appointed as warden of Hilbre, a tiny tidal island nature reserve in the Dee Estuary. They were the only residents, there was no mains electricity or water and access to the mainland was at low tide across the shore. If a person’s not heavily into birds – and Ann isn’t – there’s not much to do on Hilbre and that was when she started writing. Her first series of crime novels features the elderly naturalist, George Palmer-Jones. A couple of these books are seriously dreadful.

In 1987 Tim, Ann and their two daughters moved to Northumberland and the north east provides the inspiration for many of her subsequent titles. The girls have both taken up with Geordie lads. In the autumn of 2006, Ann and Tim finally achieved their ambition of moving back to the North East.

For the National Year of Reading, Ann was made reader-in-residence for three library authorities. It came as a revelation that it was possible to get paid for talking to readers about books! She went on to set up reading groups in prisons as part of the Inside Books project, became Cheltenham Literature Festival’s first reader-in-residence and still enjoys working with libraries.

Ann Cleeves on stage at the Duncan Lawrie Dagger awards ceremony

Ann’s short film for Border TV, Catching Birds, won a Royal Television Society Award. She has twice been short listed for a CWA Dagger Award – once for her short story The Plater, and the following year for the Dagger in the Library award.

In 2006 Ann Cleeves was the first winner of the prestigious Duncan Lawrie Dagger Award of the Crime Writers’ Association for Raven Black, the first volume of her Shetland Quartet. The Duncan Lawrie Dagger replaces the CWA’s Gold Dagger award, and the winner receives £20,000, making it the world’s largest award for crime fiction.

Ann’s success was announced at the 2006 Dagger Awards ceremony at the Waldorf Hilton, in London’s Aldwych, on Thursday 29 June 2006. She said: “I have never won anything before in my life, so it was a complete shock – but lovely of course.. The evening was relatively relaxing because I’d lost my voice and knew that even if the unexpected happened there was physically no way I could utter a word. So I wouldn’t have to give a speech. My editor was deputed to do it!”

The judging panel consisted of Geoff Bradley (non-voting Chair), Lyn Brown MP (a committee member on the London Libraries service), Frances Gray (an academic who writes about and teaches courses on modern crime fiction), Heather O’Donoghue (academic, linguist, crime fiction reviewer for The Times Literary Supplement, and keen reader of all crime fiction) and Barry Forshaw (reviewer and editor of Crime Time magazine).

Ann’s books have been translated into sixteen languages. She’s a bestseller in Scandinavia and Germany. Her novels sell widely and to critical acclaim in the United States. Raven Black was shortlisted for the Martin Beck award for best translated crime novel in Sweden in 200.

Bio and photo from Goodreads.

The Narrator: Ben Aldridge

Ben Aldridge (actor) – Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Ben_Aldridge_(actor)

Benjamin Charles Aldridge (born 12 November 1985) is an English actor. … He is best known for is portrayal of Thomas Wayne in the crime drama series Pennyworth…

Funny Farm: My Unexpected Life with 600 Rescue Animals by Laurie Zaleski –#BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Rosepoint Rating: Five (+) Stars

“The harder I work, the luckier I’ll get.”

Book Blurb:

Funny Farm is an inspiring and moving memoir of the author’s turbulent life with 600 rescue animals

Laurie Zaleski never aspired to run an animal rescue; that was her mother Annie’s dream. But from girlhood, Laurie was determined to make the dream come true. Thirty years later as a successful businesswoman, she did it, buying a 15-acre farm deep in the Pinelands of South Jersey. She was planning to relocate Annie and her caravan of ragtag rescues—horses and goats, dogs and cats, chickens and pigs—when Annie died, just two weeks before moving day. In her heartbreak, Laurie resolved to make her mother’s dream her own. In 2001, she established the Funny Farm Animal Rescue outside Mays Landing, New Jersey. Today, she carries on Annie’s mission to save abused and neglected animals.

Funny Farm is Laurie’s story: of promises kept, dreams fulfilled, and animals lost and found. It’s the story of Annie McNulty, who fled a nightmarish marriage with few skills, no money and no resources, dragging three kids behind her, and accumulating hundreds of cast-off animals on the way. And lastly, it’s the story of the brave, incredible, and adorable animals that were rescued.

My Review:

This is a beautifully written memoir of triumph over abuse and the mother who grabbed her three children and ran. The author is a daughter of Annie McNulty. Her mother was an upper class lady of education with a strong instinct for survival when the patience ran out. Laurie has written a tribute to her mother filled with admiration and respect while describing how the rescue sanctuary came to be.

Coming from a privileged background, Laurie learns the depth of her ability to adapt to life in the shack by the pines to which she fled with her brother, sister, and mother when she was five. It’s a horrendous crash from the life they’d shared to one now of crushing deprivation.

“If this was camping, it was camping with all the discomfort and none of the s’mores.”

Her mother, a powerhouse of optimism and love, steered the children through those dark years while simultaneously exhibiting a deep love for the desperate animals that seemed to cross paths with the Zaleski’s that started with a dog adopted to help safe-guard the family.

The author builds the story from the death of her mother, taking us back to the childhood that started the rescue to the Funny Farm that fulfilled her mother’s dream. Tales of the animals are interspersed throughout the telling of the continued shocking abuse by her father. The stories, both of human and animal, are deeply emotional driving the need to keep reading, both the inspiration and perspiration, that followed the children to adulthood and the variety of animals populating their world.

“The more you cry, the less you’ll pee.”

Absolutely amazing, the prose, so keenly in tune to the predicament of the animals that the reader’s heart is drawn more than once to tears—more often to love. The overwhelming theme of the novel. The thoroughly astonishing world of animals and their connection to humans. How could your heart not break at the treatment some receive?

This is a story that feeds the need to read. Glued to the pages, you can’t help but power to the heart-warming conclusion. Sweet, inspiring, humbling, mixed with shots of humor, this is truly a must read–your next novel—currently on pre-order–and I most heartily recommend that you find it at one the retailers listed below.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from Sara Haring at St. Martins Press (thank you, Sara!) and NetGalley and these are my own opinions.

Book Details:

Genre: Animal Rights, Biographies of Environmentalists and Naturalists
Publisher: St Martin’s Press
ASIN: B08R2KX6RD
Print Length: 256 pages
Publication Date: September 7, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

[Goodreads] The Author: LAURIE ZALESKI is the founder of the Funny Farm, a charitable organization located in Mizpah, New Jersey. Since 2000, the farm has welcomed all kinds of rescue animals. Laurie is also the founder, president and CEO of Art-Z Graphics. She has been named a New Jersey Heartland Hero, is listed in the 2019 Who’s Who of Professional Women, and has received numerous awards and acknowledgements for her work to save animals and educate the public about animal abuse.

July Rosepoint Reviews Recap—It’s the Dog Days of August

Our daughter arrived early July and the hunt for the house kicked into high gear. As she has her mind set on Missouri, we’ve been through a number of trips to check out houses—few looking like the pictures. My reading/reviewing schedule has run well off the rails and will continue to do so until she is settled, now appearing to be early September. In the meantime, posting reviews will be erratic and apologies ahead of time if I’ve missed release dates. I’m getting there, albeit slowly.

We posted fourteen book reviews for July that included ARCs from NetGalley, author requests, and audiobooks from our local library.

Cajun Kiss of Death: A Cajun Country Mystery by Ellen Byron
When Heroes Flew: The Shangri-La Raiders by H W “Buzz” Bernard
One Little Lie: A Thrilling Suspense Novel by Christopher Greyson
TV Netflix Series Outlander vs #Audiobook by Diana Gabaldon (Author) and Davina Porter (Narrator)
Man On Fire (A Rake Ozenna Thriller Book 3) by Humphrey Hawksley
Dublin Moon (Jack Dillon Dublin Tales Book 10) by Mike Faricy
Seven-Year Witch (Witch Way Librarian Mysteries) by Angela M Sanders
His & Hers: A Novel by Alice Feeney
The Vineyard Victims by Ellen Crosby
Murder in Connemara (A Home to Ireland Mystery Book 2) by Carlene O’Connor
The Perfect Ending by Rob Kaufman
This Much Huxley Knows: A Story of Innocence, Misunderstandings and Acceptance by Gail Aldwin
Vortex: An FBI Thriller by Catherine Coulter (Book 25)
Bad Medicine (The Medical Students Book 2) by James B Cohoon

I haven’t been able to keep up with my challenges, so will try and get that updated during the month as I believe we’ll be away from the computer the first week of September. You can check out my challenges progress by clicking on my Reading Challenges page.

Welcome to my new followers and thank you again to all my active followers. Hang in with me, please. Hopefully your August won’t still be facing Covid or its variants. Have a happy and peaceful Sunday!