#Goodreads – Page 26 – Rosepoint Publishing

The Light Over Lake Como by Roland Merullo – #BookReview – #historicalWWIIfiction

Book Blurb:

Two lovers separated in war-torn Italy struggle to reunite in a riveting and heartrending historical novel by the bestselling author of Once Night Falls and From These Broken Streets.

It’s 1945. The Nazi occupation of Italy is in its closing days. But risk is ever present.

It’s been nearly two years since Sarah Zinsi found tenuous sanctuary in Switzerland. Unmoored in a foreign land, she heeds a rumor that her village on the Lake Como shore has been liberated. Clutching her young daughter, Sarah navigates the arduous mountain trek back home to be with Luca Benedetto, the father of her child.

A resister to the end, Luca has one last assignment: assassinate Mussolini, the man who destroyed everything Luca cherished and who forced the love of his life to flee. Sarah’s path crosses that of a charismatic and kindly black marketeer turned partisan spy. He vows to keep mother and child safe as Luca’s perilous mission escalates and the Nazis’ final moves devolve into chaos.

But for Sarah and Luca, the pull of love, the will to survive, and the promise of a new family are greater than any odds against them.

His Review:

The years immediately after 1922 when Mussolini came to power were good in Italy. Large crowds would marvel at his wisdom and embrace his promises of making the Roman Empire a world leader again. Certainly, he had problems and many young ladies warmed his bed. But then, wasn’t that what all great leaders had in common?

El Duce felt that joining with Hitler would expand Italian territories and strengthen his position in the world. During the beginning of the war, this seemed true as the armies swept through North Africa with little or no opposition. The might of the former Roman Empire seemed possible. The citizens enjoyed his speeches and enthusiasm. But his leadership became a puppet show during the middle of the war, and many plots were hatched to kill the man.

The people became destitute as the war dragged on and the Nazis controlled the police and the military. Hitler kept Mussolini around to show his support for Italy’s attempts to defeat the Allies. Meanwhile, the citizens of Italy wanted the Germans out of their country and an end to the conflict. Could El Duce get to Switzerland and seek refuge there until the end of the war?

This story deals with the tragedy of war and the hardships that nations endure during conflicts. Even the close confidants of Mussolini began to plot his demise and a total elimination of any support for Germany. Daily lives were shattered as plots were discovered and reprisals administered. The writing is first rate and the sub-plots are well developed and thought provoking. Enjoy this story. 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinions are my own.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Historical World War II Fiction, Women’s Historical Fiction, War Fiction
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
ISBN: ‎ 1662510780
ASIN: B0CHD24CT9
Print Length: 280 pages
Publication Date: June 4, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble

The Author: NEW FROM ROLAND MERULLO:

DESSERT WITH BUDDHA will be published in early May, 2023.

Roland Merullo is the author of twenty-seven books of fiction and non-fiction, that range from suspense novels (Fidel’s Last Days, A Russian Requiem, Revere Beach Boulevard, The Return) to love stories (A Little Love Story, The Talk-Funny Girl, Leaving Losapas) to golf and travel books (Golfing with God, Passion for Golf, The Italian Summer, Taking the Kids to Italy) to humorous spiritual road trips (Breakfast with Buddha, Lunch with Buddha, Dinner with Buddha, The Delight of Being Ordinary, Golfing with God, American Savior). His books have sold over half a million copies and been translated across the globe, from China to Brazil, from Korea to Croatia, from Turkey to Bulgaria, and he has been the recipient of numerous awards (see below).

Much in demand as a speaker, Merullo has given informal talks, commencement, and convocation speeches at colleges and universities in New England, California, Florida, North Carolina, Minnesota, and Nebraska, as well as at open-minded churches of various denominations, and hundreds of libraries, schools, and community organizations.

His latest novel, A Harvest of Secrets, is the third in a recent series of World War II historical fiction set in Italy. It follows Once Night Falls, which was selected as a November pick by Amazon First Read’s editors who called the novel “Both epic and intimate in its portrayal of World War II Italy.” They continued by saying, “Merullo expertly illuminates the war’s devastation of the country and its culture. …So immediate, it plunges the reader into this harrowing time, making the story—and the chapter of history—feel intensely personal. …The book is unflinching in its portrayal of wartime turmoil. Yet heroism and hopefulness drive these characters. Once Night Falls is a page-turning, propulsive read, and the stakes are always incredibly high. But it is the characters—and the powerful lessons they bestow—that make this is a truly unforgettable story.”

Once Night Falls was followed by From These Broken Streets, which describes the famous Four Days uprising in Naples in 1943. Kirkus called it, “Stirring and moving: more fine work from a versatile and gifted writer.” And the Booklist reviewed said, “The seamless plot is compelling, making this an altogether deeply satisfying work of historical fiction.”

The third novel in the series, A Harvest of Secrets, also takes place in Italy in 1943, and tells the story of a young woman from a wealthy, wine-producing family, who falls in love with one of the estate’s workers not long before he is sent off to war. The novel already has over 9,000 Amazon reviews and a 4.5 star rating.

Merullo was born in Boston and raised in the working-class city of Revere, Massachusetts. He had a scholarship to Exeter Academy and graduated in 1971, attended Boston University for two years, transferred to Brown University and graduated from Brown in 1975, then earned a Master’s there–in Russian Studies– in 1976. He’s been a carpenter, a cab driver, a Peace Corps volunteer in Micronesia, a college professor, worked for many months on cultural exchange exhibits in the former USSR, and has traveled to 49 US states and across the northern hemisphere. He currently lives in Massachusetts with his wife Amanda and their two daughters. He can be reached at Roland@RolandMerullo.com.

His many awards and prizes include:

– Massachusetts Book Award in Non-Fiction: Revere Beach Elegy
– Nomination for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award: Breakfast with Buddha
– Massachusetts Book Honor Award in Fiction: American Savior
– One of Publishers Weekly Five Best Books of 2013 (religious subjects): Vatican Waltz
– American Library Association Alex Award: The Talk-Funny Girl
– Boston Globe’s 100 Essential Books of New England: Revere Beach Boulevard
– Finalist LL Winship/PEN New England Prize: Revere Beach Boulevard
– Booklist Editors Choice: In Revere, In Those Days
– Maria Thomas Fiction Prize for Year’s Best Novel by a former Peace Corps Volunteer: In Revere, In Those Days
– Kirkus Reviews “Best of 2013” List: Lunch with Buddha
– B.Dalton Discovery Series: Leaving Losapas
– Good Housekeeping’s Ten Wonderful Romance Novels: A Little Love Story

His best-selling novel, Breakfast with Buddha, has gone into its 22nd printing and has sold over 250,000 copies. Like Golfing with God before it, and American Savior after it, Breakfast with Buddha treats questions of philosophy/spirituality from a multi-denominational viewpoint and with a healthy dose of humor. The novel has become a favorite with book clubs all over the country and been the focus of numerous community-wide reads from Colorado to Connecticut. It was based on an actual trip Merullo took from New York to North Dakota, most of it in the company of his wife and daughters.

Also based on actual road trips, and also available in various formats (including a collector’s edition) is Merullo’s 2012 novel, Lunch with Buddha, the long-awaited sequel to Breakfast with Buddha. Lunch with Buddha details a trip from Washington State to North Dakota with the same wonderful characters as its predecessor. In a Starred Review, Kirkus called it, “a beautifully written and compelling story about a man’s search for meaning that earnestly and accessibly tackles some well-trodden but universal questions. A quiet meditation on life, death, darkness and spirituality, sprinkled with humor, tenderness and stunning landscapes.” Lunch with Buddha recently went into a fifth printing and has also been widely translated.

Dinner with Buddha follows the same cast of characters from Breakfast with Buddha and Lunch with Buddha as they make another hilarious, spiritually uplifting road trip across the American west.

Merullo’s novella, Rinpoche’s Remarkable Ten-Week Weight Loss Clinic, features two of the characters from the Buddha Trilogy. Ostensibly about a weight loss clinic run by the meditation master Volya Rinpoche, this compact and deftly structured story explores aspects of addiction and self-appreciation from a fresh vantage point.

An avid and accomplished golfer and golf writer, Merullo’s Ten Commandments of Golf Etiquette, is perfect for those who are new to the game and want to master the complicated dance that is on-course behavior. His other golf-related books include Passion for Golf; In Pursuit of the Innermost Game, Golfing with God, and The Italian Summer.

The Return is a dark and thrilling sequel to Revere Beach Boulevard and follows the lives of a circle of people who are linked by one man’s addiction.

Merullo’s humorous travel memoir, Taking the Kids to Italy, is a light read that tells the story of a disastrous family trip to Italy. Everything that could possibly go wrong, did go wrong, from illness to cold houses, but the author shines the light of laughter on all of it and creates a story that will appeal to armchair travelers and to any family that has met with vacation challenges.

His novel, Vatican Waltz, received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal and was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of the five best books of 2013 on the subject of religion. More serious than his other spiritual novels, it tells the intriguing story of a young Catholic woman who believes she is being called by God to become a parish priest.

Merullo’s 2005 novel, Golfing with God, was optioned for film by Gemfilms, and the actor John Turturro held the option to Leaving Losapas for ten years. American Savior is currently under option for both stage and screen.

The Talk-Funny Girl, a 2011 Alex Award winner, is the story of a teenage girl in rural New Hampshire who escapes an abusive home life in a most unusual way. It follows a theme that can be found in almost all Merullo’s books, that is, a person who bravely overcomes some past trauma, whether that be the stress of war, illness, divorce, addiction, or early abuse. The Alex Awards are given to ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.

Please watch Roland’s FaceBook page for news of upcoming workshops and events or visit his website http://www.rolandmerullo.com to sign up for his popular monthly newsletter (essays, giveaways, serialized stories, announcements).

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett – #AudiobookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Best Books of the Year 2023 [Amazon]

Nominee for Best Fiction (2023)

Book Blurb:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A REESE’S BOOK CLUB PICK READ BY MERYL STREEP

In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family’s orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother, and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.

Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.

My Review:

Again with the coming of age, family life fiction, I sank into the Tom Lake audiobook in no small part because of the author—listened to The Dutch House and loved it—but also because Meryl Streep narrates this one. Can you get any better than that? Yeah, The Dutch House is narrated by Tom Hanks. Patchett can warrant a highly celebrated actor to narrate her literary fiction.

Streep is perfect for this part and, indeed, she plays it like an acting part, using that memorable voice to set the tone, the scene, and the characters beautifully. It’s much like having her in your living room and telling the story to you as if it were her own. But it’s Lara’s story, whose three daughters return to northern Michigan during the pandemic with cherry picking looming over the farm in the summer…Good Lord Willing and the Creek Don’t Rise.

It is a down home look back on Lara’s life which as a young woman revolves around the theater and the actors, support staff who present the plays—now a local theater company called Tom Lake preparing for the play Our Town. But heaven knows she had some history and though the girls have all heard stories of those years, the one they keep reverting to is their mother’s romance with Peter Duke. He went on to become a big star.

Particularly with an audiobook that switches time frames, seems like sometimes in the same paragraph, you can lose the train of thought and have to work to catch up. Even Streep can get into quiet reflection mode and slow the progression of the storyline somewhat. There are a lot of support characters, so the reader is forced to remember where in the narrative it was prior to being buried in minutia.

Patchett manages to leave little pearls of discovery that eventually become a jewel of the tale. Along the way, there have been little surprises, twists, but ones generally expected. So what are we leading up to? Could she have taken the left at the fork and gone on to stardom herself? Could she have pursued Duke and become the shadow behind him? Why did she marry Joe and face a life on a Michigan cherry farm?

Descriptions have the farm and the area sounding so lovely, the reader might crave the beauty and peace of the life (unless you also gave thought to Michigan winters). There is a lot about theater here, the secrets behind the curtain, family secrets (some of which Lara coyly retains), and well-developed characters including the family rescue dog—throw in the grandma for good measure.

Yes, I greatly enjoyed Streep’s interpretation of the novel and the writing style but found the pace was a bit slow.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Coming of Age Fiction, Family life Fiction
Publisher: HarperAudio
ASIN: B0BPZYH97W
Listening Length: 11 hrs 22 mins
Narrator: Meryl Streep
Publication Date: August 1, 2023Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)

Title Link: Tom Lake [Amazon]

The Author: Ann Patchett is the author of six novels, including Bel Canto, which won the Orange Prize for Fiction. She writes for the New York Times Magazine, Elle, GQ, the Financial Times, the Paris Review and Vogue. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee. (Amazon)

Patchett was born in Los Angeles, California. Her mother is the novelist Jeanne Ray.

She moved to Nashville, Tennessee when she was six, where she continues to live. Patchett said she loves her home in Nashville with her doctor husband and dog. If asked if she could go any place, that place would always be home. “Home is …the stable window that opens out into the imagination.”

Patchett attended high school at St. Bernard Academy, a private, non-parochial Catholic school for girls run by the Sisters of Mercy. Following graduation, she attended Sarah Lawrence College and took fiction writing classes with Allan Gurganus, Russell Banks, and Grace Paley. She later attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, where she met longtime friend Elizabeth McCracken. It was also there that she wrote her first novel, The Patron Saint of Liars.

In 2010, when she found that her hometown of Nashville no longer had a good book store, she co-founded Parnassus Books with Karen Hayes; the store opened in November 2011. In 2012, Patchett was on the Time 100 list of most influential people in the world by TIME magazine. (Goodreads)

The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange – #AudiobookReview – #ThrowbackThursday

Goodreads Choice Award nominee

Book Blurb:

From Tracey Lange, the New York Times bestselling author of We Are the Brennans, comes The Connellys of County Down: a story about fierce family loyalty, good intentions gone awry, and the consequences of improbable love.

When Tara Connelly is released from prison after serving eighteen months on a drug charge, she knows rebuilding her life at thirty years old won’t be easy. With no money and no prospects, she returns home to live with her siblings, who are both busy with their own problems. Her brother, a single dad, struggles with the ongoing effects of a brain injury he sustained years ago, and her sister’s fragile facade of calm and order is cracking under the burden of big secrets. Life becomes even more complicated when the cop who put her in prison keeps showing up unannounced, leaving Tara to wonder what he wants from her now.

While she works to build a new career and hold her family together, Tara finds a chance at love in a most unlikely place. But when the Connellys’ secrets start to unravel and threaten her future, they all must face their worst fears and come clean, or risk losing each other forever.

The Connellys of County Down is a moving novel about testing the bounds of love and loyalty. It explores the possibility of beginning our lives anew, and reveals the pitfalls of shielding each other from the bitter truth.

My Review:

Tara, the youngest of three siblings left orphaned by their parents, has just been released from prison after serving eighteen months. She is thrilled to be returning home to her older sister Geraldine and brother Eddie but discovers pretty quickly that Geraldine is running an extremely tight ship in order to sort the chaos and leave her some sanity. Still, the responsibility of the two younger kids has stretched her near to the breaking point.

The rigid structure Geraldine created in her absence has left no room for spontaneity in any of the other two and they’ve learned to go by the rules or face the wrath.

Eddie, the middle child, is still suffering after effects of a horrible car accident when he was fourteen and is now trying to raise his son Connor.

Prior to Tara going to prison for drug trafficking, she was involved in teaching and made use of prison time by allowing her artistic side to grow and shine. Luckily, her expertise with graphics has landed her an illustrator position which she quickly learns to love along with the two boys who created the start-up.

In alternating chapters, each gets their POV where we learn the secrets they hold from each other. It was fun to be a fly on the wall in their separate lives as each navigates a serious issue, struggles with a disreputable childhood, and strives to overcome their baggage.

In many cases, where the children have had to be the adults, their loyalty to each other is strong, unconditional, and sacrificial. The three main characters are well-developed and sympathetic, but it’s easy to engage in supporting characters as well. Perhaps some of their decisions come from immaturity, but they share and support each other without question. I cheered Eddie’s advancement, heart sank with Geraldine’s foolish plan, and applauded Tara’s success with her graphics.

The officers responsible for sending Tara away had their eye on a larger target. But something about the case continued to bother him and he kept a close watch—perhaps too close–and that left me with a small case of disbelief. Tara’s record is always hanging over as she begins to grasp and then navigate the quandary Geraldine has initiated. Will it result in a return to the slammer?

It could.

Still, the twists in the conclusion worked and provided a satisfying end.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Family Life Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
ISBN-10: ‎ 1250865379
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1250865373
ASIN: B0BJYBB316
Listening Length: 9 hrs 21 mins
Narrator: Barrie Kreinik
Publication Date: August 1, 2023
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Connellys of County Down [Amazon]

The Author: Born in the Bronx and raised in Manhattan, Tracey Lange comes from a large Irish family with a few secrets of its own. She headed west and graduated from the University of New Mexico before owning and operating a behavioral healthcare company with her husband for fifteen years. While writing her debut novel, We Are the Brennans, she completed the Stanford University online novel writing program. Tracey currently lives in Bend, Oregon, with her husband, two sons and their German Shepherd.

#ThhrowbackThursday

No Strangers Here by Carlene O’Connor – #AudiobookReview – #ReadingIrelandMonth24

County Kerry Mystery #1

Book Blurb:

Set in Ireland’s striking, rugged countryside, USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor’s dark, atmospheric new crime fiction series combines the eerie atmosphere of Tana French and Louise Penny with the compulsively taut plotting of Dervla McTiernan and Lucy Foley, as an Irish veterinarian grapples with life, death, family dynamics, and the secrets at the heart of her small community…

On a rocky beach in the southwest of Ireland, the body of Jimmy O’Reilly, sixty-nine years old and dressed in a suit and his dancing shoes, is propped on a boulder, staring sightlessly out to sea. A cryptic message is spelled out next to the body with sixty-nine polished black stones and a discarded vial of deadly veterinarian medication lies nearby. Jimmy was a wealthy racehorse owner, known far and wide as The Dancing Man. In a town like Dingle, everyone knows a little something about everyone else. But dig a bit deeper, and there’s always much more to find. And when Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is dispatched out of Killarney to lead the murder inquiry, he’s determined to unearth every last buried secret.

Dimpna Wilde hasn’t been home in years. As picturesque as Dingle may be for tourists in search of their roots and the perfect jumper, to her it means family drama and personal complications. In fairness, Dublin hasn’t worked out quite as she hoped either. Faced with a triple bombshell—her mother rumored to be in a relationship with Jimmy, her father’s dementia is escalating, and her brother is avoiding her calls—Dimpna moves back to clear her family of suspicion.

Despite plenty of other suspects, the guards are crawling over the Wildes. But the horse business can be a brutal one, and as Dimpna becomes more involved with her old acquaintances and haunts, the depth of lingering grudges becomes clear. Theft, extortion, jealousy and greed. As Dimpna takes over the family practice, she’s in a race with the detective inspector to uncover the dark, twisting truth, no matter how close to home it strikes…

My Review:

Oh good grief. You can’t say I’m not consistent. An author I’ve read many times, her cozy mysteries, an apparently gave one to the CE to read in June 2022.

This one.

No Strangers Here launches a series in which the author leaves her cozy mysteries and turns out a much darker story. And you can believe that the author can spin some pretty interesting tales!

Detective Inspector Cormac O’Brien is back to lead the investigation into the murder of Jimmy O’Reilly in Dingle. Dr. Dimpna Wilde has returned to Dingle and the veterinarian quickly finds herself embroiled in the apparent murder owing to a possible connection to her family. Her father, also a veterinarian with a long-held practice is showing strong signs of dementia.

Wealthy racehorse owner Jimmy O’Reilly had quite the reputation for himself. He was quite the dapper dancer and the ladies loved it. Including Dimpna’s mother?

Along with a bird’s eye view of the beautiful tourist-drawing countryside and a well-rounded cadre of support characters, the narrative’s undercurrent reveals twists as the storyline progresses through each lead.

I reviewed Book 2 of the series, Some of Us Are Looking and really enjoyed it but I can’t find a Book 3 for this series. I found Book 1 to be a bit slower than the second, but as the start of a series, that’s not unusual. Dimpna has her problems, of course she does, but I found the novel about the Irish animal doctor engaging and either installment could be read as a standalone.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: International Mystery & Crime, Women Sleuth Mysteries
Publisher: Recorded Books
ASIN: B0B8R282TK
Listening Length: 12 hrs 26 mins
Narrator: Emily O’Mahony
Publication Date: October 25, 2022
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: No Strangers Here [Amazon]

The Author: USA Today bestselling author Carlene O’Connor comes from a long line of Irish storytellers. Her great-grandmother emigrated from Ireland to America and the stories have been flowing ever since. Of all the places across the pond she’s wandered, she fell most in love with a walled town in County Limerick and was inspired to create the town of Kilbane, County Cork. She writes the bestselling IRISH VILLAGE MYSTERIES, the HOME TO IRELAND series, and the new COUNTY KERRY MYSTERIES. Her books have been translated into numerous languages, and optioned for television.

Readers can find her at Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086525205106 or through her website: http://www.carleneoconnor.net

The Keeper of Secrets by Maria McDonald – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

A brand new completely gripping historical novel.

Book Blurb:

One lie changes a family’s path for generations—and finally brings them back to Ireland, in this saga by the author of The Devil’s Own.

In May 1917 the Americans sailed into Cork to join the Great War. When they left two years later, they brought their war brides with them, including Lizzie McCarthy. Still reeling from the tragic death of her sister Maggie, Lizzie leaves Ireland hoping for a better life with her new husband Ed Anderson.

Lizzie soon finds that America is not the land of opportunity she thought it was. Despite the obstacles in her path, she makes a good life for herself and her family. Ed’s sisters become her closest friends and allies. At home, Ireland’s bloody civil war ends. Lizzie’s brother Jimmy joins her and becomes part of the family until he feels compelled to return to a new independent Ireland.

But another conflict is on the horizon, and as their family grows and plants roots in America, they take the once-unimaginable step of boarding a plane and visiting Ireland. Once there, will Lizzie finally learn the truth about her sister’s death?

My Review:

Just in time for Reading Ireland Month (and my second contribution) comes a book from Irish author Maria McDonald. This author provides varied engrossing tales of historical fiction based on familiar characters—in this case, Irish WWI war brides.

In 1976, Beth in Florida, grapples with the tapes of her grandmother, Lizzie, and the startling revelations of her life in Ireland and the marriage to Ed Anderson, a sailor who takes her back to the US following the end of WWI.

Ed gets a job and Lizzie meets his family and gratefully begins the assimilation of life in America. Ed’s two sisters prove her new best friends and she begins a forty-plus year odyssey of life in America, watching both his family and her own grow, evolve, and emerge over the years through hardship and small triumphs.

The storytelling is compelling—following the lives and their progress, developments in both countries, the tragedies, and the impact of events that influenced both countries from prohibition and the depression, WWII, and the US President John F. Kennedy.

There is an interesting well-plotted twist and pace that keeps engagement. Lizzie is well-developed and sympathetic, as are support characters, although a couple of them take an unexpected course of action. The tension of the tightly held secrets holds the suspense in the background, always a cloud over the characters.

Only the tapes will relinquish the long-held and history-changing truths, although these too include a couple surprises. The conclusion becomes an ah ha! and satisfying moment.

I’ve read and enjoyed each of the author’s books, always finding tidbits I can tuck away, particularly in The Devil’s Own.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Sibling Fiction, 20^th Century Historical Fiction
Publisher: Bloodhound Books
ASIN: B0CTJC31PF
Print Length: 310 pages
Publication Date: March 26, 2024
Source: Author

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Originally from Belfast, Maria McDonald lives in Kildare, with her husband Gerry.

Maria is an avid reader who loves to write but only indulged in her passion for writing fiction after retirement. Since then, her short stories and articles have been published in Woman’s Way and Ireland’s Own, as well as numerous anthologies; Intermissions, Grattan Street Press Melbourne; Same page anthology, University College Cork; Fragments of Time, Amber Publishers. Maria is a founder member of Ink Tank Writing Group, based in Newbridge library and contributed to their anthologies, Timeless in Kildare and Let Me Tell You Something.

Since signing with Bloodhound Books she published two historical fiction novels in 2023, The Devil’s Own and Tangled Webs. The Keeper of Secrets, her third novel with Bloodhound Books, is due for release in March 2024

https://twitter.com/mariamacwriter

Lost Man’s Lane by Scott Carson – #BookReview – #HorrorSuspense

Book Blurb:

A teenager explores the darkness hidden within his hometown in this spellbinding supernatural thriller from bestselling author Scott Carson.

For a sixteen-year-old, a summer internship working for a private investigator seems like a dream come true—particularly since the PI is investigating the most shocking crime to hit Bloomington, Indiana, in decades. A local woman has vanished, and the last time anyone saw her, she was in the backseat of a police car driven by a man impersonating an officer.

Marshall Miller’s internship puts him at the center of the action, a position he relishes until a terrifying moment that turns public praise for his sharp observations and uncanny memory into accusations of lying and imperiling the case. His detective mentor withdraws, friends and family worry and whisper, and Marshall alone understands that the darkness visiting his town this summer goes far beyond a single crime. Now his task is to explain it—and himself.

His Review:

I remember the concern about the change from the 1900’s to 2000. Pundits predicted the economy would stop and business grind to a halt. It seemed that the inventors of computers and the programs did not take into account the underlying date sequencing in computers. It was a very big non-event on January 1, 2000, because everything just continued. However, in 1999 the threat was real and computer geeks shook in their boots.

Marshall is a 17-year-old making his way through school with all of the pressures and angst that only that age can conjure. His mother is a single mom doing the best she can and holding down three jobs to make ends meet. Marshall has no idea who his father is and is harassed continually by the bullies in his school in Bloomington, Indiana. His mom is his staunchest ally but she cannot keep him being a target.

His primary problem is that he has seen a ghost who threatens his life after a routine traffic stop. Add to that the troubles with his boyhood sweetheart.

A series of mishaps and life-threatening events are thwarted by the one person who might dislike him the most. He then befriends Noah who hires him for the summer and works to train him as a private investigator. The job is supposed to be boring but Marshall finds it extremely stressful and frightening. He keeps seeing the ghost who continues to make his life miserable. Add a repeating history of young girls mysteriously dying in the town since the early 1900s and the entire story takes on a terrible and foreboding patina.

I remember reading Edgar Allen Poe during my high school years and marveling at the twists employed in his books. Scott Carson has employed some of that style and the result is a myriad of unexplained deaths. Can Scott save his girlfriend and solve some of these questions? I could not put this book down and the twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat until the end. Enjoy! 4.5 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book. These are my own opinions.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Horror Suspense, Paranormal Suspense, Kidnapping Thrillers
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
ASIN: B0C7RNJ7H4
Print Length: 524 pages pages
Publication Date: March 26, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Scott Carson is the pen name of Michael Koryta, a New York Times bestselling author whose work has been translated into more than twenty languages, adapted into major motion pictures, and won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. A former private investigator and reporter, his writing has been praised by Stephen King, Michael Connelly, and Dean Koontz, among many others. Raised in Bloomington, Indiana, he now lives in Indiana and Maine.

Reading Ireland Month 2024

The Wrong Side of Goodbye by Michael Connelly – #AudiobookReview – #ReadingIrelandMonth24

Harry Bosch Book 19

Book Blurb:

Harry Bosch is California’s newest private investigator. He doesn’t advertise, he doesn’t have an office, and he’s picky about who he works for, but it doesn’t matter. His chops from 30 years with the LAPD speak for themselves.

Soon one of Southern California’s biggest moguls comes calling. The reclusive billionaire has less than six months to live and a lifetime of regrets. He hires Bosch to find out whether he has an heir. Using all of his cold-case skills, Bosch pieces together a 65-year-old mystery and finds out that the case is not as simple – or as cold – as he thought.

My Review:

Harry Bosch is working as a volunteer reserve officer (working free) to keep himself in the system somewhere investigating a cold case for the San Fernando PD. He’s also moonlighting as a PI. In that capacity, he was hired by a billionaire to find an heir he may have produced when he was a college student and still very much under the thumb of family. Now he is very ill and believes he doesn’t have much time and, of course, his company would prefer no heirs be found.

The cold case may be just as tough, that of a serial rapist. Fortunately, with his hand still legimately capable of research within the department—some according to the book—some a serious no-no, he has resources and the time he can tap that will get him info not readily available at the time.

Both cases run concurrently and are simultaneously immersive.

I love the way the author manages to bring in a little backstory to explain the history of the persons in the foreground. The support characters are always lively and well developed, but it’s that voice of Bosch that provides that rich storytelling experience we’ve come to expect in a Connelly crime thriller.

This installment also includes Bosch’s half-brother Mickey Haller, the Lincoln Lawyer, a legal thriller spin-off made even more popular as a series on Netflix. It’s fun to dip into the legal side of his case and the necessary police procedures it will take to get the case to court.

I also appreciate his references to the freeway system allowing cross-town travel at snail speeds and the history of the different neighborhoods. It makes the city come alive in the imagination.

The double plot is done very well providing lots of twists and turns and both manage to converge successfully to conclusion.

I always think, “Alright, that has to be his best.” Then I read another and think the same. This one is engaging, provides tension and suspense with both stories having you root for a satisfying outcome. I don’t know how he manages it, but it always does.

Enjoying a couple of his other series as well, also listening to both Renée Ballard and The Lincoln Lawyer.

I downloaded a copy of this audiobook from my local well-stocked library. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedural Mysteries, Crime Fiction, Police Procedurals
Publisher: Hachette Audio
ASIN: B01K3EKBXS
Listening Length: 10 hrs 21 mins
Narrator: Titus Welliver
Publication Date: November 1, 2016
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: The Wrong Side of Goodbye [Amazon]

The Author: Michael Connelly is the bestselling author of more than thirty novels and one work of nonfiction. With over eighty million copies of his books sold worldwide and translated into forty-five foreign languages, he is one of the most successful writers working today. A former newspaper reporter who worked the crime beat at the Los Angeles Times and the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, Connelly has won numerous awards for his journalism and his fiction. His very first novel, The Black Echo, won the prestigious Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award for Best First Novel in 1992. In 2002, Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie adaptation of Connelly’s 1998 novel, Blood Work. In March 2011, the movie adaptation of his #1 bestselling novel, The Lincoln Lawyer, hit theaters worldwide starring Matthew McConaughey as Mickey Haller. His most recent New York Times bestsellers include Desert Star (2022), The Dark Hours (2021), The Law Of Innocence (2020), Fair Warning (2020), and The Night Fire (2019). Michael is the executive producer of Bosch and Bosch: Legacy, Amazon Studios original drama series based on his bestselling character Harry Bosch, starring Titus Welliver and streaming on Amazon Prime/Amazon Freevee. He is the executive producer of The Lincoln Lawyer, streaming on Netflix, starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. He is also the executive producer of the documentary films, “Sound Of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story’ and ‘Tales Of the American.’ He spends his time in California and Florida.

Titus Welliver - actor, narrator — Titus Welliver–Compliments of Wikipedia–thank you!

The Narrator: Titus B. Welliver is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of the Man in Black in Lost, Silas Adams in Deadwood, Jimmy O’Phelan in Sons of Anarchy, and the title role in the television series Bosch. Wikipedia Born: March 12, 1962, New Haven, CT.

Cheers

Obey All Laws by Cindy Goyette – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

A Probation Case Files Mystery

Book Blurb:

When Phoenix probation officer Casey Carson goes to work, she expects naked people to answer doors, meth-addicted clients to hit on her, and angry judges to chew her out in court. After a routine home visit with a client, a Diablo gang member, goes horribly wrong, she knows she must watch her back. Even she must admit that a one-eyed, bad-ass, angry gangster and his crew gunning for her is a bit more than she was trained to handle.

Casey has even more reason to fear Diablo when her cousin Hope goes missing, and it looks like their handiwork. With women vanishing at an alarming rate in the area, police treat Hope’s disappearance as a priority. Still, Casey can’t sit on the sidelines, even with her ex-husband leading the investigation. After she receives information that proves her suspicions about Diablo right, the gang will do anything to keep her from sharing it with police, even if that means taking her on a one-way trip to the desert.

My Review:

Well, here is a new and fresh take on a crime thriller coming from the unique perspective of a probation officer. Casey Carson is a seasoned, savvy PO officer. She is also a main character you can identify with. She’s smart when it comes to her job—well—not always as every main character I’ve ever known tends to go off by themselves without backup. As a reader, you can yell at them all you want. They won’t hear you.

Still, the author has packed some very likable characters behind her engaging main character, including an ex-husband, Barry Betz, that you keep asking why the “ex”?

“Detective Barry Betz that is, got out and walked toward me, shaking his head.

He looked good.

Damn it.”

From the opening action-packed chapter through the sub-plot with Casey’s cousin, the fast-paced narrative doesn’t lag or resort to constant repeats. It doesn’t help when Hope’s sister Joy arrives to help find her sister—only to heap on additional problems.

I love the dry sense of humor from the first person POV and the twists and turns, but no, didn’t need a new heat-inducing sexy neighbor clouding the issue with the ex. I liked the ex. But the new neighbor adds tension, suspicion, and a little fun.

So, really, this is a debut novel? I love the unique aspect and info coming from that side of the law. Since we lived for a short time just outside of Phoenix, I was fairly familiar with the area—and the heat—and descriptions give it an atmospheric and comfortably recognizable quality.

A great start for a new series and one I’m looking forward to.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through @NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are my own thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four point Five Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Police Procedurals, Women Sleuths, CrimeThrillers
Publisher: Level Best Books
ISBN-10: ‎1685125344
ISBN-13: ‎978-1685125349
ASIN: B0CQ17GQ8V
Print Length: 310 pages
Publication Date: January 9, 2024
Source: Publisher and NetGalley

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Cindy Goyette is a former probation officer who had a front row seat to the criminal justice system. Her experiences helped her create fiction that mirrors real life situations. Her mystery, OBEY ALL LAWS, is part of a series published in January of 2024 by Level Best Books. Cindy lives in Washington state with her husband and two Cocker Spaniels.