You Can Run - A Review

 

You Can Run

by

Karen Cleveland

A Review

I loved it. I hated it. I suppose that means it was a good book. From the first page to the last sentence, the author provides a compelling story of espionage, revenge, and corruption. The reader will leave the story with a gasp - satisfied and feeling punched in the stomach at the same time. I give the book 5-stars.
______________
This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.  

Breach Of Honor - A Review

 

Breach of Honor

by

Janice Cantore

A Review

I can’t change anything that has already happened.
Blame is irrelevant. It will change nothing.
I have to move forward and make better choices.
I need to remember what it felt like to walk with God,
not away from Him.
(Chapter 22)

The Table Rock, OR, police department has a problem - only no one knows it. It occasionally raised its ugly head throughout the years, but it became more obvious when Leah Radcliff, a member of the Table Rock PD, shot and killed her husband, another Table Rock Police Officer. The jury found her guilty and the judge sentenced her to 25 years to life. That was the published version of the story.

But that version of the story did not include the clandestine meetings her husband had late at night, it did not tell the years of violence that had defined much of Leah’s marriage, and it did not include the vicious attack that occurred the night she shot him. It would take five years, a new lawyer, a new trial, and the cooperation of the Table Rock PD, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department, the Oregon State Police, and the FBI, to follow all the leads and bring the truth into the spotlight.

The result is one of the best faith-based thrillers that this reviewer has read. Though much of the story focuses on the corruption present in the Table Rock PD, it also exposes the pain and grief associated with domestic violence. I appreciate the fact that the author has chosen to include the phone number and website for the National Domestic Violence Hotline at the beginning of the book. Much Christian fiction deals with difficult topics, but then offers no sources of help for those in need. A major plus for this book. I give the book five stars.
______________
This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

River City Dead - A Review

River City Dead

by

Nancy G. West

A Review

Book Four in the series, but the second that I had the opportunity to read provides a fun romp through downtown Fiesta Week in San Antonio. Though taking place in 1998, the book reads like a modern cozy mystery starting with chapter one when a dead body, Monica Peters, is found in the penthouse suite of the CASA Prima Hotel.

Monica was not just a dead body, she was also the previous resident of the room that was to be Aggie Mundeen’s room for her San Antonio vacation and she was a personal friend. Despite Detective Sam Vanderhoven, Aggie’s special friend, insistence that she stay away, she couldn’t. She never did.

Monica Peter was the first victim, but not the last. Some were intentional - others consequential if the real target was to be killed. But Sam and Aggie would stumble on clue after clue toward a satisfying resolution.

The book held my attention as it moved through this river city’s version of Mardi Gras - even as the sitting moved by the wonderful riverside events to other locations throughout the metropolitan area. The descriptions would make one want to visit this historical city during Fiesta Week or at some other time of the year. The reader gets a glimpse of the culture that defines late 20th century - some of which can still be seen during Fiesta Week each year in San Antonio.

And a hint - don’t miss the origin of Nachoes in chapter seven - a little history added to a cozy mystery for the fun of it.

______________

This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.

Dark Justice - A Review

Dark Justice

by

Brandilyn Collins

A Review

Dark Justice is a fly by the seat of your pants thriller that focuses on the lives of three women who find themselves with the task of saving the United Stated from becoming a disaster scene centered on the collapse of the electrical grid from the West Coast to the Eastern Seaboard.  

Beginning with the automobile accident that killed the CEO of large conglomerate to the hospital setting where Hannah Shire, her mother Carol, and daughter Emily would find themselves on the night the lights went out, this reader could not wait to see how they story would end.  The Shire family were innocent bystanders caught up in a conspiracy that covered much of the North American continent.  The excitement builds as the both the local sheriff’s department and the FBI may be deep in the midst of the plot.

Though the Shire’s did not have the tools to break apart the conspiracy, it was their continued persistence that allowed  those with the proper tools to bring the conspirators to justice.  The story is well-woven story, partially told from Hannah Shire’s first person perspective, along with the transcripts of a Congressional investigation following the events of February 24th and 25th in 2013 and the third person description of the activities of the conspirators and the police.  The three voices come together to make a believable story that might easily be found in tonight’s or tomorrow’s newspapers.  One can only hope that the story remains just a story and not a New York Times headline in the near future.

The author has done a superb job of weaving faith into the story without drowning the plot in spirituality.  Building a story with people that have real problems (e.g. alzheimer's disease) in the midst of their crisis takes talent - something this author has demonstrated in Dark Justice.  Though this is not this authors first book, it is the first I had the opportunity to read.  I was not disappointed.

______________

This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.