Fire and Vengeance (Koa Kane Hawaiian Mystery) by Robert McCaw
Reviewed by Teri Davis
Disaster tends to bring out the best and worst in people. For Chief Detective Koa Kane of Hilo, Hawaii, it also happens at the most inconvenient time. His Police Chief is away in California, preparing for gall bladder surgery. Being the senior-most member of the local force means he is now in charge and has to deal with whatever issue falls upon his community and the media. As far as Koa is concerned, all that is above his pay grade.
Weather frequently causes chains of problems from a hurricane with winds, thunder with lightning, and torrential downpours causing flash flooding.
The fissures on volcanoes open due to the cold and immense amount of water mixing with the magma reservoir creating steam under pressure.
At KonaWili School on Hualalai Mountain, Koa, along with his colleagues and firefighters, discover the dead and injured children and teachers. What could cause this disaster? Was it a bomb, a terrorist, or what?
The school site resembles a war zone. Students and teachers are in front of the building, drenched and injured. Helicopters from above are not safe flying in this weather. What is causing the problem? What is happening?
Almost Midnight: A Novel (Mike Bowditch Mysteries Book 10) by Paul Doiron
Reviewed by Allen Hott
Mike Bowditch, the Maine Game Warden Investigator, is on his way to the prison to see Billy Cronk, his longtime friend. Mike still feels he owes Billy because when two guys tried to kill both Mike and Billy. Billy was so enraged he beat the one guy to death so even though it was self-defense he did get sentenced to five years.
When Mike visits Billy he is asked by Billy to investigate a new prison guard who was transferred in by the governor. It seems that Billy now feels there is something going on among some of the guards and a few prisoners. He thinks maybe she is possibly there to sniff it out but then again she may be part of it. He wants to know so as to protect her if she is one of the good guys. Mike agrees and says he will look into it if he can.
Shortly after Mike leaves a major battle takes place in the prison and several people (including a guard) are killed. Billy is beaten up pretty bad but still alive. This adds to his theory and inspires Mike to begin looking into the problem. Because not only Billy but the new female guard are in the hospital due to the battle that went on.
The Subway by Dustin Stevens
Reviewed by Allen Hott
An interesting book although a bit long, especially in places, due to number of characters. Also lots of words lost in description as author builds places and things for happening. The story is totally believable especially in today’s world.
Tim Scarberry is in Government Witness Protection because he had given witness against a gangster, Eric Bannister, then during the trial and later his incarceration Bannister and his brother with two accomplices worked on a plan to get ahold of Scarberry for retaliation.
A female police officer, Talula Davis, found the body of Scarberry’s uncle where he had been brutally murdered by the Bannister group. She was fairly new on the job and was having a tough time with her supervisor who it appears did not want any women in his crew. Strangely enough at about the same time Scarberry was being checked on by his officer in charge of him, Deputy Marshal Abby Lipski. One major difference is that Scarberry and Lipski were in Washington where he had been sent to live in the Protection Program while his dad and Officer Davis were in Georgia.
The Offspring by Bill Pinnell
Reviewed by Lisa Brown-Gilbert
Offering a read that simultaneously compels, repels, and excites, author Bill Pinnell’s The Offspring, peers into the dark side of human nature via family relationships, secrets, and racism, shown through a multi-layered, multigenerational, multi-perspective lens bringing together a set of characters whose lives intersect in interesting and at times intense ways.
First, the curiosity is piqued by an intriguing prologue which fundamentally sets the tone of this complex character-driven story, as a vivid memory quickly turns from pleasure to horror, within the mind of a character seemingly beguiled by scenes from the past. Next focus moves to the backstory of the romance between Lemuel Decker and Irene Baxter. Both are students at Logan High School during the 1940s in rural Nebraska. Set apart by an age gap and personality the two almost seem to be polar opposites while Lemuel is a shy athletic farm boy, Irene is pretty, popular, and outgoing. Because of the difference in age in school their paths rarely directly cross. However, once they do each makes an impression on the other not soon to be forgotten. Shy farm boy Lemuel holds a soft spot for the pretty and friendly Irene, but his timid demeanor continues to keep him seemingly hopelessly infatuated and at a distance.
Grandma Mable, Are You Able? by Willie Etta Wright
Reviewed by Teri Davis
Jacob has a life that is different from his classmates. It seems to him that he is the only one without a mother and a father. His grandmother acts as his parent.
His teacher, Miss Green, announces that the students are to participate in a Family Exercise Day this Saturday. While his classmates are excited, Jacob feels depressed. How can he possibly spend a day exercising with his grandma? She is old and deaf, wears false teeth, with white hair and glasses, and sometimes needs to walk with a cane. Grandma Mable wants Jacob to consider exercising her way. Somehow this does not brighten his prospects of a fun day. His only hope for a good day is bringing his dog, Friendly, with them. Of course, his grandmother agrees to the day. Jacob would much prefer to stay home and play video games.
The illustrations are bright and perfectly correlate with the text making this book enjoyable for most reading levels. The recommended reading level is for ages eight to eleven and grades three, four, and five.
“Grandma Mable, Are You Able?” has the prospect for vocabulary enrichment using words such as raucous, steady, mishap, and knack, as well as the past tense verbs of spotted, whirled, dangling, topped, splattered, chuckled and darted. What a great way to introduce verbs and suffixes!
Dak Ackerthefifth and the Ethics of Heroism by Joshua S. Joseph
Reviewed by Ray Palen
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” – The Dark Knight
That quote from filmmaker Christopher Nolan resonated with me as I read this complex and extremely satisfying novel from Joshua S Joseph. The protagonist in this, a young Indian man with the unique name of Dak Ackerthefifth — a name blamed on the same slip of the entry pen used on Ellis Island while in-taking droves of new American citizens to our country.
DAK ACKERTHEFIFTH AND THE ETHICS OF HEROISM is more of a spiritual journey than a work of fiction and the reader is privileged to go along for the ride. Throughout Dak’s life he seeks to understand the precept of what it means to be a hero. We understand that for one to be a hero you must pick a side — hero or villain — but we also learn that life is not that black and white and often times it is not clear as to which side you are on. The story begins with the death of his parents, Richard and Rudy. Our narrator indicates that the death of parents is the way every good hero story starts — but be mindful, this is no Disney tale.
Richard Ackerthefifth was a ballpoint pen magnate who allegedly died during a business trip to the Congo — or so Dak’s mother told him. Rudy was left to raise 8-year-old Dak and his younger sister, Emily. Regrettably, or in keeping with the hero plan, Rudy passes away when Dak is 14. Her death is blamed solely on Crazy Uncle Ji. He was not an actual ‘Uncle’, but was given that honorific title by their mother. Shortly after Rudy was diagnosed with cancer, Crazy Uncle Ji gave her a cocktail of various supplements which initially helped her but then quickly pushed her into a physical nosedive that she never recovered from.
My Sister’s Grave (Tracy Crosswhite Book 1) by Robert Dugoni
Reviewed by Allen Hott
Two very close sisters compete in everything with the younger one, Sarah, usually losing. However after a shooting competition twenty years ago that Tracy lost to Sarah, Sarah went one way and Tracy the other. Sarah however was never seen again until now when her remains were found in a partial grave.
It has bothered Tracy for all these years because Sarah, though she won the contest, had given the first prize to Tracy to make her feel good. What she didn’t realize is that not only did the gesture hurt Tracy’s feelings but then the next day Sarah would not be found.
Tracy had left the small town and was working as a detective in Seattle. When the news gets to her that some of Sarah’s body had been found Tracy heads back to the small town to see if somehow she can be of assistance in solving the mystery. She is doing it more for herself than for the people of the small town.
In the Heart of the Fire (Nameless Book 1) by Dean Koontz
Reviewed by Allen Hott
One interesting, but short, story by Koontz with a lot of his typical writing. He seems to always kind of write about the super natural or else spooky kind of scary stories that hold your attention and leave you wondering!
In the Heart of the Fire a guy who has some sort of amnesia is working for some type of organization that is run by the Ace of Diamonds. Although the amnesiac calls himself Ben Shepherd, the Ace has got him booked on transportation and in hotels as Alex Hurkos. (Throughout the book no revelation is made as to what caused his amnesia and why is he working for the Ace, who is also unknown throughout).
After arriving in a little town in Texas he checks into his hotel and retrieves information, money, and a revolver that he puts into his pocket. He has dinner and settles in for the evening wondering what all is going to happen tomorrow. During the night he receives several text messages with two names and three addresses.
Cheater’s Game (Jake Lassiter Legal Thrillers) by Paul Levine
Reviewed by Jud Hanson
Getting into your dream college can be tough. You have to have the right grades, the right extra-curricular activities and the right score on the SAT. But what if someone could take the SAT for you, for a price? Jake Lassiter, former NFL star turned lawyer, has a nephew offering exactly that service. For the right price, Kip will guarantee a score within the range needed for admission. This service is exactly what gets him in deep water when his “partner” turns him in exchange for leniency.
State of Betrayal (Detective Virgil Jones Mystery Thriller Series) by Thomas Scott
Reviewed by Allen Hott
A very interesting, although somewhat complex, read about Virgil Jones who is and has been a state cop for many years. The story begins actually twenty years ago when Jones, in the line of duty, has to shoot and kill a man. The man was beating another man to death with a piece of steel in the back of a pickup. At the time Virgil didn’t realize it nor would it have mattered but the two children of the man he shot to death were sitting in the front seat of the pickup.
And though it doesn’t come out immediately those two youngsters will show up again in the story some twenty years later and they will in fact have dealings with Virgil Jones.
What turns out is that Nicholas Pope, who was in fact the five year old son in the truck, becomes a highly skilled computer technician. Because of his great skills a coder he works his way up into a pretty good position in the state’s lottery program. He is one of those who have to keep track of the numbers and insure that they are definitely “mixed” well before each lottery drawing. And his twin sister, Nichole, is also involved in his latest operation which they both believe will help pay back in a monetary way the loss of their dad many years ago. The state lottery is a giant pot for them to shoot for and especially if they can pull it off using Nicholas’ skills.