Musing Monday: My thoughts about Blue Collar Eulogies by Michael Meyerhofer

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about something related to reading/books each week…...

I am going to muse about another book of poetry this week. 

Blue Collar Eulogies by Michael Meyerhofer

In this book of poetry, Meyerhofer has taken everyday observations and connected those in a very compelling way. One is taken by surprise by the turnings in his poetry. His poems seem to jump from one thought to another without that disjointed awkwardness. The poems speak of his experiences and he is not squeamish about the raw feelings or emotions. 

The language and tone are simply amazing and right from the beginning to the end, the reader is never ever let down. The nuances are so well brought out that one is left with the feeling of wanting more and more of his poetry. 

Meyerhofer has covered a whole range of topics and the depth is retained throughout. For example, take the following......

"The Crayon Not Taken."

On the way to your grandmother's,
you told them about the stupid boy in class
who forgot what color pumpkins were,
and because you always played by the rules,
now you are wealthy and married.

I, on the other hand, have lived
in the back seat of a '99 Cavalier in late July
when heat melts the life from the seeds
and, because it has no place else to go,
it wrestles through the soil for air.

Blood Harvest by S. J. Bolton

'She's been watching us for a while now.'
   'Go on, Tom.'
   'Sometimes it's like she's always there, behind a pile of stones, in the shadow at the bottom of the tower, under one of the old graves. She's good at hiding.'
    'She must be."
    'Sometimes she gets very close, before you have any idea. You'll be thinking about something else when one of her voices jumps out at you and, for a second, she catches you out. She really makes you think it's your brother, or your mum, hiding around the corner.'

Title: Blood Harvest
Author: S. J. Bolton
ISBN: 9780312600518
Publisher: Bantam Press/2010
Pages: 421

In a small Lancashire village, the Fletchers have just moved into a new house very near to the moor. Their house is built on the ground that used to be part of the abbey, and overlooks the graveyard. The Fletchers have three young children, Tom (10), Joe(6) and Millie (2). Tom is bullied by older boys at his school and has visions of a young girl among the graves and fields. 

One day, due to heavy rains, one of graves collapses and two extra bodies are found in that grave which should have contained only one body of a infant girl. The two bodies found belong to two girls, one of which had gone missing and the other supposedly burnt in a fire. Harry is the new vicar who gets involved in the village activities. He is close to the Fletcher children too. Evie is a psychiatrist treating unstable Gillian, the mother of the child who was supposed to be burnt in the fire. Gillian is always roaming about in the moors trying to find her little girl. 

Tom somehow believes that the mysterious person he sees is involved with the deaths. He knows that his brother Joe too can see that girl but is not willing to share it with Tom. We find Millie too knows the The Girl. Tom is paranoid about saving his sister from being taken away. Harry, the vicar, too hears voices in the church. 

Who is this Girl? How is she connected with the killing of the infant girls? Why is she after Millie? Bolton has woven a wonderful story about paranoia, with the suspense element being intact. Very atmospheric and I totally liked the way the brothers care for their younger sister. For one so young, they know how to protect her and also protect each other. The supernatural element enhances the the novel. 

Baby, It's Cold Outside by Genevieve Jourdin

“Carter, you’re freaking me out. Don’t tell me you love me. That’s just weird. Why were you at my house last night?” Something was very wrong here. She was looking at me like I was the one acting crazy.

“Justine, what are you talking about? Of course I know you, of course I love you. We live together.” I picked up her hand to give it a reassuring squeeze but before I could she jerked it away.

~~Page 12, Baby, It's Cold Outside by Genevieve Jourdin

Justine has an accident and she forgets two previous years of her life. Carter is frantic as she does not remember living with him. She knows him though. His sister is her best friend. At that time she did not even like him. She is older to him and that seems to bother her.

Carter does not know what to do. They were going to be engaged and she does not remember a thing! Slowly with his patience and love, she start remembering the past. It is narrative from the male point of view. Some might find the couple cute but it did nothing for me. And I found it quite mundane too, at some places. It is one time read and one can safely forget it after reading. I downloaded it for free. I am not going to buy anything by this author.

The Boy That Never Was by Karen Perry

A storm is rising. He can feel it in the strange stillness of the air. There is no movement, no flutter of clothing, not a whisper of a breeze along the narrow streets of Tangier.
   Beyond the lines of washing strung between the building, above the tiled roofs, he sees a patch of sky. There is a strange luminous quality to it, a bluish hue and lights that look almost like auroras.
   He stirs a cup of warm milk, blinks, and looks out again on to the changing and other worldly colours of the sky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This restlessness rumbled about inside me as I walked from room to room, assessing the varying degrees of dilapidation and making a mental list of what needed to be done.

~~~~Page 56, The Boy That Never Was by Karen Perry 


Title: The Boy That Never Was
Author: Karen Perry
ISBN: 9781405912907
Publisher: Penguin Books/2014 (march)
Pages: 314

Harry leaves his sleeping four year old son for a few minutes, to get candles for his wife, Robin's birthday. Meanwhile, an earthquake strikes and Dillon is lost by being buried. Harry and Robin are artists and they leave Tangier after the loss of their son. Robin seems to be quite forgiving towards Harry. But he is unable to get over his guilt. Thee appears to a crack in their relationship. 

Told alternatively in the voices of Harry and Robin, we get to see the loss of their son has affected both but in different ways. Both feel guilty for different reasons. Harry still can't believe that Dillon is no more. Robin has some secrets that she can't share with Harry. The pain, the hurt almost breaks them apart.

Then one day, Harry sees a boy, who looks like Dillon. Before he can react, the boy vanishes. Harry is convinced more than ever, that Dillon is alive. He does not tell Robin but makes it his mission to search for that boy.

When Robin finally comes to know, we find flaws in both of them, with buried secrets and revelations which almost destroys them. It all builds up to a climax which is horrifying for the reader and both Harry and Robin.

With believable characters which are flawed, taut writing, and psychological twists and turns, it makes an excellent family drama. I was surprised by the ending yet I understood the reason for it. All through the novel, one can feel the love that Harry has for Dillon. It is so palpable that it jumps out of the novel.

It is yet to be published and is worth waiting for. I would say, a superb novel......

The Book of Someday by Dianne Dixon

"Olivia. The soles of her feet pressed hard against the same wood floor. Feeling the vibration of his every step. As he’s circling, gaining momentum, coming closer to the place where she’s hiding. Fierce jolts rippling through her. Edged on one side with terror, on the other with hope."


Title: The Book of Someday
Author: Dianne Dixon
ISBN: 9781402285721
Pages: 345
Publisher: Sourcebooks Store/2013

The Book of Someday revolves around three women, Livvi, Micah and AnnaLee. Livvi Gray has always been haunted by a recurring nightmare, the terrifying image of a beautiful woman in a shimmering silver dress. It does not go away. Micah is a famous photographer now diagnosed with cancer. AnnaLee is a Long Island housewife. The story is told in parallel for all three of them. They have never met.

Then one day, Livvi comes face-to-face with the stranger from her dream. She cannot rest until she learns more. She goes on a quest, meeting one of the other two protagonists. And it is the moment of truth for both of them. And how the third woman is connected is the crux of the story. 

The reader feels for Livvi, when she was abused by her step mother and an totally disinterested father. Micah is an renowned photographer but she has own demons to kill. She feels that her cancer is her punishment for a misjudgement. AnnaLee is so loving that she can encompass the negativity of other people. She stays in mind long after we finish the novel. 

I was totally pulled into the novel, wanting to know the relationship between the three. When two of them come face-to-face, it is one of the most emotional moments of the story. Suffering of one person, miscalculated decision of another results in destroying life and people. Yet there is enough forgiveness despite the grief. 

I have read the first book by Dianne Dixon, The Language of Secrets. I loved it. I recommend The Book of Someday too.

Back From The Dead by Peter Leonard

“We’re going to surprise them,” Harry said. “And if they’ve done anything to Colette, you’re the first one I’m going to shoot. Believe that if you believe anything. Take off your coat, throw it over here and turn around.” He did and Harry checked the two outside pockets of the jacket, found a parking receipt, and a pair of handcuffs. There was also a piece of notepaper that had an address on Crooks Road in Troy and a phone number. “This where they have Colette?”

Title: Back From The Dead\
Author: Peter Leonard
ISBN: (P) 978-1-61188-063-2 (E) 978-1-61188-064-9
Publisher: The Story Plant/2013
Pages: 282
Genre: Suspense

Back from the Dead is sequel to Voices of the Dead. Harry Levin, a holocaust survivor and Ernst Hess, a Nazi death angel again come to confrontation. Hess has supposedly been killed by Levin in Voices of the Dead but wakes up to a hospital bed. He knows he has to find Levin and kill him. 

Levin can't believe that Hess is alive but he cannot ignore all the signs that point him that way. He knows he has to stop Hess from killing more Jews and for that he has to travel all over the world to kill Hess, again.

Leonard does not disappoint. He takes us into a action packed roller coaster ride. With touch and go suspense, this novel is as good as Voices of the Dead. With a conclusion which is deeply satisfying. I look forward to read more from Peter Leonard. 

Bleed For Me by Michael Robotham

Bleed For Me by Michael Robotham

The story starts with Sienna.  Sienna cuts herself. “you want to know the reason? you want to know why someone would want to bleed in secret?  it’s because i deserve it. i deserve to be punished. to punish myself.  love is pain and pain is love….you think you understand me.  you don’t.  i bleed for you.”

This book gets right to the business of sucking you in as a reader as any good crime fiction should. Ex-detective Ray Hegarty is found in a pool of blood in his teenage daughter Sienna's bedroom. She is found covered in his blood. It looks like a clear cut case of the daughter murdering the father. The protagonist, Professor Joe O’Loughlin is made  investigating psychologist on the case. Sienna happens to be his daughter Charlie's friend. When Joe starts his work of analyzing Sienna, murky details start coming up, with the murderer being someone totally unexpected.

 Professor O’Loughlin is battling the onset of Parkinson’s disease, along with battling separation from his wife and daughters. Parallel to the main story, we also get to know about the trial of a boy who has been accused of burning an entire family of immigrants to death. It seems like a racial hate crime. There are many issues dealt with in the book, e.g., psychopathic murderers, child abuse, and racism all dealt in a very plausible manner. 

I teach young girls like Sienna and Charlie. At certain points, the novel scared me. It does deal with teenage issues, like anguish, conflicted emotions and confusion. The novel resonated with me. Yes, I recommend this novel. To all crime fiction readers and also for teachers as well as parents. Do you really know what goes inside your child's mind? 

The Book of Lost Fragrances by M. J. Rose

"I am going to have to insist that you give me the pottery shards," Ami called out. "There's no other way to ensure the safety of your sister."

~~~Page 275

Title: The Book of Lost Fragrances
Author: M. J. Rose
ISBN: 978451621303
Publisher: Atria Books/2012
Pages: 347

Jac L'Etoile has moved away from their family business of Fragrances, House of L'Etoile, in Paris to US. She has been haunted by her past and tries to be as far away from her home. She has made a successful career as a mythologist, television personality and author. She has no plans to join the family business with her brother Robbie. 

Robbie finds something in the Archives and Jac is not very keen to know more about it. Then Robbie goes missing, a body is found in their perfumery, she has to come back to find him. She doesn't believe that he committed the crime nor that he is dead. 

She, along with her past lover, Griffin North, tries to find Robbie and only then she discovers a world of intrigue, ancient memories and old fragrances. She can visualize her past life, going back and forth to the ancient Egypt, French revolution and the present time Dalai Lama. Then there are people interested in the old pottery shards, in the memory tools, to look into past lives, to know about their reincarnations. 

With much detailing, the novel does not move fast but we learn a lot about fragrances, ancient Egypt, Cleopatra, French revolution and also about China and Tibet, regarding Dalai Lama. It has been weaved well. All these might not gel with some but for those who like intrigue, history, suspense, this book will work fine. M. J. Rose does know how to research, before venturing into writing. This is my third book by her and I look forward to read more.

Teaser Tuesdays: A Bride For Tom by Ruth Ann Nordin

"His shoulder slumped, he turned towards the next lady in line. He, however, was not a graceful young man for in the next moment he succeeded in toppling into Beth and they fell onto the barn floor."

A Bride For Tom by Ruth Ann Nordin

Tom is unlike any hero of a novel. He is clumsy and totally a misfit around women. He is trying to find a wife but with his track record, no woman is willing to be near him. Jessica takes it upon herself to teach him how to avoid mishaps and be comfortable around women. Tom is not aware that Jessica is engaged to be married. He starts to like her and thinks of marrying her. Jessica too starts liking Tom...

It is a short novella and is quite light and funny. One simply likes Tom, his clumsy way, and also the way he behaves with his brothers. He knows how to get back at his youngest brother, who is really a pest! (I loved the pest!!) The scene with Jessica, her fiance, his mother and  Tom's youngest brother is hilarious! One of the highlights. I quite enjoyed reading it! Via Kindle on PC. Yes, it is available free. Click on the title and cover to download it! Or click here to download the nook edition for free!

Teaser Tuesday: Borderlands by Brian McGilloway

 'I can tell you that she's dead, and that someone killed her and dumped her here, so it's over to you now. The state pathologist will be here as soon as possible.'

Title: Borderlands
Author: Brian McGilloway

ISBN: 978-0330452557
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur/2008
Pages: 240

This is the first Inspector Devlin book by Borderlands by Brian McGilloway. Inspector Benedict Devlin works in the south but very near the border with the north in Ireland. We get learn about the troubles between north and south and the politics which accompany it.

Devlin has family issues yet tries to piece together a murder of a young girl, Angela Cashell, with no clues except for an old photograph and a very old ring. Her father is very well known by the police and he is the prime suspect. Then another youngster is murdered, with another clue of a photograph – whoever is in the photograph must know something. The photograph is twenty five years old and when Devlin and his colleagues find out who is that person then a lot of skeletons fall from their own police station, Garda station in recent months.

McGilloway has created suspense and mystery, and uses the weather too metaphorically to set the scene for many confrontations, and place the deaths and the investigation in a dark place, while the snow and the whiteness of it is in contrast. Battling the weather at every turn, Devlin is warned off by someone and their revenge but when it starts to affect his young family he needs to solve these murders and the mystery of the photograph rather very fast.

As for as good police procedurals go, it is one of those. I say go for it.

Teaser Tuesday: Before I Go to Sleep by S J Watson

‘You had an accident,’ he says. ‘A bad accident. You suffered head injuries. You have problems remembering things."

Page 14, Before I Go to Sleep by S J Watson

Title: Before I Go To Sleep
Author: S J Watson
ISBN: 978-0062060556
Publisher: Harper/2011
Pages: 368

Before I Go to Sleep is very normal, based in a suburban and is replete with ordinary descriptions. This normality enhances the impact of the novel. The everyday occurrences keep us anticipating.

Chrissie has lost her memory in an "accident", as told by her husband Ben. She can't remember anything other than what happened in the last 24 hours. That is, if she falls asleep, she forgets everything. She does not recognize anyone, not even her husband. Every morning she has to be told, who she is, who Ben is and if they have any children...Every morning is terrifying for her.

Dr Nash, unknown to her husband, is trying to treat her. He encourages her to keep a journal, to write everything she can recall before she fall asleep. It is through her journal that Chrissie can learn about her own past, her own life. Before going to sleep, she tells Dr Nash where she keeps her journal and each morning he reminds her of that.

Chrissie recalls so many important things about her life and writes it all down, unknown to her husband. She also remembers writing a novel, which her husband has kept hidden from her. And there are other facts like her having a son, who is killed in the Iraq war. There is no picture of her with her husband or son and she wants to know why. And she is told they lost it all when there was a fire.

The reader anticipates something is not right. And Chrissie struggles through her haphazard memory to learn more. To be able to recreate her life via her journal..Then she finds something about herself and also her husband. This makes her question everything.

What conspiracies are working against her? Who really is her husband. Is he what he claims? Is he true to her? The story may seem mundane at times but it has that tight feel, that suspense which keeps us totally involved in the novel. It questions us if we can survive a memory loss of any kind. It is a frightening aspect.

Sunday Salon: Mini Reviews

I have read too many romances in the form of e-books. And none of those need a full review. So I thought I would do Mini Reviews! All these novels can be found free! From Amazon. I read those with the help of a Kindle For PC, which can be downloaded for free from there. Try it! Works GREAT!!


 Once a Cowboy by Linda Warren

Alex is a private investigator who works with her dad, and she is hired by a woman who has seen a photo in a newspaper of Brodie Hayes,a former rodeo star. And thinks that he is her long lost son stolen from the hospital forty years ago. Alex tracks him down and unknown to him takes something from for a DNA sample. Initially Alex is skeptical about the whole thing but somehow it is not really closed case at all.  She starts to empathize with Brodie. It is not really a superficial romance although the does does suggest that. It has depth and the characterization is good even of those who have grey shades. The love story is only secondary to the story of stolen child..that is Brodie...

The Bride's Baby by Liz Fielding

Tom and Sylvie have an one-night stand and as a consequence Sylvie gets pregnant. When Tom sees Sylvie after a few months, he thinks she is having a baby by some other man and also thinks Sylvie is going to marry that man. Both are in love with each other but they don't say it. This novel is all about misunderstanding.  And it kind of finishes fast. The characters are too proud to talk about their feeling. Made a fast and easy read. 

A Very Special Delivery by Linda Goodnight 

In a stormy night, the reclusive Ethan Hunter leaves his infant daughter in Molly's care. She is terrified but does care for the little girl. And when he returns to get his daughter back, Molly and Ethan are stuck in the farmhouse during the snowstorm, but when they're back in the real world that their relationship starts. Molly, who has withdrawn from society after being part of a horrific tragedy, is forced to get and it seems she can't Ethan. Both Molly and Ethan have histories and troubled pasts but they do deal with that to find happiness with each other.

Click on the titles to get all those downloaded for free!!

To be continued, next Sunday.......

Teaser Tuesday: Blue by Lou Aronica

“I’m not sure. I just wanted to have a conversation with my father – ”
“ – I thought your father was dead.”
“He is. I wanted to have a conversation with him in my head, to imagine the kind of advice he would give me – and I found myself here.”


Title: Blue
Author: Lou Aronica
ISBN: 1936558009
Publisher: The Fiction Studio/2011
Pages: 400 

Chris's daughter Becky, a 14 year old, has a blood disorder and is not going to live long, Chris is divorced from his wife but loves Becky more than anything in the world. But Becky has drifted away from him. He used to tell her mazing stories and now Becky barely talks to him. Chris is unable to cop with that yet he can't let go of her.

Miea is a young queen, who has lost her parents at an young age and now trying to cope to look after her kingdom. There is some sort of blight in her land and nothing can cure that. By some quirk, Becky reaches the kingdom, which is a fantasy land, and finds that it is the same one she had created with her dad.  Becky thinks that Chris, a plant genetist can cure the blight. Chris can;t believe the make believe world exist but he does when he too goes there with Becky.

Becky seems to be perfectly fine there with no trace of disease and also the blight seems to disappear in her presence. And then Chris realizes that he has to take the biggest decision of his life. 

The novel is a fantasy one, yet it is filled with beauty of nature, love for fellow beings and about a world which can exist in our hearts and minds. Chris, Becky, Miea are all related in a way which seems impossible. Yet Aronica has made it very plausible. It is magical yet, so realistic. Father daughter relationship is so beautiful. Letting go is so difficult yet one has to do that when there is no other choice. One goes through a whole gamut of emotions while reading it.

I read the e-version of the book and enjoyed it very much. I recommend it for young as well as adult readers. Blue will totally take you over.

Blood Over Badge by Wayne Farquhar

"He could feel blows all over his body but he went numb. Pierce beat the shit out of him with a small wooden billy club."

Title:Blood Over Badge
Author: Wayne Farquhar
ISBN: 9780615359113
Publisher: 3L publishing/2010
Pages: 250

It starts with the trial of Kyle, who is barely 17 years old. He has murdered a man and is sentenced for life and sent to Angola Penitentiary, which is a hell hole. 16 years later, we see that his body, mind and soul slowly dissolving away. 

In San Francisco, the Mayor's daughter is kidnapped and murdered. The killer is a rapist too. Jack Paige and Casey Ford are investigating it. They are in look out for the murderer. 

These two are unrelated crimes and unrelated murderers. And suddenly there is a link. And what is that link? The characters have not much in common, not with the victim, the convicts or anyone else. Yet, there is a relationship. And such a one which takes the reader over the edge. With well etched characters, family issues, a revolting correctional officer, and very plausible detailing, intense emotions, great dialogues, this a good crime fiction debut. The ending is such that it hits the reader hard. And we are left with mixed feelings. 

No murderer deserves sympathy, no crime is greater than killing. Yet, there are questions on is it what we want our system to be? Don't prisoners deserve a decent life in prison? How does one deal with crooked correctional officers? As a murder mystery, it works well and Wayne Farquhar can deliver.

Blood of My Brother by James LePore

“I waited too long, Dan. I’m sorry. If I was the one killed like that, you’d have started the next day. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I’m starting now.”
~Page 123

Title: Blood of My Brother
Author: James LePore
ISBN: 9780981956886
Publisher: The Story Planet/2010
Pages: 313

Blood of My brother is a suspense novel with good thriller elements. It grips the reader right from the start. It has that human element too, which any reader will relate. This novel takes us from Newark, New Jersey to Miami and Mexico. It takes us to places where corruption rules the roost and drug cartels are a way of life.  

Jay Cassio and Don Del Colliano have been friends since they were 5-year-olds. It formed under the shadow of racial riots of 1967 in Newark, New Jersey. From that day onwards, they became best of friends. Dan has always been there whenever Jay had needed him. And that too without asking. After Jay's parents die in a plane crash, it is Dan who sticks to him and gets him out of the tragedy. 

Jay becomes a successful lawyer and Dan, a private Investigator, not very known at that, yet their friendship deepens and they are more like brothers now. A woman, Kate Powers, Jay is representing, is found dead, with her head cut off, her husband Bryce Powers is suspected of murder, but he too is murdered. Initially it is thought of as a murder-suicide. Dan too is brutally murdered, with marks of torture inflicted on his body, Jay thinks it is a coincidence. He goes around asking questions about his friend's murder and finds that FBI is somehow involved and want him to not to pursue it.

But he can't let it go as his best friend is dead and he wants to know why. He remembers that Dan had mentioned a woman, for whom he had acted as a courier of large amount of money for a good commission. Jay is determined to find that woman, who also seems to related to the Powers' murders somehow. Everyone is looking for her. FBI, Jay, Mexican drug lords. She seems to have disappeared into thin air. 

Isabel Perez has nowhere to run, and she wants freedom desperately. She also wishes to kill the powerful men, who disrupted her life completely. For that she has to fight those powers, which no one has dared to fight. Her path gets crossed with Jay and together they know, they have to fight, in which they can either win or die. And both are fully prepared for that. Can Jay take revenge? Can Isabel escape from her past? From her cage? Can they have a future without their pasts? Blood of My brother covers these and gives us more.

Finally, it all about choices. Jay. Isabel. Dan. Not to forget the other characters. They meet, mix, amalgamate and leave the reader wanting more. And we must not forget the bigger issues of corruption, drugs, and using sex as a power. These rot the system. Any system.

For all those lovers of Crime Fiction...I say go for it....Blood of My Brother is well worth it. 

I thank the author for my copy. You can also check out my review of  

The World I Never Made by James LePore

Teaser Tuesday: Bones of Contention by Jeanne Matthews

"Did you have a guilty mind when you watched Dez Fisher die?"

"I thought I was doin' the world a service."

~~~Page 294

Title: Bones of Contention

Author: Jeanne Matthews

ISBN: 9781590587300

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press/2010

Pages: 304

Set in the Australian outback, with a family as dysfunctional as they get, Bones of Contention manages to hold our interest. With the underlying tensions and a couple of unrelated murders thrown in, the reader is kept guessing.

Dinah Pelerin has lost her job and also her boyfriend when she gets a call from her uncle, Cleon Dodds, in a God forsaken place in Australia, to join him and his entire family. There he intends to rewrite his will and then commit suicide, as he suffers from cancer. He needs help from a rogue doctor, who will help him to kill himself. Dinah too needs to find out about her father, who had died in her childhood. He was supposedly a felon.

Dinah's half brother Lucien is Cleon's son and she is very close to him. A murder has already been committed in an island nearby and then another murder happens right in front of everyone's eyes. Dinah senses something has been hidden from her for too long. She starts to investigate in her amateur way and finds skeletons tumbling out of cupboards. Everyone in the family has something to hide. And then Dinah hits upon something very big, which jolts her. It is now on her as to what family secrets she can let out and which ones she has to hide.

Bones of Contention touches the aborigine myths, and their various rituals. That part was very interesting. Dinah is no detective yet she persists in finding out the motive and the murderer. Each member of the family is not really what they seem to be. It took me a while to get into the Australian lingua. Once I did I read it very fast. It moves forward with wit and humour. It is the first in the Dinah Pelerin Mystery series.

Teaser Tuesdays: Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell

Two pieces of pressed sheet-metal — no grips, even — and a slightly off-center cylinder. It looks like something that began life as a starter pistol at a track meet. For a second it makes me feel better about there being 350 million handguns in the United States. Then I see the bright brass ends of the bullets and am reminded how little it takes to kill someone.

I should throw it out. Bend the barrel and drop it down a storm drain.

Instead, I slip it into the back pocket of my scrub pants.

Title: Beat the Reaper
Author: Josh Bazell
ISBN: 9780316032223
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company/2008
Pages: 320

From back cover:

Dr. Peter Brown is an intern at Manhattan's worst hospital, with a talent for medicine, a shift from hell, and a past he'd prefer to keep hidden. Whether it's a blocked circumflex artery or a plan to land a massive malpractice suit, he knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men.

My views:

It is about an intern who has a past, being a hitman and all that. After few years of that, he ends up sudying medicine, to heal people. He has tried his best to hide his past but it catches up with him. But our man is not one take anything lying down. He knows how to save himself from any kind of situation.

Despite being very graphic, it is hilarious, taking the story of crime, blood and gore to new heights. I liked the various nicknames of the mobsters and Peter's knowledge about most things..be it about mobsters, medical sciences or/and Physics!. The various scientific explanations made it a very interesting read. Beat the Reaper is a good debut novel and throughly enjoyable with good, racy pace. The action simply takes us in. Peter has to fight how to Beat the Reaper....that is, keep death at bay!

Buried Alive by Roy Hallums

Title: Buried Alive
Author: Roy Hallums
ISBN: 9781595551702
Publisher: Thomas Nelson/2009
Pages: 241

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Synopsis

Contractor Roy Hallums recounts the harrowing ten months he was held captive by Iraqi insurgents, the heroic rescue by American troops, and the faith that helped him survive it all.

In November 2004 Roy Hallums was working late at his office in Iraq at the Saudi Arabian Trading and Construction Company, supposedly well-protected by armed security guards, when four kidnappers broke in and hauled him away at gunpoint. The next ten months were the darkest of his life. Hallums spent most of his time in a concrete pit beneath a farmhouse, constantly bound and blindfolded. A small pipe in the ceiling provided the room's only oxygen - and its only link to the outside world. Hallums banked on one group in particular not forgetting his existence-the US military. And sure enough, on September 7, 2006, they successfully rescued him. This is the edge-of-your-seatstory of a trip through hell for Hallums, the daring rescue mission, and faith that brought him through the experience.

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On November 1, 2004, Roy Hallums was kidnapped from Baghdad by 20 gunmen, along with few other people. Those other hostages were released soon after but Hallum was in captive for 311 days. It is his story, a true account about what he endured in his captivity. Reading it was difficult enough for me and he lived through it. Also what his family had to undergo. They left no stones unturned to get him released.

It is an emotional roller coaster to read this book, an account which leaves us deeply moved. It speaks of a Iraq that we know nothing about. In the darkest moments of despair, Hallum retained his sanity and kept his spirits up. It is man's journey into himself and also a way of finding oneself in the unimaginable madness. The terror, the torture and then the triumph, all these make it a edge on the seat read. A book that inspires and speaks about human endurance, no matter what. It also gives us a good insight about the Middle East. The rescuers too deseve kudos. I salute to the spirit of Hallums.

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny

"All of them? Even the children?" The fireplace stuttered and cackled and swallowed his gasp. Slaughtered?"

"Worse."

Title: The Brutal Telling
Author: Louise Penny
ISBN: 9780312377038
Publisher: Minotaur Books/2009
Pages: 372

The opening lines set the mood and tone of this novel. How can one wish not to know more? In the village of Three Pines near Montreal, with no crime ratings, a murder is committed. The body is found in a bistro and antique store. The victim is a total stranger and the motive of the murder is almost impossible to find out. And Chief Inspector Gamache arrives with his team to investigate. Even he is flabbergasted.

The villagers are rather closely knit. The Bistro is owned by Oliver and his gay partner Gabri along with B & B next door. Gamache's investigations lead him to a small hut in the deep woods. Now this hut contains priceless antiques. Who owns it and how has he come about the antiques? When Gamache gets into the bottom of it along with his team, Jean Guy Beauvoir and Isabelle Lacoste, he finds the identity of the victim, , the motive, the weapon and the original place of murder. However, the mystery of the murderer doesn't get to be resolved any time soon.

When Gamache gets into the bottom of it, layer by layer, he is just as astounded as as to find the identity of the killer. Although this is not the nail-biting, seating on the edge of the chair kind of mystery, yet it has that cozy feel to it. We do wish to know more. Chief Inspector Gamache is a likeable character, maybe genial at times but has a keen sense of observation and is a force to reckon with for those who are on the wrong side of the law.

What appealed to me most was the eccentric poet, Ruth. She speaks in riddles, yet she has great understanding and depth. Her presence in the book makes it mystical.

Louise Penny is worth checking out. Thanks to Staci of Life in the thumb, for the ARC. She was kind enough to send it all the way to Delhi!

Also reviewed by:

rhapsodyinbooks
Michelle's Masterful Musings
Kittling Books
Ms. Bookish
Jen's Book Thoughts

Best Intentions by Emily Listfield

I lie in bed watching the numbers on the digital alarm clock click in slow motin to 6:00 a.m., 6:01. My right hand, curled tightly beneath my head, is cramped, but I don't want to risk moving it.

Title: Best Intentions
Author: Emily Listfield
ISBN: 9781416576716
Publisher: Atris/2009
Pages: 338

I had won Best Intentions in The First Mystery Readathon and read it for The Second Mystery Readathon.

Lisa Barkley 39, is happily married to Sam and they have two beautiful daughters. They also seem to be moving in the right circles. But with the economic slide down, everything seems to change. Her job is in jeopardy and after listening to a voicemail in Sam's cellphone, she thinks that her husband might be having an affair. Her world is crashing all around her and she can't do anything about it. However, Deirdre, her best friend of long time is supportive of her. When Lisa tells Deirdre that Sam might be having an affair, her best friends tells her, it can't be.

Meanwhile, Deirdre is having an torrid affair with a photographer Ben, and both don't wish for any kind of long lasting relationship. When Deidre's old flame Jack turns up, everything seems to go topsy turvy for all involved. Lisa is forced to acknowledge some unpleasant truths about her husband. And she can't even trust Deirdre now. Before she can confront either, Deirdre is murdered. There are four suspects: Sam, Ben, Jack and Lisa.

As a women's fiction, this book works well. Lisa and Deirdre are really good friends, who meet almost every week for breakfast. Sam is not too fond of Deirdre but he doesn't come in the way of their friendship. Jack had wanted to marry Deirdre long time back but she had refused. Now he was married but still wants her. Ben has a complex relationship with her although Deirdre has no complaints about that. Lisa does have reasons to kill Deirdre.

I started it, thinking of it as suspense/mystery as the way it is pegged by the author. However, the murder happens too late and I could truly guess the murderer. Therefore, there was no surprise. I felt the book is a big let down for suspense and gets repetitive too after 3/4 mark. As a mystery it fails completely. It definitely is not a book for diehard Suspense/Mystery/Crime fiction readers.

I must say, if I had not read it assuming it as Suspense/Mystery, I might have liked this book.