Misfortune of Song: Druid's Brooch Series #5 by Christy Nicholas

·         Misfortune of Song: Druid’s Brooch Series #5. Christy Nicholas. Tirgearr Publishing. Copyright April 2018. pb.  257 pp.; ASIN B079VHSGMH. 

Orlagh is the apple of her grandfather, Maelan’s eye.  They live in Ceann-Coradh, near Cill Dalua, Hibernia, a place where love and obedience to the law of the clan is everything.  Melan believes Orlagh has a warrior spirit and admires her spunkiness, that is until she catches the eye of a visiting bard, Temuirr, a man who sings and plays the harp as beautifully as a dream.  At first it’s just flirting but they come close to consummating their love.  Orlagh then commits an act that will make her shed tears for years!

Now in the middle of all this passion bursting out, severing and binding family, friends and those of far-off clans, we have the “Fae” or fairies living alongside humans.  They are virtuous and evil and they have great powers; however, some of these powers need human cooperation.  Only a certain metal can keep the evil Fae from attacking humans; but once one has earned the devotion of the virtuous, devoted Fae, a bond of the deepest love and care endures whatever challenges arrive. 

Temuirr and Orlagh marry and passionately enjoy their early life together, that is until Orlagh discovers that Temuirr has lovers in every town he has ever visited.  Instead of leaving the past behind, this knowledge begins to break their infatuation, especially for Orlagh. 

Without spoiling a roller-coaster ride plot, suffice to say Orlagh is captured by her grandfather but pursued by her husband.  A viciously violent battle follows with evil powers of the Fae but the loyal Fae help end this horrific clash with the humans victorious – almost!  A magic brooch leaves both Maelan and later Orlagh with amazing supernatural powers!

This is an amazing, almost legend-like, story that is initially light reading but which turns into a huge conflict in which sacrifices are made, the price of deeply loving and protecting those who are loved!  Passion in song, dialogue, and nature abounds in these pages.  Readers who love Celtic history and legends, as well as a rollicking romance and adventure, will find Misfortune of Song… a delightful experience.  Nicely crafted with tremendous imagination and passion!

Why Kill the Innocent: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery by C. S. Harris

Why Kill the Innocent: A Sebastian St. Cyr Mystery. C. S. Harris. Penguin Publishing Group. Copyright April 2018. pb. 352 pp.; ISBN: 9780399585623.

Jane Ambrose is music instructor to Princess Charlotte, the presumptive heir (before Victoria) to the throne in England in London in 1814.  The Regent of Charlotte is doing everything in his power to get the Princess engaged to royalty in Denmark so that he can continue his rule unopposed.  Jane is a brilliant composer although as a woman she cannot publish her works under her own name.  A tragedy, however, cuts short her life and it is Sebastian St. Cyr’s wife, Hero, who finds Jane’s broken body in the snowy streets of London.  Certain clues, however, indicate that Jane was murdered elsewhere but the killer obviously dragged her body into the street thinking the awful snowstorm would hide her, allowing the murderer to escape any chance of arrest.

The famous couple sets out to investigate the crime and all clues lead back very close to the seat of royalty.  Hero also demonstrates a compassionate side in assisting the wives of men who have been impressed into the Royal Navy, leaving wives and children penniless and often homeless.

It also turns out that Jane’s husband was a violent man who just might have discovered Jane knew a secret that would have necessitated him permanently silencing her.  Jane’s brother is an enigmatic character who was formerly imprisoned for speaking out against government policies.  He also has a huge secret which might be lethal but will actually be elicited as something even more amazing. 

This is a non-stop, page-flipping, wild and intriguing romp through London’s fashionable, aristocratic society as well as in the dregs of poverty on the “other” side of London.  Murderers, however, are fierce but cowardly creatures who think too highly of themselves.  Several more characters will die by the time Sebastian and Hero immediately after the famous winter Frost Fair have it all figured out, the reader never suspecting the “who done it” side of the mystery.

This is a fine historical mystery that will delight all lovers of the genre and many more besides.  Plan on staying up late as this is a novel one can’t put down until the last page is finished!  Finely crafted, C. S. Harris; a real treat!

The Cat Burglars: The Accidental Adventures of Kurt Benson and his friends Riley and Jordan, Episode 1 by Max Elliot Anderson

The Cat Burglars: The Accidental Adventures of Kurt Benson and his friends Riley and Jordan, Episode 1. Max Elliot Anderson. Elk Lake Publishing. Copyright March 2016. pb 108 pp.; ISBN #: 978194430405. Tweens Reading - Ages 8 and older. 

Kurt, Riley and Jordan work at the local kennel, Pletchers’ Bed and Biscuit, where neighbors leave their animals while on vacation.  The work is hard but they enjoy the animals and chatting while they work.  One day in particular brings their attention to focus on wondering about a series of local burglaries.  At first they can’t quite figure it out and talk about it as a passing conversation.

These are just normal kids working and having fun.  They also have a great sense of humor as when they were talking about owners who look like their animals.

One day the boys notice something strange, a man taking the list of boarders from a clipboard, making a copy of it and shoving it in his pocket.  No spoilers here.  The remainder of the mystery is how the boys become alert watchers and investigators and eventually heroes of the town.  But in the process of this plot happening and getting more serious, the boys find themselves in a very dangerous situation.

Max Elliot Anderson has a knack for knowing how to craft great spy novels for Tweens, as well as holding their attention and making them want to read similar stories with different twists.  Nice read, Mr. Anderson!

Elton's Case: The Tug Wyler Mystery Series by Andy Siegel

Elton’s Case: The Tug Wyler Mystery Series. Andy Siegel. Rockwell Press. Copyright 2018. pb. 244 pp.; ISBN: 9781981553327.

Elton Cribbs was arrested and was brutally injured while being transported to jail.  He was paralyzed from the waist down.  A smart man, he researched everything legal about his case and the end result was that he was freed due to the real criminal confessing to the crime. But now Elton is suing the City of New York for causing his physical disability.  Elton becomes the plaintiff attorney, representing Elton Cribbs, facing a powerful defendant who has numerous witnesses who will testify that Cribbs was faking his disability and at the same time had participated in several scenes that caused his own injury. 

What confuses the issue is that the City of NY first offers $1 million to settle the case.  Why would one settle the case if there was no fault involved, if the evidence was so set in stone to exonerate the defendant?

So the lies parade before Elton: A guard swears that while so-called paralyzed she saw Elton actually stand up from his wheelchair and attack another prison.  A examining physician, in a legal test called an independent medical examination, yields a report that says the plaintiff is faking, even though Elton was present for the entire exam and saw no movement or faking behavior. On and on the farcical “proofs” continue and yet the settlement figure from the City of New York keeps increasing substantially.

The end of this riveting mystery, full of problems and opposition that confuse and upset Elton, is such a stunner that the reader will have to read it twice.  What has Elton learned from this memorable and notorious process?  What is justice and how can it fully cover years lost for imprisonment and a questionable and permanent injury?

The reader also gets a good view of the personal injury field of the law where one learns that plaintiffs and defendants have a job, to win their case, whether that involves truth or lies on both sides.  You won’t forget this case for a long time.  Well-crafted and a good read!!!

Factor Man: A Novel by Matt Ginsberg

Factor Man: A Novel. Matt Ginsberg. Zowie Press. Copyright March 2018. pb. 292 pp.; ISBN 978099957116. 

Factor Man is a computer genius who has calculated the solution to innumerable mathematical problems with one system, the one that is called “God’s Algorithm,” the one that makes problems like artificial intelligence child’s play.  It’s a simple plot, really, but one that keeps the readers flipping the pages because it’s so engaging.  In the beginning, there’s a great deal of explanation in computer and mathematical jargon that might be disconcerting to some but it soon becomes as clear as possible and the reader is hooked!

First, Factor Man invites various blog watchers to submit a number to which he offers a mathematical solution.  That is all very amusing until the hunt begins.  William Burkett, a journalist, sees the possibilities of a potential Pulitzer Prize if he can figure out who Factor Man is and whether he’s for real or a “crackpot.”

Then we have two opposing sides vying to discover Factor Man’s real identity with the hope of controlling or stopping him.  One is the FBI and the other is a Chinese special agent named Janet Liu.  The system Factor Man has devised is one that could solve the problems of hacking into business and governmental programs, solving scientific problems such as which proteins and chemical compounds could cure cancer, and on and on.  As the complexity of possibilities increases, the search for Factor Man becomes more frustrating and tense.  Factor Man is a cool customer who plans carefully but at the same time acknowledges he’s no genius with “spy” behavior.  Meanwhile, he is making a fortune and decides to share his information with those he thinks deserve to treat it with socially conscious programs.  It’s nice to read about such altruistic motives, even though it’s in fiction.

Factor Man is an unusual work of science fiction or computer fiction that is quite different from what’s on the current best seller and even unknown market.  There’s a hint of reality that someday this might just be the future of computers, finance and government.  Nicely done, Matt Ginsberg.

I've Been Thinking: Reflections, Prayers and Meditations for a Meaningful Life by Maria Shriver

I’ve Been Thinking: Reflections, Prayers and Meditations for a Meaningful Life. Maria Shriver. Penguin Publishing Group. February 2018. Hb. 240 pp. ISBN #: 9780525522607.

Maria Shriver is totally correct in saying we are now living in times where more is needed.  Men, women and children across this nation and world are tired of the prevailing negativity, yearning for that which makes life “good.”  No, this is not a self-help book for Pollyanna-type persons but one in which one finds inner peace, purpose, love, and even joy.

Before each meditation in this book are quotations from notable people, those who’ve made a difference in the world but not been satisfied by external accolades.  Instead they’re centered on the inner world that fuels their thoughts, words and deeds.  For example, “Who you become as a person is up to you – up to your imagination, your will, your determination, your choices…” or “What you think you become” shared by the Buddha.  Then there are sections that we have heard before like pieces on love, honesty, forgiveness, and so on.  But what about the power within each of us for “empathy,” “losing faith,” “not caring too much for what others think,” living in a “complaint-free zone” periodically, “a culture of care,” “the process of discernment,” “grieving,” and so many more topics will catch your attention and invite you to ponder each one.

One is to consider meditating on it with prayer or just letting it be in one’s consciousness until one is ready to move on to the next one.  This is not a book to be read cover to cover quickly; it’s full of wisdom and points of view that are right at different moments in life. It has thoughts and advice that one will want to repeat reading and contemplating as well as passages that will provoke and inspire at different times.  There’s no one result or goal.  The process is to just “be” with each section or passage.

Maria Shriver comes from a family of doers but this is a book about the fire and fuel behind the doing and being!  Highly recommended, inspirational nonfiction. It could just be the best book you read right now!

Holmes Entangled by Gordon McAlpine

Holmes Entangled.  Gordon McAlpine. Prometheus Books. March 2018. 191 pp.  ISBN#: 9781633882072.

Jorge Luis Borges hires a private investigator in Buenos Aires, Argentina to read an unpublished manuscript with the title of “Uncertainty,” purportedly written by Sherlock Holmes.  Since he found the manuscript, Borges has narrowly escaped being shot and he wants to know who attempted to kill him and why.  So begins a tale that contains other stories and associations by famous writers such as Edgar Allen Poe and Ernest Hemingway.

Our story begins with Sherlock Holmes living incognito as a famous physicist.  It seems Holmes has been studying and lecturing at Oxford University and other institutions of higher learning and does not want to be found.  Imagine his shock when a “middling” author, Arthur Conan Doyle, appears at Holmes’ residence, saying he knows his real identity because he was informed of his name and residence at a séance in which a living Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, appears to give Doyle the information about Sherlock Holmes. Seances are where dead people appear to the living, correct?  So what is this frightening phenomenon and what is the case that Doyle asks Sherlock to help solve?

Then begins what just might be the last known case of the famous Sherlock Holmes.  It brings the reader into the relatively new field of quantum mechanics which we learn is far older than previously known.  Rather it involves investigations and experiments with the appearance of humans in “parallel worlds.”  It would be of no great import if the mystery were just about the science of inquiry, but murders and physical attacks begin to occur with anyone associated with this subject. 

The story is fascinating but the writing is frequently difficult to follow, yet worth the effort.  An interest sideline within the story concerns Holmes’ comments about his late buddy, Watson, whom Holmes claims was “stuck” in the Victorian world and thus did not reflect the true personality of Holmes. 

Holmes Entangled is a fascinating read both as a mystery and as an introduction to the world of quantum mechanics.  The final scene closes with a shocking presence! Enjoy the romp through another complex historical mystery!