A Long Petal of the Sea: A Novel by Isabel Allende

A Long Petal of the Sea: A Novel by Isabel Allende. Random House Publishing Group. January 2020. pb, 336 pp.; ISBN #: 9781984820150.

Roser and Victor Dalmau agree to marry in Spain after General Franco wins control of the government over the Republicans in the late 1930’s.  Roser’s husband died during that conflict and his brother Victor, who learned to be a doctor during the Civil War, is determined to get them out of Spain as Franco’s government is tyrannical and devastating to millions.  This novel is their story.  What starts as a brother-sister relationship will develop into a phenomenal, glorious love.

Their journey will take them to France, Chile and Venezuela.  Governments in those countries were also in flux.  Before they get there, Victor has a brief fling with a spoiled, aristocratic Spanish woman.  She has a child who is given up for adoption, a fact Victor never learns until he is much older. Victor becomes a good friend of Pablo Neruda the poet, who writes a poem about Chile, written on the ship called “Winnipeg” that gives this novel its title.  Pablo is a Socialist and becomes persecuted and hunted because of his political beliefs; but it turns out he is mainly concerned with the love of people and freedom.  He is responsible for two thousand refuges being allowed to emigrate from Spain to Chile.  These refugees soon develop a fine reputation for being responsible families who improve conditions in Chile.

This is a family saga about those who face constant trials but do their best to work hard and avoid controversy.  Their debacle in each of these countries is heartbreaking.  Victor becomes a tough man as he experiences the horrors of war which he experienced as a medic and later as a doctor in Chile.  Allende’s earlier novels are more about the Pinochet government in Chile but here we also get a glimmer of the military horrors creating suffering and death for far too many. 

Victor earns a reputation as an intelligent, capable and kind cardiologist. Rosa is pragmatic, hard-working and loyally protective of Victor.  His vanity is shattered when his love Rosa becomes terminally ill.

What is unique about this family saga is how positive these characters are even in the face of the most daunting challenges.  It’s a beautiful tribute to the power of love and loyalty, faith and hope in mankind no matter what the prevailing political challenges and, like the title poem, a tribute to beautiful people and lands prevailing in victory even when caught in the prevailing tides and currents testing the mettle of those riding the formidable journey into a more hopeful existence.

Back Blast: A Gray Man Novel by Mark Greany

Back Blast: A Gray Man Novel.  Mark Greany. Penguin Group (USA). February 2016. 528 pp.  ISBN#: 9780425282793.

CIA Operative Court Gentry has been running around the world, trying to evade those who follow him in order to kill him.  Court can’t understand why these people are those whom he used to work with.  Throughout the beginning of the novel, Court replays past cases in his mind, trying to figure out what he did that deserved a termination order. 

Now Court decides to turn it around and pursue those would-be killers, as he’d had to kill those who almost caught him.  Every death has added to his enemy’s determination to finish what they believe is a former agent gone rogue. So imagine their shock when they discover that Court has invaded a drug den in order to obtain the money and weapons he needs for his mission.  The bloody aftermath has the earmarks of his work all over it but in particular a number 6 etched in the dust, a symbol of the agent known as Sierra Six, Six, the Gray Man, or the most commonly used name, Violator.  Now he’s determined to discover his former superiors and colleagues to try to get out of them the reason for this hunt.

On the other side of the coin, we have Denny Carmichael, head of the National Clandestine Services.  He’s on top of the game and only one man is slotted for his job eventually.  Other men know Carmichael controls every agent and circumstances and fear crossing him.  But not one of them knows the real reason Carmichael is determined to end the life of Court.

In the pursuit of his hunt, Court winds up being responsible for killing more agents or former agents, but it also happens that a hidden sniper kills one of them and the news manipulates the account so that Court is blamed.  Court is wounded seriously but manages to patch himself together as he relentless pursues what he now realizes is more about Carmichael than it is Court.  Back Blast was the beginning of a game that stretched all the way to the Middle East and back to Washington, D.C.

Greany, the writer who co-authored many Tom Clancy novels, knows how to spin a riveting, pulse-racing plot that reads much like spy thriller novels of old, like those of Robert Ludlum.  For those who love crime novels or political thrillers, you certainly will be thrilled with this intense, fast-paced thriller fiction!  Good read for sure!

White Collar Girl: A Novel by Renee Rosen

White Collar Girl: A Novel.  Renee Rosen. Penguin Group (USA). November 2015. 448 pp.  ISBN#: 9780451474971.

Jordan Walsh comes from a family of notable journalists but their interest in the business has died with the loss of their son and Jordan’s brother who died in a hit and run accident.  Their family has truly been broken by this loss; no one speaks about thoughts or feelings about Jordan’s brother and Jordan is practically invisible as far as attention goes.  Now she’s finally getting a break and about to start a job as a journalist who writes about women’s issues in a column known as “White Collar Girl.”  But Jordan has far greater aspirations than writing about how to dress, apply makeup, find a husband, etc.  She wants to write solid investigative news and is willing to do anything to make that happen. But little is Jordan prepared for the consequences of her choices, both professionally and personally.

Jordan begins to be fed information on political corruption for medical insurance fraud but instead of receiving accolades her notes are given to a male to write the copy on the story.  The next time she scoops a huge story about more corruption that causes a severe accident, she plays it differently.  Little by little we read about tension-riddled, dangerous events and situations in which Jordan becomes the investigator and the one who writes the story.  The Chicago political machine run by Mayor Richard J. Daly and other supporters is rife with crooked politics.  And some who consider Jordan friend are really the opposite which she will discover with intensely emotional chagrin.

Romance unexpectedly arises for Jordan but is challenged by competition and familial problems of a fellow journalist working for a rival newspaper.  Another friend who attempts to woo Jordan winds up in a precarious situation which he believes Jordan arranged; indeed she is accused of choosing betrayal and success in her job over a growing friendship and possibly more.

Toward the end of the story, Jordan begins to investigate a story that might have to do with the death of her brother.  By now her reputation precedes her and so few are ready to whisper secrets that may be catastrophic for professional and personal lives around the office.

White Collar Girl is well-plotted historical fiction (1950s Chicago) that is thrilling to read in Rosen’s easy and well-researched story.  The dangers seem vivid and the personal plights seem no less enjoyable, albeit somewhat contrived.  The reader gets to know Jordan so well that one feels her joys and pain and is rooting for her through every challenge.  It’s a rough road women traveled to obtain equal standing in journalism, as well as other careers, and Rosen depicts what it was in the early days of the struggle for equal treatment at work and respect.  Her writing gets better and better!  Wonderful story and highly recommended read!

Curse the Moon: Atcho Rises by Lee Jackson

Curse the Moon: Atcho Rises.  Lee Jackson. Stonewall Publishers, LLC. December 2013. 328 pp. ISBN#: 9780989802574.

Atcho, a former West Point graduate, appears in a gruesome opening scene where a Russian captain is holding a gun to Atcho’s daughter’s head, while his soldier goons are kicking and beating the daylights out of Atcho.  The brutal KGB agent informs Atcho that he owns him and so it will appear until the very end of this international spy thriller that moves between Cuba, Russia and the United States. 

Atcho’s fury, plus his obvious well-trained background, compels the reader to follow him during the famous (or infamous depending on one’s point of view) Bay of Pigs disaster.  For Cuban dissidents have much gusto to stage a resistance fight with the aid of American military assistance; but it will as we already know go up in smoke due to poor training of Cubans and lackluster, discombobulated American assistance. However, Atcho forms special relationships with some very brave and ardent rebels and he is known for his over-the-top bravery in that devastating skirmish. The result is thousands of Cubans will die as a lesson to the world staged by Castro and thousands more will be imprisoned in Cuban prisons with the most brutally horrific conditions.

Eventually Atcho learns his daughter is in America and plans to escape the prison.  He is caught and will serve the next nineteen years of his life in three different prisons.  All of a sudden, however, the Russian officer is manipulating Atcho’s life again.  The rest of the novel is so surprising at every turn that this reviewer couldn’t stop reading – no spoiler here.  Fear over losing his daughter is the key to controlling Atcho as he is ordered to prepare for a very special mission.  It is only when he realizes that he’s still a virtual prisoner that he decides to take his own, and his daughter’s, destiny into his own hands.  Every page is well worth the read!

Lee Jackson has obviously researched his subject well as he places the battles in Cuba at all the correct places and also depicts the divided nature of Cuban people who for the most part let Castro rule tyrannically without much resistance at all.  It’s also obvious that this was more a competition between Russia and the USA.  Indeed the mole in this story is a willing tool for both sides.  The depiction of West Point is spot on, especially with all of its changes in the 1970s.  So much of Atcho’s behavior is not only protective for his daughter but also a result of being a prisoner for so many years, often spending as much as eight months in solitary confinement in a space where one could neither sit, stand nor lie with any comfort at tall. 

Lee Jackson writes in the style of the early and notable Robert Ludlum or Ken Follett.  The story is action-packed, riveting, adrenaline-pumping reading that is sure to make this a best-seller.  The moon can be friend or enemy and Atcho clearly knows the difference! Superb historical thriller!

Sweat by Mark Gilleo

Sweat. Mark Gilleo. The Story Plant. August 2012. 366 pages. Available in trade paperback and E-book format. ISBN #: 9781611880519.

Senator Day and Peter Winthrop are on a trip to Saipan, meeting Lee Chang, the owner of a factory.  They will make a movie about the fine working conditions and fine quality product being produced.  Simple story, right?  Wrong!  That will be the most placid scene the reader will experience because the remainder of the book immediately turns into a frenetic paced race to upend the "bad guys," as it used to be called. For the Senator and Peter have a bit of feminine entertainment after their business is over, never realizing the after effects will change their world forever!

Mark Gilleo has written a novel about the outsourcing of labor to countries where workers produce in "sweatshop" conditions, where one pregnant girl is just a burden to be discarded, that is until her workers mastermind a way to bring public attention to the young girl's plight.  It is Jake Patrick who takes a summer internship while awaiting his future academic studies.  It is he who shows little interest in his father's business until he receives a secret message and enlists others to help solve what he perceives to be a devastating injustice and soon enough finds to be an international scandal.

Jake initially has no idea what and who he is up against - the Chinese businessman who thinks nothing of killing employees; a doctor who is willing to lie and perform other unethical acts to guarantee his paradise living, a town detective chief who follows one law and it's not one created by any government, a government representative who prides himself more on fostering business and generating money than caring for the precious gift of life, and so much more.

Sweat is a political thriller that will engage any and all readers.  It's all too real a possibility and it is the hope of a young idealistic man who guarantees that integrity is larger than all the dirt bags taking advantage of the few for the almighty "buck!"  Very well written and highly recommended!!!

The Hammer of God by Tom Avitabile

The Hammer of God. Tom Avitabile. The Fiction Studio. April 2012. 404 Pages. ISBN #: 9781936558384. 


Twenty-four small jars of cold cream are ready for shipment and it's a job well-done. So begins the innocuous journey that ends in a crushing accident and what seems to be deliberate end to this shipment, forever encapsulated in layers of concrete. Yet is that really the end? 


  The plot now shifts to a bunch of science geeks in the Bronx who do nothing that normal teenage kids do but are excused for their obsession with science and electronics because of their formidable intelligence. Although frequently separated by miles as they grow older, they remain bonded friends whose link may well one day save mankind! 


Again, another shift takes us to an opposite group of characters who believe the West is evil incarnate and who must be destroyed. Each member of this cast trains hard to ensure success in the ultimate question of total destruction. What does it involve and how will it be accomplished? 


A renowned scientist and his committee hold a secret about a global harmonic grid which other scientists and government person deem nonsense but which targets each member of the committee for assassination. Killed or otherwise,they disappear just when they are needed most. 


Meanwhile, the plot is thickening, with Bill Hiccock and his Quarterback Ops Group attempting to forecast and prevent a terrorist act or acts from killing thousands or millions of U. S. citizens. 


The Hammer of God is a tightly plotted, fear-filled and all-too-realistic thriller that is finely written, in fact the best this reviewer has read in a long time. It should be a best seller and will make the reader anxiously awaiting the third and final novel in this thriller trilogy! Great job, Tom Avitabile!!!

Beirut in Shades of Grey by Dana Kamal Mills

Beirut in Shades of Grey. Dana Kamal Mills. Ameera Publishing, LLC. 2007.  316 Pages. ISBN No 9780971545175.

Beirut in the 1980's was a time of total transformation. The phrase Dana Mills uses in this novel is one a dear friend said to me in exactly the same words, "The 'Middle-East Paradise' is gone!" Yet in this novel we have such a fine balance between the way things were before the War with Israel, a war actually fostered by the Palestinians also fighting with the Israeli, a war that became a bloodbath of senseless murder, and one that destroyed the architecture of the country. It's also a war that put the Lebanese people into two camps, those who fled the country in fear but who never lost the Lebanese soul and those who stayed hoping and praying for survival!

This is the world in which Rasha, a 25 year-old Lebanese woman, lives or perhaps it would be better to say barely copes with, constantly blocking out memories of death and the sounds of warfare and taking barbiturates to help with the thoughts and fears she can't escape. A teacher of English language in the local university, Rasha can't accept her father's domination over her life. He forces her to work to support the family and denies her the chance to pursue a higher degree. More, he monitors her every move, believing this is an acceptable life for a good Arab daughter. All that is about to change!

Traveling to Paris, France for a 10 day visit with her aunt, Rasha meets Luke Elliott, an English photojournalist. They immediately fall in love, but it's a world in which Rasha's family will never accept Luke because he quite simply is neither Muslim or Arab. Love cannot be defied, even by the terrible event that is about to happen in their world, a challenge that has the reader flipping the pages as fast as the eyes can course through the lines. It also forces Rasha and the reader to experience more than one point of war about this historic, tragic war!

Dana Kamal Mills has written a heartrending but inspiring work of historical and political fiction that portrays every facet of a war-torn land and its peoples, with just about every emotion one could possibly imagine. One can tell by reading how real this has been to the author, a necessary and vital work of fiction that more should read. A lament about war and a celebration of life and love is what you will find in these clear, powerful novel! A must read!

Love Thy Neighbor by Mark Gilleo

Love Thy Neighbor. Mark Gilleo. The Story Plant. March 2012. 438 pages. ISBN #: 9781611880342.

Clark Hayden is a very bright graduate student doing specialized work in robotics. But for now he has decided to move back in with his mother who is slowly beginning to demonstrate diminished ability to remember and often breaks out in strange behavior. But she's also taking multiple medications that could have the same effect on a personality, so what is one to think when she sees some strange gentlemen whom she believes to be terrorists? Even more, how is that when she calls the CIA, they really don't take her concern seriously, just as someone missed the connection before 9/11? At first Clark believes his mother is just hallucinating, but soon...

What is one to make of a Pakistani couple with a young daughter suddenly calling Clark to tell him they must return to the Middle East to take care of a dying family member? And what about the overweight neighbor who sees too much and has a very sudden heart attack, to which no one pays much attention as the man was grossly overweight to start? And what about the exploding house with flying pieces that almost hit Clark who is plant-sitting for the absent neighbors?

These acts plus many other clues lead Clark and his new found IRS Agent Liz to do more than speculate. When they find a poison substance and begin to research the disappearance of the Arab couple, everything begins to make sense far too quickly. And what can anyone really do to stop a terrorist act? Many die trying or for just being in the path of the demonic process quietly and calmly leading to an American disaster beyond one's comprehension.  

Meanwhile a carefully devised plot to carry out a dire act that will make 9/11 look like a picnic is proceeding. All are obedient to the central leader and those who aren't don't even get a chance to ponder their errors! Add to that the finding of a poison substance and the race is on for Mark and his girlfriend to find the would-be perpetrators and stop the traitorous deed planned for years and now soon to happen.

Mark Gilleo has his finger on the pulse of the two extremes of those pondering terrorism, denial or total immersion in the irrational and emotionally drastic acts stemming from those with a deliberate motivation and skills to carry out such a tragic act. Will these men and one woman be stopped in time to save mankind from one's own worst fears?

Love Thy Neighbor is an interesting, unfortunately dire story about the terrorism working to fulfill its highest goals - to kill, kill and kill some more. Important and well done, indeed, Mr. Gilleo!

Gods and Fathers by James LePore

Gods and Fathers. James LePore. The Story Plant. February 2012. 300 pages. ISBN #: 9781611880298.

Matt DeMarco is not too happy with his life. He has finally begun to be successful in his law career but has the lousiest possible relationship with his son, Michael. His ex-wife has married an Arab who is very rich and she's turned his son against him. Michael is a spoiled brat who all of a sudden is in very, very big trouble. He is arrested for rape and murder of his own girlfriend. Matt decides no matter how big the rift is between them, he must do all he can to find out what has really happened!

Before the police really gets going, Matt and his friends start to take charge of the investigation into his son's alleged crimes, but all of a sudden someone else higher up, very high indeed although not named, starts canceling every avenue Matt attempts to travel. It also seems Michael has been hanging around two very suspicious Arab young men. No, this isn't racial profiling; these two guys just walk and look like they're up to no good. Connections begin to click and Matt is almost 100% sure Michael isn't guilty of any crime other than having a fight with his girl but that takes a long time to come out.

Innocent and guilty characters will die in the course of this quest to solve a mystery that involves Arab money, oil, and some devious persons determined to wreak revenge. When it finally comes out who is involved and exactly how this all came to pass, the reader is amazed, after flipping pages and wondering when the twists and turns will end, if they will at all!

James LePore has become an even better writer with this political thriller. He has definitely mastered the craft of depicting the machinations of both the innocent and guilty. The evil grows so large that one begins to doubt it will ever end.  In many ways, this is a rather timely story, given the growing problems in countries fighting for an "Arab Spring."

Awesome, James LePore and a must read for lovers of this genre and those who would like to have a phenomenal read!!!

The Undertaker by William F. Brown

The Undertaker. William F. Brown. Published by William F. Brown as e-book. January 2011. ISBN #9781617505119.

Peter Talbott is mourning the death of his wife and hardly beginning to move forward as so many things remind him of the loss of his love and best friend. Imagine his shock when he finds himself facing a mobster, Gino Parini's gun and the hood's insistence that he read his own obituary. So begins the race toward the truth when he decides to find out who has killed him off and why!

Peter's quest takes him first to a small town where he attends what is his own funeral, a sad affair attended by no one other than the town sheriff. More investigation amazes him as not only he and his wife's obituary are there but also other couples and a few individuals. As he enters this weird arena, he discovers a group of select people are behind something shady and even sick. Those people, the sheriff, the owner of a prestigious law firm connected to the government, a mortician, a senator, and others who are trying to stop Peter from finding out the truth and when that doesn't work they will try to kill him.

"Zero Defects" is a strong clue to the machinations of these sleezy characters whom even the Mob want to see disappear. But why? To tell more would be a spoiler, but be assured the nerve-wracking tension of this espionage novel is full of surprises, attacks, revelations, and a feisty, feminine gal unafraid to not only discover the truth but seek justice, no matter what the cost. You'll travel from Ohio to Chicago to Washington and more places all tied together in this sinister world of death after death. No one is innocent - not even the FBI!

No, you won't be able to guess the end of this tale until well toward the end - one that will startle you and leave you wanting more from this writer who knows how to spin a great, action-packed, crime-driven, thrilling story!

Well done, indeed, William F. Brown!!!

The Fund by H. T. Narea

The Fund. H. T. Narea. Tom Doherty Associates, LLC. May 2011. 264 pages, hb. ISBN #: 9780765328908.

Fadiyah, a Berber Muslim from North Africa, runs after her older brother, Sajid, and he realizes there is no more time. He then proceeds to blow himself up in the middle of Madrid-Barajas Airport. So begins a cycle of planning and implementation of terrorist activities that is all too familiar but is shown in its precise financial planning within this novel that defies the reader's stereotypical predictions!

The central characters are Katerina Molares, part of the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. and Nebibi Hashem a Milanese-born Egyptian Muslim. Nebibi's priority is sharia-based finances that will further the jihad terrorist activities to spread the sword and word of Allah. He is brilliant and ruthless as we see in th opening chapters where a colleague who has stolen a fortune has both his arms severed by a sword. Sharia law believers are serious and intolerant of the slightest deviation. Now he begins to oversee the movement of funds to legitimate but hidden spots that appear as innocent businesses in the Cayman Islands, Venezuela, and Gibraltar, as well as other smaller locations. Those taking part have huge political and financial aspirations but fail to appreciate or know about the larger mission being forged, called Operation Andalus. Courage-enhancing serum drugs, a disease-producing viral shot, and more add to the tension of this mad scheme to destruction!

Kate is about to be unwittingly compromised which may indirectly aid the enemy. She has been assigned to find out the source of some of these moving funds from a Zurich bank to a Cuban account to a Swiss account. The DIA suspects it is related to Al Qaeda's terrorist activities but so far the trail is cold. The Madrid bombing gives all the senses that the time to find the source is rapidly losing ground. The reader will be gripped by pages and pages of international intelligence, counterintelligence, and journeys spanning the globe to race toward a satisfactory solution to the financial dilemma leading to critical chaos.

From here you must read, so that this review won't be a spoiler. But beware if you think there's a "good guys get bad guys" final scenario. The actual ending chapters of this novel will horrify one and yet draw one to keep reading because of its all too real plausible and devastating events. The Fund is a large novel about the peaceful and violent world of fighting the war on terrorism that one wants to put down but cannot because of its gripping, dominoes-like progression. Gripping, intelligent, fear-filled, courageous, devious and honorable characters push this story to its startling end! Nicely done, H. T. Narea!

The Ambition by Lee Strobel

The Ambition. Lee Strobel. Zondervan Publishing. May 2011. 320 pp. ISBN #: 9780310292678.

A bookie meets his end at the hands of the no-nonsense Mafia mobster, Nick Moretti. That event will foster a series of conversations and illegal actions that focus on how not to get caught and have one's future ruined. A typical scenario? Well, this one's got a bit of a different twist to it.

An Illinois Senator has been criminally convicted and is forced to resign. It's up to the Governor to appoint an interim Senator. His choices are a Chicago Judge, Reese McKelvie, or an evangelistic preacher, Eric Snow. The former engages in some manipulation in order to free the murderer, Nick Moretti; and the plot unwinds with him telling the Bugatti family. As the violent consequences follow, it seems there's no way to pull back the forces aiming to eliminate all threats to the Judge's senatorial selection!

At the same time, Eric Snow and his legal adviser are doing everything possible to secure the position as well. Meanwhile, miracles are happening in his former church, and he only wants to distance himself from acknowledging the special answers to faith-filled prayer. His once faith-filled life becomes divided until inspired words break through the hard veneer he's been developing.

Ambition has different meaning to those reaping its different consequences. The Ambition is a novel about examining choices and looking around at the lives one affects on all levels of life and death! Lee Strobel has crafted a realistic, conscious-raising story that every reader will long remember and ponder! Outstanding!