See Also Proof: A Marjorie Trumaine Mystery by Larry D. Sweazy

See Also Proof: A Marjorie Trumaine Mystery by Larry D. Sweazy. Prometheus Books. Copyright April 2018.; pb 251 pp. ISBN: 981633882799.

Marjorie Trumaine is an ordinary woman with an unusual job, that of an Indexer of books.  It’s a job that demands a good memory and a high degree of organization and order.  All of those gifts have been offset for a few months since her husband Hank passed away.  Marjorie lives in Dickinson, North Dakota, a place that is extremely unkind in winter weather but whose residents take it all in stride.  They love the area with its farming community and town activities.  When things get tough, they all band together and they will certainly be doing this several times as this mystery evolves!

Marjorie’s time right now is divided with her work indexing an Audubon book about birds and joining the local Ladies Aid group, as well as taking care of her farm which is now dormant with winter.  It’s an old-fashioned type of community in 1965 comprised of residents of German, Swiss and other northern European heritage.  The descriptions of the dishes mentioned in this novel will make each reader drool for sure!

The first mystery involves a missing young girl, Tina Rinkerman, who is mentally challenged and has not been seen in two days.  As the weather is viciously cold and snowy, it is believed if she is not found soon she will not survive as she was not wearing a hat or coat when it is believed she disappeared.  The men in the town and the local Sheriff set to forming search groups and getting to work to find Tina.  They are severely challenged though as it keeps snowing more and more each day.

On one of these trips, Marjorie’s travels with the Sheriff and what they find is a murdered neighbor, Nils. One can feel the shock of the community.  Although all are occupied in providing for food etc. for the wake and funeral, Tina is still missing. 

No spoilers here but the remainder of the story centers on finding the murderer and finding Tina.  The end is ultra-shocking and also brings back some distressful realities about how mentally challenged patients were abused in the last half of the 20^th Century.  Marjorie will be shocked by the identity of the murderer of Nils.

See Also Proof is a fine, fine mystery that progresses slowly but interestingly.  It has spunk, humor, suspense and some fascinating qualities about the occupations of the main and minor characters.  Nicely and sensitively done, Larry D. Sweazy!!!

Red Sister: First Book of The Ancestor by Mark Lawrence

Red Sister: First Book of The Ancestor by Mark Lawrence. Book: Penguin Publishing Group. Copyright April 2017. $16.99;  pb. 480 pp.; ISBN: 978110988879.

Nona Grey is about to be hung!  She has attempted to murder an upper-class lord who deserves the slit throat he gets but will never forgive his attempted assassin. Rescued by a nun, Nona is taken to the Convent of Sweet Mercy, a misnomer if there were ever one.  The convent includes a variety of young girls and women who are being trained in multiple facets of war.  Nona will spend three years preparing to graduate as a warrior.  For most of the novel, the reader is never quite sure who a precise enemy is.  We know that the Convent is located in a very cold, hard area where stone, cliffs and frozen rivers are the norm. 

So Nona begins to trust her classmates – somewhat as one is never sure who is friend or foe here as the competition is fierce for victory.  She is taught the crafts of sword fighting, poisoning, wrestling, physical battle, reading and writing, and the path to serenity or “The Path,” as it is known.  It sounds like a martial arts academy based on spiritual principles but with no room for weakness or giving in.  The goal is success, no matter how violent, cruel or deadly.

It initially is debatable whether Nona is “The Chosen One” foreseen in a prophecy believed by the Sisters at the Convent.  There are various categories of humans who hold a secret skill in one form of battle.  Nona must learn to conquer the weaknesses she carries that prevent her from doing better, most of all her temper.  Yet that same temper will enable her to win her first competition against a relative of an upper class enemy.  How to control that gift and use it to its maximum effect is the challenge!

The last few chapters of this superb story will leave you breathless as Nona confronts evil incarnate.

I don’t normally go for novels that are very violent but this one had a “ninja-like” quality that hooked me completely!  Looking forward to the next novel in the series!  Think most readers will as well!

The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth's Past #1) by Cixin Liu

The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past #1) by Cixin Liu. Translated by Ken Liu. Tor Book: Tom Doherty Associates Book.  Copyright 2018. $16.99. pb. 416 pp. ISBN: 9780765382030. 

Cixin Liu is a multi-award winning science fiction whose works are now available in English translation.  This is the first in a planned trilogy.  The novel begins during the time of China’s Cultural Revolution.  Academics are being purged and forced to undergo Communist indoctrination.  One area remains untouched, that of science as China is planning a project to contact aliens from outer space.  Ye Wenjie had watched her scientist father being beaten to death; yet by a strange series of circumstances, she is chosen to be part of this new team to reach outer space.  This is truly hard science fiction.  Even though the science of astrophysics is hard to follow, one can skip some of the scientific descriptions and still get the gist of the plots herein.  At first the problems with the project are that Wenjie and her colleagues are studying scientific theory, they discover that eventually all past theories become negated by the new ones.  Physics, Biology and Computer Science are omitted after their use has become negated by technology leaps. 

The Red Coast Project is highly secure with a classified rating.  Wang Miao has been invited to be part of the project even though his field of nanotechnology is totally unrelated to this problem.  Wang has a problem getting others to answer his questions.  What he learns is mostly from what originally was a virtual reality game called Three Body which involves discovering and eventually the renunciation of these same theories by Newton, Von Neumann, the First Zhou Emperor, Syzygy, etc.

Suddenly, the Three Body game is no longer a game but a connection with Extraterrestrial beings, the Trisolaran Fleet.  Instead of being excited, the scientists become divided in factions.  The proverbial problem is after the discovery, what are these beings like and can Chinese plans fuse with the Trisolaran beings?  Will the latter reform human civilization, the goal being the elimination of all human madness and evil?  Will the Earth be destroyed?  Yours to be discovered!

The author includes a postscript in which he describes how his interest in science and scientific theory developed which is clear and interesting to follow.

All in all, this is a difficult text to read but contains ideas about science and scientists and humanity that is sure to intrigue fans of hard core science fiction.  It certainly will provoke much dialogue about its theories, plots and plans for future novels in the series! 

Best Beach Ever: A Novel by Wendy Wax

Best Beach Ever: A Novel (Ten Beach Road #6). Wendy Wax.  Penguin Publishing Group. Copyright 2018. pb. 400 pp.; ISBN: 9780399584411. 

The gals are back again!!! (However, this can be read as a stand alone novel.) They’ve got new challenges to enthrall us! 

Bella Flora has been rented out to a former nemesis of Kyra, Troy, who now is claiming that he has always loved her.  But Kyra is definitely not buying it and we will have to see where this goes – but don’t be so sure you can predict everything.

Kyra meanwhile has agreed to let her son, Dustin, be in his father Daniel’s new movie.  Daniel is now trying to be a director and not just an actor.  Kyra has huge reservations about Dustin being with Daniel and his new wife, troubling fears that turn out to be a mother’s gut feelings that are spot on and trustworthy.

Then we have Nicki who has had twins and is trying to get back to her svelte, former form.  She’s also finding the care of twins to be overwhelming and her husband Joe advises her to hire some help while he’s away on business.  The woman they hire is endearing to the twins and readers as well, perhaps too much so for Nicki’s liking.  Niki will change because of this experience as well, in a frustrating but heart-warming series of events.

Bitsy has been cheated out of a fortune but is about to serve her own brand of justice on her lying, cheating husband!

Maddie as always is the imparter of hard-earned wisdom, learned after her own trials and divorce.  Still she learns that she’s entitled to her own life with its pleasures with her new romance.  But she also learns that she doesn’t have to anyone’s “first” but instead be her own person first.  Let the chips fall where they may!

This is the conclusion of this series and readers will want to read the previous five novels.  Wendy Wax is a seasoned author who knows how to craft a realistic story with ups and downs that leave the reader challenged and entertained!!!  Highly recommended contemporary fiction!

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. Tug  Wyler 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 Tug: 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 Tug 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 Tug, is such a stunner that the reader will have to read it twice.  What has Tug 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!!!

How to Walk Away: A Novel by Katherine Center

How to Walk Away: A Novel. Katherine Center. Creativia – St. Martin’s Press. Copyright May 2018, hb.. 320 pp.; ISBN #: 9781250149060. 

Margaret Jacobson is living a charmed life.  She works hard in school, is highly athletic and is soon to be engaged to the perfect guy, Chip.  Chip is confident and passionate about flying and one night before he takes his final exam to be licensed, he insists on Margaret flying with him.  That turns out to be the turning point in Margaret’s perfect life.  After an accidental flight, Margaret is severely injured and debilitated with an inability to move her legs, walk or anything else she had dreamed of doing in her now non-existent future!

One can see where this narrative is going but it doesn’t erase the reader’s total engagement with how Margaret’s world changes and the dynamic people around her who enable her survival.  First there is the enigmatic physical therapist, Ian, who is a tough piece of metal perfect for Margaret.  Then there is her estranged sister, Kit, who returns and turns out to be just the right amount of jokes, food, commiseration, and inspiration for Margaret to get back into life and new dreams and visions for the future. It also turns out that Kit had disappeared out of love and not hate and lies.

Chip, the perfect guy, doesn’t cope well with what has happened to his fiancé.  In fact, he is so riddled with guilt and shame that he falls apart.  How will that complicate issues? 

Trauma is a life-changer! How easy to write these words because most of us can’t possibly and fully imagine such changes in our life story?  Katherine Center has got it right – so right that the plot and how these people’s lives intertwine in this initial nightmare is credible and endearing. 

How to Walk Away is a more than apt title for readers to grasp by the end of this remarkable, realistic and engaging story of truly heroic growth and change!  So nicely done, Katherine Center!

Send Down the Rain: A Novel by Charles Martin

Send Down the Rain: A Novel. Charles Martin. Harper Collins Publishing. Copyright May 2018. E-Book. 352 pp.; ISBN: 9780718084769. 

Allie waits for her second husband to come home for dinner.  He’s a trucker who spends most of his time on the road but he and Allie seem happy in their new life in Cape San Blas. That complacent lull in life proceeding smoothly is about to be sheared apart, literally and figuratively.  But tragedy in the form of falling asleep and losing control of the massive truck changed everything, a massive fireball as the truck hit immense rocks on the side of a road and is obliterated beyond recognition.  Death tears apart Allie’s world!

Joseph (Jo Jo) Brooks has returned from a devastating time in Vietnam and wants nothing but to return to a life of normalcy.  So he settles into a cabin and is happy to work out his memory-driven demons.  He’s making progress but is still far from knowing normalcy.  A dramatically quiet meeting changes his world when he meets Allie and her two young children lost and wandering in the woods near his cabin.  They get to know each other and very gradually begin to care for each other. 

While he is helping her return to Florida to remaining family, a shocking truth comes to their attention and the rest of the story is a dramatic revelation indeed. All of this happens while Allie helps Joseph heal his way through nightmares and the PTSD that still looms large in his daily life.

The change in Allie’s life is tough to handle and it is Joseph who guides her through the journey to a satisfying end.  Sometimes life’s twists and turns are the tough road that makes a person grow the most, although one wouldn’t want to be part of this process. Although it may strike most readers as contrived, the story is still worth the reading, replete with high emotions and challenges!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.