C.J. Zahner's Blog, page 6

Unfillable Footprints

Mike was eleven years older than me. As his little sister, that meant big footprints to fill.

How big? Well, a man once asked if he was my brother. When I said yes, he replied, “That guy is a genius.”

Yet, he wasn’t simply extraordinarily smart. He was the sort of man everyone liked. Loved, really. An intellectual. Proud lefty as my niece Erin reminded me. He was quiet and unassuming one moment, fun-loving and witty, another. He accepted people as they were, mined his own business, and enjoyed spending time with his family and friends above all else. 

Along life’s path, I left little footprints behind his larger-than-life ones. He said he was the “greatest” and I was the “second greatest.” Imagine a five-year-old’s awe, being second to the brother she idolized. He taught me to bounce a ball, make a perfect paper airplane, and play chess so well I beat my ninth-grade chess teacher. He came home to play tag in the back yard with me after he married his high school sweetheart, Barb, the third greatest (much to her dismay). He took me to hockey games, walked me through calculus, and inspired a deep-seated love of running.

I jogged along behind him, then, while he ran with Erie’s greatest generation of runners: Dave, Bruce, Howie, Dave, Bill, Mike, Rick, Fred, Val, Gary, Dick, Case, Hindy, Jen, Barb. They met every weekend at Presque Isle State Park. After a long run, they’d sit in beach chairs and watch their children play in the sand. Sometimes, our dad, Pat Filutze, cooked breakfast for them. They’d sit for hours, chatting, laughing, living.

My brother had a keen eye for life, too.  Once, he explained a love story to me—my own parents’. Such a gift to see them from his point of view. He told a beautiful tale about his beloved mother and the father who adopted and loved him like his own. Mike appreciated people. Everyone he met.

I tried to keep up with his pace. He built great friendships in the running community, I did, too. He loved one woman all his life. I followed along and loved one man. He had three children, a daughter, son, and daughter. I had three children, a girl, a boy, and a girl.

He ran marathons. I ran marathons. He set up a camp on Presque Isle. I set one up, too. He played with numbers. I played with words. There wasn’t anything others admired him for that I didn’t admire him for more.

He was a unique individual, loved for his quiet unassuming kindness. He never flaunted his intelligence or athleticism. Just a few years ago, people talked on the radio about his grade school football days and what a talented all-around athlete he was. Mike deferred comments like these. Usually, happily to his wife Barb.

When Mike began losing his memory, he would laugh and say “I used to be smart,” but he didn’t complain. One of my greatest memories of my brother was two years into his six-year stay at Manchester. He was still running. He ran around their short courtyard path, hundreds of times. Sometimes I’d take him and Barb for walks around the neighborhood, to ice cream shops, or for the vanilla milkshakes he loved.

In the fall of 2017, the nurses and I had the great idea to sneak him away from Barb for a little while. Mike and I headed for the peninsula to run five—yes, five miles!

When I returned him to Manchester on our last PI run, before I headed out to California when Layla was born and before he had his stroke, I said to him. “See you when I get back. You’re still the greatest.”

He smiled and spoke so quietly, I could hardly hear him. “No,” he said. “You’re the greatest, Cyndie.” Even in his illness, he gave me the greatest gift he could, not knowing it was truly my greatest gift from him ever. I will cherish those words forever.

I was lucky. I had a small family. Two parents and one brother.

But, oh, that brother I had. I followed him all his life. He left unfillable footprints.

Diane Has Run on Down the Road

Diana had a great laugh. When something struck her as funny, her entire soul shook.

I met her in 1979 at the YMCA. We ran together for several years before she moved away to follow her dreams. She was a biologist and a chemist who couldn’t find satisfying work in Erie.

We kept in touch, but I had a family to raise and Diane had a world to see.

I was elated when she returned to Erie in her late forties. We’d get together occasionally for a walk or run. Humble, quiet, and kind, Diane never boasted about her running, her work, her business acumen. She was the sort of friend who sat in the background until you needed her. Then she was there.

During one of our many runs together, I noticed something wasn’t quite right, and she admitted she might be having some memory problems. Eventually, she asked me for help.

You might think having a friend you can trust is one of the greatest gifts in life. I disagree. I think having a friend who trusts you is the best gift of all. If you’ve had someone trust you with their life, you understand. You ask yourself, how you deserve such a friend.

I helped her when I could.

There were doctor and psychologist appointments to make; magazine orders to cancel (darn those telemarketers!); checkbooks to balance; creditors to contact; bank tellers to meet with (God bless those girls!). Her accountant helped fill out her taxes. Her financial advisor helped locate her investments. (There truly are good people in this world.)

When a person has dementia or Alzheimer’s, the number of hurdles they must jump is staggering. How confused and scared and alone they feel when the simplest of life’s tasks become difficult.

Yet, there are good times, too. Occasions when those around them see a glimpse of the person they used to be.

The last glimpse I had of Diane’s true spirit came when I asked her to meet me downtown during my lunch hour. I’d made her an appointment at the social security office. Of course, she wasn’t there at the time I told her. (What was I thinking?) Fearing we’d miss the appointment, I hurried up and down State Street searching for her. Finally, I found her calmly sitting on a bench.

She said, “I didn’t know where to go, but I knew you’d find me.”

Some of the best moments in life hide in other people’s faith in us.

We hurried in. I had a folder tucked beneath my arm with all her information. Anxiously, I approached the receptionist. “This is my friend Diane. She has a little memory problem, so I helped her fill out her forms. Her social security appointment is at noon. We have the required documentation.”

I presented the folder. The woman glanced at us, leaned forward, and said to me, “Lady, you’re at the bank.”

My gaze wandered past the teller windows, and I turned toward Diane. “Maybe you better find someone else to help you.”

“Maybe I better.” She burst into a gut-wrenching laugh—the old Diane, back in a flash.

I loved Diane and she loved me right back. Never once did she ask to replace me.

As time passed, she grew anxious and forgetful. If you’ve helped someone with a memory problem, you know the tasks are daunting. I couldn’t continue helping her. I worked full time and had a family of my own. Then Angela came along.

Angela married Diane’s brother, David, who lived kitty-corner behind Diane. Angela quit her job, and she and David spent the rest of Diane’s life comforting and caring for her. What I love most was that they built her a back porch where she could sit and gaze out into the yard. Diane loved the outdoors.

The Lord called Diane home this week. She’ll be spending Christmas with her beloved mother, Nelly, and her little brother, Bobby.

Life goes on without her, but a little piece of her lives on in all of us who knew and loved her.

Thanks, Diane, for the hikes at the peninsula, long runs, bowling league, jaunts to the races, for the long conversations, being there for me when I needed you, and for all the great times. Mostly, thank you for loving me just the way I was. There’s nothing better in a friendship.

Now, fly, fly, fly, with effortless abandon—like you used to do when you were young.

We’ll all catch you later down the road.  

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Rating:           10

General Rating:  A hat trick! This is the third ten I’ve given Fredrik Backman. Appropriately, it’s a hockey story. Backman keeps outdoing himself.

Skip factor:  Another one where I skipped nothing. Not a word.

Favorite line: “It doesn’t take a lot to be able to let go of your child. It takes everything.”

Who should read:  Anyone—especially members of athletic families.

Summary: People in Beartown live and breathe hockey, so when the deteriorating little town realizes their junior ice hockey team has the talent to win the national semi-finals, residents experience a sense of revival. Then tragedy strikes. One of the team’s members is accused of a violent act. And it isn’t just any team member. It is the best player and son of the team’s biggest sponsor.

This isn’t simply a story about hockey. It’s the story of a town, of friendship, of right and wrong. Quietly, Beartown highlights the differences between being raised female versus male. And loudly, it touches the subject of worshipping male athletes to a point where some people allow the line between right and wrong to fade.

This book makes a reader question love and loyalty. When is it good? And when is it errant?

Characters:  He’s done it again, had me loving multiple characters. Before I reached page 127, I knew I would rate this book a ten. But on that page, when Kira says, “Oh Fatima, I should be asking if I could sit next to you,” I realized Backman had me falling in love with characters all over again. Like a repeat of A Man Called Ove and Anxious People, one by one they captured my heart.

All of Beartown’s characters are quirky, interesting, and deep. I loved Maya, Ana, Sune, and Benji from their introductions. I fell head-over-heels for Ramona on page 352 and Amat on page 353. Then as if I wasn’t close enough to the end and all out of affection, I fell in love with Bobo on page 374, and Jeanette and Adri on 393 and 394.

There were other characters who had defining moments, like Tails and Kira. You’ll love the masses.

Writing:  The writing is magnificent. Backman’s writing in A Man Called Ove and Anxious People was wonderful, but this book? He’s outdone himself. Never say this author can’t write a better book. He keeps turning them out.

Read this author again?  Absolutely. I am patiently awaiting the arrival of Us Against You and Britt-Marie was Here.  And since I’m a digital-book junkie, you know it’s my favorite author when I order a paperback. They’ll be dog-eared, highlighted, and worn from use.

Read on!

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CJ Zahner is the author of The Suicide Gene, a psychological thriller, Dream Wide Awake, and Project Dream, two thrillers that carry a sixth-sense paranormal element, and two ChickLit novels Friends Who Move Couches and Don’t Mind Me, I Came with the House. Many of her novels were inspired by Zahner’s own experiences. Download her Beyond Reality Radio podcast here.

Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, or LinkedIn. Purchase her books on Amazon.

Snow Falling on Cedar by David Guterson

Rating:                              9.5

General Rating: It’s as if I just finished a classic. This book is tremendous.

Skip factor:  I skipped about 4%, when the author elaborated on fishing and the area. I anxiously scanned ahead to read more about Ishmael, Hatsue, and the trial.

Who should read:  Both men and women and certainly, if you like the classics, you’ll love this. Fishermen, sailors, people who love islands or the coast will enjoy and may even relish the few spots I flipped quickly by. War-story lovers might like. While it isn’t about the war, the consequences of the war markedly affect the characters.

Summary: On San Piedro Island, north of Puget Sound, a boy, Ishmael Chambers, the son of a newspaperman, falls in love with a Japanese-American girl, Hatsue. When Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, the world as they know it is forever changed.

Despite being American and because of their Japanese descent, Hatsue and her family are sent to live in the barracks of a camp at Manzanar. The story reveals what Japanese-Americans lost and endured during the war. It follows Hatsue’s journey along with Ishmael, who joins the army to fight the Japanese.

When Hatsue writes a letter to Ishmael saying she no longer wants to be with him and admits she never truly loved him, the passion for life bestowed on him by his parents, withers. During battle, he nearly dies, but lives and is forced to live with the consequences of his injuries. He returns to San Piedro, follows in his father’s footsteps, and heads the town’s newspaper.

Fast forward to San Piedro after the war. There, when a fisherman dies suspiciously, Hatsue’s Japanese-American husband is accused of murder, and Hatsue’s and Ishmael’s paths cross once again.

Characters:  While I can’t say I loved these characters, they inspired me and drew more compassion from me than most characters in other books. Ishmael and Hatsue along with Hatsue’s husband, the charged man, Kabuo, showed great strength throughout life, perhaps Kabuo more than the other two. They were realistic, well-developed souls.

I respected the main characters along with the others on the Island, who came and went with eloquent timing and description. In particular, I liked Ishmael’s mother, who, in her few lines, displayed an easy acceptance of, yet zest for life.   

Storyline: At the risk of being repetitive, I’ll say this is a touching story, many times told, but from an unusually eloquent writer. It reads like a classic. It’s a tale of love, loss, the consequences of war, culture, and discrimination—“the course of things.”

Writing:  The writing is magnificent, and I’m in awe of this author. While I called attention to his wordiness regarding the fishing and the sea in my skip factor, this is truly the fault of the reviewer not Guterson. (I give it a 9.5 instead of a 10 only because of my shortcomings.)

This novel truly deserves its awards and accolades.

Read this author again? Oh, my goodness, yes.

Read on!

_________________________________________________________

CJ Zahner is the author of The Suicide Gene, a psychological thriller, Dream Wide Awake, and Project Dream, two thrillers that carry a sixth-sense paranormal element, and Friends Who Move Couches, women’s fiction. These last two novels were inspired by Zahner’s own experiences. See the video of her own paranormal experience, a premonition of 9/11 here. Download her Beyond Reality Radio podcast here. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, or LinkedIn. Purchase her books on Amazon

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Rating:           10

General Rating:  Finally! A book that makes sense out of the senselessness of anxious people. I LOVED this book and give it a ten—and I don’t hand tens out easily. This will easily go down as one of my all-time favorites. The writing is magnificent; the characters, irresistibly lovable; and the storyline, hilarious at times and teaching at others.

Skip factor:  Not. One. Word.

Favorite line: “Do you know what the worst thing about being a parent is? That you’re always judged by your worst moments. You can do a million things right, but if you do one single thing wrong you’re forever that parent…”

Who should read: If you like fabulous writing in laugh-out-loud books or outlandish stories with quirky characters, you’ll love this.  And if you’re anxious, you’ll love. And if you’re an idiot, you won’t be able to put down.

Summary:  This story is about a bridge. And life’s puzzle pieces. Simply, a boy attempts to save a man’s life but the man jumps off a bridge to his death. Later, the boy does save a girl from ending her life on that same bridge, but the boy’s never able to forgive himself for not being able to save the man. He grows up to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a good cop. And a good person. If not an anxious person.

Enter a tired, anxious, idiotic bank robber who has two children, is divorced, has been fired, and needs $6,500 for rent.

When the bank robber—who robs a bank with no money—ends up at an apartment “open house” near this bank, which sits across from the infamous bridge, the lives of eight anxious people converge. The bank robber holds a businesswoman, gay couple (one pregnant), retired couple, realtor, and a little old lady—the worst hostages ever—captive while sorting out what to do before the police storm the building.

What happens in that apartment is quirky, strange, unbelievable, believable, and so puzzling that readers won’t put the pieces together until nearly the final page. It’s one of those ten thousand piecers you have to be patient snapping together, but trust me, in the end, you’ll find Backman has assembled a beautiful picture.

Characters:  Very rarely do I grow attached to two or three characters in a book. Here, I loved all eleven characters and a few of their deceased relatives (and friends). Need I say more? Who loves a dozen people in one book? They all had distinct personalities, were anxious, and yes, they were idiots—the good kind.

Storyline:  There is a madness to this storyline, which you might find annoyingly confusing at times, but you MUST hang in there and piece this one together slowly. Wait for it. The story is so much more than a tale of anxious idiots as it professes to be. This book tells of the essence of humans. The individuality and likeness of people.

They’ll be a point when you think, huh? But wait for it. Wait for pieces to start snapping into place.

You may need time to warm up to this one. My friend Joanne had to put it down. She said the anxious people were making her anxious. She’s going back to read it now and won’t be sorry.

Writing:  I loved the writing of Backman’s novel, A Man Called Ove, but this book? The writing is magnificent. I highlighted so many sentences and bookmarked so many pages, my Kindle nearly overloaded. I’m heading off toward Bear Town and intend on reading everything Backman ever wrote or will write.

Read this author again?  Absolutely.

Read on!

_________________________________________________________

CJ Zahner is the author of The Suicide Gene, a psychological thriller, Dream Wide Awake, and Project Dream, two thrillers that carry a sixth-sense paranormal element, and two ChickLit novels Friends Who Move Couches and Don’t Mind Me, I Came with the House. Many of her novels were inspired by Zahner’s own experiences. See the video of her own paranormal experience, a premonition of 9/11 here. Download her Beyond Reality Radio podcast here. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, or LinkedIn. Purchase her books on Amazon.

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Rating:           9.5

General Rating: Please! Message me if Brit Bennett’s books are ever on sale! This isn’t just a great storyline, her writing is fabulous, too.

Skip factor:  0%. Nothing. The writing was way too good to skip a word.

Who should read: Women, young and old, black and white.

Summary/storyline: This is the story of twins, Desiree and Stella Vignes, light-skinned black women who grew up in a town called Mallard.

Mallard is a “strange place,” a community predominantly composed of light-skinned blacks. The residents were: “Fair and blonde and redhead, the darkest ones no swarthier than a Greek.”

Desiree, the wilder of the two twins, convinces quiet, subdued Stella to move away with her, then strangely, Stella disappears.

The story splits and follows the different paths of the twins. One lives as a black woman, the other, as white. Desiree marries a successful, dark-skinned black man, Sam, and has a baby, who resembles her father. But when Sam turns violent toward Desiree, she flees, moving back to Mallard, where her dark-skinned baby is shunned.

Stella marries a white man, Blake Sanders, and “crosses over.” I was unfamiliar with this term. Crossing over is hiding your black heritage and living as a white person. Stella has one daughter and falls into a white-privileged community, where her fear of being exposed controls her every move.

Much later, Desiree’s daughter crosses paths with Stella’s daughter, and the story unfolds, showing the many differences between being raised white versus black.

Characters:

Bennett’s character development is superb. Here, she creates two realistic women with believable lives. Supporting characters are equally authentic. Engaging. Endearing. You’ll love some and dislike others. All are interesting, unique and contribute to the story, helping to magnify the differences between a black and white life.

Writing:  This writing is so good I was sorry I borrowed it from the library. It’s the sort of story a writer will read over and over for inspiration. There were sentences I studied: “She was never up to anything, of course, her days blending together into a sameness that she later found comforting.” Or “…flecks of bone and skin swirling in an urn.” Great description, literally and figuratively.  Exquisite.

Read this author again?  Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Please! Someone let me know when her other books are on sale!

Read on!

___________________________________________________

CJ Zahner is the author of The Suicide Gene, a psychological thriller, Dream Wide Awake, and Project Dream, two thrillers that carry a sixth-sense paranormal element, and Friends Who Move Couches, women’s fiction. These last two novels were inspired by Zahner’s own experiences. See the video of her own paranormal experience, a premonition of 9/11 here. Download her Beyond Reality Radio podcast here. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, or LinkedIn. Purchase her books on Amazon.

The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett

Rating:           9.5

General Rating: Please! Message me if Brit Bennett’s books are ever on sale! This isn’t just a great storyline, her writing is fabulous, too.

Skip factor:  0%. Nothing. The writing was way too good to skip a word.

Who should read: Women, young and old, black and white.

Summary/storyline: This is the story of twins, Desiree and Stella Vignes, light-skinned black women who grew up in a town called Mallard.

Mallard is a “strange place,” a community predominantly composed of light-skinned blacks. The residents were: “Fair and blonde and redhead, the darkest ones no swarthier than a Greek.”

Desiree, the wilder of the two twins, convinces quiet, subdued Stella to move away with her, then strangely, Stella disappears.

The story splits and follows the different paths of the twins. One lives as a black woman, the other, as white. Desiree marries a successful, dark-skinned black man, Sam, and has a baby, who resembles her father. But when Sam turns violent toward Desiree, she flees, moving back to Mallard, where her dark-skinned baby is shunned.

Stella marries a white man, Blake Sanders, and “crosses over.” I was unfamiliar with this term. Crossing over is hiding your black heritage and living as a white person. Stella has one daughter and falls into a white-privileged community, where her fear of being exposed controls her every move.

Much later, Desiree’s daughter crosses paths with Stella’s daughter, and the story unfolds, showing the many differences between being raised white versus black.

Characters:

Bennett’s character development is superb. Here, she creates two realistic women with believable lives. Supporting characters are equally authentic. Engaging. Endearing. You’ll love some and dislike others. All are interesting, unique and contribute to the story, helping to magnify the differences between a black and white life.

Writing:  This writing is so good I was sorry I borrowed it from the library. It’s the sort of story a writer will read over and over for inspiration. There were sentences I studied: “She was never up to anything, of course, her days blending together into a sameness that she later found comforting.” Or “…flecks of bone and skin swirling in an urn.” Great description, literally and figuratively.  Exquisite.

Read this author again?  Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Please! Someone let me know when her other books are on sale!

Read on!

___________________________________________________

CJ Zahner is the author of The Suicide Gene, a psychological thriller, Dream Wide Awake, and Project Dream, two thrillers that carry a sixth-sense paranormal element, and Friends Who Move Couches, women’s fiction. These last two novels were inspired by Zahner’s own experiences. See the video of her own paranormal experience, a premonition of 9/11 here. Download her Beyond Reality Radio podcast here. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, or LinkedIn. Purchase her books on Amazon.

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

Rating:                              6

General Rating: No, no, no, no, and no. I don’t usually bad-mouth other authors or books but this is a hard no. I give it a 8 for writing but a 4 for content.

Skip factor:  20% At least. I skipped much. I don’t like reading the sex details between a pervert and a child.

Who should read:   For the first time I’m talking about people who SHOULDN’T read this rather than those who should. No one under eighteen (maybe twenty-one), that’s for sure. No one that doesn’t like sex scenes, and certainly no sex addicts. (Let’s not encourage them to get off thinking about kids.)

Summary: It’s the typical student-teacher sex affair. I’m not going to say much more.

I read similar student-teacher story, Choose Me, by Tess Gerritsen and LOVED it. This one? I googled the publishing company to see who would allow sex scenes between a child and pervert to go to print. Okay, they weren’t long lived, but the author sneaks in information I thought better left unsaid.

Characters:  The character development was good. Characters seemed unlikeable and true-to-life. I felt complete empathy for the abused girl. I searched after to see if the author had done extensive research on victims, but could not find.

Storyline: Classic retold teacher-student sex—not love—story.  

Writing:  This author writes well. My unworthy two cents is that she needed a better edit. (This is my blog and I’m usually cautious in criticizing other authors, but this story went too far.)

Read this author again?  Not if she publishes with this publisher again. I’m totally shocked other authors condoned this.

Find another book and read on!

_________________________________________________________

CJ Zahner is the author of The Suicide Gene, a psychological thriller, Dream Wide Awake, and Project Dream, two thrillers that carry a sixth-sense paranormal element, and Friends Who Move Couches, women’s fiction. These last two novels were inspired by Zahner’s own experiences. See the video of her own paranormal experience, a premonition of 9/11 here. Download her Beyond Reality Radio podcast here. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, or LinkedIn. Purchase her books on Amazon. 

The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richarson

Rating:           9

General Rating: Excellent writing and character development. I even loved the mule, Junia, named for the lone female apostle. (Google to verify.) This novel reminded me of The Whip, only I enjoyed it much more.

Skip factor:  Nothing.

Who should read: If you like fabulous writing about simple people but with deep meaning, you’ll love this one.

Summary: It’s the story of a blue girl from Kentucky. (There truly was a blue family in Troublesome, Kentucky, and other blues have been identified in other places on occasion. Methemoglobinemia, a blood disorder, causes the blue-tinged skin.) Cussy Mary or Bluet or Book Woman, as she’s sometimes called, takes a job in the Pack Horse Library Project distributing books to poor Kentucky families in the wilderness.

Every night her father lit a courting candle, hoping to find a husband for her, but Cussy Mary wanted nothing to do with marriage as a married woman wasn’t allowed to work for the Library Project.

The novel follows her hard life as she distributes books to the impoverished of the backwoods. She lives to deliver her books to her patrons.

Characters:  Great character development. The interaction between Cussy Mary and her dad, along with her relationship with her clients—especially Angeline and Henry—captured my heart.

Storyline: I had not heard of the Pack Horse Work Project before reading this novel. Although this is fiction, this story is completely believable and realistic.

Writing:  The writing is tremendous. No more need be said.

Read this author again?  Absolutely.

Read on!

_________________________________________________________

CJ Zahner is the author of The Suicide Gene, a psychological thriller, Dream Wide Awake, and Project Dream, two thrillers that carry a sixth-sense paranormal element, and two ChickLit novels Friends Who Move Couches and Don’t Mind Me, I Came with the House. Many of her novels were inspired by Zahner’s own experiences. See the video of her own paranormal experience, a premonition of 9/11 here. Download her Beyond Reality Radio podcast here. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, or LinkedIn. Purchase her books on Amazon.

Choose Me by Tess Gerritsen

Rating:           9

General Rating: A riveting read! Loved this. If you haven’t selected your FREE June Amazon First Read yet, choose this, Choose Me.

Skip factor:  1%. Nearly nothing.

Who should read: If you like a fast-moving whodunit or a puzzling mystery crime novel, you won’t want to put this book down.

Summary: When Frankie Loomis investigates the apparent suicide death of a beautiful, brilliant college student, Taryn Moore, she knows something is amiss.

Enrolled in Professor Jack Dorian’s English class, Taryn friends an overweight quiet boy and butts head with several female students. She argues with them over who is to blame in the star-crossed love tales they’re studying. The class examines famous mentors who have had affairs with students and the outcomes of those relationships.

There’s only one direction for this story to go, right? And it does.

Taryn Moore, more than a little over the top, has recently been dumped by her high school sweetheart, and now, fits nicely into the stalking-my-ex category. But when Professor Dorian—who is married to an over-worked doctor, spending too much time on her ailing father in addition to her patients—compliments her, Taryn refocuses her stalking onto Professor Dorian. And like the classic mentors of the his class lectures, Dorian makes a fatal mistake.

The story spirals forward. Was it suicide? Murder? And if murder, was the perpetrator her old boyfriend? Her side-kick friend? The professor? Detective Frankie Loomis pulls the reader along in her journey to the truth.

Characters:  This story is totally plot driven. I made little connection with any of the characters other than the professor’s wife, whom I felt sorry for. Yet, despite not being drawn to the main characters, Gerritsen creates clear pictures of each. I believed Taryn was beautiful and crazy. Jack Dorian could have been anyone’s typical professor (until he wasn’t), and even Taryn’s overweight student friend slithered into the suspect box, Red Sox baseball cap and all.

So character development? Good.

Storyline:  Great storyline. The author doesn’t hide the fact she is copying a story that has been around since the beginning of time, she flaunts it. You know what’s going to happen. It’s one of those books you mumble, don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do, it….dang, they did it.

BUT, her story-telling skills are superb, so you can’t put it down.  

Writing:  Writing is better than good. Perfect pitch between dialogue, narration, and mystery. Gerritsen keeps you guessing without boring you.

Read this author again?  Absolutely.

Read on!

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CJ Zahner is the author of The Suicide Gene, a psychological thriller, Dream Wide Awake, and Project Dream, two thrillers that carry a sixth-sense paranormal element, and Friends Who Move Couches, women’s fiction. These last two novels were inspired by Zahner’s own experiences. See the video of her own paranormal experience, a premonition of 9/11 here. Download her Beyond Reality Radio podcast here. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, BookBub, or LinkedIn. Purchase her books on Amazon.