Shawn Callon's Blog, page 4

The Downfall of Fake People

Secrets Between Friends by Tracy Buchanan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a story about characters pretending to be other folks; one of them died years ago and the other is very much alive and is seeking to kill folks who live in the village. Thrown into the mix is a local wealthy landlord who threatens the lead character with evicting her and her family for refusing to carry out a criminal act.
The heroine weaves her way thru these complex circumstances searching for the truth and at times ending up in a heap of trouble.

This review was written by Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series.



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Secrets Between Friends

Very edgy

Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A well-written but very violent story about the revenge and hatred of two men for the murderers of their two sons. The style is very edgy and the content is full of slang terms used by former offenders and folks who live on the fringes of the law.



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Razorblade Tears: A Novel

Strong Women ,Shiftless Men

Between Heaven and Texas by Marie Bostwick

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This is one of a series of novels by Bostwick, called Cobbled Cart Quilts. It's set in a town quaintly called Too Much, Texas - where women are strong willed and the man are handsome but shiftless!! (My spouse read this book.)
The reader follows the lives of two young sisters, each with their own individual desires and strengths. They come from a family of quilters and dressmakers but that is all they really share. Mary Dell struggles to have a baby. Lydia Dale marries on the rebound and has several children. Eventually they both end up back on the family farm.
The plot runs its course in a satisfying way. Anyone interested in quilting will enjoy the development of skill and design.

Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series, published this review.

Between Heaven and Texas



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Deep Ancestral Tale

Bird Girl & the Man Who Followed the Sun: An Athabaskan Indian Legend from Alaska by Velma Wallis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This story is a deep ancestral tale about the Athabascan Indians. It focuses on two different peoples sharing close hunting grounds along the Alaskan coastline and provides a wonderful insight into the different perspectives of both peoples.
The tale narrates the story of two youngsters from different clans who are both rebels in their own individual ways, both yearning for the freedom to live their own lives. Their different paths take them far from home before they truly learn the price of that freedom.
It is well-told and highly descriptive, easy to place yourself in the lands they cross - hearing the rushing water, smelling the damp pine forests and feeling the bite of the Winter cold.
The author is descended from the Gwichin Athabascan tribe.

Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series, edited and published this review.

Bird Girl & the Man Who Followed the Sun: An Athabascan Indian Legend from Alaska



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Le Carre's Revenge on his own father

href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1..." style="float: left; padding-right: 20px">Single & Single by John le Carré

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Not one of Le Carre's best novels but the reader will quickly appreciate his famed elegant prose and complex plot construction. The book's major protagonists are a flamboyant money launderer (Tiger Single), his clumsy but well- meaning son (Oliver), a determined customs officer and a bunch of East European thugs. The action takes place after the fall of The Berlin Wall and we witness the ensuing breakdown of communist society that leads to the uber-wealthy oligarchs that we see today.

Le Carre is clearly criticizing corrupt British authorities for permitting such rampant money laundering in the person of Tiger Single and is depicting the post communist grab for wealth in all of its gory detail; but underneath this veneer of corruption and lust for money the novel carries a deeper and more personal meaning - the relationship, or lack thereof, between Tiger and his son Oliver.
Le Carre's father was a con-man, a trickster, a bankrupt - a remote person who only thought of his own survival, one who Le Carre junior longed to be close to. In this book the author is pummeling page after page his own birth father like a punch bag. Tiger is full of tricks and bland assurances that everything will be OK; he directs blame onto subordinates and arrogantly denies the reality of his situation at the end despite being beaten black and blue.

Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series, wrote this review.Single & Single



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Living in Facebook

Trail of Destruction by Tracy Buchanan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I've read all three of Buchan's books about life in her fictional village of Forest Grove. I enjoy her style of writing, her ironic turn of phrase and her ability to create a great sense of suspense but I find her depiction of village life too unpleasant - too much like living in Facebook!!
I agree with Ellie's comment towards the end -
‘there’s something rotten at the core of this place'.

Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series, wrote this review.




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Trail of Destruction

Brilliant Thriller

Unfortunately, it's very rare that I can truly say that I couldn't put a book down I was reading or pick a book up with an excited anticipation for what I was about to discover but this novel from Olsen was one of those rare moments. I've read several of his books and I'd rate this one as his #1, assuming that none of the ones I haven't read don't meet or exceed the standard of this work.

The plot surrounding the disappearance of a three year old boy and two married couples is a true thriller complete with lies, violence, marital strife, blackmail and such raw emotion that make the reader shed a tear or two. Olsen has a gift of such vivid description to make the reader feel sympathy, then anger, then surprise, then disbelief and then repulsion.

The ending is brilliant - the reader knows how the story should really finish but Olsen lets you to come to your own conclusion by leaving a huge question mark at the end.

Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series, wrote this review.

The Last Thing She Ever Did

Entertaining Murder Story

The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I have enjoyed all the Elly Griffiths' novels I've read so far and this book was no exception.

The author is an entertaining writer who uses wry humor in unexpected circumstances, in particular towards the end of the novel where Ruth is fighting off an attacker - she grabs a wooden spoon to defend herself and in the heat of the moment she has sufficient awareness to comment on the utter uselessness of the implement she is wielding!

I loved the clever plot twist at the end where Griffiths reveals that one of the lead characters was withholding valuable info from the police - the character was related to one of the many murder victims that DCI Nelson is investigating.

My only gripe is the overwhelming number of characters that the author presents at the start of the story. I decided to concentrate on just a few folks and let the rest do their thing until they became important.

Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series, wrote this review.





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The Lantern Men

Death in Three Pines

A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Clara has finally secured her first solo art show. She's worried about how well it will be received! Following the show, she and her spouse Peter host a party back at the charming village of Three Pines. Her show has been a runaway success and everything is going well - that is until a body is found in the flower bed of their home.
The novel is another Chief Inspector Gamache mystery with all the twists, turns and dead ends we have come to expect. Woven into the story are the continuing recoveries of Gamache and Jean-Guy from wounds they both sustained at the ambush at the factory that was featured in a previous storyline. Both men are still haunted by this awful incident, in particular Jean-Guy's struggle with medication dependency.
Penny has such a keen eye for details - in art, relationships, locations - it's so easy to be drawn into her diverse cast of characters.

Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series, wrote this review.
A Trick of the Light



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The Island of Mistrust

The Cuban Affair by Nelson DeMille

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the first Nelson DeMille novel I've read. A friend of mine on Goodreads recommended the author.
I like the author's style and his use of wry, macho-like wit to fill out his 'hero' Mac as he works with his small team of anti-Castroists to repatriate "money that rich Cubans stole from poor Cubans so it can be returned to the rich Cubans who stole it.”
Mac was hired because of his military skills but he soon becomes embroiled in an affair with a key team member Sara - an affair that of course complicates the mission and causes Mac to overlook some of the strategic issues of getting $60M in cash and numerous legal documents from a hiding place and onto an escape boat.
The author depicts Cuba as a decaying, crumbling country controlled by the Ministry of Interior who rely on a panoply of spies, finger pointers and informers to feed them information about counter-revolutionaries and CIA-sympathizers. The atmosphere of constant surveillance and distrust is summarized well in the words of Antonio whom Mac believes works as an informer “The Cubans double-cross each other. They sell each other out. They got what they deserve. The hell with their revolutions.”
There are several fun, unexpected twists as the story unravels but the ending is pretty straightforward and predictable.

Shawn Callon, author of The Simon Montfort Spy Series, wrote this review.

The Cuban Affair



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