Shawn Callon's Blog, page 8
November 17, 2021
Powerful thriller
A unique and engrossing psychological thriller with exceptionally well-defined characters and plenty of plot twists and turns.
The Woman in the Window
The Woman in the Window
November 9, 2021
A Thriller worth Six Stars
Another great novel from Teresa Driscoll!
Worth six stars! It's full of suspense, clues, family secrets and complex characters.
Driscoll weaves a complicated psychological thriller about a married couple about to celebrate their daughter's graduation from university. Just before the ceremony the daughter, Gemma, is worried - she doesn't want to wear the pink dress that her mother bought her and decides to put on a yellow garment instead. As she enters the cathedral hall where all the parents and visitors are gathered, a shot suddenly rings out wounding Gemma. Later we see her in a coma in hospital and learn that one of her legs has been amputated.
The author builds up the suspense and keeps us guessing about who was the shooter. She uses a neat technique of internal monologue for the five major characters - Ed (Dad), Rachel (Mom), Gemma, Matthew (the investigator) and the shooter whose thoughts are written in italic but whose identity is hidden. Fears, secrets and past lives are all revealed making the story even more enjoyable.
We are left guessing as to who is the criminal - is it Gemma's jilted boyfriend (Alex), is it Ed's unstable ex-spouse, is it Gemma's creepy tutor, is it the strange woman who appeared from time to time to unnerve Rachel or is it someone else on the periphery...?
This review was written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic Spy.
Her Perfect Family
Worth six stars! It's full of suspense, clues, family secrets and complex characters.
Driscoll weaves a complicated psychological thriller about a married couple about to celebrate their daughter's graduation from university. Just before the ceremony the daughter, Gemma, is worried - she doesn't want to wear the pink dress that her mother bought her and decides to put on a yellow garment instead. As she enters the cathedral hall where all the parents and visitors are gathered, a shot suddenly rings out wounding Gemma. Later we see her in a coma in hospital and learn that one of her legs has been amputated.
The author builds up the suspense and keeps us guessing about who was the shooter. She uses a neat technique of internal monologue for the five major characters - Ed (Dad), Rachel (Mom), Gemma, Matthew (the investigator) and the shooter whose thoughts are written in italic but whose identity is hidden. Fears, secrets and past lives are all revealed making the story even more enjoyable.
We are left guessing as to who is the criminal - is it Gemma's jilted boyfriend (Alex), is it Ed's unstable ex-spouse, is it Gemma's creepy tutor, is it the strange woman who appeared from time to time to unnerve Rachel or is it someone else on the periphery...?
This review was written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic Spy.
Her Perfect Family
Two tragic Royals
My spouse read this novel and here's her review.
Split between two eras with two women joining the well-established Royal Family - Wallis Simpson and Diana Spencer. Both stories are told from different perspectives.
Mary Kirk meets the teenage Wallis at summer camp and so begins a lifelong friendship leading to tragedy.
Rachel and her fiancée, Alex, are in a cab in Paris when their journey is halted by a crash in the tunnel ahead-Princess Diana lays dying in the wreckage. Can Alex put aside his journalistic instincts or will this tragic incident drive the pair apart?
The author captures the authenticity of both historic eras with an eye for detail.
This review was edited and written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic spy
Another Woman's Husband
Split between two eras with two women joining the well-established Royal Family - Wallis Simpson and Diana Spencer. Both stories are told from different perspectives.
Mary Kirk meets the teenage Wallis at summer camp and so begins a lifelong friendship leading to tragedy.
Rachel and her fiancée, Alex, are in a cab in Paris when their journey is halted by a crash in the tunnel ahead-Princess Diana lays dying in the wreckage. Can Alex put aside his journalistic instincts or will this tragic incident drive the pair apart?
The author captures the authenticity of both historic eras with an eye for detail.
This review was edited and written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic spy
Another Woman's Husband
November 4, 2021
Struggling with life....
My spouse read this novel and here's her review.
An intriguing story told with kindness. Each detail is gradually brought into focus. Eleanor is a slightly odd-ball loner who struggles to interpret the world around her. Apparently dominated by a mother who telephones each week and taunts her daughter for all her inadequacies until, one day, a meeting with Raymond from IT leads to her world gradually opening up. The author cleverly reveals Eleanor's past.
It took me a while to warm to the central character but once the reader lets her in, she maintains the interest. The book was beautifully descriptive of city life and how one can get marginalized.
This review was edited and written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic Spy.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
An intriguing story told with kindness. Each detail is gradually brought into focus. Eleanor is a slightly odd-ball loner who struggles to interpret the world around her. Apparently dominated by a mother who telephones each week and taunts her daughter for all her inadequacies until, one day, a meeting with Raymond from IT leads to her world gradually opening up. The author cleverly reveals Eleanor's past.
It took me a while to warm to the central character but once the reader lets her in, she maintains the interest. The book was beautifully descriptive of city life and how one can get marginalized.
This review was edited and written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic Spy.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
October 31, 2021
Hitler is coming...but when
This is the second book by Wake I've read and it resembles the style and characters who appeared in the first book, Death in East Berlin. In particular, the lead character Alex Kovacs shares similar qualities with Peter Ritter, the East Berlin detective investigating dual murders before the construction of the Berlin Wall- both come across as self-doubting and self-effacing, enjoying a glass or two and lovers of women. Are all Wake's central characters cast in this mould?
Vienna at Nightfall details the events leading up to Hitler's invasion of Austria in 1938. The author cleverly creates a sense of surprise and anticipation although we all know what happened. When will the German army arrive, will we resist, how will France and England react, can we remain independent if our Government carries out more pro-Nazi actions? There's an atmosphere of despondency and inevitability throughout the novel - today it's Austria's turn, tomorrow it will be Czechoslovakia's. This quote sums up the atmosphere well and in a way reflects exactly what's happening in some countries today including the USA, being careful not to offend too much just in case the tiger is released from its cage-
'If you knew you were talking to a closet Nazi, you tried to be as noncommittal as your conscience would allow. Same with staunch supporters of the government. With monarchists, you mostly told the truth but always found a way to mention the good old days. And if you knew you were talking to a closet Socialist or a Jew, you ********** Hitler with alacrity, albeit in sotto voce. The whole thing was complicated, and getting more tangled all the time, but getting through a conversation without somebody standing up and storming out had become a practiced skill and a sign of good breeding, kind of like knowing which fork to use for the salad.'
This review was written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic Spy.
Vienna at Nightfall
Vienna at Nightfall details the events leading up to Hitler's invasion of Austria in 1938. The author cleverly creates a sense of surprise and anticipation although we all know what happened. When will the German army arrive, will we resist, how will France and England react, can we remain independent if our Government carries out more pro-Nazi actions? There's an atmosphere of despondency and inevitability throughout the novel - today it's Austria's turn, tomorrow it will be Czechoslovakia's. This quote sums up the atmosphere well and in a way reflects exactly what's happening in some countries today including the USA, being careful not to offend too much just in case the tiger is released from its cage-
'If you knew you were talking to a closet Nazi, you tried to be as noncommittal as your conscience would allow. Same with staunch supporters of the government. With monarchists, you mostly told the truth but always found a way to mention the good old days. And if you knew you were talking to a closet Socialist or a Jew, you ********** Hitler with alacrity, albeit in sotto voce. The whole thing was complicated, and getting more tangled all the time, but getting through a conversation without somebody standing up and storming out had become a practiced skill and a sign of good breeding, kind of like knowing which fork to use for the salad.'
This review was written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic Spy.
Vienna at Nightfall
October 15, 2021
Nose Missing
The Elgin Affair: The Abduction of Antiquity's Greatest Treasures and the Passions It Aroused
I found this book a very light review of Elgin, the marbles and the politics of the time. It was full of lengthy quotes and letters detailing with minutiae rather than hard facts. Elgin became a bankrupt, lost most of his nose and lost his wife to Robert Fergusson.
I found this book a very light review of Elgin, the marbles and the politics of the time. It was full of lengthy quotes and letters detailing with minutiae rather than hard facts. Elgin became a bankrupt, lost most of his nose and lost his wife to Robert Fergusson.
October 11, 2021
Workers' Paradise
Having gone thru Checkpoint Charlie several times in the 1980's to visit the Central Bank of the German Democratic Republic, I recognize the same atmosphere that the author paints in his novel - drab concrete buildings, an environment lacking in any color at all, food shortages (how about an ancient piece of cold chicken smothered in thick, hot gravy for lunch washed down by as much liquor as you can consume), streets full of smelly two-stroke Trabants and citizens wearing similar mismatched clothes - Welcome to the Workers' Paradise! But I digress.
Wake's novel is a well-written and entertaining murder story that folds around the sudden erection of The Berlin Wall on August 13th. 1961 - die Berliner Mauer had started. The hero Ritter is a greenhorn detective who sets out to solve two grisly and mysterious deaths that appeared to have taken place at a Soviet monument commemorating their war heroes. Between enjoying the sexual pleasures of two women and the mocking of his more experienced colleagues, he does find the time to bring the killer to justice. There's a lot of reflection and discussion about fleeing to West Berlin but Ritter seems to prefer to remain where he is - he has a good job, he's part of the elite, he has contacts in the right places. But The Wall will bring an end to most people's desire to escape - the mines, the machine guns, the searchlights will deter asylum seekers except for the very brave or foolhardy.
This review was written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic Spy.
A Death in East Berlin
Wake's novel is a well-written and entertaining murder story that folds around the sudden erection of The Berlin Wall on August 13th. 1961 - die Berliner Mauer had started. The hero Ritter is a greenhorn detective who sets out to solve two grisly and mysterious deaths that appeared to have taken place at a Soviet monument commemorating their war heroes. Between enjoying the sexual pleasures of two women and the mocking of his more experienced colleagues, he does find the time to bring the killer to justice. There's a lot of reflection and discussion about fleeing to West Berlin but Ritter seems to prefer to remain where he is - he has a good job, he's part of the elite, he has contacts in the right places. But The Wall will bring an end to most people's desire to escape - the mines, the machine guns, the searchlights will deter asylum seekers except for the very brave or foolhardy.
This review was written by Shawn Callon, author of The Diplomatic Spy.
A Death in East Berlin
Brock Wins
Cat loving homicide detective Brock Scanlin takes a rest from the NOPD in Louisiana and takes a drive to Colorado to stay at a cabin he had inherited from his aunt. His boss and his daughter are annoyed by his abrupt departure and his refusal to discuss the issues that are making him to leave the PD. After arriving in the small town he quickly assists the local sheriff to hunt down a gang of violent bank robbers.
As with all of K.D.'s novels, I have read, I really enjoy the imagery she uses to brighten the development of the plot. This novel is no exception. Whether it's "Rumors circulated throughout the precinct like the creaky old ceiling fan overhead" or "It stood out among the jeeps and SUVs dominating the road like a rhino on a surfboard" or " She threw her head back, her golden hair spilling over her shoulders like a shimmering waterfall beneath the overhead light, and laughed" - they all add to the pleasure of reading her novels.
She has a real knack in describing the three criminal protagonists - the blood loving Kim, her dumb boyfriend Curt and her real heartthrob Wolfe as they all speed thru the locale killing innocent civilians and police officers. These three individuals have no redemptive characteristics, they are just plain evil.
Blood Pool
As with all of K.D.'s novels, I have read, I really enjoy the imagery she uses to brighten the development of the plot. This novel is no exception. Whether it's "Rumors circulated throughout the precinct like the creaky old ceiling fan overhead" or "It stood out among the jeeps and SUVs dominating the road like a rhino on a surfboard" or " She threw her head back, her golden hair spilling over her shoulders like a shimmering waterfall beneath the overhead light, and laughed" - they all add to the pleasure of reading her novels.
She has a real knack in describing the three criminal protagonists - the blood loving Kim, her dumb boyfriend Curt and her real heartthrob Wolfe as they all speed thru the locale killing innocent civilians and police officers. These three individuals have no redemptive characteristics, they are just plain evil.
Blood Pool
September 25, 2021
Joy to Read
This novel held my spouse's attention from start to finish. Here's her review:
Beryl, an English child, brought to Kenya as a very young infant, is quickly abandoned by her mother who returns to England with Beryl's brother. Her father raises her in a very hands-off manner letting Beryl run wild. She rebels at being sent to school in the capital, Nairobi, and hates the idea of wearing dresses, gloves and shoes. When her father loses all his money, she has very few choices and, at 16 years old, marries a local estate owner who is twice her age. It turns out to be a disastrous relationship and will be one of many she enters into. Beryl's real loves are horses, the African landscape and, later in life, flying. To her human relationships are much more complicated.
This novel is based on the real life story of an actual individual. The author's writing style is powerful and draws a clear picture of wealthy European life style in colonial Africa. Early on there are vivid descriptions of local tribes and their customs. There are many beautifully written passages setting scenes that make you feel that you are really there or wish you were there. It was an absolute joy to read.
Circling the Sun
Beryl, an English child, brought to Kenya as a very young infant, is quickly abandoned by her mother who returns to England with Beryl's brother. Her father raises her in a very hands-off manner letting Beryl run wild. She rebels at being sent to school in the capital, Nairobi, and hates the idea of wearing dresses, gloves and shoes. When her father loses all his money, she has very few choices and, at 16 years old, marries a local estate owner who is twice her age. It turns out to be a disastrous relationship and will be one of many she enters into. Beryl's real loves are horses, the African landscape and, later in life, flying. To her human relationships are much more complicated.
This novel is based on the real life story of an actual individual. The author's writing style is powerful and draws a clear picture of wealthy European life style in colonial Africa. Early on there are vivid descriptions of local tribes and their customs. There are many beautifully written passages setting scenes that make you feel that you are really there or wish you were there. It was an absolute joy to read.
Circling the Sun
September 20, 2021
Outcast to Man of God
Dostoevskiy Fedor Mihaylovich
Shawn attended an excellent exhibition at the University of Iowa on the well-known Russian author, Dostoevsky. Professor Anna Barker explained that his work went thru four phases reflecting his changing development as a writer during turbulent times in Russia - a rebel, a convict, a gambler and then finally a prophet.
We learned about the terrible conditions he had to endure at the prison camp in Omsk for five years. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E_rgwJIXE...
Lastly we discovered that his genius influenced well-known modern writers like Orwell (1984 and Animal Farm), Kafka (The Trial) and Aldous Huxley (Brave New World).
Shawn attended an excellent exhibition at the University of Iowa on the well-known Russian author, Dostoevsky. Professor Anna Barker explained that his work went thru four phases reflecting his changing development as a writer during turbulent times in Russia - a rebel, a convict, a gambler and then finally a prophet.
We learned about the terrible conditions he had to endure at the prison camp in Omsk for five years. https://pbs.twimg.com/media/E_rgwJIXE...
Lastly we discovered that his genius influenced well-known modern writers like Orwell (1984 and Animal Farm), Kafka (The Trial) and Aldous Huxley (Brave New World).
