Michael A. Draper's Blog, page 17

"I am a poor, wayfaring stranger,traveling through this life of woe" lyrics

In a departure from his Dave Robicheau detective series, James Lee Burke brings his readers a riveting historical novel. Weldon Holland's life is described in a manner that parallels many important events of the last century.
As a teenager during the depression, Weldon lived at his grandfather's ranch.  There, he encountered Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow who felt the backroad of the ranch would be a good place to lie low. Although they were ordered off the ranch, Weldon developed a lifelong fantasy about Bonnie and her radiant red hair.
WWII found Weldon as a college graduate and new second lieutenant in action in front of the U.S. lines. His unit comes into attack from German tanks with heavy casualties. Weldon is able to rescue his sergeant, Hershel Pine who was buried under by a passing tank. As Weldon is digging Hershel out, the reader feels the drama of the unexpected enemy tanks on raw recruits.
During this segment of the story, Weldon gets his first taste of anti semitism. We see what one man can achieve by taking a stance against this view and his manner in attempting to change another person's narrow view.
Later, Weldon and Hershel rescue Rosita Lowenstein from underneath a number of dead bodies, killed by Germans who abandoned a concentration camp as the allied soldiers approached. Rosita and Weldon form a love that carries them for the remainder of the story.
Back home, Weldon and Hershel go into business and feel the disappointment of dry oil wells and then the ecstasy when their wells begin to deliver oil. Wealth accumulates but Rosita is the daughter of a well known Communist woman in Spain and we see the manner in which communism was treated at the end of WWII.
The story continues with Hershel and his wife dealing with new wealth and with his wife, Linda Gail following her dream of becoming a Hollywood actress.
Burke has many themes in the story, from prejudice, to bravery and friendship. Weldon and Rosita are memorable characters, vividly portrayed and very sympathetic. Weldon is heroic in his approach as he stands alone for the things he believes and his love for Rosita.

Over and over and over again, this dance is gonna be a ride" song lyrics

Child psychologist, Dr. Alex Delaware gets a call in the middle of the night from a patient he has seen in the past but feels that he let the boy down. Now, Jamey Cadmus is in a psychological hospital and begs for help.

When Delaware arrives at the hospital, he finds that Jamey has escaped. When he tries to look into the treatment Jamey was receiving, he's stalled. The following day, Jamey is accused of being the lavender slasher killer. He's said to have murdered a number of homosexual young men in grisly fashion.

Jamey is the heir of the family estate and stands to inherit a substantial amount when he comes of age. He's being cared for by his uncle and guardian, Dwight Cadmus.

The evidence against Jamey looks strong and Delaware is hired by the attorney defending Jamey in hope that Jamey could be found guilty by diminished capacity and sent to a treatment center for the criminally insane.

Digging deeper, everything seems a little too convenient and it makes Delaware want to know more. He's warned off the case and eventually fired but continues to dig. He's aided by his friend, homicide detective Milo Sturgis. They look into Jamey's past and the drug scene in Los Angeles and San Francisco in the Height Ashbury section. Evidence shows possible use of hallucinogens and mind altering drugs. There are a number of interesting twists and surprises.

This is a well done, psychological novel with many secrets hidden by Jamey's family and uncovered by Delaware. Everything isn't as it appears and watching Delaware uncover the truth is an entertaining ride.

There is good background information but maybe a bit too much but I enjoyed the novel and in finding what was transpiring.

Do not forsake me oh my darling

For fans of the novels about the Old West, "The Untarnished Badge," provides a quick and easy read.

The plot seems like old stuff; there is a crooked council running the town and an honest rancher asks for help from the U.S. Marshal's office.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Luke Cochran is sent to help. He finds that the entire town council is crooked and of the two honest members of the group, one is dead and the other missing. He does meet a woman who is the daughter of the missing councilman. She runs a cafe and tells Luke about the despair of honest folk in the town.

The town sheriff is a crook and his deputy is a bully. They are corrupt and when the young woman whose father is missing asks for their help in locating their father, they brush her off.

The man who runs the stable gives Luke the lowdown and Luke makes quick work of the deputy, showing him up as a coward besides being a bully.

After Luke sends and receives a telegram from his boss in Denver, Luke understands what has to be done and when he tells the few honest men in the town, he gets the back-up he needs.

Not a great bit of suspense and little character development but for a quick trip back to the Old West, this provides an interesting escape.

There's a light in the window

This well written novel tells the parallel story of two young people at the start of WWII.

Marie-Laure LeBlanc is age six when she goes blind. She lives with her father, David, who is the principal locksmith at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. David adores Marie-Laurie and builds her a miniature city so she can follow the miniatures and learn her way about.

When the Germans invade France, Marie-Laure and David travel to her great uncle Etienne's home in the walled city of Saint-Malo. David builds a miniature of this city also for the same purpose and it has a secret compartment where something can be hidden. He also obtains a copy of "Twenty Thousand Leagues Beneath the Sea" in braille that Marie-Laure comes to treasure.

At the Museum of Natural History  there is a rare gem that the museum is attempting to hide from the Germans. This precious gem is said to have the power to make the owner have a long life but cause misfortune to those around the owner.

Werner Pfennig is a twelve year old living in an orphanage in a small German town. He has a rare ability with radios and electrical items. As the war goes on, the older boys at the orphanage join the Hitler youth and seem to become hardened.

Werner is recommended to attend the National Political Institute and excels. Through the story we witness the events in France and Germany and the oppression of the Jewish people. We also follow the story of Marie-Louise and Werner throughout the war.

They are described in a literate, sympathetic manner where the reader becomes attached to them and wishes them happiness in a world of sadness.

This is a heart catching story that will linger in the memories of those who read it.

Things are amiss in the Army department in France in the 1890s

This is an excellent retelling of the Alfred Dreyfus affair that was the subject on most Frenchman's minds in the mid 1890s.

As tensions worsen between France and Germany, a source reveals that there is a French spy in the Army providing military information to Germany. The French spy is said to be a high ranking officer.

Maj. Alfred Dreyfus is accused and found guilty based on falsified evidence. One highly ranked officer was prominent in convincing others that Dreyfus was the guilty officer. The fact that Dreyfus was Jewish made it easier for the other officers to believe since anti-semitic feelings were strongly felt at the time.

Col. George Picquart tells the story from his point of view. He begins to doubt that evidence and when he learns the ID of the true spy, the Army Department would rather keep an innocent man in jail than admit that it made a mistake in the trial of Dreyfus.

The suspense is strongly felt as Picquart puts his own career on the line to convince others of Dreyfus's innocence and who the guilty officer really is. Picquart is sent to Tunis on a mission where his murder is planned.

The story continues and Dreyfus's many supporters rise to his defense led by Emile Zola who published an article J'Accuse where he points the finger at the real criminals in the matter.

Well done with characters out of history that tell their story with realism and literary precision.

The house of the rising ghosts

Hannah Smith is a fishing guide and part time investigator in the Sanibel Island area of Florida. She's invited to her friend, Birdy's wealthy aunt's home.

When Hannah meets Aunt Bunny, Hannah is asked to check out a home called the Cadence House, named for the first owner of the home who died there.

Aunt Bunny is locked into a real estate investment that includes this home. Due to the owner's death in the house and other mysterious happenings, the home is said to be haunted. Thus, the home and property it's on, are difficult for Bunny to sell.

Hannah and Birdy arrive at the house and soon a nest of spiders fall on Birdy and one of them stings her. Thereafter, a string of unexplainable events occur.

There is also interest in a Civil War battle that was fought in the area. Heather finds her uncle's diary. He had been active in the area of the Cadence House during the Civil War. Hannah reads from her uncle's diary and it's as if events of the Civil War that took place in Florida are being described again.

A colorful cast of characters are introduced, from an eighty-year-old archaeologist looking for his son and civil war relics, to a number of women who claim to be witches and to a con-man who has trained two large chimpanzees to do as he commands.

The story displays Hannah's fear after dealing with one of the chimpanzees named Oliver.

There are good descriptions of the Florida swamps, lots of action and good characters.
However, the story was longer than it needed to be and there were times that the suspense lagged.
I enjoy Randy Wayne White and await his next Florida adventure story.

A mother's love

In the prosperous oil fields of Lawton, North Dakota, rapid expansion of the business had resulted in short cuts from the companies doing the oil drilling and from providing housing for the many men who arrive in Lawton looking for work.

One company in particular has been overlooking safety in the workplace and has a number of serious injuries. If an employee becomes injured, the lawyers from the company attempt to buy the person off and have them sign a letter that they won't sue. The company is afraid of bad publicity and an investigation by OSHA.

In this atmosphere, two young men disappear. Their mothers come to Lawton separately to find their sons and get answers of what caused their disappearance. The mother's meet up when the second mother arrives and with the housing shortage, she is introduced to the first mother and they share accommodations

With the company who was their son's employer stalling the women, the look elsewhere but other employees fear for their jobs and are afraid to talk. Townsfolk are happy with the employment and scoff at the mother's inquiries. They feel that they young men are probably having a good time somewhere and don't want their mother's to know.

We are introduced to a young Native American with ties to a local reservation. Eventually the mother's search and the young man make a connection.

The mother's are opposite personalities and from different segments of society but manage to work together. They are easy to sympathise with. As they search, the possibility of what happened to their boys becomes clearer but then the author provides a surprise.

I enjoyed the writing but wish the story ended sooner. The last segment of the book was drawn out and lacked suspense and wasn't compelling.

As the father of a son with a learning disorder, I felt the treatment of one of the young men who had ADD, attention deficit disorder was well brought out. The author displayed the difficulty with this condition and the results that can effect the person effected and their family.

Agents and intelligence officers at odds with each other

Matthew Dunn provides his readers with the events of an M16/CIA operative, Will Cochrane. Will goes against his orders. He shoots a number of Russian killers and saves a fellow CIA agent's life.

He endangers an important mission and the directors of the CIA and FBI want him dead.

Will shows his integrity and desire to do the right thing in saving his fellow agent's life. The agent reveals to Will that she just learned from her source that there is a Russian mole who is a high ranking person inside the CIA.

Who can Will trust?

He had to get from his current assignment in Oslo back to Washington, D.C. to get the answers. In the meanwhile, intelligence officials tell a different story. They depict him as a rogue agent who is a killer.

Will has to rely on his instincts and attempt to get the answers about a project that his superiors want kept secret. He is a well developed character. We see his bravery, resourcefulness and determination to save his life and his career and uncover the mole.

The author, Matthew Dunn, was an M16 field officer and knows his stuff. He writes a believable, engrossing story that is impossible to put down.  Well done!

Passion Power and Sin

Mike Wells has created a clever, interesting financial drama where one victim decides not to take her misfortune lying down.

Heather Bankfort is a young woman trying to find success in the public relations business in New York. Her mother's home in North Carolina is behind in mortgage payments and about to be foreclosed.

One day she receives an email from an anonymous person with a tip on a sport's event. She considers it a scam but when the prediction comes true, she acts on the next tip from the source.

In between these emails, she begins dating a handsome man from a wealthy family and considers her dreams are coming true.

Moving forward, everything turns upside down and she realises she has invested everything in a pump and dump scheme. In addition, she finds something about the man she was dating and takes appropriate steps.

What Heather goes through in the obstacles she faces is exciting and suspenseful.

The story was narrated by Karin Allers and I listened to the audio as I exercised. It made my time fly by and in an enjoyable manner.

Murder and Kidnapping in South Africa

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Deon Meyer provides the reader with his ninth police procedural in "Cobra."

A famous English mathematician is kidnapped and his body guards killed in the picturesque Franschhoek wine valley. The man was traveling under an alias and went to trouble to keep his identity known. He has developed a formula that will make it more difficult for terrorists and secret agencies to hide their financial transactions.

When police arrive, the only apparent clue is the shell casings from the bullets. They are engraved in such a way that the police refer to the kidnapper/killer as the Cobra, a known assassin.

Through Meyer's writing we see the rivalry between the Hawks, members of SAPS (South African Police Service" and the SIS, the government security service. It is akin to the territorial rivalry between local municipalities and our government agencies of CIA and FBI.

Detective Benny Griessel leads the investigators with his colleagues. Benny is the central character along with Tyrone Kleinbooi, a 'coloured' pickpocket who is trying to pay for his sister's tuition at the university through his thievery. He's an interesting character as we see him plan for his needs and then steal what is necessary.

Meyer tells us about Benny's past fall into alcoholism but he has been sober for over 400 days and even helped his girlfriend overcome her difficulty with the same ailment.

We also see the tensions between white and black and the attitude many have where in the University they are teaching more English than Africanis.

The action is well done and when Tyrone picks the wrong person to rob and the Cobra wants it back, it gets personal and suspense mounts. Tyrone tells the Cobra off and tells him not to mess with his sister.

This is a very visual story with good action and good descriptions.