Michael A. Draper's Blog, page 2

Life is really simple but is made to look complicated

This is Alex Berenson's 10th novel featuring John Wells. His novel, "The Faithful Spy: won the Edgar Award in 2007 for the best first novel.

"The Wolves" follows the action in "Twelve Days," where billionaire Aaron Duterman tried to get the U.S. and Israel to invade Iran. Needless to say, this would be a moneymaker for Duterman. In that novel, Wells works with Vinny Duto and Ellis Shaffer.

In "The Wolves" Wells is again helped by Shafer who is now the CIA director. Duterman is now in Hong Kong and still wants revenge against Wells.

Wells decides to go after Duterman.

Prior to his trip to Hong Kong, Wells visits with his son, Evan and they talk about Evan going into the Company when he finishes college. It seems like Wells wants to tie up loose ends before changing careers to something less threatening.

Alex Berenson is a skilled story-teller. He creates realistic scenarios and his stories are suspenseful and compelling.

I'm anxious to see what John Wells does in his next adventure.

I Promise to Remember

There were so many people requesting "The Promise" at my library that I was impatient to have my turn.

Robert Crais is one of my favorite authors. I truly enjoyed "Suspect" with Scott James and his K9 Maggie.

In this story, P.I. Elvis Cole is asked to find a missing woman but has to keep the search quiet and has other restrictions in locating the woman.

We witness a drug deal in L.A. suburb Echo Park. It gets rowdy and someone calls the police. K9 handler Scott James witnesses a suspect leaving the house but because it's a residential area, he can't let Maggie off the leash and the suspect escapes.

Cole had been watching the house because he had information that his subject was there. He sees the police chase after the suspect and tries to help but is mistaken for another criminal and ordered to stop.

The confusion is corrected and James thanks Cole for his attempted assistance but the suspect escaped and a body was found in the house and a stash of explosives.

From that time, we learn that the person Cole was after had a connection with the escapee and it had something connected to explosives.

Sounds like a good premise but Cole's usual humor and wit wasn't  at it's normal level. Many of the crooks in the scheme went by nicknames and it was somewhat confusing to me.

The connection to the woman who hired Cole and the chase for the missing woman went on too long and the excitement of the story lost some steam. The missing woman's motivation for her actions could have been written in a stronger manner.

I liked the characters but wished for more.

Don't be afraid of the Dark

This novel grabs your attention from the start.
Tim Blake has his 17 year old daughter, Sydney, staying with him during the summer. She never comes home from her job in a local motel. Tim goes to the hotel and asks the management about her. They don't know her and inform him that she never worked there. 

Blake tries to keep his life going and barely succeeds until the police tell him that they've found his daughter's car in a local parking lot.
What would you do as a parent?

Tim becomes a modern "Everyman." He's not Special Forces or a U.S. Marine. Tim is a used car salesman, a relatively unheroic occupation.
However, when it comes to finding the one person who means everything to him, his daughter, he is not to be stopped. He doesn't let his job get in the way, or even his own safety. "Whatever it takes" should be his motto.

There is a tip that his daughter might be in another place and when Tim arrives there, he finds that it was a hoax but someone wanted him out of town for a reason. Tim must find out why.

Barclay is a literary symphony conductor with this novel. The suspense begins slowly, think of Ravel's "Bolero" but they he picks up the momentum and becomes John Philip Sousa and "The Stars and Stripes Forever."

The plot is believable and the description of the Milford, Stratford area of Connecticut is perfect. The author lives in Toronto but tells this reviewer that he was born in Darien and even though he lives in Canada, he would travel back to this area to see family for many years.

Highly recommended.





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When the white blossoms bloom again

There were many families like the Serrano's. They lived in an immigrant community. The mother had died but the father was a hard working man, attempting to do his best for his three children. A police raid, looking for drugs, mistakenly came to their home instead of the next block. They found no drugs but found that Mr. Serrano was undocumented. He was taken for a hearing on being sent back to Mexico.  The children, fourteen-year-old Luna and her younger siblings were placed in the care of a wealthy Spanish family.

In an upscale community of Lake Holly, New York, Det. Jimmy Vega is assigned to investigate the situation of a newly born infant left to the elements to die. Later, the body of a young woman is found.

Det Vega needs the help of his girlfriend Adele, founder of La Casa Community Center. Many of the residents are undocumented and don't trust the police.

The story is told with passion and good imagery. "Luna tried to help Dulce with her (bag) but she was carrying too many things. The terra-cotta flowerpot slipped from Luna's hands and cracked in two on the bare floor. Dirt scattered everywhere. Mami's beautiful plant lay sideways on the clay shards.

I thought the image of broken plant and a broken family was well portrayed.

As the story continues, the fear immigrant community to come forth to the police is heart brokenly described.

Recommended!

Tonight You're Mine, Completely" Lyrics

Investigator Wayne Weston is found dead, an apparent suicide. His wife and six-year-old daughter are missing and officials believe that it is a murder-suicide. Wayne's father, a crusty WWII vet, hires Lincoln Perry and his partner, Joe Pritchard, to investigate.

With excellent dialogue and interesting characters, Michael Koryta takes the reader on the trail as the detectives accept the case and look into the details. The investigators are surprised at the start. It seems that Weston doesn't have any current cases. He does seem to be doing some work for wealthy Jeremiah Hubbard, a real estate developer who is attempting to purchase waterfront property in Cleveland and create a riverfront that will be even better than New Orleans'. When Perry and his partner visit with Hubbard, Hubbard won't admit anything and then attempts to bribe them to drop the case.

This makes the investigators more suspicious and intent to find out what was going on. The search has some unsuspected turns when they find a connection to a group of Russians who are underworld figures.

This is Michael Koryta's first novel and a well done job. He uses dialogue to get to know the characters and the reader becomes almost an interested participant as the case develops. Koryta gives the reader a number of surprises and keeps the action going throughout the story.

Rules are meant to keep a person safe, what happens if they fail?

Second chances are often rewarded beyond expectation.

Colin Hancock is a young man who had difficulty keeping his temper under control. Now, at age twenty-six, he's attempting to leave his past ways behind. Where his history of violence and bad choices have almost landed him in jail, he's been trying to walk the straight line.

He's attending college and working as a bartender and doing well at both endeavors.

One night, on a windy, rain slicked road, he comes across a car that is disabled. He's sees a young woman trying to fix a flat tire and offers to help. This led to his meeting Maria Sanchez. She is a young attorney from a Mexican family.

As their lives interconnect, he learns that Maria is being sexually harassed by her boss and that Maria has been receiving threats that indicate that Maria would "know how it feels."

While Colin wants to help, he is being scrutinized by a local detective who feels that Colin should be in jail due to his violent past. He knows that the judge has given him a last chance to turn his life around.

How can this couple overcome their situation?  This romantic suspense thriller not only provides a good story, it deals with a number of important issues such as dealing with sexual harassment in the workplace and the views some have of Mexican Americans.

The audio book is read by Christopher Ryan Grant who adds his skills to an excellent story by Nicholas Sparks.
The characters are well described. Colin and Maria are the kind of character that the reader will enjoy following and root for their success.

Recommended.

Many Tears Have to Fall but it's all in the Game." Lyrics

Having enjoyed Catherine Coulter's FBI thriller, "Nemesis" I wanted to read another of her stories.

In "The End Game," Nicholas Drummond and his partner Michaela Caine investigate COE. This is a group led by Matthew Spenser. He is a scientist/terrorist and anti Muslim zealot.

At the start of the action, he is assisted by Vanessa who makes bombs for the organization. COE which stands for Celebrants of the Earth.  Their goal is to stop America from importing oil from the Middle East.

Vanessa had agreed to assist the organization by making bombs. She believed Matthew when he told her that his goal was to stop the importing of oil from the Middle East without the loss of life.

Nick and Mike get a tip about the Beltway Refinery in New Jersey. They're told that a man in a bar overheard an intoxicated man bragging that there would be a bomb at this site. They rush to the scene just before the bomb explodes and are lucky that they didn't have major injuries.

Following the activities of the terrorist group, we learn more about Vanessa and her true identity.

With the bombing in France and other terrorist acts recently I thought that the story was very timely. The action was fast and furious and I liked Nicholas and Michaela having some romance in their lives.

Recommended.

Only the shadow knows the truth

"X" is the story told in numerous parts.

The central part has Kinsey investigating a serial killer. She's unaware that as she gets closer to building enough evidence to nail the killer, she becomes a target.

The second layer of the story has Kinsey dealing with her landlord's elderly neighbors. At first they seem worthy of Kinsey's sympathy but there is something beneath their outer personae.

The final segment of the story is where the "X" comes from. It covers a woman of Greek heritage who recently divorced. She is still embittered about her husband's philandering when she discovers an art work in her husband's basement's basement that could be worth millions. But she has to smuggle it out of his basement to get it appraised in London.

The book is good but tends to jump from one story line to another too much. The characters are old friends by this 24th installment of Kinsey's actions.  I look forward to their antics but found the conclusion unfulfilling,  perhaps it was a prelude to a future story.

Now wait a minute for this dandy

What appealed to me about "Minute Zero" was the idea that the story combines political diplomacy with national security.

With current events and the presidential election debate, a book about election would be of interest even if the nation is Zimbabwe.

State Department crisis manager Judd Ryker is sent to Zimbabwe to attempt to quell a developing emergency. Ryker is to stop an emergency and provide a solution before the situation gets out of hand.

In the 1980s thousands of civilians in Zimbabwe died during an operation and no one was held accountable.

Now President Winston Tinotenda known as Tino is set to have another term as president in an election that he has rigged.  He as a corrupt security adviser and gets money from illegal diamond mines and elsewhere.

Ryker brings in the CIA and some old friends to stop the bleeding and allow to elected president to assume her rightful office.   How he does this and what he must overcome is the basis of the story.

I enjoyed the story and compared the situation to what is going on in certain countries today and it also gives the reader the idea that it might have been useful if Ryker had done his magic to prevent other countries from going to rebels or illegal dictators.

Mike's Health 11-16-2015

Health report:
Began a new clinical trial two weeks ago. It has had an immediate positive effect. My sight has improved, the pain is reduced and overall feeling of improvement. I still have a way to go on my sight and I do have lower back pain at night and pain in my right elbow but it's only the beginning of the trial.