Michael A. Draper's Blog, page 31

Life in the outskirts of small towns in Louisiana.

Elvis Cole is asked to find a TV personality's biological parents.

He travels from LA to Louisiana and a southern land with their own way of doing things.  He learns what he has to with the help of an attractive female attorney, Lucy Chenier, in Baton Rouge.

The family connections to the TV star, Jodi Taylor, make her want to know more of the history of where she was born.

Elvis returns with his partner, Joe Pike, a strong, silent man who is a force within himself. The men learn about drug smuggling and illegal emigrants and a crocked philosophy of life.

A well done story that is original, moves along rapidly and provides excellent suspense.

Recommended.

"You've gotta have faith and hope." This story tells why

                                         GIVEAWAY

In a fast paced, action packed thriller, a female US helicopter pilot is captured and is being held by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan. What is more gruesome is that the Taliban releases a film of the pilot being raped and then use this as the subject of a ransom demand.

There is only so much of a slap in the face that US SEAL Team 6 and Delta Forces fighters will accept.

Led my Navy Master Chief Gil Shannon, a force is assembled to rescue the downed pilot and punish the Taliban members for their crime.

To a former USAF member like myself, I found the book realistically told and included a cast of characters who seemed to be drawn from historical archives with their parts in the story well done.

The raid on the Taliban is done without Presidential authorization because the President seemed to fear on what a failed mission might mean.

The US Military was portrayed as characteristically brave and willing to do whatever is necessary to save a fallen comrade. The Taliban members were a bit prototypical with their arrogance and hatred for anything
associated with the US.



http://www.amazon.com/review/R3LKCS88NRQ2SK/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

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This will point thriller fans in the right direction

John Knox is a field operator for Rutherford Risk. One influence in accepting various risk assignments is the income they provide, which John needs for the support for his disabled brother.

The novel is complex, as the team of three, Knox, David Dulwich, and Grace Chen take on an assignment to dismantle an operation and rescue young girls forced into unfair labor situations in Amsterdam and having some of the girls sold into prostitution.

Knox leads the team and we observe his generous nature toward providing for his brother but wanting to do what is right. He also recalls an action during the Iraq war where he dragged Dulwich from his flame ripped truck to safety. He and David have continued as friends besides often taking on assignments together.

The third member of the group is Grace Chen, former forensic accountant and a smart, beautiful woman, trained by the Chinese military and someone who believes in the missions that Knox takes on and wants to be part of the group helping with various situations.

The plot takes the reader to the poverty stricken areas of Amsterdam and the vendor stalls where it appears that some of the families having children in forced labor feel that this might be all that is keeping their children alive.

I received this book for free with the idea of writing an impartial review and was happy to learn more about the important topics of forced labor and child prostitution. It was also an eye opener thinking of these young girls in Amsterdam and the situations surrounding them that would make stories like this a possibility.

The author did a good job in describing the action and the characters.

Read on for an entertaining reading experience

If a goal of an author is to write a compelling story, David Thomas Roberts has succeeded.

I found "Patriots of Treason" to be a fresh look at modern politics and the shenanigans that go on in Washington, D.C. in order to keep the leader of a political party in office.

The story tells of a man who is resentful for the U.S. bombing of Iran that killed the man's sister and her family. Her only crime is that she lived near the site of where Iran had nuclear stockpiles.

We learn that the President was behind in the ratings with election day drawing near. He could use a boost in ratings and uses the Iranian threat to gain public support. Later, someone tries to assassinate the president and it is found that the person had a connection to the American Tea Party. This connection is used to create public mistrust for the Tea Party and get rid of a rival who had been gaining momentum.

The characters are realistically drawn and their portrayal made them look as if they had been taken from the pages of the news.  The novel was an exciting read and full of action.

"Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket." Song lyrics

A prospective client comes to P.I. Jake Desmond's office and wants him to find her husband. Jake learns that her husband is wanted by the police as a suspect on the killing of the man's partner who is Jake's friend and mentor.

To get by in the private investigator world in San Francisco, it is important to have many contacts, both legitimate and people outside the law. Joe knows many police officers and mobsters. He's also done many favors for people and getting information from them is a means of payback.
Joe's investigation is mildly interesting but I had the feeling that I've read books like this before. Perhaps that is part of the interest to the reader. For instance, as I read this novel, I was reminded of one of the leaders in P.I. writing in California, Philip Marlowe and the author Raymond Chandler.
I also loved the cover of "Catching Water in a Net." It seems to have a story in itself. I would have loved being in the room and see what the author was writing and try to learn why the author took one step rather than another.
This is a new author and I look forward to other books by him in the future.

Playing with cards can be deadly

Fans of Elmore Leonard's "Get Shorty" will enjoy "Drawing Dead."

Con men Tommy campo and Ben Fink operate the Tom and Ben Show speculating in comic books. They profess to sell collectible comics and one buyer is mobster Joey C. (Joseph Battagno). The comics are enclosed in a Stasis Shield and aren't supposed to be opened since it would destroy their value.

Joey C's girlfriend wants to read one of the comics and Joey relents. They find empty pages inside the cover. Joey sends his henchman  to find the con men and pay them back for making Joey look bad.

The search takes the henchman to Minnesota where Joe Crowe is a former cop. Joe is hired by stockbroker Rich "Dickie" Wicky to find out if Dickie's wife is having an affair and to buy the person off.

Dickie gets involved in the comic book scheme and goes overboard in selling them to his clients.

The author does a good job in describing his characters and providing them with unique characteristics so they'd be interesting to the reader.

I enjoyed reading about Joe and his girlfriend, Laura, both who seemed to have turned their lives around after being involved with cocaine.

The novel is well written, besides the comedic aspects, the reader knows they are getting a good story.

"Touch me in the morning" Song lyrics

Charlie Lawson joined a Franciscan order and became a Monk serving in Brazil.

Bill Hill is a former minister who currently sells R.V.s. He used to run the Uni-Faith ministry in Georgia.  Bill happens to see a young man named Juvenal touch a woman who had been blind for over fifteen years. Suddenly, the woman regained her sight.

Later, Lawson tells the reader that when he joined the Franciscans  they gave him the name Juvenal. Bill is sure that Juvenal has the healing touch and Bill feels that if he could get Juvenal to join a TV healing ministry, it could be a financial boom.

When Bill has trouble contacting Juvenal, Bill recruits Lynn Faulkner to help. She had been part of his Uni-Faith ministry.

The characters are well drawn and unique. One of the very different characters is August Murray who is part of a group called Outrage. They want the Church to return to the old ways and have Latin be the language of the Mass.

Very different from Leonard's standard novels and I enjoyed the image of Juvenal helping to heal the afflicted children. Coming from a procedure at the Smilow Cancer Clinic today, I wish Juvenal had his magic healing hand on the 8th floor.

Overall, this is a pleasant novel to read with interesting characters and a well described setting.

Riding, riding down the river

Raylan Givens is a U.S. Marshall in Florida. He has a strong moral code and is loyal to his friends.
Harry Arno is a retired gambler who had a recent DWI and so his ex-girlfriend, Joyce, has been relegated to act as his chauffeur  Joyce has been dating Raylan for a while and they've become accustomed to each other.
Harry uses a number of men to collect gambling debts when necessary.  One of the people who owe Harry a great deal of money is Chip Gantz and when he's visited by Bobby Deo to collect the money he owes Harry, Chip offers Bobby a job.
This is an interesting story with good character development and is entertaining. One of the entertaining characters is a young woman, Rev. Dawn Navarro, a psychic. Surprisingly, she may actually have some psychic powers.
As usual with Elmore Leonard, the story is original and entertaining. There is excellent dialogue and scene descriptions that help the reader feel as though the action is taking place right in front of them.

Pulitzer Prize winner and a book somewhat forgotten

1928 was a significant year in history with conflicts between China and Japan, with Germany gearing up their military and in Italy protests against Mussolini.

That was also the year in which Peterkin wrote "Scarlet Sister Mary" which won the Pulitzer in 1929.

The story details Southern Life with a setting in South Carolina.

Mary is a former slave who still lives in the plantation of her younger days. The Blue Brook Plantation is the name. Maum Hannah and Buddah Ben were as close to parents as she ever had.

The novel should be of interest to readers who enjoy Southern Literature with excellent dialogue and setting to help visualize the story even more.

I also enjoyed the way that faith comes into the story where Mary develops a wild side but eventually comes back to having a stronger faith.

Roses are red sorrow is near

This literary novel reminded me of the book of Job.

Like Job, Eric Moore, had pretty much everything, a good job, good finances and well thought of in the community and a happy family.

One night, his teenage son, Keith, is asked to babysit for their eight-year-old neighbor.  Keith comes home on time and nothing seems unusual until the next morning when the neighbor calls to tell them that their daughter is missing.

The story deals with mistrust, and doubt where everything points to Keith and police look for little else.

Then, Keith's computer is confiscated by the police and he's brought in for questioning.

All this is told to the reader in literary style and when another character does something drastic, the girl's father tells Eric that this doesn't change anything.

The conclusion is beautifully done and leaves the reader thinking how one man can endure so much.

Highly recommended and deserving of the literary awards of winning a Barry Award and being nominated for an Anthony Award.

Please see my Amazon review and leave comments about the review under that section. Thanks.

http://www.amazon.com/review/RA15ROGIV97PC/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm