Michael A. Draper's Blog, page 42

"And then along came Jones...Slow walkin Jones..."

In 1998 Carol Wentz attends a neighborhood party. Six-year-old Iris Neff sees her in the kitchen and asks for a juice box. When she receives the juice, Iris complains that she doesn't like this flavor and demands a different kind. Carol is abrupt with her and informs her that she's not her mother.

Later that day, Iris disappears and Carol convinces herself that her attitude had something to do with it.

When Carol disappears in 2009, missing person investigator Brenna Spector enters the search. Brenna has the unique ability to remember everything that has ever happened to her.

Carol had joined a chat group for people who wanted to find missing persons who were usually members of their families. Thinking that she would get more information as a family member, Carol posed as Iris's mother in the chat.

Brenna works with Carol's husband who seems baffled at his wife's disappearance. He didn't even know that she knew how to use a computer but waited until he was asleep to sneak down to his office and use his.

Intelligently written and with good literary style we observe Brenna's investigation and are amused when she can remember even the smallest details about the various days in question.

The story is darkly realistic as we wonder how many things can go wrong in a police investigation. In the end, Brenna shows what she's made of and I found the story to be most original and Brenna a unique protagonist that helped lead the reader to a satisfying conclusion.

"Be happy with what you have and are, be generous with both and you won't have to hunt for happiness." Wm. Gladstone

Instead of one hero pursuing the villains, we have SEAL Team 6m, aptly led by Navy SEAL, Tom Crocker.

Ever since a group of Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden, there has been interest in the activities of this elite group.

The leader of the group, Tom Crocker, has spent his life sticking up for those who were being picked on or bullied.

He's led his team on difficult missions to Iraq, Iran, and places like El Salvatore and now he seems to have an enemy working against the United States with equal success in his operations as Tom has had in running down terrorists.

The story starts with a strong hook. After one of the associates of Abu Rasul Zaman, one of the top al-Qaeda agents, is eliminated, Crocker learns that a major operation is under way against the West and those friendly to the United States. At the same time, there are a number of young people being kidnapped from European countries and sold to Arabs. Crocker is asked to find one of them whose family is friends with the King of Norway.

There isn't a lot of dept to the characters but nonstop action and excitement are throughout this book which is an enjoyable and fast read. If you're looking for sheer pleasure in your reading, "Hunt the Wolf," will entertain.

"A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in." Frederick The Great

I've been a fan of Western literature for most of my life. Reading "Mexican Hat" is just fun.

I first read this novel when it was first published and felt it was time to renew a pleasurable reading experience.

Michael McGarrity has a sense of the Southwest and his description of his character, Kevin Kerney, is clear and delightful. His actions remind me of the true cowboy and in the role Clint Eastwood played in Unforgiven.

Kevin Kerney is a childhood rodeo star who went on to be a well respected detective until he was given a medical retirement due to an on the job injury in Santa Fe..

He's working as a seasonal forest ranger in the Gila Wilderness and attempting to earn money to restore an abandoned homeland and set up a cattle operation.

The story begins with him getting a call about possible poaching of a bear. The rancher who reports the crime believes it is by someone looking for trophy kills.

There are vivid depictions of the rough terrain of the Gila Wilderness of New Mexico. We observe the gritty people who keep to themselves and are generally mistrustful of strangers. The people seem solid but there are secrets underneath their stoicism.

The author describes the events about two families. Where the Cox family has something they have kept hidden for sixty years and the Padilla family are looking into the injustice that happened to their family in that same time.

I enjoyed the images of the southwest and the rugged cowboy turned police detective. Kerney is the wounded warrior who is still proud of the work he does and tries to bring justice to a wild west.

Give yourself a treat and try this dandy story.

"And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon." Song lyrics

This is a gentle story that is partially a coming of age and partly about interpersonal relationships. It is the story of Elaine Risley.

Elaine is an artist who returns to Toronto for a introspective of her work. Her art work is based on her life -experiences so in learning about her life, we have an idea of what is behind her art.

The story is divided into parts with flashbacks into Elaine's childhood. Early on, she remembers growing up and constantly moving due to her father's position as a forest insect field researcher. Things stabilize when he gets a job as a college professor.

During the early days, her only companion and playmate was her older brother, Stephen. She longed for having friends of her own. Then, when the family settled in Toronto, she becomes friends with three girls.

Cordelia dominates the group. She's demanding and often cruel but the little girls accept her. Elaine is vulnerable,  too fearful of speaking her mind and goes along with whatever Cordelia demands. Eventually, Elaine takes a stand, only to fall back into Cordelia's control.

One of the other girls is Grace Smeath. Elaine is often invited to the Smeath household for playtime or dinner. They have unusual rules such as the number of tissues it is permitted to use after going to the toilet. Mrs. Smeath is one of  Elaine's favorite subjects in her art. In one of them, Mrs. Smeath is covered by tissues. In one of Elaine's shows, a woman enters the building and starts shouting about Elaine's art. Elaine thought this might be Grace Smeath but it just turned out to be a deranged woman.

Elaine becomes fascinated with women's issues and attends women only functions. She has a deep interest in the Virgin Mary and many of her art pieces are based on the Virgin Mary.

We learn of Elaine through her thoughts, her friendships, and interests. Her first art teacher also became her lover and this developed some of Elaine's feelings. Her husband Jon was a person who thought of himself first. He was also an artist but when Elaine's work surpassed his, his petty jealousy was easy to see.

This is a book that women might read and feel exhilarated in Elaine's success in coming out of her shell and becoming a success as an artist. Men might read this to understand women a little better.

'As I walk through this world-nothing can stop the Duke of Earl.

Memories of the Cold War and many Hollywood celebrities of mythical proportions are delved into in this cleverly told tale.

The cast of characters includes Joseph Stalin, Mickey Cohen, Dick Powell, Susan Hayward and others who play prominent parts in the story.

Before Stalin's sudden death, while in the midst of a sexual interlude, he expressed this idea. Since John Wayne was America's biggest hero, having him killed would be a devastating blow to his arch rival, America.

He sends a group of spies that are reminiscent of the Three Stooges, to do the job. The Russians are Zavert, Alexei Alexandra and Ivan Viznapu.

Alexei is placed in charge and in the world of spies, he sends secret codes back to his boss, Boris, who is in Russia.

Boris loves getting the coded messages from Alexei because they are so humorous. Thus, "At first I hated my haircut. Now it's growing on me." Is a code for "...plans are in the making and we are close."

The spies decide that the best manner to get close to John Wayne would be to open a movie studio. The incredulous name for the studio is The Seven Zeros. With this name, they wonder about the phone calls they receive asking if there is any intelligent or successful employees at this company.

There is quite a bit of subtle humor in the story as witnessed in the sub-plot. This deals with John Wayne being asked to play the role of a historical warrior for the movie "The Conqueror." The film was written with Marlon Brando in mind.  Dick Powell will be the producer and Howard Hughes will finance the movie.

Wayne refuses to take voice lessons so will still sound like himself in the historic film and when he speaks to Dick Powell about who will be his co-star, there is an amusing by-play of what he sees in each star.

The destinies of the Russians and John Wayne circle each other as one amusing event follows another.

This is a very amusing and entertaining story. It did meander a bit at the end but was still most enjoyable and perfect for a quick summer read.

"I started out as an opportunistic renegade...now...I'm respectable." Wolf-man Jack

GIVEAWAY




Lt. Col. Michael Pearson is back and fans of Tom Young's novels will recall him from Young's other novels.

Afghanistan suffers from a 7.2 earthquake and U.S. Military are among the first responders. Pearson is a kind of military hero in that he wants to get the job done, make the United States look good and protect the people in his unit.

Pearson is in Afghanistan as an adviser to the Afghan Air Force. He's anxious to help the victims of the earthquake but even more anxious for his friend and associate Sgt. Major Sophia Gold to arrive. Besides her efficiency in the field, she's fluent in the Pushtu language.

When Gold finishes up some training in the United States and arrives in Afghanistan, she joins Pearson as they fly to Ghandaki, a village hard hit by the quake. With some specialized earth moving equipment, they are able to save a number of villagers who were buried in the rubble.

From the distance, members of a renegade Taliban group observe the actions of the Westerners at Ghandaki. The leader of the group is a ruthless and after the Westerners leave, the Taliban goes through the village and murders those who conspired with the Americans. They also kidnap a number of young children who they intend to brainwash into becoming Taliban members and martyrs.

The unique aspect of Young's novels is that he combines the political reasons for going after the Taliban and he discloses why so many Afghan people dislike the Americans. This is set in an action filled adventure.

The characters are an overall believable group with Pearson and Gold being familiar to Young's readers. A glossary of terms would help, since the extensive use of military abbreviations left me wondering what was being discussed. Even so, this is a most enjoyable book and an easy read.

http://www.amazon.com/review/R2TR1FNFU63XGJ/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0399158464&nodeID=&tag=&linkCode=


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"Anybody can direct but there are only eleven good writers." Mel Brooks

Did you ever wish you had the power to change history?

In Stephen King's tour de force "11/22/63," history is changed and those changes unleash streams of action that changes many other unforeseen events.

Jake Epping is a high school teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine. He makes extra money teaching GED so students can return to school and earn an accredited high school diploma. Jake is particularly moved by one of his student's papers. The school janitor, a man with a limp and less than full mental ability, is taking GED classes. His paper is about "...a day that changed my life." In it, the student, Harry Dunning, details how his father murdered his mother and two brothers, hit him on the head with a hammer-causing brain damage, and sending his sister into a coma.

Jake gives the paper an "A" and goes on to other things.  Then, Jake's friend, Al Templeton, asks Jake to come to his diner. In the back, the pantry opens up into history.

Al and Jake discuss what beneficial things could happen if history could be changed and they decide that the most momentous change they could hope to evoke was to disrupt the JFK's assassination.

To try the theory out, Jake wants to go back in time, to Derry, Maine and change Harry Dunning's history.

This book is a joy. Stephen King is a master of setting the scene for the reader to feel part of the action and when we read about what old songs were playing on the radio or at a dance, see the cost of items in 1958 when Harry Dunning's father went berserk.

Jake takes on a new name and identification and makes himself a part of the community. He gives people the idea that he is looking for real estate but an interesting thing for King fans, the town talks about missing children and in King's book, "It" theses events occurred.

This part of the story ends.  Then he goes back to the Dallas area to change JFK's fate. He gets a job in a high school, directs a school play, wins friends and affects student's lives-all the while when he's planning how to stop Oswald from assassinating JFK.

The novel was a trip into history with the dance craves the teenagers had, to their hair and slang, and to the prices of items at the stores.

Along with King's classic, "The Stand," this may be his best and most memorable book. Jake is a well developed character, he's a teacher like we all remember as being the best we had. Stephen King also has earned that place, among the very best we have-don't miss this book. It will become a classic.

"A clear and innocent conscience fears nothing." Elizabeth I

The United States has many enemies and sometimes they think they can hide behind political curtains when planning ways to hurt the country. Robbie is an American Assassin.

Somehow his last target didn't fit with his usual assigned kills. This woman lives near his office and when he enters her apartment, he finds her asleep, holding her child. Robbie is talking to his handler through an ear phone and refuses the hit but the woman is killed by Robbie's handler who was monitoring Robbie's actions from an apartment across the street.

Robbie thinks he's been set-up and has to escape from his own people. He's unsure of who to trust so has to make an unusual departure. He gets on a bus and comes into contact with a fourteen-year-old girl. He doesn't pay too much attention but then his instinct makes him notice and a man following her makes a move to kill her. Robbie intercedes and he and the girl get off the bus. Moments later, the bus is blown up - only Robbie and the teenager survive.

In an action packed story, Robbie learns that the teenager, Julie Getty, was trying to escape from an intolerable foster care situation and that her parents were recently murdered.

The story of Robbie's betrayal and Julie's parent's murder, come together with excellent drama. While Robbie usually works by himself, he finds that it's unsafe to leave Julie on her own so he acts outside of his normal mode of operation.

David Baldacci has written a finely crafted and provoking book about the intelligence operation in the United States. It will leave the reader breathless. Both Robbie and Julie are excellently drawn and fully developed characters with Julie being in the mode of the wonderful Lisbeth Sandler from Steig Larsson's novels.

Highly recommended.

"Truth...suffers more by the heat of its defenders than from the arguments of its opposers." Wm Penn

It's 1992 and the decision on the Rodney King case is about to become public.

In this noir novel, P.I. Duke Rogers is asked to find a classmate for a new client. Duke gets the woman's address and gives it to the client, only to learn that the so called classmate was a TV star and the "client" was a crazed fan who killed her.

Morally, Duke feels he must find the man who murdered the actress, Teddie Matson, who is a black woman.  Duke starts to ask questions but becomes involved in the heated racial tensions of East Los Angeles.

When Duke gets to the business where the brother of the actress worked, the Rodney King decision had come down and the riots began.  In a very descriptive part of the story, we witness the racial hatred toward whites, Koreans and for any form of authority.  People are looting and burning homes, businesses and anything that will catch fire. Duke becomes threatened because he is white but is protected by a large black man, nicknamed Tiny.

The story progresses with Duke going to the dead woman's home and trying to convince the woman's mother and brother to tell him about Teddie so he can try to find the killer.

There is a secondary story about a woman named Laurie Hamilton who is being bothered by a stalker. In her case, the bothersome man is becoming more and more brazen and with the riots, the police have their hands full. Laurie doesn't know what to do so turns to Duke for help.

While the author tells an interesting story, I felt that there could be more character development. I never got to know Teddie or Laurie in order to develop a sense of sympathy for their situation.  In addition, Duke is doing all of this work without being paid. I wonder where his money comes from for his expenses and everything else.

The dialogue was well done but with the racial tension at such a central part of the story, I would have liked to learn more of what some of the black characters went through to feel this hatred.

Nevertheless, I did find the novel entertaining. I think that fans of Lawrence Block and Elmore Leonard will enjoy this and I look forward to reading more from Paul D. Marks.

"A man's dying is more his survivor's affair than his own." Thomas Mann

Not an author to shy away from difficult subjects, Gregg Hurwitz's latest thriller has heroism and suicide colliding in a revenge filled novel centered on the love of two men, for their families.

Nate Overbay is afflicted with Lou Gehrig's disease. He's been told that he has about six months of good health before his body begins breaking down. Feeling despondent, he goes to a downtown L.A. building to commit suicide.

The building is occupied by a bank and Nate sees a robbery taking place. The robbers are in a frenzy and shoot anyone not instantly obeying them. Nate is a type person who likes to help others and he spots a gun on the floor. He sneaks into the bank and not caring if he's shot or not, begins shooting the robbers. He kills all but one. Before the last survivor runs from the bank, he tells Nate that "He will make you pay in ways you can't imagine."

Nate becomes an overnight hero. He has one wound and after he's treated at the hospital and returns home, the man who escaped and three others are waiting for him.  The leader of this group is named Pavlo, he and his men are Ukrainians. Now that their plot to get into bank's safety deposits was ruined by Nate, unless he does what they say, it's Nate's daughter who will suffer. Nate is ordered to go back to the bank and retrieve something from the safety deposit box of a man named Danny Urban.

Nate wouldn't care what they did to him but can't allow his daughter to be harmed. He has to figure a way to get into the bank's safety deposit boxes, find what these killers want and stop them in a manner that will still save his daughter from harm.

Hurwitz brings out Nate's plight with such clarity it is as if we're part of the action. How can Nate do this when he only has a short time to live and his body is already starting to fail him with the early signs of ALS.

The Ukrainian leader has his own set of laws and revenge and torture are two of his guiding principles.

With Nate's terminal illness, the novel is packed with the meaning of life as we watch Nate trying to accomplish so much with his days of having his body respond become shorter and shorter.

Yes, the story is a thriller but it also conveys strong messages to the reader, told by a number of well described and memorable characters.