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THROWBACK: Greed and Love in the Everglades
When Kate travels to Florida to quell her grandmother’s fears about her missing friend, little did she know she was on her way to love and danger.
Her meeting with Sam, who investigates Social Security fraud, drives them to search for evidence about women, young and old, who have seemingly vanished.
Joined in their quest by their three friends, Kimo, a zoologist; Diane, a veterinarian; and Jim, a Florida Fish and Wildlife ranger, they discover more than the typical indigenous creatures of the Everglades during their exploration of a rundown wildlife farm.
They learn if there is any truth to old legends about the gigantic “Eechee” that supposedly inhabits the swampland as they confront evil of the humankind and more.
During their adventures, Kate and Diane discover that love can develop even in death defying times.
Her meeting with Sam, who investigates Social Security fraud, drives them to search for evidence about women, young and old, who have seemingly vanished.
Joined in their quest by their three friends, Kimo, a zoologist; Diane, a veterinarian; and Jim, a Florida Fish and Wildlife ranger, they discover more than the typical indigenous creatures of the Everglades during their exploration of a rundown wildlife farm.
They learn if there is any truth to old legends about the gigantic “Eechee” that supposedly inhabits the swampland as they confront evil of the humankind and more.
During their adventures, Kate and Diane discover that love can develop even in death defying times.
- GenresMystery
185 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 24, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 28, 2015
Nice Story!
This is a nice story but it gets irritating with all of the asides and lecturing. Some of the dialogue is campy so it is confusing if this is supposed to be a comedy or mystery. The facts were interesting but could have been handled better.
This is a nice story but it gets irritating with all of the asides and lecturing. Some of the dialogue is campy so it is confusing if this is supposed to be a comedy or mystery. The facts were interesting but could have been handled better.
January 10, 2016
This is an singularly awful book. I hadn't read more than an few pages before I knew it was terrible but I couldn't stop reading, it was like watching a train wreck.
Sadly there is a plot that is semi interesting that is just killed by terrible dialogue, a deadly plodding plot and misogyny and other stereotypes. There are women acting stupidly. One character catches a peeping tom, follows him realizes it is a creepy guy she knows and lets him go and doesn't call the police. Peeping is a sex crime, regardless of your acquaintance with the perp.
I do not know if the authors; there are two, set a word limit and felt they had to fill it or if they think that people need to have information. Then there is the formatting. Most books have chapters and they are logical in this book each of the main character gets a chapter so Kate gets a Chapter 1 and Sam gets a Chapter 1. Confused yet? There are many book that provide different POVs in alternating chapters and use traditional numbering; apparently that would have confused our authors.
My first clue that this was going to be a bad book was that people thought in full sentences and speeches. In the real world you might think, 'I'm hungry' or “I could go for a beer” in this book people think like this
“ It's good,” she thought, “BSC is now BSU, a university. Potential students have even more degree options. Now to focus on what I teach.” For real! Swear to God!! NO One thinks like that, at least no one who isn't either heavily medicated or suffering from a mental illness. No one even talks like that.
And that bit of witty internal dialogue is followed by a lengthy description of the building she works in. when it was built and what the designer was thinking. Here's a sentence that solves all that
Kate's classroom was in a school that had been built in the 1970s.
Here is another example of Kate's musings “For the rest of the week, I'll read over these new books and review my objectives and lesson plans for the first week. I'll take a copy of my updated fourth grade folder on my iPad so I can fine tune everything while I'm at Grams. She always has creative ideas about ways to motivate my students and she'll enjoy seeing my plans”
Again, no one thinks like this!! But in this book everyone thinks like this. Every character thinks in full sentences with conclusions. It is absurd and ridiculous.
And seriously can you read this 'thought' and not burst out laughing “Even though I only get one bag free from the airline, at least this lightweight option will let me bring the most number of outfits while keeping the weight under 50 pounds”, she thought.
Then there is what I can only call filler. The book is mostly set in SW Florida. I've visited a few times but I was unaware of this level of detail “The step-like boundary of the county in the north runs from the southwest coast of Florida inland to encompass the Big Cypress National Preserve, a park covering close to half the county. Additionally, collier borders pare of the northwestern Everglades National Park. The lower portions of Route 75, Alligator Alley, and its more southerly counterpart Route 41, the Tamiami Trail, provide west to east travel across the state.” Who writes like that ?? Who wants to read that?? Who?
Then there are the errors.
Some one is studying 'chants'
“On Wednesday morning Sam showed up at hat main Social Security headquarters in Tampa, a large facility that served lots of seniors. It was notoriously busy on Monday morning and today was no exception.”
“And yes her got up the courage to ask Kate for a date. They would be going out on Saturday night” two pages later “in any case, it was the place he would pick up Kate on Tuesday”.... So … …..
Putting on her night vision goggles back on and peering into the night, she continued, “Hey there's a light near the cabin” that's not how night vision works. If there was light near the cabin she would be blinded. You don't need night vision to see a light in a dark, flat, swamp.
Here's the plot in a nutshell. Women are disappearing in Florida, many of them are clients of a singular financial management firm. One of the women is a friend of Kate's grandmother and also a social security recipient. The missing women also trigger an investigation by the SS administration. The baddies are the owners of a crypto-zoological species of extinct alligator, which assists them in their nefarious deeds.
Oh I neglected to mention both of our lead characters have been to Hawaii or Hawai`i as the authors write. They were there for business conferences, from the east coast. I really need to get one of those jobs.
And have no fear they have left the door open for a sequel
Sadly there is a plot that is semi interesting that is just killed by terrible dialogue, a deadly plodding plot and misogyny and other stereotypes. There are women acting stupidly. One character catches a peeping tom, follows him realizes it is a creepy guy she knows and lets him go and doesn't call the police. Peeping is a sex crime, regardless of your acquaintance with the perp.
I do not know if the authors; there are two, set a word limit and felt they had to fill it or if they think that people need to have information. Then there is the formatting. Most books have chapters and they are logical in this book each of the main character gets a chapter so Kate gets a Chapter 1 and Sam gets a Chapter 1. Confused yet? There are many book that provide different POVs in alternating chapters and use traditional numbering; apparently that would have confused our authors.
My first clue that this was going to be a bad book was that people thought in full sentences and speeches. In the real world you might think, 'I'm hungry' or “I could go for a beer” in this book people think like this
“ It's good,” she thought, “BSC is now BSU, a university. Potential students have even more degree options. Now to focus on what I teach.” For real! Swear to God!! NO One thinks like that, at least no one who isn't either heavily medicated or suffering from a mental illness. No one even talks like that.
And that bit of witty internal dialogue is followed by a lengthy description of the building she works in. when it was built and what the designer was thinking. Here's a sentence that solves all that
Kate's classroom was in a school that had been built in the 1970s.
Here is another example of Kate's musings “For the rest of the week, I'll read over these new books and review my objectives and lesson plans for the first week. I'll take a copy of my updated fourth grade folder on my iPad so I can fine tune everything while I'm at Grams. She always has creative ideas about ways to motivate my students and she'll enjoy seeing my plans”
Again, no one thinks like this!! But in this book everyone thinks like this. Every character thinks in full sentences with conclusions. It is absurd and ridiculous.
And seriously can you read this 'thought' and not burst out laughing “Even though I only get one bag free from the airline, at least this lightweight option will let me bring the most number of outfits while keeping the weight under 50 pounds”, she thought.
Then there is what I can only call filler. The book is mostly set in SW Florida. I've visited a few times but I was unaware of this level of detail “The step-like boundary of the county in the north runs from the southwest coast of Florida inland to encompass the Big Cypress National Preserve, a park covering close to half the county. Additionally, collier borders pare of the northwestern Everglades National Park. The lower portions of Route 75, Alligator Alley, and its more southerly counterpart Route 41, the Tamiami Trail, provide west to east travel across the state.” Who writes like that ?? Who wants to read that?? Who?
Then there are the errors.
Some one is studying 'chants'
“On Wednesday morning Sam showed up at hat main Social Security headquarters in Tampa, a large facility that served lots of seniors. It was notoriously busy on Monday morning and today was no exception.”
“And yes her got up the courage to ask Kate for a date. They would be going out on Saturday night” two pages later “in any case, it was the place he would pick up Kate on Tuesday”.... So … …..
Putting on her night vision goggles back on and peering into the night, she continued, “Hey there's a light near the cabin” that's not how night vision works. If there was light near the cabin she would be blinded. You don't need night vision to see a light in a dark, flat, swamp.
Here's the plot in a nutshell. Women are disappearing in Florida, many of them are clients of a singular financial management firm. One of the women is a friend of Kate's grandmother and also a social security recipient. The missing women also trigger an investigation by the SS administration. The baddies are the owners of a crypto-zoological species of extinct alligator, which assists them in their nefarious deeds.
Oh I neglected to mention both of our lead characters have been to Hawaii or Hawai`i as the authors write. They were there for business conferences, from the east coast. I really need to get one of those jobs.
And have no fear they have left the door open for a sequel
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews