Book Reviews by Elizabeth A. White

It’s hard for someone who has little faith in himself to ask someone else to have it in him. – Jay Bradley

Following a career in the Navy, expat Jay Bradley finds himself in the Philippines working as a papasan at The Lounge, a go-go club in Angeles City. He takes his job to watch over the girls in the club seriously, but gets especially close to young Isabel, who reminds him of the step-daughter from his failed marriage.

Like most of the girls working the clubs of Angeles City, Isabel dreams of meeting a man who will sweep her off her feet and take her away from the life of a club dancer – and “escort” – on infamous Fields Avenue. When businessman Larry Adams comes into their lives, suddenly both Jay and Isabel are complete. The three of them form a bond – Larry and Jay as friends, Isabel and Larry as lovers – that seems too good to be true.

And of course it is. Told primarily in flashbacks, the book opens and sets the scene with an older Jay returning to the Philippines to sell his part-ownership in The Lounge, as well as to track down Isabel to find closure about the events that ripped their lives apart, and cost Larry his. (That is not a spoiler.) (more…)

Grant Jerkins’ debut novel, A Very Simple Crime, was released to critical praise from places such as Publisher’s Weekly, The New York Times Book Review, and Library Journal, and was also one of my top reads of 2010. Tomorrow I will be reviewing Grant’s follow up, At the End of the Road, but today I’m turning over the blog to Grant. I’ll just let him take it from here…

People are always telling me they want to write. But they don’t know what to write about. And what do I think they should write about? And I usually think to myself, well how the fuck should I know what you ought to write about? I never say that, though. No, my stock response is, “Why don’t you write a story about a dog told from the dog’s point of view?”

I always thought that was cute.

When Elizabeth White invited me to guest post on her site, I said I was honored. Then I asked her what did she think I should write about? I have a pretty good idea what she was thinking, but what she said was, “Why don’t you write a story about a dog told from the dog’s point of view?”

Probably thought she was being cute.

It’s only 625 words. When you get right down to it, most dogs don’t have that large of a vocabulary anyway. – GJ (more…)

“You aren’t going to be satisfied until you’ve uncovered whatever it is they are hiding, are you?” – Pastor “Hutch” Hutchinson

Hutch knows his wife, Deputy Tempe Crabtree, all too well because she absolutely will not stop until she finds out everything she needs to know to keep the people of Bear Creek safe. And this is a good thing for readers of author Marilyn Meredith’s charming series, as Tempe makes her return for an action-packed eleventh outing in the series’ newest entry, Bears With Us.

Located in the southern part of the Sierra Nevada, the small community of Bear Creek finds itself dealing with a handful of its namesake, as hungry bears preparing for hibernation begin showing up in apple orchards, garbage bins and, startlingly, snout-deep in a carton of Rocky Road ice cream in one unfortunate family’s kitchen. Unable by law to shoot the bears unless they present an immediate threat to life, Tempe finds herself coming up with creative ways to run the hungry critters off.

Even if bears were the only thing Tempe had to deal with she’d still have her hands full, but Meredith has provided Tempe with a plate overflowing with situations all requiring her immediate attention: the decline of a former town pillar into dementia, necessitating tracking her down repeatedly when she keeps wandering off; an amazingly self-important and obnoxious mother who expects Tempe to intervene and keep the “wrong sort” of boy away from her teenage daughter, and who threatens to make formal complaints of misconduct against her if she doesn’t; the suicide of a teenager and his family’s strangely cold reaction to it… yes, Tempe more than has her hands full. (more…)

Spoiler Alert: Key details from My Scorpio Soul are revealed in My Aries Secret.

It takes a lot of energy to save a soul. – Tempest McTierney

My Aries Secrets, the second book in author Claudia Hoag McGarry’s astrology themed thrillers, finds Tempest McTierney, the protagonist from My Scorpio Soul, released from prison and in the unlikely position of a reluctant “Dear Abby.”

Having herself dealt with a situation where another woman was threatening to destroy her family – in Tempest’s case a stalker infatuated with Tempest’s husband – and taken the matter into her own hands out of desperation, her stint in prison has turned her into something of a cult hero to desperate women with lost souls.

Haven Rodriguez, the latest lost soul to reach out to Tempest, finds her previously idyllic life shattered when her husband, Jerod, goes missing. Making matters worse, his disappearance occurred on the heels of Haven learning that he had been having an affair, and that the company he worked for was being criminally investigated for possibly running a Ponzi scheme.

Now, Haven is torn between the fear of never finding out what happened to him, and anger at the thought he may have run away with his mistress and/or the company’s money. She seeks guidance from Tempest to help her control the homicidal feelings she has toward a female neighbor she’s convinced knows where Jerod is – or actually had something to do with his disappearance. (more…)

“At some point we’ve got to stop trying to restore our lives, and start actually living them.” – Jonathan Hooper

When thirty four year old Jonathan Hooper wakes up after six years in a coma following a stroke the world is a blank slate to him. He doesn’t remember who he is or how he ended up in the hospital, he can’t talk, his muscles have atrophied, and he has no concept of numbers or time.

Not having expected him to ever recover, his family and girlfriend have moved on with their lives, a situation which may bother Jonathan more if he actually remembered any of them. The fact is, however, there’s very little Jonathan does remember. And so begins the arduous task of relearning how to live.

During the course of physical therapy Jonathan meets Rebecca Chase, who’s also in the process of recovering from a stroke suffered at an unusually young age. Unlike Jonathan, Rebecca didn’t lose her memory after her stroke. Not her memory of people and events anyway, she just doesn’t remember why she ever found any of it appealing…including her husband.

Together the two of them help each other rediscover who they were, and who they want to be.

Okay, I know. On the surface it sounds like Lifetime Movie of the Week material, but there’s more to it than that. (more…)