Book 15 of 2015

The Great Wall of Silence: The Silent Political Takeover of the United States by H.C. Deboard
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Great Wall of Silence by H.C. Deboard is a fictional political thriller that held me captive from the start. It is well written, great plot, and a fantastic story line. Although it covers a time line going all the way back to Genghis Khan and the Mongolian Dynasty, the story takes place in the present. The fall of the Mongolian Dynasty gave birth to The Secret Society of the Mongols (SSM) and their plan was to one day rule the largest land Empire. This wasn't something they were going to do then, it was planned for the future by having each generation passing the torch to take over the world in 2014 which is where we find the main character, Addison Landon.

Addison worked for The Sun Sentinel as a full-time investigative reporter and stumbled upon bits and pieces of the SSM but needed to put it all together to expose them. Addison was totally developed in the story; everything from what she felt to what she thought. It was done in a way that made her totally interesting and there is no way to read this and not connect with her. She was tough but fragile at the same time. She had her ups and downs throughout the story and was a believable character. I loved her determination to continue even when others think she is nuts or when things got dangerous.

There are many other characters in the story, everyone from her ex-boyfriend, Michael Stone to the senate majority leader. Each of these characters were developed beautifully. If it was someone that just casual reference is made to, then only what I needed to know was revealed. If it were someone that was a secondary character then much more information was revealed. At no time did I loose or was confused by the people although I do want to stress that some of the characters are mysterious and written that way which only enhanced the thrill.

There were many mysteries that needed solving and so many twists and turns that no way had I guessed who did what and where this is going. I certainly figured on her solving the mystery about the SSM but how she pieced it together and who did what was totally surprising in most cases. I was even so surprised by one I screamed out load and scared my poor cat who was asleep beside me. This was so totally interesting that I recommend it to everyone!


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Book 14 of 2015

Year of the Crystal Children by E M Chandler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Year of the Crystal Children by E. M. Chandler is a YA Fiction with a lot of real places and events that happened and/or is still happening (which the author had listed these truths in "Author's Notes" at the beginning of the book) that had me captivated from the first page. At first I was a little confused as to the title and cover of the book but as I read it I totally think it is appropriate in a few ways. First off, I can see where someone would think the children are fragile like glass and 'broken' like a crystal bowl dropped on the floor which is why they ended up in a rehabilitation school. To be honest with you, that is what I thought when I first read the author's description, however the more I read, I realized they are far from fragile and broken. Then there is another way but I can't elaborate on it without giving away spoilers so I will skip it, however a third way I can tell you that they were more like a crystal in the sunlight, shinning their ever so clear and colorful 'insight' and 'beauty' alone with their 'uniqueness' and 'energy' for the reader to see.

The main character is Bailey and she was totally developed including the knowledge of the special gift she inherited from her grandmother as well as her ability to detect micro-expressions. She is spunky and a very likable character who happened to climb through a window to get back into school after the door was locked to get her cell phone and in doing so she witnessed something she wasn't suppose to see. When she brought what she saw to the attention of her principle because a neighbor of the school saw her there and damage to the school was done, she was visited later by the police. The breaking into the school, was compounded by the disappearance of her grandmother from the house while she had a loaded rifle, she was sent to a rehabilitation school called Pine Farm. The principle didn't believe her or was 'in' on what was going on and he needed to get her out of the way (or someone else did). After all, who is going to believe a kid with some sort of conspiracy or wild tale that has a criminal record over a principle of a school who is an adult in good standings with the community?

The friends she meets at Pine Farm (Thema, Jaime, Parkesh, and Samyan) are all developed with their own quirks and/or abilities and help Bailey clear her name as well as expose that what she saw is true and the government (or someone) is using children at school as guinea pigs for their experiments without anyone else's knowledge. Also, the characters of Ben (her friend from home and the school she went to then) and Shadow (the mountain man she met while at Pine Farm) were all developed but to a lesser degree. There were other characters and it was known what position they held but some sort of left me wondering who's side are they really on. Was it a set-up or are they for real? Maybe it was part of the experiment? For the most part, that is revealed during or toward the end.

The pace of the book is steady and comfortable.When they (Bailey and her friends at Pine Farm) were doing research or building things it was still eventful and staying within the plot, it never was drawn out or boring in any way. What is so striking about it is how believable it is. Many of the things going on could be traced back to things in the past or happening now; everything from drones invading our privacy and spying on people, people taking pictures/videos of us on their cell phones or other devices without our knowledge, people in high positions saying and doing things that are not legal and/or moral just to name a few and there is so much more. This is one of those books I didn't want to stop reading and was sort of disappointed it had to end. Speaking of the end, I love the discussion questions the author put at the end of the book! It is important for our YA to question, investigate, and research the truth about things going on and if that wasn't made clear by the story, it is by the questions. It is also important for them to think and research how good things like computers can be used for less than good reasons like tracking people.

I just can't say enough how good this book is and how much I enjoyed it but with the good comes the bad: the typos and missing or added words were annoying. I certainly can overlook a typo here and there but there were quite a few. Things like, 'Counselors stay close the kids..', 'When when Bailey had finished...', 'Would if help if I asked...,' and 'an imaginary line that rmoves farther away', just to name a few. I don't mean to nitpick and know I do the same thing when I write (I even reviewed a book and misspelled the title once, talk about embarrassing!) but I am not an author. The book needed to be proofread.

Of course we must take a little good with the bad so depending on if this is book one in a series, it can be good or bad. If it is the first book in a series then I may have the answers to questions I am left with in the next book however if this is it and it isn't a series then I am left with some unanswered questions which of course is bad. Although, by the ending (it is clear what happened with Bailey) and by the way it comes full circle (sorry don't want to write a spoiler but it is when she looks up and what she searches for), I have a feeling this is just the first book in a series but can't get that confirmed yet.

I recommend this book to everyone!!!

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Book 13 of 2015

Where Angels Prey by Ramesh S Arunachalam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

'Where Angels Prey' is a fantastic name for this book by Ramesh S Arunachalam! A lot of books have fitting titles but I was just struck with awe by how perfect the title (and cover) was for this book when I realized that what was seen as a blessing, like an angel was sent from heaven to save the poor in India (and other countries) which turned out to be predators just looking for their next prey. Although I normally enjoy action packed, thriller/suspense novels, this book had me captivated from beginning to end. I also want to be clear about it, the cover has angle wings on it and uses the word 'angel' in the title but it is not a religious story. It is a fiction (based on some facts) about a microfinance companies, murder, suicide, corruption, greed, and Robert (Bob) Bradlee who is the main character and a senior economics correspondent with The New York Post.

The author did a wonderful description for the book that you can read yourself so I won't recap the story but to say there is so much more than even he tells you. As I read it, I could see where it was going on many occasions but there are definitely some surprises. For one thing, it is very detailed but not overpowering where I was lost in all the details. I also loved hearing the 'victims' side in the first person narration which really pulled at my heartstrings so much more than just knowing that their were many victims and what happened to them. What was most surprising is how hard it was to remember it is fiction and how it emotionally involved me by my feeling everything from pure sadness to being angry at how unfair it was and no one was (or should be) above the law no matter how rich or how much money they contributed.

There are many characters in the story as it involves companies and people from around the globe but all their information is told very clearly in the story of who they are and how they fit in. Many times, that is all that is told so their is no connection with them however the main and secondary characters are more developed. I liked the main character, Bob and was rooting for him but I was surprised I emotionally connected to the victims.

I thought the book was totally believable and so were the characters. I did notice a couple of errors in spacing between words which really didn't take away from the story. There was no explicit sex, deaths, or foul language. I thought it was an excellent book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys corruption/crime stories.


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