Book 43 of My 2012 Goal

Blood Amalgam by Corey Sondrup
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really wasn't sure what to make of 'Blood Amalgam' when I was trying to decide if I wanted to read it. I knew it was a fictional, paranormal romance that sounded fascinating and I love stories that include "supernatural" elements in them so I figured I would try this one. Once I started reading it I was hooked into reading the whole thing because the action started on page one and continued throughout the book. There was something going on with each turn of the page that made me want to continue reading it to find out what happened.

I do not want to write a spoiler but in all fairness I should tell you that I do not like Vampires and Werewolves. I normally don't read such books and the mere mention of them usually turns me off. They are mentioned and other 'supernatural' beings such as Drones, Pixies, Skinwalkers, and Amalgams to name a few but they are done in such a way that they are not the main focus of the plot. In other words, this is not a Vampire story or a Werewolf story, it is a story about the main character, Wyatt, who's normal life of a twenty-one year old seems to take a turn to a life of decisions and confusion overnight. Wyatt learns who and what he really is (despite the fact that he don't even believe in such things) and must decide which path to take. I especially liked that the author used real historical events such as "The Long Walk" of the Navajo Nation in the 1860's. It was cleaver of her to alter who helped the Army to round these people up to make the 'reason' for the curse in her story.

This, to me, is a fast moving story but some of the characters are not well developed so I had a problem connecting with them. In fact, I had a problem remember who is who and had to go back and find how this person fit in. I wish that these characters were either developed more fully or just left as a nickname that popped in and then out of the story and not reappearing later on where you have to remember who this person is. I also didn't really care for Gretchen's nickname for Wyatt which is, "Lover". I can't really say why I disliked it, it could be that they weren't together that long and it cheapens "love" or maybe because she said it so much, maybe both but whatever the reason I do know it was annoying me. Also, I don't think a man of twenty-one would like his girlfriend to call him that in public. It is one thing to call him it in private as a pet-name behind closed doors but not in public around strangers. He didn't want to be called "Tigger" in public and "Lover" is even worse. Any ways, that is just my personal thoughts and opinion about it but thought it was worth mentioning since I found it so annoying.

I have read other reviews and they spoke about the grammar/spelling errors. I don't know if I was just into the story but I really didn't notice them. If they were still there then it didn't take away anything from the story to me. On the whole I thought the story was good and the author cleaver in his use of history. Because of the language used I would recommend this book to adults who like paranormal romance with a lot of action.

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Book 42 of My 2012 Goal

The Nose Knows: A Spunky Mystery by Holly L. Lewitas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Nose Knows by Holly L. Lewitas is an extremely amusing tale about a psychotherapist who is overcoming an incident that took place years prior when one of her patients became violent and took her hostage. She finally now is continuing to 'see' her patients via computer when something very strange and terrifying takes place. This is the main plot, I won't recap what the whole book was about since you can already read that but what I will tell you is that there are things going on with every turn of the page (I don't write 'spoiler' reviews so I won't go into them) and the story is told by Spunky, her female terrier.

At first I was confused since I couldn't figure out how this would work because I thought this would be more of a child's story since the dog is telling it yet the plot is certainly not a child's story. From page one to the end I was delighted with the author's ability to make this work. The story had just the right amount of humor, suspense, mystery, and something I am not sure just what you would call it but most people who have animals experience it at one point or another. It is sort of an ESP that is connected with the animal where you 'understand' what the animal is thinking and/or feeling. Any ways, there is some of that and also the use of animals for therapeutic reasons. The story never was boring and throughout I figured I knew what was going to happen or who did it just to find another twist taking me in a different direction. I found it extremely hard to put down the book since I wanted to know what the next page held and was sad to see it end. Speaking of ends, what a twist that ending was!

The animals in the story only add to the amusement at times with their antics and now I know the real reason why my dog runs and sort of whines in his sleep. The animals play spy, match maker, companion and protector among other things. The dog's view of death, grieving, relationships, and depression for both humans and animals is explained. As I said this is not a child's story although I am sure some young adults would understand and enjoy it. Even if your not an animal lover this mystery story still stands on its own and is still a must read.

I totally enjoyed this story and I am amazed with the author's ability to put so much foresight and her ability to write from an animal's point of view. The explanations of animal behavior such as a cat that swishes her tail or closing her eyes twice is amazing. Most people wouldn't have even noticed such things so I imagine a lot of watching and studying animal behavior took place before she wrote this book. Hats off to the author, your observations certainly paid off!

I recommend this mystery to anyone from young adult on up whether your an animal lover or not. This is one book going on my "Must Read" list.


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Book 41 of My 2012 Goal

Ryan's mother by Grainne Maher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ryan's Mother by Grainne Maher is what I would call a quick read with a simple plot. As the name suggests, the story is about finding Ryan's mother. Ryan Murray was adopted from an orphanage in Ballyhasset, Ireland and now he is searching for his birth mother. All he knows is his birth mother was Irish and he was abandoned in a phone booth in the center of Ballyhasset. To help him locate his birth mother Ryan is recommended a private detective named Libby Hargrove who he hires. As the story goes on Libby narrows it down to three possibilities since each of these three were pregnant at the right time but none admitting right out she is his birth mother. In the nineteen forties unwed girls who were pregnant were not acceptable by society which leads to the 'secret' stories each of these women had to tell including Libby herself.

I found that the story at times drags on but just when I was loosing interest in it something new happened which made me wanting to read more. I realize the author needs to set the characters and plot in the beginning of the story so many times the beginning seems to drag when the rest of the book glides along at a steady pace and this book is no different. I found the beginning a bit boring but the rest of the book held my interest more or less. The characters and scenes were described well but I feel that something is missing. I really can't put my finger on it but you know how you can read a book and it is like you are there in the room watching it play out? The book just draws you in so much that you loose time and nothing exists around you but that book. Well, this didn't happen. I was never 'drawn into' the story. I had no problem putting the book down and picking it up at a later time even though, as I said, the story itself wasn't all that bad.

The main characters, both Ryan and Libby, I found annoying at times. Libby jumps to conclusions and has a big mouth. She talked way to much for being a private detective and Ryan is now thirty and still using the titles of momma and daddy. I would think he would at least use "mother" and "father".

I would recommend this book for those who like a sort of detective story/mystery that is a simple and quick read. I think it is the perfect book to read right before bedtime since once you get tired you won't have a problem putting it down til tomorrow night when your curiosity makes you pick it up again to see what happens next.


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Book 40 of my 2012 Goal

Fibles: 10-Minute Children's Bedtime Stories for Modern-Day Kids! by M. R. Everette
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

M.R. Everette's, "Fibles: 10-Minute Children's Bedtime Stories for Modern-Day Kids" is the perfect name for this book. It has a dozen stories that are all short in length (you can read one in 10 minutes easy) but they are not short on entertainment. With cute names like Wisee the wise owl, McKoo the cuckoo bird, and Ty the firefly the characters are easy for the kids to remember and each story teaches a lesson and gives the perfect opportunity for you to discuss how doing things like doing your chores, don't play hooky, don't judge a person by their size is important.

My personal favorite is "The Guppible One" which is about Gillmore the guppy who skips swimming school to nibble at the free lunch that the fishermen dangle from their lines for excitement. Turns out poor Gillmore got more excitement than he could stand, in fact, says it was the worse day of his life. When he went to school the following day he finds out that he missed a fantastic field trip to the aquarium sea show where they all got a free lunch from all the people at the aquarium and turns out to have been the best day of their lives.

I (and my grandchildren, ages 4 and 6) really enjoyed the book. I especially liked the opportunity it gives me to teach them valuable lessons that will make them responsible, friendly and trustworthy among other things and have faith others will too.


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Book 39 of My 2012 Goal

Bear Cat by Raland J. Patterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have read several stories about the Vietnam War and Bear Cat by Raland J. Patterson is surprisingly different than the others. Instead of focusing on the action of the war itself, its focus is on Captain Johnny McKay's experiences in Nam as a maintenance officer giving very little detail on the 'action' of the war. This story is about the people during the war and not about the 'blood and guts' of the war itself.

I think Captain McKay character was well developed and I really connected with him throughout the story. The other characters were introduced and developed in accordance with their 'importance' (and I use this term loosely as everyone is important) in the telling of the story. By this I mean that if McKay only sees a person once in passing and says something to him, the author does not give a lot of detail about this person however if the person is one of McKay's men that appears throughout the story, much more detail is revealed about this person. In other words, the story is not bogged down with a lot of unnecessary details about people. In fact, it isn't bogged down with a lot of detail about places or events either. I found it flowed smoothly, was interesting and always had me wanting to turn the page to see what happened next.

The story begins with McKay's experience on the plane transporting him from Ft. Dix, New Jersey to Saigon where the significance of the exchange of words between him and the soldier seated next to him doesn't become evident until the end of the story. Once at his unit McKay tries to win his men's acceptance and learn the lingo and area. I found that because the author only gives a brief description but really does not go into a lot of detail about either of these (although the pictures helped) that having some prior knowledge about the Vietnam War helped me visualize the places as well as understanding that Charlie did not refer to an individual and what Tet was and why a repeat action was so feared. The story evoked a variety of emotions, I panicked, I laughed and I cried right alongside McKay. I never thought I would use the word "laugh" and associate it in any way with the Vietnam War however, the author taught me differently because laugh I did. I also learned some things about maintenance on helicopters as if I were one of McKay's men. Not only did McKay learned from those around him, he taught more than helicopter maintenance, he taught pride, compassion and giving credit where credit was due. He often remembered or quoted statements his flight instructor, grandmother, or father said which got him out of some really tight spots. I found the "Vietnam War Facts" and "Common Myths Dispelled" at the end of the book interesting. In fact, I found the whole book interesting.

Bear Cat is a unique story that I really enjoyed reading and totally recommend it.

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Book 38 of My 2012 Goal

The Church Retreat by Joel Tuggle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Church Retreat by Joel Tuggle is about a church group that goes on a retreat in South Carolina where two girls end up missing and not about religion or a church so don't let the name of it turn you off if you happen to be atheist. The book sounded like it would be a really good suspense, even scary but it didn't seem to live up to that description. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a bad book, I still liked it but I think it just could have been so much more mysterious/scary than what it was. The major problem I had with it was the under development of the character plus there were so many of them that we bounce around to as well as the story having too many subplots.

The story opens on September of 1971 when there were a few boys playing around with an air rifle, drinking from the beer bottle one of the boy swiped from his home and doing what boys do. Eventually they get into a bit of trouble so they run to a barn to hide and two of them end up missing. Now we come into present time, October 2001, a church group went to a camp not far from this barn. The children left the camp when Carrie, a thirteen year old girl, realized she forgot her book back at camp so Allison who was following the bus in her car took Carrie back to camp to retrieve it while the camp bus went into the next town since one of the children on it was not feeling well. The girls never showed up at town and eventually Carrie's father comes to look for her. There is a bad tropical storm coming so the local authorities are busy with preparing for that but eventually with the father's persistence someone is assigned to help him look for the missing girls. They eventually find their car and with the storm approaching time is of the essence to find them.

This part of the story is what I would say was the main plot (and a good one) but now we throw in some sub-plots of a drug cartel, escape, blackmail, a dirty sheriff, kidnapping, an affair, and a secret pot farm and this is only naming a few of them and it gets a bit confusing as to what is going on and who is who. I found the only one I could 'connect' with was the father looking for his missing daughter and I am not even sure if that is because of the author's development of the character or because I am a parent and remember how I felt when my eleven year old went missing (and that was for one only one day with no storm approaching) but for sake of argument I will say the author's development of this character is the cause since he was the best developed one in the book.

As I said before, despite my pointing this out, I did like the story. I especially thought the opening of the story was fantastic. Not only the whole 1971 chapter but the father when he was hunting. I thought that scene was just too funny when his phone rang and he saw who it was calling. I just wish there was less complications and more association between the missing boys and the missing girls other than this being the same general area. For example, the 'legend' of what prowls the woods (If you want to know what prowls the woods, you'll have to read it for yourself.) if introduced earlier could have been worked to lend to a real scary mystery of the disappearance of both sets of kids but it isn't really realized until the end. Speaking of the end, it really did tie up all the loose ends and also had a few surprising twists that I didn't see coming.

All and all, I thought it was a good book, a little complicated but good and I would recommend it.

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Book 37 of My 2012 Goal

DEATHLOOP by G. Brailey
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Deathloop by G. Bratley sparked my interest since I enjoy reading reincarnation and and other fictional subjects. In this story the main character Zack Fortune lets his best friend's wife, Clarissa, hypnotize him to bring him back to a past life. She warned him not to come out of it by himself and wait for her to bring him out of it. Zach experienced horrific visions and panicked and so he brought himself out of it despite Clarissa's warning . The next day someone standing on the edge of a roof calls out to Zack by name just before she steps off and lands at his feet with a deadly thud. That was just the beginning of his life spiraling out of control.

Weird things happened to him throughout the book such as people calling out his name and asking for help right before they died yet he never met him before, legal investigations and charges brought against him, and relationship problems. None of these were clear-cut cases of reading about the incident and moving along, they were very complex going off into different directions and involving so many other people that half the time I didn't know what was going on and found myself rereading pages. To me it seemed like the author wanted the reader to get to know too many people and the interactions among too many people which made reading very difficult. Not every person in the story has to be a major character nor do I need to know what they are thinking and doing all the time.

I thought the story would redeem itself when Zack and Veronica (Zack's girlfriend) went to Renfield and Veronica wend to the old church for to see the "Renowned Spiritualist Russell Garrity". When Veronica walks in she is welcomed and even expected but when Zack walks in not only is he told to get out, he is physically thrown out. It is shortly after this that Zack gets his phone number and calls Russell Garrity. He agrees to meet him so Zack (and I) can finally get some answers. Russell Garrity insists on meeting Zack on a old, small foot bridge since the meeting has to be over water which only adds to the climax of this meeting. However, the meeting turned out to be 'weird' and not all the answers were given due to the somewhat predicable outcome for Russell Garrity.

The reactions of the characters were unbelievable. The things that Susan said and did to Zack, Veronica, and everyone else for that matter were just unreal but what was more unreal is the reaction of these people to her. Zack with his bad temper I figured would have done something to Susan to keep her from showing up at the door and confronting his friends but he did nothing to her. In fact, even though she accused him of sexual assault he goes and talks to her. The 'mind games' she and Zack played throughout were annoying. The relationships between Zach and Jason, Zach and Veronica, and Zach and Sam really stretches one's imagination. I felt these were totally unbelievable so I am not sure exactly what the goal of the author was other than to write a fictional story.

I would not call this an enjoyable book because of the complex relationships between these people (physical, sexual, and physiological) or maybe I should rephrase it to say I would not call this an 'easy read' book. If you just want to relax with a book without having to concentrate on who is who and the chain of events then I would not recommend this book however if you're into soap operas and complex relationships with some strange and at times unexpected twists then this book is for you.


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