Book Reviews and Money Saving Tips

It appears the announcement of my website’s demise was premature. It is still up, as I quit paying for hosting, I’m not sure why. It can no longer be updated so please click on the link to my author page at Amazon for any updates to my books. Thanks for reading this. 

This book started slow but gradually grabbed me.  The translator, not an interpreter is a British national, he is sent to substitute for the regular translator who had suffered an accident.   Experienced but  semi-retired, he has dragged back into the fray.   The British Government is going to Moscow to scold the Russians for their recent behavior.  The plot becomes more complex when Clive, the translator, discovers an old flame is the translator for the Russian Premier.   Emotions run high and Russian paranoia runs deep.   There is a great deal of cynicism over the oligarchs reaping obscene profits.   Struck me as amusing as they are so similar to the robber barons of old and the tech giants today.   There was a lot of tension and paranoia, fear, anger and a touch of action.   This is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book rather than an action adventure. I enjoyed it.  This book may ha...

This is the second in the Variety Palace Mystery series that I’ve read.   Minnie and Albert, a mismatched detective team, find themselves facing multiple homicides.  All the homicides seem to relate to either a Ponzi scheme or a dreadful theatrical tragedy.   Walsh does a good job setting the late 1890s scene in London.   The aromas of the time jump off the page resulting in a twitching nose and a squeamish reaction to many of the settings. The impact of privilege regarding justice seems unchanged over the ensuing years with the obvious comparison to today’s country club prisons. The interaction of Minnie and Albert once again is the sub-plot.   In the foreground, are a series of seemingly unrelated homicides and dog-fighting villains.  I enjoyed the book and recommend it.

This book is about the coming of age of a troubled child who becomes a troubled adult.  Jonas, a hard-to-love kid, finds soulmates at Lafayette, a school for kids who are alone. Jonas ends up as a quintmate. He and four other troubled kids are bound together through trials and tribulations.   They experience a life-altering event that separates them forever, except it doesn’t. As a successful adult Jonas is approached by Dugie, a long-lost quintmate.  Together, the experience is anything but positive for Jonas. Jonas’s ex-wife and children provide a sense of normalcy for Jonas, staying with him through manic and depressed periods.   Their loyalty is startling.