Water Landing

Author: Jonathan Slusher
Publisher: Cow Chip Press
Publisher's Address: Carney's Point, NJ
ISBN: 9780578029825

"Water Landing" consists of 19 chapters with their own titles, and the text is double lined through-out which makes it easy on the eyes and quicker to read; I read it in one day. The author has written this book like the one character is sitting down having a causal conversation with someone he just meet. The reader is not given unnecessary details, but is given enough information to understand what is going on.

The main character, Luke Kettle, is a 28 year ago man who seems, in my interpretation, to be going through a middle life crisis at a very young age. He feels his life will not get any better, especially since he has the worst luck with his love life. With one girlfriend out of his life, his friend who is a girl, but not yet his girlfriend has cancer. Since my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer years ago I could relate to his helplessness against the disease and the eternal hopefulness that she would get better. I am lucky that my mom is doing fine now. I found it interesting that his parent were from Germany and of course spoken German. My mom's parents were from Austria and spoke German too, but I never learned, maybe I will in the furture.

Throughout the book there are descriptions of landmarks and/or parks in both the states of New Jersey and of California, which showed how these states are different and also how they are the same. Almost like how Luke has changed as he moved from one place to the next.

In my opinion this book is about a young man's journey in making amends with the future plans that will never happen, almost like morning for them. Even with the dwellings of the what ifs, Luke has to face facts that things are never going to be the same and neither is he. "Water Landing" is a look into the grieving process in a different perspective, which showed me that everyone really does have their own way of grieving.

I would recommend this book to young adult and adults who would like a book that is a quick read and not skimpy with the story line and the depth of characters.

One Deadly Sister

Author: Rod Hoisington
Publisher: Entera Books
ISBN: 9780615298528

The book "One Deadly Sister", I felt is a murder mystery at its best. The author takes you on a who-done-it ride which includes the introduces of several characters, which can be likable as well as unlikable. These people all have their own dirty laundry and guilty pleasures that play out with every turn of the page. It is also a look at how a innocent man can be so mix-up in the lives of others that he is arrested for a crime he did not commit, or did he.

Even though there are several characters in this story, they are skillfully developed and can be easy followed. The main character Ray seems to be the man with the worst luck ever. I felt bad that he has was being used as a pawn in everyone's game where he had no game in anything. Even the police department, along with the state attorney, just wanted to nail Ray's coffin and be done with it. Since I is have worked in several law firms in the past and have a Paralegal Degree , I was able to identify with Ray's sister Sandy. She came across as one tough cookie that would not take stuff from anyone, including the law enforcement individuals who were handling her brothers case. There were also characters I loved to hate, for example, Loraine who thought she could wiggle her way out of anything, and believe me she tries a lot.

I would recommend "One Deadly Sister" to anyone who enjoys a good mystery with many plot twists and of course some turns added for a good measure of suspense. Although I was trying to figure the who did it part, many things were not what they seemed. So you really have to read the book all the way through. No fair peeking to the end either, its well worth the wait. There is brief sexual content, mostly pg rated. It also has a great and realistic story line that will keep you guessing till the end.

Swallow

Author: Tonya Plank
Publisher: Dark Swan Press
ISBN: 9780615280998

"Gradually, I come to realize that people will readily swallow lies than truth, as if the taste of lies was homey, appetizing: a habit."
-Martha Gellhorn

The above mentioned quote could describe the reason for the affection that plagues Sophie Hegel, the main character in the book "Swallow", by Tonya Plank. Sophie is a small town girl who went to an ivy league law school, meets prince charming and moves to New York City. Everything in her life appears to be going smoothly, in her opinion, until her boyfriend Stephen pops the question of will you marry me. Since she is hiding her "Arizona" family from her "New York City" family, all will clash together with the upcoming wedding which causes her to panic.

Everything in Sophia's life becomes too hard to accept or believe without question, protest or anger, which she tend to stifle and not come to grips with. I think as we all get older, we start to inquire about our lives. We analyze our past and how it has impacted the decisions we have made. Sophie's past including her upbringing and her dysfunctional family: divorced parents, jealous sister, reared its ugly head, or should I say fist, and made it hard to ignore anymore. She tries to deny the existence of or the truth of who she really is. With the love and support of her friends; gay arty friend Thom, fashion suave friend Frances, lawyer friend Sami, Sophie realizes that in life some shallow people will cross your path and that they will try to manipulate how you look at yourself. We all should not allow people to lead us astray and corrupt us into seeing ourselves in a bad light.

With the all changing event of September 11th, Sophie is pushed to make decisions to save her from the fantasy life she thought she had. She begins to see things for what they are and what her goals really are. I think most of America took the time after 9/11 to revalue their lives as well.

All the characters are beautifully woven and integrated in the story which gives the reader the opportunity to relate to them. Each character has an impact, either good, bad or both, on how the main character is shaped or is being molded.

I recommend this book to adult women young and old who would like a good laugh, a good cry and a bunch of good feelings.

Honest Faces

Author: Steven Donkin
ISBN: 9781608300358
Publisher: Aberdeen Bay

"I have known a vast quantity of nonsense talked about bad men not looking you in the face. Don't trust that conventional idea. Dishonesty will stare honesty out of countenance any day in the week, if there is anything to be got by it."---Charles Dickens

"Honest Faces" is written through several different person's point of view so the reader needs to pay attention to character changes. It is not a quick reading book, it takes time to read between the lines, which gives the story its suspense and mystery.

The book is about, in part, of the reunion of two brother after 47 years of being estranged. The younger brother, Jonathan Allerton, is a 65 year old retired college professor and is married to a woman named Ruth in New Jersey. The older brother, Frank Allerton, is a 75 year old bachelor who once ran the family hardware store. They were both raised by their widowed father until he died from a heart attack that Frank was too drunk to call for help for. Jonathon decides to hold his fathers death against his brother and move out of state and not stay in touch with Frank. The visit of Jonathan to his home town awakes old ghosts and haunts. He sees that his family home has been burned and the family business abandoned.

Other important characters are introduced during an alcohol inducted discussion of current events at the home of Conrad Hagwood (the Colonel) which is Frank's neighbor. The Colonel is an US Army veteran and since being shot in a hunting accident has been wheel chair bound. He is a saucy, opinionated old man who is raising his middle-aged daughter Ruth, who is considered mentally impaired. Also in attendance is Malcolm Louis Peters a widowed African American retired school teacher who moved to Ohio from Washington D.C. and years earlier was a member of the Black Panthers. He tried all his teaching career to make a difference to his students however he does not feel he has. He then takes it upon himself to solve the mystery of his friend Frank's death to once again try to make a difference.

The topics of the discussion included the war in Iraq, Obama's election and terrorist which showed to me that it is set in modern day times. My favorite part of the friendly debate was the Colonel's retell of what he learn from someone during the Vietnam war. It is an interesting reasoning behind the phrase of how violence only begets violence. He explains the if you kill someone, you are not just taking that person's life. That person had family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, anyone that person had a relationship with, you would have effected them all. Revenge doesn't work unless you kill everyone involved.

The characters of Cora the waitress and Gretchen her nice she adopted, I felt were not very necessary to story other than how they are really related and the poem that Gretchen wrote.

As I read Honest Faces, I was surprised of the plot twist after the suspicious death of Frank, and the disappearance of Jonathon. Frank's will is in question especially when it was changed just before his death.
Along with the obvious mystery of the plot line, the book also contains explanations and opinions about certain forms of government and the state of our education system. Could not stop thinking that these maybe the author's way to express his thoughts in an indirect way.
I recommend "Honest Faces" to all adult readers with a word of caution that some of the writing maybe complex in nature but it doesn't take away from the story the author is trying to tell.

The Fruit of the Fallen

Author: J. C. Burnham
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 9781450018159

"Human beings must be known to be love; but Divine beings must be loved to be known." Blaise Pascal

As a nun hands a baby to Dr. Jonathan Keats, she is fatally shot and Dr. Keats must run for his life as well as the baby's. He is later framed for the murder of the nun and has to go into hiding. The infants name is Serenity D'Evele and her past is shrouded in mystery. When events occur, that are beyond Dr. Keats control, Serenity is given to Sister Sophia D'Evele who adopts the girl as her grandchild. After moving from country to country through most of her childhood, Serenity and her grandmother settle in California at a all girls school called Mount Sterling. Soon strange things start happening, a sighing of a demonic looking dog-like animal and the appearance of a tall blond hair man. One night Serenity is force to fight of the creature with some help from an unknown person. Her classmate Sarah starts to act differently too and seems to have burning hatred for Serenity. Serenity's dreams also take a disturbing turn by become more vivid and having a man's voice calling for her. She turns to her faith and her support group which consists of her best friend Ellen, her music teacher's brother Talmadge and Father Abrienne. She will need all the help she can get, since she is possibly the key to a prophecy which may have apocalyptic consequences.

"The Fruit of the Fallen" with its beautiful cover art and its intriguing story line is a truly great read. It consists of 22 chapters that are divided by drawings of grapes on a vine, which becomes relative later in the book. Even though there were several religious references, they are explained for easy understanding. There are flash backs so the reader must pay attention, as well as they should anyway. Serenity, as the main character, is a likable person who has no lack of innocence.

The book is a mysterious and absorbing novel, which I think would appeal to the adult and the young adult reader. I high recommend this to anyone who likes a mystery with some faith testing added in.

Voice of Conscience

Author: Behcet Kaya
Publisher: Authorhouse
ISBN: 9781449014537

"The human voice can never reach the distance that is covered by the still small voice of conscience." Mohandas Gandhi

With the on going discussions of where to build a Mosaic in New York City near ground zero or not, a book comes along to give a reader some insight into the lives of a Muslim family in Atamkoy, Turkey.
Although the first part of the book takes place in the year 1962, the descriptions of the rites and ceremonies may still take place in some remote parts of that country. With the abundant of Turkish words included in the text, they are recognized as being italicized and are given the English translates right after so a Turkish dictionary is not needed.

"Voice of Conscience" is a story of a family preparing for the marriage of there only daughter Erin, whose mother died in childbirth. Ramzi Ozcomert, her father, has remarried a woman named Nermin Ozcomert and they have a son named Ramzi Ozcomert Jr. Even before the wedding week can begin a rift is make with Ramzi Ozcomert and Elder Korucu for not giving in to the request of the Elder that Erin should marry his grandson instead of her boyfriend Turkel. Tragedy strikes with a very heavy and violence plow on the family of Ramzi Ozcomert Jr., which changes his live forever. His taken on a journey of both through different lands as wells as different ideas and what his destiny may have to be.

Within the Turkish culture it is instilled that vengeance is away of life and a death should be avenged at any cost. This becomes Ramzi's mantra has he grown into a man of great means; wife, two daughters and a vast company. He soon finds that this way of thinking takes a toll on the mind as well as his heart. He must make the decision to uphold his traditional ways or let go of the rage that will consume him.

"Voice of Conscience" gives a glimpse into the world of the Turkish Muslim as he becomes an American with more questions than answers regarding his religion, philosophy and challenges of his life. As this book is written in a easy understandable way, I would recommend this book to adult readers and even to young adult readers.

Dead of Knight

Author: William R. Potter
Publisher: RealTime Publishing
ISBN: 9781849610261

"There is a great streak of violence in every human being. If it is not channeled and understood, it will break out in war or in madness."
~Sam Peckinpah

The murderer is known by many names. He is called Tyro, a apprentice title, until he has killed more then his name is Damian Knight, soldier of justice, that passes judgment on the guilty. In the bar where he plays video games he is known as Retro, the police call him the Birthday Boy, but soon everyone will hear his true name. Jack Staal is a detective with the Hanson Police and has vowed to bring the killer in. "Dead of Knight" is told from the murderer's and the detective's perspective, which allows the reader to get a sense of both characters' personalities. Detective Staal is a veteran cop who is dealing with demons from a past case gone wrong and the killer is also trying to come to grips with a event from his past that has marked him for life.

"Dead of Knight" is set in British Columbia in a fictional town called Hanson where the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are enforcers of the law of the land. The book gives a "real" look at what it takes to solve crimes and that it is not done in an hour as seen on Television. DNA samples take weeks instead of minutes and the suspect is not caught in the last 15 minutes of the show. Suspect after suspect are questioned and ruled out, while the killer continues to murder.

Although "Dead of Knight" in not a true murder mystery since you know the killer, the reasons for his actions are not clear until later. It is still a psychological trip with road block around every corner. It gives a chilling outcome of what can happen to someone who was a product of bullying. The characters are realistic and interesting. I recommend this book to mystery buffs that are old enough to read detailed content regarding killing, sex and drug use.