July's Reviews

From Librarything's Early Reviewer's Programme, I won these great books. No Way Out by David Kessler was lovingly signed by the author himself.

Lake Charles
by Ed Lynskey
Wildside Press (17 April 2011)


Lake Charles is the type of story that entertains the reader with powerful descriptions and zany characters. The story is set in 1979 during the Gas crisis. The main Character, Brandon, is accused of murdering his girlfriend, Ashleigh whom Brandon found dead next to him at a motel. After being set on bail, Brandon sets out on a fishing trip with his best friend, Cobb and twin sister, Edna.

The plot thickens when his twin sister, Edna goes missing and Brandon and Cobb set on a mission to find her. To their astonishment they uncover a pot plantation in the middle of Lake Charles that might just be behind the murder of Ashleigh and Edna's disappearance. Behind the scenes, Ashleigh's ghost kept creeping into Brandon's conscience encouraging him to catch her true killer.

I found the story dragged a bit in the beginning as the author used highly descriptive words to describe the
Atmosphere but during the middle, as the plot thickened, the story got interesting.

This is a good story if you like a good mystery and detective story.


No Way Out
by David Kessler
ISBN-13: 978-1847561831
David Kessler has written a thriller about a black activist and convicted rapist, Elias Claymore who has been recently found guilty of raping a young white nineteen year old girl, Bethel Newton in California. Elias pleads innocent and hires his best friend and attorney, Alex Sedaka to defend him.

Having been convicted in the past for raping six women and for escaping jail, Claymore is up against all hope for the Prosecution has strong DNA evidence to prove that Elias is Bethel's rapist. Alex has a hell of a defence case to win; with DNA evidence stacked against Claymore he has a fat chance in hell to be acquitted. In hopes of winning the case, Alex hires a young attorney appointed by his insurance company named Andromeda Phoenix whose same sex partner Gene works at the Rape Crisis Centre as co-counsel. The Judge throws an injunction against Andromeda's partner not to get involved with the victim. Then Andromeda starts getting anonymous threats through her E-mails telling her to get off the case. To add a twist to this page-turning court drama, Alex's own off-again-on-again partner, Martine, a journalist, is covering this case and has already received hate mail. Is there really no way out for Elias?

The book throws reference to the infamous OJ Simpson trial and has slight racial undertones but purely to point out how prejudice people can be and how it can destroy lives.

David writes in the same style as James Patterson and John Grisham--two of my favourite suspense novelists. I enjoyed this highly suspenseful court drama which kept me on the edge of my seat. The chapters were short but full of intrigue and ends in cliff-hangers; This allowed me to get to the end quickly without loosing the plot (excuse the pun).

The author sent me a free signed copy of his book in exchange for a review. I wasn't obliged to give a favourable review. I found this book hard to put down and suspenseful. I truly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of crime fiction and thriller/suspense novels.

David Kessler is the author of Mercy, Who Really Killed Rachel, A Fool for a Client, Tarnished Heroes, Reckless Justice and The other Victim . A British Author, David Kessler was born in London. It wasn't until he was 15 that he wanted to become a writer.

A Modern Witch
by Debora Geary

Format: Kindle Edition
File Size: 867 KB
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Fireweed Publishing (12 Mar 2011)


I enjoyed Debbie Geary's book, A Modern Witch. This was a well-written, funny, and original book about one of my favourite topics.......witches. I have always had a fascination for witches and their craft, especially on Halloween. Not that I am a witch, of course, but I have always loved stories about witches since I was a child and read Hansel and Gretel, Baba Yaga and the Wizard of Oz. Who can resist the Wicked Witch of the West? Geary presents the witch in a thoroughly modern light. Gone are the pointy hats and broomsticks. Gone are the visions of old hags in front of a cauldron stirring eyes of newt. Witches live amongst us...they are everywhere. Just log into a supermarket and into the ice-cream section and Zap--there you'll be transported to witch central. That's exactly what happened to Lauren, a great Realtor in Chicago who ran out of ice-cream and decided to tap into an online supermarket unbeknownst that this site had a spell that would track witches and link them all to a witches' chat moderated by three witches, Sophie, Moira, and Nell.

Lauren doesn't believe she is a witch. How can she be? She doesn't do magick. She doesn't even own a broomstick or a cauldron. Nell employs her brother, Jamie, a witch trainer, to work with Lauren and try to assess her powers and convince her she really is a witch. To her surprise, Lauren is a mind-witch. Well, isn't it obvious when she has a knack of matching clients with their ideal homes? This is a talent that she has dismissed for ages until Jamie convinces her that she has mind powers beyond her control. With his help, Lauren learns how to harness her powers and control the voices in her head, teaching her how to fine tune the many thoughts coming from other people's minds. Geary writes about the lighter side of witchcraft and weaves a story about camaraderie and community; about the relationship and bond of friendship and family within the witching community.

This is not the kind of book to get into if you're looking for gory spells or cannibalistic rituals or black magick witches . There is nothing scary in this book....this is the kind of book to read for fun. It has humour; it has a bit of romance, and plenty of witches. The book is witty, light, and leaves one in the mood for the fun side of Halloween. I commend the author on such a delightful read or write, for that matter. Thanks for crafting such a good book! I am looking forward to read more of this author's many spellbinding books.

Hunting Elf
by Dave Donelson
Publisher: Lulu.com (17 Nov 2006 2006)
ISBN: 978-143031554

Hunting Elf is a delightful tale about a silky terrier named Elf who is dog napped by breeders in a dog show.   I can imagine the lead character, Dan McCoy, played by Ed Rooney, the principal in Ferris Buller Day Off.  What would make the book even  better would be some illustrations.   This is a children's book, no doubt.   The font is large enough for any child to read it.    Elf isn't just a tiny, silky Terrier, though...he's the son of a famous Dog Show winner.  I enjoyed this book very much.   This is a book to read at any age.

Housewife in Trouble
by Alison Penton Harper
Publisher:  Pan Publishing
Copyright 2010
ISBN: 978-0330461566


truly enjoyed reading House Wife Up and House Wife in Trouble and am looking forward to read Harper's other books in the series.

House Wife in Trouble is the fifth book by author Alison Penton Harper. Her third book, House Wife on Top wasn't just your average yuletide read--it was a zany farce full of holiday cheer and mishaps. I fell in love with Helen Robbins, a divorcee employed by Rick Wilton as his personal secretary. The book, House Wife on Top, featured many well-rounded and neurotic characters including Helen's highly neurotic friend, Leoni whose nerves are so frazzled by all this yuletide mayhem and three kids not including her husband, Marcus. Leoni swears she is about to do her husband in by subjecting him to a high cholesterol diet. In steps Aunt Helen, committed to help her friend give her family a no-holds barred family Christmas so her frazzled friend can relax. Trouble is, Rick has commended Helen with the task of organizing his Christmas; and to top it all off, her Sister Julia is in the middle of a marital crisis. Helen meets Rick's Russian Housekeeper, Helga who doesn't know a word of English and gives Helen a fright of her life.

In House Wife in Trouble, the gang is all there routing each other on. Helen, now Mrs Rick Wilton, is finding marriage a bit surreal. She misses her old apartment and her gay neighbours Sally and Paul. Leoni is her usual neurotic self and Julia, Helen's sister has a few surprises up her sleeves. I really enjoyed these two novels and am contemplating on reading the author's first two novels and House Wife in Love .

If you really want a good laugh as you are downing your third glass of Pimms or red wine spritzer, I recommend these light-hearted novels. Alison Penton Harper knows how to weave a good English farce. The author lives in Northamptonshire with her husband and two daughters. Before her first Novel, House Wife Down, she was down with the flu and saw an episode of Richard and Judy which featured a 'How to get Published' competition which Amanda Ross, Cactus TV's executive Producer ran with Pan McMillan Publishers. Alison entered the competition with her first Novel, House Wife Down and was one of the five finalist. The novel was published in 2005. It was then she took to writing professionally.

I'm currently reading Meet me at the Cupcake Cafe by Jenny Colgan and A Visit from the Boon Squad by Jennifer Egan amongst other books. Yes....I am a bookworm!