Review of A Gift of Ghosts

A Gift of Ghosts

A TASSAMARA NOVEL

SARAH WYNDE

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

If you believe in ghosts, this is the book of spirits for you. Akira understands the spirit world, she thinks.

As a scientist, she takes her dream job offered to her by people who have ghost problems. What she brings to the table changes the way the Latimer family learns about their family which Akira facilitates - she can somewhat communicate with that world.

Interwoven into an interesting written story of spirits finding their way, Akira and Zane Latimer become close. These tales of many will lead the reader to think that maybe there is a world before silence.

Ms. Wynde keeps the reader's attention with easy to follow fun filled prose - ghosts have feelings and cannot wait to move on from their present situation. You want Akira to help them. But, can she?

I enjoyed the characters and the way Ms. Wynde presented them. Good Read.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2Nqm08b

Bleak Prospect Reviewed

A BLEAK PROSPECT

A Sam Jenkins Mystery

WAYNE ZURL

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Wayne Zurl has done a fantastic job of bringing the police crimes stories of Prospect, a small town in Tennessee, USA, to the printed page. This mystery is the eight in his series. I have read many.

Each stand on its own with characters who are enjoyable. Sam, a spiffy sheriff who arrived from NYC police work to a lady Sargent that runs the day to day business of the office. Spontaneous, trenchant, and intelligent conversations enhance the legitimate police work they do daily.

In this story, a prostitute is found dead inside town limits. However, the County has a serial killer roaming, and the case becomes a County matter. Sam following his instincts moves in the right directions apart from a Task Force.

The twist and turns lead him to an unlikely source for the County murders. Also, there is a riff in the Town's Council over the crime and other matters. The mayor gives Sam and his team terrible news.

Those events come to a head with an exciting conclusion the reader does not expect. This novel is another excellent, fast-paced mystery by an ex-cop. We will see what happens next hopefully.   

Review of THINK LIKE SHERLOCK

Think Like Sherlock

Peter Hollins

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

"Education never ends, Watson. It is a series of lessons, with the greatest for the last."

― Arthur Conan Doyle, His Last Bow

Hollins' book of how to think correctly is full of Educational information a young person should read and delve in. I was lucky enough to be trained by the best (Special Forces) at JFK Psychological Warfare Center in 1968 as my first Education after High School, so some of the principles he writes about, I knew.

However, as Sherlock might say, we learn something every day. How we use that lesson is crucial.  Hollins gives the reader much to mull over in a short space of time. You may want to re-read some ideas and put them to work.

Some are: how to critically think; working concepts of Pablo Picasso, Einstein, Henry Ford, and Holms, of course; Observations and Deductive Reasoning; Thinking Outside the Box; and much more.

Peter Hollins's writing is clear and concise. You will read, stop, and think about how you can use the principle in your world.  It is not a technical read, but one you will enjoy learning as you read.

I'll keep Think Like Sherlock in my Kindle as I have Conan Doyle's Holms shorts and novels, as you should too.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/35S1tzT

Review of Witch's Moonstone Locket

WITCH'S MOONSTONE LOCKET

MARSHA A. MOORE

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

I did not know what to think when I started to read this witch's tale, a fantasy? Well, I purchased it, read it, and enjoyed the storyline with strange happenings around the characters.

Owls and furniture spirits talked; winds controlled out of the north and the south; and a locket that helped a bereaved person speak to a dead parent. These are just a few of this chuck full of fun happenstances of a well-written journey into the life of witches.

Janice wants to talk to her mother who died before she could converse with her passing - to the spirit world. So, she goes to the witches' carnival to get answers.

Janice receives more than bargained.  She meets Rowe; the short love story brought on by the powers of the Moonstone Locket. 

This locket does more than bring them together. It is a cornerstone of a witches' coven and sets the tone for the mystical tale that follows, a war of a witch and the complications therein.

You'll have to read this fun adventure. I didn't know there were witches, did you?

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2OPTjOZ

Review of Trouble and Strife

Trouble and Strife

Ian Dodge Mystery, Book 2

Judy Nichols

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Cool, calm, and collective is Ian with his English accent is at the sight of an accident in the making, as it seems. A wealthy customer of a friend’s suntan spa is found toasted in Room #3 and 911 is called. The mystery begins.

Relatives of the customer sue the friend's spa and Ian Dodge, a detective, is asked to find out the facts. With his new assistant Ruth, he goes about his business wooing everyone around him including the instigator of the events.

Complicated family ties are the motivator of the mystery which unravels smoothly as Ian investigates. There is death, and the reasoning is understandable but tragic.

This mystery keeps your attention because of the well-written character's dialog and their personas. It has a few exciting events that help too.

I'll go back for another of Ian's adventures in the future. 

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2MmcORE

Review of More Than Friends

More Than Friends & Forever: A Friends Novel

MONICA MURPHY

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Intelligent tit for tat of two senior High School students who find themselves as a couple. Even though they are in school, I did not read one 'Like' this or that, which I like.

What I didn't like is it is a series with never an ending even in the third book Forever: A Friends Novel. At the end of the Forever, the reader will get the impression that the couple might break up because of the sound of their words.

Jordan has been infatuated with Amanda since eighth grade. Because of a breakup, Amanda turns to the American football star, and they become an on/off again couple. He cannot communicate his feelings resulting in Amanda uncertainty in where the relationship will end.  

All the background stories enhance the main one, but I feel it is overwritten. The main dialog between Amanda and Jordan seems too intelligent even for honor students, as portrayed, but kept me wanting for more after reading More Than Friends.

I would have liked to have read one condensed book for this dramatic love story. More Than Friends is a tease and Forever: A Friends Novel is a bigger one.

If you are going to read this story, go for it, and read all the books in concession. 

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2OXnKDA

Review of Fiji, A Novel

Fiji

A Novel

LANCE & JAMES MORCAN

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Fiji is an island adventure where the west meets natives that have little in common on the surface. Underneath the limited verbal communication, people are mostly the same when it comes to loyalty, friendship, and the fight against evil.

The Drakes (Rev. and his daughter) are missionaries and an industrious trader named Nathan arrive on a Fiji island where cannibals wait in the background. A group of them attacks the somewhat civilized natives which the westerners are coming to meet.

The visitors seem to have chewed more than what they bargained for when they decided to go to this particular island - Nathan to trade guns for a precious item and the Drakes to spread the word.

All placed in a battle for survival they want to get through fast.  A love story is a part of the struggle and a key to why Nathan does what he does, putting his life on the line for the good of the natives and Susannah.

The prose and the background are so enjoyable that the reader will feel the drums, follow the action, and feel for the natives with waiting eyes. It is a short read of a long narrative, well done.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2OErN7P

Review of A Grave Misunderstanding

A Grave Misunderstanding

A Simon Grave Mystery

Len Boswell

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Spiffy, strange, satiric are just a few words to describe this murder mystery. The characters are bizarre, and the background is full of unusual happenings.

Detective Grave, Boswell's protagonist, is presented with a strange murder situation. The subject is laid out with a hand cut off and no apparent deadly blow in a mansion built for a primeval king with Artificial Intelligence walking around like servants. 

Even more abnormal, when Grave arrives at the scene, the Medical Examiner is investigating the bloody stairwell while people are locked in a second story room making noise to be let out.  Lastly, more import to the eccentric owner of the castle is the theft of a trophy from the room.

The detection begins, and Grave interviews the occupants of the locked room. Each of these characters is abnormal in their way and add little to Grave's dilemma - Who secured the people in the room, stole the trophy from it, and killed the woman?  

How Detective Grave gets to the conclusion of this mystery which is a mystery in-its-self. The twist and turns are fun to read, but in the end, the reader will understand the findings.

MISUNDERSTANDING is an enjoyable quick read.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2LNL9bX

Review of Catherine and the Wind

Catherine and the Wind

A Meredith Series Sequel

AMANDA GALE

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Catherine, a somewhat recluse who is a Chocolatier, meets Wes, who at one time was Meredith's lover but she is happily married to Nick. Each of their families knows each other for various reasons, but distance keeps them from daily communication.

Wes, an up and coming lawyer in the community, goes to dinner with beautiful and quirky Catherine, who enjoys things 1930 vintage and Brahms. She is delightful and pikes his interest - one, two, three - marriage and a baby.

She fits him, not like Meredith, according to Wes' mother. The only problem is Wes is hiding something in his heart.

This story is a complicated one, well-written novella ready for the small screen. I will cut to the chase. Wes does know what he wants in a woman, and the ladies of the family know best. It takes Wes to go through a deadly event to realize what he has is best.

CATHERINE and the WIND is a pleasant long read into the way people interface and the way Catherine overcomes her battle with a little know mental affliction. Meredith, on the other hand, is an active player who overcomes family adversities.

If they don't meet again in the second book in this series, it is a crime. I enjoyed the tit for tat.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2NTZ0uM

Review of Bridge to Caracas

THE BRIDGE TO CARACAS

VOLUME ONE OF THE KING TRILOGY

STEPHEN DOUGLAS

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

An excellent start to a trilogy about the King family in the oil business up until reaching Caracas, Venezuela. How this first volume evolves sets the tone for the rest.

The love story of Mr. King and his childhood friend culminates after he and she have not very good marriages. Her husband is the key to crime in the international oil business which conflicts with King's rise to the top on the legal side.

These conflicts become confrontational because of jealousy, greed, and control of her husband leading to violent events. At each turn of this thriller, the reader will not be waiting long for a result - positive or negative.

Mr. Douglas' characters are well defined, and the final clash when a billion-dollar decision brings this adventure to an end. It should bring back the reader for volume two which should be a fast-paced crime thriller as this. I will wait my turn.

Purchase:  https://amzn.to/2OrJJT9

Review of A GREAT WAY OF LIFE

A Great Way of Life?

JOE GLASGOW

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

I got drafted into the Army and re-enlisted. I was called nuts. The rest is history - Green Beret and medals, and I am still alive.

Joe Glasgow's protagonist’s family and friends have mixed feelings about his joining the military - nuts to a great job.  Opinions abound.

We follow the candidate through the process of moving into the Air Force, A Great Way of Life. For those who have been there, memories will come back, and for those that have not, you will enjoy his transition from civilian to Airman.

Funny and quick, the story was well put together, keeping me laughing. Looking for a unique point of view, this is for you.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2tDU5cA

Review of Trust & Treachery

Trust & Treachery

Echoes of Sol, Book 1

CHARISSA DUFOUR

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Larissa is an indentured slave in the future when traveling to Mars from Earth is normal, but not for her kind. Through circumstance, she is turned over to a new owner and ends up on a freighter carrying important cargo into space with a crew of eighteen men.

In this rough environment of space merchant marines, she starts to become a woman because of the kindness and respect she receives from the captain, his brother, and many of the crew. This beginning of a romance situation is the background to an adventure Larissa never imagined being part of at the age of twenty-two.

There are attacks by pirates, confused personal relations, and Sci-Fi adventure that Ms. Dufour writes in an easy to read style - slow at times but gripping at others. Not being a Sci-Fi buff, I may join Bit's, Larissa’s nickname, heroic adventure in the future.

I have read another of Ms. Dufour’s books, 'LIFE SUCKS,' and will return for more.

Purchase, free: https://amzn.to/2uV61DL

Review of LOVE FOR SAIL

LOVE TO SAIL

A Connie Barrera Thriller

C L R DOUGHERTY

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Two items attracted me to this novel: I had lived in St. Thomas, USVI for two years in the hospitality business and the Caribbean for twenty-eight. Moreover, I did a little sailing around the islands, mostly when I was living in Charlotte Amalia at the Virgin Isle Hotel as Asst. General Manager. Lastly, my sister's name is Connie.

Mr. Dougherty brought back memories with Connie doing what she learned to love - sailing, to the point she gets her Captain's license.  Upon acquiring her permit, with money dropped into her hands through cunning, she buys a 49,000-pound yacht, which she never sailed into open waters before.

Sailing that boat from the Chesapeake Bay to the US Virgin Islands turns into a disaster.  She takes on a temporary crew of two - a man and a woman to help her make the journey, because her man friend, ex-cop, sailor, and an excellent cook, could not make the trip.

Connie's crew has their illegal reason to make the trip that includes working for a mob figure. The male crew member presents a problem that leads to a deadly event.

From this point on, this thriller goes into rough waters. Will aid arrive on time? While waiting for it, the reader is kept on the edge of his or her seat wondering if any help is coming.

Fast pace, nautically correct, and well written with a character like Connie, you’ll be wanting to follow her the next journey. I highly recommend LOVE FOR SAIL for those who enjoy adventure and traveling, as much as I do.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2LdfktL

Review of CUTTHROAT

A CUTTHROAT BUSINESS

A Savannah Martin Mystery, Book 1

JENNA BENNETT

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Savannah is a newly minted Real Estate Broker who finds herself and a childhood acquaintance standing over the dead body of one of her cohorts, blood everywhere. She calls 911, and the mystery begins.

What makes this particular multilayer whodunit different is the characters, which are colorfully defined by the author.  Savannah, the lead, is your typical Southern Bell who has the propensity to evaluate the situation at hand, and she goes through some difficult ones.

The cast comes in all shapes and sizes.  An example is Savannah's childhood hunk of a bad-boy man friend who becomes an integral part of the situation at hand and the shade of a possibility of a romantic attachment, mostly on his side because her mother's words are in her head.

He and Savannah come in contact throughout this adventure which leads to an unlikely killer with a well put together ending that will have the reader wanting to go on. Book 2 is right around the corner.

This mystery keeps you on the edge of your seat trying to figuring out the who, and why the crimes were committed. Savannah turns into a better sleuth than a Real Estate Broker.

Good Read:   https://amzn.to/2uzyiPX

Review of Two Rivers

The Peacemaker

TWO RIVERS

ZOE SAADIA

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

A warrior thinks and believes in other ways than his tribe; a young adopted foreigner upsets the comfort zone of the same tribe, and a young tribal woman is confused with the warrior's abilities and is interested in the foreigner. Enlightenment is in the mind of the warrior while the youngsters are coming to grips with their existence.

The plot is simple: each is upsetting the norms of the people who they live with on a daily basis, the warrior with his ideas and the young adults with their attraction to each other. The harmful elements of the tribe come ahead, and the Chief Warrior makes a decision that changes all three lives forever.

Some violent actions bring this story to a life-changing ending and into a new horizon: an inviting one which will lead the reader into the second book. 

TWO RIVERS is a novel that is easy to read because of the thought used in writing the story. It is full of nuggets of reasoning and understanding of what life should be in the world.

The prose flows nicely with some exciting events. The reader's attention will speed to the end in one sitting. As usual, Zoe Saadia has written a beautiful novel. I have read three or four; I have lost count.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2KKAJKy

Review of Six Easy Pockets

Six Easy Pockets

Cindy Blackburn

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Jessie is at it again in one of Blackburn's A Cue Ball Mysteries. She is snooping.

Receiving a telephone phone call on a landline from a wealthy friend who "Misplaced" his girlfriend, Jessie is distraught because the person misplaced is her 'Girlfriend' also. The mystery begins when she, the by day Romance writer, goes to the estate that is humongous, her words not mine.

Wilson, Jessie's hubby, does not get involved until her and another detective cannot come to grips with the missing person event, and the investigation becomes a deadly one. The large staff at the estate, family members, and Jessie's condo friends are included in the overall whodunit episodes.

The enjoyable way Ms. Blackburn brings her characters alive, including the villain, downplays the crime a bit but has the reader loving the main characters including the cats. Jessie, as in other Blackburn mysteries, ends up in the final act that is somewhat comical and deadly at the same time.

Will the villain come to justice? Only by reading this fun novel will you find out.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/2MwVaqx