Review of Pigeon River Blues

Pigeon River Blues

Written by Wayne Zurl

Reviewed by Roy Murry, author

A small country town in Tennessee, USA, has a celebrity C.J. Profitt who sings the Blues to her hometown friend the mayor. She is being harassed by some people that don’t like her life style; and she has asked the mayor for protection.

The mayor volunteers a non-Volunteer, ex New York City detective now Chief of Police, Sam Jenkins to be her security while she is in town and doing a gig up the road at Dollywood for charity.  Sam is unlike a Robert Downey, Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes.

He is sociable and charming.  Using deductive thinking, compiling information from his contacts in the FBI, military, and media, he pieces together the - who, what, when, why, and how an event will literally blow up the charity at Dollywood.   

C.J. Profitt’s history as a Country Western Singer is the center of why this event was nurtured, festered, and put into motion. Sometimes it’s the people you hurt that comes back to haunt you, as it is in this novel.

Sam Jenkins police work is the propelling motion of this fast pace read. Sometimes comical and witty, his style works on the written page.

If you like police TV dramas, this book will be as intense but more enjoyable because of Wayne Zurl’s spiffy character Sam.  

Notes:

Tennessee is called The Volunteer State because they were the first volunteer in the War of 1812, another story.

Dollywood is in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and is the home to Dolly Parton’s Country & Western theme park.

Purchase at:  http://amzn.to/1sDSGHS

Breathless - Review

BREATHLESS (Blue Fire Saga)
Written by Scott Prussing

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

The world of the Vampire was opened up to the public with the novel written by an Englishman in the 1800s. See my +Bubblews article: Vampires are real? http://bit.ly/1u9vWj8

Breathless is one of those novels that if you are a believer in Vampires, you may learn something new. If you are not, you will have an enjoyable time reading about a world that has become a popular diversion from reality.

Leesa is a normal teenage girl going off to Weston College for her freshmen year. The only difference between her and others is her relationship with Vampires – ones with two fangs and ones with one fang. See notes below.

She has two suitors after a few weeks at college. One is a Vampire and the other is Volkaane. She falls for Rave the Volkanne. However, Stefan, the Vampire, has other desires for Leesa to full fill and has a trump card – Leesa’s brother Bradley is a feeder for another Vampire.

You know there is a predictable clash coming between Rave and Stefan to end the story. It is not what you or I would predict though. It’s something off the wall. I’ll just say it is Stefan who has the final say.

This novel is well written and does keep the reader’s attention – Believer or Not. Some twist and turns, but straight forward reading.

Notes:

Volkaane: a being that is full of Blue Fire. He is a Vampire hunter.
Grafhym: a one fang Vampire who is much weaker than a two fang one. His blood is tainted.

Feeder: a human who is used as a blood provider for a Vampire.

Funniest line in novel for me was: Leesa comes clean with her best friend Cali at college and says, “Stefan is beautiful but a little strange.” Cali replies, “Of course he is a bit strange – he’s a freaking Vampire!”

Review of Beyond Death

Beyond Death

Written by Deb McEwan

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Many people believe in the hereafter where you have angles and spirits in limbo, waiting for directions to their final resting place. Ms. McEwan has written a family orientated story around that theme, which has a number of plots.

Three people die. One is malcontent (Ken); another makes a mistake in judgment (Ron); and a young women dies on the night of her engagement (Claire.) However, Claire was not supposed to die. She did because of Ron’s selfishness.

The crux of the story-line is that they are in a place waiting for a decision to where they will rest in peace. In their waiting, they are allowed to visit family, friends, and enemies on earth to sort things out.

Those are the subplots that are sometimes romantic, funny, weird, and helpful to the people they left behind to go to a place BEYOND DEATH.  The spirits interface with the living will please the reader to the END.

Ms. Deb McEwan has written an enjoyable read that is slow at times but does keep you reading on. It gently brings you into a happy place. It’s a good read.

Purchase at amazon $.99: http://amzn.to/WYsc9k

Review of The Trees Have Hearts

The Trees Have Hearts

Written by Mrs. D

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

The wind blows through the trees, and the sound is music to a young girl who had moved into a new home with her mother.  She has a language bearer with the community, but not with nature.

Her imagination brings her close to nature – the three trees in the garden yard of the house she lives in. An endearing relationship amongst them is enjoyed, and the little girl is helped through her daily troubles by the comfort of the trees. She overcomes to her fears with their help.

Mrs. D. has produced an exceptional children’s book to be read to your young ones. She, as I do, recommends that you read to your kids on a daily basis. I believe readers are leaders because they know different ways to complete an endeavor.

This is not a complicated read but should be read to a child up to the age of seven or let them read it at that age. It is quite mystical in nature and has some life lessons in it that we all could learn.

 Purchase at Amazon: http://amzn.to/1m2mYWF

Review of Time to Let Go

Time to Let Go

Written by Christopher Fischer

Reviewed by Roy Murry, author


The way we think and function on a daily basis is who we are. When those abilities decline, changes in our character lead to dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. This alteration will affect the dynamics of the environment that is lived in.

Mr. Fischer’s ‘Time to Let Go’ deals with that dynamic within a small family where the husband becomes the primary care giver of a once caring and giving wife Biddy, who has the disease and is declining into her own shell. Walter, Biddy’s husband knows what is best for her.

This is where the ‘What’s best for Biddy?’ comes into play. Their daughter visits because she has a major problem that she feels guilty about - an event at work that could change her life. Conflicts arise over what is best for Biddy.

Walter has his solution and is living it. Hanna and her brother Henrik have each theirs which includes putting Biddy in a home. Only Biddy is left out of the decision making. Each has their merits, but Walter wants Biddy at home in her/his routine. His way trumps all others because it’s his wife for better or worst.

This story goes into the debt of the disease. It’s what one family went through to find the right decision for the better health of the family, which is the health of their loved one Biddy who has her ups and downs. Based on a real family the story, it is written as character driven fiction.

Christopher Fischer wrench gripping story will keep your attention. You’ll be wondering, ‘What would I do in that situation?’ I pray that you’ll never have to be in Walter’s shoes.  

Amazon: http://amzn.to/1m2mO1B

Review Good Sister, Bad sister

 Good Sister, Bad Sister

The Heart of the Staff, Book 1

 Carol Marrs Phipps and Tom Phipps

 Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

This delightful tale of yore, if there ever was a place, is presented in a colorful setting. Relatives, families, siblings, and royalty are the same throughout history, even if some of them are wizards, witches, dragons, or birds, as it is in this novel.

In the Phipps’ fictitious land, there is a clear-cut divide between good and evil. One sister is the child any mother or father would love, where the other sister is the one you would like to take out in the woods a hit with the strap. But this is not what you do with a witch that can travel at will through thin air.

The story is about disagreements going back before time began. This family dynamic pits brother against brother, a daughter against mother, and sister against sister. The way they resolve their differences make this fun read.

Now, who do you know can turn his brother into a dragon because he has been a bad boy? Or, when was the last time you heard a sister be jailed in her own kingdom by using wards, whatever they are.

The language HITS on a new but easy to follow vocabulary that won’t hinder your train of thought. You’ll have a few chuckles out of hearing a crow’s wife talk to him about his business and how he’ll get the next meal.

This first book in a series was well thought out, and I recommend it to the fun-loving reader. I enjoyed it much.

Series only Paperback: https://amzn.to/35VrPjb

Life is a Circus Run by a Platypus

Review of
Life is a Circus Run by a Platypus

Written by Allison Hawn

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Ms. Hawn’s Circus is a collection of well put together little acts formed during her exciting life. I believe that she has learned her life lessons, according to her summaries at the end of each episode after the curtain comes down.

Those experiences came after trials and errors young adults go through growing up. Her writing brings out the funny side and or positive side of the situations she muddles through.

The situations she-devils in are enjoyable to read and seemed to be geared to lessons for the young but do have some universal axioms en-grained. Using comic references to popular and not so popular characters and events, she gets her points across colorfully, bringing the reader to a pause where they will contemplate what just transpired.

Funny most of the time, but sad in some instances, Allison tells it like it is in her writing. She doesn’t hold back any punches. She gives her interpretation of what transpired in her life.

This is not a book to read at one session, but a collection to be read one story at a time. The reader can go back many times for a laugh.

I have earmarked a few for reread, a laugh, and reference in my storytelling.

Purchase: http://amzn.to/2w4mwwF