Review of THE WILL

THE WILL

Benjamin Laskin

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Where there's a WILL, there's a way, is an appropriate lead-in for this review. Also, "Old School" vs. "Snowflakes" can be applied.

Jose, a young man, who has been living off his father's wealth all his life, comes to a turning point when his father dies. At the reading of the WILL, Jose put in a position he never thought he would be - he must overcome his laziness to receive the benefits of his father's hard work in two years.

Life's lessons, Jose miss-understood when growing up, he must learn to enjoy the fruits of the WILL. At first, he complains until put into a near-death position himself.

Making the turn towards reality, Jose confronts the tasks he must complete to live the life he wants. He muddles through with the help from unlikely sources (A Mexican chief, a man in a cast, a young girl with a medical problem, a Japanese fighter, a nurse, and others) that leads him to a new reality of why we are here on earth.

This novel conveys lessons we should all learn. One I like is "Readers are Leaders."

The prose is easy to follow with some exciting twists in events that lead the reader to believe in something higher than ourselves. The story is well interwoven with faith and reality.

Purchase:  http://amzn.to/2zaBwdx

Review of THE LAWYER

THE LAWYER

John Ellsworth

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

The twist and turns in this legal thriller will have your head spinning. Michael Gresham, the series protagonist lawyer, defends a low life in a murder case with one judge on the bench and another, the victim's husband in the courtroom.

To top this off his brother, a well-known lawyer, is a missing person with an international problem which has involved Michael in a deadly incident. And the reader, to the conclusion of the novel, is trying to figure out who is attempting to kill who.

Attorney Gresham's brother appears with a show-stopping evidence to put Mexican corporate people away, costing them money and time.  This confrontation leads to murder, kidnapping, and an uphill battle that conflates with Michael's original case.

This novel is a well-written introduction to a series. The characters are well defined, the story-line leaves the readers with items they might care to follow, and the courtroom drama is compelling and should continue.

Purchase at: http://amzn.to/2yjdSPd

Review of FEMME FATALE

FEMME FATALE

DOMINIC PIPER

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Classy good-looking bastard would be one way a woman would describe Piper's protagonist London's, PI Daniel Beckett. He is a charmer, using his wit to get the point across.

Beckett is out on a date and hears a sound that sends him into action. The result is a non-stop whirlwind of investigative intrigue. His physical abilities and exceptional aptitude get him in and out of trouble.

A burlesque irresistibly attractive woman is the center of his investigation into a missing person case, and a Chinese Femme Fatale is the liaison between Beckett and his Soho client. Throughout the novel, there are many erotic women, but only one has him baffled to the end.

Mr. Piper has written a novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat. At the end of each chapter, you'll be wondering what will come next to the point of thinking - WTF.

What you think will come next, will not. The story and the prose keep you attentive, written at a good pace. I read it in two sittings and will look forward to reading another shortly.

Purchased: https://amzn.to/36eFhzz

Review of THE SMEAR

The SMEAR

How Shady Political Operatives and Fake News

CONTROL What You See, What You Think and

                     HOW YOU VOTE.

Sharyl Attkisson

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Long Nose Pete is what we called him as a kid because he told our group of friends a fib. That name still sticks today. That is a smear. He no longer lies. At least we do not think he does.

In Ms. Attkisson's THE SMEAR, name-calling and nitpicking is blown-out of proportion for political and monetary gain. It does not matter which party is doing it; the process is eating away at the USA's Republic and upsetting the world order as to what is truthful information given to the public.

Ms. Attkisson proves her points by explaining the ins and outs of what happened in the psychological warfare of the 2016 Presidential election in the USA - the generating of falsehoods (Smears) and how operatives format them confusing the public with near truths and lies. Using the present-day conventual media, responding to these conjectures, they made small items into front-page bullshit that looks like the real thing.

Take these presumptions to add into the mix applied confusion on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Blogs, the parties promoting a falsehood can be a disaster for the object of THE SMEAR. Countermeasures put in place but in most instances too late to offset THE SMEAR which continues to live.

Ms. Attkisson's, with twenty-one years of work for CBS news in numerous journalistic positions, gives us uninformed an education that may change our minds as to what is the truth behind the platitudes we read or hear on a daily basis - BEWARE.

The writing was excellent and easy to follow for any novice of THE SMEAR.

Purchase: https://amzn.to/392seST

Review of TIPPING POINT

TIPPING POINT

(Project Renova Book 1)

TERRY TYLER

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

How people react to a catastrophe that pits human against human for survival brings out the best and the worst in them. Add to this a devious plot, and you have this gripping novel that Ms. Tyler has given us.

She develops her numerous characters so that you'll remember them going into a short series most will enjoy. The leading character is a mum, Vicky, who wants to protect her teenager, Lottie, from the events surrounding a pandemic.

With the help of her lover Dex, Vicky overcomes a major hurdle that keeps her and her daughter alive in a cruel world where people are fighting for the bare minimum amenities to go on. Having been separated from Dex for a time, Vicky, and Lottie go searching for him at some safe house miles from their militarily controlled hometown.

Their adventure begins, leading to trials and errors that confront them, without the use of our modern gadgets we use today: TV and Internet service, iPhones, Computers, electricity, clean water, etc. You get the point. They find little security and maybe a future.

You'll have to read this book to see if they and Dex have a future together, which I will do in my future.

Purchase:  http://amzn.to/2fAHdJK

  

Review of The Grey Man

THE GREY MAN

S.R. CROCKETT

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Mr. Crockett has put together an epic novel about the upbringing of a Scottish knight. The story sometimes flows in a poetic mode which I found entertaining.  The length of it became troublesome for me.

I like books that get to the point fast to a thrilling conclusion. Although the prose of The Grey Man was colorful, the story was predictable - good overcomes evil with detours into grey areas, no pun intended.

There were a few nail-biting moments, but they were hard to discern because it was written in an old Scottish language. However, when I reread many sentences, in a comical sense, the incidents became apparent to me.

All in all, the chronicles of this young man's adventure from Squire to Knight in a historical setting was an educational time well spent. Other shorter stories are included for just $.99 of an interesting read.

Purchase:  http://amzn.to/2wXypJl

S. R. Crockett

British writer

Samuel Rutherford Crockett, who published under the name "S. R. Crockett", was a Scottish novelist.

• Born: September 24, 1859, Duchrae
• Died: April 16, 1914, France
• Nationality: Scottish

http://bit.ly/2hAfi0J

  

Review of Daughters of the Dragon

DAUGHTERS of the DRAGON

A Comfort Woman's Story

WILLIAM ANDREWS

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Mr. Andrews' historical novel of Korea and one of the many atrocities of war inflicted on it by Japan during World War II and continued through the Korean War is an eye-popping reality, the abuse of women and children. The Japanese take Jae-hee, fourteen, and her sister, sixteen, from her mother to work as comfort women, sex conduits for their soldiers, during the World War II.

In Daughters of the Dragon, a golden comb becomes an instrument of hope in Jae-hee's horrific journey through the depravity of dominance by ill-educated men. Jae-hee tells her family's story giving her grandchild a history lesson years later. 

The close to violent events that play out in that story will have the reader thinking as to how the Japanese could inflict such crimes against Koreans, knowing how docile they are today. However, they did, and that is still a deep-seated mindset in North and South Korea's psyche, I believe.

Mr. Andrews writing style is smooth explaining this Korean experience that few know. Unfortunately, it is a story repeated and hidden throughout history about wars. Women and children of the opposite combatants become commodities in the quest to win the war or conflict.

Purchased at:  http://amzn.to/2haqJsh For background on author and Comfort Girls: http://bit.ly/2wlWjxL