Review of A Gambler's Jury

A GAMBLER'S JURY

VICTOR METHOS

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

Dani Rollins has a client whom she believes is innocent because of his mental impairment. He cannot be a purveyor of drugs and pull off a deal.

The police arrest him in the act. How could this be? It had to be one of the other boys with him. Moreover, why does the District Attorney want and is trying her client as an adult when he is seventeen?

All the right questions to get answers to in this character-driven novel. Dani is a smart defense lawyer who pushes the envelope when it comes to judges and the prosecution.

They cannot see what she can. This kid does not have where all to have committed this crime. In court, she will prove it. However, can she?

All leads point to her client except the one no other person is seeing including Dani's private detective, who cares for her. Dani's family life is in the background of this quick read.

A Gambler's Jury is laid out in a way the reader may pick up the clues Dani and her detective missed up until the jury is in, which leads to an exciting ending. A good lead-in novel to a series.

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Review of Finding Claire Fletcher

Finding Claire Fletcher

LISA REGAN

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

A child abducted in plain sight, but the witness doesn't have a complete picture of the crime. The child is kept alive for ten years in a state of psychological indecision by a serial pedophile.

Claire tells a stranger who she is in the third person, sleeps with him, not having sex, and leaves her home address with the man. Intrigued and somewhat affected by the encounter, he, Detective Parks, goes to the address to find that she has been missing for ten years.

Finding Claire Fletcher is not only Park's investigation into where she is or went for ten years but also Claire's evaluating of her existence and finding herself. That assessment defines her decision mechanism. In the end, she rises to the occasion and so does her new involvement with the detective.

The story has many twists and turns that keep the reader asking why Claire is not running away. At each, there is an answer as to why with a surprise result. Just one event changes everything for Claire leading to traumatic endings separated by another game of the pedophile. 

FINDING is a fast-paced, quick read that devils into the mind of a pedophile and his victims. The read is worth the dime.

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Review of The House of Fez

The House in Fez

DIANNE NOBLE

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

“The clashes of two worlds” is the theme of this engaging story of two sisters who visit their mother in Morocco after not hearing from her for some years.  What they encounter, what they perceive to be, and how they cope with the people in the House in Fez gives the reader an education in differing cultural attitudes.

Leaving England, the twins, who also have not been close over the years, go to Fez to partially get away from their lives' circumstances - both have marital problems.

Arriving, their mother has changed and so is her living arrangement. She is now docile, married to a younger man who has another wife half his age.

This snowballs into the fact that the husband's whole family, his mother included, will move into the House in Fez. The twins have never had a family, according to their narrative, which rubs the women differently.

Muslims and Christians have deep-rooted ways of evaluating life and how one should live it. Ms. Noble does an excellent job of interpreting those conflicts in the story told within the pages of The House in Fez.

It is worth the read for pleasure's sake.  However, the content, the twin's narratives, and the way their mother copes for love will keep the reader evaluating each side's struggle to understand the other's. The ending is unpredictable but logical.

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Review of Hidden Currents

HIDDEN CURRENTS

Lantern Beach Mysteries,
Book 1

CHRISTY BARRITT

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

A light-hearted mystery headed by a female veteran detective hiding from criminals on a tourist island is the theme. Everyone is easy going on the island except for Barritt's protagonist, Cassidy, her aka.

Being the person, she is, and an officer of the law in another State of the USA, she gets involved with a murder on the beach. Intermingling with the locals and the tourists, she finds herself involved in a way she never had before: meeting friendly people, one of which she helps immensely.

Keeping her wits about, she engages people she would otherwise not in her other life and feels better about herself. Investigating the crime is the center of her ambition, but maybe feelings for another could endear her to the island life, he, helping Cassidy to try and solve the murder.

Some twists and turns that keep the reader engaged. The characters are developed enough to move into a second book in the series.

When I came to the end of this novel, I thought, "Is that all there is?" Well, of course not, because there is Book 2 in the series.

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Review of the BEAUTY SHOP

The BEAUTY SHOP

SUZY HENDERSON

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

As a Vietnam Veteran who has seen cohorts die from injuries, this novel rang true with the atrocities of war. This story is about the cruelty of burn patients in World War II and how one man helps changed their lives for the better.

B17s or flying fortress was the backbone of the Allied bombing effort against Germany. The men that flew in them and other planes had accidents that caused life-threatening burns.

The BEAUTY SHOP is the story of a burn victim, a lieutenant and his lady. How they met; how he ended up scared with burns; and how they each met the doctor of the beauty shop.

It is a love story intertwined with the horrors of war. This story is full of surprises and human reactions to the realities of war particularly that of how we treat our wounded veterans physically and psychologically.

At the time, they did not understand PTSD, as they do know. It plays a part when the lieutenant, after a burning episode returns to duty. The strength of his love becomes a significant factor in the ending of this well put together Chronicle of a man who cared for and operated on burned warriors.

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Review of Intrinsic

INTRINSIC

JERRY COLLINS

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

The Creator has a problem that he created in the name of Derideon (The Devil.) After numerous efforts, Derideon's army is about to rise again in the 20th Century with the help of one Kragon, a powerful sorcerer.

Unbeknown to Kragon, he is being used by Derideon. Kragon does not know that he comes from a long line of Good Sorcerers. The Lineage is presented to the reader, but Kragon is concealed from those facts.

With Kragon’s help, Derideon may rise again. Only time will tell because this seems to be the first in a series.

I found the book a bit wordy but fun to read. Mr. Collins lofty prose seemed to indicate the higher level a spirit like the two mentioned here in this review. It is at above us mortals - they talk an elevated level above ordinary people.   

The Bible's Old Testament type of godly killing of innocents is prominent for the promotion of world power by both sides of these fictional prognostic characters, interestingly put together.

If you like pure action, this is for you.

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Review of I WILL BREATHE

I Will Breathe

Forbidden Series, Book 1

Regina Puckett

Reviewed by Roy Murry, Author

This Young Adult read is for the young at heart like them and me. It is fun, bizarre, and delightful. Some of the reasons I keep coming back to Regina's short novels

In this adventure, Liberty, a young lady pilot of an airship, goes about her business of bartering items needed in her post end of times world.

On one of her stops to deliver goods, she takes on the task of caring for a robot who has feelings. On a stop to get water fuel for her ship, she encounters other humans.

The adventure begins, and Liberty breaks all of her dead father's rules by engaging the robot and the humans. She finds love, a trait she has been avoiding all her life.

How this all comes about and how Liberty changes are the lessons learned in this novel; some that YA's should learn.

An enjoyable quick read. The way I like it.

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