Review of Nomad

NOMAD

A Thriller

(The Earth Series, Book One)

Matthew Mather

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

The end of the world as we know it is coming. Are the governments of the earth telling you the truth? Only time will tell.

Jessica's father, Ben Rollins knows the facts, and he has known for a while. She and her mother Celeste are in Europe to meet him after he attends a conference. The human race goes nuts after hearing rumors and a government press release by Ben and his scientific cohorts. 

Jess is in Italy with her mother waiting to meet dad.  Each is trying to get free from dangerous situations so they can comfort each other. Those side conflicts enhance and intertwine with the Armageddon approaching.

The forces are against each of the main characters at every turn, but Ben has the key on his laptop. Some will survive, but few will understand the impact. This thrilling set up for the series keeps you hoping all will remain alive.

As in life adventures, Mr. Mather's character's will not all make it into book two. He keeps you hoping until the end. You'll have to read this page-turner to see who does live for another day, including a few I haven't mentioned.

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

Review of Jack of Hearts

JACK OF HEARTS

A Detective Jack Stratton Novel

Christopher Greyson

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Jack, visiting his parents in a community for mature adults with his girlfriend and a large dog, is hoodwinked into solving a small crime wave. The mature adults are less than knowledgeable involvement.

Behind the petty thieves is hidden a deadly crime that comes to light because of Jack's probing and the mature adult's interference.  The large dog Lady, and Alice, Jack's soon to be, play their parts in uncovering the real crime which started when his parents and others returned from vacation cruise in the Caribbean.

The story has "It's close calls," mini adventures, and funny instances including a baby alligator confrontation. When mommy gator comes out of the water later, it's a big bite missed.

As far as a detective story goes, Hearts is a simple, straightforward case. I must have read too many mysteries because I solved the case faster than Jack.

However, the story was an enjoyable read with the introduction of Jack, Alice, and their big dog, Lady who stole the show in this book. All in All, I may read another of Mr. Greyson’s many novels.

Purchase at: http://amzn.to/2wzJIX9

Review of ON BULLSHIT

ON BULLSHIT

Harry G. Frankfurt

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Humbug, Lies, Short of Lies, Bullshit, and Pretentious Bull, are among the items that Professor of Philosophy Emeritus at Princeton University Frankfurt discusses in his book/thesis on how humanity has conducted itself when covering up something it doesn't want to reveal. His work is apolitical but resonates in the multi-media world we live in today 2017.

Not mentioning names, he notes “that the contemporary proliferation of bullshit has deeper sources in various forms.” I believe he is referring to the TV news media, Facebook, Twitter, and all opinion driven outlets.

Frankfurt's definition of the above mention shades of deception is clear and easy to digest for the average reader. However, the thesis is more appropriate for an academic audience, i.e., college Philosophy majors.

Somewhat humorous, Professor Frankfurt keeps the reader's attention in this short but dangerous work. The reader may, after reading and analyzing "On Bullshit," reevaluate their rhetoric, that of the talking heads in the TV media, and fellow humans.

I read the thesis twice before this review. It’s only 81 pages.

Purchase:  http://amzn.to/2xfMdKV

Review of Old School

OLD SCHOOL

Life in the Sane Lane

Bill O'Reilly &

Bruce Feirstein

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

'It is not often that people learn from the past, even rarer that they draw the correct conclusions from it.' I paraphrase Henry Kissinger who, by the way, is not one of my favorite people. However, his words are related to O'Reilly and Feirstein's thesis on human conditioning.

With the loss of truthful history and discipline in our schools, Old School values of the past are in the most cases lost in American culture. The authors wove into this book their knowledge of their cultural growth intellectually, using short stories of each families' past.  

Many of those stories resonated with me. I am a Baby Boomer who lived through the same period, albeit I served in Vietnam where my core values changed somewhat. Participating in war does that to you.

Snowflakes, however, live in the now and won't look at the psychological development of the past to add value to their life, unless there are core family values already installed. It’s an endeavor losing ground, according to the authors.

Unfortunately, this declarative historic on values will be only read by Old Schoolers and maybe psych majors who want to understand human conditioning. Americans are being conditioned at a faster rate today than in the 60s, 70s, and 80s via sound bites. The authors allude to this conditioning.

Mr. O'Reilly and Feirstein have put together a fast-moving book with laughs and interesting observations. However, its fundamental theories, although somewhat factual, won't work in today's world. Few young Americans read history, Snowflakes won’t.

I enjoyed the read because I am Old School. Buy at http://amzn.to/2wFr3pL

Review of I SPY, I SAW HER DIE

I SPY, I SAW HER DIE

Book 1 & 2

IAN C.P. IRVINE

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

"Do the right thing," is a thought many of us have when confronted with an event where a decision is needed. Mr. Irvine's protagonist, a professional hacker, Ray Luck has a lover who breaks up with him. She uses that phrase trying to bring him back to reality.

Luck disregards her plea, even though he thinks about it, her, and goes ahead about using one of his cyber programs anyway. He sees something that he might or might not have been programmed to witness - murder. 

Leaving his cyber 'Safe space,' Luck goes visit a hacker bro to get some clarification of the video he downloaded. The events that follow are life changing and threatening for Ray Luck because of the misuse of government power by a few. 

He puts his life and the lives of his lover, friends, and family in the crossfire of a foe; he thinks he knows. It's the right thing to do.

Mr. Irvine has written a two-book series; you can't put down. This thriller has all the ingredients with hurdles that seem impossible to get over for Ray Luck and a nemesis that has all the power to eliminate him from existence. 

Book two is a continuation of one. I recommend that you buy them together for a promotional price on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2waQLS9

Review of Chez Stinky

Chez Stinky

An Alpine Grove Romantic Comedy

Book 1

Susan C. Daffron

Review by Author Roy Murry

Not being an animal lover; I like other people's dogs and cats. Taking care of one is a tremendous responsibility, and you have to be a big-hearted person to be able to love and care for nine.

In Chez Stinky, Ms. Daffron's protagonist Kat, not to be confused with Cat, which she has one called Murphee, receives a call that is a life changer. Because of the death of her great aunt, she inherits four dogs and five cats that live in a country house.

It is a daunting task, to say the least. Katherine takes a vacation from her dead-end city job to visit what seems to be an unpleasant situation - four dogs are everywhere, all the cats are hiding, and the house built into a hill is falling apart. To top off that, the executor of the will doesn't like her.

Kat is a cat person, but when she gets to know the dogs, she falls in love with them. When she locates the cats, life becomes bearable.

Off course a man comes into the situation via the dog walker who was taking care of the animals before Kat arrived. He helps her with minor repairs to the house and her self-esteem which turns into more than anticipated.

The supporting characters, the events that follow, and the small-town ambiance give this first in a series a well-written lead into Kat's and her lover's story. I didn't get the comedy part, but, as I said, I am not an animal lover.

If you are, this is a cute series to read.  http://amzn.to/2uVkxhi

Review of WHAM

WHAM

TIMEWALKER Book 1

CAROL MARRS PHIPPS

& TOM PHIPPS

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

WHAM is not the first Phipps' book that I have read. I follow an author because they add something interesting to my life.

In TIMEWALKER, Book 1 in a trilogy, they have presented a fantasy that will keep the reader amazed. The storyline is not complicated, but the theoretical background is intriguing.

Children and Families, a futuristic government agency, in a military action, arrives at a family's home. They abduct Tess’s parents and her sister, for the betterment of society, because they have not done a good job bringing up their children.

Tess stays in their home but will have new roommates that will help her move in the right social direction. Her parents are in jail, and her sister is in sexual servitude unbeknownst to all.

A Fairy Grandfather comes from the past to intercede. The comparison of past and present is akin to how many feel about today's living versus living before the nuclear age arrived - governments taking too much control of everyday life.

In WHAM, these two worlds collide, the Fairy's world versus the Elite controlling one. The contrast is brought alive in the Phipps' vivid and sometimes dark prose.

You have to go through the mushroom ring to find a pleasant place in WHAM. Purchase to learn how. http://amzn.to/2eFsekA

Review of Resumed Innocent

RESUMED INNOCENT

RENE FOMBY

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

In all professions, everyone needs to earn their stripes before being able to sit down at the big boy's table. Resumed Innocent's protagonist attorney Samantha is a novice practicing criminal lawyer and has her office in a Texas good ole boy system where corruption controls the law. 

Samantha muddles through that system defending clients in minor criminal cases by upsetting the cable cart - judges and prosecutors. She makes a name for herself as the defender of the unprivileged. 

Her personal life has its conflicts with her husband's family because of his death. Money and crime are the backgrounds of the mal contentments of that family's patriarch.   

Sam, her nickname, is talked into defending a man who is in jail for the murder of his wife and children. His pastor says he is innocent and could never do such a thing, but the police and District Attorney has the goods on the man. 

They are convinced the right man is in jail. Even Sam has her doubts but takes on the case because she has a feeling but no facts to defend her client.

With two weeks to prepare for the court date, Sam world goes up in smoke, literally and figuratively. The FBI is brought in to protect her and child against an unknown group trying to destroy her life.

The novel culminates with the unraveling of hidden facts. Rene Fomby brings the reader a satisfactory conclusion where he or she will want to read more of Sam's adventures.

Purchase: http://amzn.to/2t8Pxou

   

Review of Anna's Courage

Anna's Courage

Kristin Noel Fischer

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

The mind's psyche is a cruel place. Once the love of a person gets in it, love stays. If that lover dies, the thought of that person is hard to replace and becomes an interference in any new relationship.

In Anna's choice, Anna made a decision after her military husband was kill-in-action. She will never marry another active soldier among other resolutions she avoided like the plague.

Then came a meeting and a kiss that would send her into a spin. A tailspin that spins again when that man came back into her life because of a tragedy in both their lives.

The man, she thinks about for a few months, brother and sister-in-law die in a car accident. They are her neighbors. Anna and his joining concern are the young children of those lost.

The loving of those children brings Anna closer to him, and her fears become a psychological problem. She loves him but doesn't want to make the leap of faith and love him. He understands her fears and tries to subtlety and beguiling to help her overcome them because he wants Anna in his life.

You'll have to read this sometimes-upsetting tear jerker to see if Anna can overcome her fears.

Ms. Fischer has written an excellent love story which shows how twisted a mind can get when emotions take over logic.

Purchase: http://amzn.to/2sD3P1l

Review of Murder & Spice and Everything Nice

MURDER & SPICE AND

EVERYTHING NICE

Caryn Thomas Mitchell

Reviewed by Author Roy Murry

Ivy Bloom moves back home to open a bookstore with her sister. That mansion is the backdrop for some strange murders that interrupt the opening of a store that has room for every genre - Kitchen, cookbook, etc. - you get the various divides.

During the final preparations, people come knocking to see Ivy. One being, what seems to be the leader of a cult, looking for one of his disciples who had visited the building earlier.

Minutes later, the whole town is put into a frenzy which includes a major property fire. It's not Ivy's best interest to investigate what is happening; warns her childhood friend, who is now the detective in charge of solving the crimes.

Ivy, being Ivy, a snoop, and a mystery writer to boot, doesn't listen to his admonishes. She, with her sister's help, digs deeper into the crimes leading to a potentially deadly event.

Does Ivy get her man or is it the straw that broke the camel’s back? On the local beach, a man with a metal detector helps her reach her fate.

Ms. Thomas Mitchell's writing is snappy, comical, and connects the dots in this fast-paced Ivy Bloom Mystery novel. I was surprised that it was over when it was with a knockout finish.

Purchase: http://amzn.to/2tTnVZ8

Review of An Enlightening Quiche

An Enlightening Quiche

Eva Pasco

Reviewed by author Roy Murry

Augusta and Lindsay come from two different worlds. Augusta born and bred in Beauchemin, a small Rhode Island town, and Lindsay, a historian, who resides in Boston, Massachusetts, cross paths because of Beauchemin's French Canadian historical past.

They tell their stories in alternating chapters in somewhat of a soliloquy style with discourses and bantering monologs about past lovers, friends, family, and the people of Beauchemin's. Augusta is an administrator in the town's main factory. Lindsay changes residence hired to investigate into the historical value of it.

Their storytelling was somewhat lengthy at times but entertaining and insightful into the town's array of characters whom Augusta knew personally, a few biblically. Lindsay, in her research, finds a new home from the chaotic Boston lifestyle. Both stories converge on Augusta's childhood friend Estelle's prominent family that owns the factory and a young child's life-changing tragedy. 

The bedroom tales, a disaster in a child's life, a Quiche Contest, and Estelle and Augusta's hidden past, Ms. Pasco details with comedy, drama, and enlightenment into the past of relocated hard working Canucks. Her writing is intelligent and easy to digest after getting into the rhythm of her sometimes-elongated sentences.

This Quiche was humanizing from a woman's point of view.

Purchase: http://amzn.to/2ud5vQd

Review of COBALT

COBALT

C.G. BLADE

Review by Author Roy Murry

In the last hundred years or so, the world has gone from a one-prop airplane to fly into space; machinery has taken over work people did; and one-day social functions may be taken over by AI, Artificial Intelligence or mostly known as Robots. These events happened because of imagination.

Mr. Blade's COBALT has that type of images embedded within his fast-moving Si-Fi novel, First in a Trinity Series. Pushing present-day politics to a plausible extreme, with its greed and globalist theme of World Order, he takes the USA into an open society run by three Presidents.

His main character, Petra, champion of the non-state of affairs, is kept alive to fight the evil of the 2080s. COBALT, an amazing formula, is what keeps her functioning at an unbelievable capacity that her opponents in battle are incapacitated and destroyed.

The adventures, strange confrontations, and side-kick antics with a mind-reading computer that helps Petra conquer situations are amusing and deadly.

The supporting characters are well developed, aiding her to meet goals.

The plot is fast-paced, dynamic, and full of caveats that the intelligent reader will understand and think about for days, as I have, since writing this review. Cobalt is full of surprises any reader will enjoy, even if you are like me who rarely buys this genre.

A great find, buy: http://amzn.to/2s3P6v1