Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus With a Will of Its Own
By Doreen Orion
Humorous Travel Memoir
ISBN 0767928539.
Broadway Books, $13.95
Reviewed by Rebecca Jones for the Rocky Mountain News "Grade A."
Published June 5, 2008.
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jun/05/queen-of-the-road-the-true-tale-of-47-states-200/
Book in a nutshell: When Boulder psychiatrist Orion's husband, Tim, proposes they take a year off to travel around the country in a converted bus, Orion - a "princess from the island of Long" with a deep-seated aversion to anything strenuous and a profound appreciation for shoes and exotic drinks - is appalled. Reluctantly, she agrees.
Their year on the road proves a wonder, taking them from fall in New England to Christmas in Key West to Mardi Gras in New Orleans to summer in the wilds of Alaska. Orion never quite conquers her fear of bus crashes - or bus fires or various other bus misadventures - but along the way she learns that living with only what you can cram into 345 square feet of living space has its advantages.
Best tidbit: "We went to Memphis specifically to see Graceland, something we'd both always wanted to do. We're not the only ones; it's the second most visited residence in the U.S. (The White House is Number One.) The fourteen-acre, 17,000-square-foot estate turned out to be a colossal disappointment. I thought it would be far more grand. Maybe it's just that, as a museum left exactly as it had been when the King died, it can't help being a fashion victim of the '70s. But really. One of the richest men in the country, a cultural icon no less, and he had Formica countertops?"
Pros: Orion has every good travel writer's ability to make readers feel they are there, to capture the telling details of places, and to present the account in a witty, accessible way. Reading the book makes you want to hit the road and have some of your own grand adventures.
Cons: Alas, for most readers, taking a year off to travel - let alone a year well before they're of retirement age - simply isn't feasible. But we can dream . . .
Final word: This is a fun read that will make just about anyone start itching for a road trip.
Doreen Orion
We didn't just dream of the road...
www.QueenOfTheRoadTheBook.com
www.QueenOfTheRoadTheBook.com/blog
QUEEN OF THE ROAD: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus With a Will of Its Own is available now from Broadway Books, an imprint of Random House.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
This blog, #TheNewBookReview, is "new" because it eschews #bookbigotry. It lets readers, reviewers, authors, and publishers expand the exposure of their favorite reviews, FREE. Info for submissions is in the "Send Me Your Fav Book Review" circle icon in the right column below. Find resources to help your career using the mini search engine below. #TheNewBookReview is a multi-award-winning blog including a MastersInEnglish.org recommendation.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
John Rosenman Brings Romance to New Sci-Fi Novel
Title: Alien Dreams
Author: John B. Rosenman
Genre: Science fiction
E-Book ISBN 13: 978-0-9798081-4-2
E-Book ISBN 10: 0-9798081-4-6
To be released later as a trade paperback.
Publisher: Drollerie Press
Reviewed by Ron Berry at for Berrie Reviews
It is hot, and a sense of menace pervades the rugged landscape of the planet Lagos. At first there is no sign of the original exploration crew. Once the four-member rescue force discovers their dead bodies, their demise is difficult to understand. Equally disturbing to Captain Eric Latimore, the leader of the rescue mission, is the fact that they find four unusual cubes, one for each member of their team. It is almost as if their visit was expected. Alien Dreams by John B. Rosenman pulls you into his web succinctly and holds you in suspense. What does all this mean?
It is an alien, barren landscape, and four very different crewmembers from the rescue ship attempt to explore it. Yet once the cubes are discovered, each member is haunted by the same sinister dreams featuring beautiful aliens. The question now is what really killed the original crew. Did these odd cubes have anything to do with it?
As the rescue crew searches the land, they find a most unusual spacecraft. It looks like other ships, yet there are no entrances or exits. Its presence just deepens the mystery. As things turn out, the spacecraft is the simplest part of the mystery. Life quickly becomes complex for the crew when they encounter terrifying aliens that endanger their lives.
Soon Latimore finds himself facing a transcendently difficult choice. To save the lives of his crew, he must give up the woman he loves and become an alien himself, then lead his new “people” across the universe on a cosmic adventure. Will his sacrifices be worth it? What is his ultimate destiny? Until you read Alien Dreams, you won’t know. John B. Rosenman weaves an intricate plot and a most exciting tale with mind-stretching concepts that make us look at the universe in a new way. This book is classified as science fiction, but there is a lot more romance and intrigue than in your ordinary SF materials.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
Author: John B. Rosenman
Genre: Science fiction
E-Book ISBN 13: 978-0-9798081-4-2
E-Book ISBN 10: 0-9798081-4-6
To be released later as a trade paperback.
Publisher: Drollerie Press
Reviewed by Ron Berry at for Berrie Reviews
It is hot, and a sense of menace pervades the rugged landscape of the planet Lagos. At first there is no sign of the original exploration crew. Once the four-member rescue force discovers their dead bodies, their demise is difficult to understand. Equally disturbing to Captain Eric Latimore, the leader of the rescue mission, is the fact that they find four unusual cubes, one for each member of their team. It is almost as if their visit was expected. Alien Dreams by John B. Rosenman pulls you into his web succinctly and holds you in suspense. What does all this mean?
It is an alien, barren landscape, and four very different crewmembers from the rescue ship attempt to explore it. Yet once the cubes are discovered, each member is haunted by the same sinister dreams featuring beautiful aliens. The question now is what really killed the original crew. Did these odd cubes have anything to do with it?
As the rescue crew searches the land, they find a most unusual spacecraft. It looks like other ships, yet there are no entrances or exits. Its presence just deepens the mystery. As things turn out, the spacecraft is the simplest part of the mystery. Life quickly becomes complex for the crew when they encounter terrifying aliens that endanger their lives.
Soon Latimore finds himself facing a transcendently difficult choice. To save the lives of his crew, he must give up the woman he loves and become an alien himself, then lead his new “people” across the universe on a cosmic adventure. Will his sacrifices be worth it? What is his ultimate destiny? Until you read Alien Dreams, you won’t know. John B. Rosenman weaves an intricate plot and a most exciting tale with mind-stretching concepts that make us look at the universe in a new way. This book is classified as science fiction, but there is a lot more romance and intrigue than in your ordinary SF materials.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Hop On Over to Read "The Frog in the Well"
The Frog in the Well
(Hardcover)
By Irene Y. Tsai (Author), Pattie Caprio (Illustrator)
Published by www.cebilingualbooks.com
Genre: children's book
ISBN: 978-0980130515
List Price: $14.95
Originally published on CE Bilingual Books website and other marketing
materials.
Reviewed by Tom Watkins
The Frog in the Well is both beautifully written and illustrated. The
story of how the frog views his world will jump off the pages for
children while educating them about Chinese culture and language. I
have had an interest in China ever since a 4th-grade teacher opened my
eyes to the country and its people, culture, language, and history.
The Frog in the Well will create a spark for learning about China and
the most spoken language in the world: Mandarin Chinese. Parents,
teachers, and educational leaders should be encouraged to help
children discover China, and The Frog in the Well is a great tool for
doing so. This will help prepare our children for the transformational
world that they are entering and make America a magnet for Chinese
investment in the future. Don't just sit there—hop on over and pick up
a copy of The Frog in the Well."
Reviewer: Tom Watkins
Michigan State Superintendent of Schools (2001–2005), MI
Honorary Professor, Mianyang University
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
(Hardcover)
By Irene Y. Tsai (Author), Pattie Caprio (Illustrator)
Published by www.cebilingualbooks.com
Genre: children's book
ISBN: 978-0980130515
List Price: $14.95
Originally published on CE Bilingual Books website and other marketing
materials.
Reviewed by Tom Watkins
The Frog in the Well is both beautifully written and illustrated. The
story of how the frog views his world will jump off the pages for
children while educating them about Chinese culture and language. I
have had an interest in China ever since a 4th-grade teacher opened my
eyes to the country and its people, culture, language, and history.
The Frog in the Well will create a spark for learning about China and
the most spoken language in the world: Mandarin Chinese. Parents,
teachers, and educational leaders should be encouraged to help
children discover China, and The Frog in the Well is a great tool for
doing so. This will help prepare our children for the transformational
world that they are entering and make America a magnet for Chinese
investment in the future. Don't just sit there—hop on over and pick up
a copy of The Frog in the Well."
Reviewer: Tom Watkins
Michigan State Superintendent of Schools (2001–2005), MI
Honorary Professor, Mianyang University
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Love Food and Mysteries? Do the Silver Sisters Have Something for You!
TITLE: A Corpse in the Soup
AUTHOR: Morgan St. James and Phyllice Bradner
WEBSITE: www.silversistersmysteries.com
GENRE: Funny Mystery series
ISBN# Paperback: 1-59705-805-X Audio CD: 1-59607-857-X
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson, Reader Views, www.readerviews.com
Fast-paced and laugh-out-loud funny, this was a quick and satisfying read. Morgan St. James and Phyllice Bradner are sisters in real life, so that might explain why their co-operation worked out so well in a book. I certainly hope this was not the last book they’ve written together. Silver Sisters rule! I would highly recommend A Corpse in the Soup to any mystery lover, particularly those who enjoy the Cooking Channel and love a good, funny read.
Take several chefs, add some classy – and less classy - ladies, a couple of well-aged vaudeville actors, a talking dog, a bunch of gofers and miscellaneous Hollywood characters, and add a heaping cup of jealousy, a pinch of intrigue, a smidgen of history. Garnish with incredibly funny names (Sterling Silver, Biff Wellington, Chili Pepper, Justin Thyme, Mr. Manicotti, Caesar Romano…), take a shot at the increasingly popular cooking shows and stir well. What do you get? You get a recipe for an amusing, frothy, yet not lightweight romp. The characters are lovable and believable, even when they leave you shaking your head in wonder over their antics. The story flows well and pulls you in very quickly. Although you might think quite early in the book that you know who the villain is, I would be surprised if you’d truly manage to solve this mystery before the final pages.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
AUTHOR: Morgan St. James and Phyllice Bradner
WEBSITE: www.silversistersmysteries.com
GENRE: Funny Mystery series
ISBN# Paperback: 1-59705-805-X Audio CD: 1-59607-857-X
Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson, Reader Views, www.readerviews.com
Fast-paced and laugh-out-loud funny, this was a quick and satisfying read. Morgan St. James and Phyllice Bradner are sisters in real life, so that might explain why their co-operation worked out so well in a book. I certainly hope this was not the last book they’ve written together. Silver Sisters rule! I would highly recommend A Corpse in the Soup to any mystery lover, particularly those who enjoy the Cooking Channel and love a good, funny read.
Take several chefs, add some classy – and less classy - ladies, a couple of well-aged vaudeville actors, a talking dog, a bunch of gofers and miscellaneous Hollywood characters, and add a heaping cup of jealousy, a pinch of intrigue, a smidgen of history. Garnish with incredibly funny names (Sterling Silver, Biff Wellington, Chili Pepper, Justin Thyme, Mr. Manicotti, Caesar Romano…), take a shot at the increasingly popular cooking shows and stir well. What do you get? You get a recipe for an amusing, frothy, yet not lightweight romp. The characters are lovable and believable, even when they leave you shaking your head in wonder over their antics. The story flows well and pulls you in very quickly. Although you might think quite early in the book that you know who the villain is, I would be surprised if you’d truly manage to solve this mystery before the final pages.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love. That includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've loved. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
First Novelist Brings Us Katrina and Her Disaster-Battered Sisters in Other Parts of the Country
Title: After the Floods
Author: Bruce Henricksen
Publisher: Lost Hills Books
Genre: Novel, 212 pages, perfect bound
ISBN: 978-0-9798535-0-0
Reviewer: Susan Larson in the New Orleans Times-Picayune
Susan Larson can be reached at slarson@timespicayune.comPermission to reprint this review has been granted by Lynn Cunningham of the Times-Picayune. lcunningham@timespicayune.com
"A Whimsical Look at Poet-Katrian Exile"
In his first novel, After the Floods, former New Orleanian Bruce Henricksen tells a tale of two cities--New Orleans and Cold Beak, MN--both recovering from disastrous floods, both filled with folks trying to make a comeback. And not just people--add some crows and dogs into the mix.
The novel opens with George and Ruby surveying post-Katrina damage on Laurel Street. "Laurel is the street where Ruby's heart had been broken, broken with the branch that snapped in the storm, sending her eggs splattering to the sidewalk." The two fly north, a couple making a fresh start.
Billy Boischild is another New Orleanian who heads to Cold Beak, leaving behind a life in New Orleans in which he engaged in experiments in scientific faith implantation. He rents a trailer and starts examining his life, engaged in constant electronic spiritual debate with God and a nun called Sister Ann . . . But life in Cold Beak is wide open, as Billy finds . . .
The characters move in and out of one another's lives, looking for love and redemption, and sometimes, blessedly, finding it. Henricksen brings such fey charm to this spiritual comedy, with tender feeling for all these searchers, flying from despair toward hope, and ocassionally back again. Sometimes the reader feels she has wandered into Garrison Keillor's Minnesota, sometimes John Kennedy Toole's New Orleans. It's a short, thoroughly enjoyable flight of fancy, filled with sweet wisdom about the way we lean on--and crash into--one another.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
Author: Bruce Henricksen
Publisher: Lost Hills Books
Genre: Novel, 212 pages, perfect bound
ISBN: 978-0-9798535-0-0
Reviewer: Susan Larson in the New Orleans Times-Picayune
Susan Larson can be reached at slarson@timespicayune.comPermission to reprint this review has been granted by Lynn Cunningham of the Times-Picayune. lcunningham@timespicayune.com
"A Whimsical Look at Poet-Katrian Exile"
In his first novel, After the Floods, former New Orleanian Bruce Henricksen tells a tale of two cities--New Orleans and Cold Beak, MN--both recovering from disastrous floods, both filled with folks trying to make a comeback. And not just people--add some crows and dogs into the mix.
The novel opens with George and Ruby surveying post-Katrina damage on Laurel Street. "Laurel is the street where Ruby's heart had been broken, broken with the branch that snapped in the storm, sending her eggs splattering to the sidewalk." The two fly north, a couple making a fresh start.
Billy Boischild is another New Orleanian who heads to Cold Beak, leaving behind a life in New Orleans in which he engaged in experiments in scientific faith implantation. He rents a trailer and starts examining his life, engaged in constant electronic spiritual debate with God and a nun called Sister Ann . . . But life in Cold Beak is wide open, as Billy finds . . .
The characters move in and out of one another's lives, looking for love and redemption, and sometimes, blessedly, finding it. Henricksen brings such fey charm to this spiritual comedy, with tender feeling for all these searchers, flying from despair toward hope, and ocassionally back again. Sometimes the reader feels she has wandered into Garrison Keillor's Minnesota, sometimes John Kennedy Toole's New Orleans. It's a short, thoroughly enjoyable flight of fancy, filled with sweet wisdom about the way we lean on--and crash into--one another.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Speaking of Summer Reading! Mindy Lawrence Provides Us with Classics! For FREE!
This is a guest entry from Mindy Lawrence. I thought it so full of good resources on the classics, you'd want to see it. (-: Carolyn, co-blogger with Joyce Faulkner.
Dr. Dan Skelton, my client at MPL Creative Resources and my former English professor, sent me his reading list for the World Lit I class he is teaching this summer. I'd read all but two of the pieces (I haven’t read Seneca or Apuleius’ “The Golden Ass”). However, I looked for the main text that he recommended on Amazon and several other places. A new book was almost $70. I got the idea of finding all the works on the Internet where his students could access them if they couldn't afford the book. I found versions online of every work on his list. I've attached it here so you can see.
I was most enthusiastic about a paid site for Beowulf which I didn't include on my list because, well, it cost money. However, the program looked interesting and the graphics on the main page were beautifully done. See the rest of the freebie list below.
Would I like to be in Dr. Skelton’s class again, this time learning from the ancients to the Renaissance? You bet!
Mindy Lawrence
MPL Creative Resources
mplcreative1@aol.com
World Literature I – Reading List Online
Instructor: Dr. Dan Skelton
Gilgameshhttp://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab1.htm
The Hebrew Bible
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/index.htm
The Iliad
http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.html
The Odyssey
http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.html
Agamemnonhttp://classics.mit.edu/Aeschylus/agamemnon.html
Oedipus the King
http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/oedipus.html
Antigone
http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html
Lysistrata
http://drama.eserver.org/plays/classical/aristophanes/lysistrata.txt
Seneca, “On Anger”
http://www.stoics.com/seneca_essays_book_1.html
Apuleius, “The Golden Ass”
http://manybooks.net/titles/apuleiusetext99gldns10.html
Augustine
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine/textstrans.html
Beowulf
http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~beowulf/main.html
In Old English and Modern English
The Canterbury Tales
http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm
Everyman
http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/everyman.htm
Carpe Diem poems:
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
http://www.bartleby.com/106/5.html
The Flea
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/flea.php
To the Virgins to Make Much of Time
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herrick/tovirgins.htm
Shakespeare, Hamlet
http://www.tk421.net/hamlet/hamlet.html
John Milton, X – Paradise Lost
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_10/index.shtml
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
Dr. Dan Skelton, my client at MPL Creative Resources and my former English professor, sent me his reading list for the World Lit I class he is teaching this summer. I'd read all but two of the pieces (I haven’t read Seneca or Apuleius’ “The Golden Ass”). However, I looked for the main text that he recommended on Amazon and several other places. A new book was almost $70. I got the idea of finding all the works on the Internet where his students could access them if they couldn't afford the book. I found versions online of every work on his list. I've attached it here so you can see.
I was most enthusiastic about a paid site for Beowulf which I didn't include on my list because, well, it cost money. However, the program looked interesting and the graphics on the main page were beautifully done. See the rest of the freebie list below.
Would I like to be in Dr. Skelton’s class again, this time learning from the ancients to the Renaissance? You bet!
Mindy Lawrence
MPL Creative Resources
mplcreative1@aol.com
World Literature I – Reading List Online
Instructor: Dr. Dan Skelton
Gilgameshhttp://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/tab1.htm
The Hebrew Bible
http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/index.htm
The Iliad
http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/iliad.html
The Odyssey
http://classics.mit.edu/Homer/odyssey.html
Agamemnonhttp://classics.mit.edu/Aeschylus/agamemnon.html
Oedipus the King
http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/oedipus.html
Antigone
http://classics.mit.edu/Sophocles/antigone.html
Lysistrata
http://drama.eserver.org/plays/classical/aristophanes/lysistrata.txt
Seneca, “On Anger”
http://www.stoics.com/seneca_essays_book_1.html
Apuleius, “The Golden Ass”
http://manybooks.net/titles/apuleiusetext99gldns10.html
Augustine
http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/jod/augustine/textstrans.html
Beowulf
http://www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/~beowulf/main.html
In Old English and Modern English
The Canterbury Tales
http://www.librarius.com/cantales.htm
Everyman
http://www.luminarium.org/medlit/everyman.htm
Carpe Diem poems:
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
http://www.bartleby.com/106/5.html
The Flea
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/donne/flea.php
To the Virgins to Make Much of Time
http://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/herrick/tovirgins.htm
Shakespeare, Hamlet
http://www.tk421.net/hamlet/hamlet.html
John Milton, X – Paradise Lost
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~milton/reading_room/pl/book_10/index.shtml
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Big Blog Tour for Kim Richards' "Death Mask"
Death Masks
Written by Kimberly Richards
Eternal Press, 2008
As part of a book tour we're participating in this month, we're reviewing
popular horror author Kim Richard's newest horror/thriller novel Death Mask,
released by Eternal Press.
Reviewed by Heidi Martinuzzi from Pretty Scary.
Someone is killing hot young boys in the local Metro Tonton Park (and it's
not me!). Bill, an unsatisfied computer tech with a lame job and lame
co-workers has one amazing girlfriend in Dixie. Dixie is not only hot, but
she's a salsa dancer who works out and even has hobbies, like pottery. When
Bill witnesses one of the local murders in the park, he suddenly becomes a
suspect as well. Bill has to balance dealing with his own investigation of
the murders with the police (who aren't much help) and with Dixie's
depressive disorder which has mysteriously come on again after being
dormant. It's not an easy time for Bill. Or Dixie.
We also get the killer's perspective in neat little segments so we can get
another point of view on everything that's going on. It fills in some
pieces, especially about the murders, and honestly does nothing to reveal
the identity of the killer. Of course, the killer is... Dah DUHN! It's a
secret. It's a twist, so I can't reveal it. Death Mask follows a traditional
thriller storyline complete with the very-necessary twist to accompany the
clearing of the name of the protagonist. What would a mystery thriller be
without a twist?
Dixie is a very complex character with deep emotional issues that prevent
her from overcoming her awkward depression. Bill's sense of inadequacy keep
him from getting farther along at work or making the most out of his life
with Dixie. It's a case of everyday problems getting in the way of people's
lives. Bill himself is completely unprepared to deal with a seemingly
dangerously intelligent killer who uses some kind of drug to kill their
victims and leaves their bodies in the park to be found by police. Bill
embarks on a near-obsessive path of researching serial-killers, the victims,
and the drug itself to a point that makes him a prime suspect in the eyes of
the police. It also doesn't do anything to improve his situation with Dixie,
who grows worse by the day. Little things that used to cheer her up no
longer move her. She has become increasingly irritable and unpredictable
emotionally.
What's also fascinating is that the people who do keep disappearing seem
somehow related to Bill's life. Like the punk kid who threatens him in line
at the fast food restaurant who later ends up face-down in the mud in the
park, or the mysteriously missing Denny from Bill's work, who was a liar and
an inconsistent friend. No wonder the police suspect Bill... but can he
prove that he's not the killer before someone he loves - someone like Dixie
- ends up dead?
Richard's work is classy and traditional, and lovers of thrillers will enjoy
and appreciate the traditional flow of her story in Death Mask. Importantly,
the imagery of the Death mask itself is used repeatedly in a very simple yet
artistic way throughout the novel; Dixie herself sculpts them in her pottery
workshop, and they appear again in an art gallery showing. The Death Mask,
an image cast of a person's face (often after death) and used in burial or
for a family's memory of that person, is a grim and macabre idea that works
perfectly for a theme as dastardly as gruesome murders in a park.
And yes you have your standard amounts of mental breakdown, dementia, and
murder mystery blood, so the depraved aspects of your soul will find
themselves entertained.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
Written by Kimberly Richards
Eternal Press, 2008
As part of a book tour we're participating in this month, we're reviewing
popular horror author Kim Richard's newest horror/thriller novel Death Mask,
released by Eternal Press.
Reviewed by Heidi Martinuzzi from Pretty Scary.
Someone is killing hot young boys in the local Metro Tonton Park (and it's
not me!). Bill, an unsatisfied computer tech with a lame job and lame
co-workers has one amazing girlfriend in Dixie. Dixie is not only hot, but
she's a salsa dancer who works out and even has hobbies, like pottery. When
Bill witnesses one of the local murders in the park, he suddenly becomes a
suspect as well. Bill has to balance dealing with his own investigation of
the murders with the police (who aren't much help) and with Dixie's
depressive disorder which has mysteriously come on again after being
dormant. It's not an easy time for Bill. Or Dixie.
We also get the killer's perspective in neat little segments so we can get
another point of view on everything that's going on. It fills in some
pieces, especially about the murders, and honestly does nothing to reveal
the identity of the killer. Of course, the killer is... Dah DUHN! It's a
secret. It's a twist, so I can't reveal it. Death Mask follows a traditional
thriller storyline complete with the very-necessary twist to accompany the
clearing of the name of the protagonist. What would a mystery thriller be
without a twist?
Dixie is a very complex character with deep emotional issues that prevent
her from overcoming her awkward depression. Bill's sense of inadequacy keep
him from getting farther along at work or making the most out of his life
with Dixie. It's a case of everyday problems getting in the way of people's
lives. Bill himself is completely unprepared to deal with a seemingly
dangerously intelligent killer who uses some kind of drug to kill their
victims and leaves their bodies in the park to be found by police. Bill
embarks on a near-obsessive path of researching serial-killers, the victims,
and the drug itself to a point that makes him a prime suspect in the eyes of
the police. It also doesn't do anything to improve his situation with Dixie,
who grows worse by the day. Little things that used to cheer her up no
longer move her. She has become increasingly irritable and unpredictable
emotionally.
What's also fascinating is that the people who do keep disappearing seem
somehow related to Bill's life. Like the punk kid who threatens him in line
at the fast food restaurant who later ends up face-down in the mud in the
park, or the mysteriously missing Denny from Bill's work, who was a liar and
an inconsistent friend. No wonder the police suspect Bill... but can he
prove that he's not the killer before someone he loves - someone like Dixie
- ends up dead?
Richard's work is classy and traditional, and lovers of thrillers will enjoy
and appreciate the traditional flow of her story in Death Mask. Importantly,
the imagery of the Death mask itself is used repeatedly in a very simple yet
artistic way throughout the novel; Dixie herself sculpts them in her pottery
workshop, and they appear again in an art gallery showing. The Death Mask,
an image cast of a person's face (often after death) and used in burial or
for a family's memory of that person, is a grim and macabre idea that works
perfectly for a theme as dastardly as gruesome murders in a park.
And yes you have your standard amounts of mental breakdown, dementia, and
murder mystery blood, so the depraved aspects of your soul will find
themselves entertained.
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The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, founder of Authors' Coalition (www.authorscoalitionandredenginepress.com). It is a free service offered to those who want to encourage the reading of books they love--and that includes authors who want to share their favorite reviews and reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page.
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