TITLE: The Pawnbroker
AUTHOR: Glenn Stuart
PUBLISHER: Black Leaf Publishing http://www.blackleafpublishing.com
PAGES: 180
PRICE: $11.04 (US), CDN$ 11.39 (CA), £7.99 (UK)
FORMAT: Paperback
ISBN-10: 1907407324
ISBN-13: 9781907407321
Reviewed by Deborah Hockenberry, Independent Author
Imagine. You and your friend are riding your bikes and come upon a dilapidated old mansion. Naturally, you and he go into the old house to explore. Suddenly, you can’t find your friend. When you come out, you start having weird dreams about two boys in another time. This is what happens to Jamie after leaving that old house. Why did Jamie start having these dreams and where did his friend go?
Night after night, Jamie has these dreams but they aren’t always the same dream. They’ve always been about the two boys being told to steal from innocent people but now its worse. Now, Jamie witnesses a murder. What do these dreams mean and why is he having them?
Jamie and another friend, Sarah, visit the library to investigate. By reading old newspapers, going through city directories and indexes they find that all Jamie’s dreams actually happened. The jewels that Jamie dreamt that Bert found in the mansion about are real. Even the murder really happened!
In this paranormal story about traveling through time in dreams, Jamie is terrified. The evil Pawnbroker crosses time and will stop at nothing to get the jewels for himself. Even if it means murdering more people!
Will Jamie be able to solve this paranormal mystery? Can he escape The Pawnbroker?
Please visit Glenn Stuart’s Web site to learn more about this master of mystery and his books at: http://www.horroronthecosta.com . Another way to follow this master of paranormal mystery is to go to his page at Facebook and ‘like’ him. Just sign in to Facebook and search for Glenn Stuart. Even another way to keep up with Mr. Stuart is to follow him on his blog at: http://glennstuartauthor.blogspot.com .
~Reviewer Deb Hockenberry's Web site is http://thebumpyroadtopublishing.blogspot.com. She blogs at
http://debsbookreviews.blogspot.com
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
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.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Author Rosanne Dingli Reviews Mainstream Fiction
Title: Days Without Number
Author: Robert Goddard
Website: http://www.robertgoddardbooks.co.uk/author.html
ASIN: B004071TB8
General Fiction
Originally reviewed for Amazon by Rosanne Dingli
Robert Goddard's latest thriller seems to be written within the mould this perspicacious author has set himself. Perspicacious? Yes, well - Goddard is the kind of author who does tend to use archaic words, sending one scrabbling for a dictionary older than your average Macquarie or Oxford. You won't find ‘phocine’ in any recent one, that's for sure.
Will the hooked reader waste time searching for rare words? Perhaps not: these thrillers of Goddard’s have the ability to keep one engaged, despite twists and turns that have the mind simultaneously wanting more and wondering how on earth it's all going to tie up in the end. The curlicues and hairpin bends in this particular novel are of fine calibre: history, accuracy in props and language, archaeological detail the like of which will set even the most demanding reader's hair on end.
Nick Paleologus (yes, even the names have that unlikely ring to them) is the son of a retired archaeologist, with a family of siblings whose closet of skeletons is not exactly run of the mill suburban fare. Is it important that his family name is linked to the Emperors of Byzantium? Suspension of disbelief is necessary in most novels; here one widens the eyes and pleads for more.
He has an irascible father, something many can relate to, seeing the comparatively recent time in which the novel is set. Irascible fathers were the order of the day then, and not only in England. The reader understands the cynical bent, the sardonic remarks, the pointed self-absorption that erases all else. The siblings too, are admirably drawn, especially the female ones and their sad choices in spouses, their mistakes with raising children, and bewilderment when faced with their own adolescent escapades coming home to roost.
What draws and amazes most in this book, however, is the history, and the weave of known events into a convoluted story that impresses not only with its ability to thrill and make one turn pages, but especially with its ability to make one conjure and devise possible explanations. What a writer it takes to manage to persuade a reader of a possible historic explanation that sits there, dangling its possibilities under one's nose, swinging and tempting with seduction. What a way to devise a red herring.
This method of charming an audience is perhaps foolproof, because it uses the reader's own bank of general knowledge. Who would not be persuaded to stay on to find out if their educated guess is right?
Educated: the operative word here, because these novels of Goddard's, and Days Without Number in particular, appeal to readers with a considerable bank of general knowledge, with a considerable love of those facts and figures, those nuggets of trivia, garnered over the years and necessary only - these days - when it comes to the vicarious pleasure of watching quiz shows. So one reads with pleasure, recalling stuff considered redundant, and taking pleasure in the fact someone has taken the time to write it all into a means of entertainment.
There is a persecutor here: a villain bent on torturing the protagonist and his family members. The identity of this vulture is withheld, until it is rendered quite skilfully and all too clearly plain. But that is not nearly enough: there is a larger all-encompassing and all meaningful mystery that hangs until the very last pages, and that is the big ‘what if’ question the author sets the reader. Exactly how skilfully this matter is tackled needs to be examined by the individual reader. Only those who enjoy intellectually driven novels will enjoy this kind of ploy. A philosophical question of judgement, of morality, of consequences and resolution is set to readers, who find out more about themselves than they think they would at the outset.
Relating to a protagonist - or two - as they set out towards the proverbial blue yonder at the end – can make or break a novel. Here, as usual, the reader must decide, teased towards the conclusion with even the titles of chapters!
In Days Without Number, we do not have the expected protagonist turned sleuth, an archetype expected in much modern fiction. Instead, we are given an entire family whose distance and cordiality developed over time is erased with a kind of sticky intimacy one associates with infancy. Once more, brothers and sisters are forced to ‘hold hands’. They rediscover personality traits in their siblings they thought they could hold at arm's length, disassociate from their own bank of quirks. Escapades and exploits of parents and avuncular relatives are once more brought to the surface and examined for kinks, with the result that modern motives become clearer and more rabid: more mercenary.
The pursuit of happiness becomes confused with the pursuit of comfort and financial ease. Who today would not relate to that? The solution of a historical mystery is bound up with personal dilemmas the like of which we all nurse. What if? The reader is set a perplexing puzzle ensconced within locations, historic settings and very plausible details, so that one asks oneself the very personal and pertinent question: what would I do in such a situation?
One also asks the question: would I be so gullible, given such a strange set of circumstances? The answer is not always clear, because fathers and siblings are not easy to deal with, even in the best of families. Emotional motives, sticks and carrots, abound. The bones of family skeletons are not hollow, nor are they light. Relating to the disclosure of a fictional history brings one close to considering one's own: what stories did our parents tell us? And with what motives?
~Reviewer Rosanne Dingli blogs at http://rosannedingli.blogspot.com/. She is she is the author of According to Luke, Death in Malta,Vision or Delusion, A Great Intimacy, Counting Churches - The Malta Stories,The Astronomer's Pig, and All the Wrong Places. Learn more at http://www.rosannedingli.com/ .
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Author: Robert Goddard
Website: http://www.robertgoddardbooks.co.uk/author.html
ASIN: B004071TB8
General Fiction
Originally reviewed for Amazon by Rosanne Dingli
Robert Goddard's latest thriller seems to be written within the mould this perspicacious author has set himself. Perspicacious? Yes, well - Goddard is the kind of author who does tend to use archaic words, sending one scrabbling for a dictionary older than your average Macquarie or Oxford. You won't find ‘phocine’ in any recent one, that's for sure.
Will the hooked reader waste time searching for rare words? Perhaps not: these thrillers of Goddard’s have the ability to keep one engaged, despite twists and turns that have the mind simultaneously wanting more and wondering how on earth it's all going to tie up in the end. The curlicues and hairpin bends in this particular novel are of fine calibre: history, accuracy in props and language, archaeological detail the like of which will set even the most demanding reader's hair on end.
Nick Paleologus (yes, even the names have that unlikely ring to them) is the son of a retired archaeologist, with a family of siblings whose closet of skeletons is not exactly run of the mill suburban fare. Is it important that his family name is linked to the Emperors of Byzantium? Suspension of disbelief is necessary in most novels; here one widens the eyes and pleads for more.
He has an irascible father, something many can relate to, seeing the comparatively recent time in which the novel is set. Irascible fathers were the order of the day then, and not only in England. The reader understands the cynical bent, the sardonic remarks, the pointed self-absorption that erases all else. The siblings too, are admirably drawn, especially the female ones and their sad choices in spouses, their mistakes with raising children, and bewilderment when faced with their own adolescent escapades coming home to roost.
What draws and amazes most in this book, however, is the history, and the weave of known events into a convoluted story that impresses not only with its ability to thrill and make one turn pages, but especially with its ability to make one conjure and devise possible explanations. What a writer it takes to manage to persuade a reader of a possible historic explanation that sits there, dangling its possibilities under one's nose, swinging and tempting with seduction. What a way to devise a red herring.
This method of charming an audience is perhaps foolproof, because it uses the reader's own bank of general knowledge. Who would not be persuaded to stay on to find out if their educated guess is right?
Educated: the operative word here, because these novels of Goddard's, and Days Without Number in particular, appeal to readers with a considerable bank of general knowledge, with a considerable love of those facts and figures, those nuggets of trivia, garnered over the years and necessary only - these days - when it comes to the vicarious pleasure of watching quiz shows. So one reads with pleasure, recalling stuff considered redundant, and taking pleasure in the fact someone has taken the time to write it all into a means of entertainment.
There is a persecutor here: a villain bent on torturing the protagonist and his family members. The identity of this vulture is withheld, until it is rendered quite skilfully and all too clearly plain. But that is not nearly enough: there is a larger all-encompassing and all meaningful mystery that hangs until the very last pages, and that is the big ‘what if’ question the author sets the reader. Exactly how skilfully this matter is tackled needs to be examined by the individual reader. Only those who enjoy intellectually driven novels will enjoy this kind of ploy. A philosophical question of judgement, of morality, of consequences and resolution is set to readers, who find out more about themselves than they think they would at the outset.
Relating to a protagonist - or two - as they set out towards the proverbial blue yonder at the end – can make or break a novel. Here, as usual, the reader must decide, teased towards the conclusion with even the titles of chapters!
In Days Without Number, we do not have the expected protagonist turned sleuth, an archetype expected in much modern fiction. Instead, we are given an entire family whose distance and cordiality developed over time is erased with a kind of sticky intimacy one associates with infancy. Once more, brothers and sisters are forced to ‘hold hands’. They rediscover personality traits in their siblings they thought they could hold at arm's length, disassociate from their own bank of quirks. Escapades and exploits of parents and avuncular relatives are once more brought to the surface and examined for kinks, with the result that modern motives become clearer and more rabid: more mercenary.
The pursuit of happiness becomes confused with the pursuit of comfort and financial ease. Who today would not relate to that? The solution of a historical mystery is bound up with personal dilemmas the like of which we all nurse. What if? The reader is set a perplexing puzzle ensconced within locations, historic settings and very plausible details, so that one asks oneself the very personal and pertinent question: what would I do in such a situation?
One also asks the question: would I be so gullible, given such a strange set of circumstances? The answer is not always clear, because fathers and siblings are not easy to deal with, even in the best of families. Emotional motives, sticks and carrots, abound. The bones of family skeletons are not hollow, nor are they light. Relating to the disclosure of a fictional history brings one close to considering one's own: what stories did our parents tell us? And with what motives?
~Reviewer Rosanne Dingli blogs at http://rosannedingli.blogspot.com/. She is she is the author of According to Luke, Death in Malta,Vision or Delusion, A Great Intimacy, Counting Churches - The Malta Stories,The Astronomer's Pig, and All the Wrong Places. Learn more at http://www.rosannedingli.com/ .
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Author Review Fellow Author
Title: Days Without Number
Author: Robert Goddard
Website: http://www.robertgoddardbooks.co.uk/author.html
ASIN: B004071TB8
General Fiction
Originally reviewd for Amazon by Rosanne Dingli
Robert Goddard's latest thriller seems to be written within the mould this perspicacious author has set himself. Perspicacious? Yes, well - Goddard is the kind of author who does tend to use archaic words, sending one scrabbling for a dictionary older than your average Macquarie or Oxford. You won't find ‘phocine’ in any recent one, that's for sure.
Will the hooked reader waste time searching for rare words? Perhaps not: these thrillers of Goddard’s have the ability to keep one engaged, despite twists and turns that have the mind simultaneously wanting more and wondering how on earth it's all going to tie up in the end. The curlicues and hairpin bends in this particular novel are of fine calibre: history, accuracy in props and language, archaeological detail the like of which will set even the most demanding reader's hair on end.
Nick Paleologus (yes, even the names have that unlikely ring to them) is the son of a retired archaeologist, with a family of siblings whose closet of skeletons is not exactly run of the mill suburban fare. Is it important that his family name is linked to the Emperors of Byzantium? Suspension of disbelief is necessary in most novels; here one widens the eyes and pleads for more.
He has an irascible father, something many can relate to, seeing the comparatively recent time in which the novel is set. Irascible fathers were the order of the day then, and not only in England. The reader understands the cynical bent, the sardonic remarks, the pointed self-absorption that erases all else. The siblings too, are admirably drawn, especially the female ones and their sad choices in spouses, their mistakes with raising children, and bewilderment when faced with their own adolescent escapades coming home to roost.
What draws and amazes most in this book, however, is the history, and the weave of known events into a convoluted story that impresses not only with its ability to thrill and make one turn pages, but especially with its ability to make one conjure and devise possible explanations. What a writer it takes to manage to persuade a reader of a possible historic explanation that sits there, dangling its possibilities under one's nose, swinging and tempting with seduction. What a way to devise a red herring.
This method of charming an audience is perhaps foolproof, because it uses the reader's own bank of general knowledge. Who would not be persuaded to stay on to find out if their educated guess is right?
Educated: the operative word here, because these novels of Goddard's, and Days Without Number in particular, appeal to readers with a considerable bank of general knowledge, with a considerable love of those facts and figures, those nuggets of trivia, garnered over the years and necessary only - these days - when it comes to the vicarious pleasure of watching quiz shows. So one reads with pleasure, recalling stuff considered redundant, and taking pleasure in the fact someone has taken the time to write it all into a means of entertainment.
There is a persecutor here: a villain bent on torturing the protagonist and his family members. The identity of this vulture is withheld, until it is rendered quite skilfully and all too clearly plain. But that is not nearly enough: there is a larger all-encompassing and all meaningful mystery that hangs until the very last pages, and that is the big ‘what if’ question the author sets the reader. Exactly how skilfully this matter is tackled needs to be examined by the individual reader. Only those who enjoy intellectually driven novels will enjoy this kind of ploy. A philosophical question of judgement, of morality, of consequences and resolution is set to readers, who find out more about themselves than they think they would at the outset.
Relating to a protagonist - or two - as they set out towards the proverbial blue yonder at the end – can make or break a novel. Here, as usual, the reader must decide, teased towards the conclusion with even the titles of chapters!
In Days Without Number, we do not have the expected protagonist turned sleuth, an archetype expected in much modern fiction. Instead, we are given an entire family whose distance and cordiality developed over time is erased with a kind of sticky intimacy one associates with infancy. Once more, brothers and sisters are forced to ‘hold hands’. They rediscover personality traits in their siblings they thought they could hold at arm's length, disassociate from their own bank of quirks. Escapades and exploits of parents and avuncular relatives are once more brought to the surface and examined for kinks, with the result that modern motives become clearer and more rabid: more mercenary.
The pursuit of happiness becomes confused with the pursuit of comfort and financial ease. Who today would not relate to that? The solution of a historical mystery is bound up with personal dilemmas the like of which we all nurse. What if? The reader is set a perplexing puzzle ensconced within locations, historic settings and very plausible details, so that one asks oneself the very personal and pertinent question: what would I do in such a situation?
One also asks the question: would I be so gullible, given such a strange set of circumstances? The answer is not always clear, because fathers and siblings are not easy to deal with, even in the best of families. Emotional motives, sticks and carrots, abound. The bones of family skeletons are not hollow, nor are they light. Relating to the disclosure of a fictional history brings one close to considering one's own: what stories did our parents tell us? And with what motives?
~Reviewer Rosanne Dingli blogs at http://rosannedingli.blogspot.com/. She is she is the author of According to Luke, Death in Malta,Vision or Delusion, A Great Intimacy, Counting Churches - The Malta Stories,The Astronomer's Pig, and All the Wrong Places. Learn more at http://www.rosannedingli.com/ .
Reviewer: Rosanne Dingli
Website: http://www.rosannedingli.com
Blog: http://rosannedingli.blogspot.com
General fiction
This review first appeared on Amazon.co.uk – January 11, 2004
90% helpful votes (50/58)
Intellectual dilemma - literary or personal?
Robert Goddard's latest thriller seems to be written within the mould this perspicacious author has set himself. Perspicacious? Yes, well - Goddard is the kind of author who does tend to use archaic words, sending one scrabbling for a dictionary older than your average Macquarie or Oxford. You won't find ‘phocine’ in any recent one, that's for sure.
Will the hooked reader waste time searching for rare words? Perhaps not: these thrillers of Goddard’s have the ability to keep one engaged, despite twists and turns that have the mind simultaneously wanting more and wondering how on earth it's all going to tie up in the end. The curlicues and hairpin bends in this particular novel are of fine calibre: history, accuracy in props and language, archaeological detail the like of which will set even the most demanding reader's hair on end.
Nick Paleologus (yes, even the names have that unlikely ring to them) is the son of a retired archaeologist, with a family of siblings whose closet of skeletons is not exactly run of the mill suburban fare. Is it important that his family name is linked to the Emperors of Byzantium? Suspension of disbelief is necessary in most novels; here one widens the eyes and pleads for more.
He has an irascible father, something many can relate to, seeing the comparatively recent time in which the novel is set. Irascible fathers were the order of the day then, and not only in England. The reader understands the cynical bent, the sardonic remarks, the pointed self-absorption that erases all else. The siblings too, are admirably drawn, especially the female ones and their sad choices in spouses, their mistakes with raising children, and bewilderment when faced with their own adolescent escapades coming home to roost.
What draws and amazes most in this book, however, is the history, and the weave of known events into a convoluted story that impresses not only with its ability to thrill and make one turn pages, but especially with its ability to make one conjure and devise possible explanations. What a writer it takes to manage to persuade a reader of a possible historic explanation that sits there, dangling its possibilities under one's nose, swinging and tempting with seduction. What a way to devise a red herring.
This method of charming an audience is perhaps foolproof, because it uses the reader's own bank of general knowledge. Who would not be persuaded to stay on to find out if their educated guess is right?
Educated: the operative word here, because these novels of Goddard's, and Days Without Number in particular, appeal to readers with a considerable bank of general knowledge, with a considerable love of those facts and figures, those nuggets of trivia, garnered over the years and necessary only - these days - when it comes to the vicarious pleasure of watching quiz shows. So one reads with pleasure, recalling stuff considered redundant, and taking pleasure in the fact someone has taken the time to write it all into a means of entertainment.
There is a persecutor here: a villain bent on torturing the protagonist and his family members. The identity of this vulture is withheld, until it is rendered quite skilfully and all too clearly plain. But that is not nearly enough: there is a larger all-encompassing and all meaningful mystery that hangs until the very last pages, and that is the big ‘what if’ question the author sets the reader. Exactly how skilfully this matter is tackled needs to be examined by the individual reader. Only those who enjoy intellectually driven novels will enjoy this kind of ploy. A philosophical question of judgement, of morality, of consequences and resolution is set to readers, who find out more about themselves than they think they would at the outset.
Relating to a protagonist - or two - as they set out towards the proverbial blue yonder at the end – can make or break a novel. Here, as usual, the reader must decide, teased towards the conclusion with even the titles of chapters!
In Days Without Number, we do not have the expected protagonist turned sleuth, an archetype expected in much modern fiction. Instead, we are given an entire family whose distance and cordiality developed over time is erased with a kind of sticky intimacy one associates with infancy. Once more, brothers and sisters are forced to ‘hold hands’. They rediscover personality traits in their siblings they thought they could hold at arm's length, disassociate from their own bank of quirks. Escapades and exploits of parents and avuncular relatives are once more brought to the surface and examined for kinks, with the result that modern motives become clearer and more rabid: more mercenary.
The pursuit of happiness becomes confused with the pursuit of comfort and financial ease. Who today would not relate to that? The solution of a historical mystery is bound up with personal dilemmas the like of which we all nurse. What if? The reader is set a perplexing puzzle ensconced within locations, historic settings and very plausible details, so that one asks oneself the very personal and pertinent question: what would I do in such a situation?
One also asks the question: would I be so gullible, given such a strange set of circumstances? The answer is not always clear, because fathers and siblings are not easy to deal with, even in the best of families. Emotional motives, sticks and carrots, abound. The bones of family skeletons are not hollow, nor are they light. Relating to the disclosure of a fictional history brings one close to considering one's own: what stories did our parents tell us? And with what motives?
Rosanne Dingli
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ROSANNE DINGLI
Author of According to Luke, Death in Malta,
Vision or Delusion, A Great Intimacy,
Counting Churches - The Malta Stories,
The Astronomer's Pig, and All the Wrong Places
http://www.rosannedingli.com
http://rosannedingli.blogspot.com
----- The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Author: Robert Goddard
Website: http://www.robertgoddardbooks.co.uk/author.html
ASIN: B004071TB8
General Fiction
Originally reviewd for Amazon by Rosanne Dingli
Robert Goddard's latest thriller seems to be written within the mould this perspicacious author has set himself. Perspicacious? Yes, well - Goddard is the kind of author who does tend to use archaic words, sending one scrabbling for a dictionary older than your average Macquarie or Oxford. You won't find ‘phocine’ in any recent one, that's for sure.
Will the hooked reader waste time searching for rare words? Perhaps not: these thrillers of Goddard’s have the ability to keep one engaged, despite twists and turns that have the mind simultaneously wanting more and wondering how on earth it's all going to tie up in the end. The curlicues and hairpin bends in this particular novel are of fine calibre: history, accuracy in props and language, archaeological detail the like of which will set even the most demanding reader's hair on end.
Nick Paleologus (yes, even the names have that unlikely ring to them) is the son of a retired archaeologist, with a family of siblings whose closet of skeletons is not exactly run of the mill suburban fare. Is it important that his family name is linked to the Emperors of Byzantium? Suspension of disbelief is necessary in most novels; here one widens the eyes and pleads for more.
He has an irascible father, something many can relate to, seeing the comparatively recent time in which the novel is set. Irascible fathers were the order of the day then, and not only in England. The reader understands the cynical bent, the sardonic remarks, the pointed self-absorption that erases all else. The siblings too, are admirably drawn, especially the female ones and their sad choices in spouses, their mistakes with raising children, and bewilderment when faced with their own adolescent escapades coming home to roost.
What draws and amazes most in this book, however, is the history, and the weave of known events into a convoluted story that impresses not only with its ability to thrill and make one turn pages, but especially with its ability to make one conjure and devise possible explanations. What a writer it takes to manage to persuade a reader of a possible historic explanation that sits there, dangling its possibilities under one's nose, swinging and tempting with seduction. What a way to devise a red herring.
This method of charming an audience is perhaps foolproof, because it uses the reader's own bank of general knowledge. Who would not be persuaded to stay on to find out if their educated guess is right?
Educated: the operative word here, because these novels of Goddard's, and Days Without Number in particular, appeal to readers with a considerable bank of general knowledge, with a considerable love of those facts and figures, those nuggets of trivia, garnered over the years and necessary only - these days - when it comes to the vicarious pleasure of watching quiz shows. So one reads with pleasure, recalling stuff considered redundant, and taking pleasure in the fact someone has taken the time to write it all into a means of entertainment.
There is a persecutor here: a villain bent on torturing the protagonist and his family members. The identity of this vulture is withheld, until it is rendered quite skilfully and all too clearly plain. But that is not nearly enough: there is a larger all-encompassing and all meaningful mystery that hangs until the very last pages, and that is the big ‘what if’ question the author sets the reader. Exactly how skilfully this matter is tackled needs to be examined by the individual reader. Only those who enjoy intellectually driven novels will enjoy this kind of ploy. A philosophical question of judgement, of morality, of consequences and resolution is set to readers, who find out more about themselves than they think they would at the outset.
Relating to a protagonist - or two - as they set out towards the proverbial blue yonder at the end – can make or break a novel. Here, as usual, the reader must decide, teased towards the conclusion with even the titles of chapters!
In Days Without Number, we do not have the expected protagonist turned sleuth, an archetype expected in much modern fiction. Instead, we are given an entire family whose distance and cordiality developed over time is erased with a kind of sticky intimacy one associates with infancy. Once more, brothers and sisters are forced to ‘hold hands’. They rediscover personality traits in their siblings they thought they could hold at arm's length, disassociate from their own bank of quirks. Escapades and exploits of parents and avuncular relatives are once more brought to the surface and examined for kinks, with the result that modern motives become clearer and more rabid: more mercenary.
The pursuit of happiness becomes confused with the pursuit of comfort and financial ease. Who today would not relate to that? The solution of a historical mystery is bound up with personal dilemmas the like of which we all nurse. What if? The reader is set a perplexing puzzle ensconced within locations, historic settings and very plausible details, so that one asks oneself the very personal and pertinent question: what would I do in such a situation?
One also asks the question: would I be so gullible, given such a strange set of circumstances? The answer is not always clear, because fathers and siblings are not easy to deal with, even in the best of families. Emotional motives, sticks and carrots, abound. The bones of family skeletons are not hollow, nor are they light. Relating to the disclosure of a fictional history brings one close to considering one's own: what stories did our parents tell us? And with what motives?
~Reviewer Rosanne Dingli blogs at http://rosannedingli.blogspot.com/. She is she is the author of According to Luke, Death in Malta,Vision or Delusion, A Great Intimacy, Counting Churches - The Malta Stories,The Astronomer's Pig, and All the Wrong Places. Learn more at http://www.rosannedingli.com/ .
Reviewer: Rosanne Dingli
Website: http://www.rosannedingli.com
Blog: http://rosannedingli.blogspot.com
General fiction
This review first appeared on Amazon.co.uk – January 11, 2004
90% helpful votes (50/58)
Intellectual dilemma - literary or personal?
Robert Goddard's latest thriller seems to be written within the mould this perspicacious author has set himself. Perspicacious? Yes, well - Goddard is the kind of author who does tend to use archaic words, sending one scrabbling for a dictionary older than your average Macquarie or Oxford. You won't find ‘phocine’ in any recent one, that's for sure.
Will the hooked reader waste time searching for rare words? Perhaps not: these thrillers of Goddard’s have the ability to keep one engaged, despite twists and turns that have the mind simultaneously wanting more and wondering how on earth it's all going to tie up in the end. The curlicues and hairpin bends in this particular novel are of fine calibre: history, accuracy in props and language, archaeological detail the like of which will set even the most demanding reader's hair on end.
Nick Paleologus (yes, even the names have that unlikely ring to them) is the son of a retired archaeologist, with a family of siblings whose closet of skeletons is not exactly run of the mill suburban fare. Is it important that his family name is linked to the Emperors of Byzantium? Suspension of disbelief is necessary in most novels; here one widens the eyes and pleads for more.
He has an irascible father, something many can relate to, seeing the comparatively recent time in which the novel is set. Irascible fathers were the order of the day then, and not only in England. The reader understands the cynical bent, the sardonic remarks, the pointed self-absorption that erases all else. The siblings too, are admirably drawn, especially the female ones and their sad choices in spouses, their mistakes with raising children, and bewilderment when faced with their own adolescent escapades coming home to roost.
What draws and amazes most in this book, however, is the history, and the weave of known events into a convoluted story that impresses not only with its ability to thrill and make one turn pages, but especially with its ability to make one conjure and devise possible explanations. What a writer it takes to manage to persuade a reader of a possible historic explanation that sits there, dangling its possibilities under one's nose, swinging and tempting with seduction. What a way to devise a red herring.
This method of charming an audience is perhaps foolproof, because it uses the reader's own bank of general knowledge. Who would not be persuaded to stay on to find out if their educated guess is right?
Educated: the operative word here, because these novels of Goddard's, and Days Without Number in particular, appeal to readers with a considerable bank of general knowledge, with a considerable love of those facts and figures, those nuggets of trivia, garnered over the years and necessary only - these days - when it comes to the vicarious pleasure of watching quiz shows. So one reads with pleasure, recalling stuff considered redundant, and taking pleasure in the fact someone has taken the time to write it all into a means of entertainment.
There is a persecutor here: a villain bent on torturing the protagonist and his family members. The identity of this vulture is withheld, until it is rendered quite skilfully and all too clearly plain. But that is not nearly enough: there is a larger all-encompassing and all meaningful mystery that hangs until the very last pages, and that is the big ‘what if’ question the author sets the reader. Exactly how skilfully this matter is tackled needs to be examined by the individual reader. Only those who enjoy intellectually driven novels will enjoy this kind of ploy. A philosophical question of judgement, of morality, of consequences and resolution is set to readers, who find out more about themselves than they think they would at the outset.
Relating to a protagonist - or two - as they set out towards the proverbial blue yonder at the end – can make or break a novel. Here, as usual, the reader must decide, teased towards the conclusion with even the titles of chapters!
In Days Without Number, we do not have the expected protagonist turned sleuth, an archetype expected in much modern fiction. Instead, we are given an entire family whose distance and cordiality developed over time is erased with a kind of sticky intimacy one associates with infancy. Once more, brothers and sisters are forced to ‘hold hands’. They rediscover personality traits in their siblings they thought they could hold at arm's length, disassociate from their own bank of quirks. Escapades and exploits of parents and avuncular relatives are once more brought to the surface and examined for kinks, with the result that modern motives become clearer and more rabid: more mercenary.
The pursuit of happiness becomes confused with the pursuit of comfort and financial ease. Who today would not relate to that? The solution of a historical mystery is bound up with personal dilemmas the like of which we all nurse. What if? The reader is set a perplexing puzzle ensconced within locations, historic settings and very plausible details, so that one asks oneself the very personal and pertinent question: what would I do in such a situation?
One also asks the question: would I be so gullible, given such a strange set of circumstances? The answer is not always clear, because fathers and siblings are not easy to deal with, even in the best of families. Emotional motives, sticks and carrots, abound. The bones of family skeletons are not hollow, nor are they light. Relating to the disclosure of a fictional history brings one close to considering one's own: what stories did our parents tell us? And with what motives?
Rosanne Dingli
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ROSANNE DINGLI
Author of According to Luke, Death in Malta,
Vision or Delusion, A Great Intimacy,
Counting Churches - The Malta Stories,
The Astronomer's Pig, and All the Wrong Places
http://www.rosannedingli.com
http://rosannedingli.blogspot.com
----- The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Memoir Combines Feminism, Science and Family
Title: Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling: An American Woman Becomes a DNA Scientist
Author: Laura L Mays Hoopes
Websites: http://www.lauralmayshoopes.com/
Blog: http://www.westcoastwriters.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.nature.com/scitable/forums/women0in-science
Genre/category: memoirs and biographies
ISBN-10: 0557923204
ISBN-13: 978-0557923205
Originally reviewed by Elizabeth (Libby) Grandy for Amazon
Laura L. Mays Hoopes has written a memoir that gives a personal face to the struggles of women in the world of science. Although Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling is a serious study of the inequities of the sexes, Hoopes writes about her life as a scientist and professor with good-natured humor.For example, during her sophomore year at college, one of her part-time jobs was beheading frozen fruit flies. Hoopes writes, "I must admit, at times, when I was frustrated, I dubbed these flies with the names of certain professors, just before relieving them of their heads."
Hoopes scientific journey is fascinating, but her personal journey is just as inspirational. Her first husband died at the age of forty-three, leaving her with a four-year-old son to raise alone. To fill the void in her life and support her son, she focused on her scientific career and wrote a genetics textbook published by Macmillan in 1981. When she met her present husband, he supported her passion for science, and they shared a love of Celtic culture, music, and literature. A daughter born several years later completed their family.
Hoopes is a pathfinder for all those young women who choose science as their professional career. This absorbing, honest memoir chronicles a balanced, successful life.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Author: Laura L Mays Hoopes
Websites: http://www.lauralmayshoopes.com/
Blog: http://www.westcoastwriters.blogspot.com/ ; http://www.nature.com/scitable/forums/women0in-science
Genre/category: memoirs and biographies
ISBN-10: 0557923204
ISBN-13: 978-0557923205
Originally reviewed by Elizabeth (Libby) Grandy for Amazon
Laura L. Mays Hoopes has written a memoir that gives a personal face to the struggles of women in the world of science. Although Breaking Through the Spiral Ceiling is a serious study of the inequities of the sexes, Hoopes writes about her life as a scientist and professor with good-natured humor.For example, during her sophomore year at college, one of her part-time jobs was beheading frozen fruit flies. Hoopes writes, "I must admit, at times, when I was frustrated, I dubbed these flies with the names of certain professors, just before relieving them of their heads."
Hoopes scientific journey is fascinating, but her personal journey is just as inspirational. Her first husband died at the age of forty-three, leaving her with a four-year-old son to raise alone. To fill the void in her life and support her son, she focused on her scientific career and wrote a genetics textbook published by Macmillan in 1981. When she met her present husband, he supported her passion for science, and they shared a love of Celtic culture, music, and literature. A daughter born several years later completed their family.
Hoopes is a pathfinder for all those young women who choose science as their professional career. This absorbing, honest memoir chronicles a balanced, successful life.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Christian Nonfiction Reviewed by Author of Fiction
A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain and God’s Sovereignty
by Joni Earkeckson Tada
ISBN 978-1596443501
Nonfiction: Christianity
Publisher christianaudio, nonfiction
Originally reviews for Amazon by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont
Why does God allow pain? Is God concerned with suffering and involved in it? Plato, C.S. Lewis, Rabbi Harold Kushner, Henri Nouwen, the apostle Paul and others have all addressed these age-old questions.
Instead of focusing on how God is involved in the problem of pain, Joni Eareckson Tada chooses instead in her book, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain and God’s Sovereignty, to examine how God can use pain to draw her closer to Himself and lift her above her human sufferings.
Joni, left a quadriplegic from a diving accident four decades ago, is the author of over fifty books and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization devoted to accelerating Christian outreach among those with disabilities. She will serve as the Honorary Chairman of the 2011 National Day of Prayer, held on the First Thursday of May. In addition to coping with the struggles of living from a wheelchair, Joni now has new challenges. She is assaulted with unrelenting, chronic pain and has been diagnosed with cancer.
Her reactions? “Suffering may be a part of God’s…mysterious plan, but God’s intention is always to demonstrate compassion and unfailing love.” Joni illustrates over and over in her book how powerfully God’s love touches her at her deepest point of need.
Her chapter headings ask difficult questions:
• What Benefit is there to My Pain?
• How Can I Go On Like This?
• How Can I Bring Him Glory?
• How Do I Regain My Perspective?
This devout, genuine woman answers each question with tender, heartfelt examples from her walk in faith. Suffering can make us bitter or compassionate. Suffering can drive us away from God or make us fly into His arms. A Place of Healing is her testament to the restorative power of loving, committed service to God, no matter what our circumstances. She rejoices in the fact that God had plans for her life much wider, higher and more profound than she ever could imagine. Her last chapter entitled, “Thank you, God, for this Wheelchair” demonstrates that because of her circumstances, not in spite of them, she is happier as a child of God than she ever dreamed possible.
Do you have a friend or relative struggling with grief, financial loss, health issues or physical pain?
Give them a copy of A Place of Healing. May they find comfort in the profound testimony of someone who treads where they walk, albeit, in a wheelchair.
~The reviewer is Holly Weiss, author of Crestomont. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HWeissauthor.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
by Joni Earkeckson Tada
ISBN 978-1596443501
Nonfiction: Christianity
Publisher christianaudio, nonfiction
Originally reviews for Amazon by Holly Weiss, author of Crestmont
Why does God allow pain? Is God concerned with suffering and involved in it? Plato, C.S. Lewis, Rabbi Harold Kushner, Henri Nouwen, the apostle Paul and others have all addressed these age-old questions.
Instead of focusing on how God is involved in the problem of pain, Joni Eareckson Tada chooses instead in her book, A Place of Healing: Wrestling with the Mysteries of Suffering, Pain and God’s Sovereignty, to examine how God can use pain to draw her closer to Himself and lift her above her human sufferings.
Joni, left a quadriplegic from a diving accident four decades ago, is the author of over fifty books and founder of Joni and Friends, an organization devoted to accelerating Christian outreach among those with disabilities. She will serve as the Honorary Chairman of the 2011 National Day of Prayer, held on the First Thursday of May. In addition to coping with the struggles of living from a wheelchair, Joni now has new challenges. She is assaulted with unrelenting, chronic pain and has been diagnosed with cancer.
Her reactions? “Suffering may be a part of God’s…mysterious plan, but God’s intention is always to demonstrate compassion and unfailing love.” Joni illustrates over and over in her book how powerfully God’s love touches her at her deepest point of need.
Her chapter headings ask difficult questions:
• What Benefit is there to My Pain?
• How Can I Go On Like This?
• How Can I Bring Him Glory?
• How Do I Regain My Perspective?
This devout, genuine woman answers each question with tender, heartfelt examples from her walk in faith. Suffering can make us bitter or compassionate. Suffering can drive us away from God or make us fly into His arms. A Place of Healing is her testament to the restorative power of loving, committed service to God, no matter what our circumstances. She rejoices in the fact that God had plans for her life much wider, higher and more profound than she ever could imagine. Her last chapter entitled, “Thank you, God, for this Wheelchair” demonstrates that because of her circumstances, not in spite of them, she is happier as a child of God than she ever dreamed possible.
Do you have a friend or relative struggling with grief, financial loss, health issues or physical pain?
Give them a copy of A Place of Healing. May they find comfort in the profound testimony of someone who treads where they walk, albeit, in a wheelchair.
~The reviewer is Holly Weiss, author of Crestomont. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HWeissauthor.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Noir Short Stories Reviewed: Move Over Stephen King
Title: Bloodstains On The Wall / Three Stories From The Dark Side
Author: Mike Dennis
Author's website link: http://mikedennisnoir.com/
Genre: Noir
ISBN-13: 978-0615455389
ISBN-10: 0615455387
Originally reviewed by Walter Schmida for Amazon
Rating: ***** (five stars)
Enter the 'noir' mind of Mike Dennis and you're in another zone, an area where you suspend disbelief. These three entertaining short stories are eerie in inspiration, spare and terse in their language,and brilliantly original in concept. "Block" especially blew my mind. While fresh and original, it had a Rod Serling feel to it that had me humming the theme from The Twilight Zone. I can't wait to read more stories quarried from the dark side of this guy's mind. Move over Stephen King.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Author: Mike Dennis
Author's website link: http://mikedennisnoir.com/
Genre: Noir
ISBN-13: 978-0615455389
ISBN-10: 0615455387
Originally reviewed by Walter Schmida for Amazon
Rating: ***** (five stars)
Enter the 'noir' mind of Mike Dennis and you're in another zone, an area where you suspend disbelief. These three entertaining short stories are eerie in inspiration, spare and terse in their language,and brilliantly original in concept. "Block" especially blew my mind. While fresh and original, it had a Rod Serling feel to it that had me humming the theme from The Twilight Zone. I can't wait to read more stories quarried from the dark side of this guy's mind. Move over Stephen King.
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Todd Rutherford Reviews Business Book
Title - Escaping Oz: Protecting your wealth during the financial crisis
Author – Jim Mosquera
Website – http://www.escapingoz.com/
BISAC – Business & Economics / Investments & Securities
ISBN (13) - Print: 978-1453891216
ePUB: 978-0983296683
Kindle: 978-0983296607
Originally reviewed by Publishing Guru Todd Rutherford for Amazon.com
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jim Mosquera's Escaping Oz: Protecting your wealth during the financial crisis is an intriguing read that delves into questions about why our economy is in such chaos and confusion. The book, using The Wizard of Oz as a metaphor, encourages citizens to understand what they can do to protect their assets and help eradicate the economic mess plaguing our country. More importantly, Mosquera poses critical questions about our country's political and economic future, detailing precisely how we got to be in this position, and how we're going to get out. There is no "wizard" that's going to come to the rescue and the path this economy is following is certainly not the yellow brick road.
In technical terms, Escaping Oz discusses the number one problem in today's economy: "Our economy became overly dependent on lending and borrowing." However, both lending and borrowing are based on confidence from both sides. In other words, the lender has confidence that the borrower will have the means and sources by which to repay the amount of the loan, and of course, the borrower is confident in his/her ability to repay the loan. Right now, confidence is dragging, to put it nicely.
Jim describes how money has been perceived throughout history, from money in the Americas, to money during the Colonial era, and finally the value of money during the War for Independence. The fact is that money is constantly evolving with respect to its value and its use, both at home and abroad.
More than anything else, however, the book revolves around two concepts familiar to the masses: debt and credit. Jim Mosquera poses a number of eye-opening questions and even bolder statements. For example, he states that today, the evolution of money has taken the form of credit. More specifically, he writes, "As of June 2010, there is approximately $13.8 trillion of credit extended to the United States Government." Interestingly, the deficit facing the government is simply the difference between the revenue accrued and the credit amount allotted to the United States.
Two underlying questions that should set off mental alarms far and wide: if the government could eliminate its entire deficit through taxation alone, why isn't it doing it? Why is it widening the deficit gap by tacking on more credit?
Overall, the parallels between The Wizard of Oz and the wizard known as the United States government make this book an informative and enjoyable read. While there is extensive information on government strategies, there is an entire section (Part III) dedicated to the individual's own business model. Jim Mosquera presents his audience with strategies pertaining to bank, real estate, and stock investing, including managing one's portfolio and planning for the future.
Escaping Oz is a must read! And once you have a copy, you should stand up tall, close your eyes and click your heels together, saying, "There's nothing like being debt free, there's nothing like being debt free, there's nothing like . . ."
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
Author – Jim Mosquera
Website – http://www.escapingoz.com/
BISAC – Business & Economics / Investments & Securities
ISBN (13) - Print: 978-1453891216
ePUB: 978-0983296683
Kindle: 978-0983296607
Originally reviewed by Publishing Guru Todd Rutherford for Amazon.com
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jim Mosquera's Escaping Oz: Protecting your wealth during the financial crisis is an intriguing read that delves into questions about why our economy is in such chaos and confusion. The book, using The Wizard of Oz as a metaphor, encourages citizens to understand what they can do to protect their assets and help eradicate the economic mess plaguing our country. More importantly, Mosquera poses critical questions about our country's political and economic future, detailing precisely how we got to be in this position, and how we're going to get out. There is no "wizard" that's going to come to the rescue and the path this economy is following is certainly not the yellow brick road.
In technical terms, Escaping Oz discusses the number one problem in today's economy: "Our economy became overly dependent on lending and borrowing." However, both lending and borrowing are based on confidence from both sides. In other words, the lender has confidence that the borrower will have the means and sources by which to repay the amount of the loan, and of course, the borrower is confident in his/her ability to repay the loan. Right now, confidence is dragging, to put it nicely.
Jim describes how money has been perceived throughout history, from money in the Americas, to money during the Colonial era, and finally the value of money during the War for Independence. The fact is that money is constantly evolving with respect to its value and its use, both at home and abroad.
More than anything else, however, the book revolves around two concepts familiar to the masses: debt and credit. Jim Mosquera poses a number of eye-opening questions and even bolder statements. For example, he states that today, the evolution of money has taken the form of credit. More specifically, he writes, "As of June 2010, there is approximately $13.8 trillion of credit extended to the United States Government." Interestingly, the deficit facing the government is simply the difference between the revenue accrued and the credit amount allotted to the United States.
Two underlying questions that should set off mental alarms far and wide: if the government could eliminate its entire deficit through taxation alone, why isn't it doing it? Why is it widening the deficit gap by tacking on more credit?
Overall, the parallels between The Wizard of Oz and the wizard known as the United States government make this book an informative and enjoyable read. While there is extensive information on government strategies, there is an entire section (Part III) dedicated to the individual's own business model. Jim Mosquera presents his audience with strategies pertaining to bank, real estate, and stock investing, including managing one's portfolio and planning for the future.
Escaping Oz is a must read! And once you have a copy, you should stand up tall, close your eyes and click your heels together, saying, "There's nothing like being debt free, there's nothing like being debt free, there's nothing like . . ."
-----
The New Book Review is blogged by Carolyn Howard-Johnson, author of the multi award-winning HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers. 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, reviewers who'd like to see their reviews get more exposure, and readers who want to shout out praise of books they've read. Please see submission guidelines on the left of this page. Reviews and essays are indexed by genre, reviewer names, and review sites. Writers will find the search engine handy for gleaning the names of small publishers. Find other writer-related blogs at Sharing with Writers and The Frugal, Smart and Tuned-In Editor. As a courtesy to the author, please tweet and retweet this post using this little green retweet widget :
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