Jamie August, Journalist Detective, Star of Mystery Series

TITLE: Ocean City Lowdown: A Jamie August Mystery

By Kim Kash
LENGTH: 204 pages, 60-80k words
GENRE: Mystery
AUDIENCE: Adult
PUBLISHER: Capri House/Amazon Kindle
Buy it on Amazon
Find it on Goodreads
Like it on Facebook
Follow Kim on Twitter: @kash_kim
Explore Kim's website: kimkash.com

 

 

Reviewed  by Lynne Hinkey originally for Underground Book Reviews

THE RATING
4.5 stars  THE RUNDOWN
Jamie August covers "happy things, local people doing good, the latest rattan furnishings..." and other lightweight stories in Ocean City, Maryland for the lifestyle section of the community paper: The Weekly Breeze. But she aspires to cover real news as an investigative reporter. When her editor assigns her to write about the grand opening of Bayview Preserve, the flagship community for Ivory Enterprises, Jamie might have her chance as she uncovers more than just some interior design tips.

Arriving at Ivory Enterprises headquarters, Jamie is introduced to Jonathan Ivory, the scion of Ivory Enterprises, who will be taking her on a tour of the luxury gated community. He's also a previous evening's nameless one-night-stand. While touring Bayview Preserve, he lets his true colors slip through his polished exterior, and Jamie suspects he's hiding more than just a wife from her. Before long, a trail of fires and dead bodies lead Jamie into the dark underbelly of Ivory Enterprises long history of kickbacks, payoffs, blackmail, environmental degradation, and murder.

Early on, the story is slowed down by a glut of details on Jamie August's trailer-trash inspired outfits - and she seems to have a costume change for every scene. This initially might undermine reader confidence that the heroine will be able to pull off any serious investigative reporting. Although she does manage to get herself out of some harrowing situations, she often relies on men to come to her rescue, weakening what's otherwise, a strong female lead character. The action really takes off about one third of the way in, and after that, Jamie - and the story - really come alive.

Ocean City during the cold and desolation of the off-season plays nicely as a backdrop for the action. This is the first in a series of books, so introducing the setting and recurring characters in the semi-isolation of winter leaves a lot of potential for future installments to stir things up during the excitement of summer in this popular tourist destination.

The crisp, clean writing, superb editing and complex conspiracies involving real-estate tycoons, arsonists, and corrupt academics and politicians, make Ocean City Lowdownan action-packed thriller. While it takes some time to hit full stride, Kim Kash has written a resourceful and determined heroine in Jamie August. Ocean City Lowdown is fast-paced, well-crafted, edge-of-the-seat crime thriller to add to the summer reading list.


THE RECOMMENDATION
Fans of well-crafted crime and detective stories will enjoy Ocean City Lowdown with itswise-cracking, not-by-the-book investigator. Put away the notion that this book is aimed at female readers. Anyone looking for the mild-mannered lady detective usually found in G-rated cozy-mysteries won't find her here - Jamie August is no wallflower and has no problem using her sexuality to get what she wants. She can hold her own in the hardboiled detective tradition.

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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.

Story Circle Book Reviews "Tender Love Story"

Title: Blue Hydrangeas, an Alzheimer's love story
Author: Marianne Sciucco
Author's Web site link: http://mariannesciucco.blogspot.com
Date of release: April 22, 2013
Publisher: Bunky Press
Genre: Contemporary, romance
ISBN: 0989559203
Available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook on Amazon, iBooks, Nook, Kobo, iTunes, and Audible
Purchase links:
Paperback.  Kindle. iBooks. Kobo. Barnes & Noble.

Audiobook.

Reviewed by Lee Ambrose originally for Story Circle Book Reviews

Blue Hydrangeas is, by far, the most tender love story I've read in a very long time. While not a "happily ever after" love story, Blue Hydrangeas is sure to be one you will ponder for some time after you have finished reading it.   The subtitle is "an Alzheimer's love story." But while the book tackles the reality of life with Alzheimer's (for the person diagnosed with it as well as the friends and family members coping with it) Blue Hydrangeas is not just another book about Alzheimer's. It is a tale of a woman whose whole life has been up-ended by her disease. It is a tale of the man who loves her deeply and wants nothing more than to stay with her at their home for the rest of their days. It is a tale of close family members and friends who want to help but are often at a loss to know what to do or how to help. And, perhaps most importantly, it is a gentle reminder to confront the past, face the future and live each and every moment to its fullest.   After 50 years of marriage, Jack and Sara Harmon have shared many celebrations and crises but none as encompassing as the disease which is slowly taking away Sara's memory and personality. They have had children and lost one to an unfortunate drowning accident on the Cape. They have welcomed countless people into their successful bed and breakfast establishment and enjoyed serving their guests with comfort and hospitality. Jack has had a successful career as a pharmaceutical rep. Sara has enjoyed success as a local artist whose paintings are seen all over the Cape Cod area. Now, she doesn't remember the daughter who drowned, even when seeing pictures in her treasured photo albums. There are times when she doesn't recognize her grandson. Before her keys were taken away, there were incidents where she'd leave to drive ten minutes to the market for one item and return more than two hours later with nothing in hand. Many are the mornings when Jack awakens in the wee hours to the sounds of pots and pans clanging in the kitchen and discover Sara in the process of "making breakfast for our guests"—even though the bed and breakfast has been closed for years and there are no guests. Life is anything but what they'd hoped it would be when they planned for their later years together.   Sciucco has written a poignant tale that embraces the good times, celebrates the importance of family and reminiscing, and brings to light the deeply painful struggles a caregiver goes through, trying to be realistic yet honoring promises made to a then-healthier spouse. The author very deftly uses the techniques of reminiscing as key elements in her story: Time spent going through photo albums so that Sara can relate her memories of the persons and events. Drives down familiar roads. Daily routines that bring order into an otherwise chaotic life. And all of it done with tenderness, compassion, honesty and integrity. She has captured some of the real-life hardships for those with the disease, as well as for their caregivers.   Jack promised Sara that they would stay together forever at their lovely Cape Cod home, Blue Hydrangeas. But Jack's health issues can no longer be ignored, and after nine years of caring for Sara, he must admit that it is sometimes an overwhelming task. When the time comes for him to place Sara in a care facility, a spur-of-the-moment road trip brings the story full circle, unites the family in a plan that will honor the health and emotional needs of both Sara and Jack, and leaves the reader feeling the power of a love story well-told.   ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Marianne Sciucco is the author of  Swim Season, coming  2015 and Blue Hydrangeas, an Alzheimer's love story. Learn more about her at
Adventures in Publishing Website and Get a free PDF of her short story "Ino's Love." Find her on Twitter where she enjoys tweeting about my writing life. Check out her Amazon page.

Marianne Sciucco about.me/sciuccomarianne

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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.

Arrgh! Pirates in Paperback, Hardcover and E-book!

Title: Arrgh!

Author: Stacey R. Campbell

Illustrator: M.S. Corley

Date of Release: Nov. 1, 2014)

Genre: Middle Grade / Adventure

Publisher: Green Darner Press (November 1, 2014)

ISBN-13: 978-0988478442

Hard Cover and Paperback available on Amazon

(282 pages)

Ebook available on Kindle

ASIN: B00MX7ATRM

Author Website: http://www.staceyrcampbell.com

 

 

Reviewed  by Marlan Warren originally for L.A. Now and Then 

 

"Arrgh!" is a true treasure: Five not-easy lessons on the high seas. Stacey R. Campbell's Kidnapped-by-Pirates tale is greater than the sum of its title.

 

This Coming of Age Voyage takes off like a cannon blast when a runaway orphan finds himself forced onto a cargo ship by pirates posing as merchant seamen, and gathers momentum with inventive action until its gratifying conclusion.

 

Thirteen-year-old Christopher has escaped from an orphanage to search for family members. Ironically, he is nabbed off the street by two pirate thugs who pass him off to the ship's captain as a relative. Threatened with death if he does not pretend to be mute, Christopher enters a world of repressed silence—broken only during moments when he can communicate with Leo the Attack-for-Hire Mouse who comes to his assistance as a kind of life coach. The trained and certified Leo sets about teaching the timid youth Five Life Lessons.

 

Campbell deftly melds fantasy with reality; excitement with education; and classical storytelling with contemporary sensibility that honors Friendship, Family and Literacy.

 

As in "Peter Pan," there is a line between non-adult and adult perceptions and abilities. When Christopher is befriended by the Captain's twelve-year-old daughter Lucy, it turns out that she can also understand the talking animals who come their way because she is not an adult. And when the duo find themselves stranded on an island, they revel in it as a paradise where they can do whatever they want without adult interference.

 

In a world where many are illiterate, Lucy begins to crack the mystery of Christopher when she sees him reading books from her father’s library.

 

Herein lie the expected dark moments and violence of the genre. However, Christopher and Lucy achieve their victories through The Power of the Plan—hopping from plan to plan as their fates shift.

 

The biggest lesson comes to Christopher when he must stay on the island without Lucy, and subdue the pirates with only the assistance of animal helpers. He comes out of it with this newfound truth: "I was never alone."

 

Young readers will be enthralled by the vivid imagery that makes up the swashbuckling action sequences, as well as the evocative sights and smells of this time period. A Glossary of Nautical Terms opens the book. Lessons include such vintage practical gems as how to manage a galleon in a storm. M.S. Corley's beautiful vintage-style illustrations would be at home in the earliest editions of any classic pirate tale.

 

How does it end? Here's a hint: Lesson Number Five brought tears to my eyes.

 

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Learn more about the review Marlan Warren at Roadmap Girl's Book Buzz

http://roadmapgirlsbookbuzz.blogspot.com/

 

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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.

Inspirational Author Review Inspiration Self Help Book

Title: Control Your Now
Author: Sharon Salvaggio
Author Website: http://sharonsalvaggio.com
FB fan page: https://www.facebook.com/smcgannsalvaggio?fref=ts
Book trailer
ISBN: 978-1-62854-342-1
Genre: Self help

"This pocket sized book is full of great ideas, tools and
exercises that anyone can use to help them control your now. I
enjoyed reading as the author provided simple but effective
elements throughout the book."


Reviewed by: Teresa Morrow


Sharon Salvaggio  is a life coach that shares her philosophy
that we as individuals can "control our now" through gentle
understanding and patience with life's ups and downs. As a
former corporate financial officer, Sharon takes her business
and personal experiences and threads them into her work as a
coach, speaker and author.  In her latest book, Control Your
Now, she integrates her philosophy and chronicles what she has
learned through various practices such as Accountability and
Allowing Success. She believes that everyone is responsible for
how they deal with their own lives. She briefly lived in Belize
in 2002 for 3 months. Sharon currently lives in Florida with her
husband Steve, their kids and her dog, Apollo.

Sign up to receive free report "10 ways to Control Your Now" at
SharonSalvaggio.com.

Submitted By:
Teresa Morrow aka The Author's Cheerleader
http://teresamorrow.com 
Working with spiritual authors to get their unique message out
to the world. She is also host of "Inspiration Nation Radio"
http://blogtalkradio.com/inspirationnation, Sharing Inspiration through the World of Words, and an
inspirational author, blogger, poet and author of 'Life Lessons from the Heart'
and 'Healing from Broken Trust: A Journey of Transformation'

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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.

Book Review: Fresh Look at Business Leadership

Title:   Hanging the Mirror: The discipline of Reflective Leadership

Book Website/blog:  http://www.hangingthemirror.com/

 

Authors: Alan Scheffer, Mark Scheffer, Nancy Braun

ISBN:  978-1-60047-758-4
Reviewed by Kirkus
Genre/Subject: Leadership, Management, Organizational Development
Soft cover, 171 pages
Available from:  Book website, Amazon, Barns and Noble

KIRKUS REVIEW

Three management consultants take a fresh look at business leadership in a work that will enlighten and inspire.

 

These three debut authors have crafted an impressive book, one that is highly readable, instructional and humanistic in its approach to leadership. The title is derived from a client comment that the authors’ company “pushed each of us to hang a mirror and really take a look at what we saw.” The premise that leaders need to be “reflective” to be effective is played out in finely tuned, well-organized chapters that move through topics including motivation, vision, recognition, involvement and communication. The authors’ keen insights, enhanced by liberal use of authoritative sources, pervade each chapter, offering leaders much to ponder. The authors ask provocative questions—“To what extent do leaders use their authority for employees or onthem?”—and raise deep issues: e.g., “Only when self-reflection incorporates the views and perceptions of others, only when we reach beyond our own beliefs and expectations, can it be said that we have truly hung the mirror” and “The hard reality is that many of us do not really value the thinking of others and do not believe that it can improve our own.” Wisely, the authors devote the majority of the book to self-reflection, guiding readers with relevant examples, sound counsel and end-of-chapter questions. Still, the authors broaden their concept to demonstrate how a reflective leader can help create a reflective organization. They concentrate on the leader’s responsibility to build organizational unity by “defining the culture to which they aspire” and by paying attention “not only to their own effectiveness, but also to the effectiveness of each leader within their scope of authority.” The authors come full circle in the final chapter, “Living the Reflective Life,” in which they describe some of the key characteristics inherent in living a reflective life: “Only through reflection do we become everything we could be.”

Deftly written and researched, perceptive and relevant; an important addition to leadership literature.

 

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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.

Book Review: Imagine a Universe on the Edge

• Title: Rarity from the Hollow
• Author: Robert Eggleton
• Web site link: www.lacydawnadventures.com
• Genre: Nontraditional SF/F, Cross-Genre
• ISBN: 9781907133060; 1907133062
• Name of Reviewer:  Bryan Zepp Jamieson  
• Journal: The Electric Review, A Universe on the Edge
• Publishd 2012 by Doghorn Publishing

 

Reviewed by Bryan Zepp Jamieson originally for Electric Review.net

Lacy Dawn is a little girl who lives in a magical forest where all the trees love her and she has a space alien friend who adores her and wants to make her queen of the universe. What’s more, all the boys admire her for her beauty and brains. Mommy is very beautiful and Daddy is very smart, and Daddy’s boss loves them all.

Excerpt

Lacy Dawn, the eleven year old protagonist, perches precariously between the psychosis of childhood and the multiple neuroses of adolescence, buffeted by powerful gusts of budding sexuality and infused with a yearning to escape the grim and brutal life of a rural Appalachian existence. In this world, Daddy is a drunk with severe PTSD, and Mommy is an insecure wraith. The boss is a dodgy lecher, not above leering at the flat chest of an eleven-year-old girl.

Yes, all in one book.

Rarity From The Hollow is written in a simple declarative style that’s well- suited to the imaginary diary of a desperate but intelligent eleven-year-old – the story bumping joyfully between the extraordinary and the banal.

The central planet of the universe is a vast shopping mall, and Lacy Dawn must save her world from a menace that arrives in the form of a cockroach infestation. Look again and the space alien has made Daddy smart and happy – or at least an eleven year old girl’s notion of what a smart and happy man should be. He has also made Mommy beautiful, giving her false teeth and getting the food stamp lady off her back.

About the only thing in the book that is believable is the nature of the narrative voice, and it is utterly compelling. You find yourself convinced that “Hollow” was written as a diary-based autobiography by a young girl and the banal stems from the limits of her environment, the extraordinary from her megalomania. And that’s what gives Rarity From The Hollow a chilling, engaging verisimilitude that deftly feeds on both the utter absurdity of the characters’ motivations and on the progression of the plot.

Indeed, there are moments of utter darkness: In one sequence, Lacy Dawn remarks matter-of-factly that a classmate was whipped to death, and notes that the assailant, the girl’s father, had to change his underpants afterward because they were soiled with semen. Odd, and often chilling notes, abound.

As I was reading it, I remembered when I first read Vonnegut’s “Cat’s Cradle” at the age of 14. A veteran of Swift, Heller, and Frederick Brown, I understood absurdist humour in satire, but Vonnegut took that understanding and turned it on its ear.

In the spirit of Vonnegut, Eggleton (a psychotherapist focused on the adolescent patient) takes the genre and gives it another quarter turn. A lot of people hated Vonnegut, saying he didn’t know the rules of good writing. But that wasn’t true. Vonnegut knew the rules quite well, he just chose to ignore them, and that is what is happening in Eggleton’s novel, as well.

Not everyone will like Rarity From The Hollow. Nonetheless, it should not be ignored.

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Purchase Links:

 http://www.amazon.com/Rarity-Hollow-Robert-Eggleton-ebook/dp/B007JDI508

 http://www.doghornpublishing.com/wordpress/books/rarity-from-the-hollow

 http://inpressbooks.co.uk/products/rarity-from-the-hollow

 http://www.lulu.com/us/en/shop/robert-eggleton/rarity-from-the-hollow/paperback/product-20203207.html

 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rarity-from-the-hollow-robert-eggleton/1118420669?ean=9781907133060

 http://www.mediander.com/books/9781907133060/rarity-from-the-hollow/?source=googleps#

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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.

Linguistics Professor Recommends Historical Fiction Novel

Title: Sydney's Story
Author: Eileen Clemens Granfors
Word Joy Publishing
Genre: Historical Fiction
250 pages
Buy: Paperback or Kindle

Reviewed by B. A. Goodman, Ph.D., originally for Amazon

A Great Literary and Historical Contribution

 

With this book, Eileen Granfors has managed to transport us with words and imagery to the bedlam that was 18th century England and France. She has also managed to show us the events within this context that happened to young Sydney Carton that explain his actions in the Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities. As a teacher, I would hold this volume up as required reading for all students after reading A Tale of Two Cities, to inspire them to think and write beyond the page of a single story. Having developed this entire history of Sydney Carton with only the slightest hints from the original about Carton’s upbringing reveals Ms. Granfors’ excellent research and dazzling imagination as Sydney grows from an abusive childhood to rebellious teen and finally, the loving hero of Luci Manette and of those who love the original Dickens’ book. Taking on modern tones, Ms. Granfors wisely incorporated themes of domestic abuse and domestic equality as well as the eighteenth century’s discrimination against the Romany people.

ABOUT THE REVIEWER
 Dr.  B. A. Goodman has a PhD is in Educational Linguistics. She is teaching multilingual education at Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education in Astana, Kazakhstan.




----- 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.