Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; Mass Paperback Edition edition (December 2, 2002)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0446612731
ISBN-13: 978-0446612739
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Characters:
Harry Bosch – Detective, LAPD
Eleanor Wish – FBI Partner
Synopsis:
A body is found in a sewer pipe, dead from an apparent drug overdose. The investigation shows that it may have been murder. Harry Bosch is assigned to investigate. Turns out the victim was an old war buddy of his. This case won’t be easy, because Harry has his own department, Internal Affairs, and the FBI working agaisnt him.
Review:
This was a whodunit/howdunit in the old fashioned since. A lot of “mysteries” today fal more into the thriller category. You know who the killer is, but the detective doesn’t. This uses investigative skills, forensics, etc. to actually solve the case.
The story really grabbed my attention. I liked the relationship between Harry and Eleanor. I enjoyed the plot, and it did what it was supposed to, keep me turning the pages.
If there was one issue about it, it’s that I solved it before Harry did, but only partially. There were still plenty of surprises after I thought I knew who did it.
If you like detective stories, pick up The Black Echo, I think you’ll enjoy it.
You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; January 10, 2011
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1455500240
ISBN-13: 978-1455500246
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Characters:
Mickey Haller – Defense Attorney.
Mary Windsor – Louis’ Mother.
Louis Ross Roulet – Client
Cecil C. Dobbs – Windsor Family Lawyer.
Fernando Valenzuela – Bail Bondsman.
Margaret McPherson – Deputy District Attorney, Haller’s Ex Wife.
Raul Levin – Private Investigator.
Lorna Taylor – Mickey’s assistant and 2nd Ex Wife.
Synopsis:
A man is acccused by a woman of savagely attacking her. The man claims he’s innocent and hires defense attorney Mickey Haller to handle his case. Mickey runs into problems with his client’s honesty, pressure from the man’s family, uncoooperative police, and a district attorney who may not be on the level.
Review:
This was my first time reading Michael Connelly’s books. I liked the story, and there were enough twists to keep my interest. The characters were well developed, and there was a nice balance between plot and story. There were subplots of 2 or 3 other cases, and conflict from not one but two ex wives.
There is also conflict in whether or not his client is innocent? Haller struggles emotionally over cases he’s lost. This really adds depth to his character, and you can see him grow from what seems like an ambulance chaser at the beginning, to a lawyer who cares by the end.
I have a feeling though, that those changes will be short lived.
There were some strong situations, and language. But overall nothing you wouldn’t expect from a thriller, and it was an interesting story from beginning to end, and raised some questions about our justice system while entertaining you.
If you get the chance, pick it up. It’s still early in the series. Book 3 is soon to be released, and book 2, The Brass Verdict is in stores now.
You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.
Hardcover: 128 pages
Publisher: A & N Publishing; 1st edition (February 1, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0982073542
ISBN-13: 978-0982073544
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Characters:
Elijah King – Mysterious Security Guard
Tom Wagner – On a mission to find out the purpose of a coin.
Allen Baker – Unemployed man seeking Elijah.
Faith and Ricky Elston – A mother and son down on their luck.
Vic Lasters – A man told to find Tom to handle his problems.
Keith Elston – Faith’s abusive husband.
Richmond Davies – Software Giant
Kendall McDaniel – Lawyer
William Leary – Works for a homeless shelter.
Synopsis:
A young man with serious problems runs into a security guard while robbing a store. The security guard takes his license and makes him come back for 3 nights. On the 3rd night, the guard is gone. Tom is left only with a coin engraved with EK on one side and GTG on the other, and no clue what they mean. He sets out to find out what this coin is for, and finds his purpose in life along the way.
Review:
This book is a quick book to read. Probably 2-3 hours. The man’s journey is portrayed in a realistic manner, and you seem him evolve as a person. In the beginning, he’s an angry man. With good reason. His mother was murdered, and the killer was never caught. But in the end he learns lessons that he carries through in his life, and these lessons are all based off the coin.
I found the characters to be developed okay. Tom’s character, and that of Faith and Allen were the most developed. The others you didn’t get to see a lot of their characters, but in the brief time, you knew what they were like as people.
There were some interesting swtiches in the end, and overall it proved to be a very good story. I’d definitely recommend it for church youth groups, etc. There may have been a little strong language, but I don’t recall, but the message is definitely something that all people can follow regardless of their religious preferences.
*Disclaimer* A special thanks goes out to Rebecca at The Cadence Group for a review copy of this book. It in no way influenced my review.
You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.
Would Getting the Economy On Track Give Us A Free Pass Out of the Federal Budget Mess?
By Scott Bittle and Jean Johnson,
Authors of Where Does the Money Go? Rev Ed: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis
It looks like the country might finally be gearing up to tackle our massive federal deficits and growing federal debt. If history is any guide, serious debate about unpleasant things like cutting popular programs and raising taxes will be accompanied by plenty of people hawking miracle cures that will take away our pain.
So it’s no surprise that a lot of commentators, on both the left and the right, say that the real answer to the deficit and national debt is to fire up the economy and “grow our way out of it,” with some even calling economic growth “the miracle deficit cure.”
There’s hardly anything more popular than prosperity. Business people thrive when the economy is growing; it creates jobs and rising incomes so workers like it too. If you’re a comic book fan, even super-villains like Lex Luthor and the Penguin enjoy the benefits. With their far-flung business dealings, they pretty much pursued a pro-growth policy. For them, a growing economy meant there’s that much more to steal.
The truth is that we do need healthy economic growth to balance the budget. The other truth is that a growing economy simply won’t be enough.
If the economy grows, the government takes in more tax revenue, because businesses are more profitable and people are earning more money. Plus, if the overall economy is growing faster than the government is piling up debt, then the national debt keeps becoming a smaller and less troublesome part of the overall economic pie. Think of it like swimming with the tide, rather than against it. This is exactly what happened after World War II, when the national debt was at its historical peak in comparison to the whole economy.
The post-war boom played a huge role in getting the debt down. So why isn’t economic growth enough? The first catch is that all the projections say the national debt is going to grow faster than the economy, not the other way around.
Because of the double whammy of rising health care costs and an aging population, spending on Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security will grow faster than the overall economy will. Without changes, spending on these programs will grow so fast that there’s no way the economy could keep up.
What’s striking is how many analysts agree on this. That’s the assessment of all three of the government’s budget agencies: The White House Office of Management and Budget (under both Bush and Obama), the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, and the Government Accountability Office. It’s stated flatly in the Financial Report of the United States Government, the government’s equivalent of a corporate annual report. Independent experts tell exactly the same story: “No reasonably foreseeable rate of economic growth would overcome this structural deficit,” concluded the Committee on the Fiscal Future of the United States, a panel set up by the National Research Council and the National Academy of Public Administration. Those projections are the reason why all these groups consider the federal budget “unsustainable.”
There’s also the irritating fact of life that experts can’t agree on what we should do to unleash all this growth anyway. In fact, you can easily find an economist or a think tank who will argue that almost anything will expand the economy. Anything.
“Cut taxes! Cut regulation! Get government out of the way! It’ll spur growth!” say the conservatives.
“Spend more! Crack down on Wall Street! Close the income gap! Invest in education, and infrastructure. It’ll spur growth!” say the liberals.
And even with a growing economy, we still need to get spending in line with revenues. You know all those athletes and Hollywood stars who make millions and still wind up in bankruptcy court? Even when the money pours in, you still have to make ends meet.
We absolutely need economic growth. We need it to help solve our fiscal problems, and we need it for the jobs and prosperity all of us want. But there’s a big difference between “we can’t solve our budget problems if the economy doesn’t grow” and “if the economy grows everything will be fine.”
In the end, we have to make some decisions – – like deciding what we want the government to do for us, and what we’re willing to pay for it.
Scott Bittle, author of Where Does the Money Go? Rev Ed: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis, is the executive editor of PublicAgenda.org, twice nominated for the Webby Award as best political site. He is also an award-winning journalist.
Author Bios
Jean Johnson, co-author of Where Does the Money Go? Rev Ed: Your Guided Tour to the Federal Budget Crisis, is the Executive Vice President of Public Agenda, has more then 20 years of experience understanding public attitudes on a broad range of issues. She has also written for various publications such as USA Today, Education Week, and the Huffington Post.
Today we’re pleased to Welcome Julius Thompson to our site.. Mr. Thompson is the author of Ghost of Atlanta, the third book in a trilogy.
About the Author (From his website):
Julius Thompson grew up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York and attended Bushwick High School. The sixties in Brooklyn was an era that had a personality, a feel, and a life-force that changed a generation. Mr. Thompson felt this energy and experienced these fires of social change.
After high school, Mr. Thompson spent the next four years riding the “A” train to Harlem, in upper Manhattan, to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree from the City College of New York. At CCNY, which was located just a few blocks from the famous Apollo Theater, Wednesday afternoons was hard on the undergraduates. The matinee performances of the major R&B groups of the times were more tempting than attending a boring college lecture. Most of the time Mr. Thompson succumbed to the temptation, but still earned a college degree from one of the best universities in the country.
At CCNY, literature instructors like Prof. Thomas Tashiro, fueled the fire in him to become a writer!
Mr. Thompson’s journey to compose a trilogy began in 1995. The fourteen year fictional journey of character Andy Michael Pilgrim from Brooklyn, to Philadelphia and finally Atlanta is now complete. In this pilgrimage, readers experience places that are filled with hopes, dreams, challenges and fears that make us human.
The novels that make up the trilogy are A Brownstone in Brooklyn which was published in 2001, Philly Style and Philly Profile in 2007 and Ghost of Atlanta which will be published the first week of January 2011.
Mr. Thompson received the Georgia Author of the Year nomination for Philly Style and Philly Profile, from the Georgia Writers Association, in 2007.
Mr. Thompson is writing his fourth novel, Purple Phantoms, which is a story about the haunting of a mythical high school basketball team.
Mr. Thompson is currently a Creative Writing/Publishing Instructor at Atlanta’s Evening at Emory’s Writers Studio. For more information please visit him at www.ghostofatlanta.com.
About Ghost of Atlanta:
In The Ghost of Atlanta, Andy Michael Pilgrim faces demons from his youth that haunted his life. These are the ghosts in the crawl spaces of his life; some are real and some supernatural.
After landing a job with The Atlanta Defender, Andy returns home and visits the place where he finally faces remembrances of his deceased abusive father. While walking around the grounds, he meets his mysterious cousin, Joe Boy, and finds out that the property is going to be sold by unscrupulous cousins.
While Andy fights this battle, he must confront the personal demon of a possible drug addiction, breaking the color barrier at the south’s largest newspaper, The Atlanta Defender, meeting his old girl friend and fighting the lingering effects of segregation in small-town Georgia life.
As the story unwinds, all these forces push Andy toward the breaking point, where he almost quits on life. Malevolent mortal deeds are committed and Andy could be next in line.
“The Ghost of Atlanta” is, overall, a superbly written book. 5 stars!~Readers Favorite
Rhodes Review: Tell me about your current book?
Julius: In Ghost of Atlanta, Andy Michael Pilgrim faces demons from his youth. These are the ghosts in the crawl spaces of his life; some are real and some supernatural.
While Andy fights this battle, he must confront the personal demon of a possible drug addiction, meeting his old girl friend, breaking the color barrier at the south’s largest newspaper and fighting the lingering effects of segregation in small-town Georgia life.
As the story unwinds, all these forces push Andy toward the breaking point, where he almost quits on life. Malevolent mortal deeds are committed and Andy could be next in line.
“The Ghost of Atlanta” is, overall, a superbly written book. 5 stars! ~Readers Favorite
Rhodes Review: Care to tell our readers about your background in writing?
Julius: I’ve been a writer since I was a sophomore at Bushwick High School in Brooklyn, New York. I wrote for my high school newspaper and then at The City College of New York.
After College I worked as a copy boy with the New York Times and then as a full-time sportswriter with the Philadelphia Bulletin and a part-time sportswriter with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Gradually, after leaving the newspaper business and becoming a high school Language Art teacher my interest moved toward the world of fiction. In 1995, I started the first book of the trilogy, A Brownstone in Brooklyn that was published in 2001 then Philly Style and Philly Profile in 2007. That book garnered me a Georgia Author of The year Nomination.
And now, Ghost of Atlanta, the final book in the trilogy was published in January 2011.
Rhodes Review: Have you always wanted to write?
Julius: I knew I had this ability to write, but the motivation and confidence was zero. What developed confidence in my writing ability occurred when I was a junior at Bushwick High School in Brooklyn, New York.
I got up enough nerve to ask my English teacher, Miss Egan, the question. If the answer was negative, all my hopes and dreams of becoming the next great writer would be dashed.
I knocked hard on the door to her office, entered, and asked her, “Can I be a writer?”
She stared at me for a few seconds and then said, “Do it!”
I haven’t looked back.
Rhodes Review: What is your writing process like?
Julius: Without a doubt my best work is done late night around 11:00 p.m. It feels like early morning, the ideas start to flow, my minds’ eye is filled with the visuals.
Rhodes Review: Where do you usually get your muse/inspirations?
Julius: The inspiration for writing the trilogy came from the people I’ve known, loved and imagined over the years and the situations I’ve encountered.
As a college student in New York City in the sixties, I experienced the sit-ins at The City College of New York while looking at the gates of City College shut tight and wondering if I was going to graduate.
I can still smell the smoke from the burning buildings during the Brooklyn riots. From incidents like these the genesis of the trilogy evolved.
Rhodes Review: What led you to come up with the story for your current book?
Julius: This is the end of Andy’s journey. I needed to see him come full circle, but most the maturation of his character, both physically and mentally. He’s learned you can’t control or change every negative thing that happens. It’s part of life and you have to adjust and live your life to the fullest.
Rhodes Review: How long did you spend writing your current book?
Julius: I spent two years writing, rewriting, rethinking Ghost of Atlanta, and a year finding the right Publisher. I’m thrilled with my current publisher, Passionate Writer Publishing. The wait was worthwhile!
Rhodes Review: How much research is involved in writing?
Julius: In writing the trilogy the research was pretty easy, these places were home. The settings are real places with real streets and building structures. Everything needed to be exact. I revisited all the places to make sure my memory was correct.
Rhodes Review: What’s your newest writing project?
Julius: I’m working on my fourth novel, Purple Phantoms, which is the story of the haunting of a high school basketball team. What sparked my interest in writing this book, as a basketball coach, I’ve seen too many young athletes die at an early age. I’m about 35, 000 words into the project.
Rhodes Review: Where can readers find you?
Julius: Readers can visit me on Facebook, Twitter and my websites: www.jtwrites.com and www.ghostofatlanta.com . I’d love to chat and answer any questions about my books and the writing process.
I’m a Creative Writing instructor at Evening at Emory, a program of Emory University in Atlanta.
I will be glad to help any reader or writer with any information that will help them become a published author.
Rhodes Review: I’d like to thank Mr. Thompson for taking this time to talk to my readers and tell you a little bit about himself.
Bruno Littlemore – An evolved chimpanzee.
Lydia Littlemore – His keeper.
Leon – A Shakespearean friend.
Synopsis:
What happens when a chimpanzee evolves to the point of possessing language. What would he say? How would he react? How is mankind different than the Chimpanzee? Bruno Littlemore is such a chimp, and he dicates his adventures from the zoo to New York, to where he finally ends up imprisoned.
Review:
This is undoubedly one of the most unusual books I’ve ever read. I went through a ton of different feelings during the process of reading it. Initially it was revulsion. There were some scenes of very intense taboo sexual matters that bothered me to even think about. But then I decided that I’d agreed to review it, so I needed to continue on and finish the job I started.
This book wasn’t truly about a chimp. It wasn’t about his love affair with woman. It wasn’t even about his evolution. I think deep down, the story was about mankind. This was mankind as seen by an outsider (Bruno) and what it meant to be human, and what separated us from the other primates.
That is when I was glad I’d read this book. It is one that brings about a lot of questions. It raises a lot of issues for discussions. It makes you question whether or not we humans are truly as evolved as we like to pretend. As some scenes in this book show, Bruno is more civilized then some humans.
There’s a lot of strong language in this book. Very strong sexual content. And some graphic violent imagery. It’s definitely not a book for young readers. I’d say it might be safe for those 16 and older, but parents might want to read it first to be able to discuss the issues with their child.
Apparently this book has been hyped about immensely since last June, and was just recently released. I was glad to get a copy to review, since I probably wouldn’t have chosen it otherwise. The publisher is 12 which is a group that only publishes one book a month. At first, I had no idea why they chose this, but now that I’ve read it, I get it. It makes you think, really think.
If you don’t get offended easily, and want something different, pick this up. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it.
About the Author:
Benjamin Hale is a graduate of the Iowa Writers Workshop, where he received a Provost’s Fellowship to complete his novel, which also went on to win a Michener-Copernicus Award. He has been a night shift baker, a security guard, a trompe l’oeil painter, a pizza deliverer, a cartoonist, an illustrator and a technical writer. He grew up in Colorado and now lives in New York.
You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.
Eloquent Enraptures and author Ami Blackwelder proudly presents the six part science fiction/paranormal romance saga! Like nothing you have ever experienced!
Shifters of 2040:
“I’m pregnant. Her eyes peered over the edge of the cloth and confronted her mirrored reflection with that truth. I’m pregnant…by a SHIFTER. Oh, god!”
In “The Shifters of 2040,” Scientist Melissa Marn finds her world swirling on its axis with that one revelation. Shifters — a sentient alien species of light — look to Earth for refuge. In doing so, both shifters and humans are forced to confront prejudice, betrayal, adversity and oppression.
Methodical scientist, Melissa Marn, and her coworker, Dr. Bruce Wilder, conduct experiments on the shifters. Through her pregnancy, she becomes more compassionate and humane and finds herself defending the very species she’s supposed to eradicate.
One of the hybrids, Diamond, falls in love with Keenan, a soldier trained to kill her. Between the four, the reader is led from conflict to resolution, from despair to hope, from loneliness to love.
Much of the book’s originality lies in the shifters, common characters in science fiction, but whose origins are rarely explained. In this series, their alien DNA allows them to metamorphose into not just wolves, but a variety of animals. As the plot unfolds, the shifters discover they can have children with humans — hybrids.
Strengths of the novel include the complex characters, its writing style of poetic prose and rich description, and the well developed, thought-provoking, yet highly entertaining plot.
This fast paced book will appeal to the young adult and adult market. It fits nicely into the paranormal romance and science fiction romance genres and would make a great movie, a captivating TV series and an intriguing video game.
Readers will enjoy the fresh approach and original concept of the world thirty years from now, and will find the characters come to life in their minds long after they read “The End.”
Shifter Evolutions video and purchase options at her website.
Character Interview: This interview will be conducted for the characters of the Shifters of 2040. Scientist Melissa Marn and the hybrid Diamond.
Do you always love what you can’t have?
Melissa Marn: The Smithsonian, Bruce Wilder. I guess I do. But my life is controlled by the SCM now, by my father and General Raul. They decided this fate for me. If I had my way, I’d run off with Bruce somewhere far away…
Diamond: I fell in love with the enemy on accident. I didn’t plan to love Keenan, the military soldier sworn to kill me and my kind. He didn’t plan to love me. We just happened.
If you were a quality?
Melissa Marn: The River. I am methodical like waves. I do the job needed to be done, whatever the cost of erosion, and flow continually. Close to the Earth, but I am cold, because the SCM coaxed me since fifteen, and trained me since twenty-five.
Diamond: The Hawk. This is my other half, the beast inside of me, that the humans fear. I fly above the world and watch. Silent, and steady, but strong.
If you were a flaw?
Melissa Marn: Ice. I am cold, and hard. And too easily I melt and conform to the shape I am enclosed in, that prisoner the SCM has built around my life.
Diamond: The Heart. I feel too much. Emotions explode inside of me, and I sense my heart will be the end of me one day. If I could only feel less…
Do you always walk on the moral slippery slope?
Melissa Marn: It’s my job! It’s all I know. And if I didn’t do it, someone else would. What then? I know the shifters are more than the SCM tells us they are. They must feel something. But what? My curiosity and scientific training drives me. I have to find answers to my questions. I have to perform my duty!
Diamond: But I love him! I know being with him draws danger to my kind, to my family. My sister. But he would never betray me, willingly. I know he loves me too. And though I am sworn to stay away from him, from all SCM, my heart dominates my head.
Favorite food?
Melissa Marn: The Italian restaurant Little Milan. Bruce and I have shared many discussions, heated arguments, and romantic memories there.
Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press; 1st edition (December 15, 1987)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312010443
ISBN-13: 978-0312010447
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Do you have a novel within you. Then you might want to pick up James N. Frey’s How to Write a Damn Good Novel. Everything from building your characters, how to avoid stereotyped characters, Inner conflict, the Premise, viewpoints, and prose.
I took a creative writiing course at the same time I read this book, and most of what he told in the book I was also learning in my class, so it is good information and a good introduction for those who want to begin writing. I haven’t read or reviewed How to Write a Damn Good Novel II his followup book, which offers more advanced techniques.
As a reviewer, though, these books come in very hand. I might never actually write a book, but I’ll know a lot more about the writing process and be able to look a little harder into books, such as are the characters three dimensional or wooden, plot vs. story, etc.
If you are interested in writing and looking at just ordinary fiction, then pick this up. If you want to write Mysteries, then maybe look at his How to write a Damn Good Mystery, or if it’s a Thriller, he’s got How to Write a Damn Good Thriller. I think you”d find any of them helpful.
You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.
Hardcover: 288 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press; First Edition edition (February 12, 2004)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312304463
ISBN-13: 978-0312304461
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Review:
This was a very informative guidebook in the process of writing a mystery. The author takes you step by step, from premise, to character creation, creating outlines, how to plan the stories, etc. If you’ve ever read a mystery and felt you could write one, then I think this book would be very helpful. It’s certainly along with his other books, helping me analyze books more thoroughly in doing my reviews.
So if you are interested in writing, then pick this book up. I think you’ll find it helpful.
You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.
Percy Jackson
Grover
Rachel Elizabeth Dare
Annabeth
Nico Di Angelo
Synopsis:
Percy Jackson are back. This time they have to save Camp Half-Blood from an impending attack. The attack comes from an underground Labyrinth.
Review:
This was the fourth of five books in the Percy Jackson series. Like all the others, it had a strong foundation in mythological characters. Many this time were creatures I hadn’t heard of, so there were surprises. The age level listed at the top of the review makes this book appropriate for pre-teens and mid-teens. I personally think a lot of adults would enjoy it. I know there are a lot of people my age who have or plan to read them.
So if you like Fantasy, Harry Potter type characters, Mythology, and just good clean adventure stories, then pick this up. There is some slight violence, so children who frighten easily may want to avoid them. But other than that, I highly recommend it.
You can discuss it here or join my facebook page and discuss it there.
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Today we’re pleased to Welcome Julius Thompson to our site.. Mr. Thompson is the author of Ghost of Atlanta, the third book in a trilogy.
In The Ghost of Atlanta, Andy Michael Pilgrim faces demons from his youth that haunted his life. These are the ghosts in the crawl spaces of his life; some are real and some supernatural.
Eloquent Enraptures and author Ami Blackwelder proudly presents the six part science fiction/paranormal romance saga! Like nothing you have ever experienced! 
