REVIEW-- UNDER THE DOG STAR

 

 by Sandra Parshall

ISBN: 978-1-59058-878-9

a 2011 Poisoned Pen release,

303 pages 

The story is already in full-bore action when you open the book. “In the silver moonlight, the dogs appear as a dark mass moving down the hill and across the pasture.” Contrast of light and dark. Questions immediately arise. Are these dangerous dogs? Feral dogs? Where are we and who is observing this? Why should we care?

In the hands of this careful, experienced writer, you know you are in for a wild ride. Veterinarian Rachel Goddard runs an animal clinic in the mountains of Virginia, a place where people are used to taking care of their problems in direct fashion. Wild dogs threatening livestock? Never mind they are or were somebody’s pet, shoot ‘em. This is anathema to Rachel and she mounts a county-wide attempt to trap and rescue the dogs before they are shot. The county is thrown into an uproar and her competence is questioned when a prominent physician is discovered with his throat torn out and plenty of evidence that a dog was the culprit. 

Rachel’s lover, Tom Bridger, a deputy sheriff in the county, is worried about Rachel’s safety as he struggles to understand the crime. Both Rachel and Bridger come up against one of the most dysfunctional families I have ever read about. There are more complications and false trails that have to be dealt with. The author handles dog fighting and other crimes in a forthright yet sympathetic manner. Readers will get the vivid pictures the author draws, but won’t have to wallow in the degradation. Parshall makes her points cleanly and evocatively, just as she illuminate the settings, both by contrast and depiction. 

There were times when I wanted to grab Rachel and inject a little backbone into her and Bridger is sometimes entirely too controlling. Nevertheless, this is a strong, well-written chiller with crackling dialogue, great characters and a powerful resolution.

REVIEW--JAMIE SHARPE AND THE PIRATES OF BARBARY

 

JAMIE SHARPE AND THE PIRATES OF BARBARY

By Gary R. Bush

2023 Release from

Three Oceans Press.

It’s 1803. The US and several other maritime nations are engaged in armed conflict over control of the oceans of the Western world and sea-borne commercial traffic, both legal and not.

Like the rest of the fledgling nation’s military services in 1803, the U.S. Navy exists more in name than in reality. Jamie Sharpe is a rising junior officer in the Navy who, along with other crew from the armed schooner Barbara Allen, is captured off the coast of Tripoli. The schooner sailed alone into range of the criminals then in control of the north coast of Africa. Even then, the U.S. Navy, known for its courage, faced a powerful aggressor alone.

This story follows young adventurous Jamie Sharpe on his journey across the oceans and his imprisonment in Tripoli by the evil Captain Kemal Rais, military leader for the Dictator of Tripoli. Sharpe’s attempts to subvert from the inside and to call in help from across the Atlantic is carefully and interestingly documented in this spirited and engaging novel that will interest readers, young and old. The novel reveals reveals an important part of American History that rarely receives much attention in school. It’s a good story, and this book is carefully researched and quite enjoyable. I look forward to the third in Jamie Sharpe’s odyssey in American Naval history.

Review-THE TERRORIST NEXT DOOR

 

The Terrorist Next Door         

By Sheldon Siegel

ISBN: 978-1-4642-0164-6

A 2013 hardcover release

From Poisoned Pen Press

 

A fascinating and important idea that could have benefited from better writing and better editing. Factual errors might call into question some of the more important elements of the story. Make no mistake, this is an exciting, sophisticated plot idea.. It is in the execution, the writing, that the book reveals unfortunate flaws that could easily have been corrected.

 

There is a lot of history here. One of the more interesting elements devolves from the meticulous and careful plotting that sends our hero, Chicago detective David Gold and his partner, detective A.C. Battles, from one end of Chicago to the other, in a frantic and sometimes predictable effort. They are chasing a clever, almost ephemeral perpetrator, clashing with their administration and trying to avoid the media. Readers will get that early on and don’t need too be reminded of it in  almost every chapter. The book does demonstrate how a careful, intelligent evil individual, might shut down a major city.

The author betrays an antipathy to politicians and law enforcement leadership which gets a little wearing. Thus the detectives have to battle both the diabolical mind of the evil near-genius and the perceived incompetence of their administration.

The pace is rapid which is a saving element and the question of satisfactory conclusion is in question until the very end. I just wish the author and his editors had fixed a few of the more obvious shortcomings, corrected factual errors and produced a better book..