SALAMANDER SIX, by Michael A. DiBaggio

I am so glad I was lead to read this short story SALAMANDER SIX, by Michael A. DiBaggio. It gives me a whole other universe to explore. A universe that comes from the creative minds of Micheal and Shell “Presto” DiBaggio, a husband and wife writing team. I love the clean cut writing, and that they provide full explanations of this new universe in the Appendix.

The protagonist, Florian Archambeault, is a fire fighter, owner of a fire fighting company called Marin-Pyronef. His method of airborne fighting enables him to get to the scene faster than land locked methods such as trucks and boats. The Salamander Six is a jumpcraft, command central so to speak, used in concert with raw vacuum drones called LV20 pyronefs that can swarm in close and dowse the fire to make way for the larger airborne fighting vessel. (Way cool!)

The story begins with chaos and mayhem on the island of St. Martin. The island Florian Archambeault was exiled to a decade ago by his nemesis, Commissioner Beaulieu, and that by a lucky turn of events, his nemesis is now evacuating the island because The French Colonial Authority, under Commissioner Beaulieu’s command, had been “abruptly and unceremoniously thrown off” the island. Florian pours himself a glass of Chambord to celebrate but is abruptly interrupted when notified that there is a fire on the 28th floor of the Tour de l’Uniteˋ building, and Commissioner Beaulieu is trapped inside. During all the intense firefighting action, with all the strapping on the “ceramic-and-steel struts of his exo-frame”, and “the hopper banking hard left”, and the “LV20 pyronefs remotely piloted firefighting ‘digs “delivering their flame-suffocating payload with maximum effect”, right in the middle of all that action there is a backstory that fully develops the characters and their relationships, all knit together producing an action packed, wham-bam, huge short story! Whew!!!!!!

After finishing this short story the question is posed “Looking for More?”, and my answer is yes.

SKELETON PICNIC, by Michael Norman

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Chapter One of “SKELETON PICNIC” sets the scene, graphically depicting the evening Rolly and Abby Rogers, respected and established members of the small community of Kanab, Utah, are confronted right after setting up camp and proceeding to the nearby Indian ruins in search of ancient antiquities, illegal booty, a common and accepted practice in their small Mormon community. They are third generation pot hunters who collected anything they could wherever they could find it, and that included human bones, which is why his grandfather referred to these family outings as “skeleton picnics.” What had descended on them? Angry Indian ghost spirits, or evil greedy mortals? Were they killed, or do they live?

Enters J.D. Books, a BLM Law Enforcement Ranger, called upon by the Kane County Sheriff, Charley Sutter, when the Roger’s daughter files a missing person's report on her parents who went camping Friday afternoon, then missed church Sunday morning. Then the plot thickens when Officer Books goes to the Roger’s home to find it burglarized, and their unequaled personal collection of antiquities were gone; stolen. The potential pool of suspects are many since Rolly Roger’s was a history teacher in the small town of Kanab, and had been for years, and gave tours of his collection in his home on school field trips. Officer Books remembers one such field trip he had when he was a young boy and student of Mr. Rogers history class. As Officer Books begins to unravel the mystery he finds suspects spanning from the poorest most unfortunate of Kanab residents to the highest most privileged of the community, and unfortunately, one within his own family.

I love how this mystery was set up nice and neat in the first chapter, and the answers, at least to Rolly and Abby Roger’s mortality, aren’t answered until the last chapter. And, as in all good mystery’s, the twists and turns in between kept me on the edge of my seat. I also like that this is the second book in the J.D. Books Mysteries, and it didn’t matter a hill-of-beans that I hadn’t read the first book titled “ON DEADLY GROUND”.

As is the custom now-w days I checked out his author website at http://michaelnormanauthor.com/. He is not a has been. “SKELETON PICNIC” was published in 2012. He acquired a Master’s degree from Northern Illinois University in 1969. I attribute his ability to so competently describe my part of the country, the southwest United States, to his being a retired journalism professor. If you’re a lover of mysteries you’ll love Michael Norman’s books. 

RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, by Zane Grey

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It seems odd now, having lived in and around Zane Grey’s old stomping grounds most of my life, that I have never read one of his books until now. I went to high school in Payson, Arizona. I’d visited the Zane Grey cabin a half a dozen times before it fell to ashes in the 1990 Dude fire. It was in the mid-to-late 1960’s, as a waitress at Kohl’s Ranch I’d hear the tourists say “Zane Grey” this, and “Zane Grey” that. His books were for sale in the gift shop there. Trite pulp fiction trash I thought.

Recently, a friend handed me a copy of RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE. I am so happy I read it.

The first couple of chapters were rough going until I was able to catch on to the what I’m going to call vintage verbiage, like on page 21 “lighted a fire on the morrow”, and especially the use of the word descried, used throughout all the pages. I had to look it up.

descry |dəˈskrī|

verb (descries, descrying, descried) [ with obj. ] literary

catch sight of: she descried two figures.

ORIGIN

Middle English: perhaps confused with obsolete descry‘describe,’ variant of obsolete descrive (via Old French from Latin describere ‘write down’), which also had the meaning ‘perceive.’

His description of the lay of the land is very detailed and impressive, and accurate to my recollections of that geographical area; the old stomping grounds of my youth.

The story is about Jane Whithersteen who inherited a substantial size ranch and wealth from her father, a Mormon and founder of the small community on the Utah border, a small settlement called Cottonwoods, set in the year 1871. Besides being wealthy Jane was young and beautiful. Her problem is that she loves both the Mormon’s and Gentiles. She tries to be faithful to her upbringing, to the state and legacy bestowed on her by her father. In the end her inner moral compass just couldn’t succumb to the conquer and acquiesce by any means possible, the ends justify the means type of attitude her Mormon clan adopted and subjected her to. Lucky for her, and most appropriate back in the wild west, a “stranger” rode in off the range, named Lassiter, a gunslinger by reputation. He stands by Jane, and when the Mormon’s had stripped her of all she loved and owned, he helped her escape with her life. The ending is a figurative and literal cliffhanger. Now I have to read the sequel, RAINBOW TRAIL, because this is really two love stories wrapped into one. The plot took many twists and developed in multiple threads of stories. Before Lassiter showed up another cowboy gunslinger type had been standing by Jane, a Bern Venters, who rode the range to care for Jane’s livestock. To track and fight rustlers, too. Venters shot the mysterious masked rider that rode with the rustlers only to find out it was a woman. Venters kept her, Bess in a hidden valley paradise wilderness valley and nursed her back to health, ultimately falling in love with her. Jane and Lassiter arrive at the hidden valley paradise on the only two remaining magnificently strong and fast horses Jane had, safe in their escape, Jane gives Venters and Bess these horses for their escape out of the hidden valley that they might survive the horrifying last ride across the purple sage, out run the evil rustlers and reach his home in Illinois where they can get married.

Will Venters and Bess live happily ever after? How long can Jane and Lassiter remain hidden and safe in Surprise Valley, the hidden valley paradise? All I have to say is kudos to Zane Grey! I discounted him all these years. At least this time a friend handed me one of his books I read it, and am so happy I did. Can’t wait to get my copy of RAINBOW TRAIL in the mail.

EDISTO JINX, by C.Hope Clark

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This, the second book in An Edisto Island Mysteries, went beyond my expectations. What I loved most is how C. Hope Clark moved her protagonist, Callie Morgan, through all the trauma and hardships she had endured, to rise up and conquer it all, not only to survive but to thrive and succeed. Of course, all the murder and mystery made for a very exciting read. My eyes were big, my heart was racing, and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. But, the growth of the character, the moving forward to resolution gave me great satisfaction. Made for a very exciting and satisfying read.

I have read every book C. Hope Clark has written. Every time I think how is she going to top that?! Then she does. Great story. Great writing. A must read.

Stay, by Allie Larkin

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This well written, humorous story in the first person point of view of Savannah “Van” Leone, is not a favorite storyline of mine. The characters are well developed, especially Van, but Van finds herself drunk and whining and crying way too much for my liking. Kinda stuck in the muck and wallow phase. Absolutely love Joe the dog, and that he’s from Slovakia, thus he only understands commands spoken in his native tongue, Slovakian. So funny! Of course, Van was drunk when she bought the awesome german shepherd dog on the internet. I got excited on page 131, which seemed like a pivotal moment for Van from victim to freedom and control of her life. Then BAM! Peter, the love of her life who just married her best friend, Janie, calls from JFK airport, “Van, I need you”, and here we go again with the whining and drinking and crying. The author, Allie Larkin, pulls it all together in the end, plunging beneath the surface characters, into their hearts, and was able to illustrate deep-seated human experiences that are riveting, and relatable. Exquisite writing really. The story line just didn’t ring my chimes.

The Hound Of The Sanibel Sunset Detective, By Ron Base

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Ron Base is a dog lover. This book is dedicated to “The Real Clinton”, his now deceased loved companion, with him again through writing about him. I like that.

This is a rip-roaring fun read. Tree Callister has decided to retire from being a private investigator. He just couldn’t convince his attorney, Edith Goldman, of that. She goaded him into that “one last job”. So, as a favor to his attorney who had come to his rescue many times throughout his PI career he reluctantly headed for Miami in his Volkswagen Beetle convertible. He was just suppose to talk to Vic Trinchera (a Canadian businessman [ha, ha]). Vic didn’t do much talking before he was fleeing for his life, but not before he had saddled Tree with the dog. A French hound with big hound dog eyes named Clinton. Tree soon finds out a lot of unsavory people want to get their hands on Clinton, but he was determined to protect this lovable hound. And so the rip-roaring fun begins! Dead bodies to the left! Dead bodies to the right! Like his wife said, “Consider this, Tree. Maybe your life is one of those pulp thrillers you used to read as a kid.” And I say this is an over the top best action packed humorous thriller I’ve ever read!

DEATH OF AN ARTIST, By Kate Wilhelm

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This mystery is more about how justice will be served than it is about who-done-it. It is clear early on that Stef, the hyper-sensitive, restless, yet very successful artist is killed by her greedy sleaze of a husband, Dan Oliver, soon to be ex-husband if he hadn’t killed her first. Marnie Markov knew things about her artist daughter, as only a mother can know, and she knew Dan Oliver had killed her daughter. Van, Stef’s daughter, is about to graduate medical school, so she knew the medical examiner’s diagnoses of accidental death wasn’t consistent with the physical evidence. So I, the reader, knew too and wanted to kill him myself along with the Marnie and Van, rather than see him get away with it. But, that kind of justice has unjust consequences that would destroy these sweet women’s lives beyond their already traumatized lives by the death of their loved daughter/mother.

The server of justice is Tony, formally Anthony Mauricio, a NYC Policeman now retired, who had recently moved to the small community of Silver Bay, Oregon, to find peace; to heal from the wounds he had acquired while serving as a peace officer in the big city. He’s introduced on page one and becomes part of the family. He knows Dan Oliver killed Stef and having seen how justice has a way of being buried in the legal system after risking his life to apprehend thieves and murderers, and how this sleaze was still a threat to Marnie and Van, he too wanted to kill Dan Oliver. It was no secret to him how they felt, and he had to beat them to it to protect them.

The out of nowhere, sweetest of sweet justice served up at the end of the story was so very satisfying. No spoilers here. You’ll just have to read the book. Any reader will find this story well worth their time. Sweet, sweet justice - you’ll love it!

To Catch a Bad Guy, by Marie Astor

I enjoyed reading TO CATCH A BAD GUY, by Marie Astor very much. This was the perfect book for me to read while sitting on the porch with an ice tea, enjoying the last days of summer. It is an easy to read linear story centered around Janet Maple, a 29-year-old attorney. She lost her job at the District Attorney’s Office due to downsizing; or, more accurately, betrayal by her then boyfriend, Alex Kingsley, who took credit for her work in order to advance his own career, then fired her in the “downsizing” process.   Janet’s childhood friend and neighbor, Lisa Foley, gets her a job with Bostoff Securities as General Council, an in-house corporate attorney’s position. Unfortunately, Janet notices nonethical trading methods within Bostoff Securities that worry her. The best part is the revealing of how Lisa, as a friend, has somehow always caused Janet to end up on the bottom rung of the ladder, uncomfortable situations, in their relationship. Lisa is one of those self-absorbed, self-serving friends that ends up hurting instead of helping. I like that Janet always takes the high ground in their friendship. Regardless the discomfort brought on her by “the queen bee” high school friend, Janet remains a loyal friend looking out for the best interest of Lisa. Yeah! The type of protagonist that I can relate to, and be apathetic with.

Janet is so often victim to Lisa’s match making attempts. Lisa keeps trying to set Janet up with good looking rich men. In this story, these potential good husband-provider types all have questionable morals. Enters Dean Snider, aka Dennis Walker, an undercover agent working to catch the Wall Street criminals. Janet has an immediate attraction to Dean Snider when she meets him on her first day at work at Bostoff Securities, sitting at her desk in her office “fixing her computer” (bugging her computer). She throws up her defenses once she finds out he deceived her and is actually an impersonator; a spy. The romantic tension is delightful to the end where we are left hanging. Thus, I now have to read Book Two of the Janet Maple Series, because I am the cat that will die of curiosity until I know if they finally get together, or just become good friends and partners in crime, i.e., catching the bad guys. Gotta know!

The Enemy We Know, by Donna White Glaser

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Book One in the Letty Whittaker 12 Step Mystery Series

The title adds to the story because the enemy is so obvious, we know the enemy until the enemy we think we know gets killed, so the enemy we know was the enemy isn’t, then we don’t know who the enemy is out of the growing list of potential enemies we think we know could be the enemy. Just saying the title seemed to add to my knowing in the beginning. After all the surprising twists and turns and the surprise ending the title held a deeper meaning for me (no spoilers), thus added even more to the story. The whole thing is so nicely knit together. 

The suspense and mystery are glued together with humor and the personable main character’s ability to wiggle through, and on down the road that we call life. I love the main character, Letty Whittaker, and Donna White Glaser’s well developed humorous Mystery Series. I’m a happy reader with this one. On to Book Two. 

BINGO, by Rita Mae Brown

If it is true that laughter is the best medicine, then Rita Mae Brown's, BINGO, will cure anything. I laughed so hard! The small southern town of Runnymede, Maryland, is split down the middle by the Mason-Dixon line. The war between the states is still being played out, and how could it not be?! In trouble with the law in the South? Run north across Town Square and you're free of that jurisdiction. Two sheriff's, two city halls; hilarious!

Nickel Smith is often (always) smack-in-the-middle of her mother and aunts' outrageous sisterly competitiveness. And I do mean outrageous. One of my favorite examples is when her nearly ninety-year-old aunt, Louise, sometimes called Aunt Wheezie, wears falsies when competing with her sister, Julia, sometimes called Juts, for the attention of a newly arrived, available, Ed Tutweiler Walters. The antics these octogenarians pulled were not befitting their age and made me forget mine as this sort of funny is ageless!! 

Nickel is a newspaper journalist, born and breed. When the town's only newspaper, the Clarion, is sold out from under her feet her world seems to be crumbling down around her. But, with the help of friends and happenstance, the Mercury newspaper is established giving Nickel her much-needed newspaper job, and the town an opposing daily. 

This book was published in 1989, before being gay was a fad. Back when coming out of the closet could close a lot of doors. Yet, the main character, Nickel, is a proud publicly professed lesbian, amongst other well-rounded qualities culminating in a well developed, fascinating main character, surrounded by a family and town of "characters". Funny, funny, funny.

A friend loaned me this book. Guess I will have to give it back. 

BOOK REVIEW - WISHFUL THINKING by Kamy Wicoff

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I love this sort of fairytale science fiction. This story deals with a common issue that most single mothers who struggle to balance, or just survive, a very demanding job, plus maintain home and family with what’s left over of their exhausted self at the end of the day; raising kids as an absentee parent; missing recitals; wishing the babysitter would actually help, not leave a mess. Wishing they could be in two places at once. I also like that once Jennifer Sharpe, the protagonist of the story, is granted her wish by some fluke of fate, via a miracle application installed on her phone, the “watch what you wish for” conundrum surfaced.

The time travel, relatable characters, and commanding writing skills of Kamy Wicoff had me hooked. Then, the highly intelligent scientist, inventor, math genius, eccentric, Dr. Diane Sexton was thrown into the mix, along with her lover, Dr. Susan Terry, a renown physicist in the annals of scientific achievement, and a good story became great to me. Strong, intelligent, trail-blazing women are a favorite of mine.

Great story. Great writing. This one is a keeper.  

BOOK REVIEW - Blessed Is the Busybody, by Emilie Richards

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I was hooked into this delightfully tangled “cozy mystery” from the first sentence on. Teddy, the youngest daughter of the minister and his wife, is going to bury the cat again. Hooked! From there Emilie Richards nailed all the mystery writing prerequisites of a centered plot coupled with compelling characters, and small town setting that is all so relatable. I like that the murders aren’t gruesome detailed descriptions of gore. That the suspense is bundled up in levity. I really, really enjoyed this book. I was lucky enough to be given a copy of the first in the series MINISTRY IS MURDER and am relishing the thought of four more books to go.

In Emilie Richards’ website bio, interestingly enough, I found that she is the wife of a retired minister, although that little coincidence (she says) doesn’t influence her writer’s creative imagination or brilliant cozy mystery works. However she does it I vote yes! and she gets five stars and a fan for life from me.

Book Review - 3 Sleuths 2 Dogs 1 Murder, by Maggie Pill

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This light-hearted murder mystery is told by each of the three sisters own point of view from chapter to chapter. I like that. It’s like getting to be alone with each one of their bias and rivaling sibling opinions to find out what they really think of each other outside of the being polite dialog to their sister’s face. It is like being each of the sisters best friends, giving me insight about why each one is acting the way they are when the other is around. I just wish now I

Mr. Churchill's Secretary, by Susan Elia MacNeal

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This story begins with Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill being sworn in as Britain's new Prime Minister just as WWII is beginning. At a time when women were not considered for high positions in the British intelligence war department, no matter how qualified they were, the female protagonist, Maggie Hope, breaks all the barriers of that day and age. Her intelligence and

Magnificent Obsession by Lloyd C. Douglas
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lloyd Cassel Douglas, 1877-1951, was a minister before he was an author. MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION, was his first book written and published after he retired from the pulpit around 1928. How appropriate then that this book's main subject centers around his old boss, the Galilean from Nazareth. His novels are of a didactic tone purposed for developing strong moral character. His writing is

Book Review of THE TOTOBOAN TRILOGY, by Maggie Allen

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THE TOTOBOAN TRILOGY

Written by Maggie Allen

When Virginia Wilson was about to graduate from high school she was bored with her indulgent American lifestyle. She was ready to go out and conquer the world, make a name for herself and live anything but an ordinary life. Africa beckoned to her sense of adventure and purpose for more than one reason. She had

Book Review of THE RETRIBUTION, by Maggie Allen

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          In this, the third book in the TOTOBOAN TRILOGY, Virginia decides she has to set things straight before she leaves Africa this time. She must

Book Review of THE REVIVAL, by Maggie Allen

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Everything in THE RETURN is built upon, and clarified in THE REVIVAL. Virginia Wilson is drawn back to Totoba, Africa. She doesn’t clearly realize why. I don’t want to include any spoilers

Book Review of THE RETURN, by Maggie Allen

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Virginia Wilson was about to graduate high school. Although she was living a comfortable upper middle class life, had a lot of friends, and was grateful for all she had, she felt something was missing. Yearning for adventure, to be and do something exceptional, she convinced her parents to book a family trip to Africa.

Book Review of THE SHOUTING MAN, by Fiona McShane

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Fay O’Brien is a young woman driven by her desire to write. She is a successful writer living in Dublin with her husband Chris, who dies in a car crash soon after they move to Port Dubh. A harbor town she fell in love with, along with a little house on the cliffs that would be a perfect place to write. Where she persuaded Chris to move to. Where she found “It”, Alec Cusack, who raised sheep on the farm next door, and was a fisherman. Fay and Alec, both married at the time, fell in love at first sight.

Alec Cusack was called Crazy Cusack by the town folks. Now that I’ve read the whole book I understand why. The reason is presented in