Mary’s Musings...THE DROP by Michael Connelly.

After the St. Louis Cardinals won the World Series, my son and I decided to go to the victory parade.  Little did I know this would involve more waiting than watching as getting there and back took up 4 hours and the parade 15 minutes.  The upside is I had, as I always do a book and not just any book I was reading THE DROP by Michael Connelly. 

Now I did not ask him to but my son took my picture because he could not believe that I had a book with me.  Seriously kid you know I don’t go anywhere without a book as every spare moment could be spent reading, duh!  So, while I am standing there waiting and waiting and waiting for the parade he snapped this photo.  Keep in mind there were a million of us in this crowd so the picture is not great but we had a great time together. 

 

If this had not been the World Series parade, I might not have stopped reading because as unbelievable as it may seem this book is the best in the series.  Michael Connelly is the master at mystery writing and Harry Bosch is such a complex and well developed character that you expect a great story and with THE DROP, this is a fact.  You seem to be going down the road and before you know it, the new direction is happening.

I found some quirky questions that Mr. Connelly had answered and I am a fan of the nonconventional stuff, thought these were fun, and Good To Know

Michael Connelly received a huge career boost in 1994 when then President Bill Clinton was photographed walking out of a Washington bookstore with a copy of The Concrete Blonde under his arm.  Connelly remarked to USA Today, "In the six years I've been writing books, that is the biggest thrill I've had."

Real events have always inspired Connelly's plots. His novel Blood Work was inspired by a friend who underwent transplant surgery and was coping with survivor's guilt, knowing someone had died in order for him to live. The book was later developed into a feature film starring Clint Eastwood, Angelica Huston, and Jeff Daniels.

One of Connelly's writing professors at the University of Florida was cult novelist Harry Crews.

Connelly named his most famous character after the 15th Century Dutch painter, Hieronymous Bosch. As he told Bookends UK in an interview, Bosch "created richly detailed landscapes of debauchery and violence and human defilement. There is a world gone mad' feel to many of his works, including one called Hell' -- of which a print hangs on the wall over the computer where I write."

"I wrote a mystery story as a class paper in high school. It was called The Perfect Murder. The protagonist's named was McEvoy, a name I later used for the protagonist in The Poet. Being a witness to a crime when I was 16 was what made me interested in crime novels and mystery stories."

"I wrote my first real murder story as a journalist for the Daytona Beach News Journal in 1980. It was about a body found in the woods. Later, the murder was linked to a serial killer who was later caught and executed for his crimes."

"Everything I want people to know about me is in my books."

I am proud to announce that Little, Brown and Company is giving away one copy of this book (review below).  To be eligible to win please leave a comment about “would you  help your nemesis?” Come back on Sunday – December 4th to see if you have won.  Please remember if you do not come back, you won't know if you won because I am going to need your address. 

As always I wish you happy reading, encourage you to celebrate your Little Victories, and come back to see what book I am reviewing and offering up for a giveaway.  Don’t forget to cast your positive votes for me on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  Your vote matters!

REVIEW from Mary Gramlich "The Reading Reviewer"

THE DROP by Michael Connelly

Harry Bosch Series #17

11/11 - Little, Brown & Company – Hardcover, 400 pages

Is nothing uncomplicated when politics are involved?

Detective Harry Bosch has the opportunity to continue his work in the Open/Unsolved Unit with his extension to stay on approved.  Harry has been working the cold cases long enough to get have a rhythm down so that he gets the work done and still be home for dinner with his daughter.  Doing his best to be a good detective and great father is a tightrope but Harry is a man always up for a challenge, even with a teenage daughter.

On this particular cold case assignment day, he draws a case from twenty-two years ago with trace evidence that is a complete dead end.  The blood on the body is from an eight year-old boy, with no conceivable way to have committed this crime.  The questions becomes how did his blood get on her body, was he an additional victim, or a witness?  Just as Harry is ready to begin his hunt, another person stops him to ask for help.  His nemesis and former police office Irving Irvin wants Harry to investigate his son’s death quickly and quietly.  Harry stands for everyone including the son of his enemy, but he won’t be anyone’s political pawn.

What Irving really wants is as clear as mud but Harry has seen all this man’s tricks, or he thinks he does and knows better than to follow the road Irving is laying out for him.  With each bit of evidence or rock turned over the pieces are not coming back into place correctly as if someone else is putting the puzzle together and Harry is just watching as it happens.  There are so many unanswered questions about what is going on and no one is telling the full truth.

At the same time, Harry is trying to solve the cold case and bring justice to the poor woman who was brutally murdered.  The single case blows up with scenarios going in every direction where the prey may have become the predator.  When emotions, past transgressions, and even people are hidden in plain sight the final confrontation is going to be explosive.

Michael Connelly is incapable of writing a less than perfect book and The Drop is a complete grand slam that engages readers from page one.  You think you know what is going on; you follow the trail of evidence along with Harry and then take you somewhere you never could have expected and terrified once you get there.

To hear the ocean sing ....

To hear the ocean sing ...
... my picture from Doris Duke's estate, Shangri La

We have a winner from last week's post about the Cutty Sark - Liz! 


On this date in 1877, Thomas Edison demonstrated his phonograph for the first time.

The term phonograph is derived from Greek - phono for "sound" and graph for "writes".  Just imagine the excitement of hearing "sound written" on a disc.   


The phonograph was replaced by the record player, eight track player, cassette player, CD player, and now IPods.  My kids probably wouldn't know what to do with a record player (just as they don't know what to do with a typewriter).

Do you have any "antique" equipment in your closet, basement, or attic?   One randomly selected commenter will win Susan Boyle's holiday CD, THE GIFT (we always come back to the Scots). This giveaway is open to all readers.  Comments are open through Monday, December 5, 10 pm in Hawaii.  I'll post the winner on Tuesday, December 6.

Coming on Thursday, December 1 - Starr Ambrose's SILVER SPARKS.


Mahalo,


Kim in Hawaii

Mary’s Musings...IF YOU GIVE A GIRL A VISCOUNT by Kieran Kramer!

I have promised myself (and my followers) to not ramble when I am excited about a book, but dang that is difficult.  I really liked IF YOU GIVE A GIRL A VISCOUNT for so many reasons but the main one being Daisy.  She has lost so much and with the possibility of losing it all she never gives up hope or lets it get her down, she figures out how to work with it and around it.  Her life is one challenge after another but regardless of what comes at her she is going to protect what she loves with everything she has.

I did look up Kieran Kramer and found some of my very favorite things - Unusual Facts and went further than her discussion about the CIA but really that was all I cared about.  Come on do you know anyone at the CIA?

SHE WORKED FOR THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY (CIA) in her two years there as an analyst, editor, and member of the fast-track management Career Trainee class of 1986, with whom she underwent paramilitary operations training at the legendary Farm. Among her classmates was Valerie Plame of Plamegate fame. (AWESOME)

WINNER ON THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE AND FAMILY FEUD.

SCOOPED The New York Times from her computer at home as a freelance journalist for The Charlotte Observer by accidentally inciting a feud between John Rosemond, family psychologist and parenting expert, and the renowned pediatrician Dr. T. Berry Brazelton, over the topic of potty training; the story was picked up by The New York Times and Dr. Dean Edell of talk radio fame.

SPENT HER JUNIOR YEAR IN COLLEGE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF STRATHCLYDE IN GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, where she dated a man in a kilt, pulled pints of ale as barmaid at the university pub, and listened to bagpipes a LOT from her dorm window.

GREW UP ONE OF SEVEN KIDS ON JOHNS ISLAND, a rural sea island near Charleston, SC, and helped build her family’s log home. She also played in the pluff mud, sat on docks daydreaming, rode below the bowsprit on her dad’s sailboat and watched dolphins swim mere feet away, and in general, lived an idyllic Lowcountry life.

MARRIED FOR TWENTY-ONE YEARS TO A great guy named Chuck, a COMMANDER IN THE US NAVY RESERVES, and they have three kind, musically-inclined kids, all of whom have been brought up on the Beatles as the family’s go-to band.

I am proud to let you know that I received a copy of IF YOU GIVE A GIRL A VISCOUNT from St. Martin’s Press to be given away.  To be eligible to win please leave a comment on  “what to you is worth fighting regardless of the obstacles?” then come back on Sunday – December 2^nd to see if you have won.  Please remember if you do not come back, you will not know if you won, because I am going to need your address. 

As always I wish you happy reading, encourage you to celebrate your Little Victories, and come back to see what book I am reviewing and offering up for a giveaway.  Do not forget to cast your positive votes for me on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.  Your vote matters!

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REVIEW from Mary Gramlich "The Reading Reviewer"

IF YOU GIVE A GIRL A VISCOUNT by Kieran Kramer

11/11 - St. Martin's Press - Mass Market Paperback, 384 pages

Has my life turned out the way I expected it would?

Daisy Montgomery has a huge problem that needs someone to show up and rescue her white horse and all.  Daisy’s nightmare of a step family has decided to use the secrets they know about her to steal her holdings, and keep her working as a servant not the mistress of the manor.  What her family does not know is Daisy will not be kept down and will save her family home by contacting the best reinforcements she has her godmother to help her out.

Instead of the person Daisy expected, Charles Thorpe, Viscount Lumley shows up.  Charlie is her godmother’s grandson who apparently has come to help her on a bet which so far has turned into a nightmare he did not expect.  The man has no money nor any ideas on how to help her do anything especially keep the property and get rid of the step-monsters.  The upside is he wants to try and Daisy is desperate enough to drag him into her plans which seem far fetched but something is better than nothing.  The two toss around ideas, plot aggressive tactics, and dance around an attraction that is growing more intense every moment they are together.  The question for Daisy is why is Charlie so willing to help, Daisy has nothing to offer but he certainly seems willing to be part of her aggressive tactics.  If she were a betting woman she might think there were alternative motives, but whatever could they be since his goal is to get back to London as soon as possible.

Daisy and Charlie are a creative and inventive team of creative with the ability to make something out of nothing.  They learn to trust each other to venture past the line of appropriate society in their bid to save Daisy’s home and preserve her virtue with one being a tad more difficult than the other.  As time progresses and they are drawn more into each other arms they know that trust is not the issue, but letting go of past pain is.  When you have made mistakes it is difficult to know who you can lean on and be the person that you should not let get away.

This fourth book in The Impossible Bachelors series with its enchanting characters and whimsical touches of romance is a great way to wrap up the series.  I have a weakness for female characters named Daisy as they are always strong, smart and know what they want.  Combine that with Charlie and you have a match made of legendary proportion.

Mary’s Musings...CONTEST WINNERS

Ethan and Santa

What a week!  I had preparations for Thanksgiving to get started on, two job interviews to take care of, my son to get from college, then the holiday, and topped it off with my grandson’s 1^st Birthday. 

This was also another week of job search disappointments and I was a little bummed by it all.  Allot of thanks for playing but someone else won this round again but I am going to stay positive or give it my best effort.  I feel like there has to be someone out there that needs my skills and will just like me enough that we won't starve.

Next Tuesday afternoon my husband and I will be going to the University of Missouri to sit in the back of the room and listen to my son present his PHd defense.  I was honored he asked and can't wait to see if there is anything about what he does that I understand.

Now to the important part of our day – my contest winners.  Please send an email with your address to reader0409@yahoo.com so I can get these out to you. 

Don’t forget to click on the link to the books to cast your helpful vote for me on Amazon!

The Great Scots & Highland Heat Blog Tour with Margaret Mallory - The Sinner & Amanda Scott - Highland Hero: Barbara; June M; and M Breakfield

Larissa Ione -Immortal Rider: Eli Yanti

Gina Robinson - TheSpy Who Left Me: Marjorie/cenya2

JamesPatterson – The Christmas Wedding: Lovely Lacey

 

As always I wish you happy reading, encourage you to celebrate your Little Victories, and come back to see what book I am reviewing and offering up for a giveaway..

Mary’s Musings...THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING by James Patterson

Mary’s Musings...As a fan of James Patterson’s books, I always know whatever genre he is writing about it will be action packed and heart stopping.  When reading THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING it never occurred to me that a story so romantic could also be heart stopping from a romance perspective, but it really was. 

What made me fall in love with this story was that the woman was not young, career oriented, and beautiful.  No Gaby our heroine was life experienced, a mother with grown children, a grandmother, and widow.  When you have known so much about life and love, do you stay on the same course or dare to take a chance?  Well you can if you figure out how to fulfill your dreams and perhaps find the right man.  When Gaby has three of men in love with her, I cheered knowing that middle-aged women and men are not settling for what has to give them but stirring it up and making their own way for once in their lives.

To kick off the holiday season I am proud to announce that Little Brown Publishing is giving away one hardcover copy of this book (review below).  To be eligible to win please leave a comment.  What I am asking today is “are you making the most of your life?  Come back on Sunday -  November 27^th to see if you have won.  Please remember if you do not come back, you will not know if you won, because I am going to need your address. 

As always I wish you happy reading, encourage you to celebrate your Little Victories, and come back to see what book I am reviewing and offering up for a giveaway.  Don’t forget to cast your positive votes for me on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Your vote matters!

REVIEW from Mary Gramlich "The Reading Reviewer"

THE CHRISTMAS WEDDING by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo

10/11 - Little, Brown & Company - Hardcover, 288 pages

Is it true that either you change your life or it changes for you?

Gaby is old enough to have raised her children to an age where she is now a grandmother.  Having lost a husband already she knows the depth that loving one person bring to you and she wants to not replace that love but feel it again with someone else.  The only hitch is there are three men that want to marry her and devote the rest of their lives to making her happy and she can only have one.

What Gaby does is accept all three proposals with the intention announcing her decision on her wedding set for Christmas Day.  When you have the world at your feet and a man that adores you, well you make sure you are walking on roses up until you say I Do!

With her imperfect family gathering around her for the occasion, Gaby works through the difficulties that your children have after they leave the nest.  Everyone is searching for the perfect job, working toward a stable relationship, and trying to get children to cooperate just for one minute of the day.  There is no such thing as a normal family just the pretense that you are living as such and embracing your imperfections.

The day is here, everyone is seated, and what could have turned into a comical farce becomes a romantic gesture of enormous proportion.  The groom is the perfect match for the bride who knows she has chosen her perfect match, for the second time in her life.  Even when additional surprises pop up Gaby says yes to everything that comes at her realizing this moment cannot ever be recaptured.

Gaby has been everything to everybody and always will be her children’s cheerleader.  Yet with this one life defining decision, she is taking the forward step of being as much to her as she is to others and no woman ever regrets that decision.

James Patterson can and does write grand slam hits in every genre.  He has so many facets to his talent, but his tales of life always touch me, have me wipe away a tear at the end and sigh with the knowledge that love happens at every age.

Mary’s Musings...THE SPY WHO LEFT ME by Gina Robinson

Mary’s Musings... being a fan of romantic suspense THE SPY WHO LEFT ME by Gina Robinson is an amazing fit for my tastes.  What else was great about it was the Hawaiian location and having the magnificent descriptions of sunrises, sunsets, beaches, and dead bodies – what?  Oh wait that is not on the tour guide just an extra for this book.  I also told my friend Kim Adams of SOS Aloha fame about this wonderful book and she did her own blog on Wednesday so please check out the interview and great back story information.

This book was fun because there was suspense and lots of action but mostly as a result of believable, imperfect characters.  I loved the Hawaii backdrop and every time I read a book with that in it I have to contact Kim Adams my Sister Blogger of SOS Aloha Fame to tell her she must read and promote this.

I am proud to announce that St. Martin’s Press is giving away one copy of this book (review below).  To be eligible to win please leave a comment.  What I am asking today is “seriously could you be married to a spy?”  Come back on Sunday – November 27^th to see if you have won.  Please remember if you do not come back, you won't know if you won, because I am going to need your address. 

As always I wish you happy reading, encourage you to celebrate your Little Victories, and come back to see what book I am reviewing and offering up for a giveaway.  Don’t forget to cast your positive votes for me on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Your vote matters!

REVIEW from Mary Gramlich "The Reading Reviewer"

THE SPY WHO LEFT ME by Gina Robinson

Book #1 in the An Agent Ex Series

11/11 - St. Martin's Press - Mass Market Paperback, 352 pages

Did I change the entire game or just the rules on how we play it?

Treflee knew what her soon to be ex was when she married him.  Ty never lied about being a spy, just about what the spy missions entailed.  He was a master at the job but always made their time together so special.  Ty has no idea what caused Treflee to want a divorce but he will figure out a way to stop that from happening.

When Treflee shows up in Hawaii with a jilted bride during one of Ty’s assignments it is as if the stars have aligned to get them back together.  Ty is completely on board with catching the bad guy and Treflee all during tropical days and magical nights, Treflee wants no part of this operation.

The assignment may have Ty whispering more than affectionate endearments into Treflee ear because she is key to obtaining a resolution to the conflict.  It was an accident that got her involved in this spy business, but now she has no choice but to play Bond Girl.  Treflee will have to figure out how to tell a believable lie with a smile on her face.  It turns out for Treflee that the assignment is easier to handle than Ty’s declarations of affection and attempts to win her back.  If she tells him the truth, will that make him run away or back into her arms for good?

Look no further for a book with romance and action combined exploding into one fantastic read.  This is a great start to what I know will be a great series with a perfect combination of love and explosions.