And if You Haven't Seen Enough Cats After Looking For Luna...

W H E R E ' S................................LUNA!

 LOOKING FOR LUNA

 Written by Tim Myers

Illustrated by Mike Reed

 I don't mind telling you that this book was waaaaay fun! If you have a library at your home and add children's books for when visitors come, this beautiful coffee-table size hardback book is one you should consider!

The beauty of the art work is well above the normal standard you would expect in a child's book. What it does is give parents and children the opportunity to explore and be outside, while cozily reading in a big chair or couch...or even on the floor.

This book is about Cats, in case you haven't figured that out from the cover and some other clues. The story is about a father and daughter walking through the neighborhood, looking for their own cat Luna...

"We turn a corner and then spot two:
one white with eyes of china blue,
one gold and tan, a tawny fighter
who stalks the white, pretends to bite her
They tumble together, bunched on the lawn--
then suddenly stop, roll over, and yawn.

"I love watching cats, it's totally true==
but I shake my head: It isn't these two.
~~~

As you can see, the words are poetically written, with rhyming words
that your child will enjoy listening to and soon memorize a line or two
I shouldn't tell, but you can see the true Luna is somewhere else too!

Can you pick out my version of which cat is Luna here on this page?
Just compare each picture with the book cover and see
Which one I think Luna must be!

OK, so I'm not too great a poet, but I just want to let you know
How fun it is to get to show, even a squirrel is here for you!
So find the squirrel when you read this book...
I just know you'll soon be hooked!

And if I don't stop rhyming this way,
I'll probably keep doing it the rest of the day!

I think the key thing to review before you consider this book further is to take a look inside the book. It is a fairly expensive book; however, not for the quality. I've not been successful with viewing pictures on my kindle, so I'd also advise you to ask for a short download to check quality of art work if you go ebook version... If you do choose to acquire the book, be sure to help your child recognize that it is for your personal library and to share with others who come to visit...like aunts who love cats and would love to have somebody show her this book!

Now Luna is not my favorite type of cat, although she is beautiful
and certainly loves her family. So when you see all the different types of cats in the book, maybe another one will become your child's favorite...and that's all right too, because all cats love to be loved by children and parents too!

Don't be surprised to see other animals that are out in the world, like birds and there will be all kinds of grasses and flowers for children to enjoy...

But don't forget you're looking for Luna, right?

So you could also play a guessing game with your child and tell them to look at the cover and then look to see if the cats that
are seen along the way are Luna or not!

And if you still haven't found her, just carry her mouse squeaky toy with you, and I'll bet that will wake her up, wherever she is!

I'm passing this book on to my great-niece who also loves cats! Does your child love cats too? Then I highly recommend this for an addition to his or her personal library. And if you don't have a library, then use this book to start one! Help your children learn the fun in books when they are young!



GABixlerReviews

Don Donaldson's The Judas Virus Thriller Predicts The Future!???

The Judas Virus

By Don Donaldson

"You'll have to pass an interview. It's not a sure thing that you'll be accepted."

"Into what? Some kind of clinical trial for a new drug?"

"A different kind of transplant." She hesitated, looking for a way to phrase it that wouldn't make the whole idea sound so desperate. But there was no other way to put it. "There a group at Monteagle Hospital, who are looking for the right candidate to receive a liver from a genetically altered strain of pigs they've developed."

"Pigs?" Wayne said, hardly believing he'd heard her correctly. "You want to put a pig organ in me? Is that all I am to you... someone to experiment on?"

"It's the only way I could think of to help you."

"Pigs...a pig organ. They can do that? And it'll work?"

"They think so, or they wouldn't try. But you'd be the first human they've ever worked with. They've had success transplanting pig livers to other primates, but you have to understand that the technique is entirely experimental. There'd be no guarantees."

"Why pigs?"

"Their organs are anatomically similar to humans, and they're the right size. And since we already use pigs for food, it doesn't create an ethical problem."

"How is this possible? Won't my immune system reject the organ immediately because it's not human?"

"They've altered the donor animals so their cells don't contain the surface markers that create the worst mismatch. And they have several line markers that mimic the various human blood types..."

"Wayne got up and began to pace. "A pig liver...It sounds bizarre..."

~~~

I don't know how old I was when I visited my uncle's farm during butchering time and saw a pig, headless after just losing it, jump and run away from my uncle... I also ran into the house but you couldn't get away--in the kitchen they were wrapping meat. I went to the basement where they were cleaning casings--one of them burst! The smell was unbelievable! Back up the stairs and out the door I went! I don't remember what I did then, but the memories I share today have never changed or left me. That was the last butchering for many, many years... His son still keeps pigs and I've been there...afterwards...while cleaning the meat and wrapping...That, I didn't mind! LOL

But, you know, living in the country gives you a different perspective. You are closer to animals, talk to them, watch them as they eat and even mate... So, I found that the proposal for transplanting a pig's liver was not so bizarre for me. I already knew that pigs were the closest anatomically to humans, probably from another medical thriller! So taking it as a next step, at least in fiction, was even kind of fun, given my country background...

"It's hard to explain...I don't really understand it
myself. I just felt...smothered. It's not that I didn't
love you. A part of me did, but another part couldn't
accept all the responsibility. And your mother and I,
we just were so different from each other."
"Did you ever hear of child support? Chris snapped.
"We could have used a hand."
"I've barely been able to support myself. I had a novel...
~
"I'm sure you don't think I have any right to feel like
I'm part of your accomplishment, but I do. I have to,
because you're the only element in my whole
miserable life that has amounted to anything. You
never knew it, but I was at your medical school
graduation, feeling as proud as any of the other
fathers..."
~
"This made Chris even angrier. She was the injured
party here. She was the one entitled to throw the
spears, but now with his self-pitying whining he was
try to deprive her of even that. Infuriating as this was,
his obviously grave condition kept her from
retaliating..."
~~~

No matter what her adult conscious may say, little

Chrissy could not bring herself to agree to give her

father part of her liver (she later found that she

would not be able to anyway...). But she did

remember a friend of hers who was doing research

and have an experimental program for which her

father might be eligible. His liver had become 

diseased due to alcoholism. He had been sober for

just three months. Would it be possible?

Michael Boyer was thrilled to have a potential 

candidate for his program and began to immediately

plan to schedule a meeting of the transplant team.

But while he was talking to Chris, in whom he'd long

had a personal interest, he did a little negotiation... 

would she take on her normal duties on the team since

they presently had a vacancy in their position?

So a majority vote on the team is achieved, and the

surgery is a go...

And the surgery is deemed successful; the patient

proves to be doing better than expected...

But...the nurses who cared for Wayne both were

infected somehow...and died!

Then one of the nurses' husbands...

Then two more...patients who had been in the 

hospital at the same time...

Now in case you don't remember this author, he's

the one that wrote Louisiana Fever...and  I 

suggested that you have a can of bug spray ready 

when you started reading...

http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/

2013/07/louisiana-fever-by-dr-j-donaldson-scary.html

Now there was one danger that they hadn't been able to solve yet. Pigs had been infected with a unique class of viruses known as retroviruses which were inherited in each litter of pigs...

But, let's go back a minute...

The man who seriously needs a liver transplant was Wayne Collins. He had just come to visit his only daughter nearly 30 years after he had deserted Chris Collins and her mother...

Chris was now a medical director of infection control for Good Samaritan hospital. She was shocked when she learned that her father was there to see her...

And he soon explained why...Would she be willing to donate part of her liver for a transplant???

While Chris was a logical, solid professional, where her father was concerned, she was still that little girl--she immediately became angry and practically ran to where he was. Then she slowed as they awkwardly stared at each other... She asked for identification. And the first question she asked was, "Why did you do it?

Chris was like me, when she was stressed or angry, she had flashback nightmares and Chris' took her back to when she was babysat, or should I say, tortured by an old woman who locked her in a closet and then left her to...meditate... Yikes!

"It never took very long. By the time Chrissy counted to a hundred, she could feel the first silverfish crawling like a tickling feather up her leg. Then they came by the scores,
exploring her...so many and so curious, she couldn't brush them all away.
"They didn't bite, so she just let them have their way, holding in the scream that pushed at the back of her throat as they traveled over her skin. Today, for some reason, it seemed more horrible than usual, their feet more probing, their numbers larger...
"She never spoke while in the closet. What was the point?
But today, with her father so near and the silverfish so numerous, she moaned, "Daddy...help me. Please...save me."
~~~

pendientedemigracion.ucm.es

Now, you really didn't think that a Don Donaldson thriller was going to be that easy to solve, did you?

In the Prologue and every once in awhile, you'll hear about what happened when fourteen Kazakhstanis had died years ago... Now what these dear little mice once carried was there, at the same hospital where the transplant was taking place...

As much as I enjoyed Louisiana Fever, this thriller

was much more complex and the ending was coming before I picked up on the one-word clue that did it for me. Before then, I was guessing along with everybody else, including the characters!

Tess Gerritsen said it best already:

:Donaldson is superb at spinning medical fact into gripping suspense." And me, along with the goosebumps, I love the scary scenes he meticulously describes to make us squirm!

Medical Thriller lovers - Do check this out. If you like Gerritsen, take her advice and grab a book of this medical expert who gives us, hard to diagnose diseases,  gutsy blood and gore and scary little critters that come in the dark!  I was a fan after my first read...and now have him on my favorite author list! 

GABixlerReviews

Don Donaldson, who also writes as D. J. Donaldson, holds a Ph.D. in human anatomy. In his professional career, he has taught microscopic anatomy to over 5,000 medical and dental students and published dozens of research papers on wound healing. He is also the author of seven published forensic mysteries and five medical thrillers. He lives in Memphis, Tennessee with his wife and two West Highland terriers.

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http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2013/07/louisiana-fever-by-dr-j-donaldson-scary.html

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Kaye Michelle's Return of the Heroine Rich in History of Joan of Arc With Merge to Story of West Point Cadet...

"Dearest Archangel Michael, why is
it I find myself in this horrid
situation? What did I do wrong?
"Archangel Michael's deep voice
resonated clearly in my head.

"All the clergy in France could not condemn me," I shouted back at him proudly; I would not be bullied or tormented by a priest. "I completed a mission authorized by God. My wish is to return to Him. I am finished here..."

"I had not even a counselor assigned to assist me in this farcical trial. I realized that only a situation as absurd as this would be created by God for some reason beyond my simple understanding, so I honestly answered, "It is God's affair whether or not I am in a state of grace. With all humility, it is my wish to be in God's grace...always. For I would be most unhappy if I were not." God's opinion of me was a serious matter. Nothing mattered more...

"Archangel Michael, one of my three guardian angels, whispered in my ear, as he did frequently, offering counsel and instruction when I needed it. His presence, more important to me than break and water, always offered an insight to the situation at hand. Dearest Jehanne, the question was a scholarly trap. According to church doctrine, no one could be certain of being in God's grace. If you answered yes, then you would have convicted yourself of heresy. If you answered no, then you would have confessed of your own guilt. Well said..."

~~~

"Dearest child, you are so brave. You have done nothing wrong. Just as you were born to lift the siege of Orleans and deliver the crown of France to the dauphin, you were born for this...
Archangel Michael continued in a soothing resonant tone, Jehanne, you are a magnificent brave soul who has come to assist in the growth of humanity. You have come to illustrate two things. First by example, you have chosen to lead a life inspired by God, without an intermediary. Your life as a spiritual warrior will inspire many far into the future to follow the divine voice within. Second, your life as a prisoner will, by contrast, illuminate those out-of-balance seats within the royalty and hierarchy of the church.

~~~

Return of the Heroine:

 The Modern Legacy of
  Joan of Arc

By Kaye Michelle

Michelle has done an outstanding job in fleshing out the story of Joan of Arc so that it could be effectively used to create a "modern legacy" to a young woman who lives in today's world. Jane Archer might have faced a much more comparable situation than many of us have, but the story rings true so that women, and men, can see how the strength, the wisdom, the faith...and the knowledge can be gained through opening ourselves to guidance.

Jane Archer almost didn't make it when she was born. Although it is not specifically stated that way, there is an implication that she was miraculously touched that day--a day that was exactly 545 year later, May 20, 1976.

..."Never in her wildest dreams growing up in the
little state of Rhode Island did Jane ever think she
would be honored with the role of battalion
commander for her firstie year at West Point. In
her charge were three companies, D-1, E-1, and F-1,
consisting of three hundred and fifty cadets, their
leaders, and a small staff.
~~~

"Mary opened her mouth to let out a wait but before she could utter a round, a deafening clap of thunder tore at the sky over the barn. It felt as though the roof of the barn ripped open. The ground shook. Blinding lightning charged and illuminated the air all around them. The horses reared and bellowed and pulled at their restraints. They pounded the earth with their hooves.

"Mary felt electricity surge around her daughter's body and pass into her own heart, making it flutter, before it spread outward through her limbs. She swooned momentarily from the sheer force of it.

"Movement under her hands drew her gaze downward just as Jane's gold-speckled eyes flew open. For a moment the look in those familiar golden eyes appeared wise, ancient, knowing. Jane took a gasping breath in, sputtered it back out, then radiated her usual smile at her mother..."

                                                                     ~~~

As most times happen, nothing more was said about what had happened the day Jane was born. Did Joan even then, come to save her charge, so that she would be prepared to one day lead? Because it was not until later, after Jane had already become a cadet at West Point that she first heard Joan speak to her...

In her research, the author had read that Joan of Arc had been at one time separated from the commander to whom she reported. It is not known why, of course, but Michelle used it to created a romantic interest between the two. He was married, she a virgin who had pledge her innocence. But they did fall in love.

Now here is where I had at least an initial question, but the more I thought about it, the more I remembered where God had used human love in a plan... Essentially, the voices reminded her of her chastity; however, they did encourage her love, noting that in learning to love someone, she would learn to open her heart to the people of France, for whom she would be fighting, and to the thousands of men with whom she would spend time with in battle. Given her family background, this hypothesis seemed to ring true.

As Joan earned the respect of the men with whom she fought, Jane had been able to stand strong and earn recognition and respect of the leaders and cadets...

But that had not prepared her for what she learned was happening. One of her many meetings with cadets who needed assistance and guidance was with one of her former roommates, Sophia Michaels, who was now a company commander, and who brought a female yearling cadet. She had been assaulted.  "The cadet's body language put her on alert--hunched shoulders, drawn face, clenched fists. Jane's heartbeat kicked up a notch... This is Cadet Katherine Gage and she wants to report a rape. Sophia said and lifted her doe-shaped blue eyes skyward. As if to say, I can't believe I'm doing this again. The year before, another one of her charges had been raped and beaten. Sophia had taken it hard.
"Jane said, "Cadet Gage, do you wish to formally report  this rape to your chain of command?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"First, I am sorry this happened to you. Second, you need to know that this process is not simple and may not bring the results you may be looking for. Not many incidents of rape get reported because the chain of command is famous for letting the perpetrator go unpunished and instead questions the integrity of the victim.

~~~

Another addition to Joan of Arc's story was that she was raped by three men while she was held in prison. I don't doubt this one bit. But Joan knew that she must keep the maid image for the men--that she could never reveal that she was no longer a virgin.

While we may understand this need on Joan's part, after all this was taking place in the 1400s, to me and to all living women, keeping quiet about rape is just not an acceptable alternative, even though individual girls and woman might decide to do that for their own reasons. But at West Point? In any military installation?

It was then that Jane received guiding help from Joan of Arc and acted to do what she knew was right...

konigsberg.centerblog.net

www.flyingcircusofphysics.com

Joan of Arc was burned at the stake because of the evil men who hated her for what she represented.

The women who banded together at West Point symbolically fire walked in honor of a woman who had once died by fire...

This is of course a story of fiction that Kaye Michelle presents to her readers. It is, however, based upon her own personal, short stint at West Point... And you will see that she has conducted much research in support of her novel. She presents a list of her favorite references as well as contacts at the end. Jane Archer may not have actually done what she did in fiction...but I am sure that there are many untold stories of other women who have and will continue to speak out about the need to crush sexual violence within military actions--by all nations!

The author's signing of this novel to me shouted her own fight cry to others to "Live Courageously..." I applaud her for her own courage in writing this much-needed expose in novel form... May her novel reach the hands of those women across the nation and across the world who need to know there are still women fighting for freedom from evil men's abuse! Please open yourself to allow you to see and know who should read this book. It may be students, it may be wives, it may also be our cadets and soldiers now fighting... God be with you all... And if you have a female friend or relative in the service, send her copy--it might be exactly what she needs to read...


GABixlerReviews

KAYE MICHELLE is a teacher, author and healer who works inspiring others to find their courage within. She co-founded Franklin Yoga, has been published in the 2009 Chicken Soup for the Soul-Power Moms, and 2012 Stay at Home Moms.
Kaye also founded a nonprofit for environmental and human relief. Her experience being appointed to West Point as a young woman was a catalyst for her novel, RETURN OF THE HEROINE, and she is currently penning two more books.

An excerpt from RETURN OF THE HEROINE won an Honorable Mention in the 2009 Writer’s Digest Writing Competition and placed as a finalist in Hay House’s Visions Fiction Writing Competition in 2012. She published a short story released in March of 2009- Chicken Soup for the Soul-Power Moms, and 2012 Stay at Home Moms.

I believe everyone is more powerful than they think they are and that anything can be healed. Helping people experience their own infinity fills me with great joy.

Learn more about the author at her web site!

Joan of Arc dictated her letters. Three of the surviving ones are signed. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I'd never heard of this group or the song, but, somehow,

I wanted to finish this article with a joyful song...

Author David Brown Shares Humor - Enjoy!

Greek neologism (Photo credit: Peter Forret)

Neologism generator (Photo credit: Peter Forret)

Subject: Neologism Winners Once again, The Washington Post has published the winning submissions to its yearly neologism contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternative meanings for common words. 1. Coffee (n.), the person upon whom one coughs. English: Man sagging with woven boxer shorts. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) 2. Flabbergasted (adj.), appalled over how much weight you have gained. 3. Abdicate (v.), to give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach. 4. Esplanade (v.), to attempt an explanation while drunk. 5. Willy-nilly (adj.), impotent. 6. Negligent (adj.), describes a condition in which you absentmindedly answer the door in your nightgown. 7. Lymph (v.), to walk with a lisp. gargoyle • triumph (Photo credit: origamidon) 8. Gargoyle (n), olive-flavored mouthwash. 9. Flatulence (n.) emergency vehicle that picks you up after you are run over by a steamroller. 10. Balderdash (n.), a rapidly receding hairline. 11. Testicle (n.), a humorous question on an exam. somehow I lost my rectitude (Photo credit: cinocino) 12. Rectitude (n.), the formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists. 13. Pokemon (n), a Rastafarian proctologist. 14. Oyster (n.), a person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms. red roof (Photo credit: lanier67) 15. Frisbeetarianism (n.), (back by  popular demand): The belief that, when you die, your soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there. 16. Circumvent (n.), an opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

English: Man wearing boxer shorts which have printed the London Underground Map (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


                                                              

Besides I need to Shop for Groceries Some Time!!!

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• Neologisms, Scat, and Ella Fitzgerald

Patrick Garry's Hospital Drama Leads to Murder!

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~orphanshome/pictures/belmont29.htm

"Up until I was ten years old, movie nights were what I looked forward to the most. I guess it was the one activity I could do along with everyone else. It was the one thing you could do from an oxygen tent just as well as from a chair.

"Up until I was ten years old, I was pretty much confined to the oxygen tent that hunt over my bed. The doctor who worked part-time at the orphanage diagnosed me with a rare kind of asthma--I had uncontrollable coughing spells when I was real little. But then, one day when a substitute nurse was taking over for Sister Cecelia, who had gone home for her father's funeral, no one ever checked the oxygen in my tank. By the time someone noticed that it was empty, they figured I had gone at least thirty-six hours without any oxygen. That when they began wondering if maybe old Dr. Luedtke had been wrong. He'd been wrong lots of times before, but apparently he was the only doctor the nuns could afford.

"In a way though, I figured Dr. Leudike did me a big favor. In my mind, the worst part about being an orphan was lining up for inspection on those days when prospective parents came to visit. There was all that expectation, and then all that disappointment. From behind the cloudy plastic of my oxygen tent, I could see the curtains of gloom drop over the faces of my fellow orphans as they were passed over. I could hear all the angry outbursts after the couple had left, empty-handed. But I was lucky, I never felt any disappointment. I knew, from the very beginning, that no one would want an oxygen tent in their home...

~~~

Saving Faith

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE 2013 PAPER EDITION.

By Patrick M. Garry

With a building on the front cover, Patrick Garry doesn't give us much of a clue as to what his book will provide us. And the title doesn't really provide much more, does it? Sure, Faith is a central character, except she won't say a word... She's been unconscious for five years. Faith Powers is a name that was given to her as an unidentified patient soon after she was brought into the Good Shepherd Hospital...

A hospital which through "the possibility of some sinister conspiracy is going to be shutdown" and destroyed... In fact, most of the hospital has been evacuated, except for the wing that holds the elderly and those who are in comas of some length...

Obviously, you will quickly realize that one of the easiest ways to vacate many of them would be through pulling the plugs on the machines that are keeping them alive...

"I'm afraid I'm not making myself clear,
Mr. Sorin. You see, I work for a car dealer,
and I mistook your car for another one just
like it that I was supposed to tow. I'm sorry
and I'll make sure you get your car back.
But we can't do it until tomorrow, because
we've got to go over to the courthouse and..."
"Are you serious?"
"I'm afraid so."
"You sure as hell say 'afraid' a lot. But you're
not bullshittin' me. You just towed the damn
thing by accident? Out of every green Saturn 
in this damn city, you picked out mine to
accidentally tow?"
"And then he turned back to his beer. His
sardonic smirk had turned into a full-blown
laugh. "It figures. I just figures. Well sit
down," he said. "It's not every day that fate
makes a personal appearance. Come on, I'll
buy you a beer."
"I'm Ev Sorin," he said, after the bartender
had retreated to the taps...
"Not exactly, I'm a journalist--or was. Now,
I'm...well, I guess I'm a cameraman, working
on the weakest excuse for journalism that
I've..." But whatever he said after that was 
lost in the bottle that had moved back to his
mouth..."
~~~

And that's how it all got started. Jack
made a mistake and, for the first time ever,
the car owner had laughed and offered 
him a drink! For a loner orphan, a man
without any friends, he not only said yes 
but then Jack grew attached to him quickly...

The next day after they had met, Ev and Jack
sat waiting for their own case and listened 
while Irene Valenza and Clare Hammond 
were presenting on Faith Powers' life. As legal
cases are prone to do, it was being blown out of
proportion that they were trying to stop the 
demolition of the hospital...

Ev was carefully listening--he saw a potential 
"David-and-Goliath story: a nurse trying to stop 
the demolition of a hospital, trying to stop some
big corporate development just to save the life 
of an unknown patient."

These four individuals soon start meeting in

Faith's room. For me, this was strange, 

but it seemed that each developed some type of 

relationship with Faith--or perhaps it was just 

that they had found friends, companionship, and

a common cause. Ev had lost both his wife and 

job and saw the story as a possible return to 

work...And little by little, pieces of information

began to be discovered and put together.

Then the woman who was going to use the 

vacated property was shot in a drive-by and

while the police was working on finding the

killer, Ev and Jack started a totally different 

I was reminded of Dean Koontz' Odd Thomas
novels by this book. There is hidden meaning 
that readers will enjoy as they see characters
interaction, but you all know that I love a good
murder mystery, so my interest increased as
the action started...


GABixlerReviews

And that's the dilemma...Who speaks for Faith?

Except, a motley small group has taken up her cause...

Jack Fenian narrates the story, which creates the most intriguing part of the novel, in my opinion. Jack spent his entire life in an orphanage, having never even been considered for adoption since he had been placed under an oxygen tent when he was just 10. He watched everything and had ample time to think about things. At first you may think he's a bit simple with no or little education or experience. You will find you are wrong later...

But his experience in the orphanage has indeed limited his worldly knowledge, so interacting with others outside of the orphanage, which he left just 2 years ago, has become challenging as he tries to respond to the emotional displays he experiences. Interestingly, he has a job as a repossessor of cars, so he has quickly met anger, frustration and fear of those he serves...

"What the...the man had screamed, as he was running out of his
office, across the small parking lot to where I was watching the
tow truck driver hook up the black Ford Explorer. I could see his
co-workers staring out the window. I knew they were his
co-workers--it was all in the file."
"What I could never figure out was why people were so quick to
humiliate themselves. I had towed cars from the parking lot
of wedding receptions and Thanksgiving dinners and family
reunions, and every single time the owner made a huge scene. If
it were me, I'd just pretend that I didn't see anything, and then
I'd either take a cab home or claim that my car had been stolen.
But I wouldn't humiliate myself in front of all those people I
know. Especially since it'd be futile anyway. The thing about used
car dealers who have sales lots in the not-so-good areas of town:
they never renegotiate on the repossession...
"Tow truck drivers were always huge; I guess it was a job
qualification...
~~~

"Hold on a sec," she interjected. "It's really not my aim to save 

Good Shepherd Hospital. I mean, it's already been sold; and most of the patients and staff have been moved out." Irene seemed defensive, as if she didn't want to be told one more time that her lawsuit was crazy. "I guess I was just hoping that we might force some kind of compromise, one that wouldd give me control over the future medical care of Faith. But I'd love it if you'd do a story, we could use some public sympathy..."

~~~

investigation! Jack finds himself very attracted to Ev's ex-wife who quickly takes advantage and he finds himself believing  her rather than Ev... At the same time, Claire is also interacting as if there could be something--but then pulls completely away as if he misunderstood. The interplay between Jack and these two women fascinated me. Jack had no previous relationships other than with nuns and other orphans. The two women were very experienced but in totally different ways. The amazing thing was that Jack felt no real negative emotion in response to each--he was so indoctrinated to being rejected that he allowed hurt to fall away, rather than dwell on it...

But the intrigue comes from the characters. This unique look into the "why" of caring, of putting the life of another as a driving force in your own life reveals much about ourselves. Would you help?

Only you know... Highly recommended for many reasons.

Patrick Garry teaches at the University of South Dakota. His previous novels have won numerous awards, including a National Best Book Award, the Eric Hoffer Literary Award, and the Jack Eadon Best Novel Award.