Welcome to Book Readers Heaven! Find Books, Reviews, Short Stories, Authors, Publicity, a little poetry, music to complement...and other stuff including politics, about life... "Books, Cats: Life is Sweet..."
Since I first watched the early movies of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, one of my favorite types of book is the merge of the paranormal within a romantic story. Deep in Time is such a delight and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
But this is not a ghost story! It is time travel with a most extraordinary method of travel!
Rebecca pulled her rented yellow Volkswagen off the gravel road at 9:00 a.m. the next morning, pulled up the rod-iron ornate gate and stopped. Leaving the engine running she searched through her purse, found the needed key and got out of the car.
The gate was long, covering a span of twenty feet. She slipped the key in the lock, it popped open and she moved the chain.
She swung one side of the gate open, got back in the car and pulled in, leaving the gate open for Alex, who she expected shortly...
Whispering Grove, her family's large plantation home, soon came into view and she pulled up under her favorite oak, parked and got out...Even though she'd known this house since she was born, it never ceased to leave her in awe. Its sparkling white pain with blue trim, six large pillars, numerous windows, patio doors and its wide veranda, with white wicker chairs, that wrapped around the whole give giving it an air of welcome that most couldn't resist. It had been well cared for and its design and structure had been well thought out...
Her aunt was expecting her and had in fact seen her pull up. Her bedroom was on the second floor at the front of the house but when she knew her niece was coming she had the nurse and servants help her to the front parlor, where a comfortable lounge chair awaited her. Rebecca knew these were the moments her aunt lived for these days, waiting for her or Alex, or both. So, she always tried to arrive prepared with stories from the city and her Haunted Tours to share, as well as a new book or something she'd find amusing to help pass the time...
"What did you bring me today?"
"A book. I got it from a new book shop. It's a mystery."
"Good. I love a good mystery."
"I have something for you too" She
"No one to my knowledge has worn it." ~~~
reached over to the antique end table, grabbed a black satin box and handed it to Rebecca. Rebecca flipped the lid open and pulled out a gold chain, its links thicker than she usually saw, upon which an unusual oval shaped go charm hung. Not slid in form, it had almost a spidery look with a small ruby sitting in the middle. It reminded Rebecca of a tear drop.
"Aunt Emma, this is so beautiful, so unusual. Where on earth did you get it?"
"It's been in the family for years. No one knows where it came from. It's just been passed down through the generations and then put away and almost forgotten about.
Rebecca slipped the gold chain over her head and the ruby came to rest between her breasts--suddenly sending a tingly feeling throughout her body, almost akin to a shock. Then it was gone. Not knowing what to think of such an oddity she passed it off and smiled at her aunt--who seemed not to have noticed.
"Well, someone will be wearing it now. I love it. Thank you, Aunt Emma."
~~~
Deep in Time
By Karen Chalfant
Rebecca Brousseau had been living with her Aunt Emma every since her parents had died, together. Years later, now, Aunt Emma was moving toward the end of her life and Rebecca visited as often as she could. Rebecca, a haunted house tour guide worked odd and late hours, but took care to keep her Aunt in books and other special things each time she visited. But this time, her Aunt had a present for her as well, a beautiful antique necklace that apparently had been in the family for years, but for whatever reason, had never been worn by any family member...
Rebecca's lover and her Aunt's lawyer, Alex, had made all arrangements for Aunt Emily's entire estate to go to Rebecca. But when Rebecca lost her too soon, she wasn't worried about what she had inherited... So, when she finally felt she was able to deal with the legal aspects, she was surprised to learn that not only had she entertained the entire plantation, but also a local tavern, one Rebecca had never known was owned by her family...
Adjusting to her new responsibilities could take time, but, after moving into her Aunt's home, she also started going in to meet with the present manager, who she asked to stay on, and to get to know the business. She had never owned any property and felt a great responsibility... That feeling of responsibility was not welcomed by the man who had controlled all aspects of the Tavern for many years...
Before finishing her tour guide position, Rebecca was working one night, only to have a man, apparently dressed in costume, join the group. He introduced himself as Maddox and instead of watching the places they were touring, he kept his eyes on Rebecca...and the necklace she wore... Not thinking too much about him, except from a personal point of her attraction to him, she was shocked, upon beginning to review what was in the attic of her new home, to find a picture of...the...man who she had just met on her last tour! The painting was dated a century ago... Can a spell cast many years ago bring together true lovers? Readers will enjoy watching it happen! And also watch Rebecca as she takes on many new responsibilities and then... disappears... I must admit I had a few questions at the end--would I give up my life for what may be true love? Would you? This is a fast read which flows smoothly from one calamity to another while we watch a young woman move into an entirely new, independent life that offers so very much...Wealth and riches or love... Karen Chalfant takes us Deep in Time to tell us this intriguing and enjoyable tale. Highly recommended. GABixlerReviews
Come, turn Merlin's Magic low as background sounds coming from another universe...
A typical 19th Century depiction of Merlin by his cave at Tintagel
New York City. Valjean Blackwood checked his watch once again. A twitch of the wrist that had become an obsession over the last few days, ever since his younger brothers had traveled through a one-way portal to the citadel of a feared necromancer named Zedock. Will and Caleb were trapped in a dark fantasy version of Earth— and Val had no idea how to help them. According to Salomon, an old man with silver eyes who might be a crackpot and who might be a two-thousand year old wizard of immense power, time passed at a different rate in Zedock’s world. Presently, a ratio of sixty days in the other world for every one on Earth. Which meant, if the time differential held, that his brothers had been trapped on Urfe for months. At best, they had found a way to escape but were stranded. And at worst . . . Val, too, had visited the other world. When he and his brothers had found Zedock’s fortress at the end of their journey, they were forced to pole through a swamp full of undead creatures reaching mindlessly out of the water, horrific creations of the necromancer. So Val didn’t want to think about the worst. Reeling from lack of sleep, shaking with rage and impotence, he stared at the sprawl of Manhattan outside the fiftieth-floor window of his law office and thought about how impossible it seemed that there was another dimension, or world, or universe out there from which Val had narrowly escaped. A world of manticores and cave fiends, magic swords and potions, spirit mages and necromancers. Wizard-monks who could shatter walls with their fists, a city of colored spires so beautiful it had taken his breath away. His eyes slipped to the staff hidden behind his desk. Five feet of fortified oak topped by a crescent moon of azantite, a milky-white stone so thin and strong a professional jeweler said it shouldn’t exist. A staff Val’s father had left for him before he died. A wizard’s staff. Someone knocked on the door. Val blinked away his exhaustion. “Come in.” With hooded eyes, Val watched Mari Winslow step through the door in red-rimmed glasses and a grey pantsuit that clung to her svelte figure. A half-American, half-Swedish brunette, Mari was only five years older than Val’s thirty-one but already head of the powerful Compensation Committee. She was also Val’s mentor, and was probably checking in to see why he hadn’t left his office for two days straight. Just what I need, he thought... “What is it, Mari?” he said wearily. “How’s the Myrddinus research coming?” Val stilled. The Myrddinus was a secret society dedicated to the exploration of magical phenomena, and his only hope of reaching his brothers. Val’s godfather, Charlie Zalinski— the man who had told Val and his brothers about Urfe, before he was turned into a zombie by Zedock— had claimed to be a member of the Myrddinus, along with Val’s father. Despite his best efforts, neither Val nor his junior associate had turned up anything about the Myrddinus other than what Val already knew, which was that Myrddin might refer to a Welsh historical figure who may or may not have inspired the Arthurian legend of Merlin. “Fine,” Val said, wondering how Mari knew what he was researching. Her mouth curled into a smirk. “Myrddinus. A strange name for a research project...” Val willed his thoughts away when he reached his building. He took the elevator to the fifty-fifth floor and strode down the deserted hallway to Mari’s office. She was sitting behind a pile of documents stacked neatly on her desk, looking fresh and alert. When Val walked in, her eyes latched on to his staff like a cobra mesmerized by a snake charmer. “Nice walking stick,” she said. “Bad knees?” Val sat across from her, deciding not to mince words. He rarely did. “If you knew who I was, why’d you wait so long to approach me?” “Your father’s instructions. He asked us to hold off until you exhibited an interest in finding us.” Val balled his fists to control his anger, reminding himself she wasn’t aware of his brothers’ plight. Or was she? “Obviously, your father didn’t tell you very much. You don’t know anything about us, do you?” “How many of you are there?” She shrugged. “In North America? A few handfuls.” She rose to throw a red leather jacket over slacks and a form-fitting black sweater. “Let’s take a walk.” “Where?” “To the home of the Myrddinus in New York City, of course. I think you’d be an asset to the organization, and we have something you might be interested in.” Val folded his arms. “Stop being coy, Mari. What is it?” “Your father left something for you.”
~~~
My review of the first book was meant to establish the basic storyline and an overview of the first trip to an alternative universe where, specifically, they were still located in New Orleans on earth, but in an entirely different universe. A universe which was inhabited by all things magic! I'll be sharing about those this time! The three brothers had made it home but were too late to save their godfather and when they confronted the necromancer, a major exodus--dead man rising--from cemeteries occurred! Zedoc had called up his entry into his own world and only two brothers, plus a friend, had been able to follow him... Now Van was back in New Work, trying to find out how to get to his brothers... His godfather had mentioned the Myrddinus society and he'd been trying to find information on the group... Only to have his boss come right out and ask him about his research! Soon Van was entering into the domain of that very society! In the meantime, the two brothers, plus Yasmina, a close friend of Caleb, had been successful in killing Zedoc, but the portal had been destroyed! They were now in search of New Victoria (New Orleans) with no way back home...and the magical guardians of Zedoc's castle were now coming for them... First a knight in full shining armor...but was there anything inside?! Escaping, they made it to a boat and moved forward into a swamp... All the bugs, sounds, and terror of the swamp was bad enough but soon they were surrounded by a being much like a goblin... One picked up Will and held him on the side like a football, taking his sword, and moving on to find the camp and the others...Interestingly, somehow Will had picked up some bit of his wizardry and was able to understand their language... This certainly was going to help, especially later on! Back in New York, Van had accepted that his boss was going to be able to help him get to his brothers and traveled to a strange place where those who followed Merlin met... There was a portal there and, though Van tried to go alone, Mari ran and followed through...to land in a place nobody would willingly go... the slums in New Victoria, where the Wizards placed everybody who did not have sufficient magic to become one of the Congregation... Van grabbed Mari and, apologizing, quickly moved to leave behind what were thieves, murderers, and other types of beings who had no other place... Mari never made it out...
Captured as slaves to be sold, the goblins moved on to reach the far mines where anybody they discovered would be put to work in the deep mines far below the surface...but even on that trip, dangerous beings tried to take their lives, like giant spiders who came silently, wrapped their prize and scurried back to the central web where those captured would serve as meals whenever a spider got hungry, eating them alive as needed... There are lots more magical monsters to see, but I thought I'd share one of our heroines...she was also a slave in the mines, and Will was able to understand her words...she was crying for help and indicated she would help save whoever helped her... I loved the introduction of this character who had also been stolen from her home, which was a very hot location even deeper than the mines! So maybe the place there is called...Hell... and we now know the back story...? Van, Will and Caleb have some form of magical abilities and each had weapons left by their father...but none of them had ever learned about their full capabilities... Van and Will are learning to use their weapons...Caleb is a man of peace that tries to follow his moral compass, but still participates to save those in danger. Most of the time I prefer reading books rather than movies to get the full story; however, these books are made to be seen as well as read! The magical scenes are fantastic, the creatures from the alternative planet are uniquely designed so readers will stop to think through what these alternative planet beings might look like... and we even find that some who we thought had been killed in the first book, have fought their way back home! Would love to see these books in movie form! The adventures of the Three Brothers, together with those friendlies who team up with them as they fight for freedom and escape are edge-of-your-seat excitement as trial after trial is brought forth and won... Only problem...this book is not available until September 15th~ My advice, if you haven't already read the first, hold onto it and get the second book...I guarantee you will want to begin and continue through both books together if at all possible... But wouldn't you know it, Green gives us another cliff-hanger as the second book ends! I have only one comment: Layton Green, Write Faster! Fantasy, SciFi, and horror Thriller fans should all check this series out... Both books have been fantastic and I'm already looking forward to the next in series. Highly recommended. In the meantime, I'll be reading Written in Blood, coming in November! You really need to check out Author Layton Green if you have not read any of his books yet! He's on my favorite author list now! GABixlerReviews
Between you and me, at that moment, the small strain of humanity that runs in my soul overpowered my own wants and desires. Her happiness mattered more than my own. And I let her go.
Christine.
When I set her free. I meant it. I had wanted to die. However, it did not take long for bitterness to take root in my heart. Die for love of her? I think not! She is mine. The life I wanted was disappearing with the golden-haired, perfect-featured vicomte...
It angers me how they rejoice in my timely departure. The relief in their embrace. The passion of their kisses revolts me. I want to kill them both!
But, I am a patient man.
"Leave Paris," their soft voices agree. Start their lives over, sail away. Passage to La Nouvelle-Orleans. I hear the word faintly as they believe they leave me to my endless slumber...
I will remain a man of my word.
Raoul may continue to have her heart, but I will have her immortal soul. I will collect what is mine. It belongs to me... I am the Prince of Conjurers.
~~~
Prince of Conjurers
By Laurie L. Bolanos
Like the author, I, too, had much empathy for Eric, the man who lost Christine in The Phantom of the Opera... So I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read an alternative story about his life. One that picks up when he is thought dead and Christine and Raoul have ran off to be together... It is a quite plausible story that weaves in the main theme of The Phantom, but, clearly, takes off into a truly remarkable fantasy that uses reincarnation as the dominant theme... I thoroughly enjoyed it from cover and cover and highly recommend it for your consideration!
Eric heard the plan of Raoul, to move to New Orleans, and immediately started thinking... Eric, no longer the Phantom follows them. Now to be the Prince of Conjurers... The breadth and scope of the novel is, however, far more than I could have imagined and swirls like smoke in the air as time loses all meaning, readers are thrown into visions, or actual movement, into recent and the far past...
For now, Eric is in New Orleans, set on getting Christine away from Raoul, even if he has to kidnap her! He has already started his plan...
And with New Orleans, I am thrilled to offer the music of Barry Lacour from his latest CD "Heads-Up," to take us into the mood and setting of New Orleans, Louisiana...
His plan was genius.
Christine would be left alone most of the time, without anyone around to interfere. Nothing prevented him from the greatest, most magnificent endeavor, as if for once in his wretched existence, he was accepted into the greater design of life and it approved of his intentions. The way was being made clear for him with very little effort. He could not ask for more.
Well, maybe just a little...
~~~
In the year 2009, however, there is a lovely young woman who has just moved into a new home and is renovating the place herself. She is happy to be able to knock out walls, get her hands dirty, hammering and mumbling under her breath, "You low-down dirty dog!", as she pictures her ex-husband's face...then her ex-best friend Monika with whom said ex-husband was now living! Monika's betrayal hurt the most since they had been friends since high school.
She couldn't stop the memories from resurfacing. Her stomach churned at the recalling of Marvin Gaye's seductive voice drifting down the stairs from their bedroom. Marvin Gaye had always been a sign that her husband wanted her. She had assumed Simon must have called her office and found she had left for the day earlier than usual.
With her pulse racing, Julie climbed up the stairs, kicking off her shoes. It had been at least two weeks since they had made love. She pictured him waiting in bed for her as she took off her belt and headed for their bedroom.
"Hello, Baby," She pushed open the ajar door, posing seductively.
The rest of the memory came as snapshots. Messed up bed. Sheets hanging over the edge. Two wine glasses on the nightstand. Empty bottle lying on its side. Two sets of clothing crumpled on the floor. Running water in the bathroom. Muffled laughter. Her heart racing. Difficult breathing. Dread crushing her soul. Marvin Gaye singing on...
~~~
The novel begins to move back and forth between 2009 and 1898. Julie continues working on her home, absorbing the atmosphere of New Orleans, refusing to have her palm read by a local named Star, while meeting and becoming friends with a gay neighbor, while she demands that he keeps his lovers out of her apartment!
In the meantime, Eric is following Christine, even spying on her in their new home, and even following them to the opera, where he projects his whisper to her ear whispering, "Sing for me..."
Eric has purchased two different homes, one of which was called "The Devil's Mansion," where he plans to keep Christine. He goes to great expense to create an internal suite of rooms that look like a complete home, including interior sunlight... The remainder, exterior parts of the home, have...traps, traps to keep anybody else out...
Soon, he starts searching...for a vessel in which he will place Christine's soul... Enter Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen...and Naomi, a child-woman he has purchased from a Bordello, who he has selected to be the vessel... The only thing is that Marie wants Naomi for herself... As a virgin she would bring in much money...but there is much more behind her desire... Eric quickly marries Naomi so there will be no way that she can be claimed by anybody else...
"I have noticed the other
ladies decorate their headdresses. I thought you
might like these." The
brooches sparkled in his
hand as they reflected the
light in the room.
"Ooooh," Her eyes grew
big. "Those are for me?"
~~~
Eric leaned back in his carriage, hands behind his head with a satisfied grin that felt permanently etched on his face. The girl had accepted... His reverie broken, Erik entered his house. Behind his closed door, he felt invigorated. The new day, the events of the past few hours, wiped away all fatigue. He ascended the stairs two at a time to his greenhouse of the roof. He wanted to work on his herbs. Marie's potion would have to be altered to suit his needs. He wasn't looking for a zombie, but a means to still the mind and body long enough to summon Christine's soul into it.
~~~
Unfortunately, one man, who had loved Naomi from her home town, would not give up so easily...
I should mention that Eric has learned much about the use of makeup materials which he uses to hide the scars on his face, ridding himself of the mask. He has assumed a new name, Monsieur de la Croix... Quickly he is recognized as a man of means and becomes well known in the French Quarter... And then he took the big step... He sent Naomi to Christine's home, offering Naomi to help her--Christine was pregnant! Eric was enraged, until he learned that she had given him Eric's name...surely she still loved him... I would not even attempt to share about what that connection brought about, other than to say that Naomi and Christine became friends...
The man hesitated a moment then stepped closer to Armando, extending his hand. "My name is Heath."
Armando eagerly grabbed the man's hand, the multiple gaudy bracelets on his wrist jingled as they shook." Charmed, I'm sure."
"I couldn't help but admire your bracelet," Heath said, releasing Armando's hand. Armando stretched his arm out, turning his wrist up. "You like?"
Curious, Julie leaned over to get a look. Sure enough, among the many tacky pieces of gold costume jewelry was a dull silver bracelet with small silver balls and a silver charm. On the face of the charm was a complicated braided pattern of silk-like material in dark and light browns.
"Se-ma-j," Julie bit through clenched teeth, her voice elevating with each syllable. "What is he doing with my bracelet?"
~~~
As Julie is working on her home, she finds two things at two different times...and she meets a man in whom we could be interested. Unfortunately, he had been the one to notice a bracelet she'd found when it had been taken by her next door neighbor's friend. Shall we just say, she made quite a fuss about it. Then realized that she had totally lost control...and Heath had seen it all! While he still expressed interest in seeing the bracelet, she thought that was all that he was interested in... Still she did learn much more and realized that the bracelet was probably very valuable. Whenever she had a chance to see Heath, she happily agreed....
Meanwhile, interestingly, Eric finds that he is quite attracted to Naomi and feels he has made a great choice for the future. What he was surprised at, though, was that she was so kind and gentle and responded to him in a grateful, but, most, loving manner. He found himself responding to her--until he would catch himself realizing that she was not Christine. And Christine was His!
Then with rising dread, she remembered the ritual, the phone call, the darkness, and Heath worried by her side. He wasn't by her side now. The only sound she heard was the wood-burning fire.
Though her mind panicked, her body continued its slow, even breathing undisturbed by her emotions. This is not a hospital. Where am I? The more anxious Julie became, the more she felt the heaviness of her body...She heard a door slide open and footsteps. She inwardly held her breath although her body kept on breathing steadily. This is crazy! She willed herself even harder to wake up. Fight it! Fight!... "Christine, I have missed you." The man's voice sounded pained. Julie opened her mouth to speak. Nothing came out. Her tongue felt thick and clumsy. She kept trying. She was determined to set the record straight. "Not Christine." Her voice was a dry, rasping whisper. The man leaned closer to her, and his breath warmed her ear. "What did you say?" "Not Christine. Julie, Juliana Francois..." ~~~
Do you believe in reincarnation? Well, whether you do or not, be prepared for the longest line of reincarnated souls you may have ever experienced or read of! By the time I was coming to the conclusion of the book, I was amazed at how the book was ending--not only a surprise, but a thoroughly satisfactory one! But don't let me get ahead of things...because when voodoo is involved, sometimes it results in "Who Do?" You see at exactly the same time that Eric was working to conjure Christine into Naomi's body, Julie, in 2009, was working to learn about her own reincarnated past! You guessed it, Julie wound up in Naomi's body instead of Christine!
The secret pocket door slammed into place by the force of Erik's rage. Impossible! What trickery was this? The woman wouldn't have the ability to lie to him in her altered state, so he knew she spoke the truth. He paced the hall outside the chamber in fury. He wanted to charge into the room and shake the answers out of her, answers that would come because she was in no condition to respond to an interrogation. A sudden rush of understanding gripped him like a vise. Now, not only did he not have Christine, but he had lost Naomi also. What had he done? ~~~
And that is where I shall leave you! The conjurer has gotten someone he hadn't conjured! Julie finds herself in 1898, inside of the woman who had once lived and held her soul. And all I'll say is that's when the fun begins for readers as a 2009 outspoken independent female meets male chauvinist Eric with an obsession for Christine, another woman, even though Julie, in Naomi's body, is now Eric's wife! Yikes! I loved it!
But that's just the beginning! How do you undo voodoo?
Eric stood back within the wooded area on the north side of Congo Square. He had just spent an hour gazing through Christine's windows, watching her with her son and her husband. He had to be sure she was Christine and not Naomi. And she was, in every way, confirming for him that Naomi must be wherever the stranger had come from...
With expertise, the voodoo queen unraveled the reluctant snake that tried its best to stay anchored to her body and handed it over to a waiting follower. "See to it Zombie is put in his cage," she commanded. The crowd watched in utter silence as the man hurried away.
"Behold!" Marie called out while opening her arms to the crowd. "Even the son of the Devil seeks my counsel." A rise of whispers shot through the spectators. Encouraged by their reactions, she grabbed Erik's hand and raised it high into the air with her own. "I alone, Queen of Voodoo, can bring solace to the Prince of Darkness." Erik snatched his hand back with a scorching look, while Marie kept hers up to the level of her eyes.
Eric narrowed his eyes and hissed loud enough only for her ears. "My noose would find its mark around your neck, witch, if that was what I desired...
"I don't fear you," she sneered. You have sought me out, not I you."
He let his face harden. "Only to make you fix your sabotage..."
~~~
Dare you enter the world of Voodoo, conjuring, reincarnation, immortality, obsessed love, and more? Will Eric ever find the fulfillment of the love he had once felt for Christine, only to have her feelings ripped away by another man? Wow, you can't possibly imagine the answer given by Laurie L. Bolanos! Brilliant! Bravo to Bolanos, as well as her father, Barry Lacour... who has added to the mystic bounty that readers will find in Prince of Conjurers! Enjoy! GABixlerReviews
Laurie L. Bolanos lives below sea level in a small cottage on the edge of a city shaped like a bowl. When given the opportunity, she doesn't mind hopping a few states over to enjoy Gulf breezes and to dip her toes in the ocean. She likes to take long walks on the beach, sip the occasional piña colada, and soak in the rays of the sun. No matter the venue, her preference is to be barefoot. However, she will bend to social expectations and don a pair of shoes when necessary. She enjoys attending a monthly drumming circle at which she was, in fact, told she has a "natural ability." Loving the vibrations of the drum, she has also invested time with tuning-fork therapy, although she has not yet been certified in the art. Laurie comes from an Italian family and can prove it with her DNA results from 23andMe which has confirmed that she is 40.4% Italian. Other nationalities need not feel left out as she also has French, German, British, Irish, Iberian, Balkan, Sardinian, Scandinavian, Ashkenazi, Middle Eastern, West African, and Yakut ancestry, proving by her very existence that we are one world and should not be divided by race.
Laurie L. Bolanos was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to parents who are devout readers and passed that love on to her. In fact, she kept files on people throughout her childhood insisting that she would need the information as one day she would write a book. She graduated from Archbishop Chapelle High School in Metairie, Louisiana and went on to graduate from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana with a BA in English. She was an LPN for twelve years before returning to Delgado/Charity School of Nursing, graduating as an R.N. in January of 2006. She continues her nursing career while writing in her spare time. In between working and writing, she reads. There is nothing like the journey a good book can provide.
The devastation of Katrina still holds people and the town captive as continued work to return homes and businesses to some semblance of normal living continues. Many were saved, rescued by the many volunteers and emergency personnel who worked diligently... None worked more diligently than those who worked in the ME Offices there... This novel recognizes those efforts and tells the possible inside story for those who were not working to save and protect... they were working to bring dignity and honor to the dead...
Played by William Conrad
Andy Broussard, Chief Medical Examiner for Orleans Parish, rubbed the back of his stiff neck. Cots must have been invented by the Marquis de Sade. There couldn‘t be any other explanation for the existence of such a wretched object.
Fortified with a surprisingly decent cup of coffee and two hastily -consumed sausage biscuits, he stepped out of the abandoned schoolhouse where most of the area’s FEMA workers slept in former classrooms. Without pause, he
set his stubby, tired legs moving, heading as fast as he could toward the makeshift mortuary next door.
In most of the state, people who still had beds were in them. But here, though the sun had not yet made an appearance, the morning shift in the morgue was already well underway. And Broussard was late.
Never mind that he’d worked most of the night shift. This was the day he could turn to the task that had been picking at his sense of order for weeks, so he was upset at having overslept. Broussard had lived with death daily for over forty years. It was as much a part of him as his bow ties and the lanyard that tethered his glasses to his neck when he looked through a microscope. It enveloped him as completely as each of his six 1957 T-Birds cradled his
massive body . He could feel its touch as surely as the steering wheels of those cars, which rubbed against the buttons on his shirt when he turned a corner. It was in his gray hair and beard and the leather of the shoes with perforated uppers he wore to keep his feet from sweating.
He did not fear death. He simply viewed it as a respected adversary that came in many guises, a cunning opponent with endless tricks to mislead those who would document and understand its handiwork, an antagonist capable of challenging his intellect at the highest level, especially when one human arranged for it to take another. But this easy familiarity with the dark eternal did not lessen the burden he had carried for weeks as the body count from Hurricane Katrina mounted.
~~~
BAD KARMA IN THE BIG EASY
D.J. Donaldson
This is my third novel meeting Andy Broussard and I discovered I enjoyed him even more in this latest story. Andy is in the midst of working in support of the Katrina devastation, having performed hundreds of autopsies, as required, for those who were killed. Even though you couldn't blame him for a slip up during that time, he had moved the bodies of three women on, knowing that he was missing something, but not able to pinpoint what it was... He was now able to get back to them since they had just a little more time...
Actually, it was the young woman working with him that finally pinpointed what was wrong. Each of the women had tattooed eye liner! They knew now it was definitely murder... Kit Franklin is an interesting side-kick for Broussard. She is mostly involved with investigations, so was immediately wondering why Broussard had become so concerned about the three women. Franks, also a colleague, explained he thought that, given the many deaths which were by natural causes, and for which he could do only the minimal work in getting them ready to move on, he actually needed to feel useful again, on top of his game--working for the city that he so loved...
But this easy familiarity with the dark eternal did not lessen the burden he had carried for weeks as the body count from Hurricane Katrina mounted. The corpses had been flowing at a shocking rate into the row of refrigerated trucks he could already see through the chain link fence surrounding his brightly lit destination. Over eight hundred souls lost at last count... mostly from failure of the levees. It was still incomprehensible to him that such a catastrophe could have happened. His beloved New Orleans... much of it destroyed... It was almost too much for the old pathologist to take. But he owed it to the dead to make sure every one of them was identified, and none had been murdered under cover of the storm. That, he would not tolerate. But Lord, it was hard to keep going... ~~~
Broussard is experiencing some light-headedness--no wonder! But he was taking the time to be much more involved with these three women than he'd ever been before. This, too, however, was a sign of the heavy workload and stress and as the story goes on, he not only surprised his colleagues, but himself, in getting into and helping physically in helping solve the case! Andy is known as somewhat of a know-it-all, but he was beginning to feel the pressure and wondering whether he was getting to old...but, thankfully, for readers, by the time the case was solved, Andy is back to himself! Great!
Corpse 427 had not died from drowning. Broussard was certain of that, because the lungs were normal in size and shape. When sectioned, they had contained no foam. As he had expected even more opening the abdomen, the intestines had been extremely distended with decomposition gases. As he looked now at the uterus, he saw that it, too, appeared swollen so its fundus sat well above the pubic symphysis, the line where the two hipbones are fused at the front... He removed the organ from the scales and placed it on the counter. With a long, thin knife shaped like the slim jim thieves used to open locked cars, he divided the organ. And sure enough... "Myometrium thickened." There was absolutely no doubt now... Around three weeks before her death, this woman had given birth... ~~~
The three women who had been found had been nude, wearing no jewelry and had no repaired fractures. But just the fact that they were nude was enough to have them question what had happened, especially since there was also no clothing around the bodies. One of the bodies, however, had a silicone chin implant that, hopefully, would have been identified in any missing person report. But now they had the opportunity, if anything more could be discovered, of investigating the location where the bodies were found. They knew the bodies might have been carried by the water so their search included a fairly large area. Then they found the freezer with the top torn off... With nothing inside... They started talking with anybody who was still living in the area, plus at the same time, they identified one of the bodies... And then Kit was pulled into another investigation where a head from a body was found--the neck ragged and torn. The body was still sitting in his car...Was it accident...suicide...or... The potential suicide led Kit to a group called Organogenesis, Inc. who worked to provide needed body parts to children. Apparently, they made them artificially... The man who was dead was one of two brothers who ran the business... Got to say, that this book gets gory! So be prepared for some squeamish moments... especially when this critter gets involved... There is enough to hint at what is going on but the final reality was surprising...and horrendous! Of the three I've read and loved, this brought me to the edge of my seat, amazed at the ways potential good activities are turned, for greed, into criminal actions that are beyond the imagination of those, like me, who live quite ordinary lives... One lighter side to the story is enjoyable...as the local eatery, Grandma O's in the book, which just may be this one on Poydras Street which had been in the right location to avoid the damage. There are many warm scenes there, so it seemed an appropriate way to close our visit to the Big Easy... And then stay for as much of the Jazz Festival as you Can!
Hey! I love this series. If you haven't read any of the books by D. J. Donaldson--and love forensics crime stories, you're really missing one of the best writers in this field. And, of course, enjoy the famous food and music while you visit!
GABixlerReviews
D.J. Donaldson is a retired professor of anatomy and neurobiology. His entire academic career was spent at the University of Tennessee, Health Science Center, where he published dozens of papers on wound-healing and taught microscopic anatomy to thousands of medical and dental students. 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. In the spring of most years, he simply cannot stop buying new flowers and other plants for the couple's prized backyard garden.
