Unidentified Woman is Unforgettable!

"In the Mossad, too, there were similar
stories. Especially one from the early
days of the organization when, as a reprisal
for the rape of a young Jewish girl, an
unauthorized crew of Mosaadniks did the
same thing to the Arab rapist. Gideon
always wondered, then as now, why
would someone do such a thing? Maybe
there was a clue for him there, in what
some renegade individuals in the Mossad
did years ago. In Israel.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mossad

Good literature boils down to two things: 
How interesting is the story you are telling, 
and how interesting is your telling. HFD 

Unidentified Woman

By Hillel F. Damron


Out today is the latest novel, Unidentified Woman, by Hillel F. Damron. It is an unforgettable story that you shouldn't miss! Maria Sanchez is a young girl when you meet her, walking to school with her best friend when a large car drives by, opens a door, grabs Maria and takes off--never to be seen by anybody there in her home town...

This is not a new theme, unfortunately. There are tales about human trafficking, kidnapping of young girls, and worse in the news. But, have you ever been personally involved with just one of those victims? Have you heard her story, cried with her, held her in your arms, wondering what you can do to heal the pain of her body, her mind? Hillel Damron started following stories of these girls and his heart went out to them. Readers will easily see both empathy and sympathy reflected in his writing. He cares about these victims and the story he has created about a girl named Maria Sanchez resonates as we learn of her life and walk with her through her young life... Damron writes boldly, specifically sharing just what happened, but in such a provocative manner that, as I mentioned to him in my interview, it actually hurt to read it.

This novel is second in a series surrounding the character Gideon Gold--I loved this man! Many will find him somewhat old-fashioned--he's polite, considerate and not quite sure how to interact with the opposite sex, especially the young women he meets through his cases. The story is written from his perspective and so we get to know him intimately, including his thoughts about those women. But don't get me wrong, he is a former agent of Mossad, taught to respond to all actions from any enemy... Readers will find him exciting, but nonchalant, and his training is readily put in play when needed. Mostly through his verbal communication skills! Cool!

 I love the title and cover for this book. While we may come to know Maria very well, we know that Maria is just the image of each and every young girl that is brought to life by the author. You may be one of those young girls, or you may know a young girl who was sexually abused. But this unidentified woman was forced to suffer so much more, if we are even able to comprehend "more" after knowing that someone has been sexually abused...

Maria kept her sanity by writing letters to her best friend, Adela--perhaps in her head or on paper--but they were never mailed. Still she is able to share what is happening with someone who loves her, and she may even pretend that Adela is there with her arms around her as she shares...

There is much pain and anguish to share. First Maria had been taken to a big place, a farm, where she was put in the charge of a woman called Big Mama. But she had already been touched and hurt in the car and this woman is not her mama, who would have protected her! In fact, this woman probably would never believe her if she told her what the man did--or worse, not care! Soon, this woman claims that she will be Maria's mama now. Maria cried loudly and received her first slap, but that is nothing in comparison to what will come... Where did little Maria go?

Gideon Gold had gained somewhat of a reputation as a private investigator and now he was being asked to use those skills again, even though he had never proceeded to actually get a license! Sid Bergin had been killed! And his wife wasn't happy with the progress from the police in finding out what had happened. Actually, Gideon is a screenwriter, trying to make it in California, but, in the meantime, he needed to make money and this was a way to do it, according to his wife. The main thing Gideon had going for him was that he never gave up... Little by little he would find a small piece of information...and begin to put things together.

And when he put together that a gruesome murder took place the same night that... Except Gideon... Let's just say that Gideon has a gift in remembering and analyzing details... As more and more murders are committed, the police are baffled, trying to find some connection between men who were rich, but that had no other relationship to the others who had been killed...

Highly recommended first, because we need to know and respond to the increasing human trafficking issue in the United States...Check out the author's blog for more background on this! But also... Second, if you enjoy amateur (unlicensed) detectives studying the details of a case and  ultimately solving the case like I do, then you are sure to enjoy Gideon Gold's meticulous pursuit of the individual responsible for so many murders, distinguished by the insertion of a body part in the victim's mouth...

This thriller has a surprise ending that I simply "applauded" when I read it! If you enjoy mystery, suspense with a background story that is compelling, dramatic, and unforgettable, then I believe you will find everything you're looking for  when you read Unidentified Woman by Hillel Damron! And let me know what you think about the ending!


GABixlerReviews

The challenge of the writer is to transform—artistically and imaginatively—a unique personal experience, or observation, into a universal, meaningful story. HFD

Hillel F. Damron is the winner of Moment Magazine 2011 Memoir Contest. He was born in a kibbutz in Israel, to parents who survived the Holocaust. He was an officer in an elite paratroops unit, experienced war and was wounded in battle. He studied filmmaking at the "London Film School." His final short film, "The Petition," represented the "British Arts Council" in the film festival in Tours, France.

In Israel, he directed TV documentaries, video shorts and a feature film, titled "Hasamba: The Undercover Kids." He wrote film reviews, published short stories - one received a "Fantasia 2000 Magazine" award - and a sci-fi novel: "The War of the Sexes" (Milhemet Ha-Minim, Hebrew edition), referred to by the American "Science-Fiction Studies" as "the best of all Israeli sci-fi literature." His short story, "The Messiah" - an excerpt from "Very Narrow Bridge" - was published in "Sambatyon," a literary journal in Northern California.

To learn more about him and his work, visit his literary website:

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• Coming August 15th - By Hillel F. Damron! An Excerpt...
• Hillel F. Damron Talks About His Books at BRH!

Coming August 15th - By Hillel F. Damron! An Excerpt...

Unidentified Woman—a literary mystery novel about rape, revenge, and redemption—follows a young Mexican girl, Maria Sanchez, who is kidnapped on her way to school one morning. She is enslaved and repeatedly, brutally raped by paying costumers, mostly Americans. But she survives and grows up to become an independent young woman living in Los Angeles. She tracks down all those men who wronged her, exerting a deadly, unusual punishment.

On her footsteps, following the police failure to capture her, is Gideon Gold: a reluctant, amateur private investigator, and a former commander of an elite Israeli paratroops unit and a Mossad secret agent. His frantic pursuit of her takes unexpected twists and turns, culminating in a dramatic, compelling game of cat-and-mouse that will change both of their lives forever.

~~~

About the Author: Hillel F. Damron was born in Israel to parents who survived the Holocaust. He was an officer at an elite paratroops unit and was wounded in battle. He studied films at the London Film School and became a film director of TV documentaries, a feature film, and numerous video shorts. He is the award-winning author of a Sci-fi novel, short stories and film reviews. His novel Very Narrow Bridge, a first in the series of Gideon Gold’s Investigation, was published last year.

This year in February he was awarded Moment Magazine’s prize for winning its memoir contest with his entry: The Sweet Life.  And this summer, August 15th, his second novel in the series of Gideon Gold’s Investigation will be published throughout the E-reader Universe. 

Be the first to read an excerpt, and have an initial clue on the road to solving the mystery: who is she, the Unidentified Woman, and what’s her story?  Here how it begins:

Capirato, Mexico. October 12, 1976

“If life is a garden,

Women are the flowers.

Men are the gardeners,

Who pick up the prettiest ones.”

I sing this song while jumping rope with Adela, my best friend, before going off to school. I’m only twelve, but Mami keeps telling me I should grow up and stop jumping rope. Do things girls my age are supposed to be doing, like help her in the kitchen and learn how to sew. I hate it when she says that. I keep holding tight to the rope that connects me to my childhood, afraid of losing it, afraid of growing up. It’s as if somehow, don’t know how, I know what lies ahead.

The dirt road to school, that’s what lies ahead, where Adela and I run hand in hand. We skip between the small stones, still singing that silly song a boy at school taught us yesterday, about the flowers and the gardeners. And laughing about it, too, questioning who is the prettiest one: her or me? And this boy, Angelo his name, is he in love with me or with her?

We come off the bend to the only half paved road in our poor little village, happy to bounce on solid ground. Just then a black car suddenly stops near us making noise and raising dust. Never before in my life have I seen such a beautiful, shiny car. I can see myself reflected in it, like in a twisted mirror.

But only for a second. Because the back window rolls down immediately and a man pokes out his head, asking me for my name. “Maria,” I say. (I hate my name, it’s so… so ordinario.) He asks me to come over and show him the way to our school. I don’t know why I didn’t run away at that moment. Maybe it’s because Mami always told me to obey men. Especially older men.

He opens the door when I get closer and grabs me by the hand and pulls me inside. He is strong and he places me in the back between his legs, pushing my head down. I left my schoolbag on the dirt road behind. But why, I will need it soon? No matter, Adela will bring it to school. Of course she would. That’s where we are going, isn’t it? It’s only a game.

The car takes off screaming. I want to scream, too, but I can’t. His stinky hand is on my mouth. It hurts so much so I bite it. He curses bad words and hits me on the back of my head. Now I really scream. He is strangling me. I can’t breathe. His firm thighs clap my hips. I can’t move. I can’t shout. I close my eyes.

When I close my eyes, I’m afraid the world that was promised me—going to school with Adela, meeting Angelo and our other friends there, studying history which I like the most, our daytrip next week to the Mayan ruins, graduation, going to trade school, falling in love, marrying and having children—may be gone and lost forever. And together with the cloud of dust I imagine the speeding car is raising behind as it leaves our village, an evil cloud is falling over me. Covering me with eternal darkness and sadness.

 

Here’s Another excerpt:

I feel lucky today, Adela. I breathe the crisp spring air. I listen to the singing of the birds. I smell wild flowers. I shake my hair loose and let it fly. The promise of quiet is suddenly all around me, and I can hear myself thinking for the first time since I was kidnapped. Maybe there is a future for me after all, like Big Mamá said.

I’m working alone, the way Mario told me to. Not with the other workers I saw on the way before we entered this narrow valley. The work is easy, much better than the hard work at the factory. I water the coca plants with a hose. That’s all I do. It’s a young field and the shrubs are about my size, no more than one meter and twenty tall. They don’t seem thirsty to me, the plants, but still, I fill this shallow circle that surrounds them with water. I just look at the water streaming so nicely. Then when it’s full, I move the hose to the next plant. I feel a gentle breeze coming down from the hills. I hear only birds and the whisper of the wind. I see the water swirling and I see the butterflies fly around me. My wish at this moment is to be a butterfly.

But suddenly—don’t know how, don’t know why—I see a shadow in the water circling the plant. I hear footsteps, too. And when I raise my head to look, the man is too close for me to run away. He is tall and old and Gringo. He is wearing boots and a cowboy hat. Like in a movie we saw together once, Adela, in our village. Remember?

I let the hose drop down from my hand and take a step back. That’s when he takes his hat off and throws it on the ground. His head is bald like a melon, and so ugly. He looks me up and down. He smiles. Evil smile.

“You’re mine, Little Maria,” he says in Spanish with an American accent.

How does he know my name? I hate that name. One day I’m going to change it. I turn around and begin to run. He chases after me and grabs me from behind. I scream but nobody hears me. Where is Mario? Where is Big Mamá? Where are the other workers I saw when we drove in here? Where is everybody?

 Watch for an Interview with the Author and My Review on the 14th and 15th! Find Hillel Damron at these sites!

My Web Site

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube

Good Reads

Political Blog
EMail

Paper Puzzle by Harvey Does More Than Entertain...

Bibb County Courthouse
~~~
Little did Robin Yette know that taking
on the red-haired stranger as a client would
lead to his first visit to Macon, Ga...
One minute he is arguing for the release
of his client and the next minute he is being
escorted into a car by federal marshals...
One moment a free fire-breating lawyer out
to protect the rights of the innocent, the
next unable to go to the bathroom
without permission...
Judge Owes commenced the hearing by
asking Robin Yette if an audiotape diary
existed...
Judge Owes ordered Robin Yette to turn
over the tape for inspection.
Yette responded by objecting...
Judge Owes would hear none of it...

Paper Puzzle

(Kindle Edition)

By Harold Michael Harvey

OMG, I just finished a great cliffhanger! I hate cliffhangers...

But you know what? After the chills had left my body, I realized that even if Harold Michael Harvey does not write a followup novel, that I didn't mind...not knowing the final whodunit! The entire story was so satisfying that I could accept not knowing the final outcome. Readers are able to surmise that good indeed won over evil!

I want to early point out that, at least with the kindle edition, there are many problems with spacing and format of the book and there were editorial issues that should have been attended to. However, this fanatic proofreader had little trouble skirting them, just because the storyline was so compelling. The suspense is ongoing and seemingly unending until the climatic last page, so I must recommend that readers forego criticism of the editing and just sink into the story. You won't be sorry!

Beginning in 1985 and historically looking back to the 40s, we take a close look at Macon Georgia. My guess is that it was a typical southern town, although it did have a fortunate turn during the war in that the town had little damage done and most of the beautiful homes were still standing. In fact, only one mansion had been hit by a cannonball and had gained notoriety from that...I highlight this only to illustrate that the historical background against which this story is set is an important part of the book.

After all, the war had affected the south more than any other part of America and the people who lived there had been permanently affected by the laws that occurred thereafter.

Oh yes, the laws had changed, but by the time of this story, the real world of the south had changed little...racial issues and tension are very much a part of this story, but it is, for me, more a tale of good and evil. Evil does not recognize race, it uses anybody who is willing to succumb to the mightiest temptation of all...Power... African Americans had no power. That was tradition. They were there to serve but mostly they were there not to be seen, except, of course, when the white master of the plantations desired to use the women for their own pleasures...

Clay Moore, who now was managing editor of the Macon Tribune and Journal, was having nightmares. Worse, he would wake in the mornings and find bits of news clippings scattered across his bed. He was so upset that he broke off his relationship with his lover because he couldn't trust what was happening. But even after she returned her key, the clippings continued to appear each morning. He was rattled, not just because these pieces of paper were appearing, but because they were pieces of his own work--articles that he had written years ago about murders that had occurred but that had never been formally resolved.

Clay was a good man, a solid journalist and with his past being literally thrown in front of him nightly, he began to reconsider all that had occurred. One thing he knew was that much of what he had written about had never been published--those in power had prevented it. But now things were happening, bits and pieces were starting to unravel and now Clay was the one they were looking toward for information!

Clay had seen the Federal Judge, who had sent the Marshals after him and dragged him into court, in action before. He remembered that the same Judge had kidnapped the lawyer of the accused man and forced him to ignore lawyer-client privilege. How? He had arrested both the lawyer and his wife! Now this judge was after Clay...

But there was another journalist who was also watching the story and seeking the truth. If I followed his lineage correctly, he was a descendant of Obadiah Royal who ironically had killed a former owner of the Macon Tribune and Journal during the Civil War. Now, Jimmy Royal, editor of The Voice, a weekly Black newspaper, who had been turned down for a position at the MTJ, was in a position to publish what Clay had never been able to! He started by writing about Clay Moore's arrest!

There are enough clues along the way for mystery lovers to begin to piece together and start responding to the possibilities of what actually happened. Harvey throws many of them right at us, while others are hidden just as much as how those pieces of paper were being left for Clay! Just how did this paper puzzle fit together?

Other reviewers may dwell on the racial issues in Harvey's book. They are indeed powerfully presented and reflect problems that, for many, still exist in today's world! This information is an important historical complement to the book. However, for me, the power of the courts, of our judges, was newly presented and revealing... and, I must admit, that was what left me wondering... Just as I know there are still many racially tense issues to be addressed today, are there also still those power-hungered court officials alive and quietly living and ruling people's lives?

For many reasons, this book is a must-read! It is a wonderfully suspenseful novel that stands strong in the mystery genre. I look forward to seeing more of Harvey's work for this reason alone! For the social issues he raises, they are unnerving. I hope Jimmy Royal and Clay Moore reveal more in the future! It's way past time for the truth to rule!

GABixlerReviews

Review: I loved New Nancy Pickard Novel--The Scent of Rain and Lightning

Image via Wikipedia

The Scent of

  Rain and

  Lightning


By Nancy Pickard




Ballantine Books
ISBN: 9780345471017
319 Pages




Award-winning Nancy Pickard certainly has provided readers with a beautifully written novel and a suspenseful mystery that keeps readers turning pages and working to solve the murder. Gee I hate it when I didn't even have a clue who it really was!

Actually, I love it when I can't figure out a mystery! While this book has much to love, much of what actually happens reveals the cruelty from some individuals who you even love to hate!

As a little girl of three, Jody Linder had loved to watch the storms, listen to the thunder go "Boom!" and see the lightning brighten the sky. But then on one particular stormy night, Jody's father was murdered and her mother disappeared. And now she feared those storms when they came...

Although Jody's life was a good one, living with her grandparents in Rose, Kansas, she never lost the need to know what happened to her mother. When small, she had heard that if her mother had disappeared, it might have been near The Rocks, a unique rock display that drew many people to see how erosion would change the faces to be found there. She had begun to pick up items lost there and she would bring them to one of her family members and suggest that it might have belonged to her mother.

She soon realized that none of them wanted her to do this--so she kept it her secret activity and now many years later, she had backpacks full of smelly items that she thought might someday be used as a clue to help find her mother...

Billy Crosby had worked for her grandfather but he was cruel to the animals and it was rumored that he also was cruel to his wife and son, especially when he drank. And that night during the storm, he was so drunk that he had passed out and had to be picked up and taken home. So when the murder occurred, the entire family automatically assumed that it had been Billy. He was convicted and put in jail.

Until 23 years later, when Jody is just about to begin a teaching job, Colin, Billy's son, is now a lawyer and had fought and won to have the old trial overturned and a new one held.

It was then that Colin and others in the town expressed the opinion that Billy had not been guilty, at least of the murder for which he had been convicted. Even the man with whom Jody had been intimately revealed he believed Billy innocent. Jody was crushed!

She had to know the truth, especially about where her mother might be! And she starts her own personal investigation that leads to... more death!

Meet the family, friends and enemies Jody found that were living next to each other in Rose, Kansas. It is a fantastic story, gripping of a subtle love interest that has lasted over 20 years amidst the agonizing fear, hate and anger for the killer who had never killed until he was convicted of one he did not do. Bittersweet, it will leave you to ponder the secrets carried by some, perhaps even by those who you have loved for years...

My opinion-- The Scent of Rain and Lightning by Nancy Pickard is a must-read. With the literary mastery of writing along with a beautiful tantalizing story, you really don't want to miss this one!



Book Received
From Amazon Vine

G. A. Bixler

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