Oh, You Silly Goose! It was Just a Dream... Author Has Chance to Share The True Story!

 Call me a silly goose all you want,
 but I know what I saw...
And it wasn't geese! It was ducks!
~~~

...We (my wife, two sons and I) were having the
best camping trip we'd ever had. Wildflowers
were revealing themselves. Grasses were high
and soft. Fruit blossoms were turning to leaves.
Mosquitoes hadn't hatched yet. Whales were
in Migration. We'd seen the Milky Way every
night. I was fast becoming a master at horse
shoes, and just when I though my shoe shine
bald head had gotten used to the brisk, moist
sea air, I had caught a cold,,,
~~~

We had picked the Camp Grounds at Wages Creek, just north of Westport on the Northern California Coast and having the best vacation trip, but then I got sick... It wasn't fair, at least in my opinion... And the family knew to just leave me alone...

  

"Qwaaau waaaaa oh yeah--aackaa wakaa wow!"

Wages Creek

By Jeffrey Hickey

The author declares this book one for all ages...and I must agree. After all, at one time or another we all take a vacation which makes a long time impression on all of us, or even just one of us... For Jeffrey Hickey, when he got sick, he had a dream, or maybe he was hallucinating from a fever...or, maybe, just maybe, he actually saw what he saw...So I've asked him to tell us what happened that day.

They faced each other; standing straight and proud, and
and they began what I assumed to be a courtship dance.
They stretched out their necks and began thrusting them
forward and backward and around their partner in fencing
and jousting motions. As they thrust their necks and beaks
they began what sounded at first like low, throaty mutterings,
but then, through the wax and the virus shrouding my ears,
I heard it...
~~~ 
"Qwaaau waaaaa oh yeah--aackaa wakaa wow!"

I so appreciate the opportunity to tell my story. Any time I think of it, it seems like it just happened yesterday.  I sometimes begin to wonder since I did try to find pictures of ducks with circles around their necks and have been unsuccessful... But then again, they might have had ribbons or bits of scarves tied around their necks--don't you think? I do know that they were in the midst of some ritual when I first saw them...or maybe just a mating dance...

Now I admit I was surprised that they didn't run away, but they didn't and they stared at me for awhile, then started again...

And would you believe we even began a conversation?! It seemed that these two were indeed a couple, but Esmeralda's father was opposed to their relationship...

That was the last draw. I was prepared to take anything he
said about me...except, making fun of my horseshoe playing.
Because I was good. Real good. And I didn't have to take
this from a duck...
I said, "Oh year, Gil? So you're an expert at horseshoes, huh?"
"Yes, I am," he replies, "And I gotta tell ya, you play
horseshoes...like a goose!"
Now, I'm not an expert at duck insults. But judging by the
way Esmeralda said, "Ohhh, daddy," and by the way Shlomo
hung his head and shook it in shame, I understood that by
calling me a goose, Gilbert had gone as low as he could go..."
~~~

Well, I admit I am somewhat opinionated so I started pointing out to her father that there was nothing wrong with their being involved...

And of course, we were soon in an argument...

I really don't know how it happened but that old coot, I mean duck, made a derogatory comment about my horseshoe playing...

Well, that was a mistake, because I'm the best.

But, of course, that's what he said too. Well, you know what two stubborn enemies are going to do, even if one is a man and one a duck...

"Tell you what!...Let's play horseshoes!


The horseshoe sites were already being used, so we had to wait...after all, we didn't think it would be a good idea to have others around when a duck was playing me...

Well, Sir, That works out fine because I think we must stop here. We always want to leave readers hanging, right?! But we are so interested in what happened to the ducks...who won the horseshoe competition...And how the story ended!

So, I do want to highlight that this book is also in audio form and although the book is wonderful as a standalone, the author has done voice characterization, added sound effects...and really makes it an all-around delightful sensation! The book itself is beautifully painted by Karen Kiser. In fact the cover would make an attractive framed picture for some lucky child's bedroom...

The next thing I heard was my wife Karen saying, "Honey? Jeff Sweeety. Do you want some dinner?"
I unpeeled the pillow from my head and opened my eyes. I saw approximately six of Karen at the door of our tent. I was very dizzy, and my face felt quite warm. I tried hard to focus on her as I said, "It was you guys who were coming?"
"What do you mean, honey? she replied. "We've been here for hours and you've been making the funniest noises while you slept."
~~~

I think the thing I liked most about the story was that the author took a routine vacation and made it into a family memory, not only for his own family but for all of us...and he made fun of himself so that we were able to laugh and make fun of what happened there! You and your children will be missing a lot of fun if you miss this one! Highly Recommended!

GABixlerReviews

(Writing on Behalf of Author for 

Illustrative Review)

Thank you so much for having me visit here at Book Readers Heaven. BTW, we went back to Wages Creek a year or two afterward, so thought I'd bring you some photos taken on that trip!

Jeffrey Hickey is an author, composer, performing artist, teacher, coach, father of twins and arguably the happiest married man on the planet. 

Those close to him know him as Chef-Boy-R-Jeff for his exquisite cooking. He would like more people to donate blood. He is gluten free, mostly dairy free, genre free, and finally agent free.

He and his family live in Inverness, California, with six ducks, one parrotlet, one cockatiel, one gecko lizard, and are often visited by such a varied assortment of critters (human and animal), they call their home Der Zoo. 

His published works include two adult novels, Morehead, and The Coach's Son, a children's book and audio recording, Wages Creek, and a CD of stories with music, Bats and Bones.

Looking Glass Killer by Floyd Merrell More Inclined Toward Teaching Than Murder!

Drealorless grue coms retuously impest.

,,,What a vicious brain twister," Mike says.
"Yes, it is. Like going through Lewis Carroll's looking glass."
"What do you mean?"
"Their grue suggests change in the way we see things, conceive them, and talk about them. Our green suggests change in the way they see, think, and talk. You see? Their color scheme and our color scheme are mirror-images if you look at them from above, that is, from an extra dimension...
"Whew! I'm not sure I follow you, but I have a feeling you might have hit the nail on the head. What does it all mean then?"
"That's the sixty-four-dollar question, my man. My first reaction is that this riddle might revolve around the idea of change of language and perspective. Which means the murdering predator's MO will be as unstable as can be...
~~~

Looking Glass Killer

By Floyd Merrell

The title of this book is certainly intriguing, isn't it? Have you ever traveled through the looking glass? I haven't...and after reading this book, I hope I never have to... Most of you may have come to realize that I'm a literal reader. If the novel says there is a serial killer, then I believe it as the premise upon which I start reading, hoping to perhaps identify the criminal before the book declares who it is...

Let me ask you a question before I go on with that thought... Have you, in your schooling, moved on and taken classes into higher mathematics? geometry especially? If not, you may need to prepare to be lost within mathematical jargon for a great part of the book... Now, this killer who is brilliantly intent on maintaining secrecy, while still taunting the police who are charged with the case... has everybody bamboozled... If you have no basic knowledge of higher mathematics, his show of intelligent playacting will be lost on the majority of you--and that included me... I hung in there, though, and tried to use narrative and followup of the many puzzles, riddles, etc., that came forward for use by the police... I hadn't a clue so adjusted my reading to my own lack of knowledge. If you can't do that, I recommend you pass on this book, because you will quickly be frustrated, with no place to turn to...

Remember that this is just another case for Lucia and Mike, her new partner. So they begin their usual and routine investigations on site, interviews, autopsy and forensics activities. Unfortunately, nothing is found at the first murder...

Or the second, the third, the fourth, the fifth...

One of the clues sent had been a blank key...???

What was that all about?!

"I'll be damned," she says, "A key. And a blank one at that."
"Blank," That's odd," Mike remarks.

"Yes, blank. Which means it can be cut in one of an indeterminate number of ways to open an indeterminate number of locks...They look around for a few minutes, then leave the crime scene. Silently, deep in thought. Lucia somewhat reluctantly offers  her estimation of what they're up against.

"The killer is extremely confident. He seem

s to go about his crime as if checking off a shopping list in the supermarket. Methodically and orderly...No nonsense. Straight-forward and linear. Like a set of cause and effect sequences....

As they continued brainstorming, they began to talk about playacting, whether or not the individual was really a psychopath or, like other actors, was playing the part of a psychopath. From there, Lucia, who had been academically trained and almost made a career in geometry began to think back to some of what she learned at that time and whether this individual was actually using mathematics in planning his actions... Was some type of Doublespeak being used to deliberately disguise what was said in anything that had been left at the scenes?

"Lucia," Mike says the next morning back at the office, "I'm still wondering about your so glibly calling the killer a psychopath."

"I've been wondering about that too. In the note he left us, he used that presumed nonswensical Chomskyan phrase garbled up with portmanteau thetoric for some purpose. Like a riddle for us to solve. He's playing with us, manipulating us. Just like a psychopath. But I sense some sort of ulterior motive unbecoming of the stock-in-trade psychopath...And, by the way, don't call him the killer. From this moment forward, he's X-Man,,,X-Man. An unknown variable X. And a man, I presume, as a nonconstant constant...X-Man the exaggerocious.

"Come again?"

"You know, a portmanteau word, X-man the exaggeratedly atrocious, vicious, hideous,  monstrous. We might as well qualify him by using his own twisted language...

It was becoming clear that the X-Man was talking directly to Lucia... with riddles that could be taken in one way, even though they know it meant something entirely different:

What force and strength cannot get through, I, with gentle touch and insertion can do; and many in the street would not in anguish stand; if I were not there as a stalwart friend in hand; what am I?

At the same time, it seemed that much of their investigation activities were getting shared outside of the police, especially with the media. She and Mike even checked her home for bugs

Triangles started her thinking in a more logical fashion. Using just a sketch of one, she matched it with the details of the first two crimes...distance, time of attack and days between attacks... Using the first three, she began to formulate when the four murder could take place and where...

Soon Lucia was comparing X-Man to brilliant Mathematicians such as Kurt Godel and more and more Lucia was spending time refreshing her earlier studies in these important fields.

This case was like no other they'd ever had and each and every day, they had to think and learn and rethink outside the box, in addition to sharing their findings with other professionals to gain different perspectives.

In fact, it is with the help of Lucia's uncle that they begin to finalize their concept and planning...

I have mixed feelings about this novel. If you would want to solve the capture of a serial killer, entirely through the use of your intellect and ability to solve riddles and other linguist presentations, then you may be fascinated with this book.

I Am Not a Serial Killer

The author does provide one knowledgeable character and another who does not have the math background but can solve the riddles and other word games...Still, I felt that this author of 32 academic books as a retired university professor may have created his 33rd... Having the entire book, essentially, including nothing but academic principles, bringing in more and more experts and principles to be considered, provided nothing to the police upon which to capture the killer. Even when the lead officer went to the place she had determined to be the site of the next killing, she had no idea who the guilty party was going to be. It reminded me of Numbers, the TV program where one brother helps his cop brother solve cases, using his expertise. But there is a distinct difference. In that program, his brother's mathematical skills complemented the police work that was and still had to be done. For, without the police action, the intellectual stimulation provided does little to close the case and entertain the readers who expected something quite different.

Too much time--days, weeks went by without using many of the standard interview procedures and too much emphasis was placed on the use of "Numbers" {generic term to cover the academic activities explored] I enjoyed the TV show; with this I felt I was back in class... If the author can merge his expertise into those more human characteristics, and allow the reader to get into the thinking of the killer, I think he, too, would find that "Numbers" could be used to explore both police procedures as well as in intellectual premises upon which crimes may be solved. To prove my point, when we met the serial killer at the end, I could not remember who he was and had to go back into the book to find him!

On the other hand, by the time I was into the book about half-way, I was beginning to follow the logic and the book is very well written... All we need to do is see that the author spends some time reading lots of other fiction crime books and look to merge his background into a satisfactory novel...Legal and medical professionals are doing this all the time and Numbers was a successful TV program...so, Professor Merrell, I look forward to seeing where you go in future novels...


GABixlerReviews

     Retired college prof, Purdue University (1973-2011). Wrote too many professional books in mind-numbing 'academese.' Now would like to think he's writing fiction and nonfiction about identity crises, border issues, ethnic interrelations, and mental glitches of multiple sorts. Now floundering in whirlpooling word cascades wildly sweeping him along. Yet this year managed to publish FINDING HIMSELF and THE AFRO-BRAZILIAN ART OF COPING. LOOKING GLASS KILLER, latest novel, is now out!

The Lincoln Myth by Steve Berry Raises Major Historical Issue for United States... Out May 20th!

Latter-day Saints believe in the resurrected Jesus Christ, as depicted in the Christus Statue in the North Visitors' Center on Temple Square in Salt Lake City (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

"Goodbye, Senator."
He tapped the screen on his smartphone
and found the email. Two images
downloaded. The first was an open
pocket watch [that Lincoln always wore]
The second was a close-up of the watch's
back plate, inner side, two words etched
into the silver.
FALTA NADA.
Missing Nothing...
He smiled, stared up at Heavenly Father,
and whispered, "Thank you."
~~~

Americans certainly do love their heroes, don't they? Why else, for instance, are there statues all around extolling the virtues of one of our former Presidents? Then along comes one of today's internationally best  seller authors and lays out some "alternative historical" facts for all of us to consider...

Abraham Lincoln felt that American states must stay as a union, no matter whether the government was an effective one... No state could secede. Thus the Civil War...

Then along comes Berry, who demonstrates through a highly researched book that it is highly unlikely, in fact, quite unrealistic that our founding fathers would create the exact type of government from which they had first fled and worked to establish their new lives in America...

Hmmm, logic seems to support the author's words, methinks...   

But adding the connection to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints seemed to push it for me, at least... But it also has an intriguing touch to it related to "separation of church and state" since the Senator who would become President of the State would also, by that time, have become the Prophet--head of the Mormon Church! Another interesting possibility which, at least one of the members was already planning for, was the move back to multiple wives [polygamy]... Then again, the church had a solid financial base and was not greatly in debt. Something the Federal Government could not claim...  A poll had been done; Utah wanted to secede. Should it be permitted? 

The Lincoln Myth
                                                                                  By Steve Berry

This is an extremely complex novel with just under 450 pages... Cotton Malone, the main character of this series is a wonderful, likable guy.  He was once with the government, but has retired and now owns and operates a small bookstore. He has fallen in love with his companion but they've not made any commitment and, in this story, she is requested to work with a member of the Latter Day Saints, who is also a former man with whom she was in love. Now, she's being pulled back and forth between the two men who have played major parts in her life!

He could not recall the precise moment when
he became a secessionist, but he was utterly
convinced that his position was correct.
Whenever any form of government becomes
destructive, it is the right of the people to
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new
government, laying its foundation on such
principles and organizing its powers in such
form, as to them shall seem most likely to
effect their safety and happiness. Thomas
Jefferson and the fifty-five other patriots
who signed the Declaration of Independence
were right. Interesting how those men
supposedly possessed the natural and
unalienable right to violently rebel against
an oppressive England. Yet if their descendants
tried to do the same against the United States
of America, myriad federal statutes would be
brought to bear against their every act.
When did Americans lose those
"natural and unalienable rights?"
~~~ 

Is it because we are a secretive people that keeps personal thoughts close to ourselves... Or, is it that we are a curious people who wonder about the past, hoping it will help us understand what has gone wrong?

Because I think most Americans, these days, wonder about the way government is being handled by those we have voted into positions of power... For me, these thoughts began in the 80s. Was that just because I had been involved long enough to start asking my own questions?

Berry certainly lays the issues  back to and even before Lincoln became president. Using some facts that are true from our history, and some that are fiction [and fortunately provides an afterword clarifying fact of fiction at the end] Berry describes an ongoing plan of conspiracy by a high-ranking official in the Mormon Church hierarchy, who is also the ranking Senator of Utah.

Add a mentally ill church member with an invisible angel who guides him in his actions, including the selection and leadership of a group of young church members to become Danites, a secret order within the church to do the wet work that needed to be done and you may begin to question all of it!

To expedite the Senator's plan, much research is being done--and many past rumors are now being re-examined, hoping to find the actual documentation to prove what occurred between Lincoln and others and, in particular, the Prophet who was in charge of the church at that time. I have to say that this becomes tedious at times and somewhat hard to keep track of, so be prepared to spent some time within America's history.

They left the cellar and traipsed west through the woods, paralleling the sea, the pound of surf clear in the distance. The lit mansion that awaited them was an excellent example of Dutch Baroque. Three stories, three wings, hip roof. 
The exterior was sheathed with the trademark thin red brick--Dutch clinkers. Malone had learned to call them. He counted thirty windows facing their way, only a handful lit, and all on the ground floor.
"Nobody's home," Luke said.
"How do you know that?"
"The man's out for the evening..."
Luke tried the latches. Locked.
A light came on inside.
Which startled them both.
Malone darted left into a shrubbery bed, where darkness and the exterior wall offered protection. Luke found refuge in a similar spot on the terrace's opposite side, the French doors and windows between them. They both peered around the edge into the lit space beyond the glass and saw a red-walled parlor dotted with elegant period furniture, gilt mirrors, and oil paintings.
And two people.
One face--a man's--he did not recognize. But it didn't take a rocket scientist to know his identity.
Josepe Salazar.
The other, though, was a shock. No one that said a word about her involvement.
Not Stephanie. Not Frat Boy. Nobody.
Yet here she was.
His girlfriend.
Cassiopeia Vitt.
~~~

Cotton Malone was not even given a hint that he might run into Cassiopeia. A cruel decision, in my opinion. He knows why he is there and he knows the background of Salazar. What he does not yet know, but will discover is that Cassiopeia was not only born a Mormon, but that she was earlier involved with Salazar!

One thing Stephanie, his handler knew, though, was that Cotton would not leave while Cassiopeia was in the hands of this man... This puts both of them in danger, as well as in places where they are deeply confused and hurt by the other's actions. A sad possible ending is that Cotton will never see her again...

On the other hand, the ending was quite a surprise, not so much as to what happened, but rather who and how people were discovered, involved, and working on the desire to secede. Frankly, I never would have thought of this ending...Yay!

 Then there's the White Horse Prophecy, the hidden gold, the page The Senator tore from an early hidden copy of The Church's writings... The old wooden wagons found in the cave--so many secrets, on nearly everybody's part... Will you be able to clear all those secrets up?

The Book of Mormon English Missionary Edition Soft Cover (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Aside from all that, there are a couple of family issues for Cotton and the U.S. President that bring a touch of warmth into what is essentially, a tedious pursuit of secrets, a prevention of the beginning of states wanting to secede, starting with Utah and perhaps the dissolution of the United States..

By now, you should have already decided whether to read or not. The Amber Room was my first Steve Berry and he's been sending readers out on some sort of treasure hunt from then on... On a lighter side, I certainly hope Cotton and Cassiopeia work their way back to each other in the next book! LOL


GABixlerReviews

Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of The Lincoln Myth, The King's Deception, The Columbus Affair, The Jefferson Key, The Emperor's Tomb, The Paris Vendetta, The Charlemagne Pursuit, The Venetian Betrayal, The Alexandria Link, The Templar Legacy, The Third Secret, The Romanov Prophecy, and The Amber Room. His books have been translated into 40 languages with 17,000,000 copies in 51 countries.

History lies at the heart of every Steve Berry novel. It's his passion, one he shares with his wife, Elizabeth, which led them to create History Matters, a foundation dedicated to historic preservation. Since 2009 Steve and Elizabeth have crossed the country to save endangered historic treasures, raising money via lectures, receptions, galas, luncheons, dinners and their popular writers' workshops. To date, nearly 2,500 students have attended those workshops. In 2012 their work was recognized by the American Library Association, which named Steve the first spokesman for National Preservation Week. He was also appointed by the Smithsonian Board of Regents to serve on the Smithsonian Libraries Advisory Board to help promote and support the libraries in their mission to provide information in all forms to scientists, curators, scholars, students and the public at large. He has received the Royden B. Davis Distinguished Author Award; the 2013 Barnes & Noble Writers for Writers Award; his novel The Columbus Affair earned him the Anne Frank Human Writes Award; and International Thriller Writers bestowed him the 2013 Silver Bullet for his work with historic preservation. A 2010 NPR survey named The Templar Legacy one of the top 100 thrillers ever written.

Steve was born and raised in Georgia, graduating from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University. He was a trial lawyer for 30 years and held elective office for 14 of those years. He is a founding member of International Thriller Writers--a group of more than 2,600 thriller writers from around the world--and served three years as its co-president.

For more information, visit www.steveberry.org.

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What Does Author Do with 27 Dogs? Write About Them, of Course! Hounded by David Rosenfelt Coming in July!

I wake up at six-thirty, because I hear noise
in the house.
As I get up, I remember about Ricky, and that
fact that he's in the room next door. Somehow
I had forgotten all about it during my sleep, but
it comes flooding back to me.
Laurie is not in bed; she must have gotten up
without my realizing it. That's fairly unusual;
typically I get up first, bring us both coffee, and
then take Tara for a walk. I've got a feeling we're
about to enter a period in which nothing is typical
~~~. 

Everybody probably knows that if this series included cat characters, I would have already known about it... So when Amazon Vine offered this novel, I quickly took it to see what was up with the canine cops...LOL

Actually, in this novel, they weren't main characters and I don't know whether that is the case for the entire series. Still, I enjoyed meeting the two animal friends that gave support to the human characters!  Andy Carpenter is the main character of the series. He's a lawyer that is certainly faced with an unknown experience in Hounded, which is coming in July. In fact, he's confronted with a case that he would have preferred never having to deal with as well. The two events makes this a story that I highly recommend. It easily stands alone, and there is not much tying to previous books, other than a couple of characters...

The story begins when a friend and officer, Pete Stanton, calls him to come quickly--and to bring his girlfriend, Laurie Collins. They have been called to a crime scene!


Actually, it's not the normal reason for going to a crime scene...and when they leave, there is a young boy and a dog with them...

Hounded

By David Rosenfelt 

"Is anyone trying to find his stepmother?"

Once you know there is a young boy, whose Dad has been killed, and there's also a couple of dogs living there, you can guess the slow development of relationships between the new, five, house occupants...so I'm not going to cover any of that other than to say, it is a fun and heartwarming sub-plot that readers will enjoy! Tara quickly accepted Ricky into his home and Sebastian was willing to share his master, so they soon were totally involved...LOL 

I follow the sounds, which now seem to be muffled laughter, to the den and look in. Tara and Sebastian are on the couch, and I can make out a human hand ande bare foot under them. They are smothering Ricky, and based on the sound, he is loving it.
Where's Ricky?" Laurie asks, to no one in particular. Then, when she sees me walk in, she smoothly switches that to, "Andy, where's Ricky?"
"I don't know," I say. "Maybe we should ask Tara or Sebastian."
Laurie asks them the question, but they don't seem inclined to respond. Finally, Ricky's head peers out from under them.
"There he is!" Laurie yells in mock surprise...

Pete Stanton, the police office who had originally called Andy has now officially been handed the murder case of Ricky's father. Andy had noticed that Ricky called Pete "uncle" and immediately started wondering what kind of relationship he had with the family

Unbelievably, the table turns and Pete is being considered a "person of interest" and is soon arrested... Not knowing who is trying to set him up, Pete, now, must also seek help from Andy on behalf of himself... Andy has no problem saying yes, even knowing that Pete will not have the money to pay him anything... And, later, when Andy does convince the court that he should be allowed to obtain bail, it is Andy who puts up the amount due...

Then he brings in his own motley crew and begins the investigation with checking on who, from Pete's case files, would be looking for payback...then goes on from there, with even Pete who has been confined to his home with a ankle lock, working as much as he can to help build his defense case...

Because the Prosecutor's case is based on much forensics evidence that has been collected and then a search of his home turned up about $100,000 street value in drugs!

The discovery information tells us some of what we're up against.
But it also says something far more revealing. Pete isn't just an innocent man wrongly accused.
He is an innocent man wrongly accused because someone specifically set it up that way.
If Pete is not guilty of the murder, which is something I am positive about, then he's been set up to take the fall. The gloves hidden in his car make that an absolute fact: they had to have been planted there, with the gunpowder residue on them...
On the one hand, this is very bad news, in that it means we're up against a smart, determined enemy, in addition to the prosecution. But it also presents an opportunity, in that the conspirators must have a reason for doing what they're doing to Pete. So we can search for them, and we can also search for that reason. If we achieve either goal, we win.
~~~

What is most frustrating for Andy is that every time he gets a handle on somebody that can help his case, they die. Now somebody having a heart attack is normal but when it starts to be that everybody associated with one criminal case are having heart attacks...there's probably something afoot, right?! And when you add the amounts of money that have already been spent to convict the individual who has been set up, then you know that something major and somebody very important is behind it all!

This is a case where something developed for the good of man has been turned into a criminal tool--nothing new, right? But it does create an intense, detailed case that requires that every possible corner be turned before things begin to make sense...

While that is happening, I enjoyed the humor of Andy's crew as they worked together, as well, as his internal thoughts as he considered how to deal with a young boy who is now living in his home as part of a family that has doubled quickly...Andy in court is also a cool defender of the law. He's quick to pull out ideas from what is being said, so that he can cast doubt on behalf of his client. I loved his work during Pete's trial...

Actually, I loved the whole book--its characters, the story, and the intensive work from a defense lawyer who has the toughest case possible--one where he can't win!

Legal thriller fans--Don't miss this one! Dog fans, kinda cute, though the dogs are not involved as they could have been...like taking them on investigations...LOL In any event, I think this one is definitely worth your time! Please check it out! Recommended by both Tara and Sebastian! 

And certainly not going to tell you how it ends...but I will share 

that Sebastian is verrrrry happy I (although I'm not soo sure about Tara)!

GABixlerReviews

 

About this author

I am a novelist with 27 dogs. I have gotten to this dubious position with absolutely no planning, and at no stage in my life could I have predicted it. But here I am.

My childhood was relentlessly normal. The middle of three brothers, loving parents, a middle-class home in Paterson, New Jersey. We played sports, studied sporadically. laughed around the dinner table, and generally had a good time. By comparison, "Ozzie and Harriet's" clan seemed bizarre.

I graduated NYU, then decided to go into the movie business. I was stunningly brilliant at a job interview with my uncle, who was President of United Artists, and was immediately hired. It set me off on a climb up the executive ladder, culminating in my becoming President of Marketing for Tri-Star Pictures. The movie landscape is filled with the movies I buried; for every "Rambo", "The Natural" and "Rocky", there are countless disasters.

I did manage to find the time to marry and have two children, both of whom are doing very well, and fortunately neither have inherited my eccentricities.

A number of years ago, I left the movie marketing business, to the sustained applause of hundreds of disgruntled producers and directors. I decided to try my hand at writing. I wrote and sold a bunch of feature films, none of which ever came close to being actually filmed, and then a bunch of TV movies, some of which actually made it to the small screen. It's safe to say that their impact on the American cultural scene has been minimal.

About fourteen years ago, my wife and I started the Tara Foundation, named in honor of the greatest Golden Retriever the world has ever known. We rescued almost 4,000 dogs, many of them Goldens, and found them loving homes. Our own home quickly became a sanctuary for those dogs that we rescued that were too old or sickly to be wanted by others. They surround me as I write this. It's total lunacy, but it works, and they are a happy, safe group. http://us.macmillan.com/author/davidr

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