Book Chronicles: Longer Shelf Life Reviews

St. Alban's Fire A Good Read

2006-12-13T18:14:21Z

Title: St. Albans Fire

Author: Archer Mayor

Publisher: Warner Books

ISBN: 0446618101

Price: $6.99

RECOMMENDATION: GOOD READ

Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Premise and Originality: 9 out of 10

Characterization:   9 out of 10

Dialogue:   9 out of 10

Storyline:   9 out of 10

Having read the sequel, The Second Mouse, it seemed advisable to read the predecessor novel for sheer enjoyment. Joe Gunther is an excellent protagonist, and the Vermont setting and descriptions in both novels are excellent. Only this time, Joe is taken far afield from the snow and hills of New England to urban Newark.

A series of mysterious barn burnings, in one of which a young man is burned to death, followed by sales of the farms on which they were located sets the stage for this mystery. Two other farm sales made after accidents may or may not be related. The only clue seems to be a common modus operandi in two of the fires. The investigation proceeds to find the arsonist, who may be based in Newark. But who hired him and for what purpose?

The tale is painstakingly told and well-written. Gunther and his love face danger from the killer. The conclusion, while logical, is totally unexpected. Reading the first novel lived up to the expectations raised by the second.

Limitations Reveals its Limitations But a Good Read

2006-12-13T17:55:36Z

Title: Limitations

Author: Scott Turow

Publisher: Picador

ISBN: 0312426453

Price: $13.00

RECOMMENDATION: GOOD READ

Reviewed by Theodore Feit

Premise and Originality: 8 out of 10

Characterization:   8 out of 10

Dialogue:   9 out of 10

Storyline:   7 out of 10

Originally published serially in the Sunday New York Times Magazine, some additional material has been added to this slender volume to flesh it out. Like Turow himself, the novel has a legal background.

George Mason is an appellate judge sitting on a three-member panel in Kindle County (revisited, perhaps for nostalgic reason because there does not seem to be any other reason) hearing an appeal by four defendants convicted of raping a 15-year-old girl many years before. There are apparently three possible decisions: affirmation, backed by one judge, reversal based on inadmissible evidence favored by a second, or reversal because of the statute of limitations, to which Mason leans.

Mason is the swing vote; he can decide to affirm or go with one of the other two choices. While he wrestles with his decision, he confronts his past. While a young man he participated in a similar incident and he has to face his guilty conscience. Meanwhile, he has been getting threatening e-mails and text messages and his wife is being treated with nuclear medicine for a thyroid condition. Life is complicated, as are the decision-making process and his need to file papers for reelection.

It all comes together in the end, with Mason writing the decision. One would have expected a soaring writing worthy of a Brandeis or Holmes. Instead, we read a fairly pedestrian and somewhat disjointed draft. At least the discovery of the person issuing the various threats is an unexpected surprise. Despite these objections, the novel reads well and the tale is well-told.

"Wonderfully evocative" Sinners and Saints an "Excellent Read"

2006-12-13T17:07:31Z

Title:Sinners and Saints

Author: Eileen Dreyer

Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks

ISBN: 0312998740

Price: $6.99

RECOMMENDATION: EXCELLENT READ

Reviewed by Gloria Feit

In what can only be described as prescience, Eileen Dreyer’s Sinners and Saints takes place in a New Orleans that is bracing for a hurricane, what would be the earliest ever to hit that City. The book was published days before New Orleans was struck by Hurricane Katrina, a devastating event from which it is still trying to recover, and it was obviously written much earlier than that. Reading it now is an erie experience.

Chastity Byrnes is a 26-year-old former trauma nurse in St. Louis, now “one of two new forensic nurse liaisons at St. Michael’s, her job being not only to save patients, but preserve any viable forensic evidence that might prove a possible criminal or civil case. She made sure abuse victims didn’t fall through the cracks, rape victims got better treatment from the hospital than they did from their attackers, and unknown patients were identified. She helped police and hospital personnel work more efficiently together.” And she needs to call upon all of those skills when she receives a call one day from a brother-in-law she didn’t even know she had, the husband of a sister she had had no contact with for ten years, ever since the day that sister and their mother left their home without a word. She is told her sister has gone missing, and five days later finds herself in New Orleans, having agreed to try to help in the search for her sister, Faith. [The third sister was called “Hope.”] Chastity is the survivor of an unspeakably horrendous abusive childhood [her accusations against her father having resulted in his incarceration], the effects of which have barely diminished over the years. She finds she has to “protect herself from old sins and older secrets.” Each time she thinks she knows all of the secrets, she finds more are yet to be unearthed.

The writing is wonderfully evocative, most strikingly in its descriptions of New Orleans. On Jackson Square: “Chastity stopped at the edge of the square, enchanted. She wasn’t really a mystical person. She’d given up her faith with her virginity, long before she could comprehend either. If she could, though, she thought, she might look for it again here in the dark, where the trees dripped shadows and the church bells tolled into the night. Where usually raucous voices quieted to a murmur, and the only real lights were the candles that flickered on the psychics’ tables. If there was magic, she thought, it was here.” The ominous presence of the impending storm is a living, breathing thing - one cannot help but feel the winds and the lashing waters that surround Chastity throughout the novel, embodying her worst nightmare from the scarred days of her nightmare-filled world from her earliest memories. The suspense builds as Chastity continues her search. People to whom she speaks are killed, and her own life is in danger. Chastity and her friends, Kareena, a New Orleans nurse who helps her, and Kareena’s cousin, James, a survivor himself although of entirely different circumstances, a cabdriver who Chastity hires as a chauffeur, among other things, are terrific creations.

The Persona Principle Personifies Success: Must Read

2006-10-23T22:23:09Z

Title: The Persona Principle

Subtitle: How to Succeed in Business with Image-Marketing

Publisher: Simon & Schuster; Reprint edition

ISBN: 0684802694

Price: $20.00

REVIEW RECOMMENDATION: MUST READ

Authors Derek Armstrong and Kam Wai Yu have penned a brilliant `must-have’ book that will change the way business owners, entrepreneurs and professionals do business. Expertly researched with numerous examples and stories, this incisive book is an easy read.

The Persona Principle: How to Succeed in Business with Image-Marketing shows you how to create and build a customized visible image, one that will be remembered. It succinctly puts into words the theories that I have been practicing the past few years—and then some! “The biggest obstacle to your success is invisibility,” the authors say. Armstrong and Yu teach practical solutions that, if followed, ensures your visibility. What I liked most is that, unlike other marketing books, this one actually shows you how to do it in a smart, savvy and inexpensive way.

This book is not just for business owners, but also for anyone who wants to create a better, bigger, stronger, more successful image. The imaging techniques taught are a smorgasbord of valuable tips that will provoke you to identify what is hindering your success in your business and make changes accordingly. I was also impressed with the simple language used, instead of the technical and confusing jargon that is commonplace in most books of this type. You will understand this book!

As an avid fan of such visionary masters or marketing gurus like Stephen R. Covey, Dale Carnegie, Zig Ziglar, T. Harv Eker, Napoleon Hill and Og Mandino, I highly recommend that every business owner, professional or author like myself read this book. Derek Armstrong and Kam Wai Yu’s book The Persona Principle: How to Succeed in Business with Image-Marketing belongs on a shelf next to any of these authors’ works.

Review by Cheryl Kaye Tardif

THE RIVER, a MUST READ thriller.

2006-10-22T16:08:47Z

Title: The River

Publisher: Trafford Publishing, June 30, 2006, Paper

ISBN: 1412062292

Price: $22.50

RECOMMENDATION: MUST READ

Reviewer: Christina Francine

Cheryl Kaye Tardif skillfully balances scientific intrigue, and the human desire to retain a youthful body, with tantalizing sexual tension, and vivid characterizations in this engrossing romantic thriller.

The plot steps beyond reality, but by how much? Science grows in its knowledge more every day. One thing is for sure, and history shows it to be true, greed and absolute power taint fabulous discoveries and inventions.

Exciting and vivid. Tardif’s latest novel sweeps readers along into uncharted, wild Canadian territory. A thrilling adventure where science sniffs harder, desperate to find the fountain-of-youth.

For readers who like a fast-moving, breath-holding, roller-coaster type fiction with a fleck of romance. Cheryl Kaye Tardif is the author of The River, Divine Intervention and Whale Song (ISBN: 978-1-60164-007-9 available April 2007 from Kunati Books).

Reviewer Christina Francine has reviewed over 150 books for: Midwest Book Review, Foreword Reviews and Yet Another Book Review.
More information on Christina at: www.CFrancine.bizland.com

Patterson's 1st to Die an Excellent Read

2006-10-19T12:19:43Z

Title: 1st to Die

Series: Women’s Murder Club

Author: James Patterson

Publisher: Warner Books

ISBN 0446696617

RECOMMENDATION: EXCELLENT READ

Reviewed Cheryl Kaye Tardif, author of The River, Divine Intervention and Whale Song (ISBN: 978-1-60164-007-9 available April 2007 from Kunati Books)

Take four professional women—Lindsay-a homicide inspector who receives some bad personal news, Claire-a medical examiner and Lindsay’s best friend, Jill-a tough assistant DA, and Cindy-a persistent reporter from the Chronicle—mix them together and you’ve got: The Women’s Murder Club.

In the first in the series, the fantastic four meet and decide to share resources and talents. They are plunged headfirst into a series of gruesome murders. Someone is killing off newlyweds.

The twists and turns, even at the very end, will leave you breathless and is enough to give any bride-to-be the jitters. This is one of James Patterson’s best, with characters you’ll empathize with and actually care about. The humor, relationships and expert crime procedural detail tie this book together neatly.

Illustrated DaVinci Makes A Difference (Forget the original!)

2006-10-16T12:35:13Z

Title: The DaVinci Code, Special Illustrated Edition

Author: Dan Brown

Publisher: Doubleday

ISBN: 0385513755

Price: $35

REVIEW RECOMMENDATION: GOOD READ

Premise and Originality: 10 out 10

Characterization: 5 out of 10

Dialogue: 4 out of 10

Storyline: 6 out of 10

The presentation of The DaVinci Code in this format makes a difference. While we all love the high concept and the absolute cleverness of puzzles, the original DaVinci Code didn’t satisfy at any deeper level. Why? The main was character flat and uninteresting (and unsympathetic) even for a thriller with no real depth or convincing characteristics. Dialogue is stilted and there are numerous boring speeches. Where some novelists stop a novel to write mini-essays (Crichton comes to mind, but these are generally interesting), long speeches from characters are less effective where the writer can’t get beyond simple narrative intrusion. No one can dismiss DaVinci Code because it’s just plain clever. But what entrances are the great puzzles, not the outcome (the fictional outcome that seems to outrage everyone) or the characters. Kudos to Dan Brown all the way for knowing his strengths. We have to ignore characters and dialogue, and we can, because he’s a brilliant puzzlist with a high concept. Frankly, this reviewer enjoyed his earlier novels far more (especially Deception Point and even Angels and Demons).

Back to the illustrated edition. It is magnificent. Why? Because, where Dan Brown’s narrative struggled to convey the rich tapestry of visual clues, this illustrated edition makes all clear and delightful. Clues “missed” become readily apparent. Things everyone thought were just “narrative license” became feasible enough for suspended disbelief when the prose is juxtopositioned against these lush illustrations. The Last Supper rendering is better than reproductions in non fiction books in other books (was it enhanced? Retouched? Maybe, but it’s top notch!) It was really nice to see a novel in this format, even at this price tag.

And, again, I do think Dan Brown is high concept and successful for a reason. This just isn’t my favorite of his novels. I read, recently, where he plans on sticking to this main character in all future novels. That’s a shame, to me. His characters in Deception Point were far more engaging!

Overall, a good investment for your library. For a good read, yes, it’s still a good read in spite of my quibbles on character and dialogue. Why? Because you can’t beat those delightful puzzles and the high concept pitch. But I see DaVinci Code as fun, not controversial.

Book Reviews, Book News and Literary Articles from Literary Culture

2006-05-07T15:16:41Z

Book Chronicles: Longer Shelf Life Reviews

St. Alban's Fire A Good Read

RECOMMENDATION: GOOD READ

Limitations Reveals its Limitations But a Good Read

RECOMMENDATION: GOOD READ

"Wonderfully evocative" Sinners and Saints an "Excellent Read"

RECOMMENDATION: EXCELLENT READ

The Persona Principle Personifies Success: Must Read

REVIEW RECOMMENDATION: MUST READ

THE RIVER, a MUST READ thriller.

RECOMMENDATION: MUST READ

Patterson's 1st to Die an Excellent Read

RECOMMENDATION: EXCELLENT READ

Illustrated DaVinci Makes A Difference (Forget the original!)

REVIEW RECOMMENDATION: GOOD READ

Book Reviews, Book News and Literary Articles from Literary Culture

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