The Voter File
Political campaigns live and die by The Voter File. The file contains massive amounts of data about each voter. The voters are rated on a scale of 1 to 5 based on how likely it is that they will vote for your candidate. Tori Justice is the voting file managerContinue Reading
Booked for Death
My Review Can words jinx someone? In Booked for Death, B&B owner Charlotte is hosting a Josephine Tey book week with War of the Roses-themed events. When a guest named Lincoln, insinuates Isabella, the founder of the B&B, came about her wealth in a shady way, Charlotte states, “The lastContinue Reading
Remain Silent
White supremacists live everywhere—not just the US—as an immigrant exploitation ring is embroiled in a murder case in northeast England. How can Officer Manon Bradshaw deal with all that while also fighting the middle-age doldrums? Remain Silent tells the story of Lithuanian refugees that are used as cheap labor inContinue Reading
Final Cuts
Final Cuts is an anthology of eighteen “all new dark and strange fiction inspired by cinema and television.” As with all anthologies, the stories vary in skill-level. However, these tales also swing wildly in genre. All have horror settings or themes. But some are also thrillers, fantasy, and romances. MyContinue Reading
Hit and Mist
Techie Marty is pulled back into sleuthing when his surfer brah Brody is accused of murder in Hit and Mist, the fourth in this zany cozy mystery series. You just gotta love a mystery that (a) kills off a kickboxing instructor, and (b) does it by the end of theContinue Reading
Study of Secrets
A book club’s evening is shattered when one member is found strangled on the study floor. The motive evolves into the Study of Secrets of the remaining three members of the club. Good thing that the college professor, intrepid researcher and part-time sleuth, Lila, is on the scene. Lila isContinue Reading
All of Us
All of Us combines the complex plot of Split and Sybil with a standard thriller. Did one of Carolyn’s personalities kill her sexual predator father? Or is her therapist manipulating her memories to get her to confess even though she is innocent? If so, why? Carolyn was sexually abused asContinue Reading
Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows
Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows is a good example of the atmospheric horror of the 1800s despite being published in 1907. Think of the books (not the movies) Dracula and Frankenstein. I thought the pen and ink drawings were effective in depicting the plot. However, a bit of color would haveContinue Reading
Spy x Family Vol 1
It takes more than DNA to make a family. See how this is purely evident in the excellent manga, Spy x Family Vol 1. “Everyone has a secret self they don’t show to other people. Not to friends…not to lovers…not even to family. They hide who they are and whatContinue Reading
Burn-In
Burn-In is a new type of tale. It’s almost like a future docudrama. It combines a fictional story with existing technology in new and exciting ways. Special Agent Lara Keegan finds a terrorist hidden in plain sight. As a “reward”, she is given a Tactical Autonomous Mobility System robot, orContinue Reading
COVID-19
Well-researched scientific, but without science jargon, study on how COVID-19 started, what warnings were ignored, and how we can do better in the future. Because, unfortunately, there are more pandemics in humanity’s future. Questions and Answers from the Book When did Chinese scientists first talk online about the mysterious pneumoniaContinue Reading
Sister Dear
Sister Dear is a wronged daughter’s ultimate revenge tale. After all, what does Eleanor have to lose? Eleanor’s father lay in a hospice bed dying of cancer. On the last day of his life, she finds out she is not his biological daughter. Unfortunately, there is no one left inContinue Reading
Marshmallow Malice
“You’re not going to believe this, but I found another dead body.”—from Marshmallow Malice, the fifth entry in excellent Amish Candy Shop Mystery series. Bailey is a busy woman. She is the co-owner, with her Amish grandmother, of Swissmen Sweets in rural Harvest, Ohio. Bailey is also the host ofContinue Reading
Touch of Evil
The 1958 Orson Welles film, Touch of Evil, is analyzed from a filmmaker’s perspective. Unfortunately, there is little new information here. It reads like a master’s thesis regarding other’s writers’ analyses of the film. 10% of the book is the Notes section referencing other sources. Another 5% of the bookContinue Reading
Killing Time
My Review By day, Dodie is the manager of the Windjammer restaurant in Etonville, New Jersey. By night (or anytime really), she helps her fiancé, Police Chief Bill, solve crimes. It’s the day before Halloween. And it’s almost Killing Time in Etonville Little Theater’s production of Dracula. Will life imitateContinue Reading
Sherlock Holmes Puzzles: Math & Logic Games
Most of us have a few minutes here and there to stretch our brains. Sherlock Holmes Puzzles: Math & Logic Games is the perfect book to pick up occasionally for a few minutes. With 104 puzzles testing various thinking skills, it is perfect to keep your mind active. There areContinue Reading