March Reading Madness
Lately I have been on a reading tear and there have been so many good books to occupy my time. Here are four that filled the month of March for me. Take a look and maybe you can fill your April with them.
THE LAST by Hanna Jameson
This is a creepily inventive story about life after the big bombs have dropped. A group of people had been staying at a hotel in an area of Switzerland when they got word that the thing most feared had finally happened. Some took off immediately to try to get home to loved ones. Others opted to wait and see at the hotel. Jon Keller is one who stays.
Jon Keller was at the hotel for a conference when the event happened. He had left behind a wife and two daughters in California. Now he wonders if he will ever see them again. It is a maddening situation as no one knows what actually happened. They also wonder who is safe and who will soon be killed by nuclear fall out.
The author, Hanna Jameson, takes this premise and enlarges it. The people who stay at the hotel form into a somewhat cohesive group, with some persons naturally assuming leadership roles while others are more contented to be told what to do. Most are just content to wait and see what happens but there is a group that wants to explore outside their area and hunt for other survivors. But who knows what is waiting out there!
Jameson manages to make the hotel a claustrophobic space as the guests and staff only occupy a small number of rooms. Quickly fears of other inhabitants being on the upper floors develop and apprehension is rampant. Jameson manages to turn up the intensity with a negligent phrase or contrary action fby her characters.
This is a book to be read in the daylight as the sense of fear and dread it inspires ais immense. Hanna Jameson writes a story that makes us pray for a next day but to fear what it holds.
THE LAST is published by Atria Books. It contains 352 pages and sells for $27.00.
CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN MYSTIC by River Jordan
When I first met River Jordan I knew I had met someone as quirky as her chosen name. Later I came to understand her to be a person of native intelligence and a strong sense of self. It was not until I read her new book CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN MYSTIC that I fully understood how her intelligence, sense of self and religious views are all fused into a woman who is honest to a fault.
CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN MYSTIC is a book that is raw and harsh. There are moments in the stories of her life which she shares that I want her to censor herself and not be so blunt. But then that is not River and that is not this book. CONFESSIONS is a confessional for us all. It calls on the reader to look inside and expose and explore the passions that make us who we are.
Some of these views may not sit well with those who have their rules for organized religion. Some of these views may sound “mystical” and other worldly. Still these are Jordan’s confessions as to incidents that have taken place in her life.
My favorites were the happenings that were extraordinarily ordinary. A friendship that develops and grows only to end in death. Her relationships with her family and friends that are still evolving but have a long rooted history in the past. River Jordan explores the creation of who she is and what she is in today’s world thanks to the influences both good and bad that came to her along her journey.
CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN MYSTIC is a book of faith, hope and joy. Some parts are inspiring while others are just confusing. It is written with love and also with humor. It is everything you want it to be and more. If searching is a part of your daily life then you need to read this book. It may not give you all the answers but it will let you know your quest is shared.
CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN MYSTIC is published by FaithWords. It contains 240 pages and sells for $20.00.
THE GIRL IN THE GLASS BOOTH by James Grippando
THE GIRL IN THE GLASS BOOTH is the latest Jack Swyteck novel from James Grippando, and in my opinion it is his best. By now Grippando has the character and traits of Swyteck down pat. He knows how to subtly insert facts about Jack’s backstory into the new novels and then move on. You quickly learn he is an attorney practicing in Miami. He has a wife who works for the FBI and a young daughter.
Jack also has a grandmother he adores, so when she asks him to look into the case against Julia Rodriguez he can not say no. Julia has been arrested and placed in a holding facility for being in this country illegally. When she is arrested it forces her to leave her teenage daughter with her sister, who is a legal immigrant. But Beatriz, her daughter, does not handle her mother’s situation well and the circumstances affect her both mentally and physically.
Jack takes her case reluctantly but soon is caught up in the hopelessness of her plight. Julia fled an abusive marriage in El Salvador. She fears if she is returned there her husband Jorge will kill her. Then suddenly things get worse when she learns Jorge is possibly in America and may come for their daughter.
Grippando has ripped this story from today’s headlines and makes the circumstances informative as well as entertaining. He keeps the reader riveted to the page and manages to draw out the suspense of the story till the very end. It is Grippando at his best and his best is very, very good.
THE GIRL IN THE GLASS BOOTH is published by HarperCollins. It contains 368 pages and sells for $27.99.
THE PERFECT ALIBI by Phillip Margolin
Margolin has been one of my favorite authors for some time now. He is at his best when he writes legal thrillers because he definitely knows his way around the law and also around a plot. His new novel THE PERFECT ALIBI is a tense legal thriller that excels plot wise but falters character wise.
The central character in the story is attorney Robin Lockwood. She practices her craft in Portland, Oregon and was featured in Margolin’s novel THE THIRD VICTIM. In this new book she is as sharp an attorney as ever and she still has those mad martial arts skills. That is a combination and a half. When she takes on a client who wants to sue her rapist for monetary damages Lockwood knows she will be in a tough battle. She watches the criminal rape case closely.
The young woman claims her rapist is a college student. She says he forced himself on her and she has a witness who arrived on the scene shortly after the rape occurred. It seems to be an open and shut case but in Margolin’s books there always has to be that extra twist.
In THE PERFECT ALIBI Robin soon has a new client and he is a defendant in a murder case. It is anything but an open and shut case and it takes all of Robin’s expertise to even make a case for his defense. So the reader gets to see the scales of justice in a few trials and in each case the tilting of balance is never easy.
This is one of Margolin’s best plotted novels ever. He runs the reader through the wringer. Still the book lacks a well developed character to hang the story on which is a shame. Robin is interesting but never comes off as a multi-faceted person. She has definite skills but the personality affected by those skills is not shown. Plus the “love story” created by Margolin comes off as weak and amateurish.
THE PERFECT ALIBI entertains its readers but it also keeps them at arm’s length.
THE PERFECT ALIBI is published by St Martin’s Press. It contains 320 pages and sells for $27.99.
So there you have my view on the books of March. Happy reading!
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
Book Review Jackie K Cooper
March Reading Madness
Lately I have been on a reading tear and there have been so many good books to occupy my time. Here are four that filled the month of March for me. Take a look and maybe you can fill your April with them.
THE LAST by Hanna Jameson
This is a creepily inventive story about life after the big bombs have dropped. A group of people had been staying at a hotel in an area of Switzerland when they got word that the thing most feared had finally happened. Some took off immediately to try to get home to loved ones. Others opted to wait and see at the hotel. Jon Keller is one who stays.
Jon Keller was at the hotel for a conference when the event happened. He had left behind a wife and two daughters in California. Now he wonders if he will ever see them again. It is a maddening situation as no one knows what actually happened. They also wonder who is safe and who will soon be killed by nuclear fall out.
The author, Hanna Jameson, takes this premise and enlarges it. The people who stay at the hotel form into a somewhat cohesive group, with some persons naturally assuming leadership roles while others are more contented to be told what to do. Most are just content to wait and see what happens but there is a group that wants to explore outside their area and hunt for other survivors. But who knows what is waiting out there!
Jameson manages to make the hotel a claustrophobic space as the guests and staff only occupy a small number of rooms. Quickly fears of other inhabitants being on the upper floors develop and apprehension is rampant. Jameson manages to turn up the intensity with a negligent phrase or contrary action fby her characters.
This is a book to be read in the daylight as the sense of fear and dread it inspires ais immense. Hanna Jameson writes a story that makes us pray for a next day but to fear what it holds.
THE LAST is published by Atria Books. It contains 352 pages and sells for $27.00.
CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN MYSTIC by River Jordan
When I first met River Jordan I knew I had met someone as quirky as her chosen name. Later I came to understand her to be a person of native intelligence and a strong sense of self. It was not until I read her new book CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN MYSTIC that I fully understood how her intelligence, sense of self and religious views are all fused into a woman who is honest to a fault.
CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN MYSTIC is a book that is raw and harsh. There are moments in the stories of her life which she shares that I want her to censor herself and not be so blunt. But then that is not River and that is not this book. CONFESSIONS is a confessional for us all. It calls on the reader to look inside and expose and explore the passions that make us who we are.
Some of these views may not sit well with those who have their rules for organized religion. Some of these views may sound “mystical” and other worldly. Still these are Jordan’s confessions as to incidents that have taken place in her life.
My favorites were the happenings that were extraordinarily ordinary. A friendship that develops and grows only to end in death. Her relationships with her family and friends that are still evolving but have a long rooted history in the past. River Jordan explores the creation of who she is and what she is in today’s world thanks to the influences both good and bad that came to her along her journey.
CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN MYSTIC is a book of faith, hope and joy. Some parts are inspiring while others are just confusing. It is written with love and also with humor. It is everything you want it to be and more. If searching is a part of your daily life then you need to read this book. It may not give you all the answers but it will let you know your quest is shared.
CONFESSIONS OF A CHRISTIAN MYSTIC is published by FaithWords. It contains 240 pages and sells for $20.00.
THE GIRL IN THE GLASS BOOTH by James Grippando
THE GIRL IN THE GLASS BOOTH is the latest Jack Swyteck novel from James Grippando, and in my opinion it is his best. By now Grippando has the character and traits of Swyteck down pat. He knows how to subtly insert facts about Jack’s backstory into the new novels and then move on. You quickly learn he is an attorney practicing in Miami. He has a wife who works for the FBI and a young daughter.
Jack also has a grandmother he adores, so when she asks him to look into the case against Julia Rodriguez he can not say no. Julia has been arrested and placed in a holding facility for being in this country illegally. When she is arrested it forces her to leave her teenage daughter with her sister, who is a legal immigrant. But Beatriz, her daughter, does not handle her mother’s situation well and the circumstances affect her both mentally and physically.
Jack takes her case reluctantly but soon is caught up in the hopelessness of her plight. Julia fled an abusive marriage in El Salvador. She fears if she is returned there her husband Jorge will kill her. Then suddenly things get worse when she learns Jorge is possibly in America and may come for their daughter.
Grippando has ripped this story from today’s headlines and makes the circumstances informative as well as entertaining. He keeps the reader riveted to the page and manages to draw out the suspense of the story till the very end. It is Grippando at his best and his best is very, very good.
THE GIRL IN THE GLASS BOOTH is published by HarperCollins. It contains 368 pages and sells for $27.99.
THE PERFECT ALIBI by Phillip Margolin
Margolin has been one of my favorite authors for some time now. He is at his best when he writes legal thrillers because he definitely knows his way around the law and also around a plot. His new novel THE PERFECT ALIBI is a tense legal thriller that excels plot wise but falters character wise.
The central character in the story is attorney Robin Lockwood. She practices her craft in Portland, Oregon and was featured in Margolin’s novel THE THIRD VICTIM. In this new book she is as sharp an attorney as ever and she still has those mad martial arts skills. That is a combination and a half. When she takes on a client who wants to sue her rapist for monetary damages Lockwood knows she will be in a tough battle. She watches the criminal rape case closely.
The young woman claims her rapist is a college student. She says he forced himself on her and she has a witness who arrived on the scene shortly after the rape occurred. It seems to be an open and shut case but in Margolin’s books there always has to be that extra twist.
In THE PERFECT ALIBI Robin soon has a new client and he is a defendant in a murder case. It is anything but an open and shut case and it takes all of Robin’s expertise to even make a case for his defense. So the reader gets to see the scales of justice in a few trials and in each case the tilting of balance is never easy.
This is one of Margolin’s best plotted novels ever. He runs the reader through the wringer. Still the book lacks a well developed character to hang the story on which is a shame. Robin is interesting but never comes off as a multi-faceted person. She has definite skills but the personality affected by those skills is not shown. Plus the “love story” created by Margolin comes off as weak and amateurish.
THE PERFECT ALIBI entertains its readers but it also keeps them at arm’s length.
THE PERFECT ALIBI is published by St Martin’s Press. It contains 320 pages and sells for $27.99.
So there you have my view on the books of March. Happy reading!
Jackie K Cooper
www.jackiekcooper.com
