Title – The Satan Gene
Author – Daniel Eamer
Genre – Thriller
Word Count – 104,000
Rating – Four stars out of Five
No. 02 - 2021
Posted 1/15/2021
My Impressions: Good writing and editing, but too much religious background.
Main Characters:
Gareth Blackwell – Ex-priest, banker, extremely knowledgeable of Catholic Church history.
Abriana Stratton – Research Assistant
Sicarius – Toragon L. Menaheim, assassin.
Bridger J. Morgon – Director of government agency DARPA.
The story has a violent, gruesome opening. A Chinese Ambassador dies in New York City with blood oozing from his pores all over his body. Then an American scientist, Dr. Palmer, is murdered in Bagnoregio, Italy.
The Satan Gene had been developed by an obscure government agency, DARPA. It is almost ready to be launched on the world, but the Chinese want it for world dominance, and a group of radical Italians called the Company intend to use the bioweapon to full-fill a 2,000-year-old plot to create a new world order and take over the world.
Sicarius confronts the lead scientist of the project to steal the Satan Gene. He tortures and kills the man but doesn’t get the information he is after. The scientist passed the information to his research assistant, Abricana Stratton with instructions to contact Gareth Blackwell for help in gathering a set of four flash drives with the information needed to activate the Satan Gene.
Bridger Morgon has analysts tracking the scientist and eventually catch Gareth and Abricana as they run.
Then the chase is on as Gareth, Abricana and Bridger and his crew go to Italy in search of the missing information. They are on a stealth mission and no one, his boss or the Italian government, knows they are there until they get in gun battles and destroy several local buildings and leave dead bodies behind.
The story is interesting, and I enjoyed it in spite of the long-winded filler.
The editing, sentence structure and character development are good.
The details are overly abundant, and in-depth research is apparent (except for the fact that Glock semiautomatics don’t have a safety switch).
The plot is interesting but interrupted by too many long stretches of historical Catholic Church background info that amounts to filler and only slows the main storyline. Before halfway, I stated skipping over that information.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Daniel Eamer
Genre – Thriller
Word Count – 104,000
Rating – Four stars out of Five
No. 02 - 2021
Posted 1/15/2021
My Impressions: Good writing and editing, but too much religious background.
Main Characters:
Gareth Blackwell – Ex-priest, banker, extremely knowledgeable of Catholic Church history.
Abriana Stratton – Research Assistant
Sicarius – Toragon L. Menaheim, assassin.
Bridger J. Morgon – Director of government agency DARPA.
The story has a violent, gruesome opening. A Chinese Ambassador dies in New York City with blood oozing from his pores all over his body. Then an American scientist, Dr. Palmer, is murdered in Bagnoregio, Italy.
The Satan Gene had been developed by an obscure government agency, DARPA. It is almost ready to be launched on the world, but the Chinese want it for world dominance, and a group of radical Italians called the Company intend to use the bioweapon to full-fill a 2,000-year-old plot to create a new world order and take over the world.
Sicarius confronts the lead scientist of the project to steal the Satan Gene. He tortures and kills the man but doesn’t get the information he is after. The scientist passed the information to his research assistant, Abricana Stratton with instructions to contact Gareth Blackwell for help in gathering a set of four flash drives with the information needed to activate the Satan Gene.
Bridger Morgon has analysts tracking the scientist and eventually catch Gareth and Abricana as they run.
Then the chase is on as Gareth, Abricana and Bridger and his crew go to Italy in search of the missing information. They are on a stealth mission and no one, his boss or the Italian government, knows they are there until they get in gun battles and destroy several local buildings and leave dead bodies behind.
The story is interesting, and I enjoyed it in spite of the long-winded filler.
The editing, sentence structure and character development are good.
The details are overly abundant, and in-depth research is apparent (except for the fact that Glock semiautomatics don’t have a safety switch).
The plot is interesting but interrupted by too many long stretches of historical Catholic Church background info that amounts to filler and only slows the main storyline. Before halfway, I stated skipping over that information.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Blaze Returns
Author – Bill Runner
Genre – Thriller
Word Count - 81,350
Rating – 5 stars out of 5
No. 01 - 2022
Posted 1/7/2022
My Impressions: Good action yarn if not taken too seriously.
Main Characters:
Axel Blaze – Ex- US Army special forces and ex-US Marshall. A kick butt action hero.
There are many support characters who are good, bad, or evil.
Axel Blaze was called upon by his ex-US Marshall boss Mark Flynn to investigate a missing Marshall named Carter who was looking for two criminals in the Marshalls Witness Protection Program who have disappeared. The initial scene set the tone of the rest of the story as Blaze calmly savaged two armed thugs who threatened to murder three people in a small bar after murdering one in cold blood. The action escalated when Axel arrived in the town where Carter disappeared, and the bodies soon stacked up like cordwood.
Little Butte is an uninhabited peak about a mile north of the Reno Highway. So research and details of the town are pure fiction.
The story is fast paced as Axel kick’s butt to learn if Carter is alive and where he might be held. He goes up against the Dawsons. A father and two sons have bought most of the dilapidated town and started building a new town next to it. Axel soon learns the Dawsons make methamphetamine and are involved with a Mexican drug cartel. The story is a no holds barred fun read if you accept it as tongue in cheek.
The editing is off by American standards but is written by a Brit and conforms to those rules and idiosyncrasies.
Sentence structure is mostly okay.
Character development is good enough for the mostly supporting characters and okay for Axel.
Details and research are sparse, but this is a fictional town.
The plot is fast paced and violet and held my interest throughout.
The writing style is fast and choppy, doesn’t waste words, and fits the flavor of the plot.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Bill Runner
Genre – Thriller
Word Count - 81,350
Rating – 5 stars out of 5
No. 01 - 2022
Posted 1/7/2022
My Impressions: Good action yarn if not taken too seriously.
Main Characters:
Axel Blaze – Ex- US Army special forces and ex-US Marshall. A kick butt action hero.
There are many support characters who are good, bad, or evil.
Axel Blaze was called upon by his ex-US Marshall boss Mark Flynn to investigate a missing Marshall named Carter who was looking for two criminals in the Marshalls Witness Protection Program who have disappeared. The initial scene set the tone of the rest of the story as Blaze calmly savaged two armed thugs who threatened to murder three people in a small bar after murdering one in cold blood. The action escalated when Axel arrived in the town where Carter disappeared, and the bodies soon stacked up like cordwood.
Little Butte is an uninhabited peak about a mile north of the Reno Highway. So research and details of the town are pure fiction.
The story is fast paced as Axel kick’s butt to learn if Carter is alive and where he might be held. He goes up against the Dawsons. A father and two sons have bought most of the dilapidated town and started building a new town next to it. Axel soon learns the Dawsons make methamphetamine and are involved with a Mexican drug cartel. The story is a no holds barred fun read if you accept it as tongue in cheek.
The editing is off by American standards but is written by a Brit and conforms to those rules and idiosyncrasies.
Sentence structure is mostly okay.
Character development is good enough for the mostly supporting characters and okay for Axel.
Details and research are sparse, but this is a fictional town.
The plot is fast paced and violet and held my interest throughout.
The writing style is fast and choppy, doesn’t waste words, and fits the flavor of the plot.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – African Paradise
Author – Stephen Breaker
Genre – Action Adventure
262 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 48 – 2021
Posted 12/31/2021
My Impressions: Lots of action, special forces main character, great support characters, violence
Main Characters:
Major Wm. Brody – retired former UK Special Boat Service, Marine Major.
Wanjiku ‘Maria’ Mwangi – Beautiful girl who befriends Brody in the slums of Mtwappa, Africa.
Hassan – a Muslim man, a friend of Brody’s and his boat helper.
Gumbao – A mysterious hand who takes on the title of Engineer and oversees the engine.
Barry – manager of a bar Brody hangs out at where they become friends and accomplices.
Brody is retired from the Special Boat Service and sails around Africa diving, fishing and drinking with his two friends. He sails his dhow named Shukran into Mtwappa, Africa, near the Indian Ocean. His first day ashore he meets a beautiful young woman, not a lady, in a local dive where he is attacked by two huge Russian sailors. Of course, he comes out of his inebriated state and kicks butt. That is just the beginning before he is attacked by a shark and then radical Islamist. He uncovers a plot to murder or capture for ransom a group of Israeli tourists.
Four of the central characters, minus Wanjiku, inject themselves into the resulting melee to save the innocent tourists.
African Paradise is a fun tongue in cheek read if not taken too seriously.
The editing is sloppy with a few missing, extra, misspelled, and wrong words. There are numerous issues with comma usage and some with sentence structure.
The writing style is fast paced and action oriented.
Character development is good. I either felt empathy for or seriously disliked each of them.
Descriptions of the local markets was excellent and painted clear pictures of the poverty and disgusting conditions.
I highly recommend African Paradise if the issues noted won’t impinge your reading pleasure.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Stephen Breaker
Genre – Action Adventure
262 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 48 – 2021
Posted 12/31/2021
My Impressions: Lots of action, special forces main character, great support characters, violence
Main Characters:
Major Wm. Brody – retired former UK Special Boat Service, Marine Major.
Wanjiku ‘Maria’ Mwangi – Beautiful girl who befriends Brody in the slums of Mtwappa, Africa.
Hassan – a Muslim man, a friend of Brody’s and his boat helper.
Gumbao – A mysterious hand who takes on the title of Engineer and oversees the engine.
Barry – manager of a bar Brody hangs out at where they become friends and accomplices.
Brody is retired from the Special Boat Service and sails around Africa diving, fishing and drinking with his two friends. He sails his dhow named Shukran into Mtwappa, Africa, near the Indian Ocean. His first day ashore he meets a beautiful young woman, not a lady, in a local dive where he is attacked by two huge Russian sailors. Of course, he comes out of his inebriated state and kicks butt. That is just the beginning before he is attacked by a shark and then radical Islamist. He uncovers a plot to murder or capture for ransom a group of Israeli tourists.
Four of the central characters, minus Wanjiku, inject themselves into the resulting melee to save the innocent tourists.
African Paradise is a fun tongue in cheek read if not taken too seriously.
The editing is sloppy with a few missing, extra, misspelled, and wrong words. There are numerous issues with comma usage and some with sentence structure.
The writing style is fast paced and action oriented.
Character development is good. I either felt empathy for or seriously disliked each of them.
Descriptions of the local markets was excellent and painted clear pictures of the poverty and disgusting conditions.
I highly recommend African Paradise if the issues noted won’t impinge your reading pleasure.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Revelation and Retribution
Author – A. Pittman
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
262 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 47 – 2021
Posted 12/25/2021
My impressions: gritty, gory, gruesome, ghastly, gloomy, graphic, grotesque, grisly, sadistic, malfeasance.
Main Characters:
Detective Pat McConnell – laid back, unflappable, hard ass.
Detective Lou Maguire – Pat's sidekick and counterbalance.
Ted Allen – devious and mysterious power broker.
Rosie Williams – reporter who falls under Ted's spell.
Widow Drake – Assassin and more, an accomplished killer with an attitude.
Father Walter Brown – Catholic Priest.
Arch Angel – serial killer, Dylan Jocoby, son of a powerful politician.
Revelation and Retribution is a roller coaster ride with more turns than a slinky toy. When fifteen bodies turn up in a single day the Mayor and Police Chief realize they have a mass murderer in town. It then falls to Detectives Pat McConnell and his partner Lou Maguire to chase down the diabolical killer dubbed the Arch Angel. The setting is St. Louis, Missouri so the Arch title is appropriate. But there's a catch, the killer only kills scumbags so the city fathers fear copy cat killers will emulate the killer and try to assist him in cleaning up the town. (It actually needs such a thing. Its homicide rate approaches that of the infamous Chicago.)
Then Catholic Priest Walter Brown listens to the killer during confession and recognizes the voice. But Father Brown is confronted with a conundrum. His religious vows forbid his ratting out information gained through confession. Instead the priest gets drunk and goes home with a sexy bartender.
While the priest is finding his moral compass, Pat manages to team up with accomplished assassin Widow Drake. Widow saves the inept officer's life several times and then they team up to go after Ted Allen for setting them up to be victims.
There are dozens of hired mercenaries after The Cop and the Killer, but they manage to outwit and outshoot them all.
There are hard core cursing scenes.
The editing and sentence structure are good.
Details are adequate but character development is poor. I wanted to know more about the characters and what inspired them and made them who they were.
Details are sparse but okay, research is lacking as there is not a hammer to pull back on a Glock. When the villain was shot, I read it three times and still couldn't picture the action sequence.
The writing style is tight and descriptive for the most part.
Several cliff hangers were left at the end, so I'll bet a sequel will soon follow.
It's a good, not great, tongue in cheek thriller and I enjoyed it as such.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – A. Pittman
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
262 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 47 – 2021
Posted 12/25/2021
My impressions: gritty, gory, gruesome, ghastly, gloomy, graphic, grotesque, grisly, sadistic, malfeasance.
Main Characters:
Detective Pat McConnell – laid back, unflappable, hard ass.
Detective Lou Maguire – Pat's sidekick and counterbalance.
Ted Allen – devious and mysterious power broker.
Rosie Williams – reporter who falls under Ted's spell.
Widow Drake – Assassin and more, an accomplished killer with an attitude.
Father Walter Brown – Catholic Priest.
Arch Angel – serial killer, Dylan Jocoby, son of a powerful politician.
Revelation and Retribution is a roller coaster ride with more turns than a slinky toy. When fifteen bodies turn up in a single day the Mayor and Police Chief realize they have a mass murderer in town. It then falls to Detectives Pat McConnell and his partner Lou Maguire to chase down the diabolical killer dubbed the Arch Angel. The setting is St. Louis, Missouri so the Arch title is appropriate. But there's a catch, the killer only kills scumbags so the city fathers fear copy cat killers will emulate the killer and try to assist him in cleaning up the town. (It actually needs such a thing. Its homicide rate approaches that of the infamous Chicago.)
Then Catholic Priest Walter Brown listens to the killer during confession and recognizes the voice. But Father Brown is confronted with a conundrum. His religious vows forbid his ratting out information gained through confession. Instead the priest gets drunk and goes home with a sexy bartender.
While the priest is finding his moral compass, Pat manages to team up with accomplished assassin Widow Drake. Widow saves the inept officer's life several times and then they team up to go after Ted Allen for setting them up to be victims.
There are dozens of hired mercenaries after The Cop and the Killer, but they manage to outwit and outshoot them all.
There are hard core cursing scenes.
The editing and sentence structure are good.
Details are adequate but character development is poor. I wanted to know more about the characters and what inspired them and made them who they were.
Details are sparse but okay, research is lacking as there is not a hammer to pull back on a Glock. When the villain was shot, I read it three times and still couldn't picture the action sequence.
The writing style is tight and descriptive for the most part.
Several cliff hangers were left at the end, so I'll bet a sequel will soon follow.
It's a good, not great, tongue in cheek thriller and I enjoyed it as such.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Attorney’s Alibi
Author – Daralyse Lyons
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
266 Amazon Pages
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 46 – 2021
Posted 12/18/2021
My Impressions: slimy, despicable, cheater, liar, repentant, comeuppance, true justice
Main Characters:
Jake Livingstone – Defense Lawyer, crook, cheater, everything sleazy you can think of.
Cheryl – Jake’s long suffering wife who adores him. Maybe.
Amber – Jake’s girlfriend for sex who wants to share her life with him.
Monique – Jake’s girlfriend for sex only.
Attorney’s Alibi is a delightful story if you can get past the first sixty percent where Jake is defined as a total scumbag. For two years he has lied to his wife while chasing multiple other women strictly for sex. He is a drunk, a gambler, a liar and will provide alibis to guilty clients to win his cases. He has no conscience and no remorse for the emotional damage his actions cause. One girlfriend is satisfied to have him stop by for frequent sex while the other cajoles him to leave his wife and stay with her.
Eventually events occur causing Jake to see himself for the despicable person he has become. He sets out to seek redemption by correcting his past personal failures.
Before he is redeemed fate throws in a surprising twist that makes the entire story worthwhile and enjoyable.
Goodness does win out. Well sort of.
The editing and sentence structure are exemplary, with the exception of several slang words that are not found in standard dictionaries.
Cursing and sexual talk are abundant, but the sex acts are not graphic.
The plot is fresh and deals with rehabilitation and retribution in an offbeat manner.
I enjoyed this story and recommend it.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Daralyse Lyons
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
266 Amazon Pages
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 46 – 2021
Posted 12/18/2021
My Impressions: slimy, despicable, cheater, liar, repentant, comeuppance, true justice
Main Characters:
Jake Livingstone – Defense Lawyer, crook, cheater, everything sleazy you can think of.
Cheryl – Jake’s long suffering wife who adores him. Maybe.
Amber – Jake’s girlfriend for sex who wants to share her life with him.
Monique – Jake’s girlfriend for sex only.
Attorney’s Alibi is a delightful story if you can get past the first sixty percent where Jake is defined as a total scumbag. For two years he has lied to his wife while chasing multiple other women strictly for sex. He is a drunk, a gambler, a liar and will provide alibis to guilty clients to win his cases. He has no conscience and no remorse for the emotional damage his actions cause. One girlfriend is satisfied to have him stop by for frequent sex while the other cajoles him to leave his wife and stay with her.
Eventually events occur causing Jake to see himself for the despicable person he has become. He sets out to seek redemption by correcting his past personal failures.
Before he is redeemed fate throws in a surprising twist that makes the entire story worthwhile and enjoyable.
Goodness does win out. Well sort of.
The editing and sentence structure are exemplary, with the exception of several slang words that are not found in standard dictionaries.
Cursing and sexual talk are abundant, but the sex acts are not graphic.
The plot is fresh and deals with rehabilitation and retribution in an offbeat manner.
I enjoyed this story and recommend it.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Androcide
Author – Erec Stubbins
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
333 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
Posted 12/5/2021
No. 42 - 2021
Androcide: the systematic killing of men, boys, or males in general.
My Impressions: brutal, well written, psychopath, intriguing characters, personal political viewpoint injected.
Main Characters:
Sara Houston – Top of FBI wanted list, framed for murder of Vice President and terrorist activities, Intel 1.
Francisco Lopez – Defrocked priest, deadly member of Intel 1
Nader Zaringhalam – Double agent, hacker, member of Intel 1
Elaine York – President of the United States of America
Det. Tyrell Sacker – New York Police, alcoholic, wears a goofy Ice Topper Hat, suited for formal wear with a Tux.
P.I. Grace Gone – Handicapped, brilliant, Asian heritage. Also Biological research expert.
Androcide is an action-packed thriller. It starts as two separate stories that begin to converge about halfway through the book. The three main characters listed first are members of Intel 1, a covert action group reporting directly to Elaine York, POTUS. They have saved the country from a mysterious group name Bilderberg. There are vague references to the second civil war and an atomic bomb exploded in Kansas. A terrorist named Nemesis is the last agent of Bilderberg and Intel 1 chases her to prevent her from reorganizing.
Det. Tyrell Sacker is assigned the case of dead, nude men whose genitals have been removed before they were staged about the city. P.I. Grace Gone wrangles her way into Sacker’s investigation against the direct orders of Sacker’s superiors.
All of the characters are larger than life and all have deep personal secrets that affect their emotions and performance. Only vague hints of these secrets are given, but from that I judged them to be extreme.
The editing and sentence structure are excellent.
Character Development is in depth for the main characters
Details are often sketchy or steeped in medical and research terms most readers will have little knowledge of.
The plot was excellent until the author injected his personal political view point and relied on exaggerations and outright lies to vent his opinion.
The author’s writing style is fast paced and full of medical and research jargon.
I was engrossed in the story until caricatures of current US politicians were injected and distorted by exaggeration and outright lies to fit the author’s partisan view.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Erec Stubbins
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
333 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
Posted 12/5/2021
No. 42 - 2021
Androcide: the systematic killing of men, boys, or males in general.
My Impressions: brutal, well written, psychopath, intriguing characters, personal political viewpoint injected.
Main Characters:
Sara Houston – Top of FBI wanted list, framed for murder of Vice President and terrorist activities, Intel 1.
Francisco Lopez – Defrocked priest, deadly member of Intel 1
Nader Zaringhalam – Double agent, hacker, member of Intel 1
Elaine York – President of the United States of America
Det. Tyrell Sacker – New York Police, alcoholic, wears a goofy Ice Topper Hat, suited for formal wear with a Tux.
P.I. Grace Gone – Handicapped, brilliant, Asian heritage. Also Biological research expert.
Androcide is an action-packed thriller. It starts as two separate stories that begin to converge about halfway through the book. The three main characters listed first are members of Intel 1, a covert action group reporting directly to Elaine York, POTUS. They have saved the country from a mysterious group name Bilderberg. There are vague references to the second civil war and an atomic bomb exploded in Kansas. A terrorist named Nemesis is the last agent of Bilderberg and Intel 1 chases her to prevent her from reorganizing.
Det. Tyrell Sacker is assigned the case of dead, nude men whose genitals have been removed before they were staged about the city. P.I. Grace Gone wrangles her way into Sacker’s investigation against the direct orders of Sacker’s superiors.
All of the characters are larger than life and all have deep personal secrets that affect their emotions and performance. Only vague hints of these secrets are given, but from that I judged them to be extreme.
The editing and sentence structure are excellent.
Character Development is in depth for the main characters
Details are often sketchy or steeped in medical and research terms most readers will have little knowledge of.
The plot was excellent until the author injected his personal political view point and relied on exaggerations and outright lies to vent his opinion.
The author’s writing style is fast paced and full of medical and research jargon.
I was engrossed in the story until caricatures of current US politicians were injected and distorted by exaggeration and outright lies to fit the author’s partisan view.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – One Sore Rib
Author – Matthew McLean
Genre – Literary Thriller
224 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 41 – 2021
Posted 11/26/2021
My Impressions: conflict, poignant, survivor, irreversible sickness, gruesome, good action
Main Characters:
No Name main character: tough ex-US Marine.
Cheryl – Ex-marine’s wife, dying of cancer.
Sophie – Mistress of Don Verdicchio, Italian mobster
Dennis – Barista of a bar in Venice, an underling of Don Verdicchio.
One Sore Rib is an unusual story not only in the plot but that the main character is never given a name. But it works.
Cheryl has terminal cancer and is slowly dying. Her husband sinks to doing whatever dirty, dangerous, criminal job is required to fulfill her wishes of completing her own bucket list before the Beast of Cancer devours her. Her final wish is to succumb to the Beast while in Venice, Italy.
The tough ex-Marine is an introvert experiencing difficulty accepting Cheryl’s imminent death and his loss of her love and companionship. Their plans disappeared when she was diagnosed and the treatments decimated their savings.
Then the young, beautiful Sophie enters the married couple’s life. She and Cheryl speak Italian but not the ex-Marine. Sophie is the unwilling mistress of Don Verdicchio, an Italian criminal.
Cheryl skillfully maneuvers Sophie and the ex-Marine together into a strictly platonic relationship.
The ending is a bit bizarre and unexpected. I won’t sully the ending by telling you more, but it is heartbreaking and open-ended with no hint of a conclusion.
The editing isn’t terrible but there are far too many missing, misspelled, and wrong word errors.
Too many Italian words cause the reader to consult the dictionary function often and distracts from the flow of the plot.
In spite of the issues listed above I enjoyed One Sore Rib and heartily recommend it.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Matthew McLean
Genre – Literary Thriller
224 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 41 – 2021
Posted 11/26/2021
My Impressions: conflict, poignant, survivor, irreversible sickness, gruesome, good action
Main Characters:
No Name main character: tough ex-US Marine.
Cheryl – Ex-marine’s wife, dying of cancer.
Sophie – Mistress of Don Verdicchio, Italian mobster
Dennis – Barista of a bar in Venice, an underling of Don Verdicchio.
One Sore Rib is an unusual story not only in the plot but that the main character is never given a name. But it works.
Cheryl has terminal cancer and is slowly dying. Her husband sinks to doing whatever dirty, dangerous, criminal job is required to fulfill her wishes of completing her own bucket list before the Beast of Cancer devours her. Her final wish is to succumb to the Beast while in Venice, Italy.
The tough ex-Marine is an introvert experiencing difficulty accepting Cheryl’s imminent death and his loss of her love and companionship. Their plans disappeared when she was diagnosed and the treatments decimated their savings.
Then the young, beautiful Sophie enters the married couple’s life. She and Cheryl speak Italian but not the ex-Marine. Sophie is the unwilling mistress of Don Verdicchio, an Italian criminal.
Cheryl skillfully maneuvers Sophie and the ex-Marine together into a strictly platonic relationship.
The ending is a bit bizarre and unexpected. I won’t sully the ending by telling you more, but it is heartbreaking and open-ended with no hint of a conclusion.
The editing isn’t terrible but there are far too many missing, misspelled, and wrong word errors.
Too many Italian words cause the reader to consult the dictionary function often and distracts from the flow of the plot.
In spite of the issues listed above I enjoyed One Sore Rib and heartily recommend it.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The Dogtrot Murder
Author – Robert Schobernd
Genre – Thriller, Suspense, Vigilante Justice
Word Count 72,700
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 40 – 2021
Posted 11/20/2021
My Impressions: Carter - tough, competent, intelligent, compassionate, tenacious.
Kate: afraid, disappointed, liberal, betrayed - rejuvenated, fair, unafraid, revenge.
Main Characters:
Carter A. Johnson – the vigilante sent to investigate the conviction of a wife currently in prison.
Kate Menke – convicted of murdering her husband, serving a life term in prison.
The Dogtrot Murder opens inside the antagonist’s thoughts as he prepares to murder Gerhart J. Menke, Kate Menke’s husband. The following segment switches to Kate’s incarceration at the Kansas State Prison for Women at Topeka, Kansas. Her feelings and reactions during the admissions segment invoked compassion for the woman who claimed to be innocent of the crime. Then we meet her cellmate Mercie, and watch their relationship develop.
Next the scene switched to Carter at his girlfriend’s cabin in Oregon discussing their fledgling relationship. They’ve each been married previously and are cautiously defining the extent of their new arrangement.
Back in prison, Kate is getting threatening looks from a fellow prisoner, wannabe gang leader, and questions why the woman’s anger is focused on her.
The scenes continue to switch back and forth as Carter and Mattie are making love while Kate is accepting the reality and danger of life in prison. The contrast in lifestyles is intriguing.
Both main characters are written in first person and, due to their separation of scenes, it works well.
As Carter begins his investigation, he gets too close to the truth of Gerhart’s murder and a series of attacks to silence him begin. The action scenes are intelligently choreographed and vividly portrayed. Watch especially for the scenes with Kinky Stillbrink.
The editing and sentence structure in this story are excellent.
Development of main and supporting characters is above average. I clearly understood who and what each important character was.
Details and research are thorough, especially for Kate’s time in prison and the procedures enforced there.
The plot is involved and held my interest from start to finish.
Crisp and complex describes the writing style. It’s not wordy or loaded with excessive details that would constitute filler.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Robert Schobernd
Genre – Thriller, Suspense, Vigilante Justice
Word Count 72,700
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 40 – 2021
Posted 11/20/2021
My Impressions: Carter - tough, competent, intelligent, compassionate, tenacious.
Kate: afraid, disappointed, liberal, betrayed - rejuvenated, fair, unafraid, revenge.
Main Characters:
Carter A. Johnson – the vigilante sent to investigate the conviction of a wife currently in prison.
Kate Menke – convicted of murdering her husband, serving a life term in prison.
The Dogtrot Murder opens inside the antagonist’s thoughts as he prepares to murder Gerhart J. Menke, Kate Menke’s husband. The following segment switches to Kate’s incarceration at the Kansas State Prison for Women at Topeka, Kansas. Her feelings and reactions during the admissions segment invoked compassion for the woman who claimed to be innocent of the crime. Then we meet her cellmate Mercie, and watch their relationship develop.
Next the scene switched to Carter at his girlfriend’s cabin in Oregon discussing their fledgling relationship. They’ve each been married previously and are cautiously defining the extent of their new arrangement.
Back in prison, Kate is getting threatening looks from a fellow prisoner, wannabe gang leader, and questions why the woman’s anger is focused on her.
The scenes continue to switch back and forth as Carter and Mattie are making love while Kate is accepting the reality and danger of life in prison. The contrast in lifestyles is intriguing.
Both main characters are written in first person and, due to their separation of scenes, it works well.
As Carter begins his investigation, he gets too close to the truth of Gerhart’s murder and a series of attacks to silence him begin. The action scenes are intelligently choreographed and vividly portrayed. Watch especially for the scenes with Kinky Stillbrink.
The editing and sentence structure in this story are excellent.
Development of main and supporting characters is above average. I clearly understood who and what each important character was.
Details and research are thorough, especially for Kate’s time in prison and the procedures enforced there.
The plot is involved and held my interest from start to finish.
Crisp and complex describes the writing style. It’s not wordy or loaded with excessive details that would constitute filler.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Loyalty: Legacy of Loyalty
Author – James Clifton
Genre – Action Adventure
Word Count - 98,000
Rating – Five stars out of five
No. 38-3 - 2021
Posted 11/12/2021
My impressions: It’s hard to accept the good guys are only a small step better than the bad guys. They’re all brutal torturers and killers. Even the ‘good’ guys kill scores of opposing soldiers while defending their criminal areas.
Main Characters:
John Cooper – Lena’a husband, now Juan Ribeiro from Argentina.
Carlos Ramirez – Lena’s anti-violence brother.
Lena Ramirez – Carlos’ tough sister who runs the largest southern Mexico cartel
Heriberto Fuente – Mexican mob leader who wants to expand his influence.
Ramone Estrada – Cartel boss.
Flavio Sosa – Cartel Boss
Mr. Smith – Mercenary, Assassin, “Good guy”.
Mr. Jones – Mercenary, Assassin, “Good guy”.
Mexican mob boss Lena Ramirez is pregnant and having a difficult time carrying the child. Heriberto Fuente is a mobster who rules a territory adjacent to the Ramirez controlled area. At the wedding celebration for Lena and John, he notices her incapacitated condition and decides to raid several of her strongholds to kill her and her captains and take control of her drug and prostitution businesses. He is a brutal boss who thinks nothing of using poisonous gas to attack the Ramirez’ compound where multiple children and women are overcome and die.
The story contains non-stop action as Fuente’s forces initially attack, and then the Ramirez defenders regroup and launch several counter attacks. Two mercenary’s, Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones, play pivotal roles in defending the central Ramirez family and then planning and carrying out the retaliation.
Fuente was captured and tortured grotesquely as a symbol to other Mexican bosses of what would happen to them if they infringed on the Ramirezs.
Then the mood of the story changed dramatically to a love story of three men who each loved Lena unconditionally.
Warning. The violence is extreme, and the bloody body count is high. Torture is downright diabolical.
The five star rating is based primarily on the plot and storytelling and not the totally inadequate editing.
The editing is extremely poor with far too many errors.
Sentence structure is mostly good
Character development is adequate to good for the main characters.
Details are thin but lack of them doesn’t really impact the action filled story.
The plot is intense with frequent action amid a twisted trail of lies, betrayal, and extreme violence.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – James Clifton
Genre – Action Adventure
Word Count - 98,000
Rating – Five stars out of five
No. 38-3 - 2021
Posted 11/12/2021
My impressions: It’s hard to accept the good guys are only a small step better than the bad guys. They’re all brutal torturers and killers. Even the ‘good’ guys kill scores of opposing soldiers while defending their criminal areas.
Main Characters:
John Cooper – Lena’a husband, now Juan Ribeiro from Argentina.
Carlos Ramirez – Lena’s anti-violence brother.
Lena Ramirez – Carlos’ tough sister who runs the largest southern Mexico cartel
Heriberto Fuente – Mexican mob leader who wants to expand his influence.
Ramone Estrada – Cartel boss.
Flavio Sosa – Cartel Boss
Mr. Smith – Mercenary, Assassin, “Good guy”.
Mr. Jones – Mercenary, Assassin, “Good guy”.
Mexican mob boss Lena Ramirez is pregnant and having a difficult time carrying the child. Heriberto Fuente is a mobster who rules a territory adjacent to the Ramirez controlled area. At the wedding celebration for Lena and John, he notices her incapacitated condition and decides to raid several of her strongholds to kill her and her captains and take control of her drug and prostitution businesses. He is a brutal boss who thinks nothing of using poisonous gas to attack the Ramirez’ compound where multiple children and women are overcome and die.
The story contains non-stop action as Fuente’s forces initially attack, and then the Ramirez defenders regroup and launch several counter attacks. Two mercenary’s, Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones, play pivotal roles in defending the central Ramirez family and then planning and carrying out the retaliation.
Fuente was captured and tortured grotesquely as a symbol to other Mexican bosses of what would happen to them if they infringed on the Ramirezs.
Then the mood of the story changed dramatically to a love story of three men who each loved Lena unconditionally.
Warning. The violence is extreme, and the bloody body count is high. Torture is downright diabolical.
The five star rating is based primarily on the plot and storytelling and not the totally inadequate editing.
The editing is extremely poor with far too many errors.
Sentence structure is mostly good
Character development is adequate to good for the main characters.
Details are thin but lack of them doesn’t really impact the action filled story.
The plot is intense with frequent action amid a twisted trail of lies, betrayal, and extreme violence.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Penance: Legacy of Loyalty
Author – James Clifton
Genre – Action Adventure
Word Count - 98,000
Rating – Five stars out of five.
No. 38-2 - 2021
Posted 11/6/2021
My Impressions: Exciting, violent, feel good adventure where the bad guys are dumb and get what they deserve.
Main Characters:
John Cooper – A survivor from book one who is now Argentinean Juan Ribeiro with a new role in life.
Carlos Ramirez –Ambitious lawyer who thinks he can control mobsters and run a non-criminal business.
Lena Ramirez – Carlos’ tough sister whom everyone learns is the real strength in the mob family.
Alyssa Cameron – Harvard lawyer hired by Carlos.
Stephen Touhy – Mob boss in New York City, one of five still alive.
Mark Scofield – Lawyer, criminal, wannabe who thinks he’s smarter than he is.
Book two begins with the Mexican mob directed by Lena Ramirez assassinating most of the New York City Irish mob and leaving five men in charge under the thumb of her brother Carlos. He wants to run the construction company he heads legitimately, but the five mob bosses want to do shoddy work to maximize their profits; they’re dense thugs not businessmen. Finally, they decide if Carlos doesn’t cave to doing business their way, they’ll kill him. The only thing holding them back is fear of volatile, vicious Lena.
Carlos is dejected until he decides on a plan to rid himself of the mobsters and atone for his past violent sins.
The action is intense and full of double crosses.
Several other plots are underway involving John’s ex-wife and two New York City cops, plus a criminal boss in Atlanta, Georgia Carlos brings in on a caper including the five New York City thugs.
I especially liked the super fixer Mr. Smith; he’s an intelligent, cold blooded killer with a large group of ‘fixers’.
I enjoyed this second book in the trilogy and recommend it as long as the reader doesn’t take it too seriously.
Warning. The violence is extreme, and the bloody body count is high.
The five star rating is based primarily on the plot and storytelling and not the editing.
The editing is sub-par with far too many errors.
Sentence structure is mostly good
Character development is adequate to good for the main characters.
Details are thin but lack of them doesn’t really impact the action filled story.
The plot is intense with frequent action and a twisted trail of lies and betrayal.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – James Clifton
Genre – Action Adventure
Word Count - 98,000
Rating – Five stars out of five.
No. 38-2 - 2021
Posted 11/6/2021
My Impressions: Exciting, violent, feel good adventure where the bad guys are dumb and get what they deserve.
Main Characters:
John Cooper – A survivor from book one who is now Argentinean Juan Ribeiro with a new role in life.
Carlos Ramirez –Ambitious lawyer who thinks he can control mobsters and run a non-criminal business.
Lena Ramirez – Carlos’ tough sister whom everyone learns is the real strength in the mob family.
Alyssa Cameron – Harvard lawyer hired by Carlos.
Stephen Touhy – Mob boss in New York City, one of five still alive.
Mark Scofield – Lawyer, criminal, wannabe who thinks he’s smarter than he is.
Book two begins with the Mexican mob directed by Lena Ramirez assassinating most of the New York City Irish mob and leaving five men in charge under the thumb of her brother Carlos. He wants to run the construction company he heads legitimately, but the five mob bosses want to do shoddy work to maximize their profits; they’re dense thugs not businessmen. Finally, they decide if Carlos doesn’t cave to doing business their way, they’ll kill him. The only thing holding them back is fear of volatile, vicious Lena.
Carlos is dejected until he decides on a plan to rid himself of the mobsters and atone for his past violent sins.
The action is intense and full of double crosses.
Several other plots are underway involving John’s ex-wife and two New York City cops, plus a criminal boss in Atlanta, Georgia Carlos brings in on a caper including the five New York City thugs.
I especially liked the super fixer Mr. Smith; he’s an intelligent, cold blooded killer with a large group of ‘fixers’.
I enjoyed this second book in the trilogy and recommend it as long as the reader doesn’t take it too seriously.
Warning. The violence is extreme, and the bloody body count is high.
The five star rating is based primarily on the plot and storytelling and not the editing.
The editing is sub-par with far too many errors.
Sentence structure is mostly good
Character development is adequate to good for the main characters.
Details are thin but lack of them doesn’t really impact the action filled story.
The plot is intense with frequent action and a twisted trail of lies and betrayal.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Hiding in Third Person
Author – Phil Bradley
Genre – Mystery, Action/Adventure
260 Amazon Pages
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 27 – 2021
Posted 10/31/2021
My Impressions: slow to start, vicious criminals, bad guy masquerading as a cop, unexpected compassion.
Main Characters:
Malachi – known as Mr. Rivers, a simple, decent human being with a mental disorder
Doc Micheletti - Honduran punk in a gang.
Ricky – orderly in a mental institution.
Aldo – Camden N.J. police detective who rises to the occasion despite worrying if his wife has cancer.
Rags – Aldo’s young partner.
Beatty – Ocean County police detective.
The Finder – A huge assassin.
A young runaway named Malachi is confined to the Cumberland County Asylum for the Mentally Ill. Ricky, an orderly who befriends him calls the institution The Cumberland County Psycho Spa and Dude Ranch. Ricky patiently listens as Malachi spins a wild yarn of evading the authorities and a killer named The Finder.
Malachi evaded the authorities by hiding at BOMARC, a deserted and abandoned nuclear missile launch site where a nuclear material leak contaminated a section of the large track of land in the New Jersey Barrens Forest.
The police assemble a large task force of detectives, park rangers and volunteers to search for two missing Honduran young men as well as Malachi. To keep the suspense intact, The Finder discovered the young men are hiding at BOMARC and set out to kill them.
The story was slow at first as the large cast of characters was introduced. Then it picked up speed and pulled me into the complexities of the plot. The story is simple yet intriguing.
The editing is very good with a few exceptions, as are sentence structure and character development for the main characters.
Details are adequate to good.
The plot is involved with many characters and several unexpected twist in addition to a surprise ending.
The writing style is simple and straight forward.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Phil Bradley
Genre – Mystery, Action/Adventure
260 Amazon Pages
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 27 – 2021
Posted 10/31/2021
My Impressions: slow to start, vicious criminals, bad guy masquerading as a cop, unexpected compassion.
Main Characters:
Malachi – known as Mr. Rivers, a simple, decent human being with a mental disorder
Doc Micheletti - Honduran punk in a gang.
Ricky – orderly in a mental institution.
Aldo – Camden N.J. police detective who rises to the occasion despite worrying if his wife has cancer.
Rags – Aldo’s young partner.
Beatty – Ocean County police detective.
The Finder – A huge assassin.
A young runaway named Malachi is confined to the Cumberland County Asylum for the Mentally Ill. Ricky, an orderly who befriends him calls the institution The Cumberland County Psycho Spa and Dude Ranch. Ricky patiently listens as Malachi spins a wild yarn of evading the authorities and a killer named The Finder.
Malachi evaded the authorities by hiding at BOMARC, a deserted and abandoned nuclear missile launch site where a nuclear material leak contaminated a section of the large track of land in the New Jersey Barrens Forest.
The police assemble a large task force of detectives, park rangers and volunteers to search for two missing Honduran young men as well as Malachi. To keep the suspense intact, The Finder discovered the young men are hiding at BOMARC and set out to kill them.
The story was slow at first as the large cast of characters was introduced. Then it picked up speed and pulled me into the complexities of the plot. The story is simple yet intriguing.
The editing is very good with a few exceptions, as are sentence structure and character development for the main characters.
Details are adequate to good.
The plot is involved with many characters and several unexpected twist in addition to a surprise ending.
The writing style is simple and straight forward.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Change of Heart
Author – James Clifton
Genre – Action Adventure
Word Count - 98,000
Rating – Five stars out of five
No. 38 - 2021
Posted 10/22/2021
My Impressions: Exciting, violent, tongue in cheek adventure.
Main Characters:
John Cooper – heart donor with regrets.
Deborah Cooper – John’s wife, a greedy shrew.
Jimmy Regan – Drug lord in Mexico in need of a replacement heart.
Carlos Ramirez – Regan’s ambitious, resentful second in command.
Lena Ramirez – Carlos’ tough sister who also wants revenge. Extreme revenge.
John Cooper has lost everything he owned; his business is bankrupt, his savings are spent, and his house is mortgaged for more than it’s worth. To leave money to his beautiful, pregnant, shrewlike wife he plans to commit suicide to collect a large life insurance policy. But the payout is jeopardized when he inquiries about the terms of the policy and thereby invalidates the suicide clause.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Regan is dying of heart failure. He has an extremely rare blood type shared by John Cooper. So John makes a deal with a devilish Regan to give the drug lord his heart in exchange for millions of dollars for his wife and expected child.
But then fate changes John’s mind when his child is born, and he holds her in his arms.
Then, the meat of the story begins as John evades the thugs assigned to ensure he doesn’t renege on his commitment to Regan.
An underlying plot involving Carlos Ramirez and his beautiful, intelligent, tough sister unfolds. They and John band together against Regan and his large killer mob.
Warning. The violence is extreme, and the bloody body count is high.
The five star rating is based primarily on the plot and storytelling and not the editing.
The editing is amateurish with far too many errors.
Sentence structure is mostly good
Character development is adequate to good for the main characters.
Details are thin but lack of them doesn’t really impact the action filled story.
The plot is intense with frequent action and a twisted trail of lies and betrayal. I felt there was a low level of conflict as most actions went exactly as planned. That doesn’t even happen in my everyday, mundane life.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – James Clifton
Genre – Action Adventure
Word Count - 98,000
Rating – Five stars out of five
No. 38 - 2021
Posted 10/22/2021
My Impressions: Exciting, violent, tongue in cheek adventure.
Main Characters:
John Cooper – heart donor with regrets.
Deborah Cooper – John’s wife, a greedy shrew.
Jimmy Regan – Drug lord in Mexico in need of a replacement heart.
Carlos Ramirez – Regan’s ambitious, resentful second in command.
Lena Ramirez – Carlos’ tough sister who also wants revenge. Extreme revenge.
John Cooper has lost everything he owned; his business is bankrupt, his savings are spent, and his house is mortgaged for more than it’s worth. To leave money to his beautiful, pregnant, shrewlike wife he plans to commit suicide to collect a large life insurance policy. But the payout is jeopardized when he inquiries about the terms of the policy and thereby invalidates the suicide clause.
Meanwhile, Jimmy Regan is dying of heart failure. He has an extremely rare blood type shared by John Cooper. So John makes a deal with a devilish Regan to give the drug lord his heart in exchange for millions of dollars for his wife and expected child.
But then fate changes John’s mind when his child is born, and he holds her in his arms.
Then, the meat of the story begins as John evades the thugs assigned to ensure he doesn’t renege on his commitment to Regan.
An underlying plot involving Carlos Ramirez and his beautiful, intelligent, tough sister unfolds. They and John band together against Regan and his large killer mob.
Warning. The violence is extreme, and the bloody body count is high.
The five star rating is based primarily on the plot and storytelling and not the editing.
The editing is amateurish with far too many errors.
Sentence structure is mostly good
Character development is adequate to good for the main characters.
Details are thin but lack of them doesn’t really impact the action filled story.
The plot is intense with frequent action and a twisted trail of lies and betrayal. I felt there was a low level of conflict as most actions went exactly as planned. That doesn’t even happen in my everyday, mundane life.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Voices in the Wind
Author – Tony Manera
Genre – Mystery, Suspense
Word Count - 76,000
Rating – Five stars out of five
No. 37 - 2021
Posted 10/15/2021
My Impressions: Excellent tale of Greed and Corruption.
Main Characters:
Don Pasquale - fifty-five year old sophisticated mafia criminal.
Donna Rossa – Don Pasquale’s wife.
Turriddu – Journalist and Don Pasquale’s PR man.
The Count – Mysterious advisor and king maker.
Bellini – Police inspector, childhood friend of Don Pasquale.
Longo – Police officer
Voices in the Wind is set primarily around Palermo, Sicily.
Don Pasquale is a suave, egotistical criminal who fooled most prominent leaders. He’s been suspected of several unscrupulous financial criminal acts but was never charges and has no past criminal convictions.
He has connections to many underworld criminals including the Sicilian mafia and international crooks.
Although proclaiming to abhor violence, he has ordered several murders.
He is a wheeler dealer, but heavily in debt and was promoting a bridge from Sicily to Italy that had been proposed for hundreds of years. He invested ten million euros in that endeavor.
But not everyone looks up to Don Pasquale; his wife suspects he is a confirmed womanizer and that he had a fellow mafia member murdered. The man stood in the way of Don Pasquale’s cherished bridge project.
When the Italian government fails due to a no confidence vote on the presiding coalition, Don Pasquale is approached to become the new Prime Minister of a newly formed government.
Voices in the Wind has the usual indie author editing issues, especially with commas.
Sentence Structure is good.
Character development is thorough and defines the character’s personalities clearly
Thorough research or firsthand knowledge of the Sicilian locations is apparent in the details. The authors knowledge of firearms and suppressors (not silencers) is abysmal.
The plot is intriguing and convoluted.
I enjoyed this story of a sociopathic criminal and highly recommend it.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Tony Manera
Genre – Mystery, Suspense
Word Count - 76,000
Rating – Five stars out of five
No. 37 - 2021
Posted 10/15/2021
My Impressions: Excellent tale of Greed and Corruption.
Main Characters:
Don Pasquale - fifty-five year old sophisticated mafia criminal.
Donna Rossa – Don Pasquale’s wife.
Turriddu – Journalist and Don Pasquale’s PR man.
The Count – Mysterious advisor and king maker.
Bellini – Police inspector, childhood friend of Don Pasquale.
Longo – Police officer
Voices in the Wind is set primarily around Palermo, Sicily.
Don Pasquale is a suave, egotistical criminal who fooled most prominent leaders. He’s been suspected of several unscrupulous financial criminal acts but was never charges and has no past criminal convictions.
He has connections to many underworld criminals including the Sicilian mafia and international crooks.
Although proclaiming to abhor violence, he has ordered several murders.
He is a wheeler dealer, but heavily in debt and was promoting a bridge from Sicily to Italy that had been proposed for hundreds of years. He invested ten million euros in that endeavor.
But not everyone looks up to Don Pasquale; his wife suspects he is a confirmed womanizer and that he had a fellow mafia member murdered. The man stood in the way of Don Pasquale’s cherished bridge project.
When the Italian government fails due to a no confidence vote on the presiding coalition, Don Pasquale is approached to become the new Prime Minister of a newly formed government.
Voices in the Wind has the usual indie author editing issues, especially with commas.
Sentence Structure is good.
Character development is thorough and defines the character’s personalities clearly
Thorough research or firsthand knowledge of the Sicilian locations is apparent in the details. The authors knowledge of firearms and suppressors (not silencers) is abysmal.
The plot is intriguing and convoluted.
I enjoyed this story of a sociopathic criminal and highly recommend it.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Black Entry
Author – Regis Sheehan
Genre – War fiction
Word Count - 44,600
Rating – Five stars out of Five
No. 36 - 2021
Posted 10/8/2021
My Impressions: Fictional account of a war gone bad by incompetence and politicking.
Main Characters:
Many
Black Entry details the timeline of the Vietnam War effort of 1962 and 1963 in a mission named Project Tiger.
The CIA’s failed plan was to airdrop teams of Vietnamese agents into northern Vietnam to observe, spy and sometimes attack the north. The effort was hampered by spies in the Vietnamese groups the CIA had to work with to recruit team members and share insertion plans with.
Several hundred volunteers were captured or killed upon landing or within short periods of time soon after. But shockingly, the program continued for years even though it was failing monthly. How did this happen. Because of coverups, corruption, and incompetence at the highest levels.
The editing is decent with few errors
Sentence structure is good.
Character development is adequate considering the many characters.
Details indicate a high level of research.
The plot covers an actual war the US lost through arrogance, incompetence and political coverups
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Regis Sheehan
Genre – War fiction
Word Count - 44,600
Rating – Five stars out of Five
No. 36 - 2021
Posted 10/8/2021
My Impressions: Fictional account of a war gone bad by incompetence and politicking.
Main Characters:
Many
Black Entry details the timeline of the Vietnam War effort of 1962 and 1963 in a mission named Project Tiger.
The CIA’s failed plan was to airdrop teams of Vietnamese agents into northern Vietnam to observe, spy and sometimes attack the north. The effort was hampered by spies in the Vietnamese groups the CIA had to work with to recruit team members and share insertion plans with.
Several hundred volunteers were captured or killed upon landing or within short periods of time soon after. But shockingly, the program continued for years even though it was failing monthly. How did this happen. Because of coverups, corruption, and incompetence at the highest levels.
The editing is decent with few errors
Sentence structure is good.
Character development is adequate considering the many characters.
Details indicate a high level of research.
The plot covers an actual war the US lost through arrogance, incompetence and political coverups
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Never Grow Up
Author – Neil Ruttenberg
Genre – Thriller
Word Count - 58,000
Rating – Five stars out of five
No. 34 - 2021
Posted 10/1/2021
My Impressions: Excellent story with traces of horror and fantasy. Main Characters:
Lily Garnett – age 16, kidnapped.
Tink,- abductor
The Green Man – The Pan, Berton Getzel, a real nutcase.
Sad Eyes and Freckles – Two of the bad Lost Boys.
Pistol Pete – one of the nicer Lost Boys.
Kelso – TV producer
Roger Hook – ex-cop, washed up TV crime show producer.
In addition to being a thriller, this story has traces of horror and fantasy; but the author pulls it off to create an interesting tale.
Young girls around the age of sixteen are kidnapped and murdered on their eighteenth birthday. Glitter on the corpuses is the only thing tying the murders together.
Roger Hook was a tough head of homicide detective until he quit and became a TV producer of crime shows. When he became a drug addict and was tied to prostitutes, his career tanked, his weird wife divorced him, and he lost everything. But he wanted the good life back enough to detox and attempt to produce TV shows again.
He stumbled across a string of young murder victims that only he tied together into serial killings. Through good detective work he learned of a criminal enterprise headed by a nutcase who dressed in a green bodysuit and wore a mask of twigs. The loony tune thought he was Peter Pan, called himself The Pan, and had young girls kidnapped to be his ‘Wendy’. But when they turned eighteen, they were no longer children so he killed them and replaced them with a new, younger Wendy.
Hook and Croc team up to fight the crazies and prove both of them are a match for the evil they face.
A fun read if you don’t think too far past the impossible actions.
The editing leaves some missing words and comma issues, but those are overshadowed by the excellent story telling.
Sentence Structure is mostly good
Character development is good for dealing with a bunch of kooks and misfits: a legless midget, two muscular Asian torturers, a girl with a horrible scar on her face covered with a tattoo of a crocodile, Armenian criminal killers, a nutcase who soaks in a tub of blood for his fountain of youth, and other crazies.
Details are good because the story is weird and touches on fantasy
The plot is kooky, but I enjoyed it.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Neil Ruttenberg
Genre – Thriller
Word Count - 58,000
Rating – Five stars out of five
No. 34 - 2021
Posted 10/1/2021
My Impressions: Excellent story with traces of horror and fantasy. Main Characters:
Lily Garnett – age 16, kidnapped.
Tink,- abductor
The Green Man – The Pan, Berton Getzel, a real nutcase.
Sad Eyes and Freckles – Two of the bad Lost Boys.
Pistol Pete – one of the nicer Lost Boys.
Kelso – TV producer
Roger Hook – ex-cop, washed up TV crime show producer.
In addition to being a thriller, this story has traces of horror and fantasy; but the author pulls it off to create an interesting tale.
Young girls around the age of sixteen are kidnapped and murdered on their eighteenth birthday. Glitter on the corpuses is the only thing tying the murders together.
Roger Hook was a tough head of homicide detective until he quit and became a TV producer of crime shows. When he became a drug addict and was tied to prostitutes, his career tanked, his weird wife divorced him, and he lost everything. But he wanted the good life back enough to detox and attempt to produce TV shows again.
He stumbled across a string of young murder victims that only he tied together into serial killings. Through good detective work he learned of a criminal enterprise headed by a nutcase who dressed in a green bodysuit and wore a mask of twigs. The loony tune thought he was Peter Pan, called himself The Pan, and had young girls kidnapped to be his ‘Wendy’. But when they turned eighteen, they were no longer children so he killed them and replaced them with a new, younger Wendy.
Hook and Croc team up to fight the crazies and prove both of them are a match for the evil they face.
A fun read if you don’t think too far past the impossible actions.
The editing leaves some missing words and comma issues, but those are overshadowed by the excellent story telling.
Sentence Structure is mostly good
Character development is good for dealing with a bunch of kooks and misfits: a legless midget, two muscular Asian torturers, a girl with a horrible scar on her face covered with a tattoo of a crocodile, Armenian criminal killers, a nutcase who soaks in a tub of blood for his fountain of youth, and other crazies.
Details are good because the story is weird and touches on fantasy
The plot is kooky, but I enjoyed it.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Recycled Love
Author – George Henry
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller,
Action Adventure
306 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 35 – 2021
Posted 9/26/2021
My Impressions: Weird characters, great ending, steeped in Buddhism, reincarnation, lots of action.
Main Characters:
Dan Palmer – 39 year old ex doctor, spent 4 yrs. in prison, 1 yr. in Africa treating AIDs patients, now is sick.
Kapoor – Indian police superintendent, gay and in love with Dan.
Charlie – 20 year old woman who falls in love with Dan
Recycled Love could be titled ‘Everyone Loves Dan Except For Those Who Want to Kill Him’.
There are too many important characters in Recycled Love to list them all. Dan Porter has converted to Buddhism and joins a tour group visiting numerous Buddhist shrines in India and Nepal. The group is a mix of eccentric characters from murderers to druggies, a son who hates Dan, Dan’s ex-wife who hates him and an evil matriarch escorting two young beautiful women. One evil character is there to kidnap Charlie and two others are there to protect her. It makes for a totally scintillating cast of psychopaths and sociopaths among the few normal folks.
Dan is a reluctant tough guy who is forced to defend himself and those he soon cares for and takes under his liberal wings. In prison his cellmate was a gay man he came to love. Then Police Superintendent Kapoor falls madly for him. Do they have an intimate relationship? It’s not clear so you’ll have to decide if you want them to.
The plot is wildly action packed with calming breaks as Dan discusses his religious beliefs and lies to people in the hope of helping them or postponing their troubles.
After an extremely long string of violence the ending was a complete surprise.
There is a lot of sex talk but nothing graphic. Near the end two emotional sex scenes are beautifully written, but again not graphic. The F bomb is used abundantly.
The editing is very sloppy with numerous missing, extra and wrong words. Often sentence structures needs rewriting.
Glock handguns do not have safety switches, and the manufacturer of a gun cannot be determined by examining a fired bullet. These issues indicate a lack of firearms knowledge and thorough research.
There are numerous issues of continuity. Dan walked to a bar then spoke of the taxi driver who took him there.
Charlie is attacked by a rapist and almost cuts his penis off. The description indicated there was blood everywhere but a naked Charlie escaped without a drop of blood on her and her knife disappeared. The entire scene was contrived and poorly thought out.
In spite of the faults in Recycled Love I enjoyed it, although the in-depth religious aspect was a bit over the top for me personally.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – George Henry
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller,
Action Adventure
306 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 35 – 2021
Posted 9/26/2021
My Impressions: Weird characters, great ending, steeped in Buddhism, reincarnation, lots of action.
Main Characters:
Dan Palmer – 39 year old ex doctor, spent 4 yrs. in prison, 1 yr. in Africa treating AIDs patients, now is sick.
Kapoor – Indian police superintendent, gay and in love with Dan.
Charlie – 20 year old woman who falls in love with Dan
Recycled Love could be titled ‘Everyone Loves Dan Except For Those Who Want to Kill Him’.
There are too many important characters in Recycled Love to list them all. Dan Porter has converted to Buddhism and joins a tour group visiting numerous Buddhist shrines in India and Nepal. The group is a mix of eccentric characters from murderers to druggies, a son who hates Dan, Dan’s ex-wife who hates him and an evil matriarch escorting two young beautiful women. One evil character is there to kidnap Charlie and two others are there to protect her. It makes for a totally scintillating cast of psychopaths and sociopaths among the few normal folks.
Dan is a reluctant tough guy who is forced to defend himself and those he soon cares for and takes under his liberal wings. In prison his cellmate was a gay man he came to love. Then Police Superintendent Kapoor falls madly for him. Do they have an intimate relationship? It’s not clear so you’ll have to decide if you want them to.
The plot is wildly action packed with calming breaks as Dan discusses his religious beliefs and lies to people in the hope of helping them or postponing their troubles.
After an extremely long string of violence the ending was a complete surprise.
There is a lot of sex talk but nothing graphic. Near the end two emotional sex scenes are beautifully written, but again not graphic. The F bomb is used abundantly.
The editing is very sloppy with numerous missing, extra and wrong words. Often sentence structures needs rewriting.
Glock handguns do not have safety switches, and the manufacturer of a gun cannot be determined by examining a fired bullet. These issues indicate a lack of firearms knowledge and thorough research.
There are numerous issues of continuity. Dan walked to a bar then spoke of the taxi driver who took him there.
Charlie is attacked by a rapist and almost cuts his penis off. The description indicated there was blood everywhere but a naked Charlie escaped without a drop of blood on her and her knife disappeared. The entire scene was contrived and poorly thought out.
In spite of the faults in Recycled Love I enjoyed it, although the in-depth religious aspect was a bit over the top for me personally.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Wendall’s Lullaby
Author – Kip Loelsch
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller - Science
515 Amazon Pages
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 33 – 2021
Posted 9/17/2021
My Impressions: corrupt military, black ops, incompetent politicians, love story, animal lovers, conflict, intrigue.
Main Characters:
Dr. Angela Clark – Director of Marine Mammal Health & Stranding
Director Jack Hamilton – Angela’s boss.
Dr. Robin Nicely – So. African skier, Dolphin expert, Angela’s boyfriend.
Rear Admiral Lawrence Collins, retired – Still active in national security.
There are many more characters with mile long titles and govt. acronyms. Makes reading difficult.
Wendall’s Lullaby takes place in Galveston, Texas – Virginia Beach, Virginia – Tampa, Florida & Mozambique, Africa and deals with the unheard-of numbers of Bottlenose Dolphins beaching and stranding themselves.
Scientists strive to determine the cause of the deaths of so many dolphins and are dumbfounded by the never before recorded behavior of the mammals.
Several people are alarmed when elite Naval units are ordered to assist with the rescue operation and suspect foul play. Several people are familiar with the government’s past programs striving to use dolphins in security operations.
As is often the case, the military is portrayed as the antagonist willing to subvert individual’s civil rights for their extreme views of national security. But are the military’s objectives right or wrong? You’ll have to make that judgement in the end.
The story has fast action and many twists in the plot. Woven through out are stories of personal tragedies, success and failure and love affairs.
Whether you are attracted to animal stories or not, I’m not, Wendall’s Lullaby is a compelling read and I strongly recommend it.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Kip Loelsch
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller - Science
515 Amazon Pages
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 33 – 2021
Posted 9/17/2021
My Impressions: corrupt military, black ops, incompetent politicians, love story, animal lovers, conflict, intrigue.
Main Characters:
Dr. Angela Clark – Director of Marine Mammal Health & Stranding
Director Jack Hamilton – Angela’s boss.
Dr. Robin Nicely – So. African skier, Dolphin expert, Angela’s boyfriend.
Rear Admiral Lawrence Collins, retired – Still active in national security.
There are many more characters with mile long titles and govt. acronyms. Makes reading difficult.
Wendall’s Lullaby takes place in Galveston, Texas – Virginia Beach, Virginia – Tampa, Florida & Mozambique, Africa and deals with the unheard-of numbers of Bottlenose Dolphins beaching and stranding themselves.
Scientists strive to determine the cause of the deaths of so many dolphins and are dumbfounded by the never before recorded behavior of the mammals.
Several people are alarmed when elite Naval units are ordered to assist with the rescue operation and suspect foul play. Several people are familiar with the government’s past programs striving to use dolphins in security operations.
As is often the case, the military is portrayed as the antagonist willing to subvert individual’s civil rights for their extreme views of national security. But are the military’s objectives right or wrong? You’ll have to make that judgement in the end.
The story has fast action and many twists in the plot. Woven through out are stories of personal tragedies, success and failure and love affairs.
Whether you are attracted to animal stories or not, I’m not, Wendall’s Lullaby is a compelling read and I strongly recommend it.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Sakura Spark, Assassin Flame, & Judas Blaze
Author – Tomson Cobb
Genre – Spy Crime Thrillers
Word Count ???
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No.30-2 - 2021
Posted 9/10/2021
My Impressions: thoughtful, gritty action, international intrigue, interesting characters.
Main Characters:
Jago Hale – Investigative journalist, Special Forces training
Frank Thompson – Jago’s father-in-law, publisher
Mr. Yamada – Mysterious owner with many interests.
Natsuco Yamada – Mr. Yamada’s beautiful daughter and Jago’s love interest.
La Polpo – Assassin
The three titles are in a boxed set, one long story broken into three sections.
Jago’s wife, Franki, and her father work for the British government under cover of a book publishing company, thwarting crime and terrorism around the world. Jago is an investigative reporter unknowingly covering much of the same ground as Franki and Frank. When Franki is murdered, Jago blames himself because he believes he was the target and not his wife.
Jago chases an organization set on controlling the world. In his travels, he stops in Japan and meets Natsuco. She quickly becomes his love interest.
An assassin is hired to kill Jago, but the quirky assassin falls in love with him and ends up protecting him. She even forces him to have sex with her. The assassin escapes near the end and I assume she will return in future books.
The story is full of interesting characters and conflict between them, and the action is abundant.
The editing and sentence structure are fairly good, but there are errors.
Character development is good for the main characters. There are numerous minor supporting characters.
Details are adequate.
The plot is great and held my interest throughout.
The writing style is fast paced, thorough and descriptive. The action scenes are well choreographed and intense.
This book set is an exciting read and I recommend it. I rate it a strong 4 star.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Tomson Cobb
Genre – Spy Crime Thrillers
Word Count ???
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No.30-2 - 2021
Posted 9/10/2021
My Impressions: thoughtful, gritty action, international intrigue, interesting characters.
Main Characters:
Jago Hale – Investigative journalist, Special Forces training
Frank Thompson – Jago’s father-in-law, publisher
Mr. Yamada – Mysterious owner with many interests.
Natsuco Yamada – Mr. Yamada’s beautiful daughter and Jago’s love interest.
La Polpo – Assassin
The three titles are in a boxed set, one long story broken into three sections.
Jago’s wife, Franki, and her father work for the British government under cover of a book publishing company, thwarting crime and terrorism around the world. Jago is an investigative reporter unknowingly covering much of the same ground as Franki and Frank. When Franki is murdered, Jago blames himself because he believes he was the target and not his wife.
Jago chases an organization set on controlling the world. In his travels, he stops in Japan and meets Natsuco. She quickly becomes his love interest.
An assassin is hired to kill Jago, but the quirky assassin falls in love with him and ends up protecting him. She even forces him to have sex with her. The assassin escapes near the end and I assume she will return in future books.
The story is full of interesting characters and conflict between them, and the action is abundant.
The editing and sentence structure are fairly good, but there are errors.
Character development is good for the main characters. There are numerous minor supporting characters.
Details are adequate.
The plot is great and held my interest throughout.
The writing style is fast paced, thorough and descriptive. The action scenes are well choreographed and intense.
This book set is an exciting read and I recommend it. I rate it a strong 4 star.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – A Death Most Quiet
Author – Jeff Hahn
Genre – Crime Fiction, Thriller
Word Count - 90,000
Rating – 4 stars out of 5
No. 32 - 2021
Posted 9/3/2021
My Impressions: Excellent plot and writing.
Main Characters:
Anslem Winterbottom – eccentric mathematical genius with a score to settle.
Capt. Edward McCuen – head of Crime Scene Response Unit.
Lt. Thomas Whelan – detective under McCuen and his heir apparent.
Maya Adams – investigator.
Alejandro Salas – head of Mexican drug cartel, on trial in New York City.
Carlos Javier Lopez – main suspect in a series of gruesome murders.
Unidentified reporter – works for the N.Y. Times, stays off stage but observes and reports throughout.
Anslem Winterbottom observes minute details in the spirit of Sherlock Holmes. He then combines the details to offer directions to be followed by the police. Winterbottom is also the creator of computer programs used by the police to trace criminals. He is also an eccentric billionaire.
The unnamed NY Times reporter telling the story came to know Captain Eduard McCuen of the NYPD because he was at all the major crime scenes. Then a man began to accompany McCuen but remained inconspicuous and unidentified. This stranger infrequently accompanied McCuen; he only appeared at obvious serial killings. A series of these grouped killings are the basis of Winterbottom’s involvement.
Finally we learn why the curious arrangement and loose friendship between these two men exist. Winterbottom’s wife and daughter died when a hit and run driver in a black Mercedes sedan ran them down. He witnessed the crime and began a hunt for the man. His reward for assisting the NYPD on serious crimes was information only McCuen could provide him with.
The editing is the only flaw. It’s not terrible or I wouldn’t have reviewed it, but it has frequent errors.
Sentence Structure is good.
Character Development is thorough and definitive.
Details are adequate but not overdone.
In depth research is apparent in multiple areas explored by the author.
The plot is unique and complicated.
The writing style is slick and sophisticated.
I rate this story a strong four star and highly recommend it.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Jeff Hahn
Genre – Crime Fiction, Thriller
Word Count - 90,000
Rating – 4 stars out of 5
No. 32 - 2021
Posted 9/3/2021
My Impressions: Excellent plot and writing.
Main Characters:
Anslem Winterbottom – eccentric mathematical genius with a score to settle.
Capt. Edward McCuen – head of Crime Scene Response Unit.
Lt. Thomas Whelan – detective under McCuen and his heir apparent.
Maya Adams – investigator.
Alejandro Salas – head of Mexican drug cartel, on trial in New York City.
Carlos Javier Lopez – main suspect in a series of gruesome murders.
Unidentified reporter – works for the N.Y. Times, stays off stage but observes and reports throughout.
Anslem Winterbottom observes minute details in the spirit of Sherlock Holmes. He then combines the details to offer directions to be followed by the police. Winterbottom is also the creator of computer programs used by the police to trace criminals. He is also an eccentric billionaire.
The unnamed NY Times reporter telling the story came to know Captain Eduard McCuen of the NYPD because he was at all the major crime scenes. Then a man began to accompany McCuen but remained inconspicuous and unidentified. This stranger infrequently accompanied McCuen; he only appeared at obvious serial killings. A series of these grouped killings are the basis of Winterbottom’s involvement.
Finally we learn why the curious arrangement and loose friendship between these two men exist. Winterbottom’s wife and daughter died when a hit and run driver in a black Mercedes sedan ran them down. He witnessed the crime and began a hunt for the man. His reward for assisting the NYPD on serious crimes was information only McCuen could provide him with.
The editing is the only flaw. It’s not terrible or I wouldn’t have reviewed it, but it has frequent errors.
Sentence Structure is good.
Character Development is thorough and definitive.
Details are adequate but not overdone.
In depth research is apparent in multiple areas explored by the author.
The plot is unique and complicated.
The writing style is slick and sophisticated.
I rate this story a strong four star and highly recommend it.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The Solicitor
Author – Sean Keefer
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
330 Amazon pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 31 – 2021
Posted 8/28/2021
My impressions: Noah Park’s actions were inconsistent. On one hand he was a good lawyer, then he acted like a fool.
Main Characters:
Noah Parks – Attorney, murder suspect.
Anna Beth Cross – girlfriend, sensible
Rebecca Martin – Secretary to Andrew
S. Bart Michaels – Lawyer, politician, nerd.
Noah’s best friend is murdered while running for the office of Solicitor. With circumstantial evidence Noah is charged with his murder and sets out to prove his innocence.
Noah Parks character was too inconsistent. While in jail he created disturbances until a prisoner punched him out. He did dumb things. Thankfully calm thinking Anna Beth was there to shut him down.
The antagonist was someone who stayed under everyone’s suspicion until their evil was shown at the end.
S. Bart’s character didn’t live up to its potential and came off as weak and dumb at the end.
How does rain spatter on a garage door indicate it hasn’t been opened?
Detective Gabriel cleared the first floor but didn’t check the pantry where a dead body lay. Contrived for a future scene.
Noah and Anna Beth sat, then Brady invited them to sit.
Time references to the election were inconsistent and didn’t add up.
Blank lines are needed between major scene changes.
Editing and sentence structure are sloppy, in need of professional review.
Character development is alright.
Details are overdone.
The plot is interesting and in depth.
The writing style is sloppy and wordy.
Continuity is lacking and often confusing.
The Solicitor deserves 3.5 stars but no one does half stars so it gets bumped up to a 4.0 It’s a decent read if the raised issues don’t turn you off.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Sean Keefer
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
330 Amazon pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 31 – 2021
Posted 8/28/2021
My impressions: Noah Park’s actions were inconsistent. On one hand he was a good lawyer, then he acted like a fool.
Main Characters:
Noah Parks – Attorney, murder suspect.
Anna Beth Cross – girlfriend, sensible
Rebecca Martin – Secretary to Andrew
S. Bart Michaels – Lawyer, politician, nerd.
Noah’s best friend is murdered while running for the office of Solicitor. With circumstantial evidence Noah is charged with his murder and sets out to prove his innocence.
Noah Parks character was too inconsistent. While in jail he created disturbances until a prisoner punched him out. He did dumb things. Thankfully calm thinking Anna Beth was there to shut him down.
The antagonist was someone who stayed under everyone’s suspicion until their evil was shown at the end.
S. Bart’s character didn’t live up to its potential and came off as weak and dumb at the end.
How does rain spatter on a garage door indicate it hasn’t been opened?
Detective Gabriel cleared the first floor but didn’t check the pantry where a dead body lay. Contrived for a future scene.
Noah and Anna Beth sat, then Brady invited them to sit.
Time references to the election were inconsistent and didn’t add up.
Blank lines are needed between major scene changes.
Editing and sentence structure are sloppy, in need of professional review.
Character development is alright.
Details are overdone.
The plot is interesting and in depth.
The writing style is sloppy and wordy.
Continuity is lacking and often confusing.
The Solicitor deserves 3.5 stars but no one does half stars so it gets bumped up to a 4.0 It’s a decent read if the raised issues don’t turn you off.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Sakura Spark
Author – Tomson Cobb
Genre – Spy Crime Thriller
Word Count 103/000
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No.30-1 - 2021
Posted 8/20/2021
My Impressions: thoughtful, gritty action, international intrigue, interesting characters.
Main Characters:
Jago Hale – Investigative journalist, Special Forces training
Frankie Hale – Jago’s dead wife
Frank Thompson – Frankie’s father, publisher
Mr. Yamada – Mysterious owner with many interests.
Natsuco Yamada – Mr. Yamada’s beautiful daughter
Alexsi Petrov - Assassin
When Russian Oligarch Comrade Volkof, his driver, and bodyguard are viciously murdered in England, Jago Hale is commissioned to investigate the deaths. The investigation quickly pulls Jago into British intelligence and takes him from England to Hong Kong and Japan. In Hong Kong, Jago has to deal with a young paid assassin. But Japan holds a bright side for Jago when he meets Mr. Yamada; a beautiful daughter captures Jago’s interest and a relationship is sure to heat up in the following story.
A vicious worldwide Russian mob known as The Organization, and referred to as Chetwynd by British intelligence, has its tentacles in governments and businesses across the globe.
Throughout the story, Jago is stalked by Alexsi Petrov a highly trained and confident assassin. Petrov murders one of Jago’s best friends and shoots his dog before he and Jago meet in close combat.
At the end of the story, Jago learns why the organization has an interest in him and secrets about past events that were held from him are exposed.
The editing and sentence structure aren’t terrible but there are errors.
Character development is good for the main characters. There are numerous minor supporting characters.
Details are adequate.
Research is mostly good, but calling a Glock pistol an automatic instead of a semiautomatic is sloppy.
The plot is great and held my interest throughout.
The writing style is fast paced, thorough and descriptive. The action scenes are well choreographed and intense.
Many Japanese words are not in the English dictionary and left me guessing.
Sakura Spark is an exciting read and I recommend it in spite of the editing issues. I rate it a strong 4 star.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Tomson Cobb
Genre – Spy Crime Thriller
Word Count 103/000
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No.30-1 - 2021
Posted 8/20/2021
My Impressions: thoughtful, gritty action, international intrigue, interesting characters.
Main Characters:
Jago Hale – Investigative journalist, Special Forces training
Frankie Hale – Jago’s dead wife
Frank Thompson – Frankie’s father, publisher
Mr. Yamada – Mysterious owner with many interests.
Natsuco Yamada – Mr. Yamada’s beautiful daughter
Alexsi Petrov - Assassin
When Russian Oligarch Comrade Volkof, his driver, and bodyguard are viciously murdered in England, Jago Hale is commissioned to investigate the deaths. The investigation quickly pulls Jago into British intelligence and takes him from England to Hong Kong and Japan. In Hong Kong, Jago has to deal with a young paid assassin. But Japan holds a bright side for Jago when he meets Mr. Yamada; a beautiful daughter captures Jago’s interest and a relationship is sure to heat up in the following story.
A vicious worldwide Russian mob known as The Organization, and referred to as Chetwynd by British intelligence, has its tentacles in governments and businesses across the globe.
Throughout the story, Jago is stalked by Alexsi Petrov a highly trained and confident assassin. Petrov murders one of Jago’s best friends and shoots his dog before he and Jago meet in close combat.
At the end of the story, Jago learns why the organization has an interest in him and secrets about past events that were held from him are exposed.
The editing and sentence structure aren’t terrible but there are errors.
Character development is good for the main characters. There are numerous minor supporting characters.
Details are adequate.
Research is mostly good, but calling a Glock pistol an automatic instead of a semiautomatic is sloppy.
The plot is great and held my interest throughout.
The writing style is fast paced, thorough and descriptive. The action scenes are well choreographed and intense.
Many Japanese words are not in the English dictionary and left me guessing.
Sakura Spark is an exciting read and I recommend it in spite of the editing issues. I rate it a strong 4 star.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Acceptance First: Revenge Second
Author – Robert Schobernd
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Word Count 83,500
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 30 - 2021
Posted 8/13/2021
My Impressions: Brutal, betrayal, vigilante justice, extreme revenge, mesmerizing
Main Characters:
Carter A. Johnson – Saint Louis, Missouri, detective.
Kate Menke – Saint Louis, Missouri, detective
Irene Compton – Wife of murdered assassin.
Acceptance First: Revenge Second takes place in the Missouri Ozarks near Table Rock Lake. Two murders are committed at the beginning where the reader learns Robert Compton is a hired assassin. Soon after, Robert is killed when his and Irene's house explodes. Then the real action begins as Irene sets out to learn why her husband was murdered and who was responsible. But the killers aren't satisfied; they want Irene dead too. She thwarts several attacks, and then enlist the services of J&M Investigations. Carter Johnson and Kate Menke and their support staff begin the arduous task of gathering evidence that will lead to the perpetrator of Robert's murder.
But after taking the case, the detective staff is suspicious of Irene's motives. They feel she is withholding information from them that would make their job faster and less expensive.
Get ready for a fast paced, action packed ride as Irene and the detectives are attacked by the criminals they are pursuing. When petite, diminutive Irene suddenly disappears and people begin to die, the case takes an unexpected turn.
The editing and sentence structure are outstanding.
Character development is thorough for main and supporting characters.
Details are above adequate to maintain interest.
Thorough research is apparent in the use of firearms and explosives.
The plot is complex and held my interest from the beginning.
The writing style is crisp and fast moving and delves into individual personalities.
I can highly recommend Acceptance First: Revenge Second for hard-core action and crime fans.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Robert Schobernd
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Word Count 83,500
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 30 - 2021
Posted 8/13/2021
My Impressions: Brutal, betrayal, vigilante justice, extreme revenge, mesmerizing
Main Characters:
Carter A. Johnson – Saint Louis, Missouri, detective.
Kate Menke – Saint Louis, Missouri, detective
Irene Compton – Wife of murdered assassin.
Acceptance First: Revenge Second takes place in the Missouri Ozarks near Table Rock Lake. Two murders are committed at the beginning where the reader learns Robert Compton is a hired assassin. Soon after, Robert is killed when his and Irene's house explodes. Then the real action begins as Irene sets out to learn why her husband was murdered and who was responsible. But the killers aren't satisfied; they want Irene dead too. She thwarts several attacks, and then enlist the services of J&M Investigations. Carter Johnson and Kate Menke and their support staff begin the arduous task of gathering evidence that will lead to the perpetrator of Robert's murder.
But after taking the case, the detective staff is suspicious of Irene's motives. They feel she is withholding information from them that would make their job faster and less expensive.
Get ready for a fast paced, action packed ride as Irene and the detectives are attacked by the criminals they are pursuing. When petite, diminutive Irene suddenly disappears and people begin to die, the case takes an unexpected turn.
The editing and sentence structure are outstanding.
Character development is thorough for main and supporting characters.
Details are above adequate to maintain interest.
Thorough research is apparent in the use of firearms and explosives.
The plot is complex and held my interest from the beginning.
The writing style is crisp and fast moving and delves into individual personalities.
I can highly recommend Acceptance First: Revenge Second for hard-core action and crime fans.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – J159
Author – Renee Logan
Genre – Suspense, Psychological Thriller
246 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 29 – 2021
Posted 8/5/2021
My impressions: cruel, unusual & unwarranted punishment, progressive liberal socialism run amuck.
Main Characters:
Eddie – J159, whiney wimp, nerdy, erratic, paranoid.
Jack – Eddie’s friend and savior.
The plot of J159 is simple but frightening. To guarantee an uncontaminated pool for juries judging major crimes citizens are involuntarily isolated in solitary confinement for periods of three to five years. The Pure Juror System. The ‘prisoners’ have no contact with any humans, not other jurors, guards, or even cleaning crews, and no access to news media during that time. Eddie compares life there as feeling he was in a high-end prison. The staff provides an almost unlimited choice of gourmet food items on or off the menu Everything the confined jurors need is provided. Supposedly, the life they were yanked away from will be maintained and ready for them when they are released. But as Eddie’s confinement goes on and on, his paranoia runs amuck and he begins to wonder if he’ll ever be released. Jurors are not allowed any indication of the passage of time and all of the TV shows and movies are old reruns It’s as if he is frozen in a time warp where time stands still while he ages.
After a time, portions of the plot became redundant and boring. Eddie ordering and eating three meals a day or recounting the details of the live criminal trials he was required to judge by TV connections became repetitious.
His character evolved into a pathetic and paranoid person it was hard to have empathy for.
Overall, I felt compassion for the Eddie character, especially near the end when the truth was revealed about the Pure Juror System.
The story ends in a cliff hanger for the reader to add the conclusion they choose.
The editing is almost perfect as is the sentence structure.
Character development is confined to the main character who is clearly defined by the book’s end.
Details are complete but sparse as Eddie survives in a small luxurious ‘cell’ with a small grassy space enclosed by a tall brick wall.
The plot is fresh and frightening.
The writing style is detailed but confined by the singular location of the setting and the lone character.
There is a single lapse of continuity near the end when Eddie and a crowd are outside a TV station and then suddenly are inside the newsroom.
At the end, nerdy, clumsy Eddie had to perform like an action hero and was completely out of character.
Overall, I recommend the story to patient readers looking for a glimpse into a possible future gone wrong.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Renee Logan
Genre – Suspense, Psychological Thriller
246 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 29 – 2021
Posted 8/5/2021
My impressions: cruel, unusual & unwarranted punishment, progressive liberal socialism run amuck.
Main Characters:
Eddie – J159, whiney wimp, nerdy, erratic, paranoid.
Jack – Eddie’s friend and savior.
The plot of J159 is simple but frightening. To guarantee an uncontaminated pool for juries judging major crimes citizens are involuntarily isolated in solitary confinement for periods of three to five years. The Pure Juror System. The ‘prisoners’ have no contact with any humans, not other jurors, guards, or even cleaning crews, and no access to news media during that time. Eddie compares life there as feeling he was in a high-end prison. The staff provides an almost unlimited choice of gourmet food items on or off the menu Everything the confined jurors need is provided. Supposedly, the life they were yanked away from will be maintained and ready for them when they are released. But as Eddie’s confinement goes on and on, his paranoia runs amuck and he begins to wonder if he’ll ever be released. Jurors are not allowed any indication of the passage of time and all of the TV shows and movies are old reruns It’s as if he is frozen in a time warp where time stands still while he ages.
After a time, portions of the plot became redundant and boring. Eddie ordering and eating three meals a day or recounting the details of the live criminal trials he was required to judge by TV connections became repetitious.
His character evolved into a pathetic and paranoid person it was hard to have empathy for.
Overall, I felt compassion for the Eddie character, especially near the end when the truth was revealed about the Pure Juror System.
The story ends in a cliff hanger for the reader to add the conclusion they choose.
The editing is almost perfect as is the sentence structure.
Character development is confined to the main character who is clearly defined by the book’s end.
Details are complete but sparse as Eddie survives in a small luxurious ‘cell’ with a small grassy space enclosed by a tall brick wall.
The plot is fresh and frightening.
The writing style is detailed but confined by the singular location of the setting and the lone character.
There is a single lapse of continuity near the end when Eddie and a crowd are outside a TV station and then suddenly are inside the newsroom.
At the end, nerdy, clumsy Eddie had to perform like an action hero and was completely out of character.
Overall, I recommend the story to patient readers looking for a glimpse into a possible future gone wrong.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
