Title – Death and the Devil’s Henchmen
Author – Michael Patton
Genre – Thriller
Word Count - 73,000
Rating – Five stars out of five
No. 07- 20221
Posted 1/15/2021
My Impressions: Sometimes you don’t really know the people you think you know.
Main Characters:
Dan Williams – ranch laborer and runs a machine shop in town.
Wally Williams – Dan’s uncle and shop helper.
Samantha Cheswick – Runs a bar up in the hills.
Syd the wonder dog – Dan’s dog.
Spinelli – Sherriff’s deputy and butt of many jokes.
Chase – Young man who lives in a shack with his grandfather.
Vernon – Chases grandfather.
Tony – A hoodlum from the East Coast.
Sal – Tony’s help to locate a woman wanted by and East Coast mobster.
After Samantha (Sam) is seen rushing away from the bar she owns, the neighbors mount a search for her. No one suspects she is in danger or that a pair of thugs have been sent to capture her and transport her to the East Coast.
Then Chase and his grandfather enter the melee before Vernon has a heart attack and is taken away in a medevac helicopter. Chase is confused and afraid without Vern there to guide and reassure him.
Sam is being hidden by friends at an observatory in the mountains and Chase makes his way there and charms the ladies as young boys can.
Dan and Wally see the thugs parked near the observatory where Sam’s yellow Jeep was seen. They stick out like beacons among the close knit rural people. Wally harasses the thugs by telling them dangerous bears roam the mountain’s at night and they may be attacked.
The thugs are incompetent but finally attack the cabin where Sam is hiding.
After a showdown with the thugs, Dan and Wally and Chase get the upper hand and Spinelli arrest the culprits. Only then do the people helping Sam learn the reason she was in danger.
The editing and sentence structure are excellent.
Character development is good for all the major players.
Research or a close personal knowledge of the story’s details is evident.
The plot is exciting and intense at times while not being overly grim.
The writing style brings out the closeness and feelings of the hill people for each other.
I highly recommend Death and the Devil’s Henchmen.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Michael Patton
Genre – Thriller
Word Count - 73,000
Rating – Five stars out of five
No. 07- 20221
Posted 1/15/2021
My Impressions: Sometimes you don’t really know the people you think you know.
Main Characters:
Dan Williams – ranch laborer and runs a machine shop in town.
Wally Williams – Dan’s uncle and shop helper.
Samantha Cheswick – Runs a bar up in the hills.
Syd the wonder dog – Dan’s dog.
Spinelli – Sherriff’s deputy and butt of many jokes.
Chase – Young man who lives in a shack with his grandfather.
Vernon – Chases grandfather.
Tony – A hoodlum from the East Coast.
Sal – Tony’s help to locate a woman wanted by and East Coast mobster.
After Samantha (Sam) is seen rushing away from the bar she owns, the neighbors mount a search for her. No one suspects she is in danger or that a pair of thugs have been sent to capture her and transport her to the East Coast.
Then Chase and his grandfather enter the melee before Vernon has a heart attack and is taken away in a medevac helicopter. Chase is confused and afraid without Vern there to guide and reassure him.
Sam is being hidden by friends at an observatory in the mountains and Chase makes his way there and charms the ladies as young boys can.
Dan and Wally see the thugs parked near the observatory where Sam’s yellow Jeep was seen. They stick out like beacons among the close knit rural people. Wally harasses the thugs by telling them dangerous bears roam the mountain’s at night and they may be attacked.
The thugs are incompetent but finally attack the cabin where Sam is hiding.
After a showdown with the thugs, Dan and Wally and Chase get the upper hand and Spinelli arrest the culprits. Only then do the people helping Sam learn the reason she was in danger.
The editing and sentence structure are excellent.
Character development is good for all the major players.
Research or a close personal knowledge of the story’s details is evident.
The plot is exciting and intense at times while not being overly grim.
The writing style brings out the closeness and feelings of the hill people for each other.
I highly recommend Death and the Devil’s Henchmen.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – A Burning in the Darkness
Author – A P McGrath
Genre – Crime, Mystery, Thriller
360 Amazon Pages
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 2 – 2021
Posted 1/8/2021
My impressions: intrigue, deeply emotional, brutal murders,
Main Characters:
Father Michael Kieh – Catholic Priest, from Africa
Leonie Urey/Jenkins– Childhood friend from Africa.
Joan Macintosh -married woman who has a crush on Michael.
Dan Peterson – Friend of Michael’s
Detective Mason Lenislake – Good cop
Detective Dewi Blank – Corrupt cop.
A Burning in the Darkness is an intense and unusual story involving a Catholic Priest who vacillates between being God’s disciple and being a normal man with sexual and emotional needs.
Michael Kieh was born in Liberia, Africa during a time of civil war. He witnessed his entire family being raped and butchered by his uncle and a group of child soldiers. His escape and ordeal to becoming a priest was fraught with danger and betrayal. The abrupt leaving to achieve his personal goal of becoming a priest caused heartbreak in a close friend that would later come back to haunt him.
Michael presided over a small non-denominal church in a busy English airport and that is where the current story takes place. He is embroiled in controversy over the right of a priest to withhold evidence based on the Seal of Confession, believing that information given during confession is private between the priest and confessor. That belief drags Michael into criminal court on charges against him in a murder trial.
He is at a distinct disadvantage in a snake pit of intrigue, murder and betrayal because of corrupt law enforcement officers and his own adherence to his belief in his chosen religion.
The story is full of conflict and delves deeply into Father Kieh’s personal beliefs and character.
The editing and sentence structure of A Burning in the Darkness is excellent.
Research is good.
The writing style is strong and tightly focused.
The dialog attributed to the African immigrants is slightly difficult to read because of missing words and usage.
In the last five percent of the book I felt the author skipped ahead at breakneck speed and some important details were omitted. This did not impact the overall ending severely but made it a bit murky.
This is a great story and I highly recommend it.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – A P McGrath
Genre – Crime, Mystery, Thriller
360 Amazon Pages
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 2 – 2021
Posted 1/8/2021
My impressions: intrigue, deeply emotional, brutal murders,
Main Characters:
Father Michael Kieh – Catholic Priest, from Africa
Leonie Urey/Jenkins– Childhood friend from Africa.
Joan Macintosh -married woman who has a crush on Michael.
Dan Peterson – Friend of Michael’s
Detective Mason Lenislake – Good cop
Detective Dewi Blank – Corrupt cop.
A Burning in the Darkness is an intense and unusual story involving a Catholic Priest who vacillates between being God’s disciple and being a normal man with sexual and emotional needs.
Michael Kieh was born in Liberia, Africa during a time of civil war. He witnessed his entire family being raped and butchered by his uncle and a group of child soldiers. His escape and ordeal to becoming a priest was fraught with danger and betrayal. The abrupt leaving to achieve his personal goal of becoming a priest caused heartbreak in a close friend that would later come back to haunt him.
Michael presided over a small non-denominal church in a busy English airport and that is where the current story takes place. He is embroiled in controversy over the right of a priest to withhold evidence based on the Seal of Confession, believing that information given during confession is private between the priest and confessor. That belief drags Michael into criminal court on charges against him in a murder trial.
He is at a distinct disadvantage in a snake pit of intrigue, murder and betrayal because of corrupt law enforcement officers and his own adherence to his belief in his chosen religion.
The story is full of conflict and delves deeply into Father Kieh’s personal beliefs and character.
The editing and sentence structure of A Burning in the Darkness is excellent.
Research is good.
The writing style is strong and tightly focused.
The dialog attributed to the African immigrants is slightly difficult to read because of missing words and usage.
In the last five percent of the book I felt the author skipped ahead at breakneck speed and some important details were omitted. This did not impact the overall ending severely but made it a bit murky.
This is a great story and I highly recommend it.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Outnumbered volumes 1-6
Author – Robert Schobernd
Genre – Action/Adventure, Zombie Apocalypse
131,400 Words
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 01 - 2021
Posted 1/1/21
My impressions: betrayal, rogue killers, zombie horror, internal enemies, new take on zombies.
Main Characters:
Tom Jacobs – leader of a group of zombie apocalypse survivors in Iowa
Kira Schafer – widow of Carl Schafer who was killed by zombies.
Paige Schafer – Kira’s daughter.
I found Outnumbered Volumes 1-6 a refreshing look at the zombie apocalypse genre. The relentless zombies are present only to serve as a catalyst to drive the real story of the human survivors. Surviving in the devastated world they’ve been left with would be difficult enough without their own internal betrayals plus treacherous acts by other groups of vicious survivors. The interactions between the main and support characters was realistic.
In this version of the zombie apocalypse, even the zombies slowly change over the years. I won’t say how, but their evolvement was totally fresh and unexpected. Each step of these changes presented new challenges to the humans.
Tom Jacobs and his best friend Shane were Army Delta Force snipers. The other support characters have varied backgrounds from a Navy SEAL weapons expert to a veterinarian who serves as their doctor.
Kira Schafer’s deceased special forces husband recognized from the get-go the devastation the zombie onslaught would cause and prepared his family for survival. Against her early upbringing, the will to protect and defend herself and Paige caused her to evolve into a determined kick butt warrior.
There are some gruesome scenes and minor cursing.
The editing and sentence structure are good to excellent, and character development is detailed considering the number of characters who revolve in and out of the scenes.
Details are explicit and research is good, but with the zombies it’s, of course, mostly conjecture.
The plot gives a fresh look at the zombie genre and the accompanying decline of the human race.
The author’s writing style is fast paced with in depth insights into the human behavior under threat of worldwide annihilation.
The action scenes are intense and well-choreographed.
I enjoyed the story and highly recommend it for fans of the action adventure and zombie apocalypse genres.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Robert Schobernd
Genre – Action/Adventure, Zombie Apocalypse
131,400 Words
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 01 - 2021
Posted 1/1/21
My impressions: betrayal, rogue killers, zombie horror, internal enemies, new take on zombies.
Main Characters:
Tom Jacobs – leader of a group of zombie apocalypse survivors in Iowa
Kira Schafer – widow of Carl Schafer who was killed by zombies.
Paige Schafer – Kira’s daughter.
I found Outnumbered Volumes 1-6 a refreshing look at the zombie apocalypse genre. The relentless zombies are present only to serve as a catalyst to drive the real story of the human survivors. Surviving in the devastated world they’ve been left with would be difficult enough without their own internal betrayals plus treacherous acts by other groups of vicious survivors. The interactions between the main and support characters was realistic.
In this version of the zombie apocalypse, even the zombies slowly change over the years. I won’t say how, but their evolvement was totally fresh and unexpected. Each step of these changes presented new challenges to the humans.
Tom Jacobs and his best friend Shane were Army Delta Force snipers. The other support characters have varied backgrounds from a Navy SEAL weapons expert to a veterinarian who serves as their doctor.
Kira Schafer’s deceased special forces husband recognized from the get-go the devastation the zombie onslaught would cause and prepared his family for survival. Against her early upbringing, the will to protect and defend herself and Paige caused her to evolve into a determined kick butt warrior.
There are some gruesome scenes and minor cursing.
The editing and sentence structure are good to excellent, and character development is detailed considering the number of characters who revolve in and out of the scenes.
Details are explicit and research is good, but with the zombies it’s, of course, mostly conjecture.
The plot gives a fresh look at the zombie genre and the accompanying decline of the human race.
The author’s writing style is fast paced with in depth insights into the human behavior under threat of worldwide annihilation.
The action scenes are intense and well-choreographed.
I enjoyed the story and highly recommend it for fans of the action adventure and zombie apocalypse genres.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Tropical Deception
Author – David Myles Robinson
Genre – Legal thriller
Word Count 256 pages
Rating: Four stars out of Five
No. 47 - 2020
Posted 12/26/2020
My Impressions: Good characterization, intense plot, good writing.
Main Characters:
Pancho McMartin – Criminal Defense Lawyer.
Padma Dasari – Pancho’s girlfriend.
Drew Tulafono – Criminal investigator
Wayson Takei – Defendant in a murder case.
Harry Chang – Hawaiian prosecutor.
Joe Malen – Rich entrepreneur from Las Vegas.
Tim Derricks – Assistant to Joe Malen.
And several more additional subcharacters.
When Peter Roosevelt was murdered, all the evidence pointed to Wayson Takei. His estranged wife, Lei, was in an affair with Peter, his gun was used to shoot the man, and his gate pass was used to enter the guarded enclave where the three lived. A lot of money was involved in the creation of a large residential development in Hawaii, and Peter had just successfully gotten an injunction levied to stop the project.
As Drew gathered evidence, he learned one of the investors from Las Vegas, Nevada, was an ex-highly placed Russian who had changed his name when he came to the US. Three other Las Vegas investors were mafia members of dubious character.
Pancho went into court with a weak defense and a huge personal problem. He father had a stroke and was hospitalized. Then the father died after suffering a following major stroke. Pancho was off his game and floundering with his court presentation. He knew he was on the right track when Drew and another investigator were attacked while asking questions in Las Vegas.
The editing and sentence structure are not in terrible shape but definitely need help.
Character Development is good for all main characters
Details are good and research is apparent in covering the various disciplines involved.
The plot is involved and complex and ran to a surprise ending.
The writing style is crisp and fast paced for a legal drama.
I recommend Tropical Deception especially for mystery/thriller fans.
The story contains minor cursing and sexual descriptions.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – David Myles Robinson
Genre – Legal thriller
Word Count 256 pages
Rating: Four stars out of Five
No. 47 - 2020
Posted 12/26/2020
My Impressions: Good characterization, intense plot, good writing.
Main Characters:
Pancho McMartin – Criminal Defense Lawyer.
Padma Dasari – Pancho’s girlfriend.
Drew Tulafono – Criminal investigator
Wayson Takei – Defendant in a murder case.
Harry Chang – Hawaiian prosecutor.
Joe Malen – Rich entrepreneur from Las Vegas.
Tim Derricks – Assistant to Joe Malen.
And several more additional subcharacters.
When Peter Roosevelt was murdered, all the evidence pointed to Wayson Takei. His estranged wife, Lei, was in an affair with Peter, his gun was used to shoot the man, and his gate pass was used to enter the guarded enclave where the three lived. A lot of money was involved in the creation of a large residential development in Hawaii, and Peter had just successfully gotten an injunction levied to stop the project.
As Drew gathered evidence, he learned one of the investors from Las Vegas, Nevada, was an ex-highly placed Russian who had changed his name when he came to the US. Three other Las Vegas investors were mafia members of dubious character.
Pancho went into court with a weak defense and a huge personal problem. He father had a stroke and was hospitalized. Then the father died after suffering a following major stroke. Pancho was off his game and floundering with his court presentation. He knew he was on the right track when Drew and another investigator were attacked while asking questions in Las Vegas.
The editing and sentence structure are not in terrible shape but definitely need help.
Character Development is good for all main characters
Details are good and research is apparent in covering the various disciplines involved.
The plot is involved and complex and ran to a surprise ending.
The writing style is crisp and fast paced for a legal drama.
I recommend Tropical Deception especially for mystery/thriller fans.
The story contains minor cursing and sexual descriptions.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The Boy in the Gutter
Author – John Triplych
Genre – Hard Boiled Detective
Word Count - 83,500
Rating – Four Stars out of Five
No. 46 - 2020
Posted 12/18/2020
My Impressions: Excellent story set in L.A’s Chinatown in 1947.
Main Characters:
Thomas ‘Dapper’ Luoo, - Student, amateur detective.
Herbert Wong – Dapper’s best friend.
Frances Byner – Independent reporter.
Disung ‘Harry’ Lee – Head of Chinatown’s Benevolent Association.
Det. Sgt. Woodrow Tyrus – Crooked L.A. cop.
And many support characters.
Dapper Luoo is upset when the mutilated body a young, naked Asian boy is found in the alley behind his parents’ restaurant. He always had a bent toward being a detective, so he starts a one man investigation to learn the boy’s identity and the identity of the boy’s killer.
Along the way Dapper enlist the help of his best friend, Herbert Wong and an independent reporter named Frances Byner. The trio plunges into the depths of the child sex trade searching for a clue to the dead child’s identity.
Blocking their progress are criminals and the police in the figure of Detective Sergeant Woodrow Tyrus. Even Dapper’s parents order him to pull away from searching for the killer and let the police do their job. But the police are racist and have little zeal to find the killer of a child from Chinatown.
Dapper’s investigation leads him to one of the countries most prominent and wealthy families as his primary suspects.
The ending is intense and highly emotional as Dapper and Frances confront the child’s killer and expose the hidden secrets of an illicit affair.
The editing and sentence structure are fair but pull an otherwise fine story down.
Character Development is good for the main characters and adequate for support characters.
Details are richly painted in and out of Chinatown.
Research is apparent in the past history of the late forty’s era.
The plot is complex and intense.
The writing style is fast and intense as the investigating trio close in on the groups resisting them.
In spite of its listed faults, I highly recommend “The Boy in the Gutter’
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – John Triplych
Genre – Hard Boiled Detective
Word Count - 83,500
Rating – Four Stars out of Five
No. 46 - 2020
Posted 12/18/2020
My Impressions: Excellent story set in L.A’s Chinatown in 1947.
Main Characters:
Thomas ‘Dapper’ Luoo, - Student, amateur detective.
Herbert Wong – Dapper’s best friend.
Frances Byner – Independent reporter.
Disung ‘Harry’ Lee – Head of Chinatown’s Benevolent Association.
Det. Sgt. Woodrow Tyrus – Crooked L.A. cop.
And many support characters.
Dapper Luoo is upset when the mutilated body a young, naked Asian boy is found in the alley behind his parents’ restaurant. He always had a bent toward being a detective, so he starts a one man investigation to learn the boy’s identity and the identity of the boy’s killer.
Along the way Dapper enlist the help of his best friend, Herbert Wong and an independent reporter named Frances Byner. The trio plunges into the depths of the child sex trade searching for a clue to the dead child’s identity.
Blocking their progress are criminals and the police in the figure of Detective Sergeant Woodrow Tyrus. Even Dapper’s parents order him to pull away from searching for the killer and let the police do their job. But the police are racist and have little zeal to find the killer of a child from Chinatown.
Dapper’s investigation leads him to one of the countries most prominent and wealthy families as his primary suspects.
The ending is intense and highly emotional as Dapper and Frances confront the child’s killer and expose the hidden secrets of an illicit affair.
The editing and sentence structure are fair but pull an otherwise fine story down.
Character Development is good for the main characters and adequate for support characters.
Details are richly painted in and out of Chinatown.
Research is apparent in the past history of the late forty’s era.
The plot is complex and intense.
The writing style is fast and intense as the investigating trio close in on the groups resisting them.
In spite of its listed faults, I highly recommend “The Boy in the Gutter’
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – To Catch a Spy and Traitor
Author – Toby Oliver
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Word Count - 68,000
Rating - Four stars out of Five
No.45A - 2020
Posted 12/12/2020
Main Characters:
Joyce Leader – M15 intelligence agent.
Alexei Ivanov – Russian KGB double agent.
Sir Spencer Hall – Director General of M15 Intelligence.
The story is set in 1962 as British spy masters struggle with Soviet double agents in their ranks. So much so that it is rightly called Londongrad. Alexei is a Russian KGB officer working with British M15 intelligence. When his British government handler is assassinated, the M15 Director General, Sir Spenser Hall, has to deal with a spy in his intelligence organization who outed Alexei’s direct contact.
Joyce Leader is a senior British spy and is in love with Spenser Hall. As a Russian Assassin squad targets Alexei, the action ratchets up until the high ranking traitor is caught and dealt with by Joyce.
The action scenes are vague and bland and lack credibility.
The editing and sentence structure are subpar and need professional help.
Character Development is good for the main characters.
Details and research are adequate to carry the plot.
The plot is interesting but lacks depth.
The story was interesting and held my attention.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Toby Oliver
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
Word Count - 68,000
Rating - Four stars out of Five
No.45A - 2020
Posted 12/12/2020
Main Characters:
Joyce Leader – M15 intelligence agent.
Alexei Ivanov – Russian KGB double agent.
Sir Spencer Hall – Director General of M15 Intelligence.
The story is set in 1962 as British spy masters struggle with Soviet double agents in their ranks. So much so that it is rightly called Londongrad. Alexei is a Russian KGB officer working with British M15 intelligence. When his British government handler is assassinated, the M15 Director General, Sir Spenser Hall, has to deal with a spy in his intelligence organization who outed Alexei’s direct contact.
Joyce Leader is a senior British spy and is in love with Spenser Hall. As a Russian Assassin squad targets Alexei, the action ratchets up until the high ranking traitor is caught and dealt with by Joyce.
The action scenes are vague and bland and lack credibility.
The editing and sentence structure are subpar and need professional help.
Character Development is good for the main characters.
Details and research are adequate to carry the plot.
The plot is interesting but lacks depth.
The story was interesting and held my attention.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Too Murders Too Many
Author – Bluette Matthey
Genre – Mystery
Word Count - 45,800
Rating – Four stars out of five
No. 44- 2020
Posted 12/6/2020
My Impressions: A large cast of whacko characters in Shannon, Ohio, in 1956.
Main Characters:
Charlie Simmons – Policeman
Otto Hilty – Mail carrier
Hiram Mohler – Farmer whose wife goes missing.
Tom & Clyde Gratz – Farmers whose barns are burned.
Shannon, Ohio, has an inordinate number of mentally handicapped people caused by past decades of inbreeding. Their conditions range from mild to severe. Most lead nearly normal productive if quirky lives. The ‘normal’ folks of Shannon look after and protect them.
Policeman Charlie Simmons is thrust into covering for the police chief before two barns are burned. This is big news in a farming community, and everyone wonders who the dastardly criminal is. Then Hiram Mohler reports his younger wife has disappeared.
Shortly afterward and during a town celebration, postman Otto Hilty is murdered in a very gruesome manner. Charlie wonders why until his investigation discovers a steady stream of small amounts of money deposited to Otto’s bank account every month. Charlie tracks down the people being blackmailed but doesn’t feel any are barn burners or murderers.
But then Charlie has a brain fart (that’s an epiphany to the upper crust) and thinks he knows where Katie Mohler is.
In the end, Charlie catches the killer and sends him to the Ohio State Mental Hospital.
The editing and sentence structure are poorly done and need help to eliminate the many frequent errors.
Character Development is good, but most are a bunch of whackos.
Details and research are adequate.
The plot is unusual but entertaining.
The writing style portrays mostly downhome rednecks who don’t take easily to outsiders.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Bluette Matthey
Genre – Mystery
Word Count - 45,800
Rating – Four stars out of five
No. 44- 2020
Posted 12/6/2020
My Impressions: A large cast of whacko characters in Shannon, Ohio, in 1956.
Main Characters:
Charlie Simmons – Policeman
Otto Hilty – Mail carrier
Hiram Mohler – Farmer whose wife goes missing.
Tom & Clyde Gratz – Farmers whose barns are burned.
Shannon, Ohio, has an inordinate number of mentally handicapped people caused by past decades of inbreeding. Their conditions range from mild to severe. Most lead nearly normal productive if quirky lives. The ‘normal’ folks of Shannon look after and protect them.
Policeman Charlie Simmons is thrust into covering for the police chief before two barns are burned. This is big news in a farming community, and everyone wonders who the dastardly criminal is. Then Hiram Mohler reports his younger wife has disappeared.
Shortly afterward and during a town celebration, postman Otto Hilty is murdered in a very gruesome manner. Charlie wonders why until his investigation discovers a steady stream of small amounts of money deposited to Otto’s bank account every month. Charlie tracks down the people being blackmailed but doesn’t feel any are barn burners or murderers.
But then Charlie has a brain fart (that’s an epiphany to the upper crust) and thinks he knows where Katie Mohler is.
In the end, Charlie catches the killer and sends him to the Ohio State Mental Hospital.
The editing and sentence structure are poorly done and need help to eliminate the many frequent errors.
Character Development is good, but most are a bunch of whackos.
Details and research are adequate.
The plot is unusual but entertaining.
The writing style portrays mostly downhome rednecks who don’t take easily to outsiders.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Treasure Fever
Author – James McPike
Genre – Action Adventure
Word Count 68,800
Rating Four stars out of Five
No.42 - 2020
Posted 11/27/2020
My Impressions: In addition to Action Adventure I judge this story to be Satire with Science Fiction. Max Finley reminded me of Maxwell Smart of the old Get Smart TV series.
Main Characters:
Max Finley – Bumbling NSA agent.
Lexa Tantaros – Beautiful thief.
Dean Spader – NSA agent who hates Max.
The story opens at the Royal Madrid Library in Spain. Lexa illegally copies an old manuscript giving details to the location of the fabled Inca treasure of El Dorado in South America. She’s caught red handed but somehow escapes the authorities there.
Max Findley is sent to capture her and return her to the US. Instead he assists her in escaping the police in Caracas, Venezuela, and goes on the run with her to Quito, Ecuador. There they find a jungle guide who will take them to The Sacred Valley of the Incas at The Mountain of the Gods. Once again there is a huge shootout as they evade the police.
As they enter the valley, they are captured by natives. Max is given a potent drug and has visions of where the treasure is located.
Then Dean Spader catches up to them with a military team and murders most of the natives.
The rest of the story involves science fiction as some mysterious force causes stone slab doors to open and stone bridge parts to rise and connect. Strictly tongue in cheek stuff. Think Indiana Jones.
The only way I could justify a four star rating is to judge this as Satire and Sci-fi. It would get a lower rating as a serious Action Adventure tale.
The editing and sentence structure are very poor.
Character Development is barely adequate.
Details depend on science fiction in some aspects and are totally unreal.
Under research, I find no evidence that the Glock 22 is made in the US and they use magazines, not clips.
The plot reminds me of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
The writing style is fast paced and full of tongue in cheek action
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – James McPike
Genre – Action Adventure
Word Count 68,800
Rating Four stars out of Five
No.42 - 2020
Posted 11/27/2020
My Impressions: In addition to Action Adventure I judge this story to be Satire with Science Fiction. Max Finley reminded me of Maxwell Smart of the old Get Smart TV series.
Main Characters:
Max Finley – Bumbling NSA agent.
Lexa Tantaros – Beautiful thief.
Dean Spader – NSA agent who hates Max.
The story opens at the Royal Madrid Library in Spain. Lexa illegally copies an old manuscript giving details to the location of the fabled Inca treasure of El Dorado in South America. She’s caught red handed but somehow escapes the authorities there.
Max Findley is sent to capture her and return her to the US. Instead he assists her in escaping the police in Caracas, Venezuela, and goes on the run with her to Quito, Ecuador. There they find a jungle guide who will take them to The Sacred Valley of the Incas at The Mountain of the Gods. Once again there is a huge shootout as they evade the police.
As they enter the valley, they are captured by natives. Max is given a potent drug and has visions of where the treasure is located.
Then Dean Spader catches up to them with a military team and murders most of the natives.
The rest of the story involves science fiction as some mysterious force causes stone slab doors to open and stone bridge parts to rise and connect. Strictly tongue in cheek stuff. Think Indiana Jones.
The only way I could justify a four star rating is to judge this as Satire and Sci-fi. It would get a lower rating as a serious Action Adventure tale.
The editing and sentence structure are very poor.
Character Development is barely adequate.
Details depend on science fiction in some aspects and are totally unreal.
Under research, I find no evidence that the Glock 22 is made in the US and they use magazines, not clips.
The plot reminds me of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
The writing style is fast paced and full of tongue in cheek action
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – A Deadly Miracle
Author – Bob Laurie
Genre – Thriller, Coming of age, fantasy, religious
Word Count - 92,000
Rating – Four stars out of five
No.40 - 2020
Posted 11/22/2020
My Impressions: Togue in cheek tale of an assassin and a naive young man raised by extremely emotional parents.
Main Characters:
Jace Hunter – Eighteen-year-old suffering growing pains.
Sage Petrov – Jace’s slutty girlfriend.
Capt. Ivan ‘Bull’ Volkov – Retired member of Russia’s Spetsnaz special forces team.
Anya – Bull’s fiancée.
Major Yuri Petrov – A Spetsnaz special forces team who has stolen a miracle drug.
Finn Hunter – Jace’s hardheaded, egotistical father.
Young Jace Hunter is going through his rebellious late teen years picking fights with his dad, Finn. But Finn is too stubborn and hardheaded to back off. His attitude is ‘my way or the highway’.
After Bull’s retirement ceremony his is told to find Major Yuri Petrov and bring two hundred boxes of a ‘miracle drug’ back to Russia. Bull refuses, but a general has Bull’s fiancée kidnapped to force Bull to find and kill his old buddy Yuri and return the two hundred doses of drugs that are worth thirty million dollars each.
Sage’s uncle Yuri offers to pay Sage and Jace twenty-five hundred dollars to deliver the drugs to a contact in New York. But Bull is waiting for them when they return (they stole his van to make the trip). Bull is a ruthless killer with a heart of gold. So he kills Sage, her dad, and her uncle Yuri.
Then he forces Jace to drive him back to where the drug delivery was made where he kills nine more bad guys.
Of course, to add to the conflict Jace’s dad is diagnosed with brain cancer and only has six months to live. He needs a dose of the miracle drug that cures a myriad of diseases. But if Bull returns to Russia without all two hundred doses he and Anya will be punished.
It’s a fast and entertaining read.
The poor editing and sentence structure drag the story down significantly.
Character Development is tongue in cheek.
Details and research are poor.
The plot is standard action hero and a teenager who gets dragged into deadly circumstances.
Note! A word to writers about firearms. Learn about them before making a fool of yourself by writing stupid comments. The Glock company sells magazines for their semiautomatic handguns. Not clips. Professional killers like Bull and Yuri do not wait until they’re ready to shoot to ‘cock’ the gun. Glocks are designed to be carried ‘HOT’ ready to fire by pulling the trigger. There is no safety switch. There are no firearm ‘silencers’. They are suppressors; they will knock the blast down, but it still sounds like a loud gunshot.
There is minimal cursing and no sexual situations.
The story is interesting but doesn’t rise to the thriller level. It relies on a fantasy drug and is a coming of age tale for Jace with a heavy dose of religion thrown in.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Bob Laurie
Genre – Thriller, Coming of age, fantasy, religious
Word Count - 92,000
Rating – Four stars out of five
No.40 - 2020
Posted 11/22/2020
My Impressions: Togue in cheek tale of an assassin and a naive young man raised by extremely emotional parents.
Main Characters:
Jace Hunter – Eighteen-year-old suffering growing pains.
Sage Petrov – Jace’s slutty girlfriend.
Capt. Ivan ‘Bull’ Volkov – Retired member of Russia’s Spetsnaz special forces team.
Anya – Bull’s fiancée.
Major Yuri Petrov – A Spetsnaz special forces team who has stolen a miracle drug.
Finn Hunter – Jace’s hardheaded, egotistical father.
Young Jace Hunter is going through his rebellious late teen years picking fights with his dad, Finn. But Finn is too stubborn and hardheaded to back off. His attitude is ‘my way or the highway’.
After Bull’s retirement ceremony his is told to find Major Yuri Petrov and bring two hundred boxes of a ‘miracle drug’ back to Russia. Bull refuses, but a general has Bull’s fiancée kidnapped to force Bull to find and kill his old buddy Yuri and return the two hundred doses of drugs that are worth thirty million dollars each.
Sage’s uncle Yuri offers to pay Sage and Jace twenty-five hundred dollars to deliver the drugs to a contact in New York. But Bull is waiting for them when they return (they stole his van to make the trip). Bull is a ruthless killer with a heart of gold. So he kills Sage, her dad, and her uncle Yuri.
Then he forces Jace to drive him back to where the drug delivery was made where he kills nine more bad guys.
Of course, to add to the conflict Jace’s dad is diagnosed with brain cancer and only has six months to live. He needs a dose of the miracle drug that cures a myriad of diseases. But if Bull returns to Russia without all two hundred doses he and Anya will be punished.
It’s a fast and entertaining read.
The poor editing and sentence structure drag the story down significantly.
Character Development is tongue in cheek.
Details and research are poor.
The plot is standard action hero and a teenager who gets dragged into deadly circumstances.
Note! A word to writers about firearms. Learn about them before making a fool of yourself by writing stupid comments. The Glock company sells magazines for their semiautomatic handguns. Not clips. Professional killers like Bull and Yuri do not wait until they’re ready to shoot to ‘cock’ the gun. Glocks are designed to be carried ‘HOT’ ready to fire by pulling the trigger. There is no safety switch. There are no firearm ‘silencers’. They are suppressors; they will knock the blast down, but it still sounds like a loud gunshot.
There is minimal cursing and no sexual situations.
The story is interesting but doesn’t rise to the thriller level. It relies on a fantasy drug and is a coming of age tale for Jace with a heavy dose of religion thrown in.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Warped Ambition
Author – Debbie TenBrink
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller,
Crime, Woman Sleuth
250 Amazon Pages
No. 43 - 2020
Rating 5 stars out of 5
Posted 11/13/2020
My impressions: great relationships between characters, solid police investigative work, realistic, parallel paths.
Main Characters:
Megan – 15 year old murder victim, pregnant, parents unaware.
Lt. Joellen Riskin – policewoman, cop husband murdered two years ago.
Detective Lynae Parker – Joellen’s partner and close friend.
The story is set in Grand Rapids Michigan.
Warped Ambition has great interactions between the women sleuths. The dialog is crisp, insightful and often funny as the friends trade witty punches. There are sincere moments when each of them bare their souls. Characters in Jo’s investigative team have diverse personalities and play well against each other and their boss.
A young girls body was discovered in a trash dumpster in a ‘bad’ part of town. Her home was in an affluent neighborhood. Why was she bludgeoned to death and dumped there?
Clues isolate two primary murder suspects early on, but was either really guilty? No conclusive evidence was discovered so the detectives forged ahead on gut feelings and circumstantial evidence. The unsolved murder of Jo’s husband provides a needed distraction from the primary case and lets her anxiety and frustration come through to draw the reader to her emotionally charged loss.
The editing, sentence structure and character development are of professional quality.
The plot is simple but is enhanced by a fast paced, complex and well written writing style.
There is some cursing and no blatant, graphic violence. I highly recommend Warped Ambition for a great detective read.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Debbie TenBrink
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller,
Crime, Woman Sleuth
250 Amazon Pages
No. 43 - 2020
Rating 5 stars out of 5
Posted 11/13/2020
My impressions: great relationships between characters, solid police investigative work, realistic, parallel paths.
Main Characters:
Megan – 15 year old murder victim, pregnant, parents unaware.
Lt. Joellen Riskin – policewoman, cop husband murdered two years ago.
Detective Lynae Parker – Joellen’s partner and close friend.
The story is set in Grand Rapids Michigan.
Warped Ambition has great interactions between the women sleuths. The dialog is crisp, insightful and often funny as the friends trade witty punches. There are sincere moments when each of them bare their souls. Characters in Jo’s investigative team have diverse personalities and play well against each other and their boss.
A young girls body was discovered in a trash dumpster in a ‘bad’ part of town. Her home was in an affluent neighborhood. Why was she bludgeoned to death and dumped there?
Clues isolate two primary murder suspects early on, but was either really guilty? No conclusive evidence was discovered so the detectives forged ahead on gut feelings and circumstantial evidence. The unsolved murder of Jo’s husband provides a needed distraction from the primary case and lets her anxiety and frustration come through to draw the reader to her emotionally charged loss.
The editing, sentence structure and character development are of professional quality.
The plot is simple but is enhanced by a fast paced, complex and well written writing style.
There is some cursing and no blatant, graphic violence. I highly recommend Warped Ambition for a great detective read.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Alone at the Gate
Author – Florian Schneider
Genre – Crime Fiction
Word Count - 78,000
Rating – Four stars out of Five
No. 41 - 2020
Posted 11/7/2020
My Impressions: Highly emotional story of three badly damaged people coming together.
Main Characters:
Eric Welsh – Decorated homicide detective, thirty eight years old.
Julian Keller – Immature young man who discovers the only thing he excelled at was drug smuggling.
Sonia Gutierrez – Kidnapped at age twelve and abused by a pedophile.
The story opens with Det. Welsh following a lead to a serial murderer. Instead of arresting the scum, he murder’s him. Eric has a high incidence of on the job shootings as he delivers his brand of justice. He suffers emotional issues from his childhood; he was forced to watch as his wealthy mother was tortured and then murdered.
Julian Keller at age twenty three is an immature, unsuccessful news correspondent going to hotspots in South America searching for the big story that will land him a job with a major news organization. Instead he stumbles into a large sum of money and buys four kilos of cocaine and smuggles it into the U.S. His luck holds and he becomes a major transporter of drugs from South America. Eventually the CIA forces him to use his operation to transfer arms to factions the US government supports in the civil wars there. Finally Julian is forced to accept he is facilitating the torture, mutilation, and murder of hundreds of thousands of people. He is wealthy but paranoid and goes into seclusion for many years.
Sonia Gutierrez was damaged goods at an early age. To escape the pervert who kidnaped and abused her for months, she disemboweled him with a knife. She and her mother are hounded by news reporters until they move in with Det. Welsh who found her shortly after she killed her abuser. She and Eric bond in an unlikely relationship. She wants to be close to him but at the same time holds him away with smart mouthed sarcasm.
All the main characters carry the scars of past relationships gone awry. They are emotional cripples with each coping in their own way.
The editing and sentence structure are subpar and desperately in need of professional guidance.
Details and research indicate at least a passing knowledge of the many locations mentioned.
The plot is a step above the usual drug cartel yarn with detailed insights into the main character’s emotions.
The writing style is complex and takes the reader inside the main character’s heads.
The story was easy to follow until the end when the time jumped thirty years and scenes got out of sequence. It ended leaving too many loose ends and the reader left to choose the ending.
In spite of the flaws, I did enjoy the story and recommend it for readers who enjoy a deeply insightful story.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Florian Schneider
Genre – Crime Fiction
Word Count - 78,000
Rating – Four stars out of Five
No. 41 - 2020
Posted 11/7/2020
My Impressions: Highly emotional story of three badly damaged people coming together.
Main Characters:
Eric Welsh – Decorated homicide detective, thirty eight years old.
Julian Keller – Immature young man who discovers the only thing he excelled at was drug smuggling.
Sonia Gutierrez – Kidnapped at age twelve and abused by a pedophile.
The story opens with Det. Welsh following a lead to a serial murderer. Instead of arresting the scum, he murder’s him. Eric has a high incidence of on the job shootings as he delivers his brand of justice. He suffers emotional issues from his childhood; he was forced to watch as his wealthy mother was tortured and then murdered.
Julian Keller at age twenty three is an immature, unsuccessful news correspondent going to hotspots in South America searching for the big story that will land him a job with a major news organization. Instead he stumbles into a large sum of money and buys four kilos of cocaine and smuggles it into the U.S. His luck holds and he becomes a major transporter of drugs from South America. Eventually the CIA forces him to use his operation to transfer arms to factions the US government supports in the civil wars there. Finally Julian is forced to accept he is facilitating the torture, mutilation, and murder of hundreds of thousands of people. He is wealthy but paranoid and goes into seclusion for many years.
Sonia Gutierrez was damaged goods at an early age. To escape the pervert who kidnaped and abused her for months, she disemboweled him with a knife. She and her mother are hounded by news reporters until they move in with Det. Welsh who found her shortly after she killed her abuser. She and Eric bond in an unlikely relationship. She wants to be close to him but at the same time holds him away with smart mouthed sarcasm.
All the main characters carry the scars of past relationships gone awry. They are emotional cripples with each coping in their own way.
The editing and sentence structure are subpar and desperately in need of professional guidance.
Details and research indicate at least a passing knowledge of the many locations mentioned.
The plot is a step above the usual drug cartel yarn with detailed insights into the main character’s emotions.
The writing style is complex and takes the reader inside the main character’s heads.
The story was easy to follow until the end when the time jumped thirty years and scenes got out of sequence. It ended leaving too many loose ends and the reader left to choose the ending.
In spite of the flaws, I did enjoy the story and recommend it for readers who enjoy a deeply insightful story.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Running to Escape
Author – Robert Schobernd
Genre – Zombie Thriller
Word Count 67,300
Rating Five stars out of five
No. 39 - 2020
Posted 11/2/2020
My Impressions: Excellent zombie apocalypse tale with a touch of young romance.
Main Characters:
Sam Boyle – Twenty-one year old college student reacting to the zombie invasion.
JR Johns – Nineteen-year-old high school graduate whose parents and sister became zombies.
For weeks Sam procrastinated leaving his Oklahoma home even though he believed the worldwide zombie attacks would soon expand to the United States. Online, he’d followed the death and destruction caused in European nations as the governments withheld information from the masses.
The night he left town, he came upon a wreck and saved a young woman from approaching zombies. Thus, began a saga with two people who would gradually grow to appreciate and cherish each other.
Through luck good and bad, they watched mankind react to the pressures caused by fear of the zombies and then that caused by human mavericks. The humans turned out to be a longer lasting terror than the undead.
Upon reaching the Canadian border, they learned the crossing were all closed and guarded. Instead of waiting for the governments to solve the issue, they drove west searching for a suitable place to call home.
Throughout their journey they encountered good people doing dumb and dangerous acts. Some they only observed but others had to dealt with in the harsh new reality they’d been dealt. Sam quickly learned to appreciate having JR along to protect his back. And JR fell in love with Sam as he set about saving her life numerous times.
The editing and sentence structure are professional grade
The main characters are thoroughly developed through long dialogs as they become friends.
Details are adequate for a deteriorating, make believe world.
The plot revolves around the two main characters as they react to a changing world order of zombies and rogues.
The writing style is insightful as Sam and JR grow and adapt to evolving events.
I highly recommend this story for zombie apocalypse fans looking for a realistic, action-packed read.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Robert Schobernd
Genre – Zombie Thriller
Word Count 67,300
Rating Five stars out of five
No. 39 - 2020
Posted 11/2/2020
My Impressions: Excellent zombie apocalypse tale with a touch of young romance.
Main Characters:
Sam Boyle – Twenty-one year old college student reacting to the zombie invasion.
JR Johns – Nineteen-year-old high school graduate whose parents and sister became zombies.
For weeks Sam procrastinated leaving his Oklahoma home even though he believed the worldwide zombie attacks would soon expand to the United States. Online, he’d followed the death and destruction caused in European nations as the governments withheld information from the masses.
The night he left town, he came upon a wreck and saved a young woman from approaching zombies. Thus, began a saga with two people who would gradually grow to appreciate and cherish each other.
Through luck good and bad, they watched mankind react to the pressures caused by fear of the zombies and then that caused by human mavericks. The humans turned out to be a longer lasting terror than the undead.
Upon reaching the Canadian border, they learned the crossing were all closed and guarded. Instead of waiting for the governments to solve the issue, they drove west searching for a suitable place to call home.
Throughout their journey they encountered good people doing dumb and dangerous acts. Some they only observed but others had to dealt with in the harsh new reality they’d been dealt. Sam quickly learned to appreciate having JR along to protect his back. And JR fell in love with Sam as he set about saving her life numerous times.
The editing and sentence structure are professional grade
The main characters are thoroughly developed through long dialogs as they become friends.
Details are adequate for a deteriorating, make believe world.
The plot revolves around the two main characters as they react to a changing world order of zombies and rogues.
The writing style is insightful as Sam and JR grow and adapt to evolving events.
I highly recommend this story for zombie apocalypse fans looking for a realistic, action-packed read.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The Alchemy Factor
Author – Joseph A. Wernhoff
Genre – Action Adventure
Word Count 108,000
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 39 - 2020
Post 10/26/2020
My Impressions: Excellent action adventure, good hero characters, frequent action, some science fiction.
Main Characters:
Paul McGrath – Wall Street wizard, US Treasury fixer.
Sandra Powiatowski – Mossad agent
The word Alchemy reveals the central plot of this action thriller. Alchemy is the medieval chemical science to discover how to change base metal into gold.
The unlikely antagonist in the story are a self-proclaimed German Nazi leader of the Fourth Reich and a high ranking Chinese banker. The Germans plan to disrupt the world societies by promoting radical terrorist attacks around the globe, and the Chinaman wants to destabilize the world’s financial markets to make the Chinese Yuan the currency of choice over the American dollar. Of course, the good guys can’t let that happen.
Since Paul McGrath is a wealthy, intelligent, muscular, handsome stud and Sandra Powiatowski is a dangerous, intelligent, beauty to make all men drool, there is a romance in the making.
When the main battle begins, the seriously outnumbered good guys are backed up with miniature killer drones with unbelievable technological capability.
The editing is okay, not perfect but acceptable.
Sentence structure is good with a few minor exceptions
Character development is good even for most support characters.
Details are adequate but not excessively overdone.
Research is evident and the science fiction to create deadly weapons is intriguing.
The plot is timely with China wanting world dominance.
I enjoyed the story and recommend it for readers of the action adventure genre.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Joseph A. Wernhoff
Genre – Action Adventure
Word Count 108,000
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 39 - 2020
Post 10/26/2020
My Impressions: Excellent action adventure, good hero characters, frequent action, some science fiction.
Main Characters:
Paul McGrath – Wall Street wizard, US Treasury fixer.
Sandra Powiatowski – Mossad agent
The word Alchemy reveals the central plot of this action thriller. Alchemy is the medieval chemical science to discover how to change base metal into gold.
The unlikely antagonist in the story are a self-proclaimed German Nazi leader of the Fourth Reich and a high ranking Chinese banker. The Germans plan to disrupt the world societies by promoting radical terrorist attacks around the globe, and the Chinaman wants to destabilize the world’s financial markets to make the Chinese Yuan the currency of choice over the American dollar. Of course, the good guys can’t let that happen.
Since Paul McGrath is a wealthy, intelligent, muscular, handsome stud and Sandra Powiatowski is a dangerous, intelligent, beauty to make all men drool, there is a romance in the making.
When the main battle begins, the seriously outnumbered good guys are backed up with miniature killer drones with unbelievable technological capability.
The editing is okay, not perfect but acceptable.
Sentence structure is good with a few minor exceptions
Character development is good even for most support characters.
Details are adequate but not excessively overdone.
Research is evident and the science fiction to create deadly weapons is intriguing.
The plot is timely with China wanting world dominance.
I enjoyed the story and recommend it for readers of the action adventure genre.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The Boy and the Lake
Author – Adam Pelzman
Genre – Crime, Family Saga
Word Count 81,000
Rating - Four stars out of five
No. 35 - 2020
Posted 10/16/2020
My Impressions: Excellent coming of age story with brutal murders.
Main Characters:
????? Baum – The main characters name is never given.
Lillian Baum – The MCs mother.
Abe Baum – The MCs father.
Helen Loenthal – Resident loved and admired by almost everyone who is found floating dead in the lake.
Sid Loenthal – Helen’s husband.
I don’t usually read coming of age stories, but The Boy and the Lake is exceptional.
When Jewish families are denied access to New Jersey’s better upmarket housing, they settle in Red Meadow Lake. The lake itself fascinates the main character (whose given name is never revealed). His dysfunctional family can’t afford to build at the lake for many years even though the father is a doctor because his younger sister has a rare and debilitating disease that drains their finances. When the girl dies, the family moves to the lake.
The main character’s life changes dramatically when he discovers the corpse of a woman he greatly admires floating in the water at his grandfather’s boat dock.
His goal becomes learning if the woman died accidentally or if her surgeon husband murdered her. His view is not shared by anyone else.
As the young man struggles to adjust to maturity, he realizes his mother is a hateful, drunken sociopath. Unfortunately his emotional trauma and anxiety attacks drive him to alcoholism.
I highly recommend The Boy and the Lake to all readers. It’s provocative and deeply moving. Judged on the story line alone it’s a five star book.
The editing and sentence structure are poor and drag the rating down to a four star.
Character development is in depth and thorough.
Details and research are adequate.
The plot revolves around a Jewish community and how their persecution drives them to isolate in a small group.
The writing style is understated and conveys deep feelings and personal failures.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Adam Pelzman
Genre – Crime, Family Saga
Word Count 81,000
Rating - Four stars out of five
No. 35 - 2020
Posted 10/16/2020
My Impressions: Excellent coming of age story with brutal murders.
Main Characters:
????? Baum – The main characters name is never given.
Lillian Baum – The MCs mother.
Abe Baum – The MCs father.
Helen Loenthal – Resident loved and admired by almost everyone who is found floating dead in the lake.
Sid Loenthal – Helen’s husband.
I don’t usually read coming of age stories, but The Boy and the Lake is exceptional.
When Jewish families are denied access to New Jersey’s better upmarket housing, they settle in Red Meadow Lake. The lake itself fascinates the main character (whose given name is never revealed). His dysfunctional family can’t afford to build at the lake for many years even though the father is a doctor because his younger sister has a rare and debilitating disease that drains their finances. When the girl dies, the family moves to the lake.
The main character’s life changes dramatically when he discovers the corpse of a woman he greatly admires floating in the water at his grandfather’s boat dock.
His goal becomes learning if the woman died accidentally or if her surgeon husband murdered her. His view is not shared by anyone else.
As the young man struggles to adjust to maturity, he realizes his mother is a hateful, drunken sociopath. Unfortunately his emotional trauma and anxiety attacks drive him to alcoholism.
I highly recommend The Boy and the Lake to all readers. It’s provocative and deeply moving. Judged on the story line alone it’s a five star book.
The editing and sentence structure are poor and drag the rating down to a four star.
Character development is in depth and thorough.
Details and research are adequate.
The plot revolves around a Jewish community and how their persecution drives them to isolate in a small group.
The writing style is understated and conveys deep feelings and personal failures.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Prey For Me
Author – John Casti
Genre – Psychological thriller
Word Count 83,800
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 34 - 2020
Posted 10/9/2020
My Impressions: A solid psychopath murder story.
Main Characters:
Victor Luigi Safire – 52 year old mathematics professor who attracts young women.
Elizabeth Alexandra Lynne (Alex) – 27 year old stock analyst, psychopath killer
Natalie – late thirties, Victor’s latest fling.
The story opens with a young unnamed woman luring her partner to a lonely stretch of cliffs on the English coast. She believes the older man is tiring of her and about to drop her; only she drops him first from a 300 foot cliff to the rocks below. Not a woman to trifle with.
Enter Victor. Alex approaches him to develop a financial simulator for the stock market firm she works for in London. She’s beautiful, young—half his age—and offers unbridled sex. Kinky sex. BSDM kinky and dangerous.
Victor learns but is slow to accept Alex is extremely controlling and jealous. Controlling to the point of torturing him and threatening his life if he doesn’t conform to her whims.
Enter Natalie. Victor meets her at a party when he is back home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Not being one to let a current relationship deter him from chasing a new challenge, he invites Natalie to visit him in London before they travel to Europe. He can’t imagine how Alex could learn of his unfaithfulness, but, of course, she does.
Victor wants to distance himself from Alex but is hesitant to do so lest he antagonize her; he suspects she murdered her boss at the firm they both work for.
The ending was what I expected for an unbalanced psychopath.
In spite of its issues, the story is intense and held my interest.
The editing and sentence structure are poor.
Character development is good for the main characters
Details of food and drink are overwhelming and detract from the main plot.
Research of city locations is again overwhelming and detracts from the main plot.
The plot is kinky but not implausible.
The writing style is crisp but depends on too much miscellaneous detail that caused me to skip ahead.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – John Casti
Genre – Psychological thriller
Word Count 83,800
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 34 - 2020
Posted 10/9/2020
My Impressions: A solid psychopath murder story.
Main Characters:
Victor Luigi Safire – 52 year old mathematics professor who attracts young women.
Elizabeth Alexandra Lynne (Alex) – 27 year old stock analyst, psychopath killer
Natalie – late thirties, Victor’s latest fling.
The story opens with a young unnamed woman luring her partner to a lonely stretch of cliffs on the English coast. She believes the older man is tiring of her and about to drop her; only she drops him first from a 300 foot cliff to the rocks below. Not a woman to trifle with.
Enter Victor. Alex approaches him to develop a financial simulator for the stock market firm she works for in London. She’s beautiful, young—half his age—and offers unbridled sex. Kinky sex. BSDM kinky and dangerous.
Victor learns but is slow to accept Alex is extremely controlling and jealous. Controlling to the point of torturing him and threatening his life if he doesn’t conform to her whims.
Enter Natalie. Victor meets her at a party when he is back home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Not being one to let a current relationship deter him from chasing a new challenge, he invites Natalie to visit him in London before they travel to Europe. He can’t imagine how Alex could learn of his unfaithfulness, but, of course, she does.
Victor wants to distance himself from Alex but is hesitant to do so lest he antagonize her; he suspects she murdered her boss at the firm they both work for.
The ending was what I expected for an unbalanced psychopath.
In spite of its issues, the story is intense and held my interest.
The editing and sentence structure are poor.
Character development is good for the main characters
Details of food and drink are overwhelming and detract from the main plot.
Research of city locations is again overwhelming and detracts from the main plot.
The plot is kinky but not implausible.
The writing style is crisp but depends on too much miscellaneous detail that caused me to skip ahead.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Judge Roth’s Law
Author – Bill Sage
Genre – Legal, Crime, Thriller
355 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 37 – 2020
Posted 10/3/2020
My impressions: blatant liar, controlling, dangerous, brutal, evil, injustice, scumbag criminals.
Main Characters:
Judge Al Roth – Judge in Orange County, California Superior Court.
Jake Gertner – Mob hit man with no conscience, enjoys intimidation and killing.
Linda – Roth’s naïve girlfriend, one of very few decent people in the story.
Judge Roth’s Law is the story of an anti-hero. Roth is a manipulative, self-serving egomaniac who can rationalize setting up a murder to protect his best friend who is a cold-blooded killer. He and Jake grew up aspiring to be like the geriatric members of the old Purple Gang they hung out with in Detroit. Some of the stories characters get the punishment they deserve while others escape justice and continue their murderous ways.
Roth continuously lies to Linda whom he professes to love and will marry. His actions toward her are totally controlling. But she accepts it.
The plot centers around a murder contract Jake Gertner failed to complete because the target was confined to jail for his own murder charge. Roth cooks up a plan to get the target freed on bond so he is accessible to Gertner.
The action is fast and entertaining with several involved plot twists.
A large number of fragmented, incomplete sentences are used, but I didn’t find them objectionable.
The editing is good with only a few minor errors. Sentence structure is good.
Details of court procedure indicate knowledge of the court system.
The plot is intense, complex and interesting.
Judge Roth’s Law is a well told tale where a fragment of justice is achieved illegally.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Bill Sage
Genre – Legal, Crime, Thriller
355 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 37 – 2020
Posted 10/3/2020
My impressions: blatant liar, controlling, dangerous, brutal, evil, injustice, scumbag criminals.
Main Characters:
Judge Al Roth – Judge in Orange County, California Superior Court.
Jake Gertner – Mob hit man with no conscience, enjoys intimidation and killing.
Linda – Roth’s naïve girlfriend, one of very few decent people in the story.
Judge Roth’s Law is the story of an anti-hero. Roth is a manipulative, self-serving egomaniac who can rationalize setting up a murder to protect his best friend who is a cold-blooded killer. He and Jake grew up aspiring to be like the geriatric members of the old Purple Gang they hung out with in Detroit. Some of the stories characters get the punishment they deserve while others escape justice and continue their murderous ways.
Roth continuously lies to Linda whom he professes to love and will marry. His actions toward her are totally controlling. But she accepts it.
The plot centers around a murder contract Jake Gertner failed to complete because the target was confined to jail for his own murder charge. Roth cooks up a plan to get the target freed on bond so he is accessible to Gertner.
The action is fast and entertaining with several involved plot twists.
A large number of fragmented, incomplete sentences are used, but I didn’t find them objectionable.
The editing is good with only a few minor errors. Sentence structure is good.
Details of court procedure indicate knowledge of the court system.
The plot is intense, complex and interesting.
Judge Roth’s Law is a well told tale where a fragment of justice is achieved illegally.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – A Disappearance
Author – G. E. Forth
Genre – Thriller, Espionage
Word Count 99,500
Rating Four stars out of five.
No. 33- 2020
Posted 9/26/2020
My Impressions: Fast paced action filled thriller with many characters.
Main Characters:
Robert Chase - Ex-CIA agent believed to be dead.
Samantha D’Aubrisson – Robert’s wife, beautiful lady of mystery.
Reynolds Merrill - CIA
Sophia Kaminski – Popov’s 14-year-old goddaughter, kidnapped and sold into the US as a sex slave.
Miki Lukin – Ex-KGB officer turned criminal. Kidnapped Gen. Popov’s goddaughter.
General Alexander Popov – Deputy Director of Russian FSB security section.
General Anatoly Gulin – In charge of Transneft the state oil monopoly.
Robert Chase is believed dead by the entire world except for a small group at the CIA. He is now a ‘fixer’ and specializes in finding and kidnaping high level targets.
Reynolds Merrill is contacted by Gen. Popov after his goddaughter was kidnapped by Miki Lukin’s crew and sent to Mexico to be ‘trained’ to be a sex slave to a rich Chinese businessman living in Los Angeles.
Along the way the plight of hundreds of young women lured by promises of good jobs in America or outright kidnapped to be made into prostitutes is examined and constitutes a large segment of the story.
While Chase’s crew goes to the US to find Sophia and free her from her fate as a temporary sex slave to be disposed of when her ‘owner’ tires of her, Chase stays behind in Mexico to study the forced sex trade originating there. He is captured by a Russian assassin and taken to Russia. He’s held in secluded ‘prison’ to be tortured to learn the inner workings of the CIA.
General Popov reneges on his agreement with CIA’s Merrill to work together and has to be taught a painful lesson as is Gen. Gulin.
There are no firearm silencers and a sound suppressor doesn’t make a 9mm pistol sound like ‘poof’. Pour research.
Poor editing and sentence structure impact the reading greatly.
Character development is good for the main characters.
Details are sparse but adequate in most cases.
Research isn’t terrible but not thorough. ‘Silencers’ do not silence a gun shot
The plot is standard good guy chasing bad human traffickers and destroying their organization but done well.
The author’s writing style is fast and crisp.
The story is a good read and I recommend it despite the errors.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – G. E. Forth
Genre – Thriller, Espionage
Word Count 99,500
Rating Four stars out of five.
No. 33- 2020
Posted 9/26/2020
My Impressions: Fast paced action filled thriller with many characters.
Main Characters:
Robert Chase - Ex-CIA agent believed to be dead.
Samantha D’Aubrisson – Robert’s wife, beautiful lady of mystery.
Reynolds Merrill - CIA
Sophia Kaminski – Popov’s 14-year-old goddaughter, kidnapped and sold into the US as a sex slave.
Miki Lukin – Ex-KGB officer turned criminal. Kidnapped Gen. Popov’s goddaughter.
General Alexander Popov – Deputy Director of Russian FSB security section.
General Anatoly Gulin – In charge of Transneft the state oil monopoly.
Robert Chase is believed dead by the entire world except for a small group at the CIA. He is now a ‘fixer’ and specializes in finding and kidnaping high level targets.
Reynolds Merrill is contacted by Gen. Popov after his goddaughter was kidnapped by Miki Lukin’s crew and sent to Mexico to be ‘trained’ to be a sex slave to a rich Chinese businessman living in Los Angeles.
Along the way the plight of hundreds of young women lured by promises of good jobs in America or outright kidnapped to be made into prostitutes is examined and constitutes a large segment of the story.
While Chase’s crew goes to the US to find Sophia and free her from her fate as a temporary sex slave to be disposed of when her ‘owner’ tires of her, Chase stays behind in Mexico to study the forced sex trade originating there. He is captured by a Russian assassin and taken to Russia. He’s held in secluded ‘prison’ to be tortured to learn the inner workings of the CIA.
General Popov reneges on his agreement with CIA’s Merrill to work together and has to be taught a painful lesson as is Gen. Gulin.
There are no firearm silencers and a sound suppressor doesn’t make a 9mm pistol sound like ‘poof’. Pour research.
Poor editing and sentence structure impact the reading greatly.
Character development is good for the main characters.
Details are sparse but adequate in most cases.
Research isn’t terrible but not thorough. ‘Silencers’ do not silence a gun shot
The plot is standard good guy chasing bad human traffickers and destroying their organization but done well.
The author’s writing style is fast and crisp.
The story is a good read and I recommend it despite the errors.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Lost Time
Author – Winona Kent
Genre – Mystery, Amateur P.I.
Word Count 68,000
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 36- 2020
Posted 9/18/2020
My Impressions: Good cozy mystery in the vein of Miss Marple.
Main Characters:
Jason ‘Figgis’ Davy – Fortyish musician, amateur sleuth.
Mandy Green – Jason’s seventy year old mother, half of the Figgis/Green band.
Duncan Stopher – Mysterious person driving an investigation of a long missing teenager.
Pippa Gladstone – sixteen year old girl who went missing in 1974.
A large cast of support characters.
Jason Davy agrees to perform in a last band tour with his mother, Mandy Green. She is a founding member of the Figgis Green band. Her husband is dead, so her son, Jason, has agreed to replace his father on the final tour. Jason is also an amateur sleuth with a reputation for finding missing people.
Most of the story concerns the band members practicing and arguing incessantly. Jason also has a culinary chronical blog where he posts pictures and details of all his meals. I found that boring and silly.
During a break, Jason is approached at a restaurant by a man who identifies himself as Duncan Stopher. He petitions Jason to search for a young girl who disappeared when sixteen years of age in 1974. A short time later the same man is found murdered, but his name is not Duncan Stopher. Jason planned to refuse the case but is intrigued that the dead man assumed an identity to approach him. With his curiosity aroused, Jason starts his investigation. Soon after Jason is attacked when he enters his hotel room. The thug is surprised when Jason beats the hell out of him. Then mysterious people appear to clean the room and dispose of the attacker.
The story is more of a cozy mystery in the vein of Miss Marple than a hardcore murder mystery.
Toward the end, a plot is exposed that will unravel plans of a person aspiring to high office.
Before the ending Jason has to deal with thugs, the police, and Britain’s M15 intelligence service.
The story contains some hardcore cursing and no sex scenes.
The editing and sentence structure are unusually good.
Character Development is good for the main characters and okay for support characters.
Details and research are good and carry the story
The plot is fresh, intricate, and complex but too involved in the workings of a band for my taste.
The writing style is relaxed but contains many false leads and conflicting evidence.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Winona Kent
Genre – Mystery, Amateur P.I.
Word Count 68,000
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 36- 2020
Posted 9/18/2020
My Impressions: Good cozy mystery in the vein of Miss Marple.
Main Characters:
Jason ‘Figgis’ Davy – Fortyish musician, amateur sleuth.
Mandy Green – Jason’s seventy year old mother, half of the Figgis/Green band.
Duncan Stopher – Mysterious person driving an investigation of a long missing teenager.
Pippa Gladstone – sixteen year old girl who went missing in 1974.
A large cast of support characters.
Jason Davy agrees to perform in a last band tour with his mother, Mandy Green. She is a founding member of the Figgis Green band. Her husband is dead, so her son, Jason, has agreed to replace his father on the final tour. Jason is also an amateur sleuth with a reputation for finding missing people.
Most of the story concerns the band members practicing and arguing incessantly. Jason also has a culinary chronical blog where he posts pictures and details of all his meals. I found that boring and silly.
During a break, Jason is approached at a restaurant by a man who identifies himself as Duncan Stopher. He petitions Jason to search for a young girl who disappeared when sixteen years of age in 1974. A short time later the same man is found murdered, but his name is not Duncan Stopher. Jason planned to refuse the case but is intrigued that the dead man assumed an identity to approach him. With his curiosity aroused, Jason starts his investigation. Soon after Jason is attacked when he enters his hotel room. The thug is surprised when Jason beats the hell out of him. Then mysterious people appear to clean the room and dispose of the attacker.
The story is more of a cozy mystery in the vein of Miss Marple than a hardcore murder mystery.
Toward the end, a plot is exposed that will unravel plans of a person aspiring to high office.
Before the ending Jason has to deal with thugs, the police, and Britain’s M15 intelligence service.
The story contains some hardcore cursing and no sex scenes.
The editing and sentence structure are unusually good.
Character Development is good for the main characters and okay for support characters.
Details and research are good and carry the story
The plot is fresh, intricate, and complex but too involved in the workings of a band for my taste.
The writing style is relaxed but contains many false leads and conflicting evidence.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Short Cut
(The Reluctant Hustler, Book 2)
Author – J. Gregory Smith
Genre – Crime - Thriller
Word Count 80,000
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 32 - 2020
Posted 9/10/2020
My Impressions: Exciting, tongue in cheek, lots of action.
Main Characters:
Kyle Logan – Works for a military contractor in Afghanistan
Rollie – Kyle’s seventy year old friend, ex- Marine sniper
Ryan Buckley – Hustler supreme, worked with Kyle, set him up with hustles without telling him.
Bettle Bentley – Nice guy, easily taken advantage of.
V.P. – Hacker supreme
Sandy – Kyles girlfriend who operates a physical fitness training business.
Kyle was injured in a deal put together by his crooked friend Ryan Buckley. That scam blew up with Kyle’s wife being captured and Kyle almost being killed. Ryan did die, but no one is talking about it. Most of his acquaintances believe he is still alive but has gone into hiding.
Kyle learns Ryan set him up to take over the many nefarious schemes Ryan already had in place. Those provide lots of money and abundant danger. But then Kyle learns Ryan was a sort of modern day Robbing Hood who protected and helped many people.
Kyle’s wife and he divorced after she was captured, and he was knifed. But don’t feel sorry for him: he has a new girlfriend; but she has a problem too. Her landlord has raised her rent and used a crooked doctor to refer new patients to her physical training business. Kyle soon learns Dr. Bones is also a horrible slum landlord.
As the story gains traction, Kyle learns Tom, another of Ryan’s crew is involved in a plot to bring a large fortune in diamonds here from Iraq for a wealthy Iraqi called Mr. Beautiful. Kyle is supposed to be up to speed on the details and in charge of the illegal operation but knows nothing about it.
In the end, Kyle outmaneuvers all the bad guys with the help of people on Ryan’s contact list and all ends well.
The story is filled with good guys, thugs, an Irish gang, and black ops characters.
I enjoyed the story because it’s fast paced and funny at times.
The editing is poorly done, but sentence structure is passable.
Character development is adequate for the main characters.
Details are adequate to carry the story.
The plot is different and interesting.
The writing style is wordy but easy to read.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
(The Reluctant Hustler, Book 2)
Author – J. Gregory Smith
Genre – Crime - Thriller
Word Count 80,000
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 32 - 2020
Posted 9/10/2020
My Impressions: Exciting, tongue in cheek, lots of action.
Main Characters:
Kyle Logan – Works for a military contractor in Afghanistan
Rollie – Kyle’s seventy year old friend, ex- Marine sniper
Ryan Buckley – Hustler supreme, worked with Kyle, set him up with hustles without telling him.
Bettle Bentley – Nice guy, easily taken advantage of.
V.P. – Hacker supreme
Sandy – Kyles girlfriend who operates a physical fitness training business.
Kyle was injured in a deal put together by his crooked friend Ryan Buckley. That scam blew up with Kyle’s wife being captured and Kyle almost being killed. Ryan did die, but no one is talking about it. Most of his acquaintances believe he is still alive but has gone into hiding.
Kyle learns Ryan set him up to take over the many nefarious schemes Ryan already had in place. Those provide lots of money and abundant danger. But then Kyle learns Ryan was a sort of modern day Robbing Hood who protected and helped many people.
Kyle’s wife and he divorced after she was captured, and he was knifed. But don’t feel sorry for him: he has a new girlfriend; but she has a problem too. Her landlord has raised her rent and used a crooked doctor to refer new patients to her physical training business. Kyle soon learns Dr. Bones is also a horrible slum landlord.
As the story gains traction, Kyle learns Tom, another of Ryan’s crew is involved in a plot to bring a large fortune in diamonds here from Iraq for a wealthy Iraqi called Mr. Beautiful. Kyle is supposed to be up to speed on the details and in charge of the illegal operation but knows nothing about it.
In the end, Kyle outmaneuvers all the bad guys with the help of people on Ryan’s contact list and all ends well.
The story is filled with good guys, thugs, an Irish gang, and black ops characters.
I enjoyed the story because it’s fast paced and funny at times.
The editing is poorly done, but sentence structure is passable.
Character development is adequate for the main characters.
Details are adequate to carry the story.
The plot is different and interesting.
The writing style is wordy but easy to read.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Strange Karma
Author – Willow Healy
Genre – Adventure-Thriller-Mystery
Word Count 71,270
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 30 - 2020
Posted 9/5/2020
My Impressions: Excellent tale of subterfuge and greed, great characters and plot
Main Characters:
Cynthia Graham – Twenty-seven-year-old descendant of Andrew Irving who died climbing Mt. Everest in 1923.
Dorje – Nepal Sherpa mountain climber, businessman, village elder. Ex-British Gurkha soldier.
Paul Bellame – Cynthis’s dad’s billionaire boss who wants to possess her.
Jon White – Professor on a mountain clime to the top of Ama Dablam mountain.
Ang – Thief wanting to make Dorje’s families’ mountain trekking business fail.
Alden Droiter – Engineer on an airport expansion project, friend of Dorje.
The Foreigner - An evil, mysterious foreign national intent on becoming wealthy through crime.
Cynthia Graham has had a troubled life. Her mother died in a house fire when she was eight, and she grew up knowing her father was a habitual gambler who constantly weaseled money from her to pay his debts. She was also disappointed in his choice of girlfriends who were her age or younger. Her father was a weak worm manipulated by his billionaire employer who wanted to own Cynthia. The father pushed her to again date Paul so he can milk money from her after she is married to Paul
She was shocked when a letter arrived from a British barrister stating her grandmother on her mother’s side made her the sole heir to her estate. Cynthia travelled to England to claim her inheritance: a small amount of money and a rural cottage. In the cottage, she read letters sent by her grandfather to her grandmother and followed clues to discover a large, uncut red diamond. She was an instant millionaire. Her grandfather, Andrew Young, sent the diamond to his love, Emma, days before he died while attempting to scale Mt. Everest.
Curious about her grandfather, she booked a climb on nearby Mt. Ama Dablam in sight of Mt. Everest but easier to climb. She intended to write a book about her grandfather’s failed 1923 attempt to scale Mt. Everest based on local color.
While in Nepal she met Dorje the climb leader and was attracted to the forty-two-year-old mountain man.
Unknown to Cynthia, a dastardly thief has learned of the existence of another large, red diamond. Her diamond The Foreigner, as he is known, intends to steal Cynthia’s diamond and murder her.
Toward the end there is heavy religious mysticism concerning the Buddhist monks and an old Sherpa.
The editing is poor. I struggled to justify a five star rating and did so on the strength of the plot and story-telling.
The sentence structure is good with few exceptions.
Character development provides a through insight into the main characters and several support characters.
Details of the 1923 mountain expedition and the present scenes are well covered.
Research is evident in the information concerning mountain climbing in general.
The plot is fresh and exciting with danger and conflict galore
The writing style is fast, intense, and well-written.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Willow Healy
Genre – Adventure-Thriller-Mystery
Word Count 71,270
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 30 - 2020
Posted 9/5/2020
My Impressions: Excellent tale of subterfuge and greed, great characters and plot
Main Characters:
Cynthia Graham – Twenty-seven-year-old descendant of Andrew Irving who died climbing Mt. Everest in 1923.
Dorje – Nepal Sherpa mountain climber, businessman, village elder. Ex-British Gurkha soldier.
Paul Bellame – Cynthis’s dad’s billionaire boss who wants to possess her.
Jon White – Professor on a mountain clime to the top of Ama Dablam mountain.
Ang – Thief wanting to make Dorje’s families’ mountain trekking business fail.
Alden Droiter – Engineer on an airport expansion project, friend of Dorje.
The Foreigner - An evil, mysterious foreign national intent on becoming wealthy through crime.
Cynthia Graham has had a troubled life. Her mother died in a house fire when she was eight, and she grew up knowing her father was a habitual gambler who constantly weaseled money from her to pay his debts. She was also disappointed in his choice of girlfriends who were her age or younger. Her father was a weak worm manipulated by his billionaire employer who wanted to own Cynthia. The father pushed her to again date Paul so he can milk money from her after she is married to Paul
She was shocked when a letter arrived from a British barrister stating her grandmother on her mother’s side made her the sole heir to her estate. Cynthia travelled to England to claim her inheritance: a small amount of money and a rural cottage. In the cottage, she read letters sent by her grandfather to her grandmother and followed clues to discover a large, uncut red diamond. She was an instant millionaire. Her grandfather, Andrew Young, sent the diamond to his love, Emma, days before he died while attempting to scale Mt. Everest.
Curious about her grandfather, she booked a climb on nearby Mt. Ama Dablam in sight of Mt. Everest but easier to climb. She intended to write a book about her grandfather’s failed 1923 attempt to scale Mt. Everest based on local color.
While in Nepal she met Dorje the climb leader and was attracted to the forty-two-year-old mountain man.
Unknown to Cynthia, a dastardly thief has learned of the existence of another large, red diamond. Her diamond The Foreigner, as he is known, intends to steal Cynthia’s diamond and murder her.
Toward the end there is heavy religious mysticism concerning the Buddhist monks and an old Sherpa.
The editing is poor. I struggled to justify a five star rating and did so on the strength of the plot and story-telling.
The sentence structure is good with few exceptions.
Character development provides a through insight into the main characters and several support characters.
Details of the 1923 mountain expedition and the present scenes are well covered.
Research is evident in the information concerning mountain climbing in general.
The plot is fresh and exciting with danger and conflict galore
The writing style is fast, intense, and well-written.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The Roads Chosen
Author – Ben Carlyle
Genre – Crime Thriller
Word Count 118,000
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 22-1 - 2020
Posted 8/31/2020
Main Characters:
Sam Mitchell – British citizen and world traveler
Rebecca Liscombe – Sam’s lover.
Boris Voikcvich –Sam’s friend and a smuggler of material goods and damaged people.
A large part of The Roads Chosen follows Samir Mozhar (Sam Mitchell) as he walks and hitches rides across The Republic of Kazakhstan while traveling the ancient Silk Road; it’s a network of trade routes stretching from China to Southern Europe. Sam ran away from his lover in London and travelled for six years before taking a job with an oil services company. While there he uncovered a network of financial transactions involving money laundering leading to a well organized, murderous, worldwide Russian mafia organization. The heads of the criminal group are ex-KGB members from Russia who are proficient in the use of harsh interrogation methods and murder.
When Sam’s meddling is discovered he tries to escape. He avoids the police but is injured. Sam contacts a friend in Russia, Boris Voikcvich. Boris and his entire family are smugglers of stolen materials and damaged citizens. Many survivors of Russian mafia have been brutalized, raped, or tortured. Boris’s family is part of a large, well organized underground railroad giving sanctuary and hope to the mentally and physically broken flotsam left by the criminals.
The criminals want Sam at all cost because he has evidence of their money laundering. His picture is posted countrywide on TV and in newspapers stating he is wanted for rape and murder. This, of course, puts Boris and his family along with their co-conspirators in danger as Sam is hidden and nursed back to good health.
The plot is complex, and readers need to pay close attention to subtle clues throughout.
Much of the story focuses on Russian and Kazakhstan history and social order.
The editing and sentence structure are crisp and professional.
Character development is through for the main characters.
Details are abundant, descriptive, and carefully laid out for disciplined readers.
Research of Russian life and surrounding details are apparent.
The plot is complex and extremely involved with a huge cast of characters.
There is minor, infrequent cursing.
I heartily recommend this exciting story of foreign intrigue for fans of complex international thrillers.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Ben Carlyle
Genre – Crime Thriller
Word Count 118,000
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 22-1 - 2020
Posted 8/31/2020
Main Characters:
Sam Mitchell – British citizen and world traveler
Rebecca Liscombe – Sam’s lover.
Boris Voikcvich –Sam’s friend and a smuggler of material goods and damaged people.
A large part of The Roads Chosen follows Samir Mozhar (Sam Mitchell) as he walks and hitches rides across The Republic of Kazakhstan while traveling the ancient Silk Road; it’s a network of trade routes stretching from China to Southern Europe. Sam ran away from his lover in London and travelled for six years before taking a job with an oil services company. While there he uncovered a network of financial transactions involving money laundering leading to a well organized, murderous, worldwide Russian mafia organization. The heads of the criminal group are ex-KGB members from Russia who are proficient in the use of harsh interrogation methods and murder.
When Sam’s meddling is discovered he tries to escape. He avoids the police but is injured. Sam contacts a friend in Russia, Boris Voikcvich. Boris and his entire family are smugglers of stolen materials and damaged citizens. Many survivors of Russian mafia have been brutalized, raped, or tortured. Boris’s family is part of a large, well organized underground railroad giving sanctuary and hope to the mentally and physically broken flotsam left by the criminals.
The criminals want Sam at all cost because he has evidence of their money laundering. His picture is posted countrywide on TV and in newspapers stating he is wanted for rape and murder. This, of course, puts Boris and his family along with their co-conspirators in danger as Sam is hidden and nursed back to good health.
The plot is complex, and readers need to pay close attention to subtle clues throughout.
Much of the story focuses on Russian and Kazakhstan history and social order.
The editing and sentence structure are crisp and professional.
Character development is through for the main characters.
Details are abundant, descriptive, and carefully laid out for disciplined readers.
Research of Russian life and surrounding details are apparent.
The plot is complex and extremely involved with a huge cast of characters.
There is minor, infrequent cursing.
I heartily recommend this exciting story of foreign intrigue for fans of complex international thrillers.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
