Title – Serenity Avenged
Author – Craig Hart
Genre – M, S, T, Vigilante, Crime
38,000 words
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 28 – 2021
Posted 8/1/2021
My impressions: short even for a novella, tough old retirees, truly bad antagonist, needy ex-wife.
Main Characters:
Shelby Alexander – ex-boxer, CIA agent, retired.
Leslie – Shelby's pregnant daughter.
Helen – ex-wife
Mack – Shelby's retired cop friend.
Darkmore – evil, diabolical, criminal, psychopath.
Shelby's daughter is rushed to a hospital with pre-delivery complications. When Shelby arrives his sarcastic ex-wife is already there and they exchange nasty jabs. Shelby soon learns Helen is in trouble after her recent divorce; a gang member has been threatening her to collect a large sum of debt owed for gambling.
Conveniently, Shelby's friend Mack comes to visit and together they take on the bad guys intent on getting their money or killing the debtor. There is some violence and the potential for a rekindled love.
There is minor cursing and no sex.
The editing and sentence structure are very good.
The development of characters is okay, considering the story's short length.
Details are sketchy but enough to carry the story if you're not concerned with descriptions of cars, firearms etc.
The plot is simple but engaging.
The writing style is quick and to the point, few extra words are wasted here.
The story is okay for a light piece of fluff with a tough protagonist and a sick antagonist.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Craig Hart
Genre – M, S, T, Vigilante, Crime
38,000 words
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 28 – 2021
Posted 8/1/2021
My impressions: short even for a novella, tough old retirees, truly bad antagonist, needy ex-wife.
Main Characters:
Shelby Alexander – ex-boxer, CIA agent, retired.
Leslie – Shelby's pregnant daughter.
Helen – ex-wife
Mack – Shelby's retired cop friend.
Darkmore – evil, diabolical, criminal, psychopath.
Shelby's daughter is rushed to a hospital with pre-delivery complications. When Shelby arrives his sarcastic ex-wife is already there and they exchange nasty jabs. Shelby soon learns Helen is in trouble after her recent divorce; a gang member has been threatening her to collect a large sum of debt owed for gambling.
Conveniently, Shelby's friend Mack comes to visit and together they take on the bad guys intent on getting their money or killing the debtor. There is some violence and the potential for a rekindled love.
There is minor cursing and no sex.
The editing and sentence structure are very good.
The development of characters is okay, considering the story's short length.
Details are sketchy but enough to carry the story if you're not concerned with descriptions of cars, firearms etc.
The plot is simple but engaging.
The writing style is quick and to the point, few extra words are wasted here.
The story is okay for a light piece of fluff with a tough protagonist and a sick antagonist.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Russian Love and the American
Author – Robert E. Baily
Genre – Crime Thriller
Word Count - 86,000
Rating – Four stars out of five
No. 27-3- 2021
Posted 7/24/2021
My Impressions: Rough and stupid people converging to a bitter end.
Main Characters:
Tim Maclean – Screenwriter, 50 years old. One of life’s failures.
Grigory Gregoriev – Brutal Russian gangster and wannabe revolutionary.
Dominika (Nika) – Russian hooker and all around strange young woman who professes to be religious.
Jonny Singh – Producer and one of many who want to and do screw Nika.
Amelia – Singh’s wife
Tom’s life was falling apart: no work in three years, wife divorced him, his house was being foreclosed for lack of payment. Then he met Nika. She’s a beautiful, slutty tramp who crawls in bed with any good looking guy who is nice to her.
But Nika BELONGS to Grigory a thuggish Russian gangster who likes to rape and beat people to death. Nika and Grigory ran scams on Nika’s rich sex partners and extorted money from them to keep the indiscretions quiet.
Tom is foolishly in love with Nika even after being warned to stay away. They run off together, but Grigory’s crew finds them after killing two of Tom’s longtime friends. Tom is beaten as punishment but still won’t let her go.
Eventually he gets fitting revenge.
But in the meantime, Nika has taken up with Jonny, a wealthy movie producer. His wife leaves him before he comes to his senses and dumps Nika.
There are cursing and sexual situation throughout.
I had to really stretch to award this story four stars.
The editing and sentence structure are not terrible but are consistently bad throughout.
Character Development is good to adequate for the main characters.
Details and research are adequate.
The plot is quirky and somewhat different from most stories
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Robert E. Baily
Genre – Crime Thriller
Word Count - 86,000
Rating – Four stars out of five
No. 27-3- 2021
Posted 7/24/2021
My Impressions: Rough and stupid people converging to a bitter end.
Main Characters:
Tim Maclean – Screenwriter, 50 years old. One of life’s failures.
Grigory Gregoriev – Brutal Russian gangster and wannabe revolutionary.
Dominika (Nika) – Russian hooker and all around strange young woman who professes to be religious.
Jonny Singh – Producer and one of many who want to and do screw Nika.
Amelia – Singh’s wife
Tom’s life was falling apart: no work in three years, wife divorced him, his house was being foreclosed for lack of payment. Then he met Nika. She’s a beautiful, slutty tramp who crawls in bed with any good looking guy who is nice to her.
But Nika BELONGS to Grigory a thuggish Russian gangster who likes to rape and beat people to death. Nika and Grigory ran scams on Nika’s rich sex partners and extorted money from them to keep the indiscretions quiet.
Tom is foolishly in love with Nika even after being warned to stay away. They run off together, but Grigory’s crew finds them after killing two of Tom’s longtime friends. Tom is beaten as punishment but still won’t let her go.
Eventually he gets fitting revenge.
But in the meantime, Nika has taken up with Jonny, a wealthy movie producer. His wife leaves him before he comes to his senses and dumps Nika.
There are cursing and sexual situation throughout.
I had to really stretch to award this story four stars.
The editing and sentence structure are not terrible but are consistently bad throughout.
Character Development is good to adequate for the main characters.
Details and research are adequate.
The plot is quirky and somewhat different from most stories
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Nuclear Time Bomb
Author – W. Michael Hewitt
Genre – Techno thriller
Word Count - 96,000
Rating – 4 stars out of 5
No. 27-2 - 2021
Posted 7/17/2021
My Impressions: Good action/adventure techno thriller.
Main Characters:
Estelle (Essie) Openwaters – Kootenai Indian, 21 years old, two PhDs in chem. Eng. & earth sci.
Brett Stevens – Mgr. at WRNL
Ty Rettig – Ex Senator, Under sec. US Dept. of Homeland Security, billionaire, crook, drugs & human smuggling.
Dr. Edward Morwitz – US Sec. of Energy
At age twenty-one, Essie Openwaters has earned two PhDs from Stanford university and was hired at the Washington Research National Laboratory. She’s a loner and that doesn’t sit well with her boss or the rest of the staff. Her second assignment is to look for and explain any differences in results from two seismic analysis programs. Her research uncovers problems in the old program vs. the newly developed program causing its predictions to be off by twenty percent.
She buys an old wooden desk scrapped by the lab years ago. Inside she discovers a letter from a former nuclear plant supervisor warning of a potential time bomb in a sealed tunnel holding old nuclear materials.
Essie’s nosiness gets her deeper and deeper into information Ty Rettig hid fifty years ago.
Ty Rettig has spies monitoring everything Essie does and orders her to be eliminated. However, she outsmarts and out fights the trained mercenaries at every encounter.
Eventually, Essie meets and receives the backing of the president of the United States to do whatever is necessary to prevent a nuclear explosion that would possibly kill thousands of people, devastate a vast area of several states, and affect the country’s economy.
The editing and sentence structure are far from professional level with extra commas, missing words, and other issues throughout the story.
Character development is good for all the main characters. There are many support characters.
Details and research indicate a thorough knowledge of the subject matter.
The plot is unique and involved.
Nuclear Time Bomb is a good read for action/adventure and thriller fans. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – W. Michael Hewitt
Genre – Techno thriller
Word Count - 96,000
Rating – 4 stars out of 5
No. 27-2 - 2021
Posted 7/17/2021
My Impressions: Good action/adventure techno thriller.
Main Characters:
Estelle (Essie) Openwaters – Kootenai Indian, 21 years old, two PhDs in chem. Eng. & earth sci.
Brett Stevens – Mgr. at WRNL
Ty Rettig – Ex Senator, Under sec. US Dept. of Homeland Security, billionaire, crook, drugs & human smuggling.
Dr. Edward Morwitz – US Sec. of Energy
At age twenty-one, Essie Openwaters has earned two PhDs from Stanford university and was hired at the Washington Research National Laboratory. She’s a loner and that doesn’t sit well with her boss or the rest of the staff. Her second assignment is to look for and explain any differences in results from two seismic analysis programs. Her research uncovers problems in the old program vs. the newly developed program causing its predictions to be off by twenty percent.
She buys an old wooden desk scrapped by the lab years ago. Inside she discovers a letter from a former nuclear plant supervisor warning of a potential time bomb in a sealed tunnel holding old nuclear materials.
Essie’s nosiness gets her deeper and deeper into information Ty Rettig hid fifty years ago.
Ty Rettig has spies monitoring everything Essie does and orders her to be eliminated. However, she outsmarts and out fights the trained mercenaries at every encounter.
Eventually, Essie meets and receives the backing of the president of the United States to do whatever is necessary to prevent a nuclear explosion that would possibly kill thousands of people, devastate a vast area of several states, and affect the country’s economy.
The editing and sentence structure are far from professional level with extra commas, missing words, and other issues throughout the story.
Character development is good for all the main characters. There are many support characters.
Details and research indicate a thorough knowledge of the subject matter.
The plot is unique and involved.
Nuclear Time Bomb is a good read for action/adventure and thriller fans. I thoroughly enjoyed it and recommend it.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Words Kill
Author – David Myles Robinson
Genre – Coming of age and adult thriller.
Word Count 91,400
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 27 - 2021
Posted 7/2/2021
My Impressions: Starts as a coming of age story and continues as a man grows to his seventies.
Main Characters:
Russell Blaze – Young Caucasian liberal who becomes a writer for a magazine.
James Cordell – Young Black man who is Russell’s best friend and starts a magazine for young people.
Paulette – Beautiful Black woman who eventually marries Russell.
Leo Blaze – Russell’s psychopathic white supremist, murderer brother.
Cody Blaze – Russell’s second son.
Amanda Rutledge – A young terrorist from a wealthy family with important ties to the end of the story.
The story begins after Russell Blaze’s death. It’s told through Russ’s memoir.
At age twelve Russell’s father died. Later his mother married Mark, an aspiring actor. The actor’s career took a nosedive and he turned to heavy drinking. When drunk, he routinely beat Russell’s mother.
In his junior year of high school, Russ became an inseparable friend to James Cordell and Paulette, two of only three Black students in his school.
One evening when Mark was beating his wife, Russ made a comment that someone should kill his stepfather for the way he abused their mother. Thirty minutes later, Leo walked behind his stepfather and shot him in the head. Leo went to juvenile prison.
The following year, Russ went to Height-Asbury and lived the life of a young hippie. One afternoon he had a chance encounter with a girl calling herself Gloria. Russ left Gloria alone in the apartment he shared with three others and left the building. As he stood across the street, police and FBI personnel swarmed the building and shot two terrorists suspected of bank robbery. Authorities searched for a missing female terrorist Russell surmised was Gloria. She would remain on the back burner of his life until his death.
Paulette attended college in New York and Russ became a writer for a new magazine James was the editor of. Eventually Russ and Paulette married and became a mixed race couple and had a son, Cordell.
From there the story picked up speed and provided intense thrills to the end.
I won’t spoil the ending by telling more, but it is exciting and painful throughout.
The editing and sentence structure are professional grade.
Character development is excellent and detailed for the several main characters.
The details are rich with personal pain and achievement.
Research of places and issues is thorough and apparent.
The plot is intense and far reaching and cover a lot of painful issues.
The writing style is unrushed and adapts to the changing times and issues. I highly recommend this raw story even though I don’t agree with all of its portrayals and the opinions expressed.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – David Myles Robinson
Genre – Coming of age and adult thriller.
Word Count 91,400
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 27 - 2021
Posted 7/2/2021
My Impressions: Starts as a coming of age story and continues as a man grows to his seventies.
Main Characters:
Russell Blaze – Young Caucasian liberal who becomes a writer for a magazine.
James Cordell – Young Black man who is Russell’s best friend and starts a magazine for young people.
Paulette – Beautiful Black woman who eventually marries Russell.
Leo Blaze – Russell’s psychopathic white supremist, murderer brother.
Cody Blaze – Russell’s second son.
Amanda Rutledge – A young terrorist from a wealthy family with important ties to the end of the story.
The story begins after Russell Blaze’s death. It’s told through Russ’s memoir.
At age twelve Russell’s father died. Later his mother married Mark, an aspiring actor. The actor’s career took a nosedive and he turned to heavy drinking. When drunk, he routinely beat Russell’s mother.
In his junior year of high school, Russ became an inseparable friend to James Cordell and Paulette, two of only three Black students in his school.
One evening when Mark was beating his wife, Russ made a comment that someone should kill his stepfather for the way he abused their mother. Thirty minutes later, Leo walked behind his stepfather and shot him in the head. Leo went to juvenile prison.
The following year, Russ went to Height-Asbury and lived the life of a young hippie. One afternoon he had a chance encounter with a girl calling herself Gloria. Russ left Gloria alone in the apartment he shared with three others and left the building. As he stood across the street, police and FBI personnel swarmed the building and shot two terrorists suspected of bank robbery. Authorities searched for a missing female terrorist Russell surmised was Gloria. She would remain on the back burner of his life until his death.
Paulette attended college in New York and Russ became a writer for a new magazine James was the editor of. Eventually Russ and Paulette married and became a mixed race couple and had a son, Cordell.
From there the story picked up speed and provided intense thrills to the end.
I won’t spoil the ending by telling more, but it is exciting and painful throughout.
The editing and sentence structure are professional grade.
Character development is excellent and detailed for the several main characters.
The details are rich with personal pain and achievement.
Research of places and issues is thorough and apparent.
The plot is intense and far reaching and cover a lot of painful issues.
The writing style is unrushed and adapts to the changing times and issues. I highly recommend this raw story even though I don’t agree with all of its portrayals and the opinions expressed.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – A Lawyer’s Story
Author – Paul Carlin
Genre – Thriller
Word Count - 115,000
Rating – 5 stars out of 5
No. 26 - 2021
Posted 4/25/2021
My Impressions: James - Devious, Lying, Psychopathic killer.
John – Naive, weak.
Main Characters in 1947:
John Farrelly – 24 year old lawyer
James Farrelly – John’s fraternal twin, psychopathic brother who professes to be a physician but isn’t.
Ava Brownlie– works in a gentleman’s club.
In 2005:
John Farrelly – now 82 years old.
Shirely – John’s secretary and now his wife.
Brian Farrelly – John and Shirley’s son, a lawyer in the family law firm.
Isabelle – Brian’s daughter, also a lawyer in the law firm.
In 1947, John Farrelly is a twenty-four-year-old lawyer. He has fallen in love with Ava, the first woman he was intimate with, but she has no feelings for him. John is naive and dominated by his forceful father in their law firm. James coerces John to defend Ava at her trial for murdering a rich old woman, but their father puts an incompetent lawyer as the lead council.
John’s psychopathic killer brother conceives a plot to kill an old woman for her fortune and blame Ava for the death. He was instrumental in getting her hired at attend his target. John suspects James murdered the old woman but is torn between his love of Ava, family loyalty, and his being a weak coward.
During Ava’s trial, John is berated by his brother and father and keeps quiet and lets Ava be hanged.
Switch to 2005.
John is a successful, wealthy eighty-two-year old attorney with his own law firm. His son and granddaughter are both partners in the firm. Brian is practically useless, and Isabelle has plans to force the old man out and take over the firm.
But then fate steps in. Isabelle makes and immature mistake and will pay a steep price.
Ava’s family threatens to sue John because they believe Ava did not have a proper defense during her trial. A negative judgement against John would destroy his reputation and his legacy.
Shirley is declining with dementia and adds to John’s issues.
Then the story jumps to 2012 Switzerland.
John adds facts he feels to be true about everything from Ava’s era up to his business and personal problems during the past seven years.
Then James rears his ugly head again. (Surprise, Surprise, he didn’t die.)
James takes the stage to relay what really happened throughout the entire tale; and it’s not what John was duped into believing.
The editing and sentence structure are fair but drag the story down.
Character development is thorough, often with too much detail for my taste.
Details of all things are overly abundant, especially the frequent weather reports.
The plot is interesting and takes place in 1947 before jumping to 2005 and then to 2012.
The writing is extremely wordy and slow paced.
If you like extremely wordy, detailed narrative you may like this twisted tale of evil manipulation. I struggled through it but rated it truthfully.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Paul Carlin
Genre – Thriller
Word Count - 115,000
Rating – 5 stars out of 5
No. 26 - 2021
Posted 4/25/2021
My Impressions: James - Devious, Lying, Psychopathic killer.
John – Naive, weak.
Main Characters in 1947:
John Farrelly – 24 year old lawyer
James Farrelly – John’s fraternal twin, psychopathic brother who professes to be a physician but isn’t.
Ava Brownlie– works in a gentleman’s club.
In 2005:
John Farrelly – now 82 years old.
Shirely – John’s secretary and now his wife.
Brian Farrelly – John and Shirley’s son, a lawyer in the family law firm.
Isabelle – Brian’s daughter, also a lawyer in the law firm.
In 1947, John Farrelly is a twenty-four-year-old lawyer. He has fallen in love with Ava, the first woman he was intimate with, but she has no feelings for him. John is naive and dominated by his forceful father in their law firm. James coerces John to defend Ava at her trial for murdering a rich old woman, but their father puts an incompetent lawyer as the lead council.
John’s psychopathic killer brother conceives a plot to kill an old woman for her fortune and blame Ava for the death. He was instrumental in getting her hired at attend his target. John suspects James murdered the old woman but is torn between his love of Ava, family loyalty, and his being a weak coward.
During Ava’s trial, John is berated by his brother and father and keeps quiet and lets Ava be hanged.
Switch to 2005.
John is a successful, wealthy eighty-two-year old attorney with his own law firm. His son and granddaughter are both partners in the firm. Brian is practically useless, and Isabelle has plans to force the old man out and take over the firm.
But then fate steps in. Isabelle makes and immature mistake and will pay a steep price.
Ava’s family threatens to sue John because they believe Ava did not have a proper defense during her trial. A negative judgement against John would destroy his reputation and his legacy.
Shirley is declining with dementia and adds to John’s issues.
Then the story jumps to 2012 Switzerland.
John adds facts he feels to be true about everything from Ava’s era up to his business and personal problems during the past seven years.
Then James rears his ugly head again. (Surprise, Surprise, he didn’t die.)
James takes the stage to relay what really happened throughout the entire tale; and it’s not what John was duped into believing.
The editing and sentence structure are fair but drag the story down.
Character development is thorough, often with too much detail for my taste.
Details of all things are overly abundant, especially the frequent weather reports.
The plot is interesting and takes place in 1947 before jumping to 2005 and then to 2012.
The writing is extremely wordy and slow paced.
If you like extremely wordy, detailed narrative you may like this twisted tale of evil manipulation. I struggled through it but rated it truthfully.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – My Father’s Son
Author – Robert Plotkin
Genre – Mystery, Suspense
Word Count - 70,000
Rating – Four stars out of five
No. 24 - 2021
Posted 6/12/2021
My Impressions: Liars, violence, murder, curiosity, good intentions.
Main Characters:
Cole Spear – His father is said to have been a criminal who committed suicide. 38 Y.O.
Jessica Spear – Cole’s mother, 77 Y.O.
Sarah – Cole’s girlfriend.
Ray Marcus – Ex-Army Officer, Iraq. Mental health field
Karen – Ray’s girlfriend.
The plot of My Father’s Son is presented in two parallel stories that merge at the very end.
Cole Spear has been told since childhood his father was a financial genius but a crook who stole money from his friends and partners. When on the verge of being caught, he was said to have committed suicide.
Cole is a mental health-care therapist who deals with other people’s problems daily. He ponders if he, like his father, might someday commit suicide too. His life’s personal mission is to find and validate the truth about his father.
Ray and Karen move to a new location and discover a box in the basement containing old pictures and a woman’s expensive wedding ring. Ray commits to locating any living heir and passing the heirloom to them. He has no idea of the snake pit he is about to enter to fulfill his good deed.
The two men on similar quests are drawn to like paths to reach the worthwhile goals they have set.
The editing is poorly done with extra commas, missing words, wrong words, and extra words throughout.
Several sentences need to be restructured for clarity.
The author frequently switches between past and present tense in the same sentence. It’s confusing at best.
The plot is unusual and is laden with mental health issues.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Robert Plotkin
Genre – Mystery, Suspense
Word Count - 70,000
Rating – Four stars out of five
No. 24 - 2021
Posted 6/12/2021
My Impressions: Liars, violence, murder, curiosity, good intentions.
Main Characters:
Cole Spear – His father is said to have been a criminal who committed suicide. 38 Y.O.
Jessica Spear – Cole’s mother, 77 Y.O.
Sarah – Cole’s girlfriend.
Ray Marcus – Ex-Army Officer, Iraq. Mental health field
Karen – Ray’s girlfriend.
The plot of My Father’s Son is presented in two parallel stories that merge at the very end.
Cole Spear has been told since childhood his father was a financial genius but a crook who stole money from his friends and partners. When on the verge of being caught, he was said to have committed suicide.
Cole is a mental health-care therapist who deals with other people’s problems daily. He ponders if he, like his father, might someday commit suicide too. His life’s personal mission is to find and validate the truth about his father.
Ray and Karen move to a new location and discover a box in the basement containing old pictures and a woman’s expensive wedding ring. Ray commits to locating any living heir and passing the heirloom to them. He has no idea of the snake pit he is about to enter to fulfill his good deed.
The two men on similar quests are drawn to like paths to reach the worthwhile goals they have set.
The editing is poorly done with extra commas, missing words, wrong words, and extra words throughout.
Several sentences need to be restructured for clarity.
The author frequently switches between past and present tense in the same sentence. It’s confusing at best.
The plot is unusual and is laden with mental health issues.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Rembrandt’s Angel
Author - Steven M. Moore
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
422 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 23 – 2021
Posted 6/4/2021
My Impressions: tongue in cheek, humor, lovers, caring, action, violence.
Main Characters:
Ester Brookstone – Scotland Yard agent over art thefts, age about 60.
Bastiann van Coevorden – Interpol agent, age about 40, Ester’s lover
Gerhardt Dunst – owns pharmaceutical companies. Chasing bioweapon to eliminate enemies of a Fourth Reich.
Karen Lietzke - art dealer, and leader of Nazi plot to rule the world.
Rembrandt’s Angel has strong undercurrents of satire. The interactions between Ester and other characters is entertaining and provides humor among the violent acts of resurgent Nazis in 2023 Germany.
Ester is an art expert and chases art thieves with a vengeance. Following a trail to verify the existence of the painting Rembrandt’s Angel stolen by Nazis in WWII, she and Bastiann travel across Europe and to South America dealing with Nazis, Islamic Terrorist and the leader of a drug cartel. They learn a fresh group of determined Nazis plan to rule the world with a Fourth Reich as their despotic idol Adolph Hitler attempted.
Ester has been married three times and survived all three husbands. She unashamedly loves her sex bouts and finds good sex as necessary as food and wine. Bastiann plays a support role as Dr. Watson did to Sherlock Holmes.
There are several minor errors in details and research. BMWs are not made in England but in Germany.
With bags over their heads for a ride in a helicopter, how could Ester know what the terrain was like?
Stainless Steel flatware does not corrode.
Ester and Bastian’s escape from a stone cellar was a bit contrived and unrealistic.
The editing and sentence structure are excellent.
Character development is good for the main characters.
The plot is fresh and pulls the reader in quickly.
Rembrandt’s Angel is not a great story but is thoroughly entertaining.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author - Steven M. Moore
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
422 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 23 – 2021
Posted 6/4/2021
My Impressions: tongue in cheek, humor, lovers, caring, action, violence.
Main Characters:
Ester Brookstone – Scotland Yard agent over art thefts, age about 60.
Bastiann van Coevorden – Interpol agent, age about 40, Ester’s lover
Gerhardt Dunst – owns pharmaceutical companies. Chasing bioweapon to eliminate enemies of a Fourth Reich.
Karen Lietzke - art dealer, and leader of Nazi plot to rule the world.
Rembrandt’s Angel has strong undercurrents of satire. The interactions between Ester and other characters is entertaining and provides humor among the violent acts of resurgent Nazis in 2023 Germany.
Ester is an art expert and chases art thieves with a vengeance. Following a trail to verify the existence of the painting Rembrandt’s Angel stolen by Nazis in WWII, she and Bastiann travel across Europe and to South America dealing with Nazis, Islamic Terrorist and the leader of a drug cartel. They learn a fresh group of determined Nazis plan to rule the world with a Fourth Reich as their despotic idol Adolph Hitler attempted.
Ester has been married three times and survived all three husbands. She unashamedly loves her sex bouts and finds good sex as necessary as food and wine. Bastiann plays a support role as Dr. Watson did to Sherlock Holmes.
There are several minor errors in details and research. BMWs are not made in England but in Germany.
With bags over their heads for a ride in a helicopter, how could Ester know what the terrain was like?
Stainless Steel flatware does not corrode.
Ester and Bastian’s escape from a stone cellar was a bit contrived and unrealistic.
The editing and sentence structure are excellent.
Character development is good for the main characters.
The plot is fresh and pulls the reader in quickly.
Rembrandt’s Angel is not a great story but is thoroughly entertaining.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The World Without Crows
Author – Ben Lyle Bedard
Genre – Horror, Apocalyptic
300 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 22 – 2021
Posted 5/29/2021
My Impressions: simple, emotional, psychological suffering, death, hope.
Main Characters:
Eric – age 16, escaping Athens, Ohio after the Vaca B epidemic, heading for the backwoods of Maine.
Birdy – age 8
Brad
Sarah
John
Sergio
Lucia
For those who shy away from anything supernatural, sci-fi, occult, I suggest you take a look at this apocalyptic plot. Zombies in these stories are only the catalyst to cause the interaction among the survivors of a world disaster. The remaining people are the heart of the story. If you can get past the thought of zombies, the important story is about relationships between the people Eric attaches himself to and the vicious gangs terrorizing the good guys.
This story is a coming of age tale of sixteen year old Eric. The world is overrun by zombies caused by the Vaca Beber, a white worm from Brazil that invades human bodies and destroys the brain. Eric is an immature, fat, nerd. After his mother dies from the worms’ effects, he starts a twelve hundred mile trek, on foot, across the country headed for Maine.
Eric is ill prepared for the arduous trip and must learn and mature as he goes. His adjustment to the growing attachments to new friends and then their loss is well written and draws sympathy to the young man.
I don’t normally read occult, sci-fi or horror stories, but find these apocalyptic tales interesting because of the relationships of the survivors.
The editing has a few word errors and in some instances the sentence structure needs work.
Character development is good for the main characters.
Details are sketchy.
The plot is interesting and fast paced.
Writing Style – simple, sometimes repetitive, unorganized and out of order.
There are several continuity issues. Multiple times Eric had no gun then suddenly had one without explanation.
There is abundant cursing in the story.
I enjoyed The World Without Crows and recommend it.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Ben Lyle Bedard
Genre – Horror, Apocalyptic
300 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 22 – 2021
Posted 5/29/2021
My Impressions: simple, emotional, psychological suffering, death, hope.
Main Characters:
Eric – age 16, escaping Athens, Ohio after the Vaca B epidemic, heading for the backwoods of Maine.
Birdy – age 8
Brad
Sarah
John
Sergio
Lucia
For those who shy away from anything supernatural, sci-fi, occult, I suggest you take a look at this apocalyptic plot. Zombies in these stories are only the catalyst to cause the interaction among the survivors of a world disaster. The remaining people are the heart of the story. If you can get past the thought of zombies, the important story is about relationships between the people Eric attaches himself to and the vicious gangs terrorizing the good guys.
This story is a coming of age tale of sixteen year old Eric. The world is overrun by zombies caused by the Vaca Beber, a white worm from Brazil that invades human bodies and destroys the brain. Eric is an immature, fat, nerd. After his mother dies from the worms’ effects, he starts a twelve hundred mile trek, on foot, across the country headed for Maine.
Eric is ill prepared for the arduous trip and must learn and mature as he goes. His adjustment to the growing attachments to new friends and then their loss is well written and draws sympathy to the young man.
I don’t normally read occult, sci-fi or horror stories, but find these apocalyptic tales interesting because of the relationships of the survivors.
The editing has a few word errors and in some instances the sentence structure needs work.
Character development is good for the main characters.
Details are sketchy.
The plot is interesting and fast paced.
Writing Style – simple, sometimes repetitive, unorganized and out of order.
There are several continuity issues. Multiple times Eric had no gun then suddenly had one without explanation.
There is abundant cursing in the story.
I enjoyed The World Without Crows and recommend it.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The Three Monkey’s
Author – Robert Schobernd
Genre – Detective, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
77,800 Words
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 21-2021
Posted 5/22/2021
My impressions: hardcore, loving relationship, tenacious, violent, gruesome.
Main Characters:
Carter A. Johnson – vigilante turned private detective.
Kate Menke – vigilante turned private detective.
Deline Durand – wealthy author, lawyer, receptionist, girl Friday.
Paul Peltier – wealthy attorney, grandfather, radical Constitutionalist.
Anastasia Dubois – domestic-servant
Johnny Peltier – grandson of Paul Peltier
Capt. Harlee Davis – St. Louis, Missouri, Homicide Police Captain
The Three Monkeys takes place in and around St. Louis, Missouri.
The story opens with the discovery of three naked, mutilated bodies hung on the side of a barn a short distance from St. Louis.
Then the plot moves to the East Coast where vigilantes Carter and Kate are about to terminate a child trafficker who supplies children to pedophiles. Carter receives a cryptic message to stand down; the vigilante group has been compromised. Being Carter and Kate, they finish the job before retreating. A week later they meet with Harrison J. Withers and learn the circumstances causing the abandonment of the vigilante organization.
Out of a job, they are forced to make a career change. Months later the detective agency of J&M Investigations opens in St. Louis, Missouri. A new character is added to the series; Deline Durand is the enigmatic employee hired as the new agency’s receptionist. Her vibrant French character stands out and rivals those of Carter and Kate. Kate’s thought at Deline’s interview was ‘Somehow, we’ve managed to attract either Wonder Woman or the employee from hell.”
The agency’s first major case is The Three Monkeys. After many interviews and false leads, the investigators are left with two sets of suspects. One is Paul Peltier and his grandson Johnny.
After two threatening episodes, Deline is attacked and injured as she leaves the office. By then another new character has been introduced, Police Captain Harlee Davis is the detective’s tie to the St. Louis police department.
Eventually, there are more killings and the search narrows down to the final suspects. I’ve learned to appreciate the action scenes in this series. The actions are well planned and realistic.
The editing and sentence structure are far above average. Character development is thorough as colorful pictures of each person are painted.
The central plot involves gruesome murders and is offset by the romance between Kate and Carter.
The story contains mild sexual descriptions and minor cursing. Much of the bantering between lovers Carter and Kate is funny and lighthearted.
This series is one of my favorites and I can strongly recommend The Three Monkeys to crime thriller fans who are not turned off by the gory killings.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Robert Schobernd
Genre – Detective, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
77,800 Words
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 21-2021
Posted 5/22/2021
My impressions: hardcore, loving relationship, tenacious, violent, gruesome.
Main Characters:
Carter A. Johnson – vigilante turned private detective.
Kate Menke – vigilante turned private detective.
Deline Durand – wealthy author, lawyer, receptionist, girl Friday.
Paul Peltier – wealthy attorney, grandfather, radical Constitutionalist.
Anastasia Dubois – domestic-servant
Johnny Peltier – grandson of Paul Peltier
Capt. Harlee Davis – St. Louis, Missouri, Homicide Police Captain
The Three Monkeys takes place in and around St. Louis, Missouri.
The story opens with the discovery of three naked, mutilated bodies hung on the side of a barn a short distance from St. Louis.
Then the plot moves to the East Coast where vigilantes Carter and Kate are about to terminate a child trafficker who supplies children to pedophiles. Carter receives a cryptic message to stand down; the vigilante group has been compromised. Being Carter and Kate, they finish the job before retreating. A week later they meet with Harrison J. Withers and learn the circumstances causing the abandonment of the vigilante organization.
Out of a job, they are forced to make a career change. Months later the detective agency of J&M Investigations opens in St. Louis, Missouri. A new character is added to the series; Deline Durand is the enigmatic employee hired as the new agency’s receptionist. Her vibrant French character stands out and rivals those of Carter and Kate. Kate’s thought at Deline’s interview was ‘Somehow, we’ve managed to attract either Wonder Woman or the employee from hell.”
The agency’s first major case is The Three Monkeys. After many interviews and false leads, the investigators are left with two sets of suspects. One is Paul Peltier and his grandson Johnny.
After two threatening episodes, Deline is attacked and injured as she leaves the office. By then another new character has been introduced, Police Captain Harlee Davis is the detective’s tie to the St. Louis police department.
Eventually, there are more killings and the search narrows down to the final suspects. I’ve learned to appreciate the action scenes in this series. The actions are well planned and realistic.
The editing and sentence structure are far above average. Character development is thorough as colorful pictures of each person are painted.
The central plot involves gruesome murders and is offset by the romance between Kate and Carter.
The story contains mild sexual descriptions and minor cursing. Much of the bantering between lovers Carter and Kate is funny and lighthearted.
This series is one of my favorites and I can strongly recommend The Three Monkeys to crime thriller fans who are not turned off by the gory killings.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The Sporting House Killing
Author – G. Reading Powell
Genre – Western Legal Thriller
Word Count - 85,000
Rating – Five Stars out of five
No. 20 - 2021
Posted 5/14/2021
My Impressions: Intense emotions played out against personal grief and prejudice.
Main Characters:
Catfish Calloway - Revered and reviled Waco Attorney.
Harley Calloway – Catfish’s son and lawyer.
Miss Peach – The Calloway’s secretary.
Cicero Sweet – Accused of murdering a prostitute.
Waco Texas, 1894. The ‘Reservation’, a zone set off in Waco where prostitution was legalized and licensed.
Cicero Sweet and a friend sneak away from Baylor College for a night of beer drinking and debauchery. Inside the whorehouse, his friend gets cold feet and leaves the establishment to wait outside for Cicero. When a gun shot is heard from inside the house of ill repute, the friend is terrified and runs back to Baylor.
The next morning, everyone learns Cicero is being charged with killing one of the prostitutes with her gun.
Cicero’s father, Henry Sweet, is a civil war comrade of Catfish Calloway and insist the lawyer take the case to prevent Cicero from being hung for murder. Catfish tries to beg off taking the case but is indebted to Henry.
Catfish, Harley and Miss Peach investigate but can not tie the crime to anyone but Cicero.
In court, Catfish’s behavior is erratic as his personal demons swamp his mind with past memories of an earlier murder case he lost.
The editing leaves many comma issues and several word problems, but it is not as terrible as most indie books are.
The sentence structures are well done.
Character development is above average.
Abundant details of the time frame indicate in depth research.
The plot is different and retains the distain for the ‘working girls’ even by the men who frequent them.
In spite of the editing shortfalls, I highly recommend this legal thriller set at the end of the old west era.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – G. Reading Powell
Genre – Western Legal Thriller
Word Count - 85,000
Rating – Five Stars out of five
No. 20 - 2021
Posted 5/14/2021
My Impressions: Intense emotions played out against personal grief and prejudice.
Main Characters:
Catfish Calloway - Revered and reviled Waco Attorney.
Harley Calloway – Catfish’s son and lawyer.
Miss Peach – The Calloway’s secretary.
Cicero Sweet – Accused of murdering a prostitute.
Waco Texas, 1894. The ‘Reservation’, a zone set off in Waco where prostitution was legalized and licensed.
Cicero Sweet and a friend sneak away from Baylor College for a night of beer drinking and debauchery. Inside the whorehouse, his friend gets cold feet and leaves the establishment to wait outside for Cicero. When a gun shot is heard from inside the house of ill repute, the friend is terrified and runs back to Baylor.
The next morning, everyone learns Cicero is being charged with killing one of the prostitutes with her gun.
Cicero’s father, Henry Sweet, is a civil war comrade of Catfish Calloway and insist the lawyer take the case to prevent Cicero from being hung for murder. Catfish tries to beg off taking the case but is indebted to Henry.
Catfish, Harley and Miss Peach investigate but can not tie the crime to anyone but Cicero.
In court, Catfish’s behavior is erratic as his personal demons swamp his mind with past memories of an earlier murder case he lost.
The editing leaves many comma issues and several word problems, but it is not as terrible as most indie books are.
The sentence structures are well done.
Character development is above average.
Abundant details of the time frame indicate in depth research.
The plot is different and retains the distain for the ‘working girls’ even by the men who frequent them.
In spite of the editing shortfalls, I highly recommend this legal thriller set at the end of the old west era.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – State of Redemption
Author – Richard McKeown
Genre – Crime, Suspense
Word Count - 122,000
Rating – Four stars out of Five
No. 19 - 2021
Posted 5/6/2021
My Impressions: Redemption vs. Punishment, Justice vs. Injustice, Truth vs. Cover-up
Main Characters:
Matt Matheny – Plagued by an ordeal he can’t shake.
Maryanne Carpenter – Matt’s friend and staunch supporter.
Tommy Branscum – District Attorney & potential State Governor with a dire secret in his past.
T. Bently Branscum III – Egotistical, controlling patriarch of an old New England family.
Father Mitch Potter – Catholic Priest with a sin to conceal.
Warren Andrews – Retired District Attorney who followed his religious belief.
Thirty years prior, Matt Matheny saw something his ten-year-old mind couldn’t fathom and a face he could never forget. By the age of forty, he had lost his only child; then his wife slowly succumbed to cancer. Seeking a fresh start, he moved back to his original home Milford, Vermont. Soon he met Maryanne, the daughter of a crusty, old neighbor across the street from the house he rented. Eventually, he confided in her the story of an event he’d witnessed when he was ten years old. Wondering what happened to the person he’d seen being attacked late at night, they soon learned a fifteen-year-old girl had been beaten to death during the attack Matt had witnessed thirty years prior.
By chance, he saw a photo of a seventeen-year-old local sports star from that same period. He was agast.
He and Maryanne began investigating on their own and soon incurred the wrath of the killer’s protector. Attending a funeral for a friend let him to meet with Warren Andrews who instilled in Matt the fact that he and Maryanne could be in danger for resurrecting the thirty-year-old crime and putting a face and name to the well-known and popular killer.
I highly recommend this excellent story despite its many editing and formatting flaws.
The editing is not terrible but is plagued by missing and extra commas throughout. Additionally, there are too many missing, extra, misspelled, and wrong words. Those are a shame because the quality of the story deserves better.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Richard McKeown
Genre – Crime, Suspense
Word Count - 122,000
Rating – Four stars out of Five
No. 19 - 2021
Posted 5/6/2021
My Impressions: Redemption vs. Punishment, Justice vs. Injustice, Truth vs. Cover-up
Main Characters:
Matt Matheny – Plagued by an ordeal he can’t shake.
Maryanne Carpenter – Matt’s friend and staunch supporter.
Tommy Branscum – District Attorney & potential State Governor with a dire secret in his past.
T. Bently Branscum III – Egotistical, controlling patriarch of an old New England family.
Father Mitch Potter – Catholic Priest with a sin to conceal.
Warren Andrews – Retired District Attorney who followed his religious belief.
Thirty years prior, Matt Matheny saw something his ten-year-old mind couldn’t fathom and a face he could never forget. By the age of forty, he had lost his only child; then his wife slowly succumbed to cancer. Seeking a fresh start, he moved back to his original home Milford, Vermont. Soon he met Maryanne, the daughter of a crusty, old neighbor across the street from the house he rented. Eventually, he confided in her the story of an event he’d witnessed when he was ten years old. Wondering what happened to the person he’d seen being attacked late at night, they soon learned a fifteen-year-old girl had been beaten to death during the attack Matt had witnessed thirty years prior.
By chance, he saw a photo of a seventeen-year-old local sports star from that same period. He was agast.
He and Maryanne began investigating on their own and soon incurred the wrath of the killer’s protector. Attending a funeral for a friend let him to meet with Warren Andrews who instilled in Matt the fact that he and Maryanne could be in danger for resurrecting the thirty-year-old crime and putting a face and name to the well-known and popular killer.
I highly recommend this excellent story despite its many editing and formatting flaws.
The editing is not terrible but is plagued by missing and extra commas throughout. Additionally, there are too many missing, extra, misspelled, and wrong words. Those are a shame because the quality of the story deserves better.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – For Better and Worse
Author – E.B. Roshan
Genre – Dystopian Romantic Suspense
Word Count - 51,000
Rating – 5 stars out of 5
No. 18 - 2021
Posted 4/30/2021
My Impressions: In depth look into a complex dystopian society, greed and hate mingled on both sides.
Main Characters:
Boris Merkovich
Anna Merkovich
Boris and Anna are expecting their first child in the strife filled city of Dor. The White Horse forces of Sevians are in combat with the Rayads of the Tur group. The two ethnic groups had fought and devastated sections of the city into abandoned war zones.
Boris owned and operated a restaurant until he was forced to close it. He and Anna try to avoid taking sides in the conflict surrounding them but are targeted by the White Horses because Boris keeps a man of Tur ethnic origin as his assistant for his business. They continue to operate the business from their home kitchen and provide food for wedding parties and other large gatherings.
After a catering job, the two lone caterers are harassed by a group of drunks who wet them with a hose and hurl disparaging, crude remarks at them. Boris loses his temper and attacks the leader of the troublemakers and puts him in the hospital in a coma he may or may not live through. From there the young couples’ affairs and relationship go downhill until Anna gives birth by herself at home while Boris is attacked by the White Horse thugs.
The editing is better than average but not as perfect as it can be. Sentence structure is good.
Character Development is thorough especially for the two main characters.
In depth details speak to thorough research.
The plot is simple but delves into the lives of two lovers in a war torn dystopian society.
I don’t normally review romance stories, but this story of two young people learning to adjust to each other while experiencing the strengths and weaknesses of their mate amid ethnic conflict is intriguing and well written.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – E.B. Roshan
Genre – Dystopian Romantic Suspense
Word Count - 51,000
Rating – 5 stars out of 5
No. 18 - 2021
Posted 4/30/2021
My Impressions: In depth look into a complex dystopian society, greed and hate mingled on both sides.
Main Characters:
Boris Merkovich
Anna Merkovich
Boris and Anna are expecting their first child in the strife filled city of Dor. The White Horse forces of Sevians are in combat with the Rayads of the Tur group. The two ethnic groups had fought and devastated sections of the city into abandoned war zones.
Boris owned and operated a restaurant until he was forced to close it. He and Anna try to avoid taking sides in the conflict surrounding them but are targeted by the White Horses because Boris keeps a man of Tur ethnic origin as his assistant for his business. They continue to operate the business from their home kitchen and provide food for wedding parties and other large gatherings.
After a catering job, the two lone caterers are harassed by a group of drunks who wet them with a hose and hurl disparaging, crude remarks at them. Boris loses his temper and attacks the leader of the troublemakers and puts him in the hospital in a coma he may or may not live through. From there the young couples’ affairs and relationship go downhill until Anna gives birth by herself at home while Boris is attacked by the White Horse thugs.
The editing is better than average but not as perfect as it can be. Sentence structure is good.
Character Development is thorough especially for the two main characters.
In depth details speak to thorough research.
The plot is simple but delves into the lives of two lovers in a war torn dystopian society.
I don’t normally review romance stories, but this story of two young people learning to adjust to each other while experiencing the strengths and weaknesses of their mate amid ethnic conflict is intriguing and well written.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The Redemption of Charlie McCoy
Author – Christopher Wilsher
Genre – Crime Thriller
378 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No.17 – 2021
Posted 4/24/2021
My impressions: loner, serial failure, rationalization, liar, cold, sociopath
Main Characters:
Charlie McCoy – ex-Marine, small time hustler, burglar, 53 years old.
Amy McCoy – Charlie's thirteen year old daughter.
Mike De La Torre – FBI special agent
Charlie McCoy is pressured to repay a loan shark the money he owes after the shark's goons busted Charlie's right hand with hammer blows. He reluctantly agrees to break into a mob boss's home to steal a large sum of money and several computer discs; the job smells because it just seems too easy. The theft suddenly goes badly awry; luckily Charlie was leery and had a back up plan. Then Charlie is on the run from mob enforcers who want everything Charlie has stolen put back in the boss' possession.
But the mob isn't the only group chasing him. An FBI agent wants to know his whereabouts too, and Charlie is suspected of one then three counts of murder.
Charlie is a sociopath who easily blames everyone else for his problems and failures. He's also a loner who isn't able to relate to other people, even those he cares about; he's emotionally deficient.
His ex-wife has no use for him, until she needs him to keep their thirteen year old daughter for a few days. Then Charlie's life takes a definite turn for the worse. Precocious thirteen year old Amy challenges Charlie at every turn and confronts and condemns him each time the mobsters chasing him get near enough to almost catch them.
It's a rollicking non-stop confrontation as Amy constantly berates him for being an inept thief and a lousy father.
The ending held several surprises as Charlie pushed back against the crooks and the FBI.
The editing is very poor with missing, extra, misspelled and wrong words used.
Character development of the main characters is good and sentence structure is mostly good.
Details are adequate and thorough research is evident.
The plot is great with many unexpected twists.
I enjoyed The Redemption of Charlie McCoy and highly recommend it unless the editing would be a serious turnoff for the reader.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Christopher Wilsher
Genre – Crime Thriller
378 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No.17 – 2021
Posted 4/24/2021
My impressions: loner, serial failure, rationalization, liar, cold, sociopath
Main Characters:
Charlie McCoy – ex-Marine, small time hustler, burglar, 53 years old.
Amy McCoy – Charlie's thirteen year old daughter.
Mike De La Torre – FBI special agent
Charlie McCoy is pressured to repay a loan shark the money he owes after the shark's goons busted Charlie's right hand with hammer blows. He reluctantly agrees to break into a mob boss's home to steal a large sum of money and several computer discs; the job smells because it just seems too easy. The theft suddenly goes badly awry; luckily Charlie was leery and had a back up plan. Then Charlie is on the run from mob enforcers who want everything Charlie has stolen put back in the boss' possession.
But the mob isn't the only group chasing him. An FBI agent wants to know his whereabouts too, and Charlie is suspected of one then three counts of murder.
Charlie is a sociopath who easily blames everyone else for his problems and failures. He's also a loner who isn't able to relate to other people, even those he cares about; he's emotionally deficient.
His ex-wife has no use for him, until she needs him to keep their thirteen year old daughter for a few days. Then Charlie's life takes a definite turn for the worse. Precocious thirteen year old Amy challenges Charlie at every turn and confronts and condemns him each time the mobsters chasing him get near enough to almost catch them.
It's a rollicking non-stop confrontation as Amy constantly berates him for being an inept thief and a lousy father.
The ending held several surprises as Charlie pushed back against the crooks and the FBI.
The editing is very poor with missing, extra, misspelled and wrong words used.
Character development of the main characters is good and sentence structure is mostly good.
Details are adequate and thorough research is evident.
The plot is great with many unexpected twists.
I enjoyed The Redemption of Charlie McCoy and highly recommend it unless the editing would be a serious turnoff for the reader.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The Man in the Leather Jacket: Predator Games
Author – Peter Boroch
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Hard Boiled
193 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 16 –2021
Posted 4/17/2021
My Impressions:
Porter – violent, irreverent, caring, suffering,
The Sandman – extremely violent, sadistic, pervert, psychopath.
Main Characters:
Ryan Porter – 30 years old, ex-military, private detective.
Mindy - 14 year old, homeless, cleans up in a strip club.
The Sandman – sadistic serial killer.
The first part of The Man in The Leather Jacket almost convinced me to stop reading it. The main character, Ryan Porter was presented as a tough, trouble seeking, antagonistic, drunken smart-mouth. Later, I was glad I stuck with it because while he was still a butt-wipe at times, I grew to like him. Then Mindy, the fourteen-year-old tough, antagonistic, smart-mouth met Ryan and attached herself to him, and she won me over.
There are other memorable characters in the story in support roles and they contributed to the emotional impact as they dealt with Ryan in Cheyenne Colorado.
Vague details revealed Ryan was the lone survivor of an attack on his squad in Iraq; he was wounded and captured and somehow escaped or was rescued; that was one of several issues that were very vague. His guilt of being the only survivor haunted him, along with teen-aged issues that caused his erratic, caustic behavior.
When a man disappeared, his sister hired Ryan to find him. A local serial killer, The Sandman, had been killing or causing people to disappear. There were several issues that were vague and left hanging. Maybe they will be resolved in sequels that are sure to follow.
It was bizarre that a detective would take a fourteen year old along while he searched for criminals, but in the end it worked and set the stage for her to become his full time partner. A stretch, but it worked well enough.
Research was sloppy. Airbags begin to deflate almost immediately upon activation. There was no reason for Porter to manually deflate a deployed airbag.
Cursing by most characters is excessive. There are frequent references to sex acts but without graphic details.
Overall, the story was engaging, and I enjoyed it.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Peter Boroch
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Hard Boiled
193 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No. 16 –2021
Posted 4/17/2021
My Impressions:
Porter – violent, irreverent, caring, suffering,
The Sandman – extremely violent, sadistic, pervert, psychopath.
Main Characters:
Ryan Porter – 30 years old, ex-military, private detective.
Mindy - 14 year old, homeless, cleans up in a strip club.
The Sandman – sadistic serial killer.
The first part of The Man in The Leather Jacket almost convinced me to stop reading it. The main character, Ryan Porter was presented as a tough, trouble seeking, antagonistic, drunken smart-mouth. Later, I was glad I stuck with it because while he was still a butt-wipe at times, I grew to like him. Then Mindy, the fourteen-year-old tough, antagonistic, smart-mouth met Ryan and attached herself to him, and she won me over.
There are other memorable characters in the story in support roles and they contributed to the emotional impact as they dealt with Ryan in Cheyenne Colorado.
Vague details revealed Ryan was the lone survivor of an attack on his squad in Iraq; he was wounded and captured and somehow escaped or was rescued; that was one of several issues that were very vague. His guilt of being the only survivor haunted him, along with teen-aged issues that caused his erratic, caustic behavior.
When a man disappeared, his sister hired Ryan to find him. A local serial killer, The Sandman, had been killing or causing people to disappear. There were several issues that were vague and left hanging. Maybe they will be resolved in sequels that are sure to follow.
It was bizarre that a detective would take a fourteen year old along while he searched for criminals, but in the end it worked and set the stage for her to become his full time partner. A stretch, but it worked well enough.
Research was sloppy. Airbags begin to deflate almost immediately upon activation. There was no reason for Porter to manually deflate a deployed airbag.
Cursing by most characters is excessive. There are frequent references to sex acts but without graphic details.
Overall, the story was engaging, and I enjoyed it.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Along the Guadalquivir
Author – Joseph R. Costa
Genre – Historical Fiction
Word Count - 79,500
Rating – Four stars out of Five
No. 15 - 2021
Posted April 10,2021
My Impressions: Excellent action in late sixteenth century Spain.
Main Characters:
Mateo – Army Lieutenant aboard a Spanish galleon.
Guillermo – Mateo’s true childhood friend.
Mencia – A date who rejects Mateo, then becomes a true friend of Mateo and Guillemo.
Luisa – Mateo’s Juliet to his Romeo.
Mateo is serving as a naval lieutenant on a late sixteenth century Spanish galleon escorting a fleet of ships carrying gold from the Indies to Spain. When the fleet is attacked by British ships, he experiences the horrors of brutal battle.
The scene shifts to Mateo at home with friends and family and reunification with his best friend Guillemo. Mateo is under pressure from his parents to marry and sire their grandchildren. His several arranged dates with prospective mates are comical and unproductive. Finally he meets Mencia, who flat out rejects him and all arrogant, self-centered males. He is enthralled with this outspoken girl who is a knife thrower, archer, and sword fighting tomboy. Mateo, Guillermo and Mencia quickly become best friends and much of the story revolves around their friendships and exciting adventures.
During his time in the Indies, Mateo gathered seeds for red peppers, beans, corn, tomatoes, and seed potatoes. A portion of the story deals with these new crops from the Americas as the Spaniards learn to grow them and acquire a taste for them.
The story is action packed as the trio of friends stand up to various rouges and show them “The Wrath of God”.
If the editing was as well done as the plot and storytelling this would rate a five star review.
The sentence structure is well done.
Character Development is good for the main characters and important support characters.
Details are abundant but come across as if a stage manager is behind the curtains yelling information to the actors.
Thorough and detailed research is apparent.
The plot is fresh and unusual.
The story does not contain any cursing or intimate sexual scenes but does have violence and murder.
I strongly recommend this story in spite of the flaws.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Joseph R. Costa
Genre – Historical Fiction
Word Count - 79,500
Rating – Four stars out of Five
No. 15 - 2021
Posted April 10,2021
My Impressions: Excellent action in late sixteenth century Spain.
Main Characters:
Mateo – Army Lieutenant aboard a Spanish galleon.
Guillermo – Mateo’s true childhood friend.
Mencia – A date who rejects Mateo, then becomes a true friend of Mateo and Guillemo.
Luisa – Mateo’s Juliet to his Romeo.
Mateo is serving as a naval lieutenant on a late sixteenth century Spanish galleon escorting a fleet of ships carrying gold from the Indies to Spain. When the fleet is attacked by British ships, he experiences the horrors of brutal battle.
The scene shifts to Mateo at home with friends and family and reunification with his best friend Guillemo. Mateo is under pressure from his parents to marry and sire their grandchildren. His several arranged dates with prospective mates are comical and unproductive. Finally he meets Mencia, who flat out rejects him and all arrogant, self-centered males. He is enthralled with this outspoken girl who is a knife thrower, archer, and sword fighting tomboy. Mateo, Guillermo and Mencia quickly become best friends and much of the story revolves around their friendships and exciting adventures.
During his time in the Indies, Mateo gathered seeds for red peppers, beans, corn, tomatoes, and seed potatoes. A portion of the story deals with these new crops from the Americas as the Spaniards learn to grow them and acquire a taste for them.
The story is action packed as the trio of friends stand up to various rouges and show them “The Wrath of God”.
If the editing was as well done as the plot and storytelling this would rate a five star review.
The sentence structure is well done.
Character Development is good for the main characters and important support characters.
Details are abundant but come across as if a stage manager is behind the curtains yelling information to the actors.
Thorough and detailed research is apparent.
The plot is fresh and unusual.
The story does not contain any cursing or intimate sexual scenes but does have violence and murder.
I strongly recommend this story in spite of the flaws.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The Gambit
Author – Brad Carlson
Genre – Military, Political, Suspense, Thriller
316 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No.14 – 2021
Posted 4/2/2021
My impressions: thought provoking, possible, scary, terrorists.
Main Characters:
Colonel Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson – special forces - CIA
Danielle 'Dani' Yaniv – Mossad agent and nuclear engineer.
There are many characters in The Gambit', but only Stonewall and Dani impact the plot throughout. The story moves between Israel, Iran and the United States with characters from the armies and intelligence agencies of all three world powers. It's hard to describe the story with out including spoilers, but I'll try to limit them.
Israeli intelligence learns Iran is only weeks from fielding an atomic bomb. Air strikes by Israel with support from US aircraft carrier battle groups decimate Iran's nuclear facilities.
But Iran has anticipated these attacks that will slow their nuclear ambition for several years; conversely, they have been preparing to implement a bold plan that will bring the Great Satan, as thy call the US, to their knees for decades
The story switches to characters from all three countries as Iran moves to implement their attack and to Israeli and US agencies trying to uncover the plot and determine its scope and timeline.
The plot is thrilling, suspenseful and fast paced.
Now the bad news. I actually wanted to rate The Gambit six stars out of five, but I can't justify more than a four.
The editing is good but with word related exceptions.
Sentence structure and character development are fine.
Details and research are evident in the depth of information provided pertaining to the various military units and equipment.
The plot is fast paced, scary and intense.
The writing style is where the story breaks down. It is extremely wordy with weak words like pretty, about and some being so abundant they make statements weak and ambiguous. And the writing is so repetitive with the same words and phrases being used multiple times in the same sentence or paragraph.
Negative words like can't and haven't are used where can and have make more sense than the negatives implied.
Many scenes run together without a blank line to warn the reader of scene changes.
In spite of the above errors, I strongly recommend The Gambit for a thrilling read of a very possible world struggle.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Brad Carlson
Genre – Military, Political, Suspense, Thriller
316 Amazon Pages
Rating 4 stars out of 5
No.14 – 2021
Posted 4/2/2021
My impressions: thought provoking, possible, scary, terrorists.
Main Characters:
Colonel Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson – special forces - CIA
Danielle 'Dani' Yaniv – Mossad agent and nuclear engineer.
There are many characters in The Gambit', but only Stonewall and Dani impact the plot throughout. The story moves between Israel, Iran and the United States with characters from the armies and intelligence agencies of all three world powers. It's hard to describe the story with out including spoilers, but I'll try to limit them.
Israeli intelligence learns Iran is only weeks from fielding an atomic bomb. Air strikes by Israel with support from US aircraft carrier battle groups decimate Iran's nuclear facilities.
But Iran has anticipated these attacks that will slow their nuclear ambition for several years; conversely, they have been preparing to implement a bold plan that will bring the Great Satan, as thy call the US, to their knees for decades
The story switches to characters from all three countries as Iran moves to implement their attack and to Israeli and US agencies trying to uncover the plot and determine its scope and timeline.
The plot is thrilling, suspenseful and fast paced.
Now the bad news. I actually wanted to rate The Gambit six stars out of five, but I can't justify more than a four.
The editing is good but with word related exceptions.
Sentence structure and character development are fine.
Details and research are evident in the depth of information provided pertaining to the various military units and equipment.
The plot is fast paced, scary and intense.
The writing style is where the story breaks down. It is extremely wordy with weak words like pretty, about and some being so abundant they make statements weak and ambiguous. And the writing is so repetitive with the same words and phrases being used multiple times in the same sentence or paragraph.
Negative words like can't and haven't are used where can and have make more sense than the negatives implied.
Many scenes run together without a blank line to warn the reader of scene changes.
In spite of the above errors, I strongly recommend The Gambit for a thrilling read of a very possible world struggle.
This review was provided in exchange for a free book.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Moonshiner's Justice
Author – Jeremy Perry
Genre – Action/Adventure
147 Amazon Pages (about 45,000 words)
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 13 - 2021
Posted 3/27/2021
This is a novella length story set in 1923 in eastern Kentucky.
My impressions: loving caring family members, self-sufficient, hard independent people, vigilante justice.
Main Characters:
Frank Jamison – bootlegger.
Raymond Jamison – Frank’s 13 year old son.
Ansel Jamison – Frank’s father.
Clyde Brown – Frank’s good friend.
Moonshiner’s Justice is an excellent story of greed, betrayal, and revenge. Frank is identified to the Federal Infernal Revenue officers as an illegal whiskey producer. He is known and respected throughout the rural area where his family lives for producing the best white lightening ever sold in a quart jar. But his fame and notoriety has drawn the attention of greedy folks who want his business. Two Internal Revenue agents confront Frank as they are destroying his still and arrest him. He is charged, convicted, and sent to prison.
The matriarch of this close family arrives to watch over his son’s family. This is when the main action of the story begins to occur.
But the crime plot is only one part of this tale. In the midst of this proud, loving family is Raymond’s coming of age journey as he deals with loss, betrayal, and the responsibility of manhood.
I can proudly highly recommend this heartfelt story.
The editing is excellent, almost perfect. Sentence structure is above the norm also.
Character Development is good, especially for novella length story.
Details are adequate for a tale told mainly in the forest.
The plot is simple but endearing. Much emphasis is placed on the Jamison family’s relationships and principles.
The writing style is simple but crisp.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Jeremy Perry
Genre – Action/Adventure
147 Amazon Pages (about 45,000 words)
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 13 - 2021
Posted 3/27/2021
This is a novella length story set in 1923 in eastern Kentucky.
My impressions: loving caring family members, self-sufficient, hard independent people, vigilante justice.
Main Characters:
Frank Jamison – bootlegger.
Raymond Jamison – Frank’s 13 year old son.
Ansel Jamison – Frank’s father.
Clyde Brown – Frank’s good friend.
Moonshiner’s Justice is an excellent story of greed, betrayal, and revenge. Frank is identified to the Federal Infernal Revenue officers as an illegal whiskey producer. He is known and respected throughout the rural area where his family lives for producing the best white lightening ever sold in a quart jar. But his fame and notoriety has drawn the attention of greedy folks who want his business. Two Internal Revenue agents confront Frank as they are destroying his still and arrest him. He is charged, convicted, and sent to prison.
The matriarch of this close family arrives to watch over his son’s family. This is when the main action of the story begins to occur.
But the crime plot is only one part of this tale. In the midst of this proud, loving family is Raymond’s coming of age journey as he deals with loss, betrayal, and the responsibility of manhood.
I can proudly highly recommend this heartfelt story.
The editing is excellent, almost perfect. Sentence structure is above the norm also.
Character Development is good, especially for novella length story.
Details are adequate for a tale told mainly in the forest.
The plot is simple but endearing. Much emphasis is placed on the Jamison family’s relationships and principles.
The writing style is simple but crisp.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – The Sovereignty File
Author – Elizabeth Smith
Genre – Suspense Mystery
Word Count - 79,290
Rating – 5 Stars out of 5
No. 12 - 2021
Posted 3/19/2021
My Impressions: murder, blackmail, racism, revenge, prejudice
Main Characters:
Jonathan Burke - Reporter
Garrett Sloan – U.S. Senator running for the U.S. presidency.
Henry Clarkson – Mississippi Supreme Court Justice retired.
Franklin Carter – U.S. Representative retired, Sloan’s father-in-law, Allison’s father.
Lacey Pritchard – Burke’s ex-wife, psychotic.
Allison Sloan – Sloan’s wife, Carter’s daughter.
Dr. Peyton St. Clair – (Honey) history professor @ Mississippi Coast College.
The Mississippi Sovereignty Commission existed from 1956 to 1977; a secret, state-sponsored government agency that used spying, jury tampering, false imprisonment, and murder to crush the civil rights movement and preserve Mississippi’s racially segregated status.
Jonathan Burke was asked by ex-wife Lacey to interview Senator Garrett Sloan who seeks the presidency. He interviewed Sloan and judged him to be full of darkness, hate, and pure evil under his mask of dark good looks, style, and charisma.
Garrett’s wife, Allison, had provided Jonathan with a question about the Sovereignty Commission to be asked at the end of his interview. Later she told him a page from the Sovereignty File had been found in their hotel room that morning causing Garret and her father to become enraged. Apparently someone had information that could ruin Garrett’s chance of attaining the presidency and also put many prominent, old power brokers in prison and destroy their family names.
Jonathan’s investigation led him to the murder of a ten-year-old Negro girl who was abducted many years ago. She proved to be a key to bringing the commission members to justice.
During his search for information, Jonathan teamed up with Honey St. Clair, a history professor in charge of the Sovereignty File stored at her college. She joined Jonathan in his quest because she was intrigued by his mission (and with Jonathan).
The rest of the story is complex and full of twist and turns. The action is suspenseful and deadly.
The editing and sentence structure are far better than normal, but not perfect.
Character development is good and paints pictures of people ranging from outstanding to crooked to evil.
Details are in depth and show the amount of research done to flesh out the story.
The plot is fresh and complex and makes the reader want more to the end.
The writing style is fast paced and captures the essence of the southern coastal region.
I highly recommend this story of past racial prejudice and the forces that prolonged it’s demise.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Elizabeth Smith
Genre – Suspense Mystery
Word Count - 79,290
Rating – 5 Stars out of 5
No. 12 - 2021
Posted 3/19/2021
My Impressions: murder, blackmail, racism, revenge, prejudice
Main Characters:
Jonathan Burke - Reporter
Garrett Sloan – U.S. Senator running for the U.S. presidency.
Henry Clarkson – Mississippi Supreme Court Justice retired.
Franklin Carter – U.S. Representative retired, Sloan’s father-in-law, Allison’s father.
Lacey Pritchard – Burke’s ex-wife, psychotic.
Allison Sloan – Sloan’s wife, Carter’s daughter.
Dr. Peyton St. Clair – (Honey) history professor @ Mississippi Coast College.
The Mississippi Sovereignty Commission existed from 1956 to 1977; a secret, state-sponsored government agency that used spying, jury tampering, false imprisonment, and murder to crush the civil rights movement and preserve Mississippi’s racially segregated status.
Jonathan Burke was asked by ex-wife Lacey to interview Senator Garrett Sloan who seeks the presidency. He interviewed Sloan and judged him to be full of darkness, hate, and pure evil under his mask of dark good looks, style, and charisma.
Garrett’s wife, Allison, had provided Jonathan with a question about the Sovereignty Commission to be asked at the end of his interview. Later she told him a page from the Sovereignty File had been found in their hotel room that morning causing Garret and her father to become enraged. Apparently someone had information that could ruin Garrett’s chance of attaining the presidency and also put many prominent, old power brokers in prison and destroy their family names.
Jonathan’s investigation led him to the murder of a ten-year-old Negro girl who was abducted many years ago. She proved to be a key to bringing the commission members to justice.
During his search for information, Jonathan teamed up with Honey St. Clair, a history professor in charge of the Sovereignty File stored at her college. She joined Jonathan in his quest because she was intrigued by his mission (and with Jonathan).
The rest of the story is complex and full of twist and turns. The action is suspenseful and deadly.
The editing and sentence structure are far better than normal, but not perfect.
Character development is good and paints pictures of people ranging from outstanding to crooked to evil.
Details are in depth and show the amount of research done to flesh out the story.
The plot is fresh and complex and makes the reader want more to the end.
The writing style is fast paced and captures the essence of the southern coastal region.
I highly recommend this story of past racial prejudice and the forces that prolonged it’s demise.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Cape Abigail
Author – Robert Schobernd
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Hard Boiled
Word Count 97,000
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 11– 2021
Posted 3/13/2021
My impressions: framed, violence, rape, intimidation, romantic triangle, vigilante justice.
Main Characters:
Carter A. Johnson – vigilante investigator.
Kate Menke – vigilante investigator.
Mattie Boker – Carter’s girlfriend in Oregon.
Sharon Collins – Cape Abigail, Maine Police officer attracted to Carter.
Steve Snowe – Cape Abigail, Maine Police Sergeant.
Lynn Lancaster – both of her parents were convicted of committing three murders.
Frank Lehnen – husband of murder victim.
Fidel Elizondo – drug cartel assassin.
Fiona Wiesmann – exotic dancer and more.
The fictional seaside town of Cape Abigail, Maine is the setting for Cape Abigail in current times.
Carter Johnson is assigned by his vigilante group handler to look into the conviction of a husband and wife imprisoned for the premeditated murder of three people in the quaint, peaceful town.
Before leaving Oregon he and his current girlfriend Mattie have a serious discussion about their future relationship. Carter is not pleased with the direction they’re headed. In Cape Abigail, he comes to the aid of Police Officer Collins and then on the rebound from Mattie starts an affair with Collins.
The daughter of the convicted murders, Lynn Lancaster is adamant her parents are innocent until she suddenly becomes sullen and withdrawn and changes her position to accept their guilt. Carter asked for another investigator, preferably female, to get next to Lynn and learn what is troubling her. Kate Menke is sent to assist him and Carter finds himself dealing with three women he is attracted to.
As the investigation gets closer to the person actually behind the murders, Carter is attacked and then he and Kate are attacked. The action scenes are well orchestrated and believable. They pulled me into the story with the detailed accounts leading up to the scene’s conclusions. The final attack on Carter was cold and calculating and he barely escaped with all his parts. The assassins portrayed were well conceived and truly evil, each in their own way.
Through many twist and turns in the plot, the vigilantes eventually learned the identity of the antagonist and brought him to justice.
Both the editing and sentence structure are excellent.
The character development is thorough and detailed for all the main characters.
The plot is complex with more danger and turns than a coiled rattlesnake.
The writing style is to the point without a lot of extraneous detail that constitutes filler.
Thorough research is evident throughout the story.
I thoroughly enjoyed the plot's fast, action filled pace plus Carter’s resolute handling of his feelings for each of his three love interests.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Robert Schobernd
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Hard Boiled
Word Count 97,000
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No. 11– 2021
Posted 3/13/2021
My impressions: framed, violence, rape, intimidation, romantic triangle, vigilante justice.
Main Characters:
Carter A. Johnson – vigilante investigator.
Kate Menke – vigilante investigator.
Mattie Boker – Carter’s girlfriend in Oregon.
Sharon Collins – Cape Abigail, Maine Police officer attracted to Carter.
Steve Snowe – Cape Abigail, Maine Police Sergeant.
Lynn Lancaster – both of her parents were convicted of committing three murders.
Frank Lehnen – husband of murder victim.
Fidel Elizondo – drug cartel assassin.
Fiona Wiesmann – exotic dancer and more.
The fictional seaside town of Cape Abigail, Maine is the setting for Cape Abigail in current times.
Carter Johnson is assigned by his vigilante group handler to look into the conviction of a husband and wife imprisoned for the premeditated murder of three people in the quaint, peaceful town.
Before leaving Oregon he and his current girlfriend Mattie have a serious discussion about their future relationship. Carter is not pleased with the direction they’re headed. In Cape Abigail, he comes to the aid of Police Officer Collins and then on the rebound from Mattie starts an affair with Collins.
The daughter of the convicted murders, Lynn Lancaster is adamant her parents are innocent until she suddenly becomes sullen and withdrawn and changes her position to accept their guilt. Carter asked for another investigator, preferably female, to get next to Lynn and learn what is troubling her. Kate Menke is sent to assist him and Carter finds himself dealing with three women he is attracted to.
As the investigation gets closer to the person actually behind the murders, Carter is attacked and then he and Kate are attacked. The action scenes are well orchestrated and believable. They pulled me into the story with the detailed accounts leading up to the scene’s conclusions. The final attack on Carter was cold and calculating and he barely escaped with all his parts. The assassins portrayed were well conceived and truly evil, each in their own way.
Through many twist and turns in the plot, the vigilantes eventually learned the identity of the antagonist and brought him to justice.
Both the editing and sentence structure are excellent.
The character development is thorough and detailed for all the main characters.
The plot is complex with more danger and turns than a coiled rattlesnake.
The writing style is to the point without a lot of extraneous detail that constitutes filler.
Thorough research is evident throughout the story.
I thoroughly enjoyed the plot's fast, action filled pace plus Carter’s resolute handling of his feelings for each of his three love interests.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – Solomon Bull
Author – Clayton Lindemuth
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
312 Amazon Pages
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No.10 – 2021
Posted 3/7/2021.
My impressions: intelligent, idealistic, unwavering, high principles, tenacious.
Main Characters:
Solomon Bull – Rebel, embraces challenges, proud of his Blackfoot heritage.
Cal Barrett – mysterious catalyst for Federal Government change.
What starts out as a bet between friends to lower the poll standing of a US Congressman turns into a passion to destroy his career publicly. When Solomon learns the man is a pedophile brutalizing a young Blackfoot boy, his original stunt becomes a full-blown passion.
At the same time, Solomon has been training for weeks to win Desert Dog; a brutal one day endurance race in the 110 + degree Arizona desert. In addition to the fit male competitors, he faces a team of five Amazons who will inflict pain and injuries on anyone who tries to keep them out of first place.
One of Solomon’s reasons for entering the race is to learn what happens to previous winners who have all disappeared from public view. The mysterious and enigmatic Cal Barrett sponsors the once yearly race from his compound in the desert. Finally, Solomon learns Barrett’s goal and how he plans to return government’s power back to the state level.
The editing is not bad, but there are errors.
Sentence structure is good and character development is good for the two main characters plus several sub characters to a lesser degree.
Research is evident in the details relating to endurance racing and the history of the defeat of the American Indian Nations by despicable white men.
The plot is fresh and complex in spite of the pages spent on Solomon’s self-introspection and American Indian history.
The writing style is wordy and preachy.
There are many characters in the story but only two of them really impact the plot and the ending.
I recommend Solomon Bull to readers who enjoy action adventure and detailed accounts of endurance training and other physical activities.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Clayton Lindemuth
Genre – Mystery, Suspense, Thriller
312 Amazon Pages
Rating 5 stars out of 5
No.10 – 2021
Posted 3/7/2021.
My impressions: intelligent, idealistic, unwavering, high principles, tenacious.
Main Characters:
Solomon Bull – Rebel, embraces challenges, proud of his Blackfoot heritage.
Cal Barrett – mysterious catalyst for Federal Government change.
What starts out as a bet between friends to lower the poll standing of a US Congressman turns into a passion to destroy his career publicly. When Solomon learns the man is a pedophile brutalizing a young Blackfoot boy, his original stunt becomes a full-blown passion.
At the same time, Solomon has been training for weeks to win Desert Dog; a brutal one day endurance race in the 110 + degree Arizona desert. In addition to the fit male competitors, he faces a team of five Amazons who will inflict pain and injuries on anyone who tries to keep them out of first place.
One of Solomon’s reasons for entering the race is to learn what happens to previous winners who have all disappeared from public view. The mysterious and enigmatic Cal Barrett sponsors the once yearly race from his compound in the desert. Finally, Solomon learns Barrett’s goal and how he plans to return government’s power back to the state level.
The editing is not bad, but there are errors.
Sentence structure is good and character development is good for the two main characters plus several sub characters to a lesser degree.
Research is evident in the details relating to endurance racing and the history of the defeat of the American Indian Nations by despicable white men.
The plot is fresh and complex in spite of the pages spent on Solomon’s self-introspection and American Indian history.
The writing style is wordy and preachy.
There are many characters in the story but only two of them really impact the plot and the ending.
I recommend Solomon Bull to readers who enjoy action adventure and detailed accounts of endurance training and other physical activities.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Title – A Chosen Path
Author – Ben Carlyle
Genre – Thriller
Word Count - 111,527
Rating – Five stars out of five
No.9 - 2021
Posted 2/27/2021
My Impressions: An intriguing story of conflict between British intelligence, the Russian Mafia, and a fifth column organization deep within Russia since the Bolshevik revolution.
A Chosen Path is a continuation of The Roads Chosen and is the second book in a series.
Main Characters:
Sam Mitchell – world traveler, spy
Rebecca Liscombe – Sam’s girlfriend and member of an extremely wealthy family.
Edward Liscombe – Rebecca’s wealthy father with deep ties to the British Government.
Andrew Levenson-Phillips - Director-Support Services in the intelligence wing of the British government.
In The Roads Chosen, Sam Mitchel spent six years walking the Silk Roads of Asia. He uncovered Russian Mafia corruption and set out to expose the deeply rooted ex-members of the Russian KGB secret service who retained powerful positions in the criminal world. To punish Sam, the criminals assassinated his parents.
Book two, A Chosen Path covers Sam’s quest to avenge his parents’ deaths and bring the people who ordered it to justice. Not to arrest and conviction, but to justice.
The fifth column purveyors of justice he contacts prove their power by safely escorting Sam and his entourage into Russia and then back out.
The primary driving purpose of the underground group is to salvage broken and damaged citizens, often military conscripts, and escort them to safety.
Along the way the story reveals a wonderful and intriguing host of characters working together to the detriment of the ex-KGB criminal leaders.
The editing and sentence structure are professional grade.
Character Development is detailed for the main characters and many support characters.
Details and research carry the story and create a vivid image.
The plot is complex and involves many support characters.
The writing style involves the reader in deeply emotional dialog and actions.
I highly recommend this exciting tale of conflict but pay close attention or you’ll miss the subtle clues hidden along the way.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
Author – Ben Carlyle
Genre – Thriller
Word Count - 111,527
Rating – Five stars out of five
No.9 - 2021
Posted 2/27/2021
My Impressions: An intriguing story of conflict between British intelligence, the Russian Mafia, and a fifth column organization deep within Russia since the Bolshevik revolution.
A Chosen Path is a continuation of The Roads Chosen and is the second book in a series.
Main Characters:
Sam Mitchell – world traveler, spy
Rebecca Liscombe – Sam’s girlfriend and member of an extremely wealthy family.
Edward Liscombe – Rebecca’s wealthy father with deep ties to the British Government.
Andrew Levenson-Phillips - Director-Support Services in the intelligence wing of the British government.
In The Roads Chosen, Sam Mitchel spent six years walking the Silk Roads of Asia. He uncovered Russian Mafia corruption and set out to expose the deeply rooted ex-members of the Russian KGB secret service who retained powerful positions in the criminal world. To punish Sam, the criminals assassinated his parents.
Book two, A Chosen Path covers Sam’s quest to avenge his parents’ deaths and bring the people who ordered it to justice. Not to arrest and conviction, but to justice.
The fifth column purveyors of justice he contacts prove their power by safely escorting Sam and his entourage into Russia and then back out.
The primary driving purpose of the underground group is to salvage broken and damaged citizens, often military conscripts, and escort them to safety.
Along the way the story reveals a wonderful and intriguing host of characters working together to the detriment of the ex-KGB criminal leaders.
The editing and sentence structure are professional grade.
Character Development is detailed for the main characters and many support characters.
Details and research carry the story and create a vivid image.
The plot is complex and involves many support characters.
The writing style involves the reader in deeply emotional dialog and actions.
I highly recommend this exciting tale of conflict but pay close attention or you’ll miss the subtle clues hidden along the way.
Vigilant Reader Book Reviews.
