THE LAST HITMAN

5 stars out of 5

I follow the “Youngstown Mob” on Facebook (yes, it’s a real thing). I’ve been to every single town mentioned in this book, most of them many times (in fact, I lived in one of them for 50 years). Many of my friends claim to have a grandma who makes the best spaghetti sauce in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia put together. To say I enjoyed the heck out of this book, then, would be an understatement – the goings-on ring true even though some of the names have been changed to protect the not-so-innocent.

This is the self-told story of Angelo Cipriani, a high-school dropout from the Ohio Valley who ended up finding a job in the powerful Fortuna Crime Family. Although his non-full-blooded Italian heritage prohibited him from becoming a “made” man within the mafia (well, at least for many years), he was always loyal to the core. The family boss, “Big Tommy,” loved him like a brother, and Big Tommy’s son (Little Tommy, of course) called him Uncle Ange. One fine day, Angelo was told that his loyalty had overcome DNA and he would be accepted in the inner circle as a made man. And then he got instructions on what, exactly, he needed to do to make that happen.

But time has a way of changing things, and that includes the mob landscape (I’m not sure what the most recent suspected mob-related murder was in Youngstown, Ohio – a few stones’ throws from my home – but I do recall one in 1991 in particular that remains unsolved to this day). Angelo’s “nephew” Little Tommy is in charge now, and he’s taken his troops into areas of crime his late father once railed against. And now, Angelo has become about as worthless as a screen door on a submarine. Amid his feelings of stress, anxiety and betrayal, who should appear but a friendly neighborhood FBI agent – one who wants Angelo to rat on his compadres in exchange for Witness Protection.

So what’s an aging, maybe even not long for this world but still loyal to the core mob guy to do? That’s the issue Angelo faces, and he takes readers on an up-close-and-personal (and often chuckle-evoking) journey through time as he struggles with his final decision. For me, it was a highly entertaining journey, and I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to ride the bus by way of a pre-release copy. Eccellente!

The Last Hitman by Robin Yocum (Crooked Lane Books, December 2006); 331 pp.

RAGE

5 stars out of 5

My initial interest in this wonderful series began mostly because of the location; I'm familiar with the part of Ohio in which the stories take place. I also have an interest in the Amish, often making trips to another section of the Buckeye State that gets mentioned in the books once in a while (in fact, in this, the 17th book of the series). That said, I wouldn't keep coming back for more unless the books are really, really good; they are, and this one carries on that honored tradition.

Now-veteran Painters Mill Police Chief Kate Burkholder is the primary reason for my enthusiasm, a unique character because she was born and grew up Amish but left the order in her late teens. Needless to say, that didn't sit well with anyone in the community where she later returned to work in law enforcement as an "English" - the term used for anyone who isn't Amish. Over the years, though, she's built up a healthy relationship with her family and neighbors, for the most part earning their respect. Kate's hunky husband, FBI agent John Tomasetti, complements her and adds both personal interest and professional help when needed - and he gets quite a bit of page time here, much to my delight.

This one begins with a grisly find - the dismembered parts of a young Amish man Samuel Eicher, who's been murdered and half buried not far from his landscaping business. According to a few sources, he and his best friend Aaron Shetler had been involved with some pretty shady characters, including a beautiful young woman named Cassidy, but by all accounts he was returning to the Amish fold. The search for Aaron takes up more of Kate's team's time, and that, too, ends in tragedy with the discovery of his body in a barrel that's been rolled down a ravine.

What on earth were the two friends into? And where is Samuel's reported girlfriend Cassidy? The search takes Kate to a couple of local bars and private clubs in which pole dancers and sex trafficking may be at play, so to speak - places in which Kate and her questions clearly are not welcome. When Kate's unrelenting investigation and yet another murder brings her way too close to the truth, she becomes the target and threatens to make a widower out of Tomasetti. It's a whirlwind finish that kept me on the edge of my recliner for sure. In short, it's another winner, and I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to stay tuned in by way of a pre-release copy. Bring on the next!

Rage by Linda Castillo (Minotaur Books, July 2025); 296 pp.

HOLLY

5 stars

As a big fan of this author, I was surprised that I really don't recall much about Holly Gibney, the central character in this book. But I sure am now, and by golly, I'm looking forward to reading about her again. These days, she's a private investigator in her agency, Finders Keepers, and she's got her work cut out for her here when she runs up against murderers whose tastes, shall we say, are rather unusual.

There's a fair amount of background included, though, so readers with memories like mine won't be left in the dark. The story takes place amid the early emergence from Covid-19 restrictions - in fact, Holly's own mother recently died of it and her agency partner, Pete Huntley, is currently in quarantine after contracting it - so no surprise that Holly is super-careful and the subject is an underlying theme throughout (also no surprise given the author's well-known stance on the subject). But when Penny Dahl asks Holly to find her daughter Bonnie, who's been missing for three weeks, she overcomes her reluctance and takes on the case. 

Meantime, her young friend Jerome Robinson, who helps with investigations, is hoping for success with a book he's written, and his sister Barbara, Holly's good friend, is doing the same with her poetry. The latter effort brings her in contact with married couple Rodney and Emily Harris, mostly retired professors at a local college. Now in their eighties, they still get around better than most their age, in fact, but for a very sinister reason that - you guessed it - ties in with Holly's investigation. Readers, though, get the benefit of seeing things from all angles as chapters shift from the perspectives of various characters, prompting us to keep turning pages and chew our nails the closer we get to the end (a more appropriate reference than you'll know till you read the book; and while on the subject, please know that I'll never look at liver and onions the same way again).

My bottom line verdict on this book? As expected: scary, gross and thoroughly delightful.

Holly by Stephen King (Scribner, September 2023); 464 pp.

AN EVIL HEART

5 stars out of 5

Holmes County, Ohio, has highest concentration of Amish in the world, and the largest in the Buckeye State, according to several reputable sources. Heading northeast a bit, Geauga County boasts Ohio's second largest settlement. By way of more than a nodding acquaintance in proximity to both, I was attracted to this series, which is set in Holmes County. But that was just at the outset; it's the stories that keep bringing me back for more (this is the 15th installment). For those who care about such things, I'll say that it's more graphic than the others I've read, but to me, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Kate Burkholder, who grew up Amish but officially left the fold nearly two decades ago, is the police chief in Painters Mill in Holmes County. As this story begins, she's about to be married to the guy she's been living with for a couple of years, FBI agent John Tomesetti, with the wedding held at her brother and sister-in-law's home in mostly Amish fashion. But not long before that happens, a 20-year-old Amish man is found dead along a rural roadside - shot twice with a crossbow. There's no acceptable version of murder, of course, but this was a particularly gruesome way to go. 

The death of Aden Karn is even more surprising in that he had a steady girlfriend everyone (including her) thought he'd marry, a job and an almost stellar reputation as one of the good guys. Why, then, would anyone want to kill him? Is this just a random act by a madman (or woman) who's out for no reason other than wanting to kill someone? It's a puzzlement, or at least until the investigation starts getting legs of its own; Aden, it seems, may not have been the quintessential Amish lad. Gradually, new facts emerge - some of them quite disturbing - to reveal a far more sinister side that may have sparked a motive. But getting to the whole truth also may have sparked a killer's desperate need to bring the investigation to a halt, thereby putting Kate in mortal danger.

All told, it's another intriguing and entertaining adventure that's well worth reading. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy. Well done!

An Evil Heart by Linda Castillo (Minotaur Books, July 2023); 320 pp.

THE HUNTER

4 stars out of 5

This book actually caught my eye because it's set at least in part in territory familiar to me - Ohio - but the concept resonated a bit as well. Hotshot New York Detective Leigh O'Donnell returns to a sort of hole-in-the-wall police department in the Copper Falls after pulling some kind of stunt involving a gun that landed her on the indefinite suspension list in New York. Besides her job, her interracial marriage to her NYPD captain is going down the tubes (partly because what she did - and I'm still not totally sure exactly what that was - was something he was unable to excuse either personally or professionally. When she made the journey to her hometown, where she hadn't been in 14 years, she took their young daughter Simone with her; they'll stay in the huge family home with three of Leigh's uncles and her brother and police officer Ronan. It was Ronan, in fact, who enticed the former homicide detective to come "home" by pointing to the recent suspicious deaths of three young men.

Leigh, needless to say, brings all kind of mental baggage to her former hometown - a place that has nasty secrets of its own that, if discovered, threatens its very being. There's also a sort of supernatural thread winding through the story, mostly in and out of caves that lurk behind the town's waterfall. And that, I must say, was my first sort of disillusionment; given that Ohio's tallest waterfall - which is in the general vicinity where this story takes place - is only 65 feet tall, it was a little hard to believe there'd be room for all those caves. Then again, the town is fictional so why not the topography - and in this case, both are central to the story so I went with the flow (so to speak).

Investigating the three recent deaths, and those of three other young men not that long ago, takes Leigh to the caves as well as into "seedier" parts of town where she and Ronan really aren't welcome (raising the question of why). All the while, Leigh is pining the loss of the love of her life - her husband back in New York - who appears to have moved on. Maybe, I thought, that's why she didn't always think things through clearly - I'm quite sure I would never have left my daughter in the all-day care of unmarried male relatives I hadn't seen for decades until I was certain she'd be safe with them. And if I were still madly in love with someone, I wouldn't be likely to get the hots for a long-ago boyfriend who conveniently shows up, in part in the hopes of rekindling a lost love.

Here and there are hints at racial tension, but that theme really goes nowhere and seemed to me to be totally irrelevant to the story. As readers might expect, there's a last-minute do-or-almost-die race to the finish (done with a totally irrational rationalization about not calling for back-up). In the end, all the lurid details are unearthed even though it appears only one of the guilty parties will pay for his or her sins - what, if anything, happens with the rest remains a mystery. Overall, the story held my attention throughout, though, and I'll call it a good debut effort that showcases the writing skill of this clearly talented author. Thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this one.

The Hunter by Jennifer Herrera (G.P. Putnam's Sons, January 2023); 351 pp.

THE HIDDEN ONE

4.5 stars out of 5

I was introduced to this wonderful series just last year, although it's been around for a while (this is the 14th book). In part because I live not too far from Ohio's largest population of Amish and the second largest concentration in the world - Holmes County - and even closer to the fourth largest population in the world, Geauga County - I love learning all I can about the people and their traditions. Throw in a good murder or two, and I'm hooked.

The central character in this series is Kate Burkholder, police chief in Painters Mill, Ohio (Holmes County); she was born Amish and left the order when she turned 18, but she still maintains strong ties. She lives with her significant other John Tomasetti, an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation agent. She gets a visit from three Amish elders from Lancaster, Pennsylvania - another Amish stronghold - who ask for her help. Some 18 years earlier, the local bishop suddenly went missing; quite recently, his skull turned up in a farmer's field. But that's not the reason they need help; as it turns out, the person arrested for what has now been deemed a murder is Jonas Bowman. Kate and Jonas once were an "item"; their romance, deemed illicit by Holmes County religious leaders mostly because of their age difference, was the reason Jonas and his family moved from Ohio to Pennsylvania, leaving Kate devastated.

Although she hasn't seen him since, Kate feels she must do what she can to help; in her heart of hearts, she's certain Jonas could not possibly be a killer. Their first meeting, at the jail, is emotional - but he confirms what she already believes: that he's an innocent man. The local police, however, have a different perspective; they're convinced they've got their man. And they're not all that happy that a cop from another department - especially one with strong ties to the suspect - is sticking her nose in where they think it doesn't belong.

It doesn't take long, however, for Kate to learn that the dead bishop was respected in title only; by many accounts, he was a tyrant whose behavior more than once overstepped the boundaries of the Amish tenet of nonviolence. But it was long ago, and finding anyone still alive, much less willing to talk about days long gone by, isn't easy. On top of that, it soon becomes clear that someone isn't happy that she's trying to dredge up old secrets. Maybe, just maybe, the real killer is still out there and is setting his or her sights on Kate.

The whole thing was highly entertaining and kept me turning pages all the way to the exciting and satisfying end. There's a little too much repetition (mostly reminders of various Amish traditions) here and there, but that's balanced on the plus side by the liberal sprinkling of words and phrases from the Amish dialect. This has quickly become a favorite series for me; I highly recommend it (and this book) and thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy. 

The Hidden One by Linda Castillo (Minotaur Books, July 2022); 313 pp.

FALLEN

4 stars out of 5

As of 2020, Ohio boasted the second largest population of Amish (sandwiched between the border states of Pennsylvania, which ranks first, and Indiana at third), according to multiple sources. There are plenty in my neck of the woods, and I've been to Holmes County, Ohio, the site of the Buckeye State's largest settlement and the setting for this book. I've always had an interest in Amish culture and beliefs; combine that with a good old-fashioned police story and a strong woman leading the investigation, and this book had me from the giddyup.

That woman is Kate Burkholder, who was born Amish but left the order and now serves as police chief in Painters Mill. With significant other John Tomasetti, an Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation officer, she lives in Wooster (yep, been there and no doubt passed their house several times). Serious crimes here are few and far between, but that streak comes to an abrupt end when Kate is called to a local motel room, where the badly beaten body of a woman has been found. Turns out it's Rachael Schwartz, whose nonconformist behavior got her thrown out of the Amish fold as a rebellious teenager. She hasn't returned home since, as far as anyone knows - so what brought her back and who would want to kill her?

As the investigation progresses, Kate gets help from her sweetie Tomasetti, the state and county cops, and the consensus is that Rachael's wild behavior made her far more enemies than friends (whether they be Amish or English). In fact, a local Amish woman seems to be the only person who can tolerate Rachael - and she claims to not have seen her for quite some time. Not long ago, Rachael wrote an expose book on life within her former Amish community; needless to say, it ruffled quite a few feathers, especially within a local splinter group that, for the most part, isn't much loved by the "regular" Amish .

With so many possible suspects - even Rachael's business partner wasn't all that fond of her, for goodness sake - it's hard for Kate to nail down solid clues. As she bounces around, though, it becomes clear that somebody wants her to stop - and just may be willing to go to great lengths to make sure she does exactly that. There's plenty of action in this, the 13th book in the series, as well as a couple of twists (one I pretty much saw coming and the other not at all). My only frustration, if you can call it that, is the (to me) excessive use of Amish phrases followed by English translations. On the one hand that's a much-appreciated feature for someone like me who wants to learn, but there were just too many and, Mein Gott, several that in context really didn't need an explanation.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed the book - and Kate - so much so that I plan to follow this series from now on. Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review a pre-release copy. 

Fallen by Linda Castillo (Minotaur Books, July 2021); 320 pp.

A GAME OF CONES

4 stars out of 5

For the most part, cozy mysteries get notice by me only every once in a while as a respite from the tension brought on by the mind-twisting, gruesome mystery/thrillers that comprise my usual (and preferred) fare. I simply have no stomach for the typical whining, paranoid heroines who don't listen to reason, get themselves in trouble and - miraculously - manage to solve the crime du jour (just once, I'd like to find a male in that role; can't help wondering if he'd be made out to be as brainless and exasperating as most of the females are).

I needed such a respite a year ago when I read the first book in this series
, A Deadly Inside Scoop. What piqued my interest? Well, I'm a big ice cream fan; a chain that started in 1945 right in my backyard of Youngstown, Ohio - Handel's Ice Cream  - is a special favorite that gets plenty of my business and has amassed fans all over the country. But the big reason I was curious is that it's set in Chagrin Falls, Ohio - about 50 miles from my backyard not too far from Cleveland that I've visited many times.

The story this time out is similar to the first book, and I must note that plenty of space is allocated to "remembering" events from that one so new readers shouldn't feel lost. Bronwyn Crewse has returned to her Ohio roots from a too-hectic job in too-hectic New York City to renovate, and run, her family's ice cream shop in the picturesque city known for - surprise - its waterfalls. All of the cohorts from Book One are back, and in this case, more's the pity; her friend and employee, Maisie, was downright obnoxious in the first book. Despite my hopes that she'd drop by the wayside, she's back - and this time manages to drag the rest of the bunch down to her level before it's all over.

Bronwyn's family is close, though - from her elderly grandfather to her parents - and it really is a treat to watch their unique personalities interact. New to this one is Aunt Jacqueline, who left town to pursue other interests but has returned with, apparently, a big interest in taking over the ice cream shop and undoing much of Bronwyn's hard work. Needless to say, that causes more than a little headache for Bronwyn, who's sunk a ton of money into turning the shop into a very successful venture and is on the cusp of expanding.

But early on, Bronwyn's concerns turn to a different problem; an "outside" company appears to be buying up land in the close-knit, quaint downtown with the intent of building a (gasp!) shopping mall. Quite a few of the townspeople are upset, to put it mildly, and a public meeting with the developer's representative ends in a shouting match. The representative's personal end, though, comes shortly thereafter; his body is found in a downtown alley - and the primary suspect is one of Bronwyn's best friends who's visiting from New York.

After her experience trying to solve a murder in the first book, Bronwyn is reluctant to get involved in another one. Enter the ever-persistent Maisie, who probably wouldn't be able to sit down and shut up if she were tied to a chair and gagged (please, God, make it happen). She soon convinces Bronwyn and their other close friends and relatives that they and only they can get to the bottom of things (leave it to the police? Fuhgettaboutit). The rest of the book focuses on their plans, some of which don't go much beyond the talking stage, and still others lead up to a conclusion that adds another notch in the belts of the Crewse crew. 

Beyond the ending comes a special treat I expect will continue: recipes for three of the unique homemade flavors of ice cream mentioned within the pages. All told, another mystery that I'm sure will please cozy readers (especially those from the Buckeye State). Thanks once again to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

A Game of Cones by Abby Collette (Berkley, March 2021); 352 pp.

A DEADLY INSIDE SCOOP

4 stars out of 5

My taste in mystery/thrillers rarely encompasses

the "cozy" kind - mostly because the "heroine" typically is a woman who has no common sense and charges ahead to put her own life, and sometimes the lives of others, at risk simply because she won't listen to anyone else. This one spoke to me, though, because it's set in Chagrin Falls, Ohio - almost, but not quite, in my own back yard - I've been there many times.

And then I found out the heroine - in this case, ice cream shop owner Bronwyn Crewse - doesn't fit that typical cozy mold, which kept me interested (well, that and an intriguing story that begins when Bronwyn ("Win" for short) bumps into a friendly stranger who claims to have found a lost puppy and is looking for its owner. Not long thereafter, she finds the guy again next to the town's waterfall - where she'd gone to collect newly fallen snow to make ice cream - only this time he's very dead.

She also learns that the stranger not only isn't friendly, but he's a familiar, if unwelcome, person in town. In fact, he's a con man who pulled some shady deals last time he made an appearance; quite a few folks, including Win's physician father, aren't particularly unhappy that he's dead. But when the police get wind of who the guy was and what he'd done, they zero in on her father. Understandably, Win pledges to gather evidence that will clear his heretofore stellar name.

Woven throughout the rest of the book, besides her attempts at amateur investigation, are her efforts to make the just-renovated long-time family ice cream store a success (even in the middle of winter in Ohio) that include a big catering job for the local college. Alas, in the middle of all this entertaining drama is this: Remember how happy I was that Win didn't exhibit that bull-in-the-china-shop attitude common to most cozy heroines? Well, the same can't be said about her friend and part-time employee, Maisie, who is absolutely insufferable - honestly, she's one of the most annoying characters I've run into in a long, long time. I hope she finds a job in New York or California before the next book in this series is released.

Otherwise, though, this is a very enjoyable - delightful, even - book and I look forward to the next one, especially if the author adds some of those yummy-sounding ice cream recipes at the end as she did here. Meantime, thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it. 

A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette (Berkley, May 2020); 384 pp.

REDEMPTION

5 stars out of 5

The author is one of my all-time favorites (meaning anything he writes, I want to read). And from the start four books ago, his "Memory Man" series was a big hit with me. This one, the fifth, adds another five-star entry.

Detective Amos Decker is a very intriguing character; as a result of a football injury, he developed hyperthymesia, which causes him to remember every detail of every single day (whether he wants to or not) as well as synesthia abilities - associating colors with people and objects. But I have to admit my initial attraction was at a far more human level: He played football at THE Ohio State University (go bucks!!), and the aforementioned football injury that ended his sports career happened on the first play as a member of the Cleveland Browns (yep, my favorite NFL team - needless to say, I live in Ohio).

Earlier in the series, Decker's wife and daughter were murdered (imagine being forced to remember every detail of that for the rest of your life), and in this book, he's returned to Burlington, Ohio, to visit the cemetery as he always does on his daughter Molly's birthday. An aging, tattered and battered man interrupts Decker, who realizes it's Meryl Hawkins, his first arrest for murder back when he was a newbie on the force. Released from prison because of a terminal illness, Hawkins knew of Decker's annual cemetery visits, thanks to information from Decker's former partner, Mary Lancaster. When he gets Decker's reluctant attention, Hawkins insists he was not guilty as charged and pleads with Decker to prove his innocence.

That's not a project Decker wants to undertake, given that it could mean he was instrumental in putting an innocent man behind bars. Besides that, Decker's boss back at the FBI isn't happy that he's thinking of going rogue yet again - and he orders Decker's current partner, Alex Jamison, who's with him in Burlington, back to the office (as an aside, another personal coinkidink: My mother's maiden name was Jamison).

But when evidence turns up that Hawkins might have been wrongly convicted, Decker (and his memories) can't walk away even if it jeopardizes his FBI work. Complicating matters further is that a personal connection means Lancaster, who was willing to help out, is forced to recuse herself from the investigation - leaving Decker pretty much on his own. On the plus side, Jamison contacts Decker's old friend Melvin Mars, who insists on helping despite Decker's protests. The two make a great combination, and that makes for a great story that's both complex and exciting. 

For the record, this book stands well on its own, but I have no doubt I enjoyed it more because I'd read its predecessors (which I recommend that others new to the series should do as well, not only for that reason, but simply because they're all so enjoyable). As for me, I say keep 'em coming!

Redemption by David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing, April 2019); 433 pp.

THE FALLEN

5 stars out of 5


What can I say about this book besides it's another stellar entry into an already great series? Honestly, not much except that this is the fourth featuring former police detective Amos Decker, who landed a spot on my Top 10 book "heroes" list right from the first. That's partly because he's an Ohio boy (I've been a proud Buckeye State resident most of my life) and a football standout - that is, until he took a nearly deadly hit on his first play as a member of the Cleveland Browns.

He didn't die, obviously, but he did end up with some rather unusual after-effects - most notably being hyperthymesia, or the ability to remember every single moment of every single day and call any one of them up at will. He also acquired synesthia, or the association of colors with people and objects. Particularly in his career as a detective, those rare abilities usually are extremely helpful, but in his personal life, not so much. There's no escaping, for instance, the years-ago horror of the brutal murder of his beloved wife and young daughter. He's also a bit emotionally challenged, in that for the most part he's unable to express his feelings. Those qualities make him a unique character - the biggest reason I'm a big fan.

These days, Amos and his partner Alex Jamison work with the FBI (another "connection" since my late mother's maiden name is Jamison). As this story begins, they are in small-town Baronville (located in northwestern Pennsylvania not far from the Ohio border - another fun coincidence, since I live in northeastern Ohio not far from the Pennsylvania line). They've come to visit Alex's sister Amanda, her husband Frank and their daughter Zoe, who not long ago relocated in Baronville when Frank took a job at a huge new distribution center. Still another coincidence; the area in which I live - just off Interstate 80 - is a hot spot for distribution centers as well.

Amos and Alex are hoping for a few days of down time, but that changes quickly when Amos notices some strange sights and sounds at the house behind the one they're in. Unable to resist checking things out, Amos finds two dead bodies. Poking around results in another serious head injury - one that has mind-altering potential. Further investigation, with help from local cops, reveals other recent murders - far more than would be expected in such a small town. Among the suspects is the hermit-like descendent of the town's founding father, who was a highly successful industrial magnate believed to have caused the town's steep economic decline and, not inconsequentally, the opoid addiction that's running rampant in and around the community.

Amos has to work to win the confidence of the local police, and gaining traction in that area puts him and his partner in the crosshairs of the bad guys. Murders keep piling up, and it's clear that someone is intent on adding Amos and Alex to that stack. Can they find out what's really going on and who's behind it before they become victims as well? Ah, but that's for me to know and other readers to find out. The only thing I'll pass on is that this is another winner - highly recommended!

The Fallen by David Baldacci (Grand Central Publishing, April 2018); 433 pp.

HILLBILLY ELEGY

5 stars out of 5

Yes, I'm a little behind the times - this book was released last summer - but it's been on my must-read list ever since I read the description for several reasons, starting with the fact that it's a personal account of growing up in a poor Rust Belt town. I can relate: I've lived near the Rust Belt town of Youngstown, Ohio, for close to 55 years and have seen first-hand the devastation that resulted with the collapse of the steel and automotive industries. Besides that, my pre-college years were spent in a small community not far from Middletown, Ohio, where the author grew up. He even lived for a time in Preble County, Ohio, as did my late parents for a few years, near the one-stoplight burg of New Paris.

The real story here is the author's, of course; he uses his experiences growing up in and around Middletown after his grandparents moved from the Appalachian region of Kentucky to shed light on the struggles of white working-class Americans - struggles that have become worse, not better, over time. 

America's white working poor, the official book description notes, have as a group been "slowly disintegrating" for more than 40 years. Calling up interesting and often poignant memories of his own life, the author tells of his experience being born and growing up among these people for whom, sadly, the American Dream doesn't exist. "Working-class whites are the most pessimistic group in America," he writes. "It's about a culture that encourages social decay instead of counteracting it...a willingness to blame everyone but yourself."

This refusal to believe in and deal with reality I've seen first-hand as well. As I oversaw university-based programs to retrain workers permanently laid off by way of steel and auto plant closings, it wasn't unusual for those eligible to refuse to even consider taking any job that paid less than they'd earned on the assembly lines ("I'd sooner go on welfare," was the relatively common refrain). Others would simply opt to wait it out; periodic layoffs in those industries, after all, had been a way of life for them and their parents before them, so no matter what the evidence showed, they had no reason to think the jobs wouldn't come back this time.

Even though my mother came from poor-but-sturdy "hillbilly" stock and my father had been an equally poor "country boy," their childhoods never, to the best of my knowledge, mirrored that of the author. Like his grandparents, who provided perhaps his only encouragement to move up and out, my parents unfailingly believed in the value and future benefits of hard work - as did my many aunts and uncles on both sides of the family. The author wasn't so lucky; just about every one of his days was spent facing psychological, if not physical, abuse from the very people who should have been loving and caring (and were, but only on alternate Tuesdays). Worse, he and his family were not much different from everyone else they knew; it took years before he realized the life he was living wasn't the norm for people in the rest of the country.  Sharing the experiences of those around him, he explains how their "deep skepticism" of everyone and everything outside their own realm came about (and continues to grow to this day).

So what's the solution? The author doesn't have one, at least not a one-size-fits-all. "I don't know what the answer is, precisely, but I know it starts when we stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless companies and ask ourselves what we can do to make it better," he writes.

He does, however, believe that any policy that targets the betterment of youth must involve an issue he says his high school teachers deal with on a day-to-day basis: That no matter how positive the school hours are, at the end of the day the students go back home. Based on what I've heard from the public-school teachers in our family (including my husband and our daughter), I couldn't agree more.

And if he could change one thing about the white working class today? "The feeling that our choices don't matter," he concludes. 

The author's life, from that childhood that included a father who willingly gave him up for adoption to the Marine Corps to The Ohio State University to Yale Law School, makes for can't-put-down reading. Interspersed is research that backs up what he's saying (the book ends with a list of resources, linkable on the ebook version). Highly recommended!

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance (HarperCollins, June 2016); 273 pp.

TWO DAYS GONE

5 stars out of 5


Relating to this book was easy for a number of reasons. The biggest one is that much of the action takes place in parts of Pennsylvania and Ohio about a 45-minute drive north of our northeastern Ohio home. That alone - seeing names of cities, small towns and places in between that we've visited too many times to count - got my attention. The job of keeping it, though, falls directly into the hands of the author - and what a great job he did!

That said, it not a book to be skimmed; the writing is brilliant, but close to what I'd call ponderous. Some of that, no doubt is because one of the two central characters, Tom Huston, is a bestselling author and college professor and the other, Pennsylvania State Police Sgt. Ryan DeMarco, is a well-read guy who in many ways doesn't fit the description of standard-issue cop. The two men have met and like each other, but circumstances here cause one to become a hunter and the other the hunted.

The story begins with the brutal murder of Huston's wife and three children in their home. When Huston goes missing, the assumption is that the mild-mannered, popular writer-educator who was working hard on a new book with a lead character loosely based on Vladimir Nabokov's Lolilta and Edgar Allan Poe's "Annabel Lee," somehow snapped. DeMarco doesn't quite see Huston's killer potential, although he wonders why the man has run away. But whether Huston is guilty or innocent, it's now DeMarco's job to find him and bring him in.

As the search progresses, DeMarco travels in and out of many places familiar to me like Erie and Linesville Pa., and Conneaut and Pierpont, Ohio. At one point, I was surprised to see a reference to the 1985 tornado that destroyed much of Albion, Pa., but - as I can personally attest - not before it wreaked serious havoc in and around my town of Niles, Ohio. 

It is character development, though, that takes center stage; little by little, we see into the hearts and minds of various characters - Huston and DeMarco in particular. DeMarco, for instance, is no stranger to tragedy; a traffic accident a few years earlier resulted in the death of his young son and, ultimately, the loss of his much-loved wife. His understanding of anguish, in fact, is one of the reasons he not only doesn't accept Huston's guilt and ultimately is willing to put his own career on the line to get to the truth.

It's rare that I give much credence to official book descriptions issued by publishers, but in this case, their word "masterful" is right on target. Kudos to the author, and many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read the book in exchange for an honest review.

Two Days Gone by Randall Silvis (Sourcebooks Landmark, January 2017); 400 pp.

THE BOOK CLUB MURDERS

4 stars out of 5

Much as I love to read about grisly murders and psychological drama, every now and again, my head needs a break and I look for something on the lighter side. When I saw the description of this cozy mystery - the first of a series - it sounded great on several levels. As the title suggests, it's centered around books and a group of rather stuffy women who get together to read and discuss mysteries as part of the Agathas Book Club - and as an avid reader of that genre, it couldn't be more perfect. Adding to the appeal is that the book is set in Oakwood, Ohio - a Dayton suburb quite familiar to me for the first 18 years of my life as I grew up on a farm perhaps 45 minutes away. I didn't hesitate to request an advance copy in exchange for an honest review, and I was elated when that request was approved.

And all things considered, it served all its intended purposes. I enjoyed glimpses of places I've been, books I, too, have read, and the respite from head games as the story played out in a somewhat predictable manner (as cozy mysteries are wont to do). The heroine, Charley Carpenter, is a character with whom I could be friends (well, on most days, at least), and certainly one I'll be willing to read more about as the series continues.

Charlie, it seems, owns an antique clothing store; in the hope of boosting sales, she joins the Agathas Book Club even though she has a tough time relating to most of the other members - the "elite" of Oakwood and their boring, one-upwomanship club lunches. She maintains her sanity through close relationships with best friend Frankie, fashion-conscious hairdresser Dmitri, her ailing father and his caretaker, Lawrence (who has "...biceps the size of first graders...") And of course, there's the requisite love-hate-love relationship with gorgeous and single police detective Marc Trenault. 

But then, murder happens - and it's someone connected to the book club members. Not long after, another one bites the dust, and clues lead to passages from book club selections and the suspicion that both dirty deeds were done by the same hands. Fingers begin pointing toward another of the club members, so over Marc's objections, Charlie's valuable insights translate to her acceptance on the investigative team. Finally, she even convinces him to let her use her knowledge and skills as an inside-the-club informant in the hope of ferreting out which is the killer. Of course, that puts Charlie squarely in the crosshairs of someone who will do anything - including kill again - to keep from being identified.

In the end, of course, all's well that ends well, and I'm happy to had the opportunity to read it. That said, though, a few things bothered me a titch. First, enough already with the boy names for girls: Charlie? Frankie? Ronnie? Wilson? Jelly (well, I suppose that one could shake out either way). And how on earth does a person officially arrested for murder (which wouldn't happen without that person being taken into custody) get back home with no mention of help from an attorney, no hearing or no bail?  

Ah well, I'll never know. I do know that this is the start of a promising series, and I look forward to the next installment.

The Book Club Murders: The Oakwood Mystery Series by Leslie Nagel (Alibi, September 2016); 271 pp.

THE SHADOW BROKER

4 stars out of 5

Quick: When was the last time you found yourself rooting for the bad guy? It's hard not to do just that in this book, a Finalist for the 2015 Shamus Award for Best Indie P.I. Novel. I received a review copy at no cost from Netgalley, and it hooked me by the end of the first chapter and didn't let go till the end.

Finn Harding is a former private investigator who lost his license when he crossed a bit too far over the ethics line to suit the powers-that-be. He still plies his trade, but under the table; he's skilled at finding people who go to great lengths not to be found ("sort of like Death's GPS," as he puts it). Early on, it's clear that he won't hesitate to overlook ethics again if the money is right. But with an ex-wife with whom he shares custody of a young daughter and an aging but still feisty father, he's got a bit of a soft side that, when it kicks in, renders him vulnerable. His ability to shift easily from loving father to the dark side brought to my mind a line from from an old movie, book or TV show (so long ago I don't remember which), when someone described a gangster as having no heart. "Sure I've got one," came the retort. "It's right behind my shoulder holster."

Finn lives under the radar on a boat on the Ohio River in Cincinnati (I grew  up not far from the Buckeye State's Queen City, so that added another bit of interest for me). He's also got a sense of humor that made me smile now and again, reminding me, at least at first, of another very likable crook - bookstore owner and professional thief Bernie Rhodenbarr of the Burgler Who series by Lawrence Block.

Here, Finn takes on a shady client who's keen on learning who's blackmailing him and is willing to pay top dollar to find out. Finn is successful and the client is pleased; normally, that's a good thing, but now the happy client dangles more cash for even more unsavory work. Finn agrees, and things turn deadly serious as he finds himself facing a possible future either rotting alive in jail or dead in the ground. The nonstop action moves from Ohio to a remote spot in Maine and back, ending with a major cliffhanger, presumably leading to a follow-up book (in fact, the author says just that in the acknowledgements it will be titled Scar Tissue. I'm looking forward to it!

The Shadow Broker by Trace Conger (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, August 2014); 298 pp.

THE ASHTABULA HAT TRICK

4.5 stars out of 5

I've been a fan of Cleveland writer Les Roberts for too many years to count, and while he's written dozens of books, my favorites are the ones featuring private investigator Milan Jacovich (who is, for the record, is on my list of Top 10 favorite book "heroes"). By now, he's getting a bit longer in the tooth and losing some hair, but other than that, by golly, he's still got it.

The stories themselves are always a treat to read (I finished this relatively short one in a single day), but one of the reasons I enjoy the series so much is that my proximity to Cleveland and other parts of northeast Ohio is such that I've been there, seen that - and it's fun to get a view of it from someone else's perspective. This one in particular struck a chord; the action takes place in and around Ashtabula County - the county just north of ours (Trumbull) that borders Lake Erie - specifically, in the towns of Ashtabula and Conneaut. My husband and I visit the area fairly often; Just last week, in fact, we were sitting at a small restaurant in Conneaut Harbor chowing down on that delicious Lake Erie perch.

The story begins as Milan's lady friend, Cleveland homicide detective Tobe Blaine (pronounced "Toby"), gets sent to the ultra-small (and for the record, fictitional) community of Queenstown, somewhere in between Ashtabula and Conneaut. Murders of two fairly prominent and local men just occurred there, and solving such heavy duty crimes is well beyond the capabilities of local law enforcement. Tobe drags Milan with her, and right from the start, they hit a brick wall: Tobe happens to be African-American and she and Milan are out-of-towners - two pulls from under of the welcome mat in this close-knit place.

Before they can get very deep into the investigation, though, a third murder is reported - this time a local woman. The modus operandi is different in all three cases, adding to the mystery. Further, it appears the town's rowdy, insolent teenagers may have clues to whodunit, with a trail that stops on the doorstep of the pastor of the local Baptist church. Every Sunday (and apparently every chance he gets in between), he rails about sinning - specifically homosexuality and the evils of people whose skin isn't pearly white.

To help, Milan brings in his young assistant, Kevin O'Bannion (K.O.) - an experienced armed services vet who loves animals and is working on keeping his hair-trigger temper in check but is great with kids. He has some success, and the trail veers off toward a possible meth lab and the now privately owned prison in Conneaut where a man known as "The Prophet" rules supreme and just may have some answers.

More than that you'll have to learn by reading the book, but I will say I'm glad that I've never encountered this kind of behavior anywhere in Ashtabula County. Neither has the author, for the record; in the acknowledgements he emphasizes that he's been to the county many times and enjoys the places and people. But the fact is - I'm paraphrasing here - stories about nice people don't tend to sell well. 

In the end - maybe because the people involved were just too nasty - I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the others. But ask me again down the road a bit; I did learn of a new-to-me place to eat in Conneaut - a pizza cafe that's one of the 25 oldest Italian pizzerias in the United States (founded in 1934). If it's anywhere near as good as the book claims, the discovery will more than make up for that half-star.

The Ashtabula Hat Trick by Les Roberts (Gray & Co., August 2015); 243 pp.

THE CHRISTMAS WOMEN

4 stars out of 5

It's sweet, for the most part predictable and smacks of  "The Music Man," "White Christmas" and "Grease." In short, which it is at just 219 pages, it's a nice book to read before the holiday season. A friend at Goodreads recommended it just as I was looking for something to counter the somewhat downer effects of a heavy-handed war-action thriller, and when I learned it's free with my Kindle Unlimited membership, I downloaded it immediately (the regular price is $2.99).

When Trudie Parks, a former student of retired high school drama teacher Myrna Childs, learns that her beloved teacher may have terminal cancer, she contacts two of her best friends from way back then (Trudie is 38, unmarried and living in her late father's house). The three, all stars of the annual Childs-directed Christmas show, at the time were so close that they were dubbed "The Christmas Girls," although they've scattered to other parts of the country and rarely see each other. Moved to do something to honor their former teacher, the three decide to recreate the show 20 years after the fact. 

As they contact the classmates who were involved in the original production to bring about a reenactment, they come face-to-face with old rivalries, old dreams and (big surprise!) old romances. Will they manage to pull it all together, deal with their ghosts from the past and stage a smashing show? And, given their teacher's weakening condition, can they do it in time?

As I implied at the outset, there aren't many big surprises here - not that there's anything wrong with that. And I admit to feeling special connections as I read along. To begin with, the setting is a small town called Deer Lake, Ohio, just south of Columbus. As an almost lifelong Buckeye who grew up not far from our wonderful capital city, I've never heard of Deer Lake, although Deer Creek State Park is in the approximate area. But the subject matter struck close to home as well; both my husband, a retired high school English teacher, and our daughter, a middle school language arts teacher, have been heavily involved in high school play production (our daughter still is). 

For years, we've lived through all the excitement, last-minute glitches, personality clashes and anticipation of opening nights; and not a few of the classmates in this book - including the hometown clown turned well-known Hollywood actor - resonated in my own memory bank. I know firsthand how much work, time and frazzled nerves are involved - and I also know that no matter how apprehensive teacher-directors may be on opening night, parents, grandparents and friends will know for certain that the students they came to see are nothing less than Bing Crosby, Shirley Jones, John Travolta or Olivia Newton-John.

All that said, it was an enjoyable read for me. I do, however, have one tiny nit to pick: At one point, the author says one of the classmates attended "Perdue" after high school - to study engineering, if I recall correctly. Unless he secretly was taking classes in chicken plucking, though, I suspect he really went to Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where the overall undergraduate engineering programs are ranked 9th nationally. 

The Christmas Women by Elyse Douglas (Amazon Digital Services Inc., September 2014); 219 pp.

THE BOOM: HOW FRACKING IGNITED THE AMERICAN ENERGY REVOLUTION AND CHANGED THE WORLD

5 stars out of 5

For those interested in buying this book, I'll lay out some key points to consider: First, this has to be one of the most definitive books on the history, development and processes involved in hydraulic fracturing of gas and oil wells ever written. It's also easily understandable by those of us not that familiar with the practice or the industry, but don't expect to skim through it. And, close to 40% of the book's 385 pages consists of comprehensive source material and an alphabetic index. 

Personally, I commend the author - an investigative reporter at The Wall Street Journal who has covered the industry for many years - for including this information; as a journalist myself, I would have expected no less. I simply want potential buyers to know that a substantial portion of the book is so readers can get more information (and confirm where the author got his). Furthermore, this book is neither an expose nor an attempt to sway the vote in either direction; rather, it's a very thorough report on how the whole thing got started, where it's at now and, insofar as anyone can tell at this point, where it may go in the future.

There's little doubt "fracking" is here to stay, and I freely admit I haven't been all that happy about it since the volume has been turned up in and around my little part of northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania with exploration (some would insist the definitive word is "exploitation") of the vast area that contains Marcellus Shale. But I also admit to knowing little about how fracking really works, so I tried hard to keep an open mind as I read. 

Now that I've finished, I can't say my overall opinion has changed, but my perspective certainly has. In fact, my biggest worry - that too much fracking (cracking solid rock miles below the earth's surface with drills and highly pressurized water mixed with other chemicals) - will blow our home planet apart from the inside out has pretty much gone by the boards, even though the fracking process has been linked to relatively mild earthquakes in some parts of the country (including mine). But that view been replaced by other concerns that continuing this "boom" at the rate it's going now may not be what's best for generations to come.

There's no way to condense all the facts and figures here (nor would I presume to try). But here are a few tidbits I picked up along the way:

• The gas and oil industry certainly isn't new; the first petroleum engineering degrees were conferred by the University of Pittsburgh in 1915 on four students - one from New Castle, Pa., which is within what I consider my local area.
• Nearly every well drilled in the United States today is a fracked well. That's about 100 wells a day, maybe more, that are being drilled year-round. "Whether you fear fracking or celebrate it, that's a lot of holes in the ground," the author writes.
• Fracking is so common that some have dubbed the new United States "Frackistan."
• By 2030, the United States is poised to become an oil exporter.
• In 2012, Chesapeake Energy, one of the industry giants and a big player in the Ohio-Pennsylvania market, earned $20 billion; the company drills more than 1,000 wells each year, all of them fracked. From 2004 to 2011, Chesapeake drilled more wells than any other company in the world - an average of four every single day.

One point that stood out in my mind is that the energy industry spends about $105 billion annually on hydraulic fracturing; about $5 billion of that is spent on "cementing," or securing the pipes to ensure that gas or salty water stays in the rock and doesn't flow into another one. But it appears there's precious little evaluation to make sure the cement itself is leak proof; it if isn't, gas can seep into shallow aquifers and then contaminate residential water (no doubt you've heard stories from folks who live near fracked wells about being able to set the water that comes from their kitchen faucets on fire). No, the very few times that happens may not be a huge concern (although those who experience it will say once is too often, and their point is well taken). But in my mind, at least, the issue of whether or not we're doing enough to prevent it from happening at all is.

The Boom: How Fracking Ignited the American Energy Revolution and Changed the World by Russell Gold (Simon & Schuster, April 2014); 385 pp.

HARD CASE

4 stars out of 5

I was made aware of this book, the first in a series featuring former Marine Corps special ops guy turned freelancer and extreme cage fighter John Harding, through an Amazon.com offer to download it for 99 cents. I'm not even sure why I took a closer look, except it was the first in a series, so if I liked it, I'd be able to look forward to more; and, I liked that it had earned an average of 4-1/2 stars from 76 reviewers. The clincher, though, was learning that Harding spent his teenage years in Leavittsburg, Ohio.

Say what? Leavittsburg is a very small community of a couple of thousand residents along the Mahoning River in Trumbull County not many miles from my home - and it's so small that it's unlikely anyone would mention it in a book unless he or she were familiar with it. So I did a little sleuthing of my own; I didn't unearth much except that the author at one time attended the now-closed Western Reserve High School in nearby Warren, Ohio, and thus Leavittsburg would have been almost in his back yard. But that was enough for me to say what the heck? It was less than a buck, and I was intrigued. 

And now that I've finished it, I'm hooked.

Harding, it seems, ran away from his Leavittsburg home and an extremely abusive father at age 14; with a little age adjustment, he got into military service, where he performed spectacularly and learned several languages. Subsequently, he's recruited by a CIA agent to take on special projects that must remain under the government radar - most of which involve utilizing his special skills and killing bad guys. To supplement that income and satisfy his need for violence, he earns money as an extreme cage fighter and takes on odd jobs doing bodyguard and skip trace work for his manager.

Along the way, Harding manages to knock the stuffing out of an extreme fighter backed by the Russian mob, thus putting himself in their crosshairs. At the same time, he's recruited to protect a young Afghani woman he knew as a child when he was doing military service there - now grown, she's come to America to speak out against the atrocities happening back at home. Helping Harding with the latter task is lawyer and love interest Tess Connagher (it's her law firm that was directed to hire Harding to protect the Afghani woman). 

Since there are two more books in the series that I know of - Hard Case - The Lure of Hell and Hard Case - Voyage of the Damned - it's clear from the beginning of this one that Harding will survive. And given his background and occupation, it's also clear there'll be no shortage of knock-down, drag-out fights in this book. In fact, those events are pretty much ongoing - moving from action in the field to action in a cage. People get killed right and left (but, as Harding points out, he doesn't kill people who don't deserve it). There's a little romance, a little humor here and there, and the result is that it's really a good book that held my attention all the way to the end. I will caution, though, that it you don't like reading about blood and guts, this probably isn't your style. As for me, bring on the next one!

Hard Case by Bernard Lee DeLeo (RJ Parker Publishing, November 2013), 288 pp.