5 stars out of 5
Right off the bat, I'll admit that feeling sympathy for any kind of Bernie Madoff wannabe who, by his own admission, wants what he wants and will do anything to get it, just isn't in my emotional wheelhouse. Honestly, I never really "liked" Jonathan Caine right up to the end of this book (in fact, especially not at the end). But in the final analysis, that matters not a whit; I thoroughly enjoyed this well-written story that held my attention throughout.
As Jonathan's efforts to turn a few billion bucks in the market turns nasty, he leaves his trophy wife Natasha at their expensive penthouse condo to attend his 25th high school reunion. There, he spots Jacqueline Williams, who (you guessed it), was well out of the reach of Johnny from the 'hood back then. She's still as gorgeous as ever, and the now filthy rich Jonathan decides to try for what he wants despite being married. As it turns out, she's married as well - to a high school football star with a penchant for spousal abuse.
That fact only increases Jonathan's intent to conquer, and he's delighted when he finds she's receptive to his attentions. Jackie is unaware, though, of Jonathan's pending financial crisis (which he's kept to himself in the fear that she'll dump his sorry butt), so that revelation looms over their affair. Jonathan does, however, share the fact that his father is on his deathbed - after all, that's just another speed bump in his as perfect as he can make it world. But as their relationship intensifies, Jonathan begins to contemplate what's really important and what he must do if he wants to turn his life around.
That, of course, brings up questions: Is he serious, or are his feelings simply another case of this, too, shall pass? If it's real, how can he and Jackie dump the spouses neither of them wants? Can Johnny avoid life-altering fallout from his financial plunders and blunders? And will he get the comeuppance I think he deserves?
To get those answers, you'll just have to read the book. As for me, I thank the author and publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read an advance copy in exchange for a review (it's scheduled for release on April 5, 2016). Now, I'm planning to take a look at the three other law-related books by the author, an attorney himself, BTW: A Conflict of Interest, A Case of Redemption and Losing Faith.
The Girl From Home by Adam Mitzner (Gallery Books, April 2016); 336 pp.
5 stars out of 5
If you have anything left that's worth more than a loaf of bread or a couple of packs of chewing gum when you leave this world, do you know who'll get it? If you have an estate plan and a Last Will and Testament, you do; otherwise, your goodies may be distributed in ways you neither expect nor want.
That's the purpose of this short book, written in lighthearted fashion by a Chicago attorney. And while it's not meant to be legal advice - an up-front disclaimer I know is necessary because I've got a son who's a lawyer (for better or worse) - the author's points are well taken.
The lighthearted part comes from looking at wills of some rich and famous folks, from Will Shakespeare to Joan Crawford (she of the hated wire coat hangers) to JFK Jr. There's also a list of people who died intestate (that means they didn't have wills at all); although some might be pardoned because they probably weren't expecting to kick the bucket - such as John Denver, who died at age 54 and Jimi Hendrix at 28 - others certainly should have known better (think Pablo Picasso, who lived to the ripe old age of 92).
The sample wills are followed by excerpts from the author's Fiona Gavelle mystery series, which at the time of this writing totals four with a fifth planned for publication sometime this year. They, too, are filled with both humor and dead bodies. These stories, the author says, are derived from personal experience - illustrating that there's plenty of fodder for stories in everyday life.
The whole thing can be read in an hour or so; and while I'll admit the mystery series is intriguing, it's the "stuff" in those wills that got the lion's share of my attention. It all goes to show, I guess, that we all put our shoes on one foot at a time. Good reading!
Lettuce Read Wills by Una Tiers (Fiona Gavelle, February 2016); 84 pp.
4.5 stars out of 5
After I finished the first few chapters of this book, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to care much what happens to Aubrey Hamilton, the central female character. Her much-loved husband Josh went missing five years earlier after mysteriously failing to show up at a friend's bachelor party. As the prime suspect, Aubrey was arrested, charged and put on trial but acquitted for lack of evidence; now, and her nasty mother-in-law Daisy finally succeeded in her quest to have her son declared legally dead.
When Aubrey meets a new guy (about whom I'll provide no details so as not to spoil it for anyone else), she turns into the angst-ridden, hand-wringing female who questions everything everyone says or does - including herself - and I got that old familiar feeling of, "Oh no - not another of those wishy-washy women I so dislike."
But then - thanks to chapters that switch back and forth among various characters (including Aubrey) and time periods, I began to realize what Aubrey was all about. This is a technique that's been overused in books of late, IMHO, but in this case, the author has used it to, in effect, build layers of each character that results in an ending that came as a bit of a surprise to me.
Bottom line? This is a good one, folks! I thank the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me an advance copy in exchange for a review (it's scheduled for release on March 22).
No One Knows by J.T. Ellison (Gallery Books, March 2016); 384 pp.
5 stars out of 5
This short "book" (67 pages) puts the spotlight on focused ultrasound, a medical treatment procedure involving "intersecting beams of high-frequency sound concentrated accurately and precisely on tissue deep in the body..." The noninvasive procedure is in various stages of development for healing more than 50 diseases and conditions such as Parkinson's and tumors of the brain, liver, pancreas and lung.
The goal, no doubt, is to ramp up awareness of the technology and the need to speed up the approval process for more applications and financial contributions toward the cause. In the interests of full disclosure, Grisham's friend and neighbor Neal Kassell, M.D., a neurosurgeon and proponent, founded the Focused Ultrasound Foundation (based in Charlottesville, Virginia), and Grisham is on the Board of Directors. It's equally important to note that the book is free for downloading at various websites including Amazon
(http://www.amazon.com/The-Tumor-A-Non-Legal-Thriller-ebook/dp/B01AUYDNI6).
Incorporating narrative and graphics, Grisham outlines the benefits of the technology and how it has the potential to improve both quality and length of life for cancer patients who qualify for treatment. More information, including a link to a video of Grisham's TEDx presentation, can be found at the Foundation's website (links are provided in the book).
Grisham calls this the most important book he has ever written. I call it highly informative and more than worth the brief time it takes to read it.
The Tumor: A Non-Legal Thriller by John Grisham (Focused Ultrasound Foundation, January 2016); 67 pages.
5 stars out of 5
The Elvis Cole Detective Agency is owned by Cole and partner Joe Pike (the secretive Pike doesn't want his name on the door). Cole, though, is the one who's hired to find a missing mother who has never recovered from the death of her son by a suicide bomber. The trail first leads to a seemingly run-of-the-mill house, but the inside tells a different story. As Cole knocks on the door, he hears helicopters and police car sirens - and a man inside runs out. Among the police ranks is LAPD officer Scott James and his dog Maggie, a military-trained German Shepherd who was seriously injured trying to protect her human handler during a tour of Afghanistan.
Those who read another of the author's books, Suspect, will remember James and Maggie (for the record, I loved that one too, giving it 5 stars as well). Here, in trying to catch the fugitive from the house, James gets a too-close look at a man thought to have murdered another man found inside the house. A large batch of explosives is found inside as well, and evidence suggests that the missing mother may be somehow involved. A theory develops that the woman may be attempting to trade stolen explosives for the name of the person who killed her son.
Since Cole was at the scene (also trying to chase down the runaway killer), he finds himself a suspect - at the very least, some officers believe, he knows more than he's telling the police. James, however, leans heavily toward Cole's innocence, as (of course) does Pike, who's been called in by his agency partner to put his special talents into play. The story quickly becomes more complex, to the point that it's hard to tell the good guys and gals from the bad.
Except, that is, for James and Maggie. Just like in Suspect, I read several chapters holding my Kindle with one hand while biting the nails on the other as both handler and pooch are targeted by the runaway killer who's intent on making sure James isn't around to identify him.
All the main characters get a good workout here - as does Cole and Pike's friend Jon, a special ops mercenary, who's also invited to join the search and seizure party. But IMHO, it was Maggie who stole the show; I won't be surprised if she and her human partner get a book all their own before long (hint, hint). Will I read it? You betcha!
The Promise: An Elvis Cole and Joe Pike Novel by Robert Crais (G.P. Putnams Sons, November 2016); 408 pp.
4 stars out of 5
At this point - having read too many books in the Stone Barrington series to count - I think I've finally come to terms with the things that started to bother me a few years back when the books got noticeably shorter and more boring (to the point that I began referring to the filthy rich New York lawyer as Stone Yawnington). In fact, I've rather enjoyed the last three, as I did this one. Where else will you find someone who, after just one look, buys an English mansion for 10-1/2 million pounds, then heads to an auto dealership to snap up a new Bentley and a new Porsche?
In this case, Stone buys the house from the dying owner to keep it out of the hands of his unloved kids. Meanwhile, Stone's son Peter and his friend Ben, who are in the movie-making business, have released their latest effort - a story about a shady cult leader. The film is wildly successful (of course, since everything Stone and his offspring do is touched with gold); but a dangerous real-life "religious" leader is quite unhappy, insisting that the movie is based on him. He's mad as hell and isn't going to take it any more, but how far will he go to retaliate?
Early on, a dead body turns up as well, supposedly a suicide. But here, too, there's more to the story than meets the eye. Could his death really have been murder? And if so, who did it and why? Leave it to Stone and his close-knit group of friends (one of whom has the FBI director on speed-dial) to get to the bottom of it - in between making a deal on another huge property and spending a good portion of time on the back of a horse (in proper attire, of course).
All these questions and more are answered here, and was happy to end the book with no cliffhanger. As has been the practice of late, the book is quite short (311 pages). And at this point, I do suggest that readers interested in this series should begin with an earlier book. This one stands alone well enough, but it seems to me my enjoyment was enriched by my previous knowledge of the backgrounds of the major characters.
Scandalous Behavior by Stuart Woods (G.P. Putnam's Sons, January 2016); 311 pp.
5 stars out of 5
By the author's own admission, this book is both a memoir and a how-to. Now that I've finished it, I figure the actual book leans heavily toward the memoir side (a very entertaining one, I hasten to add). Some how-tos are here, though, and there are plenty more to be downloaded for free online.
The focus, as the title suggests, is on why and how the author became a keynote speaker - and why and how readers can do the same. Not by accident, that's a targeted audience, which begs the question of why a mid-70s, mostly retired, grandmother of four would have the slightest interest in reading it.
It should go without saying that at this stage of the game, I have no desire to shift gears and head off to foreign lands, as the very accomplished author has done, to earn a living by sharing expertise with audiences willing to pay me. That said, public speaking has played a role at just about every stage of my life - in fact, I just signed on again to help recruit volunteers for Ohio's long-term care ombudsman program, taking my presentation on the road to area clubs and organizations. Beyond that, I was privileged to have a father who, in addition to having a full-time job and penning several self-published books of down-home country poetry (mostly under the pen name of Slim Acres), spent close to 30 years as an "after-dinner" speaker. Many evenings after work, he'd take off to get behind the podium at a club meeting, alumni banquet or commencement ceremony.
Neither of us ever made it beyond what the author calls the "cheap" circuit - more on that later - but I know I speak for him when I say we both had a heck of a good time. And that, in large part, is what attracted me to this book - and I certainly wasn't disappointed. The author doesn't pull any punches, laying out in interesting and sometimes humorous fashion his personal trials, tribulations and, of course, successes (right down to revealing his credit card balances at various points along the way). Topics, presented in relatively short chapters, range from charging fees to website deign to book marketing (and the need for aspiring speakers to write one in the first place).
Also explained is the difference between podium, motivational and keynote speakers, as well as the aforementioned "circuits" that are defined by income (the first, "free," describes most of my efforts). My dad fell more into the "cheap" category, and it's for sure neither of us ever dreamed of achieving "professional" status (keynoters who earn $5,000 and up per presentation). At the top of the heap is the "celebrity" circuit, but that one is reserved for folks like best-selling authors, movie stars, ex-politicians (whether in or out of favor) and and thus out of reach for most of us mortals.
Successful speaking requires repetition, hard work and unflagging determination ("Success is the accumulation of 10,000 tiny victories and 100,000 tiny failures," the author writes) and, I'll add, little or no fear of standing in front of hundreds of people and talking loudly enough that most of them can hear you. If you're among the latter group, this book won't do much to steady your knees; but if you've got those first three and a desire to earn money, it's worth your while to take a look. Be sure to check out the online worksheets as well; there are 12 at the website (keynotemastery.com) on such topics as Identifying Content Opportunities, Structure of a Keynote and Starting a Video Blog. Sign up at the site, as I did, to download any or all.
And that brings me to another purpose of this book: Self-promotion. Throughout, the author never misses a chance to get in plugs for his books, videos, training programs and the like. Should you think that's not a Martha Stewart good thing, think again; in fact, it demonstrates that he's walking his talk and putting into practice exactly the principles he's advising readers to follow if they want to achieve similar success. If that includes you, run, do not walk, to get a copy of this book today.
My thanks to the author, via NetGalley, for approving my request for a free copy in exchange for a review.
Keynote Mastery: The Personal Journey of a Professional Speaker by Patrick Schwerdtfeger (Amazon Digital Services Inc., January 2016); 284 pp.
5 stars out of 5
