Required Reading

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Books I have authored.

Many times I receive books for FREE to give them an honest review. I do not get paid to give a good or bad review. Spotlights are promotional and should be regarded as advertising for the book spotlighted. Regardless of where or how I got a book, my review will be as honest as I can make it.

Saturday, February 27, 2016

The Valles Caldera by Gary L. Stuart


This is a cowboy story or Western.   I don't normally read Westerns.   I was a bit surprised that I liked it.  Angus Esparazza is the main character and a big chunk of the book is the exploration of his character.   An occasional lawman, Angus intervenes in a situation where a woman  is being abused.   His intervention earns him the ire or a sociopathic rancher obsessed with Machismo.

Stuart does a nice job in setting the scene.  You can almost get pricked by a cactus or dowsed with river water due to the detailed nature of his prose.   He crafts a character who feels best when riding a river and talking to his horse.

The story is one of honor and revenge. 

I enjoyed it and recommend it.

Site:  http: http://garylstuart.com/


This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Deep as the Marrow by F. Paul Wilson



This is a stand alone book and not related to the Repairman Jack series.  John is a physician whose best friend ends up being President.   Their relationship is the source of the issues in this novel.  

John and Tom (the President) have a friendship that dates from elementary school.  Still fast friends, decades later, John finds himself as the President's personal physician.  

The turning point in this idyllic bromance is defined by Tom's decision to decriminalize illegal drugs.   Wilson does a great job pointing out the benefits of decriminalizing drugs.   Noting it is a social issue that would be better served by legalization and the resulting taxation rather than filling the prisons with users who have, for the most part, never been abusers or criminals in any other way.   Frankly Wilson makes quite a cognizant presentation on the legalization issue. 

Regardless of the rationality of the arguments which do make a lot of sense, the process imperils the enormous profits of the drug cartels.  

This leads to action that threatens John's family and it's well being.

This was a compelling story and well worth the read, I highly recommend.  

Site:  http://repairmanjack.com/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Friday, February 19, 2016

The Sleeping Doll by Jeffery Deaver


 Solitude Creek was captivating and engaging.  This book was slower and more detailed but the plot was very complex with plenty of surprises.  Deaver has Kathryn Dance, the kinesics (body language) expert at the CBI (California Bureau of Investigation as his main characters again.   A Charles Manson want-to-be escapes jail and terrorizes the community.  It is up to Dance and her colleagues to bring his reign of terror to a crashing halt. 

Deaver alludes to the sexual discrimination in law enforcement again in this book.   He also is a master of mis-direction.  He focuses your attention on his right hand while his left is moving characters in unlikely directions.

Once again, Dance's family provides the frame for her personality picture.  Dance's home life seems to be her Achilles hell.(intended)    Deaver seems to have a good understanding of the difficulties women in the work place face trying to balance professionalism with family.

The despicable Daniel Pell is a master of identifying the lost and lonely and providing them with a semblance of a demented family.   Sadly there are far too many young people who still feel alienated and discarded so the  premise of them being available victims is entirely too realistic.  

As a counselor I saw the same lost kids and did my best to provide them with direction but their home lives were often so dysfunctional that those efforts were often futile.

This is an excellent plot with plenty of action and devious twists and turns.

I highly recommend it.

website: http://www.jefferydeaver.com

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Monday, February 15, 2016

No Grey Areas by Joseph N. Gagliano, a memoir.

A riveting read, his ripped-from-the-headlines true story will both captivate and inspire you. With the infamous Arizona State University point shaving scandal serving as backdrop, Gagliano ­ the man who orchestrated one of the largest scandals in sports history - tells a tale of greed, corruption and the pursuit of redemption. 

Reminiscent of The Wolf of Wall Street and MoneyBall, this gripping personal life story will carry the reader through the internal struggles of poor life choices and fortune squandered. It is a captivating journey of morally questionable decisions, and the pursuit of freedom, all during a harrowing ride to redemption.

Looking back, I¹ve learned to break life down to its simplest form.
All life choices are black and white‹right and wrong. There are no grey areas.
~ Joseph N. Gagliano

Here is the link for the book on Amazon.


About the book:

In 1994, Joseph N. Gagliano calmly sat back, put his hands behind his head and smiled as the NCAA clocked ticked down the remaining last seconds of the game. It was the third game in a row Joe had bet on where the point spread had to land on a specific number. With millions at stake, was he nervous? Not at all. As the buzzer sounded on the 3rd game, his duffle bags were filled with over $5,000,000 in cash. How? Joe had fixed the game.

No Grey Areas tells the incredible, true story of the man who orchestrated the largest sports point shaving betting scam in sport¹s history. But that is only where the story begins.  It is always the cover up, not the crime, where white collar criminals get caught.

Joe was caught, convicted and served time in Federal prison for his role in coordinating and financing the 1994 ASU point shaving scandal. His journey continued as Joe came out of prison in late 2000 with a passion to clear his name and a desire to remove perceptions held by others of him. He embarked on an aggressive path to success; building a sizeable chain of full service car washes, making millions in real estate, living a life of luxury, and even buying a private jet just to get to his yacht in San Diego quicker.

But the story does not end there. Being an easy target, with the financial collapse of 2008, Joe's decisions and grey areas entangled him in another felony. In 2013, he went away to Federal prison again.

Inside these pages, you'll get a backstage pass on what it was like to slowly fall into the grey areas of greed, corruption, money, and business. Joe's brutally honest, detailed telling of this life of infamy, history, and successes along with the consequences of his decisions will amaze and inspire you.



This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

Happy Valentines Day



This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

The Codex by Douglas Preston


This is not a treatise on bad parenting but it could be.  A giant of a man (in his own mind) lays out a daunting task for his sons.  The tale is a combination of Indiana Jones and the Rockford Files.

The story focuses more on Tom and Sally than it does on the other brothers and father.  There is a despicable villain that behaves predictably and a secondary villain that does not.  

There is Wall Street drama with jungle terrors, snakes, tombs, a lost city and automatic weapons with enough action to satisfy most adrenaline junkies.  

It was an entertaining book.

Web Site:  http://www.prestonchild.com/


This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Due Justice by Diane Capri


This is a complex, character rich who dun'it.   The story is centered on a federal judge but not focused on her job but on her social and family life.   A notorious philander is murdered but motive seems to have been on a lost career in medicine.

Ms. Capri sets the scene in Tampa, Fl.   The descriptions are rich and knowing.   She creates a story that is fueled by relationships rather than actions.   Judge Wilhelmina Carson's motivations are laudable but you  shudder over her naïveté and occasionally her bull headed stupidity.   She brings new meaning to the phrase of  "fools rushing in".

The story had a complex plot that peripherally dealt with the breast enhancement industry and no it was not in any way, shape or form titillating!   The adage of following the money when dealing with  practically all nefarious activity held true but in a surprising way.

I enjoyed the book.

Web Site:  http://dianecapri.com/books/

This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

The Guilty by David Baldacci


This was a more soul searching Baldacci.  Will Robie needs to face his inner demons.    Some of those demons are external and resided in Cantrell, Mississippi.  

Baldacci shows a more thoughtful and  introspective Robie in this book.   You are given a  peak behind the curtain of the hard nosed, CIA assassin.   The realities of law and justice in a small impoverished town are explored.   Robie is forced to take the same journey he accompanied Jessica Reel on, in a past book. 

The plot starts out and quickly becomes as twisted as a bag of Twizzlers left in the sun.   The book has sufficient action and violence to satisfy all adrenal junkies.  This is one of my all time favorite Baldacci's.

I highly recommend it.


This book may have been received free of charge from a publisher or a publicist. That will NEVER have a bearing on my recommendations.