Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek by Terry Shames

Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek (Samuel Craddock Series #3), Terry Shames. Buffalo NY: Prometheus Books, 2014. e-book, 225 pps.


Jarrett Creek is broke. A deal with a water park promoter fell through and now a son of a banker is dead. Who killed him? Samuel Craddock is called from retirement and he has to find out. Dead Broke in Jarrett Creek is much better than this short summary might imply.

sapphoq reviews says: I enjoy the writing of Terry Shames and have quickly become a fan. I failed to anticipate whodunnit in this one-- a mark of a mystery well-told for me. If you like mysteries combined with a touch of life in a small town, then the Samuel Craddock Series is for you. Highly recommended. 

Knife Music by David Carnoy

Knife Music, David Carnoy. New York: The Overlook Press, 2008. e-book, 292 pps.

     Dr. Ted Cogan is a respected trauma surgeon at Parkview Medical. A sixteen year old by the name of Kristen Kroiter is involved in an m.v.a. [motor vehicle accident] and winds up on his table. She lives. Life goes on. Kristen Kroiter goes home and resumes her life.

      A diary is found. It does not matter that Kristen wanted to do it. She is after all an underage teen living in California. The diary reveals an indiscretion on the part of Dr. Cogan. 

     He loses his job. There is an investigation. Heads roll.

sapphoq reviews says: David Carnoy is a master at whodunnit. [I am currently reading The Big Exit, his next book featuring some of the same characters]. He did an excellent job with the personalities and the conversations of both the medical staff and the police detectives. I did not see the ending coming at all. Sexual assault survivors who are still a bit fragile might stay away. For those of the rest of us who like our mysteries infused with high intelligence, absolutely recommended. 

Ripper by Isabel Allende

Ripper, Isabel Allende. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2014. e-book, 426 pps.

     Having read Maya's Notebook, I looked forward to reading Ripper and I was not disappointed. Ripper is set in San Francisco, an area of the country that I am quite fond of and know well enough. A teenager and her internet cohorts who play an online game called Ripper use the game to figure out who is leaving a trail of bodies in San Francisco.

sapphoq reviews says: Isabel Allende did an excellent job penning this serial killer novel. There was a twist at the end that was unanticipated. The scenery was spot-on. The characters were believable, especially Amanda the teen, her leftover hippie mom with poor taste in men, and her grandfather. And Save the Tuna was especially endearing. I like abandoned buildings in real life and in the novels I read. Highly recommended.

Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Asylum, Madeleine Roux. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2013. e-book, 216 pps.

Some teens labeled as gifted descent upon a college in New Hampshire for a summer program. They stay in a dorm building which used to be an asylum. Three of them become pals. Daniel is described in the book as being anxious and was given the label of "mild dissociative disorder." Jordan is a gay teen who is supposed to be somewhere else. Abby is an artist. They explore the warden's office on the first floor of the building and find other hidden stuff there.

sapphoq reviews says: I was dismayed by the label of "mild dissociative disorder." It seemed not to fit the story as it was told. I think it might have been better to use the words "fugue states" and to explain to the [probably mostly teen] readers what that is.

Asylum started off slowly. I didn't really get interested until the trio began their extended exploration of the secret rooms. Until that point, I was forcing myself to stick with the book. The ending was somewhat predictable. I would have liked also for the characters of Daniel's roommate and the history professor to be fleshed out a bit more. 

The old photos were pretty cool but easily located on the internet. 

A disappointing read, even for teens. Skip this.

The Last Child by John Hart

The Last Child, John Hart. New York: Minotaur Books, 2009. e-book, 397 pps. including preview from a next novel.


     The Last Child captivated me from the prologue onward. The story opens with a thirteen year old boy named Johnny. He is no ordinary kid. He knows how to drive. To the consternation of the police-- one Detective Hunt in particular-- Johnny will not give up driving.

     Johnny is equally at home in the woods. He knows things. He is a keen observer of animal nature and this ability gets him into trouble.

     Trouble surrounds Johnny. After a family tragedy, a horn-dog named Ken moved on in and his mother is the worst for it. Ken is not a nice man. And Johnny does not trust Detective Hunt.

     There is a cast of characters in The Last Child who are devious and mean. There are murders and manslaughter, betrayals and tests of friendships. And there are the woods of course. Ancient woods with mossy fragrances and dead bodies.

sapphoq reviews says: John Hart delivers a finely-crafted story which transported me into the back country of North Carolina and held me there until the last page. I don't mind a thirteen year old dropping f-bombs in a work of fiction. If you do, then skip this book. Nasty people abound. The Last Child was pure magic-- a coming of age tale that will stay with me for a very long time. Highly recommended.

Leave No Stone Unturned (A Lexie Starr Mystery, Book 1) by Jeanne Glidewell

Leave No Stone Unturned (A Lexie Starr Mystery, Book 1), Jeanne Glidewell.  New Freedom, PA.: ABN Leadership Group, Inc, dba ePublishing Works!, 2013.  224 pps.

Very fast-paced. Lexie Starr and Stone Van Patten are likeable enough characters. Harriet rocked! 

A few small mistakes:
1. People not using an Adirondack trail or even animal path or footpath due to stinging nettles is not realistic. Folks around here are far more rugged than that. Better reason not to use a trail much might be because the ADKers have convinced people that trails not leading up to one of the high peaks aren't worthwhile. Another might be that only or mostly locals hike there.

2. Schizophrenia the word is derived from a word meaning "split brain" however schizophrenia the condition is entirely separate from having "multiple personalities".

3. The best social engineering would not get a stranger in to see Wanda.

4. If it was described as intensive supportive apartments with staff on-site (with their own apartment 'office') that would have been more believable and in line with the residential services available "10 miles south of Schenectady" than a "home for the mentally ill."

5. Said intensive supportive apartments could have been placed in Albany and been realistic there (as the first Albany exit is approximately 10 miles from the Schenectady exit on 90 South.

6. Wanda's actions could also have been those of a schizophrenic woman who was elderly AND now also suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's. Her placement in an apartment for the elderly with on-site staff supervision would have fit then. Think: Kingsway Arms off of the Crosstown (route 7 east in Schenectady) would have been believable.

7. NYS is full of democratic politicians who prefer the labels "mental health challenges" or " behavioral disorders/health" to the more direct words "mentally ill". Services in NYS have not referenced the words "mentally ill" here in several decades.

8. I'm fairly sure that New York State hasn't had a death penalty in years.

9. Schenectady has been a dirty city for many years. This holds true of the Upper Union Street area as well as the slummier sections of town. Actually, I was amused at Schenectady being described as a clean city. The resident insect is the cockroach.

Not a mistake but an observation: Lexie uses some 12 step specific jargon throughout the book along with a few Christian phrases. Since the useage is marked, it would be believable for Lexie to be an out of the closet Christian in recovery from alcoholism. She could be a member of either AA or Overcomers Anonymous in good standing. Stone, being a Christian southern gentleman would either not drink because of his religious beliefs or in solidarity with Lexie's desire to stay sober.

If the author didn't mean for Lexie or Stone to be Christian, then the recovery jargon and religious expressions should be omitted in future books.

Good points: 
*Very little cursing.
*Suitable for use by adults in literacy programs.
*If a teen or a child get a hold of this book, their parents don't have to shudder in horror.
*No poorly written sex scenes in this book-- no sex scenes at all.
*An absence of zombies, the paranormal, and dark urban atmosphere.
*The characters were interesting and seemed like folks I've met.

A personal note of thanks to the author for promoting organ donation. I am glad you have survived your ordeal and are now thriving.

sapphoq reviews says: If you like urban fantasy and dark stuff, then this one is not for you. But if you want a wholesome mystery book with some laughs and surprises, then yeah, get this book. But don't rely on it to tell you anything real about Schenectady New York or even about the Adirondacks for that matter. Recommended with a few reservations.

Jeffery Deaver, The Broken Window

Jeffery Deaver, The Broken Window: A Lincoln Rhyme Novel.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2008.
Hardcover, 418 pps.

The first Lincoln Rhyme novel I read by Jeffery Deaver was
The Bone Collector. For the uninitiated, Lincoln Rhyme
was a detective until an accident rendered him a quad. He
now has a high tech life in his townhouse, an attractive
girlfriend by the name of Amelia Sachs, an assistant Thom,
and a bunch of N.Y.P.D. colleagues who depend upon him.
Amelia walks the grid of crime scenes and Lincoln processes
the information into leads and suspects. The Bone Collector
has also been made into a movie with the attractive Amelia
Sachs played by Angelina Jolie.

The Broken Window has at its' heart several identified and
convicted innocents and one estranged Rhyme cousin who is on
his way to a similar fate. UNSUB522 is cunning. He has inside
connections to a data mining company. The data mining company
holds a half-dozen suspects and an aura of evil. One of the detectives,
a young man with a traumatic brain injury, has a run-in with one
of the suspects who mocks him for not knowing what Excel (trademark,
no copyright infringement intended) is. With a great deal of compassion,
Lincoln Rhymes tells the detective not to bother learning stuff that isn't
useful for him.

Jeffery Deaver comes through with shining colors on this novel. For
those who enjoy mysteries, highly recommended.

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