The Magic Castle by Carole Smith

The Magic Castle: A mother's harrowing true story of her adoptive son's multiple personalities-- and the triumph of healing, Carole Smith. New York: St. Martin's Press/ Macmillan, 2014, 1998. e-book, 290 pps.


     Carole and her husband Sam decided to foster a so-called "special needs, emotionally disturbed" child. Alex was the child and he pretty much wrecked stuff. He was given to violent episodes. He was loud and abusive. He had a hard time maintaining himself in school. He was not a "nice" child for sure.

     At some point, Alex is a multiple, not a singleton. Help is called. Alex goes through a bunch of therapy, including hypnosis. Where would the world be without hypnosis? There are pictures included in the book. They are interesting but certainly not conclusive of anything.

     The accusations are made that his birth mother took care of at least one baby for the uh satanic cult that she was also a member of. Alex was allegedly being groomed for leadership, complete with a red robe. Naturally, the five-pointed [and upright] star with a circle drawn around it makes an appearance.

     Babies were killed and buried and stuff. Naturally, the site is no longer a field because progress and urbanization. There is no legal verification of what is offered as factual rather than possible evidence of.

sapphoq reviews says: In fields and parking lots and obscure graves across the United States are a bunch of dead babies allegedly killed by satanists for reasons which no one has ever really explained. Yes, kids get abused in horrible ways and some kids are murdered. I don't deny that. The problem that I have is that there is no actual physical evidence of dead babies anywhere that all the alleged followers of the dark prince left behind them after their blackened ceremonies of filth and stuff like that. I would want just one dead baby dug up that shows evidence of satanic sacrifice. Just one. But there is none so far. After how many years, why isn't there one dead sacrificed baby that can be put on display for the masses? Until such a baby shows up, I remain troubled by memories and recovered memories of figures in black robes killing babies [and possibly cats or other animals] and making snuff films of their own children. 
     While lacking grammatical errors, Carole Smith's writing is far from gifted. Book sounds more like an uneasy come-on to get religion in order to avoid buddies with cloven hooves. Unless you enjoy satanic panic literature, skip this one.

Hidden Girl by Shyima Hall with Lisa Wysocky

Hidden Girl: the true story of a modern-day child slave, Shyima Hall with Lisa Wysocki. New York: Simon & Schuster for Young Readers, 2014.


Shyima was a child in Egypt born in poverty. When her sister stole money from the family that she was "working" for, Shyima's parents surrendered her to that family. Shyima was ten years old. She was taken from the slums to Cairo, Egypt. "The Mom and The Dad" had a grand house and other servants. Something happened and everything changed. Shyima migrated to Orange County, California with the family-- there were also two boys. Once in the United States, Shyima was the only servant/slave. She slept in a constructed hidden small box of a room inside the garage of the expensive condo. She was not allowed to go to school. Her clothes were rags. She had to wash them by hand. Her life sucked badly.

Things were dismal for several years. Shyima came into freedom. Today she is a citizen of the United States. She has come a very long way.

sapphoq reviews says: A heart-wrenching book with a powerful message. I learned something about how to be more observant of those domestic slaves which may indeed be hiding in plain sight. Highly recommended for tweens, teens, and adults.

Search for a Silver Lining by B.C. Murray

Search for a Silver Lining: One Man's Life Inside the Bizarre World of Prison, B.C. Murray. Portland OR: BookBaby, 2013. e-book, 309 pps.

B.C. Murray is currently incarcerated. He is from the South and has done his time primarily in southern jails and a hub (a prison where an inmate waits with other inmates until there are adequate numbers to justify the use of transport dollars to transfer an inmate to wherever he is going within the system). He has landed at a fed pen in Arkansas. Search for a Silver Lining is primarily about the social aspect of his experiences as a prisoner.

sapphoq reviews says: B.C. Murray admits near the end of his book that his motives for writing it were unclear. Certainly, he recounted some humorous tales of various cellies. He also had a few things to say about prison jobs-- food service jobs are the worst-- and he busts a few racially-based myths along the way. Unfortunately, his writing suffered from his lack of purpose. There is a weak argument that after being through the humiliation of arrests, court dates, trials and public media, prison is almost a relief. There is also the unconvincing argument that it makes more economic sense to give non-violent prisoners house arrest. I don't know if it makes more economic sense or not. I do know that his arguments were not backed up by any evidence. I did enjoy the variety of quotations that B.C. Murray used to set off each chapter. Any monies received will go to his two sons, he says. Not really recommended.