Book Review: "The Surgeon" By Leslie Wolfe

 

Shocking! Dynamic! Powerful!

Leslie Wolfe brings it all together with this 'in your face' style that produces a 'home-run' in the thriller arena!

When Dr. Anne Wiley steps on board as the cardio surgeon we learn that she's recently lost a patient. She's devastated or is she? Was it personal? Did she call 'death' early? Did she do everything in her power as a surgeon to save life?

Well, lets just say this -Karma- is knocking on the doorstep after losing her FOSTER sister -Melanie.
There's a reason why to capitalize the word, "Foster" because in this case it means all the difference to both families as they share the incomprehensible burden and pain of loss.

Dr. Anne Wiley now has to prove her decision was the right decision by the ruling body that oversees the hospitals actions. Will she be found competent and will she be granted another day?

Paula Fuselier is now on this case because she's possessing a valuable asset- Anne's spouse- whom she's having an affair with while he's an attorney.. mind you.

Surely, he'll has his wife's back and go to boot for her, right Derreck? Or, will this 7 month long affair seal that deal of loyalty till the end in love and war?

Ahh, the tension builds as readers are led on this maze of emotions from hostility, to anger, to deep seeded revenge and so much more.

The ending was powerful and it makes one wonder just how devoted should one couple be when the other is unfaithful?

As this plays out we've also had to face the truth of another situation and twister that plays out involving a young boy at 11yo named Simon Degnan who was shot to prevent testimony? Testimony that could incriminate and put a man named Vicente Espinoza behind bars.

Now, all of this comes to fruition because who wants to run for Mayor with all of this coming to a boil? Right-Derreck?

Well, it seems to be time to face the truth and process the past before it catches up to the present in this heart pounding gem!

Thank you to Leslie Wolfe, Bookouture, and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Book Review: "This Time Tomorrow" By Emma Straub

 I have to tend to agree with several of the reviewers that mentioned that we have to start holding authors accountable for the endings that go nowhere with zero changes.

While nobody needs constant rotational plots that are highly evolved we would like some sort of closure on the characters, their plots, and their actions.

For me the fact a 40 yo women is trying to travel back in time to 16yo to see if she can stop her dad's end stage illness is nothing short of trying to stop the hands of time.

We cannot play God nor expect something to change when we have no control and we certainly can't partake in drugs, parties, or living life beyond our control and think that'll ease the pain.

Alcohol, drugs, partying to the hilt only escalates said problems it's never a solution to them and it's unfortunate that this is even an option.

My fatther is 80 yo and just passed 17 days earlier from end stage cancer that ravaged his body. While I've never seen eye to eye because we're both from that same apple tree I'd give anything to have one more day. To think I'd want to contemplate reliving my life at 16 yo when he was healthy would be insanity because I wanted mature enough to realize the value of life.

It's taken years of pain, angst, and living a life of torrment to achieve the success I now possess and the wisdom that comes from aging, growing old, and learning as you go.

Time travel and sci-fi isn't the easiest topic to conquer and for some authors it's out of the league of possibilities.

Book Review: "Elvis and Me" By Priscilla Presley

Sex, drugs, rock n roll!

He may have been known for his voice and his gyration but he's also known for being a ladies man!
The numerous affairs from Nancy Sinatra to Connie Stevens to Ann Margaret had kept 'Cilly' on guard for most of their relationship.

Sadly, Cilly was groomed from the young age of 14 to be everything "The King" could want and need and to be their ready and waiting for his every becon call.

There were several women that came and went before, during, and after the divorce. Yet, they all had similarly noted he was self destructive, he was drug dependent, he was a mess.

How these women were able to convince themselves to be less than they deserved is unfounded in this day and age of MeTooMovements however, this was a different time and different rules.

I enjoyed reading this poignant and heartfelt work by Priscilla Presley but I wonder why she she wanted to be tied down, have child, and marry a man who seem so self absorbed and egotistical.

Elvis was so young when he had a heart attack that many believe was do in large part to his rampant drug use and failing health and wellness. It's even sadder to now know that his only daughter Lisa also passed at such a young age both in their 40-50's respectively.

The Elvis Presley era was ripe with much controversy especially with religion, politics, racial tensions, and more.

This book was well written and described in detail some of what was occurring behind the scenes leading up to the divorce and subsequent passing.

Book Review: A Stranger's Game By Colleen Coble

Bring it aboard-Colleen Coble- is back!

A Stranger's Game has a ton of action but some of it may be unbelievably far fetched for many readers and that can pose a big problem.

This book for me had so much fluff weighing it down that I was spinning wheels as a speed reader to move forward. It cleared up midway and took off with ease but also with less credibility & more friction.
If you enjoy heavy hitting topics- suicide, death, chemical warfare, destructive measures utilizing bombs, Federal Reserve issues, political motives, control/power/trust issues, kidnappings, thrillers, and Navy adventures, rescuing sea lions with an heiress and hotel owner aboard for added measure than you came to the right place.

There's numerous characters involved with numerous plots that would take way too long to delve into here but suffice to say it's constantly evolving and expanding exponentially.

I read reviews in which many would've like more romance, more Christian aspects, and even more likeable and believable characters. For me, I'm into suspense, mystery, intrigue, thriller works so it fit fine once the author moved in that direction.

It did seem at times that there's too many subplots trying to go off in different directions and they came and went so quick that it was hard to imagine the reasoning for the treehouse incident, the hidden agenda with Tori's immediate family, and the Navy/Fed Reserve/Sea Lion/Hotel Industry issues.

However, the point was more to showcase how people pass judgement upon meeting. Many assumedTori was the danger zone yet, there's more to her/Joe's story. Tori lied but in this case wsa it justified? Is lying to find the truth warranted?

The fact the author mentions this in the questions at the end makes one realize the direction Colleen Coble wanted to take this story and the insight she possessed at the time of the writing.

I enjoyed this book even if everything didn't add up as other reviewers mentioned, even if certain subject matter wasnt't fully defined, even if the characters weren't totally developed to the extent other readers felt necessary.

When I read something I often forget about the little inconsistencies and fall in love with the storyline. For me it was solid and enough to garnish 4 stars with a little more editing from the start but otherwise perfection!

In the end the author wanted to get people talking about following one's dream not a parent's dream but one's personal dream. To help a friend in need like Lisbeth. To fall in love and share the love with others.
This was accomplished and it was a joy to experience.

Book Review: "Nine Liars" By Maureen Johnson

 

Yet again those who receive ARC's will be fumbling over themselves to toss the five stars yet those w/o ARC's are offering up 2-3 stars.

Folks, I've read over 1,300 books in '21. I was top 20 reviewer before leaving to seek employment full time with a paid position. I had over 13 NetGalley approvals and was in such high demand that I was reading books anywhere and everywhere free of charge while in extreme poverty, bankrupt, homeless, and LT unemployed. Authors and publishers would email me, send me ARC's digitally, and plop me aboard their google spreadsheets for blog tours daily. I had on average 9-10 blog tours every week. The fact of the matter continues to be honesty, transparency, and trust. I base ratings on the writing, the books performance, the way it makes me feel as a reader/reviewer/freelance writer.

I've since acquired a paid position after my dad passed 16 days ago, while I was held up in ER with pneumonia, sent home and learned my nasal swab tested positive for Covid.

So, let me explain this book in a nutshell. It's about this group of 9 that ends up going on this study abroad deal.

David and Stevie had this thing for one another. But eventually it seemed that several individuals where doing there thing, drinking, smoking, and having fun in London.

I really didn't take many notes because there's not much to write. It's one of those stories where everyone is lying to save their own arse.

Peter in the end seems to be the biggest liar of them all and so I'll leave it there!
What I can say is that ending with David left me pondering...

But, for those who enjoy a YA from time to time and have read the 4 in this series of Truly Devious than the 5th is probably a must for you.

To sum it all up: Less fluff more action!

Off we go to the next adventure. Ty to our local free libraries that provided this hardcover.

Book Review: "Find Me" By Alafair Burke

 

Knowing the work that Alafair Burke is capable of producing leads me to a lower rating on this one entitled, "Find Me."

The fact that we have a young lady named Hope Miller is just the start of this amnesia story from a car accident some 15 years ago.

Now, we find hope on the verge of being charged criminally, aliases galore, and being on the run heading to the Hamptons.

What could cause so much excitement?

Well, glad you asked...

It seems there's several murders. One involving Richard Mullaney and another involving Alex Lopez.
There's several characters that make a one hit wonder appearance and leave from detectives, to family members, to police.

Then we have Lindsay the attorney assisting Hope, Lindsay, Tara or whatever.

This entire premise revolves around sexual abuse and traumatic events from the past including to a young girl at a summer camp who was raped with the brother vowing revenge.

Hope originally was connected to one of the murders as the former babysitter but was fired and the other murder based on what she was told from Alex. However, could she have killed someone?
Or, was it a lie to save face?

What we do know is that Alex was killed via a single gunshot wound to the skull and a man named Richard Thompson might be the next go to guy to check out as there's a lot of inner workings here with plenty of twist that try to take us off track.

Stand tall, stand firm, and know that someone may be lying in the end but who and why?

Book Review: "All Of This" By Rebecca Woolf

 

There's two sides to every story so let's not forget that important part of this storyline.

First and foremost, I'm sorry for your loss might be a side step but important nevertheless to share.
Secondly, read Roxane Gray's review which pops up first as it sums up with fewer words what I'm about to say and probably more eloquently.

This polarized memoir is quite unique in the fact it goes from death, to inner awareness/self reflection, dating outside the norm, back to death, and ends with a dream about a tell all scrapbook.

In the beginning I was understanding and accepting of everything noted because as the black sheep of a narcisstic family for 49 years, my dad passing on the 10th of this month, and the fact he passed from end stage cancer that probably originated from pancreas, while having spent considerable time discussing hospice care and more with Sloane Kettering and here in PA with our local Veterans hospital led me to a place of all too sadly familiarity.

In fact, much of what you described with the swollen belly in the end, the chemo treatments, and the rest was exactly what my family just experienced and the issue with tissue/organ donation, the cremation, and more. It was almost too close for comfort and made me pause to catch my breath. The fact the eyes couldn't even be donated do to the cancer ravaging havoc brought the pain to the front and center.

However, when the conversation moved to inner awareness, self loathing, self actualization and proceeded to dating women and then sleeping with other men while discussing fake orgasms and the like I lost most of the previous feelings and thought ---why?

Was it necessary or revelant to add this foresight into a book meant to be about the loss of one's spouse and the feelings that precipitated?

Then we evolved to more of a Thelma and Louise -fight till the end-woman united front which again made me question where this book was headed.

Finally, ending on the reality check of a scrapbook dream bringing the memories from the marriage to the forefront only to have them tossed away as but only in a dream scenario left me perplexed as to the author's motives as it fell flat in the end.

It to me seemed more of a confusion on whether to love, like, hate, or completely remove the emotions rather than process those feelings and that marriage in a more healthy way.

I wonder if perhaps therapy, or a life coach might've helped in this case or if the marriage was based upon irreconcilable differences and cut the ties for the loss....

It was definetely an eye opening experience that passed judgement but I'm wondering how others would be open to this type of personal reflection.