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Like a Ghost, the Evil is not Easily Found…”Haunted”, by James Patterson

In this latest edition of the Detective Michael Bennett saga, James Patterson, in collaboration with James O. Born, presents a very satisfying, yet disturbing, novel following one of New York City’s premier investigators. Michael Bennett and his family have planned a much needed get away, and what better place than a small town in the heart of Maine. Bennett had been pushed to his limits by a series of several crisis situations, so a vacation seemed like a perfect remedy.

Once the Bennett family gets settled in for their hard earned vacation, almost immediately Michael was approached by the local authorities, asking if he could help them stop an evil perpetrator from destroying their population of children. The challenge for this street-wise investigator is that the existing evil in the town is like a ghost…….not easily found……or it might be next door. Once Detective Bennett gets involved in the case, the evil not only threatens law enforcement, the towns people, but also Bennett’s own beloved family.

A young “earthy” girl who has nobody to support her ends up being a partner, of sorts, in the solving of this mystery. The girl is haunted by what she knows, and it is a race against time before others will be statistics. What seemed like the idyllic small town in which to decompress became anything but for the Bennett family.

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Morphing Into his Victims Thoughts and Becoming Their Worst Nightmare…”It”, by Stephen King

For anyone who is already fearful of clowns, author, Stephen King’s novel, It, will be a true reading and watching nightmare. King has an amazing talent for bringing out the very worst (or the best depending how you look at it) in his maniacal, extremely clever, wicked main characters. Such is the character in It, who is Pennywise, the evil clown, who can morph himself to fit his victims thoughts. Quite a nightmare for those who try to stop him.

The place is Derry, Maine, which seems to have a deep, dark hold on author King. Back in the day, there were seven teenagers who survived the attack of children by something that came up from the sewer to hideously murder children. It picked on those who had various types of negativity in their lives. The seven teens had abusive or ill- caring parents, poverty, illness, ethnicity, a stutter, obesity, and chronic short-sightedness. As adults, they vowed to return to their hometown to confront the evil without a name…….It.

The newer movies by screenwriter Gary Dauberman and Muschietti, splits the book into two parts. This gives more detail ad attention to the teenagers, then the same in adulthood. The movie works well because it takes time with the kids, showing their comradeship as much as their fears. It is recommended to read and watch Stephen King’s It in a well-lit environment.

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Not Even Children are Safe…”Jack & Jill”, by James Patterson

Jack and Jill, another in the Alex Cross series of detective mysteries by American author, James Patterson, is another nail biting novel depicting a complex search to find the perpetrators of various murders in the Washington, DC area. The most disturbing of them being the murder of a child……not even children are safe.

A Senator is found murdered and then, the unthinkable, a little girl is found murdered ad left in front of the elementary school where Alex Cross’s son attends. As Cross is feverishly trying to connect the dots to the murders, the killer, or killers, strike again. It seems that only Alex Cross has the skills to expose the killer, but will he figure it out in time?

In this, the author’s third novel about police detective and psychologist, Alex Cross, he presents a true roller coaster of a heart pounding, intense, jolting plot………giving credence to those who say that James Patterson is “the aster of the nonstop nightmare”.

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Untold Heroism…”Sons and Soldiers: The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned With the U.S. Army to Fight Hitler”, by Bruce Henderson

There have been numerous books written about Nazis Germany and the Holocaust, but the non-fiction book, Sons and Soldiers, is a very unique story among all others. It is the little known story of ten teenage, German Jews, and their fight to survive by escaping to the United States. Once safe, they wanted to do something to help, as well as be able to search for the families they left behind.

The U.S. Army considered the German-born Jewish boys to be an invaluable secret weapon in defeating Adolf Hitler. There were 2,000 of them who joined with small, elite interrogation teams throughout Europe. They would interrogate POWS, obtaining crucial information that ultimately helped save American lives and assisted in the victory over Hitler.

The ten who were featured in Sons and Soldiers, were called the Ritchie Boys, because they went through training at Fort Ritchie in Frederick, Maryland. Their interrogations provided key tactical intelligence on the strength of the enemy, troop and armored personnel movement, and defensive positions. It was discovered after the war, that the Ritchie Boys alone were responsible for 60% of the intelligence information collected!

Reviews for Sons and Soldiers are glowing from readers who previewed the novel. The subtitle gives the description pretty accurately…….The Untold Stories of the Jews who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the US Army to Fight Hitler. Henderson writes the true story behind these ten brave young men, and their mission to defeat Hitler, and to also search for relatives who had been left behind.

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Skeletons of Scandal, Violence, and Murder in the Closet…”Crime Scene”: A Novel by, Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman

The American team of father and son, Jonathan Kellerman and Jesse Kellerman have co-authored a page turning fictional novel entitled, Crime Scene: The Novel. A star athlete turned coroner’s investigator is drawn into a brutal, complicated murder. The novel is a true example of a psychological thriller at its best.

Clay Edison is the Kellerman’s main character, the coroner’s investigator whose normal job capacity entails determining natural causes or foul play in each body he examines. Figuring out motives and chasing down suspects is not a normal part of his job description. What should have been an open and shut case proves to be anything but that.

A loyal and defiant daughter of a dead professor convinces Clay to take a closer look at her father’s death. What appeared to be a nasty, fatal fall down the stairs turns out to be a grim and brutal murder. One key piece of information Clay finds is that a colleague of the professor had died in almost the same manner. The dead professor had many skeletons in his closet involving scandal, violence, and the murder of a coed.

The authors know they have a truly great work created when author, Stephen King says of the father and son writing team……… “Brilliant page turning fiction……..A rare collaboration where the sum is truly greater than the parts…….an extraordinary work of detection, suspense, and supernatural mystery”.

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Out For Revenge….”House of Spies”, by Daniel Silva

In quoting one reader………many thriller writers are writing about ISIS, but few grasp its history or even the fundamental nature of its barbarity. Instead, they plug into a cookie cutter plot and promote the result as something profound, when it is anything but……and worse are the authors who bash readers with their personal politics rather than being creative enough to give their characters life with actions that reveal what the author is “trying” to communicate. That quote, in this reader’s opinion, is such a fair and very impressive comment on the honesty and integrity written into the new book by author, Daniel Silva. As a continuation of his best seller of 2016, The Black Widow, his new offering, House of Spies continues the work of Gabriel Allon, who is out for revenge. He is dead set on hunting down a despicable, dangerous terrorist who goes by the name of Saladin.

Gabriel Allon has now assumed the position of chief of the Office, another term for Mossad, in Israel. Various other Silva characters have been brought back into House of Spies to help enrich and embolden the plot. As does usually happen, one loose end that is overlooked by the ISIS mastermind, gives Gabriel something to cling to as he begins to get closer to the world’s most dangerous terrorist.

Even after a long, successful string of novels, Silva still finds new ways to create surprises for his readers. One had assumed that once Gabriel Allon was said to have left field work, his importance might be insignificant. But with genius writing and character development, Gabriel will still carry the novels to come.
House of Spies “is just the type of relentless, high powered, headline – beating thriller that readers have come to expect from Daniel Silva, one of the truly great, must-read authors of his time.

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From Alternating Points of View, Family Issues, and an Epilogue…”Local Girl Missing”, by Claire Douglas

Just the title is chilling enough in today’s world, but the brand new book from author Claire Douglas might just surpass the thrill of the title, Local Girl Missing. It has all the components of what an excellent mystery should have…….suspense, mystery, makes your heart race, from alternating points of view, family issues, and an epilogue.

The two main characters, Francesca and Sophia have been friends what seems like forever. Frankie is a well to do, only child type who has beauty, money, and attention. Sophie is much quieter, preferring to curl up with a book, and lives an ordinary, non-dramatic life with her mother and brother. The big clue to everything is the age-old story of two friends falling for the same guy. Never good! As the mystery unfolds with twists and turns across almost two decades, Sophie’s remains have surfaced, and her older brother asked Frankie to return to their little seaside town to help solve the mystery of Sophie’s death. Thus begins the alternating points of view……….. Frankie gives the present day, and Sophie tells her story to the reader through her diary.

It has been called a perfect thriller, beautifully written, a page turner, with great character description, and great plots that connect all the dots. A challenge is to see if the reader can figure out the mystery before the end of book reveal……..and no cheating!

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People Aren’t Always What They Seem…”Tom Clancy Point of Contact”, by Mike Maden

In a thriller that could be taken from current headlines, Tom Clancy Point of Contact will keep its readers on their toes with suspense and a very active last hundred or so pages. Even though the beloved author, Tom Clancy, has passed, his essence is carried on by various authors writing in the same vane as Clancy. In Point of Contact, The Campus and Jack Ryan, Jr. continue their secret work as they have done in previous novels by Clancy. In this episode, Jack Ryan, Jr. is partnered with Paul Brown at the request of Senator Rhodes, a defense contractor, who needs a job in Singapore done very quickly. Jack Ryan knows nothing of Paul Brown’s secrets……not exactly just the mild-mannered forensic accountant he appears to be. And, Paul Brown has no idea that Jack Ryan, Jr. works for The Campus, a top-secret American intelligence agency. An interesting pairing for sure.

The Tom Clancy novels are known by their readers as taking place in the Jack Ryan universe. Together Ryan and Brown race to escape both the killer storm bearing down on Singapore, and the assassins who have been paid to see that both are exterminated. They do this for self-preservation and to try to prevent a global catastrophe.

Tom Clancy Point of Contact describes in detail how people who are essentially good, can do very bad things, can be manipulated, lied to, threatened and bullied. In this Clancy-eske thriller, there are fights, espionage, betrayal, politicians, gangsters, and special operators. To round out the Clancy character filled novel, also added are beautiful women and dangerous bad guys. We all know how things can go wrong in the blink of an eye, and people aren’t always what they seem.

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Place of Secrets, Mystery and Witchcraft…”Into the Water”, by Paula Hawkins

If reading a “sleep snatcher” mystery is your forte` then London born author Paula Hawkin’s book, Into the Water is perfect for your next read. Hawkin’s Girl on the Train was a mega hit both as a book and on film. She has a method of telling the story using many characters, each with their own issues, then weaving them all into the finished plot. She has also been given kudos for making each chapter brief, yet jam packed with pieces of the plot puzzle.

Nel Abbott had lived in Mill House by the river her entire life. “The Drowning Pool” as it was called since medieval times was just as much a part of her memory growing up as anything else. It was an intimidating place of secrets, mystery, and witchcraft. Nel had been so consumed with interest in the stories of “troublesome” women who had their lives taken in the Drowning Pool……..some walked in of their own choice, but others had “assistance”………. unsolicited assistance. It is suspected that Nel, a single mother of a teenager, had unwanted assistance in her death in the “Drowning Pool”. And with that, Into the Water takes the reader on an unsettling journey to find the truth.

Hawkin’s “delivers an urgent, twisting, deeply satisfying read that hinges on the deceptiveness of emotion and memory, as well as the devastating ways that the past can reach a long arm into the present”. You know what “they” say……..”Beware a calm surface……you never know what lies beneath”.

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Master of Military Strategy and Lethal Warfare…”Thrawn”, by Timothy Zahn

Even though Thrawn seems to be one of the most iconic villains in the history of Star Wars, many avid readers find themselves rooting for him and The Empire in the book by Timothy Zahn. Of course, they are not the good guys, but his character development is the best of any of the main characters. Author Zahn chronicles the fateful events that gave the blue-skinned, red-eyed, master of military strategy and lethal warfare his rise into the highest levels of power……and infamy.

Reviewers generally seem to approve of Thrawn more in Zahn’s book much more than in the Legend series, and much better than he is portrayed in the Rebels film series. A definite plug has been given to the audio book format. Reviewers feel that the narrator, Marc Thompson is so good that he is by far the choice to narrate all Star Wars books. Lucasfilm does a great job in creating the perfect mood with the appropriate music and sound effects. One critic says it is more like listening to a radio drama, than an audio book.

As one reviewer adequately stated: “This is a perfect character study. It’s the Thrawn we always wanted but never got in Legends, and finally, he’s in all his glory, in the Star Wars canon”.

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