Category: Reading

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Blog Tour: A Second Hand Life by Pamela Crane

A Second Hand Life coverWhat’s it about?

After receiving a heart transplant from a young murder victim, Mia Germaine is plagued by nightmares. Are they clues to solving a murder case, or grim phantasms leading her further into danger? More than a page-turning thriller, A Secondhand Life weaves a tale of second chances and reclaimed dreams as this taut, refreshing story ensnares and penetrates you.

What do reviewers say?

Southern Editor: A spellbinding thriller that will twist you into its grip until the last mind-blowing page…

Storm Goddess Book Reviews & More: …a thriller that messes with the readers mind… If you’re a fan of psychological suspense novels, I recommend it…

Who wrote it?

Pamela Crane is a North Carolinian writer of the best-selling psychological thrillers The Admirer’s Secret, A Fatal Affair, and A Secondhand Life. Along with being a wife and mom of three rug rats, she is a wannabe psychologist, though most people just think she needs to see one.

Pamela Crane with Tinkerbell_author picShe’s a member of the ITW, ACFW, and EFA, and has been involved in the ECPA, Christy Awards, and Romance Writers of America. Along with delving into people’s minds—or being the subject of their research—she enjoys being a literary reviewer and riding her proud Arabian horse, when he lets her. She has a passion for adventure, and her hopes are to keep earning enough from her writing to travel the world in search of more good story material. Grab a free book on her website, or check her out on Facebook.

Where can I get it?

Wherever fine books are sold.

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Black Star Nairobi by Mukoma wa Ngugi

book coverBlack Star Nairobi is the second in series pairing Ishmael Fofona, erstwhile Madison, WI cop and David Odhiambo, ex-detective with the Criminal Investigation Department in Nairobi. Notice the “former” designations. At the end of the first novel in the series, Ishmael decided to leave Madison for Nairobi and, together with O(dhimabo), set up the Black Star detective agency. The reference to the Black Star Line of Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association, a vocal advovate of the “back to Africa” movement among African-Americans in the early part of the 19th century seems both tongue-in-cheek and serious. Ishmael more than once confronts the in-between feeling of living in Kenya while being US-American.

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Black Cherry Blues by James Lee Burke

Black Cherry Blues cover Black Cherry Blues is the third Dave Robicheaux novel and the second one I read. It starts out in the bayou of southern Louisiana. Rob is still recovering from the murder of his wife some time earlier. He’s quit his law enforcement jobs and runs a fish and tackle business way out in the sticks. His biggest concern is his adopted child Alafair (not by coincident Burke’s real life daughter who’s also a mystery writer).

An old roommate, once famous now fallen on hard times musician Lee Pugh, visits to enlist Robicheaux’s help. He’s overheard a conversation between two colleagues discussing a murder. Robicheaux isn’t interested, but after Lee begs him for help he intercedes with the employers of the two men. Next thing he knows, the two men threaten Alafair.

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Red Planet Blues by Robert Sawyer

Book CoverA sci-fi hard-boiled detective story? I could imagine many ways in which this mash-up could go wrong. So I was a little reluctant to read it. Boy was I wrong. This story works at many levels. Like all hard-boiled detective stories, it begins with a beautiful woman entering the PI’s office. Alex Lomax, also known as “double X,” wonders about her because she is a “transfer.” That is, she’s transferred her consciousness to a new, mechanical body. I told you, it’s sci-fi.

The action takes place on Mars in a colony called New Klondike that exists under a large dome. Unlike most sci-fi cities on other planets, this is a scruffy, rough place, full of prospectors who are trying to find fossils of the early creatures that inhabited the red planet. The entire city is a private enterprise, so the cops only get involved if someone threatens the business. Hence Alex Lomax’s detective agency.

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My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk

My Name is Red coverIt’s not everyday one reads a mystery written by a winner of the Nobel Price in Literature. It sort of adds weight to the book. As in, this is an important book, people all over the world think it’s great literature, you better like it. I admit that when I first started, I gave up about ten chapters in. I couldn’t follow the story and there just seemed to be too many words.

Since my book group selected it, I felt a compunction to try again. The second time around turned out to be better. I approached the book without as much baggage and made it to the end. I’m still not sure if I liked it or not. In short, the story, set in 16th century Istanbul, is about the murder of Elegant Effendi, a miniaturist working on a secret book for the Sultan. He dies in the first chapter and the job a finding the killer falls to Black, another miniaturist and binder who’s just returned from twelve years of exile. Mind you, he’s not really interested in being a sleuth, all he wants is marry Shekure, the daughter of Enishte Effendi, his maternal uncle.

As the story unfolds, there are more and more complications. We learn all about miniature painters whose job it is to decorate the margins of books with detailed depictions of the story told in the book. Eventually, Enishte Effedi is killed as well and the last part of the book is all about locating the killer among one of three famous miniaturist who’ve worked on the secret book.

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