Book Critic
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Review: The Secret Daughter of the Tsar by Jennifer Laam
In 1917, Imperial Russia was coming to an end. The Bolsheviks came to power and the powerful Romanov family was sent into exile. After being held captive, they were all supposedly executed by firing squad in 1918. Tsar Nicholas, his wife The Empress and Grand Duchess Olga, and their four children were all executed on that fateful day ending the Romanov dynasty. But what if there was a fifth child? That’s what author Jennifer Laam does in her novel The Secret Daughter of the Tsar. Veronica is finishing up her post graduate research and if she’s being honest…it’s not going well. Her supervisors aren’t impressed with the direction her research is going, not to mention…
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Review: Rasputin’s Shadow by Raymond Khoury
In the coal mines of turn of the century Russia, a group of unsuspecting workers suddenly and completely without warning they all turn aggressive, violent, and paranoid. Shortly following the strange and savage incident, a scientist and Grigory Rasputin blow up the mine to conceal all evidence of the incident. In modern day New York City a Russian diplomat seems to have jumped to his death. Though it appears to be a suicide, there are some tell tale signs that he was more likely pushed from the window. The owners of the apartment Leo Sokolov, a retired physics teacher from Russia and his wife, are also missing. FBI agent Sean Reilly is…
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Review: Havisham by Ronald Frame
What is it about Catherine Havisham that you remember the most from the classic Great Expectations? Is it all the clocks stuck on a specific time? The old decaying wedding dress? Whatever it is about Miss Havisham, she haunts not only the novel but our memory long after reading Great Expectations. Do you find yourself wondering what her life might have been like prior to being jilted at the alter? What might her back story have been? I know I thought about this the entire time I was reading Great Expectations. In Ronald Frame’s novel, Havisham, we get a chance to see what Catherine Havisham’s life was like before she…
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Review: The Girl You Left Behind by Jojo Moyes
1916 occupied France, a young artist named Edouard LeFevre, leaves his wife, Sophie, to fight in the Great War. Before he left, he painted her portrait and titled it ‘The Girl You Left Behind’. This painting has become her most prized possession. When her husband and is imprisoned, Sophie clings to the painting. Unfortunately the painting is admired by many in the small village…particularly the local Kommandant. He not only falls in love with the painting but with the real life subject as well and essentially holds Sophie captive. Sophie is soon faced with some tough decisions. She loves her husband desperately but she is stuck in an awkward situation with the Kommandant’s attention.…
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Review: Declan’s Cross (Sharpe and Donovan #3) by Carla Neggers
Marine Biologist, Julianne Maroney, has just had her heart broken by her long time friend recently turned lover, Andy Donovan. She needs to take some time to herself so when she meets Lindsey Hargreaves, a fellow marine science enthusiast, she welcomes the chance to make a chance. Lindsey has a field office in Ireland that she is trying to get off the ground and would love to have Julianne’s help setting it up. Julianne accepts without a second thought and books her ticket to Ireland almost immediately. Meanwhile, FBI agents Emma Sharp and Colin Donovan (Andy’s brother) are in Ireland on holiday when they learn that Julianne is going to…
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Review: Love Gone Mad by Mark Rubinstein
All that ICU nurse Megan Haggarty wants to do is to start her life over. Her first marriage was anything but happy and after numerous restraining orders and stalking orders, she thinks she has finally gotten rid of her ex. She meets a dashing heart surgeon, Adrian Douglas, at the hospital where she works. He is recently divorced and hopes to make a new life for himself in town and to have a more hands on approach to surgery. When Adrian meets Megan they have an instant connection. They enjoy each other’s company and their relationship quickly develops into something more.
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Review: Covet by Tracey Garvis-Graves
What if the life you wanted, and the woman you fell in love with, belonged to someone else? Claire Canton is your typical suburban housewife. Her and her husband Chris live in a nice house in a nice suburb with their two kids. Claire is a freelance graphic designer and holds down the household while Chris is out bringing home the big pay check. Until he loses his job. A year passes and before they know it, Claire and Chris’s marriage is in serious trouble. Chris continues to pull away from Claire while Claire becomes increasingly lonely. One afternoon Claire gets pulled over by Officer Daniel Rush….who happens to be…
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Review: Marking Time (The Immortal Descendants #1) by April White
Seventeen year old Saira Elian’s life is a lonely one. Her mom tends to disappear randomly for weeks at a time and when she returns they often pack up and move to a new location. She hasn’t met her father nor does she really know anything about him and she basically has never known anyone she could call a friend. Saira spends her free time tagging the underground around Venice Beach until one night she over hears a conversation she shouldn’t. The next thing she knows she is being chased by a group of men when the police pick her up and arrest her. With her mother gone again she…
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Review: The Voice Is All: The Lonely Victory of Jack Kerouac by Joyce Johnson
The life of novelist and poet Jack Kerouac has been widely documented through a series of biographies over the years since his death in 1969. So why read yet another biography about we well known author? What makes this one different than all the rest? The author of the biography, Joyce Johnson, had a romantic affair with Kerouac and focuses primarily on the events leading up to his most well known novel, On the Road. She offers an in-depth, unique knowledge and perspective of Kerouac as a writer. A lot of reviews out there have suggested that Johnson brings nothing new to the table in regards to Kerouac but for me,…
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Review: His Last Mistress by Andrea Zuvich
The illegitimate son of King Charles II is nothing more than a treacherous rake with nothing to look forward to except war and whoring. For James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth life doesn’t get much better than drinking, fighting, and whoring…..but after many years of meaningless sex and one too many hangovers, Monmouth knows there must be something more to life. Sweet and innocent Lady Henrietta Wentworth has been brought up the way that every respectable girl at court should be…..virtuous. For a woman in Tudor England virtue is the most treasured of things next to position and wealth. Without her virginity a woman’s reputation and marriage prospects are ruined. For…