The Good Lawyer (Thomas Benigno)

New York Legal Aid Society attorney Nick Mannino has a pretty good track record – seven trials, seven acquittals. But that last one is tainted by the victim's courtroom suicide after his client is set free.

His client list consists of 11 more cases, one of which involves 24-year-old Peter Guevara, a teacher's aide arrested for sexually molesting three boys.

We are treated to his ongoing activities, dealing with various clients; with Rocco Alonzo, his gangster uncle; his lover, Eleanor Wellington Vernou, a lower Manhattan assistant district attorney; Brenda, his Legal Aid Society secretary ; and his newfound media ally, Vinnie Repolla, a Newsday (Long Island) reporter.

A beautiful blonde who was looking for Nick is found dead – murdered, apparently, thrown off a roof. Who is she? And why did she want to talk to Nick? Then, there's the case of The Spiderman Rapist, who'd scale the sides of buildings to get to his victims. A suspect who fits all the criteria is caught, and Nick is assigned to the case.

But after the Spiderman suspect passes a lie detector test, he falls out of a jail window to his death. Nick wants to find out why. Then, things come together. The blond. Spiderman. The death of the wrong suspect. Guevara. Something's going on, but what?

The Good Lawyer gives good explanations of, and an education in, the legal process, but all this is tempered by a few misspellings and wrong word choices (e.g., "comprised" for "composed," "where" for "were," "further for farther") ... all pet peeves of mine.

But ... it's a good book, and Thomas Benigno weaves a good story.

The Good Lawyer (2012)

Thomas Benigno

Landview Books (Paperback, $12.95 list)

ISBN-13: 978-1463604813

My Temporary Life (Martin Crosbie)

Young teen Malcolm Wilson divides his life between his father, Alex, who lives in Kilmarnock, Scotland and his mother, Agnes, in Vancouver, Canada, halfway around the world.

School presents its horrors to Malcolm and his friend, Gerald "Hardly" Taylor, as it does to a great many young teenagers worldwide. Their sanctum is invaded and desecrated by bullies, teachers delight in humiliating them in class.

On one of his visits to Vancouver, Malcolm meets "Uncle" George, his mother's current companion, who introduces him to the subtle nuances of rock 'n roll, and gets him a job as a car dealership lot lizard. It's certainly an interesting summer as he and the dealership owner's son plot to catch lovers in the act. They do, but it doesn't turn out the way they though it would.

As life often does, Malcolm's changes. No longer is it Scotland for school and Canada for vacations. Now, it's the other way around, all because he stuck up for a friend and struck a teacher by mistake. The good thing is that it results in a reunion with George, who's no longer with his mother. And that's where he grows up.

Suddenly, it's 20 years later. Malcolm's now with Heather Postman, she with the ever-changing hair of many primary colors. Their relationship changes his life's direction, giving it a new purpose while barely hinting at the rigors he will face in the weeks ahead.

... And the truth. The God-awful truth.

I almost gave up reading My Temporary Life, because it seemed as though it was going nowhere, like it was just a series of memories. It's a good thing I stuck it out. It turned out okay ... pretty good, in fact.

My Temporary Life (2012)

Martin Crosbie

CreateSpace ($12.95 list)

ISBN-13: 978-1469965628

North Slope (Michael Parker)

Andrew Fyffe, owner of Fyffe Oil Company with a rig on Alaska's North Slope, needs help. A reliable and dedicated employee was found dead at oil rig Fyffe One.

Most think it was the camp's hungry wolf dogs, but Fyffe is not so sure. The only one he trusts to find out who killed him is Joshua "Mac" McKinnon, a former Fyffe wildcatter.

The company's option is about to expire in a couple of months, so there is some urgency in getting things back on track.
Mac learns the rig crew had experienced a series of bad-luck incidents before he got there – accidents, equipment failures, injuries, weather problems, even deaths. He has questions, and he needs answers fast. Who's the saboteur? Who's the traitor amongst the crew, if there is one? And why is all this happening? Who's behind it all?

He chooses as his confidential ally the camp cook – a huge Innuit (aka an Aleutian Indian, aka an Eskimo) named Skookum, who believes there is more than one killer.

The camp's fuel-oil supply is severely depleted by an explosion and fire (sabotage, it seems), so a crew must hazard a treacherous two-week journey to Prudhoe Bay and bring back abandoned barrels of oil to beef up their supply. Unfortunately, a low pressure depression is dogging them and a blizzard with hurricane-force winds slaps them in the face.

It's not easy, and it's not fast, but Mac figures out who the murderer is and gets the culprit to expose himself. You know what? Skookum is pretty smart.

The story moves along at a nice clip (sometimes a little too fast, with large jumps in between scenarios), and the characters are pretty well-developed. All in all, it’s a fairly enjoyable and entertaining read.

North Slope, Michael Parker's first novel, was first published in hardback in 1980, and then republished 30 years later in 2010. Earlier this year, it was re-released to get rid of editing problems. There are a lot of typographical and word choice errors, but a note on Amazon.com advises that they are corrected in the May 2012 re-release. Unfortunately, I think I got my ebook copy before then.

North Slope (2010)

Michael Parker

Acclaimed Books ($12.45 list)

ASIN: B004SPYQJE

The Storm Killer (Mike Jaztrzebski)

It's 1935, America is pulling itself out of the Great Depression, and New York Daily Post crime beat reporter, Jim Locke just found out his sister, stage actress Helen Ballenger, was murdered. Distraught because they'd been estranged for a year, he vows to find her killer.

Helen had been having an extramarital affair, which, coupled with Jim's story exposing her husband Charles' bilking the city out of a lot of money led him to suicide. She'd blamed Jim unfairly, but ended up leaving him everything in her will.

According to her lawyer – Mary Rutledge, her college roommate and Jim's former lover – Helen's lover might have something to do with her death.

Jim uncovers a similar death in Boston a few years ago (another Weingold Theater actress murdered in similar fashion). And then a couple more. Unfortunately, NYPD Detective Michael Boyle has a one-track mind, fixating on the theory that Jim murdered his sister, and not accepting information he's dug up. So Jim decides he has to go it alone.

A complication arises. And then another. A friendly witness is killed. A cop who was coming around to Jim's side is killed. Now, it's even more important that the real killer be found. A possible connection surfaces -- someone who has had contact with Helen and other murdered women and their families.

Finally, enter Ernest Hemingway. Yes, THAT Ernest Hemingway.

The Storm Killer is author Mike Jaztrzebski's first novel. Not too bad. The final character connections are a bit weak and the story ends a bit abruptly. The title is a stretch, though. Plus, it needs a dénouement. But other than that, The Storm Killer is not too bad.

The Storm Killer (2011)

Mike Jaztrzebski

CreateSpace ($12.95 list)

ISBN-13: 978-1456480219

Blacklisted (Luke Romyn)

Mike Swanson is a Los Angeles vigilante who's been taking out the scum of the Earth (37 at last count), degenerates released back into an unsuspecting public through legal loopholes in the criminal justice system.

The product of a broken home ruled by an uncaring, abusive mother, his first guiding light in life is a school janitor who thwarts his suicide at age 14, and teaches him the sweet science and discipline of boxing. His next mentor is a behemoth named Chewie (short for Chewbacca), who trains him in the fine art of bouncing.

Finally caught by the cops and facing a death sentence, Mike is stunned when a man in a suit, accompanied by soldiers in black, whisks in and spirits him away. He's thrown into a situation of deadly basic training, quite unlike anything anyone can ever imagine. At the end of it all, he becomes a member of the Blacklisted Brotherhood – 30 sprung criminals. That means more training, albeit a bit more "civilized."

Their target? Angus Samuels, a rogue CIA agent, a mastermind with no loyalties who is behind the worst terrorists and threats to international peace and security. His goal? Global anarchy.

So off they go on assignment to the Dominican Republic, to Antarctica, then to Angola, where they are to protect Osama Bin-Laden. Yes, THAT Osama Bin-Laden, who apparently isn't as dead as the world was led to believe. Things get very dicey ... deadly dicey. So dicey that soon only five remain.

Not only that, but there's a traitor in their midst. Exactly who is it? Just when you think you know, you're wrong. Or are you? Everything you believe is turned inside out and over end to end. So sit back, brace yourself and read your way out of it. Once you get to the exciting parts, it's out of your hands. Putting Blacklisted down is NOT an option.

Weak ending, though. But I have only one complaint: The author has a problem with constant misuse of "which." In nearly every occasion in which he used the word, author Romyn should have used "that."

Blacklisted (2009)

Luke Romyn

Self-published by author (paperback, $12.99 list)

ISBN-13: 978-987214904

The Final Winter (Iain Rob Wright)

Subtitled "An Apocalyptic Horror Novel," The Final Winter focuses on a group of people stranded in an English pub during an unprecedented worldwide snowstorm. The blizzard is blanketing cities, farms, forest and even deserts under a couple of feet of snow; and it shows no signs of stopping.

In establishments around the small English town, little pockets of people have gathered.

At The Trumpet Pub & Lounge, we find regular customer Harry Jobson, crusty curmudgeon Old Graham, bar owner Stephanie, local tough guy Damien Banks, lorry driver Nigel Sutcliffe, and Irish newcomer Lucas Fergus. At the nearby supermarket, we find the nasty bitch manager Kathy, her Polish helper Peter Pole, and flakey worker Jessica.

Finally, at Blu-Rays Video Rentals are the owner's son, Ben, and his irritating friend, Jerry, who relates everything to movies he's seen. Wait ... Ben and Jerry? Gimme a break.

First, the lights and electricity go out, everybody's fuse boxes melt and the telephones go silent. Everybody's getting colder, and at the pub, the beer freezes. Now, THAT'S cold. Then, people begin getting freeze-dried. Now, that's REALLY cold.

And then there's a tall, hooded man-thing that looks dark in the snowy night. He's got a long sword and can imitate voices. There's also a furry ape-dog thing with a big, fangy mouth. What the ...?

The supermarket and video store groups make it to the pub safely – except Ben, who buys it in the snow (the freeze-dried thing), and Peter, who comes hurtling through the window, busted up and tossed by what he calls a winged demon. "Send out the sinner," the words carved on Peter's body demand. Each one in the pub has a secret, but which one is being summoned? They've all got something to hide, including bad thoughts and memories.

But there's a way to end all this, and Harry has the answer.

There are quite a few grammar, punctuation and word choice errors, and I'm not talking about the obvious differences between British and American English. The author and/or his editor really should have known better before signing off on the book.

As a bonus, this special edition of The Final Winter contains six short stories – events that transpire during the novel.

·         Chance of Snow: How the final winter went down in Florida, where the gators are leaving the freezing lake en masse and plowing head first into the snow, and Richard Pointer faces off with a tall, cloaked stranger.

·         Cold Shoulder: John and Amanda love their wine, even though they know where it'll lead them. He gets sleepy, and she turns nasty. So it's really her fault, right?

·         Hell Freezes Over: Lucifer and Jacob talk about the man they call "the sinner" – the reason for this hellacious snow storm.

·         News and Weather: Just a little follow story about Jane Hamilton, the television reporter talking about the weather. That is, until the crew is mangled to death by a hairy demon dog.

·         Cloud Cover: Quinton Barstow is perplexed. Everything electronic on the airliner he's piloting has stopped functioning – including the passengers'. Auto-pilot, navigation, altitude indicator, radio, iPads, MP3 players, cell phones ... everything.

·         Winter Before Last: Last winter started out great for Harry Jobson. His son loved opening his Christmas gifts, and his wife was pregnant again. But then, there's a traffic accident.

The reader also receives an additional stand-alone story in the bonus.

The Peeling of Samuel Lloyd Collins

He's falling apart, literally falling apart. There goes his big toenail, leaving him with a grand total of five surviving toenails. Sam's got "the Peeling" and it ain't pretty. We're treated to verbal descriptions of waking up Friday with the left side of his face stuck to his pillow.

On Saturday, we can see his ribs. His left hand falls off on Sunday. On Monday, his left eye just melted away. And on, and on, and on.

But he's not alone. Ninety percent of Europe is afflicted, the Peeling is moving into Asia, and it's worse in the United States and South America. What is it and where did it come from? Nobody knows ... but so far, no Arab countries have been affected. Hmmm, do you think ...?

And then, they figure out who did it. Nuke 'em, Harvey!

The Final Winter (2011)

Iain Rob Wright

Silk Raven Associates ($12.99 list)

ASIN: B0052F4GLW

Devil’s Hand (M.E. Patterson)

It's hailing chunks of ice bigger than softballs on Trent Hawkins as he motors along Interstate 15 toward Las Vegas with Susan. And then, it rains fish. Big fish. Lots of big fish. Is this some sort of omen? Or is it a warning?

After surviving a plane crash, Trent was dubbed "the luckiest man alive." Emerging from a coma, he went on an incredible winning streak that got him banned from the Las Vegas casinos. Now he's back in town in support of his wife as she starts work at University Medical Children's Center.

Susan's first patient is Celia Cagill, a 13-year-old who is allergic to water (What?), and prone to seizures and anaphylactic shock. Into the hospital room walks Salvatore Cortina, an old, homeless preacher with Alzheimer's, who manifests as a demon and claims her. He's nasty, but Trent, who's visiting Susan, is every bit a match for him.

As if the old man isn't bad enough, they soon face something worse – The Render, a vague spider-shaped dark entity that wants Celia. The chase is on, through a snowstorm (a snowstorm in Vegas?), through the hidden labyrinth of tunnels under Sin City, through the horror of demonic apparition.

What this turns out to be is the War of the Angels, right here on Earth, and quite appropriately enough, right here in Las Vegas. Trent and Celia, smack dab in the middle of it, have been selected.

Devil's Hand is the first book in M.E. Patterson's Drawing Thin series. I think I'll stop here.

Devil's Hand (2011)

M.E. Patterson

Digimonkey Studios ($11.95 list)

ISBN-13: 978-0983844815

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain)

Most kids read Tom Sawyer at some point in their lives. At least, I hope they still do. When I was a kid in the '50s, Mark Twain's story was one of the many "classics" that adorned my bookshelf. We didn't have a television set and there was no such thing as electronic games. We went to the movies, listened to the radio, went outside to play, or read. I did a lot of reading.

Tom Sawyer is a young boy of the late 1840s, living in the fictional town of St. Petersburg, Missouri (inspired by Hannibal, Mississippi, where the author lived). Tom, his half-brother Sidney and his cousin Mary live with his Aunt Polly, a kindly old lady who is quick to punish, and just as quick to relent and regret.

Being a bit of a rascal with a quick wit, Tom is good at manipulations. He can con others into whitewashing Aunt Polly's fence for him, and make marvelous trades that turn junk into even-more desirable junk. He's got a small percussion cap box in which he carries his prized biological specimens such as a pinchbug beetle that caused a delightful disturbance in church, and a tick that he gets from his pal, Huckleberry Finn.

Tom has the greatest of imaginations, creating mental images of Aunt Polly suffering for her mistreatment of him (she blames him for any and everything), and is a master of mental melodrama, creating self-martyrdom and illusions of his importance in everyone's world, including Becky Thatcher, his latest fiancée.

I learned all kinds of folk cures and superstitions reading Tom Sawyer; for example, how to recover all the marbles you ever lost; or how to get rid of warts with spunk water, or with beans, or with a dead cat.

It's an idyllic life, that is until the night Tom and Huck see Muff Potter and Injun Joe murder young Dr. Robinson at the cemetery. Injun Joe frames Muff, but the boys know what really happened. It was Joe who delivered the fatal blow to the doctor with Muff's knife.

While the trial is in abeyance, the adventures continue. Wallowing in self-induced melancholy for individual reasons, Tom, Huck and Joe Harper set off one night to become fearsome pirates with little save a boiled ham, a side of bacon, half-cured "tobacker" leaves and corn cobs to construct smoking pipes.

An awful lot happens during that time, a kaleidoscope of events and activities so illustrative of life in a small Missouri town like St. Petersburg. We're treated to the shenanigans of a young boy trying to make sense of his undisciplined, albeit expected and humorous, personality. He fights and makes up with Becky, he joins and quits the Cadets of Temperance, and he gets the measles.

And then, finally, the trial. As far as Huck and Tom are concerned, mum's the word. Right? Well, maybe. You see, as hard-hearted as they make themselves out to be, the boys have consciences. See, Muff has always treated them kindly, and they're mighty afeared of Injun Joe.

How does it all turn out? Heck, I'm not telling. Read the book and find out for yourself, because it does not end with the trial. Nope, it sure doesn't.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)

Samuel Langhorne Clemens, writing as Mark Twain

Digireads.com Ebook edition ($2.49 list)

ASIN: B000FC1C46

Convergence at Roswell (Thomas Settimi)

Col. Dieter Hedrick, Air Force retired, is dying and he wants freelance investigative reporter Amanda Marshall to tell his story about an incredible experience at Roswell Army Air Field in New Mexico 60 years ago.

But her hospital bedside interview is interrupted and when she finally returns to the room, Col. Hedrick dies before her eyes, but not before he whispers: "It's all about Wormstone." Her conclusion? The doctor and nurse who asked her to leave the room were responsible for his death.

She needs help, so she calls upon her former boyfriend, Prof. Roger Atwood, a history professor at Gettysburg College, with whom she helped solve a time-convergent event that linked 1863 Gettysburg and 1968 Vietnam three years earlier.

Following up the "Wormstone" lead, she meets with Dr. Leonid Tushenkov, technical director of Wormstone Engineering Services, whose path she had crossed in the aftermath of the Gettysburg convergence incidence several years earlier. Amanda’s and Roger’s investigation takes them to Wormstone's Rosewell site.

January 1982: William Everett "Ev" Adams, Lockheed test pilot at Groom Lake, sells out to the Russians and agrees to deliver a stealth aircraft to them in exchange for a million dollars and relocation in the USSR. Except that he never gets there. He lands ... 36 years earlier in Texas.

Remember Mai Tran, who took a historical record from an abandoned office in Convergence? She reappears in Convergence at Roswell with the book that details future events, including the formation of a new country. America's economy is once again in the dumps and the new administration elected in 2012 has to deal with the newly independent Republic of Texas, which has been joined by the Mexican State of Tamaulipas.

What that’s got to do with Roswell is beyond me. Guess a new sequel is being set up.

There is some interesting information in Convergence at Roswell – Texas heritage, development of stealth aircraft technology, the history of Las Vegas – nothing new or even relevant to the story, but fairly interesting to those of us who dabble in that sort of thing.

Unfortunately, it seems to me that author Settimi needs to flesh out and tie together the final chapters of his second "convergence" effort. It's not a very compelling story, nor is there a very satisfactory or revealing conclusion. Although I would recommend his first book, I do not recommend the second. Save your $2.99 for something else, maybe a comic book.

I’m giving it 0 bookmarks.

Convergence at Roswell (2012)

Thomas Settimi

Sky Scientific Press ($2.99 ebook edition)

ASIN: B00486U7BE

Convergence (Thomas Settimi)

It's 1863 and puzzled combatants near Gettysburg look to the sky and see contrails. They are at a loss as to what they're seeing, but accept it as an omen of what's to transpire – the most decisive battle of the American Civil War. One man knows what they are, but he doesn't understand why he's where he's at.

Jump to the present. An archaeological dig at Gettysburg National Military Park unearths a footlocker belonging to the North Carolina Troops, Company B, which was virtually wiped out in the battle.

Prof. Roger Atwood, 42, a Civil War expert at Gettysburg College, and Amanda Marshall, 36, a student auditing his class, take their discovery to retired U.S. Navy Cmdr. Lincoln R. "Link" Hayes, who relates an incredible story of how his helmet came to be found in a Civil War footlocker buried for 140 years.

Flash back to 1968. Then Lt. Link Hayes and his Intruder pilot are returning to the U.S.S. Enterprise after a successful mission in Laos when they drop out of sight. Officially, they're MIA, but ... Really? Encountered a blinding flash, they emerge from the brightness only to find they're somewhere over an American cornfield.

Taken out by a Civil War cannon, their plane crashes and Link is captured by Confederate soldiers. Worse yet, he's black. But thanks to a corporal whose brother needs medical attention pronto, Link is able to effect a rescue, bringing the wounded soldier, Junius Cooper, back with him.

But what about the pilot, Lt. Cmdr. Nat Booth? He survived and his adventure is infinitely more interesting. Way, way more interesting.

Roger and Amanda meanwhile (well, not "meanwhile," but you know what I mean) have stumbled into a bit of an intrigue of their own trying to find out more about what Nat did after the war. Their research could put them in danger.

Convergence presents an educational opportunity on the history of the Civil War and the strategies of both the North and the South during the waning days of the conflict. It provides insight (granted albeit fictional) into the thoughts of the infantrymen and prisoners-of-war, and it relates an interesting account of Pres. Abraham Lincoln's assassination.

Well researched, Convergence is a remarkable work that holds the reader in its grip from the opening paragraph to its satisfying conclusion. My only problem with the writing is somewhat minor – author Settimi shifts inconsistently between present and past tenses when he shouldn't. It's distracting and affects his writing credibility. Plus, there are several farther/further word choice errors that are unforgivable in my book.

Convergence (2012)

Thomas Settimi

Sky Scientific Press ($4.99 list)

ASIN: B0038M3D1K

Illegal (Paul Levine)

Illegal opens on two fronts – in Los Angeles, where trial lawyer Jimmy “Royal” Payne alienates lawyers, cops and judges; and in Mexicali, where Marisol Perez and her 12-year-old son, Agustino (Tino), cross the Mexican border illegally into the United States.

Payne sets up a dirty judge in an LAPD-Fed sting operation. The judge bites, and then commits suicide. Cited for contempt of court, Payne escapes, wanting to disappear so he can start over again.

Actually, he wants to hunt down a man. Payne's son was killed a year ago when a truck driven by a drunk illegal-alien plowed into his Firebird. The man fled and was never found. Payne figures he ran back to Mexico.

Tino and Marisol are separated as they cross the border from Mexico for a better life in Estados Unis. Tino ends up in Los Angeles, after serving as an involuntary mule for drug traffickers. He has no money, but he does have Payne's business card in his shoe.

With his LAPD consumer fraud detective ex-wife Sharon's blessing, Payne and Tino partner up and set off to find his mother. They have a rough go of it, with an angry cop in hot pursuit. Meanwhile, Marisol is back on the run, having killed her supervisor at a cattle-rendering plant. She ends up in the clutches of Simeon Rutledge, the largest exploiter of Mexican migrant labor in California.

Rutledge offers Payne a deal, one that's hard to turn down. So what does Payne do? You figure it out for yourself, my lips are sealed.

I can understand the logic behind author Levine's use of Mexican expressions and slang followed by English translations, but after a while, it becomes irritating and distracting. He should have cut them by 80% and the reading would have gone much smoother.

Levine has a dozen and a half more books in his bibliography. I think I'm going to be reading quite a few of them.

Illegal (2009)

Paul Levine

Random House ($7.99 paperback list)

ISBN-13: 978-0553806731

Zero Sum (Russell Blake)

(A short, concise, factual summary of the 2008 financial meltdown involving foreign crime elements, Wall Street brokers and funds, and unscrupulous bankers and investors provides a background for the fictional depictions of Zero Sum.)

*  *  *

Steven Archer, a software engineering company owner who sold his company and retired at the young age of 39, is aggravated at how the stock market is being manipulated. He goes after Nicholas Griffen, head of Griffen Ventures and a notorious trader with the golden touch.

Griffen is the master of the "pump and dump," and has been manipulating a biotech firm's value, making millions for his investors and himself in the process. Steve exposes the gambit, and that doesn't set well with Griffen, who goes after him, employing the services of one of his clients – a successful import/export broker who just happens to be head of Russian Mafiya in U.S.

It costs him plenty, and has Homeland Security sniffing around his place. Steve does what he needs to do – he goes underground, unreachable by all except those he trusts. He's also angry ... and he wants some payback.

With moral support and cogent advice from "The Group" – his online confidants – Steve puts his plan together and in motion. The technology/web fanatics may all be paranoid, but just because you're paranoid, it doesn't mean "they're" not out to get you, right?

His quest takes him into Mexico, then the Caribbean – to Cuba for a layover, followed by an intermediate stop at St. Martin before heading over to Anguilla. What's on Anguilla? Hopefully, some answers. That's when he meets Antonia Donitelli, a beautiful Italian woman battling her own demons.

Eventually, the inevitable happens. Despite the greatest of precautions, Steve's whereabouts is discovered. Once again, he's on the run, this time to South America, where things take a turn for the worse – the bad guys really start playing rough. He's lucky to escape with Antonia to Italy.

What happens there results in what can only be described as a volcanic eruption preceded by a flurry of temblors and resulting in a totally transformed landscape.

Zero Sum (2011)

Russell Blake

Mañana Press, digital edition ($4.47 list)

ASIN: B005OAHNZQ