The Charlestown Connection-Tom MacDonald

The Charlestown Connection


Tom MacDonald

Oceanview, Aug 1 2011, $25.99

ISBN: 9781608090242



Former Boston College All American football star, recovering alcoholic with a torn knee Dermot Sparhawk runs the Saint Jude Thaddeus parish food pantry in Charlestown when his godfather Jeepster Hennessey falls dead at his feet with a knife protruding from his back. Before dying, Jeepster mumbles a word “Oswego” and hands the stunned Dermot a key.



Still in shock, Dermot is further stupefied when Feds, BPD cops, Boston mobsters and IRA operatives visit him with demands that he knows nothing of. His Uncle Glooscap the Micmac warns him of danger. Thus knowing he needs a good offensive line, Dermot obtains the help of Glooscap’s son Harraseeket Kid, his paraplegic tenant and former BC mate Buck Louis, as they investigate what is going on, which leads them to high society art forgeries and heists with enemies on both sides of the law wanting to permanently sack team Sparhawk.



The Charlestown Connection is an exciting action-packed Bostonian thriller that never slows down from the moment Jeepster enters the pantry until the final play is run. The cast is solid especially the quarterback and his teammates as they escort readers on a fascinating tour of Boston rarely seen in novels. Although the motive for mayhem is over the top of the Green Monster, this is a super winning tale.



Harriet Klausner

Silenced-Kia Dupree

Silenced


Kia Dupree

Grand Central, Oct 18 2011, $13.99

ISBN: 9780446547741



In Washington, D.C., thirty years old single mom Nicola “Cola” Hampton has one goal for her three children daughter Teyona (called Tinka) and her two sons (fourteen years old Marquan and twelve years old Taevon). She prays they avoid the mistakes she and their dads made as Tinka’s father has vanished; Marquan’s sire serves a life sentence; and Taevon’s pop is a serial womanizer. When Cola loses her job, she is forced to move with her into the dangerous Sursum Corda projects with her three offspring.



Marquan steals a car and eventually is charged with capital murder and Taevon becomes a drug dealer. Cola’s only hope resides with Tinka, but though a good girl, her armed boyfriend Nine robs stores.



This is a powerful family drama as Kia Dupree provides profound insight into the other side of living in DC. The cast is fully developed especially the Hampton brood whose life in the projects comes across as perilous while also emotionally wringing. Rotating perspective between mother and daughter, Silenced is a raw deep look at surviving the mean streets of a Washington in which politicians prefer to pretend it does not exist.



Harriet Klausner

Hell & Gone-Duane Swierczynski

Hell & Gone


Duane Swierczynski

Mulholland/Little Brown, Oct 31 2011, $14.99

ISBN: 9780316133296



In fifteen minutes former cop Charlie Hardie was drowned, shot in the arm and head and almost shot in the face. Others were also shot. The police handcuff Charlie to Mann the undercover female assassin as if he is a killer before an ambulance takes him away. He is further confused when the driver and the EMT do not sound like medical staff.



Charlie is unaware that there is a media-frenzy over a police manhunt for him as an accused murderer on the lam. Instead he is locked away at a top security prison though he knows why as his memory returns. He discovered an organization that makes the excremental disasters left behind by the ultra rich vanish. Somewhat in denial with what he knows his true, Charlie realizes the Prisonmaster Voice considers guards as the same as inmates. Told he is the warden, he knows he needs outside help to escape, but is unsure whether anyone even his best friend FBI Agent Deke Clark still searches for him as time has no meaning for those in permanent lockup. Deke has issues from those observing his efforts.



The second Hardie thriller (see Fun and Games) is a gripping tale even before the beleaguered hero is put through a wringer as the story of college student Julie Lippman opens the exciting novel. With no stop action and a sort of twisted nod to the 1960s TV show The prisoner, readers will enjoy Hardie’s troubles while wondering what is going on and what happens next.



Harriet Klausner

A Little Night Magic-Lucy March

A Little Night Magic


Lucy March

St. Martin’s Griffin, Jan 31 2012, $14.99

ISBN: 9781250002679



In Nodaway Falls, New York, twenty-eight year old Olivia knows what it is like to get what you wish for so she does not make any wishes on the magical square. Currently, she feels she is in a Grand Canyon sized rut. Since high school, she has worked at Crazy Cousin Betty’s Waffle House and for the past four years has loved Tobias the short order cook, but based on her kissing him last week she knows he does not reciprocate. Adding to her feelings of needing to go out and find the real Olivia is her Saturday night ritual of drinking with her three BFFs (Peach, Millie, and Stacy). Thus she decides to commit to spontaneity and a dart toss has her traveling to Scotland.



Just before closing the waffle house, Davina Granville enters and orders the sugariness, fattest and radioactive unhealthiest item on the menu. She informs Liv that life is much more than wishes and dreams while helping the sad local come to grips with her magical powers. However, Liv finds once gain the down side of wishes coming true when she realizes someone else is using paranormal powers to change good townsfolk into evil ogres. Preferring flight, Liv fights for those she loves one waffle at a time.



This is an entertaining whimsical fantasy starring an interesting heroine supported by a strong quirky cast. The exciting good vs. evil story line is fast-paced from the moment Davina orders her toxic dessert and never slows down as readers will wish for more love and waffles from Lucy March.



Harriet Klausner

Things To Do In Denver When You're Un-Dead-Mark Everett Stone

Things To Do In Denver When You're Un-Dead


Mark Everett Stone

Camel, Jul 15 2011, $15.95

ISBN: 9781603818599



The World At Large where humans dwell for the most part remains ignorant of the existence of The World Under that consists of vampires, demons, zombies, and other creatures out of legends. Whereas the mortals must have denial as part of their DNA, the Bureau of Supernatural Investigation keeps a vigil on the activity of the World Under especially focused when encroachment occurs.



The top BSI agent for the last decade misanthropic Kal Hakala knows that every case he works could prove his last as evident that none of his rookie peers from ten years ago still live; death is the norm for operatives. However, his edge has been a rage since a monster assaulted him as a child but in the case of the Brownies he feeds them sugar and lets them reside under his desk. His latest assignment has Kal in Denver leading a team of undercover warriors though he prefers going alone. They must deal with zombies walking the Mile High City and worse the vicious Organ Donor serial killer.





The key to this intelligent, wry action-packed urban fantasy is that the Worlds of Stone seem real. Filled with humor while satirizing humanity, Things To Do In Denver When You're Un-Dead is fast-paced from the moment the lone wolf hero and a team arrive in Denver for a High Noon (perhaps midnight is more descriptive) confrontation with zombies and much worse. Fans will enjoy this entertaining supernatural investigative thriller while awaiting the next stop on the Mark Everett Stone Americana tour.



Harriet Klausner

The Guardian-Sherrilyn Kenyon

The Guardian


Sherrilyn Kenyon

St. Martin’s, Nov 1 2011, $7.99

ISBN: 9780312550059



With some Egyptian God in his blood, Seth the Guardian has never lived the life of a deity as he has spent millennia being betrayed as an exile. Over the past several thousand years he has been a tortured slave to the god Noir who assigns him to use any means necessary to obtain from the incarcerated Dream Hunter Solin where the key to Mt Olympus is hidden. To ensure a successful expedited mission is accomplished, Noir the impatient god threatens Seth and others.



Hybrid Dream-Hunter Kattagarian Lydia enters the Nether Realm to rescue her father Solin. Instead the Nether Realm’s most terrifying Guardian Seth captures her. Expecting nightmarish torture from this vicious miscreant, she is stunned to find instead a tortured soul who has never been loved and expects Lydia to betray him if he displays his attraction to her.



The Guardian is a strong Dream-Hunter romantic fantasy that has ties to the rest of the vast Kenyon mythos. Filled with action and pathos, readers will root for Lydia as she falls in love with her worst nightmare (Stockholm syndrome comes to mind), but wonders how to teach a person to accept love when they never received anything positives from relationships. Although the confrontational climax feels abrupt, fans of the saga will relish the love story between a Guardian allegedly with no heart and a Hunter giving him her heart.



Harriet Klausner

Oogy: the Dog only a Family Could Love-Larry Levin

Oogy: the Dog only a Family Could Love


Larry Levin

Grand Central, Oct 18 2011, $13.99

ISBN: 9780446546300



The Philadelphia police raided a suspected drug dealer’s home in Montgomery County. There they found a ripped apart canine barely alive. They took the dog to Ardmore Animal Hospital where the battered animal fought for his life while Saint Diane insists Dr. Bianco save the dog with half of his face missing. Apparently, the “owner” assumed the dog was not a fighter; ergo useless except as training bait for his fight dogs.



Larry Levin and his adopted twin sons (Noah and Don) were taking their elderly ailing cat to the hospital to be put down. They meet Oogy recovering from surgery when he escapes his cell to kiss the boys to the amazement of the veterinary staff as Oogy should have been an angry beast instead of a gentle trusting canine. With Dr. Bianco insisting to a reluctant Jennifer that Oogy is “Mr. Happy Dog”, the battered canine joins the Levin family where he bonds with Larry and becomes the protective “third twin” to the boys.



This is an engaging memoir that focuses on a dog that beats the odds to bring joy to a family. Canine lovers will appreciate Oogy’s story as the odious abusers could not rip the heart and soul out of this remarkable canine.



Harriet Klausner