The Summoner by Layton Green

A crowd of chanting people, a leader in a red robe, a cloud of smoke, and Addison's girlfriend, Taps, who saw it all and who lost Addison in the crowd.

Taps couldn't believe Addison just disappeared.....they had been to other ceremonies such as this, but this one was completely different....no one had ever vanished.  The investigation into the disappearance was being led by Dominic Grey.  He was being helped by Nya who he knew was smart, but who he also knew had ulterior motives for involving Grey.

A religious cult was the main reason for the disappearance, but finding the leader was proving to be difficult.  Nya needed to get Taps involved and needed her to tell them everything William had done and said and where he had gone in the weeks before the ceremony.  Taps was fearful of giving information....she said they would come after her, but Nya said the information would help find William and hopefully it would.  One piece of information she gave about a church looked promising, but that turned out to be a dead end.  The investigation was beginning to become dangerous and was leading nowhere....THEN more bad news...another disappearance occurred, and it was a young girl.

The second disappearance led Nya and Grey to a remote village where no one would speak of the disappearance or the missing girl for fear of the N'anga.  It also lead them to a nightclub and to the owner who was quite dangerous and ruthless.  Gathering evidence about the cult and their practices and why things occurred became more hazardous and gruesome each day.

Nya and Grey’s lives were in constant danger as they got no closer to solving where N’anga was…they knew he was the one responsible but he couldn't be found.

The book is gripping and has a wealth of information about Zimbabwe and its people, culture, and customs.   There are a lot of twists and turns, horror, torture, and secrets.   The vivid descriptions of the lush, beautiful landscapes of Africa adds to the book's intrigue. 

If you are squeamish, this book may be disturbing, and you won’t be able to imagine how cruel someone can be to another human being.  Despite all of this, I am going to give the book a 5/5.

Green is a masterful writer...he allows the reader to definitely feel the emotion and tension of the plot and the eeriness of the religious rituals some cults follow.

The Undertaker by William F. Brown

Mr. Brown's book is an e-pub on Kindle, Sony, Nook, IBook, and all the others.

Two obituaries, two funerals....one stating he died in Mexico the other stating he and his wife died in Columbus, Ohio....but how could that be....Peter Emerson Talbot was alive and reading the obituary, and he had attended the funeral in Ohio.  Attending this funeral sure ended up with a lot of trouble for Peter and also a lot of information that could put a number of folks behind bars.  Something was pretty fishy about all of this.

The real Peter stayed in Columbus after "his" funeral and decided to check out obituaries for the past few months to see who had died and if there were similarities in deaths.  He found quite a few obituaries of couples who died in unusual circumstances and who had no surviving relatives, but they all had the same funeral director and same attorney.  Peter also found a lot of suspicious activity going on and decided to check out the offices of an attorney and a doctor who were involved....bad move, Peter.

Peter knew he got himself into more than he could handle and had to get out of town and mighty quickly, but how?  He had no money, no clothes, and no car....they stole everything.  He had some ideas, though.  He had to bring these guys who were true criminals posing as honest citizens down.  

Trying to be an honest citizen when the other citizens were not definitely wasn't a wise choice for Peter.

Peter made even more unwise choices, but he also made some right ones.  Peter was witty, clever, and a character you will love. 

Don't miss reading this book...it has a little bit of everything.....frightening scenes, clever twists and turns, love, and humor.  I found myself laughing out loud, crying, and also being afraid for the characters.

The book was action-packed and fun despite the tense moments.  

I am guessing the author is a fun guy with lots of adventures of his own.  I truly enjoyed the book. 5/5

The Secret of the White Rose by Stefanie Pintoff

A high-profile trial, an honest, fair judge, and some undisclosed history of the participants.   All these circumstances resulted in a judge being found murdered in his home office along with a white rose and a Bible.

Who could have done this?  There was speculation about who the culprit could be, and the detectives didn’t think someone had acted alone.  Every detective that had some connection to a group or a family member who may have some connections was involved in the case.  "Get to it gentlemen.........My goal is to arrest those responsible for the judge's murder within forty-eight hours."  Page 70

Another idea to find the motive and the murderer was to get in touch with a judge named Angus Porter...he was a symbolist, and there definitely was a lot of symbolism in the clues and in the murder of Judge Hugo Jackson.  The white rose in the judge's hand and also on a sheet of music gave the detectives the most clues as to why the murder had occurred.  The crime scene was filled with symbolism, and the symbolism needed to be decoded.  Some decoding was done, but another murder occurred shortly after, and again the murderer left a Bible and a white rose at the scene.

The similarities of symbols at both murders and the anarchist on trial, Drayson, led the detectives to a group of his followers.  The group was then arrested for attacking an officer. While they were being held in jail, an explosion occurred...an explosion meant to assist in the freeing of the anarchists being held.  It turned out the explosion had been a diversion so that Drayson could escape.

Meanwhile the two murders were not even close to being solved, but the clues were beginning to add up or so they thought.  A third murder occurred, and it was not a judge....it was a professor at a local university.  What connected all of them and why were the same items left with the bodies?

There was a surprise at the end, but not a great mystery/read for me.  An interesting aspect was the setting in the early 19th century.  It was interesting to see how crimes were solved during that time and how the police and detectives put clues together.  It was also interesting to hear about the "cabs" that were pulled by horses in New York City.

I will give the book a 3/5 because I had trouble keeping track of the characters and their roles and it really wasn’t a “grab ya” story…it took a while to warm up to what was going on.   

The Patriot Paradox by William Esmont

Two brothers….dangerous jobs….tragedies.

Kurt and Mike Vetter both were employed in dangerous jobs...Mike knew something was in the works and mailed secret information to his brother's house so it wouldn't be found in his home.  When Kurt opened the package and scanned the disk, he knew he had to find out what this classified information meant, and he left for London to try to find out.   When he landed in London, so did the "enemy."  Kurt was being trailed, but didn't know it.

Kurt had to find Amanda, the only contact he thought he could trust.  Once he found her, hopefully things would be cleared up, and she could find what secret mission was being  planned.   Meanwhile, Amanda's friend Nigel was decoding the disk, and from 2,000 miles away in the USA, Jack Carson and his team were planning to take care of Nigel.  

There was something big going on, but it wasn't fully clear to Kurt or Amanda what it was, but Jack definitely knew.  As Nigel's computer decoded the information, he was becoming more upset.  "The data was incomplete, but this much was clear:  it was real and it was in motion." Page 116.  Something deadly was being planned.

Did the plan get carried out or was it stopped?  If you like on-the-edge-of-your-seat action, you will love Patriot Paradox....modern-day espionage.  5.5

The Final Note by Kevin Alan Milne

What a wonderful, wonderful book.

It is filled with life's lessons, advice, and love.  The title seems to have dual meanings....music and love.  

The book begins and ends with both music and love and is sprinkled throughout with “love letters” from Anna and Ethan’s music.

Ethan and Anna met by chance in Vienna while she was on vacation and he was finishing his masters in music.  It was a whirlwind romance, and when they returned to the states, they couldn't wait to get married.  Their marriage was made of specially designed promises they declared to each other on their wedding day. 

The marriage was perfect in many ways, but routine days and no money along with the inability to have children, caused things to go downhill.  Ethan and Anna Bright felt their life was filled with:  "Things like this happen," and they were tired of it.  A baby and a lucrative job eventually blessed them, but the stress of the job caused more  problems.  Ethan was working so hard at providing for his family, he was never at home.

Not being at home with his family was a problem that led to an even bigger tragedy for the Brights.  The tragedy revealed a story of forgiveness that Ethan's grandfather had never told anyone from his days in WW II.  Hearing the story helped Ethan deal with the anger he was harboring against the person who caused the tragedy.

I read this book in one day...you will fall in love with the characters and feel their happiness as well as their pain.  It will make you think about what is important in your life.  Tissues needed. 5/5

Better Than Ever, Again by Mitch Davies

Ben was out of work and checked the want ads daily.  A promising, exciting job on a boat was listed one day...no sailor experience necessary....a little suspicious.  He went for the interview and was hired for the position.  After being with the owner and two of the employees, he was second guessing his decision because of their demeanor, but sailing for a year and getting a share of the boat's selling price kept him interested. 

Once he started the job, the boating experience was overwhelming because he didn't have any knowledge of nautical terms, but Ben learned quickly.  He enjoyed most of the traveling especially when they stopped at the ports and tended to the wealthy guests.  One disadvantage for Ben was that two of the crew members were not very interesting or pleasant.

The crew was heading to Honolulu and then sailing around the South Pacific for a year...not a bad job at all, but Ben was still uneasy about how things were being handled.  Day tours seemed to be the order of the day while they waited for Carl, the owner, to return.  The daily lives of the island people as well as the routine of being on the boat made up most of the book's plot along with the tension among the characters.  The characters, landscapes, and scenes were very well described and allowed the reader to vividly experience how the characters felt and what the landscape and surroundings truly looked like.

The book is a sailing person's dream....a lot of seafaring terms and fun details for folks who enjoy being on board a ship/boat.   The beautiful landscape of Tahiti was also well described, along with some mystery and, of course, romance.  The mystery was trying to determine what the real motive of the ship’s owner was.  He wasn’t around too often and didn’t really check on the crew. 

I enjoyed the book and especially the feeling of being there on the beautiful island of Tahiti....it was a "book" vacation.

Lost in Shangri-La by Mitchell Zuckoff

 TLC Book Tours would like to introduce...

LOST IN SHANGRI-LA by Mitchell Zuckoff

 

American servicemen and women, New Guinea, and WWII, are the backdrops for Lost in Shangri-La.

Margaret Hastings' life as a WAC in New Guinea is the main focus.   Margaret and the other servicemen and women on site longed to see Shangri-La, so their captain arranged for a day trip.  Little did the twenty-four passengers realize that their dream to see the hidden villages in the jungle would not turn out to be what they expected.  When something went wrong during the flight, it crashed into a mountain, and the nightmare began.

Out of the twenty-four passengers only three survived, and these three were burned, hurt, and starving.  They painfully made their way to a clearing and were spotted by an American plane, but they were also spotted by hundreds of the island's inhabitants who approached with spears.  Luckily continual smiling at the island's people assured them that the strangers were not a cause for alarm. No way of communication other than hand gestures and smiles made it difficult, but at least they were still alive, and the indigenous people were friendly.

As the three survivors waited out each day in pain and in hopes of being saved, their rescue team was simultaneously in the process of being organized.  Being accepted by the island's inhabitants became somewhat better each day, but their wounds were increasingly becoming more infected and painful.  Margaret and Decker were in the most pain, and thankfully McCollum was somewhat strong and alert.

When the rescue medics finally arrived, it hadn't been too soon...gangrene was starting to set in, and a few more days without medical treatment may have meant death.  The other half of the rescue team landed a few days later, but getting to the survivors was being hampered by the foliage and continuous rain. They finally arrived, and everyone waited for the flight team that would take them off the inaccessible island.

The rescue from the island was every bit as eventful and fascinating as the time spent there.

The book is a marvelous read, beautifully written, and an outstanding re-creation of events.  Mr. Zuckoff should be commended for his research, and Ms. Hastings and Mr. Walter should also be commended for keeping a daily journal so that their tale could be told all these years later. 

You will love hearing about the lives of the natives and their legends and also of the lives of those who survived and who took part in the rescue....wonderful facts and information.

The photos greatly enhanced the book.  To me it was another not well-known part of history coming alive.  World War II enthusiasts should not miss reading this book.  5/5