MICK!
Anything by the Rolling Stones MUST be sung aloud. My son says most of their lyrics are repetitive but I think that’s why they are so fun to sing out loud. It’s mindless and fun. AND “Hey, you, get off of my cloud!” I’ll sing in my awful voice that makes small children weep if I want to- “you can’t always get what you want” and make me shut up.
Last night, I finished reading Unwilling Accomplice by Melanie Atkins. This was book five in a series called New Orleans Detectives. I haven’t read any of the other four but I will be doing so now. You can read this one without knowing what happened in the other four. I’m sure some of the other detectives that are in this story as minor characters had their own story in the earlier books but it’s not necessary to have read them in order.
I was attracted to this book because of the cover and the setting. Living here in Pensacola, I love to drive the 2.5 hours to New Orleans. It’s the most European city we have here in the USA and I love it. The cover of this book is perfect- it shows some of the awesome architecture of the city.
Here is the blurb for this book:
Marcy Moretti believes that anyone can be redeemed, until she witnesses a murder at the hands of her ex-husband and is forced to go on the run with her young son in order to survive. The only person who can help her is Joe Riso, her former brother-in-law, a detective staggered by the loss of his wife and daughter. If he’s going to protect both Marcy and her boy, he must first find a way to unfreeze his icy heart — and along the way find his own redemption.
This story starts out fast paced and keeps the momentum going. I found myself, in several places, holding my breath to see what would happen next. I read this on my kindle app on my I-Pod and couldn’t slide the page fast enough on some of the action scenes. This. to me, is the sign of an excellent story. To want to race through to see how it turns out is the best kind of suspense book.
The love scenes were well done as well. I was glad the author explained how Joe could still have a great, hard body when he’d been drinking himself into oblivion for a while. Seems he worked out a lot to ease some of his stress. I liked the hero and the heroine in this story a lot. I don’t usually like a book with a kid in it but I enjoyed this one.
I recommend this book. It can be ordered at the publisher http://stores.desertbreezepublishing.com/-strse-143/Melanie-Atkins-New-Orleans/Detail.bok or Amazon among other places.
I adore Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I go to see them every year for their Christmas shows. This year, FINALLY, they are having a spring tour performing their rock opera called Beethoven’s Last Night. It’s an awesome soundtrack and I’m sure the show will be spectacular. They are actually coming to PENSACOLA!!!! I’m thrilled. I’m a member of the fan club and tickets went on sale today. While I was busy in court, my paralegal was ordering six tickets. I’m treating my staff, my fan club president and my sister to the concert. We are on the 3rd row on the floor AND, best of all, I got the coveted aisle seat. Being claustrophobic, this is a big coup!
Al Pitrelli, Music director, TSO
I’m reluctant to review books that I really don’t enjoy but I wanted to talk a bit about this one. I read this book over a few days on my lunch break. I read the first two chapters with the thought that I really didn’t like any of the characters in the thing. I hoped that somewhere along the line that would change. It did not. I never liked any of them.
The writer is an excellent writer. She does quite well with her prose and there were a few spots that amused me but the overall tenor of the book was just not my cup of tea. Both of the female main characters (I know one was supposed to be the protagonist, but I like to like the protagonist so I don’t want to call her that! LOL!) were unlikable in many respects. It was just not a fun read at all.
In the author notes, she states, “One of my goals in writing…was to make both main characters simultaneously problematic and sympathetic. If you come away loathing one or both of them, I haven’t done my job.” Well, I hate to say it, but for this reader, she didn’t do her job. I loathed them both.
I believe the book to be well written but it was sadly not for me. I did finish it with the hope that it would be more satisfying than it was. Regrettably, I can’t recommend this one.
Ramblings of a Writer 