“Silver Master” by Jayne Castle

“Silver Master” by Jayne Castle
2007, Jove Books
ISBN: 978-0-515-14355-3

“Silver Master” by Jayne Castle who is also Jayne Ann Krentz is set in the future. Jayne writes in the past under the name of Amanda Quick, in the present as Jayne Ann Krentz and in the future as Jayne Castle. In each of the periods she writes she is bubbly, exciting, insightful and humorous.

“Silver Master” is set in Harmony, a place on another planet many years into the future. It is one of many stories set there and you need not read the others to find your alliances quickly as you move into this story.

The heroine is Celinda and the hero is Davis. Both have already been through tough times and would approach any relationship with a jaded attitude. But, it is love at first sight or at psychic sense in this story.

The people of Harmony arrived through the Curtain, a tear in space, from Earth 200 years ago. They settled on Harmony and made trips back and forth to Mother Earth as they embarked upon making another home for themselves on Harmony. Except the Curtain closed and they were trapped. They had to survive and all the technology they’d brought with them began to fail. It was discovered that people developed psychic powers and it was with these powers and the materials on the planet they were able to survive.

Two hundred years later everybody has some sort of psychic power. They are all tested and classified as to what level their abilities are. Except there are some among the population who are off the charts and it is these individuals who figure into Jayne’s stories.

Celinda, a match maker who is able to read people’s psi patterns and match them with suitable mates becomes embroiled in a mystery when she purchases what looks like a red plastic toy for her pet dust bunny from an antique store. It only cost $5. Who would think it was important? But, it turns out it is a relic left over from the alien civilization that had been in residence on Harmony long before the settlers from Earth had ever showed up. That civilization of alien beings had long died out but scattered over Harmony were their relics and many of them operated on a technology nobody understood.

The chase is on. The red plastic toy turns out to be an important alien relic that had been stolen from one of the important Guild bosses. Davis, a private detective, is called in to recover it and the trail leads right to Celinda. Davis comes from a long line of ghost hunters, the people who had practically saved the settlers of Harmony when bad guys had tried to take over by summoning up alien energies and turning them into harmful green ghosts. But, he’s not like a normal ghost hunter.

"Silver Master" is fantastic. It’s funny. It’s enthralling. You really won’t be able to stop reading once you start. And, I can guarantee that you’re going to like this book. My psychic sense tells me so.

“Eleven on Top” by Janet Evanovich

“Eleven on Top” by Janet Evanovich
2005, St. Martin’s Press
ISBN: 0-312-30626-1

“Eleven on Top” by Janet Evanovich is the eleventh book in the Stephanie Plum bounty hunter series. It’s not the eleventh book I’ve read. You can read them all out of sequence and each is terrific by themselves. What I love about this book is how I laugh. It’s like craving a jelly doughnut or a beer or some exactly particular thing. If you don’t get it, if you try to substitute something else for it you will not cure the craving. That’s what happened to me when I went to the library craving another Stephanie Plum story.

In this one Stephanie has had it with the bounty hunting business. She quits. Resourceful as she’s always been in the other stories she goes right out looking for work. All along her mother has yammered away at her to get a respectable job at the button factory or at the sanitary napkins factory. So, she does. First she goes to the button factory. She doesn’t last one day and gets fired. It’s not really her fault though, there’s a homicidal maniac stalking her.

Then, she sets fire to the second place that hires her. Her cars keep getting blown up. There’s a terrific love triangle between her, Joe Morelli her cop boyfriend and Ranger a fellow bounty hunter. Ex-bounty hunter friend because she’s not a bounty hunter anymore. But, he hires her too to keep her from being a target for more blowing up.

Oh, and you’ve got to read about Mama Marconi’s mole. I can’t tell you any more about the story. You’ve got to read it for yourself. It’s hilarious. I was reading in the living room while my husband was watching, “Forensic Files” on television. And, I was annoying the heck out of him with all the snorting I was doing. See, a snort is a smothered laugh the way I do it. Anyway, I had to remove myself to another room to finish the book.

I think you’ll love this book. I know I did.

“The ABC Murders” by Agatha Christie

“The ABC Murders” by Agatha Christie
A Hercule Poirot Novel
1935, Black Dog & Leventhal
ISBN: 978-157912-624-7


“The ABC Murders” by Agatha Christie is a whodunit that’s going to keep you guessing up until the very end. I’ve watched and enjoyed Hercule Poirot shows on television for years. This is the first time that I read one of the stories that Agatha Christie had written. I can see that I’m going to enjoy reading other books that she’s written and will certainly end up reviewing them here.

What struck me immediately is the characters I had already come to know and love on the television shows were exactly the same in this story. I was amazed. It is rare, I think, that book and show are so much alike. I was thrilled and settled in to have an enjoyable time reading “The ABC Murders”.

From the very beginning of the story I was enthralled. As the tale progressed I had an idea of what was going to happen, except, Hercule Poirot was not convinced. He had misgivings. Everybody else had already figured it out, me included, but M. Poirot had his doubts. And, it was the very end of the book where his brilliance shined, dazzling everybody, myself included, with what exactly happened and why it happened.

You’ve got to read this. Written in 1935 this book will read as excellently as it does today 50 years from now. Agatha Christie was born in 1890 and died in 1976. You can visit her website here.

“Then Came Heaven” by LaVyrle Spencer

“Then Came Heaven” by LaVyrle Spencer
1997, GP Putnam’s Sons
ISBN: 0-399-14369-6

“Then Came Heaven” by LaVyrle Spencer is one terrific story. Sister Regina, a kind and loving Benedictine nun, becomes involved with a family who suffers a terrible loss. The man, Eddie and his two daughters are grief stricken when Krystyna, his wife dies in a train accident.

Krystyna is loved in the town and everyone pulls together to help the family during their time of grieving. Sister Regina is Lucy and Anne’s teacher and although she wants to help them she is unable, because of Holy Rule, to express herself in any other way than that of being a nun.

It is not, though, the first time she has felt dissatisfied with her life as a nun, but it is this event that is the catalyst to move this story forward.

Without giving too much away, if you like to read about nuns and if you like love stories you’re going to love this one. As with my old rule of thumb….this is a three hanky tear jerker. I found myself crying many times as I read this book.

"Willing Servants" by Eric Turowski

"Willing Servants" by Eric Turowski
2006, Rabid Press Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-9743039-4-9


Do you want to read a horror story? I mean a really scare you so much you have a nightmare each night until you finally finish reading this book? Yeah, that’s what happened to me. Eric Turowski has written a chilling story in, “Willing Servants”. Eric is a friend of the family, I am proud to say. I’m sure he will be thrilled when I tell him I had a bunch of nightmares reading his book.

“Willing Servants” hooked me from the first pages. That is one of my own personal requirements for a good book. I also cried at the end. That, too, is one of my requirements for a good read.

In between? I was riveted. The story takes place in my own city of Oakland and sister cities of Alameda and Berkeley. There were references to places I see and go to every day. But, that wasn’t the story. The story could have taken place anywhere. But, only in Oakland, Alameda and Berkeley is it feasible that something along these lines could actually have happened.

See, I’m a psychic. And, that’s what scared the bejesus out of me as I read this book. In my early days of psychic involvement I actually experienced some of the things going on in this story. And, as the horror unfolded? There were a couple of times when my guides (I’m a channel) stepped in to calm me and said, “It’s only a story.”

This is about evil that can posses and drive people to do unspeakable horror. This is about trying to banish this evil. Is it true? Lord, I hope not. Do I know for certain? No, I do not. I surely don’t want it to come anywhere near me.

Eric spins this tale of “Willing Servants” magically. He creates the characters and makes us want to root for them. There are twists and turns in this story that he expertly maneuvers the reader through without getting lost. Do you want to get lost? Yes. Will you? No, you are going to finish this book to the end. It is worth every nightmare you have this week that you read, “Willing Servants.”

“Motor Mouth” by Janet Evanovich

“Motor Mouth” by Janet Evanovich
2006, Harper Collins
ISBN: 978-0-06-058403-0

This is the first Alexandra “Barney” Barnaby and NASCAR driver Sam Hooker story I’ve read. I’m pleased to see there are more of them.

I’ve been a huge fan of the Stephanie Plum bounty hunter books. This is the first I’ve read any of the Barney books. I do have to say that I learned a lot about racing cars.

Janet Evanovich brings her same fresh and right-to-the-point story telling to bear here in “Motor Mouth” that she does in the other books I’ve read that she has written.

I really enjoyed this story. It’s a mystery. It’s hilarious at times. Right away I got interested in all of the characters. I’m looking forward to more of these books. Reading anything by Janet Evanovich is more and more like me wanting chocolate. When you want it the only thing that is going to satisfy is the real thing.