Saturday, August 23, 2008

“Hard Trail to Follow” by Elmer Kelton

Hard Trail to Follow” by Elmer Kelton
2007, A Forge Book
ISBN: 978-0-7653-1522-9

I have a particular fondness for Westerns, though it’s been awhile since I read one. “Hard Trail to Follow” by Elmer Kelton was the absolutely perfect Western. I had never read anything by Mr. Kelton before and this was just one of those books where I let Spirit guide me in the library. I'm really glad I did too. This is an absolutely terrific book. I’m looking forward to reading others by Elmer Kelton. He's written a bunch of them.

Andy Pickard was a Texas Ranger in earlier days. Not now, though. His life was steering towards marriage, rough scrabble farming and a brother-in-law he absolutely could not stand. He was trying real hard to get along with Farley because he did love Bethel, but she was of a mind to stay near by her mother who was on her death bed. Who wasn’t budging from the farm was Farley, Bethel’s brother and Andy’s future brother-in-law. Those two went way back and Farley and Andy had even been Texas Rangers together in the past. But, they grated on each other’s nerves then and they grated on each other’s nerves now.

What changed everything was a bad guy who wasn’t really a bad guy and this is where the story took off. Luther Cordell had hooked up with a crew of two others; one bad through and through, the other just a young guy gone off on the wrong foot. Luther ends up in jail with the loot from a bank robbery and Milt, the really bad guy comes for him. The young one, Buster, ends up getting shot.

This is a really nice story of the searching for a bad guy who the Texas Ranger, Andy, realizes as things wind along isn’t a bad guy anymore.

You will like this novel. And, it is a love story too. It’s not mushy. You wouldn’t expect that from a Western. It’s just right.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

“Simply Perfect” by Mary Balogh

Simply Perfect” by Mary Balogh
2008, Delacorte Press
ISBN: 978-0-385=33824=0

Simply Perfect” by Mary Balogh is a love story. This is a Victorian historical romance.

Claudia runs a school for girls. The students come form the elite of Britians high society and from disadvantaged children left orphans. Mixed together in their classes Claudia Martin seeks to instill in all her students a respect for one another that typically they would not experience if their education was left to chance.

It is not by chance that Joseph, Marquess of Attingsborough, arrives to introduce himself to her. Busy and bothered by this intrusion into her routine of teaching Claudia is chillingly polite as she takes him on a tour of the school.

She is 35 and a spinster and has turned her heart and face from anything that might smack of involvement with a man, particularly a man of the ton.

But, it turns out Joseph has a secret and together he and Claudia come to love each other and, of course, to in the end become married.

It is the getting there that is particularly interesting. There are all sorts of obstacles and barriers to their love and they are able to surmount every one of them.

Friday, August 8, 2008

“Lean Mean Thirteen” by Janet Evanovich

Lean Mean Thirteen” by Janet Evanovich
2007, St. Martin’s Press
ISBN: 978-0-312-34949-3

Lean Mean Thirteen” by Janet Evanovich is a Stephanie Plum novel. Stephanie is a bounty hunter. You might have seen television shows lately featuring bounty hunters. Forget it. Television shows are tame compared to what goes on in a Stephanie Plum novel. And, if you’ve ever read any of the others (12 before this one and more in between the numbers) you will not be disappointed.

In “Lean Mean Thirteen” Stephanie is really working hand to mouth. She’s driving a really cruddy looking Crown Victoria that everybody thinks is a cop car. It probably was in a former incarnation. But, she’s driving it now. And, wanting anything else. But, she can’t afford it. So, she reports for duty at her cousin Vinnie’s bail bond business and picks up 3 skips. Those are people she’s supposed to go out, apprehend and take to the pokey. They can then get themselves bonded out again. Usually they are FTA (failure to appear) because they missed a court date or something like that.

So, one guy she’s after is a taxidermist waiting for the cable repair people. He cannot leave his house because he’s already been waiting for weeks. So, he builds these exploding animals as booby traps. The first one goes off in Stephanie’s Crown Victoria. Ugh. Squirrel guts all over the place.

Another guy she’s after is known for robbing the dead. Stephanie’s grandmother Mauzer’s favorite past time is to go to viewings at the local funeral homes and she reports back to Stephanie who was adorned with what tempting jewelry. So, Stephanie goes to lay in wait for the guy to rob one of the recently departed.

Lula, an ex hooker now file clerk and bounty hunter in training accompanies Stephanie on most of her missions. This is very helpful because Lula is terrific as backup. She isn’t afraid to use a stun gun and, although her aim isn’t the best, isn’t afraid to use her gun.

In the meantime Ranger, a really hot bounty hunter and Stephanie’s mentor and backup asks for a favor. Stephanie needs to plant a bug on her ex-husband Dickie. That whole thing flares up into some really bad news and the bad guys, the really bad guys are on the loose. Joe Morelli, Stephanie’s long time hot cop boy friend is also involved in the investigation.

That’s sort of it in a nutshell, but to get the close and in your face enjoyment from this story you really need to read it yourself. It’s a pip as Grandma Mauzer would say. You’ll enjoy it.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

"Finding Your Soul in the Spirituality Maze" by Thayer White

Inevitably, it happens that you will come across a book that has the ability to change your life.

“Finding Your Soul in the Spirituality Maze” by Thayer White is one of those books.

Thayer, who I have had the honor of calling friend for close to 15 years, is a psychotherapist and a pioneer in the field of new age spirituality. If you are to invest time, money and attention in each and every one of the New Age schools of thought that have sprung up and continue to spring up you would be, quite understandably, confused and feeling lost in this maze. Thayer has zeroed in on a path that can help you make intelligent decisions about where to invest your attention to the maximum benefit in the development of your own spirituality.

ASHEVILLE NC, August 4, 2008. “The Law of Attraction usually fails folks,” claims New Age author and therapist, Thayer White, in his new book, Finding Your Soul in the Spirituality Maze. “If the Law worked at all well, every city block in Europe and North America would have a few new millionaires by now. There would be Law of Attraction support clinics everywhere curing high blood pressure, heart isease, diabetes, cancer and genetic disorders. The obese would be shrinking.” Available with book purchase is a free bonus audio of Thayer describing why the Law of Attraction usually fails folks. Find out more about the book and special free bonuses.

There is a school of thought that states if you don’t learn a lesson completely in this lifetime you can always spend time with it in your next lifetime. In some instances a person might be inclined to make more inroads and progress on whatever difficult life-lesson they’ve got facing them this time around rather than be faced with more of the same in their next incarnation.

But, the quest for your own spirituality is one of those life-lessons that happens to each and every person in every one of their lifetimes. This is one of the most important lessons and the more progress you make with it the richer your life might be in every one of your incarnations. This is an investment you can make for yourself that has dividends that will continue to pay off, life after life after life.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

“Duma Key” by Stephen King

Duma Key” by Stephen King
2008, Scribner
ISBN: 978-1-4165-5251-2

Duma Key” by Stephen King is a fabulous read. Edgar Freemantle is the hero, though there are actually several heroes in this story, Edgar is the first we meet. The story revolves around him too. He’s a contractor; a very successful contractor in the life before things happen. He has an accident and he loses his right arm. Other bad things have happened to the man too. His speech is disordered, he’s got pain that won’t stop, he can hardly walk; life sucks. His marriage begins to dissolve quickly. As I said, life sucks for Edgar Freemantle.

But, he decides to move to Florida, to Duma Key, to heal up and it is at Duma Key where the rest of this story takes place.

Phantom limbs. You’ve heard of them. Well, Edgar’s right arm starts itching. He begins to draw. To create. To form. To waken and inadvertently bring back to life a horror that has patiently lain in wait for a very, very long time.

I don’t want to give away any more of the story. It’s classic King. You’ve got lots of good guys. You’ve got the bad guys and you’ve got an incredible understanding of human beings and what makes them tick.

Enjoy it. I surely did.

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