Vancy Bashalde planed to marry Bela Salo in the most elaborate wedding that the small town of Erdely, Hungary had ever seen. When Bela doesn’t show up for the wedding, Vancy not knowing that he has been in an accident, utters a curse that neither Bela nor any of his family will ever have a perfect wedding. When he shows up three days later she forgets her words and marries him that same night. It is only when her children’s weddings don’t quite work out as planned that she remembers her curse. And now her granddaughter and namesake is about to get married.
Vancy Salo doesn’t believe in curses, but just in case she has planned for every contingency. She has a back-up plan for everything from the weather turning bad to the presiding priest becoming ill. The only thing she hasn’t planned for it the groom running off with another woman. If being left at the alter isn’t bad enough, Grandma has told a reporter about the curse and his article has been picked up by the AP. Now Vancy has reporters clamoring for her story.
Matthew Wilde has just found out he’s an uncle the hard way. The mother of his brother’s ex-girlfriend has dumped two little boys on his doorstep.
Matthew needs someone to watch the boys until he can find his brother. Vancy needs a place to hide from the press. The solution is simple, she will hide out at his house and take care of the boys for the two weeks that was supposed to be her honeymoon. That will give him time to make other arrangements.
This is a cute story but extremely predictable. The characters are not cardboard cutouts, they’re spun sugar. The book is only 186 pages which is it’s saving grace. The book tells a nice predictable story without boring you.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Pathfinder by Scott Washburn
David Dysinger is a 23rd century scientist who dreams of traveling to the stars. After years of sending out and analyzing faster then light probes, he and his team are ready to build the first FTL starship. The problem is getting the money and backing to build such a ship. Neither the scientific community nor the government are interested in star travel. The majority of people on Earth spend most of their lives wired into their computers, living in virtual reality. The governments of Earth are only interested in keeping the wire heads happily ensconced in their virtual worlds while they run the real world. The only people interested in star travel are the spacers, free thinking individuals who live aboard the orbiting space stations and supplying the power needed by Earth.
Backed by the Spacers and the only privately owned station, David and his team pursue their dream . For them this project is a scientific adventure. What none of them realize is that Earth’s leaders see their adventure as a threat. A threat that has to be stopped. But sabotage, lies, and murder will not stop the crew of Pathfinder.
“Pathfinder” is Mr. Washburn’s second novel. His first novel “War Among the Ruins” is an excellent piece of military science fiction. “Pathfinder” is also excellent science fiction but less in the style of Weber and more in the style of Bradbury or Wells.
Both “Pathfinder” and “War Among the Ruins” are published by Stellar Phoenix and can be purchased through Amazon.com.
Backed by the Spacers and the only privately owned station, David and his team pursue their dream . For them this project is a scientific adventure. What none of them realize is that Earth’s leaders see their adventure as a threat. A threat that has to be stopped. But sabotage, lies, and murder will not stop the crew of Pathfinder.
“Pathfinder” is Mr. Washburn’s second novel. His first novel “War Among the Ruins” is an excellent piece of military science fiction. “Pathfinder” is also excellent science fiction but less in the style of Weber and more in the style of Bradbury or Wells.
Both “Pathfinder” and “War Among the Ruins” are published by Stellar Phoenix and can be purchased through Amazon.com.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
The Case of the Roasted Onion & The Case of the Tough Talking Turkey by Claudia Bishop
Claudia Bishop, author of the Hemlock Falls Mysteries, has started a new series
about a veterinarian who dabbles in murder on the side.
The Case of the Roasted Onion
The Case of the Roasted Onion introduces us to Dr. McKenzie and company. Dr. McKenzie has retired after a long and illustrious career at Cornell Veterinary College where he held the chair of the Bovine Science Department. He and his wife Madeline were looking forward to a quiet retirement when the good doctor made a serious financial error with his retirement fund, causing him to re-enter private practice.
When someone starts shooting equine vets he takes a personal interest in what everyone else thinks are random shooting. With the help of his wife Madeline, dog Lincoln, and two assistants, Joe Turnblad and Allegra Fulbright, he joins the ranks of amateur detectives.
What do these deaths have to do with a new portable coggins test that one of the victims were working on and several of the suspects have invested in? How does an injured puppy, the upcoming Earlsdown Three-day Event and the death of a horse at the event last year fit into the mystery? Will the obnoxious venture capitalist whom Dr. McKenzie would love to be the guilty party actually be guilty?
The Case of the Tough Talking Turkey
The Case of the Tough Talking Turkey is the second mystery from The Casebook of Dr. McKenzie. In this one Dr. McKenzie (veterinarian and burgeoning sleuth) and crew set out to solve the murder of Lewis O’Leary, owner of one of the largest turkey farms in the Northeast. O’Leary is rude, abusive and as cantankerous as they come, hated by all including his three sons and two daughters-in-law. On the surface all the evidence points to Gil Finnegan the local feed salesman whom O’Leary has accused of shorting his feed orders. Dr. McKenzie however thinks that the evidence is too pat and starts looking at O’Leary’s many enemies. The list is a long one.
First of all there is the family who stand to inherit, three sons whom he has always kept on short leashes and treated as slave labor. Then there are his two daughter-in-laws who hate him for the way he treats both themselves and their husbands. There is the animal rights activist who is determined to shut him down and the post doctorate student who needs him to sign off on the data from a study that he has been doing on the farm.
I enjoyed these stories because of the characters. The mysteries are what I call “cheats”. The killers in both books are peripheral characters who are barely mentioned. At the very end Dr. McKenzie names the killer like a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat.
The next book in the series is The Case of the Ill-Gotten Goat, due out in June, 2008
Claudia Bishop is also the author of the Hemlock Falls Mysteries.
about a veterinarian who dabbles in murder on the side.
The Case of the Roasted Onion
The Case of the Roasted Onion introduces us to Dr. McKenzie and company. Dr. McKenzie has retired after a long and illustrious career at Cornell Veterinary College where he held the chair of the Bovine Science Department. He and his wife Madeline were looking forward to a quiet retirement when the good doctor made a serious financial error with his retirement fund, causing him to re-enter private practice.
When someone starts shooting equine vets he takes a personal interest in what everyone else thinks are random shooting. With the help of his wife Madeline, dog Lincoln, and two assistants, Joe Turnblad and Allegra Fulbright, he joins the ranks of amateur detectives.
What do these deaths have to do with a new portable coggins test that one of the victims were working on and several of the suspects have invested in? How does an injured puppy, the upcoming Earlsdown Three-day Event and the death of a horse at the event last year fit into the mystery? Will the obnoxious venture capitalist whom Dr. McKenzie would love to be the guilty party actually be guilty?
The Case of the Tough Talking Turkey
The Case of the Tough Talking Turkey is the second mystery from The Casebook of Dr. McKenzie. In this one Dr. McKenzie (veterinarian and burgeoning sleuth) and crew set out to solve the murder of Lewis O’Leary, owner of one of the largest turkey farms in the Northeast. O’Leary is rude, abusive and as cantankerous as they come, hated by all including his three sons and two daughters-in-law. On the surface all the evidence points to Gil Finnegan the local feed salesman whom O’Leary has accused of shorting his feed orders. Dr. McKenzie however thinks that the evidence is too pat and starts looking at O’Leary’s many enemies. The list is a long one.
First of all there is the family who stand to inherit, three sons whom he has always kept on short leashes and treated as slave labor. Then there are his two daughter-in-laws who hate him for the way he treats both themselves and their husbands. There is the animal rights activist who is determined to shut him down and the post doctorate student who needs him to sign off on the data from a study that he has been doing on the farm.
I enjoyed these stories because of the characters. The mysteries are what I call “cheats”. The killers in both books are peripheral characters who are barely mentioned. At the very end Dr. McKenzie names the killer like a magician pulls a rabbit out of a hat.
The next book in the series is The Case of the Ill-Gotten Goat, due out in June, 2008
Claudia Bishop is also the author of the Hemlock Falls Mysteries.
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