Killing Kate: A Novel Review

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Killing Kate: A Novel ReviewThe headline above is an old Edward Gorey quote that I couldn't resist using. No, the eponymous Kate of Julie Kramer's fourth Riley Spartz mystery was actually bludgeoned with a baseball bat. So close. Kate's death basically opens the novel, and straight off the reader learns that she is the fourth victim of a serial killer. The authorities are not yet aware of this fact.
Local news reporter Riley has been lying off the violent crimes lately, since she had been making more news than covering it. But hearing the familiar address of this homicide, she grabs it before anyone can object. And her memory is correct. The crime happened at a house she once knew well. It was the home of her former college roommate, Laura, and the victim is Laura's younger sister, Kate. Kramer has the mechanics of creating suspense down pat. She keeps readers turning pages, ending chapters with lines like: "I didn't know yet that Kate had led a secret life, and that her secret did not die with her."
Riley and Laura, once the closest of friends, had split in a rift more than a decade ago. But this tragedy paves the way to an uneasy reconciliation. Investigative reporter that she is, Riley, of course, becomes far too involved in the hunt for this killer. As always, there's a "b" story in the novel involving an animal story her crazy news director wants her to cover. And the third narrative thread is Riley's long distance relationship with Nick Garnett.
I have outlined several things I like about this series in past reviews. I find Riley to be an immensely likable character with a distinctive voice. Reading each novel feels like visiting with an old friend. Also, I love the television news setting. I feel like I'm getting the inside scoop with each novel, and given the author's background, I guess I am. I can't watch a promo for the 11:00pm news with the same eyes after reading one of these books. It's fascinating! Plus, I like that while being fairly realistic, the novels aren't unnecessarily graphic. In other words, there's not too much sex and violence graphically depicted--which isn't to say there's none, but it's left more to the imagination.
One thing that was bugging me a little in this book was the relationship between Riley and Nick. There's always conflict between them, and conflict is what makes a great novel. But their relationship dynamics seemed a bit too simplistic and surface level. I guess four novels in, I'd hope for a little more depth there. But Kramer must be doing something right, because I'm always rooting for the two of them.
I don't know that I'd describe Killing Kate as a cozy mystery, but it's not entirely dissimilar. I bring this up, because while the mystery itself should not be predictable, there's a certain tone to these stories that is. Therefore, I have to tell you that the end of this novel shocked the hell out of me. And I LOVED it. Surprises are good. I have NO idea where this series is going next, but I will be the first in line to find out! Way to go, Julie Kramer!Killing Kate: A Novel Overview

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The Churchills: In Love and War Review

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The Churchills: In Love and War Review"The Churchills" captures the complex and intense family relationships that nurtured, shaped, inspired and burdened the greatest Briton to ever live. For the reader, like myself, who has read their share of Churchill biographies, and many of the books that he authored himself, you will find Lovell's book to be a must read. Lovell offers facts, anecdotes, and details on family relationships that constitute the landscape of Winston S. Churchill's life, as well as, the exceptional and, at times, outrageous extended family of Churchills by birth and marriage. The crush of debt, spendthrift extravagance, mental depression, suicides, inspired brilliance, career ending misjudgments, infidelities, divorces, religious conversions, extreme political views, and enduring love affairs make up the story of this family, as told by Lovell. Like Churchill himself, the family is larger than life and its story reads like an amazing novel. The reality of this family's story is simply too exceptional to be accepted as plausible fiction. It spans and fully engages every significant event from the age of Victoria to the passing of Kennedy's Camelot. A number of leading personalities and families of Britain, Continental Europe, and America are entwined with the Churchill family in a churning array of in-laws, paramours, and confidants. On that point, I would offer my only criticism. The family relationships, friendships, and multi-generational complexity of names, titles, and divorces would benefit from a more extensive family tree or list of key personalities. The use of first names, nicknames, and titles in the text did send me to the index a number of times to confirm the identity and relationships of the person being referenced. That is a minor complaint and, perhaps, illustrates the detailed and comprehensive history presented by the book. For anyone who enjoyed the movie "The King's Speech" or was fascinated by the recent royal wedding, you will be absorbed by this book in the first chapter. It is akin to the kind of entertaining insight offered of the aristocracy by the TV series Upstairs Downstairs. Of course, the families, traditions and personalities that shaped Churchill's character are now represented by a new generation of aristocracy. Like in the age of Winston, this new generation recently filled Westminster Abbey for the pomp of the latest royal wedding. After reading Lovell's book you may, indeed, appreciate how history repeated itself in the Churchill family. The book may also prompt a prayer of "God save Kate Middleton Windsor".The Churchills: In Love and War Overview

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The Temple Mount Code (Thomas Lourds, Book 3) Review

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The Temple Mount Code (Thomas Lourds, Book 3) ReviewLinguists Professor Thomas Lourds is at an archaeological dig in China when a tortoise shell marked with odd inscriptions is found. Lourds believes the ancient text offer clues to a mystery at the Scholar's Rock Temple in the Himalayas.
His Israeli colleague Lev Strauss asks him to come to Jerusalem to decipher a find in Cairo that the former believes leads to where Mohammad hid his handwritten original Koran. However, as Lourds arrives in Israel, assassins kill Strauss. Clues take Lourds to Tehran where Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei believes the Mohammad document bestowed on the prophet by Allah will enable him to establish a Caliphate and order a Global Jihad
The latest Lourds over the top of the Dome of the Rock Byzantium thriller is an entertaining tale that grips the audience from the moment the professor leaves for Israel and only slows down for detracting trysts in every city. Still readers who suspend credibility will fully relish Lourds' latest exhilarating bloody roller coaster adventures (see The Lucifer Code and The Atlantis Code) as he tries to prevent a global religious war from happening.
Harriet Klausner
The Temple Mount Code (Thomas Lourds, Book 3) Overview

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