Maurizio Viglioni came home from World War II and changed his name to Maurice Valentine. He’s now a highly respected architect and married to a senator’s daughter. They live in Palm Springs but Maurice is going places – probably to the Senate as Nevada’s next U.S. senator.

Then he meets heiress Mallory Walker at a cocktail party. They end up in bed; she tries to shoot him and later she’s found dead in a car crash. The besotted Valentine thinks she may have been murdered and he tries to find Mallory’s killers. He also wants to know her motives for trying to kill him.

A friend gives him a news clipping that reveals Mallory is alive and about to be married. The bride-to-be turns out to be Beth Dyer who’s somehow mixed up with Vegas mobster Paul Mantinelli. Valentine’s carefully constructed life starts to unravel and he discovers that he’s being used in some very nasty ways.

Rayner skillfully blends Vegas history, politics, mobsters and racial prejudice in a plot that’s atmospheric and totally engrossing. He gives the story a genuine fifties feeling and adroitly captures a bygone era. Nevada politics, the jazz scene, Las Vegas glitz and the nuclear tests conducted in the Nevada desert, they’re all here. The plot itself is intricate, sometimes confusing and improbable, but it’s a fun read and offers a fascinating look back at an interesting time period.

Combine action, intrigue and well developed believable characters and set them in Sin City and you have the basis for an entertaining mystery.

Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (February 2006)
ISBN-13: 978-0060937461
Pages: 352

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It turns out that William not only is not retarded but highly intelligent. Part of the action of the novel surrounds Louisa抯 attempts to get William to learn how to speak. Louisa, inspired by faith, brings healing to both father and son, both of whom were wounded by the mother, an ambitious woman who left her husband and son when William was still a young child.

I found the novel抯 discussions of God, faith and prayer fascinating. While in the beginning of the book Robert is somewhat lackluster and his sermons in need of inspiration, he begins to grow as the novel goes on.

The characterization of Louisa, Robert and William is deft and compelling, and the changes they go through well-portrayed. The time of World War II, when everything still hangs in a balance, yet the Allied victory may be near, is captured in all its hopefulness and terror. It is as if the author had lived through these times.

This novel will appeal to anyone with an interest in this period of history or in religion, or romance. 揅opper Star?is a fascinating novel and also works on a deeper level, and draws the reader into its deeper thoughts as the plot unfolds.

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Jerry has been having dreams that take him back in history to times of strife. When he is at a museum one day, he discovers that he can read Greek. He finds this discovery amazing, however, somewhat troubling because he has never studied Greek. Following the advice of an ex-lover, Jerry consults a psychic who regresses him into his past lives. Through this path, he discovers that he was the Spartan Aias, who was Alexander’s mentor. Aias also felt a brotherly closeness to Alexander.

Aias and Alexander go to battle together. During particularly brutal campaigns, Aias became known as “The Decapitator.” This was for a good reason. Also for a good reason, he was known as a great lover among women. In this book, the majority of Greek males engaged in homosexuality. Aias has no interest in this. The women at the time were more than willing to let Aias make up for the lack of attention that they were receiving from men. Aias was also known as “The Heretic” because he didn’t follow the religious beliefs of his people. He did not worship statutes, nor did he believe that they were God. He believed in one infinite God.

When Aias met the priestess Nefertiti, he immediately fell for her. They were married and enjoyed their lives together when he wasn’t away at war. Nefertiti also shared his religious beliefs and introduced him to the scrolls written by heavenly bodies referred to as “The Celestials.” These are enlightened beings whom we have derived a great deal of knowledge.

I enjoyed “The Heretic.” It was written in a modern voice, which might detract a little from the historical value of the story, however, it makes it much more interesting and easy to follow. Aias is a man who stands on his own two feet. In spite of his foul language and lusty pursuits, he also has deep spiritual beliefs. I loved that this was incorporated into the story with Nefertiti. I highly recommend, “The Heretic.”

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The 5th Horseman is one of the Women抯 Murder Club series that Patterson has established. Patients in San Francisco Municipal Hospital are dying when they should not be. Patients of all ages are found dead in their beds with a small coin on each eye. When a new member of The Women抯 Murder Club, Yuki Castellano, has to have her mother taken to the Emergency Room in this hospital, she and her friends have much concern. Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer of the San Francisco Police Department takes a personal interest in these deaths now that her new friend抯 mother is involved. Two other members of the club, Claire, the San Francisco Chief Medical Examiner, and Cindy, a reporter, also become more involved. There are just too many deaths for their minds to assimilate.

Emergency Room Dr. Dennis Garza seems to always be at the wrong place, at the wrong time as far as the police were concerned. He immediately becomes one of the main suspects, despite having alibis most of the time. Attorney, Maureen O扢ara, has filed a suit against the hospital for the many victims that have lost family over the past few years. The courtroom action becomes a large part of the book. Victim after victim testifies describing the loss of their loved one, a loss not expected at all. Larry Kramer, the attorney for the hospital, also parades his witnesses for the hospital; each telling the hospital couldn抰 be responsible for these deaths as they have a foolproof medication system through their computers. The action gets hot and heavy, in the courtroom and outside as the police pursue their leads.

No one is working harder than the Women抯 Murder Club as they trail some of the suspects quietly, and some times NOT so quietly! Dr. Garza remains on the top of their list especially since some personnel in the hospital furnished some information to them. All the time, Lindsay Boxer tries to keep her long-distance romance active with her boy friend, Joe, who is an agent with the FBI in Washington, DC. This is very difficult with both of them too busy most of the time and 損hone dates?are not the best kind of socializing.

Meanwhile the Night Walker continues the killing and placing the coins on the eyes. Who is this vicious and uncaring killer who has no respect for anyone抯 age or health condition? Even a person with just a simple broken bone is not safe if the Night Walker wants them DEAD!

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Tilar Mazzeo’s new book – the charming Back Lane Wineries of Sonoma – has made your wine adventures that much easier. This book simply whets one’s appetite for wine travels along the backroads of Sonoma County in search of hard to find, and, yes, adventurous wineries.

The layout of Mazzeo’s Back Lane Wineries of Sonoma is straightforward and easy-to-use. It is divided into five sections (six if you count the Intro/How to Use section) highlighting Sonoma County’s revered wine regions: Dry Creek Valley, Alexander Valley, Healdsburg, Russian River Valley, Sonoma Valley and Carneros. The wines that are written about in this smart little travelogue are the remarkable hand-crafted wines that herald from family-run operations and that, with few exceptions, see only local distribution. (Mazzeo doesn’t spend any time writing about the big dogs of Sonoma). For each chapter, Mazzeo throws in favorite restaurants, cafes, and picnic spots.

It’s not only lesser-known winemakers and wineries represented here. Some wines see a broader distribution than others. Iron Hill, Unti, Robert Young, and Dutton Goldfield, for instance. But keep in mind that these wineries are producing less than 35,000 cases a year. And though it seems a big number, consider that the output of commercial operations is closer to 5 million cases a year.

Most of the wineries presented in Back Lane Wineries of Sonoma produce less than 10,000 cases yearly. Some less than 1000. Most of these wines can only be found and purchased locally. Take Bacar Vineyards in Healdsburg. “One-man wonder” Trace Nunes produces only one wine, a Burgundy-style Pinot Noir that retails for $100. He fairly eschews advertising his wine, favoring working the fields instead. His is an appointment only operation, and Mazzeo makes it clear that it is worth one’s time to make said appointment, as Nunes’ wines are little known and worth the while.

And then there is Nalle Winery, where the Nalle family has been producing small-lot wines in the Dry Creek Valley since the 1980s. It is easy to become enchanted by this family of winemakers who believe that ‘wine makes you smart’ and whose approach to wine is described as “laidback and fun-loving”.

With just over 65 wineries included, Mazzeo’s guide is chockfull of similarly tempting anecdotes, so one must not forget to give certain props where props are due. For how else could one learn of some of these lesser-known wineries – and the producers so single-mindedly passionate about wine – without Ms. Mazzeo’s having travelled these backroads, explored the wineries, and written this book.

Tilar Mazzeo is a cultural historian, biographer, and assistant professor of English at Colby College. This may well explain her depth as a curious human being: in Back Lane Wineries of Sonoma she not only seeks out world class wines, she also seek out the people behind the wines, the stories behind the people. And in her conversational manner, she conveys her considerable wine knowledge. It is like listening to one’s best friend, home from a wine holiday, still giddy with excitement, still full of all those sights and tastes.

With over 7 million tourists – connoisseurs and beginning enthusiasts alike – visiting Sonoma Wine Country annually, it’s not such a bad idea to take to the back roads and experience a wine tasting or two from these smaller wineries. Not to mention, meeting the producers themselves. Most certainly don’t forget to pack Back Lane Wineries of Sonoma. This little gem of a guide, thanks to Tilar Mazzeo, just made your Sonoma adventure ridiculously easier. And remarkably tastier, at that.

Be sure to keep an eye out for Back Lane Wineries of Napa by Tilar Mazzeo, coming 2010.

Back Lane Wineries of Sonoma by Tilar Mazzeo
published by The Little Bookroom 2009

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This book has much to offer the reader on several levels. How does our belief about the government, our faith, our community, and our neighbors influence our choices large and small? Did we get married for love or was there a host of other more compelling reasons for our decision? Mr. Smith uses these questions and more to present deeply thought out characters that compel us to read along and learn their fate. He presents a time and place real and immediate that demands attention and thought.

This is not a happy book. It leads you thought a time and place where you can come to believe happiness is not possible. It asks uncomfortable questions. It presents impossible choices. I couldn’t put it down.

I will warn the reader that I had to work through the first fifty pages before I realized what was going on and got hooked but the effort was well rewarded. If for no other reason and there are many, this book is well worth reading to see a time and place so close to our own but so different; a country and people that have great influence on the world we live in. It’s good to get out of our comfort zone once in a while and to think.

I am not a world traveler except in the books that allow me to go anyplace anytime and anywhere. I feel I am rich. I am rich is family, faith, and community. I am rich in freedoms, friends and choices. Books like these are important as they allow us to see just how much this country has and how important our freedoms are. I believe it is important to learn about other people, their lives and histories, so different than our own, to see just how important our country can be for us and the other people of the world.

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Davidson makes the undead very much alive (ironic, I know) in her Undead series and this one just makes me want the days to move faster so that I can get my own copy already. Betsy is warm, funny, and real-traits that keep you coming back for more of her. A lot of us have loved Betsy in her previous installment because of her growth as a person-and as a vampire queen as well. We’ve all read how she struggled with her humanity and with her immortality; now, we’re bound to see more how that has shaped her both as Betsy and as the Queen of the Vampires. Who ever said being undead was easy? Surely, not Betsy.

Undead and Unwelcome is not just your average vampire story where everything is dark and goth-looking; it actually reminds me of the real world more than anything else. It is quite rare for an author to manage such a feat. Also, the good thing about Davidson’s Undead series is that even if she focuses on Betsy, she makes sure that her supporting characters are as interesting and as funny as her main character is. That’s a very hard job to accomplish but Davidson pulls it off effortlessly. Come June, I’m sure Undead and Unwelcome by MaryJanice Davidson will be one of the most sought-after books-not only for her fans but also for the ones who need a refreshing and vampiric look at life.

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The unnamed protagonist is a British gentleman who hunts big game. Bored, he attempts to penetrate the compound of a dictator, also unnamed. His rifle is aimed at the man, who we are left to presume is Adolf Hitler. Still he tells himself that he doesn’t really intend to pull the trigger; he just wants to see if it can be done. His motives don’t matter when he’s caught by the guards, tortured and left for dead. Somehow he manages a harrowing escape and stows away on a boat bound for England. But his pursuers will not give up. Now he’s the prey, and only his strong instincts for self preservation will keep him alive.

This is the story of a man who is hunted like an animal and what he has to do to survive. The plot is simple and yet incredibly suspenseful. There are few characters and little dialogue. Some readers may find the writing style dated. And yet the spare narrative is very effective at portraying the thrilling chase. The tension grows right up to the conclusion. An extraordinary adventure on one level, it’s also interesting on a moral level as the protagonist explores his real motives and decisions.

Geoffrey Household, the author, was born in Bristol in 1900, he died in 1988. “Rogue Male” was published in 1939 and it’s justifiably a classic, as exciting today as it was then. A sequel, “Rogue Justice,” was published in 1982.

Publisher: NYRB Classics (November 6, 2007)

ISBN: 978-1590172438

Pages: 224

Price: $14.00

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Today, Juanita Watson, Assistant Editor of Reader Views talks with author/writer Paul L. Hall about his latest book 揚laces the Dead Call Home” winner of Bronze, West-Mountain – Best Regional Fiction in the 2007 Independent Publisher Book Awards.

Paul L. Hall is the author of the award-winning 揙ur Father?and its sequel, 揟he Big Island.? He is also a prolific business writer, public relations counselor and writing instructor, and has published poems, stories, and articles in a variety of publications including The Paris Review, The Sun, Reader抯 Digest, and numerous trades. He lives in Troy, Michigan, but spends much of his time in the American Southwest (the setting for 揚laces the Dead Call Home? and Rome, Italy.

Juanita: Welcome to Reader Views Paul, and thanks for the opportunity to talk with you about your new mystery novel 揚laces the Dead Call Home.?This is your third book, how long was it in the works?

Paul: I wrote the first draft of the book quickly梚n perhaps six weeks. The research actually came after the writing of the first draft. Then the revisions. Six weeks stretched into two years.

Juanita: Paul, you have had a long history of writing in many genres. Would you give us a little background? What drew you to this industry, and what keeps you going after all these years?

Paul: I won my first writing contest as a six-year-old in grade school. I continued to win contests like that right through college, where I won writing awards both as an undergraduate and as a graduate student. After college, I was drafted into the army (among the last to benefit from that quaint ritual) where, with logic that rarely prevailed in the military when it comes to assigning occupations based upon aptitudes, I was trained as a journalist. That evolved into a job promoting the All-Volunteer Army. After my discharge, I stayed it the media/public relations/advertising field (with several excursions into academia as a teacher and Ph.D. student in English). I stay with it because it抯 interesting and it抯 what I make a living at (although not as much of a living as I抎 like).

Juanita: Is there a common theme that weaves its way through your work?

Paul: The limitations of human comprehension.

Juanita: Hmm, what does that mean exactly?….;-)

Paul: Nominally, I write mystery stories, but they抮e not exactly conventional. They aren抰 neatly resolved at the end. The tension that I see in my books is between the human need to have things explained and the recalcitrance of the world in satisfying that need. It抯 not a 揼ood against evil?thing. It抯 more about how human beings delude themselves into thinking that eventually everything will be revealed.

Juanita: Paul, it appears that you like to set your novels in places you抳e lived or visited. Would you comment on your use of familiar settings and how important you feel it is to bring this element of reality into a novel?

Paul: I am simply unable to write about places that I have not actually set foot in. I抳e tried it, and it hasn抰 worked. It feels fraudulent even as I抦 writing it.

Juanita: What happens in 揚laces the Dead Call Home?

Paul: On a summer night in 1958, bullets tear through the body of a young man on a lonely Oklahoma highway. Nineteen years later, a soldier lies in the pool of his own blood on an army base in Virginia. Josh Kincaid is a common link to both events. In 2002, when Kincaid抯 cousin proposes an urgent trip to the Anasazi ruins of Mesa Verde to resolve the riddle of one of these deaths, Kincaid reluctantly agrees. Soon, he and a van full of misfits are on the way to the cliff dwellings of the 揳ncestral enemies,?where more contemporary enemies await them among the ruins.

Josh Kincaid is happy with life in Phoenix where he manages a bar and sells a few drugs on the side. His serenity is soon shattered, however, by a call from his cousin, Frankie McKnight, who claims to know why Josh抯 father died far from his Detroit home in the parking lot of a gas station in Oklahoma City.

General Herman Endicott is looking for Josh, too. The highlight of his military life was winning the Silver Star for bravery in Vietnam, followed a few years later by his promotion to General. But between those events, the death of a friend and the betrayal of an old comrade have brought disgrace to a bereaved widow and her unborn child. This secret could destroy the General, and Josh Kincaid may know that secret.

General Endicott hires Tommy Three Hands, an Indian living in the Phoenix area, to kill Josh and Frankie, along with a reporter named Jeffrey Bonus and his traveling companion, Jeanette Koskos, who have also shown up with questions about the death of Bonus抯 father. Tommy is an ex-con who distrusts and hates whites, enjoys a reputation for violence and betrayal and has a cruel streak when it comes to women. He also has a grudge against Josh and his cousin Frankie.

All of these characters converge on Mesa Verde, where the secret of the mysterious梐nd perhaps violent梔isappearance of the Anasazi still seems to inhabit the ruins. As Josh and Frankie seek the answer to Jimmy Kincaid抯 destiny in the park抯 mythic heritage and Bonus hopes to learn the true fate of his father, Tommy and the General are making plans of their own to ensure that the dead stay where they belong梩he places they call home.

Juanita: The mystical setting of the American Southwest ?Four Corners region ?backdrops this story. Would you elaborate on your connection with this region and how it plays into the mystery?

Paul: I have a preference for the area based on many trips I抳e made over the past 20 years or so. I think that a sense of place is important and this area of the country does evoke for me a timelessness and continuity with the past that I find somehow comforting or reassuring (although no doubt illusory). I wanted that kind of environment to tell this story.

Juanita: Would you tell us about your main characters?

Paul: Two of them, Josh Kinkaid and Frank McKnight, are related. Kincaid is a transplant to the Phoenix area, but his life, like his choice of locales, is random. He抯 an orphan who has essentially never outgrown his orphan status. His cousin Frank is a former Detroit cop with a hero/quest mentality encumbered by an overdeveloped sense of responsibility. Jeffrey Bonus is a young reporter who wants to find out how or why his father, a career military officer, committed suicide while Bonus was still in his mother抯 womb. Jeanette Koskos is a failed model, a vagabond, a former drug addict/prostitute and a life force. Now that I think about it, this book is an orphan抯 crusade, because each of these characters has either physically or psychically lost his or her parents.

Juanita: Paul, your novel provides much back-story into the lives of your characters. Would you comment on this facet of your writing style and the character-driven aspect of this novel?

Paul: For me, everything starts with the characters. I try to see them as fully as I can and let them loose in the narrative. In the case of 揚laces the Dead Call Home?the first character that I had was that of Jimmy Kincaid, the father of Josh, who died in a robbery attempt in 1958. At the time, Jimmy抯 girlfriend, Gretchen, was pregnant with his only son. She actually suffers a fatal wound at the robbery site as well, but she continues to exist in a comatose state until Josh抯 birth. So, from there, I wanted to see how this 搈iracle child?would turn out. His cousin, Frank McKnight, had worshipped the older Jimmy Kincaid as a child and was perhaps more motivated to find out what drove Jimmy on what turned out to be a suicide run from Detroit to the Southwest.

To sort of balance this story, I introduced General Endicott and his lackey, Gary Grote (who had been a military policeman with Josh in an earlier life). In the novel, that fact that Josh and Grote knew each other, if only on the most casual of terms, is pivotal to the plot. Another 揷ouple?in the book is Jeffrey Bonus and Jeanette Koskos. Bonus also has lost-father issues (he had died before Bonus was born, just as Josh抯 father had) and Jeanette is the wild card in the group. As a defense mechanism, her identity is always provisional. She gives the narrative much of its vitality. Finally, I saw in Tommy Three Hands, the overt villain in the book, as playing against type. He抯 an Indian, but at least in his mind he抯 a victimizer rather than a victim and there is not much noble about him.

Juanita: Jeanette Koskos is the only female in 揚laces the Dead Call Home.? How does she offset your predominantly male cast, and what was it like to write through the voice of a woman?

Paul: Jeanette Koskos is perhaps the most important character in the book, as opposed to the 搈ain?character. She抯 quirky (at least from the point of view of her male co-characters), but incisive. The male characters tend to behave conventionally, that is, the way even they expect themselves to behave. She provides spontaneity, intelligence, and danger. She makes everything happen. I envisioned a character who had to be both wary and risk-tolerant, idealistic, but practical. My sense is that women are more psychologically agile than men. I have now idea how true that is, but that抯 the 搗oice?I had in my head for Jeanette.

Juanita: The intertwining stories of your characters and the various murders all come together in Mesa Verde, CO. What can you tell us about this convergence?

Paul: I can tell you that I didn抰 work it out beforehand. The 搑evelation?at Mesa Verde just came to me at that point in the writing of the book.

Juanita: Is there significance in the travel theme or 搈oving towards the truth?as played out in this story?

Paul: Yes. I saw this from the beginning as a road book. I wanted a sense of nomadic temperament among the characters. They are restless for the truth and that truth is endlessly elusive.

Juanita: What is the underlying message of 揚laces the Dead Call Home?

Paul: I guess I would prefer that readers determine that for themselves; however, I wanted to say something about the ultimate futility of trying to reconcile or justify history.

Juanita: Any plans for a sequel? Do you have any other projects in the works?

Paul: Nothing has stirred me in that direction of a sequel yet. I have finished the third in a series of books that began with Our Father and continued with The Big Island. All three of these books involve a reluctant 揹etective?named Stephen Fargo. I抦 also at work on novel about a writer whose almost universally ignored works have inspired a violent underground society, much to his dismay.

Juanita: What did you enjoy most about writing this story?

Paul: This book was a lot of fun to write. Since I had no idea how it was going to end, I was writing it and reading it at the same time, if that makes any sense.

Juanita: How was the experience of writing your first mystery novel? Did you encounter any notable aspects unique to this genre?

Paul: Whereas mystery is involved in my books, I never see them as conventional mysteries like whodunits or detective stories. My books are never plot-driven. I just like to see how things play out when I put the characters I抳e developed into a certain situation.

Juanita: Do you feel that you抳e grown as a novelist through the progression of each of your books?

Paul: I try not to make the same mistakes, with varying success. I think you do get more confident, not necessarily that you抮e becoming a better writer, but that things will work out. The nightmare for most novelists, I would think, is that a book will just go on forever, and will never resolve itself.

Juanita: How can readers find out more about you and your endeavors?

Paul: They can visit the book抯 website at http://www.placesthedeadcallhome.com.

Juanita: Paul, it has been great talking with you today, thanks for the opportunity to interview you for your new book 揚laces the Dead Call Home.? We certainly recommend readers look for all of your books at local and online bookstores. Before we depart, do you have any final thought for your readers?

Paul: As I think about how I describe Places, and all my books, for that matter, I always think that what抯 missing is the humor in them. Of course, it抯 always dangerous to announce what抯 funny梱ou don抰 hear comedians alerting their audiences that they should prepare to laugh梑ut I always shoot for humor among the tales of woe that I produce. Thanks for the opportunity to make that point and for this chance to talk about my work.

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Spencer, Iowa, the setting of this tail, oops, tale, was a depressed farm town in crisis due to economy and the farm failures, and it was the wonderful strong people of this town who gave Dewey his name. Obviously, he was named after Melvil Dewey where libraries got the book classification system of numbers we can all remember having to learn in school. Dewey quickly made himself at home and as he grew, so did his popularity and his fame. He especially liked to watch the tap-tap-tap of the typewriter and to hide amongst the boxes.

He was Dewey, the library cat and he touched the world with his adorable ways and loving touch. When library patrons would sit to read, there was Dewey. As you searched for books in the stacks, who would suddenly peep out at you and help you pick out just the right book but Dewey. Dewey loved story hour when Librarian Vicki would read to the young children and Vicki especially loved Dewey. He became her cat officially although he belonged to the world.

Vicki Myron tells her own story intertwined with Dewey’s. She was a struggling single mom who lived a hard life having lost her family farm and been in a marriage with an abusive husband. She went back to school and became a librarian as well as laying claim to being her family’s first college graduate. She went on to become the director of the Spencer Public Library and it was there she lived and worked for the people of Spencer and there that she met Dewey. Dewey lived in the library and was loved as the book chronicles by people all over the world. Whether it was the man in the wheel chair who Dewey would comfort as he hopped into his lap so the man could pet Dewey as he read, or visitors from afar who came just to see and film Dewey, he was still Vicki’s cat. When Dewey became ill the town rallied around but this was one fight that Dewey would not win. The stomach tumor Dewey had would eventually take his life. In 2006, at the age of 19, Dewey died while Vicki Myron was holding him so the vet could put him down peacefully. A tribute to Dewey stands outside the library today. Dewey will live on in the hearts of many. This is a wonderful book and will grab on to you and not let go, even after you finish reading it.

Submitted Originally to BOOKIN’ WITH BINGO by Karen Haney, May, 2009

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