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September Travel
Next week we’re off to Spain & Portugal for some adventure. Our itinerary will include stops in: Barcelona, Valencia, Granada, Seville, and then into Lisbon. It’s our first time doing a small coach tour and we’re looking forward to some interesting times. I’ll be back in October with more recommended reading for you. Until then,…
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Summer Read Ideas & Hiatus
“Live in the sunshine. Swim in the sea. Drink in the wild air.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Time for my summer hiatus, but before I go here are a few recommendations for your consideration. Richard John Parfitt: Stray Dogs Raw, powerful, and the most apt book title ever. Teenage friends, drifters of sort, tasked with…
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Deryn Collier: A Real Somebody
I’ll be going on summer hiatus but had to squeeze in this delightful mystery story by Deryn Collier, based on the true story of her aunt, June Grant. Grant is the breadwinner of her family in Montreal, as having fallen on hard times, the once wealthy family relies on her small salary to keep them…
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Roger A. Canaff: City Dark
The body of a woman is found on a beach at Coney Island. Every indication is that she was homeless. Part of the legions of the street. In her wallet, the business card of lawyer Joe DeSantos whose mother abandoned him and his brother 40-years ago. And yes, this is his mother Lois. DeSantos is…
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Dieter Kalteis: The Get
Toronto in the 70s. Long hair on men normalizing, multi-cultural neighbourhoods entrenching, and politicians demanding a crackdown on crime. Two collectors for Ernie Zimm’s protection racket: Gabe ‘the Twist” Zoller and Lenny Ovitz. Zoller has a bit of a problem collecting at the Merchant of Mink leading to the owner and his bookkeeper being killed…
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D.L. Mark: Twist of Fate
Claudine Durdage is a nationally known communications consultant. Her real life is about grieving the loss of her stillborn child. Jethro is her brother, 188 IQ and a rambling, sweet natured hermit, plagued with schizophrenia. He shows up at her office lobby to tell her something incredibly important. Before that can happen a bloodied man…
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Joe Clifford: Say My Name
“Perception is nine tenths of the law.” An author has come back to his home town of Berlin, Connecticut. He’s just divorced, the house in California is sold, and he’s weary. Offered a teaching job meant coming home. Something he said he’d never do. And it has meaning, even if he’s not sure what. His…
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Lowell Cauffiel: Below the Line
Edwin Blake is a former Detroit Homicide cop, working in Hollywood as a technical advisor for film and televisions cop shows. Times have been tough lately, the jobs have dried up leaving Blake living off his police pension. Jason Perry, or JP, was the media mogul who brought Blake into the industry. His own profile…
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Charles Salzberg: Man on the Run
“When I walk into a room, any room, I immediately know two things: where the exit is and exactly where everyone is standing.” By the quote above some would think it’s stated by a police officer, private investigator, or perhaps an operative. In fact, it’s the master burglar Francis Hoyt. He’s known for his skill,…
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James W. Ziskin: Bombay Monsoon
India’s June 1975 ‘State Emergency’ is still debated as a dark era in the country’s history. It was a period of inordinate confinement, depression of civil rights, the silencing of opponents, and the deep censorship of the press. Into a volatile environment tyro reporter Danny Jacobs is sent to investigate and report. He arrives days…