Reviews By Charline

“Wired”

Author: Douglas E. Richards

I just finished reading my copy of “Wired” by author Douglas E. Richards and…wow, what a riveting read! To sum up in one sentence or less…Richards is an amazing writer. “Wired” is an enjoyable yet gripping read that keeps you on the edge of your seat and the book’s characters practically jump out of the story and into your living room. Did I mention that Richards holds a master’s degree in molecular biology? I’ll be honest; having reviewed books by other authors who also hold degrees in the scientific field, I was initially concerned that “Wired” might be dry, long-winded and tedious. Needless to say, I was ecstatic to find that “Wired” was anything but boring and I was extremely impressed to find an author who could incorporate a subject like molecular biology into a fictional tale and wind up with a book as well-written and interesting as “Wired.” As an aside, even though this particular book is not labeled as science fiction, I do believe that Isaac Asimov himself would be complimentary about Richards’ subject and writing technique.

About the book… Kira Miller, one of the main characters in “Wired,” is a brilliant genetic engineer. And by brilliant I mean brilliant. She graduated from high-school at sixteen, received her BS in molecular biology at nineteen and then went on to obtain a Ph.D. in molecular neurobiology from Stanford at the tender age of twenty-three. Kira’s intentions in her field, and with her research, are initially for the betterment of mankind. She learns how to achieve short-term “savant-like” capabilities, and using herself as a test subject, she is able to temporarily increase her brain’s ability to think, reason, and create. However, this advancement is not without a price…

David Desh, the book’s other main character, has left the US Army’s Special Forces division after being forced to watch his team being brutally tortured and murdered while stationed in Iran. Not knowing what to do with himself after he retired; David joined an executive bodyguard service but gets recalled to duty for one final mission: find Kira Miller who has put together a bio-terror plot that threatens the entire planet.

I’m not going to give any more of the story away… If you want to know what happens then I suggest that you read the book – it’s definitely well worth it.

In closing I give “Wired” a five-star rating and place it in the “must read” category.

“Too Sinful To Deny”

Author: Erica Ridley

I just finished reading “Too Sinful To Deny” by romance novelist Erica Ridley. While I’m not an avid romance reader and I wasn’t sure what to expect from Ridley, having never read her works before, I am however glad that I read it.

Susan Stanton, our damsel in distress, has been banished to a remote manor located on the side of a massive cliff overlooking the ocean because her socialite parents find her too inquisitive for her own good and their social standing. Even before Susan settles in she makes an eerie discovery and realizes that everything is not as it would appear to be. Finding her new home to be both maze and prison Susan attempts a descent down the cliffs to the seashore so she can hopefully locate a town and some form of transportation to return her to London. She thinks she’s unobtrusively following the handsome scoundrel Evan Bothwick outside but once she’s trapped on the steep cliff trail with nowhere to hide he decides to take that moment to confront her. With nowhere else to go she finds herself at his mercy…and I’ll let you continue from there when you decide to read “Too Sinful To Deny.”

I think we all know that most romance novels all have the same theme: in the beginning a beautiful but tragically unhappy damsel runs into the devilishly handsome but all wrong for her scoundrel yet somehow, by the end, they have worked out all their differences; have fallen madly in love with each other; have the world’s best um…“evening activities” and manage to live happily ever after. And of course “Too Sinful To Deny” is definitely more of the same.

With that being said though I must compliment Ridley on her writing style and technique. She takes a closely followed formula and successfully makes it her own. Her writing is descriptive; her characters are engaging and the plot itself is surprisingly interesting.

In summary I give “Too Sinful To Deny” a four-star rating and am placing it in the “must read” category for anyone who enjoys reading a well-written romance novel.

“Dina’s Lost Tribe”

Author: Brigitte Goldstein

I found “Dina’s Lost Tribe” by author Brigitte Goldstein to be an excellent read. Goldstein writes with an impeccable style and her fictional novel is both captivating and enthralling. Goldstein seamlessly weaves together historical fact with well thought out and plausible fiction and truthfully, the end result is a superb story.

The premise of “Dina’s Lost Tribe” is this: Professor Henner Marcus receives a letter with an urgent request for help from his niece Nina who disappeared without a trace five years earlier. Due to the letter’s tone, Henner is fearful for his niece’s safety. He puts his personal and academic affairs in order and immediately sets out to find her. Following the letter’s postmark, as well as Nina’s covert ramblings, Henner winds up almost five thousand miles away from his Chicago home in a small town located in France close to the Pyrenees Mountains. Once settled in France, Henner follows Nina’s instructions to the letter and impatiently waits for her to find him. While he isn’t happy with Nina’s cloak and dagger requests; he is concerned for her safety and will do nothing to jeopardize it.

Nina, a historian of some repute, has searched all her life for the city of her birth; the city of Valladine. Unable to locate this town on any map, and having no concrete evidence that Valladine even exists, Nina finds herself compelled to explore the Pyrenees Mountains in an attempt to satisfy the insatiable hunger and curiosity that this name stirs up inside her.

Rather than give too much of the plot away I will just end by saying there are two separate stories to be found within the pages of “Dina’s Lost Tribe.” Even though these lives are set centuries apart; Nina’s life in the present seems, at times, to mirror a life that happened seven hundred years ago.

In closing, “Dina’s Lost Tribe” was a riveting read. Both past and present stories were written with skill and a seemingly immense knowledge of history, religious history, religious rites and geography. “Dina’s Lost Tribe” definitely merits a five-star rating and I would say it’s a “must read” for anyone who enjoys fiction, historical fiction or simply being able to sit down and read a “good” book.

“Day of Revenge”

Author: Deanna Proach

I just finished reading my copy of “Day of Revenge” by author Deanna Proach and I’ll be honest and admit I’m rather disappointed. Initially I had requested to read / review “Day of Revenge” because it’s a historical fiction set in France during the late seventeen hundreds at a time when the country was in a major religious and political upheaval. Being an actual descendant of those who fled France around this time period I was very interested to read Proach’s book to see how well she intertwined fact with fiction.

The premise of “Day of Revenge” is this: it’s the summer of seventeen ninety-three; four long years have passed since the people’s rebellion against France’s monarchy began; the Bastille has been torn down; Louis the XVI has been executed and the country is now firmly entrenched in a revolution with the phrase “Vive le Republique!” being their passionate battle cry. Unfortunately for the country, Maximilien Robespierre, the very man who was supposed to bring unity and a better way of life to the downtrodden people of France is himself a bloodthirsty megalomaniac who finds spies and sees betrayal everywhere and thus begins the era known as the “Reign of Terror.”

It is in this setting that we, the readers, meet Samuel La Font, a military captain who is intent on rescuing the young prince Louis; removing Robespierre from power and returning peace to his fellow countrymen. In “Day of Revenge” we follow along as La Font, and his close-knit group of friends, attempt the impossible while still trying to live their own lives. Even during a period as volatile as this; life itself must continue on and we hope that those we see joined in love now will not become separated by war later.

“Day of Revenge” was definitely a heartfelt story and I can see that Proach is a passionate writer. I would say that my main complaint (and source of disappointment) is the manner in which this book was written. To sum up: “Day of Revenge” is an awkward and hard to read compilation of past, present, and future tenses all inappropriately jumbled together. While I myself am not an editor, I am a published author, and I know what a book should, and shouldn’t, read like.

With that said, and to be fair, Proach’s story merits four stars while the grammatical problems (which are too numerous and too blatant to be ignored) deserve two. Overall a three star read but if you enjoy historical fiction, and can get beyond the grammar problems, you will truly enjoy “Day of Revenge.”