Incarnate - review

Incarnate

by Josh Stolberg

Emily Bestler Books/Atria

Based in the small Alaskan town of Jarvis, Dr. Kim Patterson is a brilliant psychiatrist with a maverick approach to her profession, but her flouting of hospital rules isn’t appreciated by her superiors. Kim is walking a fine line between residency and dismissal when she encounters nineteen-year-old Scarlett Hascall in the psychiatric ward. Immediately Kim sees Scarlett’s condition isn’t being correctly diagnosed: She has multiple personalities fighting to control her, and Kim can’t resist doing her best to help the girl.

Across town Detective Zack Trainor is dealing with a missing person case. Isabel ‘Izzi’ Wilcox went missing some days ago. Her lowlife boyfriend looks a likely candidate for Izzi’s disappearance, but as Zack investigates things don’t seem so clear cut. When Zack discovers a link to Kim’s patient, he and she clash over the right way to proceed with Scarlett’s case – but Scarlett is full of surprises. Other dead and missing people from the town begin to emerge through Scarlett’s person, and Kim and Zack realize something seriously strange is going on. Is Scarlett the world’s most cunning psychopath, or is she really channeling the dead? Kim and Zack find they have to rely on each other as they pursue the case all the way to its shocking conclusion.

Incarnate has a great character partnership between off-beat but likable Kim Patterson and the more straight-laced Zack Trainor. The small world of Jarvis comes to life under Stolberg’s touch in a story that grips all the way to the end.

Tiffany Blues

Tiffany Blues

by M J Rose

Atria Books

Jenny Bell is a gifted young artist with a harrowing past making a new life for herself in New York City. She thinks her history will stay buried until her best friend, wealthy socialite Minx Deering, contrives to gain their admittance to the prestigious Tiffany Foundation. An annual eight-week summer event held at Laurelton Hall, the fabulous estate of Louis Comfort Tiffany, the Foundation is a hothouse for artistic talent. Whoever wins the jury's accolade at the end of the term is set for a glittering artistic career.

Even at Laurelton Hall with all its wonders Jenny feels adrift until she meets Oliver Tiffany, the great man's grandson, and falls in love for the first time. Oliver draws Jenny out of herself and away from her serious monochromatic style of art to embrace color as she embraces him. Champagne flows like water and jazz fills the air, but a series of unnerving incidents intimates that someone among the contestants knows of Jenny's past and is using their knowledge to handicap her chances to win the prize. Jenny doesn't know if she can trust Minx any more. Is her best friend back to using opium, an addiction she supposedly kicked? What kind of influence is Minx's boyfriend Edward having on her, and why is he so hostile to Jenny? Events culminate one night into a confrontation that threatens to ruin everything, and only a desperate act of love can avert disaster.

Tiffany Blues is a story as elegantly crafted and as colorful as Tiffany's own artwork. M J Rose brings Jenny, Minx and Oliver to life along with the heady, sometimes desperate lifestyle of the Lost Generation. 

Bernie or Bust: Pioneers of Electoral Revolt

Bernie or Bust: Pioneers of Electoral Revolt

by @BernieOrBust with Patrick Walker.

Dorrance Publishing Company.

Of the events that occurred during the contentious 2016 Presidential election, the blatant rigging of the Democratic Party primaries against Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont is at the top of the list in importance. The Bernie or Bust movement was one of the prime movers in public debate on the issue of the Democratic nominee selection process and its aftermath – the nomination of Hillary Clinton, a deeply flawed candidate with a mass of political baggage, who represented the status quo during a time when the American electorate desperately wanted change.

The author and his associate Patrick Walker started the Bernie or Bust grassroots movement in 2016 with a manifesto aimed at effecting real change for the better in the American political system. The objective was – and is – the use of leverage to force the Democratic Party to heed the will of the American people, not that of Big Business. This book recounts a warts and all picture of the movement from the inside. It doesn’t flinch from admitting the mistakes and conflict involved in seeking a way forward, nor does it flinch from scathing and justified condemnation of the Democratic party machine that helped elect Donald Trump.

Where the book scores highly is in the wealth of advice included for activists, voters, and future progressive movements. This is a valuable resource which can be dipped into for guidance, inspiration and a wealth of ‘how to’ examples. It is also an important historical document in its own right for all who wish to understand more about the 2016 election, those involved, and the consequences. Highly recommended. 

http://bookstore.dorrancepublishing.com/bernie-or-bust/ 

Death in the Air

Death in the Air

by Kate Winkler Dawson

Hachette Books

Mentioned in literature and commemorated in art, the infamous London peasouper is a choking miasma composed of smoke and fog that has been a striking feature of the city for centuries.

In December 1952, a ridge of high pressure stalled over London. Cold fog blanketed the city. The smoke from industry, millions of domestic fires and the exhaust from vehicles merged with the fog until it became impossible to see more than a few feet. Smog invaded homes and businesses, theaters and cinemas. People began to die by the thousands. Those with respiratory conditions found it hard – then impossible – to breathe. Ambulances couldn’t find their way through the murk to reach those in need. Public transport was curtailed. Drivers abandoned their vehicles. Transport accidents increased and so did crime, as criminals took advantage of the obscurity. Hospitals across London became full to overflowing.

Not all the deaths were caused by the smog. John Reginald Christie, a mild-looking and somewhat creepy middle-aged man haunted the then-squalid Notting Hill area of London in search of women to kill. When the so-called Beast of 10 Rillington Place was eventually arrested six women, including his own wife, had fallen victim to Christie. 

When the fog lifted after four days, the published death toll of four thousand shocked the nation. The true total was known but hushed up for fifty years. In all, twelve thousand people died from the effects of the smog, yet the public of the time seemed more fascinated by the murders at 10 Rillington Place.

In Death in the Air, Kate Winkler Dawson draws upon archives, eyewitness and anecdotal accounts of the peasouper and serial killer that paralyzed a great city, to create an engrossing narrative about a largely forgotten episode in history which nevertheless led to two significant measures: The Clean Air Act, the first legislation in the world designed to deal with atmospheric pollution, and the trial of John Reginald Christie led to the eventual abolition of the death penalty in Britain.

Rating: Four Sushi Rolls

The Like Switch

The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over 
by Jack Schafer

A great book for writers, actors and any others who want to observe and note human behavior in their creations, especially non-verbal behaviors. It's amazing how little most of us think about how we are being perceived by others, and by changing a few of our non-verbal behaviors here or there, we can make friends and influence our boss for the better.

Former FBI Agent Jack Schafer worked in behavioral analysis and honed his skills in reading both non-verbal and verbal behaviors in a wide variety of individuals. So, when he gives down-to-earth advice, you can feel confident that it’s been field-tested and found true. And the sheer simplicity of effective human communications is astounding. The secret of how to make friends isn’t particularly complicated. Schafer notes it’s a simple formula: Friendship = Proximity + Frequency + Duration + Intensity. Couple that equation with understanding the basics of non-verbal communication—make appropriate eye contact, tilt your head, keep an open posture, give a genuine smile—and you’ll be making and keeping friends before you know it. By employing “The Golden Rule of Friendship” and practicing empathetic statements and mirroring body language, you will seem like a mind-reader to your co-workers and family members, and they will open up and feel honored to return the favor.

With tips for effective electronic communications and how to maintain long-term relationships as well, The Like Switch is probably the only reference on the topic of human interactions you’ll ever need.

Rating: 4 sushi rolls

Apollo: The Race To The Moon

Apollo: The Race To The Moon
Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox
Simon and Schuster
Purchase Link

You never know what rare gem you'll find on a old bookshelf. Apollo: The Race To The Moon is one such find. Published in 1989, it's still an excellent history of the Apollo program from its inception to its unfortunate early demise after the return of Apollo 17. For space history nuts like me, it's definitely a must-read. For anyone remotely interested in how the American "space race" began and the politics, organizational challenges and personalities involved, it is well worth it.

The men (and they were mostly white males, alas) who were tasked with fulfilling Kennedy's vision of "landing a man on the moon and returning him safely within the decade" were of a different breed. Driven, dedicated, single-minded, innovative, dynamic--you can't come up with enough positive adjectives to describe them. They started with little to nothing and had to invent an organization to build launch, mission and recovery systems to meet a seemingly unreachable goal in a very short period of time. 

We get to know the personalities that have become synonymous with Apollo and the space program--Max Faget, Jim Webb, Joe Shea, Gene Kranz, Chris Kraft, Werner Von Braun, among others. We feel their stress, their fears, their challenges. It was a time period and a place where the objective was more important than any one flight controller, scientist, astronaut, engineer or technician.

The Apollo program was truly  a time of team spirit and self-sacrifice for the good of the whole. Americans will probably never experience such an intense time period  to obtain such a lofty goal ever again.

Filled with fantastic facts, intriguing insights and introspective interviews, Apollo: The Race To The Moon will make you ask the pertinent question Apollo 13 astronaut Jim Lovell once asked: "When are we going back?"

Rating: 4+ sushi rolls

 

The Concert Pianist

The Concert Pianist
Judy & Keith
Devine Destinies Books
Purchase link
Authors' web page

Thirteen year old Elizabeth Crenshaw has a very unusual gift--she can play the piano compositions of a murdered UCLA music student. In Judy and Keith's The Concert Pianist, the mystery of who killed student Lola Schumann after she leaves the bar where she plays piano takes a very interesting twist. Elizabeth's mom always wanted a piano, so she buys one at an auction. Elizabeth sits down at the keyboard and begins playing like a professional almost immediately.

Curious, Elizabeth looks inside the piano and finds a letter written by Lola. It says that she witnessed a drug-related killing and if anything happens to her, then she wanted to let someone know how her death came about. Elizabeth shares this information with Detective Gareth Lomas.  He investigates and discovers a dirty cop is covering up for the drug dealer who had Lola run over. Gareth is set up and kicked off the force, but he persists in his investigation, even at the cost of his own reputation as one of LA's finest.

The Concert Pianist is a short and intriguing murder-mystery with paranormal elements sure to entertain young adult readers.

Rating: 3 sushi rolls