Eva meets Lt. Spencer on the SS Lurline on her way to Hawaii, where
her fiance and a nursing position await her in Pearl Harbor. Their
story incorporates the real history of a mysterious message and
government coverup exposing Pearl Harbor to attack. This is a good
story even if you’re not a huge fan of WWII novels. There’s
espionage, danger, injustice, and romance. The only niggle is the
anachronistically feminist Lt. Spencer. The characters are complex,
with multiple storylines blending seamlessly toward the inevitable
end. I was graciously provided a copy through a Goodreads giveaway.
From the living room floor, I watched the roaches crawl across the
ceiling. When they began to fall, I hurriedly wrapped the blanket
around me and tucked it in as best I could. Uncle J’s death was
unexpected and Aunt D came unglued, dragging my cousins from sibling
to sibling. I crossed my fingers they’d be moving on soon. Alas,
they enrolled in the local school, the meanest two in my grade…not
twins, just one dumb one. They tormented me daily, on top of the
usual bullying I received from my classmates, so that in the evenings
I would ride my bike around town until dark, hoping dinner would
distract them. I was ordered to come home straight after school and
stay there by my mother, adamant that I show compassion. The night I
took to the streets on my bike, sobbing, I returned long after sunset
to find my father waiting for me in his garage. I homed in on the
light as a beacon of refuge. He was fiddling around, doing a little
of nothing, as he liked to say, when I entered. Without turning
around, he told me—Your mother’s angry with you. He looked at me,
one eyebrow raised. There was nothing to say. Facing the counter
again, he said—I got you something—and brought a little box to
me. We sat on his workbench so I could open it. My gift was an itty
bitty radio with a pullout antenna. He took it from me, placed it on
a little table next to an overstuffed chair he’d dragged down from
the attic, and plugged it in. Next to the chair, he’d put a small
bookshelf and filled it with some of the books from my room. He
hugged me and said—You can come read in here after school; I’ll
let your mother know where you are.
Guests at a dinner party on a yacht in Maine end up in the hospital
with food poisoning. The chef blames her carelessness in mushroom
scavenging, but then discovers one of the guests was an MI5 agent and
a friend of her father, who is a toxicologist in hospital in Britain
dying of mushroom poisoning, blamed on his carelessness. Local FBI
agents and MI5 colleagues, suspecting foul play, parse their
communication, with intermittent inexplicable forthrightness. The
constant repetition of characters’ main traits of being government
agents blends them together in a brothy soup of spyness. Suddenly,
there’s a culprit, with no previous hints or any indication of
involvement, so that backstory must be thrust in awkwardly. I
received a digital copy through NetGalley, where the synopsis
provided no clue that it was 9th in the series,
information only to be found at the end of the book. Perhaps if Dear
Reader is already invested in these spy characters, this particular
story would hold more credibility.
ABOUT
THE AUTHOR:
Carla Neggers is the New York Times bestselling author of
the Sharpe & Donovan series featuring Boston-based FBI agents
Emma Sharpe and Colin Donovan, the Swift River Valley series set in
small-town New England and many other novels of romance, mystery and
suspense. With dozens of bestsellers to her credit, Carla and her
husband divide their time between their hilltop home in Vermont, a
pull-out sofa at their kids’ places in Boston and various spots on
their travels, frequently to Ireland. Learn more at CarlaNeggers.com
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Undercover FBI agent Colin Donovan joins his wife, Emma Sharpe, an
FBI art crimes expert, for his brother’s wedding in their fishing
village on the southern Maine coast. When Kevin Donovan, a marine
patrol officer, receives a call to check on suspected food-poisoning
at a party aboard a yacht Colin, a former marine patrol officer, tags
along.
It’s quickly evident this is no ordinary case of food poisoning.
They’re dealing with a deliberate attack. Most of the victims are
one-time associates of an imprisoned arms trafficker—a Russian
national whose arrest the previous year was made possible by Colin’s
undercover work and Emma’s art crimes expertise.
A rare, boutique deadly poison is responsible for the deaths and
near-deaths aboard the yacht. From his federal prison, the trafficker
claims to know nothing of the attack but he believes one of his
rivals is responsible or at least involved. Whoever distributed the
poison had to be on the yacht at some point and therefore was either
a passenger or a guest. Given the nature of the weapon used, the
attacker also would have to be highly skilled in handling its
volatile, deadly components. Who made the poison? What was the
purpose of the attack—revenge, greed, a message, ideological?
With more questions than answers, Emma and Colin enter the shadowy
world of the victims of the attack. They discover someone is out to
sell extremely dangerous poisons to organized crime networks. The
trail takes them to an unlikely source.
Emma, Colin, HIT and their family and friends must stop the
poisoner before he facilitates his next attack.
PRAISE FOR CARLA NEGGERS:
“Well-plotted, intriguing and set mostly in the lushly
described Irish countryside, the novel is smart and satisfying.”
—Kirkus Reviews on Declan’s Cross
“Saint’s Gate…is a fast-paced, action-packed tale of
romantic suspense that will appeal to fans of Lisa Jackson and Lisa
Gardner.” —Library Journal
An “intense, edge-of-your-seat whirlwind.” —Booklist
on Liar’s Key
“Insanely
sensational….engaging, complex, unforgettable.”
—RT
Book Reviews, a September Top Pick!, on Liar’s Key
A
“suspenseful, fast-moving thriller with plot twists and
excitement to the delightful conclusion.”
—Reader to
Reader, on Liar’s Key
“A richly atmospheric,
beautifully drawn tale with echoes of Daniel Silva and even Dan
Brown.” —Providence Journal on Liar’s Key
“Carla Neggers has long excelled at forging neo-gothic,
brooding tales rich in setting and atmosphere. With Thief’s Mark,
though, she ups the ante in fashioning a crime thriller of rare depth
and complexity.” —Providence Journal
He came in quietly and stood just inside the doorway. I continued
perusing my bookshelf, waiting for him to announce his reason to
enter my bedroom, a rare occurrence. After a couple of throat
clearings, he walked over and sat on the edge of my bed, patting the
space next to him. The hair on my arms prickled my skin, a vague
unease settling in my stomach as I sat next to him. My father then
asked me—You know your mother and I love you, right? I jumped up to
face him, asking too loudly—Are you getting a divorce? He blinked
and shook his head before smiling and assuring me—No, no, nothing
like that…sit, sit—patting the bed again. I sat up straight and
stared at the wall through a few more throat clearing harrumphs. When
he finally spoke again, he told me softly—Should you ever need any
surgeries…—and I again took to my feet to search his face for
answers. Am I sick—I asked him—I don’t remember the doctor
saying anything. Shaking his head frantically, he implored—Please
sit down and stop looking at me. I complied, and he continued—If
you have back pain, or shoulder pain, or need any kind of
surgery…—I burst out laughing. Daddy, look—I said—I know I’m
only 15, but I will never, ever want breast-reduction surgery, and
you can take that to mother. He nodded, hugged me, and walked out as
quietly as he came in, leaving me rolling around on my bed giggling.
Grace Kelly brought British journalist James Henderson into French
parfumeur Sophie Duval’s life when she hid in Sophie’s shop to
avoid another paparazzi, setting in motion the tale of the
star-crossed lovers, resurrecting the Duval family business, and
laying the foundation for the parallel story of Kelly’s wedding to
Prince Rainier of Monaco. Gaynor and Webb paint a lush, yet pragmatic
picture of Monaco, the Monegasques, and the Princess, with foremost
the blossoming emotions of Sophie and James, characters clearly not
products of their time, but who stand out from the crowd.
Francophiles, parfum lovers, and Grace Kelly fans will love this
novel, though other readers will appreciate the descriptive details
of the setting and the intriguing characters. I was fortunate to
receive a digital copy from the publisher through NetGalley.
Karen swore the susurration followed her as she walked along the
cornfield. It seemed to come only from the section right next to her,
as though her energy were bouncing off the stalks. She thought she
could actually feel the energy hitting her, but maybe it was just her
imagination. When such things happened to her, no one else felt it,
and everyone so far in her life blamed it on her imagination, ergo
her conclusion here. Karen walked on, a bit jittery until the land
opened up onto a meadow.
Deep inside the cornstalks, warnings leapt out as the human passed, with the universal understanding of plants that when their buds came to fruition, they would be raped and pillaged, often by the big monsters the humans employed. For now, they could only deflect the human energy, whispering to each other—a human is near; our time is coming.
Brittany
started exploring
digital
illustration at
age
13, experimenting
with Photoshop
at home for a few hours a day. She
completed
a multimedia program in high school (10th grade) for 3D Modeling and
Animation, attended Johnson County Community College for Animation in
Overland Park, Kansas,
earning
her
degree in 2013. She
moved to Colorado in 2014 to finish her
degree at The Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in Game Art in
Lakewood, Colorado,
graduating in 2018. She
has
been doing freelance digital illustration, 3D art, and graphic design
since 2005.
Acacia Twitch banner
Architectural sketch
Tell me about your artistic process:
schedule, environment, materials / tools / programs, inspirations,
styles, etc.
A
lot of my process depends on the project; typically, I like to
brainstorm with thumbnail sketches of illustrations and designs first
to give me an idea of direction. I also like to at that time come up
with a couple different color palettes and collect reference images.
The programs that I utilize
most often are Adobe Photoshop and Autodesk Maya (for 3D work). My
style ranges from
photorealism
to
portraiture to more folksy-stylized work for illustrations.
Bear Necessities
Boo Cappy
Walk me through your commission, sales, and
marketing strategies.
For commissions, a lot of the time I do not
have a per hour structure. I tend to commission per the job while
factoring in cost of time, materials (if traditional media), and of
course the complexity of the project commissioned. A lot of my
business is word of mouth and through social media.
Cardinal watercolor
Dark Knight
Talk about your support system online and
IRL, especially your biggest cheerleaders.
My biggest cheerleaders have been my friends.
Initially my family didn’t think that going into art as a career
would be a good field to jump into, but over time digital art has
only blown up! Especially in the entertainment and animation fields
of work, technical artists are always needed. My mother was always a
champion of the arts, and strongly encouraged me to do what I wanted
and chase my dreams of working in game development despite what
anyone else said.
Devon Disney style
Lavender Twilight
How does life influence your art and vice
versa?
Life has strongly influenced my art, mostly
through flora and fauna. I have always been an avid fan of realism,
but fantasy has been my biggest influence. There are so many strange
plants, animals and environments on the Earth to reference from that
all of it has been a big inspiration for me to create “new” types
of them that would exist in fantasy.
Prairie fire
Saleen S73D model
What do you love most about your creativity?
What I love most about my creativity is the way
it lets me put a bit of “me” out there in the world. I don’t
aim to be a super famous artist but its more than worth it to have
just one single person tell me that my work inspired them in any way.
Most artists, myself included, tend to be more solitary, so it’s a
good format to “speak” to your audience without actually
speaking. It gives me a way to communicate visually and express
myself in a language that everyone can understand, with colors,
shapes, and lines.
Lucy Goodwin’s mother-in-law Diana died. A decade earlier, she’d imagined a mother figure once again in her life to counter the absence left by her mother’s death when she was thirteen. Instead, she met a future mother-in-law who seemed austere, disapproving, and unreachable, often leaving her in tears. Diana allows Lucy rare glimpses into her closely guarded heart and ultra private history. After her death, secrets surface, family dynamics shift, and Lucy and husband Oliver forge a new pathway, professionally and personally. Hepworth’s characters are realistic and compelling, eliciting emotional responses to impossible situations with muddled journeys toward resolution, as in real life. The story elucidates complex relationships, the ethereal nature of personal connections, and the dynamics of marriage and family. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy of this wonderful, well-written story from the publisher through NetGalley.
Rachel North finds herself in a precarious situation, interning for Assistant DA Martha Gardiner, the nemesis of her defense lawyer husband Jack Kirkland, who warns his wife about the woman’s sketchy tactics to win at all costs. Gardiner in turn hints to Rachel of her husband’s ulterior motives, placing Rachel in a quandary as to whom she can trust. Gardiner then thrusts her into a cold case, the death of a young woman who worked under Rachel in her previous incarnation as a Senator’s Assistant. Alternating between the present and the past, Phillipi Ryan develops an intriguing, complex tale of trust, relationships, and marriage, and how a person’s breaking point can lead to murder. Fans of Andrea Bartz’ “The Lost Night” and Megan Goldin’s “The Escape Room” will appreciate the writing style and the wild ride to the finish. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy of this compelling murder mystery from the publisher through NetGalley.
Thomas towered over his seated mother, yelling—She had a cookie at
school and you gave her a cookie in your home; you know I don’t
allow her cookies! As he raged on, Susi’s nana stared, wide-eyed,
unblinking, waiting for it to be over. Susi told her father of every
cookie. She never shared with her nana the punishment at home for
each cookie, ten minutes in her little chair inside the coat closet.
Immediately after Thomas’ departure, Nana offered Susi a cookie and
told her not to tell dad.
