Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

October 3, 2017 By Leave a Comment


Gwendy’s Button Box by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar
Publisher: Cemetery Dance Publications
Genre: Recent Historical, Mystery/Suspense, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Full Length (180 pgs)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Nymphaea

The little town of Castle Rock, Maine has witnessed some strange events and unusual visitors over the years, but there is one story that has never been told… until now.

There are three ways up to Castle View from the town of Castle Rock: Route 117, Pleasant Road, and the Suicide Stairs. Every day in the summer of 1974 twelve-year-old Gwendy Peterson has taken the stairs, which are held by strong (if time-rusted) iron bolts and zig-zag up the cliffside.

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One day, a stranger calls to Gwendy: “Hey, girl. Come on over here for a bit. We ought to palaver, you and me.”

On a bench in the shade sits a man in black jeans, a black coat like for a suit, and a white shirt unbuttoned at the top. On his head is a small neat black hat. The time will come when Gwendy has nightmares about that hat…

I have to admit I’m a Stephen King junkie. I am. I’m also a bit of a short story junkie, too. When I saw this book at my local library, just sitting there unassumingly on the shelf, I had to sneak a peek.I mean, why not? So I picked it up. I’m glad I did. This was a quick read and even though it’s short, when I had to put it down to deal with life, I didn’t have to do a bunch of rereading to catch back up.That’s the good thing about this short story. There isn’t a lot of rereading that needs to be done if you have to walk away.

Gwendy is an interesting character. She has an awesome power within her and within the button box. Will she use it? Will she succumb? Will she get a big head from the power? I liked that Gwendy is relatable. There are things that made her more than she was, but I liked her human-ness. Now I would’ve been more than a little freaked out if some random guy wanted me to sit with him. Even more if he’d have offered me a box. I don’t know how Gwendy did it, but she did.

I liked how she grew through the story, too. The creep factor isn’t as strong in this story, which was nice for me because I wasn’t looking for a freaky story. But might be a turn off for others. There are plenty of characters and some are hard to keep straight, by the end, I felt like I knew them all. My heart bled at the end. I won’t give away spoilers, but it’s a tad gut-wrenching.

If you want a recent historical story with more than few twists, then this might be the short story you’re looking for. Oh and try a chocolate. I hear the detailing is fantastic.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Dead Mothers Club by Mary Henning

October 2, 2017 By Leave a Comment


The Dead Mothers Club by Mary Henning
Publisher: Blue Turtle Press
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery, Young Adult
Length: Full Length (282)
Rating: 5 Stars
Reviewed by Snowdrop

What could drive Erin Wei, an Advanced Placement student and the only child of her widowed father, to suicide? This is the question plaguing her four closest, and in fact, only, friends; Jenny Long, Tony Armeni, Raejean Carlton and Mark Reynolds.

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Good kids with real life troubles in a mystery? But it works.

This is a really great book. I rarely ever give something 5 stars and yet this author’s story and her character development all deserve a 5.

Since this book has much dialogue by teens, I really thought it was going to be a YA (Young Adult) classification. But the truth is I can’t think of any age that wouldn’t enjoy reading it as both a mystery and a story about everyday problems. I’m calling the problems in this book “every day” but only because I unfortunately think that although many are hidden, these problems do exist in everyday life. They are not always something we want to think about but they do exist. I personally got a lot out of reading it…enjoyment, a few laughs, a few tears, a few ideas, some good feelings about people, and some anger at others.

Even though this book jumps from character to character, I never lost track of who was who. It never seemed like the book was jumping around. Since I really hate reading and wondering “now who is this?” I think it takes a very talented author to craft a book this way and never once frustrate me. She taught me each characters’ personality so well it was almost as if I knew them. Characters in a book are very important to me. In fact, they have a lot to do with how much I enjoy a book.

To sum this book up…not a long read, in fact a really easy read. But very involved. Well worth your time.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Fortune Teller’s Secret by Ron D. Voigts

October 2, 2017 By Leave a Comment


The Fortune Teller’s Secret by Ron D. Voigts
Publisher: Champagne Books
Genre: Action/Adventure, Historical, Paranormal, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (234 pgs)
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Aloe

A dead man on a Ferris wheel and a cold-case murder take Cavendish Brown into a world of carnival exotics, ghosts, and killers.

The annual carnival comes to Maiden Falls, a small town in the West Virginia Mountains, but everything is not merry.

The ghost of a woman appears to Cavendish Brown, a carnival worker lies dead aboard a car on the Ferris wheel, and a bullied teenager plots to kill people at the carnival with a homemade bomb. More complications arise. Cavendish again butts heads with the local sheriff, Clinton Pike.

Marbella Wellingway, owner of the newspaper where Cavendish works, receives a visit from the Angel of Death. And a Fortune Teller at the carnival knows something that could forever change Cavendish’s life.
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With the aid of Jane, a disturbed psychic, and Alexandra, a Goth witch, he must find the killer, help the mystery woman, and risk his life to prevent more deaths.

Cavendish gets awakened at night by a woman who asks him to help her. She’s a ghost. He sees her die and since he can’t touch her or talk to her, he’s not sure how he could solve her mystery. He also doesn’t speak of it. Everyone around him seems to have powers but he thinks this is just a dream…

Nobody is actually what they show the public world. In this case, the women have witchly powers. Cavendish has some, too, but he doesn’t know it. He was adopted and knows nothing about his real parents.

He works with Alex, who comes and drags him out of his house and takes him to the carnival. He sees a ghost again while he’s there but he tells Alex he needed to relieve himself. And when the Ferris wheel come down to the ground, there’s a dead man in the seat…

With the sheriff arresting the wrong man, the discovery of a body from years ago, and a father who misses his daughter and wants to avenge her, there’s a lot of clues and a lot of misdirection.

This author makes you believe all these powers are real and how people use them is both amazing and amusing. He also throws in a budding romance between Alex and Cavendish.

With a fortune teller who keeps trying to get Cavendish to visit her, Alex’s mother seeing the Angel of Death and knowing someone in her family is going die, a family curse, blackmail and murder, there’s plenty to keep your attention.

The story flows well, has several subplots, and it entertains well. This was a very good read.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Prick of the Thistle by Qeturah Edeli

September 28, 2017 By Leave a Comment


Prick of the Thistle by Qeturah Edeli
Publisher: Loose Id
Genre: Historical
Length: Full Length (281 pages)
Other: M/M, Anal Play
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Lilac

Despite Lord Duncan Friseal’s surly disposition, William finds the heir to the wealthy highland thanedom of Faoltaigh irresistible. After Lord Friseal saves William from a fate worse than death, William grows obsessed with his penetrating fuck-or-kill gaze and aches to discover what lies beneath his great kilt. Lord Friseal appears ignorant of William’s affections, but no matter; William has dealt with his fair share of capricious men and it will be only a matter of time before Lord Friseal succumbs and gives him what he craves.

Lord Friseal realizes too late how dangerously attracted to William he is. He cannot resist the temptation of a man who knows exactly what he wants and where he wants it. Constrained by his station, clan, and religion, Lord Friseal must decide if his passion for a sensuous but traumatized Englishman is worth risking his family’s future and the fate of his immortal soul. Circumstances continue to thwart his swelling sentimentality as William proves to be emotionally distant for all his sexual appetite, and Lord Friseal’s intrusive houseguest, Moira MacKenzie, draws ever closer to the truth.

A Scottish lord saves an Englishman from the wolves out on the moors, brings him back to his castle, and tries to figure out the mystery and allure of him.

From the beginning, I was struck by the beauty of the writing. The author has clearly researched the style, culture, and language of the era and the country. Her descriptions are beautiful and the scenery is vividly brought to life. The writing style is very evocative, and the barren nature and lavish mansion became familiar ground as the story progressed.
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The main characters—Duncan, the Scottish thane, and William, the lost thespian—are a curious pairing. They seem to have nothing in common. Apart from the apparent physical femininity and startling beauty of William, I wasn’t sure I understood the attraction Duncan felt for him.

Duncan came off as a more appealing character. He’s kind and strong, smart and capable, and his awakening feelings for a man for the first time were depicted extremely well. I liked him a lot. Even though toward the end he turns into something of a sissy when it comes to his shy daughter and his horrible would-be bride.

William, in comparison, seemed less attractive. His propensity to think of nothing but sex made him somewhat uncouth and surly. His past does explain some of that…

However, and I can’t stress this enough, despite the length of this book, you will NOT be getting a whole story. This ends so abruptly, in the middle of a scene, everything up in the air, that I was incensed. It immediately made me lower the rating. One would think three hundred pages is enough to write a clear and satisfying ending. Alas, that is not the case.

As a result, we learn next to nothing about William. His mystery is by the end of the book… still a mystery. None of my questions about him were answered. That is rather annoying, wouldn’t you say?

What makes this oversight more vexing is that this is a good book, a very well written historical gay romance. We get a lot of sexually tense scenes between Duncan and William—though not a lot of actual sex. The setting and the people feel real and relatable. The plot moves at a swift pace, even if the first chapter is ripe with exposition. And yet, personally I didn’t want to miss a single word.

So overall, I do recommend this to everyone who loves historical gay romances, with a caveat. Thus far the series, Heartwood, has only two books out. Not having read the second, I don’t know if the story reaches a worthwhile conclusion in that one. Here, it does not. If you take that into consideration, though, this is a book I liked and you might like as well. I’m pretty sure I will be checking out the sequel.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Rock My Body by Lee Piper

September 27, 2017 By 4 Comments


Rock My Body by Lee Piper
A Mondez Novel 2
Publisher: Evernight Publishing
Length: Full Length (256 pgs)
Genre: Contemporary
Other: M/F
Rating: Best Book
Reviewed by Bittersweet

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

Twenty-two year old Riley Sears promises herself never to fall in love unless it’s with a guy who is long-term boyfriend material. She’s not crazy, her psychologist reassures her of that, but when faced with situations she cannot control, well, her anxiety skyrockets.

Enter Dominic Mondez, the hottest creature ever to grace pecs and abs. The notorious playboy propositions Riley with the best sex of her life—his words. However, after learning he never sleeps with the same woman twice, Riley’s decision becomes remarkably simple.
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No. Way. In. Hell.

Sadly, traversing the murky waters of friends without benefits is far from simple, especially since Dominic is the lead guitarist of local rock band, Mondez. He is also tempestuous, a womanizer, and—even worse—inexplicably jealous. Dominic is bad for Riley in every possible way. Bad, bad, bad.

If only her body would listen.

Rock my body (A Mendez novel) by Lee Piper is a must read. It’s as easy as that. I finished the book last night after two days of binge reading and I’m in love. First with Dominic, then with Riley and with everything that has to do with this book.

Granted, I’m not a fan of first person point of view, but Lee Piper surprised me. She has mastered the art and I was drawn into the book and into Riley’s character from page one. I immediately connected with her. Her anguish, happiness, love, lust, I could feel all of it in my own bones.

The chemistry between the characters is insane and Ms. Piper knows how to draw it out. To say I squirmed a few times is an understatement.

But there is more. Though there is obviously a strong sexual connection between the characters, we see so much more. They are characters with flaws, good things and bad, tragic stories, which made my heart ache.

This is the kind of book that once finished made me crave for more. I’ll be reading Levi’s story next (although apparently I should have done that first) and can’t wait for the rest of the series to be released.

Filed Under: Erotic Romance, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , , ,

SonofaWitch! by Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Sara Dobie Bauer, Lissa Marie Redmond, Frances Pauli, Mara Malins, and Adam Millard.

September 26, 2017 By Leave a Comment


SonofaWitch! by Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Sara Dobie Bauer, Lissa Marie Redmond, Frances Pauli, Mara Malins, and Adam Millard
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary, Historical
Length: Full Length (187 pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

No one is perfect—not even a witch. Witches have amazing power at their fingertips to do unbelievable things. That magic can come in really handy sometimes too. They can make someone fall in love, poison an apple to enact a sleeping curse, banish an enemy to an alternate reality, or just conjure up some Nutella when there is none in the house.

But what happens when those spells go horribly awry?

SonofaWitch! contains six humorous contemporary fantasy stories of magic spells gone wrong by Laura VanArendonk Baugh, Sara Dobie Bauer, Lissa Marie Redmond, Frances Pauli, Mara Malins, and Adam Millard.

Modern magic is far more complicated than it might first appear to be.
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The main character in “Good Spell Gone Bug” agreed to get a tattoo in order to earn money to pay off a debt. It wasn’t until the tattoo began to cause her some odd health problems that main character decided to break the rules and try to get rid of it regardless of the consequences. Ms. VanArendonk Baugh’s writing was filled with creative moments. I never knew what she was going to shock her characters with next, and that made it hard to stop reading.

Violet had an unrequited crush in “The Trouble with Love Spells,” and she thought the best way to fix it was to put a love spell on the guy she desired. Ms. Bauer’s twist to the spell made me gasp. It was the last thing I would have expected to happen, but it fit the tone of this tale perfectly. I also enjoyed the fact that the main character was so flexible when her plans didn’t exactly turn out the way she thought they would.

James owned a coffee shop that catered to fairy tale characters in “All the Petty Curses.” I was amused by seeing how he interacted with everyone from Hansel and Gretel to the Big Bad Wolf. While I enjoyed seeing how many references to classic fairy tales Ms. Redmond fit into James’ daily life, the number of characters running around the scenes was so high that I had trouble keeping track of what everyone was doing. It would have been nice to focus on a smaller number of people instead.

All Rowan wanted was to fall in love with the perfect man. What surprised me the most about her and her dog Rex’s adventures in “The Perfect Mate Fiasco” was how she reacted when she woke up the next morning and realized her spell had come true but not in the exact way she’d hoped. Ms. Pauli made me chuckle as I followed Rowan through her strange day and waited to see if she’d accept the soulmate she’d been given.

“A Matter of Perspective” showed what happened to a witch named Olyvar after he failed to learn how to make one of the simplest potions his instructor knew of. After he carelessly tossed a tatty root ball and watched it land in his potion, he and a few other members of the class were magically transported far away from home. Olyvar and his companions had intelligent reactions to their predicament, especially once they realized just how far away they’d really landed. I was especially impressed with how calm they were after they arrived. The plot twists only became more creative after that! Ms. Malins put plenty of obstacles in their paths, and that it made hard to stop reading until I knew how it would all end.

The first sentence of “A Poppet Named Dave” was as shocking as it was memorable: “River Everbleed had only been a witch for an hour when her head came off.” I giggled when I read it, and then I dove back into the story to find out what River had done to deserve such a fate. Don’t worry, though. It wasn’t gory. If anything, it reminded me of how it feels to learn any new skill and be terrible at it in the beginning. Mr. Millard captured that feeling perfectly, and I only grew more impressed with his writing style as I settled into the plot and realized what River was actually trying to learn to do with her magic lessons.

SonofaWitch! is a must-read for anyone who loves modern fantasy.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear

September 25, 2017 By Leave a Comment


Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas by Terry Spear
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Genre: Contemporary, Paranormal
Length: Full Length (320 pgs)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by Xeranthemum

angling with a White Wolf—Best Christmas Ever, or Real Trouble?

Romance writer Candice Mayfair never missed a deadline in her life—until an accidental bite from a werewolf puppy turns her into an Arctic wolf shifter. She’s forced to isolate herself in the wilderness to cope with her unpredictable shifting while she works on her deadlines. After all, for Candice, Christmas is just another day.
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Enter private investigator Owen Nottingham, a wolf shifter hired to find Candice so she can collect her inheritance. They have a real problem: she must arrive home in human form, and that’s not happening during the full moon. Besides, Owen has a new mission: to convince the pretty she-wolf her best move is to join his pack in time for Christmas…and to prove he’s the only wolf for her.

Ms. Spear has done it again. She has written another fun werewolf romance with an interesting twist on an often told tale. You know, a struggling heroine finds herself a possible heiress, has to compete with someone else to prove she is who she is and finds herself in a pickle because someone does not want her to prove it. Throw in a new way of life, a hero she’s not sure she can trust and finding out she is not a lone wolf after all, totally makes Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas worth taking the time to snuggle down and get comfy with while reading.

I liked Candice and Owen’s romance. I liked how they met, how they courted and the dialogue that flowed back and forth between them. I enjoyed seeing how the heroine fit in with Owen’s small pack and I adored all the kids and their antics. One of the kids is of course extra mischievous and ends up having a special place in Owen and Candice’s heart. Mine too, for that matter.

The conflict is mostly character driven except when it comes to the heroine proving her authenticity. That’s where the external conflict shows up and it provides the suspense and drama needed to keep the plot moving. There are plenty of surprises and interesting twists so this story avoids being a cliché. Ms. Spear sure had a challenge ahead of her in trying to fit all the action in during a rushed but believable timeline that raced towards the final showdown and satisfying conflict resolution. It was well paced, used effective descriptions and engaged my emotions.

I know the title mentions Christmas and that it’s a really big holiday, but the season isn’t the focus of the story. The special time is used more to wrap up the happily ever after as it’s the perfect reason for a celebration of family, of hope, of dreams come true and the start of a wonderful future. It has a feel good, optimistic and charming ending all tied up with a beautiful, big bow of romance and love.

Dreaming of a White Wolf Christmas is a sweet romance that pulls the heartstrings because both Candice and Owen lost the lives they had before the ‘big change’. But, in each other, found happiness and joy for the life that’s ahead of them. I’m quite confident that their happy ever after is actually the beginning of a wonderful new life adventure for both of them. I’m a very content reader.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Walls by Hollie Overton

September 22, 2017 By Leave a Comment


The Walls by Hollie Overton
Publisher: Century
Genre: Contemporary, Suspense/Mystery
Length: Full Length (416 pgs)
Rating: 4.5 stars
Review by: Cholla

A heart-stopping psychological suspense novel about a Texas prison official driven to commit the perfect crime, by the author of the international bestselling thriller Baby Doll.

WOULD YOU KILL TO PROTECT YOUR FAMILY?

Working on death row is far from Kristy Tucker’s dream, but she is grateful for a job that allows her to support her son and ailing father.

When she meets Lance Dobson, Kristy begins to imagine a different kind of future. But after their wedding, she finds herself serving her own life sentence—one of abuse and constant terror.
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But Kristy is a survivor, and as Lance’s violence escalates, the inmates she’s worked with have planted an idea she simply can’t shake.

Now she must decide whether she’ll risk everything to protect her family.

Does she have what it takes to commit the perfect crime?

For as long as she can remember, it’s been her, her dad, and her little boy. So, when Kristy Tucker meets Lance Dobson, she’s wary at first, but is soon won over by his charm and gregarious nature. But is he too good to be true or are years of having to survive on her own dragging her down?

Kristy Tucker has worked hard to give her son, Ryan, everything he needs. She hates her job working in public information officer for the Texas Department of Corrections, but it pays well and helps her get what she needs. Even though her job is difficult on both physical and mental levels, Kristy always manages to give her family and the inmates she’s responsible for one hundred percent of her best effort. She’s an extremely complex character who has a lot going on internally.

I think it’s easy to see that there’s something very wrong with Lance from the beginning. Anyone who has managed to develop as much blind devotion as Lance has is a giant red flag. You can’t fault Kristy for wanting to believe, however. She’s a loving and devoted wife and daughter and deserves a little happiness for herself. Lance makes sure to take every ounce of it away in the end.

Although there were many times when Lance came across as over the top, he remains frightening and intense throughout the entire novel. Thankfully, I’ve never been in this kind of situation so it’s hard for me to judge whether he’s overly dramatic or if this is possibly real life. When Kristy finally makes her decision to stand up for herself, protect not just her own life but those of her loved ones, I found myself all in with her crazy plan. While I don’t think it would have succeeded in real life, it still took guts to do what needed to be done for everyone involved.

The Walls is an interesting look into death row in Texas as well as an intense rollercoaster ride of a story. One of the best books I’ve read this year and had me turning the pages as fast as I was able.

Filed Under: Mystery/Suspense, Reviews Tagged With: , , , , ,

iHunt: Killing Monsters in the Gig Economy by David A. Hill Jr.

September 21, 2017 By 5 Comments


iHunt: Killing Monsters in the Gig Economy by David A. Hill Jr.
Publisher: Self-Published
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary, Paranormal, Horror
Length: Full Length (269 pages)
Heat Level: Spicy
Rating: Best Book
Reviewed by Astilbe

Voted BoM by LASR Readers 2013 copy

It’s like Uber, but for slaying monsters!

Lana is a monster hunter. She kills vampires, werewolves, demons and all the other terrifying creatures of the night. She doesn’t do it because she’s the chosen one. She doesn’t do it because it’s her duty. She does it because working one job just doesn’t cut it for a millenial in Southern California.

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Lana’s story is about making ends meet, about economic anxiety, and about what a person’s willing to do to pay the bills. It’s a equal parts horror, dark humor, slice of life, and social commentary on the gig economy.

I’ve reviewed hundreds of books for Long and Short Reviews over the last five years. This is the by far the best one I’ve ever reviewed for them.

The character development was amazing. Lana was an incredibly complex woman whose personality could never be condensed to a few short sentences. Everything I learned about her was doled out gradually between and during her various iHunt assignments, That only made me more curious to find out more about her. I especially loved how much time Mr. Hill spent exploring her many reasons for signing up to be a monster hunter. Every single one of them taught me more about her as a person while they were also pushing the plot forward in all kinds of exciting ways.

Speaking of the plot, the pacing of it was so beautifully relentless that I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the page. The blurb gave an excellent introduction to this universe, but there were many new conflicts and characters introduced later on in the storyline that were somehow even more fascinating than the original idea of freelancers being hired to kill monsters.

One of the many reasons why I gave this story the highest rating possible is how much attention it paid to real-world issues. The characters dealt with all kinds of frustrating situations when they weren’t actively fighting monsters: dealing with deeply prejudiced people, running out of money well before payday, experiencing truly terrible customer service, and so much more. Some of these scenes made me laugh, while others made me wince. All of them developed this world so thoroughly that I honestly forgot I was reading a piece of fiction. It was like listening to a friend talk about her terrible or wonderful day instead.

The romance was handled perfectly. Not only did the characters involved in it have an unbelievable amount of chemistry, they also genuinely liked each other as human beings. Their strong friendship made me eager to see if they could turn their platonic feelings into romantic ones. This part of the plot was also a refreshing break from the often intense fight scenes.

iHunt: Killing Monsters in the Gig Economy was phenomenal in every single way. If you can only spare the time to read read one more novel this year, make it this one!

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

Last Gambit by Om Swami

September 19, 2017 By 6 Comments

Last Gambit by Om Swami
Publisher: Black Lotus
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Full (208 pgs)
Rated: 4 stars
Review by Rose

Success by design is infinitely better than a win by chance. Vasu Bhatt is fourteen years old when a mysterious old man spots him at a chess tournament and offers to coach him, on two simple but strange conditions: he would not accompany his student to tournaments, and there was to be no digging into his past. Initially resentful, Vasu begins to gradually understand his master’s mettle.

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Inspiring, moving and mercurial, The Last Gambit is a beautiful coming of age tale in a uniquely Indian context.

I have to confess that I’m not a chess whiz. I know the names of the pieces… I even know how they move. But, that’s the extent of it. But, the good thing is, you don’t really need to know chess to get a lot out of this book (though I’m sure a chess background wouldn’t hurt and you might get a whole other level of understanding from it).

The lessons that Vasu learns at the hands of the Master go way beyond playing chess–they are definitely life-changing and life-encompassing. The Master’s wisdom, and the way he imparted it, made me think at times of the relationship between Daniel and Miyagi in Karate Kid, though the stories couldn’t be more different.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this book was getting to see a glimpse of Indian life. This was something new to me, and it was presented simply as a background to the story. I found the glimpse of the culture fascinating.

All in all, this is a book I found easy to read, but at the same time it’s a book I think I could dip into again from time to time– just to pick places in random to reread and see what lesson I could learn more about…and to pick up little nuggets of information to think about.

Filed Under: Mainstream Fiction, Reviews Tagged With: , , , ,
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