A Satirical Look at Cultural Christianity

“How to Be a Perfect Christian” is written with a satirical tongue-in-cheek style that pulls you in and makes you to look at your commitment to Christianity. If you’re picking the right church, the one that has the best parties, you should read Chapters One and Two. I also loved the chapter on “Serving the Church Without Lifting a Finger.” The chapters are written in a satirical way, but they make us take a hard look at what being a Christian and going to church means.

I enjoyed the book and recommend it. It’s a quick read, but to get the most out of it, it should be sampled at a slower pace to be able to think about the points being made. One of the fun parts of the book is the Holiness Progress Tracker. It’s a subtle graphic that makes the point of how you rate on the holiness scale as you progress through the book.

I received this book from Multnomah Publishing for this review.

A Son’s Tribute to His Father

Glenn Patterson’s story is one of hard work, success and yes, failure also. He grew up as he said, dirt poor, but rose to be CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, Patterson Drilling. His son, Roe, tells the story from his vantage point working with his father and the others who made Patterson Drilling a success.

There are many wonderful stories in this book. Some of my favorites are: how Glenn and his partner, Cloyce, kept the early company going by buying and refurbishing defunct drilling rigs; a sad story of how the company was ripped off by the CFO who stole millions; and the emotional ending when Glenn and his family face the fact that he has Alzheimer's.

Glenn always acted as a good Christian, but it wasn’t until late in life when he had Alzheimer’s that he accepted that God was with him guiding his path. I found that chapter very moving.

I highly recommend this book. It tells a story about a man who lived his life well, suffered failure and reveled in success. It’s a story that will make you understand the kind of people who make America great.

I received this book from PR by the Book for this review.

A Girl Finds Comfort from Her Disintegrating Family in Her Horse

Talley loves her life on her family’s horse farm. She has wonderful experiences, finding a gosling, taking care of her beloved horse. Then it all changes. Her father leaves, and she’s left with her mother and older brother. On top of that, Talley’s horse has to be put down. Talley has problems dealing with her new world and goes off to a pricey girls school. Her mother sends Ian, the horse her father left behind, for her to work with. He’s wild, but Talley perseveres and tries to train him.

To make matters more confusing for Talley, her father visits her at school, taking her out to lunch. This precipitates her going into therapy. From there, her life begins to improve as does her ability to deal with Ian, even to deciding to enter a horse show.

I loved the idea of the book. I grew up around horses and raised them as an adult. However, the book didn’t live up to it’s promise. I enjoyed the chapters describing life on the farm and found them realistic. However, as the book progresses, the author breaks the narrative into Talley as a child and as an adult. She uses tense to distinguish the sections, but sometimes it was confusing when the transitions were very short.

The writing was slow and stilted. I felt the author was trying for a poetic effect that didn’t quite come off. Unless you’re an avid horse fan, I can’t recommend this book.

I received this book from First to Read for this review.

Murder at a Pricey Club in 1930s Boston

Hamish tries to control his anxiety, but it bursts out at inappropriate times, like his first trial case as a new lawyer. Needing to get away to cope with his problem, he flees to Boston where his cousin, Luca, is opening a jazz club, the Flamingo, in the pricey area of Scollay Square. It’s the 1930s and while the bright young things are looking for a place to escape and spend money, the rest of Boston is not doing so well.

Reggie is tired of her pampered life. She wants to be a career girl like the ones in the movies she sees and the books she reads. When Vaughn, her childhood friend, announces that he and Reggie are engaged, she knows she’s had enough. She escapes through her bedroom window, travels to Boston, and lands a job as Luca’s secretary

Hamish and Reggie are instantly attracted to each other, but think it’s as friends. Drawn together to help Luca with the opening of the Flamingo, they wonder if Luca’s business is all it seems. When a woman is found murdered at the club opening, they become amateur detectives to try to keep Luca out of trouble.

The book paints a picture of Depressions Era Boston with the haves and have-nots living in close proximity, with warm ethnic neighborhoods surrounded by the dark side of the city. Hamish and Reggie are characters you want to get to know. They’re naive, but also smart and loyal.

My problem with the book is that it starts very slowly. Since the author is planning to make this the first book in a series, it makes some sense to spend time on Reggie’s and Hamish’s backgrounds. However, that keeps the action from starting until almost a third of the way through the book. If you can keep going through the slow start, it’s a good read.

I received this book from Booklook Bloggers for this review.

A Timely Political Thriller

Emily is a financial forensics consultant with a consulting firm in Washington DC. Emily avoids the limelight. She’s happier with a spreadsheet, but her boyfriend works for a congressman with his eye on the White House. Emily reluctantly accompanies him to political events, but she’s uncomfortable with his boss.

When her firm gets a contract to review the congressman’s finances she draws the assignment. At first nothing looks out of line, but there are disturbing indicators. When the associate who was helping with the analysis is killed, Emily wonders whether the indicators suggest a serious problem revealed by the financial documents. She knows she’s being followed, and finally, she has no choice but to hide to keep from being the next victim.

This is a well done political thriller. The setting in DC and the consulting firm where Emily works are accurately portrayed. Having worked in Washington, I could see that the story could actually happen. I liked Emily she was determined to do the right thing. Her boyfriend was totally wrapped up in the congressman’s campaign, but Emily didn’t let herself get drawn in.

The story is well written. As Emily goes into hiding, she shows that she has real grit and a desire to survive. If you enjoy political thrillers, this is a good one and quite realistic.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

The Bronx Zoological Park is Background for a Murder Investigation

Paul Battaglia, New York DA and Alexandria Cooper’s mentor, is dead. He was murdered on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In fact, he fell onto Alex, knocking her down. Alex is not in top form. She’s still suffering from the ordeal of being kidnapped and held hostage. She’s drinking too much and isn’t her usual feisty self.

Her position regrading Battaglia’s death is unclear. Is she a witness or a suspect? When she finds herself taken into protective custody and stashed in a mental hospital in the Bronx, it feels more like she’s being treated as a suspect. However, the ordeal yanks her back into her old self and with Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace, she sets off to solve the mystery.

The background information about New York, particularly the Bronx Zoological Park is fascinating, as is the information about exotic animals captured in other countries and smuggled into the US to serve as sport for avid hunters. I was particularly intrigued by Fairstein including information about Justice Scalia’s death at a hunting ranch suggesting foul play.

I was disappointed in Alex in the beginning of the book. She was more passive than usual. However, she recovered and the ending was up to her usual standard. Mike Chapman is a very understanding partner. In spite of Alex’s scratchiness, he took care of her. It wasn’t the best Alex Cooper novel, but it’s a good read with interesting bits of history.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.

A Family Torn Apart by the Past

Terrible things happened at the boys school behind the Fielding Mansion when Lane’s father was the director. She lived in the mansion and couldn’t wait to escape her father’s misdeeds and her own trouble. She ran away and married immediately after high school graduation. Now she’s living in the Fielding Mansion with her parents with two daughters trying to heal from a divorce she didn’t want.

Lane is drinking too much trying to forget and is ignoring the problems of her daughters. When a girl disappears and then Annalee, Lane’s older daughter, disappears, the town remembers another girl who disappeared years ago. Now there’s talk of a serial killer. Lane is frantic to find Annalee and to protect her younger daughter, Talley.

I found this book rather slow. The plot was good, but the action was drawn out with multiple narrators. One of the confusing aspects was having Daryl, a strange boy who befriends Talley, tell his story in fragments that are out of the time sequence of the unfolding events.

The background is a small town where everyone remembers your past and it can seep into the present. Lane tries to hide from it with too much alcohol until she has to confront the problems that still exist; some of her own making.

The descriptions of the old mansion and the boys school are suitably haunting. This book is almost written like a gothic or a paranormal. There is romance and character development, but it’s the plot that drives the story. If you like a plot that relies on mysteries from this past, you may enjoy this book.

I received this book from Dutton for this review.