Rupee Millionaires

 

When Frank teams up with Spud he thinks he’s got it made. But he hasn’t. He’’s made a deal with the Devil. ‘Dodgy’ Frank Kusy, born into poverty from immigrant parents, learns to live on his wits––first as an unwitting money collector for Ronnie Kray, later as a Buddhist trader in London’s St Martin’s-in-the-Fields market. Then he meets up with thuggish ‘Spud’ who is so good at scaring people, notably the Petrovs, two encroaching Russian gangsters, that he hires him on the spot as his business partner. But it’s a deal with the Devil. Spud is a loose cannon, liable to blow up at any moment. The two travel to India to become the largest wholesaler of hippy-Hindi glad rags in the UK, and to fulfill their dream of becoming rupee millionaires. Along the way, they pick up a motley crew of kooky characters––Ram, a lovable, crutch-bound Rajasthani, George, an irascible American, Nick and Anna, a quirky Canadian couple, Susie, a Dagenham girl gone ‘native’, and Rose, the secret love of Ram’s life. These become the ‘Pushkar Posse’, a group of oddball traveler-entrepreneurs who meet once a year to have fun and make money in equal measure. Join Frank on this wild rite of passage through India.

This book is available to download at Amazon UK or Amazon US

Rupee Millionaires – Frank Kusy

This was an enjoyable story, easy to read, and probably based on the writer’s own experiences as he travelled around Asia, with particular emphasis on India. A likeable person, trying to make a living buying in India, importing his goods (mainly silk clothing and later silver jewellery and fake designer goods), and selling on in the UK. We hear of his adventures both in business, love and travel. He starts with a market stall, takes on a rather dubious business partner and they expand rapidly. Eventually however, the two fall out as his partner is pulled further and further into the world of drugs and eventually almost bankrupting him. His tales of India, its culture and religions are enthralling and he brings to life the characters and corruption that were rife in India during the 80s and 90s. Funny in places, sad and scary in others, the main character has huge swings in fortune being almost a millionaire at one stage of his life, and virtually bankrupt at another. He has himself admitted to a rehabilitation unit at one point in order to avoid the taxman and has to move because he is under constant threat of murder from his paranoid and frightening ex-business partner. Eventually, rather late in life he does marry and starts to slow down his workaholic life style. Whilst all this is happening he has changed religion and tries (somewhat unsuccessfully) to becoming a practising Buddhist. His intentions are good but he makes many human errors along the way and this just makes his whole character likeable and easy to identify with. India has always been on my list of places I would like to visit and even if I never go there physically, this book makes me feel as though I have! A good story, full of adventure and very interesting characters, I would urge anyone with an interest in entrepreneurism or travel, to give it a try!

Sharon Peterson

The Reversal

 

When Mickey Haller is invited by the Los Angeles County District Attorney to prosecute a case for him, he knows something strange is going on. Mickey’s a defence lawyer, one of the best in the business, and to switch sides like this would be akin to asking a fox to guard the hen-house. But the high-profile case of Jason Jessup, a convicted child-killer who spent almost 25 years on death row before DNA evidence freed him, is an intriguing one…

Eager for the publicity and drawn to the challenge, Mickey takes the case, with Detective Harry Bosch on board as his lead investigator. But as a new trial date is set, it starts to look like he’s been set up. Mickey and Harry are going to have to dig deep into the past and find the truth about what really happened to the victim all those years ago.

This book is available on Amazon UK or Amazon US

The Reversal – Michael Connelly

This is one of those tense court room dramas where anything could happen and is absolutely riveting. If you have read other M Connelly books you will recognise some of the characters. A guy who has just served 24 years in prison for child murder is being tried again for the same crime, as new evidence is available, via new DNA technology, that could overturn the first verdict. Many thousands of government dollars are at stake, via possible compensation for wrongful imprisonment, and attorney Micky Haller, who always works for the defence has been asked to prosecute. He chooses his ex-wife to assist him and Harry Bosch to investigate. It becomes evident to the prosecuting team that the defendant is indeed guilty of the original crime and it looks as though he is guilty of others and also could be planning something at the very moment. However, it is their difficult task to prove this in the controversial court case, that everyone is watching. An exciting, emotional novel, that keeps the reader in suspense and does not end the way you are expecting! If you like a good court struggle, with a well-rounded, emotional story, then this is for you. I loved it!

Sharon Peterson

Made in Acapulco

 

With hot nights on the beach and suspense straight out of the headlines, this short story introduces a new mystery series featuring Emilia Cruz, the first and only female detective on the Acapulco police force.

A HEAD IN A BUCKET
Emilia Cruz is a fighter who has figured out how to cope with a surly squadroom and a distant lieutenant. Until the day someone leaves a severed head in a bucket for hotel manager Kurt Rucker to find. Suddenly Emilia’s routine traffic case suddenly becomes a murder investigation.

On a dark and winding road above Acapulco Bay, it’s clear that someone does not want the murder to be solved.

WITH A KILLER MESSAGE
Emilia and Kurt survive the night, but daylight will bring a different fight for survival. As Emilia tries to come up with a way to save herself and Kurt, she knows that she can trust few other cops. The influence and violence of Mexico’s drug cartels are pervasive and savage, threatening to destroy the soul of the fabled Pacific coast city and those who have sworn to upload the law. Emilia can’t back down but must face challenges with a strength and resilience she doesn’t knows she has.

How she feels about Kurt Rucker is one of those challenges–and maybe the hardest to handle.

MEET EMILIA CRUZ
Emilia Cruz is a good liar, a fast thinker, a determined investigator and a mean kickboxer. The mystery series is as raw and action-filled as the headlines coming out of Mexico today, but just like the country, Emilia is also resilient and warm-hearted. An Acapulco native forced to grow up too fast, she’s been a cop for nearly 12 years and a detective for two; a strong Latina woman in a squadroom that didn’t want her and is still trying to break her. But Emilia isn’t afraid to defend herself and get what she’s rightfully earned. She won’t let up and neither does the suspense.

The Emilia Cruz series continues with the full-length novel Cliff Diver. Grab a margarita, think hot nights on the beach and come on down to Acapulco . . . if you can take the heat.

This book is available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Made in Acapulco – Carmen Amato

Short stories about the life of the first female detective (Emilia Cruz) in the Acapulco Police Force, is realistic and a world away from the police as we know them. Corruption and sexism makes a dangerous world, without the ongoing battle with the drug cartels. If Emilia is to be taken seriously, she has to try extra hard and achieves the status of top police officer in both written and physical tests. This does not make her particularly popular with her colleagues but she gradually wins their respect. She should have automatically been promoted to detective, but will anyone accept her as their partner? Life is not easy for Emilia but she is stubborn and determined to try and make a difference in the beautiful city that is her home. She demonstrates courage and determination, throughout each story. Things don’t always go the way she wants them to and she is never quite sure who she can trust because corruption is rife. Culturally different, but easy to read, although quite violent in places. There is also some flirtation but no real romance (not in the short stories anyway). I enjoyed reading this. It was a little bit different. Not for everyone but if you enjoy this kind of thing then I recommend it!

Sharon Peterson

Fifth Life of the CatWoman

 

“It’s easy to find history written by those who win, those who hold power. It’s hard to find history written by the ones who lose,” says the mystery history teacher, Kat O’Malley. Unbeknownst to her students, she’s living the nine lives of a cat, and her history lessons come from four hundred years of underdog experience with witch trials, prejudice, intolerance and poverty. With much coaxing from the school’s headmaster—a man with as many secrets in his past as Kat has in hers—“the CatWoman” ventures out from the mirage oasis she shares with fifty cats to teach lessons that never made it into the history books. Through her considerable gifts as a storyteller, she teaches a new generation to live as if they, too, had to live nine lives and jump back eight times into any messes they create. But when history repeats itself and the nightmare intolerance of Kat’s past resurfaces, will she retreat forever into the safety of her cat-filled mirage? Or will she embrace her new life, her teaching and the love of the one person who knows her secret?

This book is available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Fifth Life of the Cat Woman – Kathleen Dexter

Sweet and novel (excuse pun), are the first two adjectives that come to mind on reviewing this lovely story. I am not quite sure what I was expecting, but nothing as different and refreshing as this! The story is about a female who is half woman and half cat. She lives inside a mirage, alone with 50 cats with whom she converses telepathically. She does not want to mingle with other humans. She distrusts them as her previous four lives have ended disastrously. She works hard on her small piece of land within the mirage (other humans are unable to see it), and she feels safe there. However, one day another half-cat, half-human turns up and they realise that many years ago they were closely related. This particular person is the head master of a local school and he persuades her to take a part time job there teaching history. There is an attraction between the two of them, which she is fighting. Also, she makes a huge impact with her pupils which attracts some adverse attention from the school governors, particularly in view of the fact that she will not let others into her lessons. She is an enthusiastic teacher who excels at her subject and has the art of making her lessons very interesting and practical. She teaches the children how it feels to be hungry whilst the aristocracy throw their food away and how it feels to be stoned to death for being different. She tells them stories (based on past lives), to make them think really long and hard about what is wrong with certain people and why things happen as they do. She does not want them to make the same mistakes that have been made in the past throughout history and she grows to really love her pupils and the love is returned from them. However, it all goes wrong when she upsets one of the governors and then there is a tragic death of one of her class. An interesting, thought-provoking book that is recommended reading!

Sharon Peterson

Cairo Caper

 

Part-time tomb raider and full-time real estate broker, Wendy Darlin joins her lover, archaeologist Roger Jolley, in a quest for Cleopatra’s tomb.

All they have to do is get from Cairo to the Temple of Taporisi Magna alive. Armed only with a couple of hijacked ashtrays and faced with a trek across the blazing Sahara desert can Wendy out-maneuver Russian oligarchs, a dozen Dark Force mercenaries, and Roger’s chubby ex-girlfriend in time to find the tomb and seal it before chaos erupts in Egypt?

~ Egypt, You are loved and respected around the world. ~

This book is available on Amazon UK and Amazon US

Cairo Caper (A Wendy Darlin Comedy Myster) – Barbara Silkstone

When I first started reading I wondered if perhaps I had made a mistake with this book. You are thrust into the action from the very first page, with lots of one-liners and situation gags I wondered if I would stomach that for the whole book. I carried on reading and by the third or fourth chapter I relaxed in the knowledge that this was the style for the whole book and was consistent so I started to enjoy it. After all this book is called Cairo Caper and what a caper it is! The book is well written and the style of the story and the way various characters acted did remind me a bit of the carry on style of films, which I am a big fan of. The descriptions are vivid too and I could visualise many of the scenes, even the more quirky ones, which certainly helped. Wendy Darlin is an engaging character and many of the side characters were interesting to read and the story is certainly fast paced and the ending is a satisfying conclusion. Aside from a slight disorientation at the start and the suggestion in the book of some history between key characters, which I assume featured in the first two books, I don’t think it mattered too much that this isn’t the first chronological Wendy Darlin story, it acts well as a stand-a-lone, with a few minor head scratching moments. The one thing that is certain is that the story grabbed me and I just had to know what happened by the end. There are a few parts where I groaned at the jokes and others where I laughed out loud. I have to admit that some of the character names had my rolling my eyes, but others amused me more than they probably should have. The end of the book includes a bonus chapter of the first Wendy Darlin book, which has intrigued me enough that I plan to check it out and the other Wendy Darlin books when I get the chance. If you enjoy a fast paced story, with some action and plenty of comedy and don’t mind a bit (well a lot really!) of silliness along the way then this is the book for you. I have given this 4 out of 5 stars, I just deducted one star because a few times I felt like I was missing out on a bit of back story between various characters, which may have helped me understand a bit of interaction better, but I realise that most readers will start from book one and read in chronological order.

Caroline Lee

How to Greet Strangers

Archer Barron is rebuilding his life after hiding from it for years. Once he had grand expectations—graduating law school, donning drag to express his feminine aspects, and the love of a devoted boyfriend—but fate became cruel. HIV-positive cruel. And a growing involvement with an Oakland Santería priestess who promised a cure in return for devotion and a lot of cash. His lover died. His faith and spirit almost followed.

Now Archer works a sorry job as a university night watchmen and volunteers at a free clinic. The walls he’s built in the years since his loss are about to come crumbling down when a former member of the Santería family he belonged to comes seeking legal help. And then the police discover the body of the priestess. Archer’s grudge makes him a prime suspect.

In Joyce Thompson’s newest novel, How To Greet Strangers, the Bay Area welcomes a new detective: he’s black, he’s spiritual, he’s stunning. And he’s in great danger.

This book is available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

How to Greet Strangers – Joyce Thompson

This compares with nothing I have read before! It is so different that at first I was unsure if I was going to like it. However, as the novel progressed I became more involved with it and my interest grew to the point where it was difficult to put down. The story is based around an HIV positive, black gay male (Archer Barron) who has recently been very involved in a religious cult. He is a good man, undoubtedly confused about religion. The cult leader is murdered and after being under investigation, and the lead detective realising he studied law, he is invited to help solve the case. Other murders occur, someone he knows is charged with the murders and this person’s wife asks Archer to help prove his innocence. It is an intriguing and complex story, not easy reading by any means, but it draws you in because it is so well-written. The author deals with gay issues, religion and spirituality and the psychology that goes with this. Although not from an abusive family, Archer has his own issues. His mother is an extremely beautiful woman, and it is almost as though he is in competition with her. He likes to dress and go out as a woman and has several different personas. He lives a very healthy life style through necessity, although not afraid to face danger. There is an unexpected twist at the end of the tale too. Thoroughly enjoyable (once you get your head round the cult overtones), and very modern, tackling different and difficult issues. This book assists you to gain entry to the gay scene of San Francisco and look out of the eyes of an intelligent, spiritual man and face the world as he sees it. Brilliant writing by J Thompson. Highly recommended!

Sharon Peterson

Small Town Trouble

 

Meet Kim Claypoole, restaurateur, reluctant heroine and amateur sleuth with moxie galore. “I’d had a feeling all along that this wasn’t going to be my day. But I hadn’t been prepared for things to go this badly…”

In Small Town Trouble, the first in a series from mystery writer Jean Erhardt, we get acquainted with Kim Claypoole’s irreverent and witty ways of dealing with the peculiar characters and events that she finds in her life.

Claypoole’s adventure begins as she leaves her home in the Smoky Mountains to help save her kooky mother Evelyn from financial disaster. Setting off to assist Evelyn (i.e., “the other Scarlett O’Hara”) with her newest personal crisis, Claypoole leaves in her wake her Gatlinburg doublewide, her restaurant, The Little Pigeon and her restaurant partner and sometimes best friend Mad Ted Weber as well as a budding secret love affair that’s hotter than an Eskimo in July.

Claypoole’s savior complex leads to more trouble when she bumps into an old flame in her hometown who asks for her help clearing her hapless brother of murder charges. In true Claypoole fashion, she gets more than she bargained for when she gets dragged into a complicated quest to find the true killer complete with topless tavern dancers, small town cops, a stream of backwater characters-even a meeting with the Grim Reaper. Can Claypoole muddle her way through the murky depths of this bizarre murder mystery before it’s too late?

With biting humor and wit, Small Town Trouble will leave you guessing what’s around the next corner in the quirky life of Kim Claypoole.

This book is available from Amazon UK and Amazon US

Small Town Trouble – Jean Erhardt

Unfortunately, I found this book boring to the point where I struggled to finish it. I wanted to reach the end for all the wrong reasons. On reflection, the worst part about it was the corny attempts at humour. It just did not work for me. The plot was weak and unbelievable; the characters even more so. The story is based around a lesbian (yes, the writer labours this point) who returns to her home town to visit and financially advise her mother. Whilst she is involved with one married lady she also rekindles a friendship from her school days (another married lady) whilst at the same time trying to solve a multiple murder. When embarking on a novel, I like it to grab my interest in the first couple of pages. I got to the end of chapter 4 and thought I would continue to see if it improved, but unfortunately I was disappointed. This is not a book I would recommend!

Sharon Peterson

Only The Dead: An African War

When does someone else’s battle become your own? Sent to train Liberian rebels to fight a corrupt government, Mark finds himself in the midst of chaos when the war erupts around him.

Shadowed by a naive reporter, the unlikely allies struggle to survive the harsh jungles of Africa while eluding enemy forces and a warlord who doesn’t recognise friend from foe.

Set during the Second Liberian Civil War, Only The Dead: An African War is a novella about friendship, morality, war and consequence. An African War is the first in the Only The Dead series of novellas.

Only The Dead is available on Amazon UK or Amazon US

Only the Dead – M W Duncan

War in Africa would not normally be my choice of reading material, but I fancied reading something a bit different. I was impressed by the quick flowing, seemingly authentic descriptions of a war torn country and from the beginning my imagination was captivated by the writer’s dialogue. He did not mess about, pussy footing around the reality of death and carnage. It was a no-holds barred story and he told it well.

Feeling as though I was actually there, with the story teller every foot of the way, I read the book from beginning to end in one sitting. The main character had a paid job to perform as “an advisor” not a mercenary, as he was quick to point out, to a free lance photographer with whom he meets up near the beginning. It was his role to train the rebels, some of them very young boys, to hold and fire a gun. The rebel leader was an absolute psychopath who thought nothing of killing his own people, on the flimsiest excuse.

They flee a village, along with the small band of rebels he is “advising” and have to fight their way through the jungle, before reaching safety. During this difficult journey, although two completely different people, with different backgrounds, they strike up a relationship that causes them each to examine their own beliefs and consciences which is almost as challenging as the terrain, thirst, hunger, pain and fear that they are forced to tolerate along the way. They have difficult decisions to make in the minimum amount of time, if they are to stay alive. How far are they prepared to go? It was a good story, only spoiled by the end because I was left feeling that the story is not over, by any means. Perhaps the author is paving the way for book 2?

The story could have been longer and I did not like the end, but very well written all the same.

Sharon Peterson

The Illegal Gardener

Driven by a need for some control in her life, Juliet sells up on impulse and buys a dilapidated farmhouse in a tiny Greek village, leaving her English life behind. The house is livable by local standards, but the job of restoring the garden is too big. It requires strength. Juliet cannot bring it to life on her own.

Around the olive tree, hidden beneath the covering of bindweeds, are mattresses, broken chairs, shepherds’ crooks, and old goat bells, the remains of past lives intertwined in a slow decay. The beauty of the garden is lost with the years of neglect and no one to appreciate it. Juliet reluctantly enlists casual labour. She has no desire to share her world with anyone. The boys have grown, Mick has gone. This is her time now.

Aaman has travelled to Greece from Pakistan illegally. His task is to find work and raise money for the harvester his village desperately needs to deliver them out of poverty. Poverty that is sending the younger generation to the cities, dividing families, and slowly destroying his community. What he imagined would be a heroic journey in reality is fraught with danger and corruption. He finds himself in Greece and follows the work, a little here, a little there. As time passes, he loses his sense of self. He is now an immigrant worker, illegal, displaced, unwanted, with no value. Some days he does not have enough money to feed himself, let alone to return home to Pakistan. In the village square, he waits for work, dawn not even broken.

Juliet hires Aaman. Neither is entirely comfortable with their role. Juliet the Westerner, who has money and a valid passport, resents the intrusion even though she wants her garden cleared. Aaman needs the work and money but resents the humiliation. As the summer progresses, even though they are from vastly different backgrounds, cultures apart, they discover they have something in common, an event that has defined how they interact and even how they view themselves. Pieces of their lives they have kept hidden even from themselves are exposed. They are each other’s catalysts to facing their own ghosts…

The Illegal Gardener is available to buy from Amazon US and Amazon UK

The Illegal Gardener – Sara Alexi

Anyone who has been to Greece will love this novel and if you haven’t reading this will make you want to go.

The story is about a single (I don’t want to say divorced) woman who’s children are grown up, so she makes the move to the country she visited and loved years before. Juliet has spent years learning Greek and can now do freelance from the home she bought in Greece. The house needs a lot of work and she hires two men looking for work from the town center. Is the choice right and does she need both men?

Aaman doesn’t look like the man for the job as he looks like he needs more than a few good meals. Aaman is looking to earn money to send home. Will this happen or will he die trying. This books shows the character of someone willing to work and do an excellent job to ensure he can provide for his family and the change in attitude of someone who can afford to hire help. Along the way there are many problems that must be overcome and the decision of whether to stay or go home (Juliet or Aaman).

The interaction between Juliet and Aaman is a breathe of fresh air and not your usual love story. So, what happens along the way? Will Aaman always be an illegal looking for work and a way back home? Does he stay in Greece? Does he return to his village? Read the book and you will immediately want to continue with the rest of the stories Sara Alexi has written. I am so glad I picked up this book and then I couldn’t put it down. Not only have I read it, but my sister, Mom and best friend also read it and feel the same way I do.

Susan Jackson

Lola’s House

Synopsis – When Lola inherited her Grandmother’s house she thought she was made for life. But everything comes at a cost as Lola soon discovers.

With a house and business to call your own many people would think they had it made. Unfortunately for Lola this is where her problems begin. The house is needy and falling apart and eats cash like there’s no tomorrow. And the business is failing to live up to its promises in every sense of the word. Throw in an ex boyfriend who is back on the scene with dubious motives, a brother with pound signs in his eyes and a mother who would make the Iron Lady look like a pussy cat. 

Lola despairs of ever finding her way with the odds against her until the appearance of a sexy stranger. Will Lola ever manage to straighten out her life and make a home for herself and keep the wolves from the door?

This book is available on Amazon US and Amazon UK

‘Lola’s House’ by Susie Groers.

‘Lola’s House’ is a wonderful story portraying love, friendship and determination.

Lola, the main character, has been trying to rebuild her life after her long-term relationship with James broke down. With the support of her friends, she focuses her energies on restoring the house left to her by her Grandmother, which means so much to her. She also establishes her vintage clothes shop, which was also inspired by her grandmother who taught Lola the art of sewing and the appreciation of well-made clothes and fashion accessories.

Lola, is a woman hurt by betrayal. Her friends, and not her family, make her plight and subsequent resilience possible. Her family, consisting of her mother, stepfather and younger brother, sit in the background of this story and adds to the sense of intrigue and motive behind the storyline.

All of the characters are well written into the story with appropriate levels of details and back story. This enables the reader to visualise their physical persona, and to gain an insight into their psychological contribution to the storyline. My favourite character is Muriel, Lola’s loyal friend and shop assistant, who helped Lola after the breakup and is always honest with her opinions. Although there are elements of predictability, which is normal in a love story, the twisting plot in the background keeps the reader guessing. There are other incidental characters, who contribute to the reader being able to visualise Lola’s life, social circle and sense of friendship.

The introduction of her lodger Robert, as the good guy, is a subtle twist as James reappears and wants to rekindle their relationship. He proposes marriage and commitment immediately, which makes Lola uneasy about the speed of his actions. James motive and his ally are revealed as the plot unravels. I particularly enjoyed the humorous scenes that were sprinkled throughout, which sometimes were at Lola’s expense. For example her undignified entry to her car in front of her neighbouring shop owner when she was running late for dinner with her mother.

This is an easy to read, captivating story, which keeps the reader, interested on different levels as various real life scenarios are revealed. My only criticism is that the ending and plot revelation felt rushed in relation to the beginning of the book but this did not spoil my enjoyment it. The sequel titled ‘Lola’s Vintage Shop’ will be available in 2014.

Sarah Jane Butfield