By
Jennie Hansen
The weather isn’t what is typically
expected for June in my part of the
country. Instead of sunshine, we’re
being treated to a daily deluge of rain and
thunder storms. This month’s books
which I’ve chosen to review aren’t what
I expected either. Each one presents a
refreshing, unexpected approach. Just
as the rain is filling the valley with
vibrant growth and color, these novels open
new entertainment vistas.
I was excited to receive a copy of
Marcia Mickelson’s new book Pickup
Games. Her first book, Reasonable Doubt made a strong positive impression on me, so I was anxious to read
this one.
Going into major college basketball
playoffs, Mark Webber was charged with the
murder of his fiancé and instead of dancing
with the Big Four, he spent the tournament
in a jail cell listening on a scratchy radio
to his team crumble and blaming himself for
their loss.
As time passes he discovers that being
exonerated for the murder of his fiancé
doesn’t restore his reputation or the
promising future he once took for
granted. His basketball career is over
and his dream of becoming an ESPN
sportscaster is going nowhere. After
five years he is a second string sports
reporter for a local television station and
his social life consists of a series of
“once only” dates with women who don’t
really interest him.
Through the help of a friend who has
stood behind him, he gets a big professional
break, but instead of getting his own show
as he had expected he finds himself half of
a two person team. The other half is
Cara Jones, recent women’s college
basketball star, who was jilted on her
wedding day and who now has a chip on her
shoulder where men are concerned.
Though they clash personally, the electric
spark between them creates a dynamic show,
that catches the eyes of big people in the
sports broadcasting world far beyond Utah
and sets in motion tough temptations and
stiff competition.
The story is a romance, but with a
stronger appeal than to women only. It
is a fascinating inside look at sports,
sports broadcasting, and healing. It
should appeal to a wide range of readers.
Did the book live up to my
expectations? Yes---and no. I
expected more of the murder mystery type of
story found in Reasonable
Doubt, but I wasn’t disappointed in the
quality of writing, nor in the fresh
approach to a romance between two previously
hurt people. Sometimes the author
provides more petty detail than needed, yet
the detail lends itself to a sense of the
characters being real people doing real
things. Mickelson has created strong,
likeable characters, has paced her story
well, and has a winner in Pickup Games.
My disappointment with the book has nothing
to do with the story itself. I don’t
like the title or the cover. The duo
are covering college basketball, not street
pickup games, and though Mick starts out as
a flirt collecting phone numbers of
good-looking women, they’re not exactly
pickup dates. The title implies
something cheap or casual which this story
is not. The pale lavender cover
isn’t going to attract many male readers
and probably not too many female ones
either. This is a striking story that
deserves a striking cover and title.
*
* *
Once in awhile a book comes along that
doesn’t quite fit into any preconceived
mold. Such is The
Route
by Gale Sears. There is no convoluted
plot, the characters are not young and
beautiful, the concepts presented are not
new and intricate, yet the book is a delight
and hard to put down. Beginning with a
cover that is charming, appealing, and
unusual, Sears tells a story loosely based
on her own experiences delivering meals on
wheels to elderly shut-ins.
Carol, who has just turned fifty and is
pondering the meaning of life, makes a run
to the store for chocolate. There she
discovers a poster asking for volunteers to
deliver the meals and feels an urge to take
up volunteer work and this seems to be
something she could do. She begins
with ten ladies. With some she forms a
strong connection, some live in conditions
she finds repugnant, and one is downright
scary. In time she finds each has a
story and she is drawn into their
lives. At times she wants to pattern
her own senior years after these ladies and
other times she wants nothing more than to
turn in her badge and run as far and fast as
she can. Her route gradually changes
as some of the ladies go to care facilities,
some die, new recipients of the meals are
added. Some of the new names on her
list are men.
Like Carol, the reader will find humor,
much to admire, situations that will cause
anger, others that will touch the heart, and
a new awareness of life’s waning
years. Sears has a gift for finding
the extraordinary in ordinary lives.
If you’re thinking a book about old people
can’t be much fun, you’re wrong.
This book is a fun read that will leave a
warm, lasting impression.
*
* *
Agent
in Old Lace by Tristi
Pinkston is another book that isn’t quite
what I expected. Pinkston has written
several intense, well-researched historical
novels which I enjoyed, so when I learned
she’d written a mystery and heard the
title, I assumed Agent in Old Lace would be an historical mystery. Not so, the novel is a
change-of-pace contemporary, and “old
lace” has nothing to do with the story
except as an odd reference to an FBI agent
who goes undercover dressed in female garb.
Shannon Tanner is a savvy business
woman and a partner in a successful
financial referral company. By chance
she discovers that the man she loves has
stolen a fortune from her father who lies
critically ill in the hospital. From
expecting a proposal to finding her life in
danger leaves Shannon reeling and struggling
to survive. When the FBI enters the
picture, Shannon’s life takes more odd
twists as agent, Rick Holden takes drastic
measures to save Shannon’s life and
capture the man she once planned to marry.
Agent
in Old Lace is a fast, fun
read. The mystery is not complicated,
but has interesting twists and turns. The
characters are likeable, but require some
stretching of the boundaries of
imagination. Shannon is a little
gullible, queasy, and slow for someone who
is supposedly so intelligent, and Rick’s
drag masquerade would be easy to see through
in real life. I would have liked for
some of the minor characters to be more
fully developed and the mystery clues a
little less obvious, though a less critical
reader who doesn’t read as many mysteries
as I do might not pick up on them as easily
as I did. The father/daughter
relationship is nicely done with just the
right amount of warmth and respect and it is
easy to see genuine love between the two.
Romance elements of the story are
developed without overt intrusion into the
story, but remain an important element. The
plot is paced well, though some of the
action scenes could have featured more
action and less talk. The short length
of the story somewhat hampers greater
development of both the mystery and the
romance. Though not as intense as her
in-depth historical novels, Agent in Old Lace will have a strong appeal for many mystery/romance readers.
Pinkston has a comfortable writing
style that draws the reader in and an
excellent command of language that suits her
characters well. Her quirky sense of humor
shows through in both dialog and
situations. Readers will enjoy
Pinkston’s first foray into contemporary
mystery writing. I’m looking forward
to more books in this genre by her, but I
hope she’ll continue to give us great
Historicals as well.
*
* *
Gregg Luke has written another high
suspense novel, Altered
State, which might be classified as medical
horror. This isn’t a book to start
late at night because it’s a hard one to
put down.
Two people, Morgan and Homer Winegar,
have suffered serious hurt in their pasts,
but now they have found each other and with
her nine-year-old autistic son have settled
in Logan, Utah, where she teaches psychology
and does counseling at the University and he
works for a research lab as a statistical
analyst. They’re happy and
life looks good until a strange phenomenon
takes place on campus and Morgan is drawn
into trying to discover the cause of
increasingly larger groups of students
lapsing into strange trances. As the
bizarre behavior grows violent, their son
provides them with a clue to an impending
tragedy greater than the Virginia Tech
massacre. Just as the mystery and
suspense build, old fears from previous
betrayals tear at the Winegar’s
relationship adding another dimension to the
escalating terror.
The first few chapters left me reeling
from an overload of chemical terminology;
even so, I was intrigued by the introduction
to characters that offered a wide spectrum
of possibilities and personalities.
Before long I was thoroughly hooked on a
story of greed, ego, and the lengths an
unscrupulous drug company CEO and a research
chemist devoid of ethics might take a
brilliant discovery. The characters,
including the autistic child, are
well-developed with each having distinct
personalities, motivations, and
growth. I like, and can identify with
the main characters. The plot moves
quickly and Luke does a masterful job of
revealing just enough clues to keep the
reader expecting and dreading the next
revelation of the plot line.
Luke is a pharmacist with a solid
understanding of drugs and is familiar with
the processes used to test and market
pharmaceuticals. Still he drew on the
expertise of other medical professionals in
his research. This background and a
great deal of technical research is used to
build a believable and even possible
nightmare situation.
Though the main characters are LDS and
there are elements of trust that enter into
the story, the main role religion plays is
to provide hope and comfort to them.
The blue and yellow cover on the book
featuring rows of test tubes sets an eerie
tone before the reader even begins the
story. I recommend this book to anyone
who enjoys suspense, a touch of horror, and
an all around exciting read.
*
* *
Michele Paige Holmes was the winner of
a Whitney for Romantic Fiction in 2007 with
her debut novel, Counting Stars.
Her new novel All
the Stars in Heaven picks up the
story of a minor character from that book,
Jay Kendrich. I wouldn’t call her
new book a sequel because there’s no
reason to read the first one to enjoy this
one. References to the other book are
few and explained enough that the reader
will have no sense of having missed anything
if she hasn’t read the first book.
From a personal point of view, I found Counting Stars an interesting read but a little too formulaic for my taste.
I can’t say that about All
the Stars in Heaven. I’ve found
two outstanding romances so far this year
and have nominated both for Whitney awards; All
the Stars in Heaven is one of
those two remarkable love stories.
This book is almost as much suspense as
it is romance with its tale of complicated
family relationships, a game of cat and
mouse between a methamphetamine drug lord
and a police force that can’t be trusted,
and characters whose faith in themselves
have been shattered.
Jay, a third year law student at
Harvard, chances on a ballet rehearsal and
is drawn to the young woman who plays the
piano for the dancers’ practices.
When he approaches the young woman to
introduce himself, he is attacked and
knocked out by a large man, whom he later
learns is the woman’s unwelcome
bodyguard. Instead of steering clear
of the young woman, he grows more intrigued
by her and suspects something is terribly
wrong in her life. He begins planning
strategies to get to know Sarah and walks
into a world of violence and intrigue.
Sarah is totally dependent on her
father, who treats her badly and controls
her life. She isn’t allowed to go
anywhere alone which means her brutal
cousin, her paid bodyguard, makes certain no
one approaches her. Even when her
father arranges an undercover narcotics job
for her, she is stuck with her cousin
shadowing her. When her cousin
attempts to kill Jay, she complains to her
father who is the police chief. His
indifference fuels her desire to escape her
miserable life.
The characters in this story are
interesting and the author does an excellent
job of not only tracing their growth,
painting them not only in black and white,
but she is liberal with shades of gray. The
Harvard College campus, Boston, and the
surrounding small cities and towns have been
researched with thoroughness and are used as
convincing, but not overpowering,
backdrops. Other elements of police
procedure, drug enforcement, collegiate
lifestyle, etc. show signs of careful
research as well. The chapters are
annoyingly short, but I’m aware many
readers prefer short chapters and there are
a few places where I would have liked to see
more action on stage instead of being led to
a precipice, the chapter ends, then the
reader is told rather than shown what
happened. The plot is well paced,
leading to one cliff-hanger moment after
another, making the book difficult to put
down and, at the same time, hard to read in
one sitting due to its length.
For years there has been a snobbish
amount of sneering directed toward LDS
fiction, largely due to the preponderance of
romance in these novels. Little
distinction has been made between the light,
cutesy, fun romance novels which aren’t
meant to be taken seriously, the sloppy boo
hoo ones that provide an excuse for a good
cry, the formula novels that follow the
general makeup of general market romances
minus the explicit sex, and those that
approach the relationship between a man and
a woman as one of friendship that grows to
something more as mutual respect and
knowledge of who the other is gradually
develops. I prefer this last type
where realistic and deepening relationships
grow out of common beliefs and values,
respect, shared goals and experiences, and a
willingness to sacrifice for each other, as
well as the physical attraction
component. The love story in All the Stars in Heaven is the latter kind of love story. An enjoyable romance
coupled with a fast-paced mystery/suspense
makes this a book that will appeal to a wide
range of readers and it has my hearty
recommendation.
*
* *
PICKUP
GAMES by Marcia Mickelson, published by
Bonneville Books, soft cover, 214 pages,
$15.99
THE
ROUTE by Gale Sears, published by Walnut
Springs Press, LLC, soft cover, 182 pages,
$14.95
AGENT
IN OLD LACE by Tristi Pinkston, published by
Bonneville Books, soft cover, 182 pages,
$14.95
ALTERED
STATE by Gregg Luke, published by Covenant
Communications, soft cover, 272 pages,
$15.95
ALL
THE STARS IN HEAVEN by Michele Paige Homes,
published by Covenant Communications, soft
cover, 373 pages, $17.95
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