90 MINUTES IN HEAVEN by Don Piper

Not satisfied to write in only one genre, Dewey went on to pen a western novella “In the Name of the Land” which was nominated for a Silver Spur Fiction Award. A collection of short stories followed, as did a successful stint writing and producing radio ads and promos.
In the early 1990’s, Dewey relocated to rural Colorado. But her eclectic writing forte continued as she pursued work as a freelance investigative journalist, advertising/marketing promoter and editor of children’s books. In the mid and late 1990’s, two of her books on plant medicine were published, along with 10 booklets and hundreds of articles on alternative health.During this time, she appeared as a featured guest on over 300 national radio and television programs and lectured extensively across the United States and Canada.

But now the pages have turned again…literally. In 2007, Dewey released her first fiction novel, Protector, a gritty, paranormal crime thriller that follows the rocky life of Denver homicide detective Jane Perry. In preparation for writing the book, Dewey immersed herself in detailed research, interviewing Colorado homicide detectives and traveling on “ride-a-longs” with street cops. The intricate research helped Dewey create a debut novel that is powerful, compelling and utterly original.

The sequel to Protector, Redemption, was released in June of 2009. She is currently writing the third book in the Jane Perry series, titled Revelations, due to be released July, 2010. She lives with her husband in rural Colorado.

PROMISSORY PAYBACK by Laurel DeweyPublished by The Story Plant

Another victim. Another senseless, gruesome murder that she would add to the board at Denver Headquarters. When Sergeant Weyler called her half an hour ago, she hadn’t even finished her third cup of coffee. “This one is odd, Jane,” he told her with that characteristic tone in his voice that also suggested an evil tinge behind the slaying du jour. “Be prepared,” he said before hanging up. It was a helluva way to start a Monday morning.

As Jane drove her ’66 Mustang toward the crime scene in the toney section of Denver known as Cherry Creek, she tried to look on the bright side. If she’d still been a drinker, she’d be battling an epic hangover at that moment and doing her best to hide it from Weyler. But since becoming a friend of Bill W., her addictions involved healthier options such as jogging, buying way too many pounds of expensive coffee and even briefly joining a yoga group. She stopped attending the class only because the pansy-ass male instructor wasn’t comfortable with her setting her Glock in the holster to the side of her mat during class. Since she was usually headed to work after the 7 AM stretch session, Jane was obviously carrying her service weapon. She wasn’t about to leave it in her car or a locker at the facility. Nor would she be so careless as to hang it on one of the eco-friendly bamboo hooks that lined the yoga room.

So for Jane, it was obvious and more than natural for the Glock to lie next to her as she attempted the Salutation to the Sun pose and arched into Downward Facing Dog. In her mind, there was no dichotomy between the peacefulness of yoga and the brain splattering capacity of her Glock. As the annoying, high-pitched flute music played in the background—a sound meant to encourage calmness but which sounded more like a dying parakeet to Jane—she felt completely safe knowing that a loaded gun was inches from her grasp. The other people in the class, however, did have a problem and they showed it by arranging their mats as far from Jane as humanly possible. None of this behavior bothered Jane until the soy milk-chugging teacher took her aside and asked her to please remove the Glock from class. Since Jane wasn’t about to take orders from a guy in a fuchsia leotard who had a penchant for crying at least twice during class, she strapped her 9mm across her organic cotton yoga t! op and quit.

That’s what predictably happened whenever you shoved a square peg like Jane Perry in a round hole of people and situations that don’t understand the real world. Crime has a nasty habit of worming its way into the most unlikely places—churches, schools, sacred retreats and possibly yoga studios. The way Jane Perry looked at life, yoga might keep your flexible but a loaded gun kept you alive so you could continue being flexible. She knew what it felt like to be the victim of circumstance; to be held hostage by another person’s violent objective. Even though it was a long time ago, she’d never wash the stench from her memory. Her vow was always the same: Nobody would ever make Jane Perry a victim again.

But somebody apparently had made the old lady inside the Cherry Creek house a victim. Jane rolled to the curb and parked the Mustang, sucking the last microgram of nicotine from the butt of her cigarette. Squashing it onto the street with the heel of her roughout cowboy boots, she flashed her shield to the cops standing at the periphery and ducked under the yellow crime tape that was draped between the two precision-trimmed boxwood shrubs that framed the bottom of the long, immaculate brick driveway.

DISCLAIMER

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,

in exchange for my honest review.

No items that I receive

are ever sold…they are kept by me,

or given to family and/or friends.

Not satisfied to write in only one genre, Dewey went on to pen a western novella “In the Name of the Land” which was nominated for a Silver Spur Fiction Award. A collection of short stories followed, as did a successful stint writing and producing radio ads and promos.
In the early 1990’s, Dewey relocated to rural Colorado. But her eclectic writing forte continued as she pursued work as a freelance investigative journalist, advertising/marketing promoter and editor of children’s books. In the mid and late 1990’s, two of her books on plant medicine were published, along with 10 booklets and hundreds of articles on alternative health.During this time, she appeared as a featured guest on over 300 national radio and television programs and lectured extensively across the United States and Canada.

But now the pages have turned again…literally. In 2007, Dewey released her first fiction novel, Protector, a gritty, paranormal crime thriller that follows the rocky life of Denver homicide detective Jane Perry. In preparation for writing the book, Dewey immersed herself in detailed research, interviewing Colorado homicide detectives and traveling on “ride-a-longs” with street cops. The intricate research helped Dewey create a debut novel that is powerful, compelling and utterly original.

The sequel to Protector, Redemption, was released in June of 2009. She is currently writing the third book in the Jane Perry series, titled Revelations, due to be released July, 2010. She lives with her husband in rural Colorado.

PROMISSORY PAYBACK by Laurel DeweyPublished by The Story Plant

Another victim. Another senseless, gruesome murder that she would add to the board at Denver Headquarters. When Sergeant Weyler called her half an hour ago, she hadn’t even finished her third cup of coffee. “This one is odd, Jane,” he told her with that characteristic tone in his voice that also suggested an evil tinge behind the slaying du jour. “Be prepared,” he said before hanging up. It was a helluva way to start a Monday morning.

As Jane drove her ’66 Mustang toward the crime scene in the toney section of Denver known as Cherry Creek, she tried to look on the bright side. If she’d still been a drinker, she’d be battling an epic hangover at that moment and doing her best to hide it from Weyler. But since becoming a friend of Bill W., her addictions involved healthier options such as jogging, buying way too many pounds of expensive coffee and even briefly joining a yoga group. She stopped attending the class only because the pansy-ass male instructor wasn’t comfortable with her setting her Glock in the holster to the side of her mat during class. Since she was usually headed to work after the 7 AM stretch session, Jane was obviously carrying her service weapon. She wasn’t about to leave it in her car or a locker at the facility. Nor would she be so careless as to hang it on one of the eco-friendly bamboo hooks that lined the yoga room.

So for Jane, it was obvious and more than natural for the Glock to lie next to her as she attempted the Salutation to the Sun pose and arched into Downward Facing Dog. In her mind, there was no dichotomy between the peacefulness of yoga and the brain splattering capacity of her Glock. As the annoying, high-pitched flute music played in the background—a sound meant to encourage calmness but which sounded more like a dying parakeet to Jane—she felt completely safe knowing that a loaded gun was inches from her grasp. The other people in the class, however, did have a problem and they showed it by arranging their mats as far from Jane as humanly possible. None of this behavior bothered Jane until the soy milk-chugging teacher took her aside and asked her to please remove the Glock from class. Since Jane wasn’t about to take orders from a guy in a fuchsia leotard who had a penchant for crying at least twice during class, she strapped her 9mm across her organic cotton yoga t! op and quit.

That’s what predictably happened whenever you shoved a square peg like Jane Perry in a round hole of people and situations that don’t understand the real world. Crime has a nasty habit of worming its way into the most unlikely places—churches, schools, sacred retreats and possibly yoga studios. The way Jane Perry looked at life, yoga might keep your flexible but a loaded gun kept you alive so you could continue being flexible. She knew what it felt like to be the victim of circumstance; to be held hostage by another person’s violent objective. Even though it was a long time ago, she’d never wash the stench from her memory. Her vow was always the same: Nobody would ever make Jane Perry a victim again.

But somebody apparently had made the old lady inside the Cherry Creek house a victim. Jane rolled to the curb and parked the Mustang, sucking the last microgram of nicotine from the butt of her cigarette. Squashing it onto the street with the heel of her roughout cowboy boots, she flashed her shield to the cops standing at the periphery and ducked under the yellow crime tape that was draped between the two precision-trimmed boxwood shrubs that framed the bottom of the long, immaculate brick driveway.

DISCLAIMER

I received a copy of this book, at no charge to me,

in exchange for my honest review.

No items that I receive

are ever sold…they are kept by me,

or given to family and/or friends.

PEACE AT THE EDGE OF UNCERTAINTY by Neil Hanson

ISBN 13:  978-0-9826391-0-8
At the request of Tribute Books, a TPB was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion

  Synopsis (from tour press package):  In this story told in the first-person form of a letter from a middle-aged man to his deceased father, Hanson invites us to journey with him through the final days of the father’s life, finding a magical transition waiting at the end of that journey. The story weaves end-of-life reality and spiritual questioning into a sensitive and revealing tapestry of Truth and Wisdom. The tapestry is colored with true stories of mystical experiences that inform the spiritual path of the son.

Most of us will face difficult and painful end-of-life decisions with the most important people in our lives. The threads of this aspect of the story are sensitive, and Hanson reveals the struggles and destinations of the son as he wrestles deeply with the journey that he must walk in making these decisions for his dying father.

  My Thoughts and Opinions:  When I was first approached to read and review this book, and after reading the synopsis above, I honestly had to step back and think about it.  Due to the fact that I am personally going through this same process, could this topic help or would it add to the stress I am already feeling.  I kept reading the 2nd paragraph and felt that, yes, being the sole person responsible, it would help, and so I accepted.

It is a very short read (approximately 100 pages), and as the synopsis states, is a letter from a son to his father through the process of death and dying.  It is also about the journey the son takes with his own faith.  And as stated in the synopsis “difficult and painful end-of-life decisions”,  yes, a decision had to be made by the writer and 2 siblings but I felt that it was glossed over.   In all fairness to the author, my expectations were set high on surviving family members having to make the “painful and difficult decisions”.  Being a former nurse and now the sole family member who is making the tough decisions, I was hoping that this book would convey how important it is and to help open communication within families regarding this topic, that is so uncomfortable to talk about but a reality no less, and one conversation that should take place.

SPACE by Emily Sue Harvey
Published by The Story Plant
ISBN  9781611880199
At the request of The Story Plant, Spread The Word Initiative, an ARC EPub Edition was sent via NetGalley, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

  Synopsis (borrowed from NetGalley):  Emily Sue delivers us a deeply moving story of a family on the brink. Dan and Deede Stowe have worked for years, planning and saving for their idyllic retirement years. Just when they finally are about to realize their dream, their adult, recovering drug-addict daughter, Faith, moves back in with them and everything changes. Their “miracle child,” complete with druggie baggage, upsets the tranquil balance of the Stowes’s existence. Private romantic moments evaporate. Faith’s endless needs intrude hour by hour, devouring their finances, their emotions, and most crucially, their space. In turn, Faith finds herself bereft of everything she cherished most: her health, her marriage, her child, her family, her reputation and, most of all, a space to call her own.

Amid chaotic challenges, all three battle to find peace with each other, a harmony that doggedly eludes them. For the sake of family solidarity, each is forced to sacrifice elemental components of self, until desperation turns them one against the other. Will love be enough to turn the tide? Is it strong enough to warm again hearts grown cold?

  My Thoughts and Opinion:  I enjoy reading novels where there are relationship dynamics as the core of the story.  The characters in this book came to life through the words of the author, Emily Sue Harvey, and there were quite a few interwoven personalities within both the immediate and extended family of the Stowes.  I was also interested, after reading the synopsis, of the premise of what happens behind closed doors when a family member is overtaken by drugs, which is so prevalent in today’s society and the fracture of a family these drugs cause.

Here is where I am torn and confused about this book, which I honestly don’t quite understand.  And this is my opinion and my opinion only.  The book held my attention throughout.  However, I felt there was so much missing in the story.  It wasn’t until almost the end of the novel when the reader finds out what drug Faith is using.  It doesn’t describe the reality of true drug addiction, in my opinion.  But it focused more on her nicotine addiction.  I understood the underlying message of “needing one’s space” and as the synopsis states but I felt that some issues that would have made it more realistic were glossed over.  Examples like the loss of her parental rights were not touched upon until almost the end of the book.

Because it did hold my attention, but it also left me disappointed as far as the overall story line, I find myself having much difficulty rating it.

SPACE by Emily Sue Harvey
Published by The Story Plant
ISBN  9781611880199
At the request of The Story Plant, Spread The Word Initiative, an ARC EPub Edition was sent via NetGalley, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

  Synopsis (borrowed from NetGalley):  Emily Sue delivers us a deeply moving story of a family on the brink. Dan and Deede Stowe have worked for years, planning and saving for their idyllic retirement years. Just when they finally are about to realize their dream, their adult, recovering drug-addict daughter, Faith, moves back in with them and everything changes. Their “miracle child,” complete with druggie baggage, upsets the tranquil balance of the Stowes’s existence. Private romantic moments evaporate. Faith’s endless needs intrude hour by hour, devouring their finances, their emotions, and most crucially, their space. In turn, Faith finds herself bereft of everything she cherished most: her health, her marriage, her child, her family, her reputation and, most of all, a space to call her own.

Amid chaotic challenges, all three battle to find peace with each other, a harmony that doggedly eludes them. For the sake of family solidarity, each is forced to sacrifice elemental components of self, until desperation turns them one against the other. Will love be enough to turn the tide? Is it strong enough to warm again hearts grown cold?

  My Thoughts and Opinion:  I enjoy reading novels where there are relationship dynamics as the core of the story.  The characters in this book came to life through the words of the author, Emily Sue Harvey, and there were quite a few interwoven personalities within both the immediate and extended family of the Stowes.  I was also interested, after reading the synopsis, of the premise of what happens behind closed doors when a family member is overtaken by drugs, which is so prevalent in today’s society and the fracture of a family these drugs cause.

Here is where I am torn and confused about this book, which I honestly don’t quite understand.  And this is my opinion and my opinion only.  The book held my attention throughout.  However, I felt there was so much missing in the story.  It wasn’t until almost the end of the novel when the reader finds out what drug Faith is using.  It doesn’t describe the reality of true drug addiction, in my opinion.  But it focused more on her nicotine addiction.  I understood the underlying message of “needing one’s space” and as the synopsis states but I felt that some issues that would have made it more realistic were glossed over.  Examples like the loss of her parental rights were not touched upon until almost the end of the book.

Because it did hold my attention, but it also left me disappointed as far as the overall story line, I find myself having much difficulty rating it.

THE SANTA CLUB by Kelly Moss
Illustrated by Jim Keserich
Published by Palmary Press
ISBN 13:  978-0-9821340-1-6
At the request of The Cadence Group, a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

  Synopsis (from author):   A delightful book with captivating illustrations, The Santa Club transitions your child from receiving gifts to experiencing the joy of giving. With sensitivity, faith, and love, The Santa Club tackles the serious question, “Is Santa Claus Real?” To be read with your child, this wonderful book not only answers that sometimes “dreaded” question but it also addresses the questions of why Santa comes at Christmas and who was the first Santa.  The Santa Club is a wonderful parenting resource and a stunning children’s book, and is sure to become an annual family favorite.

  My Thoughts and Opinion:  To those that follow this blog, you know that this is not the type of book that I would usually accept to review, however, when I was approached, I thought it would be different and fun.  When my boys were young, reading was an important integral of their upbringing.  From when they were infants, reading before bedtime was a nighttime ritual.  Books also played an important part during different milestones in their lives, such as bringing home a baby brother, potty training, starting school, and unfortunately, even loss.

Since it has been many years that I have read a children’s book, it was like a new experience for me.  The premise of the book is to help parents answer that hard question, Is Santa Real? Not only does it answer the question in a way that a child can understand but it also allows the child to feel special when the answer is revealed.  What also impressed me, which I am sure that some will disagree with me, is that it also explains the true meaning of Christmas.  At first, I was a bit unsure of the illustrations but the more I looked at them I could see the diversity the author was conveying to the parent and child.  I forgot to mention, this book states that a child must only read this book with a parent or guardian.  If you are a parent, grandparent or know someone with little ones, this should be in every household, tucked away for the day when that question is asked, Is Santa real?.  Highly recommend.

THE SANTA CLUB by Kelly Moss
Illustrated by Jim Keserich
Published by Palmary Press
ISBN 13:  978-0-9821340-1-6
At the request of The Cadence Group, a HC was sent, at no cost to me, for my honest opinion.

  Synopsis (from author):   A delightful book with captivating illustrations, The Santa Club transitions your child from receiving gifts to experiencing the joy of giving. With sensitivity, faith, and love, The Santa Club tackles the serious question, “Is Santa Claus Real?” To be read with your child, this wonderful book not only answers that sometimes “dreaded” question but it also addresses the questions of why Santa comes at Christmas and who was the first Santa.  The Santa Club is a wonderful parenting resource and a stunning children’s book, and is sure to become an annual family favorite.

  My Thoughts and Opinion:  To those that follow this blog, you know that this is not the type of book that I would usually accept to review, however, when I was approached, I thought it would be different and fun.  When my boys were young, reading was an important integral of their upbringing.  From when they were infants, reading before bedtime was a nighttime ritual.  Books also played an important part during different milestones in their lives, such as bringing home a baby brother, potty training, starting school, and unfortunately, even loss.

Since it has been many years that I have read a children’s book, it was like a new experience for me.  The premise of the book is to help parents answer that hard question, Is Santa Real? Not only does it answer the question in a way that a child can understand but it also allows the child to feel special when the answer is revealed.  What also impressed me, which I am sure that some will disagree with me, is that it also explains the true meaning of Christmas.  At first, I was a bit unsure of the illustrations but the more I looked at them I could see the diversity the author was conveying to the parent and child.  I forgot to mention, this book states that a child must only read this book with a parent or guardian.  If you are a parent, grandparent or know someone with little ones, this should be in every household, tucked away for the day when that question is asked, Is Santa real?.  Highly recommend.