Twisted Confessions

Title: Twisted Confessions

Author: Charles Skoller

ISBN: 978-1-934454-17-6

Publisher: Bridgeway Books

Reviewed by: Marsha Sellers for Quality Book Reviews

This book is a true story about the deaths of three girls. These murders happened in 1963 & 1964 in New York City.

On July 19, 1963 Barbara Kralik was stabbed to death while sleeping in her bed. The murdered entered her home through a porch window, went directly to her room, stabbed her then fled through a side door. The murderer obviously knew her home well, and the fact that the front door was stuck as he did not attempt to enter or exit through it.

On February 29, 1964 Annie Mae Johnson was shot to death with a 22-caliber rifle. Her first autopsy stated she was stabbed to death, with no mention of the bullets found inside her.

On March 13, 1964 Kitty Genovese was stabbed to death in two separate attacks which occurred in the street in front of her apartment building. There were 38 of her neighbors who witnessed this vicious attack and did nothing, not even a call to the police!

This book was very interesting and informative. The author, Charlie Skoller was the prosecutor for the DA’s office, and you get a view of the charges and the evidence in each case. I caught myself trying to “find something that was missed”. Mr Schaller must prove who committed these murders, as he has 2 separate confessions to the Kralik murder. This was a fast read, would recommend to everyone who likes “who dunnits”. I give this book 4 stars.

The Last Miracle Mile
by Mary Moon
Reviewed by Terry South for Quality Book Reviews

The Last Miracle Mile / by Mary Moon

The Last Miracle Mile is a true story which is so compelling and so inspirational it’s a guaranteed must read. Have you ever been in some type of an abusive relationship? If you answered yes or you know someone who has I highly recommend you pick up a copy today.

The Last Miracle Mile is such a heartfelt story and sends a much needed message to everyone who has had some type of abuse touch their lives. This book will help lift your spirit and make you soar to a new level.

This is not your typical self help book but is an inspiring true story of the Author’s childhood experience of abuse. I myself have lived a past life of very abusive relationships and the words and inspiration this book derives is unbelievable. It has given me a sense of peace and the inspiration to put life in a new perspective; I notice my life has improved since reading this one.

I recommend this book to everyone especially those who have been touched by violence. This book would make a perfect gift for friends, loved ones or someone you know who has also been touched by violence. Again this is a strong compelling and inspirational story to help pull you up and take your life back with pride. This book will demonstrate to you how to break the chain of violence.

Mary Moon teaches you in her own unique style about the grief cycle, co-dependency, boundaries and the cycle of verbal abuse; she’ll teach you how your insecurities, your low self-esteem, poor sense of self-worth and low self image were developed, and she’ll teach you how to refrain from the negativities in your life. You will no longer be the victim; you will raise above all the pain and sorrow and become the person you need to be. You will be the survivor and will prevail.

I do BELIEVE this is the best book I have EVER READ!!!!! I strongly believe this is one story that demands to be read by all! I believe that The Last Miracle Mile should be on the Best Seller List EVERYWHERE!!!

5 Star review *****

Terry / Quality Book Reviews

The Dark Tide
by Andrew Gross
ISBN: 9780061143427
William Morrow
An Imprint of Harper Collins Publishers
Reviewed by Terry South, Quality Book Reviews

The Dark Tide is Andrew Gross’ second solo novel which is due to go on sale on 3/18/08.

Andrew Gross delivers an ingenious and intricately layered plot, while still creating convincing personal journeys for his characters. The Dark Tide delivers a tantalizing and intriguing story packed with shocking twists that will keep you guessing and begging for more. Gross is a master storyteller and demands attention.

The Dark Tide is a riveting, mind blowing story full of twist and turns. The author draws the reader in and I found myself trying to piece the puzzling story together through to the very end. A true page turner, I was unable to put this one down as it demands to be finished.

** Warning ** Do not continue reading as the following review contains spoilers.

The Dark Tide takes place in Greenwich, Conneticut among the wealthy. It begins with the Friedman family which consists of Charles, Karen and their two children Samantha and Alex. The Friedman’s lives are about to become explosive with the unfolding of the story. Literally there is an explosion at Grand Central Station where Charles Friedman is presumed dead, however, Karen holds out hope; thinking Charlie can come out of this like he does with everything else in life. Karen brings herself to finally watch the documentary one year after the explosion of Grand Central Station. What she finds is astounding, heart stopping and she finds herself watching the same frame over and over. Is her husband really alive? Did he survive, or is it her imagination playing tricks on her?

Karen finds herself searching for the truth and what she finds is $250 million worth of heartache; she is thrown into a whirlwind of international scams, losses of funds, lies, conspiracy and murder.

Karen’s life is turned upside down and she is drawn into the shock of her life, she seeks help from the Greenwich detective Ty Hauck. As the story futher unfolds I found myself hoping that Karen and Ty become involved in more than just the search for Charlie. Andrew Gross takes the characters across the Caribbean with beautiful detail, with the warmth of the sun, the beautiful waters, and the many islands through his vivid details.

The characters are finely tuned, compelling and memorable and you will find yourself caught up within the lives of the characters, I found myself in Karen’s shoes throughout the story. I could feel what she was feeling, Andrew Gross has developed such great characters that you feel as if you are in the shoes of the main character who I felt was the telling the story (Karen Friedman).

Karen through the help of Ty finds that her husband is indeed alive and feels cheated, and is consumed with the question of Why? Has the last eighteen years of her life with her husband Charles been a lie? What was he doing? Why did he lie, could he not trust her with the truth? Was there another woman? Why disappear and let her and and the children believe he was dead? She was determined to find him and find out for herself.

The Dark Tide is explosive action, intriguing, compelling and suspenseful thriller packed with enticing twists and turns to keep you on the edge. The author has created a powerful thriller that tantalizes with a sense of suspense and a steady flow of action. Gross has done a fantastic job in creating a story that is thought provoking and wraps everthing up effortlessly.

If you are in the market for an explosive read that will leave you thinking and talking for days after reading THIS IS IT!

It has been a great pleasure to be able to read and provide a review and I look forward to all of Andrew Gross’ future publications.

The ARC contained some typographical errors which should not be within the pages of the final published copy.

Strong language was used throughout for those that maybe offended. But please do not allow this to deter you, THIS IS AN EXPLOSIVE READ!!!

Andrew Gross web pages:
http://www.AndrewGrossBooks.com

http://www.myspace.com/andrewgrossbooks

I wanted to thank Harper Collins for the ARC of “The Dark Tide” by Andrew Gross, it has been a great pleasure reading such an explosive read. I cannot convey how much I enjoyed reading this, I think Andrew Gross has out done himself with this one and has set such a high standard and I truly love his work.

I have already spread the word through family, friends and co-workers and they are ready to hit the stores on 3/18/08.

The cover is also an attention getter as everyone has asked is the jacket designed that way or did you tear the jacket, so a great idea of grabbing everyone’s attention.

The 13th Demon: Altar of the Spiral Eye
by:  Bruce Hennigan
iUniverse (2006)
ISBN 9780595403967

Looking for a page turner that you will not be able to put down, here it is.  Once you begin this one make sure you have time to finish or be prepared to be late to school, work, or where ever you may need to be.  This is a gripping page turner page after page from beginning to end.

The story begins as a man comes crawling up the beach and finds his way to a woman’s home needing help.  He has been severely beaten and left to die by the ocean.  The man slips into a coma to awaken without any memory later in the hospital.  Upon being discharged from the hospital he has no recollection or any memory of who he is and has no where to go, he accepts a job as a caretaker for a physician and falls for his daughter April.

On the eve of their engagement, Jonathan returns to the condo to find the doctor almost dead at the hands of a madman and no sign of his fiancée.  Finding her alive and unharmed, Jonathan attempts to escape the madman who had done such violence, only to have them both caught and April killed before Jonathan is able to kill the man, who is actually a demon.  As April lay dying in his arms, she told Jonathan that the demon had said that he had to kill Jonathan before he destroyed all of his kind.  With her last breath, she begs Jonathan to fight the evil. 

And so the quest begins, but where does one look to find the demons and to prevent evil?

An excellent entertaining read that demands to be finished once the first page has been read.  An astounding 5 stars!

Beginner’s Greek

 

Beginner’s Greek
by:  James Collins

Holly and Peter meet on a flight from New York to Los Angeles and are immediately attracted to one another.  At some inner level, they each know they met their life mate.   This is an amusing chick lit romance in which one thing leads to another.  Peter loses her number and years later Holly marries Peter’s best friend, will Holly and Peter ever realize they belong together or is it too late. 

You will love the more surprising twists and turns in the lives of the various characters in this romance.  You will be amazed at the surprises that will pop up throughout and some unexpected happenings you will never see coming your way.

You will want to pick up a copy of “Beginner’s Greek” as this is an amusing romantic read and demands to be read.  No secrets or story lines revealed in this review, you will want to enjoy this one and discuss with your friends.  A very entertaining read.  And written by a male, so romance still can thrive where least expected from the male’s perspective.

Creation In Death
by:  J.D. Robb

Another great hit in the”In Death” series which is a futuristic setting taking place in 2060.

 I am a great fan of Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb and she never disappoints, I highly recommend this entire series.  J.D. Robb is a master of her genre and all her stories are entertaining and must reads.

Five Stars to the “In Death” series.

The Society of S
Susan Hubbard

 A wonderful coming of age tale of a girl’s struggles with the end of the innocence while dealing with adolescence and being a mixed breed offspring (of vampire and of mortal).  Her father is a vampire and her mother a mortal, now Ari must decide her fate, does she wish to follow her father and become a vampire or does she wish to be mortal?  Ari sets out to find her mother and to make her decision, the majority of the tale is Ari’s search for her mother.  If you enjoy vampire tales you will enjoy The Society of S, others may find this an enjoyable read while others will put this one away after a few chapters. 

The Woods
by: Harlan Coben
ISBN: 0525950125

Story of four teens who attend summer camp take off into the woods one evening to never return.  Two are discovered dead, two have vanished and presumed dead.  Were all four of the teens victims of the serial killer?  As the story plays out, the two discovered dead teens are placed to rest and funeral services held, but what of the other two missing teens, where are their bodies?  Are they really dead or hiding for their lives?

Harlan Coben has  penned a whopper of an action packed thriller which is evident by the strong story line.  There are many twists and the story tends to delve into other avenues that may at times take you away from the main theme, so pay close attention for the astounding end to this one.  Not to be missed, an overall excellent read.

Ricochet
by Sandra Brown

Homicide detective Duncan Hatcher is a gung-ho, and sometimes sort of a rogue cop who pushes all the issues to the fullest envelope content. When he sees outlandish criminal Robert Savich released by Judge Cato Laird when Hatcher knew there was enough evidence on this man to put him away for a long time, he becomes obsessed at finding more evidence to keep Savich off the streets. DeeDee Bowen is Hatcher’s partner. She is very gung-ho but not to the extent of Hatcher. She has to attempt to calm Hatcher down when he allows his anger to get into his official police work. The situation intensifies when several connected with Savich’s past and present life turn up missing or dead. Everyone knows that Savich is a bad criminal capable of anything, but since Judge Laird had released him the police had to dig deeper to find solid evidence on Savich. Savich was extremely careful not to leave a trail of evidence that would lead to him for any of the crimes he is suspected of committing. When the police delve into these older disappearances Judge Laird seems to be involved somehow in most of them. One night Judge Laird’s house was broken into and his lovely wife, Elise, shot and killed the man in the judge’s study. A strange trail of evidence was found in the house. Elise had gone downstairs from their bedroom to get some milk, as she did many nights due to “sleeplessness!” She claims she heard a noise as she moved around the downstairs area. She grabbed a hidden gun and claimed that the burglar shot at her, missed her, and she shot and killed him. Hatcher was one of the many law authorities that arrived but Hatcher was having a hard time taking his eyes and mind off of the so gorgeous Elise Laird, making his concentration on the actual case very hard. But between he, DeeDee, and all the other law enforcement agency people that were to work on this high profile case, things return to a huge workload for all involved. Hatcher was fine until he thought or saw Elise Laird. He was caught on her. The authorities were finding too many pieces of evidence, some possibly just coincidence, linking Judge Laird to Savich. This made Hatcher and Bowen delve into old mysterious murder cases that seemed to connect to the judge. Duncan and DeeDee made a great team seemingly to know what is on the others mind while investigating. DeeDee only had qualms regarding Hatcher’s actions some times. When Elise goes missing Hatcher goes even more radical than before. He has to find this woman for who he has so many feelings. At this point I don’t want to ruin any of the many plots and twists and turns in Ricochet. Sandra Brown has come through with another top story. The surprises go to the very end. The reader can follow the story easily the way the author has written it. I have always enjoyed her books especially the crime stories. Her characters are real and their actions place you in the midst of every crime scene and interrogation.  Sandra Brown has developed an ingeneous plot that delivers with constant surprises throughout the story.  This is a must read.

Cut To The Bone
By Shane Gericke
http://www.shanegericke.com
Pinnacle Books
ISBN 978-0786018147, 384 pgs.
Reviewed by Terry South, Quality Book Reviews

Cut to the Bone is a non-stop thriller, one that the reader will not be able to put down.

Governor Covington has built his “Justice Center” in Naperville, a place where they execute death row prisoners in the electric chair. The world is watching Naperville prior to the upcoming execution of Corey Trent. Also, the Executioner is particularly paying attention, he is the man who starts by killing a receptionist at a spa where Emily and Martin Benedetti are members. The police department and Sheriff’s office put together a joint task force following the murder of a police officer. As suspicions begin to build about a serial killer, the Naperville forces are on the hunt for the killer before Friday which is the Governor’s target date for Cory Trent’s execution.

The serial killer known as “The Executioner” is a twisted psychopath, he attacks his victims and the his victims bear precision cuts by a man with no conscious that remains calm, collected and completely in control. If you are looking for a fast paced thriller with edge of your seat impact then look no further, this was a thrilling and engaging read. The author has done an excellent job and has done his research, once you start you will not be able to put this one down. An excellent read from the first page to the last.

Shane Gericke became a professional writer while in high school, since he has polished his writing as both an editor and reporter for newspapers and national magazines. He currently resides in Naperville, Illinois with his wife.

Visit the authors website at http://www.shanegericke.com