Category Archives: Fiction

The Berlin Woman – Alan Kaufman

Posted on January 21, 2020 by J D Jung

(reviewed by JD Jung) “She turns her giving of love available to transact with, as a form of punishment, a torment, an affliction, an act of revenge. She replays overtures of love with suffering and pain.” So why is writer … Continue reading →

Posted in Modern Literary Fiction | Tagged Austria, betrayal, Germany, history, Judaism, psychological drama, San Francisco, Ukraine | Comments Off

Lives on Fire – Rosie Scott

Posted on January 17, 2020 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) When I travel to a new city, I love to pop into independent bookstores. So, when I ran across Hard To Find Bookshop, a second-hand bookstore in Auckland, New Zealand, I just had to enter this … Continue reading →

Posted in Australian Literature, Lost and almost forgotten | Tagged infidelity, love, marriage, women's fiction | Comments Off

A Killing Game (A Curtis Westcott Crime Thriller Book 1) – Jeff Buick

Posted on January 13, 2020 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Don Jung) I started reading A Killing Game during a long flight to New Zealand. The problem was that upon arrival, I didn’t want to go out and see the sights. I just had to stay in my … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Reviewers' Top Picks | Tagged crime fiction, detective fiction, mystery | Comments Off

Tales of Adventure With Nap Lapkin – Lance Manion

Posted on November 30, 2019 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “There was only one place to be if you were a vampire, the Marriott Marquis Times Square. It was time to dispatch Dick Clark once and for all.” Why would secret agent/ “super-spy” Nap Lapkin dub … Continue reading →

Posted in More fiction | Tagged dark humor, short books | Comments Off

The Woman in the Park -Teresa Sorkin , Tullan Holmqvist

Posted on November 2, 2019 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Thérèse, residing in damp obscurity, in gloomy, crushing silence, saw life expand before her in all its nakedness, each night bringing the same cold couch, and each morn the same empty day.” “But inwardly, she lived … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Romance | Tagged mental illness, mystery, PTSD | Comments Off

Mycroft and Sherlock: The Empty Birdcage – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Anna Waterhouse

Posted on October 21, 2019 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Don Jung) It surprises me that legendary basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has now written fifteen books since he retired from sports. His fascination with the Arthur Conan Doyle books has him writing his third installment in a series … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | Tagged mystery, serial killers, Sherlock Holmes | Comments Off

Combustible Punch: An enthralling and unnerving probe into the complex mind of a murderer – Paul Michael Peters

Posted on October 17, 2019 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “It’s never the pain at the moment that hurts us. It’s that we are always going to have it, always going to carry it with us. “ Rick Phillips never fully recovered from a high school … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | Tagged Crime, murder, serial killers | Comments Off

Two Suspects: A Legal Mystery – Gary Sherbell

Posted on October 3, 2019 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Christopher J. Lynch) It’s said that good things come in small packages and Two Suspects by Gary Sherbell bears this out. At only 107 pages, the book could easily be devoured on a plane flight or on … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | Tagged book reviews, legal mystery, short books | Comments Off

Cleaning Up Finn – Sarah M. Chen

Posted on September 16, 2019 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) Thirty-two-year-old restaurant manager Finn Roose will be the protagonist you love to hate. He over indulges in booze and women and even takes advantage of his closest friends. Needless to say, ethics and decency are not … Continue reading →

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | Tagged crime fiction, mysogeny, short books, Southern California | 1 Comment

My Neighbour Osama Bin Laden – Yslar Tatuky

Posted on August 31, 2019 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned What happens when one puts Osama bin Laden and Salman Rushdie at the same dinner table? Yslar Tatuky is such a person as he has grand, though idealistic, hopes for humanity in his novel, My … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction, Humor & Satire, Philosophical reads, Politics and Social Justice, Slavic Literature, World Issues, World Literature | Tagged Georgia, Marx, Osama bin Laden, philosophy, Salman Rushdie, Soviet Union | Comments Off