A Conversation with Author Cari Lynn

Posted on October 25, 2014 by J D Jung

Cari Lynn I was so intrigued with Cari Lynn’s latest novel, Madam, that I spent hours researching the infamous  New Orleans Madam, Josie Arlington. Afterwards I just had to ask Cari about her story and what motivated her to seek out this fascinating piece of American history. JDJ - What prompted you to write about…

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Eddie: The Life and Times of America’s Preeminent Bad Boy – Ken Osmond and Christopher J. Lynch

Posted on October 10, 2014 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “…unlike the warriors’ Valkyrie, the Hollywood version didn't let you know that you were going to die immediately; you were baited, strung along, and then let down to die a slow, lingering death. And like every actor, you would keep telling yourself that success was just around the next bend, but…

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Sex, Rain, and Cold Fusion – A. R. Taylor

Posted on September 28, 2014 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “…each time he closed his eyes, he pictures working at Juan de Fuca…Down there, in that torrid, turbid world of extremes, how could he discern the workings of a fifth force so slight that it showed itself in traces, in small tugs at the universe? The other four forces are loud…

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Fighting Chance – Jane Haddam

Posted on September 18, 2014 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Tibor was always surprised at how casual and unassuming most real evil really was. …so much evil was done as everyday business…And it was nothing. It was just transactions. It had the same emotional force on their brains as going grocery shopping or getting an oil change for their car.” Judge…

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The December Project: An Extraordinary Rabbi and a Skeptical Seeker Confront Life’s Greatest Mystery – Sara Davidson

Posted on September 1, 2014 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) A few months ago I attended a Writers Bloc event to see author Sara Davidson promote her new book, The December Project. The evening began with a live video chat with Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi from his Colorado home. She met weekly with the eighty- five year old Rabbi to work on…

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The Confessions of Frances Godwin – Robert Hellenga

Posted on August 24, 2014 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “My life doesn't add up to anything, Father. More like the story of Troy—all in a day’s work—than Rome, going in circles instead of moving forward. I've worn out all the roles I used to play—daughter, student, lover, wife, mother, Latin teacher. Now I’m just…I don’t know what I’m doing." Do…

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Rockaway – Tara Ison

Posted on August 11, 2014 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “…the relationship of note to note, that’s what music is, we should have been listening to music in all those art classes, trying to grasp color, refraction, translucence, perspective, the illusion of depth…” It also occurred to her that she had been too afraid of color. She remembered her old college art professor…

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Nochita – Dia Felix

Posted on July 21, 2014 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “I am feeling the burning comet feeling again and I want to run out of the house and keep running for hours. Or stomp the glass coffee table and shatter it and shoot beams of blood out of my fingers. I want to run off the cliffs and just keep running…

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Madam: A Novel of New Orleans – Cari Lynn and Kellie Martin

Posted on July 13, 2014 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Everything I have, everything I am, I owe to them--to her. …Her family tree was but a stump. And yet, the riches she bestowed upon me: my education, my inheritance…This house, in all its faded elegance, is all I have left. How I hated that it once lived as a bordello—hot…

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Looking Glass Killer: Volume II: The Matthew-Matt Trilogy – Floyd Merrell

Posted on July 2, 2014 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “I never was, am always to be; no one ever saw me, nor ever will; who am I?”        A serial killer is on the loose. The police are stumped and the public is frantic and impatient. He is referred to as "X-Man","X" standing for an unknown variable as this killer…

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