(Reviewed by J.D. Jung) "...forgiveness led to compassion, which in turn led to empathy. Very often empathy, as hard as it may be to extend it to one who has wronged you, is the very best shield of self-protection and emotional preservation. Holding on to your own anger can do far more emotional long-term harm…
(Reviewed by J.D. Jung) No one remembers your accomplishments, only your last mistake. And it was a whopper. In fact it would plague Jan Tomasewski (aka Jake Thompson) for his entire career in the Chicago PD. While busting a Guatemalan ring of thieves, Jake made a slight hesitation that cost him his career. He was…
(reviewed by Renée Kay) I came across The Stonecutter by Camilla Läckberg while at the library picking up another book I had reserved. What caught my attention was that is was yet another Swedish mystery, which I can’t seem to get enough of. Was I in for a fascinating, yet unnerving read! The current story begins…
(Reviewed by Julie L. Kessler) Sometimes you come across a book by a first-time author that wholly by surprise thoroughly transports you to another time and to another place. And the best part is that you are able to go along for an utterly amazing ride possessing neither a plane ticket nor a passport. No…
(Reviewed by J.D. Jung) < I love a good villain…at least in novels. So when I came across extortionist John Sharp, I just had to get to know him better. John, or “One Eyed Jack”, as they call him knows how to keep a secret…for a price. Let me add that he has no problems…
(Reviewed by J.D. Jung) Everyone adjusts their life to the big clock; sometimes it races forward, sometimes it moves backward. It impersonally reaches for some, and forgets others. George Stroud is one who it reaches for, but fortunately misses. Stroud, a married father, works for Crimeways, part of the publishing conglomerate, Janoth Enterprises. He speaks of the…
(Reviewed by J.D. Jung) Buy it! Imagine that a young journalist is stuck in a small town working for a small newspaper, but is plagued with a huge imagination and a tendency to stumble into even bigger predicaments. You say you’ve read it before? Don’t answer so quickly. Let me continue… Young journalist Vicky Hill…
(Reviewed by J.D. Jung) What happens when the self-indulgent, romantic poet Oscar Wilde joins the reserved and pragmatic Arthur Conan Doyle to solve a mystery at the Vatican? You get Oscar Wilde and the Vatican Murders, a fun read featuring two brilliant literary minds . In 1892 Arthur Conan Doyle, creator of the Sherlock Holmes…
(Reviewed by J.D. Jung) Imagine that a cure for AIDS is well within our reach but research is halted and discoveries kept from the public because it may not be lucrative enough. Author Anne Marie Ruff explores this premise as well as the exploitation of natural resources in underdeveloped countries in her mesmerizing debut novel…
Crime novelist Denise Hamilton's latest novel, Damage Control, is an exciting thriller featuring Maggie Silver, a "crisis manager" in a prominent PR firm. I spoke with Denise about the book, inspiration and her career. JDJ - With a background in journalism, what prompted you to write crime novels? DH - As a journalist for the LA Times, I…
