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The Dish Dog – Peter Davidson

Posted on March 24, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Don Jung)

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Kimberly King turned down a golden opportunity to work at her father’s highly successful investment fund company. Instead, she wanted to make her own mark in the world. She now works as a forensic accountant for the FBI, trying to unravel a complicated insider stock trading ring.

This is a fascinating look on how the FBI investigates white collar crime. Starting with her first assignment, she investigates a nonprofit organization that is supposed to help rescue abandoned and abused children. The procedure to get search warrants to obtain bank and stock brokerage information requires a lot of steps and gets the reader interested in this undercover work.

A tip from a bartender about someone bragging on how he made a killing in the stock market gets the team involved and our protagonist faces a lot of problems on how to find the culprit leaking these stock trading tips to his various clients. Like so many tips that go to the bureau, some lead to bigger events and that’s what is intriguing about this story.

The brains behind this stock trading group lives a very frugal life in New York City and he
knows how to hide his identity behind a lot of clever moves. This entices the reader to root for him to continue his success. Is he a real criminal? It’s very engrossing on how he stays one step ahead of the law.

The story moves quickly, and each step needs a thorough process before they can offer immunity to one of the lucky clients to get after the ringleader. It’s a very fascinating look at the Wall Street world from a distinct perspective. You’ll find this an enjoyable read.

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | Tagged crime fiction, FBI, insider trading, New York, Wall Street | Comments Off

Trash – Sylvia Aguilar-Zéleny, (translated by JD Pluecker)

Posted on March 21, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung)

#CommissionsEarned

“Who is the person who makes a life out of our leftovers? And, more specifically, what makes us who we are?”

Griselda, a researcher, studies those who inhabit the Juárez city dump. She balances that with helping to care for her aunt in El Paso who is suffering from dementia. She travels across the border between the two cities to conduct her work with her team.

However, she is just one of the three women who live totally different lives and are featured in this riveting novel. Street-smart Alicia has lived in the Juárez city dump for years, though she still looks quite young. An aging trans matriarch of sex workers known as Reyna Grande, is trying to save enough money to go back to live among her remaining family members in Ecatepec, Mexico.

Each chapter goes back and forth between each of these women’s perspectives. You briefly wonder how each of their lives will tie in but get too caught up in their individual stories to actually care. Then it all comes together in breathtaking fashion, in ways that you would never imagine.

Author Sylvia Aguilar-Zéleny writes with such clarity, that readers will feel that they can actually smell the stench of the dump and the sweetness of the perfume worn by those in the city. However, the differences in people may not be all that they seem.

There are so many aspects of the human condition that are explored here, such as family history, abandonment, survival, gender, aging, power, violence, and love. Add to that, all those who must travel across country borders daily. This may seem like a lot to cover, but it all fits in well to make this an absorbing and heartfelt story.

Trash is a such a mesmeric and unique novel that you won’t be able to put down.

Posted in Latin American Literature | Tagged aging, dementia, family dysfunction, gender, love, Mexican literature, transgender, violence | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited – Taking Down Backpage: Fighting the World’s Largest Sex Trafficker – Maggy Krell

Posted on March 16, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung)

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“While a commercial sex transaction may seem consensual on the surface, the lopsided power dynamic, the history of trauma and abuse, and the lack of options often make the consent illusory. And sex without consent is rape. The exchange of money doesn’t change that.”

By 2012, human trafficking was the world’s second largest criminal business, next only to the manufacturing and sale of narcotics.

Prosecutor Maggy Krell discovered that the majority of sex-trafficking victims in the United States were not immigrants but were born in the United States. Disproportionate number of victims were (and still are) African American girls and minors. Though she started her legal career in San Joaquin County prosecuting street pimps and motels that facilitated sex trafficking, she would later take on one of the most powerful classified advertising websites, Backpage.com.

Though Backpage did advertise general goods for sale to make the site look legitimate, it made the bulk of its money from ads featuring children for sex. By 2014 Backpage operated in eight hundred cities around the world. A small transaction fee was charged for every ad, but these ads generated millions of dollars a month in profit for the company and that was just in California.

Krell takes us step-by-step in the investigation, prosecution, setbacks, and ultimate takedown of Backpage. Not only did the company have unlimited funds to hire the best attorneys, but it also afforded them the opportunity to present themselves in the best possible light to law enforcement. What was more complicated though were the issues of free speech and privacy as well as the culpability of websites in engaging in criminal behavior. These issues continue today.

Krell knows her readers and explains the legal nuances in engaging lay terms. She includes her interactions with victims and advocates as well as legal professionals.

Though this is a memoir, it reads more like a breathtaking crime story. The writing is sharp and memorable and Krell builds the tension, hooks us from the beginning and doesn’t let go.

More importantly Taking Down Backpage reminds us of a devastating crisis that society shouldn’t forget and what we must do about it now.

Posted in Revisited | Tagged autobiography, human trafficking, rape, sex trafficking, Sexual abuse | Comments Off

The Flowers of Buffoonery – Os Amu Dazai, (translated by Sam Bett)

Posted on March 13, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung)

#CommissionsEarned

“A man crushed by reality puts on a show of endurance.”

This is exactly the case with twenty-five-year-old Yozo Oba, who is sent to a seaside sanitarium to recover from injuries due to failed suicide attempt. Unfortunately, his girlfriend succeeded.

Yozo’s older brother and a couple of friends visit him, and for four days his room is filled with jokes, antics and gossip. Even a staff nurse can’t refuse and finds herself continually dropping in on the young men. Through all of this we learn about their troubled lives and the inner turmoil that continues to engulf them. The Flowers of Buffoonery (appropriately titled) is filled with dark humor, where the reader may feel guilty for joining in on the fun. However, you can’t help but feel empathy towards the characters.

Though this is supposed to have taken place in 1929 Japan, the characters and events are hauntingly relatable. The author sneaks into the narrator’s voice, admitting his faults. If you read the bio of author Os Amu Dazai’s (1909 – 1948), you can see the eerie connections.

The Flowers of Buffoonery is only eighty pages but carries a lot of weight. Highly recommended.

Posted in Far Eastern Literature, Humor & Satire, Lost and almost forgotten, Skinny reads | Tagged Japan, mental illness, suicide | Comments Off

The Lord’s Tusks – Jeffery Ulin

Posted on March 9, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Ann Onymous )

#CommissionsEarned

“…Michael nodded, climbing into his car and silently steering back toward camp. He passed by the troop of baboons, still frolicking in the savanna, slowly making their way back home, oblivious to the powers shaping their future world. Michael looked at them play and longed for the ease of their routine. He wondered if they understood their own mortality. He wondered if they wondered.”

Jeffery Ulin graduated from Harvard and lived in Kenya. His experiences have influenced his writing this novel.

The situation in Kenya is not simple nor straightforward and the plot of this book is equally challenging. Mr. Ulin included a lot of issues that the nation faces to this day. Most of the novel takes place the early 1980’s. The story explains poaching and the challenges of governing the young nation.

Inspired by the true history of Kenya, the British-born characters experience the challenges of citizens living in the newly independent country. All of the characters display the dichotomy of village vs. city, tradition vs. education, insider vs. outsider, feeling at home in Kenya or wishing they were elsewhere.

The main character is a man who expects to be a “Lord” in the future, waiting for his inheritance. Meanwhile he marries the newly widowed wife of the former ambassador to Kenya. The marriage brings him her money and he gives her a title again. Her two children gain a new stepfather with an incredible appetite for money, power and status. The young researcher and veterinarian focus on studying and saving the lives of animals. The “Lord” in this story goes about retrieving elephant tusks and rhino horns by any means necessary.

Talking about the entire country of Kenya in a novel is a monumental task. But if you like bloody adventure, this book is for you. If you like romance, you will find it here also. There is lying, stealing, killing of animals and poachers. The characters face choices, consequences, and moral dilemmas. If you hunger for justice and punishment your appetite will be quenched.

With a very successful career under his belt already, this author has written a book to educate people about poaching. He aims to inspire all of us to save these magnificent animals. The illegal trade of ivory continues in 2023. We must indeed heed the message before it is too late.

Posted in Environmental Fiction, World Issues | Tagged Africa, environmental fiction, Kenya, poaching | Comments Off

Russia’s War on Everybody: And What it Means for You – Keir Giles

Posted on March 4, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung)

When I started reading Russia’s War on Everybody: And What it Means for You, I thought “I know all of this.”, as I considered myself relatively informed on the subject. However, I am so glad that I continued to read this fascinating, but troubling book. There is so much I was totally unaware of!

British author Keir Giles explains how Russia uses its military, espionage, media, cyber, organized crime, and other methods to accomplish their objectives. In addition to extensive research, he interviewed nearly forty people throughout the world. Among them were professors, diplomats, military officers and soldiers, and cybersecurity experts. They relate their accounts of Russia’s campaign against the West.

In addition to well-publicized attacks, he has included those relatively unknown to Americans, as they have occurred in numerous countries, such as the UK, Sweden, Finland, Australia, and Estonia. He has provided specific examples of electronic warfare, murder, sabotage, intimidation, identity theft, and disinformation. He explains Russia’s role in Brexit and how Russia exploits weaknesses and vulnerabilities in Western countries. Their attacks extend further than traditional targets.

Giles teaches us the history of the government mindset, which traces back to the Russian Empire. Will Russia’s actions change after Putin?

There is a lot of detail in this book, but it is necessary to educate us on the dangers, as well as to convince the naysayers. Which countries have fared better in protecting themselves against Russian influence? How do they continue to accomplish that?

So, what can we and our governments do to protect us against Russian influence? How can we contain Russia within its own borders?

So, if the Russian threat is not on your radar, it should be. If you are not even concerned, after reading Russia’s War on Everybody: And What it Means for You, you will be!

Posted in History, Non-fiction, Politics | Tagged cyber-crime, disinformation, espionage, media, military, murder, Putin, Russia, Soviet Union, war | Comments Off

A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe – Mark Dawidziak

Posted on March 1, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung)

#CommissionsEarned

Edgar Allan Poe’s death continues to be one of the great mysteries, as there are multiple theories on the actual cause. However, we tend to lose sight of an even a greater mystery, his life.

It’s difficult to establish a truly accurate story of Poe’s life, as not only did those who knew him exaggerate and contradict themselves, but Poe himself did the same. While author Mark Dawidziak explores these contradictions, he more importantly provides a captivating story of what we do know about Poe and the essence of his life and last days.

Readers will learn to separate the poet and author from his narrators. The fact that he wrote with a “satirical edge” and had a great sense of humor doesn’t fit with the myth. Neither do some of the writers who probably influenced him.

Could Poe have been the originator of the modern detective story and a major influence in the true-crime genre? Dawidziak gives context to some of his greatest works, which helps to answer the above question. He also gives strong evidence on why Poe is appreciated more today than when he was alive.

We also learn what famous contemporary writers think of him, as well as to what lengths historians have gone through in attempts to get into his mind. Dawidziak details his meetings with Charles Dickens and explores why he had such animosity towards Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Though all of this is fascinating, I found delving into his daily life the most captivating. We learn about the complex personality of this outsider, who often acted as his own worst enemy. This is also accomplished by learning about those close to him.

One could say that A Mystery of Mysteries appeals to a niche audience. However, I must admit that I am not a huge fan of Poe’s work. Still, I was mesmerized by this analysis, and learning about one of America’s greatest writers.

Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Non-fiction | Tagged biography, Edgar Allan Poe, Poe | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited – The Newlyweds’ Window: The 2022 Mukana Press Anthology of African Writing – Mukana Press (Compiler)

Posted on February 27, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung)

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“Mukana” is the Shona translation for “opportunity”, and the mission of Mukana Press is to provide the opportunity for writers in underrepresented areas to show their work to a world audience. So, what is the result of this specific compilation? Twelve diverse stories selected out of 512 entries from twenty-three countries. Half are from debut authors. And these stories are exceptional!

In fact, I can’t pick a favorite as so many are brilliant. There isn’t a bad one in the bunch. “The Newlywed’s Window” by Husnah Mad-hy is just one story in this collection; a story where appearances usually don’t tell the truth and love is transitory. We start out with “Gasping For Air” by Ogechukwu Emmanuel Samuel, in which we get in the sordid mind of a serial killer. From then on, I was hooked.

In “Our Girl Bimpe” by Olakunle Ologunro, we meet a young woman who discovers herself and others through social media, but with a twist. “Mareba’s Tavern” by Gladwell Pamba takes a cynical look at human relationships. We realize how old friends change in “Rain” by Muuka Gwaba. Hannah Onoguwe tells us a relevant but eerie tale of family in the speculative piece, “Old Photographs”. Still, most of these stories are quite relatable.

The above examples are very brief descriptions of just some of my favorites. I really can’t do them justice as there are so many layers and so much depth to each.

The Newlyweds’ Window: The 2022 Mukana Press Anthology of African Writing is a must-read collection, and I hope to read more from these writers.

Posted in Revisited | Tagged Africa, African literature, family, short stories | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited – The Scent of Burnt Flowers – Blitz Bazawule

Posted on February 25, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung)

#CommissionsEarned

It’s the mid-1960s and an African American couple, Melvin and Bernadette are on the run. Melvin sees that their only chance is to flee the U.S. Back in college, Melvin saved the life of a Ghanian student who would later become the country’s first president, Kwame Nkrumah. Though Kwame promises not to forget Melvin’s act of selflessness, Melvin has not seen him in years. However, he believes that seeking asylum in Ghana as the only way out.

As the two begin their journey in Ghana, Bernadette reminisces how they got there, and we learn about their pasts and why they are on the run. They find themselves in constant danger as they try to make it to the Ghanian capitol. An Akan proverb, “If an animal will bite you, it will be from your cloth.” keeps coming into play.

A well-known musician with a mystic guitar assists them, but it proves problematic. He not only falls for Bernadette, but she finds a real connection to him. Add to that, an FBI agent is on their trail.

Folklore, magical realism, jealousy, revenge, and romance are intertwined in this engaging work of historical fiction. We learn about Ghanian history and culture with Western colonization and U.S. attempts to overthrow newly independent African governments. We also revisit American racism. The way the author structures the back and forth between the present and the past is easy to follow and keeps the reader engaged. The characters seem real, and even the supporting characters are fully fleshed.

The Scent of Burnt Flowers hooked me to the point that I read it in one sitting. I just couldn’t put it down. There are plenty of twists that I didn’t see coming, and the ending is satisfying. A must-read!

Posted in Revisited | Tagged 1960s, colonialism, FBI, Ghana, racism | Comments Off

They Call Me Produce Pete: Food, memories, and cherished family recipes from America’s favorite expert on fruit and vegetables – Produce Pete Napolitano, Susan Bloom

Posted on February 21, 2023 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Heidi A. Swan)

#CommissionsEarned

I picked up They Call Me Produce Pete because, like the author, I believe “if you eat right, you’re gonna live right.” I was completely unaware of Pete Napolitano’s status as a beloved weekly personality of the tri-state area for the last thirty years. On NBC New York, he tells viewers how to choose fruits and vegetables, how to prepare dishes with them, and flavors his segments with stories about his friends and family. It’s a simple and satisfying combination and it’s the same recipe he uses for this book about his life.

Overall, the book tells brightly colored, and sometimes painfully bruising, stories from Pete’s life. He’s known for his authenticity and ability to connect with viewers and customers. This is not just a gift; it is due, in part, to his difficult-to-love father who was his first boss. He berated Pete and even said he wouldn’t amount to anything. Yet, his father also taught young Pete to value customers, look them straight in the eye, and not to worry about what they think of you. This turned out to be a powerful combination for a young man whose future would be in television. Who knew?

Another story involves his wife, Bette, his high school sweetheart, who was instrumental in Pete’s transition to TV. On more than one occasion, her husband was asked to appear on a local television program. But Pete refused to take the time away from his produce store to do so. One day, Bette happened to answer the phone and the producer offered to send a car for Pete. Instinctively, Bette said, yes, he would go.

This story also serves to illustrate how single-focused Pete was to his career that demanded hard, physical labor with extremely long hours. Pete believes his job would have killed him if he kept up the same pace. Imagine if Bette had not picked up the phone?

At times, the book could have used a little trimming. He is so vocally thankful to those who have helped him, specifically, his coworkers, and his fans. But this is minor.

The reason I opened the book, produce and his most famous recipes, turned out to be the side dishes of reading this story. The main course is a favorite comfort food, well-seasoned, that makes up the life of Pete Napolitano. I highly recommend it.

Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Food & Cooking | Tagged cookbook, fruits, memoirs, vegetables | Comments Off

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