Sins in Blue – Brian Kaufman

Posted on May 21, 2020 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Don Jung) “Audiences like their blues singers to be miserable,” said Janis Joplin. Sins in Blue is a story of an unhappy bluesman who is rediscovered by a young college student trying to revive his career. Willie Johnson is a poor white blues guitarist who grew up during the Depression and lives with…

Read More →

Posted in Culture, Historical Fiction, Music inspired | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Sins in Blue – Brian Kaufman

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

Posted on May 18, 2020 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) This "revisited" post is in remembrance of Ken Osmond (1943-2020) who passed away yesterday. “…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,…

Read More →

Posted in Revisited | Tagged , | Comments Off on An UnderratedRead Revisited and in Remembrance: Eddie: The Life and Times of America’s Preeminent Bad Boy – Ken Osmond and Christopher J. Lynch

Dance with the Clouds: Backpacking the World That Was – Carl B. Yong

Posted on May 15, 2020 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Christopher J. Lynch)   Dance with the Clouds by Carl B. Yong was a very enjoyable read and kept my interest from the first page to the last. The book chronicles Yong’s around- the- world backpacking journey in the early 90’s and lands the reader in many exotic and far-flung locales. Yong has…

Read More →

Posted in Bios and Memoirs | Tagged , | Comments Off on Dance with the Clouds: Backpacking the World That Was – Carl B. Yong

Berkeley Noir (Akashic Noir Series) edited by Jerry Thompson and Owen Hill

Posted on May 12, 2020 by J D Jung

(reviewed by JD Jung) “I arrived in Berkeley, back in 1991. A Berkeley that seemed to be still living off the fumes of the late sixties, which were fumes so strong you might just want to breathe them in all your life, especially when you add a car and a redwood hot tub.” How do…

Read More →

Posted in Dark/Sordid/Bizarre, Short stories | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Berkeley Noir (Akashic Noir Series) edited by Jerry Thompson and Owen Hill

Instant Pot, please, make my day! – A.J. May

Posted on May 6, 2020 by J D Jung

(reviewed by JD Jung) On the last Cyber Monday, I found an Instant Pot on sale at over 50% off. This appliance was totally off my radar. but at that price, with its rave reviews, I just had to get one. Upon receiving it and opening up the instructions, I felt so intimidated, that I…

Read More →

Posted in Food & Cooking | Tagged , | Comments Off on Instant Pot, please, make my day! – A.J. May

An UnderratedRead Revisited -Corkscrew: The highly improbable, but occasionally true, tale of a professional wine buyer – Peter Stafford-Bow

Posted on April 26, 2020 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Don Jung) Prep school failure Felix Hart got his first job as an inventory clerk at a wine shop. Little did he realize that this would set the stage for his career as a premier wine buyer in London. As this young man grew into the job, he became a confident self-motivated leader…

Read More →

Posted in Revisited | Tagged , | Comments Off on An UnderratedRead Revisited -Corkscrew: The highly improbable, but occasionally true, tale of a professional wine buyer – Peter Stafford-Bow

Retablos: Stories From a Life Lived Along the Border – Octavio Solis

Posted on April 19, 2020 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “…the shit on the border never changes. There will always be those who want to come across, and those who want to keep them where they are…I think it’s really a condition of our culture: it’s how we live now, it is our particular mythology, replete with gods and monsters, heroes…

Read More →

Posted in Bios and Memoirs, Immigration, World Issues | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

An UnderratedRead Revisited -Gigolo: Inside the Secret World of the Super Rich- Ben Foster, Clifford Thurlow

Posted on April 11, 2020 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “…I had plenty of money but always needed more. I had thought of myself as a healer when I started work at the spa. I had turned into a total slut. I played every client until they let go of their inhibitions and submitted to their secret fantasies. Ladies who left…

Read More →

Posted in Revisited | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on An UnderratedRead Revisited -Gigolo: Inside the Secret World of the Super Rich- Ben Foster, Clifford Thurlow

Fatal Beauty (A Cleve Hawkins Detective Novel) – R.C. Hartson

Posted on April 2, 2020 by J D Jung

(reviewed by JD Jung) A serial killer is terrorizing Chicago, and the victims are young women. However, when private investigator Cleve Hawkins’ new client wants him to locate her sister, he initially thinks that she just doesn’t want to be found. Could it be that or the worst case imaginable? As bodies are discovered, we…

Read More →

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Fatal Beauty (A Cleve Hawkins Detective Novel) – R.C. Hartson

The Dead Don’t Sleep – Steven Max Russo

Posted on March 30, 2020 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Don Jung) When I started reading The Dead Don’t Sleep, I soon realized that I would be in for an engrossing journey. Frank Thompson, a Vietnam vet, goes to a local shooting range accompanied by his nephew. They have a chance meeting with a former Army Special Forces soldier. It’s been over forty…

Read More →

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Reviewers' Top Picks | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Dead Don’t Sleep – Steven Max Russo