Review: Ready to Fumble by Christy Barritt

What a dilemma! Gabby St. Claire or Joey Darling? I'll take both, please!

Christy Barritt's new series introduces Joey Darling, an actress who is being manipulated into taking on her most famous role -- TV P.I. Raven Remington -- in order to solve a murder. As with the Squeaky Clean Mysteries, the Worst Detective Ever debut, Ready to Fumble, features a mix of fun, mystery, and even a little romance.

Joey Darling is in Nags Head, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to find out why her father disappeared. Sure, she told him she never wanted to see him again, but she didn't mean it. So with her life at an all-time low, she's heads away from Hollywood, rents a place, takes a job as a cosmetologist, and starts digging into her dad's disappearance. However, before she makes any headway, a "client" comes into the salon where she's working and hires Joey to find a missing boyfriend.

Along the way Joey gets help from next door neighbor Zane Oakley and Nags Harbor Police Detective Jackson Sullivan. Both come across as potential romantic partners, but one is more than willing to help with her investigation and the other is more than willing to discourage those pursuits.

Only five weeks until Reign of Error -- Book 2 in "The Worst Detective Ever Mystery Series" is released. I can't wait!

Highly recommended!

Rating: 5 Stars

Review: Seven Days of You by Cecilia Vinesse

Cecilia Vinesse's debut novel for young adults, Seven Days of You, is the kind of book that reminds a person why God doesn't allow do-overs. Nobody in their right mind would really want to relive the angst and heartbreak that comes with being a teen.

Teens are often reminded that the high school years are the best of their lives, but they can also be messy with friendships that start and end over stupid stuff, or romantic relationships that make the average daytime or nighttime drama pale in comparison.

On top of all this, Vinesse adds another wrinkle: Living in a foreign country and getting ready to head home.

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Sophia has seven days left as a student at the international school in Tokyo, Japan, before she moves back to the States with her family. One week to say good-bye to her friends, school, and–after a lifetime of moving around the globe–the closest thing to home she’s ever known. Sophia intends to make the most of every karaoke- and konbini-filled second. Until Jamie Foster-Collins reappears after three years away and ruins everything.

Jamie and Sophia have a history of heartbreak; one that Sophia thought was far behind her. She just wants to spend her remaining time with her wild best friend Mika and her eternal crush David. But as the week counts down, the relationships she thought were so stable begin to crash around her, and Sophia and Jamie forge a last-minute connection neither of them anticipated. When Sophia’s with Jamie, it’s as though she is seeing Tokyo again for the first time. Can their seven short days of Tokyo adventures end in anything but good-bye?

There is a part of me that feels like Sophia and her friends are a little too self-involved to be taken seriously as characters (and, seriously, do all YA writers think that teens use profanity?). The other part of me was pleased that what could have been a boring travelogue of Tokyo was instead a glimpse into the city from the characters who love living there.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (bumped up to 4 Stars on Goodreads)

I received a copy of the book from Little, Brown Books for Young Readers through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Still Life by Dani Pettrey

It isn't often that the second book in a series exceeds my expectations. However, the second book in Dani Pettrey's Chesapeake Valor series is as good, and maybe even better, than the first.

Cold Shot, the first book in the series, introduced Griffin, Finley, Parker, Avery, Declan, Tanner, Kate, and Luke (who is missing and presumed dead by all except for Kate). The second book, Still Life, picks up nine months after the end of Book 1 and, except for brief explanations for why some of the friends have moved into different work positions, gets right into the action.

Synopsis: Blacklisted in the photography business over a controversial shot, Avery Tate answered an ad for a crime scene photographer. She expected to be laughed at, but crime scene analyst Parker Mitchell hired her outright--and changed her life. But six months ago, when her feelings for Parker became too strong, she left his employ to sort out her heart.

Now, for the first time, Avery is facing the world that rejected her to attend the gallery opening of a photography exhibit and support her best friend, who modeled for the show. But the only image of her friend is a chilling photo of her posing as if dead--and the photographer insists he didn't take the shot. Worse, her friend can't be found. She immediately calls Parker for help. As Avery, Parker, and his friends in law enforcement dig into the mystery, they find themselves face-to-face with a relentless and deadly threat.

The search for Avery's friend, Skylar Pierce, is as creepy as it is thrilling. Is Skylar dead? What had she been up to in the days leading up to the gallery exhibit? Did she cross the wrong people? Why can't Parker and Avery find her? Since I'm trying to keep this review spoiler free, I'm not answering any questions, but I highly encourage readers to pick up a copy of the book and read it. (For the male reading population who wouldn't ordinarily pick up a romantic suspense novel, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how little of the book focuses on the "will they or won't they get together" romance aspect.)

As with the first book, there is a subplot dealing with human trafficking that I expect will pay off in the fourth -- and final??? -- book in the Chesapeake Valor series. In the meantime, I am eagerly awaiting the third book, Blind Spot, which is set to be released in October 2017.

Highly recommended, with a suggestion for the author and publisher: How about spinning a Charm City Investigations mystery series out of this series? Author Pettrey has created characters who work well together and have experience in several different law enforcement areas. A series of mysteries featuring these friends seems like a logical thing to do.

Rating: 5 Stars

I received a copy of the book from Bethany House Publishers through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Domino Effect by Davis Bunn

“Stop feeding the beast!”

In his latest novel, The Domino Effect, Davis Bunn shines a spotlight on investment banking – and the trading of derivatives, in particular – and through his heroine issues a warning for those who are troubled by the continuing economic uncertainty in not only in the United States but across the globe. Bunn, who studied finance and economics and worked in the field of international business before becoming an author, is adept at keeping the financial information flowing in a way that the casual reader follows easily and still keeps the suspense building.

Esther Larsen is a financial risk analyst for Carolina First Mercantile (CFM), one of the top ten banks in the U.S. She heads a division for the bank that identifies potential avenues for growth and analyzes the risk involved. Increasingly troubled by what she perceives as risky trading, Esther is finally able to share her fears with a small group of friends. When those friends share Esther’s fears with their friends, Esther finds herself moving to help those she can to avoid the inevitable financial crisis she sees coming.

One of the ways Esther disseminates information is through a website called BookOfEsther.info, where she provides her conclusions and the information that went into making them. Bunn, through Esther, gives a six-point plan for people to follow. The first – get out of debt – would appear to be a no-brainer until a person realizes just how many advertisements there are for debt consolidation services or businesses that help people reduce debt, fix their credit rating, or provide cash advances. People are encouraged to spend money they don’t have. Her advice is found in the first paragraph, above: Stop feeding the beast.

It is perhaps too simplistic to call The Domino Effect a cautionary tale. The fact is that the book scared me at times with mentions of transactions of stock purchases and sales that happen so quickly that they can’t be stopped and manipulation of the stock market solely for the purpose of improving the bottom line of a bank’s ledgers. Was I the only one who typed in BookOfEsther.info hoping to see a page where readers were welcomed with a “Now that you’ve taken the first step . . .” message? (I did check; typing in that web address will take you to Davis Bunn’s new Kensington Books website, where readers can find out about Bunn’s current and upcoming book releases.)

Bunn takes a front-page, ripped-from-the-headlines story and crafts it into a thought-provoking yet thoroughly readable story that will have readers turning pages to find out what happens next. Highly recommended.

Rating: 5 Stars

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Will Eisner's The Spirit Returns by Matt Wagner, Dan Schkade, and Brennan Wagner

Will Eisner is rightly held in high esteem for his pioneering work in the comics field from his early days as co-founder of the Eisner & Iger shop, the creation and first publication of The Spirit in 1940, and his work creating graphic novels in later years. In his afterword to the collected edition of Dynamite Entertainment's Will Eisner's The Spirit Returns, Paul Levitz says, "Stepping up to the drawing board of Will Eisner takes, well, chutzpah." Evidently, Matt Wagner agrees. He admits in his foreword that he turned down the invitation to write The Spirit -- twice!

I first encountered The Spirit through The Spirit Jam that was published in Kitchen Sink's The Spirit #30 during my senior year of high school. To this day The Spirit Jam is one of my favorite Spirit stories simply because it is a fun story created by some of the era's top writers and artists, including Will Eisner himself who contributed a framing sequence. Beginning in the late 1990s -- and with varying degrees of success (in my opinion) -- Will Eisner allowed other creators to play in his Spirit sandbox. The creative team of Matt Wagner, Dan Schkade, and Brennan Wagner aimed high and succeed in making The Spirit Returns a fitting tribute to celebrate the character's 75th anniversary in addition to it being a fun and exciting read.

The secret of the M. Wagner/Schkade/B. Wagner team's success is that they didn't set out to re-create The Spirit for the 2010s, nor did they painstakingly adhere to the 7- and 8-page story format Eisner used for The Spirit Sections in the 1940s. At the same time there are glimpses in both story and art that show a fondness for both Eisner and The Spirit.

The whole gang is back, including Commissioner Dolan, his daughter Ellen, Ebony White, Sammy Strunk, Lt. Klink. Several of The Spirit's more popular villains and femmes fatale have cameos, but writer Matt Wagner creates new nemeses for The Spirit in the form on Mikado Vaas and Sachet Spice.

Eisner crafted his Spirit stories in such a way that The Spirit could -- and often did -- play a supporting role, allowing others to take the lead. My favorite character in the original Spirit stories is Ebony White. While I understand the reasoning for Eisner removing Ebony from the strip in the 1940s (he did return), I always marveled at Ebony's brilliance in playing the innocent, the sage, the Greek chorus, or any other role in which Eisner placed him.

In The Spirit Returns, Wagner pairs Ebony with Sammy Strunk, who became The Spirit's assistant after Ebony was written out of the strip. At the beginning of the story, The Spirit has been missing for two years. Ebony and Sammy have joined forces as private investigators, and it is their digging into the mystery of The Spirit's disappearance that intersects with the hero's return to Central City.

Dan Schkade's art is reminiscent of Eisner's 1940s-era work without aping it line for line. His Ellen Dolan, specifically, has touches of the elegance that Eisner and others gave her in the 1940s and the looser style used in later years. Brennan Wagner's color choices, using a sepia tone-inspired palette that come off as bold and muted simultaneously, help in conveying the mood for the story. Though I am a purist when it comes to The Spirit, preferring to keep the coloring as originally used, I could be tempted to buy a "remastered" collection of Spirit stories if they were recolored by Brennan Wagner.

Dynamite has yet to announce a second story arc starring The Spirit, though the indicia indicates this is Volume 1. I would certainly welcome more, especially if written, drawn, and colored by the M. Wagner/Schkade/B. Wagner team. Maybe a Strunk and White, Private Investigators series (with The Spirit keeping an out eye for them, of course)?

The collected edition features a foreword by Matt Wagner, an afterword by Paul Levitz, sketches, designs, and thumbnails by Dan Schkade, and all the covers created for the series. Highly recommended.

Rating: 5 Stars

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review: The Rose Garden Arena Incident Book 1: Mosh Pit by Michael Hiebert

My original review as posted on NetGalley and Goodreads: Though the action starts at a concert, author Michael Hiebert quickly takes readers back eight days before "The Rose Garden Arena Incident" and begins building the backstory. I'm not crazy about the serial aspect of the story as much as I could be at this point. Mosh Pit ended with a cliffhanger designed to whet the appetite for the next book -- as it should -- but at the same time it was weird that the cliffhanger ended with a newly introduced character and not one of the characters readers follow through the book. Still, I'm ready for Book 2. Recommended.

Additional thoughts: Looking back at my original review, I believe I may have been more negative -- even though I gave the book four stars -- than I intended. Author Michael Hiebert begins an ambitious project, and readers will find themselves hooked and want to follow along with his characters as the story develops and unfolds in the days leading up to the Dakota Shane concert.

Rating: 4 Stars

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

On the eve of a "Rebirth"

For the past two months, more or less, DC Comics has been hinting at a new publishing initiative called "Rebirth." Even though a list of titles has been announced, concepts, creative teams, and the first issue solicitations are just hours away from being revealed. While I am excited to hear more details about Rebirth, I admit there's a part of me that is thinking, Why do I care anymore?

I've been reading comics published by DC Comics since 1974. Yes, I admit it. I never grew up. I am the the comics equivalent of the Toys 'R Us kid.

To give a little historical background, 1974 was the year that President Richard M. Nixon resigned as a result of the Watergate scandal, gas shortages gave birth to the 55-mph speed limit, and work began on the Alaska pipeline. According to www.thepeoplehistory.com, gas was 55 cents per gallon, average rent was $185/month, the average U.S. yearly salary was $13,900, and a new car would set you back $3,750.

For me as a ten-year-old, it was the year that the four-color heroes of DC Comics' superhero titles entered my world of reading. Looking back, I can see why my mother hated seeing me read comics. I was already a voracious reader and at that point in time comics were still seen as more of a gateway to reading. I had read most if not all of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys titles published up to that point -- several of them multiple times -- and I was just a few months away from reading my first adult novel, an Ellery Queen mystery (A Fine and Private Place) that I picked up at the local library because the paperback's cover intrigued me.

Yet it was in the pages of Superman #281 (the first appearance of Vartox), Wonder Woman #215 (during WW's 12-trials period for readmission to the Justice League of America), The Flash #230, and Batman #259 (co-starring The Shadow!!!), among others, that I was able to escape the rather ordinary life of a kid who lived on a farm. It was also the year I was introduced to my favorite super-hero team of all time: The Justice Society of America. That was the year that it was discovered that the Sandman's sidekick, Sandy the Golden Boy, had become "The Creature in the Velvet Cage" (Justice League of America #113).

In the nearly 42 years since I read my first DC titles I've seen characters launched, relaunched, and relaunched yet again. DC simplified their multiverse into a single universe in 1985's Crisis on Infinite Earths (and that ended up creating continuity problems that plague DC's characters to this day). Superman and Wonder Woman were given fresh starts beginning in 1986. Batman was refashioned into a more obsessed crimefighter. Jason Todd, the second character to use Robin as a superhero sobriquet, was given a totally new origin, killed off in a call-in poll, and then eventually brought back as a violent anti-hero. After Crisis, DC created Legends, fought off an Invasion, faced Zero Hour, an Infinite Crisis, and a Final Crisis, and survived -- for lack of a better term -- the Flashpoint paradox before entering the New 52 with their iconic characters now younger and essentially starting over for a new generation.

It's clear that DC desperately needs a rebirth of some sort. What they need to do, in my ever-so-humble opinion, and what they will do, however, are two different things. My wish list for what I hope to see come to pass includes:

1. The original super-team reborn. The Justice Society of America made its debut in 1940's All-Star Comics #3 and was tied to the heroes' World War II-era origins until 2011. When DC launched Earth 2 in 2012, the heroes of that parallel Earth shared the names of the legendary superheroes but little else. It's been hinted that the original conceit of the JSA, including its World War II beginnings, is going to be restored but with a twist -- the heroes are going to find themselves flung forward in time so that the characters themselves will be young and not a group of centenarians who should have retired decades ago. Ironically, the time travel bit was used to explain the disappearance of the Seven  Soldiers of Victory, whose team members were largely forgotten by 1972, as seen in Justice League of America #100-102.

2. Iconic versions of characters brought back. The Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman seen the past few years have not necessarily been the heroes they'd been prior to 2011's New 52 launch. The popularity of titles like Titans Hunt and Superman: Lois and Clark is surely helping DC realize that fans would like to read stories featuring the original Titans line-up and a married Superman. And speaking of iconic versions, can I add a vote to undo the death of Nora Allen? Tragedy doesn't have to be the impetus for every character making the choice to be a hero. Barry Allen became a hero because it was the right thing to do. His tragedy came years later when the Reverse Flash killed Barry's wife, Iris. Is it too much to hope for that at least one hero lives an ordinary life outside of the costume? And I would love to see a return to a more classic (i.e. 1970-1985 Darknight Detective interpretation) of the Batman. You know, more focused, less obsessed and/or psychotic.

3. Give Jack Kirby's New Gods a rest. Introduced in 1971, Kirby's New Gods were self-contained for the most part until 1986's Legends miniseries. Though part of the Superman mythos from the beginning of the characters' history -- Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen was one of the titles Kirby used to tell his Fourth World saga -- for the most part the New Gods was a self-contained concept. Sure, Mister Miracle co-starred with Batman in The Brave and the Bold, Funky Flashman was seen in Secret Society of Super-Villains, the New Gods were featured in the JLA/JSA crossover for 1980, and Darkseid was the villain in the Legion of Super-Heroes classic, "The Great Darkness Saga." (I'm not including the Super Powers miniseries that were created expressely for the purchase of selling a line of action figures/toys.) Starting with the publication of Legends, however, DC has pushed Darkseid as the big bad of the DC universe/multiverse. Overexposure, like familiarity, breeds contempt.

4. And, speaking of overexposure, need I mention anything more than "Batman"? When the New 52 was launched in 2011 the Bat-world was at the center of 14 titles, if I remember correctly, including All-Star Western starring Jonah Hex, who found himself roaming around Gotham with an Arkham. It looks like Batman and his "family" are going to have a large number of titles after Rebirth. <sigh> I know Batman is popular, but can we dial it back just a bit, DC, and give some other characters a chance in the sun?

5. More fun. I've been enjoying the Paul Levitz/Sonny Liew/Lee Loughridge Doctor Fate series. It's had its share of serious moments, but seeing Khalid Nassour trying to figure out how to best use the power of Fate often brings a smile to my face if only because Nabu isn't much on helping/guiding our young hero on his journey, instead preferring to be cryptic and just a bit snarky. And while "fun" may not be the best word to describe Swamp Thing, I am having a blast with Len Wein's return to his seminal creation. Sugar and Spike as young adult private investigators. Bat-Mite. Bizarro. How about another Ambush Bug miniseries?

I could go on. I'm not holding my breath that anything major is going to change at DC. I hope I'm surprised with Rebirth and that heroes become heroes again, a light in a dark world.

As I re-read this before hitting the "publish" button, I stop for a moment. Maybe it's me who needs a Rebirth, a step back from the cynicism and darkness that permeates most modern pop culture. (And isn't it ironic that the Rebirth announcements are being made Easter weekend, when Christians joyfully celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead? But perhaps that's a discussion for another time.) Maybe it's time for me to walk away from comics and not look back. That hasn't been easy in the past, so I doubt it'd be any easier now.

Maybe it'll be easier after I read the Rebirth announcements from DC Comics later today.