Archive for May, 2008

Dead Right by Brenda Novak (Stillwater trilogy #3)

Dead Right (The Stillwater Trilogy, Book 3)Dead Right is the last of the Stillwater trilogy.  This is where the horrid truth finally comes out.

To recap, the Reverend Lee Barker has been missing for over 20 years.  Everyone in town believes the Montgomerys killed the reverend and have buried him on the family farm.  But there is never any proof.

Finally, Madeline Barker, the eldest sibling of the Montgomery family and the natural daughter of the deceased Reverend Lee Barker, decides that she needs to know the truth once and for all.  She uses all of her savings and hires some hot-shot detective from California.

Madeline’s natural mother committed suicide when Madeline was about 12.  Shortly thereafter the Reverend remarried and Madeline becomes part of the Montgomerys.  She has always believed them to be innocent of her father’s death.  But she refuses to believe that her father could have just walked away ands left her behind–his only natural daughter. 

Hunter Solazano hails from Los Angeles and he soon finds out that small towns can be just as horrid as a big city.  He is a great detective and he is determined to find the truth.  However, he soon discovers that some truths are better left undetected. 

Again, I will not give away all the details.  I did like this book a little bit less but that’s because I did not like the character of Maddie as Madeline is affectionately called by her family, as much as I liked the characters of Grace and Clay.  this is probably because I could understand why Clay and Grace made the decision they made.  But Maddie didn’t always make what I would call “safe” choices.  Then again, she had already lost her mother tragically, so I can see that she had a lot at stake. 

The story of the Montgomerys and Maddie does come to a conclusion and all loose ends are nicely tied together.  This trilogy would make a great book club discussion.

 This one gets 3 1/2 tattered pages!

 

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Are “illegals” really our biggest problem?

I received this “FORWARD” from a very good friend of mine recently.   I did forward the email to others because it was a petition and I’m all for our first amendment rights!  There were about 900 signatures and if I didn’t forward, these would be lost.  However, I did not attach my name to the bottom of it.  Before I explain why I didn’t, here’s a copy of the email:

Subject: Social Security – IMPORTANT
Mom was a homemaker and Dad worked all his life and paid into SS. Dad has passed away and now mom can barely make ends meet. While the possible ‘illegal’ alien in front of her at the grocery store buys the name brands, mom goes for the generic brands and day old breads. She doesn’t have out of state calling on her phone because she can’t afford it and shops at the thrift shops and dollar stores. She considers having a pizza delivered once a week ‘eating out’. She grew up during the depression, watched her husband go overseas to fight in WW II a year after their marriage, and then they went on to raise, feed and clothe 5 children, struggling to pay tuition for parochial schools.

The Senate voted this week to allow ‘illegal’ aliens access to Social Security benefits. I’m sorry, but how can the Senate justify this slap in the face to born and bred, or naturalized, citizens. It is already impossible to live on Social Security alone. If they give benefits to ‘illegal’ aliens who have never contributed, where does that leave those of us who have paid into Social Security all our working lives? This is an opportunity to sign a petition that requires citizenship for eligibility to receive Social Services. If you do not wish to sign the petition yourself, please forward on to anyone you think might be interested. If you don’t forward the petition and just stop it, we will lose all these names. If you do not want to sign it, please just forward it to anyone who might want a voice. Thank you!

To add your name, click on ‘forward.’ You will be able to add your name at the bottom of the list and then forward it to your friends.

WILL THE 1,000th PERSON TO SIGN, PLEASE SEND IT ON TO THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL ADDRESS (mail to: President@WhiteHouse.gov )

PETITION FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH

Mr. President:

The petition below is a protest against the recent vote of the senate which was to allow illegal aliens access to our social security! We demand that you and all congressional representatives require citizenship for anyone to be eligible for social services in the United States.

I forwarded the email but I did not sign my name to it.  Others have a right to their own opinions as I have a right to mine. 
Firstly, I will state that our veterans are the most forgotten citizens and the most deserving!  We really should have more quality social services in place to assist veterans and their families!  This is not exactly what this is about however.
I had a problem with the email because I am of Hispanic descent and I felt it was discriminatory.  Now I realize that I may just be more sensitive since I have had to deal with the subject first-hand.  If I am being sensitive, please let me know, but this is how I felt.
It is a fact that most illegal immigrants are of Hispanic origin.  Before we go on let me clarify a pet peeve of mine–Spanish is the language all Hispanics and Spaniards speak.  However, I would only be Spanish if I had been born in Spain.  So please call me a Hispanic, a Latino, a Puerto Rican–but don’t call me Spanish!
Ok so where were we? Ahh–not many people of Hispanic descent signed this.  I do feel bad for the woman described in this scenario.  She is struggling after losing her husband.  But I have a few questions–why didn’t she get a job when her children were grown?  I understand the desire to want to stay home and raise your children but most of the families I knew growing up could not afford the luxury of a stay at home parent.  And none of these families were illegal. 
And why did she have 5 children if it was such a struggle?  I mean seriously unless you want to raise them on welfare, you have the children you can afford!  And furthermore, I fail to see the real struggle if they afforded each of their 5 kids a parochial education!  And, ummm, where are these 5 ingrates now that their mom needs them anyway?  I bet you if they were illegals, mom would be taken care of!  She wouldn’t have to struggle.
Ok maybe I’m being prejudiced now but seriously–Why is the person who is buying the name-brands a possible illegal alien?  What does buying name brands have to do with immigration status?  She is making BIG assumptions. 
Illegal immigrants do not have it easy.  I keep hearing over and over how they are taking our jobs.  Oh really?  How many of you work a 15 hour day for $25 and a happy meal?  How many of you spend the day in the sweltering heat climbing scaffolds with heavy equipment on your back for the equivalent of a $1 an hour?  They aren’t taking any jobs from us because there aren’t any born and bred citizens who would let themselves be reduced to that.  But out of need and responsibility to their families, they do what they have to do.    
I work closely with Social Security and believe me that 25 year old illegal aliens don’t apply for SSI.  But 20 year old “born and bred” citizens do!
And for what?  Mostly because after years of drug abuse, they have now devenloped some back pain.  So now they want to get into prescription drugs.  Have they paid into the system?  Nope.  But nobody is signing a petition for that. 
Most illegal aliens that apply for SSI are in their 70’s.  You want to refuse an elderly person food and shelter?  
Did you also know that convicted drug related felons are not eligible for social services such as food stamps and SSI, until they complete a state approved rehabilitation program?  BUT a convicted child molester can walk into any county welfare the first day out of jail and get himself food stamps, medicaid and free room and board.
Educate yourself first before you go signing all sorts of petitions.  Illegal immigrants are not a big problem at all.

 

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Dead Giveaway by Brenda Novak (Stillwater Trilogy #2)

Dead Giveaway (The Stillwater Trilogy, Book 2)I had to go out and get the second installment ofBrenda Novak’s Stillwater trilogy almost as soon as I finished the first book.  The end is a cliffhanger and I wanted to know what happens next.  My anxiety had already been built up from Book #1.  And I was not disappointed.

In the previous book, we learn a lot about Clay Montgomery, Grace’s older brother.  Clay has sacrificed his own life to keep living on and watch over the family farm/home.  He guards the farm with a rifle and he has good aim.  He is big loveable, handsome and emotionally-withdrawn.  This of course makes him a magnet for the women of Stillwater.  Clay always has someone in his bed if he wants it.  

At the end of the book #1, we are introduced to Allie McCormick, a cold-case detective from the big city of Chicago.  In this book, we find out that she has come home to Stillwater to live with her parents a while after a bitter divorce.  We also find out that she is going to dig her teeth into the coldest case ever–the disappearance of the Reverend Lee Barker, Clay’s stepfather.

This book centers more around Clay and of course Allie’s blooming relationship.  Clay is faced with getting involved with a woman who he cares about just as much as he cares about protecting his family’s secret.  Or getting her involved in something he knows goes against her training as a detective.  

Allie is in law enforcement and she is faced with loving Clay or staying true to her duty as an officer of the law and betraying the man she loves.     

Again, I will not give up any secrets but this was a great read as well.  The pages turned themselves!

This gets 4 tattered pages!

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The Painter from Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein

A NovelThis book is a first novel for this writer and it reads like the lyrics to the ballad that was Pan Yuliang’s life.  The novel is a work of fiction based on the life of Pan Yuliang, a painter from Shanghai (thus the title!).  It took the writer approximately 10 years to write this book!  Sounds incredible but she did justice to Pan Yuliang’s life. 
Pan Yuliang was an orphan who was later sold into prostitution by her uncle who was supposed to be her caregiver.  I guess fortunately, she ends up in a brothel where many significant political leaders and government officials frequent.  She ends up being the concubine of Pan Zanhua, a customs inspector.  He enrolls her to study art, her passion, at a school in Shanghai.  She is so talented that she ends up in Paris furthering her art and does pretty well in Paris.  When she returns to China, the people are not ready for her.  She often opted for painting nudes, which the people of China found alarming, especially in a woman of course!  She had also grown accustomed to a European lifestyle.  China’s political atmosphere was in the midst of a revolution.  Finally, Pan Yuliang has to choose between her passion for her art and the man who gave her her life back. 
The writer took some real events of a misunderstood and under-appreciated painter and gave it life.   She filled in the blanks of a life that would otherwise have remained obscured. 
I did not know anything at all about Pan Yuliang until I read this novel.  I think the novel shows an incredible imagination on the part of the writer.  Her prose is very smooth and lyrical and was a joy to read.  For me, Pan Yuliang’s artistic life was reminiscent of the Mexican artist–Frida Kahlo.  Frida also painted the unobservable and shocking.  It seems they were women ahead of their times.
5 Tattered Pages!!

NOTE:  I entered a contest to win a copy of this book and an oil paint set :-)   I’m not a painter but I was really interested in the book!  The writer emailed me to let me know I had not won but she would send a copy of the book anyway if I was interested.  Of course I said!  A few days later the book arrived.  It was a great novel and although I don’t personally know the author, I want to thank her (if she ever reads this) :-)   Keep them coming!!

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Dead Silence by Brenda Novak (Stillwater Trilogy #1)

Dead Silence (The Stillwater Trilogy, Book 1)This was my very first time reading a Brenda Novak novel and I am very glad that I picked it up. 

Dead Silence marks the beginning of the Montgomerys’ odyssey.  This book is the first installment of the ”Stillwater Trilogy.” 

My attention is immediately captivated by the character of Grace Montgomery.  Grace is an Assistant District Attorney, who left the town of Stillwater 13 years earlier to start a new life.  And that she did because she is very successful in her career.  However, she is not as successful at love.

Grace returns to Stillwater to try to make peace with her past before she decides to marry her suitor. 

As we get to know Grace’s mother, her over-protective brother Clay and her mother, we realize that although all families have secrets, this family has a deadly secret.  As more as divulged about the circumstances leading to the death of Grace’s step-father and the small town’s beloved pastor, the reader finds that they are sympathizing with Grace.  

I will not divulge any secrets or spoilers but this is a must-read because I never thought I’d find myself sympathizing with a would-be murderer.

And remember that in this book the end isn’t really the end–it’s a new beginning.

THIS GETS 4 TATTERED PAGES!

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