Review of Camilla's Roses (Hardcover)

Camilla's Roses, Bernice McFadden's latest release, is told in three parts:the present day when Camilla's husband discovers a lump in her breast, a flashback to the haunting past that she would rather erase, and a return to present day to face reality and her future.Camilla's middle name is Rose and all the women on her maternal side share the same middle name honoring a one-of-a-kind rosebush that only prospers and blooms on her great-great grandmother's land in Southern Georgia despite being stolen and clipped many times over the years.

Camilla suffers from an identify crisis and abandoned her family ten years ago.However, after learning about her childhood, one can understand her self-imposed exodus.Raised in a house full of cousins by her maternal grandmother (Velma Rose) and great aunt (Maggie Rose), Camilla seldom saw her heroin-addicted parents (Audrey Rose and Leroy Brown) and when she did, the results of the visits were disappointing and heartbreaking.Her childhood experiences causes her to develop an identity crisis that leads to serious skin bleaching and lying - to her friends about her family situation and to herself which proves to be most damaging.

With her usual flair, McFadden cuts to the core of humanity and deals with raw pain, loss, and suffering.This book deals with a multitude of issues: breast cancer, the affects of drug addiction, abandonment, self-hate, infidelity, etc.Every character is fully developed with a rich history and strong role in the plot - making it a well told story.The subject matter is dark and harrowing, but there is a silver lining embedded between the lines -- despite the despair, like the rose bush planted so long ago, Camilla and her "Roses" are made with a strong constitution and we are left with a glimmer of hope that they will be all right.

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Review of America's Boy: A Memoir (Hardcover)

America's Boy is a brutally funny, heartbreakingly honest account of a boy struggling to grow up in the Missouri Ozarks (Wade would prefer being a Winnie the Pooh children's clothing model to gigging frogs and catching catfish barehanded!). Reading the memoir is like sitting with a good friend in front of a camp fire and trading those difficult stories of growing up and family that we all share. What sets this book apart from an inundated field, however, is the honesty and joy that the author brings to his story -- in spite of his struggles, there is a fondness and welcome brightness to his writing. He honors his past, his family and where he came from, in spite of how difficult his path was. This is a special book that will resonate with nearly everyone: Those who feel different, those who have ever felt that they had failed to meet parental expectations, those who have ever lost a loved one, those who have ever struggled to just be accepted as they are. I breezed through this book in just a couple of nights, and laughed, cried, and cheered the whole way. I can't wait to read Wade's coming books.



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Review of Dying for Revenge (Gideon Trilogy, Book 3) (Hardcover)

Gideon is back!That simple sentence has enough power in it for fans to salivate in this, the last book in a phenomenal series.I will be honest and say that this book didn't start off with the liquid fast pace that his others one have.It actually caught me off guard because I was like "what in the world"?It was that noticeable and very unusual for EJD.That being said, I still hung with it because this man is pure talent and I knew he wouldn't let the story down.AND HE DIDN'T!I was pulling for Gideon (of course) but through the course of the story I also felt myself pulling for Matthew and the red-hair lady who loved shoes.I take that back, this crazy woman had an obsession for shoes!!

It was almost comical in how Eric described her and her obsessive infatuation.This woman could be in a gun fight for her life and she could tell you not only where her would be assassins bought their shoes, but what size they were, how much they paid, and what store on the exact street they bought them in!!But that's just a side dish let me get back to the main course... Gideon.Gideon.Freaking Gideon!!This assassin/lover/protector/walking paradox/murderer/one-man-dispenser-of-justice is the driving force to this entire trilogy.To say that this man is battling demons is like saying The Clinton's hate the Obama's... no kidding!

Once this story got going it really didn't slow down and THAT is what I expect from Mr. Dickey.I also LOVED the relationship between Gideon and Hawks.That was a part of the story that I didn't expect but it was a very, very strong glue to this book.In this book Gideon is the hunter and the hunted, usually at the same time."Gideon" must be Latin for "nine lives" because this man gets out of more impossible situations than James-freaking-Bond.You really can't help but pull for Gideon even though his brutality is sometimes just downright...well... brutal.With violence emanating off him like cheap perfume it wouldn't be right if his friends and enemies were anything different.Once they start to hunt for each other the body count becomes high, the blood flows free, and the pain is given and taken like breaths.

The physical pain that Gideon goes through is only rivaled by the emotional and mental anguish he's feeling trying to protect what is "his".You read this series, this story in particular, and you wonder how one person can endure so much.So much pain.So much hunger.So much distrust.So much never having a home.So much destructive sexual freedom.So much what-ifs?So much... everything.Then you realize that Gideon is a murder-for-hire and maybe THAT is how he deals with it.But who knows?Maybe God?Maybe the devil, but even I think he's afraid to get on Gideon's bad side.

A really great finish to a really great series.I do think, however, that Eric is about .000008 seconds away from leaving the States and making his new home on the islands.The way he describes the islands is like describing an incredibly sexy and beautiful woman.If he does go I hope he's looking a chaperone... but I don't want Gideon as the pilot.:-)



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