Review of Flashback (Hardcover)

The author has written a pharmaceutical thriller that will keep the readerturningthe pages of the book until the very last. It is a fairly well-written, suspenseful novel that heralds a novelist whose prose is spare, lean, and taut, moving the story along at a brisk pace. Although it is wholly a plot driven, rather than character driven, book, the two main characters are sufficiently fleshed out. Some of the secondary ones, however,are less so. Although not as good as two of the other books that the author has written, "Elixir" and "Gray Matter", both of which are five star reads, fans of Michael Crichton and Robin Cook will, undoubtedly, enjoy this well-paced thriller, as will anyone who appreciates a good story.

The story line is fairly simple. A young couple with a shaky marriage, Jack and Beth Koryan, are on the brink of changing their lives, but not in a way that they would ever have imagined. On the eve of Jack fulfilling a dream of openinga restaurant with his best friend, disaster strikes. While commemorating the thirtieth anniversary of his mother's mysterious death, Jack has a one in a million run-in with a school of rare jellyfish. Attacked and repeatedly stung by these jellyfish, Jack sustains toxic burns that send poison into his bloodstream, causing him to enter into a comatose state.

Meanwhile, a pharmaceutical lab has created "Memorine", a drug that is believed to be a miracle cure for Alzheimer's disease, and the origin of this wonder drug is the toxin of the same jellyfish that attacked Jack. Drug trials are being conducted on nursing home patients that are suffering from Alzheimer's disease. At first blush, patients are responding favorably to the drug. Some, however, begin having disturbing flashbacks into their pasts that act as a catalyst for violent, and seeming inexplicable, acts committed by thesepatients.

When a police investigation ensues into a murder committed by one of these patients, Rene' Ballard, a pharmaceutical consultant for a pharmacy responsible for providing medications to patients of nursing homes, is drawn into the picture. Sensing that things are not adding up, she investigates and discovers a web of deceit that has kept her out of the loop and caused patients to be medicated with this miracle memory drug without her knowledge. At stake are the millions that are to be made with the release of this drug into the open market. Rene' Ballard has reservations about the release of the drug, making her a persona non grata to the pharmaceutical lab sponsoring the drug trials.

The parallel stories of Jack Koryan and Rene' Ballard converge, uniting these two protagonists, as it becomes clear that much of what happens to Jack during his recovery lies at the heart of the problem with the drug. As have many of the Alzheimer's patients, he, too, suffers from disturbing flashbacks.For him, however, those flashbacks may enable him to unravel the mystery behind his mother's death.

There are those, however, who do not wish him to do so. They are the same people who will stop at nothing to prevent Rene' Ballard from interfering with the projected release of the drug. Moreover, Jack's personal quest will intersect with the pharmaceutical lab that is hell bent on releasing "Memorine", resulting in a head on collision that causes a pulse pounding series of events to occur. While the ending may come as no surprise to the discerning reader, it is, nonetheless, an enjoyable read.

This novel is multi-layered and well-researched, providing a fairly engrossing read, while proffering a whole host of ethical and public policy dilemmas for consideration. This pharmaceutical thriller provides much food for thought,buried between its lines, and is a book that educates, as well as entertains.



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Review of The Darkening (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a bit of a hybrid when it comes to a horror novel. It reads more like a tom clancy with supernatural players in it not to mention some Lovecraft.The story centers around a man named Dylan that is plagued by awful dreams that he can't remember and he wake's up in a different part of his house not knowing how he got there.The other central character is Lucy who feel's as if she is missing something but doesn't know what.

The villains in this book are none other than lovecrafts old ones and the cult that worship them. Opposed is a group called rex deus who try to thwart them at every turn. Both groups want to get there hands on lucy and dylan. The old ones are trying to break through and only lucy and dylan can put a stop to them.

This novel is good but lacks genuine scares and relies more on action. Not that that is a bad thing but when i read a horror novel i want to be a little creeped out so that is my main complaint. Also the ending was abit of a let down when you consider where your being led throughout the book. I reccommend to most out there and i look forward to reading some more by this author.

Product Description
IT BEGINS WITH A BLACKOUT.

All electrical power ceases to run. Even the sun seems a little dimmer. Cities come to a halt. And then their inhabitants vanish.

But a small, clandestine group of warriors has been preparing for this moment for centuries. Their hopes rest on two strangers, a thousand miles apart, who hold the keys to the world's salvation: Dylan Barnes, a martial arts instructor who teaches his students the art of inner balance but is plagued by shadows only he can see and voices muttering in a language only he can hear; and Lucy Devereau, a private investigator who earns a living by prying into the lives of others but is haunted by her own birthright-and the mystery of her true parents.

The world around them-our world-is slipping into darkness. Now, as fate and blood push them to the front lines of an extraordinary battle, Lucy and Dylan must stare into the face of something ancient, something impossible, something that has come to blot out the light-forever.

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Review of Dangerous Games: A Jack Liffey Mystery (Jack Liffey Mysteries) (Hardcover)

When we last saw Jack Liffey, he had found the perpetrator of various crimes of vengeance arising from the racist history of Terminal Island, been dumped by his new girlfriend, survived a collapsed lung and renewed his relationship with his teenage daughter, Maeve.Liffey also fell for a police officer named Gloria Ramirez, a Native American who was raised by Latino parents who taught her to hate her own heritage."Dangerous Games" begins with Liffey living in East L.A. with Ramirez; his moody daughter is delighted with Ramirez and hopes her father won't mess this one up.But Liffey's relationship leads inexorably to a new search for a lost child: Ramirez's beautiful 18-year-old niece has disappeared from her tiny reservation in the Owens Valley leaving enough clues to make everyone suspect that she's been swallowed up by L.A.'s porn scene.Liffey feels up to the task.

If it were left at that, our hero would have more than enough to occupy him.But during one clear day while Liffey waters his girlfriend's lawn and Maeve lounges alongside chatting with her father, a gangbanger loses control and shoots indiscriminately in Liffey's direction leaving Maeve severely wounded.As Maeve recuperates, Liffey adds a new mission to his list: revenge.His subsequent confrontation of the perpetrator and eventual solution is one of the most surprising and fulfilling aspects of the narrative.

But there is still a lost child to find.And this is where things get ugly as we're thrown into the world of phone sex, porn films, dangerous reality videos, AIDS and very violent men who truly believe that women are meant to be controlled and used in any way imaginable.Throughout, we're treated to Shannon's smart dialogue, complex characters and a thrill ride of action.The denouement takes place in the Malibu Hills, set ablaze by reality "filmmakers" as their ultimate get-rich-quick venture.As Liffey and others try to outrun the flames, Liffey muses on all the failures in his life and wonders about the meaning of it all.There are wonderful things in life to be certain: the love of both his girlfriend and his resilient, brilliant daughter.But all the mistakes are there too: failed relationships, a battle with alcohol, physical scars too many to count.In Shannon's sure hands, we see the world through the eyes of a man who struggles to reconcile life's joy and pain shaped in large part by Los Angeles itself.Shannon offers more questions than answers.But that's okay.Finely-crafted novels do that.And this is certainly one of Shannon's best.

[The full version of this review first appeared in The Elegant Variation.]



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Review of The Real Life Investing Guide: How to Buy Whatever You Want, Save for Retirement, and Take the Vacation of Your Dreams While You're Still Young (Paperback)

This is an excellent book. It makes so easy to understand - all those complicated stock terms, author makes use of beautiful examples from time to time. It is a must have for every person who wants to invest money instocks etc. (may be, except the ones, whose primary carrier is stocks orstock trading). I myself bought and sold stock over the last few years butnever understood the terminology completely. It is nice to have it in mylibrary - Thanks to the authors.

Product Description
Packed with important stuff you need to know, and spiced with real-life stories of "entry-level" investors, cool facts (like the fact that between your 18th and 30th birthdays, you will likely hold an average of 7.5 jobs), and references to rock and pop songs, this hip, "tell-it-like-it-is" guide focuses on the basics of investing, stocks and bonds, mutual funds, short term saving and long term investing. Emphasizing that a person is never too young to think about investing, it includes definitions of important terms and concepts such as return, liquidity, risk, dividend, yield, and the stock market indexes; information on how to research a company, purchase stock, and select a mutual fund; and detailed explanations of 401(k) plans and IRAs.

From the Back Cover
This Is Not Your Parents' Investing Guide! If you think there's a greater chance that UFOs exist than that Social Security will still be around when you retire, you're in good company. But if you think that ``financial planning'' fits your lifestyle like sensible shoes and starched shirts, you'd better read The Real Life Investing Guide. Kenan Pollack and Eric Heighberger, two twenty-something themselves, show you why it's never too early to think about investing, no matter when you start working or how low your salary. Filled with real-life stories of ``entry-level'' investors, interesting factoids (did you know that between your 18th and 30th birthdays you will likly hold an average of 7.5 jobs,) and lots of references you can relate to. This book will help you plan for your financial future and enjoy the present! Return, liquidity, risk, dividend, yield--what do they mean? Where to go on the Internet for help purchasing stock; What's the right mutual fund for me? Saving vs. Investing; And more

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