Phantom of the Opera

 I like to have at least two books going at once, one that I’m reading, and one in audiobook format. The audiobooks keep me entertained while I’m out doing long dog works. I had run out of audiobooks, most of which I get from Libby, As I searched Libby, it was on a lark that I downloaded The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux, originally published in 1911. I was familiar with the play and the movie, and I loved the sound track. I enjoyed going off-genre for this mystery. I learned more about the history of the phantom and his relationship with Christine. I learned more about the competition between Carlotta Giudicelli and Christine Daae. Reading the novel helped fill out the story for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I should have read this about 27 years ago when it first appeared on Broadway.

Midnight Burning

 We at Men Reading Books have already reviewed at least seven Paul Levine books, and all have been favorably received. Perhaps, he is best known for his Jake Lassiter series, and the subtitle of Midnight Burning is An Einstein Chaplin Thriller. While being a thriller (no doubt about that), it is also a very clever book of historical fiction. Hopefully, there will be more books about his two protagonists.

In real life 1937, Einstein and Chaplin were probably the two most famous men in the world. Chaplin had produced many short films in the 1910’s, but then he began producing feature films in the 1920’s and 1930’s, including City Lights, Modern Times, and notably for this book, The Great Dictator in 1940. Einstein had already written his General Theory of Relativity. He was widely considered to be the smartest man in the world. These two men were friends and clearly enjoyed each other’s company. The fictional dialogue that Levine created was fantastic, exceedingly crafty.

 

The story takes place in Los Angeles during 1937, and it focuses on Hitler’s rise to power and the inhuman nature of that realm. People were afraid to disagree with the Third Reich as the result of their obvious brutality. There was a large German population in Los Angeles which was not only supportive of Hitler, but there were active plans to overthrow the U.S. government. Levine used a Keystone Cops type of story regarding the group's attempt to steal machine guns from an armory in Long Beach, as well as their failed attempt to train soldiers at the Murphy Ranch in Whittier, California. The police department in L.A. was corrupt and backed the pro-fascist groups. Given the nature of the Third Reich and it’s fascist supporters, Einstein found himself reconsidering his ardent pacifist views. He had been against participating in the research to develop the atom bomb, but he knew that the scientists in Germany were close to developing their own bomb. Although very conflicted about doing so, Einstein was compelled to lobby FDR to provide funds for the research.

 

I loved this story, and it only solidifies my plans to read more Paul Levine. This book definitely gets my strongest recommendation. The information about the German presence and influence in Southern California is consistent with a historical fiction novel by Susan Elia MacNeal entitled Daughter Traitor Spy which I’ve favorably reviewed in the blog.

The Prisoner in the Castle

The Prisoner in the Castle is the fourth novel that I’ve reviewed by Susan Elia MacNeal, two of which were from her 12- novel Maggie Hope series which take place mostly in London during WWII. This novel is the eighth in this series. I raved about Mr. Churchill’s Secretary, the first book in the series, as well as the 12^th book entitled “The Last Hope.” I also thought a free-standing novel entitled Mother Daughter Traitor Spy was excellent. It was about the Nazi movement in Los Angeles during Hitler’s rise to power.

Unfortunately, The Prisoner in the Castle was not of equal value from this reader’s perspective. After having been officially trained as a spy and having been given information about the planned D-Day landing, someone decided that Maggie knew too much to risk allowing her to be captured by the German forces. It was thought that if her information was revealed under torture, that the success of the Allied Forces was in danger. She was sent to a small remote Scottish isle along with 10 other people for similar reasons. However, once she was on the island, Maggie learned that there had been 10 murders of a prior group of exiles. Then, the murders began again of this new group, one at a time. The remaining spies, all trained in the art of killing in various ways, were in a panic about who among them could be committing these crimes.

 

I thought the plot was ridiculous, and Ms. Hope’s escapes from physical danger seemed even more farfetched. I did listen to the audiobook format available on Libby, but I can’t recommend this one – I was so disappointed, but I’m still going to try one of the unread novels in this series. Maggie Hope herself is a most talented and compelling character and I don’t want to give up on her after one disappointing story.

The Bridge

The Bridge by Alan Ramias is a book that was 50 years in the making, a story about his time in the war in Vietnam where he was deployed as a reporter/photographer for 12 months during 1967-68. However, I must write that this review is about me as much as it is about Ramias’ story. The US Embassy in Saigon was abandoned in 1975, and although there was no direct connection between that and my decision which occurred about six months later during my senior year of medical school, I turned my planned medical career from a medical-surgical direction to psychiatry. I had already been exposed to Vietnam vets in two VA hospitals in Indianapolis, and soon, there were two more VA’s in California. When I graduated from med school and four years later the residency in psychiatry, I began teaching, first as a formal part of the faculty and then as a volunteer faculty member at the medical school at UCSD. That lasted for the next 30 years. I am certain that I talked with, formally interviewed, evaluated, and treated and supervised  the treatment of more than one thousand Vietnam vets. I know so many war stories, the most harrowing of which were from soldiers who were assigned to back country reconnaissance duties, but the stories came from a variety of war experiences. I don’t remember whether it was a year or two that I volunteered to run group psychotherapy meetings at the Vet Center in San Diego during the early 1980’s. One of my most cherished plaques is the one of thanks from those vets when my time there came to an end. Although I did not set foot in Vietnam until 40 years later, as the result of listening to those stories, I developed a mild form of PTSD that stayed with me for many years, symptoms which finally abated when enough time passed and the focus of my practice turned primarily to psychoanalysis and civilian patients. The point of these revelations in this book review is that the material that author Ramias presented was both familiar and meaningful to me.

 This is a short novel, only 118 pages, some of which were poems written by the author after his return from Vietnam. However, he had misplaced the writing he had done during those years, until he unexpectedly discovered them hidden in a box. He had long thought of writing a book, and he was encouraged to do more with this material and the poems, and so this book is the result of this. The book must be considered to be historical fiction since his stories were told in part from his own experiences, but also from other stories that he knew about, other soldiers he interviewed. But his own memories and the interviews that he included are clearly consistent with the stories that I heard during the thousands of hours I spent listening to Vietnam vets.

 

Ramias described the horrors of a soldier being one of the few survivors of an ambush by enemy forces. He wrote of the soldiers' sometimes futile efforts to save their wounded military brothers. He described the difficult and conflicted feelings and a sense of uncertainty as the result of making humanitarian efforts on behalf of Vietnam’s civilians. And he noted the difficulties that so many soldiers encountered on their return to life at home in the US. For those, it was the life of war and not peacetime that seemed more familiar and comfortable.

 

The Bridge is not the work of a writer who has earned his living as a novelist. However, with the combination of his prose and poetry, he has successfully depicted the troubling, debilitating and prolonged emotional aspects that arose for so many as the result of the US military engagement in Vietnam.

The Length of Days by Lynn Kostoff

Magnolia Beach, South Carolina is a bit south of the glitz of Myrtle Beach. Especially in 2008 during the seismic effects of the real estate crash. Johnny Doc Nowell is a Vietnamese native who escaped his homeland shortly after the US pulled out of Vietnam. He chased numerous jobs across the US before ending up on the SC coast, managed his money well and built up a bit of a real estate portfolio – an old bowling alley, couple storefronts, the odd house, specifically 805 Jefferson. Most of his business dealings are above board. Most.

On one night, a particularly grim weather system rolled in. Sam Fulton, retired from Ohio, is driving home. Stops for a coffee and cheeseburger before continuing. His check engine light warns him of a problem. A problem that shuts down the engine amid this storm. Shut down in front of 805 Jefferson; owned by Johnny Doc. A girl in her underwear bursts from the house into the storm followed by a guy in khakis and a blue shirt. The man catches the girl and starts to drag her back to the house. Sam leans on his horn thinking maybe the guy will let her go if he knows he’s been seen. The guy turns toward Sam’s car, almost amused. He drags the girl toward Sam, presses her face to the passenger window, grabs her by her chin and forehead and violently jerks her head snapping her neck. All while looking right at Sam. Through the rain-soaked window, the man gets a better look at Sam than Sam did of the man. At the house, the front door opens again, and two other girls take off. Sam manages to restart his car so he can put some distance and then call 911. In his review mirror, he sees a spark at the house right before it goes up in flames. In the house were 12 sex workers. Non survived. Many were unable to be identified. Trafficked women? Probably.

The next morning, the local TV station is doing a fluff piece. The word goes out about the police investigating a burned house. The local reporter, an amateur to ‘hard news,’ and her crew are sent to get footage. Seeing the remnants of the house and the lineup of body bags is enough to send Pam Greaves into a case of PTSD. But she’s got a job to do and upon getting a better look at the deceased, starts crying on air. The resulting scene goes viral.

In the first couple pages, Kostoff introduces us to Johnny, Sam, Pam, the guy in khakis. In short order we cross paths with a Hispanic orderly working at a nursing home (he’s got his eye on an empty lot where he’d like to open a car lot), a cop who has been known to look the other way for the right price, and an exile from an old money family. Six people whose lives will all be changed by what went on at 805 Jefferson while the local police detective tries to arrange all the puzzle pieces into a coherent picture that once assembled really isn’t as clear as it should be. And everyone seems to be afraid of the Bowen Brothers who, behind the scenes, seem to ride herd over all things illegal in Magnolia Beach.

For quite some time, I’ve heard from a friend of this blog (Charlie Stella) that Lynn Kostoff was the real deal. One day a week or so ago, I received a copy of Kostoff’s latest from Stark House Press (kudos to Start House!). By their website, it looks like Kostoff must be a new member of the Stark House stable of authors. Kostoff takes us through the remains of 2008 and the people scrapping to get by living in a mostly cast-off beach town south of the legendary Myrtle Beach but might as well be an eternity away. How each of these primary six characters react and live with the tragedy that happened at 805 Jefferson is treated with one part humanity and another part rejection. Kostoff doesn’t wrap this up with a nice pretty bow where the killer gets tracked down so that society can get its just rewards. Some come out OK, others run, others are forever scarred. There really isn't a true protagonist, unless one goes with the investigating detective. Most are trying to dodge the investigation while staying out of the crosshairs of the Bowen Brothers.

Kostoff is the author of five novels, first published in 1991 and then periodically to this 2025 book. We've reviewed an earlier book by Kostoff which I may have to revisit. Length of Days is far from some comfortable, heartwarming story of small-town beach life. The characters, all well-fleshed out by the author, are struggling in their own way with life and the aftermath of the fire. It may not be joyous, but Kostoff has given us one helluva convoluted story; beach noir? This one is seriously well written and staged. It starts fast with the fire, revs up at the investigation gathers steam, leaving us (meaning me) wishing that things ended up different for this group of collateral damage.

Thanks to Stark House for the advance reviewer copy and to Charlie Stella for continuing to lean on me to read more by Kostoff.

 ECD

River God

River God by Wilbur Smith is the first of a 10-book historical novel series about ancient Egypt. I chose to read this book as the result of my interest in the history of Egypt and as preparation for a trip there in a few months.

 

The story seems to have taken place in about 1780 BCE, and is primarily about the very talented eunuch slave Taita, who was the property of Lord Intef. Taita was mainly assigned to take care of and educate his daughter, the beautiful Lostris. However, because of Taita’s many talents, he quickly arose to become an important advisor to the Pharoah. The story is also one of political intrique. Taita’s owner is revealed to be the bad guy when the militarily superior Hyksos kill the Pharoah and force the other people aligned with the Pharoah to leave Eqypt. In their absence, Taita helps evolve the new Pharoah’s military through the introduction of horses, the use of chariots, and the creation of a better bow (all of which may be historically accurate).

 

The story is also one of Taita’s travel during this period of excile, his capture by the brutal Ethiopan chief Arkoun, his eventual return to Eqypt, and the military successes that made that possible.

 

I probably would not have picked this up had it not been for my upcoming trip, and if I had begun to read the book, I would not have finished it. It was a long book, 675 pages, and I listened to the audio format. I hung in there to the end of the story, but I had several long breaks while I read a dozen other books. At this time, I have no plan to read the other nine books in Smith's Egyptian Series. I cannot give River God a strong recommendation.

 

Strangers In Time

 

Strangers in Time by David Baldacci is a remarkable book in a way I did not expect from this author with whom I’m very familiar. This novel is at least the 20^th of his books that have been reviewed in the blog, and most of the reviews were by me. I’ve always thought Baldacci was a good author with occasionally very good books, but I’ve not put him in my list of 10 best authors in this genre of thrillers and murder mysteries. However, it’s my opinion that this specific novel deserves great recognition for the plot and character development.

 

It's another WWII novel, but this one takes place in London during the horrible Blitzkrieg which occurred from 9/1940 to 5/1941 resulting in the death of tens of thousands of civilians and devastating destruction. Baldacci used three protagonists, a 13-year-old boy named Charlie, a 15-year-old girl Molly, and a widower and bookkeep named Mr. Oliver.

 

Charlie was from great poverty. His father had been killed at Dunkirk, and his mother died shortly after that. He was left with his grandmother who was in poor health. They were dirt poor and were about to be evicted from their miserable apartment because the bakery where the grandmother’s worked had halved her salary because of the economic troubles of the time. Charlie had dropped out of school in order to find work to help support them, a fact that he hid from his caring grandmother.

 

In contrast Molly came from significant wealth and had been shipped out of London at the start of the war, before the Blitzkrieg. After some years away during which her rigorous education continued, Molly had a very protected life. When the funds for her living in the country stopped coming from her father, although her foster family was willing to continue to provide for her, she chose to return to London and be with her parents. She did not know that her mother had been placed in an asylum in Cornwall or that her father had disappeared six months earlier when he was under investigation for killing three British soldiers. Upon returning to her mansion, it was only the housekeeper, who had helped raise her since birth, provided her any help and companionship.

 

Mr. Oliver had inherited the book shop from his wife when his she, Imogene, committed suicide by jumping off a cliff and into the sea. Mr. Oliver and Charlie met as the result of Charlie and two friends robbing his shop, Circumstances of the war brought all of them together, and when Molly’s housekeeper was killed in continued bombing, it turned out they only had each other to depend on. They felt fortunate indeed to have found one another.

 

The horrors of the war and its negative effect on the populace was well described. Baldacci brought the several plots of the death of Mr. Oliver’s wife, the trauma that Molly’s mom had suffered, and the suspicious war activities of Mr. Oliver were all brought to a fitting conclusion. The characters in Baldacci’s book sprang to life in a most believable fashion. The relations that developed among the protagonists was emotional and real. Even though I have already read literally hundreds of WWII novels, and although I now try to avoid books in the WWII genre (been there done that), this one stands out and gets my highest recommendation.

Final Exit

 

Final Exit is the fourth novel that I’ve reviewed by Raemi A. Ray, subtitled Martha’s Vineyard Murders. Each of the books could be stand-alone mysteries, but I think it’s much better to read them in order and to ride along with the character development. Kyra Gibson, a London Lawyer, has moved to the Vineyard when her estranged father was murdered. His will indicated his choice to leave his house on Martha’s Vineyard to her. I wrote highly of the first three books, not only the well-created plots, but also the cast of characters that Ray used to fill out her stories.

 

By the fourth book, Tarek Collins who was an FBI consultant, had begun living with her, and it was his disappearance that was a principle part of the current story line. Ray continued to involve Chase Hawthorn, as well as the couple, Grace and Charlie. Podcasters of true crime had come to the island allegedly to figure out the mystery of a girl’s disappearance from a summer actors’ camp that occurred 40 years before, an unsolved cold case. One of the girl’s body was found and the other was never recovered although it was suspected she had murdered the other girl and then drowned when she unwisely tried to swim to the mainland.

 

Meanwhile, there was an intrigue going on about the ownership and plans for the development of the land on which the actors’ camp had been located. The camp had become quite famous and for years had brought economic benefits to the island businesses. After the murder and disappearance of the young girls, the camp was permanently closed.

 

This is a very good story, as are the first three novels. I highly recommend this series to anyone who is a fan of this murder mystery genre.

The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr

The hot topic today is AI so one shouldn’t be surprised when artificial intelligence is at the core of current thrillers. This story was inevitable.

 

Martin, a genius chip designer, developed the ultimate chip for the core of an AI supercomputer. With that as his foundation, he put together a computing system and company that integrates AI supercomputers worldwide with a goal of his system, aka ILLIAM, making all the hard decisions . . . all of ‘em. From what should I do today to what looks good for dinner to curing cancers to nuclear disarmament. The result would be worldwide harmony. This guy must have some form of a Messianic Complex.

 

Martin has enlisted the help of a former nun (Maud Brooks) to help ILLIAM to understand and apply the human side of learning including emotions, feelings, and consciousness. To make ILLIAM more human in its decisions. During this period of ILLIAM’s growth, Martin tragically dies from an accidental fall.

 

But like in 2001 A Space Odyssey or Terminator, the computer becomes self-aware. As ILLIAM becomes sentient, it starts to realize that humans really aren’t all that nice and sets out to right as many wrongs as it can. To do so, ILLIAM sends out letters to millions around the world telling the recipient what they’d done wrong or how they’ve been wronged. To add to the unfolding chaos, ILLIAM effectively turns itself ‘off’ isolating itself from further programming input. This shuts down utilities, stock markets, international trade and more, throwing the world into chaos and anarchy with the risk of nations devolving into tyranny.

 

While the company tries to right the ship, the CEO, Kaitlin Goss, is on the hunt for a duplicate chip hidden away by Martin. If that chip can be found, it can be inserted and send ILLIAM back to where it was before all this took place. If successful, ILLIAM’s future can be rewritten to avoid what’s taken place 

 

A couple big ifs.

 

The premise of this book had promise and I sped through the first third of the book in a heartbeat, but as the world descended into chaos and Kaitlin Goss was running around the state trying to stay ahead of any number of people who are also teetering on the edge about getting ILLIAM back online or if that is even wise, my interest began to wane. I grew tired of Goss’ rationalization of her role in all this, of who Martin was or was evolving to be (think of Zuckerberg/Bezos/Musk with a Messiah complex) and struggled to finish. Yeah, Carr’s purpose may be a cautionary tale of computer domination. And I won’t be surprised to find dozens of books in the near future with similar cautionary tales.

 

For me, I’ll just stick with crime, noir, and political thrillers.

 

ECD

 

Kinney’s Quarry by Verlin Darrow

Kinney (no first name until very late in the book) and Reed are long-time partners having served together for a shadowy 3-letter agency that spends not a dime on marketing. Their job is to do the heavy lifting that the government wants no one to know about. Usually, those black op renditions that are carried out with extreme prejudice, if you catch my drift. In the black-ops community, Kinney was a legend especially when it came to hand-to-hand combat. His martial arts skills were of Bruce Lee quality and lethality.

That is, until an assignment in Cambodia. Kinney was severely wounded and during a surgery, he had a near-death experience. His spirit was hovering about the operating table looking in two directions: his body below him and the bright white light above him. A voice from the light suggested he needed to change his ways to return to his life. Otherwise . . . He took the advice and upon returning, he told Barber (his boss) that he would no longer be involved with any killing. Thus, he and Reed ended up getting patty-cake assignments.

Kinney and Reed are avid golfers in their down time. One weekday, they get paired with these two middle aged guys for a foursome. The early holes were spent getting to know each other until one of the guys mentions a topic they had no business knowing about.

 

Turns out the pairing wasn’t random. These guys want to hire Kinney and Reed for a freelance assignment. Kill some South American General who is effectively ruling his small country.

 

These guys hadn’t done their homework in full as it turns out Kinney knows the general. But he wants to get paid so he and Reed work out a plan to fake an assassination (remember, Kinney is done with killing) when the target is in NJ and get the general back to his home safely and quietly.

 

But there is more to the plot than just the general’s death. A series of steps in a far larger conspiracy begins to evolve involving greed (of course), political upheaval and betrayal (in the US), oil, mineral rights, the FBI, and their unnamed employer. Not to mention that to unravel this conspiracy, Kinney’s rule on no killing will be severely tested.

 

Sounds a bit like a routine thriller, but you’d be wrong, grasshopper. What separates this book from the masses is that the author presents Kinney and Reed to be less Bond or Reacher and more like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They bicker constantly and pick at each other non-stop making mock of most any plans they cook up and how such plans get executed. Many of their exchanges are laugh out loud funny.

 

In brief, these two are a hoot. Their constant picking at each other, like an old married couple, keeps the numerous twists of the conspiracy unfolding in a muy entertaining manner. When scanning through the author’s past books, it looks like his previous books (n=5; including 2-3 award winners) are all standalones. It’d be interesting if the author would venture into a series featuring Kinney and Reed. I’d be on that in a heartbeat because the story line and the characters were so dang entertaining. This was a very good outing for Darrow. If I gave out stars, this would get five of 'em.

 

In case you were wondering, where we find the books to read/review. I generally resort to various methods:

1. I browse the shelves at Barnes/Noble for interesting titles, take a photo of the cover, check with the local county library to see if they have the book and check it out. If I’m really interested, I’ve been known to request the book using the inter-library loan service.

2. A publishing rep suggested I join NetGalley, a service for reviewers to access new books being prepared for publication. I joined and happily receive an electronic ARC (advance reviewer copy) to read on my Kindle. Reviewers are obligated to submit their honest review to NetGalley (that eventually gets back to the book’s publisher). NetGalley is my primary source for books.

3.  West Coast Don (and family) has a family Kindle account that he lets me access. Occasionally I find a title on their Kindle queue. How they populate the Kindle Library is beyond me.

4. Having reviewed numerous titles for a few publishers, I’ll occasionally get a new book sent directly to me to review (e.g., Oceanview Publishing, Emily Bestler Books, Atria Books, Stark House Press (an under the radar publisher you should check into)).

5. I’ve gotten to know a couple authors over time, and they’ve been very kind in requesting their publisher send me their latest (Charlie Stella in particular). I think the author sent this directly to WCD and he added it to his Kindle. I shamelessly snatched it.

 

As you can tell, when it comes to books, I'm a roaring cheapskate.

 

Per the Wild Rose Press website, Kinney's Quarry was released April 14, 2025.

 

ECD 

 

 

 

Ferry Tails: A Whidbey Island Thriller

 Ferry Tails: A Whidbey Island Thriller by Ted Mulcahey is a wonderful tale, in part, regarding tails. Roger Wilkie is a deputy sheriff on the southern end of Whidbey Island in the Puget Sound. The office of Sheriff Tom Davis was in Coupeville, a bit of a distance away from Wilkie’s substation, so Wilkie really was the main boss in his southern section. His best friend who handled much of the small crimes was Wally Turbin, and they were assisted by a couple volunteers, Wally and Bruce. This quiet island rarely encountered a big crime, so it was more than a surprise when there was a murder on a ferry which provided one of two ways to get to and from the island. There was also an inconvenient ferry. Hanna Sucki was found in her car which was being transported from the mainland to Whidbey. While parked and sitting in the driver’s seat, she had been shot between her eyes. The killer had to be on the ferry, but when the passengers were all screen at disembarkation, no obvious suspect came to mind among the passengers. However, it was soon discovered that she had been carrying a cache of diamonds which had been stolen from Joseph Driggs who was head of the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). The fundamentalist church was distinct from the main church because they continued to practice polygamy. Driggs used Shane Mullins as his enforcer. Wilkie and the others were sure the trail would lead to those two men, but they didn’t know where Driggs and Mullins were hiding and they had no way to prove their theory on the crime.

 

There were a couple subplots besides this murder. On the island was a convicted felon, Francis Early, who had recently been released from prison. He was a huge man who had tattoos all over his body, including prison tattoos of tears. He was so intimidating to nearly everyone he encountered that he had learned to live life as a single person. He had chosen to live on the island because his brother lived there, a respected man in the community, Jake Early. Francis wanted to help solve the murder since the suspected culprits were well known to him. However, Francis tended to cause trouble wherever he went, mostly because of his rather ghastly appearance. One subplot was the surprising love story between Francis and Maggie, the island’s medical examiner.

 

I thought the best subplot had to do with German Shepards. The dogs were woven into the story along with their fierce protective sense for their owner, as well as their intelligence and remarkable intuition.

 

I don’t think I’m doing justice in this review to the well-developed plot and the outstanding characters. This was an excellent story and it was gripping from the onset. I give author Mulcahey my strongest recommendation, and I would love to read more about Wilkie and his cohorts.