Review of The Rosary Girls: A Novel of Suspense (Hardcover)

In the Rosary Girls, Richard Montanari has created a masterpiece of suspense.Full of beautifully descriptive imagery, he brings the reader into modern Philadelphia for a harrowing and deeply disturbing tale of a ruthless serial killer who kidnaps, murders, and mutilates Catholic school girls and the detectives who try to catch him.
Montanari weaves his tale through the eyes of several different characters: the two main detectives on the case (Kevin Byrne and Jessica Balzano), a reporter covering the story, and the killer himself.Readers will find it interesting to see how the case takes a toll on the lives of the detectives both emotionally and physically.
I honestly could not put this book down.The short, but action-packed chapters add to the suspense, and the many dead-ends into which Montanari leads the reader will leave you as desperate to unmask the psychotic killer as the detectives.Catholic symbolism is everywhere, but Montanari explains everything so that readers of any faith can understand the events of the novel which take place during Holy Week (the week before Easter).
All in all, The Rosary Girls is a fast-paced, captivating thriller that will keep the reader on the edge of his seat until the EXTREMELY SURPRISING ending that no one could see coming.Don't miss this one!



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Review of Stay Rich for Life!: Growing & Protecting Your Money in Turbulent Times (Hardcover)

Slott asserts that Americans not only need to accumulate a nest-egg while working, but take good care of it after retirement so it will last through their retirement.

High taxes and huge medical expenses (prior to qualifying for Medicare, nursing-home care at any age) stand as challenges to those wanting to preserve their retirement. Exploding deficits caused by multi-billion-dollar bailouts, skyrocketing health care and entitlement costs, failing pension plans will push government to sharply increase taxes. Slott notes that today's top tax rate (35%) is far lower than it bas been for most of the years income taxes have been levied - most years it was at least 70% or higher.

Retirement funds will be a tempting target - there was $17.4 trillion in them mid-year 2007, almost 40% of all household financial assets.

Slott then goes on to advice on picking an accountant and attorney (I'd rather see basic advice allowing one to avoid their high fees), and the details of "the first half of the game" (saving and investment strategies - especially Roth IRAs), and then the "second half" (withdrawal strategies, estate-planning basics).

When Slott talked of strategies for turbulent times I was hoping he had macro-level strategies dealing with the current deflation we are in, followed by subsequent inflation. Examples might be buying a home(s) at auction (which cities, price range, areas), or which areas of the stock market are most likely to revive in the next few years. Lacking those, the book focuses at too low a level to be of much use.



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