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 The Prisoner of Guantanamo (Hardcover)

Baltimore Sun Reporter Dan Fesperman is not only a terrific newsman but a first-rate novelist as well (The Small Boat of Great Sorrows, The Warlord's Son).His stories are as current as this morning's news and while sometimes troubling also thoroughly entertaining.

Our setting is the Guantanamo base or Gitmo,the military originated slang name for this outpost. Gitmo,, as the world knows, is where suspected terrorists are incarcerated and interrogated.Life here doesn't amount to much as the suicide rate makes clear."There had been five attempts inside the wire in the last two weeks, none successful and more than thirty since the prisoners first arrived."

Revere Falk is a former FBI agent now an interrogator at Gitmo.He qualified for this posting because of his fluency in Arabic, and his desire to keep some secrets in his past.For company he has found a career military woman who shares his assignment.

Routine changes when the body of an American soldier, a reservist who was assigned to Guantanamo, is found on a Cuban beach.It's not long into Falk'sinvestigation of this death before he realizes that what he had hoped to keep secret may be revealed.

There a lot of action, much political maneuvering, and a wrenching picture of what can happen during the war on terror to be found in The Prisoner of Guantanamo plus, in this case, a riveting reading delivered by actor David Colacci.

Highly recommended.

- Gail Cooke



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Review of Don't Look Twice: A Novel (Hardcover)

This novel was a fun page turner that kept me guessing most of the way through. The plot has some depth and the story was interesting even though the characters were quite stereotypical of thrillers involving detectives, murder, gambling, crooked government and the requisite love interest. Along the way is the building body count, and the reader learns quickly that it's dangerous to trust anyone involved in the case.

This was the second book in a series featuring Lt. Ty Hauck and I did not read the former, The Dark Tide, so am basing my analysis of the character on this novel only. He's the typical man without a family - estranged from an ex -- and his current love interest is lukewarm, so he's the solitary voice of truth and justice fighting against the rich and powerful. This type of character has become a cliché of detective novels - probably because it works. It would be hard for a man with any type of family or home life to rarely sleep, eat or interact with anyone but those involved in the case. He has a daughter, brother and father and those all make brief appearances in the story but his relationships are never fully fleshed out. The reader doesn't really get to know Ty although he certainly seems to have a conscience even as he displays a lapse or two in judgment that almost compromises the investigation.

All in all -- an entertaining, if somewhat convoluted, tale of murder, greed, and corruption. I will most likely read another installment in this series in the future.



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