Born in 1948, Jayne Ann Castle has become a writing machine, churning out more than 100 novels, cracking the NY Times best sellers list many times. There are 35 million of her books in print worldwide. She has used seven pen names. Amanda Quick is the one I've noticed while operating the floating book shop. Her main genre is romance, which she infuses in stories that involve the paranormal, suspense and the futuristic. She has twice received the Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, and has also been cited by that organization for career achievement. I've just finished her latest effort, at least under the Quick pseudonym, The Girl Who Knew Too Much, which was published in 2017. Set in the 1930's, it begins with the protagonist, a personal assistant, finding her boss brutally murdered, and a message written on the wallpaper in blood: "Run." While taking money from a safe, she discovers a notebook filled with mathematical calculations and a letter written to her. She decides to travel cross country, figuring the L.A. area is the best place to lose oneself. She becomes a reporter for a small scandal sheet and stumbles into a murder at a hotel where Hollywood's elite goes to get away from it all. She falls for the proprietor, a retired magician. While the outcome regarding the heroine is predictable, the circumstances surrounding the hotel murder are not. Of course, the east coast killing eventually comes back into play. I guessed wrong as to the contents of the notebook. Although this is middle of the pack as far as mysteries go, the author does a fine job weaving the plot together and handling the large cast of characters. There are a couple of surprises and red herrings along the way. It's fun, the 351 pages seeming significantly less, despite the fact that the novel is a tad overwritten. It is grounded, not over the top. The biggest disappointment is the killer, instead of simply shooting the protagonist, going into a lengthy exposition of the crimes. That has long been a pet peeve of mine, especially regarding films. 379 users at Amazon have rated The Girl Who..., forging to a consensus of 4.4 on a scale of five. I rate it three. I believe its appeal is restricted to Quick's fans and to those who have not read any of her work.
Take a look at this picture from bigleap.com:
See anything unusual? Brandon Canesi was born without hands, but it hasn’t stopped him from playing golf. Canesi learned to play with custom-built clubs that have a longer and more flexible shaft that allow him to generate power. On March 2nd he made his second life-time hole-in-one. There may be a lesson in this somewhere. Kudos, sir.
The latest page in the left's dethrone Trump playbook focuses on porn star Stormy Daniels. Will a majority of voters care about this, or will the reaction be similar to that toward Slick Willie's bimbo eruptions?
Yesterday a gentleman I hadn't seen in a long time asked if I had any classical CD's. I told him to see me tomorrow. Hoping he'd show, I kept the book shop open a lot longer than I normally would have on a day of such cold wind. Finally I gave up and started breaking down the display and hauling stuff to the car. He showed when only three boxes remained, one of them the music. He bought all four of the CD's I'd put aside for him. My thanks, and also to the man who bought albums by B.B. King, the Boston Pops, and a compilation of Spanish guitar; and to the three men purchased books in Russian; and to Gary, who donated five works of non-fiction and one novel.
My Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Vic-Fortezza/e/B002M4NLJE
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