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Sleight of Hand: A Novel of Suspense (Dana Cutler #4) (audiobook) by Phillip Margolin

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Fantastic Narration by Jonathan Davis Published by Harper Audio in April of 2013 Performed by Jonathan Davis Unabridged Duration: 8 hours, 10 minutes Phillip Margolin I have been a fan of Phillip Margolin for years but I have been disappointed with some of his newer books. Sleight of Hand started out fairly weak but the second half was much stronger. There are two plots at work in this novel. Dana Cutler, appearing in her fourth novel is hired for a bizarre cross country case involving a 500-year-old scepter from the Ottoman Empire. The other story involves fashionable couple Horace and Carrie Blair. Horace Blair is a multi-millionaire international businessman and Carrie is much younger and is a career-focused prosecutor. When Carrie disappears, Horace is charged with her murder and eventually these two stories come together with a true sociopath and that's when the book starts to move. The best part of this audiobook was the performance of the reader, Jonathan

Umbrella Mike: The True Story of the Chicago Gangster Behind the Indy 500 by Brock Yates

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Incorrectly Named and a Rather Disjointed Effort Published by Thunder's Mouth Press in 2006 Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of the Indy 500. I have been to every 500 since 1986 and I live within earshot of the track. I have whiled away many a day at the track watching qualifications, practice or just going through the gift shop during the winter when the track is silent. I was dimly aware that a Chicago gangster had fielded an entry in the Indy 500 in the 1930's so I hoped that this book would tell that story. And it does, but the title of the book makes it sound like Umbrella Mike (Mike Boyle, the crooked boss of Chicago's International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) somehow saved the race or even financed the construction of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He did not. What he did was use his race teams to launder some of his illegally obtained cash and financed several race teams at the Indy 500, eventually winning it three times, including the back-to-bac

Called By A Panther (Albert Samson #7) by Michael Z. Lewin

Published by Mysterious Press in 1991 Michael Z. Lewin 's interestingly named Called By A Panther  gets its name from a piece of Ogden Nash verse: "If called by a panther / don't anther." Private detective Albert Samson is contacted by a group of eco-terrorists called the Scum Front. The Scum Front specializes in placing fully functional bombs in prominent buildings around Indianapolis. The bombs are functional except for a little piece is left unconnected along with a note that indicates that they are completely aware how to make the bomb operational. Then, they call a local cable TV station and get lots of publicity for their cause. The police are at a loss, but they are really irritated when they get a call about a bomb and there is no bomb. But, when the eco-terrorists come to Albert Samson wearing animal masks and wanting his help to find their lost bomb, it is just starting to get strange... I have lived in Indianapolis for the last twenty years and it was

Rendezvous (audiobook) by Nelson DeMille

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Published by HighBridge Audio in May of 2013 Read by Scott Brick Duration: 1 hour, 2 minutes Nelson DeMille's gripping short story Rendezvous is set in the Vietnam War and made more authentic by DeMille's own real-life experiences during the war. A group of 10 American soldiers are on patrol in a no-man's land near the Vietnam-Laotian border. They are supposed to be make contact with the enemy, radio in what they find and move on to one of three rendezvous locations where they will be evacuated by helicopter. Everyone on the patrol is a little more than 30 days from being rotated out of Vietnam. This is important because the group has lots of experience but everyone has a sense of foreboding because this is their last patrol (there is a tradition of not sending guys out with less than one month to go). While on patrol they encounter a female sniper who shoots the radio man and both radios. As the patrol decides to head out for the first of three pre-determine

The Forgotten Conservative: Re-Discovering Grover Cleveland by John M. Pafford

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Published by Regnery History in May of 2013 Grover Cleveland. Quick! Name me any fact about Grover Cleveland that you can think of! Was he the one that was so fat that he got stuck in the bathtub? No, that was Taft. Is he on the Mount Rushmore? No, those are Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and T. Roosevelt. Was he a famous Civil War general that became president? No, that was Grant, Garfield, Hayes and Harrison. Grover Cleveland, the 22nd and 24th President (1837-1908) Was he the president who was elected, got beat running for his second term but ran again and then won so that you have to learn his name twice if your teacher makes you learn the presidents? Yes. That's him. But, as John M. Pafford demonstrates in The Forgotten Conservative, Grover Cleveland was a man  of contradictions. He was a uniquely principled man who was also mired in a sex scandal (the famous taunt went:  " Ma, Ma, where's my Pa?"  "Gone to the  White House , ha ha ha!&

A Dream So Big: Our Unlikely Journey to End the Tears of Hunger by Steve Peifer with Gregg Lewis

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A Very Moving True Story Published in April of 2013 by Zondervan The hardest book reviews to write are for the books that truly touch you. A Dream So Big had me spellbound from the first and I cannot even attempt to write a proper review. If you have ever had the scary meeting with a "genetic couselor" at the OBGYN office than you can feel for the Peifer family. In my family's case, the meeting was unnecessary - our daughter was born with no complications. For the Peifer family, this was not the case. Their son was born with severe disabilities and only lived a few days. Peifer describes the devastation to his family and how he and his family come to join the faculty at a boarding school for the children of missionary families. He describes how a one year gig has become a mission to feed and educate as many Kenyan children as possible. Peifer's good humor is visible throughout the book and he is a natural self-deprecating storyteller. He balances his t