DWD's Reviews

Solid first step by a self-published author who later went on to win himself a publishing contract To be published by Thomas and Mercer in July of 2013 Kerry Wilkinson has done what almost all of Amazon's self-published authors have dreamed of - he has published a Kindle e-book, outsold the established names and got the attention of mainstream publishing houses and won himself a publishing contract. And it all started with this book: Locked In . I read Locked In in paper form and found it to quite a good mystery. While this was not life-changing literature, I found it to be much better than the latest offerings that I have read by much more established authors such as Patricia Cornwell and James Patterson. Wilkinsin is helped by the fact that he was a working journalist (he recently quit in order to focus on being an author) so he has the ability to write for the everyday reader. His journalistic background helps with one of his main characters, a reporter for a local

A Total Joy  Published in 2011 by Simon and Schuster 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. Charles Leerhsen's recounting of the first few years of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway is an interesting, fun and controversial book. What is interesting? An ad from a San Francisco newspaper bragging that the Marmon Wasp won the Indy 5000. Note the inclusion of the riding mechanic even though Harroun did not have one. Leerhsen tells the story of early 1900s Indianapolis, the beginnings of America's automobile culture, auto racing and the construction of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a nearly seamless manner so that it all becomes one large story. It is a story of inspired (crazy?) businessmen, a fascination with what is "

Not Up To The Standard Set By His Other Books Published by William Morrow in April of 2013 This is my fifth Andrew Gross novel. Unlike in his other novels, the characters in No Way Back  failed to connect with me. The hallmarks of an Andrew Gross novel are all present here: an easy writing style, a quick-moving plot and some sort of shocking event that causes the main characters' lives to spin out of control. But, unlike the other books, I found myself to be lukewarm to all of the "good guys" and the sinister plot that held the bad guys together to be forced. In No Way Back the reader meets Wendy Gould, a married suburbanite who almost has a one night stand with a handsome  piano player after she has had a horrible fight with her husband. She stops it before they progress to the actual deed and while she is in the bathroom re-arranging her clothes a stranger enters the room, argues with the piano player, tosses a gun to him and then kills him. Wendy steps out,

Great Near-Future Sci-Fi Military Action! Published by The AudioComics Company in 2012. Multicast performance Duration: 1 hour, 28 minutes T itanium Rain is a near future military adventure story about a group of physically enhanced American and British fighter pilots and their missions against an Imperial Chinese government over mainland China. This AudioComics production of Titanium Rain is an adaptation of the 2010 publication of volume 1 of a graphic novel series of the same name by Josh Finney. Finney adapted the graphic novel for this multicast performance done in the style of the old-time radio show, complete with multiple actors, top-notch special effects and a soundtrack especially written for this production. The listener discovers that China has suffered a military coup thanks to their Communist leader being killed by an Islamic terrorist. The general who took over China has proclaimed himself to be a new Emperor, has started a de-Westernization of Chin

Published by Macmillan Audio in 2013. Read by Edoardo Ballerini Duration: 13 hours, 45 minutes A photo of Allan Pinkerton (1819-1884) taken circa 1861. Most history books mention the plot to kill Lincoln as he was travelling to Washington, D.C. for his inauguration in February of 1861 with just a sentence or two, if they mention it at all. This is unfortunate because a more in-depth look like this book provides can give the reader a real feel for the fluidity of the situation when Lincoln took office. Daniel Stashower's The Hour of Peril begins with a solid biography of Pinkerton's life (about 2 hours or so) that may just be the most interesting part of the book. The book eventually moves into a discussion of the Presidential election of 1860 and the Secession Crisis that Lincoln faced as President-elect, including the danger that both Maryland and Virginia would secede and leave the capital of the United States, Washington, D.C. to be surrounded by two Confederate

Inspired by a true case of abuse of power by the EPA Published March 12, 2013 by Putnam I really enjoy C.J. Box 's Joe Pickett series but I freely admit that I, sadly, just sort of forget about these great books. There's no reason for that because this series is every bit as good as the ones I never forget about (Michael Connelly and Robert Crais) but I just do. Breaking Point is an excellent addition to the series. The book features a local landowner and his family who are told by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that they need to stop construction on their property in a subdivision at the edge of Saddlestring, Wyoming because it is a "wetland" even though there is no water and no spring on it. They are given a few days to return the property to its pre-construction condition or face stiff fines ($70,000 per day). The property owners are given no way to appeal the decision and no one will discuss the problem with them from the EPA. When the fa