Game On by: Gabra Zackman

     What a fun book!  I absolutely loved the set up of this story.  It was filled with intrigue, passion, and twists that made me devour this book.

Susannah “Legs” Carter is a private investigator that uses her looks to help her get what she needs.  She works with a team of investigators that each bring something unique to the table.  The dynamic that Gabra has created between the team members is something close to that of watching a prime time television show.

Gabra Zackman has a knack with describing the scene in great detail.   I believe that she perfected that skill while she was recording the audio version of many books.  I love that some off the content is for mature readers but doesn’t come off as smutty. Even though “Legs” is the main character in this story, I loved the character of Lisa Bee.  She is a bad-ass investigator with a kind heart!

I can not wait to read the next installment of Gabra Zackman’s The Bod Squad series!

Small Mercies by: Eddie Joyce

  This debut novel for Eddie Joyce has captured the essence of family life; more specifically a Staten Island family’s life.  Set on “the rock”, this story puts onto paper the Amendola’s story.  Although it is fictional, the settings and atmosphere that this book brings to its’ readers is very real.  As a Staten Islander, I can picture the settings in my head, walk down the streets as they walked, and smelled the smells that only Staten Islanders have smelled many times before. This is not to say that if you are not from Staten Island that you would not enjoy this book, in fact, it would be sad if you did not read this.

When asked at a reading who the main character of the novel is, Eddie Joyce quickly responds with Gail Amendola, the mother.  Respectfully, I disagree.  The main character of the story is Family.  Each member of the Amendola family was vitally important to this story.  The attacks of 9/11 greatly impacted the Amendola family and even years later, they deal with their loss.  However, this is a story about love and strength and the ability to move forward in life even when you don’t understand how that could be possible.

This novel is beautifully written and tells such a wonderful story.  Eddie Joyce made the right decision when he decided to leave his career as a lawyer and share this gem with everyone.  Well done!