Author: ekkarn

Books that “Rocked Your World”!

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Narcissus and Goldmund

This morning is was thinking about reading and books that “Rocked your world”, well maybe not rock your world, but those that opens your eyes, maybe make you see the world in a new light.

Books that touch you! One of the first books of mine that came to mind was, Jonathan Kozol’s Death at an Early Age. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve read but I remember at the time, this book revealed conditions that I really didn’t know existed and I remember being so touched by Kozol’s actions!

Just recently that’s what Stones into Schools did for me. It smacked me in the face with the conditions that people live under in both Pakistan and Afghanistan and their need for and their thirst for education particularly for their daughters!

The Imperial Cruise did it, too, by opening my eyes to US actions both in Hawaii and the Philippines!

As I thought about this topic two other books that came to mind were Herman Hesse’s Siddhartha and Narcissus and Goldmund. While I loved both books, I remember that Narcissus and Goldmund was my favorite. For those of you who don’t know the book, here is a synopsis from Wikipedia:

Narcissus and Goldmund is the story of a young man, Goldmund, who wanders around aimlessly throughout Medieval Germany after leaving a Catholic monastery school in search of what could be described as “the meaning of life”, or rather, meaning for his life. Narcissus, a gifted young teacher at the cloister school, quickly makes friends with Goldmund, as they are only a few years apart, and Goldmund is naturally bright. Goldmund looks up to Narcissus, and Narcissus has much fondness for him in return. After straying too far in the fields one day, on an errand gathering herbs, Goldmund comes across a beautiful Gypsy woman, who kisses him and invites him to make love. This encounter becomes his epiphany; he now knows he was never meant to be a monk. With Narcissus’ help, he leaves the monastery and embarks on a wandering existence. Goldmund finds he is very attractive to women, and has numerous love affairs. After seeing a particularly beautiful carved Madonna in a church, he feels his own artistic talent awakening and seeks out the master carver, with whom he studies for several years. However, in the end Goldmund refuses an offer of guild membership, preferring the freedom of the road. When the Black Death devastates the region, Goldmund encounters human existence at its ugliest. Finally he is reunited with his friend Narcissus, now an abbot, and the two reflect upon the different paths their lives have taken, contrasting the artist with the thinker. Full Wikipedia Article

Now as I think about the book and read the reviews at Goodreads: Narcissus and Goldmund I think I want to read the book again. I’m sure it would be interesting to read after all the life experiences that have occurred since that first reading!

So the question of the day is: What Book “Rocked Your World” and why??

Oh, another book that popped into my mind that I read in college at the height of the Vietnam War that had an impact was Dalton Trumbo’s Johnny Got His Gun

Book 17 of 2013 – The Imperial Cruise – James Bradley

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The Imperial CruiseIn 1905 Theodore Roosevelt sent the largest diplomatic mission in US across the Pacific to Asia. The mission was led by his Secretary of War William Howard Taft and the group included his daughter Alice.  James Bradley’s book about this mission The Imperial Cruise is Book 17 of 2013. During the trip Taft on Roosevelt’s behalf negotiated a series of secret agreements – which were unconstitutional – that laid the groundwork for future Japanese actions over the next 30-40 years. The details of these agreements remained secret until after Roosevelt’s death and really have been absent from history books.

The book details many stops along the way and American actions throughout the trip. Included are discussion of the US annexation of Hawaii as well as US actions in the Philippines. The more I read, the less I liked the actions of my country. I don’t ever think we were taught as much about the perceived belief held by Roosevelt and the politicians of his day, that only white Anglo-Saxons were capable of understanding democracy and self-government and it was our duty to spread that democracy westward across our continent and then on across the Pacific to Asia. Since Americans knew nothing about Hawaii or the Philippines, they were portrayed as Pacific Negroes and several pictures in the book provide illustrations showing Filipinos dressed in Jungle-like garb..

Filipinos and HawaiiansIn a review of the book that appeared in the New York Times The Queasy Side of Theodore Roosevelt’s Diplomatic Voyage written by Janet Maslin in November of 2009,. In the article Maslin writes:

If racism is nothing new, Mr. Bradley’s readers may still be surprised at the xenophobic ugliness of the photos, letters, cartoons, lyrics and political speeches cited here. And if, for instance, American use of waterboarding against turn-of-the-century Filipino prisoners is not unknown (it was the subject of a New Yorker article last year), neither is it common knowledge. Nor, perhaps, are the lyrics to “The Water Cure,” a vintage United States Army marching song: “Shove in the nozzle deep and let him taste of liberty/Shouting the battle cry of freedom.” The toughest parts of this book re-reveal things we should already know.

On of the main themes of the book was that Roosevelt’s belief that only the Japanese understood dg government like Anglo-Saxon whites and that his belief that the Japanese should have a Monroe Doctrine like control over Asia led to World War II. Maslin writes:

“Here was the match that lit the fuse, and yet for decades we paid attention only to the dynamite,” Mr. Bradley writes. The flame to which he refers is Roosevelt’s secret diplomacy with Japan and his encouragement of Japanese imperialism. (“I should like to see Japan have Korea,” he once declared.) In a far-reaching book that also addresses Roosevelt’s misconceptions about Korea, Hawaii, China and the Philippines, Mr. Bradley places critical emphasis on the dangerous American-Japanese relationship that, he says, Roosevelt helped create.

While Bradley might have gone too far in his dislike for Theodore Roosevelt  and his policies that may have set the stage for Japanese expansion and the war, he did tell me a lot about the US actions in Asia that we were never taught about in school. In addition, similarities between American actions in the Philippines were eerily similar to Iraq. What reading this book has done is piqued  my interest in both Theodore Roosevelt and this time period, in fact I have started another book about the time period The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898 by Even Thomas

Here’s a review from USA Today that points out some of the negatives of the book:‘Imperial Cruise’ hits rough waters in attack of Roosevelt

So check out The Imperial Cruise and see what you think!

Stakeout by Parnell Hall’s (Stanley Hastings # 18)

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stakeout

There are several mystery characters in mystery series  that make me laugh, but two stand out first there’s Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum and secondly there’s Parnell Hall’s Stanley Hastings. Stanley’s latest caper Stakeout is Book 16 of 2013..

About Parnell Hall and Stakeout

Stakeout is the 18th book in the series that I started reading in 1991! Like all the others this one is a fine caper, which had me out laughing out loud on more than one occasion!

The Washington Post Book World says this about the series:

“The charm in Stanley Hastings lies in his chummy, loquacious, self-deprecating commentary as the narrator of his adventures”

While Marilyn Stasio of the The New York Times Book Review writes:

“The Stanley Hastings mysteries depend on subversively sly wordplay. In Caper catching criminals is all very well, but in the violently verbal world he inhabits, Stanley would be happy just to win an argument”

and from Mystery Scene

“This is the 18th installment in Parnell Hall’s long-lived and enjoyable Stanley Hastings series…The whole novel is told through dialogue–not so easy a trick. The writers who are really excellent at this make it look simple–Robert B Parker and Steve Hamilton spring to mind. Hall shares that gift…As Stanley lurches and jolts toward a final “aha” moment in a crowded courtroom, you’ll be rooting for him to come out, more or less, on top.” –

The Story

In Stakeout Stanley is hired by a beautiful wife to follow her husband to determine whether he is cheating on her. Stanley follows him and stakes out the motel where has rented a room. When no one shows up, Stanley decides to check out the room. When he opens the unlocked door, big surprise, he finds the husband dead!! Quickly the police arrive and Stanley is fingered for the crime. The rest of the book revolves around Stanley trying to find out who committed the crime and mostly just digs himself deeper in a hole!! It is a very quick and enjoyable read, with the usual cast of characters including Stanley, his wife Alice, police officer  MacAullif, and Stanley’s boss personal injury attorney Richard Rosenberg. Here’s a typical discussion between Stanley and MacAullif:

“A vampire?” MacAullif said.
There is no way I can do justice to the skepticism, sarcasm, and mistrust with which MacAullif managed to imbue the word.
“That’s right.”
“You want me to find a vampire?”
“I’d be relieved if you could. I’m afraid he might be dead.”
― Parnell Hall, Crimes by Moonlight: Mysteries from the Dark Side

The Bottom Line

So if you enjoy a good mystery with a lot of great humor check out any of the Stanley Hastings mysteries by Parnell Hall or if you prefer Puzzles check out his puzzle lady books.

Links

 

Book 14 0f 2013 – James Lee Burke – Creole Belle

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Creole BelleI have feeling that if I were an English major or at least more literature literate, I would love the great novels of James Lee Burke even more than I do presently! Creole Belle is the 19th Burke novel featuring Dave Robicheaux and is Book 14 for 2013 this one took a while to read, mainly because it is rather long (528 pages) and I got distracted by a couple of other books, but when I came back and picked it up about midway through, I zipped right through it, especially over the last two hundred or so pages. Like all the other books it’s a whopping good read!!

In his installment, Dave is in the hospital recovering from injuries sustained in the last book (hint: read The Glass Rainbow first!) anyway, a young woman Tee Jolie Melton, visits Dave in the hospital and leaves him an iPod with her songs on it including “My Creole Belle”. When Dave tells people this no one believes him because Tee Jolie disappeared weeks ago. Her sister has also disappeared only her body washes up on shore in a block of ice… with a message that Tee Jolie is still alive. Soon Dave is on a quest to find tee Jolie. Meanwhile Dave’s former partner and best friend Clete Purcell is confronted with problems of his own, some greaseballs are trying to shake him down for a past due debt…. when one of the slime balls is murdered, the hitman is a young woman, who Clete thinks is his daughter from a relationship years ago! Soon Dave and Clete are off their quests. Dave to find Tee Jolie and Clete to find and save his daughter and himself. Along the way they face some of the meanest and most diabolical foes they’ve ever faced and Dave, his family, wife Molly and daughter Alafair are all targets!!

As in all of Burke’s books, the all the characters are superbly developed and in this book the cast is very large! And the images of Louisiana paints with his probe, leave you smelling the bayou and the magnolias and wishing you could be there…. a fellow reader Sue at Goodreads included this passage in her review of Creole Belle and it is a great example of Burke’s writing:

“…The boughs of the cypress trees were as brittle and delicate as gold leaf in the late sun. An alligator gar was swimming along the edge of the lily pads, its needle-
nose head and lacquered spine and dorsal fin parting the surface with a

fluidity that was more serpent than fish.

 

…Then the wind gusted and a long shaft of amber sunlight
seemed to race down the center of the bayou, like a paean
to the close of day and the coming of night and the cooling
of the earth, as though vespers and the acceptance of the
season were a seamless and inseparable part of life that
only the most vain and intransigent among us would deny.”

 

So if you’ve never read James Lee Burke’s books go find The Glass Rainbow and then follow it up with Creole Belle and I’m sure after those two you’ll go back and read Dave Robicheaux’s 17 other adventures! Hell, you have to find out why Clete and Dave fight both their demons, and the bad guys!

As for me I finished just in time for the next installment coming in July, Light of the World

Current Reads: Kofi Annan, Andrew Johnson and the Amistad Rebellion

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Ok so this year I am making a very concerted effort to read more non-fiction books. I will be concentrating on history and politics with some of the other aspects of Social Studies thrown in to the mix. Currently, I have myself spread between three books. They are:

InterventionsInterventions: A Life in War and Peace Kofi Annan with Nader Mousavizadeh.

I must confess that I knew little about Kofi Annan prior to starting this book. I knew he was at one point Secretary General of the United Nations but that was about all. So far and I’m not that far into the book it has been enlightening. I didn’t realize that Kofi was the first Sub-Saharan African to serve as Secretary General. Here’s what others say about the book:
“In this thought provoking new memoir, Kofi Annan describes the peaceful and more equitable world that is within our grasp and offers his candid perspective on the challenges we must overcome to get there. Interventions is a powerful reminder that the United Nations still matters-and must continue to matter if we want our new century to be more free, peaceful and prosperous than the last” – President William J. Clinton

“Behind the velvet tones of Kofi Annan’s dulcet Ghanaian voice, there’s a fearsome, fearless iron will, intent on finding solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems“ – Bono

ImpeachedImpeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln’s Legacy  David O. Stewart

On February 24, 1868 – Accusing Johnson of violating the tenure of Office Act, the House approves an impeachment resolution by a vote of 126-47. When I read this on the day of the anniversary, I realized that I either knew little about the impeachment or like many things I had forgotten whati  did know! Anyway, I wanted to learn more about the Impeachment and maybe compare it to Bill Clinton’s (there is no comparison) I found David O. Stewart’s book and having liked his book on Aaron Burr this would be a good read. I was correct so far like the Annan book it has been enlightening. I have a new respect for the Radical Republicans and Thaddeus Stevens, though I still have a hard time thinking of them as the “Good guys”!

“Anyone who thinks that American politics has lately been at a high level of viciousness should read this gripping story of Andrew Johnson’s impeachment trial. There are fewer angels than we have thought, and more political hatred and knife work – all with the underlying issue of justice and race” – Anthony Lewis former NY Times columnist and author of Gideon’s Trumpet

Amistad RebellionThe Amistad Rebellion: An Atlantic Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom – Marcus Redeker

Unlike the above books I really didn’t seek this book out, rather it was at the library one day a couple weeks ago and I couldn’t pass it up. Back on January 13th to be exact I read about the verdict of the trial:

 Judge Judson announced his decision on January 13, 1840, after a weekend of deliberation. He ruled that the Amistad captives were “born free” and kidnapped in violation of international law. They had mutinied, he said, out of a “desire of winning their liberty and of returning to their families and kindred.” He ordered that the Amistads be “delivered to President Van Buren for transport back to Africa.” He ended his opinion with the observation, “Cinque and Grabeau shall not sigh for Africa in vain. Bloody as may be their hands, they shall yet embrace their kindred.” The Grampus sailed out of New Haven harbor without its black passengers. Van Buren was described as “greatly dissatisfied.” Full Story

So when I saw this book I thought it was a good time to jump in and learn about the Rebellion!

“Marcus Rediker writes that after completing The Slave Ship he felt the need to look into a ‘hopeful counterpoint to this gruesome history’; the successful Amistad rebellion. What a radiant, many-fingered dawn of hope he has discovered!” Staughton Lynd

So far I have learned a lot about the background of the amazing men who won their freedom in this rebellion! I’m sure that the rest of the book will be just as packed with interesting nuggets of knowledge!

New Jazz From Old Friends from the Princeton Record Exchange

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So I took the day off from work yesterday because I didn’t have anything to do, but my wife had something in mind, and she knew just how to get me to go look for dead people! I guess I should tell you first that looking for dead people, is in fact, just going to the NJ State Archives and looking up birth, death and marriage certificates, but I think looking for dead people sounds more interesting!

So how did she do it, well, all she really had to do was remind me that I still had gift certificates to the Princeton Record Exchange from Christmas with lots of money left on them!

So it was only moments after we decided that I would go, that she was working on the LIST of dead people. Actually, it wasn’t a very long or very hard list and I was able to find most of the certificates within two hours. I didn’t find out until later that I screwed up one of the most important ones . I

was looking for the death certificate of a William S, Horner and I found it, but I didn’t have a microfilm machine that printed so I had to take the film to the staff machine to make the copy. When I did I mistakenly copied William F Horner instead of William S!

A Jazz Odyssey

So Brian I apologize and i anybody needs a death certificate for a William F Horner who died in 1939 in NJ, I have it! Now on to the good stuff… I found 10 CDs five of them jazz, four Americana and one rock. I won’t bore you with all ten at once, rather, I’ll split it over two posts. So here’s the jazz ones first:A Jazz Odyssey – Oscar Peterson – the album is a compilation CD put out with his autobiography and offers an overview of his career from 1950-1970. A good  CD for work!

This 18-track selection of Oscar Peterson’s work was assembled to coincide with the great pianist’s autobiography. Centering on his most creative period, from 1950-1970, this compilation focuses intently on the years Peterson spent playing with Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Stan Getz, Billie Holiday, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Roy Eldridge, Sweets Edison, and Max Roach, as well as establishing himself as a bandleader and soloist.   ….  This is a fine place to start for anyone interested in discovering Peterson’s contribution to the historical jazz canon. Full Review

Chet Baker Plays

The Best of Chet Baker Plays – Chet Baker – I really like Chet Baker’s sound so I am looking forward to listening to this one! From Allmusic:

This 1953-1956 compilation represents Chet Baker’s early days recording in Los Angeles. The appellation “cool” has been ascribed to Baker because of his often understated, contemplative approach to jazz, but on THE BEST OF CHET BAKER PLAYS we hear a trumpeter who defies any such categorization. Just as Miles Davis’ BIRTH OF THE COOL is canted more towards bebop than the atmospheric, textural and reflective attributes so often associated with cool jazz, .Full Review 

Burnin in the Woodhouse

Burnin’ in the Woodhouse – Milt Jackson – how can you go wrong with the great vibes of Milt Jackson. This album was released in 1995 by Qwest from AllMusic

Burnin’ in the Woodhouse is one of Milt Jackson’s final recordings as a leader prior to his death in 1999, and the vibraphonist is still very much at the top of his game on this mid-’90s session. With a stimulating young rhythm section (pianist Benny Green, bassist Christian McBride, and the seasoned, in-demand drummer Kenny Washington), plus a trio of up-and-coming horn players (trumpeter Nicholas Payton, alto saxophonist Jesse Davis, and tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman) added on some tracks, Jackson works his magic, mixing potent jazz compositions and standards.Full Review

Black Action Figure

Black Action Figure – Stefon Harris – while he’s not Milt Jackson. He’s distinctive and really good!

With his second album Black Action Figure, Stefon Harris still is finding his footing as an innovator, yet he is well on his way to developing his own exciting sense of style. At its core, this is fairly traditionalist hard bop, but there is energy and unpredictability to Harris’ playing that makes it feel chancier — and he does push harder at the borders of bop this time around. Full Review

Impressions

Impressions:The Verve Jazz Sides – Wes Montgomery – I couldn’t pass up this two disc CD that covers Wes’ years with Verve. AllMusic says that the CD is great for the hardcore collector and the common fan! From Allmusic:

The two-CD set Impressions: The Verve Jazz Sessions salvages Wes Montgomery’s straight jazz sessions for Verve, leaving the pop-oriented covers and orchestral sessions to the original albums. There are selected numbers from albums like Movin’ Wes, Goin’ Out of My Head and California Dreaming, illustrating that those albums were hardly worthless — each track proves that Montgomery’s touch remained elegant and supremely tasteful.Full Review

So I don’t think I did to badly for a grand total of $12.00!!

Book Number 9 of 2013 – The President and the Assassin….

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Leon Czolgosz

Emma Goldman

Albert_Parsons_portrait

Ok so which of the four people pictured above can you identify? Before I read Book Number 9 for 2013, I could have maybe identified two! The first two are the key players in the book, while persons three and four helped nudge number two along! The first two are William McKinley and Leon Czolgosz, who are The President and the Assassin, respectively, from Scott Miller’s  terrific book titled – The President and the Assassin:McKinley, Terror, and the Empire at the Dawn of the American Century. Persons three and four are anarchist Emma Goldman and Albert Parsons.  both of whom provided a push to Leon to do the deed!

The Destiny of the Republic, about James Garfield’s assassination and this book have brought alive for me both of the assassinations. these assassinations typically get passed over quickly in history classes. McKinley’s gets a little more attention than Garfield’s because there’s the Spanish-American War happening within the same time span. In The President and the Assassin, Miller does a great job of  not only addressing the assassination, but of putting the assassination in context of the events surrounding it. These events included: the Spanish-American War and  the US’s subsequent policies toward policies toward Cuba and the Philippines, the Open Door Policy with China, and of course the economic conditions, which are pretty damn close to conditions today!  These conditions gave rise to the anarchist and lead to events like the Haymarket Riots in Chicago, which cost Parsons his life.

Reading these two books, along with reading, This Day in History daily, has renewed my interest in American history. As an example, on February 24, 1868 The House voted 11 articles of impeachment against Andrew Johnson, I started reading about the event and saw that David O. Stewart, whose book about Aaron Burr, I read and liked, has written a book about the impeachment, so tonight I went to the library and picked up the book!

But back to The President and the Assassin, here’s what Freed Zakaria says about the book and it pretty much sums up how I feel…

“William McKinley’s presidency and the era it spanned, tend to be forgotten, yet it was in those years that the modern American nation, economy, and the presidency were forged. Scott Miller describes these years through a joint portrait of the world of McKinley and the man who assassinated him. The result is a marvelous work of history, wonderfully written, told from the top down and the bottom up.” 

So check out the book! As for me it’s on to the Impeachment of Andrew Jonson, bit wait
I’m still reading Treacherous Beauty: Peggy Shippen, the Woman behind Benedict Arnold’s Plot to Betray America!! Which is pretty interesting! Too many books to little time!!

Trust Your Eyes – Linwood Barclay

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Trust Your Eyes - Linwood Barclay

Ok so I’ve written before that I loved Linwood Barclay‘s Zack Walker books and wished that he kept writing them. When I questioned him about that he said that while the books received critical acclaim  they just didn’t sell well., Then he started writing standalone thrillers and his career took off!

While after finishing his latest book Trust Your Eyes, I will never again question his decision and I will eagerly awaiting his next standalone!!  For me Trust Your Eyes is the best book he has written yet and I am not alone in the opinion:

“Dazzling. Barclay brings a classic Hitchcock premise into the twenty-first century, with the power of an artist at the top of his game…. This book deserves to catapult him to the top of every bestseller list” Joseph Finder

“The best Barclay so far, a tale Hitchcock would have loved…riveting, frequently scary, occasionally funny, and surprisingly, wonderfully tender… great entertainment from a suspense master” Stephen King

The Story – Trust Your Eyes

The plot revolves around two brothers, Thomas and Ray Kilbride. Thomas is a map-obsessed schizophrenic, who lives at home with his father and his maps.

Through the website Whirl360.com Thomas travels the world not only studying maps, but also the buildings and shops, kinda like Google Earth street view.

Thomas thinks he’s studying maps to save the world when all the paper maps are gone and a catastrophe hits on-line and all the maps of the world are gone!

When Adam Kilbride their farmer dies in a freak accident, Ray an illustrator, who lives in Burlington, Vt comes home to Prinse Falls, NY to settle the estate and see to the future care of Thomas.

One night, Thomas calls Ray into his room. He shows him what appears to be a murder on Orchard Avenue in New York City.

While not totally clear it seems to be a woman with a plastic bag over her head being suffocated. Soon Ray, to placate Thomas, is off to NYC to see what may have happened. While his half-hearted investigation didn’t really shed much light on what happened, it did put them in the center of a deadly conspiracy, that threatens their very survival!

My Thoughts

The book like all of Barclay’s books, is a well written page turner, with lots of twists and turns. It really is a book that’s hard to put down. All of the characters are well drawn and you really feel for them and need to know what happened not only to the woman in the window but their Dad!

iWebsite
Orion Books
Amazon
Wikipdianks

Linwood Barclay

About Linwood Barclay

Linwood Barclay continues to be a prolific author, releasing new, critically acclaimed thrillers annually. Known for his high-octane plots and relatable characters, his recent work has solidified his status as a master of contemporary suspense.

Update: There is now a sequel to this book – Linwood Barclay’s No Safe House – new problems for Terry and Cynthia Archer when their daughter becomes involved in a possible murder.Check out my review here

Visit the Linwood Barclay Page

If you like standalone Mystery/Thrillers…….

Here are three Authors whose books might enjoy:

Charlie Donlea
Charlie Donlea
Michael Koryta/Scott Carson
Riley Sager
Riley Sager
  • Charlie Donlea — tightly plotted thrillers often built around cold cases, missing persons, and strong female leads, with twists that keep coming
  • Michael Koryta / Scott Carson — blends crime, suspense, and sometimes the supernatural, with a darker tone and strong atmosphere
  • Riley Sager — modern psychological thrillers with big twists, often centered on isolated settings and unreliable pasts

“Into the Morning” with Blues from The Suitcase Brothers!

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So finishing second at the International Blues Challenge in the Solo/Duo Category were brothers Pere and Victor Puertas who together form The Suitcase Brothers. They represented the Barcelona Blues Society and boy can they play the blues. I listened tonight to their first album Living with the Blues and I am in awe of Victor’s harp playing! Here’s some information about the brothers from their Myspace page:

THE SUITCASE BROTHERS is a dynamic country blues duo formed by two brothers: Pere Puertas, guitar and vocals, and Victor Puertas, harmonica, piano and vocals.

Pere was born on W.C Handy’s birthday (November 16th) and Victor was born on Sonny Terry’s birthday (October 24th), so it looks as if these two brothers have been predestined to dedicate their talent to the blues.

PERE PUERTAS, the elder brother, got his first guitar at the age of 12 although he didn’t pay much attention to it until high school. He formed his first band in the mid 90’s, and soon invited his 14 years old brother to play harmonica with his band. Two years later Victor was playing all Gary Primich songs and solos on harmonica.

Pere has a powerful and soulful voice, and a deep knowledge of fingerpicking guitar techniques, particularly the Pre-War and Piedmont Blues styles. His main inspiration comes basically from recordings by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, Paul Rishell and Annie Raines and John Cephas with Phil Wiggins.

VÍCTOR PUERTAS, is a powerful harmonica player, who also plays piano, Hammond organ and guitar. Nevertheless, harmonicas are his love at the first feel, and he plays them with deep emotion and sensibility. He is one of the top five favourites in Jerry Portnoy’s, Annie Raines and Joe Filisko’s list.

“Thick resonant tone, perfect attack, lovely vibrato and a beautiful flow of ideas that are just right for the song you’re playing. You’ve really got it and, by the way, your brother plays great guitar too.” Jerry Portnoy

So let’s go “Into the Morning” with The Suitcase Brothers and the classic – “Walk On”

I was right to be amazed wasn’t I!

Book 7 of 2013 – Deep Sky – Patrick Lee

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deep sky - patrick lee

-Ok so let me say this right at the beginning of the post. Book No. 7 of 2013 is the third book in the Travis Chase trilogy Deep Sky, by Patrick Lee. If you are going to read this book make sure that you read Books one, The Breech and two Ghost Country first!! Preferably you read them consecutively not like I did reading Book 2 first and then quickly going back and reading Book 1! With that said after finishing the book and having everything wrapped up and explained very nicely I feel like I want to go back and read the series again just so that I can understand everything and even then I might not understand it all! From Patrick Lee’s website:

The anomaly called the Breach is the government’s most carefully guarded secret.

But there is another secret even less known… and far more terrifying.

In the aftermath of a brutal attack on the White House, a cryptic message is discovered, left behind by the perpetrator: “See Scalar.”

Now Travis Chase of the covert agency Tangent—caretakers of the Breach and all its grim wonders—along with Paige Campbell and Bethany Stewart, has only twenty-four hours to unearth a decades-old mystery once spoken of in terrified whispers by the long since silenced. But their breakneck race cross-country—and back through time and malleable memory—is calling the total destructive might of a shadow government down upon them. For Travis Chase has a dark destiny he cannot be allowed to fulfill.

The pages of this book just flew by as Travis, Paige and Bethany tried to uncover what Scalar was and stop whatever was going to happen from happening? Makes sense right? Anyway The Breech is a wormhole connected to somewhere in the Universe. Through the Breech come strange entities with a variety of powers, sometimes made of materials unknown on earth. The entity that plays a big part in this story is The Tap. The Tap enters the mind of its holder and allows the person to travel to a particular time and place and relive a past memory. In the book Paige re-lives a time she came into her father’s office to see if she can find the address of a retired Tangent operative and Chase goes to Baltimore as a ten-year old to find the man who is at the root of Scalar.

I know it all sounds confusing and it is but it all comes together for a thrilling and satisfying ride. When I finished the book I thought that for sure there would be a book four, but maybe Book 2 was book 4 now that I think of it?? Any way go find The Breech, Ghost Country, and Deep Sky sit down, buckle up and enjoy and I know I can’t wait for the next book from the pen (computer) of Patrick Lee.

Now if you want to read some reviews that are better than mine, you can go the Deep Sky page at Goodreads.com!