Book Review for DIVIDE BY ZERO by Sheila Deeth

Hi, folks.

From time to time here on Murderby4 we like to share reviews of books by authors we appreciate. Sometimes they are murder mysteries, sometimes taut thrillers. Today I've departed a bit to share a very different type of novel, written by Sheila Deeth. See what you think? I'd love to read your comments below. 

Have a happy Easter weekend and God bless!

- Aaron Paul Lazar

www.lazarbooks.com

Divide by Zero by Sheila Deeth offers a unique perspective on community. Like a human patchwork quilt, this dramatic family novel provides intimate glimpses into the minds of dozens of characters. Some are sweet and submissive, like Mary. Others obsess over with “not being their fathers” (abusers), and end up fighting genetics their entire lives, like Peter. And yet others are innocent children, like the autistic girl Amelia, who appears in the last third of the book. Of all the characters, my favorite was the white cat, Garnet. Mystical and fundamental to the plot(s), she was quite endearing.

As a writer, I have never undertaken presenting so many points of view in one story. I marveled at how well Ms. Deeth told each distinctly different story with such authenticity.

There were moments of pure poetry within the pages. Here are a few of my favorite passages:

When speaking about a classroom, she wrote:

Sounds washed the room like paint brushes in water, muted with background blue, giving shade but no texture.

Here’s a passage from the autistic girl’s mind:

Amelia stretched her arms to feel the touch of air and drifting cobwebs, bark-dust singing, butterfly wings. Red sunshine warmed the lids of her closed eyes as she started to spin. Her feet scuffed earth, where stones or skeletons of leaves slipped into socks and caught between her toes. She moved as fast as thought while the air, pine-scented, grew earthy and cloudy, scratching in her throat till she fell down.

Like ripples in a pond, as events unfold—mundane or horrific—they propagate and touch every individual in unique and extraordinary ways.

This is not a book you will zoom through. It's not a page turner, or high action suspense. I actually read it slowly, over the course of several months. Beware, you may be lulled into a false sense of security by the vignettes that show each character undergoing his or her unique trials. But I guarantee you will never forget the characters or the horrific act that takes place very near the end of the story, and the spider web of connectivity that draws all characters into the human fabric of the tale.

Recommended by Aaron Paul Lazar, award-winning author at www.lazarbooks.com.

Review for THE TANGLED WEB by JP Lane, review by AP Lazar

Title:  The Tangled Web: an international web of intrigue, murder, and romance

Author:  J.P. Lane

Publisher: Amazon Digital Services

Genre: Thriller/Suspense

eBook $3.97

ASIN: B007Z5Y3ZQ

Author’s website: www.jp-lane.com

The Tangled Web is a fast paced and well told international thriller. I know I’m dating myself, but Ms. Lane’s book reminds me of Helen McInnes’s wonderful espionage thrillers that I used to read back in the seventies when I was in college. (Ms McInnes’s books were in fact written in the second half of the last century, and I stumbled upon them in my parents’ piles of books along with Agatha Christie, Rex Stout and John D. MacDonald.)

I was hooked from the start by the exotic setting(s), international verbage/dialects, and the spy-novel type thrills that run rampant in The Tangled Web.

Ms. Lane’s thriller is set primarily on a Caribbean island, replete with tropical lush scene painting and intriguing local color. The characters who hail from the island range in character and style from rich white landowners to the delightful housekeeper, Ivy, who was one of my favorite (albeit minor) characters.

The dialog felt genuine, as did the frustration experienced by main characters Logan Armstrong (international tycoon) and Lauren Anderson (journalist) as they plummeted through this adventure without being able to fully communicate their feelings or intentions until the very end.

I won’t rehash the plot here—since so many others have done so very thoroughly—but suffice it to say there is great treachery ongoing in the Caribbean political scenes behind the bright and touristy island of blue oceans and heady-scented flowers. The Prime Minister has become corrupt, putting his island’s future in peril due to his links with the drug cartels and his own selfish purposes. Two plots interweave to assassinate this monster–one driven by a truly frightening cartel head, Maria Echevarria, and the other by well-meaning government officials who know that the Prime Minister must go.

I enjoyed this romp across the globe: from New York to London, from Prague to the Caribbean, it held my interest throughout. Well done, Ms. Lane!

Recommended by Aaron Paul Lazar, www.lazarbooks.com.

Book Review: The Thorazine Mirrorball by Jack Maeby

Title: The Thorazine Mirrorball
Author: Jack Maeby
Publisher: Wild Child Publishing
Publisher's Address: P.O. Box 4897, Culver City, CA 90231-4897
ISBN number: 1-93406966-3
Price: $14.99
Publisher phone number and/or website address: www.wildchildpublishing.com


Review by Aaron Paul Lazar
Author of the LeGarde Mystery Series

***

Jimmy Mack isn’t crazy.

Well, at least not now. After two years of debilitating depression and forced exile in an asylum, characterized by chunks of memory loss and high doses of heavy meds, the twenty-one-year old rhythm and blues piano player is finally back.

Assigned a room in a halfway house in Albany in 1972, Jimmy reconnects with his old music buddies and lands a lucrative gig in the Adirondacks. All goes relatively well, until a group of thugs nearly drive him off the road and people around him start dying, jeopardizing Jimmy’s already fragile mental state.

The young man, frazzled with nerves, is smitten by every pretty woman who crosses his path, particularly singer Yvonne Marshall, with her caramel skin and velvet voice. The woman oozes sex-appeal, creating a trail of shuddering men in her wake.

From one fast-paced scene to another, this book moves. Maeby also displays a deep musical insight, with perception that reflect his history as a band member with acts such as The Doobie Brothers and Rod Stewart, as well as his accomplishments and awards for his compositions in the film and musical fields. Yet within the action, there are also moments of poignant poetry couched in Maeby’s words.

“It was the opening movement of a dance done by demons, the prelude to panic, and then to darkness. If the feeling had sound, it would be an atonal moan in the bass register, accompanied by brittle, frenetic percussion. I knew it as the insistent, cruel pulse of anxiety.”

Jack Maeby has created a superb thriller in this taut and colorful novel. Characters jump from the page–such as Smitty, the irascible record shop owner who becomes inadvertently involved in a shady music business deal. Each of Maeby’s characters tremble with life; their natural dialogue is easy to swallow. The prose flows effortlessly, with none of the forced literary faux pas often made by first time novelists. There is no excess here, each word is precisely placed and potent. It is clear that in addition to his innate talent, this writer has done his homework.

The Thorazine Mirrorball is highly recommended for all lovers of mystery/suspense, music, or crime novels. The only question remaining is this: when will Mr. Maeby produce his next jewel?


***

Aaron Paul Lazar writes to soothe his soul. The author of LeGarde Mysteries and Moore Mysteries enjoys the Genesee Valley countryside in upstate New York, where his characters embrace life, play with their dogs and grandkids, grow sumptuous gardens, and chase bad guys. Visit his websites at www.legardemysteries.com and www.mooremysteries.com and watch for his upcoming release, MAZURKA, coming in 2008.