Saturday Snapshot

Saturday Snapshot is a weekly meme hosted by Alyce at At Home with Books.

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post in the Mister Linky below. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

I see Bev @ My Reader's Block participating regularly in this Meme. Thought I would participate too. This is my first post for the Meme.
I am posting Photos of ruins of Tynemouth Priory taken during March 2007.

Friday Memes on Saturday

This week I am posting from The Saint Zita Society by Ruth Rendell

Friday Book Beginnings is a weekly meme where we share the opening line of our current read. Book Beginnings is hosted by the Rose City Reader.

Someone had told Dex that the Queen lived in Victoria. So did he, but she had a palace and he had one room in a street off Warwick Way.

Friday 56 hosted @ Freda's Voice is a weekly Meme where we share an interesting snippet from page 56 of our current book.

Montserrat asked her if she knew where the Yellow Pages were.

'No one uses phone directories any more,' said Lucy. 'This is the age of the cellphone or hadn't you noticed?'

High Summer Readathon Mini-Challenges

Nova at My Seryniti is hosting a Page 99 Test challenge.

I picked up The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht. Page 99 illustrates the kind of book it will be descriptive lyrical with tales from past. It does hold my attention. I want to know about Mother Vera. I would definitely pick it up to read.

Her hands, crossed in front of her, are the hands of a laborer; her expression seems to indicate that the photographer owes her money.

And

The view from the garden opened out onto green mountains above town, and the valley through which a bright, broad river still widens and then contracts around a bend with a red-steepled church.


Laura @ Book Snob is hosting a mini-challenge for participants of High Summer Readathon. To participate :Take one aspect of your book and show an illustration/picture/photo for it. Then explain it briefly so we know the connection to the book you are reading.

I am reading Bram Stoker's Dracula and part of the action takes place in Whitby.

Right over the town is the ruin of Whitby Abbey, which was sacked by the Danes, and which is the scene of part of "Marmion," where the girl was built up in the wall. It is a most noble ruin, of immense size, and full of beautiful and romantic bits. There is a legend that a white lady is seen in one of the windows.

Then as the cloud passed I could see the ruins of the abbey coming into view, and as the edge of a narrow band of light as sharp as a sword-cut moved along, the church and churchyard became gradually visible.

I am posting a photo of Tynemouth Priory ruins (taken in March 2007) which captures the essence instead of Whitby Abbey only because I visited Tynemouth and when I am reading the Dracula my mind pictures this place.

Dangerous Past by A F Ebbers

Suspense / Thriller
Title: Dangerous Past
Author: A.F. Ebbers
Date Published: 9/11/12 - ebook version

Synopsis:
Airline Captain Frank Braden and his wife Nicole are suddenly stalked by professional assassins who have a deadline to make their deaths look like an accident or a suicide. And the couple doesn't know why they are being targeted. They don't realize that they stand in the way of a deadly conspiracy. Little by little they are pulled into a dangerous web of intrigue by a murderous criminal network that deceptvely offers the pilot his wife's life if he will concede to their demands. This is a thriller that rocks the highest levels of Washington.

My Take

How desperate somebody should be to plant a bomb in an aircraft filled with passengers just to get one person out of the way? How lucky one should be not just to escape alive from this attack but other repeated attacks? Who wants Airline Captain Frank Braden out of the way before a particular day? What happens on that particular day that Braden should be dead before that? Or Braden really just suicidal as FBI believes him to be? We know there is a Dangerous Past and ghosts from the past are crying for blood.

So what really happened in the past? Most of the story is narrated in third person except for the Vietnam story. Braden narrates part of the Vietnam story to his wife Nicole. Another part of the Vietnam story is narrated by another important player from past. As the Vietnam part is narrated in first person, I was expecting immediacy, a sense of involvement and more action than it presented.

Mostly you know what to expect but Ebbers manages to throw a surprise now and then. I like the surprise in the climax. Initial Series of attempts on Braden and the last part where Braden tries to save his wife are action-packed and visual like watching a movie.

Author Bio
A. F. Ebbers, a journalism graduate of Ohio University was a reporter/writer for major newspapers, ad agencies, and in public relations for Cessna Aircraft Company. He also graduated from Army Flight School and flew for the Ohio and Kansas Army National Guards. Later he was called to active duty and served two flying tours in Vietnam. After retirement from the military, he flew for corporations and for regional airlines. A dual rated ATP pilot, he has written for numerous national magazines, Sunday supplements and trade and travel magazines and has written screenplays and short stories. Today he lives with his wife in the Austin, Texas area and, when not writing, enjoys tennis, flying and piano. Dangerous Past is his debut novel.

About writing. I write realistically about what I have experienced. Most of the places in this novel are real because I’ve been there: from Vietnam to Europe to Asia to Washington to Texas and most places in-between. I create characters using a combination of real and imaginary personalities. My motto for writing fiction is always write what you know.

Author Website



*Disclosure of Material Connection: I am a member of Reading Addiction Blog Tours and a copy of this book was provided to me by the author. Although payment may have been received by Reading Addiction Blog Tours, no payment was received by me in exchange for this review. There was no obligation to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are entirely my own and may not necessarily agree with those of the author, publisher, publicist, or readers of this review. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision’s 16 CFR, Part 255, Guides Concerning Use of Endorcements and Testimonials in Advertising*

I is for I Could Murder her and Izner

This is my post for Crime Fiction Alphabet - the letter I.

I am posting I could Murder Her by E C R Lorac and Claude Izner's The Marais Assassin.

I could Murder Her by E C R Lorac

A domineering woman, ruining the lives of her children, a woman whom everybody in the family feels 'I could Murder her' is dead. Mrs. Farrington has died from an insulin overdose. Did the old doctor give a wrong dose? The Doctor dies in an accident and the new doctor refuses to sign the death certificate. Did one of her family give her an overdose? There are indications to show that Mrs. Farrington was murdered.

Who murdered her? There are plenty of motives and all her family wants her dead. Inspector MacDonald is a no-frills, non-eccentric, sympathetic detective who solves the case and ties up all the loose ends giving us an enjoyable read. Read my views here.

The Marais Assassin by Claude Izner

Claude Izner is the pseudonym of two sisters, Liliane Korb and Laurence Lefèvre both booksellers on the banks of the Seine in Paris. Victor Legris is a bookseller detective, in this fourth outing, he is working on a case too close to home. Victor's associate Kenji Mori's house is burgled and a not so expensive Goblet is lost. There seems to be nothing important about the Goblet, not ancient, not expensive just some emotional value. Who stole the goblet and why? The Goblet keeps changing hands. There are a spate of murders, some religious fanatic is killing of people for the Goblet. Read my views here. .

I Could Murder Her by E C R Lorac

A strange title isn't it? A domineering woman, ruining the lives of her children, a woman whom everybody in the family feels 'I could Murder her' is dead. Mrs. Farrington has died from an insulin overdose. Did the old doctor give a wrong dose? The Doctor dies in an accident and the new doctor refuses to sign the death certificate. Did one of her family give her an overdose? There are indications to show that Mrs. Farrington was murdered.

Who murdered her? There are plenty of motives and all her family wants her dead. There is the husband Colonel Farrington, Madge his daughter from an earlier marriage, Tony Strange, Mrs Farrington's son from an earlier marriage, Anne Strange, Tony's wife, Mrs. Farrington's daughter Joyce and her husband Philip and the twins, Paula and Peter. They all live together in the same house, under the eye of Mrs. Farrington who controls the purse strings. And by any chance, is it the case of an outsider? What does the open window and lost diamonds mean?

Inspector MacDonald is a no-frills, non-eccentric, sympathetic detective who solves the case and ties up all the loose ends giving us an enjoyable read. Lorac slowly builds up suspense and you anticipate that something would happen and something does happen, not something I was expecting. You can guess who the killer is, though there are some red herrings. I liked Inspector MacDonald better than Tey's Alan Grant, though they both represent the same kind of detective. I do think Grant is an eccentric though he is meant to be non-eccentric. But that is for another post.

I could murder her published in 1951 is the American title, the British title is Murder of a Martinet. I borrowed it from the Openlibrary

The Marais Assassin by Claude Izner

Bookseller detective in 1890s Paris, a Sherlock Holmes contemporary, sounds interesting? Victor Legris is the bookseller detective, in this fourth outing, he is working on a case too close to home. Victor's business partner Kenji Mori's house is burgled and a not so expensive Goblet is lost. There seems to be nothing important about the Goblet, not ancient, not expensive just some emotional value. Who stole the goblet and why? The Goblet keeps changing hands. There are a spate of murders, some religious fanatic is killing of people for the Goblet.

The pool of suspects is very small, but Izner does a good job keeping our mind away from them and focusing on the Goblet's journey. Victor, his associate Kenji Mori and their assistant Joseph are all involved in the solving the case.

I had some problem in the beginning in understanding the dynamics of relationship between the people introduced in the first few pages. Maybe because it is the fourth book in the series and the first book I am reading. Once I understood who is who, it's smooth sailing. There are a wide array of interesting characters from different backgrounds. There is some romance - Joseph and Iris, Mori's daughter, Victor and Tasha, and Kenji and Eudoxie. And some tension too. Will Kenji give his blessings to Joseph and Iris? Who is Tasha meeting in the sly? Can Eudoxie expect some love and warmth from Kenji? Since the detectives are booksellers, there is lot of reference to books, but mostly French books.

Claude Izner is the pseudonym of two sisters, Liliane Korb and Laurence Lefèvre both booksellers on the banks of the Seine in Paris, says Wikipedia.

My post for Paris in July and Gaslight Reading Challenge, and counts towards various challenges.