Review of the "As You Wish" series by Mindy Klasky

If wishes could come true, what would you do?

Mindy Klasky takes us on a delightful ride as she leads us through the lives of three young women staged to answer this very question in her "As You Wish" series. 

In Act One, Wish One, Kira is a stage manager at a small town theater that has just closed it's doors.

Wishing In the Wings shows us Becca, who is a producer at an off-Broadway theater. Unfortunately, she was just jilted by her boyfriend. Who disappeared. With her life savings.

Erin no longer has a job, a boyfriend, or a place to call home in Wish Upon a Star.  Unless she can get the notice of the producers for the exciting remake of Romeo and Juliet, she may have to give up on her dream of acting.

With humor, spunk, and more than one wish, Ms Klasky's heroines find new beginnings in the strangest places and love just around the corner.

Read them.  They will keep you emotionally invested to the end.

Review of The Lion by Nelson DeMille

Nelson DeMille is a funny guy. Not overtly, but rolling-your-eyes funny. The kind of guy you would have liked to hang out with in high school. Always a chuckle, but with a sparkle of intelligence gleaming in his eyes.

    In The Lion, DeMille shows us in Micky-Spillane fashion.  John Corey and his wife, Kate Mayfield, are members of a joint task force of FBI agents and retired New York cops.  Kate is FBI; John, a retired cop. Together, they lead us into a world of daring-do.

    Taking a break from the stresses of work, they go skydiving. Kahlil Asad, the Lion, shows up to exact revenge for past grievances - midair. During a tandem jump, Kahlil attaches himself to Kate and, in a grand show of retribution, slices her throat in full view of a helpless John. Kahlil promises he will soon be back for John and leaves him to deal with his dying wife.

    In this lion and tiger dance, each has surprises for the other on their way to the endgame.

    DeMille’s writing is sharp, witty, and clever. Each of his characters have personalities that explode in color, framing a picture for the reader. His plot moves at a consistent pace, drawing the reader deeper into the story.

    DeMille further adds interest to his characters by donating the names of philanthropic friends to the cast in exchange for a hefty donation to the charity of their choice.

    DeMille is succinct in his words. I was surprised that I had read the last line, indeed, the last page, for when I flipped it over, I found the acknowledgements.

    Guess I’ll just have to read his next book!

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Elizabeth Gilbert gives us an amazingly honest account of both a very painful time in her life and a time of discovery. The progression from pain to discovery is illuminating and rewarding for Ms. Gilbert.

When she finds herself lying on the floor of her bathroom crying her heart out, she understands that something must be done. Though she hasn't yet vocalized the decision to make a change, she has taken the first step. Major life changes are traumatic in themselves. Add to that the chemical malfunctions of the brain, as in depression, and you have a recipe for annihilation. But Ms. Gilbert finds help deep inside herself and is able to take the first steps toward recovery.

Accepting her own limitations, she leaves her marriage, choosing to keep the details private. How honorable. She could have used the written word to present herself as the aggrieved, but she didn’t. Instead, she chose to tell readers that it wasn’t the time or place. She moves on. After another failed relationship, and much contemplation, she realizes that she really doesn’t know much about Elizabeth Gilbert, but she intends to find out in a journey of self-discovery.

She takes a year off from her job - lucky her! What she would like to do is learn Italian, pray in an ashram, and find balance. So, for the first four months, she learns not only Italian, but Italian eateries. She searches out the best places to eat. Not as in fancy or well known, but as in “Wow! That’s good!” I really wished I had been there. The food sounded heavenly, especially the Margarita Pizza.

Ten pounds and four months later, she braves a scorching sun to find spiritual contentment in an ashram in India. Besides an enlightenment to die for, she makes colorful friends and finds a deep peace.

When she leaves India, she heads for Bali, returning to a country and a memorable medicine man-cum-fortune teller she had met on an earlier trip. While the gentleman was her motivation, the real connection comes with a woman in a position similar to hers - divorced. But in different circumstances - the repressed land of Bali. Through that connection, Ms. Gilbert meets the love of her life.

You will have to read the book to find out who! You won’t be sorry. Ms. Gilbert is a wonderful writer. Hilarious at times, but real.

Julia Roberts stars in the movie, Eat, Pray, Love, that has just been released. If it is anything like the book, it should be pretty good!

The Whole Hog by Michael Kenyon

Michael Kenyon, in 1967, shows the American fixation with the Cold War Era.

His main character, Arthur Appleyard, is a swine nutritionist. When his experimental hogs start to act differently, he and his staff go on alert. Believing they may have found a new metabolic renewal for astronauts, they buckle down to study the results.

Arthur is approached by the FBI, encouraged to continue his work but keep it quiet and tell no one. When one of Arthur’s staff dies mysteriously in the lab, the police move in to protect the group. Which is now just Arthur and his pretty analyst, Liz Salucka . . . and, of course, the swine.

But when one of the swine, Humphrey - as in Bogart - is kidnapped, the experimental study is jeopardized. Arthur tries to puzzle out the mystery of who is real and who is a spy. He suspects someone in the department at the college where he works, but he can’t be sure.

Complicating and confusing to both Arthur and the investigation is a blooming romance between Arthur and Liz. Shy and unsure, he vacillates between the mystery of the swine and the mystery of his feelings. But after having confirmed the attraction between them, he forgets the Inspector’s instructions to stay together as she leaves to get paperwork.

A scream verifies the worst. Suddenly, Arthur is alone. Without his true love, he no longer cares about himself as he goes looking for the culprit.

Nothing motivates like a good whodunnit and Michael Kenyon, again, keeps his reader turning the page. His British take on American life is an eye opener. Remember, this is 1967. His sly references to the paunched people who drink Coca Cola were an astute observation ahead of its time. His references to deciding animal feed by its cost rather than its nutrition were prophetic. The idea that a supplement could make people last longer on jobs is downright scary when you think of the economic situation today. His narrative is not without political comment. Frequent references to the Space Race show his disdain for our priorities. Sometimes, it takes an outsider to show us ourselves.