Kindle Book Review: "Cry Dance" Winner of the 2012 Sharp Writ Book Awards

“What if there is no death?” That is the question asked on the cover of “Cry Dance,” a novel by Helen Bonner.

It’s a deep question, and indeed, this is a deep book. It is a love story, but it is also much, much more. It is a tale of life, death, and life beyond death.

The story begins with Lorinda, the heroine, facing murder accusations. All the evidences point to her, but she says she did not do it. Of course. That’s what they all say.

But in Lorinda’s case, that’s all she would say. She wouldn’t explain how it happened that she had a knife in her hand and the dead man in the same room. Why did she stay in the room with him? Why did she bathe him? Why were there flowers around his face? Was she in love with him? But he was not her boyfriend, and she was definitely in love with her boyfriend. Did he try to attack her? Was it self-defense? What really happened that night? She would not say. They would not understand, she kept thinking to herself.

Personally, that intro alone was enough to hook me. I had to find out what happened.

Reading the book felt like running downstairs to meet your date – it was easy and exciting, and the ending was as wonderful as the beginning.

“Cry Dance” is the winner of the 2012 Sharp Writ Book Award in the General Fiction category.

DESPERATE MEASURES

“Desperate Measures,” by Cindy Huefner Cromer, is the winner of the 2012 Sharp Writ Book Awards for the Mystery/Thriller category.

In this fast-moving thriller, protagonist Caitlin Martel is the recipient of a cryptic message that she initially dismisses as a misdirected threat. But when she finds her house vandalized and a blood-inked message left in her kitchen, she quickly realizes that the threat was not misdirected after all. She really is a target.

She then remembers a secret that her father revealed to her nearly two decades ago. But the secret was incomplete. Now the secret is exploding piece by piece as the threat to Caitlin’s life slowly catches up with her.

The plot twists and turns, keeping you at the edge of your seat trying to discover who the real villain is. And just when you thought you’ve got it all figured out, the next page will prove you wrong, until the climactic ending uncovers a strange alliance between two mortal foes.

The only thing certain in this book is that you’ll keep turning the pages, glued to your seat until the very end. It’s definitely one of the scariest, most thrilling stories we’ve read in 2012.

this book won the 2012 Sharp Writ Book Award in the Mystery/ Thriller category.

(Review by Beatrice Adams)

REALLY ENOUGH: A TRUE STORY OF TYRANNY, COURAGE AND COMEDY

“Really Enough,” by Margaret Zhao and Kathleen Martens, is a riveting memoir about Zhao’s childhood in mainland China, during the Chinese revolution.

In this brilliant autobiography, we witness the story of an innocent young girl whose familial wealth and scholarly ancestry makes her and her family “Enemies of the State” and a target for persecution from Mao Zedong’s followers.

Instead of submitting to the powers that be, the spirited young Zhao struggles against shocking oppression and poverty to preserve her family’s honorable legacy, follow her own dreams, and on top of all that, fight for her forbidden romance with a “foreign devil.” Through it all, she preserves her humor, courage, and hope – a seemingly impossible feat.

This is a story that will make the reader laugh, cry, shudder, and sigh. And when you close the cover, you will find yourself a more compassionate, more grateful, more hopeful person, thanks to the amazing true tale that you had just read.

the book won the 2012 Sharp Writ Book Award in the memoir category.

Kindle eBook Review: Assassin Hunter - A True-to-Life Peek at the Undercover Agent's World

The world of the undercover agent is certainly a fascinating one, no matter what point of view you take. So it shouldn't come as a surprise when a book that reveals the undercover agent’s world turns out to be a real page-turner – which is what “Assassin Hunter” is.

This story is written in the first person, which works extraordinarily well for the author, August Palumbo, because with his background as a homicide detective and a retired special agent, he is able to enter the story so well that he inevitably pulls the reader right into the story with him.

The protagonist is a federal agent assigned to go undercover to find and capture a paid assassin. His mission takes us into the heart of the criminal world and reveals to us some of the federal agents’ tricks-of-the-trade.

Palumbo discloses that the novel is not fictitious; it is based on a true-to-life criminal case.

If only for the peek at this normally hidden world of organized crime and undercover work, this book is well worth the read. The story is filled with painstaking detail that highlights the author’s deep familiarity with the setting of his novel.

“Assassin Hunter” is a very highly rated book on both Goodreads.com and Amazon.com. It was also a runner-up at the 2012 Sharp Writ Book Awards, in the General Non-Fiction category.

The Wedding Shroud: A Tale of Ancient Rome

It is not every day that we see a romance novel set in the ancient Etruscan society. That alone makes “The Wedding Shroud” stand out from the rest. This piece of historical literature gives us a rare glimpse into this not-so-famous part of history. It’s almost like history class, with a spoonful of sugar. (The author, Elisabeth Storrs, attests that it took her ten years to research and write the story.)

But “spoonful of sugar” does not do the story justice, for even without the history lesson, the novel has enough merits to stand on its own.

The heroine, Caesilia Aemilius, was born in a Rome at a time when Rome was not yet the grand and powerful empire that we often see in our mind’s eye. It was not yet a Rome that simply conquered all its neighbors and enemies. It was a Rome that had “negotiation” in its vocabulary.

And negotiate it did. Wanting a truce with Etruria, Rome sends Caecilia to be married to Etruscan nobleman to seal the deal. Thus the young girl, born and raised in a staid and virtuous society, is suddenly thrown into a world where pleasure is the ultimate good. How long will she be able to resist this new world’s temptations? And when her new home comes under attack, to whom will she give her loyalty?

The story that unfolds is a well-written heart-fluttering romance, with an ending most readers will love.

“The Wedding Shroud: A Tale of Ancient Rome,” by Elisabeth Storrs, is a General Fiction category runner-up in the 2012 Sharp Writ Book Awards.