Deaf Row by Ron Franscell/Book Review

Deaf Row

by Ron Franscell

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction

Retired from a big-city homicide beat to a small Colorado mountain town, ex-detective Woodrow “Mountain” Bell yearns only to fade away. He’s failed in so many ways as a father, a husband, friend, and cop that it might be too late for a meaningful life. When he stumbles across a long-forgotten, unsolved child murder, his first impulse is to let it lie … but he can’t. He’s drawn into the macabre mystery when he realizes the killer might still be near. Without help from ambivalent local cops, Bell must overcome the obstacles of time, age, and a lack of police resources by calling upon the unique skills of the end-of-the-road codgers he meets for coffee every morning—a club of old guys who call themselves Deaf Row. Soon, this mottled crew finds itself on a collision course with a serial butcher.

|DEAF ROW is more than a tense mystery novel, more than an unnerving psychological thriller drawn from Ron Franscell’s career as a bestselling true-crime writer and journalist. It is also a novel of men pushing back against time and death, trying not to disappear entirely. DEAF ROW is a moving, occasionally humorous, portrait of flawed people caught in a web of pain and regret. And although you might think you know where this ghastly case is headed, the climax will blindside you.

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Deaf Row is a mystery about Woodrow Bell, a retired detective trying to release his conscience of an old case involving the death of a little girl. It is always one case that you can’t forget until you see it to the end.

In a small Colorado town, bell comes across a cold case involving the death of a teenage girl, Cherish Nelson. It takes some convincing but Bell decides to look into the case accompanied by Father Bert. He is wanting to give the father of the girl some closure and justice. He tries to get help from an old partner along with some friends in a group called Deaf Row.

The book starts off slow with a lot of info dumping to set the scenes to come. As Bell delves into the case the book starts to pick up and gets a little better. You learn more about the men in Deaf Row, which was interesting. As Bell continues to investigate and pick up more clues you also learn more about him. Jasmine Jackson, Bell’s ex-partner was sassy and tells it like it is with him, which I liked.

I like that the story is set in a small town because those are great places for mysteries. It did take me awhile to connect with the characters and to invest in the plot. I’m glad I stuck with the story. The story did have suspense and the reveal was unsuspected. When I found out who was behind everything I realized I had the wrong person, which is always fun. If you like crime fiction you will like this mystery.

A veteran journalist, Ron Franscell is the New York Times bestselling author of 18 books, including international bestsellers “The Darkest Night” and Edgar-nominated true crime “Morgue: A Life in Death.” His newest, “ShadowMan: An Elusive Psycho Killer and the Birth of FBI Profiling,” was released in March by Berkley/Penguin-Random House.

His atmospheric and muscular writing—hailed by Ann Rule, Vincent Bugliosi, William Least-Heat Moon, and others—has established him as one of the most provocative American voices in narrative nonfiction.

Ron’s first book, “Angel Fire,” was a USA Today bestselling literary novel listed by the San Francisco Chronicle among the 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century West. His later success grew from blending techniques of fiction-writing with his daily journalism. The result was dramatic, detailed, and utterly true storytelling.

Ron has established himself as a plucky reporter, too. As a senior writer at the Denver Post, he covered the evolution of the American West but shortly after 9/11, he was dispatched by the Post to cover the Middle East during the first months of the War on Terror. In 2004, he covered devastating Hurricane Rita from inside the storm.

His book reviews and essays have been widely published in many of America’s biggest and best newspapers, such as the Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury-News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and others. He has been a guest on CNN, Fox News, NPR, the Today Show, ABC News, and he appears regularly on crime documentaries at Investigation Discovery, Oxygen, History Channel, Reelz, and A&E.

He lives in northern New Mexico.

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The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa/Book Review

Have you wondered if someone would say something when the officiant says speak now or forever hold your peace at a wedding? Solange in the Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa probably should have done just that, kept her mouth shut.

About The Wedding Crasher

Just weeks away from ditching DC for greener pastures, Solange Pereira is roped into helping her wedding planner cousin on a random couple’s big day. It’s an easy gig… until Solange stumbles upon a situation that convinces her the pair isn’t meant to be. What’s a true-blue romantic to do? Crash the wedding, of course. And ensure the unsuspecting groom doesn’t make the biggest mistake of his life.

Dean Chapman had his future all mapped out. He was about to check off “start a family” and on track to “make partner” when his modern day marriage of convenience went up in smoke. Then he learns he might not land an assignment that could be his ticket to a promotion unless he has a significant other and, in a moment of panic, Dean claims to be in love with the woman who crashed his wedding. Oops.

Now Dean has a whole new item on his to-do list: beg Solange to be his pretend girlfriend. Solange feels a tiny bit bad about ruining Dean’s wedding, so she agrees to play along. Yet as they fake-date their way around town, what started as a performance for Dean’s colleagues turns into a connection that neither he nor Solange can deny. Their entire romance is a sham… there’s no way these polar opposites could fall in love for real, right?

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My Review

This was a fun Rom Com where Solange is helping her cousin, who is a wedding planner, as her assistant. Solange takes upon herself after overhearing the bride-to-be talking with a groomsman, to interrupt the wedding before Dean, the groom say’s I do to a woman who’s in love with someone else.

When I started this book, I didn’t think Solange should have eavesdropped on the conversation. However, it would be wrong to marry someone you’re not in love with. The good thing is that in doing this she not only stopped Dean from making a mistake, she’s recruited to help him with another engagement.

I liked the interactions between the characters especially when Dean and Solange have to work with Peter and his wife to entertain a potential lawyer, who may transfer to their firm. I also liked that Peter keeps trying to catch them in a lie because he just wants to take Dean’s spot in the law firm.

The things Solange and Dean get into to keep the fake dating rouge up was funny. There were also a couple of twists in the story that made me laugh. I’ve learned that I am more of a enemies to lovers and romantic suspense romance reader, but a good fake dating trope isn’t bad especially when it’s done well.  I recommend The Wedding Crasher to readers who like Rom Com’s and who likes a good laugh.

Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan/Book Review

I learn something every time I read a women’s fiction book. I believe each one has a life lesson if you’re paying attention. In Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan, we meet Yasmen and Josiah Wade, a couple everyone believed would be together forever. Both are dealing with loss but in different ways that causes them to not communicate well, then Yasmen wants an divorce.

About Before I Let Go

Their love was supposed to last forever. But when life delivered blow after devastating blow, Yasmen and Josiah Wade found that love alone couldn’t solve or save everything.

It couldn’t save their marriage.

Yasmen wasn’t prepared for how her life fell apart, but she’s is finally starting to find joy again. She and Josiah have found a new rhythm, co-parenting their two kids and running a thriving business together. Yet like magnets, they’re always drawn back to each other, and now they’re beginning to wonder if they’re truly ready to let go of everything they once had.

Soon, one stolen kiss leads to another…and then more. It’s hot. It’s illicit. It’s all good—until old wounds reopen. Is it too late for them to find forever? Or could they even be better, the second time around?

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My Review

I connected with Yasmen’s character right away with how she dealt with grief in the book. Grief touches everyone different and in how they handle it. The author portrays grief, loss and the feelings of each character so well in this book.

As the reader, I could feel their pain and understand what they were going through. When it comes to other themes such as divorce, I’ve never experienced it, but the need to not let go and the longing for each other was settle. The way Yasmen and Josiah handles their emotions needed work, but I liked the way therapy was introduced and even for their son.

Everything fell into place in this book for me. The way Yasmen works to regain the love from her children again after dealing with depression, especially with her daughter, Deja, was moving. I got a little emotion later in the book reading their interaction with each other.

This book brought tears to my eyes but also made me recognize a lot of what I went through in my depression after loosing my mother. The best thing Yasmen and myself could do is fight our way back. The author does say in her acknowledgement she hopes the book helps someone dealing with divorce, depression, loss etc. The way the book is written with the readers best interest at heart I believe it will help and touch many.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I will read more of her women’s fiction books as long as she writes them.

Mini-Reviews: Week of 2/7/22-2/11/22

Mending Fences by Sherryl Woods

Two families. One incident that changes all their lives. We meet the Carters and the Dobbs, they have been best friends for a while from the children to the mothers, but habits of the Carters trinkle into the Dobbs household. Emily Dobbs must decide how important is her friendship with Marcia Carter and if keeping her daughter Dani safe. This was an intense book for me that truly shows how quick people change when terrible things happen. Support that you’ve relied on disappears leaving questions unanswered until you get to the twist in the story. I really enjoyed this book and how things unraveled, but also frustrated about Dani staying silent too long.

This is My American by Kim Johnson

This book is about Tracy, daughter and sister trying to keep her family intact while clearing their name. She is a strong character and incredibly determined to bring to like the racism and unfair treatment of her father and brother’s cases. While Tracy fights for her family she uncovers a history of wrongdoings that affects not only her family, but another one, which is the shocking reveal in the story. This is a book worth reading.

The Arrangement by Kiersten Modglin

Who says marriage is boring? It’s not in this book. Ainsley and Peter make an arrangement to see other people to repair their marriage. Was it a bad idea? Most definitely. Once their arrangement starts it uncovers incidents that Ainsley and Peter will have to get themselves out of. This was a great read of weaving through chaos, secrets, and unsuspected reveals. Loved it!

The Apothecary Poison by C. J. Archer

This is book three in the Glass and Steele series, we meet back up with Matt and India on the search for Dr. Hale in hopes that he can lead them to Chronos. Matt’s health is not well, and he still needs to get his watch fixed. When Dr. Hale is murdered, Matt becomes the primary suspect. Matt and India are running out of time. This book had unsuspected twist and had me anticipating what would happen next. I loved that it was harder to figure out who killed Hale. I also love the series carrying over the mission on finding Chronos. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series.

A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn

This is book three in the Veronica Speedwell series, Veronica and Stoker on looking into the disappearance of Stoker’s former expedition partner. It seems there have been unfortunate events happening around this expedition especially with a shadowing figure stalking about. I enjoyed the book and the reveal, but it took a little bit longer to get into it. This may be because I listened to the audiobook. I will continue this series because overall I am really it and look forward to reading the next book.

Have you read any of these books? What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments.