Wednesday, March 07, 2007

The Grail Conspiracy by Lynn Sholes & Joe Moore

The Grail Conspiracy
by Lynn Sholes & Joe Moore
ISBN: 0-7387-0787-2
Midnight Ink/Llewellyn Publications
Pages: 343

Abandoned in the Iraqi desert while covering a story for SNN, reporter Cotton Stone trudges through the night to find a way to get the hell out of there.

Happening upon an excavation site, she witnesses a to-the-death fight. One man lay dead as a dying man hands her a box and speaks to her in a language known only to her and her dead twin sister.

Cotton enlists the aid of Father John Tyler, a biblical history scholar on leave from his duties as a priest—but not from his vows—to authenticate the contents of the wooden box she has smuggled out of Iraq.

Together they deliver what is believed to be the Holy Grail to the Vatican, as Cotton finds herself overshadowing her former lover and senior in the news business, with the biggest story to hit Christiandom since the crucifixion.

A transparent battle between the forces of good and evil rages for control of the Cup Jesus drank from at the Last Supper; the same Cup used to collect His blood the next day.

Cotton and Father Tyler run for their lives as those close to Cotton wind up dead, one after another. Only when the trail leads them to New Orleans after the Cup is stolen from the Vatican, do they begin to understand the forces of evil at work. Cotton’s faith in her family, even in her deceased father, is shaken as pieces of truth come to light.

Until meeting Cotton, Father Tyler had been a man on a mission, wanting to serve God, without understanding what his mission was to be. He learns that everything in his life to this point has been to prepare him to avert a sacrilegious Second Coming of Christ.

Sholes and Moore have written a fast-paced thriller devoid of boring lectures and endless pages of backstory that crashes religion, politics, and science into one gigantic ball of fire. A multilayerd tale of suspense from beginning to end. Highly recommended!

Linda J Hutchinson
www.lindajhutchinson.com

A Red Dark Night by A.P. Fuchs

A Red Dark Night
by A P Fuchs
ISBN: 0-9734848-0-2
Coscom Entertainment
Pages: 214

If you’ve ever been to summer camp … this is the “stuff” of the best campfire tales! Just don’t let your kids read it before heading off to Camp Silverway.

Fuchs leads us to a night decades ago where he introduces the nightmare of B-horror red syrupy goo, and then on to one tormented survivor’s attempts to overcome the nightmare by re-visiting the camp—this time as a counselor.

Creatures of darkness and blood multiply rapidly to engulf the camp in a dome of blood, leaving our heroine and Tarek with no place to go.

Quick pacing, intense sexuality and believable characters, make this a quick read. We travel through time and on to another world—or our world in the future or the past?—before splashing down again to re-live the past, and just maybe the future, all over again.

Linda J Hutchinson
www.lindajhutchinson.com

T: An Auto-Biography by Feather Schwartz Foster

T: An Auto-Biography
by Feather Schwartz Foster
Illistrated by Kathe Gogolewski
ISBN: 10:0-9785158-3-8
13:978-0-9785158-3-6
Red Engine Press
Pages: 68

Feather Schwartz Foster delivers yet another inspired romp through history, this time with a Model-T Ford as the narrator and star of the show.

Geared for the younger audience, T will be enjoyed by young and old alike for many years to come. This is the type of story we want to read to our children and grandchildren, and one they’ll keep asking for.

“T”, as he likes to be called, brings us full circle from the showroom floor and his first family, to his return to the fold many years later … including his long-term friendship with Gloria, a beautiful Cadillac with shiny headlights.

History gets “bent” just a bit but that, too, should open a few dialogue doors with the younguns.

This one is a keeper. Congratulations to Ms. Foster for sharing such an enjoyable ride.

Linda J Hutchinson
www.lindajhutchinson.com

Phil and The French Country Inn by Cree Forman

Phil and The French Country Inn
by Cree Forman
ISBN: 0-9748791-0-X
Pages: 178

Phil Forman began writing a cookbook at the urging of his customers. He’d managed to build and run a successful French restaurant, in a tiny North Carolina town, without ever having been to France. It’s no wonder his guests wanted those recipes immortalized.

Phil and wife Cree were able to make several trips to France over the years, but Phil passed away before he could complete his cookbook. Based on the love and trust of 47 years of marriage, Cree took on the task of completing not only the cookbook, but the story of Phil’s Country Inn, his years as a chef, his training in France, and his “Daddy” years.

With love, Cree takes us on the winding roads through the mountains and valleys of France and lets us get to know the French men and women they encountered, and those who became lifelong friends. We also meet their customers in North Carolina, and some unsavory folk both here and abroad.

This book will appeal to anyone studying French cooking, wishing to visit France, or who just wants to read about a man who never gave up on his dreams—and of the woman who loved him enough—believed in him enough—to help him realize those dreams and the completion of his book.

Linda J. Hutchinson
www.lindajhutchinson.com