77 Days in September by Ray Gorham

    It is hard to run through a list of recently published books or bestsellers without coming across an apocalyptic story . . . or two . . . or three.  This is the one I chose to read and it wasn't bad.

    Kyle Tait is at the Dallas airport getting ready to fly home to Montana after a business trip.  Just as his flight is taking off an EMP is set off above the central United States, destroying electrical devises and bringing down the power grid.  His plane crashes just seconds after take-off. (Lucky him!) Only slightly injured, he is determined to get to his family in Montana, no matter what he has to do, no matter how long it takes, hoping and praying his family has actually survived to this point. With the world forced back into a 19th century life style, Kyle sets out on his 2000 mile trip - and it won't be easy. In fact, he meets the best character in this book in a Wyoming blizzard. There are killers and theives and good people along the road home.

     Back in western Montana, his wife Jennifer and his two children have survived but are not prepared for life without conveniences and no supplies coming to their rural town any time soon. They are lucky enough to have an older couple next door with life skills lost to most Americans and together they work to survive. Jennifer believes Kyle is alive and waits for his return. But not without hardship and terror of her own.

    This turned out to be a pretty good book. I was saddened by how unprepared the people were and reminded that we must not lose the ability to make things and care for ourselves without being able to make a trip to to the nearest Walmart.

   

   

The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton

     As a rule, I love Kate Morton books. Her stories always hold my interest, have endearing characters and make me work to solve the mystery from the past involving one of those characters that is always a mainstay of her works. This book was no different and I enjoyed it very much.

    The Secret Keeper takes place in the early sixties with Laurel as a teenager and Laurel 50 years later as a grown woman, famous character actress and daughter faced with the fact that her mother is dying.  She is the eldest of the five children in her family and the only one to witness a murder committed by her mother many years before.  The story they told to the police at the time, was not quite as it happened, and as her mother Dorothy's mind begins to go, things are said that bring it all back to Laurel.  It just does not seem to fit the woman they all knew as a loving and attentive mother for all of their growing-up years. With time running out, Laurel knows she must put together the pieces and find out what really happened that day and what things in her mother's past led to her stabbing a man who had called her by name.

    In stories told by those Laurel interviews and actual scenes from Dorothy's past, we put together just what happened to Dorothy, Jimmy and Vivian in the wartime London of 1941. Part of the story figured out easily, but there were twists that kept me wondering to nearly the end.

    As the eldest of six children myself, this book was a reminder of how we each have our place in a family, and how little we may actually know about our parents, our siblings, and ourselves.

    Another enjoyable read from one of my favorite authors.

Before Her Eyes by Rebecca Forster

    Dove Connelly is the sheriff in a remote mountain community. When a local grocer, Dove's friend, is killed and a woman is abducted by those killers, he has no time to lose figuring out who the two murderers are and finding Tessa Bradley.

    Tessa is an aging, world famous model. Wounded, she has escaped from her abductors and is running for her life.

    This story is told in two points of view. One follows Dove as he questions locals and tries to piece together the connection between the killers, the grocer and Tessa. Another side of the story unfolds from Tessa, as she struggles to stay alive in the forest, cold, hungry and fighting the demons of her past.

    The characters are all original and clear. Cherie, Dove's wife, was my favorite. Tessa's daughter, my least favorite. Small town police corruption, Dove's own internal struggles, as well as famous types from Tessa's runway past, fill this book with interesting people. This story tugged at my heart over and over again, while the suspense kept me up past my work-night bed time.

    This was a 'no put down' book.  And the ending?  I never saw it coming.

Redfield Farm by Judith Redline Coopey

    Historical fiction story about Ann Redfield and her family just before and during the Civil War. They are a large Quaker family, strongly against slavery.  Ann is devoted to her older brother Jesse, and as he gets involved with the Underground Railroad and begins helping slaves escape from the pre-Civil War south, Ann soon becomes a part of his activities.

    Interwoven are the stories of the nearby white-trash family's daughter Pru, the man Elias, who Ann expects to marry, and Josiah, the deathly ill slave Ann nurses back to health. Each character, including several siblings and their life choices, help form Ann into the amazing women she becomes as this story takes us from Ann the child, to Ann, the old woman. Many of the secondary characters on and around Redfield Farm were colorful and amusing.

    I enjoyed this story and could see this turned into a good movie. There were times when I was a little skeptical of the reactions of those around her, as I think some of the ramifications for her actions would have been more severe.  I also found the number of landmark events a bit of a stretch, but not enough to keep me from reading straight through in one day.

    I do recommend this book to Historical Fiction readers.

15 Seconds by Andrew Gross

     Henry Steadman is a very successful plastic surgeon.  He has a beautiful daughter in college, a congenial ex-wife and enough money for all of the amenities.  On his way to deliver a keynote address at a plastic surgeons conference in Florida, Henry is pulled over by an officer for a minor traffic violation. In minutes he is handcuffed, arrested and put into the back of the police car. None of it making sense, his pleas and explanations ignored, he is frantic, when just as suddenly he is released and given only a warning ticket.

     Henry, relieved but still puzzled, prepares to leave when a blue sedan pulls up beside the cop car and, as he watches in his side mirror, the officer is shot and the killer races away. After checking and finding the officer deceased, Henry pursues the vehicle while talking to 911.

    Big mistake.

    Now he has fled the scene of the crime.

    And when he returns, the new officers that have arrived take a shot at him.

    Bad turns worse when he calls his lawyer/friend who is certain this can all be cleared up but is also dead before Henry arrives at his house. And then the murderer somehow has his daughter. It seems he is on his own as he attempts to find the man who appears to be trying to destroy his life. Alone, unless that one friendly voice on the phone believes him . . .

    This was an enjoyable, fast read, 'usual' thriller.  Nothing out of the ordinary, except a slight twist of the plot that was less typical. A little implausible in a few places, but well worth it for a quick, action packed , fun read.