ReviewsByJamiesonWolf

Life is not easy for an Army Brat.

After losing her father, Marilyn Morris is shocked to learn that he won't be buried in his military uniform. Having spent more years retired than in the US Military, he would be buried as a civilian. For her entire life, her father lived and breathed the US Military; and, consequently, so did she.

From 1938 up until she finished college in 1958, Morris lived the life of a military brat, whether she wanted to or not. Always on the move, never able to make close friendships, never staying in one place for a long time. Such was the life of a military brat and Morris had no choice but to live in it.

Her father had called them gypsies; able to move at a moment's notice to parts unknown, able to adapt to any given situation; able to survive. That is what life is for a military brat: survival. Morris was taught lessons in life that others never learn and she knew that these events shaped her, molded her into what she is today.

After her father's death, these lessons, these memories, started to come to her, to come out from behind the locked doors of her mind. And so Morris had no choice but to write them down, to put pen to paper and let the memories come out.

Having never been a military brat, the scope of this book is incredible. It shows just how much will humans have to survive in any given situation. Not so much a memoir but instead a patchwork quilt of memories, Morris' Once A Brat is a testament to the power of the human heart.

I found as I was reading this incredible piece of work that I would be pulled into the story, pulled into the life that Morris had to live because of her father. Then I would sit back and have to remind myself: all of this happened. All of this is real.

The concept was frightening to me, shocking. That a family could stick together and indeed become stronger for living a military life was incredible. Morris was taught values and morals that most don't learn until well into their adult years.

When Morris talks of living in Korea, of having to learn to adapt to a whole new culture, a whole new way of life, you can feel her anguish pouring out onto the page. But you can also feel her wonder, her sheer delight at discovery of all things different.

Morris shines brightest, of course, when she talks of life then and compares it to life now. It's as if she's talking right to you, right into your heart, and you can do nothing but read her words and absorb them. They are not merely words, but true pieces of wisdom, pieces of knowledge that speak to your heart and spark your soul into being.

I am not normally so drawn in by non-fiction. I find that most memoirs are dry as day old toast and boring. I've tried to read several memoirs and failed mostly because there is no story, there is no life. With Once a Brat, Morris doesn't just tell me a story; she helps me live her life while I read it. I felt, saw, experienced everything she did as I read one gorgeous page after another.

Once a Brat is no mere book. It is a case study of human strength, of the willingness to survive and the ability to love beyond all reason. It is a testament to the fact that, though the present seems bleak, there is hope in the future. I can't stress how wonderful this memoir is; how, in its simplicity, it accomplished what so many memoirs fail to do. It helped me feel.

And it helped me believe that anything is possible. If you haven't read Once a Brat yet, you have no idea what you're missing.

©Jamieson Wolf, gottawritenetwork.com
May 24, 2007

Here's what I want you to do:

Go to your CD collection and pick a CD. I want it to be good and loud, a rock 'n roll CD with beat, with a pulse, with life. Maybe some Aerosmith. What? No Aerosmith? Okay, how about The Rolling Stones? What? No Rolling Stones? You have to be kidding me? Okay, how about some Boston? Some Led Zepplin? Some ACDC? The Doors, maybe?

Whatever the CD, I want it to be rock n' roll. I want you to put it in your stereo and pick your favorite song off the album. Doesn't matter what song really as long as you put the volume up and play it loud. Really loud.

Is it playing? Are you listening?

Do you remember the first time you heard that song? The first time you heard that music, felt it blowing through you, blowing into you? Do you remember where you were when you heard that song?

Now I want you to do something else: press stop. And then I want you to listen. Hear the silence. What would happen if something, or someone, silenced rock n' roll music forever? What would happen if rock n' roll music would cease to exist?

This is exactly what happens in Karen Magill's fascinating new novel Let Us Play. It's an uncertain time in the future and the world of music is suffering.

After a horrible accident at a concert for the band Mystique, rock n' roll music is silenced forever and the world is quiet. The People Against Rock and Roll (PARR), led by Peter Neils have stamped out the sounds of rock n' roll. Feeling that the music is sent from Satan to encourage people to riot and act horribly, Neils will not be satisfied until all music, not just rock n' roll, is quieted to a whisper.

But the people of the world will not take this sitting down, however. Where there is an action, there is an equal and greater reaction. The reaction comes in the form of the Let Us Play Organization (LUPO). Led by Kaya Moore, LUPO fights against the rulings of the evil PARR, knowing that in music, there is freedom.

Moore uses her gift of second sight to lead LUPO and fight for the rights of people everywhere. But their organization hides a secret: several members of LUPO are descendants of Mystique, the band that caused the ceasing of all rock n' roll music and became the stuff of urban legend.

But the fantastic thing about legends is that they are quite often true. And even more wonderful: with legends, good always triumphs over evil.

On a whirlwind adventure, Kaya and her team of LUPO members will have to face personal triumphs and failures. If they hope to get out of their battle alive, they will have to believe in each other and in the people of the world…..

With one incredible twist after another, Magill leads us through an adventure that tests our emotions and makes our hearts race. It's a fun tale that is perfect for a relaxing afternoon when you want something different, inventive and gripping to read.

It's also a social commentary. The novel is really a look at the problem with censorship. There have been lots who have been quieted so as not to offend the masses. What's interesting about Let Us Play is that it could, theoretically, happen. What would the world be like if censorship went that far and music was gone from us forever? Let Us Play makes you take a deep look into the censorship of the world and haunts you well after you turn the page.

While Let Us Play could do with a bit of editing, it's still a fantastic read. It clips along at a frantic pace and you're held breathless until the gorgeous, surprising ending. Why not go out and play and pick yourself up a copy of this fun, frantic futuristic adventure.

It's for music lovers everywhere!

©Jamieson Wolf, gottawritenetwork.com
May 24, 2007

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It all started with a newspaper ad.

Corrine Jensen's life it about to change. And not for the better. Facing eviction from her current home because she can't afford the condo fees, she wonders if she will end up homeless and on the streets.

Untill she reads a classified ad on the "Bulletin Board" of the Clarion, a community newspaper published on Manhattan's Upper West Side. At first Corrine can't believe her eyes; a luxury apartment for $600 a month? There had to be some sort of mistake. Corrine contacts the rental agent, Andrew Weisch, who assures her that there is no mistake. The apartment can be hers for first and last month's rent.

Corrine can't believe her luck. She pays Weisch first and last and he hands her the keys to apartment 18D. He tells her she can move in on the first and Corrine is overjoyed and believes that her luck may finally be changing.

Until she goes to move in.

When she arrives at apartment 18 D, she finds that the apartment has also been promised to three other people: Ollie, and up and coming artist, Venice, an assistant district attorney and Ian, a computer expert. They've all been promised the apartment and each has paid first and last months rent. They've all been duped.

They examine their leases and find that each one of them is a legally binding document. But now the question remains: Who gets the apartment? Each of the four has no place to go, they're all essentially homeless; and each of them wants the apartment very, very badly. So who gets the apartment? But more importantly…

….what is each of them willing to do to get it?

Be warned before you start reading: this is not your average run of the mill mystery. Who Gets The Apartment? Is a serious mind trip that just gets better with each page. A quick prologue gives you the impression that you are in for a wild ride but you have no idea what's coming.

What sets this novel apart from other mysteries is that you are given four possible scenarios, each more puzzling than the last, and you have no idea which one is the real outcome of the situation until the very end. It's almost like a choose your own adventure except you're shown each outcome and the story won't let you go.

I absolutely loved this book. It gives the mystery genre something to be immensely proud of. Rigolosi has crafted four very different scenarios of guile, suspense and pitch perfect humour that the novel moves forward at break neck speed.

The characters are unique and far from the usual cookie cutter talking heads that populate normal mysteries and you would swear you know someone exactly like them. Rigolosi is really an expert in studying the human mind and uses this to great flair within the pages of Who Gets the Apartment?

I haven't had so much fun reading a mystery in eons. Who Gets the Apartment? is perfect for a day at the beach, a ride on the bus. It's good for anywhere you want to be entertained because one thing is for sure: Once you start Who Gets the Apartment? you won't want to put it down until the very last page.

©Jamieson Wolf , gottawritenetwork.com reviewer
spring 2007

Loneliness can drive a person to do lots of things. But it can also bring old memories to the surface. One of those you've loved, those you yearned for and those you love still…

Reclusive billionaire Roger Hawthorne is a lonely man. Since the death of his young wife, Sarah Pemberton, in 1972, he has lived alone in the Hawthorne Estates in Hickory Heights North Carolina. For thirty years, he has grieved for his lost bride and for thirty years he has refused to move on, to let himself heal.

After thirty years of grief, Roger decides to take matters into his own hands. Appearing on a television talk show, Roger makes a plea: He will offer one million dollars to the person who can give him undeniable proof that ghosts exist. What he doesn't tell the television viewers is that he is hoping that he can finally contact Sarah, finally see her face again.

Five women respond to Rogers' plea: Shiloh Swallowtail, a psychic who lost her husband and feels lost on her new spiritual path. Ezra Anne Thornberry, a clairaudient who has visitations from a helpful ghost named Henri; Ezra is in desperate need of money to support her family. Brianna Campbell, just delving into the spiritual world, who misses her dead husband Rick. Pan Ryan, a psychic who feels as if life is moving around her too quickly. Peggy Maguire, a metaphysical Sunday school teacher, who is feeling smothered by her family while recovering from surgery. And Brooke Murphy, an herbal practitioner and Wiccan, who wants to find more time to devote to her photography.

Each woman is looking for a change in her life and they're hoping that this could be it, the change they were all wishing for. They should be careful what they wish for, however, as their wish is granted and will bring more change than any of them could have thought possible.

Roger Hawthorne invites them to the Hawthorne Estates and sets a challenge: they must provide undeniable proof that ghosts exist within a week's time or they go home empty handed. What none of them know is that the veil to the spirit world is thinner than they realize. Someone, or rather, something is waiting for them in Hickory Heights and will stop at nothing to get what it wants….

I can't stress enough how incredible The Search for the Million $$$ Ghost is. At first I was a little skeptical, as different writers have different writing styles and multi-author books are usually pretty choppy. I needn't have worried. From page one, this book flows beautifully and you can't tell where one author started and another author continued. The writing is flawless and the story pulls you in until it absorbs your entire world.

I loved the idea that, essentially, it was a book about spirituality and the existence of the spirit world. Normally, messages thinly disguised as novels have little to no story and the characters are nothing but mouth pieces to preach at readers. Nothing could be farther from the truth where The Search for the Million $$$ Ghost is concerned. The story is the main focus and the authors use the story to examine the spirit world and their beliefs. A truly refreshing concept.

The story, and its incredible characters, is the focus here. Each chapter gives us a deeper glimpse into one of the characters stories but all of the chapters flow together beautifully to tell us the complete story. Roving narrative has never been used more deftly and more enjoyably.

Believe it or not, The Search for the Million $$$ Ghost is also a touching love story. It examines what one man will do to find the woman who still claims his heart. If that isn't romance, I don't know what is. The novel is also a study of human relationships and how strangers, connected by the internet, interact with each other one they come face to face.

It also helped me examine my own beliefs about the spirit world. There is too much proof in this novel for a reader not to believe, for a reader not to know that there are spirits among us. It's a rare novel that makes you think and examine your own introspective beliefs. I haven't been this taken with a spiritual novel since Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist. Thankfully The Search for the Million $$$ Ghost is a million times better.

This book has a lot on its plate: a ghost story, a love story, probing the consciousness of others, examining theories about the spirit world and the existence of ghosts, families and the ties that bond them, the strength of the human heart. But, incredibly, the authors juggle all these elements with deft hands while still delivering an incredibly satisfying, immensely readable ghostly tale.

As soon as I had finished The Search for the Million $$$ Ghost, I started it all over again. It's a fast and easy read and beautifully written. Indulge yourself and get a copy of this book. It will entertain you, it may frighten you and it will certainly change the way you look at the world around you. I can't tell you how good this book is. You'll have to read it for yourself.

©Jamieson Wolf, gottawritenetwork.com
spring 2007