Heartbreaking & Uplifting – Heaven Enough @KenLaSalle

Posted on February 5, 2016 by fundinmental

Heaven Enough by Ken La Salle is so different from the other books of his I have read, I wasn’t sure I would like it. I have read Wormfood Island, a zombie vacay horror story and Cookies: Sluts of the Snack World, an adult picture book that had me in stitches.

What a wonderful surprise. This lovely cover opens up to reveal an amazing story that lingers long after I close the pages.

MY REVIEW

The title for Heaven Enough and one of the opening lines of the blurb:

“What would it be like if I had heaven enough?

confused me in the beginning, but as I read on it all came together.

Matt Murphy’s wife had been run down by a speeding driver. The questions asked when the death of a loved one comes so unexpectedly, may bring to light things you never knew. We all have our secrets and when all of them are brought to light, we can wonder how well we really know someone.

Her brother, Neal, is a monk…but not that kind of monk. He kept saying that to Matt but would never explain further. Well, all kinds of warning signs went up for me and I took great satisfaction in being right. I saw what was in store for Matt and I guess he was too self involved to see it for himself. I love trying to figure things out before the author gets me there.

It’s funny, not funny ha ha, but ironic that a chance encounter could have such a life changing effect. Would you reinvent yourself if the opportunity arose?

When you read Heaven Enough, you will be walking “a mile” in Matt’s shoes. Sometimes I wanted to smack him upside the head and tell him to man up and get over it, but his journey of guilt and regret turns into a chance to grow and realize the important things in life.

I like that the story was not lose a wife, meet someone new, and live happy every after. He struggles to make it through the day, and he is not the only one.

I probably would never have read this, except I love Ken La Salle’s writing and would give anything he pens a try. The story did slow a bit in the middle, but now that I am finished, I find it added to a sense of reality. The details and information about hiking the trails and foraging for food and water were interesting and pivotal to the story.

Heaven Enough is thought provoking and reflective, bringing forth emotions of sorrow, guilt and, most important, hope. We never know what tomorrow brings, so never give up. It has a touch of religious intonation, but it never got preachy or bothered me in any way. Just seemed to fit right in.

OMG. I sure did not see this one coming and I was shocked, stunned. Then…the ending. Oh man, it caught me so off guard I sat with my mouth hanging open. My emotions ran AMOK as I tried to write notes for this review. I am at a loss for words and cannot express how amazed I was at Ken’s writing and where he took the story. Excellent job, Ken, even though I am a bit pissed off at you!!! I NEVER saw that coming. A heartbreaking and uplifting novel that I cannot recommend strongly enough.

This is a book that will stick with me, reminding me of the time I was questioning what was most important to me. I found my answers. Have you?

Thank you, Ken, for asking me to read Heaven Enough! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

5 Stars

GOODREADS BLURB

Is a poem about longing, about wishing for something more. “What would it be like if I had heaven enough?” it reads.

Matt Murphy reads these words for the first time at his wife’s funeral. After a death shrouded with mystery, it is the first time he learns that she wrote poetry. He and Diva were married for nearly twenty years, yet he did not “know” her. A poet and lover of culinary delights, she is struck by a car and killed instantly—randomly—on the wrong side of town.

When her brother, the “monk,” appears for the funeral, Matt is set on an unprecedented course. The two find Diva’s computer filled with preparations to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Over 2600 miles from Mexico to Canada…and she was leaving without her husband.

Matt takes it upon himself to hike the trail and sprinkle her ashes along the way. What happens in the first two hours is dumbfounding.

What happens next changes his life forever…

ABOUT KEN LA SALLE

Novelist and Playwright, Ken La Salle grew up in Santa Ana, California and has remained in the surrounding area his entire life. He was raised with strong, blue collar roots, which have given him a progressive and environmentalist view. As a result, you’ll find many of his stories touching those areas both geographically and philosophically. He’s also very funny.”.

Blog / Website / Twitter / Facebook / G+ / YouTube / Smashwords

MY REVIEWS OF KEN LA SALLE”S NOVELS

Giveaway, Guest Post & Review – Cookies: Sluts of the Snack World by Ken La Salle

Zombie Vacay – Wormfood Island by Ken La Salle

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Where do the dead go – Whereafter @_TerriBruce

Posted on February 5, 2016 by fundinmental

About the Book

Whereafter by Terri Bruce

Publication Date: March 15, 2016

Publisher: Mictlan Press

Number of Pages: 345

Genre: Paranormal / Contemporary Fantasy

Stuck on an island encircled by fire and hunted by shadows bent on trapping them there forever, Irene and Andras struggle to hold onto the last vestiges of their physical selves, without which they can never return to the land of the living. But it’s not just external forces they’ll have to fight as the pair grow to realize they have different goals. Irene still clings to the hope that she can somehow return to her old life—the one she had before she died—while Andras would be only too glad to embrace oblivion.

Meanwhile, Jonah desperately searches for a way to cross over to the other side, even if doing so means his death. His crossing over, however, is the one thing that could destroy Irene’s chances of returning home.

Too many obstacles, too many people to save, and the thing Irene most desperately wants—to return to her old life—seems farther away than ever. Only one thing is clear: moving on will require making a terrible sacrifice.

About the Author

Terri Bruce has been making up adventure stories for as long as she can remember and won her first writing award when she was twelve. Like Anne Shirley, she prefers to make people cry rather than laugh, but is happy if she can do either. She produces fantasy and adventure stories from a haunted house in New England where she lives with her husband and three cats.

Contact Details: Email: tbruce@terribruce.net / Website/Blog / Goodreads

GIVEAWAY

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Book Excerpt

Andras grunted, the sound filled with suspicion. Irene bent down to tie her shoelace, as much to avoid eye contact as anything. When she straightened up, something in the distance caught her eye, shimmering like a mirage. She squinted, not sure she was really seeing what she thought she saw.

“You know, now might be a good time for you to tell me what it was like to live in a castle,” she said.

Andras shook his head, sadly, as if Irene had disappointed him. “You cling too much to the past. Forget the trappings of life. Free your mind from these longings, and so, free your soul. Only then will we be able to escape these shackles and enter Heaven to rest at the side of God.”

Why did he always have to argue about everything? “For God’s sake,” she said, exasperated, “just answer the question!”

“Wherefore?”

Irene pointed to the hulking structure in the distance. “Because,” she said as Andras whirled around to see what she was pointing at, “correct me if I’m wrong, but that looks like a castle.”

“Wow!” Irene said, her eyes roving over the dark, crenellated structure hulking in the far distance. It gleamed dully, the color of burnt blood in a fading afternoon sun. “What the hell do you think that is?”

Andras grunted. “As you said—Hell.”

Irene frowned at him, but her lips quirked in amusement. “Why do you have to be so negative? It could just as easily be Heaven. God is supposed to live in a palace, right—the whole ‘my father’s house has many rooms’ thing? A castle is just a type of palace.”

Andras gave her a dry look. “Does that look like Heaven?”

Irene was on the verge of agreeing that the castle did not in any way look how she imagined Heaven when it shimmered, as if the fading sunlight had been redirected by mirrors. Light rippled across the castle’s surface and the dull, dark, burnt-blood color transformed into gleaming, bright, silver-white. Crisp white pennants flapped from the corners as if whipped by wind. Irene thought she could hear them snapping crisply.

Irene looked at Andras, and he looked at her. His expression made it clear that he had seen the same transformation she had. It was as if the building was trying to trick them into coming closer.

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Would You Like A Glimpse of the Afterlife? My Review of Hereafter by Terri Bruce

Friday 56 #70 & BB #46 – The Scarpetta Factor @1pcornwell

Posted on February 5, 2016 by fundinmental

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The Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice.The only rules are to grab a book (any book), turn to page 56 or 56% in your ereader and find any sentence or a few ( no spoilers) that grabs you and post it.

Please join Rose City Reader every Friday to share the first sentence or so of the book you are reading along with you initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires.

Please include the title of the book and the author’s name.

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Next up on the list is The Scarpetta Factor by Patricia Cornwell.

I have been a huge fan of Patricia’s for many years and I couldn’t resist grabbing this. I cannot give it a rating because, quite frankly, I read it some time ago.

There are so many books and so little time, whether I will reread this again or not…

MY FRIDAY 56

The card’s red envelope was blank, nothing on it, not Benton’s name or Scarpetta’s or Dodie Hodge’s.

(page 56 in hardcover)

MY BOOK BEGINNINGS

A frigid wind gusted in from the East River, snatching at Dr Kay Scarpetta’s coat as she walked quickly along 30th Street.

I must say, I am disappointed that neither the 56 or the book’s beginning did anything for me, but here they are. I hope you will check it out anyway.

GOODREADS BLURB

It is the week before Christmas. A tanking economy has prompted Dr. Kay Scarpetta-despite her busy schedule and her continuing work as the senior forensic analyst for CNN- to offer her services pro bono to New York City’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. In no time at all, her increased visibility seems to precipitate a string of unexpected and unsettling events. She is asked live on the air about the sensational case of Hannah Starr, who has vanished and is presumed dead. Moments later during the same telecast, she receives a startling call-in from a former psychiatric patient of Benton Wesley’s. When she returns after the show to the apartment where she and Benton live, she finds an ominous package-possibly a bomb-waiting for her at the front desk. Soon the apparent threat on Scarpetta’s life finds her embroiled in a surreal plot that includes a famous actor accused of an unthinkable sex crime and the disappearance of a beautiful millionairess with whom Lucy seems to have shared a secret past.

Scarpetta’s CNN producer wants her to launch a TV show called The Scarpetta Factor. Given the bizarre events already in play, she fears that her growing fame will generate the illusion that she has a “special factor,” a mythical ability to solve all her cases. She wonders if she will end up like other TV personalities: her own stereotype.

The Scarpetta Factor, the seventeenth in the series, finds the familiar cast of characters together again in New York. Marino is working for the NYPD; Benton Wesley uses his forensic psychological expertise at Kirby and Bellevue; and Lucy continues to dazzle with her expertise in forensic computer investigations as she works yet another case with NY prosecutor Jaime Berger.

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I am a “cover girl”.

Jacket Design by Richard Hasselberger

What does the cover say to you?
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