Thursday, August 27, 2020

I definitely didn’t want to put it down

LISTENER

Catrina P



 Virtually Lace 

Overall  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️    
4 out of 5 stars
Performance  ⭐️⭐️⭐️    
3 out of 5 stars
Story  
 
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-23-20


A very interesting concept... using virtual reality technology to help solve a crime. I love how Michael methodically stepped through things and was in a race against time to get to the bottom of things. 

Uvi Poznansky drew me into this story from the very beginning. I definitely didn’t want to put it down. 

I wasn’t a real fan of the narration. It felt like Don Warrick was detached from the story... I didn’t really feel the characters. 

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and I have voluntarily left this review. 


Monday, August 24, 2020

Why, then, should he find himself feeling awkward, as if he were an intruder?

 He strapped on the headset that Ash had designed for him. In the virtual reality industry, headsets were as bulky as a helmet. By contrast, this one was made of some thin film, which made it feel like it wasn’t there, even though it included all the necessary equipment: built-in motion sensors and an external camera tracker, which drastically improved image fidelity, as well as head tracking. Before you knew it, soft lenses would swing around your left and right temples and with a digital click, come directly into contact with the eyes.

At this point, Michael had dual vision. In one layer, he saw the constructed scene; in another—his office, lit by a fluorescent lamp that was strobing overhead. He switched it off and in a heartbeat, the room drowned in darkness. 

Now he could focus much better. Something about the scene made it look wrong. By default, an imaginary light source was established at the center of it, shedding light vectors at an arbitrary angle of eighty degrees overhead, to simulate daylight. It intensified the horizontal surfaces by making them bright. At the same time, it washed the vertical ones with stark shadows. When compared with his memory, the result appeared remarkably contrived. 

Despite wanting to forget everything about last night, the lamppost at that street corner became clear in his mind. Slowly, stealthily, its shadow had started prowling to the other side...

This simulated view had to be corrected. The fastest way to do it was for him to access the code via its voice recognition and comprehension interface. 

“Generate time grid,” he said, “starting at 8:03pm. April 30th. For that date, find the course of the sun. Set the angle of rays.”

The shadows changed direction. Darkness engulfed more surfaces. Shady secrets seemed to start whispering all over the landscape. 

“Simulate a breeze coming from the ocean. Accelerate rate ten times original pace. Play!”

Around him, shadows started swinging as the sun angled its way to the west. When finally it sank, the horizon glowed in red.

What was that noise? 

In a layer behind the sunset, his office door was open just a crack—exactly as he had left it. The walls were as shady as ever. Nothing stirred. Standing there perfectly still, only he could hear the wind. Only he could spot the trail, twisting and turning at the top of the rugged cliffs across his office floor, between one stack of software specifications and another. Why, then, should he find himself feeling awkward, as if he were an intruder in his own office? 

There was no way to control the mad throb of his blood, to force it back into a regulated pace. Michael took off the headset. With the sound of a puff, Laguna Beach vanished from view—only to reveal a reflection, someone’s reflection flashing across his computer screen. 

By the subtle hint of perfume, he knew who she was even before turning around to look at her. Every muscle in him ached for her touch. He wanted so badly to wrap his arms around her waist and gather her, at long last, to his breast. But his heart told him she would resist.

Ash.


Virtually Lace

(Volume I of High-Tech Crime Solvers)

Paperback  Hardcover

Audiobook


Haunted by discovering the body of a beautiful dancer, Michael re-constructs her murder in a virtual reality. Can he bring the mystery to life? Can he solve it in time, before the killer turns on the woman he loves, Ash?



Astonishingly well written, Uvi once again surprises us with the depth of her talent. This is one fine series to follow. Highly recommended. 

~Grady Harp, HALL OF FAME, TOP 100 REVIEWER



Monday, August 17, 2020

Lenny & Rochelle Battle In WWII France!

 

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B. Roscoe



 Lenny & Rochelle Battle In WWII France! 

Overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 
    
4 out of 5 stars
Performance  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️    
5 out of 5 stars
Story  
  
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-17-20

Reads As A Stand-Alone In A Series Of Stories About Lenny And Natasha. The Flashback To D-Day With A Backdrop Of Romance Is A Fascinating Look Back At World War II. Fans Of The Notebook May Enjoy This Book. 


This is the fifth book in the Still Life with Memories series, a five book series with a sixth brief book bite. Each book reads well as a stand-alone, offering a snippet into Lenny’s life. Fans of The Notebook may enjoy this book, as some aspects are reminiscent of that story. 

This is the story of Lenny and Natasha. It opens and closes in roughly 1979, when they are celebrating their thirty-fifth wedding anniversary. Based on information in other books, Lenny is fifty-six and Natasha is fifty-four. Lenny has become the caretaker of Natasha, whose memory has been slipping for some time and she had eventually been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. She has few lucid moments, and it weighs heavily on Lenny. 

The bulk of the book is a flashback to a time before Lenny and Natasha marry. As revealed in Dancing with Air, book four, Lenny had been forced to keep secrets from her when he served as a Marine in London during World War II. Natasha, a concert pianist, had joined the USO to be near Lenny in war-torn London. Though it had been part of a covert mission, the secrets had caused a complication in their relationship. She finally left London, on good terms, to hazard an attempt at a transatlantic voyage home to New York. But as Lenny learned a few months later, Natasha had some secrets of her own. She had promised him to share some of the missing pieces of her story after the war, and the likelihood of that ever happening is slipping away. He cannot help but attempt once again to trigger her memory. 

Lenny recalls the events of June 6, 1944 when he stormed the beaches of Normandy, France with the allied forces on D-Day. It was just a few months since Natasha had left London, and she was always on his mind. Survival on that day was only the beginning of the danger he would face. But soon he had not only himself to worry about, as the picture of a most-wanted French Resistance fighter known as Rochelle is plastered everywhere, and she happens to look very much like Lenny’s own Natasha. 

For this book, there appear to be some inconsistencies with times and dates across the series, which are a bit of a chore to piece together and may cause some readers to pause. *Spoilers* It would make more sense if this story took place during an earlier wedding anniversary for Lenny and Natasha. Nevertheless, there is nothing that anchors this story to this particular time, so it is easy to look past that. For those attempting to follow, I have reconstructed dates in the series below. Some are specifically stated, others are calculated based upon new information. This excludes any info given in The White Piano. 


• Natasha: born 1925. 
• Lenny: born 1923. 
• They meet in 1941 (she is 16, he is 18). 
• They marry: 1945 (he is 22, she is 20). 
• They have Ben five years later in 1950 (he is 27, she is 25). 
• Natasha shows her first symptoms in 1964 (she is 39, Lenny is 41, Ben is 14). 
• Natasha divorces Lenny after learning of his single indiscretion in 1967 (she is 42). 
• Ben drops out of high school and leaves home to travel abroad in 1967 (he is 17). 
• *The Music of Us* takes place in 1970 and the couple is together (Natasha is 45; Lenny 47). 
• Natasha is diagnosed in 1971 (she is 46). 
• *Dancing with Air* takes place sometime after 1970 and the couple is together. 
• **Natasha probably goes to live at Sunrise Assisted Living in 1972 (when she is 47), five years after Lenny’s indiscretion and the divorce. That means that Dancing with Air and Marriage before Death should take place by this time, since Natasha lives at home in those books. 
• *My Own Voice* should take place in 1977, when Ben is 27 and Anita is 26 or 27 (Lenny is 54). 
• **Marriage before Death** takes place in 1980 and the couple is together (35th wedding anniversary; Natasha is 55, Lenny is 57). This makes Ben 30, which doesn’t match up with the story since he returned home at twenty-seven and here his is still overseas. It makes more sense for this story to take place in 1972 just before Natasha goes into assisted living and the couple’s 27th anniversary. 

The D-Day story with a backdrop of romance is a fascinating look back at World War II. It is well-written. The story takes the reader back in time; the details feel authentic and immerse the reader in a tumultuous time in France, where allegiances were in doubt and different forces could be happened upon around any corner. The plot is somewhat complex. The characters are unique and authentic. The story is written in first person in Lenny’s POV. I rate the book four stars. 

As for the Audio: it is well-performed, with unique voices for the various characters. 

I received a copy of this audiobook and am voluntarily leaving a review.

What to say about this book...

 

LISTENER

J. Shaw


 

What to say about this book... 

Overall  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️    
5 out of 5 stars
Performance  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️    
5 out of 5 stars
Story  
  
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️  
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-17-20

Not what I thought, it lead me where I didnt think it would go.. It could be a Psych experiment....or is it? Come... Read... You will enjoy...

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Loved it

 LISTENER

Shaylah


 Loved it 

Overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 
    
5 out of 5 stars
Performance ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 
    
5 out of 5 stars
Story  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️    
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 08-13-20

Loved it, awesome audio delivery, amazing character change in voice delivery, kept my attention all the way to the end

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

Silence is golden. It allows me to listen, to gather clues

Later, Dr. Patel swings by with a group of medical students. The pages in their notebooks rustle around me as they scribble every word he says. To them, I’m no more than a typical specimen of what he calls the first stage of coma.

“During this stage,” he says, “patients are incapable of voluntary activities such as eye opening and forming speech.”

Ha ha, if only he knew! In spite of his learned opinion, I can form speech all right, but the words remain in my head instead of slipping off my tongue. At any rate, this he should know: Silence is golden. It allows me to listen, to gather clues.

I feel like a fish in a fishbowl, hovering just behind the glass. I watch them watching me. Correction: Since I can’t see, my fishbowl is opaque. All I can do is listen to them watching me.

Dr. Patel explains to his audience that in my state, I can’t open my eyes. He adds that in the second stage of coma, also known as vegetative state—which unfortunately, I have yet to reach—patients may open their eyes, but they can’t interact with others. They can’t talk.

Too bad. I have a long way to go before I can be called normal.

How does he classify patients who can, somehow, lift their pinky toe? That’s the one thing I’d like to know. Can someone raise this question with him? 

No. Nobody does. Dr. Patel goes on lecturing his students about the brain, about improving the efficiency of neurotransmitters in it, which allows signals to pass from one neuron to the next across contact points called synapses. At first I find myself bored.

I would yawn, if only I could.

Coma Confidential

Paperback Hardcover

Audiobook

Ash finds herself in the ER diagnosed with coma. She has no memory of what has happened to her, but what she can do--despite what everyone around her might think--is listen to the conversations of her visitors. Will she survive the power outage in the hospital and then, being kidnapped out of it? 

"It's that flirting with reality that makes this story such a compulsive read. Plot twists and suspenseful storytelling make this a book that you will have trouble putting down."  ~Kathy Parsons


Monday, August 10, 2020

That’s not the case with Brian and you know it

Meanwhile, a visitor has just entered the fenced yard. He is walking toward us in the light drizzle.

Wrinkling his nose, Timmy squints against a ray of sun that shines for a moment through the heavy clouds. Then, he cries, “Oh! Dad’s here!”

His mother stiffens a bit and rushes ahead of us to meet her ex. “What are you doing here, Ed? At this early hour, too?”

“They told me to take a few days off. Asked me to hand in my Glock, too.”

“Why?”

His jaw is clenched tight. By his taut skin and hard muscles that lift his arms away from his body, he can’t be older than forty, but his close-cropped hair is already flecked with silver. “Because.”

“Because what?”

“Because of the investigation.”

“What about it?”

“They don’t want me anywhere near the case, claim I’m too emotional about the whole thing, so hell, honey, I don’t even know—”

“Don’t you honey me.”

“Sorry.”

“Have they found Brian?”

He shakes his head. No.

She presses on. “How about the other two teenagers, the ones who have disappeared from other Florida high schools? Any clues there?”

“One of them is Eric Brown, a seventeen-years old from Tampa. We’ve gone through the list of his contacts, looking for anyone who might have had a fight with him, or even a sight disagreement. The other boy, Bobby Smith, is a fifteen-years old from Key West. We’ve gone through the list of his contacts, too, and cross-referenced the two lists to find out if anyone—any possible rival of one boy or the other—appears in both lists.”

“And?”

“So far, no significant matches. Maybe the two cases have nothing in common. Maybe Eric and Bobby just ran away from home. Maybe they don’t want to be found.”

“That’s not the case with Brian and you know it.” She turns her back on him. “You should go to your place, instead of coming here. I have enough on my hands—”

“I wouldn’t even know what to do with myself, sitting there alone. Let me be of some help, Tracy. I can take Timmy to school—”

“No need.” Her eyes flutter briefly in my direction. “I’ve already hired someone to do just that.”

Overkill

Paperback Hardcover

Audiobook


The last thing Ash expects when she lands in Clearwater, Florida is to be stalked by a troubled teenager. If that's not bad enough, she is caught in a shooting spree next to the nearby elementary school. The cops think it’s an attempt at mass killing, but Ash wonders if the only victim was specifically targeted by the killer. Will she manage to identify him and have him arrested before he comes after her?

" Twists and turns you never see coming made this reader think, "Yikes, never expected that." 

~ Susan Ricci, USA Today Bestselling Author

Sunday, August 9, 2020

I must get him to lower his defenses, so I may gather clues about his past

As his Chevrolet slows down to a stop, Dr. Patel is eyeing my knees. At first, I press them tightly together and smooth down my skirt as far as it can go, which is not much. Then I figure, why not let him swoon over what he’ll never get to touch? 

Don’t hate me for acting sexy. I already hate myself for it. At the same time, I recognize that seduction may be my best weapon. I must get him to lower his defenses, so I may gather clues about his past. Nothing will please me more than to gain confidence in the veracity of his education. A failed experiment is not what I want to be. 

Dr. Patel hops out, comes over to my side while spreading out his umbrella, and opens the door for me. This is the first time I watch him outside the ER. Without his scrubs he looks somewhat different, even handsome, and not in a boyish way. Wrapped in a dark gabardine raincoat designed by Prada, he is slightly shorter than my boyfriend, Michael, and more muscular. 

I swing my legs around, step out past him, past the edge of his black umbrella, where the pinging of raindrops reaches a high note. I glance over my shoulder at his hand, expecting to see a wedding ring—finding none. 

Has he removed it, especially for this date? 

No. Apparently he never wears it, because the skin at the base of his ring finger is no paler than the rest of it. 

For someone known to be a perfect family man, not wearing a wedding ring seems peculiar, but I remind myself that it doesn’t mean much. 

Perhaps he and his wife have some kind of understanding about such things, although—despite the thick, horn-rimmed glasses—he is attractive. In her place, I would be watchful. Perhaps he tells her that jewelry of any kind would be in the way when patients lie under his knife.

 

Overdose

Paperback Hardcover

Audiobook


Months after recovering from coma, Ash discovers that the man who performed her brain surgery has a questionable medical experience and a dark past. Should she expose him, at the risk of becoming vulnerable to his revenge?


"This book is exactly the kind of complex psycho-drama I've come to expect of Uvi Poznansky. The characters are full blown and full of contradictions and there are more plot twists than switchbacks on an Tibetan mountain side." 

- Aurora Dawn, VINE VOICE