Final Second
(A Grant Fletcher Thriller #2)
by John Ryder

In a small farming town in rural Wisconsin—where generations of families have lived in peace for decades—no one expects trouble to come calling.

But then a farmer’s beautiful young wife is found brutally murdered, with a chilling calling card that suggests she’s just the first victim of a serial killer. And the FBI elect not to send one of their own. Instead, they send a stranger to town—former Royal Marine turned mercenary, Grant Fletcher. And they’re giving him no choice. Find the killer. Because we know what you’ve done.

With the threat of the executioner’s chair hanging over him, Fletcher finds himself in an impossible situation—and a race against time. Catch a murderer whose killings are escalating with every day that passes. Or face certain death…

Fans of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher, Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne, and David Baldacci’s Amos Decker will love the Grant Fletcher series.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

None of those ugly cows would even fit in this couture. It would be as if we asked Miss Piggy to model a new petite line of muumuus.

He knew at the root of the disdain lurked their similarities— neither one would ever acknowledge it. But he also valued his balls, planning never to tell either of them what he really thought.

Are any two men sitting close to one another a couple? Do I need to learn gaydar? How do you tell if they’re just friends? Or more? Is it different than when a man and a woman are dating? What kind of wedding did they have? How do you raise a child in that kind of household? Who makes the bed in the morning if you don’t have a housekeeper?

The Glass family has become a caricature of who we once were.

My Review:

This was my initial foray in perusing Mr. James J. Cudney’s scribblings and I was immediately taken with his enviable word skills and style, as well as being quite astonished to recall that I was reading his debut novel. His writing style had a unique elegance to the prose and was profoundly perceptive and emotive, yet easy to follow.

I tumbled right into this tale as if being pulled into the matchless Glass family vortex of oddly compelling characters with each one as slyly crafted as the next and imbued with compounded issues and a unique complexity. I knew them all so well I felt I had been living in their pockets and had completed an extended stay in each of their homes. My interest and curiosity were fully engaged from beginning to end. I feel compelled to extol his mad skills to the masses – if only I knew masses to tell.

End result – Mr. Cudney has a new and fully rabid fangirl to contend with, I hope he doesn’t startle easily…

Remember Me
by Mario Escobar

Publisher: Thomas Nelson (September 15, 2020)

Amid the shadows of war, one family faces an impossible choice that will change their lives forever.

Madrid, 1934. Though the Spanish Civil War has not yet begun, the streets of Madrid have become dangerous for thirteen-year-old Marco Alcalde and his younger sisters, Isabel and Ana. When Marco’s parents align themselves against General Franco and his fascist regime, they have no inkling that their ideals will endanger them and everyone they love—nor do they predict the violence that is to come.

When the Mexican government promises protection to the imperiled children of Spain, the Alcaldes do what they believe is best: send their children, unaccompanied, across the ocean to the city of Morelia—a place they’ve never seen or imagined. Marco promises to look after his sisters in Mexico until their family can be reunited in Spain, but what ensues is a harrowing journey and a series of heartbreaking events. As the growing children work to care for themselves and each other, they feel their sense of home, family, and identity slipping further and further away. And as their memories of Spain fade and the news from abroad grows more grim, they begin to wonder if they will ever see their parents again or the glittering streets of the home they once loved.

Based upon the true stories of the Children of Morelia, Mario Escobar’s Remember Me—now available for the first time in English—explores the agony of war and paints a poignant portrait of one family’s sacrificial love and endurance.

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

That day I understood that people can be right and still lose; that courage is not enough to defeat evil; and that the strength of weapons destroys the soul of humanity.

He would remain an idealist who longed for the triumph of the proletariat revolution, but something broke apart in his soul that hot July day. He could not have named the sadness any more than I could have right then, but it was without a doubt the grief of a broken heart that discovers there is no ideology on earth worth killing for.

I saw her get into the car and wave, I tried to lock that moment away in my brain forever. I didn’t want the memory to disappear into some corner of my heart. I was terrified. Fear is the worst feeling in the world. It rules like a tyrant, takes advantage of us, and turns us into wretched beings.

It’s impossible to ignore the pain of an open wound, and loneliness is one of the deepest gashes in the soul.

People stared at us with a mixture of compassion and relief. Humans are always happy when misfortune passes by their door and knocks at the neighbor’s house instead.

Feeling lonely showed us that, without our family, we were little more than cut flowers whose beauty and fragrance fades.

Life is like a flash of light between nostalgias.

My Review:

I struggled with this emotive and heartrending story. While it was informative and well written the emotional tone was intense and heavy with anguish and tragedy. Combine that with the described abuse, neglect, senseless brutality, and unfathomable atrocities the powerless children and citizens suffered; and it is easily understood why I frequently needed to put my Kindle down and seek out something more pleasant before my heart ruptured.

I confess to being completely ignorant of this period of history as well as of the history of Spain in general.   Although I do have a keen memory of seeing a picture of the ruthless dictator Franco while dressed in his resplendent uniform in my 5th grade elementary school textbook and wondering if he was part owner of the canned pasta company that made my Spaghettios.   Apparently, history has never been my forte!

Amongst the heinous scenarios of corruption and unobstructed abuse at the hands of the religious figures and institutions set up for their care were gripping storylines that led to profoundly deep and insightful observations, inner musings, and revelations as experienced through the eyes of a young adolescent in untenable circumstances.   These passages were written with thoughtful prose that was so poignant it was almost lyrical and caused me to read them several times while stealing my breath and burning my eyes and throat.   Mario Escobar broke my heart – he has mad skills.

About Mario Escobar

Mario Escobar Golderos (Madrid, Spain) has a degree in History, with an advanced studies diploma in Modern History. He has written numerous books and articles about the Inquisition, the Protestant Reformation, and religious sects. He is the directs the magazine Nueva historia para el debate, in addition to being a contributing columnist in various publications. Passionate about history and its mysteries, Escobar has delved into the depths of church history, the different sectarian groups that have struggled therein, and the discovery and colonization of the Americas. He specializes in the lives of unorthodox Spaniards and Americans. Books.

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