The Silent Places

The Silent Places

by James Patrick Hunt

To be honest, I picked this book because of the front picture - the St. Louis Arch. Having lived in St. Louis for 10 years, I thought it’d be fun to read a story in which I recognized landmarks, etc.

The opening chapter takes place as a hunting trip in southwest Missouri in the Ozarks, near Branson - another very familiar area.

After a couple of chapters, I began to wonder if I would really like the book as I noticed what appeared to be typos - but I realized that disjointed sentences seemed to be the author’s style and I continued. I was glad I did. This was my first James Patrick Hunt novel, and I was not disappointed.

Aside from enjoying that I was familiar with most of the areas noted in the book, the story was gripping. I found myself wondering exactly how this story would play out.

John Reese, a former veteran and CIA agent, was prosecuted as a traitor by now Senator Alan Preston who is interested in running for President. Reese has escaped from prison and Preston fears that Reese wants retribution. St. Louis Police Lieutenant George Hastings is assigned to protect Preston. Hastings soon realizes that there is more to the story - much, much more. One begins to wonder just how the story will end - two fairly nice guys pitted against each other through circumstances beyond their control.

Hunt actually has a nice way with words and his scene descriptions leave one feeling as though they are actually there.

Out of five stars, I’d give this book a four.

Made in the U.S.A.

Made in the U.S.A.

by Billie Letts

I selected this book to read because the picture on the front reminded me of childhood evenings. To be honest, I didn’t even read the synopsis on the dust jacket flap.

The story starts out interesting enough, two children at Wal-Mart with their father’s girlfriend - the father long gone, the mother dead. The girlfriend dies at the checkout and now the kids are left on their own. Fearful that they will be sent to different foster homes, even though the oldest is only 15 with a learner’s permit, they take off in the girlfriend’s car to look for their dad.

After about three-four chapters I was close to giving up on this book. After all there are thousands of books out there waiting to be read, why waste time on one I’m not in love with. But I’m tenacious and by the time I got that far, I’d already read the front cover that said the book was by Billie Letts, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, so I thought I’d give it a chance.

About half-way through, I thought of putting it down again - the children's experiences were just a little out there and it was getting depressing. Then their “guardian angel” showed up.

Maybe someone else would enjoy this book more than I did. I found the girl’s attitude a little much and then the ending explanation just not quite enough.

And The Sea Will Tell

And the Sea Will Tell

by Vincent Bugliosi

In 1974 Vincent Bugliosi wrote one of the most fascinating true crime stories ever when he wrote Helter Skelter, the True Story of the Manson Murders.

In 1991, he created another masterpiece, And The Sea Will Tell - the recounting of the events in 1974 on the Palmyra Atoll in the south seas.

Wesley Walker (aka Buck) an ex-con and his hippy girlfriend Jennifer had sailed there from Hawaii on their sailing vessel the Iola, a deteriorating wooden sloop that lacked a reliable auxiliary engine. Hoping to find the island deserted, they were disappointed to find it already inhabited by two male scientists. They were happy to find that the scientists wouold be leaving in a few days. But before they left, another couple, Mac and Muff Graham, landed on the island and they intended to stay. The Grahams' ketch, the Sea Wind, was beautifully finished and impeccably outfitted with an onboard machine shop equipped with a lathe and acetylene welding torch. The Grahams also had plenty of food while Buck and Jennifer' store had already run out.

Buck and Jennifer were getting ready to sail south for more food when the Grahams disappeared, their dinghy overturned in the lagoon. The mystery was how could a couple disappear from an island that held only four people. Complicating the story was the fact that Buck and Jennifer returned to Hawaii in Mac and Muff's Sea Wind.

Bugliosi recounts the events from the ships' logs and interviews with Jennifer and others' relatives in the first half of the book. But the way he does it makes one feel as they are in the ship with Jennifer and Buck as they sail from Hawaii. Once on the island, one can almost feel the hunger and then the boredom of eating yet another coconut. Then there is the beautiful Sea Wind only yards away, full of food.

The second half of the book describes the trials of Buck and then Jennifer. By the end, we know the story, we know who went to prison and who didn't, but do we really know who did the killing?

Bugliosi lives up to his Helter Skelter fame with this book - every bit as interesting and exciting.