"Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket." Song lyrics

A prospective client comes to P.I. Jake Desmond's office and wants him to find her husband. Jake learns that her husband is wanted by the police as a suspect on the killing of the man's partner who is Jake's friend and mentor.

To get by in the private investigator world in San Francisco, it is important to have many contacts, both legitimate and people outside the law. Joe knows many police officers and mobsters. He's also done many favors for people and getting information from them is a means of payback.

Joe's investigation is mildly interesting but I had the feeling that I've read books like this before. Perhaps that is part of the interest to the reader. For instance, as I read this novel, I was reminded of one of the leaders in P.I. writing in California, Philip Marlowe and the author Raymond Chandler.

I also loved the cover of "Catching Water in a Net." It seems to have a story in itself. I would have loved being in the room and see what the author was writing and try to learn why the author took one step rather than another.

This is a new author and I look forward to other books by him in the future.

Playing with cards can be deadly

Fans of Elmore Leonard's "Get Shorty" will enjoy "Drawing Dead."

Con men Tommy campo and Ben Fink operate the Tom and Ben Show speculating in comic books. They profess to sell collectible comics and one buyer is mobster Joey C. (Joseph Battagno). The comics are enclosed in a Stasis Shield and aren't supposed to be opened since it would destroy their value.

Joey C's girlfriend wants to read one of the comics and Joey relents. They find empty pages inside the cover. Joey sends his henchman  to find the con men and pay them back for making Joey look bad.

The search takes the henchman to Minnesota where Joe Crowe is a former cop. Joe is hired by stockbroker Rich "Dickie" Wicky to find out if Dickie's wife is having an affair and to buy the person off.

Dickie gets involved in the comic book scheme and goes overboard in selling them to his clients.

The author does a good job in describing his characters and providing them with unique characteristics so they'd be interesting to the reader.

I enjoyed reading about Joe and his girlfriend, Laura, both who seemed to have turned their lives around after being involved with cocaine.

The novel is well written, besides the comedic aspects, the reader knows they are getting a good story.

"Touch me in the morning" Song lyrics

Charlie Lawson joined a Franciscan order and became a Monk serving in Brazil.

Bill Hill is a former minister who currently sells R.V.s. He used to run the Uni-Faith ministry in Georgia.  Bill happens to see a young man named Juvenal touch a woman who had been blind for over fifteen years. Suddenly, the woman regained her sight.

Later, Lawson tells the reader that when he joined the Franciscans  they gave him the name Juvenal. Bill is sure that Juvenal has the healing touch and Bill feels that if he could get Juvenal to join a TV healing ministry, it could be a financial boom.

When Bill has trouble contacting Juvenal, Bill recruits Lynn Faulkner to help. She had been part of his Uni-Faith ministry.

The characters are well drawn and unique. One of the very different characters is August Murray who is part of a group called Outrage. They want the Church to return to the old ways and have Latin be the language of the Mass.

Very different from Leonard's standard novels and I enjoyed the image of Juvenal helping to heal the afflicted children. Coming from a procedure at the Smilow Cancer Clinic today, I wish Juvenal had his magic healing hand on the 8th floor.

Overall, this is a pleasant novel to read with interesting characters and a well described setting.

Riding, riding down the river

Raylan Givens is a U.S. Marshall in Florida. He has a strong moral code and is loyal to his friends.

Harry Arno is a retired gambler who had a recent DWI and so his ex-girlfriend, Joyce, has been relegated to act as his chauffeur  Joyce has been dating Raylan for a while and they've become accustomed to each other.

Harry uses a number of men to collect gambling debts when necessary.  One of the people who owe Harry a great deal of money is Chip Gantz and when he's visited by Bobby Deo to collect the money he owes Harry, Chip offers Bobby a job.

This is an interesting story with good character development and is entertaining. One of the entertaining characters is a young woman, Rev. Dawn Navarro, a psychic. Surprisingly, she may actually have some psychic powers.

As usual with Elmore Leonard, the story is original and entertaining. There is excellent dialogue and scene descriptions that help the reader feel as though the action is taking place right in front of them.

Pulitzer Prize winner and a book somewhat forgotten

1928 was a significant year in history with conflicts between China and Japan, with Germany gearing up their military and in Italy protests against Mussolini.

That was also the year in which Peterkin wrote "Scarlet Sister Mary" which won the Pulitzer in 1929.

The story details Southern Life with a setting in South Carolina.

Mary is a former slave who still lives in the plantation of her younger days. The Blue Brook Plantation is the name. Maum Hannah and Buddah Ben were as close to parents as she ever had.

The novel should be of interest to readers who enjoy Southern Literature with excellent dialogue and setting to help visualize the story even more.

I also enjoyed the way that faith comes into the story where Mary develops a wild side but eventually comes back to having a stronger faith.

Roses are red sorrow is near

This literary novel reminded me of the book of Job.

Like Job, Eric Moore, had pretty much everything, a good job, good finances and well thought of in the community and a happy family.

One night, his teenage son, Keith, is asked to babysit for their eight-year-old neighbor.  Keith comes home on time and nothing seems unusual until the next morning when the neighbor calls to tell them that their daughter is missing.

The story deals with mistrust, and doubt where everything points to Keith and police look for little else.

Then, Keith's computer is confiscated by the police and he's brought in for questioning.

All this is told to the reader in literary style and when another character does something drastic, the girl's father tells Eric that this doesn't change anything.

The conclusion is beautifully done and leaves the reader thinking how one man can endure so much.

Highly recommended and deserving of the literary awards of winning a Barry Award and being nominated for an Anthony Award.

Please see my Amazon review and leave comments about the review under that section. Thanks.

http://www.amazon.com/review/RA15ROGIV97PC/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

A nice mixture of cultures

Toshi Okamoto was born on a Japanese Island. He had a fascination with American things, particularly, movies, the culture and Audrey Hepburn.

As he was taking a course in the spoken English, he was seduced by his teacher. At the time, Toshi was still a teenager and didn't really know what to make of this.

Later, he goes to a city and meets Paul Swift, an American living in Japan. Paul is a homosexual and had recently lost his partner to AIDS.

The author writes in a lyrical manner and tells the story of the relationships between the cultures of the United States and Japan. One segment that was particularly entertaining was when a cab driver exclaimed "look at the foreigners." Although it was only three people from Australia, it was still sufficient to cause a stir.

This is a carefully crafted story that is a pleasure to read and teaches the reader how one culture can relate to another.

The conclusion is somewhat in the Hitchcock mode in that something changes and gives the reader new perspective on preceding events.