Book Review: Private Screening by Richard North Patterson

Private Screening by Richard North Patterson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Richard North Patterson sits on my list of top authors along with Ed McBain, Ginger Scott, Debbie Macomber, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a few non-fiction writers. I hadn't realized that this particular book had gotten past me. I thought I'd read all of RNP's earlier works. As it turns out, I somehow missed this first Tony Lord novel. Private Screening tells the story of the assassination of Presidential hopeful James Kilcannon (Kerry Kilcannon, younger brother of James, is the subject of a trilogy of RNP novels).

What follows is the trial of the shooter who Tony Lord defends. That story is interwoven as a wonderfully written flashback story with a present day  abduction. Stacy Tarrant is a famous singer, and former girlfriend of James Kilcannon. She was with James Kilcannon the night he was murdered. In the present day, she is in need of a good attorney and calls on Tony Lord even though she despises him for defending James' killer.

My thoughts on this book are basically the same as all of the other Richard North Patterson books I've read: they're brilliant. If you like crime novels, mysteries, court dramas and/or a mixture of some or all of those things, RNP is the writer for you.  In this particular novel, you're actually reading two novels in one. The fist novel is told in flashback and the second is in present day. But they're also interwoven and except for James Kilcannon, all of the other characters are in the past and present.

The two stories are interwoven so well, it's easy to keep track of what's going on. Many authors don't use the flashback so well. RNP nails it in this earlier work of his.

Tony Lord, our "hero" in this case, is obviously a good looking man. But his skill as a lawyer and his adoration for his son, Christopher are the two most attractive qualities of the character. If you'd already read "Silent Witness," the second Tony Lord novel, this novel gives you a look at how Tony Lord becomes a successful and much sought after attorney. In fact, he's similar to RNP's other attorney character, Christopher Paget. They are definitely different but both brilliant.

RNP tackles topics in his books that are usually controversial like gun control, abortion, the death penalty and so on. He researches like a madman before he writes and it definitely shows. In this particular novel, the reader will see how easy it's NOT to put on an insanity defense and it also tackles the subject of Vietnam Veterans who came home extremely different men and the issues attached to them as a result.

This one is an absolute must read. Every Richard North Patterson book should be on everyone's TBR list for at least a try. Chances are highly likely that even those who do not typically read the genre will be dragged in.

Like the late Ed McBain, who is probably the best mystery and crime novelist of all time, Richard North Patterson is right up there. Definitely 5 out of 5 stars!!!!!


View all my reviews

Book Review: You And Everything After by Ginger Scott

You and Everything After is the second novel in The Falling Series and the sixth novel overall by author Ginger Scott. Ms. Scott hit it out of the park when she released her first novel,Waiting On The Sidelines and she has continued to do with every single novel she has released since then including You and Everything After. Both novels can be read as stand alone novels but I highly recommend that you read both novels in this three part series.

This is the gorgeous story of Tyson "Ty" Preeter, a graduate student and older brother of Nate Preeter, who we met in book one of The Falling Series, This Is Falling and Cassidy "Cass" Owens, roommate of Rowe Stanton, who we also met in This Is Falling. Ty is tough, strong-willed and refuses to allow his disability (paralyzed from the waist down and in a wheelchair) to get in his way. He'll also be the first to tell you that he can be a real a$ at times. Cass has come to college despite her disability, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and despite her parents' overprotection. Cass has come to college to start over. No more of that reputation about how easy it is to get her into bed. Nope. No more.

Even though we met Ty and Cass in This Is Falling, they were the secondary characters in the background while we read about Nate and Rowe's story. In this novel, we get all of the things that happened during the time Nate and Rowe are finding each other, but this is now focused solely on Ty and Cass. Ms. Scott has now moved Ty and Cass into the forefront, placed Nate and Rowe into the background as secondary characters, and shows us their story from both of their points of view.

Like every Ginger Scott novel, I couldn't put it down. I really did consider whether or not I could use REAL toothpicks to keep my eyes opened as I fought sleep to keep on reading. My body was falling asleep but my brain was in high gear, on full speed, and it would not rest until I finished this magnificent story.

Ty is the kind of man that women dream about finding: handsome, educated, athletic, great sense of humor, and empathy for others who suffer from disabilities like he does. And while Ty loves a party, the PITY party is the one party Ty is NEVER interested in. Ms. Scott gives us a completely realistic look at what it's like to have a disability like Ty's and how he still manages to accomplish so much. And when he meets Cass, his desire to be all of those things and be an even better man than he already is, becomes shockingly important to him.

Cass is the kind of young woman who doesn't like to be told that she shouldn't do something because she has MS. I can relate. I have a similar disability and it's painful all day long. I hate being told I can't do something because of my disability. But when Cass meets Ty and he turns out to be her personal trainer, he's positive that she could play soccer in college as she was a championship player in high school who was forced to quit by her parents and their understandable, but overprotective, worries.

Put these two together and you have FIREWORKS! They are hot, hot, hot! Yes, there are great love scenes in this entire book and you will love every single one of them. But, their clashing of souls and passion are what gives these two young lovers, regardless of their physical limitations, the ability to leap over the highest of mountains. Together, these two can do anything.

One particular scene, the one I loved MOST, is a scene when Ty and Cass are together in Cass' bed. When Ty is on top, he has to use his arm strength to hold himself up. Ty wants to be able to hold Cass a certain way but he can't because he needs both arms. He simply can't do both. It's Cass who comes up with a way to make that happen and Ty holds her. Tight. And he plays it over and over in his mind how much he loves her for everything that she is because she gets him. Like it says in the book's synopsis, "She’s about to own me…completely. And I’m about to let her." And he lets her. Yeah, sure...as if he had a choice.

Both characters are physically "broken" but together? They complement each other so well, each one repairs the other. Both characters have fragile hearts and neither wants it broken again. But together? Fragility gone, replaced with strength from each other. Both characters are young, one starting college, one starting graduate school. But they both have the maturity of two 40 year olds who've been around the block, over the mountain, through the woods, and back around the block again. I would call these two "old souls." Ty and Cass are together because the Universe knew that they needed each other. Like me and my man, Ty and Cass saved each other. Neither actually wanted to ever admit that they needed rescuing but they did. And it wouldn't have worked if either was with someone else. It had to be them for the saving and rescuing to work.

It's extremely difficult to pick a favorite from Ginger Scott's novels. They all have the ability to grab you, wrap you in warmth, make you root for the characters, and make you feel what the characters are feeling. To accomplish one of those things with a novel is exceptionally difficult to do. Ms. Scott pulls off all of those things in every novel she writes. And this one was no different. Because of these two old souls and the obstacles they have to jump over, I think this is my favorite Ginger Scott novel. Probably because I wanted to jump into this book and be one of the characters. Kind of because I could hear Ty's Louisiana accent in my head.

Beautiful. Delightfully funny! Irreverently funny! Classy. B!tchin! Crazy cool. Wild! Ginger Scott not only writes amazing novels, she tops herself with each new novel. How she tops THIS one? I have no idea what she'll do but I know she's going to do it. I've said the same thing since I first stumbled upon and requested the ARC for Waiting On The Sidelines and I'll say it again…if Ginger Scott writes it, I'm reading it and that applies for as long as…forever.

*ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review*