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blurb:

[Accompany Eugene Uttley on a mythological "hero's journey" to another world and back again, and join him as he articulates the prize that he won there -- The  Ultimate Boon.

Through his struggles in coping with schizophrenia, Uttley has come to know what he wants. Now he just needs to figure out how to get it.

This experimental open letter includes original and appropriated prose, poetry, song, prayer... memoir, travelogue, sketches of Uttley's present-day life, and literary exegesis. Its many sources and topics are ranging, but circle always back to the overarching theme of recovery from mental illness through better knowledge of self and becoming more whole, a complex process both mental and spiritual, which entails increasing awareness of connectedness to the greater whole, the infinite.]

I was asked by the author to help with the giveaway. This is my first time doing this . Hope you guys take part in it, you have nothing to lose and the potential of winning 15 bucks.

Who'd say no to that?

Participating sites: 

Oh, Chrys!

D.S. White
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Delia Bourne
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Girl-Who-Reads
Uttley's Take

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Good Gladys ( Embrace the Dead ) by Martin Renaud

A murder mystery with a psychic twist. 

News reports that the famous psychic Good Gladys is missing coincide with the brutal stabbing of her business manager. Gladys's daughter Dara asks an old friend, private investigator Byrne Aase, to help find the murderer. She claims that the man the police have in custody is innocent. In fact, she believes that the accused is her mother, having been transformed into a man during a seance gone awry.GOODREADS




"She has no shame, " thought Sauce......... 

Sauce? yes, that is our protagonists name. It just seems like a really odd name. I think it was mentioned somewhere why he has that nickname but I didn't get it. or is it only because he drinks a lot. First impressions aside: you will love Sauce a.k.a Byrne Aase. 

The story is told from Sauce's POV. This whole book reminds me of one of those old school detective shows or are they games. There's a bunch of people in a house, there's a mystery and they have to solve it. I love those mysteries even if I have a tendency to blame the butler. Good Gladys reminds me of those kind of mysteries  because of the way the characters talked, the way Sauce investigated things and the overall development of the mystery. Together with the protagonist the reader finds clues and tries to figure things out. And when there's a random element thrown in the game like being brought to the governors house, and hearing said governor share his utmost conviction in a psychic who claims to be punished by God and sent back to do a selfless act. You as a reader are as shocked as Sauce. Although it felt like this in the beginning the mood suddenly changes halfway through the book and becomes more suspenseful and bloody.

I'd already chosen sides when I had read chapter one, when I got over the weird name thing. Sauce is this good guy, naive and gullible. He's like a puppy you find on the street, you just know you can't leave it there. That's how easily I got attached to Sauce. Then Dara, his ex shows up asking for his help. Dara is manipulative. In romance novels when the guy forces the girl to go shopping it's romantic but when Dara forces Sauce to go shopping, remodels his whole house. It's aggravating. Sauce's skepticism about the whole psychic thing seeps though the pages or maybe my skepticism  seeps into the book combines with Sauce's skepticism which makes it a really engaging read. Sauce gets curious about the case and gets involved. I had hoped he wouldn't, I had hoped he just wouldn't do what Dara wanted but then there wouldn't be a story.

The way the story unfolds is entertaining. It started to get really interesting when Sauce gets abducted by this crazy family of psychopaths.  Their kids were just excited when they were told they'd get to break Sauces fingers. Of course Sauce gets rescued and when he wakes up the mystery is just about solved.

The last chapters were ridiculous and unbelievable. You know Gladys is a fraud but there are all these people who believe in her ,who willingly allow themselves to be manipulated. Good Gladys the psychic claims on a talk-show to have met Adam and Eve. Claims to have been punished by God and that's why she's in a man's body. and the audience believes her. Sheep, they're all sheep. The one psychic who came back from the other side. Gladys is arrogant, annoying an manipulative. oh and she's also Dara. Turns out the real Gladys died and Dara has been impersonating her to keep the enterprise going.

This is different  from anything else I've read. It's a unique story and a entertaining one. The characters are funny and fascinating  next to Sauce I like the former secret agent, BT who helped Sauce on the investigation and Sauce's cop friend Hammi. I hated Dara because she was so manipulative and overbearing as was Gladys. Gladys sometimes reminded me of those religious people that come to your house. Although I disliked these characters they made the story moving (by this I mean I was annoyed and pissed at what they were doing. Those are emotions as well). 

I enjoyed this book and would love to read more about Sauce. The characterization is great, the writing is awesome. The mystery wasn't complicated and the revelation didn't surprise me. Although getting to know how Gladys tricked everybody was interesting, like finding out how a magician does his tricks. I'd definitely recommend this to anyone who loves a good old mystery book.

Grade: 

** I was asked to review this book by the author. He said it was a suspenseful, witty,fun and engaging book which it definitely is.

Think Out Loud #8

Think Out Loud.

This is a weekly meme used for bloggers

to post something they would normally not post.

So, post whatever YOU want!

My literary highlights and downsides of 2012

It's already 2013?! Well that went by fast. So here's a random  unstructured post where I review all things related to books and this reviewing page during the year 2012. 

I started reviewing in October 2011 and I'm still going strong today. How about that? this is the most committed relationship I've ever been in. I'm not sure I should have said that.....

Although I am kind of disappointed . This year I didn't finish my Goodreads challenge  which is ironic because my Goodreads challenge for 2011 was 100 books which I completed by 110. This year I reduced it to 75 books which  I didn't complete by 25 (only read 50). It really bugs me ! Of course one shouldn't dwell on the amount of books one reads but the quality right, there's a phrase for that, I can't remember it. 

The best of the 50 books I've read:

#1 Highlight is discovering the ASOIAF saga by GRRM. I'm still not finished with a Dance with Dragons. I'm going slow on purpose . Who knows when GRRM will finish the other two books and S3 of a Game of Thrones isn't coming out for a long time yet.  My reviews of the first four books are my favorite reviews I've written so far. Although they do border on rants. especially a Storm of Swords, which coincidentally is the longest book I've read this year (according to Goodreads)    

#2 Discovering  new authors . James Patterson, I had always seen his name or heard him mentioned along with other authors  I'm ashamed to admit I intentionally didn't pick his book up sometimes. We all have regular authors we read. and although we all know "you should never judge a book by it's cover" we still do! either way Patterson is an awesome writer,  the characters he creates are amazing and talented and human. It's just really easy to connect with them.It's annoying. Neil Geiman, after reading his poem instructions on a fellow reviewers page I was sold. Instructions is a poem about what to do if you find yourself in a fairy tale.  It's an awesome poem and listening to this guy read is like going to a really mellow rock party. I also got the chance to read his comic  The Sandman vol.1 . 

#3 Finishing The Hunger Games. I had hoped for a happy ending when I had finished book one. can't say it was met tho. The ending was bittersweet.  The Hunger Games , The Confession and The Lost Symbol are the most substantial books I read this year.

- The Night Circus is easily the most imaginative book.

- The Silent Girl was the most thrilling

- The funniest now this one's hard: the Scott Pilgrim comics were pretty funny and absurd, so was the manga Yotsuba  and I got to read my first Jane Evanovitch book, Lean Mean Thirteen. I'm impressed by her humor and will definitely be picking up more of her books.

-The twisted, psychological  reads: This is gonna be a tie. but the #1 goes to Red Dragon #2 goes to Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. The title is pretty accurate. Although Johnny is psycho the comic is pretty funny in  a twisted way and has a morbid perception of social life and people. My favorite  sketch will always be Wobbly Headed Bob.

#4 books I bought over the year;

I currently own all four books from the ASOIAF saga and I got the box set for The Hunger Games . I also caved and bought the ASOIAF 2013 calendar. I bought my first mangas, Bleach vol .36 and 37 ( The Pendulum arc) and another Tess Geritsen book, The Silent Girl. Roro @ Roro Is Reading gave me Lothaire (IAD #12)  as a present and I bought the last book in the Lords of the Underworld series #9, The Darkest Seduction. That's two out of the six books I wanted to read in 2012. 

#6 finally picking out a background image for the page . 

#7 garnered some new followers. but My #1 comment-er will always be Kah Cherub @Not Just Nonsense  . and my #2 spot goes to my faithful or maybe occasional readers Mark and Maayra. Who make my day.

#8 this year I received my first autographed book! By none other then one of my friends who won a writing competition and got one of his short stories published  He's well one his way. He's also started reviewing so stop by his page @ Zera's Comic Shelf 
#
#9 I wrote my first review on request which was  for a Bizarro book, A Hollow Cube is a lonely Space. Bizarro fiction is a genre that uses satire and a lot of other crazy stuff to  make weird ,crazy, disgusting stories. A Hollow Cube is a Lonely Space is pretty decent compared to the other titles I saw from this genre. Although it's the only book from this genre I've read so  I can't say that, can I. but I saw some really weird titles. So you've been warned.

#10 I got my second request  to review Good Gladys by Martin Renaud two months ago. finished it yesterday. Review pending.

#11 downside : Helena said Sherlock Holmes had no personality and the plot was obvious .I know everybody is allowed an opinion and I should.. let this go. but really...? no personality..really

#13 the best covers 2012: 

#1 Angelfall by Susan Ee. Awesome book , unpredictable hero and ridiculous but feisty heroin.


#2 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern 

#3 Moon Called by Patricia Briggs

My long term relationship with certain books keep increasing while new ones bloom. According to Goodreads I've been reading Grimm's Fairy Tales since May 2010 and It by Stephen king since June 2010. There are in total 17 books I haven't finished reading. but I do read them on and off, for 2 and a half years apparently . I mean come on, It is a pretty lengthy book and not easy to read. I think the last  thing I read was where this guy was talking to something through the sink. a scary demonic voice that said it was Legion. I'm sorry, but that's the cue to stop reading and run! NOT that I was scared or anything

Then there's a bunch of books I've burrowed but haven't read . and the ever increasing TBR list. But there's still time , there's this new whole year in front of me to read and finish reading books, so come at me 2013.

Think Out Loud #7

Think Out Loud.

This is a weekly meme used for bloggers

to post something they would normally not post.

So, post whatever YOU want!

Demand fashion without pollution 

DETOX

1st To Die ( Women's Murder Club #1 ) by James Patterson

Inspector Lindsay Boxer of the San Francisco Police Department suddenly finds herself in the middle of two horrifying situations: The first is that she s just learned she has an often-fatal blood disease. The second is a double homicide case she s now heading up that involves the murder of newlyweds on their wedding night. Burdened with Chris Raleigh, a new partner reassigned from the mayor s office, Lindsay finds that she has too much to deal with and turns to her best friend, Claire, the head ME on the case. Claire offers helpful advice and human, friendly contact amid a job filled with violence, cruelty, and fear.

Soon a fledgling newspaper reporter, Cindy, makes contact with Lindsay looking for a career-making story. Although Lindsay can t officially comment on the case, the two women form a rapport, and Cindy joins Lindsay and Claire for their weekly meeting. When a second pair of newlyweds is murdered, and later a third, the investigation leads to a prominent crime writer, Nicholas Jenks, who has a history of spousal abuse and a predilection for kinky, dangerous sex games. With the help of an understanding assistant D.A., Jill Bernhardt, Lindsay tries to make a case against Jenks, who even had an affair with one of the slain women. Eventually Jill joins the Murder Club, and the four ladies share private interdepartmental information in an effort to track and stop the killer before he strikes again.GOODREADS

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Terrific …a great thriller… what’s not to love about a “club’ formed by four women to catch a psycho killing newlywed couples? - Providence Sunday journal

Well, I don’t know, maybe the “psycho killing newlywed couples” part but I can see how that makes this a great thriller. This is my second Patterson book and the guy is winning me over book by book. 1^st To Die is also the first book in the Women’s Murder Club where we meet the first member, Lindsay boxer.

The book starts with a prologue where we meet Boxer in not the best of state. Starting the book like this was engrossing. Boxer’s on the verge of shooting herself in the head, she’s on the balcony with her gun to her temple. Reasoning with herself how easy it would be to pull the trigger or call her friends. They’d say all the right things but she’d still be where she is next week or month. This draws my attention because "what's the benefit of talking out your problems when you already know what people will advise you to do". Although I don't think this is what Patterson is saying because in the end Boxer talks about her troubles and asks for help which leads to a somewhat happy ending. I gradually began to like Boxer a lot. She’s not what I expected. She’s a female working in a profession where the majority is formed by men yet she can still hold her own. Much like one of my favorite characters Jane Rizzoli (from Rizzoli & Isles series) only that’s where the similarities end. Boxer’s an inspector but she’s also very feminine as well whereas Jane’s a bit more of a tomboy. This was new and surprising. I prefer Rizzoli because she’s stronger but still Boxer’s a individual character as well who’s definitely in my book of great, independent female leads.

Boxer gets diagnosed with Negli ,a typed of blood disorder, which she is told can be fatal. Patterson builds on this , Boxers emotional state and how she uses negli to motivate her to catch the killer. Because of negli Boxer is made somewhat vulnerable and yet she’s determined to catch the killer. So she decides on an unorthodox way to find leads. She forms the Women’s Murder Club with Clair (medical examiner) and Cindy (reporter) ,the first two members.

“We could reassemble whatever clues came out of the official investigation, share what we had, cut through the political cover-you-ass and the bureaucracy. Three women, who would get a kick out of showing up the male orthodoxy, more important, we shared a heartfelt empathy for he victims” pg 140-141

The Women’s Murder Club was born

This is indeed a terrific book. The plot is great, the different pov’s  makes the reading process very dynamic, in the way that we can follow what’s happening and the clues from different people, we also get into the killers mind. And there are twists and turns and more twists. The chapters are also short and end with little cliffhangers, before you know it the books done.

The fourth member in the club, is Jill Bernhardt (DA). Half way through the book I realized there was still more pages left but they had already found (who they thought was) the killer. So of course they’d need a lawyer in the club. They are all independent, hard working women.

So you must be wondering who the killer is? All the leads pointed to Nicholas Jenks, a famous author. Later there’s a lot of incriminating evidence found at his house. The rings from the murder victims, cloths stained with the victim’s blood. And a book Jenks wrote in the beginning of his career about an Author who killed newlywed couples to really experiences it and write the story called Always a Bridesmaid. So every story has to have a villain right. So let me described Jenks for you: he’s a douchebag. He likes dominance, he’s a narcissist, has an ex wife he dumped after she practically supported him during he’s writing career, has an abusive history with current wife and the last one. He's arrogant and thinks all women want him. Later he screams he's not the killer and somebodies trying to frame him. Refusing to believe it could be his ex-wife because he's under the impression she still loves him and he's too awesome . The most unbelievable and ridiculous thing to happen in this book, well one of them, is Jenks escapes custody! because of an earthquake  I know this is fiction and Jenks could escape, but it would have been ridiculous but the earthquake, using that as instrument for his escape makes it plausible and more believable. Although it's still a "what the hell" twist. 

The first unbelievable and ridiculous thing : I'm really starting to fear that Patterson is turning me into an abusive bookworm. I again wanted to punch this book. Like with Roses Are Red, the same thing's done here. Patterson builds characters so well I end up liking them so much that when they DIE or something bad happens, the injustice is felt! In 1st To Die Boxer has a life threatening disease to deal with and she gets saddled with another partner  Chris Raleigh. This leads to a romance. It was so lovely. Even I started to wonder if Chris had soft hands. Boxer and Chris were so good together, they loved each other. Of course I was suspicious . It was to good to be true. Something bad is going to happen. and it did but it was too abrupt! too unfair! why?!

The climax happens when Jenks escapes and is kidnapped and brought to the place he married his second wife. oh and he's also being held at gun point by said wife. she turns out to be the real killer. Boxer ends up having to kill her. However this is not the important event here for me) . Chris dies! he gets shot and I know what to expect , he's going to die of course:

"I got her , Chris. Chessy Jenks was the killer"

He managed to nod his head. "That's my girl," he whispered.

Then Chris smiled faintly and he died on me.

 No! smile and die?! really?! not only is that annoying , the irony of this. Boxer's the one diagnosed with a life threatening disease. She later gets told that the treatment is working, she'll live and then Chris dies! Although Moved by violent emotions I did not punch this book.

Epilogue: Chessy Jenks was the killer? oh no, Nicholas Jenks after the terrible ordeal has published his book, has sold millions. He doesn't have to share his money with his ex wife or possibly lose any if he were to get divorced because both women are dead. Jenks visits Boxer at her apartment and confesses to orchestrating the whole thing, the brains behind the whole thing and tries to kill Boxer. Boxer kills him and the last words he hears are "burn in hell".

Another wonderful book by Patterson with a satisfying ending all the same  and a great new series to check out.

Grade:

Lean Mean Thirteen (Stephanie Plum #13 ) by Janet Evanovich

MISTAKE #1

Dickie Orr. Stephanie was married to him for about fifteen minutes before she caught him cheating on her with her arch-nemesis Joyce Barnhardt. Another fifteen minutes after that Stephanie filed for divorce, hoping to never see either one of them again.

MISTAKE #2

Doing favors for super bounty hunter Carlos Manoso (a.k.a. Ranger). Ranger needs her to meet with Dickie and find out if he's doing something shady. Turns out, he is. Turns out, he's also back to doing Joyce Barnhardt. And it turns out Ranger's favors always come with a price...

MISTAKE #3

Going completely nutso while doing the favor for Ranger, and trying to apply bodily injury to Dickie in front of the entire office. Now Dickie has disappeared and Stephanie is the natural suspect in his disappearance. Is Dickie dead? Can he be found? And can Stephanie Plum stay one step ahead in this new, dangerous game? Joe Morelli, the hottest cop in Trenton, NJ is also keeping Stephanie on her toes-and he may know more than he's saying about many things in Stephanie's life. It's a cat-and-mouse game for Stephanie Plum, where the ultimate prize might be her life. Dust jacket

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This was one hell of a ride, easiest book I've ever read. Stephanie is awesome and the situations she gets into are ridiculous and unbelievable. The humor is one of a kind and puts a smile on your face. Stephanie's a bounty hunter and the things she does on the job , the trouble she gets into, the people she meets and her family,  friends, arch-nemesis that make for a great cast,  makes the whole series something else.

This is book 13 in the series, but some of you might have already  seen the movie One For The Money , which is based on the first book, in which you've  met certain characters already: Morelli, Ranger, Lula and Stephs family . All of them are in this book too, can't say anything about new characters as I'm new to the series. Lean Mean Thirteen is crazy, we got steph getting tazed (twice), rodents exploding, steph stapling some goons balls together (oh yeah, and it was an electric stapler...ouch),steph's ex-hubby's girlfriend stalking her, running through graveyards and a whole lot of other crazy stuff.

Steph partners up with Lula a lot. I like the situations they get into and I like Lula because she reminds me of my friend Lola. 

There's this one scene where steph and Lula work on this one assignment to bring in a guy who robes graves, they  go looking for the guy at his house and this guy has a snake;

"I don't think  anybodies home " Lula said." I didn't see any cars in the yard.""I'm going to snoop around anyways. are you coming?""I suppose, but if I see that snake, I'm outta there. I hate snakes. I don't care if that snake wraps itself around your neck, I'm telling you right now, I'm not staying to help"

Yeah, just like my friend Lola, she hates snakes too and would probably do the same or push me toward the snake and run. run like hell.

There's a lot to like about this book, like Bob. Morreli has this dog ,Bob. I don't like dogs or cats or kittens. I tell people this all the time. I even tell Lola, but Lola doesn't seem to understand this, she's always posting these ridiculously 'cute' pictures of cats on my FB wall. It's annoying. Lola has to be stopped. Maybe I should get her a snake....... that explodes. Anyways back to  Bob, clearly the number one reason to like him is his name, 'Bob'.

Description of Bob:

 "He has a routine. He eats the couch. He takes a nap. He gnaws on a dining room table leg. He takes a nap. He spreads the garbage all over the kitchen floor. He takes a nap."

Naps!! I love naps! Bob loves naps!! I love Bob, I could totally love Bob as a pet. He loves naps and he's fictional. How much attention could he need and he'd never die on me.

So between Lula's crazy character, the trouble Steph gets into and her crazy family. There's also this triangle situation happening between her , Morreli and Ranger. I hate triangles, they're stupid. But this situation is entertaining and fun. Steph and Morreli are a couple now, and Ranger helps Steph out but also shamelessly flirts with her. He cares about her. It's a crazy entertaining trio.

Everything gets resolved in the end , turns out Steph's ex was being protected by Morreli cuz he knew something about the firm he worked for. Steph saves the day and there's clean laundry. But there's a time bomb waiting to happen. Because when Morreli finds the underwear with Rangers name on it there's gonna be some Italian arguing happening. So if you're in the mood for something light and entertaining , this is your book.

Grade:

The Confession by John Grisham

An innocent man is about to be executed.

Only a guilty man can save him.

For every innocent man sent to prison, there is a guilty one left on the outside. He doesn’t understand how the police and prosecutors got the wrong man, and he certainly doesn’t care. He just can’t believe his good luck. Time passes and he realizes that the mistake will not be corrected: the authorities believe in their case and are determined to get a conviction. He may even watch the trial of the person wrongly accused of his crime. He is relieved when the verdict is guilty. He laughs when the police and prosecutors congratulate themselves. He is content to allow an innocent person to go to prison, to serve hard time, even to be executed.

Travis Boyette is such a man. In 1998, in the small East Texas city of Sloan, he abducted, raped, and strangled a popular high school cheerleader. He buried her body so that it would never be found, then watched in amazement as police and prosecutors arrested and convicted Donté Drumm, a local football star, and marched him off to death row.

Now nine years have passed. Travis has just been paroled in Kansas for a different crime; Donté is four days away from his execution. Travis suffers from an inoperable brain tumor. For the first time in his miserable life, he decides to do what’s right and confess.

But how can a guilty man convince lawyers, judges, and politicians that they’re about to execute an innocent man?GOODREADS
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Lawyers.........I've never liked 'em. Although Grisham sure knows how to make them look human and make them look like the damn blood sucking vampires that they are. The confession is a great book and argument about why the death penalty shouldn't be allowed. There are arguments pro and contra. I enjoyed reading this , the setting is great and the characters diverse:  moving and repulsive. You know that feeling you get when something unjust is happening, a feeling of anger mixed with confusion and shock that it's happening. There's probably a word for that. Well there's a lot of that going on, it's just ridiculous. Donte Drumm gets convicted for murder. There's no body. The confession itself is bogus. Even I can see that and I don't even know what the insurance certificate to my car looks like! Then there's the actual confession in the book, you have Donte "confessing" and while he does this the officer interrogating him keeps "correcting" him. He's leading the confession, how can he know the details better than the alleged killer! come on!!.  that's not even the half of the bullshit , during the trial it turns out the judge is having an affair with the prosecutor and they frigging cross examine a dog, they put an actual dog on the witness stand! yes, this happened  in Taxes, but somebody should have been smacked upside the head!

Then there's Boyette. The actual killer, he goes and confesses to the priest who then takes it on to bring Boyette to Texas to try and stop the execution. I should have known better! I freaking got my hopes up! I thought Donte would be saved. We read a lot about Donte's live , he had a promising future, comes from a good family.He always knew he was innocent, his family had faith in his innocence and so did his Lawyer Robby flak. Donte is portrayed as an innocent man and a good kid that got wronged by the system and spent the rest of his life  in prison for something he didn't do. And just hours ,minutes before the execution when Boyette reaches Texas , confesses and Flak tries to make an appeal for more time. Just a couple of more hours,that's all that was needed, to investigate and exonerate Donte Drumm. Bureaucracy got in the way and wouldn't allow that, Donte Drumm gets executed. A innocent man gets murdered by the state.

He's memory gets justice when Boyette takes them to the body. This brings a backlash to the judicial system and   questions the death penalty. The thing that people have always feared has happened. It still isn't enough to abolish the death penalty.

Although I have a slight dislike for lawyers doesn't mean I hate them. I have an uncle who's a lawyer and I've grown to like Robbie Flak, he's a compassionate lawyer who defends the small people against the corporate monkeys or bad guys trying to rip them off. Flak also has a good character , he defended Donte free of charge even puts his own money on the line, he believed in Donte's innocence and saw that the whole case against Donte was BS. Flak grew close to the Drumm family and to Donte and felt the loss just as hard as they did. Flak's a great character and amusing one, he holds a record for being held in contempt for calling prosecutors and judges (you know the monkeys) SOB's ,he even called the dog that was on trial on the Drumm case a SOB. Who wouldn't love his character.

There's also a racial tint to the story, I suppose Donte being black was also easier to accept, "ofcourse the black guy could kill the girl". Following the execution , this caused some tension in the town between the whites and the blacks. Nobody got shot tho. this didn't  escalate into violence either, the situation was taken down in a peaceful way. The Donte brothers go to the school and try to calm things down through the football teams, following Boyette's confession, Donte's mother asks the town people to stop. The victims mother, I don't know how I should feel about her. She loved her Daughter ,would hog any publicity to show how distraught she was and blatantly emphasized on the fact that only Donte and no other person was the killer. When the truth was out, it's hard to say if she took it well.

So we got a bogus trial based on a bogus confession. Innocent man gets executed. But wait, there's politics involved. Lawyers and politics a very bad dish indeed. You got the prosecutor who only cares about retiring with successfully winning a case from Flak and a governor who's worried about how much votes he's up in the polls. These people are so casual about the fact that a girl was murdered, that they might have sent an innocent man to jail, so worried about losing their positions that the fact that they lied and cheated mean nothing to them.

This is a great book that touches on a controversial topic, should any state or country be allowed to execute people? is this even a relevant question,seeing as it's already something  happening in many countries and is now normal. Or is it just stupid to argue it now because we have ethical problems with it? I don't pay taxes, but would you be comfortable knowing your money is going to inadvertently allow the state to kill another person, yes a criminal, are criminals not people anymore? I think it was also mentioned that it costs more to be able to execute people,whereby people have to pay more taxes. The priest in the book stayed in the background  all he did was bring Boyyette to Texas. He witnessed Donte get executed. He was just a priest, never preached about anything controversial. He was neutral but after this experience with Boyette. He found something to preach about. I found something to think about and two lawyers I might actually like (which is probably not saying much seeing as one's my uncle and the other one is fictional). This book has something to say, so why not pick it up

*the level of objectivity in this review (might be) is zero

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