reecaspieces

Overview

While serving as a pilot during the Vietnam War, Gerry Amato—the grandson of Jacob Byrne, the head of a powerful North Philadelphia Irish crime family—seizes the opportunity to create a lucrative marijuana smuggling operation. It’s 1967, and under the secrecy of a classified military operation, and with the assistance of a Marseille mob that owns plantations in Cambodia, he is able to send tens of thousands of pounds of marijuana to Philadelphia every month. His grandfather’s criminal enterprise distributes the drug to a population that has developed an insatiable appetite for the marijuana. 

A rival Paris gang tries to force Amato to buy their product, which triggers war between the Byrne family and the Paris mob. From the steamy jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia to the streets of Saigon, Paris and Philadelphia, the ruthless actions of the Paris mob threaten to destroy the Byrne family. Gerry Amato orchestrates a merciless campaign of retribution against his foes in order to save himself and his family. 

In part two of Mercy Row Retribution—the third book in the Byrne family saga—it is April 1975 and South Vietnam is about to fall to the North Vietnamese communists. Gerry Amato fears that the communists will take revenge on the population, especially the children—many of whom are Amerasian—at an orphanage he supported and volunteered at during his time as a pilot. He orchestrates a rescue mission to retrieve the children and bring them to the United States. This takes him and his team into harm’s way in Thailand, across Cambodia and into war-torn Vietnam and back. The fates of 75 children and 30 adults rest squarely on Gerry’s shoulders. 

Review

This is a fast paced read! From Vietnam to the gang life of Philadelphia, it never stops! 

I love a read where I learn something. The parts set in Vietnam really hooked me. The drug trade and the big business of the underworld gangs taught me more than I needed to know! 

However, the story is a little disjointed and did not flow as well in some places Also, the dialogue is stilted. 

But, the story keeps you interested and very intrigued! 

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OVERVIEW

Kat Lind, an American expatriate living in London with her entrepreneur husband and their young son, attends an opening at a prestigious Mayfair art gallery and is astonished to find her own face on the walls. The portraits are evidence of a long-ago love affair with the artist, Daniel Blake. Unbeknownst to her, he has continued to paint her ever since. Kat is seduced by her reflection on canvas and when Daniel appears in London, she finds herself drawn back into the sins and solace of a past that suddenly no longer seems so far away.

When the portraits catch the attention of the public, threatening to reveal not only her identity, but all that lies beyond the edges of the canvases, Kat comes face to face with the true price of their beauty and with all that she now could lose.

Moving between the glamour of the London art world and the sensuous days of a love affair in a dusty Paris studio, life and art bleed together as Daniel and Kat’s lives spin out of control, leading to a conclusion that is anything but inevitable. 

REVIEW

Daniel is a not-so-famous artist, UNTIL…..he shows the portraits of a long lost love affair. Kat and her husband attend the opening at an art gallery.  She is amazed to see parts of herself on the walls. 

This novel reminds me of Bridges of Madison County. It is very well written and the prose keeps you reading however, it is a bunch of fluff. I stayed mad at Kat most of the time. I was very dissappointed in her character as a person..and yes I am being a little judgemental. To me, she makes some very bad choices for no reason whatsoever. To me, Daniel and Kat are profoundly selfish. 

I guess any book which can elicit such a strong feeling from the reader is not all that bad! Plus, The ending was surprising. It made the whole story worth reading.

I received this novel from Netgalley for a honest review.
 

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OVERVIEW

New York Times bestselling author Karen Robards continues her penchant for “fantastic storytelling” (RT Book Reviews) with this next heart-pumping romantic suspense novel, the tale of a brilliant ornithologist trapped on the remote Attu Island in Alaska, fighting for her life—and that of a handsome stranger—before they’re swallowed up in darkness forever.

BOOM. That’s the sound that changes everything for Dr. Gina Sullivan, a renowned ornithologist on a group research grant trip on the remote island of Attu, Alaska. When an everyday outing turns sinister at the onset of one of Attu’s infamous storms, Gina expects thunder and lightning—but what she doesn’t see coming is the small jet plane that drops out of the sky and into the water mere feet from her boat. Even more unprecedented: there’s a sole survivor from the crash, and he needs Gina’s help. But it turns out that rescuing the stranger and getting them both out of the oncoming storm is just the beginning. Because the more Gina learns about James “Cal” Callahan, he of brooding eyes and muscled frame, the more she fears—for herself, and for him.

Cal has made a career of trading on government secrets and emerging unscathed—until a routine pickup goes horribly wrong and lands him in ice-cold water. Literally. He knows the plane crash was no accident and that there could very well be an enemy force currently combing the Alaskan island ensuring there were no survivors. Now if only the arrestingly beautiful bird-watcher with the clear-blue gaze would stop watching him, well, like a hawk. Cal convinces Gina to return to base camp and help him covertly get off the island. But when Gina makes it safely back to camp and finds her entire team murdered, all bets are off, and as darkness envelops the island, she must decide: trust a man she barely knows, or go it alone and risk running straight into the arms of a killer?

REVIEW

Gina is a professor studying birds on the island of Attu. She witnesses a plane crash. This is just not any plane crash! This is all about the murder of one of the plane’s passengers. When Gina finds a survivor, it turns her life around in more ways than one. 

I have been in a reading slump lately. Started several, just couldn’t finish. When this novel came in my XOXpert shipment, I knew this would be a great read to move me out of my slump. I have not read a Karen Robards novel in a long time. This was like visiting an old friend. 

This is the perfect beach read….it is set in on a COLD Alaska island called Attu. Perfect for a hot summer day!!! 

The setting is amazing. I did not realize Attu was the only place a WWII battle was fought on American soil. Of course, I had to google it. I really want to visit this place someday! 

Gina and Cal are at odds on many levels. They can argue with the best of them….then, as you can guess, they heat up the pages nicely. Gina takes no crap off of Cal! Makes the whole story very entertaining!

Start to finish, this is a divine read. The setting, the characters and the chase reveal an absorbing story! 

I received this novel as part of the XOXperts.

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