Book Review (LXII) The Crystal by Sandra Cox

Blurb

"Only the chosen ones or their mates will see the magic in the Globe."

Caught in a downpour, Gabriella Bell enters a trendy little shop and discovers a crystal ball. In it she sees the face of a hard-eyed stranger. Drawn by a force she doesn't understand she buys the crystal, unaware she is purchasing stolen property that belongs to the aunt of a premiere cat burglar known to polite society as Christopher Saint and to the underworld as The Tiger.

She soon learns that not only does the handsome, hard-eyed stranger want the mysterious globe but so does a beautiful ruthless jewel thief who will stop at nothing, including murder, to possess Christopher and the crystal ball...and Gabriella is standing in her way. Gabriella discovers the road to true love isn't just rocky, it's downright dangerous.

 Buy Link: Amazon
My Review

I loved this book because it is so very well written and sticks to the hands like glue until it is finished!

Gabriella Bell, struggling freelance reporter, fond of  murder mysteries and devouring romances.   She is an engaging central character, a focused and tenacious young woman who refuses to be thwarted in getting the mysterious crystal ball  back.

Christopher Saint is an extremely eligible bachelor and an indolent playboy. The Tiger, as he was known to the underworld, was a master cat burglar. "Ah well. You could take the boy out of the slums. But you couldn’t take the thief out of the boy."

Through the compelling plot and carefully structured narrative,  Sandra Cox gives voice to a richly woven story told at a breakneck pace which made it impossible to put down.  

Jericho, the Siamese cat and Ned, the brave Chow-mix make a cute, funny pair of second characters.  They create an easing of tension in  the action and are a clever addition to the main characters, Gabby and Christopher.

It all begins with Tamarilla, princess of the fairies, and her fiery emerald that is turned into a magic crystal ball, to protect it  for the women of her family who are to come.

The story is sprinkled with clever humor. Oh how I loved this fragment, “Be brave little one and embrace your destiny with dignity. Zan is not a bad elf. But he is a male. And they all have their failings.”

A special mention should go to Aunt Tamara, Christopher’s foster mother.

A good read for all, filled with Romance and plenty of action as the climax nears.  Definitely worth buying.

Oddities of all kinds #pseudo-Germanic Neopagan religion

In 1935, the SS created a special section called ''H'' (H-Sonderkommando, so named for the first letter of the German word Hexe, meaning ''witch''). This section was looking for documents on witchcraft, the occult, and the supernatural. They sought the information among at least 260 libraries and archives. Their work took place from 1935 to 1944. As a result, they accumulated the greatest concentrated collection on witches and their persecution in medieval Germany. This was the largest survey of witch-trial records to be found in the history of Europe.

 Witches' Sabbath by Francisco de Goya. ( Public Domain )

Heinrich Himmler believed that the power of the old occult masters would help the Nazis to rule the world. He followed the Witch-Cult hypothesis, created by Margaret Murray, a famous researcher in this field. He believed in a scientific point of view on a witchcraft and with time he became obsessed with it. He trusted that the Celto-Germanic Nature religion would bring him all that he desired - but the simple version of purely traditional aspects was not enough for him. The Nazis created the dirtiest and most corrupt version of ''witchcraft'' to have ever existed.

            Himmler thought that the actions of the Catholic church’s Inquisition were purposefully trying to repress an indigenous German pagan nature-based religion, völkisch, in a conspiracy against the Aryan race. He even tried to find proof for his own magical roots, and according to biographers on Himmler, he discovered that one of his ancestors was burned as a witch. His anger at these acts appeared in anti-Christian propaganda. He began to hate Christianity and believed that he owed his “successes” against it to the ones who were murdered for having a knowledge of magic.

According to Georg Luck, the cult which Himmler followed had its roots in late antiquity. In his book, Arcana Mundi: Magic and the Occult in the Greek and Roman Worlds , he described the basis of the beliefs which became an important part of the political life of Nazis. The cult worshiped the Horned God of Celts and a Greco-Roman Pan/Faunus. It was a combination of gods which gave roots to a new deity, an early conception of the Devil.

            Himmler is credited as a founder of '' Esoteric Hitlerism ''. He was also deeply involved in astrology, and tried to construct a new pseudo-Germanic Neopagan religion, based on a cult created in his imagination. He approved officially pagan holidays and manipulated the facts connected with traditional pagan cults.

Writing Tips (XXII) Realistic or Hollywood ending

Have you ever wondered, "Is there any way I can write the ending  of my story that isn't an insult to my audience's intelligence, and so I can still look myself in the mirror in the morning?"  I think there is.  I divide the endings in two categories:

a -Realistic, and

b -Hollywood or Happy ending.

a – Realistic endings correspond, in my opinion, with dark, pessimistic.  Why?  Because no one fantasizes about losing, being cheated, dying. In reality we don't always get what we want. Even if we do, we can't keep it for that long. Reality, then, tends to be defined by disappointment, by failed objectives. Most relationships end. Everybody dies.

         b - Hollywood ending is about whether or not the hero accomplishes his goal.  It's not overly optimistic or impossible to achieve in real life. Fantasies are, after all, about victory not defeat. Hollywood ending is about fantasy and escapism.

The Hollywood ending is the end that the readers will like the best. And readers don't like to see the detective arrive “too late” to save his innocent beloved from the evil grip of the murderer.

In Hollywood, if nowhere else, the innocent never die, and love always conquers all.

What’s so terrible about that?

         So, if you plan to give readers what they want, give them- accomplishment, triumph, optimism.

         I must confess that my stories tend to slip to the darker side of life and I force myself to remember Danielle Steele's words. "If I want to cry, I just  have to look around me." And then I try to write at least a HFN ending.

Well, dear fellows- in -pens, how do you write the endings in your stories?

Book Review (LXI) Will O' the Wisp

There is something evil up Bergamot Holler, and it's been targeting the Hall family for generations.

Patty Hall is fifteen years old. She loves stargazing, science fiction, and all things related to space exploration. This leaves her perfectly prepared for the wrong problem.

Patty is afraid her mother will send her to a care facility if she tells her what she's seen. If she doesn't figure things out soon, she's going to join her father in the Hall family cemetery plot.

Patty has to come to grips with her own physical handicap, face the wilderness, and an ancient evil all alone if she's going to survive.

Will O' the Wisp is suitable for young adults. It involves elements of suspense, and is set in the mid 1970s.

 My Review 

Will O' the Wisp is the story of a teenage girl, Patty Hall, told in the first person POV. I haven’t read any story with such a young main character and was curious about this one. As I read other books by Craig Boyack I hoped it wouldn’t disappoint me. And it didn’t.

The primary characters, Patty, her mother, her step father and her friends Laura and Pete are not glamorous but rather down to earth which lent a certain innocence and believability. The characters are well-drawn, and the period details are fascinating and well-researched.

Patty is tormented by the leg braces her mother forces her to wear all the time, and by an odd light, that threatens not only her  physical existence but seems to have a connection with tragedies that happened in her family along the time. I won’t reveal more as I don’t want to spoil your pleasure in reading an eerie story.

All I want to add is that I enjoyed this character,  Patty, a combination of a young Miss Marple and a young Sherlock Holmes – smart, brave and imaginative girl.

The author did a great job in highlighting the generation gap, the description of mother-daughter relationship – although Patty is clever enough to soften it and not antagonize her mother, allowing her to do the research on the supernatural manifestations that hunt her.

 Craig Boyack's books always keep me turning page after page, wanting more.

 The bottom line is, I think this is a good read and look forward to reading more from this author.