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10 Best Games Like Minecraft for PC, PS4 and Xbox One as of 2023
As one of the most widely played games, it's hard to come by titles like Minecraft. It has been repeatedly cited as one of the best games ever since it was first released.
Minecraft was first made available to the public about seven years ago. Since then, it has gotten a steady stream of updates that have improved the game layout overlay.
It's addictive because of its tough task and stunning visuals. As technology continues to evolve, other developers are constantly working on new Minecraft replacements.
They are aware of the fact that only games that have a competitive advantage over others will be able to survive in the gaming market.
For PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, we've compiled a list of 10 games that are similar to Minecraft.
10 Best Games Like Minecraft
Here are some of the most popular games that are similar to Minecraft. To locate an alternative to Minecraft, go through each of them.
1. Eco
Eco's skin looks a lot like Minecraft's. Another benefit of this theme-based game is that it encourages the player to develop an overall strategy for completing the game's various missions.
As a result of the strong visuals. It can only be used on one type of computer, namely the personal computer. Also, it is consistent with the mechanics of Minecraft's construction setup.
Eco has also had a significant influence in the overlay's development. It conveys society's concern about careless tree-felling.
Aside from chopping trees, the user must also ensure that the ground has been removed solely in areas where soil has been degraded.
The creation of a civilised city in order to thwart the terrible impact of meteorites on the land is one of the most daring difficulties gamers face.
Additionally, they need to make sure that the byproducts of this building can be put to use elsewhere throughout the completion of several missions.
Water flowing alongside the town shouldn't be contaminated. If they don't, the value of their collected points will be reduced.
2. Jack of Spades
Another game similar to Minecraft that can only be accessible on a PC is Junk Jack. Because of its simple user interface, it doesn't cause any lag while operation.
Because of the 2D pixelated graphics, it is especially popular among children. Junk Jack's creation process is likewise strikingly similar to that of Minecraft.
Every task has its own set of challenges, and it's impossible to predict which one will pop up next. The goal of the gamer is to last as long as possible.
You'll be expected to perform a variety of tasks, such as digging and construction. As a result, unlocking all of the game's levels, accomplishments, and awards takes some time and planning.
In order to familiarise the user with the game's outlines, themes, stories, mechanics, tools, and characters, a comprehensive tutorial is supplied when the game is first installed on a PC.
3. No Man's Sky
What we have here is a better version of Minecraft. It includes some of the extra features. During gameplay, players have access to additional skills.
Unlike Minecraft, you can play it on several platforms, such as PC and PlayStation 4, making it more accessible to its players.
Here, gamers aren't just given the chore of exploring the globe; they're also given a variety of tasks.
Among the many responsibilities they'll be given is the mission to find as many as 18 quintillion new planets as possible. It's impossible to get bored of the no man's sky's stardom feature.
As a result of its built-in automatic update settings and the ability to enable them, they enjoy the game more than they did before.
When the game first starts, the user may encounter a sloppy interface with distracting images. If the user's graphics settings are in line with the system's compatible mode, they will not experience any lags when playing.
To obtain awards, achievements, and level-ups, players will have to complete the missions, goals, and tasks set out for them by jumping into their spaceships and fulfilling them.
4. Craft The World
Craft the World is another another popular game with a similar gameplay mechanic to Minecraft. It's also available on a wide range of devices. It's simple to use and get to.
The PC and iOS are two of these platforms. The gameplay concentrates upon exploration and mining as the main story arc.
Users will be charged with managing an army of dwarfs in this scenario. He must instruct them on how to build the most beautiful strongholds.
They will be responsible for making weapons and tools, as well as ammo and other supplies, following the construction of fortresses.
Using many muscles at the same time can also be accomplished with the help of this device. This game's distinctive characteristics help it stand out from the competition.
It allows players to personalise both their characters and the town they live in. It comprises of multiple levels ranging in difficulty to perform and tasks.
Weapons and levels can only be upgraded if the user earns rewards, achievements, and the maximum available points.
Gamers are more engaged when they face unexpected challenges on the diverse game levels because of the variety of challenges.
It provides players with a rich and fluid game experience, so they're never bored while playing Craft the world.
5. Flame in Flood
Moreover, Flame in Flood is one of the best-themed games. This video game has an original storyline. It allows its users to have a wide range of access and reach.
It's compatible with a variety of operating systems. In addition to the PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, there are a number of other options.
Flood's gameplay is based on a "risk-reward dynamic survival" philosophy. Gamers are increasingly embracing this theory.
Because of this, players face a greater challenge in completing activities and objectives. Minecraft, the most popular video game of all time, is the source of this game's inspiration.
It's time to break away from the mould of the typical survival game. In the flooded United States, players will take a ride down the river. To locate the radio signals, they must use a metaphorical technique.
Among the extra characteristics that make it stand out from the crowd and give it a competitive advantage over others are its superbly refined high graphics, aesthetics, and folky music, among others.
6. Rust
Another game like Minecraft, Rust, utilises a similar gaming mechanism to that of Minecraft. Rust, on the other hand, may turn out to be nothing like Minecraft.
In addition, it has its own special qualities that set it apart from the competition. Additionally, it adopts an experimentation and deprivation approach to human nature.
There is only one way to get to it, and that is through a PC. Gamers will be practically placed into a harsh environment in this game.
As soon as that happens, they will no longer receive any guidance or directions on how to get around. They will go out and discover the world on their own.
To do this, they'll have to make weapons, fight their opponents, and put up with all kinds of bad weather and radiation from the sun. It's all about teamwork in this game.
It is possible for one to swiftly level up and upgrade their weaponry if they take a team effort approach to accomplishing objectives such as tasks.
7. Lego World
Yet another excellent game with a setup quite similar to Minecraft is Lego Worlds. In addition, it has a wide range of applications and may be used on a variety of systems.
These platforms include PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. Here, players have access to a wide range of abilities and resources that they can put to use in destroying and re-creating Lego environments.
A single foul scoop will be all that stands between them and the destruction of their surroundings. Tools will be needed to build structures and towns in a beautiful landscape.
In addition, they must safeguard their constructions from the different dangers and stumbling blocks they face on their journeys and levels.
Continuing to play games in order to level up allows players to accrue a wide range of points and rewards.
8. Don't Starve
"Don't starve" is one of the most popular sports because of its simple graphics. It, too, has multiple levels, just like Minecraft.
As a result, users must go through the process of levelling up. It is one of the most popular games that spans a wide range of platforms and has a variety of ways for its fans to access it.
PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are among the platforms supported by this game; the Nintendo Switch release version is also available for download. Aside from that, it is a themed game.
Everything has been focused on establishing a condition where people can survive in difficult circumstances by constructing settlements, making weapons and tools, and constructing safe havens with the few resources available.
There is a strong resemblance between Minecraft icons and the images and graphics in the game.
This game is a favourite among young players thanks to its straightforward gameplay and charmingly gothic juvenile aesthetics.
Multi-tasking is a must in this game because of the several tasks that must be completed simultaneously by the players.
In order for a user to proceed to the next level, they must earn prizes such as points, achievements, and badges.
9. The StarForge
Like Minecraft, Starforge features a similar gameplay structure. Only a PC is required to use it. Survival crafting and science fiction are the key themes of this game's storyline.
To develop the foundations of towns, models, and structures, the user must gather a variety of resources.
To begin, the players are tossed onto an alien planet and given the task of keeping them alive and well. It's not just about constructing and surviving in the star forge.
To obtain prizes and milestones, users must work together. As a result, completing tasks, goals, objectives, and missions allows them to advance in rank.
On top of all that, players can engage in an exciting experience of seemingly endless shooting at hostile aliens.
When the multiple player mode is enabled, players have access to various looting and defence bases.
10. The Forest
The Forest, like Minecraft, is a challenging and exciting game. Its high-definition visuals give its players a lively gaming experience. As a result of these improvements, gamers may now enjoy lag-free gameplay.
A wide range of platforms are supported. A bigger audience can be reached using these platforms because of the ease with which users can access it.
PC and PS4 are also on the list of supported systems! The game begins with the player stranded in the middle of nowhere after a plane crashes.
Users must be able to fend for themselves in hostile environments by making their own weapons and shelters. Cannibals are the game's antagonists, a nighttime tribe.
This opponent must be defeated if the players are to succeed. Minecraft, on the other hand, is a poor substitute for a forest game.
The Forest's theme-based overlay is spooky compared to Minecraft's block-based gameplay. It's because they're running into unforeseen problems and roadblocks.
Depending on the level of difficulty and the requirements, there are numerous levels with a variety of activities.
Players will never get bored because of all the tasks, such as scavenging for food and building shelters and creating weapons and equipment, dealing with hostile club-toting mutants, and battling off the genuine Green Inferno.
Find out more at the following link –
PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One versions of Skyrim
Dark Souls-like games for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
Stardew Valley-like games can be found on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
GOATDEE
2. Genealogy Software
In addition to Minecraft, there are a number of other games to choose from. All of the above may be found here, so take a look.
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The methods and algorithms of generative modelling can be improved when representing organic structures by the study of computational models of natural processes and their application to architectural design. In this paper, we present a study of the generation of branching structures and their application to the development of façade support systems. We investigate two types of branching structures, a recursive bifurcation model and an axial tree based L-system for the generation of façades. The aim of the paper is to capture not only the form but also the underlying principles of biomimicry found in branching. This is then tested, by their application to develop experimental façade support systems. The developed algorithms implement parametric variations for façade generation based on natural tree-like branching. The benefits of such a model are: ease of structural optimization, variations of support and digital fabrication of façade components.


A big focus of the Military Affairs Committee is getting the B-21 Raider to Dyess Air Force Base, but before that happens, they are working to bring the B-21 Formal Training Unit to the base as well as keep the current bomber viable for the foreseeable future.
"Our air space at Dyess, our weather, our runway, our infrastructure, our community is poised for a training unit to be at Dyess," Military Affairs Committee Vice President Gray Bridwell said.
While working to bring the B-21 Bomber to Dyess, The Military Affairs Committee is working even harder to bring the B-21 Formal Training unit to the base.
Bridwell said the committee is working with state delegation like Congressman Jodey Arrington, Senator Ted Cruz and Senator John Cornyn to support the base.
"Have all sent letters to the Secretary of the Air force supporting Dyess and pointing out our airspace, our training routes," Bridwell said.
These letters will help ensure Dyess is first on the list for the B-21.
"The Secretary of the Air Force received that very well. Quality of life issues resound very highly with her and Abilene meets those requirements," Bridwell said.
While the military Affairs Committee waits for a decision on the B-21 and the Formal Training Unit, Bridwell says it's important to keep Dyess' current bomber, the B-1, viable and up to date with changing technology.
"You do that with money. National Defense Authorization Act is a very important piece. Updates on the B-1 with the radio and communication system making sure that the B-1 is ready at all times," Bridwell said.
According to Bridwell, the B-1 is doing well and will be flying well into the future.
"Boeing is testing the B-1 on a system in Tukwila, Washington to where they actually over age the aircraft to see what potential problems it might have and they've got it up to the year 2040 and beyond," Bridwell said.
The B-21 Raider is still being developed and won't be flying missions until mid 2020's.


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New crypto sanctions bill targets publishing code, facilitating transactions
Bill would place sweeping restrictions on persons who build, operate, and use cryptocurrency networks even if they have no knowledge or intent to help evade sanctions though the Administration's own experts have repeatedly said cryptocurrency evasion is not serious
by Jerry Brito & Peter Van Valkenburgh March 17, 2022
Blog Financial Surveillance Innovation Policy Privacy & Autonomy
Senator Warren and a raft of Democratic co-sponsors today introduced a bill [PDF] titled the Digital Asset Sanctions Compliance Enhancement Act, which would place sweeping restrictions on the cryptocurrency ecosystem under the guise of bolstering sanctions against Russia for its unjustified invasion of Ukraine. She has done this despite the fact that there is no data suggesting that cryptocurrency has been used–or can meaningfully be used–by sanctioned parties to evade sanctions, and despite the fact that frontline officials from the White House, Treasury, and the Department of Justice have all stated that cryptocurrency is a poor tool for sanctions evasion and one that they have well under control.
For example, FBI Director Christopher Wray said last Thursday at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing:
The Russians' ability to circumvent the sanctions with cryptocurrency is probably highly overestimated on the part of maybe them and others. We are, as a community and with our partners overseas, far more effective on that than I think sometimes they appreciate.
We have built up significant expertise both at the FBI and with some of our partners, and there have been some very significant seizures and other efforts that I think have exposed the vulnerability of cryptocurrency as a way to get around sanctions.
Here's the White House:
"The scale that the Russian state would need to successfully circumvent all U.S. and partners' financial sanctions would almost certainly render cryptocurrency as an ineffective primary tool for the state," said Carol House, the director of cybersecurity for the National Security Council, during a webinar on Wednesday.
Here's the Treasury Department:
"The scale of what they have to move, and where they have to move things from, [crypto's] not necessarily going to be that concerning," said Todd Conklin, counselor to the deputy Treasury secretary. Any attempt to move that much money through exchanges would contribute to "a bit more of a spike in the crypto market, in my view, than has been observed lately."
Nevertheless, the bill would place sweeping restrictions on persons who build, operate, and use cryptocurrency networks even if they have no knowledge or intent to help anyone evade sanctions. It calls for sanctioning technologists and users merely for the act of publishing open source software or facilitating communication among network participants. This is unnecessary, overbroad, and unconstitutional.
Potential for Sanctions on Software Developers, Node Operators, and Miners
Section 3 of the bill goes beyond merely calling for secondary sanctions on noncompliant foreign cryptocurrency exchanges. It additionally calls for sanctions on anyone who "significantly and materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods or services to or in support of any [sanctioned] person." Let's look at each of these in turn.
Exchanges. Placing sanctions on noncompliant overseas cryptocurrency exchanges is, at least, a calibrated response. Treasury officials have repeatedly identified non-compliant overseas cryptocurrency exchanges as the most meaningful remaining gap in effective AML/CFT controls, and have suggested that this, rather than unwarranted alarm over so-called decentralized exchanges or unhosted wallets, should be the priority for policymakers. Nonetheless, the President already has the authority necessary to create these secondary sanctions on exchanges regardless of this proposed legislation.
Persons providing "material" or "technical support." While the President already has the power to sanction these parties should he determine its necessity, this bill would direct the President to use those powers in an irresponsibly vague and overinclusive manner. There are an uncountable number of persons who can be said to provide "material," "technical support," or "open source software" "goods" to power cryptocurrency networks that are overwhelmingly used for entirely legal activities. Like the internet and its protocols, however, these tools, once public, can be used by anyone, and some uses of those tools may be illicit. The mere fact that a stranger is using your software or network throughput to do something illegal without your knowledge cannot be a trigger for the crushing penalties that are sanctions.
This bill's language could easily be interpreted to encompass someone who has written software that is used by sanctioned persons to transact, persons who run nodes on peer-to-peer networks on which sanctioned persons transact, and persons who mine or otherwise validate blockchains on which sanctioned persons transact. It is not per se unreasonable for the President to use his existing powers to sanction people performing these activities in cases where they have knowledge and intent to help someone violate sanctions. It is, however, unreasonable for Congress to call on the President to sanction every person who performs these activities irrespective of their knowledge or intent to facilitate some stranger's illicit activity.
Further, the definition of "digital asset transaction facilitator" makes clear that the intent is to direct the President to target all manner of innocent persons in the cryptocurrency space, including persons in the business of effecting transactions via "communication protocol" (language which we must point out is strangely similar to language in the current overbroad and constitutionally-suspect SEC rulemaking on exchanges) or even by publishing mere "software, including open-source computer code[.]" Again, in cases where any of these parties have both the knowledge and intent to assist a sanctioned party in circumventing sanctions, it may be reasonable for the President to use existing authority to implement secondary sanctions. However, it is unreasonable for Congress to demand that the President sanction everyone matching such a broad description. Indeed it is blatantly unconstitutional under the First Amendment to forbid the publication of open source computer code.
Restriction on Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Section 4 enjoins the Secretary of Treasury to implement a full and indiscriminate ban on exchanges or non-custodial "transaction facilitators" doing business with anyone or any cryptocurrency address "known to be, or could reasonably be known to be, affiliated with persons" in Russia.
Our main concern with this provision is that it empowers the Treasury Secretary to arbitrarily ban software developers, miners, and node operators from having any "business" interaction with anyone or any address that might be Russian. Apart from being a sweeping and vague power to, at will, direct the behavior of untold Americans, it will also do little to nothing to prevent the Russian state or oligarchs from evading sanctions. It will also punish ordinary Russians who did not choose their government, may be against the war, and rely on cryptocurrency for their livelihood and to hold on to whatever savings they can. Targeting ordinary citizens who could be the West's greatest allies against a regime they did not choose is not a good strategy. At least that's what the Obama Administration thought when they designed the first sanctions on Russia after the invasion of Crimea. Here is current Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh in Senate testimony (emphasis ours):
Before 2014, the United States had never imposed sanctions on a country the size of Russia. It was the tenth largest economy in the world, with a GDP roughly the size of Italy. More important than its size was the complexity of Russia's economy and its connections to the rest of the world. Russia was and is of systemic importance in global energy markets, ranking second and third in the production of natural gas and oil, respectively. Its largest banks were comparable in size and complexity to Lehman Brothers before 2008. Given the high stakes involved, our objective was clear: design a menu of options that could deliver economic costs while minimizing spillovers to the U.S. and global economy.
We pursued this objective by first writing down a set of guiding principles that remain instructive. Sanctions against a large, complex, and integrated market economy such as Russia should be: (1) powerful enough to demonstrate U.S. resolve and our capacity to impose overwhelming costs; (2) responsible to limit contagion through the U.S. and global financial system; (3) targeted to avoid the appearance of punishing the Russian civilian population and, in doing so, strengthening Putin's domestic narrative; (4) calibrated to increase the chance of partnering with European and international allies; and (5) staged to preserve scope for escalation or de-escalation, in addition to learning from previous steps.
The U.S. should not want to be seen as punishing the civilian population, giving them every reason to believe Putin's claims that the West is attacking them rather than attacking the regime. It should be obvious that one shouldn't want Facebook to ban Russians, but Russia to ban Facebook, so it's clear who's hurting citizens. The same should apply to cryptocurrency exchanges. And indeed, this is exactly what Michael Chobanian, founder of the Ukrainian crypto exchange working with the Ukrainian government, told the Senate Banking Committee in a hearing today. These ordinary Russians who depend on cryptocurrency, he said, are the opposition to Putin and should not be sanctioned. In his written statement he made clear: "Many civilians justifiably fear the seizure of retail deposits and want to protect their capital. Purchasing digital assets is an effective means by which ordinary Russian citizens can demonstrate their opposition to Putin's regime by moving their savings out of the financial system of the Russian ruble."
Additionally, this provision would be difficult to enforce on regulated custodial entities like exchanges and effectively impossible with regard to node operators, miners, it software developers. A cryptocurrency address is a set of letters and numbers generated by a device without reference to geographic location. It makes no sense to say that an address is Russian or American or Zambian. By using different digital clues, blockchain forensic services can make probabilistic estimates of what country an address may be related to. However, there is no way to know for sure, so you will end up with false-positives (blocking addresses that shouldn't be blocked and hurting innocent users) and false-negatives (not blocking addresses that should be blocked, exposing otherwise compliant exchanges to liability, which in turn means they'll be more conservative and block more addresses than they need to, thus hurting innocent users). We would not force Americans to inspect every packet of data their computers send or receive on the open internet for "Russianess" and it is equally absurd and offensive to human rights that we'd force Americans to do so with regard to open blockchain data.
This proposed legislation is dangerously overreaching and opportunistic. It will do nothing to improve sanctions against the Russian war machine and may even increase the Russian government's ability to isolate and control those within their borders who do not support the war. We strongly object to Congress seizing on overblown concerns over sanctions to impose unreasonable and unconstitutional restrictions on the cryptocurrency ecosystem.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Tune in to 99.9 FM, WXJB on Friday, April 6th at 11:30 AM where Dr. Abdel Jibawi and Dr. Mohamad Jibawi will be explaining their preferences for deciding who they wanted to work for and why they chose to come to Access Health Care Physicians.
They discussed why the way you treat patients is critical, the importance of knowing the psycho/social aspect of the patient's life and healthy lifestyles. Patients need to understand what these details mean and practice what you preach.
There are even a few touching moments where their undeniable brotherly love for each other comes out.
Read more about how the Jibawi brothers contributed to the Hurricane Victims of Puerto Rico.


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Q: Comparing distributed cloud data storage systems for GeoMesa I am new to GeoMesa and before I choose any data storage on which geomesa can be built on, I want to compare what are the pros and cons for each cloud data storage like

*

*Accumulo

*Kafka

*BigTable

*HBase

*Cassandra

can offer?

A: Great question.  For starters, the GeoMesa Kafka datastore is the odd one out.  It is designed to manage streaming data to provide near real-time processing and viewing of the data.  If that is part of your problem, then Kafka should be part of the solution.
For the remaining four, they are all similar technologies designed to store big data.  GeoMesa started on Accumulo, and has the most features for this database.  If you are looking for some of those GeoMesa features or Accumulo advanced security controls, Accumulo is the way to go.
BigTable is a managed database service provided by Google.  If you are looking to avoid setting up a database, then this option might be best.  Between HBase and Cassandra, most times, people already have a preference.  GeoMesa's support for each is currently evolving.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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@property (weak, nonatomic) IBOutlet UIImageView *imgV;

@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Lafferty and Sykes added to Northern Ireland squad
The pair will provide cover after injuries to Michael Smith and Jordan Jones.
Published: 4 September 2019 - 10.00am
By Press Association Published: 4 September 2019 - 10.00am
Football Euro 2020
Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill has added Kyle Lafferty and Mark Sykes to his squad for the games against Luxembourg and Germany.
The pair are due to link up with the rest of the group in Belfast later on Wednesday after injuries to Michael Smith and Jordan Jones forced the manager to act.
Lafferty, Northern Ireland's second top scorer, was initially left out of the squad following his recent move to Norwegian club Sarpsborg.
He becomes the second striker to be added to the squad since it was initially announced last week, with Shayne Lavery already brought up from the under-21s following an injury to Paul Smyth.
Oxford defender Sykes is yet to earn a first senior cap but was part of O'Neill's squad in May. He has 11 caps for the under-21s.
"I am always very proud to represent my country and I'm looking forward to it," the 22-year-old said on the Oxford website.
Northern Ireland face Luxembourg in a friendly on Thursday night before a Euro 2020 qualifier against Germany on Monday night.
TAGS Football Euro 2020


The new Schneider Electric Conext Grid Tie inverters have been redesigned to offer improved reliability and a lower installed cost through ease of installation and integrated features. The Conext inverter is a proven, high-frequency design in a compact enclosure and may be installed as a single inverter, for a single PV array, or in a multiple-inverter configuration for large PV systems. Conext Series inverters feature an NEC compliant, integrated Square D DC/AC disconnect, eliminating the need for external DC (PV) disconnects, and in some jurisdictions, AC disconnects. Sealed inverter enclosure can be quickly separated from the wiring box allowing DC/AC connections to remain intact in the event the inverter needs to be serviced. The NEMA 3R enclosure has a large wiring area with eight knockouts (¾" and 1"). The inverters are lightweight and easy to install and can be mounted side by side with zero clearance. They utilize large heat-sinks which allow for heat dispersion without the need for a cooling fan. A liquid crystal display (LCD) provides instantaneous information – power level, daily energy and lifetime production, system status, and installer customized screens. With auto-detect 240VAC or 208VAC operation, Conext inverters work right out of the box for single phase residential and three phase commercial applications.
CSA Certified to UL 1741 for the U.S. and Canada. Ten-year standard warranty.
The monitor easily connects to Schneider Electric Conext Series inverters using a standard off-the-shelf Cat 5 Ethernet cable. Built-in flash memory stores PV system data and makes software upgrades simple. This connection also provides power to the monitor, removing the need for a monitor power supply. It displays total PV system performance in daily, monthly and lifetime views on a graphical 128 x 64 pixel LCD screen. The display can access detailed individual inverter performance through the device list screen and it can display individual and total system performance for up to five Conext Series inverters. Wall mounting bracket and hardware included.
The Communication Gateway connects Schneider Electric solar inverters and the system owner's computer. It logs performance data directly from the Schneider Electric Conext inverters, and transmits it to the included Yahoo Widget-based monitoring software for a simple and graphically rich view of system performance. In addition to data logging, the Gateway offers a web page with the ability to configure automated email reports and fault status to the user or installer. The Gateway includes both built-in Wi-Fi and Ethernet connectivity allowing for flexible and simple set up for wireless or wired connection to a router or direct to a PC. The Gateway logs and transmits system power production, inverter-specific power production, lifetime power production history (daily, weekly, monthly) and inverter faults. It can monitor a network consisting of up to 20 single-phase Conext inverters through a Cat 5 connection between each inverter and the Gateway. The Gateway can also be used with the XW Series inverters.


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Pablo Celnik, pcelnik@jhmi.edu
Published in Restore Spring 2018
There are many extraordinary developments taking place across the Johns Hopkins Rehabilitation Network that I want to share.
The Sheikh Khalifa Stroke Institute launched in February 2018 with locations in Baltimore, Maryland, and Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. The institute will comprise two centers: one devoted to stroke detection and diagnosis directed by neurologist Argye Hillis and the other devoted to treatment, recovery and rehabilitation, which I will direct.
In addition, we recently opened a new noninvasive brain stimulation program, one of the few programs of its kind in the country. Recognized experts in the field of neurologic rehabilitation provide a variety of brain stimulation techniques paired with evidence-based rehabilitation for neurological conditions such as motor, language, cognitive and movement disorders.
We are also recruiting patients with a spinal cord injury to participate in a brain-computer interface study. This research project will use electrodes to read brain signals and aims to allow participants to control a highly advanced prosthetic robotic arm, video game-like programs, quadcopters, wheelchairs or other devices solely with their thoughts.
This story on rehabilitation after limb loss depicts another novel program that helps patients who have had, or will have, an amputation. The goal is to restore patients to the same level of function they had before the amputation. Marlis Gonzalez-Fernandez matches patients with advanced prostheses to fit their particular lifestyle. She focuses not on the amputation, but on maximizing the use of the prostheses.
I am thrilled with all the innovations across our department. As always, if we can help with any physical medicine and rehabilitation needs, please let us know: 443-997-5476.
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The Cowboys look to get back to the business of winning football games this week in the 2016 NFL Playoffs. They will host the Green Bay Packers after enjoying a first-round bye.
Here is the final injury report from each team based on their Friday practices.
None of these players are expected to miss today's game. Their limited roles in practice were mostly precautionary and for extra rest and healing. They are all veterans who should play large roles against Green Bay.
Though he doesn't appear on the injury report, guard La'el Collins is not expected to play today. He was also a limited participant in practice and is still working back from a foot issue, but he's still not on the official roster since coming back from Injured Reserve.
Along with Collins, expect the other six inactive Cowboys to be players at the bottom of their respective depth charts. My projection is that they will be: QB Mark Sanchez, RB Alfred Morris, DT Richard Ash, LB Mark Nzeocha, CB Leon McFadden, and S Kavon Frazier.
The big news, of course, is the absence of Jordy Nelson. His injury was covered in greater detail a few days ago. Suffice to say, Aaron Rodgers will be missing his favorite target and that will have a major impact on the game.
Starting right guard T.J. Lang has been bothered by a foot issue all week. He is expected to play but will draw tough assignments with the Cowboys' athletic defensive tackles. A bad wheel could be problematic if he's having to keep up with David Irving.
Quinten Rollins the Packers' third corner as is still questionable for today. Rookie Josh Hawkins, an undrafted free agent, may be forced into a larger role.
Are Cowboys Better Equipped for Playoffs Now Than 2014?


text:
The Resource Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the olden time : being a collection of memoirs, anecdotes, and incidents of the city and its inhabitants, and of the earliest settlements of the inland part of Pennsylvania, from the days of the founders : intended to preserve the recollections of olden time, and to exhibit society in its changes of manners and customs, and the city and country in their local changes and improvements, by John F. Watson ; embellished with engravings, by T.H. Mumford
Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the olden time : being a collection of memoirs, anecdotes, and incidents of the city and its inhabitants, and of the earliest settlements of the inland part of Pennsylvania, from the days of the founders : intended to preserve the recollections of olden time, and to exhibit society in its changes of manners and customs, and the city and country in their local changes and improvements, by John F. Watson ; embellished with engravings, by T.H. Mumford
The item Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the olden time : being a collection of memoirs, anecdotes, and incidents of the city and its inhabitants, and of the earliest settlements of the inland part of Pennsylvania, from the days of the founders : intended to preserve the recollections of olden time, and to exhibit society in its changes of manners and customs, and the city and country in their local changes and improvements, by John F. Watson ; embellished with engravings, by T.H. Mumford represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Biddle Law Library.
Watson, John Fanning, 1779-1860
Mumford, Thomas Howland, 1816-
Originally published in 1830
Pages 561-585 of appendix in v. 2 contain new, previously unpublished material
"Oh! dear is a tale of the olden time!"
Sequari vestigia rerum
"Where peep'd the hut, the palace towers; Where skimm'd the bark, the war-ship lowers Joy gaily carols, where was silence rude; And cultured thousands throng the solitude.'
Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the olden time : being a collection of memoirs, anecdotes, and incidents of the city and its inhabitants, and of the earliest settlements of the inland part of Pennsylvania, from the days of the founders : intended to preserve the recollections of olden time, and to exhibit society in its changes of manners and customs, and the city and country in their local changes and improvements
Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the olden time
being a collection of memoirs, anecdotes, and incidents of the city and its inhabitants, and of the earliest settlements of the inland part of Pennsylvania, from the days of the founders : intended to preserve the recollections of olden time, and to exhibit society in its changes of manners and customs, and the city and country in their local changes and improvements
by John F. Watson ; embellished with engravings, by T.H. Mumford
Philadelphia (Pa.) -- Social life and customs
Pennsylvania -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775
Philadelphia (Pa.) -- History
Watson, John Fanning
Mumford, Thomas Howland
Philadelphia (Pa.)
Philadelphia, Published for the author, and for sale by A. Hart, J.W. Moore, J. Penington, U. Hunt, and H.F. Anners, 1850
http://library.link/vocab/ext/overdrive/overdriveId
pst sn00042

 Data from Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the olden time : being a collection of memoirs, anecdotes, and incidents of the city and its inhabitants, and of the earliest settlements of the inland part of Pennsylvania, from the days of the founders : intended to preserve the recollections of olden time, and to exhibit society in its changes of manners and customs, and the city and country in their local changes and improvements, by John F. Watson ; embellished with engravings, by T.H. Mumford - Biddle Law Library

Data Citation of the Item Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, in the olden time : being a collection of memoirs, anecdotes, and incidents of the city and its inhabitants, and of the earliest settlements of the inland part of Pennsylvania, from the days of the founders : intended to preserve the recollections of olden time, and to exhibit society in its changes of manners and customs, and the city and country in their local changes and improvements, by John F. Watson ; embellished with engravings, by T.H. Mumford
http://link.law.upenn.edu/portal/Annals-of-Philadelphia-and-Pennsylvania-in-the/V9SgOXMDNzM/
http://library.link/portal/Annals-of-Philadelphia-and-Pennsylvania-in-the/V9SgOXMDNzM/


Stir in your wet ingredients until well incorporated.
Stir together your "Topping" ingredients in a small bowl and drop by spoonfuls onto the cake batter.
Use a knife to swirl the cake batter with the topping.
Drizzle the frosting over the cake OR spread if you made it thicker.
Serve chilled! Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy!
I may have stolen a bite..


Victorian Parliament - 23 August 2017 - Ms KEALY (Lowan) — I would also like to speak on our opposition to the government motion to adjourn debate for 13 days. There is a bill that has been tabled, the Residential Tenancies Amendment (Long‑term Tenancy Agreements) Bill 2017, which is a very important bill. I have already been contacted by a number of stakeholders and key industry groups around this bill. We need the full minimum of a two‑week period in order to have that full consultation. This is not around truncating consultation in order to bring on a relatively non‑controversial bill. There are actually a lot of elements to this bill that people are genuinely concerned about. We also need to look at the large number of people who are affected by this bill. There are about half a million Victorians who own an investment property. We need to have a proper opportunity for them to be able to provide feedback. That is who we need to hear from. And we also need of course to hear from tenants. Everybody needs an opportunity to provide feedback.
It is not as if this is the first time that this sort of request has come through. Unfortunately the Leader of the House has shown complete incompetence when it comes to the timing of bringing on legislation in this place. We have seen time and time again motions put forward to try and truncate the consultation and feedback period. This is nothing but sloppiness and incompetence. Shortcutting the consultation process in order to cover up the level of incompetence within the Labor government should not be the outcome. We should not look at or be making moves to cut off the opportunity for Victorian people to provide their feedback on what is often sloppy legislation that is brought before this house just because the Leader of the House is not able to manage the workflow and the flow of legislation through this place.
As I said, this is not something that is new for this term of government. We see time and time again legislation brought into the house which needs considerable amendment before it comes to the Legislative Assembly. Often there are amendments made to bills between the Assembly and the Council. This is simply not good enough. And most importantly it does take away from the democracy and the democratic process that we have in relation to scrutiny of legislation. We need to ensure that everybody within the community has an opportunity not just to read through a bill but to get a legal interpretation of it — to think it through and to understand how it will impact their business, their industry, their community. I think that trying to cut that short is complete negligence and is completely rude to people who want to provide their input to the legislative process in this state.
If the Leader of the House could get her act together, we would have the usual two‑week consultation period as a minimum so we could effectively communicate the bill, hear from people on the bill and maybe work through it with the minister's officers bringing it forward and try to iron out any issues. I do not know if it is just because of arrogance on the part of this government that they consider that everything they put up will be entirely accurate and will be entirely acceptable and that they have done sufficient consultation through the process, but that is not how things work. We cannot deal with that sort of government arrogance in this place. We need to show due respect to every single Victorian.
We need to show due respect to the usual processes that occur within this place. We need to ensure that we have a minimum two‑week period. Cutting it short by a day or two here or there is just sloppiness. It is incompetence. Unfortunately we do see it over and over again from the Leader of the House. I do not see why we should have to cut back these opportunities for our Victorian community to provide input to this type of legislation — important legislation — simply because the Leader of the House cannot manage the flow of legislation through this place. It is arrogant, it is rude and we need to ensure that all Victorians have an opportunity to provide input. We strongly oppose this government motion to adjourn debate for only 13 days. We want to ensure that there is a full two‑week period, as is the established practice.


text:
Franka er en hollandsk tegneserie af Henk Kuijpers.
Hovedpersonen Franka arbejder på et krimimuseum og bliver hvirvlet ind i forskellige mysterier. Serien startede i det hollandske tegneserieblad Pep nr. 48, 1974, og fortsatte i Eppo, som var en sammenlægning af Pep og Sjors. Serien blev hurtigt så populær, at den i 1978 blev udgivet i egen albumserie.

I Danmark udkom album nr. 1 i 1979. Siden 2016 har forlaget Cobolt udgivet bogserien Frankas samlede eventyr.

Albumserien Franka
Nr. 1-9 er udgivet af Interpresse, nr. 10-19 af Carlsen og nr. 19-24 af Cobolt. Foruden den almindelige serie er nr. 6 og 9 udgivet i Albumklubben Trumf som henholdsvis nr. 6 og 88. Flere af historierne strækker sig over to album, en over tre.

 Krimimuseet
 Mesterværket
 Spøgelsesskibets hemmelighed (1. del)
 Spøgelsesskibet vender tilbage (2. del)
 Cirkus Santekraam
 Uhyret fra fladmarsken ,
 Dragens tænder (1. del)
 Tordendragens død (2. del)
 Mode-mysteriet ,
 Gangsternes gidsel
 Projekt Atlantis
 Den blå venus
 Det 13. bogstav
 Det portugisiske guldskib (1. del)
 Rorgængerens øjne (2. del)
 De syv dødssynder (1. del)
 Høj selvrisiko (2. del)
 Kidnapning
 Iskanders sværd (1. del) ,
 Den hvide gudinde (2. del) ,
 Sølvflammen (3. del) ,
 Underverden
 Geheim 1948 (1. del)
 Operation Rovmord (2. del)
 Gratis guld
 (Planlagt)

Bogserien Frankas samlede eventyr
Udgives af forlaget Cobolt. Cobolt udgiver også serien på svensk.
 Dragens tænder – Tordendragens død
 Gangsternes gidsel – Projekt Atlantis
 Den blå venus – Det 13. bogstav
 Det portugisiske guldskib – Rorgængerens øjne
 De syv dødssynder – Høj selvrisiko (annonceret til 2023)

Oversigt

Kilder

 Tegneserier fra Holland
 Tegneseriefigurer

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Tag Archives: adversity
Abuse in Fiction, Fiction, Legal Fiction, Mysteries, Romance
Wish Come True: Portrait of a Dysfunctional Family
January 8, 2016 BGBookworm	2 Comments
The Dysfunctional Family Dynamics
Wish Come True by Eileen Goudge deals with a dysfunctional family, and specifically the relationship between three sisters and their mother. Their father had sexually abused the oldest sister Monica when she was a child. Now she is a famous actress confined to a wheelchair. Her mother Betty, a battered wife, had known about the abuse, but not stopped it.
Anna, the most responsible sister, is trying to lose the extra pounds that have always made her feel ugly in comparison to her gorgeous sister. She cares for Monica during the day and their mother Betty at night.
Image Courtesy of Pixabay.
Monica pays Anna very little but makes heavy demands on her time and energy. Anna puts up with it because it's the only way she can afford help in caring for Betty, who has dementia and can't be left alone. Anna would love to be free to live her own life again, but Anna hasn't the heart to put her mother in a nursing home.
Monica's money enables Anna to hire Edna to help Betty during the day. Arcela is paid to help Monica during the night when Anna can't be with her. The third sister, Liz, does very little to help Anna with Monica or her mother. She is a divorcee with a child.
Anna resents the way Monica dominates her life and constantly puts her down. Monica belittles her about her plump figure and unstylish clothes. As the book unfolds you soon understand as you watch Anna and Monica interact what a toxic situation Anna is in.
The Intervention
Public Domain Courtesy of Pixabay
Monica is an alcoholic. Anna can no longer face dealing with the drunken Monica. She finally persuades a reluctant Liz to join her for an intervention. She wants to insist Monica enter a live-in rehab program.
Liz resists but finally agrees. She and Anna participate in group therapy during family week as part of the treatment plan. In the therapy process Anna and Liz learn much more about each other and begin to build a better relationship. Anna also falls in love with Marc, one of the therapists there. He reveals he has a wife he still loves who is in a mental institution.
Murder?
After Monica comes home from rehab, she seems to be abstaining for a while, but then starts drinking again. After a confrontation where Anna hands in her resignation, she returns home exhausted physically and mentally and goes to bed early. It is Arcela's night off, so Monica is alone. The next morning Monica is found dead in her swimming pool. Anna is arrested for her murder. As they say, no good deed goes unpunished.
Ironically, just as it appears Anna might finally find happiness, it seems she may have to spend the rest of her life in prison. You'll have to read the book to see what happens next — to Anna, to Liz, to Mark, to Betty and to all the characters in the subplots I didn't introduce.
My Response to the Book and Recommendation
This book held my interest from beginning to end. I so wanted to see Anna stand up to Monica, who uses every bit of her acting talent to continue to manipulate Anna and keep her from having a satisfying life. Anyone who has ever lived with or had an alcoholic in the family can relate to Anna's discouragement and frustration. The romance with Marc, Anna's arrest, the search for the real killer, and watching the murder hearing made it hard for me to put the book down until the end.
I would recommend this book to anyone who has suffered abuse from alcoholics or family members as a child or adult. Friends and those trying to help such people will also find this book meaningful. Most people will find someone in this book that reminds them of someone they know.
After reading Wish Come True, I'd like to go back and read the other books in the Carson Springs Series . Although Wish Come True can easily stand alone, I wish I'd read the two earlier books in the series first. I just stumbled upon this book, but you can start at the beginning. You can also save by buying all three books at once for your Kindle. I have a Kindle Paperwhite, which I reviewed in Should You Buy a Kindle Paperwhite?
The Replacement Wife by Eileen Goudge
Book Review: A Mother's Conviction
adversityalcoholismbattered wifebook reviewschild abusedementiadysfunctional familiesEileen Goudgemarriage problemsmurdermysteriesrehabilitationromancesexual abusesubstance abusetherapy
Legal Thrillers by Mark Gimenez
Buy The Common Lawyer at Amazon
Does every life matter? Mark Gimenez deals with this question in his legal thrillers. I reviewed the The Color of Law, on Review This recently. I finished The Common Lawyer two days ago.
Each of these books got off to a slow start and then started moving so fast I didn't want to put it down. In fact, once I reached the point where the action picked up, I couldn't go to bed until I finished the The Common Lawyer. In each book the lawyer protagonist is faced with a life-changing moral dilemma where he has to weigh conscience against money.
The reason the books get off to a slow start is that Gimenez wants to be sure the reader gets to know the main character very well before he goes into action. So after a short Prologue in which a mother helps her five-year-old daughter escape from a research hospital where she is being used a guinea pig in experiments – we meet Andy Prescott.
Andy is a lawyer who only got admitted to law school because his mother was on the faculty of the University of Texas. He barely made it through law school and only passed the bar on his third attempt. He cannot get a decent job in the legal profession, but stumbles on a way to earn enough to support his biking lifestyle by getting traffic tickets dismissed. He had discovered that if he asked for a jury trial for his clients, the calendar would be backed up so far it might take two years to get to court. By the time of the trial, the officer would not come in to testify and the case would be dismissed. Andy would get tickets dismissed for a $100 fee with a guarantee that if the ticket were not dismissed, he would pay it himself. He had never had to pay a ticket. That's a good thing, because he never had enough money to pay a ticket.
Andy's office is in a part of Austin known as SoCo because of its location on South Congress Avenue. It would be helpful to see a map and other information about SoCo as you read this book. A good portion of this book is spent on Andy's bike rides in the Austin area. You will enjoy the books more if you have a map in front of you, or at least have a map to consult, The web site shows you not only a map, but also a photo of Guero's Taco Bar, one place Andy was often found. Another place Andy would hang out with his friends was Jo's Hot Coffee. The Jo's Hot Coffee Facebook Page will help you visualize that part of Andy's lifestyle, since it has photos and even a video. It is dog friendly, so Andy often takes his dog Max there at breakfast time and buys muffins for him, too. Geography is more important in this book than in some others because a lot of the action takes place in the restaurants and on bike trails or the streets of SoCo.
Back to Andy's office. Andy rents a very small office space located above Ramon's Body Art. Ramon is Andy's landlord and Andy pays $200 a month for his space and to share Ramon's computer and restroom. Tattoos are an important part of SoCo culture. Not having a tattoo marks one as an outsider. Andy's desk is a card table. His advertising is by business card and word of mouth. Many of his friends collect tickets people drop off for him. He appears at Municipal Court to get the tickets dismissed. Andy lives in a one-bedroom apartment in SoCo and can only afford it because it is awaiting renovation, and his landlord was transferred to California and isn't thinking about it.
Andy lives to ride his mountain bike. He is a daredevil who carries extreme sports to their limits. He has crashed and totaled bikes many times. He runs red lights in the city. Near the beginning of the book he is going full speed with no brakes and has to take his bike over a high ledge on a back trail in the Barton Creek Greenbelt because three elderly lady hikers are looking at a map in the middle of the trail and freeze when they see him coming at them, unable to stop. He either has to hit them or go over the side. He gets pretty beat up, but doesn't break any bones. He was lucky enough to land in the lake. His bike is history. His wealthy friend Tres was with him and helped him get to a safer place to rest. Andy always rode as fast as possible and took unnecessary risks.
When he wasn't working or riding his bike, he sat around Guero's Taco Bar or Jo's Hot Coffee with his three best friends. Tres had a trust fund and a "hot" girlfriend, the kind Andy would like but only money could attract. Dave and Curtis were friends from Andy's UT days. Curtis was a math TA at UT, and the friends relied on him for any kind of tech support they needed. While they were consuming food and beverages, all but Tres read the personal ads in the Lover's Lane section of the online Austin Chronicle, trying to find some girl to go out with. The first chapters of the book focus on watching Andy go about his daily routines, wishing he had more money for a better bike, talking to the judge at court, meeting his buddies, riding his bike, thinking about how to find a "hot" girl, and living a life that doesn't appear to be going anywhere.
Then one day a billionaire, Russell Reeves, well-known philanthropist, shows up at his office with his driver, Darrell, and his life changes. Reeves was referred by his secretary whose ticket Andy got dismissed. Reeves wants to renovate some old properties to create a low income housing development, but is afraid if he sends a high-powered corporate lawyer into SoCo, the populace will fight him just because he's from the wealthy part of town. So he hires Andy, who is already accepted by the community, to convince the people to approve of the renovation. Russell offers Andy $400 a billable hour for this. Andy accepts, does his job, and gets a great new mountain bike and a motorcycle with money enough left over to buy his mother a proper birthday present and move into nicer living quarters. The girls finally know he's alive.
Then Russell wants him to take on another assignment. According to Reeves, he has 17 ex-girlfriends he did not treat well in his younger days and he wants to make things right with them. He asks Andy to find them, talk to them to see how they are doing, and take their pictures so that he can make sure they are the right women. He will give Andy a trust fund to pay expenses, including hiring a private detective. As Andy goes down the list, he finds the first six women, each of whom happens to have one very sick child with a condition medical science can't cure. But the seventh woman can't be located and the detective says it's because she doesn't want to be found.
On his mother's birthday, Andy visits his parents at their more rural home. They inquire about Andy's new job. They press Andy for details about the new assignment, which seems rather strange to them. Andy thinks it's all good, but his parents are wary. They are liberals who don't trust those who got rich in corporate America. Even though Reeves has used a lot of his money for good, Andy's parents think Andy is being used and is likely to be caught in a trap. His father warns him that 'when things don't seem right, they're usually not.' Even Andy has to admit that the cover story for his assignment to find the women doesn't make much sense.
Here's more you should know about Reeves. His seven-year-old son Zach has a rare incurable form of cancer. The doctors think he won't last more than a year. Reeves has spent freely of his billions to try to find a cure. He has even opened The Reeves Research Institute on the campus of UT. So far, it hasn't helped find a cure any faster. He s despairing, afraid he will lose his son. One study has been published by an anonymous doctor that indicates a "Person X" has stem cells that might help Zach.
Andy's father, Paul, is also dying of cancer. He needs a new liver, but has at least a two-year wait to get one. Andy would like to save his father. Both Andy and Reeves would do anything possible to save their loved ones. Andy has met Zach and played video games with him. He admires Zach's fighting spirit. Zach asks Andy for a private conversation and wants to talk about death since Zach couldn't get his father to talk to him about it, so Andy tries to answer his questions. Zach has a genius I.Q. but that doesn't tell him all he wants to know about what's ahead for him.
Meanwhile, Andy hires a detective who is willing to stray from approved legal practices, unlike the detective Russell had recommended. He does locate the seventh woman. Andy finds her and talks to her, but her seven-year-old daughter is perfectly healthy. He is surprised by this. The woman, though, says she is fine and needs no help. (Andy had given each of the first six women a million dollars from Russell, and Russell had also used his influence to get the very best medical help for the children who needed to get into special facilities. ) By the time Andy gives Russell the address of the seventh woman, she disappears again.
Andy finally confronts Russell about the parts of his story that don't make sense and accuses him of deceiving him about the purpose of finding the women. Russell comes clean and admits he is looking for the patient with the perfect immune system – Patient X. He is convinced the seventh woman, or her daughter, is Patient X. Andy keeps looking, but becomes unsure it's the right thing to do. The list was actually the mothers of the children who were part of the experimental research referred to in the Prologue. Reeves had somehow gotten the list of patient names and their mothers, knowing that Patient X had been one of them.
Meanwhile, two people approach Alvin Adams, a research publication editor, in Queens. Adams had edited the research article about Patient X. The first to approach him is a lawyer, Mr. Smith, who bribes him to reveal the confidential name of Anonymous, who did the research. Adams stuffs the envelope containing the bribe money into his pocket and goes out to try to drink away a headache. As he starts home he is approached by someone in a black sedan who demands to know what Alvin told the lawyer. When he refuses, the man pulls a gun and asks him if the confidentiality is worth dying for. He decides not and reveals Tony Falco's name. The man kills him anyway. Meanwhile, Tony Falco has moved his research to China where the political environment makes it easier for him to conduct his research.
By the time you get to this part of the book, you realize that two parties are both trying to find Patient X. Russell sees her as the only hope of saving his son. The thugs hired by the pharmaceutical companies want to kill her, but Andy doesn't know about them yet. Andy is still looking for the woman he now knows is Patient X to help Zach, and maybe his father. But when he locates her again, the plot takes a surprising twist.
Andy has to choose between betraying his client, Reeves, and being disbarred while also losing the money that will make life easier for himself, or risking the life of Patient X by making her visible again. By this time Andy has become close to Zach and may also be falling in love with the mother of Patient X. His creative solution to this dilemma will have you on the edge of your seat until the book is finished.
Alerts: Some readers may be offended by the way some men seemed to consider women mere sexual playthings, and others may be offended by the portrayal of the anything goes dress and mores of some of the people. Parts of the plot are highly unrealistic, but unless extreme biking in large doses and bike chases bore you, you will still enjoy the book.
Check prices at Amazon.
Find Gimenez books at eBay.
Colonoscopy Preparation – The Best and Worst Parts
adversitycancercyclingextreme sportsfamiliesgrieflawyersmedical researchrescuesthrillerUniversity of Texas at Austin
Christian Fiction, Fiction
When I began HOW SWEET THE SOUND I didn't realize what I was in for. I guess I expected a typical formula-written inspirational Christian novel that would not challenge me much. I got quite a surprise.
This was not a book to let me escape, but a book to make me think about the subjects many people live through and few want to bring into the open and talk about. These subjects include bereavement, grief, rape, incest, suicide, sibling rivalry, and child abuse – most of it in one family. Unfortunately, this book is realistic enough to make it believable, and, therefore, depressing. Most of the book is depressing, but it's so well-written that you are willing to see it to the finish. Fortunately, by the end things are looking up.
The author really knows how to use the English language. No cliches here. We see the characters through the eyes of thirteen-year-old Anniston, and her aunt, Comfort. Anniston begins the narrative on Thanksgiving Day in southern Alabama shortly after Hurricane Frederic has ravaged the coast and destroyed half the Vaughn family's pecan orchard. At first she describes what appears to be a typical extended family gathering, but before dinner is over you will see how dysfunctional the Harlan family is. Before the night is over, two brothers, Anniston's father, Rey, and uncle, Cole, will be dead, and their sister Comfort will be dying inside.
The book is hard to follow in the beginning. The family tree diagram on the first page is a must if you want to keep straight how the characters are related. The first chapters are like beginning to work a jigsaw puzzle. They contain pieces of plot that you will need to place in your mind. It's better to get the edges (the family tree) in place first, so you can more easily figure out where the other pieces go.
This is not a book one reads to just enjoy and savor. It's a book that will introduce you to ways of life that may seem foreign if you were raised in a loving and a supportive family. The plot is based on the story of Tamar in the Bible, a daughter of King David, who was raped by her brother Amnon. You can read the story in 2 Samuel 13. Even royal households can be dysfunctional. Sin and lust lurk everywhere. The sins of the fathers often are passed to their sons until the cycle is broken. Yet the book will offer hope to those who have suffered bereavement, grief, rape, and incest. It will also show parents how important it is not to favor one child over the others, and everyone what sharp weapons their tongues can be.
The dead cannot be brought back, but the living can become new. Comfort's path to healing was not an easy one, as you will see in the short poems she writes. But her Abba does not leave her alone. His voice comes to her during her darkest moments. Her family and Solly, the man she had been planning to marry, continue to reach out to her. It is only when she had lost all hope that she was willing to accept help. Abba (and her family and Solly) pull her from the prison into which she had retreated and healing begins.
Even though this may be a hard read, I recommend it. I almost stopped reading after the first few chapters, but I'm glad I didn't. The characters reached into my heart and I wanted them to find peace and recognize the love that did surround them. No family or person is without sin. The author reveals the destructive patterns that can lead families and individuals to despair, but also show us the way to Abba's love and healing. You can purchase How Sweet the Sound Here
adversitybereavementbook reviewsdysfunctional familiesfamilieshealinghopeincestmarriage problemsrape
Christian Fiction, Fiction, Teen Fiction
In Between – Not Just a Title but Also the Theme
A Book Review of In Between, by Jenny B. Jones
Katie Moves to In Between
How does it feel to be in between in the small Texas town of In Between? We meet sixteen-year-old Katie in a minivan as her social worker, Mrs. Smartly, is driving her to a foster home. Katie's mother, Bobbie Ann Parker is in prison for selling drugs. Katie has been in a group home since her mother was arrested six months ago. Until her mother left, Katie was pretty much raising herself.
Like many older children in foster care, Katie fears what she may find in a new home. Katie is really freaked out when she finds her new foster daddy, Jame Scott, is a preacher. Katie has not spent much time in churches. As Katie and Mrs. Smartly get closer to the Scotts' home, Katie discreetly seeks clues on what her "pretend-o-parents" will be like. She says it this way:
It's like I want to know about these people, but I don't want Mrs. Smartly to think I'm too interested. Or scared. The thing with foster care is you have way too much uncertainty. I knew where I stood at the girls' home. I knew who to be nice to, who to totally avoid, and what the lumps in the dining hall mashed potatoes really consisted of.
As Mrs. Smartly keeps probing to find out what Katie is afraid of, we get a good idea of what life in the Sunny Haven for Girls was really like and what Katie fears about foster care. She is in between one life and another, and although she hated the old, she is afraid of what she might find in the new.
She still smarts from the rejection of her mother, who chose drugs over her own child. I remember one of my own nephews grieving for the same reason many years ago. He never had to go to a real foster home, since my mother and I were allowed to take him and his brother into our homes until their home was stable again. Eventually it was.
Every Child Deserves A Champion Poster
Foster Care is an Adjustment for Everyone
Jenny B. Jones has written In Between (and the books which follow it in this series) in Katie's voice. Though the books are targeted for young adults, I couldn't put them down. That may be partly due to my own experience as the foster parent of a troubled girl we later adopted.
I only wish our experience could have been a bit more like the Scotts. Our daughter left us when she was a few days from turning seventeen. As we continued to read In Between, we discovered that the Scotts' also had an adopted daughter, Amy, who left them for some of the same reasons. This is one more reason this book spoke to me.
In Between deals seriously with common problems both foster children and their foster parents face, and many of them are similar to what most teens and conscientious parents face. These problems include self-esteem, acceptance, boundaries, discipline, expectations, drug abuse, and peer pressure. More complicated issues include the fear of being sent away from a family once you feel at home, or having a child you have grown to love sent back to unsuitable parents.
We watch as Katie adjusts to learning about church and God, as she tries to fit into a new school and has to deal with a school bully who happens to be the daughter of her P.E. teacher, who is also a bully. She first gets into the wrong crowd at school and gets into trouble. She is sure James and Millie will send her away, but they find a way to keep her from getting a jail record while providing some very appropriate consequences.
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Maxine Provides Comic Relief
Almost the first thing Millie does after Katie moves in is take her mall shopping for new and fashionable clothes. This is followed with a new hair style. While they enjoy lunch at a restaurant, Millie's phone rings and we first become aware of Millie's eccentric mother, Maxine. Here's how Millie describes her to Katie:
'my mother is, um, different. I don't want to scare you, but she's been compared to Judge Judy….on crack'
We then learn that Maxine can no longer drive because she knocked over a few stop signs. So she bought a tandem bicycle that she named Ginger Rogers and had a little accident
'wiping out in the street. Luckily though, the chicken truck stopped for her. After it hit a fire hydrant.' (Millie) shakes her head and laughs. 'It rained feathers and naked chickens for an hour. But Mother says she is close to perfecting her wheelie.'
As you might guess, Maxine and Rocky provide the comic relief in this book to keep it from getting too heavy. Maxine reminded me a bit of Electra Lark, Temple Barr's eccentric landlady in the Midnight Louie Series by Carole Nelson Douglas, but Katie's foster granny Maxine makes Electra seem conventional.
The Crazy Grandma Shirt If Mama Ain't Happy T-Shirt
By now I'm fully immersed in Katie's world. I have read all four books in the series, In Between (1), On the Loose (2), The Big Picture (3) and Can't Let You Go (4). I'm not a spoiler, so I won't say much more about the plot. I can't get enough of the characters.
I now really care what happens to James, Millie, Katie, Frances (Katie's friend), Sam (Maxine's friend), Amy, and even Maxine, crazy as she seems. Like most teens, Katie doesn't learn all she should from her mistakes the first time around. James, Millie, and Maxine do their best to keep her safe from those mistakes and unlikely to repeat them.
Trust is a big issue, as it is in most families. The books show how it is carefully built, violated, and rebuilt. We see important changes in all the characters as the plot develops, and we get to know them well.
Today I was Adopted from Foster Care – Custom Name Metal Ornament
I recommend this series to all who want to get inside the heads of foster children and foster parents, to those who are foster teens or foster parents, or to anyone who is a friend of any of these. Even when the plot moves into serious territory such as tornadoes, bullying, vandalism, and cancer, the author allows us to laugh and relieve the tension. She doesn't put anyone on a pedestal and gives even ministers and their families heavy problems to grapple with.
Although the book is definitely Christian, it's not goody-goody nor does it raise expectations that Christians will have trouble-free lives. Instead it shows believers trusting God in the midst of their pain and uncertainty.
Get the Series All at Once
I purchased In Between as a free eBook from Amazon. It may still be free if you hurry. But I give you fair warning. If you read it, you will want to get the other books immediately. I have now purchased and read them all. You can get all of them at once in the Kindle edition. If you decide to buy the paper rather than the Kindle editions, be sure to buy them all at the same time to avoid being left hanging, waiting for the next book to arrive.
The photo below is perfect to share on Pinterest. The girl in the photo is my daughter, who had come to us as a disturbed foster child. The picture was taken when she was about the same age as Katie was in the book. You can read her story here: Sarah: The Suicide of Our Adult Child
You may also enjoy reading another story of a foster child whose mother is about to get out of jail. Should she go back to her mother or stay in foster care? See my Book Review: A Mother's Conviction.
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Fiction, Romance
Review of Come Find Me by Travis Neighbor Ward
Sixteen-year-old Jessica Wilson meets Mark Fripp while they are both living at Fort Benning. They are both Army children. They fall in love as much as teens are able to fall in love, but after only six weeks, Mark has to leave when his father is transferred to Italy. Jessica and Mark email each other for a time, but then the emails from Mark stop coming and Jessica believes he no longer loves her. He actually does try to email her, but she's not getting them, and can't answer him. Her heart is broken.
Both their fathers die in the Battle of Kirkuk in 2003 in Iraq while serving in the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, but neither knows the other's father had died. Both are separately dealing with the grief of missing each other and losing their fathers in the same year. Both had been using military emails to communicate and the accounts were taken away when their fathers died. That is part of what happened to their communication.
We learn this story as Jessica tells it to her troubled sixteen-year-old daughter Chelsea after she has run away from home during a period of depression after a break-up with her boyfriend. She was found and returned, but Jessica was afraid she might leave again. She seemed to have turned into a different girl, one who had dropped out of her extracurricular activities and taken up bad habits. Once Chelsea was back home, Jessica had tried everything she knew to help her, including therapy, church, and horseback riding lessons, but none of it seemed to help. Jessica is afraid of losing Chelsea every time she leaves home alone. It appears Chelsea believes Jessica cannot understand the pain she feels after the break-up.
Jessica decides to force Chelsea to take a three-hour drive back to Fort Benning where she, Jesssica, had fallen in love. It is isolated enough there so that she may get the chance to tell Chelsea her own story of heartbreak without having her jump out of the car and run away.
When the story opens, it is 2013. Jessica is living with her widowed sister Jill whose husband has died in an IED explosion in Afghanistan, leaving her with three children at home. They live a block from Jessica's mother Clara and her second husband Paul. Jessica helps Jill with the children and their activities and works seasonally at an animal rescue center. Jessica is engaged to a wealthy rancher, Blake McCormick, even though what she feels for him is a much different kind of love than that she had felt for Mark.
Mark had also had a miserable ten years of grief. He was living in Arizona in Navajo Nation after being discharged from the Air Forces's 55th Rescue Squadron two years earlier. He had been disqualified for further service after an accident in Afghnistan that left him colorblind after his other injuries had healed. He missed the Air Force, and felt like damaged goods because of the discharge. For two years he had been chasing opportunities for new thrills in risky activities.
Now he wanted to go to Capetown, South Africa to to jump from the Blouskrans Bridge, the highest one on earth at 708 feet. But first he had one more thing to do. He had found out where Jessica was living and he wanted to go and see her. He had never gotten over losing her and hoped they could yet pick up the pieces of their relationship. He hopped on his Honda VFR Interceptor with a ticket to Capetown in his pocket, and headed for Atlanta to find Jessica. As Jessica told Chelsea at the beginning of her story, 'I was engaged…and then my past came walking in the back door.'
To see what happened you need to read Come Find Me . I hope you will. The characters are memorable and show you who they are. There are very few of them I would not want at my dinner table, and I believe you will enjoy meeting them and watching them work out what they want most in life.
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Fiction, Mysteries
Review of The Silent Reporter (Hyder Ali #1) by Mobashar Qureshi
June 29, 2014 BGBookworm	Leave a comment
Don't start reading The Silent Reporter unless you have time to finish it the same day. I couldn't put it down. The characters were introduced scene by scene and at first the scenes seemed unrelated. But you saw the relationship by the time you knew who everyone was. To make it easy, I will introduce them all at once here.
Cast of Main Characters
Hyder Ali, American-born Muslim of Pakistani descent, who works as temporary reporter at The Daily Times
Lester Glasgow, works at the technology desk at the The Daily Times, Hyder's friend
Caroline Dunny, Hyder's boss, AKA Dunny the Killer Bunny
Amanda Hansborough, an accountant at TriGate Management Group, whom we see die in an auto accident when her brakes fail
Peter Hansborough, Amanda's husband
Tom Nolan, a police officer whose wife died in that same accident who had turned into a alcoholic since his wife's death and been on leave from the police force
Police Captain 'Rudy" Ross, who cares for Tom and wants to see him back on the force
Sergeant Doug Halton, Nolan's supervisor on the Franklin Police Force, who would love to fire him if Ross would let him.
Detective Angelo Pascale, who despises Nolan and wants him fired
Detective Marina Lopez, who is sympathetic to Nolan, and has his back.
Jessica Freeland, daughter of Professor Eric Freeland, who was found hanging in his home, an apparent suicide.
Charles Marshall, CEO of TriGate Management, which had just been awarded a 1.2 billion dollar contract to build an extension for the city nuclear reactor plant. Nolan had seen the announcement on television when he was drinking at a bar.
Ian Marshall, son of Charles
Terry Scott, President of TriGate ManagementGroup
"Grant" the "fixer" of problems for the Marshalls and TriGate Management
Hyder's widowed mother, whom he calls Ammi
Hyder's brother Akbar, a doctor
John Kroft, Jr., Publisher of the The Daily Times
The author brings the characters together in such a way that they advance the plot bit by bit until you begin see it coming together. There are plenty of clues you can grab along the way to the plot's resolution. Several themes run through the book. As you read, you will probably be rooting for some characters and hoping to see others get their comeuppance. I was most drawn to Tom Nolan and Capt. Ross. I wanted to boo or hiss every time Haldon, Grant or Marshall appeared after I had first met them.
Tom Nolan is an alcoholic detective. He had been headed for a very successful police career because before his wife's death he had been an excellent detective. After her death he had fallen apart and turned to the bottle, hoping to drink himself to death. After almost a year's absence, Ross had gone to his house to get him when he wouldn't answer his phone calls. He had to break his window with a rock to make him finally open the door. He told Nolan to come back to work and clean himself up. Ross would not take no for an answer. Ross let Nolan know he considered him valuable enough to save, even when Nolan could see nothing good in himself.
Nolan's first case back back at work was to investigate the death of Professor Eric Freeman, reported as a suicide. Freeman had been a mentor to Hyder when he was a student, and Hyder just couldn't believe it was a suicide. Jessica Freeland couldn't believe it either. Even Nolan saw a couple of signs that weren't consistent with suicide, but he was still not completely himself, and when asked to make a decision, he called for the coroner, and handled it as a suicide.
Hyder and Jessica try to convince Nolan it was a murder, but he said he had no proof, so the two work together to try to figure it out themselves. Then Jessica notices she is being watched by someone in a black sedan. She tells Hyder.
We then see Ian Marshall in his mansion discussing Freeland's death with Grant, who was responsible for it. They wonder aloud if anyone else knows too much. Grant says he's keeping an eye on Jessica.
Most of the book deals with the investigation. When Nolan is pressured by Halton to close the case in three days or prove it wasn't a suicide, he takes another serious look at the file. He sees the coroner's report somehow is missing from the file so he talks to the coroner. Nolan is told someone had picked up the report to hand deliver, but the signature of the one who picked it up was undecipherable, and it had never arrived.
A talk with the coroner revealed that the death was not consistent with suicide. Nolan remembered he inconsistencies he had seen and he retrieved he evidence he had removed from the scene he had filed away. He let Jessica and Hyder know he now agreed with them, and they began to work together to share information. You will have to read the book to see how they finally pieced the solution together.
The second theme is the author's attempt to portray how an American Muslim family practices its religion in everyday life. This is shown in the scenes that take place in Hyder's home, which becomes the meeting place for Nolan, Jessica, and Hyder to work on the case. Hyder found it strange that his mother, who wore traditional Muslim dress, prayed five times a day, and regularly read the Quran, could enjoy watching figure skaters in skimpy, tight costumes dance on the ice in front of crowds (on TV.) She had told him "It didn't matter how someone lived, talked, ate, or even worshiped. What mattered was how they lived their lives."
Another quote deals with Hyder's perception of the Muslim view of suicide: "Contrary to what was reported on the news, suicide was also not permitted in Islam. Life was a gift from God and no one had the right to take it away except for God."
Hyder had talked with Freeland (who was Jewish) "about Islamist suicide bombers and they both had agreed that no God, no matter from what religion, would accept the death of innocent people in his name." This may be true, but it may also be true that Muslim views on who is innocent may differ both from those of other Muslims and from non-Muslims.
It is clear that the author wants readers to see Islam as a religion not much different than Judaism. "Freeland was Jewish and Hyder was Muslim, but they both shared a common trait: a love for God and an appreciation of his people."
The third element in this novel is the rehabilitation of Tom Nolan. The beginning of the book vividly shows us the despair and pain Tom suffers and his degradation as he continues to rely on alcohol. We see it is only Ross's belief in him that makes him drag himself back down to the police department.
We see many scenes that portray his grief. His wife, Simone, had been five months pregnant when she was killed. Her accident was caused in the aftermath of the accident that had killed Amanda. In one scene he is in their bedroom and almost kills himself, but couldn't go through with it. He sees their wedding rings on top of the dresser.
Nolan kissed her ring and held it tight in his hand. The tighter he held it,the more he felt like he was holding her But this was not true. She was gone, leaving behind the object that was once a sign of their love.
He then replays in his head the last day of his wife's life and his reaction of denial when he got the call that she was dead and he had to identify her. When he saw her body, he stopped wanting to live. Though he couldn't make himself take his own life, he hoped either the alcohol or another person would kill him.
During the course of the year he was on leave, Tom occasionally drives by the Hansborough house and watches Peter with his children. He wonders how Peter can laugh again and live like a normal person when he can't. He thinks it's because Peter has his children. Tom has no one. He can't bear to go into the room of his house that was to be the nursery for his unborn child.
Nolan finally collects his "marbles' as he decides he will give his all to solving the case of Freeland's death, which he now believes is a murder. By the end of the book you see that Ross's faith in him was justified. He demonstrates he is still a sharp detective, and a brave one. Of course it helps that he isn't afraid to die and that he is convinced the same people who killed Freeland also are also responsible for his wife's death, and he wants them brought to justice.
I thoroughly enjoyed The Silent Reporter (Hyder Ali #1)
look forward to reading the sequel, The Rogue Reporter (Hyder Ali #2)
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Review of Allison (A Kane Novel) by Steve Gannon
June 6, 2014 BGBookworm	Leave a comment
Few of the several books I read each week meet my expectations. Allison (A Kane Novel) by Steve Gannon, exceeded them. I was engaged from the very first page.
We meet Alison (Ali) when she is almost twenty, a UCLA student planning to transfer to SC for her junior year in order to study journalism. We also learn she was raped when she was sixteen during a robbery in her home when her parents and older brothers were out, and she had kept the experience to herself for a year. Then she had finally told her parents and the police. She had sworn her younger brother, Nate, who was there at home with her when it happened, to secrecy. The fact that she had kept the secret for a year had broken a bond of trust with her parents. She had finally mended that bond with her father, but not her mother. Her relationship with her mother was still edgy and fraught with conflict. That conflict is a constant undertone in the plot.
Allison's mother, Catheryne (Kate) and older brother, Travis, are both talented musicians. Her father, Daniel Kane, is supervising homicide detective for the West Los Angeles Division of the LAPD. Her oldest brother, Tom, had been killed in a rock-climbing accident. Nate, the youngest in the family, is fourteen, and very likable and expressive. He is loyal, and though he can get very angry, he also is quick to forgive.
The book opens with Allison's early morning jog around the UCLA campus. She lived in a private dorm that had once been a sorority house, and very close to Hershey Hall, the dorm where I had lived for a semester in 1962. I rather enjoyed following Ali around the campus past the places I had frequented myself. I could identify with her choosing the botanical gardens as a place to retreat, since I often sought refuge there myself.
When she returned to the dorm, she wrote a rough draft for a Daily Bruin article with a rapidly approaching deadline, and then she worked on her novel. She wasn't quite sure why she was writing the novel, since she never intended to show it to anyone.
About 9:45, as she was changing to rush to her 10:00 literature class, she got a call from her best friend MacKenzie (Mac), just back from Dartmouth, who pressured her into going to Newport Beach with her for some relaxation. She tried to say no because she didn't want to ditch her class, but Mac wouldn't accept it. In fact, Mac was already parked outside ready to scoop up Ali and take her away. So off they went. Mac made no secret of hoping to see a lifeguard she had a crush on, and she was also hoping to get Ali interested in someone at Newport Beach. Ali had never told Mac about the rape, so Mac had no idea why Ali wasn't interested in dating.
The time at the beach turned out much differently than either of the girls expected. Mike Cortese, a videographer and reporter for Channel 2 TV News, happened to be on the beach. He was filming the gigantic waves, but was hoping to find someone in the water as a visual reference for their size. He had noticed Ali and Mac, who were both very attractive, when they arrived at the beach.
He had also seen two girls who had ignored life guard warnings head into the deep water. They were having trouble making it back to the beach. A third girl was also in danger, separated from the other two. A lifeguard appeared just as Mike was about to jump in, and a second lifeguard was also coming. Mike knew he wasn't a strong enough swimmer to help much, so he grabbed his camera again and started taping the rescue efforts.
Two of the lifeguards were busy trying to save the two visible girls when Mike spotted the third girl, far from shore, face down in the water. There was no way the lifeguards in the water would reach her in time. Then Mike saw Ali jump in. The author then switches to write in Ali's voice and follows her thoughts as she almost drowns rescuing that third girl.
When she was just about at the end of her strength, help arrives in the form of a yellow lifeguard vessel. Ali and the rescued girl are finally both gotten aboard and taken to shore to the waiting crowd and medical personnel. Mike had gotten all the action with his video camera, and Ali became the heroine of the day. She did not want the publicity, and wouldn't give Mike her name. Before she could leave, the sheriff wanted to interview her.
By the time she returned, Mac had already told Mike who she was. She had also told Mike that Ali wanted to be a journalist, and Mike said he might be able to help her — maybe get her an intern position with Channel Two. All Ali really wanted right then was to go home and change and get to the BBQ at her parents' beach home in Malibu.
Meanwhile, a teenage star in a popular TV series, Jordan French, is reported missing and is later found dead. Ali's father is put on the case.
Mike keeps his promise to talk to people at his station about an internship for Ali, but her appearance in Mike's televised report on the rescue has already made Ali well-known. CBS was impressed by her "performance" and hires her as a paid assistant. Her interviewer (later boss) turns out to be a woman with whom Ali's father had once had an affair. Although the affair is long over, Ali is not thrilled with telling her mother and father about this new position — especially since she dropped out of her classes to take the job so she puts off telling them. This further deteriorates the trust issue with her parents when they do find out, since she made these decisions without talking to them first.
As the book developed, I couldn't put it down. There is constant conflict between Ali and her parents over Ali's becoming what her father considers one of the media "scumbags" who interfere with his work. Ali tries to prove to her mother that becoming a journalist is more important to her than her creative writing. Catheryne is convinced Ali's true talent is in her creative writing, and Ali should put her effort there. Catheryne doesn't think much of journalism, especially TV journalism. Both parents are upset that Ali has quit school.
Although Ali loves her older brother Travis, who is an extremely talented pianist and composer, she is also jealous of his talent and his relationship with their musically talented mother. Ali loves her parents, too, but always seems to be at odds with them. Everything comes to a head when the family learns that Catheryne has leukemia.
Interwoven in the family drama is the growing relationship between Ali and Mike. Ali is still afraid to trust men. Just as it appears she is about to trust Mike, his "friend" Brent Preston, who actually got Ali her job at CBS, , betrays them both and destroys that trust.
The attempt to find Jordan's murderer strains Ali's relationship with her father even more. She is under constant pressure from Brent and her boss at CBS to reveal information on the case that she shouldn't even know. A couple of leaks in the news threaten Daniel Kane's job, raising the stress level between father and daughter once more.
I will leave it to you to discover how it all comes together at the end as Catheryn tries hard to cling to her life. Ali, who had the closest match, had donated her bone marrow to Catheryne but it appears the transplant may be rejected. As the family gathers to support Catheryne during the transplant and its aftermath, everyone has to deal with powerful emotions as they realize she is very likely to die. Yet even then, Ali can't avoid conflict with her mother. The reader is as tense as the family members and also wants Ali to make peace with her mother quickly, before it's too late.
The book's characters were people I would enjoy meeting, with one exception — Brent. I have said the least about Brent because it's really better to form your own conclusions after seeing him in action. All the characters who play major roles are well-developed and will remind you of people you actually know. I'm sure you know someone like Brent — unfortunately.
The twists in the plot will keep you turning the pages. The murder mystery is logically solved and I enjoyed knowing I'd identified the killer early on. The point is well made that even if your prime suspect seems to be guilty, it takes systematic work to prove that guilt and gain a conviction. I appreciate an author who lets me think with the detectives instead of springing a surprise twist on me at the end. I'm looking forward to reading more from Steve Gannon. I hope there is a sequel to Allison (A Kane Novel)
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