Colt O'Brien Grows Up by George Matthew Cole

I am quite enjoying the Colt O'Brien series. He is now in college on a scholarship. He must work with the computer support group fixing computers as a part of his scholarship, which to him is an ideal chance to learn more technology. He is in a relationship with Amy, and his best friend Bobby is his room-mate. What could possibly go wrong? He will find out soon.

Colt discovers that his boss in the computer group is out to get him on the sole basis of the fact that he doesn't do Unix. Gerry is so pro-Unix that he is going to be on his back and overloading Colt by making him the sole responder to Microsoft issues for the college. This leaves him with precious little time for studies and Amy. Then he realizes that Bobby has dropped so far into the party mode that he is becoming an alcoholic. In other words, everything seems to be going wrong.

With good and knowledgeable friends to turn to, especially in his psychic visions and working under serious stress, the rapidly moving events are offset in some areas. In others, Colt is at his wit's end trying to cope. This series, with it's fascinating blend of technology, psychic awareness and mystery is a winner. Colt O'Brien sees the light in many ways and he certainly does grow up fast. This book is no exception, George Matthew Cole has done it again with tension and drama. This well-written, informative Young Adult book touches on many issues college freshmen could come across.

Skein of the Crime by Maggie Sefton

Published by Berkley Prime Crime

Maggie Sefton has assembled a great mixed group of friends in her Knitting Mystery series. I find as a reader I feel like I am a part of the story, it's an interesting and comfortable feeling. Yet not all is sunny in the small town of Fort Connor, Colorado. As with most of the country, the financial downturn has affected many of the residents, including Kelly's boyfriend, Steve, who is an architect, and her friend Jennifer, in real estate. As a result, Steve is working two jobs as much as he can, spending almost all his time in Boulder and very little in Fort Connor. To make matters worse from Steve's point of view, Kelly not only has her consulting work, but she has a large inheritance and would willingly share it with Steve, but it just increases his feeling of failure and he refuses to take any money.

Of course, this wouldn't be a cosy mystery without a murder. It all starts when Kelly steps out on her patio one night and is startled to find a barefoot college girl standing there. She doesn't answer any questions, just rocks and smiles. It doesn't take Kelly long to realize the girl is stoned out of her mind, and must have walked along the trail by the golf course behind the house. She is high on Ecstasy. Kelly calls 911 and the girl is taken to hospital. Kelly has no idea how she got there, but the trail is not a safe place to walk at night, there have been some recent attacks on women walking alone.

Kelly learns that the girl has been on her own since childhood and that Barbara, one of the knitting teachers at House of Lambspun, the wool shop where Kelly and her friends meet. Barbara had more or less taken Holly in, and she grew up with Tommy, Barbara's son, who is now studying medicine. Apparently, Holly calls on Tommy constantly, drawing him away from his studies and work as a paramedic. With Mimi, the shop owner, taking an interest in her, the girl turns herself around and does well. She even takes knitting classes. Then a party she attends has her turning to alcohol but not drugs. The next morning, her body is found on the trail.

The coroner calls it a drug overdose, but Kelly can't shake the feeling there is more to it, and starts to investigate, to the chagrin of Steve, who twice arrives at the home they share on weekends to find her gone. He is on the brink of staying away in Boulder for good. How can this be happening? With her consternation of Steve's reaction, Kelly still pursues her investigation. Holly knew the trail wasn't safe, and she was trying to become a good person. What went wrong? Jealousy? A mother's overbearing protection? A drug dealer? So many questions. It seems everyone is trying to steer Kelly a different direction. Brick walls are up against Kelly as she tries to get at the truth. Will she learn what really happened in time? There are several possibilities, many supplied by another girl who grew up with both Kelly and Tommy as classmates through the years. Which of the possible suspects might prove to be a murderer? It will keep the reader guessing. What will happen to Kelly's romance and future?

In the midst of all this is woven an engagement and the wild search for a wedding dress and other plans necessary for the wedding. This book is a cozy with subject matter that is meaningful in today's world where parties, drugs and alcohol play a major part, especially in college. We also end with a cliff-hanger. Will there be a happy future for Kelly? That will require reading the next book, "Unraveled". I really enjoy Maggie's books, they are fun, genuinely "cosy" yet with a good murder mystery, and this one did not disappoint. Recipe and Knitting pattern included.

Lord of the Rams: the Greatest Story Never Told

Reviewed for Review the Book
Publisher: Trafford Publishing

A slice of life from a young Irish rapscallion, or, how to get by with the gift of gab and no money. Ronan Smith has authored a mostly biographical story of what life was like for several school friends growing up in the rural village of Munterconnaught, Co. Cavan, Ireland in the 1980s. Hard-working at home, once school was in it was fun and games. In typical Irish colloquialism he gives a very funny accounting of this jolly group of misfits who charm and scorn their way through each level of school, each inspiring another, which rather than finally battling it out, bonds them closer than ever.  No teacher is sacred, all become the focus of their warped and sometimes hilarious pranks and jokes.

There is a naming ritual the boys turned to and every one of them is renamed, Ronan being "the Rams".  Rams had a way of "shortening" names by adding to them to confuse matters more. Living in a poor rural area means you make your own fun, and that is exactly what they did.  Most of them were exceptionally smart though playing it down, particularly the Rams, which meant they were quite able to verbally run circles around their instructors. As probably the wittiest and the fastest thinker on his feet, the Rams was pretty much head honcho, hence the Lord of the Rams.

There was not much change in the hierarchy when the boys started college, sharing flats in Waterford and with the addition of weekend partying that eventually started on the next week almost as soon as the last week ended, the pattern was set.  Find a pub or bar that hadn't tossed them out yet, party until they are tossed out, then on to the next.  Flat 4A, what a home that became!  I'll not spill all the joys and sorrows of these times, read the book and relish the luck of the Irish to be able to talk their way out of everything, especially the Rams.  There seems no end to his vocal aspirations.

One might wonder how a whole book could be written around what appears to amount to one big drunk, but there is much more than meets the eye at first glance. This is a story of family, friendships that last a lifetime, of discovery, of life. A story of friends who will always get your back.  And a story of the Irish sense of self and home, not to mention the Irish sense of humour. With a poor background, you face life on your own terms, you are tenacious, connected, and never have to apologize for who you are. You know who you are and the rest of the world will come to know who you are, too. Your town is your family as much as your birth family.

Ronan Smith has written in a lighter vein a book that will be discovered to be much deeper than it appears at first glance.  A fun-loving story of growing up with all its foibles displayed.  Though not my kind of reading fodder, it was consistently well-written in its rough humour including a lot of bodily humour. Quirky, realistic and true to itself.  The characters are well fleshed out and begin to mature at varying rates as it should be. Probably aimed at college age.  Though the story begins in childhood, this book is not for children.