Drama

They Called Me Margaret by Florence Osmund

April 21, 2023 By Book Review Matchmaker Leave a Comment

They Called Me Margaret by Florence Osmund

Margaret Manning has spent the better part of her life conforming to the expectations of other people—first her father, then her husband. Breaking away from this ruinous tradition, she becomes a cozy mystery writer and decides to open her own bookstore—The Indie Book Nook. But when her husband mimics the behaviors of some of the more unscrupulous characters in her books, she fears that she is losing him, or even worse that she is losing her mind.

While abandonment is nothing new to Margaret—she hasn’t seen or heard from her mother since she was six years old—the fear of losing her husband is devastating. She struggles to find the strength to mend her shattered marriage while also coping with obscure health issues, her daughter’s precarious behavior, a disingenuous neighbor, and an unpredictable mother-in-law.

Who in Margaret’s life is friend and who is foe is not always apparent, and it’s up to her to figure it all out.

The White Field by Douglas Cole

June 21, 2021 By Book Review Matchmaker Leave a Comment

The White Field is a fast-paced journey of a man, Tom, fresh out of prison and trying desperately to rebuild his life. But he is caught by mysterious, unseen forces beyond his knowledge or control. After his release from prison, he is dropped back into the world in the wastelands of the city. In the menial work afforded the underclass, he begins his new life among characters at the edges of society, dwellers of the netherworld such as Raphael, a former cop from Mexicali singing Spanish arias in the mists of the industrial night among drug addicts and crooked cops; Tony, a stoner scholar with an encyclopedic knowledge of history based solely on the intricate study of rock and roll; and Larry, the bloated, abusive manager trapped as much as his workers in a world of tedium and repetition and machines. Think, The Three Stooges on acid. Unable to reconnect with what’s left of his family, Tom embarks on a criminal path more harrowing than the one that led him to prison in the first place. Lured in by the nefarious, Thane, he slips into a plan that will leave him with no way back. And with no place left in this world to go but prison, he makes one last run for freedom. Will he escape?

Targeted Age Group:: 18-70

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?
Escape! And what traps us. The book is both a crime drama and a meditation on Plato's Allegory of the Cave.

The Last Rose of Summer by Mary Austin

August 17, 2020 By Book Review Matchmaker Leave a Comment

The Last Rose of Summer by Mary Austin

While pursuing an independent research project as a premed at Cleary University, Mary Austin discovers a remarkably nontoxic drug that could change cancer chemotherapy as we know it. Her work is set for publication in a top tier journal until her mentors involve Dullahan Pharmaceuticals, a multinational pharmaceutical giant. Soon Mary finds herself mysteriously excluded from negotiations with the drug company, despite the fact that the project is entirely her work. Amidst egregious sexual harassment, sabotage, and finally death threats, her work becomes impossible. In response to her family’s pleas, she leaves Cleary and begins medical school at Whitehead College of Medicine, where she was accepted despite evidence her professors at Cleary tampered with her application process.

Years later, as a resident in pediatrics at Whitehead, she pours the story out to her brilliant and compassionate mentor, Dr. Daniel Taylor, who immediately allows her to leave residency for a period of time to recreate her work from Cleary. Her joy turns to horror and then determination when she finds out the following week that Dr. Taylor himself has just been diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer. She encounters roadblock after roadblock in the laboratory Dr. Taylor procured for her, and as he lies dying she finds out that in addition to these hassles, her drug stock has been deliberately sabotaged by the supplier the entire time she’s been working. The person who informs her of this laughs at her.

After Dr. Taylor’s death, none of the other doctors at Whitehead have any intention of letting her continue this work, nor leave the institution to work on it elsewhere. With no other ethical choice available, Mary gives up her academic career and sends all her work to a lab in another country. The story of her drug continues in the next book in the series, Abide With Me.

Carousel Music by Rick Moskovitz

July 5, 2020 By Book Review Matchmaker Leave a Comment

Carousel Music by Rick Moskovitz

Carousel Music is a “She said, he said” mystery, set two decades before the “Me, too” era during a time when controversy raged over the validity of memories recovered during psychotherapy. As knotty as the dilemma of when to believe women who claim that they were violated as adults, what if the victim was a child and the perpetrator was her father? And what if she had no recollection of the trauma before undergoing psychotherapy as an adult and her father was so certain that he never did it that he sued the doctor in order to clear his name?

Stephanie Whittington lands in the care of Dr. Kenneth Miller with few childhood memories and little sense of who she is. In the course of her treatment, the pictures from her childhood gradually fill in to create a personal narrative that forms the foundation for a growing sense of identity. But what if parts of that narrative turn out not to be true?

At stake is Stephanie’s recovery, her father’s reputation, and the doctor’s career. What really happened? As memories form and evolve over time, nothing is ever exactly as it appears.

Tree of Lives by Elizabeth Garden

June 5, 2020 By Book Review Matchmaker Leave a Comment

Tree of Lives by Elizabeth Garden

Based on true events, Tree of Lives is a riveting two-track story of a horrific public murder in 1930 that became a long buried family secret. The lost ghost of the murderer, Raymond, roams the earth until his abused great niece, Ruth, a promising artist, confronts her deeply troubled family. It is a story of unfolding forgiveness, survival and triumph over unaddressed trauma as this determined woman navigates her thorny life path. Illustrated.

The Truth about Tomorrow by Pamela Harju

June 5, 2020 By Book Review Matchmaker Leave a Comment

The Truth about Tomorrow by Pamela Harju

If you knew the time of your death, would you accept it or run?

When Kyle French’s father and clairvoyant mother die in a car crash that he alone survives, the question haunts him. Through his grief and survivor’s guilt, Kyle looks for answers and tries to heal with his remaining family.

A story about the choice of either running away from your problems or making the right decisions to carry on, Pamela Harju’s debut novel is an emotional journey about coming of age and moving on even as your world collapses around you.

If you like strong characters, a distinctly Irish setting and a hint of the supernatural, buy THE TRUTH ABOUT TOMORROW and follow Kyle on his quest to find answers and happiness.

WriteIntoPrint’s CAPTIVATING OPENING WINNER 2017!

Social Work by Thomas Duffy

May 26, 2020 By Book Review Matchmaker Leave a Comment

Social Work by Thomas Duffy

Social Work is Thomas Duffy’s seventh book. It is a moving story about a young man named Marc who meets a social worker named Lauren after his attempt at suicide. This story is an exploration of the bond between Marc and Lauren and the problems they face in trying to overcome the obstacles both of them experience trying to achieve their own personal happiness. It is set in New York City.