A reformed con woman discovers she has a talent for tarot card reading (and amateur crime-solving) when she investigates the death of her mother -- an unreformed con woman who scammed the gullible by posing as a psychic.
When thirtysomething Chicago telemarketer ALANIS McLACHLAN is told that her estranged mother, BARBRA, is dead, her knee-jerk response is “Who killed her?” The answer: “We don’t know.”
It’s no joke. Her mother has been murdered. And much to Alanis’s surprise, she left her daughter an inheritance. Alanis is now the not-so-proud and entirely confused owner of the White Magic Five & Dime, an occult shop in tiny Berdache, Arizona. Alanis reluctantly agrees to come to Berdache to straighten out her mother’s affairs. She knows there will much to straighten out: Barbra was a con artist, and the shop, Alanis assumes, was merely a front for her latest scams.
When she gets to Berdache, Alanis picks up the keys to the store from Barbra’s slightly seedy lawyer, who also mentions that Barbra’s will was only a few weeks old. She gets some grudging help from CLARICE, the black teenager Barbra had apparently taken in some years before. Alanis isn’t surprised to learn her mother had a young partner. A flashback chapter reveals that, once upon a time -- back when her name was “Sophie Harper” -- Alanis was involved in her mom’s con jobs, too.
Of course, she’s not the only one trying to solve the murder. There’s also hunky cop JOSH LOGAN. When he drops by to question Alanis, the two hit it off. A cagy courtship begins, with each trying to wheedle information out of the other between quips.
Though she tried to give up crime after running away from her mother years before, Alanis remembers the principles of the con game. In fact, that’s what’s kept her alive all these years: She’s never fit into the straight world and keeps ending up in shady jobs that call on her talent for manipulation and deception. It’s exactly those skills she’s going to use now. So she sets out to find her mother’s killer by, in effect, replacing her. She’s going to worm her way into her mother’s clients’ confidence by doing tarot readings.
A funny thing happens, though. The more she fakes her way through bogus readings, the more she finds that what she sees in the cards actually makes sense to her. In the end, Alanis decides to stay in Berdache with Clarice and keep the White Magic Five & Dime open. Perhaps Barbra willed the shop to her as a trap, perhaps it was her way of making amends for being such a lousy mom. Alanis accepts that she’ll never know which. Barbra was full of surprises to the very end: It turns out that Infinite Roads to Knowing, the tarot guide Alanis has been reading (and which we’ve been quoting at the beginning of each chapter), was written by Barbra herself.
Life remains full of mysteries, but Alanis finally feels she has a grip on what’s important. She likes it in Berdache and she likes her sister and she likes reading tarot cards and she likes helping people. And best of all: For the first time in her life, she likes herself. Views: 31
In the Madre de Dios ("Mother of God") region of Peru, where the Amazon River begins, the cloud forests of the Andes converge with the lowland Amazon rainforest to create the most biodiverse place on the planet. In January 2006, Paul Rosolie, a restless eighteen-year-old hungry for adventure, embarked on a journey to the western Amazon that would transform his life.Venturing alone into the most inaccessible reaches of the jungle, he encountered massive snakes, isolated tribes, prowling jaguars, giant anteaters, poachers trafficking in the black market of endangered species, and much more. He even discovered a new kind of ecosystem now known as a "floating forest." Yet today the primordial depths of the Madre de Dios are in grave danger.In Mother of God, this explorer and conservationist relives his amazing odyssey to the heart of the wildest place on earth. As he delved deeper into his search for the secret Eden, spending extended periods in isolation, he... Views: 31
"First Touch ranks as one of my favorite reads this year. " ---Night Owl Reviews"I loved this book. Mattie Dunman has created interesting characters, both good and bad, and kept the pace quick and exciting." -- Breathe In BooksLiz Hannigan has been on the run since she was twelve years old. Her mother is dead. Her father has lost his job. And thanks to an experimental procedure, Liz is now able to ‘download’ the contents of every brain around her with a simple touch. Forced to hide from both the federal government and a darkling group of morally deficient scientists known as the Coalition who are determined to exploit her abilities, she moves with her father to the bucolic coal town of Pound, West Virginia. But the hunt for Liz and her abilities hasn’t ended, and her hopes for peace are shattered when she inadvertently downloads the enigmatic Carey Drake, whose unusual good looks and charm conceal a secret as shocking as her own. Stunned by the knowledge that she has found someone else with extraordinary abilities, Liz finds herself drawn to Carey, discovering a deep attraction and dares to hope for the first time she might find love. But when an agent of the Coalition begins stalking her, Liz must find a way to work with the government agency she most mistrusts as she strives to build a longed-for normal life and evade the agent who has tracked her down. Caught up in a struggle to save herself and those she loves, the girl who sees all is blind to true danger until it is too late. Views: 31
A harrowing account of the last three months of Benazir Bhutto's life. Views: 31
BookThree of Goddess BornAs a goddess-born healer, SelahKilbrid wants nothing to do with the goddess of death and disease, nor any ofher human progeny. But when the two people she loves most disappear--her dearestfriend Nora Goodwin and her betrothed Lord Henry Fitzalan--Selah has no choicebut to leave London in pursuit of Death's most powerful daughter.Accompanied by a ragtag group of travelers, Selah follows a treacherouspath across the Irish Sea to the long-forgotten prison of a witch who oncenearly destroyed Ireland. Selah would face any danger to protect those sheloves, but what if it means unleashing a greater evil on the human world? Couldshe risk the lives of many to save a few, or are some sacrifices too great? Views: 31
