*AFTERMATH, INC. Cleaning Up After CSI Goes Home by Gil Reavill

In this grisly, swaggering tale of gut-churning crime scenes and the men who clean them up after the forensics team is done, veteran true crime scribe Reavill (Beyond All Reason: My Life with Susan Smith) holds nothing back. From descriptions of crimes ("The fusillade of bullets tore through Johnson's body.... Blood, bits of flesh and bone fragments exploded everywhere") to hepatitis C "bleed-outs" ("All four walls of the bathroom looked like someone had taken a blood hose and turned it on them"), Reavill grabs the reader by the throat and doesn't let go. He follows the techs from Aftermath, Inc.—a bioremediation outfit in suburban Chicago—as they make the rounds of shotgun suicides, multiple murders and meth lab cleanups; dealing not only with the gross-out of the work but trying to stay sane doing it. While some black humor seeps in around the edges, Reavill mostly depicts a cadre of low-key, hardworking men doing a horrible job with respect and compassion. The narrative pace flags a bit in the last 50 pages when Reavill tries to connect Aftermath's work with larger moral issues, but otherwise, if anything can get CSI watchers to flip off the tube and pick up a book, this is it.

***Rate this 3/5. An interesting book on an occupation that I have always wondered about. I wondered what type of people do the job, what they charge ($250/hr) and how they do it. This is not a book for people with a queasy stomach as it is very descriptive, but it was worth the read. Sometimes, you have to just read this type of book, ya know!

*YANNI IN WORDS* by Yanni with David Renson

Yanni is practically a force of nature. Not only has he sold over 20 million albums worldwide, and earned 35 gold and platinum awards, this inspirational artist has entertained millions more with his groundbreaking concert events at the Acropolis, in Athens, at India's Taj Mahal, and in China's Forbidden City. No wonder the Washington Post called Yanni's career "a miracle, a lesson in pluck that could be taught in business school, preached from pulpits and woven into bedtime stories." And yet, even Yanni's greatest fans know very little about the man behind the music.
Yanni in Words is the remarkably forthright, never-before-told story of the critically acclaimed musician's personal odyssey: from his childhood under a Greek military dictatorship to success as his country's national 50-meter swimming champ at fourteen; from his college years at the University of Minnesota, where he earned a degree in psychology; to his wild years playing rock and roll across America before going solo. Yanni openly discusses his intense nine-year relationship with Linda Evans (Linda herself contributed to the book); his battle for respect from critics and a music industry bewildered by his new style of contemporary instrumental music; the journey through a burn-out depression that threatened to derail his career and prevented him from touching a piano for a year; and his eventual recovery and return. This is a story of how a single-minded musical vision and indomitable will to be heard became the source of Yanni's biggest frustrations, greatest triumphs, and deepest insights about creativity.
Yanni in Words is also a love letter to his parents, under whose enlightened and gentle guidance he learned lessons about love and truth that have lasted a lifetime. It is brimming with a clear-eyed understanding of the human condition, the rewards of original thinking, and the secrets of satisfaction -- all of which evolved as Yanni confronted challenge after challenge in pursuit of his musical dreams. Yanni in Words also includes an exploration of the creative process by which Yanni composes his unique music -- and that anyone can use to pursue their own creativity. As poignantly memorable as it is unprecedentedly candid, this is the story everyone has been waiting to read. Yanni in Words is heartfelt, open, inspirational, honest, and emotional. Just like Yanni's music. Only in words.

****Rate this 4/5. I adore Yanni's music....it was interesting to read his book. He is very frank about his lovelife and Linda Evans, but the part I enjoyed the most was how and why he writes the beautiful music that he does. It contains so much soul and love, and as he explains, that is how and why he writes it. He had a dream, and he fulfilled it, and I am happy that he did.

*A RELIABLE WIFE* by Robert Goolrick

Rural Wisconsin, 1909. In the bitter cold, Ralph Truitt, a successful businessman, stands alone on a train platform waiting for the woman who answered his newspaper advertisement for "a reliable wife." But when Catherine Land steps off the train from Chicago, she's not the "simple, honest woman" that Ralph is expecting. She is both complex and devious, haunted by a terrible past and motivated by greed. Her plan is simple: she will win this man's devotion, and then, ever so slowly, she will poison him and leave Wisconsin a wealthy widow. What she has not counted on, though, is that Truitt — a passionate man with his own dark secrets —has plans of his own for his new wife. Isolated on a remote estate and imprisoned by relentless snow, the story of Ralph and Catherine unfolds in unimaginable ways. With echoes of Wuthering Heights and Rebecca, Robert Goolrick's intoxicating debut novel delivers a classic tale of suspenseful seduction, set in a world that seems to have gone temporarily off its axis.

*****Rate 5/5! If I could have rated this at a 6 or 7 on a scale of 1 to 5, I would have. I enjoyed this book so much. A 'read in one sitting book', I was up until 1:00AM finishing it. A beautifully written thriller that keeps one turning the pages.

*CROSSROADS* by Belva Plain

No one explores the rich tapestry of the human heart as Belva Plain does. Her more than twenty New York Times bestsellers have captivated readers and garnered legions of devoted fans. Now Plain dazzles us once again with a new novel of rare eloquence and raw emotion…a powerful tale about the consequences of greed—and the acts of love and forgiveness that can heal the heart.Cassie Wright never saw it coming. As owner of Wright Glassworks, the foremost company in a thriving New England town, Cassie’s life was quiet, focused on her work and home…until a tragic accident turns her carefully ordered world upside down. For there is a surviving child to think about—and Cassie must take in one-year-old Gwen, who has no one else to care for her. As the years pass, Cassie will raise Gwen as her own, and a little girl who lost everything will flourish in a world of privilege and opportunity. Enter Jewel Fairbanks. Beautiful and conniving, Jewel will touch the lives of both Cassie and Gwen in powerful ways. From the moment they meet, Jewel envies Gwen, who seems to have everything Jewel wants. The two couldn’t be more different, but their lives will soon become inextricably intertwined. Both will marry—but to profoundly different men. For Gwen, it is honest, hardworking Stan who steals her heart; Jewel will set her sights on Jeff, a shrewd businessman who owns the company where Stan works. But when Stan makes a shocking discovery on the job, relationships begin to shift and change...and soon a tangled drama of greed, jealousy, and betrayal will encircle both couples, as a chain reaction of unexpected events changesfour lives forever—in ways they never could have foreseen….

****Rate this 4/5. It has been a long time since I last read a novel by Belva Plain. This book reminds me of why I loved her books initially, it was very good.

*THE STORY SISTERS* by Alice Hoffman

Alice Hoffman’s previous novel, The Third Angel, was hailed as "an unforgettable portrait of the depth of true love" (USA Today), "stunning" (Jodi Picoult), and "spellbinding" (Miami Herald). Her new novel, The Story Sisters, charts the lives of three sisters–Elv, Claire, and Meg. Each has a fate she must meet alone: one on a country road, one in the streets of Paris, and one in the corridors of her own imagination. Inhabiting their world are a charismatic man who cannot tell the truth, a neighbor who is not who he appears to be, a clumsy boy in Paris who falls in love and stays there, a detective who finds his heart’s desire, and a demon who will not let go.What does a mother do when one of her children goes astray? How does she save one daughter without sacrificing the others? How deep can love go, and how far can it take you? These are the questions this luminous novel asks. At once a coming-of-age tale, a family saga, and a love story of erotic longing, The Story Sisters sifts through the miraculous and the mundane as the girls become women and their choices haunt them, change them and, finally, redeem them. It confirms Alice Hoffman’s reputation as "a writer whose keen ear for the measure struck by the beat of the human heart is unparalleled".

*****Rate this 5/5. I wait patiently every time I know that Ms. Hoffman is releasing a new book with anticipation. Then I have to have the book immediately upon it's release date. After I do have it, I try not to literally read it all in one sitting! This is how much I love her writing and her latest book is just another jewel in her crown. This story was so sad, yet so filled with redemption. I loved it.........now I patiently wait for her next book.