Category: 3 1/2 Star Books

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Private Investigating, by Steven Brown

Leave a comment

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Private InvestigatingThe Complete Idiot’s Guide to Private Investigating. Finished 5-21-08, rating 3.5/5, non-fiction, 2nd Edition 2007

“I can’t think of anything more interesting than being a private investigator.  But it also has hour after hour of sheer tedium.”   Chapter 1

Are you thinking of hiring a private investigator?  Are you considering a career in the field?  Do you think your spouse is cheating on you?  If you answered yes to any of these questions, then this is the book for you.

This book covers a wide range of topics and handles each with ease and humor.  The first section of the book details what you need to do if you are interested in a career.  How do you break into a field where there are many more applicants than jobs?  Details such as firearms training, salary, licensing, camera and computer needs, and desired skills are all covered.

The book then moves into the do-it-yourself section.  The basics of how to find someone, how the courthouse works, and how to beat the telephone company are all covered.  I must admit that I spent a few hours checking out some of the free databases online that the book suggested and had fun until I put my own name in and realized how easy it was for someone to get information about me!

The next section they call on-the-job training.  It covers the interview, the neighborhood investigations, and surveillance (including tips on tailing someone).  It gives intruction and ideas for pretexting, which basically means what lie to tell to get the most information.  It offers six ways to get around caller id and also offers a whole chapter (16) on how to tell if your spouse is cheating.

The books was interesting, useful and full of stories of the author’s own investigations.  I was amazed at how much information was covered.  If you are ever in need of a private investigator I would recommend buying this book first.  You will save yourself a lot of money.

How To Be Invisible, by J.J. Luna

1 Comment

Cover ImageFinished 5-14-08, rating 3.5/5, non-fiction, revised 2004

Full title-How To Be Invisible: The Essential Guide to Protecting Your Personal Privacy, Your Assets, and Your Life

“If, in fact, you have ever received a letter or a package at your present address and under your real name, the only way to protect your privacy is to move.”  Chapter 6

This quote is the starting point of every step in this book and if that scares you or makes you shake your head in amusement, you should take a look at this book.  In the few days it took me to read it I felt like not only was Big Brother watching, but so were Giant Daddy, Nosy Momma, and Little Sister.

First, this book is full of ways to make yourself disappear, but also full of stories from people who actually have.  There is information why it is important that no one have your name and correct address (the author has no mailbox) and how to obtain a ghost address.  A Limited Liability Company is one way to protect yourself and the author keeps spares on a shelf.  He suggests using nominees (friends, family) to help you open up bank accounts.  But, even if you do not to any of these things, just reading the book will open your eyes to ways where you might be vulnerable.

There were a couple recommendations that were new to me.  He gives instructions on how to bury ‘treasure’ (whatever that may be to you) in the desert and then how to leave directions after you die.  He also recommends that you raise your children to be self-employed, no college, so that they can always be invisible. 

I was somewhat naive about all the ways the government, companies, people could keep track of me, but not anymore.  I don’t think that the average person can do all or even most of what he suggests.  While I see the benefit, not too many people are willing to live this way unless they are forced to.  It takes a lot of time and effort to make yourself invisible.  If you feel like you need to hide then this is the book for you.  It was a very interesting read.  If you are curious, I’d recommend checking out his website, www.howtobeinvisible.com.

Angels Fall, by Nora Roberts

Leave a comment

Cover ImageFinished audio 4-17-08, rating3.5/5, fiction, pub. 2006

Reece is a woman haunted by her violent past in Boston who ends up in Wyoming trying to recover.  She finds a small close-knit town that looks at gossip as a badge of honor.  They watch out for their own.   Reece takes a job at the local diner and begins to heal.

As Reece tries to normalize her life she is shaken when she witnesses a cold-hearted murder.  She finds a new friend in Brody, who believes her, but some distrust among others when no body was found.  Having been in a psychiatric hospital not long before Reece begins to think that she may be going crazy.  Brody’s belief in her gives her hope for her sanity, but she is feeling  more and more fragile as the town watches her seemingly fall apart.

I enjoyed this novel even though I thought I knew the killer right away and I was right.  It had a great story about a woman putting her life back together, with romance, surprising friendships, and a murder mystery.  I rarely read Nora Roberts, but I’d recommend this one.

The Third Heiress, by Brenda Joyce

Leave a comment

Cover ImageFinished 4-12-08, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1999

 Jill is a lonely woman who meets the man of her dreams and he asks her to marry him.  Ecstatic, Jill is unprepared for him to have second thoughts and the worst happens.  Hal dies because of Jill.  Jill flies his body back to London to his super wealthy  family and is greeted with disdain.

So, begins the mystery of what Hal had meant with his last words whispered to Jill.  She is obsessed with finding the truth and finds an ally in Hal’s cousin, Alex.  She packs up her life in New York to move to London to uncover secrets Hal’s family would rather leave buried.  Alex is the hero or the villain and Hal turns out to be no prince charming.  The pages turned fast because I wanted to know what was what.

I love Brenda Joyce, which should be evident by now since this is her third book I’ve read this year.  To me this felt like a departure for her and not her best work.  It was a bit disjointed, but with that being said I really did enjoy it.  The mystery will keep you reading even if you think you’ve got it figured out because there are so many little questions you need answered.  This is more mystery than romance, but if you are open to that I think you’ll like it.

WITSEC, Inside the Federal Witness Protection Program

1 Comment

Cover ImageWITSEC Inside the Federal Witness Protection Program by Pete Earley and Gerald Shur

Finished 2-17-08, rating 3.5/5. non-fiction, pub. 2002

Where to begin?  Well, I chose this book because I am researching the Witness Protection Program for my own book (fiction) and was curious about the inner workings of this government program.  This was co-written by the creator of the program, Gerald Shur, so you get a fly-on-the-wall view of the inception all the way through its current troubled times.  During Shur’s tenure WITSEC protected 6,416 witnesses and 14,468 of their family members.

The program began because of the government’s priority of taking down the mob.  The book is full of colorful stories about mob witnesses and the Justice Department’s struggle to keep them alive long enough to testify.  Having little to no interest in the Mob, I still found this book fascinating.  After the mob, drug lords, gangs, and terrorists all became witnesses in this storied program. 

This book highlights the good, the bad, and the ugly and some notables came out a little muddied.  Hoover’s FBI and Geraldo Rivera did not look good. Also, there was an interesting story about Jeb Bush encouraging his Dad to pressure the Justice Department to release a terrorist to curry favor with Floridia Hispanics.  But the book isn’t aimed at making people look bad.  It is an honest and thought provoking look at the pros and cons of this program.

I came away with great respect for Shur and the others who toiled with him to make WITSEC a success.  Is it safe to put known killers and rapists in unsuspecting communities?  Shur says it is for the greater good, but you’ll have to judge for yourself.  I highly recommend this if you are at all interested in the Witness Protection Program, the mob, US Marshals, or the way that the Justice Department works.

Los Alamos, by Joseph Kanon

Leave a comment

Cover ImageFinished 2-2-08, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1998

 It’s 1945 and Los Alamos is the the heart of scientific discovery.  The Manhattan Project has been working on the atomic bomb that will end the war when the murder of a security officer worries those in charge of the project’s secrecy.  Michael o is called in to find out what happened and make sure there are no leaks at Los Alamos.  His investigation takes him to neighboring Santa Fe and the lonely areas surrounding it. 

This book is a murder mystery, but because of it’s setting it is much more.  Kanon delves into the ethics of making the bomb, paranoia, homophobia in the military, and communism, while still keeping the story a mystery at heart.  There is also a surprising love affair and I enjoyed the realistic grit of it. 

Some of the characters, Robert Oppenheimer, General Leslie Groves and others, are based on the actual people working on the project.  This is a wonderful blending of reality and fiction.  This is Kanon’s first novel and I was impressed.  This is a great read for mystery lovers or those interested in the Manhattan Project.

The Painted Veil, W.Somerset Maugham

Leave a comment

Cover ImageFinished the audio on 1-8-08, rating 3.5/5, fiction, pub. 1925

I really enjoyed this book.  It is set in the 1920’s and is the story of pampered Kitty who marries a man to please her mother.  Kitty was beautiful and spoiled and Walter loved her.  She agreed to marry the bacteriologist and they were off to Shanghai where Kitty began an affair with the ambitious and married Charles.

  When Walter finds out he is heartbroken and forces Kitty to face an uncertain future in a cholera infested Chinese village.  There Kitty must face her own worth and take stock of her life.  Walter dies before true restoration can be made in their realtionship.  Kitty must travel back to Shanghai a pregnant widow.   

She must face Charles again and I was really rooting for her to show her spunk.  She did show her spunk, but she also showed her vulnerabilty.  The pages after she gave in to Charles once again were the most moving to me.  It was a heartwrenching look into a flawed woman who was desparately trying to overcome her faults.  She travels home to the one parent she has left and is met by a distant father who is facing his own freedom just as Kitty is facing the end of hers. 

 This was a wonderful novel.  I thought the reader. Kate Reading, was excellent and I am looking forward to checking out the latest movie version of this book.  I think Naomi Watts will make a great Kitty.