The Judas Kiss by Victoria Holt

When you are in the mood for romantic suspense, you can't go wrong with Victoria Holt. I had just finished one book, and I was eager for more. You know how you get that feeling that you don't want the book to end. Well, in the case of folks who continue to publish several books in a genre, you have that opportunity. This time, I read The Judas Kiss. I don't remember reading it before, so I knew nothing of the plot.

The heroine of The Judas Kiss is Philippa, aka Pippa, Ewell, the younger sister of Francine, who is a gorgeous and charming young woman. Unfortunately, the Ewell sisters lose both parents within a short time of each other. The father had run away to the island of Calypse to be an artist and marry the woman he loved, leaving behind a repressive live on his father's country estate. With their parents dead, Francine and Pippa's grandfather brings them back to England to raise them. The grandfather is an malicious person, hiding mean spiritness behind religious zeal. He makes the girls' life miserable, and the only good thing is that they have each other and their kindly grandmother. When foreigners from the Bavarian Alps visit the next-door estate, Francine and Pippa sneak in with the aid of their maid and the foreigner's houseboy. When Francine catches the eye of Baron Rudolph, heir to the kingdom of Bruxenstein, who is visiting, it seems like an answer to a prayer. The grandfather wants Francine to marry Cousin Arthur, who is just like the grandfather. Well, Francine runs off with the Baron, and they marry. Francine keeps Pippa updated with a few letters, and then Pippa finds out that her sister has been murdered in a hunting lodge with Rudolph. The newspapers refer to Francine as Rudolph's mistress, and they don't mention the little boy that Francine told Pippa she had. Well, Pippa is shocked. As she goes every day to the empty house where the foreigners lived, she meets a handsome man that she thinks is an equerry to Count who owns the house. They go to look at the church registry that Pippa had seen with Francine's wedding signature, but it no longer exists. Thinking that Conrad, the equerry will marry her, Pippa sleeps with him. She can't believe it when he says that he can't marry her, but he can make Pippa his mistress. Pippa couldn't bring herself to leave with him.Then when the grandfather tries to get Pippa to marry Cousin Arthur, Pippa rebels. The grandfather dies in a fire, and some think that Pippa killed him because he was going to throw Pippa out of the house. However, the fire is deemed an accident, and Pippa, with inheritance money from her grandmother's estate, travels to the Bavarian Alps to find out what happened to Francine. There she finds that Conrad is really Baron Signmund, next in line to rule the kingdom of Bruxenstein. Pippa is in Bruxenstein under an assumed name, and acting as a companion to Countess Freya, who is supposed to marry Sigmund/Conrad.

As you can tell, there is a lot of intrigue going on and a rather complex plot. Does Pippa figure out who killed Francine and Rudolph? Can she prove the pair was married and had a child? If she can, she might be able to free Sigmund/Conrad from his marital obligation to Freya. Of course, all is resolved in the end. I grew to like Pippa. She gave in to human emotion and lust, and she had a relationship with Conrad, even though she knew it wasn't really right, and that Freya, whom she grew to love, would be hurt.

All in all, The Judas Kiss was another satisfying read. I found myself engrossed in the mystery, and I have to admit that I didn't figure out who the evil person was in the plot until the very end. I do have to recommend The Judas Kiss, and I will be adding it to my favorite Victoria Holt books.

The Devil on Horseback by Victoria Holt

I've mentioned before that Victoria Holt was one of my favorite authors. I discovered her when I was a teen, and I devoured her romantic suspense books. I've read most of the Victoria Holt books and a good number of the Philippa Carr, her other pseudonym. One of my favorite of the Victoria Holt books was The Devil on Horseback. When you read something as a teen, and then reread it as an older adult, you sometimes wonder what you ever saw in the book you loved. So I have been hesitant to read some of favorites over again.

This time, I saw The Devil on Horseback on the local library shelf, and I decided that read it again. The heroine of the story is Minella Maddox, an English girl who helps her mother run a girls' school in England. The local lord of the Derringham Manor sends his daughters to the school, and he encourages his friends to do the same. When the Comte Fontaine Delibes comes with his wife and daughter to the Derringham estate, he sends his daughter, Margot, to the school. Minella, or Minelle as Margot calls her, and Margot become friends. When Minella goes to the manor house to take tea with the Derringham girls and Margot, Minella wanders into the Comte's bedroom as she secretly wanders during a game of hide and seek. The Comte is instantly fascinated. Also fascinated by Minella is the only Derringham son, Joel. Minella's mother dies, Joel is sent to Europe before he could commit to a relationship with Minella, and Margot runs off with a stable boy. Margot is brought back, but is found to be pregnant. The Comte has an idea of how to solve the problem of Margot and how to get closer to Minella. Minella will act as a cousin to Margot. The pair would go off to a distant town in France for Margot to have her baby, and then Minella would go with Margot as a companion and cousin, back to the Comte's estate in France. Of course, Minella has been raised to behave properly, and she does not succumb to the Comte's overtures. Intrigue follows Minella as the Comte's past peccadillos are revealed to her. He has an invalid wife, an illegitimate son (Etienne), Etienne's mother (the former mistress), and the surviving twin of a child that the Comte killed in a riding accident (Leon). The Comte's wife dies from an overdose; was it suicide or murder? Margot is blackmailed over her illegitimate child. Minella is a target of murder attempts, and the whole of France is an an uproar with the approach of the French Revolution.

The story is well-written, and I found myself on the edge of my seat for the last quarter or so of the book. There were a variety of twists to the plot, and it looked like things would end poorly for the Comte. He's the Devil on Horseback of the title. The book has the perfect blend of romance and suspense. I found myself becoming very attached to the characters, and I was anxious that all would turn out well for them. The Devil on Horseback lived up to my fond memories, and I would have to say that it is still one of my favorite of the Holt books.

Grey Mask by Patricia Wentworth

I read both print and Kindle books, and Grey Mask by Patricia Wentworth was my recent Kindle read. Grey Mask was the first in the Miss Silver mysteries that Wentworth wrote. Even though the book was written in 1928, it's still an interesting and thrilling read. Grey Mask is the name of a master criminal who is running a crime ring out of Charles Moray's house. Charles has been out of the country for several years after his broken engagement, and returns just in time to spy on a meeting of the gang. Charles is ready to bust the ring when he is shocked to see his former fiancee, Margaret Langton participating. As Charles listens, he cannot determine Margaret's involvement, but he does learn of a heinous plot against a young 18-year-old heiress, Margot Standing, whose father, Edward Standing, was recently swept overboard on his yacht in the Caribbean. Pushed overboard is actually what happened. Standing was murdered so his nephew, Egbert would collect the large inheritance. The gang plans on destroying all evidence that Margot is the legitimate daughter of Edward Standing and on destroying the will. Instead of going to the police, because of Margaret's involvement with the gang, Charles goes to Miss Silver, who has built quite a reputation in the wealthier classes as a private investigator. Miss Silver is knows to intelligently and discretely handle sensitive matters. Not only does Miss Silver accept Charles' case, but she seems to have a greater understanding of the Grey Mask gang. That's the surprising thing about Miss Silver. She looks very unassuming, and she's always knitting something or other, but she is lightening quick in figuring out what the heck is going on. Also, Miss Silver, unlike Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, actively investigates crimes, even trailing suspects to learn more about their evil doings. Meanwhile, Charles and Margaret come upon Margot, who escaped from her cousin, Egbert, after overhearing his plot to murder her. Charles tries to keep Margot safe from the gang, while he also questions Margaret's true involvement in the situation. Can Charles trust Margaret? Can they keep Margot safe from the Grey Mask? Who is Grey Mask?

Boy, did I enjoy reading Grey Mask! It was thrilling and exciting. The plot was convoluted enough to keep the reader guessing what was going to happen next. I have to admit that I did not foresee one of the twists in the end. I did figure who Grey Mask was, but there was a lot more going on than I figured out. One of the things that I love about Wentworth's Miss Silver books is that there is always a romantic relationship developing throughout the story. In Grey Mask, it is the relationship between Charles and Margaret, the former engaged couple. Then there is the budding relationship between Margot and Archie Manning, Charles' buddy, who helps him with the threat against Margot. In the end, everything is satisfactorily tied up. I like happy endings, and Grey Mask's ending was very satisfying!

Start-up Nation: the Story of Israel's Economic Miracle by Dan Senor and Saul Singer

Why do some companies succeed over others? Why do some people seem to have everything they touch turn to gold? in Start-up Nation: the Story of Israel's Economic Miracle, Dan Senor and Saul Singer attempt to answer that question by looking at the success that start-ups and entrepreneurs, in general, have had in Israel. You may not realize it, but several of the technology companies, like Intel, Microsoft, and Google have a presence in Israel. Why has a country that is so small and in such a potentially unstable area of the Middle East. Senor and Singer have some suggestions. Part of the reason may be that Israelis are more accepting of failure. When you fail in the US, you aren't necessarily given a second chance because you have the loser taint attached to you. But in Israel, failure is seen as a learning experience. You figure out what went wrong, and you move on to the next challenge. A second factor is that in Israel, every citizen goes into the military. The most intelligent and gifted are chosen for elite operative forces that tend to encourage innovative thinking.

Israel is also a land of immigrants. Some have had to make a livelihood from nothing. The emigrants from other Middle Eastern countries, such as Iraq and Iran, had to leave all their possessions behind, escaping for their lives. These people have had to pull themselves up from their bootstraps, and they did a pretty good job of it.

I found the book informative and entertaining. Senor and Singer talked to a large number of entrepreneurs and politicians. They managed to get time from a variety of interesting folks, including Shimon Peres, who could explain how things were developing in the beginning of the birth of the country through to the modern day. The cool thing about Start-up Nation: the Story of Israel's Economic Miracle is that it does a good job of explaining the Israeli personality and the state of business in Israel. If you are interested in starting up your own business, you can leave some tips from the book, but in general, the goal is to explain a country-wide phenomenon.

Cell by Robin Cook

Part of the problem with the current view about health care is that it is care for people are healthy. When you become ill, that's when the problems arise. When Obamacare was first introduced, people talked about death panels, people who would decide that your loved one had a terminal illness that would cost too much to treat. That meant that the loved one would be doomed to die. Some are naive enough to think that politicians and insurance companies care about people think that death panels would never happen. Robin Cook doesn't appear to be one of them. In his latest book, Cell, Cook discusses the future of medicine as imagined with digital and cellular technology. Amalgamated Healthcare has released a cell phone app called iDoc. iDoc takes the patient/doctor relationship in a new direction. iDoc is programmed to answer the patient's every question. It collects all data on the patient, makes recommendations for visits and tests, and can help the patient control diabetes by releasing insulin from an implanted reservoir and releases the amount needed based on the patient's vital signs. iDoc can track all the patient's vital with screen technology that allows the program to test blood droplets. The concept is an interesting one, and it's one that four-year radiology resident, George Wilson, first suggested to Paula Stonebrenner when they were both in medical school. Paula took the idea to Amalgamated, which jumped on implementing the idea. George is impressed with the technology and a bit envious because of the success that Paula has made from his idea.

As the talk progresses about iDoc, George realizes that his fiancee, Kasey, may have been an iDoc beta tester. Kasey died in bed beside George, and he has mourned her loss for the past three months, but George starts to believe that death is shadowing him when he learns of the death of two patients with recent radiological studies that revealed terminal forms of cancer. The crazy thing is that the patients died within 24 hours of the radiology tests. When George's neighbor dies in a violent car crash, George starts to worry because he was realizing that all the deaths also seemed to have been with iDoc beta testers. When George starts to investigate, he finds that he seems to have unleashed some dangerous characters who will stop at nothing to silence George. Is it the federal government, who wants to save healthcare costs by implementing iDoc with Medicare patients, or is it Amalgamated, who wants to save profits?

Robin Cook does a thrilling job of showing us how technology can run amok and produce unexpected results. The plot was realistic, in my opinion, and very pertinent to possible future applications. Sometimes we put too much faith in technology, thinking that it will solve our problems. Instead, new ones are created that we cannot anticipate. In the case of iDoc, the heuristic nature programmed into the application allowed it to believe that it was reasonable and cost efficient to eliminate terminally ill people immediately. After reading Cell, I'll think of the proliferation of technology into our lives in a new light. Cell was the first Robin Cook book that I've read, but I plan on going back to read more!

Cry in the Night by Carolyn Hart

Since I purchased my Kindle, I have been reading two books at the same time. I have my ebook, and then I have the print book that I got from the library. Tonight, I just finished reading my ebook. Carolyn Hart had released some of her earlier book in electronic format. As I already mentioned, I really enjoyed reading Dangerous Summer, so I moved onto Cry in the Night. Cry in the Night in the night is from 1982, but it's not obvious from the plot. Sheila Ramsey is an Egyptologist working in a New York City museum. She goes to a conference in Washington, DC, and runs into, literally, one of the speakers who was against museums buying stolen artifacts. Jerry Elliot strongly expresses his opinion, and although Sheila is repulsed, she is also attracted. After knocking Sheila over and picking her up, Jerry spends the afternoon with Sheila. Unfortunately, she has to return to NYC that evening. Sheila becomes obsessed about meeting up again with Jerry, but he works in a museum in Mexico City, and there's no way they will meet. No way, until Sheila answers a posting in the museum looking for a courier to take an important manuscript to its owners in Mexico City. Sheila applies and hopes for the best since it's for the Latin American section. Surprises of surprises, when Sheila is selected to be the courier. She will take the manuscript to the Ortega family< and then staying with them for a short visit. When Sheila arrives in the Mexico City airport, a little boy passes a note to her from a stranger. The note is a warning for Sheila to return to America. At the Ortega house, Sheila doesn't get much of a reception, and when she hears a cry in the night, she goes to investigate, and finally meets a member of the family, the oldest son, Tony. Of course, Sheila is still fixated with Jerry, and when she goes to the museum to see him, she is shocked at the rude, abrasive, even threatening confrontation with Jerry, who threatens her if she continues to stay in Mexico. Sheila runs from the museum crying, and she is ready to leave Mexico when someone starts to shoot at her! Sheila decides that she is not going to run with her tail between her legs, and she decides to figure out the mystery. Also, she finds that she is starting to develop feelings for Tony.

The book is a very enjoyable read, and there's lots of talk about Aztec treasure and description of Mexican sights. The mystery was a good one, and I did not figure out what was going on until it was revealed at the end. Carolyn Hart did a great job with the earlier books, and if you have the chance, you should run, not walk, to the closest bookstore for the print version or Amazon for the Kindle version. You won't be disappointed.

Congo by Michael Crichton

I thought I had read all of Michael Crichton's books, but I realized as I was looking through his list of books that I had missed Congo. Congo was one of the earlier books, published in 1980. A scientific expedition from Earth Resource Technology Services Inc. (ERTS) to the Congo went awry in a horrible way. The entire team was killed. When the video transmission connected for the daily morning update, the home team in Houston find the Congo team dead, with their heads smashed in. Who could have done it? From a brief glimpse in the video, Karen Ross was chosen to take a team to the Congo when she realized that one of the creatures caught on the video image might be a gorilla. But gorillas aren't supposed to violent. Ross enlisted the aid of Peter Elliot, who had been working with Amy, a gorilla that has learned American Sign Language to communicate with her human handlers. Elliot agreed to go to the Congo with Amy to help Ross find out what happened to the first team. In Africa, the ERST team connected with a white African mercenary, Munro, who agreed to take the team into the Congo to the lost city of Zinj.

As is usual with Crichton books, he went into detail about the travails of experimentation in teaching language to gorillas, and he also examined the interactions of tamed gorillas with their wild counterparts. Are gorillas behind the attacks and murders in the Congo? It seemed to point that way until Elliot realized that there was a separate race of gorilla, previously unknown to man, who had been trained in the earlier development of the lost city of Zinj to act as security guards. How does the team protect themselves from the gorillas, and does the team find the valuable blue diamonds that ERTS, along with other competitors, wanted so desperately to find? The story is very fast paced, and I found myself feeling more of a connection with Amy the gorilla. Crichton did an excellent job of making Amy a compassionate character.

I understand that there was a film version of the book, that came after the success of the movie version of Jurassic Park. I have never seen it, and I don't think that a movie could do the book justice. If you haven't read Congo, you should give it a try. It's a good example of Crichton's brand of science fiction thriller.