Blood On The Tracks by Barbara Nickless

Posted First to Blog Critics as Book Review: 'Blood On The Tracks,' A Thriller by Barbara Nickless.

In Blood On The Tracks by Barbara Nickless, We are introduced to Special Agent Sidney Rose Parnell. She is a Railroad crimes Special Investigator, brought in to investigate the murder of a woman who appears to have died at the hands of her fiancé. He is a war vet who lived through serious injuries that scarred him enough that he is known on the rail rider circuit as the Burned Man.  As she begins her investigation she has her own history of war and memories too painful to contemplate.

Parnell and her K9 partner Clyde move into the underground world of the rail riders, those who move from place to place via the railroad. It is a world of danger and savagery, and soon she finds there may be more at work then anyone may know. Uncovering a conspiracy and other crimes that may be linked to it, she finds herself in the middle of danger that puts herself and all she believes in at risk. Can she find the real truth and exonerate a man who has already given so much for his country. His pain and anguish make him stay aloof to her help, but she must find a way to gain his trust in order to help him claim his innocence of the murder of the one woman who believed in him and looked past his surface scarring. A woman who understood him and was ready to marry him. But also a woman who knew a secret that could take down a man in power, one who was willing to risk everything to hide a deadly secret in his own past.

Could Parnell gain The Burned Man's trust and save them both from the savagery of the real truth.

Nickless has given us characters that are both repelling and yet in some cases, decent at heart. She takes us into the danger of those who have nothing and are willing to kill to stay alive, and she makes you feel the fear and desperation in a way that makes you turn on the lights and pull the curtains as you read. She brings us both the Burned Man and Special Agent Sidney Rose Parnell, two of those who have seen war and survived in their own manner. Parnell's K9 partner, Clyde, is just icing on the cake to keep you involved to the very end.

If you enjoy suspense and thrillers then you will want to find this work for your library. It is full of  the suspense that holds you on the edge of your seat, and it also provides a ribbon of bravery and hope with a host of anger and feelings that keep the intensity strong.

This would be a great work for a book club or reading group with a great deal of information that would create robust dialogue and debate.

Rating 4/5

Dislexic Dick by Richard "Dick" W. Kraemer

Posted first to Blog Critics as Book Review: 'Dyslexic Dick' by Richard "Dick" W. Kraemer.

Many choose to serve their country through the different branches of the military. Each has its distinct heritage, and those who have served often hold their training and abilities learned for a lifetime. Yet not everyone has the same experience.

In Dyslexic Dick by Richard “Dick” W. Kraemer, we are given a view of entirely different circumstances and experiences. Often what we know about the different branches comes from who we know a family member or friend who may have served. Many are silent and hold their time and experience close, not sharing that interval of their life with anyone except with friends they may have made in their own branch. Others let fly everything that may have occurred, and with everything there is both good and bad.

Dick has given us a view of his own experiences. Having found a way to enlist in the Marine Corp he finds difficulty with many of the training exercises, often due to a genetic marker called Dyslexia. Often more of a hard ship in school, reading is made difficult, but there are other side effects as well which he brings to light as he moves through training.  

Throughout the narrative, the author is very open about his anger, and his own activities, he is also unapologetic and very succinct in his view of his own experience.  He brings his own brand of humor as well as his diary like journaling and takes us on his passage as a young man through jaded eyes enlightening us to some of the pitfalls and decisions that occurred. He is open about his own activities, sometimes criminal in nature, as well as the drug culture of the time. He also discusses those in charge who may have crossed the line in punishment, often with their own hidden agendas.

His story deals with both his home life as well as his time abroad and discusses his romances and his heartaches. His accomplishments and his criminal activities are laid out in succession, and he is open and quite unapologetic about his past, as it is a part of who he is now.

Kraemer moves through the narrative relating his own experiences as he sees them, and recognizes both the good and the bad. Much of what is writing seems hard to understand, and yet human nature creates its own set of rules and each person carries the baggage of their past into their present, often creating who they become.

If you enjoy autobiographies and want to see a differing view of the military you may find this book to your liking. There is humor and yet there is pain and loss. There also seems to be a bit of overriding anger, suppressed but still showing through in places.

This would be a good book for a discussion group, I am sure it would create a great deal of controversy and conversation.

Rating 3/5

This book was received free from the author. All opinions are my own based off my reading and understanding of the material.