In
this issue, Cheri Rosenberg reviews the new novel
Scimitar
by Michael Halfhill
by Michael Halfhill
and
When Evil Changes Face
by Therese Szymanski
by Therese Szymanski
  SCIMITAR a Jan Phillips novel
by Michael Halfhill ISBN: 1-4208-0700-5 AUTHOR HOUSE 1663 Liberty Drive, Suite 200 Bloomington, Indiana 47403 Retail: $14.95 From the first paragraph of Michael Halfhill’s sequel to Bought and Paid For, Scimitar captures the reader, sets the mood, gets inside his character’s head, and mixes description with emotion. Halfhill writes, “Jan sat on one side of a well-worn sofa that faced a large multi-pane window. Cheerful sunlight shot prisms through the waxy glass illuminating a galaxy of dust particles floating in the heavy Victorian style room. He sensed the décor was meant to make clients fell comfortable—instead, it made him feel as if he were in a confessional box at Saint Dominic’s Academy.” (p. 6) In Scimitar, Jan Phillips is more powerful at twenty-nine and certainly less naïve than the eighteen-year-old underprivileged lost boy who first entered the world of the elusive Tim Morris. The story continues. . . Jan is a successful attorney in the late Tim’s prominent law firm, The Templars of Law. Jan is seeking absolution from the guilt, pain, and emptiness he feels because of Tim’s unexpected death. Tim left his vast wealth to Jan, and, by default, he has become the North American master of the Mundus Society—a clandestine organization that operates outside the realm of international law. What Jan really misses is Tim’s love and companionship. Having been bought and paid for by Tim, Jan wonders what his life would have been like had he led a normal life, and had been free to choose his own destiny. What would have happened if Tim hadn’t gotten him involved in Mundus, if Jan hadn’t fallen in love with him, and Tim hadn’t died, leaving him with an overwhelming legacy? “Jan recalled a line from the Bible that defined this sense of loss perfectly—the years that the locust hath eaten. But of course the relationship ended and the days and months without Tim were forever snatched back into a void where he could never follow.” (p. 136) In his eloquent description, Halfhill shows the deep sadness Jan feels whenever he remembers Tim. Jan even keeps the St. Roi apartments just as Tim left them as a tribute to his lover’s memory. The flashbacks are not the main attraction of Scimitar, but rather serve to enrich the complicated plot involving the Mundus Society. Jan is thrown into Project Scimitar in his first official business when escapees of the African Slave Trade show up asking for his help. Jan would like to send them on their way, but he can’t help but feel that he must somehow assist the two youths, apparently from Cirque Afrique, who show up in the middle of the night, on his doorstep—naked. His involvement becomes imperative when one of them carries the international emblem of the Mundus Society with the official seal of the African Chapter. Unsure exactly how to proceed, Jan enlists the help of Tim’s friends and contacts, including a physician, Max Atwater. This is the first step as Jan becomes more involved in the dangerous world of Sudanese slave traders. Sonia Santos has replaced her mother and now runs the household at St. Roi; Jan and Sonia represent the next generation to inhabit the apartment surrounded by its surreptitious world. Han, his bodyguard, Joachim Nusbaum, and Daniel, Jan’s cousin, have joined the team for Project Scimitar. Even though the author leaves some of the characters’ plots unresolved, it serves to entice the reader to read the next novel in the series. There is some question about what happened to Kevin, the kidnapped, mutilated missionary’s boy. And what happened to Jan’s love interest, Michael? These unresolved issues loom in the air and add to the intrigue, and beguile the reader to read Sons, when it becomes available. Michael Halfhill has firmly established himself as a writer who allows the reader to use his or her imagination. Halfhill’s descriptions include, “Makeshift markets filled with vendors peddling every imaginable ware crowded the cobblestone alleys that led into the heart of the city.” (p. 179) This, and many other examples of the writing style of Michael Halfhill, conjure up vivid images whereby the reader need not go far into the recesses of their brain to imagine the scene. Yet the author does not spoon-feed the story, he simply makes the reader hungry for more. The humor and intrigue of Michael Halfhill’s novel, interwoven with his impressive narrative and action-filled plot twists, earn Scimitar five stars. |
 When Evil Changes
FaceA Motor City Thriller by Therese Szymanski ISBN: 0-9677753-3-7 Bella Books, Inc. Ferndale, MI 48220 235 pages/2000/$11.95 The fourth Brett Higgins’ Motor City Thriller by Therese Szymanski, When Evil Changes Face, is both gripping and sexy; Szymanski fans will be delighted to join Brett and Allie on yet another adventure. This time they are going back to high school…as students. The interwoven elements of the plot, a writing style that Szymanski is known for, keep the reader guessing, and glued to the pages. The main theme is evident, but there is much more to discover under the surface in this fast-paced, action-packed, high school sting. Something sinister lurks in a small Michigan town outside St. Louis at Alma High School. A dedicated teacher at the school, Leisa Kraft, is duly worried about her students. Drugs are suspected, but it seems to be more involved than kids experimenting with narcotics. Leisa hopes to find out what is going on before someone gets hurt…or worse. She enlists the help of her friend Madeline; together they come up with a brilliant plan. Leisa and Madeline ask Brett, who made her money in organized crime but is no longer in the biz, and Allison, a ex-cop who has experience as a detective, to pose as high school students in order to solve the mysterious change in the students. Brett and Allie are reluctant to get involved at first, but Madeline, Brett’s old neighbor, and her friend Leisa are very persuasive. They convince Brett and Allie to go undercover as brother and sister under the guise that their father died and they have relocated to live with their Aunt Madeline. The plan is set—details worked out, and so the gals get to work. Brett does a very convincing imitation of a delinquent teenage boy and even starts dating the stunning and desirable head cheerleader, Kathy Moran. Against her better judgment, Brett pursues the nubile teenager who is not available at first, but Brett wins her heart away from the big, bad jock boyfriend Brian Ewing. Kathy befriends Allie who even joins the cheerleading squad at her insistence. Once enrolled in the school, Brett and Allie fit right in—but can a thirty-three year old and twenty-seven year old really pull off the charade and discover the truth about what is going down in Alma High? Brett Higgins, a self-proclaimed “big, badass butch,” (p. 7) was twenty-three when she met her lover Allison Sullivan, who was seventeen at the time. Brett and Allie have a wonderful relationship. Allie has no problem when Brett flirts with other women since the bottom line is that Brett is hers—all hers. But for how long and under what circumstances can even Brett’s resolve to be faithful, withstand the test? Especially when Kathy, convinced Brett is a boy, returns her affections. Going back to high school as a boy leads Brett on a totally different path this time around. “At least this time there wouldn’t be any assholes calling her dyke, queer, and lesbo. The worst time she could have now would be being called a fag, which would just be funny.” (p. 28) Effective flashbacks depicting history and the psyche of the characters are presented succinctly. In one of many memorable scenes, we learn what Brett had to endure at the hands of her abusive alcoholic father when she was just six-years-old. The author uses genuine dialogue, powerful descriptions, and evokes real emotion of sadness and rage. The scene ends with, “Brett rubbed her healing ribs and crawled to her father, wincing on her recently broken arm.” (p. 65) I feel this says it all about a little girl who suffered physical and emotional harm by the adult she was supposed to trust, but who used her for sexual favors and beat her when she didn’t comply. It was a heartbreaking scene that added much to the explanation of the woman Brett became. I highly recommend When Evil Changes Face to anyone who enjoys good mysteries, juicy love stories, and hot steamy sex. It is fun revisiting high school (from an adult’s perspective) with all the raging hormones, turf battles, sports, dramas, and teenage angst. The story is more than just erotica with its multi-faceted plot and complex characters; it keeps the reader guessing all along. When Evil Changes Face is a standalone novel with just enough background to fill the reader in—but anyone who hasn’t read the prequels isn’t at a loss. The author does an amazing job of tying up the loose ends while setting the stage for the fifth Brett Higgins’ Motor City Thrillers, When Good Girls Go Bad. You will not want to miss all six books in the Motor City Thriller series. The sixth title, When the Corpse Lies (2004), is the latest addition to the collection. Check out Therese Szymanski’s other selections as well including, Once Upon a Dyke: New Exploits of Fairy Tale Lesbians (2004), which has been nominated for a Lambda Literary Award in 2005. When Evil Changes Face is a worthwhile read and rates five stars. |