Hardcover: 293 pages
Publisher: Five Star (ME) (June 18, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1594146993
ISBN-13: 978-1594146992
About the book:
Life can change in just an instant. That's the harsh realitythat Jenny Jasik faces when her son, Michael, is killed in an automobileaccident. She is a single mother with two other children, Scott andAlicia. Ralph, her ex-husband, left her six years ago for a youngerwoman. He moved to Californiaand has all but abandoned them. He doessend child support, which, coupled with the profits from the floristshop Jenny owns, keeps them fed and sheltered in an old frame house.When Jenny sees an item in the newspaper about a special task forceforming at the local police department, she goes to the station anddemands to be part of that team. She stands firm in the face ofobjections from Chief Gonzales. He finally agrees to let her work withthem as a Confidential Informant if she passes a physical fitness testand a psychological screening. He also tells her that if she works withthem it will be in the strictest confidence. She is to tell no one. Nother kids. Not her mother. Not her best friend. No even her dog.As the weeks pass and Jenny gets deeper into the drug scene, hiding whatshe’s doing from everyone becomes harder and harder. How many more liescan she tell to explain why she stays out half the night? Then there’sthe problem of Ralph. Scott has been dumping his frustration on hisfather, and Ralph threatens to start action to get the kids if Jennydoesn't stop whatever it is she’s doing.
Further complications arise when Chico, the dealer Jenny has been buyingfrom, disappears. The DEA agents report that unusual things arehappening at the ranch where the Main Man does his business. There isconcern for the safety of all involved in this sting. Jenny is offered achance to get out, but she stays.
A plan develops to take down the Main Man, and for Jenny, that momentcan't come soon enough. All she has to do is get the details of the bigbuy recorded and the police can arrest the Man. That scene unravelsquickly, and Jenny is forced to shoot a man who is turning a gun on her.This was not part of the plan and definitely not something that Jennywants to tell her children or her ex-husband.Maybe Michael will understand.
How far will a mother go to avenge the death of her son? Jenny Jasik's world ends when her son dies in a car accident. It was bad enough to lose him, but when she finds out that the driver of the car was a drug dealer and was hight at the time of the accident it brings forth emotions no parent should ever have to endure.
Jenny knows that she needs to do something to help make sure her son's death wasn't for nothing, so after witnessing a drug deal occur with a group of high school students, she decides to become a specialist on a drug unit. Unfortunately this begins to affect the rest of her life, including the family that is still here. Flower shop owner to drug unit specialist, Jenny witnesses street life at it rawest. The changes she goes through are necessary for the job, but do they really make her a better person and mother?
There were many aspects that I loved about this book, but I think my favorite part was how the author depicted the emotions of all the people involved. I have been very fortunate not to have lost a close family member (yet) but I can only imagine what it must feel like, especially if it is your child. Maryann does an excellent job of portraying the range of emotions this family has to go through.
About the author:
A diverse writer of columns, feature stores, short fiction, novels,screenplays and stage plays, Maryann Miller has won numerous awards including being a semi-finalist at the Sundance Institute for her screenplay, "A Question of Honor". More recently she placed in the top 15 percent of entries in the Chesterfield Screenwriting Fellowship with the adaptation of her mystery, "Open Season"
Publishing credits include work for regional and national newspapers and magazines: Lady's Circle, Woman's World, Marriage and Family Living, Plano Magazine, The Children's World, Byline, The Texas Catholic Newspaper. She has published nine non-fiction books for teens, including the award-winning Coping With Weapons and Violence : In Your School and on Your Streets released by The Rosen Publishing Group in New York. Shehas a short story in the All About Muse anthology, The Holiday Mixer. Her novel, One Small Victory, was a hardback release from Five Star Publishing in June 2008, and Play it Again, Sam, is a July 2008 release from Uncial Press in e-book formats.
She is currently the Managing Editor and writer for an online community magazine, WinnsboroToday.com, and does book reviews for ForeWord Magazine and two online review sites, BloggerNews.net and Curled Up With a Good Book. She also does freelance editing. Other experience includes extensive work as a PR consultant, a script doctor, and a freelanceeditor. She has been writing all her life and plans to die at her computer.
Until then, Miller stays active in a number of organizations including Sisters In Crime, The Trails Country Centre For The Arts in Winnsboro, Texas, and was a founder of The Greater Dallas Writers' Association.
She makes her home in the beautiful Piney Woods of East Texas where she happily plays farmer. She has a horse, two goats, three cats, and two dogs. She shares these critters and five acres with her husband and an armadillo that visits frequently. You can visit her website at www.maryannwrites.com
ONE SMALL VICTORY VIRTUAL BOOK TOUR '08 will officially begin on September 2, '08 and end on September 26, '08. You can visit Maryann's tour stops at www.virtualbooktours.wordpress.com in September to find out more about her and her new book!
As a special promotion for all our authors, Pump Up Your Book Promotion is giving away a FREE virtual book tour to a published author with a recent release or a $50 Amazon gift certificate to those not published who comments on our authors' blog stops. More prizes will be announced as they become available. The winner will be announced on our main blog at www.pumpupyourbookpromotion.wordpress.com on September 26!This virtual book tour is being brought to you by Pump Up Your Book Promotion and choreographed by Jaime McDougall
0 comments:
Post a Comment