Review for Docket No. 76 by Arita M. L. Bohannan

Docket No. 76 is a legal thriller that is surprisingly packed with vivid details, suspense, action and drama, all in a package of less than 200 pages.  Most stories don't reach this level of completeness even after twice and sometimes three times as many pages.

Little Dori has been brutally attacked in the home of her godfather, a well to do architect in New Orleans.  He is quickly cleared as a suspect and the hunt goes on for the attacker.  Once found, it's the job of ADA Sandy Morgan to bring him to justice.

Docket No. 76 is this case.  It's just a number, just one file in the many that come across her desk every day.  It's supposed to be an open and shut case.  They have fingerprints, DNA and the eyewitness testimony of little 5 year old Dori.  Little does Sandy know that her worst nightmare is going to walk into that courtroom.  One way or another, she has vowed to get justice for Dori.  But will it be justice or vengeance?

The details are striking and vivid, you get a clear picture of every character and the setting.  The action is fast paced and while you already know who did it, it's the how will he be brought to justice that has you racing through the pages.  The courtroom scenes are gut-wrenching and nearly brought tears to my eyes.

There were a few loose ends that never got tied up, but even that really didn't detract from the story.  An engaging story and one that I'm definitely glad that I picked up.  I typically don't go for shorter books, but in this case, I'm very happy that I did.

Review for 50 Halfs from First to Last by Brian Baleno

50 Halfs from First to Last follows the author through his first half marathon and his decision to run one race in each of the 50 states.  He had a little tale or story for many of the races. 

I wish he would have included a story for each of the 50 states, there were many gaps between the races.  I also wish they could have been a little longer and went into more detail about the races, how he chose them, the terrain, the race itself, the participants and the points of interest along the route.  Many of the stories were little more than when he arrived, what his timing was and a very little detail about where he was.  Each one left me wanting just a little more.

Many of the pictures were beautiful, but had little to no contextual clues along with them.

There were several pictures that seemed to have been cropped or attacked with the eraser function in MS Paint which led to the pictures being more of a distraction than a compliment to the story.  I'm sure this was done either due to copyright issues or because they did not have permission to publish the likeness of someone else who happened to be in the picture.

I don't want to take anything away from this amazing accomplishment, because it is absolutely amazing.  He had an opportunity that very few people will ever have in their lifetime and he also recognized that he may never again have the opportunity to see most of those states in his lifetime.  With that in mind, I guess I wished for a more vivid picture of what he went through during that two and a half year journey.

50 Halfs from First to Last on Amazon