BOOK REVIEW : Hidden Agenda by Peter Berman

Hidden Agenda
by Peter Berman

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book reviewed by Michelle Randall for +Readers' Favorite .

A year after his wife's death, Jeremy Hart, from the DA's office, is attending a fund raising gala at the advice of his therapist. She wants him to talk to at least two single women, when he spots Claire Carlton, he is smitten, after an innocent dance he finds she is married and she will later pay the price at the hands of her husband for the dance. Hidden Agenda follows Claire and Jeremy as they talk, becoming friends and then lovers. Claire wants to leave her husband, but Peter is not a man you walk away from, so they talk about it but you can tell it will never happen. One night Peter is shot in his driveway, and Jeremy is arrested for the murder, but did he do it? Or is he being framed? Author Peter S. Berman introduces us then to Ulysses and Jennifer, the Detectives on the case and what they find or don't find. All the while, there are side vignettes of a stranger that is attacking women. How does that tie into this investigation?

Peter S. Berman does a wonderful job, breaking the book in three main sections, one about each duo of characters as it might be, and telling what is happening from their perspectives. The beginning of the story is all about Claire and Jeremy, the middle is all about Ulysses and Jennifer and the last about another. Hidden Agenda is aptly named in more that one way, as there is more than one hidden agenda going on in the book! As you go through reading you find so many people doing things, just under the surface to right a wrong that the system failed them on in the past. Now that is not an endorsement of doling out justice, but it makes an amazing and captivating story for all readers.

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No Tears For My Father by Viga Boland BOOK REVIEW

No Tears For My Father 
by Viga Boland

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Reviewed for +Readers' Favorite .

No Tears For My Father is a non-ficton book, and that being said there are some readers that can not handle the subject matter of the book. Viga Boland recounts her life with an abusive father, not only physically but sexually as well. She does not sugar coat the truth, but she does not get graphic just to sell books either. She walks a very fine line between the truth and reality, and she does so very well. This book follows her from her earliest memories until she writes this book, with most of the coverage being during the time she lived with her parents and underwent the abuse.

No Tears For My Father is a wonderful book for the healing of those that have experienced abuse at the hands of a parent. By writing this book, Viga Boland has set the record straight on her own history and freed herself from her father's grasp. By reading her words, other survivors can heal and realize that they are not alone, that others have went through the same things and survived. It is even good for those going through it currently, in that it gives them the hope to get out. For those readers who have never experienced the abuse, reading this book can help to give them insight into what goes on and how difficult it is for someone to get out. This is a courageous book and one that, as a reader I am thankful the author took the time to write.

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