TILLY IN TECHNICLOR.....AN EXCEPTIONAL, UNLIKELY DUO, IN LOVE AMID AMID EUROPE'S WONDROUS CITIES...(*****)

 Tilly In Technicolor by Mazey Eddings

             Technicolor may serve as an apt description for this mega-sweet romance between two neurodiverse teens who fall head over heels for each other.  It's such an unabashed feel-good experience to read, I felt like I'd found my way into a good old-fashioned, classic Hollywood love story, filmed in gorgeous color across every spectacular scenic city in Europe.

 
          And from the first chapter on, I found myself surrendering to the practically fairy-tale nature of what unfolds.   You just can't help falling for (and rooting for) this adorable pair. How could you not?They've endured a lifetime of living with and coping with the fact that their brains are wired differently from those around them, leading to no end of misunderstandings and hurtful experiences.   

            Tilly Twomley's ADHD keeps her mind racing at maximum speed in multiple directions while Oliver's Clark's autism makes human interaction a daunting challenge for him.   So naturally their 'meet cute' as fellow passengers on a flight to London goes comically awry.  And to their further displeasure, they discover they'll spend the summer together as interns for the fledgling nail polish line started by Tilly's older sister Mona and her partner Amina.....with Tilly serving as a hand model for photos by Oliver, who's a gifted student of colors and designs.

             When these four make their way across Europe to generate more business for the start-up, those inevitable romantic sparks start to crackle for Tilly and Oliver. As they begin to discover their similarities and anxieties in the way they see the world (and deal with it) a tentative connection between them slowly blossoms  And I can tell you as a reader, prepare to find your heart happily aching for them while you cheer them on every step of the way.

            Okay, maybe it rarely happens this way in real life, but it's so nice, at least while you're reading this, to believe it could - and 'Tilly In Technicolor' spins a enough enough of first love glow around you to make you believe. A quick read, but precision designed to make a reader sigh and smile all the way through it. 5 stars for sure (*****)

LOOKING GLASS SOUND.....A SUMMER OF MYSTERY AND HORROR....AS RECALLED BY UNRELIABLE AUTHORS

 Looking Glass Sound by Catriona Ward (2023)

         Like countless others, I became a lifelong fan of Catriona Ward starting with "The Last House On Needless Street".  And in her subsequent books, I loved the deep dives into lifetimes of horrific family histories, all unfolding amid landscapes both beautiful and threatening.

        "Looking Glass Sound" does indeed contain all those familiar tropes, but in the book's second half, the author takes them to a whole new ambitious level of dazzling complexity. And there's no getting around it, the literary magic show on display here demands you give every sentence your complete attention.........or you won't even begin to comprehend what's going on.

 
         I can understand why some readers grew impatient and exasperated, choosing to jump off.  But I  found myself so entranced by the book's hall-of-mirrors plotting and staggering risks. I hung on for dear life, taking the full ride.  I'm not sorry I did. 

         It begins like a traditional Stephen King-like, easy-to-digest crowd pleaser.  Three teens share a summer together at a Maine coastal town - Wilder, Nathanial and Harper, the wild child girl they're both obsessed with.  But hanging over the teens and the town is the terrifying 'Daggerman' a serial killer who also takes Polaroids of the town's children while asleep in their beds.  

          The capture and reveal of the killer reverberates for decades to come, with the publication of different books that fictionalize the three teens' life changing summer. But how much did each author bend reality to make it suit their vision of what really happened?  Are any of these accounts reliable in any way?

         (This is the point at which readers must stay glued to the pages to fully absorb the tidal wave of twists and the darkest of reveals unleashed in the final chapters.)

         Ultimately 'Looking Glass Sound' functions as a melancholic view of the power of books to offer their characters immortality in print, for better or worse......as well as a meditation on how the passage of years warp the truth of our memories, for better or worse.

 
         This book's far from a zippy horror page turner, but I found myself willing to take on the challenges it threw down and the complete upending of its narrative.  And that made it a 5 star (*****) read for me.

DEADLOCK....CORPORATE AND GLOBAL ARCHVILLIANS GET DEZ'D AND CONFUSED....(*****)

 Deadlock by James Byrne (2023)

          He's back!  And once again, civilization as we know it can sleep sounder.  Our one and only 'Dez', jack-of-all-lethal trades, soldier-of-fortune, wandering righter of wrongs is at large, in charge. (Not to mention a killer rock guitarist when called upon....)

            I speak, of course, of Desmond Aloysius Limerick, that mad, mad combination of Jason Bourse, Jack Reacher, James Bond.....and the Lucky Charms Leprechaun. Once again, the 'Gatekeeper', renowned for penetrating impregnable lairs, is confounding odious villains, both corporate and paramilitary, with his particular set of skills and his endlessly cheerful patter. 

          And once again, author James Byrne delivers one of the most purely enjoyable action-adventures you'll read all year. You won't be able to plow through the pages fast enough as Dez out-quips, outwits, outfights, outmaneuvers, and generally  outrages the array of bad guys who underestimate him. 

          This time he comes to the aid of two sisters who've stumbled into the crosshairs of Clockjack, a seemingly benevolent mega-corporation started by a quartet of high tech nerds. But Clockjack's been hijacked by a totally bonkers mastermind and his small army of hardcore mercenaries.  And they've found a way to spring and recruit the world's worst scumbags out of Witness Protection. Their mission -  assassinations for hire to upend the world order while they rule from their own private kingdom in Africa.  Well.....with Dez on the case and in their face....good luck with that. 

           Fools that they are, they take Dez's non-stop gift-of-gab as a joke, but we the readers can only chuckle along, since we know the Wrath Of Dez will come down on them in all sorts of fascinating, violent ways........guaranteed to leave the corporate slime and their heavily armed commandos....uh.....properly Dez'd & Confused. 

          I'm pretty sure you can tell by now that I loved this book to pieces and only sighed aloud after I finished it, bemoaning how long I'd have to wait before Dez's next adventure comes out.  Without any doubt a 5 star(*****)  'don't miss' for any action-adventure lover.....and not nearly enough books like this to give you such a non-stop blast of fun.