BooksForABuck.com source for free and affordable eBooks



Search
Booksforabuck

Powered by FreeFind


Site search
Web search

    Review of HIGH PRIESTESS by David Skibbins (see his website)

    A TAROT CARD MYSTERY

    Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin's Minotaur, April 2006

    Warren Ritter (formerly Richard) has been on the run since escaping an explosion and leaving the Weather Underground. He's gradually creating a life for himself as a tarot card reader in Berkley, California, but his past catches up with him when Edward, brother of Warren's Weatherman girlfriend, Veronique, and now head of the local Church of Satan, catches up with him. Edward is frightened. Someone is murdering the leaders of his church--and he wants Warren, who recently solved another murder, to help. Saying no isn't easy--both because Edward has the power to destroy Warren's carefully constructed life and because Warren still has feelings for Veronique.

    With the help of his computer-hacker girlfriend, Warren develops a suspect list. A minister at a fundamentalist church, the owner of a shop specializing in Angel merchandise, and a Japanese student who happens to be related to senior leaders of the Japanese Mafia. None of these women are easy to go after, but when someone shoots at Veronique while she and Warren are coming from dinner, he knows he's got to solve the case--even if his girlfriend ditches him.

    When he's not working on the case, Warren deals with his own issues--manic-depressive disease, the recent discovery that he's not only a father, he's a grandfather, and his continued guilt for his involvement with the Weather Underground--and the abrupt end to that involvement.

    Author David Skibbins does a great job with the character of Warren Ritter. He's interesting, conflicted, and complex. His writing is solid and workmanlike, keeping the reader involved in the story and trying to untangle the clues. Skibbins's use of tarot cards to foreshadow the plot is an effective technique. HIGH PRIESTESS is definitely worth the read--and I'll keep my eyes open for more mysteries by Skibbins.

    Three Stars

    Reviewed 8/20/06

    Ready to buy it now? Click the buy now button.

    Visit Amazon.com to read more reviews or to purchase HIGH PRIESTESS from Amazon.com

    Rather buy it from Barnes and Noble?
    Click this link for HIGH PRIESTESS from Barnes & Noble.com

    What do you think? Too generous? Too stingy? Or did I miss the entire point? Send your comments to publisher@booksforabuck.com. Give me the okay to use your name and I'll publish all the comments that fit (and don't use unprintable language).

    Check out the Alexa toolbar. It blocks pop-ups (you get to choose), it's free, and it tells you about what websites are popular and who owns them.