Freakish Friday

Hello My Fellow Book Dragons, welcome to another Freakish Friday. This week’s Gem is a Daisy, literally. It’s made of some rare crystals. Carved diamond like stones with a perfect yellow center. They catch the light and reflect it back. I cannot let you hold this one, deadly you know. Oh, they lure you in, you want to hold them and turn them to watch how they make the light dance on the surfaces around you, but all the while a slow poison is doing it’s work. This is Gem Maker Hazel Dee Smith’s “The Circle of Eden”. And as everyone knows – You do NOT break the Circle.

Imagine you are young, in this case, early 1980’s. You have been charged with taking your teenage sibling to a music festival. Only for a day. No worries, no trouble, he’s a good lad. You go, listen to your favorite bands, and then suddenly you wake up and you have no idea where you are, how you got there nor where your little brother is. This is the opening to “The Circle of Eden”.

Now jump forward 40 years give or take and your son is not much older than you were back then. You bang heads because your too different or is it too much alike? He has a bit of wanderlust since graduation. He stops by and after yet another argument, he leaves. You are fuming, your spouse is angry, hurt and crying. Typical. Days go by and he’s not called. You aren’t too worried. Your spouse is frantic. And then you get news, he’s missing. Is he kidnapped, dead or has he committed a crime, an awful crime?

I loved this book. Ms. Smith has done a fabulous job of dancing round the Maypole and taking me along with her. I was engrossed from the get go. I wanted to know more about “Ant”, the older brother. I wanted deeply to know what happened to his brother on that summer’s day, but I had to wait, because…well this is a British Mystery and no good mystery, let alone a British one gives everything away right away. This one kept the pace going perfectly. The right characters were likeable enough, and if not likeable, certainly understandable. The right characters were also UN-likeable. Sometimes I love a clear good guy and bad guy. I have needed that badly of late.

The freakish part in this tale is an organization called “The Circle of Eden”. Supposedly an Environmental Group, heavy on the Mental. A cultish leader, Moses wields political and economic power through blackmail, threats and physical violence. He has secrets, too. How does he ties in with Ant? If you love intrigue, a good mystery, and good guys vs. bad guys, this story is for you. If you believe history needs saving this one is for you, too.

Available now on Amazon, it is free on KU for a limited time and the paperback, put together very impressively I must say, is available for a very reasonable price. Treat yourself today.

Until tomorrow I remain your humble Book Dragon,

Drakon T. Longwitten

I received a review copy of this novel at my request from the author. My opinion is my own.