1929 (Book One Jonathan's Cross) [Kindle Edition]

M.L. Gardner (Author)

Book Description

Jonathan Garrett has just lost everything. He and his two best friends were operating one of the top brokerages in New York City until the stock market crash of '29. With nothing but the clothes on their backs, these men must start over. Renting a shabby apartment from a business rival with his eye on tormenting Jonathan, they begin to rebuild as best they can. Their wives struggle to make the best of their situations, each coping in her own way. They begin to make friendships that promise to last a lifetime. As the jobs become fewer and danger is at their backs, the stakes get higher for these men to find a way out. Their current poverty, their respective pasts, and their own struggles all threaten to ruin them. With hope, close friends, and a lucky twist of fate, they escape the city just in time. They return to their hometown of Rockport Massachusetts to begin a new life. Living modestly, and faring better than the friends they left behind in the city, they begin to think things are taking a turn for the better. But tragedy is never far behind...

The book is the first in a trilogy by author M.L. Gardner and promises to be the must read book for historical fiction fans everywhere.
Irish character accents in this book are intentional. They are not typos.

Product Details

• File Size: 795 KB
• Print Length: 581 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B005C1N24I
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,412 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Historical Fiction January 24, 2012

By C. Hooper

Format:Kindle Edition

When I agreed to review Jonathon's Cross, I didn't realize it was the first of a series. On the whole, I enjoyed the book but I found the ending to be very unsatisfactory. I am assuming that is because it is a series, so if you plan to read them all you might not mind the ending.

This is a story of friendship above all else. The bonds between three young couples (and various other characters like the maid) are tested during the stockmarket crash and the early days of the depression. The characters are well drawn and have depth while still maintaining specific and somewhat stereotypical personalities. There is the narcissistic self absorbed wife, the all around good guy who stays upbeat and gives his all, the salt of the earth Irish maid that speaks her mind, a villian who is always lurking hoping to cause harm and mayhem and many other colorful characters. Even though this won't be one of my all time favorite books, I find myself days after finishing it with some of them still lingering in my thoughts.

The book held my interest, I enjoyed the historical aspects and liked most of the characters. It was well written, but yet I don't feel compelled to read the next in the series.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very Nice story April 25, 2012

By P Stump

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Got it free as are all books I read. This was just a story about people (it could have been anyone), and follows their lives throughout a span of time during the depression years. Is it realistic as to the depression, I couldn't say, I was not even born then. Perhaps some things are a bit predictable, but who cares? books don't always need a major plot, or depth to the characters, some are just stories. I enjoyed the book and didn't bother to pick it apart, whether or not it was well written, had a plot, or if it had "cheesy characters" just didn't matter to me. I think some people don't know how to just read a story and enjoy it for it's own sake. I am truly looking forward to the next book.
And, no I am NOT related to, nor do I know the author. Some commentors seem to think anyone who gave this book 5 stars must be related to the author.

33 of 42 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Some of the most poorly written characters I've ever read July 28, 2012

By contrafiora

Format:Kindle Edition

The author completely failed to create believable characters. Some character "traits" were mentioned in one random sentence, then never mentioned again in the entire book, making it very difficult to understand the character or get a full picture of their inner workings. Their motivations were poorly described, if described at all, and this made it very difficult to relate to the characters, let alone sympathize with them! The characters felt very whiny, weak, and trite. If the author had spent more time at the beginning of the book painting a more elaborate and descriptive picture of what their rich lives were like and then had written more thorough and horrifying descriptions of what the tenements were like, then maybe the characters would not have felt that way. As it is, their life in the tenements doesn't sound that bad, especially since the characters managed to bring so many of their fancy, rich items along with them, like the wooden radio.

The author didn't follow the elementary writing rule of "Show, don't tell!" Showing the audience instead of simply telling them that it's so makes the descriptions feel credible and authoritative. The author's descriptions felt neither credible nor authoritative; they felt much more bland, contrived, haphazard, and arbitrary. The descriptions were almost never elaborated upon or reinforced in subsequent scenes. In fact, there were several descriptions that felt almost contradictory to previous ones! This completely prevented the story from feeling put-together and polished.

There were also a lot of anachronisms, especially in the vocabulary used by the characters, but also in the ideas and a few times in the items used by the characters. This was a major obstacle in making the story feel authentic.

It felt like the book was a first draft written by the seat of the author's pants and was never refined or pruned. The sequence of events felt forced and random; events rarely (if ever) impacted other events or flowed purposefully from one to another. Since the characters and their motivations were so sparingly described, I very often found myself mentally yelling at the characters, "Why, why, WHY are you doing something so pointless, random, and stupid YET AGAIN?!" I was constantly distracted by the weak characters and the lame descriptions, which is a terrible shame because I know there is a wonderful story in there just waiting to be written. Unfortunately, this is definitely not it. I had to force myself to keep reading in hopes that it would get better, but it didn't. I would not recommend this book.

More About the Author

M.L. Gardner is an American author currently living in Northern Utah after spending a decade in the Pacific Northwest. Having grown up a Navy brat, she's lived everywhere and considers no one place home. She collects cats and dreams of opening a no kill shelter in her backyard where she can be surrounded by her feline friends all the time, despite their love of sitting on her keyboard.
She is married with three kids and four cats.
Her first novel, 1929 (Book One Jonathan's Cross) was released in 2009. The second book in the series, 1930 (Book Two Aryl's Divide) was released April 18th, 2013. She has also published Simply Mine under the pen name Jane Carrington and is currently merging those names for simplicity.
Works currently in progress include a version of Simply Mine from Jake's point of view, 1931 (Book Three Caleb's Err) and Drifter.
She writes full time, living on cheese and Bing energy drinks.