Customer Reviews

One Small Victory (Five Star Expressions)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Young Michael Jasik is killed in a car accident at the hands of his drug abusing friend, Brad Brennan. His mother, Jenny, a single mom, is destroyed by the news. When she learns that her son's death was influenced by Brad's drug addiction, she has to take action. She storms into the local police station and demands to be put on the undercover drug enforcement task force that she heard about on the news. Police Lieutenant Steve Morrity is leading the task force. While civilians aren't typically involved in this type of police work, Morrity knows Jenny will take action on her own if she isn't selected. So, after a grueling physical test, Jenny passes and becomes an undercover informant. She is forced to hide this from her two surviving children, Scott and Alicia. They notice a change in her behavior and contact their father, who has never really been a part of their lives. Jenny risks her life, and the custody of her children for this mission. I commend Jenny's character for her strength, and the fearless acts she performed in an effort to bring down a big time drug pusher. ONE SMALL VICTORY is an amazing, heart pounding, emotional tale about one mother's love of her children, and the steps she takes to protect them from harm.

I usually stick to pure romance novels or romantic suspense. This book didn't fall into either category but it was a free read so I gave it a try. This story grabbed me from the beginning. A mom looses her teenage son in a car crash where he was a passenger and the driver a friend who was using drugs. While the mom is taking care of the other children she discovers how big the drug problem has become in the area and schools so she takes a step to help police find the sources of the drugs. The whole story just seemed very real. Her other children's reaction to her being out more, her ex husband (who was an absentee father), her friends , etc., all seemed to factor in to the decisions she made. That is something a very real mom would do. It all just came together nicely. Since I love romance I would have liked to see a bit more there, but it just wasn't necessary for this story.

In Texas teenager Brad Brennan was driving too fast high on drugs when he crashed; he killed his passenger Mike Jasik and he was nearly dead in the hospital. Mike's single mom flower shop owner Jenny is stunned to learn Brad was deriving high on dope though Mike was clean but dead.

When her fifteen years old other son Scot informs her that drugs are easy to obtain, she decides to take action. She informs Police Lieutenant Steve Morrity she needs to join the undercover drug task force. His superior Chief Gonzales agrees if she passes the physical test. Steve commiserates with the grieving mom and lies to his superior that she did pass the test. The rules are simple: no one is to know what she is doing including her two surviving children, her best friend or her canine. Her son and her daughter Alicia notice her acting strange and they inform their dad, who threatens a custody suit although he never showed an interest in their kids. Still she needs to bring down the Main Man if she is to sleep at night even though that places her in danger.

ONE SMALL VICTORY is an engrossing suspense thriller with a hint of romance that is intelligently kept very minimal and mostly off page futuristically possible. Obsessed Jenny makes the story line work as she must do what she does in order to stop drug trafficking at least in her small town. Fans will appreciate her courage and fixation while also wanting to scream at her that she has two other kids. Maryann Miller showcases how difficult it is to win the over three decade war on drugs on a macro scale, but individuals can help secure small local victories; albeit not necessarily by going undercover.

Harriet Klausner

Author Maryann Miller introducs us to Jenny Jasik who loses her teen son Michael in drug related fatal car crash. She has 2 remaining children and a distant ex-husband who are all also greiving. She becomes interested in helping to get the drug dealers away from her neighborhood. Only problem is, as a confidential informant she cannot share this role on the drug task force with anyone-friends or family. This results in Jenny's family and friends speculating all types of things she has gotten involved in. The last half of the book goes very fast. My only wish was that ending was not so predictable. There were not any big surprises with this suspense novel.ONE SMALL VICTORY

Whether you are a parent yourself or just the product of parents, you will understand the depths of this mother's despair after hearing the worst news a parent can receive: your child is dead. Starting the novel with such news grabs the reader by the throat and does not let go. As the story develops, Jenny begins a crusade to avenge her son's needless death by interrupting the local illegal drug trade by posing as an undercover agent of the local drug task force. Although it seems unbelievable that a civilian could join a local police drug task force, Ms. Miller asks us to suspend our disbelief and allow Jenny to engage in this necessary trial to effectively grieve for her lost son. This novel captures all of the emotions of grief: despair, rage, helplessness and finally acceptance. The story affords a sense of justice. The reader can only applaud Jenny's one small victory in the name of her son.

One thing that I am constantly annoyed with when I read books is the utter lack of reality. People curse. A lot. People are selfish and the world is not broken down in clear shades of black and white. Too many novels play against these aspects of reality by censoring the language or having an ending that are so contrived that there was no point in introducing a conflict at all. This is not one of those books.

Rather than boring you with a summary of the novel, I am going to focus only on my opinions of the work.

In "One Small Victory", author Maryann Miller introduces us to a riveting world of gritty reality. The focus is not placed, as would be the trapping of an amateur writer, on the grief of the mother but instead on her work with the drug task force and how it helps her to continue her life. The elements of romance were sprinkled expertly throughout the novel, without overindulging. The pacing continually keeps the reader engaged, again without employing amateur tropes of intense violence or shocking twists that seem to coincidentally occur at just the right time to keep the reader interested. In this, Miller departs from the box-like qualities of the suspense genre, instead creating her own sub-genre much in the same way Russian playwright Chekhov does in "Cherry Orchard." There are elements of the old, easily repeatable suspense genre that can be seen in the writing, but this novel transcends these flat elements. The writing is allowed to speak for itself, the conflict derives from the reality of the situation and not from a convention that the author chose to impose on the story she was trying to tell. I appreciated the ego-less way that Miller crafts this story, removing herself as an omnipotent writer from the equation and simply letting her character live their life.

There are some necessary times when the reader must suspend disbelief, but we are willing to walk through those doors because Miller does such an excellent job creating the world around those minor instances.

A book worth reader. Worth a second reading.

I enjoyed the author's command of characterization and her almost seamless conversational stylings. The characters become real through the dialog, and I found myself caught up in the storyline, despite the sometimes implausible exchanges between Jenny and the drug-dealers. As I read about Jenny's forays into the drug world as an 'undercover mom', I couldn't help but think simultaneously: 'Wow, you are incredibly stupid to put yourself and your remaining family at risk!' and: 'What a courageous and selfless woman!' And to think that this story was based on true events! Wonder if the real life woman read the book, and if so, what she thought of One Small Victory....

It was an exciting read, with enough romance to entice, but not detract/upstage the main storyline. Well-balanced, consistent, very intelligent writing.

I admit to wanting something more from Jenny at the end, but while it was predictable, it also sufficed. Really, after all that had occured, what else was there for Jenny to do or say? Perhaps that was the author's intent, to create within the reader dull ache for 'something more'...If so, mission accomplished!

I didn't want to like this as much as I did, as the plot preview made it seem like it would be depressing. It was not, however, as the book focuses on her work with the drug task force rather than focusing on her grief.

The story was well-paced and very suspenseful. I gave it 4 instead of 5 stars because it just seems too unreal that a civilian would be allowed to do all that she does. Even so, I liked it. I like the characters. I want a sequel. Maybe a movie?

The tragic death of her son, Michael propells Jenny Jasik deep into the world of drug dealers in Maryann Miller's ONE SMALL VICTORY. This is something she must do to protect her other two children from the streets.

A change in personality, manner of dress, and evenings out on the streets creates havoc in her personal life. Her children resent her absence from their lives, her mother is confused, her best female friend is demanding answers, while her employees are puzzeled as from loyality they continue their support. Jenny is haunted by flustration as she cannot take them into her confidence. This is a page turner with a straight plot, but after once battling her way into a police investigation as a private informant there is no turning back for Jenny.

Excellent read, with an unexpected romance.

Nash Black, author of SANDPRINTS OF DEATH

A son gets killrd in a car accident. Drugs were found and the mom goes undercover to put a stop to the drug deals. This was a very fast moving book. It was hard to put it down.