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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Explosive Book, January 31, 2008
This review is from: The Socorro Blast: A Sasha Solomon Mystery (Sasha Solomon Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Roving PR expert Sasha Solomon's next client is the New Mexico town of Socorro. She's looking forward to spending a few days there getting a feel for the area and meeting the locals to prepare her proposal. Even better, her favorite niece, Gabi, is in the area, and Sasha is planning to spend some time visiting her. Unfortunately, her trip gets a much earlier start then she had planned. She's awakened in the middle of the night by a call telling her that Gabi was injured when a pipe bomb went off in her mailbox. Naturally, Sasha rushes to be by her side. Sasha is relieved to discover the police are already on the case when she arrives. However, Gabi starts lying to them about what happened to her. What is she covering? Given Gabi's mixed Jewish and Iranian heritage, Sasha begins to worry that the police will view her more as a suspect then the victim, so she sets out to find the bomber herself. Adding to the mix, Sasha's sister and older niece arrive and make a tense situation even worse. And, of course, Sasha still needs to finish her proposal. Can she defuse the situation and meet her deadlines? Spending time with Sasha is always a pleasure, and this book is no exception. She's an interesting character with more flaws then many heroes, but that makes her all the more appealing. And she is strong. Once again, the plot included several good twists along the way. It did tend to get mired down in the family drama at times, although the family drama added an interesting new thread to the book. Still, the ending felt a little rushed. The writing is wonderful as always, with the occasional sentences that really catch your eye. While the book reads just fine as a mystery, there are some deeper themes to the adventure. The book never gets preachy, but allows the reader to think about things from another angle. Whether you are looking for something deep or not, this is a fun, confusing mystery that will entertain.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A lot going on in this book, April 12, 2008
This review is from: The Socorro Blast: A Sasha Solomon Mystery (Sasha Solomon Mysteries) (Hardcover)
While writers are encouraged to write about what they know, it doesn't always work. Pari Noskin Taichert's protagonist, Sasha Solomon is a freelance public relations specialist. This secondary plot line gets in the way of what could be a great read in Noskin Taichert's third Sasha Solomon mystery, The Socorro Blast. Sasha's niece, Gabriela Shofet, is the picture of pure innocence, lying in her hospital bad, after her hand is almost blown off when someone put a bomb in her mailbox. Sasha soon learns, however, that appearances are deceiving. Gabi is involved with a married man and experimenting with new explosion technologies. Not only that, Sasha can't get the right answers from the dreary Detective Sanchez. She feels like he's holding back-and it's something very important. To make matters worse, Sasha is juggling more than Gabi's accident. Sasha is also trying to conduct a PR plan for the region and keep her freelance income going strong, in the midst of breaking up with her boyfriend, Peter, and bracing for the arrival of Gabi's sister and mother, who are about as low key as Sasha. Things get even worse when Sasha visits Gabi's shabby home and finds it defaced with graffiti. Still, the police won't talk, so Sasha feels she must move in and use her amateur sleuthing skills to find out exactly what's going happening. Unlike Noskin Taichert's other two books, The Socorro Blast, moves from cozy to suspense, tilting on the edge of the thriller. Like the first two books, there is too much going on. The use of PR as a vehicle to move Sasha around New Mexico didn't work for me. Neither did the carefully worked metaphors and similes. Noskin Taichert left not a one that didn't feel "labored over." Although The Socorro Blast is a stand-alone novel, it relies too heavily on information that I have forgotten about from the first two novels. If the PR plot goes away, I might consider picking up future Sasha Solomon mysteries, but truth be told, these problems mean I might review a free book, but would never buy them. Armchair Interview says: Consider this reviewer's comments.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Blast through New Mexico with Sasha, February 2, 2008
This review is from: The Socorro Blast: A Sasha Solomon Mystery (Sasha Solomon Mysteries) (Hardcover)
Ms. Taichert is a two-time Agatha Award nominee and her Sasha Solomon, the humorous star of the Blast, is genuinely appealing and engaging. In the Socorro Blast, Sasha's niece Gabi is the victim of an explosion, putting Sasha in the middle of a crime as well as complicated family dynamics. Is it a pipe bomb? A hate crime due to Iranian connections? Then again, Gabi is involved in explosives technology herself, making the crime pretty ironic. On the way, a shot into the mouth from the whipped cream can and sights, sounds, smells and tastes of New Mexico put you right into the action, solving the mystery and getting into trouble along with Sasha. Her family, friends, cat, boyfriend, ghosts and the local police department don't make it any easier... I don't want to give anything away, so Blast yourself and enjoy.
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