Customer Reviews

Tremolo: cry of the loon

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It has been my pleasure to take part in a "virtual" or online book tour for the book, Tremolo: Cry of the Loon, a book written by Aaron Paul Lazar.

This novel set off powerful waves of memories and pure, unabased nostalgia in me, taking me back to a time when the Beatles were popular. There was even a term for it - Beatlemania. It was in full swing and John Kennedy and Martin Luther King were well-known as well. In those days, children spent summers outside, not in front of video games.TV? Four channels, at best, and one of those was a budding PBS station, another usually a local channel.

The power and importance of spending time outside is not a minor theme in this book but a major factor. I think nature is almost like another character here, multi-faceted, haunting. Those sections that described life outdoors renewed my desire to take the family camping and to enjoy simpler pleasures, those that are all around us, from a misty morning to the glare of sun on a bright patch of snow. Good timing, too, because it looks like me might be heading into a recession...but I digress.

At the heart of this book is a missing girl, the mystery surrounding her disappearance and young Gus, turning from child to man, coming of age during one memorable summer at a lakeside camp in Maine. From the first sentence in Chapter One: "We're not gonna make it" to the closing lines I felt swept into this book and wanted to know what would happen next.

I was captured by the main story, that lost girl and the three children (Gus and his friends, Sigfried and Elsbeth) who try to find out what happened to her. Along the way, mysterious guests arrive, ominous men appear and Gus has to deal with real danger as well as the inevitable turbulence of adolescence, from those first stirrings of love to the odd feelings he has about changes in his family.

One of the hardest jobs as a reviewer is trying to give a sense of the style and power of a book. In Tremolo, I'll note that several things grabbed my attention; the mystery at the heart of the book and also the strong sense of time, the details about a particular time in history. I also loved the personality of Gus as well as the way Mr. Lazar intersperses some very real events in his own life with those that are fictional. For example, there is one scene with a bat...that really did happen to Mr. Lazar when he was a boy.

In many ways, this book came about - and is a testimony - to Mr. Lazar's father. This makes it particularly special for me. It is impossible to read the Preface to this book and learn about the incredible man who was Mr. Lazar's father without feeling his spirit in many parts of the book, from an incident when that bat gets into the house,causing chaos, to sections covering racism, a first viewing of To Kill a Mockingbird and other scenes that paralleled Mr. Lazar's upbringing and childhood.

At the same time, this is not a memoir, not in the sense that every event described actually happened in "real" life. If you lived through the '60s, you won't be able to help feeling nostalgic, though. The icing on the cake is the suspense and mystery in the book, backed up by one boys' take on the whole situaton.

I urge you to visit the author's website at :

www.legardemysteries.com

and also to visit the author interview to get a fuller look at the author's life and writing habits and suggestions. Most of all, I urge you to read this nicely crafted book and discover a promising voice whose mystery series and books are worth savoring.Tremolo: cry of the loon

Set in 1964, in the Belgrade Lakes of Maine, Aaron Paul Lazar's novel "Tremolo, Cry of the Loon" presented one mystery after another begging to be solved and kept me turning pages to the very end to see who the guilty person or persons were.

At the tender age of eleven, Gus LeGarde has a lot to deal with. First, when Gus and his friends, Elsbeth and Siegfried, wreck their small boat, they manage to swim to shore, but as they make their way through the trees to Gus's grandparents' fishing camp where Gus and his family are spending the summer, they almost collide with a young girl. She's bleeding and frightened and running from a drunken man. Who is the girl the man calls Sharon? Why is he after her? Gus worries about Sharon and wants to help her, so he tells the authorities, but they give little credit to the young boy.

Second, who is the mysterious woman staying in Cabin Fifteen? Everyone is hush, hush about her, and all Gus knows is that she is old, has a cat, and recently lost a family member. She also has "guardians" who live in the cabin next to her, which means she's probably someone important.

Third, while authorities search for Sharon, valuable religious artifacts are stolen: a bell cast by Paul Revere and a rare marble statue of the Virgin Mary, along with other priceless objects. Is there a connection between Sharon's disappearance and the theft of the artifacts?

When Gus and his friends get too close to the truth, their lives become endangered. Will they rescue the missing girl, or will their fate be the same as hers, whatever that might be? If you're a child of the '60s, you'll remember the thirty-three rpm records, the movie "To Kill a Mockingbird," the Beatles, and five-cent sodas. If you're not a child of the '60s, you'll enjoy the twists and turns and surprises in this breathtaking mystery.

Beautiful imagery and touches of nostalgia make this a must read for all ages. You'll be glad you read it.

Against the idyllic backdrop of the Belgrade Lakes, a crime is committed and young Gus LeGarde sets out to hunt out the truth...

It's the summer of 1964, Maine, and 11-year old Gus and two best friends are staying with their families on the camping grounds of the Belgrade Lakes, enjoying all the things the place has to offer -- swimming, boating, hiking.

But the kids' fun abruptly comes to a halt. One particularly foggy evening, as the kids barely manage to get back to the shore from the lake, they witness a scene their innocent minds aren't prepared for: a young girl, running, afraid, and a mean-looking drunk man chasing after her until they both disappear in the misty woods.

It is then that the hunt for the little girl named Sharon begins. Who was the man after her? Did he kill her? If he did, where is her body? Is she still hiding in the woods, scared to death of being discovered by her tormentor? At the risk of his own life, Gus refuses to let the investigation solely to the authorities and decides to take matter into his own hands and find out the truth.

Tremolo is a beautifully written coming-of-age story about a young boy's awakening to love and the cruelty and reality of the real world. Refusing to believe that such a heinous crime could be commited against an innocent child, Gus insists she must still be alive in the woods and thus leaves her food for her to eat. Indeed, someone is eating this food, but we don't know who this person is.

Lazar's lyrical prose sparkles with clarity and is very evoking at times, bringing to life the beauty of the setting and the genuinity of the characters. The writing is beautiful in its simplicity and some of the images stay in the reader's mind for a long time. Consider this passage, when Gus stumbles into the running girl for the first time:

"Sharon!" a man's voice roared. "Sharon, where are you?"

The girl collided with me. Staring with huge eyes, she covered a trickle of blood in the corner of her mouth. She trembled and breathed hard, silhouetted by the eerie glow of the light, clutching her torn blouse where two buttons were missing. Her palpable terror raised goose bumbs on my arms.

Before we could speak, she panicked and hopped off the trail into the woods.

A flicker of fear passed through me.

This book is the prequel to Double Forte, which features an older Gus LeGarde. Lazar has done an excellent job creating the voice of this 11-year old protagonist. Gus' thoughts and interactions with his friends are quite realistic for his age. Here we have a protagonist who is smart, perceptive and brave, but also innocent and sadly hopeful. The pages of Tremolo vibrate with suspense and quiet melancholy.

Open the pages of this great story and you'll find yourself stepping back in time to the childhood of the hero of the LeGarde mysteries by the very talented author Aaron Pau Lazar. The setting has all the earmarks of being real and pulls the reader nostalgically back to their own childhood with its warmth and laughter.

Three children, Gustave, Seigfried, and Elsbeth are set to enjoy another summer on the lake, but a series of events sends them off in a different direction, tinging the peaceful lakeside atmosphere with fear and mystery. A missing girl, a mysterious visitor the children are forbidden to bother, the attempted murder of Gustave and other events keep this story moving with a sense of tension that will have any reader looking over their shoulder at strange sounds after dark.

Join Gustave and his friends in their attempts to find the missing girl, and find where their conviction they've found her leads. A tightly-written tale with loads of action and adventure to keep you reading by a superb story-teller whose characters live and breathe.

A fun read with plenty of mystery and intrigue as seen through the eyes of a boy well on his way to becoming a man. If you are familiar with the adult LeGarde, you will recognize the seeds of his personality as sown here. Enjoy. I certainly did and I highly recommend this and all other books by Aaron Paul Lazar to any reader.

A summer at camp, mysterious visitors, villains lurking in the woods... all the perfect ingredients for a beautiful coming-of-age story set against an impressive and vivid nostalgic '60s backdrop. Young Gus LeGarde gives a fun and touching preview of the accidental mystery-solver he becomes as an adult in the rest of Lazar's series in Tremolo, as he and his twin best friends set out to find a lost girl and uncover far more than they ever suspected.

I adored this story, for its pace, its vivid characters, its flawless weaving of the spirit of the 60s into the narrative, and a host of reasons too numerous to list here. You will, too!

Aaron Paul Lazar is a Kodak electrophotographic engineer by day, where he commutes to Rochester, New York, and a passionate writer in the wee hours of the morning. He lives in East Groveland, NY with his wife, three daughters, two grandsons, four cats, a dog (probably a beagle), and a mother-in-law. He loves gardening; the arts; cross-country skiing; and being with his two "buddies," that is, his grandsons.

Young Gus LeGarde is an eleven year old staying at his grandparents' resort in the Belgrade lakes of Maine. He is an only child, but he has "blood bonding" with his friends, Elsbeth and Siegfried Marggrander, German-reared children a little younger than Gus. Together they get themselves into the usual scrapes of intelligent and curious children, but they are unwitting witnesses to a murder/thieving ring. They see a terrified little girl running from a man who clearly intends harm to her, and even though their families are loving and attentive, it takes a while for them to convince their parents and the local police that what they saw is crucial to the investigation of the little girl's disappearance:

"A flash of white whisked through the trees in the distance. It moved across the forest floor, flickering beneath the dense branches. I couldn't make out the shape, but it moved as a human would move. Galvanized into action, I clambered down the tree, yelling to my father and Officer Lawson. I fell from the last branch onto a clump of ferns.

'Dad! I saw her. She's over there,' I screamed. I began to run toward Sharon. Officer Lawson grabbed me by the shoulders and peered into my face.

'What did you see?' he asked firmly."

It is easy to see that Aaron Paul Lazar loves to write, as his style is lilting and beautiful. He weaves childhood memories of the lakes of Maine into a stylized whodunit that is original and breathtaking. His characters are children living in a fishing resort with a very special visitor whose presence lends an air of melancholy to an otherwise carefree environment. Lazar gives the reader an idea of what real pirates can be like as the villains, making the tale even more tempting. There is no code of honor among these thieves. A great read!

Shelley Glodowski
Senior Reviewer

Tremolo: Cry of the Loon - is a beautifully written prequel to Aaron Lazar's Gus LeGarde mystery series.


Tremolo has a terrific sense about it; it is set it Maine in 1964; it brings back nostalgia to us all - and a sense of the 60s you don't want to miss.

This is the prequel to the Gus LeGarde mystery series, with Double Forte being the first in the series. I have read both Double Forte and Tremolo; I have to say that Tremolo is a very fine read.

It will grip you from page one and not let go.


***

Excerpt: from Chapter One:

"We're not gonna make it.

I looked across the darkened lake and pulled hard on the oars in the direction of home. Feathers of fog slipped over the glassy water, whispering moist threats.

Siegfried shrugged out of his sweatshirt and handed it to his sister, who shivered in the stern of the old skiff. She tossed him an uneasy smile and put it on....

..."It's just the fog. Don't worry. I'll row to shore and we'll wait it out, okay?"

..."You'll row to shore? What shore?"

The land had vanished...

...Elspeth stiffened, staring across the bow.

"Listen."

The faint drone of a motor board purred in the distance. Motionless, we strained to hear. It grew louder, heading toward us. Siegfried's blue eyes widened in alarm.

"Schnell!" he shouted, pointing to the oars....

...A dark shape emerged from the fog and scraped against our stern. Barely avoiding a collision, he swerved away, accelerating into the mist. His passengers shrieked with laughter and the wake from their boat rocked us violently, causing our craft to skitter forward.

Without warning, a crash jolted us from our seats....

***



And from Chapter Twenty-Nine:



Officer Lawson crossed one leg over the other and leaned forward slightly, looking at me.

"Your father tells me you think you've seen Sharon in the woods, Gus. Would you be willing to show me where you saw her? Could you find the place again?

I nodded quickly, relieved that someone was finally listening.

"Yes sir. We've marked the spot. We've left food several times, and it's been gone by the next morning. "

He nodded and looked hard at me.

"Have you actually seen her, Gus? I mean, really seen her close up, since that first night?

I hesitated and looked at Siegfied and Elspeth. I'd been the only one to see something flash white in the forest. It seemed to be running away from me and I hadn't actually seen a person, just a glimpse. I explained it to the officer.

After several more turns each, Officer Lawson closed his notebook and stood up. He finished the coffee and thanked Mrs. Marggrander for her hospitality.

Before he left, he asked one more question.

"You're quite sure Sharon was running away from Frank Adamski? There's no doubt about it?"

Siegried answered for us.

"Sir, the girl was frightened for her life, and the man looked as if he'd kill her if he caught her."

***

A gripping tale.

This book is a trip back to Summer 1964 after the assassination of JFK, the wonder of the Beatles in full thrust and a time when families still talked with one another. It involves a missing girl, a coming of age and a young man of 12 and his family and friends he shares his summer, making memories and just growing up.

As in other great literary works, the description of meals, pastimes and interests are a wonderful satisfying eavesdropping that takes this babyboomer back to a slower time. There is an innocence that is difficult to find in current living and yet these young people still were presented with the evils we all have in our lives today.

This book is actually the third in the LeGarde mystery series and steps back in time from the Gustave LeGarde from Book One, Double Forte. Some of these are just being released in ebook format and another book taking place in 1965, Don't Let the Wind Catch You, will soon be released.

Just FYI these are the Series so far as I understand them:

LeGarde mysteries:
Double Forte
Upstaged
Tremolo Cry of the Loon
Don't Let the Wind Catch You
Mazurka
Fire Song

Moore mysteries:
Healey's Cave
Terror Comes Knocking
For Keeps

Tall Pines mystery series:
For the Birds
Essentially Yours

Please let me know if anyone finds these out of place. I was a bit confused as I began with Tremolo and I know in Double Forte, Gus in an adult widowed professor.

This first book was magic and I so look forward to reading all the others. My oldest granddaughter will soon be old enough to read these books and I hope to get them for her in ebook form as well as paper for her little brother and sister coming up behind her.

Keep writing away Mr. Lazar. I am now a big fan and hope to tell everyone about your magical writing.

Do you love a great story? Are you looking for something that is a great read? Look no further. "Tremolo: Cry of the Loon" is both. While directed toward a younger audience, readers of all ages will love this book. For younger readers it has all the action and suspense necessary to keep them reading. For those of us who are "a little older," it takes us back to a time when life was a whole lot simpler. Parents of younger readers will be happy to know the story upholds the virtues of courage, friendship, and respect.

Warm, engaging, and well written, "Tremolo: Cry of the Loon" is a great read that will be a delight to any reader. Enjoy!

Anyone who's read any of Aaron Paul Lazar's Gus LeGarde mysteries will recognize the protagonist in this coming of age novel. Young Gus hangs out round the lake with his friends Siegfried and Elsbeth, slowly learning that girls are not boys, just beginning to feel that protectiveness and curiosity that give depth to his later life. JFK's death was recent news; someone's robbing local churches; and a young girl has disappeared--the safety of childhood is tipping on the cusp of slipping away.

The cry of the loon is actually a cry of distress. Young Gus hears the sound in children's laughter, in the provocative voice of an older girl, and in the fears that taunt him through the night. He saw the missing girl but he's a child and nobody wants to believe what he thinks he knows.

The birds, animals, people and scenery of Maine come to life in this novel. There's very real danger, honest emotion, sweet empathy and a lyrical voice that perfectly depicts the melody of scent and sight, as described through the emotions of a boy who will one day devote himself to music. Having read some of the later novels, I thoroughly enjoyed this insight into Gus's youth. But this mystery of childhood and the 60s would, I'm sure, be just as enjoyable as an introduction to the series or as a standalone novel for younger readers.

Disclosure: I was lucky enough to get a free ecopy of this, but it would be well worth paying for too.