Customer Reviews

Web of Secrets

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"Sarah? Sarah Baker?" said a man with a raspy voice. "I know this may sound a little strange, considering you don't know me. But I happen to be in possession of some interesting information concerning your parents - your natural parents, that is - and I thought we might..."

This phone call became the beginning of many changes to come in Sara Baker's life. Of course the blackmailer wanted money. And due to the information this man threatened to make public, Sarah's husband Mark agreed to pay. But the information did more than threaten their comfortable lives. It sparked Sarah's desire to know more about her parents who had given her up many years ago. That's when she turned to 20 year FBI veteran turned private investigator Joe Coopersmith.

Through Joe's research, he discovers that Sarah's mother died in a fire in 1965. He also finds Sarah to have 2 brothers and a sister. As he interviews them, he learns they too have been contacted by the blackmailer and they wanted him stopped. The information held by this man would drastically alter their lives and totally destroy Sarah's brother Hal's future as a Conservative radio talk host. But they want something else as well. They want Sarah to give up her search for information on their father.

Sarah's determination is strong and becomes even stronger when she learns her father is still living. She has questions about the past and he's the only one living to provide the answers. No matter what her family says, nothing will make her give up in her quest of finding her father. Not even murder.

Patino takes you on a rollercoaster ride as you travel with Joe Coopersmith from Miami to Key West and then to Mobile ending on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation where the final answers are to be found. Web of Secrets is fast pace from beginning to end and a very enjoyable read.

Joe Coopersmith a private investigator, was hired by Sarah to find information about her illegal adoption.
Every family has it's secret, the PI told Sarah. Did Sarah have the courage to continue the search
despite her husband's objections?

I was hooked on the very first page of Web Of Secrets. It's an intriguing novel from start to finish.
Ernesto Patino used many vivid images that makes the whole book come alive.
It's a must read for anyone searching for their birth parents.

Web of secrets has everything a good mystery should have. It has the interesting and competent PI, secrets from the past, and multiple mysteries that need resolution. It caught my interest immediately with the initial set up of a story from the past.

The character of P.I. Joe Coopersmith, the fifty-something, former FBI investigator is likeable and in the story he has a way with people that gets results. There is fast paced action and several twists in the story that kept me wondering where it would go next.

The one mystery to me is the reaction to the blackmailer. Of course I don't want any spoilers in my review, but I think the reaction to this blackmailer will read differently in different areas of the country. In the story's location of Florida and in other Southern states, this blackmailer's information would create a different reaction than it would receive in the Midwest or in most areas of this country in 2010.

I started this book this afternoon and had read all 195 pages by tonight. Web of Secrets is very fast paced and I couldn't stop reading. I laid beside my son for his whole nap just turning pages becoming more absorbed with Sarah's story.

There's a lot of racial issues in this book that I just couldn't get, meaning I don't get some people's ignorance. When Sarah finds out that she could be part African American her husband tells her to drop it because of what it could do to his career. Other characters in this book have similar problems with their loved ones (or themselves) not being able to deal with it. I just don't get it. That's one issue that was on my mind throughout the book. We're in the year 2010 and people STILL don't get it. Caucasian, Hispanic, African-American, Asian, Native American, we're all people with the same working parts inside our rainbow of colors on the outside. I think Ernesto Patino did an excellent job of portraying how ignorant people can be when it comes to issues of race.

Normally, I'm someone who likes a lot more detail in books I read (you know, the sun was setting like a grand glorious fireball of yellow and burning orange over the gentle turquoise waves of the beautiful sea that lapped at the soft off white sand of the deserted beach. Ok, I am so not an author, I'll leave that to them. That was my own description that I just butchered.) but not having a lot of frivolous detail worked here. You didn't miss all those adjectives that I normally love.

Ernesto Patino worked for 23 years as an FBI agent and now also works as a PI and it shows. I liked how Joe Coopersmith wasn't always what you thought he'd be. How he had a softer side that popped out in unexpected situations.

Can't tell you how it ends, but I didn't expect that at all. I was all sure that it was going to be this one way and he totally veered off the other direction and it really worked.

Take a peak at the first chapter.[...] He reeled me in from that first moment in Web of Secrets.

It's a great book that was a lot of fun to read!

Thank you so much to AME, INC. for sending me a copy of Web of Secrets it was a great book!

Mr. Patino's latest work in fiction, Web of Secrets, is steeped in fact. With a career in the FBI under his belt as well as active private investigation work, Patino is the man for the job in delivering this compelling storyline of black mail, murder and family secrets. A well-paced novel, Web of Secrets will surprise you with its' twists and turns while peppering insights into the day-to-day experiences of a talented PI.

Web of Secrets is an engrossing novel weaved together by author Ernesto Patino that satisfies the reader with interesting characters and addictive storyline. It is easy to lose yourself in the situations you are introduced to, and will not be able to resist the notion to suggest it to others. A fascinating read from beginning to end.

After reading Web of Secrets in almost record time, I have gained not only insight into the life of a private investigator, but enjoyed a thoroughly delightful book. Mr. Patino has woven a tale of mystery, intrigue and suspense that never lets go. I found his characters realistic and interesting, his descriptions of people, places and things to be very well written. I didn't want the book to end, and he's left me wondering what happened to the characters I had grown to care about. This book is exceptionally well-written, and I eagerly look forward to Mr. Patino's next tale.

A delicious mystery dealing with the fascinating topic of one's roots! Many great twists and turns as well as interesting characters. I can't wait to get a lot more Coopersmith, the very able and endearing detective. Quite different from Patino's first novel - IN THE SHADOW OF A STRANGER - but just as intricate and entertaining.

From the first page to the last, this book is fast paced, with plot turns and surprises. Only an FBI agent could show us the motivations and maneuverings of so many slimy personalities, and those effects on the innocents. This book caters to the need for all of us to know from where we came, and the implications of that which we have no control. Written in the direct and factual style of this author, it is a fantastic read.