Dennis Ricci

Perilous Judgment is a legal thriller that takes us to the forefront of the ongoing issue of immigration.

Edward Lamport is a man of great conviction and as a federal judge he exercises those convictions in his rulings. His most current case is of one of great controversy. Voters in his home state of California have voted to pass Proposition 68 concerning illegal immigration and now Edward has to rule on whether the proposition is constitutional. With his fellow judges and political contacts pressuring him, he is carefully weighing his decision.

Edward is also happily married to Jacqui. Jacqui works for the California school system and with pressure from her coworkers and peers she is becoming more and more anxious herself to find out what her husband’s ruling will be. Edward and Jacqui both know the danger they may face if he makes the “wrong” decision.

Now a woman Edward was once in love with resurfaces and begs for his help. Alana tells Edward of the son he never knew about, who is now a grown young man. This son, Carlos was born and raised in Mexico and works for Bancomex. In the course of his work he has stumbled on dangerous information involving his employers and his life is in jeopardy. Alana wants Edward to use his political connections to help get Carlos out of Mexico and into the safety of the U.S.

Edward is going to have to manage a very complex balancing act here. How will he manage to be true to the integrity his job demands while trying to get his illegitimate son asylum in the U.S.? Why are all his political connections stonewalling him? And how is he going to face his wife with the secrets of his past? Will the woman he was forced to leave behind 25 years ago stir old feelings anew? Will he be able to save his son’s life and will that son accept a father he has never known?

This is a book where we are reminded that the big issues that the talking heads on TV argue about incessantly are not as black and white as they are made out to be. No matter which way the decision goes there are real people behind the scenes who will be affected. We would like to think that the judges ruling on these issues are personally detached but what if one of them weren’t. What if something like this happened to them? Now that could be a far reach, but hey, in today’s world maybe not. It is a most unfortunate fact that political corruption, blackmail, drug running and money laundering are all alive and well.

But in this book we also see a man torn by his convictions and struggling to make the right decisions, none of which are easy. With all of his options growing slim, Edward will turn to his strong Christian faith and values for guidance. With all of the obstacles we face in this world, this is a strong reminder that in the end, it’s up to us how we handle our beliefs and act on them.

I want to thank the publisher (Waterfall Press) for providing me with the ARC through the Goodreads Giveaways program for an honest review.… (más)

Perilous Judgement is a well written Christian Thriller that is relatively fast paced with disappointments galore for the characters.

Even though I usually don't read drug cartel thrillers the trials and tribulations that the Judge had to go through to try to get a son out of Mexico kind of reminded me of the true story of Natalee Holloway who went missing in Aruba in 2005. I don't know why. The situations are totally different but I guess the road blocks that parents meet after trying everything to save or in Natalee's case find a child. I know off topic onto the book.

I found the characters in the book believable and as I said the story was well written. What I particularly liked was how the Judge and his wife prayed for help and did receive it, although at times it seemed they wouldn't. Both also had secrets in their pasts that the other knew nothing about which made them even more real to me. I also admire how the Judge handled the threats he was under and then the blackmail attempt. I can't say more about that without spoilers.

All-in-all a good read.… (más)

As the Houston Astros struggle through another death march of a summer (and as their asinine, Commissioner-dictated, transfer to the American League rapidly approaches), I find myself turning to baseball novels and memoirs for relief. Baseball fantasy does have a way of reminding me of what first so attracted me to the game all those years ago. My most recent choice, Dennis Ricci’s Willy’s Ballgame, accomplishes exactly that.

Willie Mae Beal has baseball in her blood – literally. The 28-year-old, who stands two full inches over six feet, is the granddaughter of one Reuben Henry, a veteran of thirty years in the “blackball” leagues who began playing catch with Willy when she was just a little girl. Reuben gradually transformed her into a pitcher in his own image, and Willy became a dominant softball pitcher at Florida A&M. Baseball is so much a part of Willy’s life, that despite now earning her keep as a poorly paid high school track coach, she still keeps her pitching arm in game shape. This is her story.

Willie Mae Beal inherited more than her athletic body from her grandfather; “Rube” also passed on everything he knew about pitching strategy and deceiving hitters. That he also taught her every pitch in the book, and that she has a 90 m.p.h. fastball and pinpoint control, is the icing on her baseball cake. When circumstances combine to bring Willy to the attention of a major league player needing a strong arm to fill a spot on the Winter League team he is managing, her performance surprises everyone.

This YA novel centers on the remarkable friendship of “Rube” Henry and his longtime friend, Amos “Teach” Jones, a man who played with and against “Rube” for an entire generation. The friendship that Willy and Amos’s sons carry into the next turns out to be just as special.

Willy’s Ballgame will be an inspiration to young women unwilling to settle for anything less than they are capable of achieving. Perhaps less obvious at first glance, is that there is enough “baseball” in this one to keep male readers just as intrigued as the young women by the novel’s storyline. My only disappointment – and others certainly might not feel the same – is with the book’s last three words: “to be continued…” I did not come away from Willy’s Ballgame with the sense of closure I like to feel at the end of a novel; younger readers, more attuned than I am to reading extended series featuring the same characters, will probably feel differently.

Rated at: 4.0… (más)