Reading Al Macy’s Dr. Beckmann books, I often wondered how Beckmann met his unusual, yet beautiful wife. I finally got to read the first Eric Beckman series book and, I have to say, I enjoyed the humor and the romance encapsulated in that book.

Born in 1949, this western European women with long dark lustrous hair, athletic, and a habitual jewel thief, Viviana and Beckman instantly became in love with each other at their first meeting. Viviana was confused when she woke up from a coma after time traveling to the present so she did what came naturally to her from her criminal experience, she ran and hid. Her new life was financed with a cash and jewelry stash that shit hi away for this eventuality. Beckmann finally caught up with her. The couple agreed to trust each other implicitly and a true love bond developed as a result. Viviana and Beckmann’s close doctor friend Craig are the only two people in the world that now know of Beckmann’s mind-reading ability.

This first book in the Beckmann series had the right amount of humor, romance, and intrigue to be a very enjoyable read. ( )

What do a P.I, a deputy policeman, and a neurosurgeon have in common? The P.I has a secret that the neurosurgeon knows about, and the policeman has a hunch about.

The year is 2020 in San Francisco. Many things have changed, many things have advanced. Earthquakes are abundant, and there are mandatory power outages. Some things never change though, a mysterious woman (Viviana) has appeared during a baseball game with her pinky embedded in the umpire's skull. From the start of Yesterday's Thief, you can already tell that the three main characters are good friends. What ties them all together is the P.I's big secret- he admits guilt to manipulating them in the beginning of the friendship, but over the years it has a grown to a genuine relationship. Because of his secret, Eric, the P.I, is able to help not only the neurosurgeon, but also the policeman, in the hunt for information about the mysterious woman. Eric, although written as a nice man, doesn't seem to quite have his life together. He doesn't want to abuse his secret, but it's evident he is not the best when it comes to money management. He earnestly wants to make it as a P.I but business hasn't been booming. His heart is set on figuring out the mystery of the woman who appeared. Throughout the book, you are taken on adventure after adventure. Eric knows the woman's secret, and using his P.I abilities is able to track down (almost) her every move. What starts as a cat and mouse game, starts to develop into romance. Viviana needs help tracking down her Uncle, who may or may not be alive. Following clues, and logical deduction, the pair track down her Uncle and come across something that can be used to help the state of failure the world seems to be going towards. If you enjoy quick wit, and building suspense, which leads to non-stop page turning action, I highly recommend Yesterday's Thief. ( )

This will be my last review of 77 books read for 2017, twelve books over my planned goal of 65. I would have loved to exit 2017 with a blockbuster but the book as only okay. I thought this book to be a couple of characters looking for a plot. However, the book did allow me to complete an ABC reading challenge of reading 26 books beginning with a different letter of the alphabet.

The protagonist of this novel is Eric Beckman, former neuroscientist and current private investigator. The impetus for the career change is unclear but might lie with the fact that he possesses the ability to read others' thoughts. (The backstory behind this skill is not addressed.) The only other person who is aware of Eric's gift is friend and former colleague, Craig Porter, a neurosurgeon. He calls Eric to consult on a case regarding a young naked woman who appeared from the air during a baseball game, her hand merged in the cranium of the umpire. After transport to the hospital and finger amputated, she lies in comatose state. Dr. Porter hopes that Eric might learn more about her identity if she can read her thoughts.

The story eventually involves time travel which is not explained, a hurried and meandering romance with the young woman, and a thwarted theft of an energy ball (I love this technological language!) from the woman's uncle who invented the aforementioned time machine.

The novel had it humorous moments, such as when Eric loiters in the financial district hoping to obtain insider information regarding future industrial development which might impact the stock market. However, superfluous characters serving very little purpose for the plot and questionable motivation for characters actions. ( )

Available Kindle Unlimited but I got it free through library thing same as the other one Sanity's Thief this one. Odd story, enjoyable but odd, very odd. Held my attention and all, just a bit confusing here and there so unsure whether that was the writing or the reading of it to be totally fair as sometimes read with kindle for pc and sometimes let audio take over with those programs.. ( )

Available Kindle Unlimited but I got it free through library thing same as the other one Sanity's Thief this one. Odd story, enjoyable but odd, very odd. Held my attention and all, just a bit confusing here and there so unsure whether that was the writing or the reading of it to be totally fair as sometimes read with kindle for pc and sometimes let audio take over with those programs.. ( )