Deborah ShlianBesprekingen

This book needs polishing. There are a few typos. The characters are facile and superficial. The twist is evident from early on. But the plot is good.

Silent Survivor is a military fiction where our MC, Mackenzie, is a nurse returning from the Iraq war. After everything she’s seen and had happen to her, she’s desperate to get back to life as normal. To help her cope with PTSD, she writes a blog about her experiences. When soldiers begin to mysteriously die of suicide, she is brought in to investigate.

Overall, this is a thrilling listen that kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters were all very well fleshed out, making it easy to root for the MC especially.

Narrator had a good variety of voices and emotions for the different characters and emotional situations. Very easy to listen to.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

A book that is historical,filled with suspense, politics and the results of the infamous uprising in China and massacre in Tiananmen Square in 1989. I know I should be reviewing this book in itself, but as a bystander, so to speak, I would like to include the following: I worked at the University of British Columbia in the 1980s, and a contingent of some of the professors I worked with had just left for China. They arrived in their hotel just as the massacre began. It was terrible and they were trapped and witnesses to the event. I will never forget the fear of maybe never getting my professors out of China safely. One in particular in the group had never been to China before. This uprising cast itself upon many unwary people who found themselves in the same situation from many countries. I am sure as if I were there that this book would include the terror, fear and death I remember seeing on TV and knowing that our university was frantically trying to bring back our professors. I will rewrite this review when I can reread the book.

Authors' guest post at my blog:
https://bookfare.blogspot.com/2017/08/foodfic-please-welcome-deborah-shilan.html

Wasn't crazy bad, having some insight into the student revolutions in the late '80's, but overall not very engaging. I was often wondering if San Francisco was so racist and ugly toward the Chinese community (where all of Lili's angst came from).

I'm not a fan of thrillers and this book reminded me why. That said, it did mix the political landscape of China in 1989 with the plot in a way that didn't seem forced or false.

evil woman runs play school for preschoolers, don't brake my rules, & never tell your mother's or I'll hurt you worse tomorrow.
what some live with is hard to beleave but happens so much more than we wont to know.

I know I've been absent for a few days, but Dave has been ill and I've been staying close by him. While doing that, I read a book I downloaded free to my Kindle from Oceanview Publishers called Dead Air.

I had no idea what to expect from this book since I didn't know the authors, the series, or anything about it. However, I'm glad I tried it because I like the gutsy, caring heroine and the writing style of the authors. It served to keep my mind from wandering to my worries, which is a great recommendation under the circumstances.

The heroine, Sammy (Samantha) Greene, is a student at a private college in New England who is a reporter for the school radio station. Her boyfriend is a med student who frequently gets very put out that she gets so wrapped up in her stories that she forgets to meet him or call him. He doesn't understand that in this book at least, she is researching a story with deadly consequences.

The plot involves a research institute at the college, a new vaccine for AIDS, professors vying for tenure, and murder among other issues. The story is very well told and only difficult to figure out because of the motives of the people involved. It's easy to follow, not so easy to see how it will end, and bad for the fingernails because Sammy is in danger.

I don't dare tell you any more except that the characters are well-drawn and the plot is a dandy. I do recommend this mystery novel highly and I'm going to look for more books in this series.

A rash of student suicides has hit the campus of Ellsford University! What can be the cause? Sammy Greene is determined to get to the bottom of things as a reporter and talk-show host for W.E.L.L., the campus radio station. She is tough, dedicated, and prone to exclamations in Yiddish, a result of being raised by her traditional grandmother. She plans a Memorial show for the most recent, a young man with a great future ahead, a talented musician and composer, and homosexual.

Interviews with professors, students, and friends trigger some questions as to whether these suicides are what they seem. A fanatical religious group, with an overly zealous leader preaching, anti-gay, anti-abortion, and anti-corporate funding of research, she begins to investigate the group as possibly responsible for the "suicides".

Having left her purse at the home of her biology professor during an interview, she returns the next morning to retrieve it, and the tape from her interview. When she arrives, Sammy discovers Professor Conrad is dead from a self-inflicted bullet. Another seemingly unrelated suicide? But why then did his mentor commit suicide in the same manner with the same gun 3 years before? Retrieving her purse, she realizes that it was running until it ran out, and possibly there will be some evidence on it.

Thus begins Sammy's thrill-ride as she battles against all comers including the police chief, her boyfriend, the Dean, other professors, and the Reverend Taft. No one will listen to her, and all warn her to leave it alone, they are satisfied with the suicide theory. Even Professor Conrad had tried to warn her off. If he was going to commit suicide, why the warning?

This story is fast-paced, factual in many ways, researched thoroughly by the authors who are well-versed in their subject. The suspense is high and the action continuous with little snippets of humor to ease the tension. Suspicions take sidetracks throwing Sammy and Campus Police Chief Pappajohn off course several times. Danger lurks everywhere. She is not even sure she trusts Pappajohn. Now, two students are missing. What is the connection?

A strong story and very current, the dangers in the world of today as we lose control of who owns what in business, what conglomerate is supporting life-saving research, this is a medical thriller that satisfies. When Sammy's missing tape is located after a suspicious fire destroys the radio station, answers start flowing thick and fast and in several directions. Everyone seems to suspect the wrong person(s). The race heats up all through the book, to a heart-stopping climax.

Both authors have written thrillers before. Both are in the field of health care and research. This is the first collaborative story by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid, and the first introduction of Sammy Greene, which appears to me to be the beginning of a series. If so, I will be watching for the next episode!

Sammy Greene is a student at Ellford College in New England where she hosts her own radio show on the campus station WELL. She does not mind tacking controversial topics and ruffling feathers along the way.
This story centers around several suicides on campus that Sammy thinks are suspicious. One was her professor Dr. Conrad who she had visited the night before the suicide to get an interview. She returned as she left something at the house and found him dead. She is suspicious and being a journalist, she sets out to find some answers to her questions. She also wants to provide some information on WELL about suicide and gets her boyfriend, Ryan who is a medical student to go on air with her and provide some advice to the student body.
The more Sammy gets involved the more she realizes there is more to the story and the more danger she is in. There was another professor who also committed suicide and a student also. Are all these suicides somehow related? She comes to head with several people as she investigates – Reverend Taft, who wants to shut down the experimental program using animals and Chief Papajohn who thinks Sammy shows up too much at the wrong places, hindering his own investigation.
However, none of this stops Sammy. Part of her motivation is that her own mother committed suicide and she goes to Dr. Osbourne to find some answers. Once a deadly fire happens at the campus radio station, she thinks it is not an accident and though she is in danger that does not stop her.
Will she solve the mystery before there are other deaths? Moreover, who can she really trust? Read this compelling mystery written by Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid to find out. I have read other books written by teams and this one is seamless. Though Sammy Greene is a college student this is not just a book for young adults. I found her to be a likable and intellectual new female sleuth who I hope the authors bring back in more stories.

When Sammy Greene, Ellsford University communications major and host of the talk show "The Hot Line," finds the body of professor Barton Conrad at his home, her investigative skills kick in. Conrad's death is considered a suicide, but Sammy is not convinced.

Sammy learns that students and faculty at Ellsford University are committing suicide at an alarming rate and she means to find out why. Sammy's mother also committed suicide so this cause is personal. Raised by her Jewish grandmother in New York, Sammy's language reflects her upbringing.

Authors Deborah Shlian and Linda Reid create an intriguing cast of characters including university police chief Gus Pappajohn, radio program director Larry Dupree, and the Reverend Taft, among others.

Fighting demons from her past and those who want her to sign off the air for good, brave and head-strong Sammy takes readers on an exciting ride. "Dead Air" is the perfect prescription for readers looking for a good medical mystery with a little Yiddish and Greek mixed in for good measure. I highly recommend it and hope more Sammy Greene thrillers will be out soon.

Met the authors at a book signing- although this is a fast-aced thriller, I found the historical aspects of the student uprising in China in 1989 the most interesting aspect. Definitely recommend for those who like learning a little history while reading a good story. Perfect ending

Just a great read. Fun, adventurous, suspense-filled novel. The reader gets the added bonus of an extremely well-researched novel set in China. One really gets a feel for China and its customs. Would have been a terrific book club read.

This book doesn't really fit one genre-it's a thriller, but it's also historical (1989), suspense, romance, political. You could even say it's a little bit of a travelogue through China. My husband and I really enjoyed it because we'd just been to China.

This was a page turner. I was up all night.

My book group spent two hours discussing this book and we could have spent more. Like Michael Chrichton, the physician authors pose a what if question: in this case, what if someone had found the key to extending life. The backdrop of the story is the short-lived student democracy movement in 1989 which ended at Tiananmen Square. The authors pose this as a generational conflict between the very old leaders who want to hold onto power and the young who want reform. Told in the context of a thriller, one can just enjoy the fast-paced story. But underneath is a wealth of information about China and a lot to think about for our own society as people are living beyond age 100- even without this elixir of life. Highly recommend if you liked The Kite Runner½

The story takes place in 1989, during the time of the student movement in China and massacre in Tiananmen Square.

Lili Quan is Senior Resident at L.A. Medical Center. Unbeknownst to Lili, her grandfather, Dr. Ni-Fu Cheng, is alive back in China and has discovered a formula to prolong life. Various nefarious actors conspire to get Lili back to China in order to pry the formula from her grandfather.

In China, Lili meets Chi-Wen, her grandfather’s assistant, and falls in love with him. She is “conscious of the ripple of his muscular shoulders.” He, in turn, puts “his arms tight around her slim waist.”

Meanwhile, the bad guys laugh maniacally, rub their hands together in greed, “hawk” spit, and make confessions like “”In the big picture, the end justifies the means. And screw the rest.”

At the climactic scene, every single character and then some literally pop out of the bushes.

So, the writing and characterization can be a bit sophomoric. But the details about life in China are very good. Obviously the authors love China and want to share this love with the reader. I think they should have skipped the plot and written a non-fiction narrative on the country, its history, and its people. When they stuck to that kind of writing, the book was lovely.