No One Is Safe While…

ZODIAC LIVES

A Novel by Rhoda D’Ettore

After surviving a car accident that killed her father, three-year-old Jennifer begins having nightmares. It’s soon obvious she suffers from something more dreadful than the accident when she provides clues to a murder committed 3,000 miles away—and two decades before she was born.

Jennifer’s nightmares set off a chain reaction that prompts the infamous Zodiac Killer to emerge from dormancy and terrorize San Francisco for a second time.

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No, l’ve not lost my marbles… athough this is far from my usual type of reading, as you may realise by now I like to step out of my comfort zone once in a while, and that’s how I ended up reading one of Rhoda’s books, Newborn Nazi.

You can read my review below…

Goin’ Postal & The Creek

Rhoda D’Ettore began her writing career by publishing humorous tales about working at the United States Postal Service. Fifteen years of dealing with bombs, anthrax, and human body parts in the mail made for an interesting read. Her co-workers laughed so hard at the nostalgia, they encouraged her to publish the writings. Since then, D’Ettore has fascinated readers with plot twists mixed with sarcastic humor.

D’Ettore knew postal workers would buy her story, yet she also wanted to show them she could write interesting, serious work with shocking twists. In Goin’ Postal & The Creek, the reader gets two very different stories in one book. The first containing the hysterical tales of postal worker life. The second story is a historical fiction that spans 200 years with a slightly supernatural twist. Topics include war, love, romance, death, Prohibition, the Great Depression, and how families survive such events.

Newborn Nazi

Newborn Nazi tackles the issues of right and wrong as well as self sacrifice when fourteen-year-old Edmund is forced into the Hitler Youth in 1935. His older siblings vow to destroy Nazi Germany, and the family gets swept up in espionage and the Underground Movement. When Edmund becomes an adult and joins the feared SS, his sister’s secret endeavors to save Jews in her home endangers lives—including her own. This suspense thriller is sure to keep you guessing.

Newborn Nazi is based on Rhoda D’Ettore true family history. There was an Edmund who was forced into the Hitler Youth, and his sister did help Jews escape. D’Ettore found the story so riveting, she took the plot of the story and added murder and espionage to create this intense thriller.

MY REVIEW

Newborn Nazi by Rhoda D’Ettore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Let me say first and foremost, that D’Ettore is an awesome story-teller.
I won’t go into the reasons that I read this book, but suffice to say that it was so far outside my usual reading choices I began it with trepidation.
In no time at all, I was sucked into the story.
At the outset we meet Hedwig and her husband Fritz, trying unsuccessfully to thwart the German officers who have arrived to take the teenager Edmund away from them to be inducted into the Hitler Youth Programme. Once Edmund is removed from their home, Fritz is rewarded with a bullet to the head for his defiance, leaving Hedwig a young widow.
The story takes place in both Germany itself, and in the US, where Hedwig’s brothers live.
It is loosely based (with a large degree of licence) upon the author’s family history, and afforded me a fascinating insight into how the ordinary folk of Germany were drawn into the Nazi party little by little, by playing upon their national pride, and hiding the gruesome realities of the regime until it was far too late for them to back out.
The plot is truly a tale of Hollywood proportions, and would make a fantastic movie. From what appears to be a straightforward starting point, I was sucked into the unexpected twists and turns at the speed of a rollercoaster, never knowing what might happen next.
Real events from that time period are entwined in the plot with new slants, conspiracy theory style, and plot threads began are abandoned in a truly realistic way that echoes real life, to be replaced by yet another stunning revelation that leads down a new path.
I freely admit, I am no student of history, and I have no knowledge of the accuracy of the facts, but as someone who reads for pure entertainment, that bothers me not at all.
So the reason for the 4 stars?
The writing technique. Aspects such as sentence construction, correct use of words, punctuation, fluency of dialogue, use of tenses – all of these things are in need of attention.
So if the technicalities of the written word bother you, this is not a book for you. If, on the other hand, you are willing to overlook them and read just the story, then my advice is: go for it.

Tower of Tears: The McClusky Series 1

In Tower of Tears: The McClusky Series, we find Jane traveling to America from Ireland with her three-year-old son. Expecting to find a better way of life, Jane finds nothing but intimidation, betrayal, violence, and heartache. This family saga includes blackmail, murder, mystery, and a touch of romance.

While writing Tower of Tears, D’Ettore gave her mother one chapter at a time for feedback. D’Ettore was undecided who the murderer in the book would eventually be, so she wrote the story with five characters hating and threatening the murder victim. Halfway through the book, D’Ettore’s mother shouted, “I know who killed him…. it was ####”. D’Ettore then finished the book with a different character as the murderer. When her mother read the final draft of the book, she replied, “That’s not who the murder is. I told you who is was.” D’Ettore then said, “I wrote the book, so I know who the murderer should be. Thanks.”

10 Shades of Blush: The Softer Side of Kink

10 Shades of Blush: The Softer Side of Kink is a collection of naughty fantasies of ordinary women. Teachers, mothers, and professionals submitted their wants and desires for kinky fun. All the tales are told as if the women are speaking directly to their partners. The audiobook of this has been called “Two hours of phone sex for $7”.

Rhoda D’Ettore works are available as ebook, paperback, and audiobooks

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