We Are Like Books

The Furies (Charlie Parker Series) by John Connolly

Hardback: Evil takes many forms. Private Investigator Charlie Parker hunts them all.

Furies (Greek Erinyes): mythological snake-haired goddesses of vengeance, pursuers of those who have committed unpunished crimes. 

Now, in two short novels, private investigator Charlie Parker is drawn into a world of modern furies. 

In The Sisters Strange, the return of the criminal Raum Buker to Portland, Maine brings with it chaos and murder, as an act of theft threatens not only to tear apart his own existence but also that of Raum’s former lovers, the enigmatic sisters Dolors and Ambar Strange. 

And in the title tale, Parker finds himself fighting to protect two more women as the city of Portland shuts down in the face of a global pandemic, but it may be that his clients are more capable of taking care of themselves than anyone could have imagined.

They are wrong.

From the number one Sunday Times and multi-million-copy bestselling author John Connolly comes two linked stories in one novel and the most compelling and unsettling Charlie Parker case yet.

The Charlie Parker novels can be read and enjoyed in any order. 

The Furies (2022) is the landmark twentieth book in this globally bestselling series.

About the author: John Connolly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. (A dogsbody, for our North American friends, is a 'go-fer'.) He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper. He divides his time between Dublin and Portland, Maine; makes regular donations to the wine industry; and keeps a number of dogs in a remarkable degree of comfort.

Rating: 6/5

Chiara Lubich: Servant of Unity by Jim Gallagher

Booklet: As a teenager on pilgrimage to Loreto at the start of the Second World War, Chiara Lubich had a premonition of a “whole host” of other young women who would follow her way of total dedication to God. 

Today, the movement she began - the Work of Mary, commonly known as the Focolare - is present on every continent on earth. Encouraged by every Pope since Pius XII, they seek to be a presence of Mary in the Church and the world, and to live and realise Our Lord’s final priestly prayer; “May they be one Father, as I am in You and You are in Me”.

Chiara Lubich: Servant of Unity (2012) tells the powerful story of the founder of the Focolare movement, who dedicate their lives to the poor and the unity of all people. The booklet is currently available in e-book form only.

About the author: Jim Gallagher is a journalist and the author of various CTS publications including biographies of St Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II.

Ordained By A Predator: Becoming a Priest in the Middle of a Criminal Conspiracy by Fr Mark White

Paperback: The sexual abuse crisis has destabilized the Church. Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick's crimes and hypocrisy have scandalized Catholics all over the world. Even worse, dozens of bishops, cardinals, and even the pope tried to cover it up.

Two decades ago, McCarrick ordained Father Mark White to the sacred priesthood. When Fr White learned some of the facts about the man who ordained him, he set out on a quest to find the full truth. 

That quest has cost this priest almost everything - except his Catholic faith. 

Fr Mark White tells his story in Ordained By A Predator: Becoming A Priest In The Middle Of A Criminal Conspiracy (2022). The book is currently available from churchmilitant.com

About the author: Father Mark White is a priest of the Roman Catholic diocese of Richmond, Virginia. He ministered in parishes for seventeen years, until his bishop suspended him for blogging about clerical sex abuse. Now, Fr White lives as a kind of hermit priest, offering support to sex abuse victims and researching, writing and speaking about the crisis in the Church.

Book Talk No 123

Judgment Day (Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez Legal Series) by Sheldon Siegel

Paperback: Judgment Day (2008) is the sixth instalment in the outstanding legal thriller series featuring Mike Daley & Rosie Fernandez with a dramatic new case for the San Francisco law firm of Daley and Fernandez. 

As husband and wife, Mike Daley and Rosie Fernandez could not make it work. Luckily for Bay Area criminals, they didn't let that stop them from joining forces to open San Francisco's most tenacious law firm. As defense attorneys willing to take on the biggest and trickiest cases, Daley and Fernandez make one hell of team.

 

Judgment Day finds the ex-spouses tackling their most compelling case yet. Called in at the last minute to try to stop the execution of Nathan Fineman, a former mob lawyer convicted of murdering three people in the backroom of the notorious Golden Dragon Restaurant, Mike and Rosie must race the clock in a desperate attempt to prove their client's innocence - an impossible task, given the wealth of forensic evidence pointing to his guilt. 

At the same time, Mike must battle his own personal demons when the reputation of his father, a San Francisco cop who was one of the first officers at the Golden Dragon on the night of the murders, is called into question. 

As the plot hurtles toward its stunning denouement, Judgment Day is fast approaching not only for Nate Fineman, but for Mike's father and for the law firm of Daley and Fernandez as well.

About the author: Sheldon Siegel is a New York Times Bestselling novelist and author best known for his works of modern legal courtroom drama.

Siegel was born on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. He attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, and later went on to attend the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an Accounting major. He graduated with a Juris Doctor from Boalt Hall at the University of California, Berkeley in 1983. He has been in private practice in San Francisco, California for over twenty years and specializes in corporate and securities law with the law firm Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP. 

His books have been translated into a dozen languages and sold millions of copies worldwide. He currently resides in Larkspur, California, with his wife, Linda, and twin sons, Alan and Stephen.

Rating: 5/5

The Deal: Secrets For Mastering The Art Of Negotiation (Real Estate) by Josh Flagg

Hardcover: Star of the hit show Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles, Josh Flagg shares his secrets to mastering any negotiation in any industry and at any level in The Deal: Secrets For Mastering The Art of Negotiation (2022). 

If you want to be the best, you have to look and act like the best. Josh learned this rule young and has applied it to every client relationship he has ever had. He began his real estate career as a student at Beverly Hills High School - swung big and hit - landing him in the perfect position to take on some of LA’s largest, most exclusive real estate listings and, eventually, a spot on Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles. 

He has seen and put into practice what works and identified the “common tricks” that do not. Josh has curated ten rules that, when applied to any deal, will significantly increase your chance of success, and make you the master negotiator your clients need you to be.

About the author: With over a decade's worth of high-end deals in the real estate industry, Josh Flagg has taken the Los Angeles real estate market by storm. Flagg, who has sold well over three billion dollars’ worth of property, is amongst the top five real estate agents in Los Angeles.

Flagg works with many exclusive clients, including A-List celebrities and high-net-worth individuals, and he represents some of the city's most notable builders, developers, business managers, and attorneys. Flagg is constantly setting new records and has been recognized by The Wall Street Journal as one of the top-ranked agents in California as well as nationally. He has also been recognized several times by Variety and The Hollywood Reporter and has been on the Forbes “30 under 30” list of the most influential people in their industries.

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