Hy Conrad

MY THOUGHTS
ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!

Yes, I used exclamations points!!! This quick, little read about eleven dogs, from hippy-dippy to obedience school drop out will have you howling. Of course, there is a dachshund involve and Gabby captured my heart. She is a bit (ok, extremely) spoiled and a bit ditsy but she makes no excuses for it. Tinkerbell, a Chihuahua, is tired of being stuffed in a purse and has lots of friends she likes to hang out with. Don't piss her off since she might grab that show more blouse in a dressing room and accidentally use it as a nest in your giant purse which might lead to your arrest. Moonbeam has been adopted by a vegan, and must sneak out for any kind of meat which might just be making him a bit crazy, not to mention the name. Overall, this fun read is perfect to leave on your coffee table and it is easy to pick up, read a few pages and then come back to it, sort of like your dogs attention span when food isn't involved. show less

When I had the chance to read Hy Conrad's book, I jumped on it. I had read another of his books and fell in love it. Well, Mr. Conrad did not disappoint me n with Rally 'Round the Corpse.

Amy and her mother, Fanny, have created a unique travel company where they plan mysteries for the travelers to solve. Think of it as a mystery dinner party you can buy at the store but on the road in Europe. The problem comes when the one who wrote the game is murdered, a participant thinks the game is based show more on a murder she was involved with, and suspicious activity increases. that all gets more complicated when someone is actually murdered during the game. Who did it and why?

What is really good about this mystery is that it is not too fast nor too slow when it comes to the pace of the story. It is a perfect, steady pace that has you wanting to read more and more yet where you can put it down for the night while pondering the day's read. It gives you breathing room without giving you too much where you won't pick the book back up.

The story was artfully crafted and had me hooked. I love mysteries and try to figure out who did it. Well, this one kept me guessing as the plot would take a new turn every time a new clue was discovered or more secrets were revealed. Yes, I figured out the killer. Though I changed my mind half a dozen times before coming back to ........ and then was pleased as punch to know I was right all those half a dozen times. I was getting worried my track record was going to be messed up, but it wasn't until the very end when ...... was revealed that I knew for sure I was right. I was suspecting everyone as each one was crafted so well. In truth, everyone has secrets which really helps a well-written mystery story.

The characters are the highlight of the entire book. Each one is crafted to be extremely unique with personalities that have you hooked to them. They were more than believable. They were fun. I loved getting to know them. Amy and Fanny are amazing. Their relationship will one to go down in literary history.

Mr. Conrad's writing is entertaining as well as mesmerizing. The flow of the story is smooth while taking you on a journey you'll never see the likes of again aside from the sequel.

I cannot wait for the next book. I love Mr. Conrad's work with the television shows 'Monk' and "White Collar". In fact, my children and I watch them almost daily over and over. He carries his talent to the written page in a manner that only he could accomplish so well. He now as a fan that will be stalking him regularly. In fact, I'll put a guard on his door to ensure that more and more of the Abel Adventures Mysteries get written. If you can't guess, I give this book two thumbs up plus two big toes. I love it!

Note: This book was provided as part of a book tour with no expectation of a positive review. show less

I usually give my opinion of a book that I am reviewing at the end of the review, but this time I will open with it. I found Things Your Dog Doesn't Want You To Know by Hy Conrad and Jeff Johnson to be everything a book should be. It is engaging, creative and memorable. Each of the 115 essays is presented in the words of one of eleven different dogs. After reading the first sentence of the first essay, as far as I was concerned, I believed I was listening to a dog.

I tried to pick a favorite show more dog or maybe a favorite essay. I found this to be impossible. I found all the canines to be irresistible and each essay is memorable. The dogs discuss a number of topics. In I Will Never Be Full, Orson, a Bulldog, readily admits he hasn't been hungry since he was a week old. He'll be happy only when he finally explodes. He fills his days checking his food bowl and takes delight in the two dinners he gets while his humans are mad at each other. Tinkerbell, a Chihuahua, discusses birthdays in You Can Forget My Birthday. She makes it clear that she doesn't know when her birthday is and that dogs do not celebrate birthdays. "If you really want to know, we celebrate naps and escaping from the backyard and the death of cats." She doesn't want to appear ungrateful for her birthday party which was held in a tent. There were even cupcakes with lighted candles. However, all this led to the appearance of fire trucks.
Especially moving are the words from Sophie in I'm Not Irreplaceable. She eloquently says "Maybe I'm unique because I'm part of these memories you'll never have again".

There is a great deal more in this book and it is so worth reading. It is both humorous and touching. If a dog is a part of your life then you must read this book. If you are considering welcoming a dog into your life this book will help prepare you for what is to come. I came away wiser after reading this book. I highly recommend reading it.

I received this book free of charge through Review the Book and I give this review of my own free will. show less

There is nothing I love more than a good, train-based mystery; unfortunately, this book isn’t very good, and very little of the action takes place on the train.

Professional travel agent, Amy, has a problem—two problems, actually: a lying, manipulative mother (appropriately named Fanny), who lives vicariously through her daughter, and a lying, manipulative boyfriend called Marcus, who is often in cahoots with Fanny. Fanny writes a flamboyant blog called TrippyGirl in which she chronicles show more Amy’s travel adventures…sort of, but not really. All of TrippyGirl’s exploits center around embellished accounts of Amy’s travels, but Amy isn’t TrippyGirl…well, sort of, but not really because TrippyGirl doesn’t actually exist—even though she looks exactly like Amy. Is that clear? Well, even if it isn’t, by the end of this book you won’t care anyway.

In Death on the Patagonian Express, Fanny cons Amy into accepting an invitation from a swarthy South American, Jorge O’Bannion, to embark on the maiden voyage of his new venture, the Patagonian Express—a luxury train tour of Patagonian dude ranches. Against Amy’s wishes, Fanny manages to foist herself on this excursion as well.

Once in South America, we are introduced to Amy’s traveling companions—fellow travel agents and competitive travel writers. In a shadowy tango bar, we are also introduced to Jorge’s reclusive and unique-looking business partner, Lola Pisano, who seems to be providing most of the financial backing for Jorge’s speculative business venture.

From the onset, the trip is plagued by a series of accidents which cause a lot of delays and results in their experienced tour guide Pablo being replaced by the lackluster Nicolas who doesn’t seem to know too much about anything—particularly about guiding tours.

During a wilderness excursion, Fanny discovers a body which promptly disappears before anyone else can see it. Did she really uncover a dead body, or is this just another one of her many lies designed to further the allure of her TrippyGirl blog? As the trip winds on, Fanny comes to believe the dead body was actually a vision of a murder yet to come. When a dead body is eventually discovered, everyone seems to accept the death as accidental. However, Amy is convinced it was murder and she sets out to uncover the culprit.

Throughout the journey, Fanny is habitually lying and manipulating Amy into miserable and sometimes dangerous situations. Meanwhile, back in New York, Marcus is lying to Amy about everything from his job, to his search for an apartment, to his interactions with her publisher.

We also get a couple of uninteresting subplots about a maniacal South American general and TrippyGirl’s struggles to get a travel book published.

Ultimately, Amy solves the case; although that is not terribly impressive since the murder victim, the motive, and the murderer are all glaringly obvious from the get-go. It’s all pretty boring and predictable.

The only genuine mystery is why Amy continues to put up with all of the crap dished out by her domineering fool of a mother and her pathetic louse of a boyfriend. show less