Book Review-Learning-by-Degrees

Learning by Degrees

(Dan Irvine Book #1)

by

Marty Langenberg

 

Learning by Degrees commences with university Orientation Week pranks and in this instance focuses on the hazing of a gay first year student and the long-term cost of that event.

Learning by Degrees is sort of a sequel to Marty’s previous books in so much as the core characters from Marty’s earlier works (The Broken Vows Trilogy) are reprised again, in Learning by Degrees.

Learning by Degrees commences with university Orientation Week, however the story soon jumps to about ten years after graduation day.  Most participants of the initiation ceremony are now very successful in politics or business.

One by one, four of the six involved in the initiation ceremony, against the gay freshman, turn up very dead.  I didn’t pick the murderer as Learning by Degrees ended with surviving characters explaining why and who, the murderer was.

Learning by Degrees is reasonably well paced with many conversations between characters as they try to solve the mystery of who is the murderer.

I was left a bit baffled when I discovered who the villain was, as from memory, he had a small part (except in name) and was never described (to my knowledge) as a villain.

At the time of writing my review only one other Goodreads reader had rated (5 stars) and reviewed Learning by Degrees.

My three star rating gives Learning by Degrees an average of 4 stars at this point in time.

 

I have rated

Learning by Degrees

as a

read.

Learning by Degrees

can be purchased on-line at 

Fishpond and Amazon

Finally, I must declare that I know and worked with Marty

for several years before he retired.

However, I believe this has not clouded my review.

 

Book Review-A-French-Connection

A French Connection

(Broken Vows Trilogy Book 3)

by

Marty Langenberg

Should you have previously read this review my apologies. 

I cannot find a review for ‘A French Connection’ anywhere on my blog,

however I read it in mid 2018.

I read A French Connection not long after I returned from my second visit to France and although that trip to France did not see Paris and the Palace of Versailles on my itinerary, they were definitely a major part A French Connection (The Broken Vows Trilogy, #3) by Marty Langenberg.

With memories of Paris and Versailles (during my first visit) still deeply etched in mind A French Connection had my attention in the first few pages.

A French Connection sees Pennie and her son (Daniel) moving to Paris together with her friend Chris, because of the latter’s desire to further his career opportunities through study at the ISIPCA (Institut Supérieur International du Parfum), the world-famous school for people looking for a career in Perfume, Cosmetics and Food Flavours.

A French Connection has a strong link to The Baby Farm (Book 2 of the Trilogy) with a bad guy surfacing and up to no good in Paris. While the bad guy may provide a link between two books, his appearance is not the crux of the story.   A French Connection revolves around how these three survived in Paris.

If this happens to be the first time reading a review of mine, please consider reading the Broken Vows trilogy and novella in sequence. A French Connection could be read as a standalone novel, however, there are characters that ‘pop up’ (for lack of a better phrase) briefly, or not so briefly, in A French Connection and all are thoroughly introduced in early books.

When trying to liken Marty’s work to another author, the first name which came to mind was James Patterson. Both authors produce fast paced, interesting and easy reads. I am fairly confident that if you are a James Patterson fan, as am I, you will enjoy the Broken Vows Trilogy.

I hope Marty has another story in the pipeline as I am enjoying the other side of a former work colleague.

Finally, I must declare that I know and worked with Marty

for several years before he retired.

However, I believe this has not clouded my review.

 

Definitely a

read.

A French Connection

can be purchased on-line at 

Amazon, Barnes & Noble,

Kobo, OverDrive

 

Book Review-The-Baby-Farm

The Baby Farm

(Broken Vows Trilogy Book 2)

by

Marty Langenberg

The Baby Farm is the second book the Broken Vows Trilogy by Marty Langenberg and follows book 1.5, Pennie, the Prequel to The Baby Farm.

I have already stated in my review of Pennie that I am not a fan of short stories, however in this instance, while not completely necessary to read Pennie prior to The Baby Farm, Pennie does fill in some otherwise unknown detail of Pennie’s life and how she arrived at this point in her life.  Also bear in mind that Pennie was introduced in Book 1 of the Broken Vows Trilogy with her character being further developed in Pennie, Book 1.5.

For many years in Australia we have heard of the stolen generation. The ‘stolen generation’ being children of native Australians who were removed from their parents by the government of the day to be raised and educated by white Australian standards.

What has often annoyed me is the fact that there were/are many generations of white Australian children in the same position who are never described as stolen by society simple because they were children primarily of unwed teenage mothers. It was not until the early seventies that I first saw an unwed teenage mother with her child around my home town.

Prior to then girls often disappeared for a few months, usually to a capital city where they had their babies delivered and adopted.  Society of the time decreed they had brought shame on their families.

In writing The Baby Farm, Marty has addressed this issue head on.  The Baby Farm describes in detail what occurred to some of our young teenage/unmarried mothers of that era.  He has delved into the trauma these mothers underwent and also described the deviousness of people working in the name of religion, God and in this case St. Gerard (protector of mothers and children), to ‘help’ these mothers.

Thankfully there were some characters who offered real help and assistance to Pennie and her friend (Heather), preferring to see the real person and not forming an opinion based on current circumstances.

The Baby Farm is another fast paced read and one which again will have readers wanting to know what is going to happen in the next chapter.

Finally, I must declare that I know and worked with Marty

for several years before he retired.

However, I believe this has not clouded my review.

 

Definitely a

read.

Broken Vows

can be purchased on-line at 

Amazon, Barnes & Noble,

Kobo, OverDrive