Valerie Connelly

I love this book! Valerie Connelly has an impressive imagination full of mystery and wonder that keeps the reader enthralled throughout. From gritty Chicago to the jungles of the Amazon, this book takes on a life of its own, and what a trip!

Two strangers, talented but unsuccessful in their lives, are "hired" individually to perform their music once a week at Rita's Bar. Emily provides vocals with guitar and Dan is a pianist. This is their first performance and the place is packed. Unknown to everyone there, the Grim Reaper is waiting in the wings. Terrorists driving a car bomb for reasons we are not yet privy to, are about to come crashing through the front window. Only two survive the horrendous blast. Our newly introduced musicians are found alive but unconscious. Rita has disappeared and no one knows if she was vaporized along with all the patrons, or left before the bomb detonation. No bodies are ever recovered.

In another part of the world, not far from Belem, Brazil, an elderly chief of the Tokablaki tribe is about to partake of a ritual which will return him to his earlier vibrant self. A form of rebirth, a kind of fountain of youth. This ritual had been passed on through the ages, and soon it will be his "Sacred Night". This ritual will involve the retrieval and ingestion of silt, Algala, from the bottom of the Amazon River. I like to learn something new in books I read and found the chapters about this ritual and its beginnings fascinating. Do I know if this really exists? No, but then this story is tagged a fantasy. Regardless, the author has given this part of the tale a plausibility and a sense of possibility bathed in tribal hierarchy, and therefore it plays a major role in our developing story. Certainly there is factual information mixed with the fantasy.

Shifting back to our two survivors, they have been hospitalized in the same room and under constant surveillance. Emily is the mother of two girls and Dan is the father of two boys. It is decided for the present the four children would be best served by keeping them all together in a foster home while their individual parents either come out of their coma or pass on.

There is so much happening in this book all the way through. Even with three stories weaving in and out, it keeps the reader riveted. No one realizes that Emily and Dan are together in their comatose world and are trying to unravel puzzles in order to get back to "save" their children. There is some mysterious substance found in their blood, unidentified. No one knows if this is compromising or helping their chances of survival. Emily's 16 year old daughter Miranda holds part of the key, but no one is listening to her.

Meanwhile, back in the Amazon jungle, many changes are taking place. The "business" that has been going on undetected for so long is in extreme danger, a type of danger that could mean death to our two unwitting protagonists, Emily and Dan. The Amazon tribe who have been using Algala for so many generations and whose secrets were used to create this life-giving drug, are all killed. Suicide bombers seem to be reaching out everywhere, and there is no hint of who is controlling them or who will be the next victim(s).

At the hospital, Emily and Dan appear to be losing their battle, they both seem to go through each step together. With so much going on in the book, it is difficult not to give too much away in a review. The tension which started the story has been building steadily, each bombing bringing a new flood of anticipation and fear to the characters and Ms. Connelly has a knack of transferring that anticipation and tension to her reading audience. The various threads running through the book create their own kind of tension and bring together all the elements in the end, leaving the reader with a feeling of closure and relief, and yet is it the end? We are left with tantalizing possibilities in the future as the few survivors of the Tokablaki tribe hide in the forests of the Amazon.

This was definitely a thrilling ride for me, with lots to keep me interested quite aside from the mystery and thriller components. A complicated story that's easy to read, a difficult and unique challenge to an author and with Valerie Connelly at the helm, we ride out the tumultuous waves to safe harbor and enjoy the sail.… (mehr)

Sidetracks by Valerie Connelly

Take a wild ride on the railroad to oblivion or to a better life with "sidetracks" that will define you and your outcome. What thought would go through your head while sitting in this darkened train? On one hand we have a nondescript middle-aged woman who has just fallen in the tub and cracked her skull, as an equally ordinary delivery man arrives to deliver flowers, notes water coming down the stairs and rushes to her aid, pulling her out of the tub. Peyton was able to quickly punch in to 9-1-1. But while he is trying to save her life, someone else has slipped in unnoticed, and fires shots at both before Hannah's dog attacks the assailant and is subsequently killed. A very timely visit by Lynn Hargrove, a lawyer friend of Hannah, having a gut feeling that all was not well with her friend, results in again alerting the police and ambulance for both victims, who arrive just in time.

Our two protagonists, Hannah and Peyton, next recognize, if recognize can be considered the correct word, that they appear to be riding on a train to an unknown destination, though they do not "see" each other yet.

Hannah is the first to become aware of the train and finds herself locked in a probable stateroom alone. But wait! welcoming her, although she seems to be nothing more than a disembodied voice, and explaining to her what has happened to her and that she will be accompanied by various "Agents" who will assist her to relive important formative parts of her life. What she learns from these times of her life will eventually help her to make choices. There will be 4 Agents along the way. If she fails she will either go back to her life on the track she is on, possibly unable to function, end her life, or carry on with her life changed and going in a new direction. The final decision will depend on the "Processor".

Although the theme has been sometimes used in various ways in the past, Valerie Connelly has written this book as fresh, fascinating, all-encompassing and surprising, the passages and sidetracks are thought-provoking, and the end result may bring surprises. The journey and trials in this book are personal and the reader can learn a lot from them.

Being that this is essentially a murder mystery, there are many chapters interspersed with what is happening in the background of their lives during this search within themselves. There is a lot going on in all directions, with Lynn and Detective O'Riley, the cop detective who responded to the calls, in a race against time to find the attempted murderer or murderers while bodies begin to pile up. There is plenty to keep the murder-mystery fan guessing,

Back on the train, both Hannah and Peyton have discovered each other, as he has been assisted by his own Agents, and find themselves in and out of their past, first separately and in later episodes, sometimes together. The purpose of the trip is to determine if there was a "sidetrack', a time when they might have changed direction in their lives and this must play out to its final result. Hannah has chosen a risk she had always wondered if she should have taken, and Peyton has chosen a decision of wealth found where he might have changed his life around. These sidetracks are played out for them to a certain point and they are returned to the train once again.

While they are taking these journeys of self, Lynn and Detective O'Riley are trying to make progress in the case. There are many sidetracks here, too, or perhaps more "red herrings"; just who was the intended victim and why are more people being killed. What exactly is going on in this case, are they related or separate?

Meanwhile, back on the train, there are more stops to be made, but the Agents are now showing them some definitely undesirable outcomes in this imaginary route they have taken. This being the last trip, they will face a Tribunal, a decision on their fates will be decided by what they have learned and what track they will want to take. A decision that will be made by the "Processor" after hearing what they have learned.

This book took my attention right from the start. The theme is fascinating in its growth and direction, the murder mystery is well-written, and I could hardly wait to see the final conclusion. I found myself rooting for this or that to happen, there are surprises, happy times, disturbing times, and confusing times, all wrapped up in a neat little bundle. While reading about the sidetracks, I found myself thinking along those lines, but decided I took the right track after all. Now to live up to it. I feel an affinity with the four main characters in the book, a sign of an excellent writer.… (mehr)

In "Sidetracks", author Valerie Connelly takes her characters on a journey to explore what might have been. It's a question we have all asked, "what if I had said yes instead of no? What if I'd gone right instead of left?" In this captivating novel Ms. Connelly examines these questions while weaving a suspenseful tale that will keep the reader interested until the very end.

Shortly after being shot and left for dead, Hannah Sebastian and Peyton Staley wake up on a train to discover that they must relive certain aspects of their lives and gain a better understanding of how these events shaped them. They will then have the opportunity to take a different path, or sidetrack, to see "what might have been". Neither Hannah nor Peyton want to go on this journey but they are told that they must if they want to have any chance of recovering from their injuries and living out the rest of their lives. Meanwhile, in reality, Hannah and Peyton are in the hospital and near death and it is up to Hannah's attorney and friend, Lynn Hargrove, and Detective James O'Reilly to put the pieces together and figure out who shot them and why.

I really love the idea of this book as I think everyone would jump at the chance to see what would have happened had they taken a different road. What made this book so great was that I didn't expect the "Sidetracks" to go the way they did, especially Hannah's. I also enjoyed the interaction between Hannah and Peyton on the train and Lynn and Detective O'Reilly during the investigation. The characters were well developed, the entire story was well thought out and Ms. Connelly told it in a way that kept me furiously turning the pages until the very end. I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a good investigative mystery with some serious twists that will have you thinking about the "Sidetracks" in your own life.… (mehr)

Emily Sanders and Dan Barton are sitting in a bar discussing a possible musical collaboration when, suddenly, a car slams into the building causing an explosion that kills everyone but them. When they awaken, they discover they are 20 years younger and in a Chicago that they don't recognize. In reality they are in each in a coma that has Dr. David Blume baffled. Aside from a mysterious compound in their blood, he can find no medical reason for their condition. With the help of Emily and Dan's children, Dr. Blume begins to search for explanations as to the origin of the compound and if anything can be done to counteract its affects.

While all this is going on in Chicago we are transported to the Amazon to witness tribal chief Ahi undergo the Sacred Night ritual and soon learn about a "miracle cure" for old age being sold on the black market that connects both locations. Soon there are more explosions as those involved in the black market ring are eliminated one-by-one and we meet Detective James Cameron as he tries to figure out who is behind everything and how it is all connected.

"Sacred Night" is the first book written by author Valerie Connelly and I am amazed at how well she connects these seemingly unrelated stories in a way that not only makes sense but is extremely exciting and suspenseful. I also appreciate the fact that this book wasn't just a standard mystery and enjoyed the addition of some extraordinary elements that I wasn't expecting, such as the Sacred Night ceremony and the experiences of Emily and Dan while they were in a coma. The book was not only more interesting because of these elements but also much more difficult to put down as I couldn't wait to see how everything was going to come together.

I would highly recommend this book to mystery fans who are tired of the standard fare or anyone who enjoys suspense filled novels that are a bit on the unusual side. I look forward to Ms. Connelly's next book and hope she finds great success in her future writing endeavors.… (mehr)