Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Auditory Viewpoint- Lillian R. Melendez

Auditory Viewpoint
Lillian R. Melendez
Black Rose Writing, Jul 25 2013, $14.95
www.blackrosewriting.com
ISBN: 9781612962115

New Jersey radio talk show host Gloria Rank uses her four working senses at a very high degree of capacity to ignore her being blind since birth.  When someone steals her sister Anna’s identity, she turns to Gloria for help.  They report the theft to the cops and Gloria asks a former guest on her show, computer security analyst Benjamin Taylor, for assistance in what they should do, identifying who the thief is and how they obtained access into Anna’s bank account. 

When someone leaves a corpse at Anna’s door, FBI Agent Sanchez investigates with the younger Rank sister as a suspect.  Gloria mentors her sibling to rely on her other senses more than just sight to uncover the identity of the thieves even as their inquiry leads them to cross the Hudson at the same time more bodies engulf the sisters. 

This frightening thriller will stun readers with its caveat emptor insight into the electronic scams used to steal information and what the victim of such a crime must do to halt this intrusion and prevent future thefts.  Gloria is a wonderful protagonist who teaches Anna and readers how to not just rely mostly on sight, but to maximize all of your senses independently and in collaboration.  The sleuthing (by the sisters and Benjamin) and the serial killer segue add suspense; while how to maximize your environmental perceptions provides depth to the key cast.  Still it is the astonishing acumen into what to do when your identity is stolen that grips the audience and makes a person consider turning into an electronic hermit.

Harriet Klausner

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