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Debra Hamel is the author of a number of books about ancient Greece. She writes and blogs from her subterranean lair in North Haven, CT. Read more.

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Blog stats:
BOOK REVIEWS: 625
BOOK NOTICES: 264
2003: 50
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2006: 75
2007: 58
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Updated 10-28-24. [Reviews are longer and have ratings. Notices do not have ratings.]

Books by Debra Hamel:

THE BATTLE OF ARGINUSAE :
VICTORY AT SEA AND ITS TRAGIC AFTERMATH IN THE FINAL YEARS OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
By Debra Hamel


Kindle | paperback (US)
Kindle | paperback (UK)

KILLING ERATOSTHENES:
A TRUE CRIME STORY
FROM ANCIENT ATHENS
By Debra Hamel


Kindle | paperback (US)
Kindle | paperback (UK)

READING HERODOTUS:
A GUIDED TOUR THROUGH THE WILD BOARS, DANCING SUITORS, AND CRAZY TYRANTS OF THE HISTORY
By Debra Hamel


paperback | Kindle | hardcover (US)
paperback | hardcover (UK)

THE MUTILATION OF THE HERMS:
UNPACKING AN ANCIENT MYSTERY
By Debra Hamel


Kindle | paperback (US)
Kindle | paperback (UK)

TRYING NEAIRA:
THE TRUE STORY OF A COURTESAN'S SCANDALOUS LIFE IN ANCIENT GREECE
By Debra Hamel


paperback | hardcover (US)
paperback | hardcover (UK)

SOCRATES AT WAR:
THE MILITARY HEROICS OF AN ICONIC INTELLECTUAL
By Debra Hamel


Kindle (US) | Kindle (UK)

ANCIENT GREEKS IN DRAG:
THE LIBERATION OF THEBES AND OTHER ACTS OF HEROIC TRANSVESTISM
By Debra Hamel


Kindle (US) | Kindle (UK)

IT WAS A DARK AND STORMY TWEET:
FIVE HUNDRED 1ST LINES IN 140 CHARACTERS OR LESS
By Debra Hamel


Kindle | paperback (US)
Kindle | paperback (UK)

PRISONERS OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR
By Debra Hamel


Kindle (US) | Kindle (UK)





Book-blog.com by Debra Hamel is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial - No Derivative Works 3.0 License.



Sholes, Lynn; Moore, Joe: Brain Trust

  Amazon  

4.5 stars

Brain Trust is the new stand-alone thriller by authors Lynn Sholes and Joe Moore, and I think it may be my favorite of theirs to date. The book tells the related stories of two characters. Maggie Hayden is the widowed mother of a math prodigy who's been having problems at school since his father's death. Maggie's life seems to be falling apart until a too-good-to-be-true job offer from out of the blue solves her financial and her son's social difficulties. She relocates to a planned community founded by her new employer, Reichert Pharmaceuticals. The other lead character is Brian Wheeler, who also works for Reichert, and who begins to suspect early on in the book that the company is up to no good. Maggie and Brian's stories eventually overlap, as they independently discover more information about Reichert and its nefarious plans.

For the most part, the book alternates between its two story lines every chapter. (There are just a couple of exceptions to this plan.) This approach can be problematic if it's poorly done, but it works very well in Brain Trust. First, the jumps between the stories were not at all jarring. With each chapter I immediately fell into the next story again without forgetting my place in it, or forgetting characters' names, for example. Second, both of the stories were equally compelling. I found this very impressive. And as with all the Sholes/Moore books I have read (a fair number now!), the authors' collaboration is seamless. I have no idea how they share the responsibility of writing, but I have never detected any differences in style within their books. Brain Trust is a good, fast read and comes recommended! (My thanks to the authors for sending me a review copy of the book.)

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