"Tease" Appeases the Entertainment Senses.

First time novelist Amanda Maciel sheds new light on modern day high school bullying with an intelligent fictitious tale based on reality.

"Tease" contains many of the behavioral elements of quote-unquote cool high school students in a PG-13 fashion. This teenage tale is complete with jealously, deceit, fornication and vendettas.

Loosely based on a Jan. 2010 suicide by a high school girl at South Hadley High, "Tease" maps out the paths of both the bullies and the victim. Emma Putnam, a 16-year-old girl, known as Slutham to a vast ensemble of her peers succumbs to her enemies harsh words, viscous posts on Facebook and mild violence toward her and hangs herself in her parents garage with a heavy duty extension cord.

Sara Wharton, one of five bully's to Putnam is a kind soul blinded by her unenlightened rich good looking popular friends. Beautiful notorious Brielle is the key instrument in the band of five students, including Wharton who constantly attack Putnam with their cruel actions and arrowed words shot into Putnam's heart.

The story starts with a cliché of eye pleasing well known teenagers par taking in alcohol and pot usage. To fit in with the cool kids, Wharton yields her virginity to the handsome baseball star Dylan. Wharton is officially a poplar 16-year now, the girl friend of the picturesqueness sports idle. Soon after Wharton's adult encounter with Dylan, she sees a Facebook post with Dylan and Putnam posing together with keg cups at a party she was not invited to. A recipe of rage becomes a hostile mixture stirred by Brielle.

Brielle is the mastermind who ropes Dylan, Wharton and two other guys, Kyle and Jacob into attacking Putnam's character. The quintet end up in the court room accused of causing Putnam's death.

"Tease," released in April effectively deals with the ups and downs of adolescence, its innocence, wanton desires and tragedies. Author Maciel in a very 'lawyeristic' way communicates both sides of the bullied and the ones who bully. Three stars for "Tease."

"High Crap Area Tales of Dull and Dreadful" a More Apt Title for the Book "High Crime Area Tales of Darkness and Dread."

A blitzkrieg of bazaar bonds within the realms of twisted and damaged individuals dwell in the novel "High Crime Area Tales of Darkness and Dread."

"The Home at Craigmillnar," the first of eight stories kicks off the short book "High Crime Area" in sup-par fashion. The story line contains some delicious deceits which seize the readers attention, but the lack of character intrigue cascades the story into the void.

Eau Claire, an elderly care facility in the fist story illustrates the dark side of orphanages. Sister Mary Alphonsus, an intestate, someone who dies without a will was the director at the Craigmillnar Home for Children, a catholic run orphanage with more than 300 children. Time eventually took away Alphonsus's job of more than 20 years at Craigmillnar and sent her to Eau Claire where she eventually became another victim of time.

Craigmillnar, the orphanage punished children as young as 2 and 3-years-old who where bed wetters. The toddlers were forced to be wrapped in their pee laden sheets and stay outside in the cold till they passed out. Nothing like old fashioned Christian tough love to modify the natural acts of young children. Many children were also beaten at the orphanage for running away by the police, than by the Christian folk who ran the place when the police brought them back. This book's author, Joyce Carol Oates shares the twisted imagination of the likes of Stephen King and John Saul.

"High," the second story was about as enticing as watching paint dry. The third story, "Toad-Baby" was almost as uninteresting as "High." An 11-year-old girl, the sister of the infant Toad-Baby is the child's only hope for survival. The child's mother purposely drops the infant down a flight of stairs and shakes the baby. "High Crime Area" may be a book on what not to do when angry with a child or children.

The fourth tale of terrible is "Demon." Jethro, the demon boy (alleged) is a not so handsome dwarf who is frequently teased at school. The entire story from start to finish is nothing more than a collaboration of crap.

"Lorelei," the 5th story has it's moments of marvel, but like all the other sorry saga's within the book, it lacks love or loathing for any of the characters. Lorelei is the name of the young women in this yarn and she confronts her own personal demons as whether to acquire a soul mate or commit suicide.

The 6th allegory, "The Rescuer" has all the ingredients for a fascinating yarn, but Harvey, the main character and his sister are too damaged to root for or even hate in this tale of greed, rape and excessive drug use.

"The Last Man of Letters, the 7th piece to "High Crime Area" falls just short of pornography when a 73-year-old celebrated writer, a man known as X is relieved of his sin sauce by a few young women in his hotel room. Definitely not a children's book, and left me to ponder the stories intention with one word; Why?

The last narrative, "High Crime Area" focuses on 26-year-old Mz. McIntyre, aka Mz. Mc'tyre, a college professor at Wayne State University in Detroit. McIntyre carries a snub nosed nickel plated .22 caliber sterling arms semiautomatic in her purse because she is frequently followed to her car while leaving the university throughout the story. By the time it arose for whether or not she would have to use the pistol, the yarn had completely dwindled into a disastrous debacles of disarray.

Using a .22 on ones own head may have been a better alternative than reading this novel spawned in April; one star rating.

As Suggested in the Novel "Grandmaster," is Chess the Ultimate Game of Life?

Far across the eastern seas in India more then 2000 years ago the game of chess was created, and for some it's the meaning of life itself.

If taken too edgy, chess may thrust ones soul into the deepest depths of insanity and loneliness. High school tournament chess at Loon Lake Academy is taken extremely serious with possible deadly consequences when the Loon Lake chess team enters a tournament in New York state.

The February release of David Klass's novel "Grandmaster" sheds some intriguing light on the history of chess and its major champions while birthing an originally riveting story. This afternoon read starts out simple enough when a father and son chess tournament arises in New York state. Each team has six players, one of them a dad.

The Mind Cripplers senior chess players get Daniel Pratzer, their freshman team member to convince his father to join the Loon Lake team. Daniel's father, unknown to him was once a grandmaster of chess, the highest ranking any chess player can achieve, just above master. Daniel's father hasn't played a game of chess in 30 years, but joins his sons team, the Mind Cripplers.

Eric Chisolm and Brad Kinney, both seniors on the Mind Cripplers chess team know of Mr. Pratzer's past chess prowess because Chisolm's father, Dr. Chisolm played against Mr. Pratzer decades ago. The top five players on the tournament scores are counted while the 6th player or lowest scoring one is discarded.

"Grandmaster" at first is nothing more than a typical tale of white suburban high school woes and routine family issues. "Grandmaster" suddenly grips its reader(s) when Mr. Pratzer gets drastically annoyed with Dr. Chisolm's better than thou attitude and constant badgering of why he quit playing chess. Mr. Pratzer, as he's walking away from Mr. Chisolm says;

"I quit because I almost killed a rude asshole with my bare hands at a chess tournament."

Incidentally, that is the only profanity in the book. As the tournament in New York state continues, the million dollar question is not whether or not the Mind Cripplers win the tourney, but will Mr. Pratzer snap and kill himself or someone else.

I also liked the secondary story line of how Daniel developed a crush on two girls, and as I was reading, hoped he'd go for Lui, the only female high school student in the tournament.

"Grandmaster" is a fast easy read with interesting chess facts, complete with rich characters, both to love and loath interlaced in a cool story; a three star read.