I am pleased to say that I am taking part in the above Pump Up Your Book blog tour! You can click on the picture to go find out more details about the book, the author, and other tour stops.
*I received this book from the author in exchange for my honest review.*
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Title: "Last of the Seals"
Series: Sam Slater Mystery #1
Pages: 392
Buy From Amazon: HERE
Mystery, romance and baseball in 1957 San Francisco. Sam Slater is a lifetime minor league baseball player for the San Francisco Seals. The Seals have just one more season left as San Francisco is about to become a major league city. Sam has come to the end of his baseball career and is going to join the private detective agency of his best friend.
When Sam's partner inadvertently sees something he shouldn't have, he is brutally murdered. Sam must go it alone and try to find out why. Along the way he is swept off of his feet by a beautiful, Elvis-obsessed TWA stewardess named Amelia Ryan. Sam and Amelia try to unravel the mystery together. On dark and foggy San Francisco nights, trouble is lurking just around the next corner.
My Overall Feeling of the Book:
This book was really fun to read. I was impressed with the historical details as well as the fictional plot.
I learned how the Giants came to be in San Francisco and also a lot about lives of detectives and a stewardesses in the 1950's.
Elvis fans will be thrilled with all the references to his songs. I admit that I had Elvis songs running through my head for days!
Main Characters:
Amelia Ryan: Amelia is a 24-year-old stewardess from an Irish Catholic family. She loves traveling and seeing the new places but it doesn't leave much time for relationships. Her mother is worried that she will be a spinster. Amelia shares an apartment with 2 other stewardesses.
Sam Slater: Sam Slater is an Army Veteran of World War II who plays professional baseball for the San Francisco Seals as a pitcher. He is 35 years-old and doesn't have much baseball left in him after hurting his elbow while pitching. Sam plans on joining his best friend's detective agency after the last Seals game but ends up having to solve his friend's murder as his first case.
You can see what actors I would pick to play Sam and Amelia in my Dream Cast post HERE.
My Favorite Scene:
My favorite scenes are when Sam and Amelia are running down leads in the two cases Sam is working on. Whenever Amelia is in town, she likes to be Sam's "associate". Amelia, pretending to to work at a bank, calls a girl they are trying to talk to in order to flush her out of an apartment so they can confront her. It reminds me a bit of "Moonlighting". I loved that show.
A Brief Excerpt:
My favorite scenes are when Sam and Amelia are running down leads in the two cases Sam is working on. Whenever Amelia is in town, she likes to be Sam's "associate". Amelia, pretending to to work at a bank, calls a girl they are trying to talk to in order to flush her out of an apartment so they can confront her. It reminds me a bit of "Moonlighting". I loved that show.
A Brief Excerpt:
Then, Sam noticed a lump in a pocket on the side of the purse. There was half a pack of Pall Mall cigarettes, a match book, and a cigarette lighter. Sam flicked the lighter several times and couldn't get it to light. Then, he looked at the match book cover. It was silver with black lettering. It said:
"Bayview Motel
Sausalito, California"
Page 279
The Cover:
This cover is a great representation of the book. It is all there. Baseball, crime tape, Sam, Amelia and photographs play a very important part in the story. I think it is very interesting and refreshing.
Other Notes:
-This is a general market book but there is very little bad language or sexuality in it. I wasn't uncomfortable reading it at all.
-Smoking is very common in the book, but in the 1950's that was par for the course.
-Be watching for my review of "Deadly Plunge" by Greg Messel, Sam Slater Mystery Book #2, on January 4, 2013!
Rating
4/5
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Now, for the giveaway!
To enter for a chance to win my review copy of this book:
*Mandatory- Please leave a comment telling me about an experience with baseball, flying, or romance. I'll leave it up to you!
*Extra- Follow my blog and leave a comment telling me you do :)
The giveaway will run until December 9, 2012 at 11:59pm. The winner will be announced on December 10th.
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On to the next book,
My brother used to play baseball when we were growing up, and the only reason why I'd go to watch the games was to ogle all the cute guys :)
ReplyDeleteOh! And I follow via gfc: Kirsten!
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