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Reviews of books by Harley L. Sachs
Reviews and readers’ comments about the works by Harley L. Sachs
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT THE GOLD CHROMOSOME:
“I loved the tongue in cheek humor.” - J. Hauswirth, Houghton, Michigan
“Very good dialog.” -- M. A., Gulfport, Florida.
“An entertaining, interesting, easy read that will surprise you in the end.” -- A. Anderson, Hancock, Michigan.
“A funny book. A quick and easy read.” -- M. Buckland, Houghton, Michigan.
WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT THE MYSTERY CLUB SOLVES A MURDER
“Best yet.” -- V. Brown, Houghton, Michigan.
A REVIEW OF THE MYSTERY CLUB AND THE HIDDEN WITNESS, by Izzy at Fallen Angels web site:
The Mystery Club and the Hidden Witness
The Mystery Club and the Hidden Witness is Harley L. Sachs’ third Rose Plaza cozy mystery. The first novel in the series is The Mystery Club Solves A Murder, the second is The Mystery Club and the Dead Doctor. The premise of this series is a group of elderly citizens who live in Rose Plaza.
It is fun seeing senior citizens depicted in such a positive manner. Their bodies may no longer be quick and nimble, but their minds surely make up for any difference. They are wickedly intelligent, and from years of experience and from suffering at the cruel hands of fate, they have learned to work together, as a team, to overcome obstacles.
Calling the life at Rose Plaza tranquil is a bit of a buttery description. Life should be tranquil, but very often isn’t. The residents are always finding something new and exciting to immerse themselves in. The façade of rightness is swept aside when they discover one of the residents is a crook under WITSEC, the witness protection program. He apparently keeps dipping into the employee gift fund. The Mystery Club bands together to track down the missing money, but what they discover is danger.
If you enjoy seeing how minds work, watching people join together for a common goal, and get a kick out of older humor, this might be just the book for you. Three Angels.
Reviewed by: Izzy
The Mystery Club and the Hidden Witness, as reviewed by Marianna in Novelspot.com
Submitted by Marianna on Thu, 2005-08-11 16:04. Mystery
Review:
Harley L. Sachs' latest Mystery Club installment perked my interest for a cozy mystery but I worried that by not having read them in order, I might not get the full effect of the series. I was pleasantly surprised to find that The Mystery Club and the Hidden Witness was perfectly enjoyable out of order. In my experience, when “Cozy” is added before “Mystery” for a genre description, it usually means that you can expect wonderful characters, an easy going plot, some humor and even a little bit of romance. That is exactly what I found in The Mystery Club and the Hidden Witness.
For a usually quiet retirement community, the Rose Plaza residents manage to keep themselves busy and on their toes finding adventure, mystery and danger amongst their peers. Katherine Seller heads the Plaza gift fund committee but it soon becomes evident that one of their peers is stealing funds. At first, with so many of the members taking part in the gift funds donations, it’s unclear who it could be. Katherine is finding odd behavior and is sure she’s heading in the right direction. It soon becomes clear that one of them is not who they say they are and is hiding out under the witness protection program with a bad track record for stealing. The Mystery Club jumps into action to help get the missing funds back where they belong and to catch the perpetrator red handed.
Harley L. Sachs created a group of characters that are both entertaining and enjoyable. The plot moves right along at a nice pace making The Mystery Club and the Hidden Witness an easy and light read.
What readers say about The Search for Jesse Bram::
“It’s got everything-- it’s visual, auditory, an adventure with some romance, a very relevant satire of our beaurocratic society and it has real philosophical and spiritual depth. Ideally, you could get some controversy going over the significance of it, particularly in relation to the positive relationship between Judaism and Christianity. I think it is brilliant. Wonderful, wonderful! And funny also.” -- Pam Erbisch.
WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT THREADS OF THE COVENANT:
We listened to and very much enjoyed two of your short stories about Red Jacket so far on our trip to Virginia . I expect we will listen to quite a few more as we go along.
I would like to buy your next book and all future books as they become available. Consider me a member of the "Harley Sachs Book Club" ! -- Curt Tompkins, President, Michigan Technological University
WHAT READERS SAY ABOUT BEN ZAKKAI’S COFFIN:
“Sizzling!” _ Alice Sedgewick
“I started it last night and couldn’t put it down even though I was tired. It’s really got me hooked.”-- Molly Dusenberry.
“It held us all the way through. A gold star!” -- Curt Tompkins.
A review by Jan Crow at May 4, 2002:
“What is every man's fantasy? Herman Bachrach finds himself enjoying the fantasy come true when while taking photos for a shoot at a bank a beautiful woman enters and leads him to a hotel then has her way with him. But what a price he will pay for this brief but satisfying encounter. Finding himself a suspect in her murder, being trailed by a host of unknowns and now the victim of having his home broken into and trashed, Herman takes the task of completing the task that the mysterious woman had begun.
While in Switzerland the mystery compounds. Strange messages handed to him and another beautiful who takes him under her wing brings questions to mind and fears to the surface. What is the connection between his employer, this woman and the mysterious woman who he once held in his arms?
Once the reader gets past the first person style of writing the reader will find himself or herself drawn into this plot driven story. The uniqueness of each character adds to the story. Herman Backrach is half Jewish/half Catholic yet practices neither. He's not successful, yet not a failure and leads the reader to believe he's somewhat of a nerd. Free-lance photography is his life yet there is no ambition to go more professional than doing bar and bat mitzvah or still objects. His employer, Gabe Cohen, referred to by his employees as "God", is a shrimpish man scared of everything that moves so much so that his chair in the office doubles as a bullet proof vest. Lewis/Louise provides a bit of light humor as the he/she comments on his photos, assignments or clothing. And Detective Sheehan with his stern, all business, no life attitude is the stereotyped hardnosed detective out to get his man at all costs.
BEN ZAKKAI'S COFFIN ends with a twist that ties the name to the book and leaves the reader stunned. Only a few clues are laid to lead to the conclusion and will take a sharp reader to pick up on. Even with the first person reporter style of writing this is a book worth reading. "Now Available., 229 pp., $15.00., 1-894869-20-6"
Review by Andrew J. Grgurich, writing for Marquette Monthly, Sept. 15, 2002:
“As I was reading this book, I was reminded of Alfred Hitchcock. How often in Hitchcock’s movies has some innocent person been sucked into danger and intrigue to no fault of his own. Sachs mentions in passing, a Hitchcock movie that he doesn’t name, that I know to be North by Northwest, where this very thing happens. It is a common theme with Hitchcock. One of his movies, in fact, is called The Wrong Man. Herman Bachrach is in some sense the wrong man in the wrong place or so he thinks. Hitchcock would, no doubt, have made an interesting film showing how this ordinary part time photographer for a group of banking magazines soon finds himself in serious trouble to no serious fault of his own.
“We also meet a gallery of other characters good and bad who influence Herman’s life. It’s not always easy to tell the good from the bad so be on your guard while reading this book. I’m happy to say that everything develops logically. As I said above I^Òm not going to go into the detail about the mystery. I will give you one clue, however, you’ll find the title of the book, Ben Zakkai’s Coffin, useful in solving one of the central mysteries of the book.
“I do have to warn you choose carefully when you start reading this book because you may not want to put it down once you’ve started it. I think you will find it an exciting adventure based in some ways by recent events involving Switzerland and the holocaust. The author is careful though to point out the Swiss Bank described in the book is an invention of the author, and the book is a work of fiction. Some Swiss might not be entirely happy with how their country is depicted, but after all history is what it is. You’ll enjoy this story.”
Review by Nancy Sundstrom, Northern Express Weekly, Aug. 29, 2002
Ben Zakkai’s Coffin by Harley L. Sachs
Express readers look forward to the regular columns of Sachs, the Houghton, U.P. resident who had also produced a number of audio books, including “Threads of the Covenant,” “The Search for Jesse Bram,” and “Conspiracy.”
He has proven himself to be a sharp-witted, imaginative crafter of mysteries, and this time, his protagonist is Herman Bachrach, a hard-boiled provocateur whose lack of religious conviction doesn’t prevent him from becoming entangled in a complicated web of deceit and greed centering round a Holocaust vendetta over stolen gold by a Swiss bank from Jewish depositors.
In a style that evokes Chandler and Hammet, Bachrach meets a femme fatale names Diana who lures him into a murder plot that quickly becomes messy and names him as a suspect. Bachrach makes a trek to Switzerland as he attempts to clear his name and stay one step aside of a growing list of foes, especially an elderly war criminal, who would just as soon have him out of the way.
His discoveries as he does so are anything but predictable, which is what elevates this from the slightly formulaic compromises of such a tale. There is a deliciously old fashioned noir sense about this engaging read, and one hopes there will be more installments with the Bachrach character.
From the Joe Bob Report:
Ben Zakkai’s Coffin by Harley L. Sachs. Reviewed by Tracy Vonder Brink
Herman Bachrach has a Jewish father and a Catholic mother but claims neither religion. Much to his father's chagrin, little of the Jewish faith has rubbed off on Herman despite his working as a staff photographer for an influential Jewish publisher while photographing bar and bat mitzvahs on the side.
His impartiality will change as Herman finds himself embroiled in international intrigue. He's setting up to take grand-opening photos of a bank when a stunningly beautiful woman approaches him, takes him back to her hotel room, and has her way with him. He's left with some great memories, her first name, some nude pictures he takes of her, and her promise to call him again. She does call him again, but this time she seems troubled. On their third encounter, he notices she's bruised as if she's been hit, and the next morning the police find her dead in her rental car outside his apartment. Herman is the chief suspect in her death, and he discovers that she's left him an envelope containing sheets from a German accounting ledger and a photo of a man in a Nazi uniform. He turns to his boss for help and is told that his lover was gathering information on a Swiss banker who his boss thinks is the Nazi responsible for his family's deaths. Herman's boss offers him a deal--go to Switzerland, track down the Nazi and deliver a package to him, and his boss will take care of the murder charge.
The story is told from Herman's point of view in a had-I-but-known style. Herman is an affable narrator who is self-centered at the outset but matures by the end. Events occur at a whirlwind pace, and it's a quick read. The author does take time to justify why Herman makes the choices he does, which helps make the plot more believable. However, it would have helped if more details were given about the international Nazi conspiracy that Herman briefly stumbles across. There were also a couple of mistakes in the text. At one point, Herman meets a woman who's last name is Klemp, and he thinks, "There was a Klemp in one of those Bond films, a nasty lady with a poison knife blade in the tip of her shoe," but the character's name in the Bond film is Klebb. Also, Herman's boss tells him a story about a rabbi in Jerusalem during the Roman siege, and the Emperor Vespasian's name is spelled Vespasion. It could have used some further plot development, but I enjoyed the characters and the situations they found themselves in. 2 1/2 stars.
Zumaya Publications, 2002, $20
A Troll for Christmas and Other Stories
Reviewed by Amy L. TurpinThis was a wonderful, wonderful story! Although I don't have any children myself, I do have several nieces and nephews and they all loved the reading of what they have come to call "Anna and the Troll." I can easily see this story becoming a holiday tradition in my family!
copyright 2000-2002 Mark and Briana Lambert, the Timeless Tales.net staff and the Simply Ebooks reviewers and staff.
WHAT READERS ARE SAYING ABOUT SCRATCH--OUT!
Andrew J. Grgurich
56264 Union Street
Calumet, Michigan 49913-2393
1-906-337-4741
Scratch-Out by Harley L. Sachs 289 pp. 1989 1995
ISBN: 1-58550-018-6
It seems like just yesterday that I said in a review that I didn't understand why the Upper Peninsula wasn't used as a setting for more books, particularly mysteries. Well, since then things have changed. We've reviewed several novels with U.P. settings, and there are more to come.
This week's book is Scratch-Out by Harley L. Sachs. Loyal readers will remember that we reviewed his book Ben Zakkai's Coffin quite recently. Those of you who have been reading this column for a while may recall a review of a book of short stories by him called Threads of the Covenant. I always enjoy reading suspense novels and if they're by a local author So much the better.
Harley Sachs is well known in the area. Besides being a novelist, he has also written short stories, magazine articles, and newspaper columns. His short stories has been broadcast on Oregon radio's Golden Hours and on the BBC World Service short-wave service. Sachs is best known in the Copper Country as a former professor at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, Michigan. While there he and his wife Ulla raised three daughters. Now that he is retired he divides his time between Michigan and Portland, Oregon. He has also lived in Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Scotland.
Scrath-Out, this week's book, is a suspense thriller. The difference between this book and Ben Zakkai's Coffin is that part of this book takes place in Houghton. As I've mentioned before of reviewing this type of book is a bit difficult because I don't want to give away unnecessarily about the plot. If I seem a bit vague that's the reason. In a nut shell this book which was apparently written some time ago, but published recently concerns a terrorist's plot. The terrorists wish to do their evil deed by using junk mail. One could say that the theme of this book has been "ripped from the headlines" to use an old cliche.
This book starts in Libya, moves to Germany and then ends up in the United States. One of the characters who is most important is a young German student named Klaus Hitz. He starts out by delivering a package for his girl friend's father and then finds himself without realizing in the middle of a terrorist's plot which he is unwittingly helping. One of the main themes of the book is his growing realization of what he is involved in and his efforts to escape it.
For locals, two of the more interesting characters live in Houghton. Harold Braman and his wife Deborah are living a normal life when Harold finds himself drawn into international intrigue because of his past connection to the CIA. The contrast between the peaceful Copper Country life around them and the trouble Braman and his wife finds themselves in is very interesting. I hope the author will forgive me if I say that Harold Braman seems to have a certain resemblance to him. They are both retired from Michigan Tech University, for instance. I'm sure, though, that Sachs and his wife have never found themselves in any of the difficulties of Mr. & Mrs. Braman. Incidentally, I was amused because Harold Braman happens to have the same telephone number as a good friend of mine. No doubt when and if a movie is made the film makers will change it to the phony 555 exchange that they always use on TV and in the movies.